"As for you, Ino..." Ren spoke after the girls had finished bickering, "I have no idea." He eye-smiled at the girl, making her scowl.
But before she could open her mouth in protest, Ren continued, "You are my student for just a few days so I can't say I have a properly fleshed-out idea about what you should specialize in." He tried to mollify her.
"I guess I will just focus on my clan jutsu for now." Ino unhappily grouched, stabbing her fork into the rice on her plate, playing with her food like a child.
Chuckling at how petulant she looked, Ren hummed, "I do have some ideas and things I want you to try doing with your clan specialty but I have no idea if your clan practices will allow you to do them. I'll speak to you about them later. Maybe the ideas will help you." He helplessly shrugged.
The Yamanaka clan practiced yin energy and mental arts. Ren still remembered that in some stories from his past life, they were depicted as the psychologists of the village.
That was not true in this reality, however.
The Yamanaka mental jutsu had only one purpose. And that was to attack the victim's mind. They were no mind healers. They trained to understand their opponent's mind, and then control it or destroy it. That didn't mean they could sit people down and give them meaningful advice on how to deal with their trauma or heal mental illnesses.
That was pretty much the complete opposite of what they tried to accomplish with their techniques.
Worse yet, the concept of mental health was more of a myth than a fact. If asked, most people would just say it is something made up that does not exist.
It was just one more thing that hammered down for Ren the fact that this was not the modern times he was part of in his past life. He didn't know when psychology became a serious thing in his past life. But he'd say the people of his current world look at these issues in the same way as the people in his previous life did before psychology became a normal, accepted thing.
Ren thought it was a shame.
Kakashi was traumatized as fuck. Sasuke had issues due to his family's massacre. Literally over half of the ninja populace had at least one trauma of their own. And at least a tenth of Konoha ninjas were psychopaths.
The ninja career was not a very good thing when it came to mental health. There was a reason why so many jonins had a 'quirk'. Why Guy shouted about Youth, why Kakashi was late to everything and read porn in public, or why Asuma smoked several packs a day.
It was simply their coping mechanism.
But there was no solution to it, so these problems were put to the side and ignored. The ninjas had to continue working and going on missions. For the greater good of Konoha.
Ever wondered why Sasuke was allowed to live alone in his clan compound? Or why he wasn't given therapy?
This was the reason. It's not that he is some super ultra genius who can trick Inoichi Yamanaka into believing that he is a completely mentally healthy normal boy after seeing his family and clan massacred by his brother.
Nor is it that Konoha higher-ups can't make one not even a ten-year-old child actually go to his therapy sessions. If they had a way to help him become more mentally stable so they wouldn't need to worry about him going off the deep end, the Hokage himself would have carried Sasuke's ass to the therapy. The Uchiha clan bloodline was that important to the village, after all.
But they didn't have a way to help. In the same vein, the village did not have the means to help many of their other ninjas become mentally stable.
What Ren wanted Ino to try was another thing Yamanakas did not practice. Ideas he had from reading fanfictions in his past life. For example, Ren knew that Ino could enter her mind like Naruto could enter his seal.
The rudimentary exercises Inoichi gave him were a very big clue to that.
But... Did the time pass quicker in her mind? Could she use that to learn things faster? Could she gain perfect recall? The Yamanakas were so hyper-focused on entering the mind of somebody else that they seemed to completely ignore the possibilities of what they could do with their own.
But who knows? Maybe Ren's ideas wouldn't pan out. He wasn't Yamanaka and didn't know their mental techniques. He could only give Ino suggestions and wait.
He didn't consider that a meaningful help for her development as a kunoichi.
"I already made you seriously train your body and stop your dieting. I think that's all your father really wanted from me." Ren told Ino but he could clearly see in her expression that she wasn't liking what she was hearing.
He could understand that. He gave Hinata an entire road map on how to make her into a badass kunoichi so it is only natural that Ino would not be satisfied with a half-hearted, 'Dunno. Just do more push-ups.'
"Mabe kenjutsu but that's not something I could help you with either." Ren admitted.
"Kenjutsu?" Ino looked at Ren as if he had grown a new head, "Me?"
"Swords are cool and it would go great with your hair." Ren jokingly said, repeating what she told him at the start of the conversation.
"Besides," Hinata butted in, "It would give you an offensive option that doesn't include trying to scratch your opponent's face with your nails, bimbo. Less broken nails will make you prettier. Sounds like a win-win for you."
Ren shot her a small disapproving look at that. He loved her newfound confidence among friends but right now was not the time to try getting a rise out of Ino.
Ino, however, didn't take Hinata's words to heart and reached toward her, scratching her on the hand with her nails, getting a loud, "Hey!" from Hinata.
Ren's disapproving look melted into a smile. Mostly because he knew that Hinata had seen the scratch coming from a mile away and had just let Ino do it.
"Shut up." Ino rolled her eyes at Hinata, "Adults are speaking." She sniffed in mock contempt but Hinata just turned her gaze toward Ino's modest chest,
"Adults, hm?" She raised her eyebrow at Ino, her lips set in a small innocent smile.
Ino instantly scowled and Ren noticed her eyes flicker to Hinata's bust for a second before they narrowed in envy. But instead of throwing another retort at Hinata, she just turned toward Ren.
"Why kenjutsu? Yamanakas need both of their hands for our clan jutsu." She asked, somewhat forcefully as she tried to ignore Hinata.
"But your clan jutsu should not be the only skill you will have. You should work on increasing your options." Ren spoke slowly, giving proper thought to his words, "You are nimble. You are also very good with your hands. Hinata has an advantage with Byakugan but you are not too far behind her when it comes to throwing weapons. Your reaction speed is also amazing for your age." He narrated what he had noticed about her during her training.
Ino was certainly going to be a speed-based fighter. She was lean, flexible, and with proper training, she would be very fast. Her body was not built for strength, however.
Ren wondered if that was due to some deficiency of yang chakra or something since every Yamanaka he had seen was similar to Ino in this regard.
He inwardly shook his head to clear his thoughts. That didn't matter right now.
He considered what he could do with her natural inclination toward speed. It would have been great if she could be like Sasuke... but her Earth Nature threw a wrench into that dream.
But as a speed-based fighter, it would still be better for her to master some kind of weapon. She was young now, had a jonin as a father who could easily get her skilled tutors, and had a lot of free time. It was the best time for her to start learning a new skill.
"I guess I'll pester Dad to get me some kenjutsu lessons." Ino agreed, but it was obvious she was still doubtful.
But Ren just helplessly shrugged, "Training to get faster and learning a sword can make you dangerous. Especially if you pair them with the hair jutsu you just learned. You can get close to your opponent, slash at him with your sword, which he will definitely evade, only to be skewered by a tendril of your hair." He described an example of how that skill set could be used.
Honestly, the speed at which she mastered the hair jutsu made Ren wonder if ninjutsu wasn't the best direction for her. But Yamanakas did not have overly great chakra reserves... that would make his work as her tutor much harder.
Hearing Ren, Ino grimaced in disgust. "Joy. Getting blood out of my hair will definitely be a great experience." She grumpily complained as she crossed her arms over her chest. But her tense shoulders relaxed at getting at least some direction.
"Alright. I guess it can work for now. But you better come up with something more!" She gave Ren a look similar to an angry chihuahua, "At this rate, Sasuke will get far more interested in Hinata than me!"
Ren just rolled his eyes while Hinata snorted.
"You will need far more than that if you want to keep up with me." Hinata said, giving Ren a questioning look, silently asking him a question.
He sighed and nodded at her. He appreciated that she kept the gravity seals a secret. But yes, he didn't want Ino to feel neglected later on when she inevitably discovered their existence so he was going to give them to her too.
Still, he was reluctant to breach the subject.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Ino exclaimed, affronted, probably misunderstanding something. But Ren wasn't going to wonder what went on in the head of that lovesick girl.
Realizing he probably wouldn't get a better opportunity, he decided to bite the bullet, "She is talking about gravity seals." With another sigh, Ren started the lengthy explanation, "As my student, I am willing to give them to you, but...!"
The conversation about them started from there. It was long, difficult, and embarrassing. The only saving grace was that Ino was a clan kid and understood the secrecy around personal techniques.
Now Ren just needed to have a similar conversation with her father because he'd rather not paint a seal on his baby girl without his permission. And boy, was he not looking forward to explaining the circumstances to Ino's overprotective father.
---
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