Chapter 19

'Ok… step by step, Eiji,' I thought to myself, as I took one last deep breath in and slowly let it out.

'Step one, focus,' and so, I pulled on my year and a half of Mediation to block out everything that I didn't need. It was me, my equipment and my target.

'Step two, find your chakra,' It was almost habit anyway, to do so after I started meditating. Regardless, I gave it my all. The warm feeling that moved inside and made my hairs stand on end by just being aware of it filled me.

'Step two, hand seals, Snake,' My hands came together, my right hand's index and middle finger pointing up while the other three curved against the palm. My left hand's wrapping around the first two.

The chakra inside me grew more… electrical in nature, hotter and almost painful.

'Horse,' The index fingers pointed upwards in a sort of triangle while the others interlocked underneath them, the thumbs curling against the base of the forefingers.

The energy moved through my arms, making it difficult not to tremble as I felt my limbs strain due to it.

'Rabbit,' my left hand formed a typical gun gesture towards the right with my index while the thumb pointed up. My right hand resting on top of it with all fingers curving against the palm, except the pinky which ran over the front of my left thumb.

My hands grew numb when the chakra settled on them. It felt like they became bombs all of a sudden, a slight mishap on my handling and they would blow up. It probably wouldn't have been that bad, but that's how I felt like.

'Boar,' Both hands pointed downwards with the fingers half-curled towards the palms. One next to the other.

The energy circled on my palms, tendrils of it straying towards my fingers.

'Step three, take the shuriken,' My hands moved to the small pouches on my sides and each took one shuriken.

'Step four, push the chakra onto them,' The shallowest of touches got my energy moving towards the throwing weapons. The sound of sparkling electricity reached my ears and my eyes caught flashes of light coming from my hands.

'Step five, throw them,' And throw them I did.

Once the spiraling metal blades left my fingers, I allowed myself to relax and watch. A proud smile etched onto my face as I looked at my first ever actual jutsu.

Lightning Release: Sparkling Shuriken. It was very simple, really. It imbued actual shuriken with 'Lightning'. It was an E-Rank technique, not even reaching the Basic Clone or the Transformation jutsu's level, which was D. Although, being fair, that was the whole reason we were allowed to try this before the other's in Ninjutsu class.

Weak jutsu or not, seeing the shuriken hit the log target we were using was extremely satisfying. Even more so when sparks flew between the projectile and the wood, instantly leaving burnt marks around the hitting zone.

[New Skill Acquired: Lightning Release: Sparkling Shuriken Lvl 1]

[New Skill Acquired: Lightning Manipulation – Lvl 1]

"Good job, Eiji," I nodded at the teacher's words. "please, go back to the others so the next student can try," By the time he finished, I was already moving towards the group a wide grin seemed permanently stuck to my face.

'If this ain't awesome, I don't know what is,' I thought, knowingly exaggerating. But I just felt that good.

[Lightning Release: Sparkling Shuriken – Lvl 1

E-rank technique with which the user launches a weak lightning-infused shuriken at their target.

Hand Seals – 4

Consumption – 10 Chakra Points per shuriken.]

[Lightning Manipulation – Lvl 1

Increases control of lightning according to level.

Lightning jutsu use 1% less chakra.

Lightning jutsu are 1% more effective.

The user is 1% more resistant to lightning.]

'Ten Chakra Points, huh?' I thought to myself as I sat down and called my Status screen. Then, I paused. 'Wait… what?'

[Chakra Points: 242/260]

'Shouldn't it be 240? Chakra doesn't regenerate that quickly,' I thought, restraining a frown.

It couldn't have been Lightning Affinity, as that only decreased chakra usage by 1%. On that note, it was weird that the skill hadn't been created when I tested for my affinity, but I would take it.

It was also sad that it would probably remain level 1 until we graduated at the very least. Even if we were already using elemental jutsus of our respective affinities, we wouldn't be training elemental manipulation for a while still. It seemed that there was a reason for Naruto not learning it until after the timeskip. Even if it made little sense to wait that long, it still was a very advanced step.

Regardless, Lightning Affinity was the only skill or perk that affected my chakra usage… unless.

[Chakra control: C-]

'Wasn't chakra control supposed to reduce the amount of chakra wasted on techniques? ... Yeah, that makes sense… I guess I finally found out what Chakra Control does, huh?' I mused distractedly. It was good to know. Now I just needed to test it and see what the exact numbers were.

"Yachi-sensei, can I have another go?" I asked as the last student stepped aside. There was a moment of silence as the class registered my words. A second later, everyone raised their hands to demand the same.

I simply grinned unrepentantly as the teacher send an annoyed glare my way.

[}-o-{]

"Brother, look at this!"

"Naruto, you've said the same thing like three times, just do it," I replied with an indulging smile despite what my words relayed.

It had been a few weeks since I had used my first jutsu ever, and the blond had been dying to try and demonstrate his own improvements. His patience (Ha! As if…) had finally paid off, and there we were, sitting at the table with a piece of chakra paper in between us. The text written on it might as well have been on a completely different language, for all that I knew.

I really couldn't wait to gain that last level of Calligraphy to start studying Fuinjutsu.

Sadly, I was still sitting at level 19.

And so, slowly, carefully, almost reverently, Naruto set a shuriken over the paper. Then, taking a deep breath in, he put his fingers on the edges of the circle of writing. A second later, a puff of smoke covers the sheet. As it clears, it becomes evident that the shuriken isn't there anymore.

"Awesome, right?" Naruto asks, reminding me of a small child presenting their parents one of their drawings. Difference is that I contrary to most of those, I don't have to lie.

"It really is," I nodded, making the blond boy positively beam. "You'll be carrying your school things and equipment in scrolls in no time at all."

"Believe it."

[}-o-{]

[Yin Release: Basic Mirage – Lvl 1

E-rank technique with which the user creates a small illusion for their target to see.

Hand Seals – 5

Consumption – 5 Chakra Points per illusion.]

I read casually as I waited for my turn to be on the receiving end of a Genjutsu. I had had enough time in classes to know that Genjutsu wasn't nearly as useless as it seemed to be at first. It was still a very support oriented skillset but it was a very good one. I would have to make sure I didn't forget that I could use them, never know when they could come in handy.

"So, you aren't pissed off anymore?" I asked Sasuke, who was still wearing as scowl. His expression was, more often than not, not a good indicator of his mood, after all. The guy had gotten really angry when he failed his first try at dispersing my illusion.

"Yeah, let's do it," He said, annoyance still recognizable in his voice but on alright levels.

"Ok," I nodded before taking a deep breath in as Sasuke went through the hand seals.

A blink later, a shuriken was flying my way from behind the Uchiha. My eye twitched as I saw him still going through hand seals. 'He is still angry, huh?'

My hands all but slammed together, as focused my mind on my chakra network and made it go still for a split second. A piece of it standing out from the fact that it hadn't stopped. As the flow of my energy restarted, I pushed my chakra over the foreign piece. The shuriken disappeared midflight.

Another one came from my side and I repeated the process, ignoring the screen that had appeared in front of me.

"That wasn't very nice, Sasuke," I complained half-heartedly. It wasn't like the illusions would do anything. Some more advanced ones would inflict pain, but we weren't there yet. The Uchiha had the decency to look away while he scratched the back of his head. I amused myself for a moment thinking that Naruto was infecting all of us with that habit.

"Sorry," He muttered after a moment.

"Don't worry, I know you were frustrated," I waved away as I turned towards the screen in front of me.

[New Skill Acquired: Yin Release: Genjutsu Dissipation – Lvl 1]

'Nice,' I thought with an inner grin. 'This is what I came for. Now, I just have to convince Sasuke to grind… err, train Genjutsu with me.' It wouldn't be much of a challenge, since the Avenger was much more training focused than even I was. No matter what anyone else said.

[Yin Release: Genjutsu Dissipation – Lvl 1

D-rank technique with which the user disrupts their own chakra flow to free themselves or others from Genjutsu.

Hand Seals – 1

Consumption – 10 Chakra Points per use.]

[}-o-{]

"Naruto, urgent mission," I said with a completely straight face and serious voice. Said boy sat straight where he had been chatting with Chouji and Ino.

"Yes?" He asked, eyes wide and expression surprised.

"Hug Hinata," After my words everything stood still for a few seconds before a chorus of 'Huh?' was heard. I groaned and pulled the boy up before pushing him towards the Hyuga heiress. "Just do it, damnit," I grumbled. When we reached her though, he did. Good for him, I would have kicked his ass if he didn't. "I'll go and prepare some tea, anyone want some?"

Ino and Shino hesitantly raised their hands as I walked past them towards the kitchen.

As I started brewing the drinks, I took a few breaths in as a lump on my throat receded. Turning my head slightly, I saw Hinata holding Naruto for dear life. Understandable, considering what we had gone through.

The Medical Training class of that day was… something. The teacher had taken us to the village's shinobi hospital to see some of the patients there. It wasn't a pretty sight. Some of them were alright, just what one would expect like broken bones, slash/pierce wounds… Some others though…

There were victims of poisons, venoms, acids, fire, lightning. There was one guy that had cuts all over his body, apparently having gotten trapped in between one of the nastiest ninja wire traps ever. The thing had dug into his body all over. There was a woman that had lost most of her arm to acid, leaving little more than the bones and scar tissue to cover them now.

All throughout the visit, Shimizu-sensei clinically explained all the cases we saw. More than one student threw up through the visit… actually, everyone except me did and I had almost done so several times. The teacher said that it was alright to do so, that there was no shame in it really. She also explained that we needed to see this kind of things or we would freeze if we ever found a comrade with such wounds.

Afterwards, she gave each of us a talk that was, surprisingly, very good at getting the moods up… Or as up as they could go after that.

Hinata though, the kind soul she is, took it very very badly. Hence, why I had rushed us back home and thrown Naruto at her. He was very good at cheering people, and I counted on him. Not to mention that he was Naruto and she was Hinata. After another glance their way, I saw he was already working his magic, under the concerned gazes of our group. The two of them were already trading whispers, which was much more than I had gotten out of the heiress.

'Kami bless your Talk no Jutsu, Naruto,' I thought to myself as I felt my shoulders relax a bit more.

"Rough day?" Shikamaru asked, leaning against the wall.

"You could say that…" I said, my voice denoting how emotionally drained I was.

"Need anything?"

"No, thanks," A weak smile graced my face as I gave him a grateful nod. "Just some tea, maybe a shogi match and then tend to my garden. That'll help me calm down. I'll also go visit the dogs tomorrow. That should do it… I'm more worried about Hinata, honestly."

"She'll be alright," He reassured as we both looked towards the still whispering duo. "Once she gets a bit better, Ino'll join, probably Chouji too afterwards."

I gave him another nod as we both waited for the tea to be ready. The silence though, didn't last long.

"My father told me that he was happy I had such a good group of friends," He admitted out of nowhere, making me turn to him and give him my full attention. "He sounded like he really meant it. I didn't quite understand why though. It wasn't like I didn't have friends before. I had Chouji and Ino… I understand now," He nodded, although it looked like it was more to himself than to me. "One never has enough friends… And the more one has the more people are there to hold you up."

"Most people don't put enough value on friends," I mused. "They don't really get how important they are. But when you don't have them…" Blurred flashes of myself on a hospital bed waiting for someone to visit appeared in my mind. They were soon replaced by a much more vivid memory of the Void. "you realize how useless everything else is."

By that point, I was already serving the tea.

"I'll hold you up, Eiji."

I continued walking towards the others with the tray in my hands.

"And I you, Shika."

[}-o-{]

"You look a bit down, Eiji," I turned from where I was playing with the dogs at the vet. Hana was looking at me with a concerned expression. Which made sense, really, since at this point I was usually already being dragged by the younger ninken into playing one game or another.

This time though, they seemed to have sensed my mood and were just gathered into a lazy pile around me. Or on me, in some cases. I gave them my silent thanks in the shape of pats, boops and treats that I had brought with me.

"Had a… bad day yesterday," I explained, looking down at Yuki, who had her head resting on my lap while I pet her. "We went to the shinobi hospital with the rest of the Medical Training class," She flinched at that. I had guessed she would know, since she was basically a mednin for dogs, she probably had taken the course too.

"Yeah, I get it," She nodded, a grimace on her face. "It's never easy, the first time you go there and truly know what goes on in there and out of the walls."

A puppy chose that moment to demand attention, effectively breaking the heavy moment with a wild tongue to my face.

I couldn't stop myself from chuckling weakly as I started petting it.

Yeah, everything was alright.

[}-o-{]

"Maybe we could train together?" I had to give it to Sakura, she had adapted. Considering that I knew she disliked training even more than Ino did, it was a wonder that she had said that. Although, maybe it was more about how strong her obsessi- I mean, how strong her love for Sasuke was.

"Yeah! You could come and train with the rest of us!" I let a fond smile appear on my face as I heard Naruto. The guy had gotten over his crush a long time ago. I theorized that it was more out of desire for affection than actual feelings for the pink-haired girl. Once he got some actual friendships he had stopped pestering her. But it seemed that he still cared on some level.

"Nobody was talking to you, Naruto!" My eyes narrowed as I witnessed my brother being punched in the head non too gently. Now, that was completely uncalled for. "Now, about that training, Sasuke…" A bubble of anger started surfacing and I could almost feel Bloodlust activating-

"Go away," I paused and blinked at the Uchiha's words. "I don't like you," The whole classroom had gone silent then. Sasuke always rejected his fangirls, that was no surprise. No, the shock came from the fact that he always just ignored them instead of outright telling them to leave him alone.

"Wha-But-"

"Naruto is my friend," My back straightened, something that was mirrored by the rest of the group. We exchanged some surprised looks between us as grins started growing. Even Shino's lips quirked up. "You punched him," The statement was delivered calmly and with a neutral tone.

"I-Well I-I'm sorry-"

"Go away," Sasuke repeated, the smallest of frowns appearing on his face. And go away she did. Looking utterly heartbroken, but I couldn't honestly bring myself to care. "What?" He asked as he turned to look at Naruto and noticed the blonde's positively gobsmacked expression.

"You- You said I was your friend," Naruto explained, still wide-eyed. The Uchiha, for his part, blinked in confusion, as if he hadn't even realized he said that. There was a long silence between the two, and everyone else for that matter, before Sasuke simply grunted and turned back to the frond of the class.

I clapped, gaining all the attention myself. A grin threatening to split my face in two.

"Tonight we eat onigiri filled with okaka and tomatoes, guys. My treat," I announced and looked around to see everyone sharing similar smiles as mine, Chouji even send a thumbs up my way. That was the Uchiha's favorite food, after all.

From where I was, I could see Sasuke's lips curve up the smallest bit.

[}-o-{]

'Didn't I promise myself that I wouldn't do this again?' I thought to myself, my every muscle burning as if they were on fire. With a groan, I pushed myself off the ground, sweat dripping down my nose.

"You are most youthful, Eiji-kun, just like last time," The accursed monster from hell said with that thrice be damned grin of his. One day, one day I would kick his teeth in.

"Thank you, Guy-sensei," That day was not today though.

'How did I get dragged into training with these two again?' I whined internally. I had come across them while Free Running… again, and I had been hundred percent sure I would reject them… So, how?!

[Dexterity has gone up a level.]

'Don't give me reasons to do this hellish training, game!'

[}-o-{]

"That was a lot more unpleasant than I thought it would be," I muttered to myself as I sat next to a very pale Hinata. My eyes, meanwhile, went over my new skill.

[First Aid – Lvl 1

Improves the user's ability to treat wounds according to skill level.

Increased efficiency while treating wounds by 5%.]

I should have been much happier at that. Instead, I took a deep breath in and tried to stop my hands from trembling. I could almost see the fake blood still covering them even after washing them.

I had spent the last few minutes doing a practice exercise with the life-like puppet. And when they said life-like, they meant it. If someone had told me that it was an actual person there on the table, I would have freaking believed it. Everything looked so goddamn real. I actually had some doubts about it being a puppet, but for the sake of my sanity, I pushed those aside. Maybe the teacher put Genjutsu on me to make it more real? Yeah, let's go with that.

"Maybe you can still change courses," I offered the clearly fearful Hyuga. She wouldn't get to practice for a few classes still. I had been allowed a little early due to me being the one that had stomached everything Shimizu-sensei threw at us the best.

"No," I'll admit that I was very surprised by how certain she sounded. "I-I… I won't give up. T-This could s-save someone I care about one day," She nodded, as if to affirm those words to herself.

"I'm glad you are in our group, Hinata," I said, smiling fondly at her.

"I am too," She replied, returning the gesture, if a bit shakily. "I probably… wouldn't be in this course otherwise."

"You are lot braver than you give yourself credit for," I shook my head, my grin widening. I would know, I had notes that said as much in my inventory and hazy memories that verified that.

"T-Thanks," I chuckled as I saw pink fill her previously pale cheeks. She was still Hinata, even if she was a bit more confident.

[}-o-{]

I kept a groan to myself as I stretched in my seat at the front desk of the Yamanaka shop. I was feeling a bit lazy that day, quite honestly. 'Maybe I'll just call it a day and skip on the Free Running after work,' I mused to myself with my eyes half closed.

I was broken from my thoughts by Ino who walked towards the desk and pulled a chair next to me before sitting there. I turned towards her as I rested my cheek on my hand, leaning against the desk. She looked like she had something to say, but was clearly having second thoughts about it.

I watched her squirm and fidget for a bit before breaking the silence.

"So?" I said a lazy smirk forming on my lips that would have made Shikamaru and Shikaku proud.

"Right," She sighed, obviously realizing that I knew she had something to say. As if she had been subtle or something. "Well… you see…" Her shoulders slumped as she sighed. "Sakura approached me after classes," I blinked at that. I had expected her to drag her feet about the whole thing.

"And that's… bad?" I asked dubious.

"Not… really," She answered, not sounding sure. "I just… she wanted to join our group."

"I see," I said simply, not showing what I thought of that idea. I probably didn't need to. Ino wasn't stupid.

"I told her no," The Yamanaka added, showing that I had been right. "I just… Then she said that she wanted to be friends again, that she didn't need to join the group. She said we should start hanging out again," She was talking quickly, as if afraid that she would lose her nerve and not speak at all.

"And what did you reply?"

"I… I told her I would think about it," Her voice came out almost a whisper, her shoulders pulled up and her head looked down.

"You want to accept," I guessed and she gave me the slightest of nods. "But you are afraid that she just wants to get close to the group through you, to-"

"To get close to Sasuke," She confirmed, her voice cracking.

"She might actually want to be your friend, though," I said, even though I didn't believe so. It could be the case though.

"Yeah… I don't think so," She denied dejectedly.

"But you wish she did, which is why you didn't tell her off," I guessed again and her nod confirmed it, again. "Whatever you do, you have our support, or mine, at least," I reassured softly. "If you decided to hang out with her and she eventually joins the group only to mess it up, nobody will blame you."

"That's… a relief, really," She replied with a small smile as she relaxed her form a bit. "But… I'm more worried about her leaving again… it already hurts… I don't want it to hurt more."

"That… I can't help with," I admitted, my smile turning sad. "I'll only say that we'll be here regardless."

"Thanks," She nodded, her smile growing just a little bit more. It was enough for me. "I can kind of see it now."

"What?" I asked curious at her change of attitude.

"Nothing," She shook her head quickly, her grin widening. "I'll go back to work."

"Err, sure-"

"See you later, brother," And like that, she was gone.

I sat there blinking owlishly for a long moment.

Then I turned back to the front of the shop with a soft smile.