Chapter 8: Training


Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.


"I…ended up having a child! Her name is Nozomi!"

Both women could only stay in their position in shock at the kunoichi's revelation, neither Yuina nor Sayuri able to say anything at the literal bombshell that Kori laid in their lap. Several painstaking minutes pass when the pair released their hold on Kori, still not one word said between the trio. Kori's attention was turned to her cousin when Yuina suddenly stood up, then Sayuri followed soon after.

"Yuina-chan?" Kori called out.

"Not. One. Word." Yuina venomously spat out as she gave her cousin the iciest stare possible which would even make Yorukō step back in shock.

"Yuina-chan? Are you alright?" Sayuri asked.

"Let me get this straight." Yuina said, ignoring Sayuri's question before grabbing Kori by her collar, forcing her up and pushing her against a wall in the room as her KI massively spiked: "Not only did you use genjutsu on Yorukō-kun to basically force him to be with you, but you also had the fucking GALL to – without directly saying it – rape him and mother a child?!"

"You…You're hurting me!" Kori cried out.

Hearing Kori's cries, something snapped inside Yuina in that moment. With the hand she used to restrain her, Yuina temporarily released her grip on her cousin before delivering a rather brutal punch in her abdomen, forcing Kori to fall on her knees.

"Yuina!" Sayuri screamed: "What are you doing?!"

"Shut up! After what she just said, how can you be this calm?" Yuina shouted at the reanimated woman: "If anything, you should be the one doing this to her, NOT me!" She pointed at Kori's kneeling state without breaking eye contact with the reanimated woman: "The fact you haven't stopped me clearly means you're just as angry with her, if not more!"

Kori coughed up a small pool of blood as she remained on all fours, her breath slowly returning. Bringing her attention back to Kori, Yuina grabbed her cousin's hair and brought her face to hers, tears freely flowing down Kori's face, blood seeping from the corners of her mouth. Unfazed and still furious, she continued: "I could forgive you for the genjutsu. I could very slightly forgive you with what you just told us…but I can't…I can't forgive the fact of you NOT telling Yorukō-kun that he fathered a child, and even WORSE, I can't ever forgive you for being a bad mother and not being there for your child! Are you even concerned about her?"

"That's…not true!" Kori struggled to argue before finding enough strength to break her cousin's grip and scampered behind Sayuri: "I may have done some heinous things to Yorukō-kun, ESPECIALLY with having Nozomi, but…don't you ever, and I mean EVER call me a bad mother to my child!"

"Then why isn't she here with you?!" Yuina countered: "You had better have a damn good reason for this."

"Because I didn't have a choice!" Kori exclaimed.

"What do you mean, you didn't have a choice?" Sayuri asked from out the corner of her eye, bringing both teens' attention towards her.

Kori sighed as she went from behind Sayuri and walked over to another spot, furthering herself from her cousin: "Reiki-sama knows about what I did to Yorukō-kun."

"What do you mean, he 'knows'?" Sayuri asked, her eyes narrowing.

"Well…" Kori started.

Flashback, four years ago…

"You wanted to see me, Reiki-sama?" Kori asked.

"Yes." Reiki answered as he gestured towards the young Black Ops kunoichi: "Come in."

Kori nodded as she walked into the area. Kori couldn't help but be amazed at the vast number of scrolls neatly placed in different areas around the room which gave her an inkling of the man's possibly vast knowledge, but at the base minimum, his desire to know more. She took a seat opposite his, his crimson stare piercing into her soul which caused her to get nervous almost instantly.

"Do not be nervous. Right now, it's just you and me." The older man reassured the teen as he reached into a drawer and placed two cups onto the table between them: "Would you like some tea?"

"Some jasmine tea would be nice, if possible." Kori said, earning a nod from Reiki. The Hasegawa patriarch created a shadow clone who proceeded to create the tea for the duo while the original's eyes were locked solely on Kori.

"You must be wondering, why the hospitality?" Reiki asked, earning a timid nod from the kunoichi: "I've been keeping an eye on you as of late whenever it concerns my son." Reiki's shadow clone returned to the desk and gently placed two cups of steaming jasmine tea before the original and the teen before dispelling altogether. Reaching into a small drawer to his left, Reiki pulled out a privacy seal and activated it around the room, a violet hue developing in the seal's wake: "It's not hard to see his attention placed elsewhere aside from training for once. What IS hard to see to many is the subtle genjutsu you placed on him a while back. Care to explain?"

Kori froze in fear at Reiki's question as she wondered exactly how he could've picked up on her genjutsu. Reiki took a sip of his tea as she remained frozen for several seconds before clearing his throat which served to snap the girl out of her trance.

"I'm waiting." Reiki commanded as his tone now had a slight edge to it while maintaining his calm demeanor.

"I…I was in love with your son, Reiki-sama." Kori admitted: "I was so afraid of him rejecting me that I used genjutsu on him for him to be more 'receptive' towards me and my advances."

"Is that so?" Reiki asked, slightly amused with the girl's answer: "Well, after learning about this, despite him being completely useless and somewhat deserving it, I released him from your genjutsu. No one should have to be forced into a relationship."

The blood drained from Kori's face at Reiki's announcement: "Did…did you tell him anything?" Kori shakily asked as Reiki's eyes pierced into her soul, causing her to further shake in fear: "I wanted to tell him, I swear! But…I…I was afraid of losing him!"

"Unfortunately…" Reiki slowly started as he watched tears forming in Kori's eyes: "I have told him about what you did."

Kori broke down into sobbing after hearing Reiki's actions, deep shame and guilt washing over her. She immediately thought of his reaction whenever she sees him again, the mere thought of his justified anger towards her began to crush her will more and more as time slowly passed, as if it were an eternity.

"That's not all." Reiki suddenly said as she looked up at him with sullen eyes: "I've also noticed…something else with you, especially recently. You haven't told him yet, have you?"

"Told him what?" Kori asked.

"That you're pregnant with his child." Reiki said.

Kori sat there stunned at the older man's statement. How could he have known she was pregnant? She herself just recently found out this information, not even anyone remotely close to her knows that she is pregnant. Realizing that she cannot stall him any longer, she took a deep breath as Reiki patiently waited for her answer.

"I…I don't know what you're talking about, Reiki-sama." Kori lied.

"You know, Kori…" Reiki started as he slightly leaned forward, his gaze piercing into the kunoichi's own: "…lying to me will not make this any easier for you."

"When did you find out?" Reiki asked, continuing his grilling of the girl.

"…About five days ago." Kori answered, no longer able to keep her act up: "Two days after Yorukō and I did it."

"Interesting." Reiki commented as he placed his right hand under his chin, his gaze never leaving the kunoichi: "Well, when are you going to kill it?"

"I'm sorry?" Kori asked as she blinked at the older man: "You want me to do what?"

"Let me get to the point, Kori…" Reiki started: "…I cannot have blemishes in my bloodline. Not only was my son weak to your ensnarement, but you also had the nerve to bear his child without his consent. I may not like him, but you did essentially rape him. That IS illegal, you know - I could have you imprisoned for this."

"I…I…" Kori stammered, unable to find any words.

"Tell you what." Reiki said: "I'll give you two options; either kill the child, or I can give you a year-long mission for you to give birth, but I do not want to see it in my village. You choose."

"With…With all due respect, are you serious, Reiki-sama?" Kori asked incredulously: "You're either demanding me to kill my child, or simply abandon it?"

"I'm glad you can follow instructions." Reiki remarked.

"I'm not sure I can do that, Reiki-sama." Kori answered as she placed a hand on her belly: "What I did was wrong, but this child has nothing to do with it!"

"I've said what I needed to say. Either kill it or abandon it." Reiki commanded before getting up from his chair and walked over towards the teen, red smoke beginning to protrude from his right hand: "I'm giving you a choice in the matter, you know. Don't make me choose for you."

The kunoichi froze up at Reiki's sudden move, fearful that any wrong action could cause a less than savory result for her. Sweat began rolling down her forehead and onto her cheek, each muscle tensing up in anticipation of something, despite not being able to do anything. Reiki observed her with a penetrating stare, akin to a lion eyeing his prey, looking for any wrong move being made. Several painstaking minutes pass before the older man shook his head and returned to his seat.

"If you choose to give birth, I'll change my stance and be kind enough to allow it to be in the village, on either one of two conditions." Reiki said.

"What would… those conditions be?" Kori asked.

"Either I become its legal guardian, or you keep the child away from my family. What will it be?" Reiki proposed.

"I'd want to keep the child myself, so option two would work for me." Kori respectfully answered after a slight pause.

"Then it's settled. I will be making you go on a yearlong mission in order to give birth to the child. Not only will I not be wasting our village's resources for this, but my son will not learn of this either, understood?" Reiki asked.

Kori's eyes bulged at the man in front of her before taking a small breath: "Y-Yeah, that can work."

"Good." Reiki said before his expression softened ever so slightly: "You're dismissed, and you'll have the rest of the day to pack. You leave in the morning."

"What?!" Kori screamed: "What am I going to tell Yuina-chan, or my father?!"

"I'd advise you to lower your tone around me." Reiki commanded with a low tone which immediately caused Kori to freeze up: "Tell them you have an S-Ranked mission for a year – which is what I'll be classifying this as. "

"I don't see any good outcomes for me if I even attempted to refuse, do I?" Kori asked.

"Exactly." Reiki answered, the faintest of a smile gracing his lips: "I may actually be proud of my grandchild, if the mother exhibits this much intelligence and common sense."

"T-Thank you?" Kori said, slightly confused at the older man's comments before getting up from her seat and headed towards the exit.

"Think nothing of my compliment." Reiki said as he watched the kunoichi leave.

"So, the reason that no one knew was because you had no choice to, or give her up to Reiki-kun?" Sayuri asked.

"It still doesn't make sense." Yuina interjected, her anger slightly softened towards Kori: "You're here now – why not tell us this beforehand, and why tell us now?"

"The guilt of not telling you guys and Yorukō-kun still in the dark about it has been on my mind ever so often recently." Kori replied, a sad smile forming on her face: "It mostly started when Yorukō-kun and Sayuri-san had that small argument with who would be the one to adopt Aya-chan."

"I remember that." Sayuri commented: "Well, seeing as you've told us this, I can't say I'm happy about this at all. Even though Reiki-kun put you in that position, you could've still told us since we've been here. Frankly, I'm disappointed in you."

"Kori." Yuina started which turned both women towards her: "I'm going to be honest – I really want to hurt you really bad right now. I truly do. However, considering some of the circumstances, I'm not as mad as I was before compared to now."

"Thanks." Kori commented before Yuina raised her hand, cutting her off.

"However, what I said still stands." Yuina told her cousin before continuing in a dangerously low tone: "I'd advise you to tell him before he finds out on his own. If you don't, well…I'll just have to go through with my threat to hurt you badly."

Kori felt a cold chill run down her back at her cousin's words, which only made it worse when she looked over and saw Sayuri not stepping in between them. Sighing, the former black ops kunoichi regained her composure and looked her cousin in the eyes, her blue eyes steeled with conviction and determination: "I give you my word that Yorukō-kun will know about this!"

"Good." Sayuri said with a nod which brought both girls' attention towards her: "However, as a way to make it up to me, Kori-chan, considering you never told me I was a grandmother, I say we figure a way of finding little Nozomi-chan."

"Where did you leave her, anyway?" Yuina asked.

"I managed to keep her hidden in an old home just outside the outskirts of the Frost." Kori explained: "My father is there with her since I couldn't be."

"Reiki-kun is going to find out about where she is if he hasn't already. We're going to have to get them both and leave the Frost as quickly as possible." Sayuri told Kori.

"There's no way he would! I managed to seal off Nozomi's chakra from being detected before I put her there. He wouldn't find out that fast, right?" Kori asked as she scratched her head.

"We have to be prepared for anything." Sayuri said, earning a succinct nod from Yuina. She went towards the door in the room and removed the privacy seal as she continued: "Yorukō-kun will not know of this until we make some form of a plan to rescue her, understood?"

"Yes!" Kori and Yuina replied in earnest.

"However, Kori – you WILL tell my son what you did to him, understood?" Sayuri told the teen as her eyes further narrowed: "If he were to know that he has a child from other sources, especially should he find out from his father, there's no telling how bad it can get, especially for you."

"I…I know." Kori sadly replied: "I know."

"Well then, I think we should go before Yorukō-kun returns and somehow hears us talking about this, wouldn't you agree?" Yuina asked, earning nods from the other two kunoichi. As she was the closest, Sayuri exited the room first while Kori and Yuina followed suit. The reanimated woman looked over the rail where she saw Yorukō sitting in a couch beside Aya as the teen jōnin held out a particularly blank piece of paper and showed it to the young girl. He turned his attention to the three as he spotted them walking down the stairwell.

"Mother, Kori, and Yuina-chan." Yorukō greeted with a small smile: "I was wondering where you all were at first, but Aya-chan filled me in on the fact you were here."

"Is that right?" Sayuri asked, smiling: "That's our little Aya-chan!"

"Are you trying to figure out Aya's chakra nature?" Yuina asked her boyfriend as she pointed at the paper.

Yorukō nodded. "I was about to explain the purpose of the paper to her when I sensed you guys' chakra."

Kori looked intently at Yorukō but remained silent as she replayed the events from a few moments ago over in her head.

"While we're all here, I had the idea of us doing some shinobi training before the next mission. What do you all think?" Yorukō suggested, catching everyone's attention and breaking Kori out of her thoughts.

"That's a wonderful idea!" Sayuri chirped as she clasped her hands together before looking back at the kunoichi behind her: "You guys would want to train too, right?"

"Yes!" Kori and Yuina exclaimed, the former being not as enthusiastic as her cousin, something Sayuri picked up on almost immediately.

"Then it's settled." Yorukō said as he got up from the couch to face everyone, Aya following suit almost instantly.

"There's five of us." Kori pointed out to Yorukō: "How are we going to do this?"

"I'm glad you asked." Yorukō answered: "As far as I can tell, the strongest ones in our group are my mother and I. Us two will spar while you spar with Yuina, Kori." Yuina gave Kori a sickly-sweet smile to her cousin as the teen continued, oblivious of the events slightly unfolding before him: "Aya will do her own training with a shadow clone of mine as I try to figure out her natures and gauge her current fighting ability."

"No fair, sensei!" Aya cried with a pouty look, the young girl stomping around his feet: "I want to train with the real you!"

"I never said you wouldn't be training with me, but I want to see where you are now before you get started in the academy." Yorukō told his student while placing a hand on her head.

"Oh yeah, that reminds me." Sayuri said, catching both Aya's and Yorukō's attention: "I've received word that Aya-chan will be starting the academy soon. Lady Tsunade managed to get her enrolled into the academy despite it being so late in the game. She'll have to be prepared for the genin exams coming up soon."

"Is that so?" Yorukō asked, grinning from ear to ear: "That's wonderful! You'll be able to become a shinobi like us soon, Aya-chan!"

Aya wiggled from her sensei's grasp before jumping at Sayuri which caused both females to drop on the ground. In a small daze, the reanimated woman looked up at the young girl staring intently at her as stars formed in her eyes: "Is that true, Sayuri-san? Is it really?!"

"Yes, Aya-chan. You'll be able to become a full-fledged genin in no time!" Sayuri happily answered. Aya got off the older woman and faced Yorukō, Kori, and Yuina once more, each teen giving the young girl warm a warm smile. Sayuri for her part got back up from the floor while also giving the girl a warm smile. Yorukō's smile faded after some time as it was replaced with a stern look.

"Now I realize that I haven't been around much to train you," Yorukō told the child: "but now that you're officially in the academy, your training will get more intense, understand?"

Aya had a grin on her face as she enthusiastically nodded at Yorukō's warning, unfazed and excited for the training to come. "Yes!" The young girl eagerly replied.

"That's right. If I can get you stronger for the academy, there's no doubt in my mind that you'll be a strong kunoichi." Yorukō thought to himself before a small, yet sad smile graced his lips: "I'll make sure you become the strongest ninja among your peers before I do what I have to do." Yorukō turned his attention to his family who looked at the exchange between the jōnin and the young child before turning to look and gave him their full attention: "It's gotten too late now, so we won't begin our training now. However, I want us to be at training ground 38 at the crack of dawn so it's in our best interests to turn in for the night."

All four women nodded at the teen's suggestion as Sayuri first turned towards the stairs to head into her room. Kori followed suit before glancing at Yorukō as she headed up the stairs. Aya looked at her sensei and his girlfriend one more time before hugging the leg of both shinobi when she happily ran upstairs to her room, leaving the young couple alone for the moment. Yuina looked intently at Yorukō for several seconds as the conversation she had with Kori and Sayuri replayed in her head before Yorukō headed for the stairs, which in turn broke Yuina out of her stance. She quickly followed behind with a warm smile on her face, thankful he didn't turn around.

The following morning…

"I didn't think you were serious about that whole 'crack of dawn' thing, Yorukō-kun." Kori said as she yawned rather loudly: "The sun hasn't even fully appeared yet!"

"Well, we barely get time to do anything outside of missions, Kori." Yorukō informed her matter-of-factly: "I figured that now would be the best time to do this so that we'll have time to recover for later."

To everyone's dismay, Yorukō woke up extremely early in the house and made it a point of duty to wake everyone else up with a level of urgency that they all swore he only had when he's on a mission. The only person seemingly unaffected by this was Aya who managed to get some rest while laying on Yorukō's back while the group made their way to training ground 38, the young girl stirring around thanks in no small part to the group's bickering. Yorukō felt the girl beginning to slightly squirm on his back which prompted him to kneel, allowing Aya to safely get off his back.

"Where are we, sensei?" Aya groggily asked as she rubbed her eyes.

"An area designed for training within the Leaf." Yorukō explained to his student: "We're going to be training for a few hours."

"Really?!" Aya asked as a swell of energy bubbled inside her.

"Really?" Yuina and Kori wearily asked. Sayuri remained indifferent throughout the exchange.

"Yep." Yorukō said, answering both parties before creating a shadow clone.

"What's the shadow clone for?" Sayuri asked her son.

"Right now, I wanted to explain more to Aya about chakra natures as part of her training." Yorukō answered his mother while pointing at the child: "I want to have her practice molding her chakra with my shadow clone here while we train on our own."

"That makes sense." Sayuri replied.

"Once you've learned the basics of chakra natures and molding chakra, we can move to the next part of your training, okay?" Yorukō told his student while pointing at his shadow clone: "My clone will be your instructor for today; once I'm through with my training and the clone confirms you've made sizeable progress, I may even start teaching you jutsus based on your primary affinity, okay?"

Aya only nodded eagerly at her sensei before heading in a different direction with his shadow clone, leaving the others behind. After a few more moments of watching the young girl leave, Yorukō cleared his throat once more which brought everyone's attention to him.

"I was thinking about something." Yorukō stated.

"What's up?" Yuina asked.

"I wouldn't want us to spar with one another and something or someone may get in the crossfire." Yorukō said to his girlfriend: "So I was thinking that while one pair does their spar, the other sits it out and waits for their turn. This could also be fruitful for us in the sense of being able to know and identify any holes in our fighting styles and take positive feedback on how to improve it."

"That sounds like a good idea." Kori agreed: "But who's going first?"

"I wanted to see how much you guys' skill have improved since coming to the Leaf, so I'd want you and Yuina to go first, Kori." Yorukō explained: "The events that unfolded in the Sand made me realize that there's more to the both of you than I initially thought."

"T-Thanks." Kori stuttered at the praise, a pink hue slowly forming on her cheeks.

"Are we following standard sparring rules?" Yuina asked her significant other.

"Yes." Yorukō answered: "No intentional maiming, no accidental killing. Your abilities are allowed so long as there isn't any lasting damage inflicted on each other. Aside from that, let loose."

"Is that so?" Yuina asked with a dark grin, cracking her knuckles in excitement: "I'm going to enjoy this."

"This battle will concede when one of or both of you are unable to stand." Yorukō instructed, earning a nod from Yuina and a somewhat shaky one from Kori: "Well then, how about you guys space out?"

Both Yuina and Kori nodded at the teen jōnin before walking into a wider area of the training ground as Sayuri and Yorukō remained in their spot. Once settled, Yuina performed two distinct hand seals and slammed her hands together once she completed her final seal which summoned a large scroll. Intrigued, Yorukō and Sayuri both watched as the teen gently removed the string holding the scroll in place which revealed a set of blank scrolls, chakra ink, and a brush.

"If you're making the seals, wouldn't that give you a disadvantage in combat?" Kori asked her cousin, now settled in an opposing side to her cousin: "It's not as if I or even the enemy will let you create the seals in time."

"While you're right, Kori," Yuina replied: "I brought these scrolls out for a different kind of training."

"And that would be?" Kori asked.

"These are to punish you." Yuina started: "Because of what you said, I won't repeat it as yet – that's your job."

"I'm confused." Kori said: "I get what you meant by the second part, but how exactly are you going to use them on me if I hit you with a genjutsu faster?"

"Can we start now, Yorukō-kun?" Yuina interrupted and asked as she looked in his direction which served to irritate Kori further.

"Sure thing." Yorukō answered with a nod.

"When I beat you…" Yuina told her cousin: "…maybe you'll realize that your actions can and will have consequences."

"Yuina-chan. Have you forgotten that I was a Black Ops kunoichi while YOU were nothing more than a chūnin at that time?" Kori reminded her cousin as she placed her hands on her hips.

"That doesn't hold any weight here." Yuina retorted as she began stretching her arms and legs: "If you want to throw rank around, just remember that we both share the same rank in this village." As the two kunoichi continued to throw shots towards each other, both Sayuri and Yorukō began noticing the apparent resentment and tension that Yuina and Kori have for each other. For Yorukō, the teen truly was unaware that he was the central cause of this slowly growing rift between an otherwise inseparable pair of cousins. Sayuri, however, was at an impasse. She knew exactly why the two cousins are like this, perhaps more than she cares to admit. She really was caught in the middle of arguably the biggest news of her life postmortem; finding out she had a granddaughter was something she never thought she'd get to see…despite the less-than-savory way of finding out. For that reason alone, she finds herself conflicted towards Kori. She's been there before, she thought to herself, small memories of her interactions with Reiki when she was younger come to mind, but not once was she as infatuated with him in the same manner as Kori was with her son.

"Be that as it may…" Kori started as she too started stretching: "…you're going to say sorry after I'm done beating your ass."

"Are you two finally ready?" Yorukō yelled, earning nods from both girls: "Well then, BEGIN!" he yelled as he threw his hand down. Both Yuina and Kori took a deep breath and charged at each other almost immediately as both Yorukō and Sayuri looked on.

As the two girls closed in on each other, Yuina threw her right fist forward at Kori who effortlessly dodged her attack and threw a fist of her own in retaliation which Yuina also dodged. Smirking, both girls slightly jumped back as their eyes locked with each other.

"Not bad, Yuina." Kori said: "Seems your reflexes haven't waned. However…" the former Frost ANBU immediately flashed through different hand seals at almost breakneck speed. Finishing the final seal, she yelled: "Water Style: Water Bullet!" Kori fired a large water sphere at her cousin as she watched Yuina jump out of harm's way at the last second and barely managed to not get hit by her cousin's blast.

"I forgot that you're just as proficient in water-based jutsus as you are with genjutsus." Yuina said to her cousin as she stood up to face her: "Guess I know now."

"I hope that you are taking this seriously, you know." Kori pointed out: "Even though we aren't allowed to kill each other, I will fight with the intent to kill, understand?"

"I know that." Yuina said as she clasped her hands together: "Wind Style: Fierce Gust!" Yuina quickly fired a large blast of wind directed at Kori, who unlike herself earlier was unable to dodge all of the attack in time which caused her to be sent back into a tree a couple of yards away, her body violently thudding into the sturdy tree as a result.

"I wasn't aware Yuina knew wind-based jutsus." Sayuri said as she continued to observe the fight.

"I think she mentioned it once, but seeing how she prefers fūinjutsu over using other jutsu," Yorukō added: "I think it gives her a slight element of surprise in this fight. However…"

"Hmm?" Sayuri asked.

"At this rate, I think Kori may win despite how it may look right now." Yorukō said.

"How so?" The reanimation asked.

"It's just a hunch, but watch closely how they fight from here onwards." Yorukō answered. Sayuri in turn said nothing and returned her attention to the fight alongside her son.

Meanwhile, in another part of the training ground…

"Aya, remember what we were talking about earlier?" Yorukō's clone asked his student as he sat on the ground in a lotus-like manner: "About chakra natures?"

Aya shook her head at her sensei: "No, you only explained the piece of paper before everyone else came down."

"Is that so?" Clone Yorukō asked his student who nodded at him, which prompted Yorukō to reach in his pocket and produce the same paper as before: "Well, as I was explaining before, this paper helps me by finding out what chakra nature you possess."

"By infusing some chakra into this paper, it can provide one of five outcomes - each of which dictates what main chakra nature you have." Yorukō said as he retrieved another piece from his pocket and handed it to his student who eagerly accepted it: "Watch as I do it to get a demonstration." The young girl nodded once more as she watched the teen infuse chakra into the paper which caused it to dampen almost immediately.

"The paper got wet!" Aya exclaimed as she pointed at the now-damp paper. She eagerly took the paper that Yorukō handed her as she waited for his instructions.

"All you need to do is pour a teeny bit of chakra into the paper and it'll resonate with it and reveal your main chakra nature." Yorukō explained as he received a vigorous nod: "Try it."

The young girl did as she was told and attempted to pour chakra into the small piece of paper. At first, she struggled with trying to visualize her chakra for several minutes which did not go unnoticed.

"What's wrong?" the clone asked.

"I'm trying, but nothing seems to be happening!" Aya said frustratingly, a frown forming on her face.

"Visualize your chakra like a waterfall." Yorukō suggested to his student: "Let it flow freely."

Nodding at her mentor, the young girl tried applying his method towards her chakra. Several moments pass where she once again saw no change in the paper. Determined, Aya tried one more time where she finally saw the paper dampen which caused her to light up in excitement.

"The paper got wet like yours, clone-sensei!" Aya said with a cheer.

"Clone-sensei?" The shadow clone asked.

"Yeah!" Aya answered: "You're a shadow clone of Yorukō-sensei, so that makes you clone-sensei!" The young girl gave the widest grin she ever had towards her 'clone-sensei'.

"Honestly, what am I going to do with you?" Clone-sensei asked with a chuckle before feeling an all too familiar sensation which caused his smile to fade: "Seems the original me wants us to go back."

"How come?" Aya asked with a pouty face.

"I'm not sure, but he'll know of our progress once I relay these memories back to him." Clone-sensei explained. "I'm sure you'll get more training from now on, okay?" He extended his right fist towards his student.

"O…Okay!" Aya replied after a moment's hesitation before meeting clone-sensei's fist while the duo mutually grinned at each other. Moments after, the pair returned to Sayuri and the original Yorukō where clone-sensei nodded at his originator once before dispelling, which allowed Yorukō to see all the memories of what transpired with Aya. Satisfied and impressed, Yorukō gave his student a warm smile before patting her head when he knelt down to her level.

"I'm honestly impressed that you managed to figure it out, Aya-chan." Yorukō informed her: "Even more, I'm actually surprised we share the same primary affinity."

The young girl only nodded in excitement at her mentor's comments before her attention was affixed on the ensuing fight between Yuina and Kori, something that was not lost on Yorukō. The young teen stood once more to stand beside his mother while continuing to watch the two engage in their 'spar', something that could be confused as a bloodlusted fight between two bitter enemies to someone who doesn't know the full context and/or purpose of this session.

Between Kori and Yuina…

"I'm surprised you're still standing after that blast into the tree, Kori." Yuina told her cousin, mild pride evident in her voice.

"Don't let it get to your head, Yuina." Kori informed her cousin as she shook her head: "One lucky shot doesn't signal victory."

"You're right." Yuina said while walking towards her set she laid out earlier: "I won't use these just yet."

"Finally realized that it wouldn't work?" Now it was Kori's turn to have pride inflected in her voice.

"No – I still plan on using these." Yuina informed her: "Just not now."

"Fine." Kori simply answered while watching her cousin remove the tools she laid out prior. She waited for a few moments before asking: "Are you about ready?"

"Yeah." Yuina answered.

"Good." Without exchanging anything else, the two teens dashed at one another once more when they exchanged fists. The two would parry each other's strikes for several minutes as Yuina would use her height and reach to try and overwhelm her cousin which Kori would parry. Kori tried making use of Yuina's advantage against her by attempting to exploit her openings with each of her cousin's strikes. Overzealous, Yuina tried to perform a sweep kick to drop Kori but was swiftly countered as the former black ops shinobi slightly and quickly jumped upwards before using the same momentum to perform a slightly modified split kick to Yuina which staggered her.

"There's the difference." Sayuri pointed out to her son: "Although she's a capable fighter, Yuina doesn't have nearly half the experience that Kori has when it comes to combat."

"She cancelled Yuina's advantage she had over her." Yorukō observed: "As expected from someone who used to be in the black ops."

"You were in the black ops at the same time as she was. Didn't you work with her a few times?" His mother asked.

"We did, I just never paid attention." Yorukō admitted: "She used to be a lot weaker than this, so much that I remember saving her once in a mission. I wouldn't be able to live with myself if I allowed her to die that night."

"Is that so?" Sayuri asked. Aya remained affixed at the sight of the two kunoichi's spar as she was unable to say anything due to the bubbling excitement dwelling deep within her.

"While I want to ask you more about that, have you thought about our sparring session after they finish?" Sayuri asked her son.

The teen shook his head at his mother's question: "Not really. I wanted to just work on fine-tuning my techniques."

"Well, I thought of something you can learn while we spar." Sayuri offered, earning a confused look from her son. Before he could say anything, the reanimated woman looked towards the fight once more, prompting Yorukō to do the same.

"That was a lucky shot, you know that?" Yuina informed her cousin while she regained her composure. She wiped her mouth due to slight blood forming in the wake of receiving Kori's kick.

"Lucky, huh?" Kori asked to herself more than to her cousin before giving a more determined look towards her: "Well, I suppose so."

"How about we use our full forte of techniques now?" Yuina suggested.

"I was thinking the same thing. Let's end this before you really get hurt." Kori added.

"Of all the…" Yuina said, a thick vein appearing on her forehead. Without wasting another word, both Yuina and Kori once again engaged in taijutsu as neither kunoichi gained an advantage over the other. They immediately separated after some time and started running parallel to one another before both summoned a scroll containing a large number of kunai and shuriken blades. The pair began throwing the tools at one another, major sparks beginning to appear while both girls would receive minor cuts on their bodies as a result of stray kunai and shuriken hitting them. As the pair both ran out of tools, Kori took the initiative first to flash through various hand seals before firing a large ball of water from her mouth aimed at Yuina. Seeing a small window of opportunity, Yuina similarly flashed through various hand seals before suddenly firing a fireball of equal size to Kori's water ball. The response was immediate as both jutsu cancelled each other while leaving a large cloud of steam in its wake. Kori tried to sense her cousin's chakra almost immediately when she felt a hand rest on her shoulder. Snatching herself away, Kori tried to attack Yuina but was unsuccessful thanks to Yuina substituting with a log before her attack could land.

"Yuina knowing fire techniques is new, considering we're a village of predominantly water-type users." Sayuri pointed out.

Yorukō opted not to answer his mother, only allowing a small smile to grace his lips at the battle between the two.

"This is ridiculous!" Kori thought to herself: "Since when did she know fire jutsu? Or any jutsu of that nature?"

"You must be wondering…how exactly do I know fire-based jutsus, right?" Yuina asked from within the steam.

"Yeah! It's incredibly rare for someone in the Hidden Frost to master fire release!" Kori frustratingly answered.

"The answer is simple, really." Yuina told her cousin before using a wind jutsu to disperse the steam, much to Kori's continued shock: "I did a test with Yorukō-kun sometime after we got into the village. To both of our surprise, I found out that my primary affinity…is fire."

"Furthermore, while I may not have much of a mastery over my fire release like Yorukō-kun as yet, he did teach me this one jutsu I can use." Yuina continued while Kori remained silent.

"You taught her a fire jutsu?" Sayuri asked her son.

"Yeah." Yorukō answered with a smile: "I taught her something that she mastered even better than I did."

"By the way, Kori." Yuina called out to her cousin: "This fight's about to end, just so you know."

"What gives you the right to make that assumption?" Kori asked, annoyed at her cousin's early declaration: "I still have my final trump card, you know."

"You won't be able to hit me with it." Yuina declared before pointing at Kori's left shoulder: "Take a look at that for me."

Slightly confused, Kori did as she was told as she looked over her left shoulder; her eyes widened when she saw a seal wrapped around the area resembling a snake. She looked at Yuina who shot her a victorious smile as she molded her chakra to activate the seal. Without many options and time, Kori hurriedly gathered her chakra in a last-ditch effort.

"It's useless to try and resist, you know." Yuina informed her cousin as she finished her seal: "I'm going to only paralyze you for a while."

"This fight's about to meet its rousing finale." Yorukō said: "However, I wonder if she noticed yet. I know I have."

"Noticed what?" Sayuri asked.

"Pay close attention." Yorukō told his mother cryptically, eyes remained on the fight at hand: "It'll be super obvious once you see it."

"Fūin: Electric Lightning Bite!" Both Yorukō and Sayuri heard Yuina yell. Within seconds, the marking on Kori's shoulder began to glow yellow as various lightning chakra started to envelop the former black ops shinobi. As Kori continued to scream in agony, Yuina performed a backflip to gain some distance between herself and her cousin. As she landed on her feet, Yuina simultaneously formed yet one more seal while continuing to mold her chakra. As the effect of the jutsu she placed on Kori began to fade, Yuina gave a sly smile at her cousin who was beginning to regain her footing: "With this, this match is over! Fire Style: Fire Dragon Emperor!"

Sayuri and Aya looked in awe as Yuina fired a massive fire dragon from her mouth aimed at Kori, the dragon in question being so destructive that it scorched the earth during its pursuit of the Tokubetsu jōnin. Yorukō looked on at the two girls while being more impressed at his girlfriend for finding the large amount of chakra needed and specific control to shape the dragon. Kori, struggling to escape, was unable to avoid any contact with the dragon when it collided with her directly and completely enveloped her in flames. As she dropped to one knee and started panting heavily, Yuina looked on as her cousin continued to burn brightly as the reddish orange fire continued to burn her. Several seconds passed as the flame finally dissipated, leaving a moderately burned Kori in its wake.

"Is…is it over?" Sayuri asked her son, concern evident on her face for Kori's well-being.

"Yep." Yorukō simply answered: "This is Kori's win."

"What do you mean?" Sayuri asked, anger beginning to swell in her voice: "Kori just got burned to a near-crisp!"

"For a reanimation, how couldn't you notice that she had everyone under a genjutsu?" Yorukō asked his mother: "You should've been the first person to notice it."

"What…?" Sayuri asked in disbelief: "How are you still standing then? You're immensely weak to genjutsu!"

"She lowered its effects on us. That and I've slowly began to gain more resistance to them." Yorukō explained as he pointed a finger at the girls' fight: "Watch."

"I…I win!" Yuina said, joy evident in her voice. She slowly stood up to face Yorukō, Aya, and Sayuri and flashed a peace sign when she noticed everything around her beginning to fade to black. She looked around frantically and asked out loud: "What is this?!"

"This…" Kori said within the darkness: "…is your loss."

"What do you mean?!" Yuina screamed: "I watched you burn!"

"What you burned was an illusion. An illusion I managed to play off as being real." Kori explained as she revealed herself to her cousin with less but still noticeable amounts of bruises: "Don't get me wrong. You did a number on me right up to when our jutsus clashed and made the surrounding steam. While you were busy explaining and molding your chakra rather slowly I might add, I managed to quickly gather enough chakra and precision to launch this jutsu. For that, you have my thanks."

The stunned Yuina couldn't find any words for her cousin's execution. Capitalizing on this, Kori allowed herself to deliver a mighty kick to Yuina, sending her back a couple of feet. Before she could fully recover from both the shock and the kick, she was met with a kunai blade pointed at her face.

"This fight is over, Yuina-chan." Kori informed her, her eyes as lifeless as a corpse, the sullen eyes seemingly piercing into her cousin's soul: "You know either of us won't be able to continue like we would want to, especially you."

"…" Yuina said nothing at her cousin as she kept the kunai blade pointed towards her. Defeated and disappointed, she let out a rather loud sigh as a sad smile formed on her lips. Looking up towards Kori and the kunai blade, she finally said: "Fine. This is my loss."

"Don't be so sad, Yuina-chan." Kori said to Yuina as the teen extended her hand towards her: "If I didn't launch that jutsu, I most likely would've lost this fight."

"Is that so?" Yuina asked before taking her cousin's hand which helped her up: "What we have isn't over, but I guess it'll do for now."

"I know." Kori answered with a sigh: "Trust me, I know."

"Good, how about you help me over there?" Yuina asked her cousin before draping an arm over the teen's shoulder: "Using up that much chakra did leave a toll on me, you know?"

Kori laughed. "Yeah, I got you."

"Seems I now know which side of the family is susceptible to genjutsu, huh?" Yorukō asked his mother.

"I guess you could say that." Sayuri answered: "Your father's the one that's more resistant and adept to it."

"That was so cool!" Aya said towards the two girls while clasping her hands together. She tugged at Yorukō's pants to catch his attention as she continued: "Say, sensei, when are we going to fight like that?!"

"First off, you're a little too young for that kind of combat, Aya-chan." Yorukō sternly told his student which caused her smile to drop completely. "However, maybe one day."

"Promise?" Aya asked.

"Promise." Yorukō answered. "Maybe when all of this is over."

"Here they come, Yorukō." Sayuri said to her son, catching his attention. He looked up to see Kori assisting an exhausted Yuina towards them while they both laughed with each other. Sayuri looked glad that despite the circumstances which caused tension between the two girls, Yuina doesn't fully hate her cousin as much as she thought she did.

"I take it you two had a good match?" Yorukō asked both girls.

"As much as I'd have wanted to win, it was a good match indeed." Yuina answered first.

"I didn't even know that her primary affinity was Fire Release, and a pretty strong one to boot!" Kori said in praise of her cousin.

"I'm surprised as well." Sayuri added in: "That was an excellent jutsu indeed."

"Thanks." Yuina simply replied. She looked up into Yorukō's eyes for a brief moment: "What did you think, Yorukō-kun?"

"I think you two may have what it takes to be an extremely formidable duo." Yorukō honestly assessed: "With Kori's element being water and her affinity for genjutsu, while yours being fire and a proper understanding of fūinjutsu, I believe that with enough training and time, it could be possible that even I won't be able to actually take you both on at the same time."

"You're kidding, right?" Kori asked, eyes widening.

"I wouldn't make such claims lightly." Yorukō bluntly answered: "However, I think that whatever you two have between each other, you may want to resolve it soon if you'd want to work at max efficiency."

"How would've he had known that we have an issue going on?" Yuina thought to herself as her eyes darted to Sayuri for a brief moment: "Did she tell him anything?"

"I don't think we have an issue, Yorukō-kun." Kori spoke up which snapped her cousin out from her thoughts. She managed to hear what Kori said to Yorukō and decided to do with the (rather obvious and blatant) lie instead of revealing anything.

"I think you may be thinking too hard." Yuina spoke up: "We don't have any issues as far as I know."

"Hmm, if you say so." Yorukō simply replied.

"Hey, Yorukō." Sayuri called to her son.

"What's up?" Yorukō answered.

"I think it's about time for us to train, wouldn't you agree?" The reanimated woman pointed out.

"Yeah, it is." Yorukō said in realization: "Didn't you say that you wanted to teach me something?

"I did." Sayuri answered before her expression became serious: "Before I teach you something, I want you to promise me something."

"What is it?" Yorukō asked.

"Come at me with the intention to kill." Sayuri answered: "This will be an actual fight compared to just regular training."

"Why would I fight my dead mother with the intention to kill her?" Yorukō asked: "Where's the sense in that?"

Kori, Yuina, and Aya all looked at the exchange between mother and son, the tension becoming extremely palpable and oppressive which caused each girl to shiver. Their eyes went between Yorukō and Sayuri, Sayuri putting more KI towards her son as he slowly became less confused and more understanding of her request, his own KI beginning to make its presence.

"You understand, right?" Sayuri asked: "I'm not missing the opportunity this time."

"…I don't fully get it, but I do get the idea that you want a fight." Yorukō answered his mother.

"I want to train you. If you're serious about beating your father, you'll need to know how to master the jutsus of my clan." Sayuri explained to Yorukō whose eyes went wide: "I also know about your 'awakening' with your Ice Release."

"How do you know about that?!" Yorukō asked incredulously: "That happened during my fight with Kori!"

Suddenly, Kori flinched at the memory.

"You're my son." Sayuri vaguely answered as she continued: "That being said, we also have an uncanny connection."

"What is that?" Yorukō asked.

"Your chakra nature is almost exactly like mine. Almost like a perfect copy." Sayuri explained rather offhandedly: "That being said, I've used that mode before, so I know its ins and outs."

Yorukō and the girls remained quiet as she explained further: "I can't guarantee you'll be in one piece after this. However, there's two things you need to know. One being your heritage, and the other…your real identity."

"My heritage and my real identity…what?" Yorukō asked, confused.

"Walk with me, I'll explain as we go along." Sayuri gestured.

Yorukō nodded, and the pair left the girls to create distance between them. Yorukō began to look at his mother in a new light; he never had many memories growing up due to her 'death' and subsequent forced servitude, but since getting to know her, he respected and loved her dearly for still making the effort, something that he would now also meet her halfway with.

"The 'awakening' that you've used before has a name for it." Sayuri explained as the two continued to create distance between them and the girls who now looked on: "We call it the Ice Release: Release Mode."

"I'm guessing there's another stage to this jutsu, correct?" Yorukō asked.

Sayuri nodded: "The form you used was incomplete, you likely depleted all your chakra within a few minutes. However, if mastered right, then you'll be able to not only use this form at will, but also sustain it for longer periods of time."

"Interesting." Yorukō simply said. The two finally arrived at a safe enough distance where they could let loose and allow the girls to watch on while also not taking too much damage from the upcoming fight. Yuina and Kori looked on in concern towards Yorukō as Sayuri's words continued to play in their heads. Aya only looked on, eager to absorb any combat knowledge she could gain from this fight and to mold her own fighting style in the process.

"Say, Yuina…are you also getting an uneasy feeling from this?" Kori asked shakingly.

"Yeah." Yuina answered with a shaky nod: "Something tells me that we're not going to like how this is going to end up."

"Before we begin, I did say that I wanted to teach you your real identity and about my clan." Sayuri informed her son while facing opposite of him.

"I want to know this. What do you mean by my real identity?" Yorukō asked.

"You weren't born as Hasegawa Yorukō." Sayuri replied. Yorukō's eyes went wide as saucers afterwards.

"What do you mean, I wasn't born as Hasegawa Yorukō?!" Yorukō screeched: "That's the name I've had for years, a name I've had the unpleasant curse with!"

"Your father changed it sometime after I died, it seems." Sayuri solemnly answered her son. "You see, you were born as Tachibana Yorukō. I gave you my clan's name due to you being the heir once I pass on…wait. I'm dead already." She ended with a mirthless laugh.

"Tachibana…Tachibana…I've heard stories about that clan, but never anything that was substantial." Yorukō said.

"I kept my clan's identity a secret for a very long time due to our distinct relationship with the Yuki clan. Before I found the Hidden Frost, I was once a Hidden Mist kunoichi during a time where anyone with a Kekkei Genkai would be sought and killed. I managed to escape with my younger sister Sayaka when we found the Frost village." Sayuri explained: "Along with the Yuki clan, we were also prioritized on the killing list – the Mist did not want a single Tachibana to remain alive. I watched as my mother, father, youngest brothers and sisters fall victim to their hands."

"Why did they prioritize you if you were only related to the Yuki clan?" Yorukō asked: "It doesn't make sense."

"That's a conversation for another time." Sayuri sharply answered: "Now this is the only time for your training."

"Fine." Yorukō abruptly answered: "Let's do this, then."


A/N: Nothing here, will explain myself in the next chapter or make a note of it in it's own PSA-based chapter (something more likely to happen).