11 Training & Contemplation

'88.. 89…90…91…' I counted my reps as I progressed through the workout.

By now my arms and chest were burning but I cherished that pain, it was a precious poison that I had never dreamt of drinking when I was shackled to a bed, drearily passing days by.

'94… 95… 96…'

I'm almost there, I gritted my teeth and held on.

'97… 98… 99… and…'

"Uffgghh!" with a groan I did my final push-up and immediately collapsed onto the ground, my arms giving way as they crumpled under my weight. I lay there, panting for a while with a silly smile on my face.

"Ah.. amazing…" I gasped out as I lay on my back, this feeling of total exhaustion, it was the first time I had ever experienced anything like this. It was intoxicating.

My first task was to determine my physical limits, during the stay at the hospital I was advised to not push myself until I fully recovered so I always held back… until now.

It took no longer than 15 seconds before I was back on my feet, still lightly panting, the tiredness was swept away by my excitement however.

'Next up, core stability!' I said, moving on to the next segment of my workout.

I managed to crank out another 100 sit-ups broken into two 50 rep sessions, at the break between the two, I drank some water and meditated. I had hoped that maybe physical activity would rouse the dormant chakra within me but I was left disappointed as nothing happened.

After that, I tried out some more exercises I was familiar with from my previous world.

Lunges, squats, star-jumps, hell I even lay under my bed and tried to lift it, imitating what bodybuilders do but it didn't budge, still, it was exciting.

'Are all 5 year olds capable of this?' I thought, surprised at how quickly I had recovered, I did the push-ups no less than 20 minutes ago and my arms which used to burn in pain felt normal, and my stomach which was cramping up from the sit-ups had also fully recovered.

I had no measuring stick for this, yes, I knew that children my age on my home planet would not be capable of half the shit that I did but they also lacked chakra, was this increase in my physical abilities due to how different this body is in biology to my previous one? Or is something else at play here that makes my body unique?

I always prided myself on being able to predict and ascertain what would happen in the future at times by creating a bunch of theories before anything really came to pass, this body I now have is shrouded in such mystery that I doubt only the Hokage knows what's really up with me.

No scratch that, there's one person who probably knows much more about me than the Hokage himself, Orochimaru.

In the anime other than Orochimaru's wild ambition for strength and immortality, his character was not that well explored. I didn't know much of his history, beliefs or morality… if he even had one at all that is.

Motherfucker experimented on the body of a 5-year-old, I don't think there's a line he won't cross to reach his goal. Eventually, he was redeemed and in the Boruto anime I think he was even an ally to the Leaf, how did his crimes get ignored enough for him to not be executed or face life in prison? Probably the same way Sasuke Uchiha's crimes were disregarded, ninjas that strong were more valuable alive than dead.

That begs the question, however, how much did Orochimaru tamper with my body? Furthermore, how much will that tampering affect my growth? I almost wished I could see that creep again to ask him a question or two, almost. I'd rather not meet with him at all ideally, but I knew that it was probably too much to ask for considering how vital to the story he is.

I had checked my body out in the hospital mirror, there were no marks, tattoos or seals on my body like I feared there would be, other than some light scarring on my chest my body was no different than anyone else's.

I had some theories on what Orochimaru's purpose was when testing on me but had nothing concrete as of yet, what I did know for a fact was that I needed to push Hiruzen into giving me more information. Information is key and I cannot go on using my body when there could be vital aspects of myself that I am neglecting during my growth.

Asking him for the records that the snake freak took of me would be asking too much, I was already rejected once. I need to come up with some other method of convincing gramps ASAP.

I continued to do some more exercises until I heard my name being screeched out from the kitchen asking me to come help, it came at the perfect time to give me a wonderful idea.

"Coming Tomo~!" I announced sweetly, I was banking on avoiding the woman as much as I could but her help was integral in the plan I was cooking up, no harm in getting in her good graces!

I lifted my shirt up to wipe the sweat off my face and hair before bolting into the kitchen, today, I would be the perfect little assistant, and tomorrow, she would be my perfect little asset.

Tomo lightly scolded me for not coming to her in the morning before she put me to work. Cutting up carrots, tomatoes and beans were a few of the tasks I was given, I did them all as efficiently as I could to help raise the woman's spirits as much as I could before I asked for her assistance.

I decided to start a friendly conversation in between vegetables, "Tomo, remember yesterday when you got all upset and yelled at me?" I asked her, getting a stink eye in return.

I need to work on my definition of friendly.

I cleared my throat a little and continued, "well your accent changed quite a bit when you did so, are you not from the Leaf Village?" I asked her, this was a legitimate question I had, I've not met many people inside the Leaf but all those who I've met have spoken more or less the same.

Tomo's gaze softened as she heard my question and understood that I wasn't trying to pick a fight, "Aye, my parents were from a small village in the Land of Earth, we were travelling merchants who went all over, I got my accent from speaking to them…" said Tomo.

"Oh wow! That's cool!" I said with genuine excitement, hearing her speak anecdotally about a place I recently considered fictional was enthralling to me. "And? You guys came to the Leaf village to settle down?".

"... something like that," she said after a long silence. It didn't take a genius to know that she was upset for some reason. I didn't push it and changed the subject.

"So! Sasuke coming back soon?" 

Tomo grunted in agreement and got back to dicing some onions, not much of a talker was she? Maybe the gravel in her voice made it hurt to talk, I considered making a joke or something to lighten the mood but decided to ask her another question, one that didn't have a yes or no answer.

"When are the twins' parents supposed to come?"

Tomo stopped dicing and sighed lightly, "Those two brats were supposed to come home last week, or at least that's when their mission was supposed to end."

I gulped on hearing her answer. Maybe it was wrong of me to assume the worst but I knew that it wasn't uncommon, even from watching the show alone I knew that the ninja profession was one coated in death, whether it be yours or your enemies.

Tomo must've felt bad about bringing the mood down so far so she asked me something in return, "Why'd you come here reekin' of sweat? Your hair's all sticky too" she said eyeing me suspiciously.

"Oh, that! I was training granny!" I said innocently.

"Training huh…" she trailed off again while looking listlessly at a pot of boiling stew. It was pretty amazing how her hands worked so efficiently, dicing up those vegetables while she wasn't even paying attention. 

"Yeah! Gramps said I can be a great ninja someday!" 

Tomo glanced back at me but said nothing.

'Understood, ninja talk=bad' I recorded in my mind. Even an idiot would know that she didn't enjoy talking about ninjas. We sat in silence for a bit longer.

I showed her the bowl of vegetables I had cut up and she took them, tossing them into the stew and throwing some spices in the pot afterwards. I'm not the biggest fan of stew but it smelt pretty amazing. The chicken she made last night was also wonderful, I guess even this gruff woman has her sweet spots.

"Smells amazing..." I said, praising her work.

She looked back at me and smiled for what I think is the first time, she took out a small spoon and brought it to my mouth, encouraging me to taste it. I wasted no time before tasting it.

It was truly delicious.

"Mm! It's amazing! What is it?" 

Tomo chuckled and looked back at the pot, "My momma would make this all the time on the go, a simple, hearty meal made with lots of vegetables. It was always a treat to eat her cooking."

'They must've passed quite a while ago' I thought, Tomo was around the Hokage's age so it was highly unlikely that her parents were still alive. This was the first time I'd ever seen her smile, she must've loved them a lot.

"I'm sure your mom would be proud of how well you made this dish!" I said with a grin.

"...Who knows" said Tomo.

'Getting this woman to open up is almost impossible! She's more emo than Sasuke!' I thought observing her closely.

"Go make sure Numa and Kuma are ok, I'll call you back when it's time to clean the kitchen," said Tomo, it was clear she didn't want to talk anymore. I took the hint and walked away, vowing to have her open up and talk to me soon.

-----

[A/N: I received some criticism for the MC's actions recently, keep in mind that he is someone who is *growing* not only is he 17 in mind, he's a 17-year-old who had little to no social interaction and faces tough situations by making stupid jokes to make himself feel better. I don't want to spoil his character but more will be uncovered soon, hope you all enjoy this chapter! I'm travelling soon so the chapters may not come out as regularly but I can promise 5 a week as of now.

As always, comments, reviews and powerstones are appreciated!

P.S. He didn't actually think he was mutilated in chapter 3, he was just spazzing out and panicking as is natural in that situation, did anyone else think that he thought he got hit by a shrink ray? I did my best to make it seem like he was making a joke which he was.]]