Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.
My First Friend
Despite my angry feelings towards Iruka-sensei for withholding information, I could not have liked him more when he announced that today's physical activity is to be sparring. That is one good thing about moving to a shinobi village; the chance to have matches that will not end in death or severe injuries.
Most of the class erupts in excited chatter while a few twitter anxiously. It is probably those who are afraid of sparing that will not become genin.
In the schoolyard, Iruka-sensei orders the class to form a large circle. I make sure that I am in the front. One of the best ways to learn is through others' mistakes. Though it is not my classmates' fault that they make so many mistakes. They just do not want to be genins bad enough. I need to do well. I need to get Father's weapons back. So, I will learn my classmates' weaknesses and use that to my advantage. Iruka-sensei calls two boys forward. One is tall for his age, and the other looks like he just woke up from a nap. Otherwise, I cannot separate them from the rest of the boys in the class. Iruka-sensei claps his hands together and yelled, "Begin!"
The tall boy lunges forward and bends low; going in for a gut punch. The sleepy boy dodges with sluggish momentum. He would not have such slow movements if he took the time to take a stance before his opponent made the first move. The taller one springs away to look for another opening. He is not bad, but I think that he is too cautious about executing attacks. My father used to say that being a shinobi requires twenty percent knowledge, thirty percent skill, and fifty percent nerve. Caution does not fit into the equation. The fight ends with the sleepy boy blocking a knee, before using that as an opening to aim his foot at the other boy's ankle. He uses enough force to knock the taller boy off balance, but not enough force to cause damage. The taller boy fights to regain his balance but topples over after a few seconds. Iruka-sensei announces the winner. The two boys bow to each other before rejoining the circle.
It seems that in the academy a match is over when someone hits the ground, that is good to keep in mind. I start to go through different strategies in my head. Especially the ones Father made me memorize.
Izumi is called next. Her opponent is timid and shies away from all of her attacks. Sadly Izumi wins, and sadly I cannot see anything wrong with what she did. She is good.
Five more matches take place before my name is called along with some boy named Akio Suzuki. When Iruka-sensei called my name I could not help but hear Izumi, and her mindless friends share a laugh. Probably because I only have a first name. Man, I really wish she had lost.
But it will not be long until I will have a last name. As I walk to the center I think to myself, 'Manami Hatake. It does not sound like a bad combination. Though, I probably will not be able to find out my relation to Kakashi Hatake because Naruto took off this morning with a backpack saying that he has a mission. Which means Kakashi has a mission. But as soon as they get back I am going to gain a last name.
Akio reaches the center about the same time I do. He is my height; maybe an inch or two taller. His skin is tan, and his dark-red, spiky hair compliments that. His clothes are simple, black pants rolled at the cuff and a camouflaged tank top. A wide confident grin sits on his lips. My lips twitch into a smirk. How long will it take for me to wipe that grin off his face? Purposely slow, I ease into a defensive stance. I will let him make the first move. Just so I can get an idea about how to win.
Still advertising confidence, Akio quickly drops into an offensive position, almost too fast for my eyes to track. How did he do that? My eyes narrow slightly to focus more on him. This just might be fun.
"Start", Iruka-sensei said.
I do not blink as Akio charges. He dashes for my right by changing his direction with a sideways leap. Swiftly, I pivot and par his blow with my right arm as he takes a swing with his left. Without hesitating he withdraws, only to sprint for an opening to target my back. Akio's area of strength is definitely his speed. I can hardly follow him. But he is not subtle; going for obvious openings. I bend one knee and hurriedly drop low; swinging my extended leg around in a circle. Maybe I can catch him off guard. But he jumps over my leg as if he was playing jump rope.
He creates distance between us by cartwheeling away. When he is standing still, I see that his grin has turned into a smile. Both of us probably thought that this fight was going to be an easy win, but now it is pure fun.
But what is going to be the breaking point for him? He is super speedy, but predictable. He is flexible but does not seem to use that to his advantage. And I do not know how strong he hits because he has not landed a blow yet. How do I retaliate? The only thing I can think to do is to corner him and to take his speed away. Which is easier said than done. I could win by just being faster than him, but I am not. So I will just have to know what he is going to do before he does it. I straighten up into an offensive stance. It is my turn to attack.
Instead of running straight in, I flip in. Hoping that would keep him guessing. At the last second, I land in a round off before doing a backward summersault; dodging a kick. I smile to myself. If Akio sees an opening he is going to go for it. Even if it is a bluff. I know what to do. Once again I sweep a leg out, but he jumps again. However, this time I do not do a full circle sweep. Using my already extended leg as a point of balance, I place both of my palms flat on the ground and kick up my other leg. Let us see if he is as fast in the air as he is on the ground.
My legs make contact. But instead of knocking Akio to the ground, he treats my leg like it is a gym bar, and uses it to flip over and safely land on his feet. "Well played Akio", I thought.
Our match goes on and on. Occasionally one of us will land a blow. But none that makes the fight end. Akio is breathing heavily. There is a light bruise on his left cheek from when a karate chop accidentally turned into a slap at the last moment. But I am not much better. My shoulder rises and falls with each breath of air, and I am sure that there is a nice sized bruise on one of my shins from a poorly blocked kick.
Despite all this, Akio and I cannot seem to stop smiling. I have never fought someone my own age before. unless if I count the time that I punched Izumi. I have only ever sparred with Father, and he would always pull punches. This is a rush.
Iruka-sensei breaks in after another couple of minutes. "That's enough you two. It's a tie", he said, nodding in approval at both of us. "Good Effort".
Both Akio and I fall out of our stances. I move to bow to him, as is custom, but Akio sticks out his hand; grinning. Surprised, I take his hand. I was almost expecting him to suddenly flip me over. But all he does is shake my hand. "That was great! Usually, these sparring sessions are so boring. But this was fun. I'm happy ya joined the academy, Manami. Now I have competition", he said as he lets go of my hand.
I smile back at him. "Thanks".
"Okay, clear the center for the next match", Iruka-sensei orders with a smile. And this time it is a normal smile; not a pitying smile.
Instead of going back to his original spot in the circle, Akio follows me to mine. "We should finish our match", he said as his breathing starts to even out. His stamina must be great if his heart rate is already coming down.
I nod my head as Iruka-sensei calls out the next pair. "I know the perfect place to finish it".
I lead Akio to my regular training field walking shoulder to shoulder with him. The minute school had let out, we had been talking about finishing our sparring match. By the time we reached the field, we had decided that in this fight we could use jutsu, but no weapons. The no weapons rule is my idea for obvious reasons. stupid pineapple-head.
Neji, as usual, is already there; training rigorously. He spares us a glance but never pauses in his work out. Akio takes his place on our side of the field and faces me. "Right", He started, grinning in anticipation. "Do ya want to play by school rules? The first one to hit the ground loses."
I shake my head. "I was thinking the first one to give up will lose", I said, smirking as I move into an attack stance.
He falls into a similar stance. "Sounds good".
This fight goes pretty similar to the one that we had at the academy. Akio relies mostly on his speed, and I rely on the techniques that my father had spent years schooling me in. He would attack, and I would dodge at the last second. I would attack and he would counter in some creative way. Everything was the same until jutsu got thrown into the mix. I do not have a chance against his speed without jutsu. Akio can run circles around me in that category. Though one of the best ways to avoid falling victim to his speed is the replacement jutsu.
Akio goes in for a frontal assault as I quickly form the right signs. He moves to swing a right hook just as a puff of smoke switches me with some nearby loose leaves. When Akio's fist does not make contact with anything but my flimsy replacement, he stumbles forward giving me a chance to attack him from behind. I run at him before twirling; causing my hair to whip across my face. I aim a spinning kick at his right side. It made contact and Akio drops to the ground. I am confident that he will get a bruise from that blow, but I am not strong enough to do any more damage than that. Akio falls correctly; moving his shoulder so he ends up rolling away from me; his attacker. After the roll, he jumps to his feet and turns to face me, crouching into an easy to defend and easy to attack stance. "Looks like we're playing hardball", he said with a snicker.
I smile at him in response; breathing heavily. As I move back to be ready for any of Akio's moves, I take in my surroundings. The sun has started to set. We have probably been at it longer than we were at the academy. There is hardly any breeze today, which means if I use the Katon jutsu it will be easy to aim. Out of the corner of my eye, I spot Neji. He has stopped training and is standing still; watching our fight with his arms crossed and his face calculating. I flinch. Why is he watching us?
Akio does not charge like I thought he would. Instead, he forms rapid hand signs. My eyes widen. I do not recognize those signs! Whatever jutsu he is using, it is not one that we have learned at the academy. It must be a very powerful jutsu. I raise my hands. If that is how he wants to play, then I know just the jutsu to us. As I form the signs; trying to complete my jutsu before Akio finishes his, I feel the familiar feeling of burning chakra gathering. Waiting to be turned into flames. But before I can form the last sign, a large black and white blurb comes swishing into the middle of my and Akio's fight. A swift force knocks my hands apart, thus breaking my chakra control. The sensation of dwindling chakra takes place as everything that I was building up spreads out to its original place in my body.
As the blurb comes to a complete halt, I see that it was Neji; now standing firmly between us. He has one hand raised to block me from making any further attack and one to block Akio. His long hair settles around his shoulders and back as his eyes dart back and forth from Akio and me. Daring one of us to question him. Trying to even out my breath, I stare at him. Why did he stop us? How did he move so fast? Why did I not sense him coming? A good shinobi should always be able to tell when someone is coming.
Confident that he has our attention, Neji lowers his arms and stands straight. "Those are not moves that one uses on comrades", he said, his voice even. In turn, he gives both of us stern looks. Guiltily, I look up at him. Now that I think about it, it probably would not have been a good idea to burn Akio to a crisp. "Save your jutsu for those who are trying to harm you or your comrades", he finished, never changing his tone. Which makes it hard to decide if he is mad or not. I hope he is not mad, because I do not think I will ever want to encounter an angry Neji.
Akio scuffs the ground with his foot. "We were just sparring", he said gruffly. He did not sound out of breath at all. Man, I wish I had Akio's energy. "For training", he added, trying to appease the jounin. I bite back a groan. Is Akio blind? Can he not see that Neji is not someone you talk back too?
Neji folds his arms and raises an eyebrow. He turns his back to me to fully face Akio. I shake my head as I cover my face with my right hand. This is not good. Before Neji says anything I scurry around him and stand next to Akio. If this is going to turn out to be a wreck I might as well be apart of it. "Training?" Neji asked with a hint of amusement at Akio's attitude. "Your blows, while fast, lack the strength to be truly effective", Neji said, in the same tone he used when he taught me the transformation jutsu. "A hundred pushups should be enough training to fix that", he said in a way that's clearly an order.
Akio scowls up at him. "Who do ya think you are that ya can tell me what to do, mister?" Akio demanded; stepping closer to Neji. He almost looks like he is issuing a challenge to the jounin.
I reach out and grab onto Akio's arm, and pull him back. If I do not do something, Akio is going to end six feet under. "Akio", I hissed at him, hoping that if I am quiet enough Neji will not hear what I am saying. Akio does not take his eyes off of Neji. I am not even sure if he is listening. "This is Neji Hyuga. He is a jounin, so just do what he says", I finished. The last thing I need is for my new friend to be making enemies with the shinobi that I share a training field with. He will probably get me banned from this place.
"Manami", Neji said quietly but it is still enough to get me to snap to attention. He is standing exactly where he was before, but now he has tucked his chin down a little and is smirking. "You are getting tired too quickly", he began. I force myself to swallow words. Too quickly? We have been sparring since school let out hours ago. "Run around the field until I tell you to stop", he ordered.
Glaring at Akio, since this is really his fault, I pick up my feet and take off as I hear Neji raise Akio's push-up count to two-hundred. I smile to myself. He deserves it.
The stars are out and crickets are chirping by the time Neji decides that we had had enough. He definitely kept us busy. After I had run enough and Akio had done enough push-ups to satisfy him, he had us practicing moves with us taking turns being on the offensive, or the defensive. The whole time we are doing that, Neji corrects everything wrong that he sees. A lot of his info comes from our fight. Maybe I should find a new place to train if I want to spar outside of school again.
He leaves us sprawled out on the grass; trying to breathe normally with sweat dripping down our foreheads. But not before he commanded us to come back here tomorrow after school. Apparently, he is not done with us yet.
A couple of minutes after Neji leaves, Akio said as he laughs, "It's probably diner time by now. When I get home my mom is going to kill me".
"Does that mean you are leaving?" I asked as my breathing finally evens out.
Akio shakes his head. "No, I'll already be in trouble. A little later won't make it any worse. He turns on his side to face me. "Hey, Manami?" He asked.
"Yes", I answered.
"I gotta know. Why don't you have a last name?"
Feeling suddenly gloomy, I roll over on my stomach and hide my head in my arms. I thought that I had finally made a friend. "Did you come with me after school just so you could ask me that?" I asked meekly.
"No", Akio said quickly. "You don't have to tell me if you don't wanna".
"Then why did you ask?" I muttered into my arm, before turning my head so that I can look at him. This better be a good answer.
Akio sighs and lies on his back again. "Just curious. Everybody at school is too. I mean ya come in during the middle of the year with no last name. I've never heard ya say a full sentence before today. And there's a rumor that ya live alone". Akio said, never turning his eyes away from the night sky.
I close my eyes. Shoot, that is a good answer. In my head, I count to ten before opening my eyes. "If I tell you, you have to keep it to yourself. I do not want the whole village knowing my life story", I said.
Eagerly Akio rolls to his side to face me. He nods his head as he said, "whatever ya say won't leave this field!"
As I talk, I pick at the grass with my right hand. I start at the beginning; talking about my family. And just like the last time I told my story, I cry when my families' deaths come up. But the tears dry up when I tell Akio about Asuma and company finding me, things about my apartment, about pineapple-head refusing to return my father's weapons, about how no one will tell me what my family name is, and about Kakashi Hatake and red eyes.
Akio proves to be a good listener. He never interrupts or looks away from me. This is the first time that I have seen him stay so still. When I am finished talking, I feel like I had just run a marathon.
A moment of silence passes between us, and all we hear are crickets. Telling him my whole story was probably a bad idea. Now he will probably call me weird and never speak to me again because only weird people do not have a family.
"I'll help", Akio said. What? As I look at him my forehead scrunches up. Help with what? "I'll help ya get a chance to talk to that Hatake guy", he said clarifying his words as he lies down on his back again. "Ya said he's a jounin. Jounins are hard to track, even more, when they know someone is looking for them. I know, my dad is a jounin. Between the both of us we should be able to find the dude".
Following his example, I roll onto my back and look up at the stars. "Thanks", I said. Maybe this task will even be fun with a friend. After a while, I asked, "Akio?"
"Hmm?"
"That jutsu you were doing before Neji interrupted us, what was it?" I asked as I spotted the big dipper in the sky.
"Oh", Akio said, sounding proud. "That's something my dad taught me. What would have happened is that my chakra would have turned the ground around me into a sinkhole. I was planning on trapping ya". He said the last part with a small chuckle.
My nose scrunches up as I envision myself being stuck in gritty, sinking mud. Maybe it is a good thing that Neji interfered when he did. "That is good to know", I said deadpanned, already thinking of ways that his jutsu can be avoided.
"So what jutsu were ya going to use?" Akio asked.
Smirking, I rock back so that I am on my shoulders, before springing up onto my feet. Looking down at my new friend I said, "A good shinobi never shares her best jutsu". And I take off running; heading for my apartment.
"Hey!" I hear Akio yell, followed by his feet hitting the grassy ground. "That's not fair!" He yelled and a second later I hear him running after me. Smiling, I speed up. I know he will have no problem catching up.