So I've officially started writing this as part of Camp Nano, so you guys will be getting A LOT of updates on this for the next month. Hope you don't mind(:

Uhhmm, this chapter is pretty cool if you ask me. Stuff starts actually happening. And yeahh. Enjoy! And please, please, please... comment! :D

Mind, Body, and Soul

By LexLogikk

Chapter Six

Third Person Point of View

Every member of Team 2 was precisely fifteen minutes early. The sun was high in the sky above them, being only fifteen minutes from noon, and there was a distinct breeze blowing calmly through the trees.

"Good morning," Iyasu called to the girls, his teammates, just as they all approached the center of the training field. A purple pair of swim trunks with gold lining on the bottom were draped over his shoulder, and his hand held onto a fluffy white towel.

Moeru smiled at him. "Good morning, Iyasu," she replied.

"Yeah, mornin' Iyasu," Emi chimed in with a bright smile, one that had been stuck on her face since the night before. "You ready for today… whatever it is we're doing?" she asked.

Iyasu shrugged. "Guess we'll find out. Obviously has something to do with water. I bet you're jumping all over that, Moeru."

"Granted, I don't like the water much…" Moeru agreed, "but I'm willing to trust Yama sensei in the hopes that not arguing will successfully not piss her off."

The group laughed just before the sound of footsteps reached their ears. "I'm pleased to hear you're already trusting in my teaching abilities, Moeru," Yama said with a mischievous smirk. "Did you and your sister remember to bring your swimsuits?"

Emi smiled. "Yes, we did," she said as she pulled at the neck of her shirt to show the straps to her swimsuit.

"Good. You'll definitely be needing them." Yama grinned more widely. "Let's be off." She spun on her heel and leapt away from her students, fully expecting them to follow after her.

Yama led her pupils to the hot springs on the edge of town, up to one of the private pools of uncomfortably hot water near the top of the springs. It was a beautiful little place, secluded in trees that hung over the water with outstretched branches that were like the arms of lovers, desperately trying to reach for one another. Steam rose up from the water only to be blown slowly away by the breeze.

Once they had all assembled, she turned to the three children with a grin that grew even bigger at their confused and puzzled looks. "Just observe for a moment. This is what you will be learning to do for the next few weeks, or months, if it takes you that long." She, with her omnipresent grin, steps back onto the water, walking to the center of the pool without ever breaking the surface.

"Normally, genin first learn this technique by climbing trees; it's easier to do against hard surfaces," Yama stated. "So as much as I would like to start you off in this very, very hot water, I'm ninety-nine percent positive that you are not ready. So, instead, you will be learning on these," she said as she gestures to the trees hanging over the water. "I find it easier to establish this as our training spot until each of you are capable of standing right where I am for at least as long as I have been standing here talking to you.

"We will train until five; the student with the most progress up the tree will get to relax in the hot spring while the other two train until six. At six, the student with the most progress will get to relax in the hot spring while the first student is dismissed for the night. After another hour, the second student will leave, and the third student will have their chance to relax.

"Beware, though," Yama said. "There are a few things that will prevent you from getting your chance at the hot spring. For one, if I hear anyone offering help to each other, no one involved will get to relax and all of you will stay until seven. This is not a team activity. Second, anyone that would not get to relax at five that does not show progress between five and six will not relax at six. I do not reward the lack of progress. And third, anyone who at any point tries to give up will be forcibly held after until they decide they would rather work on the skills I assign than sit silently without food, water, or sleep for another second. Quitting is not an option, and you will all learn that, one way or another."

Yama then proceeded to take three kunai knives from her pouch and throw them to the feet of each of her students. "Use these to mark your progress." With that, she smiled almost sincerely and said, "Have fun!"

Moeru raised her hand. "Yama-sensei, how are we supposed to climb the tree exactly…?"

Yama smiled. "Figure it out. Balance your chakra on the bottoms of your feet. It will act as a glue if you do it right."

"But how-"

"That's all you're going to get out of me," Yama said, cutting off Moeru. "This is to learn several things: it's to learn chakra control and give you a skill that could very well save your life one day, but it is to teach you critical thinking when faced with a situation you've never been in before. Problem-solving skills. It's to teach you independent learning and thinking, because you're not always going to have a team that has your back. Out in the field, more often than not, you are going to have to take care of yourself and your part of the mission, because everyone else will be taking care of themselves and their part of the mission. So learn this on your own. Not one of you is incapable of figuring this out by yourself, I promise you that much."

"Wow," Emi murmured under her breath. "I think that's the first compliment she's ever given us."

"So get to work," Yama instructed. "I'll be right here to watch all of your progress." Yama grinned and removed her fur coat, hanging it from the branches of the trees, revealing a red swimsuit underneath. She allowed herself to slowly sink into the pool, submerging herself completely before wading to the opposite side to allow her to watch all three without having to move.

Emi and Moeru looked at each other and Iyasu, each of them wanting to discuss but all of them knowing better than to do so. They all just sighed and got to work, picking up the kunai knives at their feet and picking a tree for themselves. None of them took to the assignment quite the same. Emi took a running start up the side of the tree; Moeru stood next to it and tried to climb up with her hands to balance her (which Yama quickly shot down); Iyasu just sat on the ground and worked on getting his feet to stick before trying to put his weight onto it.

Yama watched silently for the most part, aside from adding to the rules that hands weren't allowed, observing the work of her students. Emi definitely did what I expected she would. She's the type that tackles things head on; not surprised there, though I'm impressed by the height she got. Moeru is a bit more calculating about it, which might prove to put her ahead in the long run. And Iyasu… I'm a little disappointed that he can't even get his feet to stick when he's sitting on the ground. I'll have to check in a while and just pray he's gotten some adherence by then, she thought.

A few hours passed this way, Yama checking silently on the progress of her students. By three, Emi and Moeru were tied for first in their own ways; while Emi had far more height than her sister (or Iyasu, for that matter), she had also fallen off the tree far more times; Moeru didn't have as much height as her sister, but her progress was much more consistent, if a bit slower. Iyasu, however, had barely gotten onto his feet. He's not using enough chakra. He'll never get up the tree if he doesn't figure that out. But Emi and Moeru seem to be getting the hang of it. I think my bet is still on Emi, though. She'll probably get the height before her sister. Yama laughed a little to herself. And she'll need the relaxation more, with all those bruises on her ass, she mused.

Sure enough, when five o'clock came, Emi had made the most height out of the three. "Emi," Yama called. "Get in. You're done for the day."

Emi, who had been attached to the tree, nearly fell off in her excitement. "Really, sensei?"

"Nice work, Emi," Iyasu panted, holding his back with exhaustion; Moeru chimed in, "Good job, sis."

"This'll be you soon," Emi said to the others before running off to the side of the hot spring. She kicked off her shoes and pulled off her shirt and shorts to reveal a light green and white bikini set. She pulled up her hair as she stepped cautiously into the hot water. A small sigh left her lips as she sat back against the edge of the spring, letting the steamy water work magic on her fatigued muscles.

"So, Emi," Yama said, interrupting the silence. "How do you feel about today's lesson?"

Emi pried open her closed eyes to look at her Jounin. "It was fine, I guess."

"It was fine? Do explain. How did you figure it out?"

"Well…" Emi sighed exasperatedly. "I took what you said about using chakra like glue and tried to work with that. I knew right when you said it that I would need the right amount of chakra for it work. But I also knew I might not have the chance to just sit around and figure it out, I needed to get right into it if I wanted to get it done."

"Shooting for the first place?" Yama asked.

"Of course. Moeru would get it otherwise. I'm naturally good with chakra - I was just born that way. But Mo knows how to use chakra because she's worked at it. And I can't just get shown up by my little sister."

"Of course not, Emi," Yama said with a grin. "Of course not."

~#~

The next hour passed, and Yama dismissed Emi, who hurriedly disappeared after a quick goodbye to her teammates. Not surprisingly, Moeru had shown the most progress of the two remaining students. "Moeru, you're done," Yama called. "Come sit."

Moeru flashed an encouraging smile at Iyasu, who had still only managed to get a few feet up the tree, and went to sit with her sensei, wearing an orange and yellow tankini set from under her clothes.

"So, Moeru: what'd you think of today's training. Was it challenging?" Yama asked.

"No. I think you know I didn't find it to be a challenge, though, don't you sensei?"

"What do you mean?" Yama asked, intrigued.

"I know you saw my first ten minutes. My feet were stuck solid."

"You mean you could have beat your sister?" Yama inquired.

"Yeah. But I didn't want to," Moeru admitted.

"And why not?"

"Because it would hurt her pride. She doesn't want to be shown up by me, especially on something about chakra control. Chakra control is her thing, you know, sensei?"

"Then why is it you could beat her?"

Moeru shrugged. "I don't know."

Yama smiled at her student. "Because she doesn't work at it. And you do. She can have all the natural talent in the world, but she'll never grow if she doesn't work. So, while I admire the way you consider your sister's feelings, I have to ask something of you."

Moeru looked up at Yama with quizzical eyes. "What is it?"

"Don't hold back to spare your sister's feeling next time. It won't make her a better shinobi, and it won't make you a better shinobi. Do your best. Do your best everyday, from now on. Show me what you can do. 'Cause if I don't know what you can do, I can't help you to get better. Alright?"

"I don't want Emi to be upset."

"Emi will live. She's strong and independent and will survive if you beat her once in a while. Besides, if you were to beat her, she might put forth some actual effort. She's not used to giving one hundred percent. She gives about eighty-five percent and calls it one hundred percent, but saying it's her all doesn't make it her all. I need you to be her challenge."

"You don't get it. She's ridiculously competitive, especially with me. If I show her up, not only will I never hear the end of it, but I'll never hear the end of it for a week and then she'll completely stop talking to me," Moeru told her.

"If it gets Emi to do her best, and allows you to do your best for once, then I would say that it's worth it. She'll come around eventually. But don't you dumb yourself down for any reason. Do your best. I expect nothing less from you, and even if it didn't make your sister put forth the effort, it's in your best interest. Understand?"

Moeru sighed thoughtfully, took another short moment to think, and looked over to Yama. "Yes, sensei."

"Good," Yama said with a smile. "Now, go home. You're done here, and I still need to talk to Iyasu, who actually does need work on this."

Moeru laughed. "Yes, sensei."

"Oh, Moeru, tell your sister that practice is at noon again tomorrow, right here, will you?" Yama told her.

"Of course. Good night."

"Good night."

Moeru grinned, said good night to Iyasu, and disappeared into the night, happy to be out of practice again.

~#~

"Sasuke! Open up!" Emi called excitedly as she knocked on his door loudly.

It took him a moment to get to the door, but he eventually opened it up for her. "What is it, Emi?" he asked unenthusiastically.

"We're going out. Come on," she told him with a smile.

"Why?"

"Because," Emi said as she grinned. "I had a great practice today, and because I'd like to spend the time I can with you. I don't know if I'm going to be free for dinner dates all the time, so we're taking advantage of it."

Sasuke sighed. He knew she was going to drag him along whether he wanted her to or not, so he agreed compliantly, grabbing his keys and locking up behind him after he closed the door. Besides, he thought, she has a point. And I can't say I'm not hungry.

Emi grinned. "Ready?" she chirped.

"Yeah," Sasuke replied. "Where are we going?" he asked, knowing she'd more than likely already thought the entire night through on the way over.

"Daiko's, of course. Where else?" She smirked.

Sasuke allowed himself to smile at the edges of his lips, admittedly excited for the food there. "Cool." He noticed, as he was walking alongside her, how his slight smirk brought a huge smile across Emi's face, and he found himself wondering if he had always noticed how god damned pretty she was, or if he had just now realized it.

~#~

There was a knock on the door to the apartment. Moeru didn't hear it at first; she had thought it was just the rustling of the wind outside her window. But sure enough, the second round of knocking that came was louder, reaching her ears clearly. She ran down the stairs to answer the door. "Hi!" she said as she threw open the door, only to find Kiba standing there in front of her. "Oh. Hi, Kiba."

Kiba noticed the slight shift in her emotions when she saw him. "Hey Moeru. How are you?"

Moeru shifted around a little on her feet, nervously crossing her arms over her chest. "I'm doing fine, I guess. How are you?"

"Could be better," he admitted. "Can I come in?"

"Yeah, of course," Moeru answered, pulling the door open wider and stepping back. Kiba made his way into her house, headed for the sofa pushed against the wall of the living room. "So… what's wrong, then?"

Kiba looked at his best friend. "I feel like I made a mistake," he said, sitting glumly on the plush sofa.

"Made a mistake doing what?" Moeru asked softly, sitting next to him on her couch.

Kiba grinned for a moment, almost as if he was smirking at himself. "See, there's this girl…" he started. "And she's really something, you know? Like, something amazing. And we've always been really close. Best friends close, you know?" he said with a growing smirk as he looked Moeru in the eyes. "And yesterday, I kissed her. And she told me it was all fine and that I shouldn't be sorry I did it. It almost seemed like she was happy I had. But then she left in a hurry and I haven't heard from her since. I feel like I messed up somewhere, you know, Mo? I feel like I put my friendship with this girl in danger."

By the end of his speech, Moeru was flaming red with blushing, her cheeks glowing with embarrassment. "Well… have you, uh, tried talking to her?"

Kiba smiled, slightly relieved. "I don't know what to say to her. I can't really lie and tell her I don't feel that way, because I do. I can't tell her that maybe things could just go back to the way that they were, because now that we both know how I feel about her, the entire relationship has changed. And I certainly don't have the guts to ask her how she feels about me. I just don't know what to say to her."

Moeru thought for a moment, taking a steadying breath before speaking. "The way I see it, you're going to have to find the guts to ask her how she feels."

Kiba groaned unhappily in reaction, laying back on the couch in dismay.

"No, really. You have to ask her. If you don't, you'll never know if she feels the same way, or if she's willing to work around it all, or if you really did make a mistake." Kiba looked over at Moeru, worry filling his eyes. "You have to ask her because you have to know. You can't have a friendship or relationship where you just assume something. You have to communicate, and give her a chance to communicate."

Kiba sighed uncomfortably, his eyes darting around the room before closing for a moment. "Moeru," he murmured, prying his eyes back open. "How do you feel about me? About what I did? Did I… did I mess up?" he asked, looking into her eyes.

Moeru saw how defenseless he looked. It was the way that he looked whenever he was so afraid that he had something to lose. She saw how honest he looked, how worried he looked, and couldn't help but remember how completely and totally happy he had looked last night after he'd kissed her. She scooted a little closer to him, putting a hand over his with a smile. "Kiba, I've liked you for years. And I couldn't be happier that you finally like me back. I just… it just came out of no where, is all. I just need a bit of time to wrap my brain around it all. To wrap my head around the fact that it actually happened, not just in my head."

Kiba let out a shaky, relieved breath. "I can give you that. Time. I can give that to you. I just-"

"Needed to know?" Moeru asked.

"Yeah," he said with a bright smile. "I just needed to know that you weren't mad at me or avoiding me."

Moeru smirked. "I know."

Kiba pushed a strand of her reddish brown hair behind her ear and kissed her forehead softly. "I think I'll get out of here, then," he told her.

Moeru smiled, nibbling on her lip as a slight blush returned to her face. "Okay, then."

Kiba stood up from the couch. "I'll let myself out. Good night, Moeru. See you tomorrow, maybe?" he asked, his eyes hopeful.

"Yeah," she agreed with a nod of her head. "Maybe."

He nodded back at her before walking away. He opened the door, threw one last glance at her over his shoulder, and left. The door made a soft click noise as the lock latched, and Moeru let out a breath, laying down on the couch with a smile as she tried to hug herself to keep the butterflies from escaping.

~#~

"Emi!" Daiko called, pushing her silver hair away from her face. "So good to see you again!" she chirped. "I see you brought your friend back again."

Emi smiled pleasantly at the elderly woman. "Hello Daiko. Yes, we're back. Is my table open?" she asked with a curious eyebrow.

"Yes, yes, of course. Go on back, I'll be right over to find out what your friend would like," Daiko said, winking.

"Come on," Emi said to Sasuke, grabbing his hand and pulling him toward the back of the room, to a table in front of the biggest window in the restaurant. A potted plant with dangling vines hung over the table, a light in the bottom of the pot shining a soft glow over them as they sat across from each other.

Sasuke smiled his barely-there smile as he looked out the window to see the sunset just outside the window. "I see why you like this table."

Emi followed his gaze out to the setting sun. "Yeah. It's really beautiful, isn't it? A Konoha sunset at it's best. I used to come here every night just for the view. This is the best view in town - trust me, I've been everywhere."

He nodded, still gazing out the window. "I used to go down to the dock to watch the sunset, when I was younger, back when my feet couldn't touch the water. The water would always mirror the sky."

Emi looked over to Sasuke, smiling softly. "Sounds wonderful. You should take me sometime. I'd love to see that."

Sasuke's black eyes met Emi's green ones. "Sure."

"Alrighty!" Daiko said, appearing at the side of the table with a pad of paper and a pen in her hands. "What can I get for you to start? I have tea, milk, water, and a juice concoction that is just lovely. It's Emi's favorite," she mentioned, looking at Sasuke.

"You know I'll take the juice," Emi said with a grin.

"Sure, I'll try it," Sasuke agreed.

"Alright, of course," Daiko noted, nodding her head as her pen scratched across the paper. "And do you know what you want, young man?"

Sasuke shrugged. "I liked what I had last time."

Daiko added another nod. "Of course. Two juices and two fried rice, coming right up!" she said cheerfully. "I'll be right back with your drinks," she told them before bustling off to another table.

"You're very compliant today," Emi mused.

"Aren't I always?" Sasuke teased.

Emi laughed. "I guess so. It involves less talking than arguing does." She winked.

"Shut up," Sasuke muttered, pulling Emi forward to kiss her with the slightest of smirks on his lips. She kissed him back most willingly. The two of them became quickly absorbed, so much that they didn't hear the bell chime as the door to the restaurant open. They did, however, hear Daiko call out to the newly arrived customer.

"Oh, Naruto! It's been a while since you've been here. How are things?"

Emi and Sasuke quickly pulled away from each other, but it was too late. When they looked over to the door to see Naruto standing there, they saw that he'd already seen them. "I'm doing great, Obaa," he said, his eyes not leaving Emi and Sasuke, a ridiculously large smirk on his face; a single eyebrow raised as he looked at his teammate. "I'm doing great."

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