Hitting The Books

'Ding ding ding dong... Ding ding ding dong...'

The monotonous ringing of the Konohagakure Ninja Academy's bell would echo all throughout the entire school, but no more louder than in the ears of young Hyūga, Yuma. This would be followed immediately by an almost incomprehensible mess of chitter and chatter coming from amongst the student body that made up the classroom belonging to Iburi, Nokino. Yuma had been in her care over the past couple of weeks following a situation in which the blonde haired woman had caught him red handed in breaking into the academy's gymnasium, and for what it was worth the young member of Konohagakure no Sato's famed Hyūga clan was thus far enjoying himself much more than he had initially thought he would. It was widely known and accepted that, for good reason, Nokino Sensei had been handed the remedial class full of rambunctious and outright disrespectful delinquents. That woman could do just as good a job, if not better than, almost everyone one of the other instructors who taught at the academy in keeping the classroom and its less than valuable students in order. To be fair as well, Yuma belonged in that class for the actions of his past, and quite frankly he had gotten off pretty easily to have just been sorted into Nokino's class.

It beat serving a stint in Konohagakure no Sato's prison for breaking and entering, at least.

As the students in the classroom would begin taking their exit for the day, Nokino would remind the students of the assignments that they had all been assigned and of an upcoming practical exam in which the students of the class would have to pass should they wish to proceed further in their careers as shinobi and kunoichi of the village. An audible gulp could be heard from some of the more lackluster students, but Yuma would simply chuckle at the notion that had been presented by Nokino Sensei. He knew, for better or for worse, that he was already guaranteed to pass whatever exam his sensei had put in front of him. He had, of course, been one of the most prized students in his class the previous semester, which had been taught by Nara, Kataru, and only through sheer dedication and motivation had Yuma been able to rise to being one of the top students that the academy had to offer, even if he had been transferred to the remedial class.

'I've got this in the bag, no sweat.' The young Hyūga thought to himself as he slung his bag over his shoulder before walking down the steps towards the front of the classroom. As he walked down the steps he could see two boys cowering slightly as he passed them. These two, known by the names of Watanabe, Junji and Hiroshi, Riku, were known for being the classroom bullies. Their favorite target in the entire school was the ever younger, and much smaller, Uchiha, Emiri. The little girl had made the disheartening mistake of bringing her stuffed rabbit, Mr. Cottontail, with her to their first day of the semester, and Junji and Riku had made a point of almost destroying the toy while leaving Emiri in a shutout state of mind. Yuma had quickly put a stop to the situation by utterly wiping the floor with the two bullies through use of his family's Gentle Fist, and ever since then the two of them had been very weary around the Hyūga boy.

As Yuma walked down the steps, now parallel with Junji and Riku's row of seats, a devious smirk would cover his face menacingly.

"You two staying out of trouble?" He asked, a shadow covering the upper half of his face to show only the white of his eyes and the smirk that he wore. "Or do we have to have a repeat of our last fight?"

"Ye-Yes, Mr. Yuma!" The two boys said in tandem, almost embracing each other for dear life as tears began welling up in their eyes. Yuma tried the best that he could, but he could not repress a snicker. The very sound of it would leave his mouth perhaps a bit too loudly as Junji and Riku seemed to grow even more uncomfortable and frightened. To accent this further, Yuma would open his right palm and push it towards the pair threateningly. He knew that he would not hurt them without reason, and as of yet the two had not given him anymore reason to do as such, but they did not know that. They both let out a small shriek, and Junji would rather comedically fall backwards over the bench in which he had once sat, falling once again over the long desk and to the ground below at Emiri's feet. The sound of laughter sounded off throughout the classroom, and Yuma would give a genuine smile to the younger and much more fragile Emiri before winking to her and turning his gaze towards Nokino Sensei. The woman glared at the Hyūga boy, as if daring him to so much as attempt to further challenge her authority. Yuma himself would let out an audible gulp before nodding to Emiri again and continuing to walk down the steps toward the front of the class.

"My apologies, Nokino Sensei." He said with a bow once he was standing directly in front of her. "I will be heading off to the school library now to pick up some books. I'm hoping that they will help to aid in my studying for this exam. Have a good evening." With another bow Yuma would take his leave from the room, swinging the door open lightly and stepping out into the hallway. For the end of the school day the halls that made up Konohagakure no Sato's ninja academy were packed to the brim and then some. There were a lot of young students who roamed the halls, all with the desire to themselves become great shinobi and kunoichi of the village. Yuma was happy at this revelation, never having realized just how many students attended the school alongside him, but he would not allow any of the others to outshine him in any way. He would reach the top of the food chain one way or another, and nothing was going to stand in his way as he worked to attain this lifelong goal of his.

Not wanting to waste anymore time, the young Hyūga boy would make his way through the crowded halls, making aright as he came to its end and taking a hike up the stairs. Once at the top he would make another right. Halfway down this hall would be his destination, and upon arriving outside of its door he would swing open the door with light swagger before waltzing in. An elderly woman standing behind the reception desk would turn her head to Yuma and smile with her old lady charm.

"Good afternoon, Yuma." She greeted with a bow. "Are you here for the reading material you had requested earlier today?"

"I sure am, Akai Sensei." Yuma replied as he walked over to the desk in the center of the room. The woman would bend over behind the desk for a moment before making herself known again, this time with a pile of nine books. These books would make up the entire collection known as 'Jutsu Through The Ages, Set One, Volumes One Through Nine: E-Rank Techniques', and each of the books would focus on the different types of shinobi arts that were currently known and practiced throughout the world. Seeing as it was a specialized edition given to the different academies throughout the world, however, these books would only cover the most basic of techniques. Yuma was a bit upset at this revelation, but he would not allow himself to be deterred whatsoever. He would just have to somehow get his hands on the more advanced copies at a later time, or observe some of the other students and shinobi at the training field to obtain ever more knowledge.

"Will that be all for today, Yuma?" Akai asked with a fragile smile as she propped herself up on her tiny walking cane.

"Yes, Akai Sensei." Yuma replied as he put the set of books into his bag before zipping it back up and slinging it back over his shoulder. He could most certainly feel the increased weight presented by the books, but this would not bother him in the slightest. It just meant that he could get in some weight training as he made his way over to the village's training grounds. "Thank you very much, and I'll make sure to bring them back in a timely manner this time around. Have a good evening." Yuma would bow to the elderly teacher thankfully before turning on his heel and making his way back out into the hallway. From here the young boy would walk to the front entrance of the school. By this point, after having spent almost an extra fifteen minutes within the school itself, the academy grounds were practically empty minus a handful of stragglers and teachers that dotted the area. Yuma looked, almost by instinct, back towards the door that he had always used to sneak back into the place after hours, but the sight of Nokino Sensei smoking on a cigarette near the door would stop him dead in his tracks for a moment. The woman eyed him suspiciously again, and it was almost like she had intentionally placed herself there to ensure that the boy would not be able to simply sneak back in and use the school's facilities outside of the normal business hours again. Seeing as Yuma was a bit of a rebel himself, he would have almost allowed himself to test the woman by doing just that, but he would not allow those intrusive thoughts of his to win. Instead he would smile and wave to his sensei before taking his leave from the campus entirely.

"Oi! Yuma!" Called a voice from beyond the gate of the academy. Yuma, still walking, would turn his head to the side to see his two friends and former classmates Kurosawa, Yoichi and Tachibana, Tatsuya running up to him. "Long time no see, man! I heard you had gotten expelled for breaking into the school!"

Yuma chuckled.

"Those are just rumors, Yoichi." He said. "But I surely would have had it not been for Nokino Sensei taking pity on me. I got sorted into her class as punishment." Tatsuya's eyes widened at the revelation placed before him by Yuma.

"You mean the remedial class, Yu?!" He asked, not even bothering to hide just how shocked he was. "I... Is it as bad as the older kids always said it was?"

"Not in the slightest," Yuma laughed as he threw his arm around Tatsuya's shoulder. "But I did have to show two assholes a lesson, though. They were bullying one of the younger students, and you know how much I hate bullying, so I sent them flying with my Gentle Fist." The young boy would shove his free and open palm into the air before him as if to demonstrate his actions in the fight he had partaken in weeks prior.

"So you kicked their asses, eh?" Yoichi asked with a smirk.

"You know it, man." Yuma said with a smirk. He loved being friends with Yoichi and Tatsuya. The two of them truly were fantastic friends to have, but they always seemed so very much interested in the stories that Yuma would tell them about the fights he had been a part of over his three years at the academy. Who was he to stop them from stroking his already big and throbbing ego?

"We've got to go celebrate, then!" Yoichi said excitedly. "Ramen and Yakisoba are all on me today, boys!" Yuma shook his head, closing his head and sighing lightly with distaste about his current need to study for his upcoming test.

"I can't today, sadly." He said as he removed his arm from Tatsuya's shoulder and unzipped his bookbag to reveal the set of books he had just checked out from the school's library. "I've got to study for a practical exam tomorrow, and if I fail then I'll be removed from the shinobi program and the academy entirely, never able to enroll again. That's what Nokino Sensei told us students of hers, at least. I'm not sure if I believe it entirely or not, but I'm not about to risk it."

"Alright," Yoichi said hesitantly, eying Yuma with a hint of suspicion. "But I won't let you get out of it again though, got it?"

"You got it, Yoichi." Yuma said as he presented his fist to Yoichi. In return, Yoichi would connect his own fist with Yuma's to complete a fist bump.

"Let's get out of here, Tatsuya. If we wait around much longer all of the good Yakisoba will be gone."

"Coming, Yoichi!" Tatsuya replied. "Later, Yuma!" He too offered Yuma a fist bump before hurrying off to join Yoichi. Yuma would watch with a smile as his two best friends set off into the sea of villagers that lined the streets off in the distance before he himself made a right into the narrow alleyway just beyond the school campus' fence, which was a bit of a shortcut to the training grounds that the students had commonly used throughout the years. Yuma would make his way through the alleyway in a hurry and with much haste in his step. At the end of the alley he would come face to face with a large clearing, and at the other end of it was large gated forest that was enclosed off from the rest of the village, and seemingly the rest of the world as a whole. It was a serene place, and it would be the location of Konohagakure no Sato's famed training grounds. Many famous shinobi and kunoichi had trained on those very grounds throughout the centuries, and Yuma knew that by his training there as well he was adding his name into its extensive lore.

The young Hyūga would not have to walk too much further until he reached another small outcrop in the wooded area that was the village's training grounds. It was here that the boy was presented with a gate leading on through the chain link fence that separated the grounds from the rest of the village and also a small guard posting just before it. Yuma would walk up to the guard post, where a Jounin was waiting inside. The man, a Hyūga like Yuma himself, looked rather tired and bored. Yuma could not help but sympathize for his fellow clan member. Guard duty was something that was highly looked down upon when there was much more adventure and danger to be had beyond the village walls. As the younger Hyūga approached the outpost, he could hear the older clan member let out an exasperated and annoyed sigh.

"Good afternoon," Yuma said as he shuffled through the pocket of his black shorts to find his academy identification card. "Guard duty, huh?" The guard rolled his eyes at Yuma as he tapped his fingers on the desk that separated them.

"What would make you think that, kid?" He asked as he looked around mockingly. "Was it the fact that I'm just standing here in this building? I thought I was doing it for my health."

"Just trying to make small talk, is all." Yuma replied, trying to keep himself cheerful and excited for the training that was waiting for him just beyond the fence before him. He would finally pull out the identification card from his shorts pocket and present it to the guard, who looked over it for a few seconds before flinging it back to Yuma without another word. The younger Hyūga would replace the card into his pocket before smiling at his brethren and nodding. "Well, I hope your day gets better, then."

"Yeah, whatever kid." Replied the guard. "Make sure not to hurt yourself too much practicing those crappy ass techniques they teach at the ninja academy." Yuma would allow the backhanded comment to roll off of him like water off of a ducks back, and he would proceed to enter into the threshold of the training facility. He would continue walking for a little while, passing by many academy students and village shinobi alike who were all going through their training. Yuma had always been someone who liked to train alone and without interruption or distraction, thus why he had often broke into the academy's gymnasium after class, but now that he could not do that anymore, and due to the fact that he hated training at home, he would have to make due with what he had available to him. Now it was just a matter of him finding the most relaxed and undisturbed place that he could find before he got started.

'Where will I be able to allow myself to focus without worry?' He thought to himself as he studied his surroundings with a keen and observant eye. Yuma would allow himself to continue on much further into the training grounds than he had typically gone before. It was here that the caws of many different breeds of birds could be heard as they called out to each other wildly. Their presence alone was more than enough for the young boy to tell that he was well beyond the reach of any other trainees, and he highly doubted that he would have to contest any potentially hazardous techniques that had strayed too far from their marks. It was here as well that the boy would find a rather quaint ten meter by ten meter outcropping in the wooded area of the grounds, and along with it he found a lone fallen tree and a lone training training dummy made of hay and rope. 'Yep, this is definitely the place.' The boy walked up to the location of the fallen tree, where he would sit his schoolbag before he too took a seat upon the bark before shuffling through the bag and removing the book set that he had retrieved from the academy's library earlier in the afternoon. He would remove the first volume from the pile and set the rest delicately next to his bag. Taking a long look at the cover of the first volume in his hand, Yuma would smile as it seemed to cover his favored type of technique to use; Taijutsu.

"Oh, boy!" He said, not bothering to hide just how excited he was. "I wonder what kind of stuff this book will be able to teach me..."

The young and excited Hyuga would shuffle through the book that he had removed from the stack. He enthusiastically read through the entirety of the author's introduction and forward, which were both located in the very first few pages of the book, before going on to find the first technique that had been listed on its page. The boy, however, would be a bit deterred at the revelation of the first technique.

"Are you serious right now?" He asked nobody in particular, sighing with a hint of annoyance. The first technique that had been listed in the book's pages was but a mere prank that was typical in Konohagakure no Sato's culture; the 'Thousand Years of Death' technique. Rolling his eyes, Yuma would read the description the description of the so called technique that the book had to offer.

'The Thousand Years of Death, known by such other names as the One Thousand Years of Death or the much longer Konohagakure Hiden Secret Taijutsu Technique: One Thousand Years of Death, is not much of a technique. Rather, it is a prank that is quite common amongst the boys of Konohagakure no Sato. The user tightly clasps their hands together and extends their middle and index fingers, resembling the Tiger hand seal. Using the full weight of their body, the user thrusts these four fingers between the target's buttocks. Despite the technique's dramatic name, it is not actually harmful. The pain can be fairly extreme, however, so much so that the user may go flying forward up to an average of five meters.'

The Hyuga child would have to close the book in his hands for just a moment, also closing his eyes in the process as he collected himself. He did not bother in any way to hide his dissatisfaction that this book, which had been so hyped up by his former sensei and the academy's librarian, would detail this stupid prank as a valid technique that could even remotely be used in combat. Giving himself a moment to collect himself, Yuma would decide it best to give the book another chance to actually teach him something meaningful. He proceeded to open the book up again, scanning to find the page on which he had left off, and then skipping over to the next technique as there really was nothing that needed training regarding the 'Thousand Years of Death'.

"Please be a decent technique, even for an E-Rank one..."

With another sigh Yuma would proceed to read over the details of the next technique that was listed in the book. This one was simply called 'Discipline', and the technique's description was but a single mere line of text.

'The user of this technique simply hits their target with a contemptuous slap in the face. While not the most subtle technique, or even the most powerful in any way, this technique has been known to assist those who have fallen into Genjutsu. Through the slap, targets trapped within Genjutsu do have the potential to be brought back to their own facilities with little to no adverse effects.' At this point, Yuma was seething. Just what in the world was the author of this book thinking when they had wrote it? The two aforementioned 'techniques' were not even techniques, they were simple actions that required little to no effort, nor any need to be trained in whatsoever. He would proceed to skim through the book, finding only a handful of other actual techniques that he could not do seeing as he did not have the necessary elemental affinity to train them, and he would stuff the book back into his bag.

"This is so fucking stupid." He said to himself, kicking the bag a few yards into the distance before getting up from the useless tree stump upon which he had been sitting. "How am I supposed to learn anything when these stupid ass books have nothing to offer?" Yuma would take a few moments to collect himself, knowing that taijutsu was not really something that was as well defined as other specialties like Ninjutsu or Genjutsu. The physical specialty did not name 'techniques' in much the same manner as the other specialties of the shinobi world, and something as simple as running in a straight line at tremendous speeds could be classified as one of these so called techniques if someone absolutely wanted it to be. There were, however, a handful of individuals throughout history who had managed to get a grip on this specialty and make fantastic use of it, especially those who had historically focused on unleashing the unmatched power of the Eight Inner Gates. The eight gates, all tenketsu points within the human body, acted as limiters to a person's physical capabilities. Naturally, a person could only use roughly twenty percent of their full capacity, and it was through the removal of these limiters, oftentimes referred to as 'opening the gates', they could unlock more of their body's potential. This power was definitely something powerful, and much like those throughout history who had made themselves known worldwide through its use, Yuma too would find that type of world renown as well by mastering it along with the Hyuga clan's very own and precious Gentle Fist.

Yuma would allow himself a few moments to walk around aimlessly, thinking about his training as he did so. A part of him did feel as though he should just go back home to continue training in the arts of the Gentle Fist with his father, but Yuma knew for a fact that he could not stomach his father at this time. On the other hand he still had eight books to delve himself into, and now that he had gone through the taijutsu focused book, he was sure that he would find at least a few more interesting and much more practical techniques to train. This would be very much welcomed on his part, especially considering the exam that he had coming up. He had to ensure, no matter what, that he passed this exam with flying colors. He could not afford whatsoever to fail and risk never being able to become a valued shinobi within Konohagakure no Sato's forces. Sighing again, Yuma would retrieve his bag from where it had landed from his kicking it, and sat back down on the stump.

"Alright, let's get back to it..."