Chapter 5, Clanpeeps
"There's something wrong which makes me unable to use ninjutsu, I thi-" But Hikaru was interrupted by the woman "Mind if I take a closer look at it?" She said with a worried look and reached out for his arm. "Sure go ahead. Let me know if you see something, the medics wouldn't do a check up on me"
Hinata was worried. All of his chakra pathways were closed but only just before it reached his skin. No path further inside is blocked but the way these are blocked she almost thought he had been in a fight with a Hyuuga. Hearing him say this was permanent was worse. "It seems something is blocking the chakra pathways. I'm afraid only two things can happen of you keep pressuring it. One is that you will get rid of the clogs when release a lot of chakra at once and the other is that you end up destroying the path inside the body as well from the build up."
This had shocked Hikaru, but not for the fact that it could be very dangerous. He had in fact almost stopped listening after she said that he could unclog them. "Are you sure? Does that mean I could use ninjutsu eventually?"
Hikaru stared with relit passion at the woman in front of him who only seemed more concerned by it. "Yes, but you could also die.." She looked him right in the eyes and said with a gentle voice "You'll have to think this though, take some time."
Hinata was going to talk to Guy about this, she knew he had taken on someone new and could only assume this was the boy. He had to know the risks of this. "But now onto the topic at hand." Hikaru now looked at the ground, he was not looking forward to the punishment for this.
The woman bent her knees to get down to his level and said "Leave quickly, before someone else shows up." The woman was showing him a wide grin which he happily returned, bowed to show his gratefulness, and left quickly in the darkness.
'You never know what might happen to these pranksters in the future. Maybe we should even leave the paint there during our wedding, just for old times sake' Hinata thought in amusement as she left to make a report that she lost her target. Meanwhile Hikaru was waiting for his friends at the meetup spot.
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The next day when they got to school the other three were on cleaning duty. "You weren't caught!? You were in the middle and you even wrote on his forehead how could they not try harder?" Tsukune was annoyed that he got caught and not his friend.
"No, she caught me pink handed literally but she let me go. Probably out of pity honestly." Hikaru just shrugged but he turned around when he noticed they weren't alone in this conversation.
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Mirai was about to walk home when she heard the four's conversation. She knew her grandfather had been dishonoured by someone, and now she found out it was the same boy that was the bane of all her problems.
She walked around the corner to confront them. "So it was you four? And especially YOU Hikaru who painted on my grandpa!" Her frustration and anger was growing "Is this personal? Do you dislike me this much? What have I ever done to you!? We haven't even talked once for two years!!"
The group was stunned for a moment because they were getting yelled at but Hikaru stepped forward. "Why do you think everything's about you all of the time?" Hikaru stepped closer to her and raised his voice glaring right into her eyes "This was because of the way we commoners are treated by the likes of you. I have nothing against YOU, but you and the other clanpeeps have all been ignoring me this entire time except to make snide remarks."
It was now Mirai's turn to be stunned. 'What is he talking about?' but Tsukune interrupted her thoughts "We just want it to be equal for all of us. I want the same chance to succeed as you, and I'll work hard on it. Unlike you."
This was the last drop for Mirai. She was working hard most days of the week, when she wasn't out with her friends or on a trip to the spa. "Stop making excuses for your own lacking ability. There's nothing stopping you and no one treating you different. It's just you trying to explain why you'll fail in the future!!" Mirai stormed off.
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The following day had arrived and Mirai couldn't get the boys' words out of her head. Were they treated differently? She had never noticed anything. While in thought she sat down at her table right at the front and looked around.
The class only had around 20% commoners really and they were all sitting at the back. Now that she looked at it, weren't the benches almost an indicator of clansize? The front bench was filled with the larger clans and further back, the "clanpeeps", as the quartet called them, were close to commoners.
The class begun with her deep in though until she heard her name being called out by Iruka "Mirai, do you know the answer?" She hadn't listened and was confused, Iruka must have noticed this and helped her "I'm sure you know what kind of jutsu the tiger hand seal is usually a precursor to."
Mirai was relieved for the help and answered "Fire and Earth release" Iruka nodded at her with a knowing smile telling her to pay attention. Around her the class was happy and she got nudged cheekily for knowing the answer.
Later that same class Sansho was asked a question. It was at this point Mirai started to realize something was off. Sansho answered the question perfectly but no one in the class was happy for him, instead they seemed annoyed as soon as Iruka turned his back to write on the board.
Mirai heard whispers like "He probably has a cheat sheet just to show off in class. That won't save him at the final exam!" and snickers all around. Had she missed this before?
Next class was taijutsu training and once again a similar thing happened. She had performed well and was congratulated but Hikaru was ridiculed. Mirai decided to ask Iruka why it was like this. "Iruka-sensei, why are people treating the commoners differently?"
Iruka seemed a bit somber at that thought. "Well since there aren't many commoners becoming juunin many look down on them all as a group." He then went down on his knees in front of her.
"I'd be happy if you didn't make the same mistake. Judge them individually. I have a feeling we have some very promising you commoners here, not to mention that farmer boy of yours." Iruka managed to sneak in a tease there since it had not escaped his notice that she was always looking towards Hikaru.
Mirai felt her cheeks grow warm but decided to ignore the last bit and stared into his eyes with determination "I'll will!"
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Meanwhile Hikaru was finally going to meet his sensei again! He ran towards the training area but when he got there, Guy was in a poor mood. "What's up Guy sensei?" The man looked up and his eyes were filled with tears. "I can't believe the poor luck you have my dear boy! I've spoken to Hinata about your condition and I completely understand it if you want to end our training.."
Hikaru was stunned for two reasons. First of all, that was Hinata he met?! And second of all he had never seen Guy sad before.
"Guy-sensei. My parents didn't spend all of their savings and most of their earnings for my trip here and my weekly food allowance just for me to give up! I was told there was a chance to perform Ninjutsu again and I'm willing to try anything."
Hikaru looked at Guy with a passion he hadn't seen in a long time. In a way it was very similar to a couple of looks he had gotten from Rock through the years.
Guy wiped his tears, now from joy because of this show of youthful PASSION in action, and looked the boy right in his bright yellow eyes "Have you ever heard of the eight gates?"