CHAPTER 18

* Not only earth release techniques themselves much more practical for ninja and stealthy assassinations, but the training of this element itself is much easier. No one will notice a small patch of soil in the room, and a child playing with dirt in the backyard won't raise too much suspicion. With water, though, it's much more complicated, and I'll need to figure out the best way to proceed. – Yuske had long thought of asking for a basin of water, disguising it as child's play, but what he really wanted was to covertly learn how to walk on water in his room without drawing attention. Now he had another reason to stop doubting the sensibility of such a request.

Though he had another plan, but even if he could put it into action, he would still need a small reservoir of water in his room, for much of the training would have to be done without others being aware of it.

Outdoors or anywhere else exposed to prying eyes, practicing control is an absolute taboo if you don't want to get into trouble. Forget about outsiders, even to his family Yuske couldn't show his interest in advanced chakra control techniques or him trying to learn ninjutsu - too many unnecessary questions would arise.

Chakra control is something that not even all genins indulge in, so a child under the academic years knowing the training method itself looks very suspicious and would clearly attract unwanted attention.

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The evening of the same day, the Yoshida family house.

- Hana-san, can I get that big blue basin from the stockroom?

- What, why do you need it Yuske-kun, household stuff is not a toy.

- Please, I want to make some boats and make them float, but there is no water nearby, except for the water channel, but you don't allow me to go there. I promise not to get anything wet.

- Honey, maybe you'd like something else, something more suitable to play with. Do you want to go to the toy store and pick something out for yourself? - Not that the village wasn't safe, but Yoshida Hana certainly wasn't going to let Yuske go to the channel. She flatly denied such thoughts, pondering that the large basin wasn't really needed, and she could give it to him if he wanted it.

Yet another, more subtle thought occurred to her when her son voiced his desire to play sailboats. She'd been wanting to make some changes in the backyard for a while now, and maybe this was just the thing.

- How about this, we'll make you a little pond in the backyard where you can play sailboats, okay? – She could already imagine a small pond in the backyard, and she thought that it would look pretty good, not only creating a place for a child to play, but also beautifying the property itself. With each passing second, the unofficial head of the Yoshida family was finding more and more pros to the whole endeavor.

- In the backyard? Not saying there isn't plenty of room, or that we had any specific plans for it, but how do you envision it. - This time, it was Yoshida Sodha who was concerned about such a large-scale construction work on their family's small plot of land, because he would bear most of the responsibility for the fulfillment of what had been proposed earlier.

- What's so hard about it? You mean ninjas can deliver something or paint a fence, but you think they can't dig a shallow hole and reinforce the bottom? You're right though, I haven't given it much thought, and my husband with a 'bright future' would be a better candidate for thinking of ways to accomplish this idea.

- Me, what about me, nothing against it, put the task and let them do it, I already have enough to do in the store.

- But I still want to get a basin because sometimes you won't let me go outside.

- Ugh this kid, okay you can have it, but if you get something wet or messed up, no more basins of water in the room. Do you understand me, young man? – Voicing her question, Yoshida Hana believed that they had done the right thing by allocating one of the large rooms upstairs to her son in the first place.

With all these requests and play preferences of his, a small room would clearly be too insufficient, and after all, his belongings will only get more with each passing year.

Again, if Yuske had been a hyperactive and impulsive child, she would have nipped the idea of such actions in the bud, but her son was a very collected child, obediently doing everything assigned to him. Accordingly, if he said he was going to play ships quietly, and he needed water for that - she didn't even doubt that he wouldn't screw anything up. Besides, she thought it was likely that playing with water and ships was more appropriate for such a calm child than an active pastime.

She didn't even doubt that as soon as he learned to read, he would immediately immerse himself in the world of literature. It was very easy for her to imagine him absorbed for hours on end in the world of paper.

She was actually quite surprised when she found him getting dirty playing in the yard. And she honestly was more comfortable with him doing something other than his passion for the shinobi profession. Perhaps by starting to play normal games, he will develop other interests and give up on dangerous activities.

* At least luck is on my side in this matter. I am blessed to have such a guardian, willing to spend a certain amount of time on all my inquiries, and even consider it acceptable to engage in a discussion on childish requests. – Starting this whole conversation, the youth had doubts that he would be able to achieve what he wanted.

The thing is that human relations, and in general the world around, as such, were little known to young Yuske. His entire understanding of the world and human relationships is the result of delving into books and games from his previous world. Feelings and emotional attachment are something beyond his comprehension.

Sure, quite a bit has been written and studied about feelings, but personal human experience is very difficult to transfer into the lines of books. From all of this, he always tends to avoid anything to do with human relationships, being aware of his poor knowledge of the matter.

Especially emotional stuff should be avoided in a world where feelings can be an anchor that keeps you in one place and prevents you from achieving what you want. However, if there are people, there is always room for feelings, especially attachment, and without even realizing it, Yuske day by day became attached to the woman who was doing her best for him without a single selfish thought.