Naruto: Snow Cold

Neither of them could believe their ears. This man—this man right here—wanted them to call him 'big bro'. They didn't believe that they'd find someone like... this. It certainly wasn't part of their expectations!

"Ah..." Amai stammered, her mouth agape, struggling to find the words. She turned to Sora, hoping he'd be equally stunned, only to feel a nudge on her arm.

"It would be our pleasure, big bro Yama," Sora said smoothly, bowing his head ever so slightly, his tone so casual it was almost infuriating.

Amai's jaw nearly hit the floor. HUH?! Her mind reeled. This guy... Shameless! Is he really gonna kiss up to anybody just to get a chance to get stronger?!

After hearing that, Yamanaka Yamahiro smiled brightly, clapping his hands together in delight. "Yes, excellent! What about you, Amai? Will you call me big bro Yama as well?"

She forced a grin, the corner of her lips twitching. Amai simply couldn't believe she had to do this. "...Of course, big bro Yama."

"Perfect! I can tell we are going to get along quite well, the three of us," Yamahiro said with an enthusiasm that only made Amai's forced grin more strained. "Shall we pick up the pace? We are quite close, after all."

...

Once they reached the designated area and entered the room, they immediately noticed the absence of sound, vibrations, or even smell—just an oppressive silence. Amai quickly concluded that this must be the work of the seals installed throughout the room. Not only that, but she noticed that the facility had several other occupied rooms, which, truthfully, she had expected. After all, they weren't the only ones training their sensory capabilities. Surely, Konoha had its share of sensors. Limited, perhaps, but definitely present.

"Listen carefully, the both of you."

Yamahiro sat them down and began explaining, "First of all, if you have a low radius at the beginning, don't even bother training your sensor capabilities. It'll only drag you down, and it would be time better spent in other areas."

Amai and Sora nodded; they had anticipated this.

"Good. What Big Bro Yama needs you both to do is enter a meditative state. I'll assist you in finding your chakra fields. You'll have to..."

He went on to give them a few tips on how to sense their fields, staying beside them for at least forty minutes before Amai finally sensed hers. It took Sora an additional ten minutes to sense his own. Yamahiro's pointers proved to be quite helpful.

After they achieved this feat, Yamahiro tested their respective fields and was impressed with the results—particularly Amai's. He concluded that her field had a radius of 10.6 meters, while Sora's barely met the minimum requirement at 6 meters.

Yamahiro then commented, "You both have the potential to be sensors, alright. Usually, those from the Yamanaka clan start out with a chakra field having a radius of 7.5 meters, while the minimum for other shinobi is 6 meters. Personally, I started out with a radius of 11.4 meters."

Sora raised an eyebrow, his competitive streak rising. "So, you're saying Amai's almost at your level as a beginner?"

Yamahiro chuckled. "Indeed, indeed. But don't worry—your range will improve with training and the effort you put into it. Plus, it'll naturally grow over time as you refine your chakra control and sensory skills."

Amai couldn't help but feel perplexed. Were her sensing capabilities really that great? Did this mean she could be a genuinely good sensor in the future?

"This is just the beginning, though," Yamahiro continued, noticing her contemplative expression. "Now, I want you two to put on these blindfolds."

Amai blinked, looking up in surprise as he handed a black simple cloth to each one of them. Of course, they had to shut off their sense of sight.

"You're going to put these on and try to sense this tagged cube right here without your eyes, nose, or ears. Hell, not even by touching it. If you think you've found it, point at it, and I'll tell you if you're right," Yamahiro instructed, his arms crossed.

They both nodded, and once they equipped the blindfolds, they could instantly feel the difference. The room became quiet, dark, and still—no smells, no sounds, not even a breeze to brush against them. It was as if they were submerged in a void. Normally, this would have caused Amai's PTSD to flare up, but she was used to the 'void' by now. Anything she had ever seen thus far was nothing compared to the actual void.

There was nothing at first, but after half an hour, Amai began to feel faint traces of chakra in the area. She pointed somewhere, where she had a feeling the cube would be.

"No. Try again."

Sora tried as well, "There."

"Again, no. Keep trying."

Amai's focus deepened, frustration beginning to build. 'This is actually pretty fucking hard.' she thought, realizing the difficulty of the task. The faint traces of chakra she thought she'd sensed seemed to blur and fade the moment she tried to pin them down. It was like trying to catch smoke with her bare hands.

But that didn't mean she'd give up. Neither of them would drop this, and so, they kept at it with no success for an hour and a half straight.

The silence in the room felt heavier with each passing moment. Sora's occasional sighs and groans broke the monotony, while Amai remained eerily quiet, her frustration brewing internally. Yamahiro observed them closely, offering small pointers now and then but otherwise letting them struggle through it.

Another thirty minutes passed, and finally...

"There," Amai said, her voice steady despite the tension accumulated in her chest.

Yamahiro's eyes widened slightly in surprise before a smirk crossed his face. "Impressive. You actually got it right this time, Amai. Keep at it like this, and we'll stop at 7 PM. We've got around two hours of practice left."

Hearing this, she allowed herself a small smile and brought her fist up, clenching it in quiet celebration. She made sure to look away, or at least she thought she did—because the voice came from behind her.

The next few attempts were mixed. While Amai occasionally hit the mark again, there were also moments where her focus wavered, and she missed completely. Each failure came with its own frustration, but Yamahiro kept encouraging her to press on.

Sora, on the other hand, was gradually finding his rhythm. "There!" he exclaimed, pointing decisively after another round of attempts.

"Correct." Yamahiro confirmed.

Realizing that he was right, Sora brought his fist up as well, and shouted. "Yes, let's go!"

Yamahiro paused, eyebrows arching in mild confusion. "Uh... Exactly where are we going for?"

"Oh, it's like a way to celebrate. You haven't heard of it?"

Yamahiro tilted his head, clearly puzzled. 'What the hell is up with kids nowadays?'

"Can't say I've heard of that one before." He replied, crossing his arms.

Sora stifled a laugh. "It's just something we say, Big Bro Yama. Like hyping yourself up whenever you nail something."

Amai smiled hearing that. It reminded her of the small celebrations she'd have in her past life—especially when she managed to get rare pulls in gacha games, or when she accomplished something significant, like hitting a good note on any of her assignments. Not only that, it also reminded her of the darker times when she'd play FPS games, taking down one particularly annoying player and using that line to hype herself up—followed by a stream of colorful insults she'd hurl at the screen.

Good times.

"Ah, I see... Well, I suppose there's no harm in a little self-motivation." Yamahiro said as he nodded sagely. "Big Bro Yama will allow it."

Sora grinned at that, feeling a sense of camaraderie with Yamahiro now. "See? You get it, Big Bro Yama. Fist bump!" He extended his fist toward where he thought Yamahiro was. He couldn't see with the blindfold on, after all.

Yamahiro raised an eyebrow, intrigued. 'Impressive. He managed to sense my location. Then again, my chakra isn't faint like the cube's. Still, not bad for a beginner.'

With a smirk, Yamahiro reached out and bumped his fist against Sora's. "Not bad, kid."

And so, they kept trying to find the cube, over and over again. Each attempt became a little sharper, slightly easier. The earlier frustration and doubt began to melt away, replaced by quiet determination.

Although, Amai couldn't help but feel like something was wrong.

Was she supposed to be able to see… auras? Or whatever the energy around her sensei and Sora was. It wasn't chakra, but something else entirely. It was like a strange, intangible force—something she couldn't quite pinpoint.

It was more concentrated around Sora, and it flared up whenever he got particularly intense or competitive. It felt like a burst of heat, a sudden pressure in the air, making it impossible not to notice. Yamahiro's presence, in contrast, was calm and steady, and rarely had any fluctuations, but it felt like it could ignite into a roaring flame at any moment, should the situation call for it.

If she had to describe it, the word that came to mind was… willpower? No, that didn't feel quite right. If it were simply willpower, then Sora's would surely dwarf Yamahiro's. Only people like Might Guy or Rock Lee, with their boundless and almost reckless determination, could match that level of intensity. And yet, despite Sora's energy burning brighter and hotter, there was something distinctly different about it.

That wasn't the only weird thing about it, though. She felt a faint, almost imperceptible pull toward this 'aura.' It wasn't overpowering, but it was definitely there.

'What the hell is this? Determination? Passion? Fighting spirit?' she thought, trying to categorize the strange feeling. It was odd, and ever so odd. It wasn't like any chakra signature she had encountered before. Not that she had ever encountered any, because it's literally her first time trying to sense chakra.

Each time the intensity of Sora's focus spiked, the pull grew slightly stronger, and she just couldn't understand why.

'Eh... I'll eventually find out what it is, no need to keep dwelling on it.' she thought.

Amai mentally shook herself out of her musings and redirected her attention to the task at hand. They still needed to find the cube, again. The thought of letting herself get distracted now was enough to make her push aside all thoughts about the strange 'aura' surrounding the people present in the room.

She refocused, her mind sharpening as she tuned out the odd sensations and focused on her task. The cube was still out there, waiting to be found.

Again.