CHAPTER 2

The following day Misaki was on her way to the training grounds when she noticed a familiar silhouette sitting on the floor and surrounded by a pack a dogs. In his hand was a light orange book, an erotic novel his former sensei wrote while travelling around different lands with Naruto.

"Everyone is training hard and working on rebuilding the village after Pain's attack and yet you're sitting here and reading one of Pervy's books, Kakashi?"

At the sound of her voice Kakashi froze, and after realising there was no way out of it, he slowly turned towards her. "Eh-he, hey Misa-chan! There you are… I thought you'd be coming this way so maybe you and me could train?" He said in a tone he tended to use when either in trouble or trying to light the mood like when he wanted to reassure his students if they were in a difficult situation.

"Ha! Unlucky for you I am on my way to train and I need a training partner, so move your lazy ass and come with me." She ordered.

Kakashi stood up and followed after her scratching the back of his neck. Pakkun and the rest of the ninja dogs stood on their comfy positions with a smirk on their faces. One of them even made a whipping sound.

"Lucky me… so, what kind of training do you have in mind?" Kakashi asked.

"I'm meeting Yamato on training ground 3 and I was thinking on working on my ninjutsu with him since he's a water and earth type user. That would work with my fire style which is weaker against water."

"Ah, you are a fire type. I wasn't sure if you were lighting like me because you're lighting technique is so strong." Kakashi said as he fell into step with her.

Misaki nodded. "Jiraiya sensei confirmed it with the paper test. He thought I was good at fire techniques because of my training with the Uchiha boys. But it turned out it's my innate affinity."

"I see. You couldn't have got better teachers than Shisui and Itachi and then even Jiraiya. All three skilled fire type users."

"Mm-hm." She muttered looking away. The sense of dread reached Kakashi who instantly realised he had mentioned three of the persons closest to Misaki. All of them now dead.

Kakashi place his left arm around Misaki's stiff shoulders and brought her body close to him. He placed a kiss on her temple and her body began to relax against his. "I'm sorry." He whispered close to her hear. She didn't answer and only shook her head from side to side.

Hearing the sounds of steps to their right, they both turned to find Yamato arriving the the meeting point at the same time as they did.

"Misaki-chan, Kakashi senpai. I hope I'm not interrupting anything, am I?" Yamato asked seeing the unusual display of affection between them two.

Embarrassed, Kakashi removed his arm from her shoulders at the same time Misaki took a step away from him. The scene in front of him just made Yamato even more uncomfortable.

"Yamato, stop calling me senpai, I'm not your superior anymore and Misaki is not a little girl anymore so I'd appreciate if you wouldn't call her Misaki-chan either." Kakashi complained.

"You'll always be my senpai, Kakashi, even if we're not on ANBU and we're on the same rank now. And Misaki will always be five years younger than me so I think it's fine if I still use that honorific, isn't it, Misaki-chan?" Yamato answered Kakashi with a smile, who rolled his eyes.

"Yamato senpai! Thanks for coming. I fetched Kakashi on the way so it'll be the three of us. You and Kakashi against me, what do you think?" Misaki asked.

"Hmm" another voiced muttered. They all turned to find Shikamaru and Chouji leaning against a tree and watching them. "Two former ANBU against Misaki sensei." He added.

"Whoa! Isn't that too much to handle, Shikamaru?" Chouji asked him.

"Misaki-chan also worked in the ANBU with me on a couple of missions. She knows the tactics and formations as well." Yamato added.

"Yeah. It's hard to say Chouji." Shikamaru answered Chouji's earlier question. "I'm aware of Kakashi sensei and Captain Yamato's skills but can't say I know all of Misaki sensei's.

"Then let's find out. Shall we?" Misaki said while winking at Shikamaru and catching him off guard.

"Yeah, there's only one way to find out." He said looking bored but with slightly pink cheeks.

"Kakashi, Yamato senpai, it would be rude if you hold back, so please don't." She told them walking away and taking a fighting stance.

Yamato and Kakashi glanced at each other before walking in opposite directions and forming a triangle in relation to Misaki's position. Shikamaru moved a few trees into the forest and jumped to one of the higher branches from where he could see the fight. Chouji followed after him.

The atmosphere around them changed. They stood in those positions for long moments without moving a hair. The wind around them stopped while the birds in the nearby trees sensed the pressure and took fly.

Experience shinobi know the best attack is the counter attack since it can be a quicker and more effective move. They all knew that. Unless...

Yamato began by throwing a set of kunai to distract her while Kakashi quickly made the signs to crack the earth under Misaki to throw her off balance. When she started to adjust her body weight Yamato joined both his palms together, a sign of an incoming Wood style jutsu, she noted.

"Wood style: smothering binding technique!" Yamato's arm transformed into multiple tree branches which quickly moved to trap her. However, she made hand signs so quickly that Kakashi barely registered it before a giant fireball was sent to burn Yamato's attack. The power of the attack was greater than expected and after erasing the wooden spears it continued going forward.

Knowing that it was too late to avoid, Yamato counter attacked with a water wall jutsu. When the fire reached the water it seemed to stop for a second before pushing forwards.

"W-What? Her fire jutsu is overpowering my water one!?" Yamato said shocked. Just as he was about to move back, Kakashi moved to his side and applied the same water jutsu against Misaki's fireball. The fireball managed to push forward for a few more seconds before it died as it was engulfed on the water barrier.

"It's just like Sasuke's. Only if there are two strong water style users then they can take out their fire jutsu." Kakashi explained as Yamato looked with wide eyes.

"Tsk. It took three water style users to fight against Shisui. I still have long to go." She said.

"Then let's work on it." Kakashi said as he lifted the forehead protector off his left eye to reveal his Sharingan. Misaki smirked at that a moment before she appeared before Kakashi with her arm raised and ready to strike.

Kakashi kicked off and opened the gap between them. His Sharingan registered the movement half a second later than he was used to but he quickly blocked the following strike and tried to hit her with his other arm. Misaki used her body flicker technique to move away from his line of attack but anticipating her movements, Kakashi was ready for his second movement. Using his kunai he aimed for her but Misaki had already withdrawn her katana. There were sparks as steel clashed against steel. For a few seconds their movements were so quick that as the other shinobi watched they were only able to see a blur of movements and the sounds of the metal weapons.

After exchanging punches and kicks blow-for-blow, Kakashi managed to land a hit on her which sent her rolling backwards before she controlled the movement by placing her right hand and knee on the ground to stop herself. She stood up, calming her rapid breathing by letting a long sight and gathering her chakra.

"I'm using my Sharingan, Misaki. You should use your best weapon against me. Otherwise, it would be rude of you." Kakashi told her. Noticing the questioning in Yamato's face, he turned to look at him. "Her speed. You need to help me in taking that out of the question."

"But with your Sharingan you're able to see through her movements just as you've just been doing, won't you, senpai?" Yamato asked.

"No. She wasn't using her maximum speed. I think that when she does I won't be able to counter attack even if I can see the movements. It was the same with Minato sensei." Kakashi explained. "Now, get ready."

Misaki resumed her attack with increased speed and after three movements she was able to strike Kakashi's kunai with a twist of her left hand that sent it flying away. When she made an attempt to swing her katana again, Kakashi grabbed her wrist with his right hand and then applied a lighting technique that run through her whole body that made her unable to move. However, he knew it wouldn't hold her for long. "Yamato, now!"

Yamato was already in position, his hands placed on the ground. Branches of wood raised from Misaki's feet and rapidly grew around her, immobilising her. "Smothering Binding technique complete!" Yamato announced.

"You can't use your flicker technique as long as someone or something has a hold on you, right? So we won." Kakashi said.

"That's true but I'm not surprise you know my weak spots, Kakashi." She answered as she tried to break free from the restrains but they didn't move an inch. "But don't think this is over so quickly." She added closing her eyes. Chakra started flowing around her and then it started changing colour, from the usual blue to red before turning into flames that covered her body as a cloak. Releasing a blast of her chakra the flames Yamato's binding were blown away.

Both Kakashi and Yamato jumped back to avoid being hit by the blast, they had similar shocked expressions in their faces. "W-What, h-how…" Yamato murmured while Kakashi narrowed his Sharingan on Misaki, his Sharingan could barely see her chakra flow. The fire cloak started dispersing and then Misaki feel on her knees with her head bowed. Before her head hit the ground, Kakashi kneeled next to her and caught her.

"Chouji! Do you have one of your energy pills? Misaki's gone overboard with her chakra!" Kakashi yelled without taking his eyes of Misaki's face. Her eyes were half closed and had lost all of their usual spark. At every second that passed, Kakashi could feel her life slipping away. Chouji quickly moved to his side and handed him one of those pills.

Kakashi placed the pill on her mouth and then took the water container from his pouch. He poured a little bit of water and closed her mouth. "Damn it, Misaki! Just swallowed the pill already." He complained when Misaki didn't move. Her lifeless eyes slowly turned towards him at the sound of his voice and slightly widened when they saw Kakashi's worried expression. At that moment, she gulped and finally chugged the contents in her mouth before closing her eyes.

"What just happened, Shikamaru?" Chouji asked his childhood friend.

"I believe Misaki overused her chakra in that last jutsu to the point of endangering her own life. What I don't understand is why she did that, knowing that her life was on the line. We learn from very young to always keep tabs on our chakra levels, because going overboard means death. Is she going to be alright, Kakashi sensei?" Shikamaru asked after answering Chouji's question.

Kakashi had placed a hand over Misaki's chest to feel her heartbeat while using his Sharingan to observe the chakra flow within her. "Yes, the energy pill is starting to work, her heart is beating steadily now and her chakra is replenishing. This hasn't been the first time it's happened.

One of Misaki's weakness was her own lack of chakra control on her reserves. In the last couple of years she has improved on keeping tabs on her chakra levels, but when using certain jutsu like the last one, which it must be a new one she's developed recently, she tends to use a lot more chakra than intended and hence, going over her limit. And as she gets stronger, the problem seems to intensify." He explained.

"That's so troublesome. But as powerful as that last jutsu was, she didn't use that much chakra. You've been fighting for what, about five minutes?" Shikamaru questioned.

"I noticed that as well, she has more chakra than me and I still have half of mine left. Unless she had been training earlier I don't understand how she run out so quickly." Kakashi answered looking worried.

"Against an enemy she would become a hinderance to her comrades if she were to do this. I imagine asking her to avoid using her most powerful techniques won't work, so what are you going to handle this, Kakashi sensei?" Shikamaru asked.

"I'm still trying to work it out." He answered simply.