𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 7

TOBIRAMA WAS shocked/confused when he heard her ask how to be an angel. After the embarrassed mess she made him calmed down, she explained that she meant how does he walk on water. He started explaining all the things that go into it such as chakra and concentration and when her small replies stopped he realized that she had fallen asleep. He let her sleep for an hour or so and did some thinking while she dreamt. Don't tell anyone this, but he even moved her hair from her face just to see how peaceful she looked. Then once the hour was up, he woke her up and then left for the night.

The next time he came by, her eyes were burning with determination. She was bouncy and hyper and was ready to start training as if she hadn't slept through the whole education part. Her pink eyes practically burned into his soul. She cut the pants that he gave her into shorts for the warmer days such as this. She still kept the long sleeves on her shirt though.

Tobirama glanced down at the water before him, "We need to go somewhere deeper."

"Are you trying to drown me?" Her face fell flat as he reached her side.

"Possibly. Maybe then I can get rid of you," He smirked, kneeling down with his back to her. "Get on."

Haruka happily skipped over to him and hopped onto his back. She held her arms around his neck tightly and purposely nuzzled her head against the side of his face causing his face to get red, "Oh don't be like that. I'm your favorite student."

"You're my only student," He chuckled while standing straight up. "But if I had others then sure, you'd be my favorite." He turned his head slightly just to see her smile that glowed brighter than the sun.

He didn't want to go out too far because he knew she was going to fall in a lot and he didn't want to keep having to pull her out. He also knew that if she kept falling in, she would get discouraged and possibly go home early. He wanted to keep her determination high and keep that smile glued to her face.

"So," She cut off his thoughts. "How was your day?"

He leaned his back and sighed while staring up at the blue sky, "It's been a while since our last battle so luckily I didn't have to worry about that. Though I did help my brother with some strategies and then I came here."

He could feel her pout, "Is that still going on?"

His eyes narrowed at the water ahead, "It should've already been over long ago, but they don't know how to give up."

"Can't you guys just call it quits?" Her warm body pressed closer against his. "I worry more and more everyday about you. I don't know if I'll be able to take it much longer to be honest."

He turned back to her and tried to smile, but she could almost read his mind. She knew it was a fake on, "Don't worry about me. I'll be fine."

That was easier said than done for her. She would wastes countless nights imaging gruesome ways he could die. She would have nightmares flood her brain when she would sleep. If he took too long coming to the water then she would start to panic, but as soon as her eyes meet his red eyes all of her worries melt away. She always wants to jump to him and give him a hug, but there's some "No affection from Haruka" rule around him.

"Alright, this should be a good spot," He scanned the area as he walked over to the bank. He placed her down on the ground gently and made sure she didn't fall off his back or drag him down with her. He was still standing on the water. "Did you hear anything I said yesterday?"

She placed a finger on her chin and stared up at the trees that loomed over them, "You said something about chakra and then went into how it works and then it started to sound like some bedtime story and that's when I passed out."

He sighed, "Well at least you remembered the word chakra. Now I'm going to try to summarize something that took many people years to master. So please pay attention. I'm going to teach you these things and then ask you questions and if you get them wrong you will be punished."

"In what way?"

"You'll see," He clapped his hands together. "Now let's get started."

Hours had passed and the blue sky was now painted gold. Haruka's bones ached in pain as she did probably her thousandth push up for today. Sweat dripped from her body as Tobirama's eyes glared down at her. He had spent these hours going into detail of what chakra is and how to control it. Her brain hurt. This is the most information she has ever been told. It was too much for something that looked so simple. She learned all the hand signs and had them memories after he made her scream them at the top of her lungs almost thirty times.

She was on the ground panting. Her tired eyes looked up at him, "Am I ready yet?"

"Not yet," His arms were crossed over his chest. His face scared Haruka, but it also made her more eager to learn. "Your last question. Possibly the easiest question of them all." She felt the hair on her arms stand up. He bent down in front of her and let his arms hang on his legs. "How many chakra natures are there and what are they?"

She scoffed, "Easy. Four. Earth, fire, water, air." She felt so proud of herself. It was the first thing he opened the lesson with and even though she practically forgot it, she was happy that it rolled off her tongue with ease. But that happiness faded when she saw his head in his hands. She sighed. "How many this time?"

His hands ran down his face, dragging his skin down with him, "Only five." She felt relief instantly. "But with one arm and you have to name the five main chakra natures. Though I will say you were really close."

Her lip quivered, "You're torturing me."

He shrugged, "You asked for this."

She laid out her body with one shaking arm holding her up. She had the other laid behind her. Slowly her whole body began to go down (Yes Tobirama did teach her how to do a pushup), "So." Her voice was shaky. "There's fire."

"Yes."

She pushed herself down and back up, "Then there's water."

"Good." Another pushup. "Remember to breathe while doing this."

"Oh! Ai--" He made a sound that was telling her she was about to say the wrong answer. She held her body still, her arm barely holding herself up. "Wind?"

"Yes! Good. Keep going."

Another push up, "Then earth." He hummed a yes and she did another one. Her arm barely holding on. "And...um...uh..." She winced at the pain of her out of shape arm. "I don't know!" Her voice cracked.

"When it storms it thunders and..."

"Lightening!" She shouted out causing an echo in the forest.

"Yes!" He clapped while quickly standing up.

After her last pushup, she collapsed to the ground with a huff. She was all set to start training now. She rolled over to glare at her teacher, "You hate me."

He chuckled, "Maybe, but now it's time for the hard part."

She groaned, "Oh my god! Don't tell me walking on water hurts."

He laughed at her agony, "No. I promise it does not." He leaned down and held his hand out to her. She easily took it but winced once he pulled her up. She wobbled for a second but overall was fine. "Okay, now watch me."

Tobirama stepped off of the water and stood next to Haruka. His eyes closed as he began to concentrate the chakra in his body onto his feet. His hands were pressed together with the first two fingers standing up. She copied his hands but not his concentration. After a second or two had passed, he stepped back onto the water with ease.

"It gets easier the more you do it. Don't expect to do that the first time," His hands slid inside his pockets as he watched her carefully. "Alright now go."

Haruka closed her eyes gently. She made sure all outside sounds melted away into quiet air as her mind coursed through her body awakening all of her chakra points. She made sure while awakening them that they moved down onto her feet. She could almost feel her feet tingle along with the rest of her body. It felt new and accelerating. Her eyes opened with a new determined look that made shivers go down Tobirama's spine.

She kept her hands together and made sure nothing was taking her away from her focus. She extended her foot and stepped against the wet glass. She could almost feel her foot sticking against it like she was still walking on the ground. She smiled and took the next step, but as soon as her next foot left the ground, her first one went head first into the water.

Her body followed her foot into the water. She only fell waist deep but it was still disappointing to say the least. Tobirama almost laughed but swallowed it down.

She got back up again out of the water and got her chakra ready once more. Then went right into the water again. The laugh was harder to hold in this time.

Chakra.

Feet.

Water.

Chakra.

Feet.

Water.

Chakra.

Feet.

Water.

As she pulled against her pants that were sticking to her body, Tobirama's laugh cut through her concentration. She glared at him as she felt herself about to cry. She was getting frustrated now and having him laugh at her wasn't helping. Her face grew red from embarrassment and her fists balled together.

"It's not funny!" She cried out a little harsher than she intended. He closed his mouth right after she yelled. He studied her face and felt his heart sink. This is what he wanted to avoid, but he led her right to it. She was almost about to cry and he would give anything to find a way to make her feel better. "Gah!" She tossed her arms lazily at him. "Maybe I'm not cut out for this type of thing..." Her face turned away from him.

He stepped closer to her, "Haruka don't say that. Hey." His voice was soft. "Listen to me." He took a hold of her shoulders and turned her towards him. "I'm sorry for laughing. I overstepped when I shouldn't have. Don't get upset just because you can't do this your first try. This is a lot to take in and it might take months of practice for you to really master." Her eyes sank to the ground. "But I wouldn't be teaching you if I didn't believe in you. Yes you're smelly and messy and a dumb girl, but I still believe that you will be able to do this. I know you Haruka."

When she looked back up at him, her eyes changed. They had a gentle glow to him and it reminded him of the pink sky that came later during the sunsets or on an early morning. Her cheeks were the same color as well. A small smile graced her face and he never felt happier to see it.

"Okay fine," She pushed his hands off of her. He stepped back onto the water and gave her some room to step on herself. "I can do this."

She took a deep breath and once again got the chakra to circulate around her feet. She was sure it was there this time. Once she had enough confidence in herself and she focused as she took a step against the water. This time it felt sturdy. She knew she had done it. To make sure, she took another step.

She gasped when the water didn't pull her in, instead it was holding her up. She turned to Tobirama with wide eyes. He had wide eyes as well. A smile from her was indeed rewarded to him, "I DID IT!"

She jumped up in happiness as his smile came onto his face as well. But as soon as her feet reached back down on the water, they wobbled for a second causing her to lose balance. Instinct rushed over him and he immediately rushed and took hold of her elbows to hold her up. Her hands laid on his forearms.

They stayed silent when their eyes met. She could see her shocked reaction in his red eyes. Her eyes jumped back and forth between both eyes. Even though he was facing away from the golden glow of the sun, they still shined bright to her. They were beautiful. Perfect almost. The calm that would fill her when she would see them. The happiness that came as well. She had been looking into them for years and it wasn't until this moment she knew that she loved them. It had confirmed all of her happier late night thoughts of him. But she couldn't get a read of what he was thinking. She wanted to know if he felt the same way about her eyes, but that was something she couldn't dig into.

"Haruka," His breath blew against her face and she realized that they had gotten closer to each other than they were before. Her body did not move anyway.

"Yes?"

His cheeks were dusted pink as he pushed her away. His hand was scratching the back of his neck while he stared away from her, "I'm very proud of you and you should definitely work more on this. For now I'm going to go. Have a good night. See you next time." He spoke so fast that she barely had time to register what he said before he was already walking away.

His face only grew darker and darker shades of red as he kept picturing her face coming closer to his. He didn't look back at her. Even as she screamed when she fell in again after losing her concentration.