Exploiting Bugs

Chapter 8 – What doesn't kill you

I'm in two minds about how to describe that first proper conversation that I had with Chika. The ambitious and goal oriented part of me had just wanted to get through with it and start training, not to mention feeling quite embarrased at being fussed over like that. On the other hand, it made me feel happy to be so cared for. From asking me how I'd been, and if I'd been doing anything fun, to making sure I'd been eating enough vegetables and washing my clothes properly, it was like a continuous storm of motherly care, interupted only by her hugging me tightly every few sentances. Eventually, with a promise to return and eat lunch with her, I departed in the direction of the training room.

When I arrived, it was not empty, however. A slightly older boy, obviously an Aburame from his looks, was practicing some kind of taijutsu kata in the centre of the room. He looked to be probably about eight, and was flowing through his forms swiftly, bathed in sweat. I stood at the door watching his routine, and I don't know exactly when he noticed me, but he spent around a minute finishing his exercise before he addressed me.

"Well if it isn't the little baby bug. I don't think I've ever seen you come to the clan compound. If you're coming in here to train, you must've past the exam yesterday. What? You finally stopped crying over a few little insects?".

He had a childish sneer on his face as he talked down to me. He was quite well built, his exposed forearms showing well toned muscle, and he was more than a head taller than me, which all added up to a quite intimadting sight. I did my best to act like there was nothing worrying me about the situation, in the hope he wouldn't try to bully me.

"Ah well I managed to pass so I thought I'd come and get some practice in before I start on monday."

I spoke in a calm and matter of fact tone, trying not to give any indication of being scared of him. I could've sworn I saw a cruel glint in his eyes, but then he made an offer that surprised me.

"Come over here, I'll teach you the basic academy taijutsu forms and we can train together.".

I was a little wary, given how he'd acted initially, but he was only a child after all, his cruelty probably would only extend to some teasing. Plus, I wanted to get my training going and catch up to the best of my peers as quickly as possible.

His dedication to showing me the forms was quite impressive actually. I expected him to half heartedly run through them and leave me to my own devices, but he actually spent half an hour teaching me how to punch and kick with the correct form, and showing me a couple of basic blocks used in the most basic kata. Once he saw that I had remembered the forms, even if I wasn't quite executing them properly, we ran through the kata he had taught me twice. After the first one, I got a notification.

YOU HAVE GAINED THE [BASIC TAIJUTSU (LEAF STYLE)] SKILL

As I caught my breath from the second run through of the kata, I read its description.

Basic Taijutsu (Leaf Style) – Level 1:

Increases power and decreases the deviance of your strikes and blocks using Leaf Style by 1% per level.

Its effect was similar to my shurikenjutsu skill, except that it applied only whilst using the academy taijutsu style that the boy had just taught me. The notation of the skill was interesting, since it implied that taijutsu styles were graded somehow. Either there would be and advanced leaf style, or the leaf style was only a basic style, and maybe something like goken would receive a better grading. Not something that I could or needed to act upon now, but something to bear in mind.

I felt a heavy hand on my shoulder as the boy turned to me. I supposed I should've probably known his name, but I could only assume that I would remember that in due time. His slightly more sinister grin had returned now as he looked down at me.

"So now you've got the basics down, lets have a little spar."

He gave me a shove, and as I stumbled backwards a few steps, he fell into a stance, motioning for me to come at him. It turned out my gut instinct of distrust had been correct, and I should have listened to it. It was probably too late to get out of it now, if I refused or tried to run, he may just chase after me and beat me down. I took up the stance that the boy had shown me, granted much more awkwardly than he did. I approached cautiously, and reaching the edge of my range, tried throwing a jab. He was obviously waiting for me to try something, since his reach was longer than mine so he could've struck first. As it was, he batted aside my jab, our wrists clashing, and I winced in pain at the hard clash that I was unused to. My bodyline followed it slighty, leaving me open to the left hook that came screaming towards my head. I managed to raise my right hand just in time to try to intercept, but the difference in strength was too great. WHAM! I felt like I saw stars for a moment as his fist crashed into the back of mine, and then drove on through, forcing my own hand into the side of my face.

-8 HP

I stumbled backwards, and was lucky that he didn't bother pursuing me as it took me a moment to get my feet back under me properly once more. That confirmed it fully, he was definitely planning to give me a hard time this way the whole time. I was also shocked at how much of my HP I had lost. Even though I blocked a portion of the blow, a single strike had taken away a sixth of my total hp. I dread to think what would happen if he landed a clean blow. I firmed my stance a little, but it apparently I was taking too long for my opponent's liking.

"Well if you're not going to come to me...".

He approached then, stepping forwards and switching his stance, trying to land a powerful front kick as he advanced. Not wanting to take a hit like that, I desparately span out of the way, entirely ignoring all of what I'd been taught in the previous hour. I don't think that sticking to the forms would have helped at all, the difference in strength was too great, and he would be all too familiar with what any of my responses might be since he was the one who had taught them to me. It almost felt like a gust of wind as his leg brushed past me, but as I completed my spin I saw him pivot on his now grounded lead foot, spinning around 360 degrees and try to deliver a hook kick to my head. I was lucky that it seemed to be a move that he wasn't very practiced with, as he lost his accuracy during the spin, and perhaps was used to taller opponents, as I leaned backwards, his open toed sandals coming dangerously close to my nose. With him having missed his kick, his unabated momentum made him over-rotate, and while he regained his balance, I took my chance. I darted in, trying to throw a right straight into his face. His speed and reactions felt unfair though, as his hand flew up, catching me by the wrist with my knuckles still inches from his face. That cruel smile returned to his face, and I saw him began to draw his free hand back in preparation for a punch. Put of desparation, I unfurled the fist he had caught, managing to flick him hard on the nose. He let go from the sudden shock, blinking back tears, but before I could gain any further advantage, he came swinging at me with a wild right haymaker. I ducked it, and then pushed upwards, aiming to land an uppercut to his exposed stomach as he abandoned his guard. My punch did land, though it felt like punching a metal plate. In return, his second haymaker hit me in the side of the head.

2 damage dealt

-35 HP

My vision darkened at the corners, narrowing to a tunnel, and my ears rang loudly as I collapsed to the floor. I felt like I had no strength as I lay flat against the tatami floor, and was vaguely aware of my assailant's feet moving around at the edge of my vision. In stark contrast to my swimming vision, a notification appeared within my view, which I was able to see with all the usual clarity.

YOU HAVE GAINED THE [PHYSICAL RESISTANCE] SKILL

Even if I could see clearly, my ears were still ringing and my brain was a little sluggish. I thought I could hear somebody talking in the background, but couldn't quite make out the words. I felt a sharp push against my shoulder as I was rolled onto my back, and The boy's face swam into focus as the ringing in my ears finally died down.

"Good, you aren't as weak as I thought then. For a moment I thought I'd completely knocked you out. Nice try with the flailing but if you don't practice taijutsu properly it'll shoot you in the foot in the long run. I'll train here before lunch every weekend once the academy starts back up. You'd better come and help me practice if you don't wanna stay a little weakling forever. If you get stronger I might even let you tell people you were trained by Aburame Hideaki. You'd better not try telling people that for now though. You're embarrassing.".

I think it was a combination of being utterly shocked at his viscousness and having just had my brain scrambled by his fist that left me unable to reply before he'd turned and walked out of the door. Even though I hadn't quite been able to focus properly, I was reasonably sure that as he spoke his final piece to me, his face had held that spiteful grin once more. I lay there for quite a while trying to get my bearings properly. At first it was a bad headache, but as that settled down I think I just felt a little defeated at how easily I'd just been beaten down by a little kid. I may have been a child myself, but I knew of the incredible dangers that this world would be facing in the not too distant future, and becoming strong enough to protect myself from them having just had my ass handed to me by a childish bully felt like an insurmountable gap.

I knew it had been at least an hour once I finally picked myself up based on how much my HP had regenerated. Remebering that I had promised to return for lunch with Chika, I trudged back over to the compound that she had brought me to earlier that morning, presumably their house. Perhaps she might be able to solve my problem witht his Hideaki for me too. Vaguely remembering that I had gained yet another skill from that encounter, I pulled up its description.

Physical Resistance – Level 1:

Gain 0.5* skill level percent resistance against physical damange and physically induced pain.

Once again it seemed like something that could be very useful eventually, but increased in such small increments that it may as well just not be there. The reduction to pain would be quite useful, I thought, remembering just how painful the first clash of our wrists had been when Hideaki blocked my initial jab. It probably didn't help that we both had the relatively skinny forearms of children, so it was pretty close to a bone on bone collision with little intervening flesh. Hideaki hadn't flinched at all though, so he must be made of sterner stuff. That was a lesson, perhaps, that I should be preparing myself for hardship in the future. The passive skills that I was gaining would mitigate that eventually, but I foresaw lots of grueling and painful training sessions on the near horizon.

As I stumbled through the door to the kitchen, Chika was turned away from me, but Shibi was sat at the table, and he raised an eyebrow at my appearance. I hadn't been able to find anywhere to see my reflection, but I was certain I'd be sporting a sizeable bruise at the very least.

"Chika, come and take a look at Taiki for a moment.".

She turned away from the stove and gasped at the sight of me hurrying over.

"Oh Taiki, who did this to you?"

She raised a palm to the side of my face, and I saw it begin to glow green, before the low level throbbing pain that had accompanied me for the last hour or so began to fade away. I gingerly touched my face, and feeling no pain when I did so, smiled in relief, looking up at the worried looking Chika.

"Oh, yeah, I was training. Hideaki decided to teach me some basic taijutsu, but he wanted to spar afterwards. He's quite a bit bigger and stronger than me.".

Chika didn't look pleased at the news, and I think she was about to march off to give the older boy a piece of her mind before Shibi stopped her, stepping forwards and placing a calming hand at her waist.

"Its okay Chika, it may be a bit rough, but it looks like Taiki has benefitted from it in the end." Chika huffed and turned back to the stove, before Shibi continued. "Hideaki is a year ahead of you in the academy, so you're close enough in age to be sparring partners. Actually, in terms of taijutsu he has the best talent that our clan has seen in some time, if you are willing, you could seek him out again. Since you're looking to improve your physique with those weights you wanted, some taijutsu training could go well hand in hand. Just don't let it affect your academics.".

I was quite surprised to hear that Hideaki was only a year older than me, from his build I had expected him to be two years ahead at least. Although that didn't account for where our birthday's fell within the year, come to think of it, I didn't actually know when my own birthday was in this life. I was also surprised that Shibi seemed to approve of the training. The way that he had spoken to me whilst walking me home the previous night had shocked me, almost me leaving me thinking that he was really just a big softie, but I suppose he was an elite ninja after all. So long as I wasn't permanently injured, he'd push me towards more serious training in my own interests, and it looked like Chika would be able to heal up my injuries after Hideaki was done beating the snot out of me. As Shibi suggested that I seek him out again for more sparring though, I was offered another quest.

Quest Created – Beat Hideaki in a spar

Conditions:

Continue to challenge Hideaki each weekend and beat him in a spar

Beat Hideaki using Leaf Style taijutsu (Bonus)

Rewards:

+5000 Exp

Unknown (Bonus)

Failure:

Continue to be bullied by Hideaki throughout your time at the academy.

Accept (Y/N)

Despite my horrid experience with the spar just now, I accepted the quest with barely a second's hesitation. This would provide me with a valuable sparring partener at regular intervals, one who seemed to be quite competent. Also, the 5000 Exp was very tempting, not to mention the unknown bonus. Given such a large reward, I suspected it might be some time before I could beat the older boy in a spar. Of course, I also knew that from just how wide the gap had seemed between us. I had no way of knowing what his stats were, but they were definitely way higher than mine, and even as I trained to get stronger, he would be training too. Further, it sounded like, for whatever reason, Hideaki was focussing on his taijutsu, whereas I would be expected to perform well academically. I wouldn't have any issues for things like mathematics, but if I was correct in thinking that I would be introduced to things like fuuinjutsu, then a considerable amount of my time would likely end up being sunk into the more supportive of the ninja arts.

Chika turned back to the table, placing a plate of yakitori between the two of us. She glared at Shibi for a moment before smiling at me.

"Make sure you eat enough okay, there's more coming too. Don't you go getting yourself hurt sparring with Hideaki either, you've gotten into class B so you can focus more on your academics and not get yourself injured.".

Shibi sighed as she turned away, shaking his head a little a reaching out to snag one of the yakitori. I grabbed one too and began to nibble at it. I did appreciate Chika being so protective of me, I just hoped she wouldn't try to stop me from pushing myself. As Chika continued with her cooking, Shibi and I polished off the last few yakitori, before Shibi spoke again, pushing a thick envelope over the table towards me.

"Here's your allowance for the week. There's ten thousand ryo in there, but you'll have to take care of a little more than you used to. Your rent and utilities will still be covered by the clan, but all of your food, all of your clothes, and any other necessities will need to be paid for yourself. There should be enough there for you to get your weights today, but you'll need to budget properly. I expect you to not get yourself into trouble. That said, if you do make a mistake, you'd better come to us for help because Chika will be very unhappy if you end up starving, but I shall be very displeased with you if you do.".

He had such a stern look about him that I just nodded meekly, and he patted me lightly on my head as it dipped.

"Good boy. Right, well about those weights then. You should go to the Higurashi ninja supply store later for them. Do you know where that is? Its on the way back to your apartment if you go by the shortest route.".

I nodded again. It was one of the stores I had noticed on the way here.

"Well that's enough talk about serious stuff for now. Tell me Taiki, have you been going down to the park recently? Are there any girls you like?".

Chika inserted herself into the conversation, passing over plates for each of us, and then bringing across a few dishes, with rice, some vegetables, and yet more chicken. A healthy and nutritious lunch for ninja who had been training hard all morning. Despite my already mature mind, I still blushed at her questions, and lunch proceeded in a much lighter manner from then on.

A/n: Interesting note about currency, when Japan switched from Ryo to yen after the meiji restoration (The centralised currency had been previously created under the rule of the Tokugawa Shogunate), a single Ryo had a nominal value of around 400,000 yen. (Also interesting to note that the Ryo originated in china, where it was called a tael). Due to old timey issues with economics and dissemination of the new currency, the two both existed in unison for some time, and in practice, the conversion rate was much lower, i.e. way less yen for each Ryo. Since Ryo were made of gold, it doesn't really make much sense for little kids to be handling money in terms of golden Ryo, since they also silver and brass coinage. Nevertheless, convention in Naruto fanfics is to call money Ryo, and I shall follow that; we shan't bother ourselves with the fact that a Ryo is a measurement of weight for gold, and coins containing a Ryo of gold were called koban. The value of these Ryo will, however, not be related to any realistic calculation (I'm making all the numbers up), and will have notes as well as a variety of coins as with a modern system of currency. Now all this isn't actually very important to the story, but I do like to do my research about stuff like this, and the journey was quite fun so I thought I'd share it.

We also hit a cfew milestones last chapter. More than 20k words and over 100 follows now, and also had over a thousand views in a single day, so thanks to everyone who's been reading so far. With the upload of this chapter, EB also surpasses the length of TSF, so I thought I'd take the opportunity to address the state of that story briefly. For now, I will only be working on EB, but intend to eventually go and finish the others, likely starting with TSF. Now TSF is full of overly long author notes, and I feel like I condensed the chapters too much, focussing on having interesting stuff happen all the time. While its important to be compelling, I do think there needs to be some juxtaposition when it comes to pace, so I'm seriously considering rewriting that from the beginning. It'll be a while before I even start looking at that, but I'd be interested in hearing the thoughts of anyone who has read TSF on whether I should rewrite it from the beginning. If you haven't read it, you're more than welcome to read whats there and weigh in on the issue if you would like. Anyways, thanks for the support so far - Rubi 3