Hatake Farmhold, Konohagakure
Prior to Daybreak, Present Day
Among the Hatake there is a saying: "Every storm brings a blessed rain". The stock meaning of the phrase was self-evident, but under the circumstances Hatake Shunpei found himself in today, it could be taken in a much more literal respect as well. The sun was gone, the sky was dark and the rain was falling by the bucket-load, but the clouds would eventually part, the sun would shine again and the pouring rain would feed the land.
...Or something like that.
The deep and esoteric meanings of ancient proverbs were not the most important thing on the boy's mind. After all, he was on the cusp of a great and exciting change: Academy graduation! Unfortunately for his anxious mind, a significant part of "great and exciting change" was "change", and change wasn't always good, like when Fukushu stopped hanging out with him. And that meant there was something to worry about.
Fortunately, Shunpei had felt confident coming out of that examination; although he was no Fukushu or [Insert New Top of Class Here], he was positively, absolutely sure that he definitely passed. So he wouldn't have to worry about that, at least. He'd even made a point of asking Uncle Toshiro-sensei just to make sure, and his very own flesh and blood wouldn't have lied to him... Right?
Right? But that begged a question: what if he didn't pass?
And more importantly, what would happen if he
did?
Being forced to return to the Academy was one thing, but a genin squad was a whole new animal. He'd be stuck with the same three people, day in and day out. What if he just ended up being dead weight? What if they got annoyed with him forever? What if he wasn't teamed up with Kiyoshi?
...What
if he wasn't teamed up with Kiyoshi? There's no way that could end well for
anyone!
It was these and other, similar, intrusive thoughts that had occupied Shunpei's mind since he had woken up hours prior. He was used to waking up early though; a few less strikes of sleep wouldn't matter too much. But if he didn't want to think about how everything could go wrong, he had to do something. So Shunpei would do one of the few things he knew how to do well: plant cultivation.
Of course, his personal garden couldn't compare to his mom's or grandfather's. It probably shouldn't even be considered a "garden" since it was just three potted plants. It wasn't even three different potted plants; two were bonsai trees (named Hinami and Hotaru, respectively), and one was a "succulent" (named Mitsuko). But what his garden lacked in variety, it made up for in quality!
After all, farming and gardening, like ninja-ing, was something Shunpei always gave 110% on. It was like the old folks in the clan always said: "Every time you help something else grow, you grow a little yourself." That was probably why everyone in his family was so tall. They
were farmers after all.
Though if you asked him, he would've rather grown into a better shinobi than grown a few centi--
'Nononono. Gotta focus!' Shunpei thought, leaning towards Hinami with kunai in hand. Sculpting bonsai was a delicate process, and he didn't want to mess up. There were no distractions here. There was only the sound of rainfall, punctuated by quiet
snip!s and falling leaves. It was serene, it was soothing, and for the shortest, briefest period, would abate his anxious mind.
"Good morning Shuuchan, and congratulations!" The kunai went
SLICE! and
THUNK! straight through two branches and half of the trunk.
"...Oh. I'm so sorry..." "...A-Ah..." Shunpei stared at his scarred plant, expression warped into dismay. He slowly reached out and patted her on the leaves reassuringly. Cutting Hinami was unfortunate, but it would be okay in the end--once he got over it. He had cut Hotaru before, and Mitsuko even before that. Although Mitsuko always managed to bite back with her needling. You'd think the cactus was part Hyuga or something.
After a few brief moments of emotional recovery, Shunpei turned to face his mother--because who else would appear so suddenly like that?--and beamed:
"Mornin' Ma!" He quickly noticed that she was staring at the battered bonsai.
"Oh!" Shunpei dislodged the kunai from the trunk before setting it down,
"Don't worry, it's-- it's no biggie, really." Even after a decade of exposure, his mother's sudden appearances still caught him off guard. She had this way of showing up without any warning. It wasn't only him; being startled by Hatake Yumitsu was something of a clan mainstay at this point despite all attempts at remedying it. Apparently old habits died hard for the woman who’d used to be one of the village’s preeminent infiltrators.
"Wait, you're awake now!" Shunpei realized,
"Does that mean we can start makin' 'em?" To his dismay, she shook her head.
"I don't think you'll have time enough to make one for everyone," the willowy woman explained,
"...Unless... you're not visiting Auntie Nona today...?" "No way! I mean...Ahh...Not getting to everyone ain't good...but...it ain't right leaving her hangin', y'know? 'Specially like this." He gestured to the inclement weather outside with wide arm motions. Then he let his arms fall limply to his sides.
"Hnng...But... It's... I should still do somethin' for today, yeah? S'not every day we graduate..." Shunpei put a hand to his mouth and pouted, mind racing to come to a decision. All the while, Yumitsu silently stared at her fussing child, expression indecipherable.
"...C'mon." She turned around and gestured for her seated son to follow.
"Don't worry about it; I've got a little something in mind. But let's get you all spiffed up, and get some breakfast in that stomach too."* * *
After dressing up and rapidly devouring a bowl of oyakodon (a meal second only to tempura in Shunpei's mind, but that was hardly suited for breakfast), Shunpei and his mother quickly got to work on the little project Shunpei had planned for today. Unfortunately his original plan--creating food to hand out to all his classmates and their pets--wouldn't pan out given the time constraints. Fortunately, his mother had different idea. They would make four bento for his genin team, and three extra at Shunpei's behest: one for Kiyoshi, and two just in case he was teamed with the Kimura or Asami.
"C'mon Ma, we gotta hustle if I can make it on time!" Shunpei huffed, diligently packing food into neat little sections.
"You want it to be good, right?" she pointed out,
"Besides if you really wanted time, you could have woken me up." "Thought 'bout it, but you're always so sleepy so I figured I should let you get some rest... but good point." "Oh..." She stopped.
"That was kind of you. I really appreciate it." She looked at him and smiled, but despite her kind words, the expression she was greeted with was not one of embarrassment or mutual beneficence. Instead Shunpei's expression was
confusion. For a few moments, they just stared at each other in mutual confusion.
"...Ma." It was the boy who broke the silence.
"What's wrong?" "We got a deadline! Why'd you stop workin' on the bento?" She laughed.
"Of course, of course. How silly of me... Guess now we'll have to work really hard now, won't we?" "You bet! But we'll get 'er done."* * *
In one hand, Shunpei held an umbrella. In the other he held the bento, neatly wrapped in a decorative cloth. It seemed that they did, indeed, "get 'er done"--and on time as well. But there was something missing before he could leave. Something important.
"Where's Pa?" Shunpei asked quietly, only to be met with a tense silence.
"He's...away on another mission," Yumitsu answered. Shunpei couldn't see it since he was busy staring at his feet, but his mother's expression was morose,
"He won't be back for a few days." "It's okay," Shunpei sighed, scratching the back of his head with the handle of the umbrella. His father was an active duty shinobi. He saw this coming from a mile away, but even though you can see a shuriken coming at you didn't mean it didn't hurt when he hit.
"I'm sure Yuudai's proud of you, wherever he is... I made sure to let him know." "I know..." "I can wake up Sayuri, if you want." "...No thanks!" Shunpei straightened out, mind drawn away from his absent parent by the thought of his troublesome little sister.
"She's always so mean. I don't wanna deal with that." "Shunpei... You shouldn't talk about your little sister like that..." "Hmph. Okay. Sorry, fine. She's still mean though." "I'll do it..." "Maaaa...! Please...!?" "Fine, fine... I won't." There was a short, but noticeable, pause before Shunpei was enveloped by a tight hug.
"I'm proud of you," she said, stroking the back of his head,
"I'm so proud of you. Don't let anyone get you down today, you hear?" Yumitsu released her son from her embrace and straightened out the wrinkles in his formal clothes.
"Now are you sure you don't want me to walk with you and Sanae one last time? You've got a lot to carry too." "N-No way!" the boy huffed, red-faced. He puffed his chest out like he was a real man and not an 11-year old.
"I'm a genin now I can take care of myself!" She stared at him, completely unamused. She reached a hand out to ruffle his hair and sighed.
"O...kay... If you say so Genin-san. Make sure you come talk to me before your first mission, okay? I have something important I need to tell you." "Can you tell me now?" "...No." "Why not?" "Because it's... a... "big boy thing"." "Is this the same kind of "big boy thing" that Ria keeps talking about?" It was at this point that Hatake Yumitsu went dead silent. She took a few long, deep breaths and fiddled with her fingers.
"...Please don't talk to me about this... No," she stated flatly, harshly and quickly,
"It isn't." Shunpei was worried now. Apparently he'd mentioned some kind of taboo--which made sense, because according to Uncle Toshiro-sensei, they weren't supposed to know about that kind of stuff yet.
"Sor--" "Don't worry about it." "Oh. Okay then..." There was an awkward silence.
"...If that's all, guess I'll be going!" The excited youngster stepped out the door and opened his umbrella. Casting a final smile in his mother's direction and giving a short wave goodbye with his umbrella, Shunpei took off in the direction of the academy.
"Bye Ma!" "Don't go causin' too much trouble for your teammates or your sensei!" his mother called out before sliding the door shut. Finally alone, she sat on the floor and brought her knees to her chest.
In the Rain, Konohagakure
Daybreak, Present Day
Shunpei went to Sanae's house.
Snowdrops
Izurich
Bombardier
ChronoBovino
