Chapter 10
"Hyaah!"
My fist shot forward, the strike blocked as the woman opposite me caught it in her palm. Unleashing a flurry of blows, the older woman effortlessly blocked each and every one of them. No matter what I tried I just couldn't break through her guard. Trying something else, I hopped back to create a small amount of distance between us. As soon as my feet touched the earth, I sprung back on the offensive, leaping into the air and adding a spin as I aimed a kick at her head. The woman raised her arm to block it, my shin striking her forearm.
My opponent then went on the counterattack, her right hand grabbing my leg and pulling, swinging me helplessly through the air as she tossed me away. Landing, I rolled a couple times before coming to a stop on my back. Dull pain throbbed all over my body as this pattern had repeated countless times since this morning. My breathing was ragged as exhaustion finally overwhelmed me to the point I could no longer get back up. I tried but simply collapsed.
"Alright, that's enough for now." Misaki-sensei said as she relaxed her stance.
"Yes... Sensei..." I wheezed.
"That last kick was pretty good, how much weight are you using now?" Sensei asked as she tossed me a towel.
Grunting, I managed to pull myself up to a sitting position, using the towel to wipe down my face. "Four" I replied, the total weight being sixteen kilograms. More than a year had passed since I had begun training with Misaki-sensei and the weight per limb I could tolerate had more than doubled. Every time I took a step up my limbs felt like tree trunks for weeks. I was at the stage where I had mostly adapted to this new weight level. A few more weeks and it would be time to consider going up to five kilos per limb. And yet, it still didn't feel like it was enough. Physical strength alone wasn't getting me anywhere, that recent excursion to the training field proved that.
Sensei took a seat on the grass beside me, pulling her knees to her chest. "What's up? You look like you're thinking about something."
"Just... Wondering how I'm measuring up." I replied honestly, "It feels like I'm still so far behind." I felt my hand gripping the towel tight at my side.
Misaki-sensei placed a hand on my back, "This is about Kiyomi, isn't it?" I nodded, Kiyomi's skills felt miles ahead of mine despite being the same age. But it wasn't just her, Mana was also surprisingly talented. Granted she didn't really apply herself but Kiyomi had taken to showing off things her brother had taught her and Mana was easily able to keep up with her while I often struggled.
"She's just so much better at everything." I admitted sadly, "She absolutely crushes me when it comes to chakra control. Kiyomi can already perform some jutsu!... Sometimes..." Indeed, Kiyomi had already learned the basic clone jutsu from her brother, her success rate wasn't great yet but the fact is she could still pull it off.
"Ah, I see." Sensei said, gently patting my back, "Everyone grows at a different pace. You should look at the progress you've made over this last year." I knew she was trying to cheer me up, comparing myself from a year ago to now was a big difference. But that was only in one area, my physical strength. Kiyomi dwarfed me in that aspect too, the time at the training field around a week ago proved that well enough.
"She's stronger than me too." I added, raising up an arm and looking to the hand-knitted wristband that hid my training weights. "Even with me wearing these everyday, she completely overpowered me."
Misaki-sensei's eyebrows rose at this revelation. "Really?" She asked, "She beat you in a contest of strength?"
I nodded, "About a week ago, we had a sparring session. It was her idea and she completely stomped me." I slumped down, disappointed in myself. Misaki was taking her very rare free time off of work to train me and I had yet to produce any sort of results. I thought I was already working quite hard but Kiyomi must have been working twice as much as that.
A gentle weight touched the top of my head, Sensei giving me a reassuring pat. "Care to tell me what happened?" I felt a smile grow on my face as she spoke, her words filled with a warmed that helped to calm me down. So I recounted that day Kazuma smuggled us into the training field. Namely the parts where Kiyomi and I faced off, first in the game of tag then the sparring session. Sensei listened to my story quietly and intently, only at the end did she giggle softly when I mentioned how we were caught trying to leave and I was grounded.
"I didn't think you had it in you to get in trouble." She snickered before her expression tightened slightly. "But I think I see the problem." She then stood back up, brushing herself off before taking a position a few paces before me. "Kiyomi's chakra control is indeed, far superior to yours, that is the biggest gap between you. It is also one of the reasons she seems to be stronger than you."
"One of?" I asked, curious as to what Sensei had divined from my testimony.
"First, physically it sounds like she is not actually stronger than you." I was taken aback, she completely trounced me in our spar. How could she not be stronger than me? Sensei continued, "From what you said, it sounds like her brother taught her some taijutsu specialized for self defense." Crossing her arms, I was then commanded to stand.
I did as I was told, grunting as my body fought against me. "Now," Misaki-sensei said, "Come at me again." I nodded as Sensei took up a combat stance. Mirroring hers, I charged in, throwing a punch. As I did so, Sensei practically replicated Kiyomi's movements from that day, deflecting my attack and throwing me onto my back. Despite that, I landed quite softly. The impact did not even knock out my breath. "Something like that, right?" She asked, looking down on me.
"Yeah." I replied as I slowly got myself back to my feet.
"This style of taijutsu is designed to use the opponent's strength against them. By using the opponent's momentum against them, it becomes a simple task to divert their attacks and counter." My eyes went wide at this, why hadn't I known about this? Heck, I knew of martial arts back in my world that did a similar thing. Sure I never attempted them myself but I knew they existed. I guess my frustration blinded me to simple facts like that.
"However, there's a good chance that's not the entire story." Misaki-sensei added, her tone shifting down an octave to catch my attention. "While Kiyomi probably isn't so proficient in it yet, the fact she can use jutsu means her chakra control is at the next level compared to yours. Likely she is already capable of chakra reinforcement."
Chakra reinforcement? That was a term I was utterly unfamiliar with. The confusion was evident on my face as Sensei began her explanation, "Chakra reinforcement is, in essence, reinforcing one's body with their chakra. It is something all shinobi worth their salt can do at an instinctual level and is the next step after learning the basics of chakra control." As she said this, Misaki began bouncing lightly on her toes. "It would be easiest if you saw an example."
Sensei then jumped into the air, clearing almost two whole meters before landing lightly back on the grass. For a normal person that would have been an extremely impressive standing high jump, but I had personally witnessed Misaki clearing several stories in a single bound, with me on her back no less. In comparison, this was quite underwhelming. "That is my limit using only my muscles." She stated before preparing another jump, "And this..." Suddenly soaring high into the air, so high the sun's light blinded me from seeing her anymore.
After landing, it felt like Sensei was standing taller than before. Something about her radiated strength she lacked a moment ago. "Is the result of chakra reinforcement." My eyes went wide as the implication instantly clicked in my mind. This was how shinobi could perform such superhuman feats even at a young age. "Basically, by channelling active chakra through your body, you supercharge your cells, allowing you to perform greater feats of strength. Normally, the chakra in your body can be considered passive. And as you know, passive chakra is unusable. By moulding it we get active chakra that you can then move throughout your body at will. Now, if you convert a large amount of passive chakra to active chakra and circulate through your body, you'll get a significant boost to your abilities. The better you get at it and the more chakra you have, the greater the results."
To further demonstrate this point, Misaki-sensei then raised a fist and thrust it hard into the ground. A small boom was followed by a cloud of dirt that, after settling, revealed a miniature crater where her fist sat. "And by further focusing this active chakra, its possible to greatly enhance your attacks." Standing back up, she brushed the dirt off of her knuckles. There wasn't even a blemish on her skin from the blow.
"Now I should mention that this has it's limits. You will not be invincible, no amount of chakra reinforcement can stop a blade. You can think of it as adding onto your normal level of power. There are jutsu out there capable of further reinforcing the body and that will dwarf what you can get out of basic reinforcement." I nodded once again as she finished this little lesson.
"So, Kiyomi is able to do this too?" I asked but Sensei just shrugged her shoulders.
"Possibly, but to a limited extent. You did say she managed to land quite a few strikes, no?" Sensei asked, crossing her arms.
Nodding, "Yeah, she hit my chest a lot when I tried to attack."
"But they didn't hurt all that much right? In other words, she can't keep it active if things get hectic yet." Sensei explained as an ever so slightly devious smile started to spread across her face. "That, I think, is something we can work on." My heart practically jumped in my chest at these words, the built up fatigue all but blown away as I eagerly awaited what Sensei would say next.
"I had wanted to ease you into things, I figured with classes starting soon you'd be able to catch up in time. However, I can clearly see you're not that patient. I definitely understand what its like to live in another's shadow." Sensei sighed, memories playing behind her glossy black eyes. With a single blink, she recomposed herself. "I have to meet my student's expectations after all." Flashing me a brilliant smile, she suddenly steeled herself. Her gaze shooting very familiar daggers at me. "Now, there is one thing bothering me." Her tone was cold, sending a shiver down my spine. "Meiko, come at me again and don't hold back. Try and hit me as hard as you can."
I let out a small sigh of relief, I assumed she just wanted to get a feel for my full strength. "Alright." My fist clenched tight as I dashed forward and wound up my swing. I did my best to put all my power into this shot, throwing my entire weight behind it. "Yaaaah!" My battlecry rang out through the trees as my attack shot out. Yet for some reason, Misaki-sensei wasn't moving, she didn't even have her guard up. "Does she have something planned?" Quickly shot through my head as my body reacted instinctively to stop my attack. I was already too far into the punch to simply stop it like I had with Kiyomi, instead all I could do was awkwardly shift my weight to the side. Throwing my trajectory off course and stumbling before I came to a stop.
"I thought so." Sensei sighed, clearly angry.
"Wha-" I couldn't even finish the word as my stomach suddenly inverted itself. "-GAH!" Misaki-sensei's fist burrowed deep into my abdomen, a large amount of fluid spewing out of my mouth as I was lifted into the air from the force of the impact. Falling to my knees, I coughed and gasped for air while my entire body trembled. Reeling from the blow I tried to look up and ask why but could barely choke out a letter.
"Meiko. I will not repeat this. NEVER. PULL. YOUR. PUNCHES." Nevermind angry, Sensei was absolutely furious. "You could have beaten Kiyomi if you hadn't pulled that last punch and because you did here, you got hurt. I thought you said you were determined to become a shinobi. If you hesitate like that out in the field, you. Will. Die." Kneeling down, she placed a hand gently on my back and when she spoke, her tone was back to it's usual softness. "Even if you're sparring with allies, you should trust in them to be able to take care of themselves. And yourself for being able to control your power. Deliberately holding back like that is nothing more than insulting for your opponent... And make sure you always have someone supervising in the future, just in case."
"...Yes... Sensei..." I wheezed out, knowing in my heart those words were true. My hesitation was nothing more than cowardice on my part. Cowardice and leftover sentiment from a different, far more peaceful world. It would be extremely difficult to unlearn that. I never had to throw a punch in that world and even here, I was only able to do it because I knew that there was no chance I was going to hurt Sensei. I think that was true with Kiyomi too, I could fight like I did because I knew she was just that much better. When that suddenly wasn't the truth and things became more real, I got scared.
"I know you can do it, you already have been." Sensei said reassuringly, "We were sparring all morning and you didn't have any issues then."
I nodded, managing to pull myself upright, "I knew... you could block them." It was still hard to talk, my stomach churning with the wish to expel the rest of it's contents, "But when you left yourself open, I just..."
Sensei pulled me in for a hug, I flailed a bit, worried some of the gunk on my mouth might get all over her clothes. "It's because you're kind, maybe too kind." She said gently. "That kindness can be both your strength and weakness. You'll need to overcome that on your own, that is something I can't help you with."
"Mmm..." I had no response, I simply relaxed my head into Misaki's shoulder. The gentle smell of flowers filled my nose. I had to harden my emotions if I were to have a future as a shinobi. That, perhaps, was the biggest obstacle in my way. Even more than my abysmal chakra control. Just like how my mind blocked out my own chakra, it once again stood in my way. My old world values couldn't be applied here, in this world teetering on the brink of war. I would inevitably be forced to fight another human in the future. If I hesitate at that time, then just as Misaki said, only death would await.
"What I can do," Misaki-sensei began as she released me from her embrace, "Is prepare you for when that time comes." Placing her hands firmly on my shoulders, she looked me dead in the eyes, "But just know, I know you can overcome this. I have faith in you." Seeing myself reflected in those dark circles, I felt the truth in her words. While I harboured my own doubts, a warm strength welled up inside my chest. An unfettered desire to not disappoint my teacher.
"YES!" I responded resolutely.
"Good!" She replied, getting to her feet and helping me to mine. "So, are you able to continue?"
I was still sore all over, especially in the abdomen, but thanks to her words I felt myself renewed. Somehow, I could keep going. "Yeah, I'm nowhere near done!" I roared my declaration to the heavens as I raised my fists, ready and eager to continue.
"That's what I like to hear." Misaki-sensei replied with a shining smile, "However, we are going to change up our training a bit. If you want to catch up to Kiyomi we're going to have to really step up the intensity. This is going to be so much more difficult than anything you've experienced so far." That shining smile suddenly appeared a lot more menacing as I swallowed a lump in my throat. "How long until classes start again?" She asked.
"About a month." I replied, my voice slightly squeaking under the intimidating pressure Sensei was emitting.
"A month huh? Alright," Her smile was definitely menacing now and I was starting to worry about what I had just gotten myself into. "Meiko, I promise you. By the time classes begin, you will be able to use chakra reinforcement." Normally, I would be ecstatic at such a declaration from my teacher but something deep inside me was screaming. An instinctual fear, akin to a mouse facing down a cat, trembled throughout my entire body.
The corner of my mouth twitched as I tried, and failed, to curl it into a smile. "Do you really think I can?" I asked timidly.
"There's only one way to find out. Its going to be brutal, so you'd best prepare yourself." Sensei said, "If you're going to learn it in a month's time we need to take more extreme measures. In other words, I'm going to have your body learn it directly."
"What does that mean?" I was very hesitant to ask, that fear growing in intensity by the second.
"You'll see." She warned, "Now, start by focusing a large amount of chakra into your arms."
Doing as I was told, I started churning the chakra in my stomach. More and more until I had a large blob of active chakra ready. Then it started moving up my body towards my arms before I realized I had an issue. "Um, Sensei. I haven't been able to move chakra to two parts of my body yet, much less this much." So far, my practice had involved moving small amounts of chakra since I had a bad habit of losing a lot of it during transit.
"Well, you're going to have to." Sensei commanded. I could already feel some of my active chakra branching off and fading away just from this short exchange. Closing my eyes, I focused my mind on the large blob of power sitting in my chest. Splitting it in two I tried to move it towards my arms. The falloff increased dramatically doing this as I was trying to do two things at once.
"Ngh..." I grunted as I strained my mind trying to keep the energy together.
"Don't try and force it." Sensei said sternly, "Your chakra is a part of you, relax and let it flow naturally."
I took a slow, deep breath. Feeling my body loosen up as I attempted to relax. Surprisingly, I found the chakra flowing a bit smoother. There was still falloff, but it was indeed moving a bit better. Eventually both my arms pulsated with power, even though more than half of the chakra had fallen off I could still feel quite a difference. "Whoa..." I said with wonder.
"Good job," Misaki-sensei complimented, I looked to her with a smile for but a fraction of a second as she began to lean forward. "Now... BLOCK!" She shouted before immediately dashing forward at me. Panicking I did as I was told and raised my arms. Her punch hit with such force I was sent sliding along the ground several meters. The impact was so great I could feel my bones vibrating. "Get ready, I'm coming again." Sensei said as she started leaning forward again. I crossed my arms before me, preparing to take the hit before I realized the chakra was gone.
"Crap..." I said as the second blow came. This one sending me flying through the air before landing hard on the ground. "Ahh... ow..." I moaned, rubbing my forearm where her fist had collided. Thankfully nothing felt broken but the pain was immense compared to the first hit.
"Keep the chakra flowing to your arms no matter what." Sensei commanded "If it dissipates get it back immediately, or else you will get hurt." So this is what she meant by it being brutal. Sensei's plan was to literally beat chakra reinforcement into me. Rather than trying to adapt my mind to chakra control, my body was going to learn instead. "Now, stand up! You have ten seconds!"
"Right!" I shouted back, trying to sound more enthused than I really was. Once again I focused my chakra, trying to recall how it felt the first time and keeping in mind to relax. Slowly but surprisingly smoothly, the energy flowed towards it's destinations. "Okay..." I said to myself, happy with this bit of progress just as Misaki called out that she was attacking again. I was barely able to bring up my guard, once more my feet skid across the grass before coming to a halt. My arms shook once more, the bruise from the second attack pulsated with pain as well. Gritting my teeth, I tried my best to keep my focus on maintaining my chakra. I managed to stop the dissipation before it was all gone but still lost a good bit.
"Five seconds." Misaki-sensei warned, already in position for the next attack. I frantically tried to generate more chakra while maintaining what I had but the split focus only caused both to start failing. With Sensei's attack imminent I chose to try and keep what little I had left in my arms stable. Thanks to that, I was barely able to withstand the next attack. After I stopped sliding, I immediately began channelling a new batch of chakra and moving it into position.
I lost count of how many times Sensei struck me down. How many times I got back up. How many times I succeeded. Everything just morphed together into a blur as my mind was solely focused on the task at hand. "Activate the chakra. Move it to the arms. Block. Activate the chakra. Move it to the arms. Block." These instructions repeated over and over in my mind, becoming the only thing that mattered. The pain, the exhaustion, all just white noise trying to interrupt that mantra. If I fell, I got right back up and continued. At some point, I don't think I could even see Misaki-sensei anymore. Just another distraction from the task at hand.
After some time had passed, I found myself once more on my back, looking up to the bright blue sky. "Activate the chakra. Move it to the arms. Block." I repeated to myself as I tried to get to my feet. My body however, refused to respond. Again I attempted to move but at best I could twitch my limbs. I began to realize how ragged my breathing was, each inhale was accompanied by a very loud wheezing. My eyes began to lose focus and the soreness settled in.
"Oww..." Was all I could say as I lay limp.
"I think that's enough for today." Sensei said, a slight pant to her breath. I lacked the strength to even lift my head to look in her direction. "You rest up, I'll go get us something to drink."
"Okay..." I replied weakly, closing my eyes and just tried to slow down my heart rate. A few minutes passed and I was finally breathing like a normal person again, even if it did hurt to do so. I attempted to sit up a few times over this period but still my body lacked the strength to do so. Several more minutes passed before I began wondering how long Sensei might be gone.
"One month, huh?" It felt so unrealistic a timeline. Even with this extreme training could I really learn chakra reinforcement in time? If I'm left in a state like this after every session, then maybe we'd be able to do this twice a week at most. Eight days out of thirty devoted to extreme training and the rest to recovery. I couldn't imagine getting very far with a schedule like that.
"What should I do?" I wondered aloud. Rolling my head to the side to look at my motionless arm. I could still feel the muscles pulsating from the pain of being struck over and over again. "Yeah... I'm not moving anytime soon." Turning my gaze back to the sky, I continued contemplating the future. "One month until I start at the academy... Everything is moving so fast." Once enrolled, I would be there for six years. Essentially doubling the time I'd been in this world. "I wonder... how everyone is doing?" I had been so busy with my life lately I hadn't thought about it for some time, but I really did still miss my old home. I love my new family here, truly, but not knowing what happened to my old family, my old friends, it kept me up at night sometimes.
I still couldn't remember what happened to me. If I had died or some act of god brought me here and at this point I doubt I ever would. Sighing, I tried fruitlessly to get up once more before letting my body go limp again. "Haa..." My thoughts went back to my old family. It was hard to recall their faces after all this time. Blurred memories, occasionally coming into frame only to be lost once more. Soon enough I might not be able to recall them at all.
"I'm so sorry..." I said to the uncaring heavens. Praying that, wherever they were, things were going well for them.
"What are you sorry for?" Misaki's voice suddenly broke the silence in the air. Placeing a cold bottle oagainst my cheek, I found the icy sensation quite refreshing. I turned my head enough to get a look at my teacher and gave her a bittersweet smile.
"For being such a sad student." There was a hint of truth in my words, even if they were meant to cover for something Misaki couldn't understand.
Sensei's lips pursed and dropped into a frown. "You can't be so hard on yourself. Everyone has things they're not so great at." She sat herself down beside me and helped push me up into a sitting position. "Truth be told, I was the same when I was your age." I was attempting to grasp the water bottle Sensei had brought me when my jaw dropped from shock. I couldn't imagine Misaki-sensei being bad at chakra control. She was an Uchiha after all, weren't they all naturally gifted at that sort of thing? Sensei, seeing my expression just laughed as she cracked open a can of juice. "Hahaha. Don't look so surprised. Fact is I was really terrible with my chakra control growing up. I didn't get a real grasp of it until I became a Genin."
My gaze dropped down to where my limp arm sat. I was still having trouble processing that my teacher had these same problems when she was my age. I tried to get my arm to move, fingers twitching as it slowly started to respond. My muscles were stiff as a board but I had rested enough that I could at least grasp the bottle. Lifting was a different matter. Right now that bottle of water felt like it weighed as much as a boulder. My entire arm trembled just barely lifting it off the grass. Sighing, I gave up for now despite how much I could really use a drink.
"Want some help?" Sensei offered,
"So, how did you get better at chakra control?" I asked, trying to take my mind off the thirst I was feeling.
"Well," Sensei began, taking a moment to recall the memory, "Pretty much like this." Giggling, she raised a fist and thrust it forward. "I learned this training method from Old Man Gento, when he found out I was at risk of flunking out of the academy, he personally whipped me into shape. Literally." Taking a moment to sip on her drink, Misaki smiled as she remembered the days of her youth. "He was merciless, saying 'No Uchiha has ever flunked out of the academy and I will not allow you to be the first!'" I laughed as her impression of the old shinobi was spot on from what I could remember.
"But, his method was effective. I was able to graduate and now, here I am. Member of the police force and teacher. Who would have thought looking at me back then. Even after getting my headband I had to work my butt off to even keep up." This was the first time Misaki had ever opened up about her past. I realized just how little I knew about the person I called my friend. "There was another boy, a few years older than me," She continued, her expression becoming noticeably more sombre, "He was considered the shame of the clan, I was often compared to him by some of my more... elitist relatives." There was a touch of spite in her tone when she mentioned her relatives. I guess family issues existed even within such well established clans.
"I never met him of course, I heard he passed away in the last war. But still I was compared to him, the failure who couldn't awaken his Sharingan until it was too late." Misaki-sensei slowly rotated her drink as she looked to the ground sadly. "I would have liked to meet him, a kindred spirit in this clan of elites." I could see the pain in Sensei's eyes, I couldn't imagine how hard it must have been, to have that many expectations placed on you and not be able to live up to them. My life was absolutely wonderful in comparison. My parents, although worried, supported me wholeheartedly.
"It must have been tough..." I said, trying to empathize.
"It was," She admitted before turning to me with a small yet sweet smile, "But I had those who looked out for me, just like you do. Old Man Gento, my Dad and even Touma were always there for me no matter what." Sensei took another quick sip of her drink as I tried to lift mine. I got it a bit higher this time, with the assistance of my left arm I was actually able to raise it to my lips. Even though it was just plain water, it tasted so sweet to my parched throat.
"Do they still compare you to that boy?" I asked, curious if there were still those who looked down on my teacher. If so I would never forgive them.
Sensei shook her head, "No, that stopped long ago. Not that I would mind, I heard he gave his life to save his comrades. As far as I'm concerned that's perhaps the most noble way a shinobi can go." A wide grin spread across her face as she looked to me, "Not that I want to die mind you!" I smiled back, giving her a small nod while a knife embedded itself in my heart. Once more I was reminded that my time with Misaki was limited. I couldn't tell how soon but I knew it would be within the next six years.
Unless I did something to change that.
But the question was, could I? What could I say or do to change that future? I bit my lip hard, trying to suppress those thoughts. The taste of iron tickled my tongue, many times had I considered spilling everything to Misaki, what I knew of the future, of her clan's fate. But I feared she would just think I had an overactive imagination, or worse be taken seriously. If word got out about what I knew, who knows what sort of dangers I could be placed in. At the very least my mind would likely be probed for every bit of information that it held so the village could best prepare itself.
"What was that boy's name?" I asked, trying to get my mind onto something else. Misaki hesitated for a moment, I could feel her eyes scanning me. Likely my worries were reflected on my face, something I needed to work on.
"Hmm... His name was..." She needed a moment to think, likely it had been a long time since she had last heard the name. "... Obito."
Oh boy that's another can of worms I did not want to open right now.
"Me and my stupid mouth." I cursed myself for not figuring it out sooner.
"Something wrong?" Sensei asked, again my expressions were making my thoughts obvious. I could feel her eyes piercing gaze one me as I averted my own. There was so much I could say about Obito, for a moment I did wonder what she would say if I told her he was still alive. But that was something I could not, must not do. I needed to come up with an excuse to change the conversation immediately.
"No, just..." I grimaced, pain shooting through my arms as I tried to buy time with another sip. That same pain gave me an idea however, "Bit of a muscle spasm. I'm really starting to feel it now." I chuckled awkwardly, hoping that was enough.
Sensei did not respond immediately. I could feel the muscles of my face stiffen as I tried to hold that smile. Several long seconds passed in awkward silence before she finally sighed. "...Sorry, perhaps I was too rough." She apologized.
"No, its okay. You warned me this was going to be hard." I gripped my bottle tighter, the plastic crinkling loudly, "I need to be able to take this and a whole lot more if I want to catch up to Kiyomi." Taking in a deep breath, I finally was able to look Misaki-sensei in the eyes again, "I'm not going to cry about it anymore. I will show you, your faith isn't misplaced." Pain, something I avoided so much in my previous life. Now it was something I would have to come to know intimately, something I had to overcome. Even if my body screamed at me no more, I had to scream back louder, more defiant. If suffering pain was the price I had to pay to catch up to Kiyomi, to all the future Genin and to get the strength needed to protect my new family, then it is a price I must pay.
Sensei smiled at my declaration, sweet at first, then turned devious. "So you're saying you're ready for another round?" She said, an evil tone dancing on her tongue. I felt a shiver go down my spine and my entire body lock up in an attempt to prevent me from going any further. Once more I bit my lip, taking in a deep breath and steeling myself.
"Y-yeah." I said, my voice wavering uncontrollably. I then tried to get myself to my feet, slow going as it was. My body screamed and fought against me every step of the way, even my legs trembled as I rose, threatening to fall out from under me. Gritting my teeth I pressed on and by some miracle I was able to stand, if barely. "Whenever you're ready." My words were nowhere near as convincing as I tried to make them sound.
Sensei laughed at the pathetic visage I was displaying as she got to her feet. "Impressive, but don't worry, we're done for today." I almost collapsed with relief, staggering to keep my balance it took everything I had to remain standing. Laughing again, Sensei lent me her arm which I gratefully accepted. "Its good you're so willing to keep going, but anymore is too much for your body to take at the moment. You'll just end up hurting yourself."
"Yeah..." I agreed weakly. Despite the relief I still felt somewhat disappointed with my own weakness.
Sensei helped to walk me over to a log I could use as a seat. "By the way, how's your chakra level?" She asked as I was eased onto my seat. I closed my eyes and focused my senses inward, trying to gauge how much chakra remained. It felt like I had lost a lot during this session but from what I could sense, my chakra appeared to be around normal levels.
"Um, it seems... normal?" I said, questioning my own senses.
"That sounds about right." Sensei replied, only increasing my confusion. "It may have felt like you spent a lot of chakra but because it never left your body, most of it was simply converted back to passive chakra. Now, when you can properly perform reinforcement, you will end up burning more chakra but for the most part the body's natural production will more than compensate for that loss. Plus, the better you get at it, the more chakra your body will produce."
I nodded, "I see, so by learning how to use chakra well, I'll get more chakra to use?"
"That's one way to look at it." She said with a smile, "But its better to think that the stronger your mind and body become, the more chakra you can make and use. The better you manipulate chakra, the less you will end up expending when its used. But I'll explain that another time. You're tired enough as it is and I think a lecture will send you off to dreamland." Sensei laughed softly and I couldn't deny that. A full lecture right now was not something I was physically capable of sitting through at the moment. "If you are still so determined to work however, I can give you the assignment early." I raised my head to her offer, eager to know what she had in mind. "I like that look. The assignment is simple but you have to do it everyday without fail, no matter what else is happening." I nodded definitively, whatever it was I had to tackle it head on.
"From now on, I want you to circulate active chakra throughout your entire body. Every day, nonstop. It needs to become second nature after all. So when you're eating, training, bathing, hell even sleeping you need to be channelling your chakra." It was quite a daunting task she had laid out before me. One that, in hindsight, I should have been doing that since she helped me to grasp my power. Although doing it while sleeping, was that even possible? Before I could ask that question, Misaki-sensei nodded, once more reading my thoughts. "Yup, it is possible to do it in your sleep. I wish I could show you an example but it is something that will come in time so don't fret about it too much for now, but it is something to keep in mind."
Sensei then stood up and took several long strides ahead before spinning on her heel. "Now, its best we get you home so you can rest. Take it easy tomorrow, just focus on the chakra training. Oh, and ask your dad to up your weights and get the next few sets ready too. Should training go well, you'll start burning through them in no time." She then spun again, turning her back to me. I was already planning my day tomorrow so I wouldn't overexert myself and get time to properly rest.
"So, when will our next session be?" I asked so I could continue my planning. If the pattern continued as usual, likely we could meet up next weekend.
Misaki-sensei took a moment to stretch her back before looking to the sky. "Hmm... I'm thinking the day after tomorrow." My eyebrows rose in surprise. That was far earlier than I had imagined.
"But wait, don't you-" I began to ask but Sensei cut me off, looking at me over her shoulder with a mischievous grin.
"Have work?" She finished my sentence, "I do right now, but I think its time I called in my vacation time. I'd say with everything I've saved up, and asking a few favours I can get about... oh, I don't know, a month off?" Her grin grew wider as I understood what she was saying.
"You mean... we'll be training..."
"Every. Day." She once again finished my sentence. "Be ready, this is going to be the toughest month of your life." I returned her smile with an equally wide one of my own. Even if it was going to be tough, the idea of getting to spend an entire month with Misaki was one that just filled me with joy.
"YES! SENSEI!" I shouted back, but then a question came into my mind. "Is it really okay though?" I asked, hesitant to continue but I felt I had to. "Is it okay to take off so much time from work?" Misaki was absolutely dedicated to her career on the force, not once since I met her did I see her take even one day off. If it wasn't mandated to take at least one day a week off I'm sure she'd never stop. But there was more, a nagging doubt deep within my heart. "Why for me?" The words slipped out before I could stop them, but I felt it was an answer I needed to hear. Why did she do so much for me, after all this time? I was just some kid she helped one day. It was clear I lacked the talent needed to be a shinobi too. What drove her to go this far.
Her eyes narrowed for a moment before she strode over to me, lifting me off the log and into an embrace once more. "Because..." She began, "I..." I could hear a touch of pain in her voice as her grip tightened a bit. Her eyes closed and after taking a deep breath, she resolved herself. "When I saw you that day, covered in your mother's blood, it reminded me of myself." Releasing me, she took a seat and I followed suit. I was tempted to ask her what she meant but I remained silent, knowing she would tell me when she was ready. Right now she had to steady her own heart.
"I lost my mom when I was about your age." Misaki finally admitted, long forgotten pain welling back to the surface as she spoke. "It was during the tail end of the last Great War. A small group of rogue ninja infiltrated the village and were causing havoc. Mom and I got caught up in the attack and she was hurt really bad." Shadows covered her eyes as Sensei relived that day in her mind. "Because of that, she wasn't able to run when we encountered one of the attackers. Mom wasn't an Uchiha, nor a shinobi but she still stood tall to protect me. I..."
Sensei needed a moment to compose herself, sniffling loudly as she fought back tears. "I couldn't do anything. I didn't do anything. I was so scared at the time I couldn't even run like she begged." Sensei gripped her pantlegs so tight I could see her trembling. I could understand that pain all too well, that day was still seared in my memory. I don't know how many times I had wondered what if they hadn't shown up when they did. Misaki lived through that what if. I placed my hand over hers, giving it a firm squeeze, feeling that was all I could do for her at this moment.
Her shoulders relaxed a bit as she took another deep breath. "Thanks." She said gratefully, wiping her eyes on her free arm. "Its been a while since I thought about Mom, everything just came rushing back all at once." Misaki needed a few more moments to regain her composure before looking to me, eyes slightly red and glossy from fighting back the tears. "I got lucky at least, members of the police force arrived just in time to save me, but it was too late for Mom. At first, I was angry. Angry they were too late. Angry at myself. Angry at those who attacked us..." Her voice trailed off, expression becoming slightly darker before she closed her eyes and a smile returned. "But after that, I noticed something. Even after the threat was taken care of, the police stopped to help those who were also caught up in the attack."
"That was how I met Old Man Gento. He made sure to take care of me personally, I guess it was because he knew my dad but the sentiment stuck all the same. What really got to me was after that fact. How, after such a disaster, people were still able to come together and help rebuild. Despite the pain, despite the hardships, I saw people put aside their differences and do something amazing." Sensei looked towards the bright blue heavens, "Its what I love about this village. No matter what happens, the people can always come together and overcome anything." One again she fell silent, that familiar darkness clouding her eyes. Her hands clutched into fists once more.
"If only the others could remember that..." She muttered under her breath, so low I could barely hear. The darkness quickly faded once she realized she had spoken aloud. "Ah, seems I started to ramble, sorry." Scratching the back of her head, she stuck out her tongue to try and bring some levity back to the conversation. "I guess the main point is, when I saw someone so young doing what I wish I could have done back then... I decided to do for you what Gento did for me so long ago. Thankfully, Ginko-chan pulled through so you didn't have to suffer that same sort of loss." Misaki-sensei threw her arm around my shoulder and pulled me closer to her side, resting her head atop mine.
"After that, I guess I just got attached to that little kid who was so brave that day." My face was flaring up so much embarrassment I wouldn't be surprised if Misaki-sensei could feel the heat radiating off it. I still couldn't bring myself to believe I did anything special back then and I may never do so. Still, I was happy to have learned more about my friend, happy she chose to share such a painful memory with a kid like me.
"I think that's enough sentimentality for today." Misaki-sensei said, hopping to her feet. "Time to get you home. Although it looks like you might need a hand." Misaki extended her hand to me. Laughing, I nodded my head and took hold of hers.
The trek home wasn't as bad as I feared. My legs were about the only part of my body not completely throbbing in pain, instead they were merely exhausted. I had to lean into Misaki for support but otherwise the walk home wasn't too bad. When we entered the living room, Mom nearly dropped the basket of clothes she was carrying once she laid eyes upon my condition.
"Meiko! Again!? What happened!?" She cried out as she rushed to my side. After assuaging her fears, Misaki took Mom aside to explain what was going to be happening over the next month. The noise awoke my little brother who had been napping on the couch. Seeing me, he raised his hands groggily outward.
"Meii!" He mumbled, he had just started to learn how to speak and couldn't pronounce my name yet.
"Hey Sen-chan." I said softly, waddling over to the couch and flopping myself down beside him. I could tell he wasn't going to be awake very long as he managed to crawl onto my lap and mumbled some gibberish before passing out. I smiled and wrapped my arms around him so he wouldn't fall off to the side. Sadly I lacked the strength to carry him somewhere more comfortable at the moment.
From the kitchen I could hear Mom objecting to Misaki's training plan and Dad soon came stumbling into the room from the workshop.
"Hi Dad." I said, a light giggle escaping my lips at the sight. He apparently had not the time to clean himself off a bit so his normally brilliant red beard was now black with soot, more than that, he was practically coated with the stuff. It took him a moment to realize what I had laughed at before joining in, although that did not last long as my eyes spied something absolutely horrifying.
"Dad." I said sternly, my tone catching his attention that this was of the utmost importance. "Look" At first he appeared confused, but after following my gaze, he found what I was talking about.
"Ah... crap." He said, noticing the piles of sooty footprints tracking through the room. "I did it again, Mom's gonna have my head." It wasn't the first time he accidentally trekked soot and whatnot through the house. What made it worse was that today was cleaning day and Mom had just freshly polished the floors. "Do me a favour and tell Mom I'll have it cleaned up as soon as I can." He asked me, motioning to his soot-coated body, implying he would get it done as soon as he cleaned himself off enough. I nodded and he quickly dashed back into the workshop to get a change of clothes and brush himself off.
Mom's conversation soon ended and I heard them coming back to the living room. There wasn't much I could do but I at least had to try and distract Mom from the filth piles. Just as they came into view I called out softly to now awaken little Sengo. "So, what's the plan?"
Mom immediately turned to me and sighed, "Misaki-chan convinced me. Just... try not to get too hurt okay? I hate seeing you all beat up like this." I returned Mom an apologetic smile. It was a sad reality that came with the territory, along with the all-too-real chance I might never come home one day. We both understood this but that didn't mean it was easy to accept. I knew how far she was willing to go to protect both me and Sengo, the thought that she couldn't do that must be unbearable for her.
"I'll do my best." I promised. The best way to assuage those fears of hers was to become stronger, strong enough that she wouldn't have to worry about something happening to me.
Misaki smiled, patting Mom's back. "Don't worry Gin-chan, I know what I'm doing and Meiko's a tough cookie. After a month you won't even recognize her."
"Oh no, she better not come home looking like her father!" Mom said, horrified at the prospect I could come home one day more muscle than girl. Misaki and I both burst out into laughter with Mom soon following suit.
"Well I should get going, I need to get those arrangements settled after all." Misaki waved us a farewell as she made her way to the front door. As she was about to leave however, she hesitated for a moment. "By the way," She called from the doorway, "What's all that dirt on the floor there?"
"Oh crap, sorry Dad."
Seeing the mess, Mom's eyes went wide before she sighed heavily, pinching the bridge of her nose. "Ugh, again? What am I going to do with that man." Clearly frustrated, she started marching towards the door.
"Mom!" I called out, stopping her. She shot back a glare telling me not to interfere that caused me to flinch. "It was an accident, Dad said he was going to clean it up in a minute." Hesitating, Mom sighed again.
"Alright, I'll give him ten minutes." Withdrawing for now, Mom turned back to Misaki with an apologetic look. "Sorry you had to see that," she giggled.
Misaki giggled back a little awkwardly, "Its alright. I do need to get going though. Gotta get my arrangements together." She said before snickering, "Poor Touma, he's going to be saddled with so many extra shifts." Heading to the door, Misaki stopped for a moment, looking back to me. "See you soon Meiko, don't forget to practice what I told you."
"Okay!" I called back happily, but not too loud so I wouldn't wake up Sengo.
Misaki waved goodbye and slipped out the door. I turned to Mom who was still glaring at the footprints on the floor. "He has to clean off first, he was covered head to toe in soot." I explained. Mom relaxed a bit before picking up a basket of clothes and taking them off to my room. Now alone with my brother sleeping on my lap, I closed my eyes and began kneading my chakra once more.
Day One.
"Gah!"
I coughed up as my back collided with the tree, but managed to remain standing. Across from me, Misaki-sensei stood, fist outstretched from her last attack. Once again she had broken through my defences. "Is that all you got!?" She demanded, standing upright again.
I wiped the saliva from my lips, my chakra already being channelled back to my arms. "Not even close!" I called back defiantly. Sensei's lip curled into the slightest smile at my determination as the next blow came immediately.
True to her word, Sensei had arrived bright and early at my door to begin the chakra reinforcement training. I had a free day of rest which I used to rigorously practice channelling active chakra through my body. Thanks to that I was in better condition to keep up with this regimen. Apparently active chakra also granted a small boost in the body's healing process, something I was quite thankful for and would be relying on greatly for the next thirty days.
Currently we were practising in my backyard. While there wasn't a lot of space we did have a fence for a bit more privacy. Thanks to the rather severe methods of the training plan, Sensei figured it would be best to not use the small park from the other day. Mom wasn't too comfortable with the idea, being able to see her daughter being beaten to a pulp from the kitchen window wasn't exactly a pleasant experience. It took a bit of convincing to get her permission.
Several hours had passed since we started and from the height of the sun it was around mid-morning. My arms hummed with pain from repeated blows but I could still keep going. I had to keep going. This was only day one, things were going to get a whole lot rougher from here. Once more, my chakra faltered and I was sent flying into the tree behind me.
"Ow.." I moaned, my head bouncing hard off the bark. The world started spinning as a painful pulse racked my brain. Gritting my teeth I forced myself to ignore the pain, my vision thankfully quickly restoring itself to normal. I needed to restore my chakra immediately or else the next attack would hurt a whole lot more. Misaki-sensei charged in for another attack when suddenly a new voice screamed from the direction of the house.
"Noooooo!" The small voice cried, freezing the both of us in place. Looking to the door, I saw Sengo trying his hardest to run towards us. Behind him stood Mom, shrugging her shoulders. "Stop! Meanie! No hurt Meii!" Seeing the little toddler charging towards us, Sensei relaxed her stance.
"What do you say we take a break." She said offering a hand.
"Yeah, sounds good." I admitted, taking her hand. Sensei pulled me off the tree so I could stand up properly. At this point, Sengo had managed to cross the yard and was now pounding his tiny fists against Misaki's calf. I knelt down and pulled my little brother away. "Hey Sen-chan, no hitting Misaki-sensei, she's a friend."
The boy looked to me, cheeks puffed as he pouted, "But she hurt Meii." I pulled him in for a hug, he was already getting too big to pick up for me, but that was speaking more to my height than strength otherwise I would have.
"I'm not hurt. We're training. I'm going to be a ninja after all." I said with a big smile, trying to assure him that nothing was wrong. Although I think the word training was a bit too big for him right now as his face scrunched up. "I mean that I'm okay, I promise." That seemed to get through to him as he smiled and hugged me back. Standing back up, I walked him back to Mom's side.
"Sorry about that Meiko, he was demanding to see you after waking up." She apologized as she picked Sengo up off the ground.
I patted his head, "Its alright." I said to Mom before turning to my baby bro, "Sengo, Sis is going to be busy for a while. You be a good boy for Mom and I'll read you your favourite book tonight okay?" Sengo's face lit up at the offer. Bribery was a fantastic tool for dealing with kids.
Sensei and I continued our training for the rest of the morning until Mom called me in for lunch. The afternoon session was more of the same, by the time it was done I was once more stuck on the ground unable to move. My body throbbing with pain once again. Misaki said her farewells and she would be back the same time tomorrow morning. Until then I could rest up and continue working my chakra. As promised, I read Sengo his favourite story, several times over in fact as he kept demanding I do it again. By the time I was done reading, I was also just done and called it an early night.
Day Four.
The intensity of the training increased. Instead of just blocking with my arms, Sensei would call out the part of my body she would be aiming for. I could only imagine my chakra network had been turned into a pinball machine with how much it was bouncing around in there. I quickly learned I needed to keep a steady flow going throughout my entire body rather than tailor making amounts and sending them to precisely where they would be needed. It was also the day the first new set of weights were ready so moving was already difficult enough before having to block.
Day Six.
This first week had been rough to say the least. After bidding farewell to Misaki all I wanted to do was collapse on my bed. The only thing keeping me conscious right now was the scent of dinner wafting from the kitchen. Slowly I made my way over to the couch, dragging my feet along the floor before flopping down on the cushions. Mom shouting at me to take off my sandals but honestly I could barely hear her. Weakly, I tried to flop my arm to indicate I heard her and would get to it.
"Meii!" Sengo's voice happily echoed throughout the small living room as he dashed across and jumped onto my back. I grunted as what little oxygen I had managed to keep in my lungs was quickly expelled again.
"Hey…" I said weakly, pulling my head out from between the cushions to try and see him. "What's up buddy?"
"Meii! Let's play!" Sengo cheer-begged as he started shaking my shoulders. Thankfully, Mom came to my rescue.
"Sorry Sen-chan. Dinner's ready." She said, lifting him off my back. "Meiko, get to the kitchen and remember to take off those sandals. I know you're tired but that's no excuse to be tracking dirt through the house."
"Yes Mom…" I replied and very slowly pushed myself up. My muscles were both exhausted and in an extreme amount of pain. Any bit of movement was met with resistance yet I was somehow able to make it to the table. My stomach growled as we waited for Dad to join us so we could begin. My head bobbing up and down as I tried to stay awake while also fighting the urge to just rudely start wolfing down everything before me.
After eating every last bit in front of me, my stomach churned for more. Embarrassed, I asked Mom for another bowl of rice, then another, and another. Only after downing an extra five bowls of rice did my stomach feel satisfied, and thankfully so as that was the last of the batch. "Well, looks like I'll have to start making more. So much for fried rice tomorrow." Mom mused.
"Sorry…" I said, feeling even more tired now that my hunger was sated. "I'm… going to head to bed." Pushing myself away from the table, Sengo protested me going to sleep. My little bro was getting a whole lot more hyper lately and I did regret not being able to spend more time with him. Mom, thankfully, pawned him off on Dad and helped me to bed.
"I'll have a bath ready for you in the morning, you certainly need it." She said as she flicked off the light.
"Thanks, Mom. Goodnight." And with that, I was out like a light.
Author's Notes: Hey guys! So this is the final stretch of what I call the 'early life' arc. Once these training chapters finish Meiko will finally be entering the academy and meeting the other kids!
Meanwhile, these chapters are just getting longer and longer. I had to cut this one in half to make chapters 10 and 11 and then the next one was just as long anyway! I swear its like I'm trying to one up myself for no reason.
In other news, my friend who is the creator of Kiyomi has been bitten by the writing bug. He's started writing 'gaiden' chapters that focus on the story from her perspective. So you'll be able to see events play out from a different view but more importantly, things that I can't cover myself or that Meiko isn't around for. I'll be posting them on my account here as per his request so I hope you enjoy!
P.S. I have to be honest, I'm getting really sick of writing in the honorifics at the end of names. Post chapter 12 I will no longer be adding them, it just does not feel natural for me to write. Sensei will be sticking around though, because that makes sense to me.
Thanks again for your support and I hope you continue to enjoy the fic! Look forward to Kiyomi Gaiden which I shall be posting after this chapter goes live!