A/N: I own nothing but Reyna. Everything you recognize is property of Masashi Kishimoto. Everything else that you don't belongs to a friend who remains nameless. ENJOY
TRAINING
While the ANBU ushered Tsunade off and back towards the hotel at a brisk pace, Reyna and Kakashi followed at a more sedate stride. Reyna noticed that once again, Kakashi had not pulled his book out, something that she noticed was becoming more and more of a habit when he was walking with her.
"So are you going to tell me what it was that Kayha told you?" he finally asked, breaking the silence that had fallen over them and Reyna pulled herself from her thoughts.
"What? Oh, that, yeah I guess you probably want to know don't you?" she muttered and he nodded.
"Yeah, I do. What the hell is going on?"
"Well, for starters my dad is no longer a threat to any of us. Kayha saw to that one," she started slowly even as she slowed her pace again.
"I can see how that can be a bit of a conflict for you but I have the feeling that there's more to it than that. It's not very often that you turn to Jiraiya as someone to talk to anymore," he replied, laying a hand on her shoulder in an effort to give her support.
"Yeah, I guess that it's just going to take some time to get used to. The thing is that while one threat has been neutrailized, another has made itself known. Zeke isn't only after Kayha anymore…apparently after the fight with Sasuke I'm now on his hit list as well which means that I am completely and totally screwed," she finished with a sigh and a shake of her head.
"What does Jiraiya think of all this?" Kakashi asked quietly.
"He figures I should stay here after the rest of you leave and train with Kayha so that I at least have a tiny hope in hell of defending myself."
Kakashi nodded, "That's probably the best course of action to take right now. Not that I'm exactly happy about it, but if that's what's needed for you to be able to survive…Do you think that Zeke's going to come after the Leaf to get to you?"
"No, and neither does Kayha. The only reason I'm on his radar is because I've already killed two of his guys and I was the one who ultimately took out Sasuke," she replied, wondering if he was finally going to tell her that Sasuke was, in fact, still alive.
He sighed and shook his head, "Right, guess I never really thought about it like that. Alright, so I guess you aren't going to be coming home with the rest of us then?"
She shook her head, "No…I can't very well ask Kayha to leave her home just so that I stand a better chance of surviving. I'll stick around here and train with her until I have something that I can work with. I'm sure Tsunade will agree and that I'll be able to stay with the Kazekage and his family again. Maybe I'll see if Kankuro can teach me a bit about the puppetmaster jutsu."
"Just don't bring home any of his habits when it comes to those puppets. I don't want to be replaced by a puppet," he chuckled.
Reyna couldn't help but laugh as well, "Then I guess I should take to Tsunade and get her okay for this as well and then to Gaara to make sure he doesn't mind that I'll be staying in his house and training with his brother and girlfriend. Now, what the hell happened at the arena?"
Kakashi laughed and started telling her what had happened after Kayha had crashed into the arena. Once they reached the hotel, Reyna headed off in search of the Hokage who agreed that she should remain behind to train with Kayha so that she could better defend herself and the Leaf. That completed, her next stop was at the office of the Kazekage, who also agreed that she should remain in the Sand and train.
"At least that way I know Kayha's actually training for a change of pace," he smiled a little, shocking Reyna.
"Right and I was also thinking that maybe I could train with Kankuro a bit as well. I want to try to use something similar to the Puppet Master Jutsu to control my shadow weapons and figured he'd be the best person to talk to in order to find out the basics of the practice."
Gaara nodded, "That would be excellent; give Kankuro something to keep his mind off of Katara leaving. Unfortunately, he'll then also think that the Puppet Master is the greatest jutsu of all time since someone actually wants to learn it. Be prepared, he'll probably make you create a puppet too."
Reyna laughed, "Sure, why not? That might actually prove to be vastly entertaining."
"You've never seen the puppet workshop have you?" Gaara asked before an ANBU appeared in his door and Reyna took her leave, wondering what he had meant by that final comment.
The rest of the Leaf Ninja left two days later, eager to get back home and see what they could find out about this latest attack on the Sand Village. Reyna walked with Kakashi, Naruto, and Yamato to the gate the morning that they left and was surprised when Kakashi hesitated before following the rest of the group out of the village. Just before he left he turned back to her, dropped his head and pressed a lightning quick kiss to her lips before he turned and walked away, not looking back again.
"Okay, that mask is evil," Reyna muttered to herself and heard someone laugh off to her left.
Turning she found Kayha standing not far off, "I'll have to take your word for that one."
Reyna rolled her eyes and turned towards her friend, ignoring the fact that the only thing she really wanted to do was catch up with the rest of the Leaf Ninja who were disappearing into the desert, "So what are we up to?"
Kayha shrugged, "Well, you did stick around to train with me, so we could start that…or…"
"Or what?" Reyna asked raising an eyebrow, not entirely sure if she really wanted to know what Kayha was planning.
"We can prank Kankuro," Kayha grinned evilly and Reyna grinned.
"Ordinarily I'd be right there with you on that one, but I need to talk to Kankuro about teaching me about the Puppet Master Jutsu. Once I get a yes for that one, I'm there though."
Kayha laughed and the two headed back into the village, "Well, then I guess we can train…after we get coffee that is."
Reyna shook her head as she followed Kayha to her favorite coffee place, "So do you ever actually train?"
"No, not really I always end up running off to fight and then I'm too damn tired to train after that. I'm not even really sure what it is that you think you can learn from me," Kayha responded.
"The best way to defend myself so that I can survive."
"Well that's easy enough…dodge, avoid, hide and run. Beyond that I don't know how much of a chance even I have against some of them," Kayha responded as they waited in line to order their coffee.
"Well, you said that the shadow kunai hurt you, there might be something there to look into," Reyna laughed after they had ordered.
"I am not going to be your human target. You cannot throw random weapons at me just to see if you can hurt me, understand?" Kayha exclaimed.
Reyna laughed, "Alright, alright. I won't do it…on purpose."
"Reyna, I swear to the gods if you do…" Kayha threatened as they took their coffees and headed back out into the street.
"Nah, I'll use Kankuro's puppets instead. Does that work for you?"
"As long as you tell me when you're planning on it so that I can laugh at him," Kayha agreed.
For the rest of the morning the two girls hung out at Gaara's home, talking and plotting against Kankuro. Reyna was just contemplating raiding the kitchen to see if there was anything that she could turn into an edible meal when Kankuro came in through the front door and paused when he noticed that Reyna and Kayha were both sitting on the couch rather than training.
"I thought you two were going to train," he spoke in way of greeting.
Reyna turned to face him and shrugged, "Well, we were, but then we wanted coffee and after that…well, we just decided that we were going to take today off. Besides I needed to talk to you about something and I figured the best way to find you was to sit in your living room."
Kankuro raised a brow and Kayha laughed, "Relax, Kankuro, I think you'll really enjoy this conversation."
Reyna pushed herself to her feet and stepped over the back of the couch to stand facing Kankuro, "Yeah, even Gaara was pretty sure you'd really enjoy this conversation."
"Why am I worried?" Kankuro asked, shifting his weight nervously.
Reyna laughed, "Relax, I promise this isn't something Kayha and I came up with to torment you with."
Kayha nodded, "She's right. I should probably head out and pick up something to eat since I don't think there's anything left in the kitchen. Did you guys want me to bring you back something?"
Both Reyna and Kankuro nodded before Kayha headed back out the door and Kankuro turned his attention back to the Leaf Ninja, "So, what did you need to talk to me about?"
"Well, it's actually about your Puppet Master Jutsu. I've been trying to figure out an easier way to control my shadow weapons and then I remembered the way you use chakra threads to control your puppets. While I can control the solidified shadows, it's not exactly easy or accurate and it uses a shit load of chakra to do; which means that if I have to use more than one weapon at a time, I am completely screwed but with your jutsu, or something similar, you can control several areas of a puppet simultaneously. I need to figure out how to do that," Reyna laid out for him and slowly a smile spread across Kankuro's face.
"So, you want me to train you?" he asked.
"In a sense…yeah, I am asking you to do just that. You are the only ninja I know that can use the Puppet Master Jutsu, so you were naturally my first choice."
"Awesome! I have a student!"
"Just remember that this student can also kick your ass," Reyna grinned.
Kankuro nodded, "True, but no one's ever actually wanted me to teach them about the Puppet Master Jutsu. Ever. So the first thing you should do is learn how to build a puppet. I'm not sure how your weapons work, so I'm going to teach you how to control a puppet first and from there you can adapt it to your own technique."
Reyna nodded, "Alright then. I guess that makes sense. Where am I building this puppet?"
"In the puppet workshop and since you weren't around it for your entire life, I'll help you out, but you have to design and build the puppet yourself. I've actually been wanting to try to build a new one anyway, so I'll be there with you if you have any questions," Kankuro exclaimed, excited at the possibility of being able to teach someone his precious jutsu.
"Alright, well as soon as Kayha gets back with lunch and we eat we might as well get started. That way at least I am still training while I'm here, it's just not with Kayha."
Kankuro and Reyna settled on the couch as they waited for Kayha to return with Kankuro happily chatting away about his jutsu and how effective puppets really were when in a fight. Reyna laughed and shook her head at his excited babbling which continued even after Kayha returned with the food. Kayha finally put an end to it with a swift slap to the back of Kankuro's head before they started to eat.
After they finished eating and cleaned up, Kayha headed off to torment Gaara at his office while Reyna followed Kankuro to the puppet workshop. The Sand Jounin bounded into the dark, dusty workshop while Reyna followed a little slower, letting her sense of smell adjust to the enclosed area. Once inside, she suddenly realized what Gaara had meant when he'd asked if she'd ever seen the workshop before. Pieces of puppets hung everywhere in the room and she couldn't quite repress a shudder as she followed Kankuro deeper into the room.
"Alright, let's get started. This is going to take you a while to complete, so familiarize yourself with the area!" he grinned as he headed through the puppet pieces looking for what he needed to start his own new puppet.
A/N: Alright, so there's another one for the history books…:D Anyway, hope you all enjoyed this as I continue to battle writer's block and try to tie my muse down for more than five minutes! Please review and let me know what you thought. Next up, we'll visit Naruto again as he heads back to the Leaf and finally decides to check out his dad's old house!