The wind pounded his face as the scenery blurred, and Pakin felt the breakfast in his gut jump dangerously.

  He spent one torturous minute struggling to hold down his meal before Gera slowed to a stop. She gently placed him on his feet, and Pakin rested his hands on his knees and tried to swallow down his nausea.

  “It’ll pass quicker if you stand up straight.”

  Pakin followed Gera’s advice, feeling the food in his stomach settle after a couple of seconds. “What was that all about?” He asked, wondering why his lifelong physician had seemed so irate.

  “Dr.Kucha has some very specific thoughts about shinobi. I’m guessing he wasn’t particularly happy that I was stealing one of his lifelong patients away to become one.” She reached over and smoothed some of the wildness out of his hair. “Sorry about the sudden departure, but I didn’t want to get held up by him screaming at me for a few hours.”

  “Why did we have to leave so quick anyway? Is Kumo really that far away?”

  “No and yes. I’ll explain as we jog. Your training starts now, by the way, so try to keep up.” Gera started down the road, and Pakin followed after her. She set a slow pace, more of a march than a jog, but she always stayed ahead of Pakin by a couple of strides.

  “It took me less than a week to get home from Kumo, but I’m pretty quick. Normally, if you really pushed it, it’s about a two-week journey for most folks. Now, the Kumogakure Academy school year starts two weeks into January, which would put us there with a little less than four weeks to spare since today’s the fifth. However, I’m going to stretch that out. I need more time to whip you into shape before we get there. So, instead we’ll be taking four weeks to get there.”

  “Okay, what’s that going to look like?” Pakin asked.

  “Save your breath, it’s about seven hours to the next town, and we’ll only be stopping once to eat. Let me do the talking, I promise you’ll regret asking questions before we get there.”

  Seven hours?! That’s insane! I don’t think the total number of hours I ran from Hika this year is even close to that. Pakin suddenly became very aware of the extra weight strapped to his back.

  “Now, what that’ll look like is about a day or two of travel between each town and five days in town. In town, you’ll start your mornings with a routine I’ll create for you, but I expect you to change it as needed to keep up with our training. Around noon, I’ll join you for lunch and we’ll start training for the day, followed by lectures on various topics. The evenings will be dedicated to your personal study, while I go out to handle some missions I picked up before I left the village. A girl’s gotta eat after all.” She turned and winked at him, “The missions aren’t anything special, so I should be able to finish them quickly. I might use that extra time to train and relax, or if I feel you need special guidance on a subject, then I can dedicate that time to you. I’d really like that time for myself, so please do your best not to disappoint me.”

  An ominous lilt to her voice made it hard for Pakin to tell if she was kidding.

  “From this point forward, you will refer to me as Gera sensei. If I ask you a question or tell you to do something, I expect you to reply with either ‘yes Gera sensei’ or ‘no Gera sensei’. In return, I’m now responsible for you and your well-being. So, come to me if you’re confused, or frustrated, or feel like you’ve hurt yourself or are in danger of doing so. Accidents happen and I’m not infallible, so don’t be afraid to tell me when something is wrong.” She slowed down until she was next to Pakin. “Is that clear, Pakin?”

  “Yes, Gera Sensei!”

  “Didn’t I just say don’t waste your breath? First ninja lesson, never assume anything is as straightforward as it seems. Now shut up and match my form.”

  Pakin kept the consternation from his face and tried to swing his arms like she showed him.

  Pakin sat with his back against a tree. Gera had provided him with a canteen and some jerky, one in each hand. He took a big swig from the canteen before letting his arm fall and rest beside him. He closed his eyes and tried to slow his laboured breathing.

  “Don’t forget to eat.” Gera reminded him, squatting so she was at eye level with him.

  He tilted his head slightly to regard his new teacher and couldn’t believe she was so fresh. It looked like she hadn’t lost a single bead of sweat during their march, while he had probably lost about a bucket’s worth. She waved her hand in a ‘go on’ movement, and he brought the jerky in his hand up to his mouth and mechanically chewed on it.

  “We’ll be sure to get you supplied for the rest of the trip once we reach town. We’ll be going over mission prep in your lectures, so you should know what to get by the time we’re ready to move on.”

  This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

  Pakin just chewed his jerky and nodded.

  He was surprised to find that after a few minutes of rest, he’d recovered enough to keep going. A persistent throbbing hadn’t left his legs since he’d sat down, but it was more manageable now.

  “You look about ready.” Gera stood from her squat and offered him a hand up. He gladly took it and groaned as his feet made their displeasure known.

  Gera led him through a round of stretches that were slightly different, but largely the same, as the ones she’d forced him to do before he sat down. “Stretching will become as fundamental as breathing by the time I’m finished with you. It’ll keep you from getting injured from weird movements or strenuous action. Plus, I find it to be rather meditative.”

  Pakin mainly found it painful.

  “Let’s get going.” She didn’t waste any time and took off at a jog. The pace was definitely faster than her previous march, and Pakin could feel his muscles warming up. He noted that even with the increased speed, he fell into step much more easily this time. He was by no means an expert marathoner, but his body seemed to slide right back into the form he’d spent the last four hours trying to maintain.

  It didn’t make it any less painful, but Pakin was glad to feel at least a little progress during his first day of training.

  The two ran in silence for a while longer, and after what he thought was the first hour, Pakin became increasingly bored by the monotonous scenery. This had the unexpected consequence of making him focus on his breathing and the pain in each of his muscles. He noticed how each breath pulled the cool winter air into his lungs, and how his lungs warmed it before he released it back out into the world. His legs hurt, but it wasn’t all-consuming, and he could discern some parts of his legs that hurt more than others. He figured those must be the ones he used the least in his everyday life. Overall, it was a very centering experience, and Pakin thought he might learn to enjoy running.

  Pakin hated running.

  Around the two and a half hour mark, the zen he had achieved was replaced by burning agony. His lungs screamed, and his legs felt like they might fall off. He cursed Gera’s name every second he could and tried desperately not to let himself think about the pain he was experiencing.

  Somewhere around the three-hour mark, he’d gotten a second wind. That lasted all of several minutes before the pain returned threefold, and he wanted more than anything to give up. However, every time he faltered, Gera would shout at him to correct his form or to manage his breathing. Each correction staved off collapse, but also made him that much more upset at the woman responsible for his circumstances. Then he grew frustrated with himself.

  Look at you! Not even one day in and you’re ready to give up. How Pathetic. It probably wasn’t the most healthy mindset, but it was the mindset that kept him going.

  By hour four, he was delirious. His breath came out in ragged gasps, and his form had crumbled to dust. His vision had started to tunnel, but blessed release came before he passed out. He wasn’t sure when, but Gera eventually called for him to stop. He immediately fell to his knees and vomited all over the road.

  Once he’d emptied his stomach, Gera picked him up by the scruff of his shirt and made him walk the rest of the way to the inn. He didn’t even bother hiding his discomfort and whimpered the whole way there.

  Gera led him past a few shops and eventually into the establishment they’d be staying at. She gripped his backpack to keep him from falling over, and Pakin let her, too focused on trying not to throw up again. She got them a room on the ground floor, Pakin thanked god for that, and guided him into their lodgings.

  “Sit down and I’ll help you stretch.”

  “Yes, Gera Sensei.” He wheezed before shuffling into the middle of the room and plopping onto the hard wooden floor. She chuffed and joined him on the ground.

  She worked his body through a number of stretches, and he did his best to follow along. Satisfied, she told him where to find the bath and pulled him to his feet by his backpack straps. She flipped him around and pushed him out the door.

  “Don’t fall asleep and don’t come back dirty.” That was all she said before closing the door behind him. He just stood there for a moment, until his brain caught up with reality and ordered his tired legs to shuffle in the direction Gera had told him.

  The bath was communal, but looked to be blessedly empty for now. So, he stripped off his clothes, pulled his only pair of pajamas out of his backpack, and set them in a basket on one of the many shelves lining the changing room that preceded the actual bathing area. Pakin donned one of the waist towels provided and grabbed what seemed to be a set of complimentary toiletries inside a little tray. He picked it up and walked through the glass doors that separated the bath from the changing area.

  He was in a sort of fugue state the whole time, but he managed to wash himself at one of the shower stations along the wall. He didn’t dare get in the bath; he knew if he sat down in that warm water, he might never get up. So instead, he toweled off, got changed, and trudged back to Gera’s and his room. Or at least he tried to.

  He wandered the hall he’d come from like a specter, never knowing his final destination. He couldn’t remember the room number, and his brain cells lacked the energy to assemble any sort of solution.

  Eventually, his brain short-circuited, and he stood completely still in the middle of the hall. Luckily for Pakin, Gera came out of their room a few seconds later and retrieved her comatose student.

  “What is wrong with you? How long were you standing out there?” She sat him down at a table that apparently existed in their room. Pakin wasn’t sure if it had been there when they first entered.

  “Dunno, couldn't remember the name.” He replied.

  Gera sighed, “You mean number. Look, food. Eat slowly, and then you can go to bed.”

  Pakin glanced down in front of him, and a bowl of soup and a glass of water seemed to have materialized while he wasn’t paying attention. He decided that eating sounded like something he should do, so he slurped it up one shaky spoonful at a time.

  He eventually finished the soup, and Gera led him to bed. She gently tucked him in, and before Pakin fell into a deep dreamless sleep, he could’ve sworn he heard say “Good job.”