Demons Turned Angels

They Grow Up Too Fast [ Required WC: 2000 ]


Masume was annoyed with the mission she took on two hours ago. “Where could those brats be?” she thought.

The mission she took was to help two kids that lived outside of konoha, but attended the academy in Konoha. They weren’t ninja yet, but they’ve been having a little too much ‘fun’ with their newfound knowledge of the ninja way.

Now she had taken on the task and role of Big Sister, trying to help them find an alternative for acting out. But that led to the two boys taking off and hiding in the forest.

At first, Masume didn’t think it would be that hard to find them. They were just kids, after all; ages 8 and 10. She had dealt with their attacks swiftly upon arrival, dodging everything and pinning one kid’s shirt to the house with senbon, making it hard to get out of, and grabbing the other’s arm and pinning it behind him, kunai pointed at his back.

Their parents were impressed by Masume’s quick and effective, also harmless way of taking care of the boys, while also not being too harsh with them

Now Masume had tried to reason with them after letting them go with the understanding they were not to attack them again. She had worriedly lectured them, “I could have killed you, had I thought you intended to end my life!!” she exclaimed at the time, trying to hammer it into their heads. “Never attack first, unless you are ready to be attacked” she stated as they struggled futility to get out of the uncomfortable situation they had gotten themselves in, “And always be ready for the next move from your opponent.”

Once let go, the eldest had stood angrily with his arms crossed, tearing up. Once the youngest had been released from his senbon prison, the elder of the two ran off into the woods, the youngest trailing after to make sure his big brother was okay.

Now they both were out of sight. They couldn’t have gone that far, so why couldn’t she find them.

Suddenly she heard sniveling, and saw the eldest boy sitting under a large tree, crying to himself, likely in frustration.

Masume appeared before the boy, ready for him to run, but he just kind of… sat there.

“Why…” he started, sniffing his running snot back into his nose. “Why are you here, you big… big dummy!” he shouted, angrily hitting the tree behind him with his fist.

“Where’s your brother?” she asked, suddenly worried that the younger had gone missing.

“Who cares! It’s not like I need him anyway! All he does is get in the way and ruin my fun!” The kind shouted louder, causing a nearby squirrel to become disturbed and run away from the acorns he had just taken out of his cheeks to bury. It sat on the side of a tree watching carefully, and scaredly, before running back down, repouching his nuts, and running away.

“Don’t you get it?!” She finally shouted, interrupting his rant. “All he wants is his big brother’s love and attention!” She growled. “And now he’s not with you, nor with me! He could be in danger!”

The 10 year old finally stopped crying for a moment only to have a fit of anger, again. “I don’t care, he always ruins my plans! Always! I wanted to be a ninja, so he had to as well! He’s annoying! I hate him!”

“Maybe if the two of you worked together instead of fighting your brother and parents…”

“I hate my parents!” He shouted, shocking Masume, and earning him an angry glare. “They’re never here when I need them! I wish they were dead!” The boy made heavy statements, visibly sobbing now.

“You don’t mean that.” she stated bluntly.

“I do so! They hate me! They wouldn’t have had my brother if they truly loved me! They just want to replace me… replace us” argued the 10 year old.

“You don’t realize how lucky you are!” She shouted in anger. Then, she tried to calm herself and speak clearly, without anger. “Look, kid, I miss my parents every second of every day. I would give myself a thousand times over to be able to have them back in my life. Some should be so lucky to have caring, albeit busy, parents. They wouldn’t have hired me to try and help you two if they didn’t love you!” Masume thought for a moment and responded to his other remark. “ They probably wanted you to have a buddy to play with so you wouldn’t be so lonely. That could be why they had your brother, but I can definitely tell you, it’s not to replace you.”

“Then why are they having another kid?!” He shouted.

Silence.

Oh.

Masume sighed, rubbing her forehead. She plopped herself down next to him and placed a hand on his shoulder. “Hey, I know your parents love you very much, but sometimes… sometimes parents make mistakes. No.. wait… not talking about the new child. I’m talking about splitting their attention up in an unfair way. But maybe your parents didn’t expect this child to be here, and were surprised! Perhaps. But that doesn’t mean they love you any less, only that they now have more love to give. This is because they now are receiving more love. Yes, sometimes you won’t get your way, or you wont have your mom and dad’s full attention. But believe me, they do care.”
The boy had calmed down a little bit, “It’s still not fair though.” He sniffed twice, settling into his sadness.

“Well, kid… life isn’t fair either. What matters is that you surround yourself with people who love you, and will help you get past it. You should work with the people around you, and communicate how you feel to them in a calm way.” Masume consoled him.

The 10 year old remained silent.

“You know,” Masume started, “If you worked together with your brother, and practice your teamwork, you may be able to even pull one over on me!” She said laughing.

The boy smiled.

“Now come on, we gotta find your little brother, before your mom and dad worry themselves sick.


Masume and the boy finally found the youngest of the two, caught in a rabbit trap and hanging upside-down by his ankle. He had passed out from the blood rushing to his brain. Masume used her Tanto to cut down the boy and gently remove the rope from his ankle.

Upon further examination of the rope, she could see he had tried to cut the rope with what looked like a rock, but passed out before he could sever the rope.

When he fell to the ground, he woke up instantly, happy to see his big brother and Masume at the time. He ran and hugged the pair of them. Masume’s body became rigid, feeling rather uncomfortable with the physical contact, but after he pulled away she brushed it off and smiled at the boy, wiping some of the dirt off his face with her finger.

As the group returned back to the kids’ parents’ house, Masume spent time lecturing the kids on the etiquette of sparring, and how you only attack unannounced if you are fighting against a true enemy. She also went over ways to express and communicate how they were feeling, practicing by talking to the trees as if they were their parents. Eventually they would want to express their concerns to their mom and dad, however now was not the time.

After sparring with the boys and giving them tips and tricks on how to be a ninja, from quiet footsteps, teamwork, and aim with kunai and shurikens, she bid them farewell for the night, promising to return the next day.

She also made mention to the mother of the two that her kids are worried about being ignored, forgotten, or replaced with a new baby on the way and that the kids might try to express how they feel about it when they are ready to. In return, she thanked Masume and offered her supper.

Masume took the food gratefully, but had to take it to go as the night was setting in fast and she needed to set up her camp for the night.

The second day of her working with the boys went by very fast. It was more of a relaxation day. Whilst she prepared and set up her supplies that she had brought, the boys wrestled in the grass. Perhaps they weren’t so bad after all. In fact, the thought of having kids of her own one day crossed into her mind as she watched them playing with each other. It also seemed that yesterday had an effect on them.

“Alright, you two!” She called them to a table sitting in the grass, joining them. “Let’s talk about hobbies. What do you enjoy doing in your free time?

“Fighting!” Shouted the eldest first, “Combat skills are the first thing a ninja needs in his arsenal, and It’s always fun to test my skills!

After putting a considerable amount of thought in, the younger blurted out “Pranking!” He looked thrilled with himself. “It's funny when people get an unexpected surprise!”

“Fighting and pranking, huh?” She said cheerily, trying to make her tone happier than yesterday’s. “Well there aren’t many appropriate times to prank someone, just like there aren’t many appropriate times to fight someone. Let’s explore within ourselves and see if there is anything else we like to do that we can make a hobby out of?”

The boys sat quietly, shocking their parents at how they listened carefully to the “Real-life ninja!”

“This is kind of boring,” said the younger boy, leaning his cheek on his hand.

“Hobbies are an important way to blow off steam when you are stressed. Even if you aren’t stressed now, ninja work can cause it. My main goal today is to help you two to find some non-destructive and non-harmful ways to express your feelings and thoughts while also relieving stress and tension.” Masume paused. “There are other ways that you can relieve stress too, such as taking a hot bath, gently playing with the family pets, or even meditation. But, I find that sometimes keeping your brain active and doing something you enjoy is the way to go.”

The eldest of the boys shugged, shaking his head “What if we don’t know what else to like?”

“Then you try new things.” She stated. “We will start an activity about meditation. It is important to take care of yourself so you are in top condition for missions. While this activity seems boring, it is actually quite useful, and with practice, all you may need is a deep breath to calm yourself.”

The boys straightened their posture one by one, listening carefully.

Masume passed each boy a couple sheets of paper and some colored pencils and crayons.

“Right now, I want you to draw the place where you are most comfortable, and I will do the same. Remember, it doesn’t have to be a real place or even a place you’ve ever been to. Let me know when you are done.

After a bit of silence in between the boys talking about good memories of theirs, everyone was ready to share their pictures.

Neither of the boys’ pictures were anything spectacular, they were 10 and 8 after all, but they were still fairly easy to make out. The younger of the two had drawn the living room inside the house with him sitting near the fire and watching the flames dance, while the eldest drew himself in a treehouse overlooking the ocean with a training dummy on the ground outside of it.

Masume turned her sheet of paper around to show the boys after praising their work. Hers was of her laying in an open field, watching the night sky, with fireflies illuminating her face and sitting on her nose. There was a large city, Konoha, in the distance, lighting that area of the picture up.

The boys were shocked by her work and how detailed it was, though it was drawn simply as well with a mixture of both crayons and pencils.

“Now that we’ve created a safe space in our minds, we will close out eyes and go there, breathing steadily and taking in all the details.” She explained bringing them to the grass with their papers and sitting them in a circle, explaining how to still their minds and breathe calmly. While the younger of the two couldn't stop moving or twitching, the older one relaxed and took the exercise seriously.

After a few moments of silence she asked them to open their eyes “Now i want you to recall this place whenever you feel you need a safe space to calm down.”

“It doesn’t work,” complained the younger one.

“Then let’s try something different…” Masume said, bringing her hand to her chin to think. “Perhaps you need a distraction for your hands… some sort of quiet way to fidget to reel in your focus during meditation. Something to zone out on and go to your safe place. Then steadily you will get faster and more efficient at calming yourself and relaxing, maybe so much so that it just takes looking at the object to trigger the sense of calm. It could even be an object you could use for genjutsu, like a spinning top, shuriken, or even just pressing your thumb into a round stone with an indent. But let’s focus on another task”

Masume stood up and dusted the clipped grass off her pants. She then stretched, tendons crackling.

“There’s always training.” She said, “Physical activity releases endorphins that make you feel good. And it’s always good to train your strength and speed. Especially if you want to use Taijutsu.” She paused for a moment as the boy nodded. “Let’s play some tag!” She said, tapping one of the boys on the shoulder and laughing, running off. “You’re it!”

As the trio played tag, the sun started to go down. It seemed exercise was the answer for the younger of the two, and boy did he have the energy!

Masume bid a farewell to the boys again, talking to their mom and dad about what they did that day and talked about the importance of taking care of oneself and doing things you enjoy and that can calm you when stressed.

She then sternly looked at the boys.

“We will spar tomorrow. I want to see if they have been working on their teamwork together. I wont hurt them though.” She cautioned the mother, directing her attention back to her.

Then after a friendly goodbye, she left for the night.

The last day she had set aside to spend with the boys, she had told them they would spar. Now here she was, alert and aware as she trekked to the couple’s home. Once there she could immediately sense a presence shuffling behind a bush in the yard. She set her pack down and said aloud, looking at the slightly giggling bush.

“I know you’re there” She said confidently, focusing on the bush.

Little did she know, it was a ploy to distract her as the 10 year old boy shot out from his hiding place that she had been oblivious to because of her focus on the bush. He was going at a speed of 10, however, once she noticed him, merely a second before his fist would have made contact with her stomach. At a speed of 90 (50 Vigor + 40 Speed), she blinked away to the edge of the yard 40 meters from where she stood, having attempted and successfully used Body Flicker.

The 10 year old boy looked around puzzled, finding Masume in an instant as the 8 year old ran out from his hiding spot. The 8 year old then Reached into his ninja pouch drawing shuriken as Masume threw her 5 senbon at the 10 year old boy, aiming to pin him against the tree by the edges of his clothes.

The 10 year old poofed into a puff of smoke, placing one of the dropped shurikens in his place. Masume’s eyes darted around, not seeing the boy, but noticing three shurikens heading for her, from the 8 year old. She attempted to dodge to the right, however, another shuriken was heading that way. Masume ducked to avoid it, however, it turned into the 10 year old boy a mere meter away from her and he tackled her to the ground.

“Alright! You got me!” She called, laughing at the smart move and teamwork of the boys. “That was really good!” She said dusting herself up as she got to her feet and going over to the other side of the yard to collect her senbon. “Serously” she turned to them, “That was great! You two will be genin in no time if you keep thinking like that.

She realized what had happened was that when the 8 year old dropped the shuriken, the 10 year old had used transformation to turn into a shuriken and then substitution to move himself over to where the other shuriken had dropped, near his brother. Then, the 8 year old kid threw the shuriken, his brother, at her. She had greatly underestimated the two boys. She guessed maybe the 10 year old’s passion for fighting was not ineffectual. He was actually quite good when he had time to think and the focus wasn’t solely on him. Perhaps he would excel in a team setting.

Masume offered her hands for high-fives from the boys.

The rest of the day, Masume taught the boys basic academy-level jutsu she had learned by perusing textbooks at the libraries and shops in her travels, and helping them to think outside the box with them as well as achieving effective results and persevering. They had achieved so much in such a short time... they might even graduate early!

She then bid them a final farewell. Though she was told to stop by again any time, she doubted she would have time to. But she did add it to her long list of things to do in the future.


WC: 3000

[ Claiming +20 to Vigor (50 + 20 = 70) ]
[ Claiming +10 to Speed (40 + 10 = 50) ]
[ Claiming 500 / 500 for Body Flicker ]
[ Claiming 2500 / 2500 for B-rank and A-Rank Poison Mist ]

[ Claiming +8000 ryo (4000 x 2 Beloved Presence) ( 6500 + 8000 = 14500 ) ]
[ Claiming +20 Bonus AP ( 30 + 20 = 50 ) ]

[ Exit ]

Masume Aburame wrote:They Grow Up Too Fast [ Required WC: 2000 ]




WC: 3000

[ Claiming +20 to Vigor (50 + 20 = 70) ]
[ Claiming +10 to Speed (40 + 10 = 50) ]
[ Claiming 500 / 500 for Body Flicker ]
[ Claiming 2500 / 2500 for B-rank and A-Rank Poison Mist ]

[ Claiming +8000 ryo (4000 x 2 Beloved Presence) ( 6500 + 8000 = 14500 ) ]
[ Claiming +20 Bonus AP ( 30 + 20 = 50 ) ]

[ Exit ]

Approved claims