The Land

"Where have you gone?" Sasuke asked Yasui when he returned to the training location. Both he and Naruto realized Yasui had left them for a while. He even tricked them into thinking that he was still there with his shadow clone.

"I was bored, so I went to train on my own." Yasui shrugged. He didn't want to worry the two.

"ARGH!! Come on! Why can't I do it still!?" Naruto didn't like that he is learning at a slower pace than Sasuke. He fell to the ground and rubbed his head. There is a bump there for falling down so much.

"I see, I won't pry then. But oi, Yasui…" Sasuke blushed and stuttered.

"What the hell? You aren't going to confess to me, right Sasuke!?" Seeing Sasuke's tsundere look, Yasui shivered and ran behind a tree. He's fine befriending Sasuke, but he doesn't swing that way!

"I'm NOT CONFESSING TO YOU!" Sasuke felt embarrassed after Yasui made fun of him. It took him a lot of courage to start opening up to Yasui! How dare he still tease!?

"AHahaha! Sasuke, you look like a girl in love!" Naruto's laughter bellowed in the forest and he also made fun of Sasuke.

"Tsk!" Sasuke ticked his tongue and knuckled Naruto's head, making Naruto's bumps even larger.

"Phew… That's good then. What is it that you need?" Yasui sighed in relief and came out from behind the tree.

"Well, you see. C-can you please give me some more specific hints as to how I should learn tree walking?" Sasuke turned to the side. It had been a long time since he had asked anyone for help.

"Eh! If Yasui is going to give more hints then I want it too! Don't hog up all the hints, Sasuke!" Naruto got up and came to Yasui in anticipation. He rubbed the bumps on his head and angrily stared at Sasuke.

"Of course, I can. You guys listen carefully, okay? The whole point of this is to control your Chakra, so you mustn't let it be so sporadic and change the chakra density ever so often when you climb the trees. I was hoping that you guys would see it yourselves, but I guess I can just tell you the answer too. Earlier, you two ran up the tree after only distributing random amounts of chakra onto the soles of your foot. However, to actually master the technique, you have to constantly feed a stable amount of chakra at all times for different surfaces, not random amounts. Everyone has a different body, so it isn't easy to gauge the stable amount and write it down in scrolls. When your body changes, you also have to adjust accordingly." Yasui explained his experience in one breath.

He wished that the academy taught this type of thing. It's too bad that the current academy of the village is too backward. They only teach superficial theories, and there is too little emphasis on the training of the students.

"I'm a little tired, so I'm going to return to old man Tazuna's house and rest." Yasui waved and left the two to try out the hints he gave them.

He was too tired after exhausting all of his Chakra. He was also physically tired of running back and forth so much.

A while after Yasui left for old man Tazuna's house, Sasuke and Naruto also followed.

…

Back in old man Tazuna's house, everyone ate some food that was made by Tazuna's daughter.

This is where Yasui and the others learned about Inari's dead 'father' figure who was once called a hero. That hero… fell at the hands of Gato and his men after they arrived at the Land of the Waves.

Yasui had already done too much socializing with Zabuza, and he didn't want to get involved with Inari's gloomy life. On the other hand, Naruto was another story.

Yasui and the others slept well that night. Well... not Naruto.

When Yasui woke up in the morning, Naruto was nowhere in sight. Yasui reckoned that Naruto had already gone off to train in the woods.

Once he was done eating, Yasui did not go to the woods to look for Naruto. He also didn't go to the bridge with Kakashi and Sasuke.

Instead, Yasui went to roam the streets. Old man Tazuna had said that everyone on the land had become very poor after Gato arrived, but hearing and seeing are different things.

Yasui walked through the town, and what he saw made his heart ache. The streets were filled with many starving children, and the shops were shuttered and falling apart. He never thought of himself as a kind person because he will do bad things to achieve his goals, but this scene just punched him hard.

Everywhere he looked, he saw people struggling to get by. He saw people who were so desperate for money that they had resorted to begging on the streets. He saw children who were too young to understand why they were being denied a proper life. He saw elderly people who had been abandoned by their families.

He knew that unless this place develops its economy on a grand scale, the people here would just continue to suffer.

"Big…big brother, do you have some food to eat? I'm… very hungry." An extremely malnourished girl came up to Yasui and begged. Her body was so thin that her bones could be seen.

Yasui looked at the girl and felt a pang of sorrow. He was not sure what to do, but he knew he could not ignore her. He opened his bag and took out an onigiri he had received from Tazuna's daughter.

He handed it to the girl and said, "Here, take this. I hope it will fill your stomach."

The girl smiled and thanked him. She quickly took the onigiri, and then she bowed to him and said, "Thank you, big brother. You are so kind."

Yasui smiled and said, "You are welcome."

The girl nodded, thanked him again, and walked away. Yasui watched her go, feeling a little bitter in his heart. He could feed her for a meal, but he couldn't teach her how to continue to get fed. He wished he could do more for her and the people here, but unless Zabuza decides to stay, he won't be able to do it.

Yasui flickered out of the streets and landed on top of the roof of a nearby building. He decided to follow the malnourished girl because he wanted to see where she is going.

When he gave her the onigiri, he had expected her to eat it. Instead of doing that, though, she left in a hurry.

Yasui followed the girl from a distance, staying low and out of sight. He made sure to keep a careful eye on her, watching as she meandered through the streets, trying her best to keep the onigiri hidden from other starving people.

As the girl continued on her journey, Yasui noticed that she seemed to be making her way toward a small, rundown building at the end of the street. As she reached the building, the girl knocked on the door, and moments later a tall, thin woman opened it.

"Big sister Ai, look! A kind big brother gave this onigiri to me. Let's hurry and go in! I want to share this with my little brothers and sisters." The malnourished little girl happily showed the little onigiri to the thin woman.

"That's great, Yui." The woman Ai looked at the malnourished girl with a mixture of pity and concern and then motioned for her to come inside. The girl and the woman disappeared into the building.