Hello, my fellow fanfictioners! Here's my chapter two!

I apologize immensely for not being faster with my update. I had been able to work on a great deal of this chapter back in October right before an anime convention. Then, when I got back from the convention, I was overwhelmed by my two jobs. Then, plenty of things happened from then to now. Since I have more free time now, I'm currently trying to do more things in my life: working on fanfic chapters being one of those things. I can't make any promises for how fast the next update will come, but just know I am doing my best to make progress. For those of you who decide to read and even favorite this story, I am incredibly grateful for your support. I promise I'll try to please you guys.

Now, with all of that drama out of the way, let's move on to chapter two for Sparks Among Kunai.

Disclaimer: Naruto and the characters belong to Masashi Kishimoto. All OC characters in this chapter belong to me.

Kiyoshi let out a calm breath as he listened to the rustling sound of his new students moving through the trees. He had decided that in order to gauge their current skill levels, he would have them try to attack him. With his experience, he wouldn't get carelessly harmed, of course; he just wanted to know what he had to work with.

After some time, he looked back at where he assumed they were hiding. With a small smile, he thought, 'Well, they're certainly cautious girls. That's a nice change of pace, considering Hitoshi always wants to get to the point. Still, who will make the first strike?'

After hearing a snapping of twigs, he turned his gaze to another section of the woods. Kiyoshi kept his gaze on this spot, willing one of the girls to try and attack him. He guessed one of two things would happen if he did this. One, the shinobi in hiding would keep their cool and stay still until he looked away. Or two…

Like Kiyoshi expected, one of the girls ran out, succumbing to the anxiety of him discovering her. He realized it was Yukino who ran out. 'So, an issue of nerves for her then…'

Yukino let out a small yell as she ran towards him, kunai in hand. However, Kiyoshi easily blocked her with one of his own knives and allowed the girl to slip right past him. Quickly, she turned back around to strike again. This time, he decided to defend more forcefully, forcing his weapon against hers and overpowering her so she lost her weapon. Yukino gasped and looked back at him in surprise.

"Not bad, Yukino, not bad," Kiyoshi said kindly. "But you have to remain vigilant; reveal yourself to an enemy too soon, and you may end up in a bad spot."

A sudden sound of something whizzing through the air came to his attention, and Kiyoshi used his kunai to block the shuriken thrown his way. Turning, he saw Kizumi in the air, descending after having jumped off of her perch. Smiling he said, "Smart, Kizumi. Attacking while my attention was focused on Yukino."

"Well, it's pretty basic knowledge, sensei," Kizumi replied as she landed with a tiny smile, pleased with the compliment.

"True," Kiyoshi acknowledged with a nod. "You haven't really tried any physical attacks against me, though."

Kizumi stared back, surprised he would comment on that, before saying, "Well, my old sensei always said as a medic, I need to stay in the back of group attacks…"

"I see…" Kiyoshi considered her words as well as hers and Yukino's efforts in this moment of training. Finally, after a moment, he said, "Well, I think I know what we need to work on now. Let's head back to the lake."

"Yes, sensei," Kizumi said while Yukino nodded mutely, looking a little depressed.

The three of them made it back to the lake where Hitoshi was waiting, picking at grass blades with a bored look on his face. Once the three of them came back, he immediately perked up and said, "So, Sensei, you guys are done? I thought we were all training."

Kiyoshi chuckled and responded, "Don't worry; you'll get your chance, Kiddo. Just relax a little bit longer."

Hitoshi sighed, and Kiyoshi turned back to Kizumi and Yukino. "Now, as for you two, it seems that in general, we need to work on your close combat. Kizumi, you said you've learned medical ninjutsu, correct? Has your old teacher ever taught you how to use it offensively?"

Kizumi shook her head quietly and said, "No, I've always focused more on healing my teammates."

"Well, I guess it's better for you to hone your skills in one area at a time. Still, this is something you should consider." He then turned his gaze towards Yukino, who immediately froze up at his gaze. "As for you, Yukino, you seem pretty eager to strike, either from distance or up close. However, your problem is you tend to get anxious and act a little too quickly."

Yukino looked away sadly, and Kiyoshi approached her with a kind smile. "Quick action isn't a bad thing, Yukino; sometimes it can really throw your enemy off. Just remember patience can be just as good. Also…"

He grabbed the young girl's arm, causing her to gasp. "I've noticed in some of your strikes, your limbs shake, either from fear or physical strain. Remember, sometimes the best way to train is to pace yourself. Try not to work yourself too hard."

"Y-Yes, Sensei…." Yukino mumbled quietly. Sighing, Kiyoshi ran a hand through her brown locks that barely reached her shoulders. Smiling, he said, "Don't worry, you'll get used to things around here."

Kiyoshi then turned to Hitoshi and said, "Hey, Kiddo. You want to show these ladies what you can do?"

"Finally! Let's do this!" Hitoshi jumped up from his spot on the ground and dusted the dirt off of his shorts.

"Alright girls, stand back," Kiyoshi advised his newest students. "And watch carefully. I want you two to learn how to do close combat like we're about to do here."

Kizumi and Yukino obeyed and backed up as the two boys got into battle positions. A moment of silence passed. Then, with a nod from Kiyoshi, Hitoshi ran towards his teacher, fists ready. Kiyoshi worked on dodging his student's punches and kicks, taking note on his increase in speed. 'Hitoshi's getting better. Perhaps I should have him teach these girls a little something later.'

In the middle of their sparring, he glanced over at the two girls, each of them mesmerized by their movements. Chuckling, he said, "Impressed, girls?"

"Y-Yeah," Kizumi mumbled as Yukino nodded. "Both of your movements are so quick."

"Well, we've had plenty of years to work with each other," Kiyoshi said in the middle of side-stepping Hitoshi's strikes. As the younger of the two went down, Kiyoshi caught the glint of the kunai he was pulling out to retaliate and pulled out his own to block it. Through their practicing, the older man continued to speak.

"Hitoshi's main strength is hand-to-hand, although he has been working on long-range attacks." Another side-step. "There are a few things he needs help with, though. For example…" As Hitoshi lunged, Kiyoshi suddenly kicked him at his side, causing the younger to stumble. "Sometimes, he'll be so focused on strikes he'll miss out on covering his weak spots." Hitoshi quickly recovered from the strike and came back to hit Kiyoshi. "Also, he does like striking fast, and while that can help sometimes…" After a duck, he blocked his student's kunai again. "… it means he doesn't use much time to plan if he's flustered. However, there is one huge flaw in his combat. If the fight goes for too long, then his moves eventually fall into a pattern. So, for instance, something like this…" As Hitoshi came for another punch, Kiyoshi suddenly dropped his weapon, glided to his side, grabbed his arm, and twisted it behind him, causing Hitoshi to gasp out in discomfort and drop his kunai. "… could happen, leaving him at the mercy of the enemy."

Both Kizumi and Yukino looked back in awe, surprised with how quickly Kiyoshi put Hitoshi in this hold. While Hitoshi asked to be let go over and over, Kiyoshi said, "So, whenever we go out as a team, I imagine we'd be at our strongest with you girls covering Hitoshi's back as he handles things up close."

"Yes, that does seem logical," Kizumi said with thought. "But, we'll be working on other things, right?"

"Of course. I need all of my students to be well-rounded in their skills."

"HEY! Can you let me go now?!" Hitoshi shouted, not really happy with being in this uncomfortable position.

"Oh, right, sorry Kiddo," Kiyoshi said with a chuckle before letting his arm go. Hitoshi sighed and stretched out his sore arm.

"Man, you can be so rough sometimes…"

Yukino looked towards her new teammate with concern and asked, "A-Are you okay, Hitoshi?"

Hitoshi looked back at her for a moment. Feeling a little awkward with the stare he was getting, he looked away and said, "Oh, yeah. I'm used to this sort of training."

"Oh, o-okay then…"

Kiyoshi cleared his throat, getting the attention of all of his students. "So, now that I've had time to see how you all work, why don't we spend the rest of our time today training in our taijutsu?"

"Yes, Sensei," everyone chorused. Before they could get started, though, Kizumi asked, "Wait, don't you want to see our experience with other styles? Like ninjutsu or genjutsu?"

The older man chuckled lightly before responding, "Don't worry, Kizumi. We'll get to that in due time, I assure you. Let's just focus on one thing at a time, okay?"

Kizumi frowned a little bit at her teacher, but she decided to just trust him and nodded. Kiyoshi took note of her demeanor and thought, 'She seems like one of those shinobi who likes making sure she gets evaluated quickly. Either that, or she's still trying to get a feel for being a Konoha shinobi. Hopefully, she can loosen up over the next few days.'

Deciding to tuck these thoughts away for another time, Kiyoshi then set some exercises for his students, and their day of training commenced.

'Man, what a day…'

Kizumi rubbed at her sore arms as she walked back to her new apartment. After she and Yukino had demonstrated their taijutsu capabilities and their extent of weapon handling, Kiyoshi had asked the girls to do several exercises ranging from target practice to pull-ups, how to hold a kunai to running laps around the training zone, and everything in between. Kizumi herself felt like the exercises were pointless and that they should've been demonstrating their other abilities for their new sensei. Hitoshi must've shared her sentiments as well, since during their training, he would frequently ask when they could have another mock battle. Then again, as a boy, he may have just wanted to fight someone. From what she could recall from the Mist Village, most boys were always looking to beat something senseless. As for Yukino…

Kizumi sighed; she wasn't really sure what to make of the young girl yet. She was very quiet, and if her panting during practicing said anything, she didn't have a lot of endurance. Honestly, Kizumi was surprised that she wanted to be a shinobi. Just how would she act out in the field?

'I guess only time will tell,' Kizumi thought. She resumed taking in the sights as she walked, already making markers so she'd know how to make her way through the village. In the middle of her walking, she heard a voice from behind say, "Excuse me, please."

"Oh, absolu-" Kizumi paused as she looked at the person only to see a pair of legs, wrapped in orange leg warmers. Looking down, she saw a boy around her age in a green jumpsuit, walking on his hands. She spent a moment taking in this strange sight before asking, "Um, what are you doing, exactly?"

"Laps," was the simple reply she got as he continued to stroll. "Since I failed my personal challenge today, I must do the laps on my hands."

At first, Kizumi couldn't really think of a good reaction to make of this. She had never seen a shinobi in her old village train in such a bizarre way before, and when she had first woken up in Konoha's hospital weeks ago, she had told herself not to worry about making any new friends until she got settled. However, the curious side of her sort of wanted to know what would compel someone to walk around on their hands. So, walking alongside the strange ninja, Kizumi said, "I see… And what was this personal challenge of yours?"

"Simple." The boy let out a slight grunt before continuing, "If I failed to finish 800 pull-ups in my last hour of training, I'd do 50 laps around the Leaf Village on my hands. Otherwise, I would've done my laps regularly."

"Oh…" Kizumi gave him a confused look as she thought, 'He would've still been making the laps regardless. I'm not sure I see the appeal in the challenge if he doesn't really get a real reward for succeeding.'

"I'm afraid I don't recognize you," the boy said after a moment, breaking into her thoughts. "Forgive me for asking, Miss, but are you new in Konoha?"

"Oh, yeah. I just transferred and became a shinobi for the Hidden Leaf Village today."

"Oh! Where are my manners?" With a sudden amount of energy, the boy flipped over, getting back onto his feet and standing up straight. Kizumi jumped slightly as he righted himself, and now that he was standing, she could see his face. The shinobi had dark hair in the style of a bowl cut and matching dark eyes that seemed pretty big to her, thanks in part to the massive, bushy eyebrows. With a beaming smile, he said, "Welcome to the Leaf Village, Konoha! My name is Rock Lee! May I ask for yours?"

Kizumi blinked a little bit at this odd greeting. Realizing he was just trying to be friendly, Kizumi responded, "Oh, I'm Kizumi. Kizumi Karasu."

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Kizumi!" Lee said happily. "I hope you enjoy living here."

"Um, thanks…"

"Anyways, I must finish my laps." Quickly, Lee flipped back onto his hands and lifted his body into a handstand. "I hope to see you around some other time."

With that, he walked off. Kizumi stared after him for a bit, trying to process what had just occurred. 'I wonder if there are other oddballs like that in Konoha… Well, if nothing else, my time here will definitely be interesting…'

With that, Kizumi went home to get herself settled and to prepare for tomorrow's training with her new team.

And with that, day one of the story has been finished.

Now, with me bringing Rock Lee into the story, I shall bring this up this question that some readers might have. Will there be CanonxOC romance in this story? To that, I'd answer... ye... n... Maybe. In making this fanfiction, I want to just focus on the OC characters' adventures, so the canon events of the franchise won't come into play much. Therefore, I'm not sure how often I can have canon characters in the fanfic and have a plausible romance happen. In any case, if I do have a CanonXOC romance, it'll only happen once, and even then, it's not going to be the main focus.

Anyways, that's the end of the chapter. Thank you all for reading, and have a wonderful day.