Preparing To Set Off (2)

It had officially been two days since Rei had woken up. During that time whether it was day or night, he had been working. Inside the originally dark and dreary cave, he had transformed it. Using Kido he created temporary orb's of light to keep the entire place illuminated. In truth gathering, food was easier than he expected.

When he said how much he could gather in two days he regretted spending the money he had before. Being ahead of schedule Rei decided to take a quick break. Resting against the cave wall he heard Fuyumi's voice from his right. "Big Brother Rei what are these?" Waving her hand through the orb's Rei created.

Touching them felt like touch air except it was slightly warm. "Just a little trick I picked up." Holding his right arm up Rei created another one of the orbs from thin air. Then with a light tap of his finger, it began to float off producing light wherever it went. "Woah… My Dad never told me that Jutsu can do stuff like that."

Seeing what Rei had just done, Seiki stopped eating some of the berries Rei had found for them. "So what about the other stuff you do like hunting and checking what's poisonous?" Hearing them ask another question Rei sat up slightly for his relaxed position before speaking. "Well, you know how you're technically not allowed outside of the village?"

The two of them nodded slowly and seemed excited to listen. "Well everyone once in a while I and my dad would sneak out when my mom was asleep. We never went too far outside but he taught me all kinds of things. Like kinds of food are safe to eat and what to do if I was ever caught in bad weather."

This kind of atmosphere continued for the next couple of hours before Rei noticed Ren who had been resting in a corner walk over to him. Turning his head to the side Rei saw Seiki and Fuyumi stood next to Ren as well and stared intensely at him. "We have been talking about this for a while when you were out and we had come to a decision."

Seiki was the first person to speak and was then followed by Ren. "We know you are going to be leaving tomorrow so we wanted to ask you… If you would teach us how to fight like you." Hearing the Rei was honestly shocked. After everything they had gone through that was one of the last things he had expected them to say.

Fuyumi spoke last with only a slim trace of the meekness he heard before. "We want to be like you… Despite everything, you've lost… Even more, than we have you still able to do all this. We want to be strong like that." Hearing their reasoning Rei went into his own thoughts for a moment.

'Teaching them may not be a bad idea but then again it's dangerous.' Rei didn't save them just so they had to bear the brunt of what they came up against in the future. 'But in the end, it is their choice…' Looking up at three of them Rei finally stood up from his slouching position. "

"You three do understand if I do teach you may have to kill someone someday not only to protect yourselves."

It was a sad truth but despite the Shinobi world being less chaotic than it was during the war it was still dangerous. And if he did teach them how to fight killing to survive may become part of their daily lives. Standing there firm the three of them only glanced at one another before speaking in synchronization. "We know."

With that Rei wasn't going to bother trying to convince them otherwise. If he had to choose he would pick their survival over trying to keep what sembRei of innocence they had left. "Alright then when I get back I'll teach you guys but I'm letting you know ahead of time. I'm not going to let you guys slack off."

Hearing Rei agrees their faces lit up as they nodded. "Alright it's already late you guys go to sleep I've gotta start prepping the barrier." With that, Rei sent them off and began to prep the barrier at the entrance of the cave. Holding his arm out towards the cave entrance Rei began pouring Reiryoku into his palm.

It was as he was doing that Ryujin Jakka's voice entered his mind. "Are you truly planning on fighting?" Hearing its voice Rei smirked as he replied. "Of course why else would I be going to the Hidden Leaf." Ryujin Jakka paused for a moment before responding. "Against that earlier opponent, you had an edge until his transformation. If not for my interference you would have died. Fighting his master would be unwise."

Rei froze for a moment thinking back to Kimimaro's weird form. "That may be true but I'm stronger than I was before." It was only after he said that Ryujin Jakka mentioned the main issue. "However despite all of your growth you still can not activate my release state." Hearing that Rei's eye twitched.

"Well, it's not like I'm not trying! You were with me when I was training I just couldn't. Besides, you already unlocked your form for me before can't you just do it again?" Realizing he raised his voice slightly Rei checked behind making sure he didn't wake anyone up before sighing to himself.

Ryujin Jakka seemed to have gone quiet before its voice echoed in his head once again. "The bond between Soul Reaper and Zanpakuto is built on trust and understanding. Without that bond, the Soul Reaper will become complacent in their own abilities and become unable to hear their Zanpakuto's voice. If that ever happens you will eventually destroy yourself."

Listening to all of that Rei lowered his head and looked at Ryujin Jakka. "But I do trust you. It's because of you helping me that I got this far." Saying that with a look of regret Rei heard Ryujin Jakka say one last thing before going silent. "But you still have your doubts do you not."

After that Rei tightened his grip before silently getting back to creating the barrier.

The remainder of that night could be called uneventful and soon enough the sun had risen again. Waking up from her sleep first Fuyumi rubbed her eyes lightly and was slightly confused when she felt sunlight shining into the cave onto her face. "Huh?" Fully waking herself up she realized something was missing and quickly shook Ren and Seiki who were sleeping nearby.

"Wake up. Wake up! Look at the entrance… It's gone!" Waking up due to Fuyumi's voice the two boys looked up only to see she was right. The entrance to the cave was gone and was instead replaced with a wall of rock as if it had been there the entire time. Spotting Rei lying against one of the cave's walls they quickly ran over to him and woke him up.

"Big Brother Rei where did the cave entrance go?" Feeling them shake him awake Rei stretched groggily. "Huh? It's still there." Speaking through a yawn he found a nearby rock on the ground and picked it up. Focusing for a moment the kids were stunned when they saw a light appeared on the rock-forming a familiar mark on the rock's surface.

Then with a simple toss, Rei threw the rock at the cave wall where the entrance used to be. The moment the rock touched the wall the rocks rippled like water and it went straight through. Seeing their expressions Rei explained. "That's the barrier I was talking about. From the outside, it looks like the cave doesn't exist and the only way to go through it is to either use brute force or have my mark."

Reaching his hand out Rei grabbed Seiki's arm and in a matter of moments, a glowing red mark appeared on his skin. The mark was a simple circle with two lines bisecting one another. Seeing the mark Seiki held up to look at it closer. "Wait this is our clan's symbol right?" Rei nodded as he placed a mark on both Ren and Fuyumi next.

"Well, I guess it's time for me to go." It was Rei saying that reminded them that he was leaving today. Immediately their expressions grew dimmer causing Rei to chuckle. "You all remember how to light a fire from me doing it right?" They all nodded while not speaking. "Don't worry I promise I'll be back in three weeks max."

Placing his hand on both Seiki and Fuyumi's heads he reassured them before turning to Ren. Bending down he whispered something in his ear. "Despite Seiki taking care of you two, I know you have the best memory here Ren. If I don't return in three weeks there is a city just north of here. I want you to take care of the two of them like their siblings you got it?"

Listening to Rei, Ren nodded firmly. Seeing he understood Rei got back up on his feet and prepared to leave. "Take care of each other, I'll be back before you know it." Walking out of the cave through the barrier Rei took a deep breath and donned a more serious look on his face. "No turning back now." Bending down he quickly leaped into the trees and set off.

As he moved from branch to branch he looked down at Ryujin Jakka and spoke. "I'll try to be a little more trusting this time around alright?"