Chapter 14

Training

I know that I said this chapter would be the beginning of the Chuunin Exam, but, well, Arashi needed a little extra interaction with some characters, in my opinion. This will be a bit of a shorter chapter and involve a bit of training. It dawned on me that I focus a lot of sitting, eating, drinking, and talking…

Arashi carried armfuls of flowers. Their scent was gentle and soothing, a balm for aching hearts and a symbol of both comfort and remembrance. The pollen clung to her clothes and skin as well as any perfume could. The morning was warm, the wind was mild, and the ache inside her chest, while growing older with each day, was no less present. Whether it was grief or guilt, she was unsure, but she once again found herself going to visit the resting place of the Uchiha.

This time, however, she would not be alone amongst their graves. Sasuke was there. When she arrived, his expression soured. His signature arced with anger, but at its core was powerlessness and loneliness that resonated together as the source. As much as he projected a calm, competent façade, she knew that he was still little more than a hurting child.

He eyed the flowers she carried, and his expression twisted into a grimace when she offered some of them to him. Their eyes met for a moment that extended into another before he accepted them. It was clear that he did not think it was her place to be there. Compared to his, her loss was minimal, and yet it brought her back time and again. They were aware of each other but polarized. She never came to hate Itachi for what he did. Instead, she internalized and blamed herself for not seeing the signs and guiding him to find the help he needed. Each life that was lost pricked against her conscience as a failure, no matter how much she reasoned with herself that she had no control over the situation.

Wordlessly, they went about distributing the flowers and cleaning markers. As much as she wanted to talk to him or try to offer words of comfort, she never could find the right ones. They tested like cheap consolation gifts in her mouth, bitter and covered with sharp edges. Her tongue was not gilded nor talented enough to deliver them in a way that would not cause more harm. Knowing this, she remained silent.

Grief was not wine. Time was not guaranteed to make it better.

When the job was done, Arashi left. Sasuke did not acknowledge her departure. It was easier that way. Besides, she had things she needed to do.

Kazika lounged on a bench as he waited for her to finish. Beside him was a houseplant with large, green leaves that spilled out of a red, ceramic pot. He perked up when he saw her, but then scowled. "You know mom thinks you shouldn't be visiting their graves. Says it's not good for you and it's kinda weird."

Arashi rolled her eyes. "Believe me, I know."

"And why did you have me stay here? I've been so bored."

She pointed at the plant and motioned for him to follow her. Without waiting for him to be ready, she started walking away. He squawked in displeasure but scooped it up and scurried to catch up to her. "You would've been bored there, too."

"I dunno. Probably would have been creepy."

"Cemeteries are not creepy. They're peaceful."

Kazika squinted at her. A rock caught the toes on his right foot, and he stumbled for a few steps, but regained his balance. He never stopped squinting. "You know, you're really weird."

"Pot calling the kettle black?" Arashi countered.

"That's a lame comeback."

She shook her head. "We're not discussing this right now." Kazika opened his mouth to protest, but she cut him off, "If you keep it up, I won't train with you today."

He huffed and looked away. When he did reply, it was quiet. "Not like you're really training with me."

"Huh?" She peered over at him. "What do you mean?"

"You insisted on including Naruto today." He replied. "You never do anything just with me. I don't understand why you want him to tag along."

"Kazika, he'll be great for you to spar with. I'm not the best at combat. I can't really give you much advice or insight on how you handle your tanto or how to spar with someone. He can, at least a little." She explained.

"But he sucks!" Kazika groaned. "He barely graduated – he was bottom of his class!"

"He is still a shinobi!" She snapped. His lips pressed into a line. "You need to learn to view him as your comrade. You'd be surprised by what you can learn from him."

"Fine." He bit out.

She eyed him as they continued walking. Ran Kazika had not taken after his father in drive or aptitude. Naomi had left a mark on the boy in attitude, but he had rejected the life of a civilian and was pursuing that of a shinobi. His grades were average in the Academy. He had friends, but they were not close. Their mother was busy with her business, but present in their lives. On the other hand, Arashi and their father were harder to pin down. She had a feeling that his choice in profession was an attempt to connect with two thirds of his family members while trying to find a purpose in life.

"Do you dislike Naruto that much?" She asked.

"Kinda." He admitted. "He's a troublemaker."

She raised an eyebrow. "You don't care about that."

He spluttered. "I do!"

"No, you don't. He's never done anything to affect you or our family. You shouldn't like or dislike someone just because other people do."

Kazika furrowed his brow and hid behind the foliage in his arms. It troubled her that he held this opinion, but it did not surprise her. He was one of many. If she could, she hoped to sway him to make his own opinions and judgements. Kazika was not privy to the demon that Naruto carried. Any bias he had was due to influence from those around him.

Change has to start somewhere, right?

When they arrived at the training ground, Naruto was waiting. Targets were already covered in kunai and shuriken. There was a scarecrow tied to a tree that looked like Kakashi. Arashi did a double take at that.

"Oh, hey, I already started training!" Naruto greeted. A smile spread across his face as he scratched the back of his head. "I'm so used to Kakashi-Sensei taking forever, you know!"

"Yeahh," She stared at the scarecrow. "Is it normal for you to dress things up like people and beat the literal stuffing out of them?"

"It's for motivation!" He replied.

She gave him side eye. "Do you have one of me?"

He blinked. "No. Why?"

"Nothing." She shook her head. "Anyway, Naruto-Kun, Kazika's going to be joining us."

"Nehhh, but sis," Naruto crossed his arms and stared down his nose to assess him. "He's just a kid."

Kazika fumed but turned to walk toward a shaded area. He was careful as he placed the plant in a safe spot, then he stood up, took a breath, and approached Naruto with measured strides. Once he was several feet away, he drew his tanto and pointed it at him. "Call me a kid again and I'll gut you!"

Arashi went from impressed to mortified. "Kazika! That's a serious threat!"

Naruto bristled. "Bring it, kid!"

Kazika lunged at Naruto. His first swing was blocked by Naruto's kunai. As the younger boy regained his momentum, the Uzumaki jumped back to put distance between them. Kazika was not deterred. If anything, it seemed to goad him. He sprinted toward Naruto.

The kunoichi dropped a scroll on the ground, kicked it open, and stepped on the center. With a pulse of chakra from the ball of her foot the fuinjutsu activated and writing shot out, writhing across the ground to where it made contact with Kazika's heel. When he tried to take another step in his pursuit of Naruto, he was unable to. A strangled shout came out of him from the abrupt stop. His feet were stuck to the ground and would not budge, no matter how hard he tried.

"Arashi, let me go!" Kazika yelled.

"Toss your tanto over here." She hissed.

"No!"

She stuck her nose up in the air. "I can hold you here all evening. I don't care."

"Fine." He spat and tossed the weapon to her. When she caught it, she tucked it into her belt. "Well, you have it. Let me go."

"The second you act out like that again; I won't be so nice. You understand?" He nodded. She lifted her foot and Kazika was released at once. He took a few shaky steps while rubbing his neck. "Go collect all of Naruto's kunai and shuriken."

He grumbled but did what he was told. Worry threaded into her thoughts as she watched him. She knew that his instructors at the Academy had warned her parents that he had a foul temper. This was the first time she had gotten to see it.

"Hey, that's a cool jutsu!" Naruto yelled. It snapped her out of her thoughts. "What's it called?"

She blinked and glanced down at the scroll. "Uh."

"C'mon, sis!" Naruto urged her.

"Well, I really never named it. It's meant to keep people away from me or held in place so they can be dealt with. I've never seen the point in yelling a jutsu name out while in a fight. The people that do that usually want to show off the technique itself. I don't want to be known or famous. I've always just wanted to survive."

"Oh, c'mon! That's boring." Naruto teased her.

"When have I ever been exciting?" She retorted.

"Facts." Kazika called back at them.

Arashi shot a glare at him but decided against retaliating when she saw that he was almost done. Instead, she cleared her throat. "Well, Naruto-kun, why don't you and Kazika do another round of this? Once we're done with that, we'll move on to something else."

Kazika avoided making eye contact with the other boy but got into position without protesting. Naruto ignored him, but she had a hunch he noticed.

While they threw their kunai and then shuriken, Arashi watched. She examined their form and took note of accuracy. Naruto, as she expected, did well enough that this was almost pointless for him. Kazika followed suit. Being on a couple years younger, he was well acquainted with this form of practice.

Once they had extinguished their supply, she formed a handseal and created several clones. "Okay, guys, gather them up. We're increasing the difficulty. These clones are going to act as moving targets. When you have eliminated one, another will become the active target. You both have one to start with and then, depending on how you do, we're do one to two others."

She waited until were ready and then snapped her fingers. The clones took off in separate directions and the boys scrambled after them. They were led on a chase through the trees, under bushes, and even across the nearby pond. If there was one thing Arashi had learned as a medic, it was to evade.

Knowing that it would take some time for all of the clones to be eliminated, she turned her attention to Kazika's tanto. There was something odd about it. She channeled a trace amount of chakra into the blade and was shocked at how easily it traveled through it. With a little more effort, she was able to direct her chakra from the tang, through the spine, and to the point where it continued out several more inches past where she expected it to stop. Compared to channeling charka through a standard weapon, this was effortless.

This was a chakra blade.

These things are dangerous and Kazika's just been running around with it, swinging it around like a savage. The man that had given this to him must have liked something he saw in him. She was torn on whether she should tell her brother or keep it a secret. With his temper, she worried that giving him access to this knowledge would be added risk. On the other hand, there was a chance that he would stumble across this and accidentally hurt or kill someone in the process. I guess I'll tell him.

The moving target practice continued for a while. By the time they were done, both boys were sweating and out of breath. She clapped her hands together. "Good job! Now, take a seat and get hydrated. I've got something to show you while you recuperate a bit."

They flopped onto the ground and drank from their canteens.

"Alright, so," She pulled out Kazika's tanto. "This is a chakra blade."

Kazika gave her a confused look. Naruto tilted his head to the side and squinted at it. "Chakra, blade?"

"It's designed to basically be a conduit for the wielder's chakra. Depending on the affinity that you have or the transformation that you use, it can have different affects. An air affinity makes it sharper, earth can make it harder, for example. Regarding chakra nature, there is five basic types: fire, water, air, earth, and lightning, but it is not limited to that. We won't really go too in depth, though." Arashi explained.

"So, you can use chakra to make it stronger?" Kazika asked.

Naruto's eyes lit up with curiosity. Both of the boys leaned in closer to look at it. Arashi grinned at their enthusiasm. "Basically. This thing is a little more dangerous than you've thought, Kazika, so I need you to be careful with it."

Her brother stood. "Could you show me what it can do?"

"Eh, sure?"

Arashi looked around until her eyes fell on a boulder a short distance away. She motioned for them to follow her. When it was in range, she shot chakra through the blade and slashed at the stone. Kazika started to object mid swing but was left wordless when it passed through the boulder with no issue.

"That's, like, so awesome!" Naruto yelled.

Arashi offered it back to her brother. He accepted it with a look of awe. "You need to be very careful with this, okay?"

He nodded. "How can I do that?"

"Channel your chakra into it. It'll take some practice and playing around with it, but it shouldn't too bad."

"Can you help me?" He asked. "I'm not really that good at chakra manipulation."

Arashi pursed her lips. Chakra control was something that needed to be worked on a lot and consistently. Some people took to it well at a young age, as she had, but others required more work. Kazika was one of those. "It'll take some time. I'm not sure if it will fit in that well today."

Kazika groaned in disappointment.

"You know, Kakashi Sensei had us climb trees with our feet to improve our chakra control." Naruto interjected. "Maybe I could show him a few things?"

Her brother shot a surprised look at him. "You would do that?"

"Sure!"

For the first time that day, Kazika smiled. It was crooked but genuine. He glanced over at her as if to ask permission. She nodded. "Yeah, that should be fine. If you wanted, you could keep working on it while we spar for a bit."

Naruto swaggered confidently toward a nearby tree. There was no other word for it. "Alright, check this out!"

Kazika's mouth formed an O when Naruto's foot touched the bark, stuck firmly to the surface, and he took another step with his other foot. In a moment, he had walked from the bottom to the top and was staring down at them with his arms crossed. Arashi was proud of Naruto and the way that her brother watched him with wonder, but disappointed in both herself and her father. Ookami had taught her how to do this when she was considerably younger than Kazika. He had tutored and worked with her from the time he brought her home and noted that she had potential. No such effort had been poured into her sibling.

No reason he has a bit of a complex now.

"How do you do that?" Kazika called up to Naruto.

"Focus chakra to your feet and climb!" He called back down.

Arashi cleared her throat. There was more to it than that. "You need to concentrate enough chakra to your feet in order for it to stick you to the bark, but not too much or it will actually push you away. The Academy has some training exercises for chakra control, but not much involving the feet because that's a tough point. When you get that down, you're usually well on your way."

He searched her face for any other clue for how he was supposed to do this and nodded when he found nothing. His dark eyes settled on a tree next to the one Naruto was on. Making up his mind, he nodded and approached it.

As expected, he did not take to it particularly fast, but she could feel that he had the gist of it. What he needed was time, practice, and a touch of guidance. With each attempt, she and Naruto would give either a bit of advice or encouragement. After an hour, he took a break and went back to it.

"You good to keep working on that, Kazika?" Arashi asked him. "I'd like to try some sparring with Naruto-kun."

"Yeah, I'll keep doing this." He agreed.

Arashi motioned for Naruto to follow her. They walked a short distance away to make sure that they would not disturb Kazika. The kunoichi eyed Naruto for a moment while she thought of efficient ways that they could tackle sparring. While she would not put herself into active combat for most missions, she was confident she could stomp this kid in taijutsu. Beating him was not the point, though. She wanted to help him train.

"So, how are we going to do this, sis?" Naruto asked.

"Well, it would have been better if Sakura-san and Sasuke-kun were here as a team, but I think we can make due." Arashi commented.

"Why would we need them?"

"Well, the exam you're about to be in will probably have a lot of focus on teamwork. The more you all do missions together, train together, and figure out common grounds, the better."

He made a face. "All Sasuke tries to do is make me look stupid and Sakura doesn't want to have anything to do with me."

"We won't focus on that right now." Arashi sighed. She had opinions about their dynamics and how Kakashi could be doing more to bring them together. They were not good opinions. "So, what we're going to do is this: I'll make a bunch of clones. One will transform into Sasuke-kun, one will transform into Sakura-san, and the rest will be enemy teams."

"Sounds good!" He replied.

Naruto's signature was bright and positive. Even now, he was bubbling over with energy. He had one of the strongest lifeforces she had ever come across. It reminded her of Kushina's and even her own. There was an inkling of familiarity in it that brought her comfort.

I guess it's now or never.

She created seven shadow clones and two of them transformed into his teammates. The other six divided into two groups and transformed into nondescript shinobi to remove any confusion.

"Neh, sis? I know you've made some shadow clones before, but I never really thought much about them. Even Sensei used it when we were on the bridge, dealing with Gato. Who taught you?"

Arashi pursed her lips. "How did you learn?"

"Uh, well," he laughed, nervously. "Mizuki-Sensei tricked me into stealing the Scroll of Sealing and I learned it from that."

The kunoichi picked at her scarf. "I learned it from that scroll, too. It's not the most common technique to find and when you do, it's normally used by Jounin. I'd say that main reason you were able to learn it and use it is because of your chakra pool."

"Can only people with a lot of chakra use it?"

She shook her head. "No, but the more chakra you have and the more meticulous you are about dividing it between clones, the more you can make."

"How many can you make? I've made, like, a ton in one go before, you know!"

Arashi raised an eyebrow at him. "Dude, you're not the only one with a huge chakra pool, but I've never tested to see how many I can make. How about we have that pissing contest on another day?"

"Okay, sis." He laughed and scratched at the back of his head. "Let's get this started!"

Arashi had never considered that training Genin and formulating strategies to teach them would be fun. She never thought of herself as the type to want to take kids under her wing. There were things she did not like about their profession. The thought that they were being trained for combat and even war in past cases was something she had difficulty stomaching when she dwelled on it. However, there was something endearing about coaching her brother and assisting Naruto.

Once Naruto and his false teammates had finished with the first team, she pulled him to the side to give him some advice on how to approach the next team and what he could do to improve. He was receptive. The challenge was finding ways to describe things to him and verifying that he understood what she meant. He might not have been the smartest, but he was not dumb and had a clever streak in him. It made observing his growth a treat.

They continued until it the sun was starting to set. "Well!" Arashi called out. "I think I'm done for the day. I'll be heading out. You ready, Kazika?"

Her brother was resting against the tree he was trying to climb. There was little progress, but there was progress. He shook his head. "I'm going to stay a little longer."

"Alright. What about you, Naruto-kun?"

"I'm pretty beat, y'know, but I think I'll stay here with Kazika for a little longer." He replied. "Having company makes it easier."

Arashi smiled. "Okay. Be careful and don't work too hard."

With that, she collected the plant she bought that morning and set off. There was one last thing she needed to do that day.

Ibiki lived by himself in a small apartment.

Arashi had visited it a couple times since she had known him. Given that he spent more time at work, it was easier to find him in his office than at home. However, the role that he filled did not require him to leave the village often, which was more than what could be said for most shinobi. His demeanor and his lifestyle lent themselves to solitude. There was no wife or pet waiting for him in the evening. No friends to wile the hours away with in his off hours.

She saw something of herself in him and it made her uncomfortable. While she tried to maintain ties and connections with people, it was not something she was skilled with. Most girls her age would have someone of significance to them or would have at least been sought after. Arashi did not have that experience. She found a measure of peace in learning and in treating the wounded, seeking anything that could distract her thoughts and put her inquisitive nature to use. She needed to feel like she had a purpose to prevent herself from feeling like a failure.

Arashi had a growing fear that in ten years, she would also call the solitude of a small apartment home. Keeping an eye on Team 7 did not fill the void. They were children, busy with their own lives and trying to grow in their profession. What she craved was a connection. The issue was that she had no clue how to develop one with someone else.

With that amalgamation of emotions rattling around in her head, she balanced the houseplant in one hand and knocked on her sensei's door with the other. Within moments the door was open, and he was peering down at her. "What are you doing?"

"It's good to see you, too, Sensei." She replied. "I figured I'd stop by and check in for a bit, since you're home for the evening. Kinda rare for you."

He rolled his eyes but took a step back to give her space to enter. His home was immaculate, but bare. "This works out. I need to go over some things with you concerning the Chuunin exam."

"Yeah, it's almost time for it." She placed the plant on a table next to his couch before taking a seat.

He eyed it, dubiously. "What the hell is that?"

"It's a houseplant and it's for you."

"Why?"

"Well, I figured it would perk things up in here a bit."

"It's going to die."

"I think you'll love it."

"I'm too busy to take care of something like that."

"You're home most nights, so you pretty much just have to water it when it gets a little dry and leave it next to a window or something. Besides, if you have to leave for a while, you can just drop it off at my place and I'll get it back to you."

"It'll get dropped off in a trashcan." He replied, flippantly.

She resisted the urge to roll her eyes at him. Even if it was in play, she was admittedly still intimidated by him and knew to show caution when testing his boundaries. She changed the subject. "So, about the exam?"

He nodded and leaned against a wall instead of joining her on the couch. "You won't be acting as a proctor. We have other plans for your skillset. The first phase will cut down most of the teams. At that point, there will be a mass exodus. The Genin aren't much of a problem, but their Jounin Sensei are."

"Makes sense."

"Many of them have already arrived. They've been set up in rooms and are being monitored, but we would like more assurance that none of them slip away or try to find their ways back once they have been eliminated. That's where you come in. For sake of convenience, we will be putting all the Jounin into designated waiting rooms during my exam. You will get to play the role of a helpful hostess while memorizing their faces and their signatures. Once it is complete, you will work with us in making sure they leave and don't come back."

"Fair enough. I believe I can do that." She replied and he grunted in approval. "What about for the second part of the exam? Will I still just be making sure the Jounin aren't doing anything too suspicious?"

"You'll mostly be kept on premises as a medic. There will always be injuries and not everyone makes it out of the Forest. If anyone is too wounded to make it out on their own, but still alive by the end, you would be able to locate and extract them quicker than using a more traditional tracking unit. Just summon that menace of a bird you have and do a few sweeps."

She resisted the urge to laugh. "Sounds good."

"For the third portion," he continued, "you will be part of the medical team. Nothing too exciting."

"That's fine. I'll be glad to help with all of that."

Ibiki nodded. "Good."

That's it for this chapter. I know that I said I was going to start the Chuunin Exam here, but it just didn't feel like it flowed right. I needed another chapter first. The next chapter is already mostly written and should be ready within a week. I'd like to try to get back to posting a chapter every week, but no guarantees.

Anyhoo, I hope you all enjoyed this (for anyone who is still around)! If anyone has any suggestions or criticisms, please leave a review. I'm also interested in taking on a beta reader to go over chapter before I post them.

VeraciousFFConsumption: Thank you for the review! Honestly, I'm trying to make sure that Arashi gets some interaction with Sakura. There was so much potential for her as a character and I feel like Kishimoto really missed out. There's also a dynamic between Arashi and Sakura which gives them room to become friends as time passes. I don't want to miss out on that.