I'm baaaack! It's been a while, friends, but I am here with a continuation of Atsuko's journey towards becoming a shinobi. I have finished watching Naruto (*tear*) and I'm pretty much caught up on Boruto (excellent continuation!). This story has been bubbling in the back of my mind the whole time and after a kind PM from a reader, I'm making it a priority to actually finish the thing. I can't promise regular updates, but I will avoid having too much time between posts.
In the meantime I am a legit author, and you can check out my short stories at midnightwriterssociety dot com (I'm LMJ).
As always, please review.
The next morning they all met in a clearing outside the hot springs.
"We'll train in pairs, so at any time I'll be training with one of you at a time. Yukina, Gisuke, you have practical experience with coordinating attacks. Be sure to share your expertise with Atsuko. Otherwise, the best way to learn is to spar. Atsuko, you're with me."
As Gisuke and Yukina left Atusko Standing next to a fully qualified and experience jonin, she felt like a child again. Small and weak with lots to learn.
"At this point, apart from basic weapon skills, your best weapon is your chakra shield. If you can learn to manipulate it, you can protect yourself or others who can engage in offensive strategies. Your priority now is to learn to use it in combat situations. Now," said Shirakumo, unsheathing his katana. "Defend yourself."
=/=
Several hours later, Atsuko was bruised, dirty, and tired. With a shield in a meter long oval emanating from her right hand, she stood panting, waiting for Shirakumo to attack. The jonin stood still, sword hanging down his side as he calmly assessed her. A ripple of light hugged the edge of the katana.
Suddenly he struck, aiming for her right shoulder to disable her current shield arm. Atusko shifted, the movement fluid as she raised her weary arm to block. The katana impacted the shield solidly but immediately Shirakumo twisted, aiming now for her unprotected left side. In a split second Atsuko created a shield in her left hand, transferring chakra from her right to her left hand. Shirakumo kept up his attack, the katana never still. Each time Atsuko blocked it, creating a shield in either hand in a flash.
The attacks ceased again.
"Very good. You're reacting by instinct now and you're able to stop my wind-chakra. Refine that. Take a break and send over Yukina. Train with Gisuke."
=/=
Gisuke was calm and collected as always. Atsuko was eager to learn more about him and learn to defend against a completely different set of techniques.
"I am a completely different type of ninja from Yukina or Shirakumo-sensei," he began. "As a medical ninja, my offensive skills require me to make physical contact with the enemy. During that time I am vulnerable, which may be a weakness you can correct. We should develop some combinations for combat. I also have a long distance weapon which I used on our mission."
"Your genjutsu, where you seemed to paralyze that thief," recalled Atsuko.
"Exactly. It's not very powerful, but it lasts a long time and can remove an enemy from battle. However, a knowledgeable shinobi can break a genjutsu himself or a companion can. I'll teach you how to release yourself from a genjutsu and you can experience my Paralysis Genjutsu so you know what it's like. We can do that first, you'll pick it up quickly. Then we'll work on our combination. After that, if there's time," he grinned, "we can spar."
Atsuko returned the grin. "Let's begin."
=/=
Atsuko slashed with the kunai knife, but Gisuke wasn't there anymore. She spun and created a shield just in time to stop Gisuke's green glowing hands from touching her chest. They remained in a positional stalemate, Atsuko struggling to keep Gisuke away from her by pushing her shield towards him while he pushed his hand through her shield. The longer Gisuke used his chakra, the more her shield began to dissolve, unable to maintain its shape as he slowly cut through.
She saw this and with a conscious effort the shield solidified again and she gave a mighty push that sent Gisuke flying for several meters.
"Haha!" cheered Yukina from the trees where she'd been watching. "The new kid's got you beat, Gisuke!"
Gisuke was in the midst of getting to his feet. At Yukina's taunt, he glanced at Atsuko, their eyes meeting. She gave a small nod…
…then they vanished.
In a split second, Yukina was surrounded. She pulled out her tonto, surrounding it with fiery chakra. She dodged the glowing green palm and twisted to scorch the hair on his head as she always did…
…when her blade impacted a transparent blue shield.
Atsuko had come behind Gisuke and reached an arm over his shoulder by which she made a shield that completely protected him.
Yukina stared at Atsuko and Gisuke in shock then burst into laughter.
"I see you've been practicing. Guess I'll have to be careful when I tease you, Gisuke!"
=/=
After Gisuke left to train with Shirakumo, Atsuko stood facing Yukina, the tanto still in her hand.
"Are you ready?" asked Yukina. She was smiling dangerously.
Atsuko returned the smile, widening her stance and said nothing.
Flames burst out around the tanto.
=/=
"Woo hoo! Back home!" cheered Yukina. Atsuko laughed as Gisuke rolled his eyes.
"What?" protested Yukina. "I happen to like Konoha. Maybe you should have stayed in Sunagakure."
"No, they told me to return to Konoha since at least one member of Team Shirakumo with talent should protect the village."
"Well, naturally they want me to protect the village, but honestly, why would they think I would need company?"
"For someone who waves that flaming sword around like a toy, obviously someone needs to make sure Konoha survives your return."
Yukina turned to Gisuke angrily. "Who are you to accuse me, you green-handed…"
"Guys, cut it out," interrupted Shirakumo wearily. "You're scaring the forest animals."
"That's because you're the one who can wipe out a kilometer of forest with one swing of your katana," said Atsuko quietly.
Shirakumo stopped dead in the middle of the road, staring at her with wide eyes.
Yukina and Gisuke burst out laughing. Atsuko grinned and continued walking to the Konoha gate.
It was exactly the same as when they'd left. Happy villagers went about their lives under blue skies and fluffy clouds. Recently paid for the mission, Atsuko and Yukina walked down the streets wondering what to spend it on.
"How about some barbeque?" suggested Yukina. "Or some ramen?"
"Nah, we ate pretty good at the hot springs."
"How about one of these masks?" Yukina pointed at a shop display with masks painted in funny expressions. "To remind you of Gisuke."
Atsuko laughed. Some of the comically obtuse masks did remind her of him.
"I don't know. Part of the problem is I promised Genma and Naruto that I would buy then something with money I earned from my first mission. Neither one is here, so I guess my indecisiveness is really guilt at going against a promise."
Yukina sighed then smiled. "Naruto won't be back for a long time, you told me, but Genma will probably be back in a few days. Fulfill your promise then. In the meantime I'll buy both of us ice pops and let's go lie on the hill and do nothing the rest of the day."
"You're not training?"
"Shirakumo-sensei has to write a report and probably will be assigned his own mission at the same time. Gisuke won't mind taking a day off."
Atsuko nodded. "All right, sounds like a deal."
=/=
Time went quickly for Atsuko. Over the next several weeks while Shirakumo was off on his own missions, Team Shirakumo was given a few D- and C-ranked missions. They weren't exceptionally difficult and it allowed Atsuko to further bond with her teammates.
When there weren't any missions, they would train together if Gisuke was available. If he was busy with his medical training, Yukina and Atsuko would spend time together, either training or just sitting on the hillside eating ice pops.
The end of this period occurred when the two of then ran into Shirakumo.
"Shirakumo-sensei," they said surprised.
"Back from your mission?" Yukina asked, sticking the icepop in her mouth.
"Indeed. I'll have a few days until my next one," the jonin answered wearily.
"Training time, then?" Atsuko asked, sharing an excited glance with Yukina.
"Yes, but not together. Gisuke is still working on his medical skills and I'd like to work with Yukina while we have the chance."
Yukina burst into an excited smile, but Atsuko just nodded. "I see."
Seeing her disappointment, a shadow of a smile appeared on Shirakumo's usually impassive face. "Don't worry. You'll be kept busy. There's a jonin in town whom I think you should look for."
Atsuko frowned in confusion then burst into a Yukina-like smile. "Genma!"
"He just got back from a mission. Got rather beat up, so you'll find him in the hospital."
