Chapter 28: Concern

"How was your first day of school?" Kushina looked at the teens expectantly. She hoped their day went well, oh what she wouldn't give to have been able to ask Naruto about his first day of school, but alas, fate had different ideas.

Itachi and Shisui glanced at eachother. "It was fine." Itachi answered. Jeri nodded.

"Yeah, Lori was a bit protective of me though." She elbowed Lori in the ribs lightly. "When the new guy came to sit beside me on the bus, she freaked out and yelled no at him." A laugh came from Jeri. In her mind it was more similar to a joke, unlike Lori's mind. But of course, Jeri was blindsighted.

"Really?" Mikoto looked to the teen. "That's unusual." Lori eyed the floor and before she knew it, she was taking Jeri by the hand and rushing her out the door and into the back yard.

"I want to train." Lori explained. Judging by the clouds in the sky, growing darker and darker, they wouldn't have much time to do so. "I want to teach you something." Lori put Jeri into a unique fighting stance. "I am not sure your Sharingan is developed enough to use it to copy moves, so just try to anticipate me." A simple look in the other teen's eyes said she too was unsure of her Sharingan. She had only used it for hypnotizing Lori, not fighting. Well, save for when she first unlocked it.

"You guys know we are supposed to have a thunderstorm, right?" Kagami hollars only to receive a nod from the girls.

"Ready?" Lori gets into a fighting stance, low to the ground. Jeri nods hesitantly. A flash of lightning dances across the sky as Lori slams her palm into Jeri's stomach. The red head doubled over in pain, a wrangled gasp escaping her lips. With another quick move Lori's fist crashed against her back sending her to the ground. Jeri struggled to catch her breath.

"Jeri?" Lori asked uncertainly. Had she gone too far? 'I need to slow down for her.' Gently grabbing her hand Lori supported her weight by placing Jeri's arm over her shoulders. "Breathe Jeri." She eased her friend. "I didn't mean to go that hard... next time I'll do it a lot slower."

Jeri coughed once more finally able to breathe right. "...Thanks." and so they tried it again, this time when Lori used the moves again she done so at a snails pace so the older one of the two could better dodge.

"I just want you to have a grasp of the fighting style. To dodge. Maybe, later on, you can use these as moves of your own." Lori further explained getting a slightly worded out look from Jeri.

"Why?"

Lori gave herself a moment to think. She could just tell her that it would be for self defense purposes, in case someone tried to pick her up and Lori wasn't there. That is, more or less, the truth right? "Self defense." And again, Lori swung a fist at Jeri, more fast paced than the almost slow motion ones she threw at her before. Jeri side stepped, and swung her fist right back managing to nail her friend right in the cheek.

She was thrown to the ground from the sheer force of the blow, her clothes soon getting muddy from the light sprinkle of rain from above. "Damn." Just when Jeri was getting the hang of it, it had to start raining. Thunder roared across the yard as lighting split the sky. Kagami and Minato cupped their hands around their mouths.

"Come back inside!" They yelled but thunder invaded the two teens ears. Even so, they didn't need to be told to get into the house. Once inside, they found a few others, those that had went inside already, slightly damp as well.

Jeri looked around as her and Lori received towels from Kushina and Mikoto. There was something missing...

"Itama." She looked at Butsuma and took off back into the pouring, pounding rain, and the howling of wind and thunder alike.

A/N: And here is another chapter, I hope you guys like it!

Just what do you think will happen next? Will this spell disaster for Itama, or maybe Jeri? I like that Jeri was the one who noticed Itama missing, instead of Lori. Though, Lori is closest to Itama between her and Jeri, I think it really shows how concerned she was for Jeri. Tell me what you guys thought in the comments and please, tell me what you would like for the next chapter. Or future chapters, while you are at it. I am always up for more ideas.