Growing up in Konoha

[King of Cats]

With a scroll in his hand Shiroyasha held the details of a super important C-Ranked mission. He was being entrusted to deliver the mission details to a chunin team captain and it was very important to Shiro that he got the task done in good time. He was on the rooftops of Konoha jumping from building to building as he gripped the mysterious scroll. Shiroyasha didn't know what was held in the scroll but he knew the mission was related to Nara clan dealings. The clan had recently adopted wild ostriches into their forest and there was a big deal as to how the ostriches were going to arrive in the village. Shiroyasha deduced the mission was related to transporting a fleet of ostriches but he didn't pay it too much mind. Shiroyasha had other things on his mind. While his civic duty came first and above all being a ninja was his crowning jewel, Shiroyasha was thinking about a fight he had with his mother Mikoto.

Mikoto had caught Shiroyasha on the roof smoking again and totally lost it. She jumped out the window, surprising Shiro, and grabbed him by the neck. She hit him several times with a frying pan, it was painful for him. What Shiroyasha didn't understand though, was that it was painful for his mom to lose her temper like that against him. Shiroyasha was hurt over her lashing out, but she was hurt by the betrayal she showed her son. Mikoto don't know what came over her.

She was pregnant finally and having hormonal outbursts. Mikoto was pregnant with her second child.

Shiroyasha didn't know it and he was simply mad at her. As he so often did when he was mad at his parents he was day dreaming on the past. Lamenting on his times with his parents, trying to assemble some sense of why they were acting the way there were. Shiroyasha was thinking about a rival he had growing up.

His name was Kabuto Urshifu. He was a troublemaker in the Konoha ninja Academy but he had excellent grades. Kabuto was smart as hell and good at ninjutsu, he was second only to Shiroyasha and Kabuto Urshifu tried his damned-est to surpass Shiroyasha. He was a taijutsu specialist and that had always been Shiroyasha's weakness. The two were neck and neck for sparring match wins in class and out of class. They fought everywhere they went. Kabuto was petty and incredibly full of himself, traits that Shiroyasha found abhorrent. He hated the way Kabuto sought out his attention with battles, but Shiroyasha couldn't help but love a good fight. He would always engage Kabuto in combat when prompted, Shiro loved beating the ugly red headed bastard into the ground. Kabuto infamously always fell for Shiroyasha's blinding Light Release-Eiketsu combo. The kid couldn't get close to Shiroyasha, except on one occasion.

On a windy summer day after class Kabuto followed Shiroyasha home using camouflage jutsu, but Shiroyasha easily spotted him with his visual prowess. The Nara ignored him for as long as he could, but eventually Kabuto jumped out and declared a battle. Shiroyasha was ready for it and as Kabuto was screaming to the heavens he channeled Hiton chakra into a shuriken he was holding. "...now! Let's fight!" Kabuto said and the shuriken went zooming towards him. Kabuto rolled to dodge it but it was too late. Shiroyasha released the pent up chakra and exploded it into a blinding flash of light. Kabuto hit the ground rolling and Shiroyasha began the hand seals for Shadow Imitation.

To Shiroyasha's surprise Kabuto suddenly jumped from the ground and came flying at the kid with an axe kick. He clocked Shiro square on the top of the head and the boy hit the dirt. Surprised by his attack Kabuto squeeled with delight as he stumbled around, still disoriented from the blinding light. Shiroyasha tried to get up but his bell was ringing. "I guess I win." Kabuto said but Shiroyasha was putting together a rapid combination of handseals. He sent his shadow forward and tagged Kabuto in a Shadow Posession jutsu. Neither of them could move. Had Shiro had more time he could have performed the more complex Shadow Imitation but he only had a little bit of time to perform the handseals, the extended combination would have meant he truly lost.

"Guess it's a tie bub." Shiroyasha said and released his jutsu. The two boys didn't say anything else and Kabuto went running home. He was incredibly happy to score his first hit on Shiro. Shiroyasha on the other hand was extremely distraught and went home with a certain shame in his walk. When he walked through the front door his mother, Mikoto, called to him. "You're late pumpkin! I made some beef tips, come eat!" Shiroyasha kicked off his shoes and walked into the kitchen where his mother was calling to him from. He told her about his great upset. She threw him a bag of frozen peas for his bruised up forehead and told him; "Hunny if you take every hit as a defeat you will be the most sore fighter to win a match." Shiroyasha always considered that to be the wisest advice his mother gave him. She always had wisdom for him, but most of it was pretty simple, common sense type things. To be told something so enlightening by his silly mom was inspiring. Shiroyasha felt better.

Jumping across the rooftops he wondered why his mother couldn't always be like that. Shiroyahsa's anger had calmed down quite a bit. In fact he could barely remember why he was mad at his mom in the first place, barely. He decided to let it go and as he jumped from rooftop to rooftop he felt quite a bit lighter.

[King of Cats]

When Shiroyasha made it home he was feeling brave and went through the front door. He was originally planning on returning home in stealth to avoid any lingering rage from his mom, but Shiroyasha felt like hecould brave the storm. Thinking about how his mom had been there to mend his wounds made him feel really soft on her. Shiroyasha felt loved even if he had just been mercilessly beat with a frying pan. He opened the front door and called out to his folks, "I'm home!" Shiroyasha had completed his mission succesfully and was pretty tired from the long day. Shiroyasha was hoping his folks would be in good, passive moods and he could sneak off to his room silently but that just wouldn't be so.

"Get in here!" Mikoto yelled at her son. She sounded mad still and Shiroyasha hung his head as he walked into the kitchen. To his surprise Mikoto had baked Shiroyasha a cake. It said "I'm sorry" on it in blue icing. Mikoto was holding a little baggie too and held it out for Shiroyasha. "I wanted to apologize for my outburst." The woman had tears in her eyes and began softly sobbing. That's when Shiro's father Shikayasha came in the room. He was wearing his usual pajamas. He was alway comfortable around the house.

"I trust your mission went well." Shikyasha said to his son and gave him a soft smile that his wife did not see. Shiroyasha smiled and replied, "Yep! Got the scroll delivered by dusk." Shiroyasha kept his attention focused on his mom who leaned in on him for a hug, he put his arms around his mother. "It's okay mom.." Shiroyasha didn't understand but he felt like all the work his mother put into the apology was surely worthy of his forgiveness. Fortunately for Shiroyasha his mother planned on making sure he would have understanding of what goes through a loving parents mind.

As she started tog et serious for the talk ahead she pushed away from Shiroyasha and cleared her throat. "Shiro you need to understand. When a mother makes a rule like no smoking, there precedence behind that rule. Laws, preferences, safety. All sorts of things. We don't want you smoking on the roof for many reasons. For one it's against the law, and you know I hate the smell of cigarettes. Not to mention you throw the butts on our roof. You know how dangerous that is?" Mikoto was wagging her finger at her son.

Shiroyasha begrudgingly listened to his mother. When she asked him to confirm that he was listening he attentively nodded his head. "I'm sorry mom." Shiroyasha said to her and straightened up his posture. He was slouching a bit. He kind of lost his focus after hearing the reasons why he wasn't allowed to smoke again, for the hundredth time.

Mikoto could tell Shiroyasha was losing focus and sharpened up her voice. "You don't understand how important it is to your father and I. So I beat the hell out of you, which isn't right. I'm sorry. But think of it like this," Mikoto picked the present bag back up. "I trust you with this gift kunai. I trust you with my life. So as your mother and as a ninja I ask you to take this gift and promise me you won't smoke on the roof again. I won't beat you if you do. But I will throw you out for breaking your promise."

Shiroyasha peeked in the bag and sure enough it was a memorial golden plated kunai. Shiroyasha really liked it, just as Mikoto expected he would. "Okay mom I think I understand. You want me to stick to my word if I can't stick to the rules." Shiroyasha smiled. That was definitely his father idea. Mikoto wasn't so forgiving, obviously, but Shiroyasha decided to go with his parents wishes. After all he respected them and believed in himself as a ninja, that he could show restraint as a man. And he figured he could just go for a walk. He did that sometimes too.