Spear & Shield

Spear & Shield
Chapter 10

It was three-fifteen PM.

Yasu’s bleary eyes opened to a cloudless blue sky. She remained perfectly still, allowing her senses to return slowly. Her breathing was ragged and a little painful at first. Her lungs were having a bit of difficulty, but the feeling was fading fast. The cool and rocky ground beneath her offered a bit of relief. Her head was still spinning and the edges of her vision were still a bit dark…

“Eh, Yasu-chan?”

The softest kiss of a breeze blew against her cheeks. She sighed into it, finally filling her lungs to capacity and fully regaining her full faculties.

“Gai-san…?”

A beaming smile shown down upon her, blocking the light of the sun above. Gai had materialized a paper fan, and was gently fanning her face. She rolled her head to the side, taking in their surroundings.

It was at that point she realized she was in a crater. 

A shallow one, but a crater nonetheless.

“Wow…” she breathed, brown eyes rolling upwards to her victor. “That was heavy.”

It seems that their little “spar” had gotten a bit out of control. Her plan all along had just been to tire him out… She should have known she could never beat him. 

He was truly an unrelenting Beast.

Gai looked nervous. He shuffled sideways to slump down beside her, arms resting over his knees. He looked much paler than she recalled, with heavy bags under his eyes all of a sudden. 

“Do… Do you feel okay?”

He sounded almost… shy? Afraid? She couldn’t find the right word.

Still laying flat on the ground, she  twitched her feet, wiggling her toes. She then did the same with her arms, wiggling her fingers. Her movements were stiff and slow, but she managed.

“I’m okay,” she grinned up at him, utterly punch-drunk and all too happy not to be dead.

She was sore, but not hurt. She’d have some bruising and scrapes, but that was okay. She was a bit tired, and more than a little disappointed in her defeat. Mostly, she was hungry. It was way past her lunchtime, after all. 

“I guess you win…” she added morosely after a minute or two of restful silence. 

To her surprise, Gai shook his head. She turned towards him, lifting up on her elbows to catch a glimpse of his face. He buried his head in his arms, rocking heavily with remorseful sobs, the fan still somehow going strong.

“I Am Deeply Sorry, My Most Wonderful Student!” he proclaimed, tears soaking over his sleeves. 

Yasu glanced around their lovely little crater as he wallowed. Last time she saw him like this was at the new training ground barracks. What happened this time? Did he put a hole through the hospital? Take the roof off Hokage Tower? Turn the Academy into a pile of rubble?

Bits of gravel rolled off her as she dislodged herself from the crater. Yasu heaved herself up beside Gai, noting how his massive frame was shaking with sobs. 

“Gai-san…” she reached out a tentative hand.

The second she made contact with his shoulder, his head snapped up. “Reverse Lotus is a forbidden technique! I vowed I would only use it in dire circumstances!”

Yasu took a moment to take in Gai’s tear-stained face and runny nose. And she realized that this pathetic, sobbing mess of tears had just knocked her into a literal crater. Rather effortlessly, she might add.

She had gone all-out in their fight. She fought her best, pulled out every combat maneuver she knew of, and he still K.O.ed her into the dirt.

“A forbidden technique, eh?” a grin began to stretch over her face. “I suppose not many of your opponents have survived it.”

“I didn’t mean to--” 

“Mah, mah… I guess your ‘youthful spirit’ got the better of you.” 

She tried to calm him with a soft smile. To her satisfaction, his blubbering quieted to a sniffle.

Yasu was rarely the proud type, especially when it came to her shinobi skills. She knew enough to get by, and that was it. She was a ninja because she made the choice to be one at the tender age of six. She followed her older brothers to the academy (much to her mother’s dismay) and stuck with it. She was decent for her level, but nothing extraordinary. By the time she had realized being a shinobi was not really what she wanted, she had no idea how to get out of it.

Yet here she was, going toe-to-toe with Konoha’s legendary Green Beast. She may have lost, but it was a damn good fight.

“Ushi Yasu, you do not understand!” he continued to plead. “I have broken a sacred warrior vow!”

His reluctant companion only shrugged, settling back on the ground to rest her aching bones. A soft smile stayed in place with no effort on her part. “No one’s ever hit me that hard before,” her hands settled behind her head as she watched the clouds roll by. “It was a good fight, too. I haven’t had a chance to spar like that in a while.”

Gai was far from done with his wailing, “What will my students think of their beloved sensei now?!” He continued to groan and sob, declaring that he would do ten-thousands one-handed push-ups in penance.

“Ah,” she sighed, “I guess this means I’m your student now, too.”

She lost fair and square. Looks like her pest problem wouldn’t be going away. Maybe she could bribe the Hokage to send him on a year-long mission somewhere far away… Across the ocean, maybe?

“Eh?” he finally turned towards her, tears still glittering in his eyes. “... You mean it?”

She quirked an eyebrow up at him, still perplexed by his rapidly changing moods. “Well, yeah… I lost.” The word had to be forced from her throat. “And we both agreed to the terms of the bet.”

“Yosh!” he whispered in awe, staring at her like she was something wonderful. 

“But,” she added pointedly. “I have some conditions.”

“Yes!” Gai cheered, that shining smile back in place. His tone turned hopeful, “Anything you want, Yasu-chan!”

Her eye twitched. She did not understand this man, and she was beginning to doubt she ever would. “Your lessons can’t get in the way of my work. If I’m on a mission-- even one in the village-- you have to leave me alone. Okay?”

“Agreed!”

“My job is very important to me. So no more ambushing me while I’m at work, alright?”

He was still crying, but smiling now, too. “A Most Exquisite and Noble Calling for such a Delicate Konoha Flower!”

Yasu pursed her lips. She hefted herself off the ground, brushing away the dirt and dust that clung to her clothes. She turned to Gai, still curled up in the dirt, and offered him a hand.

There was a look of pure relief when he took it. Her hands were smaller than his, and rather warm. He felt callouses along the pads of her palm, and knew they were proof of long hours and hard work. 

She stared at him, assessing for any damage. As she had originally thought, she barely left a mark on him. 

It seems he was assessing her as well, “Are you sure you’re alright, Yasu-chan? I can take you to the hospital if you need it.”

Yasu merely rolled her eyes and cocked her hip, “I told you, Gai-sensei, I’m tough.”

Gai’s heart fluttered at the word “sensei.”

“I’ll be fine. Nothing a nice dinner and a good night’s sleep won’t fix.” As if on cue, she yawned widely. Perhaps she could convince Saburo to buy her dinner. He owed her after drinking her beer, after all. Or maybe Ichiro had some leftover specials from the teahouse. She’d go to bed early tonight and get a fresh start tomorrow. This week’s assessments were due soon. Plus the renovations on the Academy… And her father had a private job on the Hyuuga compound he needed help with…

“I should let you rest then,” Gai conceded, still bubbling with pride. “I look forward to our training, Yasu-chan!”

“Yeah… See you soon, Gai-sensei.”