When Rain Falls

by AwkwardMoogle137

Kotone and her team are just genin from Amegakure hoping to pass the Chunin Exams. However, very rarely do things go so nicely. After three years of being apart, they have to learn to be a team again. With new emotions and personalities, the task proves harder than expected as the ninja world is threatened by old faces. Rated M for MUCH later content.

10. Basics are Harder the Second Time Around

When Rain Falls: Chapter 10 – Basics are Harder the Second Time Around

Disclaimer: Everything, other than my own characters, belongs to Masashi Kishimoto.

Birds were chirping as the sun rose over Konoha. Kotone stretched as she walked to the kitchen where her parents were already eating.

"Kotone!" her father greeted, "Going to do some more training today?"

"I've been working on my balance lately, but I might see if Toko-sensei wants to do anything now that more of the repairs are done or manageable. It's been a while since I got to train with Kaori or Takumi."

"Ohhh," Yuuto sighed.

Kotone looked at her father with a quizzical expression, but her mother was the one to explain, "He's just sad you won't see us open the store. We opened the one in Ame before you were born, but this time you've got responsibilities of your own."

"If you want I could wait until after you open the shop!"

Yuuto's face regained hope, but he cringed at the glare from his wife. "M-maybe you shouldn't keep your team waiting."

"It shouldn't be a problem! I'll stay until the shop is opened and then I'll go to Toko-sensei's house!"

Hotaru sighed at her family despite the growing smile she poorly hid. Her husband was such a child when it came to Kotone. Her daughter was no better either.

"Okay! We open the store after breakfast!"

"Papa, aren't you worried business won't be good at first?"

Yuuto crossed his arms as a pensive look took over his peaceful expression, "It's true people might not need my tools right away, but I also often custom crafting. Oh! You should tell your friends I'll give them a discount if they need anything."

"Now that I think about it, there was a girl in the exams who seemed like a weapons specialist. I actually used her fight to win mine during the preliminaries. I'll make sure she knows about the custom work!"

Yuuto smiled and pat his daughter's head softly. Hotaru let out an exaggerated sigh as she picked up the dishes, Kotone knew the sound a cue to help her clean up.

The family moved down the stairs to the shop lined with various ninja tools and weapons. Even tools for crafting in case that was someone's preference, like Takumi. There was a porch that had the materials for crafting, such as a small forge and anvil for work though Yuuto only used that during the middle of the day when no one would be sleeping. If he was making tools into the night he would only do the finer crafting as to not wake any neighbors.

"Okay!" Hotaru took in a deep breath and she moved to unlock the doors at the front of the shop. Kotone and Yuuto stood back as the sunlight was exposed with the opening. There were a few curious citizens outside, some Kotone recognized from the reconstruction sites her father helped with.

"I figured they'd be here. They might not be shinobi, but many of my tools are good for other career paths," Yuuto smiled at his surprised daughter. Kotone just stared as her father in his large blue and white kimono moved to greet the few individuals.

"Yuuto-sama!" one of them called his attention as he pointed to a sculpting tool. Her father answered questions with gestures to demonstrate how they were different and more effective than present tools.

"Look at that," Hotaru rejoined her daughter, "this is more than the store in Ame ever saw at a time. Though he turned away a lot of customers there."

"Yeah. He only offers services to people who are deserving of help. Those who would abuse it are denied at the door. Didn't that ever worry you in Ame?"

"What do you think I was around for?" Hotaru smirked and moved her hand causing her puppets in the corners to twitch. Kotone sweatdropped at the fact that her mother had likely threatened many Ame ninja who would try to pressure her father into selling them something.

"Alright, I should be off!" Kotone jogged toward the door.

"You don't want your jacket or wires today?"

Kotone shook her head with a bright smile, "I'm going back through the basics, remember?"

Hotaru smiled and waved as her daughter left the shop.

Kotone reached Toko-sensei's house quickly due to its close proximity to her own. The door opened before she could knock.

"Kotone," Toko greeted with Kaori and Takumi putting on their sandals behind her. "Good timing, I was going to get you on the way. Training resumes today. Once the next Hokage is chosen we'll have missions again and we need to be ready to do our part."

"You sound more serious than normal, Toko-sensei," Kotone raised an eyebrow as her sensei twitched at the comment.

"Ask your teammates," she replied with a cold glare over her shoulder at the two who were waiting in silence. They jumped at the eye contact and averted their stares immediately.

"Oh? What did you two do?" Kotone asked as Toko brushed past her.

"Nothing!" Kaori replied in a small yell, her cheeks blushing. Takumi turned his head away and rubbed the back of his neck, also avoiding the topic.

"Oi! Someone has to tell me what happened. How are we supposed to train together if you two won't even look at each other?"

Takumi sighed and put his hand up to Kotone's ear, his voice quiet, "Kaori walked in on me in the bath. After that she started to shout and throw things at me. When I finally got dressed she tried to hit me and ended up cracking a wall in the house."

Kotone covered her mouth to stifle her laughter. She could picture Kaori's happy demeanor melting into an embarrassment driven rage, throwing anything she could reach at Takumi would be trying to stay modest. Her eyes widened at a thought, "T-Takumi? Did she see you..."

Takumi just turned his head, a blush going up to his ears. Kotone couldn't hold back her laughter anymore. Toko was the only one to remain unphased by Kotone's laugh, her other students were red with embarassment.

"Kotone-chan! It's not funny! He saw me too!" Kaori complained, her face puffed up in a pout.

"Takumi!" Kotone turned to scold him, but he gave her a look that stopped her. It wasn't his fault Kaori walked into the bath when it was occupied.

"I had to chose to either cover myself or my eyes," he finished his defense before trotting to keep up with Toko-sensei.

Kaori grumbled in anger as she stayed at pace with Kotone. The white haired girl pat Kaori's shoulder in comfort, "It's okay Kaori. Takumi isn't a pervert, but next time you should knock before opening the bath. As for what you saw and what he saw, well, that you'll just have to get over. There's nothing to be ashamed of!"

"Have you ever been seen like that, Kotone-chan?" her dark blue eyes stared up at her with curiosity.

"Ah. No. Other than my family when I was younger I imagine, I don't think anyone has. Though eventually I might date someone!"

Kaori blushed at what Kotone was suggesting. It took the older girl a minute before she realized she had phrased it wrong and suggested something indecent.

"Ah, no. Wait –"

"I didn't think Kotone-chan was so direct," Kaori averted her eyes.

"I'm not! Kaori I didn't mean it that way!"

Kaori stuck out her tongue at Kotone and the frost haired girl realized her teammate was just teasing her in response for her laughing at their predicament earlier.

"Oh. Do you have anyone you like, Kotone-chan?"

Kotone put a finger to her chin and closed her eyes in thought, "Well I haven't really met anyone my age here, but the teams your age are nice. The boys here are more attractive than Ame, though that wasn't a high bar to pass. I don't know yet! How about you Kaori?"

Kaori blushed and nodded, "I do, but I haven't really gotten to talk to him."

"Oh?! Who? Who?" Kotone prodded her young teammate. She had never seen Kaori so excited about a boy since most kids in Ame considered her to be a freak given her fighting style. The poor girl had never known anyone to crush on, but this new home was brimming with opportunities it seemed.

Kaori shook her head, her bangs tickling her brow as a smile spread across her face, "I don't want to jinx it, Kotone-chan!"

"That's not a bad idea. If you told any of us we'd probably try to get involved in some way! Who do you think Takumi likes?"

Kaori furrowed her brows, "What is his type?"

Kotone had only asked so that the teasing could be shared by all of their team, but Kaori's question stumped her. He had always picked on her for her personality so she imagined it would be someone not like her. "So...someone like Hinata, maybe?" Kotone tilted her head as she stared at her teammate and tried to picture him with the quiet Hyuga. She shook her head when the picture just didn't line up.

"I don't know, actually. I guess we'll just have to see! Maybe he'll end up a lonely old man!"

"That's mean, Kotone-chan. Everyone should find someone to spend their life with!" Kaori reprimanded.

Kotone nodded and they spent the rest of the trip catching up on Kaori's growing talents.

"Kotone," Toko's voiced brought the two girls out of their chatting, "Where are you gauntlets?"

Kotone froze when she realized Toko was going to have her using her wires. She hadn't told her yet what she had been doing the last few days during reconstruction.

"Well, Toko-sensei, I was going back through the basics. So I didn't think to grab them."

"The basics?" Toko furrowed her brow, but she nodded after a minute of contemplation. "Then all of you should review the basics."

"Eh? Why?" Takumi asked curiously. He wasn't opposed given that he was training in basic physical fitness recently, but Kaori and Kotone had powerful understandings of the basics. Why go backwards?

"A good question, but let's see if you can figure it out," Toko strung out two ropes much like the one Kotone had used before the tournament. "Kotone and Takumi, on the ropes!"

"Eh? Why only those two?" Kaori asked.

"Because you don't need the work these two do. I want you to kick that tree trunk 100 times with each leg. Once you finish that, call me over."

Kaori nodded and went to the trunk she was instructed to hit. It was clear her sensei didn't want her to do her normal chakra laced hits, but rather to just strike at the tree like a genin fresh out of the academy might if they were practicing taijutsu.

Meanwhile, Takumi and Kotone stood on the ropes, the former struggling to maintain his position while his teammate was perfectly balanced.

Toko looked between the two before focusing on Takumi. "You have to hold still on the rope on one leg until Kaori finishes 100 strikes with one leg. Then you can switch until she finishes the other leg. We've been working on your upper body strength mostly, but now we're going to focus on your core strength and lower body. This should help you improve balance as well as build muscle."

Kotone blinked at her sensei expectantly. She knew her training was likely to be harder than Takumi's but everyone had something to work on.

"Kotone, 100 one legged squats. Your lower body strength isn't as high as it should be given your speed. Because of this you can't hold your top speed for long and it could put you in a bad position if you had to flee an enemy or pursue one. Your days of hiding behind your wires and traps are running out now that more people are able to figure out your technique. It's time for you to adapt your style."

The white haired girl nodded and pulled one leg off the rope. When she started to lower her body on one leg, Toko called out, "Not like that. Put your other leg straight out in front of you. It has to feel like a challenge or it won't work."

Kotone's brows twitched as she stretched her right leg out in front of her, her toes pointed at the tree. She slowly started to lower herself, but it became clear to her that this was going to offset her balance. Maintaining posture with her leg out and balancing on the rope was a difficult task, but Kotone knew Toko-sensei was capable of training up their individual weaknesses well.

Kotone's olive eyes traveled to her teammates who were holding up much better than she was. She was at 15 of these squats and already her muscles were calling out. If she wasn't doing them so slowly she might be in less pain, but her body was quickly telling her that her legs didn't like the sudden change. Kaori was doing well with her kicks, though there was the occasional cringe when she struck the tree too hard for her own liking. Takumi's shoulders would twitch when he was losing balance, but he'd never overreact and lose his stance.

Kotone sighed shakily as her count for her left leg climbed. Her muscles were slowly protesting louder, but she had to finish the amount Toko listed. As Kotone dropped into the next squat she tried to adjust her foot slightly. The movement caused her to lose her balance and she fell off the rope, landing on her right foot on the ground.

"Start over," Toko called out to the white haired girl.

Kotone nodded and avoided the surprised stares of her teammates. It wasn't that her legs were particularly weak, but the combined efforts of maintaining balance on the rope with one leg, completing the squat, and holding the other leg out straight. Any shift in weight could cause her to drop off the rope and she wasn't allowed to use chakra to stay put.

"This could be harder than I was expecting. All the training I've been doing the last few days involved dodging and hitting targets. This is something I didn't realize I needed," Kotone thought as she started her set again.

Toko watched from her spot under a nearby tree. She could see Kotone's left leg was starting to resist the training, but it was something she didn't have the luxury of trying back in Ame due to the rain. Rope training usually involved chakra because of the rain constantly beating down on her team. This was to make up for the years where her team could only evolve through unique battle styles.

It was an hour later when Takumi and Kaori finished their activities, but Kotone had slowed down dramatically, barely finishing her first leg. Sweat beaded near her forehead when she tried to lift her left leg to the position her right one had been in, the stretching motion clearly causing pain.

"Toko-sensei, what should we do now?" Kaori asked, trying to avoid her teammate's struggle.

Toko removed her gaze from Kotone and looked between the two in front of her. Takumi's legs were twitching lightly under his lose pants, but the motion still caught her eye. Kaori's boots had some clear scuffs and there were snags along the shins of her pants from poor hits to the tree.

"Go home for today. I have to stay to see Kotone finish."

"That's it?" Takumi asked with his brows furrowed.

"Yes. Your bodies are going to need to properly recover if these are to get harder over each day. Go home and relax. I do expect dinner when I get there."

Kaori and Takumi eyed each other for a minute, a clear argument brewing over who would cook, before looking back to their sensei and friend before departing.

"Takumi-san, why would Toko-sensei expect dinner ready? It's barely getting close to lunch?" Kaori asked as they trekked back to the house.

Takumi looked up at the sky and sighed. "The second leg is likely going to be harder for Kotone. First, she started with her strong leg, her left leg. Second, she slipped even on her stronger leg. Toko-sensei is probably expecting her to fall a few times with her right leg."

"Will Kotone-chan be okay? It seems like hers is so much harder than ours."

"Our training was hindered by the weather in Ame. Because of the constant rain we couldn't do this type of training outside without risk of illness or serious injury due to the slickness. When we first were assigned to Toko-sensei, we had issues getting these types of basics down and instead were trained on how to improve the methods we used in combat," Takumi paused in his explanation.

Kaori nodded but her brows furrowed, "But does that mean we have better grasp of the basics than Kotone-chan?"

Takumi took a breath as he considered how to answer, "Kotone's chakra control is so strong because her parents had her training before she even entered the academy. So Toko-sensei had her practice with that even more when we became a team. However, Kotone was the slowest in our group at first, so Toko-sensei had her practice putting chakra into the bottom of her feet –"

"Like tree climbing or walking on water?"

"Exactly. She had her practice her chakra control while also sending her running through the village and surrounding areas. I never went on those runs because I had to take care of my mother at the time and Jin... Well he was already fast, but running out in the rain is meant for those who are heartier than normal. Kotone has never had a cold, did you know that?"

"Eh?! Really?"

Takumi nodded, proud of himself for pulling Kaori away from her concern for their teammate. But he knew Kotone was finally feeling the strain of having to catch up where she was lacking. Her speed was impressive because every time she ran she used bursts of chakra, much like Sakura had done in the preliminaries. It was a basic skill, but Kotone's legs couldn't handle running at full speed for long without help from her chakra. While her balance was flawless, Kotone's leg strength could use improvement.

The pair were surprised when they bumped into Sakura who was looking at the ground as she walked.

"Sakura-chan!" Kaori greeted with enthusiasm, though Takumi cringed at her lack of restraint given Sakura's mood.

"Oh. Takumi and Kaori. Sorry, I wasn't paying attention," Sakura's voice dipped into a whisper.

"Everything okay, Sakura-chan?"

The bubble gum haired girl gave a weak smile and shook her head. "It's okay! I'm just worrying too much, is all!"

Kaori didn't seem satisfied with Sakura's response, but just watched as she continued on her way. Her blue eyes followed her until Sakura disappeared around a corner.

"I wonder what's wrong."

"Some people want to struggle through things on their own for a little while. It's best not to pressure her," Takumi explained before continuing to their house. Kaori jogged to catch up to her male teammate and the argument for who would cook dinner ensued.

The sun was starting to set lower in the sky, marking late afternoon. Toko remained under a tree, comfortably leaning against the trunk. Her eyes fixed on her student who was struggling with her right leg.

"Augh!" Kotone exclaimed as she fell again. Her right leg trembled in pain as she stared back up at the rope, her breath coming out in pants.

"You were close to being done that time," Toko remarked from her spot. She walked to her student and knelt down beside her, pressing a chakra infused hand to Kotone's right thigh. Toko furrowed her brow and moved her hand to her student's foot where she found the trouble spot. "This is going to hurt."

Kotone didn't have a chance to prepare herself as Toko forced her student's ankle to align properly. The younger girl called out, but sighed in relief when it was over. She didn't catch herself after her last fall and had landed in a way that dislocated her ankle.

"That's it for today," Toko commented as she stood up.

"No! I didn't finish my training!" Kotone struggled to stand, but any pressure on her right foot was rejected and she nearly toppled over.

Her sensei caught her and lifted her onto her back. "Kotone, you did more than 100 squats in total on your right leg. Once your ankle heals properly you can do it again. I'll ask your mother to look at your ankle after I drop you off."

"Her healing jutsu aren't the best, you know that," Kotone murmured, dread welling up in stomach at her mother's incoming scolding.

"I'd rather take you to the hospital, but you mother should be able to handle this one."

Kotone remained silent the rest of the way to her house. Her parents weren't surprised by the injury, nor the sight of Toko carrying their daughter on her back. Though the teacher could barely get out of the house before Hotaru's scolding started.

"Honestly, Kotone! A dislocated ankle! Tsk," her mother voiced as she held her hand to her daughter's right ankle.

"Trust me, it gets more embarrassing the older I get. Having Toko-sensei carry me through the village. I'm pretty sure she took the longest route possible too!"

Hotaru chuckled at the thought of her daughter's teacher taking longer to get her home so that she would cringe with embarrassment at the memory. Toko was subtle in the torture of her students.

"Kotone, you shouldn't train tomorrow. I can heal this, but over exerting yourself could lead to re-injury. If I was better at healing jutsu it might not be a problem, but you should rest around the house. I wouldn't even walk on it too much."

Kotone pouted at the thought of just sitting in the house while her parents ran the business on the first floor. Hotaru saw the look on her daughter's face and caved, "Fine! You can help in the store tomorrow, but that's it! You will take a lunch break up here and rest. Understand?"

With a smile, Kotone nodded in agreement and flexed her foot to test the healing that was being done. Her mother flicked her ankle to stop the movement, which caused Kotone to yelp in surprise and pain.

---

Kotone sighed as she was propped up on a stool behind the counter. Customers interacted with her parents, but she only got to take the payment and say "Thanks for stopping by" or" Thank you for your purchase!" She tapped her fingers on the counter with her chin in her other hand when some familiar faces walked in.

The two brunettes were surprised to see Kotone sitting behind the counter, though one was willing to break the awkward stares they had held.

"Kotone? Right?" the bun haired woman asked with a smile.

"Yes! You're Tenten, I knew you'd find this shop eventually. Just looking around? Or...?"

"I was curious about this place when Gai-sensei mentioned how a new citizen in the village was opening a specialty weapons shop. He told me to take a look! Seems like business is going well!"

Kotone nodded, "We only opened yesterday, but word of mouth seems to have spread. My father makes everything here so if you want anything of custom design feel free to ask! He also promises a discount to anyone near my age."

"Really?!" Tenten's eye lit up since she had spotted some of the more expensive items from a distance. "So your mother must be the one with the white hair in the ponytail, right?"

Kotone sweat dropped and an awkward smile tugged at her lips, "Ah, no. That's my father actually, but a few people have gotten it mixed up before because he's so slender and the kimono doesn't really help define his shape. My mother is the one with black hair!"

Tenten and her companion, who finally entered the store further, spotted the woman arguing with a customer over the price of an item. Her mother threw out the traits that made it expensive: the metal used, the quality of work, the hours of labor, and finally that it could adapt to any chakra nature based on the user. The two deadpanned when they saw the ferocity in her expressions and her stubborn personality.

"In case you didn't realize it I take after my father mostly, but I do have some traits of my mother. So, how about you Neji, anything you see in the shop?"

Tenten's companion flinched at Kotone's casual calling of his name, but he glanced around the store in interest.

"Your father makes everything?"

"Yep! He has everything in the backyard for making tools, plus he uses the Ueno kekke genkai to help him create tools with precision and it helps him up the quality as well. Only the finest materials go into his work unless someone is trying to haggle a price down and asks for lower quality. He made my wires so they would be even thinner than normal wires, but would be stronger with chakra laced through it."

"I see. So your fighting style adapted from your father?"

"Well, mostly. My mother is a puppet master, and a frightening one at that. So when I showed the ability to use chakra at a young age she tried to train me in the ways of the puppeteer. I didn't take to it though, something she still resents when we spar. But my father realized that the chakra control was there, just not in the same way."

Neji nodded and turned to Kotone for another question, "Both your parents are retired?"

"Yeah, they retired when I was born. Amegakure isn't a place you leave a child alone, and they were really afraid of that. I was a crybaby as a kid too, so they probably wanted to avoid making me sad. But because they retired we were allowed to move. It would've been a stretch had it been three active jonin level shinobi and three genin from a different village move."

Tenten was carrying a number of tools in her arms which she dumped at the counter. "So your whole team and your parents moved?"

"Yes. Ame was getting less safe everyday so they requested a move. I was really happy that everyone on my team got to join in, but given their situations it makes sense. Only Takumi has something holding him to Ame, but he was determined to stick with us."

Kotone rang up Tenten up, applying the discount her father asked of her.

"You're not training today?" Tenten asked as she handed over the moderate sum of money she owed.

"I hurt my ankle training yesterday and both my sensei and mama ordered me to rest. But I have my gauntlets on in case anyone asks about customer orders," Kotone said with a wink as she moved some wires, just having them float in the air near her arms.

"So that's how those work," Tenten got closer to the metal tools and watched as Kotone laced some threads around each other a moved her fingers, demonstrating how it was similar to a puppet master's movements.

Neji watched, though he didn't show as much interest as Tenten. He knew Kotone was a strong opponent from the exams, though he had missed her final match he was told she had a lot of talent hidden. He was curious about her abilities given her fighting style, but his interest was minimal.

The two left, likely on their way to training, with Tenten's new toys. Kotone waved as they walked out and her mother walked over, a smirk Kotone knew to take caution around.

"Well, he was cute," he mother teased. "If I remember right he's rather strong too!"

"No, mama. Let's not have this talk again."

"Kotone! You should enjoy your younger years. Things are easier now than they will be later when your older and you're expected to get married and have children. A crush at your age is perfectly normal!"

"That's the first time I've actually talked to Neji. Honestly, if you want to pester me about boys you should ask who I know first."

"Oh! So there is someone?!"

Her mother's excitement was childlike, but it made Kotone happy that she cared about the smaller things. The things a normal girl would care about.

"There isn't anyone, yet. But I'll admit the people here are more interesting. Kaori has a crush, apparently, though she wouldn't tell me who. She said she didn't want to jinx it."

"Oh? Smart girl with nosy teammates like you and Takumi. You'd hunt the boy down and threaten him probably," Hotaru shrugged and signaled for Kotone to follow her up the stairs.

The two bickered as Kotone watched her mom cook her lunch. Her ankle was pretty much healed and she could resume her training in the following days depending on Toko-sensei's orders. Kotone was eager to get back to training after she realized her muscles were sore. There would be improvement if she continued to follow the training routine.

AN: Alright, another one down! I had trouble writing this one because it feels like filler pieces and felt less important. So I added a lot of interactions with other characters to make it less empty. Should be back in the main plot in the next one! Time for Tsunade to show up!