It's been one week since Yuto graduated from the academy and became a registered ninja. He was currently in the shinobi library as he was reading an anatomy textbook and comparing it to
What he remembered from his high school biology class.
He could tell that humans in this world are a lot different. With the help of chakra, wounds healed faster, and diseases could be fought off more easily. The medical knowledge was more vast, so the medical field was more competitive, because it took a lot more to stand out.
After a few hours of study, he made his way back home. He planned to get some rest before the big day. He was told by his old sensei, Moreno, that he would be introduced to his team a few days before and should report to Training Ground 13.
He hoped his team was capable; he didn't want any failed missions, and if that meant letting his comrades die, he'd gladly let that happen. He couldn't care less about being regarded as scum. But he knew to keep such thoughts to himself; if he gave off the impression that his comrades couldn't trust him with their lives, he'd be left without a team. No one wanted a Comrad they couldn't trust, whether the mission was completed or not.
He made it back home, entered the door, and left his shoes at the door. His grandfather was preparing to leave as he walked in.
"Where are you headed?" Yuto asked.
" I need to run a few arrons," he said.
"Ok, see you later then," Yuto said, making his way towards his room.
He made it to his room, plopping on the bed, not even bothering to wash up. He dozed off immediately.
When he finally woke up to the sound of his alarm. He groaned, hearing the annoying tune, and grabbed one of his pillows, throwing the pillow at the alarm clock. The clock plunged into the ground, seemingly getting louder.
As much as he didn't want to get up, he knew his team meeting was in a few. he couldn't care less about being on time, it wouldn't be documented in a mission scroll, so it quite frankly didn't matter, I mean, look at Kakashi. But he would make a bad impression, and his value to the team would decay because no one wanted an unreliable teammate. So he dragged himself out of bed, bags still under his eyes, and darted off to wash up.
When he got out of the shower and got dressed, his grandfather had made it back from his errands.
He stepped out in a new attire. He refrained from wearing the forehead protector as it was always tacky in his opinion. He wore a high-collar, long-sleeve jacket; a zipper in the front.
He wore standard tactical pants, cropped mid-calf, with a standard ninja pouch on his right back side. He wore a fishnet undershirt and leggings.
[The outfit will be commented here].
He walked into the kitchen, seeing his grandfather taking out some groceries.
"I'm off to meet my team," Yuto said.
"Do well to make a good impression; these will be the comrades watching your back in the field, and the other way around as well." His grandfather said sternly.
Yuto sighed at his daily lecture. "Yes, of course," he said.
After he left the house, he decided to stop for some food before he went to the training grounds.
He was walking, looking for something he hadn't tried yet, as this was one of the few days he didn't have to study. He caught a glimpse of purple from his side as he decided to check it out. he turned, seeing the stunning figure of a purple-haired woman standing at a counter in the dongo shop. She wore a trench coat, and most of what was under it was exposed.
There was anko mitarashi, a konoha chunin at the time. Yuto wasted no time walking into the shop, but he had no intention of speaking with her if she didn't say anything to him first. He ordered a few sticks of dango and was about to walk out of the shop with his bag of food, but was stopped by anko's voice.
"Hey, kid, aren't you the brat who graduated from the academy early?" Anko asked.
"Yeah, how did you know?" Yuto asked curiously.
"he mentioned you were a pretty-boy, and walked around like a zombie. I mean, you look like you haven't slept in ages. It was all he could talk about at the shinobi lounge," Anko said, taking a bite of dango.
"Yeah, my schedule is quite busy. I'm assuming you're talking about Sinbon Boy," Yuto said, forcing back a grin, keeping up his uninterested front.
Anko chuckled, "Yeah, he mentioned you were a cheeky little brat."
Yuto scoffed, "Yeah, yeah, snake lady, what do you want?" Yuto said, brushing one of his bangs to the side.
"In a rush, are we?" Anko said with a grin.
"Yeah, I have a team meeting in a few minutes, wouldn't want to make a bad impression by being late," he said calmly.
"Oh, is that right? Well, anko will help you get there on time," she said, pointing a thumb at herself. She grabbed her last dango stick and slapped two bills on the counter before wrapping her arm around Yuto's shoulder, pulling him out of the shop with her.
"I barely even know you, lady," he said, his short little legs trying to keep up as Anko pulled him along.
While he normally would have said a smart remark, he wasn't keen on ending up in one of her snakes' stomachs.
"Aww, don't be so stuck up, brat," she said, letting him go.
"You said you'll help me get there on time, so what's your plan?" Yuto asked with a frown, seeing he had 1 minute.
Anko didn't say anything as she just placed a hand on his shoulder, and they were engulfed in a swirl of leaves before vanishing.
At the training grounds, there was a bored Gemma and two chunin. On Gemma's left was a dark-skinned male with nappy black hair and a goatee without a mustache. He wore a chunin vest, along with his headband, wrapped around his shoulder.
On Gemma's left was a pale-skinned woman, a content look on her face, her long purple hair framing her face; she wore the chunin vest as well as a long blade on her back.
Yuto suspected Anko would use the sun-shin as he had lied about only having a few minutes. He was a little disoriented by the fast travel speed, but kept his act together, placing a hand on his hip and donning a bored expression, seeing the rest of his team.
"Yo," he said disinterestedly. he held back his grin as he was aware of how cool he looked, appearing in a swirl of leaves.
"Thanks for the lift," Yuto said.
"Yeah, no problem, kid," Anko said before vanishing in a quick sun-shin.
"It's nice to finally meet you, Uzuki Yugao, Ganro Sekuna, and I believe we've met already, sinbon boy," Yuto said with a small grin gracing his lips.
Gemma frowned at the name Yuto gave him as he was about to retort, but was cut off by yugao.
"How do you know our names already?" Yugao asked.
While she was known around the village by her peers and others her age, it didn't make sense for a freshly graduated genin to know about her, as she was just a talented chunin. Ganro was also curious, raising a questioning look.
Yuto smiled lightly before speaking, "I make it a priority to gain information. I predicted that Gemma would take an interest in me, so I snooped around and found out that he was missing a team member, then from there I looked into you two's files as well." Yuto said pompously.
"Who would grant a freshly graduated genin access to the village archives?" Gemma asked suspiciously.
"My grandfather is an important and respected jonin in the village, and wouldn't let just anyone take me on their team," Yuto said in an obvious tone.
"I see, you're the Suzuki boy, I've heard about," said Ganro.
Yuto nodded.
"Alright, Yuto, welcome to the team, but I'll let you know this," Gemma said, pausing dramatically.
Yuto raised an eyebrow at that, wondering what the catch was.
"This team is only temporary. I've been promised a jonin promotion after one more year in the field, and these two will be applying to their preferred departments," Gemma said.
"Hmm, I see, Yugao is interested in the anbu, and Ganro has his eyes on the interrogation department," Yuto said knowingly.
He had known that Yugao was the purple-haired anbu shown in the series many times, and Ganro's file specified he was skilled in interrogation techniques.
"Get used to that, he's a lot smarter than he looks," Gemma said.
Ganro and Yuto raised curious eyebrows but figured Gemma was just hyping the kid up.
"While I'm aware of Yuto's skills, you two aren't so; you'll each spar him," Gemma said.
Yugao gave a nod as she stepped forward, not wasting any time. "I'll fight him first."
She noticed the blade on Yuto's back and was interested in seeing how good he was at the art.
Yuto spat at the ground, moving into the center of the training ground with Yugao.
Gemma stepped forward, holding his hand in a chopping motion, swinging it down when he saw that both of them were ready.
"Wait," Yuto said abruptly. "These are precious fabrics, I wouldn't want them to get dirty," he said sheepishly.
Yuto took off his jacket, folding it neatly and setting it aside, leaving his fishnet shirt on.
He restrapped his blade to his back and stepped forward, facing yugao.
"Anything else?" Yugao said mockingly.
Yuto tilted his head, boredly glancing at Gemma to start the match.
Gemma complied, chopping his hand down in between them, starting the match.
Both Yuto and Yugao unsheathed their blades, clashing in the center. Yugao was a little surprised seeing Yuto actually keep up with her, despite her holding back.
They danced through a few slashes before Yuto tackle-slided, forcing Yugao into the air as she flipped over him. She landed on the ground, blocking Yuto's tanto, and made two lightning-quick slashes, forcing Yuto to jump back. Yuto was surprised by the sudden increase in speed, but he had ways to deal with faster opponents. Yuto made a one-handed seal and spat a grade-two spitball at Yugao, his tanto in his other hand. Yugao looked at the approaching spitball and the shuriken coming toward her from the left and right. Leaving her with two options. She could dominate Yuto in close-range combat with ease as she had far more experience and skill, whether she held back or not.
So she could either jump back or go underground, because jumping into the air would only make her more vulnerable to another spitball. Yuto grinned, seeing yugao perform three hand seals and sink into the ground. Then he realized he had no way of knowing where or when she would come up from the ground. So he pulled out a few low-powered explosive tags and tossed them around the field. He arranged them so that no matter where she came out at she would be damaged by the impact. Yugao burst from the ground as she noticed the explosive tag, but it was too late. Yuto made a single hand seal, exploding the tag in front of her, but she burst into a puff of smoke.
Yuto frowned at this as he glanced around, knowing that she wouldn't stay inside the ground after gaining the memories from her shadow clone. He was correct as yugao descended from the air, stabbing at his back. Yuto tried parrying the blow, but his tanto was effortlessly moved aside, opening his guard. He noticed the intense look on Yugao's face, figuring she wasn't particularly happy about his explosion stunt. A kick was slammed into Yuto's gut before he could even blink. He was sent flying out of the radius of his explosive tags before he could even make a single hand seal. But he didn't need hand seals to release his spit balls. He spat a dozen spitballs out of his mouth before his back slammed against the ground, sliding against the rough terrain. "I really should start landing on my feet," he thought.
Yugao smirked, seeing the projectiles coming at her. "Crafty brat," she thought. She danced through the spitballs with ease, slapping the last one away with the flat of her blade. She flicked the spit off her blade before charging forward with a grin. Yuto had already pulled himself off the ground and charged forward as well, his tanto in his hand with a tighter grip. He ran forward, knowing this was the last exchange and that meant his defeat, but he charged forward nevertheless. There was a loud clang, echoing throughout the training ground.
There stood Yuto and Yugao. Yuto's blade layed on the ground. Yuto's face was calm as the cold steel rested against his neck. He'd been disarmed and forced to yield in one exchange. Originally, he thought it would take a chunin half a minute to defeat a genin, but that was even further from the truth than he thought. It may take a low-level chunin like his academy teacher half a minute to defeat an experienced genin. But when it came to experienced and combat-oriented chunin at the high tier of the chunin rank, it would be like swatting a fly. Yugao could have done this at the start of the spar, but refrained from doing so, unable to gauge his strength.
He kept his face calm, watching yugao remove her blade from his throat.
"Not bad, kid," she said.
Yuto didn't respond, pulling out a scroll and a brush, and began jotting down some notes about the spar.
"What are you doing?" Yugao asked. Gemma and Ganro were also curious.
"I'm taking notes, similar to what I did in the academy. Every battle for me is like a lesson from the academy, whether I win or lose," Yuto said.
"Very attentive," Gemma praised.
"I think that's enough for today," Gemma said.
"Really, I thought you wanted him to spar both of us," Ganro asked.
"Yeah, we know what he can do. All that's left is for him to get familiar with our team formations and our strategies, along with basic teamwork, but that will come with time," Gemma said.
Yuto nodded, "understood, sinbon senpai," Yuto said.
Gemma frowned, but his face turned resolute at a mild attempt to add some respect.
"Do we get nicknames too?" Ganro asked.
"Mmm, you guys aren't as cool as senbon senpai. I don't know what nicknames I'd give you two," Yuto said innocently.
Gemma showed a mild smile, but the other two's shoulders slumped, hearing Yuto's response.
"Anyways, we'll teach you some of the formations today and well practice them over the week before we go out on a mission," Gemma said.
Yuto nodded.
later...
After Yuto finished training with his new team, he made his way home, not stopping for his daily chocolate bar. After he made it home and washed up, he saw his grandfather at their lecture table.
He made his way over, plopping his butt on the ground, slightly tired from his training that day.
Yuto picked up the teacup, taking a sip.
"How was the team meeting?" His grandfather asked.
"Mmm, it went fine. I got my ass handed to me in my spar with the one called Yugaō Uzuki. She was very skilled in the sword art; her blade movements were flawless and graceful, and she used Earth Style Ninjutsu to avoid my attacks by going under the ground. truly a well-rounded shinobi. But this battle made me realize something," he finished.
"And what was that?" his grandfather asked, a bit curious.
"I realized my attacks were not strong enough, and I lacked the speed to fight high-level opponents in close combat," he said, a bit disappointed. It had almost been 4 months in the ninja world, and he had yet to win a single spar besides his academy spars. He was tired of thinking he'd gotten stronger and then being shown how weak he really was, especially since he worked so hard to improve his abilities.
"Patience, my boy," his grandfather said.
"You always say patience, but I've been patient, and I'm still weak," Yuto retorted.
"That frustration you're feeling, remove it from your mind," he said.
"How can you tell me not to feel my emotions? I'm ashamed of my strength, my cowardness, my defeat. I'm angry, I'm frustrated, I just want to win at something just one time," Yuto said, frustrated, clenching his fist.
"Those emotions are punishments you give yourself for other people's actions. You can't control everything in your life, especially not in the shinobi world. your no god, and neither am I. You must do what you're capable of doing right now, and trust that you can improve your existing skills with time," his grandfather said wisely.
Yuto sighed, knowing what his grandfather said was true. "I hate how you're always right."
His grandfather chuckled. "As smart as you are, you choose to ignore what's right in front of you. Don't let your fear control you; it's forcing you to move with haste. If you cling to your life too hard, you'll end up squeezing too hard, and the human body and mind can only take so much," his grandfather said.
"If I can't rely on my fear as fuel, then what can I rely on. Courage is not my strong point," Yuto asked.
"You simply need something worth protecting. something more precious than your own life," he said.
"I see," Yuto said as he started to contemplate what he'd protect with his life, but he came up with nothing.
"You won't find it right away; it may take years or even decades," his grandfather said.
Yuto nodded, "I'm heading to bed," Yuto said, standing up.
"Don't worry about morning training," his grandfather said.
"But," Yuto retorted, but was cut off.
"I remember telling you to be patient," he said with a smile.
Yuto sighed and nodded before darting off to bed.
[be sure to give mje your power stones]