Regaining some Skill

The silence of the dark room was dramatically cut by the sound of something so annoying it would be a miracle if someone could sleep through it. Herozen bolted up out of a deep slumber and looked at the time. He was doing training before academy classes as a regular routine, so he would maintain it when he became a genin. He had a lot of catching up to do when it came to his brother, and he wasn’t going to be left behind. Herozen performed his morning routine: wake up, have a smoke, take a quick shower, get dressed, have a cup of tea with his dad, and run out the door to start training at the Noboru Kaito Martial Arts Academy. Herozen wasn’t in a hurry this morning; he had spent much time there training and learning from much more experienced shinobi the last few weeks. He decided today would be a day he would practice a few genjutsu his father had tried his hand at training him.

As Herozen walked down the deserted streets of Kumogakure, he felt around his pockets to double-check that his cigarettes and lighter were safely stowed away. He opened the pack in his pocket and quickly withdrew a cigarette lit and smoked it as he strolled the sleepy streets. It was weird to him; it seemed every time he went to train, someone was there. No, it wasn’t that someone was there, but somehow he always ended up interacting with them. He wasn’t a full-fledged shinobi yet, but it seemed like he was getting introduced to everyone in the village at the training grounds before his classes. At this thought Herozen chuckled slightly and continued smoking.

As Herozen approached the facility he flicked the burning cherry onto the ground like he always does and put the butt of the cigarette into the pack he pulled it from. He walked through the doors and saw a few staff milling about and the friendly receptionist who always seemed to be on shift at the facility when Herozen came in to train. “Ah, good morning Herozen.” She called to him from across the lobby. “You’re late this morning.” Herozen smiled at her, he still hadn’t remembered her name and was too embarrassed to ask. He would always glance at her identification badge to get her name. Herozen was beginning to suspect this might be giving the receptionist the wrong impression. Nonetheless, he wasn’t about to let the same woman he’d seen for the last few weeks know he had forgotten her name.

“Good morning,” Herozen said as he crossed the lobby quickly, he was indeed late because he decided to stroll instead of hustle to training. He took a quick glance down to catch a glimpse of the employee’s name tag, but it was facing away from view. “I’m in quite a hurry, I overslept.” Herozen lied as he handed over his identification card to get scanned. Herozen dodged eye contact from the young lady as he found himself ridiculous that he couldn’t remember a simple name he’d read several times. The card was scanned, and the doors opened to allow Herozen access to the hallway that had the training rooms within. “Alright, have a good day.” Herozen would say with a slight blush as he walked past the woman whose name was impossible to remember.

Herozen quickly walked down the hall and found himself in front of room number seven. He stopped there because the door was left open, and Herozen could see inside it. Sitting on a rock was his cousin. He was just sitting there reading a book. Herozen decided he would train with his cousin before academy classes started today. “Good morning, Travin; you know the training rooms are for training. If you want to read, there are plenty of libraries.” Herozen said sarcastically with a wave and a smile. “I heard about your hospital stay. That was rough. We all came to visit you when you first showed up, but you were pretty badly injured and we weren’t allowed to see you.” Herozen’s face turned into a stern position. “Glad you’re better now, though. I decided to join the academy a few weeks ago after years of my parents begging.” Herozen ended the sentence with a slight smile and ran his fingers through the hair on the back of his head. “What did you plan on doing here on this fine morning?”

WC:743

Unlocking the lightning element? Herozen was confused by this idea. He knew each shinobi had a chakra element, and their bodies produced it. Most Uchiha save his father, and himself mostly had the fire element, but there were exceptions. He had the lightning element. Would Herozen be able to help his cousin in his quest to unlock the ability to unlock it?

Before Herozen could ask how he could help, his cousin asked him a curious question. If he had eyes like his. At that moment, he saw the whites of Travin’s eyes turn red, and a three-tomoe Sharingan replaced the dark eyes that were usually on his face. A challenge from my younger cousin. Herozen shook his head. “I haven’t awakened my Sharingan yet. I don’t know if I’ll be able to. My father never awakened his, so I may not have the ability to.”

Herozen was aware of what a member of his clan activating their Sharingan meant. It was the Training Facility, Herozen let a slight smile spread across his lips. “So you want to spar? I hope it’s until the first person falls rather than to death?” Herozen said, taking a few paces to get back and away from his younger cousin. “You have a clear advantage, but I’ll oblige a duel if you insist.”

Herozen knew he was at a clear disadvantage. He was an academy student about to battle a well-versed shinobi. He knew Travin even as young as he was, had already participated in several missions and had a lot more jutsu up his sleeve. With the Sharingan, the few genjutsu Herozen knew Travin would be able to see right through them. Herozen also knew he had a small arsenal of jutsu he had trained in over the past few weeks, but they weren’t very effective, and he wasn’t battle-hardened yet.

Herozen just had a thought, and he had just looked in his cousin’s Sharingan directly. He knew he could have just been placed in a genjutsu without knowing it. He would use the genjutsu release jutsu he had learned at the academy to ensure he wasn’t under one yet. This fight already gave Herozen a bit of anxiety. Would he do well, or would his cousin hold back? Herozen also found the idea of sparring a lot of fun; this would help him figure out where he could improve and where his weaknesses were.

“Alright, I’m ready whenever you are.” He said, getting in a stance that he found appropriate to spar in. He squatted his legs so his center of gravity would be lower and he could react faster. He didn’t know how to start a spar, so he would let his cousin lead the way.

WC: 455
TWC:1198

Herozen watched as his cousin performed five hand seals, then raised a hand to his mouth and shot a stream of fire at him. He had just enough time to dash to the right. He was relieved that he wasn’t hit directly in the face but had just that moment to be grateful as a blast wave hit him in the back and pushed him forward and off of his feet. Once on the ground, he heard Travin’s voice asking him if he thought he had enough to make it as a shinobi. Not only that, but he added insult to injury by telling him to go back to stocking shelves.

Herozen slowly picked himself off of the ground; his back ached and burned. “First of all, I owned a ramen shop, and secondly, I like to think I have what it takes, even if I don’t have the power of the Sharingan. I don’t need it.” Has said as he weaved Tiger, Rat, and Hare with his right hand and the snake and ox with his left hand as he ran five meters towards Travin with a bolt of lightning in his hand.

Herozen was caught in the moment sparring with Travin. He didn’t even notice he was observing the chakra mass that was Travin. He was too upset about getting blown up and talked down to. Who did Travin think he was? Herozen had just become a student a few weeks before this encounter with Travin. Of course, he wasn’t good enough yet; he just got started. Herozen would wait to get close enough to Travin to let his lightning bolt shoot at him.

WC: 276
TWC: 1474

Herozen felt his speed failing him, and his jutsu fizzled out in his hands. He could see the chakra surrounding him suppressing his vigor and speed; he had just run headfirst into it like a fool. He was caught in the minus field his cousin had cast. Herozen couldn’t believe he had fallen for such a cheap trick and he would have to get his cousin back later. Herozen went through what had just happened in his head, thinking how he could have done better as Travin approached him. Herozen felt the grass of the training ground and wondered if it were real or not, they would put boulders and trees inside to simulate combat situations. It was the real state-of-the-art stuff. Herozen was quite impressed with how the battle simulator room was accurate with its details.

Travin told Herozen that he had done well but was confused about how he hadn’t done anything. He didn’t even land a hit on Travin. How had he done good? He looked up at his cousin, who had his hand outstretched in a helpful way. He would accept his cousin’s invitation and grab his hand for support on his way back up to his feet. Travin’s question took Herozen softly off guard. Had he noticed anything about his vision being different? “Now that you mention it, I noticed your chakra, and I saw that negative chakra field just a moment too late,” Herozen said, looking around to see if he noticed anything else different. “Did I awaken my sharingan?” Herozen felt a swell of pride enter his body, light a high tide; just one training session with his cousin, and he would now have the power of the Uchiha unlock.

Herozen was excited to show his family what he had accomplished in this training session, but that would have to wait because he still had more training. He had just gotten to the training grounds, and he still had the academy to go to after he was done. “I know you were reading about unlocking the lightning element. Do you want my help? I can use it, and maybe I can teach you.” Herozen said, turning his eyes back to his cousin deactivating his Sharingan. He would check a mirror sometime in the near future after training to see what it looked like, but for now, Travin and he were there to train. If Travin didn’t want Herozen’s help, there might be something else they could do to train; again, Travin, having more experience as a shinobi, could take the lead. Herozen knew his place as an academy student was to follow the lead of those more experienced than himself.

Herozen was aware of the different forms the Sharingan would take, and some members activated them at various stages. His brother activated it with two tomoe, and it hadn’t advanced since. Herozen’s mother had the Mangekyo Sharingan, and Herozen knew very little about it. It was a secret held close to the elders of the clan; maybe now that he had awakened his, she would be more forthcoming about it. Maybe Travin would explain more to him, but he didn’t really want to pry too much into it with his cousin. Travin had just taught Herozen a painful lesson just to help activate his Sharingan, and he wasn’t trying to have another dose of pain quite yet.

WC: 564
TWC: 2038

At this point in time, Herozen’s pride was damaged but not beyond repair. He listened closely to Travin’s lecture; it wasn’t anything new. His mom had told him about the effects of the Sharingan and how the user can copy techniques. It was nice to see this side of Travin; he always felt Travin held something against him. Was it the fact he waited so long to become a shinobi, or was it the fact that he hadn’t awakened his Sharingan until just now? Herozen felt that way about his father for a while, but Uchiha isn’t just special because of their Sharingan, a lesson Herozen had just learned. Travin offered to take Herozen to dinner; that was a kind offer after beating his ass. Herozen would take a few breaths and consider his cousin’s offer. “I would appreciate dinner, and I should let my mother know I activated my Sharingan.” Herozen said with a smile on his face, “I’m sure she’d love to know I am part of the upper echelons of the Uchiha with you and her.”

Herozen would activate his Sharingan for a second time, looking at Travin; it would take him a second to realize how to allocate chakra to his eyes. “It gets easier to control?” Herozen asked, deactivating and activating repetitively until he completely understood how to allocate chakra to his eyes. It was a trip to look at Travin while his Sharingan was activated, seeing the chakra moving around Travin, and his reaction times were a bit faster. Travin also offered to teach Herozen the dampening jutsu he fell for. “Alright, cousin, I’ll take you up on the offer to learn that jutsu. What was it called?” Herozen asked inquisitively, looking around at his surroundings. When would it switch from training to the real thing? Would he be ready for when real combat came his way? Herozen was sure the training he put in every morning and night would shape him into the shinobi he wanted to be. Something was gnawing at the back of his mind, was that explosion or how quickly Travin had been willing to attack him been the emotional trigger to activate his Sharingan? Herozen’s mother told him the story of how she activated her Sharingan, and it was during a time of war when she had watched a subordinate die. Was his constitution so weak a simple attack had brought on that much of an emotional response? Herozen would shake his head and try to remove the doubt with every shake.

Herozen wondered how Travin had awakened his Sharingan, but he knew it was rude to ask since it was an emotional trigger. Most Uchiha would keep their trigger event, something his father called it, to themselves. Herozen had to know how Travin had activated his, and he was worried about committing a faux pas in his cousin’s eye, but curiosity got the better of him. “Hey, Travin, I hate to ask, but how did you awaken your Sharingan?” Herozen asked shyly, he really didn’t want to ask, but he needed to know the answer. “It’s just, you know how I activated mine, and I feel really dumb with how it happened.” Herozen would relay awkwardly to his cousin. “If you don’t want to answer, I completely understand.” Herozen would stay trapped in his head until his cousin answered about how he got his Sharingan with anger or understanding. Herozen felt a little vulnerable at the moment, but he would show strength to his cousin which he respected and adorned with adoration. Would Travin be angry with Herozen, or would he be understanding? Herozen didn’t know, but Travin might take back dinner or simply leave the training grounds, and Herozen would understand, but he hoped Travin would explain and they could continue training.

Herozen would often think about his childhood, with Travin being a couple of months older than his brother; they would have joined the academy at roughly the same time, but before they did, the three of them were like best friends. It was Herozen who chose to split from the other two and choose a different path that somehow brought him right back to becoming a shinobi. Why hadn’t he just gone along with the plan all three had made when they were younger? They could have been on the same team; Herozen could have been promoted to chuunin or jonin by now and led the three on missions. Herozen couldn’t let those thoughts keep creeping into his head. He needed clarity, and maybe he could work the problem by training harder. If Travin did leave because Herozen had offended him, he would work on some new jutsu his father had shown him before he headed to the training facility. Herozen had made the mistake of asking his brother how he awakened his Sharingan in hopes of learning how he could awaken his own and was returned with a seething anger he didn’t understand. His mom would inform him on a later date that his brother had been ambushed on an s ranked mission that started under-ranked as a b ranked mission. There was a diplomat who requested a guide through bandit-infested lands, and the scouting report had said there were no shinobi in the bandit groups. Herozen’s brother would get a few days' travel away from the destination when the bandits came to kill the diplomat, and in that bandit troop were three shinobi who were s-ranked in the bingo book. He lost his commander and his closest comrade in the attack; he was able to fight and kill the remaining bandit because he had awakened his Sharingan. Herozen felt audacious for even considering his question with the knowledge some gained power through the saddest means. Herozen hoped his cousin would have a bit more peaceful way of activating it as he did.

WC: 979
TWC: 3017