Got busy again, my apologies. So thank you very much to the guest who reviewed twice, you were super sweet and I'm flattered.

Cass' POV several days later

I walked quickly behind Kisame, nearly struggling to keep up with his long strides. He was much more quiet than what was becoming normal for me and it was making me start to wonder if something had happened while he was away yesterday. Usually by this point he would have already came on to me several times. It was never in an actually sexual way, more like how two friends would, like how Bre and I would. Watching him from behind I started to chew at my lip and tug at some of my hair by my neck.

"So, uh, Kisame... what exactly will we be doing?" My voice was hesitant and a bit quiet but he looked back at me as we made our way into the clearing for training. The rain was still ever-present and colder than usual, soaking through my clothes and into my bones.

"Ken-jutsu mostly. You did well last time with knives and I think you could improve rather well in that field." I nodded and watched him as he walked over to a tree, grabbing a slightly worn kendo sword. He tossed one to me and I flailed awkwardly as I tried to catch it, causing me to drop it instead. Kisame rolled his eyes and chuckled. "Smooth, with that sort of grace you can at least kill your enemies with second-hand embarrassment."

"Oh shut up." I grumbled slightly but grinned, picking the sword off the ground. I fiddled with it for a little while, trying to get used to the weight and how it felt in my hands. As I did this I watched Kisame pull a practice dummy out in front of me. "So I'll be training on that again?"

"I thought it might be a bit unfair if I made you fight me already."

"Wow, how considerate." My voice was laced with sarcasm and I rolled my eyes, causing him to wack me on the back of the head gently. "Hey... rude..."

"Oh I'm rude? Have you ever heard yourself?"

"All the time. I need to get an intellegent conversation in somewhere." Kisame laughed at that and I grinned.

"Well if that's what you consider intellegent. Now start doing some stretches like I showed you last time." I did my stretches, having to be reminded of a few as I went on, and having to used the sword for quiet a few of them almost like how the color guard would with their rifles. When I was done stretching he came back over. "Alright, now do a couple of laps to warm up. " I groaned and set the sword by the dummy, starting to jog around the large opening we were in. Three laps later Kisame called me over and I jogged up to him. I panted heavily and put my hands on my knees as I tried to catch my breath.

"Now... what?" My words were a little labored still and I took some deeper breaths as I straightened up to look in his face.

"Now you get to do 20 lunge strikes on the dummy." Kisame reached down by his feet and tossed the sword up to me. I made sure to focus and actually catch it this time to save myself the teasing. Getting into the Kendo stance I waited for Kisame to move out of the way before I started to do the strikes. He stood off to the side and gave me pointers along with adjusting how I was moving. After a while he was pleased with my lunges and all that could be heard was the sound of rain and my heavy breathes. The good part about the workout however was that I was at least being kept warm by my efforts.

Once I finished with those Kisame had me do three-point strikes and again the clearing was filled with him correcting me. I continued to do these until I was told I could stop and we decided to take a small five minute break. When the break was over we went right back to teaching me about the different swings and types of strikes. I wasn't sure how long we stayed outside training but by the time we reached the "cool down" part of the training the sun was starting to reach the tops of the trees. "Now do try and keep up with me, it's pretty easy to get lost in these woods and you two have a very high tendency to get injured."

I nodded and followed behind Kisame as he started to jog in front of me, trying to keep his pace somewhere in between a jog and a run for me. "You know... it's not like we... try to get injured."

I heard a chuckle in front of me and Kisame glanced behind him to look at me, not seeming worried at all about running into anything. "You may not try to but it still happens a lot. And try to keep your breathing even or this will be even harder." I attempted to even out my breathes as he turned back around. "Good job, only another half hour of running before we finish with more stretches." A small whine escaped my throat and I hung my head slightly, but I knew complaints would get me no where with him so I kept my mouth closed.

"So do you think Leader will keep us around?"

"I know he will for now at least. I think he's still sceptical about you two but he's also very interested in what sort of abilities you may end up having. And in all honesty we're all a bit impressed by how quickly you two are catching onto certain things."

"What do you mean certain things?"

"I'm not completely sure with Bre, but with you no one expected you to get a handle on chakra as quickly as you did. But about your friend. Do you think she'll be able to pass?"

"If it's with running, she's better than me. But I don't know how any of her training has gone. Though she is pretty smart, even if she doesn't admit it." I took some deep breaths, trying to keep my breathing even with me talking. Something like a tree root caught my foot and I stumbled forward before catching myself.

"Careful now, if you fall then I'm going to laugh." I rolled my eyes and mocked him playfully. "I'm not completely sure with her either... she seems to be pretty hard on herself though."

"Yeah, that's for sure." We stopped talking as we continued jogging. It wasn't long before we were stretching and then making our way back to the base.

Bre's POV

"I told you to breathe calmly. It is not the difficult you foolish child." Itachi stood several feet in front of me as I sat on the ground with my legs crossed. His voice wasn't loud but it was definitely harsh, making me wince slightly.

"I'm not a child. I may be foolish but not a child. And I'm sorry, it's not like I'm exactly well-practiced in doing this. We don't even have chakra in our world. At least not like you do here. And to be completely honest it kinda freaks me out to use it, it feels weird." My voice was stern, trying to make up for the lack of confidence that I actually felt.

"You'll be a child untill you can start taking this seriously and stop acting like one. Don't complain like it will make any difference to me. Because if you were doing it right then I would not have to scold you for doing it wrong." I sighed and closed my eyes.

Taking a deep breath, I tried to calm myself down and even out my breathing. Once it was calm and even I tried to let the energy branch out from my core and spread into my veins. Slowly I began trying to get the chakra to flow to the palm of my hand like Itachi had instructed me. "Maybe if you were a better teacher then I wouldn't be having all these problems.

"Shut up until you can get it right." I grumbled under my breath and relaxed again. This time I felt more of what Itachi had explained, but still it wasn't working the way he had told me it should be. It felt more like I was forcing it and that it was trying to fight everything I suggested. Pausing I focused more on the task at hand and managed to get more of the energy to go to my hand, only this time it felt like it was escaping like smoke through my fingers. "Good, you're doing much better. Just remember that your chakra is a part of you, you need to make it move in the same kind of way that you would a muscle."

Suddenly the chakra just stopped and I let out a loud angry groan. I attempted to make it flow again and it refused, filling my chest with even more anger. Screaming in frustration I stood up and ran my hand back through my hair, brushing it out of my face. "This isn't going to work!" Itachi sighed in disappointment and I felt myself burst. In two strides I was over to the tree line and I did the first thing that came into my head, hit the tree. As my fist met with the bark the tree started to shatter around my fist, breaking more like something delicate than a giant tree.

Gaping at the now destroyed tree I heard Itachi start to clap behind me. "Good. If your anger is what will work for you until you can get a handle of how it works then use it. I did tell you it was a part of you so only you can truly figure out how exactly it works."

"So what now?" I asked, slightly out of breath from the whole thing.

"Now we work more on your control. I want you to focus on your chakra and try to move it to the soles of your feet. When you think you've got it, try to walk up the side of a tree. This is something even a child could do." I looked at the tree, only being fueled by his mocking tone and closed my eyes, ushering the energy to my legs and finally to my feet. Trying to not think of the height I would fall from if I made it up it at all. I ran towards the closest tree to me and started to run up it. As I hit the height where I would normally begin to panic I could feel my chakra falter and I ended up falling back, landing heavily on my back with a "oof" as the air was knocked out of me.

I blinked for a few seconds and groaned, sitting up. I was probably lucky to not have broken anything. Looking up to the sound of steps I saw Itachi walk towards me, his expression not giving me any clues about how I did. "Not bad... for a first attempt that is. Now get up." I pushed myself up and stood there, slowly working air back into my lungs. "Try it again, only this time don't think about the height. If you fall I'll catch you so you don't die." Oh gee... how reassuring. At least make it not sound like a burden.

Sighing I focused again, having a much easier time handling my chakra now that I knew how it worked. And again I pushed the energy to the bottoms of my feet and started to run up the tree. This went on for a while, and each time I got a few feet higher, and as promised Itachi would catch me and set me down so I could continue. Finally I reached the top of the tree and sat on the highest branch, taking some slow breaths. "I guess it's not all that bad once you start to get used to it..." Looking down I saw Itachi gesture for me to get down and I attempted to walk back down the side of the tree, having a much easier time of that then going up it.

"Good." There was a pause as Itachi glared off into the distance. Maybe he only looks like he's glaring... his eyes aren't actually that great are they? "It appears to almost be time for dinner. Let's get going." I nodded and followed behind him as we made our way back towards the base. "What's your name?" He asked suddenly and I looked up from watching where I was going. "Pein never bothered to tell any of us your names and I haven't really cared to find out, but I figure if you're going to be here for a while I may as well learn it."

"Bre... it's um Bre." He grunted in reply and I began to twist a lock of hair between my fingers, admiring the new colors. "So you actually think I'll be around long enough for it to even matter?"

"You don't?"

"Not really. It's not like I'm especially skilled at anything. I don't even really know how to cook unless I have directions."

"Don't take yourself so lightly. You are in a new enviroment that you surely didn't ask for and yet you seem to be taking it rather well. And as for skills, we shall see if you're wrong."

I smiled slightly at that and ducked my head down, nodding slightly. "Yeah, I guess so." The rest of our walk was silent but not in an uncomfortable way and it didn't take too long before we were walking back into the base. I could hear noises coming from the kitchen and made my way there as Itachi went the other direction. "Huh... I thought he was hungry..." Shrugging I walked into the kitchen to see Cass cooking and humming as Kisame was setting the table.

I sat for a while before Itachi walked in, sitting across from me. I didn't bother to ask where he had gone and we just sat silently until Cass walked over with a bowl full of what looked like pasta. "Hey Bre, how was training?"

"Not too bad. I got a good handle on how chakra works."

"Sweet." I nodded as she filled her plate and started to eat along with Itachi and Kisame seeing as everyone else was gone.

"What about you? Any improvement?"

"I think so." Kisame chimed in and Cass rolled her eyes, making me laugh slightly before I joined them in eating. I sat quietly and ate as Cass and Kisame started to talk about the basics of hand to hand combat. She's pretty dedicated to learning this stuff... I haven't ever really seen her study for anything besides science class... Does she really think we can make it here? Although I guess between the two of us she is the one with more of a nak for these sorts of things.