Continue.








I'll become perfect!




Breathing still...

Pounding breaths hit Inoshi's chest like hammers. His legs were bent at the knees, eyes wide and focused on the ground around him. Clouds of ash spewed up from earth around him. Each stream of smoke bent with the wind, being pushed over the gaping edge of the cliff. Inoshi's back was not but a few meters from the cliff's edge. And yet he was still on such guard. A kunai rested in his hands, held backwards. Loosely cared for hair fell tussled about his head. A shirt made of thin fabric, without sleeves covered his torso, though it was stained with dirt. A section on his left side was cut clean through, with blood staining it. The young child's panting looked desperate. Dirt covered his face, as well as a thin film of sweat. A small, thin cut made a clear strike over his cheek, a small droplet of blood dripping down it like a tear.

The stillness lasted for too long before Inoshi's eyes widened. The slight crackling of fire, something that he had gotten used too over time. He knew the destructive noise it made. It was unmistakable. Leaping forward, he avoided a straight blast of fire which burst through the ashen clouds. Instantly, his father was upon him, a kunai in his hand as well. Jumping through the smoke and dust's clearing, Shizu of the Yamanaka made a straight forward attack aimed at Inoshi. A small grunt, and the tiny body moved to avoid it once more. A clash of metal, and a spitting of sparks caused Inoshi to fall to the ground, sliding against the coarse gravel below.

"Get up!"

It came instantly, without any sympathy. Inoshi looked up with large, hurt eyes, glassy with almost formed tears. He could not obey, that was simply not possible. He had to live up to his father's expectation. He had to prepare for the life of a Shinobi, and keeping the name of the Yamanaka clan. He was, after all, the next in line to become the clan's head. His father had given him long lectures about the responsibility involved, as well as the secrets and potential power of the Yamanaka clan and their abilities. It was he who sparked Inoshi's interest in the first place, though Inoshi quickly learned much more than his father could have ever hope to learn of. Pushing off of the ground, Inoshi stood back up, his legs shaking as he tried to remain standing.

His father's scowl was what kept him moving. As it was he was weak. He was also too young to even enter the academy. But this was the life of the shinobi royalty. "If you want to have the edge, you'll have to work on your efficiency, Inoshi-kun!" Instantly, Shizu's hands formed together in a series of seals, his hands flying back and forth with trained speed. Inoshi looked on in awe as his fathers fingers fit like puzzle pieces through each other, perfectly interlocking into the correct hand seal, only to transfer back out into the next. He had never seen such speed from a shinobi. Inoshi's hands flung into position as well, but it was too late. Trying to complete a single set of hand seals, his father announced another fireball ninjutsu before launching it at his son. Inoshi leapt to the side, letting the large fireball crash into the earth once more, crushing its surface and shedding immense heat. Inoshi's body was touched by the shocking warmth, shoving him against a tree and then onto the ground once more. He had to get faster. Taking advantage of the smoke and havoc caused by the fireball, he skidded to a stop and began forming hand seals. His speed was much slower, however, and he was not fast enough to complete the hand seals before it was too late. A kunai came whizzing through the air, sharp, and aimed at his mid chest. Inoshi had only just barely enough time to dodge it, his frail body bouncing to the side in just the nick of time, the blade cutting a small line over his shoulder, causing the shirt to fall and hang down his arm slightly, revealing more of his neck and collar bone area.

He understood the message. He was still too slow. He would have to surpass everything in order to impress his father, and pass his tests. Breathing in, with minor annoyance and frustration, Inoshi looked on in wait. He could not give up. Whipping his hands together once more, he tried to form more seals. His father's voice coughed out that he was still not fast enough, before spitting a series of fire balls through the mist and smoke. Inoshi's eyes narrowed before he took evasive action, leaping over the incoming barrage of fire.

What he had start to understand was that shinobi were humans, too. Though, unlike normal humans, they had the effective and full meridian system, and thus chakra. It was what made them go above and beyond, unlocking supernatural powers and abilities. As it was, Shizu's speed came from experience and practice, but that was something any human could accomplish when given the needed years. Inoshi needed to find another way to accomplish the same task, only improve on it.

Throwing a single kunai in his father's direction, Inoshi followed the basic attack with a few shuriken, another kunai, and an explosive kunai, each spaced so that it would be quite the time commitment to avoid each one. Getting his feat back down on solid ground, he smiled, watching as Shizu flipped about in the dance of defense, deflecting the incoming attacks before turning and running at Inoshi with a drawn kunai in his hand. This was his chance. Inoshi put his hands together, allowing all of his chakra to flow through his body in a purifying way. He gradually equaled every stream within his meridian by pushing all of the chakra along at the same speed. He felt the chakra evening out, making him more still. Instantly, his hands shot into movement, repeating steps that he had already memorized and tried to perfect. His fingers seemed to move with more ease as the blazed in rapid succession of hand seals.

Shizu's eyes widened with recognition before he briskly stopped his momentum and darted to the side and launched an offensive with his own projectiles. A condensed gust of wind shot off of his body, knocking them to the ground - but it was too late, his father was upon him, sending a piercing kick to Inoshi's gut. It connected and ate through his stamina as well as defenses. But there was a surprise. As the kick seemed to crush through Inoshi's small chest, the body just broke apart and exploded into a cushion of water. Wincing as he realized he had attacked a water clone, Shizu regained his composure before turning around on the defensive, attempting to locate Inoshi.

Stepping out from behind a tree, Inoshi stood directly across from his father, looking at him with a determined face. His hands fit together in a seal already, and his father followed suite, placing his hands together. Each of the shinobi banished their hands into incredibly fast movement, trying to push themselves faster and faster, fingers becoming nothing but blurred shapes and whooshing colors. Inoshi finished first, his hands abruptly stopping before he spit a large torrent of water at his father, who responded with his own white hot fire attack. Even if Inoshi had not won that fight, he was never meant too, he had learned something much more valuable than the feeling of victory that day. He had gained one of the tools to actually get to victory.