Pakin held the sign of confrontation and locked eyes with Tsuyo. The older boy was nothing but smiles as he loomed menacingly across the arena’s center.

  I wonder how you train to even get that big at sixteen. When we walked up, I thought he was in his late twenties or something.

  “Alright!” Gera announced from between Pakin and Tsuyo. “I want to see blood and gore from this fight. I’m talking eyeballs flying, red splotches across the stone, screams of pain, the whole nine yards!”

  Sho shouted from his spot against the pillar, doing his best to simulate a ravenous crowd.

  “These folks paid good money, so put on a show, boys!” Gera pulled a rock from her pocket and continued, “When this hits the ground, you can begin.” Without further delay, she flicked the rock into the air and flickered away.

  Pakin tried to soothe his nerves, saying ot himself, No big deal. I’ve had plenty of spars up to this point. Just gotta keep my cool and figure him out, no different than when I started fighting Gera.

  Pakin kept his eyes trained on Tsuyo. Sweat beaded on his brow, and he licked his lips as he waited to hear the sound of the stone hitting the ground.

  The grin on Tsuyo’s face dimmed slightly, and Pakin felt his heart beat with anticipation. He let the ringing of his chakra dull the panic in his heart and tried to turn his fear into excitement. He watched as the muscles in Tsuyo’s arms visibly tensed. Then, he heard the plink of the rock hitting the floor.

  Pakin blinked, and Tsuyo was on top of him.

  SHIT!

  Pakin reeled, and Tsuyo swiped out with clawed hands. One came close to his wheeling arm, but missed by a hair as Pakin tucked his limbs in close. Tsuyo kept up the pressure, trying to get a hold of Pakin with his swipes.

  Pakin moved out of reach and tried to take a breath, but Tsuyo was practically on top of him. He chuckled as Pakin growled, the older boy piling on the pressure.

  Come on, FOCUS!

  Pakin opened his eyes wide and moved more deliberately. He took in the swipes coming for him and adjusted himself to escape Tsuyo’s aggressive push. After four more swipes, Pakin was in disbelief.

  Are you kidding me? He thought to himself as he easily dodged the subsequent four swipes. Left, right, left, right; an insultingly simple pattern of movements. Pakin moved under the last swipe and intercepted the next with his left arm, slapping Tsuyo’s wrist to send the blow out of rhythm.

  Pakin’s hand hit solid steel in the form of flesh and bone. Tsuyo made a triumphant noise, his right fist connecting with Pakin’s ribs and sending the boy skidding across the tile. Pakin gritted his teeth, leaning into the blow and trying his best to keep his balance as he slid.

  Tsuyo didn’t pursue for a second, which just frustrated Pakin more.

  He’s trying to teach me a lesson. Pakin fumed for a moment before taking a steadying breath and resetting his stance. As soon as he did, Tsuyo rushed towards him and began his furious assault once again.

  This time, though, Pakin was ready. He spread his awareness beyond each strike to the world around him and Tsuyo. He felt the wind coming in from each swipe and could sense the slight difference in strength from each. It only took one more round of swipes for Pakin to identify the second left swipe as slower than the others. He didn’t take the bait this time but tried to dodge closer to each grab. Tsuyo would swipe out, and Pakin focused hard on moving his body just outside the range of each hand.

  Finally, Pakin stopped losing ground. He stopped running backwards and entered a kind of dance with Tsuyo, not letting the teen’s swipes push him out of position. He twisted his midsection and torso, gritting his teeth against the pain. He cycled his chakra to dull the sensation.

  Pakin expanded awareness, allowing him to catch the slight twitch of Tsuyo’s grin right before a claw switched to a backhand. Pakin ducked the blow and kicked Tsuyo in the knee. The bulky teen didn’t buckle, but his foot slid slightly out of place. Pakin swayed right and slammed a knife hand into Tsuyo’s hip, hoping to force the teen to a knee.

  He hit steel again, and Pakin silently cursed. Desperately, he slammed out a few punches and jumped into a full spinning side kick right to the exposed hip. His fist and shin throbbed from the impact, but a pained grunt from Tsuyo kindled his aggression. Pakin went to follow up with another palm knife, when he felt a meaty hand lock around his bicep.

  “Oh fuck.” Pakin barely got the words out before he was picked up and thrown into the air like a ragdoll. His instincts kicked in and led his body through a few twists that kept him from hitting the ground face first.

  As soon as his feet hit the ground, Pakin’s head was up and scanning for his opponent. Tsuyo stood right where he’d launched Pakin, arms crossed and a mocking grin on his face.

  Pakin thought hard, What am I supposed to do. His joints are made of steel cable. How do I even get him down? There wasn’t any point in stalling; the spar's goal was to fight and learn from each exchange. Tsuyo, as the more experienced fighter, wasn’t even trying. He was using this as a lesson, but what was it for? Pakin winced at the pain radiating from his healing bruises.

  I wonder if he even feels pain, with how yoked up he is? Pakin paused for a second, his mind putting together a plan. He does feel pain, that grunt earlier was from me hitting him. Quick as the chakra in his veins, Pakin recalled when he’d sat and discussed neurology with Dr. Kucha.

  “Pain is the body’s way of telling us something is wrong, Pakin. That’s why it’s so hard to ignore. Even if intellectually, we know there’s nothing wrong or that we need to focus on something else. That’s why pain management is such a big part of being a doctor.”

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  In another flash of memory, he recalled a lesson with Gera.

  “Even the most elite shinobi feel pain. No matter how tough you get or how much chakra you’ve got flowing through your body, pain cannot be avoided. Now, the title of today’s lesson is ‘Nut Shots and Clam Slams: Everything Goes in a Shinobi Fight’!”

  Pakin let a chuckle slip at the memory of Gera’s hand-drawn diagrams for that lesson.

  Tsuyo shouted at him, “What’re you laughing about over there?”

  Pakin shook his head, took a deep breath, and launched himself across the arena at Tsuyo. The teen laughed, shouting, “Alright! Show me then!”

  Pakin came in low and moved to attack the same leg again. Tsuyo came in quick, ready to grab Pakin's exposed arm. He swiped and angled down, trying to pin the younger boy’s arm to the ground. Pakin tucked that arm in, dodging the grab, and punched out with his left.

  He aimed his fist at the pressure point where Tsuyo’s thigh meets his pelvis. Right before the fist connected, Pakin extended the first two knuckles of his hand. His blow connected, and Tsuyo was quick to react. He pulled his leg up and in, slapped Pakin’s leading hand away, and skipped backwards to make distance.

  Pakin pressed his advantage and followed Tsuyo’s retreat. The older teen covered his body and lashed out with a fist, which Pakin twisted under. He punched up, knuckles extended, and hit Tsuyo’s wrist on the outside edge.

  Tsuyo hissed and lashed out with a kick. Pakin brought his leg up into a shin block and rotated his hip to parry the blow. It hit harder than Pakin was expecting, and he couldn’t fully brush the hit aside. Still, he stepped forward with his blocking leg and punched out with his left fist this time. His knuckles dug into the soft spot right under Tsuyo’s collarbone. This time, Pakin added a bit of torque to his punch and dug deep into the tender muscle. Pakin grinned sadistically as Tsuyo cried out.

  The older boy lashed out quicker than Pakin could see and punched him in the shoulder, sending him spinning. He bounced several times across the stone tile before he came to a stop and groaned on the ground.

  Pakin felt new bruises forming on his shoulder and sides, where he’d been punched and then had impacted the floor. It took a second, but once his vision stopped spinning, he could make out two figures dashing towards him.

  The first to reach him was Tsuyo, the bulky teen kneeling beside Pakin. “Oh my god! Pakin, I’m so sorry, your hit really surprised me, and I punched you way too hard. I’m so sorry! Here, let me-” Before he could finish speaking, Gera joined them and started yelling over Tsuyo.

  “Pakin! Pakin? Are you okay? Where does it hurt? Did you open that cut on your face? Look at me!” She rounded on Tsuyo and screamed, “What the fuck Tsuyo! He’s not even a genin! You can’t hit him that hard, what were you thinking?”

  She continued to berate him as Pakin blinked his eyes. He reached out and touched his teacher, her furious tirade coming to a sudden stop. She looked down at Pakin, and he lifted himself to a sitting position. He tried to force a grin, but let out a hiss instead as a scrape on his face began to sting.

  “It’s alright, just a little rattled.” Pakin said.

  Gera covered her mouth, and a pained look flashed across her eyes. Pakin could hear her breathing speed up behind her hand. Sho strolled up and glanced between his two friends and Pakin, a tense look tightening the skin on his face. Tsuyo shut his mouth tight, and Pakin looked at the teen apologetically as he reached out and squeezed his teacher’s arm.

  Her eyes shot towards him, and Pakin could practically see the thoughts racing behind them. Just as he was about to suggest she go take a walk and smoke, she gently placed a hand over his and pushed it off of her. Her face hardened into a neutral mask, and her breathing steadied. She looked at Pakin, then at Tsuyo and Sho, before saying, “I’m sorry, that was too much. Tsuyo, can you fix Pakin up? I need to take a walk.”

  She flickered and disappeared, leaving her friends and student bewildered and concerned. The three boys stayed silent for several seconds, processing her sudden departure.

  Tsuyo broke the silence first and said, “Pakin, could you come here? I’d like to look you over and heal your wounds if you’d let me?”

  Pakin nodded and scooted over towards Tsuyo. The iryo-nin began the same sort of chakra-based procedure as earlier, but this time, it was lighter and harder for Pakin to sense. Every time Tsuyo’s hand passed over a particularly painful spot, he’d pause, and Pakin could feel the chakra intensify in Tsuyo’s hand. The pain would fade, and Pakin would let out a sigh of relief.

  I forgot they have healing jutsu. I should’ve asked Tsuyo to heal my bruises before we sparred. He thought absently to himself.

  After Tsuyo healed several more wounds, Sho said, “Gera and I were watching the spar. She seemed really excited when you started hitting Tsuyo where it hurts, Pakin. I was impressed too, Tsuyo’s built like a brick shithouse. He’s also got a pretty good pain tolerance. What’d you do to get him whimpering like that?”

  Pakin blushed at the praise and recounted, “Well, big bro Tsuyo kept shrugging off my hits. Even when I hammered the same spot over and over, it was like punching a boulder. So, I wondered how I was going to take him down if I couldn’t even hurt him. Then I remembered some stuff I’d learned from my hometown doctor about pain, and then a lesson Gera taught me reminded me of pressure points. I thought that if I could get big bro frustrated or distracted by my attacks, he’d do something I could take advantage of, and then I could do some real damage.”

  Tsuyo chuckled and added, “Your technique was excellent, Pakin. It takes skill and finesse to hit those points on an opponent mid-battle. Even when they’re as big as me.” Tsuyo laughed again, and Pakin could feel the chakra in the teen’s hand pulse with the sound.

  Sho hummed appreciatively and said, “It’s risky, though. Pain can make your enemy lash out in ways you don’t predict. As you’re now painfully aware, I’m sure.” Sho scratched his chin, saying thoughtfully, “Still, it’s a good tool to have in your belt. Pain is unavoidable in battle, but knowing how and when to use it gives you great control over your opponent. You can fluster them, force them to make dumb moves, and even get people you don’t want to fight to run away. In fact, if you want, I can show you a few ways to really put the hurt on folks.”

  Tsuyo huffed and said, “Dude, don’t teach the kid all your creepy Information Division torture techniques. He’s too young to be pulling teeth and toenails.”

  Sho grinned viciously, saying, “Nonsense, I was pulling toenails by the time I was twelve. I’m just getting Pakin started early!” Pakin shivered, and the other two boys chuckled.

  Sho waved his hand casually through the air. “We can do torture techniques next. We can start with how to hit people where it hurts. We’ll take a break from sparring until Gera returns, and we can have a little lesson until then. How’s that sound?”

  Pakin nodded, but a frown creased his forehead. He asked, “Does she do that a lot? When we traveled, she only did it once. When I got hurt by a missing-nin she was tracking. She killed him before he could really hurt me, but afterwards she freaked out, she did just now.”

  Tsuyo paused his healing and shared a look with Sho, a silent understanding passing between them that Pakin couldn’t parse. Tsuyo closed his eyes again and said, “Yeah, it happens now and again. We just give her space, she’ll come back soon and be normal Gera again. Don’t worry, Pakin, you’re teacher is gonna be okay. She’s just… shaken up from something that happened to her not that long ago.”

  Pakin nodded thoughtfully at the two older boys, saying, “Okay, in that case, yeah. Can you teach me a lesson in pain, big bro Sho?”

  The older boy laughed and said, “Be careful how you word that, Pakin. Ask one of my coworkers that way and you might end up strapped to a chair in a dark room!”

  Tsuyo smacked Sho playfully, and Pakin wondered how serious the older boy was being.