The world was swimming around me while I was down, staring up at the sky, and dealing with the burning ache in my lungs. Ugh... Currently, I was lying flat on my back, staring up at the clouds, trying to collect my thoughts and my remaining energy, but I was spent. Every breath was only to scrape whatever was left in me just to stay awake... Haaah... My arms felt like someone had filled them with wet sand! Was this how Lee felt after fighting with Gaara? Oh boy... my legs barely acknowledged that they still existed, and somewhere along my ribs something throbbed with a dull but very much insistent pulse... Did I break one? Or two? I hope not.
Finally, turning my head, looking beside me, Minato was not in any better shape than I was. Currently, he was on his side, one knee drawn up, his forearm pressed to the ground as he fought for air, his blond hair dirty from the dust and wholly plastered to his forehead from his sweat. Nope... Don't try to stand up, my dear brother... You are also out of juice, unable to do it... Most importantly, if you do, I will have to do so, too. Please don't!
"Right..." He glanced at me, returning my defeated grin, reading what I was thinking about, "Okay... We lost," he wheezed, falling back face-first, no longer trying.
"Yeah..." I laughed, and immediately regretted it, turning it into a moan, "That," I coughed, "was a bad idea… don't make me laugh. It hurts..."
"It was still close..." He shot me a look, "We almost won..."
"Almost, Minato... Almost..." I continued moaning. "But I think that's just... ugh... an illusion. So... break the genjutsu, will ya?"
"Still… Worth it," he said after a moment of pause, his eyes closed, having a surprisingly satisfied look on his face.
"Yeah... Absolutely worth it."
And I meant it, because this was indeed an experience we sorely missed. It was even more intensive than what Sensei threw at us on the first night of camping. Honestly speaking, we had stopped counting our matches after the fourth fight. Mostly because they weren't stopping! They just kept coming at us... A different opponent, one after the other, with the same rules: no lethal force, no maiming, but everything else was fair game. Suddenly, I realized this was all about pushing us to our limits as Uzumaki chūnin rotated in pairs and singles, some of them coming at us with seal-focused jutsus, others reverting to a more physical approach, a few mixing the two with chains, barriers, and techniques I had never seen before. And unlike us... their chakra was almost feeling something that was inexhaustible.
But it did give us experience, something that a spar against each other would never.
By around the seventh bout, Minato's movements had lost that terrifying speed, and by the next, my Sharingan burned every time I activated it, my vision swimming, making me afraid I would go blind. Still, we didn't go down cleanly, and we were fighting, lasting... Um... I don't know how long. I kind of blacked out by the end... What I remembered as I looked back up to the sky was how chains wrapped around my leg mid-step. I had no more strength to counter it, and even when Minato shattered a seal, trying to help me, it only led him to take a palm strike to the chest a heartbeat later. Both of us were slammed into the ground right after, and I remembered the taste of blood appearing in my mouth... but it was gone now.
"Still breathing, I see," a voice said above me, amused, looking down at us. "Good, good! I was starting to feel bad for you two."
Squinting, a shadow fell across my face while I kept looking at his red hair, which wasn't as pristine as before, because it had darkened from his sweat. Heh, at least he had to work to keep us down! Of course, he was one of the Uzumaki we'd fought earlier, the broad-shouldered one whose ribs I'd cracked in the first match, finally returning for his revenge, finishing us off. His stance was relaxed now, his grin wide and surprisingly friendly.
"Liar..." I moaned, rubbing my chest, making him laugh again.
"You two are insane," he added conversationally after his laughter had died down, "Genin, you say? Damn, you boys shouldn't move like that, then! Genins my ass!"
"We are cleaner than that," I shot back weakly, causing him to lean back and do a howling belly laugh, slapping his knees at the end, "I like you two!" He reached down, grabbing our hands, pulling on us, "Come on, up you go, Little Genins!"
My body immediately informed me that this was a terrible idea, but there was no way to argue; we were back up, standing again, while I felt the world tilting around my head.
"Easy," the lean Uzumaki from earlier said, standing close to us, his chain uncoiling from my legs, drawing it back into his body, "You pushed way past what was sensible, but I admire that neither of you gave up just yet. I respect that, we all do."
"Had to," I muttered, "Otherwise… no point in this training..." While saying that, I also looked around, searching for Jiraiya, but I felt myself getting nauseated just by turning my head.
"Yeah, I get that," the others agreed, as we were soon surrounded by the rest of the people we had fought with.
They all helped us straighten up, getting us into solid grips, their arms going under ours, hauling us to our feet like it was the most natural thing in the world. Minato sagged briefly before catching himself, his breathing still uneven, but he managed a small bow anyway by the time we walked off the arena.
"Thank you," He began, glancing at them, acting all proper all of a sudden.
"You're thanking us?" someone laughed. "You two just spent half the day getting pummeled. Did we hit you too hard?"
"Yeah," another added, elbowing his partner, "Still, they held out remarkably! Do you know how long it's been since we had to actually try against a Genin?"
"Never," a third voice said dryly.
"Exactly!" They all answered, laughing.
By now, the way they looked at us when we arrived was gone, along with the careful distance they kept towards unknowns and foreigners like us. All of the Uzumaki shinobi stood closer to us both, some of them clapping Minato on the shoulder, others offering me canteens, one of them pressing a cool cloth into my hand without a word... Damn, it felt good. But also surprising. I couldn't help but think there was no resentment or bitterness on their faces at all while swinging one of the canteens, full of cold water, like I was lost in a desert. This... wasn't supposed to happen, no? There should be excuses or something, a villain appearing, insulting us, or something. I should be in a shounen story... No? Where is the face slapping and bullying? Huh...
"Well," Jiraiya's voice came from somewhere behind them, "looks like you survived! Congratulations!"
"Was there any question about that part, Sensei?" I asked, wanting to growl, rolling my eyes, making everyone chuckle.
"Figuratively speaking," He answered, shaking his head, "Learned anything?"
"Naturally." I shrugged, exchanging a glance with Minato, "I would prefer to do this against girls next time. Being surrounded by sweaty men after a beatdown is not fun."
"I like him even more now!" One of the Uzumakis roared, slapping me on the back, faceplanting me onto the ground, which then made them laugh even more. Ouch... Watch out, people... I'm weak! Ugh... someone pick me up... I can't move... Tsk! Bunch of bullies.
"Okay! Enough standing around!" another voice suddenly declared, but I couldn't put a face to the voice, not even after he pulled me up from the cold stone. "They're exhausted, bruised, and half-dead. It's time to call it quits. Get them to the hot spring," he continued, "And that's not a suggestion."
"Huh?" Minato blinked, and I also moaned, steadying myself back to a barely straight position.
"What did I just say about wet men...?" I asked, rubbing my face.
"We are off to a hot spring," he repeated patiently, as if speaking to a particularly dense child. Well, with how much I was hit in the head today, I may have become a bit slow... So I wasn't angry about it. "Believe me, our springs can heal muscles, help with clearing the head... and more. It will be good. And if you refuse," he smiled at us both, "we will throw you in anyway."
"Then, I vote yes," I said immediately, not wanting to get tied up and dragged around by a bunch of overeager guys.
"Sure," Minato also nodded, "Unanimous decision."
Just like that, a moment later, I found myself with their arms slung over our shoulders, getting escorted through the village, sharing some pretty much raunchy jokes that were being thrown back and forth between us all. Did I... end up in the army or something? Kind of, now that I think about it, while someone kept loudly complaining about how they were going to feel this tomorrow, right as another was promising food and drink afterward... And I don't think he meant to drink water...
By the time we reached the hot spring, my head straightened enough to stop me from feeling dizzy as I noticed the steam rising into the air. Entering the place, I turned into a damned automaton, getting rid of my clothes, quickly washing myself off before getting into the bath proper... Fuuuuuuck... It stung a lot, but... In such a pleasant way! Am I a masochist? I hope not. Throwing those thoughts out of my head, I eased myself down against the stone edge, letting the hot water wash over my bruised skin, making me look like some weird spotted animal, hopefully making it disappear by the time we would get out. Mmmhm... No matter... This is nice... So, I finally let out a satisfied breath.
"Agreed," Minato said as he sank beside me, eyes closed, a faint smile still on his face, "This," he murmured, "is… nice."
"Yeah," I moaned, staring up at the darkening sky, "All previous attacks are forgiven after this."
"Not until you drink with us!" the big Uzumaki came over, holding a floating tray on the water with one hand.
"That's not juice..." I said, glancing at the small cups on it.
"What are you? Kids?!" the others laughed, also coming in, bringing more of the same trays with drinks on them.
"Yeah." We both answered, glancing at each other, not really knowing what else to say, "We are."
"Nah." They thrust it towards us, "You are proper shinobi."
"Well..." I looked at Minato once again, before reaching for the tiny cup, raising it, "If we are old enough to be sent into war... I guess."
And with that, I downed it. Damn... it was either very strong, or I was simply unused to it, making me flinch and grimace, same as Minato.
"Ahahahaha! That's the spirit!" They kept laughing, and when I raised my empty little cup, it was refilled... with juice.
"What?" I asked, a bit of red tinge on my face, "No more manly drinks?"
"Well," They chortled, keeping the rest of it to themselves, "One cup is enough to welcome you into the family. Limits, kids, they are important!"
"You lot just told us we weren't kids!" Minato shot back with a similarly red hue spreading on his face, pouting, yet still sipping on his juice.
"Now you are. Though luck!" was the simple answer, making us also laugh out, sinking back into the water... haaah.... Idiots.
Still...
I think I like this village a lot.