First chapter of November, hurray!
It's been a while since we've had some scenes of just Sasuke and Naruko, with nothing else to it. And there's plenty of that in this chapter, so I hope you guys all enjoy. Don't forget to leave a review, and to follow and favorite if you haven't already.
Enjoy!
Some couples solved their arguments and problems through words.
"Argh! Get off of me, you stupid teme!" Naruko growled, writhing on the ground.
Sasuke and Naruko, however, didn't.
"You are not going up to him." Sasuke said, his voice firm. "If you confront him now, it's not going to take long before he realizes that I was the one who told you."
Bystanders were giving them odd looks, but none of them acted… actually, most of them just walked past the two. Naruko, about five minutes after Sasuke had revealed the Akatsuki to her, had tried to make her escape to the Hokage's office. Once the shock had faded and her anger returned, she was dead set giving her father a piece of her mind about not disclosing something so serious like the Akatsuki to her. Thankfully, Sasuke had skillfully tackled her to the ground.
Which lead them to their current situation.
"So what?" Naruko said, elbowing him in the side. Sasuke gritted his teeth, his arms looped around her torso, his legs locked around hers as he kept her wrestled to the ground. "I don't care if he knows who told me! I'm gonna go up there and kick his-"
"Listen, Naruko." Sasuke murmured. "Whatever 'idea' you have as to what you think is going to happen, isn't going to happen. Hokage-sama isn't going to give in to whatever complaints you make unless you have something to back it up…!" She continued to struggle, but Sasuke had her hands locked down, leaving her unable to make the vital hand seal for a shadow clone to come to her aid.
"What do you mean back it up?" Naruko rasped.
"You're strong, Naruko, but you could hardly match a jounin at this point." Sasuke murmured.
Naruko huffed, her face red. Her henge dispelled - but any of her unique features were smothered by the dust they were kicking up. "You're a chunin!" she grunted. "How are you one to talk?"
"Trust me, I have my reasons for not being a jounin yet." Sasuke muttered. His tone sounded slightly bitter. "You might be as strong as us - but all of us have a vital skill, needed for the mission. The sharingan, Sakura's medical ninjutsu, Shikamaru's ability to manipulate shadows, Kiba's ability to track our enemies via smell. What do you have to bring to the table, Naruko? A rasengan? Loud words? If the Yondaime wanted that, he'd just go himself."
She continued to struggle for a moment longer, before settling down. Perhaps, a moment of clarity hit her - and before the dust settled down, the henge was once again obscuring her distinctive features.
"Fine." Naruko grumbled. "You're smart, then. What should I do, oh mister 'I'm so cool?'"
Sasuke shook his head softly. "How about working on perfecting the rasengan?" he said. "You still haven't gotten it down pat yet."
"And you've still got that snake training thing to worry about." Naruko said observantly.
"Yeah… I do." Sasuke said. "Can I let you up, now?"
She closed her eyes for a moment. Now that she wasn't struggling, their little public disturbance was quickly becoming unnoticed. The crowd had picked up it's steady rhythm once more, people simply stepping around the two of them.
"Go ahead." Naruko mumbled.
This was something that Naruko had come to realize ever since she had met him. Sasuke… beyond anyone else, Sasuke could so effortlessly calm her down. He didn't need to scream and fly into a rage like Kushina. Nor did he have to resort to bribery like Minato or Kakashi would be tempted to. All it took was a little heavy-handedness, a calm yet rational explanation, and her anger would simply… float away. It was eerie. And he seemed to have no trouble with that fact, for he did it without anyone even needing to ask him to.
She stood up, brushing the dirt and dust off the front of her henged clothes. Naruko shook her head, purposefully avoiding Sasuke's gaze, for he was right. What did she have to offer against a group like the Akatsuki? Hordes of shadow clones could only do so much, and even a jutsu in the vein of the rasengan was useless without the speed and skill to back it up. Sure, it might seem that she and Sasuke were evenly matched to the untrained eye - but, a small part of her had always known that he was holding back, whether it was not taking opportunities to counter attack that he could have, or simply not using the sharingan to its fullest extent.
"What do you suggest I do, then?" Naruko said gruffly. "The rasengan training… it just doesn't work. I try, and I try, and nothing happens." Frustration brimmed in every word that escaped her lips. "I wish I could be like you… or… or tou-san. I wish things would just come to me like that." She snapped her fingers. "But it doesn't. All my hard work, and all I get in return is some stupid rasengan that's the size of a golf ball!"
She took a deep breath, her hands curled into balls, her blue eyes glimmering. Naruko rubbed her eyes with the back of a hand. Sasuke merely… looked at her for a moment, a carefully blank look on his face. He tilted his head to the side, perhaps curiously, something flickering in those black eyes of his.
"There is something that I hadn't gotten around to telling you, yet." Sasuke said, casually slipping a hand into his pocket. "Anko says that she's going off on a long mission. She gave me a list of things to do while she was gone… and to be frank, I'm not interested in being surrounded by hordes of snakes all on my lonesome."
"That sounds fair." Naruko said softly. "How's that supposed to help with my problem, though?"
Sasuke raked his fingers through his hair. "I suppose we could… help each other." The words sounded… strange coming from his mouth, as if the prospect of asking for help, or even offering to work together with someone was a foreign concept to the Uchiha. Even if it was his girlfriend. "Who knows? Maybe… we'll have some tips to give each other on our problems."
"It's worth a shot at the very least." Naruko said, smiling now. "And plus… I'm sure we can have some time to take a break, and maybe…" Her voice, sultry.
Sasuke smirked. "Oh…"
"... go to Ichiraku's!" Naruko finished, beaming.
Sasuke sighed.
"I… argh." Sasuke shook his head almost solemnly, rubbing the bridge of his nose. "I refuse to go to Ichiraku's again." he said, locking gazes with her and holding it. "After losing half of my monthly income to you and your mother…" He mock shuddered. "I am not doing that again."
Naruko folded her arms across her chest. He could almost see her whisker markers - which had disappeared as a result of the henge - stretching as she grinned at him. "Is that so?" she said cheekily, eyes twinkling mischievously.
"I'm not backing down on this, Naruko."
She took a step forward, so that their faces were mere centimeters away from each other. He could feel her hot breath fanning out across his face.
"Wanna bet?" Naruko murmured.
Sasuke's eyes narrowed.
Her grin widened.
"You're a jerk, Sasuke…" Naruko whined, setting her head down on the counter top.
Sasuke hefted a towering bag full of groceries right down beside her head. "I think that me getting you to eat something other than ramen for once in a blue moon is the opposite of me being a jerk." he said. He reached into the bag, pulling out a package of frozen fish. "It's better fresh," Sasuke murmured, wiping a bit of frost off of the front. "But we'll have to make do with what we have. We can get started on training tomorrow… first thing's first, I'm going to make you a proper dinner for once in your life."
"Ra… ramen…" she moaned weakly, closing her eyes and sticking out her tongue in an exaggerated 'dying' look. "I need it, Sasuke. I neeed it."
"What you need," Sasuke said. "Is to get a cooking pan out of the cabinet for me." He pointed at said cabinet, which was across the kitchen. "It should be in the top left corner… it's silver, and looks like a cauldron of sorts - you can't miss it."
She bit her lip. "Jerk." Naruko grumbled - though it was obvious that she didn't really mean it. She slumped across the kitchen, purposefully shuffling her feet. She made quite the ruckus of throwing the cabinet open and sifting through the pans, though Sasuke took no notice, having already begun to unpack the various ingredients and foods from the grocery bag. "Here's your stupid pan." Naruko huffed, pressing it into his arms.
"Mmm." Sasuke muttered. He set it down on the stove. "Just follow my instructions, and hopefully this won't come out too bad." he said, pulling out a large, several pound bag of white rice. He filled up the pan with water, set it back down on the stove, and stoked the flame beneath the burner to life with a twist of the switch.
"What are we making?" Naruko asked.
"A recipe you could find in any old cookbook." Sasuke said simply.
"That's… not very descriptive." she said.
He rolled his eyes. "Are you going to remember whether I tell you or not?"
Naruko chuckled nervously, rubbing the back of her neck. "Yeah." she said, her cerulean eyes twinkling. "Probably not." She clapped her hands together. "But! I guess if you say it's not gonna be disgusting, I'll help you make this stupid recipe then." Naruko grinned. "So long as you promise me Ichiraku's next time we go out."
Sasuke's lips pressed into a thin line. "We'll see." he said neutrally.
"Thanks, Sasuke!" Naruko said, clapping him on the shoulder. He sighed, shaking his head slowly. "So… what's first?"
It was… nice.
Sasuke's instructions were precise, and straight to the point. He wasn't vague about what he wanted Naruko to do - and so, while he was slaving over the stove, Naruko was meandering around the kitchen, doing this thing and that. Mashing together ingredients in a bowl, retrieving a pan, grabbing things from the cabinets and the refrigerator, among other things.
Of course, he didn't have her working the entire time. Sometimes, Sasuke would give her a moment or two of rest, while his skilled hand would chop vegetables or stir a pot. And kami… she loved those moments.
Sasuke was unlike any man she had ever known. There was just an… elegance about everything he did. A beauty, in the way his fingers would so easily carry out their task, every movement effortlessly specific and precise, not even a second wasted as he prepared their meal.
It was engrossing to watch. Often, Sasuke would have to repeat her name once or twice, because sometimes she just found herself lost in him.
The end result of their cooperation was a nice, warm, home cooked meal. Sasuke carefully arranged the food on his plate, while Naruko simply loaded her own with as much fish and rice she could cram. They retired to the couch, sitting down beside each other, quiet aside from the snapping of their chopsticks and idle hum of the television, which Naruko had taken the liberty of turning on.
"I… am… stuffed." Naruko said, sprawled out against the couch, her legs spread and her hands resting on her belly. "Ugh... I think if I ate any more, I'd probably throw up."
Sasuke, of course, looked no worse for wear. He rolled his eyes at her antics, tipping his head back and downing the last of a cup of water that he'd gone and poured for himself only a few minutes prior.
"You're a slob." Sasuke said, though there was no venom behind his words… instead, more of a teasing tone. He smirked at her, his black eyes full of a warmth that he would rather die than reveal to anyone aside from her and his family.
"And you're a jerk." she replied without a second thought. Naruko reached a hand up, yanking the scrunchies out of her hair and allowing it to drift down in a glossy curtain.
Sasuke swallowed, averting his eyes. If there was ever a moment he found his delightful girlfriend at her most beautiful , it was when her hair was down. Actually, scratch that - it was all of the time. And even now, with her lips smudged with bits of rice, clad in a pair of his sweatpants that she had commandeered and looking thoroughly… well, slobbish, she was still so damned beautiful in his eyes. He couldn't help himself, and he turned his gaze back to her, devouring her curves with his eyes, his pants starting to feel uncomfortably tight.
"I'm tired." Naruko mumbled, leaning over and setting her head down on his shoulder. She wiped her mouth with the back of a hand… and then, she beamed up at him - those big blue eyes entrancing his black ones. "But I don't wanna go home yet, either." she said lightly.
He took a deep, shuddering breath, closing his eyes for a scant moment.
If there was a single trait that someone could fault Sasuke for, it was his impulsiveness.
And kami… right then and there, in that moment, he just couldn't help himself. His eyes snapped open. With a passion that could only come from an Uchiha, he slammed against Naruko, pressing his lips against hers, the both of them falling across the couch.
Naruko wasn't that surprised. If Sasuke could read her like an open book, then Naruko could read him just as well - and already, she had a surprising proficiency for detecting when and where he was going to jump her. Actually, she had begun to loosen the drawstring of her sweatpants in preparation for what she was sure was going to be a very hot night.
"Mmm… you're insatiable." Naruko whispered, her voice husky, her lips already red from the fury of his assault.
Sasuke smirked. "You wouldn't have me any other way." he said.
Then, he descended upon her once more, his fingers drifting down to undo his trousers.
Naruko was deeply glad that she was a kunoichi - for she thought that if she didn't have the excuse of going out to train nearly every day, she'd probably have next to no time to spend with her boyfriend. There was only so many times Minato would buy that she was going to Ichiraku's… even for someone like Uzumaki Kushina's daughter.
Still, she had to be careful. Pretending that she was going out to train every day, and coming home with hickies instead of bruises, sore thighs instead of sore fists… to put it shortly, it was a recipe for disaster if Minato looked too closely into it.
Thus, the addition of Kushina when it came to their secret relationship helped Naruko… a lot. Kushina and Naruko were two sides of the same coin; so long as Naruko managed to keep the more 'physical' aspect of her and Sasuke under lock and key, keeping her mother blissfully ignorant, Kushina was more than willing to help Naruko keep Minato in the dark.
She called it romantic, Kushina did. Star crossed lovers having to lie to their parents about their love (Naruko had blushed furiously at the usage of that word). Kushina had said that it read like one of those romance novels that she had adored as a kid. With a lot of squealing and squashing Naruko against her bust added, of course, not to mention swooning.
"My little Naruko-chan, all grown up!"
Naruko was probably going to cringe whenever she heard Naruko-chan, ever again. Thank kami her boyfriend pretty much disdained honorifics in any way shape or form, at least for people who weren't his parents.
And so, two days after Naruko learned the truth about the Akatsuki, they prepared for their first true training session together. Not one where Sasuke held back, not one that was interrupted by brief make out sessions, or was cut short by one of them getting aroused and jumping the other. They couldn't have that, they just couldn't. Naruko had to get stronger, and even Sasuke had a ways to go still. The two of them just could not afford distractions from their goal - to make sure the Akatsuki couldn't get their hands on the Kyuubi, in any way shape or form.
Sasuke landed in the clearing without a sound. He cast his gaze about for a moment, as if to make sure the place was truly empty, before taking a deep breath. A gentle rasp echoed throughout the clearing as he pulled his sword from its sheath, the blade gleaming in the light that broke through the canopy.
He wasn't expecting Naruko to show up for quite a while, and so he went through a few stretches - just to loosen up the muscles and such. The sword, flawless in production and sharpened to the point where it could scythe through bone with ease, was like an extension of his arm. He wielded it effortlessly, his practice jabs and slashes causing whistling noises to tear through the air, a side effect of the sheer speed at which he was swinging the sword.
This was far too light a workout to truly get him even slightly winded, but it did get his blood pumping. That familiar rhythm of his heart thumping against his ribcage was… comforting in a way, and slowly, he felt a smirk begin to curl his lips.
He felt chakra pump to his feet, and just as an experiment, he rushed a nearby tree. With just his blade and sheer strength - no added chakra or lightning chakra added aside from aiding his speed - he slammed the sword into a tree. The blade embedded itself four, five inches into the tree bark with virtual ease, an explosion of wood chips blanketing the opposite direction.
Sasuke grinned. Pulling the blade back, he allowed his lightning jutsu to churn into his sword… and soon, the sound of a thousand chirping birds filled the clearing. He held the lightning infused sword aloft, and with a single one armed swipe, cut clean through the rest of the tree. The tree shuddered and groaned, and a swift kick to just above the newly formed gap sent it tumbling down away from him, branches and leaves being torn off the trunk by other trees.
The chirping slowly faded away. A single heavy sigh escaped his lips. If only his younger self could see what he was able to do now, Sasuke thought… it would be quite the sight to his reaction. The seven year old who had to work day in and out to even conjure a simple fireball, witnessing himself a decade later able to scythe through a tree with blatant ease.
He spent the next several minutes simply swinging his sword, running through a few simple maneuvers that he liked to keep topped off - as they had come in handy on numerous occasions. A swift roundhouse kick. A simple counter attack, parry than thrust. Among other things, of course, but that was the gist of it.
However, after a short while, something gave him pause. Sasuke stopped mid swing, planting the tip of his sword into the grass, his ears perking up.
"You big jerk!" a familiar voice yelled. "You got started without me!"
Naruko landed in front of Sasuke with a flourish, a vast grin stretching her lips. If anyone was ready for training, it was her - clad in that typical orange and black jumpsuit, her blonde hair tied up into those cute pigtails of hers. She seemed to glow with a vibrancy that seemed almost inhuman, her bright smile nearly blinding Sasuke.
"I was just warming up." Sasuke said, slipping his blade back into the sheath tied to his waist. "Besides, it's not my fault you were late." They'd agreed to meet at nine in the morning - Sasuke had made sure to arrive exactly on time, and he was sure that almost ten minutes had passed since he'd arrived. Not incredibly late, not anywhere near Kakashi levels, but it wasn't as if he was going to let her off the hook for it.
Naruko stuck her tongue out of him. "You're lucky that I didn't make a pit stop at Ichiraku's before I came here." she said, patting her stomach affectionately. "Curves like these need ramen on a constant basis to maintain!"
Sasuke snorted. "If you weren't a kunoichi, I'd imagine you would have ended up weighing two hundred kilos by now." he said lowly.
"Hey!" Naruko said, her expression undignified. "Don't talk about my ramen like that. It is not fattening… Ichiraku's wouldn't make anyone even a pound heavier!" she insisted.
He rolled his eyes. "Whatever." Sasuke said, sensing that Naruko was not going to back down when it came to defending her beloved ramen. "What do you want to start with?"
"Snakes, snakes!" Naruko said, clapping her hands together like an excited little girl. "I wanna see them!"
Sasuke repressed a shudder. "Alright…" he said, after a moment's pause. He went to bite his thumb - but hesitated. He was likely to need to summon quite a few snakes, and thus he would need a steady flow. Slipping a kunai from his pouch, he etched a small cut across his thumb with the point, watching as blood began to shed down his skin near instantaneously.
The seals were simple, and the amount of chakra needed to summon the average snake was fairly minimal. His fingers were swift, and it was only ten seconds later when he pressed his palm against the ground. There was a puff of cloud white smoke. A hiss, as the newly summoned snake happily slithered up his arm.
Sasuke shuddered.
"It's so cool!" Naruko said, grinning broadly. "Ooo… do you think tou-san would let me have a pet snake? I bet it could be so super useful! I mean, imagine what you could do with a snake?"
"Yeah…" Sasuke mumbled. "Imagine."
"Can they talk?" Naruko asked. "Like toads, I mean?"
"Some of them can." he said offhandedly. "I can't imagine that the majority of snakes can talk, but I…" Sasuke paused. "I have a sort of… partner, I suppose, one that I know for sure can speak like a human can."
She clapped her hands together eagerly. "Summon him!" Naruko said. "I wanna talk to a snake. That just sounds awesome!"
He bit the inside of his cheek. Ophidiophobia - or the fear of snakes - had certainly found a way to sink its claws into him. He really was against the prospect of being a snake summoner… but the strengths far outweighed the drawbacks. Anko had shown him just a hint of what a full fledged snake user could do, and it was breathtaking. There were so many different uses and powers that would be useable… but in order to access it, he had to conquer his fears.
"Alright… su- sure." Sasuke said. The flow of blood from his thumb was still evident, and so he didn't have to open a new cut. He flew through the seals once more. There wasn't some sort of secret chakra criteria that he needed to hit in order to summon Aoda to his side. He didn't even know if there was some specific way that ensured that his 'partner' would be the one summoned. But, instinctively, Sasuke knew that Aoda would respond to his call.
There was a much larger puff of smoke this time. Sasuke took a few cautious steps back, but Naruko held her ground, an eager grin on her face.
"You called, Sssasuke-sama?" Aoda hissed.
He blinked. "You… grew." Sasuke said.
Aoda was at least half a meter longer now, the size of your average boa constrictor. It hadn't been that long, surely. "I am no longer in hibernation, Sasuke-sama." Aoda said simply, his tail waving from side to side lazily. "I was bred specifically for battle, Sasuke-sama… so, I will eventually reach a size that will surpass even the tallest trees in your Konoha forests."
Naruko crouched down in front of Aoda. "Hi!" she chirped, beaming down at the snake as if it were a newborn infant that had just done something cute. "I'm Uzumaki Naruko! What's your name?"
Aoda looked at her curiously, unblinking. "I am Aoda." he said. "It is a pleasure to meet Sasuke-sama's mate."
She grinned. "Listen to that, Sasuke!" Naruko said. "He called us 'mates'!"
Sasuke sighed.
"I'm going to go out on a limb here, but are your fangs like... poisonous?" Naruko asked. "I mean, Sasuke told me that you bit him and all…"
"I have the ability to choose which poison my fangs may inject into my foes or allies." Aoda replied. "The particular poison that I gave Sasuke-sama was a requirement if he was to become a snake summoner. However… I have other ones, that I may switch between depending on Sasuke-sama's wishes. One that can paralyze… one that can keep them conscious but in unimaginable pain, and of course, one that will kill within minutes."
"Sounds cool!" Naruko said. "So, how did you know that Sasuke and I were like… going out?" she asked.
"The two of us are bound by more than just blood." Aoda said, looking up at her with those curious golden eyes. "I am not telepathic… but I have a certain awareness when it comes to the emotions that Sasuke is feeling. And the way he feels whenever he looks at you is more than enough for me to make an educated guess that you two are mates."
Naruko beamed, and Sasuke's cheeks went pink.
"Jeez, how can you not love these things?" Naruko exclaimed. "Can I pick you up? Can I, can I?"
"I do not see a reason why I wouldn't allow you to." Aoda replied.
Despite her relatively petite figure, Naruko hefted up Aoda like a mother would her child. Aoda slithered and coiled around her arms, hissing in contentment. "You're such a wuss!" Naruko said, seeing the look on Sasuke's face. "Aoda… get him!"
If Aoda was a human, Sasuke was sure that he would be smirking. "On it, Naruko-sama." Aoda hissed, before springing at Sasuke. He bit back a yelp, ducking out of the way of the meter long snake.
"Get back here, Sasuke!" Naruko exclaimed. She chased after him, Aoda slithering behind her. "Stop running away!"
"I am not running away." Sasuke insisted, while flickering to the other side of the clearing. "I am… er… choosing to make a tactical retreat."
"Coward!" Naruko screeched, though she was grinning.
That little game of cat and mouse continued for longer than Sasuke was willing to admit. But, in the end - after a skillful maneuver that involved shadow clones, a well timed Orioke no Jutsu (that startled him, nothing more), and an opportunistic spring from Aoda, he was caught.
Flat on his back, Aoda was curled lazily around his entire body.
"See?" Naruko said, hands on her hips, standing above him. "It's not so bad, is it?"
Sasuke's eye twitched. Naruko had to continuously slap his hand away whenever it drifted towards his sheathed sword. "Fine." Sasuke growled. "It's… not bad." That was as much ground as he was willing to give.
Naruko gave Aoda's head an affectionate rub. The snake hissed - perhaps, his version of a purr - affectionately. "We've got some other stuff to do, Aoda-chan." Naruko said. "So you can go back home for now."
"Please do." Sasuke grunted.
"I will be waiting for the next time you call upon me, Sasuke-sama." Aoda said. He vanished in a cloud of smoke, and Sasuke was surprised at how… unaffected he was by his 'partner's' departure. As in, he didn't feel a sense of relief or of elation from Aoda being gone. As if Aoda's presence didn't have a tensing effect on him as it might have had just a day prior.
Naruko extended a hand, and Sasuke accepted it - the blonde pulling him to his feet. He shook his head slightly.
Apparently… when he was around Naruko, soothed by her voice and by her presence… snakes weren't all that bad.
"Time to work on your rasengan." Sasuke said, after a moment. Naruko grinned and nodded, looking distinctly ruffled and yet exuding this aura of… brightness that seemed to shadow any potential worries in his life. "So… show me it, I guess. I'll see what I can help you with." Ebony eyes bled into the crimson sharingan, the three tomoes swirling lazily.
Naruko nodded.
She extended her arm, her other hand gripping her wrist tightly. Her face screwed in concentration, and her breathing grew rather heavy. Finally, after a moment, a golf ball sized rasengan sprung to life in her palm.
Sasuke's sharingan eyes were still, as was he. Not a single muscle on his body moved, as he stared at the rasengan.
"... I don't think you're doing anything wrong." Sasuke said. "I think… hmm."
"What?" Naruko asked.
"I… want to try something." Sasuke said. This kind of idea was a little strange for him - but… maybe, it would work. "Stand still."
Her breath hitched, for he hadn't waited for her to reply… in a flicker faster than she could perceive, he was suddenly behind her. Naruko felt her face heat slightly as he wound his arms around her.
"You need to relax." Sasuke whispered. "Relax…"
Naruko took a few deep breaths. They had agreed to keep these training sessions strictly professional - but really, when he was so close to her, his firm body pressed against hers… it brought up memories that would probably lead to something that was certainly not training.
The golf ball sized rasengan in her hand had dissipated. But… slowly… surely, steadily, Naruko felt the tension in her limbs ebb away. Her breathing evened out. Sasuke's warmth seemed to spread throughout her body, and the comforting embrace of his arms was bordering on heavenly.
"Now try again." Sasuke said.
"Okay." Naruko whispered.
It seemed almost natural to her.
Her eyes widened, as the blue ball of chakra sprung to life in her palm, spinning wildly, glowing with a sort of energy that mimicked her own. It was a rasengan, the same size of her ordinary ones… and she'd done it with one hand. No kage bunshin had been required.
"You were straining yourself." he murmured quietly, and she soaked in his every word. "You were focusing too much, trying far too hard to create that rasengan. You had the power to do it… but you were handicapping yourself inadvertently."
"I… I get it." Naruko murmured.
She dispelled the rasengan in her palm, before turning and grinning at him.
Now, the problem wasn't entirely fixed.
It was difficult for her to replicate that same rasengan without Sasuke wrapped around her. But… it was a step, a massive one. She knew that she could do it now - and by the end of the day's training Naruko had managed to do the rasengan one handed without Sasuke's help.
It was only a matter of time now.
Knowing how to do the rasengan one handed was a vital step. Now, she could devote her time to her true objective - adding the wind element to her rasengan. Once that was done… perhaps she could come up with a new jutsu, one even more powerful than anything her father had in his arsenal.
Only time would tell.
If one had a keen eye and a good sense of hearing, they would have been able to see a hawk fly into Konoha soon after the sun had set.
It cawed, beating it's mighty wings and soaring through the sky. On and on it went, before landing inside the messanger station, a scroll clutched in one of its talons. The scroll was taken, decrypted… and immediately sent to the Hokage.
The message was short, and to the point.
Two Akatsuki members trampling around the north of the country. Looking into it myself, but they're slippery. Need you to send a team to help me locate and take them down.
Jiraiya
The next battle of the war against the Akatsuki was about to begin.
And that's a wrap.
There should be some actual action scenes in the upcoming chapters! Woo hoo! Let's see how that turns out.
This is chapter ten, and I consider it a very important one when it comes to character development. So don't be sparse with those reviews, guys! I appreciate each and every review that you all leave me, whether it's long or short, praising my endlessly or critizing me. But please, refrain from those infamous 'one or two word reviews', :P.
Thanks for reading. And as always, have an awesome, awesome day. Stay tuned for more, and don't forget to add this story and me to your follows/favorites if you haven't already.