Naruto: A Lazy Life

-A few more days pass-

Pov: Saburo Mori.

*Swish!*

I dodge the final strike and raise my chin high- sweat drips down my head and I, after a few moments of heavy breath drop to the ground after Takumi pulls his fist from beside my face.

"Implementation is still rough, less technique and more instinct..." Takumi mutters aloud.

"Isn't... instinct... the... point?" I ask as my torso rises and falls.

"This instinct you are showing is leaning on the skills you already know, I need you to rely on what we are learning here" Takumi tells me.

...

I take a moment to catch myself, letting me think about my progress.

I have learnt all the forms and what it takes to learn them- I am able to use them in training with just memory alone... and yet I am still not adept at putting it to use in battle.

Still stiff and unreliable- I fumble the moves in moments where I just cannot think for a second.

"Ninjutsu progress?" Takumi questions me.

"Lightning Disk: C-rank ninjutsu" I answer.

"Is that the one you decided on?" Takumi asks further.

"Yes. Out of all the jutsu I looked at this one fit best while doing something I haven't already been capable of performing" I slowly rise up, feeling the pain across my body.

"Use it" Takumi orders.

I perform three hand seals and then hold my wrist.

*Bzzzzt-!*

A glowing ring of lightning forms on my palm and I clasp it.

*Wooosh!*

I throw it lazily across the grass and hit a tree.

*Bzzzt-*

Terrible burn marks scorch both the tree and the grass.

"Interesting. A bad burn can slow your enemies, keep their mind preoccupied and harm them just a little more. Ninjutsu is quite applicable" Takumi rattles off as he steps down from the fallen log he was standing on and approaches the tree.

"I am sure lightning will do more than just distract..." I mumble as he examines the damage.

"Yes sure, the average human will die upon meeting this jutsu. But Shinobi and Kunoichi are full of surprises, unless you have a sure to kill strike assume every attack is to distract or injure" Takumi lectures.

I roll back onto the ground and sigh.

"How close am I to meeting my goal? We have only a week left right?" I ask.

...

Great. More inner monologues.

...

..

.

I wait while he thinks, clearing my mind as I feel the breeze cool wash over me and cool the sweat that drips across my entire body.

My legs hurt, my organs are on fire and there is this terrible pain on my waist whenever I move it a certain way... I am also probably numb to every other bit of muscle pain I am feeling across my entire body.

I am very tired.

...

"Anyone can be a Jonin. If they practice like you do that goal is perfectly obtainable" Takumi speaks up.

"So I am close?" I wonder.

"You were a Jonin when the Hokage promoted you. It's a title... you may meet an enemy designed to kill you and find out they were only a genin" Takumi continues.

"What does that mean?" I open my eyes again.

"I signed the scroll, take it" Takumi throws something at me and it lands on my chest.

I pick it up and examine it... the scroll- he signed it just like that?

"You could train your entire life. But a genin fresh out of the Academy could learn a jutsu that works quite well with his taijutsu... that combo could kill you- because it exploited the weakness of your training" Takumi talks more.

"So it's worthless? Strength? Work?" I ponder.

"Yeah. train your entire life. Beat all your enemies. Kill everyone who dares face you. Grow stronger than even the myths. And yet you will still die some pointless death" Takumi spits out, with sudden hate.

?

"But- it's not pointless if you-" I speak and get interrupted.

"It is. When you have reached the greatest heights after claiming all your hands can grasp- you can only die a worthless death. You will have everything to lose and nothing to gain" He stands and walks over to me as I raise my torso once more.

"But-" I try and speak once more.

"You want fame. Glory. Power. That's all you ever wanted isn't it? What do you do once you obtain it?" He asks seriously, leaning down to stare me in the eyes.

"Be known! Inspire another generation, let everyone know that even orphaned brats can stand on the same level as the greats! Prove a point and save people on the way!" I answer and stare back just as intensely.

"-And when you do that, Inspire the village, the world or the very universe itself- what then? What purpose do you have?" Takumi probes.

"I- who cares- I did it, what else can I do? My life is completed, ten times better than what others manage to accomplish" I argue.

"Done. Correct, you would be done. As burnt out as that 'scalpel' you used to be, unable to anything other than the 'motions' or accomplish what you managed to accomplish ever again. A lonely despair of reaching the top" He stands taller, looking down at me instead of through me.

"That- at least you accomplished something...!" I strain out.

"Did you? Does it matter? The world moves on. Your loved ones move on. Will your efforts be recognised in a land that does not know you?" He questions me with a deep frown.

..?

"Disciple. I am incapable of having them, for the idea inherits the goal of being better than your master. Yet I am incapable of making you stronger than me" He suddenly comments.

"You are not that much stronger than me- with your training I could match you and best you" I frown like him, same confidence in tone.

"I doubt it" Takumi comments and walks away.

*step* *step* *step*

I listen to his slippers patting the grass as he leaves.

My goal is worthless? Life is worthless? Was he always a pessimist? A defeatist at heart? That feels wrong to hear from his mouth... 'unable to do something' doesn't fit him.

Why is he so confidently standing on that side of the argument... the same guy who can confidently claim that I could never beat him?

...

I look at the scroll in my hands and examine it again.

Why did I deny this promotion originally?

...

Because he so confidently claimed I was chunin. Because I believed it truly.

...

I look back up at his back as he leaves.

I do not believe him in this instance!

*Thwack!* *Scatter*

The scroll hits his back and scatters across the ground.

"Oi, don't walk away so quickly. You didn't win that argument" I get up fully, using my hands to push myself up.

I groan a small amount as I push myself standing.

"Hn?" He looks back with a curious gaze.

"I don't believe a word that just came out of your mouth, that my dreams are meaningless and that you are incapable of making me stronger than you" I speak up, clearing the area of noise.

"Is that so?" Takumi tilts his head, pocketing his hands as if he was too tired to listen.

He won't listen to words?

*Swoosh!* *Jab!*

I slide forward and jab under his ribs- he immediately dodges within an instant of recognising my attack.

Then listen to my taijutsu!

*Swish- Swoosh- woosh!*

My strikes flail in front of him as he steps back and twists his body to ignore all of my attempts to hit him.

I stab at his heart- lungs, liver and attempt to slash at his nerves!

Every step is determined and deadly, not playing safe nor letting him think this is just a spar.

I want to see it.

I want to see his real face.

The one with burning eyes, a confident smile and an energetic yet patient structure beneath it all.

This lazy selfish skin he is wearing doesn't fit at all.

I'LL WRIP IT OFF!

*Bang!*

A sudden strike to my gut knocks the wind out of me and slides me back a few feet.

*Haaaa-*

I draw in a sharp breath and then burst forward- kicking the dirt up in front of me and clogging his line of sight on me.

*Woosh-*

I rush around his side and jab my fingers forward- he catches my hand with ease and transfers the impact straight through his feet to boost his speed.

*Bam!*

Slamming his knee into my stomach as my body catches up to my gripped hand- I almost leave the ground but stand strong as I attack with my other hand.

*Scratch!*

He leans himself out of the way but manages to incur a scratch as my chakra scalpel glides across his chest and up towards his neck.

*Swish* *Bang-*

He swivels on his foot and fully follows through with his bodily twist while still holding my hand in check- rotating around me and slamming the back of his fist into my spine.

I trip forward and yet quickly recover in time to spin around and- *Whabam!*

-Meet his first of many consecutive blows to my chest.

*Whabababababababa-*

A blur of punches speed up in front of me, getting faster and hotter as he stores impact after impact to deal one big strike.

I know this technique- I know him better than any enemy he has ever faced, he doesn't know how weak he will be once people figure out his taijutsu.

The initial punches are weak- nothing but bruises to deal with later, the only damaging punch would be the final impact, a ball of everything he just dealt all at once.

That's the only punch I need to care about.

His past enemies would try to defend against this flurry or get out of the way before it finishes... but if you wait at just the right moment...

*Woosh*

The arm reaches back and I note the difference in stance.

A slight difference sure... but enough to tell once you memorized his taijutsu or studied it for more than an hour.

...

I can counter attack here or just dodge- dodging is easy with what I know... but if I can dodge with the new forms technique than I will remain close enough to deal a serious wound back at him.

Can I do it?

...

Wrong question.

Is it worth it? The answer is yes.

*Shift-*

A sudden blur as I pour my chakra from my soles and accelerate on the spot, much faster than before.

The final impact is thrown beside me- a gift to the air now.

I just moved at half my top speed within a second, this technique is useful- and he is not fast enough to keep up at all.

Look at his eyes... slowly following me- an Uchiha struggling to even perceive his target... an amazing achievement. He really has outdone himself.

*woosh*

I step back- knowing that he doesn't rely on his senses when he can't use them well, he knows my next move would be to counter attack... and so his foot rises in front of me to strike me back again.

But my quick dodge back catches him off guard- I am going off script, freestyling my next move instead of doing what is optimal.

I grab his ankle and pull it towards me- grappling techniques aren't in my forms but that's the point.

I grip his collar and slam him down into the ground, following him down and letting go of his ankle as he absorbs the impact to push my hand off.

*Kick!*

He kicks me in the side and tries to transfer the impact into my other hand- I keep a tight hold on his collar and maintain my grip.

Because I am holding him by apparel and not his skin... I can maintain a hold on him without his ability to worm an impact into the centre of my palm and disperse that grip.

Now it is just some impact pushing down on the fingers- unable to loosen them.

I take my other hand and grip his jacket- before digging my feet into the dirt and activating my sliding jutsu.

*Woooosh!*

I start moving forward as I carry Takumi across the forest and back into the field our training started in- weaving past the livestock that moved in while we trained in the forest, I speed across the field with ease.

Every second speeds me up- my initial speed slowly becoming my top speed as I become a blur that Takumi simply cannot struggle against.

His impacts matter not- I use the very technique he taught me to slide away all attacks.

He only has simple moves- and no punch or kick will break through my very simple defence that he built for me.

I look down as I weave through the field with a cocky smile plastered on my tired face.

That smile immediately falters when I see him finish a hand sign and hold his hand to his lips.

A jutsu!? He knows ninjutsu!?!

*FWHOOOOOSH!* *Scatter!*

I drop him and watch him scatter as the fire erupting from his mouth envelopes me- I pour my chakra out like a fountain attempting to suddenly shift directions and avoid a severe burn.

*Step-*

My ankle rolls as I trip over myself, rolling across the grass and scattering into a stop much like Takumi.

I avoided the fire but my ankle... damn.

I step up on my good foot and lean on it as I watch Takumi get up in front of me- a fire burning in his eyes and his frown slowly but surely igniting into a smile he tries to resist.

I let out a hollow laugh as I enter a stance once more.

He hangs around Uchiha all day, of course he is able to replicate the fireball justu from memory alone... I wouldn't put it past him to leave learning the damned jutsu until he needed it though.

Probably had to recall it as I carried him.

Glad I got to be the first one to taste his chakra in ninjutsu form though- my smile rises even more and I lower my gaze onto him.

"What are you attempting? What is the point of this fight? Can't win with words so you strike me?" Takumi asks with curiosity.

"Others see a hidden flame burning brightly behind your lazy visage... I see a dying flame being left out in a blizzard of a ruthless lack of motivation" I speak back.

"My flame..." Takumi clicks his tongue.

"... Has no fuel, doesn't it?" I smile.

"Correct" Takumi acknowledges.

"You clash with yourself, a hypocrite" I tell him.

"All humans do" Takumi replies.

"But you aren't human. I don't buy it" I shake my head.

"So what am I, if not human?" His frown finally breaks as the smile forms.

"I don't know... but I can see it hiding away in you, that beast- that fire- no... what would you call it...?" I struggle to find the word, it resides on the tip of my tongue.

Something... more cold, cruel and something that is primal.

Something primal yet hidden beneath layers of humanity... like a demon forced to play mortal.

Yes- a demon clashing with his human persona.

"... A demon. You are hypocritical, lazy yet unyielding, a weird mix that doesn't fit you. Laziness is an odd look on you" I nod in agreement with myself.

...

I watch his fist tighten.

"A... {Demon}? You would call me a..." Takumi seems stunned, words without confidence.

The weirdest I have seen him yet.

He looks at his hands and than looks back up towards me with a scowl on his face, his eyes darting for a moment but resting in place on me.

"I am a... {Demon? If I were to travel home would I not turn? I am not the Emperor I was after all- lazy and lost}" He grits his teeth down as he speaks.

I really struck a nerve... he is using his weird code language again.

...

"Hn. You claim that my flame is dying? But I am merely resting" He shakes his head and states.

What is he playing at now...?

"Or I believe myself to be. I will give you one chance to become my disciple, prove me wrong- ignite that flame and prove that I am some... demon" He raises his fists.

Prove that he is a demon?

"Oh yeah? And all I have to do is beat you?" I ask and raise my open hands.

"Simple right? If I lose then I will have undeniable proof that I am not who I thought I was. That I have changed and not for better" He steps forward and enters his stance fully.

I don't know what the hell is happening within that head of his, but if I win this fight I know I can help him.

And that is all the motivation I need to win.