Scarlet Justice - ep. 112
"Sapphire Aria"

Pressure. Trouble. Things that spur humans forward, giving them little to no choice in the matter. Adapt or die, as the saying goes. Application of pressure to one's self is necessary to a shinobi's living. Some sum it up by saying that without pressure, diamonds cannot come into being. Well, it's true in part, at least. Never could it be the entirety of a person's story...but as a path for growth, it is more than valid.

Those thoughts appear in my mind today as I train with Kurenai. On this spring day, it's just the two of us. And this training is an intense thing that we've developed for a singular purpose. My favourite black sweater hangs in a nearby tree. Kurenai stands across from me, breathing in and out, just as I am right now. But this exhaustion creeping in signals the real start of our session.

"One step up?" she asks.

"Go two," I reply.

"Got it. Coming in hot, Lili." Kurenai stands up straight, holding a kunai in front of her and pointing it towards me. I let my left arm hang loosely at my side as I catch my breath and focus. My right arm is bound behind my back and disabled with a set of paper tags. This is our heavy session, done once a month. No chakra boosting. No sensing arts. One arm only, single kunai.

No attacking, period.

My only goal is to defend, to stop every one of my partner's attacks cold and prevent her from landing a single strike on me, however small. If she does, we might reset and try again, or put an end to the session entirely. The first few times were difficult. Kurenai is an elite for a reason, and her full speed is nothing to sniff at. But once I got the hang of it, it became a little too easy. So we piled on restriction after restriction until we came to this point. It's good...it's what we both want. The tension in the air between us, the way we both sweat while battling each other, the burn in my arms and legs. It's an experience like no other. Nothing like normal combat, but that's the entire point...that I will be ready for any threat once I have my full array of skills active. But for now...it's just the two of us, trading blows with sharp steel.

I watch Kurenai's muscles tense. She's going to augment her speed with chakra...this is where it gets challenging.

"Here," I whisper.

She moves.

I track her quickly and reverse my grip to block her overhead. Her body moves in response and she goes for a slash across that I block with a standard grip, kunai spinning in my hand as I switch over. Her stabs and thrusts come quickly, my arm moving from side to side as I block her blows squarely. Parries are bad. Deflections are worse. I can find the proper impact points and stop her momentum, forcing her body to spool up again and allowing me to figure out her next move. But of course, she knows that. She pauses and attacks, trying to find a bad angle so that I make a mistake and allow her an opening. But I'm too stubborn for that. She knows that too.

Our feet take us through the low grass of the training field, our bodies rotating around each other as we shift and sway at different angles. Kurenai throws out a flurry of thrusts to try and wear me down; I dodge and weave as she puts herself in place for a moment, knowing that I can't attack. I see each of her strikes before they can arrive, my head moving past her arm, my body twisting to avoid her stabs. If I let up for a moment, it's over...I can feel how close she comes at times.

We start to move again, dashing across the field with our kunai clashing over and over. Sparks fly from her heavier blows and I can feel that she's putting more and more chakra into her movements. She's tiring, but I don't intend to just outlast her. There's more coming. Another level that she can reach in an instant, and that I have to really focus for. But not yet. She still has other tricks.

Kurenai isn't restricted to her weapon.

With one arm, it's difficult to handle so many things coming at once, but I can manage. I block her kick and she rebounds off it, spinning to try and deliver a slice across my arm. I move, sliding backwards to blocking her strike cleanly before she can hit the ground and recover. Her speed increases, and I can feel myself tiring. She quickly puts her kunai in her teeth and accelerates; I put the kunai in the hand bound behind my back and raise my good arm to parry her punches as they come in.

This part...is a little easier. She needs a rhythm, and if I can decipher it, the ball is in my court. Kurenai moves and shifts forward, her hands high and clenched into fists. I can feel it...punch combination. One-two, starting from the left. Her breathing is harsh and heavy, loud, sharp exhales that drive her ahead like a locomotive. The heavy blows come in as I predict, a left jab followed by a right straight that I dodge. Her feet stop moving, and mine do in turn. Her hips turn as she throws a left uppercut that misses by a mile. I have it going now, that was her chance and she missed the window. I can see her focus change as I start to bounce on my feet, confident that she won't touch me at this range. She tightens her muscles and surges chakra through her body. I bounce defiantly, wait for her first punch, and then dance.

I weave. I slip under and through and around her attacks. Her weight shifts and I pull my body sideways, dodging a hook. She resumes, out of position; I tilt my head to avoid the cross that comes. We weave circles in the grass, spinning around each other, breathing harshly, the sounds of whiffed punches punctuating each non-existent exchange. She relents, dropping the kunai from her teeth into an open hand, and I respond by flicking the kunai in my bound right hand upwards. She thrusts, I spin to the side and catch the kunai on my way around, anticipating her charging slash and killing her momentum with a perfect block.

"I think you're on today, Lili."

"You think so?"

"Yeah," she says. She's sweating badly, just as I am. We break away and gain distance, catching our breaths again while circling each other. "You wanna try the special?"

"..." I think on it as a bead of sweat tickles my nose. My blood is pumping, and I'm getting tired. I know that I don't have much left in me. Neither does Kurenai, but she can control her own destiny, while I can't. I have to push her and hope she yields.

But then...I've never been one to run away from a challenge.

"Alright, big sis. Let's do it," I say.

"This one's...the last for me. Good luck."

"Thanks." I switch to a reverse grip and hold my kunai in front of me. This would be insane for most shinobi to try in this state, but I'm going to try and hold my own again, against a jounin who is pouring her energy into attacking at high speed. At that level, thirty seconds might as well be a lifetime. She gathers her chakra quickly, and I can feel the air starting to vibrate with power. Not a moment later, she explodes forward from her spot and towards me.

Tactics have changed. Now it's no longer about staying true to the technical aspects...it's about surviving the incoming barrage. Her first slash comes in, at a speed near the edges of my perception. I tense my legs and instead of a block, I swiftly parry her attack, throwing her off balance for just a moment. She sprints and moves to my back, I turn and slash in time with her to create a clash, sparks flying as we both stumble backwards. Kurenai moves again, sweeping low; I jump over the first attack and tighten myself while flipping, barely dodging her quick upward slice. My feet hit the ground and I immediately drop to my knees, bracing myself against the downward swing that comes next. I can feel my whole body vibrating from the impact. Kurenai rebounds, takes a backstep and then body flickers towards me again at top speed.

With this kind of power, elite shinobi can end fights in mere moments. The speed and strength that this level of chakra boost affords is truly incredible. But aside from the inability to sustain it for very long, the heavy attacks mean serious consequences if one misses or is stopped by an obstacle of some kind. Tunnel vision is one complication, over-extension is another. Both can easily get someone killed in the field. Trying to take attacks head on isn't the optimal solution...what needs to happen is that one uses their opponent's momentum in that heightened state against them.

Kurenai pushes even further, and I have to wonder if she'll be alright after this. I follow her movements, fast as they are. Each stinging deflection buys me more time, and I see her slow down ever so slightly before speeding up, trying to sustain the attack as she moves and slashes from every angle. Focus...I have to keep focusing. Right until the end.

"Here...!"

She falls back several steps, gulping in air before kicking up a mass of dirt behind her. She's a blur in my sight now, going faster than I can remember...but I can feel it. I know I can take the move and end this!

The feint comes. Kurenai explodes into being from my left, and the swinging blade comes from her right hand. She stops, going for another fake move before swinging outwards, at a speed that I can just barely track-

"Ah...!"

The kunai spins through the air before dropping to earth. I hold my arm up, feeling like it's about to fall off. My kunai is still in my trembling grip as I rest on one knee, a short path carved into the ground from where I was pushed back. Kurenai is on her stomach, head turned to the side as she gratefully takes in air.

"I quit...done...can't go on."

I close my eyes and drop onto my behind in the grass, letting my kunai fall as I catch my breath properly.

"I'm super jealous..." Her voice calls to me quietly.

"Really..."

"Yeah...you're amazing."

"Thank you for saying that..."

"It's the truth..." Kurenai grunts and pushes herself up to her knees. She's quite exhausted...it was definitely more than she expected. She had that much faith in me, then. That sort of confidence makes me feel...warm. "Scoot over, I'm gonna free your arm..."

"Yes." I drag myself closer and turn my back to her. She undoes the secure knots around my arm and waist, and finally I'm free again. I shake out my arm and work it a bit before lying on my back in the grass. Kurenai takes her place beside me, and we both look up at the sky quietly for a while. Our breathing will be heavy for a while yet, but as always...this was a great workout.

"Hokage...you'd be a great fit, Lili. Not just strong, but courageous. Like you keep on proving to me," she says.

"Thank you."

"Yeah. Sorry for getting carried away just now, I...was really curious to see how far you could go. Turns out...you exceeded my expectations again. Ah, next time we'll probably go a bit lower on the intensity scale. Make it...more of a cardio thing."

"We could make a dance of it," I suggest.

"That works, too. I think I'd like to give that a try." She sighs. "These have been really good times."

"They have been. You've been absorbing quite a bit from Asuma, I noticed. Beautiful form on those uppercuts."

"Thanks. I've been working on those a bit."

"Your hip rotation is excellent. It's just the speed that has to be worked on, but I think that will come in time."

"Think it's good enough for missions?"

"Hmm...at close range, thinking on it...you really want to work on opening combinations. The speed, I think, is slightly off. And the rhythm you want to establish, it has to be your own. There was a moment where you let me dictate it. I don't believe that other opponents will pick up that quickly, but within close quarters, you don't want to leave it to chance."

"I see what you mean. Always time to polish up that part of my game."

"Yes."

"We're both a bit sore...bath isn't too far away. Unless you wanted something a bit nicer," she says.

"I can't be picky at this juncture...a hot bath is a hot bath. Let's wash off and then enjoy," I reply. We slowly peel ourselves up from the ground and gather our things, then head to the nearby public bathhouse. The women's section is sparsely populated today, while the men's half is about three quarters full at this hour. I take a shower and scrub all of the dirt away thoroughly, then grab myself a towel and walk towards the hot pool.

"Oh, boy. Having a time of it," Kurenai mutters as she joins me.

"You really did push too hard."

"Sure did. Ow."

"Are you going to be alright?" I ask.

"Yeah, should be okay. Hot water should loosen my knots some."

I nod and shed my towel before stepping into the hot pool. Immediately I feel revived. From the sounds that Kurenai is making as she follows, it must be the same sort of experience on her end.

"Ahhhhh...damn, damn, damn...that's the good stuff. Whew."

I sigh and rest against the edge of the pool. "Indeed. After a day of hard work, this is heavenly."

"Got anything planned after this?" Kurenai asks.

"I might have a meeting. Depends on how I feel...I wanted to talk to Ibiki about something. The scum that hurt Tamaki all that time ago, there are rumours they have yakuza ties."

"No kidding...sounds like a mess. Nothing you can't handle, though."

"Certainly not. I might have to pay one of our local establishments an...unscheduled visit."

Kurenai chuckles. "I'm sure they'd be very happy to see you. Gonna bring them a gift?"

"As I love to say, my presence is a present in itself. They'll be delighted to have me on their doorstep."

"Ah, right. What about the other stuff going on? We were talking about...eastern border stuff recently? Sea routes?"

"Some sort of dispute that I haven't been privy to."

"Nothing bad, I hope."

"I haven't heard anything to that effect. Someone must be keeping an eye on it, though. I can ask the ladies at the office to fill me in. More reading material never hurts."

"That works," she says with a nod.

"What about yourself?" I ask. "Anything of note happening lately?"

"Nothing that's super important. Couple of things on the back-burner, you know, the usual. Surveillance, all that. Keeping an eye on the Cloud and their movements. Hrm...actually, some rumblings have been coming in. Guys from that special branch we both know about...they've apparently been running around the countryside. For what, we don't know. Still looking into it."

"I see." So ROOT is moving, then. Between all of us, we should be ready for whatever they might pull. Some part of me always says that I should just leave Sasuke to his fate. But it's a small part now...and can be safely ignored.

"Nothing to worry about just yet, anyways."

"It seems so. How is Asuma doing?"

"Eh. The usual with him. He's doing okay. We've been able to hit the town a few times, and it's nice. He at least knows how to be a gentleman, some of the time."

"Ah, but he has his ways of charming you."

"Somehow," she says with a smile. "Big guy knows I love him more than anything. Shinobi life being what it is, it'll probably be a while before we settle down."

"You think so?"

"Barring any unforeseen accidents, I'd say so."

"Ah. So you're using protection after all."

"Really? You had to go there, didn't you..."

I scoff at her. "Stop that. Leaving that juicy bait for me to bite into, you silly woman."

"What about your love life, you troublemaker?"

"Oh, Fio and I aren't having-"

"I didn't mean that, for fuck's sake! What, you want me to go to jail?"

I laugh as she slaps the water and grumbles at me. "The two of us are doing just fine, dear. Fio has been adjusting to life in the village splendidly, and everyone loves her."

"She's a good kid. Cute, wholesome little thing. You just wanna squeeze her and pet her head." Kurenai glares at me. "So it has to be some sort of cruel cosmic joke that she ended up in the clutches of a pervert like you."

I gasp. "What? Do you think that I'm doing unsavoury things to my darling Fio? Why, I would be offended if I didn't know better..."

"I wouldn't put it past you. In fact, I'd put it right in front of you."

I lift my head indignantly. "How vulgar, Miss Yuuhi. I will have you know, that this outrageous slander upon my person-"

"I'm sorry, how many lewd manga did you say you had?"

"-and this intolerable, unconscionable attack on my lifestyle-"

"And I didn't ask to see your mom's racy beach photos, either..."

"-is something that cannot and will not be tolerated. I demand satisfaction, madam."

"Yeah, yeah...I'll pay for lunch this time, then. How's filet mignon sound?"

I perk up. "Ooh, are we really going with that today? At the same place I'm thinking of?"

"Mm-hm."

"Well, then. That should be satisfaction enough. But do not think you can get away with such behaviour another time."

Kurenai snorts and splashes water at me. We both quietly rest a while.

"That last attack...you weren't just guessing, were you?" she says suddenly.

"Mm? You mean earlier?" I ask.

"Yeah."

"You were bumping up against the edge of my visuals..."

"Visuals...? Oh, bullshit. On reflex?"

"Like I could risk that with you," I say seriously. "It had to be a hard read, I was screwed otherwise."

"Hey..."

"I'm not lying."

She shakes her head in disbelief. "Holy shit. You really are from another fucking planet, woman."

"Hardly." I turn my head to her. "There are people out there better than me. I want to at least stand a chance against them. This is a good start."

"Not gonna argue with you...my brain's already half melted." She puts a towel over her head.

"Mm." I close my eyes and let the heat of the bath sink into me.

"I'm home."

I sigh and take off my sandals before heading to my room, dropping my equipment bag on the floor.

"Fio's out...yes, she said as much earlier."

My clothing goes into the proper basket, and I warm up the kettle to make some tea. Muscles are still a bit sore, so...might as well take it easy for the rest of the day.

"..."

The hot soak earlier with Kurenai cleared my head, but some thoughts have been...unclear as they've come to me since. There's something I'm missing...something to do with Emi's gift, but what? What could it be?

"Home..."

I pick up the documents from the kitchen table and look at them.

"Something that I can build...something for people who deserve better. Dignity...and strength. And...a place to be."

The whistling of the kettle interrupts my thoughts. I take hold of a cup, place a teabag in it, and brew my tea over a few minutes to the strength I desire.

"A warm...place."

I set the cup down on the table and head to my room, grabbing an empty notebook to bring back with me. I sit down and take up the pen on the table. And as the thoughts flow from my head, I write. I understand now...I can see it in my mind.

I know what it is I'm going to do next.