Spear & Shield

Spear & Shield
Chapter 34

“Mom wants you to come home.”

The bored drawl of her youngest brother pulled Yasu out of the mindless fugue-state she had worked herself into. For a moment, she was in a stupor where she wasn’t quite sure what time it was. A sharp shake of her head snapped her out of it. “Eh? Why?” she responded, squinting up at the boy as he leant over the mountain ledge.

“Not you, dummy,” he scoffed, “I’m talking to Dad.”

Yasu scowled up at Goro with all her massive reservoirs of sisterly annoyance. He tilted his chin up higher to stare her down his nose.

“Yare-yare…” a sigh came from below, “Is it that time already?”

Both Ushi carvers turned to the sky, noticing for the first time that it had begun to dip below the horizon. The sky was cast in orange and pink, lighting up their workspace in a warm glow.

Yasu let out a sigh, releasing a tension in her shoulders she hadn't been aware she had been holding. 

Yasuchika’s hands were stiff and swollen as he packed away the last of his tools. His knuckles creaked painfully with every movement, the delicate bones in his hands crunching as his tendons snapped. It wasn’t quite to the point of agony, but he had been nearing his limit for a while now.

The pain was more frustrating than anything. He had to step back and allow Yasu to take over some of the more refined details in their work, unable to maintain his usual level of fine control. He could no longer trust himself to reach the perfection of his own standard… Luckily Yasu's refinement met his every quota. 

He regarded his only daughter with a pride he couldn’t quite equate to anything else. She had seamlessly taken on his requests, even when he had been harsh and demanding, slowly bleeding her own style into the stone. He had insisted perfection, and she delivered.

He climbed the scaffolding, pausing to hover over where she had continued working. "Will you be here late?" he asked gruffly, nearly awed by her sharp detail and perfectly smooth surfaces. 

The girl shrugged, "I'll finish what I'm doing here before I head out. Tomorrow's the last day, right?"

Yasuchika nodded, "That's the plan."

Yasu merely smiled up at him, her freckled cheeks sunkissed and smudged with dirt. 

Her father smiled back, hauling the last of his things up to his youngest to carry home.

He glanced down once more, watching the first light of dusk shine off her hitai-ate. 'What a waste…' he thought silently.

The percentage of retired Konoha shinobi was abysmally low, even after the war.  It was practically unheard of in Konoha for a ninja to willingly step down from their rank.

For clan shinobi, their career was a matter of pride, especially for the men. They would rather leave behind orphans and widows than step down from their post, something that was well accepted among the families. They acted as if their bloodline was what was most important, but it was truly their stubbornness. 

Yasuchika found it ridiculous. As a young newlywed with his first child on the way, he watched as the children of Konoha marched off to war. Glory and honor had been promised to them, and they wore it like a badge. They were told that servitude would lead to greatness.

Then they wouldn’t return. Only a small percentage of Konoha's army would return from the battlefield. More often than not, the children didn't make it.  Or if they did, they never shined like before.

Being outside of the shinobi community, Yasuchika often pondered just how much of a choice those children had. He always told his children they had a choice. They always had a choice. Still, one after the other, they picked up their knives and headbands, and went off to gods-know-where on some mission of the state. 

He remembered the look on his eldest son’s face when Yasuchika first suggested retirement. Ichiro had been dumbfounded, as if being discharged had never even occurred to the boy. They’re taught that the only way out was death. It never occurs to them to just… stop. Yasuchika knew there was more to it, but at the end of the day, being a ninja is just a job. A service for payment, nothing more than a contract between employer and employee. The thought used to make him roll his eyes. How could anyone throw away their whole life for a job?

Despite this, six out of six children had chosen the shinobi path. 

Above all others, he had hoped Yasu would be the one never to go down that path. She had potential as a kunoichi, sure, but she had more potential elsewhere. He was glad she took her shinobi career at a snail’s pace like his other children, but it wasn’t enough. She was his true successor, but he couldn’t force her into it. He wouldn’t be like those clans. He would not force them into servitude. He always let his children choose.

Yet he couldn't help but lament Yasu's choice to stay on active duty. Had she never chosen the shinobi path to begin with, he could have actually honed her talents. He would have sent her to the capital city for a proper apprenticeship instead of peppering in his projects and teaching between missions. If things had been different, he may have already handed over the family company, leaving it in her capable hands as he went off to enjoy his own retirement.

He thought about this as he watched her, the metallic taps of her hammer meeting chisel sounding like music to his ears. The sweat on her brow and stiffness in her shoulders brought on a tired smile from the old stone carver.

Yasu was working through the pain, just like he was, but her youth allowed her to persevere. He was very familiar with the ache she must have been feeling in her back, the soreness that went bone-deep. Small bits of blood had dried on the edges of her gloves from the blisters on her hands. 

He had yet to hear a single complaint from her (at least about her pain-- there had been plenty of complaints about his bossy demands), merely grunts and sighs as she silently endured. 

"Goodnight, Yasu," he called down.

"’Night, Dad."

"’Night," Goro echoed, heaving his father's tools over his shoulder.

“Night, Goro.” 

The hammering hadn’t even paused as she bid them good night. Her beat continued on, unfettered and steady as she dipped back into a blank mental state.

The pair hadn’t taken more than a step away from the monument when a breeze passed by, bringing with it the distinct smell of ozone.

Yasu froze, hammer still raised in the air and ready to strike. 

“Great Leaf Gale!!”

Instinct took over. 

Her tools clattered loudly against the scaffolding as she shot up into the air, jumping so high and so fast she hovered in the air for a single moment.

In that split second, Yasu intercepted the projectile intruder, aligning perfectly with their trajectory. 

She absorbed the direct hit with her hands, channeling all of her energy to controlling the natural shock. She was stunned at how chaotic the blow was, not at all like Gai’s precise strikes. It took all of her concentration to force the energy through her body, twisting mid-air to send it right back with a harsh strike to her opponent’s chest, sending them flying back the length of the cliff. Their body flew by the two other Ushi’s, moving too fast for them to see.

She finally landed, her feet landing silently a little ways off from her father. Yasu let the adrenaline wear off, wide-eyed and uncertain with how to react. She stared into the hole she had made treeline, waiting for a hulking figure to appear with a grin and a thumbs-up.

And while she did get a grin and a thumbs-up, it was from someone much smaller than who she expected.

“Yosh!” the teen cheered with enthusiasm. “Well-parried, Yasu-sempai!”

“Lee-san!” Yasu gasped, hands flying over her mouth to contain her horror. “You’re out of the hospital!”

Oh gods! She had just beat up a kid! Worse-- A kid who just got out of the hospital!

“Are you okay?” she shrieked, watching with disbelief as the teen jogged to stand in front of her.

“I am wonderful!” he told her with a beaming grin, “I have been cleared for ‘light duty!’”

“Emphasis on the ‘light.’” a voice called from behind them. “Lee, we talked about this.”

Yasu spun to see the two other members of Team Gai trekking up the outlook stairs. Tenten seemed rather bored, hands tucked behind her head while walking at a leisurely pace. Neji looked nothing more than annoyed, slouching slightly with his hands shoved deep in his pockets. 

“Yasu?” her father muttered out of the corner of his mouth, “What’s going on?”

Yasu took a singular moment to gawk at the fact that these kids always managed to barge into her life in front of her family. Well… given the size of her family, she guessed the odds were in their favor. Still, it was a pattern she was not fond of. 

Just as she opened her mouth for introductions, Lee bounded over. “My name is Rock Lee and I am Konoha’s Wild Green Beast! Pleased to meet you!”

“Is this the boy Saburo was talking about…?” Yasuchika then whispered to Goro, dread and displeasure coating his voice. 

“I don’t think so,” Goro eyed the teen suspiciously. “Saburo told me Yasu’s boyfriend is a jounin. I don’t think this kid’s a jounin.”

Yasu cleared her throat, shooting the two a sour look, “These are Gai-sensei’s students, Hyuuga Neji, Rock Lee, and Tenten. They’re a genin squad.”

“Ah,” Yasuchika nodded in understanding, recalling the seemingly never-ending parade of children that had been marched through his house after his older children graduated. Brat-pack ninja who had graduated into the bottom rung of ninja ranking. “So why are they here?”

“Good question,” Yasu mumbled, turning back to the three. “What’re you lot doing up here?”

She tried to keep her tone neutral. After all, the kids weren’t necessarily intruding, but their presence was a bit unexpected.

“Why, for rigorous and invigorating training, of course!” 

Tenten stepped in to translate, “Gai-sensei told us he was meeting with you today. We figured we could tag along and train with you.”

That made Yasu pause, “He told you we were training?”

Tenten furrowed her brow at the older girl, “I mean, he said he was meeting you. You’re training together, aren’t you?”

“Yep,” Yasu squeaked after a moment of panicked deliberation, “Training. Gai-sensei and I are training. Gotta stay in top form, you know? And you wanna join us? That's nice. You guys sure are devoted, huh?”

Tenten shrugged at Yasu’s odd ramblings, “I mean, we haven’t had a chance to all train together yet.”

“What do you mean?”

“All of us together. Us three, Gai-sensei, and you.”

Yasuchika almost let a laugh slip by at the star-struck flattery on Yasu's face. It was rather nice seeing her make new friends… Even if they were fourteen-year-olds.

“Remember to clean up, Yasu-chan,” he chuckled, turning away. “C’mon, Goro. Let’s leave them to it.”

And that’s when everything went wrong.

Goro shot his sister and her weird companions a look over his shoulder, raising an eyebrow as the green one flitted away with an excited, “Yosh!”

If Goro had been a better ninja, he might have been able to predict what was about to happen. If Yasu had been a better ninja, she might have been able to prevent it.

“Dynamic--!”

“Wait, Lee--!”

Lee was already airborne, hurtling towards Neji at incredible speed. Neji was just as quick, if not faster, knocking Lee to the side with a short but powerful palm-strike. Tenten leapt backwards, flipping out of the way as Lee landed right where she had just been standing. Undeterred by Neji's block, Lee rolled into a crouch and launched himself once more. 

Neji moved to block again, but Lee countered easily. This time he managed to land a few quick blows, punches raining down on Neji's arms as he tried to defend himself from a direct hit.

When Lee pulled back for a particularly hard punch, Neji took the opportunity to duck, spinning low to the ground. He snapped up at an unseen speed, striking Lee like a snake. 

Again, Lee was knocked back, unmercifully barreling feet over head away from the Hyuuga...

...Right at Yasu.

Of course she acted on pure instinct. Her intense taijutsu training with Gai had made her a reflexive fighter. Her body was able to react before her mind; which was a formidable skill on the battlefield.

Not so much in small spaces with innocent bystanders clustered nearby.

Lee was headed straight at her with her family directly in the collateral zone. A simple defensive maneuver that didn’t require much thought sent the teen flying away at an angle.

Then there came a deafening crash. She grimaced as Lee hit the ground hard enough that she felt it through the soles of her feet.

Her first thought was to go check to see if Lee was hurt. 

Her second thought was, ‘Oh no.'

The horrifying thunder of the ground splitting beneath them shocked the small group. Lee sat up from where Yasu had embedded him into the rocky clifftop. Shaken yet unharmed, the young ninja leapt to his feet. 

Yasu felt a fleeting relief when she noticed he wasn’t injured. The feeling was short lived, however. She watched, panic-stricken, as the ground began to open up, splitting the edge of the cliff. Rock and soil tumbled into the crevice, swallowed up by the gaping maw she had created.

After what felt like an eternity (but was actually only a matter of seconds), the earth stilled once more. 

A few more pebbles shifted, clattering down the side of the mountain as if to mock her. 

Goro knew they were in trouble when his sister-- who rarely ever swears-- swore real bad.

Yasu clenched her fists at her side, dread clear on her face. Goro and the other children all flinched, actively backing away as she charged to the edge. She ran the length of the crack, her father hot on her heels, a synchronized chant of “Oh no, oh no, oh no!” trailing behind them.

The two Ushi’s peered down the ledge, assessing the sizable crevice that now split down Tsunade’s brow. The scaffolding was hanging by a thread, still covered in the dirt and rubble that had crashed down upon it. Upon closer inspection, Yasu could make out the surface-level faultline she had slammed Lee into.

“...Dad?”

She heard an inhuman noise from the man beside her.

“Dad.”

Yasuchika practically heaved.

“Dad!”

The grabble of rage-words that spewed from his mouth were wholly unintelligible.

“Dad, your blood pressure!”

Yasuchika’s mouth snapped shut, as he exhaled loudly through his nose. Yasu gripped the shorter man’s shoulder, noting how tightly his fists were clenched at his sides. 

“Damnable…!” he muttered, red-faced and shaking, “Ninja…!"

Yasu had only received standard medical training, but she could still recognize when someone was careening towards an aneurysm. “They’re kids, Dad,” she sighed. Speaking of, “Goro!” she called to the boy, who had taken to cowering near the edge of the fenced-off area. “Take Dad home. Let Mom sort him out.” Yasuchika immediately balked, but Yasu already had a rebuttal, “I’ll fix up here and we’ll start fresh in the morning, okay?” She poured all the sincerity she had into her expression, hoping the signature puppy-dog eyes were enough to convince him. “I can fix it, I promise.”

The old builder ground his teeth, eyes still glazed over in anger. However, that anger melted away at the sight of his daughter's pleading eyes. "None of your ninja nonsense," he conceded with a disgruntled growl, glaring towards the thoroughly contrite Team Gai.

"No ninja nonsense," Yasu vowed, fingers firmly crossed behind her back. "You won't be able to tell it even happened, I promise."

The two Ushi men looked unsure, but finally obeyed.

Hands on her hips, Yasu assessed the crevice once more. The crack itself wasn’t as bad as it seemed. It was large and deep, sure, but the edges were actually quite clean. Another Earth Release would patch it quite nicely. The scaffolding would be a pain to re-hang by herself, though. 

She waited until her father’s grumbling faded down the mountainside stairs before turning around. Three teens faced her with bowed heads, looking sheepish and uncomfortable. 

She looked between the three teens, each with a face full of embarrassment and remorse. It was a strangely familiar expression.

Her lips quirked upwards, laughter bubbling up from her chest. She clamped a hand over her mouth to stifle the noise. 

“Yasu-sempai?” Lee looked to her with stark worry, coming to stand by her side. A tentative touch to her elbow had her turning to face him. He prepared himself for tears and sadness, already preparing motivational comfort and whatever apologies he could put into words. "I am sincerely sorry, Yasu-sempai! To prove it, I'll--"

However, the words died on his lips once their eyes met, and he saw her tears were not ones of sorrow. 

Uncertain relief washed over him, pulling a confused grin to his face as well. The face splitting grin on Yasu's face was too warm and genuine to be disconcerting. She was barely containing hearty laughter in theteh form of stifled giggles, muffled behind her work glove. Her laughter transferred to him, contagious in its nature though he wasn’t entirely sure why. He chuckled nervously as she began to giggle louder. 

The other two watched them with utter confusion, equal parts surprised and terrified. 

“What’s so funny…?” Neji dared to ask, ready to run at a moment's notice. 

Yasu snorted, waving her free hand aloft. “I-I…” She calmed her laughter enough to choke out the words, “I just knew this job was going too well…” Another quick chortle, “Oh, gods… I hope Hokage-sama doesn’t see…”

Needless to say, the group was hyper aware that they stood in plain view of the Hokage's office. Would Tsunade notice the huge, gaping crack down her face? Not if Yasu had anything to say about it.

“Alright,” she grinned, forcing down the last of her giggles, "Best get to it, then. Otherwise, I'll be here all night."