Juno's pack landed on the surface of the bed with a fwump as she slowly turned her head to look around her new dwellings. It didn't take long to get a complete picture. Her new 'apartment' was essentially a single room with the kitchen, seating area, and bedroom all separated with strategic placements of wall screens and counter spaces. She had been told by her new landlady that it was called a 'bachelor' style.
The one other room was a bathroom tucked behind a sliding screen door. All told, the space could be crossed in ten large steps.
Juno was pleased with it. What it lacked in space it made up in charm. It hailed back to the more traditional architectural style she was used to, had tall ceilings, and large, easterly facing windows. She would rise to the sun pouring into the small space, filling it with natural light.
The furniture was simple, but of high quality. The seating area had several plush floor cushions atop a beautifully ornate rug. A carved wooden wall separator cleverly hid the bed, a soft double mattress resting on a simple wooden frame. The walls had several faded squares where old artwork and photographs had hung, and there was a large, luscious indoor palm plant dominating the far corner.
Futaba, her new landlady, was bustling around the kitchen. She deftly pulled a tea set from one of the cupboards and set a kettle to boil after a few clicks set the small gas range alight.
She was a frail and diminutive looking woman, with steely grey hair piled on top of her head in an elaborate braided updo. She had kind eyes and calloused fingers and Juno had liked her immediately after they had met.
"There's not much foodstuff in the pantry, so you'll need to make a trip to the market around the corner before long. When you go to pay, you tell them old Futaba sent you there and to give you the neighbourhood rate. When you get home, I'll check the receipt to make sure they didn't short change you none. If they did, I'll give them a good reminder that Futaba used to be a top kunoichi back in the day." She winked at her conspiringly as she stirred the loose tea leaves in the pot. Juno smiled as she sat on the stool opposite her at the kitchen island. She rested her chin on her hand and watched as Asa explored their new space.
Futaba chattered at her while she finished preparing the tea. In a matter of moments, Juno had gotten the rundown of the latest gossip and neighbourhood drama, not to mention a not insignificant amount of information about Konoha and the Land of Fire in general. Juno smiled serenely as she listened. The older woman reminded her greatly of her first mentor, Monk Kestra. The woman could keep up a stream of chatter so complete and without pause that Juno had thought that only supremely advanced airbending techniques had kept enough breath in her lungs to keep her from passing out. Futaba had the same busybody, and slightly bossy, nature.
She felt for sure that the look on Kakashi's face when a woman less than half his height had effectively shooed him away once he introduced Juno as her new tenant would keep Juno laughing on the inside for days. When he had tried to insist that he had to just come by later to bring her to Sakura's house, Futaba had shushed him and waved a hand at him dismissively.
"Young man, if you think I can't give directions to a house not five blocks away from here, then the academy has severely lowered its standards since my day. Now run along, I'm sure you have some kunai to sharpen or somethin." The slightly stupefied look on his face as he walked off had been priceless. Juno hadn't been able to contain a guffaw, to which Futaba responded with a wide, sinister grin at odds with her otherwise cute old lady look.
"It's always best to keep men like him on their toes, Juno-chan, especially those young prodigy types. A firm hand is what they need." She nodded decisively. "Now let me take a closer look at that cute monkey."
Now, sitting over two steaming mugs of jasmine tea, the two of them were already thick as thieves. Futaba was regaling her with tales of her past as a shinobi warrior and Juno responded with her own anecdotes, although careful not to reveal the details surrounding her otherworldly origins. Although Juno liked Futaba immensely, she wasn't quite ready to broach that topic yet. Luckily, Futaba seemed happy to hog most of the conversation.
Finishing up their tea, Juno asked offhandedly, "What happened to your last tennant? Why did they leave all this lovely furniture behind? I'm sure they must be missing this tea set at least." She traced her fingertips delicately across the engraved detailing along the lip of her stemless mug.
Futaba's gaze shuttered for a brief moment, and she turned away to busy herself with washing the dishes in the sink. "Poor thing went and got herself killed. She was a political refugee from the Land of Lightning, caught up in some business with a ninja clan there. Was on a trip outta town and didn't pay enough for a decent bodyguard." She shook her head slowly side to side "I told that girl that she needed at least B-level protection, but she didn't listen. A little too attached to her pennies."
Juno was silent, giving Futaba space for her obvious pain. For a moment, there was no sound except the clink of the dishes as Futaba deftly washed them in the sink. Setting them on the rack to dry, the older woman turned to face her.
"She was a good girl, and I'm glad that her things will have a new life with you looking after them. She'd have liked that you enjoy a good cup of tea." She waved a hand at Juno, "Now, you'd best be heading off, it's nearly dinner time and your friend will be wondering where you are. It'll be too late for you to go grocery shopping after your meal, so I'll bring you up some breakfast tomorrow morning. Once you pass your skills test tomorrow, come by downstairs and we'll celebrate with a few nice warm cups of sake." She grinned as Juno stood and offered her a shallow bow. "None of that dear, and from now on, you can just go ahead and call me Granny Futaba, everyone else does."
Before heading out the door, Juno made sure to pocket the pair of keys Futaba had given her. It felt slightly strange but good to have her 'own place'. As the Avatar, she had been a guest at countless stately houses, palaces, and simple homesteads, but hadn't had anything resembling a permanent residence since leaving the Air Temple. Somehow, after meeting Futaba and sensing the homey atmosphere of the space, the idea seemed less foreign than she might imagine. She could even see herself coming to think of it as 'home'.
It didn't take long to reach the address Futaba had indicated was the Haruno residence. Juno knocked on the door, and waited, hearing the tell tale patter of someone inside coming quickly down the stairs. The door opened to a smiling Sakura, who, despite having only seen Juno a few hours before, greeted her with a warm hug.
"You made it! I thought for sure Kakashi-sensei would forget to tell you where to come after meeting with the Hokage or that he would just slack off." Her gaze swept the street. "Where is he anyways? Did he run off that quickly after showing you here?"
"Ah, actually it ends up my new apartment is not too far from here, so my landlady just told me where to go."
"Really?! That's so great, that means you can come over all the time! Who is your landlady?"
"Granny Futaba."
Sakura's eyes bugged. "Granny Futaba!? That crazy old…" she trailed off seeing Juno's expression, "...er, nice lady down the street? That's great…" The recovery was less than convincing, and Juno had to smother a laugh as Sakura showed her in the house.
Juno tucked her shoes in an indicated cubby and Sakura gave her a quick tour of her home. It was small but well appointed, with a delicate, feminine touch to the decor. Asa quickly vacated Juno's shoulder as soon as he spotted a chubby tabby cat snoozing on a wingback chair. Juno sent him a stern look as a reminder to be nice as Sakura led her around by the hand.
Passing by the kitchen, they were greeted by a wall of steam and a dusky-pink head emerging from behind the counter. It was an older, willowy version of Sakura, with a pair of dainty spectacles perched on her nose. The woman waved her hand in front of her face to clear her fogged up glasses, and smiled cheerily at them.
"Hi there! You must be Juno-san. I'm Sakura's mom, Emiri. Sorry to say that dinner will be running a little bit late tonight, Sakura didn't exactly give us much notice that we would be having a guest." She bustled around the kitchen with an unconscious grace that reminded Juno of some waterbending masters she had known. She stirred a bubbling pot with all the fluidity of an imperial court dancer.
Juno bowed shallowly, palms folded in front of her. "Thank you for welcoming me into your home. I'm sorry if my presence is an inconvenience…"
"Oh, not at all, I just hope you aren't too hungry," she tapped one plump lip distractedly, "although, I do have a few aperitifs I could whip up if that interests you…"
Juno waved her hands in front of her, "Oh please, do not trouble yourself on my account. I had some excellent dumplings recently, so I am not too starved."
"Mom, I was thinking I would take Juno shopping before dinner anyway, so it works out." Sakura interjected. She turned to face Juno fully. "I was thinking you probably need some things for your new place, like toiletries and stuff."
"Ah sure" Juno replied, imagination already running wild with what Sakura could be referring to. Her mind flashed to the noble women she had seen at the Earth Kingdom imperial court. At times, Juno thought they wore enough cosmetics that you would need to remove it with a shovel. But, she took a breath. Sakura didn't go around looking like she spent 3 hours every morning on her looks, so maybe it wouldn't be that bad.
Well, she was wrong.
"I need to shave the hair off my legs?" Juno blinked in disbelief at the package of slim, multi-coloured razors in her hand. She had just spent the last ten minutes trailing after Sakura like a lost turtle-duck through the brightly lit aisles of the corner store pharmacy. The sheer multitute and variety of products and implements was dizzying. If she had been alone, Juno would have been frozen with indecision. As it was, she was desperately trying to put to memory everything Sakura was saying over her shoulder as she led Juno around.
Why in the world were there so many kinds of teeth-cleaning pastes? And don't get her started on the hair products. After several considering looks from Sakura, she had settled on a few 'deep-conditioning' and 'frizz-relief' options, as well as some sweetly-smelling oil for her 'ends' which Sakura had also declared 'in dire need of a trim'.
Juno was trying her best to reign her young friend in. This was hard because, on the one hand, Juno did need to know what rituals and hygiene practices would help her fit in in her new world. It was something she was used to conforming to in the past, adjusting her clothing style, mannerisms, and cosmetic rituals to fit in wherever her Avatar duties had taken her. On the other hand, she couldn't help but feel like Sakura was enjoying her role as 'beauty consultant' a little too much.
But ultimately, she didn't really have a frame of reference for what was considered 'normal' and what was considered 'excessive'. So, she somewhat glumly tossed the package of razors in her basket alongside the other products Sakura had recommended. At the very least, she figured she could just run all this by Granny Futaba later to double check that it was really the usual practice.
She was able to put her foot down a little more confidently at the cosmetics aisle. There was absolutely no way it was necessary to darken her eyebrows or use 'a light concealer' to cover up her skin imperfections. Juno happened to like her freckles thank you very much.
"Are you sure Juno-chan? The magazine I was reading recently said that freckles are so two seasons ago. I think we could cover them up if we got something a little more heavy-duty."
"No way Sakura. Konoha will just have to deal with my freckles, and that's final."
Sakura took one look at the expression on Juno's face and stopped pressing the issue. Although Juno had been raised as a monk, sometimes she liked to think she could be as stubborn as an earthbender.
Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, Sakura declared that they were done. Although she was taught to remain detached from worldly possessions, Juno felt a small pang of anxiety at the amount of money she had to shell over for their purchases. Being an independent adult was expensive. If she wasn't able to join the shinobi ranks, she would have to find an alternative source of income soon.
Returning to the Haruno household, they were met with a wall of rich aromas and the adorable sight of Asa and Sakura's cat snoozing in an evening sunspot. Supper was served soon after, and Juno was introduced to Sakura's father, Hajime, who had arrived home from work while they had been out. He was a somewhat portly gentleman with a kind face and exhibiting the symptoms of early balding. He was mostly quiet throughout dinner, allowing the women's chatter to wash over him as he subtly tried to feed Asa and the cat under the table.
Juno didn't mind, as long as he left the sabertooth moose-lion's share of the fried mushrooms for her.
Juno found the Harunos to be very pleasant company. She could see where Sakura got her tenacity, and kind heart from. She was a little lost as to who she had inherited her temper from, until Hajime tried to sneak in dessert before finishing his serving of vegetables. A single, cutting look from Emiri had him sheepishly rubbing the back of his head before obediently finishing his meal. Juno didn't blame him. Having seen Sakura's temper in action on many occasions, usually directed towards one of her three male teammates, she would shudder to think what a mature version of her was capable of unleashing. To be safe, Juno made sure to finish her own serving of vegetables with lavish compliments to the chef.
As a matter of fact, Juno made sure to eat a full Juno-sized portion of food, with side remarks explaining that she would need the energy for her test tomorrow. With a subtle nudge to Sakura's side, she watched as her young friend also helped herself to another portion of the pork shoulder, all the while keeping a close eye on her mother's reaction. Emiri took in the action, then, with a quick examination of Juno's exaggerated flexing muscles, remained silent. Juno hoped there would be less pressure on that front to maintain Sakura's bird-like diet. To be extra sure, she shared stories of training with the young girls in her cohort, and the high-caloric diets they had all been put on to accommodate their training, as well as the needs of their growing bodies.
After wrapping up the meal with a delectable serving of green tea ice-cream, (something Juno was happy to declare the best thing she had tried in Konoha to date), Juno found herself saying farewell to the Harunos as she scooped up a sleepy and stuffed Asa into her arms. Bowing at the door, she graciously thanks her hosts for the meal.
"It was our pleasure Juno-san. You are welcome to join us for dinner whenever you feel like it."
Sakura turned to her parents, "Mom, I'm going to walk Juno back to her apartment, okay? I'll come straight back." Emiri nodded her assent, and the two young women set off into the night together.
They were silent at first, merely enjoying each other's company and the ambiance of the evening. Strolling sedately down the street, accompanied by the chirping of crickets and the glow of streetlights, Juno felt content.
"Juno-chan...are you nervous for tomorrow?" Sakura inquired softly from her side. Juno glanced down at her, taking in a hint of unease on her face. She shot her a comforting smile.
"Ah, Sakura, I've had plenty of tests in my life. You should have seen me before my earthbending exam, I was as jumpy as a sack of hare-flies. But after a while, you become better at handling these sorts of things. I have faith in my abilities. I think it will be just fine."
Sakura smiled. "That's good! I want you to be a kunoichi like me, and then maybe we can train and go on missions together!" She put her hands to her cheeks and smiled, in a faraway daydream. "It would be nice to have a girl around. It sure gets tiresome dealing with the boys all the time."
"I'd still hang out with you even if I wasn't a kunoichi, Sakura. We are friends now, after all."
"Really?"
"Yeah, sure."
If Sakura's smile was any sunnier, Juno wouldn't have been surprised to see the night succumb to it. She chuckled and patted the young girl on her head.
They soon turned the corner leading to Juno's apartment. They said a quick good night and Juno watched as Sakura disappeared back around the corner. Ascending the staircase leading up to her second-story apartment door, Juno peeked into a lit window to see Futaba snoozing on a wingback chair, book laid open on a side table. She knocked gently on the pane of glass and smiled as the older woman started awake. She waved at her through the window, and Futaba nodded back, stretching and getting up to turn the light off.
Juno chuckled to herself as she ascended the rest of the stairway, amused at the thought of someone staying up for her return at her age.
Unlocking the front door, Juno tossed her keys into a small ceramic dish shaped like a duck, and dropped her shopping bags gracelessly onto the floor. She kicked off her shoes and slumped over to the bed, stripping out of the outer layers of her clothing as she went.
Flopping onto the bed face first, she wiggled under the covers, making room for Asa as he crawled in after her. It had been a big day.
As she fell asleep, she spared a thought towards the impending test that she faced the next day, wondering what it would entail. Despite her brave words to Sakura on the walk home, she was a little leery at the prospect. Suppose she had to go through some kind of deadly ninja challenge course? Or maybe fight off some kind of monstrous killer beast? Falling into a deep sleep, her dreams were of fighting off a faceless enemy.
Completely naked, of course.
She awoke the next morning to persistent knocking.
Fighting her usual morning grogginess, Juno stumbled out of bed, dragging the comforter along with her. Answering the door within the warm confines of her blanket, she could only blink as Granny Futaba bustled in with all the energy of a tornado.
"Good morning Juno-chan! Good to see you slept alright anyway. I've got a good power-house breakfast prepared for you this morning. And you're going to eat it all, no complaints!" The elderly woman made herself at home in the kitchen, like she had the day before, lifting several covered dishes from within a basket slung over her arm.
Juno followed placidly behind, wondering to herself if Futaba invading her space was going to be a regular occurrence. As the older woman deftly set the tea kettle on to boil, while Juno slumped onto a stool, learning heavily onto the kitchen island, she decided that she didn't mind. The sumptuous aromas drifting from the various dishes went a long way to informing her decision.
Even the lazy Asa, who had been dragged along with the comforter, clutching at Juno's warm body, stuck his twitching nose out of the safety of the blankets at the smells beginning to permeate the small apartment. Juno listened with one ear to the steady stream of chatter from Futaba and obediently ate every dish placed in front of her, taking intermittent sips at the strong black tea that followed. Soon enough, her mind followed her body into wakefulness.
" – and be sure to keep your eyes to the ground. A trip-wire is what took out my teammate in the chunin exams, I wouldn't be surprised to hear they do something similar for your test – no eat all your wakame Juno-chan, it's good for you – and also, make sure you stretch your glutes enough, can't have a pulled ass-muscle be what keeps you from victory, that's what I always say…"
Juno blinked, partway between feeding Asa another of his favourites – pickled radishes – and finally clued into what Futaba was telling her.
Right, the test.
Suddenly, Juno was wide awake. She shovelled the rest of her breakfast into her mouth, trying to commit to memory all the tidbits of advice that Futaba was offering. She finally finished her meal to Futaba's satisfaction and dashed around the apartment, throwing on her clothes. Hopping around, trying to stuff her other leg into her pants and brushing her teeth at the same time, Juno gasped out "Granny Futaba, where is training ground four? That's where I have to go for my test."
"Ah, don't you worry none, I'll take you straight there. My cribbage club got pushed back this week, so I've got nothing better to do. Plus, I'd like to see you in action, see if those muscles can do anything else besides look good."
Juno blinked again, not sure how to react to a geriatric flirting with her, but shook it off and finished getting ready. Soon, they were out the door and heading to the outskirts of the village.
It ended up that 'training ground four' was just a clearing in the woods, bordering the river leading out of town. Futaba led her through the entrance to the clearing between two large trees. Juno was unsurprised to see a familiar trio loitering just inside. She was somewhat surprised at their punctuality; she supposed that Sakura must have been up early this morning to wrangle them all.
When they spotted her, they hurried over. Well, Sakura and Naruto hurried, Sasuke lingered a respectable distance behind.
"Hey Juno-chan! You're going to kick butt today, I just know it!" Naruto struck a dramatic pose. "The Hokage's dumb test doesn't stand a chance, believe it!" She had to smile at his exuberance.
"It should be interesting anyway," Sasuke piped up, somehow sounding about as interested in the proceedings as watching paint dry. "I didn't really get a chance to see your skills last time, we were all too busy."
"Ah, Sasuke-kun, I'm so flattered by your attention."
He flushed pink and turned away. She smiled at the other two. "It'll be nice to have you cheering me on."
Before she could say much more, Futaba stepped in, "Alright you all, let's skip the pleasantries. In my experience, it's not a good idea to keep the Hokage waiting."
"Eh? Who's this old lady?"
"Naruto! It's not nice to talk to your elders like that!"
Juno smiled, remembering the less than flattering opinion Sakura had expressed the night before, but decided to keep that information to herself. Futaba led the young trio off to the side of the clearing, and Juno continued alone, approaching the small group just inside.
Unsurprisingly, the Hokage was there, along with a few other people she didn't recognize, but guessed were higher-ranking shinobi, by their dress. Someone she hadn't expected to see was the lazy copy-cat-nin himself, Kakashi Hatake.
He eye-smiled at her and gave a two-fingered wave as she approached. She quirked an eyebrow at him in silent inquiry, but he just shrugged in response. The fact that he was there was interesting. The fact that he was there on time even more so. She guessed that his punctuality issue had a limit, and having the Hokage tell you to be somewhere on time was it.
She stopped and bowed in front of the group. The Hokage, already smoking despite the early hour, nodded back.
"Ah, Juno. Good of you to come." He gestured with his pipe to the people standing behind him. "These are a few of my esteemed colleges, high ranking members of the shinobi, and instructors from the ninja academy. I've asked them here to help me assess your skills." He paused, and smiled slightly. "Ordinarily I would leave the assessment of foreign ninja to them exclusively, but I must admit, I'm curious to see what your abilities entail personally. They have all been briefed on your circumstances, so don't feel the need to conceal anything that would betray your origins."
She nodded, unsurprised. "How would you like to go about the assessment? Should I just show you some of the advanced bending forms I know?"
"Bending? Is that what you call it?" He stroked his short beard. "No, I was thinking a little something more...challenging than that." He waved Kakashi forward. "Let's test your mettle with a good old-fashioned spar."
Juno felt her heart skip a beat. She eyed up the silver-haired jounin in front of her, mind running through scenarios, struggling to recall everything she knew about how he fought. She could see his single eye appraising her as well. She nodded, not taking her eyes off the man in front of her.
The Hokage continued. "Nothing too serious mind you. Lets just see what you can do." He nodded to Kakashi, "The usual initiate level test, eh Kakashi?"
Kakashi nodded, keeping his eyes on Juno. "Sure thing Hokage-sama".
His voice was light, amused. Her heart lifted. She found herself smiling back, and raised her arms into a simple stretch. This would be interesting.
"Is that all? Well, at least we'll be done in time for an early lunch. That's good because I want to go back to that dumpling place." She blinked, and paused, struck by an idea. "Loser pays?"
"Sure, I like free food as much as the next guy." He said, following her out into the center of the clearing.
"Hm, just don't forget that I like the pork ones best."
As they got closer and it became apparent what was about to happen, Naruto and the others started whooping in excitement from the sidelines.
"Yeah, Juno-chan! Kick his ass!"
"Take him down, Juno-chan!"
Kakashi slumped beside her. "Maa, why aren't they cheering for me?"
"They're smart kids."
"Humph."
Finally, they faced off.
In the moments before the battle began, Juno finalized her strategy. She recalled from watching him battle with Zabuza that Kakashi had a wide range of elemental attacks that made him very effective at mid-range combat. Luckily, this was also Juno's area of strength. At mid-range, she could employ the full force of her bending abilities, and rely on her natural affinity for sensing projectiles and dodging or diverting them before they came near enough to strike. The terrain was also likely to work in her favour. There was plenty of water and earth to bend.
She knew Kakashi was very proficient at close-combat, probably more so than she was. If he got too close, she would have to rely on the circle-walking airbending style to dodge and evade his attacks, and try to force him away back into the mid-range as much as she could.
She doubted he would be approaching this battle at his full strength. He knew this was supposed to be a way for her to demonstrate her abilities to the Hokage rather than determine a winner or loser. She had a feeling he might even try and goad her into showing off some of her better moves. She had to hope that he wouldn't try some sneaky ninja move that she was unfamiliar with early on to force the battle.
A stray breeze tugged at the branches of the surrounding trees. The rustling sounded loud in the otherwise quiet clearing. Kakashi adopted a casual stance and Juno took the moment to center and empty her thoughts of all her anxiety, aided by a few deep breaths.
They made eye contact. Juno felt a slight stirring in the pit of her gut with a strange intensity at the connection. Time seemed to stretch as they waited for the match to start.
Finally, the grizzled voice of the Hokage spoke up with a simple, "Begin!"
Juno rushed in with several airbending scythes, trying to force Kakashi on the defensive. She knew that he needed time to make hand-signals to execute his elemental attacks, and didn't intend on giving him that time.
Unfortunately, Kakashi seemed to anticipate her strategy. He dodged her wind-scythes with ease, flipping hand-over-hand in acrobatics that would have made a circus performer green with envy. He didn't seem all that interested in meeting her offensively, just kept dodging and avoiding her attacks as he led her in circles around the clearing.
She continued her onslaught, barraging him with attacks from every school of bending. She flung fireballs, pulled streams of water whips from the river, and settled into deep, earth-bending kicks to send a volley of rocks towards her quarry.
Kakashi dodged them all, always just out of reach, not so much as sending a single kunai knife her way. She smiled to herself, realizing what he was doing. As she suspected, he was giving her the opportunity to show off.
And so she did. Juno pulled out every move in her arsenal, stretching her imagination for creative ways to keep Kakashi on the run. It was almost fun; trusting that he had the speed and agility to dodge anything she threw at him, Juno could let loose in ways she normally wouldn't in a simple spar.
It almost felt like a dance. Despite never having fought before, Kakashi seemed able to anticipate her every move, evading her attacks with a grace that belied his tall stature. And wherever he landed, Juno was there, manipulating the elements of their arena with all the power and skill of a fully realized Avatar. At one point, Juno let out a joyful whoop, caught up in the sheer fun, physicality of it all.
She saw Kakashi cock his head at her, crinkling his eyes in a similarly playful way. It was then that Juno realised that he had his sharingan eye open, the mismatched gaze following her every move as they dashed across the clearing. It helped explain why he was able to anticipate her moves so unerringly.
At that moment she felt something shift in the battle. Suddenly, Kakashi was right in front of her, leveling a high kick to her head. Juno bent backwards in a graceful overhead flip, then immediately fell to the ground in a dramatic sweep to his legs. He lept over them with ease, then followed up with powerful jabs to her torso. Juno quickly backpedaled, dodging his fists with the evasive circular motions that marked her as an airbending master.
As she suspected, Kakashi outclassed her when it came to hand-on-hand combat. It was everything she could do to avoid getting struck by his lightning-fast fists, taking a few bone-jarring strong hits to her abs despite her best efforts.
Her air left her chest in a whoosh, and she staggered back. She saw Kakashi lean in to take advantage of her slip, but at the last second, Juno swiped her left hand forward, shifting the earth beneath his weight-bearing heel. She was rewarded by seeing him stagger backwards, off balance. It gave her the chance to jump back and put some space between them.
They took advantage of the natural lull in the battle, both eyeing each other from across the arena while catching their breath. Juno could feel the first hints of sweat on her temples and her lower back. But her eyes were bright, invigorated by the exercise. She almost found herself forgetting their audience, despite the calculating gaze of the Hokage and the cheers of the young ninja.
"Getting tired yet?" She heard Kakashi call out, over the sounds of the rambunctious spectators. She grinned and stretched in response, pulling her arms over her head in a luxurious stretch. She saw his eyes quickly glance down to follow the motion, and felt a little smug.
"I'm just getting warmed up, old man."
His eyes snapped back up and he staggered, seemingly more off-set then when she had earthbended his feet. "Old?" He questioned despairingly. "Maa, Juno-chan, don't be so mean."
"Don't be so sensitive."
"You don't be so sensitive."
Juno laughed. "Okay, I take it back, you are just as immature as Naruto."
She was rewarded with an indignant "Hey!" from the sidelines which she waved away. Looking across the clearing to her opponent, Kakashi shifted, and seemed to be regarding her seriously now, with none of the playfulness from earlier. She felt her own smile fade away, and looked at him coolly in response.
"Alright, I won't go easy on you then." He warned. Juno paused momentarily at something in his voice, a question that he wasn't verbalizing. Despite the parameters of the test demanding for her to show what she could do, he was giving her a way out. She felt a moment of unease, that he should feel compelled to offer such a thing. But she steeled herself. If she was going to be a shinobi, a warrior dedicated to the safety and service of Konoha, the Hokage needed to know what she could do, even if it tested her limits. She nodded at him, and braced herself for what came next.
It didn't take long. In a flash, Kakashi flew through some complex hand signals and created a half-dozen clones, all surrounding her in a semi-circle. In a breath, they were on her, three diving in for close-combat, with three diving away, throwing knives with deadly accuracy. Where earlier there had been an easy give-and-take, now there was a desperate edge to their fighting. Juno dodged and parried, stuck and retreated, fighting at the edge of her abilities to keep her enemies at bay.
In the face of the relentless barrage, she pulled at the air, sweeping and whirling in a complex and dynamic dance. Airbending at its strongest was an evasive and defensive form, useful for controlling and redirecting the attacks from multiple sources.
And Juno was a master airbender.
She was a whirling dervish, the calm center of a fierce cyclone, Kakashi could no more strike her than he could strike a cloud. Where he was a ferocious onslaught of offensive assaults, she was the ephemeral, cool clarity of the mountain air where she had been raised. Soyokaze, he had called her. She would show him the power of a gentle breeze.
She could feel the air of the battle shift. Slowly, yet surely, her defensive stance was getting under Kakashi's skin. She could feel his frustration at not being able to land a hit, and, at the precise moment of his unbalancing, she stuck with deadly precision. One by one, his clones fell until there were only three remaining. Juno could feel victory within her grasp, and pushed forward to pursue her advantage.
At that moment, Juno felt something strange. A quiet flicker in her perception, perhaps a slight ripple of premonition of what was about to happen. She ignored the feeling, and drove forward, redirecting a volley of kunai knives sent towards her before diving into strike a clone with a concentrated fireblast, making it disappear with a pop.
As it disappeared, Juno gained a renewed view of the battlefield. The remaining two Kakashi's were towards her left, appearing as though they were teaming up for a last-ditch attack. As she turned to face them, something caught the corner of her field of vision.
She turned her head, and it was as if time had slowed to a crawl.
From where she stood, she saw the kunai knives she had redirected fly towards the side of the field. Naruto and the others cowered and dove out of the way of the incoming blades, fleeing to the safety of the trees.
All but one.
Asa's small body, startled from a comfortable perch on Naruto's shoulder, had been a second too slow to dodge. She saw, with mounting horror, as one small blade embedded itself into the meat of his stomach. He fell, his jump to safety aborted, and did not get up again.
Juno stared. It was as though she was seeing the scene through a veil over her eyes, vision tunneling until all she saw was his small, precious body lying motionless on the ground. She felt cold, heartbeat pounding in her ears, a strange, deadly calm descending over her.
Moments passed. Time seemed to stand still; she was trapped, seeing the moment of his fall over and over. In the back of her mind, Juno felt that something was deadly wrong, but couldn't seem to move, couldn't seem to even breathe.
After what seemed like forever, Juno felt something she did not expect. A hand, grasping firmly to hers, and her body being pulled into a rough embrace. Strong arms closed over her, and Juno's face was pressed into the shoulder of a warm body. It was only then that she felt able to take a gasping breath.
As she did so, she realized she was in the Avatar State.
Emerging from her stupor, Juno instantly felt the awesome power of her previous lives roaring through her. She was in the center of a raging inferno, a cacophony of wind and fire and rain, storming beyond her comprehension around her. She realized that it was Kakashi who was holding her firmly in his embrace, arms gentle despite the violence of the elements around them.
With a gasping sob, Juno reached out, coming back to herself, pulling the chaos in, reigning in the terror. She felt the power recede, just as she collapsed limply in Kakashi's embrace, body shaking with grief. Her precious friend; her beloved Asa. Last remnant of a world lost to her, gone by her own careless hand.
Through it all, she felt a hand gently caressing her hair. After a time, she heard Kakashi's voice coming through. "Sorry, I'm so sorry."
Sorry? What did he have to be sorry for? It was her fault. She lifted her head to tell him so, and saw that they were in the center of a quickly growing group. Naruto, the Hokage, and others converging to see what had happened.
And...and Asa was there.
He quickly crawled up her body, wrapping his arm around her head, his body trembling in concern. Through her shock, she could hear him gently coo and stroke her hair. His usual method for calming her down.
In a moment, it was as though her body became unfrozen. She turned in Kakashi's embrace, though never leaving his arms altogether, and grasped Asa to her chest, hand roving around his body for the knife wound she knew must be there.
Only...it wasn't.
In a few moments, her mind refocused. With slowly blinking eyes, she lifted her body carefully from Kakashi's arms. He released her immediately, retreating a small distance away. He watched her, eyes wary, and Juno, seeing his reaction, knew her suspicions must be true.
She turned stiffly away from him, dashing her eyes roughly with the back of one hand. She saw Naruto, Sakura, and Sasuke gathered around and she smiled at them shakily.
"I'm sorry", she croaked out, before clearing her throat. She turned and bowed, somewhat stilted, to the Hokage and his peers, echoing the sentiment, before turning and making a dash towards the trees, Asa still firmly ensconced in her arms.
Despite the cries behind her, she put on a bit of airbending speed, and quickly put significant distance between herself and the training ground. At last, she made a mighty leap and perched gracefully in the canopy of a large tree. With Asa's warm body sitting comfortably in her lap, Juno's mind turned back to the battle.
What a disaster. With a bit of clarity and distance, Juno realized what must have happened. Kakashi had used the same mind-bending technique that he had used on Zabuza. She remembered Sakura explaining briefly that ninja could employ illusion-type attacks, manipulating and exploiting their foe's fears. Kakashi had put her to the test, as he had promised, and she had failed in the most spectacular fashion.
Juno groaned and buried her face in Asa's thick pelt. The leopard-monkey was lying complacently in her arms as she vented, sensing, as always, what she needed at any given time. Despite knowing now that it had been all an illusion, Juno was grateful to keep him close to her.
How could the Hokage think she was fit to be a shinobi now? At the first test, she had done what she hadn't since she was a young girl; lost control and entered the Avatar State out of panic and instinct. She was lucky no one had been hurt in the ensuing chaos.
Head thumping back against the reassuring weight of the tree beneath her. Juno sighed. Just when she thought things were looking up, she had to go and put a foot in it. Now what would she do?