Chapter 31- Just another Monday

Yama yawned at his desk and blearily rubbed his eyes.

He took a look at the students around him, dutifully working on their separate tasks, well, some of them at least.

Shimiko was trying to read her book, but she kept on sneaking furtive glances at Yama.

Whenever he looked up though, she would avert her eyes and pretend she hadn't been staring.

Tsubaki was working on her fire chakra manipulation. Right now, she had progressed to creating fire and sustaining it on her fingers.

She sat there with a a look of consternation, and every 2 minutes or so, a small flame, the size of a candle, would emerge from the tip of one of her fingers.

It didn't stay lit though. Within a few seconds, the flame would shudder and wink out of existence. When she was able to steadily transition from flame creation into flame preservation, she would be able to start learning some E-rank fire jutsus.

Domaru was actually somewhat polite this morning, Yama had noticed. The boy hadn't uttered a single disparaging remark so far, but simply walked in on time for class, nodded at Yama and started working on his own studies.

The boy sat down at his desk and closed his eyes in concentration.

As he breathed, his chakra grew and shrank in time with each inhale and exhale. Yama noted that the boy was practicing a form of the Chakra Forge Technique, a training method to improve chakra reserves.

Yama felt the slight modification in Domaru's technique. The breaths were a little more forceful and the body a little more involved in the process. Considering that Akimichi's were attuned to Yang chakra and required it for their Body Manipulation techniques, it would make sense that an Akimichi version of chakra training techniques would lean towards that direction.

However, Yama wasn't happy to see Domaru working on his chakra reserves.

Yama's eyes settled on Domaru for a little while. The meeting with his grandfather a few days ago hadn't gone well, and Yama was somewhat at a loss for how to proceed.

All that he could do was wait until Domaru or his elders realized the problem on their own, and maybe they would remember his words.

Yama hoped that the damage wouldn't be irreparable before that point. Konoha would need people like Domaru to protect it in the coming decades.

Yama had a couple ideas floating around already, one of them seemed to hold promise. Yama planned to get it all on a scroll as soon as possible and then hand it over to the boy.

Domaru might not hit a true roadblock and change his mind until years from now, and who knows where Yama would be at that point

Mizuki was engrossed in his newest jutsu, The Golden Rule Jutsu, and was going through the practice methods written in the scroll that Yama had given him.

Yama was still a little worried about the boy. The amount of obsession he had wasn't healthy, and Yama didn't feel like he could do that much to change Mizuki.

That being said, if the Golden Rule Jutsu worked properly, then maybe Mizuki's path would be a little straighter and narrower.

Hikaru was wrapping up with his own reserve training before switching over to his control training. Yama was happy to see that Hikaru was listening to him and not focusing everything on control, but trying to round out his chakra capacity as well.

Iruka was by himself, seemingly at a loss. Yama hadn't told him what to self study, and to be frank, Iruka was quite bored with the current situation.

He had tried to talk to some of his classmates throughout the morning, but all attempts were rebuffed.

There was an almost serious mood to the room, and everyone was working diligently.

Iruka wanted to do something to disrupt, maybe pull a prank, but held himself back.

Class time somehow felt sacred. Like no one would appreciate any disturbances.

Iruka looked around the room again, trying to figure out something, anything to do.

He tried to remember his conversation with Yama from last Friday. Yama was a bastard, but even the clan children were treating him like he knew what he was talking about.

Perhaps the man knew one or two things about teaching, but probably not.

Iruka remembered Yama giving him a slip of chakra paper, something about elemental affinities, maybe?

He pulled the crumpled piece of paper out from his bag, and tried to smooth it out on the desk.

His efforts were admirable, but ultimately futile, and the paper remained wrinkled from its rough treatment.

Iruka scrunched his eyebrows. What did Yama even expect him to do with this?

He looked up from his desk to glare at the teacher at the front of the room.

Yama was already looking directly at him. He had a notecard between his middle and index finger holding it up in the air.

Yama mouthed a few words at him.

Flow. Chakra. Through.

Iruka huffed and looked away. He knew that. What the hell was this bastard doing, telling him to flow chakra through it?

That was obvious. He's just treating Iruka like an idiot. Stupid Cripple.

Iruka held the piece of paper and focused his chakra into it.

A small ember lit in one of the corners.

Iruka was looking at the ember as it burned down the paper.

Must be Fire then, Just like mom and dad.

A tear started to form in Iruka's eye while he held such a visceral reminder of his parents in his hands but he was shortly interrupted by Tsubaki.

Tsubaki had run across the room and leaned down to stare at the paper in his hand intently.

After a quick moment, she stood back up and started rubbing her chin with her nose pointing up in the air

"You definitely have a fire affinity, young man, You may be asking yourself, but how will I learn? How can I hone my talents?

That is where I, the great Tsubaki comes in. I will take you under my wing, and all I ask is one small thing...

... You must call me Tsubaki-sensei, young Iruka. Only then will I teach you the wonders of fire."

Yama and the other students were watching the spectacle.

Iruka looked at the paper in his hand and back to Tsubaki before a frown crossed his face.

"I'm not doing that."

"Oh don't be shy, young man. Put your pride down and let me guide you."

"Why the hell would I want you as a teacher?"

"Because I can do this!"

And Tsubaki held out her hand where a small flame popped up in her palm. Everyone watched for a few more moments, but nothing happened.

The flame was steady, and didn't wink out.

Iruka didn't react.

"That's it? You can make a flame?

You're only a week ahead of me.

I'll just learn on my own."

Tsubaki twirled on the spot and walked away before sitting back at her desk.

"You'll come back and beg me to teach you soon enough. I'm in no rush. This elder will be patient with you, Umino-kun."

Iruka snorted and turned back to the wrinkled piece of chakra paper with a scorch mark.

Tsubaki was born only a few days before he was, and she never let him forget it.

The rest of the class had turned to watch the interaction happen, including Yama. None of the students were all that interested though. They soon turned their attention back to whatever they were working on before.

Yama was different. He had been watching Iruka flow chakra through the paper, but he kept a sliver of his focus on the rest of the class.

As soon as the ember was created in Iruka's chakra paper, Tsubaki whipped her head around to look at it.

Furthermore, when she had showed her flame to Iruka, it had been steady, even though she was working on it all morning and it kept failing.

The class was settled down, and Yama was waiting for Tsubaki to realize what she had done.

Tsubaki was back in her seat, and took the brief pause in her practice to stretch a little.

She twisted her back and got a few nice cracks before turning her attention to her neck and then knuckles, all cracking with a satisfying pop.

She took a deep breath and refocused her attention.

As she breathed out, she suddenly hitched.

She looked down at her hands, and the hesitantly, cautiously back up to Yama, who was sitting at the front of the classroom, looking directly at her, and smiling.

Tsubaki held a hand out, focused her chakra, and a small, stable flame leapt from her palm.

She was ready to start minor fire jutsu.

When class was dismissed for lunch, two students were waiting for Yama, to speak with him after class.

Tsubaki came up first.

"Sensei, I'm ready to start learning more complicated fire jutsus now.

How about Fire Dragon, or maybe Great Fire Annihilation, or maybe Flame Lance, or maybe...."

"Whoa, there Tusbaki. I've got the perfect one already picked out."

"What is it then? Huh? Huh? Is it Flame Dragon?"

"No, it's even more useful than that."

Tsubaki's eyes were sparkling as she clasped her hands in anticipation.

Yama eyes were also twinkling a little bit, though for a much different reason.

Yama waited a few more seconds, and Tsubaki was leaning in closer and closer.

Yama slowly reached under his jacket and pulled a scroll before he held it out in front of him.

It was small, maybe only an inch in diameter, but about 6 inches in width.

A one inch band of red was on either end of the scroll and a small string tied the scroll shut.

Tusbaki could read the kanji for "Fire" which was written in ink on the outside.

Tsubaki was absolutely giddy with excitement. She scrunched her eyes and shook her head as a slight squeal escaped her lips.

Her eyes opened back up and stared expectantly at Yama.

Yama smiled and handed it over.

Tsubaki slowly untied the string holding the scroll closed, and when she was finished she carefully grabbed the edge and prepared to open it.

With a quick jerk of her hands, the scroll unfurled and she stared at what was written.

Yama with a smile, chirped out.

"It's the campfire jutsu, pretty cool, huh?"

Tsubaki died a little on the inside the more she read, and then she started to die on the outside.

Her eyes lost all their sparkle, fading back to their normal matte black, and what had been a smile had slowly turned upside down into a tight frown.

"Are you serious, Yama-sensei? How is this useful?"

"It starts campfires."

"I'm gonna be a ninja, why would I need a campfire?"

"Because you'll go camping a lot."

Tusbaki snorted.

"Yeah right. Next time my enemy meets me, maybe we can roast some marshmallows together."

Yama simply smiled. He couldn't wait until Tsubaki got to her genin team. She would soon realize, probably within the year, how important this jutsu will be.

Yama remembered some of his first rank-C missions out in the field, not the journey to Wave, but actual C-ranks. He had camped out in the field with Kakashi, Sasuke, and Sakura more times then he could count.

This one time, they were delivering mail to a guard post near the border with Amegakure, and then they went on a few patrols.

Would you believe it or not, it was raining near Amegakure.

It was always raining near Amegakure.

It would start to rain, and it wouldn't stop for four months at a time.

They experienced every kind of rain together.

Stinging rain, big old fat rain, rain that came in sideways, and sometimes, rain seemed to come up from underneath.

It even rained at night.

It was winter when they got that mission. It never snowed, but the rain was somehow worse. It sapped the warmth from you even if you stayed dry. The air itself felt wet, and it chilled them to their bones.

And there was nary a good way to warm up. Kakashi had allowed them a campfire, but they couldn't get the fire started no matter how they tried. Everything was wet and waterlogged.

Sasuke ended up getting so frustrated that he tried to cast a small Fireball Jutsu at the pile of logs they had. They didn't really catch on fire, but instead, they were scorched and throw every which way by the resulting explosion.

It was a very cold and wet night. Guard Duty was actually better than sleeping cause you could move to stay warm. Sasuke would never admit it, but he was so cold that he cozied up to Naruto, back to back, in an effort to stay warm.

Sasuke was a lot like a cat in that way. No matter what, he would never let anyone catch him being affectionate, close, or warm.

Yama chuckled at the memories and wondered how his friend Shijin was doing. It had been a while since they had spoken, but with the Uchiha under house arrest, what could he do?

Someone poked him in his cheek with the eraser end of a pencil, and he came to from his reverie.

Tsubaki was pouting at him.

"Were you even listening?"

Yama laughed again.

"Not even a little bit."

"SENSEI~~~~"

"Ok, ok, what do you want?"

"Can my next jutsu be something I can actually use in battle. I'll learn this one, but still..."

Yama scratched his chin in mock thought for a few seconds.

"Oh sure, I guess.

"Thanks, Sensei. Anyway, gotta go eat lunch."

And Tsubaki ran from the classroom, leaving Yama with Shimiko.

He smiled at the young girl and spoke.

"Finally ready to come talk to me, rather than just stare all morning.

"I wasn't..."

"Shimiko-chan, I'm just teasing, but before you finish that sentence, please remember that I have been a shinobi for longer than even your parents have been alive."

Shimiko looked straight down before tilting her head back up.

"I'm sorry for staring, Yama-sensei."

Yama laughed as he shook his head.

"I don't want you to apologize. I want you to not get caught. You're going to be a kunoichi, right?"

"Yes, sensei."

"So what brings you to me after class, hopefully nothing bad, right?"

"No, it's nothing too bad. It's just..."

Shimiko paused, seemingly at a lost for words.

Yama waited patiently for the girl to speak, no use trying to put words in the girl's mouth.

About 15 seconds later.

"What happened this past weekend? I told my Mom about our conversations, and she got really mad.

And then the whole clan freaked out, but then the elders came out and said everything was a drill.

Its just..."

Yama waited for her to continue, but she was silent and her mouth clamped shut. So this time, he had to guess what she was trying to say.

"But you don't think it was a drill?"

Shimiko nodded her head, as if she was afraid to actually verbalize her doubt in her elders.

Yama sighed and was about to speak when Shimiko started talking again.

"But Mom then said that yesterday that I can trust you, but she won't say why and she won't tell me about the Kikaichu like you told me to ask.

And she also told me to give this to you."

Shimiko dug around her bag for a few seconds before pulling out a bento box and offering it to Yama.

Yama took one look at it and laughed, He reached out a ruffled the young girl's hair.

"Please let her know that I appreciate the meal."

Yama gestured to his desk.

"Why don't you pull up a chair? We can talk about what happened over lunch."

Shimiko pulled up a chair and pulled out a second, identical bento before the two of them started eating.

Yama was surprised how good it was.

He hadn't eaten for a while, he was trying to remember. Maybe he went to Ichiraku's on Friday? Maybe he ate while out with the Sandaime?

He didn't really get hungry anymore. He mainly ate to keep up appearances at this point. And since Kakashi had forbidden him use of the kitchen and groceries, he just left the situation as is.

It must be a side effect of the God Tree. A similar thing had been happening to him with sleep.

He had been sleeping here and there, but it was mainly just because that was what he thought he was supposed to do.

When you really got down to it, he never really got sleepy either.

He was tapped out on life energy right now, but that didn't change anything.

Maybe his body had been saturated with the stuff for so long it didn't matter anymore?

Shimiko called him back.

"So what actually happened over the weekend?"

Yama thought for a moment.

"Some of the things I alluded to you were apparently clan secrets.

You mother just wasn't expecting me to know about them, so the alarm was raised."

"Then why did you know?"

"Didn't I tell you that I used to have Aburame friends?"

"That doesn't really answer my question."

"Doesn't it?"

"No."

"Oh well."

Shimiko was starting to get frustrated.

"Is that the end of the discussion? Why ask me to sit down for lunch if you don't want to tell me anything?"

Yama tilted his head and replied

"Because I wanted to have lunch with one of my precious students?"

Shimiko sighed, and Yama spoke again.

"Besides, have you given any thought as to which path you want to take?

There's no rush to make decision like this, but you shouldn't ignore them either."

"I want to go with your advice. Appearance of a regular shinobi but with a hidden Aburame specialty.

Yama was a little surprised.

"Really? You've already made your decision?"

"Yeah. I spoke with my mom about it and she said that your ideas weren't new.

Apparently one of our elders from the Second War had the same idea, but it was only theoretical.

I read his notes over the weekend."

"Are you sure about this, Shimiko-chan?"

"Not really, but I wouldn't be sure about the other choice either.

I need to pick left or right, not just stand at the fork.

Worst case scenario, I waste a year or two, but I'm confident that I can pick up the slack later."

Yama laughed.

"You are talented that's for sure. You'll be powerful one day either way."

Shimiko muttered.

"Besides..."

Yama barely heard her.

"Besides what?"

"Well..."

Yama waited patiently.

"Well, the elders pulled me aside and said that I can trust you with anything. They said to treat you like clan.

I also told them about your suggestions, and they strongly recommended following your advice."

That got Yama frowning instantly.

"Shimiko-chan, my advice is to do what you think is best. I will not have you do anything nor would I want you to do anything against your own will."

The young girl laughed into her hand before replying.

"They also said that you would say that, too.

Don't worry, I really do want to see where this road will take me.

It's kinda exciting, doing what no one has done before."

Yama sighed.

"You Aburame are too smart for your own good sometimes. If it wasn't for the Nara..."

Shimiko corrected him promptly.

"Us Aburame. You're clan."

Yama sighed even heavier, and pinched the bridge between his eyes. It didn't completely hide his smile from Shimiko though.

"Sure, Us."

Physical education that afternoon focused on the obstacle course and physical conditioning.

Movement was the lifeblood of fighting, and except in very rare cases, it was always best to keep moving.

What better way to train that than an obstacle course? The fact that it was fun for Instructors to throw kunai over the heads of the kids while they were crawling through mud and vaulting walls was just a bonus.

As for the conditioning, the children were damn near comatose when they finished.

Their previous instructor was by the book, and they would always be tired after conditioning, but Yama was insane. He didn't run anything by protocol, and he had developed individualized workout programs for each student.

Everyone limped home with muscles they never even knew they had cramping in pain and fatigue.

Yama whistled a faint tune and strolled home. Kakashi wasn't back yet, so he'd just make himself at home in his normal spot, out in the courtyard, sitting beneath the willow tree next to the pond.

Yama was meditating yes, but he was also practicing his chakra control. It would slowly come back to him, but for now, control eluded him.

It had taken him a while to figure out how to actually practice his control, but when he finally realized, he laughed out loud at the irony.

If he tried to manifest his chakra physically, he was liable to blow something up, so he couldn't practice the same method he had given to Hikaru.

He couldn't try to tree climb or walk on water either.

He would have to use genjutsu. The only way he wouldn't destroy his surroundings was with genjutsu.

That being said, he was always terrible with genjutsu, and he had to worry about affecting others with it.

If he accidentally put too much chakra into a jutsu and affected the whole village, that would be just as bad as any physical destruction.

Luckily for Yama, there was one genjutsu that actually became less effective and had less range and less effect as one put too much chakra into it.

The Bunshin, or clone, technique.

His old archnemesis from his academy days, the technique he never actually learned how to do after learning the shadow clone.

He had always intended to circle back and learn it, but things seemed to always get in the way.

No time like the present.

Yama made his first attempt at a bunshin.

With a loud pop, suddenly the entire courtyard was full of thick chakra smoke, the residual left after an inefficient substitution, shunshin, or clone jutsu.

Luckily the courtyard was completely contained within the walls of the Hatake Compound, and the smoke didn't roll over into the neighboring areas.

Within a few seconds, the smoke all faded away, and Yama was left grinning at his failure.

He was so bad that even his genin days were better, at least he created a clone then, even if it was pale and sickly.

Yama laughed to himself again, tried to make another clone, and disappeared in the smoke.

Later that night, Yama was still sitting under the willow tree when a visitor came to him.

A small marble fox sat in front of him and waited for his eyes to open.

Yama opened his soon enough, and the small smile that was ever present widened into a happier one as he looked at the fox.

"Ginou, its nice to see you. Is there anything I can help you with? Some food? A little brushwork perhaps?"

The small fox was oddly somber, a contrast from its more childish and emotional self.

"I do actually require your help, Yama."

Yama sat up a little straighter. He was just expecting the fox to have been making a courtesy call, nothing to do with actual issues.

Yama's demeanor instantly changed, and gone was the old dawdling sensei, and replacing him was an aged veteran with hard eyes and deep wrinkles.

"Tell me. Anything."

The fox somehow sighed without moving his mouth.

"I have called for a quorum among the bijuu. I intended to gather them all after restoring our shared plane.

Once we were all there, I would share the Great Freedom Sutra with them.

It seems to have no side effects, and my cursory testing reveals no potential threats."

Yama nodded.

"What's the problem, then?"

"The Sanbi is not present."

Yama frowned.

"Maybe Isobu didn't get the message."

Ginou paused for a half second. It seems that the human known as Yama knew more than he let on most of the time.

"There is no chance. We all communicate on that plane, and now that it has been reestablished, all bijuu would get the message.

The other seven showed up within seconds of me inviting them, but Isobu was not there."

"Could it be possible that Isobu didn't want to be there?''

"Impossible. He is the laziest of us all, but even he understands that these meetings are only called for important reasons.

He would never choose to fail to attend."

"So what does that mean?"

Ginou snarled and rough a grating voice broke out inside Yama's head.

"HE IS BEING CONTROLLED!"

Yama thought for a moment.

"Do you suspect the same man that controlled you a few weeks ago?"

"YES. THERE IS NO OTHER WAY OTHER THAN A GENJUTSU FROM A FULLY MATURED SHARINGAN."

"So what can I do to help?"

Ginou took a deep breath and tried to calm himself.

"You said you were a friend to Bijuu, that you would never have them be controlled or sealed."

"I did."

"Well now is the time to prove it. Fix it."

"Fix it?"

"Yes, human."

Yama sighed and reviewed the situation in his head.

Isobu was under a genjutsu. Current jinchuuriki is Yagura.

Yagura was in Kirigakure. That's half a continent away.

I've got no life energy and can't create a simple clone.

I've got to break a mangekyou sharingan from a thousand miles away.

No biggie. Just the most powerful genjutsu. Just my worst subject.

I have always relied on Kurama to break genjutsus for me through our connection.

Its not like Yagura would be able to do that since he's probably under the same jutsu.

Ah.

I actually have an idea. And Shijin was worried about my plan making abilities.

A smile came across Yama's face as he looked at Ginou.

"I've got a method, but you're not gonna like it, and I have a condition."

Ginou barked out a reply.

"Name it."

"Well, when everybody learns the Sutra, can they all run away rather than fight?"

Ginou snorted.

"They only fight to escape. They would not waste another heartbeat with humans if they so desired."

"Great. So do you want to hear my solution?

Ginou didn't dignify it with a response.

"Bring me to the shared plane."

"No."

"Huh?"

"No."

"But its the only way."

"Still no. That plane is a gift from our father. We will never let another defile it with their presence."

"But Hagoromo gave me permission."

"Lie."

Yama sighed, this was going no where.

"Look, Ginou, I can prove it to you.

I will open my mind and show you the memory.

But you must promise me that you look nowhere else."

Ginou stared.

"You would have no way to stop me from looking at other memories.

It was a statement, not a question.

"I know. I am willing to extend this trust to you."

"I would be able to kill you with a thought."

"Yep."

"And you would let me, the Nine-Tailed Fox into your mindscape?"

"To save Isobu, absolutely. I meant what I said.

Besides, to me, you are not the Nine-Tailed Fox."

Yama held out his fist to the small marble fox.

Ginou felt it. Yama was not moving his energy in a normal pattern.

This was ninshu. A human knew ninshu?

Ginou slowly curled his paw into a fist and bumped it against Yama's.

The fox was suddenly in a giant plane of pure white in every direction.

He was in his normal form, bright orange with all nine tails waving about.

His fist was reached out, bumped up against a young man who he towered over.

The young man, almost still a boy, had spiky blonde hair and the same crystal blue eyes as Yama. The whisker marks were visible in the young man unlike Yama, but somehow the fox could tell they were the same.

The young man spoke.

"To me, you aren't the Kyuubi no Yoko, you are Kurama, and a precious friend."

The young man morphed into the man known as Yama, and Kurama watched the boy rapidly age until the projection in the mindscape matched Yama's physical form.

Kurama saw a quick vision of Hagoromo introducing himself and all nine bijuu to the young boy with golden hair.

The vision ended with Hagoromo telling the young man.

"Watch over them for me, Naruto."

And the vision ended.

Kurama and Yama were back in the infinite white plane, simply looking at each other.

Yama broke the silence.

"In case it wasn't clear, my name used to be Naruto, so..."

"I know, you imbecile. I was there, and I was the one who named you Yama."

"Oh yeah."

Yama reached back up behind his head with both hands and laughed with a Cheshire cat grin.

He scratched his head for a moment before turning his attention back to Kurama.

"Back to the real world?"

Kurama was still looking around.

"Is this really your mindscape?"

"Yeah, what about it?"

"It's too large."

"Lot of memories."

Kurama said nothing. There was no way Yama was telling the truth, but Kurama knew of no way to fake a mindscape.

The next moment, they were back in the Hatake Courtyard.

Ginou and Yama.

Ginou spoke.

"If you can really save Isobu, then let us make haste."

And this time, he held out his fist.