Yup, it's me again :D Sorry it took me longer then usual to update, but collage has been awful for me lately. I hope you'll find this chapter worth waiting for and that you'll enjoy reading it at least as much as the previous chapter.
As usual, thanks to everyone who reviewed the previous chapter. I hope you'll leave a comment this time as well. But naturally I invite everyone to review
With that said, I believe the only thing left for me to do is to 'get on with it':
Chapter #7: Falling Behind
Title Page: Toramaru is sleeping in the hammock and out front Gai is doing push-ups on a nearby tree branch
Days went by and turned into weeks and those into months. The graduation exam was growing nearer and nearer and you could see that some of the students already began to take it seriously and others started to get really nervous: even though it was still two months away, Choumaru was getting so scared of it, his eating rate dropped, which resulted in him loosing some weight. Not that it was something really bad, but seeing an Akimichi clan member on a 'diet' was surely an unusual sight.
Hitomi kept on training like crazy, spending a lot of time after school to perfect her taijutsu skills. It wasn't really that strange, but for some reason Toramaru seemed to be very happy with his cousin's behavior, yet every time Garou asked him why that was so, he didn't answer.
Others fought the stress differently: Akemi was spending more time then usual in the gardens, taking care of the plants, Jun began visiting library quite often, even though he never really felt the need to drop by there before and Buryaku keep on sleeping during classes, but even such a carefree girl couldn't hide the fact that she felt exams coming closer as she found it a bit harder then normal to drift off.
But above everyone, the one moved the most by the fact of the test coming soon was Gai. He tried his best not to show it, but failed rather miserably at it anyway. Even without the Byakugan Toramaru could tell, for some reason, the taijutsu expert was feeling down. Way down.
"Does any of you have any idea why Gai's so depressed?" he asked his friends one day as the new green beast went past them. "I mean, he screams about this whole 'youth spirit' only once a week now and all…"
"Not really…" admitted Garou after some thought. "He's been acting weird since I've meet him, but now that you mention it, he does seem even more twisted then usual… even though he's still top of the class in taijutsu…"
Shunrai only looked back at Gai who was slowly disappearing at the end of the hallway. Her face became a little worried as she turned her sight back out front, but she still kept thinking about the fuzzy-browed gennin.
---Later that day---
Gai charged again. His opponent was a man wearing a green spandex outfit with his hands wrapped in bandages and using his hitae-ate as a belt. His black hair was shaped like a bowl and his eyebrows covered about least one-fourth of his face. He was Rock Lee, thought to be the greatest, taijutsu expert in the entire Hidden Leaf Village.
The young, shinobi wannabe lunched another punch aimed at the man's stomach, but the jounin easily avoided the attack by spinning on his foot and finding himself facing the charging boy's back, he slapped the kid softly in the back of his head. But even that was enough for the boy to lose balance and fall on his face.
In a flash he got back to his feet however and charged at the man once more, spinning of his foot at an amazing speed. His opponent seemed to predict that nevertheless and just moved to his right slightly and so when Gai was running right to his left, the man attacked the boy's legs with his own, making the youngster loose his balance yet again. Only this time, before he hit the ground, the man grabbed him, breaking the fall.
"You're not concentrated lately, Gai…" stated the man calmly as he helped the boy get back to his feet. "You just charge in recklessly without thinking. That leads to showing many openings… what's wrong, son?"
Gai only lowered his sight. He didn't reply at first and just kept staring at the ground, but after a longer silence, the young ninja decided to break it: "You know the final exams at the Academy are slowly coming… most likely we'll get some ninjutsu exercise… and you know just as good as I do that in that field I have no skills…"
As he heard that, the man placed his hand on the boy's shoulder, thus making the fuzzy-brow kid to rise his sight at him. The man smiled to the boy warmly and said: "I didn't possess any nin or genjutsu skills either… even now both of the above are things I know very little off… and yet I've manage to come this far… if you'll really work hard and put your heart into it, Gai, I'm sure you'll become a shinobi in your own right, even with taijutsu alone…"
"But I still know so little…" the boy still had doubts. "Even though I train everyday I don't really think I'm going anywhere… maybe I don't believe I can get anywhere… but there are times I'm wondering if… well, if the path I've chosen is the right one…"
"No-one can tell you that besides yourself, Gai…" replied the man. "It is you how have to make the decision and you alone. I'm not gonna lie that it's easy, coz it's not… it's not easy at all… but if you'll find people who'll aid you in it, I can promise that you'll make it through… and I assure you that no matter what your choice would be, I'll be there for you…"
"I hope I'm not interrupting something…" they suddenly heard a voice and as the two turned in the direction the voice came from, they saw two females walking towards them. The first one was a slender woman around thirty years old with long, brown hair, clipped in two buns, wearing an orange, Chinese (A/N: as I said many times, I know China doesn't exist in "Naruto" world, but this is the best way I can describe her outfit) dress, dark blue pants and a hitae-ate with the Leaf symbol on her forehead. She was carrying three cups of teas in front of her.
Close behind, hiding behind the woman, was a very young girl with brown hair, made into a big bun, wearing an orange kimono with white flowers all over it. The girl waved to the two males and then got back to hiding behind her mother.
"Don't worry, Tenten-chan, we were just finishing…" assured the man as he walked over to the woman and gave her a kiss on the cheek. The woman smiled and handed the boy the first cup, receiving a 'thank you' nod from him.
"Come on, Ibuki…" asked the man as he bended his knees and looked at the young girl, who was still hiding behind the woman. "Won't you give your father a hug?" and with that he held out his arms. The girl, still very shyly, walked forward a little and after a longer moment embraced the man, but only for a moment and returned behind her moms legs soon after.
"Just goes to prove what I told you, Lee-kun…" joked Tenten, laughing slightly. "You scare kids away with those eyebrows of yours! But I still like them…" she added after a moment and now it was her that gave the man a kiss on the cheek.
But Gai wasn't paying too much attention to all of this. He just stared at the tea in his cup. For some reason, even what his father said didn't made him feel any better. He looked at his reflection in the brown liquid for a moment and then raised the cup to his mouth.
---The next day---
Gai entered the Academy running. For the first time every we overslept and he was 'this close' to being late. This was unacceptable… to himself the most. As he opened the door to the classroom, he felt relieved that the teacher wasn't there yet. He slowly walked in and closing the door behind him, sat in the desk, just a row behind Toramaru and his friends.
"I'm telling you green and yellow!" announce Garou loudly. Naraku only shook his head in disagreement: "No, it was red and green… why would they use yellow for something like that? It's illogical!" but the dog ninja argued that yellow was actually the best choice.
"Seriously guys…" Toramaru cut in, a little annoyed. "Can't you find any, other topic then 'what color was the ice cream stand we stopped by yesterday'?" and with that he slammed his head against his desk.
Shunrai wasn't listening to that however. The moment Gai walked in, she followed him with her eyes and turned around to face him: "Umm… Gai-kun…" she began quietly, gaining the boy's attention. "I… well, I've noticed that… you seem troubled…"
The fuzzy eye-browed boy only stared at her for a moment and then replied even quieter then the girl did: "It's nothing…" and when he said so, a woman with long, brown hair, clipped in a ponytail, wearing a brown t-shirt with a chuunin vest on walked in.
"Morning, class…" she said out loud, drawing everyone's attention. Well, almost everyone, coz Buryaku was sleeping… what else is new. "Considering that your exams are drawing nearer and nearer, I've decided that we could start preparations, in hope you'll be ready when the time comes…"
"But Kumiko-sensei (A/N: just in case, she has nothing to do with the character from my N:NG fic)!" Akai raised his hand up, making the female chuunin take her eyes onto him. "We already did a check off our genjutsu skills last week… why repeat it?"
"Well Jun…" began the woman as she threw a quick glare at Gai, which no-one was, besides the fuzzy-browed boy. "To start off not everyone did as good as I'd like them too. The way I see it, your generation may grow to be one of the greatest Konoha raised so far, so it'd be a shame for someone to fail the final exam… today lets do the henge… after I'll read your name, please step forward to receive your task… let's see…" and with that she began looking around the class. "Let's start with Jun…"
And with that the masked boy walked down to the center of the class. Once he was told to take the form of Hatake Kakashi, Garou bended over to Toramaru, whispering: "Big deal, all he has to do is grow taller and the task is complete…" and hearing that the white-eyed boy laughed quietly while Jun finished his test.
"Okay, let's move on…" purposed Kumiko and then pointed at the boy in glasses: "Akumo, would you give it a try?" and hearing that the young boy walked down. He got a task to turn into the female chuunin and he did it perfectly.
"Great… Gai, your turn…" and with that Kumiko pointed at the fuzzy-browed boy. The taijutsu expert's eyes widen as he walked down with his head down. "How about you try Hokage-sama this time?" the woman purposed and Gai only nodded weakly before performing the right hand seal.
"Henge!" he yelled and as the white smoke that covered him cleared, the whole class so a tall figure standing in the place where their classmate stood just a second ago. There was only one problem: the figure didn't resemble the Rokudaime much.
Sure, the hair was blonde, but in stead of spiky, it was completely messy and much of it was falling down onto the figure's face. But that might be for the best as its face was full of pimples, the nose was long and 'sharp' and lips seemed more woman-like then a man's. The only thing that really resembled the Hokage in this part was the fact that its eyes were really blue. The outfit was better as it was true to the original in design, but the colors were totally mixed up. To put it simply: you can't do much worse.
"I'm sorry Gai, but your henge needs more work…" announced Kumiko kindly as the fuzzy-browed boy walked back to his seats, cheered on by some of his classmates laughter. Once the lesson was over, everyone headed out, but the female chuunin stopped the taijutsu specialist before he left: "Gai, may I have a word with you?"
The boy froze and a little nervous, he shut the door behind Buryaku, who was the last one to leave the classroom, considering that she only just woke up. "I'm starting to get worried about you, Gai…" announced Kumiko calmly as she walked closer to the fuzzy-browed kid. "I hate to say this, but with your current, genjutsu level you have no chance in passing the final exam in case it'd turn out to be an illusion test…"
"I know, Kumiko-sensei…" assured Gai with his head lowered. "It's just that…" but he didn't really knew what to say, so he finished there. The female chuunin only placed her hand on his shoulder, thus making him look up at her.
"I know about your father…" she announced kindly. "And I realize that it must be hard for you, but I'm saying this for your own good. I really wish you'll manage to become a ninja, because I see that you have a lot of potential, but… please, at least give genjutsu more work. Even though your father could never master any technique based on chakra, you mother was capable of doing it, so you should have such a possibility as well… promise?" and with that she smiled widely at him, making him blush slightly.
Gai only nodded and then walked out the classroom, leaving Kumiko alone. He was surprised to see Shunrai waiting for him outside the door. "What are you doing here, Shunrai-chan?" he asked confused, but the girl only grabbed his hand and replied: "Please follow me, Gai-kun…"
As the blue-haired girl dragged him to the school backyard, the fuzzy-browed boy looked behind him at the Academy. "Shunrai-chan, the next lesson will start soon, we should…" but before he could finish, he was interrupted by the young kunoichi:
"Please, I want you to do something for me…" she announced, making big eyes towards him and making the boy blush once more. Basically following the girl's example. Finally he sighed and asked: "What is it that you need?"
"I want you…" she began, returning to her usual, shy self. "To have a sparring match with Toramaru-kun…" and with that she pointed behind him, where the white-eyed boy stood with his arms crossed. Gai looked totally confused now and turned towards his 'opponent'. "Are you serious, Shunrai-chan?" he asked the girl, who only nodded.
"Don't tell me you're scared…" Toramaru said out loud, making Gai's fist clench a little. "But then, someone with such low, ninja skills probably can't match me anyway, so it's understandable that you don't want to try… chicken!"
At hearing that, the fuzzy-browed boy, both angered and confused, charged straight at the son of the Hokage. Toramaru instantly activated his bloodline limit and managed to block Gai's attack coming from his right with his hand. But less then a millisecond later the taijutsu specialist lunched a kick into the blonde's stomach, thus forcing the white-eyed boy to lift his left knee up in order to block that attack as well.
Before Toramaru knew it, Gai spun on his foot and bended his knees pushing his left leg (A/N: the one he didn't attacked Toramaru with) out and as his foot made a full circle on the ground, it hit the leg the blonde was standing on, making him lose his balance and fall on the ground (A/N: sorry guys, I'm trying to make Gai's style similar to his father's, but it hard for me to right… hope you manage to understand what's going on at least).
The fuzzy-browed boy didn't waste a second and bending to his left, he propped his hands against the ground and shoot his legs to the sky. Instantly he brought them down, right at the place Toramaru was laying, but the blonde managed to roll away just in time to avoid the attack.
In a flash both boys got back to their feet and faced each other again, this time the white-eyed kid being the one who charged at his opponent. As he lunched an attack with an opened palm at the fuzzy-browed boy, Gai spun on his foot yet again, ducking under the assault and while his back was facing the blonde, he lunched his elbow back, hitting the son of Hokage into the stomach.
Instantly the taijutsu expert placed his hands on the ground again and performed a Belgian Helicopter, but this time Toramaru saw that coming and it was him that bended over, making Gai's attack go above his head. While the fuzzy-browed boy was still spinning on his hands, the blonde lunched a kick into his stomach, which send him flying back.
Gai however flipped in mid-air and managed to land safely on his feet, only to see Hokage's son charging at him once more. The fuzzy-browed boy reacted immediately and slid towards his opponent, lunching a kick to Toramaru's side, but the blonde managed to jump to his right, away from the assault.
The taijutsu expert seemed to predict that though and in a flash flipped from his back to his front, lunching another kick, with his other leg this time, coming from the opposite direction then the first was lunched.
Having no way to dodge, the white-eyed boy could only move his hand behind his back to block the attack and succeed only thanks to his bloodline limit. Once Gai's leg hit his hand, Toramaru grabbed his opponent's leg and spinning on his foot lunched a kick where the fuzzy-browed boy's face was.
Gai however still had his hands free and used them to block the attack, lunching a kick with his free leg at his opponent's face as well. In order to avoid the attack, Toramaru had to let go of the leg he grabbed and duck under. Once he did that, the two boys eyes meet and in an instant they both jumped away from each other, prepared to continue the fight.
But a little surprisingly, the blonde smiled and dropped his fighting stance. Slightly confused, Gai soon followed, raising one of his huge eyebrows. "You're certainly a hard opponent to beat…" announced Toramaru, still smiling. "I'd surely like to check my skills against you, but this is not the time or the place for that. I'll fight you on equal terms, so you better become gennin with the rest of us so that we could have a re-match…" and with that he held out his hand.
After a short hesitation, Gai held out his and the two shook their hands, smiling at each other. Shunrai, who was still watching the whole scene from the distance smiled as well as she walked over to the two and with a bow thanked the blonde.
"What was this all about anyway?" Gai finally asked when they were heading back to the Academy for their next lesson.
"Shunrai told me about your… problems…" replied Toramaru simply. "And ask to help out. She figured you could use a little burst. And I can tell you that you have what it takes to become a great shinobi. Even if you don't know a thing about gen- or ninjutsu, that still doesn't change the fact that you can become a respectful ninja… so put your best effort to it…" and with that he walked into the classroom.
The fuzzy-browed boy looked at the blue-haired girl, who was now staring at the floor, her face slightly red. "Thanks, Shunrai-chan…" Gai finally said, breaking the silence and smiling warmly to the kunoichi. She just replied with the nod and walked through the door the taijutsu expert opened for her. History class was about to start.
---Later that day---
Kumiko heard a knock on the door and as she said 'enter' a boy she didn't expect to show up walked in. Gai bowed deeply before the female chuunin and without rising his head, he asked: "Kumiko-sensei, please… help me learn genjutsu!"
The woman was first shocked at hearing that, but then smiled under her nose she sat up from behind her desk and walked over to the boy, who now raised his head slightly, but remained in the bow.
"Very well…" she replied, smiling widely. "Let's get to work… we have a lot of catching up to do…"
---days go by… life goes on---
And that concludes this chapter. Hope you enjoyed it, because the Academy years are about to finish. Soon the real adventures will begin!
Since I've done all the main characters for Academy years profiles already, I have to choose one character now. Since this chapter was centered on Gai, I figure he'll do for this time:
Name: Rock Gai
Family: as you learned in this chapter, his parents are Lee Rock and Tenten. He also has a younger sister by the name Ibuki (as a note, word 'buki' means 'weapon' and Ibuki can be translated as 'mighty blow')
Bloodline limit: none
Clan's Abilities: unique, taijutsu techniques, involving speed
Birth date: 8th of May
Age: currently 12 years old
Blood type: 0
Favorite food: none
Favorite quote: make the spirit of youth bloom!
Favored fighting style: taijutsu
Village: Konoha (Hidden Leaf)
Rank: Academy student
Team: not assigned yet
Techniques (used so far): none
First appearance: 1st chapter
And that's really that. Hope you liked it. Best wishes and until next time, hopefully.