A Rock and a Hard Place

Sat Sep 28, 2024 6:58 pm

Hara's clash with the bear stuck in his mind, it had been months since that encounter and yet he couldn’t help but be inspired by how the bear fought. He pondered what was so unique about it. It used its size and strength with efficiency,and utilized body parts such as its hip, forearms, elbows and forehead that created an incredible amount of force and allowed for much larger sweeping movements. Hara was raised on the subtle precision of the Gentle Fist form. Still, perhaps he could blend the two in some way and take advantage of his strength and size.
The sound of whistling interrupted Hara’s thoughts and he gave a smirk from his hiding spot in the treeline. He activated his Byakugan and observed. The traveler was an old man about 5ft 8, lean but by no means weak. He wore simple merchant attire and walked with a hunch, his beard swung dangerously close to the dirt as he walked the trail. A large pack almost the size of his entire body laid on his back and swayed as he moved.

Hara moved with fluidity, he had done this quite a few times now to get supplies, at this point it was becoming routine. As he landed on the ground with a thud the old man's whistling stopped. The two stared at each other in silence for what seemed like a long time, this was always the interesting part to Hara, those very moments when a person recognized they are in danger, how do they respond?

“Oh? It's just you?” The old man said in a raspy voice.
Hara faltered for a second, this was not something he’d seen before. He stayed silent, eyeing the man.
“Strong and silent type eh?”
There was another brief pause as the merchant lit up a small tobacco pipe.
Hara knew better than to underestimate his opponent, he just wasn’t sure how he was underestimating him.
“Put down the pack, and you may go” He decided to be merciful. Strangely enough, the energy this old man exuded was throwing Hara off of his usual routine.
“Put down the pack? OOOkay, but you have to pick it up for me afterwards” The old man laughed to himself before suddenly shrugging with enormous force, the pack going up into the air and landing to the right of the merchant.

The floor shook, birds scattered in panic, leaves fell from the many trees in the area.
Hara's eyes widened in amazement as he observed the small crater the pack made, how could this old man carry such an enormous weight?

He didn’t have time to think about it any longer as a small but incredibly strong hand grabbed his throat, the pack was just a distraction.

Hara flashed his right arm forward and swiftly slammed his palm into the old man's elbow, following up with a winding open palmed strike to the chest, The old man released his grip on the Missing-nins throat and slid back a few feet.

Hara didn’t give him any time to recover before rushing forward and swiping at his face with a powerful haymaker.
The old man took the hit in full, his head barely turning.
Hara jumped back and hesitated. This guy was clearly very strong..
“You got a good right, son.” The old man cracked his neck from left to right
Hara could do nothing but just stare dumbfounded, he had clearly gotten himself into a situation he wasn’t prepared for. And yet, he couldn’t bring himself to back down.
“And you’ve got good strength for a youngling, but your style lacks refinement.”
The old man stretched and formed himself into a martial arts pose, one that was unfamiliar to Hara.
“I will give you one more chance to strike me young’n” The old man said, grinning from ear to ear

Hara took a deep breath in and focused himself, he could feel the return of that chakra he felt, the surge of being one with the nature around him. He breathed in one more time before jumping forward, clasping his hands and swinging them down together in one massive motion.
The old man deftly shot an elbow up at downswing of Hara's maneuver and swiped the attack to the side, dissipating the energy in one swift movement.

Hara went frozen as the old man propped the missing ninja's weight up on his forearm, “How are you doing this?” Hara asked, his monotone voice hiding his trepidation.
The old man only grinned before delivering a swift blow to Hara’s temple. The world went dark as Hara fell to the dirt.

The first thing to wake Hara was the smell, it filled the small room with an amazing aroma of cooked pork. Green onions and sage filled his nostrils and made his stomach rumble. The second thing to wake Hara was the whistling, that same blasted tune. He shot up, suddenly realizing what that meant, and looked around.

“Ah, you're up, there's food on the table for you.Eat up.” The old man said without turning around. Hara sat still on the bed, surveying his surroundings.

The old man's home was actually nice, if not a little cramped. It looked to be made out of bamboo shoots which were pressed up into the dirt above and to the sides. It was then that Hara realized they must be in some sort of cave. The man had a set of very old samurai armor on a stand, as well as what looked like a small eating table with a plate of food that must've been what The old man was offering. Everything was either home made or very beaten up and discarded, but what struck Hara most was how warm it felt. The spirit of this place was rich with stories and knowledge, he could feel it in his bones. One wall was adorned with shelves, each holding their own bonsai tree; some of these trees must have been 40 years old at this point. Each one delicately trimmed and cared for with the utmost dedication.

Hara finally rose from his bed and sat at the table, it had been months since he had properly eaten food at a table, he opted for using his hands instead of chopsticks and tore into the meal with a veracity only possible from being truly hungry. The meal was gone in a matter of minutes, and Hara wiped his hands on his robes before chugging the glass of water given to him.
It was only then that Hara looked up and noticed the old man, staring in rapt amusement.

“You must have been hungry” He said with a mischievous grin on his face.

“Why have you brought me here?” Hara said

The old man laughed “Because, why not?”

“I… I tried to rob you.”

“Sure, but you were clearly hungry. You were doing what you had to.”

Hara paused at that and looked down at his hands for a moment

“I would have killed you without hesitation, if I had the chance.” He said coldly, The old man had earned his honesty at the very least.

“Ah, and you would have been right to.”

Hara tried to hide his surprise

“Oh come now boy, you understand perfectly well. This is nature.” He sat down at the table with Hara and gestured around himself before slamming his hand down quickly with a loud thud
“And in nature, you either do the squashing, or get squashed.” The old man pulled his hand away revealing a crushed spider. He grinned and ate it without a pause.

“But, I lost. Why would you spare me?” Hara asked

“Because you need training. And I need renovations!” The old man shot up from his seated position and made his way to the door, he motioned for Hara to follow.

Upon exiting the small hut Hara's eyes widened in amazement. The hut was more than just dug into a wall, it sat nestled in a cave larger than any he had ever seen before. The cave was a beautiful tunnel of limestone with walls that stretched at least 200 meters high. The hut sat on a smaller hill nestled within the cave, and light shone down from a hole in the ceiling. A cave river stretched around the hill and down further into the cave system.*

“This… Is a very beautiful place.” Hara said
“Yes yes, now come, I will show you why you are needed.” The old man gestured to Hara to walk further down the river. He followed and continued to look around the cave in amazement.

They walked in silence for about 2 miles, the cave system seeming to never end and yet light funneled in from various openings in the ceilings that tunneled for what looked like 100 meters up. Finally, the old man stopped and pointed to a steep decline, at the bottom of the decline laid hundreds, maybe even thousands of boulders of varying sizes. “You will take those rocks and bring them back to my hut.

“All of them?” Asked Hara in dismay.

“Did my words confuse you?” The old man asked

“Or perhaps you do not really wish to be truly strong.” He looked at Hara with a serious expression on his face, for the first time the smile was gone and Hara got a glimpse of the beast that was so easily able to defeat him.

Hara was no stranger to this sort of motivation. He had lived it for years.

Like muscle memory, Hara simply nodded and began to walk down to the enormous pile of boulders.

“Woah woah not so fast kid, you go down there and try to do the job without prepping and you're not gonna make it more than a few minutes.”

Hara paused “So…How does one ‘prep’ for this?” He hated slang words and loose language but he was in no position to make judgements at this point.

“Come come, you will see.” The old man began walking to the left along a different path that snaked further down.

Hara followed and considered using his Byakugan to scan the area but thought better of it. Information was the one thing he still had left, he couldn’t fight his way out of here even if he wanted to.

The two descended down the trail, zig zagging back and forth before coming to another clearing, the roar of a waterfall drowning out any noise, a shaft of light extended down and lit the clearing up with a dim and soothing light. Hara could feel the spray of the waterfall and closed his eyes briefly, soaking in the smells and tactile sensations around him. The old man's raspy voice penetrated the brief serenity.

“Ah, you are a natural!” He said with a chuckle

“It seems you have already begun the path to opening yourself to nature.” He motioned for Hara to sit with him near the water's edge.

The old man sat in a cross-legged meditation position, and Hara followed suit.

“What you felt during our fight” He paused as Hara reacted with surprise “Yes I noticed, why do you think you are here?”

“Nevermind that now” The old man said before Hara could respond.

“What you felt was Nature Chakra, it is all around you.” He motioned around the cave system, to the rocks and the waterfall, to the dirt they sat on and finally to the both of them. “It is the water, the stone, it is you and me and the air we breathe. It flows through us and around us. The trick is to open yourself up to it even more, and then, to store it within you.”

At this the old man got up and motioned for Hara to remain seated “I must go rest at my hut, for now you will spend your time here until those boulders are moved to the top of the hill. I will leave food out for you.” The old man took on a serious expression again.

“You must dedicate yourself to opening up to nature's chakra before you attempt to move those boulders, I will not help you down here. You are on your own, and it is a dangerous job you have been given.”

Hara nodded curtly and remained silent, eager to begin his meditation.

“Hmm. Good.” The old man said as he walked away and back up the winding path.

Hara sat in the roar of the waterfall for hours before feeling even a fraction of what he had felt before. He furled his brow and attempted to brute force his way through the problem. Noticing every detail he could, committing it to memory, categorizing and defining every sensory input he was receiving.

Water from waterfall, spreading, dispersing, droplets.
The smell of iron, calcium, limestone and moss.
A breeze, blowing from east to west.
The ever present roar of the waterfall.
The ever so slight presence of warmth from the beams of light.

Hara focused for another stretch of hours, exhausting his mind completely. But, no matter how much he tried he couldn’t seem to reach that same flow state from before. His stomach rumbled and he resolved to attempt it again tomorrow once the old man had brought him some food.

Hara awoke to the smell of pork and sage, how the old man had snuck past Hara was a mystery to him. Nevertheless, he devoured the food quickly and without hesitation returned to his meditative position.

This time Hara could feel the presence of nature around him in abundance. It flowed around him like an ethereal honey, he felt its warmth and glow in every fiber of his being. He attempted to harness it, grasp it and control it. It was like trying to catch the wind with his bare hands. He sat there for another few hours before giving up, it was hopeless. He sighed in frustration and began to pace.

Finally, after a few minutes of thought, Hara resolved himself to move at least one boulder today. Nature Chakra be damned, He was going to make progress.

He made the arduous journey back to the pile of boulders, his legs already burning somewhat from the hike. As he stood at the base of the large pile he surveyed the various boulders in search of something manageable.

Having finally found one, Hara crouched down and grasped the boulder- which was roughly 6ft around- with both arms, hugging it to his body. He clasped his hands together and with a large breath inwards, strained to lift the boulder. It was heavier than it appeared, and Hara found himself grunting and growling with savage effort as he attempted to leverage the boulder off of his legs and onto his chest. He could feel the fibers of his muscles tear and fill with blood, and the burn of the acid build up that made him feel like his skin was going to burn off at any moment. His tendons ached in response to the immense weight as he shifted the boulder to his sternum and then, in a very slow and shaky motion, transferred the boulder to his shoulder.

Ok. Now for the hard part Hara thought to himself as he glanced up at the hill. He steeled himself and began to inch forward, his legs shaking as sweat began to drench him. He took a few more steps, the pain was unbearable, but Hara was determined to prove himself. He gave an animalistic growl before surging forward with a burst of rageful energy. He began to climb the hill slowly, by now his central nervous system screaming at him to stop. His body shook, and his limbs grew numb. Hara screamed a primal and desperate scream before making another push, taking a few steps before slipping.

Hara had no time to react, the weight of the boulder exacerbated any mistakes, and this was a big one.He grunted and tried to awkwardly shift his weight, feeling a muscle in his back strain briefly before snapping. He cried out in pain and tumbled down the hill, a blur of blood and rocks. Dust kicked up around him as he tumbled down and the ever present thud of a boulder following close behind. He tried to get his bearings while tumbling but the dust was disorienting him.

Hara landed at the bottom with a thud and had no time to react before the boulder came flying in, striking his chest and pushing the air out of his lungs. He screamed briefly in pain and tried to move the boulder. It wouldn't budge, Hara began to panic and frantically pushed against the boulder. It shifted and lodged itself even more firmly in place than before. He gave a whimper that he had never given before, the panic getting to him, and stopped.

Hara was in a tough position, his body was firmly held up against the pile of boulders, with the boulder he had tried to carry sitting on his legs and pushing up against his right shoulder and chest. His left arm was still free, luckily. He could do something with that. A pebble fell and sang a little tune as it fell down the pile of boulders, reminding Hara of the danger he was in. Those boulders could choose to shift at any moment, and then he would really be in trouble, or he’d be dead.

“Hey!! Old Man!!!” Hara picked up a pebble and tried throwing it up the hill, but his strength was drained. He tried shouting some more until an ominous shift in the boulders above him gave him pause. You really messed things up here Hara He thought to himself. Hara resolved himself to hold on for as long as possible, the old man would eventually come down to give him his food, at that point he would be freed. He was more disappointed at the sort of damage he had stupidly done to his body, he could feel where his musculature had ripped, this would take a few months to heal if they didn’t have any healing jutsu.

Hara had no energy to try anything but worry and panic. He gave a deep breath and thought back to his teachings. “Control the enemy, control the battlefield, control yourself” He said out loud, attempting to calm himself. “Control. Yourself.” He repeated as he made deliberate breaths in through his nose followed by controlled breaths out through his mouth. His mind began to calm and he took stock of options. It was easy seeing as there was only one option, wait to be rescued. This was not a feeling that Hara relished, being reliant on a person. Sleep would not come easy, the sounds of the cave waking him at any moment. The shifting of boulders or the skittering of pebbles launching him into a full on fight or flight mode. It was a long and arduous night, but Hara finally drifted off to a fitful sleep.

Hara awoke to the recognizable tune of the old man and excitedly opened his eyes, next to him sat a plate of food, and the old man was whistling his tune as he walked back up the hill.

“Hey!!” Hara shouted, he was about halfway up the hill now, and his voice echoed through the cavern. The old man stopped and turned around feigning surprise.

“Oh, you have awoken, fantastic. Tell me, how are you going to get out of that little predicament you find yourself in?” The old man spoke in his usual raspy voice

“W-What do you mean? Help me, I'm stuck.” Hara replied

“Oooh I don’t think I can do that sonny, you know why.”

“No. I do not. I will die down here if you do not help me.”

“Then you will die.” The old man gave a concerningly nonchalant shrug. “We are in nature son, you fend for yourself here or you die. Be grateful I gave you some food, my master was not so kind.” He trudged further up the hill and then stopped before turning around again.

“Oh and by the way, try not to make too much noise, never know what lurks in these caves” He tapped his nose and ear and pointed at Hara before laughing and continuing on.

Hara was too tired, too angry, and too much in pain to fully process what that meant.

He sat in stunned silence as he watched the old man walk back up the hill. He was on his own now. He begrudgingly took the food and ate it, he was a prideful person but not that prideful. He took another deep breath after eating and focused himself. The only way out of this was nature chakra, Hara knew that. He attempted to focus and open himself to the natural energy around, but the pain in his body was serving as an effective distraction. He grit his teeth and tried to push the pain out of his mind, but the more he fought against it the more he struggled. He growled in frustration and threw his plate, screaming at it as if this was all the fault of the plate.

“Get a hold of yourself Hara.” He told himself, now was not the time for panic. He attempted to lift the boulder off himself and was dismayed at how little it moved. He gritted his teeth again in frustration.

“Fine, I’ll do it your way, old man” He yelled in anger towards the hill before settling himself in and closing his eyes.

Hara centered himself and began the mental process of opening himself to nature. He took stock of every sensation he felt, he focused on the rhythmic movement of his chest as his lungs inhaled and exhaled. His ears began to pick up on every small sound being made, the low hum of a flowing river, the skittering of cave bugs as they flitted to and fro. The feel of the breeze as it brushed up against his skin. It all came flooding to him, and that familiar feeling of warm ethereal honey reappeared. Hara rejoiced, he could feel the nature chakra as it flowed around him, he attempted to contain it, control it yet again. And yet again, it flowed in and through him, ignoring his attempts to harness it. A scratching and heavy breathing distracted Hara from his meditation and he opened his eyes.

Great. To be expected in this cave of horrors. Hara thought to himself as he looked across the river, a large and hairless bear dipped its mouth into the river and began drinking. Hara exhaled, causing him to cough, and the bear shot its head up. That's when Hara understood, looking at the bear's eyes he could see the milky white cataracts, this bear was blind. In response to its deficiency, the ears seemed to be sensitive and the nose of the bear twitched with the flowing of smells.

Hara licked his finger and put it into the air, luckily he was down wind. As long as the bear stayed to his left he should be-
The bear began to move to Haras right as it searched for the source of the noise. Fuck.

Hara began to panic, this was where he was going to die.

No. No. No.

I Refuse. Hara thought to himself. He was a survivor and he would cut his arm off if it meant escape. Luckily, or perhaps unluckily, that wasn’t likely to free him.

Hara closed his eyes and began to attempt to absorb the chakra of nature, this time with more urgency. He could hear the bear inching its way more and more to the right, it was only a matter of time until it caught his scent.

Hara could feel his heartbeat, beating so hard it felt like it was going to burst out of his throat. He breathed once more and calmed himself. He began to feel the honey-like nature of the chakra around him. He heard the bear as it reached the point of no return and could sense its change in demeanor as it gave an inquisitive grunt at the new smell hitting its nose.

It's now or never Hara. He thought to himself, he always seemed to find himself in these sorts of situations, and he was beginning to tire. Tire of the struggle, tire of trying to control everything. He closed his eyes and relaxed his body. He was done for, the only question now was how did he want to go out? For the first time in months a large smile formed on his face, followed by a manic laughter. The cave bear perked its ears and began to growl.

“Ok, you've shown me.” Hara said, as if talking to nature itself. “You are too powerful to grapple, too monolithic to control. And, I have paid the most terrible price for this lesson.” Hara didn’t notice it while in the midst of his passionate outcry, and yet even now as he spoke his voice grew stronger. His back straightened slightly from the influx of new strength, and Hara began to feel his muscles swell and grow stronger.

At that moment it finally clicked for Hara. This was never about control, it was about allowing himself to be controlled, it was about trusting nature and his own instinct. Because, ultimately, that’s what instinct is: It’s letting the energy of nature flow through him, about acting on the most primal and base thoughts and flowing with them. Hara could feel the boulder shift slightly as he attempted to reposition.

The newfound hope emboldened Hara, and he began to focus himself, straining against the boulder with all his might. It began to move, and more than that, Hara felt absolutely nothing in his muscles or bones. This newfound strength drove Hara, drove him to succeed and drove him to live. The cave bear gave out a roar, and Hara answered with his own as he gave on final push to stand up.

The boulder lifted into the air with surprising ease as Hara stood up, the boulder still resting in his arms. He stared at the cave bear, and it faced him with its milky eyes before zeroing in on his position and beginning to charge.

Hara stoically stared down the charging beast with a calm that frightened even him. As the bear charged, Hara spun around with the boulder still in his grasp. The bear closed the gap with a quickness, not quick enough. Hara met the bear's charge with one final spin, slamming the boulder into the bear's face as it leaped to attack. A whimper from the bear confirmed the attack landed, and it went skidding to the side, its face cracked and bleeding.

Hara did not hesitate, and charged, lifting the boulder up swiftly and slamming it down on top of the bear, he screamed a primal and savage scream. A scream deep in his gut, not born of emotion, not born of adrenaline. But born of life, a scream so deep and essential that it drew every ounce of energy from Hara as he continued to slam the boulder down onto the bear until it was nothing but viscera and sinew. He could feel his very life chakra be drained as he put every ounce of effort into his survival.

When it was all done, Hara sat amongst the carnage, silent and contemplative. His energy was spent, and he could barely lift his head up at the familiar tune of the old man.

“A splendid display, son.” The old man croaked.

Hara said nothing and simply stared down at the ground.

“ You have earned your rest today, I will bring this boulder up for you just this once. But, don’t take my kindness for weakness, you still have much work to do-”

Hara grabbed the old man by the throat, a new and darker energy taking over. The rage bubbled under Hara's skin with ferocity. He felt a newfound strength in this rage, a mixture of the natural chakra he had spent all week learning to absorb, and a savage rage that Hara had always felt inside himself. They mingled together and created a new beast, one born of instinctual and ancient hate. "I. AM. A. HYUUGA." He said with a great and terrible mixture of pride and anger.

Hara, holding the old man's neck in a vice grip, didn’t give him time to respond before he quickly struck out three times with his palm into the old man's face. A spray of blood coated Hara's linen wrappings as he continued his assault, savagely attacking what was now a limp body. He held the limp body in his grip and screamed at it as if it was still a thinking thing, before throwing it down to the ground amongst all the other gore.

No one would ever control Hara like that again. And, he resolved himself to die before being ordered around the way that old man did. He stared at the body, he had only known the man for a few days, and yet he found himself still angry, still raging at the now corpse. He could feel himself losing that energetic state, and his body responded in kind. His legs gave out, cramping almost immediately, it took everything in Hara's power to crawl up the hill and to the hut.

He collapsed onto the sleeping mat and drifted into a deep slumber. When he awoke, it felt as if he had slept for days, and the rotting food left out confirmed it, by Haras estimation he had slept for 2 days straight.

Hara watched the hut as it burned, a blank expression on his face. He looked down at a sash, adorned with a name. “Shinobu, huh?” He mused out loud to himself. “Well Shinobu, I will speak of you as a great teacher, because you showed me the true strength of nature and its savagery.” Hara threw the sash into the fire and walked away.