Juno deftly flicked her wrists and sent another volley of water-bent projectiles towards her helpless targets. She made sure to hold back her full strength and speed, somewhat projecting where the hits were intended to land.
The trio of young ninja did their best to avoid the incoming water blobs, quickly twisting and stretching their bodies away from them. This was hampered by the fact that Juno was only allowing them to stay lightly perched on a series of raised stone pillars. Each pillar was only the width of a single foot, so one misplaced step could result in them falling the few feet to the ground.
She was glad to see that they were getting more comfortable with the exercise. It was one modified from a typical airbending training regime targeted toward young air nomads. In the original form, airbenders dashed and jumped around an arena of similar stone pedestals while their older trainers lobbed airbending spheres at them. She had changed it in light of the fact that her young friends couldn't airbend, and therefore had no way of protecting themselves if they fell from a great height, plus the fact that they couldn't use airbending-assisted jumps to clear the incoming projectiles.
It was good training for getting them to be more mindful of their surroundings while simultaneously improving their agility and flexibility. Already, they were getting more confident and bold in their attempts to avoid the water strikes. Sakura and Sasuke were starting to use their hands as well as their feet to move around the pillars in a series of handstand and cartwheel maneuvers. Seeing them engage in the same training exercises that she had when she was young made her feel a little nostalgic.
It was also great fun to see them get all flustered and frustrated when she landed a successful hit. She almost felt a little bad how funny she found training them this way.
Naruto had just unsuccessfully avoided another one of her projectiles, and his sputtering and enraged shouts at the face-full of water sent her into a fit of giggles. Asa was a little less subtle, rolling around on his back with loud, chirrupy monkey-laughter.
"I see you've found a new way to torment my poor students." A dry voice piped up from behind her. Juno glanced back towards her new sensei, sending him a quick wink before turning her attention back to the young ninja, sending yet another volley towards them. This time, she was able to get both Naruto and Sasuke, their disgusted grunts and groans music to her ears.
"You know, I think I'm getting a hang of this whole teaching thing," Juno quipped, before, with an evil glint in her eyes, sending a surprise pot-shot towards Sakura, catching the pink-haired girl squarely in her middle.
"Yeah! Three for three!"
"Ughhh, Sifu!" was the groaned response from the arena.
Juno chuckled before lowering her arms and waving her students down from their perches.
To prevent confusion, Juno had asked to be referred to as 'sifu" as opposed to Kakashi's 'sensei'. But, despite her words, she still found it strange to be referred to as such. Juno had always been the student of great bending masters in an effort to master all four elements and become a fully realized Avatar, and as a result had never had her own students. So far, she was just stealing the training regimes she had been exposed to and trying to adapt them to suit the young ninja's needs, a bit of a challenge considering she wasn't actually teaching them how to bend.
So far, she found her teaching to successfully fill a hole in their current training programs. Kakashi taught them jutsus, ninja combat theory, and strategy, while Juno focused on physical conditioning and mental fortitude, not to mention the constant push for improved teamwork. She was also working hard to focus on their individual needs.
Her first project was to address one of their most glaring problems: their lack of unity as a team. Their adventure in the Land of Waves had gone a long way to improve it, according to Kakashi, but it was still not up to Juno's standards. To address this, during their exercises, she would take turns appointing each of them as 'team captain', someone whose job it was to analyze whatever challenge was set before them and to strategize and delegate responsibilities to the other two members. It got them used to taking orders as well as giving them.
Naruto and Sasuke, both independent and a little belligerent by nature, were forced to listen and respect Sakura's input when it was her turn. If they deviated too much from the captain's orders, she would dock them points. Ultimately, they found that they were most successful when Sakura was in charge, and actually ended up delegating that role to her when they had a choice. It was gratifying to see.
As for Kakashi, although she found his teaching style to be a little lacking, there was no doubt in her mind that he was a certifiable genius. He was a deep fount of knowledge, demonstrating it time after time as he revealed new information about the ways of being a shinobi. He was a tactical mastermind, presenting them with theoretical battle scenarios, then, after waiting to hear their initial thoughts, would proceed to brutally pick apart their strategies. He seemed to delight in frustrating them with difficult thought problems, something Juno found to be especially challenging. There were so many unknowns when it came to shinobi abilities that she found it very difficult to anticipate how a battle could go. The amount of times he would flatly pronounce her 'dead' after she made a suggestion would make her groan and tug at her hair. His subtle eye-creased smile suggested that he enjoyed himself far too much when that happened.
Despite her frustrations, Juno felt that she already had a much better grasp of the shinobi world in the short time they had been working together. The sheer variety of ways chakra could be utilized and shaped still boggled her mind, but it seemed a lot less mysterious than when she had first encountered it. She was also slowly getting oriented to living in Konoha. The combined efforts of her various 'teachers' had her feeling a lot less like a turtleduck out of water.
Kakashi and Juno had yet to have their promised 'one-on-one' training, however, something that Juno felt a little grateful for. After the revelation that she had some more-than-friendly feelings towards him, Juno had felt a little awkward around him. To be honest, she wasn't quite sure of what to do about it, if anything.
Her first courtship had been so much more straightforward. Benji had decided that he liked her, told her so, and she had decided that she agreed. And while it ended up not working out in the long run, even their separation had been straightforward and amicable. She didn't know the first thing about how to deal with this situation. Kakashi was older, socially aloof, and not to mention her direct superior. Even if he returned her feelings, which Juno was definitely on the fence about, despite his mild flirtations, Juno wasn't even sure that they would be 'allowed' to have any sort of relationship.
She wished she could talk with Jia. During her time in the Fire Nation royal court, she had gotten close with the Fire Lady, eventually regarding her as an older sister. Jia had always dealt so gracefully with the myriad of suiters calling to pay her favour, she'd surely have some prudent advice to pass on. Instead, Juno was left to flounder around like a clumsy child.
Despite her tumultuous feelings, Juno plastered an amicable smile on her face as the team gathered around Kakashi to see what the rest of their daily training would entail. Juno usually took advantage of the fact that Kakashi was chronically late most mornings to sneak her training in, but he usually had some kind of plan for them when he eventually joined them.
"Alright sensei! I was getting tired of getting splashed all the time, ya know? So what's it going to be today? Hopefully learning some kind of badass jutsu and not just boring lectures!" Naruto's boisterous voice bounced around the training ground. Juno was still surprised at the boy's ability to project without even trying.
"Actually, we have a mission."
Naruto whooped and threw his arms into the air "Finally! I knew the old man wouldn't keep us benched for long after we crushed Gato and his goons! So what's it going to be? Saving a captured princess? Hunting down some rogue missing-nin? We're ready for anything now!"
"Would you keep it down Naruto! No one can get a word in edgewise when you get going like that!" Sakura interrupted, poking him in his side as he bounced around in excitement.
Juno had to smile at his exuberance, but also found herself somewhat excited to hear the details of this 'mission'. It would be her first one as a shinobi of the leaf, not to mention as a member of team seven. She just hoped that she had prepared the kids enough for whatever dangers it entailed.
"Yes, this is a very important mission. So important, in fact, that all new genin teams are being conscripted to assist." Kakashi said, finger raised in the air like it often did when he lectured them.
Juno was starting to get a little suspicious. Kakashi was often obscure, but not like this. She raised an eyebrow at him, he sent her a quick wink in response. Okay now she was really suspicious.
It seemed like she wasn't the only one. "Okay, so what's this big important mission about anyway?" Sasuke piped up, arms crossed.
"We'll be travelling outside the village to help some of Konoha's citizens who are in desperate help of some big strong ninja. You'll see when we get there."
"FARMING?!" Naruto's shout could probably be heard all the way back in the village.
Juno couldn't help but laugh, worries completely dispelled. They had spent about an hour travelling outside the village walls, coming to the well-worn paths of a sizable agricultural village. During the walk, the three young ninja had pestered Kakashi for the details of their mission, but he simply planted his favourite book in front of his nose and ignored them. They eventually gave up in favour of speculating the details amongst themselves. She didn't blame them; it was hard to bully someone so shameless that they would read porn in public.
Eventually, they came upon a cluster of farms. There were dozens of labourers already in the fields, some leading oxen-driven tillers, others following behind to plant seeds. The sight of the farmers in their paddy-hats and simple rough-spun clothing made Juno inordinately happy. It was a good reminder that, despite the modernity and somewhat alien tech in the village hidden in the leaves, there were many in this world who lived lives more similar to what she had been familiar with.
Finally, the truth about their mission came out. Apparently, heavier-than-normal rains had prevented the farmers from properly tilling and sowing their fields, and so they had drummed up enough coin to hire a few genin teams to help out before the season progressed past its peak. It was just hard labour, simple and sweet.
Apparently that wasn't glamorous enough for 'seasoned veterans' like team seven. Although Sakura and Sasuke didn't kick up quite a stink like Naruto, Juno could tell that they were slightly disappointed. As for herself, Juno was invigorated by the prospect. As the Avatar, such work had often been deemed to be 'beneath her', which had gone in direct contradiction to the air nomad's more humble, service-driven lifestyle. So, although Juno found such work to be satisfying and fulfilling, she hadn't had an opportunity to participate in this sort of thing for years.
"So, where are the other genin teams, then?" Sasuke asked, seemingly resigned to the work ahead of them. This was probably aided by the somewhat stern lecture Juno had launched into about no one being too important to help people when they needed it, no matter what was asked of them.
"They're somewhere nearby. This weather has been impacting several farms whose land borders Lake Aiya. The lake affects the weather systems pretty dramatically. It hasn't been unknown for there to be flash floods or landslides when it gets heavy. But the Land of Fire relies heavily on the produce grown here. Even in Konohagakure." Kakashi replied.
The lake in question was sizable. From where she stood, Juno could barely make out the other side. The late morning light danced on its gentle waves. It was positively picturesque. If they hadn't had work to do, Juno would have been very tempted to spend the afternoon meditating on its shores.
But alas, there was work to be done. Juno made to go join the three genin as they went to meet the farm's headman when she saw that Kakashi wasn't following. Instead, he was making his way to a particularly large oak tree by the edge of the lake. Eyebrow twitching, Juno waiting to see if her assumption was correct. Sure enough, the silver-haired jounin made himself comfortable beneath the shade of the tree; leaning against the trunk and for all intents and purposes looking like he was gearing up for a nap.
"And what do you think you're doing?" She said, approaching his resting place. His visible eye opened a slice and looked at her for a moment. He crossed his arms behind his head.
"I have a separate mission from you four. It's very mysterious and important."
She scoffed. "Yeah, right. Important for your beauty rest maybe. Are you seriously not going to help us out?"
Just because she liked him didn't mean she couldn't give him a hard time.
His eye peaked open again. "I'm an elite jounin. D-rank farming is a little below my pay-grade."
Juno groaned, but couldn't lay into him too hard like she had with the kids. He was technically her superior. "Well, you're setting a bad example. Didn't you just hear my lecture about no one being too important to help out? What kind of lesson are you trying to impart here?"
He mimed picking fluff out of his ears "What was that, Juno-chan? I don't think I heard you quite right."
Juno huffed at him, "Fine, Sensei! I'm sure you know best after all". She spun on her foot and practically stomped away to join the others. She could feel his gaze burning the back of her head.
The nerve of that man!
She joined the group just as the headman was finishing explaining how to drive the ox-carts. Juno eyed the burly beast strapped to the cart apprehensively. She was glad that she had decided to leave Asa behind in the village. She didn't like the idea of him getting into mischief messing with the livestock. Those horns looked big!
Assessing the situation and the work as it was presented to them, Juno saw an opportunity. Interrupting the headman with a short bow, Juno spoke up.
"Honorable Headman, If I may, I think I know of a way to speed the planting process along. If I may demonstrate?"
He blinked at her, clearly not used to being addressed so formally. "Ah, yes, of course; but I've been farming a long time, young lady, I think I know all the ways there is to do it." He crossed his arms after ushering her forwards.
Juno approached the edge of the untilled field. Sinking deep into an earth-bending stance and taking a steadying breath, she thrust her palms forward in a powerful single move.
The soil broke up in a perfectly straight, narrow trench reaching halfway across the field. Juno stepped forward, and, with a second thrust, stretched the furrow all the way to the opposite edge. Emerging out of her stance, she turned towards the headman, whose mouth was hanging open in shock.
She turned to the three genin standing by. "You three, use shadow clones and sow the seeds in the soil after I turn it up. If we work together, we'll be done with these fields by dinner!" She thrust a fist into the air, "Let's crush this mission!"
The headman was sputtering as the three genin prepared to follow her instructions. Naruto, as usual, summoned a veritable army of clones, with Sasuke and Sakura producing a more modest number. The crowd of young ninja went over to the barn on the edge of the field to get outfitted with sacks of seeds. Juno didn't wait for them, just dug into the work at hand.
After a few moments, Juno saw that they had attracted a small audience. The other farm labourers as well as some civilians had gathered on the edge of the field to watch them work. The headman, after gathering his wits, went to shoo the workers back to their tasks.
"Come on now, there's plenty of work here for everyone. If you still want to get paid you'd best get your rears in motion, before these ninja get it all done without you!" He shouted, waving his arms. He turned to the ninja team and grinned broadly. "You know, I wasn't too sure that spending the extra coin to hire genin would be worth it, but at this rate you'll have done the work of three teams in half the time!"
Juno smiled at his enthusiasm, then turned all her attention back to the work at hand. Soon enough, she settled into a rhythm. Her world narrowed into an endless cycle: squat, thrust, dig, shuffle, squat, thrust, dig, shuffle. Time narrowed into the stretch between two trenches. She tapped hard into her earthbending instincts, something that felt a little distant for her, but there nonetheless. She soon worked up a sweat, muscles warmed into the consistent motions.
She was startled briefly out of her work when her latent airbending sense alerted her to an incoming flying object. She turned at the last second to snatch the flying paddy-hat out of the air. The headman waved at her from where he stood at the edge of the field.
He put his hands at his mouth to shout at her "You'd best put that hat on young missy, or that sun'll turn you into a tomato!" She waved back at him in thanks before tying the string of the hat securely under her chin. She saw that the genin and their clones had all been similarly outfitted. She smiled and turned back to work.
It was hard. As the sun climbed higher into the sky its rays beat down a more brutal assault. After what felt like a few hours, Juno was drenched with sweat, panting in effort to keep her work going at a good pace. Young runners came by often with a gourd of water to hydrate the workers, and, when one came by to offer her a turn, Juno was mightily tempted to upturn the entire thing over her head. Pausing to take a sip and mop at her brow, Juno turned to survey their work.
They were making excellent progress. Juno's estimation that they would be done by dinner time was proving to be true. She could see workers in other fields driving the ox-ploughs and sowing seeds at their own pace. Many of them had shed their shirts in an attempt to keep cool.
Turning to return the gourd to the young boy who had brought it to her, Juno considered doing the same. Although her cheongsam was sleeveless, it still clung uncomfortably to the sweat at her lower back and belly. She had a practical black brassiere underneath, made of a stretchy black fabric. It was really more of a small, tight, short shirt than an undergarment. If she had been at home, Juno would have shed her outer layer with no hesitation. But she wasn't too sure about the social rules surrounding modesty here. Still, the fact that some of the men had done the same led her to believe it wouldn't be too scandalous if she followed suit.
She made her decision, taking her hat off for a moment, and quickly pulled the cheongsam over her head. She passed it to the wide-eyed young boy and told him to take it over to "the lazy silver-haired bastard under the tree" and to dump it on his head. A faceful of sweaty clothes was just what he deserved. She winked at the boy, who seemed positively gleeful to be given permission to do something a little naughty. Tying the strings of her hat securely under her chin once more, Juno watched from a distance as the scene played out.
She was a little disappointed that she wasn't close enough to make out the expression on Kakashi's face. Still, she had a bit of a giggle seeing him recoil in disgust after he caught the sweaty garment that was lobbed straight at his head. She had to hand it to the kid, he had great aim.
She waved at him when he looked in her direction, smiling broadly. He shook his head at her, then went back to reading a scroll spread out in front of him. Juno was a little surprised to see him reading something other than his favourite orange book.
Figuring her short break was over, Juno went back to work. The rest of the afternoon went by in a blur. They had a short break for lunch, which Juno and the others gobbled down eagerly, and then they returned to work into the early evening. The weather got progressively hotter as the day went, until the headman decided to call a halt.
Juno was more than a little relieved. Her muscles were sore, she felt grimy and sweaty, and wanted nothing more than to take a hundred-year-long nap. She and the three genin congregated at Kakashi's tree, collapsing under it with a collective groan.
Kakashi himself barely glanced up from where he was pouring over several scrolls, making notations on a separate notebook. Squinting at it, Juno could see strange markings and diagrams drawn in a slightly messy hand. Despite her rigorous studying of the local alphabet, she couldn't make heads or tales of it. Sakura, peering over his shoulder, seemed to feel otherwise.
"Wow, that looks like a pretty serious chakra construct, Kakashi-sensei. What're you making it for?"
"Oh, just a little project I've been working on. Nothing to worry about." He made one final note, put his reading materials away, and then looked them over. "Looks like you four made sure the farmer's got their money's worth, good job."
"Ugh, I'm so tired I could fall asleep right here!" Naruto groaned from where he lay sprawled on his back nearby. "Who knew farming as so hard!" Juno smiled before making her own observations of her young friends. Looking the three genin over, Juno could see that they were all as sweaty and disheveled as she was.
She was suddenly struck by inspiration, and sat up to begin unwrapping the bandages that tied her standard-issued shinobi pants to her ankles. Slowly, she shed the bandages, her shoes, and after getting to her feet, shimmied out of her pants.
She was very aware of Kakashi sitting nearby as she did so, seeing his eye flicker over her body in her peripheral vision. She wasn't sure if he was merely taking in a curious view of the graceful lines of her airbending tattoos, or, perhaps, was carefully observing as a stray bead of sweat trailed down her taut abdominal muscles. Did she just imagine his gaze lingering on the slight swell of her hips before turning his head away? She would drive herself mad trying to guess, so just turned her own head away to focus on the task at hand.
"What the –" She heard Naruto exclaim as she strode out of the shadow of the tree in nothing but her brassiere and tight under-shorts. She made a beeline to the edge of the lake and waded in with a few broad strides before diving forward.
The cool water felt utterly delicious on her overheated and grimy body. She propelled herself forward with a slight burst of waterbending, luxuriating in the glide of the water, before surfacing with a dramatic throw of her head. She rotated her body to face the shore.
She had intended to encourage the three young ninja to join her for a late-day swim, but saw that Naruto at least needed no such prompting. She only caught a last-second glimpse of the yellow-haired boy clad in nothing but his under-shorts before he cannon-balled into the water with a whoop. She grinned before propelling herself towards him with a few powerful strokes. When he surfaced, she wasted no time before pouncing and dunking him back under.
Then, the game was on. They tousled for a while, Juno laughing uproariously at Naruto's attempts to get the upper-hand on her. It was a horrifically unbalanced matchup considering Juno's waterbending skills, so she soon abandoned the water-fight. Instead, she got Naruto to sit atop of her shoulders as she took him for a waterbender-propelled surf around the lake. The cool and refreshing water washed their fatigue away, leaving them giddy.
Soon enough, their silly fun and the prospect of a refreshing swim overrode Sakura and Sasuke's more reserved natures. The two genin joined them in the water, albeit a little more sedately, and Sakura with her shirt still on over her breast-band. With a conspiratorial glance, Naruto and Juno teamed up to drag the two other members of team seven into their games. They had no chance.
With powerful sweeping strokes of her legs, Juno propelled herself atop the waves of the lake. The only way she had been able to convince Sasuke to join her for a ride was to challenge him to balance while standing on her shoulders. The prospect of one-upping Naruto was a little too tempting for the typically reserved boy, and soon they were both grinning as she skated them gracefully across the water. Tensing her muscles for the big finale, Juno launched them into the air with a water spout, tucked into a tight summersault while airborne, and dived back into the lake.
Surfacing with a gasp, Juno grinned at the sputtering Sasuke before turning to float on her back. She took a deep breath.
Soon, a pleasant glow of relaxation overtook her body. She quickly entered a half-meditative state, utterly enjoying the fatigue of a good-day's work coupled with the glow of good-natured fun. For a moment, she felt a sense of perfect happiness.
From beneath the water, Juno's ears picked up the sounds of someone calling from the edge of the lake. Treading water once more, she turned to see Kakashi beckoning them from the shore.
"Come on you lake-monsters, the headman has invited us all to dinner at his home. Get dried off so we can eat."
"Yeah! Food!" It seemed that Naruto had completely forgotten his tiredness in light of their shenanigans and the prospect of a meal. Juno smiled to herself as she swam forward and emerged out of the lake.
They didn't have towels, so the four tired ninja laid on their backs to soak in the sun and air-dry. Despite Naruto's spirited attitude, they were all too tired for conversation, and just soaked in the last rays of the sun in contented silence. Despite the late hour, it was still relatively warm, so it didn't take long before they could change back into their clothes.
The meal at the headman's house was lavish compared to the relatively modest interior of the building. What they lacked in luxury they more than made up for in hospitality. There was a diverse spread of dishes for the ninja to choose from, most made with the produce that the farm grew themselves. In light of the day's hard work, Juno felt no guilt in hogging her favourite fried mushrooms.
It was no secret that the headman was overjoyed at the work from Team Seven. He pushed desserts on the kids while keeping up a steady pour of Juno and Kakashi's drinks. They both abstained after a while, considering the walk back to the village ahead of them that evening, but the headman felt no such need. Soon, his ruddy cheeks were even redder with drink.
"Juno-san! I could use a worker like you on my holdings. With you on board, I could buy out my competitors with ease!" He got louder the more he drank, and was soon trying to convince her to marry his son and stay on permanently. Looking over to the young man in question, who grinned at her, showing his two missing front teeth, Juno declined with all the grace she could muster. She could hear Kakashi struggle to hold in a snicker from beside her. She surreptitiously elbowed him in his side.
They were soon saying goodnight to the headman's family in preparation to leave. The headman's wife, a lovely and buxom older woman, was a little more reserved in her thanks, but nonetheless made sure they left with two baskets of produce in addition to a bottle of home-brewed sake. She took Juno aside to speak to her once more before they left.
"We really can't thank you enough for your help today young lady. Are you sure we can't convince you to stay? My son may not look like much, but he's got it where it counts!" She winked conspiratorially, "Or, I have a daughter too if that's what you'd prefer."
"Ah, many thanks, but I have a life waiting for me back in the village." Juno replied with a shallow bow. She was happy to see that she believed it too. Maybe Konohagakure was starting to feel a bit like home?
The headman's wife nodded in concession, but then shook her head from side to side. "Well, I can see there's no convincing you, more's the pity. Still, between you and that young man of yours, it looks like our farm will have a better year than ever before."
Juno blinked in surprise, "Eh? My young man? You mean Kakashi?"
"Yes, that silver-haired lad. While you were having a swim with your students he went and did some kind of fancy ninja-work on the cliffs behind the house. With all the rain we've been having we thought for sure that we'd be in for a mudslide, but he said that we wouldn't have to worry about it anymore. We told him we couldn't afford that kind of ninja-work, but he did it anyway!" She grinned. "I wasn't sure about you ninja-folk, but I can see that you're alright after all."
Juno shook her head slowly side to side in wonder. That must have been what Kakashi had been working on all afternoon, the chakra-construct that Sakura had marveled at. And to think, Kakashi had been content to let Juno berate him any chance she could find because of his laziness. She couldn't believe that he didn't say anything.
She looked over to where he was standing at the entrance of the house, patiently waiting for her to finish her conversation. He met her gaze, and Juno tore her eyes away with a blush. She quickly bowed in farewell to the headman's wife, and joined the rest of the team as they put on their shoes to leave.
Soon, they were on their way back to the village, their first official mission as a team completed. The sun was setting in a brilliant blaze of orange and pinks, the end to a beautiful day. Juno found herself yawning widely as they made their way along the path, and daydreamed of her soft bed.