"Who's ready for balance training?" Asuka asked with a smirk, holding up lengths of rope.
Her students groaned, and she wasn't surprised. She'd already hand them run laps around Konoha and do enough pushups to make a civilian's arms fall off.
"What are we doing, sensei?" Harumi asked with a sigh, slumping tiredly against Kasumi, who slumped back. Asuka narrowed her eyes at the two girls. Harumi had been quiet and withdrawn for most of the day, and Kasumi looked like she'd been run over with a truck. Even Toshiro was looking less polite than usual.
That did not excuse them from training though.
"You're going to tie a length of rope between two pins," Asuka said, pointing to six pairs hammered into the ground. "And then you are going to balance on it. Two feet at first is fine, but I'd recommend you get used to using one foot, because after ten minutes I'm going to start throwing things, and it'll be hard to keep your balance and dodge."
Harumi, Toshiro, and Kasumi moved forwards, collecting their ropes and crouching down to tie them off. They'd done balance training before, but it was usually on a beam, not something that moved with them and only rarely while things were thrown at them.
Harumi stepped up to her rope uncertainly. She put one foot on the rope, rocking it experimentally to test the give. Still cautious and having no desire to eat dirt in front of her teacher and teammates, Harumi lifted up onto her toes. The rope rocked unnervingly, but it was more stable than she'd thought it would be. So, she lifted herself the rest of the way off the ground. The rope rocked wildly under her and Harumi began leaning wildly, trying to correct her balance.
Toshiro had taken only a moment to test the rope before jumping onto it on two feet, his arms spread wide to keep his balance centered. He grimaced slightly as his leg trembled under him and sent him off balance, pinwheeling his arms wildly to regain it. The motion threw him even further off balance than he already was and he toppled sideway, landing on the ground with a grunt.
Harumi looked up at him in concern when she heard the thump. Her foot tilted and she slipped sideways. Harumi hastily placed her feet down and managed to stay upright instead of landing on her butt like Toshiro did, but she had still fallen off.
The two of them looked at Kasumi, who was balancing easily on one foot, the other folded up under her like a crane. Her arms were crossed and she yawned widely. The rope wobbled under her slightly, but she quickly corrected herself and didn't so much as flinch.
"Okay," Toshiro said, scowling. "How in the hell are you doing that?"
Kasumi grinned and tilted her head, not looking at him. "Jealous, Shiro-chan?" she cooed.
Toshiro went bright red. "Don't call me that!" he protested, picking himself up as Harumi put her first foot back on the rope and hesitated.
"Really Kasumi, how are you managing?" she asked, completely confused. "You're not on the ground, so how-"
"Spill, greenie, I'm surprised too," Asuka said, crossing her arms and observing her successful student curiously.
"I can sense ground even when I'm not on it," Kasumi explained. "That helps me keep level. And…" she paused. "You guys know I was raised by raiders, right?"
They all nodded. It was common knowledge. Kasumi had been found when a couple of chunin were sent out to drive off a group of mercenaries who'd come too close to Konoha for comfort. Several of the raiders died, and one chunin, but an eight year old Kasumi had been brought back alive by a kunoichi.
Kasumi cleared her throat. "Well, there was one guy there. No idea what his real name was, but we all called him Neko."
"Cat," Toshiro deadpanned.
"Used to be a burglar," Kasumi clarified. "He taught me a lot of things growing up. How to move quietly, how to pick a lock or a pocket, and how to walk across a rope. He knew I didn't like being off the ground," she admittedly, shifting uncomfortably and throwing the rope into a shake again. She corrected once more. "So he taught me this to make me feel a little more in control. He always smelled like eucalyptus because he chewed the leaves," she recalled.
Kasumi blinked, jerking herself out of memory lane. She scowled. She hadn't meant to give away that much information, but once she started strolling through the past she tended to get carried away. She missed the raiders she'd grown up with. Then again, she didn't even know which one of them were still alive. Some had died in the attack, for all she knew, one of them could have been Neko.
Kasumi grinned smugly, tilting her head towards Toshiro. "Watch and learn, Shiro-chan," she laughed, and lowered her other foot to rest on the rope. She began to walk calmly across the rope, seeming unperturbed as it swayed under it. When she reached the end, she rose up onto the balls of her feet, rotated, and started walking back. And the other end of the rope she jumped up, flipped, and landed with a flourish.
"Ta da!" she announced. "Ow!"
Kasumi flinched as a bean-bag nailed her in the back of the head.
"Don't get cocky, kid," Asuka warned. "So you can walk on a rope, you have all the talent of a circus performer. Unfortunately, you're a kunoichi. Back on the rope, let's see what you can do."
The three students all remounted their ropes and began trying to balance. Toshiro wobbled and weaved and so did Harumi while Kasumi calmly balanced, occasionally pacing along the rope contemplatively.
"Alright, how are you doing that?" Toshiro demanded once he'd slipped off for the third time.
"Take your shoes off," Kasumi advised. Toshiro stared at her blankly.
"Excuse me?"
"Shoes. Take them off," Kasumi said shortly. "It's not hard Stick. The soles are thick enough that they keep you from really feeling the rope. Walk barefoot and it helps."
"She's right."
Her students whipped around to stare at Asuka incredulously.
"Why didn't you tell us this before?" Toshiro demanded irritably. Asuka raised an eyebrow.
"What, you thought I brought you out here to work on just balance? No way. I wanted to see if you could work through the problem. Kasumi can do this, you can't. What's different? She's not wearing shoes. But, she decided to let the cat out of the bag."
"Heh, sorry sensei," Kasumi said sheepishly.
"Doesn't matter now," Asuka said, shaking her head. "Now, come on, try it."
Exchanging glances, Toshiro and Harumi kicked their shoes off and stepped up onto the ropes. Toshiro looked down, surprised. It really was easier. His feet curved to fit the rope more naturally and his toes helped him balance.
"My cuboids," Harumi said, wincing as she shifted her weight on the rope, crouching slightly to keep from sliding off. "They hurt."
"Those bones in your feet?" Kasumi asked curiously. Harumi nodded. "Then, yeah. Soon enough they get used to it."
"Yo."
Team 9 whipped around to face the tree line. Kakashi Hatake leaned lazily against one of the trees, orange book in hand. His team stood beside them. Sasuke looked disdainful as he watched them try to balance, Sakura looked vaguely interested, and Naruto was grinning.
"Hey, Kasumi!" he yelled, waving wildly.
"Highlighter Head," Kasumi said, nodding to him. She leaped off the rope lightly. "What are you guys doing here?"
"Hatake, you're distracting my students," Asuka said with a glare. "What do you want?"
Kakashi looked up from his book, mask twitching as he gave her a close-eyed smile. "Terribly sorry. I seem to have forgotten that you were taking your students out here. I promised my team we could train here today."
"Forgot my ass," Asuka grunted.
"Such a shame, now my team will be so disappointed," Kakashi continued with an overly-dramatic sigh."Whatever shall I do?"
Asuka's eyes narrowed. "You want to share the training area?" She smirked. "Fine. Let's have our students spar a little, see whose team is better. Guys?"
"Oh yeah," Kasumi grinned, cracking her knuckles. "I could stand to knock some people around."
"Sounds intriguing," Toshiro agreed, but he was smirking.
Harumi shrugged, but even she was smiling slightly and looked eager. "I suppose it could be interesting to spar with someone new."
"Then it's settled," Kakashi said. "Pair up with whoever you think is closest to your skill level."
Toshiro called Sasuke out immediately. "Uchiha."
Sasuke looked Toshiro up and down dismissively. Toshiro's fists clenched in annoyance. Sasuke made a non-committal hn and moved to stand across from Toshiro.
"Hey Kasumi, you wanna work with me?" Naruto called, rushing over to her. Kasumi grinned wickedly.
"Oh, sounds like fun!" She giggled a little maniacally. Over her head, Toshiro and Harumi exchanged pointed looks. Kasumi had entirely too much fun sparring.
"I guess that leaves you and me," Sakura said, walking up to Harumi with a smile. Harumi nodded.
"I won't hold back," she cautioned. Harumi remembered Sakura from classes. She was smart enough when it came to lessons, but practically… well, she wasn't much. Harumi knew that her anatomy knowledge gave her a huge advantage over Sakura.
Sakura frowned slightly, looking mildly offended. "I don't want you to," she said determinedly, and took a stance.
Kakashi and Asuka looked their students over. Sasuke stood with his hands in his pockets across from Toshiro, whose hands lingered near where he kept his senbon. Naruto was standing tall, grinning, as he waited for the first move. Kasumi had her legs spread in a wide stance, elbows at her sides and hands up and extended, the backs of her hands facing Naruto. Sakura was crouched and ready, waiting. Harumi drew her fan from inside her shirt and flicked it open, dropping low with one leg extended as she raised her fan over her head and angled it towards Sakura.
"One out of three," Asuka muttered. "Not so good."
"Well, we can't expect them to put aside vendettas when we gave them such a good chance to have at each other," Kakashi reasoned, lingering on Sasuke and Toshiro.
"Begin!" Asuka called, and the three fights started. The teachers stood by, watching.
Toshiro's arms pumped, firing senbon at Sasuke, who leaped into the air and flipped over the barrage, looking entirely unconcerned. The Uchiha tossed a pair of tagged kunai at Toshiro, who knocked them off-course with a pair of senbon. They exploded against a wall of rock Kasumi hastily erected just in time to keep herself from behind blown up.
"Watch it!" Kasumi snarled at Toshiro as the wall snapped down.
"Sorry," Toshiro bit out as he hurled more and more senbon at Sasuke. He smiled in success as his Ghost Senbon Technique drew Sasuke in and the Uchiha ended up with a pair of senbon in his thigh.
"Ghost Senbon," Kakashi observed. "Not perfect, but impressive for a genin."
"Fukui," Asuka reminded him.
"And what's that girl doing?" Kakashi adjusted his hitai-ate, lifting it up to observe Kasumi with his Sharingan. "I've never seen jutsu like that."
"It's not jutsu, it's a kekkei genkai." Asuka elbowed him in the side. "So stop trying to copy, because you can't."
Kasumi was giggling madly as Naruto frantically dodged spires of rock shooting out of the ground at him.
"Gah!" he shouted as he didn't clear one fast enough. The spire knocked him off balance and sent him falling sideways. "Shadow Clone Jutsu!"
Multiple Narutos burst from everywhere at once. Kasumi flinched slightly. This was a problem. The Shadow Clones had very little weight to them, so they were harder to sense. Instead of bothering to try and avoid them all, Kasumi stomped hard on the ground. A pillar of rock shot twenty, thirty feet into the air, flinging her even higher.
Asuka's eyes widened. "Shit."
"What?" Kakashi asked, watching as Kasumi flipped and began to come down.
"I told her not to do this because it interferes with the others," Asuka said in annoyance. "Brace yourselves!" she shouted to the other sparring pairs.
Kasumi came down and connected to the ground in a crouch, her fist slamming down right in front of Naruto. A wave of destruction spread out from her fist and rocked the ground under their feet. Sasuke and Toshiro both jumped to avoid the shaking. Harumi sealed her feet to the ground with chakra to keep herself upright, knowing what was about to happen. Sakura, completely unprepared, staggered.
Naruto had been the closest to the attack. He yelled as he was flung backwards and crashed into a tree trunk, groaning as he slid down. Kasumi grinned and put her hands on her hips.
"That it, Ramen Breath?" she called. "I thought you were supposed to give me a challenge!"
Sakura stared at Kasumi incredulously. "How did she do that?"
"Her techniques aren't your concern right now," Harumi reminded her gently, and lunged forwards, fan diving and swiping as she went. Sakura backpedalled furiously to avoid the sharpened edges of the fan and dove to the side, rolling back to her feet and hurling a kunai. It clanged harmlessly against Harumi's fan. Harumi stomped it into the ground to prevent Sakura from using it again and twisted her wrist suddenly. Her fan split into two. One fan was tossed deftly into her free hand and Harumi came in again, spinning and dipping wildly.
"Hey, Harumi, no permanent maiming!" Asuka called in warning. "I mean it, don't sever an artery."
"Yes, sensei!" Harumi nodded, jumping back from Sakura. She pressed her fans together back into one and snapped it shut. "Apparently my usual techniques are too much," she explained to Sakura.
"No kidding!" Sakura yelped. She took the opportunity to lunge at Harumi with a kick. Harumi dropped to one knee and caught Sakura's thigh on her fan, standing and raising it up, throwing the pinkette back. Sakura regained her feet and stepped forwards to punch at Harumi. Harumi simply extended her arm, the end of her fan headed towards Sakura's armpit. The fan connected holding Sakura back from connecting her punch and opening a trio of cuts from the folded razor-edge.
"Ow!" Sakura yelped, leaping back and cradling her arm.
"I'm sorry, I thought you'd dodge," Harumi said honestly. "Never mind." The fan was dropped, dangling from a chord around her wrist and Harumi flicked "Great Breakthrough!"
Sakura shrieked as the burst of wind connected and knocked her sprawling. She landed with a groan. At the exact same moment, Sasuke managed to get close enough to Toshiro to kick him brutally in the chest, sending him to the ground as well.
"I think that says something," Asuka said smugly, looking at Kakashi's two downed team members to her one. "Don't you?" she finished saccharinely.
"Yes, but we know Kasumi should have been facing Sasuke," Kakashi countered.
"You think that'll change anything?" Asuka challenged, raising an eyebrow. "Fine. Kasumi, Toshiro, switch partners and we'll go again."
Toshiro picked himself up, glaring at Sasuke. "I can take him, sensei!" he insisted. Sasuke scoffed dismissively and Toshiro grit his teeth in anger, lunging for him again. He barely made it a foot before his legs were encased in stone, bringing him up short with a growl of frustration.
"Let me go, Kasumi!" he snapped at the earth-user.
"Fine, but only if you go beat up Naruto for me," Kasumi bargained, lowering her hands and removing the rock. Toshiro stepped free and walked over to her, pausing by Kasumi's side.
"Give him hell," he growled, hands fisting and unfisting at his side. Kasumi smirked and wrapped her hand around his closest wrist, giving a squeeze as she smirked.
"Do I ever give anything less?" she positively purred as she let him go and moved to stand in front of Sasuke.
Toshiro snorted slightly, shaking his head – Kasumi really loved sparring – and moved to stand in front of Naruto. The blonde grinned at him widely and announced loudly, "I'm gonna take you down, believe it!"
Toshiro rolled his eyes. "Annoying," he muttered as he sunk into a stance.
"I know your tricks this time," Sakura said determinedly as she got to her feet and pulled out a kunai, spreading her legs into a wide stance and getting ready.
Harumi frowned slightly. "I didn't… really use tricks?"
Kakashi examined the pairs and nodded in approval. "Much more even."
"You know your Uchiha is going down, right?" Asuka grinned widely.
"Might do him good," Kakashi mumbled under his breath. Asuka snorted.
"Alright, go!"
"I'm gonna get you!" Naruto shouted. "Shadow Clone Jutsu!" A dozen Narutos poofed into existence around him and ran at Toshiro, hoping to take him down under their numbers. Toshiro kicked off the ground, launching himself into a chakra-enhanced jump, and punched his arms forwards. A rain of senbon shot from his launchers and popped the clones in bursts of smoke.
Toshiro landed with a smirk, pulling out senbon between each finger and crossing his arms over his chest. He looked up at Naruto and challenged, "I hope you have more than that!" he called disdainfully, and flung a handful of senbon.
Again he used the Ghost Senbon Technique. By sheer luck, Naruto's wild thrashing while he deflected the senbon on a kunai revealed the hidden senbon to him and he deflected it too.
"It's going to take more than needles to take me down!" Naruto said proudly, throwing the kunai for Toshiro's heart. Toshiro blocked the kunai with the back of his launcher.
"Gladly," he promised.
Sakura wasn't going to let Harumi force her into a retreat this time. The moment Asuka called for them to start, she charged at Harumi with her kunai raised, two more leaning her way. Harumi dodged the kunai and flipped over Sakura. The pink-haired girl turned sharply, bringing the kunai around to knife towards Harumi's shoulder. The kunai collided with the metal fan. With a great screeching of metal Harumi snapped her fan shut and ripped the kunai from Sakura's grasp. She flipped the fan open with a flourish, tossing the kunai into the air. Both girls went for it. Harumi forced herself into a spin, grabbing the kunai and whipping it down towards Sakura, who yelped and dodged. She landed near one of the kunai she'd thrown in her opening move, snatched it up and turned to face Harumi.
Sasuke stared at the blind girl across from him dismissively. Kasumi grinned from her steady, wide stance, hands ready and waiting.
"You think because you beat Naruto you stand a chance against me?" Sasuke guessed. Kasumi snorted.
"I think because I wiped the floor with Naruto, I stand more than a chance against you," she scoffed. "Wanna see?"
Kasumi stomped on the ground. Two boulders popped out of the dirt. With swings of her fists she sent them flying towards Sasuke. Another stamp and three more boulders popped up. Kasumi kicked and sent them flying as well.
Sasuke's eyes widened slightly as the projectiles coming towards him. The first connected and he exploded in a puff of smoke. The real Sasuke leaped out from behind a tree, a kick heading towards Kasumi. His eyes widened when he saw Kasumi already waiting for him. Her hands shot up and two spires of rock rose from the ground, pinning his ankle between them. She thrust one palm to the ground and Sasuke was dragged onto his butt.
"I don't care how badass you think you are, duck butt!" Kasumi grinned widely. "You can't sneak up on me!"
"Oh yeah?" Sasuke demanded. He clasped his fists together and swung them down hard, shattering the stone around his ankle. He shot to his feet. "Sharingan!" he called, and his eyes bled red. "Now, let me get a look at what jutsu you're using!"
"You think you're the only one with a kekkei genkai?" Kasumi snickered. "Fine. You think you can copy me? Study closely!" she shouted, and dropped into a roll. Dirt and stone peeled up from the ground, covering her in stone armor as she kicked off, flying towards Sasuke.
"Numbers won't work!" Toshiro said in annoyance, watching from the corner of his eye as Kasumi charged Sasuke covered in stone. His fight going too well for him, less for lack of ability and more for lack of annoyance. Naruto kept sending ranks and rank of shadow clones at him that he had to destroy, and that wasted his time. In all the chaos he'd lost sight of the real Naruto.
"I'm done with this," Toshiro snapped, andjumped back, getting distance. He raised his arms and his senbon launchers fired, eating through the ranks of Naruto clones. One Naruto dodged frantically, the real one who couldn't afford to get hit.
"There you are," Toshiro grunted, and lowered one arm to grab a senbon from his pouch. Toshiro took it delicately between his teeth. He jumped into the air, flipped, and landed in a crouch, senbon launchers firing and guiding Naruto where he wanted him. When he was in position, Toshiro spat the senbon in his teeth in Naruto's direction.
Naruto looked down at the sting in his calf. "Hah! You only got me with one!" he taunted, and tried to step forwards – but his leg wouldn't move. Naruto looked down at it incredulously. "What the-"
"Fast-acting paralytic," Toshiro said with a smirk, straightening up and crossing his arms as he watched Naruto's leg give out under him. "Courtesy of Asuka-sensei. Effective."
"Are we starting with the toxins then?" Harumi called over her shoulder when she heard Toshiro. "Wonderful!"
Harumi drew a small pellet from her pouch. She tossed it to the ground halfway between herself and Sakura. Clouds of grey smoke exploded from the pellet.
"A smoke bomb?" Sakura said skeptically. "That's not very-"
Harumi kept one arm over her mouth and nose as she swung her fan through the air. The resulting gust of wind caught the smoke and propelled it towards Sakura, who coughed slightly on the smoke… then kept coughing.
"Spicy!" she gasped as he nose and nose stung with spice and her eyes watered. "Oh kami, why is it spicy?!" She fell to the ground, coughing and wheezing and scrubbing at her eyes and tongue.
"That's two down," Kasumi observed to Sasuke as Sakura went down. "Let's make it an even three, huh?"
"And how do you intend to do that when I can see you everywhere?" Sasuke countered, Sharingan eyes glowing as he tracked her shifting foot pointedly.
"Easy," Kasumi said with a smirk. "I'm gonna go someplace you can't follow."
Sasuke blinked, and Kasumi was gone without a trace. He rotated slowly on the spot, squinting as he peered into the trees, looking for signs of her waiting to spring a trap.
Sasuke realized where she'd gone an instant too late. Hands coiled around his ankles and yanked him down into the ground. He thought it was the Headhunter Jutsu Kakashi had used on him before, but Kasumi dragged him fully down. He panicked for a moment, but dirt didn't fill his mouth and nose. He tried to move, but he couldn't; it was like there was a shell around him that prevented him from moving.
Asuka looked at Kakashi smugly as Kasumi rose out of the ground, smirking widely and leaning on a stone statue that resembled Sasuke. Kakashi's eyes widened.
"Did she-"
Asuka rolled her eyes. "She didn't turn him into stone, she trapped him in it. Those pretty pinwheel eyes of his aren't much use if he can't see," she pointed out. "And if he can't move to use his jutsu or land a hit… I'd say that makes my team the victors."
Kakashi sighed and shook his head, glad that his mask covered his cheeks. He was actually flushing slightly with embarrassment. He had no doubt his team could handle most if not all of the other rookie teams – but he'd miscalculated. Asuka was teaching these kids, which meant they were dangerous and didn't pull punches.
Kakashi glanced at Sakura, who was glaring at Harumi darkly while the red-haired girl scrubbed the spicy residue off of her, nose and eyes streaming. Pepper bombs, should have known… Asuka always loved that trick for a spar.
"Harumi, mind giving Naruto back the use of all four limbs when you're done there?" Asuka called. Harumi looked up, blinking innocently. She looked from Toshiro to Naruto, who was on the gorund pouting and glaring between his leg and his smug opponent.
"Hai!" Harumi called, and darted over to Naruto, pressing a pill into his palm. "Here, this will reverse the effects. Toshiro," Harumi scolded, turning to her teammate. "That was a little harsh!"
Toshiro looked at Sakura pointedly. "Says the girl who pulled out one of Asuka-sensei's pepper bombs?"
Harumi flushed. "Well… okay, so maybe that was…"
"Kasumi, pop the Uchiha out of there!" Asuka commanded.
"Aw, do I have to?" Kasumi asked. She was leaning her elbow on Sasuke's extended arm, her cheek resting in her palm. "He's much less annoying like this!" Asuka's eyes narrowed. "Ah, alright, alright," Kasumi grumbled, and flicked Sasuke in the forehead. The stone cracked and chunks fell away. The casing exploded off when Sasuke realized he could move and jerked around to attack Kasumi.
The girl held up her hands. "Calm down, Uchiha, party's over. Mom and dad came home," she said, nodding to the teachers.
"You should consider letting them take a C-rank mission."
Asuka glared at Kakashi, daring him to repeat what he'd said. "And why would I do that?" she growled.
Kakashi shook his head. "I know you don't want to push them, but I'm taking mine on an easy escort mission. If they can handle it I bet yours can."
Asuka sucked in her bottom lip, nibbling on it. Truthfully, Team 9 probably could handle a C-rank mission. They probably could have handled several weeks ago, but whenever she considered it, the past rolled over her and all she could see was a young boy with his chest ripped open, a girl with a fist through her stomach…
Asuka flinched as a hand landed on her shoulders. She looked up to see Kakashi had leaned down slightly.
"It won't be like last time," he murmured. "Just think about it."
Asuka nodded, brow furrowing in pained remembrance. "I'll think about it," she allowed.