.

"And in that moment I swore that

nothing in this universe could be as heavy as the

absence of the person you love."

"Excuse me."

The boy paused in his exercise, his hand halting mid-strike and falling to his side.

He turned to me. There was a sheen of sweat that glistened on his brow and stuck his hair flat against his forehead; I could smell the perspiration from where I was standing a few feet away. He was breathing heavy, his chest heaving. The muscles in his arms twitched and jumped beneath the fabric around them.

"Hello!" the boy shouted. Despite having spent two hours straight training with a minimal amount of breaks—I had kept tabs on him through my chakra sense, I hadn't sat in a tree and spied on him like a creep—his voice was strong and clear, booming out around the otherwise empty training ground. "What can I do for you, my Beautiful Spring Flower of Youth?"

I steeled my resolve.

There was no turning back. There was no bowing out.

Graduation was four months away. In four months, I would be thrown onto a team and into the ninja world. I had to be ready for that day, no matter what. If that meant subjecting my body to sadistic and cruel levels of training, then so be it.

"I was wondering if I could train with you."

His face lit up. "Truly?" he cried. I nodded. His hand jut out in a thumbs-up, his right eye winked, and he gave me a blinding grin. There was no other reaction I could muster except to stare. "Why, I would be honoured! I am Rock Lee. Who would you be?"

"Kasumi Kurosawa," I answered. "It's nice to meet you, Lee."

"The pleasure is all mine, Kurosawa-san—"

"Ah, just call me Kasumi. No need to be so formal."

He entire upper body jerked forward at the waist in the most zealous bow I had ever witnessed. "My sincerest apologies, Kasumi!"

I stifled a laugh—there was something almost endearing about his enthusiasm. Perhaps spending so long around Naruto, in all his ebullient glory, had reconditioned my brain so that I wasn't off-put by eccentrics. That, or I had lost my sanity and my ability to be weirded-out had gone right along with it.

Given what I was in the midst of doing, that too was a valid possibility.

"It's fine," I said. "Don't worry about it."

He straightened. "Yosh! Let us get started, then! Are you warmed up?"

"Not really."

"A light jog is in order!" he exclaimed. "We shall run twenty laps around Konoha!"

I choked on air. "Twenty laps? That's a warmup?"

"Indeed! That is half of what I do, I believe it will be sufficient for you!" He blinked. "You are of the Academy age, correct?"

"I'm twelve," I said. "I'll be graduating in June."

"Perfect! This is what Gai had me doing when I graduated, I know you can do it! I believe in you!"

I sucked in a deep breath.

That was what I had wanted, after all. A step up in my training. Either I was going to regret doing it with every fibre of my being or it would be the best choice of my ninja career.

"Alright. Let's go."

.

.

The house was empty when I stumbled through the door, my arrival met by silence.

I tugged the door shut behind me and tossed off my shoes, not worrying about how the motion sent them askew, far from where they were supposed to sit on the mat. I stared down at my slippers and contemplated wearing them. I decided against it when I caught a whiff of my own feet. There was a layer of sweat everywhere, my feet included, and I had no desire to dirty my slippers.

My body moved on autopilot through the house. First stop was the shower, where I stood under the hot water for Kami knows how long as the sweat and grime were cleansed from my skin. Then came the kitchen, where I nabbed some of the leftovers that Yoshino had dropped off the day prior, as she didn't trust me to cook my own meals—which was fair when one looked at my less-than-stellar track record in the kitchen. With both of those accomplished, I padded into Maen's room, slipped one of his shirts over my head, and collapsed on his bed, its sheets still mussed from the night before.

The familiar scent enveloped me, providing me with a sense of comfort.

My hand reached up to his bedside table and my fingers met the rough texture of crinkled paper. I grabbed at it and held the page in front of my face, running my fingers over the letters that were scribbled along the middle of it, following the path that my eyes took as I read it over again.

"Sorry kiddo, but my mission's been extended, might be another few weeks. Please don't do anything stupid while I'm gone."

I sighed and set the letter aside, ignoring the way my chest constricted.

My eyes shifted, landing on the calendar that hung on his wall—it was two months behind schedule. I rolled onto my back, laying spread eagle on the mattress, and let my mind focus on the ache in my bones rather than the tears that leaked down my cheeks.

"Weights?"

Lee dropped them in front of me, unfazed by the cloud of dust that they kicked up when they landed. "Yosh!"

I blinked, forcing my jaw to stay shut even as it itched to fall open. "How—how heavy are those?"

"I am uncertain," Lee answered, scratching the back of his head with a sheepish grin. "I believe they are about fifteen pounds."

"Fifteen—no. Lee, after the last time I trained with you, I could barely walk the next day. Adding that much weight to it might actually kill me."

Which, while it may sound dramatic, the fear wasn't without merit as the heat of the mid-afternoon sun pounded down on us. It was a warmer spring day than usual. Training in the heat and training with Lee were both hazardous to my health—to add weights into the equation would force me to limit my training session for the sake of avoiding heat stroke.

I enjoyed pushing my body to its physical limit, that much was true, but I wasn't suicidal and I understood where the line had to be drawn.

Most of the time, at least.

"Nonsense! These are what Gai gave me during my first weeks of training with him, I am certain they will function very well for your training!"

"I'm also female and probably a good thirty pounds lighter than you would have been," I pointed out.

He seemed to deflate, his shoulders wilting and his grin fading away. "Ah, you are correct, my Sweet Flower!" he cried. His head shot forward as he bowed to me. "I should have thought about that! I am terribly sorry! As penance, I shall run around Konoha a hundred times—on my hands!"

The image of a thirteen-year-old boy, upside down, clad in a green jumpsuit, screaming at the top of his lungs as he sprinted—can one sprint on their hands?—around the perimeter of Konoha popped into my mind against my will.

Oh, no.

"That… that's alright. It's fine, don't worry about it."

"Are you certain? I must—"

"Seriously, Lee. It's okay. You can keep your weights, too, I'll pick some up for myself by next week."

He was beaming at me once again. "That is very kind of you! I would encourage you, however, to take the weights back with you, and to wear them during your everyday life until you get your own. You can return them to me when we meet next week!"

I shook my head. "They're too heavy for me. Really, I'll get my own as soon as possible."

Weights that were worn at all times had to be light enough that they were near unnoticeable. They weren't meant to be a hindrance to you, but to condition your body over time, increased in increments as your muscles strengthened. Lee and, by extension, Gai, had thrown that idea out the window by wearing fifteen-pound weights on each of limbs right out the gate.

I didn't intend to do the same.

"If you are certain," he said. He picked up the weights, chucked them off to the side as if they were lighter than air, and struck a pose, his legs forming a v-shape and his shoulders squaring and his hands landing on his hips. "Now then! Let the training commence!"

In a flash, Lee had dashed off in the other direction. Shit. I followed, forcing my legs into a dead sprint and hoping in the back of my mind that I'd manage to keep my lunch down.

Maen gazed at the lump in his bed, one hand still running a towel through his damp hair.

She was curled up in the fetal position on his pillow, her hands clamped around the fabric of a shirt—his shirt—that swallowed up her entire body. He had assumed that she was at his cousin's house when he found her room empty. Instead, there she was, sleeping in his bed and clutching one of his shirts like it was a lifeline.

There were few times when Maen regretted his choice of work—that moment happened to be one of them.

He had known that his being absent affected her. He had known she missed him when he was gone, a sentiment that went both ways.

What he hadn't known was how deep those feelings went.

He felt a stab of guilt, made sharper by the fact that he knew it wouldn't stop him from taking missions in the future. That was part of the sacrifice that came with being a ninja. It had to come first. He was young and in his prime years, if there was ever a time for him to slow down on his mission intake, it wasn't then, not when he was of most use to his village.

He leant his shoulder against the doorframe, his hands falling to his sides, his eyes locked on her.

He didn't even want to imagine how much more it would sting once she began taking missions herself, their incongruous schedules further increasing the amount of time they would spend apart.

Maen discarded the towel and pulled some clothes from his closet, a tank-top and shorts. The room was pitch black, with only a hint of light leaking in from the hallway, but he had no issue navigating around as he finished getting ready to settle in for the night.

He slid into the bed, easing himself down beside her and pulling the covers up so that they sat around her shoulders. He thought he had managed to do so without waking her up when a pair of violet eyes blinked at him, half-opened, sleepy and unfocused.

"Maen?"

He put his arms around her back, lifting a hand to run his fingers through her hair, one of the few things that never failed to relax her. "Go back to sleep," he murmured.

She pushed her weight into him and pressed her face against his chest, both of her hands coming up to latch onto his shirt.

"Missed you," she mumbled.

He let his chin rest atop her head. "I missed you too, kiddo."

She hummed. "Night."

He listened as her breathing evened out, her entire body going limp in his hold.

He would make it up to her, somehow.

I clutched at Maen's hand with both of my own as we walked through the village.

It was busy, with hordes of people, civilians and ninja alike, milling around the market centre of Konoha and relishing in the agreeable weather. The sounds of a hundred different conversations drifted to my ears, the feel of a hundred different chakra signatures glancing against my sense.

"What inspired weights?" Maen asked. "You said you wanted them later on, what made you change your mind?"

I looked up at him and shrugged. "I started training with someone who suggested I try them."

He made a face, the lines around his mouth turning downward. "It's not that Uchiha brat, is it?"

"Not a chance," I scoffed. "It's some kid I met at the training grounds, he's a year older than me. He and his sensei specialise in taijutsu."

"Oh, yeah?"

"Uh-huh. He's kinda weird—he wears this green jumpsuit, and he says the word 'youthful' a lot. He's nice, though."

I watched Maen's reaction out of the corner of my eye.

He stiffened, his step faltering for a second, his eyes widening. I bit back a grin.

"That's… that's interesting."

"Something wrong?"

"No, no," he said, his composure back in place. He cleared his throat. "How's that going?"

"It's fine. His training is really intense, but I think it'll help."

"What does he have you doing?"

"A lot of what I was doing already, but just… harder. One-handed push ups with weight on my back, making me run backwards, weird sideways sit ups. All of that in crazy amounts. He sparred with me a bit, too, but he went easy on me."

Maen's eyes flashed across my body. "How long has that been going on?"

"A couple of weeks," I said. "I'm supposed to meet him again tomorrow."

"You'd think a genin wouldn't have any interest in training with an Academy student," he said.

"He said something about 'helping to foster the Youth of Konoha like his Great Sensei does'. Like I said, he's nice, but a bit… odd."

"You wouldn't say that if you met his sensei," Maen muttered.

"You know his sensei?"

"The entire ninja population of Konoha knows his sensei."

I snorted. "That bad?"

"The guy's colourful, alright, but he's also a genius," Maen said. "He's one of the top ninja in Konoha."

A shop sign, with bright red lettering and a cartoon kunai sketched out underneath it, caught my attention. I managed to get a glimpse at the windows through the crowd, displaying various forms of ninja gear, from kunai to senbon, katana to tanto, and mannequins outfitted with ninja clothes. I tugged on Maen's hand and pointed to it.

"Hey, isn't that where you said we were going?"

He turned to look where I was gesturing to, squinting, and nodded. "Looks like it."

He led me through the crowd towards the shop door.

The bell dinged as Maen pushed the door open, garnering the attention of the shopkeeper who had been organizing inventory in the back. A stout man, he put down a box of kunai and hobbled over to where we were, the steady thunk of wood hitting wood intermingled with a lone footstep, a broad grin on his face.

"Nara-san," the man said. "A pleasure, as always."

"Been a while, Fujita-san." Maen gave me a push between the shoulders. "This is Kasumi."

The man bent down to greet me, crouching and setting his hands on his knees. The gesture felt both kind and condescending—which made sense given that, in his mind, he was approaching a twelve-year-old.

"It's nice to meet you, Kasumi."

"You as well, Fujita-san."

"We're looking for training weights," Maen said, setting a hand on my shoulder.

Fujita nodded and made his way towards the back part of the store, calling over his shoulder, "Normal or sealed?"

Maen turned back to me. "You're looking to use them all of the time, right?"

"Yeah," I answered.

"Sealed," Maen told him.

"Come on back, I should have some that fit."

Maen moved towards the source of the voice, tugging me along with him as I had yet to let go of his hand. I let him guide me, marvelling at the weaponry and gear instead of watching where I was going, not caring if I was drooling at the lovely sharp things that lined the walls.

Fujita had two sets of weights that he was considering, one in each hand, humming to himself as he hefted them. They didn't look like weights. They were made of a thin black material, resembling an armband more than a weight. The thing that gave it away was the white seals stitched into them, the same design on all of the articles.

He saw us and tossed a set my way. I caught them—they didn't feel like weights any more than they looked it. They could be slipped under my regular clothes and nobody except me would ever know they were there.

"They should be snug," Fujita said.

I pulled on the armband and held out my wrist. A bit of slack showed itself, the fabric sagging downward. Fujita clicked his tongue. He held out the other set and swapped it for the one I had, the fit of the second set being far superior to the first.

Maen went to pay for them while I wandered the store.

I had considered finding a weapon to augment my taijutsu but realised there wasn't any point until I had my jonin. Whichever weapon I chose, should I pick one up at all, had to be one in which there was a teacher available who was well-versed with it.

I brushed my fingers on a set of tessen, a wicked pair of fans made entirely of blades rather than fabric, when I saw a shine of silver in the corner of my eye.

"Rings?" I murmured aloud, meandering over towards it.

It was a group of four rings and two bracelets, formed out of thick, polished steel, sitting in a box on the corner of a counter. They were plain, save for the intricate seal that was carved into each of them.

"Those are rather curious, aren't they?"

"What are they?" I asked.

Fujita reached over my shoulder and pulled out one of the rings.

He slipped it over his finger and clenched his hand into a fist, releasing a burst of concentrated chakra around the area of the ring. A thin line of chain slinked out from where the seal was on the ring and wound its way towards me—I could sense a hint of chakra leaking off of the chain.

"There're fifteen metres of reinforced steel chain sealed into each of the rings, twenty metres sealed into the bracelets," he said. "You use a skiff of chakra to active them and control the chains."

"That's… that's so fucking cool."

Maen walked over, a plastic bag in hand and an eyebrow raised. "What's cool?"

"Look!" I cried.

"She found these little beauties," Fujita answered, the chain still writhing in the air in front of him. "Some of my best seal work, if I do say so myself."

Maen sighed. "You want them, don't you?"

I gave him a grin, no doubt starry-eyed. "Maybe."

He rolled his eyes. "At least make sure you can use them, first."

"Don't be too disappointed if you can't," Fujita warned. "They require incredibly precise chakra control. Most people below chunin can't properly activate them."

"I wouldn't count her out just yet," Maen muttered. "She'll surprise you."

I grabbed at one of the rings and put it on my middle finger. I let my chakra sense open up to give myself a better idea of what was happening when I channelled my chakra into the area of the ring, watching as it created something akin to a pathway where the seal was.

Once the path was open and the first link of the chain peeked out of the ring, I understood what he meant. My control over it was tenuous, a layer of my chakra coating the chain as it exited from the seal, but the further out the chain went the more difficult it was to hold onto it. A metres worth of chain was extended when my control gave out and cut off the chakra that was being supplied to the seal. The chain was swept back up into the ring like a vacuum.

"Well, not bad for a first try," Fujita said and clapped me on the shoulder. "That's far better than what most get. Practice makes perfect with these, trust me."

"How much are they?" Maen asked, heaving a sigh.

He had resigned himself to his fate.

Fujita waved a hand. "Don't worry, I've got no intention of burning a hole in your pocket—you've already purchased the weights, I'll give you a good deal on 'em."

I let out a squeal and threw myself at his mid-section. "Thank you, thank you, thank you!"

He snorted, placing a hand on my head. "Yeah, yeah. You're welcome, you little monster."

"I'm your little monster."

"I guess you are."