7 A tale of shadows and Youth!
If parts of the chapter feel like they appear a bit stuttering in pacing or tone, it's because I kept writing bits and pieces over the last several weeks. I got extremely busy and struggled to find time, along with writer's block at the worst moments.
Anyway, not much else to say other than I'm also trying to write the next chapter for Inevitable and it's continuing to fight me constantly. I'm genuinely annoyed that I can't get into a proper flow.
So, here's the new chapter for Indelible instead.
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Futon: Daitoppa.
Naruko exhaled and pushed with all her might, a gust of wind shooting from her mouth.
Unfortunately, it still wasn't enough, only making the dummy shift some before she let out a hacking fit as she coughed like she was choking.
She'd done all the hand seals correctly, making sure to be calm and collected as Sasuke instructed. But it still was difficult for her and her clones to do it.
"Stupid Ninjutsu." She growled irritably, slowly starting to hate it as the days and weeks passed.
It had started out as her favorite type of thing to try and learn, absolutely loving the idea of creating tornadoes and tearing through rocks. But now that she had been hard at work, she realized that even with her Bunshin to help her out, her Ninjutsu skill was still falling short of Sasuke.
He just seemed to know how to do it, the boy even playfully joking that he invented hand seals to her when he successfully managed the Kawarimi and Shunshin when they were both sparring.
At this point, she'd be fine with focusing on taijutsu for a little while. Sasuke might think he hides it well, but she can tell that her punches and kicks hurt him more than any of the other kids at the academy. And it wasn't exactly because she was extremely good at seeing through Sasuke's feigned lack of reaction, it was because she was absolutely demolishing the other students now.
Sure, it made her ecstatic that she was actually good and talented at something when she was always mocked and made fun of, but it ended up antagonizing the other students including the civilian ones whose parents gave her more openly hostile looks now.
At least she hadn't been attacked as of late though.
Deciding it was a good time to stop her Ninjutsu training, Uzumaki Naruko went back to the conditioning exercises that Sasuke had painstakingly drawn up for her that she had begrudgingly accepted. She thought as much because she felt a little bad about how she did them.
She'd challenged Sasuke to give her the same amount he did and he gave her the instructions... and they were easy.
Either Sasuke was in terrible physical shape, or what he said about her clan having endless stamina wasn't an exaggeration.
Naruko shook her head of the thoughts and started running, sticking to a near sprint that she kept at for an untold amount of time as her mind wondered and she ran towards the outskirts of the village to avoid traffic.
The first time Naruko started running, she went through the village and ended up having something thrown at her that struck her face. After that, she didn't do it again. So after a couple weeks now, she ran alone and in total isolation, preferring it.
The relaxing rush of the wind in her hair and the pounding of her heart in her ears that she had grown familiar with was abruptly cut off when she saw a flash of green out of nowhere. A tall man in green spandex with a Shinobi jacket on was suddenly running right beside her, giving a dazzling smile.
"Ah!" Naruko yelped, startled by the stranger as she stumbled before running faster.
"Hello!" He said exuberantly, keeping up with her no problem as she pumped her legs to run even faster.
"Who are you?!" She demanded, a cold feeling creeping up on her as she ran as fast as she possibly could, her legs starting to ache.
The man didn't even look tired or even like he was exerting himself as he casually sped along the outskirts of the village with her.
"I am Konoha's Green Beast, Maito Gai!" He smiled, adjusting his stride to give her a bit more space. "And this is the route I run each day."
Naruko still kept running, not knowing who he was still. Ever since she'd been attacked, she didn't particularly trust many adults. And another part of her, a part that Sasuke encouraged, was questioning why she hadn't seen this Gai guy before if this was his normal route.
Her attempt at tiring him out from constantly running didn't work out, only succeeding in getting her to collapse while she tried to catch her breath.
"Outstanding!" Gai nearly shouted, looking positively elated, "You ran multiple laps around the village, and only after a couple of weeks of running. Your Youth burns hot!"
Naruko took several breaths, trying to get much needed oxygen while she looked up at Maito Gai, paying closer attention now to what he looked like.
Green spandex. Black hair in a bowl cut. And his flak jacket was unzipped.
"Why did you follow me?" She asked, standing up after she caught her breath and trusted her legs to remain steady.
"I didn't follow you." Gai explained, no longer smiling but still looking like he was in an excellent mood. "You happened across here when I have been training this way for years."
"Then why didn't you say anything, 'ttebayo?!" She practically demanded, looking at him suspiciously.
"I am saying right now," He pointed out, "Would you rather I have said something the very first day and accidentally frighten you?" He added pointedly.
'Oh.' She thought, suddenly feeling a little embarrassed now at thinking he was following her, not doing his normal routine that she unknowingly interrupted.
"If you don't want me to run here anym-" She started to mumble, but Gai interrupted by shaking his head.
"That is the last thing I'd want you to do!" He declared, his arms crossed over his chest. "You have the fire of motivation burning in you. It brightens my day to see another so young as you with such drive and determination in training."
Naruko blushed to the roots of her hair at the praise, still unfamiliar with it. It was even more jarring that it was coming from a man she swore was making his teeth sparkle whenever he grinned.
"T-thank you." She said awkwardly, shifting her weight back and forth on her legs.
"If you don't mind me asking," Gai said politely, still practically radiating energy and excitement, "But what inspired you to start on running?"
Naruko looked away from his eyes, pondering how she should answer. Sasuke was extremely private and might not like her mentioning his name.
"Um, a friend of mine does these exercises and he told me about them." She said quietly, not saying who exactly to keep Sasuke out of it.
Gai nodded in acknowledgement, looking at complete ease.
"You have a very good friend, and I'd like to meet such a bright lad." The Jonin smiled, before his eyes trailed over to the running route. "If you would like, I can show you other exercises and point out a few things I noticed about your running posture."
Even with the growing sense of distrust she started developing ever since she first started being attacked, Naruko seemed to just know Gai was one of the trustworthy ones like Teuchi, Ayame-chan, and... maybe Jiji. She started to look at him differently now, but she could tell Sasuke was bothered by him more so. Whether Sasuke was right about Jiji being a liar or her friend was just a grouch, she honestly didn't know.
"Yes," She said politely, trying to mimic Sasuke as best as she could, "I would very much like that."
What amounted to over an hour beyond what her running exercise was supposed to be followed, with Gai not only helping her step by step with the best method to increase her endurance, but also promised to help her out personally from time to time with taijutsu if she wanted.
To think that a taijutsu master had happened across her when she started kicking butt in the academy!
After saying goodbye to Gai, who sped away to continue his own running and training, Naruko made her way to her apartment to change out of her training clothes then swing over to Sasuke's house, looking forward to their usual Saturday meeting to Ichiraku's in the evening that she ended up blackmailing him into.
After all, what sort of friend doesn't mess with a friend?
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'Even when controlling for a lack of frontline combat that runs far greater risk of incurring injuries or physical damage from general wear and tear, Iryo-nin on average lived approximately 10-15 years longer after reaching retiring age than their counterparts.'
The book Kabuto leant me was just as valuable to me as Tsunade's medical related one, not counting the part about reserve growth. I didn't realize how genuinely intelligent his adoptive mother had been, but I wasn't going to look a gift horse in the mouth and reject it.
Was he manipulating me for some nefarious purpose? Undoubtedly. But he didn't know that I knew about the attempt at manipulation, so the tables were turned on him without him even realizing it.
'To illustrate this glaring difference in overall physical health even further that casts aside all potential alternative explanations for it that ranges from better education on diet, proper physical conditioning that does not result in exertion related injuries, and general better care for the body, their age related illnesses and cases of autoimmune diseases, osteoporosis, and all forms of cancer, were negligible.'
'In the case of neurological conditions, only the Yamanaka clan reported less issues of cognitive decline.'
I decided to take a minute to myself, setting the book down after I reread it without my Sharingan after having copied it more than once.
Apparently, the conditioning of Iryo-nin's chakra by training in Iryo-ninjutsu made the chakra flowing in your tenketsu have faint traces of it in your system on an almost permanent level.
A slightly longer lifespan, less chronic illnesses, and overall better health in the long-term was the result of constant exposure to minute amounts of medical chakra, and I was all for it.
And that didn't even include the later parts, which had segments related to the basics on how risk factors for organ transplants being rejected could be minimized.
It was basically tailormade for my curiosity.
'I wonder why few people learned Iryo-ninjutsu, even rudimentary levels, if it's this beneficial.' I wondered to myself, tapping my fingers against the desk as I kept thinking of what I could do with this knowledge.
Realistically, I knew it was probably for a legitimate reason I didn't know about, but I didn't know right now. Learning why later was probably on the next agenda or two when I had the free time.
Closing the book and wrapping it in a protective cover, I stood up and stretched my arms, rolling my shoulders and hopping on my feet lightly in preparation for training.
I took a day off yesterday and the first part of today to help my body recover from constant physical training and reserve exercises, the rest being needed.
Right now would be just reserve exercises, then I'd start back up on the rest tomorrow.
I exited the room that was my father's study and went to the backyard, needing a larger area to go train.
I got outside and pulled my shirt off, tossing it on a table and basking in the sunlight hitting my skin.
"Ah." I sighed softly, the warmth helping to center me as I slowly coaxed my chakra to move throughout my tenketsu.
Sitting down and crossing my legs, I closed my eyes and reached deeper, a shiver going up my spine and throughout my body as I moved an uniformly large amount of chakra from the tenketsu of my gut towards my leg arm, letting it settle in the tenketsu points that were connected to my individual fingers.
Counting to thirty, I started feeling a minor tingle in my hand, signaling me to shift it away and back up my arm.
I repeated this for the next hour, systematically saturating each of my tenketsu with chakra to make the coils stretch a bit, the elasticity of them since I was a 9 year old making sure I didn't hurt myself.
After I did every one of them, I gathered chakra into my elbow and hand, my eyes flashing as I activated my Sharingan and stared at the wood training pole.
With my chakra having next to no ripples in it, and my mind ignoring the faint pins and needles running all along my chakra network, I shot forward and cocked my arm back to punch the pole.
Just as I was about to test out whether I reached the first step to using the strength technique Tsunade used, I got distracted.
"Sasuke!" A familiar voice shouted, a flash of gold and orange being caught in my peripheral.
The momentary gap in my focus had my chakra fluctuating faintly, my fist striking the wood full force with little insulation from my chakra.
"God damnit!" I snarled, clutching my hand as I started swearing profusely, my hand already starting to bleed from where I split the skin.
"I'm sorry." Naruko squeaked, her face pale as she ran up to me. "Sorry. I'm sorry."
I ignored her as I focused my attention on curbing my profanity, still feeling conditioned to conduct myself with proper decorum from my mother and father.
After getting it out of my system by swearing like a sailor, I retracted my right hand from my left, looking at where I almost certainly fractured a knuckle. It was bleeding steadily and I could feel my pulse in it as my hand throbbed.
"Sasuke." She said fearfully, but I shook my head.
"Gimme a minute." I gritted out, painfully making my hand flex in sync with my right to form the proper hand seals to heal the injury.
Naruko seemed to clam up and freeze, looking genuinely scared of my reaction at being injured by her distracting me.
"Don't worry about," I said without looking up at her, trying to painstakingly force my index and middle fingers to move properly, "It was an accident."
After a few seconds of torture, I got the technique to work and I pressed my fingers on the injury, sighing audibly as the pain lessoned to the point where I could move my hand properly.
"So," I said abruptly, making Naruko blink, "Good afternoon to you too." I finished with a faint smirk to let her know I wasn't upset.
It bothered me immensely that Naruko practically wore her heart on her sleeve and was very attached to any perceived negative reaction against her. The girl was too sweet and kind to be a kunoichi, but that was pretty much imposed upon her by merit of her being an Uzumaki and a Jinchuriki.
Hopefully she develops a tougher skin and greater emotional independence for her sake, and fast.
"Sorry about that." She said sheepishly, glancing down at my hand. "Are, uh, we going to get ramen?"
I tilted my head slightly in confusion, until I remembered that I agreed to on Saturdays.
"Oh, that's right. Today's Saturday." I wiggled my fingers to make sure I fused the bone together properly, which I did, then walked back over to the table I threw my shirt on and put it back on, turning back to look at the little blonde ball of sunshine.
"Well? Come on, try to keep up." I darted towards the alleyway, leaping over a fence and running down the alley behind my house.
"Hey!" Naruko shouted, struggling to keep up. "I just got done running. Slow down!"
I snickered at the adorable look of annoyance on her face as I turned my head to look back, burning the image into my head with my Sharingan.
With that done, I kept at it, sprinting towards Ichiraku's with an orange clad blonde desperately trying to keep up.
//////////////
"Using chakra scalpels will definitely work effectively for taijutsu with your Sharingan." Kakashi said in an approving manner, his hand gripping my wrist tightly, "But you still need to work on your speed."
I nodded without speaking, taking a step back when he released my hand from his vice like grip.
The last several weeks had blurred together in a rather monotonous blend of training, sending a clone to the academy on days where sparring didn't occur so I could train more, and all the other normal things I'd been up to since I first 'woke up'.
My taijutsu and Ninjutsu were improving nicely thanks to Kakashi, my skill with the Shunshin slowly got better, and my Iryo-ninjutsu was coming along quite well. For the last one, it was especially my chakra scalpels that became more potent. I could tear into flesh more cleanly, the botched killing of the rabbit sticking with me until I did it last week with no complications.
"I can tell I'm faster." I muttered as I pushed my bangs back, cursing that my hair was too long to stay out of my face, but not long enough to tie back. "But I'm not improving at the same speed."
"You're still growing." Kakashi pointed out, standing straighter to illustrate how much taller he was than me. "You'll learn Ninjutsu and Iryo-ninjutsu techniques faster than you will progress at physical for a couple years, then it'll balance out. No need to be impatient."
"It makes it worse because I know there's nothing I can do about it," I sighed, knowing that he was correct about me being a short little kid and that it did cause me to be perpetually disadvantaged against anyone with similar chakra reserves and taijutsu skill to me, but with more reach, "Being at a disadvantage and being fully aware of it hurts."
I was being a bit dramatic about the last part. There wasn't that much of a discrepancy, even if it was still there. It just grated on my nerves that I wasn't blurring through everything at a uniform pace.
Kakashi eyed me speculatively, his face betraying next to nothing because of the ANBU mask.
"You're a strange kid. You understand things and you accept them for reality, but you still rebel against it."
"Nothing strange about wanting a better life and longing for it," I countered, "But you're right that I am strange, just not about being impatient."
Kakashi tilted his head again, leaning forward like he was inspecting me.
"You remind me of a kid in my academy class. Not as smart of course, but similar."
'Yeah, pat yourself on the back.' I thought as I fought the urge to roll my eyes.
"But you've got potential to be very good," Kakashi continued, "ANBU don't take interest in 9 year old academy students regularly, especially me."
"I'm sure I'll be enthralled by how much of a masterpiece you think I can be sculpted into by your calm and experienced hand, Inu. " I said dryly, noticing his one visible eye crinkle to signal he smiled.
"I'm just glad to see you've learned how skilled I am and respect it." He replied in a similar tone.
The first few training sessions might have been awkward as hell, especially the very first, but now that we'd gotten time to sort of mentally feel each other out, I felt comfortable enough around him to let my guard down a bit.
'Trust none, save for Inu.'
Even without the note, I knew Kakashi was one of the few people in the world I could potentially trust. He might even help me kill Danzo in the future if I played my cards right.
"So, ready to continue sparring?" I asked, activating my Sharingan again and adopting an opening stance for the Interceptor style of taijutsu my clan pioneered.
Kakashi adopted a sort of bastardized stance that reminded me of my own clan's stance, but not quite.
I made the first move and lashed out with a punch from my left hand aimed at his face, needing to get close to reach him. Kakashi just casually pushed at my arm with his hand, moving it aside to prevent getting hit and countering with a jab at my face.
My eyes tracked his counter easily and I ducked under it, transitioning into a more mobile defense as I let him attack and I simply let my Sharingan assist me in diverting hits or blocking them where I could.
Several blows rained down on me that I grinned at as I saw all of them with perfect clarity, seemingly predicting them. A scissor kick from Kakashi came after I blocked or avoided his punches and I ducked under it, rolling forward with the moment and swinging my own kick at his knee when I was waist height to him.
The silver haired man wasn't a Jonin and hailed as a prodigy for nothing, because he leaped over my foot and didn't miss a beat, kicking at my face the moment I rose back up to reengage.
A slight tilt of my head had his foot brushing against my temple, each second dragging out as my vision could see everything. One of my kunai was drawn as I whipped my hand up to intercept a punch of his, the steel scraping against his arm guard that forced him to back away.
His hand went up to his chest and he glanced down at the gash torn into the metal, before his single visible eye flicked back up at me.
"Better." He said simply, blurring forward again without further elaboration.
His first punch was stopped flat out, while I pivoted to avoid the kick aimed at my gut. His follow up punch was narrowly avoided by me ducking and ended with me flipping up and wrapping my legs around his still outstretched arm, pulling him down some.
He recovered easily and stopped himself from falling, but I did manage to surprise him judging by the narrowing of his eye.
Hopping up and bouncing on the balls of my feet, I grinned as I gestured for him to come towards me, before rushing straight at him instead.
The back and forth clash between us that I initiated was exhilarating to me, my hands a blur as I kept up with Kakashi and prevented him from hitting me. No Ninjutsu, just my Sharingan drinking in every possible weakness to be found or hint at an opening.
Nothing could stop me. Everything in all of reality was within my purview. I couldn't be touched. I was invincib-
Kakashi suddenly sped up to where my eyes could track him but my body was too slow to react and I felt his leg crash into my sternum, sending me to the ground on my back with the wind knocked from me.
I coughed weakly and tried to draw breath as I saw the sun and clouds with perfect clarity, moaning as I struggled to get air back into my lungs.
'So... Fast.' I thought, still struggling to draw a rattling breath.
"Don't get caught up in how much you can see." Kakashi warned lightly, holding no heat in his words. "That's how you get put down by a quick counter like that."
"Noted." I groaned, rolling onto my side and pushing myself up. I then got unsteadily to my feet and managed to gather myself and look up at Kakashi.
That was a very surreal experience, being able to see the attack come but not be fast enough to react. Definitely not something I wanted to experience on the regular.
"Want to continue?" He asked politely, standing in a relaxed position.
I nodded resolutely, my Sharingan still blazing as I looked at him with a fierce determination.
"Yes." I said without emotion, the icy fire of my motivation and will flowing through me as I charged at him once more, hellbent of improving however I could.
///////////////
"Um, Gai-san?" Naruko said awkwardly, drawing the Jonin's attention to her as he slowed down his running.
"Yes, Naruko?" He smiled, his presence practically glowing as he continued running with what looked like weights on his arms and legs.
Naruko had continued running the same route after she first met Gai, occasionally saying hi to him when they crossed paths. But something had been niggling the back of her mind for the last several days.
"You said before you were good at taijutsu." She hoped what she was going to ask wouldn't be intruding. "Could you look at my own form to see any problems?"
She trusted Sasuke to know what he was talking about for most things, but a Jonin would know more than him. Plus, Sasuke fought differently from her. He was fast and precise, weighing every movement like he was dancing from how graceful it was. Maybe Gai used taijutsu more similar to what her preference was.
Gai slowed down further, eventually coming to a stop alongside her.
They were about 50 meters away from the outer wall of the village she noticed, the sun blazing hot in the sky.
"Do you not trust your academy Sensei?" He asked, confusion marring his features.
"I, uh, I'm training on my own time to get better." She replied a little awkwardly, "I have a friend helping some, but he's my age. But you're a Jonin, so you probably have a lot of experience."
Gai looked at her for a long moment, the silence stretching for several seconds.
"If that would help you fan the flames of Youth that courses through you, then yes!" Gai finally exclaimed, turning to look in the general direction of the training grounds.
"Follow me and I shall help you!" Gai shot towards the training grounds in a green blur, the poor blonde Uzumaki jumping in fright before darting towards him to catch up.
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'I'm dying. I'm dying. Let me die.' Naruko was on her hands and knees, her limbs burning as everything spun and she thought she was going to puke.
"A remarkable display of endurance!" Gai cried out happily, kneeling down next to her. "Most of your errors were showing signs of correction by the end. I can see you climbing the Hokage mountain with just one hand within a month!"
Naruko let out a faint groan of acknowledgement, then her arms gave out and she finally collapsed to the ground. The grass felt surprisingly soft, like a nice pillow to sink into. But it didn't change how much pain she was in.
Her arms ached from Gai's punches and kicks that she had been told to block or avoid, the latter turning out to be the best option because they hurt.
"No," Gai grabbed ahold of her arm, lifting her up and setting her back on her feet like she weighed nothing, "Stand straight up! Deep and steady breaths. Rejuvenate your blood and your energy."
Despite not knowing how breathing deeply would help with her limbs hurting, she complied.
Naruko was nevertheless grateful that Gai helped keep her standing, because she probably would have fallen back down from how shaky her legs were. But she couldn't do anymore running or taijutsu. She was at her end.
"No more." She said weakly, seeing a flash of something in Gai's eyes. "Please, no more."
Gai wasn't human, he couldn't be. He constantly screamed about YOUTH and proclamations of 1000 pushups per arm or doing laps around the village with 10,000 pound weights per limb while she was following his instructions on katas and running herself into the ground.
"Don't say such unyouthful things!" Gai shook his head, still keeping her standing. "You have such potential and it would pain me to not help you become great. If I can't, I'll climb the Hokage mountain 200 times with my feet!"
"Y-you're crazy, bushy-brows." Naruko stammered, horrified by how much of a training freak Gai was.
Gai's eyes lost a great deal of their luster as she said that, his mood dampening visibly.
"I am not crazy, Naruko-san. I am motivated to be the most splendid Shinobi I can be, and so should you."
"I can't even stand without you holding me up." Naruko pointed out weakly, quietly marvelling at how much better she felt already. Sasuke moaned and complained about how he was fatigued and tired multiple times, but she never really felt that bad. It was bruises all across her forearms and her legs that made it difficult to stand.
"Naruko," Gai said firmly, all the energy and loudness in his demeanor suddenly vanishing, "You did better than I did at your age. You're capable of surpassing me, if you want to be."
I... I can? Naruko wondered to herself, blinking in surprise at the conviction in the man's tone.
Jiji, and Sasuke just recently, were the only people who ever said that she could be amazing at being a kunoichi. Gai, someone she had only known for a relatively short time, had just become the third.
"You really think so?" She asked quietly.
Gai shook his head.
"I know so."
The seriousness seemed to light a fire in Naruko, her eyes practically blazing as she pushed Gai's hands off of her so she could stand on her own.
"Then I won't stop trying to be the best there is!" She shouted, looking up at the much taller of the two, "I'm going to be the first woman Hokage, ttebayo!"
She'd dreamed about that since she first started going to the academy, and the last two years hadn't dampened it at all.
Gai gave a beaming smile, a tear sprouting from his eye. "Yosh! You will make for a splendid Kage, Naruko!"
The spandex wearing Jonin gave a thumbs up and stepped away from her, squinting at the village walls.
"You should do a brisk walk and stretch your muscles to not develop any cramping, then rest for the day." He said clearly, sounding authentic in his concern for her well-being. "If you would like for me to continue to help, you know where to find me!"
With that, Maito Gai went flying across the landscape, leaving a positively elated Uzumaki Naruko standing there.
'I'm going to be the best kunoichi ever.' She promised to herself again, but with more conviction in it than she ever experienced.
Taking Gai's advice, Naruko walked and did the correct stretching until she reached her apartment, her mind made up on training her taijutsu more so she could close the gap between her and Sasuke.
She didn't hope anymore, she knew she could do it.
///////////////
'I wonder if she'd be willing to trade her endurance for a Sharingan.' I thought to myself irritably, wiping my sweat from my face as best as I could.
The students, especially the ones with a Shinobi or clan background, were looking at Naruko with varying levels of shock and surprise after what had just transpired.
She had managed to beat me in a spar by pushing me out of the circle instead of me bagging my third one needed to end it. It was 2 to 1 out of 5, and that had never happened to me.
We'd been sparring for several minutes now, each one being longer than the last as I struggled to beat her before she beat me instead on the third round.
After Naruko had started running and doing other things I hadn't asked about relating to training, her speed moved up a notch and she was impossible to wear down, the last exchange taking more than a few minutes.
"Uh, well done, Naruko." Iruka said, looking just as surprised as the students that the previous dead last from six months ago had just beaten the best one. "Both of you, go again."
The blonde looked gleeful that she had managed to beat me, and her eyes glinted with happiness.
"This is mine to win, 'ttebayo!" She hopped on her feet, dancing around me as she prepared to continue fighting.
Realizing there was a good chance she could actually beat me because I was starting to get sloppy from how tired I was, I did the sensible thing and activated my Sharingan, still wearing my shades to prevent Mizuki from noticing or anybody letting it slip.
Naruko came charging at me in slow motion, her attacks may as well being telegraphed like they had been months ago from my Sharingan spotting the minor errors in her form.
My arm came up to check a punch from her right, I ducked under the punch I saw before she even threw it from her left, I raised my leg up to knock aside her predictable kick that resulted in her staggering, then I swept her leg out from under her and flung her out of the circle. A yelp of shock came from her when she realized what just happened.
It took all of five seconds.
"The winner is Sasuke! Hinata. Shikamaru. You two are up now."
I went over to Naruko once Iruka called it to help her up, but she didn't accept my hand and practically pouted, not looking at me.
"I'm fine." The blonde muttered, still looking away.
'What's the problem?' I thought with no small amount of annoyance. 'It's not like you're getting wors-'
She probably thought I had been going easy on her all this time.
"You realize you forced me to use my eyes?" I whispered in her ear, making sure nobody was focusing too hard on us.
Her head jerked up to look at me, her blue eyes wide in surprise.
"I did?" She asked, her eyes leaving mine and roving over the forms of the other kids and the teachers. All of them were focusing on the current spar.
'Good.' I thought, thankful my lessons on situational awareness were used by her at least some of the time.
I nodded silently, looking around as well.
It didn't require me looking at her to know she was very happy. I was basically the measurement she used to determine how good she could get. Pure taijutsu, without my Sharingan, was painful and exhausting to fight against her now and she'd only get better.
But so would I.
The rest of the day was rather uneventful, just another typical one at the academy.
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"Why are you always around me and never talk with anybody else?" Naruko asked unprompted, the two of us sitting after we finished sparring and were having a lunch by the river.
I gave her a side eye glance, before turning to look at the sparkling waters of the Naka.
"I don't like talking with people, so I limit the amount I interact with."
"You spend time with me," Naruko pointed out, "And I know you get annoyed when I want to talk with you sometimes."
'I know what you're trying to do. Just come out and say it.'
"Speak clearly, please." I asked politely, "Subterfuge doesn't suit you, so just say what you want to say. I won't get mad."
"You promise?" Naruko asked.
"Yes." I sighed.
Naruko sighed more audibly and looked at me closely. "Could you help out some of our classmates like you helped me?"
I didn't say a single word in response, simply digesting what I was just asked.
'You promised her, Sasuke. Don't get annoyed.'
Running through how I should word it, I shook my head.
"No, and I'll explain why." I headed off any comment by her by saying that straight out of the gate. "First, the only person with the same book and theory understanding as me is Shikamaru, and you know how he is on being motivated."
Naruko was listening to me very intently, her usually impatient and hyperactive traits absent as I spoke.
"Second, you are the only one that can train constantly because you're an Uzumaki. Have you ever been so tired that you thought you were going to vomit?"
"That's normal?!" Naruko gasped, looking repulsed at what I just asked, "I thought I was dying that one time!"
"My point exactly." I shrugged my shoulders. "You only managed it once, right? I've done that multiple times. You're able to train faster because of your clan, and I can because I'm smart and have my Sharingan."
Managing to suppress the revulsion on display, Naruko went to say something, but stopped and mulled over what I said.
"Can..." She trailed off, looking thoughtful. "Can I just help some of them out?"
The way she almost seemed to ask for permission did not sit right with me. It felt wrong in so many ways.
"You can do whatever you want, Naruko." I said sharply, "I don't own you or anything."
Out of all expressions, I didn't expect annoyance.
"I, what, no!" Naruko scowled, her face scrunched up and her eyes narrowed. "I meant can I help them by mentioning some stuff you helped me with?!"
My eyes widened slightly at that. I misunderstood completely.
'I read that situation completely differently.'
Maybe me seeing myself through the lense of how Itachi treated me before wasn't the best idea.
"Oh," I couldn't help but grimace, "Yeah, that's not a problem. They aren't clan exclusive techniques, just don't tell anybody I have my Sharingan just yet."
"Thanks," Naruko said quietly, looking quite pleased that she could help some of them, "And I still don't know why you don't want people knowing."
"I'm very private about certain things, just as you are." I pointed out.
" 'kay." Naruko replied, looking a bit downcast at remembering that.
"Soooo," She seemed to bounce back and fixed me with that same bright look that made her eyes practically sparkle, "How good is your Shunshin now?"
I just smirked at her, tilting my head as I still lounged in my chair.
"I can't tell if you're asking a serious question or laughing at me."
The last time I tried to chain two of them together in quick succession, I ended up wiping out and landing on my face. Naruko had been in tears from laughing so hard.
"Both." The blonde giggled, giving me a wide grin.
'Funny.' I huffed good-naturedly, looking out towards the river again.
"I'm getting better at it, but I still struggle with cutting corners and changing direction."
I wasn't going to bore her with all the Iryo-ninjutsu techniques I'd started to learn, read as copied, from Kabuto that I was training to make as precise as possible.
The basics of poison removal, draining blood, and other things like that were learned by me. Unfortunately, detoxing my own blood would require me poisoning myself, which Kabuto recommended I not do without supervision. But if I did, alcohol was the safest and easiest thing to learn how to do.
But somehow, I doubt anybody would sell alcohol to a 9-year-old saying it was for 'training purposes'.
"But what about your Ninjutsu?" I asked, adjusting my posture to face her instead of having to turn my head each time.
"Um," She said, pursing her lips and furrowing her brow, "I'm getting better at cutting through wood sticks now and I did that one Futon Jutsu you gave me a scroll for."
"Good. Good." I nodded, proud that she managed it.
"But I think I like taijutsu more now."
"Found something you were good at and you forced me to fight seriously now." I hummed happily, letting any of my lingering feelings of stress over constantly training fade away as I thought of how well Naruko was doing now.
"Yeah, Gai's crazy sometimes on training." She said absentmindedly, before she flinched like she'd been struck and looked at me with wide eyes.
Gai...
My breathing remained perfectly steady, but my thoughts were chaotic to say the least.
"Gai," I stared straight at her, knowing I heard her correctly, but still wanting an answer, "As in Maito Gai? Spandex wearing and bowl cut Maito Gai? Jonin that's a taijutsu master Maito Gai?"
"Uh, yes." Naruko replied, looking both confused and worried.
"How did... When did you meet him?" I asked incredulously.
Was that how Naruko was getting so good at taijutsu in such a short span, not counting the initial jump when I helped her?
"When I was running." She said hastily, looking at me strangely. "He runs the same route and he introduced himself."
'Coincidence?' The more paranoid aspects of my psyche rapidly started constructing potential reasons for why Gai would encounter Naruko and actually help her out when they'd never met in the series at this point.
"Hold on a minute," I looked at her with an appraising expression, "You saw Gai and talked with him, or was it the other way around?"
"He saw me running the route he usually ran." Naruko replied with a hint of exasperation at repeating herself. "Are you gonna say I was stupid for talking to a stranger?" She accused.
My face twisted into a visible frown as my fingers tapped against my thigh.
"I resent that," I said lightly, slowing blinking as I gave her an unimpressed look, "And no, I wasn't. I'm actually wondering if Maito Gai saw what I saw when you asked for help, and that's why he decided to help you out maybe."
Naruko huffed under her breath, her face flushing slightly in embarrassment. "Oh."
I wasn't going to admit to her that I suspected that Gai had been strategically placed in order to make sure the wrench chucked into the engine that was me causing Naruko to get annoyed with Sarutobi was smoothed out. Naruko, the village Jinchuriki and last member of a valuable clan, was definitely a priority in keeping loyal to Konoha.
That still confused me. Sarutobi didn't seem to be the person to mislead after being confronted. A recently turned 9 year old outright said that she suspected who her mother was and asked, and yet he wasn't honest until she gave him the cold shoulder.
"Doesn't matter." I waved my hand dismissively, "I just want to relax right now with a friend."
"Thanks." Naruko said quietly, a soft smile on her face. "But, I need ask. I don't know anything about Gai. Do you know how skilled he is? He's better than you and Iruka, but that's all I can tell."
I slowly turned to look at her as she rattled off what she had more than likely thought about for some time and wanted to ask a trustworthy friend, which was pretty much just me right now.
"I know precisely how dangerous he is." I replied easy enough, sitting up in my chair. "But first, do you know how the Shinobi rank system is for how dangerous they are?"
Naruko shook her head, blue eyes looking at me curiously.
"Okay, there's D-rank, which is what the career genin are like. Genin is th-"
"I know what the genin rank is, Sasuke." Naruko huffed, crossing her arms. "You forced me to read that book so we could spar, remember?"
"Oh," I smiled as I remembered that now, "Yeah... That was fun."
Nothing like blackmailing someone into reading a book.
"Some friend." She snorted, but I could tell she just wanted to have the last word and poke at me.
"Moving on," I said, not wanting to get into the same back and forth she'd like to do when she thought she could outsmart me, "C-ranks are most Chunin, including probably Iruka-sensei and Mizuki."
"Okay." Naruko nodded along, paying rapt attention.
Amusingly, the clouds cleared a bit and bathed us in sunlight, the water in front of us sparkling in a very pleasant manner.
"B-ranks are what most Jonin are. I think some of our classmate's parents are B-ranks, while some are higher."
"How many more ranks are there?" Naruko asked, tilting her head. It almost reminded me of how a golden retriever would act when it heard something unfamiliar.
"Two more," I raised my hand and lifted up my index and middle fingers, "A-ranks are the elite Jonin. They tend to be front line fighters and are often used to train genin. I think Hinata's dad and Shikamaru's are A-ranks. I'm not sure about the others. Oh, another person who was an A-rank. Your mother."
Naruko looked very interested at that, her eyes wide and her mouth slightly open.
"The Hokage's son, Maito Gai, and Hatake Kakashi, are also A-ranks."
"So, Gai is really good?" Naruko looked hungry at the need for confirmation. She was leaning towards me and had a gleam in her eyes, probably from also hearing that Kushina was a high rank kunoichi.
"Naruko," I said quietly, injecting as much seriousness into my voice as possible. She had to know. "There is probably only one person in all of Konoha right now that can defeat Maito Gai, and it's the Hokage."
The blonde's eyes widened to a comical level, before blinking repeatedly.
"Really?" She squeaked.
I nodded. "He's a master at taijutsu. He doesn't even need Ninjutsu to take on some of the most dangerous people in the world. Taijutsu is an art to him."
"How do you so much about him?"
I'll be honest.
"My Tousan, he told me. He always said he respected Gai's commitment to being a strong Shinobi," I answered her question with a faint hesitation, "But he did say he didn't like how Gai acted."
"Yeah, he's weird." Naruko agreed rather bluntly, drawing a wave of relief from me at the tone.
'Oh, thank God.' I thought. The last thing I needed was Naruko thinking Gai was cool. I'd need to rethink ever spending a moment with Naruko again if she ended up like Lee.
"I don't need to tell you that having the interest of that skilled of a fighter is massive." I said, running through what that meant for me.
One: It meant Naruko wouldn't be constantly reliant upon me and I could focus on my own training. And two, I might be able to meet Gai and hopefully get some help in taijutsu from him.
"So, that's good." Naruko said quietly, almost to herself as she had a bright little smile on her face.
"Yeah, it is." I agreed with her, not wanting to ask her about possibly meeting Gai. I'll let her bring it up. Right now, I just wanted to relax and decompress for a few hours with pretty much the only person I felt that I could trust somewhat.
/////////////
"You're still too mechanical in your movements." Neko lightly scolded me, knocking aside my training blade and leaving me open to a backhand hit from her own. Her blunted blade smacked me in the arm, causing me to drop my sword as I yelped from the shock and pain.
"I'm trying." I managed to say neutrally, hiding how aggravated I was as I bent down and scooped up the sword, testing my left arm to make sure I wasn't too badly bruised.
It was January now, and I had been considered 'capable enough' by Yugao in my katas and overall understanding of kenjutsu to start sparring. So far, it was making me annoyed as I barely managed to keep up with her undoubtedly slowed down movement, even with my Sharingan active.
"Just keep at it, that's all I can pretty much advice." She sighed, putting up her blade and gesturing for me to take a break, which I reluctantly did.
The purple haired ANBU pulled a bottle of water from a small scroll on her belt and tossed it to me, which I gave a quick thank you for and popped it open to drink. The taste threw me off, making me cough.
"It's got proper minerals in it." She said, sounding a bit apologetic as she adjusted the strap on her armour. "Sorry for not mentioning that."
"Whatever." I shrugged, taking a gulp of it and letting out a pleased exhale.
Kenjutsu might have been a pain to do, but I still felt rather happy with myself in spite of the slow going progress.
For my other training that wasn't kenjutsu, I had at least hit a point where I made a jump in progress. I could Shunshin better to close distance and get behind someone, even if I didn't trust myself to pivot and change direction swiftly, my reserves were larger, easily veteran Chunin level if not a little higher, my Fire release was more potent and the amount of Fire Jutsu I could do grew, and most importantly...
I was close to being able to get the beginning stages of strengthening individual fingers.
Sure, it would still be a long time before I could enhance my hand, wrist, forearm, and later entire arm, but I was successfully able to prove I could pull it off by making sure my index didn't bruise or break when I hit it against wood constantly.
All I needed was more control.
"Have you made that list I recommended?" My current trainer asked, reminding me of last week when she brought up what kind of gear I planned on having from an initial standpoint.
"Yes," I nodded my head, perfectly remembering each detail, "Sword, storage seals to store rations, food, medical supplies, and weapons, and probably armour to protect from attacks." I added the last part somewhat absentmindedly.
"Hmmm," Yugao laughed lightly, her eyes shining with amusement, "Is that all?"
"Anything else an ANBU would carry?" I raised a brow and crossed my arms.
I was dead serious. I planned on being as prepared to be autonomous and as independent as humanly possible anytime I went out on a mission.
Yugao seemed to think for a moment, before shaking her head. "Nope, that pretty much covers what most ANBU squads would have for an extended question. You took it seriously though, didn't you?"
"I don't plan on dying from lack of preparation." I shrugged.
"Still sounds morbid the way a kid says it." She said unnecessarily.
In spite of myself, I snorted at that.
"Kakashi doesn't comment about me." I said casually, pausing when Yugao froze and her eyes widened.
"What did you say?" She asked slowly, her breath faint as she stared at me unblinkingly.
'Well... shit. Damage control, now!'
I had just fucked up in a colossal way, not even thinking anything of it. ANBU identities were a pretty big deal and I just revealed that I knew one.
"I've known Inu's identity almost since the beginning." I managed to keep my voice flat as I pulled out of the death spiral I almost unwittingly dove into. "Silver hair, plethora of Jutsu only an Uchiha could boast of, left eye covered up, and he was picked along with you to train me."
I was almost impressed by me improvising that, practically rattling it off as I cracked my index and middle fingers with my thumb nervously.
"I..." Yugao paused, before shaking her head in resignation. "I have no idea how your mind even works to figure that out."
"Would it be easier if I admitted that my Tousan explicitly mentioned that the White Fang's son was an ANBU?" I asked, hoping me shifting the blame on my father would shield me from scrutiny.
Thankfully, it seemed to work because Yugao stopped giving me that strange look that I instinctively knew wasn't a good one.
"Any reason you kept it secret?"
"I assumed there was a reason he didn't reveal who he actually was." I said, evading the need for details. "So, I didn't say anything."
"Noted." Yugao looked fairly relieved, before she seemed to think of something and refocused on me.
'That's... odd. It was almost like sh-'
"Habitual question, I know," Yugao cut through my thoughts, her voice soft as she seemed to want to be especially polite, "But how are you doing on juggling all your interests in training?"
I elected to not answer immediately, preferring to finish drinking the water still remaining in the bottle to delay.
Unlike with most situations where I was asked by adults how I was doing, mainly the ones at the market, I knew Yugao wasn't trying to treat me with kid gloves. She just wanted to make sure I wouldn't stretch myself thin and have a burnout on training.
"I'm doing fine." I said after gulping down the remainder of the water, wiping my mouth afterwards. "Thank you for this." I added politely, lifting up the now completely drained bottle.
"You looked like you needed it." She remarked, looking down at me from our height difference. "And make sure you do rest from this stuff, mentally."
I couldn't exactly say why I was as fanatically motivated as I was without being carted off to have my mind stripped of all information or get institutionalized if they thought Itachi rattled my entire psyche.
"I enjoy training." I shrugged, not looking away from her.
We stared at each other silently for a couple of seconds, before the purple haired ANBU shook her head.
"Trust me when I say you need a hobby outside of training. Learn to play an instrument, gardening, anything!" She exclaimed the last part, hoping to get the message through apparently.
"I already garden." I countered, which she didn't like judging by her scowl.
"Do you do that to relax or to have the exact type of vegetables you want and know where they came from?"
I flinched at the question, before my eyes narrowed and I glared up at her.
The ANBU monitored me, that was a given. I'd taken up gardening to grow and eat the food I wanted, and got my meat from the market.
But I could tell Yugao wasn't the one asking. Her sudden shift in expression moments prior when she asked was like if she remembered something on a list.
"Were you given orders to ask me about that?!" I demanded, my eyes flashing red as everything slowed and I saw every single detail of Yugao's shocked face.
"What?" She asked, a mix of shock and annoyance on her face, "Of course not!"
"Why don't I believe you?" I demanded quietly, my Sharingan still active as I burned Yugao's face into my mind with each passing second.
"Sasuke," She said my voice clearly, "Believe it or not, but I might just feel like you need help in not burning out."
"I still don't believe you, why do you think that is, ANBU?!" I snapped, feeling my chakra churn under my skin and along my tenketsu as it responded to my heightened emotions.
"I don't care if you were poisoned in your view towards ANBU because of your brother," She said flatly, not rising to my own annoyance, "I'm trying to help you. I found you that night and it was horrible to see you that wa-"
"Don't. Manipulate. Me." I gritted out, her latest comment unwittingly hitting an extremely sensitive spot for me. "Drop the subject or I will reject anymore training."
Yugao's eyes widened in shock at my statement.
"Sasuk-"
"I'm serious." I interrupted her coldly, my voice as chilly as a glacier. "The only thing I hate in this world that is close to a certain person is being manipulated."
Itachi manipulated me, or at least tried to. His messed up sense of love was why I had a pathological aversion to talking with people, and why I hardly get a proper night of sleep.
I checked the time on my watch, noticing it was already about time for the off the clock training session to end.
"Please don't bring up him again, and don't try to manipulate me."
I didn't bother elaborating. I just left the training ground and went home without looking back for one second.
///////////////
"So, you knew who I was?" Kakashi asked, still in his ANBU attire and mask like usual.
"Yeah." I said quietly, still more than a little embarrassed by my outburst at Yugao last week.
It wasn't even like I knew that Sarutobi had ordered her to ask, I just assumed because she acted weird about it. Instead of letting it go and suppressing my paranoia, I went with it and almost caused issues for the long term.
'Trust none, save for Inu.'
I still didn't know who sent that letter. My bet was still on Kakashi or Sarutobi, but it was all just a complete mess that I hated every moment of.
"My ANBU compatriot also mentioned that you weren't exactly happy with a question she asked." Kakashi said with a leading tone, which I suppressed the urge to scowl at.
"It validated what I suspected, which is that I have no privacy from ANBU that I don't personally know." I said cynically. "I don't like the thought of people watching everything I do even when I sleep."
"Mah, you sound far too cautious for a 9 year old still in the academy." Kakashi responded, sounding rather bored.
"I have reason to distrust ANBU." I said stiffly, frowning at him.
The last few days were even worse for my nightmares. Knowing beyond every shred of doubt that people could accurately determine my thoughts from my actions that were as innocuous as starting a garden made me think of what Itachi could gather from it...
And that led to me thinking about whether he would come back in the night and torture me further if I wasn't following the route he wanted for me.
"I asked Neko to bring up you having a hobby to help with preventing yourself from starting to tunnel vision." Kakashi admitted, his hand tapping against his leg for a moment.
I was not expecting that.
"What?" I gaped, completely thrown off my the admission.
"I thought you'd react better if she brought it up over me," He clarified, "But that obviously wasn't the case. You ended up reacting how I thought you would react to me."
That made me want to shrink into the Earth in mortification, everything feeling suddenly cold.
He was just trying to look out for me, even when I didn't ask.
"If you don't mind me asking," I tried to play off how much that affected me, but even I could notice the faint tremor in my voice, "But what is your hobby?"
"Reading." Kakashi shrugged. "I love the written word."
Icha Icha.
"Probably not what I would be interested in." I muttered, almost to myself. "But I might find something."
I'd consider doing something. Maybe it actually would help me if I picked up a hobby like playing an instrument.
"Why did you not say you knew my identity?" Kakashi changed the subject, presumably raising a brow that I couldn't see because of the mask. "I've given enough training sessions to understand what your preferences are. You know I can teach you visual Genjutsu, but you didn't bring it up."
He was definitely correct in his observation. Precision was where I excelled at. Uchiha might be Ninjutsu and Genjutsu specialists for the most part, but our taijutsu was precision made manifest with only the Hyuga perhaps being superior in that particular vein.
The restraint I exercised in not learning ocular Genjutsu from Kakashi immediately was simple really, and it never failed to anger me every time I thought of it.
I was scared.
The first and only time I looked into the mirror with my Sharingan active, I almost ended up vomiting from the panic attack I had and could barely function that day because of it.
My hair had been flat against my head because I had finished taking a shower, so it wasn't spiky at the moment...
And I looked a lot like Itachi.
The last thing I wanted was to react that way when Kakashi had his uncovered and I'd get treated with a delicate touch from then on. Because screw that, I needed to progress faster. Being two years ahead in most things wasn't enough in the slightest for my goal in not dying.
"I..." I wet my lips and looked at Kakashi's right eye, noticing him inspecting my body language. "I don't know how I'll react when I see another Sharingan after..." My throat tightened and I stopped talking, my face burning as my nerves were rattled as I remembered flashes of that night.
Kakashi's posture visibly shifted, his gaze softening.
"I didn't realize that could be a problem, Sasuke." He said softly, removing his ANBU mask and revealing his normally masked face. "I can't really say I understand, but know you aren't alone."
It was moments like this that made me uncomfortable with how easy it was more me to be angry at Kakashi over him not protecting Naruko properly. Kakashi practically commanded respect from me, subconsciously, similar to how my father practically radiated that energy.
It was a whiplash of emotion I felt for the last loyal student of the Fourth Hokage.
"Thank you." I whispered, feeling my emotions settle at least partially. "And tell Neko I'm sorry for assuming."
"She'll understand." Kakashi assured me, before he straightened up and looked at me with his typical expression. "Since I don't really know what exactly you need more assistance in, just explain what you're wanting guidance on."
In spite of myself, I smiled at the almost wholesome way Kakashi said that, bordering on self deprecating.
"A couple of things."
//////////////
'I will forever consider Sensei a hundred times better than I ever thought if this was just an ounce of what he went through with me.'
Kakashi thought to himself, perusing the different sections of Konoha while he was one leave.
The sole Uchiha in Konoha had been on his mind as he had purchased a new copy of Icha Icha, the book being released just yesterday.
It definitely paid to have his name on the shortlist for a reserved copy, courtesy of the author being Jiraiya-sama.
But for Sasuke... Kakashi really didn't know how to confront the situation. His theory on why Sasuke didn't want to reveal his Sharingan for quite some time was probably correct, given that he admitted that he knew who Kakashi was and that him being quiet prevented him from learning ocular Genjutsu.
The damage to Sasuke's emotional state might have been concealed rather well by the boy, but all it took to notice was for a few cracks to appear from time to time.
Shaking his head at the thoughts, Kakashi opened up the newest copy of Icha Icha and began to read, barely needing to divide his attention as he walked down the street.
But his relaxation was not to be for long, because he heard a very familiar voice that caused a faint hint of annoyance from the timing.
"Kakashi!" Gai yelled, appearing in front of him in a green blur, mercifully not trying to hug him. "How are you doing on this wonderful day, my amazing rival?!"
Kakashi was tempted to torment Gai as he usually did, but he just didn't feel up to it right now.
"Got a new book." The silver haired Jonin raised it up to show to Gai, who predictably scowled.
"Such unyouthful literature!" He exclaimed, shaking his head in disappointment. "If you must find something to relieve your boredom, spar with me. A challenge to break our tie!"
'Oh, that's right. We're tied at 37 on challenges.'
"I'll accept a challenge, but on one condition." Kakashi offered, smirking when Gai's eyes perked up like a dog that smelled a treat. "Tell me how the Uzumaki girl is doing."
The Sandaime hadn't ordered Gai to offer Naruko help or guidance or anything of the like. He had simply requested that Gai monitor her every now and then when she ran to make sure nobody tried to do any funny business in the event the ANBU missed something again.
That last part struck a nerve for Kakashi when he thought about it, even if he hid it well.
"Yosh!" Gai gave a thumbs up, looking positively elated. "She burns with the fires of Youth! I could easily take her as a student when she graduates the academy, she is that motivated!"
Kakashi had just been humoring Gai on a possible challenge, but what he said about being Naruko's Jonin sensei completely changed that.
She was his to train in the future. Gai could help her out the way he was best suited, but Naruko was his and his alone to have as a student a few years from now.
Kakashi calmly put his book into a pouch on his jacket, and then looked directly at Gai with a serious expression.
"Thanks for sating my curiosity," He said with a cold determination settling over him, "What challenge do you have in mind?"
A face splitting grin appeared on Gai's face, completely overlooking how his friend and rival had been motivated to win, not just accept a challenge.
////////////////
End Chapter:
So, Sasuke gets some more training and so on. And there's a glimpse of how much he despises being manipulated for 'his own good'.
Naruko meets Gai, and it's going to be a fun next chapter. Sasuke will eventually ask to get some taijutsu training from Gai, which will be next chapter. Writing the consummate sourpuss interacting with Gai is going to be extremely entertaining.
Everything else is just the usual progression. Hopefully it's not as clunky as it felt to me, so I hope you enjoy. Peace!
Raging..
