The stinging in his arm, the coarse feeling of bandages on an open wound, was a familiar predicament for Goro. But as his body and mind collected more scars, things were getting far more difficult for him to deal with; the burning in his throat, the pressure behind his eyes, the desire to crush and rip apart smaller people. ’’What is wrong with me?’’ Goro’s thoughts were filled with doubt behind his tired eyes, his back laid squarely against a tree. Resting in a clearing just outside of a training area, the large man waited anxiously for the pair of new genin he was expected to train. As routine as it was, Goro felt a weight in his chest, a sense of dread about being put in a position where he could hurt other people.
Only an hour prior, Goro fought and conquered some money lenders with ease, but the feeling of that battle had only gotten worse the further away he got from it. A savage heat throbbed through his veins and captured his peripheral senses, daring him to do something drastic, something dangerous even if it jeopardized his standing with the village. Like knotted muscle, the rage in his blood demanded to be exercised, to be enacted upon and witnessed by a lesser man. ’’No! .. no, this isn’t me.’’ Goro’s breath caught in his throat and he clenched his fists so hard that his knuckles cracked and his palms began to ache, a desperate attempt to anchor himself to his current, rational reality.
Lost in thought, Goro tried all the usual tricks - counting backwards, focusing on his breathing, flexing or clenching his muscles to try and get his mind off of it. But as the impulse to go berserk tapered off, a certain numbness replaced the pleasant comedown he was used to. Like an addict coming down from a high, Goro’s ‘’downtime’’ was no longer a return to normalcy, it was just the absence of satisfaction. As he became cognizant of the cold wave that travelled over his body, Goro quickly rose to his feet. ’’No, no..’’ he panicked out loud, worried about the new sensation that had overcome him. As he paced back and forth, Goro tuned out the world around him, focused only on his thoughts and the building of tension in his mind. ’’I’ve got time.. This isn’t a big deal, it is probably just from the blood loss.. Maybe the axe was poisoned..’’
Two voices called from the training ground, prompting Goro’s eyes to widen with surprise. Taking a few sharp breaths, he straightened his back then walked out of the safety of the clearing and into the training area, where he gave a gentle wave and a forced smile to the two fourteen year old kids. The twins were named Ita and Ida, a pair of fledgling genin who were familiar with Goro from the chores their mother convinced him to do a few years prior. Known for being polite observers of Goro’s training and working, the pair were well-intentioned students of the academy who saw the large man as a superhero worth emulating to the extent that Ida uses a backpack with a gorilla on it which she carries just about everywhere.
’’Sorry we’re late!’’ Ita mumbled hesitantly.
’’You should probably kill us.’’ Ida spoke fearfully, at least, that was what Goro heard.
’’What? Kill you?’’ the large man replied, nearly stumbling over his words. The look on his face must have seemed shocking to the two, who were used to seeing Goro grumble and smile his way through everything. ’’Huh? Uhm.. Mom sent you all those letters, she is definitely gonna kick our butts..’’ It took a moment for him to connect the dots, but Goro quickly realized she was talking about her mom punishing them, not his hands tearing them in half and scattering their limbs - ’’Stop..’’ he stopped the thought before it could start, laughing away the awkward atmosphere.
’’It’s no problem, I had a little accident anyway.’’ he motioned to the bloodied bandage around his elbow, which prompted Ita to get close and gawk at it. ’’Woah! Did you get attacked by a bear?’’ the young man tried to rationalize the wound out loud, genuinely surprised that Goro could be hurt. ’’We don’t have bears in the village, Ita..’’ the smarter twin responded, smacking her brother on the back of the head before she placed her gorilla backpack on the ground. Her brother soon followed her queue, placing his backpack on the ground and grasping his wooden bo staff. The interaction was pleasant enough to keep Goro’s mind occupied, but something bothered him about the way they went about their preparations.
While Ita’s stretches and flourishes with his bo staff were typical, if not a little unnecessary for a boy of his skill level, Ida rested on her weight on her knees and began applying pressure on her wrists - the exact same motion Goro performs. ’’Hey..’’ he squatted down and gave her shoulder a firm squeeze, eliciting an immediate ow! from the young girl. ’’.. sorry, you don’t have to stretch like that. Kiki and I do that so we can run without cracking our wrists, you just stay on two legs, alright?’’ helping her get back onto her feet, Goro patted the same shoulder gently, which earned him a smile from the girl.
With an affirmative noise and a few seconds of posturing, the young man swung and connected with his staff, hitting the larger man on his unharmed bicep with a quiet thwap. ''SORRY!'' he pulled back with wide eyes, taking a step away from Goro. ''I thought you'd move.. or deflect it.. or something cool..'' The boy's apology elicited a laugh from his sister, who pointed at Goro's blank expression and stiff posture. ''I was talking to your sister..'' He spoke sternly, before looking between the two of them. ''.. but if someone tells you to hit them, don't apologize when you do.'' Stepping back, Goro assumed his four legged stance and glared at them expectantly, encouraging the twins to assume their respective stances. As Ida slapped her knees, stretched her legs and got ready to move forward, Ita let out a smug chuckle and put his staff in front of her, cautioning her not to go forward. ''I got this, sis.''
''Three hits, then dodge.''
Always looking to overperform, Ita approached and threw a quick-but-weak flurry of two staff strikes and a kick, which sailed passed Goro's body as he adjusted his posture to demonstrate how little movement was required to outmaneuver his telegraphed attacks. However, as soon as the kick broke through the space beside Goro's head, a mighty palm grasped the ankle he was balancing on and yanked him towards Goro's other hand, which was clenched tightly and ready to strike. ''Broken jaw.'' He grumbled, releasing the boy's ankle with a sigh. ''Three hits then dodge, I told you the pattern.'' Red faced and tense, Ita got up and moved to his original position, before assuming a fighting stance once again. Similarly frustrated, Goro lingered on the coldness of his blood and the stillness of his heart; he felt nothing, which worried him greatly as taijutsu training was one of the few things that gave him a thrill. Before he could dive back into the veritable pool of stress and anxiety from minutes earlier, however, Ita charged forward with another three strike combo identical to the last, with the exception of throwing a kick with his other leg. When the kick missed again, Ita bent his grounded leg and tucked it in to avoid the grab. Twisting his body, the boy went from a sense of accomplishment to panic as he realized a hit hadn't come yet. Carried forward by his momentum, Ita tried to throw a second kick with his other leg but quickly felt a large hand wrap around the back of his neck, pushing him towards the ground but stopping him before his face hit the dirt.
''Dead. We're fighting, not dancing, stop with the choreography.''
Moving his grip from his neck down to the collar of his shirt, Goro effortlessly heaved him up and placed him on his feet, leaving him to walk in shame towards his laughing sister. Without a word, Goro assumed his four legged gait once again and moved his focus to Ida, who let out a squeak and hurriedly assumed a fighting stance once again - that is, if the wide-shouldered and sloppy pose she pulled could be called a 'stance.'
Perhaps unsurprisingly, Ida's advance on Goro was unremarkable - she nearly fell over her own feet during her initial dash, then threw a punch so wide that it connected with the meatiest part of Goro's arm. As the strike connected with his body, however, Goro did not even have time to throw his return strike before the girl had rolled backwards, creating space between the two of them. Blinking a few times, Goro nodded his head and stood up straight. ''You can certainly dodge, how do you think the punch looked?'' He barely finished speaking before Ida started chuckling nervously and wringing her hands, buying time for her to come up with an excuse. After an awkward couple of seconds, Goro shuffled forward and put a hand on her shoulder. ''You're not very interested in Taijutsu, are you?'' Ida began to bluster in respond, but soon nodded in response.
''Whether you want to or not, it is fundamental. But.. you can learn to work defensively, rather than charging at someone.''
Stepping back and away from the girl, Goro wordlessly instructed Ita to stand opposite his sister and assume a fighting stance, which seemed to scratch the competitive itch in his mind. The girl's eyes seemed to come to life at the sight of her brother's fighting stance and, with no indication from Goro, the Ita ran at his sister and engaged in a surprisingly competent fight. Each swing of his bo staff was caught or diverted by Ida, which in turn made Ita change his course of attack. As the mock fight went on longer, however, a tinge of red filled Ita's cheeks and his attacks came out more rigidly, which caused a stutter in the defensive flow of the young girl. Eventually, Ita landed a decisive blow on Ida's stomach, causing her to roll back and cover up defensively. ''Alright, stop.'' Goro ordered, putting himself between the injured girl and the now smugly celebrating boy. ''We didn't practice a stomach hit..'' she grumbled quietly, clearly embarrassed by being taken by surprise. Initially frustrated by her response, Goro quickly put two and two together - they had been practicing at home, with Ita focusing on offense and Ida on defense, but due to this they had learned it like a dance rather than combat fundamentals. Whispering, Goro leaned down closer and quietly asked. ''Did you guys practice just to impress me? Did he go outside the script?'' Through now tear filled eyes, Ida looked up and nodded, before giving the bruise on her tummy a gentle rub.
''Impressive. Try that on me, Ita.'' Standing up straight, Goro stood in front of the defeated girl and glared at the boy, daring him to approach. ''Don't forget to dodge.''
