When Shin-chan pushed open the door to the Nohara house, his voice rang through the whole place.
"I'm home!"
Misae stuck her head out from the kitchen. "It's supposed to be 'I'm back'—"
She stopped halfway through the sentence.
At the entryway, all she could see was a pair of shoes that had been kicked off and sent flying. The little figure in red was already gone.
"That child..." Misae sighed, shook her head, and went back to cooking.
Meanwhile, Shin-chan was squatting in the yard.
"Shiro."
The little white dog popped out from a corner and came running over, tail wagging.
"Woof!"
Shin-chan crouched down, his expression suddenly turning very serious.
"Shiro, today I'm going to teach you something very important."
Shiro tilted his head and looked at him.
"Sit properly."
Shiro obediently sat down.
"Not that kind of sitting." Shin-chan thought for a moment. "You have to sit like a person."
Shiro tilted his head again, completely confused.
Shin-chan sat cross-legged on the ground and patted his legs.
"Like this. Fold your back legs, and put your front paws on your knees."
Shiro looked down at his own legs, then back up at Shin-chan, his eyes full of confusion.
Even so, he still tried.
He splayed his hind legs outward, stuck his front paws forward, and planted his butt on the ground. The pose looked weird, but it really did sort of resemble sitting cross-legged.
Shin-chan nodded in satisfaction.
"Very good. Now listen."
Shiro kept that posture and stared at him seriously.
"Today, I met a big sister at school," Shin-chan began.
Shiro's ears twitched.
"She had a dog named Shiro-maru." Shin-chan's expression turned admiring. "That dog could use ninjutsu. It was super amazing."
Shiro blinked.
"So I've decided." Shin-chan clenched his fist. "I'm going to teach you ninjutsu too!"
"Woof?"
"Starting today, you're going to become a ninja." Shin-chan patted his head. "Are you happy?"
Shiro looked at him and was silent for two seconds.
Then his tail wagged.
"Woof."
"Good." Shin-chan stood up and put his hands on his hips. "Then let's start with the most basic thing: chakra."
Shiro gave a very human-like nod.
"Do you know what chakra is?"
"Woof." Shiro shook his head.
Shin-chan thought hard, trying to remember what Teacher Ibuki had explained.
"It's like when you run around and get tired, and your legs feel all sore—that's physical energy. And when you're really, really hungry and want to eat, that feeling is mental energy. If you mix them together, that becomes chakra."
Shiro blinked.
"Did you get it?"
Shiro nodded.
"Woof."
Shin-chan smiled in satisfaction.
"Okay, then now let's refine chakra."
Shiro lowered his head and looked at his paws, his expression turning very serious.
Shin-chan crouched beside him and watched nervously.
A few seconds later, Shiro opened his eyes and looked at him.
"Woof."
"Did you refine it?"
Shiro shook his head.
Shin-chan scratched his head. "How can that be? I explained it so clearly."
Then suddenly he slapped his hand against his palm.
"Oh, right. I didn't demonstrate it for you first. Watch carefully."
Shin-chan sat cross-legged, closed his eyes, and formed a hand seal.
"First think about how your legs feel sore, then think about really, really wanting to eat chocolate sticks, then mix them together."
A few seconds later, Shin-chan opened his eyes. "See? There it is."
Shiro leaned in and stared at him for a long time.
He saw nothing.
But he still nodded.
"Woof."
"Now you try."
Shiro looked down at his two front paws, then at Shin-chan's hands.
He tried lifting a paw and making the same motions.
But paws were paws. They couldn't bend like fingers.
Shiro tried several times. Either both paws came up together, or they flopped into each other halfway through. There was no way he could make those complicated hand signs.
Shin-chan watched from the side, cheering him on.
"Come on, Shiro, you can do it!"
Shiro tried one more time.
This time he worked really hard to separate his paws, trying to make something like a hand seal.
Instead, his body tipped sideways and he rolled right over onto the ground.
Shiro lay there looking utterly defeated.
Shin-chan leaned closer and looked at him.
"What's wrong?"
"Woof..."
The sound was weak and miserable, like he was saying, I can't do it.
Shin-chan tilted his head and thought for a moment.
"Oh, I get it. Your little legs are too short, so you can't do hand seals, right?"
Shiro buried his face in his paws and refused to comment.
Shin-chan sighed and spoke in his best imitation of an adult voice.
"I understand now. Hand seals are too hard for Shiro."
Shiro nodded in deep agreement.
Shin-chan thought about it, then suddenly slapped his hand against his palm again. "Then we'll just skip the hand seals. That big sister's dog didn't use hand seals either—it just spun."
Shiro tilted his head.
"Think about how you spin in circles."
Shiro got up and turned in place twice.
After that, he looked at Shin-chan, waiting for the next instruction.
Shin-chan frowned.
"No, not like that. I mean spin really, really fast, like a whirlwind."
Shiro tried again.
This time he spun a little faster.
But it was still just ordinary spinning.
Shin-chan crouched down, resting his chin in his hands, thinking very seriously.
"That big sister's dog spun together with her. She made hand seals first, then the dog spun along with her..."
He looked at Shiro.
"You want to spin together with me?"
Shiro looked back at him, full of doubt.
Shin-chan stood up and held out both hands.
"Come on, let's spin together."
Shiro hesitated, then still walked over to his feet.
One boy and one dog started spinning in circles together.
One turn.
Two turns.
Three turns.
Shin-chan's head started to get dizzy.
Shiro's head started getting dizzy too.
Nobody knew how many times they spun, but eventually Shin-chan's legs gave out and he dropped onto the ground.
Shiro staggered around unsteadily for two steps, then collapsed beside him.
The two of them lay there on the ground, staring up at the dizzy-looking sky.
"So dizzy..." Shin-chan muttered.
"Woof..." Shiro answered weakly.
The yard fell quiet for a while.
Then Shin-chan suddenly spoke.
"Shiro."
"Woof?"
"We'll practice again tomorrow."
Shiro turned his head to look at him.
"One day, you're going to become an amazing ninja." Shin-chan said seriously. "Then we'll go find pretty big sisters together."
Shiro blinked.
Then he let out a soft bark.
"Woof."
It sounded like an agreement.
From the kitchen, Misae set the last dish on the table.
"Shin-chan, dinner's ready."
No reply.
She called again.
"Shin-chan!"
From the yard came a weak little voice.
"Coming..."
Misae walked to the doorway and looked outside.
Shin-chan was slowly climbing up off the ground, covered in dirt, with bits of grass stuck in his hair.
Shiro was lying at his feet, looking just as dead inside.
"What were you two doing?"
Shin-chan staggered toward her.
"Training."
"Training what?"
"Chakra."
Misae's mouth twitched.
"Just the two of you?"
"Yeah." Shin-chan nodded. "Shiro's really talented, it's just that hand seals are kind of hard for him."
~~~
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