The Clansmen

*~Knock knock knock~*

"Huh? What is it? It's too early for this."

"Shiran, wake up. Since you want to become a ninja who can stand alone to protect his loved ones, I'm going to take you to one of our clan's training grounds today. I want you to watch a couple of spars between real ninjas before we start doing anything."

That instantly grabbed my attention and banished any trace of grogginess, as if it had never been there.

Inside the room, Haru discerned the sound of light footsteps thumping around excitedly. With that, he smiled knowingly and turned to walk away, but in an instant, Shiran jumped on him. The boy wore a smile so wide it seemed capable of bridging the gap between distant land of fire and whirlpools. Haru, having sensed his son's approach long before it happened, welcomed the lighthearted ambush. It didn't hurt anyone to let his boy have some fun before they got serious about being a ninja.

"What are you waiting for? Let's go! I want to see some real fights, Dad!" I said excitedly as my dad looked at me, quite amused.

"Well, if you say so. Don't blame me for what happens next, though." The warmth seemed smothered by the cruel light now shining through, like a wet blanket over hot coals.

At that moment, I shivered as if standing in front of an apex predator. I could practically see the vision of a land made entirely of fire and brimstone in front of my dad. It was as if he was the devil himself, especially since his red hair was adding to the illusion. With a sadistic smile, Haru vanished in a flicker of movement, taking me along for the ride.

"Wai- Ahhhhh!" I cried out as the feeling of weightlessness engulfed me, the world started to spin as my father's hold became the only thing keeping me from flying away.

After 10 seconds or so we came to a stop. I looked at him with wide eyes that were practically radiating excitement and curiosity all the while he kept looking at me with that same smile that sent shivers up my spine.

"3...2...1..." Dad counted down playfully

At that moment I felt my stomach flip and turn inside out. Before I knew it I couldn't hold the nausea anymore and so, I ended up throwing up all over the place.

After I quit emptying my stomach all over the ground, I stood back and looked at the audacity of the man standing across from me.

"You didn't even give me a heads up!" I yelled at him while pointing acusingly, all the while that stupid smirk was in place. 

"You're the one that said 'hurry up'" My dad chuckled and retorted back.

"Well it wouldn't have killed you to at least tell me what you were gonna do" I grumbled back while simultaneously giving him the stink eye for the stunt he just pulled. 

"Alright alright, I'll give you a heads-up next time. How about that?"

"That sounds like a great plan. Anyway where is everyone aren't we supposed to see a few clansmen spar each other? " The confusion was evident in my voice and the puzzled look on my face did nothing but add to it.

"Yeah, you're right. They should be here any minute, though. I did tell them 7:00 sharp or they'd regret it." 

Was there a hint of pleasure in his voice there?

*shiver*

There's that freaky smile again. I can't imagine anyone wanting to see that smile while being threatened with punishment.

"Ah, here they come, Shiran. Come stand next to me, and I'll introduce them all to you."

Walking towards us are four somewhat similar-looking ninjas, all with the same red hair, though none as vibrant as mine. They would still stick out in a crowd. They all had black ninja outfits with accents of both red and purple on them, and the crest of the Uzumaki clan on the forehead protectors.

"Here is who we are going to watch today. Going from left to right, we have Yori, Yoshito, Nobuo, and Toji. All of them are elite Chunin and they're also close combat and Kenjutsu specialists. I know you probably won't pick anything up from them just yet, but I also just want you to have seen how fast these fights can be," Dad explained.

"I understand," I nodded affirmatively to my dad, and he nodded to the rest of them, telling them to get in position.

As both my father and I sat down on a nearby flat rock to watch the mayhem unfold, I couldn't help but feel the excitement rushing through me, my blood starting to boil.

"Am I going to be a battle junkie in the future?" I thought to myself. "If I do, it will be because of this adrenaline rush happening right now. I'm not even participating, yet I feel like I could go toe-to-toe with them, even though I don't stand even a snowball's chance in hell of making a move."

As I pondered this, they moved like the wind. I didn't even see any of them the next moment until they engaged each other. Even then, they were just blurs of movement, with sparks and fists flying around the place.

"Wow," I said in genuine astonishment. "To be able to move this fast and still not get the drop on someone else, it really is special."

Unbeknownst to me, my dad was watching me out of the corner of his eye with both a critical eye and also one filled with happiness. From the time they started to line up, he felt my jump in heart rate and blood pressure and also surprisingly felt a very faint trace of battle intent.

A thrill of excitement coursing through my veins that mirrored my father's own, Haru's chest swelled with pride at the realization that his son had inherited his passion for combat. This made Haru smile, to think that his kid had battle intent this early in his life. He didn't know if he should be terrified or rejoice.

As the battles went on, they seemed to be kicking it up a gear or two, their movements becoming faster and more precise, their forms blurring together in a frenzy of motion.

"I give up," I heard from the far side of my ear.

"Huh?" I eloquently said to no one in particular. As I tried to process the sudden turn of events my dad only chuckled

"I mean, I kind of figured that confrontations didn't last too long because of how skilled everyone is, but isn't that kind of ridiculous? Their match didn't even last a full minute and a half."

"I'm glad you took that away from their fight, son. Truly, it doesn't matter how skilled you may be in a ninja field; all it takes is one minor slip-up, and for the other ninja to capitalize on it, and your life is over."

Out of another part of the field that we were watching together, there was another collision of ninjas. They both had started using ninjutsu. I watched as their hand seal speed was even faster than when they were running toward each other. Out of both their mouths came different chakra natures. One was Wind Release: Great Breakthrough and the other was Water Release: Water Dragon Bullet.

Those two collided again at midfield and splashed water all over the place, with strong gusts of wind coming through as an after-effect.

My mind was spinning. I had just seen my first real-life jutsu. I turned to see my dad looking at me, seemingly very amused at seeing me witness this for the first time.

"That was amazing, Dad! You gotta let me unlock my chakra. Pleeease?"

At this, my dad let out a bark of laughter.

"I know your mom already told you we'd help you unlock it when you turn four, so don't even start it," he said, smiling like he hadn't just crushed all my dreams right here and now.

"I surrender." It seems like the water user wasn't able to keep up with the speed and nature advantage that the wind user had on him.

"Dang, just one jutsu? I was hoping to see more."

"Everyone does when they first see one, bud. But did you take anything away from that battle?"

"Hmm, well, it seems that often you might not have time for multiple jutsus in a battle."

"Right again, my son. Often ninjutsu battles, just like kenjutsu battles, can end in just one collision. So, when you do start to engage in a battle like that, you need to make sure you take full advantage of both the type matchup and whether you use an offensive or defensive type jutsu."

"Hmm, I see. Thanks for the further explanation, Dad."

"Alright, we'll head out. You guys can Stay here for longer to continue to spar and train. Don't forget to switch to the newly updated training regimens that the clan has made for you guys as well."

"Yes, Lord Haru," they all said in sync with each other.

"What do you say we go out for lunch and start to talk about the future and get you a jumpstart on your training plan?"

My eyes shining with anticipation looked at my dad's eyes, I nodded my head to agree with what he said and smiled.

"That sounds like a really fun afternoon plan, Dad."