Chapitre 43: Interlude: Training
Of all the things that Hisako had expected for her life, sparring with the academy loser to become better at Taijutsu was not one of them.
Hisako ducked underneath Lee's twin-hammer blows. He jumped over her sweeping kick and huffed in surprised when Hisako has pushed off with her hands to land a kick on his solar plexus.
"That's such a youthful counter attack, Hisako-chan!" Lee cheered in mid air.
When they both landed, Lee span on his heel, bringing his raised foot down on Hisako's face, sending her to the ground and she quickly recovered, summersaulting back to her feet.
She wiped the blood from her lip. "You're not doing too badly either, Lee."
They continued to fight each other, Hisako dodging and dancing around Lee's attacks and Lee blocking or parrying her own. Hisako noted that Lee's main problem was that he did not dodge, under any circumstances. It was a block or a parry. It was the Strong Fist style at its core, but this lack of ability to adapt is the sole reason why he's never beaten Hyuuga Neji. It's not like Gai hasn't tried teaching him, but it was a little out of his skill range for now.
Speaking of his teammates, they were also sparring ten feet away. Tenten was peppering Neji with kunai and Neji was batting them away with gentle fist. They were training up Tenten's accuracy and Neji's defenses. The Kunai were made of wood and were blunted, but the principle was the same. Watching from the side-lines was Gai-sensei, who had that twinkle of self-satisfaction that Hisako had become accustomed to since she had started training with Lee.
After several minutes of this, Gai called for a halt. Hisako had sweat pouring down her face and onto her shirt and she took a swig from a water canteen.
"That's enough training for today!" Gai said to each of them. "You're all doing fantastically! Keep fanning the flames of your youth and you'll be unstoppable!"
Hisako, honestly, was completely happy to train with Cell 9. She was ecstatic when Kakashi-sensei had given her permission to train with them and even more ecstatic when Gai had agreed to let her train with his team. It was only once or twice a week, but Lee was always ready for more training afterwards, which made for a very happy girl.
"So, Lee-kun," Hisako started, taking another swig, having zipped up her jacket because her shirt was soaked with sweat. "Do you think your team's going to enter the Chunin exams?"
"I'm afraid not, Hisako-chan," Lee answered with a sheepish look. "Gai wants to keep us training for another six months to be sure we're ready."
"I think it's a smart move," Tenten said, walking up to them. "The couple times the exams were being held here, I heard that half the applicants died during the second part."
"How'd they die?" Hisako asked with a frown.
"I don't know, but given how often ninja are supposed to kill each other," Tenten shrugged. "It's easy to guess. How about you, you think you're heading into the Chunin exams?"
"We'd be crazy if we didn't," Hisako replied with a self-assured grin. "With how much we've been through, I wouldn't be surprised at all if we were fast-tracked to Jounin."
"It's certainly possible," Gai-sensei chimed in, flashing his winning smile. "Keep your youthful training up and you'll soon be training your own team of youthful Genin!"
Hisako blinked in the harsh glint of Gai's smile. "Thank you for the vote of confidence, Gai-sensei."
Of course, if anyone was going to get fast-tracked at all, it would be Daisuke…Hisako shook her head. She was cooling down from training, now was not the time to be thinking of her crush/milestone/frustration generator.
She could see that Neji wanted to say something, but Hisako ignored him. "So, Tenten? You have different styles of kunai, right?"
"We do," Tenten nodded, tilting her head slightly. "What did you have in mind?"
"Well," Hisako took out her two kunai. "When I'm out in the field, I prefer to use these kunai in melee, tipped with poison. But the thing is, they're not really meant for dedicated melee, they're more explosive-note-delivery than anything and I've gotten good enough with my senbon that I don't need to throw kunai anymore and I was wondering if you had anything meant for melee."
Tenten hummed. "Yeah, we have a few things that you might like. Come by the shop later, I'll show you what I've got."
"Thanks," Hisako smiled.
"No problem," Tenten replied.
Hisako had, surprisingly for her, gotten quite friendly with the weapon smith as she had started purchasing senbon from her store. Once they had both gone through a horrifically traumatic experience together and Hisako saw that Tenten wasn't just a saleswoman with a friendly face that was out for all her crush/milestone/frustration generator's money, and they quickly became friends out of their mutual respect for senbon, kunai and combat.
She was also reasonably sure Tenten had a slight crush on Nichiren which made Hisako's inner romantic go squeee! Better than Neji, who she may, perhaps, possibly also like. Nichiren needed someone who could help his surprising levels of cynicism. Not that Tenten was necessarily a ray of sunshine, but that was actually a good thing. Realism is better than optimism.
"Hisako-chan," Neji began. "If I may ask a question?"
At least he's being polite. "What is it, Neji-kun?
"Uzumaki Naruto is a friend of Shimoda Daisuke. Kun. Right?" Neji asked with a frown. Out of the corner of her high, she saw Gai get serious for just a brief moment. "And has been for quite a long time, yes?"
"Yeah," Hisako nodded. It wasn't necessarily a secret to anyone that Naruto had the coveted position of Daisuke's best friend. It actually brought Hisako no end of satisfaction to know that all the clan heads and their kids were kicking themselves for not trying to befriend him sooner. "Why do you ask?"
"I was wondering if either of them had said anything about…what happened in the sewers," Neji said, still frowning. "About the orange chakra that Uzumaki was pouring out after Daisuke was attacked?"
"Nope," Hisako shook her head a single time. "Naruto still has no idea and Daisuke shuts down anyone that asks."
Daisuke had emphatically told her that he would not, under any circumstances, explain it because it was an S-class secret and he wanted to keep his head, surprisingly. Since she wanted him to keep his head too, she refrained from asking about it.
"He shut's anyone down?" Neji repeated, eyes narrowing. "Why?"
"S-class secret, apparently," Hisako shrugged. "Why do you want to know?"
"Because," Neji looked to the side. "I…with my Byakugan, I saw-"
"Neji-kun," Gai-sensei put his hand on Neji's shoulders. "Here, how about we go for a walk and you can tell me everything and we can talk about it, alright?"
Neji blinked. "Alright."
Yup, S-class secret, Hisako thought with a mental shake of the head. It was a clumsy handling of someone who was about to spill something sensitive, but that wasn't too surprising, given that Gai had a lot of trust for his students. She was used to it, though, her parents were Anbu and couldn't tell her anything about what happened on their missions beyond vague hints that they ran operations within Cloud and Earth borders, respectively.
"…so, it really is an S-class secret?" Tenten asked with a frown.
"Yup," Hisako nodded. "So I wouldn't go asking about it if I were you."
"Of course not!" Lee balked with a deep frown. "Such secrets are only kept if they are absolutely vital to the safety of the village! Asking about them would be horribly un-youthful!"
Hisako smiled. Never change, Lee. Never change.
On the bottom of the world, deep in the Frozen seas, the Emperor of Penguin-kind swam through the tunnels of ice beneath his own palace. They were large enough for him and his subjects, so his passing did little to discourage others going on their way, no matter how little they would actually mind it.
He was on his way to see his Court Jester, who was currently working on some special project to present to the court. It would be a welcome distraction from the mess of politics that had laid itself upon his beak. Apparently, the Fish Diplomats were eaten by Sharks who were quite upset at the Penguins disregard for the natural order and they had apparently been killed in the war a long time ago, so asking for justice to be dispensed was futile. As far as the Emperor was concerned, however, the Shark's would only send their most influential members to show how committed they were to this alliance and that those sharks were now being hid in waters to the far north. Plans to find them and assassinate them were on the table, but only after this new treaty was settled and the peace was proven to be lasting.
The Emperor broke water in the throne room, and the gathered assembly bowed.
"Greetings, loyal subjects," The Emperor raised his flipper to raise his subjects. "I understand efforts to rebuild Blackfoot Island, the Fairy Archipelago and to scout out Rock Hopper Peninsula are going smoothly. Understandably, our allies are hesitant to assist in liberating Rock Hopper Peninsula from the Squids, but as we strengthen our ties to them, we will force their hand."
There was a time when the Penguins had thought that they were facing four enemies instead of three, when the Squids had risen up and captured the Peninsula, savaging any and all in the waters around them. But…they had remained content to hold Rock Hopper Island and had attacked Sharks and Sea Lions in equal measure and the Squids remained unassailable through their flexibility and difficulty to kill.
"Well done to all those involved, our hopes go with them," The Emperor said. "Now, before we move on to the typical matters of court, Yujiro! I understand you have something for us!"
"I do have something for the court, My Lord Emperor," Yujiro bowed once again. He cleared his throat. "Listen well, all of you. In the years before the war and the years during, our old enemies, the Sea Lions, had made us the subject of many a tall tale."
The penguins of the court leaned in in interest.
"They called us 'Prinnies' and painted us as monsters with sticks for legs and demon's wings upon our backs, as dolls sewn to capture the souls of the evil and foul," Yujiro shouted dramatically, waving his fin around in emphasis of his words. "That throw themselves at the enemy and explode to kill as many innocent as we could!"
"They also had us say 'dood' a lot in stories meant for children," Yujiro also explained in a complete departure from the dramatic tone he had built up. "So, I have brought their stories to life! I give unto you, if it pleases the court…the Prinnie!"
Yujiro held up a small doll, stitched together with black and bleached shark-leather, a beak made from Ivory. Instead of the usual clawed feet, it had twin peg-legs. Its eyes were wide, also made of the leather, comically so. The wings on its back were tiny, unlikely to instill any amount of fear in anyone at all. It was a complete mockery of the tall tales spun by the Sea Lions.
The Emperor blinked. Not once, not twice, but three times before he spoke. "I assume it explodes?"
"Yes, it does!" Yujiro was grinning happily. "I can demonstrate if it pleases his excellency?"
"Proceed," The Emperor replied with a wave of his flipper.
Yujiro pulled on a string in the Prinnies back and threw it to an empty patch of ice. The string itself started to pull itself back in and was half way-done when it hit the ice and almost back to where it started when it slid into the wall. A second passed.
"Dood!" The sound was almost like the note of a flute or a clarinet, high pitched and short. It also reminded him of a child's voice, repeating something that he had found to be funny in a cutesy way. Then it exploded in a shower of confetti and sparks.
After a moment, the Emperor started to chuckle, then laugh. Then the rest of the room joined in and the room echoed with raucous laughter. "Oh, Yujiro! You are the only one that would think of weaponizing the tall tales of our enemies."
"That was the non-lethal firework," Yujiro smirked happily. "I've got actually lethal ones too."
"I command that our troops be trained in the use of these Prinnies!" The Emperor said, the muscles around his beak tied into a smile as wide as it could go. "Should we go to war once again, the Sea Lions will have some true tales to tell about us around their fires!"
"Yes, My Lord Emperor," Yujiro bowed. "I also request permission to grant our Summoner some the next time we see him."
"Granted," The Emperor said, still chuckling. "I think he'll enjoy them."
"What a drag," Shikamaru said with a sigh.
"Stop whining, Shikamaru!" Ino huffed, hands on her hips and scowling at him. "We've done these training exercises dozens of times, you'd think you get used to it by now!"
"And for dozens of times I've hated it," Shikamaru replied with a raised eyebrow. "I don't have to get used to something if I don't want to."
"It's not that bad, Shikamaru," Chouji piped up, hand in his potato chip bag that he had been allowed to sneak through by his Father. "I mean, we're getting better at them, so it's not taking as long as it used too."
They were in the forests behind the Nara clan compound for this training exercise. There were three, brightly colored balls hidden somewhere in the clearing and the team of proto-Genin had to find them, navigate whatever traps or obstacles were placed in their way using their families jutsu and bring them to a central platform. Standing in their way was a team comprised of actual Genin from each of their clans, who were tasked with guarding the balls and generally making the three heir's life miserable.
Shikamaru sighed. "I guess that's true, but whatever. The most likely spots for them to hide the balls this time are the Shadowed Falls, the Lightning Struck grove, and the deer tender's cabin."
"Where do you think the end-goal is?" Ino asked with a thoughtful frown on her face, cupping her chin with her fingers.
"Assuming they don't make this spot the end after we leave again," Shikamaru said, referencing two separate occasions when their parents had done so to emphasize an importance of remembering where you started. "I'd say the Antler Arch would be the safest bet."
"Then let's get going," Ino said with a determined look on her face, starting to move toward the shadowed falls.
"Alright!" Chouji replied with a smile on his face, following the de facto team leader.
"Right behind you," Shikamaru sighed, putting his hands in his pockets as he too started to follow.
The shadowed falls were named such due to the long tunnel of wooden arches that covered the stream leading to the falls. This, combined with the placement of trees behind it meant that the only time that the sun kissed the water was at sunset, and what a pretty sunset it was. It was rumored to have been created by the first Hokage while he was courting his future wife, but those rumors were never confirmed as true. The falls themselves weren't very long either, it only being a four foot drop from top to bottom.
"There!" Ino quietly called, beckoning the other two to look where she was pointing.
Sitting there in the small stream of water pouring from the lip of the falls was the blue ball, the water pouring around it, having been stuck into the mud in the stream to avoid being pushed out. Of course, since it was there, out in the open and looking vulnerable, threw the three proto-Genin on their guard.
"Alright, where's the traps?" Shikamaru asked his two teammates quietly.
"I see a wire up there," Ino answered, pointing high up into the forests canopy where the wire in question gleamed in the sunlight.
"I don't see anything around the orb," Chouji offered, sliding a chip into his mouth and delighting in the crunch in his mouth.
Shikamaru steepled his fingers. "I think Yukako is the one in charge of this ball."
"She doesn't usually use traps though," Ino frowned, folding her arms.
"The wire's a decoy," Shikamaru explained, his brow furrowed. "To get us thinking it's either Takiji or Mitsuhide and catch us unawares. Or we could simply be unable to see the other wires from our angle at it really is Takiji or Mitsuhide, but for some reason, I doubt it."
Yukako, Takiji and Mitsuhide were the team of Genin in charge of keeping guard of the balls.
"I think we should circle the clearing," Ino said with a frown. "See if we can find any other traps."
"I'll follow your lead," Shikamaru made being bored into an art-form.
The three, using the tree-walking technique that only Shikamaru had to be taught in the weeks following the sewer incident, they orbited the shadowed falls, looking for any hint of a trap or perhaps for Nara Yukako, who like all Nara, made approaching shadows a nerve-wracking affair.
They found nothing.
"Definitely Yukako," Chouji surmised, finishing the bag of chips and rolling up the back, stowing it in one of his pockets to trash later.
"Flashlights," Ino said, hand's going into the appropriate seals, a beam of light shining from her hand. Shikamaru and Chouji quickly followed suit, and the three kept their eyes peeled for any shadows that started moving unnaturally. In the forest of Konoha, however, that was a lot of shadows to keep track of.
The Nara, in a way, were grateful that the flashlight jutsu was invented in Konoha. Sure, it made using their jutsu harder to use if the flashlight wielding nin was skilled, but it was property of Konoha and gave them all the time in the world to plan for contingencies in case they had to find someone with a similar source of light on hand. Since it was the Nara doing the planning, that time was well spent.
Ino stepped on the edge of the waterfall, going around the arch. She shined her light inside and found…nothing. No Genin was inside waiting to pounce. Ino frowned, squinting to make sure she didn't miss anything as she crouched down to pick up the ball.
"Hey!" Chouji shouted and Ino jumped away immediately, catching sight of a small strand of shadow that had wrapped its way into the arch and watched as a multitude of strands stretched out from the arch and down the waterfall.
Up on the top of the falls, Chouji was stuck in place, his hands in a rat sign. Shikamaru had leapt onto a tree-trunk, and then further away when a shadow had started to pursue him, only slowed down by Shikamaru's flashlight cutting it off at inopportune times.
Ino was grateful the flashlight worked to dispel the shadows; when they had fought a Nara Jounin, it had only slowed it down and barely at that. Ino jumped into the air and flashed a beam across the shadow keeping Chouji bound, but the shadow was actually strung from two different places, so nothing happened.
Shikamaru jumped from trunk to trunk, making sure to never lose sight of his team like he had been trained to do. He landed on a branch and, starting from Chouji, started to look from where that shadow had come from and…"There!"
He pointed at a tree several feet beyond the shadowed falls, where the thin line of shadows had started. Ino looked at Shikamaru then jumped up the wall away from the shadows, going air-born. "I see her!"
She immediately locked her hands into the Yamanaka's 'window to the soul', a hand-sign developed just for their mind jutsu. Right as her feet touched the ground, she barked out. "Mind Body Switch Technique!"
Immediately, Ino's form collapsed and Chouji was set free. Yukako stepped out from behind the trees with a wave. "Shikamaru, it worked!"
Shikamaru was still apprehensive as he jumped down. "What's the phrase?"
Yukako, like all Nara, had black hair and dark eyes. Her hair, however, was done up in a neat bun and her face, normally in a bored scowl, was now in a very irritated glare. "We didn't pick a phrase this time, remember? You said they'd probably end up guessing them sooner or later."
"Alright it's you," Shikamaru nodded.
"Chouji, you got the rope?" Ino/Yukako turned to the a plump Genin. "We need to tie me up so I can get back to my body."
"Got it here," Chouji took a length of rope and Ino/Yukako assumed to position, allowing herself to be tied like a hog. "Is that tight enough?"
Ino/Yukako strained against the ropes with a slight frown. "Yup. Gimme a second."
Yukako suddenly adopted a shocked and surprised look on her face as Ino stood back up from her spot, rubbing her face. "Wha-how…oh. Great."
"You were too focused on the shadows to hear Ino call out her jutsu," Shikamaru replied with an analytical look.
"Figures," Yukako frowned deeply, testing the ropes. "Great. Well, I thought it was a decent try, at least. I guess I know why sensei kept us out of the Chunin exams until Suna…"
"I wish you guys could've got me before I hit my head," Ino said, rubbing her forehead with a frown. It was undoubtedly going to bruise and that'd be a disaster…she'd have to spend another ten minutes doing her make-up in the morning! She had to dress to impress after all, especially with Senpai…though it was actually unlikely he particularly cared about appearances. It didn't matter, her pride was at stake!
"I was half-way across the clearing," Shikamaru said with a raised eyebrow. "I would've caught you if I could, but you were too fast for me."
"Well, whatever," Ino said, turning around and walking to the arch. "I'm going to go grab the balls. Keep an eye on her for me?"
"Watch out for traps," Chouji called out, his fingers feeling antsy without a bag of chips in hand…it had gotten better over the weeks of training but it still felt odd to not have a bag in his hands constantly.
Ino found the blue ball, carefully checking for traps as she knelt down to grab the ball. The blue core inside a clear, glass-like shell was interesting, and she had wondered like Shikamaru how it was made. Probably some jutsu or whatever. She carefully lifted it up and saw the clear wire that had been tied around it, hidden by the water coursing around it. As delicately as she could, she grasped the wire between her fingers and slowly slid the ball out of its lasso. With a soft breath, she jumped forward, letting the wire go and flipping in the air, landing on her feet at the bottom of the falls and hopping forward again when the water ended up soaking her hair.
It was the right call. A trio of paint canons exploded from inside the arch, two from the sides, one that had been behind her and if she had gotten splattered, she would've been out. As it stood, the paint landed just in front of her, splashing water on her sandals.
"Got it!" Ino called, jumping back up the falls, bouncing the ball in her hand after she landed. "I'm fine, too."
An extra spike of satisfaction was heard when she heard Yukako groan in disappointment.
"I had no idea clones were this awesome," Naruto crowed to his training-mates in training ground three. "So much training! So quickly!"
Before them was a literal mob of Naruto clones. Some had broken off into pairs or trios to practice Taijutsu but for the most part, it was just a giant melee of destruction and war going on in front of everyone, the clones beating each other senseless. Naruto made it a point to create five more clones whenever he felt enough had been popped, adding to the mayhem.
"Yes, I'm very happy for you Naruto," Sakura said with irritation, eyebrow twitching.
Sasuke simply watched the display with a quiet growl, clearly outraged at how unfair it all was. It warmed the cockles of Naruto's cold, prank-loving heart. Naruto knew Daisuke was his best friend, but it was times like this where Daisuke actually showed how much he cared about him. It made him feel good.
"So, how've you guys been doing?" Naruto asked with a smile. Then he noticed Sakura's hands. "Whoa, Sakura! What happened?"
"Oh, I uh…" Sakura raised her hands, bandaged and bloody before sheepishly looking away. "I've been trying to replicate Senpai's chakra enhanced strength since he told me I had the chakra control for it. It…hasn't been going well."
"I'll say," Naruto frowned with concern. "You got an ointment for that, right?"
"Yeah, Mom helped me bandage them up," She smiled at Naruto's concern. It…was nice, in the face of Sasuke's constant aloofness. "Thanks, though."
"You should ask Senpai how to do it properly before you break your hands," Sasuke finally said from his seat on a tree-trunk. "You'd be unable to train, and you'd be useless."
"I was going too," Sakura nodded, at least happy she got him to start talking, but like all things Sasuke said, they were blunt and serious. "But I appreciate the thought, Sasuke-kun."
Sasuke simply shrugged and went back to watching the display of the Naruto mob with his Sharingan eyes. Naruto, at least, was a little annoyed about this, since it literally meant that all his training was going to be copied and assimilated into the Uchiha machine and that made getting above his rival was going to be more difficult.
"Naruto," Sasuke said, only taking his eyes off the mob for a second to look down the road. "Your fangirl is here."
Naruto stopped short, sputtering in disbelief as he processed what was just said to him. "My fangirl?"
"Hyuuga Hinata," Sasuke said, pointing down the road. "Hiding behind the tree over there. She's followed you to Senpai's training sessions for the past few days now. Figured you'd want to know."
"I…I have a fangirl?" Naruto looked both insanely happy and slightly nervous for some reason. "Oh, man! What do I do? What do I say? Do I go talk to her or do I do what Sasuke does and ignore her?"
"I'd go talk to her," Sakura nodded, folding her arms after running fingers through her long pink hair…given how often it was getting in the way, she was going to have to get it cut one of these days...
Sasuke turned slightly to look Naruto square in the eyes. "A Hyuuga might be a valuable training partner. Why don't you ask if she wants to train?"
Naruto blinked. "I…you know, that's actually a good idea! Thanks, Sasuke!"
He simply turned back to the mob with a nod of acknowledgement.
Naruto started to walk toward the tree that Sasuke had pointed toward, his gait filled to the brim with confidence with a smile before it started to falter until he peered around the tree with a slight amount of nervousness. There was Hinata, staring straight into his eyes, her face as red as crimson.
He had always thought Hinata was weird, what with always being really quiet when she had talked to him and only doing so rarely. He had figured she had that weird resentment toward him that the entire village seemed to have on some days, but if she was a fangirl, a girl who admired him and thought she liked him despite not knowing really anything about him, then the nervousness made more sense and was more endearing. Still, he hid his new case of nerves behind the biggest smile he could muster. "Hi, Hinata!"
Hinata's eyes got wide and she started to push her fingers together as she muttered something Naruto couldn't hear.
"…Uh, sorry?" Naruto said, putting a hand behind an eye. "I didn't hear that."
"H-Hi, Naruto," Hinata repeated loud enough for him to hear, somehow getting even redder in the face.
"So, uh…Sasuke noticed you've been hanging around for a while and," Naruto felt kind of dumb now, parroting Sasuke like this, but he wanted to be inclusive even if the idea to be so came from his rival. "We were wondering if you wanted to train with us!"
Hinata was quiet, seeming unable to speak and still pushing her fingers together. Naruto started to feel the nerves get a little bit stronger, like an itch that he couldn't scratch. He hated being inactive and the entire idea that he had a fangirl was ludicrous. Honestly, he now was thinking that Sasuke was just pulling his leg and that Hinata was another one of Sasuke's fangirls.
Hinata said something that couldn't quite be heard. Again.
"Huh?" Naruto asked.
She simply did a large, exaggerated nod instead of replying again.
Oh. Huh, okay. "Great! Sakura and Sasuke are right over there, let's get started!"
Cell 13 wasn't meeting with them today, but this was alright. They were far enough along that they could do some training on their own. This actually made Naruto feel better, since it didn't feel like he relied on Daisuke to just keep breathing anymore, especially since he had learned the shadow clone.
Hinata, for her part, simply followed Naruto back to the training ground, mutely but happy.
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Leylin_Farlier The Previous was a Fanbased Work of Fiction, written by Fulcon. Naruto is owned by Shueisha, Viz Entertainment and Masashi Kishimoto. Please support the Official Release.
État de l’alimentation hebdomadaire
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