I do not own any of the Naruto characters.
I hope you enjoy
[Chapter Four: Inescapable Grasp!]
That night, Naruto managed to have Akira home by 12AM on the dot. She was so exhausted from the long travel and the tour around Konoha, all she wanted to do was fall upon the soft, queen sized bed, snuggle underneath the sheets and plant her head on the cold, feather pillows. Akira lazily made her way up the long flight of stairs and down the hallway to finally arrive in her dark room. She crashed the second her head hit the pillows.
[ - ]
"Hey Naruto," Kakashi said once he noticed the spiky hair blonde passing by as he was throwing out the trash in front of his townhouse condo.
"Oh, hey Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto smiled.
"What are you doing up so late?" Kakashi asked as he closed the lid to his garbage can.
Naruto blinked then pointed toward the Oita residence, "I was just dropping Akira back home."
Kakashi sighed and began to scratch his head, "Look Naruto, I need you to make sure nothing bad happens to Akira, I'm under strict orders from her mother."
"Oh, uh yeah sure Kakashi-sensei," Naruto stuttered. "What could possibly go wrong in a matter of 2 months?"
"A lot," Kakashi dryly spat. "I'm counting on you."
Kakashi waved good bye and turned to walk to the entrance of his home. He closed and locked the door before he made his way to his room for a good night rest. He removed his clothes until he remained in his mask, boxers and white wife-beater. He lay back on his comfortable bed and placed his palms beneath his head. Staring up at the dull ceiling, old memories of his days in the ANBU began to flood his head. Finally, about half an hour later, Hatake drifted off to a deep sleep.
"I can't do this anymore," she cried.
Her tears stained her rosy cheeks and dripped from her quivering chin. She clenched the fabric over her chest and continued to cry and wimper. Behind her white ANBU mask was a delicate woman who couldn't help but give into her emotions. Being a ninja was not a fitting occupation for a person like her.
"I don't want this," she continued. "I'm so sick of this!"
He had no idea how to handle situations like these. He awkwardly stood there contemplating how to make the love of his life feel better but failed. The raven haired beauty just stood before her father's newly built and engraved tombstone, crying in pain.
"Hikari," Raiden whispered, gently wrapping his arms around Hikari.
A sense of strong rage caused the blood in Kakashi's veins to boil. The sight of Raiden even looking at her had Kakashi angrier than the nine-tail fox spirit.
"Let's get out of here," Raiden said, stroking through her silky, smooth hair. "You're okay getting home on your own, right Kakashi?"
Kakashi didn't bother to answer and leaped out of the peaceful graveyard in complete anger. He hopped from roof to roof with clenched teeth and hands, until he finally arrived right before his home.
[ - ]
Heavy breathes escaped through her lips, gallons of sweat had dropped from her body and strained her clothes, and her heart was racing so fast, she could hear it in her ears. She nearly collapsed to her knees in exhaustion from the intense cardio her grandmother forced her to complete but, she did not want to show any signs of weakness.
"Now that you're all warmed up, you will learn to use your weapons," Akemi said, while pointing at a nearby table.
Akira quickly looked over and noticed a set of diamond shaped blades, ninja stars and tiny balls completely wrapped in paper. She cocked an eye as she approached the table and reached for a blade.
"These are kunai knives, shuriken and paper bombs," Akemi said. "I have set up targets for you to use, if you do not manage to hit the middle of the target perfectly with each of these weapons, you will not be eating dinner tonight."
"GRANDMA!" Akira exclaimed.
"You are to take orders from me now," Akemi replied. "Now get to it."
Akira's shoulders dropped and a long sigh was released through her lips. She decided to start off with the set of blades first. They felt quit heavy and they looked sharp enough to cut her arm right off. She swallowed hard as she studied the distance between the target and herself. She held it high, and used as much force as she could to throw the knife. Unfortunately, the applied force was not strong enough and the knife barely even reached the target. A large sweat drop dripped at the side of Akemi's head.
"This is going to be a long day…." Akemi sighed.
[ - ]
The bright sun peaked in through the curtains and hit the sleeping Naruto's face. He groaned and turned his body to avoid the bright light that disturbed his sleep.
"So early…" he mumbled into his pillow.
Suddenly, his heart leaped in his chest and his body shot up from his bed. He turned to his bed side table and looked at the time: 1:34PM. His eyes widened, "OH NO!"
He slipped out of his pajamas and into his usual black and orange jumpsuit. Grabbing the keys and his frog shaped money pouch, he quickly exited his small apartment and sprinted to Akira's place. As he was running through the crowd, his stomach growled loudly. He wrapped his arms around his stomach and tried to ignore its cry of hunger. Unfortunately, the scent of ramen wafted into his nostrils which made his will power much weaker than his preference. 'I'll just grab a quick bite, one shouldn't train with an empty stomach, ya know.' He thought. He spotted Ichiraku Ramen and leaped for an empty seat. He slammed his hand onto the table and exclaimed for his usual order.
"Naruto! Don't be so loud!" Teuchi yelled.
"I'm sorry old man," Naruto said. "I'm just in a rush!"
Teuchi managed to make the bowl in a matter of 5 minutes, and Naruto slurped it all up in a matter of seconds. Teuchi's eyes widened at the sight of all that soup and ramen noodles splashing about. Naruto dug into his pocket to pull out his pouch and paid Teuchi before sprinting out again.
He finally arrived in front of Akira's home, panting in exhaustion. He attempted to knock on the door but, there was no answer. He frantically looked around him for any signs or clues as to where their training might have taken place but, nothing. Naruto finally decided to go around their home to try to see if they were behind the building. Suddenly, a kunai knife went flying straight at him causing him to scream in fear. Luckily, the kunai knife barely missed him and landed right on the tree trunk just above his head.
"Oh Naruto!" Akira yelled from a far distance. "I'm so sorry!"
Akira jogged over to the fearful Naruto and yanked the knife right out of the trunk, "I didn't think you were going to make it!" she said with a frown.
Naruto laughed nervously, "Ehehe, I kind of over slept."
"Well, I've already finished my training for today, I'm sorry." Akira shrugged, placing the kunai knife in the little pouch Akemi suggested she tied to her thigh.
"Really?" Naruto asked.
Akemi nodded her head just as she approached the two teenagers, "We started at 5 a.m this morning."
"9 hours of training, wow." Naruto said as he watched Akemi walk back around the building.
"Hey Naruto, could I ask you something?" Akira asked.
Naruto blinked and stare blankly at his new, close friend.
"Grandma says that tomorrow's training will be based on chakra skills," Akira explained. "What exactly is chakra?"
A large sweat drop appeared by Naruto's head. Akira could feel her face flush in embarrassment. She was a part of the top 5 students in her private school, but she's never felt so stupid in her life.
"Chakra is a source of energy you use to perform jutsus," Naruto explained. "Jutsus are techniques that ninja use in combat such as: taijutsu, genjutsu or ninjutsu,"
"C-could you demonstrate for me?" Akira asked excitedly.
Naruto grinned. He pointed his first and middle finger up from each hand and placed them together to form the shape of a cross. He paused for a brief moment and Akira felt a strange feeling inside of her. She sensed something strong coming from Naruto. She stepped back and stared then, noticed a blue flames going wild from inside of him. 'Holy crap! That's awesome!' She thought as she studied his hand signs.
"Shadow clone jutsu!" Naruto exclaimed then a puff of white smoke blinded Akira for a few seconds.
The clouds of smoke slowly started to clear then suddenly revealed a thousand Naruto's surrounding Akira. She jumped in fear as she scanned her surroundings. Every bit of the back field was covered with Naruto's.
"H-H-How…" Akira was speechless. "Y-y-you… YOU HAVE TO TEACH ME!"
Suddenly, all the Naruto's disappeared in the puff of another smoke.
"But shouldn't you leave that to granny Akemi?" Naruto said. "I'm not much of a teacher myself."
"Please, I've done nothing but disappoint grandma all day," Akira replied. "I can't even hit a target properly; please I want to be stronger."
Naruto couldn't help but agree to the begging. Akira was so determined to learn and become stronger, and he admired that trait. He began with the basic steps he remembered from the Ninja Academy. He was impressed but also disappointed in himself when Akira was capable of performing the jutsus he failed back then, perfectly in a matter of 2 hours. After perfecting the basics, he moved on to harder jutsus that required a lot more chakra. He was surprised at her chakra capacity; it seemed to be endless with every jutsu she performed. Soon after, he realized it was getting quite late.
"Akira, it's already 1:25AM, maybe you should go rest since you're training with grant starts in about 3 hours," Naruto suggested.
Akira shook her head as she panted, "I didn't get that last one right, I'll perfect that first before I sleep, I promise." She said before she began to concentrate all her chakra into her jutsu.
Unfortunately, Akira finally hit her limit. No matter how hard she tried, she was already low on chakra and her body was also exhausted from pushing herself so hard. Akira's sight began to blur, her head felt quite light and her knees began to shake. Naruto noticed and sprinted toward her when she completely lost consciousness. He managed to catch her, bridal style, in the nick of time.
"Akira! Are you alright?" Naruto asked.
Akira did not reply. Naruto panicked for a moment until he noticed her chest slowly moving in and out. 'Phew, she just fell asleep…' he thought. Naruto continued to look until he realized her was staring at her chest and started blushing a thousand shades of red.
"I guess I'll just carry you to your bed," he whispered as he carefully stood up from his knees.
Akira started to snore softly and suck her thumb as he walked around the building. Naruto looked down and smiled at how adorable she was in her sleep. There was an uncanny resemblance of a small, sleeping kitten. He finally broke his imagination by shaking his head back to reality. He reached the front door then noticed it was locked. He cursed under his breath at the difficulties of ringing the doorbell in his position. He shifted the hand used to carry Akira from under her back so it rested on his forearm. He carefully reached for the button with his free hand and successfully pressed it without disturbing her peaceful sleep. The door immediately opened.
"I see you've finally brought my granddaughter back," Akemi said in a strict, angered tone.
Naruto gulped, "I-I-I'm very sorry."
Akemi suddenly smiled, "Oh, I'm just kidding, come on in."
He released a relieved sigh and stepped into the welcoming home with a smile.
"Her room is up the stairs, end of the hallway on your right," Akemi said, pointing in the direction of the staircase.
Naruto nodded and carefully brought the petite ninja-in-training girl to her room. He set her down on her bed then suddenly; Akira wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him close. She began nuzzling his cheek with hers in her sleep. Naruto frantically waved his arms about, completely unaware and incapable of escaping her strong grip.
"A-Akira! What are you doing!" Naruto asked aloud.
It was no use, Akira was a deep sleeper. Akemi quickly rushed over and gasped. She noticed the spiky haired blonde struggling to escape so she attempted to assist him by separating her arms from each other but, she was unable to do so.
"How did this happen?" Akemi asked, slightly chuckling.
"She just grabbed me!" Naruto replied, still attempting to escape.
"Well, I don't think she'll be releasing you anytime soon," Akemi said. "I guess you don't have a choice but to stay over for the night."
Naruto's face instantly turned red. He was shocked that his grandmother was so trusting in him. 'Aren't relatives protective over their young ones?' he thought.
"A-Alright…" he whispered.
Akemi switched the lights off and wished the two a good night before closing the door and chuckling away. Naruto kicked his navy blue ninja slippers off and began to climb into bed in a much more comfortable position while binded by her strong arms. The position required Naruto to slip his arm under her neck and lie very close to her. Akira nuzzled her cheeks against his once more before she murmured:
"Night teddy…"
To be continued.