21 Chapter 21

I woke up to see my mother sitting by the fire and roasting some meat.

I made my way over and joined her.

"So, how are we getting Satow back to Konoha without him dying of dehydration?"

I assumed we'd wake him and make him eat, but this was the Naruto-verse so who knew?

Maybe his chakra will let him last until we get to Konoha?

"I'll give him some water now and then."

Okeydokey.

"Sounds good."

Now all I had to do was hope we didn't run into any ninja that I'd have to fight.

…

We were back on Nagi's main island approaching the area we first arrived at and I was enjoying my trip thus far.

I was using my tongue to play with my loose front tooth.

It was the first of many as children didn't stop losing them until around 12.

Which sucked.

I was thinking about how goofy I'd look with half my baby teeth and half my adult teeth when my mother interrupted my thoughts.

"There's some Kiri-nin at the port."

That's great and all, but I wanted nothing to do with them.

"There are too many people at the port, I'd rather not have a public fight."

Mom nodded.

"Do you want to wait and see if they leave the port?"

No, I don't.

"No thanks."

Mom raised an eyebrow but nodded.

"Alright, it looks like we're running to the land of noodles then."

That sucks.

…

It was around midnight when we arrived at the shore of The Land Of Noodles.

I was well and truly tired, and my mom looked a little annoyed.

"Are we stopping here or are we continuing further in-land?"

It didn't matter but I hoped to sleep on a bed.

"We're going along the shore."Great…

…

We traveled for a little longer before we came across a small town near the edge of the water.

It was nothing marvelous, they looked to be simple peasants.

I still want a bed to sleep on regardless of how crappy it was.

"So, what's the plan?"

Are we going to wake them and ask for a place to sleep?

"We'll use Genjutsu and steal a bed for a few hours of sleep."

A little amoral, but I liked the idea.

"Sounds good!"

It seems my mother is also a bit apathetic towards other people.

…

My mother woke me up before the sun had risen.

We silently moved the middle-aged couple back onto their bed.

Mom picked up Satow and made her way to the entrance.

I followed after her.

I took a wad of cash out of my kunai pouch separated a few bills and left them on the table as I passed.

…

We made our way to Konoha over the next three days.

Our trip was eight days long.

As I walked through the gates, I decided that I'd never voluntarily do a mission that was longer than four days.

My mom had vanished the moment we got through the gate, saying that she couldn't walk around with a body on her shoulder.

I Shunshined home eager for a shower.

…

Shower done with, I looked at the clock on the wall.

I had eight hours of daylight left.

I sighed and made three clones, then sent them off to the third training ground to complete the Rasengan, either together or separately I cared not.

I walked to the kitchen, I decided that I'd make something for my mom and me.

…

My clones dispersed returning very little chakra but signaling the completion of the Rasengan.

I held my hand out, palm up, and started using the Rasengan.

I formed a thin sphere of chakra, then spun my chakra in multiple directions, finally, I slowly increased the volume and density of the chakra I was outputting.

I looked at the small Rasengan in my palm.

It worked fine, but it took too long to form it currently.

Though that didn't matter as my speed in forming the technique would come with familiarity and practice.

I increased my chakra output and increased the size of my Rasengan.

I now had a basketball-sized Rasengan swirling on my palm…

And nowhere to put it…

…

I shouldn't have done this inside…

And while I was cooking none the less…

I took the food off the burner and made my way outside, basketball-sized Rasengan on my palm.

…

I stood in our backyard looking at our nice flowers and grass and decided that it wasn't a good idea to use it here…

I Shunshined to the third training ground…

…

I arrived at the training ground slightly annoyed.

I smashed my Rasengan into the first tree I saw and let it go.

I jumped back and watched my Rasengan drill through a tree before dispersing and leaving a spiral-shaped mark on a second tree.

Crash*

The first tree fell the ground.

And with the death of the tree I felt less annoyed than when I first got here…

I ran a hand through my hair while admiring the damage.

I liked the Rasengan.

I planned to claim the creation of it to spite Minato.

But it was what won Naruto almost all of his future battles so I definitely shouldn't do it.

I had to choose between our savior not having his signature jutsu and being petty and taking away one of Minato's future achievements…

It wasn't a hard decision.

I tucked a stray piece of hair behind my ear and Shunshined home.

…

My mom arrived a few minutes after I had finished the food and joined me for lunch.

I had just finished my meal and mom wasn't far behind.

I figured it was the ideal time for a talk.

Only this time it wasn't about me.

"How's your chakra control?"

My mother raised an eyebrow.

"I've created a new technique that requires excellent chakra control, I want to know if you can learn it."

I technically didn't make the technique but I wanted it established that I had the technique well before Minato had made it.

I didn't want to be accused of stealing from the fourth Hokage after all.

And my mother had no unique non-Hyuga techniques.

I get an alibi and my mom increases her survivability.

Win-Win

Mom took a few seconds to finish chewing before responding.

"My chakra control is really good, but nowhere near as good as yours."

That was the ideal answer.

"Good, I'm going to teach you a new technique I've just created…"

I looked at the clock on the wall.

"…tomorrow."

I sent her a nod and put my dishes in the sink and I left towards my room.

…

I woke up feeling excited about what would come, I was happy that I got to teach my mom something.

I did my morning routine and walked into the dining room.

Mom was occupying her usual spot and sipping tea.

"Don't go anywhere I'll be back in a little while."

I exited the house and Shunshined to the market district.

I had to get some balloons and rubber balls.

…

My mom and I were at the third training ground.

I had filled almost all the balloons with water and I was ready to go.

My mom didn't look too interested in what was happening, but that would probably change with a demonstration.

"Activate your Byakugan and watch."

I created a Palm-Sized Rasengan but decided that it wasn't impressive enough.

I held my hand above my head and dumped an eighth of my reserves into the Rasengan.

My Palm-Sized Rasengan became a Giant Rasengan.

I was nervous, but I tried to keep my face passive.

"Back-up, this is a big one."

I heard some movement and decided that it was time to get rid of this disaster waiting to happen.

I grabbed the Rasengan with both hands and threw it towards the trees.

I watched it drill through four trees before it burst and left a spiral marking on some trees and ground.

I looked over to my mom and enjoyed the look of shock on her face.

"I just finished this yesterday so It isn't combat-ready."

It was still too slow.

"You can do that faster?"

I hope so.

"Yea, it's just chakra control, the more familiarity you have, the faster you can do it."

At least that was the theory.

Now the question was, do I "create" the Chidori as well?

That was a thought for later perhaps…

"Is this based on the clans Eight Trigrams: Revolving Heaven?"

Nope.

"Yep."

I like it when people jump to conclusions and save me the trouble of lying…

"What's the technique's name?"

I don't have one...

"Heaven's palm?"

Good enough...

"Ok, grab a water balloon, you have to spin your chakra in multiple directions at once when you've popped the balloon come see me."

Oh, yea…

"Whatever way your body naturally spins its chakra is the way you start."

With that done, I left towards the edge of the training ground.

I made two clones and sent them off to practice lightning release.

…

Something had almost slipped my mind…

I sat down and took a deep breath.

I activated my Gravity Seal bringing it up to level three.

Again, sitting was a good choice.

…

We were well into the day and it was about time for Gai to get out of school.

That means my training for the day is done.

I dispersed the clones practicing Lightning Release.

There was little improvement.

I looked over to my mother, there were some pieces of rubber on the ground but she was still using the water balloons.

I walked closer to her.

"How's it going?"

She seemed annoyed.

"I'm almost there, I'm just having trouble maintaining the rotation."

Sadly, the first two steps were the easiest, the last step is the hardest.

"The next step is increasing the volume and density of your chakra, you must burst the rubber ball to complete this step."

I pointed vaguely in the direction of the box of balloons and balls.

"What you've done is good enough to move onto the rubber balls."

The second step was by far the easiest, so it shouldn't take too long.

I got a nod in reply and my mother made her way over to the box.

"Have fun."

Alrighty, time to see Gai.

I'll grab some food as well…

I Shunshined to my favorite teriyaki stall.

…

I was seated in the tree in front of the academy.

I was pondering the wonders of friendship maintenance and waiting for the bell to ring.

To keep a friendship when your no-longer in the same place every-day required maintenance, in my case with Gai, I came by and brought him food and asked him how he was doing.

If I didn't do this Gai would forget about me and move on with his life, probably only thinking about me years later.

It was something I learned when I left high school in my past life, those I failed to check-in on moved on and we became distant.

Those that I did keep in contact with became life-long friends.

I say life-long friends because I died at 20.

I chuckled.

They were indeed life-long friends.

…

Eventually Gai exited the academy with a river of other students.

I had planned on joining him when he was away from the academy but he had other plans it seems…

"Shiro!"

Gai was staring directly at me.

I gave a little wave.

I dropped down from the tree and made my way over to Gai.

"Hello Gai!"

People were staring.

Which was exactly what I wanted to avoid.

"I brought teriyaki."

I waved the food around for emphasis.

"How Youthful Shiro!"

I nodded.

"Want to climb to the top of the Hokage monument?"

I created a shadow clone already anticipating his answer.

"A most Youthful idea Shiro!"

Gai raced off towards the monument, I handed the food to the shadow clone and joined him.

…

We were seated on the top of the Hokage monument and enjoying our now cold teriyaki.

"Gai?"

Gai didn't stop eating but I saw that his eyes were on me, so I continued.

"Want to learn Lightning Release from me?"

Gai hesitated for a moment.

"No thanks, I've got my hands full with my Youthful training!"

Meaning he didn't have enough time to pursue Taijutsu and Lightning Release.

"How about the Shunshin, it's not too much trouble to learn."

It was an easy to learn technique, though it would perhaps take Gai longer with his poor chakra control.

Gai just shook his head.

"No thanks."

Alrighty.

"No worries."

All I could do was try, I couldn't force Gai to learn something if he didn't want to.

Gai was dedicated to Taijutsu.

If he didn't want to learn any techniques that was fine, there was other stuff we could do together.

"Wanna spar?"

Gai looked excited.

"A most Youthful idea Shiro!"

Gai jumped up and took a stance, completely forgetting about his food.

"Finish your food first."

Gai picked his food up and finished it in a second flat.

"Yosh! Let's go!"

Alright…

I jumped up and took my stance.

I think I'll start using the academy three in our spars, hopefully, it'll help Gai improve.

…

I got home and took my customary shower and got ready for bed.

I decided I'd have a quick look around and see how my mother was doing.

I went from room to room looking for her but she was nowhere to be seen.

I sighed and created a clone that I sent to the third training ground.

I shook my head and went to lay down.

…

"How goes it?"

My mom was still hard at work practicing with the rubber ball.

"Not well."

She had made remarkable progress, I'd say it was going extremely well.

"No rush, it's a hard technique to master."

She had gotten the first two steps down faster then I had.

"Why don't you come back to it tomorrow, it's getting late."

My mom looked at the sky.

"Sorry, I got distracted."

That you did.

"Have you eaten yet?"

She shook her head.

"Let's go see if we can get some street meat."

Street meat was code for a prostitute.

My mother eyed me.

And I fought to keep my face neutral.

"Yes, let's go get some shioyaki."

I nodded in reply.

"Sounds good."

I followed my mom as she Shunshined away.

…