When Rain Falls: Chapter 7 – Training to Fight My Friend
Disclaimer: Everything, other than my own characters, belongs to Masashi Kishimoto.
Kotone took a deep breath as she jumped onto the thin rope she had set up between some trees. Toko-sensei had assumed if her or Takumi needed help with training that they'd ask, but as of yet Kotone hadn't even figured out what she intended to do. She slowly dipped into a full split before leaning back to reach for the foot behind her. She was glad she had opted to forgo her jacket which would have gotten in her way.
She closed her eyes and took deep breaths in order to relax. It had been a while since she had taken the opportunity to meditate and the weather in Konoha was far more accomidating than Ame's constant downpour.
"Fighting Takumi, eh?" Kotone's mind started to drift toward the source of her troubles. She had promised the Hokage they would take this fight earnestly despite being not only from the same village, but being on the same team. They were friends who had endured a lot over the last three years. "He knows my tricks and tactics. What can I do that he won't see coming?"
Kotone shifted herself back up, remaining in the split position, before leaning forward toward her other foot. She opened her eyes and looked to the grass as if there was an answer in one of the many blades.
"Ahh, what should I do? I've already wasted a week," she groaned with a sigh.
"A-ah?!" a startled voice barely reached her eyes. Her olive eyes quickly found the source of the voice and was surprised to see Hinata.
"Hinata?" Kotone called out to the girl was frozen in surprise. Clearly Kotone was somewhere she wasn't supposed to be for her to be that startled. "Ah, is this your training ground area?"
Hinata seemed to calm herself before she spoke, "Y-yes. I didn't expect to s-see you here."
"I'm sorry! I was just trying to get a little meditation in before the month is up. I didn't realize this spot was already claimed, I'll just clean up and be on my way!"
"N-no! It's okay. I c-can't train right now," Hinata managed to get even quieter and was twiddling her fingers nervously.
Kotone arranged herself so that she was just sitting on the rope with her legs dangling. The slits in her black dress allowed her thighs to sneak past the fabric, though her fishnet shorts kept it from being too revealing. She sat in silence opposite Hinata before she gestured to the spot next to her.
"Do you at least want to sit down?"
"A-ah, I'm okay here."
"Hinata, you should be resting right?"
The girl blushed and nodded before sitting next to Kotone on the rope. She initially struggled to maintain enough balance, but after a few minutes she got it.
"How are you doing since the preliminaries? Is your heart okay?"
Hinata nodded before taking a breath to explain, "I just have t-to be careful for a while."
"Ah," Kotone nodded at the good news. "Did you hear that my little teammate Kaori ended up fighting Neji too?"
"E-eh!?"
"She lost as well, but she was pretty badly injured before she went in. Still, she gave it a good shot and even landed a few hits to keep him away! He was pretty surprised at that!"
Hinata let out a light giggle at the thought of the ever untouchable Neji Hyuga being surprised.
"But, he blocked the chakra in her injured arm. Kaori is very sensitive to the flow of chakra in her body so without it, plus the new damage he did, her injury must have felt pretty horrible. I'm glad she surrendered before it got worse."
"Y-you mean she surrendered?"
Kotone gave short nod, her eyes turning downcast. "Neji has more skill than Kaori at this point in time and she was injured before their fight. It was good of her to try, but he got the upper hand. Had she continued, she might've risked doing similar damage to her legs or her other arm. She doesn't quite have her own fighting style mastered yet, but she'll get there as long as she allows herself to recover!"
"You r-really believe in her."
Kotone recognized that Hinata had made a statement, not a question, but she nodded in response anyways. "I believe anyone can improve with the right training. The issue is that the right training might not be a teacher can offer so much as what you might discover for yourself. I can't really be guided in my fighting style, but I can learn other important things and bring them together to improve myself. Well, I guess that's not entirely true, my mother helped me a lot when I started out. She uses chakra threads so the basic principle is the same as my wires. Oh! You didn't get to see my match!"
Hinata shook her head, but smiled gently at Kotone's relaxed disposition. "You're very nice, K-Kotone-chan."
"Haha! I just try to be a person people can rely on. I didn't have many friends back in Ame, but Takumi and Kaori became very important to me. Toko-sensei too, but she can have quite the temper." Kotone huffed in defiance at the memories of her teacher getting frustrated with her.
Hinata hopped off the rope after a few minutes of silence and walked away from Kotone, but she turned and stated how she wouldn't tell Kurenai-sensei. Kotone smiled and waved to Hinata before she got down too.
A thought struck Kotone as she untied the rope. "Ah! That's it!"
Takumi let out a huff as he scribbled out a few ideas. "It had to be Kotone."
Toko flipped a page in her book as Takumi continued to struggle in coming up with strategies. She knew they were both likely enduring the same troubles. How does one fight a teammate and expect to win when they know all their secrets? She raised an eyebrow when he crumpled an entire sheet of paper and threw it away.
"I'm about ready to find that Shikamaru kid and just ask him. He would at least see it objectively."
Toko nodded, never taking her eyes off her book. "You could, if you think he has the time to help you."
Takumi's shoulders slouched and he hung in head in defeat when he realized Shikamaru was likely worrying about his own training. A loud sigh escaped him and he fell backwards until he was lying down.
"Either I need to come up with something new or I'm going to get my ass whipped. Kotone has raw fighting ability that I've never been strong at."
"That's true, you are surprisingly weak next your teammates. Even Kaori can carry more weight."
"Thanks Sensei," Takumi deadpanned. She had a point, in terms of physical fitness, Kaori was probably in the best shape, then Kotone was close behind because of how fluid she was, and he was at the back of that line because he never had the proper nutrition growing up to really facilitate rigorous training. Takumi was lean and weaker than the girls on his team.
"I tried to improve your strength, you refused to listen. You kept complaining that it was dropping your IQ to do such workouts. It was for the muscle heads. Etc, etc," Toko waved a hand to exaggerate his pathetic excuses.
Takumi let out another sigh and begin to think of new designs for smoke bombs. If he could make something new that could work in three weeks then he'd have a fair ground to stand on.
"Ah, That's it!"
Toko glanced to Takumi who had pulled out a fresh scroll. A grin crossed her face as she realized he was getting spirited over the upcoming battle.
"Ah, I should visit Kaori tomorrow," Toko mumbled to herself before returning to her book.
Toko walked into the hospital calmly despite the suspicious glances she got from some of the citizen of Konoha. She hadn't expected much different since she was a jounin from another village. It was only fair to be met with some suspicion, though she was grateful that it came in minimal amounts.
"Ah, Toko-san," the nurse greeted with a familiar smile, "here to visit Kaori-chan again?"
"Yes. Her teammates don't want my help for the final rounds so I can at east visit my loyal pupil," Toko shrugged, her usual attire consisting of a leotard that ducked into for fitting pants. Her hip bones peeking from the space between the two pieces of attire.
The nurse laughed as she lead the woman to her student's room. She almost let out a sigh of relief at finding Kaori where she belonged with the incidents she had endured earlier in the week.
"Toko-sensei!" Kaori smiled enthusiastically in greeting.
"How's your arm?" Kotone pulled a chair closer to Kaori's bed before reclining into it.
Kaori shifted the sling in a testing roll of her shoulder, a proud smile moving across her face. "It's healing quickly! Now that my chakra is flowing through my arm it feels a lot better. The doctors were saying I had an absurd ability to feel my own chakra in my body."
Toko chuckled at the thought of a doctor just staring over the results of their tests and not believing they came from a young girl like Kaori. In terms of chakra awareness and sensing, Kaori was unmatched by anyone of a chunin level or lower most likely. "Not that she needs to know that until she can control her chakra better," Toko thought with a glance to the side.
"How are Kotone-chan and Takumi-kun?" Kaori asked with lit up eyes. It didn't bother her that they had only visited once in the week. She knew they needed to prepare for the finals and she'd be out of the hospital in a few more days as long as she can resist training until after the final matches.
"Ah..." Toko let out a sigh before explaining. "They're both unable to see the other as their opponent, not their friend and teammate. It seems like both of them got an idea last night though. I saw Takumi stumble upon his, but when Kotone came back to the hotel she seemed happy."
"That's great!"
Kaori nodded and an awkward silence fell over the two. Toko never took her pine toned eyes off her youngest student. She was in the hospital provided pajamas and her black hair was let down. Her dark blue eyes hesitated to meet her sensei's gaze.
"About what we discussed last time. It will take some getting used to, but –"
Kaori interrupted her teacher with a gentle smile, "I understand. I was just surprised at all the changes, but I'm sure I can get used to calling this village home! And thank you for offering to share your home."
Toko nodded, but her eyes caught the uncertain twitch Kaori was in the habit of doing when she was nervous. She hadn't even heard of the civil war in Ame until Toko explained why they were leaving their village. The move had been approved and they were scheduled to have everything arrive just before the final match so that the Ueno family could see the final rounds. They were arranging transport for everything, not that Toko or Takumi had much to move aside from clothing.
"We'll all be here, Kaori," Toko comforted with a soft pat to the girl's head.
Kaori smiled again, letting her uncertainty show this time, but she agreed nonetheless.
Kotone panted as she rested at the end of her wire maze. Her right eye reverted back to normal after the strain she had put it through the last few days. Kaori sat a distance away reading a book since she still couldn't train for another week. Another week and it was time for their move as finals. It felt sad to Kaori that they wouldn't even get to go back to Ame. Though she saw the perks of Konoha after she was discharged from the hospital. It was livelier than Ame and the weather was nicer.
Kotone sat down as she caught her breath. She hadn't let Kaori see most of her practice, but since today was wire work she allowed it. It wasn't that she thought Kaori would tell Takumi, but rather she didn't want her to feel bad about not being able to train when Kotone was learning and mastering new skills entirely.
The real reason for Kotone's exhaustion was her practice with elemental chakra releases. Her and Toko had started to train her in controlling her chakra nature, but then they left for the exams and opted to hold off. Toko gave her a full day of instruction and sparring in order to show her the basics, but allowed Kotone to figure the rest out on her own. As she rested she heard Toko's last warning in her ears:
"You have lightning nature chakra. It's hard to start with, but with your control it should be rather useful down the road. I don't recommend using it against Takumi if you doubt for even one second that you might lose control and seriously hurt him."
Everyday since she had been practicing releasing small charges of lightning chakra, but she always managed to burn her hand from touching the wires. The wires her father made were constructed to strengthen with her chakra, but they had never been made to endure lightning charged chakra. Certain amounts of chakra made them snap and whip her when she did it, other times they melted or sent the charge back up her arm when she was too hesitant. Kotone sighed as she stood up and dusted herself off.
"Think we should head back for tonight?" she asked Kaori.
The girl stood up and put a finger to her lips. "Hmmm. I'm pretty hungry. Can we get some food first?"
"Oh? You want to eat without Takumi and Toko-sensei? I knew it; you've become rebellious!" Kotone teased as she cut the strands of wires at her arm plate. The threads around the trees went slack and fluttered away in the wind as delicate as hair.
The two walked through Konoha until they reached a BBQ place that had Kaori sniffing the air. They went inside and were surprised to see Shikamaru and his team, though Ino was absent, eating at a table.
"Oh! It's the girls from Ame!" his sensei greeted. The two stopped by their table and Kotone smiled in greeting, though Kaori was staring at the food more than the people.
"How are you three doing? Been training hard for next week?" Kotone asked cheerfully despite her own fatigue.
"Every day. It's such a pain," Shikamaru grumbled. He finally looked at Kotone and realized she was covered in scuffs and bruises.
"Looks like you've been training rather hard yourself! Have you and your sensei been sparring?" the bearded man asked.
"Ah, no. Because Takumi and I are paired against each other she only helps as much as we ask her to. If I ask for a day she then gives Takumi a day to keep it fair. This is from today's exercise! Right Kaori?"
The young girl was brought back to her senses and nodded with a smile. "Kotone-chan practices by balancing on things or maneuvering through a wire field!"
"Oh? Well sounds like you've had a full day. Why don't you join us?"
Choji seemed dismayed at the thought of sharing food, but he eventually consented and scooted over so that the two girls could sit.
"Are you sure? You don't have to make room for us!"
"You'll be Konoha shinobi in a week, no matter the exam results. Consider it a welcoming present!"
Kotone smiled wide and agreed, ushering Kaori to sit down. "Thank you...?"
"Sarutobi Asuma."
"You're going to be Konoha shinobi?" Shikamaru asked curiously.
"Amegakure isn't exactly the safest place to begin with for young shinobi. That paired with the state of the village right now made my parents worried. They sent a formal request to the Hokage when the exams started asking if we could move. He approved it so that we'll be Konoha citizens right after the exams, though my parents will be here to see the fights."
"What about your teammates?" Choji asked with his mouth full.
"They're moving too. Same as Toko-sensei. We are very grateful to the Hokage for allowing us this chance. Ah, Kaori are you that hungry?" Kotone's attention was pulled when Kaori snapped her chopsticks in the effort to part them with her left hand. She blushed in embarrassment and fumbled with the next pair before Choji helped her out.
"So are you ready for next week, Kotone?" Asuma asked after he ordered more meat to suit the new additions to the table.
"I think I will be. I'm having some issues with a new technique, but my father is also bringing me something that should help me against Takumi."
"Oh? A new technique?"
Kotone glanced at Kaori who was now preoccupied talking to Choji about the proper way to grill the meat.
"I'm trying to make my wire techniques stronger, at the very least make them more adaptable for situations like the preliminaries. Some opponents can indeed cut the wires if they focus enough chakra. Oh! I should watch what I say around you Shikamaru!"
"It only matters we both make it that far," he droned with his cheek resting in his hand.
"True. I could end up against Temari again if you lose."
"O-oi!"
"Oh, Shikamaru you should ask for tips in case you end up fighting that Temari!" Choji suddenly chimed in between bites. Kaori had her mouth full and was blushing at the sudden attention to their end of the table; eating like a wolf because Toko always restrained their diets to healthy meals only.
"Chew, Kaori," Kotone deadpanned.
Asuma laughed before having Kaori and Kotone order tea or water to go with their meals. The evening went on nicely with laughter and stories about the first missions Team 10 went on. Kotone could tell that Kaori's fears of moving were quickly ebbing away.
The next morning Kotone rolled over in bed as the sun blared into her room. "I don't like you right now," she grumbled at the star. Her body hurt from never taking a resting day during the last three weeks, longer if she counted the first parts of the exam. She cuddled her pillow closer and buried her eyes into the fabric in denial that it was morning. She could faintly hear Takumi get up and move about as he prepped for his own training before she fell back asleep.
Takumi looked to Kotone's door which was usually opening for her to jump in the shower, but today it stayed closed. He pulled his hair up and moved closer to her door, straining to hear anything happening. Relief slowly descended when he could make out her faint snoring. She was deep asleep, deeper than she had slept in a long time.
"Kotone isn't going to train today," Toko announced from her spot in the living room space of the hotel. Her voice scared Takumi as he hadn't noticed she was even there.
"She must have something pretty strong lined up to tire her out."
"Mmm, I wonder. Are you going to be okay without those until the day of the match? You won't get to practice with them."
Takumi sighed, clearly he wanted his supplies to arrive sooner to make sure they worked like he needed them to. However, he had sent out to get them made so that they would work rather than tinker with them hopelessly.
"It should be fine. He's the best for the job, though it did cost a surprising amount."
Toko smirked at the fact the man who made Takumi's newest tools had charged him despite their close connection. It was good for business, but how heartless. She stood up and walked to Takumi, patting his shoulder. "I'm looking forward to this match. Depending on how much you two have learned we might have to adjust training routines."
The boy paled at the thought of more training after the match. If he and Kotone improved then Toko was going to advance their training even further while also catching Kaori up. With the climate being such an improvement they'd be able to train more often and Takumi could feel his muscles quake at the thought.
"Why don't you take a day off too, Takumi," Toko ordered more than asked. "It's not like you have much else to do until you get your newest inventions, right?"
"H-hey! I could train up physically! If they don't work then I'm still going to be fighting Kotone."
"Then shouldn't you ask for help? Kotone claims she doesn't want anymore help until after the match, but she did say to help you if you needed it."
Takumi sighed at the fact that he would need help to properly spar against Kotone, but he wasn't surprised that she was refusing help until after their match. She was betting on her ability to learn through endless practice and would only council help if she failed.
"Okay, let's go train."
Toko led Takumi to a training field that was permitted for their use before she started his intensive physical training. If he wanted to be able to fight against his white hair teammate, he needed to get stronger physically. She pulled arm and leg weights out of her supply pack.
"Do you just carry those around, Toko-sensei?"
"Usually Kaori uses them."
Takumi nearly collapsed to the ground when she let go of his wrists with the weights on. It didn't surprise him that Kaori was able to wear them without trouble given her surprising physical strength.
"Okay, strike this tree 100 times." Toko patted the padding on the trunk with a smirk.
"Is this really how you train Kaori?"
"No, Kaori I throw rocks and logs at so she can react to them. The panic state that puts her in is better for her to learn control in tense situations. You just need to hit this tree 100 times with each arm and leg. After that we can move on to squats and then I'll spar with you until your understanding of taijutsu improves."
"I have a week, Toko-sensei."
"Had you asked in the first place we would've have more time. I don't coddle you and Kotone because I know you two will ask for help when you really need it. Kotone progresses in massive amounts on her own, it's true, but you focus on your toys instead of your ability to fight. Until now, it's never been a real issue, but I always expected a day to come when you'd need to finally catch up. There will be times when your opponent will know how to fight you, and the best thing you can do is surprise them with the opposite of what they expect."
Takumi nodded after his sensei finished her light scolding. For the last three years with Toko-sensei he hadn't ever met her standards to fitness and the like, but with his fighting style revolving around genjutsu and various bombs to help him in combat it was easy to make up that loss. Especially after Kaori joined and became the muscle of the team while Kotone often trapped opponents from a distance. Their fighting styles meshed together well, but individually he wasn't prepared well at all.
Toko sighed and whistled to get Takumi's attention back on the task at hand. "You said it yourself, we don't have much time. Let's go Takumi!"
Takumi focused himself and approach the tree. He readied his stance and started his count of 100 for his right arm.
AN: So this one is a little scatter-brained in style, but with them being on the same team there wasn't going to be much overlap. I intend to have chapters that focus on Kotone, some on Takumi, some on Kaori, maybe a Toko chapter, but do keep in mind that for all intents and purposes Kotone is the "protagonist" of my fanfiction. She might become more centralized that her teammates, but I'm going to do my best to avoid them disappearing entirely. I just find that chapters like this one end up challenging to read with how much they jump around, but I also picture them like episodes as I write them; at least, I try to picture them. Anyways, please send me a review or message if you have tips for changes or notice anything odd in continuity! I'm always up for criticism!