When Kiseki finally returned home, he found that the repairs were almost completely finished. After so many days of seeing workers moving around the house and different areas being repaired, it finally felt like everything was returning to normal. However, the first thing Kiseki did wasn't inspect any of that.
He went straight to see his big-foreheaded little sister.
Sakura was peacefully sleeping in her crib, completely unaware of everything happening around her. The moment Kiseki saw her, his expression immediately softened.
"Ahh... she's so cute."
He quickly reached out, wanting to touch and gently squeeze her little cheeks, but before his hands could reach her, Mebuki appeared behind him and spoke in a low voice.
"Kiseki, leave her alone. I barely managed to get her to sleep. Come eat, the food is ready."
Kiseki immediately stopped. Hearing that his mother had struggled to make Sakura fall asleep, he understood that touching her now probably wasn't the best idea.
"Alright, Mom."
Mebuki left the room, and after taking one last look at his sleeping sister, Kiseki followed shortly afterward. He washed his hands and went to eat with his parents.
The family was peacefully having dinner together. Kiseki was happily eating noodles with sauce and meat when someone suddenly knocked on the door. Hearing it, Kizashi quickly stood up and went to see who it was. A short while later, he returned holding a letter in his hand.
"Kiseki, look what arrived."
Kiseki, who had been happily focused on his food, raised his head when he heard his father. The moment he noticed the letter, he quickly wiped himself off and took it.
It was from the Ninja Academy.
At first, Kiseki calmly began reading, but the more he read, the darker his expression became. By the time he reached the end, his face had completely fallen.
"..."
He tore that damn letter apart.
Then he dropped himself onto the table and immediately started complaining.
"No! No, no, no! No more theory classes!"
Mebuki looked at her son with confusion.
"What happened?"
Kiseki lifted his head from the table.
"What's happening, Mom, is that the Academy is modifying the class schedule, so we'll have an entire week of vacation."
For a moment, Kiseki sounded somewhat happy while saying that. After all, a full week without classes didn't sound bad at all. However, the instant he remembered the reason they were getting that week off and what would happen afterward, his expression darkened again.
Mebuki noticed immediately.
"Then that's good. Why are you making that face?"
"Because they're increasing theory classes even more!"
Kiseki looked genuinely miserable.
"With this new schedule, practical classes will barely make up twenty-five percent of everything we do. The other seventy-five percent will be theory!"
Just thinking about it annoyed him.
Of course, what Kiseki really wanted to say was that most of those hours would probably be filled with more bullshit about the Will of Fire. Unfortunately, he couldn't exactly shout something like that inside Konoha. Who knew if someone was listening? If the wrong person heard him openly insulting teachings connected to the village, perhaps the next morning he and his entire family would mysteriously disappear.
Kiseki had absolutely no intention of testing whether that fear was justified.
So instead of saying what he was truly thinking, he simply complained about the increase in theory classes.
Seeing how frustrated their son was, Mebuki and Kizashi quickly understood the reason for his bad mood.
Then both of them started laughing.
Kiseki immediately looked at them with an offended expression.
"Why are you laughing?!"
That only made the situation more amusing for his parents.
After realizing they weren't going to take his suffering as seriously as he wanted, Kiseki quickly turned toward his father.
"Dad, since I have an entire week without classes, can we at least train properly during that time?"
His tone was much more hopeful now.
"After all, once I go back, I'm barely going to have any time to practice because of all those... theory classes."
Kiseki almost said exactly what he thought about those Will of Fire classes, but managed to stop himself at the last moment.
Hearing his son's complaint and seeing how desperately he wanted to make use of the week, Kizashi couldn't help laughing again.
"Hahaha, alright, Kiseki. Come train with me."
Kizashi finished what remained on his plate and began preparing to get up so he could take Kiseki to the underground training area.
The moment Kiseki heard that, his mood changed immediately.
"Really?"
He quickly finished his own food, took his plate away to wash it, and then followed his father without wasting any time.
The two soon entered the underground area beneath the house. Kiseki was already excited before they had even properly started. Ever since awakening his Crystal Release not long ago, he had wanted to practice it more and discover what he could actually do with that ability.
As soon as they arrived, Kiseki looked toward his father with obvious excitement.
"Dad, what are we going to practice?"
In Kiseki's mind, the answer was obvious.
Crystal Release.
That was what he wanted to train.
Kizashi, however, remained calm.
"Calm down, Kiseki. First, I'm going to teach you chakra control."
The excitement on Kiseki's face immediately dropped.
"...Chakra control?"
It wasn't exactly what he had been hoping to hear.
Kizashi could easily see the disappointment appearing on his son's face, but continued explaining.
"Yes. Before you start focusing too much on your Crystal Release, your chakra control needs to improve. If your control isn't good enough, you'll only waste chakra when you try to use more complicated techniques."
Kiseki understood what his father meant.
That didn't make him any less disappointed.
He had finally awakened his Crystal Release and now had an entire week without Academy classes. Naturally, he had imagined spending most of that time practicing his new ability rather than doing basic chakra control exercises.
However, Kizashi wasn't finished.
"If you can reach a level of chakra control that I consider acceptable during this week, I'll teach you a jutsu that you're going to love."
Kiseki's disappointment disappeared almost instantly.
His eyes lit up.
"A jutsu?"
"Yes."
"What jutsu, Dad? Please tell me!"
Kiseki asked with obvious excitement, his earlier disappointment already completely forgotten.
Kizashi couldn't help laughing when he saw how quickly his son's mood had changed.
"Hahaha."
He deliberately let Kiseki wait for a moment before finally answering.
"It's the Shadow Clone Jutsu."
Kiseki froze.
His eyes widened slightly.
"The Shadow Clone Jutsu...?"
Kizashi smiled.
"Exactly."