7 Curse of Ice (Part 4)

[AN: Hey all, just a heads up, extra long chapter this week]

As streaks of pale orange light trickled into Hayase's apartment, he slowly stirred from a restless night of sleep. Haunted by forgotten dreams, Hayase forced himself to begin his day.

"Ugh... I'm really not looking forward to meeting this Yamanaka," groaned Hayase as he grouchily got ready and left for the academy.

***Therapist POV***

As Hayase grumbled his way to the academy and awaited his inevitable meeting, Kanae Yamanaka had already been working for a few hours at the torture and interrogation department of Konoha. Despite being the oldest woman still active in the Yamanaka clan, Kanae's reputation was infamous in the department.

Everywhere she went, her slight stature and greyish-blonde hair attracted attention. Years of being in the T&I department meant that many of its members had passed under her tutelage or at least gotten to see her in action. In times of peace, she would often use her interrogations as opportunities to pass on lessons to the juniors in the T&I dept.

Although she could only work a few cases before tiring herself out now, Kanae's methods were efficient, clever, and as brutal as she needed them to be, and every case that she took on was completed swiftly. Her years of experience had made her adept at breaking through even enemy jonin's mental barriers. Back in her prime, if word got around that Kanae would be 'breaking' a jonin, then you could count on a full observation room.

As someone skilled in both Yamanaka mind techniques and conventional information extraction, Kanae's talents remained critical even as her physical health waned with age. On this particular morning, she had been given the relatively easy task of extracting supply route intel from a traitorous merchant captured on the border with Ame. Having sold information on Konoha's supply routes, she needed to confirm the authenticity of the information before Konoha began re-routing all of its supplies unnecessarily.

As she entered the interrogation room, Kanae knew that prying the information from the weak-willed merchant would be almost too easy. 'But they didn't bring me in because this would be difficult, they brought me in because we need to be 100% certain of the information. ' thought Kanae with a sigh as she eyed the restrained merchant, 'How simple...'

Hallow-cheeked from having not been fed in-route from the border, the merchant was already near his breaking point. In his state, he was confused to see the old woman enter his interrogation room, but with his mouth gagged, he had no way to vocalize his confusion.

By first extracting the answer through conventional means and then confirming what specific wording was sold to the Iwa by checking his memories, Kanae knew that she would finish this before the genin finished making coffee.

Approaching with the slow shuffling step characteristic of an old woman, a murderous glint slowly formed in her eyes as she smiled at the merchant. Moving closer, she could see him pull against his restraints as she picked up a long senbon.

"Now. Now... Taku, you made me wake up awfully early this morning, didn't you? I don't appreciate having to miss breakfast with my grandchildren," she said with a friendly tone incongruent with her murderous intent.

Shifting to a monotone, she followed up, "Worse still, I've heard that you sold information to Iwa about where you had seen Konoha troops moving back and forth... What did you tell them, Taku? I'm going to need you to be specific, understand? If you're not..."

She let the threat hang in the air momentarily before stabbing the senbon directly into a nerve in his leg. Underneath the mouth gag, Taku groaned and clenched his teeth. Having made her point, Kanae removed the gag and pulled out a small map.

"Where did you say you saw Leaf shinobi moving supplies?" demanded Kanae, her eyes boring into Taku who was still catching his breath from the pain.

Feeling the pressure, Taku rambled, "I just needed the extra money! I didn't want to harm the Leaf, the war has destroyed so many of my shipments, I-"

*Whoosh* Taku looked down to see another senbon in his arm before a surge of pain assaulted him.

"Taku, dear... I think you've forgotten what I said already... This is the last warning, after this, I won't be so gentle. I haven't even dipped these needles in anything, yet" she said with the gentle smile that only an old woman can pass off.

With a small gulp, Taku nodded as best as he can. Through his clenched teeth, he says, "I told them that I had seen leaf shinobi heading north towards Ame when I was on my trade route."

"Where on your route did you say that you saw the shinobi?" she pressed.

"By Kozu forest along the northern road there, it's near the western edge of the land of fire's border with Ame. I didn't think it would matter... everyone on those roads had seen shinobi since the war began..." replied Taku who stopped himself from speaking further for fear of incurring his interrogator's wrath again.

Hearing Taku's response, Kanae already had some suspicions. The region that he had described was indeed a part of their supply chains. 'It's too convenient to have simply just seen some of our shinobi though... our supply convoys have all been instructed to avoid the main roads and the typical trade routes frequented by merchants,' she thought, 'Hah... this isn't adding up.'

"Thank you for your cooperation, Taku. Before you go, there is just one last thing that I need you to do for me," she said with a smile as she drew closer... "Could you just hold still for me?"

Suddenly touching the sides of Taku's head, Kanae thinks, 'Mind Reading Jutsu!'

Before Taku can realize what is happening, he faintly tastes iron before his mind seizes up under Kanae's assault. As a civilian, Taku has virtually no natural defense against the mind-reading jutsu so Kanae quickly dives through his memories.

In her many years of reading minds, Kanae realized that everyone's mind is a bit peculiar. No one is truly normal... and their mindscape was the clearest indication of that fact. Disheveled, vacant, or a burning trash heap, a person's mindscape told her something about them almost immediately.

Although some Yamanaka thought the look of a person's mindscape was basically random, Kanae firmly believed it represented their inner self. However, at times like these, she worried that the chaotic nature of people's mindscapes said more about their world than the person.

Taku's mindscape resembled a forest full of burnt trees. Floating through his mindscape, she could see the impact of the war on him and his family. Shipments stolen and his children going hungry, Kanae wouldn't be surprised if his mindscape had been a healthy forest before the war.

Unfortunately, this was far from the first sob story that Kanae had to look past for a mission. With a sigh, she thought, 'The trouble with mind reading is that no one sees themself as the villain.'

For many Yamanaka, this reality began to weigh on them over the years, and continuing to be a shinobi can often become a difficult task. Gifted with the ability to literally see the world through another's eyes, what could be a tool for empathy becomes the ultimate tool for intelligence gathering.

Finally, Kanae reached the memory of the information sale to Iwa shinobi. As is often the case near Ame, thunder clouds obscured the night sky and Taku could barely make out the masks of the shinobi that he met. However, their uniforms did match the current Iwa standard chunin attire.

'Hm, Iwa clearly viewed this as a low priority if it only sent a chunin...' thought Kanae

Between lightning strikes, Taku finally spoke, "I did as you asked, I changed my trade routes and I finally crossed paths with some leaf shinobi... They were traveling north through the Kozu forest."

'Oh Taku, so it wasn't just a crime of opportunity... you little traitor. You actively sought out our shinobi!' thought Kanae, 'We're lucky that the information was likely of little use, but the defection of civilians on the borders could quickly prove dangerous if Iwa takes advantage of these conditions.'

Exiting his mind, scenes flash by like a film being fast-forwarded. Back in the interrogation room, Kanae steps away from Taku and sizes up the traitor before leaving the room. Heading to the current department head's office, Kanae swiftly shuffles down the hallway and barges into the office.

"Danno-kun, I finished interrogating the merchant," she said bluntly.

Danno Yamanaka, the current head of the T&I department, huffed, "Kanae, how many times do I have to ask you to knock before entering? Also, I'm your ranking officer now! You can't keep calling me Danno-kun! You, at least, need to call me Danno-san for formality's sake! What will everyone think if they hear you speaking?"

"Bah, I've been here since before you were in diapers! There'll be a blizzard in Suna before I call you anything but Danno-kun!" replied Kanae obstinately.

"Gah! Whatever... What'd you get out of the merchant?" he said defeated.

"Only the Kozu forest supply routes are compromised, but it seems that Iwa has been approaching civilians on the border to recruit them into watching our supply lines. The merchant changed his trade routes to minor roads, at their request, to increase his chances of seeing our shinobi," reported Kanae.

"I'll pass the information along... If Iwa continues this strategy, it's only a matter of time before they identify more vital routes," Danno sighed, "I'm glad we're not at the front, this is going to be a pain in the ass to counter. I wouldn't be surprised if we end up forcibly relocating border villages just to simplify things."

Nodding, Kanae is about to leave when Danno interjects, "Kanae, I actually have one more assignment for you!"

"Danno-kun, please tell me it's at least interesting..." she sighed.

"Heh.." smirked Danno, "Well, let's just say it's coming from the Hokage himself."

Upon hearing that, Kanae's ears perked up. The Hokage being involved was a rare occurrence. Unless it was an ultra-secret prisoner being interrogated, Kanae had only received a few assignments directly from the Hokage's desk.

With that in mind, she exclaimed, "Finally, some good news! It's been weeks since an interesting interrogation came around."

Chuckling a bit at her expense, Danno handed her a file, specifically Hayase's file at the academy.

Hearing Danno's reaction and seeing the file, Kanae knew immediately that this wasn't a typical assignment. Thumbing through a few pages, she quickly realized what was happening.

"A therapy assignment!?! Do you all really value my skills so little?" she said angrily.

In peacetime, she would occasionally take therapy cases, but that was only because the T&I department had a shortage of people to interrogate and her colleagues would complain if she worked too much.

"Kanae, you can't work as much as you used now anyway... this is just another way that you can contribute to the village. Lord Hokage asked us to assign someone from your clan as soon as we could and you have the most flexibility in your schedule given your unorthodox relationship with the department... Just read the file, he'll be coming over later today." Danno said hoping that Kanae would give up the fight.

Pausing to look down at the file, Kanae said with a soft growl in her voice, "I'll do it. But once I'm done with this assignment, you better have an interesting interrogation waiting for me or there will be hell to pay, Danno-kun."

Threat having been delivered, Kanae charged out of the office as swiftly as she had burst in.

***Hayase POV ***

Dragging himself through the day, Hayase couldn't shake his worries as he sat in his chakra theory class session. Both his worries about his past life memories being uncovered and his anxieties around discussing his near-death experience buzzed in the back of his mind all day.

Like a mosquito, it kept him from truly focusing on each of his classes. As he looked at his notes from the day, they looked more incomplete than usual.

***Hayase Notes***

Conditioning: I did absolute garbage in the obstacle course, I just couldn't get in the zone today!

Class: History

- Nidaime Hokage, Tobirama Senju, fought and died in the First Great Shinobi War

- Tobirama created the Academy, the Anbu, and the Chūnin Exams for some reason, I think Abe-sensei said something about it being related to Will of Fire, but that's pretty generic.

Class: Chakra Theory and Shinobi Basics

- Sensei tried to explain the five elemental chakra natures to everyone, but the discussion got sidetracked by dumb and unnecessary questions

- Water-related stuff: Water is strong against fire (duh), but weak against earth (because it becomes mud I guess)

*** End Notes ***

'Not my best work today,' thought Hayase with a light sigh and he laid his head down on his desk. And now... It was almost time to meet his interrogator/therapist.

Soon after Abe-sensei dismissed the class for lunch, saying "Alright, everyone! Don't forget to review your survival skills when you're at home! In two weeks, you will all need to be ready."

At the mention of the survival exercise, a collective groan echoed out. None of them relished the thought of spending a few nights in the woods even without the added uncertainty of whatever their sensei had planned for them.

A few students, like Hayase who most likely had also scavenged or hunted for food at various points, felt comfortable spending long nights outside under the moon. If Hayase wasn't so worried about his therapy, he might have been excited to show off his water bending fishing skills in the survival exercise.

Not wasting any time, Abe sensei approached Hayase as soon as students began eating their lunches, and demanded, "Alright, if you want to be back in time for your second elective, we need to leave now!"

With a sigh, Hayase replied, "Fine.. let's go... not like I've got a choice, right?"

As they started walking at a brisk pace, Abe said back, "Come on, brat. You've always got a choice, we just don't always get to choose what our options are... you can decide whether to actually want to put in the work with your therapist or not. Kami, we can even turn back now... give up on therapy, give up on dealing with the shit that's been holding you back. It's your choice."

"It doesn't feel like much of a choice," muttered Hayase.

Following Abe-sensei's swift walk, Hayase walked silently behind him out of the academy. As they left, the pair headed toward the center of the village. Passing by scores of small shops, Hayase finally decided to break the silence and asked, "So who's this Yamanaka that I'm meeting with? Do I have to meet with them at the T&I department?"

"Took you long enough to ask kid, we're almost there... I don't know who specifically they brought out for you, but, yeah, we're meeting them at T&I. Don't worry though, I'm sure they won't torture you much though," teased Abe-sensei who saw Hayase noticeably pale at his joke, "Relax, it's just a joke... Kami, when did kids become so uptight?"

In the distance, Hayase could see the distinct shadowy exterior of the T&I department. After internally debating, Hayase decided not to vocalize his concerns about the Yamanaka entering his mind for fear of raising his sensei's suspicions of him. 'Abe-sensei has helped me so much and is still working hard on my behalf, I don't know what I would do if I lost his trust...' thought Hayase nervously.

'I just need to keep this therapist from seeing my past life's memories or pass them off as dreams... that should be simple, right?' he thought trying to persuade himself to be hopeful.

"Here we are! Yo Yuna-san! How's T&I treating you?" Abe said playfully to the pretty receptionist.

"Oh, Abe-san! It's been forever! What brings you around? Got a little prisoner for us?" she replied with a flirtatious smile.

"No prisoners this time, a student actually... I heard that yall had some staff to spare for some 'mental preparation,'" He said back with a smile.

"Haha! So this is the brat who got Kanae's britches in a twist today? I'll go get her," commented Yuna barely able to hold her laughter in.

Meanwhile, Abe-sensei's brow furrowed at the mention of Kanae's name. Unbeknownst to Hayase, Abe was inwardly crying out, 'Why did have to be her of all people? Of all the Yamanaka to be chosen...'

"Well Hayase, I think I better be leaving. You'll be in good hands with Yuna-san..." Abe said as he began to make a move toward the door.

Sadly for Abe's dreams of escaping, Kanae Yamanaka soon came charging down the hallway, shoe in hand! Yuna-san, to Abe's misfortune, had mentioned his presence when telling Kanae that Hayase had arrived.

"Abe! You have a lot of nerve walking back in here!" shouted Kanae as she beat him with her shoe over the head.

"Ow! Kanae! I swear I meant to come to talk to you sooner, it's just.. Ow!" he tried to answer between blows.

"Bastard! You didn't even come to my nephew's funeral! Some comrade you were to him!" she yelled, never relenting with the shoe. Until finally the impossible happened, the shoe broke! Only then did Kanae let up, but Abe was kneeling by this point to shield himself from the assault.

Forgotten in the midst of the dramatic moment, Hayase struggled to make sense of what was happening. It seemed that his sensei had been close with his therapist's nephew before he died.

'Why wouldn't he have gone to the funeral though?' thought Hayase before finding himself thinking, 'I'm just glad her wrath is directed at him instead of me. Who is the psychotic torture granny?'

As he had that thought and she put her broken shoe back on, Kanae's gaze met Hayase's and he almost immediately worried that she could read him like an open book.

"Think that I'm crazy, do ya?" she asked cryptically before laughing, "You'll need to be made of tougher stuff before you can hide things from me, kid... Follow me, the T&I department is no place for therapy."

***Abe POV***

Only after Kanae and Hayase left the building did Abe stand up and shake off his clothes. With a sigh, he thought back to when he had first returned from the front line. A broken man, he had lost friends, comrades, and lovers. Kanae's nephew, Henshin Yamanaka, had saved his life on no less than 3 separate occasions, but, when it counted, Abe wasn't able to do the same for him.

'Henshin was a real hero on the front. He always put the squad first,' Abe often found himself thinking. Despite how close the two had grown in their time as squadmates, Abe couldn't bring himself to attend Henshin's funeral because Abe felt like he had failed his friend. A motivation, that Kanae, clearly couldn't accept as sufficient.

"I'm sorry Abe... If I had known, that Kanae would react like that..." Yuna said faintly and she brought a small handkerchief to wipe the dirt off Abe's face.

"Hah... It's alright. Kanae's right..." he replied quietly with a weak smile, "I'll see you later Yuna-san."

***Hayase POV***

After leaving the T&I building, Kanae hadn't said a word for almost 5 minutes. Instead, she simply walked Hayase towards the edge of the village.

Finally, fed up with being led around like a stray puppy, Hayase said, "Oi! Where are you taking me?"

"Mah, brat... have a little patience. We're almost there," she said as they rounded a corner shop and came upon a small stream.

"I've read your file," Kanae said calmly, "I've not heard of a kekkei genkai or talent related to water like yours so I wanted to see it for myself. Why don't you demonstrate a little for me?"

"-er so we're not going to talk?" asked Hayase, un-nerved by the development.

"They're making me meet with you regularly until your 'issues' are resolved, we'll have plenty of time for that later," she huffed, "I've got nothing against talking during peacetime, but I normally contribute in other ways during wars so I'm more than a bit frustrated to be babysitting."

'Heh, sounds like she wants to be here about as much as I do,' thought Hayase before he finally acceded to her request.

Taking up his stance, he took a breath and drew as much water as he could from the stream into the air around him. There, the water formed a ring around his body. Feeling comfortable in his connection with the water, Hayase began demonstrating some of the attacks that he had developed as he faced the stream

First, punching out through the ring of water, he shot out a half dozen spheres of water with rapid speed the same as he used in his spars with Guy. Then, separating the ring into a stream of water, he sent out a powerful water whip that collided with the stream's surface with a snap. Before finally, Hayase recalled the water to cover his fists and feet in it.

"Is this enough of a demonstration for you?" said Hayase noticeably more confident, almost cocky even, than he had been minutes earlier.

***Kanae POV***

As Kanae Yamanaka observed Hayase's water bending, she was most taken aback by his change in demeanor. Throughout their encounter, Hayase had come across as nervous and unsure of himself. 'His file mentioned that he had been last in his class during his first year... hmm... I wouldn't be surprised if he had been the target of some bullying,' she had thought on their walk over.

However, upon seeing him demonstrate abilities, Kanae knew already began to develop a partial theory. 'An untalented orphan, likely victim of bullying... nearly dies... and then it all turns around, hmm?' thought Kanae.

"What do you call this ability of yours Hayase? I read in your file, that's unknown if it's a kekkei genkai or something else." she inquired.

"-er, I've been calling it water bending..." replied Hayase, clearly puzzled by the question as he let the water on his limbs drop.

"Bending, hmm? Why that name? if I might ask?" pressed Kanae, hoping to slowly unravel the puzzle standing in front of her.

"Um..." Pausing, Hayase thought for a moment. He had always taken the name of 'water bending' for granted since he had a name for it from his past life's memories.

Finally, he replied, "I guess... when I'm controlling the water, it feels like I'm bending it to my will. Ya know, since I don't need to use hand signs and I can freely manipulate it, that kind of name just seemed to make sense."

"Your will, huh?" replied Kanae, "Well I can understand why they want me to talk to you kid... although there are shinobi that can freely control elemental jutsu without hand signs, your 'water bending' does seem peculiar... Why do you think you're here, Hayase?"

"I assume it's to get over whatever is keeping me from using the ice part of my water bending... why else would they care enough to divert you from T&I to help me?" he replied cynically.

"I can think of a few reasons," she replied with a laugh, "First option, my boss, Danno-kun choose me for this to get back at me for always embarrassing him whenever he tries to flirt with the secretaries!"

Kanae's antics brought a small smile to Hayase's face if only for a moment.

***Hayase POV***

'This granny really is nutty,' thought Hayase, 'I guess it could be worse, she doesn't give off major torturer vibes at least.'

Kanae continued, "The more charitable version if you're willing to hear it is that the village knows the difficult situation that it is putting you in and is doing what it is able to prepare you."

At that, Hayase couldn't even hold in his scoff. "Hah! If that's true, then why would they even consider having me graduate early or going straight into 'covert' activities?" he spat with a scowl, "How can I reasonably hope to be prepared? They just need me to be ready so I don't die immediately after getting to the battlefield."

"Hayase, I recognize that you're angry about the possible early graduation. But let's talk about the real reason why you're here... It's not about going to battle, graduating early, or even the ice really. Care to take another guess?" she asked gently to Hayase who was still heated from his prior rage.

'The real reason that I'm here?' thought Hayase, 'She has to mean what happened over the break... that's what started this all.' A traumatic near-death experience, perfect fodder for a therapy session.

"Um, I assume you're talking about the whole almost dying thing..." Hayase tried to say nonchalantly.

"Yes, although I've read the account that you gave your sensei, I'd like to hear it in your own words if you feel comfortable discussing the events more," replied Kanae offering what seemed to be a false choice to Hayase.

"Why, what more do you need to know? I tried to try to use a jutsu before I was ready and almost died...now I'm getting a second chance or that's what I thought at least," replied Hayase, now getting visibly annoyed at Kanae's prodding.

'Kami, what kind of therapist just comes out and asks about your biggest fucking triggers with no warning?' he thought in irritation.

"What I don't understand is what drove you to try that jutsu that day, Hayase. Nothing in your file explains why you were suddenly so reckless... what pushed you to try the water bullet jutsu unsupervised?" Kanae asked.

Unbeknownst to Hayase, the old Yamanaka knew exactly what she was doing as she poked and prodded at his vulnerabilities. She was first and foremost an interrogator so she could always sniff out missing information. His account just felt off, like the way a similar but incorrect puzzle piece almost fits into place.

At the Yamanaka's question, Hayase felt his brow furrowed and his heart rate increase. That day had set him over the edge, Shinji and his followers had pushed him past his limits. He found himself responding to the question internally, 'Angry, I had never felt that angry before! They left me feeling powerless, I had to do something to take the power back... anything... even something reckless...'

"Anything that you would like to share, Hayase?" Kanae injected into the silence permeating the area around the stream.

Unwilling to share his full unfiltered answer, he shortly replied, "Angry... I felt angry that day. That's why it happened." Even if this Yamanaka granny wasn't digging around his memories yet, Hayase didn't trust her any farther than he could throw her.

Kanae, never one to relent easily, pushed him even further, "Do you often find yourself getting angry like that? Who were you angry at?"

Gritting his teeth at his supposed therapist's gall, Hayase clenched his fists and subconsciously began resonating his chakra with the water in the stream. A low boil began to break out in the stream as if to depict his internal rage slowly boiling over.

Through his gritted teeth, Hayase replied, "Who was I angry at?! Who wasn't I angry at? My parents, the academy, and everyone left me to fend for myself! It's only dumb luck that I'm still fucking breathing!"

Unphased by Hayase's anger, the old woman walked towards the stream and sat down to begin putting her feet in the water. Motioning for Hayase to do the same, she waved him over. Any water that had started to boil at Hayase's rage had already drifted away. The stream's water was refreshing to the touch.

"Why does it matter that I was angry or who I was angry at?" Hayase questioned as he followed her silent request, "the real problem is that when I try to control ice or think about re-attempting the water bullet jutsu, it dredges up all this... stuff... inside my head and I start panicking! Isn't that why you're here? Help me with that!"

After his outburst, Hayase could see Kanae watching him closely, unnervingly closely.

Adept at keeping him off-balance, she asked, "Hayase, have you ever thought about what a shinobi's greatest weapon is?"

"Doesn't it depend on the shinobi... it could be a ninjutsu, taijutsu, genjutsu, anything, couldn't it?" he replied.

"A textbook answer, yes, but a flawed one. In my years with the T&I and doing sessions like these, I've come to a different conclusion. No matter the shinobi, their mind is always their greatest weapon. If it is dull, it dulls everything else in their arsenal. If a shinobi's mind is brittle, they can never hope to survive war even if they have immense talent," she said, her voice taking on a softness that surprised Hayase, "So in that way, a shinobi's mind is simultaneously their greatest weapon and their biggest weakest. I've seen too many broken men, women, and children pushed beyond their limits... I'd rather not see another join them."

As Kanae's words washed over him, Hayase knew that she was right. He had run away from his trauma, escaping to the feeling of water bending whenever he could, and training to stay distracted. However, that would not be his last run-in with death in this lifetime. The life of shinobi rests on the razor's edge. Thrust through one trial after another for the sake of the village, his fate would only truly be in his own hands once he was strong enough to set his own terms within the village.

When the shinigami once again draws near, how will he react? Will he freeze in panic at its cold breath?

At his realization, Hayase thought to himself, 'I feel like such an idiot... how could I think that ignoring this issue would be fine? Ugh... this psychotic granny might actually be making some good points. This is more than just what Abe-sense was talking about with mental preparation. This is something more fundamental.'

"If you want to just use our session to train, that's fine with me... you obviously feel much better when you're water bending so I won't stop you," offered Kanae, "No one will force us to actually speak to each other... Not everyone can handle talking about their problems."

"I... I don't want to end up any more broken than I already am," Hayase replied suddenly, "And I don't want to just end up another casualty either. I can't promise that I'll be an easy case... But, will you help me Kanae-san?"

"Of course, Hayase-kun. Let's get to work," the old Yamanaka replied as if that was what she had been waiting for, "If I heard you correctly early, you feel that the two main problems are your control of ice and the water bullet jutsu. If you dealt with those issues, would you feel ready for war?"

Hearing it put that way, Hayase found himself disagreeing, "No, I don't think that would be enough... It wouldn't get to the root of the problem."

"Mmmhmm and what would that be?"

"I just can't shake this feeling that I could freeze up when it really matters... when I might die... when I don't have any control over the situation," replied Hayase, his brown shaggy hair obscuring his face as he leaned over the stream.

"Hmm.. well Hayase-kun, I think you might be in good company. I've talked to many shinobi over the years and many of them struggle with that feeling, especially after going through a traumatic event..." the old greyish-blond woman replied before pausing and taking up a wry smile, "And as I've grown older, well, I barely feel in control of my bladder these days let alone my life haha!"

Even while crinkling his nose in disgust at the incontinent interrogator's poor sense of humor, Hayase appreciated her emotional openness despite wishing that she had excluded certain details.

"So there's nothing that you can do to help me with that?" he asked to follow up.

"I didn't say that... We can talk in these sessions and work through some specific issues, but the general problem needs something more. It's about your life outside of this," answered Kanae, "Of the Shinobi that I mentioned, many spent time with the anbu... those activities take a toll on shinobi. The key that I found for them for getting some semblance of normality was to surround themselves with people that cared about them again... anbu tend to isolate themselves while they serve."

Pausing at what seemed to be angry memory, Kanae finally continued, "Emotional connections get treated like this thing that you can't control so they must be liabilities, but the reality is that those connections are your safety net when you come home from a hard mission. They're who put you back together when you break, not me and they'll do a much better job of it."

Thinking about Guy and Duy comforting him the previous day, Hayase knew that Kanae was right, but had to ask, "What? so you're suggesting that I be more social or something?"

Sighing, Kanae replied, "Yes, if you want to be simplistic about it... feel free to think about it that way. Now, with that in mind, I think our time is almost up so I'll give you a little homework and send you back to the academy!"

Pulling a small scroll from her pocket, the Yamanaka quickly jotted down some lines and gently placed it in Hayase's hands. "Now, I'll see you again in two days and I expect you to have done everything listed in the scroll by then! We'll meet here next time since there are fewer screams than the T&I Dept and it's closer to the academy anyway," She declared in her stern and aged voice.

Nodding, Hayase began walking back towards the academy, peeking at the scroll as he did:

***Kanae Yamanaka's Patent Pending Therapy Homework***

- Make Friends (invite a group out to eat, drink sake, or whatever it is kids do nowadays)

- Journal about what it likes to water bend and what it feels like to try freezing water (This means you have to try making ice again, sorry brat)

- Talk to that negligent sensei of yours about when you will be ready to learn the water bullet jutsu. Tell him that Kanae said, you should start practicing the hand signs to desensitize yourself to the idea of using the jutsu.

See you in two days,

Kanae Yamanaka

P.S. I'll know if you don't complete one of the tasks. I always know.

***End Scroll***

'Kami... what a pain in the ass,' Hayase thought to himself as he re-entered the academy. He wasn't sure how Kanae had kept track of time, but he made it to his medical nin class just before class began.

Unlike earlier in the day, Hayase no longer felt the same weight on him. Sure, he was still tired from not sleeping much, but he could actually focus on Tagi-sensei's lesson. However, partway through class, he realized that since he was meeting with Kanae-san in two days that meant he only had two days to ask people to hang out otherwise he'd face could face some punishment.

'Shit, I should probably ask people today then... What if I ask tomorrow, and they're busy or something, then I'd be screwed.' he thought.

Looking at his classmates in the elective, he saw fellow class 2B students in the back, Hana and Reiji's little groups. 'No way, I'm inviting them with all of the drama going on' he thought, 'I've stayed out of it this long.'

Closer to his seat were Kurenai, Rin, and Obito of Class 2A. 'Maybe I could invite them and Guy to dango or something before Guy and I go train, they all know each other... that would be fine, right?'

During a break in Tagi-sensei's riveting lecture on treating elemental jutsu injuries, Hayase leaned over to Rin, Obito, and Kurenai and whispered, "Is there any chance that you all would want to go get dango after class with Guy and me?"

Almost immediately, Obito looked like he was going to refuse, "What, why wou-" *Thud* But, Hayase suspected that his objection was interrupted but less than subtle Rin stomping on his foot before he could metaphorically put it into his mouth.

In a hushed reply, Rin said, "Yeah, that sounds fun, what do you think Kurenai? You should try to get Asuma to join?" Adding the latter part with a teasing tone.

"Mhm, I like the sound of that... Is that alright?"

"Yeah, the more the merrier," replied Hayase.

***30 minutes Later***

As class ended, Hayase stood up and said, "Why don't we meet by the gates? I need to go grab Guy before he runs off to tell him the plan."

Rushing through the halls like the wind, Hayase weaved throw scores of students shuffling out of classrooms on their way home. Guy was enrolled in advanced taijutsu and additional conditioning for his electives so that meant he was probably already outside.

By some degree of good fortune, Guy had stuck around a little longer than normal for the taijutsu elective. Apparently, something that the sensei had said about practicing the same kicks to perfection being more important than merely practicing a bunch of kinds of punches and kicks and that idea really stuck with him.

"243.. 244.. 245.." grunted Guy as he repetitively performed roundhouse kicks. Such was the scene as Hayase approached him from the academy.

'All it takes is the right phrase to set him off on a training montage,' thought Hayase before interrupting Guy's routine to say, "Hey Guy, I invited some of your classmates to come to get dango with us. Feel like joining before our afternoon workout?"

"246... That sounds great! 247! Now? 248..." replied Guy unrelenting on his training.

"Yeah, once they get to the gate, we'll go somewhere I guess."

"250.. Great! 251... 252..." Guy grunted out.

As Hayase sat under a nearby tree to wait, he reflected on Kanae's three tasks for him. Hanging out with people would surely be the easiest one. 'Trying to ice bend again and then journaling about it...' he thought with a sigh, 'Sounds like some kind of awful creative writing prompt.'

The last one... Doing just the hand signs didn't sound so bad. It was what it was building towards that triggered his anxiety. Even now, he could feel phantom pains in his lungs just thinking about the water bullet jutsu.

Sometimes, he wished life was really as simple as mind over matter, like with his bending. Although Hayase knows his fears are unreasonable, it doesn't stop the trauma from seizing control at times.

[AN: Some fics show super-rational MCs and that's not really what I plan to do here. He'll still be smart, but he'll have emotions and need to grow like a person. I think it's way more interesting to think about a world of emotions and chakra where the mental state could have huge consequences if it also affects their chakra.]

'Even if I know that it's 'just' trauma or my emotions holding me back... there's no magic switch in my brain that fixes everything,' Hayase found himself thinking, 'And if I believe Kanae-san, then it sounds like most shinobi deal with a version of this eventually.'

A couple of minutes later, the group had gathered outside the gate and Guy had cleaned himself off at Hayase's urging. Although Guy saw nothing wrong with going around the village covered in sweat, Hayase knew the looks that he would earn from his classmates and villages.

Finally, all together, Rin asked, "So where are we going? Did you have somewhere in mind, Hayase?"

"Um... I've actually never had dango hahaha" chuckled Hayase awkwardly, "I was hoping to get recommendations." Unsurprisingly, his comments earned him an immediate sweatdrop from the whole group.

Chiming in, Obito commented, "Baka! You don't even know if you like Dango and you organized this whole thing?"

Elbowing Obito, Rin responded, "Well I'm sure we can pick one out. Does anyone have any suggestions?"

After some silence, Asuma, who had been brought along awkwardly by Kurenai, suggested, "There's a new shop a couple of blocks away that I went to with my mom... we could try there."

Hearing no other suggestions, Hayase said, "Alright works for me.. let's go before it gets too late."

On the walk over, their group of six (Hayase, Guy, Obito, Rin, Kurenai, and Asuma) broke into smaller groups as they walked. Kurenai and Rin trailed behind leaving the boys to follow Asuma's lead to the shop.

"So uh Asuma... what do you like to do for fun?" Hayase asked in what he regarded as a painful attempt to make small talk.

Whether he thought it was weird or not, Asuma had the courtesy not to mention it at least. Instead, he simply replied, "Nothing much... when I'm not being forced to train, I mostly try to sneak around the Hokage quarters I guess. Ya know, see how long it takes before an anbu stops me. That kind of thing. Other than that, I just hang out around the village. What about you?"

"Uh, I mostly train I guess, but that's pretty fun. Guy and I train most evenings," replied Hayase, "This is sort of me trying to do more fun stuff, trying out dango and everything."

"Yeah! Tousan, Hayase, and I train every night!" Guy said as he threw out a few mock punches, "Nothing is more fun than that!"

Remembering something, Asuma suddenly asked, "By the way, I remember the water jutsu that you used at the beginning of the year. What do you call that? I haven't seen water jutsu like that before."

"Oh I call it water bending actually," replied Hayase, "it's kinda my personal thing"

"That's so cool! Your own personal jutsu! I want to invent my own jutsu one day," stated Asuma with a daydreaming look in his eyes, "I mentioned your water jutsu to my dad. He was pretty impressed! I guess even his sensei couldn't do something like that at our age!"

It was that comment that caught Obito's attention, the Hokage enthusiast. "His sensei?" asked Obito.

"Yeah, the second Hokage. I guess even though he was known for his water jutsu talent. It was different from what Hayase does," replied Asuma, "whatever that means... Tousan didn't really explain. Do you know what he means Hayase?"

"I'm not sure... I still don't fully understand my ability that well," Hayase said while thinking, 'I'm not sure if it's a fair comparison. I can't even imagine what the Tobirama would have been capable of with water bending... he might have been unstoppable.'

Finally, they reached the dango shop, a little hole in the wall, named Kimi's Dango Shop. When they arrived, Hayase waited for everyone else to order first before deciding on a classic mitarashi dango (dumpling coated in sweet soy sauce glaze).

As they all got seated around a small table outside the shop, Hayase wasn't quite sure what to say. However, knowing the dangers of jumping right into talking to either Kurenai or Rin with Asuma and Obito around, Hayase knew he should try to chat with them first to avoid any misunderstandings.

If his past life's memories of sitcoms taught him anything, it was how easily kids could blow things out of proportion when it came to their crushes.

'One misstep and, for all I know, I could end up being their eternal nemesis in love or something,' Hayase joked internally.

"Hey Obito, I'm curious... why'd you sign up for the medical-nin elective?" Hayase asked about it as naturally as he could.

Scratching the back of his head, Obito replied, "Ummmm... What kind of future Hokage would I be if I couldn't patch up my friends, ya know? What about you? why aren't you doing advanced taijutsu with Guy or something?"

"I guess, I just want to eventually learn medical jutsu. I got to see firsthand just how helpful it is recently so... anyway," replied Hayase not wanting to dive any further in, "I almost took the advanced taijutsu class, but Abe-sensei promised to help me with my taijutsu in my sessions with him."

"What sessions?" asked Obito, clearly confused.

"Oh. Instead of another elective, I meet with Abe-sensei each day and we work on stuff related to my water bending..." Hayase replied somewhat awkwardly.

"What!" exclaimed Obito as he turns to his classmates, "You're getting one-on-one tutoring at the academy! How is that fair?"

At Obito's point, Hayase could see the others, excluding Guy, feeling similarly. "Well I mean, I guess it might be unfair, but it's not like the academy is meant to be that fair anyway..." he replied, "I mean you all are in the A-track, how is that fair to us in the B-track. Do you all work that much harder than those of us in class 2B?"

At that, Asuma jumped in and said, "Yeah, but tracks are set up like that since not every student learns at the same speed!"

"Yeah, exactly! It's about matching the learning environment to the students. My situation isn't any different," Hayase replied before anyone else could jump in, "None of the electives would actually help me understand my water bending and the village wants to understand what my ability is almost as much as I do."

Sighing, Asuma seems to understand the point that Hayase is making even though he doesn't 100% agree with preferential treatment since he responds with a reluctant nod. Meanwhile, Obito is understandably still frustrated. As an orphan himself, essentially abandoned by the Uchiha clan, Obito would kill for the additional help that Hayase was getting at the academy. Asuma may be getting extra help at home, but Obito's grandma couldn't help train him so the academy instructors were all he had to rely on.

Guy, on the other hand, was aware of how hard Hayase had trained with him so he never thought anything of his potential being recognized by the academy. More difficult to read were the reactions of Rin and Kurenai who both seemed conflicted.

Luckily, the situation was defused by their food arriving. Each of them had ordered a skewer of dango. The sweet smell wafted through the air and set them all in a better mood or at the very least distracted them enough.

Unable to contain their hunger as they smelt the sweet odor of the fresh dango, the salivating students quickly devoured the desserts. Hayase, upon eating his first dango, was faintly reminded of glazed donuts in his previous life. However, the sweet sauce glaze and the chewy savoriness of the dumplings were truly their own unique experience.

'Damn, I'm going to need to be careful with my wallet... I could easily see myself blowing a lot of my money on this,' thought Hayase as he savored the newfound oral experience and time seemed to stop. However, his culinary ruminations were broken by a faint giggle by one of his classmates so he opened his eyes to see Kurenai and Rin giggling at him for some reason.

After Hayase felt sufficiently embarrassed, Rin finally spoke up between giggles, "How's your first dango? pft... Seemed like you liked it"

Confused, Hayase replied, "Hah.. was it that obvious?"

And of course, this is where Guy chimed in, "Haha, I've only ever seen you smile like that during our spars!"

Under his breath, Obito could be heard saying, "Great, another training maniac and weirdo..."

Rin, speaking over Obito's comment, said, "You're normally so serious in class... it was pretty funny to see your face change so suddenly just from eating food! I've never seen anything like it!"

Now, Kurenai joined in as well, "Yeah! Any other food that you haven't tried? We should try out some more things!"

"Ah, I don't know if my wallet could handle eating out anymore today... maybe later. And I don't know how I feel about being the entertainment..." he replied clumsily.

"Boo! Don't be lame," Kurenai commented with a pout.

Fortunately, Guy interjected with his signature smile and said, "Hayase and I will actually need to get going soon to start our afternoon training anyway. We can't stick around much longer."

Nodding in thanks to Guy's comment, Hayase said, "Yeah, we should definitely do this again, but we can't keep Duy-san waiting," as he started standing up.

With their farewells said, Guy and Hayase left their classmates at the dango shop. Unfortunately for Obito who started having delusions of a double date, the get-together was soon called off and the group dispersed.

***Later that Night - Hayase's Apartment***

After another long training session with Duy and Guy, Hayase was stretching out his muscles at home. He had built up the habit of making sure to stretch for about 30 minutes before bed after he realized just how sore he would be after his workouts without it.

Fortunately, the stretching and yoga poses also had the added benefit of promoting his flexibility which he had started to realize was holding back his water bending and taijutsu. Smooth powerful movements from any position required that he be more flexible than the average shinobi. Unfortunately, flexibility was never something that he had overly focused on until recently.

As he stretched though, he had time to reflect on his day. Kanae, that crafty old Yamanaka, had led him by the nose during their whole interaction. She controlled the whole situation and it felt like she could see into his head before he even opened his mouth.

'She hasn't even looked at my memories yet, and I'm already in the palm of her hand,' he thought bitterly.

However, at the same time, he felt conflicted because he felt like she was being honest about her thoughts and knew that her help might be his only chance at overcoming his issues before graduating.

As Hayase switched to reaching for his toes, he thought about the tasks that the experienced torturer and therapist had given him. 'I had completed the first task... Should I try to journal about how it feels to ice bend tonight?' thought Hayase with unease, 'Maybe just a little bit of ice.. an ice cube or two. Nothing major... that should be enough for her, right?'

After he finished stretching, Hayase grabbed a small glass of water and the scroll that Kanae had given him so he could write down his thoughts. Steeling himself, he sat cross-legged in the middle of his apartment.

As he began resonating his chakra with the water, Hayase found the same comfortable feeling that he normally felt. The water felt like an extension of his will as it floated between his palms. However, as he began lowing the temperature of the water, he found himself repeating the same phrase over and over in his mind like a mantra, 'I'm safe, I'm not in danger... I'm safe, I'm not in danger..' and so on.

As the water slowly cooled, Hayase could feel a cold presence slowly growing stronger in his body. Like an echo, the cold reverberated through his chakra. Even if it wasn't a physical cold, the feeling quickly brought out his past life's memories of slowly dying in the icy river and, with those memories, phantom feelings of death slowly creeping in.

Hayase's mind was a cruel beast to him, running rampant when reminded of the cold touch of death. It was precisely his fear of death that drove him to panic. The cold seemed to be its harbinger... unstoppable... uncontrollable. Even though Hayase knew that could control the ice, he didn't feel like he was the one in control.

Without bringing the water all the way to freezing, the cold already had such an effect on him so paused his efforts to write down his experiences. Finding the right words was tough at times, but there was something satisfying about having written them down.

As he read his description of the experience, he felt a little bit more distance from the experience than when he had written it down. 'I guess that's probably the point,' thought Hayase, 'I've been so up in my head about this... seeing it written down sort of lets me look at it a little more objectively. It's definitely not enough, but maybe it's something..'

Emotionally exhausted but hopeful that his effort would be enough to satisfy Kanae's assignment, Hayase laid down for the night. As he fell asleep, he found himself thinking of interactions with his classmates again, their jokes at his expense. It felt nice to do something other than train...

***Hayase's Notes for the Next Day***

Reflections on Conditioning

- Felt much better today. Managed to pull ahead of Kojima in the endurance training today! Training with Guy seems to be paying off!

Class: History

- Started learning about some of the Third Hokage's early achievements in the First Great Shinobi War after Tobirama died.

- Lord Third's battles against the other Kages established Konoha wasn't weak despite losing another of its founders.

Class: Chakra Theory and Shinobi Tactics

- Continued discussion of elemental jutsu with the added discussion of combination jutsu!

- More commonly used in war, combination jutsu involves shinobi each using compatible elemental jutsu to produce a more powerful result like combining wind and fire or lighting and water.

- Note to self: Maybe I should learn a lightning release jutsu in the future to combine with my water bending in the future for the added shock factor...

Reflections on Taijutsu Spars

- I think I'm starting to hit the limits for how much I can adapt the leaf kata to suit my needs. I was able to beat Kojima today, but I'll probably need to start developing my own style that actually suits me if I want to beat him more consistently without using water bending.

- Note to Self: Talk to Abe-sensei about creating a new style (maybe based on something in my memories...) to give me the added lethality that he was saying that I needed.

*** End Notes***

While his classmates left for lunch, Hayase decided to exercise the tried and true skill of loners everywhere. 'Loner style jutsu: slip away unnoticed!' he joked to himself as he left for his usual meeting spot with Abe-sensei who was busy answering student questions.

'Nothing beats avoiding drama and unnecessary chatter...' thought Hayase as he walked down the halls, lunch in hand. Once outside, Hayase sat down under the sun to enjoy his wrap. To save money, he had once again started buying tofu again as cheap protein since he hadn't been able to fish as much anymore.

At this point, he was actually looking forward to the survival exercise in a couple of weeks if only because it would give him a chance to stock up on protein by hunting and fishing. As an academy student, his ability to leave the village was heavily regulated and the village's limited food supplies meant that they took overfishing and overhunting nearby areas very seriously.

The survival exercise, though, would give him a free pass to hunt and fish as much as he wanted and he planned to take advantage of it. Dreaming of the mountains of smoked meat that he could bring home with him in a few weeks, Hayase's mouth began watering and the wrap no longer felt as appetizing.

"I hope I'm not interrupting," said Abe, very much interrupting.

"Ah sensei... I was just.. um," muttered Hayase stumbling over his words.

"Don't worry about it... It looked like you were enjoying your food," Abe said with a smirk.

Under his breath, Hayase said, "Why is everyone making fun of how I eat all of sudden?"

Ignoring Hayase's mutterings, Abe-sensei commented, "Well so today I thought we could practice your dodging like I talked about... if you're feeling up to it after yesterday. I know Kanae can be difficult to deal with at times."

"Yesterday went alright... She.. um gave me some homework to do before my meeting with her tomorrow. She actually told me to have you walk me through the hand signs for the water bullet jutsu... without attempting it," Hayase replied somewhat faltering at the end.

With a sigh, Abe said, "Well, I guess we can postpone dodging practice for another day... You don't want to end up on Kanae's bad side. You already saw what happened to me yesterday, and I'd say I'm barely on her bad side despite everything."

Remembering the absolute beating that the old Yamanaka had dished out with her shoe, Hayase found it hard to believe that Abe was only barely on her bad side. But then again, Hayase thought, 'I guess she is a professional torturer, interrogator, and therapist plus a master of mind jutsu. The fact that she could easily screw up someone permanently without killing them is more terrifying than most jutsu even if she's just a granny.'

Shivering at what the old Yamanaka might be capable of, Hayase said, "Yeah, I'd rather not find out what would happen if I don't complete all of the assignments."

"Alright, even though I don't use water jutsu much myself, by the time you're chunin, you usually pick up a couple of basic elemental jutsu to help out on the battlefield," Abe sensei stated plainly, "Personally, I picked up the Water Bullet Jutsu after seeing what multiple fire jutsu could do to a squad in a forest when no one knows any water jutsu..."

Pausing with a distant look on his face, Abe-sensei pulled himself back and continued soon after, "You'll find that sort of thing is a common story... so it's usually best not to ask why someone learned a particular jutsu... Anyway, as you probably know, the hand signs for the jutsu are Tiger → Ox → Tiger → Rat. Take it slow and just go through the hand signs."

[AN: In the original first chapter, I copied down the wrong hand signs. This should match what is on the naruto fandom website now. I'll go back and correct the first chapter after I publish this chapter.]

Watching his sensei closely, Hayase took a breath, 'Alright... Tiger → Ox → Tiger → Rat, I can do this... I don't even need to mold my chakra.'

'Tiger → Ox → ...'

As Hayase slowly made the hand signs, he found himself recalling both Shinji's image before he hit him with the jutsu and his failed attempt at the jutsu. However, he reminded himself that he wasn't actually trying the jutsu yet and continued.

'... → Tiger → Rat'

"Good, now let's try speeding it. To use it in battle, you'll need to get used to making the hand signs faster," instructed Abe.

*** Ten minutes later ***

From there, making the hand signs slowly became more and more automatic for Hayase as he repeated them over and over. The memories slowly began fading into the background as he focused entirely on just speeding up how fast he made the hand signs.

"Alright... Initially, I was worried that we were going to need to just practice hand signs all session, but why don't we make things interesting? What do you say, Hayase?" Asked Abe-sense with a mischievous glint in his eyes.

Weary of his sensei's idea, Hayase replied, "Make it interesting how?"

"Why don't combine hand sign practice with dodging practice? I'll grab some blunted shuriken that third years use to train for shuriken-jutsu spars and you'll try completing the hand signs while dodging the shuriken."

"I don't know, sensei..." replied Hayase while thinking to himself, 'I bet he's just bored watching me practice.'

"Come on, you'll never get to just stand still and weave hand signs in combat. The sooner you start practicing realistic hand sign weaving, the better," Abe-sense argued, making a decent case.

Unable to disagree with his sensei's logic and knowing the value of multitasking, Hayase finally agreed, "Alright Abe-sensei, Let's do this."

"Excellent! I'll be right back!" Abe said before disappearing with a quick body flicker.

A couple of minutes later, he reappeared with two buckets full of shuriken that left Hayase feeling uneasy. 'That's a lot more shuriken than I thought he would be getting," Hayase thought in a panic, 'Maybe I shouldn't have agreed to this...'

"Alright! Let's get started! By the way, if you mess up the hand signs while dodging, then you'll get punished as well so watch out!" Abe declared with a smirk

"Wait, what do you me-" Hayase begin asking only to be cut off by a shuriken whizzing by his head.

"I'm not seeing any hand signs, Hayase..."

Rolling to the side, Hayase tried to keep weaving hand signs, 'Tiger → Ox...' only to suddenly feel a shuriken hit his back. 'Dammit! When did he get behind me? He's using the body flicker jutsu for this exercise?!?!' thought Hayase.

With his hand signs interrupted, Hayase suddenly felt a punch to the top of his head [AN: think Garp-style fist of love] and he heard Abe-sensei saying, "Got to keep the hand signs going kid even if you get hit, kid!"

As Hayase rubbed his head, he muttered, "Ow! Dammit, are you gonna do that every time that I mess up? This is child abuse!"

"If you manage to dodge it, then I won't do it... so maybe try doing that," his sadistic sense replied.

"Tch! Bastard sensei-" *whoosh* another shuriken whizzed by, this time dangerously close to Hayase's family jewels.

"Hmm, what was that? I didn't quite hear you. I couldn't hear you over the sound of you not practicing." Abe-sensei said as he leaned forward feigning ignorance.

For the remainder of the session, Hayase tried his best to weave the water bullet jutsu hand signs while enduring his sensei's assault from all sides. Just when Hayase thought he had figured out a pattern to his sensei's shuriken attacks, Abe would mix it up, adding a second or third shuriken. He even used a shadow clone at one point to throw a shuriken from Hayase's blindspot. That one, in particular, left a mark when it hit the small of his back.

By the end, Hayase had almost completely forgotten about his initial fears about weaving the hand signs. Those fears had instead been replaced by new rational ones. Constantly looking over his shoulder as he weaved the hand signs in case Abe-sensei was about to attack, Hayase struggled to complete the hand signs most of the time which was frustrating, but the low rate of success was due mostly to Abe's interference rather than Hayase's lack of ability with the hand signs.

Whenever Hayase began to adapt, Abe would increase the difficulty of the dodging exercise to keep him from becoming too comfortable. As his sensei, Abe knew that Hayase needed to be pushed hard if he was going to be ready in time and he hoped that Hayase would forgive him if he was too harsh.

When the time came for Hayase to go to his medical-nin elective, he was left laying exhausted and bruised on the ground. 'Fucking Abe-sensei, this sadistic bastard...' thought Hayase, 'If I knew dodging practice was going to be a freaking tutorial in masochism, then I would have told him to fuck off!'