Morning broke out across the tranquil forest where Sasuke was already up and awake. He was busy eating his catch of fish when Satomi woke up. She looked like a mess. Her hair stuck out in different directions and it didn't help that she had this brain-dead look upon her face. "She isn't a morning person." he thought. "I'll have to take care of that."
Satomi took her seat next to him and helped herself to some of the fish. Sasuke didn't look too happy.
"Satomi what are you doing?"
"Eating my breakfast." she said innocently.
"Actually, that's my breakfast. Go get your own." he said simply.
"How will I do that? I can barely even swim." Satomi said. She crossed her arms in defiance.
Sasuke however, was not fazed. "You can apply what you learned yesterday to get your breakfast."
"What?" she asked. Just then, Satomi's eyes lit up and she ran to her tent. "I understand, thanks Sasuke!"
Sasuke finished up eating his breakfast and went further down the river to clean up. Making sure that no one was around; he hid behind one of the boulders there and undressed. The water felt so good against his skin. He lathered up with some soap he packed for his trip. The scent of jasmine permeated his nose and caused him to completely relax. Sasuke grabbed his towel and went over to the nearby waterfall. He stood under it for quite sometime, thinking. His thoughts of the other night came back. It was silly but Sasuke kind of prided himself on being a teacher...for now. Even though his student was a complete failure, it reminded him of Kakashi. But that was a long time ago. Sasuke finished up his shower, dried himself off, and got dressed.
Moments later he arrived back at camp where Satomi greeted him. "Hey Sasuke! I caught enough fish for today. What do you think?" she asked.
He looked down and saw that she was right. On the ground there lay around 10 fish-just enough for today.
Satomi cooked a couple of fish over the fire. She told him all about the struggle she encountered catching them. At first, she didn't know how but his idea of putting her lessons to use, helped a lot. She used her kunais to pierce the fish, but that was more difficult than piercing a tree. The fish swam pretty fast. Satomi told him that she couldn't give up and that she knew that her enemies would be moving fast, like the fish. "So", she said, " I had to practice over and over again. Till finally I caught one. After that, it was easy."
"Hn." he said. He wasn't really listening.
"Sasuke, what are you always thinking about?" she asked
He looked at her, by the tone of her voice she sounded like she was interested in what he had to say. "Nothing." he said.
"Oh. Well where were you? You should have been there and seen for yourself, how I caught those fish."
"I was taking a bath over by that waterfall." Sasuke pointed to it. It was all the way down the river.
"You know." she said. "I could use a bath myself. I think I have some extra outfits Orochimaru lent me." Satomi went back to her tent.
Sasuke waited while she got what she needed. Something was bothering him, but what? Satomi came out her tent with a fresh pair of clothes, a towel, and soap. "Well, Sasuke you can go on ahead and train while I take a bath. I might take long though." she said.
That was it.
"Satomi, you don't know how to travel fast. I remember now. In order for the both of us to get stronger we'll need all the time we can get. Come here." he said.
"If you can get this right now you can travel more efficiently. Stand right there and concentrate. You must concentrate your chakra to the soles of your feet. The chakra will sustain your weight and provide you with extra speed and agility." he explained.
Satomi was once again confused. "Sasuke you forget that I have no clue about the shinobi world. What's chakra and how do I control it"
"I thought you wouldn't understand. Look, chakra is the resulting form of energy produced when physical and spiritual energies are mixed together within the body. Everyone has chakra, but only skilled ninja can correctly manipulate it to it's fullest extent. Your first lesson in chakra manipulation is tree climbing. Remember this lesson because its the basis for other chakra manipulations.
In this exercise, you must gather chakra at the bottoms of your feet and then walk up a tree like you would on land. There's a trick to this technique, so pay attention. If you have gathered too much chakra you will break the tree and fall off. With too little Chakra, you will also fall. However, with the correct amount you will actually stick to the tree. But, this is just the first step. Doing this for a matter of seconds is the "easy" part, sustaining it for minutes, or even hours is the true test. " he explained.
"Sure, no problem." she said nervously. Satomi stood and concentrated. He watched for a while. Sasuke couldn't sense any chakra coming out. "This is going to take longer than I had hoped" he thought.
"Satomi, I am going to leave you here. I'm going to train by myself. If you feel like you have mastered it, I want you to try to climb the trees. If you can climb it without using your hands, you have completed your lesson. That means you can travel by jumping through the trees with ease. "
"Okay. Although it would have been easier if you took me there." she complained.
"And suffocate under your grip? No thanks." he smirked.
Before she had any chance to protest, he left to train. Sasuke had been waiting for a chance to practice on his chidori. He learned to channel that energy on objects like his sword for example. He practiced with this technique by cutting down a few trees. Sasuke had this new technique in mind; he wasn't sure how to begin though. It was supposed to be a full-body chidori that can destroy anything he touched.
He concentrated on letting out his chakra. As soon as got up to that point, he had to focus on changing it into lightning; that was his dilemma. His stamina wasn't high enough to endure the strain it put on his body. Yet, Sasuke couldn't give up. Slowly but painfully, lightning chakra emitted from his arms to his torso. Unbearable pain shot up through his spine causing him to give in. "No" he thought "I can do this...Aagh!" He forced the chidori to spread to his shoulders, but now it was overload. Sasuke stopped it from going any further.
He dropped to the ground and breathed in heavily. "Damn it. Why can't I get this? Itachi...I have to..." Sasuke's vision was getting blurrier by the second. He struggled to stand up. His heart beat faster and faster. "What's happening? I can't get up" Sasuke laid paralyzed on the ground with his arms and legs splayed out.
It wasn't until late in the afternoon that his spirits had risen in hopes of getting out of this miserable position. Satomi came, albeit rather slowly, towards him. Sasuke witnessed her take her time to approach him. His patience was running thin but he couldn't lash out at the poor girl. There was still a chance of her not willing to help. Instead, he opted to call out to her in a decent manner.
"Satomi can you please come here quickly?"
Her footsteps quickened and soon she was by his side. "What is it?"
She stared at his body, that was contortioned in various awkward ways, and came to the conclusion that he needed his help. Satomi couldn't be any more casual. "Sasuke, what's wrong?" Her head cocked to the left and her lips broke out into a smile. "Need any help?"
Sasuke refused to answer her. "Of course he needed help" he thought. "It hurt his ego, but he was hopeless in this condition." He fought to move his legs to no avail.
Luckily, Satomi noticed his struggle and her smile diminished. She lowered her voice, "Don't worry, I'll get you out of here. Except, don't expect me to have the chakra control down pat. Trust me though, we'll be there before nightfall."
Satomi crouched down and pulled Sasuke by his arms. She shifted his weight over her shoulders and carried him piggy-back style. Like a statue, she remained still and concentrated. Sasuke felt her chakra flow freely within her body. Each second her chakra increased caused him more stress. From what he recalled, she didn't have this much chakra before.
The energy flow stopped and manifested itself underneath her. "What is she thinking," he thought. "Its too much it could destroy this place."
"Satomi, stop. That's too much chakra, you'll destroy the forest!"
"I don't know how to lower it! I'm sorry but I figured a way around it. Just hold on."
With one jump they were off; meters above the trees themselves. He braced himself for the impact that never came. Satomi hardly touched the trees' limbs and leaped gracefully across the forest. "I see. She skims through, barely affecting the objects around her. I'll have to admit its smart thinking." he thought.
"Hey, remind me to teach you how to control your chakra tomorrow."
Satomi nodded and sped up. In no time, they arrived back at camp. She wasted no time in taking him off her back. The venture had pushed her to the edge. Sasuke laid in a sitting position and using his arms, he dragged himself to his tent. He took off his shoes, bandages, and pulled up his shorts. His legs weren't too battered. The shallow cuts running from his kness to his thighs would fade in time. Sasuke was more worried if he'd ever walk again. Gingerly, he ran his fingers across his legs and applied pressure to them. He massaged them to increase blood flow.
Next door, he heard the fuss Satomi was making. By the way it sounded, she was busy looking for something. He didn't have to guess what it was because she came inside his tent with a first-aid kit in hand.
"Good thing I had this. I'll fix you up in a jiffy." she grinned.
After their ordeal, he was in a more jovial mood. He played along. "No thanks, miss nurse. I don't even know your name."
"Its Satomi Ueda. Now, my dear patient, I'll be attending your wounds." Her hands rummaged through the kits and pulled out a bundle of bandages.
"Ueda. Hn. Like I said, I won't be needing your services. Just hand the kit over and I'll be okay." He stretched out his arm. However, things were not going his way. She crawled up to him and in a motherly way, she placed her hand on his forehead.
"Seems like you don't have a fever. You must be stupid then because only a stupid person wouldn't accept help. Sasuke you can't even move, quit being stubborn." she said.
He was taken aback by her comment but kept his composure. It was human nature to vent out a little. No longer in a mood to argue, he surrendered in defeat. Sasuke knew she wouldn't take no for an answer and in his state, he couldn't fight back. Otherwise, he'd knock her out.
Sasuke took off his shirt and Satomi examined his chest. "Its bruised very badly." she said quietly. Her hands ran over each purple spot and pressed down. He winced and let out a growl. "Not too hard."
There wasn't much she could do. He wasn't bleeding or had any broken ribs. "Your lucky your upper body didn't suffer much. All your vital organs are there. If you had damaged them, you'd be in grave danger." she pointed out.
He listened to her ramble on about the importance of safety. Sasuke knew all about that, but he'd rather take the risks. After she was done applying medicinal cream on his torso, she left him to bandage his legs. That he could do by himself, she said.
His lower body resembled that of a mummy's. He propped them up with his pillow and slept. The training would have to be delayed on his part. She was another case.
Sasuke woke up in a terrible fit of rage the next morning. His legs weren't working properly as he had hoped. They dangled and wobbled with every effort he made to move. On the bright side, they could move a little. He wondered how Satomi was doing. Last night must have consumed up a lot of her chakra. At this rate, neither of them could train for a few days. Sasuke dragged himself out of his tent and gazed at his surroundings. There was no trace of Satomi anywhere. She was probably inside her tent, so he crawled pitifully to there. With one eye, he peered inside.
Her abode, he noted, represented her to a T. Sets of weapons lay askew on the ground, her blanket was thrown against a pile of clothes, and the few possessions she had were littered upon the floor. At the far end of the tent, was Satomi fast asleep. Sasuke grabbed a kunai and hurled it in her direction. It missed her but got her attention. She woke up and sat upright. Her eyes squinted in suspicion. "Satomi its me" he called out.
"Sasuke? What time is it?"
"I don't know but the lights are at their brightest. It must almost be noon."
"Your not going to train are you?" she asked, sounding like half-hoping he wouldn't.
"No. Are you?"
"I might not. Maybe later. I'm still sore from last night," she said, rubbing her arm in response, " how are you feeling?"
" Better than yesterday. I still can't stand up though but my legs can move." He wiggled them for proof. "That's great." she said.
They stayed silent for awhile. The birds chirping echoed throughout the treetops while the insects buzzing hummed along the forest floor. A rustling was heard as Satomi got up and walked out of the tent. Sasuke moved out of the way and crawled near the campfire. Not a word was said.
