Chapter 37: Do As I Say Not As I Do

On the completely opposite end of Rinku, Raiku had been very excited about the assignment. Oddly enough, though Raiku was horribly bad at most domestic tasks, she happened to be amazing with children. Perhaps a part of that had to do with the fact that she was a sucker for games and competitions. In fact, sometimes she was very childish, in a few senses of the word. But on the other hand, Raiku was a very strict taskmaster when it came to training a shinobi.

No one knew the full reasoning for anything that Raiku did, because honestly speaking she usually needed a few good reasons to do anything at all. The hard training itself had a list of reasons, which not only included the fact that Raiku's own training had been ridiculously hard, but also the fact that Raiku was determined to toughen up at least one of the future kunochi of this village. She had heard some pretty sad things about the majority of the female population in Konoha and she meant for that to stop as fast as possible. As it was men were so quick to dismiss the abilities of the female population, but it really got to Raiku when they were proven right. She herself was determined to always prove them wrong about the abilities and limitations of kunochi, and she tried to have other females follow that same line of thinking, which was one of the reasons she was so strict with her own team.

So with these kinds of ideals and thoughts in mind Raiku had worked with her student, whose name was Makino, on quite a number of techniques the entire first day and most of the second day. Raiku had been very impressed by the young girls progress and was quite happy that she had chosen the girl for her student. In fact, Raiku had been so happy about the girls fast learning capacity, that she had decided to reward Makino by taking the girl out for dinner at a local restaurant that she had heard very good things about. Unfortunately, the trip to the restaurant ended up being delayed because of something that Raiku happened to witness on the way.

It just so happened that at the exact same time that Raiku and Makino were walking along the main road of Konoha, Sakura was chewing Naruto out about something or other. To the eyes of Konoha, and thus most passerby's, seeing Sakura punching Naruto around was not an unusual site. In fact, it was rather the opposite, so much so that it was practically scenery. But it was certainly not something that Raiku had ever seen happen until that day, and it wasn't something she was about to stand around and watch either.

Raiku had been in very good spirits as she and her student were walking and talking about the three jitsu types and the pluses and minuses of too much attention to each, when her ears perked up at the sound of a female voice yelling loudly up ahead. Generally speaking Raiku wouldn't have even paid attention to that enough to go over and check it out, but the problem with that came with the fact that they had to go in that direction to get to the restaurant. Raiku prepared herself to walk past the ranting girl, and ignore the situation entirely, when suddenly the pink haired girl who had been doing the yelling, punched her fist into a blonde guy's stomach and he went flying backwards hitting into the fence behind him. Raiku was prepared to walk away if the guy seemed able to handle himself, when she paused in shock. The blonde boy who had just been sucker punched in the gut had been none other than Naruto, the boy she had decided was her adopted son.

The pink haired girl didn't even wait for Naruto to get up before continuing her verbal tirade on him. Raiku paid no attention to what exactly it was that she was yelling at him about since she couldn't even think of an excuse that would justify such treatment of such an innocent looking boy, who was not fighting back what so ever.

Raiku was very upset about the pink haired girl's abuse of Naruto. A part of it was because she absolutely hated when people bullied the weak or those who didn't or couldn't fight back. A part of it was because Raiku had a soft spot for the innocent, childlike Naruto. A part of it was because the girl was picking on someone just to make herself look stronger. Raiku didn't want Makino, or any other young kunoichi in training, thinking that this was true strength. Raiku would put a stop to that thought.

Naruto had gotten up and made a little face before trying to defend himself, verbally anyway,

"It's not like I meant to lose track of time Sakura. I'm on assignment this week to act as Konohamaru's sensei and he wanted to train as much as possible. He's really obsessed because he wants to win the games that are coming up, which I can't blame him for because I'm pretty determined to win myself..." Naruto said forgetting exactly what the conversation had been about exactly.

"Your always making excuses like these Naruto. Any time you have even the slightest responsibility you end up running off doing one thing or another instead of what is most important. And I bet this so called 'training' with Konohamaru is just an excuse for you two to practice that disgusting jitsu that you made up," Sakura said scowling at him, "you make me crazy sometimes Naruto!"

Sakura moved forward and pulled her hand back as if she was moving to hit Naruto again when Raiku stepped in front of the blonde boy and grabbed the pink haired girl's wrist in mid motion before tightening her grip slightly. Raiku didn't plan on breaking the girl's wrist unless it was absolutely necessary, especially since she had a child audience. Still she did plan to give the Sakura girl at least a little bruising from the hold,

"I don't know who you are or who you think you are but I suggest you put your hand down to your side before I snap it like a twig." Raiku said in a seemingly calm but serious tone.

Sakura blinked in surprise as she relaxed her hand and Raiku let it go albeit reluctantly. Naruto had been so surprised by the action that he was still standing there with his mouth hanging open. Sakura managed to get her composure back as she made an annoyed face and said,

"How is this any of your business? I've never even seen you before."

Raiku let out a humorless chuckle as she answered,

"This is my business because I make it my business. I happen to be very fond of Naruto-chan and I really hate bullying. I find it rather interesting that you hit people who don't seem to be able to hit you back. Considering the okay strength you have in that arm you ought to be protecting those who are weaker than you instead of running around hitting people your a little annoyed with. What are you five? Even children in school know better right Makino?"

Makino nodded dutifully and recited,

"Men are the weaker sex."

Raiku quickly made a wide eyed face and shook her head, whispering,

"Not that one."

"Oh," Makino corrected, "we never hurt anyone who is weaker than us, because people who are born with strength are meant to use it to protect the weak and what's important, not to bully those who can't or won't defend themselves."

"Look this really is none of your business. I don't ever severely hurt him or anything, and he's not complaining so you shouldn't either." Sakura said completely ignoring Makino.

Raiku turned to look at Naruto curiously,

"Yeah come to think of it why exactly are you just taking this? You should at least defend yourself a little bit."

Naruto turned pink and mumbled something incoherent before Raiku tapped the side of her nose three times,

"Ahhhhhh I get it, you've got a crush on her don't you?" she said to Naruto, completely ignoring Sakura for the moment before turning to the girl and shaking her head, "oh wow you just get worse and worse as this conversation goes on. So basically you take advantage of the fact that Naruto likes you to get him to do things for you and not fight back when you try to push him around huh?"

Raiku was pulling up her sleeves for a fight even as she was talking. At the moment there was no forgiving Sakura for doing something like that. Logically she understood that perhaps she was jumping the gun, getting into a fight (in front of a student) without all of the details, but she couldn't help the fact that she felt very overprotective of certain people, one being Naruto himself. She refused to just watch the other girl pushing Naruto around just because she could. Raiku would put a stop to that, at least when she was around.

"Since I'm not a bully myself, as far as bullying the weak goes anyway, I won't be able to give you the beating you obviously need, but I will give you a little bit of a lesson." Raiku said as Naruto ran up to her trying to get her to stop.

Sakura, having pretty much no knowledge of who Raiku was or the skill level that the kunochi jonin happened to be, decided that she wasn't going to back down from this particular fight, especially because she didn't feel that she was in the wrong,

"Fine I'll take you but I have to warn you that I'm a student of Hokage Tsunade, and a medical ninja, so you might want to back down while you still can."

Raiku let out another humorless chuckle at that, she didn't even bother explaining that she had also been taught by Lady Tsunade, and she had that kind of training when she was much younger. Instead she said,

"That's good then you'll be able to patch yourself up very nicely after I'm done with you, and just so you know a sensei's abilities are not necessarily the same as their students. My suggestion is that you gain a reputation for yourself with your own abilities instead of clinging to someone else's."

Naruto, meanwhile was rushing around between the two trying to convince them not to fight. He really didn't want to be the cause of a rift between the two, and certainly not a physical fight. But seeing as neither one of them seemed to be backing down, and he couldn't figure out how to get them to stop without enraging them further, Naruto decided to see if there was anyone around to help.

He ran a short ways without seeing anyone who would be able to help, until he turned the corner and almost skidded straight into Hyuga Neji and his little buddy, a boy named Shin. Neji looked down at Naruto as the boy attempted to grab Neji's forearms, but which the Hyuga blocked affectively with one hand, before looking down at his pupil,

"See this is one of the perks of training, your reflexes and senses become so enhanced that you can make sure that the only people who touch you are ones you want to."

Shin nodded in thought about that. Naruto, meanwhile, decided that he would hold himself back from fighting with Neji, in order to stop the other fight

that he was more concerned with,

"Yeah whatever you say but I really need your help, you see Sakura was yelling at me and then-"

"Uzumaki I hate to break it to you but I really could care less about your love triangle relationship with Sakura and Sasuke. I periodically respect you as a ninja, but off the field your a little too much for my sensabilities to handle, so if you will excuse us." Neji said as he directed Shin to move on, which both of them did as they begun to pass Naruto.

Naruto blinked a second standing in shock before running forward to stand ahead of them,

"Wait a minute I'm asking for your help," Naruto said quickly as Neji and Shin kept moving, "Sakura-chan and Raiku-"

Before Naruto could finish his sentence Neji stopped where he was, causing Shin to stop as well. Neji turned his eyes to lock on to Naruto,

"Where is she?" he said completely serious.

Naruto blinked at Neji before pointing in the direction of where he'd just come from. Neji glanced that way briefly before giving Shin a look, and heading that way,

"Come Shin let's find out what this is all about, a true shinobi always helps women out, especially when she's important to you."

Shin nodded and followed Neji on his way, with Naruto in tow.

While Naruto had been getting backup to help somehow diffuse the situation, Sakura and Raiku were busy doing the opposite with Makino watching. The two kunochi had traded insults back and forth for a few minutes before it escaladed enough to become physical. Amusingly enough, the person who actually began to make the fight physical was not Raiku but Sakura who reached forward in an attempt to get a hold of Raiku's braid and yank it hard. Raiku quickly snapped her braid backwards out of the way before grabbing on to it at arms length and sending it lashing at the girl like a whip. Sakura quickly dodged it and moved to a roll in order to keep her momentum up before getting up straight.

Raiku could tell that Sakura intended this to be a catfight, perhaps like those the pink haired girl often had with Ino, but Raiku absolutely hated that kind of sissy fighting. Hoping to set the pace for this somewhat light match Raiku kneeled down on the ground and slapped it causing a very strong wind to whip across the way straight at Sakura who lifted her arms in front of her and got into position in an attempt to stay in place, but she was forced back about five feet through sheer force of wind. At that Raiku smirked and crooked her finger towards herself mockingly while saying,

"Let's do this then."

Sakura, angry at being mocked, charged forward and slammed her fist into the ground causing the earth to quake and a part of it to crack from the little. Raiku chuckled as she jumped up on top of the fence and waved back down at Sakura,

"You'll have to do better than that if you want to get me even a little bit Pinky."

Makino stood watching excitedly, her face lit up in excitement and awe at being able to watch two powerful kunoichi fighting right in front of her, and her sensei seeming to be the one who was winning so far. For a girl her age and a kunoichi-in-training, this was one of the coolest things she'd ever seen, so far anyway. Even while fighting, and perhaps because Raiku was finding the fight to be boringly easy, Raiku noticed Makino's excitement, and grinned.

"Maybe I should let Makino battle you since I'm not having much to do in this fight... oh yeah I can't do that, I forgot your fond of picking on children." Raiku said as she gave up on using her genjitsu and ninjitsu due to the situation. She'd take Sakura with Taijitsu as usually, she had planned on fighting this battle differently initially, but had decided her gen and nin-jitsu's weren't necessary for this girl.

Sakura huffed in annoyance,

"Naruto is not a child he's my age."

Raiku shook her head,

"Excuses, excuses." Raiku said as she jumped down from the fence and signaled Sakura to come after her. Sakura took her up on the offer.

Unfortunately, at the same time that Sakura was preparing to charge, Makino had gotten so excited that she was subconsciously drifting closer and closer to the fighting duo. So much so that she walked into the way of Sakura's charge. Both Sakura and Raiku noticed at the same time the danger of the situation. So Sakura instantly tried to pull back but her momentum was too quick and strong so even with planting her feet firmly against the ground she was still sent hurling in the same direction. Raiku's eyes quickly scanned the situation before she decided her best move in order to ensure her students safety was to take the brunt of the hit instead of dodging it as planned.

With that thought in mind Raiku rushed forward and grabbed Makino, pulling her into a protective hug to prevent the on coming hit. Makino closed her eyes preparing for impact as Sakura slammed into Raiku hard against her side and the both of them went flying. Raiku made sure that all of her student's vital points were protected as she braced herself for impact with the ground, or something harder if she was really unlucky. She kept her eyes open as she tried to get her body to twist slightly midair for a softer hit, but a sudden blur of movement distracted her from these thoughts as her body slammed against something hard, but much softer than she had expected.

It took about a minute for her to check over the student in her arms and to let the girl go so she could stand up and test everything to make sure she was okay, before she decided to look to see who had been the one to save her some pain. But before that she wanted to stand up and stretch herself, which she would have done if the arms had let her. She scowled ready to give the guy a little chewing out, despite the fact that he had just saved her some trouble, most likely at his own expense. And that's when she saw that it was Neji. She honestly wasn't all that surprised.

Neji himself grinned at her,

"We really have to stop meeting like this." he said seductively as Raiku shook her head, amazed by his audacity.

"I was hoping we'd stop meeting period." she commented as she gently pushed him away and she got up.

"Sorry I don't see that happening in this lifetime."

"Well then I suppose I should be very good in this lifetime so that I'm not punished like this next time around."

Neji chuckled as he pointed at Sakura,

"So what happened here?"

Raiku let out a long sigh,

"I was attempting to stop her from bullying Naruto."

"Bullying him?" Neji repeated with a raised eyebrow, "Raiku-chan men aren't bullied by women unless they want to be..."

Raiku shook her head,

"That's not true just ask most men who've come into contact with my sister."

"Yes well she's an exception I suppose, but in this situation Naruto is fine. He's a lot stronger than he looks, and nearly indestructible, trust me on this. I get the feeling he likes to be thrown around by her, at least then she's touching him..."

The infamous probably ninja fan girl popped up with a sign that (?) Makino (?) read outloud to herself before the fan girl disappeared,

" 'Sasuke is the only one allowed to touch Naruto' ."

Neji and Raiku paid no mind to this, neither did Naruto and Sakura who were talking a few feet away,

"Is that Neji's new girlfriend or something?" Sakura asked curiously as she watched them.

"Um...I guess that depends on which one you ask." Naruto said after a second of thought.

"What?" Sakura asked confused.

"Don't worry about it for now, if you don't get back to the Old Lady soon your gonna be in really big trouble." Naruto commented pointing to the sky.

Sakura's eyes widened,

"Oh Hokage your right I have to go." she said racing up to the office while Naruto laughed fondly at her and decided to go hit Ichiraku for some ramen.

Raiku, meanwhile, shrugged her shoulders as Naruto and Sakura slipped away,

"Whatever the case it doesn't matter anymore since I'm not in the mood to fight. My student almost got hurt because of it. Besides that I did notice that the pink haired girl didn't want to hurt Makino at least, so I'll allow this specific incident to end here, but we will have a problem if this continues."

Having said that she turned to Makino with a small reasuring smile, "Do you want to go to the hospital or are you okay? I think either way this is enough for today, but I'm very proud of your progress, and we will get that food if you want before you head home, I did promise it."

Makino shook her head,

"I don't have to go to the hospital, but I am hungry."

Raiku smiled,

"Dinner it is then."

"That sounds like a good idea, Shin and I also planned on getting a bite to eat before I dropped him off. A sensei should pay for a meal or two, it's only right. So we'll be joining you then."

Raiku shook her head,

"Your so lucky that you saved me some pain or I'd have harmed you just for asking, but it's not like I can stop you from eating in the same restaurant. We'll just ask for two different table's that's all." she said quickly leading away Makino.

Neji and Shin quickly caught up as Neji shook her head,

"I don't think so Raiku-chan, you owe me."

Raiku let out an annoyed groan as she shook her head,

"Fine we will allow you to eat with us but I'm paying for our half and this is nothing more than an obligatory dinner visit. After this I owe you nothing."

Neji chuckled,

"Fine then, but in exchange you are going to entertain me."

Raiku looked at him through narrowed, suspicious eyes,

"What exactly do you mean by that?"

"I mean you have to at least attempt to be civil with me."

"Don't push your luck Hyuga, I said I'd eat with you, that's enough of a concession on my end as it is." she commented as the four went off to get dinner.