Continued:
"Kakashi-kun. It's been a long time, ne?" Suzue said sadly with a smile. Her voice rang out clear and strong; a deep accent embedded into her speech. She ran forward and flung herself into her love's arms, embracing him tightly. Suzue felt that familiar fire explode inside her, making her light headed and giddy. Her heart pounded in her chest as she entwined her fingers with his. All was right in the world once again. Kakashi held onto her dearly and whispered into her ear softly through his facemask.
"What happened?"
Suzue shook her head and looked up at him taking slow ragged breaths, trying with all her might to stop her hand from trembling. "I'll tell you all that later. . . in private. Please, tell me what has happened in my home while I was away." Her eyes wandered to the three genin standing watching them obviously wondering what was going on. "Introduce me to your students, Kakashi-kun. They want to know who I am." She said it matter-of- factly, only because she knew what they were thinking by their faces.
Naruto pointed at the two jounen, still hugging each other, and snickered to Sakura and Sasuke wildly. He held his pinky finger up indicating his thoughts on the situation. Sakura and Sasuke exchanged a quick look and then nodded in agreement. "Oy! Kakashi! Who's your girlfriend, and why does she talk so funny?" called out Naruto, still snickering. "Whadda ya mean you're late?" he asked Suzue. "Are you here to help us train or something?"
Suzue let go of Kakashi, but not his hand and smiled to Naruto widely. "How late am I, you mean?" she said as she took a moment to think about it. "Roughly 2 years. And maybe I will help you three out with training."
"Wha? How can you be 2 years late?!" hollered Naruto pointing at her.
Sakura didn't look impressed. "Someone who's tardier than Kakashi. They must truly be made for each other." She looked in Sasuke's direction hopefully, but he wasn't paying attention to her in the least bit.
Kakashi let go of her hand and slipped an arm around her waist. It was hard to tell with his mask on what his expression was, but by looking at his eye it seemed as though he was grinning. "This is Atsui Suzue. Ummm, I think we'll have the day off. I'd like to speak with her for awhile."
"Pht, so you're brushing us off to be with your girlfriend?" snorted Sasuke. He was leaning back on the bridge railing, his arms folded across his chest.
"Yeah! You said we were going to do some training!" cried Naruto stomping a foot. "You said!"
Sakura wanted to be with Sasuke for the rest of the day, and having a training exercise was the easiest way she could think of accomplishing that "Well. . .?"
Suzue laughed and whispered something into Kakashi's ear. He shrugged and stuck his hands into his pockets as she slipped away from him to take a closer look at the genin. "Hm. . . Kakashi's been too easy on you three, as I can see. Well, I'm here as a substitute teacher for the day and I'm going to toughen you up." She smiled a sweet smile and tucked her raven hair behind an ear, the bracelets gangling down her arm. "We'll meet back here in 20 minutes. I'd like to change into better clothes, and get an update on Konoha. Don't be late!" she added with a giggle. The three didn't have a chance to respond. Her and Kakashi took off in a mighty leap and disappeared over the building tops together.
"So. . ." started Sakura uneasily.
"Hmph! I'll be here! She's the one that I'm worried about being late." Naruto walked off to have a bowl of miso ramen before his training would start. Sasuke took suit and walked away too, Sakura calling after him, asking if he wanted to do something in the mean while together.
20 Minutes Later:
Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura stood around waiting for their substitute to arrive. Before anyone could start complaining, a large puff of smoke exploded beside them, dissipating and leaving behind the form of a woman in the official Konoha ninja uniform, her long black hair tied back into one long braid snaking over her shoulder and to her waist. Her lips were creased into a thin, excited grin and a hand rested on her hip lightly.
"Let's go, and call me Suzue-sensei for today," said Suzue musically. She turned her back to them and led her students off to a more secluded forest area.
"What are we going to do?" asked Naruto. Suzue pointed to some gravel and rocks on the ground. Naruto just stared back at her blankly. "I see. . . yes, I get it. . ." Sakura and Sasuke looked at the rocks quizzically.
"Easy stuff for today. We'll do the rope line training some other day. Today you're going to learn how to hold those rocks. It'll come in handy when you're needing to hold onto something important, or maybe a weapon." Suzue bent down and picked up a stone about the size of her fist, chuckling to herself.
"Um. Suzue-er-sensei. . . I think we all know how to hold onto a rock," said Sakura laughing uneasily, hoping their substitute teacher was kidding.
"Yeah, how is that training?!" cried Naruto. He reached down and picked up a large rock, holding it up above his head.
"Is there something else we have to do?" asked Sasuke.
"Of course," Suzue answered. "You don't get to use your fingers or thumbs!" She opened her hand up, palm facing the sky, then turned it upside down. The rock stuck to her palm. She shook her hand, and still the rock stuck.
"Chakra training. Just like the tree climbing." Sasuke snorted.
Sakura picked up a small rock and held it in an open palm. "How do we do this? It takes more than just concentration of chakra."
"Ah! It'll be easy!" Naruto turned his hand upside with the large stone on it, filling his hand with chakra and releasing it wildly. The rock went shooting off his hand and embedded itself into the ground, making a small hole. "Wha?!"
Suzue chuckled again. There was something too close about her and Kakashi. Perhaps it was their sense of humor. "It's not that easy. You have to use just the right amount of chakra. Too little and the rock falls off, too much and it goes shooting off. I'll leave you three to test it out. At the end of the day I'll be back. If anyone can hold a golf ball size rock like this by then, I'll treat them to ramen! Sayonara!" she laughed. "Oh, and a quick tip. Start small." Suzue turned and walked off, her long braid swinging behind her with each step.
"She's not even going to stay here with us?" said Naruto, watching her leave.
Sakura picked up a small rock. Just a piece of gravel, and held it in her hand. She concentrated all her chakra into her hand and tested for the right amount. Slowly she turned her hand over, the gravel rock sliding a bit, then stopping. She turned her hand over a bit more and the rock fell off. This is very hard, thought Sakura. Suzue-sensei must have known it would be this hard or she never would have given the ramen bet. Sakura gulped and picked the rock up again. Her eyes wandered to Sasuke. He was staring intently at the pebble in his hand. It was obvious that he had figured out the difficulty of this training as well. Naruto on the other hand was still trying pointlessly to hang onto the large rock.
Meanwhile, Suzue went off to find Kakashi again contemplating whether or not to tell him some important information. She had talked to many people on her way, learning all that she could about what had happened in her absence. Her town was beloved to her, and she was overwhelmed with gladness that she would die here, and not on the land of some foreign country. The same bittersweet smile touched her lips as the one she did before she died. She would tell Kakashi her secret later. Suzue didn't want to upset their reunion so soon.
"Kakashi-kun. It's been a long time, ne?" Suzue said sadly with a smile. Her voice rang out clear and strong; a deep accent embedded into her speech. She ran forward and flung herself into her love's arms, embracing him tightly. Suzue felt that familiar fire explode inside her, making her light headed and giddy. Her heart pounded in her chest as she entwined her fingers with his. All was right in the world once again. Kakashi held onto her dearly and whispered into her ear softly through his facemask.
"What happened?"
Suzue shook her head and looked up at him taking slow ragged breaths, trying with all her might to stop her hand from trembling. "I'll tell you all that later. . . in private. Please, tell me what has happened in my home while I was away." Her eyes wandered to the three genin standing watching them obviously wondering what was going on. "Introduce me to your students, Kakashi-kun. They want to know who I am." She said it matter-of- factly, only because she knew what they were thinking by their faces.
Naruto pointed at the two jounen, still hugging each other, and snickered to Sakura and Sasuke wildly. He held his pinky finger up indicating his thoughts on the situation. Sakura and Sasuke exchanged a quick look and then nodded in agreement. "Oy! Kakashi! Who's your girlfriend, and why does she talk so funny?" called out Naruto, still snickering. "Whadda ya mean you're late?" he asked Suzue. "Are you here to help us train or something?"
Suzue let go of Kakashi, but not his hand and smiled to Naruto widely. "How late am I, you mean?" she said as she took a moment to think about it. "Roughly 2 years. And maybe I will help you three out with training."
"Wha? How can you be 2 years late?!" hollered Naruto pointing at her.
Sakura didn't look impressed. "Someone who's tardier than Kakashi. They must truly be made for each other." She looked in Sasuke's direction hopefully, but he wasn't paying attention to her in the least bit.
Kakashi let go of her hand and slipped an arm around her waist. It was hard to tell with his mask on what his expression was, but by looking at his eye it seemed as though he was grinning. "This is Atsui Suzue. Ummm, I think we'll have the day off. I'd like to speak with her for awhile."
"Pht, so you're brushing us off to be with your girlfriend?" snorted Sasuke. He was leaning back on the bridge railing, his arms folded across his chest.
"Yeah! You said we were going to do some training!" cried Naruto stomping a foot. "You said!"
Sakura wanted to be with Sasuke for the rest of the day, and having a training exercise was the easiest way she could think of accomplishing that "Well. . .?"
Suzue laughed and whispered something into Kakashi's ear. He shrugged and stuck his hands into his pockets as she slipped away from him to take a closer look at the genin. "Hm. . . Kakashi's been too easy on you three, as I can see. Well, I'm here as a substitute teacher for the day and I'm going to toughen you up." She smiled a sweet smile and tucked her raven hair behind an ear, the bracelets gangling down her arm. "We'll meet back here in 20 minutes. I'd like to change into better clothes, and get an update on Konoha. Don't be late!" she added with a giggle. The three didn't have a chance to respond. Her and Kakashi took off in a mighty leap and disappeared over the building tops together.
"So. . ." started Sakura uneasily.
"Hmph! I'll be here! She's the one that I'm worried about being late." Naruto walked off to have a bowl of miso ramen before his training would start. Sasuke took suit and walked away too, Sakura calling after him, asking if he wanted to do something in the mean while together.
20 Minutes Later:
Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura stood around waiting for their substitute to arrive. Before anyone could start complaining, a large puff of smoke exploded beside them, dissipating and leaving behind the form of a woman in the official Konoha ninja uniform, her long black hair tied back into one long braid snaking over her shoulder and to her waist. Her lips were creased into a thin, excited grin and a hand rested on her hip lightly.
"Let's go, and call me Suzue-sensei for today," said Suzue musically. She turned her back to them and led her students off to a more secluded forest area.
"What are we going to do?" asked Naruto. Suzue pointed to some gravel and rocks on the ground. Naruto just stared back at her blankly. "I see. . . yes, I get it. . ." Sakura and Sasuke looked at the rocks quizzically.
"Easy stuff for today. We'll do the rope line training some other day. Today you're going to learn how to hold those rocks. It'll come in handy when you're needing to hold onto something important, or maybe a weapon." Suzue bent down and picked up a stone about the size of her fist, chuckling to herself.
"Um. Suzue-er-sensei. . . I think we all know how to hold onto a rock," said Sakura laughing uneasily, hoping their substitute teacher was kidding.
"Yeah, how is that training?!" cried Naruto. He reached down and picked up a large rock, holding it up above his head.
"Is there something else we have to do?" asked Sasuke.
"Of course," Suzue answered. "You don't get to use your fingers or thumbs!" She opened her hand up, palm facing the sky, then turned it upside down. The rock stuck to her palm. She shook her hand, and still the rock stuck.
"Chakra training. Just like the tree climbing." Sasuke snorted.
Sakura picked up a small rock and held it in an open palm. "How do we do this? It takes more than just concentration of chakra."
"Ah! It'll be easy!" Naruto turned his hand upside with the large stone on it, filling his hand with chakra and releasing it wildly. The rock went shooting off his hand and embedded itself into the ground, making a small hole. "Wha?!"
Suzue chuckled again. There was something too close about her and Kakashi. Perhaps it was their sense of humor. "It's not that easy. You have to use just the right amount of chakra. Too little and the rock falls off, too much and it goes shooting off. I'll leave you three to test it out. At the end of the day I'll be back. If anyone can hold a golf ball size rock like this by then, I'll treat them to ramen! Sayonara!" she laughed. "Oh, and a quick tip. Start small." Suzue turned and walked off, her long braid swinging behind her with each step.
"She's not even going to stay here with us?" said Naruto, watching her leave.
Sakura picked up a small rock. Just a piece of gravel, and held it in her hand. She concentrated all her chakra into her hand and tested for the right amount. Slowly she turned her hand over, the gravel rock sliding a bit, then stopping. She turned her hand over a bit more and the rock fell off. This is very hard, thought Sakura. Suzue-sensei must have known it would be this hard or she never would have given the ramen bet. Sakura gulped and picked the rock up again. Her eyes wandered to Sasuke. He was staring intently at the pebble in his hand. It was obvious that he had figured out the difficulty of this training as well. Naruto on the other hand was still trying pointlessly to hang onto the large rock.
Meanwhile, Suzue went off to find Kakashi again contemplating whether or not to tell him some important information. She had talked to many people on her way, learning all that she could about what had happened in her absence. Her town was beloved to her, and she was overwhelmed with gladness that she would die here, and not on the land of some foreign country. The same bittersweet smile touched her lips as the one she did before she died. She would tell Kakashi her secret later. Suzue didn't want to upset their reunion so soon.