Two boys faced off in a grass field, one much more battered than the other but also much more determined to win. Masaru rushed towards Taru, deciding to tone up the damage he was dealing.
He stopped just short of Taru's range and stomped his left foot, pumping his lower body with what was a good fraction of his remaining chakra. He felt the reverb from his stomp travel up his leg, ripple through his torso, before flowing down his other leg, which had begun to lift from the floor.
Masaru brought it in front of him, lowering his hands as his knee rose to his chest. Toru saw what was happening and went to block, but Masaru's taught muscles uncoiled faster. To Taru's vision, one moment Masaru was preparing to kick, and the next he felt a thunerous force slam into the bottom of his chin.
Crack!
The sound of a cracked bone rippled through the training field, though no one knew whose it was until Masaru's foot landed back on the floor. He winced heavily, but pushed off of it anyway, determined to end the fight while he had the chance.
While Toru was still stunned and stumbling, he crouched down and slammed a punch to Taru's injured knee, which promptly gave out. Finally, Masaru took in a big breath and channeled the last of the chakra that was safe for him to use up and pushed it into his fist, trying to knock Toru out once and for all.
But something appeared in the way- a hand, Kotetsu's hand which firmly grasped his closed fist. Masaru frowned, but slowly relaxed as he realized what was happening, which then caused him to smile again.
He huffed and puffed, catching his breath, then finally looked up in Kotetsu's eyes. "...So, any one I want then?"
---
Kosuke Maruboshi owned a humble home somewhere in the middle of the village. It had five rooms, including a guest room, and plenty of room for an old man like him to be content.
He smiled passively as he worked in the kitchen, chopping vegetables for his dinner, when he thought of the recent change in Masaru. '...It's good to see him be so lively. It would be a shame if he never gets to enjoy his childhood.'
"I don't know what that boy went through, but I hope that he one day finds something to fill the void in his heart..." He had seen one too many old friends suffer for similar reasons, and he even knew of one who had recently lost something precious of his...
Maruboshi sighed, but flicked his eyes towards his door when he heard someone coming close. After a swift knock, he opened the door to see that Masaru had come for a visit.
"Oh? I didn't expect you to come by today, is something wrong?" He asked, worried. It wasn't very like Masaru to visit un announced.
Masaru bowed lightly. "I'm sorry for showing up without asking, but something came up and I need some guidance."
"It's alright, please, come in!" The older man stepped out of the way.
Masaru glanced around the quaint house. It was clean and very well taken care of. That made sense to him, Maruboshi cared for the little details like few people could.
"Did you have another rough fight today?" His teacher asked, glancing at the bandages peaking from Masaru's kimono.
Rubbing the back of his head, Masaru nodded. "Yeah, and that's what I wanted to talk about."
Maruboshi nodded, leading him to sit down. He took a moment to make some tea before starting the conversation. "How did it go?"
"...I won."
His teacher's hands froze, teapot floating above his cup. Then a proud smile spread across Maruboshi's face. "Congratulations young Masaru, I knew you would win eventually!"
Masaru felt his cheeks heat up as he avoided his gaze. "A-Anyway Kotetsu Sensei gave me his word that if I won he'd give me a C ranked jutsu, so I wanted to know of you had any advice. I know we still need to work of the basic three, but this is too important to give up on."
Maruboshi frowned heavily. "...You know what that means, don't you?"
Masaru shook his head. "He's not trying to recruit me under the Akamichi banner or anything, in fact he said that before I beat Toru."
His teacher's frown deepened as he realized what Kotetsu had been up to. "To mock a mere child..." He muttered.
He shook his head. "Are you sure he'll stand up to his words?"
Masaru shrugged. "Well if he does I get a free C ranked jutsu and if he doesn't then he puts shame on the clan which sponsors him. Either way it doesn't affect me because I shouldn't be getting a C ranked jutsu anytime soon anyway."
Maruboshi nodded. "And I assume you want to know what jutsu to choose?"
Masaru nodded.
"...The Body Flicker Jutsu." The older man eventually said. "It is one of the more difficult jutsu to learn, but it is also one of the most useful, thus I believe that the effort more than rewards itself."
Masaru considered his words for a moment, and found that they made sense. It was a versatile jutsu that could be used in nearly any situation. It sat in the same vein as the Shadow Clone jutsu, which he had already pegged as his first B ranked jutsu. It had been made for reconnaissance, but a crafty shinobi could use it in so many more ways than how it was intended.
"Okay, then I'll ask him for that jutsu." He decided, but Maruboshi shook his head.
"No, I will. As your personal teacher I will go along with you and ensure that he follows his word."
Masaru frowned, looking at his sensei in confusion. "But he's an Elite Chunin and you're a Genin, why would he listen to you?"
For the first time, Masaru saw his peaceful, nature loving sensei grow a vicious grin on his lips, and for a moment he remembered that this man had lived through all three shinobi wars and lived to tell the tale.
"I have friends in high places young Masaru. Besides, if I couldn't ensure that my student is given what he deserves, what kind of teacher would I be?"
|AN| From now on I am going to start limiting how much I am posting. I am returning to college in a few weeks and want to save up chapters to post when I am busy. Regular posts will be weekly on Friday, and I will post extras when I'm not busy. Until the 12th of July, I'll post three a week, then slow down from there.
Also, I'm beginning to hate Calculus...