Chapter 32: Hard to Swallow

Walking out of the hospital, Yuri lets out a sigh. She had been to visit Lee again, and things weren't looking too good… which worried Yuri a little more. Normally he was the loudest and most cheerful of the genin. Seeing him all down and still was weird to her. Lee sitting in a hospital still felt surreal, even though she had been to see him many times. And she was getting anxious about him being like that for too long. All the training he had done going down the drain basically, it would take him a while to get back in shape. She liked visiting Lee, and she knew Sakura was coming to see Lee as well.

Not to mention Kakashi is still out. Sure… Asami had adopted Sakura and Sasuke… but she knew they would prefer their teacher. Kakashi was a good teacher to them, and he was seeing what they needed to learn some more. Sakura was becoming good with genjustu, Sasuke had been learning a lot and he had learned some things about Kakashi he didn't want to share, but it calmed Sasuke down a lot. Asami sensi was great, but she had a different teaching style from Kakashi.

It was a hard moment to swallow.

Yuri pauses outside and looks up to the sky. She was glad for the village being strong, but she is learning it puts a bigger target on their backs. And it would only grow with this. If any of the three ninja wars have proven, it's that the Leaf is strong. They just took on two villages at the same time. And won.

But with losses. She knows that it is part of the life of a ninja, but she had seen it first hand for once. It was crazy seeing it. She can only stare at the sky, and with that the clouds.

"Yuri!" She looks over and sees Kenji walking towards her.

And he has someone else in tow. Long untamed black hair and dark brown eyes, even the same red that one sensi. She spares a glance at Kenji, seeing that he is in casual clothing, even though she thinks they shouldn't be in casual clothing. But she knows Kenji always has a secret weapon on him, they all did due to Asami sensi and her surprise tests.

Yuri blinks, needing to focus her thoughts.

She believes that is Akira Hatsu, cousin to Kurenai.

She hasn't talked to the girl a lot, as she is a few years older than her. But if she remembers correctly, Akira also uses genjustu user. Yuri heard she and Sakura would train together at times. Seeing the older girls who hadn't made chunin helping the younger ones out. Yuri can only hope they can move up.

"Hi Kenji. Hello Akira."

Akira nods her head. "Yuri. It's good to see you. I feel like we rarely get to see each other."

While it is true, Akria is also a few years older than the rookies. So they never needed to interact, but since they are older, it might be more of a challenge for Yuri to fight. While the rookies were improving daily, she would like another training partner.

New training partners were always fun for Yuri.

"We don't too often. One of these days we should train together. I would love to fight against some new people." Yuri chuckles to herself.

"She kicks all the rookie's asses honestly. Might be good for someone else to beat her other than a sensi." Kenji chimes in.

This causes Yuri to shrug. It was mostly luck and the fact she could counter all of them easily with any number of justus. She knew it so well she would pick different things she was still learning and training.

Akira looks back and forth between the two. "Oh? And you have a reputation as well. Domi and Yunagi mentioned you fought well until Hisata sensi got there. And you have some unique powers. Have you sparred against Kurenai?"

"I have not." Yuri shakes her head. "I have sparred Sakura, but she admits her genjustu is weak compared to Kurenai."

Sakura was good, and could pin most of the genin if she managed to pin them down, but she couldn't pin Kiba, Shino and Sasuke. Sasuke was immune to regular genjustu, and Yuri had good enough chakra control to release herself.

"You should fight me. I am becoming a genjustu specialist." Akria mentions.

A smirk comes across Yuri's face. Now Akria is offering to spar her? That is what Yuri loves, people offering to fight her. It made her feel special and helped her figure out who liked to fight. And who is willing to expand their circle, as that was also important.

The more diverse Yuri could be with her sparring partners, the better for her and everyone else. If she only fought a handful of people, she wouldn't improve as much. But the more people in her circle, the better. And the more fun she would have.

"Give me a time and place and I will gladly spar." Yuri laughs a little.

She would love to fight against new people. She would like to fight against Neji as well. And Rock Lee once he gets better. Yunagi is on her list as well. She got a good fight against Hani which is what she wanted. Though, she wanted a better fight with Hani, not one being inturrupted or being a full battle.

Yuri liked to know how people fought, and with the history of her clan being pieced together the more she reads, the more she realizes how much her family needed other peoples Chakra. Yuri had read a part that caught her attention: once a Chibana absorbed chakra, they needed to keep that level of chakra. Adding to those ninjas who have a bad taste to a Chibana should never absorb their chakra, as it will poision their system.

That part scared her. Making her wonder if things that don't taste good or like food, like Shino and Kiba, she couldn't take their chakra. It was a theory that Yuri didn't want to test out. And she hadn't told anyone about it. She mentioned it in passing to Shikamaru once, but nothing more than that.

She thought about those a lot, and she wondered if once the new Hokage is picked, she should tell them about it. She would need to talk to Asami sensi about it, she doesn't know if the third even knew about it.

Kenji clears his throat and draws Yuri's attention back to him. She hadn't mentioned the new parts to anyone yet… and maybe she should.

She adds it to me mental list of things to do. Placing it towards the top. Someone else should know about it. Even if it doesn't mean a whole lot, it could be helpful. She would discuss it with Asami sensi first and move on from there.

"Visiting Lee?" Kenji asks.

Yuri looks back to the hospital. "I was. He was awake though. But he seemed so sad and not himself. I can tell he wants to heal, but it doesn't look good. Gaara destroyed him and what he did in that match messed him up as well."

She looks between the others. She knows Kenji has seen Lee a few times, and he hated going and seeing Lee. Only a handful of people went to see Lee all the time, and it was to keep his spirits up. Guy spent the most time with Lee, while he still trained Neji and TenTen, they were fine training by themselves.

"It's very sad… I think Lee has a bright future." Akria comments. "I heard Master Jirya went looking for someone to help him. But no one has heard anything about it yet."

Yuri nods her head, but Kenji speaks up first. "Maybe they will be back soon. I personally want to fight Lee as well."

They begin walking, more Yuri picking to not remain in front of the hospital. She doesn't know where to go, maybe she would stop to see Sasuke. She was putting a lot of thought into their relationship… and while he was putting in more of an effort, it felt like he was asking for someone elses ideas.

One of their dates… she doesn't know why but she feels like she had heard it before. It was a strange feeling to her though… and she didn't know how to describe it. But she didn't feel like she was being heard. While the dates were nice, they were once a week and Sasuke's mother liked to have Yuri around, and sometimes she felt those were better.

But she needs to focus. She had been spinning herself silly with the thoughts of Sasuke. She should pay attention to the people in front of her now.

"Lee will be fine. I have a good feeling about it." Akria mentions.

"I hope so." Yuri mumbles.

Kenji puts an arm around Yuri. "Believe he will. Our world is dark, Yuri, and it's only going to get darker. Especially you if you allow it."

This takes Yuri by surprise, Kenji normally lets Isamu do the cheering up between the three of them. But it was refreshing to have Kenji do it. It really makes her see things differently when the quiet one was the one trying to pull her up. It always made her happy.

It was a good thing when she hears Kenji cheering her up, it helps to pull her out of her thoughts and live in the moment, something she needed to get better about.

"I enjoy watching you guys, it seems like you have all become very close." Akria mentions.

Yuri and Kenji look at her. "We are. With a sensi like Asami, we were forced into a choice, either become friends or don't and end up having harder training time and colder sensi."

This gets a laugh from Akria, so much that Kenji and Yuri share a look.

Asami was cold, she was less so since they met her, but in training it was like a flip was switched. She worked them hard, and Sasuke and Sakura were learning that the hard way. With five of them, Asami got rougher with her team, trying to show Sakura and Sasuke why her team was the stronger one.

It helped, Sasuke was better at reading a situation and understood he needed to cover Sakura like Yuri and Kenji covered Isamu. Isamu always had one of them covering him, but he could pack a punch. Sakura was strong, but she needed time to build up and attack. Something Sasuke was learning he needed to give her.

Asami Sensi was crazy, but her training was efficient.

"My old sensi was too… do whatever. He worked well with the boys, but not so much me, he even ignored me. It's why I'm one of the older genin. It's similar with Domi and Yunagi, both their sensi's wrote them off as too much trouble. Hisata isn't though. He works with us and encouraged me to work with Kurenai. We just started last year, but I can feel all our growth." Akira explains.

Yuri tilts her head. "I can't imagine that. Asami sensi seems to pay extra attention to me at times."

"She does. But, she has reason to as well." Kenji comments.

Akira is about to say something but she tastes a new person. She turns around and sees TenTen coming up to them. It ends their current conversation as she runs up to them. She had trained with TenTen once, and it was telling. She knew TenTen was a weapons specialist… but Yuri had a feeling it went deeper.

Making a mental note to talk to Asami and Asuma, she was curious about a few things.

There was something about how TenTen handled weapons that made Yuri curious. It seemed like something the sensis might be able to help her with, but Yuri never knew.

"Did you hear?! Lady Tsunade is here! And I heard a rumor she might be the new Hokage!" TenTen exclaims.

Yuri looks at Kenji. Lady Tsunade? A Sanin? Was she really to be the next Hokage? Yuri was surprised Master Jirya wasn't going to be it, but knowing Jirya, it made sense. He didn't like to be in positions of power. Yuri doesn't know what to say. But Akira speaks up first.

"What? Really? I looked up to her!"

"So do I! I have to find Neji and tell him." TenTen turns to go.

"I'll go with you." Akira waves to Yuri and Kenji and heads off.

Leaving the younger two alone, Yuri presses her lips together. There is a beat of silence between Yuri and Kenji, until he lets out a huff.

Yuri doesn't even know what just happened between them. Too many questions are popping up in Yuris mind. Lady Tsunade is here? She is going to be able to help, and no one had become the Hokage yet. Making Yuri wonder if she will become the Hokage. But no one had seen her in years.

"A new Hokage, finally. Why else would the legendary Sanin be here? One that no one could find."

Yuri shakes her head. "I know. I have a feeling things are going to get interesting."

Crossing her arms she turns to continue walking. It was a lot to take in. Another Sanin in the village and not wanting to destroy it? Strange. And Kenji hit the nail on the head, no one had been able to find her after the third war. She vanished. It was strange honestly, a war hero like that going away. Who knows where she had gone.

"And where are you going?" Kenji asks, catching up to Yuri.

"I don't know." She shrugs. "I might go to Sasuke's. I'm not sure though."

There is a small pause between them. Yuri just looks ahead, unsure of where to even go at this point.

She knows Kenji wants to ask her something. Letting the pause hang in the air, Yuri didn't know what to even think. She tried not thinking about Sasuke all the time since it was tiring. Sasuke was a problem that was on the bottom of her mental list of things to do. She had other things to worry about.

"You and Sasuke okay? I've seen you on some dates."

"We have… I just. I don't know. They aren't my actual idea of a date. And we have talked about it, he just hasn't done them…" She trails off.

It was still bugging her… and she had no idea why. She mentioned to Sasuke how she enjoyed sparring dates more, or walking through the night life. She liked being outside, especially by the river. But they were always in the village center, eating and he asked her to dress up. It didn't feel like her. Maybe that was his way of trying, but she had said what kind of date she wanted.

Yuri though didn't want to tell him she didn't like the dates, she enjoyed them… but they didn't feel like them.

Kenji slowly nods his head. "I see. It's annoying you isn't it?"

"Sadly yes."

"I also heard Shikamaru and Ino are dating. It's driving Isamu mad." Kenji shakes his head.

For a split second, Yuri doesn't know what to do. When she found out she was fine with it, but everytime she was around them, especially with Sasuke, she got sad. She wasn't as pretty as Ino and Sakura… and she worried this was a ploy by Ino. Yuri tried to ignore it but she couldn't.

Plus, she had no idea if Shikamaru even likes being in this… but the fact he was still with Ino, means he has to like her right?

Yuri laughs, it's shallow but a laugh. "Ya. He won't stop complaining about it."

Kenji pauses and looks at Yuri, even making her stop as well. She doesn't look at Kenji though, she keeps her eyes down. She hates that Kenji knows her so well. Only Kenji and Isamu were able to tell how annoyed Yuri is recently. After the attack on the leaf, she didn't know if anyone would be able to know.

"You never fake laugh, especially when Isamu is complaining. What's going on Yuri? You seem really down."

Normally one to have a quick answer, Yuri doesn't. She has no idea what to even say. There was too much buzzing around in her mind. Even training didn't help since somehow Sasuke always showed up. Even when she and Doki were meant to train together, Doki thought it was a wonderful idea for Yuri and Saksue to spar. So it felt like they were always together, even in moments of Yuri wanting to be alone, Sasuke was there. It was making it harder for Yuri to focus on trainning when she knew Sasuke was going to be there.

But she couldn't get her mind to quiet down. For some reason it annoyed her that Shikamaru was dating Ino, maybe because she thought Ino was trying to get Sasuke? It might not be and Yuri doesn't know what it is. Yuri was annoyed by it and it was always on her mind. She thought Shikamaru didn't like anyone… so the fact he is dating Ino surprises him.

"I… I… I don't know." Is all Yuri can say after a moment.

She and Kenji are only able to stare at each other when she tastes 2 people approaching them. She doesn't want to include other people in the conversation, especially since it's a mature ripe taste. She knows who it is.

"Here come the Nara's." Is all she says.

She takes a step away and shakes her head. She needs to pull herself out of the dark cloud. And she was determined to. Bieng in the dark cloud isn't going to help her. She needs to take it a day at a time, maybe reevaluate her list. Taking a deep breath she tries to calm her mind, but she isn't able to right away.

The Nara's approach them and Yuri only stares at them. Seeing if they will say anything about what they are doing.

"Ah, Kenji and Yuri. Do you mind if we steal Yuri? I wanted to talk to her." Shikaku says once they get close enough.

Yuri looks at Kenji, giving a small shrug at the question. She was fine with it, but she felt their conversation wasn't over. And she knows Kenji feels the same way. She knows she needs to talk to Kenji about it more. She didn't want to bring it up with Isamu since he would also get annoyed, and it wouldn't be good for any of them.

Talking with Kenji would be good for her. Maybe she can get through some of the fog. Kenji would listen to her and help her where he could. If not tell her to talk to Asami sensi.

"Sure. Yuri, training later?" Kenji asks.

She knows why he is asking. "Of course."

And they go their separate ways. Yuri walks silently with Shikaku and Shikamaru. No one says anything for a moment. Yuri tries to keep her mind blank as they walk, not even looking at Shikamaru. She doesn't know why Shikaku is thinking. She never knows.

"You know, I hope you and Shikamaru become Chunin. I heard your matches were great. And you both seem to think things through." Shikaku says.

Yuri can only nod. "I am sure Shika will. I might have to work on thinking things through a little more though."

"I wouldn't count yourself out yet Yuri." Shikaku says.

Leaving them in another silence while they walk to the Hokage tower. She didn't even realize it. But they were walking up to the offices. She wonders why they are heading to the office. She wonders about it. And she hears Shikamaru speak for the first time.

"Huh, well if it isn't Naruto." Shikamaru finally says.

She had heard the new Hokage was in the village. And she even tasted her. She tasted like wood, and the person she was traveling with tasted like Cookies. But she looks up and is surprised to see Naruto and two other women are walking out of the building.

"Hm? Shikamaru? Yuri?" Naruto asks.

"Look who finally made it back." Yuri comments.

She puts her hands in her pocket, but her eyes drift over to the two women, one with short black hair and the other with blonde hair. Causing her to look between Naruto and her. And it bothers her a little. Yuri doesn't know why. And she can't place it just yet. One of these days, Yuri might understand it though.

"What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be somewhere stuffing your face?" Shikamaru asks.

Yuri elbows Shikamaru. "He doesn't just think about food, you know."

He only looks at her as they walk over to Naruto. It causes her to shake her head and continue to look at everyone, it bothered her, yes, but she still had too much going on in her mind. It was a pain to her.

"How about you? You're usually still asleep at this time of day." Naruto fires back.

Yuri doesn't want to pay attention, but she feels like she needs to, though she is keen on the adults, as she wants to know what is happening. Especially since she has a feeling something interesting could happen. Or she could learn something.

"Very funny. My dad asked me to come along with him, we even picked up Yuri, but don't ask me why." Shikamaru sighs.

Naruto finally looks at the adults. "Hm? Hey, do they know each other?"

All three look to the adults. Seeing Shikaku bowing to the woman with blonde hair. Yuri tilts her head at the interaction. Shikaku was always respectful of the woman around him, and it was nice to see it.

"Greetings Lady Tsunade. It's been a long time." Shikaku starts.

Lady Tsunade, the Sanin and said to have great medical ninjustu. And the woman who was to become the fifth Hokage. Yuri's eyes widen when she hears the name. She was looking at the new Hokage, and she was excited. She learned about her and, as many of the young girls did, looked up to her.

Lady Tsunade is part of the reason why so many of the young girls didn't give up. Some even wanted to be a medical ninja like her. While Yuri didn't want to be a medical ninja, she wanted to be respected like Lady Tsunade.

"You're that kid from the Nara family. Hope you're still taking good care of the deer. I made a lot of good medicine from those antlers."

Shikaku chuckles. "Oh yes, the deer are fine."

Shikamaru leans over to Naruto. "Who's the blonde girl? And why is she talking to my dad like she's his boss?"

"Didn't you hear?" Naruto frowns.

"Shika… She's probably the new Hokage. Lady Tsunade, a legendary Sanin…" Yuri chimes in.

How dumb can these boys be? Well more of just Shikamaru. Everyone in the village was talking about it, and people seemed to be excited about it. Yuri was surprised Ino hadn't told Shikamaru. Or the fact Shikamaru didn't know. He usually knew things.

And Yuri can feel herself becoming annoyed all over again. She should just go punch a few things… might help her.

"And she's not a girl, she's a lady in her 50's" Naruto comments.

"Well, I'll see you around no doubt." Tsunade walks off.

"Yes, my lady." Shikaku bows again.

"So long, we're going to the infirmary! I'll catch you later Yuri and Shikamaru!" As Naruto runs after her. "I'll show you the killer technique I picked up."

"That's really the fifth Hokage?" Shikamaru asks.

"A legendary Sanin at that." Yuri comments.

As they all watch the three walking away for a moment. Yuri crosses her arms and waits. Someone is bound to say something sooner or later.

Now, things were going to get better. More stable with a true leader like the thrid. Everything would be fine. But it also meant Yuri would have to tell her about the strange powers she had. She had to ask Asami for guidance on how to tell the new Hokage.

"Watch it, Shikamaru." Shikaku begins, walking over to the two. "That woman is one of the strongest ninja you'll ever meet. Don't let her good looks fool you."

Shikamaru waves his father off. "Yeah."

"After all, there's a reason she's the only female of the legendary Sanin."

"Ok… but I mean a woman Ho-"

Yuri punches Shikamaru in the side. "Just because she is a woman means nothing. If she can kick your ass, which isn't hard to do, she should have your respect."

This causes Shikaku to begin chuckling, going into a speech about how women make men better. Which annoys Yuri… but she remains silent. Staring after the new Hokage, feeling a draw to her. She is annoyed by her thoughts, and she is annoyed at Shikamaru's comment. He always complained about women… and he was dating someone.

"Come on Shikamaru, we better finish up here. You know how your mother is when we are late. And Yuri, feel free to stop by for dinner." Shikaku smirks and continues walking.

And Shikamaru follows him. Yuri weakly nods and decides to go and train. She needed to do something, and she was going to train. If Yuri was going to get everything in her mind sorted out, she would need to be moving and let it work itself out. And beating Kenji would help her. He wasn't in the mix of problems. And he might be someone she could talk to as well.

Jumping from building to building, Yuri finds Kenji in their normal spot. She knew he would be there. It was slightly different from their spot with Asami, but it helped them focus, and with different terrain, it was nice for them. Not to mention sometimes they got rough and allowed Yuri to go full out with her powers. When she gets there, he is having a stare down with Sasuke.

She jumps down and lets out a sigh.

Why is this happening? It seems annoying to her.

"You know… get a picture. You guys can glare at it alone."

Both the boys look at Yuri. Clearly both are annoyed. And she must clearly be annoyed as well, since she wasn't expecting to see Sasuke here as well. Sasuke knew how to push Kenji's buttons, and she had never seen anyone else able to annoy Kenji like Sasuke does. He seemed to take pleasure in annoying Kenji.

But Saksue lets out a sigh and puts a hand in his pocket.

"I thought we could go on a date." Sasuke says, a small smile comes to his face.

Kenji snorts. "I already told you, we are training."

"Ya, I heard you. I wanted to talk to my girlfriend." Sasuke snaps back.

Yuri is already annoyed. She shakes her head. Yuri came here to help her sort out her thoughts and feelings. Her little storm of thoughts becomes a bit of a bigger storm. Why would Sasuke want to go on a date now? What was the point? Would Kenji make it worse?

And they keep arguing. But Yuri can't even listen to them… is this how she acted with Ino and Sakura when they were younger? Just fighting with people non-stop? It wouldn't be the first time. But this isn't going to help her.

"Yuri!" they both yell.

She turns and moves away. She can't even say a word to either of them. She just wants to get away from the arguing and both of them are not helping her. Jumping back at the way she had come. She didn't want to deal with anyone today.

Moving to the river, Yuri makes it to her favorite spot. One not a lot of people know about or come to. Sitting on a rock that was in the middle of the stream, Yuri closes her eyes. Needing to clear her mind, she hadn't been able to just sit still. She wanted to train… but she felt suffocated by Sasuke and by a few others.

She was annoyed… and she didn't know how to help herself.

Notes: Oh man... its about to become a WILD ride! I do hope you guys like the relationships I am building. Some of them are slower burns than others (can you guess the longest slow burn?) while others just will happen. Please leave a comment and follow the story!