A/N: Hey guys! I'm sorry for not posting for those last few days but we had some hectic thunderstorms and I debated it was better not posting than trying to post, get struck by lightning, loosing this story, my computer and the internet. Thanks to all of my loyal followers for sticking with me because sadly there's only +- 10 chapters left :'( Another side note, when I say 'Kiba' in this story, I don't mean the actual character. It's twin swords used in a filler episode of Naruto with the Curry of Life Arc where a guy named Raiga used them but before they belonged to Ameyuri that according to my sources say she died of a sickness so I'm following that. Enjoy and please R&R hank you SSSOOO much to Arcami for telling me so quickly i posted the wrong chapter love you lots. I was wondering when i would do that one day.

Chapter twenty-one

Minato sat grinning to himself in his office a day later. Rei had sat at the dinner table the night before, as pale as a sheet, staring wide-eyed and muttering to himself, shaking his head and saying Kakashi's name now and again… Why did he have to send Kakashi on that extended mission?

But right now, Rei didn't have time to think about love and such because he had something to do first and foremost. Well Minato would just have to play matchmaker when Rei has finished what he needs to do and push them together because he's pretty sure Kakashi likes Rei but wouldn't admit it to himself.

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"Are you sure you want to come back here after what Ameyuri said to you?" Jiraya asked as they entered Kirigakure once again.

"I'm sure Jiraiya-sama… By what she said, it didn't sound like a threat… It may be surprising but I've fought her before as an ANBU here and she beat me no problem but when I was fighting her back then she kept coughing and she may not have thought I noticed but she was coughing up blood. I wasn't a trained ANBU for nothing." Rei said with distracted determination.

"I see. It's a tradition for the swordsmen to choose a successor when they die and Ameyuri may be a ruthless killer but I never heard anything bad about her, she was one of the better swordsmen… Has she ever said anything like that to you?" Jiraiya asked and Rei shook his head.

"Not that I remember but maybe her time is coming up short and she is running out of options of lightning natured kenjutsu specialists." Rei said and Jiraiya looked at him.

"And you're skill of kenjutsu is?" Jiraiya asked.

"It's not bad but it's not excellent either… It was enough to keep me in ANBU and survive." Rei said and Jiraiya nodded, looking ahead again.

"Well, this looks like the same alleyway unless someone was thrown through that wall as well." Jiraiya said, looking around the alleyway and Rei took a deep breath and nodded.

"She's here… Stop playing Ameyuri, we're not your pray." Rei stated calmly and she slid out of the shadows with the same toothy grin and a hand on her hip.

"I'm actually surprised you came back Chikara." She mocked and Rei stood his ground.

"My name's not Chikara anymore. It's Reiji, Rei for short." Rei said and she smirked and began to walk forwards.

"Oh Reiji huh… Nice name kid. So what are you doing walking around with Konoha shinobi huh?" She asked silkily and stopped a meter away from them.

"They're the ones who saved me from my personal hell and so I want to repay the favour and move on in that peaceful village… No other motives this time but to live my life and not just live like an emotionless tool anymore." Rei said seriously with conviction and Ameyuri just seemed to smile bigger.

"You see Rei-kun… Lightning is more potent when emotions are involved and that's why Kiba was given to me, a girl lightning user… But it's like you guessed and my time is coming up short and I need to pass on Kiba to someone worthy. You have earned my respect by standing up to me and so I want to train you and give you Kiba when my time comes and keep them out of Kirigakure's hands." Ameyuri said, loosing her easy smile and becoming deadly serious and Rei blinked as the information just flowed through his head.

"Wait, you want to pass on Kiba to me when it rightfully belongs to Kirigakure… I already have them after my head I don't need them after my balls too." Rei said with little panic to his voice and Ameyuri laughed.

"You're such a riot kid. So are you going to take the offer or should I just go and talk to that Raiga guy I had my eye on?" She asked with laughter still in her voice and Rei became angry.

"Hell no will you be giving those to that bastard Raiga, I'll take your stupid training then." Rei said then ended up having to dodge a ball of lightning.

"I will warn you now… I won't go easy on you kid." She warned in a low voice with the Kiba at the ready.

"I know that already Ameyuri, you're one hell of a teacher and I'm willing to train with you to get better and complete my goals and having Kiba with me will make it easier and I promise they'll stay out of Kiri's hands like you want because I don't plan on coming back after this." Rei said seriously and Ameyuri smiled easily.

"Is the pervert coming too?" She asked, placing her hands back on her hips after sheathing Kiba again. Rei smothered a grin and looked to Jiraiya.

"Hey if you think you can trust this woman then go right ahead… I'll be around if you need me but don't get yourself killed, Nagato and Minato would never forgive me." Jiraiya said, walking off with a wave over his shoulder and Rei smiled and turned back to Ameyuri.

"So… When can we get started?"

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Kakashi groaned as he pried his right eye open and wanted to destroy what was beeping. He knew what that beeping meant and he groaned a little louder this time and turned onto his side like a naughty child.

"Oh stop complaining brat, at least you made it back in one piece and before your birthday." A familiar female voice said and Kakashi turned over and saw the blonde medic and blinked.

"Tsunade-sama?" Kakashi asked and she scoffed.

"Well who else would I be brat? Anyway your condition is looking good, just a few bumps bruises and such with chakra exhaustion, you should be out of here tomorrow." Tsunade said, writing something down on a clipboard and Kakashi watched.

"Wait, what's the date?" Kakashi asked with confusion and Tsunade smiled at him.

"Happy seventeenth birthday Kakashi." She said grinning, digging in her coat for something and handed Kakashi a rectangular parcel covered with blue wrapping paper and he sat up carefully and took it from Tsunade. "It's not from me, just so you know." Tsunade said, hanging the clipboard back up and left. Kakashi looked at the parcel in his hands and wondered who gave it to Tsunade to give to him and what it was as he shook it but it made no noise.

He shrugged and decided to open it carefully, not to rip the paper since that was just the way he was and his eyes went wide and he grinned under his mask. It was the brand new Icha Icha that wasn't suppose to come out until December. He slid his hand down the front cover of the book before grabbing it and opening it to find a hand written letter and he read it:

Dear Kakashi

Happy seventeenth. It's too bad I can't be there to celebrate it with you but I hope you enjoy your present. Jiraiya had actually finished writing this months ago but the publisher held back the release date so I managed to sneak a copy for you since I know how much you seem to like them.

I'm sure I'll see you soon but take care of yourself.

Rei

This brought a smile to Kakashi's face and he couldn't quell it as he kept reading the letter Rei left and did what Minato said to do and let himself feel what he was feeling as he read over the letter again… Maybe he did care for Rei more than he should have but he felt good on the inside and began to read the book with a smile plastered underneath his mask.

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"Get up kid! Kiba will never accept you the way you are now." Ameyuri ordered, standing with one of the Kiba blades while Rei was lying on the floor with the other.

"I never would have thought I would have to get a blade to like me." Rei countered back, wiping the blood from his forehead and standing up again. "But then again look at Samehade." He muttered to him self and rolled his eyes as Ameyuri charged for him again with the lightning imbued blade and Rei activated his chakra and blocked.

"You have stamina kid, I'll give you that." Ameyuri said with a grin as they battled for the upper hand, the blades sounding like lightning as they clashed together, sparks flying everywhere but he had to learn to get use to that as each time he flinched slightly when he heard it.

"But that's not enough." Rei ground out through gritted teeth as he used one of the fangs on the sword to catch the other sword and swing it out of her hand, flipping it up into the sky and looking up at it. They looked down at each other before starting a mad dash up the closest and opposite wall to get to the sword first and that's when Ameyuri began using kunai and lightning jutsus but Rei countered them with the sword, taking in the lightning jutsus and flinging them back at her.

Rei sped up past her, sheathing the sword quickly as the other sword came down again. Ameyuri flipped off of the wall to catch it as Rei whipped out his ninja wire and as it touched Ameyuri's hand, he reeled in the sword, straight into his hand as Ameyuri glared up at him as she landed on the same wall as him and smirked.

"Nice work Rei." She said and Rei blinked at her. She waved for him to follow her down when she began coughing and her chakra slipped and she began to fall off the wall. Rei sheathed the sword with its twin and began running down the wall for her as it had looked like she had passed out. He jumped for her and caught her, twisting them around and throwing a kunai into the wall at the side of them then he clipped the wire onto the belt of his jeans as they began to slow down and Ameyuri hung arched over in his one arm as he controlled their decent.

He landed on the ground and unclipped himself quickly, putting Ameyuri gently on the ground and listening for her heartbeat and her breathing against a kunai. She had pushed it too far that day and she continues to push herself.

They had been training together for eight months already but spending that much time with someone, you could see that she was getting sicker by the day and Rei frowned as he waited for her to wake up again. It happened only once in a while when she would pass out like this but now it was with nearly every training session and he began to wonder if he'd have enough time to finish his training with her before her time.

"What are you sitting around for, get to work." She ordered hoarsely and he looked down to see her breathing harshly still and barely awake.

"What do you mean?" He asked right back and she rolled her eyes with her regular toothy grin.

"What do I mean? Both of the Kiba swords are on your back aren't they?" She asked and he reached over his shoulders to feel both of the blades sitting in their sheaths and humming against his chakra like a purring cat.

"I guess they are." He said, relaxing a little and smiling down at her.

"Well then, I have plenty of time left and now that I don't have to work to get the blades to like you, training you will be a lot easier… Thank god I focused on your kenjutsu first." She said with relief and Rei laughed and stood up with her between his arms as he headed back to their hide out since it will be more than big enough for him training with just the blades and not just all out battles with Ameyuri.

"I'm glad you did and I was surprised to have one of the blades like me almost instantly." Rei said and she hummed.

"They're twins, the blades will sometimes agree or disagree like real twins, it's what makes these swords special." Ameyuri said, her lips curling up at the corners slightly.

"That they are." Rei agreed as he felt the comforting weight of the swords across his back and them purr against his chakra.