A Show of Competence [NK]

“Wake up, wake up… Zankurooo…”

Zankuro jolted into a seated position. His gaze darted to the window as the rays of sunshine quickly blinded him. He looked down as he slid out of bed; he casually rubbed his left eye with the palm of his hand while fishing a pair of sweats out of his wash basket. He grabbed a sweaty old hoodie and a pair of clean socks. Within a matter of minutes he was dressed and ready to go. Zankuro made his made down from the attic, he casually stretched as he got to the bottom of the stairs. His day to day life was quite perplexing…

The time was 6am and it was the start of Zankuros day. He quickly made his way into the kitchen, grabbing a small plate of beef dumplings. There were around three of four dumplings left on the plate but that didn’t stop him from scoffing every single one. He dashed all three dumplings into his pie hole, briefly chewing before swallowing his breakfast. The rest of Zankuros adoptive family watched in awe as he comically chocked on the dumplings on his way out of the house. He was never a fan of the traditional breakfast and so he skipped it.

While his family members were enjoying breakfast he was hard at work. He had a list of chores that he was tasked with completing. Not only that but he was also a Genin of the Village Hidden in the Clouds; all that meant was that after he was done at the farm, he had to make his way out into the city to sign on for some petty mission. He wasn’t much of a fan of the bureaucracy, he took any and all assignments that he was given; most of them were comprised of carrying luggage for some officials or guiding some travellers around the city, it was easy work but a waste of talent in Zankuros opinion.

On this day, Zankuros chores were short and simple. He began by heading out to coop where he fed the chickens and released them out into the garden. His adoptive family were firm believers in a basic ideology that the chickens had to roam free to produce eggs of good quality. Zankuro hated eggs, but he didn’t mind the chickens. As he fed the chickens, the family Rooster crowed and for a moment Zankuro smiled. He didn’t enjoy doing his chores, but he was grateful to his adoptive family for looking after him since birth. He didn’t think much of mother, he knew where she lived but despised her for abandoning him at birth.

Zankuro worked tirelessly to keep his mind off his mother and father. “What was he like? Do I look like him? Did he love me?”. Zankuro thought about his biological parents every night before he went to sleep, but he knew so little about them that he actively dreamt about them, substituting their professions, abilities and personalities with fiction.

Zankuro had spent long enough with the chickens and so he quickly made his was across the farm to feed the pigs with rotten fruit and vegetables. He was pretty dismissive of the pigs and so his encounter with them didn’t even register on a psychological level, it was almost as if he were a puppet being controlled by his masters strings. He tossed the fruit into the pig pen and quickly took off to his next destination. Shortly after feeding the pigs, he arrived at the cattle pen, his last chore for the morning. He made his way inside with a small bottle of milk in hand; his final chore of the morning consisted of feeding the new-born calf’s.

He sat on the hay by the calf as he gently pushed the bottle of milk into its mouth. As he sat there, scenarios flashed through his head while the mother of the calf watched over her new born baby. He thought to himself that a mother is supposed to protect her child and not abandon it…

As the fully fed calf fell to sleep, Zankuro made his way out of the pen. He patted his sweats down and began to make his way into the city. It was a long walk, one that he was accustomed to. He enjoyed watching the wild life grow and whither around him as the seasons changed and the days passed.

Within a matter of an hour, he had found his way to the city. He passed the gates with a simple wave of a palm. He frequented at the city centre from a young age and so the guards new him as the farmers son. In the past, both him and his father were thoroughly searched when entering the village, but that quickly changed when Zankuro graduated to Genin. As he passed the village gates, he fished out his head band before wrapping it around his left bicep.

With that formality out of the way, he made his way up to the village training grounds. There were a lot of strong Shinobi that trained there. Zankuro enjoyed watching the Taijutsu specialists in action, he mentally digested the movements and the approaches employed by senior Shinobi and every other day, when the training grounds were free, he went up and attempted the techniques in the hopes of mastering them.

As he made his way up to the training grounds, a foul odour oozed off his body. It was a combination of body odour and cow excrement. Zankuros nose had gone blind to the smell as he had become so accustomed to it. In a matter of minutes he had entered the area that was dubbed ‘The Training Ground’. He fished a raspberry lollipop out of his pocket; he bit the corner of the plastic wrapper before quickly sliding it off with his free hand. He pushed the lollipop into his mouth as he looked around the grounds…

Zankuro stood motionless for a minute. His body didn’t move an inch despite the strong wind that had been pushing against his slender frame. With the tip of his tongue, he gracefully moved the lollipop to one side of his mouth as he watched in awe. Despite the name, Hidden in the Clouds there wasn’t a lot of turbulence in the city, it was quite baffling. However, the sudden change in airflow rocked everyone in the immediate proximity. The sheer speed that this individual moved at shifted the wind current and air flow around his body. Zankuro was wonderstruck; the color on his face quickly changed from the rosy red to a light purple tone and it was at that point that he realised that he had been unconsciously holding his breath.

Zankuro gasped for air, his lollipop dancing around his mouth as he took a few deep breaths. His gaze darted around the training ground as everyone went back to what they were doing as if to say this was a regular occurrence. Shinobi in the distance rolled their eyes but within a second or two everyone was back in action.

As the color returned to Zankuros face, he noticed that many of the individuals were partnered but this one sole individual trained on his lonesome. He dragged a dummy around, his hand wrapped around its head. Within the blink of an eye the head of the dummy collapsed and crumbled, the Shinobis near murder some eyes scouted the area almost like a predator searching for his prey. Zankuro felt a pit in his stomach, there was something about this Shinobi that made him uneasy. He was the only one training so aggressively and had the power far surpassing that of anyone Zankuro had previously encountered.

It was the first time since graduating from the Academy that Zankuro felt scared, weak and hopeless. He dragged his foot across the ground as the combination of sugary nectar and saliva trickled down his throat. With every short but simple step, Zankuro made his way towards the unknown male; it was as if his body was moving on its own accord. Sweat particles began forming at his hairline as the foul stench resonating from his body danced through the immediate vicinity.

As he began to near the male, another individual approached from the opposite end of grounds. With a brief utterance he addressed the very embodiment of Zankuros nightmares; "'Sup Hoshi? Training solo again so you can get a lead on me and Zyx?"…

This new arrival appeared to be acquainted with this monster and the very intrigue surrounding their relationship is what kept Zankuro moving. After half a dozen steps or so, he was within five feet of the pair. His body was stiff as rock; he forced a smile as he approached the group. His index finger quickly pointed at the dummy that Hoshi had in his grasp. “M—Don”, he cleared throat and pushed the lollipop to the side once again. “You done with that?” despite the circumstances, his tone of voice didn’t falter. He stood his ground and conveyed a clear and thorough question. His gaze wondered as he carefully inspected the attire of both Hoshi and Ryuka.

((540 words))