Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, Kishimoto does.
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Konoha had begun to warm up a bit as mid-January rolled around. That cold spell, along with a lot of the rain that accompanied it, left a lot of people sick in bed. Anko Umino had been one of them. Granted, since she and Iruka had gotten married, she no longer went around essentially flashing everyone she came across, but she didn't exactly dress for cold weather, either. The only real difference in her dress style while on duty was that she would wear dark orange shorts that extended mid-thigh in place of the too-short skirt that she used to wear, and she also wore a black halter top over her fishnets. She still wore the tan trench coat and shin guards, and kept her hair in the same pineapple-style ponytail that she had always had it in.
While better at staving off the cold than her previous style of dress would have been, it certainly wasn't much better. Of course, being a stubborn one, she would not be told, by Iruka or anyone else, that she should cover up to keep herself warm. When that flu bug hit her, she spent every moment in bed wishing she had heeded her husband. But that was in the past, and she had happier things to occupy her thoughts with right now!
Anko had been pleasantly surprised when her best friend Kurenai invited her to lunch a couple of days ago. It had been so long since the two of them had really spent quality time together or talked about anything significant that Anko sometimes felt that the two of them were drifting apart, and that had bothered her. So, when Kurenai invited her to her favorite restaurant for lunch and girl-time, she happily accepted! Anko was currently sitting at her personal table in her culinary haven, the Dango Pit, waiting for Kurenai to show up.
She didn't have to wait for long as Kurenai walked in. She was wearing the same smile she had on when she first caught up with Anko and invited her to lunch. The fact that Kurenai was smiling at all these days struck Anko as a bit out of the ordinary, but to see her wearing it now as well? She was curious as to what would make Kurenai this happy when for the last four years or so, happiness had been nothing more than an abstract idea to the woman. Kurenai looked straight at Anko and waved to her, heading over to join her at the table that the two always ate at when they came here.
"Well, you've certainly been a lot more chipper lately; what's going on?" asked Anko with a curious smirk as Kurenai sat down.
"Quite a lot actually," started Kurenai, "I've been participating in a major project and I've been getting additional training."
A sparkle of intriguing mirth could be seen in Kurenai's vermilion orbs as she added, "I've also been given an apprenticeship."
"Really?" asked Anko, now even more intrigued, "Come on, don't keep me in suspense, here. Tell me about it all. What brought all this on?"
Kurenai began to recall the tale, "Well…it started last week; you know what I always do on that day…"
Anko nodded and narrowed her eyes, focusing on Kurenai as she told her story.
Kurenai continued, "Well, everything started pretty much the same way as it did during the previous three years. This time, though, luck would have it that it rained rather hard that day, and it was also one of the colder days of this cold spell that we just got out of. I was wearing pretty much what you see me in now…" Kurenai brought her hands up and moved them over herself to indicate the bandage-dress that she was currently wearing before proceeding, "…and I felt that if I were to go home to get some raingear, that I just wouldn't be able to get back out there – so I decided to take my chances.
"It started raining after I was at the cemetery, and I was there for a good solid hour or more. I heard a few perverts off in the distance talking about what they wanted to do to me…" at this, Anko responded with a frown that displayed both anger and disgust as Kurenai continued, "…and then, a few seconds later, I felt a coat draped over me. I looked up to see who put it on me, and it was Naruto Namikaze of all people. It was his sage cloak."
Kurenai's eyes almost seemed to gloss over as she began to recall the rest of the story, "Looking back, I'm not sure what it was, but…when he just gave me a sad smile – I don't know, it was like…" she paused, trying to find the right words, "It was like I could tell that he somehow understood me at that moment. As I looked at him…it was like, the dam just broke, and I just started letting everything I was feeling out…right into his shirt," she added with a chuckle as Anko just smiled in an amused fashion and nodded, waiting for her to continue.
She did, "Well, after that, he activated a seal in his cloak that dried me off and got me warm, and then he left me alone so I could finish visiting Asuma. When I got up to leave, he was waiting for me at the gate. It was still raining, so he wouldn't let me give his cloak back to him."
Anko smiled knowingly as Kurenai had told her this, 'Leave it to my little bro to do something like that for a person in pain; he always does seem to know how to help…'
Kurenai continued once again, "Well, after that, we just started talking, and we went to Ichiraku's for some lunch. We both got to know each other…you know, I learned so much about him that I didn't know, and I was shown that some things about him that I thought I knew were completely wrong…but anyway, we just talked, and he told me about a project he was working on that he was actually going to find me to ask for input on, anyway. So he invited me into his home -"
"He invited you into his home?" interrupted Anko, slamming her hands down on the table and leaning forward, openly showing her surprise at this turn of events. Kurenai instinctively leaned backwards wide-eyed, not expecting such a reaction from Anko.
Backing off the table and her hands, Anko continued, "Kurenai, do you have any idea just how many people have been invited inside that house?"
Kurenai, not having moved from her position nor changed her facial expression, shook her head in the negative.
"Me, Iruka, Konohamaru, Hanabi Hyuuga, Shikamaru and Temari," Anko leaned forward again as she finished, "…and that's it! Not even the Hokage has been inside his house."
Kurenai's eyes seemed to grow even wider as her eyebrows shot up. She began to explain the situation, "Well, the reason I was in his house is because that's where he kept all of his research for the project."
Anko narrowed her eyes at this, "Hmmm…well, OK," she said, not sounding convinced of her reasoning before putting a smile back on and bringing her back to the story, "Sorry to interrupt, please continue."
Kurenai seemed to trail off in an effort to collect her thoughts after being interrupted before continuing, but with what would qualify for Kurenai as great excitement and enthusiasm, "…Naruto's essentially creating an entirely new sub-discipline of genjutsu that would give any ninja who's weak against genjutsu a fighting chance against a strong genjutsu user! What's he's doing is creating a series of techniques and methods that could in theory counter any genjutsu thrown at someone. And it's really coming along! When he showed me his notes and his research, I was stunned at the level of thought and detail he had put into this. He's using everything from basic to advanced chakra theory, to the study of the chakra network from a medical standpoint; it's incredible, what he's working to accomplish!
"But anyway, after that, he made dinner to thank me for his help…" Anko raised an eyebrow and smirked once more in response to this, "…and he's also the one who's been giving me the extra training I was telling you about. My apprenticeship is also to Naruto: I'm taking up Fuinjutsu, and he's my Fuinjutsu Master!"
Anko's eyes narrowed once more, this time in thought as she studied Kurenai's body language and posture while talking about her experience with Naruto. Kurenai seemed to notice this and decide to draw Anko's attention to it.
"Anko?" asked Kurenai suspiciously, causing Anko to give a sly, "hmmm?" is response, her eyes remaining narrow and the smirk never leaving her face.
Kurenai continued, with a little more force behind her suspicious tone, "What's going on in that head of yours, right now?"
Anko wasn't the least bit bothered by the question, "I'll let you know once I've heard more…please continue…"
Kurenai narrowed her eyes in response to this, but decided to let it drop for now. She knew Anko would tell her soon enough, probably by way of teasing her to try to get under her skin. She accepted Anko prompting and continued to tell her about what Naruto had told her concerning her chakra reserves/control plateau, and what she could do about it. This idea actually fascinated Anko, as she didn't know quite so much about chakra theory herself. Kurenai elected to leave out Naruto's singing and performing for her, feeling as though it wasn't her place to tell Anko about that part of Naruto's life.
As their food and drinks come to the table, they both started to eat while Kurenai told Anko all about the training that she had been doing under Naruto's supervision…
'Weekends are good!' thought Iruka to himself with a smile as he sat at the counter in Ichiraku's. He was currently enjoying a steaming hot bowl of chicken ramen with all the fixings! It was times like this, where he could simply slow down and relax, that made life enjoyable for him. While many shinobi craved excitement and fast-paced adventure, Iruka had already had his fill of that. This was actually what caused to want to teach at the Academy.
Thoughts of the Academy always led him to many of the students he taught over the years, but one student always stood out first and foremost in his mind: his all-time favorite student and surrogate little brother, Naruto Uzumaki! He never could get used to the idea that Naruto's last name was now Namikaze, as it just seemed to take away from his identity, at least in Iruka's mind. He'd think or hear, "Naruto Uzumaki" and the brotherly feelings he had for Naruto would just swell to the surface with a vengeance; He'd hear "Naruto Namikaze", and he just didn't react the same way. It was as though the name belonged to someone else in his mind. He couldn't explain it, really, nor could he give rhyme or reason for it. It just was what it was to him, the same way that Iruka would always be "Iruka-sensei" to Naruto, and it would likely never change.
His thoughts were interrupted as he heard the tell-tale sound of the flaps at the front entryway to the stand being pulled aside by a customer entering the stand. He turned to see the man who was currently occupying his thoughts enter the stand. As they made eye-contact, both men smiled and greeted each other warmly, Iruka inviting Naruto to take the seat next to him.
As Naruto sat down, Ayame came and greeted him before hitting him on the head with the ladle in her hand, and chiding him on not making an appearance for several days at the ramen stand again! Naruto simply apologized to Ayame while grinning and laughing sheepishly, rubbing the back of his head. His apology, and some promises to come visit more often, seemed to placate the young woman as she took his usual order of a Naruto Special. Iruka became surprised, however, when he ordered a "Kurenai Special" on top of this.
"Err…Naruto?" asked Iruka, his tone showing his curiosity and confusion. Naruto turned to him, the look on his face telling Iruka that there was a story to this.
"What's this about a 'Kurenai Special', and what's the story behind it?"
Naruto began to tell Iruka the same story that Kurenai was telling Anko at the Dango Pit. To say that Iruka was both intrigued and surprised at this particular development in Naruto's, and especially in Kurenai's, life, would have been an understatement. Of course, not having the same teasing nature that his wife did, his reaction was a little different, as were the questions he started to ask.
"You know, Naruto, it seems to me that you've taken a rather strong liking to Kurenai," said Iruka in his direct, yet non-judgmental way.
Naruto responded in a manner indicating that he didn't feel teased or threatened in the least by his statement, "I don't know, Iruka-sensei. I'm not saying I don't, but the truth is I'm not sure how I should feel, or what I should do about it. You know, yourself, that I really haven't had any luck or lasting success with women."
Iruka nodded sadly at this, knowing full well what Naruto's romantic history was like. He remembered how Sakura used to abuse him over the most unimportant things, or simply for the sake of her own annoyance. He also recalled when she would later try to use his feelings for her in an effort to try to bring Sasuke Uchiha back to the village, or to even deter him from pursuing Sasuke any further. Iruka also knew that Naruto and Sakura didn't talk these days after he had killed Sasuke in battle, and only gave each other a small smile and either a curt nod or a quick wave when they ran across each other in the village. Immediately after this, both would turn and walk in opposite directions to avoid further interaction.
Iruka's reflections took a slightly darker turn after this, as he recalled what Naruto had told him about his short-lived relationship with Hinata Hyuuga. On occasion, he had seen Hinata out and about in the village, usually with a contingent of Hyuuga Branch members in tow to act as bodyguards/attendants. Gone was the shy and kind young girl that he had graduated just eight years ago. In her place was a woman who, while quite beautiful and desirable, carried herself with a coldness and an indifference to those around her, culminated in a perpetual glare and an almost half-scowl that made her seem quite ugly to him. Even the way she spoke nowadays, when Iruka had actually heard her speak, was just…frigid, as though it was an annoyance at best and a transgression at worst to force Hinata to user voice and deal with people. Even Lord Hiashi hadn't been like this when dealing with those in the village. He had been rather arrogant and aloof, for certain, but he wasn't heartless the way Hinata had seemed to become.
Iruka finally responded to Naruto's comment, "Yeah, I do know what you mean, Naruto."
Iruka adopted a firm expression that Naruto often saw on his face when in his classroom, the expression that Iruka adopted when he wanted Naruto to pay particularly close attention to him.
Seeing that Iruka had Naruto's attention, he continued, "But I also don't think that you should let that stop you from pursuing something, or someone, that could potentially be very good for you."
"Easier said than done, sensei," responded Naruto with seeming indifference.
"I know," said Iruka, who did know what Naruto was saying.
Iruka continued, "Naruto, you trust me, right?" to which he received an apprehensive nod from the tall blond, as this question usually preceded a topic of discussion that could be rather uncomfortable for him.
Naruto was proved right in his assumption as Iruka followed with, "Then I want you to tell me something: what exactly is keeping you from exploring this? And I want to hear it all, not just the 'pat answer'."
Naruto, having been about to give him the 'pat answer', closed his mouth and collected his thoughts. When he was done, he simply stared down toward the counter and answered Iruka, "I guess a lot of things. My fear of what might happen in light of my own history with women is a small part of it, but there's more to it than that. I mean…this is Kurenai Yuhi we're talking about, here. And…while I know now that she's not the 'Ice Queen' that she's been made out to be, she's fourteen years older than me; I might as well be a kid to her. And on top of that, I don't want to do anything that will make her feel uncomfortable or uneasy with me. I mean I know how to behave like a gentleman, and I try very hard to be one, but at the same time, I've never been in a relationship that's lasted for any significant length of time. I wouldn't know how to be good partner to anyone. But there's also the fact that she's suffered through her own pain as well, and I certainly don't want to add to that, inadvertently or otherwise."
Naruto turned his attention back to Iruka, "I guess it all boils down to the fact that I feel that I don't have anything to offer her that she would need. What would someone like her see in someone like me, you know?"
Iruka had adopted a knowing smirk that only grew as Naruto had explained his reasoning. 'He had to have picked that up from Anko,' he thought to himself.
Iruka then answered, in an amused and knowing tone, "That's what you're worried about? You don't feel like you have anything to offer her?" Naruto nodded in a somewhat helpless fashion.
Iruka continued, "OK, where to begin…? Here's what you have to offer a woman like Kurenai," he began to tally using his fingers as he listed the things that Naruto did in fact have to offer, "a stable home, a steady career and income, real friendship without any ulterior motive, genuine companionship, the potential to build a family, a man who can protect her or her loved ones from just about any threat out there, and from what you're telling me, someone who has the ability to make her laugh or smile almost on command. If these things aren't good enough for a woman, than frankly she doesn't deserve you."
"He's right, Naruto," came the voice of Teuchi who, with Ayame, had started listening with interest to the two, "And from what I saw when the two of you were last in here, I don't think that a potential future with her is really that far-fetched."
Ayame added, "That's true, Naruto. I think you might have a very good thing within reach. And even if things don't necessarily go the way you'd like, at least you went for it, and I think with the kind of person Kurenai seems to be, you wouldn't be any worse off for trying."
Naruto still seemed to be a bit uneasy at the possibility of pursuing anything further at this point. Sensing his unease the way only a woman could, Ayame added, "Naruto, nobody's saying you have to jump into the deep end headfirst. If you're that nervous, just be friends with her for now, and pay a little attention to the signals she sends. If you don't know how to interpret them, you can come to me, and I can tell you what they mean, OK?"
Iruka and Teuchi both nodded in agreement, impressed at the wisdom of Ayame's suggestion. This also seemed to ease Naruto quite a bit as well, as he visibly relaxed at Ayame's advice and her offer to help him navigate through the waters of female subtlety that most men often found very treacherous.
Naruto smiled and nodded in gratitude to the three of them, "Thanks, guys. I really appreciate the advice, and I think I'll do what you suggested, Ayame."
Ayame smiled warmly and nodded, "That's what your real friends are here for, buddy!"
Teuchi and Ayame both took their leave of the pair to go take some other orders and also to prepare Iruka's and Naruto's own meals for them.
As they waited, Iruka continued in an effort to keep making conversation, "So, tell me about Kurenai's apprenticeship and about the training you two have been doing."
Naruto's eyes lit up at this, as he began to recount the past week of training and work that he and Kurenai had been doing…
Naruto, or more accurately, Naruto's shadow clone, was making his way to Grandma Tsunade's office to give his creator's report and make his request. He had just left his boss as the original Naruto had gone into Ichraku's to grab some lunch. He thought he hard Iruka's voice come from the stand, and as much as he would have liked to say hi to Iruka-sensei himself, he was created at his boss's leisure for his boss's purposes. Sometimes being a shadow clone really sucked!
'Yeah, I hope you enjoy your time slacking off while making me do all your dirty work, you jerk!', he thought bitterly, as he made his way to talk to the Hokage. As he walked down the road, the villagers all smiled and waved to him as they normally did. He, in turn, greeted them back as he continued on his way. For some reason, a leisurely stroll to the Hokage's office just felt kind of nice right now. It had nothing to do with the fact that he would have to dispel the moment he was finished with his business in Tsunade's office. Not at all!
He thankfully only crossed paths with two fangirls on his way to the Hokage Tower, politely turning both away, and continuing forward. 'Well, it could certainly have been worse.' He thought as he remembered the occasional stampede of fangirls that he used to have to outrun, and even flash away from on occasion. Granted, he didn't have to deal with stampedes anymore, but the occasional fangirl, or group of fangirls, was still a major pain in his backside.
He had finally arrived at the Hokage tower and began to make his way up the winding staircase to the level where Tsunade's office was located. As he entered the reception area, he saw Shizune at her station happily (a little too happily in his opinion) preparing several three-foot-high piles of paperwork for Tsunade to read through and complete.
"Shizune, I really hope those aren't for me…" said Naruto, already beginning to feel that there were certain things about being Hokage that he would find very distasteful.
Shizune looked up and smiled at seeing her current visitor, "Oh hey, Naruto! No, don't worry; these require Tsunade's signature directly; you have nothing to worry about, at least not from any of these piles."
"Good to know," he replied, knowing that Tsunade would use "training for the office of Hokage" as a convenient excuse to schluff some of her paperwork onto Naruto. While it was good training for him, she had a tendency to make him do more than he should have had to at this point. Although, it was this little problem that helped Naruto to find the perfect solution: send a shadow clone to Tsunade's office on the days where he was being trained for Hokage duties. This gave him an even more brilliant flash of inspiration: he could use many shadow clones at once to get paperwork done more quickly! Of course he had made it a point not to do this, because he knew that Tsunade would just give him more and more of her responsibilities and paperwork while she could sit back and drink to her heart's content. He decided very early that she was NOT going to do that to him, and that he would wait until he actually was Hokage before using that little trick of his. Tsunade might hate his guts for a little while for not sharing that little tidbit with her, but Naruto knew her far too well to believe that she would use it herself instead of making him do it all.
Naruto brought himself back to the task at hand, asking playfully, "So, is the old bat in?"
Shizune mock-glared at him for the way he addressed her mentor as she responded with mock-anger, "Yes, she is. Let me see if 'the Lady Hokage' is available."
She rolled her eyes as she rose from her desk to knock on Tsunade's door. Naruto gave a low chuckle as she walked by. Shizune knocked on Tsuande's door, and upon being prompted, she opened the door, announcing to Tsunade that Naruto was there. After a few seconds, Shizune closed the door. Turning to Naruto, her mock-glare and mock-angry tone back in full force, but this time with a seemingly playful smirk as well, she said to him, "The old bat will see you now."
Naruto smirked right back at her. He thanked her and then approached the door of Tsunade's office, grabbing the handle and pulling it open. He entered and made his presence known, "Good afternoon, Lady Hokage."
Tsunade raised an eyebrow and narrowed her eyes at him, asking suspiciously, "You're a shadow clone, aren't you?"
Naruto began to sweat a little as he responded, "Err…how did you know?"
"You didn't make any jabs at my age, or make any comments that might cause me to attack you. I would therefore draw the conclusion that you don't want me to do anything that would cause you to dispel."
Naruto sighed in resignation, "OK, you got me. I'm a clone."
Tsunade gave a satisfied smirk, as though she'd just pulled one over on Naruto, even if only in her own mind, before continuing, "Now that that's settled, why exactly are you here on Naruto's day off?"
Naruto adopted an all-business posture before answering this question, "For two reasons: one – to inform you of a couple of projects I've taken up, and a fuinjutsu apprentice that I've recently taken on, and two – to commission an extended A-rank mission for Kurenai Yuhi's services."
If she had been satisfied before at having gotten one over on Naruto, she was now floored and feeling as though Naruto had just gotten five over on her. Schooling her features as best she could, she posed a question, "Why exactly are you commissioning an A-rank mission as a client? And why Kurenai, specifically?"
Naruto answered her in his all-business tone, "That will be made clear as I tell you about the other reason I'm here."
Naruto then proceeded to tell her of his training and work with Kurenai over the past week…
The day following Kurenai's encounter with Naruto in Konoha Cemetery, Kurenai was at the cast-iron gate that allowed entry into the Namikaze Estate at 8am sharp, just as they had arranged so that they could have some breakfast and begin training. As soon as she walked up, the gate opened itself, revealing Naruto in front of her.
"Good morning," he greeted her cheerfully.
"Good morning," she greeted in response with a smile of her own as she entered the estate.
Naruto led her to the house so that they could have breakfast. He led her to the dining room where he served her a typical shinobi breakfast of rice, fish and roasted pork, with water, fruit juice and green tea. Having already assembled his own plate, he took the place next to her and both of them began eating. As they ate, Naruto began his lessons to Kurenai so as to make the best use of time.
"OK," he began, his voice taking on a rather "Iruka-like" character as he entered teacher mode, "While we get ready for today's training, I want to go a little more into chakra theory and application as far as it applies to how I'm going to train you."
With a frown of concentration on her face indicating that she was paying close attention to what he was saying, she nodded in understanding as he continued, "You already have a very good grasp on what chakra is, and how it can be universally applied, honed and fine-tuned, so we'll skip all that. What I do want to cover, though, is the importance of training chakra reserves and control through as many methods as possible, and in all of the ninja arts we use; not just the arts that we specialize in."
Kurenai nodded again, her frown deepening as she remembered her mistake in only focusing on genjutsu. Naruto seemed to catch this, however, and began to reassure her, "You're not the first person to make that mistake, and you're not the only one in the village who is, right now. Kakashi, for example, tends to focus too much on chakra control for ninjutsu training only, and has very little if any chakra control training aimed at genjutsu or taijutsu. Guy tends to concentrate on taijutsu, to an even greater degree than Kakashi focuses on his ninjutsu chakra training, leading him to have very little control over ninjutsu and genjutsu…except for that god-awful sunset cliffs genjutsu," Naruto added the last bit with a subdued voice and a shudder, causing Kurenai to giggle softly.
Naruto smiled as he continued, "One thing you'll notice about Grandma Tsunade is that she focuses her chakra control in two specific disciplines: medical ninjutsu and taijutsu, which is the main reason why her control is as fine-tuned as it is, though I think her Senju blood probably has something to do with that as well, as her control over her naturally higher reserves is something of a talent she possesses. Sakura, for example, has naturally-perfect chakra control, but her reserves have always been rather low. She can control her chakra better than Tsunade can, but she can't do anywhere near as many jutsu, and certainly not to the degree of power that Tsunade can, without running out of chakra rather quickly.
"The Hyuuga Clan are another example of refined chakra control concentrated only on Taijutsu, control made better as they individually train their Byakugan. So, as you can see, more shinobi than not tend to make the mistake of not diversifying the areas and methods in which they control their chakra pools, essentially 'lopsiding' themselves and creating 'ceilings' that they can't seem to get past, without actually discovering why. Of course, I only realized this as you were telling me about your problem yesterday, and I found myself thinking about what I knew about other great shinobi that I knew.
"Back on topic, though, we're taught that chakra is divided into two parts: physical and spiritual. Physical is linked to the body, spiritual is linked to the mind and soul."
Kurenai nodded once more, showing Naruto that he hadn't lost her. Naruto continued, "This paradigm is over-simplified to the point where it gives an inaccurate understanding that doesn't hold water when applying more advanced methods of chakra training. It's true that these are the two sources that a person draws from when molding chakra, but…"
Naruto paused for a moment to once again make sure that he had Kurenai's undivided attention. Kurenai, sensing the importance of what he was about to say, nodded for him to continue, making sure to note what he said. Naruto continued upon seeing this, "…there is a lot more to advanced chakra training than simply molding physical and spiritual energies into the appropriate quantities, as I shall now list the concepts that I've observed are important. One - The speed and volume at which we can make our chakra flow through our chakra networks. Two – The tenketsu points and how our chakra can flow through them, or be released through them to create different effects. Three – The innate feel of our own chakra signatures, and how they feel different from other chakra signatures. Four, and this one is primarily geared towards ninjutsu, but it can be applied to the other ninja arts as well – The nature and shape of the chakra that we wish to mold after we've mixed the two base energies together in the appropriate quantities, and the different effects that this has, both in how the shape and nature of the chakra behave, and in how effective they are when performing specific jutsu. These are the things I've managed to observe so far, but I'm sure that's only the tip of the iceberg."
Kurenai just sat there in rapt attention, fascinated by his exposition on chakra theory. Seeing that he was done for now, she decided to venture a question, "How exactly did you discover all of this?"
Naruto smiled, pleased at her interest in learning more about this subject, as he answered, "Well, a lot of it was just from instances where I can remember people explaining certain jutsu to me. Remember when Neji and I fought in our first chunin exam finals?"
Kurenai nodded in response, recalling the event. Naruto continued, "Well, during the course of that fight, he explained to me how his "Eight Trigrams: Rotation" technique worked. He basically releases equal amounts of chakra through all 361 of his tenketsu points simultaneously. Only the Byakugan allows for the degree of concentration required to be able to do this. The degree of chakra control that Neji posseses that's geared towards the Gentle Fist is probably on par with the chakra control that you have towards genjutsu, and yet…Neji has no genjutsu to really speak of in his arsenal: another example of lopsided chakra control.
"Another case in point: Kakashi. His chakra control over ninjutsu is almost unparalleled in the ninja world, and it's probably outstripped only by mine. Again, going back specifically to changes in chakra shape and changes in chakra nature, these are the building blocks to all advanced and specialized ninjutsu. Even if he can't do them all himself, Kakashi knows how to train all of the basic changes in chakra nature: fire, water, earth, lightning and wind. It was Kakashi who trained me in wind chakra manipulation, even though I've never seen the man use a single wind-style jutsu."
Greater and greater levels of understanding flashed in Kurenai's eyes as she continued to listen to Naruto's lecture. Thinking about it now, in light of what Naruto had just said to her, she could think of countless numbers of examples where these ideas proved themselves true. Naruto noticed her understanding, and the excitement that her new-found understanding seemed to bring her. He began to feel rather satisfied with himself, both with his knowledge of this subject, and with his teaching style.
Naruto, wanting to make sure that she understood, asked her, "So do you have any more questions about what we've just gone over?"
She shook her head in the negative, "Actually, no. I think you covered it pretty well."
"Good," said Naruto with a smile before continuing, "But now, knowing all of this, let's talk some about how we'll start applying it all."
Kurenai nodded with a smile and an excited gleam in her eye, her interest having been awakened by Naruto. Fascinated by just how technical the more advanced theories of chakra training were, she couldn't wait to apply it all and see just how all of it worked. Of course, now that she'd had a chance to rest and reflect on everything that happened yesterday, she was able to conduct herself and present her emotions in a more subdued and less ostentatious way, like she was more inclined to do.
Since she had woken up this morning and thought about it, she was rather surprised at herself that she had acted in such an "out-of-character" way yesterday; she could only attribute it to all of the surprises that she had been presented with, on a day where she would be more emotional than usual. Thoughts of Asuma came back to her as she reflected on yesterday's events, but surprisingly, they didn't affect her as strongly as she thought they would, nor did they cause her to feel sadness or grief. This both confused and scared her a little bit, but she decided to set this aside for now and ponder it later. She brought herself back to the present, with Naruto being none the wiser as to her momentary lapse into nostalgia.
After the two of them had finally finished breakfast, Naruto cleaned up the places before he continued his explanation once more, "Now, after giving this a little more thought, I've made a few changes to our training schedule. We're going to start by training your body and your taijutsu. While we're doing this, we're not only going to make your body stronger, quicker and faster, we're also going to be adding chakra in different ways to increase speed, power, and even precision. We'll focus on that for now so as not to spread you too thin and to avoid doing too much at once. I'll also begin your fuinjutsu education today after lunch.
"For now, though, if you would please follow me," he finished as he stood up and began to walk towards the back door. Kurenai got up and followed him as he opened the door, both of them stepping out into the rear grounds towards the training dojo. Kurenai was astounded when she walked inside the dojo. There were seals of many different patterns and shapes along the walls and ceiling, all of them glowing, indicating that they were currently active. She could only guess as to what their functions were, so she continued to look around.
All around the room were wooden training dummies, posts and targets, as well as various different accessories all around the room: high-quality chakra weight devices – bracelets, ankle braces, and even belts to add weight to a person's center of gravity, kettlebells of various degrees of weight, chakra-enhanced wrist grips in order to enhance grip and grappling strength, as well as pull-up bars, floor mats, weighted balls and other devices for core and abdominal training, and even ropes that hung from the ceiling. Kurenai raised an eyebrow at this.
Naruto, noticing her confusion, looked at where she was staring, and began to explain, "These ropes are frictionless. They're used to enhance chakra control while enhancing muscular control and strength at the same time. Come here, I'll show you…" and with that, he gestured to her to follow him and take a closer look at the ropes. When she did, she was close enough to see what appeared to be tiny seals etched into the fibers of the rope.
Naruto pointed them out to her and explained them, "You see two different patterns here. This first array," he pointed to one of the patterns on the rope, "helps to preserve the integrity of the fibers of the rope, because the seals themselves would flay as the fibers of the rope do. They stop that from happening. This array, here," he pointed to another pattern, "is what takes friction away from the rope. See?" he finished as he rubbed his hand up and down the surface of the rope, no sound being made, and no traction on his hand, demonstrating the effectiveness of the seal. Kurenai tested it herself, raising her eyebrows as her hand ran smoothly across the surface of the rope, almost as though there was nothing in her hand.
Naruto brought her attention back to himself, "You'll learn to make seal arrays like these later, but you'll be using these ropes as part of your physical training. I'll demonstrate them, later. Now, come on…I want to assess your physical capabilities," he finished, gesturing for her to once again follow him while he went to one corner of the room and grabbed some gear that looked to be a different color and shape than the rest of the gear in there. Kurenai followed on his heels while he did this, stopping when he stopped. After Naruto had collected the gear he needed, the turned around and asked her to put the gear on: a pair of bracelets, a pair of anklets, and what seemed to be some kind of padded loose-fit halter top that she could easily slip on and off.
Naruto explained that the purpose of these devices was to indicate the optimal level of weight someone should wear when training their body in order to both maximize the effectiveness of the workout yet keep them free from injury at the same time. He instructed her to channel a steady stream of chakra into the devices. She did so, noticing that they were all getting heavier. She continued channeling her chakra into them until she began to feel somewhat strained, when the weights stopped getting heavier. Naruto told her to stop channeling chakra and he proceeded to take the weights off of her, looking on the inside surface of each. Kurenai looked at what Naruto was looking at, seeing that there were some numbers written on the inside of each piece of gear.
Naruto informed her that the numbers were the ideal amounts of weight that she should wear on each appendage while performing physical training. Her ideal weights were reading as: 45 lbs on her left wrist, 55 lbs on her right wrist, 80 lbs on her left ankle and 85 lbs on her right ankle. He had also informed her that she would start with the lower number on both wrists and both ankles, so that they could even themselves out, thus giving her body perfect balance. The halter top read 225 lbs, meaning that she would wear 225 lbs over her shoulders, chest and back while training her body and taijutsu. Kurenai had asked about the belts, seeing that there wasn't a belt that did what these other pieces of equipment did. Naruto told her that the belts would serve the same purpose as the halter top, and that they could be worn while performing pull-ups so that the weight could be a little lower on the body, making the exercise more effective.
After recording these numbers, he pulled what looked like a pair of forearm-length gloves, and a pair of what would have been shinguards, except they were made of some kind of cloth instead of metal. Kurenai inserted her hand into each glove, and noticed that the portion that covered the forearm was open, and designed to be fastened around her forearms. She fastened, and repeated the process with the cloth "shinguards", fastening them around the back.
Before she could put the halter-top on, Naruto stopped her before bringing her into what appeared to be a changing room, with female-oriented training clothes. Naruto had told her, rather bluntly, to Kurenai's mild annoyance, that the bandage-dress that she was currently in was not suitable for the training that she was about to undergo. Letting her know that the clothes were laced with seals that could either tighten or expand the fabric on the outfits to a degree, and showing her how to activate them, he left her in the room so she could change.
When she came out wearing a red training gi that was just loose enough to allow her ease of movement, but tight enough to stay on her body. Over the gi was the halter top, and under the sleeves and legs of the gi were the greaves and the gauntlets, all set at the weights Naruto set them at. Naruto wore a satisfied smirk, while Kurenai wore an annoyed scowl. Naruto told her that she would thank him for this later, then proceeded to grab a pair of hand-grippers that was of the same basic design as the gear that determined her initial weights were. Naruto handed them to her, and told her to grip them as tightly as she could. She did, and found it quite easy to grip them, before Naruto told her to add a steady flow of chakra to them while maintaining the grip. She did this, and the resistance steadily grew for a few seconds on each gripper. The gripper in her left hand stopped increasing in resistance before the one in her right hand did, indicating that her right grip was stronger than her left. She could apply 70 lbs of torque in her left hand, and 85 lbs of torque in her right. Naruto seemed to be quite impressed with this: Kurenai had a rather strong grip for a genjutsu specialist.
Naruto told her that for exercises that were done one limb at a time, she would do 10% more repetitions for her weaker limb than for her stronger one, so that she could balance them out as she grew in strength and speed.
From that point for the next four hours, Naruto would have Kurenai on physical training, with 45 lbs on each wrist, 80 lbs on each ankle, and 225 lbs over her chest, shoulders and back. Naruto actually put some training gear and weights of his own on so that he could perform his routine while she performed her own. He told her his own numbers to give her an idea of what she'd be working towards: 400 lbs on each wrist, 750 lbs on each ankle, and 2500 lbs over the top of his body. Of course, Naruto had to do this using resistance and gravity seals, so that he wouldn't create craters in the ground as he was moving; he did have over 2 tons of weight dispersed throughout his body, after all.
Her routine was:
300 standard push-ups
200 handstand push-ups
200 fingertip push-ups
200 laps around the borders of the Namikaze estate, including running over the lake using her chakra.
400 sit-ups
200 pull-ups
800 squats
100 one-arm pull-ups with her right arm
110 one-arm pull-ups with her left arm
400 one-legged squats with her right leg
440 one-legged squats with her left leg
100 one-arm fingertip push-ups with her right arm
110 one-arm fingertip push-ups with her left arm
His routine was:
1000 standard push-ups
800 handstand push-ups
800 laps around the borders of the Namikaze estate, including running over the lake using his chakra.
2000 sit-ups
1000 pull-ups
2500 squats
500 one-arm pull-ups with each arm
1000 one-legged squats with each leg
500 one-arm fingertip push-ups with each arm
After 3 hours, Kurenai finished with her routine, as compared to Naruto's 2 ½ hours, and also left her breathing a lot heavier than him. Naruto told her, to her horror and extreme consternation, that they were not yet done. Seeing her getting steadily more angry, he reminded her that she was doing this to round herself out and ultimately overcome her own chakra ceiling. Bearing this in mind, though that didn't stop her from grumbling under her breath, she followed Naruto back into the dojo, where they began to use the training dummies and posts to perform taijutsu-related exercises.
Kurenai's Taijutsu routine, which she repeated 10 times, was:
200 punches with her right hand
220 punches with her left hand
200 kicks with her right leg
220 kicks with her left leg
Naruto's Taijutsu routine, which he repeated 15 times, was:
600 punches with each hand
600 kicks with each leg
Both finished these routines at about the same time before cooling down with some stretching. Kurenai, still angry with Naruto, decided to give him a piece of her mind. She was a sight to see: panting hard, face flushed with exertion, hair disheveled and sticking to her forehead, sweat pouring down her face and drenching her gi, glaring at him while pointing in his direction, pausing between each word spoken through clenched teeth, gasping between each word, "You. Are. EVIL!"
Naruto tried very hard not to laugh at this. He couldn't help but feel a little sympathy for the woman, who certainly wasn't used to this level of physical exertion, at least not with the amounts of weight that she was currently wearing, but at the same time, the trainer in him found this to be highly amusing. He settled for an amused smirk before telling her that she could take the weights off now, and also to go ahead and use one of the baths in the onsen inside the house to relax and clean herself up. She took off her gear and put it all away before leaving in a huff for the changing room to gather the clothes she came in and leave for the onsen.
Naruto himself, not having worked up much of a sweat, decided to start on lunch for the pair while Kurenai was allowing the tension and soreness that was starting to come on to be relieved at least somewhat by the hot, mineral-induced water in Naruto's private springs. Naruto couldn't help but think with some amusement, 'I wonder how she'll react when we start adding harder exercises into the routine,' as he prepared lunch over the kitchen counter.
Lunch was a stir-fry of chicken and mixed vegetables over rice, making sure that there was an overly-generous portion of chicken so that the extra protein would allow for faster muscle recovery. He had also prepared three gallows of ice-cold water for them to drink; he was certain that Kurenai would go through at least two gallons by herself.
Once Naruto was finished, he noticed that Kurenai was walking…or rather, stumbling…in, eyes glazed over and mouth watering. She had evidently smelled lunch, and was ready for some. Naruto smiled at her as he asked, "Feeling better?"
Kurenai scowled at him once more as she sat down at the dining room table, but this time there was a mildly playful quality to it. She couldn't stay mad at him; after all, he had done more reps and sets than she had in every exercise – far more – and he had literally 10 times the weight on his body to boot. That was also what made it more infuriating to her: the fact that he didn't make her do anything that he didn't do himself! She was infuriated by the fact that he left her with no room to point fingers at anyone except herself! And taking ownership for your own deficiencies could be a real drag!
'Great, Naruto's turning me into a Nara,' Kurenai thought to herself, both in amusement and annoyance.
Naruto interrupted her musings by laying a plate of the dish that had her mouth watering, and invited her to dig in. He also brought the water to the table with a couple of glasses, and true to Naruto's suspicion, Kurenai downed several glasses of water, equating to about ¾ of a gallon, before even touching her food. She didn't waste time eating, either, but she did notice, with some frustration, that she had a harder time gripping her chopsticks than usual; her forearms were tired and sore.
Naruto, seeing her frustration, asked with a chuckle while pointing to her chopsticks, "Err…would you like me to help you, there?"
Kurenai's face turned red at the question, but whether from a blush or continued annoyance, Naruto couldn't tell. She simply chose not to answer the question as she continued trying to feed herself, experiencing some success, but not enough to sate her grumbling stomach. After a few minutes of this, she sighed in resignation.
She turned to Naruto and asked somewhat sheepishly, "Is that offer for help still on the table?"
Naruto simply smiled and nodded at her, not wanting to embarrass her any further. He began to take portions of food that she could comfortably chew and feed her so that she could finish her lunch a little faster without completely abandoning her table manners. The mood began to lighten up as they made small talk over lunch, laughing and smiling with each other.
After lunch was finished, Naruto informed Kurenai that it was time to get back to business. He led her into the workshop area in his library. He had set up a small workstation for her so that she could practice the basic fuinjutsu skills that he would be teaching her. She saw several scrolls, blank pieces of paper, and ink wells and brushes of various kinds. She took a seat at the place that he had set up for her as he went to one of his blank whiteboards and began lecturing.
"OK, Kurenai, before we get started, I want to tell you up front: as hard of a taskmaster as you thought me to be with physical training, I am a much harder taskmaster and a stingy perfectionist when it comes to sealing. If you're going to be apprenticed by me in the art of fuinjutsu, there are some ground rules you'll need to agree to, first."
Kurenai nodded in understanding. Being a master herself in the art of genjutsu, she would also set certain stipulations upon anyone wanting to apprentice under her to learn her art. She certainly didn't expect Naruto to be any different.
Acknowledging her assent, Naruto began to list the ground rules that she would have to abide by while under his wing, "First and foremost, unless for the purposes of study, you will never buy another sealing note, tag, or what have you from any store, or any other sealmaster ever again. This means you won't buy any more paper bombs or the like from the Wolf's Claw. If you need an exploding tag, or any other seal, you will learn to create your own."
Kurenai raised an eyebrow in curiosity at this, but nodded in agreement, knowing that as with any art worth learning, understanding the reasons behind the rules would come in time. As an apprentice to Naruto, she decided that she would display the same humility that she would expect from an apprentice of her own. She simply kept her mouth shut and listened.
"Second, we will not move past a lesson until you have both completed the lesson and mastered the accompanying skills to my satisfaction, even if the lesson seems too mundane, or even if you've used the skills in the lesson before.
"Third, I have no problem with you asking questions; ask as many as you want. The more you ask, the more you'll learn, after all. If an answer does not make sense to you, or if it seemingly contradicts what you believe you know about sealing, please don't argue with me. I'm happy to clear up any misconceptions or misunderstandings that you might have, but as a master, I will not argue with an apprentice who has nowhere near the level of knowledge and skill that I possess in this art. Do you have a problem with any of these ground rules?"
"Not at all," responded Kurenai as she shook her head, "I would expect similar behavior from anyone apprenticing under me in genjutsu."
"Well, good, then!" Naruto replied with some enthusiasm, "Now that that's out of the way, let's get started, shall we?"
Naruto went on to explain to Kurenai exactly what fuinjutsu was, as well as give her some of the fundamental ideas and terms that most modern day fuinjutsu experts used (he would have said fuinjutsu masters as well, but at present, there was ONE known living fuinjutsu master in all of the Elemental Nations, and his name happened to be Naruto Namikaze). By the time he was finished with his lecture on basic fuinjutsu (1), he started Kurenai on some basic calligraphy and seal drawing exercises. She began to object at first before Naruto reminded her of the ground rules, at which she promptly complied without further complaint. Of course, after comparing her seal drawing to Naruto's own, she could see where he had adequate cause for making her perform this exercise.
This is how it went for the rest of the week: 4 hours of physical training and taijutsu, followed by lunch, followed by four more hours of seal drawing practice until Naruto was satisfied. Kurenai found that Naruto wasn't kidding when he had said that he was a stingy perfectionist when it came to sealing. He criticized her work up and down, sometimes to the point of almost making her lose her cool, but the one saving grace she found about him was that not only did he point out her flaws, he took the time to offer help and advice on how to correct them. He also mentioned that with each day, the more she applied his advice, the better her seal painting skills became (although they were still not to Naruto's standard, which she would continue to find annoying, but as an apprentice to her master, she kept her peace and continued the painstaking work of perfecting her seal writing and painting technique).
Around day 4, Kurenai was also starting to add chakra into her muscles as she performed her exercises, and into the points of her hands and feet that made contact when she threw punches and kicks. In addition to the exercises getting easier, she did notice that her chakra reserves were getting noticeably larger, and her chakra control was getting better at the same time. She was finally starting to overcome her plateau!
Naruto also helped Kurenai to blend several different Taijutsu moves into a style that would work to her strengths: fast blows and counterblows where she could add power when needed, but most of which involved quick movements, relying on her not staying still for too long. Most of the moves and attacks of her new style were circular in nature, as she seemed to prefer moving and attacking in arcs and curves as opposed to throwing strikes straight in. Naruto continued to help her build on this Taijutsu style, actually finding himself excited about the time when they'd be adding ninjutsu or a weapon into this style of hers!
At the end of the week, Naruto showed her his test plan for the Genjutsu Countering Project. After looking it over, Kurenai approved of what she had seen, seeing that it was thorough enough to run a sufficient number of trials, and probably get enough feedback from it to know what, if any, additional tests would need to be included. They would begin running their first clinical trials in two days time.
"And the Genjutsu Countering Project is why I want to commission Kurenai's services. I want to make sure that she not only remains free to help me, but I want to continue training her as well," said Naruto, finishing his explanation to Tsunade.
"Well, so long as you can pay for the mission you're requesting, I have no objection. How long will you need her services for?" asked the blond Hokage.
"Six months minimum, maybe longer, depending on how this project goes. If I need more time, I can continue to pay for an extended A-Rank mission at the rate you're currently charging."
Tsunade's eyebrows shot up in shock at this, "Brat, do you realize just how much an extended A-Rank mission costs? You're talking the price of at least 6 S-Rank missions due to the length of the mission alone!"
"I realize that, Lady Hokage, and I can easily afford to pay that," added Naruto, very confident of the truth of his claim.
Tsunade sighed in resignation, seeing that she was not going to talk him out of this. She began to put a mission profile together, "OK, Naruto. I'll fill out the paperwork with the mission details and I'll have Kurenai come up here to take the mission. Is there anything else?"
Naruto simply smiled, "Nope, that's about it."
Tsunade nodded before adding, "I'll agree to this, because the money is needed by the village right now, but I have a condition: I want monthly progress reports from you on Kurenai's training, her apprenticeship under you, and the results of the Genjutsu Countering Project as they all stand by the end of that month."
Naruto nodded to her, "No problem, Grandma Tsunade. I'll give you regular updates on all three."
With that, he dispelled himself before Tsuande could react, relaying the information back to Naruto.
Naruto blinked as his clone relayed everything to him. Iruka saw him twitch and space out for a moment before coming back to himself.
"Shadow clone just dispel or something?" he asked casually.
"Yeah," Naruto responded just as casually, although he was still shaking his head a little to try to sort through the sudden rush of information.
"Well, it looks like Grandma's allowing me to give Kurenai a mission so that I can keep her free for as long as I need her help," said Naruto, quite satisfied with Tsunade's approval of the request he sent his clone to make.
"OK, Naruto. Well, I'm glad that things seem to really be coming along for you," said Iruka as he prepared to pay his bill and head back home to his wife.
"Sure thing, Iruka-sensei. I'm glad we could catch up," he responded as he paid his own bill, preparing to head back to his own home to do some training of his own.
Both men said goodbye to each other and went their separate ways.
"…and that's where we are now," Kurenai finished her recollection of the past week's events to Anko as they finished their meal.
Anko, of course, couldn't help but continue to try to tease her friend some more. With a mischievous glint in her eye, and an equally mischievous smirk, she began to do just that, "Hmm…you know, you've spent probably more time at Naruto's house in the past week than anyone else has – well – ever," she looked dead at Kurenai in mock-accusation.
Kurenai blushed under Anko's scrutiny, beginning to sputter before collecting her faculties enough to spit out a defense, "Now, wait a minute, it's nothing like that! I wouldn't be able to make a relationship with him work! He's just a little more than half my age! And I don't know him that well, yet!"
Anko fell out of her chair in laughter at this, clutching her sides and rolling on the floor, completely uncaring towards the scene she was making in the Dango Pit. Kurenai continued sputtering as her face kept getting redder and redder, both with embarrassment and anger at her friend for pushing her buttons like that and backing her into a corner. She eventually stopped sputtering and just sat there fuming as Anko pulled herself off the floor and back into her chair in an attempt to get a grip over her laughter.
Anko wiped a few tears from her eyes, "hehe…you should see the look on your face right now!"
Kurenai continued fuming as Anko continued to try to contain her laughter. Anko then continued, her tone playful, but with a hint of seriousness, "But I never said anything about you and my little bro being in a relationship with each other. I may have teased a little…" she paused, and both her face and tone softened as she continued, "…but if I were you, I'd ask myself a few things: why did you feel the need to defend yourself like that? Also…why do you feel the need to even tell me why a relationship with anyone 'wouldn't work'? It would seem to me…and I'm talking as your friend, now, Kurenai, that you might very well be developing feelings for him."
Kurenai had calmed down as Anko's tone had softened. As she listened, she became a bit forlorn. She voiced her concerns, her own resigned frustration evident in her tone, "I don't know what I feel right now, Anko. Up until last week, I wasn't feeling much of anything at all…and now, here I am, with…all these new feelings that I have no idea what to do with. On the one hand, what I said is true, but on the other, it's pretty easy to forget that he's fourteen years my junior given his maturity. But…I don't know…there's something about it all that just feels…all wrong," she finished as her eyes began to well up.
Anko dropped all pretenses of play and teasing as she frowned in concern for her friend. She paid their tab and quickly brought Kurenai out of the Dango Pit, teleporting the two of them to Kurenai's apartment. Kurenai looked at her friend in confusion. Anko answered the unspoken question, "Less chance of us being disturbed here. I don't think you'd want Iruka walking in on this kind of conversation, would you?"
Kurenai smiled in gratitude, "No, I wouldn't. Well…come on in," she said as she pulled her keys out and unlocked her door. They entered her apartment and sat down on the loveseat next to each other.
Anko began anew placing her hand on Kurenai's knee, "Kurenai, why is this whole thing bothering you so much?"
Kurenai closed her eyes and sighed in an effort to calm herself before answering. Failing to calm herself, or to keep the tears from coming, she responded, "To tell you the truth, Anko, I just don't know. I don't know what I'm feeling, or why. Whenever I think about Naruto…one minute I feel like I've found the single greatest treasure I could ever imagine finding…and the next, I feel as though I'm betraying the man I loved, and everything we had…"
She began to sob at this, immense feelings of guilt threatening to overwhelm her. Anko pulled Kurenai into a comforting hug, Kurenai grabbing Anko tightly as she continued crying. Kurenai continued through her sobs, "I never imagined myself in this kind of a situation! You're right, Anko…I am developing feelings for him, but he's so much younger than me; what will people think of me? Would something like this destroy all the respect I've worked so hard to earn? Will this hurt my career; will it hurt his? What if I forget all about Asuma? There's just so much that's uncertain in this…" more sobs continued to pour out of Kurenai as Anko simply rubbed her back in an effort to soothe her, "…and I'm scared! I'm more scared than I've ever been in my life…and I don't know what to do!"
She continued to sob in Anko's sisterly embrace, having said her piece. Anko just continued to soothe her and try to calm her down. After a few minutes, Kurenai's sobs began to subside. Anko, sensing that Kurenai was calm enough to be able to process what she had to say, pulled out of the hug so she could look Kurenai in the eye.
She began, "Kurenai, I want you to think about this for a minute…and I want you to think hard, OK?"
Kurenai nodded, waiting for Anko to continue. She did, "If Asuma could come back just to talk to you for ten minutes, what do you think he'd say?"
Kurenai blinked a few times at this. She hadn't expected to be asked such a question, and she certainly wasn't prepared for it. She began to think about who Asuma was, and what he would want for her.
Kurenai began to answer tentatively, "I think…that he would want me to be happy. I think that it would…sadden him to see me this way. I think he'd want me to love again, and to pursue the dream we had…of building a family…with a man who would love me as much as he did," she smiled at this next thought, "Actually, he would probably hope that I could find someone who'd love me even more than he did; he was always like that," she finished with a soft laugh as a few more tears began to roll down her cheeks.
Anko smiled, "I think that's exactly what he would say…and just because you won't necessarily grieve Asuma's passing anymore; that doesn't mean you've forgotten him, or that you ever will. You know as well as I do that you'll never forget Asuma Sarutobi. But you do need to free yourself enough, if not to love, then at least to live. Kurenai, any man that you might eventually get involved with, whether it's Naruto or not; they're not going to replace Asuma. I can't speak for anyone else, but I can tell you that Naruto wouldn't want to replace him. Would you want to be Sakura or Hinata's replacement to him?"
Kurenai grimaced at his as she shook her head in response. Anko laughed at this as she continued, "Kurenai, the point I'm making here, is that there's nothing wrong with what you're beginning to feel for Naruto. And there's nothing wrong with being scared, either. The situation is kind of unusual, but that doesn't mean that it can't become something amazing and wonderful. Believe me…as well as I know Naruto Namikaze…you could do a whole lot worse! And in my opinion, you'd be rather hard-pressed to do better!"
Kurenai smiled at Anko, feeling very reassured, and yet…, "Thanks, Anko. I'm…still a bit scared, but…"
Anko smiled and continued to reassure her friend, "Kurenai, there's no pressure for you to do anything right now. If you're unsure about what you want to do, put off doing anything until you are sure. This…whatever it is you and Naruto have right now…neither of you forced this at all, it just kind of fell into your laps. Let this take its course, at its own pace, and just enjoy the ride for now. If something more is meant to happen…well…life just has a way of making that clear, you know what I mean?"
Kurenai smiled and nodded, understanding exactly what she was saying. She hugged Anko, this time in gratitude.
"You're right, Anko. I don't have to do anything I'm not ready to do," Kurenai said, resolved that she at least knew she didn't have to make a decision one way or another right now.
Anko broke the hug and stood up, preparing to leave. She gave Kurenai that playful grin that she knew all too well, "Well, my work here's done. What are friends for, after all?"
Kurenai rolled her eyes and giggled at her friends antics, showing her out. As she shut the door, she want back to the loveseat, and continued reading "Murder in the Hidden Mist" from where she left off. Who knew what the future might hold? She certainly didn't, and neither did anyone else, but at least she was no longer scared of taking action in one direction or another. For now, she was content to just tag along for the ride, glad that for now…she didn't have to do anything at all.
(1) Please refer to my story "The Discipline of Fuinjutsu" to study the lessons that Naruto is teaching Kurenai in greater detail (shameless self-promotion, I know). This story is essentially about Naruto's taking the obscure art of Fuinjutsu and creating a logical, organized discipline out of it by writing a foundational text for it. This text is what Naruto will be giving his lessons to Kurenai out of in this story (of course, without the added Kurotsuchi bits – just think of them as extra bits that Naruto put in, or got from some of Kushina's notes or something).
NO! This is NOT the end of the story! Further chapters will come! As stated earlier – please read and review.