>>5786260>>5786265>>5786270>>5786285You give Juro-Sensei a nod and turn to leave. Upon second that though, you turn back before you’re about to exit the yard’s gate.
“Thanks for everything, Juro-Sensei. I’ll see you on monday.”
“Heh.” He smiles “Thank me when you graduate.”
—
You had a week to get ready, really ready. Just one lesson with Juro-Sensei and you already felt like your horizons were seriously expanded on just what a ninja could truly be capable, of the path to get there. But you felt like that wasn’t the full puzzle, like there was some other side to it that you didn’t yet fully grasp.
You wanted more. It was like you had just become aware of a hole inside you, and you needed to fill it in with knowledge about what it meant to be real shinobi. But Juro-Sensei wasn’t going to be your personal trainer when he had a life and other students to worry about. Nor was here for you now, this week. The only other ninja you had access to was-
“Mother. I’m starting at the academy next week, and I need advice so I can do well.” You say, having rehearsed that in your mind over and over while you waited for her to come home.
As she enters the house, she places her hands together and offers your sister’s shrine a curt bow before walking right passed you and towards the kitchen, where she begins fileting a fish.
“... I met my Chunin-Sensei, Juro-San, at the academy today. I want to know more about what it means to be a ninja.”
She ignores you.
You bring it up once every 30-60 minutes for the rest of the day and never seem to move a single inch closer to having her acknowledge your presence beyond merely guaranteeing your continued survival. You resolve to try again every single day.
The first day, you got nothing. You fill in the dead space between attempts with target practice, albeit target practice that’s not nearly as intense as what you got the previous day. You throw your kunai repeatedly a slat of wood you lean against a tree. You even manage to start hitting it semi-regularly by the end of the day.
The second day, still nothing. Your throwing arm was getting sore, so you do stamina training running through woods. One day wouldn’t make a difference on your overall health, but clearly a bit of endurance would go along way with what you were in for.
The third day… nothing. You use your other arm to throw the kunai at your wooden slat, figuring that two useful hands would eventually be better than one. Your accuracy when doing that is utter dog shit, but by the end of the day you feel like it’s getting slightly better. You’ll work in using both hands from now on.
The fourth day you get, guess what, nothing. You spend the majority of your day wandering around the locales near your house, skipping stones in the river, and observing birds.
