Rinko groaned as the light of the window reached her large bed. She'd shut herself in her dark room for two weeks, skipping all classes and ignoring any attempt to coax her out of the house. She barely left her room to use the toilet and bathe, only mustering enough motivation when her bladder was close to bursting or her own smell was making her sick. Her lack of enthusiasm for life was due to the recent insecurities that had developed after her many failures over the past month. Her father had tried to teach her to be charming, clever, and bold, but perhaps she could never live up to his expectations. A part of her wondered if this was her mother's fault. Was that why her father had ditched the woman, because it was some mistake? Was Rinko a mistake?Not wanting to continue down such a dark train of thought, the girl grabbed a book from the stack beside her bed. When she became of age, Rinko's father had given all of his old shinobi texts to his daughter. While she had cracked open a book or two before, it had only been to learn the bare minimum to convince her father that she was proceeding with her studies at an acceptable rate. But after her latest emotional breakdown, the girl took to absorbing every bit of knowledge in her room in an attempt to drown out the negative thoughts in her mind. By now she had learned and mastered every lightning jutsu she was currently capable of handling. She worried that trying something as powerful as Chidori at her current level of education might cause irreparable damage to her or the environment. She had moved on to other ninjutsu, excluding fire. With her mastery of the other elements, it seemed silly to be afraid of something so basic, but she reasoned that such jutsu was impractical. Every other one could have other practical uses, electricity and wind could be used as a power source, earth was necessary for mobility, and water was a necessity for the human body. Fire, however, did nothing but destroy, or so Rinko believed. Most would argue that it produces heat, but there were ways to survive the cold without flames.
Rinko's attention was pulled from her studies by the creak of the hallway and the light clink of dishes. She held her breath after the knock on her door, and didn't release it until the hall squeaked again. When she was positive the hallway was empty, she approached the door and opened it. At her feet was a bowl of plum rice. This was obviously her grandfather's cooking. She grabbed the dish and placed it at her desk. The girl had a moment of joy as she took her first bites of the meal. Gramps cares... But the faint smile disappeared as she continued eating. Of course he's feeding me. He's obligated to care, same as Pops is. If we weren't related, they wouldn't give a shit. By the time she was finished, her melancholy mood had returned. A part of her knew she was forcing the feelings upon herself, but at the same time she couldn't stop it. She again turned to reading to escape her anxieties.
A few hours later, Rinko's door slammed open. She turned with a start to see her father in the doorway. He gave her a cheeky smile as he casually entered her room. "I'm home loving daughter. Pops told me you've been holed up here studying." He stole the book currently in her grasp and eyed the contents. "Ah, reading up on jutsu, huh? With how long you've been in here, I bet you've got the basics down. Come on champ, let your old pops teach you something new." Kechi tossed the book aside and motioned for Rinko to follow. She bit her lower lip, wanting desperately to reject his offer, but the look in his eye said he was serious.They traversed their home in silence, though Kechi's peppy step caused the floorboards to squeak extra loud. He opened the back door and motioned for his daughter to exit ahead of him. "Ladies first." She tried to stifle the chuckle in her throat as her father gave her a goofy grin and a wink. She was supposed to be miserable, but her over-the-top father was making it difficult to remain stoic. Rinko stepped onto the Tanuki family's tiny lawn and eyed the small zen garden in the corner. The clear circles in the snowy sand told that her grandfather had recently tended to it. The maple in the other corner of the yard had no leaves, but was holding strong against the cold. Kechi approached the small stone bench near the house, sweeping the snow off with his tail. When he sat down, his whole body shuddered before patting the spot beside him. Rinko frowned a bit, but placed herself beside her father. She clutched the hem of her skirt to avoid trembling at the sudden chilling of her rump.
Once they were situated, Kechi rummaged in his pockets. "It's time I taught you the Tanuki Family Super Special Awesome Jutsu." The man pulled two fifty-yen coins from his pocket and handed one to Rinko. "Our family has always had a strong connection to the Earth. At your age, I'm sure you've felt it." The small girl nodded, and Kechi continued. "We're businessmen, but we're also crafters. Thus Ninjutsu that creates and melds something physical is our specialty. A long, long time ago, wood jutsu was our forte, but as the world has developed, so have we. Where nature once was now rests urban life. Wood changed to stone, which changed to metal." The man flipped the coin on his thumb and stopped it midair with a single hand seal. "So to keep up with demand, our family mastered the molding of metal to use in both business and battle." Kechi grabbed the coin hanging in the air and flicked it at the maple tree. Instead of falling short as it should have, the yen piece shot from Kechi's hand and imbedded into the tree trunk. "It's your turn now." He rose from the bench and lightly batted Rinko's shoulder-blades with his tail. She jumped to attention and followed him closer to the tree.
Once at the desired distance, Kechi bent down to speak softly in Rinko's ear. "First, close your eyes. Start with the earth. Find it in the coin, feel it." Rinko's eyelids gently lowered as her thumb caressed the currency. "What is metal but a special kind of earth? Now slowly slip chakra into the yen, the same kind you use to transform. Charge the coin, make it an extension of yourself as you do the Earth." Rinko's thumb pressed hard against the money, enough so to feel the numbers on the top and the flowers on the back. Her hand went numb as the energy transferred to the metal. "Now, flick it."
Unfortunately Kechi did not specify how to properly shoot the coin, and it flew high into the sky instead of at the maple tree. Rinko's eyes shot open as the pressure from the chakra-infused coin caused her bangs to flutter. Father and daughter watched as the small coin disappeared into the heavens. Rinko's gaze fell as she held back tears. Of course I didn't do it right. I'm a big, fat, smelly failure. While the pre-teen was distracted, Kechi hooked her armpits and lifted her up, getting one good spin in before pulling her into a hug. "You did it sweetie! You sent that coin straight to the moon! You're a chip off the old block!" He slid his right arm under her butt to secure her at chest level and grabbed her right hand in his left. He hummed an upbeat tune as he waltzed her around the yard. Rinko burst out laughing at how ridiculous her father looked when he struck poses and made bizarre faces. She was gasping for breath when Kechi finally placed her down on the stone bench.
As her breathing settled, her father rubbed his palm over her ears. "If you can already do something like that, I can't wait to hear about your recent business ventures." Like a switch, Rinko's smile flipped. Her father hadn't been home for the past two months, away on some shinobi mission he wasn't allowed to talk about. That meant he hadn't yet heard of the small debt she had accumulated from her recent failures. She looked down at her hands, which clenched together on her lap. Kechi's smile faltered for a moment before returning even wider. "You win some, you lose some kiddo. What's important is that you don't stop trying." The man made his way to the back door and slid it open. "I've gotta go check on all the messages I've missed. You keep at it cutie." Once he was gone, Rinko let out a breath she didn't know she was holding. She quietly muttered to herself. "No Pops, no one likes me like they do you. If I want to make sure I'm not a burden, I have to become an edgelord ninja like all the other kids." Rinko wiped at the tears wetting the corner of her eyes and returned to her room. She had more training to do.
[WC: 1,568]
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