Spear & Shield

Spear & Shield
Chapter 35

Yasu thought back to her genin years, ruminating on what it was like to be a child with dangerous skills. Statistically, teenagers caused the most damage. Between their under-developed chakra systems, hormones, and growth spurts, they made for a dangerous denomination. It wasn’t unheard of for young and angry genins to step up against chunin, or occasionally a jounin. Despite being outranked and inexperienced, the teens were still able to hold their own out of sheer teen angst. Adolescence was a part of life, but growing up in a Hidden Village changed the story entirely. The sheer amount of petty arguments that she had solved with kunai, the shouting matches that had ended in jutsus… her team ended most fights with explosive tags.

Oh, those were the days.

Thankfully, Yasu had been raised by loving parents who had already gained an abundance of experience when dealing with adolescents from dealing with her older brothers. She was able to transition into adulthood relatively well because of the resources she had at home. Having a family to fall back on allowed her to keep her personal quota for accidental destruction to a minimum.

Her teammates, however, did not have parents. Like most shinobi children, they were orphans. Their support was shaky at best, leaving them with little to rely on besides each other. Her sensei had been able to identify this, but never really did much in the way of helping. At the time, Yasu thought their friendship would be enough. 

She’s old enough now to know it wasn’t. 

It was tough, sometimes. For her, it had been years of being stuck between two bickering boys who somehow both loved and hated each other at the same time. One was an over-achiever, the other an attention-seeker. One would shout insults and rude language at the top of his lungs, the other made passive aggressive comments under his breath. Then she would step up and save them from getting smacked into the ground, and that usually got them to shut up for a while. 

However, their team was not immune to collateral.

Her genin-era memories were filled with screaming matches, irrational tears, near-fatal accidents, and thousands of ryō in property damage....

No wonder Sensei retired the second they became chunin. 

That's not to say there weren’t good times, too. After all, nothing can replace the bonds formed with your teammates. 

Nothing was better than receiving their support and nothing hurt worse than their betrayal.

Perhaps it was karma that put her between the two sides of the spectrum. She brought the balance the team needed to thrive.

But destructive genin remained a timeless fallacy. Some considered them troublesome, but Yasu liked to think of them as job security. Besides, how could she be mad at their cute little faces?

"Lee-san will use the pulley to lift the supports back up, but I need you two to re-center the boards."

"Yes, Yasu-sempai."

"Tenten-chan, tie it in a box knot, okay? Tie off the slack in a slip, it makes it easier to adjust."

"Yes, Yasu-sempai."

“Pull slowly, Lee-san. We need the planks to be level, okay?”

“Yes, Yasu-sempai.”

She made sure to watch with a keen eye as Neji and Tenten walked the fallen fixture up the side of the mountain. She kept Lee topside to assist in securing the ties as her sore muscles wouldn't allow her to heave it up herself.

She smiled at the trio, pleased with their cooperativeness. After her initial hysterics wore off, the three jumped at the chance to fix the damage under her direction.

That smile quickly disappeared as Neji's tie slipped, sending half of the scaffolding clattering to the side, the wooden boards clashing together like wind chimes. 

At least the tarp stayed in place so no one could witness their embarrassing fumble.

Neji swore under his breath. This caused Tenten to make an irritated comment, while Lee offered to help. 

“And how would you get down here? You can’t tree-walk,” the Hyuuga sneered.

“Rock-walk,” Tenten corrected.

"Doesn't matter, it's the same principle."

“I’ll simply climb down--”

"No, Lee!"

"--But I can!"

"Don't bother. You're going to fall then I'll have to catch you."

"If Neji just tied the knot properly--"

"I did! It's not my fault your side is unbalanced--"

"It wasn't! The rope slipped--!"

"No worries! I'll get it--"

“Don’t!” both Neji and Tenten snapped, which garnered a glare from the supervising chunin.

"Let me know when you're done with your bickering, children." She frowned, sounding way too much like her father for her liking. 

The three dropped their heads, "Yes, Yasu-sempai."

This time they shared looks, Neji and Tenten quietly measuring where their knots needed to be, while gesturing to Lee about balancing the weight. 

Upon their second try, the scaffolding hung securely. With a weary grunt, Yasu stood and gestured for them to gather at the top. “Okay, now here comes the fun part…” The tip of her tongue stuck out from the corner of her mouth as Yasu carefully used her own feet to measure the crack. Her arms stuck out to each side as she toed the length as if she were walking a tightrope, carefully placing the back of one heel to the tip of her opposite toes. 

Neji and Tenten climbed back up to the top, joining Lee to await further instruction. The genin team watched with confused curiosity, wondering just what part of this endeavor was “fun.”  

They could hear her muttering under her breath, “Twelve… Four at the widest point… Clean break… Should only need…”

She suddenly dropped to the ground, shoving her arm into the crevice as deep as it would go. She then proceeded to crawl along, pushing her arm deeper into the ground until the crack reached her shoulder. “... No pocket fissures. That’s good.”

The sole Hyuuga watched this woman (who was somehow his superior?) with morbid fascination. He had no idea what she was doing besides covering her clothes in grass stains and making a fool of herself. 

“Neji-san,” she called to him as if sensing his thoughts, “If I channel chakra through the ground, will your Byakugan be able to see it?”

He regarded her evenly, “Yes. As long as the flow is strong enough.”

Yasu nodded, then turned to Tenten, “You have earth-nature chakra, right?”

Tenten cocked her head, “How’d you know?”

 “I can just tell,” Yasu lied with a shrug, sparing them the embarrassment of knowing just how much Gai-sensei talked about them. “There’s a seal on the ground about ten meters that way. We’re going to perform an Earth-Release using that seal as a focal point. I need you to guide the two pieces back together.”

Curious now, Tenten headed in the direction Yasu pointed her. She was surprised to discover a simple seal carved into a bare patch of stony ground.  

It should be easy… at least, it should be easy in theory. It really wasn't any different than when she and Yamato first moved the faces. Only this was a much smaller scale, and Yasu would be providing the power instead of the direction. Regardless, same principle. 

"Cool!" she heard Tenten breath as she inspected the seal. 

She couldn't stop the smile if she tried. "Alright, Earth-Release on three, okay?"

This time, the earth shook with a mild tremor. Rock and dirt crunched together, but nothing like that piercing clatter they had heard before. Neji helped her guide the pieces together, his Byakugan monitoring the chakra spread through the rocky ground. Once the crack was sealed, Yasu cut her connection to the seal, peeling her sore and dirtied palms from the ground to stand.

The kids stood still, glancing at one another in uncertainty. Yasu cautiously crept forward. 'Moment of truth…' 

She glanced down. 

Tsunade's visage now sported a thin line, running over the crown of her head to the bridge of her nose. 

'Thank the spirits…' she sighed inwardly, placing a hand over her racing heart.

Seeing her relief, the team let out a collective sigh. Neji’s shoulders slumped while Rock Lee and Tenten collapsed into the soft grass. 

"Alright!" Yasu grinned, giving a cheerful clap, "Now we just smooth out the crack. Then we're done!"

Their juvenile groan made her only grin wider. 

Vivid memories of summers spent working for her father flooded to the surface of her mind. Her brothers and her would trudge home at an ungodly hour, sore, tired and sunburt, begging their mother for warm food. She would snap at them about missing dinner and complain about their dirty clothes as she cooked them a fresh meal. Then Yasu's mother would spend the rest of the night nagging her father, saying that the boys were picking up all of his bad habits, and that Yasu should be focusing on her studies. Yasu keenly remembered her stiff legs and exhaustion. Most nights she was barely able to move as she listened to her mother's complaints through her bedroom wall.

Yasu rolled her eyes at the teens, handing them each a small sanding block. She didn't mention that she had heavier, more practical tools available. Nor did she bring up the fact that she knew an E-ranked Earth Jutsu that would fix the problem in a matter of seconds.

Instead, she gestured for the kids to begin their arduous task, "Next time, think about that before you break an iconic landmark."

She grinned down at their dejected little faces, taking in their little pouts with some sort of weary pride. She was all too ready to flop back into the grass and let the children do the work... 

Until the sharp smell of ozone suddenly permeated the air.