Curse of Ice (Part 5)

With his bruises still forming from Abe-sensei's blunted shuriken, Hayase shifted uncomfortably in his medical-nin class. Between the shuriken hits and a few rough rolling attempts at dodging had left him sore pretty much everywhere.

'Ugh... Dammit, Abe-sensei!' thought Hayase, as he tried to find a nonpainful way to sit.

Meanwhile, Obito who was sitting nearby, leaned over to Hayase and whispered, "What's wrong with you? You're acting like you have to go to the bathroom or something.."

Mortified, Hayase tried to whisper back, "What, no I just-"

"Excuse me, Hayase-Kun, Obito-kun? Is there something that you would like to say to the class?" Tagi-sensei commented, interrupting the boys' obviously unsubtle whispering.

"No, Tagi-sensei," both boys replied as soon as they could.

"Mmhmm... Really, can either of you tell me what the appropriate procedure for treating a collapsed lung is on the battlefield?" Tagi-sensei question, referencing that day's topic.

Organ-related injuries were particularly difficult to diagnose so Tagi-sensei had been walking through some of the externally visible symptoms of injuries like lung collapse, perforated intestines, punctured stomachs, etc. Treatment on the battlefield, however, was a tricky subject that was only covered lightly and mainly mentioned in extra readings that their sensei had assigned.

Using a medical jutsu like the mystical palm jutsu or chakra scalpel will work wonders for these injuries, but triage on the battlefield required doing the minimum necessary to save each patient so that the maximum number of patients are saved. No resources or chakra should be wasted on unnecessary healing that could wait a few days or that would heal on its own with time.

On the other hand, medical-nin may also be asked to get as many shinobi in fighting shape as possible as quickly as possible. If your squad can't defend itself, then no one will be making it home (injured or not). In that situation, treatment would follow very different plans...

Given his dreams of figuring out how to use water bending to heal, Hayase had tried to use what time he could do the extra readings that Tagi-sensei assigned (although they were a lower priority than his other training at the moment). However, Hayase had at least made an effort to skim the extra readings so he found, fortunately, himself able to reply to their sensei's attempt to catch them slacking.

"Um sensei, depending on the severity of collapse, we might not need to do anything at all if the patient is still getting enough oxygen," replied Hayase, "Or, it might be necessary to cut the patient open if there's enough air or fluid building up that it is endangering their life."

"Not a bad answer... I'll let you both off with a warning this time," Tagi-sensei said before returning to the lecture.

After that, both Hayase and Obito let out sighs of relief. 'Kami, I'm glad that I skimmed the readings,' thought Hayase. Obito, meanwhile, was grateful that Hayase put enough attention into the class to bail them out of trouble. He really didn't feel like spending time after school in detention or some other punishment.

Nearby, both Kurenai and Rin were shaking their heads at the two boys' antics since the two girls almost never caused any trouble in class. Rin normally spent the whole class furiously taking notes on Tagi-sensei's every word so much so that Hayase wondered if she was writing down literally every word. On the other hand, Kurenai simply knew better than Obito not to talk during class.

When the lecture was finally winding to close, Tagi-sensei left them off with a reminder, "Keep practicing the chakra control exercises that I gave out earlier in the year if you're still serious about becoming medical-nin! And remember that even though the extra reading isn't required to pass this class, that knowledge could save lives and you'll eventually need to learn it all to become a full medical-nin so you might as well save yourselves some time."

Having finally left the classroom, Obito and Hayase found themselves in the hall near each other as they left the academy. Without facing each other, Obito nudged Hayase before softly saying, "Um... Thanks for getting us out of trouble with that answer... Sorry for getting us in trouble."

"Hah... No worries, just don't make it a habit, all right?" Hayase replied, nudging him back harder, "We got lucky, that I skimmed the right parts of the readings. Otherwise, we'd cleaning bathrooms or some shit right now."

Crinkling his nose at the imaginary punishment, Obito replied, "I don't even want to think about it. Tagi-sensei is so strict! Also, what do you mean by skimmed?"

"Ya know, skimming? Reading quickly and only the important parts of a paper..." replied Hayase in confusion. Inwardly, he thought, 'Wait, are academy students not taught basic stuff like how to study properly? I've never thought about it before, but I guess the shinobi world isn't very academically focused so people just have to figure out studying by trial and error.'

[AN: By the semi-feudal standards of the time, it actually pretty unusual that so many people in the shinobi world are even literate (I guess we can chalk it up to their chakra-enhanced brains).]

"Huh... I've never tried that, I thought you had to read everything," said Obito with his head tilted to the side in thought. As Rin passed them, Obito's face seemed to light up as gears began turning, and turned to face Hayase. Then, Obito asked, "Could you maybe give me some tips on how to do that?"

Watching Obito, Hayase could roughly guess what he was thinking. 'Academics were never his strong suit. He probably thinks that he can impress Rin by suddenly improving his grades or he might even pass on whatever I teach him to her...' thought Hayase, 'Should I help him?'

As annoying as the troublesome Uchiha was at times, Hayase also knew that he wasn't the type of shinobi to abandon his friends until Madara sunk his claws into him and used the Rin's death at Kakashi's hands to awaken his mangekyou sharingan. Although the mental instability of the Uchiha left Hayase somewhat weary of befriending any of them, Hayase didn't see the harm in helping Obito improve his grades.

'It wasn't like going from a C to an A in history would suddenly make Obito such a bigger end-game threat, right?' thought Hayase, hoping to not jinx himself.

"Sure, I'll help-" started Hayase only to get cut off by Obito's enthusiastic reply.

"Yes thank you, you won't regret it!" Obito replied with a smile.

Continuing, Hayase said, "Like I was saying, I'll help, but I have a couple of conditions. Firstly, I'm not gonna be your tutor or something. I'm just gonna give you some tips. If you succeed with them, that's on you. And in return, I want to try out my water bending against your fireball jutsu. Sound like a deal?"

"Works for me! Should we do this today?" Obito replied, clearly excited.

"Nah, I need to go take a nap... I'm exhausted. Let me just right down the tips and we can try out our jutsu against each other later this week somewhere with a low risk of burning the village down." Hayase said while repressing a yawn. If he hoped to still make his workout with Guy, he was going to need a power nap and probably some painkillers.

Stepping into an empty classroom, Hayase grabbed a blank piece of paper and wrote down a few tips on how to skim readings for Obito. [AN: I'll include Hayase's tips for Obito in the paragraph comments for reference if anyone is interested, it can save some time if you have to do this kind of reading.]

"Here, try some of these tips from now on... and remember if one part sounds important, stop skimming and read that part in detail. You'll thank me later," instructed Hayase like a mini sensei.

"Thanks, Hayase! You're not so bad," Obito joked as he put the sheet away for later reference.

"Tch!" clicked Hayase before deciding to tease back, "Make sure to skim some romance novels too! It would be good study materials for your crush on you know who..."

Shocked, Obito stood wide-eyed with his mouth agape. "Uh... how... I mean... I don't... I don't know what you're talking about!"

As Hayase began to leave the room, he found himself saying, "Come on, it doesn't take a genius to figure it out. Don't wait too long... or you might miss your chance."

Leaving shocked Obito behind, Hayase was left wondering about Obito and Rin's relationship. He thought to himself, 'If Obito confesses before they graduate, what will happen? Will he be like Naruto and hold on to his crush despite the rejection? Would Rin's death still push him over the edge without the crush? Ugh...'

Thinking about the canon timeline and how his presence could change or might not change things always left Hayase with a headache. His first priority was his own survival. If his survival demanded screwing up the timeline, then he would do what had to do and, right now, he needed to get stronger in order to survive!

However, Hayase also knew that he might not have much influence over certain events depending on where he was placed during the war. Sure, if he's near Kannabi bridge in Iwa during the critical battle, then he could make a lot of ripples in the timeline since that is where Obito 'died' and Kakashi received the sharingan. Unfortunately, if he's in Kiri at that time, then there's little that he could do.

Because of that, Hayase preferred to focus on the present, and, at the moment, Obito could become a friend and ally despite his trouble-making tendencies. 'Besides, I've been wanting to see how my water bending compares against an elemental jutsu,' he thought excited at the idea, 'I should have the elemental advantage, but I shouldn't underestimate the strength of the Great Fireball jutsu. It is a C-ranked jutsu after all.'

***Later that Evening - Workout Sessions with Guy and Duy ***

"YOSH!" "YOUTH!" The Might-duo each shouted as they squatted while holding large rocks. Relentless, in their conditioning, they seemed to mutually inspire each other as they progressed.

Meanwhile, Hayase had gone the comparatively lighter route of calisthenics. Making use of only his body weight for the exercises today, he intermittently performed pull-ups on a tree branch and jump roped.

Although he was still sore from the dodging training, Hayase could feel his body begin to loosen up more as the workout progressed.

The dodging training had actually taught him some valuable lessons:

1. Abe-sensei was secretly a sadist

2. He had clearly neglected certain muscles needed for his mobility. If not, he wouldn't be feeling sore in weird places (other than where there are bruises). Some muscles just aren't used until you're hunched over and trying to roll sideways suddenly.

3. It was another reminder that his speed wasn't enough. Maybe it was time to consider ankle weights.

"Duy-san and Guy, could I ask you both a question?" Hayase asked the still-exercising duo.

"Sure go ahead Hayase! Feel free to squat with us too!" replied Duy.

Feeling the positive peer pressure, Hayase began squatting and asked, "Well, I'm supposed to be working on getting better at dodging, but I feel like I am too slow. Are there weights that I can start weighing all of the time to get used to being heavier?"

"Haha! A very youthful question young Hayase! But you've got to be careful, I had a similar idea when I was your age. I wore heavy weights all over my body for weeks, but it become too much. Start with a small amount of weight like Guy's old ankles weights and work up from there!" instructed Duy-san, while also revealing something that Hayase had never realized.

Hayase looked over at Guy and noticed the slight bulging under his leg warmers on his calves. 'Of course, Guy had weights on this whole time,' thought Hayase, 'How didn't I realize this sooner?' With that information, Hayase's admiration for Guy could only increase. Although Hayase won more of their clashes than he did early on, Guy was fighting at disadvantage this whole time!

"Thanks for the advice, Duy-san!" replied Hayase.

"I'll grab my starter ankle weights for you after we're done," commented Guy, "I can even lend you leg warmers to match mine!"

Chuckling, Hayase simply said, "Thanks Guy," and the three of them continued on with their workout for the evening.

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*** Next Day Notes ***

Reflections on Exercise and conditioning,

Class: History

- First Shinobi War: We were introduced to the next major part of the history class on the various military strategies tried by each of the villages: massive battles (favored by the big five villages), hit-and-run tactics (favored by smaller villages), espionage, sabotage, and economic warfare.

- Although most villages settled into a mix of hit-and-run for routine engagements and large-scale confrontations for key objectives, big villages like Konoha, Iwa, and Kumo were initially overconfident in their ability to overwhelm each other's militaries and favored large battles earlier on.

Class: Chakra Theory and Ninja Basics

- After briefly reviewing the basics of the chakra (spiritual energy + physical energy), Abe-sensei discussed how some shinobi (sensors) can sense the chakra that people emit from their bodies.

- When asked if there were any ways to hide from sensors, Abe-sensei mentioned that it's possible in theory if you prevented chakra from leaving your body and some shinobi such as the Second Tsuchikage Mu were known to be able to hide their chakra signature.

- Note to self: Can I use my water bending to sense people? It should hypothetically be possible...

Reflections on Practical Session

- No spars today, instead we focused entirely on shuriken and kunai technique and maintenance

- Side note: Proper maintenance of kunai and shuriken is the responsibility of genin during the war so we were told that we would get a lot of practice (sounds awful)

***End Notes***

With his hands cramping from sharpening dulled kunai, Hayase tried stretching out his fingers as he made his way over to stream where he had met with Kanae in their previous meeting. As he walked, Hayase tried his best to plan ahead.

'Alright... I completed all of the tasks that Kanae gave me, but I don't know what she has planned for me now,' thought Hayase.

*** Kanae Yamanaka POV***

Although Kanae had arrived early, she decided to wait out of Hayase's sight. She had long since learned the value of observing her targets without their knowledge. Patients and prisoners alike might tell you one story when you're with them, but behave entirely differently when they think they're alone.

This simple approach had saved her a great deal of time against inexperienced genin and chunin who are often overconfident in their ability to notice that they are being watched. Hayase, for his part, behaved much the same if perhaps somewhat more relaxed than their initial meeting, but Kanae still wanted to see how he dealt with the uncertainty of her late arrival.

Reflecting on their previous meeting, the old Yamanaka found herself thinking with a chuckle, 'I suppose I did make a rather bad first impression by beating his sensei. He should have been nervous.'

After a few minutes, Hayase began kicking around some rocks impatiently and looking around. Under his breath, she could hear the boy bitterly muttering, "Damn hag... Probably forget about me... Whatever I can just train on my own."

Unlike yesterday, Hayase took off his shoes and rolled up his pant legs before stepping into the stream. There, Kanae watched him begin his 'water bending.' With his fluid motions resembling the moves of dance at times, Hayase drew up far more water than he previously when Kanae had asked him to demonstrate.

Borrowing from the natural direction of the stream's flow, Hayase sent large columns of water forward into the air and back into the stream. To an observer like Kanae, it was almost like a large fish or dolphin suddenly jumped out of the stream and disappeared moments later. Unlike the smaller display that Kanae had seen, she could tell this one strained the boy more. His breath was already more ragged despite only performing the technique for a minute or so.

Just as Kanae was deciding to break the facade of her absence, Hayase suddenly shifted his stance! Dropping low into a horse stance, the little water bender scooped his hands below the water before suddenly bringing them up together along with a narrow, but thick, wall of water, just wide enough to protect his body.

Watching from afar, Kanae found herself wishing that she had such as versatile ability and muttered to herself, "He really can do just about whatever he wants with water, can't he?"

As she finally called off Hayase's unofficial observation, the Yamanaka mental evaluated his behavior, '(1) Got bored easily... as expected, (2) Responded by training... it seems to be means of comforting himself, (3) More relaxed... likely completed the assignments. Overall, he clearly tries to be guarded despite his emotional nature and he is far more trusting than I would have expected given his traumatic experiences and tension with the village... an unusual mix but not uncommon for orphans I suppose.'

***Hayase POV - Few Minutes Prior***

Water bending with a large body of water took him back to when he first started practicing. It was so much easier and he could do so much more with more water at his disposal. Inwardly, he made a mental note to come back to this stream and practice that water wall move again. When he forces Obito to make good on his promise to try out their jutsu against each, Hayase knew that he needed a defensive technique if he wants to withstand the offensive force of the Great Fireball jutsu head-on.

When he had practiced in the stream, Hayase took inspiration from earth bending to try and figure out the technique. The only problem was using it without much water around. At one point, reminded of the hand sign weaving practice, he thought to himself, 'I guess that's why I practicing the elemental nature change... so I can just create my own water.'

Suddenly though, Hayase was aware that he was no longer alone because he heard some rustling in the distance. Slowly shuffling her way over to the stream at an exaggeratedly slow pace, Kanae shouted out, "Sorry for being late boy, I tweaked my hip this morning... I can't chase after my grandchildren like I used to anymore."

Turning away from the wall of water that he had just created, Hayase saw Kanae hobbling over to the stream at a slow pace. "Oh, Kanae-san... I wasn't sure if you were going to show up," Hayase replied, as he left the stream and used his water bending to dry himself off.

"Don't worry Hayase-kun, I'll send somebody to the academy if I plan on canceling... I'm not so old as to forget," she commented with the phantom of a smirk before asking, "Well, how are you feeling? Did you complete the homework that I had for you?"

Without making eye contact, Hayase replied, "Yeah... But, you really didn't give me much time to do everything..."

Still in the process of shuffling over to the stream, Kanae commented, "Don't worry, the first steps always feel like they're coming too fast. Why don't you give me a quick summary of how things went? I'm sure I'll reach the stream any day now."

Lightly exhaling at the self-deprecation, Hayase explained his last 48 hours or so, "I asked some friends in my medical-nin elective to get dango with me. Besides a few awkward moments, it was good."

Pausing, Hayase's face took on a bitter expression before continuing, "Then, I trained with Abe-sensei on the water bullet jutsu hand signs like you asked... but he suggested I practice dodging while weaving the seals and, when I say 'practice dodging', I really mean get belted with dulled shuriken."

As he spoke, he rubbed his still-sore arms before reporting on the last assignment. "And here is my journal entry on trying to create ice..." he said as he handed over the same scroll that Kanae had used to write down the homework.

Tenderly, pulling the scroll from his hand, Kanae spoke as she read over his journal, "Heh... It certainly sounds like your sensei didn't let you take the easy way out, did he? Not a half-bad idea though... But, dango eh? Did you use the assignment as an excuse to go on a group date or something?"

Trying to shrug off the teasing tone of voice that Kanae adopted at the end, Hayase replied somewhat poutingly, "It's not like that. We're all just friends..."

"Ah to be young again..." the old Yamanaka remarked reminiscently, "Well Hayase, the next steps for these two assignments are pretty straightforward! Socially, I want you to keep putting yourself out there... these are your peers. They understand what you're going through. They'll be sent to the battlefield soon too and it likely weighs on them even if they're not showing it."

Sighing, Hayase thought back to his classmates' goofy behavior at the academy and wondered if they really felt the same pressure. 'I know that this war won't end any time soon, I likely need to graduate early, and I know how insignificant my power will be on the battlefield... do other students feel the same pressure?' thought Hayase.

Then, oddly Hayase found himself recalling the moment when Fugaku Uchiha took Itachi to the battlefield when he was very young to see the horrors of war. With that in mind, Hayase thought to himself, 'Children of shinobi are probably more aware of those things than I give them credit for. Many of them may have even lost family in the war already... I guess they might understand.'

"I'll keep working on being social, Kanae-san... As long as I can afford it," He replied, adding the last part as a potential excuse to lean on in the future.

Waving off the excuse before it could stick, Kanae replied, "There are plenty of free ways to be social... just watch clouds. I've heard the Nara love that."

"None of my friends are in the Nara clan..."

"Well, make friends with one... They're the cheapest kind of friends to have," she joked with a smile.

Seeing that Hayase wasn't having her sense of humor, the old woman got back to business, "Keep doing what you're doing with that sensei of yours... A little extra practice dodging might just save your life. How did you feel weaving the hand signs?"

"It got easier as time went on..." he answered shortly.

Watching Hayase's response, Kanae commented, "If Abe-kun asks, tell him that I said to continue the exercise for at least another week and that you are not to attempt the jutsu before checking with me. Re-attempting that jutsu itself is a big step. If you already feel ready to try, then tell me and we can arrange that..."

Flashes of phantom pain pulse through Hayase's chest. Suddenly though, he recalled feeling similar pains when he first began weaving the hand signs for the water bullet jutsu. Taking a breath, he wondered, 'Heh, I guess this just what the first step is always going to feel like... I'll be okay.'

Further motivating him was his earlier puzzle of figuring out how to counter jutsu like Great Fireball Jutsu without a large body of water. With the water bullet jutsu, he could directly create the water that he needs and get a powerful attack. Taking a breath, Hayase replies, "I'm not quite sure if my nature change is good enough yet... but I think I'm willing to try."

***Kanae POV***

In just two days, Hayase's attitude toward the water bullet jutsu already seems to have shifted so much! 'The shakiness of voice betrays his nervousness, but his willingness to verbally commit to trying is a good sign' though Kanae, 'He may think that he is ready, but it is better to take this process slowly.'

Smiling at the change in Hayase's attitude, Kanae replied, "That's good to hear... Perhaps, in another week or so, we can arrange for you to try the jutsu with Abe and me both present. That will give you time to perfect your hand sign weaving. Does that sound alright?"

***Hayase POV***

'A week... Yeah, I can do that, I can make sure that my chakra control is feeling fresh and everything is ready... I can handle that,' thought Hayase with some unease despite also being excited to finally learn a jutsu.

"Yeah, a week or so works for me," Hayase replied, clenching his fists as if he was worried his newfound resolve would slip away.

"Mmhmm, well shall we finally discuss your attempt at creating ice then?" she inquired before receiving a small nod, "It seems that experience is quite disconcerting for you... If I understood your description correctly, the cold feeling bears similarities to the weakness that you felt when you nearly died. Is that correct?"

Having omitted the details about his past life, Hayase replied, "Yes, that is correct..."

Pausing to think, the old Yamanaka eyes seemed to wander from the scroll and to stream before sparking with insight. Then, Kanae asked, "Hayase... would you be willing to try something for me? Your journal described your connection to the water being the conduit through which you felt the cold. Could you try freezing part of the stream while only briefly connecting to the water?"

Hearing the question, Hayase was taken aback. He hadn't thought about trying to use his water bending in that way. It always worked with him forming a stable resonance with the water and then manipulating it. This new idea... "I'm not sure... I've never tried doing it that way before," he finally answered.

"Just give it a try... This may be one means of slowly getting used to the ice side of your water bending, I'd like to at least see if it's possible," pressed Kanae.

Hayase's ice bending had been part of his abilities which had most escaped his grasp since he awakened his memories and water bending. If there is even a slight chance that this might help, he knew that he had to give it a shot.

Walking towards the stream, Hayase knelt down and placed his right hand in the water, just below the surface. Resonating the clear fresh water, Hayase's chakra quickly connected with water. Now, thinking of Kanae's request, Hayase prepared himself to lower the temperature of the water and then stop the resonance.

As he has done before but with greater rapidity, Hayase quickly lowered the temperature of the water nearby his hand. The cold almost immediately became noticeable through his chakra and his mind was clouded with memories. However, pushing past the discomfort and going against his instincts as a water bender, Hayase then forcefully stopped his chakra's resonance with the water.

Like the sudden snipping of a guitar string, Hayase could feel his entire chakra network flinch at the abrupt change as he fell to his ass. But... there it was... a small brick of ice floating down the stream.

Reflecting on his body's reaction, Hayase thought pensively, 'Kami... That was kind of disorienting... What was that feeling? It was like all of my chakras twitched or something.'

"How did it feel? It looked somewhat successful. No observable signs of panic," commented Kanae impatient to find out if her idea was successful.

"Um... My chakra network reacted a little weirdly to suddenly stopping the connection. I don't think this method could work for combat, but I can make ice without panic attacks using it at least," replied Hayase.

"Hmm... Any pain?" asked Kanae.

"With my chakra? No, it just kinda twitched or moved," Hayase replied, "It just sort of destabilizes whatever balance I had with my chakra right before."

"How odd?" muttered the old Yamanaka, scratching her weathered chin, "It shouldn't be anything too serious if there isn't any pain and your chakra is flowing normally now... I'd suggest giving this approach a chance to get used to creating ice. Try creating ice each night this way and keeping a record of how it goes until our next meeting. If you notice anything weird about your chakra lasting longer than a few seconds, go to the hospital! Understand?"

"Yes Kanae-san..." replied Hayase, reluctantly. Staring at the small block of ice that had now drifted far down the stream, Hayase could feel some excitement bubbling up inside of him as he took a moment to imagine recreating the ice bending abilities from his memories.

'Ice spears, daggers, freezing breath, shields... it would let me do so much,' Hayase thought to himself. However, the cold feeling still lurked in the back of his mind so he felt compelled to ask, "Will this training really me get comfortable with the feeling of the cold?"

"Progress happens one step at a time, Hayase-kun. Right now, you can barely bring yourself to create ice normally... my hope is that this training will help you slowly adjust to the feeling and help your mind realize that the cold doesn't pose a danger to you," she answered calmly with a smile, "In fact, it would be even better if we could help your subconscious realize that your ice bending will make you safer... but we can save that for another time."

With a clearer understanding of the training, Hayase nodded.

Bemused by his silent agreement, the old torturer asked, "Well then, is there anything else that you want to talk about today? Or would rather spend the rest of our time on the new method of training?"

Furrowing his brow at the idea of talking anymore, Hayase replied, "I'd rather just train... for today."

"Alright then. Before you get started, let me explain my plan for how these sessions will work in the future since we'll be meeting twice each week. On Friday sessions like today, we'll normally evaluate how you did that week and plan out the next week. And on Wednesday, we'll normally check on your progress for that week's goals and maybe something special if you're lucky. Understood?"

Already half standing in the stream and likely half-listening, Hayase replied, "Yeah... I get it... I get it."

***Kanae Yamanaka POV***

As Hayase finished out the rest of the session knee-deep in the stream intermittently creating ice, Kanae observed the boy's growing grit. With each attempt, Kanae could see him recovering slightly quicker or losing his balance somewhat less. Although he was clearly becoming mentally tired from the process, Hayase held a steady stance in all moments except the exact instant after he created the ice.

It was moments like these where Kanae wished she could see inside someone's mind whenever she wanted or at least see their chakra. When Hayase had described his chakra's reaction, she was mildly unsure how to respond. There were no records of shinobi connecting or resonating their chakra with elements in nature so this was uncharted territory... Although she said the technique was safe, Kanae secretly worried it could have unintended consequences.

Hayase had approached his ice bending like his normal water bending. Doing so left him wide open for the sensory experience that overwhelmed him. With the adjustment suggested by Kanae though, he managed to succeed with some success... However, the reaction of his chakra made her uneasy.

With those fears in mind as well as Hayase's surprising willingness to push himself, Kanae began developing a plan. 'He is progressing faster than I expected... or at least he is trying to... To keep any risks from this training low, perhaps next week would be a good time for a field trip,' thought Kanae with a sigh.

'I normally prefer to wait for something like that... But, it might just be the experience that he needs,' the old mind reader thought to herself as she watched the young water bender pause to take a break, 'A shinobi's mental growth is a winding path. No two look quite the same, but there are some that learn best by doing rather than talking.'

"How is your chakra network feeling, Hayase-kun?" Kanae inquired from the dry ground.

"Alright for now... I didn't notice it the first time, but this uses a lot more chakra than my normal water bending. Trying to keep my chakra from reacting helps, but it takes a lot out of me," huffed Hayase with his hands on his head.

"Hmm... Trying to keep your chakra network from being disrupted is probably a good idea. Don't overwork yourself when using this method," advised Kanae with her voice taking on a hint of worry.

***Hayase POV***

Meanwhile, Hayase felt the cumulative mental strain of controlling his chakra and mentally pushing past the memories begin weighing on him. Stopping his resonance with the ice may have kept his anxiety from escalating into panic, but he could feel his emotional state slowly fraying.

On top of that, the sheer focus required to reel his chakra back under control after suddenly breaking the resonance was difficult to maintain. Normally, when he stopped resonating with water, it was like a gradual release, gentle in nature. Even if he stopped controlling the movement of water and let it fall to the ground, he usually maintained that chakra resonance.

Reflecting on the training as he rested, Hayase thought to himself, 'Hmm... it's good that I've gotten better at molding my chakra with the nature change exercise. Otherwise, I'm not sure if I could handle this strain for very long...'

"Hah..." he grunted as he lay out on the grass and looked up at the sky. "Maybe those Nara have the right idea..." muttered Hayase as he watched a few velvety clouds make their way across the sky.

With the sky and clouds filling up his whole vision, the rest of the world felt so far away. His problems... the memories... the pain... just drifted away like clouds if only for a moment.

Stretching out his palm towards the sky, Hayase said, "Kanae-san... when did you feel ready to be a shinobi?"

Slowly sitting down nearby, Kanae replied, "Hah kid, I don't think you realize how old I am... I was just a few years older than you when Konoha was founded. Peace lets everyone think they're ready. I thought I was ready... until the First Great Shinobi War. None of us were ready for that... "

Both young and old stared up at the clouds. Each appeared lost in their thoughts as the breeze carried them away.

Minutes pass, as they remained unmoved and unphased by the passage of time. Only for Hayase to finally comment, "Isn't it probably time that I head back?"

"Yes... It probably is... Enjoy your time at the academy, Hayase-kun," Kanae replied with her eyes still stuck to the clouds as if the sky might fall should she look away.

"Mhm," replied Hayase with a polite nod, "See you in five days, Kanae-san."

And as Hayase turned to begin walking away, he heard a Kanae sternly shouting, "And don't forget about your assignments!" to which he only replied with a small wave of his hand without turning back.

***Medical-Nin Elective***

After arriving a little early for once, Hayase sat down at his desk and laid his down in an effort to alleviate what remained of his headache.

With his head down, Hayase listens to his classmates slowly entering the class. The senseless chatter of gossip and juvenile humor grated his strained mind. 'Ugh... I'm normally fine with ignoring this stuff.' thought Hayase as he rubbed his temples.

While Hayase was still adjusting, Obito, Rin, and Kurenai entered the classroom with their usual forceful personalities. Unlike unusual, Kurenai entered the room with a serious look on her face and her arms crossed.

"Bahaha! Kurenai, you should have seen your face!" laughed Obito.

"Obito! That's not funny! You can't just drop a spider on someone's shoulder," lectured Rin as she shook her head.

"What! It was the perfect opportunity! How was I supposed to know that she was terrified of spiders?" replied Obito.

Having heard enough, Rin could barely find the words to reply before stomping off to sit with Kurenai far from their usual spots, "Ugh! Baka!"

With both Kurenai and Rin clearly wanting their space, Obito took the hint and sat down next to Hayase. After watching the aftermath of the scene that Obito apparently caused, Hayase whispered, "How is it that you always seem to find some trouble where you go?"

"How come you always look like you're in pain?" Obito jabbed back.

"Ha funny... any luck with tips that I gave you yet?" replied Hayase with a mostly monotone voice.

"Not really... It feels weird reading like that. I don't know if it will work for me..." answered Obito, his voice full of uncertainty.

"Well give it a real shot at least, it takes getting used and it will eventually save you time."

"I guess..." replied Obito before getting noticeably more excited, "And when do you want to compare our jutsu? I'm free today if you are! I was supposed to hang out with Rin, but I don't think that will be happening."

Thinking back to the water wall technique that he used at the stream, Hayase was uneasy about going against a C-rank fire jutsu. However, Kanae's words resounded in his mind and he found himself thinking, 'None of them were ready for the war, I just need to try.'

"Alright, I know a stream that we can meet by after class that should work."

Before any more words could be said between the boys, Tagi-sensei entered the class and gave them a look that Hayase would have sworn was a threat. As such, both of them quickly ended any side chatter for the rest of the class and paid attention to the lecture on treating internal injuries and the removal of bone fragments.