"What happened to the Sanguis Clan?" Kane asked Yuka-sensei, completely serious.
He'd officially been training with Yuka-sensei for two weeks now. In that short amount of time, Kane had grown more than he ever had in two weeks under Kakashi. The woman worked him like a dog; the only rest he received was sleep. From dawn until dusk, she had him train.
For the most part, she forced him to work on endurance and speed. He found himself constantly jogging, sometimes sprinting, and had to dodge as she launched rocks at him faster than he could even throw a kunai. The old woman was strong, appearances be damned! Sometimes, she even made him manipulate water or blood through the air, telling him 'if you dodge a single rock, I'll throw them even harder. No dodging, only blocking' and he had to try to block the rocks she threw with the water or blood. Needless to say, he had received plenty of bruises and injuries lately.
Occasionally, every few days or so, she would leave for Hoshi. She never allowed him to acompany her, and always made sure he would be busy for several hours before leaving. When he asked to join her, she vehemently told him no. She told him to never enter Hoshigakure, and when he asked why, she said 'because I said so, brat'.
Kane would obey. In the short time he'd been with the woman, he'd grown to trust her. Even if she was kind of a jerk.
Now, two weeks had passed, and he hoped she would honor their agreement and answer his question.
Yuka-sensei looked at him curiously, "Is that your question?"
Kane nodded slowly. He wanted to know more about his parents... His family... But, he needed to know about the Sanguis clan, too.
"They're dead."
Kane felt as if time froze.
"They're... Dead?"
Yuka-sensei nodded with an eyeroll. Kane swallowed loudly before continuing, "What happened? Are there any others left?"
"There are only three left, brat, and that's including the two of us. There is only one other."
Kane closed his eyes slowly.
"Are you sure?"
She scowled at him, "Yes, you insolent child. I am very certain."
"The last Sanguis... What's their name?" Kane asked slowly, quietly. She stared at him for several moments in deep thought.
"Is... Is his name Naibu?"
She hummed thoughtfully, "So you've heard of him already."
Kane felt like a lump was stuck in his throat, every word was a struggle to force out. "What happened?"
"He killed them. Down to the last child."
Kane felt sick. What kind of monster would do such a thing?!
"Why?"
She scoffed at this, "Why? If you want to know, ask him. He claims it was for blood purity, but he's a liar, always has been. He has another reason why he did it, but I don't know what it is. The fool won't tell me."
Kane froze.
Won't tell her?
"You know him?"
"Of course I know him, brat. I was his sensei."
At first, Kane felt betrayed by Yuka-sensei. But then, the more he thought about it, the more sorry he actually felt for the woman.
He didn't know all the details, Yuka-sensei pretty much refused to speak about it any further, but what he did know is that she wasn't on Naibu's side. She didn't want their clan to be killed, let alone by her own student. This much, Kane was certain of.
It must've been hard, having someone you cared about turn out so terribly. She probably blamed herself, Kane figured.
That's why, he was determined to become the best student he could be! Kane wanted to become a man that Yuka-sensei could be proud of someday.
Now he knew for certain that Naruko rubbed off on him.
He smiled as he watched the old woman stare into a shallow part of the lake, before quickly slamming her walking stick down, and then retrieving a fish from the water.
He would make her proud!
"Yuka-sensei?"
"What do you want, brat?"
The twosome were sitting in the log cabin on their respective mattresses. Kane never did get any sort of blanket or pillow, but that was fine with him.
He was used to not owning anything.
"I just wanted to say thanks."
The woman turned her head to give him an annoyed, confused look.
"Despite what you've been saying, I know you've been healing my injuries every night. How else would I be healing so quickly? I've always been a slow healer. So thanks, Yuka-sensei."
The woman stared at him like he was an idiot, and he began to doubt himself for the first time.
"Brat, I told you I wasn't the one healing you."
Kane stammered for a few moments, "Then how am I healing so quickly?"
She rolled her eyes, "Your bloodline. Sanguis' are always superb healers. Some have even compared us to Jinchuriki before, although it's not as effecient as a host's healing."
"But... But I've always been a slow healer!"
Yuka-sensei nodded at this, "As you should've been. Children born to the Sanguis clan always struggle to recover from wounds, especially serious ones, until they unlock their Kekkei Genkai. It's one of the earliest signs that the child has been blessed to be in our clan."
"So, how does the healing work then? Can I heal while I'm in battle?"
"No, brat. It only works while you're sleeping. And, no, you can't heal from serious injuries overnight. Only minor injuries. It's an advantage of being a Sanguis."
Kane considered this for a moment, "So how do you know when you've unlocked it? The Chi Sosa, I mean."
She looked at him, again, like he was stupid, "How do you think, brat?"
Kane had the decency to blush, "That's not what I meant! I mean, how do you unlock it in the first place?"
Yuka-sensei looked thoughtful at this, "You have to meet three conditions."
Kane sat up on the mattress and gave her his undivided attention.
"One, the child must be ready to unlock it. This varies person to person, although most children don't unlock it until they are eleven or twelve years of age. There are exceptions, however. Naibu unlocked his when he was only five."
She seemed lost in thought for a moment, before getting back on track.
"The second condition, is that they must be pumped full of adrenaline. The only truly effective way to do this would be by doing a physical activity or being in the midst of a fight."
Kane nodded slowly.
"The third, and most important, is that there must be blood. Lots and lots of blood. The child must see the blood, and when they do, if they have met the other two conditions, they will freeze up. The child will be able to focus on nothing other than the scent and sight of the blood. Because of this, many Sanguis children never survive their first real battle."
Kane gasped in shock.
That was why he'd frozen up on his first C-Ranked mission with Team 7! He was unlocking his bloodline!
Kane smiled widely at the revelation. He finally had answer! That question had plagued him for months now!
"Are any children born without the Kekkei Genkai?" Kane asked curiously.
Yuka-sensei hummed in thought, "As far as we know, no. Then again, those that don't might be cursed to still freeze up in their first battle, and die before we ever even realize they can't use the Chi Sosa."
Kane nodded at this, "Has anyone ever not frozen?"
She looked at him seriously, "Only one."
"Who?"
"Who do you think?"
Kane nodded. Naibu.
"No more questions. Go to sleep, brat!" And she turned her back to him.
As Kane rolled over, he couldn't wipe the smile off his face.
He hadn't frozen up for no reason! It wasn't because he was scared, or weak, or useless! It was the exact opposite!
Kane fell asleep, the smile never leaving him.
That morning, a thought had popped up in Kane's mind, and he hadn't been able to let it go all day.
"Alright brat, that's enough. Your training today has been pathetic. What's your problem?"
Kane flinched slightly at that. He didn't want to disappoint Yuka-sensei! He just hadn't been able to focus. He couldn't stop thinking about someone.
He couldn't stop thinking about Itachi Uchiha.
The man had suppressed Kane so easily with Genjutsu. In fact, he had not only knocked Kane out for days, but apparently he had gone through Kane's memories, if what he said was true! Kane didn't even know what he was looking for, or what he saw!
Not okay.
"I want to know how to deal with Genjutsu." Kane spoke resolutely to his sensei.
She arched a single, delicate eyebrow at him.
"You're out of luck on that front, brat."
"What?! Why?!" Kane asked in shock. It was the first time Yuka-sensei told him no!
"Genjutsu has always been the biggest weakness of the Sanguis Clan. You'll find very little help from me."
Kane frowned at this.
He'd just have to find a way to solve it himself, then! Just like he was doing with Water Ninjutsu!
He hadn't actually made much progress on that front... But still!
He would succeed!
"I changed my mind." Yuka sensei announced as he stared at the woman in shock. Kane was at the lake, attempting to turn his Kekkei Genkai off, when Yuka-sensei randomly disappeared. Now, she was back.
And she was holding his headband!
"Hey, wait! What are you doing?!" Kane called out in desperation as he ran towards the old woman.
"I won't have this filth, even if it's been damaged, inside my cabin any longer!" Yuka-sensei said as she continued walking towards the lake. Kane realized immediately what she was going to do.
'She's throwing my headband into the lake!'
Kane didn't know why this was such a big deal to him, all he knew was he didn't want her to do it.
"Stop! Give that back!" Kane snapped angrily as he ran towards her.
As he got within several feet of the woman, she launched the headband out across the lake.
'Kami, that's one hell of a throw!' Kane thought in shock as the headband soared through the air before landing in the water far away with a resounding 'ker-plunk!'
Kane glared at the woman, and she turned to smirk at him haughtily.
Her smirk gave way to annoyance as a large tether of water, exactly where the headband landed, slithered its way into the air and launched at the two. Kane outstretched his hand as the water dropped the headband into his palm, his eyes and annoyed look never leaving Yuka-sensei.
"Get rid of it, brat!"
"Fine! But let me do it!"
Yuka sensei turned and hobbled off, mumbling as she did so.
Kane sighed as he stared down at his damaged headband.
Honestly, he's not sure why he even bothered to keep it. He'd already ruined it beyond repair, scratching the leaf symbol out with a straight line.
Maybe, it was because it was one of the only two things left in the world that were truly his.
He had three, once upon a time.
The image of a portrait before it was smashed into pieces conjured itself in Kane's head, and he grimaced.
'Jane...'
No.
He would not think about that.
Kane closed his eyes as the very same tendril of water, having not moved an inch, slowly leaned down and retrieved the headband from his palm. Kane watched solemnly as the tendril returned to the exact spot it was streaming out of, the headband going under with it.
Kane knew, by the time he returned tomorrow, he wouldn't be able to tell where the headband was anymore, as it would become buried beneath the sand and dirt at the bottom of the lake.
It would be gone. Forever.
And he was okay with that.
Kane awoke to the typical pain on his head. He had grown used to Yuka-sensei giving him his daily wake-up call by hitting him as hard as she could on his head with her walking stick. At least, he hoped that was as hard as she could swing that thing.
"Get up brat, today we're fixing a problem that has been bugging me from the beginning." Yuka-sensei snapped at him, and Kane was quick to hop to his feet.
The two walked outside the log cabin, and Kane rubbed his eyes as her words finally caught up with him.
"What's that, Yuka-sensei?" He asked sleepily as he held back a yawn.
Yuka-sensei stared at him seriously, and Kane snapped to attention, wide awake now. She was always serious, and always glaring, but never this early. She wasn't a morning person, so for her to be so serious meant that this must've been a big deal.
"Today, I'm going to show you the trump card of the Sanguis clan."
End of Chapter 36.