Article 3 - Chapter 3 - I'm Going Down, I'm Yelling TIMBER!
Warnings: I do not own Naruto, it's intellectual property is owned by none other than Masashi Kishimoto. I own the OC's that I've added to the story and nothing more.
EDIT: (2/10/2018) - Made changes to the story, writing structure, and combed through the chapter for mistakes. I probably will still miss some stuff, but I hope you guys enjoy the work I spent polishing the story.
┬┴┬┴┤ Chapter 3├┬┴┬┴
┬┴┬┴┤神の起源├┬┴┬┴
The next day I woke, I made my bed then deciding to prepare for my daily morning physical training. I stretched myself out thoroughly even favoring some of the more advanced variations after getting my circulation going and becoming warmed up. I would go to the park before many of the children woke so that I could utilize the park equipment better with less competition. As far as strength to body-weight I was becoming quite strong.
I could do as many as 6 full range of motion pull ups without the assistance of chakra reinforcement. I hung from the bars often and slowly began removing one finger at a time and holding it before pressing my luck and taking another off. I repeated this until I would finally fall hoping to gain great finger dexterity. I would need it both for the gentle fist and hand signs later in life.
Next was the tricky part, I hauled a rock on top of the monkey bars and balanced it hoping that pulling myself up wouldn't shake it and cause it to fall to the ground. I successfully got to the top without it falling off and I wrapped the back of my knees around a bar, grabbed the rock, then let myself fall and dangle upside down. I began pulling my torso towards my knees gripping the rock at my chest. A much more difficult version of weighted sit ups that I began doing a few weeks ago. After every other repetition when I reached the bottom of the movement and was upside down I would flex my obliques and turn my torso either right or left and hold the rock out to the opposite side.
I caught an adult passing by stop. Whatever his intentions were, they were now watching me in curiosity. He looked surprised, taking a moment to watch me at work before walking over.
"What are you doing young Hyuga-kun?" He asked in a kind voice.
"T-Teh-raining" i uttered through the pain of struggling against the final rep I wanted to finish.
"Training huh? Why are you training?" He asked with concern in his voice.
"I heard that sometimes geniuses are surpassed by those who work hard. So I will be the hardest working genius."
It was not a lie, however I did not consider myself a genius. I knew that realistically I only had a head start, and that every moment I wasn't working towards my goal, the further I fell behind in comparison to my peers.
I hung upside down and searched his face for any tells to help me understand what they were thinking.
"It is rare that someone so young is so dedicated. What goal do you have?" they asked.
Hmm… obviously I can't tell him that I want to be strong enough to leave the village. To get away from the people who believe the sacrilege of the will of fire to be an excuse to make children fight in wars for the authoritarian Hokage.
"I will become the strongest shinobi the hidden leaf has ever seen and protect everything I hold dear."
It wasn't a lie persay, saying that much should be okay.
It seemed the man was taken back by my response. He did not laugh, he did not even smile. He continued to look into my eyes and I met his stare with determination.
"You have lofty goals for one so young." he finally said.
"Do you doubt me?" I asked incredulously.
The eyes that stared at me held sadness, probably thinking that I was pushed to this by my clan.
"Do you doubt my resolve?" I repeated.
"...Do you?" he asked.
Taken back by his question I paused. Oh no, He's going to think I'm not determined because I paused… but why would he ask If i doubt my own determination? Surely he is looking down on me because I am so young... Or was he?
"Do I doubt my own resolve?" I clarified to which he gave me a nod. "My resolve? Absolutely not. The end result… certainly."
"You also seem quite mature."
"I AM!" I shouted back.
I didn't mean to shout… The way it came out made it sound like I was providing evidence that I wasn't mature and that contradiction lead me to feeling embarrassed.
"I wish you luck little one. It seems the will of fire burns brightly in you." he said and then he vanished before my eyes.
I scouted around the area, but no longer saw him, instead noticing a few kids showing up to the park.
The will of fire? HA! It seems my true skills lie in acting, perhaps I should have just decided to be a performer in my last life.
I grumbled internally thinking that I wasted my time with the encounter and could have just as easily brushed him off. I decided to go for a run to take my mind off of it.
My legs pumped hard slapping my feet into the earth. I leaned forward and always made sure that the first contact with the ground was always my toes first then rolling onto the balls of my feet moving into the next step.
Form and mechanics at the end of the day, help you direct your strength and power the way you intend. Making sure my form was as crisp as possible, especially after feeling fatigue was important. It would no doubt help develop the muscle memory to continue to have fine tune motor skills even after exhaustion.
The blood pounded in the side of my head and my lungs whole-heartedly gasped for air, yet I would not relent.
Relenting would be paramount to accepting my genetic limit. I would push past my limits, I would prove that Being-X couldn't keep me contained to a cage like a good little pet. Whether that cage was Konohagakure or my weak feminine frame. My mind was the strongest tool I had, and pushing it and enduring with willpower alone could only make it stronger right?
Drenched in sweat and the burning feeling of my lungs I finally couldn't stand it anymore. The breathing technique I used to prolong activity before fatigue crept in was becoming undone as I wheezed in huffs.
(When I run I try to breathe in through my nose to steady the breathing, trying to keep it steady. Releasing it steady was also important, but the release is of lesser importance so I exhale through my mouth constantly and controlling the exhale is the first thing I discard.)
My legs wobbled with each step becoming increasingly difficult to keep them align.
My whole body wanted more oxygen as my mouth was fully agape greedily trying to suck down as much as possible.
I pulled all of my focus that I could and was determined to just push myself a little further.
Just a little more is all I need.
Body I NEED MORE, JUST A LITTLE MORE.
HUEEEE-pshhhh...HUEEEE-pshhhh
My eyes clenched together as hard as I could to only think about maintaining my speed and form.
My right foot came down further than I had expected before finally meeting with the ground awkwardly.
My eyes jerked open and I couldn't stop my forward momentum.
My foot was stuck and it wouldn't become dislodged.
I continued to move forward even if my leg betrayed me.
*Crunch*
Pain shot through my ankle as I stumbled forward into the dirt.
Unable to move, All I could do was pant trying to catch my breath.
The pain caused tears to rush to my eyes, but I didn't want to be defeated by my emotions again. It was different the night before when I let them out into my pillow. It seemed acceptable then, but here it spelled my defeat, that I wasn't able to persevere.
I pulled myself up and slapped my face. The noise was oddly satisfying and helped rein in my self-control. This pain was inflicted by myself, I can control when I feel pain too.
The tears behind my eyes retreated and I celebrated my victory.
I shouted a battle cry of conviction into the air as loud as my overworked lungs could bellow.
"Aaaaaaaaarghhhh!"
Birds flocked from the surrounding tree's into the air, flapping away with "Squawks."
I looked back down and stared at my ankle. Upon first inspection it looked fine, at the very least it didn't look like the foot was crooked in any way. I grabbed it and tried to rotate it causing a pang of pain to shoot up through my leg. I bit into my lip in an attempt to suppress my noises of pain and discomfort.
I got up, trying to put weight on it slowly, first from the tips of my toes. The pain was extreme. I noted that I would need to acclimate myself to pain again. This body was unruly, and this much pain shouldn't be felt from what I theorized was a minor ankle sprain.
Perhaps this is why children always act like it's the end of the world when they get hurt. Their nervous systems are not ready to handle the types of injuries I had sustained in my last life.
I hopped back to the compound on one leg, and instead of feeling sorry for myself I just treated it like it was training. That I could do this at least twice over if i needed to. As this thought occurred to me I laughed.
I was starting to sound like the training obsessed 'Rock Lee' of my distant memories.
"The powers of youth huh?"
┬┴┬┴┤神の起源├┬┴┬┴
Before I made it all the way back to the compound a Hyuga wondering the village spotted me. He approached me and then stopped in front of me.
"You are injured?" he asked.
I looked up at him and paused for a moment, looking to see if I could find concern in his eyes before responding with a nod.
"I will carry you back to the compound then." he said.
Before I could even object I was swept off my feet princess style. This was not okay, some dude just swept me off my feet and is carrying me like a princess. Sure, in this world I may be a girl, but I still had my pride.
"You do not need to go so far, the injury is minor and I'm practicing returning in case I ever injure myself again."
The look he gave me was of absolute surprise and exacerbation. I surmised that If our roles were reversed, I would never have expected someone so young to say something like that.
"Do not struggle, and do not worry. First priority is making sure your injury doesn't get worse and heals properly."
As stubborn as I am, It's definitely not something I wanted to argue on. After all, I too wanted to recover as quickly as possible.
We walked through the gates of the compound and many eyes rested on me in the arms of this man. He whisked me to the recovery wing of the main building and sat me down on a chair outside a room and knocked.
A woman answered back without opening the door "Who is it?"
"Tokuma Hyuga" he replied.
There was some movement from inside the room, a brief pause, then sounds of cabinets closing, and seconds afterward, the door swung open.
"What is the pleasure?" the woman asked in a warm intimate tone before spotting me and looking back to him.
"I was wondering if you could take a look at Mina-kun's injury if you had time."
Her eyes fell on me again as she walked over. She bent down in front of me so our eyes were level and gave me an empty smile.
"Where does it hurt little one?"
"I… might have sprained my ankle while running." I said.
She looked me over once more before pointing to both legs as if asking 'which one?'
I lifted my right leg to indicate which one was injured.
She made a hand seal before activating her Byakugan.
"Tsk Tsk" she said then turning her head to the man who called himself Tokuma. "Tear of the interior peroneal tendon." She turned her head back to me and said "It must hurt a lot. You are strong not to be crying."
"Can you please speak to me like I'm not incompetent." I found myself snap before realizing. I dropped my head, gaze falling to my lap before adding. "I'm sorry, I don't know what came over me."
The woman didn't seem prepared to hear my rebuke as she paused a moment before speaking again.
"You must feel belittled by adults, but I'm sure many do it because you look so precious."
Heat started cultivating in my cheeks as I could imagine how red I must have became from the statement. I was a grown man trapped in this little girl, of course being called precious would make me feel uncomfortable.
"Mhm… Thank you… what is your name?"
"Ayasha." she said with a much more real smile.
"Thank you Ayasha-san."
The rest of the encounter happened as one might expect, she applied medical ninjutsu to my upper foot and used her fingers to stretch out my foot trying to line the tendon i guessed. After some time and some agony, she applied some type of cream which felt very cold to the touch and rapped up my ankle in gauze. She finished it off with medical tape to restrict the movement and tells me that I handled that well before again patronizing me because of my youth.
I began hobbling back to my quarters, declining the help of either of them, overhearing them talk as I left.
"That girl is so independent… she is Yoruichi's child right?" Ayasha asked in a hushed tone.
Hearing my mother's name I began hobbling faster. I didn't like hearing the things other people said about the woman who birthed me. They were hardly ever compliments, and even though I didn't consider her my mother, deep down, somewhere inside, it hurt to hear people talk ill of her.
I arrived at the door to my home and slid it open. A small hope that my mother was home and would see me like this appeared in my mind before I killed it entirely. The window was open and a cool breeze blew through the room. In the hour or so since I had been outside the sky visibly darkened because of the heavy clouds that appeared.
I spent the rest of the day engrossed in my studies while thick blankets of rain fell on the roof with loud ambient noise. I showed up for my lessons and completed them without fail, even staying after class again. Neji didn't come over to my house again for a while, he kept saying that his father was drilling him in the gentle fist.
My schedule every day turned into the same. I woke up, stretched, went through my physical training, read, then showed up for my lessons. Meditation and chakra control exercises into the night. Each day began blending together and my greatest comfort was when I could hug my pillow close before falling asleep.
Authors Notes: Zemptai-sama again, I've felt really motivated to write lately, especially with the attention my story has already garnered. I really want to get to the point where Mina is older, but there are a few "checkpoints" that I need to cover from my timeline before I can get there. There are some MAJOR surprises on their way, and without leading up to it and showing how hard she's working I don't think it would feel earned. Enjoy the story and I earnestly ask anyone who is willing to, to write me a review. I will cherish each and every one of them and respond as best as I can. I write so I can share with you guys, and it warms my heart to hear your opinions and interact with the readers.
SPECIAL THANKS to those below who left me a review, It means a lot!
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