It was the third month of the genin reserves ' six-month-long training period. It was Wednesday, and just like the first week, they were being tested on chakra control. Obviously, they didn't have a test every week, and it was never the same test. There were practice weeks, meant to develop new skills and sharpen the skills they already had. Every few weeks, there was a testing week. The testing week was similar to the orientation week. Yuto had only managed to reach the top five a few more times after the first week. He had accumulated about one thousand contribution points. For reference, one C-rank jutsu costs ten thousand contribution points. A D-rank jutsu costs about one thousand five-hundred points, or one medical scroll. Yuto had been naive enough to think that the genin reserves would hand out contribution points like candy every week. he had figured if he could reach the top five every week, he could gain at least a dozen more scrolls by the end, but sadly, weekly tests were rare, and the pay-outs were only useful if you won every time. Yuto wasn't as lucky as he was before, as he was forced to face the fact that his body needed conditioning. He thought he was skinny because he didn't eat enough, and yes, this was true, but his problem wasn't his size. he simply couldnt generate force in his blows. He had been disarmed many times, holding his tanto, and it wasn't because his kinjutsu was shitty. Over the three months, he had increased his stamina and speed, as it would take years of training to build a physically strong body. He was too busy studying medical knowledge to squeeze in some pushups.
So on this fine Wednesday, he found himself running three-point trail at five in the morning, his body drenched in sweat and bug repellent. He was given a training ground pass the day before, so that he could get in extra training. Of course, he wasn't aware he could enter facility grounds before reporting time until Riku graciously informed him. he asked Taro sensei if he could get him a weekly pass from the facility management, and gladly obliged.
Yuto was dressed in some tight-fitted clothing, wearing compression shirts and leggings with Dri-Fit shorts. He even went out of his way to purchase some tennis shoes.
He finished his many laps around the trail, slapping his arm, revealing a dead mosquito.
He breathed heavily, checking the still dark sky to determine the time, before continuing his sprint around the trail.
He grunted as he pushed his small body to the limit. "Just a little bit longer! I'm this close to beating my last time!"
He pushed his legs harder, trying to break his limits. he put his hands in the air in a celebratory fashion, crossing the imaginary finish line.
He bent over, his hands on his knees, panting heavily.
He looked up, hearing footsteps approaching. He saw the green chunin vest and the short-cut black hair, noticing that it was Taro.
"I figured you would be out here," Taro said.
"Instructor? What brings you all the way out here?" Yuto asked, mildly surprised.
"Well, I noticed you've been pushing yourself really hard lately and wanted to check up on you. I don't think anyone else from the batch is more diligent and dedicated than you are," Taro said, almost sounding proud.
"You think so?" Yuto said, rubbing the back of his head.
"Yeah, of course," Taro said.
"Come on, I brought breakfast," he said, gesturing for Yuto to follow him.
"You know this e'll be the only meal I can fit in my stomach, right?" Yuto asked.
"I would rather it be breakfast than dinner. It is the most important meal of the day after all," Taro said.
Yuto nodded with a light smile, picking up his water canteen from the ground.
A few moments later, the pair sat on a large log in a clearing of trees, munching on two boxes of riceballs.
"Hmm, this is way better than the stuff the facility provides! Did you make this, Instructor Taro?" Yuto asked, a little surprised.
"Well, my fiancé, actually," Taro said, taking a bite.
Yuto looked at the man in surprise. "Wow, congratulations!" Yuto said.
"Yeah, thanks," he said dully.
Yuto noticed he didn't seem to be so happy. "You're not acting like a man who's about to get married?" Yuto asked questioningly.
He sighed. "It's complicated, plus this isn't something I'd speak to a ten-year-old about," Taro said.
Yuto frowned. "I understand, sorry if I was prying," Yuto said.
"It's fine, I shouldn't have mentioned it," Taro said.
It was silent between them, as Yuto was clearly unbothered by the silence, eating his food.
Taro didn't agree with this, breaking the silence.
"You've grown a lot since you first started training," Taro said.
Yuto swallowed a lump of food, responding. "Yes, I've been forced to realize my flaws and tackle them all at once," Yuto said.
"Yeah, I wish you wouldn't do that," Taro said.
Yuto was confused. "What do you mean?" Yuto asked, raising an eyebrow.
"I mean, tackling everything at once. You're too hard on yourself," Taro said, a little concern in his tone.
"A few naps from here and there, I should be fine," Yuto said, stretching his arms and falling back onto the log.
"Anything but a night's rest, huh?" Taro said with a sigh.
"You know how I truly feel about being a shinobi. I'm afraid that if I miss a single day of training or miss a single word in my medical scroll... I might just die and be forgotten about," Yuto said, looking into the now dark blue sky.
"You'll realize sooner or later what that insignia on your headband really means. Perhaps then you'll wear it with honor instead of hiding it away in your ninja pouch," Taro said with a smile.
yuto smiled. He had to hold back his scoff. Wear the hidden leaf headband with honor. If only Taro knew the truth about the leaf village.
"Maybe..." Yuto said.
Later on, Yuto left the indoor grounds of class A-1. Yuto's class had been labeled by class number and entered into the training division's system.
He had just passed the chakra control test with flying colors, as he always did. He just wasn't lucky when it came to combat, strength, and stamina, despite his improvement. The few times he did win were mainly attributed to his sharp, intuitive mind. He was put in positions where he was forced to predict the next moves. To his surprise, these three months actually forced him to rely on his brain more than his spitball ninjutsu.
Passing the knowledge test the next day wouldn't be difficult either. If he could perform well enough against his upcoming opponent in the combat test, this week would be the first time he made it to first place. During the combat test, the one person who performed the best was a female genin in her early teens. She went by Akemi, a civilian born in Konowichi. She was skilled in every category and had no business in the Genin reserves training program. She was clearly experienced and had already begun practicing elemental ninjutsu. Yuto suffered a quick defeat at her hands during one of the training weeks while sparring. She had put him on his bottom before he could even release his spitball. Very skilled Konowichi, not to mention beautiful. Yuto had developed a little crush on the older genin after she effortlessly defeated him. he had told himself that he was a shinobi first, and he must obey the three shinobi prohibitions, but he had never been good at lying to himself; he was simply too astute for that.
He made it to Saunna, waiting in a short line. Yuto didn't worry about losing weight, as there was no weight on his body to lose. he needed something similar to the hot springs, and a steamed bath was as close as it gets, ignoring the dizziness and the extremely high temperatures.
It was finally his turn as he stepped into one of the many sauna doors, removing his towel.
He finished and left the steam bath, soaked from head to toe in just his boxers. he let out a sigh of relief, patting himself dry with a white towel.
His little feet slapped on the tile floor as he exited the sauna, his towel now around his waist. He carried his clothes in his hand as he returned to his living quarters. He received a few odd looks, as most people weren't used to seeing a ten-year-old casually walking around half-naked.
He realized he had forgotten his hall pass at the showers, his face becoming confused.
"That's not right, I would never misplace something, it's literally beneath me. That means..." Yuto thought, turning around and scurrying back to the sauna.
He got there quickly, panting as he had just been in the steamed bath not even a minute ago. he was still half naked, his white towel around his waist.
He looked up, his face twisted into confusion, seeing the flowing orange hair and the familiar brown eyes.
Yuto frowned, seeing the older genin holding his blue hall pass.
"Akemi? Where did you get that from?" Yuto asked.
She rubbed the back of her head sheepishly.
"Well... you see, I saw some clothing that looked like yours, so... I kinda took it to make sure," she said apologetically.
"And why didn't you put it back?" Yuto asked, raising an eyebrow.
"I... forgot I had it," she said, a little embarrassed.
Yuto sighed. "Strength and no brains," he thought. He wasn't blind to her intisiveness and charisma, but it didn't stop the frown on his face from deepening at her actions.
He walked over, gesturing for her to hand him the pass. he then realized that she wasn't in any way dressed to enter the sauna, so it made no sense why she would be there in the first place.
He looked at her curiously. "You been following me around?" he asked, squinting his eyes.
She scoffed. "You wish. If you must know, I was looking for pools and entered the wrong room," she said, pointing at a set of doors with the label pool plastered on the wall.
Yuto looked at the sign, which clearly said pools on it.
"You're joking?" he said in disbelief. She ignored the pool sign and entered the sauna.
"No, that's what happened," she said, confused.
Yuto rubbed his temples. "She's worse than Naruto," he thought.
"Well, come on, I was going there to cool off anyway," Yuto lied. He was originally going to use chakra control, but seeing the beautiful Konowichi changed his mind. Of course, he knew he had no chance with an older genin, seeing he was only ten years old, but he also didn't care about getting a chance with her. he could actually use the cool off, as his pale skin was now tan, and who better to do that with than Akemi.
She put a finger to her chin to think, but Yuto was already walking towards the pool door.
"Hey, wait up!" she shouted, chasing behind him.
In the pool. "You know your body is really pitiful," Akemi said, indifferently sitting on the edge and kicking her feet in the water.
This was what Yuto liked about Akemi. It was nothing better than a woman who said exactly what was on her mind; no games or tricks.
"Tell me something I haven't heard," Yuto said with a smile, swimming up to Akemi, who was sitting on the edge of the pool.
She looked up, thinking for a second. "But you do have a pretty face... if you grow a few feet taller, you might not end up lonely," she said without even blinking.
Yuto's pale cheeks flushed red, turning his head, forcing a chuckle out of Akemi.
"I haven't got my growth spurt yet," he pouted.
One day later. Today was the day of the combat test. Yuto had received a perfect score on the knowledge test, like he always did. It was part of why he made it into the top five, albeit rarely. The class of genin stood in the same clearing of trees where they had first been combat-tested during orientation. Yuto stood next to his roommate, Hikari. he wore his everyday combat gear, and his hair was tied in a small ponytail; his bangs still framed his face. He looked across, seeing the smiling Akemi, giving a light nod. For all he knew, he could be called first and have to fight twice, as the class amount remained uneven.
Taro spoke to the plethora of genin standing before them.
"Okay, you know the routine!"
"Stop when I say stop, perform the seal of reconciliation, after every match!" Taro said.
He reached into a used metal can, pulling out two names. He instantly turned to Yuto.
"Well, aren't you lucky?" Taro said with a chuckle, as this wasn't Yuto's first or second time being picked first.
Yuto sighed and walked forward.
"Nobutoshi!" Taro said.
Yuto's frown deepened, but he didn't fret, knowing that he could wipe the floor with a scrub like Nobutoshi; he had seen Nobutoshi fight, and he wasn't as skilled as Touji. he didn't underestimate Nobutoshi for a second, though; everyone got stronger as time went on, even Hikari was stronger than before.
He faced off against the larger boy as he prepared for the inevitable trash talk.
Not to his surprise, Nobutoshi displayed a thirsty grin on his face, clenching both his fists.
"Aww, little Yuto comes out to play?" he said, painting amusement.
Yuto tilted his head. "How original," he said sarcastically.
He snorted, looking at Taro to start the match.
Taro struggled walking forward and started the match with a chopping motion.
Yuto ran forward, faster than before, unsheathing his tanto.
Yuto swung his blade down with precision, replacing Nobutoshi's previous position. Nobutoshi is still welding, nothing but his hands swung at the overextended yuto from his side. Yuto transitioned his momentum into a spinning back kick. Nobutoshi barely blocked the kick to his head, raising an arm. Yuto's kicks, still as weak as before, didn't even move Nobutoshi's arm. Nobutoshi snatched Yuto's leg out of the air, seeing Yuto trying to retract it. He swung Yuto around with his one arm, throwing him to the floor. Yuto's face slammed into the ground, but this was Yuto's intention.
Nobutoshi refrained from getting close, as he knew how dangerous Yuto could be on the ground. He knew Yuto was like a spider and would crawl up to his neck in an instant. He threw a flurry of shuriken at the down yuto, jumping backward.
Yuto's form was pierced by the shuriken, drawing blood from his flesh, as he had yet to move since he hit the ground. A giant puff of smoke revealed his form to be just a log. Nobutoshi landed on the ground, searching and looking around for Yuto.
Suddenly, Yuto flew from a bush, leaves on his form, as he slid across the ground dramatically. He shot a flurry of brown spitballs as Nobushoshi tried to weave through the bullets, but was caught by one on his shoulder. Nobutoshi grinned, knowing Yuto's spitball wouldn't do an ounce of damage. That was until his shoulder was forced back, sending him stumbling back. This allowed the rest of the projectiles to slam into Nobutoshi's torso, sending him flying into the ground. Nobutoshi slid across the ground, struggling to pull himself off the ground. Nobutoshi managed to use his hand to pull his torso up as he lay on his bottom, but was met with Yuto's tanto at his throat.
"your finished," Yuto said calmly, attempting to stand over his opponent ominously, but the leaves in his hair hindered this objective.
The other genin was surprised by how fast Yuto ended the match, not to mention his spitball jutsu actually doing damage for the first time.
"I don't understand. How did his jutsu suddenly do damage?" a girl said out loud.
Akemi spoke, as she easily figured it out, despite her not being as bright as others.
"It seems like he allowed Nobutoshi to slam him into the ground," Akemi said.
Another genin spoke. "What he clearly just wasn't fast enough to stop it, don't make up things," he said, clearly not a big fan of Yuto.
Akemi sighed. "What color was Yuto's attack?" she asked.
"Well... it was brown for some reason?" the genin said, still not understanding.
Akemi grabbed her head. "You guys really are dense! He obviously allowed himself to hit the dirt so that he could collect dirt to harden his technique," she explained, annoyed.
"He's a real crafty one, I'll give him that," another genin said.
The rest agreed with nods, but Touji, who was standing beside, near didnt seem to think the same.
Touji snorted. "Aren't you guys giving this brat a little too much credit?" he said, disdainfully.
"Yeah, what is that like four out of one-hundred?" another genin said, grinning.
The group of genin burst into laughter, except for Akemi, as she could recognize skill when she saw it.
"They just switched their opinions after one word from Touji, and to make it worse, they're all even worse than Yuto," Akemi thought to herself with a frown.
Taro spoke. "The winner is Yuto!" Taro said with a smile, showing a little favoritism.
"This is your highest score yet in the combat test," Taro said, approaching Yuto and ignoring the angry growl from Nobutoshi.
"Yeah, I guess so," Yuto said, rubbing the back of his head.
He thought for a second before speaking. "I'll allow you the chance to fight your second match now, while you're still warm. Of course, you can deny this and rest up until your match," Taro suggested.
The crowd went into an uproar.
"That's cheating!"
"No fair!" they retorted.
Taro sighed, raising a hand to silence the genin. "Actually, Yuto would put himself at more risk if he chose to fight now. Not only will he have less chakra, but he will still be winded," Taro explained, a little ignored, as it was kinda obvious.
The genin relented, but still went into murmurs, curious what option Yuto would pick.
"What's it gonna be, yuto?" Taro asked, turning his attention to Yuto.
Yuto looked around, seeing all the eyes on him. he looked down, unsure what option to pick, as each option had its own advantages.
His unsure face became resolute, looking up at Taro.
"I want to..."
[Be sure to give me your power stones]