Naruto: Snow Cold

[Amai's POV]

Honestly, I do want to get my revenge on Uchiha Obito, but... I'm not some obsessed, brooding avenger. It can wait—at least until I'm all grown up or strong enough to actually do something about it. I'm not going to spend my entire time here training monotonously, locked in a cycle of repetitiveness. I am not some kind of robot. I'm alive, damn it!

Which is why I'm going to enjoy myself—or at least try to. I hope that explains what's currently happening.

"You want to what? Can you repeat that, Amai?" Sora asked, his voice laced with shock.

I rubbed the back of my neck awkwardly. "I said... I wanna learn how to play the guitar from you."

Yeah, I sucked at asking others for help. I'm used to just figuring things out on my own, okay?

There was a beat of silence between us. Come on, say something!

Sora blinked at me, looking like he wasn't sure what to say. "You... really want to learn? You do realize how much patience it takes, right? And, uh, I suck at teaching people."

"That's fine," I answered quickly. Almost too quickly. "I... I just want to learn the basics. That's all. I'll figure out the rest on my own." What even brought forth this new interest? Was it boredom? Because I wanted to express myself in other ways? I wasn't entirely sure. All I knew was this itch—this need to do something outside of training like a fucking maniac.

He tilted his head at me, like I'd grown a second head. "Why do you even want to learn? Wouldn't it be better if we just spent our time getting stronger? I know we have plenty of time, but still."

"I know, it's just... I want to do something outside of training. Something actually fun that doesn't involve pushing ourselves to the very limit every single time." I wanted to impress people, too. I thought to myself. Wait... what?

Where the hell did that come from? I did like showing off to my family, but the others? Since when did I want to catch their attention? What's wrong with me?

I didn't care much about what others thought, so why the hell did I even care now? The thought of needing validation from them felt... weird. And yet, here I was—wanting to do something I wasn't even sure I'd be any good at. It didn't matter how physically capable I was, how much chakra I had, or whatever other bullshit factor.

Screw it. I don't have time to overthink this. "I just wanna learn something new."

I fidgeted with the hem of my sleeve. It's kind of my thing whenever I'm nervous, a habit from my old life I couldn't seem to shake. I still tried to look at him with what confidence I had, though.

He raised an eyebrow, looking unconvinced, but didn't press anyway. "Fine. I'll teach you, I owe you for buying me a guitar either way." He smirked.

And so, my lessons during these snowy days began.

Each afternoon after finishing up our training, we'd meet up at either his place or mine. Most of the time it was at mine, though. My parents liked hearing us play, and it's not like we really bothered our neighbors, since there were some noise suppression seals installed in the apartment.

Also, he said that he's bad at teaching? Lies, this guy is actually pretty good. Better than my music teacher, dare I say. He patiently taught me everything from scratch, correcting my mistakes, posture, and even giving me some "easy" songs to practice with. I went from being completely ass, to... well, not being terrible at it.

The things he taught me were plenty. At first, my fingers were stiff and uncoordinated, struggling to hold the guitar and pluck at the strings.

"No, your posture is too rigid. Relax your shoulders, and let the guitar come to you, instead of the other way around."

I followed his instructions, and he corrected me over and over again until I got it right. Then, he moved on to my hand placement.

"Your grip is too tight," he said. "You need to hold the neck more gently. Imagine you're holding something delicate, like a bird or something. Too tight and you'll crush it, too loose and it'll fly away."

He noticed my frustration, but even so, instead of rushing me, he just patiently demonstrated again.

Eventually, I started playing by myself after a week or so after learning my first chords. The strings, which initially felt like barbed wire cutting into my fingertips, started to feel more manageable. My fingers weren't as clumsy, and I could switch between chords without pausing for an eternity.

Yeah, baby, I was improving! It felt so damn satisfying to actually see progress. Think about it—maybe I'll be able to play the electric guitar as well. Okay, perhaps that was getting a little ahead of myself, but hey. If I keep practicing... It's possible.

The idea made me grin internally. I could almost picture it, ehehehe. Me, with an electric guitar, standing on a stage, shredding and pulling off some really sick riffs while a crowd went wild for me. A crowd was a bit too overkill now that I think about it.

Sure, this would take time—tons of practice and frustration—but who cares? I was enjoying myself. This was fun. Currently, I was playing a very simple version of Hopes and Dreams. Turns out he likes Undertale, who would've known? Not that I blame him, I was a huge fan of the game, too. The melody was surprisingly soothing to play, even in its simplified form.

I plucked at the 3rd fret on the D string, following the familiar rhythm I'd been practicing. It felt almost meditative, the strings vibrating beneath my fingertips. The sequence went like this:

D3, Low E1, B1, G3, Low E1, D3, D3, G2, Low E5, Low E6, Low E5, Low E1, and so on.1

I was focused, trying my best to get the notes right, even though my fingers weren't as quick as I wanted them to be. Yet.

Sora's eyes were closed, as if listening to the tune to ensure that everything was right. His expression was calm, but his focus was unwavering, like he was more in tune with the music than with me.

"Hey, I think I'm getting better at this," I said, pausing for a moment as I adjusted my fingers on the neck of the guitar. The chords were starting to feel more natural, even if I still messed up every now and then.

"You sure are. It took me two months to learn the soundtrack." Sora said with a grin, clearly pleased with how quickly I was picking it up. "However..."

"You've still got a long way before you reach my level, young padawan."

I cracked a laugh at his joke. I loved this guy's humor. It was just natural, y'know? Like it wasn't forced at all. It made these lessons a lot more enjoyable altogether.

"Behold how much you've yet to learn, and observe," he said dramatically, before plucking at seemingly a random, yet powerful string. The sound resonated, deep and rich, sending a shiver down my spine.

With that, he started playing the manliest song of all time.

G9, D7, G9, D7, G9, D7. He played the intro. G9, D7, D7, D9, G6, D9. D7, D7D7D7, D9, G6, D9. He repeated. D7, D7D7D7, G7, G6, D9.1

The melody was catchy and mesmerizing. Kinda reminded me of a red-haired anime girl dancing or something like that, honestly. His tempo was smooth and fast, almost playful. I could bet my mother was out there in the corridor, listening in.

"What do you think, young padawan? Do you still think you can catch up?"

I couldn't help but chuckle at the challenge in his voice. Seriously, it almost made me forget that I was still a beginner. The way he played with such ease... simply served as my drive to get better at this. To push myself harder. I had a long way to go, but I am not going to back down.

"Heh... Bring it. I'll surpass you, master." I said dramatically, striking a pose with the guitar, feeling like a truly bizarre character.

Sora raised an eyebrow, clearly trying to suppress a laugh, and trying to play along, "Oho, really now? You've got mettle, child. But... it'll take much more than that to get past me."

I fucking love this guy. He's amazing.