Haruki flushed in embarrassment. This was the second time he'd asked Katsuro something and gotten berated for it. It was day two and his sensei already thought he was an idiot.
He had only asked for a refresher, and he was being treated unfairly for it, he convinced himself. He'd panicked for a moment and forgotten. Haruki stopped where he was walking and tried to pay careful attention to Katsuro's demonstration, which seemed to be just the very basics, but he kept trying to think of reasons why he deserved being a genin and having a place in the squad.
The teachers at the academy had been much kinder than Katsuro, which he thought was more professional. They seemed mindful of how he didn't come from a shinobi family, and in fact had not picked up a shuriken until he enrolled at ten. They had praised him for how quickly he picked up on learning things like the clone jutsu, though now that he was thinking about it, he did remember getting chastised a lot for talking in class during lectures, and maybe not paying too much attention to other things...
By the end of the demonstration, Haruki realized with some despair that he'd only retained about half of that. He weeped internally, knowing there was absolutely no way he could ask Katsuro to repeat any of that.
Tetsuo looked like he had been paying attention and actually was following the conversation when he answered Katsuro's question. "We were starting to learn to stand on water when the squads changed." He followed this up with a heavy sigh from his nose. Tetsuo sounded annoyed, but Haruki wasn't sure what he could be annoyed by at that moment.
With alarmed, wide eyes, Haruki realized he'd just seem even more incompetent if he admitted he didn't know anything about that kind of chakra control.
"Oh, same," he lied, bobbing his head to nod back at Tetsuo. "I mean, not the squad thing. We were learning that. In my class, I mean. Walls, ceilings, water, all that."
Tetsuo looked at him with the same squinty eyes as he did yesterday, when he had been trying to tell Matsuda how much danger they had been in yesterday.
He had only asked for a refresher, and he was being treated unfairly for it, he convinced himself. He'd panicked for a moment and forgotten. Haruki stopped where he was walking and tried to pay careful attention to Katsuro's demonstration, which seemed to be just the very basics, but he kept trying to think of reasons why he deserved being a genin and having a place in the squad.
The teachers at the academy had been much kinder than Katsuro, which he thought was more professional. They seemed mindful of how he didn't come from a shinobi family, and in fact had not picked up a shuriken until he enrolled at ten. They had praised him for how quickly he picked up on learning things like the clone jutsu, though now that he was thinking about it, he did remember getting chastised a lot for talking in class during lectures, and maybe not paying too much attention to other things...
By the end of the demonstration, Haruki realized with some despair that he'd only retained about half of that. He weeped internally, knowing there was absolutely no way he could ask Katsuro to repeat any of that.
Tetsuo looked like he had been paying attention and actually was following the conversation when he answered Katsuro's question. "We were starting to learn to stand on water when the squads changed." He followed this up with a heavy sigh from his nose. Tetsuo sounded annoyed, but Haruki wasn't sure what he could be annoyed by at that moment.
With alarmed, wide eyes, Haruki realized he'd just seem even more incompetent if he admitted he didn't know anything about that kind of chakra control.
"Oh, same," he lied, bobbing his head to nod back at Tetsuo. "I mean, not the squad thing. We were learning that. In my class, I mean. Walls, ceilings, water, all that."
Tetsuo looked at him with the same squinty eyes as he did yesterday, when he had been trying to tell Matsuda how much danger they had been in yesterday.