Training
Author's notes: Neji sees how far his students have progressed. Kuma asks an awkward question which almost kills Sakura. Fun times. ;)
Rated M for sexy times between male characters, swearing, drinking, and gore.
I don't own the characters though I wish I did. I'm just playing with them for fun and returning them in a somewhat scarred (and scared) state.
Neji yawned hugely as he strode towards training field twenty-seven the next day. He and Sakura had left the bar early, midnight, but by the time she undid his hair, got the make-up off his face, and they crawled into bed it had been almost one. She had poked him awake two and a half hours later and he groaned before dragging his body out of bed to get ready for his students.
As promised he ran back to the compound to deliver a note to Hinata-sama as well as drop off his journal and overnight bag. Ino would never ask Hiashi-sama about Hatomi and even if she did, Neji would get to him before Ino. Besides, Hiashi-sama could not remember all the names of every Hyuuga in the compound. There were just too many of them.
He was exhausted from the late night and had a bit of a headache because of the booze. Hell he had even danced with a few men (which left Ino pouting) and gotten a few phone numbers which he accepted with a blush and stuttered thanks. Neji had almost fallen over when Kiba appeared with Shino but the two had not recognized Neji.
Sakura had told him later it was because all the scents in the bar confused Kiba so he could never tell one person from another. Shino might have used a bug on Neji but he would never tell because he was Shino. Neji had been glad for it.
Neji grinned when he got to the field and saw Kuma kicking the right post. She sensed him, flipped on her hands then back onto her feet then came running towards him with a grin. Neji caught her as she jumped and she giggled in his ear. She struggled out of his arms after a moment and he let her go. She began jumping up and down in excitement and Neji wondered where the Hell she got her energy so early in the morning.
"Mom found an apartment for us to live in! Sako and I get our own rooms and everything! Plus Sakura-sama has been healing mom's hands and she can move them a little! She's getting enough money for compensation to afford the apartment and feed us properly plus there's the money I make from missions to help! And dad's not been around at all and this is great," Kuma said.
Neji smiled at her, happy her life had changed for the better. Kuma stopped jumping, beaming up at him and Neji noticed she did not look so sickly. She had gained weight in all parts of her body but now she looked like a normal girl of twelve. Neji ruffled her hair and she giggled.
"Neji-sensei!"
Neji turned and buffered a tackle hug from Tora. She laughed in his ear and Neji set her down when she wanted. The difference in Tora was she braided back her hair but besides this, nothing had changed. Neji smiled at her.
"Sakura-sensei told me to give you this," Tora said.
Neji took the note and began reading it over. In it Sakura talked about training Tora by throwing weighted balls at her and Neji looked up. At the posts was a basket of weighted balls. These would help Tora with dodging. A med-nin needed to have good dodging skills as they would always be the last one alive on the field.
Sakura also informed Neji about Tora's progress. She had learned a lot about the human body and had started working on bringing a fish back to life. She hadn't done it yet but was doing well. Sakura also mentioned she would be coming for Tora every day at thirteen hundred hours to continue training with her.
"Well?" Tora asked once he was done.
She was biting her lip and kicking at the grass. Kuma had gone back to kicking the post but kept glancing over to see what was going on.
"I guess I'll be throwing weighted balls at you today," Neji said.
Tora smiled.
"And yes, you can go with Sakura for training at thirteen hundred hours but not every day. I do want to get some missions started with you three again and every day training will impede that. Sakura and I will speak when she comes today," Neji said.
Tora hummed but nodded. She trotted over to the posts to work on her aim and Neji saw she had improved a bit. She hit the middle ring of the targets. Perhaps Tenten had been helping Tora as well. Either this or Tora had overhead Tenten training Kuma and applied the same line of thinking.
Akino wandered onto the field wearing his gloves a few minutes before their meeting time. Neji noticed the boy had not only grown an inch but also gained muscle. Akino had changed out of his regular attire. Instead of a dark blue tee-shirt he wore a fitted shirt with no sleeves in black. He still wore the fishnet arm sleeves that went from mid-forearm to mid-bicep. The shorts had been replaced by long pants, also fitted but still in black. Bandages wrapped around his right upper thigh and were held in place with a black band. Akino's hitai-ate was around his left thigh.
Neji looked to the girls and smirked. Both Tora and Kuma had tied their hitai-ate around their left upper thighs as well as wrapped bandages around their right thighs, holding them in place with a black band. It meant Tora's skirt was shorter but her leggings had been swapped out for skin tight white Capri pants that skimmed her knees.
"Copy-cats," Neji said.
Kuma had to bounce on her foot to keep from falling over in embarrassment. Tora blushed. Akino snorted. They came to stand in front of him, Tora and Kuma looking up with smiles being at least eight inches shorter but Akino meeting his eyes.
"You need to stop growing, Shorty," Neji told Akino.
Akino smirked.
"I can't help it," Akino said.
Neji huffed but grinned. At this rate Akino would be taller than him and this was wrong. A student should not be taller than their teacher so soon. Neji shook his head and regarded his genin. His genin. Gods he had missed teaching them.
"All right, first we'll warm up with laps. After that you three will show me what you learned. We'll go from there," Neji said.
All three gave him a "Yes sensei!" Kuma supplied a fist pump and jump in the air with hers. Tora beamed. Akino sighed. Neji chuckled and set the pace around the field. Kuma easily kept up with him and Tora stayed a few paces behind. Akino had sped up thanks to a week with Guy-sensei and Lee. Neji was pleased to see this. They ran laps for an hour but none of them were panting when they were done. Neji did not bother to keep his smile back.
"Akino: you first," Neji said.
Akino muttered his word but walked over to the trees. Neji followed then widened his eyes in awe when he paid attention to the tree line. Some of the trees around had been knocked over, others splintered in the middle and some had holes in the center. Neji watched in carefully hidden wonder as Akino reared back with a fist and hit an uninjured tree.
The crack which sounded was ear-splitting and the tree tumbled backwards with a crash. A dust cloud had formed around Akino and the tree's trunk and the grass around Akino had been flattened with the force of his hit. Neji closed his mouth and shook his head when Akino looked at him with a bored expression on his face.
"Well, that's impressive. Let's spar, see how fast you've gotten," Neji said.
Akino muttered his word as the girls giggled at him. As predicted, Akino could not land a hit on Neji. Neji was moving at almost his full speed though which was much faster than most genin could handle. Even so, Akino was aiming for any openings and kept moving around Neji to get a hit in. There were plenty of times Neji could have ended the fight but Akino noticed with a nod each time. He missed two but Neji did not mind.
"Stop, excellent job, Akino, I'm proud of you," Neji said.
Akino grinned and flushed rubbing the back of his neck and looking embarrassed.
"Thank you Neji-sensei," Akino said.
"Go work on your speed drills, you still need to get faster," Neji told him.
Akino nodded and sauntered off. He looked to Tora and Kuma. Kuma was vibrating where she stood and Tora was biting her lip.
"Tora," Neji said.
Kuma pouted and sagged. Tora straightened, her eyes went wide, and she gulped. She stood in front of the demolished trees and Neji dragged the bucket of weighted balls to a place Sakura had marked in the grass. Akino actually had to help him and Neji thanked his over-powered genin.
"Sakura-sama lifted it above her head," Akino mentioned.
"Sakura's insanely strong and was likely enhancing her strength with chakra," Neji told him. "Besides, I told you all my physical strength is one of my weakest traits. I make up for it with speed and the ability to crush your chakra paths."
Akino grinned at him and nodded. He went back to his speed drills and Neji picked up the first weighted ball. He frowned at its weight but managed a hefty toss towards Tora. She dodged and Neji picked up the next and threw it. He kept tossing, each time lowering the wait time between throws and soon was throwing two at once. Tora dodged every single one with a frown of concentration.
Neji stopped because his arms were getting tired and she grinned at him. They had gone through half the damned basket. Sakura probably went through the entire thing. Neji chuckled when he saw Kuma running around and picking up the balls.
"Good work, Tora. I can't be a judge on your med-nin skills but I am sure Sakura will give me a full report later. Let's spar," Neji said.
Tora nodded. Kuma continued to happily pick up balls and kick them into the basket. Neji watched her for a moment before shaking his head with a smile and facing Tora who rolled her eyes at Kuma.
"She always does that," Tora said.
"It's a good work-out," Neji told her.
Tora nodded and they began to fight. Tora's footwork had improved and her form was fluid. She shifted from move to move without hesitation in between and threw good punches when she got an opening. She mainly stayed on defensive though which was fine for a med-nin as they were supposed to hang back making the strategies and healing injured comrades.
Tora was lucky to be on a team with the speedy Kuma and the powerful Akino. She would have all the opportunity in the world to hang back and attack from the side-lines and heal both her teammates. Neji wondered if Iruka-sensei had seen the potential in all three and that was why he had stuck them together with Neji. Neji might ask him.
"Enough, excellent work Tora. I'm proud of you," Neji told her.
She flushed and grinned, crossing her arms in front of her body so she could clutch her hands in front of her skirt and bow.
"Thank you Neji-sensei," Tora said.
"Finally," Kuma shouted out.
Neji nodded to Tora who began practicing her aim at the posts. Kuma had put all the balls back into the basket and Akino had dragged it back to the posts. Neji stood with Kuma who took a scroll out from under the bandages from her thigh. Neji raised an impressed eyebrow as she opened it, bit her finger, and summoned.
The weapon came half-way out and Kuma pouted. Neji kept back his laugh and Kuma did not let the half-summon detour her. She flipped onto her right hand and began to move across the field on her right hand alone. Her left flung out senbon needles from a pouch on her back and Neji saw her hitting every target a little off from dead center. Tenten had placed the targets on the grass and in the trees. Kuma stopped after twenty spins and stood, biting her lip, and shifting nervously from foot to foot.
Neji could not speak. Impressed was not the proper word. Kuma had a summoning scroll and could completely twenty revolutions on one hand, kicking and flinging out senbon needles. Damn. He needed to leave Kuma with Tenten for another week.
"Excellent work," Neji got out.
Kuma gaped at him then grinned and hugged him.
"Really? It doesn't matter my weapon got stuck or I didn't hit the targets dead center?" Kuma asked.
Neji chuckled.
"Hitting the targets while spinning was impressive enough. The fact you were within an inch or less from dead center was beyond impressive. We were at ten spins on your hand before I left and you did not have a summoning scroll. You've come far in the week I've been gone. Now, let's spar," Neji said.
She grinned and they immediately started fighting. Neji found he had to work at full speed or risk being hit by one of Kuma's deadly kicks. Neji started adding his offensive moves and saw Kuma grin. She managed to reduce the force of his assaults but he was not trying. If he had been he could have ended this, well, not easily but quicker.
Kuma was chunin level in her taijustu, almost jonin level really, but her chakra control left something to be desired. She either used too little or too much and did not seem to grasp the concept of it yet. She was coming along though and well.
Akino's strength was jonin level but his speed was still genin level. His chakra control was better, chunin level as was his taijustu but if he was put into the chunin exams as he was now he would fail. All the strength in the world did not matter if he could not land a hit.
Tora's skills were a little under chunin level, her taijustu anyway. Her chakra control was jonin level and her planning would be around the same. Her stamina was higher but Neji doubted Tora would be able to keep up with Kuma and Akino. Like the other two she would fail if put into the chunin exams now. Neji called for a stop and they gathered at the posts.
"I'm proud of all of you. You've come far in a week and I'm impressed," Neji said.
All three grinned at him and Neji ruffled Kuma and Akino's hair. They took it with smiles. Neji saw it was time for break so they rested. They asked him about his trip and Neji described his week off, leaving out all sexual parts of course.
They got to their feet after twenty minutes and Neji considered his students. They waited for his instructions happily and Neji could not help but inwardly smile. No wonder Kurenai-sama looked back at her genin-training with a smile.
"Akino, you'll be sparing with Kuma. Tora, you're with me," Neji said.
All three gaped at him. Neji raised an eyebrow and they nodded, looking confused. Akino walked to another part of the training field with Kuma and Neji activated his Byakugan. The thought of the Red-Eyed Byakugan came to him but Neji shoved it away. He got into a fighting stance and Tora adjusted her glasses. They began.
Neji was able to pay attention to Tora's strikes, correcting her where she needed it but also watched Kuma and Akino. Kuma was literally running circles around Akino who could not get a single hit in. He had bruises all ready forming on his arms from Kuma's kicks and he looked frustrated.
Neji grabbed Tora's right wrist in his and flipped her over his head. She stumbled but rolled out of the way and Neji inclined his head at her. Tora let out a little breath and smiled before coming back in. Kuma kicked Akino in the stomach then shifted away when one of his fists tried to come down on her legs.
Again Neji tossed Tora by an arm but this time she fell on her side with a yelp. Neji frowned and strode over to her as she got onto her butt and pouted. Kuma was so naturally inclined to rolling up on her feet or catching herself on her hands from a throw Neji had forgotten Tora was not as inclined.
"My apologies, Tora," Neji said.
She shook her head but got to her feet.
"It's okay Neji-sensei. Sakura-sensei does the same and told me I need to work on my falls. I'm no use if I get hurt," Tora said.
Neji nodded but saw Tora still looked hurt. Neji held her shoulder and she smiled up at him, blinking a bit rapidly to get rid of tears.
"We started working on it yesterday," Tora said.
Neji smiled and she let out a breath. She got back into fighting position and Neji grinned. He did spot Akino scowling and his punches came out wilder. Neji looked towards Kuma and Akino and almost laughed when Tora followed his gaze.
"Wow, you never realize how fast she is until she goes against someone normal," Tora said.
"Hn, but Akino's speed is below normal. That's why he's fighting Kuma now," Neji said.
Tora nodded in understanding. Kuma danced away on her hands and Akino tried to chase her. She easily flipped into the air and flung senbon at him. He was not fast enough to dodge but Kuma did not aim for anywhere vital, merely ripping up his clothes. Akino seemed to sense this and Neji raised an eyebrow when he sat on the ground with a scowl on his face, crossing his arms over his chest, and lowering his head.
Kuma landed on her feet and blinked. She turned her head as if to call out to Neji but saw him walking over and frowned. Tora followed along beside him but Neji said nothing to her. Akino looked up when Neji got close enough but said nothing.
"Would you do this in an actual fight?" Neji asked.
Akino sighed but shook his head.
"I know she's holding back," Akino said.
"Well duh," Kuma muttered.
Akino snorted. Neji ran a hand through his hair.
"Akino, I'm having you spar with Kuma in the hopes you can increase your speed. I don't expect you to match her because that would be physically impossible for you. You are built for strength but all the strength in the world won't help if you cannot hit your opponent," Neji told him.
"I know and I'm trying," Akino said.
Neji shifted until he sat beside Akino and put a hand on his shoulder. Akino huffed.
"I know and you've come far. This is the next step in that training. Why do think Guy-sensei never had an issue with Lee challenging me all the time? Lee was slow, weak, and his taijustu skills were horrible. I was quick and knew a specialty taijustu. You are powerful and your taijustu is easily chunin level. Kuma's taijustu is around the same and her speed is more than. Who else could I pit you against to give you the proper training except myself?"
Akino sighed but nodded. Neji glanced back to Tora to see her frowning. He grinned at her.
"Tora, your chakra control is easily jonin level," Neji said.
She smiled, flushing. Kuma was beaming and Akino ran a hand through his messy hair. He got to his feet and Neji stood beside him.
"So I'll never catch up to Kuma's speed," Akino said.
"No, but who says you cannot slow her down?" Neji asked.
He blinked. Neji winked at him and guided Tora back to their sparring spot. He watched for a moment as Kuma and Akino began again. Kuma flung her body into the air and Neji chuckled when Akino punched the ground. A crater formed and Kuma suddenly had nowhere safe to land. She realized this with wide eyes but spun in mid-air and used Akino's shoulder as a launching pad to get out of the crater he stood in. He almost caught her ankle and grinned.
"Woah," Tora said.
"Hn," Neji replied.
They began to spar but this time Neji caught a wrist or ankle every time he could and flung her away. Tora managed to either roll and get up on her feet or land on her feet well perhaps a quarter of the time. Another quarter of the time she stumbled on her landing. Half the time she landed badly. No wonder she had scrapes all over her arms and legs.
Neji called a stop and lunch. Tora looked relieved from her position on her butt on the ground. Neji raised an eyebrow at the amount of craters a panting Akino had created. Kuma landed gracefully on her hands then flipped onto her feet, breath coming out in gasps. Obviously the two had a workout they weren't expecting. Neji smirked.
They met at the poles and bento boxes came out. Akino's was bigger, still as pretty, but there was much more food. Tora's was the same, full of maki rolls on lettuce with fruit on the side. Kuma's was larger as well packed full of rice, beef, steamed vegetables, fruit, eggs, and maki rolls. They all gave thanks and dug in. After his genin's initial hunger had been sated they began to speak.
"That was fun, Akino," Kuma said.
"Yeah, fun," Akino grumbled.
He had a smile on his face regardless. Kuma grinned at him. Tora smirked and Neji listened with a smile.
"Though we're going to have to fill in those holes," Kuma said.
"Mm, an earth-nin goes to every training field to do just that," Neji told them. "It will be fine by the time we get here in the morning."
Kuma giggled. Akino huffed and Tora gaped.
"Really?" Tora asked.
Neji inclined his head in the positive.
"Tenten used to make craters from testing explosives, Lee from trying to kick me and missing, and me with the Mountain Crusher. Our fields were ripped to shreds by the time we were done," Neji said.
The three stared at him for a moment then started laughing. Neji grinned as they continued eating.
"Are we sparing more after lunch, Neji-sensei?" Kuma questioned.
Neji thought about it. He was exhausted. His headache from the drinks had come back and his eyes were throbbing from being open for a while. A nap after being awake for twenty-four hours did not help.
"Tora will be training with Sakura and I assume Tenten and Guy-sensei are coming for you two?" Neji returned.
Kuma shook her head. Akino shrugged.
"Tenten-sensei said you can help with my training now. I just need to work on chakra control but I have the basics of summoning down. Plus all it is now is practice and once I get perfect at what she showed me then I can train with her some more," Kuma said.
"Guy-sensei said I need to speed up before he'll teach me more," Akino added.
Neji let out a little breath but nodded. He did not want to have the duo sparring all day because he had a headache. Too bad. He had been looking forward to a nap. He could handle it though.
"Akino, you and I will be doing a different sort of speed drill after lunch. Kuma, I'll fill one of those craters with water so you can practice your chakra control," Neji said.
Both nodded. Tora happily ate her maki rolls, probably feeling content she would still be training with Sakura while the other two would not get their supplementary training. Neji did not want to mention technically this meant the other two had progressed further than her so said nothing. Besides, becoming a med-nin took a lot of time. Tora would be training under Sakura for years before she was considered finished.
Sakura joined them before thirteen hundred hours and Neji tried not to laugh at her. She had bags under her eyes and her face had a shine to it. She carried her body upright but her shoulders were sagged and she looked rumpled. She sat beside Neji and he huffed when she gave him a punch to the shoulder.
"What was that for?" Neji asked.
"Keeping me up till late last night," Sakura replied with a yawn.
"That was all you," Neji retorted. "I would have been completely fine staying in and eating ice cream till twenty-two hundred hours then going to sleep, but no we had to go out."
Sakura punched him again. This time he rubbed his shoulder. She stuck her tongue out at him then yawned.
"I forgot I had an early shift at the hospital too, Ino had to call me at six to remind me and I was almost late for 6:30. I just got off ten minutes ago when I was supposed to be off at noon," Sakura complained.
Neji snorted at her and saw all three genin gaping at them.
"That is not my fault," Neji said.
Sakura shrugged then stole a piece of his fried egg. He huffed but she ignored him.
"Anyway, you read my note?" Sakura asked.
Neji hummed in response.
"I do not agree with you taking Tora every day," Neji started.
She opened her mouth but he shoved some rice into it before she could start talking. This made her blush. Kuma and Tora giggled. Akino snorted.
"I want, need to take them on missions and we cannot do that if you're taking Tora every day. Even if we tried to take missions in the morning it would mean I get less time training with her, two or three half days if I'm lucky. I can work with her on landing after throws but you can keep the ball-dodging," Neji said.
Sakura tapped her lips in thought, swallowing her rice. She nodded.
"Deal. I'll take her Monday, Wednesday, Friday afternoons as usual as well as Saturday and Sunday. You work with her on the landing thing and I'll take my balls back. I figured you wouldn't be able to throw them, weakling," Sakura said.
Neji snorted. He offered the left overs of his bento box and she took them happily, not bothering to change out chopsticks.
"I'm a Hyuuga, we're not meant to be powerhouses," Neji said.
"Excuses, excuses," Sakura told him.
Neji chuckled and noted his three genin were staring at them in shock again. Kuma got over it first. She shot them a confused look.
"I thought Neji-sensei was going to be dating Kankuro-sama?" Kuma asked.
Sakura began choking on rice. She flushed. Neji sighed and shook his head. He swatted Sakura in the back a few times and she got a hold of herself.
"He is going to be dating Kankuro," Sakura got out.
"But you two are kind of acting like a couple," Akino said.
Sakura blinked. Neji raised an eyebrow. Tora and Kuma nodded in agreement with Akino's observation. Sakura sighed.
"Unless I become a man, Neji won't be interested, ever. Yeah, it kind of sucks cuz he's a great guy but I'm not interested and neither is he. We're friends. Friends make fun of each other. Haven't you three watched Neji, Lee, and Tenten together? Hell, just Lee and Tenten?" Sakura asked.
The three nodded.
"Yeah but Lee-sama's been hit in the head too many times," Kuma said.
Neji held back his chuckle. Sakura was trying not to smirk.
"Same with Guy-sensei. They're insane," Akino added.
Tora nodded in agreement. Neji chuckled. Sakura giggled.
"They still act like friends though," Sakura said.
Akino blinked then rubbed his forehead and muttered his word.
"So friends like to attack each other with pointy objects and throw insults at each other?" Akino questioned.
Neji inclined his head in agreement.
"Hell, if Tenten doesn't throw a pointy object or threaten me with one during a training session I get worried," Neji said.
Akino groaned and fell back into the grass. Sakura chuckled at him. Neji smirked. Tora and Kuma stared at Neji then Tora shook her head and Kuma shrugged.
"All of you are so weird," Akino muttered.
"Hey, if you're not weird you can't be an awesome shinobi. There's some fine print on your graduation certificates saying that," Sakura said.
Neji snorted but nodded when Akino sat up and looked at them.
"Huh?" he asked.
Neji rolled his eyes.
"Kakashi-sama, considered one of the best shinobi in this generation is perpetually late and reads erotic novels constantly. Genma has a habit of chewing on senbon; you know the sharp pointy things Kuma throws at you? He's considered an exceptionally good ANBU operative. Anko-sama, let's not even get started on Anko-sama but again, another top jonin. Do we need to talk about Guy-sensei? He is another famous jonin for his taijustu in and out of Konoha. Tsunade-sama drinks, gambles, and has a temper yet she's considered the best med-nin and is Hokage. Would you like me to continue?" Neji returned.
Akino gaped but shook his head. Tora dropped a maki roll back into her bento box by accident. Kuma blinked then stared at Neji.
"But you and Sakura-sama seem normal, Neji-sensei," Kuma said.
Sakura started choking on some of the left-over egg but this time Neji did not save her.
"Yes because extreme strength and a snap temper is normal," Neji said.
Sakura got over her issue and huffed at him.
"You're wearing nail polish," Sakura said.
Neji flushed and noted his genin finally looked at his hands. They blinked.
"Plus I totally know you don't mind having your hair done," Sakura said.
Neji glared but was glad she did not go beyond the hair thing. Kuma, Tora, and Akino were staring at him again.
"Why are you wearing nail polish?" Akino asked.
Neji shrugged. Sakura grinned.
"He likes the color," Sakura replied.
Neji snorted but nodded. Akino deadpanned and rubbed his forehead.
"Right, cuz that makes a difference," Akino muttered.
Neji smirked. Kuma shrugged and Tora hummed.
"It does suit him though," Tora said.
Akino groaned and fell back again, grumbling his favorite word and Kuma laughed at her teammate. Tora shrugged. Sakura finished off Neji's bento box then handed it back to him. Neji nodded in acceptance while Tora cleaned up her mess. Kuma put her empty box away but Akino did not get up.
"Anyway, c'mon Tora, we've got some balls to dodge, fish to bring back to life, and body parts to discuss," Sakura said.
Neji kept his laugh back as Tora nodded but got to her feet. She waved with a happy good-bye to them and Neji returned the wave with a small one of his own. Kuma waved enthusiastically and Akino lifted one hand in salute. Neji got to his feet and heard Akino sigh.
"All right, back to work," Neji said.
"Kuma was wrong: you are weird," Akino said.
Neji kicked Akino's foot to Kuma's laughter and Akino groaned before getting to his feet. Neji smirked at him and the genin muttered his word again before following Neji to the craters he had made. Neji would not give this up for anything.
Reviews welcome, next chapter coming soon. Kudos again to Kuma. You can totally tell she's become my (and Neji's) favorite.