A/N: I would like to thank everyone that added this story to their favourites and follows as well as everyone that reviewed the last chapter.
"Naruto, what are you doing here?"
Naruto rubbed the back of her neck and stared at Akira. Her heart pounded against her chest as sweat began to cling to her skin as violet eyes stared down at her with curiosity. The evening sun seemed to be lowering, reminding her of how in another couple of hours that it would be time for her to return back to her senjutsu training.
"I want to learn how to make chakra chains if you are still willing to teach me." Naruto shoved her hands into her pockets, head turned away and her white teeth nibbled her lips. Was she asking for too much? What if the woman thought she was on her way to forgiving them? She wasn't there yet. Her heart still ached when she considered what her mother went through. But she wanted to be strong and this was her way to connect with the mother she never got to know.
"The offer was always there," Akira smiled and looked out to the empty road behind Naruto before looking up at her. "It is within your right to learn how to make those chakra chains. Now follow me into the house, Naruto."
Naruto bobbed her head, slipped her hands out of her pockets and followed the elderly woman into the house. Unlike the last time, there didn't seem to be anyone here. The only things in this house were the photos of various members of the Uzumaki Clan, making her wonder if Akira had any children or not. Naruto paused slightly when her eyes caught sight of a slightly younger Akira being hugged by a younger male and surrounded by four young adults and one kid.
"Those are my grandson with his children," Akira smiled and stared at the photo. "Most of his children were born before the Third Shinobi War or during it. Only his youngest child was born here."
Naruto nodded and doesn't ask anything about why the youngest child didn't share the same flaming red-hair as his siblings. It was not her business. Asking Akira meant she was willing to get to know her in a more personal level and Naruto wasn't certain if she was in that stage. She sighed and looked at the photo of Eisuke with his family.
Was she ever going to be ready for that stage?
"The training that you are about to do isn't easy, Naruto." Blue eyes blinked and Naruto jerked her head at Akira. The slight happiness in those violet eyes faded, replaced with a seriousness that made the blond-haired girl gulped. "And there are stages that you will go through before you can make those chains."
Stages? Was she going to do something like the rasengan again? She guessed it must be like the rasengan training since it would be hard to make chains with hand seals. Naruto knitted her eyebrows and nodded as they walked into the training room, where only a single small spike stood. The blond-haired girl blinked and swirled her head to look at Akira.
"Why do you have a spike here?"
Akira smiled. "Before I can start teaching you how to make those chakra chains, I'm going to have to see how good are you in chakra control."
"Do I need to have excellent chakra control to make those chains?" Naruto slumped her shoulders and scowled. This would be her terrible luck if that was the case. Sure her chakra control was nothing like when she had been twelve, but it was never going to be as good as Sakura or even Sasuke. The thought made her want to cry.
"It would be advisable but it isn't completely necessary," Akira answered, eyeing the spike on the ground. "But these chains are going to be coming out of your body and that will take out a lot of chakra. In order for you not to waste any unnecessary chakra, it will be advisable for you to have good chakra control."
"And if it isn't up to your standard?" Would she want her to give up the idea? Because Naruto wasn't going to give up the idea. Akira eyed her and snorted, lips curled into a smile and Naruto wondered what was so funny now. The old woman rubbed her chin and circled around her, violet eyes fixated on her.
"Then we will get you up to my standard." Akira does not even smile but the crazed glint in her eyes spoke volumes to Naruto, telling her that it had been a terrible idea to voice out her doubts. The woman hummed, rubbed her chin and straightened her back before making her way towards the spike. The elder woman dropped her cane and placed her hand on top of the spike before kicking her legs up for a hand stand.
She must be nearly a 100 but she can do a handstand. Naruto rubbed her eyes and just opened her mouth like a dead fish as Akira hovered around the spike, chakra emitting from below her hand, and not once did the woman's legs wobbled. This had to be one of the more extreme versions of chakra control. It was concentrating her chakra to a single point and Naruto was glad that there was no other spikes near them.
"I want you to be able to do this with your chakra," Akira declared before flipping back onto her legs. She straightened her back, picked up her cane and locked her eyes on Naruto. "With the amount of chakra that you are going to make with your chakra chains, you need to make sure that you don't waste so much unnecessary chakra."
"But I have large chakra reserves," Naruto pointed out. "It shouldn't be a big deal for me to waste so much chakra. I can make a 1000 shadow clones without getting exhausted."
Akira leaned against her cane and violet eyes twinkled, looking at her like she was a sweet, naïve child. Naruto bristled, clenching her jaws together. What was so wrong about her words? Kakashi-sensei had even mentioned once that she had more chakra than him and he was a Jounin. She probably had more chakra than when she was a child.
"What would be the point of having large chakra reserves if you can't mold your chakra properly?" Akira reminded her. "Adding elementals to your jutsu is easy but manipulating its shape takes a lot of practice especially when there is no use of hand seals. The chains requires you to mold, twist and turn your chakra until it becomes a chain. This has to become second nature to you and if you don't do it properly then even you will suffer from chakra exhaustion."
Naruto sighed and looked at the spike. "How long do you want me to be able to stay in your handstand position?"
"Half-an-hour." Akira smiled. "But if you fall in the first five minutes…well I will make sure that you don't want that to happen again."
A sense of dread washed over the blond-haired girl at the evil glint in the elder woman's eyes. Naruto gulped. "What do you plan to do?"
"It won't be fun if I tell you, Naruto."
Naruto had the strangest feeling that Akira was the devil in the body of an old woman.
"You finally came back to this shithole. Where the fuck have you been for the past month, Dabi?"
Dabi grunted and sat down on the bouncy couch of his shared apartment with Isamu. Turqouise eyes did not bother to meet the annoyed blue eyes of his roommate, choosing to focus on the pile of newspaper piled up on the table. The scarred man picked up the newspaper, grunting and rolling his eyes at the headlines, but only to stop at the latest headline that declared the missing children and Uzumaki Tomoyo have been found.
Turquoise eyes fixated on the gray-haired woman on the front page. There was not a single smile playing on her lips despite the fact Uzushiokage and Hawks saved her from whoever kidnapped her. Her blue eyes seemed faded and distant, a very different picture to when they had been children. But then Tomoyo changed after her mother died from overusing her Quirk. He shook his head and grunted.
None of this was his business.
"You shouldn't be walking, Touya! Sit still for goodness sake! Oh don't give me that look, Mister! I'm not scared of any of your glares, you will have to get through me if you want to go to class!" Tomoyo's voice echoed in his ear alongside her furious blue eyes and the image of her sixteen-year-old self flashed before his eyes. He shook his head and looked at Isamu before darting his eyes back to the photos on the newspaper.
The smile on the Uzushiokage's face almost mocked him, telling him of how much happiness Eisuke had being a hero. He always wanted to have some form of validation. The man's father had always been hard on Eisuke, even kicked him out of the house when he declared his intentions of entering Yuuei High. Dabi snorted and looked at the bright green eyes of his former friend (no, Eisuke is Touya's friend. Not Dabi) before shaking his head.
Bastard was even smiling even though he allowed those sick son of bitches that kidnapped those kids and Tomoyo get away.
"Well if your Dad wants you to become a hero then we can be heroes together! We can make our own definition of heroes!"
A wave of anger washed over him and Dabi crumbled the newspaper, tossing it straight to the trashcan. His roommate raised an eyebrow, arms folded against his chest before kicking his feet onto the table. Dabi's eyebrows twitched but he bit his tongue. Between the two of them, Isamu paid for most of the things and was probably a better roommate than he could ever hope for.
"Heroes can't do anything fucking right." Dabi leaned his body forward and looked at the trashcan. Heroes never really saved people. They always cared about themselves, never giving a shit about their own family. I thought Father will play with me. Mismatch eyes flashed before his eyes. Father told me to stop whining about him spending more time with Shouto. Teary eyes flashed before him and Dabi clenched his hands into a fist. "They only care about publicity."
Isamu rubbed his chin and his blue eyes fixated on him. "You want to destroy the hero society, don't you? If I remember correctly, you have been worshipping Stain from the moment he came onto the scene, haven't you? Saw a couple of his work on your bedroom."
"Bastard is the only one that seems to know shit about the world." His roommate chuckled and snorted, blue eyes flashing with slight irritation but doesn't dare to correct him. Not like Dabi would listen to the asshole. As soon as he found a new apartment, he would not have to deal with this weird guy again.
Isamu hummed and leaned his body even more forward, blue eyes flashing with interest. He rubbed his chin and twisted his body around, dropping any smiles playing on his lips. "Dabi, would you be interested in working for my Boss? Y'know Stain and him were working together for a while before Stain got himself arrested."
"Didn't you moan and bitch about how childish the man was?" Isamu shrugged, not even bothering to deny about the fact he spent months complaining about him. I don't want to deal with two people bitching and moaning. Dabi rubbed his chin, pressed his lips into a thin line and stared at the senior.
"Look Shigaraki wasn't the worst boss I work with and I worked under a lot of spoiled brats." His roommate rubbed the back of his neck, clasped his hands together and stared at him. "You can't change the system by yourself, Dabi and you might just fit right in with them, Dabi. Think about it and once you make your decision, tell me."
Dabi just stared at him and looked at him for a couple of seconds. "I'm going to take a walk, Isamu."
His roommate nodded and turned on the television, not bothering to say his goodbyes as Dabi put on his hoodie. Work with Isamu? Bastard was targeting a little girl because of what her father did to his family. But he couldn't blame him. It was stupid and idiotic but that pain could overwhelm people. It drove people insane.
He was insane to think about it but revenge tasted sweet and what better way to get revenge? Was for his shitty old man to realize that his oldest child became a villain? That he made him this way. Maybe if things had been different then he would never be in this position.
"If it is hurting you so much then leave him and take your siblings! You could come and live with our family, Touya!"
Dabi chuckled and looked at the screen on the building, showing the interview of Uzushiokage and Hawks.
How could he ever take his family away when Endeavour would just hunt them down? When he could just destroy that family?
How could he leave if he couldn't prove for them?
Eisuke and Tomoyo made it seem so easy.
Why was Eisuke here?
The sight of Eisuke standing in front of Akira's door, lips curled into a hopeful smile and green eyes twinkled with some joy. Naruto rubbed her scratched cheeks and rubbed her arms, head tilted to the side before putting her hands into her pockets. Was there something she did not know about? She pressed her lips into a thin line, uncertain of how she should feel about him being here.
"What are you doing here? Don't you have work?" Hawks spent most of his nights patrolling, hence the reason he kept demanding for some coffee. She just presumed Eisuke was the same. Well Naruto thought that all heroes patrolled during night, never having time for their families.
"Not on duty right now." Eisuke shrugged his shoulders and looked at the windows. "So Akira wanted me to walk you back home, says something about pushing you to the limit."
The blonde scowled. Yeah Akira pushed her to the limit alright. It had been difficult for her to balance on the top of the spike, trying to balance her chakra alongside keeping her legs on top. How could an old lady do better than her? She slumped her shoulders and looked out to the empty streets. "I don't need a babysitter."
"Well it is better safe than sorry." Eisuke explained, shoving his hands into his pockets and looking up at the clear night sky. Better safe than sorry? She could definitely kicked a couple of pervert's asses even if her legs felt like lugs and her arms felt as heavy as a tree trunk. Naruto sighed and slumped her shoulders.
She just had to accept this and her brain was just too exhausted to make a snippy comeback.
For ten minutes, the two of them walked in silence through the streets. Neither of them looked at each other, only looking at the various trees that surrounded them. If Eisuke wanted to talk to her then he must have noticed that her scowl was in no indication that she wanted to talk to anyone now. Finally, Eisuke cleared his throat.
"My Dad is going to be back home by Saturday." Eisuke flickered his eyes at her and Naruto froze. Why was he telling her this? She blinked. Oh right, the clan wanted to do a check on the seal that the Fourth Hokage put on her and fix the damn seal on Gaara. "And he wants to meet with you… if you are willing to meet with him."
Saturday?
She already did her switch with her colleague so that she could hang out with her friends. Does she even want to meet the man after what he did to her? Naruto nibbled her bottom lip and hunched her back. But she couldn't avoid the man forever? And it had been two weeks since the incident. She should just accept what happened and hear what he had to say to him.
"I'm out with friends…but he can meet me on Sunday during my break." Eisuke bobbed his head and looked down at her with lips creeping up into a smile. She snorted and shook her head. "This doesn't mean I have forgiven your Dad for what he did, but I will hear what he has to say to me."
"Well I consider it a win." Her relative curled his lips into a smile and Naruto snorted, not bothering to argue with him. This chakra control exercise just drained me of my desires to fight him. The blonde took a deep breath, shoved her hands into her pockets and looked up at the night sky.
The silence hung between her and Eisuke was so tense that they only needed a knife to just cut a slice of it. Should she just keep quiet? Should she make some small talk? What could they talk about? Maybe she should just tell him that she was just a couple of blocks from here and didn't need a bodyguard.
Eisuke rubbed the back of his neck "So what is your relationship between you and Endeavour's kid?"
"W-What the hell? Why would you ask that?" Naruto flushed a bright shade of red, fiddling with her pockets and green eyes twinkled with both sadness and amusement. Was he also going to jump to conclusions like Hawks did? Because she didn't have a crush on Shouto…she thinks. They were friends.
Friends could be very close too.
"Hawks told me that there might be something going on between the two of you," Eisuke admitted, laughing nervously as blue eyes narrowed, shooting daggers at him. What the hell? Why would Hawks bring it up? It wasn't like she made it her business to find out if he was in a relationship with anyone. She scowled and Eisuke held his hands up.
"Do the two of you gossip like a couple of old women?"
Eisuke grinned. "Well we have to talk about something while we were waiting for our interviews and so it ended up being about you and Shouto. So now tell me are the two of you dating?"
"We are friends!" Naruto flushed a bright shade of red and looked at the various houses, never ever looking at her cousin. If she looked at Eisuke then maybe he might think that there might be something going on between her and Shouto. An impulsive kiss didn't count as something brewing between them.
Naruto cleared her throat and rubbed the back of her neck. It was time for her to change the topic because this was not a topic that she wanted to talk with Eisuke. "So how is Tomoyo?"
"Fine," Eisuke sighed and looked at the houses. "She returned back to work and has been working overtime to make up for all the shifts that those assholes made her lose."
Working overtime? Shouldn't she be resting and all that stuff? Naruto chewed on her bottom lip and stared at her relative, not understanding one bit why her cousin wasn't so concern about the fact that Tomoyo wasn't taking rest. This was what people would consider not being emotionally health? Or running away from their problems? She wasn't certain.
She wasn't a therapist.
"Should Tomoyo return back to work?" Naruto tilted her head and knitted her eyebrows. "She was just kidnapped so shouldn't she go through counselling? Or something?"
"Tomoyo deals with her issues by being a workaholic," Eisuke rubbed the back of his neck. "And no amount of begging and pleading would make that woman go through with counselling. She will make excuses about why she can't go there… so we just learnt to go with it, and just be there for her when we can."
Naruto nodded and looked up at the night sky. So if someone refused to deal with their issues then they needed to be there for them? But what if that person refused to let you into their life? Should you still be there for them? Should you still have faith even though you know they are living an unhealthy life?
Maybe once she could get over what happened to her then maybe she would be comfortable with asking that question.
A/N: So what do you think of the character development of the characters? And of the interactions? What do you think of the original characters that have been introduced so far in this book?