{G}[]{A}
"It's a simple concept, dear," mother chided from the side, "You just need to believe in yourself and exercise that chakra control I know you have."
"I know mom, I know. You did show me how to do it," my eyes trailed up the trunk of a rather large tree in our backyard, one mother expected me to climb.
With no hands.
After my talk with Kiba I had finally broken and asked my mother for help, and she was enthusiastic about that. The first thing we were working on was my chakra control, and we were – obviously – starting with tree climbing. It really was a simple concept of using the appropriate amount of chakra to stick to the tree without slipping on or crushing the bark.
"Well then dear, try!" With a gentle push forward mother backed away as I stumbled forward.
When my eyes slid shut to concentrate that familiar warm thrumming of my own personal heater became even more evident. With a gentle push of my mind it flowed to my feet, my eyes snapped open, and I ran.
"Shoot," a faint crunch sounded once I was a good distance up the trunk and I was forced to flip back, "a little too much."
But there was one thing I noticed, and that was the grooves in the tree. So with that in mind I tried again, not stopping until I reached a decent sized branch far up in the tree. The sharp sound of mother's clapping sounded from down below and a happy laugh bubbled from my lips before I made my way down.
"I did it!" I spun around to face mother only to be suddenly swung up into a set of arms.
"You did, and I saw!" Dad's voice was loud in my ears as he crushed me close to him as he blubbered in happiness, "I saw you achieve a new milestone!"
I laughed again, "Dad, I just climbed a tree!"
There was some more incoherent blubbering as he squeezed me close. Off to the side mother let out a breathy laugh.
"Raise, dear, let her down. We've still got some training to do."
After a few more seconds of squeezing my feet touched the ground and I caught a glimpse of his happy, tearstained face and for whatever reason his enthusiasm made me think of the color green. Mother chuckled as he furiously wiped the tears from his face, his headband becoming skewed as he did.
A hum thrummed in my mother's throat, "Next would be water walking. But we don't have a pond here, so we'll have to go somewhere else."
Dad laughed jovially and waved her off, "You let me deal with that. Isei should be getting home soon, why don't you wait on her?"
Barely a second later and I was following dad through the trees.
{G}[]{A}
The squelching sound shoes made after being thoroughly soaked was not a sound that I found pleasant. Having on soaked shoes wasn't an entirely pleasant feeling either, but it would be worth it.
"The key is changing with the water," it was almost unfair the way my father could glide across the water, "Read the currents, the depths."
I felt my face contort into some sort of odd look, my father's amused snickers following the change in my face. Much like earlier in our yard I closed my eyes and pulled at a portion of my chakra before stepping onto the water. One foot started to sink in and a strangled squeak escaped me as I quickly readjusted my chakra.
"Good, good!" My father's voice was giddy as he watched, "Now try walking out to the middle."
It was more of a struggle than I expected, to tell the truth. At one point one of my feet submerged to the ankle before I managed to pull it back up and rebalance myself, but it the end I made it. And one again I was nearly strangled in my father's enthusiastic hold.
"Dad, please," my feet skimmed the top of the water, "I love you, but can we continue on?"
He squeezed me one last time before placing me down, leaving me so stumble around to keep from falling in. He eyed me for a moment before motioning to land, "I want to check something; and possibly teach you something."
Once on land he pulled out a small sheet of paper and I perked up, "Chakra paper? We're going to test my chakra?"
The responding grin I received was nearly blinding, "Right, my darling!"
I'd wondered about my chakra type for a while, and back in the academy I'd always been kind of fascinated with fire jutsus. Though that probably wasn't likely for me as my mother was a earth user and my father was a water type with a side type of wind.
A burst of chakra later and the paper in my hand wilted, thoroughly soaked.
"Fantastic! My baby has my chakra type!" Dad threw an arm over his eyes, wailing in joy, "I was hoping for this!"
"Dad," my voice was kind of weak as a flailed about, "Did you want to teach me something..?"
And with the same snap as an elastic he was still and cheery again, "Yes, yes dear. Several things, actually. One is the Hidden Mist Technique and another is the Hiding in Water Technique.
"I'll also be showing you the hand signs for and the actual technique of Water Release: Syrup Trap." The first thing he did was show me the Hidden Mist Technique which required nothing but the tiger sign.
Simple enough.
Next he demonstrated the Hiding in Water Technique where he literally disappeared into the river I'd been practicing on. This required no hand signs, but a lot of concentration to turn your chakra into water chakra. Also, contrary to popular belief, one actually needed a water source. They couldn't just turn into a puddle; that was Hōzuki territory.
Finally, he showed me the Water Release: Syrup Trap where he spit out a large amount of sticky, syrupy water. The hand signs: ram, tiger.
"Heh heh, you might," dad sheepishly scratched the back of his head, "want to practice that one only at a training ground."
"Yeah, I got that," my voice was distinctly amused as I watched a poor squirrel's tail get stuck in the sticky water, "What about clean up?"
"Well… some chunin get kind of unlucky, I suppose."
/ / / Several Days Later/ / /
"Nozomi?"
The basket in my hands creaked as I turned around, my cornflower blue eyes met a set of emerald ones and my eyebrows rose in surprise. I hadn't seen Sakura in a long while, so this was a pleasant surprise.
"Sakura? You changed some things up, I see." It was true, her hair was still long, but held back in a pony-tail; though her bangs and the way she wore her headband were the same. "It looks nice."
Her smile shined, "Thanks! A lot has changed since we graduated. Sensei wanted me to cut my hair, but…"
"The Sasuke likes long hair thing?" She looked sheepish at my words, "Either way, a pony-tail is more practical than long, loose hair."
"Yeah, that's what Fukuda-sensei said," she scowled suddenly, "and then he yanked on my hair."
I couldn't help but to laugh, "Well, I take it things are going well?"
"Yeah, I guess. Kind of boring though," she maneuvered out of the way of a woman and her kind, "Nothing but D ranks."
"Believe me, I know," this time it was my turn to avoid some civilians, "Say, how about we go get some lunch somewhere and get out of the way?"
{G}[]{A}
Honami's was fairly crowded, but still a very homey place. It reminded me of the lunch I'd had with Sasuke and Naruto every time I stepped in here. Sakura also knew of the place, said her parents had brought her here after graduation.
"I never really asked, but," Sakura set down her water, "How is it going for your team?"
"As good as it can be considering Naruto and Sasuke's rivalry," I twirled some noodles around my chopsticks, "They don't fight all of the time though, it's more like friendly competition."
The pinkette giggled, "Sounds like fun. Ren and Omaeda hardly ever fight with each other, mostly it's with sensei."
I snorted, "Naruto screams at Kakashi-sensei every day because he's late. Sensei seems pretty non-confrontational to me, though I don't suppose we know him too well yet."
"Yeah, I'm sure there's more to our sensei too," Sakura nodded sagely, "He's pretty good at helping us with training too."
My lips pursed at that and Kiba's words came to mind; maybe I should ask Kakashi-sensei for some help. I'd asked my parents, Kiba had offered his help (can you say 'target practice' anyone?), and now all I needed to do was ask Sensei.
"Nozomi? Are you okay?"
Sakura looked concerned and I flushed, "Sorry, I was just thinking about training."
She nodded and went silent for a moment before perking up, "Hey… do you think we could train together some time?"
I smiled, "Friends help friends, don't they?"
/ / / the Next Morning / / /
Naruto grumbled, stabbing at the ground as we waited for Kakashi-sensei. Really, why did we continue to put ourselves through this every morning? He was always late, so there was really no point in sitting here. I suppose it was the training in us from the academy that had ingrained the fact that being tardy was bad.
"You're late!" Naruto screeched; he was basically our 'Sensei Alarm' for all intents and purposes.
As Naruto went on and on about not only his tardiness but how the missions were boring and that he wanted to train, Kakashi sighed and Sasuke grunted in agreement with the blond (or, I assumed it was in agreement).
"Fine, fine," he waved a flippant hand in the air, the other still in his pocket, "Why don't you two spar and I'll tell you what you do wrong after?"
The two twitched as sensei smiled happily; probably glad to get out of really doing anything.
We'd see about that.
Eventually the two did start fighting, though it was only after Naruto got offended by Sasuke. So I decided now was my chance to ask Kakashi-sensei for help, "Kakashi-sensei, what about me?"
"Hmm," Kakashi peered at me from behind his book, "you could practice chakra control while they fight –"
"I can already climb trees and walk on water," well, I could kind of walk on water.
Sensei hummed and glanced over at Naruto and Sasuke, "Well, sparring with them wouldn't do you much good…"
I thought back to the jutsu my dad had shown me and rocked back on my heels, "Well…could you help me with a jutsu? I can't quite get it right."
"Oh?" Kakashi raised a brow, "What is it?"
"It's the Hiding in Water Technique," I bit my lip and my right hand moved to rub my left arm, "I kind of…waver…I guess, but I can't get any further than that."
"Show me."
With that I walked over to the water next to the bridge and closed my eyes to concentrate. When I opened them again, once again, all I did was waver before solidifying again. I looked up to Kakashi-sensei whose hand was just falling from his headband.
"It seems like you get stuck and miss a chunk of your chakra when you change it to water type," he pulled his book up again, "I'd suggest trying to meditate before trying again; really look at and get a sense of it."
He watched me as I nodded, off in thought.
"If you need more help," he turned as Naruto screeched out his name, "Don't be afraid to ask."
"Kakashi-sensei, what do we need to work on?" Naruto babbled confidently, "Because I thought I was pretty great."
"Oh?" Kakashi flipped a page in his book, "I'm afraid I wasn't watching."
The angry screech that ripped through Naruto's mouth scared the birds right out of the trees.
{G}[]{A}
Fun Fact: When he was younger (six to about thirteen) Nozomi's dad, Raise, was actually serious and on the quiet side.