Chapter 12
"I see what's going on," Jiraiya commented on Yahiko's ability to easily meditate. "It is rare, but not unheard of. Your chakra is more spiritual than physical, meaning that you have extreme Yin energy."
"Is that weird?" Yahiko asked.
"Well, most of the time, girls have more Yin energy, but that's only because most of the time they are just physically weaker than boys. But just like Konan has more Yang energy, there are exceptions. Yours is a bit more of an exception. I never felt so much spiritual energy coming from one person before. It is like you have more than one soul inside you. Well, aside from making your body a bit out of balance, there's nothing to worry about."
"Out of balance?"
"You only need to train your body more than usual, and you will see no difference. The only effect your Yin energy will have on you is that you will be able to use genjutsu more easily than others, and you won't be as susceptible to it as others. There are also different uses of Yin release, but only a few can use them."
Well, that was cool, Yahiko guessed. It looked like he had more talent than he expected and wouldn't be left behind by Nagato's and Konan's talents. So, in the end, he had nothing to be worried about, and he could instead be even more excited about his future.
"Let me guess, you don't know much genjutsu, do you?" But Yahiko saw through Jiraiya's expression.
"Well, it isn't like I don't know it, it's just that I don't specialize in it."
"Sensei," Yahiko could only smile. "You are quite useless, aren't you?"
Jiraiya's eyes almost popped as he looked at Yahiko, clutching his heart and pretending like Yahiko's words were hurting him. Yahiko only rolled his eyes at the childish behavior of his sensei, but didn't say anything, as it seemed that Konan liked it, as she softly giggled at it.
As time went on, they knew more about themselves and learned from Jiraiya about ninjutsu and other things. Yahiko couldn't deny that he was a good teacher, and not just a teacher to them. It was the first time Yahiko felt what it meant to be taken care of.
In his first life, he didn't have anything like that. Even if he had everything he ever needed, never knowing what it meant to starve or be truly sick, he never had anyone care for him. Ever since he was a child, people, even his family, have only expected and wanted something from him.
He felt like he had been used by them. But Jiraiya didn't care what they would do with everything they learned. He only believed that they would do what was right, that they would follow his path. But he didn't demand it.
To Konan and Nagato, he was like a parent figure they looked up to. To Yahiko, he was like an older brother or uncle looking out for him. Either way, all of them could feel the familial warmth from him.
So aside from the circumstances they all lived in, Yahiko liked this life. He liked Konan, Nagato, and Jiraiya more than anyone in his previous life. It was nice, and he wished it could go on like this for a long time. Only the four of them.
When it was finally time for Jiraiya to leave, Yahiko pretended he was asleep as he watched Jiraiya leave in the middle of the night through his half-closed eyes. He once again left without saying anything. Maybe he thought it made him cooler than he was or something.
But Yahiko said nothing and let him leave if it made it easier for him to do it. He had other things to do than watch over a bunch of kids. And Yahiko was already worried that Jiraiya stayed with them this time a bit too long and hoped he wouldn't get in trouble because of it.
The rain outside didn't stop even for a moment, probably making Jiraiya's journey to wherever he needed to be quite uncomfortable. Yahiko could only wish him luck and hope that when he returned, he would come with good news.
"What are you doing?" Yahiko asked Chibi as he whimpered silently. "Huh? Want a snack?"
Since he was already awake, Yahiko thought that he should meditate for a bit. With warmer weather coming up, their training would only get more intense. Both Nagato and Konan would probably want to show off how far they had gone when Jiraiya returned. And Yahiko didn't want to fall behind either.
...
"Big brother Yahiko!" the children yelled out the moment they saw Yahiko walk into their street.
He only smiled as he quickly handed out the candy he bought. It had been quite a while since he saw them. As winter disappeared and spring warmed the cold streets, it seemed they were doing a lot better, even without his help.
Training with Jiraiya took priority, and he couldn't visit them. But today, all of them decided to take a day off and rest. So, Yahiko took the opportunity to visit the town and buy some things. As much as Jiraiya brought with him, he seemed to forget that they were just kids, and they grew tired of the rations easily.
"Has there been any trouble while I was gone?"
"Nope."
"And you've been good, too?" Yahiko asked the children to nod in unison. "And have you noticed anything unusual?"
"We heard a few shinobi visited the town, but nothing happened."
It was good to hear. After giving as much money as he could, they were able to live a bit more easily. After beating up the bigger guys who bullied them, it seemed they were able to live a bit more peacefully.
They were still orphans who had nothing, but at least they had each other. And with a little bit of help, Yahiko hoped they would grow up and be strong enough to not only survive but start their own families and build their own homes. He hoped that the war would not reach them anymore.
Sadly, there was nothing more he could do for them. Only check on them from time to time. All he could do was believe in the hope that everything would be alright. They weren't weak, nor were they alone; that must mean something, right?
It seemed by now there was no more infighting between the kids. He didn't know if they were afraid of him after he taught them a lesson, or maybe they finally thought that he was right about looking after each other, but they all banded together and helped each other now. So, all was good.
Even the nastiest bullies seemed to have learned from their mistakes. It was good to see the change. And he knew he wouldn't need to worry about them much from now on. So, he only gave out his candy and a bit of money before leaving them be.
After buying all kinds of snacks and new clothing and shoes, as the old ones wore out quickly, and with all the training they did, they outgrew their old ones quickly. With that, they had everything they would ever need or want.
Jiraiya was thoughtful enough to bring enough medicine for them to last a long time. No matter what happened to them, they could now fully take care of themselves. It was quite a change from the cave they lived in.
…
Plop.
Yahiko fell into the puddle as he failed to control his chakra properly. Now, not only was he wet, but muddy too. Nagato and Konan giggled as they had no trouble walking on water, already seemingly mastering the method.
"Oh, shut up," Yahiko threw a ball of mud at Nagato, hitting him straight in the face.
"You're on!"
Nagato took up the challenge and charged at Yahiko, who quickly jumped to his feet and blocked Nagato's punch, grabbing his elbow and shoulder, while kicking his feet and quickly turning around to throw him over himself.
"Counterattack successful." It was now Yahiko's time to laugh as Nagato got up with his back completely dirty from mud.
"Surprise attack." But before Yahiko could take in his victory, Konan jumped on his back, making Yahiko faceplant into muddy water. "Successful."
"Whose side are you on?"
"My own, of course," Konan replied, not getting up from Yahiko's back.
Yahiko could only groan in annoyance and glance at Nagato. With their eyes locking, an understanding fell upon them as Yahiko threw Konan away from him and turned to her. Just as she was about to jump away, he caught her feet. And Nagato rushed at her, slapping her with a palm full of mud right in her face.
"Plah." She could only glare at both of them while spitting away the mud.
Any training they were going to do today was now completely over, as it resulted in throwing balls of mud at each other and trying to tackle each other. In the end, Yahiko would be left defeated most of the time as he still struggled walking on the water and lost balance most of the time.
"I was wondering what those traps were safeguarding, only to find a bunch of little kids playing around." The unfamiliar voice made Yahiko stiffen in fear.
"Dirty little kids," another one added.
Yahiko turned to the squad of shinobi looking down on them. They wore Amegakure's headbands, gas masks covered their faces, and overcoats protected them from the rain. They looked terrifying as their cold eyes scanned the surroundings.
"Noisy kids," a third one of them continued.
"Stop your nonsense, you're scaring those cute little kids," a woman came in front of Yahiko. "We won't hurt you, and even though these three over here look scary, they are just idiots, so don't mind them."
"We don't have much," Yahiko spoke. "You can take anything you want as long as you leave enough for us to survive. We won't tell anyone about you."
Yahiko hoped that it would be enough for them to take what they had and leave them alone. He didn't even want to imagine what they could do to them otherwise. And their lives weren't worth anything that was inside their home.
"Shhh, don't be nervous." The woman's cold hand brushed Yahiko's cheek. "You are a cute one, if only you were a few years older. Oh well, there's nothing I can do about it."
"Would you stop playing with them?" one of them asked, but didn't seem to want to interfere. "Where did those traps come from?"
"There was a shinobi a year ago," Yahiko replied, trying not to get too nervous with the woman touching his face. "He stayed here for a few days and set up the traps for us for the food we gave him."
"Good boy." The woman patted Yahiko's cheek. "Don't be nervous. You did well. Now please die."
Yahiko's eyes slowly looked down to find a kunai deep in his chest. She wasn't lying; all he felt was a little tickle. There was no pain whatsoever. The woman's face tilted as she looked at Yahiko's expression, curious why he didn't show any fear in front of death approaching him.
"Nagato, Konan," Yahiko could feel his legs going limp, could feel his strength leaving his body, but he refused to collapse so easily. "Run!"
So instead, he poked the woman's eyes with his muddy fingers and jumped on her, trying to buy a few seconds for them to run away, and hoped that there were traps these shinobi didn't notice, and they would halt them long enough.
"Yahiko!" But those fools didn't run as Konan cried out for him, and Nagato just stared as blood ran through Yahiko's torso and mixed with the rain.
Yahiko could only blink as he was thrown off the woman while she cursed at him. Then the ground shook. A deafening shriek resounded through the air as the woman stopped in her tracks and looked up and up before falling to her knees.
The next moment, a giant hand fell on the woman, squishing her into nothing but a puddle of blood right next to Yahiko. Then the rest of the shinobi screamed in fear as another giant arm passed above Yahiko.
He didn't see what was going on as he couldn't turn his head. But he heard cracks of bones and plops of flesh and blood falling on the ground. Then there was nothing, only the sound of rain hitting his face and Konan's voice crying out for him.
"Thank you." Yahiko wanted to say a lot more, but he found no strength to do it, so he only grabbed her hand that was on top of his torso. "For being here."
He guessed nothing lasts forever. He wished he could be here when Konan saw the sea for the first time. He wished he could throw a snowball at Nagato's face for being an idiot and not trying to run away. He wished he could see Sensei as his dream was finally realized.
A.N. As always. Thanks for reading and supporting me. If you want more 7 more chapters of this story and 42 chapters in total with all my current stories, please consider supporting me on pa treon ironworlf852. Thanks in advance.