Chapitre 14: CH_14
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———
.
On the last bench of the classroom, gentle rays of sunlight bathed Takuma in its soft warmth.
He had half his tongue sticking out and up of his lips as he scribbled down with a heavy hand on the white page, haphazardly scratching it with the black of the graphite pencil in his grip to form words worse than chicken scratches.
Snap! The exposed nip of the pencil snapped halfway through the page.
"Fuck!"
Kibe turned away from the blackboard and faced the class. He snapped, "Who was that?! Come out on your own!"
Takuma paid no attention to Kibe and glared at the broken tip of his pencil that had left an unwanted mark on the page. No one was going to snitch in the classroom of wannabe shinobis. No one liked a rat, not even potential future spies.
As he reached into one of his storage pouches to take out a kunai to use the blade to carve a new tip on his pencil, Takuma saw a dainty hand push a sky-blue pencil sharpener toward him. He looked up and saw Izumi smiling at him as she motioned toward the pencil sharpener with her big eyes.
Takuma left the kunai in his pouch even though it would've been easier to use the blade and instead used the smaller, thinner blade made from cheap steel attached to the sharpener— he wasn't one to disregard someone's kind help.
"Thank you," Takuma said as he returned the sharpener.
He was about to continue his note-taking from the tactics textbook when Izumi spoke: "So, what happened to you? Kibe-sensei told us you were sick."
Takuma arced his brow at the question. It had been a week since he had returned to the academy, and no one except Kibe had asked him about his health. To be more accurate, he hadn't said a single word in conversation to anyone in the academy since he returned.
He had been out two weeks— the week he was in the coma and the second week of rest prescribed by the doctor. Takuma had wanted to return to the academy during the second week, but Kibe had sent a letter through a carrier bird telling him to rest.
"Chickenpox. Had to stay home to not spread it everywhere," Takuma said. Telling the truth would've been bothersome to explain, and he had a negative desire to share how he had a mental breakdown that put him out of commission for a week.
"What's that like?" Izumi asked curiously. "I never had it."
"Then it's good that I wasn't here. It's highly contagious, with a ninety-percent chance that the people near the infected person will get it. Though if you get it once, you usually don't get it a second time. It wasn't bad— I just had to stay trapped at home and not scratch the itchy parts," said Takuma.
He didn't know if the boy had had chickenpox before, but he had it once in his previous life. It made him wonder if hospitals keep medical records for the children born there.
"Why are you here, though? You sit near the front, don't you?" Takuma asked Izumi.
After five months of attending the academy six times a week, he had a pretty good grasp of his classmates. Uchiha Izumi was a popular girl, well-liked by almost everyone in the class. She got along with the boys because of her boyish aspects, and she seemed genuinely interested in their conversations and activities— it helped that she was pretty. Despite that, Izumi was dominantly feminine in her personality and held similar interests to any other girl her age; her core friend group was all girls. She had a friendly nature and seemed fun to hang around with— and she could wipe the floor with anyone in the class and was in upper rankings in every subject, gaining everyone's respect.
'Your typical star-achiever... literally the complete opposite of me,' Takuma noticed as he thought about it.
"Sitting in the front gets tiring sometimes, you know. Kibe-sensei always asks questions to those who sit in the front," Izumi said with a whine. "I sit in the back and middle, near the sides, when I don't want to pay attention or feel sleepy. I will tell you a secret, the third near the window always has a nice breeze, perfect for a nap.
I was thinking of a nap before the spars. Are you going to fight today?" she asked.
He nodded. He hadn't participated in the spars in the week he had been back. Kibe had decided that he should rest more before returning to spars. But Takuma was sure Kibe just didn't see the point in making him spar and had used his recent hospitalization to not let him fight.
"Any plans to win anytime soon," she asked with a grin.
"Against you? No," Takuma said, scoffing good heartedly. "But I do think my first win is just around the corner. Who knows, if the odds are in my favor, I might grab victory today."
"Oh ho, confident, aren't you," she gave an approving nod. "Good for you."
He indeed felt confident. After five months of training under Maruboshi, he felt he could win if he gave it all and was careful enough not to let any carelessness creep into his actions. He had also unlocked his chakra, and while he couldn't use it for zilch, it still instilled in him a sense of self-confidence.
He was brought out from his musings by Kibe, asking everyone to listen to him.
"There's an announcement you all will be very interested in, so listen well." Kibe waited until everyone was paying attention before saying, "Two months from now, all of you will be giving the first attempt of your graduation test..."
The amount of noise the class made would have easily been registered and charged as noise population.
Takuma exhaled a cold one, and even Izumi beside him had a healthy amount of nervousness reflecting in her onyx eyes.
"... I know it's only the first of three attempts, but do not be lax and think you can perform poorly in this attempt. You will regret it if you let even a single chance escape. These tests are very important for your promotion to genins. And you will keep hearing this for two months until the test, so buckle down and get ready— this is the most important time of your lives," Kibe announced to the class.
Graduation test, Takuma licked his lips. He didn't know what all would be tested in the graduation test, but he knew that the Bunshin no Jutsu (Clone Jutsu) was asked in the manga, and he who couldn't use chakra at all had a way before he could execute even the most basic of jutsu.
'I... I can learn it in two months,' Takuma told himself— he just needed to work harder.
The sun had climbed to its apex in the sky and rained down its fury on the mortal plane. And thus, the day arrived at Kibe's chosen time to conduct the sparring sessions for his class. The academy instructor believed that sparring in the height of heat helped build endurance and allowed the students to experience one of many harsh conditions they would face in the field.
Takuma absolutely hated it. He had originally lived in a country with a disgusting amount of hotness in the summers, but he seldom had to experience the inferno-like outsides because air-conditioners existed, and like any sane person, he stayed inside if he could. Sparring right after lunch, when the temperatures were at their daily peaks, was nothing else but sadistic.
The Leaf village's geographical location did the residents no favor. The peak temperatures in summer ranked high on the heat scale. The only place possibly with worse summers was the desert around the Village Hidden in the Sands.
"Takuma, you're fighting today, next up," said Kibe, who stood near Takuma as a spar happened inside the circle.
Takuma groaned. He had been enthusiastic about sparring before, but sitting under the sun without shade did wonders for melting any sort of motivation. He looked around, scouting who could be his opponent. There was only one spar per person, so those who had fought could be eliminated.
'I won't be fighting Izumi... Ugh, don't want to fight with Hideaki,' the Akimichi hit like a cannonball. 'Maybe one of those studious types will be better— I could overwhelm one of them,' thought Takuma as he eyed suitable sparring partners.
"Takuma and Hiji."
Takuma stood up when Kibe called his name, and so did another boy from another part of the circle perimeter.
He immediately made a face when he heard his chosen sparring opponent and the expression worsened when he saw the smirking face of Inuzuka Hiji.
The Inuzuka clan of Leaf village was a shinobi clan known for their use of Ninken (Shinobi Dogs) as fighting companions. The members are given their own canine partner when they reach a certain age. Thereafter, the clan member and their dog were practically inseparable.
"Yo, Takuma~," said Hiji with a growing smirk that showed his teeth and stretched the distinctive red fang markings of the Inuzuka clan on his cheek. The pup with black fur atop Hiji's head yipped and ruffled Hiji's already messy hair.
Takuma didn't return the greeting. His reputation was of someone who didn't talk much, and no one expected him to say anything back. On the other hand, Hiji's reputation was also the part reason why Takuma didn't even want to return a simple greeting.
Hiji was what one would classify as a typical school bully. He defied authority every chance he got— arguing and not listening to Kibe every chance he got— had problems following rules and the code of conduct. And like any bully, he bullied anyone who happened to catch his eye and would allow Hiji to bully them, seemingly deriving pleasure from violence and the suffering of his victims.
"Kibe-sensei..."
Everyone looked and saw another academy instructor in the distance.
"Wait here; I will be back," Kibe said. He narrowed his eyes towards Hiji: "Make any trouble, and I promise pain and stayback after school."
Hiji stuck out his tongue when Kibe turned his back to walk away. He then looked at Takuma and grinned, "I didn't know you were back, Takuma. I hear you kicked the bucket in the hospital, but you look fine... I guess I shouldn't accept rumors so readily, but it sounded so real and possible, so it wasn't my fault. What do you say?"
Takuma showed no reaction. He made his face look as bored and uninterested as possible, like he couldn't care at all about anything Hiji was saying or even paying attention to whatever was being said.
Hiji clicked his tongue in dissatisfaction, and his black ninken growled.
Takuma, on the other hand, was satisfied. This was how Takuma had kept Hiji from making him a target of his bullying. By acting completely unaffected and unbothered by Hiji's actions. Takuma had acted like Hiji didn't exist— and after some petty attempts, Hiji got bored from the lack of reaction and left Takuma alone, pretending he didn't exist.
But those petty attempts had sealed the deal in Takuma's mind. He would never ever get along or be polite with Hiji. His financial condition was dire, with every month being a battle against spending, with thrice thinking before spending even a single ryo (currency).
So when one day Takuma found his books missing from his desk, he felt his heart bleed. He had gotten them back the same day, soaked in water, several pages torn and ruined because of the water. The blatant laughing from Hiji and his posse had given away the culprit.
It was fortunate Takuma was able to reign in the acid-hot rage he had felt seeing his books in such a bad condition. He had shown no reaction, keeping a bored expression the entire time. And had not reported it to drive the uncaring image. However, since that day, he has strictly bought things he absolutely needed and kept his things on him all the time.
"Come to think of it, I can't remember the last time we fought," Hiji said. "It was last year, I think..."
Takuma hadn't sparred against Hiji in his five months of existence as Takuma.
Hiji cracked his knuckles. "It's a rare event; let's enjoy it a lot, eh, Ta-ku-ma~," his grin turned wilder and crueler.
Takuma caught sight of Kibe walking back towards him.
Takuma's eyes narrowed as he clenched his fists. The grin on Hiji's face brought up memories of how he felt when he couldn't find his books.
He decided—
Today, he was going to get his first win.
.
———
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Chapitre 15: CH_15
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———
.
"Ah... that idiot is going to do something stupid."
Izumi stopped playing with the ash-gray puppy lying on her lap with his tummy exposed and looked at Hana, who was frowning. She followed Hana's eyes and found herself looking at Takuma and Hiji standing in the middle of the circle. Takuma had his back to her, but she could see Hiji talking.
That surprised Izumi. She couldn't remember the last time she had seen the two boys talk, if ever. Well, she hadn't seen or heard Takuma talking to anyone— at least, not recently.
"What do you mean?" Izumi asked.
Hana jutted her chin towards the boys. Her nose wrinkled as she said, "That idiot only smiles that way when he's thinking of doing something stupid. I have seen it too many times."
The puppy in Izumi's lap suddenly turned on its belly and hopped away to join his other two triplets in Hana's lap. She giggled as the two other pups seemed displeased at the entrance of their third brother. They tried to push each other to make space on Hana's lap but could only pile up on each other to fit into the small lap, though none seemed uncomfortable and even leaned into Hana's touch as she scratched behind their ears.
Izumi honestly couldn't imagine that the three Haimaru brothers were supposed to be triplets of ferocious ninken capable of tearing apart their enemies with fangs and claws while possessing noses that could pick up even the faintest of scents that had been purposefully obscured and use them to track down their targets.
After all, they were so small and cute.
She turned to the boys. Hiji was Hana's cousin, an Inuzuka from the ninken pup resting atop his head and the same red fang markings on his cheeks just like Hana's. Even their taijutsu styles were the same.
'Duh, they're from the same clan, silly,' she said to herself.
She liked Hana much more than Hiji. Hana was her friend, after all. But she was also smarter than her, nice, and so fun to hang around. And the Haimaru brothers were always together with Hana, which was an added bonus in Izumi's eyes. Hiji, on the other hand, wasn't so nice: he was annoyingly loud, always bothered the class and the instructors, and often did mean things to others.
He once tried to drag her by the ponytail. She had taken revenge the next time they had sparred. He didn't bother her after that.
Izumi looked at the other boy— Takuma. He always seemed... away. Every time she saw him, she would always find him alone and quiet. Be it in classes, during the lunch break, or at the outdoor training lessons, Takuma was always by himself. Even when they went out to the forest to camp, Takuma was always alone, even when he was struggling.
'How can he be so undisturbed?' Izumi had often thought— no matter what was happening in the classroom around him, nothing seemed to matter to him; he kept doing whatever he was doing at that moment.
She knew for a fact that he didn't listen in class; just today, she had seen him reading one of the fourth-year history books and taking notes. She wanted to ask why he was reading last year's book, but he looked so concentrated that she didn't want to bother him. She did manage to find that chickenpox was why he didn't come to the academy for two weeks— she was glad to hear it wasn't something grave.
Izumi saw Kibe return to the field. The spar was about to start.
"—One minute, I say he lasts a minute—"
"—Idiot, that's too much. He will be on the floor in twenty seconds at most—"
Izumi frowned when she heard some of her classmates whisper to each other and laugh. It was rude of them to speak so. But, at the same time, she couldn't deny what they were saying.
Takuma wasn't very good at taijutsu... that was an overstatement— Takuma was bad at taijutsu.
Izumi looked at the boy with his back to her. No matter how she looked at it, Takuma wasn't fit to be a shinobi. He couldn't hold out on his own in spars, his weapon skills were poor— she hadn't seen him hit a bullseye in months, and he couldn't even use jutsu— not even poorly, they just simply didn't seem to work for him.
He was so bad that she couldn't even call him incompetent.
She wanted to ask why he was even in the shinobi academy, but asking that would be rude, so she kept that question to herself.
'He's good at math, though,' she thought. He was unnaturally good at math, finance, and even physics— and could always answer the teacher's questions.
'It would've been better—'
"Start!"
Kibe announced the start of the fight. Hiji wasted not a second and leaped forwards. Takuma had already assumed the standard academy taijutsu stance; he didn't fall backward or charge ahead; instead, he sidestepped Hiji's incoming kick.
'Correct move... but he's too slow,' she thought.
Hiji pivoted on the spot and launched a punch toward Takuma. Whatever chance Takuma had created to counter had vanished by Hiji's superior speed and balance. Takuma could only kick out to match Hiji's punch. Takuma was flung back as result of the impact— the Inuzuka was also stronger than Takuma.
Hiji laughed loudly as he jumped and drop-kicked Takuma right in the chest. Takuma, to give him merit, crossed his arms over to block but was still hurled back violently. Hiji was like an uprooting whirlwind, not allowing Takuma to gain even a moment of foothold. He was like a beast hungry for Takuma's flesh, who could only retreat and defend himself to prevent being ripped apart.
Izumi had fought both the Inuzukas in her class multiple times. The Inuzuka brand of taijutsu leaned heavily on ferocity and pure aggression; it was heavy-handed and attack-dominant. It was brutish and brawlish. So much unlike her own Uchiha style of taijutsu that operated on counterattacks and attacking vital points to cause efficient damage at the most opportune times.
But by no means was the Inuzuka taijutsu crude in nature. Izumi narrowed her eyes as she observed Hiji; even though he was nowhere showcasing his full breadth of skill against a weak opponent like Takuma, she could still see the dexterity and coordination in the movements that required quick reaction timings and high control over one's body.
'He's good,' Izumi thought. Hiji's movements might look sloppy to an untrained eye, but to Izuma, who had trained to look for chances to launch counterattacks, Hiji's attacks looked calculated, and every move was made for a reason.
Between Hiji and Hana, she had to give Hiji an edge regarding taijutsu. Hana was smarter and better than her cousin when it came to other shinobi skills, but in taijutsu, she was no match. The Inuzuka taijutsu simply suited someone like Hiji, who seemed to revel in all-out aggression, in contrast to the much more laid-back Hana.
Izumi glanced at the black pup that sat by the side. Hiji hadn't let his ninken fight with him. There wasn't a need for someone like Takuma. She looked at Hana's Haimaru triplets— it made her wonder if the number of dogs would make a difference. Advanced clan techniques had no place in the academy taijutsu spars. She had yet to see how Inuzuka worked together with their ninken in fights. Just like no one had seen the full extent of what she could do as an Uchiha.
She also couldn't ask Hana. Even though they were friends, things like those were clan-related information— and the only way she would come to know more was either by witnessing it or if she became a trusted teammate with an Inuzuka.
"Stop!"
Kibe announced the end of the fight.
Hiji, who was now on his knees, stopped punching down at Takuma, who was on his back with his hands raised up to protect himself from the flurry of punches that had rained down on him a second ago.
Hiji stood up. He pumped up his arms and hooted in victory. His ninken ran up to him and jumped into his arms, yipping in joy as he licked Hiji's cheek.
As for Takuma... he slowly got to his feet. His face was swollen, and discoloration had already begun to appear; it would only worsen. Even his arms spotted red bruises from taking Hiji's punches and kicks. Izumi could guess there would be other bruises hidden inside the clothes.
'It would've been better if he was in a civilian school,' she thought.
Takuma held his head down as he limped to the middle of the circle and raised his hand to form the Seal of Reconciliation.
Hiji scoffed and walked away without completing the Seal of Reconciliation.
"Hiji, come back here at once!" Kibe yelled at Hiji, but Inuzuka stuck his tongue out before running away.
Kibe could only sigh in return. He turned to Takuma and said, "Go to the medical room and get yourself fixed up... Maybe it was too early to let you rejoin."
Takuma nodded and walked away towards the building with his head hanging down.
"He overdid it," Izumi said. It was called sparring for a reason. People rarely went all out, and even though Hiji had by no means gone all out, he had overwhelmed Takuma beyond what was acceptable.
Hana nodded, her lips pressed into a bitter line. Having a clan member act this way publicly was bad for the clan's image.
Izumi followed Takuma with her eyes until he disappeared into the building.
Today again, he was... alone.
———
.
Takuma limped his way to the academy's medical room.
Yet another loss. He was used to it by now. A Loss A Day— until he became numb to the feeling of getting beat down by anyone and everyone that was put in front of him.
Yes, he was used to it...
Takuma clenched his fist, but his hand refused to listen to him; no matter how hard he tried, the clench had no strength behind it. He couldn't even do something as easy as that properly.
'— But, I do think my first win is just around the corner—'
Why had he said that? Takuma scolded himself; now, he looked like an ignorant idiot. There was no way a weak man like himself would win a fight.
The irony of the situation was even funnier. He had been beaten black and blue by the same bully he had run away from to avoid trouble.
He had run away.
'You are weak,' said a voice in his head.
To stop the bullying, he hadn't confronted his bully or stood up against him... No, he had run away from the situation by pretending to be unbothered by it. He had thought himself clever by resolving the problem this way, and all it took in return was that he needed to carry his belongings with him.
Takuma scoffed.
All he had done was allow a bully to change a part of his life.
If he had truly settled the bully situation, he wouldn't have to carry all of his books with him for fear of getting them destroyed. If he had truly settled the situation, he wouldn't have to change how he acted around Hiji and his friends.
It was pathetic.
He was pathetic.
'— Maybe it was too early to let you rejoin—'
It was his own fault that he had ended up being beaten into a pulp. If he was stronger, he could've held his ground.
'—I am sorry, young Takuma. This old man will take all the responsibility. It was because of me pushing you that you ended up in such a state—'
If he had been stronger, then he wouldn't have ended up in the hospital. If he had been stronger, Maruboshi wouldn't have looked at him like he was fragile and weak. If he had been stronger, his training load wouldn't have been lightened.
If he had just been stronger...
He reached the medical room. The threshold was uneven, with the medical room floor raised higher than the corridor. Takuma's foot caught up in the edge of the raised floor, and he tripped forward, ending on his knees with his body supported on his elbows.
"Ah! Are you okay, kid!" The nurse came hurrying towards him to help him up.
But Takum wasn't paying attention.
'It's all my fault. None of it would've happened if I had been stronger...'
Takuma clenched his hands into fists. This time they obeyed him. He could feel his nail digging into his flesh.
He needed to be stronger.
.
———
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The link is in the synopsis!
L’AVIS DES CRÉATEURS
FictionOnlyReader
FictionOnlyReader
Just like always,
Add to the library, comment, share this fic, and review
Thx
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