“In the end, Samurai Masushi and Samurai Yusuke shared one final embrace as they stabbed each other through the heart with their katana. The interpersonal drama seemed to mostly be the author's imaginings. Still, there was also a good explanation of how the use of gunpowder encouraged chemical research to develop past the alchemy associated with that age.”
Gera sat with her mouth agape as Pakin recounted the events of The War of Sand and Sulfur, one of the books Mrs.Hihi had given him.
Pakin giggled as he savored her reaction, before a slightly suspicious look crossed Gera’s features.
“And you’re sure she isn’t giving you these books on purpose? Cause if she is, then I’m definitely going to tell your parents.”
Pakin waved away her assumptions, “Nah, the serious history books and the more sultry ones have super similar titles. Plus, Mrs.Hihi’s memory isn’t the best these days. Half the time I’m over there, I’m not even reading, I’m just doing chores she’s forgotten about.”
“That’s sweet of you. But isn’t that bad? What happens when you’re not there?”
Pakin flushed at the compliment and rubbed the back of his head. “It’s really not that big of a deal. She’s really nice to me and doesn’t mind if I ask a ton of questions.” The embarrassment disappeared quickly as he thought about Mrs.Hihi. “I’ve been keeping Dr.Kucha aware of her situation. A few weeks ago, he decided to call her daughter and asked her to come home.”
That same assessing look Gera had been giving him on and off all night reappeared. Pakin wondered why she was scrutinizing him so thoroughly. However, he quickly dismissed the curiosity as a reaction to his change in demeanor since they’d left the house. He’d completely turned off old Pakin’s mannerisms and had fallen back into his more adult-like way of speaking.
“Okay, now it’s my turn to ask you a question.” He was excited for this one. It’d been tugging at his attention ever since he calmed down. The realization that he was in the world of Naruto hadn’t just left him with anxiety and fear. He’d also discovered a bit of whimsy as well.
“What’s it like to use Chakra?” He asked, anticipation dripping from every word.
A smug grin sprouted from the edges of Gera’s lips, like she’d been waiting for him to ask that question all night.
“It’s crazy. Like nothing I’ve felt before or after becoming a shinobi.” Pakin felt the usual strange effect take hold as Gera said the word. Although old Pakin didn’t recognize it, his newer memories quickly supplied the meaning. Weird that it doesn’t change even if I know the meaning.
“It’s like chugging five coffees in a row, or eating way too much sugar. Only, there’s no jittery or gross feeling. It’s just energy, pure energy.” Gera spoke as if she could feel the sensation as she described it. “Especially when I’m using a really powerful jutsu- ah, that’s like, the name for the fireballs and special attacks shinobi use in all the stories.”
Pakin nodded along like he understood, but he hadn’t heard one story about ninjas his whole time in the village. Maybe if I did, I would’ve put the pieces together sooner.
Gera looked down at her hand as she closed it into a fist. At the same time, Pakin felt chills spread across his whole body and saw the little twigs and leaves still left on the branch jiggle away from his retired babysitter. His eyes grew to the size of saucer pans as he realized what she was doing.
“Wanna see it for yourself?” She asked like it was the most innocuous question in the world.
Pakin shook his head so hard he saw stars for a second afterwards, which made Gera chuckle.
“Come on, it’ll be easier to see out of the shade.”
The two of them walked away from the shrine and bench, stopping a few meters away to stand in the snow-covered field.
Gera winked and said, “Don’t blink,” as she started to form a series of complicated hand signs with both hands that Pakin only vaguely recognized. She completed each sign in a fraction of a second, ending on a position with her middle and pinky fingers touching, her ring and index fingers curled down, and her thumb tucked underneath the rest. As she made the final hand sign she sucked in a breath of air so powerful that it pulled at Pakin’s clothes and hair, and disturbed the snow around them.
She released the breath as a huge, roaring wind tunnel across the meadow and opposite the direction of the shrine. It was so powerful that Pakin had to brace himself with his back leg to stay standing. The area in front of Gera was stripped bare as snow, dead grass, and chunks of topsoil were ripped from the ground and rocketed through the air.
Pakin couldn’t believe his eyes as he scanned the ditch Gera had gouged out from the middle of the field. He jerked his attention from Gera and back to the ditch several times, unable to believe what his eyes told him. The woman who’d wrought the destruction before him simply took a big breath and turned to face him with a self-confident smirk.
She spread her arms out and asked him, “So? What did ya think?”
“That was the coolest shit I’ve ever seen in my whole life.”
Gera’s smirk turned into a full smile with teeth. She reached over and aggressively tousled his hair, despite his protests. After a few good shakes, she removed her hand and looked down at him.
“How would you like to learn how to do that?”
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It took a moment to process what she’d said, but when Pakin did, he thought she must’ve been joking with him. “Don’t joke about that. You’ll get my hopes up.”
“I’m not kidding, Pakin.” She reached down and absently brushed off some dirt and grass that had splattered onto her coat. “I’ve been hearing a lot about you for the last year. The mayor sends me letters every once in a while to keep me up to date on what happens back home while I’m in Kumo. He told me about how your Chakra wasting was cured, and that was mostly it for a while. About five months ago, though, he started mentioning you again, raving about how you were a model youth for the community. He talked about you constantly helping out around town, doing chores no one else wanted to do. He was also very impressed with how you sought out every possible book and expert in the village. He said there wasn’t a topic you weren’t interested in learning about.”
“A new lease on life does wonders for your creativity.” He supplied.
Pakin had been helping out a bit around the village. His chat with Hika about half a year ago had really framed how he spent his days in a different light. He realized he’d been wasting a gift. He’d been so focused on the day-to-day that he’d ended up ignoring the gift that was reincarnation.
He helped because it seemed like a nice way to give back to the people who seemed so genuinely happy to see him whole and healthy. It also eased the guilt of taking over his new body. So, if he made someone else’s life easier by cleaning a few stables, dusting town archives, or chopping wood a few times a week, he was happy to do it.
He read and asked for help understanding stuff because he was trying to learn all the things he’d never had time or energy for back in his old life. Plus, there was a weirdly large number of retired scientists and experts in Fuwayama. He had a secret theory that the town was the intelligentsia’s retirement destination in the Land of Lightning, but hadn’t been able to confirm it.
“I guess that kinda fits what I’ve been doing lately, but I didn’t think it was that impressive.” He shook his head to focus his thoughts. “But that doesn’t explain why you’d ask me to learn Chakra.”
“I’m not finished.” She took a few steps closer to Pakin. “Your dad sent me a letter a few weeks ago asking if I’d be coming back to Fuwayama any time soon. He told me how you were doing and how you seemed to be outgrowing our tiny hometown—just like I was before I left.”
Pakin was still having difficulty understanding the point she was trying to make.
“Your questions at the dinner table and our conversation out here tonight. They showed me just how similar you are to my younger self. A mind with too many thoughts, in a body too small to hold them.”
Pakin’s heart started beating faster in his chest.
“The reason I had dinner with your family tonight was to talk about you. We discussed your sudden change in health last year and what your future might look like now that it wasn’t clouded by disease. I asked them permission to give you the same choice a passing shinobi gave me several years ago.”
Gera had stepped up even closer to Pakin now, enough that he had to tilt his head up to look at her. Backlit by the starry sky, she seemed to take on an almost ethereal quality.
“Pakin, would you like to come with me to Kumogakure and train to be a shinobi?”
It was like the answer to all his problems had manifested before him. How would he survive if the events of the main plot came to his home? What would he do if some other massive conflict broke out near him? How could he make sure his new life, all the people he’d grown to care for, wouldn’t be ripped away from him again?
I just have to get strong enough.
Just as he was about to answer her, Gera held out a hand to stop his response.
“Before you answer, I want to tell you a few things and then let you sleep on it for the night. If you want to do this, you have to really listen and understand what I’m about to say.” It was like a mask had slid over her face, and a severe intensity like Pakin had never felt exuded from her every word.
He nodded his assent, and she lowered her hand from in front of his face. “First, this won’t be like going to the capital for an apprenticeship or to get a specialist degree, you’re going to Kumogakure to become a highly trained soldier. Second, if you agree, I will put you through training that will likely be the most exhausting and painful thing you’ve ever experienced. Third, If at any point in your training I think you can’t handle it I’m shipping your ass right back to Fuwayama. Finally, if you do become a shinobi, there might come a day when you hate me for having given you this choice.”
Pakin just stood there and tried to absorb her words as best as he could.
The intensity faded from Gera’s aura, and she hooked her arm around his shoulders and started leading him back towards his house.
About halfway to his house, Pakin had been busy digesting everything Gera had said. Her speech had brought the childness of his initial thought into stark relief, and the reality of his situation settled on his shoulders once again. Even if he accepted her offer, would he be able to get strong enough to even make a difference should someone as powerful as Orochimaru or, god-forbid, Pain? Hell, that’s if he even survived past puberty as a ninja. It made him wonder what the mortality rating of a ninja looked like.
Hesitation almost stopped him from speaking, but morbid curiosity won against fear.
He asked Gera, “Hey, can I ask you something else ninja related?”
“Hmm? Sure, shoot kiddo.”
“How many ninja from Kumogakure died during the Great War?”
“I’m not sure. It all happened before we were born, and it was pretty bad, so folks in Kumo tend to avoid the topic.” She cupped her chin with her hand, “However, if I’m remembering my history correctly, it was somewhere around five to six thousand.”
“How many were around our age?” Most ninjas were trained from childhood in the anime. Still, it was hard to know how that affected the demographics of an entire population. Not to mention, a young ninja could be exempt from war for all he knew. Who just throws kids into a meat grinder like that?
“About 50 percent. As the war dragged on, villages sent more and more of their younger ninja to fill the ranks.” There was no hesitation in her answer.
“Oh. Okay.” That was insane! The kind of human rights violation incited revolution and international intervention in his old world! If he joined Kumogakure, would they just chuck him into a war zone right after he graduated from the academy? The thought was sobering.
After another few minutes in silence, the pair had reached Pakin’s house. Surprisingly, the lights were still on despite the hour.
Gera pulled her arm from Pakin’s shoulders and turned to face him.
“Alright, bud, be sure to think hard about what I said. I’m staying at the mayor’s tonight, but I’ll come by before noon tomorrow to get your answer.” She ruffled his hair once last time and wished him a good night. She turned around and her shape seemed to flicker before she disappeared in an instant.
Pakin thought about whether he should stay and gawk at her casual display of ninjutsu, but decided it was too cold. So, he simply walked inside and got ready for bed.
