"Hikari get up! I'm not going to tell you again!" Kimiko shouted, kicking Hikari off her bed. Hikari landed on the floor with a loud thud and rolled on to her back and opened her eyes.
"I'm tired! Naruto wore me out last night after dinner… He's pretty strong," Hikari said, sitting up. Her hair was a mess and almost looked like she could have been Medusa. Kimiko was already to go with her hair tied back in a pony tail with a black ribbon. She was wearing her training outfit. Fishnet shirt and tights underneath a pair of short black shorts and a black halter top that covered her stomach, which had a red skirt and a red half shirt covering over it. Hikari was still in a large t-shirt and shorts.
"Hikari! Kimi! You're going to be late if you don't hurry up and eat breakfast!" Iruka called from the kitchen. Hikari jumped up and ran out. Kimiko sighed and followed behind her at a slower pace.
"Always been one for food. How are you still so tiny?" Iruka asked.
"Are you asking why I'm not fat? Because I train a lot to keep Kimi and I protected," Hikari said as she shoveled oatmeal into her mouth. Iruka nodded.
'These poor girls… Hikari shouldn't have to work so hard to keep them out of danger. I hope Jiraiya isn't too hard on them like he was with Naruto. I wonder who's teams they'll be put on. Wait, Hikari isn't even dressed!' Iruka thought.
"Thanks Iruka! I need to go get dressed now," Hikari said, getting up and running back to the room.
"At least you were able to get her up with breakfast. I had to kick her out of her bed," Kimiko said. Iruka chuckled.
"You know, if you two need to stay here any longer than expected, it's fine by me. You two must have been through a lot huh? What happened to Miraki and Kitsuki?" Iruka asked. Kimiko looked down at her plate, her half smile gone and eyes full of sadness.
"Hikari won't tell me who did it, or what exactly happened. All she told me is that their gone now, and there's no chance that they'd be coming back," Kimiko muttered. Iruka gasped and looked at her shocked. His expression then changed to sympathetic.
"I'm sure there is a reason behind Hikari's ways. There always is. I'll see if the Hokage knows anything. Hikari! You guys have to go now come on! Or I'll be late for the school too!" Iruka shouted, standing up. Hikari ran out wearing a tank top with fishnet gloves and pants.
"I'm ready, I'm ready! Jeez. Come on Kimi, we don't want Mr. Grumpy to be late," Hikari teased as she walked outside. Kimiko followed and Iruka was right behind them.
"I'll see you to later. Good luck," Iruka said, walking in the opposite direction from them. The girls waved and then started walking to the training fields were a tall, big, white haired man was waiting.
"Excuse me? Are you Jiraiya?" Kimiko asked.
"Hm? Why yes I am! You two must be the girls I'm supposed to meet here aren't you?" Jiraiya asked. 'When he told me to do him a favor and train a couple of girls; he could have at least told me it was these two girls!' he thought to himself. The girls nodded.
"What exactly are we going to be doing today?" Hikari asked.
"Today you will be showing me how strong you are. No holding back, I'll be able to tell. First, I want to test your chakra control. To test your chakra control; I want you to walk up a tree and reach the highest point then mark it with this kunai. Who wants to go first?" he asked. Kimiko pushed Hikari toward him with a smirk. Hikari glared.
'She knows I'm stronger than her, does she want me to show off or something?' Hikari thought.
"He said don't hold back. We might get out of this earlier. Or well; you will be able to anyways," Kimiko whispered to Hikari. Hikari nodded and took a kunai from Jiraiya. She walked up to the tree and took a deep breath and sighed. She looked up the tree and found a high spot that she knew most ninja's wouldn't be able to make it unless they were concentrating. She threw the kunai into the tree, and it landed twenty-three branches up.
"One hundred fifty-three feet? Are you trying to get hurt? I said go up then mark, not mark then go!" Jiraiya shouted; but it was too late, Hikari was already walking up.
"Five… Six… Seven… Eight," Hikari counted every fifteen seconds, until she got to twenty-three. She walked onto the branch, grabbed the kunai and threw it in front of Jiraiya.
"I could have made it further; but the branches start to get thin," she called down to him.
"She's gotten stronger…" Jiraiya muttered.
"What did you say?" Kimiko said looking at him suspiciously.
"Oh nothing. Your turn," he said with a smile. Kimiko pointed up at Hikari, who was hanging upside down.
"Wait," Kimiko said. Hikari let go of her 'chakra grip' on the tree and went head first toward the ground. Jiraiya was about to run over when she landed on her feet, perfectly fine.
"Most ninja your age wouldn't have been able to do that. Even Naruto has had issues with it. That's surprising. Kimiko?"
"Alright," Kimiko said, taking a kunai from Jiraiya. She started at the tree and got three, four, five branches up before she marked and flipped back down. Each time she made it one branch higher, until she was able to walk out on the tenth branch.
"You both have great chakra control. Hikari yours is outstanding," he told them. Hikari sighed and looked to the side.
'This IS the guy who was on a team with Tsunade and Orochimaru. I wonder if he could tell me anything? If he doesn't know; then it'd be pointless… I'll wait a few more days,' Hikari thought. Jiraiya smiled.
"Now, you'll both gather chakra to your hands and hit the tree as hard as you can once. Concentrate on your chakra the best you can, and use as much strength as you can," he told them. They both walked over to trees and looked at each other. He was out of ear shot and Kimiko wanted to tell her what he had said.
"Kimi, don't you think if I show him what I can do now; he'll make it harder for me than you?" Hikari asked. Kimiko just smiled at her.
"You're stronger. You're the better fighter remember? I'm the smart one. It's why we made a good team. He's just evaluating us; but you might be stuck with him less than me. He said you've gotten stronger. I didn't know you knew him," Kimiko told her. Hikari looked at her with wide eyes, and then got angry. She balled up her fist, gathered chakra in it and punched the tree as hard as she could without breaking or cutting up her knuckles. Kimiko looked at her shocked and then wondered what had gotten her so angry.
"Kari, you okay?" she asked. Hikari smiled at her and nodded.
"I'm great. This is actually kind of fun," she answered, pulling her hand out of the tree.
"You sure you're not angry? Your whole arm never goes into the tree unless you are," Kimiko pointed out flatly.
"He said no holding back. So I didn't, and I don't know who he is. Just some old guy. You go," Hikari told her. Kimiko nodded and did the same, only causing a few layers of bark to come off.
"You pack a punch like Tsunade. Maybe she should be your mentor, not me. You need some work Kimiko; you must be the smarter one," he said. Kimiko nodded.
"Well, then you practice hitting the tree and working on your strength for now; I want to battle with Hikari," Jiraiya said. Kimiko gasped and looked at Hikari worried. Hikari half smirked.
"You're on then old man," she taunted. He walked away from Kimiko and Hikari followed.
"Right now; I want you to hit me with your best jutsu. Not a Kakke Gen kai. That'll be later, if you have one," he said. She nodded.
"I have a few actually. The Maki family is known for their multiple bloodline traits," she said. He stood still as she did her hand signs.
"Ninjutsu: Chidori!" Hikari shouted, and then charged at Jiraiya. Jiraiya gasped and jumped out of the way. Hikari struck a tree and it created a huge hole on the tree.
'She shouldn't know that on her own! No one at the sound village could have taught her that either! How could she do that at such an age?' Jiraiya thought to himself. Hikari looked at him with a smirk.
"You moved. I thought I was supposed to hit you," she said.
"Using a technique like that can seriously injure someone. How can you know it at such a young age?" he asked her.
"I taught it to myself after seeing it happen in a fight a few years ago. Learning element based jutsus have always been easy for me. Now, what do you want me to do next?" she asked him.
"Show me one of your bloodline tricks," he said.
"Weakest or strongest?" she asked.
"The one you can control best," he told her. She nodded.
"Kimi! Ribbon!" she shouted. Kimiko ran over and handed her the ribbon that was in her hair.
"You're going to get hurt~" Kimiko said gleefully as she skipped back to the tree. Hikari tied it around her eyes and then created a triangle with her hands and moved her left hand down to her waist, still keeping her palms facing Jiraiya.
'Why is she covering up her eyes?' he thought.
"Maki secret technique! Crystal ball sight!" Hikari shouted.
'What do I do?' Jiraiya asked himself. Hikari stood straight with her hands at her sides.
"Throw something at me. Attack me. Do something," she said. He pulled out a kunai and threw it at her. She caught it and threw it back. He started throwing ninja stars and kunai one after another, and everyone she threw back. He came at her, going to punch her; but she grabbed his hand and flipped him.
"Oof! Alright, I see you're strong enough to know your stuff. If Chidori is your strongest, what is your weakest?" He asked getting up. Hikari made a half circle with her hands and brought them together as she mumbled something. She took the ribbon off and looked up thinkingly.
"It'd have to be… My transportation jutsu," she said. He nodded.
"Well that doesn't matter until you after you become a Genin. You don't need Genin training, and you need rarely any Chuunin training; but you are too young to become a Jounin. If you want; you can head over to the Hokage's office today; or I can train with you for a few extra days to sharpen your skills," he told her.
"I want to sharpen my skills. I don't know who I'll be up against or what," Hikari told him. He nodded. They both looked over at Kimiko, who was making progress slowly.
"And hers?" he asked her.
"Her best is transportation. Weakest… It's shadow clones," Hikari said. He nodded.
"Training is over for the day for you Hikari, I'm going to help Kimiko for a little bit," he told her. She nodded.
"Kimi! I'm going to go find someone else to bother, I'll be back with lunch!" Hikari said.
"Alright," Kimiko said. Hikari ran off in the direction of the school, while Kimiko faced Jiraiya.
"Let's work on your shadow clone jutsu," he told her. She nodded. She tried to perform it, but it only lasted a few minutes. He nodded.
"I see. You need to focus on your chakra when creating it and then your strength," he told her. She nodded.
Hikari was walking toward the academy when she was stopped by Sasuke coming around the corner.
"Hello Hikari," he said.
"Sasuke," she nodded, "How are you?"
"Just got off training. You?"
"Same. He says I don't need to train with him; but I'm going to anyways."
"Hm. Good for you," Sasuke said. Hikari nodded and continued walking. Sasuke followed her.
"Following me?" she asked.
"I figured if I stay near you, Sakura, Ino and the other girls will leave me alone," he answered. She nodded.
"I don't mind; but when I tell you to leave me alone you better do it," Hikari said, looking up at the sky. Not a cloud was in the sky.
"Sasuke! Kakashi-sensei says we've got a mission tomorrow!" Naruto shouted, running up. Hikari; without thinking, punched Naruto into the fence.
"Sorry, natural reflex!" Hikari shouted, walking over to help him up. Sasuke sighed.
"Such a loser," Sasuke said, walking off.
"Ugh, he's such a jerk! How can you be friends with him?" Naruto asked her.
"I'm not friends with anyone but Kimi. Sorry for hitting you though, let me fix that bruise," she said, placing her hand on his cheek. She healed his cheek and he looked at her with eyes full of curiosity.
'How is she so skilled already? Not even Sakura or Sasuke could have healed me!' he thought.
"You seem to already be a fast healer, that took faster than normal," she said with a smile. He nodded.
"Yeah. How can you do that? You're like already so skilled and strong!" he shouted.
"Self taught myself for a long time. You're strong too, you just haven't realized it yet Naruto," she told him. He nodded and looked at the blue necklace that was on a blue ribbon around her neck.
"What kind of crystal is that made of?" Naruto asked, trying to touch it. Hikari smacked his hand away.
"It's just plain sapphire. Just don't touch it. My mother and father gave it to me," she told him. He felt bad and nodded.
"Sorry… I didn't mean to upset you or something. I never knew my parents; so I wouldn't know what it's like to feel how you do. You miss them huh? Why didn't they come with you?" he asked. Hikari looked down and closed her eyes. She balled her fists and bit her lip.
"They couldn't come with me…" she whispered. Naruto cocked his head to the left.
"What do you mean?" he asked. Hikari started to shake.
"Th-They were… They're not here anymore."
"They're?" he asked. She knew what he meant by the way he asked.
"Yes. They were killed…" she told him, tears falling from her face. Naruto hugged her, and she hugged back.
"I'm sorry. Not having parents suck, but Iruka's always been there for me," he told her.
"Iruka used to be like an older brother to Kimi and I… Naruto can you promise me you won't tell anyone?" Hikari asked, letting go of the hug.
"Or course! Believe it!" he shouted with a smile. She smiled back.
"Thanks. Want to go with me to get lunch for Kimi and I? You can eat with us," Hikari said.
"Sure!" he shouted. They started walking to the ichiraku ramen shop to pick up some ramen to go. Once they got their order and paid they headed back to the training grounds. Kimiko was sitting under the tree all beaten up. Hikari handed the ramen to Naruto and ran over.
"Kimi! Are you alright?" she asked. Kimiko nodded and laughed.
"I knocked him out! I was able to beat him! I'm stronger than I thought," Kimiko laughed as Hikari started healing her. Hikari smiled and looked over to see Jiraiya knocked out. Naruto walked over and sat down with them as they started eating. Jiraiya slowly got up chuckling.
"I'll see you two tomorrow. Expect training to be like this for the next two weeks, but getting harder every day," he said before he disappeared.
"He really got you didn't he? Hikari doesn't even have a scratch on her!" Naruto shouted.
"Kari's stronger than I am. It's no surprise she was able to take him,' Kimiko said. Hikari stayed silent and ate her ramen. After lunch Naruto told them about him having a mission to do tomorrow and that he won't be able to have lunch with them again.
"That's alright. We'll be fine for one day!" Hikari said, giving him a noogie. Naruto laughed.
"Sasuke said you're a year and a half older than the rest of us. Is that true?" Naruto asked. Hikari nodded.
"Yeah, it is. We'll see you tomorrow, we're going to head to the store to make Iruka dinner tonight. Bye!" Hikari said, taking off with Kimiko. Once they got to the store, they ran into Kiba again.
"There's the new girls! Whatcha two doing here?" he asked.
"Getting stuff for dinner. Iruka made us breakfast and is letting us stay at his place; the least we can do is make him dinner," Kimiko told him. He nodded.
"That makes sense. That's actually kinda nice of you guys to do. You have a scratch on your face, come here," Kiba said, licking his thumb to wipe away dried smeared blood off Kimiko's face. Kimiko blushed and pushed his hand away.
"Sorry, that kind of stung. What are you doing here?" she asked him.
"Here with my sister to get stuff for dinner. Mom is out of the village again, so we decided to get some stuff. Hey, Kari doesn't even have a scratch? How is that possible? That guy was huge! He's also one of the three Sanin," Kiba told them. Hikari froze and looked at him scared.
"I-I beat a Sanin within three minutes?" she asked in a hushed tone.
"Three minutes?" Kiba shouted. Hikari covered his mouth.
"Shut it! Kimi beat him too, but she had the shnozz beat out of her! She took way longer than I did though… Whatever, what should we get Kimi?" she asked, letting go of Kiba.
"Let's make him pork stew? He always loved to make that with us when he could," Kimiko suggested. Hikari's eyes lit up in delight as she nodded. They got the stuff they needed and checked out, left Kiba and headed back to Iruka's. It was around six when they got home and Iruka was sleeping on the couch, covered n papers.
"I'll get him up, go get the stuff ready to cook," Hikari said, putting the bags on the table. Kimiko nodded and walked to the kitchen. Hikari walked over and leaned down in front of Iruka.
"Hey, Iruka-san? Get up. You don't want drool on your students papers do you? C'mon, go get in your bed," Hikari said, moving the papers to the table and shaking his shoulder gently. Iruka mumbled and pulled her arm down to him, pulling her on the couch; cuddling her. Kimiko walked in and tried not to laugh.
"Not this again," Hikari mumbled, "Iruka! Get up! Someone's breaking in!" Hikari shouted. Iruka was up in an instant, looking around. Hikari sat up and sighed.
"Don't scare me like that! You shouldn't trick people Hikari!" he shouted at her.
"You shouldn't cuddle attack someone eight years younger when they try to wake you! Jeez Iruka, did you miss me that much? You could have just said so!" she shouted back. Kimiko backed into the kitchen again.
'Oh here we go… She hates it when people yell at her… I hope Iruka doesn't take it too far like Kankuro did last month…' Kimiko thought as she started washing the vegetables.
"You have no idea how worried I was when you two disappeared seven years ago! When I showed up and saw what happened, I went looking for you two for days! If I could just flat out say how worried I was, how scared I was, how much I missed going to your house in the afternoons instead of going home where no one was waiting… Hikari, you and Kimiko were the two people I looked forward to seeing every afternoon after practice and after school. Both your parents working so hard for you two; your father being my squad leader and your mother being my academy teacher… You can't believe the emotional toll it took on me. I thought you two were dead," Iruka said in a softer tone. Hikari was looking down, biting her lip. The village reminded her to much of what had happened to her parents. Iruka put a hand on her shoulder.
"Hikari?" he asked her.
"Go get in your bed Iruka. I'll grade the papers for you, just get some sleep," Hikari told him.
"What about dinner? And you're not a teacher," he said.
"You have an answer key right here, and Kimi and I are making dinner tonight. You made us breakfast and let us stay here until we can get on our feet again," she said, looking at him with a big, wide smile. He smiled back and nodded. He hugged her, catching her off guard. She hugged back.
"What are you two making?"
"It's a surprise. Now, go to bed; we'll wake you later," Kimiko said, poking her head around the corner. Iruka laughed and went down the hall to his room. Hikari sat down as Kimiko started cooking.
"You're going to have to cook the meat, you know I can't do it without burning it," Kimiko told her.
"I know," Hikari said emotionless as she graded the students' papers. It only took Hikari ten minutes to grade the papers before she was in the kitchen helping Kimiko.
"There, now let it simmer for five minutes off the burner. Let's take dinner to his room," Hikari said with a smile. Kimiko nodded and grabbed three bowls. They waited the five minutes before dishing it up and Hikari taking tow bowls and Kimiko opening the door. Iruka hadn't even made it to his bed or took off his uniform. He was asleep on the floor. Kimiko sighed.
"Iruka! There's a spider!" Kimiko shrieked. Iruka sat up and rubbed his head.
"Huh? Where?" he asked.
"See, next time say something not as bad Kari. Or just scream, but with your lungs I wouldn't suggest it," Kimiko said. Hikari nodded.
"You two didn't have to bring it to me," Iruka said with a smile as he got up onto his bed.
"Papers are all graded," Hikari said, handing him his bowl and taking a seat on the floor so Kimiko could sit on the bed.
"Thanks. I appreciate it," he told her. Hikari nodded. They enjoyed their dinner and Kimiko decided to get in the shower.
"I wash the dishes since you two cooked," Iruka said.
"Alright, I'm getting in the shower," Kimiko said, walking out. Hikari walked out to the kitchen with Iruka and sat up next to the sink to dry the dishes. It was silent until they heard Kimiko start the shower. Iruka waited a few minutes before he spoke.
"Kimiko told me you haven't told her what exactly happened. We still don't know who it was yet, so we can't be much help," Iruka told her. Hikari sighed.
"I didn't want her to panic. Who it was isn't after her, and I don't need her worrying about me. It doesn't matter anymore. We're safe here," Hikari said, drying a bowl.
"Alright, I won't force you to say anything. I would like to know how you nearly killed Jiraiya today though during your practice session," he said, delight in his voice. Hikari giggled nervously and rubbed the back of her neck.
"He didn't tell me he was a Sanin! I found out after he fought Kimiko. He wanted to see my strongest jutsu, so I attacked him with Chidori. He said that jutsu should be too strong for me right now. I guess he was shocked too, he looked at me the same way you are right now," she answered. Iruka's jaw dropped and he looked at her astonished.
"H-How do you know that already? You're still not even considered a Genin yet!" he shouted.
"I saw it in a fight, I wanted to learn it; and I did. He also wanted to see my best Kakke Gen Kai… and my worst jutsu," she told him.
"Which one did you use?" he asked her, a little worried.
"I used my crystal ball vision. It's the best one I can use right now," she said. He nodded.
"Your weakest jutsu?"
"Transportation… So there wasn't really anything to show him. He said I don't need to train with him for the next two weeks like he planned; but I am so I can sharpen my skills a bit for the Chuunin exams. I'm only worried about one thing though," she said.
"That is?"
"Don't you have to be on teams of three in order to enter?" she asked. Iruka sighed.
"I talked to the Hokage about it. He said he's going to make an exception for you two just this time since you didn't technically go to any academy and graduate. After the exams, then he'll decide whose teams to put you on if he hasn't already," Iruka told her. She nodded. She dried another bowl, and things went silent again.
"The Chuunin exams are going to be held earlier than planned, which means you and Kimi need to be studying," he told her.
"I was afraid of that. I'll get her to help me study and I'll help her train with Jiraiya."
"That sounds fair. How long is he supposed to train with you two?"
"Until a week before the exams…"
"That means by the end of this week then. You should go get some rest, according to what he told me on my lunch break you used up an excellent amount of chakra today."
"Well, not that much. Only to my extent with the necklace," Hikari told him, fingering the swirled s necklace.
"Right. I see you two still have them. That's a good thing, you know what will happen if you let both charms fall into the wrong hands."
"I know. We wouldn't have to worry about it though if one of us was to destroy one of them."
"Well, hers helps her. It gives her three times more strength and five times more chakra and helps her heal better. You're cuts your strength by ninety-five percent and your chakra by eighty percent. If you had to choose, the better choice would be you."
"Even then it's dangerous. I can't control it still. If I was to take it off, I'd be able to use half my strength and half my chakra. I would have to either destroy it or go a month without it to go my full potential."
"Do you plan to do that during the Chuunin exams?"
"Only if I have to. I know I will if I go against Sasuke, there's no doubt in that. It's still too risky. I need to learn to control my strength when I get angry now. The stronger I get with it on; the stronger I will be when I take it off. I'm just going to leave it on and alone until I need to take it off."
"Alright. Does anyone else know?"
"I haven't told anyone about what mine does. We explained what Kimi's does to Jiraiya but I don't need people figuring out it's not my weak spot. If they find out hers is her weak spot, then they'll think mine is too. They take mine off…"
"I knew you were smart underneath all that idiocy. Like Naruto."
"You care about him like you care about us too, don't you?" Hikari asked, looking at him. Iruka smiled and nodded.
"I think of you two like little sisters and him like a little brother. I'm just glad you two are getting along; I was afraid you might not."
"Me and him are a lot alike personality wise I guess. I mean, I can be serious; but I can also be outgoing. It just depends on my mood."
"He can teach you a thing or two. He has to me."
"Really?"
"Well yeah. He never gave up on trying to become a ninja. He doesn't give up easily. Because of him; I never gave up that you two might still be alive."
Hikari smiled and hopped off the counter and grabbed a bowl, filling it with some of the left over stew.
"What are you doing?" Iruka asked her.
"Something I should have done earlier. I'll be back soon, I promise!" Hikari said after she covered the bowl and ran out.
'I wonder what she's up to. If she's taking that bowl to Naruto, then I hope he appreciates it. They both have been through a lot.' Iruka thought. Kimiko got out of the shower and walked out in her pajamas.
"Where did Kari go?" she asked.
"Oh to take someone a bowl of stew. Come over here and let me bandage your cuts on your arms" Iruka said, grabbing his first aid kit and walking to the couch with Kimiko.
"It might sting a little; but at least it won't get infected," he told her, padding alcohol on the cuts on her knuckles. She bit her tongue.
Hikari found Naruto's house by asking his neighbors. When she knocked on the door, he answered with a loud shout.
"Who is knocking at this time of ni- Oh Hikari! What's up? Something wrong? Need me to kick some butt for you? Though I don't see why you would ha-ha," Naruto said laughing.
"No, I'm fine. Have you eaten yet?" she asked him, then his stomach growled.
"I was just about to make me some ramen for dinner actually. Why? Oh! Come in, it's kind of cold out," he said.
"Thanks. I brought you some dinner. I thought it was the least I can do since you helped me pay for lunch. It's pork stew. Eating ramen all the time will make you sick," she said, walking in and setting the bowl on the table for him. She looked around at the messy house.
"Sorry, if I would have known you'd be coming over I would have cleaned up a bit," he told her, nervously scratching the back of his head. She giggled.
"It's alright. I hope you like it though, Kimi and I made it for Iruka and he loved it," Hikari said, picking up his clothes and putting them in an empty basket.
"Oh okay. Thanks, and you don't have to do that you know," he told her, sitting down to eat the bowl of stew.
"It's a habit of mine sorry."
"It's okay. I see why Iruka said he loved it! It's delicious! Thanks!" Naruto yelled. Hikari laughed.
"Thanks," she said, looking in his fridge.
"What are you doing now?"
"How about two or three times a week you eat with Iruka, Kimi, and I? Plus your milk is bad.'
"Really? Would he be okay with it?"
"I'll let you know when I feel like cooking dinner. If I'm cooking, I always make enough for left overs.'
"Wow, thanks.'
"It's no problem… I know what it's like to be alone like this," she told him.
"Hm? Oh. I don't mind it all the time. Sure it gets lonely; but I don't mind it."
"I bet so… I've always had Kimi at my side. I've never been completely alone. I guess I just feel a little guilty that you're here, all alone all the time… I'd go crazy."
"It's not that bad when you get used to it," Naruto laughed. Hikari smiled a bit.
"I should be getting back to Iruka's now. Good luck with your mission tomorrow."
"Thanks. Good luck with training!"
"Thanks," Hikari said with a smile and walked out. After a few minutes she was back at Iruka's and walked in. Iruka was going over the papers on the couch.
"Kimi is sleeping. You going to get in the shower now?" he asked.
"How'd I do on grading?" she asked.
"Very well, some mistakes I wouldn't have even realized. Thanks."
"No problem. Naruto loved the stew by the way. I'm in the shower then out like a light," Hikari said, walking to the bathroom. Iruka nodded. She got in and was out minutes later in her pajamas and fell onto the bed and went right to sleep. The next six days was the same; but got harder a little every day. The last day of their training, the Hokage showed up at the grounds with Jiraiya.
"I have good news and bad news for you two," the Hokage said.