Chapter 24: Dinner Seals

“So Ino, your final tests are coming up right?” Fuyumi asked conversationally. 

“Yep!” Ino chirped. “We’re graded mostly on our throwing form but to get a 100% you have to hit the target at least 7 times and get 1 bullseye.” She frowned. “And then we need to show we know the katas for the basic academy taijutsu. We don’t actually have to be good at them, just show we know kinda what they should look like.” 

“I thought there were four tests?” Inoichi prodded. 

“Oh, well yeah I mean there’s the writing and reading test and then another one where you are one on one with a teacher and he asks you questions about history and stuff. Those two don’t really count.” Ino said dismissively. 

Her parents smiled at each other. “Ino, just because you are good at something does not mean it is not important.” Her mother said. “In fact, the reading and writing test is, in my opinion, significantly more important than the first two.” 

Ino looked at her skeptically. “They are simple! There is just a right or wrong answer and you either memorized it or you didn’t. Throwing a kunai is something that there is no right answer to. You have to focus and train and be strong and get lucky. That is the real test.” 

“What if another girl in your class failed the reading and writing test. If they are so simple, then should she just give up trying to be a shinobi?” Inoichi asked. 

“No! That’s not what I—” Ino paused and took a breath like her mom had been teaching her to do when she got flustered. “I guess what I mean is that throwing weapons and taijutsu are going to determine whether I live or die as a shinobi.” Her parents drew back a bit, startled at her macabre vision of her future. “Those are the skills that you need to master before going out into the real world. Reading is not going to help you in the middle of battle.” 

Her mom smirked at her, “Wanna bet?” 

“Uhm…” That was unexpected. “Only if you both can agree to listen to me even though I’m a kid and actually convince me! You can’t just say ‘we’re adults so we’re right’.” Now it was Ino’s turn to smirk. She would have control over the outcome that way. 

Fuyumi looked unfazed. “Sure. Loser takes 2 hours of the winner’s register work next week?” 

“You’re on!” Ino cheered. 

Fuyumi excused herself to go get something, while Ino tried to imagine the arguments her mom might bring up and how she could counter them. A few minutes later Fuyumi walked back into the room, holding two pieces of paper. Unceremoniously she began describing a scenario. 

“You and your father are on a team in a foreign country. Your father gets captured. As team leader,” Ino grinned, “you decide it is possible to break him out and decide to do so. Your plan works perfectly, you make it to your father just as your teammate burrows a hole right into the ceiling of his prison cell. All you have to do is grab him and you’re both free, and not a moment too soon! You can hear the guards coming down the hallway!” 

Ino was following with the intensity of cat tracking prey, but she still had no idea what this had to do with reading. Her father took over, winking at her mom. He figured it out? Did they plan this? 

“Ino wait don’t touch me!” Her father cried, eyes wide and voice trembling. “T-they put some sort of seal on my back, check it first!” As he said this, her mom walked around and slapped both pieces of paper on her father’s back. Ino looked confused. 

“Quick! The guards are coming! Look at the seal on my back!” Inoichi cried. 

Caught up in the act Ino gasped and ran around the table as fast as she could, ignoring her parent’s smirks. When she made it around she froze. On her father’s back was a mesmerizing pattern of characters and symbols, weaving and clumping together in some places, and disappearing in others. Frantically she started trying to read but it was so complex that she knew it would take her hours to piece together all the characters, let alone understand what the pattern meant. 

“They’re almost here Ino! What do the seals do?!” Her father’s voice became tinged with panic. 

“I-I don’t know! Can’t we just go?” She asked nervously. 

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“No Ino! One of them could explode!” Inoichi yelled back. 

“What?!” Ino screamed. “I-I’m-Daddy I’m sorry. I’m sorry! I don’t know! I don’t knowww.” Even knowing the situation was fake, her parents were very good actors and were speaking with real terror and urgency in their voices. The thought of her dad trapped and about to die because of her was just too overwhelming. Ino burst into tears and was quickly scooped up by her mom, whispering furiously at her husband, “Explode? Really?”  

A few minutes and some tea later, her mom and dad sat facing her seriously. “We’re sorry for scaring you sweetheart,” her father began, “but just as you are taking your throwing test seriously, we took this situation seriously. Variations of this situation are very common for ninja. A veteran jonin commander would have been able to understand both of these seals in less than a second and would have made the correct call.”

“This one,” her mother pointed to one as she took over, “hurts the target if they move fast while it’s on. And this one,” she pointed at the other, “only hurts the target if it is taken off.” Then she fell silent and looked at Ino expectantly. 

“…So the one that only hurts when it’s taken off could just be left on, and the other one taken off and then it would have been fine?” Ino asked. 

“Correct! Good job Ino.” Her dad smiled at her. 

“”In real life it would probably be more complicated.” Her mother continued in a calm but very serious tone. “Specialists can disarm seals, and the one that doesn’t hurt till it’s pulled off could wait until you got back to Konoha where you could find such an expert to handle it.” 

“The other thing to take away from this,” she continued, “is that I created both of these in around five minutes.” Ino looked down at the stunning array of characters and designs and then back up to her mother in disbelief. 

“While these are just normal pieces of paper, if I had used seal-quality paper and infused them with chakra, they would have been very effective at trapping a prisoner I had captured, but only if my enemies weren’t very good at reading.” 

Ino winced, having completely forgotten the reason they had started this whole exercise. 

“So, there you have it.” Fuyumi said sternly. “Are you convinced that reading and writing are important?” 

Ino nodded glumly. 

“And just as a quick example of importance,” Inoichi added, “for your history test: There are some ninja, our own Hokage being one of them, who would be essentially impossible to beat if they fought someone who didn’t know about them. Knowing about the village our Hokage is from, the people he has fought, the techniques which were effective against him, and his vulnerabilities would all be vital to fighting him; all of these are things that history can teach us, and sometimes can be the most important part of a fight.”

“I understand Okā-san, Otō-san.” Ino mini-bowed to them formally. It was not a sarcastic gesture. She knew that Naruto would never get this kind of information at home. To have the practical applications of what she was working towards so clearly laid out in front of her was a blessing. 

“All of this to say, we are very proud of how well you are doing in all your subjects Ino.” Her mother beamed at her. “Remember that we all have strengths and weaknesses and they are nothing to be ashamed of. You will get better at throwing, and then there will be another area you struggle with. And then you will conquer that area, only to have it be replaced by another. These are the joys of life.” 

Ino nodded again. Now time to segue away from this subject before… 

“And you are welcome to take my afternoon hours this Saturday.” 

Damnit. 

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