Chapter 89 – Inner Fears

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Daichi tilted his head and dodged the fist that was aimed at his face. He then raised his left hand and blocked the punches and kicks Sasuke sent his way. Daichi had a bored nonchalant expression on his face as he parried the strikes of the Uchiha. Sasuke jumped back after a few seconds and glared at his opponent.

"Don't just stand there. Fight back.!"

Daichi let out a sigh which infuriated the Uchiha child. He raised his vigilance and senses and prepared for Daichi's attack. But those precautions didn't change anything. One second Sasuke was looking at Daichi, the next he felt a punch ram into mid section and then all he felt was the blackness surrounding his eyes.

Daichi looked at the unconscious Sasuke in his arms and gently laid him down on the ground.

"You didn't have to knock him out Daichi!" Iruka came and checked Sasuke's condition.

"If I had held back any more, then Sasuke would have only gotten angrier. And I'm in no mood to deal with his bitchiness today."

Iruka sensei let out a tired breath hearing Daichi's reply. 'Daikoku was right. Lord Hokage should have let Daichi skip a grade. There is no one here that can give him a challenge.'

"Now that the fight is over you still need to make the seal of reconciliation when he wakes up."

"Sensei he's not gonna do it and frankly I'm not going to either."

"But… "

"I'm going to meditate. So… If that's all sensei…"

"All right! Just… go to your spot." Iruka was confused and let out a tired sigh.

Daichi turned around and left the ring. Iruka looked at Daichi and was concerned. 'Unusual. He's irritated. Strange… I wonder what happened?'

Daichi went to the nearby tree on the training ground and sat down. He began meditating while the sparring between his classmates continued.

Shikamaru and the others noticed his behavior. Shikamaru slightly narrowed his eyes as he looked at his classmate. 'Is it just me or is something bothering him?'

"Have you noticed that he's been doing nothing but meditate these last few weeks." Ino quietly asked Sakura and Hinata.

"Yeah. He doesn't even go to the library anymore. And even in class he's meditating… I wonder what kind of training would need him to meditate so much?" Sakura wondered.

Sasuke woke up a few minutes later and looked around. He seethed in anger as he looked at Daichi who was meditating under the tree. He clenched his fist and went to another corner of the academy ground.

As Sasuke kept looking at Daichi his anger slowly vanished. He too had seen Daichi's odd long meditation sessions. And he was more than curious as well. 'He's not someone to sit around and waste time. So this must be some kind of training! Question is what? Chakra control? I read that meditation helps the Yin aspect of the chakra. Is that it? Is he trying to increase the strength of his Yin chakra?... If he's so invested in it then it must be important… Should I start meditating?'

Naruto gazed at Daichi as well… 'My goal is to be the strongest.' Those words rang in Naruto's head like a bell. He then thought about his own goal. The dream to become Hokage one day.

'He reads all kinds of books at the library and trains so much and so hard every chance he gets… But I'm here playing pranks and goofing off! I said I want to become Hokage but have I really worked for it?' Naruto clenched his fists and made a decision. He turned to Sakura who was near him.

"Hey Sakura… Can you… Can you help me out with my homework?... Please…" Naruto sheepishly smiled as he made the request.

Sakura, Kiba, Ino and the others were shocked hearing that but they quickly figured out the reason. They realized that Daichi's fight motivated Naruto to try harder.

Sakura looked at Naruto and narrowed her eyes. She then let out a sigh and agreed. "Fine but only for an hour or two. And no funny business."

"Yes! Thank you Sakura! You're the best." Naruto was excited and had a wide grin.

Hinata had her head down as she heard this. Ino noticed this and then looked at Naruto and then back to Hinata. After a couple seconds her eyes widened in realization.

"OH MY GOD! Hinata you like-" Before Ino could complete that sentence Hinata clamped her hand on Ino's mouth, silencing her.

"Quiet! I… I don't want him to know yet." Hinata mumbled to Ino. Ino quietly nodded her head.

"What is it, Hinata? What do you like?" Naruto and Kiba asked with a grin.

The shy Hyuga girl took her hand off Ino's mouth. "C-cinnabuns. Ino found o-out I just really c-cinnabuns." Hinata stuttered and replied looking down while having a small blush.

"Oh! I like cinnabuns too!" Choji replied.

"You like everything that counts as food." Kiba retorted.

"HEY! QUIET YOU ALL AND PAY ATTENTION TO THE SPARS!"

Iruka shouted at the group and he had his signature big head jutsu to back him up.

Naruto and the group stayed silent and focused on the fights. Meanwhile Daichi was still in deep meditation. One of his clones dispelled and he was feeling the fatigue of the clone. But due to the passive skills he received after his vitality and stamina stats reached 100 his recovery rate had increased exponentially.

It had been a week since Kensei had confronted him on his powers. Daichi was bothered by the fact that he couldn't bring himself to truly trust the old man. But thanks to the Gamer's Mind he was able to keep a calm and cool facade near the old man but it still weighed on his mind. And this distracted him from his training.

Luckily Daichi found the solution in meditation. His meditation helped him confront his deep inner thoughts and fears and Daichi was now becoming much more intune with his emotions.

He realized that his trust issues were born from his fear of an untimely death at the hands of a powerful enemy or even an unknown stranger. Daichi realized that the knowledge of being reborn into a world that was once known to be fictional and where killers rule with an iron fist, has had an impact on his psyche on a far deeper level than he ever thought.

For the past several days Daichi entered deep meditation and confronted the fear in his mind and he slowly and steadily began to control it. The fear in Daichi's mind wasn't like another self with a negative persona or consciousness or anything of the sort. It was just a culmination of negative thoughts and emotions.

Hours passed by and the spar and class came to an end.

Naruto and the others came near Daichi to wake him up but it was unnecessary. The moment they neared him, Daichi opened his eyes.

He was much calmer and his heart felt much lighter. He had finally confronted and overcome most of his fears. Several notifications popped up.

You have confronted and won against the fears that have been deeply rooted in your mind since the day you were awakened.

Your mental fortitude has become stronger.

You have achieved a brief enlightenment.

+10 WISDOM.

Daichi looked at the message boxes and then dismissed them. He smiled at his friends as they reached him.

Naruto, Ino and Shikamaru noticed that Daichi was a lot calmer now and he had a genuine happy expression. Ino had seen people come to her father for help with their mental troubles and she had seen the faces of people who got a lot better. It was how she realized the change in Daichi's Aura so quickly.

"You're secretly training aren't you? All this meditating… It's training right?" Kiba asked at that moment.

Daichi chuckled. "Yes. Something like that. I'm doing a chakra strengthening exercise and this is part of it."

Naruto and Kiba got excited hearing that. "Hey can you teach me?" "Me too?"

Daichi got up and stretched his arms and legs. "Meditation isn't all that difficult. Well… once you get used to it anyway. But I'd doubt either of you has the patience for that."

Kiba and Naruto pouted hearing that. At that moment Ino stepped forward with a smile.

"Classes are over. Would you like to walk home with me?"

Daichi smiled at her childish crush. He didn't want to break her little heart by refusing so he indulged her.

"Sure, Ino!"

The group then split up. Naruto and Sakura, staying back at the academy so she could help with Naruto's homework. Hinata, Kiba and Shino heading to their clan compound together and Ino, Choji, Shikamaru and Daichi heading the opposite way.

Ino talked about several topics to Daichi and paid little attention to the other two following behind them. Daichi smiled and nodded and gave his input whenever it was needed. Soon they reached Ino's flower shop and Daichi bid farewell to his friends.

As he walked home he thought about telling the real truth about his powers to his grandfather but decided against it. 'The old man is satisfied with the answers he has now. And we're in a really good place. I don't want to jeopardize that. If the need arises I'll tell him.'

His mind then wandered to his training. He thought about the second stage of the 'Earth' change in chakra nature technique. He thought about the skill he got after the first day of training.

Earth - Waterfall Cutting technique - (Active/Passive)(LV. 1):An earth chakra affinity training skill obtained through continuously focusing the chakra to cut off the flow of water. An advanced technique to help the user increase the control and strength of their earth nature chakra.

[Note: Increasing the level of this skill will increase the level of the skill 'Earth Affinity.']

Effects:

2% Increase in Earth Chakra control.

3% Increase in power of Earth Chakra nature.

CP cost : 99/sec.

'Till now I haven't been able to focus but now I'm ready. Based on my memories, it took Naruto over 8 days of training and with hundreds of clones to master the second stage. So for me it should take several months. My chakra has increased due to the intense training and now I can create 5 clones. Instead of adding the 5th clone to training I'll have him meditate and improve other skills. That way I'll recover much faster and can keep training for a lot longer in a day.'

Daichi got home and saw Kensei watering the garden.

"Hey Gramps!"

Kensei turned and saw Daichi with a wide smile. He was relieved. Even though Daichi tried to hide it, Kensei saw that Daichi was uncomfortable after sharing his secret. He felt bad that he put Daichi in such a position and didn't want to upset the boy any further but now after seeing Daichi's genuine smile he felt a weight off his shoulders.

'It seems he's accepted what happened and came to terms with it. I'm happy for him.'

"Anything interesting happen while I was gone?" Daichi asked while he placed his school bag on the porch.

Kensei smirked. "Nothing much. Who has time nowadays to see a weak old crippled man." He made a sad face so fake that Daichi deadpanned.

"Yeah right. An old cripple that I'm pretty sure can kick a Jonin's ass." The boy retorted.

Kensei laughed, hearing him. He enjoyed the banter with his grandson. He then turned to a more serious topic.

"How goes the second step?"

"It's a lot harder than I thought. But I suppose I should have expected that." Daichi replied admiring the beautiful flowers of his garden.

Kensei nodded. "Earth nature is strong against water nature. So compared to the second step of the other natures this is the easiest. And you don't have to rush. This is a step that would take years to master… But you're a talented freak of nature."

"Thank you for that compliment, you old geezer." Daichi replied in a dry tone.

Kensei cheekily smiled. "You're welcome… Now I'd estimate that you'd be able to complete it in maybe 7 to 9 months."

Daichi had thought about that time frame. 'It won't take that long if I really push it. I need to master the fire chakra nature too this year… Then there is the dungeon run… Ghaa…! I've got a lot on my plate but I'm really excited for it. But for now I'm gonna take a rest.'

Both of them stood there and enjoyed the relaxing atmosphere of their garden.

Author’s Note:

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