Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ The Esoteric ❯ Lesson ( Chapter 8 )

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The Esoteric

 

VIII

 

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“That was quite the trick they pulled.”

 

“It makes me want to find out even more of Hidden Shade's character!”

 

Muffled voices filled Iruka's ears before his mind went alert. With some struggle he cracked his eyes open, and for a moment, saw a collage of blurred and fuzzy images before they slowly came into focus. He was currently lying on a very comfortable bed in a very wide room with scarcely any furniture. The windows were open and the curtains drawn; a rosy breeze blew in and the sunlight peeked into the room, casting it in a warm atmosphere. Near the center were Gai and Genma, who were situated on two lounge seats by a table, each holding their own set of cards. When Iruka shifted in his place, they both looked up. Gai was the first to stand up and greet Iruka with a cheerful and booming, “Good morning, sleepyhead!” Genma was much more refined and simply nodded his greeting.

 

Iruka lifted his arms and was astonished to discover how sore his body was. “What happened in that tower?” he asked curiously. He was dressed in simple garments—a loose black shirt and pants. He slowly stood from the bed and grimaced slightly. “I feel like I was just hammered down by an anvil.”

 

Gai and Genma exchanged glances. “In way you kind of were,” remarked Genma.

 

“These shinobi certainly have some strange techniques! We don't know what they did, but it was very, very, tricky indeed,” added in Gai with a semi-serious look on his face.

 

Iruka sighed wearily. “How long was I out?” he asked.

 

“Just the night. The shinobi who attacked you sort of disappeared once we regained our bearings and Shinya came back and led us here. Our room is right across the hall,” answered Genma as he shuffled the deck of cards and placed it back into his back pocket.

 

“Oi! I'm guessing that the shinobi who attacked you might be the one to train you, Iruka!” exclaimed Gai suddenly.

 

Iruka paled at the thought. “Oh, joy,” he muttered.

 

“Heh, he certainly is strong. That light he produced blinded us completely,” commented Genma dryly.

 

Gai nodded in agreement before raising his fist in the air. “It makes me very happy indeed that my rival is not here!” he declared joyfully.

 

“You really are afraid of Kakashi, aren't you?” murmured Genma.

 

“Eh? WHAT WAS THAT, GENMA?”

 

Before their dispute could go on any further, though, the door to Iruka's room opened and the three shinobi looked up to see Shinya smiling at all of them cheerfully.

 

“Iruka, here are your new training clothes. You're to meet up with Shuntaro-san in two hours at the back garden. Please be ready by then. I'll come by to pick you up,” he instructed as he tossed Iruka a bundle of folded clothes.

 

“Can we come along as well?”

 

Shinya eyed Genma carefully before slowly shaking his head. “Sorry, but we can't risk you being there; you might pick up on some of our techniques, especially since the sensei will be directly teaching them to Iruka. But we do have something else you two can do,” he replied with a small twinkle in his eye.

 

“Er…what?” asked Gai, somewhat suspicious.

 

Shinya smiled innocently. “Just be ready when I come by for Iruka and then you'll find out,” he said before leaving the room with a barely audible click of the door.

 

“That guy seems to like patronizing us,” remarked Genma.

 

“I'll teach him something about RESPECT for his ELDERS!” exclaimed Gai with a burning look in his eyes.

 

Iruka watched Gai amusedly and sighed when he thought about Shinya's words. The shinobi of Hidden Shade certainly don't waste any time. He then looked at the clothes in his hands and smiled slightly when he caught glimpse of the headband. A moment of doubt flickered into his mind on whether or not he would wear this headband or the one from Konoha, his home. Iruka shook his head and placed the Shade headband on the bed. It didn't seem right to just simply cast away his old headband for a new one; he felt like he would be betraying Konoha in some sense even though it would have probably been the proper thing to do.

 

“I wonder how long this training will be. These shinobi certainly like to keep everything under wraps—it's kind of annoying,” remarked Genma as he chewed on his needle. He looked outside the window and crossed his arms thoughtfully.

 

Iruka glanced at him. “Let's just have a little faith in them,” he said supportively.

 

Genma arched an eyebrow. “Hm, now you're talking to me like I'm a student at the Academy,” he replied calmly.

 

The Chuunin laughed embarrassingly. Gai smacked him on the back goodheartedly. “Oh ho! You've been speaking to the children so long that you even started talking to us in the same way!” he exclaimed, laughing.

 

Iruka did his best not to turn red.

 

“Well, well, this certainly is a nice place to stay.”

 

Iruka instantly jumped around in surprise. Gai and Genma remained relatively calm, though the former was fuming with rage at their sudden visitor.

 

“You! I had hoped you would remained at Konoha!” he exclaimed grievously.

 

Iruka watched slowly as Kakashi's visible eye crinkled upwards in a smile. “Now, now, I couldn't possibly let you have all the fun—though, you haven't done anything yet have you?” he replied, glancing at Iruka and Genma.

 

Genma was the one to respond as he smiled slightly. “No, we just arrived yesterday. Might I ask, however, how you came here so quickly?” he inquired.

 

Kakashi gave a low chuckle. “Pakkun,” he answered simply before looking at Gai, “You know, you really shouldn't use whatever shampoo you have. Even if I can't smell it, Pakkun said he could track you down if you were halfway around the world.”

 

Gai looked utterly insulted. “WHAT? Are you implying that my shampoo stinks? I'll have you know it was taken from the farthest regions of the planet, incorporating extremely rare resources to ensure that my hair will be forever glossy and dandruff-free!” he boasted.

 

“At what price, though?” replied Kakashi smartly.

 

When the famed Green Beast looked ready to explode, Iruka finally cut in and placed a hand on Gai's shoulder bracingly. “Please try not to get into any conflicts. This isn't what we're here for,” he cajoled.

 

Gai crossed his arms stubbornly but Kakashi looked at Iruka curiously. “So when does this training of yours begin?” he asked.

 

Iruka frowned slightly. “Um…” he began before being interrupted by a sudden clash.

 

The doors of his room flew open and in swarmed in a group of Shade shinobi, circling Kakashi warily. The latter remained situated in his spot calmly as regarded his opponents with something akin to amusement. He then glanced over one of the shinobi's shoulder and eyed Iruka.

 

“Rather protective aren't they?”

 

“Only to ensure the safety of our home,” cut in Shinya as he entered the room, a cross look on his face. “It's you.”

 

A brief flash of recognition crossed Kakashi's eyes before he tilted his head to the side. “Hm, I should have known I would see you again,” he replied lightly.

 

Shinya narrowed his eyes, still recalling his previous capture several weeks ago. “You do know you're trespassing,” he stated firmly.

 

Kakashi placed an innocent look on his face. “Oh? Am I?” he wondered aloud curiously.

 

Iruka threw a warning look at the Jounin. Kakashi shrugged offhandedly and took out a rolled up piece of paper from his front pocket and presented it to Shinya.

 

“I'll be joining these three as the last party,” he said solemnly.

 

Shinya scanned the pass and handed it back to him, signaling for the other shinobi to lower the weapons. “I pray Tsunade won't be sending any more shinobi—she is taking our gesture for an alliance far too greatly,” he replied.

 

Kakashi smiled. “Oh, I doubt there are other coming. We do have a lot of work to do ourselves back home without this demon to add in,” he said.

 

Shinya stared at Kakashi impassively and Iruka marveled at the change in the shinobi's behavior. He had been almost amiable before with himself and the others, yet it seemed Kakashi had managed to provoke him into being very stubborn and tense. Iruka shook his head and started when Gai poked him in the ribs.

 

“I must say I rather do like the fact that Kakashi is giving that young shinobi a taste of his own medicine. Heh, that Copy Nin is good for something after all,” he muttered amusedly.

 

Iruka remained apprehensive. “But we should be trying to befriend Shade, not annoy them,” he pointed out desperately.

 

Genma glanced at the Chuunin from the side. “Then I suggest you preach those same words to them as well,” he remarked calmly.

 

Iruka's eyebrows knitted close together in obvious frustration. “Listen! We're all here for one reason, right? To stop this demon from terrorizing any more people. We have to work together in order to achieve this so that means putting aside our differences. Who cares about our personality clashes or verbal debates? All of this is minute compared to the real danger looming ahead. If we don't learn to cooperate with one another, we're all dead,” he vocalized fervently, much to the surprise of everyone in the room.

 

Ensuing silence filled the room and Iruka took that moment to gauge everyone's reactions. He smiled to himself in satisfaction and breathed in relief when everyone looked at each other in mutual understanding. It seemed the arguments had come to a draw.

 

“You're much more sensitive to other people than your mother was. Interesting.”

 

Immediately the Shade shinobi all bowed respectively at the newcomer. Iruka realized with faint recoil that it was the man they had encountered in the tower—he could not very well forget that voice so easily. He appeared much less formidable in person but the sharpness of his eyes made it very difficult to look at him for long. Iruka felt like his every thought could be read under that piercing gaze.

 

“Shuntaro-san. I thought you wanted to begin the training later in the afternoon,” greeted Shinya respectfully.

 

The older man eyed him carefully. “I did. Then I heard the ruckus being made here. It is of no consequence anyway. Do you wish to start now, Umino?” he replied before looking at Iruka directly.

 

The Chuunin blinked and merely nodded numbly, his voice deciding to stop functioning. Shuntaro was a tall man, though still slightly shorter than Gai, with black streaks running through otherwise white hair and narrow eyes. He looked no older than forty and Iruka wondered briefly how well he had known his mother. What did he mean by his words before? The dark-haired man tried in vain to look at him in the eye but failed miserably as those blue irises seemed to rake across his very soul, judging everything he had ever done in his life.

 

“Hmm…very well. Get ready. I will waiting in the back gardens,” instructed Shuntaro as he turned and left the room.

 

It was as if all life had returned afterwards and everyone breathed a sigh of relief, even Shinya. Iruka looked at him questionably.

 

“It is always so tense around him?” he asked.

 

Shinya managed a tight smile. “Oh, yes. He's one of the best this village has to offer. He seldom trains anyone, however. You truly are fortunate that you get to learn from a master,” he replied, speaking reverently of the man. “He also served on the Council several years ago before retiring quietly even though he isn't that old. We still call on him when we need serious advice, though. He could be considered, in a way, like your Hokage-sama. But Shade has no real, literal leader—only elected representatives.”

 

“A democracy,” murmured Genma.

 

Shinya eyed him. “Yes,” he said. Then he rounded up the shinobi and instructed them to return to their posts. Finally, he looked at Iruka and bowed respectfully. “Do your best. Shuntaro-san is known to be very harsh as I'm sure you gathered from your first meeting.”

 

Iruka briefly had a vision of the force that had swept him under in the tower and grimaced. “All too well I'm afraid,” he muttered.

 

Shinya smiled and left the room, leaving it to the four original shinobi. Iruka went to change into his new clothes as the others began their own exchange.

 

“That Shuntaro…he definitely has some power in him,” remarked Genma.

 

“You best watch yourself, Iruka,” advised Gai, surprisingly serious about this issue.

 

Iruka raised an eyebrow as he adjusted his shirt. “Like I didn't know that from the beginning,” he replied somewhat bitterly.

 

The truth of the situation was just about to hit him hard. Up until that point he still felt as if he was living a dream—that somehow he would wake up and find himself in his room back at Konoha. This was far from being a dream, though. Iruka steadied himself. Time to face your inner demons, Iruka. You'll have to do that first before going off to fight a real one. The Chuunin guarded his expression carefully.

 

“Then I'll see you all later. Remember, you have to meet up with Shinya,” he said.

 

Genma nodded, waving his hand carelessly. “Yeah, yeah, we know. Just go,” he replied.

 

Iruka gave a quick smile and vanished from the room with a large puff of smoke.

 

“So…who wants to make a bet in how long Iruka will be able to stand this training? I say three hours,” suggested Genma.

 

“Five! I believe in Iruka!” exclaimed Gai.

 

“Six,” chimed in Kakashi.

 

Genma arched an eyebrow. “Let's make it so that the winner can do whatever he wants with the losers, eh? Anything except torture, sexual relations, and mental degradation of course, but I don't think any of us is that sadistic,” he said, casting a significant glance in Kakashi's direction.

 

The Jounin smiled slowly under his mask. Iruka, you better hold out long enough for me to win.

 

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“Your offense is weak. How did you ever manage to survive your missions?”

 

Iruka panted deeply and did all he could from collapsing to the ground. As expected Shuntaro was not an easygoing person. They had been training for nearly six hours now and throughout that time Iruka had to bear with both physical assertion and harsh scolding from his new teacher. Everything that he had learned back at Konoha simply didn't faze this man at all. And all they were doing was sparring. According to Shuntaro, he wanted to get a basic handle of Iruka's strengths before going into anything deeper. It was absolutely horrifying, though, the drastic difference in power between himself and Shuntaro.

 

After launching a final assault with everything he had left remaining, Iruka simply fell back onto the ground, breathing hard in dismay. Shuntaro stood several meters away, watching him carefully.

 

“You need to work on your footing. Your reflexes are in dire need of tuning as well. To react is one thing—to react with control is an entirely different manner. That is what you need to learn,” came the man's deep voice.

 

Shuntaro's condescending words were another thing that Iruka had grown accustomed to in their short time together. It seemed like nothing he did pleased the older man and Iruka had given up trying to impress him even faintly after the first two hours. He sat up tiredly and stared at the older man, whose black-streaked hair swayed gently in the breeze. Shuntaro had the most outstanding features Iruka had seen out of all the Shade shinobi. His streaked hair was one factor and so were his gleaming azure eyes. All the other shinobi from Shade seemed to pale in comparison to him. Originally Iruka thought that Shuntaro would be a strict teacher, yet somehow at the same time welcoming. He found himself greatly mistaken with the last part, though. From the moment they first started training, Shuntaro bore the same look in his eyes as he gazed at Iruka—one filled with emptiness and nonchalance. It made Iruka wonder if he had done anything to offend the man.

 

“Did your mother teach you anything?”

 

“Um…”

 

The question caught Iruka off guard and he found himself staring at Shuntaro dumbly. The older man simply stared back at him evenly. Iruka finally snapped out of his reverie. “Uh, yes! We often trained in the dark. She taught me how to detect moving objects using our other senses,” he answered nervously.

 

Shuntaro nodded faintly. “Did she ever teach you any techniques?” he questioned.

 

“No,” answered Iruka, wondering where this would lead to.

 

Shuntaro raised his hands. “Then we can start with something simple. Watch carefully,” he ordered firmly.

 

Iruka blinked once but kept his attention on Shuntaro's hands as they formed quick seals. When he finished, no words were uttered but the entire area around them was engulfed in black immediately. The bright afternoon sun disappeared and Iruka found himself standing in a cold and desolate darkness.

 

“Come and try to attack me,” directed Shuntaro from somewhere before him.

 

Iruka closed his eyes and focused on gathering his nerves. Going off to fight recklessly was not something he was about to attempt. Calmness and patience was what he needed most, and Iruka stood meditating to himself in order to achieve this. After several moments, the dark-haired man took deep breaths before launching himself forward, mentally projecting an image of Shuntaro. He threw one long punch towards the man's face and felt the air shift as he dodged. Iruka then quickly reacted by sweeping low, catching Shuntaro off guard. He heard the other man twist around uncomfortably to maintain his stance and Iruka took this chance to try another punch. This one connected hard with the other man, but Iruka could tell he had had blocked it by the dull sound it produced. He frowned to himself. This was his first time fighting against someone who could move in the dark as easily as him since his mother.

 

And just as suddenly the blackness had developed it dissipated with a blink of an eye. Iruka found himself standing in the middle of the grass field, staring at the setting sun in the distance. Shuntaro was standing behind him, a critical expression on his face.

 

“It seems you are better fighting in the dark than in the light,” he commented.

 

Iruka turned around embarrassingly. “Um, yes, well… My mother trained me very severely when I was younger. I was first exposed to fighting in the dark,” he replied.

 

Shuntaro's eyes narrowed, making Iruka want to look away. “Did you learn the jutsu?” he inquired lightly.

 

“I think I got most of it,” answered Iruka with some surprise.

 

“Try it,” commanded Shuntaro, crossing his arms.

 

Iruka nodded and started going back in his mind to recall the images of the seal formation. He then called upon his remaining chakra and instinctively began forming the seals. After the last one, Iruka surprised both Shuntaro and himself with the sudden darkness that blanketed them. The coldness was unbearable this time round, though. Iruka shivered involuntarily from the cold and sucked in his breath painfully.

 

“Too strong,” came a muted voice before the blackness faded away. Iruka stood gazing at Shuntaro, who bored the same impassive expression, not affected at all by the jutsu. “You used too much chakra. Though the jutsu was effective, you found it hard to deal with the cold, right?”

 

Iruka nodded to this.

 

“You'll need to adjust the amount of chakra usage in this particular jutsu. Some users can bear the cold so they will use a greater amount of chakra—but maintaining the darkness also uses up their energy so most of the time they will only hold up for several minutes. If you want to keep it for a longer period of time it's best to use as little chakra as possible,” explained Shuntaro.

 

There was a momentary pause as Shuntaro shifted to look at Iruka directly. “You still have much to learn. Do you think you can do it?” he asked suddenly.

 

Iruka's answer was almost immediate. “It's not a matter of thinking I can do it. I have to do it. And nothing will stop me,” he said passionately. He had far too much to lose if he didn't. And Iruka was not ready to lose even more of those that he held close to his heart.

 

Shuntaro's gaze became softer. “Unexpected determination—a good quality I suppose,” he murmured lightly. He then turned his back on Iruka. “Today's training is finished. We will resume tomorrow at the same time.”

 

With that he vanished and Iruka smiled in his wake. It seemed there was more to Shuntaro than he first gave him credit for. He was fortunate in having him as his teacher now. Iruka rotated his shoulders, cringing at the soreness. He had just about hit his limitations. Shuntaro was utterly relentless. If he was to endure this sort of training every day he would no doubt burn out before the end of the week. Iruka gave a resigned sigh and summoned enough chakra to teleport back to his room. All he wanted now was a hot bath and sleep.

 

“Aha. It's over six hours. I win.”

 

Blinking, Iruka looked around to see Kakashi, Genma, and Gai sprawled across the room in various sitting positions. They appeared to have finished eating their dinners. But that didn't explain the triumphant look on Kakashi's face as Gai and Genma both sighed wearily. Iruka walked over to them curiously.

 

“Did I miss something here?” he inquired mildly.

 

All they offered him were several more heavy sighs. Kakashi patted him on the back heartily. “Ah, that was a good training session, no? It's good you held out so long! These two were worried,” he remarked brightly.

 

Iruka arched an eyebrow. “I'm fine,” he said, baffled by Kakashi's words.

 

Gai shot him a dejected look. “But we're not,” he said, shooting a wary glance at the Jounin beside Iruka.

 

Kakashi only gave a short laugh. “Oh? You really shouldn't worry so much, Gai!” he teased.

 

Iruka only shook his head and walked out of the room, focused on getting his much-deserved bath.

 

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TBC