-Chapter 2

Moving Forward

"Ikari Fukazi!" The proctor known as Zakumo sensei calls out.

"Here!" He responds.

"Mirashi Hayte!"

"Here!" A young kunoichi replies.

Ikari loses focus as he zones out while the teacher goes through the list of names. There's not that many people in his class being an isolated village and all. The proctor continues down the list of names until he's finally done.

Zakumo sets down his clipboard and addresses the class, "Ok so today we're going to do a field exercise. When out on the battlefield you're not going to have an unlimited supply of chakra correct? We're going to learn how to use nature to replenish your chakra. Nature energy is all around us and it can be filtered, so to speak, through your body and changed into chakra. Follow me we're going outside."

The class follows the teacher outside as they exit the academy area and follow a path. Another student by the name of Kino walks up next to Ikari.

"Hey Ikari, what's up?" He asks.

"Nothing much Kino."

"What are you doing after class today?"

"Father probably wants to train again. He's been drilling me with taijutsu practice."

"Really? At least your dad trains you. Mine is always away on missions."

"If you want I can help you. I don't think my dad would care if I brought you."

"You mean it? That would be awesome! I'll meet you at your place."

"Sounds good."

"Okay class, listen up!" Zakumo speaks up. "Any piece of nature will work. A rock, a tree, or even a bush will do. Observe."

Zakumo picks up a fairly large sized rock and begins to absorb the nature energy from it. The filtering can be seen as chakra from his hands envelopes the rock. "Simple as that. Now why don't we all give it a try? Go find a piece of nature and show me."

Everyone scatters around splitting off into different groups of friends. Each one picks up some leaves or rocks and begins trying to extract chakra from it. Some give up and begin playing; others go to show Zakumo-sensei, while others practice on their own.

Zakumo walks up to Ikari and Kino and asks, "How's it coming along guys?"

"I think I have it down." Says Ikari as he picks up a rock and begins absorbing chakra from it.

"Wow! Very good Ikari I've never seen any of my students pick it up that quickly. Good job!"

"Thanks!" He says while smiling. "Whoa, what's going on?"

The rock begins to crack, and rumble. Eventually it crumbles apart with small amounts of magma coming out from it. Ikari rips his hand away from it to avoid the molten liquid.

"Oh my…" Zakumo-sensei trails off.

"Zakumo-sensei, what was that?" Asks Kino.

"I…uh…must have been a reaction with the rock's geological makeup and your chakra. Who knows?"

"Oh. Okay!" Ikari happily says.

"Anyways…lets head back for lunch class!" Yells Zakumo.

The class heads back to the academy and into the classroom to grab their lunches. "I'm going to speak with the Kirikage for a moment, so don't go too far. I'll be back shortly." Zakumo-sensei says before exiting the room.

Ikari and Kino find a bench outside and begin eating the lunches their mothers packed for them. Although the sun doesn't come through the fog too often, it's a fairly nice day outside. Not too hot and not too cold but at that perfect temperature that's great for anything.

"That rock was weird huh?" Kino asks.

"Yeah. I wonder what that was all about." Ikari replies, "Oh well."

"You know a lot of things. How is it you learn everything fast?"

"I don't know Kino. I wish I could tell you."

"Hmm. Oh look Zakumo-sensei is back."

The kids throw away their trash, run back to the classroom and take their seats while all the other students gather in. They patiently wait for Zakumo to speak.

"So uh the Kirikage has requested that we cut today short. So uh class dismissed!" The sensei says.

"Bye Zakumo-sensei!" Some of the students yell while exiting the classroom.

"Goodbye kids!" He says while smiling and waving.

Ikari and Kino meet up outside the classroom to talk about their plans, "Well you can come over now if you want. We can train for a little then go to the park." Ikari suggests.

"Okay that sounds awesome! I just gotta go home and tell my mom and then I'll be over."

"Okay see you soon!" Ikari says while splitting up with Kino for the time being.

Ikari makes no waste in time as he rushes home excited to tell his parents his day at school. He arrives at the door, kicks off his sandals and runs into the living room where his parents are sitting, his dad sipping some tea while his mom is in her chair sewing.

"Mom, dad! We got out of school early today." Ikari yells excitingly.

His dad raises an eyebrow, "Oh and why is that?"

"Sensei didn't say why. Just that the Kirikage said so."

"Hmm…odd."

"Oh maybe the Kirikage was feeling generous today." Mikara says.

"Perhaps."

"Oh! Sensei said I did really well today! We did an exercise where we took chakra from rocks."

"Really now? That's good." His father says with no emotion.

"For some reason my rock blew up and some lava or something came out of it. It didn't get on my hands though." Ikari goes on.

"Lava? Are you sure?"

"Yeah it was this red liquid with some rocks in it. At least that's what sensei said it was."

"Interesting…"

"Yeah! So can Kino come over? I told him we could practice taijutsu with him since we got out early. He says his father can never help him out so I figured we could help him.

"Aw isn't that sweet Zumaku?"

"I suppose so. When is he coming?"

"Anytime now."

Zumaku gets up with a grunt and goes outside to stretch and warm up while Ikari waits for his friend to come over. Eventually there's a knock on the door and Ikari opens it up. Kino walks in with a bag of things slung over his shoulder and a smile on his face. Mikara looks up from her sewing and notices Kino.

"Hello Kino. How are you today?" She says with a smile on her face.

"Great Mrs. Fukazi. Thanks!" Kino responds happily.

"You boys are going outside to train right? I'll make some food for when you're done."

"Thanks mom! We'll be outside." Ikari says, walking outside with his friend.

"See you soon."

"Hey Mr. Fukazi!" Kino greets.

"Hello Kino. Ikari told me you wanted some taijutsu practice?"

"Yes sir. My dad doesn't have enough time taking missions and stuff. So any practice is great!"

"I don't mind helping out. I can teach you both a couple of moves I learned back in my ninja days. Set down your things and lets get started."

The three of them begin working intensely hard on taijutsu. They spar against each other and even get a two on one with Zumaku. Time flies by and each of them become exhausted from working hard. It's about three o' clock judging by the suns position seen through the fog. They each work up a sweat and decide to call it quits for the day.

"Great job you two. Kino you're a natural." Zumaku compliments.

"Thanks Mr. Fukazi. You're a great teacher!" He says with a huge grin across his face.

"I'm going to go lay down for a bit. I'm pretty exhausted." Zumaku says, heading inside through the sliding doors.

"Your dad really is a good teacher." Kino says turning to Ikari.

"Thanks. Usually he's tougher on me..." Ikari says. "You hungry?"

"I'm starving!"

They race inside to find fruits and vegetables along with some half tea half lemonade laid out for them. Both begin to munch down and fill their stomachs quickly before laying down in the living room under the fan, cooling down from the training. The day has been great so far and the kids are ready to go out and play soon.

All of a sudden there's a knock at the door, out of the kitchen Mikara yells, "Ikari honey! Can you see who it is?"

"Yeah mom I got it!" He yells back.

Ikari opens up the door to see two jonin, both male standing there. They ask, "Hello. Are your parents home?"

"Yeah. I'll be right back."

Ikari goes into the kitchen and to his mother, "Hey mom. Two jonin are at the door looking for you."

She picks up a rag and wipes her hands before going to the door and addressing the two ninja. A minute goes by before she sticks her head back in and asks, "Ikari could you wake up your father too? It's important."

"Okay."

Ikari nudges his father awake who sleepily wipes his tired eyes and scratches his head. The young Fukazi tells his father who's at the door before he walks out the door to speak to the two jonin.

"I wonder what that's all about?" Kino wonders.

"I dunno. Probably adult stuff. So what did you bring in that bag?" Ikari shrugs off then asks.

He opens it up and pulls out a few sharp edged kunai and shuriken, "I brought some ninja tools. I thought maybe we could practice with these too."

"Yeah! Why don't we go to the training grounds and throw these around for a while?"

"Okay! Lets go!"

Ikari and Kino open the front door at which all four adults stop speaking and look down at the kids, halting their conversation.

"Where are you going sweetie?" Mikara asks.

"We're going to the training fields to practice our shuriken."

"Okay. Be safe and be home before dinner."

"I will mom. I'll be back soon!"

The kids run off to the training field and begin throwing their assortment of ninja tools at the training posts. They practice that for a while before getting bored and playing ninja instead. Once again, hours go by before Ikari realizes it's about time for dinner.

"Uh oh I should probably be getting home soon. I'll see you tomorrow Kino!" Ikari says rushing home.

"See ya!" Kino yells back.

Ikari makes it home just in the knick of time for dinner. He cleans up quickly and sits down at the dinner table with his mother and father. They eat their meal slowly and don't talk making it an awkward dinner.

Finally Ikari speaks up, breaking the silence, "Training was fun today huh dad?"

"Yeah…" He trails off.

"Kino wants to come over again if that's ok mom."

"Yes honey…" She too distantly replies.

"Wh-what's wrong?"

"Nothing sweetie…just tired." She says as she begins cleaning up the table.

"Need help?"

"No I can do it. Go play for a little."

"O-ok."

Ikari goes off to his room and sits there, confused why his parents are being so distant. One second they were fine and the next they're like this. His thoughts are interrupted by a knock at the door followed by it swinging open revealing Kikoro and Hitari standing there with huge smiles on their faces.

"Kikoro! Hitari! You're back!" He screams running across the room and tackling them with a hug. They both catch him and fall back against the wall laughing together. It's a happy reunion as they all get up and sit in Ikari's room listening to him go on about his day. The conversation is endless as all three talk about different things.

"So there we were in cloud territory. We'd been camping out for a good few hours waiting for the target to come by. We're nearly compromised when an unexpected patrol comes across our camp. Luckily we disposed of them before they could alert anyone." Hitari recounts.

"Whoa…I want to become an ANBU just like you guys!" Ikari says loudly.

"Just remember Ikari, you can't tell anyone. Not even mother and father. ANBU business is very secretive especially in our village." Kikoro informs to Ikari.

"I know, I haven't told anyone I promise!"

"Hmm I have an idea…" Hitari says with a mischievous grin on his face.

"Hitari…what are you thinking?" His twin sister asks, knowing something is going through his mind.

"I was thinking. Maybe we take Ikari out into the village and teach him how to sneak around. It's a good skill to learn and it's perfect in the village at night with the fog."

"That sounds good but he has school tomorrow Hitari."

"Oh who cares? He might be a little tired but I bet he can push through a little sleepiness. Right Ikari?" He says winking at his younger brother. "So how does that sound?"

Ikari barely contains his excitement as he leaps into the air ready to yell but his sister grabs him and covers his mouth. "The first step to being sneaky is to be quiet. Understood?" She says winking at him too.

"You guys are the greatest ever. I love you." Ikari says.

"Aw Ikari…We love you too. Now lets go." Kikoro responds

"You're going to need this." Hitari says handing him his wolf mask.

"No way! Your wolf mask! But what are you going to wear?"

"I have a few extra ones."

Hitari pulls out another mask as the three of them slip into the cover of the night. They stalk the streets making sure to stay out of sight of the guards that patrol the streets. Hitari and Kikoro show Ikari the basics of staying hidden using shadows and other tricks to keep them selves revealed. They even take Ikari on the rooftops and show him what it's like to use different vantage points to track a target. Ikari hangs around his brother and sister's necks as they leap from rooftop to rooftop showing Ikari the true beauty of the village at night. They laugh, they smile, they bond and have fun while teaching Ikari an important skill. An hour of this goes by before they decide to head back home as not to get in trouble with their parents.

Hitari checks around the outside of the house to make sure no one is awake before they quietly open the door to sneak back in. So it's a surprise when the lights flash on and Zumaku and Mikara are sitting in separate chairs facing the door with glares on their faces.

"Shit…" Says Hitari audibly.

Zumaku who is sitting there, his face tired and dull of any emotion is the first to speak, "Ikari…go to your room. Right. Now."

"Y-yes father…" He complies.

"Hitari…Kikoro. We're going to have a serious talk."

Both the twin's grunt as they take a seat in front of their parents. That's the last thing Ikari sees before he goes to his room and lays in his bed. The sounds of screaming pierce the wall. Ikari picks up on bits and pieces of the argument but tries to block it out by putting his pillow over his head. Eventually he tunes out the argument and falls into a deep, dream filled sleep.