Chapter 22

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I rolled out of bed with the moon still shining brightly in the sky, I could feel my mother's and father's chakra stably pulsing from their room. I stretched the last remnants of sleep from my limbs before walking to the bathroom to wash my face quickly before I changed into a black gi and shorts, I grabbed my katana and headed for the Tsu's training grounds. The night air was warm and damp as I stepped out of the house, I knew if my mother caught me out this early heading for the training grounds it would be trouble. I was getting tired of just sitting around stretching and cooking only leaving the house to shop for ingredients or play with the kids who were out in the courtyard and would beg and plead with me to play. I had three more sword techniques to master plus I few theories I wanted to try when it comes to my chakra and using elemental jutsus.

I already understood that molding chakra was the issue however I began to notice that my sword arts do not affect me. Which meant I could still use chakra flow without any problems, and if that's the case then there was still some hope I could use elemental ninjutsu through my sword which wouldn't be too bad I mean it's better than nothing. However, I've only ever seen it used in the series on a minor scale-like with Asuma's bladed knuckles or Saskue's lighting with his sword techniques, unless there were things done in filler episodes that I never watched, but still, there was hope for me.

I could feel chakra signatures up on the mountain already and I knew one of them.

"So Jin trains at this hour as well huh?" I said to myself as I began walking up the steps. Before long I reached the top and was greeted with a full-blown battle taking place. "Great guess even God himself wants to prevent me from training," I said as I took a seat right at the entrance's mouth and observed the sparring that was taking up the whole training grounds. From the looks of it, Jin was holding his own but just barely, his opponent was pulling the reins in just a bit to make it challenging for both of them. Jin used his barbed tipped chains like whips but also for movement seeing him swing around giant spires would throw me off entirely, it's one thing to try and keep up with someone on the ground it's a whole other ballgame when the person is not only fast but swing around you at incredible speeds, however, the person who was on defense against Jin wasn't flustered at all there were times he used Jin's chains against him to land blows. Jin decided to switch his approach getting into close quarters and a blast of fire shot out from his mouth, my eyes were a bit wider than before as I continued to watch Jin push his opponent, the kid was relentless and smart to my trained eyes. There were no openings in his attack and when there was it was due to his opponent, the power in his blows made the air tremble his technique was pristine.

This kind of changed my outlook on Jin a bit. I honestly believed he was placed number one in class because of birthright, but the more I watch this fight the more I'm convinced otherwise. The gap between us may have closed a bit but still, I have to give credit where it's due you don't get this good overnight. Another exchange of blows before they separated, there was a pause before the two bowed. I decided that would be my cue and entered the grounds I could hear a bit of banter going on between the two as I passed.

"Yo, Yuudai!"

I jumped I bit but quickly gained my composure and turned to face Jin and his companion and now that I was getting a closer look I was getting that sense of Deja Vu as I glanced at him.

"Good morning Jin-sama," I said with a slight bow.

"Whatcha doing up here this early, aren't you still on bed rest?" he asked.

"More like house arrest," I said which got a snort out of the man behind him. "I snuck out so I could get some swings in, I feel like my swordplay is diminishing by the day,"

"I see, oh let me introduce my brother to you he's just coming off deployment,"

The man in question moved right next to Jin and that's when I remembered just who this person was. "This is my brother Aki, Aki this is Yuudai,"

Aki was tall and slender like a marathon runner, his silver hair was spiked and probably held there with the help of gel, his eyes were the same as Jin's pitch black honestly he looked like a ghost in the moonlight.

"Heh, I know this kid, former squad leader in the 1st expeditionary company. Been a while see you haven't gotten yourself killed yet,"

"And I never knew you were a member of the Tsu clan let alone its main house," I shot back.

Aki barked out a laugh.

"Well, not officially anymore since I renounced my birthright and all," he said. "The whole heir thing is a little too uptight for my tastes," So that's why I've never seen him in the compound until today, Jin must have allowed him to enter. Well, I've heard of main house people renouncing their place within the clan and going off to live amongst the regular population, but it's a really big deal if the future heir does it I'm sure they tried to keep it under wraps to avoid any controversy. "Oh well, Jin here will make a much better leader than I could ever be. The clan is in good hands," he said while ruffling his little brother's hair.

"Well that is good to hear, now if you'll both excuse me," I said with a bow.

"Yo, what's the rush, let's have a few friendly sparring matches huh," Aki said.

"I can't I'm already pushing it just being out here if my mom were to catch me sparring-" I couldn't finish the sentence as a chill ran down my spine.

"Aww, come on man, your mom isn't going to find out about this quit being a bitch," Aki said. "You're a shinobi and your skills will get rusty if you don't practice at least once in a while, hey if it makes you feel better, I'll take the fall for you,"

I didn't believe him, there was no way I could. I don't think he's ever been under the pressure of my mother's death glare. It is something that I think even the strongest and seasoned shinobi would wilt under. I turned away from the duo.

"I'm sorry but-"

I felt the killing intent at the last second and pulled my katana out while turning on a dime, the clash of metal rang out into the night air. Aki was in my face with a taunting smirk.

"Well, it seems I'll just have to force ya to play along," he said with a chuckle. I pushed him back with all the force I could muster in my legs creating some distance and kept my sword pointed at Aki, the waves of intent were still flowing and I wasn't going to let my guard down especially against him. I knew what he was capable of first hand. "Come on Yuudai, it's not a spar unless you attack back,"

Aki disappeared from my vision but not from my senses, I parried the attack from my left then came a flurry of slashes that I was able to counter until I felt a wound on my left side open up slightly, which caused my guard to slip and Aki thrust his kunai right at my head. I slipped the blade but felt the metal knick my cheek before I pushed off to my left to create space but Aki wasn't going to allow me to escape hitting me with another barrage of slashes and thrusts.

"Fuck it," I said and pushed chakra into my blade. I parried his kunai pushing in a downwards direction and let a Shippuuga rip point-blank as I swiped back up. I felt the wound open even more and could feel the blood begin to leak, at this point I was screwed if my mom saw me regardless so I charged Aki as he landed and slammed the backside my sword into his ribs sending him flying. Aki regained his footing and came right for me.

"This is what I'm talking about Yuudai! Let's turn it up a notch!" he yelled and we clashed again and we picked up the speed of our attacks before long we were past sparring and were full out fighting and with each passing second my wound was opening up more and more I needed to end this foolishness. I charged again but this time I was preparing to use a sword art I hadn't completely mastered. As I closed the distance Aki prepared to meet my blade in earnest.

I began my swing making sure my grip was loose enough that I could move the blade precisely as needed for this technique, I waited for that slight bit of resistance I would feel once initial contact was made, no, I needed to feel what came before that. That split second between the first contact I needed to anticipate it, I watched Aki's movements as he brought his kunai up to block my sword and I zeroed in on his forearm.

Wait for it. Watch carefully, don't miss it.

Aki's muscles tightened.

I planted my front foot and dropped my stance simultaneously I spun clockwise on that same foot I tucked my body in to make the rotation faster and brought my katana down as the I began to finish my rotation I started to bring my blade upwards from my knees, I was inside Aki's guard now he was mines.

"Akamu sword art # 4: Tenshouzan!"

"Don't underestimate me!" Aki yelled and knocked my blade away at the last second throwing me off balance. I could see his fist coming down aiming for my exposed back. I didn't have time to dodge nor do a substitution so I braced for impact…. And it never came so I stopped my fall and then I felt it. A torrent of emotion flashing between anger and disappointment. Aki was frozen in place, his face visibly showed the state of worry he was in, we both looked at each other and swallowed. "Yo, Yuudai, who's your mother again?"

"Ara~, you've forgotten about me already, Aki-kun?"

My mother was standing next to us, and how she got there was lost on both of us. We didn't see her, hear her, or felt her move near us. I finally looked at my mother and the face she wore terrified me. "I see you and my son were getting acquainted with each other, my you young boys have so much energy this early in the morning especially when one of you are injured,"

I looked down at my gi and saw the side was soaked in my blood, I slowly put my blade away and took a deep breath.

"Kaa-chan I-I c-can explain this," I said slowly. Her devilish smile didn't disappear.

"Oh, no need to explain Yuu-kun I've been here since the beginning, I know Aki-kun was the aggressor in this little event,"

The blood in my veins froze when my mom starts using my pet name she is past the point of anger. She is furious, so much so that there were waves of killing intent slipping through her restraint.

"R-right! This is all Aki's fault! Had he just listened to me none of this would have happened!" I shouted at him.

"Hey! This isn't all my fault! I didn't know you were recovering from injuries! You never said anything!" Aki shouted back.

"Your right Aki-kun, this isn't completely your fault because had a disobedient boy not snuck out of the house and came here none of this would have happened in the first place isn't that right Yuu-kun?" my mother said while staring daggers at me. I was frozen in place. "Yuu-kun, your mother is asking you a question," she reinstated in an icy tone.

Scary. Scary. Scary!

"Hai! Kaa-chan, your right,"

"Hmmm~ now how do I go about punishing two bad boys?"

I was not about to wait around for her to figure that out and neither was Aki as both of us took off with haste in our steps I almost reached the entrance before my mother appeared in front of me with that same unnerving smile still plastered on her face. She is like a cat toying with a mouse right now. "Now, Yuu-kun you know you shouldn't be running with those injuries, are you trying to make your poor Kaa-chan worry about you~?" she said in a sing-song voice.

"Ok, ok, kaa-chan I'll go home just please don't kill me,"

"My, why would I kill my precious Yuu-kun? Even though he's hardheaded, can be difficult to handle and above all disobedient, I would never want to kill him, however, I do believe some very strict discipline is needed for this misbehaved child of mines,"

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"There, all done," Aoi said after clipping the needle thread that just finished sewing my flesh back together.

"Thank you Aoi-chan, I'm so sorry I had to wake you up at such an ungodly hour to take care of my hard-headed son," Yuko said.

"Oh not a problem, I usually get up around this time for my morning run,"

Aoi began wrapping the wound again while I sat there quiet as a mouse. I was already in enough shit and now I was probably going to be on Aoi's bad side for a bit because of this too. I felt her hand graze the wound causing me to yelp in pain. "Quiet you, had you just been resting like you were told none of this would have happened to begin with," Aoi scolded.

Man, this sucks why are women like this…. Just evil. Aoi finished her work and began putting her medical kit away in her bag.

"Well I'll leave you two, for now, Yuu-kun please be sure to see Aoi-chan out. When you're done come get me,"

"Hai, Kaa-chan," I said without any form of protest in my voice. Once my mother left, Aoi promptly slapped the side of my head.

"Fucking dolt, you do realize the condition you're in right?" she asked. "If you don't learn how to better take care of yourself or it will cost you your life,"

"Yeah, yeah I hear you," I said with a sigh. I began to mentally prepare for the nagging that was going to follow, but it never came which surprised me. I turned to her quietly, putting away her supplies and I could see a pained expression on her face, I didn't say anything because there was nothing to be said she was conveying her feelings to me through that expression.

'You know I never understood that about you humans, always refraining from conflict with the ones you care for the most, however, that's what I find fascinating about you beings. So much knowledge yet still ignorant of the little things'

I made a mental note to tell Kamiko off for that comment, as Aoi had finished putting her supplies away and stood up. She spoke without looking at me.

"Hey Yuudai, have you ever heard a legend that had a happy end?"

"No, I mean there are few but the happy end always comes with sacrifice, why?" I asked.

"No reason just a random thought, you take care of yourself and heal up okay?" Aoi said with a smile before making her way to the front door. I slowly walked behind her as she let herself out and shut the door, I promptly locked the door behind her and turned back to it.

'Heh, that girl is wise' Kamiko said.

"How so?" I asked.

Kamiko chuckled.

'If you can't understand her then it just means you're a fool's fool' she said.

"Look how many time must I say it I've accepted this path of hardship and nothing will persuade me otherwise,"

'Oh have you now? Well, we will see how deep your resolve goes in due time, I look forward to the kind of monster you'll become,' Kamiko said.

A chill ran down my spine, she spoke as if she knew about that darkness that was lurking in my heart. The darkness all humans have lurking, waiting, patiently waiting for the catalyst that will set it free. No, I would hold my control. I would not allow my soul to be swallowed by darkness. I pushed off the door to go find my mother. I felt her chakra pulsing from the backyard and my feet carried me there without a thought. I slid the backdoor open to see her sitting on the porch quietly staring at the morning sky.

"Take a seat, my son," she said. I walked next to her and sat down. I was rigid in my body language, but my mother put her arm around me and pulled me into her. "You're such a foolish child, but your my foolish child and I would never change that about you,"

"Oh, having family bonding time without me huh?" My father said behind us.

"Hmph, only because you're so busy being a general," My mother said in a teasing manner.

"Oh please, I don't want to hear that from a woman who stays deployed," My father shot back as he sat to my left. "So Yuudai I saw your bloody gi sitting in the laundry room, what trouble did you manage to get into this time?"

"I was dragged into an impromptu sparring match with Aki," I said.

"He PARTICIPATED in a sparring match when he should have been resting," mother said correcting my statement.

My father barked out a laugh.

"Ha, that sounds like my boy, never one to sit around for long, but you know you pissed momma bear off right?"

"How mad was she?" I asked.

"Whew, when I tell you I felt like the weight of her chakra was going to crush me I'm not kidding, I thought she was going to kill you once she got a hold of ya,"

I chuckled, I knew my father was no slouch when it came to being a shinobi but the respect he has for my mother was very evident. It was almost like he was in a constant state of reverence when he talked about her. I've only heard stories about my mother as a shinobi but I never personally saw her in action and I really kind of didn't want to. There are some things that you just don't need to see in life sometimes.

"Oyaji, how's the war going?" I asked.

"Hmmmm~ frustratingly I'd say, Konoha has always been a really tough opponent to beat. Their strategies and movements are ingenious, not only that but they have quality shinobi throughout all their ranks whereas we are very top-heavy when it comes to talent. Your generation hasn't come into their own yet and depending on how long that takes could make or break us,"

Of course, their strategies are top tier, Shikaku was a genius and the head tactician. The last part was what brought me back to one of the glaring issues our shinobi system has, Iwagakure throws us young shinobi to the fire. Its sink or swim here the weak would get killed off very quickly, I was lucky to be born into the family I was but for those who come from civilian families, it must be a struggle because the world teaches you very quickly that the academy was nothing but controlled chaos there are hard lessons you will be taught and if you fail to learn your life is forfeit. This also leads to the problem my dad just brought up: talent management.

Iwa's talent management was terrible and my theory as to the reason why stemmed from the lack of mentorship here. Konoha's genin squads have a Jonin placed in charge to help facilitate their development and come up with a specific training regiment to help bring out each individual's talent, while simultaneously teaching them how to work together as a team. What's even better is these teams that are formed are for a lifetime and even some are generational like the Ino-Shika-Cho formation. A genin in Iwa is kind of on their own unless they garner interest from an older shinobi who wants to put the time into developing them, and that's not easy for either party involved due to the immense workload we have to bear. I understand why Akako was opposed to training me before the academy because I was an investment that may not yield any return so she needs to see that I was willing to put the effort in to foster my success because free-time for an Iwa shinobi was precious and wasn't to be wasted on things or people unworthy of such a commodity.

"Well I can't come into my own if I'm stuck at home instead of training," I said with a huff.

"Learning when to rest is also a part of a shinobi's training," my mother shot back.

"Okaa-chan is right I wasn't too happy about how much work Hisako was putting on you but I see why, you don't know when to kick your feet up, son you need to learn moderation,"

Great, I'm being lectured by my parents and I huffed out my discontent which earned me a flick to the side of my head from my mother.

"You need to go back to bed, I'll let the academy know you will not be in due to opening up your wounds,"

"Hai, kaa-chan," I said with a grumble and dragged myself up from the comfortable position I was in and began to leave the porch.

"Oh and Yuu-kun?" a chill ran down my spine at the sound of my pet name, I turned my head to look over my shoulder at my mother who was giving me an evil grin. "I'll also inform Hisako as to why your recovery time will be extended I'm sure she'll be happy to hear one of her best scouts will be out the fight a bit longer due to his stupidity,"

My heart sank, so that was my punishment huh? She was going to subject me to Hisako-Onee-chan's wrath. Kami-sama whatever I've done to earn this divine punishment I wish to atone for it with my life if possible.

'Hey! don't go offering up your life without consulting me first I have a say in this too!'

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A/N: I'M BACK! I know I do this every time and I'm sorry but I was allowed to go to some killer military schools I needed to advance and just couldn't pass up the chance to go be a badass for a few months. I should be able to upload a bit more frequently with the virus going around and everything getting canceled left and right so look forward to more chapters…. Until next time my friends.