My Dark Heart: Chapter 3

A/N: How long has it been? Five months? Whoops. Well, here we go, this is an interlude, only supposed to be a couple hundred words. Lets see how that goes.

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Shiori POV

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Shifting tiredly, I cough quietly into my fist while Kakashi-sensei and I wait in the Jounin lounge at the Hokage tower for the others to show up. And I don't mean my teammates, I mean the other squad leaders. For some reason, Kakashi had actually shown up on time at my house to pick me up, so I was still asleep when my aunt came in to wake me up and tell me that 'that one-eyed teacher of yours is here, darling', to which I ran around my room, getting dressed and brushing my hair at the same time.

Yawning, I sink further into the comfy couch, eyes drifting closed. I hadn't been able to sleep well last night, and only fell asleep about two hours before my aunt knocked on my door at eight-thirty. We were early, and I had to wonder why, but I was too tired and quickly fell into a doze, dreaming. It was dark and confusing, flashes of black and red and orange. Words were whispered into my ears, words of caution and hate, some even incomprehensible. There was a crescendo of falling rain and thunder and screams, a pair of rippled gray eyes appeared before me. Waking with a start when someone touched my arm, I had my hand in a tight grip around the perpetrators wrist and my hand wrapped around their neck before I registered who it was.

"Kakashi-sensei…?" I ask groggily, blinking him into focus.

"Did you get any sleep last night?" He asks, voice sounding slightly strained, and I loosen my grip on him, letting my hands fall down and I push myself up into a sitting position.

"Couldn't sleep," I reply, rubbing my eyes and stretching. "Are they here?"

"Almost. Thought I should wake you up before they got here."

"Thank you, sensei."

As I start to wake up, nervousness begins to creep up my back, sending shivers down my spine. I stretch again and give a few slaps to my cheeks, eyes focused on the door as it began to open. A tall and tanned man with black hair and a beard, and a petite and pale woman next to him, also with black hair, were revealed.

Standing up, I bow and introduce myself.

"Good morning, my name is Yagami-Yamanaka Shiori. It's nice to meet you."

"Hello, I'm Yuuhi Kurenai"

"Sarutobi Asuma."

Looking at them, I smile winningly.

"Don't be fooled," Kakashi interjects, looking up at the ceiling. "Shiori-chan has a smart mouth."

The smile drops from my face and I turn to glare at Kakashi. "There's nothing wrong with wanting a good first impression, sensei."

I sit back down, as do Kurenai and Asuma.

"Where's Guy?" Kakashi asks.

"His training just ended, he should-" Kurenai begins before a green blur enters through the window, landing on the coffee table right in front of me.

Holy crap.

"I, Might Guy, the beautiful green beast of Konoha, has arrived!"

Holy crap.

"Ah, Guy," Kakashi says casually, looking down at his book. "It seems that I've beaten you here."

"Kakashi, my eternal rival!-"

My eye twitches slightly as I tune out the rest of it. Kakashi, you rat bastard…

"Guy, we're here to discuss Shiori-chans' training schedule, not your rivalry with Kakashi." Kurenai cuts in while Asuma lights up a cigarette.

Guy quickly sits down and greets me rambunctiously, and I smile; he seems like a good and well-meaning person.

"The way to do this is fairly simple; Shiori-chan, what do you want to specialize in?" Asuma asks me.

Without hesitating, I respond. "I would like to specialize in taijutsu, genjutsu, kenjutsu, and jutsu that falls within my chakra specializations."

"And what are your specializations, Shiori-chan?" Kurenai asks, intrigued that a genin already knew.

"Earth and water, water as my primary and earth as my secondary."

"I see. And what are your priorities, like what do you want to learn the most?"

"Primarily, I would like to learn elemental jutsu, taijutsu, kenjutsu and genjutsu in that order."

Leaning back, Asuma puffs on his cigarette thoughtfully, brow slightly pinched.

Tapping one finger on her knee, Kurenai spoke. "I believe the most efficient way would be for Shiori-chan to split up her training between four of us in accordance with her priorities. So, taijutsu every morning with Guy and his team until ten o'clock, then genjutsu with me two to three times a week in the late afternoons, depending on how well you progress. We'll need to find a kenjutsu master to rain you later. Then you can learn jutsu four times a week from early to mid-afternoon. Now, Asuma and Kakashi, which of you knows the most water and earth jutsu?"

"I know mainly wind and fire techniques, Kakashi?" Asuma responds, looking at his silver-haired colleague.

"I suppose I've picked up a few over the years…" Kakashi trails off, sounding almost reluctant.

"A few, sensei? You're the infamous copy-cat ninja, I seriously doubt it's only a few." I cut in, raising an eyebrow.

"Shiori-chan, how do you-?"

"I know many things," I say vaguely, gesturing to the air largely with a shit-eating grin on my face. "Just like how I know you're a pervert."

"What-"

"I saw you reading one of Jiraiya-sama's hentai books."

A silence descends upon the five of us.

"Yosh!" Guy-sensei exclaims, standing up and shattering the uncomfortable quiet. "Shiori-chan, meet me and the rest of my team in training ground nine at five thirty tomorrow morning!"

"Yes, sir!" I respond with a two-finger salute. Guy leaves, saying something about needing lunch before going back to training with his team. Kurenai and Asuma also stand up.

"Shiori-chan, meet me in front of training ground eight tomorrow at four thirty for our first session."

"Yes, Kurenai-sensei."

"Meet my team tomorrow at noon tomorrow for our first mission." Said Kakashi carelessly, before leaving.

I take a deep breath before standing up and going home to mentally prepare myself for tomorrow's training.

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The Next Morning

Training Ground Nine

5:12 a.m.

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Shifting my bag higher onto my back, I look around for what feels like the tenth time in the past two minutes. I had another bad dream, so I woke up at four in the morning after going to bed at midnight. I mean, I guess I shouldn't complain as I got more sleep than I normally do, but still. Eight hours of sleep every once in a while would be really, really nice. So, now I'm here in front of the training ground, twenty minutes early.

Ugh, I think to myself, sitting down on the ground and leaning against the chain-link fence to stare at the still-dark sky. My eyes are starting to look really puffy, and my bags are getting really dark. Like, Auntie even mentioned them!

My thoughts continue in this vein for a few more minutes until I hear the approach of footsteps. Looking down the path, I see Guy and… a mini-Guy running towards me at a rapid pace. I consider moving, so as to not get trampled, but then they're right in front of me.

"Good morning." I greet them from my position on the ground, looking up at them.

"Good morning, Shiori-chan! This is my youthful student, Rock Lee!" Guy greets me in his boisterous voice.

"Yosh! Good morning, Shiori-chan! It is nice to meet you and I look forward to training with you!" say Lee, reminding me so heavily of the muscular man right next to him.

Standing up, I sigh at the enormous height-difference between me and Lee. I lean back against the chain-link fence and yawn, watching Lee and Guy-sensei interacting.

This is kinda cute… weird, I guess, but cute.

Within the next couple minutes, another boy joins us, and he is definitely from the Hyuuga clan, judging from his incredibly pale eyes and skin, along with his dark hair. I smile and wave at him, offering a 'hello', and he just glares at me. I glare right back.

Jeez, I was just trying to be friendly.

Soon enough, the last member of Team Nine walked up. "Good morning, everyone!" she greets and smiles.

Oh no, she's cute. Be still, my beating heart.

"Morning!" I respond.

"Alright!" Guy exclaims "Neji-kun, Tenten-chan, this is Shiori-chan, and she'll be training with us in the mornings from now on! Let's start with our warm up exercise of fifty laps around the field. Lee-kun, I expect you to do one hundred!"

"Yosh!"

Warm up… exercise? What did I sign up for?

Entering the training ground, I put my bag down near the gate with Tentens' and started at a fast jog before speeding up halfway around the field. I was feeling fine for the first thirty laps or so, but when we started getting above thirty, I started slowing down and all of the others passed me. When Neji passed by me again, I heard a scoff and could just about hear him making fun of me. This filled me with an entirely new fire and I started speeding up, catching up with him, then passing him in a rush of determined fury.

I'll beat you… I'll show you…

I was soon passing him again, breathing heavy and legs hurting him, but I wouldn't give up. I sped up even more, and I soon passed by Lee and Guy. I was quickly done with my fifty laps, but I wouldn't stop.

I'll show all of you…

I was now running side by side with Lee and Guy, who both looked surprised but were soon grinning.

"Yosh!" They started to speed up, and I did too.

I'm the toughest bitch around…

My breathing was sharp and heavy and I felt like I was about to pass out, and I could feel buckets of sweat pouring down my face and back, but my fury of being dissed was still burning strong within me and kept me going.

I won't give up… I'll never give up…

It was on the seventieth lap that Guy-sensei started to look worried, but I ignored him and kept pace, barely faltering when the stitch in my side grew ever more painful.

I always accept challenges, vocalized or not!

We finish and I put my hands on my knees, breathing heavily before hurrying to the side, collapsing onto my hands and knees and throwing up my breakfast. Standing up shakily, I wipe my mouth grimly and rejoin the others.

"Shiori-chan, are you okay?" Guy-sensei was immediately in my face, concerned.

"I'm… I'm fine." I pant out, wiping my face and pushing my bangs out of my eyes

"No, you're not. You pushed yourself too hard."

"Then I'll be fine… soon."

No I won't.

"Shiori-chan, why did you push yourself so hard?"

"Because," I pant out, looking into his eyes and pointing at Neji. "I wanted to prove him wrong. He thought I was weak- he didn't say it, but he thought it and I felt it, so I proved him wrong by not only finishing my fifty laps before him, but then doing fifty more to shove it into his goddamn pompous face," Now I'm looking right into Neji's angry eyes "that he was fucking wrong."

"Watch your mouth!" Guy says. "You're too young to have that kind of mouth, and you shouldn't take about your teammate like that, even if they're only temporary."

"Sir," I say, "I'm almost fourteen."

"What?!"

This not only came from Guy-sensei, but also the others.

"I'm short and I'm almost fourteen. What of it?"

Say something, I fucking dare you. I'll kick your ass seven ways to Sunday.

I soon realize that I won't be able to follow that threat through when another bought of nausea almost send me back to my knees.

Clearing his throat, the taijutsu master continued.

"Regardless, as punishment for today, for the next two weeks you will be running fifty laps every day, and you will work on your flexibility and muscle strength, as well."

"Yes, Guy-sensei."

As they walk away, I begin to stretch my legs and arms, breathing slowly going back to normal. While I started doing push-ups, I watched the others go through some really intense muscle training, then begin to spar, with Guy-sensei shouting encouragement and advice.

"Keep your hands up, Tenten!"

"Really put yourself into that punch, Lee!"

"Neji, keep your legs bent!"

They sparred, and I stretched and watched. I learned a little bit, too, at least what the proper form looks like when Guy stopped to demonstrate a few new moves.

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That Afternoon

Training Ground Seven

12:30 p.m.

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After a quick lunch, I arrive at Training Ground Seven right on time for the afternoon session with Team Seven. I plop down next to Naruto and take a swig of my water before saying hello.

"Hey, Shiori-chan, where were you this morning?" Naruto asks me

"Training with Guy-sensei. And Kakashi-sensei actually showed up on time?"

"He was a few minutes late, but it was a lot better than yesterday, dattebayo."

"So, why were you training with a different sensei?" asked Sakura, grudgingly curious.

"I'm sort of an anomaly, as I came into the Academy late, but with the experience of a genin who's been out of the Academy for a while, and because I'm a bit older than you. Also because me being here made the class number indivisible by three, so the Hokage decided that I would just kinda bounce around the different teams, depending on my specializations."

"What are your specializations?" Naruto asked me, and Sasuke looked on in interest.

"Well, taijutsu, elemental jutsu, kenjutsu, and genjutsu. I can't start kenjutsu just yet, as we haven't found a master to train me." I pouted slightly at this, as my mother had given me a broadsword from her family before she left. It was still in a storage scroll somewhere in my room.

"So, what's this Guy-sensei training you in?" Sasuke asks, an envious glint in his eyes.

"Taijutsu, but I sorta messed up."

"How, dattebayo?"

"Well, the warm-up was to run fifty laps around the field perimeter, and I was doing fine but I started to slow down. This total butt passed me and scoffed, you know, all snooty like. So, I sped up and passed by him and finished before he did, but I didn't stop and kept up with this taijutsu prodigy on his one hundred laps around the field and ran with him-"

"You ran one hundred laps?!" Naruto and Sakura ask in amazement.

"Yes, and I regret it a lot." I rub my legs thoughtfully. "I threw up afterwards and Guy-sensei punished me. Now, for the next two weeks, all I can do doing my training with him is run fifty laps, stretch, and do muscle training. Guy-sensei said he would give me some to do on alternating days, though."

"You have to run fifty laps every day, then you only get to stretch and weight train for the next two weeks? That sucks." Naruto said, feeling for me.

"Ho, yeah." I reply, taking another sip of my water. "But after two weeks, he said I'll spar with someone so he can figure out the best styles for me, so I'm basically just getting all the boring stuff out of the way so my body will be more ready for taijutsu. I was thinking about asking him for those weights that you wear on your legs and arms for some additional weight training."

"Ne, ne, Shiori-chan, are you a masochist?"

Looking up, I see Kakashi on a tree branch above us.

"Yo." He greets the others with a peace sign.

"Oh, yeah," I say sarcastically. "I'm definitely a glutton for punishment. Mmmh. I love it so much."

"Now, it's only your fault for all of this, you know?"

"Eat my entire ass, sensei."

"That's a little inappropriate, don't you think, Shiori-chan?"

A make a face and scrunch my chin against my neck. "What the hell, you douche-"

"Language, there's children here."

"True. Precious little twelve year olds shouldn't hear my nasty potty mouth, isn't that right, ickle Sasu-chan?" I croon in a baby voice to Sasuke, leaning onto him. He pushes me away grumpily, causing me to cackle.

"Well, you four!" Kakashi says brightly. "Who's ready for your first mission?"

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Three Weeks Later

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