This - as stated in the summary - is a companion piece to Silver Streams. Things included will be things I remove, think doesn't fit in the flow, or stuff I just wanna have fun with!

This one is the training scene I mention in chapter four. You also - well I wouldn't say meet - but obtain knowledge of another 'pet' of Ai's.

I don't own Naruto!

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Silver Slivers

Ai had just finished her stretches when Iruka walked in. "Care to join us?" Hayate offered. "You can put Ai through her paces."

She gave him a sour look. "Are you saying you don't put me through my paces?"

"It's good to change opponents now and again. Keep you learning different tactics."

"Sure, I can help," Iruka complied, doing his own stretches. "You learn that Transformation Jutsu yet?"

"Please," Ai scowled, "I'm perfect the way I look now." He laughed.

"I'm not saying you aren't, but it's an important skill for ninja to –"

"Ah, but you're forgetting I'm not one of those.

"You may recall that I have been restricted on what I can and can't teach Ai." Hayate imputed from where he was settling on the sideline.

"Right," Iruka murmured.

"Plus, I might blow the roof off the building if I tried."

"You give yourself too little credit. Your control is better than that." Ai shrugged, not fully believing that.

Iruka didn't give her any warning before he attacked, hurling his arm forward, flinging out a kunai. Ai brought her arm up, sweeping it in an arc, the kunai clanged as it was deflected off her hidden Tsukikage. She adjusted her grip on it before tossing it high into the air. Ai could see the soaring sword's path, but Iruka wouldn't be able to. She charged him engaging him in taijutsu briefly before hitting the ground in a roll to get behind him. As he turned, Ai held out and closed both hands as if gripping a sword.

She pushed off the floor, keeping low and aiming for Iruka's legs. He effortlessly jumped over the swing of both her hands. One of them empty, but the other clutching the sharp Moon Shadow. He landed and she brought both her hands up in a swing. She felt a pulse of chakra wash over her. Iruka let her right hand swing past him, inserting a kunai between him and her left though. Tsukikage was stopped mid swing.

"You've got some fancy hand-work there. An invisible blade and keeping your opponent guessing which hand it's in is a good idea." He grinned at her, not even strained as she tried to push her sword forward. "But a hidden blade won't work on me." Ai felt the wave of chakra pulse again. "I know exactly where it is."

Ai pushed away from him as he swung up his other hand, which held another kunai in it. She continued to backpedal and Iruka let her, this wasn't a fight she'd realistically win, Iruka was more than happy to let it be the training session it was for her and figure out how to apply different strategies. Stopping a fair distance away, she studied him.

That chakra pulse let him see her hidden sword, which reasoned that he was using it as a form of echolocation. They blade may be invisible, but it was still there, his chakra rebounded and told him so. Her sneaky slights-of-hand weren't going to work here. So then, what was?

"Besides blowing him up," she thought deadpan.

"Any day now, Ai." He grinned at her.

"I'm thinking!" she defended. Ai shot a look at Abel being a lazy cow by Hayate's side. "A little help," she hissed. The metal cat lifted its head and rattled.

"I thought you didn't want me fighting him." Came the impression in her mind.

"When did I ever say that?" Iruka raised an eyebrow and glanced at Hayate. Her words were soon followed by another rattle and another impression. This one didn't come as words, but as a flash of Iruka smiling and warmth blooming in her chest. Ai felt heat rush to her face and she just knew she had turned red.

"That is not the case! I do not have a –" she cut herself off before the words finished. She did not have a crush on Iruka. Abel shook his tail in disagreement. "It was months ago!" She finally burst out and Abel shivered in "self-righteousness," she hissed mentally over his implied feeling. The skeletal cat got up and shook itself anyway, she could feel his amusement rolling in waves, and charged Iruka.

The ninja dodged Abel's swipes, meant more to trip him up than do actual harm. This gave Ai the distraction she wanted and she moved in as well, aiming for his back. Ai felt another pulse of chakra from Iruka hit her. He knew she was coming now and with a twist her blade passed over his head as Abel swipe missed his feet.

This time Iruka backed up, dancing a dozen feet up the wall to put both Abel and her in front of him. "You do work better as a tag team, don't you?"

"That's cheating!" She called. Iruka only smiled at her indignation.

He crouched and pushed off with chakra, turning in mid-air to whip a kunai at her. Ai felt her forearms burn as the seals there tried to activate themselves. "No," she thought forcefully. "Not Seth." He would have no qualms about going at Iruka to kill. She forced her chakra away, but it wasted the precious little time she had to raise her sword.

Abel clattered his warning. He was too far to deflect it for her. She started to push herself aside, but this one was going to hit and the look she caught on Hayate's face said he knew it too.

A pressure explosion rocked her from her feet and sent the kunai spiraling away. It hit the ground and shattered into a few pieces, having turned brittle from the intense flash of heat it suffered.

"Ai, are you all right?" Hayate was by her side, helping her sit up. Abel kept nudging her back and arm his worry almost overpowering. Iruka approached as well, his concern etched on his face.

"I'm so sorry Ai." He apologized. "I thought you were going to deflect it."

"I'm fine," she groaned, getting her legs under her and rubbing her left forearm.

"What happened?" Hayate asked.

"I panicked," she said, noting Hayate's sharp eyes picking up on her massaging at her arm. His eyes narrowed and darted up to meet her eyes. She shrugged a little. "Wanted to come out and play," she said quietly. Iruka would have still heard her, but he wouldn't know what she meant. Only Hayate knew about Seth and he hadn't been happy when he'd come home and found a new metal pet snake.

He had secretly taught her the premise of a sealing scroll, which they inked onto her forearms and sealed him in there. Seth was aggressive, frighteningly so it turned out, which forced them to hide him away.

The seal wasn't permanent, neither of them liked the idea of tattooing it on, so she made sure to maintain the ink, but because he was so intrinsically bound to her she could still feel him in whatever space he was in and sometimes he fought to be let out to defend her. Her took her defense a little too defensively and interpreted a lot of things as an attack.

Hayate sighed, and helped haul her to her feet. "I think that's enough excitement for the day."

"Sorry I blew things out of proportion," she told both Hayate and Iruka.

The latter smiled and apologized again. "I feel like I'm the one that should be sorry." While Hayate shook his head, hands massaging into her shoulders with a little too much shaking involved in payment for her horrible joke.