Naruto: Akatsuki

"Grab the sword," Gin said to me impassively while throwing me a wooden sword. It was the first thing he did after his body was healed to some extent.

Without any retort, I complied. Leaning down, I grabbed the sword, and looked at him for further instruction.

"As expected, I suppose." Gin bickered, "Your form is sloppy and impractical."

"Of course." I replied coolly, "So you got to fix it for me."

I presumed that what he was going to teach me was kenjutsu—the way of wielding a sword. I placed my entire focus on Gin, in order to ensure that I didn't let a single bit of tip out of my slip.

"...Cheeky brat."

However, instead of what I expected, Gin suddenly came in charging at me, with another wooden sword in his hands.

My eyes widened from a sudden shock. I leaped back to maintain a distance for a while longer, and hurriedly raised up the sword in front of me, just to defend Gin's approaching horizontal slash.

TAK!

I was knocked back with the wooden sword out of my grip. Although it wasn't an appropriate action that should've been done during a real-life situation, I saved my wrists at the present thanks to letting it go.

Sitting on the ground, I glared at Gin, who was pointing his wooden sword at me, "Do you have a fetish for bullying an 8-year-old boy?"

But Gin didn't respond. Instead, with a sigh, he placed his wooden sword on his shoulder.

"Watch. I'm going to show you just once."

He raised up the wooden sword with two hands, and swung it down vertically, from top to bottom.

Swoosh. It was elegant, I thought. It was just a simple slash, but without any unnecessary movement.

Without further ado, Gin turned back, throwing the wooden sword aside.

"Master this by tomorrow, before I return."

Then, just like that, he vanished from the site, leaving me all by myself.

"...Ha." I let out a sigh while standing back up. Turning my eyes to the front, I gazed at the wonderful view of sunrise from afar, on the peak of a tall unnamed mountain.

A cold lake was located nearby. A small wooden house, built by Gin himself, was sitting at the edge, and I was standing between those two features.

'Master this by tomorrow, after seeing it once, huh.'

What a ridiculous task that he left to me. I believed that if a normal kid were to receive this kind of training, he or she would've been diagnosed with depression within a month. Not for me though.

This was better than training alone. After all, I had a guide to follow.

So I grabbed the wooden sword that was lying near me. It didn't feel light, but it wasn't that heavy as well for my arms to tremble.

I closed my eyes, imaging the scene where Gin swung the sword vertically, and followed suit. Raise up the sword, and swing it down.

Swoosh.

One. The sword's path wasn't straight. My body shook due to the recoil of swinging, and I ended up leaning back.

Without any word, I raised it up again.

Swoosh. Two. Still not good.

Three. A complete fail.

Four, five, six, seven...

It was the start of my endless vertical swing, relying on a single demonstration.

__________

Swoosh.

The sound of a sword being swung in the thin air was heard.

Swoosh.

Then, another one,

Swoosh.

followed by another one.

It was the next day in the early morning.

Swoosh.

Here, in the exact same spot, I stood, swinging the sword from top to bottom. Without eating, drinking, and sleeping, I swung non-stop up until now—my desire to become stronger overwhelmed all else within my mind.

Swoosh.

My muscles screamed in pain. My legs were shaking from stress, and my arms felt tremendously heavy.

But nonetheless, I raised up the wooden sword and swung it again.

The number? I forgot how many times I swung a long time ago.

Form? My mind was far too tired to notice if I've gotten better. My body moved autonomously at this point, raising up the wooden sword and slashing it downward—over and over again.

And surprisingly, for some reason, I found a smile on my face. Unlike the time at which I did all without any guidance, I felt as if walking in the right direction. Unlike the time when I was unsure of everything, I was becoming stronger.

I loved this feeling, this sense of fulfillment. So what if my body was telling me to stop? So what if I was giving up the time of sleep during the night? Contrary to what my life has been up until now, I felt as if I was achieving something—something worthwhile in my life.

Swoosh.

Another swing. I raised up the sword, about to swing it down—

Tap.

—but I found myself unable to do so, as a shadow of one man, Gin, loomed over me.

"You..." He, whose face was hidden behind my back, whispered in disbelief.

Unable to hold the sword any longer with Gin's grip tight on it, my arms fell powerlessly. I, turning to Gin, made a weak smile,

"...Did I do good?"

My vision turned upside down after, and before I knew, I was gone from consciousness, again.

Just how many times am I fainting?

__________

"...Crazy kid." Gin muttered as Akashi fell to the ground with his eyes closed.

<...Did I do good?>

Gin's eyes fell solemn. He treated Akashi harshly on purpose, being unable to bear the sight of a child due to his trauma.

'I was wrong,' Gin thought. No matter how mature a child can be, a child still was a child in the end.

The first time Gin met Akashi was down the cliff that stood at the border between the Land of Rain and the Land of River; the latter was injured to an extent where Gin thought he was dead. What a stubborn life Akashi was, to endure such a critical condition and survive up until now.

A lone-eyed boy. Frail and powerless. Got involved in the case among the ninjas, and out of fear and helplessness, performed the pitiful self-genjutsu technique that any experienced ninja will easily figure out.

Gin, with silence, stared at the unconscious Akashi.

'Were you cornered and out of the option to this extent, that you cried for help from a missing-nin like me?' In Gin's eyes, Akashi was a boy who tried his best to hide the pain in his heart.

And look what happened. Gin gave a ridiculous task of mastering a sword slash after a single performance, without any explanation.

It was ridiculous because there was no such thing as 'mastering' a simple sword slash. It was even more ridiculous because Akashi's wooden sword was unfit for a child of his age. It was too big and heavy.

Yet, the entire day and night. Akashi achieved something that even some adults won't be able to achieve.

"Fine."

Out of Gin's mouth, a word came out. He seemed to have determined, without any shred of annoyance that he usually exhibited on his face.

"If it's the strength that you want," Gin, slowly reaching out to Akashi and carrying the latter into the small wooden house, stated, "It's the strength that I'll help you attain."

Just like Akashi's request to teach him, Gin's words just now too were spoken out of whim.