Lucy was walking through the village with her hands behind her back, her hair pulled into a loose plait with some of her hair left out to frame her face. Lucy sometimes received weird looks from the villagers still because of her growth that seemingly happened out of nowhere; however, most of the Jonin have been told about the seal that Orochimaru placed on her and knows her real age. Currently Lucy looked to be about 20 years old and her hair went down to her waist, her chakra had increased exponentially and she no longer got tired when doing high ranking ninjutsu, she still couldn't cast genjustu but she has figured out a way to combine her star dress abilities and ninjutsu like it was second nature.
"Lucy, you're back from your mission," Teuchi shouted from inside of his ramen stand,
"Yeah, I got back a couple of hours ago, you haven't seen Kakashi anywhere have you?" Lucy asked but only received an apology in return, "thanks anyway," Lucy sighed and continued walking through the village, "maybe I should go and see Iruka," Lucy wondered out loud and started to make her way to the academy.
During the first year that Naruto had left to go and train Lucy had worked with Tsunade and Iruka to try and get first aid implemented into the academy, unfortunately there were not many who knew medical ninjutsu enough or had enough time in order to teach it. Lucy had suggested that they teach things like medical herbs and basic skills such as wrapping and cleaning wounds. Again they had the same issue but when Lucy said that she would be willing to teach genin or chunin everything that Tsunade taught her and if Tsunade took on a couple of apprentices then they would be able to add the class into the curriculum come next academy year and have it be taught to the first years. Shizune had asked about the later classes, "what about them? They have no first aid knowledge,"
"Gemini or myself could take one member from each graduating team a week to teach them, there are 3 in a genin squad, which means that one member from each team could learn basic first aid skills at least and if they want to continue with their studies they could be an apprentice at the hospital, they're always looking for people to take on shifts," Lucy explained, "so if myself and Tsunade take on an apprentice or two, they could teach academy students for a year and then take on an apprentice for themselves so that they can teach academy students, I know that Haku would rather not be an active ninja anyway and I've got too much to do to be on active duty much," Lucy explained, and with that, they were able to implement an extra class into the academy curriculum.
Lucy also wanted to bring up the issue she had with the kunoichi classes, "what exactly is the issue with them?" Tsunade asked her,
"look I'm all for using what you got to get what you want and I'm not saying that we shouldn't be teaching girls etiquettes but we shouldn't be teaching them these things and not teaching them how to defend themselves, those classes take place at the same time the boys start to learn taijutsu. We are putting girls at a disadvantage, I mean the girls aren't allowed to put what they learn into use when they spar with the boys, yet the boys get to use everything they are learning when they spar with the girls," Lucy presented only one of the things she saw wrong with the academy kunoichi classes.
"well then how would you fix these issues," Tsunade questioned, knowing that there was more to it then what Lucy was letting on,
"I would like to suggest that we add Tai Chi into Kunoichi classes," Lucy suggested first, "it's a gentle and elegant style of fighting and it can double up as an exotic dance, it focuses mostly on using your opponents strengths against them and dodging. It would be great for undercover missions and such," Lucy suggested, "also, senbon needle throwing could also be implemented considering they can be disguised as hair pins," Tsunade and Shizune looked to each other, not sure as to how Lucy was going to get the council on board with this, it was a genius idea but with the way those old crones think it will be hard to change their minds. "Look, I'm incredibly against the sexism that goes on in the academy, who are they to tell girls to arrange flowers and flutter their eyelashes in order to get information yet tell the boys to sneak in and steal it but until there's time where the world needs boys to be able to dance we should be teaching the girls how to use their feminine whiles in a fight. A brutal fight, that will end in the others death not theirs." Lucy stated passionately,
"and how exactly do you plan to convince the elders to change these classes?" Tsunade asked her,
"leave that to me," was all Lucy said and with that she turned and walked out of the Hokages office.
Lucy sighed thinking back to that time, the council was easily silenced but Lucy knew the power she held over them wouldn't last forever and that she needed to implement change throughout the village before it happened. A golden glow appeared before Loke was walking beside her, Lucy still had trouble accepting what had happened between them and didn't like that they still wouldn't tell her all they knew but no matter what they were still her family and she loved them. They just didn't hold her complete trust at the moment, which broke her heart but it wasn't going to stop her from doing what she needed to do.
"Leo," Lucy said formally to Loke and he looked down at the use of his given name, it saddened him that Lucy kept them at a distance but he understood that he needed to prove himself through actions and he was trying to,
"Lucy, you know that Rogue has to go back to Earth Land soon right?" he asked her with concern,
"of course I do," Lucy replied still hesitant to speak with him about anything concerning Earth Land,
"well you're going to have to speak with someone about Fairytail and soon Rogue won't be an option," Loke tried to use logic to get Lucy to speak with him about the progress she has made in getting back,
"can you tell me everything you know?" Lucy asked him and his silenced was all she needed, "Leo, I get that there are rules you have to follow; however, we made a promise to protect one another, to be there for one another and I just can't help feeling like you've been lying to me before I even got here," Lucy said sternly,
"I know but," Loke tried but Lucy cut him off,
"I've been here six years Leo, six years you've been keeping things from me, you didn't even tell me that you couldn't tell me what was going on," Lucy said, "I'm busy today, if you don't have something important to discuss with me or something else to do please go back," and with that Lucy continued on her way to the academy to see Iruka.
Lucy made it to the academy and walked through, she kept walking until she got to Iruka's class and knocked on the door. Iruka opened the door and smiled once he saw Lucy, "hey, I just got back from a mission and wanted to check in," Lucy lowered her voice so that the students inside couldn't hear her. Iruka held up a finger, went back inside the classroom and shut the door,
"alright class, something has come up that I have to take care of but continue with what you're doing and maybe later today we will do some kunai throwing," Lucy heard Iruka say and not even a second later the door to the classroom opened again and Iruka was in front of her,
"I'm pretty sure you're not allowed to do that," Lucy laughed slightly as herself and Iruka walked down the hallway and sat on a bench away from any of the classrooms,
"they'll be fine for a few minutes," Iruka waved her off, "how was your mission?" Iruka asked her with a worried expression on her face, he knew that the only time Lucy left the village was on higher ranking missions that Tsunade needed her for,
"it was okay, piece of cake actually," Lucy said honestly, she was able to meet up with Itachi and get whatever information he could give her, no hiccups.
"that's a relief," Iruka said, "not that I'm not happy to see you but shouldn't you be resting?" Iruka suddenly asked, "you work too much," Iruka added offhandedly,
"I'm fine honestly," Lucy said and waved off his concerns,
"Lucy," Lucy heard a familiar voice call from behind them and both Lucy and Iruka turned to see Kakashi walked towards them at a lazy pace,
"Kashi," Lucy said and got up to meet him half way, wrapping her arms around his mid-section loosely, Kakashi's arm came to wrap around her naturally. Even though Lucy was now physically older she didn't treat Kakashi any differently to how she did when she first met him. When the growth in Lucy started to escalate Kakashi was flustered and a little uncomfortable with the way Lucy still seemed to treat him the same but once he realised that Lucy wasn't going to treat him any differently he just let her do whatever she was comfortable with.
"how long have you been in the village," Kakashi asked her once she let him go,
"a couple of hours, you weren't at home so I took a walk and decided to see Iruka," Lucy explained and turned to Iruka who was sitting on the bench still awkwardly, when Iruka and Lucy started spending more time together Iruka got the feeling that Kakashi didn't like him.
"great, well I'm here now so let's go," Kakashi said and started to lead Lucy away,
"see you later Iruka and tell the kids that I might come and visit them later this week if they're good," Lucy waved to Iruka and turned around to join Kakashi at his pace.
"ahh yeah," Iruka sighed as he watch Lucy and Kakashi leave.
Lucy and Kakashi were walking back through the village, "so Rogues time here is almost up?" Kakashi said lazily as they continued to walk through the,
"yeah," Lucy sighed, "six months and he should be going back," Lucy said in slight disappointment, "if he stays any longer he'll get magic deficiency syndrome and that can kill mages if they're not careful," Lucy explained, "that's how my mother died," Lucy whispered even though Kakashi already knew this.
"you're upset about this," Kakashi pointed out,
"of course I am," Lucy exclaimed, "I mean Rogue is the only person that I can openly talk to about magic and have him understand completely, I mean Rogue understands how different this world is compared to our own and how difficult it is to adjust. I'm going to miss talking to him about it," Lucy said,
"so when Rogue does go back how are you going to communicate with one another?" Kakashi asked her,
"actually," Lucy perked up, "I have a couple of ideas," she started, "the first would be to do what I did with my knife and your sword, I could connect objects to one another and talk to him that way but I have no way of knowing if it'll work across different worlds, universes, dimensions, whatever you want to call them so I also thought of making a sort of summoning key," when Kakashi looked at her confused, Lucy elaborated, "remember when Rogue explained that my ancestors were the ones to originally construct the keys, well, what if I could make some sort of mailing system using the Celestial Realm to connect one destination to the next," Lucy exclaimed,
"so would you create a second key to connect it to or the person?" Kakashi wondered,
"it would have to be another key or else they won't be able to respond," Lucy thought out loud, "Rogue could give it to Yukino, she'll know how to use it."
Lucy and Kakashi saw Ino and Sakura walking towards them, "Lucy," Ino shouted excitedly and ran towards her, Sakura tensed but continued walking at a slower pace.
"Ino, how are you?" Lucy asked as Ino stopped in front of her,
"Good, I've been working a lot on my mind transfer jutsu, can I show you later?" Ino exclaimed excitedly as Sakura came up to them,
"Kakashi-sensei," Sakura said and nodded towards him,
"sure Ino, I think I have some free time tomorrow afternoon after my shift at the hospital," Lucy replied,
"Okay I'll meet you there then," Ino said with a smile and was getting dragged away by Sakura, Ino frowned slightly at Sakura but turned around to wave back at them before walking alongside Sakura herself,
"are you and Sakura still at odds?" Kakashi inquired, knowing full well what was going on,
"you know exactly what's going on and I'm not going to entertain your amusement," Lucy sniffed at him and kept walking,
"why don't you just tell her everything?" Kakashi asked as he walked up beside her, this wasn't the first time he had suggested this,
"like that would make much of a difference with her, when it comes to Sasuke she always hated me," Lucy sad with her head raised slightly,
"she might surprise you, Ino didn't hold it against you," Kakashi said, "in fact Ino looks up to you,"
"Ino and Sakura are very different, despite how self-centred Ino can be she was raised by ninja, she has lived with and seen the conflicts that take place between them." Lucy explained, "Sakura was raised by civilians, despite how much she has changed and learnt there are core values that only civilian families have that most likely won't change."
"and those are?" Kakashi inquired,
"blood family comes first," Lucy said and Kakashi looked up at her in surprise, it was not what he was expecting her to say, "when you come from a broken home, you quickly learn to appreciate the people who are there, the ones that choose to be there. Sakura's family has always been there and supported her, shown her love and understanding, she has never had to choose her family. It was only by learning through experience did she start to look at Naruto that way," Lucy explained,
"what about her connection to Sasuke?" Kakashi asked her,
"that's different, that girl fully intends to marry that boy one day, to her, he was always blood family," Lucy said and finished their conversation however started thinking about how herself and Ino came to an understanding.
Flashback
Two weeks after Naruto left the village to train Lucy walked into the flower shop to pick up a dozen or so flowers for patients that she was currently treating at the hospital. Ino happened to be at the counter, "oh, Ino, could I please get these?" Lucy asked hesitantly, she assumed Sakura had told her everything, considering they were spending a lot more time together lately,
"sure," Ino said quietly and looked at the prices for all of the flowers, "Sakura told me about what happened," Ino started and Lucy was prepared to be yelled at but was surprised when Ino continued on just as quietly, "I was mad at first, but then I spoke with Shikamaru and he told me that if it were not for you, Choji might not have survived," Ino paused, "I may not understand why you didn't stop Sasuke but what I do know is, is that if I weren't for you I might have lost one if not both of my teammates," Ino took a deep breath and gathered up the flowers that Lucy was purchasing and made her way around the counter top, letting go of her deep breath Ino bowed deeply. Lucy took a step back in surprise, "thank you, for bringing my teammates back to me," Ino let out in a shaky voice and it seemed like she was holding back tears,
"Ino," Lucy whispered and put her hand on Ino's shoulder, "thank you," Lucy said and Ino stood up in surprise,
"why are you saying thank you?" Ino asked and before Lucy could explain she started talking again, "I mean, I've done nothing but be mean to you and act like a spoilt brat and you've done nothing but help me and my team and," but before she could go on Lucy placed her hand over Ino's mouth,
"I'm thanking you for thanking me," Lucy said and rubbed the back of her head, "I got to explain why I did what I did to Naruto in more depth and he understands but I also know that he's disappointed that I'm not going to help him. Sakura is well, being Sakura about it," Lucy explained and Ino nodded sympathetically,
"can you explain to me?" Ino asked, "like you did with Naruto?" she continued and Lucy smiled softly and nodded, both girls went to sit down on a bench behind the counter.
Time skip
"You were tortured by that freak?" Ino shouted in shock,
"yep," Lucy confirmed, both Ino and herself had spent the last half hour talking, occasionally stopping so Ino could serve a customer, "I was there for 11 months, I saw and did many things there Ino," Lucy said softly,
"but it was all to survive right? So it's all okay," Ino exclaimed,
"I'm afraid the world isn't that simple, a bad deed is still a bad deed no matter the reason behind it," Lucy explained, "I've killed people there Ino," Lucy whispered and Ino fell silent.
"We are ninja, it's how we protect our loved ones and our villages, is it ideal, no, but sometimes it's the only option we have," Ino stated like this was something that has been drilled into her since childhood and it probably was considering her family background, "some people don't belong in this world and that snake freak is one of them,"
"Maybe," Lucy conceded but didn't argue anymore, not because she didn't agree with her but because she did.
Flashback end
Later on that day Lucy was sitting at Ichiraku Ramen with Rogue and Haku sitting to either side of her, "how was your mission Lucy?" Haku asked as soon as they sat down, Haku was no longer an active ninja, instead he was teaching academy students about medicinal herbs and emergency first aid, Lucy was teaching him actual medical ninjutsu and when she deemed him to be ready he'll be able to work at the hospital.
"it was okay, long but a success," Lucy replied,
"have you written to Naruto lately?" Haku asked,
"not since I came back to the village a couple of months ago," Lucy shook her head,
"are you still working on what Jiraiya gave you?" Rogue inquired,
"yes, seals are a lot more difficult than anything else I've learnt here," Lucy said and dragged a hand down her face, "it requires a lot of chakra and concentration, if my magic mixes in with it, it wont work, that seal that Tsunade placed on me can only do so much, I've never had to move my magic to such extremes before,"
"have you considered creating your own set of seals that allow magic?" Rogue asked,
"the only problem with that is that I wouldn't even know where to begin, that's Levy's and Freed's forte," Lucy replied and suddenly looked up at Rogue, "if anyone can figure out how the seals here work it would be them, if I somehow find a way to store chakra into objects could you take it to them?" Lucy asked him,
"of course but how are you going to do that?" Rogue asked,
"well, chakra is the spiritual energy within one's own body, combined with the physical energy of said person. When done right, it manifests into something physical, a clone for example, that holds chakra until said person expels it or doesn't have enough energy to keep it," Lucy explained, "I'd just need to be able to break the connection from the object of chakra from myself without it dispelling,"
"again how do you plan to do that?" Rogue asked her,
"I was just getting to that," Lucy sniffed, "If I can combine magic and chakra together when creating ninjutsu then the jutsu might stay present, Like a semi-permanent clone. Magic reacts differently when released into nature, it doesn't disappear like chakra does it disperses but it's still heavily present." Lucy said,
"so if you create a clone, with a combination of chakra and magic power, once the chakra has left the clone the clone should still remain present for a time because of the magic?" Haku asked her,
"yes in theory but I would need to stabilise it because one the chakra disappears it's not balanced," Lucy mumbled,
"you know, this would be a lot easier to do in our world," Rogue said, "the laws of nature are so complicated here,"
"yeah, I mean I've seen some crazy things happen here but back in our world things like immortality are possible, albeit curse but possible," Lucy said,
"really?" Haku asked,
"yep, not just that but things like dragons and demons have the ability to exist," Rogue said, "dragons are extinct though and I'm pretty sure the only demons left on Earthland are either man-made or summoned," he explained,
"Like Lucy's spirits?"
"not really, people would do these rituals in order to summon demons and would have to sacrifice something in order to summon them, Lucy's magic is nothing like that but the premise is similar," Rogue explain to him, Rogue and Haku have grown closer over these past 2 years but they still weren't the best of friends more like acquaintances.
"okay I have a shift at the hospital that I need to get to so I'll see you guys later," Lucy said and left enough money to cover for all three of them and walked away.
Time skip
Lucy wiped the sweat from her forehead and started washing up her hands, she had to work double shifts until Haku had finally come to take over for her. Lucy heard a scoff from behind her and turned to see Sakura looking at her smugly and Lucy just sighed and rolled her eyes before finishing packing up,
"who do you think you are to roll your eyes at me," Sakura demanded, Lucy tried to ignore her and move past her out of the hospital, "do not ignore me, I am the apprentice of the 5th Hokage, who are you to ignore me,"
"I am your superior, in other words I am your boss, I am the co-head of this hospital and a private informant of the 5th Hokage, I handle things for her when she cannot and you will start to show me respect while at work," Lucy took on an authoritarian tone, "I have allowed exceptions because you are good at what you do and I leave my personal matters at home; however, this blatant disrespect while in the workplace is unacceptable, you might be the 5th Hokages apprentice but I am the one that convinced her to take you on," Lucy said, Sakura looked shocked and angry, "now put aside your personal issues with me and do your job, you are a medic ninja now go be one," with that Lucy forcefully pushed past Sakura and made her way out of the hospital to go home.
Angrily pushing the door open Lucy took off her shoes and made her way to the living room, flopping onto it with a groan Lucy rubbed her forehead and closed her eyes, "hard shift?" Kakashi asked as he came into the room, hearing Lucy get home,
"yes but that's usual, no I ran into Sakura on my way out and she tried to start something," Lucy said slowly sitting up, Kakashi sat on the opposite side of the couch,
"but that's also usual, so why did it bother you so much this time?" Kakashi asked,
"because this wasn't just us bumping into each other in the street, this was at work, a place where we save and lose lives. Sakura tried to pull the fact that she's Tsunade's apprentice over me, in that hospital I am her boss and she is to keep her personal issues out of it," Lucy stressed, Kakashi pulled Lucy's feet onto his lap and rested his hand on her ankles,
"maybe if Sakura wasn't being kept in the dark about so much she would be able to control herself in the work place," Kakashi said and Lucy groaned out loud,
"you're not meant to give me sound advice after a long day, you're meant to blindly agree with me and tell me I'm right no matter what," Lucy flopped onto the couch,
"sorry," Kakashi chuckled and cleared his throat, "you're absolutely right Lucy, there's no way to fix the situation that you're in, would you like some strawberry milk?" Kakashi said sarcastically,
"aw thanks Kakashi that would be great," Lucy smiled at him sweetly knowing he was joking but really wanted strawberry milk, Kakashi sighed and got up to walk to the kitchen to get her what she wanted. Lucy smiled happily as she drank her beloved drink and Kakashi sat back down where he was,
"ready to listen to what I said first?" Kakashi questioned her,
"why are you so adamant that I tell Sakura of all people something so personal anyway?" Lucy grumbled, she hated when Kakashi didn't agree with her, not because she always thought she was right but because they were both stubborn and neither of them let up,
"because she was apart of the team as much as the boys were," Kakashi started,
"of course I know that, in fact I was the one that convinced you to treat her as a kunoichi and not just a girl," Lucy grumbled a little offended at what Kakashi was saying,
"that's not what I mean, despite the fact that you tried to get closer to Sakura you still treated her differently to the boys. You treated the boys like family and Sakura was always left in the dark, even when you tried to be closer to her you still kept her at a distance," Kakashi said,
"I kept her at a distance because I've seen her use someone's insecurities and vulnerabilities against them, all for a boy that paid no attention to her. Did you know that Sakura was the one to end her friendship with Ino because she found out that Ino had feelings for Sasuke? Did you know that Ino was going to give up on those feelings for Sakura?" Lucy said, "I didn't trust Sakura the way I did the boys, because at least I knew that they wouldn't use the vulnerabilities that I had shown them against me,"
"what about now? Everyone has grown and changed since back then," Kakashi said, "would you trust Sasuke now the way you did then? Would you even trust Naruto that way?" Lucy looked down and away at this, "so why not give Sakura the chance now?"
"after the way she keeps treating me?" Lucy argued back, "I am not comfortable with Sakura knowing such intimate knowledge about me, knowing that it is very likely if we are at odds again in the future she will use it against me,"
"she might surprise you Lucy, she's grown up a lot," Kakashi said gently,
"you barely even talk to her these days," Lucy pouted stubbornly, he sighed at her turned to fully face her on the couch,
"I think it would make your life a lot easier if you two just came to an understanding, you have a lot going on and being at odds with a co-worker isn't going to help you," he said reasonably,
"I know you're right but she gets more difficult to be around every time I see her," Lucy groaned and just fell onto Kakashi's shoulder,
"go to bed Lucy, you just got back from a mission today and you worked double shifts, I'll tell Shizune that you're going to be sleeping in tomorrow and can only take the afternoon shift at the hospital," he said and helped her up from the couch,
"you going to see Shizune tomorrow?" Lucy asked him confused, he never went to the hospital voluntarily, Kakashi always just got Lucy to take care of his injuries and check-ups,
"we usually run into each other at the Hokages office,"
"so you'll be telling her that I can take an afternoon shift in the afternoon?" Lucy questioned knowing how late he could be,
"tomorrows mission is an S-rank so I'll be on time," Kakashi said,
"s-rank? Are you going with anyone?" she asked concerned,
"no it's a solo mission but I should be back not too long after you get off work," Kakashi assured her. Lucy still looked worried but started to make her way towards her room,
"I'll be giving you a once over when you get back then," it wasn't a question and Kakashi knew that even if he was fine she would or she would make him go to the hospital. Believe it or not Lucy was the lesser of those two evils. The female nurses and a couple of the male ones always tried to take a peak at what he looked like underneath his mask, sometimes it would be more than just his mask they wanted to peak at, the food was terrible, the chemicals gave him a headache and white of the walls always made him feel claustrophobic. Sitting still for a couple of minutes while Lucy looked over him with her eyes and letting her dab any scratch he had with disinfectant was definitely easier to deal with.
"good night," Kakashi called out and Lucy knew that while he didn't like it he agreed with her, Lucy knew that she was the lesser of two evils after all. Smirking at that thought she quickly cleaned herself up and got changed for bed, falling asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow.
Time skip
Lucy was walking out of the hospital the next day and saw Ino waiting for her, "hello Ino, do you mind if I picked up something to eat on our way to the training grounds?"
"of course," Ino said and started leading the way towards the Udon place that she knows Lucy likes to order take out from, "you were a bit late today, busy afternoon?" Ino asked her worried,
"just a trainee made a couple of mistakes I had to oversee," Lucy sighed as the Udon place came into view and she ordered her usual,
"were they dangerous mistakes?"
"no they were easily fixable but that doesn't mean that they didn't receive any backlash from the other workers," Lucy rubbed the bridge of her nose, "a lot of them were tearing into the trainee and I had to diffuse the situation,"
"you'd think that they'd help when mistakes are made," Ino grumbled,
"unfortunately in hospitals it's different, mistakes can lead to death and if they make a mistake that's so simple then what's going to happen when a they're in a life or death situation," Lucy said and thanked the worker that brought her, her food,
"but everyone makes mistakes," Ino argued,
"I know that, that's why I didn't fire the trainee, but in our line of work I can only make so many allowances. I have warned them about making these mistakes and if they are having an off day then to let me know so I can plan ahead," Lucy said as Ino and herself started walking towards the training grounds,
"being in charge of a hospital must be stressful," Ino concluded,
"I have Shizune to help me but she can only do so much because she's Tsunade's advisory, and Tsunade is Hokage so she can't help nearly as much as she wants to,"
"you've taken on a lot all at once," Ino said admiringly, "adding extra classes into the academy, helping the 5th Hokage, changing the way the world view medical ninja," Ino tried to go on but Lucy shut it down quickly,
"Tsunade started that change during the war and helping Tsunade is mainly just dealing with the council because I have experience in politics, adding extra classes to the academy is something that Tsunade has wanted to do since she became a medical ninja and it's only been now that she's had a way to do it with these extra medics in training," Lucy explained to her,
"speaking about medics in training, I spoke to Sakura late last night," Ino brought up,
"oh great, what is it?" Lucy groaned,
"she doesn't know why you didn't go after Sasuke," Ino stated,
"no she doesn't,"
"why?"
"she didn't want to know," came Lucy's only reply, Ino stayed quiet for a while,
"I might have told her last night," Ino whispered and Lucy stopped walking,
"you what?" Lucy questioned her firmly,
"I may have told her after getting mad at her for complaining about you," Ino fiddled with her fingers nervously and Lucy sighed before continuing to walk towards the training grounds, "wait you're not mad at me?"
"oh I am but she was going to find out eventually, I'm just lucky it was you who told her and not someone like Orochimaru," Lucy said, "I'll speak to her about it another day," and with that they continued on their way.
When the sun had set Lucy made Ino stop, "okay that was great, you forced your way in a few times," Lucy said appraisingly to Ino, Ino was currently resting her hands on her knees and was breathing deeply,
"but you can still push me out, which means it's not perfect yet," Ino grumbled to herself,
"don't worry you'll get it, you've improved a lot since you became a Chunin," Lucy stated proudly, "a mind reading medic, now that's something,"
"oh please, Sakura's a better medic than I am and she has brute strength," Ino said looking down, "she improved so much over a small amount of time and here I am still in the same place,"
"because Sakura found her skill set, your skills rely mostly on long range fighting, aim, prediction and manipulation, its harder to think of ways to improve those because you can't just say add chakra weights to your training. Would they help of course, but it won't make you the best at what you're best at," Lucy explained to her, "Shikamaru told me that you're working on sensory skills," Lucy said,
"yeah, it's been going really slowly though,"
"any new skill will but I still think it'll be good for you, imagine connecting to someone's mind just by sensing them?" Lucy said, Ino smiled at her before they separated and Lucy went home to make sure that Kakashi had in fact gotten home on safe.
He didn't.
Lucy was not happy to walk in and see Kakashi all scuffed up, nursing a broken hand and dislocated shoulder. "alright, on three okay," Lucy said gently, "one, two," and with that she snapped his shoulder into place and he groaned,
"I thought you said on three," he complained,
"I did and I did it ON three," Lucy said teasingly but healed his hand completely considering she thought the shoulder was enough punishment for him not being careful,
"so guess what I got told after I came back from my mission," Kakashi said,
"what?" Lucy asked,
"guess who's coming back to the village in a few days?" Kakashi asked her and Lucy looked up at him from the cut she was currently cleaning,
"really?" she asked, "he's done with training?" she asked,
"sort of," Kakashi said,
"does this have anything to do with the information I came back with yesterday?" Lucy said referring to her mission,
"I suspect it does but I'm not allowed to know everything yet," Kakashi grumbled, "so I'm not going to be going on missions for the next few days so I can test him,"
"I suppose you'll also be testing Sakura?" Lucy asked,
"yes I think so," Kakashi said carefully and looked at her, "is there something wrong with that?" Kakashi asked,
"Ino told her everything last night," Lucy said,
"ahh," Kakashi said not knowing what else to say,
"so I suppose in a few days I'm not going to have a choice but to discuss things with her," Lucy said and finished cleaning up Kakashi, "and make sure she doesn't go spreading it around," Lucy smirked,
"Lucy," Kakashi warned her,
"what I'm not going to hurt her," Lucy protested, "Just tell her that it's sensitive information and if others were to find out about it, I can make life difficult for her,"
"and how exactly would you do that?" Kakashi questioned her,
"tell Tsunade,"
"you'll tell on her?" he questioned, "real mature Lucy," he said,
"what, you want me to take care of it myself and not let someone who cares about the both of us handle it?" Lucy questioned and while what she said made sense Kakashi also knew that Tsunade holds a certain level of respect towards Lucy, well that and Lucy takes care of the council for Tsunade when it's appropriate and if what happened were to get out then the one responsible would be in a lot of trouble.
"just make sure you don't threaten Sakura's progress," Kakashi said,
"of course not, Sakura is good at what she does, I'm not going to stop that just because I don't like her, however, I can make it so she has to take on more shifts at the hospital then what she is now as a punishment, which means limited missions," Lucy said smirking,
"alright fine," Kakashi conceded, it was the same as him getting d-rank missions as a punishment which is the equivalent to getting a slap on the wrist.
The next few days Kakashi had off and Lucy was teaching at the academy with Haku and Gemini, trying to get more people interested in the medical field, while all students will learn basic first aid their aim is to get one third of graduates in the medical field, which is at least one person in a three man squad. Lucy also got Capricorn involved in teaching the kunoichi class Tai Chi and she is also trying to get Hinata involved but currently she's too shy to teach.
Walking through town Lucy smiled as she saw Ebisu and his Genin chasing Tora through town, 'Naruto why do you have scratches all over you?' Lucy heard her own voice ask in her head and continued to smile at the memory. Meanwhile two very distinct people were making their way towards the village.
