Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto

Welcome to the 6th chapter of Never Too Late. Feel free to fire away at the reviews section.

Enjoy.

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Chapter 6

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Aoi Fusako was twenty-seven years old and turning twenty-eight in about... what? A few months? She had forgotten when exactly her birthday was. Birthdays just seemed insignificant when you spent most of your life carrying out missions, and sometimes fighting to live, even.

But Aoi did remember that six years ago, she married her teammate from her genin team. Six years ago, she was pregnant, and she quit being a kunoichi and her husband, now in ANBU, left for a year-long mission. And she knew that about 5 years ago, Aoi gave birth to her first daughter- Aguri.

Aguri meant 'quiet', or at least the name sounded quiet to her. Looking at the peaceful looking features of her baby, she decided that Aguri suited her baby well. One wouldn't want a baby to be silent when it was first born, but Aguri had cried, like any normal child would.

But ever since then, crying for Aguri just didn't exist anymore.

No one really expected babies to be quiet, did they? Aoi had prepared herself for countless nights to go without sleep- such a feat would have been easy, seeing as she had been a ninja before she had been a mother. But in the contrary, she had always met with quiet, peaceful nights... There was not once where Aguri cried.

Her former kunoichi friends often confided in her that they were having a hard time looking after their children- one did not go from an occupation that consisted mainly of assassination and killing to looking after a new life that easily. They often talked about having to wake up in the middle of the night to sing their child to sleep, but even then, the peace was short-lasting.

On the other hand, Aguri had never screamed, or cried. Not even once, in nearly four years.

It seemed to be a sign- That somehow, or rather, Aguri was different. Sometimes, she seemed to stare into the walls with a kind of intensity, eyes darting around as if contemplating something. There was a time Aoi caught the look in her young daughter's eyes, and she was very much astonished. Astonished, yes, but never afraid- she could not have been afraid, even if she wanted to- Aguri was her flesh and blood, and she loved her dearly.

But sometimes, when her little baby looked up at her, sometimes she swore that her daughter seemed to be looking past her facial features- memorizing every detail of her habits, looking deeply into her character, and her eyes looked like she has seen and dealt with many experience. Her eyes even looked empty at times, almost as if she has lost everything precious to her.

Sometimes, Aguri looked... old. Maybe wary. But more often then not, she seemed carefree, and loved to steal candy, and she smiled so brightly that Aoi thought that she must have been imagining things all along. But when she looked at into her child's eyes, she realized there was no way Aguri's eyes- though a misty grey like her father's- actually belonged to a child.

So Aoi observed her child closely, because the only explanation she had was that her child was a genius, but in a way unlike the Uchiha children. She realized it as she noted how her child had taken up jogging- how Aguri always made sure to jog for an hour each time, and how she always knew how to pace herself, much unlike other children who tired themselves out at the beginning by sprinting. It was like Aguri was someone who had jogged all their life, but the thing was... Aguri was only three.

(Her little duaghter also had a mischievous, albeit cunning streak. That time, she caught the child in the study seemingly vandalising books, when she had been certain her eyes had been darting across the pages a few moments ago. That, and the incident where she ate all the chocolate, and seemingly knew how to draw attention away from herself when she brought her out to visit other clans.)

And that was why Aoi decided to let Aguri run off to train on her own. But she never didtruly leave Aguri alone, fr she was too worried about her daughter's safety. Genius or not, Aguri was still a child.

Aoi let out a sigh. The girl would make it big as a ninja. When Aguri actually started showing interest in being a ninja, Aoi wasn't sure whether she should rejoice at her daughter's decision or discourage her.

The life of a ninja was difficult, long and more often than not, ended in death. Children were sent out on missions as early as the age of 10, and even those who reached the topmost positions ended up dying in combat. The Memorial Stone was a good enough reminder for the countless shinobi lost.

She didn't know what she would do if she lost her only daughter.

Her daughter was peculiar, in many ways. Most children tried all types of candy before deciding on a favorite flavour- Aguri had touched only the pineapple-flavored candy like she had a strange fondness for them. She also once attempted to drink coffee, but Aoi didn't let her, because letting her drink coffee when she was not even four years old was ridiculous.

It would be as if she was admitting that Aguri was growing up, and fast.

When Aguri turned four, she took to books like a fish to water. It started with picture books, but Aguri seemed to get bored with them quickly, and she never brought them to her for more than two days. Then she picked up the short stories, then the novels, and she would make Aoi read to her every night, but something told Aoi that Aguri already knew how to read books.

Sometimes, Aoi thought she heard the flipping of pages, the crinkle of paper, and the moving around of books. But that thought alone was not logical. She wasn't even in the Academy, for goodness' sake!

Should her husband know about their daughter's strange habits and rapid progress? Miyuki was often out on missions as an ANBU, it may be better if she kept this to herself instead of worrying her husband about it. But after all, Aguri took after him the most, appearance-wise.

Aoi sorted out her thoughts, taking a moment to think things through collectively. Then she decided that what Aguri had was a gift, and that she and her husband should start training her in the respective Fusako and Miyusawa clan's jutsu when they had the time. Firstly, she would introduce Aguri to her cousin, Hajime, and she would have them both start training in taijutsu and the ability to use their clan specialty properly. Then, she would teach her daughter what she knew about the Fusako clan's earth jutsu.

Aguri had the Miyusawa clan's affinity for lightning, but that didn't mean she couldn't pick up the Fusako's earth jutsu. After all, her daughter had both her blood and her father's blood flowing within her. Learning Earth-style jutsu would be made simpler for her, and it would allow her to learn how to convert her natural lightning-affinity chakra for the use of earth-style jutsu. She would develop Aguri's chakra reserves as much as possible, because she had prominently inherited the large chakra reserves of the Fusako clan and the sensitive hearing of the Miyusawa clan.

She tapped the head buds that she wore. Aguri would be receiving her own set soon, when she managed to successfully master the jutsu's that she needed to learn. In the mean time, Aoi was considering that she send Aguri to the Academy, because from what she observed, she was progressing, and fast. At the same time, her daughter would not receive unnecessary attention as it was not that uncommon that children were sent to the Academy a year earlier- In fact, it was a usual practice for clan children.

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After Aoi walked away with Mikoto and left Aguri all by herself with Mikoto's children, when she returned sometime later to check up on them, she was quite glad to see Aguri chasing three other people in what seemed to be a game of tag. Two of which was Mikoto's prodigious children, and the other was the boy she recognised as Uzumaki Naruto.

The civilians and lower ninja clans were not as well-informed as the other clans, and as a result they shunned the boy. She had nothing against the Uzumaki, in fact, she was quite proud of her daughter for seemingly making another friend without her own interference. It probably had to do with Sasuke- the boy was a good influence for her, allowing her young daughter to open up in ways she didn't know she could. Something in her ached, however. Uzumaki Naruto was the child of an old friend of hers.

"Come back here, Sasuke!"

Aoi heard Aguri growl as she dashed after Sasuke, and Aoi's pride swelled as she noted her daughter's excellent form when she ran. Sasuke turned and stuck out his tongue at Aguri and she snarled, almost catching up to him. When Aguri was all aggressive like that, she reminded her of herself in her younger days.

Sasuke-kun's a good influence, she decided.

Beaming at the children, a laugh beside informed her that Mikoto was thinking around the same lines as her.

"They sure are getting along splendidly!" Her Uchiha friend commented, and there was still an empty feeling. It would have been like old times, if only she was still with them...

"Indeed." Aoi watched as Aguri yelled in triumph as she slapped Sasuke on the back, having successfully caught him, before turning to grab Naruto as both of them sprinted away. Itachi, the older brother figure, simply stood atop a tree and watched after them.

Ah. Good times.

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Aguri was pissed.

She stared at the male in front of her, and on cue, a scowl creased her expression, glaring at the boy who stood before her.

Hell, she didn't really want to interact with anyone at the moment, even if it was her cousin. No one even told her that she had a cousin, he just popped up one day and you learnt that you were somehow related, just like all cousins do.

Hajime Fusako was her cousin from her mother's side, and Aguri found him annoying. He might just even be more annoying than her old cousins, who had sat around playing on handheld consoles and ignored her when she was three steps away.

Why, you ask? Her cousin was looking down at her, well, both literally and figuratively. For goodness' sake, he was barely a year older yet he was a head taller than her!

Aguri sighed, shutting her eyes in exasperation, and turned to face her mother. It seems that it was time to finally learn and begin her training in her clan specialty. She had no clue if it was a specialty or a kekkei genkkai, but it was unique to the Fusako clan, and that counted for something, at the very least. Currently, Aoi was talking about the mechanics of how their jutsu worked, or rather, Aguri just assumed she was.

At the mention of chakra points, however, Aguri sat up and stared at her mother in curiosity. Aoi spoke seriously, her honey-brown hair tied up in a bun as she began her elaboration, and in that moment her mother looked like a discipline teacher.

"The Hyuuga Clan is able to see chakra points with the aid of their Byakugan. However, we do not have a kekkei genkkai that allows us to see the chakra network with our own eyes. However, you know what? The Fusako clan is trained in medical ninjutsu, and from this we can safely tell you,"

Her mother's eyes swept across both of the children as she gestured towards herself, her eyes lingering on Hajime, who had just knocked into Aguri on purpose.

"In the human body, there are 361 tenketsu points, and they are located everywhere in our body- our head, our arms, our legs, our chest, and our stomach. The way our clan specialty works- we use our chakra like electric shocks. It is possible to memorize each and every tenketsu point, but even then, there is not a hundred percent chance that you will be able to strike each and every of the chakra points with your shockwaves."

Aoi held up her index finger, smiling grimly, as sparks escaped from the tips of her finger, and Aguri had to wonder how many times her mother had made use of this very technique to kill. Her mother's voice was slow and had a dangerous edge to it, and Aguri wondered if she was ever in ANBU. She hardly sounded like the woman who nagged at her for eating too much chocolate. The hairs on her arms stood on end as she knew her mother was warning them to pay attention, and it was directed, simply to her cousin Hajime.

Remaining silent, Aguri observed the small demonstration, noting the way the sparks came out of her mother's fingers, and committing everything that her mother mentioned to her memory. Her mother then continued, folding her arms to her chest as she spoke, her tone laced with a sense of finality.

"We hardly target the chakra system. We target... the nerves."

And the rest of the details just fell into place.

It was rather self-explanatory. 361 tenketsu points. The Fusako Clan is able to emit lightning-based chakra in any form and in any amount that was wished. It may even be possible to manipulate natural electricity, because the high frequency of the Fusako Clan's chakra wavelengths made it possible to simulate real electricity. If applied to the correct nerve, electrical shockwaves and nerves could result in paralysis, and damaged nerves would result in the inability to move muscles and this prevented movement all together. Depending on the usage, it could cause long or short term paralysis. Electrical shockwaves could stimulate pressure points (even if Aoi said it wasn't necessary).

In traditional medicine, different pressure points could improve blood circulation, and help balance out what was known as qi in the body. This was done by the process known as acupuncture therapy, where fine needles are inserted in points of the body. But what if it wasn't needles? What if it was simply weak electricity? That was only possible with good control, of course.

And this was where how some Fusako clan members were experienced medic-nin.

The Fusako can didn't just specialize in lightning-based jutsu, after all.

It specialized in everything to do with the control of lightning-affinity chakra.

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Her mother began to teach Hajime and Aguri basic taijutsu, since it was pretty much important for their family specialty. Aguri's father would have taught them, but he was called to another mission.

(Aguri suspected that he was in ANBU. There were several times she could have sworn that he had stowed away a mask whenever she opened the door to let him in.)

After about three weeks of practicing the different stances and moves, and drilling them into physical exercises (which was manageable by the way but holy shit, it was so tiring!)

The moves had been... awkward to execute in the beginning as well. In the past, she was paranoid and signed herself up for self-defense and karate classes. While her mind remembered it the different techniques, her body was unused to kicking and punching. It would take a while for her body to grow accustomed to sparring. Maybe she could even develop her own style when she got better at this. After all, it was illogical for the body of a child to be able to execute the moves of a brown/black belt.

But she did enjoy the challenge of learning taijutsu, which was similar to karate, yet more different.

Aguri glanced across to the opposite side of the practice grounds and gave a growl when the boy with chocolate-brown hair and brownish eyes shot her a smirk when he was able to do more push-ups than her (he totally looked like poop!)

To other girls, he might have been considered cute, but his 'I'm better than you!' attitude rattled on her nerves more than it should have, but calling him cute would have been an insult to someone like Sasuke. In other words, it would have been like announcing to the world that she had bad taste. But she didn't, so her cousin, even though he was related to her, was still disgusting.

However, he was related to her, and she was doomed to train with him until she got to the Academy, at least. Aguri shot him a glare as he leered at her.

I swear, if he talks about how he pulls the 'I'm-older-than-you' card or if he says that females are weak I'm going to flip!

Aguri's mother looked between the two with what looked like understanding at the tension between the two children, and one of her eyebrows furrowed, if only slightly. Aguri noted the curl in her mother's lips that indicated that she was planning something, and Aguri didn't exactly like the sound of that. Not at all.

Her mother took a step forward and beckoning them to do the same, she offered them both a gentle smile, her eyes lingering on Aguri.

"Hm, let's have you two spar, shall we?"

Damn it!

But hey, maybe sparring with the ignorant idiot of a cousin would make her feel better.

Hajime grinned at her. And grinning made him look like he was stupid, with that lopsided smile. The look he sent her was taunting, and she could practically see the scorn in his expression. Her left thumb twitched as he began to speak, his voice sounding disgustingly innocent. (Not to mention obnoxious. Did he have to suck up to her mother every time he acted cute?)

Back off. She's my mom! Mine, I tell you!

"But Fusako-san, she's just a little kid! I bet she'll mess up like how she does all the time... well, you can't expect much from a little girl, anyway."

Oh the nerve he has, to insult her in front of her own mother. For that, she would applaud him. If she had learnt anything about her mother, it was that she was strict when it came to respecting opponents... and she didn't appreciate insults.

In the beginning, Aguri knew that she lagged behind because Hajime had begun practicing taijutsu earlier than she had. However, Aguri has also been practicing on her own all the time. She's been jogging, she's been trying to control her chakra well, she's been training with Sasuke, and that had to count for something on its own. She inwardly scoffed as she noted Hajime's smooth and unblemished hands that just didn't match up to his excessive boasting, and in stark contrast, her whole body was bruised, different patches blooming in different shades of black and blue and purple, because damn, Sasuke was a prodigy, and he hit hard.

There was no way she was going to lose.

The crack of Aguri's knuckle sounded loud and satisfying. In fact, it would be more satisfying, if that was the sound she heard when she punches him in his damn face.

Hakime's grin widened, and it just made her more annoyed.

He just had to provoke her when it was bloody obvious that she wasn't in a good mood, didn't he? Normally she would have ignored the blatant mockery, but she's just sick and tired of being pushed around like she was inferior to him. Being stronger didn't mean being more superior. This was seriously a mindset that needed to be corrected.

Little kid, you say? Shut up, you brat!

He didn't even deserve being called a 'little shit', because that title was reserved specially for Sasuke, and Sasuke alone.

However much she didn't exactly relish the idea of beating up a kid, she had to remind herself that she was in a world of ninja now. Children were literally trained to kill and survive when they were older. They were taught to punch, to stab, to assassinate when they should be playing and enjoyoing their childhood. Besides, this was a society where the strong looked down on the gentle. Just look at Hinata, for instance.

Other than that, what did kids their age love to do the most?

They beat the crap out of each other.

"Fusako-san, can we start already? There's no point waiting when I'm-"

The statement ended with a screechy and ear-piercing scream as something pounced on Hajime with an almost feral-sounding growl, and there was the sound of knuckle meeting soft, and unblemished skin.

Crack.

The little smartass had no idea what hit him.

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Aoi didn't pull Aguri off until Hajime sported two black-eyes, a broken nose, three lost teeth, and four bruises, and all in all, Hajime looked terribly disfigured. However, Aguri had to admit that the new look suited him extremely well, and her smug look didn't falter even as she was told off shortly later for not waiting for the match to start, and for not fighting in the way she was supposed to.

Well, she couldn't have fought properly anyway, if her dear cousin was just screaming and lying on the ground.

The one-and-a-half-month that Fusako Hajime didn't come for practice was peaceful, lovely, even. It was even worth her bruised knuckles, and Aguri stared at her newly-earned bandages with something akin to pride.

And when Hajime did come back, he cowered under Aguri's unnaturally wide and somewhat-innocent smile.

(Her expression was absolutely devoid of any sort of remorse.)

Needless to say, she didn't have trouble with the cousin again.

Heh.

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A/N:

And here's a quick update (I'm quite surprised that I managed to update this so soon!)

Presenting to you a pissed off Aguri xD And what do you think of her mother's POV earlier in the chapter!

Regarding the story, do you guys think I should change the genre to Humor/Adventure for now? Or does Aguri's angsty monologue actually angsty?

Thanks a bunch to:

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Guest

Realworld no Shinobi and

SupremeGeneralJoker

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for the reviews and thank you for the responses to the weird question as well! How do you guys like chocolate chip cookies? xD

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My response: Potato-flavored ice cream sounds kinda interesting, don't you think? It would be quite starchy and kind of sweet and it would be rather interesting in my opinion.

Question:

What is your first impression of Hajime and a pissed-off Aguri?

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See y'all!

-Cyan Rubies