Spear & Shield

Spear & Shield
Chapter 2

The last brick was laid in perfect alignment. The roof tiles gleaned in their novelty, reflecting the beating late-afternoon sun like a line of soldiers ready for battle. Everything was perfect.

“...And Now You Shall Face the True Ferocity of Youthful Power!” a voice shouted in the distance. 

“ Lotus kick--! ”

'Yare-yare…’ Yasu sighed inwardly, sounding all too much like her father. She knew having the new barracks so close to the training grounds was practical, but it certainly ruined the atmosphere. 

“Eh, Gai… I think you're--”

The deafening sound of a hurricane-wind hit Yasu with enough force to knock her off balance. She stumbled into the side of her pristine creation, scuffing the grout ever so slightly. She wailed inwardly at the mark, but her lamentations were cut short at the reflexive realization that wind was only the prelude to a larger attack. A shadow passed over the sun, steadily growing larger against the wall beside her.

Chakra surged to the balls of her feet and she planted herself between the incoming projectile and the building, arms raised to block whatever it was flying towards her.

The sole of a man's sandal hit her forearms, sending her sliding back a few inches, heels digging into the dirt and leaving two small trenches beneath her feet, burying her ankle-deep in the ground. A shockwave rattled along her bones, running from her toes and skull like an electric shock. She had braced the attack perfectly, absorbing the impact. The barracks were spared a direct hit…

But as any good shinobi knows, aftershocks can be just as damaging.

Roof tiles unhinged, a few flying off completely. The façade windows cracked, nearly shattering. The step under the door dislodged from the earth, awkwardly sitting at a painful-looking angle.

Yasu's breath left her at once, a silent scream being her response to the utter devastation inflicted on her latest project. She didn't notice the two awe-struck jounin behind her. 

'It's ruined!! ’ she wailed internally.

“Ushi-san…?” the masked one asked tentatively.

“My… my attack,” gasped his partner. “I lost control of the momentum, I could have killed her!” The mortification he felt was apparent in his voice and face. “I could have taken her head clean off!” He fell to his knees, hands clenched at his scalp in horror. 

The dramatics were at the behest of his companion, whom at his point was unaffected by such displays. “She took that hit straight-on,” he commented thoughtfully, reaching into his pocket to pull out a colorful paperback. “Rather impressive, eh?”

“No… no, no, no, no!” Yasu continued to cry, woefully picking up what was left of the door. 

“Miss, I must apologize!” Gai declared, dropping flat to the ground in the most humble of bows. “My attack was reckless and unintentional. As punishment, I shall run one thousand laps around the village-- backwards and barefoot! I beg your forgiveness!”

Finally, Yasu turned to acknowledge the two. A confused expression flashed over her face as if she had only just realized they were there at all, counter to the fact one had just kicked her.

“...Are you alright, Ushi-san?” Kakashi asked, not really sounding all that concerned. “That was quite the hit you took.”

“Eh?” she paused. “No, it's alright… I'm fine.” Her features fell dark and lamenting, “My building's not…”

Gai gave another horrified gasp. “Have I damaged your home? I will pay for the damages immediately! And will stand on one leg atop Hokage tower for seven days straight!”

“I think what my friend here is trying to say,” Kakashi placed a heavy hand atop Gai's head to prevent him from throwing himself into another bow, “Is that he’s sorry for the accident and will make any necessary repairs himself.”

Yasu frowned at the pair, her eyes shifting from one to the other with cautious suspicion. “No… No, that’s alright. It was an accident. These things happen, but please try to be more careful next time. I only just finished construction earlier this morning,” her aggravated tone betrayed the kindness of her words.

At this point, Gai was openly weeping, “What have I done to deserve the forgiveness of a beautiful flower of Konoha!”

Turning away with a sigh, Yasu began to gently kick the dislodged front step back into place. 

“What a mess… What kind of ‘training’ were you two doing, anyway? That kick was pretty intense.” Her arms were a little sore… there was a slight red mark where he had made contact, but not enough to leave a bruise. Still, it hurt a little.

Kakashi’s eye slowly slid away from the text of his book, dropping to the ground in a way one may interpret as 'contrite.' “We were chopping wood, actually.”

Yasu paused, “Excuse me?”

“Yes!” Gai leapt to his feet and all evidence of previous groveling was gone. “My rival and I were in the midst of a heated competition!”

“A competition?” she deadpanned.

Kakashi seized a moment before Gai could exposit the long and nonsensical nature of their so-called ‘rivalry.’  “We honestly weren’t aware this building was here when we started training. I don't remember seeing it before.”

“Mah,” Yasu shrugged, “It only went into construction a few days ago. The Hokage made a formal announcement, but I don’t think anyone was really paying attention… It’s just new public housing; buildings like these don’t take very long to erect. We chose this location because it was conveniently next to training grounds.” Her finger ran along a deep chip in the brickwork, “...But that probably wasn’t a good idea. I’ll have to ask Hokage-sama for an extension before officially opening it.”

“I really am sorry,” Gai said, dropping his characteristic bravado. “You put a lot of hard work into this.”

Wordlessly, Yasu reached into the pack on her belt and retrieved a scroll. It was worn down, with tiny tears along the edges. The paper itself had yellowed with age with a thin coat of dirt staining the creases. She opened it, channeled her chakra, and an array of tools appeared in a cloud of smoke. Looking at the tools, it was obvious some were probably older than she was. 

“Hopefully the foundation wasn't damaged. It will take a day or two, but… I can fix it. The cement won’t be dry, though.”

"It's fixable?" Gai sounded hopeful.

“I best leave you to it, then!” Kakashi said cheerfully just before warping away from the area entirely, totally abandoning Gai. 

The later ninja took a moment to gawk at Kakashi’s uncouth exit, but Yasu didn’t react whatsoever. Still remorseful, Gai stood up and walked over to the neat arrangement of tools. 

“Please, let me help,” he beseeches her. “I don’t know what to do, but I am very fast, I can help you fix the damage quickly."

She regarded him with a beleaguered expression, but nodded nonetheless. "Gather up the tiles that came loose. We'll need to replace a few, but some should be salvageable."

Gai’s face brightened slightly as he went about his task at usual speed, but only half-enthusiasm. Truth be told, this wasn’t necessarily the first time he had to help repair damage caused by his and Kakashi’s rivalry. He felt embarrassed over his careless mistake, and genuinely sorry that he had caused trouble at all. 

Yasu, however, had already run out of energy to be annoyed with him. She all but forgot the incident that had occurred just moments ago, and fell back into her usual demeanor.

“You’re Maito Gai, right?” she asked casually over her shoulder.

Gai paused, reaching down to add another tile to the heaping pile in his arms. “Yes, I am Maito Gai.”

“Nice to meet you,” she gave him something between a grimace and a smile, “My name is Ushi Yasu.” 

What Gai did not know was that he had met Ushi Yasu a total of four times before... He forgot her every time.

Despite his usual cluelessness, he was wise enough to know that her polite greeting was obviously forced, yet appreciated it nonetheless. “Ushi-san,” he grinned back, gently dropping the roof tiles beside her. 

“Ah. You are fast,” she sounded pleased, picking up one tile to inspect it for cracks. “Thank you for staying to help. I’ll be here all night, otherwise.”

“Of course!” he exclaimed, “I was the cause of the damage, after all… And I’m still very sorry.”

Yasu picked up a strange-looking trowel, digging it between two bricks to pop a broken one out of the wall. “No worries, Maito-san. It’s just a building… No one was hurt.”

Again, Gai paused. His eyes slid down to her profile, “Yes… You endured my hit quite well. That was one of my most powerful attacks. I wouldn’t be able to forgive myself if I had harmed you directly.”

To his surprise, she laughed at that, “Mah, don’t worry about me.” She smiled up at him, "I'm very tough."

Ignoring the slight flush that rose to his cheeks, Gai gave her another enthusiastic salute, "I expect nothing less from a Beautiful Flower of Konoha!"

Yasu snorted, jamming a brick back into place. A few good whacks and it nestled right in. Then she began to laugh, "'Beautiful Flower?'" she echoed, "That's a new one." Gai opened his mouth to ask what she meant, but she cut him off, "Could you hand me another nail, Maito-san?"

The two worked until dusk had come and gone, stars beginning to twinkle in the night sky. Yasu stepped away from her project, hands on her hips and a satisfied smile on her face. "It looks good. Great job, Maito-san!"

Gai was so overcome with impassioned sentiment from her praise, he nearly forgot the fact that it was his fault for the building being damaged in the first place.

"Yosh!" he agreed, teary-eyed. "Thank you, Ushi-san!"

"Everything should be settled in a day or so. I'll let the Hokage know in the morning." The scroll containing her tools disappeared back into her pouch. She stretched and yawned before turning to her companion for the last time. "Thank you again for your assistance," she bowed politely. 

"Maybe I'll see you around, Maito-san."

"... You as well, Ushi-san." There was an edge of disappointment as he watched her turn away, walking in the opposite direction. She cast one final wave over her shoulder before disappearing into the tree line.