A/N: Here we go again, training time!

At dinner on that first night Hiashi had informed Naruto that he would have one day of rest to recover from reverting to normal sleeping patterns before training began. Naruto and Sasuke had therefore spent yesterday competing. Sasuke had beaten Naruto rather spectacularly in a sparring match only to be outrun on their assault course challenge. Now they both stood in the fighting grounds at the back of the main Hyuuga house. Sasuke had been appalled when Hiashi had assumed that he would be taking lessons with Neji. Neji himself had also been shocked at this arrangement. But Hiashi, with the advantage of being the head of the last remaining, and therefore highly important, hunter clan in Japan, had persuaded them that it would be beneficial for Sasuke to learn some of Neji's methods of dispelling magick. He was to learn how to direct his lightening into the ground in a way that wouldn't destroy anything. Naruto thought Sasuke may as well have a thundercloud hovering over his head at the moment and quite expected to see Sasuke conjure one, or at least some lightening, if anyone tried to teach him anything.

But when Neji arrived to take Sasuke to where they'd be training Naruto was surprised at how easily he went. Sasuke had adopted an attitude of frosty politeness that he pulled of perfectly.

"Ah Naruto, here already I see. Very good, I can't stand people who arrive late."

It was precisely 8 O'clock in the morning and Hyuuga Hiashi had just rounded the corner. He stood at an impressive height in a traditional kimono. Naruto had come dressed for sparring practice and was now a little confused.

"You probably don't know very much about my power but I can assure you it is highly efficient and very useful for training young hunters such as yourself. Perhaps a demonstration then?"

"Hello Naruto!"

Naruto spun around to find Sakura running towards him, she gave him a friendly hug and beamed at him.

"Hi Sakura-chan, I didn't know you were going to be here."

"Don't be silly," she said brightly, "I'm not here at all."

"Eh?"

"She's an illusion," provided Hiashi.

"Wow, really?" The illusion of Sakura nodded happily. "But she's feels real!" he marvelled poking her to be certain.

"And that's what makes them a valuable training tool. I have had many students from the Konoha City coven come to this place to receive my training."

Hiashi gestured to the middle of the yard and a muscular man appeared. Dressed all in black, his head was shaven to reveal tribal tattoos and sunglasses blocked out his eyes. He was an intimidating image. The Hyuuga leader nodded to Sakura and she reached into a bag that she always wore attached to her belt. As soon as she had donned a vicious pair of silver knuckles, one with a spike on the outer end and the other with a glinting Kiyo crystal, he waved her forward. Sakura broke into a run charging at the illusion of the demon. She jumped straight into action delivering strong and dangerous blows which he returned, pulling out a jagged dagger. As he struck downwards she deflected the blade with one of her knuckles and jumped back for a second. In the moment she stood apart from him her image flickered like a TV with bad signal.

When the image returned Ino stood against the demon instead. She jumped, clicking her boots together in midair and silver blades clicked out of the toes. Ino also had her own weapon in hand; a jouhyou(1). The weighted dart flew through the air on the end of its strong rope but the demon deflected it easily. As she moved in closer he had to be careful not to get caught in the rope. But Ino was clever with her flexible weapon and the rope soon wrapped around his ankles, tightening and bringing him face first to the ground. He tried to get up but she stopped him by kneeling on his back and hitting him hard on the sensitive underside of the skull with her crystal. His glasses had gone flying on impact and Naruto could see the angry light in his red eyes die as he lay face down in the dust.

Naruto was still staring at the ground when the illusion disappeared.

"Do you think you're ready to go up against a demon yet?" asked Hiashi indifferently.

Naruto gulped, he wasn't sure he could fight a demon yet and these may only be illusions but they were solid enough to hug so they were probably solid enough to hurt him. But Naruto wasn't afraid of getting hurt.

"Yeah, okay."

Hiashi looked at him for a long moment. "Okay, we'll start off with something easy," he said as though Naruto had answered negatively. "A werewolf should do the trick, but a new wolf; they're not as physically strong when they're new to transforming."

This was how Naruto came face to face with his first ever werewolf.

-0-

Meanwhile Sasuke followed Neji through the forest up an increasingly steep slope. They walked beside the river which here cut a sharp path down into the valley of uniform pine. As they climbed Sasuke noticed the trees were no longer all the same; here the old umbrella pine trees were broken up by many smaller trees whose leaves were beginning to brown, though they were not yet the fiery hues of autumn. It was easier to breath here out of the quiet and rather claustrophobic confines of the deep valley. Sasuke didn't understand why they couldn't practice Neji's methods at the main house where Naruto was training but he wasn't about to ask and since he preferred it up here he wasn't going to complain either.

Eventually they parted from the river and within five minutes they'd reached the banks of an expansive lake. Its glassy surface stretched far away, dark and undoubtedly cold. To the right they could see the river they had been following running out of the lake over smooth boulders, beside it a wide stony bank seemed unusually flat. Turning to the left Sasuke could see where the river joined the lake from the high mountain peaks; a mossy cliff loomed over this western end, its cold grey stone adorned by showers of ivy and two wide waterfalls which rushed over the edge into the lake.

"This is Mamizu Lake, you might have heard of it?"

"I have," Sasuke confirmed.

So this was Mamizu Lake, or the Lake of Pure Water as it was known. This was the place new Hunters had been initiated for hundreds of years gone by. The flat ground on it's eastern edge would of course be where the seasonal celebrations took place. Sasuke used his enhanced eyesight to scan the edges of the lake. Sure enough, atop the western cliff an ancient yew tree stood sentinel. That was the altar where the rites of death were performed and also where hunters made promises to their bonded. Sasuke looked away, he would think about that closer to the time.

"Why do we need to train here?"

"We don't, but I thought it might help. Come," Neji walked out onto the wooden dock that sat on this side of the lake. Several rowing boats sat in the still water tied to the small pier. "You've seen before how I can dispel energies into the ground and obviously that is our final aim for you. But since you're trying to dispel electricity I thought it might be easier to start by directing it into an electrical conductor. Besides, you can't really damage water."

"Your logic is flawed; I can damage you and this dock," Sasuke pointed out.

"You can't damage me and the dock is less valuable than most things down at the main house," Neji replied with the calm confidence that Sasuke detested for its patronizing quality.

Sasuke was sorely tempted to show Neji just how much he could damage him but remembering he was a guest he quashed the urge. Besides these 'lessons', for Sasuke loathed to call them such, might be useful. He doubted they would be but you never knew for sure until you'd wasted a significant amount of time trying.

"Take off your shoes and socks and sit on the end of the dock," instructed Neji. "You're going to build up a small amount of electricity and then dip your feet in the water and realise it into the lake."

Sasuke did as he was told, feeling rather like a child. He let a small amount of magick flow from his veins to the outside of his body so that the pale blue currents danced over the skin of his legs. Sasuke was careful to keep the electricity centred around his lower legs. He lowered his feet closer to the surface of the lake but just before they connected a bolt of lightening jumped from his feet to the water. The force of it threw him backwards and Sasuke's head slammed into the wooden decking.

"That's the destructive aspect of your power preventing you from safely discharging your magick. You need to exercise a great amount of control to keep your magick inside your body until your feet touch the water. The further the lightening jumps the more damage it's going to cause."

Sasuke bristled at Neji's knowledgeable tone and pulled himself back into a sitting position. This was going to be a long day.

-0-

By the time Sasuke returned to his cabin night was drawing in. Neji had left the lake at dinner time but Sasuke had stayed behind out of a stubborn need to master the technique as soon as possible. He had been slammed backwards into that damned dock more times than he cared to remember and quite wished Neji had left sooner to spare him the embarrassment of failing. Finally, fatigue and hunger drove him back to his temporary home. He had skirted around the main house, not wishing to be seen so worn out and defeated.

But in the end he was not even able to crawl into bed without being confronted.

"Why weren't you at dinner?" Naruto was sprawled on his sofa.

"Why are you in here?"

"Because the door was unlocked."

"The doors don't lock."

"I know," replied Naruto with a cheeky grin.

Sasuke rolled his eyes and headed for the bathroom, too tired to forcibly remove Naruto from his supposedly private cabin. He took a leisurely long shower hoping that his visitor would take that as his cue to leave. When he returned Naruto was still there but he had made them a pot of tea. Apparently he didn't intend to leave just yet. Sasuke ignored the tea and pulled his bedroll from the cupboard. He switched the lights off, lay down, pulled up the covers and slipped his tantou underneath the pillow. Turning away from Naruto he curled up and closed his eyes.

The silence in the dark cabin was broken by the soft padding of slow footsteps. Sasuke relaxed assuming Naruto was finally leaving. But a second later he supposed he should have known better. Someone sat down on the bedroll beside him. Sasuke flipped over to find Naruto, cross-legged and sipping his tea in a nonchalant manner. He sat up abruptly and Naruto pushed a cup of tea into Sasuke's hands.

Sasuke scowled. "Why are you still here?"

"I brought you something," he said bluntly, throwing a package of foil wrapping into Sasuke's lap. "Since you missed dinner."

There was no reply but Naruto didn't seem to expect it. Sasuke was surprised that Naruto had considered him and also rather touched though he would die before admitting such a thing. He looked sideways at Naruto sitting beside him on his bedroll sipping his tea. Like this he made quite pleasant company and Sasuke found himself enjoying it though he doubted the silence would last for long. He thought that perhaps this was what it was like to have a real friend. Someone he didn't grudge having around, someone who would show kindness in a way that made Sasuke want to return it. Perhaps even a best friend. It was easy to keep Naruto's company and at times like this Sasuke was reminded of his brother. Naruto was of course nothing like Itachi but yet Sasuke hadn't found himself enjoying the company of another person since his brother had died.

Sasuke sighed; maybe he had been too cruel to Naruto? He now sat in silence and Sasuke felt a twinge of guilt. He supposed it wouldn't kill him to indulge Naruto.

"How was your training?"

A flicker of surprise registered on Naruto's face before his mouth tilted into a friendly smile. "It was awesome! Hiashi's illusions are so cool. I saw Sakura and Ino fighting this badass demon guy and then I fought a werewolf!"

"How did you fare?"

"Well... not very well. I only managed a few decent hits even though I think Hiashi was going easy on me." Naruto looked at his tea, downcast and brooding on his defeat.

Sasuke sighed; it was not in his character to comfort people but he supposed from a teacher's point of view, pupils sometimes needed reassurance. "You just need practice. I can help you with that as well. Did you use a clone?"

"No I couldn't focus while he was attacking," said Naruto quietly.

"You'll learn. Nobody becomes a hunter over night."

"Yeah I suppose. It's just..." he trailed off, looking doubtful.

"What?"

"I said I'd beat you didn't I?" Sasuke nodded, remembering. "Well I guess I just didn't realise how much catching up I had to do." Naruto gave a nervous chuckle, scratching the back of his head.

Sasuke was shocked and flattered. It was unlike Naruto to admit weakness; he could be as stubborn as Sasuke when it came to such matters. In fact he thought this was probably one of most civil conversations they'd ever had; it would usually have evolved into arguing by now.

"Of course it will take a while to catch up," Naruto opened his mouth to comment on how egotistical he sounded but Sasuke cut him off. "I was brought up as a hunter. Trained from a very young age to fight and kill." Sasuke gave a slightly bitter chuckle, "You couldn't sleep properly in my house for fear of surprise attacks."

"Wasn't the house protected very well?"

Sasuke laughed, "I didn't fear attacks from demons; otou-san used to call it 'surprise training'."

Blue eyes widened in surprise, "Isn't that a little... extreme?"

Sasuke shrugged. "It worked," he said lightly.

"You're not going to start doing that to me are you?" Naruto asked warily.

"No, but if you don't already keep your dagger under your pillow you should get into the habit. It's a good practice to get into for later life."

Naruto looked a little alarmed but Sasuke's expression was serious. Naruto shifted nervously and winced.

"In pain?" asked Sasuke.

"Yeah," said Naruto, glad for a change of subject. "Werewolves are really strong."

"His illusions are solid?" Sasuke was curious about the Hyuuga's power; he had heard about it of course but had never had any direct contact with the illusions.

"Yeah."

"That's strange..."

"Why is it strange?"

"An illusion should be just that; an illusion. In other words they shouldn't be able to hurt you. Are you sure they're really solid?"

"They certainly feel solid."

"Maybe they do but that doesn't mean they are." Naruto looked confused so Sasuke explained. "The trick could be that they make you think they're hurting you. The test will be if you develop any bruises."

"And if I don't?"

"Then you'll be able to block out the pain by using higher thinking."

"Not following."

"Higher thinking; if you think you can't feel it then you can't. It's like countering the illusion's effect on you. Obviously it'll take some mastering but you have time. Until you can block out the effect of the blows you'll just have to block the blows."

"Er... right. I think I get it," said Naruto, looking highly doubtful of his ability to master such a thing.

"Good. Now thank you for the dinner but I'd really like to get some sleep, I used rather a lot of magick today."

Naruto smiled at the brisk thank you and nodded. He got up and dropped their mugs in the sink. "I'll see you at breakfast. Sleep well."

And for once Sasuke felt he might do just that.

A/N:

(1)Jouhyou: A flexible martial arts weapon consisting of a long rope with a metal dart attached to the end. If you watched the last filler arc before shippuuden it's the weapon Gaara's student uses.

Hope it was okay... don't worry it'll speed up soon, I don't plan on including months of training -_-;

Review to make me happy!

-Yasu