Chapter 2: The training begins

I decided to speed my progress up.

I knew my clan would get annihilated if the Uchiha or the Senju really wanted to kill us. So obviously, something had to be done. By the 7th month, I started to wobbly walk around. I decided that each of my small achievements would be seen by Shouta and Mimi, to which both have turned quiet lately. While it was a little selfish thought, I thought that maybe my achievements would bring smiles on their faces. Thus, my first steps were walked. My first sentences were talked. My first scrolls were read.

Someone needed to lead Kireha clan, or shove it in the right direction, and no one else could do it, except me.

x

By the time I turned two, I mastered the art of reading hiragana and katakana and was studying kanji. My walking evolved to running which evolved to training.

I had started training when I was 1 and a half, approximately. Mimi couldn't help me, being a civilian and neither could Shouta, being a ninja and all. So, I simply built my agility and strength. Running around in the backyard, which was smaller than the last. In fact, the whole clan was smaller. Both in actual field size and population size.

But there were still kids. Kids, that I didn't talk or interact with. Mimi would take me to people, to which then I knew more people, but nothing more. Then I realized, chakra. I needed chakra. So, one fateful day, Shouta came home. He rubbed my brown hair and sat down at the table.

"How was your day, Su-chan?" he was 9 years old now, and he looked far too old. Far, far too old. I slowly started to despise my world, but especially the other clans. "Teach me how to use chakra, Ani'ue!" he blinked. He looked at Mimi who also walked in.

They both shared a look. He then looked back at me and smiled.

"I'll first explain what it is, ok?" and so came the week of theory. How it was spiritual and physical energy combined. What it is, how it can be used and why it is being used. By the end of that week, he told me do meditate and to "reach" for the chakra. That was extremely vague and I once again glared at it for it. He just laughed and wished me good luck before leaving.

And so, me being 2 years and a few months old, I started to meditate. I realized I couldn't start doing things on the whim, so I made a plan. I would wake up at around 7am, when Mimi would call for breakfast. I would get ready and then eat. After that Mimi would usually stay at home and read, so I could read scrolls about chakra, history and whatever else around her until 10am. Then, she would go outside to gossip, so I could start doing my errands and collect food. I would continue physical training until lunch, which consisted of simply running around. After lunch, I would meditate for three hours, until I would once again run around. Then came dinner, so first I'd clean myself up, spend time with Shouta and Mimi then read.

As the months progressed, I saw development. Firstly, I could detect my chakra. It can along in the first week of focusing mainly on finding my chakra. And funnily enough, the gut feelings I kept on having, was that. The uncomfortable feelings when people touched me, was that, chakra. The more chakra a person had, the more I felt it and thus became more uncomfortable. Hence my first reactions with Shouta and Mimi.

So after that, I read in scrolls Shouta gave me, developing chakra control and chakra reserves. First I needed to be comfortable with it and play with in inside me. Once I was comfortable with chakra, I realized I could sense it practically everywhere. Then came my inside game, to try and recognize everything by merely sensing it. The people, the trees, grass, bugs and funnily enough, buildings. Yes, everything, dead or alive, emits chakra. Just different volumes.

A dead thing would emit little to no chakra. And since the ground is more "alive" then walls, I could detect the difference. But right now, I could just detect people, nothing more. But my fantasies intrigued me and I soon began to dream that I could possibly detect anything. Perhaps I could become be blind one day and be fine with that.

Soon, Shouta showed me different kata's. The clan had 20 in total, 10 beginner ones and 10 expert ones. He showed me all the beginner ones and so I put that in my physical training. Then came by third birthday.

It wasn't rare that random people came home, mostly to talk with Mimi. But this one man, stern face, in his 30's, dark short brown hair, came regularly. And he would come when I would meditate- by then Shouta showed me to the leaf to forehead thing and I could practice with that. It still didn't work, but I tried. By the 10th time in 3 weeks he came over, during my meditating session, the day after my 3rd birthday –which was great, Shouta showed me a new fire technique he was working on and we had my favorite meal, ramen- he was there. Again.

The moment I felt him put his eyes on me, the leaf that just managed to stick fell off. I sighed and looked directly at him from the garden. Our eyes linked. I glared at him. I stood up and walked up to him. "Who are you and stop looking at me."

Mimi sputtered next to the man. "Yasu-chan! Don't be rude, apologize!" I crossed my arms. "Sorry."

The man didn't seem amused by me, but something did shine in his eyes. "Apology accepted young one," he responded and drank a bit of his tea. I broke our stare and sat by the table. "You still didn't answer me."

"Yasu-chan, be nice. This is our leader's brother, Kin-sama. He is the one that teacher the young to become a ninja." So that's why he's come here. I held the urges to ask him to teach me how to actually properly train. "…He… well, he is your birthday gift, in a way, Yasu-chan." So I don't even need to ask, great.

I knew money was a bit tight, that's why they couldn't buy me a gift for my birthday yesterday. But I suppose, I eyed Kin, I suppose this is better than any other gift I'd have. "Show me how to train."

Hah. Be careful what you wish for.

x

Age 5. Kin never held back.

At first he told me all things I was doing wrong, so basically everything. He showed me exercises to do, both for the physical and chakra part. Three times a week he would stay at home for four hours and absolutely kill me.

Apparently, schools weren't a thing. So by the age of 4 I was dumped with books by him and that's it. By age 8 you could take these exams to see if you could become a ninja and such. But no schools, so it was up to the guardian to teach the children how to fight. In my case, Kin and Shouta.

By age 5, I could properly control my chakra and could do different techniques. By then, I realized a few things about the Kireha clan. Or, well, grades I formulated. We were shit at genjutsu and average at ninjutsu. This already means that for these components, we're dead if Uchiha's come. But, apparently, we are amazing at taijutsu. Which came as a surprise, but not too much. I finally saw that my strength came naturally. We were amazing at agility, I saw how Kin could run across the clan in precisely one second. Strength wise, we are also good, but not the best. And our intelligence as a whole is not too bad. I listened and read tactics we formulated. Not bad.

Also, it looked like we specialized in blades as well. A lot had some sort of blade with then, like a katana of some sort. And so, by age 5, my birthday present was a trip to the storage room of the clan. There, Kin allowed me to choose a blade of my own. Katana's were swell and all, but, I felt like they didn't suit me. I didn't feel agile enough.

So, the twin tanto blade it was. Both half the size of a katana, it felt amazing. Kin didn't react too much at my choosing, but if anything, he seemed annoyed. Good. So, then began my kenjutsu.

I also realized a few things by my turning of five years old. The clan.

We were… a soft clan. We were not upstuck like the Uchihas, where everything is done by orders, and if you fail you die. Here, things were warmer. Everyone knew everyone else to some degree, information for disclosed to everyone, and everyone is moreorless treated equally. I suppose it's because of that we will die. Because of that thought, I decided to push myself a bit harder.

I fainted a week after by overstraining myself.

x

They wouldn't allow me to leave the clan to fight when I was 7 years old. I said that my brother fought when he turned 7.

Then they said they couldn't take the chance of me dying, seeing how I had too much potential. I then realized the true intention of Kin being my teacher. To form me just right to become the trump card of the clan. Just like how I wanted. I bent to their will.

That does it for chapter 2!
Chapter 3 will have a big time skip, so this is the end of the "childhood arc"

Thanks for reading!

Tsuki