A/N: Took me a while to realize that this story was actually pretty good, so I wrote another chapter for it. Sorry about the five month long hiatus on this. I am almost done with college, so it shouldn't be that long anymore. Almost, I said.
Chapter 5
Learning the Basics
"Concentrate, Ino. Concentrate! Remember, the key to pulling off a successful jutsu is not to be hindered by your surroundings. If you wish to remain alive, you must concentrate!" Ino nodded, staring across the yard at her father, who was quickly pulling another kunai from his belt. He threw it, and she tried desperately to stand still, but her reflexes would not allow her to. She dodged backward, watching the object fall less than an inch from where she had been standing previously. Her father sighed, placing his head in his hand. "Ino, you know that I would never hurt you. Why do you insist on dodging?"
"Reflexes. I can't seem to get them to allow me to stay still!" Ino sighed to herself, picking herself off the ground and dusting her legs off. Her father watched her a moment, then smiled.
Walking to where the kunai still slightly wobbled in the ground, he picked it up, pointing it at her. "Very well, daughter. If I cannot make you stand still when I throw, then I will have to make you able to understand the complexities of flight." She blinked, staring at him with eyes full of wonder. He smiled once more, standing. "I will make you able to understand where an object, once thrown, will fall. I will make you understand where a jutsu will hit once it is initiated. I will make you understand how to predict your enemy before your enemy predicts himself." He nodded. "Yes, that will cure your willingness to move. When you understand that the kunai will not hit you, you will not waste your energy, your time, or your skill dodging that which is on another flight path. Do you understand me?" Ino sighed, nodding as she glanced at the ground.
"Hai, Otoosan. I do." Her father smiled, throwing his arms and hands out.
"Wonderful! Well, let us begin. Remember, once you learn this, you will be able to concentrate on your technique. You will be able to predict a movement before it happens, allowing you the time to take your opponent out. It is a lot of hard work, but you are capable are you not?"
Ino smiled, looking up and nodding, her eyes glistening with the tears of resolve. "Hai!"
Three days later, after skipping the academy classes for the entire time, Ino was beginning to feel as though nothing could touch her. True, the first day had been rough. She had had a hard time dealing with sharp objects flying through the air at her, and had actually gotten into the path of a few of them. Nothing serious, some cuts and scrapes really. One had actually entered her leg. She had taken the blow stoically, though taking the weapon out was much more painful than when it entered in the first place. Her father smiled at her from across the yard, chucking any weapon he had available. She stood with silent resolve while the weapons flew around her, watching her father's every movement. As the last kunai left his hands, he smiled across the distance at her.
"Well done, Ino! Well done indeed. I didn't even see one flinch from you. Well done!" Her lips tinged a smile, while her heart pounded a chorus of painful fear. Each weapon had almost grazed her, but she had trained herself to know where the weapon would land. She had even trained herself how to watch the arm of the opponent, where the muscles would contract and extend, how the energy was released and where the energy forced the muscles to go. She even saw the hand movements of her father, so that any slight variation at the last level of contact between hand and weapon was perceived. She could see everything clearly. True, it was only an outer shell she could see, but she could see nonetheless.
Walking towards her, Inoichi smiled once more, stooping to pick his weapons back up. "Very well. Now begins the harder lesson. You are to perform the jutsu while I throw these weapons at you. I will warn you now, daughter. Some of the throws I will aim at you. Some of them I will deliberately throw away, but some will be aimed directly at you. You must know which ones I do this to, or you will be hit again." She nodded, grim and determined. Turning his back to her, he smiled slyly to himself, walking a ways to the target they had set as the throwing distance. She put her hands up, ready to make the hand-signs. Suddenly, three feet from the target, her father whipped around, a kunai flying through the air is it was released from his hand. She didn't move, and the weapon sailed harmlessly by. She blinked, looking at where it quivered, and then back at the man in front of her.
"Chichi, you said you would wait until you got to the target." She frowned at him.
He merely shrugged, turning back to the target on the ground. "I wanted to be sure you were ready. My aim was a little off. I was trying to get the kunai closer to your head." She blinked, then gulped. Reaching the target, he turned, brandishing a weapon. "Now, are you ready?" Determination set itself upon her features once again, and she nodded, getting back into stance.
"Hai! I'm ready!" He smiled again to himself.
I wonder if that kunai was a good idea. It may have made her too overconfident. Or perhaps it has weakened her resolve. I'll throw the first few, and miss her. Then I will know. He stood, his arm flexing. Another kunai whipped from his hand, and she barely watched its flight. Soon, more and more weapons flew through the air. Stoically, she took the onslaught head-on, allowing each of the weapons to graze by. One missed her right ear, leaving a small cut through her blond hair. However, hair grew back. Body parts were another matter. As each flew by, she remembered the lessons granted her by her father.
"Otoosan, what did you just do?" She had wondered why each of his movements were so guarded. Why not just throw the weapon instead of doing that silly little movement with his right hand.
"Ah. You saw, musume. That is good. That is very good. Did you see the flick of my thumb before the kunai actually left my hand?" She had blinked, wondering to herself. Yes, that was what she had seen. It was foolish, that flick. It held no importance, but...
"Hai. Why did you?" Her father smiled, nodding.
"I did to show you a moot point, Ino. Watch." Another kunai appeared, this time in his left hand. With an expert throw, the man hurled the weapon, and Ino watched as it barely missed her right leg, standing quivering in the dirt. "Did you see me just now, Ino-chan?"
"Er...hai!"
"Did you see the flick of my thumb?"
"Hai!"
"Now, watch again." She watched. The same movement. The kunai in his left hand, the throw. Only...this time, the kunai flew wide. Much wider than she would have guessed.
"Otoosan! It flew off target! Much more than before!"
"Yes, Ino. This is what I was talking about. The reading of someone before they have a chance to read themselves. I flicked my thumb the first time, and I was able to almost hit you. I never would have, this early on in the training. But, I almost did. The second time, I flicked my thumb differently. It may have looked the same to an untrained eye, and it may have only been a minute amount of change, but I did change slightly. Did you not see?" She hadn't seen. She had seen the flick, and therefore thought that the kunai would travel in the same path.
"No, otoosan. I didn't."
"This is what you need to learn. Even a slight variation to the correct method can change the situation. Had that been you, and you had flicked your thumb wrong, the opponent may have seen it, and known that you had changed your path. However, if they hadn't seen it, they may see your throw as a weakness, and become careless. Remember, Ino-chan. The slightest movements...the slightest variations...the slightest change at any moment can change the outcome of a battle two-fold. Remember that always. You will live much longer if you do." She took in his words, allowing them to sink in as water sinks into a sponge.
"Hai!"
"Very well...we shall begin again!"
Snapping out of her momentary flashback, the girl readied herself, being keen on the ways of the weapon. Inoichi smiled once more, and a veritable hail of weaponry flew at the small girl. Her eyes darted back and forth, watching every thrown weapon, every shuriken and kunai accounted for. The flight of each was recorded in the back of her mind, and each time her father moved, her eyes moved with him, watching...waiting. Suddenly, he was out of weapons. She had only dodged once, and that was to avoid a scrape. Wait...that movement. He had another weapon concealed. Correct! The kunai was suddenly in his hand, and he was about to let fly! The flight path would take it directly to her stomach...he was aiming for her, now. She smiled. Now, it was her turn. Dodging backward to a spot where she knew the kunai would slow enough, she watched him fling his hand forward, releasing the kunai.
I...I am strong! I am! Dodging to the left, her right hand extended out. She felt the kunai enter it, her hand finding the grip of the handle. In the same, fluid movement, she did a small turn-about, flinging the weapon back. Her father must not have realized her actions, for the kunai struck him in the left leg. He grit his teeth, falling back. She didn't know whether he was angry at her for attacking back, whether he was angry at himself for failing to realize what she was about, or feeling an immense sense of...pain.
"Otoosan!" Forgetting at the moment that this was a training situation, she took off, dashing to her father's side. His head was down, staring at the wound, or the ground. She wasn't quite sure. She did see the blood pouring from the wound, and she grimaced, kneeling on the ground next to him. "Otoosan, gomen...gomen! I...I...I didn't mean...I thought...I thought..." She was more panicked now, especially seeing him shaking in grief and remorse. "Otoosan...Otoosan!" However, he was shaking...but was laughing at the same time. "Otoosan?"
"Who would have thought that I, the sensei, would fall victim to my own student? Who would have thought that the great Inoichi would be brought to his knees by a little girl..." Ino was now much more disturbed. Her Otoosan never said things of this sort. What was he saying now?
"Otoosan. Please...please forgive me. I...I didn't mean to."
"Ino-chan...Ino-chan. I'm not mad." His head pivoted, and for the first time in her life, Ino saw her father crying. But...these tears were not of pain or sadness. They were...tears of joy? He was crying and laughing at the same time. "Oh, musume. You...you have done what I thought you could not do. You actually struck your old man!"
"Otoosan?"
"I...I am so proud of you!" Two large, burly arms wrapped themselves around her, and she gasped as she was pulled into an embrace. Gradually, the surprise left her, to be replaced by a joy of her own. Her own father was hugging her for hitting him in the leg with a kunai. She smiled. No sooner had the smile crept on her face than she, too, was laughing hard. Her arms wrapped around her father, she laughed out her mirth.
"Otoosan. You looked so pained. I thought I had killed you."
"Had you aimed higher, musume, you may have."
"Otoosan!"
"Musume!" Together, the two stood in the backyard of their house, convulsed in mirth. Soon, her father released her, staring at her through hooded eyes. "Now, Ino-chan. Now, the real work begins. However, the real work will have to wait for tomorrow. I will have your mother look at this wound. Why don't you go get something to eat, ne? I will see you in a moment." Standing, he gave her a pat on the head. "Ino-chan. You may be the strongest of the Yamanaka's yet. Just you wait. You will be. I know it in my heart."
"Doomo, Otoosan. I won't let you down." He smiled, giving her head one last pat before heading into the house, limping the whole way. Ino took a breath, and then another. It seemed the world was spinning...but in a good way. A way that she would always remember as the best way. Suddenly, she decided something.
"I'm going to be the Hokage some day! I will be, and I never go back on my word! That's my nindo...my ninja way!" She smiled at the boy, whose hand was raised into a fist. Naruto had just smiled on, while Iruka-sensei had sighed, a bead of sweat on his brow.
"Are you quite finished, Uzumaki-san?" Naruto smiled again, nodding. Sitting back down, he grinned to the class, who just grinned back. The boy was a handful, but he was also the son of the Fourth Hokage. He wasn't one to take lightly.
Staring down at her hand, Ino grit her teeth, her smile still shining through. Sticking her own fist out to the setting sun, she nodded. "I am Yamanaka Ino! I will be the wife of the Hokage someday! I will never give up! I will do this, because this is my nindo...my ninja way!" A small bluebird tweeted down at her sweetly, and she smiled up at it, flipping her hair so that it caught the rays of the sun. "And someday, when I am the wife of the greatest Hokage this village has ever seen, the villagers won't shun me like they do. I don't care if I have these ears...or this tail. I...I will become the greatest kunoichi that ever lived!" Giggling to herself, she trotted back into the house, running upstairs and into the bathroom. She had been practicing for nearly three hours, and she smelt of sweat and hard work. Taking off her clothes, she hopped into the shower, allowing the hot water to drench her body and take away the fatigue of the afternoon's exercise. After an hour of thoroughly brushing and scrubbing her hair, ears, and tail, the girl exited, wrapping a towel around her lithe frame. Squeaking a finger into her ear, she smiled out the window. "What a beautiful night it's going to be."
"Oy! Ino-chan!" Blinking at the voice, she glanced around.
"Nani? Where did that come from?"
"OY! INO-CHAN!" Looking out the window and into the street, something mixed with a yelp and a squeal left her mouth. Uzumaki Naruto, along with about four other boys from Iruka-sensei's class, stood on the ground outside her house, staring up at her. And she, staring back down at them, had the realization that they were watching her...with only a towel wrapped about her body. With another squeal, she shut the window, closing the blinds.
"Oh no. He...he saw me. He saw...he saw my ears! Did he see my tail, too? Oh no!" Running to her closet, she began to throw on clothes.
Meanwhile, outside in the street, Naruto sighed. "Well, that's the fifth one today. Why is it that whenever we try to find teammates for soccer, the girls are either too busy or too weird to join?" Turning to one of the other boy's, he shrugged. "You know? You're smart, Shikamaru. Why?"
The boy in question, Nara Shikamaru, shrugged back, folding his hands behind his head. "Who knows. Girls are so troublesome anyways." Naruto huffed, glancing over at another.
"Well...you know anyone, Chouji?" Akimichi Chouji shrugged also, grabbing another handful of potato rinds he was stuffing into his mouth.
"Mmmf...nope...not...mmff...not me." Naruto sighed again.
"Well then, let's just go. One of us can switch back and forth for the game."
One of the other boy's shook his head, stuffing his hands into his pockets and turning.
"Naw, you guys go ahead. I'm...I'm gonna go home. Besides, nii-chan told me he'd help me with my kunai practice." Naruto blinked, scratching his head.
"Really, Sasuke? Alright then." The other four ran off in the opposite direction, leaving the Uchiha to wander home alone.
At about this moment, Ino had finished dressing. Running back to the window, she took a deep breath. "Alright, Ino. Calm down, now. This is only Naruto. Only Naruto. He's a boy...a handsome, adorable, wonderful boy. Just...just make small talk." Rolling up the blinds and throwing the window open, she stuck her head out. "Ohayoo, Naruto-kun!" However, nothing met her gaze except the back of the Uchiha, who had heard her exclamation and turned.
"Ay?"
Feeling her face flush red, she blinked at him. "Oh...gomen, Sasuke-kun. Where did Naruto-kun and the others go?" Sasuke's eyebrow rose for a moment, and Ino could feel her face brighten and heat, as though a burner were set below her neck.
"They ran off to play soccer. Who cares, though. I have a lesson with nii-chan today." Turning back around, the boy again began his walk home. Ino sighed, closing the window and drawing the curtain down again.
"I missed out again. Why me?" Turning to go sit on her bed, she stumbled on the rug, falling flat on her face. "Ouch! Why!" Sitting up, she ruefully rubbed her face. It was at that moment that she had a decision in her way to make. She could have either sat on the ground, moping that life wasn't fair and that people were cruel, or she could get up and get on with her existence. She never really had one to begin with, but she could still try and manage.
"Ino! It is time for dinner!" Hearing her mother's words, the girl smiled.
"Maybe I will feel better when I eat something." Getting up off the floor, she quickly brushed down her clothes, being sure things were prim and proper. Running to the stairs and sliding down the railing, she entered the kitchen, smiling.
"Hai! I'm here!" Her father turned his head, acknowledging her.
"Ah, good. Sit down, Ino-chan. It is time to begin." Nodding at him, the girl sat. Her mother soon entered, carrying a bowl with her. Setting it down in front of her, Ino blinked, than glared, at the soup within.
"Ramen? Do we have to have ramen? You know I don't like ramen!" Her father merely smiled smugly, beginning to eat.
"It has the food you need to grow, Ino-chan. Eat, it is good for you."
Groaning, the girl took up her fork, picking at the large chunks of hearty vegetables and the pieces of chicken floating on the surface. Taking a bite, she chewed slowly and thoughtfully, until the food was at a consistency of paste. Swallowing, she looked again at the floating concoction in front of her. "Well, I guess it's better than some things..."
Her father's eyebrow cocked slightly. "Really, musume? What might that be?" Ino's mouth smirked up into a grin.
"Oh, you know. Spinach, cabbage...a kunai in the leg." It took a while for the joke to sink in, but her father finally achieved understanding, slapping his knee heartily.
"Ah! Hahaha! Good one, musume! Very good. Humor is a wonderful tool."
"Doomo, Otoosan."
"However, humor doesn't get you out of eating that."
"Oh...right..."
A/N: No translations, because all of the translations for this chapter are on previous ones.