25 The scolding

I was far too excited to care about his anger, in fact, I was so happy that I couldn't help but let out a wide smile, much to the man's annoyance.

"AOKI!" he shouted again, his previously calm and playful demeanour nothing but a memory.

He walked up to me and crouched, opening his eyes wide and frowning deeply to stress his anger, "If you ever, even in the most minute manner possible, ignore my orders, I will refuse to teach you. I will even recommend to Lord Third to not assign you any teachers until you've graduated from the academy." 

"What?! No! That's not-"

"Fair? Is it not fair Aoki? Do you have any idea of how much danger you were just in?!" The man jabbed a finger into my chest, hurting it a little but his expression hardened as he continued his tirade, "You know nothing Aoki. Chakra is a volatile and dangerous energy that you are still too young to harness, it's only due to Lord Third's request that I am helping you."

I stayed silent and looked down with a remorseful expression. I recognised that my faked emotions weren't the best so I started to use Sasuke as a template for how a child would act, this expression in particular was copied from when the boy spilt a bowl of ramen on one of Tomo's couches, guilt with a hint of boredom at the scolding… perfect.

Tokei was angry, and I'm sure that he had every right to do so, hell, maybe I should even be chiding myself for behaving so recklessly… but honestly, I couldn't care less. 

I had Chakra. 

The same energy that I had only seen in fiction, fiction where even mundane characters with the energy could become gods in my previous world… I now possessed that same quality.

I was fucking hyped man.

Even though Tokei was giving me a piece of his mind, my excitement at feeling Chakra diminished any annoyance I might have from his screaming, furthermore, he is right and I'm not. It was dangerous and stupid, but I don't regret a single thing.

"-Will ensure that you don't use Chakra until you're at least a Genin!" he threatened, I had zoned out on the first part of that threat but my ears perked up as he said that ridiculous statement.

'Well, that's just not possible.' I thought, not responding or fighting back so Tokei could get it out of his system.

After what seemed like an hour of scolding, Tokei huffed and looked at me, still frowning deeply. Although his outburst was justified, I learned quite a bit about him as I decided to think deeply about what had just happened.

'He must be new to teaching' I deduced.

I'm no professor but there has to be a better way to discipline a child like me after disobeying him, his screaming at me shows a lack of experience.

'Hiruzen is no fool unlike what some may think, he chose Tokei for a reason, a reason that most likely had nothing to do with his teaching ability… I wonder what that could be?' I wondered silently. I need to figure this out, currently, I do trust both Hiruzen and Tokei to an extent but I am at a phase of my life where my surroundings are controlled by them, I need to at least be wary, this topic has to be explored further.

"Aoki." He called, breaking me out of my stupor.

With oozing "remorse" and "guilt" I turned my gaze up and looked at the man who was still scowling at me.

Using an unfamiliar tone of regret I tried to soothe him, "I'm sorry…" 

'Kinda' I added in my head.

"I won't ever do that again, I'm really sorry…" I repeated, I was pulling out all the stops.

Tokei sighed and looked at me up and down before relenting and picking up his scarf. He draped it around his neck and settled it in place like it was before.

'Pretty vain for a ninja.' I voiced silently.

"I'm taking you back for now… I'll visit you tomorrow after I have a chat with Lord Third."

Chances are that he might report negatively on me but I didn't think much would come of it, not only does Hiruzen favour me, but my mistakes are overshadowed by my age and potential usefulness. I couldn't bank on it for sure, but part of me thought that this was an elaborate plan for Tokei to instil more fear in me… let's give him what he wants.

I used a memory of Sasuke skipping out on diaper duty and being slapped with a week's worth of it as punishment for my next expression, the pure fear he expressed was one I had worked hard to copy.

Tokei seeing my face lightly scoffed and said, "We were supposed to talk anyways… whatever, don't worry too much, I'll see you sometime soon."

'Hm, he tried to be nicer to me after seeing my face, guess Mr. Clock has a soft side' I thought, smiling internally. I was about to ask him when we would meet next when an ominous smile crept across his face.

"Ready?" he asked.

"Ready? For wha-"

*SHOOM!*

-----

[THIRD PERSON POV:]

*knock knock*

The door to the Hokage's office sounded out as someone tapped on it, Hiruzen perked up on hearing it and called the visitor in, putting away his paperwork as he recognised the man.

"I have reports of my mission Lord Third." The man said, still wearing his trademark scarf.

Hiruzen nodded with a smile, "Which alias is it today? I don't recognise this one..." the old man said, studying the other man's figure. Hiruzen was familiar with the voice and tone, yet not the body.

He adjusted his scarf a little and replied, "I'm going with Tokei for this one" with a small chuckle at the end.

Hiruzen lifted an eyebrow but didn't inquire about the unusual name, "Tokei" was known for stranger things than that.

Tokei cleared his throat and began his statement.

"Aoki... is odd." his eyes narrowed a little as the tone grew serious.

"The boy doesn't crack or cry when pushed to his limits, where most children would crumble, he stands to reap as many benefits as possible.. the boy is..." Tokei searched for a word, one that would suit Aoki's personality the best.

"Pragmatic." he settled on this one.

Hiruzen hummed at this assessment, it was one he agreed on.

While Aoki possesses the impulses of normal children, his maturity was leaps and bounds beyond almost all children he had seen before. Aoki's ability to push his emotions down, or conversely, use his emotions to reach his goal, was a rare trait even in adults.

Tokei continued, "Beyond self-control, the boy exhibits a thirst for knowledge and a high aptitude for learning, he had no problem facing criticism as long as it helped him grow stronger"

Hiruzen noticed where this was going and so he interjected, "But there's something that worries you?" he asked preemptively. 

Tokei nodded, remembering the callous attitude that Aoki had shown a couple of minutes ago. Not the remorse he had shown after the fact, but the disregard for the man's orders in the process of Aoki exploring his Chakra.

"The boy is prideful... and excitable. Even if he shows maturity beyond children, he was easily enticed by the allure of Chakra, going so far as to circulate it; in direct opposition of my order." Tokei said.

Hiruzen lightly chuckled, he had expected something along those lines.

Sasuke was not a bad student, in fact, he was near the top of his class in every subject that was taught in the academy, yet, Aoki had surpassed his level with little effort. The boy was sure to recognise his talents soon enough, pride was a common pitfall that kids like him fell into.

Tokei shook his head, "Not just that Lord Third, when he was sensing Chakra for the first time... the way he completely ignored all of my orders was odd."

He continued to say, "The boy is a genius, talented as well, yet he views the world with little caution. Even while I was screaming at him, he ignored me and did as he pleased. His pride, his ego, and whatever else might be present, are things that must be worked on. Lest he views the world as some dreamy playground with no consequences." 

Hiruzen nodded, "While I agree with this, keep in mind that Aoki is still a child, ego and pride for someone as talented as him would only be natural. I hope that your time in the ANBU hasn't distanced you from the brattyness of children hoho!" the Hokage said with a chuckle.

Tokei smiled and shook his head.

The Hokage glanced at a clock that showed the 12-hour mark, signifying that noon had arrived. 

"Four hours of work... did you test his elements yet? Were they what was expected?" asked Hiruzen.

Tokei lightly coughed and replied, "Well... we had a little less time than that..." 

The Hokage shot an eyebrow up to which Tokei sheepily replied, "I took some advice from a senior on teaching and so I arrived... a little later than usual..." he trailed off a little at the end, flickering his eyes to the side as he felt embarrassed to meet the Hokage's gaze for the wasted time.

Hiruzen could guess who Tokei had asked for advice, after all, the scarf he used to cover his face was inspired by someone he looked up to quite a bit, it even made its way into most of the alias' the man created.

Hiruzen shook his head a little at the explanation with an amused smile, Tokei felt like he was a child again and tried to defend himself "Lord Third, Aoki waited over 2 hours for me to arrive before giving up! Supposedly it would test his patience and get him to break a little when I arrived, letting me get a grasp on his personality! I didn't expect-"

Tokei noticed his outburst and got more embarrassed. He hated it when the Hokage viewed him as a child, he had escaped that fate when he made Chunin and now it seems that his mistake had landed him back into that category.

He had set a shadow clone up to survey the boy's reactions but never expected him to stay for as long as he did, Tokei grew so worried that he often joined the clone in the 2-hour window to make sure that Aoki was still there. 

Unbeknownst to Aoki, Tokei was similarly pulling out his hair waiting for Aoki to give up, he was caught between a rock and a hard place; he wanted to quickly start his mission of helping the boy but also follow through on his idol's suggestion.

Hiruzen said nothing more and much to Tokei's relief, changed the subject and asked miscellaneous questions relating to Aoki, all of which Tokei was eager to answer.

-----

[A/N: 5/5 Chapters for the week completed! Extra chapter at 400 stones or 25 reviews, whichever comes first :)

Currently stacking chapters, going to create a backlog so that I can post while I travel in the coming weeks.

Words: 1926

P.S. In the future, what anime/show do you think I should write another fanfic on? I'm currently working on an original work as well but I am curious as to which ones you all would be the most interested in reading :)]