I arrived roughly half an hour before the time Hinata had given me for multiple reasons. The principal one, though, was in order to clear this whole mess with the jounin teacher in charge of her team. Regrettably, nothing much had changed in that regard. I suspected that Kurenai still had fond memories of the girl Hinata had once been before the Hyuuga Massacre had occurred, which was most likely why she'd pushed to have the girl on her team.

I wished her, with complete sincerity, the absolute best of luck.

She would need it.

Red eyes turned my way as I entered the training ground and stopped at a respectful distance. "Yuuhi-Jounin."

She stared at me for a moment, too in control of herself to allow whatever she was thinking to bleed through her expression. "Kotaro."

"One of your genin, the Hyuuga girl, challenged me to a spar," I stated without preamble.

Now some tired exasperation swept her face as she sighed. "That girl..." Looking around, she nodded, "I suppose it would be alright. I have to admit I'm a bit curious about your skills myself, given what I've heard."

I hummed as I walked over and sat down with my back to a tree before closing my eyes and cupping my hands. "Is that so?"

"Word travels fast when someone who isn't even a ninja has an ongoing rivalry with the Blue Beast's protege," she commented idly.

I chuckled softly. Part of me was still irritated by assertions like those. They highlighted my continual failure to keep a low profile because of personal foibles and human weakness. But more and more, I was coming to realize they weren't weaknesses at all.

"I prefer to be thought of as an artist," I replied at length.

"I suppose that is true, if the blades you've created are any testament," Kurenai stated.

I hummed again, my eyes still closed as I focused on my energy flows. "Looking for something? I could make you a commission on the sly, as a favor to an acquaintance."

"I'm surprised you'd offer, considering how our last meeting went." Her tone was still pleasant, even if there were layers to it I couldn't decipher.

"You asked me to do what you thought was best to protect...our village. Our home. I'm not going to hold a grudge over something like that." That was an epiphany I could unpack later, which I pushed aside for now.

"I don't think Yakumo would agree with you."

"I can't speak for her," I replied bluntly. "Only for myself. Given you've been looking into me, you obviously know about the quality of my blades. Admittedly, it's a bit strange to give a weapon as a peace offering, but..."

Kurenai huffed a laugh. "A tanto, then."

"Elemental affinity?" I asked.

She was silent for a few seconds' worth of thought. "Water."

I turned my metaphysical senses on her more closely than I'd be able to casually, curiosity striking me. Thatwasa lie, but not by much. She did have some water-alignment in her chakra, but it was predominantly aimed towards her genjutsu abilities, focusing on manipulating yin-release instead of one of the more classic affinities. The reason she'd said water, then? Well, probably because making a yin-aligned blade was the kind of thing that you needed to be a master of your craft and a legend in the making during your own lifetime to accomplish.

Which meant I shouldn't do it.

Which meant I was going to.

Because why the fuck not, at this stage? I was officially working for the village, making swords for their black ops, creating crazy advanced tech shit. If I wanted to make an impossible blade for a shinobi, I'd just tell them to go talk to the Hokage if they got curious. Plus, if she was still screwing Asuma, the Hokage would probably let me off with a warning given she was his best chance at more grandkids to spoil.

So, sure. Whatever. Legendary blade, coming up.

"I'll have something for you by the end of the month," I promised with a nod.

"I appreciate it," Kurenai replied, then waited a moment before continuing. "Do you know why Hinata asked you to spar with her?"

"She said she wanted experience against someone who could use fuuinjutsu," I replied, and I could feel the way Kurenai's chakra stilled abruptly. "I can make an educated guess for the real reason."

Kurenai cursed quietly under her breath and was silent for a long moment. "I'd heard some of your swords had seals on them, even seen a few, but..."

"I make the explosive seals and the storage scrolls we sell in the shop," I replied casually.

The red-eyed jounin gave me a considering hum, obviously filing the information away. There was every possibility she'd take a look at my license given her rank. I was curious if they'd let her or if she'd get called into Sarutobi's office for a quick talk about why she wanted to access them. It'd likely be the latter, since I've been led to believe that most of my records have been brought under very tight security.

Obviously.

I felt Kurenai about to continue our discussion, when we both turned to regard a quickly-approaching chakra signature through the high branches of the trees nearby. In just moments, Hinata had made it into the clearing and landed in a small cloud of dust as her white eyes took in both myself and her instructor.

"Hinata-" The jounin began, her tone and chakra both irritated.

"Yuuhi-sensei, I've scheduled a spar with this civilian because of his specialization in crafting seals," Hinata declared with that off-smile.

Kurenai's shoulders dipped. "I can see that, yes, Hinata." Her red eyes flicked to me. "Why did you feel that you needed to seek out this boy to fight?"

Hinata's eyes shifted to regard me for a fraction of a second and, meeting my narrowed gaze, her head jerked a fraction of an inch before she looked back to Kurenai. "Fuuinjutsu specialists are rare and generally far beyond the level I am currently at. Kotaro has a history of providing practice for other academy students. You have encouraged the team to engage in self-directed and motivated training activities."

It was a feeling akin to listening to a recording that had been poorly pieced together from multiple different sources. The statements had an element of recitation to them that just wasn't normal.

Kurenai reached up to rub her forehead tiredly. "All of those are true, yes." Which was probably as close as she would come to condoning or encouraging Hinata's interpretation of those facts. "I suppose this isn't the worst idea..."

Hinata nodded, her lips stretching wider. "I will begin the spar now, Yuuhi-sensei."

Kurenai looked between the two of us one last time and nodded before taking a few quick steps to the side of the clearing. "Very well. Kotaro, if you would take a place opposite Hinata and form the seal of confrontation? I'll oversee the match, which means that if I tell you to stop, you stop immediately. Is that understood?"

There was steel in that tone, I had to at least give her that much. I nodded at her as respectfully as I could. "Understood."

"Yes, sensei," Hinata chimed in immediately after me.

We made the seal and backed off about three meters from each other before taking a stance.

"If the combatants are ready?" Kurenai asked.

We both nodded.

"Be-" I snapped my fingers. "-gin!"

A trio of glowing chains erupted out of the ground like striking snakes, wrapping around Hinata a fraction of a second after the word had finished leaving Kurenai's lips. The glowing blue bindings held tight as the Hyuuga girl flexed and pushed, trying to break them. Her grunts of effort were the only thing that pierced the otherwise silent training ground.

"Rule number one of fighting a sealing specialist," I declared, using 'specialist' in place of 'master' for obvious reasons. "Never allow them to choose the battleground or to let them know where you plan to fight them. This allows them to prepare the ground in advance, quite literally in this case."

"I've never seen this type of sealing before," Kurenai stated intently as she studied the bindings while Hinata continued struggling in a more precise and focused method to get out of them.

"I frequently spar with Naruko Uzumaki," I replied. "These are a bargain-bin discount version of their Adamantine Chakra Chains bloodline. They require extensive setup, have limited range, and are much more vulnerable to shattering if struck by an enemy."

"I know a few jounin who would be interested in purchasing a trap like this. Would you be willing to sell them?" Kurenai asked, her gaze contemplative. "I wouldn't normally ask another ninja to part with a technique, however..."

I wasn't a ninja.

"I'll have to take a look at my schedule," and check with Itachi and Shikaku, if not the Hokage. "Hold off on making the offer until I can get back to you, if you would?"

"Of course," Kurenai nodded, then turned to Hinata. "All done?"

Hinata gave one more heave, then sighed and nodded. "I am unable to break free."

I nodded and snapped my fingers again, the chains disintegrating into motes of light and energy. Hinata shook herself and took up another stance. "Again, please."

"In the interests of not belaboring the point, I've planted four other traps in this clearing," I gestured to the area. "None of them are active seals, so it's unlikely you'll pick them out without paying close attention. Do you understand the danger you're in when challenging a sealing specialist?"

Hinata grimaced, then nodded. "Thank you for the lesson. I would still request that we have another match."

Was that a shred of ego I detected? Perhaps the girl wasn't as gone as I'd thought.

I shrugged, then looked to Kurenai and nodded. "I've made a bit more time. One match would be fine. I'm interested to see how I'd match up against the Gentle Fist anyway."

Kurenai looked at us both, then nodded. "Very well, be-" I breathed in sharply. "-gin!"

Oxygen flooded my lungs, cycling directly to a kind of dense and energy-rich substance that pervaded every part of my being. In time with Hinata, I blurred into movement. Her hands came rushing towards me, a silent declaration of intent on her lips as her own chakra suffused the strikes she aimed at me.

None of which struck home.

She was slower than Satsuki, although that wasn't as much of a condemnation as one would think. She was the fastest of my students, especially after her sharingan awakened. The damning thing was that Hinata wasn't even as fast as Yakumo now that she'd finished my training.

Somewhat belatedly, I realized that anyone who ran into my girls in the field was in for anastysurprise.

I ducked, dipped, and dodged Hinata as I admired her form. It was strong, balanced, and very good for her age. Her movements were sure and focused. Overall, I'd be hard pressed to point to any glaring flaws in her performance. Though, that wasn't to say there weren't any.

I broke off contact and took another breath as I rushed back in, having gotten her measure. My hand snaked out for an opening and delivered a contact shock of lightning, just enough to let her know I could have struck harder. She backed off immediately, shaking the twitching limb as she regained control over it.

Her lips stretched into a more honest expression.

Vicious, but honest.

"Again," she stated.

My own lips twitched, and I nodded. I'd been right. I missed this. Two years of constant sparring had created a routine that I no longer indulged in. My blood was pumping, my muscles working hard, and my mind focused. I felt the frustration of the past few weeks clearing.

Sex and violence, heh. I'm only missing rock 'n' roll.

I pushed the intrusive thought aside and dove back in, my hand coated in ethereal fire this time.

I had a lesson to teach.