Knitting Fate (Canon Patchworking with Uchiha Ren Part II)

Thirty-Eighth Thread

"Permanence, perseverance and persistence in spite of all obstacles, discouragements, and impossibilities: It is this, that in all things distinguishes the strong soul from the weak."
― Thomas Carlyle

0

Sometimes there were days when Ren did things that made her wonder deep within if perhaps she might be a tad masochist.

Or there were certain days; like this one, where the only female Uchiha went off to do training-like torture with Gai. It's then with sweat dripping down her arched-fine brows that she realizes there is nothing secretive to her masochism.

"Your attitude today is nowhere near your usual youthfulness, Ren!" Gai booms, and the girl sighs, sitting down on the grassy part of the training ground. I-don't-even-bother-with-number that the man frequented uses unless told otherwise. Even looking at him makes her want to just throw the training for today in the bin and go to sleep, but she knows it won't work. She feels exhausted, yes, but it's a different, very odd kind of exhaustion, far from a physical one. While, yes, it takes toll on the body, chakra exhaustion compares more to emotional, psychological exhaustion which somehow affects the body creating the feeling of physical exhaustion. Her body had recovered overnight, though, regaining strength, so in order to even fall asleep she had to do something to burn the excess energy.

It would be all better in the long run, after all.

"You know, Gai, when you protect your friends from mad men in white masks and then get a mild chakra exhaustion in process, you can't really be too happy to train." she sighs, looking at the very... expressive... man. He was wearing the muffler-scarf-thing she bought for him in Iwa nonstop, really. And when she gave it to him, there were waterworks. And yelling, Like, seriously, so much yelling.

He also apparently decided that Ren was his friend forever and ever. Because of a scarf.

Seriously.

And- Wait, is he crying? Holy fuck, he is crying.

"That is most youthful that you did that, Ren! Protecting one's comrades shows that the Will of Fire burns strong within you!" he booms even louder and Ren winces at the volume. Honestly, Gai's brand of mad is something special, but also a thing you become either resignedly used to, or get dragged in. Or something in-between. He also seems to cry even more, and Ren yelps when he falls to his knees before her. "You also have come to our training despite your weakened state! You truly are most youthful, my blooming friend, just like my eternal rival, Kakashi!"

God-fucking-damnit, there it was. The Sunset, and- Ren his her face in her hands with a sigh when the tears comically pouring from Gai's eyes prompted a three-ringed rainbow. Even the sun felt real, like what sort of genjutsu is this fucking thing?

Ren sighs, digging in her backpack, before pulling out two bento boxes that she definitely did not feel with bento, and proceeds to dig herself even further. "I made food, you want to eat it now or after the training?"

If she thought his crying was comical before, now it evolved into two bloody waterfalls and is that a rainbow glittering over Gai's head? Ren was pretty sure it wasn't a genjutsu anymore. All in all, magical ninja superhero world wasn't all that different from where she originally came from, and then there was Gai.

Worst part of it all? She was starting to genuinely like him.

...ooo~(x)~ooo...  

Ren gives up. She is genuinely just done. She's not one to overestimate herself, though she definitely can sometimes push past her limits, but also a person who knows when to stop. Which, of course, doesn't mean she actually does stop there. But when her breathing gets too ragged after a quarter of usual running (a quarter, for crying out loud!) it's not taken very well by her, and, oddly enough, it's Gai himself who tells her to sit down and rest up. That, of course, takes Ren by surprise, because there's no bigger training freak than Gai.