-White Plum Hidden in the Leaves-
Disclaimer: Naruto doesn't belong to me, only the OCs that I created.
Chapter 7:
Youth
"Again," commanded Tora.
Ume was panting for breath and sweat dappled her forehead as she once again drew upon her depleting stores of chakra for the technique. Her hands moved through the necessary seals with practiced ease; Rat- Dog- Tiger.
"Mokuton: Mokujoheki!"
Root pillars emerged from the ground and created a protective dome barrier around Ume. She held the technique for a moment, waiting for Tora-sensei's verdict.
After a few seconds, Tora nodded his head in approval, "Well done. You can stop now."
Ume sighed in relief and released her hold on the technique, letting the pillars sink back into the ground. She flopped down on her bum, exhausted from today's Mokuton training. Tora-sensei could be as much of a slave driver as Anko when he really wanted to.
Ume had now passed through her first year as a Genin and was finally starting to gain control of her Kekkei Genkai. Vegetation no long tried to molest her when she walked to close to it, and Ume couldn't be more relieved.
For the past few months, Tora-sensei had trained Ume to use her Doton and Suiton chakra, in a clearing outside of the village (away from prying eyes). He taught her several Water and Earth Jutsus and would make her practice until Ume could do each one without flaw.
After he was satisfied with Ume's Suiton and Doton abilities, Tora began to teach her how to combine the two chakra natures to form Mokuton. Ume found it much more difficult than anything she had ever done before.
Tora-sensei's very first Mokuton training exercise had been for Ume to make an acorn sprout by using the chakra from her Mokuton. It had sounded simple at first, but in reality had been much harder to be put into action. It had taken Ume nearly two months just to cause a single tiny green shoot to appear from the shell. It got easier from there, but not by much.
Ume had had to claw her way up to where she was now. Every time she would complete one of Tora-sensei's exercises, she would just wined up back at square one for the next; for the longest time, it felt like Ume was taking one step forward and two steps back.
It had only been a month-and-a-half ago that Ume had started actual Mokuton Jutsus. Right now, Ume had mastered two wood techniques: the 'Moku Bunshin no Jutsu' and the 'Mokuton: Mokujoheki'. Ume was also working on two still-a-work-in-progress techniques that she had thought of herself: 'Mokuton: Ansatsu no Ne' and 'Mokuton: Ame no Hahen'.
Anko-sensei did say that the mark of a true shinobi was one who created their own Jutsu.
Ume was brought out of her thoughts when Tora-sensei spoke again, "That is all the training we will be doing today, Ume-chan. I' am needed for a mission today."
Ume nodded in acknowledgement, "M'kay." It wasn't uncommon for Tora-sensei to cut their training periods short to go on things like missions, "See ya, Tora-sensei."
Tora-sensei didn't respond before disappearing in a swirl of leaves.
After taking a quick shower and changing into some fresh clothes, Ume made her way down the streets of Konoha; searching for her dango-loving sensei. Sometimes Anko would watch Ume and Tora's training sessions, but most of the time, she would just ditch them and disappear to do Kami knows what.
Surprisingly, Psycho-sensei wasn't at her favorite dango shop, so Ume proceeded to check for her at the next most likely place: the local bars. After a few more minutes of searching, Ume finally found the purple-haired kunoichi laughing her ass off in the ruins of what used to be one Konoha's more popular bar and restaurant. What the hell?
"Hey, Snowflake! Your back early!" greeted Anko cheerfully when Ume approached her.
Ume face palmed when she surveyed the damage, "Ah, man, Sensei! Who let you drink this early in the day? You see what happens when you go on these damn binges of yours? Total chaos!"
Anko growled and smacked Ume upside the head, "Shut up, I didn't do this!"
"Then what the hell happened here?" It seemed that Anko's language was starting to rub off on Ume.
"One of Guy's gakis accidentally had some sake and when ballistic," said Anko, "The kid barely had a sip and 'Boom!'; proceeded to tear the place down. It took both Guy and another gaki to hold the little beast down before he finally passed out."
"…Wait, what? Who is 'Guy'?"
Before Anko could reply, a loud cheerful voice exploded from the ruins of the bar.
"Anko-san! Your Fires of Youth burn as brightly as ever today!"
Ume blinked in surprise at the sight before her. A Jonin with a shiny black bowl-cut and green spandex was all smiles and eyebrows as he approached the two kunoichi. He wore a typical green Jonin vest over a hideous green jumpsuit, as well as bright orange leg warmers. He also wore his hitai-ite around his waist like a belt.
Across the eyebrow-Jonin's shoulders slumped what looked to be his miniature clone. A relative of his, maybe? Coming up behind him were two Genin; a girl and another boy.
The girl was dressed in a pink sleeveless blouse and dark green pants, and wore her hitai-ite in the typical fashion around her forehead. She had big brown eyes and had her brown hair pulled up into two small buns on either side of her head. The rest of her features were pretty non-script.
While the boy sported a khaki shirt and slightly dark brown shorts, with bandages wrapped around his right arm and leg. He also wore his forehead protector in the traditional way. His dark hair was quite long for his gender and had it tied back a few inches above the end, while two straps framed the sides of his face. His eyes were the pale, pupil-less eyes that were only seen in members of the Hyuga clan.
"Not so loud, Guy!" scowled Anko, "I'm gonna get a headache from you spouting off your nonsense."
Ume had to agree with Sensei; this green-wearing Jonin's voice made her want to cringe and run away as soon as possible.
"Do not be so un-youthful, Anko-san!" Guy wasn't at all perturbed by Anko's lack of enthusiasm, "Even after Lee-kun's unfortunate event, the Springtime of Youth still shines brightly on this day!" He gestured to the still unconscious Genin slumped over his shoulder.
'Ah, that must be the kid that Anko-sensei mentioned earlier,' thought Ume. Now that she thought about it, the other two Genin looked a little roughed-up themselves. Probably from trying to stop the other Genin's drunken rampage.
"Whatever, Guy," said Anko, "So, these are your gakis, huh? They look like a colorful bunch."
"Ah, forgive my rudeness!" cried Guy dramatically, he turned to the other two Genin, "Tenten! Neji! Please meet the youthful Anko Mitarashi-san!"
"Pleased to meet you, Anko-san" the girl, Tenten, bowed politely. The boy, Neji, did the same, but stayed silent.
Ume was beginning to feel left out until Guy finally spotted her standing next to Anko. But, if his goofy grin was anything to go by, maybe Ume didn't want to gain his attention…
"Ah, Anko-san! This must be the youthful student that I have heard so much about!" smiled Guy.
Anko seemed to remember Ume was there and grabbed her in a headlock, "Yup! Meet Snowflake!"
"That's not my real name, Sensei!" protested Ume, twisting herself out of Anko's hold, "It's Ume Uzumaki, and you know it."
"Yeah, yeah," Anko waved her off dismissively.
"It is a pleasure to meet you, Ume-san!" said Guy, giving her a thumbs-up and smiling so that his teeth had an unnatural sparkle to them, "May your Flames of Youth burn brightly!"
Ume tried to hold in a cringe, "Um, yeah… you too."
It was around that time that the third Genin, (was Lee his name?) began to stir from his awkward position across Guy's shoulders.
"Is that you, Guy-sensei?" he groaned.
"Ah! Lee, you have finally awakened!" cheered Guy, setting the mini-Guy on down on his feet, "You must meet two of our youthful comrades!" Was this guy obsessed or something?
At Guy's words, Lee's woozy demeanor disappeared completely and he gave Ume and Anko a "nice Guy pose", "Greetings, kunoichi-san! I' am Rock Lee, Konoha's Handsome Green Beast!"
Ume forced a smile, "Um, nice to meet you." 'Oh, Kami, there's two of them.'
Psycho-sensei must have been having the same thoughts as Ume, and tried to rap things up, "Weeeelllll, it's been great meeting each other buuuut, Snowflake and I gotta get going. We have a super-hard training exercise to do, and Ume would just hate to miss it."
'Yeah, I bet.' thought Ume.
Anko's words just seemed to excite Guy more, "Oh! It must be a most excellent training exercise to excite Ume-san Flames of Youth!"
"Well, I don't mean to brag," grinned Anko, "But, the training game I made for Ume has given some pretty impressive results. I would have to say that her speed and stamina have increased three-times what they started out as."
Ume looked at Anko suspiciously. What was she up to? What game was she trying to lure Guy into?… wait, did she mean?
Guy looked intrigued, "What is this incredible training game, Anko-san? Please, do show us!"
"Yes, please show us, Anko-san!" Lee repeated after his older clone.
'She better not..' thought Ume, sending her sensei a death glare.
Ignoring Ume, Anko pretended to think about it for a moment, before smiling (a little too sweetly for Ume's taste), "Sure, why not? I sure Ume-chan would like a few extra playmates. As for what the game is called, well it's just something I like to call "Catch the Snowflake"."
'Crap!'
Ume scowled at the purple-haired kunoichi who was once again freeloading at her and Naruto's apartment, "I can't believe you did that. Those guys will probably be scarred for life now."
After Psycho-sensei had persuaded Guy Might and his team to play "Catch the Snowflake", (which was re-named "Catch the Gakis" a the time being) the three other Genin soon learned of the horrors hidden behind the innocent name.
Anko just laughed, "It was good for the gakis to experience a little fear! It will give them a head start in the real world."
Naruto looked between the two, "What happened, huh?"
Ume sighed as she continued to make dinner, "You don't wanna know, Ototo. You don't wanna know."
A/N: I know, another filler chapter. -.-; But, the plot will continue at the next chapter. In the mean time, please review! =^.^=
Japanese/ Jutsu List:
- Kami: god
- Mokuton: Mokujoheki: Wood Release: Wood Locking Wall
- Moku Bunshin no Jutsu: Wood Clone Technique
- Mokuton: Ansatsu no Ne: Wood Release: Assassin Root
- Mokuton: Ame no Hahen: Wood Release: Splinter Barrage
