A/N: Long wait for this, sorry! Christmas and New Year what can I say? I decided against an Xmas special just yet, seeing as Sasuke's with Orochimaru at that time. But I will write the first movie after the Chuunin exams okay? And once i find my camera cable I'll put some late Xmas fanart up hmm? By popular demand, I'll write up a couple chapters on their training, though personally I don't like this chapter :\ but I do like my new icon! Anyway, I'd like to say a big thanks to Yaruhi for her constant support and critical eye! And as always thanks to Maddy-imouto :). Thank you also to everyone else who reviews, you make me smile!

Disclaimer: Naruto is back, therefore Masashi has redeemed himself slightly. But he's still in a VERY deep hole and has just taken a little step back towards forgiveness. If Masashi-sama dies in that hole, I would be happy to take custody of Naruto :) Sadly, it's unlikely to happen...

Claimer: Kari, Kita, Torai-Kenshi, Kitome and Kaizo are mine. I also take full resposibility for Kari's bipolar attitude this chapter. Depresion isn't good for her :S

Seijixyuuku Kunren

Mature Training

She felt awkward, noticing he was on edge.

It was as though a wedge had been placed between them.

It was already sunset after they had left Kitome and Kaizo's house, so Kakashi said that they should rest to be ready for training tomorrow. As promised he had taken Kita and disappeared somewhere. The dusk sky cast alarming shadows across the nearby rocks and the temperature had dropped alarmingly for July. They were in the edge of a forest, the light becoming dimmer and dimmer. There was nothing but a suffocating silence, Sasuke refusing to speak, Kari feeling slightly intimidated and hurt by his cold aura.

"Sasuke?"

"What." he grumbled back, clearly not wanting to speak to her.

"Doushita?" Kari asked timidly, wrapping her arms around her knees uncomfortably.

"I don't know, maybe the fact you lied to me" Sasuke said with bitter sarcasm.

"What did you expect? Would you have preferred I came out and told you I had three raging monsters hidden inside me?" Kari said defensively.

"I would have preferred not to be lied to!" Sasuke hissed, turning away from her. "I suppose Naruto already knows does he?" Kari remained silent. Sasuke didn't know about Kyuubi yet, and he wasn't about to find out. "Great. And Sakura too? Did everyone know except me?"

"Hardly anyone knows! Only Naruto, the Hokage, Kakashi, Kita, Kitome and Kaizo and now you!" Kari said. "I knew you'd react like this so I didn't tell you. I didn't want you to treat me differently."

"You are different baka!" Sasuke snapped, unknowingly hurting her deeply with those words. "You've got three demonic beasts inside of you!" Kari fell silent, facing away from him and curling up into a ball.

So this is what you've had all your life Kitsune-nii. I wish I was as strong as you and could just wave it aside. But it hurts… It really hurts…

"Rise and shine!" Kakashi cried, appearing in a puff of smoke with a dozing Kita flopped over his shoulder. Sasuke grumbled and opened his eyes. To his surprise, Kari wasn't curled up close to him clutching his shirt like she usually was. He glanced to his side to see her in the same position before he had fallen asleep, lying with her back to him arms wrapped around herself and knees bent. Yesterdays events returned to him, leaving a bitter aftertaste and a foul mood. Kakashi smiled under his mask, seeing Kari hadn't moved and walked over to her. "Come on Kari, time to get—" he had reached out to touch her but she had slouched away from him, staring fixedly into space. Dark rings surrounded her blank eyes and her complexion was pasty. "What's wrong?" Kakashi kneeled down so he was beside her, and then looked to Sasuke, a hidden scowl on his face. "What did you do to her?"

"Nothing" Sasuke grumbled, turning his back on them and leaning on a tree.

"Then why is she so depressed? Is she ill?" Kakashi questioned. Sasuke shrugged and remained silent. "What happened? Did you argue?" the Jonin asked, knowing Sasuke would usually be far more worried at the state Kari was in.

"I thought we were going to train?" Sasuke said, ignoring his sensei's questions.

"We'll train when I say we're going to train." Kakashi said, snapping slightly. Kita was looking at him with sorrowful confusion. She was clearly upset at her mother's behaviour. "Come on sleepyhead, before he gets too impatient." Kari sluggishly got to her feet. Kakashi instantly stood beside her and put a supportive arm around her shoulders. Usually, she'd be quite pleased with his brotherly affection, but she tried to shrug him off, and looked away from him. Kakashi turned his gaze back to Sasuke, and decided the situation was taking a more serious turn. He should start the training; he had seen that it was a way that Sasuke expressed himself.

"Ne, Kakashi-kun needs to buy groceries!" Kita suddenly said, pawing at Kakashi's cheek.

"I know, well done Kita-chan for reminding me" Kakashi praised. "Training today is to see how you have advanced through the Chunin exam. You will both fight each other and then me on Taijutsu, Ninjutsu and Genjutsu. No fatal attacks to be used unless you purposely miss. When I say stop, you stop, got it?" Sasuke huffed and Kari remained silent. "Then warm yourselves up and get ready for a Taijutsu only spar."

Sasuke immediately began to stretch, aware of Kari's incredible speed and flexibility. Remembering her strikes fused with chakra, he decided to avoid her blows as much as possible, even if she was light and dainty, he'd been smacked on the head enough to know she was pretty strong even without her chakra. Similarly, Kari also began to stretch, but more like a gymnast. Kakashi slightly grimaced as her bones clicked into place. Without direction from him, they stood opposite each other, a few metres apart. Kari's earlier depression seemed to have faded slightly into blank concentration. Even as she got into stance she oozed elegance.

"Remember, you stop when I say." Kakashi reminded as Kita shifted to a sitting position on his shoulder. He decided to leave his book for now, remembering Kari's entrancing fight from the preliminaries.

"Hn." Sasuke grunted, while Kari remained silent.

"Then begin."

At once, in a trance where music guided her movements, Kari shot forward like a bullet, causing both Kakashi's and Sasuke's eyes to widen. Sasuke quickly ran to the side but was too slow and felt Kari's shin slam into his gut. He was knocked back, winded and began to sit up in time to se her backflip back to her starting position, body poised for movement at any given time.

Sasuke was slightly stunned, hand grasping his shirt over where a bruise was most likely forming. She was better than he thought, hadn't hesitated and apart from the fact no chakra had been used in that kick, didn't seem to be going easy on him. If she was that good than she would be a very good sparring partner, but the Uchiha wasn't particularly fond of the idea of her being better than him. She allowed him to get his breath back, watching with senses alert. He was tempted to use a fire jutsu, but remembered that this was Taijutsu only. He was better than average at Taijutsu but Kari was something else…

Tired of waiting she shot forward again, going to throw a punch, Sasuke swiftly ducked and seeing his chance threw all his weight into punching her in the stomach. She crashed backwards, landing hard and coughing up blood. As she slid, she pushed her self up halfway through a somersault, landing lightly on her feet. She wiped a trickle of blood from her mouth as Kakashi called out in an almost scolding manor.

"Sasuke! Her torso is the most severely injured part of her!" Kakashi cried overprotectively, he really was turning into Kari's older brother figure. Sasuke scoffed and charged again, not giving her the same courtesy and allowing her to recover. The moment he went to strike her it was plainly clear. Her defence is terrible... Sasuke felt a twinge of guilt as she flew backwards into a tree, but his guilt was soon diminished when she flew at him and her fist connected with his jaw, her foot swiftly followed, hitting him in the exact same place, then without missing a beat, her knee rammed into his abdomen, causing him to cough violently as he fell onto his back. He got up, only to find her rushing towards him again, she went to his side kicking him in the back of the knees and then spinning and ducking and kicking him in the ankles causing him to fall on his front. He felt a slight pressure on his back and he looked round to see her sitting on him, trying to pin him with her weight, pinning one on the ground in front of him and one behind his back.

"Get off" Sasuke grumbled as he glared at her. He could easily throw her off as she was very light, but he ached and was still recovering. She just looked down at the Uchiha symbol on his back, ignoring him.

"Alright, spar over. You can let him up Kari" Kakashi said, beginning to walk over, she sprung off him immediately, landing a couple feet away and looking into the trees. Sasuke got up and faced the other way, a heavy scowl set on his face. "That was good from both of you, you got a taster of the others style but I don't want you to overexert yourself, after all you only got out of hospital yesterday."

"Ninjutsu's next right?" Sasuke mumbled.

"No, I don't want you to do too much today." Kakashi said. All of a sudden, the scenery changed before Sasuke's eyes.

It was dark… He was there. Sasuke could feel him, his presence suffocating. The Uchiha panted, his heart hammering in his chest. No it must be a Genjutsu! I was training with Kakashi and Kari!

"So we meet again otouto."

No, no, NO! It's not happening!

"Do you remember that night? Or has it begun to fade from your memory?"

As if he could ever forget that; forget what he had done!

"I think I should remind you"

No! Not again!! This is a Genjutsu! Koi!!

Sasuke blinked, harsh pants heaving from his lungs. He was back in the clearing. He turned to face Kakashi with a vicious snarl

"How dare—!!" but he was cut off by the Jounin's shocked expression. Following his gaze he saw Kari trying to fight the effects of her own Genjutsu. Her face was stark white, her hands clutching fistfuls of long golden hair, tugging on it tightly. Blood dripped from her gasping mouth and trails of crimson tears streaked from wide terrified eyes. She fell to her side and began to shake, whimpering in pain. "What the fuck did you do?!!" Sasuke cried rushing to her side.

"It was just a Genjutsu…" Kakashi whispered as he watched her thrash in Sasuke's grip, staring to sob. Sasuke hurriedly released the illusion cast in her mind and she lay still for a moment, eyes wide in confusion and shock. Her eyes darted around the area and settled on Sasuke. She made a choked cry and then bolted, running like a frightened deer. Kakashi managed to grab her and pulled her down into his lap, holding her tightly to him and whispering hushed reassurances and apologies. Kita whined in distress standing anxiously at their side.

Sasuke involuntarily shuddered. Her eyes were blood shot, obviously sore, and she was trembling visibly against Kakashi's vest. The jounin handed her over to Sasuke and went off to fetch something. She was rigid, refusing to relax, her light sobs had reduced to sniffles and hiccoughs and she refused point black look at him.

Who knew a Genjutsu could do so much damage…

"Come on baka, this isn't like you" Sasuke said quietly, trying to console her. Uchiha Sasuke you are seriously lacking in social skills… She made a shaky sigh and then choked on it, tears swelling in her eyes again. "Hey, hey, don't cry! You hate crying!" he said desperately, though only seeming to make it worse as fresh crimson tears streaked across the old ones. Sasuke's tense shoulders slumped in defeat as a feeling of absolute uselessness spread inside his chest. "Come on Kari… I don't like seeing you like this" he whispered tightening his hold. "I'm here, I'll protect you—" he was cut off when she suddenly span and threw her arms round his neck; she buried her face in the crook of his neck as her body shook with sobs.

"Promise? Promise you'll never leave me?" she pleaded, clutching his shirt in a death grip.

"Sure…?" he said confused, puzzled by the sudden desperation in her voice. He rubbed her back, trying to comfort her. She held him so tightly, as though he was her child that was going to be taken away from her.

"Don't ever leave Sasuke… Don't leave me…" she mumbled into his shoulder.

"I promise" Sasuke said softly. "And you can't leave me either okay?"

Kakashi returned, a little confused at the scene but chose to ignore it. Even if he was a Jonin, if push came to shove, he would have his arse kicked if he made a hormonal Kari angry.

"Kari I need to bandage your eyes" Kakashi said crouching beside them while holding a roll of soft linen.

"Why?" Sasuke asked.

"Well as you now know, Kari isn't exactly normal. According to legend, the AkumaInu causes mental pain to rise to the surface as physical pain. So when she cries, the blood vessels in her eyes burst and the tissue is torn. Though it hasn't seemed to affect her sight thus far, it's still probably very painful" Kakashi said as he wrapped the bandage carefully around her closed eyes. At once, small red stains began to blossom. He sighed, Kita jumping on his head.

"Kakashi-ojisan?" Kita asked. Due to the amount of time she spent with him, she had started to call him 'Uncle Kakashi' now and again.

"I'd gotten some books on Kari's clans and the ToraiKenshi so she could start to understand them better." Kakashi said, dropping a bag beside him. Sasuke's eyes were fixed on them with interest. "But she should probably rest her eyes for a while."

"I'll read to her" Sasuke offered, keen to know himself. Kari tried to rub her eyes, the soft bandage bothering her.

"Stop rubbing it, you'll make them worse" Kakashi said, pulling her hand away from her covered eyes.

"But it burns" she whined, trying to use her other hand which Sasuke pulled away. But the minute they let go, she tried to rub her eyes again. Feeling their scolding stares Kari grumbled and then sat on her hands.

"What do you want to know about first?" Sasuke asked, looking through the titles of the books. She mumbled that she didn't care before trying to wipe her eyes and tug at the bandage. Kakashi pulled her hands away and tied them together with a spare piece of bandage.

"It still burns though!" she complained in irritation, trying to rub her eyes on her arm instead. In the end she gave in and flopped against Sasuke in defeat. "Can we spar?"

"While you're practically blind?" Sasuke said raising an eyebrow.

"Yeah, I can still hear you and smell you" Kari said sniffing him. He pushed her away in disgust causing her to giggle.

"Don't do that" he grumbled, rubbing away the goosebumps that had sprouted across his skin. She grinned, tail wagging. She tried to get up and swayed, her balance off. But she just span around like a little kid laughing as she broke apart the cloth binding her wrists with a small tug.

"San, ni, ichi! Off we go!" she said running directly for him. He dodged and she fell over still laughing.

"What are you laughing at baka?" Sasuke asked nonplussed.

"It feels like your swaying!" Kari said as she got up, holding her arms out to steady her. Sasuke rolled his eyes at her childish antics and charged. Her ears twitched towards him and she crouched down so that her hands were touching the ground. Just as he was about to get her she ducked, lying flat on the floor and he tripped straight over her. She rubbed her shoulder where he had tripped over and smiled.

Sasuke glared at her deciding that he really couldn't be bothered anymore. But at least she was back to her idiotic happy self. Depression really didn't suit her, but she got over it quickly enough. Knowing she would be on alert should he attack, he took lazy slow steps towards her as she lay there, head tilted towards him curiously. He stopped and turned round then with a graceful flop he sat on her back causing her to start laughing again.

"Get off!" she said through laughs. "You're squishing me get off!"

"I'm not that heavy. Besides shinobi are meant to be strong" he said with a smirk and a sharp poke to the back of her head. She tried to poke him back but he was able to avoid her.

"Yeah but I'm only little!" she reminded him.

"I know Chiisai-Kari-chan" he retorted dodging an irritated smack directed towards his skull. She rolled over but he didn't get off, and now Sasuke was sitting on her stomach as she tried to reach up and hit him. He knew she hated being called that, and her irritation amused him.

Kakashi watched with amusement as Sasuke seemed more like a child for once, a side that only appears around Kari as he would tease her. How this friendship blossomed the Copy-nin would never understand, but with Kari laughter and Sasuke's smirk as they messed about, he felt a warm fuzzy feeling inside.

Kakashi gently unravelled the bandage after another hour of Kari's stubborn attempts to rub her eyes. She blinked in the bright light, her eyes no longer bloodshot, but lined in pink. She went off to wash her face, the dried blood itchy against her skin. She returned looking vaguely refreshed and sat back down as Kita wandered off.

Unbeknownst to Sasuke and Kakashi however, Kita was actually returning to look after Naruto on Kari's orders. Even Kita just being away for twenty hours or so the Ookami-nin worried about him, Kari felt better when Kita was with him so she could see his training. She made a mental note to visit him soon.

"Sasuke, there's actually something very important I need to talk to you about. I need to speak to Naruto about this too actually…" Kakashi began with his usual lazy expression. Sasuke observed him with full attention. "Anyway Sasuke, because of what happened to your clan, your parents never got a chance to explain in detail about certain things."

"Just spit it out already" Sasuke snapped as Kari stared at Kakashi with wide eyes.

"Do you know where babies come from Sasuke?" Kari suddenly burst into hysterical laughter as Sasuke stared at Kakashi as though he was stupid.

"When a man and woman love each other a baby appears in the woman's stomach" Sasuke said as though it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"Eh… not exactly" Kakashi said as Kari cooed about Sasuke's 'innocence' between hiccoughs and mad giggles. "Do you know what sex is?"

"Whether you're male or female."

"Not as in that, do you know what making love is?"

Kari, by this point, was in hysterics and had failed to use Sasuke to keep her up; she was now lying on the floor beside him, trying to contain herself.

"When you're in love. What's the whole point of this?" Sasuke grumbled, sending an irritated glare Kari's way as she continued to giggle insanely.

"Sasuke you do know what a penis is right?" Kakashi asked, his visible eyebrow raised. A red tint struck Sasuke's face as he looked at his sensei appalled.

"Of course I do, what are you getting at?!" Sasuke cried in embarrassment as Kari cackled like a drugged hyena. Kakashi sighed deeply, though knew it was important for Sasuke to know.

"Do you get any desires towards girls Sasuke?"

"No I find them disgusting and repulsive."

"Towards boys then?"

"No."

"Kari are you alright?" Kakashi asked his hysterical student as she tried and failed to sit up and started laughing again.

"No I-it hurts!" she gasped, holding her aching stomach. "You're giving Uchiha Sasuke the sex talk!" With that she dissolved into fits of giggles again.

"Well Sasuke, you have something inside you called sperm. I assume you've had a wet dream before?" Kari's giggles paused as she looked at him with wide eyes.

"With an innocent little girl in his room?!" Kari cried causing Kakashi to cough awkwardly.

"What do you mean?" Sasuke asked as Kari dissolved into laughter again. Frustrated, he sat on her, trying and failing to shut her up.

"Have you… wet the bed in the last couple years?" Sasuke gave him an offended look.

"I'm not an infant Kakashi."

"No, not like that. It would be sperm, not urine. After a… indecent dream" Kakashi said, struggling to explain.

"Like your ones over Sakura!" Kari piped up.

"I don't dream about Sakura."

"Then why do you moan her name in your sleep hmm?" Kari said with a mischievous grin.

"I don't. You on the other hand keep saying things in your sleep."

"You know when you get erections…?" Kakashi said, trying to tackle the problem from a different angle.

"Yeah…" Sasuke said suspiciously as Kari looked at him in horror.

"You better not be prodding me with it!" she cried as Kakashi coughed again.

"You stick it in a woman."

"That's a nice way to put it" Kari said rolling her eyes.

"What do you mean 'stick it in a woman'" Sasuke questioned as Kari snorted with laughter. Kakashi paused and hesitated.

"Well, girls don't have a penis between their legs Sasuke." Kakashi began as Sasuke gave him a 'well that's obvious' look. "Instead they have a vagina, which is sort of like a hole. You stick your penis up it."

"They do?"

"You move around a bit. You release sperm into her. It fertilises the egg in her womb, you make a baby. But only when you're over sixteen so you're mature" Kakashi explained while Sasuke gave Kari an odd look.

"I'm not going to show you anything!" she said, her cheeks flushing a deep red.

"There are also certain parts of the body you're not allowed to touch on a girl unless you're in a relationship with her" Kakashi continued. "They are between the legs, the breasts, the backside, and in most cases the waist and thighs."

"Breasts?" Sasuke said puzzled. Kari laughed uncontrollably as Kakashi motioned to the chest area.

"Girls are different to boys remember Sasuke. Women grow breasts in order to feed their babies until the infant can digest solid food." Kakashi explained as Kari gave him an embarrassed glare.

"Those things?" Sasuke questioned, looking sceptically at Kari.

"Kari's still very young, so she's not fully developed yet. She's probably not the best example." Kakashi said as Kari took offence and self consciously hugged herself she rolled onto her front, hiding her lady lumps from prying eyes. Sasuke coolly remained sitting on her.

"When in a relationship with a girl—" Kakashi went to continue but Sasuke stopped him.

"Why exactly do I need to know this?" Sasuke asked.

"You know little things from your classmates and what you see in public, but don't know enough because you weren't told about it and also you were probably uninterested so didn't pay attention. Besides you live with a female, and are coming to the stage in life where girls are going to be interested in you and you in them, you're going to start having relationships and frankly Sasuke even if you're considered handsome, with the attitude you have things aren't going to go well" Kakashi said grimly. "Plus, when you do get in a relationship, you won't have the first clue what you're doing." Kari sniggered evilly.

"Why do I care?"

"You want to revive your clan don't you? The only way to reproduce is through sex" Kakashi stated. Sasuke sighed and looked at him with a dull, reluctant attention.

"Well firstly, you have to like her and she'll have to return your feelings. It'll be different than a friendship, it will be much deeper. You'll want to be close to her all the time and you'll miss her when she's not there. It'll start with simple things like holding hands and hugging, then will grow to a kiss on the cheek, to a kiss on the lips, to kissing with tongues" –Kari interrupted by laughing at Kakashi's monotone voice- "touching each other in more intimate places and then finally to sex and possibly marriage and family building after that."

"And if you want to have sex without making babies you use condoms!" Kari added.

"What's a condom?" Sasuke asked, not liking the sound of it and getting extremely annoyed when Kari kept laughing at him.

"It's like a finger of a plastic glove that goes over your penis and stops the sperm entering the woman's body" Kakashi explained. Sasuke frowned, not liking the idea.

"How do they know it'll fit?" Sasuke said as he glanced down.

"It's… You'll see when you're older." Kakashi said simply.

"What's the point of having sex if it's not for making babies?" Sasuke asked.

"For pleasure!" Kari cried before giggling hysterically.

"Kari you're too young to know about such things" Kakashi scolded, she stuck her tongue out at him.

"I was fifteen before I was transported here and turned into a twelve year old!" she said earning a puzzled look.

"So how old are you then?" Sasuke asked.

"Well my body is twelve, but my mind is fifteen, wait scratch that, I've been alive for fifteen years. But here I'm twelve, so I'll just say I'm twelve." Kari said simply.

"Anyway, you should eat and then rest for the rest of the day. We'll do more training tomorrow." Kakashi said, pulling off his bag and rummaging through it. Kari rolled out from underneath Sasuke and sat up beside him. Kakashi handed a bento to both his students who looked at it with curiosity. Kari opened it and scrunched her nose at the vegetables. Without hesitation she dumped them into Sasuke's bento. "Kari you were meant to eat those!" Kakashi said, his lazy voice carrying a scolding tone.

"Sasuke's a growing boy. He needs his vegetables." Kari said happily, shoving some plain rice in her mouth. They wasted the rest of the day continuing the talk on relationships (with Kari getting cramps from laughing too much), reading up on Kari's clan history and myths and legends around the Torai-Kenshi. Sasuke seemed to have forgiven her, and read with interest.

When night fell, they both fell asleep quickly; Kari back huddled into his chest for warmth while he had his arm loosely draped around her, subconsciously alert for any change in breathing. Back to normal; and just a little wiser.

"Up you get" Kakashi said, nudging Sasuke in the side with a branch he'd picked up. Sasuke opened his eyes lazily and glared at the Copy-nin. He was surprised he had slept in so late, and with the slow and steady rate of Kari's breathing she had slept all night too. Kakashi looked down at her thoughtfully.

"What time is it?" Sasuke asked.

"About ten am, for someone so loud and energetic she sleeps extremely quietly. You can't hear her breathing; you have to look for it." Kakashi mused. "Wake her up will you?"

"Why can't you?" he grumbled as he sat up, Kari curling up tighter, sensing the lack of warmth. "Baka, oi, get up" Sasuke said, shaking her shoulder. As usual, she ignored him. He hated mornings, hated that he had to spend ages to persuade her to get up. Kakashi had said girls didn't like being touched in certain places… Maybe that can get her up. He shook his head discarding the thought. No, I'd be kicked around the forest and drowned in the lake.

He sighed and layed so he was closely opposite her and blew gently in her face. She scrunched her face up before blinking and looking at him tiredly. She groaned and got up, sauntering over to Kakashi in search of sugar. Kari needed a sugar boost to get her going, when she didn't have any she was in a thunderous bad mood until something sweet touched her tongue.

Luckily, Kakashi expected this and allowed her something sweet and a smile lit up on her face. With that finished, they set down to training.

"Right, Kari, I need to check what element is dominant, with the Shizenno GenzoOokami you have the potential to excel in them all, but there's bound to be some that you struggle with. This paper will react to your stronger elements with even the slightest chakra" Kakashi said handing Kari a piece of paper. Immediately it tore in half, becoming soft and wet and then bursting into flame and scrunching up before turning to ash.

"Oh?" Kari said in surprise, looking at the ashy remains.

"You're strongest in wind nature techniques, followed by water, fire and then lightning. You're very weak in earth nature though." Kakashi said. He handed another to Sasuke and after a moment it burst into flame. "Of course, being an Uchiha, Sasuke is a fire nature."

"Hn."

"Its good that you're good with water Kari, because you're going to be using chakra to walk on water to improve your chakra control" Kakashi said as Kari gave him a puzzled look.

"Walk on water…?" she repeated. Kakashi made a hand sign and focused chakra to his feet. He walked swiftly towards the nearby lake and continued walking across the surface. Kari watched in amazement while Sasuke shrugged unimpressed. "That's so cool!!" Kari squealed in delight as Sasuke's eye twitched.

"In the tree climbing exercise we did before, you only had to continually create the same amount of chakra and gather it to the necessary place. The tree is solid underneath you and all you have to do is stick to it. In order to walk on water you must expel the necessary amount of chakra into the water form. This chakra control is much more difficult than to simply create the same amount of chakra and is meant to be used for control training where you learn to create a set amount of chakra needed to expel for a jutsu." Kakashi explained as he walked back towards them at a leisurely pace, ripples spreading beneath his feet. "Oh and just so you know, even for the beginning of July… the water is freezing cold."

"Sounds good" Kari said with a grin. She brought two fingers to her mouth and a loud whistle passed through her lips. In a light gust of wind, Kita plopped down in front of her. "That was good Kita-ko, you just need to aim closer to the ground." Kari said, praising her wolf for her transportation jutsu. Kita's first jutsu was a success!

Kari placed Kita in her lap and explained about the training. She decided it would be beneficial, Kita was already a strong swimmer, though was only little and couldn't swim very fast. Running however, Kita was excelling at.

"When you're ready." Kakashi said pulling out his book and glancing over the top.

"I'll go first then" Kari offered and approached the edge of the lake. She concentrated her chakra towards her feet and heard the familiar rush and hum as her skin tingled.

"This shouldn't be too hard for you Kari, even if you don't realise, you use chakra in Taijutsu and running as it is" Kakashi said, watching as she dipped her foot into the water and squeaked about it being cold. She then lightly placed her foot on the water and ripples spread in a slow rhythm around her feet.

Sasuke watched with a raised eyebrow waiting for the splash and shriek. With a leap of faith, Kari shifted her weight and put her other foot lightly on the waters surface.

"Impressive…" Kakashi said as Kari straightened out looking at the water. "I thought you'd fall in at least once."

"It feels weird… Like you're walking on jelly" Kari said as she took slow yet steady steps. She had her arms out to balance her and wobbled occasionally.

"Hn. This will be easy" Sasuke scoffed walking over to the waters edge and summoning chakra to his feet. Without a moments hesitation he went to stride out on the waters surface and—

SPLASH!

"Oh?" Kakashi said in surprise as Sasuke disappeared in a huge wave of water. Amusement was clear in his eye and he coughed to cover his laugh.

"Kuso that's cold!!" Sasuke hissed climbing quickly onto the bank as Kari grabbed hold of a nearby rock to stop herself falling in. She couldn't concentrate when she was laughing so hard.

Once she regained her composure she tried taking lighter quicker steps in a slow jog. She tumbled a couple of times but kept on top of the water. Good thing my balance is pretty good…

Sasuke scowled at her, dripping wet and sulking. How the hell could she do that? He took off his shirt and rung it out, leaving a small puddle, he then hung it on a branch to dry. His arm warmers soon joined his shirt and he stared menacingly at the stupid water.

SPLASH!

He would not be defeated by some overgrown puddle!

SPLASH!

If Kari could do it he should be able to do it!

SPLASH!

How can he defeat his brother if he was losing a battle against a pond?!

SPLASH!

Meanwhile, Kari was trying to show Kita how to walk on water. Kari was sitting on the water, holding Kita steady and lifting her up when she began to sink.

SPLASH!

Kita was doing better than him! He was losing to a puppy the size of a cat!

SPLASH!

"Sugoii!!" Kari cheered as Kita stood on the surface. She took a couple careful steps, starting to get the hang of it.

SPLASH!

"Kari" Kakashi called as a frustrated Sasuke made his way onto the bank cursing. "Help Sasuke out will you?"

"Hn. I don't need anyone's help—"

SPLASH!

As Kita started taking small leaps across the water, Sasuke admitted in his mind that maybe he could use a little help. He wasn't going to say it however. Kari stood in front of him and folded her arms waiting for him to step out.

SPLASH!

…And he completely soaked her.

"You're applying too much chakra, you can't stand on the water if your chakra's throwing it everywhere" she said, pulling at the now soggy bandages on her arm.

"Hn." Sasuke huffed climbing onto the bank. So he applied less chakra.

SPLASH!

…And Kari got even more wet.

"You can't use that little. Try and think back to the tree exercise and use as much as you did then." Kari said as she debated whether to rip the bandages off. She didn't miss Kakashi's scolding stare and decided to leave them alone.

"Hn." He climbed onto the bank and tried again and began to fall straight in.

"No! I'm not getting any wetter!" Kari cried grabbing hold of his arms. Sadly, a wet Sasuke is a heavy Sasuke, and a Kari that is supposed to be in hospital isn't particularly strong.

SPLASH!!!

Sasuke climbed onto the bank as Kari climbed onto the waters surface. She huffed and walked over to the tree, unravelling the bandages sticking to her arms and removing her gloves. She then took off her ninja sandals and unravelled the bandages to support her leg muscles. She left the bandages on her torso alone so Kakashi wouldn't complain. She twisted the bottom of her shirt, trying to wring out the water then returned to the lake.

"Hold on to me and test the water first" she said holding out her hand. Sasuke glanced at her arms, seeing only a thin red line where gaping wounds were a couple of days ago.

"You heal fast" he said quietly looking away. He was glad, but didn't want to show it.

"Kashi-niisan's creams and gauze worked after all ne?" she said, looking at the thin cut. "If I'm lucky it might not scar, it'd be pretty big and nasty if it did" she said simply. "And all those ninja boys would find it unattractive and poor Kari-chan will be doomed to become an old lady surrounded by cats…"

"Right…" Sasuke said, choosing not to attempt to understand the female mind. "Don't drop me."

"Would I?" she replied as he grabbed her hands. He gave her a sarcastic glare as he placed his first foot on the water, quickly followed. He stood on the surface and Kari was bout to cheer when he started to sink. "Iie! I am not getting cold and wet again!" Kari hissed grabbing hold of his waist as his weight slowly pulled her downwards.

"Oh crap."

SPLASH!!

"Why couldn't we do this training in a hot spring instead?" Kari asked as she shivered.

"In July?" Kakashi asked sceptically. "You'd come out as red as a lobster." Kari glanced at Sasuke and sniggered at the thought of him being a lobster. She was repaid with a tap to the back of the head.

"Come on Sasuke, you were closer that time, just a little bit more and you've got it!" Kari said cheerfully as Sasuke glared at her enthusiasm.

"Hn."

"Good. Glad you agree. Let's go!"

"MORE CHAKRA!!" Kari shouted as Sasuke threatened to sink. Finally he had gotten it and could walk on the water, until he got distracted by a rabbit darting out a bush and started to sink. Kita had mastered the technique and bounced and skipped about with ease.

With Sasuke steady, Kari decided to try her hand at a light sprint and shot off towards the other side; spraying Sasuke with a wave of water and sending him almost back into the water again.

"Baka!" Sasuke shouted in frustration, struggling to rebalance. They continued like this, Kari practicing jumps and flips, and even walked on her hands across the water. Sasuke grumbled about her showing off and a water fight ensued. Kari won.

As Sasuke became comfortable with the water beneath his feet, Kakashi deemed the training done for the day and called them out to dry off and told Kari to change her bandages and wear Kitome's yukata until her clothes dried.

"Ryoukai Kashi!" she said with a lazy salute, strolling off into the plant life.

"You know Sasuke" Kakashi said offhandedly. "If you want to peek I won't stop you."

"WHAT WAS THAT?!" Kari shouted behind some thick bushes.

"E-eh but I'll break your arms and legs!" Kakashi said quickly as Sasuke huffed and looked away.

"Not interested." Sasuke said simply.

"I swear you're gay…" Kakashi mumbled.

"I heard that."

As they soaked up the last of the suns warmth and set a fire, Kakashi gave them their second meal of the day. Like the day before, Kari's vegetables were dumped on Sasuke and she stuck with her plain rice.

"Oi Kashi-nii, can you bring me icecream tomorrow?" Kari asked sweetly.

"We're starting the main technique I'm going to teach you tomorrow, if you do well, I'll get you icecream" Kakashi relented.

"Really?!"

"Hai."

"Aishiteru Kaka-nii!" Kari squealed, jumping on him and securing her arms round his waist. Kakashi sighed and patted her on the head; he supposed it was because Kita had disappeared again. Seems Kari was now pouring her affection on the Jonin instead, not that he really minded.

"You're welcome."

"Can I go see Naruto-kun soon? Its been ages since I last saw him" Kari asked, peering up at him with those big innocent eyes.

"Less than a week. But yes you can, once you've finished the preparation work. This jutsu's no joke; no normal genin would stand a chance at this technique." Kakashi said.

"You're just dragging it out and not telling us what the jutsu is on purpose aren't you?" Kari said suspiciously.

"…Maybe. Anyway, bed, both of you. Its going to be an early start tomorrow" Kakashi said, as he lightly pushed Kari off his lap and stood up.

"You don't do early Kashi."

"For once I have to agree with the baka." Sasuke piped in.

"Your words cut me deep…" Kakashi said in bored sarcasm. "Ja." And he was gone.