Chapter 7: The Professor's Son

I tried to hold the kunai like my memory showed in my right hand, and aimed at the center of a large tree that was roughly ten feet away. I let the kunai fly the short distance and heard the satisfying sound of it lodging itself inside the bark. The metallic weapon didn't make it to the center like I was hoping, but I wasn't complaining. At this stage every hit was a win for me.

I slid my right hand into my weapons pouch again and grabbed my next kunai. Then I took the same stance as before and tried to adjust my aim a little more to the left. The second kunai was flung and once more I saw it dig into the bark.

"Damnit. I over adjusted that time." I frowned as I reached into my pouch and grabbed my third kunai. My eyes closed as I took a calming breath to center myself. "Stop worrying about other shit right now. All I need to do is focus on this task."

When I opened my eyes I was back in the right mindset and ready to continue. My last weapon was finally thrown, and while it still landed to the left of the center, it was a little closer to the middle than my first two were. I smiled at the small accomplishment, and walked the short distance to retrieve my daggers. This process went on for another twenty minutes before I decided to back up another three feet from the tree.

"I know that I'm getting better at this, but I feel like Anko would laugh at my less than perfect throwing skills. We're probably supposed to have at least a basic grasp of it before our last year in the academy. I have no clue how good the other ninjas-in-training are in my grade level, but they should be pretty proficient at throwing the most basic ninja weapon by now."

I threw the kunai from my slightly further position for about an hour before I took a break. I gathered all three up again, put them in my pouch, and plopped down next to my backpack. Two containers and a water canteen were taken out of the largest pocket before I zipped it back up again. I enjoyed my cold water with a large portion of cherry tomatoes, fresh green beans, and a white rice ball on the side for my main snack. Then I took out two sticks of hanami dango from the second container and munched on those for my dessert.

The containers were stored away into my backpack before I stood up to stretch. Then I went back to my solo training with a satisfied stomach. I got an idea when I was eating, so I began to test it out instead of immediately going back to basic throwing. I grabbed a small rock and stood ten feet away from the tree again. The rock was flung above me before I gathered my chakra and quickly released it. The Kawarimi no Jutsu was activated and I hurled my kunai at the trunk after I appeared on the opposite side of it.

The results weren't amazing because of the new distance, but I at least hit the right side of the trunk in my haste to get a shot in. I smiled as I thought that this was something I could at least practice on my own. Although having a partner to work with would still be preferable.

"An even better jutsu to learn would be the shunshin no jutsu though. I could travel a lot farther with it, and not have to worry about exhausting my chakra from using it. Maybe I could get Anko to teach me something useful like that after a while."

I incorporated the kawarimi no jutsu into my weapon training from then on, and continued practicing for another hour. At this point I was starting to get exhausted from using two jutsu continuously for so long, so I pocketed my kunai and walked towards my backpack again. I picked it up and slowly began to make my way towards the food district with it safely on my back. Business in the area was booming, and I realized why once I saw that it was a little after one o'clock in the afternoon. I started to look around when I noticed a restaurant that caught my attention.

I entered the restaurant named Yakiniku Q and got in the slightly long line to place my order. A few moments later I noticed a worker of the restaurant off to the side. She was glancing over at the seating area, and walked over to our line of people once she saw a group of four get up to leave from a booth. "Is there a group of four or three waiting in line?" What looked to be two different groups raised their hands before looking towards the rest of the line.

The four person group further up the line immediately walked towards the waitress after they noticed each other. A few minutes later the waitress came back over and asked if there was a person or couple that wanted to be seated. I raised my hand and stepped forwards while checking if anyone else was before me, and smiled when there wasn't anyone. Therefore, I was surprised to receive a soft tap on my left shoulder as I made my way over to her. I gave a small jump at the contact and quickly turned around to see a familiar face.

"Of all the restaurants I could have picked… Well now I remember why this place was vaguely familiar. He was a regular customer here."

None other than Asuma Sarutobi was standing beside me right now in his uniform. He smiled at me and gave a small wave as a greeting. "Hey there, would you mind if I sit with you? I just got off from a mission, and I don't think my stomach can wait for much longer."

"Sure, I don't mind."

We followed the waitress to a low table that had two soft green cushions on the floor for seats. She spoke up and said, "I'll let you both look through the menu for a bit, not that you actually need one, right Asuma?" They both shared a smile at the joke before she left and he sat down with a chuckle.

I slowly sank into the comfortable seat after Asuma did and looked up towards him. He let out a soft sigh and looked to be right at home. Just like the lady said, he wasn't taking a glance at the menu. "So, do you have any recommendations on what to try? This is my first time coming here."

He looked up in surprise at hearing me speak to him before he quickly thought up an answer. "Well, Yakiniku has a popular dish that I get every time I come here. I can order it for the both of us and you can tell me what you think once you try it. I'll even pay for your meal if you don't end up liking it, so you don't have to worry about that." The waitress walked over to our table right after he finished speaking.

"He must be pretty confident that I'll like the meal. I guess I'll just go with it then."

I smiled and told him I'd try the dish before the waitress placed two cups of water in front of us. Then she turned towards Asuma and said, "So what'll it be today? The usual?"

He nodded at that and told her, "Yup, and the kid over there's gonna get the same thing as me."

She nodded back, told us that she'd notify the other workers of our order, and left the table once again. Not long afterwards a male worker came out from the kitchen and set down a platter with meat on it along with two clean plates set to the side. He gave a low, "Please enjoy the meal," with a short bow before taking his leave.

I stared uncertainly at the dish once the worker left, and heard a short, barking laugh from the man across from me. "It's not going to bite you, kid. Here, let me show you how you're supposed to cook it." I handed him the platter and settled back down in my seat to watch him prepare it on the grill.

Asuma was cooking the meat with such a practiced eye that there wasn't any doubt as to him being a regular here. He knew exactly when to flip the raw meat, and before I knew it the dishes were done. A clean plate was placed in front of me, and I still wasn't sure what exactly I was going to be eating.

"I've never eaten something like this before…"

I looked over at Asuma, to see him watching me with a small smirk. He made a 'go on' gesture with his left hand and didn't even try to hide that he was still staring afterwards. "Fine. I'll try it, okay? Just stop watching me already." He laughed as I looked back at my meal with nervous trepidation. Eventually, I worked up the nerve to try the mystery meat and I was pleasantly surprised at the results.

"It tastes pretty good, especially with the onions, but the texture's kind of weird."

I continued eating my meal without any problems, which seemed to please Asuma. He focused on eating his own food once he saw that I was enjoying mine. After we both finished eating we exchanged names before he told me to follow him to the pay area. We walked back towards the entrance of the restaurant and stopped at a desk that one worker was sitting at.

Asuma handed the worker a small slip of paper and handed some ryo to her. I looked over at him and said, "So, how much was mine?" I began to take out Gama-chan as I said that, but he stopped me before I could grab any money.

"It's okay Haru. I already payed for it."

"Really? Thanks Asuma." After that we walked out of the restaurant, said our goodbyes, and went our separate ways. I traveled back to my apartment to rest for a while, and continued where I left off in 'The Tale of The Utterly Gutsy Shinobi'. I stopped after I finished the next chapter to continue training. I started by brushing up on my chakra control exercises for a half hour. Which was honestly just meditation since I wasn't outside and didn't want to risk the total destruction of my home.

That evolved into using my living space to practice my jutsu. I randomly switched between using the normal henge no jutsu to turn into random people along with the infamous oiroke no jutsu so I wouldn't get rusty. I was glad that I could practice at least some of my techniques while in my room rather than traveling back to a training ground. Even if it was technically just one jutsu with the other as a variation. I eventually tired myself out enough to take a break from training, so I walked over to my bathroom to take a shower.

I relaxed under the soothing hot water, and let it take away any lingering tension from my body. Once the water began to run cold I got out and only put on a pair of boxers and pajama pants. "It's not like I'm leaving my place later tonight anyways."

Supper was a short affair that consisted of instant ramen packets with a few glasses of milk. I passed out not long after eating, and I figured that would help me in the long run. I knew that I would need the extra energy for what I planned on doing the next day.

AN: Yakiniku Q was an actual restaurant in the show that Team Asuma went to a lot.

- I just can't picture myself eating the popular dish that Naruto and Asuma ate this time- Which was salted beef tongue with onions. Points to ya if you already knew what the mystery meat was.

Edited 7/6/20