Chapter XII: Back in business, baby
I opened my eyes startled and gasping for air.
What the...?
It felt like getting out of deep water. I inhaled deeply as if I've been holding my breath until then, or I forgot how to breath. I looked around trying to recall where I was. I sighed. I knew where I was. Or at least I could assume, and judging by the surroundings...
The room had a wooden ceiling. Old wood, with spots of humidity. Good, I liked houses made out of wood, unlike my apartment with walls made of concrete. I was laying on a futon and I couldn't see much around me. I tried to move and pain shot hot through my left shoulder. Shitshitshit. I hissed and laid back clutching at the bandaged wound. Ah, right. Zabuza. That son of a … I sat up slowly trying to keep still my left arm. Well, this was new. My first wound in battle. I looked at the white bandage. Freshly changed. It run from my clavicle and base of the neck to my elbow. I couldn't move my arm without causing pain so I guessed it was out of use for the meanwhile. Oh wonderful. I wonder how long I've been out.
I tried getting up. It was hard, without using one of my arms and there wasn't too much furniture around either to lean on it. I wondered what room was this, but judging by the look of it, most likely it was a storage room or something like that, just dusted and prepared for me. Aw. Not only me. There was a second futon around, so I had a roommate. By the open backpack near it, I had a good idea who.
I stumbled around, in my own feet. So, I've been out for at least a day or two, as my feet were weak. For the following ten or so minutes I inspected the room, stretching my legs and trying to determine the limit of my left arm. There were some books and I skimmed over. Cooking and herbs. Only one of them was a novel about a pirate and a crew with weird powers, but I lost my interest after two pages in. My history with boats and the sea wasn't a good one.
The wooden door opened with a bang. I didn't notice how quiet it has been until then and how sensitive and alert were my senses to movement and sounds. I'm like a scared rabbit, attentive to everything. I could hear my heart pounding in my ears and a sudden dizziness crept in my head, making things spiiiin.
"Kaya-chan, you're awake!"
I moved my weight from one leg to another, making sure my balance was back and the dizziness gone, as Sakura entered the room holding bandages. I just 'hm-ed' peaking beyond her pinkish form to the other room.
"You shouldn't be standing!" she chided lightly closing the door unsuccessfully until she forces it close.
"I'm fine. What happened?" I asked eyeing the little bottle Sakura was holding and the food plate. That sight of it was enough to make me drool.
"Kakashi-sensei defeated Zabuza" from her voice I sensed a slight pride and satisfaction. Also, she seemed determined to explain what happened from the moment I lost conscious. "But then a masked guy came and took his body."
"A masked guy?" I inquired watching her movements, dispatching the bandages and putting the plate on the floor as there was no table.
"Yeah, we don't exactly know who he is. Kakashi-sensei just recovered his conscious and said he's hunter-nin. Kaya-chan you shouldn't use your left arm!" she exclaimed as I gasped, forgetting about my shoulder and reaching for food, glorious food. Sakura helped me back to the futon. Keh. So, pain could really make you this weak.
"I see." I said as I sat down. " Could you… please, um, hand me the plate?"
"Of course! You must be famished! You lost a lot of blood, I brought you water as well." she put the plate in my lap and the water bottle beside me. I felt like an oversize baby.
"Thank you, Sakura-chan." she seemed surprised by that, seeing as I've never addressed her like this. "So, now the whole team is awake. How long…?"
"You've been out for two days. Kakashi-sensei woke up yesterday, but is unable to move for long."
"Chakra exhaustion?" I said between bites. Hmm, mashed potatoes. "The Sharingan would do that. How's my shoulder?"
"Eh, your shoulder" Sakura grimaced looking at the bandage as it was already tainted with red "It's … not great. That's a deep cut and we there's no real medic in the village… so we don't really know the extend of the damage. But you lost a lot of blood, so you have to eat all that and drink all the water." That explains the dizziness. "Tsunami, Tazuna's daughter, prepared this medicine." she said indicating the little bottle "For the wound. So it won't get infected and heal faster."
"Hm. So this is Tazuna's house. Have you been taking care of my shoulder while I was unconscious?"
"And Tsunami" she nodded "she's really good, she knew exactly what to do when we brought you in."
"Thank you" I frowned not particularly ecstatic at the idea of causing a fuss over myself. I felt as if I've been sleeping for years. With dreams that I couldn't remember haunting my sleep merciless.
"The others will want to know you're awake as well. We were all worried" she frowned at me as if to make a point. I sniffed around and grimaced.
"I'd rather have a bath first. I smell. Badly." she smiled at my conclusion.
"Yeah. You do."
"Thanks."
Ҩ
When I finally came into the main room of the small house where Kakashi rested, it was noon. I was positive that the room I woke up in – that would be where me and Sakura stayed for the moment – was the storage room. The house was a traditional Japanese one, or at least close to that, the passing between rooms being easily done by sliding doors or in common areas, no doors at all. Kakashi was sitting on a futon, while the others were watching him, most likely talking. What about – I had no idea as me and Sakura came in, he stopped in the middle of his sentence and his eye moved to us immediately.
"Kaya-chan! You are awake!"
I looked at the blonde as he turned to us and was smiling widely. I stared at him a little longer and then to the others while I run my hand through my damp hair. I identified the black haired young woman as Tsunami and then I looked at Tazuna who was more relaxed than I've ever seen him since leaving Konoha. Well, he's finally home and he thinks Zabuza is dead. I didn't spare the duck even one glance because I could feel his eyes on me and I had no energy for sarcastic remarks.
"Looks like all of my dear students are here." Kakashi said and I guessed he smiled from behind his mask. He has an expressive one eye, though.
"Yeah, finally recharged my batteries after putting up one week with you lot" I mumbled earning a 'Hey!' from Naruto. "So, who's going to fill me in on what happened after I passed out? In full detail." I added with an apologetic look at Sakura.
Of course, the blonde exploded at that. I sat on the floor listening amused. He insisted on telling me about his plan even after I already told him twice that I was conscious when that happened. I ignored the exaggerated details about Kakashi's and Zabuza's fight. What mattered was that everything happened accordingly to what I knew or remembered happen in the original plot. I listened closely to the part when Haku came in.
"And he was masked?" I asked just like before when I was only with Sakura.
"Yeah! Kakashi-sensei said he was a hunter-nin." Naruto said excited that I was paying attention to his story.
"A hunter-nin." I repeated carefully, looking at the grey haired jounin to check on the information's veridicity "as in those nins that dispose of the body on spot? You said he took Zabuza's body and disappeared."
That I knew from another book at the library about shinobi specializations and ranks when I had my medic-nin phase. Until I realized you have to dedicate your whole life to studying and that pretty much settled it for me. Also, I had no talent for medical stuff. I tried. As a volunteer. At the hospital. Horrible summer break.
"That is true" Kakashi said. "All he needed to do was to bring back the head as proof. Also," he continued adopting a thinking stance "the weapon that boy used to kill Zabuza is questionable."
"What weapon?" I asked not really clueless, because I found senbon to be fascinating.
"It was just long needles." Sasuke answered my question and then he looked at me in sudden realization.
"As in senbon needles?" I asked again almost smiling at the petrified duck.
"What are you guys talking about?" Tazuna inquired not understanding my hints or the logical thread me, Kakashi and Sasuke were following.
"Nekobaa, my legal guardian until I was 9 or 10 and owner of the supply shop that the Uchiha used at some point, had bad arthritis." I started explaining and Sasuke gave me a funny look. "She lived in Konoha for a while, where she used to get a acupuncture treatment. At some point I recommended doing so with senbon, because I am surprisingly stupid at times. Needles to say, word spread through the whole Uchiha compound about the tank Nekobaa is, getting acupuncture sessions with senbon needle, stopping her heart for 15 minutes a day to loosen her blood vessels."
"No one with a brain believed that." Sasuke replied.
"But can senbon needles stop your heart while keeping you alive?" Sakura asked actually interested about the relevant part of the story.
"Yes." I nodded solemnly. "But no. Nekobaa never got acupuncture with senbon needles. Although lemme tell you, sometimes it was very, very tempting."
"…"
"Could it be…?"
"Yeah, it's just what you think" Kakashi confirmed Sasuke's and my suspicions. I sighed running my fingers again through my hair. "Zabuza is alive."
"Wonderful." I said through clenched teeth.
"WHAT?!"
I snickered at Sakura's, Naruto's and Tazuna's indignation. As if it would have been that easily. If I remembered correctly, Haku and Zabuza die at the end of all this. And just like before, I was hit by the realization that they weren't the enemy but Gatō was. Hm, interesting. But hadn't I already decided to see that things go smoothly according to the original plot of the manga and anime, in order to assure the stability of the future I knew would come? But... that was in contradiction with my existence in this world. So many dreams... I shook my head. I was feeling as if I was deep under the water and the others were far away, talking on the surface. I should wake up. For good.
"Maybe you're overthinking it."
"NO." I said contradicting Tazuna and earning a look from him. " All Cat Granny funny stories aside, these are facts. The missing nin used senbon needles, to bring Zabuza to a near death state. Confirmed by Kakashi. And then he took the body with him so he could remove the needles and allow Zabuza to recover. There's no doubt. There is the possibility that we are wrong and Zabuza is long dead, but it's very slim." I looked at Kakashi. "Zabuza will be incapacitated as well, right? What I know about senbon needles is that they can do massive damage."
"He will." Kakashi agreed and then frowned. "Once a ninja feels there's something off, he must prepare for it before it's too late. It's one of the shinobi's iron rules. Kaya is right."
He and the Duck like learning things by heart. And Sakura. Or memorize them, but I couldn't disagree with him. In the shinobi world you needed four sets of eyes, eight senses and 9 lives to survive. Or Hatake Kakashi as your sensei. I looked at the grey haired shinobi and wondered what possessed him to take a genin team. He was a jounin, yes, but as an individual I didn't see him particularly fond of people. But, he cared about his village and the greater good, I supposed. And after all that happened… I guessed remaining an ANBU wouldn't help him or others, not more than actually forming new cute genin as us. Oh, joy. Also. I looked at the blonde in our team, the split image of the Fourth Hokage. What makes a Sannin take a genin as a student? Same answer.
"Sensei, how are you going to prepare for this before it's too late? You can't move for a while…" Sakura asked eyeing the jounin with doubt since he couldn't even stand for extended periods of time. Thinking about it neither can I. I almost fainted twice, and only once was Sakura there to steady me. And help me get dressed. I didn't protest, although I did clench my teeth, annoyed by my inability to use both my arms.
And to think that out of the nine, she is the most annoying in my cards… Alongside Ino, of course. I sighed, because despite that, I still owed her for helping me and not complaining even once. As long as we don't turn into Frodo and Sam, we're good. Because I doubted the pinkie could carry me on her back. Yeah, I'm both taller and heavier than her. I hid a smile. Kakashi's laugh caught me off guard because it was genuine and yes, a little creepy because Kakashi wasn't the most easily amused person, but it was promising something.
"I'm going to make all of you go through some training"
"Finally." I approved smirking and the Duck seemed to be agreeing.
"Wait, even if we train, it's not going to be very helpful!" Sakura started. "Since the enemy is someone that you, Kakashi-sensei with your Sharingan, had a difficult time with." by the end of her protest, her cheeks were flushed due to her impeccable logic.
"Gee Sakura. Because the rest of us four are absolutely useless." I shot her a glare and rolled my eyes, but she didn't have time to reply.
"Sakura, who saved me when I had a difficult time?" Kakashi asked not really waiting for an answer, which I was prepared to give, of course "You four are growing at a fast rate. Especially you, Naruto. You've grown the most."
Was that a compliment? Not only to Naruto, but to all of us. Although Naruto takes the cake for that plan. And Sasuke for catching on so fast and going with it. And me for… letting my guard down and surviving a wound I acquired due to my own stupidity? That doesn't sound good. Because it wasn't.
"You know your stuff, Kakashi-sensei. Now things are getting interesting!" Naruto smiled determined and excited. Verbal encouragement and acknowledgment boasts the blonde's self – esteem and disposition: noted. Because for some, like me for example, that didn't do shit for my disposition. I still wanted to curl back in the futon and sleep.
"No, it's not."
Huh? We all turned to the source of the earlier sentence. Why couldn't I have woken seven hours later? The small child with the fishing hat couldn't be anyone else than Tazuna's grandson, Inari. I sighed deeply, because if my regular headaches would have a visible form, it would be this.
"Huh, who are you?" Naruto asked bluntly but the boy's eyes were glued to Tazuna.
"Inari! Where were you?" Tazuna asked opening his arms and the boy ignored Naruto's question and passed us as if we weren't even there, embracing his grandfather. Oh, my.
"I'm home, grandpa"
"Inari, say 'Hello'. These are the ninja that escorted grandpa!" Tsunami scolded slightly. I smiled at the familial picture, kind of nostalgic and, well sad. You can't miss and feel nostalgic about something you never had. I said this once, before to someone very dear to me. In another life. I could feel my stomach and bones heavier with two kilos or so. Just like in my dreams.
"It's ok, right Inari?" Tazuna laughed still petting the boy's head.
"Mom, they're going to die. There's no way a person can win against Gatō" Inari turned to Tsunami and spoke with the same determination Sakura spited facts.
"What did you say, brat?!" Naruto jumped on his feet as if the floor was suddenly made out of lava. "Listen up, I'm a hero, that's going to become a great ninja, known as the Hokage." This is amusing.
"A Hero?" Inari said on a flat tone. "How stupid. There's no such thing as hero." Well, we agree on something.
"Wha… What did you say?!" Naruto took some steps further before an annoyed Sakura stopped him.
"Stop it, idiot!"
"If you don't want to die, you should go home"
I watched Inari walk away, pretty content with condemning us to an inevitable death. Ha. That child… Well, thankfully this mission has been given to team 7, because I doubted anyone else would have continued and brought Tazuna back home in one piece, alive. That face expression though. Empty.
"That child seems more depressed, mean and arrogant than you." I told Sasuke earning a glare, of course.
"Where are you going Inari?" Tazuna asked, hoping perhaps that his grandchild would spend some time with him, now that he was back.
"I'll go watch the ocean."
Short reply. He closed the sliding doors – which I learnt, were called 'shōji' (and refused to refer to them as that) – and his paces died fast as he distanced himself from the room. The whole atmosphere, changed drastically, perplexity coming from us and sadness and slight embarrassment coming from Tsunami and Tazuna.
"I'm sorry" the latter excused his grandchild.
Naruto stopped fidgeting and Sakura let go of him but then he started walking again. I stopped Sakura grabbing her forearm, the movement itself making me cringe because of the sudden twist of my body. I shook my head. She looked at me confused but didn't press and further.
"Kakashi-sensei, didn't you say something about training?" I asked trying to change the subject.
"Yes, we should wait for Naruto, but until then" Kakashi said "Tsunami-san do you happen to have crutches?"
Ҩ
The weather in the Land of Waves was no better than Konoha. The sun was just as shinny and burning up in the unblemished blue sky, no cloud in sight, like a mirror of ozone. The humidity made the strands of my braid stick in ringlets to my neck. It was annoying enough that my shoulder was stinging beneath the bandage. Tsunami had been kind enough to change it before following the others in this godforsaken forest. The only difference between Konoha's warm and humid climate and the Lands of Waves was perhaps the fact that the wind seemed to be cooler here and even more humid. Must be the ocean.
"Kaya, are you sure you are fine enough to partake in the training?" Kakashi asked the third time in fifteen minutes.
"I'm fine." I rolled my eyes. He can't even walk without crutches. It took us fairly more time to get here since Kakashi was jumping kind of and I was careful to not move my shoulder by mistake and end up screaming in pain. Because it hurt like a bitch. Who knew that I use my shoulder this much? I never paid attention to my movements so closely until now.
"Well, then," Kakashi sighed displeased with my stubbornness, I could tell, by the tone of his voice "we will now begin the training."
Naruto's eyes lit up like candles on Christmas. Well, I could relate to him. Even Sakura was excited about our first proper training, if you didn't count the surviving test of course, but that wasn't exactly what you would call traditional training. Somehow I doubt that any kind of traditional training will work for us. I looked at the Duck. The same inexpressive face. It was unsettling thinking of people not giving away emotions when you look at them. Usually your eyes betray the emotion you feel. For a split second at least. No human could completely shut down their faces which is why masks were the traditional attire of a ninja….along with hiding one's identity.
"But before that," I snapped out of my thoughts hearing Kakashi's voice. "let me once again talk about Chakra, the base of any ninja ability."
"No please, don't, actually." I pleaded.
"At a time like this…?" Sasuke asked with a tinge of annoyance and impatience.
"I already know about that." Naruto declared joining in complaining. I sighed. "Chakra, right?"
"Yes, chakra" Kakashi said impersonating Naruto's voice only that spookier and raspier which made the blonde flinch ("My voice sounds nothing like that!"). "Sakura, if you may."
"Listen, Naruto. I'm going to explain this in a simple manner so you can understand and to save time." Sakura said resting her hand on her hips. Why? Because I and the duck are experts when it comes to chakra?
"Vala, are you two allied against the poor blonde? Self-esteem will be crippled for life if you keep up like this, you know?" I said as a matter of fact.
"Kaya, I think you should listen close too" Kakashi said with a smile beneath his mask with mild complaints from me (EXCUUUSE you, Kakashi-sensei?!"). Why …! "Go one Sakura."
"Chakra is the energy that a ninja needs to use in order to perform a technique." the pink haired kunoichi explained. "This energy comes from the body energy that is collected from every cell in the body and from the spirit energy that comes from training and experience. In other words, techniques come from these two energies that are squeezed out of the body and molded together. This process is known as chakra molding. And with this chakra, one is able to perform a technique by forming a seal."
I stared at Sakura. What the…?
That wasn't how I conceptualized Chakra. That wasn't how I conceptualized Chakra at all.
"Correct." Kakashi approved and a very proud Sakura looked at the jounin pleased with herself. "Iruka-sensei was blessed with a very gifted student I see."
I was too appalled to actually make a witty remark, still fixing the smiling pinkie and Kakashi. Why, just why would one bother to memorize chunks of information that are intuitive and can be deduced very easily? And conceptualized in a much easier way? Body and Spirit. Too much of one will hinder the other. Both of them balanced = good control of chakra. Also, wasn't chakra circulating through its own canals just like arteries and veins? I was beginning to second guess myself, until I realized that we were merely touching basics. Perhaps the best thing was to keep my mouth shut and actually listen.
"What's with that?" Naruto asked rather annoyed "You can learn that with your body even if you don't understand the hard stuff."
"Exactly what Naruto said" Sasuke surprisingly agreed. "We're able to use techniques anyway."
"Oh my gods, this is going to take years." I said as the Uchiha stopped talking. "You have to balance out both of them if you want to use any jutsu to its maximum efficacy. And to do that you need a good grip on the basics. But," I looked at Sakura and from her expression, my stare was making her very uncomfortable. "you memorized the bloody definition word by word?" I winced at the end as if the very idea was outrageous. "Why?"
"You guys are not able to use your chakra completely." Kakashi stated calmly. Both the blond and the Duck looked at him surprised and I sighed again exasperated by their overconfidence and arrogance to believe that being a genin, was one of the best rank a ninja could accomplish. If I could facepalm…. But I couldn't as my shoulder was stinging from the solution Tsunami applied to my injury. I refused to look at it, out of pure cowardice. I didn't want to see it, as long as there was someone around to bandage it.
"Just listen up." Kakashi said still calm. " Just as Sakura said, molding chakra means to extract the energies from both the body and spirit and mixing them in your body. And the type of each energy will differ from the type of technique you wish to execute. In other words, the mixing will be different."
He's talking about elemental chakra? Or nature transformation, to be more exactly. Which meant, if I remembered correctly, molding and defining of chakra into an innate kind of chakra nature, altering its properties and characteristics for use in techniques. Ha, if Sakura would have heard this. Yeah, but she couldn't because she can't read minds. Rude, brain. Shockingly rude.
"You are not able to use your chakra effectively. As pointed out by Kaya." The grey jounin concluded. "Even if you can mold a large amount of chakra, if you can't control the balance, your technique will be half as effective or not executed at all. Wasting energy will result in weakness and not being able to fight for a long time."
"So what should I do?" Naruto inquired confused. Well, Naruto, we're not here to admire the little hatching ants and the growing grass, are we?
"You're going to learn how to control it with your body." Kakashi answered serious. "You must go through rigorous training where you put your life on the line." I rolled my eyes at that. "I see you already don't take it as seriously as you should."
"Ok, ok, you're right." I held my arms in front of me instinctively, which made me gasp out in pain and clutch to my shoulder. But I straighten fast enough to, well, try and show the others that nothing happened.
"Kaya-chan, maybe you should rest and wait for the wound to heal." Sakura said and Naruto nodded his head to my left while I took the liberty to ignore both of them. "What are we going to do, sensei?"
"Tree climbing"
"Tree climbing?!"
"Shh, Naruto, you'll disturb the squirrels."
"What squirrels?!" he turned to me and then around to see the said squirrels.
"Cannibalistic, blood thirsty and psychopathic squirrels." I explained nodding my head absently. "They may be in the league with the ducks."
"What are you talking about?" Sasuke asked monotonously and I noted that today he was in a talkative mood.
"Oh, don't worry, they won't come after you. They consider you family. The depressed and megalomaniac little duckling."
"What…"
"…how are they a threat if they are cannibalistic? Doesn't that imply they eat each other and not us?"
"….tree climbing, that's right." Kakashi spoke loudly, cutting us off abruptly. He tilted his head and looked straight at me. " Kaya, you worry me sometimes. It's no ordinary tree climbing. You're going to climb trees without hands."
"Huh? How do we do that?" Sakura asked.
"Sounds good to me" I smiled sheepish.
"Yeah, but, how are we going to do that?"
"Just watch." Kakashi interrupted yet another round of nonsense.
The grey jounin let the crutches support his weight in order to free his arms and form a basic seal. Then he leaned into the crutches once again and walked over to the nearest tree. He stepped on the tree. And started walking. Up the tree. With the wooden crutches. Simple, just like that. I watched Kakashi ascend step by step, up the tree. It's …. He's… impossible… Yet. It was chakra. I did try to access it before and it felt weird at first. To feel something like a web of strings beneath my skin embedded in my flesh and bones…
"He's climbing…" Naruto said perplexed.
"…vertically with just his legs." Sakura finished the sentence.
"And he's using crutches. Guys, if we fuck this up, we're soo lame."
Kakashi walked slowly until he was standing upside down reminding me too much of Zabuza when he tried to decapitate us with that ridiculously massive sword. But …. How are the crutches not falling? Was Kakashi holding them in place or…? He channeled chakra into them? It was impossible to keep them upside down like that. It was against gravity, for Vala's sake! This is... interesting. I started grinning madly. I have… IDEAS.
"This is how." Kakashi said with the same characteristic calm. "Gather your chakra at the bottom of your feet and make it attached to the tree trunk. Something like this is possible if you use chakra."
"Wait, how can we become strong by doing that?" Sakura inquired recovering from the initial shock.
"Ah. Now we get to the main topic. The main purpose of this training is to accumulate the right amount of molded chakra in the right location." Kakashi explained still attached upside down to the branch. In other words precision. "This is difficult even for a well-trained ninja. The amount used to this tree climbing exercise is quite subtle. And the most difficult place to concentrate chakra is said to be behind the feet. In other words, if you are able to master this, you can learn any technique."
"So, mastering this will give us the potential to learn any technique." I corrected just to make things clear… and because I was too distracted to make any jokes. He's sitting upside down. Attached to a branch. Walking with the help of crutches.
"Yes, in theory, that's it." Kakashi nodded. "The second purpose is to maintain the molded chakra. Most of the time, ninja mold their chakra during the battle. In such a situation, it's even more difficult to maintain that chakra. Well, it isn't like anything is going to happen if I continue with this lecture." he shot me a semi-glare as I've been yawning the fifth time. "It's your turn to try" he threw four kunai, one for each of us in front of our feet. "Use that kunai to mark where you are able to climb up to with your current ability. You aren't good enough to climb by walking so run to give yourself a boost, and get used to it. Got it?"
I reached for the kunai in front of me, careful not to move my left shoulder. Run…? I touched the point of the kunai with my thumb but careful to not pierce the skin. Hm…. I knew the whole scene from the anime, of course, but I always thought that running up the tree wasn't helping. It was energy draining if not something else. Also…
"This training is too easy for me!" Naruto exclaimed suddenly and I winced feeling a trace of warm blood coming from my thumb. Damn. "Since I'm the guy who is growing the most right now!"
"Don't shout Naruto. The squirrels." I said cuttingly as I was trying to determine how to climb that tree without using my arm, whether by running or trying to keep my balance. No that isn't an option.
"Hn." Sasuke agreed with my disapproval of the blonde's bragging.
"Okay, be quiet. Try and climb up any of the trees."
Hm… Funny how the four of us took the same stance and formed the seal almost at the same time. Guess all of us are excited about training after all. Gathering chakra in our feet. My shoulder was burning slightly due to the fact that I was using both my arms for the seal. Focus on chakra. Right. It was a warm feeling. Chakra. I tried this before. Truly, but just the fact that I understood it made the difference. I closed my eyes and let the feeling of warmth coat my legs and feet. It was like a second pair of veins. Ah. I see. I heard the others. Running. Hm…
Naruto run toward the tree, with a lot of momentum and … after one step fell backwards on his head. That must have hurt. He used a small amount of chakra. Too weak. But. I looked at Sasuke his first attempt much better than Naruto's. However, there was a mark, of his foot embedded in the tree trunk. Too strong. Too much chakra. So, as Kakashi said, we must find the balance and maintain it.
"This is easier than I thought."
Sakura. I looked at the pinkie sitting on a high branch of the tree she chose and smiling down at us, peasants. I smirked. Of course. Best at controlling chakra. However…
"Sakura-chan!" Naruto shouted delighted. Right. Having a crush. I sighed.
"Oh? It looks like the one who is the best at controlling her chakra is Sakura." Kakashi said.
"Wow, Sakura-chan! That's soo awesome"
"Naruto, put pressure on you head bump, or it's going to get even bigger." I said cutting him off.
"Damn it." Sasuke said openly annoyed that Sakura out of all people, beat him at this. This, of course, deflated Sakuras good mood.
"Your knowledge of chakra was splendid, your stamina and control are good as well." Kakashi complimented smiling at his student. "Maybe Sakura, and not someone else, is the closest one to becoming a Hokage right now." Ah. "The Uchiha clan isn't as great as I thought either."
"Sorry, Kakashi-sensei" I shrugged my shoulders and I heard Sasuke gritting his teeth. "But I'm afraid I can't run. Not with my shoulder in this state."
"Ah, Kaya-chan, that's alr-…"
I paid no attention to the jounin. Actually, I paid no attention to anything but the tree in front of me as I put my feet on its trunk, vertically. Then I started to climb. To walk. Not run, but walk calmly just like Kakashi did. I made no rush for it, just concentrating on the trunk and not looking around because that would have made me nauseous. But I was climbing, or walking more like it, careful to not move my shoulder instinctively to balance myself. But, no. I had perfect control over my balance. I have perfect control over everything. I could laugh in delight, but didn't. Did you know some people move their shoulders when they laugh? Neither did I until I woke up that day.
I stopped at some point because I was getting dizzy. And noticed that I almost got as high as Sakura. If only I could have gone a little higher.
"Sakura's right. It's rather easy."
"That is SO AWESOME KAYA-CHAN!"
I couldn't stop a little smile that sprung up my face. Let's face it. I just used chakra. Quite efficiently and did something that a genin shouldn't be able to at this level. Yes, I was proud of myself. Not to mention I had a nasty wound and was in constant pain. I should stop congratulating myself. Yeah, I should.
"Good job, Kaya." Kakashi said smiling. Ha. I nodded and stabbed the branch with the kunai just to mark my accomplishment and started descending. I could already feel my control escaping me, and I didn't want to shadow my victory over chakra control with a bad fall from a high branch. Eventually opening my wound as well. Nope.
I returned to the earth with small paces and the Duck still had a dumbfounded expression. Ah. The poor Uchiha. Well, the truth was I had a better experience when it came to concentrating on a task. I wasn't a twelve years old, learning to focus on one thing. I The Uchiha was still staring until I decided that it was just too unnerving.
"Uchiha are very good at chakra control." I said happily.
"So I have heard." Kakashi encouraged my teasing.
"Shut up Sensei!" Sakura snapped not at all happy with the growing annoyance of her precious duckling.
"Alright!" Naruto exclaimed with the kunai in his hand. "I'm going to catch up to Sasuke first! Then surpass both Kaya-chan and Sakura-chan!"
I smiled at the blonde and the Uchiha as they sent each other glares. Ha. Competition, much? I sighed and massaged my shoulder hissing at the pain that rose. How am I supposed to shoot arrows with this?! Ah, well.
"Kakashi-sensei?"
"Yes, Kaya-chan?" he responded on the same childish tone but it sounded very wrong coming from him.
"Never do that again, please" I said seriously. "I already have nightly nightmares about the Uchiha massacre, I don't want to add a new dimension to them. May I continue training?"
Pause.
"Why?"
"Because I think I can get higher than that and I felt my balance off a little bit." I looked at him. "I just think I can do much better with a little more practice."
He looked at me for a while, unmoving as if he wanted to examine me. Just as I thought he was doing the mannequin challenge, he smiled.
"Alright, Kaya-chan. But you have to promise to be careful about overexerting yourself. You are still recovering from a serious blood loss."
I smiled widely.
"Yes, sensei."
Back in business.
Hello, here's a new chapter. I'm a little numb at the moment because I've been binge watching the final season of Vikings the entire night. And after feeling all of these… FEELS and cried for an hour or two (I love Ivar, I love Hvitserk, my heart is still breaking) I'm finally completely numb.
But yeah, getting out of my complete stupor and heartbreak, I hope you enjoy this chapter! I'm starting to see why I almost abandoned the fic 3 years ago; I have already fleshed out Kaya's story (kinda) in my drafts for these upcoming chapters and I, unfortunately, don't have time to change some substantial parts. They still work, but if I could I would jump over a lot of a lot of cannon-events and focus on those relevant to Kaya. …which I'll still end up doing after the Land of Waves. Until then, I kinda already have the skeleton of the chapters and I'm just adding the 'meat'. Feel free to tell me your opinion, what works and what doesn't for you so far, what you'd like to see more, what you'd like to see less (the singing is gone, I promise). Feedback is very important to me and I really appreciate it :)
See you next chapter!
Oh and guys? Happy New Year ❤️