• CHAPTER EIGHT •
Yaruka dreamt of nothing, that night. His head grew empty upon arrival to the foreign world, his only nightmares being his disappearance of his own dimension, and his only dreams being the memories of the day before; his discussion with Jiraiya and the hokage himself had almost felt as if he imagined it, and having the privilege to shop with both Ino and Sakura had almost felt to be made up. Yet, he discovered it all to be true, upon waking to a solid knock at his door, upon realising that during his regular life, a visitor so early in the morning had been non existent, and he only took the time to adjust, before his name had echoed to his ears.
"Yaruka? I believe you needed to speak with me?" Though glum, the voice could be easily recognised as the enthusiastic teacher, Guy. Yaruka almost bounced at the words, throwing himself from the comfort of his blankets, and hopping to meet with the apartments entrance. He threw on his shoes hurriedly, before tossing open the door, a string of sweat coating his forehead, as he panted lightly at the amount of energy exerted.
"Hello, sensei," Yaruka mumbled through his gentle gasps, bowing in a solid respect, "I assume the hokage had spoken with you?"
"He has." The older man stared downward at the tiny figure, a sly chuckle to his throat. He peaked a head over the corner of the doorway, eyeing what he could see of the apartment, as if comparing it to the childs own appearance. "May I come inside? There are matters we must discuss."
"Oh, of course." Yaruka nodded, tearing himself away from the entrances view, clearing a pathway, as the respected ninja trudged inside. He bowed, once again, hurriedly removing his shoes, tucking them neatly into a corner, as he raced after the other male. "Should I put on some tea?" He called out, almost tripping into his small kitchen, clearly built for one person. Guy declined with a polite shake of his head, before perching himself upon the frail set of a dining table and chairs. Yaruka only nodded, and sat on the opposing side of the teacher.
"So, I would like to know about this business of you not belonging to this world." The older male began, his arms folded neatly before him, his eyes lidded, though his brows raised with a subtle hint of curiosity.
"Ah, so he has told you." Yaruka sheepishly scratched at his bottom lip, a nervous chuckle to his words. He sighed briefly, before shuffling upon the wooden seating, increasing his rates of comfortability. He lowered his gaze, before eyeing the kitchen, in one last suggestion. "It's a long story, are you sure you don't want some tea?" Again, the offer had been declined. Honestly, the boy was unsure if he even had tea in his apartment to begin with, though knowing of the beginners supply of food he had been able to purchase with the remainder of the sage and hokages funding.
"You're quite different from how you were with the girls yesterday, are you always this polite?" The man released a low chuckle, as he folded his arms to sit comfortably at his chest. Yaruka only blushed in embarrassment, almost choking on his own saliva. The sensei smirked at his reaction, though spoke of nothing else.
"Oh... You saw that?" The child exhaled sharply, avoiding the others grin.
"I did. Nothing to be ashamed of! I, like you, wish I could experience my youthful days..." It almost seemed if a sparkle radiated from the man, much like what would be seen within the anime. Yaruka scoffed quietly at the thought, a concept crossing his mind, almost instantly, as he stared downwards at his own hands. They were as regular as he'd assume, no cartoonish outline, nor a visible live action appearance. He simply existed among them, as if nothing were out of the ordinary.
"I don't wish to, I am experiencing it." Yaruka looked up from his hopeless daze. "But, I guess they brought out my childish side, yesterday. I'm actually an adult, I think you've been told, but I have somehow been placed in my thirteen year old self's appearance. I'm the same age as all the academy graduates, and it's somewhat been a dream of mine to train under the name of a ninja, coincidentally. But, in my world, there's no such thing, and now that I'm here I only assume that my chakra levels are absolutely empty. I want to train alongside Lee, once he's better, seeing we are the same. I want to match up to his skill, now that I'm here."
"Then, I'll train you - under Lord Third's orders - though, don't assume I'll go easy, even if you have the body of a youthful being." It seemed the senseis regular attitude had almost returned, though tinged with grief, despite the accident regarding Lee. The older man flashed a large grin, a thumbs up heading straight towards the childs face, who barely had the time to flinch.
"Oh..." The boy blinked, comprehending the hand only centimetres away from his nose. "Well, it's understandable. I may look like a child, but my stamina and such can still be the same as an adult's, right?" The older man straightened his demeanour, and agreed to a soft nod.
"Right. I was hoping to depart about now," Guy murmured, his eyes scanning downward at the child unkempt appearance, "but it looks as if..." Yaruka jumped at the words, reminded of how his hair stuck in multiple directions after waking up, and he still continued to sleep in Naruto's clothing for the third day in a row.
"Ah! Sorry! I'll go change immediately, I hope you don't mind waiting." The boy practically shouted as he sped off toward his bedroom, the door almost slamming behind him as he dug throughout the small pile of his belongings. From behind the walls, only a soft chuckle had been heard.
"How youthful..."
He rolled his eyes at the males response, and only pulled out his black turtle neck shirt, hopping across his room as he struggled to put on his new pair of grey shorts at the same time. From then, he shrugged his jacket on, no time being wasted as he scrambled out the door, and raced to the entrance of his apartment, which had already been occupied by Guy himself. Both males spent no expense of time pulling their shoes to their feet, before a small distance began to form between them and their final destination. His inability to be punctual reminded him of the moment before he arrived into this strange yet familiar world, having to throw on his clothes as he sprinted out the door, and how he'd been almost too late to meet with his transport. The thought of the woman he had promised to meet developed into a photograph within his mind, and soon his heart twisted guiltily, realising that if his reality carried on, she would have to conclude he stood her up, and perhaps delve into trust issues.
Yaruka's doubts began to force feed him lies, as to how the womans supposed meeting would end. At first, he thought of her only returning home, which had soon been crossed with visions of a car crash, or a kidnapping, or perhaps a case of sexual assault or murder. The boy shuddered, desperation clinging to his mind as he only wished to go home and live his boring life, though he was far more content than he should be as he sat under the comforts of his favourite characters, no matter their injuries, or their fates.
"How is Rock Lee? Is he well?" Yaruka broke the humble silence with a question, a polite inquisition toward the much older man. Guy only raised an eyebrow, a subtleness of a strictness lingering upon his playful demeanour.
"I thought you knew?" He hummed, his arms crossed tightly. The boy walking alongside him nodded, though fixed it with a shrug.
"Well, I do, but not in its entirety." The boy explained slowly, as if unsure of his phrased sentence. "I know what happens to him, though." At his last statement, Guy's lips upturned into a toothy grin.
"Ah! Is it my business to know?" The man leant forward, the emotion within his gaze unidentifiable, though it appeared clear he hoped for the better.
"I might destroy your universe, but he lives to be happy, I'll promise you that!" Yaruka returned the grin, a skip to his steps, before his burst of happiness cut itself short. A nauseous pang struck his belly, and he bent downward with a groan, his arms swinging to hug himself. The teacher paused for the moment, and knelt downward, a concerned palm against the boy's clothed back.
"Yaruka?" The man's voice grew softer, and rather fatherly to the boy's taste. Yaruka rose, though without the guidance of the other male, he would have surely fallen.
"It's okay, just a small price to pay for giving away the future, I suppose." The boy's voice held that of a wince, the pain residing, taking it's time to dissipate. "Can we... visit him once we return? I want to give him another flower, to help with his mentality, and I also need to apologise to a friend." He returned to the comforts of his feet, and within the radiance of a few steps, lowered his arms, the aching becoming tolerable. At least he hadn't needed to throw up that time. The teacher raised his thick brow once more to the childish figure, yet another toothy grin glued to his face.
"Ah! That Yamanaka girl, eh?" Yaruka only jumped at the girl's mention, and shook his head with a somewhat furiosity.
"What? Don't go around making weird guesses!" The boy's voice became somewhat of a yelp, and only earned a chuckle from the man.
"Ah, the joys of young love."
"I'm an adult, remember?" An increase of frustration began to appear through the form of a line between his brows.
"Sure, but your youthful spirit shows around her!"
"That means nothing, I just thought she needed a friend."
"You sound so much like a child..."
"Your idiocy is rubbing off on me!" Yaruka's voice cracked as he spoke with a raised volume, though Guy only laughed in response. The booming echo of merry happiness rung in the childlike figures ears, and the boy couldn't stand it. He shook his head, a squeal to his actions, as he burst into a sprint, heels dug deep into the dirt. His arms swung with his legs, which seemed to run on pure frustration, as the wind tackled tufts of hair behind his ears. Though he was short to slow down, as his moments of escape were met with doom once the teacher appeared directly in front of him. Yaruka forgot he could do that, and rammed face first into the male's chest. Guy burst into yet another fit of laughter, stumbling lightly, as he caught the boy in his hands. He seems to think this is just play... Yaruka growled in his mind.
"No need to be angered, I'm only lightening the mood." The male chuckled apologetically.
"More than it needs to be!" Yaruka muttered with a humph, and only turned his head the other way. "By the way, just thought I should warn you, I think I still have the stamina of a child."
"We can work with that."
"But I wasn't a fit child."
"We can work with that!" The male stood with a thumbs up, before beckoning the boy to continue their brief journey. It hadn't taken long to discover the quiet field, which bore a beaten log in the very centre. Yaruka was quick to recognise the location, though made no effort to point it out. Guy only performed a stretch in a spacial spot, which Yaruka became eager to mirror, arms outstretched, and his body tilted. Soon after, he had been lead into a series of poses, and soon small exercises to get his own blood pumping. Though, no matter the encouragement emitting from Guy, he groaned at the pain stabbing his muscles. Seconds turned to minutes, and the teacher became prepared to train, guiding the boy through similar workouts Yaruka had witnessed Lee performing, and a somewhat frustration straddled his mind.
"Lee does this, do you want me to be like him?" Yaruka perked an eyebrow, which was somewhat thick, he noticed. The base of his brows began as a thin trail, though soon expanded into a mess of aligned black hair, and thanks to the thickness of his hair, if only it were short, he could almost become Lee's twin. He shuddered at the thought of a green jumpsuit.
"Of course not, but it's a wonderful place to start!"
"This might take a while..." Yaruka sighed, rubbing his arms.
"That's no attitude to have!"
"I don't have any ninja blood in me, I'm purely mundane."
"Let's start at one hundred push ups, easy peasy!"
"Oh boy..."