"Clone Jutsu!"
A puff of smoke engulfed Haru. In her place stood three doppelgangers of hers.
Iruka nodded in approval. "Good."
Haru didn't feel so satisfied though. She had just performed the Clone Jutsu successfully, which meant that she really didn't have a single ounce of the Kyuubi's chakra.
I have these damn whiskers on my cheeks but none of Kurama's foxy demon power boosts. This blows!
The class was having yet another Clone Jutsu testing session.
Probably to prepare for the graduation exam in a year, Haru thought.
Naruto, of course, made a sorry-looking blob of a clone.
But even if he couldn't perform the Clone Jutsu at all, at least he had the Kyuubi and the Shadow Clone Jutsu to keep himself alive.
And what did Haru have?
Nothing. Zilch.
Being eleven years old, Haru had studied at the Academy for six years at this point. Her chakra coils had developed enough that it was time she took on a more intense training regime.
But first, she needed to refine her chakra control.
And she knew exactly who to ask.
"Hey, Sakura. Could you give me some pointers on chakra control? I don't quite have the hang of it yet."
Sakura was surprised that Haru had come up to her. Haru had never approached anyone individually like this before. During the Academy's lunchtime, she was usually withdrawn, just quietly eating her meal in the corner.
Sakura didn't meet Haru's eyes. Her lips trembled and she stayed silent.
Haru's shoulders sank. Sakura's mother did tell her not to talk to her. "Never mind. Sorry about bothering you."
"Wait!"
Sakura fidgeted timidly as Haru faced her again.
"I'll help you, Haru," Sakura whispered.
Still hearing some hesitance in Sakura's voice, Haru said, "Don't worry, Sakura. I won't tell your parents you talked to me." She took out her notebook and pencil. "All right. I'm listening."
Sakura put a hand to her chin in thought. "Ok…So chakra takes mental energy to generate and manipulate. You have to relax and focus on feeling how much chakra you need to use for your jutsu. No stress. No distractions."
Haru gave Sakura several nods as she wrote in her notebook. "Ok. Got it. But what about when I want to try using my chakra to walk up a tree?"
Sakura's mouth dropped open in shock. "What?! Could we actually use our chakra to do that?"
"Pretty sure we can. Do you notice the ninjas walking on walls within our village?"
"Oh right! I do see Mom and Dad doing that sometimes…"
Sakura grabbed a branch from the ground and tapped the bottom of her foot. "If you're going to be walking up a tree or any other surface, you'll need to focus chakra into the soles of your feet. And like with any jutsu, you'll need to figure out how much chakra should be used so you don't overdo or underperform it."
Fixated on the subject Haru presented, Sakura acted as a brilliant instructor rather than the shy and timid girl she usually was.
Haru was impressed. Sakura was pretty damn smart even as an eleven-year-old.
"You should look into medical ninjutsu, Sakura. With your skill in chakra control and intelligence, you would make a great medic-nin! Maybe even better than Tsunade herself!"
Sakura's cheeks flushed. "I don't-I don't think I'll even be as great as Tsunade. But o-ok."
"Cool! Thanks, Sakura!"
"Oh! Um-! You're welcome!"
All right! I'm all set!
Haru strapped a helmet to her head and tied two pillows to herself, one on her chest and the other on her back. Wearing protective gear kept her from stressing out about breaking any bones if she took a bad fall.
Haru grasped a kunai and focused on the tree in front of her.
Here I go!
She charged at the tree.
She planted a foot onto the tree. Then another.
And she promptly fell on her ass.
She rubbed her sore butt, groaning in pain.
Damn! Too little chakra!
Haru stood back up.
All right! Again!
Haru proceeded to fall to the ground again and again.
"Urgh…" Now Haru was sore in many different spots on her body.
On the tree, each of Haru's kunai marks was only slightly further from the last. And they weren't even that far from the ground...
Haru panted in exhaustion.
She had been at it for two hours. How was she progressing this slowly, damn it!
Was this how Naruto and Sasuke felt when they did the tree-climbing training?
Haru's legs wobbled, forcing her to sit on the ground.
This…this was going to be a lot harder than she thought.
"Iruka-sensei. I need help with my training."
Iruka blinked in surprise at Haru.
Classes had just ended and she had never approached him like this before.
"I see the ninjas in our village walk up walls sometimes. So if ninjas are able to stick to any surface, how can I effectively stick myself to a tree?"
Iruka's eyes widened. "You're thinking about tree-climbing already?"
Haru's eyes lit up. "If I could stick myself anywhere it'll make hiding and running away from my enemies much easier!"
Iruka sighed, placing a hand against his forehead. "Haru…"
"What? Do ninjas really have to fight all the time? Secrecy and stealth are pretty important too, aren't they?"
"That is true…" Iruka's expression turned serious. "But Haru, there will be times when you will be forced to defend yourself. You need to be ready for that."
"Yeah, yeah…" Haru grumbled. "Just please teach me. I've already started to try out tree-climbing on my own. Just give me some pointers and I'll be out of your hair." - Then you could go back to ignoring me as usual. Problem solved for the both of us…
Iruka stood up from his desk. "All right. Let me see how far you've progressed."
They went outside to the Academy's forest training grounds.
Haru proceeded to take her protective gear out of her backpack.
Iruka was baffled. "Why are you wearing those, Haru?"
"Safety is important, Iruka-sensei."
Iruka gave a heavy sigh and rubbed his forehead. "You're only weighing yourself down, Haru. You've got to take the protective gear off. It's interfering with your balance. You're not strong and skilled enough to maintain chakra control while wearing extra gear yet."
"But-" Haru looked up at the tree. It was so high…
"But what if I fall and get hurt?"
"That's just what you're going to have to accept as a natural part of training, Haru," Iruka said softly, regarding Haru with sympathy. "That's life as a ninja."
"No pain, no gain?" Haru said weakly.
"Yes! Exactly!"
Haru sighed in defeat, putting the protective gear away into her backpack. She looked up at the tree again and gulped.
Haru looked back at Iruka.
Iruka gave her a nod of encouragement. "Just keep your eyes forward and concentrate."
Haru took a deep breath and readied herself. She shut her eyes and focused her chakra into her feet.
Feeling chakra flow through her feet, Haru's eyes snapped open. "Ok! Here I go!"
She ran up the tree.
Concentrate! Concentrate! Concentrate!
Haru breathed heavily.
Oh man. Just how high up am I?
Haru's foot broke through the tree bark.
Oh no! Oh no! Oh no!
Haru fell to the ground on her ass. "Ow…"
"Hmmm. Not bad," Iruka said as he helped Haru up. "But there could be improvement. You started off well but it seemed like you lost focus in the middle."
"Sorry, Iruka-sensei. I just-I just got scared when I thought about how high up I was going."
Iruka wasn't surprised. Haru had always been afraid of heights, even during class exercises.
"Don't think about falling. Don't look down. Just keep looking up and focus on reaching your destination."
"O-ok…" Haru took another deep breath and charged at the tree again.
As she rushed forward up the tree, she kept her eyes on the leaves at the top of the tree.
She kept her breathing steady as adrenaline rushed through her.
When Haru felt the tree bark give way under her sandal, she slashed the tree with her kunai and landed on the ground with her feet.
"That was much better!" Iruka remarked.
Warmth spread through Haru's being.
"All right, Haru. Do you think you can handle this on your own from now on?"
Haru looked back at the tree. The kunai marks were much higher from the ground than before. "Yeah…I think so. Thanks, Iruka-sensei."
Iruka returned to the classroom while Haru stayed to continue her training.
Haru had to admit that Iruka was right. She needed to be ready to defend herself one day, as much as she didn't want to deal with trained killers. But offensive measures were important safety precautions.
First, tree climbing. Then water-walking. And finally, the Rasengan!
The Rasengan was one of the only techniques that was fully covered in the anime and manga through Naruto's training with Jiraiya. It would make for the perfect finishing move. That is if Haru could even master it at all.
The Rasengan required the rotation of chakra. But she hadn't even mastered tree climbing or water-walking yet! If she wanted to even attempt a Rasengan, she needed to master those other chakra control skills first!
But tree climbing was such a pain in the ass from the get-go.
Haru groaned as her legs grew sore. Her body became riddled with bruises.
She looked up at the tree and gripped her kunai.
Damn it! I've got to keep going no matter what!
"Haru's the one who convinced you to study medical ninjutsu? The class crybaby? No way!"
In the middle of reading, Haru heard footsteps approaching her.
"Hey, Haru!"
Haru looked up from her book to see Ino and Sakura.
"Sakura's been reading a lot of books on medical ninjutsu lately. She told me it's 'cause of you. Is that true?" Ino asked.
Haru looked at Sakura.
Sakura's cheeks were pink as she kept her eyes turned away from Haru. She fidgeted timidly.
Noticing Haru actually talking with other people for once, her classmates joined Ino and Sakura with curiosity.
One of them asked the question that was burning in everyone's mind. "So Haru, are you and Naruto related?"
Horror came over Haru's face. "No!"
"Are you sure? You two look so much alike!"
"Yes! I'm very sure!"
Naruto, who had been eavesdropping, snorted. "I wouldn't want to be related to a wuss like her anyway."
To everyone's surprise, the usually shy and timid Sakura rushed over to Naruto and gave him a rebuking fist to his head.
"Naruto!" Sakura yelled. "Don't be rude to Haru!"
Naruto rubbed the bump growing on his head. "Ow…Sakura-chan…"
"It's ok, Sakura. He's right. I am a total wuss…" Haru said without hesitation.
Naruto couldn't believe what he was hearing. He scowled. "Why? Why do you accept being insulted, being called a coward so easily?"
"Because I don't want to die. Better to run and live another day than to dive headfirst into danger." The conviction in Haru's voice was clear.
"I don't get it!" Naruto screamed in frustration. "Don't you hear what people call us behind our backs? Don't you want to prove them wrong? Don't you want to become a great and legendary ninja like the Hokage?"
Haru sighed. "Look, Naruto. I honestly don't really care about the whole 'greatest ninja ever' business. Being out of sight and out of harm's way keeps me safe." She shrugged. "I'm scared and I don't want to die. Simple as that."
"You seriously piss me off!" Naruto shouted.
The other kids in the class felt the tension in the air as they watched Naruto and Haru's confrontation.
"Well, what do you want me to do, Naruto?! You can't expect everyone to deal with problems the same way you do!" Haru shouted back.
"What's that supposed to mean?!"
"It means that some of us know it's smarter to avoid any problems, hide, and cry about it in peace!"
A deafening silence filled the air.
A shadow fell over Naruto's eyes. "So you're just gonna cry all day like the lead in a tragedy?"
He turned his head up, meeting Haru's impassive eyes with an intense glare. "An idiot like you can just cry forever! You crybaby!"
Haru gritted her teeth. "Oh, shut up! If anyone thinks they're the main character here, it's you! Going on and on about becoming Hokage all the time!" Her voice rose. "You don't know me! You don't know anything about me! Think before running your stupid mouth off! Try shutting up for once!"
"What'd you say?" Naruto snarled. He grabbed the collar of Haru's hoodie.
Haru didn't flinch. "You heard me."
Stunned, Naruto released Haru's collar and threw his hands up in frustration. "I can't believe this! I can't believe you!"
"…Believe it, knucklehead." Haru shook herself out of Naruto's grasp. "Whatever. This obviously isn't going anywhere. I don't need to deal with this." She turned her back to Naruto and started walking away.
Naruto grabbed Haru's shoulder, forcing her to face him again. He threw his fist at her cheek.
"Agh!" Haru fell to the ground, her cheek throbbing.
"Why you!" Haru lunged at Naruto.
Haru and Naruto tumbled on the ground, screaming and punching and kicking each other.
"Whoo! Fight! Fight! Fight!" Kiba and some boys shouted.
"Naruto! Haru! Stop! Please!" Sakura cried.
Too absorbed in their anger, neither Naruto nor Haru heard Sakura's pleas.
Suddenly, the crowd of students quieted down.
Iruka yanked Haru and Naruto away from each other by their jacket collars.
"That's enough, you two!"
"Now what exactly happened back there?"
Iruka looked upon Haru and Naruto sternly, his arms crossed. He had pulled them aside for a private talk and ordered the other students to have a self-study session back in the classroom.
Naruto and Haru each had a patch bandage on one cheek.
Naruto said, "She called me stupid!" at the same time that Haru said, "He wouldn't stop bothering me while I was reading!"
Haru and Naruto glared at each other. Then they jerked their heads away. "Hmph!"
Iruka sighed. What was he going to do with these two time bombs? The ticking had just ended. Were they going to blow up again in the future? "If you two become ninjas one day, you might have to cooperate with each other at some point. In the traditions of our village, we work together as comrades."
"I will never be comrades with you!" Naruto shouted at Haru vehemently.
Haru's face held a neutral expression. "Who said I wanted you to?"
For a brief moment, hurt flashed across Naruto's eyes. "Fine! Whatever! Have it your way! I'm outta here!" He stormed off.
Haru kept her head turned away, not looking at Naruto or Iruka. A frown set deeply on her face. "...Am I excused now, Iruka-sensei?"
Iruka sighed heavily with resignation. "...Yes. You're dismissed."
Stupid Naruto. Stupid Naruto. Stupid Naruto.
Haru hit the punching bag in her home harder and harder.
Whatever. Naruto didn't understand shit.
He didn't know what he was asking for by becoming a ninja.
What dangers were waiting for him…
How many people he was going to see die…
Nothing but death at every corner.