"I don't know, Tsunade-sama. I'm good, yeah, but my strengths lie more in the direction of, you know, being a hammer, dattebane. Minato's way better at seals. 'Sides, I've never been a sensei before."

"Nor have I. And I was never planning on it in the first place." Tsunade sighed and set down her empty cup. Then she reached for the bottle of sake for a refill. "But Jiraiya's out of the Village for who knows how long, and Minato's got his own brats. You're third in line, kid. You should be flattered."

Kushina huffed, slumping back in her seat and crossing her arms. She pouted at her stack of empty ramen bowls. "I am flattered," she muttered.

Tsunade snorted. "Sure have a funny way of showing it." She sipped directly from the bottle instead of refilling her cup. Wiping at her mouth, she frowned at Kushina. "Listen, you don't have to say yes. I know that even taking on a partial student is a big responsibility. But Kyoko needs someone to replace Jiraiya for her fuuinjutsu training, and I can't be the one to do that."

Kushina eyed her. "My sealing isn't the same as Jiraiya's. It's why Minato's is so different. I follow Uzumaki fuuinjutsu, not what's traditional to Konoha."

Tsunade smiled. "I have a feeling Kyoko would appreciate non-traditional."

Kushina shoved her empty bowls aside. "Buy me more ramen, and you've got a deal!"

"When will my rival return?" Gai asked, pausing in his squats.

Kyoko groaned, lifting her head to peer at him. Her body ached, and she was sure that her entire right side was already blooming with bruises from failing to block well enough in their spar. "It'll be another week yet."

"More time for me to think of ideas for challenges, then!" He straightened and stretched. "I'm going to run around the Village ten times before sunset or I'll have to do one hundred sit ups hanging from the ceiling by my feet!"

"Gai, that's insane."

He threw her a grin and took off.

Minato was an amazing sensei. He had a mixed group of students of wildly different skills and personalities and overall volume, and he handled them all with expertise and patience and an incredible amount of care.

Kushina was not a sensei at all.

For one, she was late. It was over a half hour after the meeting time, and she had run full tilt through Konoha's streets to get to the tea shop Tsunade had told her about.

For two, she was not prepared at all. She'd stayed up all night, frantically scrawling out page after page of incoherent notes about what she thought was most important about fuuinjutsu. Which apparently was just about everything. She'd hardly managed to narrow it down at all. Her only potential saving grace was the three old books in the bag slung across her shoulder. The margins of the books were packed with near unreadable annotations and theories and questions going back over four decades. The mess of various handwritings—hers, her mother's, her father's, her grandmother's, Minato's—contained enough coherent fuuinjutsu musings to hopefully carry her through their first session.

For three, she had already made her student upset.

"Oh, kami," Kushina mumbled as she waved her hands uselessly in the direction of the little girl. "I didn't— Why— Oh. Oh, no."

"I-it's okay," Kyoko sobbed out, rubbing at her eyes.

"You're crying! What did I— I'm so bad at this."

"Sorry," she managed, sniffling. She looked up at Kushina, blinking quickly with eyes red-rimmed. "I'm sorry. It's been a long day."

"It's . . . it's nine in the morning."

"I know." Kyoko hunched so that she could dab at her face with the hem of her shirt. "I'm an early riser."

"Uh, right," Kushina said uncertainly, shifting her weight uncomfortably. "Are you . . . okay?"

"Yes. I'm alright." She cleared her throat and squared her shoulders. "I'm sorry. Thank you for agreeing to Tsunade-shisho's request to help me in my fuuinjutsu studies."

"Um . . . ." Kushina shuffled her feet. "Yeah, okay. But do you need a moment or something, dattebane?"

Kyoko's shoulders tensed, and she looked away. "No, Kushina-sensei. I'm ready. I already got tea. Would you like to order first?" She straightened her notes. "I can start by showing you what I've been working on, if you'd like."

"Sure." Kushina hesitantly sat down across from her. "Whaddya have?"

"Is this your normal after-dinner routine?" Kyoko asked with a breathless laugh, arms trembling.

"Yes!" Gai said excitedly, switching from hand to the other. "To be an excellent shinobi, you must regularly find and push past your limits."

"You're doing well, Kyoko-chan!" Dai said, walking over to her on his hands.

"I'm dying," she gasped, shutting her eyes. "I can't do anymore."

"You're doing amazing," Gai assured her. "Just seventeen more."

Her head was pounding, and about thirty pushups ago she had gotten so dizzy that it was hard to see. She couldn't feel her face anymore. Her lungs burned. She barely managed to shake her head.

"Kyoko-chan, I believe in you! You can—"

Kyoko's arms gave, and she fell out of the handstand, hitting the ground hard. She wheezed, and the world spun around her. Somewhere off in the distance, past the ringing in her ears, Gai and Dai were shouting. "Ow," she whined.

"—us? Kyoko-chan?"

She blinked. The world had slowed down, and Gai and Dai were both leaning over her. "Gai," she croaked. "Y-you gave up?"

Gai looked horrified. "Absolutely not! I finished the challenge. Was it too much for you?"

"Obviously." She tried to push herself up, but her arms protested any and all movement. "I . . . regret this."

Gai just grinned.

Dai laughed. "Excellent effort, Kyoko-chan. Rest, and then we'll do our run!"