"Okay," Bee says as we step into a large room. "This is where we'll be training." I look around to see an oval overhang above us, railings line it and the center is open air. "Up there is the track," Bee says as he nods to it. "That's where you can get your laps, a little over eighteen is one mile." I nod and look at the level of the building that we're on. The floor is a light glossy wood. There's painted areas in the center of the room, and two large stands with rope hanging from them on either side of the room.
"Have you never seen a basketball court before?" Bee asks.
"What's basketball?" I feel the emptiness return in my chest and try to push it away. If I liked whatever this basketball thing was in my last life, I'm sure I'll like it in this life, too.
"It's a sport," Bee says. "We play it for fun and there's different teams in the village that play against each other. We can come watch a game later."
"Okay," I nod.
"There's some studios down the hall we came down, I signed you up for classes for the next couple of weeks."
"Classes? For what?"
"Dancing," he smiles.
"Huh?"
"My fighting style relies on dancing and music," Bee says. "My taijutsu is based on a mixture of warrior dance and hip-hop. Combine it with swords and it's hard for anyone to keep up, bakayaro konoyaro!"
"So there's a dance style that's based on hip-hop music?" I ask as I look up at him.
"Yeah," he says. "That's what half of your lessons are going to be."
"And the other half will be warrior dance?"
"No," Bee shakes his head. But then what else would I be learning if that's what Bee's style is a mixture of?
"You'll be learning dances from Uzushiogakure."
"There's-"
"Yeah," he nods.
"But I'm supposed to be your apprentice, right?" I ask, willing my voice to not sound so small.
"You are my apprentice," he says firmly. "In Kumo, sensei teach their students what will be best for them, not to make them a copy of themselves."
"And you think learning Uzu dances would be better for me than the warrior dances?"
"Of course," Bee says. "There's already people who combine hip-hop and Uzu dances for fun, but no one has combined them in a fighting style yet."
"Why not?" I ask as Bee leads me towards the center of the room.
"Those from Uzushiogakure are not active duty shinobi," Bee says. "And they tend to focus on Uzu techniques, using music and dance is something we've always done in Kumo."
"Why isn't anyone from Uzu active duty?"
"For their protection," Bee says as he crouches down in front of me. "It's not safe to be from Uzu and be out in the field, I'm surprised you haven't gotten targeted while coming here or going back." I feel my chest tighten. Should I tell Bee? This could cause an international conflict if I told him, because telling him would be just like telling the Raikage-
"We'll make sure you're safe," Bee says, cutting off my train of thought. "Starting with training, are you warmed up like I told you to?"
"Yeah." I'd done my warm-ups just as I do every morning when I know I'm going to train.
"Then let's get started," he grins as he pulls out a scroll and lays it on the ground. He puts his hand over it and soon one by one he starts pulling out swords like his own. Only these swords have blue handles on them. Their blades are thinner than Ryūjin and are obviously lighter, too. "These are Supervibrato Lightning Release Swords." He pulls out the seventh sword and puts it at the end of the line of swords. He rolls the scroll back up and puts it in an invisible seal on the rope that hangs around his waist.
"Oooh that's so smart!" I say as I try to find the seal. He snorts as he stands back up and pats me on the top of my head. "Wait! I can't use lightning release, my natures are water and wind!"
"You can't use lightning release yet," Bee says. "But first we're gonna work on you bein' able to use all these swords."
"All of them? At once?"
"Exactly!" He says. A second later he's holding one leg up and all the swords from the ground are now in his mouth, one is under his armpit, another is under his leg. Two are in the hinges of his arms, another by his hip, and one is behind his neck. How the hell is he able to do that?
He throws the swords up and catches them all as they come down. He holds them in his arms as he stands normally and looks at me.
"Your turn."
"My turn?" I squeak. Bee laughs before walking over to me.
"Stand like I did," he says. I hold my knee up and the handle of the sword is placed between my leg and my hip like he held his. Next he puts another sword under my knee. I feel myself wobble a bit, but Bee doesn't help me regain my balance. I pout at him as I feel my heart start to beat faster. What would happen if I drop the swords? Pain. A lot of pain.
Instead of saying anything, Bee holds another sword. He hovers it in front of my face and I sigh, opening my mouth. He sticks the handle inside and I hold it between my teeth carefully. It's about the same amount of weight as the three pronged kunai, and for that I'm grateful.
Until I feel the handle of a sword against my neck. I snap my head to the side to stop it from slipping. Bee gives a hum of approval as he sticks a sword under my armpit. I feel myself starting to sweat as swords are put in the hinges of my arms. Bee nods as he walks away and he just watches me. I feel myself wobble again. I struggle to breathe around the handle of the sword for a second. I feel panic well in my chest, but I try to stay still. I close my eyes and try to meditate, hoping that will at least distract me from the uncomfortable way my body is contorted.
"Five minutes," Bee says.
"Huh?" The word sounds jumbled around the sword. He shakes his head at me, the skin around his eyes crinkling.
"You've been holding this for five minutes," he says. "We'll see how much longer you can go." I'm already feeling like I'm going to die only five minutes into this? I try to take as deep of a breath as I can and go back to meditating. Until I feel myself falling. I feel my heart stop for a second. My ears ring.
And then Bee is there and the swords are gone and there's no pain. There's nothing.
And then suddenly I open my eyes and realize I've fallen into Bee's chest. I don't know where the swords are but I know I was standing before everything went black.
"You lasted longer than I thought you would," Bee says. "Ten minutes."
"Great," I mumble. "That's totally going to be good in a fight." Bee chuckles and I can faintly hear Gyuki laughing, too. Bee pats my back softly as I rub at my eyes.
"You need to relax your muscles-"
"Relax when I'm holding seven swords?" I squeak.
"You need to be relaxed or else you'll tear somethin' or drop a sword." Bee shifts me in his arms so I'm laying back against his chest. I look down to see a small cut on the inside of my arm. I guess I did get a little hurt then. The red welt stands out against my now much more tan skin. I hadn't even noticed how much darker it had gotten in the last year. The beaches and mountains of Uzu didn't have as much shade as the training grounds of Konoha.
Bee starts wrapping my arm with gauze. "It's my first time teachin' someone this, let me know if it's ever too much, okay?" I nod my head against his chest and close my eyes as he continues to wrap up my arm. I already feel so tired. It was nice to hear Bee talk like this instead of how he talks around others.
From how he talked about it last night at dinner, his rapping was just as instinctual as me and naruto stuttering dattebayo or dattabane whenever we're around new people or put into stressful situations.
"Want to get some tostones?" Bee asks after he's finished wrapping my arm.
"Yes!" I yell and hop up. I'm immediately hit with dizziness and stumble a little. Bee laughs as he stands up and puts a steadying hand on my shoulder. He leads me out of the gym towards the Raikage tower. People nod and wave in our direction as we walk through the village. I feel a chakra similar to Hinata's and sensei's and look in its direction. I see a man with long hair turn a corner and frown.
He was wearing white clothes, clothes like everyone else in Kumo.
Why is there a Hyuga in Kumo? Sensei said we couldn't take missions here because the clan forbade it. He told us that Hinata had been kidnapped by Kumo, but it hasn't made sense to me since coming to Kumo.
They protected people from Uzushiogakure. They didn't force them to be shinobi or make seals. Wait. Mom had been kidnapped by Kumo, too. Were they trying to save her, too?
Which Hyuga is in Kumo? And when did they get here? And more importantly, why are they here?
We've been training for hours. Hours. It's been a week since I first came to Kumo and we were finally doing something in our training other than working with my new swords. Bee was teaching me a different form of fighting: kickboxing. It's exhausting. But also, it's a lot of fun?
"Remember Kiku-hime!" Bee yells as he starts another attack. "Float like a butterfly sting like a bee!"
"Yes Bee-sens-oof!" I can't even finish my sentence before I'm kicked in the stomach. I hear Akihiko's carefree laugh and can't help but laugh myself as I try a jab. I know it won't hit Bee, I haven't hit Bee all day, he's too fast and I'm lucky if I'll ever get close to-
Bee grunts.
"I hit you?" I screech. I sound like Ino. I don't care. I hit Bee-sensei! He hits me in my shoulder and I go flying back, but I laugh the entire way until I land on my back. It hurts as I land on the mat in the center of the gymnasium, but I can't stop laughing and holding my stomach.
"I did it!" Akihiko's laugh is closer this time as he stands over me. He holds a hand out and I take it, he pulls me up easily. Soon I'm pulled from him into Bee's chest.
"I told you! Bakayaro konoyaro!" He smiles widely as he lets go of me. But his smile only grows as he sees me start to calm down. "But if you stop again so soon I'll throw you in the zoo!" I groan and almost fall back to the ground. Akihiko stops me and throws me on his back.
"Primo!"
"Camarón!"
"If you weren't carrying me I'd hit you, 'ttbane!"
"I don't want to know," Darui sighs as we walk up to him. I feel my cheeks heat up but smile anyways.
"We're not that bad, ya know?" He just gives me the look and I drop my head into Akihiko's shoulder. To hide both my blush and my laughter. I don't know if it was related to memories from my last life or puberty, but that look always gave me butterflies. Only I could end up with a hopeless crush on the laziest shinobi in the Raikage's inner circle.
"We're worse," Akihiko finishes. I snort as Darui gives a suffering sigh.
"Where are we going?" I ask after we've walked for a few minutes.
"Takehiko's," Akihiko says as he bounces up and down. I laugh at his enthusiasm but struggle to stay on his back.
"Why did they start making such spicy chicken?" I ask as I turn my head to the side on Akihiko's shoulder. I blearily watch blobs of people walk around, my eyes still adjusting to the light of the afternoon sun. Akihiko starts snickering and I resist the urge to hit him. I don't want to walk the entire way to the food place. And Bee sensei has his swords so there's no possibility of a comfortable piggyback ride.
"Takehiko liked to go party," Darui says.
"So? That sounds like most shinobi," I say as I lift my head to rest on top of Akihiko's.
"He had a wife and he cheated on her at some point-" Darui says.
"But we don't know how she found out," Akihiko finishes.
"Instead of yelling at him, she decided to make the spiciest chicken she could to make him regret it," Darui smirks. "But he ended up liking the spice."
"That's what she said," Akihiko mumbles under his breath. I count to five in my head. I take in a deep breath. And then I breathe out slowly. The Raikage taught me how to do that when I almost hit a visiting council member from Iwa. I don't know how the man knew the technique given how often he breaks furniture in his office.
"So he ended up working on the recipe a bit before setting up shop here," Darui finishes, ignoring Akihiko.
"No one appreciates my humor around here," Akihiko whines.
"Kiku-chan did," Bee says while writing in his book. "She just finally listened to bro's advice on how to not show her emotional flo."
"Ooh that was a good one," I tell him. "But you didn't have to call me out like that." Bee's lips quirk up slightly as he writes the rhyme down in his book.
"I knew you were my favorite cousin," Akihiko grabs my legs tighter and while I try to not let myself smile, I feel myself smiling anyways.
It doesn't take too long to get to Takehiko's. When we do we get in the already growing line. It's a small shack on the corner, there's only two tables inside that seat about seven people between them. Akihiko lets me back down onto my own feet when we enter the small restaurant. The walls are covered in family and community photos. There's also a small section of wall that's covered in kid's drawings. I see a flash of the drawings in the library in Uzu before I feel Akihiko pull on my shirt.
"Your turn," he nods to the small open window to the kitchen. It reminds me of the barbeque place on the other side of the village, although the barbeque here is completely different from that in Konoha. Here it's pulled meat in a savory sauce, often eaten on a bun and with sides. I don't have to worry about setting anything on fire, it's great!
"You're new!" The woman on the other side of the high counter says. "What's your name?" Her eyes crinkle as she smiles at me.
"Uzumaki Kikuko," I say. "And you?"
"Hina," she says as she picks up a pen. "Now, what can I get for you?"
"She'll get the chicken sandwich hot," Akihiko says from over my shoulder. Hina raises an eyebrow but writes it down when I nod.
"With?"
"Greens, potato salad, and macaroni and cheese."
"That'll be extra for the extra side," she says as I start to pull out my money.
"Worth it," Akihiko and I say at the same time. I turn my head and stick my tongue out at him before paying Hina. Even though I'm not a Kumo citizen, the Raikage started giving me a stipend since I started training under Bee. It was nice too, since I was staying in one of their spare rooms.
It's nice not being alone.
I move away from the counter, waving at Hina as Bee makes his order. I don't pay attention, instead I look around the shop. A group of academy students have taken up one of the tables, their homework is spread out over it. It reminds me of the nights we all would end up at the Nara clan head's home the night before all of our major tests.
"Just go over there already," Akihiko says.
"What?"
"They keep looking at you and you keep looking at them, you were bound to corrupt Kumo youth at some point," he rolls his eyes, but he still has his normal sunny smile on his face. "I'll get you when the food is ready." I pat his arm in thanks and move over to the small table in the corner of the cramped room.
"H-hime!" A young girl says, her dark brown hair is pulled back in multiple braids that go down her back.
"You can just call me Kikuko," I say to her and the group. The three other academy kids nod their heads excitedly as they drop their pens. "What are you guys working on?"
"We're studying for our test tomorrow," one of the boys pouts.
"Those were my least favorite days in the academy," I say as I crouch down by the table and rest my arms on top of it. "Is there anything you need help with?"
"Well, I'm really struggling with this trapping exercise…" the other girl of the group says. I can't help but grin. Living with Naruto over the years taught me the importance of traps. And the beauty of a good trap.
"They're just so boring!" The girl finishes.
"I think it's the context you're studying them in that makes them boring," I say as I look over her paper. It would be the perfect trap for an unsuspecting genin team.
"The context, we're going to be ninja!" She says, almost jumping out of her seat. She reminds me a lot of Sakura and Ino when another girl would even look at Sasuke. The boys in the group sweatdrop.
"I'm a ninja, and I've used traps for a ton of things that weren't related to missions."
"Oh yeah?" The girl asks as she crosses her arms. "Like what?"
"Ume!" The other girl whispers, but I just wave my hand.
"Pranks."
"Pranks?" One of the boys perks up in his seat.
"And that one looks like it would be great to practice on a genin team coming to pick up a mission from the missions desk," I point to the trap exercise on the paper as I feel Akihiko's chakra start to move towards me. "Just remember I didn't tell you that, and don't get caught!" I whisper to them. They all burst out into laughter as Akihiko stands beside me holding our food.
"I don't want to know," he says as I stand and take my food from him.
"Good," I say as I turn to leave the small restaurant. "Be good!" I tell the kids. They all nod before turning back to their papers and whispering furiously to each other.
"You're creating monsters," Akihiko whispers to me as we walk outside. I spot Bee and Darui at one of the picnic tables across the street and walk towards them.
"I know, that's my job. Princess of Whirlpool, remember? Oh, is that banana pudding?"
"Dios mío," Akihiko whines as I sit down next to Bee and grab the small container of banana pudding he offers me. I ignore Akihiko and start eating my dessert first. It's almost as good as taiyaki!