Stuck on the Road of Life
Promises
Disclaimer : I do not own Naruto, Kishimoto does. I'm just playing with his story…
True to her words, mom got me a shuriken and kunai training set. It wasn't much, but enough for my needs. I remembered a training ground not far from here. What was it? Training Ground Ten? Six? I couldn't remember. But I remembered seeing a few Genin training there. I hoped they wouldn't mind sharing. I hadn't seen Itachi for a while now. He should be training with his father. Well if that was the case, then I couldn't afford to lag behind.
I ran to the direction of training ground after eating a quick breakfast. Mom didn't bother asking where I was going. She knew that I was eager to try out the equipment set she had given me. I passed many shops and stalls before seeing the gates to the training ground getting closer. Once I arrived in front of it, I took a few deep breaths. Running all the way here didn't tire me as much as it used to. Pleased with my slow, but existent progress, I looked up at the sign above the gate.
It was a simple sign. Just a wooden post nailed on top of the gate with black ink used to write on it. It read, "Training Ground Eight". I opened the gate and ran inside. Slowing myself, I walked along the path to the training ground. I could see a large field with a few tall grasses around the edges of the land. I wasn't expecting anything special. Most training grounds were the same save for a few exceptions like the 44th training ground and 0th training ground which were used for special purposes. Chunin Exams for the former, and a wildlife preserve for the latter.
I certainly didn't expect a teenager with green jumpsuit to walk out of the field on his hands. I knew from the moment I saw that green suit and weird bowl haircut that I was looking at the figure of Might Guy, the Green Beast of Konoha. He stayed surprisingly (almost) silent as he walked on his hands, muttering numbers. I suspected that he targeted his goal to be around one thousand steps around the village.
I remembered the strength he would have in the future; a force so powerful that could go toe to toe with Six Path Madara. Fighting across the battlefield and kicking major ass even when he was already tired from fighting Kisame. I admired him, strength-wise, but I knew that I would just get myself killed if I adopt his training regime. And I honestly would rather kill myself if I were forced to wear that horrendous jumpsuit for the rest of my life.
He didn't seem to notice me, too engrossed in his training. I silently walked passed him, pulling out my favored novel from my pocket, and a pouch filled with training equipment in the other hand. Guy stilled for a second and turned back, still on his hands.
"YOUNG MAN!" he called me. I flinched, cursing my luck. I should've known that he would sense me. I turned around, and acknowledged him with a neutral expression.
"ARE YOU HERE TO TRAIN, MY YOUTHFUL FRIEND!?" he yelled. God, my ears hurt. I really wished he would stop talking in capital letters, but I knew that would be the day Tsunade stopped her drinking habit completely, or the day Jiraiya stopped becoming a pervert. Which basically meant the chance of that ever happening in the near future was little to none. I gave him a silent nod, not wanting to talk, afraid that it would just make him more inclined to stay. His encouragement, while nice, wasn't what I needed. All his yelling would just make me break concentration.
"GOOD LUCK ON YOUR WAY TO GREATNESS, MY FRIEND!" he yelled again, before sauntering off on his hands. I let out a long sigh, glad that he was out of the way. I didn't have anything against the guy, but he was just plain annoying.
After arriving in the middle of the training ground, I set my pouch down and pulled out my new training set. They were a bit blunt, as expected. But I knew that the best ninja could easily kill their target even with a blunt kunai. If I were to keep up with Itachi and Shisui, that meant I couldn't afford to slack off.
I turned around, facing the target, and in a single move, threw the training kunai I was holding. It lodged itself on the target, but not exactly on the center. I pulled a few shuriken and threw them one by one as fast as I could. Some had hit the center, but most strayed off.
From my experience yesterday, I knew that I was already good enough on throwing shuriken one by one, but I needed to up the stakes. Natural or no, I needed to train.
And so, until it was lunch time, I practiced on throwing shuriken and kunai a bit more before deciding to try and throw them while moving. As expected, I didn't even manage to hit a single target. I wasn't surprised, actually. Being natural didn't mean that I was a miracle worker.
I continued to try throwing projectiles while on the move. When a single shuriken had hit the target, I immediately went to check it. It wasn't perfect, as the shuriken only hit the edge of the target, but it was something. As I kept trying to hit the target, I noticed that some of them had started to veer into the right direction. I couldn't help but let out a small smile. I went home when the sun had been right above me.
I opened the door to my house as mom just finished a transaction with a customer. As she looked at me, mom wrinkled her face in disgust. I smell. I was aware of that. I was pretty sure a nin dog would probably pass out from my odor alone.
"You smell," she said. "Go take a shower, then you can cook lunch." I complied and took a quick shower.
Sometimes, when mom was too busy or tired, she would have me cook lunch for the both of us. It was actually my idea. When she found out I was quite good at cooking, she agreed to the arrangemen, albeit a bit relucantly. I didn't mind. I liked to experiment with my cooking, to my mother's delight. Although she was rather conflicted at whether she should be proud or scared that I was pretty skilled with a knife. The joys of being a twenty-one year old stuck in a five year old body.
I pondered on what to cook. I looked inside the refrigerator. We still had a few eggs left. I also noticed a few slices of chicken breast. I didn't really liked chicken. Make me choose between chicken and fish and I'd choose fish over chicken any day. Chicken had always been mom's favorite, not mine. It looked like she had bought some during yesterday's late grocery run. We still had leftover rice from breakfast and there was a jar of peanut butter sitting innocently on the small dining table. I scratched my head, remembering an old recipe I had accidentally come up with during a school competition in my old life. Maybe mom would like something different for a change. I pulled a chair and positioned it before the stove so that I could reach the top easier.
I pulled out two eggs, two slices of chicken breast, two small bowls and a bottle of soy sauce. I cleaned the chicken before cutting each slice to two and showered them with salt and a bit of pepper. I pulled out a frying pan, poured a little oil and put it on the stove before turning it on. I waited until it was hot enough before putting the chicken slices on it. I watched as the chicken sizzles in the hot oil. When I saw that the chicken had turned white enough, I pulled them out.
Moving away, I washed my hand and opened the jar of peanut butter. I took a few scoops and dumped them into the bowl in front of me. I poured a cup of water and some soy sauce. Absentmindedly, I took a spoon and stirred them together. I really liked cooking. Like reading, it was one of my ways to pass the time. There was a clear objective; to make an edible meal. It was simple, unlike life. No grey morality, no black and white morality either. Just me in the kitchen, minding my own business. Sometimes, it felt like a game to me. And the look my mother has on her face when she eats my cooking was always a plus.
After stirring for a while, I put the bowl down and brought the half cooked chicken slices. Using a spoon, I smeared the stirred peanut butter-soy sauce combination onto them. I turned on the stove again and let the little oil on it heat up again. I looked at the clock hanging near the door. About half an hour had passed since I first started and mom hadn't checked up on me during that time, as far as I know. She seemed busier than usual, which was weird. She was never that busy to begin with, to be honest. Was there any special occasion? I didn't remember any special event happening today. I glanced at the calendar on the wall. Today was a Thursday if I wasn't mistaken. I used the calendar to count the amount of days that had already passed this month.
Today was 17th of July.
There wasn't anything written on the calendar on that exact date. I shrugged it off. I could just ask mom later during lunch. I picked up the chicken slices with a spoon and gingerly put them on the hot oil. The chicken immediately sizzled. Pan fried chicken was something I was familiar with. Mom had cooked me this particular cooking a few times. Although the peanut butter sauce was entirely my idea.
After a while I pulled them out from the hot pan and searched for two small plates beneath the washing sink. After I found a pair, I put two slices of chicken on each of them. With that done, I proceeded to cook the eggs. They were fairly simple and not as messy. I just stirred the both of them and made an omelet which I later sliced in half. We still had some leftover rice from this morning, so I didn't need to cook any.
With the cooking done, I washed my hands, prepared a pair of bowls and filled them with rice. I pulled two sets of chopsticks and put them on top of the bowls. Not seeing anything that needed to be done anymore, I went to the bathroom to take a leak.
When I returned from the bathroom, mom was already waiting for me on the dining table. I hopped on the chair right across hers and proceeded to eat lunch. It was a fairly quiet affair, aside from the occasional questions from mom. As I looked down the direction of the hallway, I could see what looked like flowers on the couch. Curious, I asked mom about it. She wasn't the least bit surprised that I noticed. I had always been a perceptive child.
"It's for a friend," she said. I blinked. I had never known this friend. Was he or she a dear friend of mom? She wasn't talking about dad. She had brought me to his grave nearly a year ago. While I had barely felt anything but a twinge of pity, I could see that she was truly heartbroken by his death. She would never address dad as a 'friend'. She was bringing flowers, peony flowers if my sight weren't fooling me. What does peony flowers mean? I could've sworn that I had read that somewhere in a book in the library.
"Who is it?" I asked. Mom gave a small smile which had a trace of sadness in it.
"She was the one who made me to open this bakery here," said mom. This friend of mom was the reason she opened a bakery here? Right next to the Uchiha compound? Which had their own bakery shop INSIDE. I didn't mean to be rude, but that idea wasn't exactly doing us a favor right now.
Because of how close it was to the Compound and by extension, the Military Police base, not many villagers live around this part of the village, at least compared to the others. Being near the village's police force and having to live under their gaze wasn't exactly comfortable for some people. Some neighbors would come by once in a while. They were the most frequent costumers, not that it really mattered since there weren't that many to begin with. The Uchihas, as I said, had their own bakery inside the Compound. It would be logical that they would prefer the closer and the more familiar of the two.
Mom must've noticed my sour mood, because she put her hand on my shoulders and looked right into my eyes.
"How about I bring you to visit her?" she asked me, still looking at me. I wanted to say no, but I could tell that something was off with her today, and I wanted to know what it was. With a sigh, I nodded my head up and down. Mom chuckled and rubbed my messy brown hair. I didn't stop her, not really in the mood. She stood up from the dining table; her lunch finished and excused herself to clean up a bit. As soon as she stepped out of the room, I practically inhaled my lunch and went to clean up myself before going out.
A few minutes later, I was waiting for mom in front of our house. I pulled out my "Gutsy Ninja" novel and opened a random part of the book and began to read. I've read the book quite a few times already and knew the story pretty well by then. Reading the book was just something I do to pass the time.
Mom came out of the house holding the flowers from before. She seemed to have quite some trouble trying to lock the door while holding the flower. I offered to bring the flowers for her.
"Let me bring it," I said. She smiled sheepishly and gave me the flower. After locking the front door, mom led the way in front of me and I followed, curious about this friend of hers. We walked silently for a few minutes. The path we were walking seemed familiar to me. I realized a moment later that this was the path heading to the Konoha Cemetery. Did mom's friend live near the graveyard?
"Do you know what flower you are holding?" mom asked me. I blinked in surprise at the question. I knew that it was a peony flower, but I couldn't remember what they meant. I also realized that she might not be familiar with the name "Peony". Several countries in Asia called this flower by different names, I recalled
I shook my head. "No? What is it called?" I asked.
"It's called 'botan'," she said. Botan huh? I never knew that. "Do you know what it symbolizes?" asked mom once again. I tried to remember, scratching my chin in thought. It did no good though; I couldn't remember what this flower symbolizes.
"I don't know," I said to mom. She just smiled. Sometimes I wondered if that was the only thing she does.
"Botan is a flower used in some medicines. It is also used to wish the person that is given a quick recovery." So this friend of mom is sick? Then why are we heading to the cemetery? I didn't want to think that it was what I thought, but we weren't walking any closer to the hospital that's for sure, which was located much closer to the center of the village.
"Is your friend sick?" I asked.
"No, she isn't sick. But she was. She fought tooth and nail against it and kept pushing forward," she said with fondness. The way she said pretty much confirmed my suspicions. But until she said it outright or I saw it myself, I would keep an open mind. I decided to just try and bite. It wouldn't do anyone harm, after all.
"Did she…" I hesitated. I didn't finish my question. But from the look on mom's face she knew what I was going to ask. As I waited for her answer, I barely realized that we had entered the cemetery area and kept walking deeper into it.
"Yes… she didn't make it, despite her efforts." As she said this, we had arrived in front of a gravestone. It was worn. On it, a name was engraved.
Uchiha Ryuuko.
Mom took the flowers from me and proceeded to put them on the gravestone. Silently, she put her hands together and prayed. As she did this, I stood silently beside her, fidgeting uncomfortably.
"She wanted to be a florist," mom said suddenly.
"I take it, her family didn't quite agree…" Mom let out a bark of laughter at my comment.
"More than you can imagine," said mom. "She was exceptionally talented as a shinobi. But she wanted something else. We used to play in the open field looking for flowers. She didn't want to be a ninja, a murderer, a soldier... I had always wanted to be a baker since little, and so we promised each other to live our dreams. But it was as if karma struck her."
I stayed silent, which probably looked completely out of character to others, since I had a habit on commenting on things frequently. But I stayed silent, not wanting to interrupt her.
"I didn't know the details, but she had some kind of immune disorder. It had been damaging her body for quite some time. There were barely any symptoms. Her immune systems were attacking her body faster than the doctors could repair her cells…"
"They couldn't help her?" I asked. Mom shook her head.
"They said that only the First's regenerative powers could have helped her. Even Princess Tsunade had her limits," said Mom. After a while, she looked at me with a small smile on her face.
"Even though she died, I still held on to our promise. To me, promises have to be kept, even if death separates us. Haa… that sounds a bit extreme doesn't it?" she chuckled. She kneeled down next to me and brushed my messy hair.
"The point is this. Promises are a big thing. You have to keep them no matter what. Do you understand?" she asked me. I smiled and nodded.
"Yeah, I do. So… when are you going to make that sautéed broccoli that you promised me?" I asked playfully. I could see the corner of her left eye twitched. 'Opportunistic brat,' she must have thought. Not that she would ever call me a brat…
"Let's go to the market to buy some, shall we?" she said. I happily went along with her at the thought of broccoli for dinner.
A few days later, Itachi, Shisui and I were together again. We continued to practice together on our shuriken skills. Both of them were very impressed at the rate I was growing in skills.
"You're able to throw shurikens quite nicely now! I'm impressed!" said Shisui. I flashed him a victorious grin.
"That's what training everyday gives you!" I said proudly while pointing at my chest.
"I'm pretty sure even if someone were to train every day, that is not a normal growth rate," said Itachi. Even if he barely showed it, I could see that he was impressed from the small quirk of a smile on his mouth.
"How about we have a race?" suggested Shisui. Itachi and I raised our eyebrows in question.
"Why?" I asked. Shisui just shrugged.
"I just wanna see who's faster. Come on! We'll start from that tree and the finish point is that bush over there!" said Shisui, pointing at the starting and finish spots for our race. Itachi shrugged and proceeded to go to the starting point wordlessly. Once we were in position, Shisui excitedly looked at the both of us.
"All right! You guys ready?" he asked. I muttered a 'yeah' and Itachi just nodded silently. The three of us got into position to start our run. "Get set! Go!"
The three of us started running at exactly the same time. For a moment, the three of us were equally fast. And then Shisui started to take the lead and Itachi started to get in front of me. Was he getting faster or was I getting slower? We passed the bush and the three of us took a few deep breaths.
"I win!" exclaimed Shisui.
"You just wanted to show off how fast you are, didn't you?" deadpanned Itachi. Shisui laughed sheepishly. Then he noticed that I was slightly more out of breath than the two of them.
"Hey, you okay?" he asked. I nodded my head.
"Just slightly out of breath, that's all." Shisui looked at our running course, as if he wasn't convinced that this had managed to tire me out.
"Really? You got tired from this? Not that I'm mocking you, but I noticed that you had quite the stamina and could train for hours at a time," said Shisui.
"Are you stalking me?" I asked.
"No, I'm not," said Shisui. "I just caught sight of you training in the last few days."
"Sure…" I said, not convinced.
"I am not stalking you!" said a flustered Shisui.
"Okay, okay… you are not a stalker. I get it." Shisui let out a small huff of annoyance.
"Seriously though, can you try running again? Maybe there's something we missed," said Shisui. I sighed at the thought of running again but complied. As I prepared myself to run again, Itachi and Shisui were looking at me like hawks. At Shisui's mark, I started running as fast as I could to the finish mark. I let out deep huffs of breath. And Itachi suddenly had a look of realization on his face.
"You're not using chakra," he said.
"What?" asked Shisui and I. We weren't sure if we heard that right.
"You are not using chakra," Itachi repeated. "When you run, you just run. You were not running with the aid of chakra." Shisui nodded in understanding, trusting Itachi's observation.
"So… How do we fix this?" I asked. Itachi looked unsure at my question.
"I'm not sure…" said Itachi. "Usually people unconsciously use chakra in their daily life. Conditions like this are very rare or even unheard of."
"Just great…" I muttered. If this was untreatable, being a shinobi would be hard or even impossible.
"Maybe you just have to concentrate on using it, chakra I mean," said Shisui. I thought about it.
"First, I have to learn how to channel chakra in my daily activities, then maybe that would fix it," I said, clicking my fingers. Itachi still looked unsure.
"But we won't learn how to channel chakra until we're in the academy. And even my father said that he would teach me how to use chakra a few months before we join the academy," said Itachi.
I straighten myself upright, smiled at him and said "Well, then I just have to start much earlier in order to get the hang of it."
That meant a trip to the library to borrow some books.
Kept you waiting, huh?
Sorry if I haven't updated in so long. Mid-semester tests were hell… Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain was also out. So… I've been busy lately. Gotta do more Side-Ops…
That said, I also already have the entire story until the epilogue lined up nicely as a draft. I just have to write them down properly. This long wait was not for nothing after all, don't worry.
Follow, favorite and review, guys and gals.