"This one will be an all-out battle. The first one to pin the other down for more than 10 seconds wins." Kakashi explains.
"Understood, Sensei." I nod from my spot a couple of feet in front of him. I wait for his signal and jump in the air as he signals for training to start. I grab four Kunai and throw them at him, he weaves and dodges easily; running at me as I land. I have to backflip over him as he tries to punch me. I use my bladed fan and stab his back when I land behind him. Kakashi poofs away; a Shadow Clone! I should have expected that. A kunai grazes my arm from behind me, causing me to jump and change position. I turn and rush towards the new Kakashi.
Small scenarios like this keep happening for the next 45 minutes and I start to get tired. I was irritated as I couldn't seem to get close to him no matter what I did. He would break out of my whips and dodge the vines left and right. I glare from my spot in the tree I was hiding in and watch as he destroys 1 of my 2 shadow clones. I frown even more when my shadow clone makes his poof. My eyes go wide as I scan the field only finding my mother and guards in sight. Where did he go? It's then I remember our first day of training and get what I hope is a smart idea. Well, only one way to find out.
I jump down from my spot, concentrating chakra to my hands and cartwheeling around the area planting seeds in the ground as I go. I then stand in the middle of the field and weave the hand signs, (add hand signs for seeds), causing my seeds to grow into a field of ivy with my chakra running through all the ivy I was standing on. I can now feel my Sensei's chakra just under the ground 5 feet away from me. I smile and walk over to the spot and stand there hoping for him to fall for my trap; he does. I feel the ground move as his hand comes up from the ground tangling in the ivy as he tries to grab my ankle. I make the vines tighten their hold on him and yank him from the ground. Smiling at the surprised look on his face as more vines wrap around his body. I use the vines to pin him to the ground and stand by his side watching as he tries to escape. He stops struggling after a while and looks up at me nodding.
"Well done, Kane." He tells me as I place my hand on the vines and pull the chakra out of them to let him free. I smile when I realize this is the first time I have officially beaten him.
"Indeed that was a very smart plan." Masao smiles proudly at me. Hogo-Sha and my mother nod in approval as they make their way to us.
"You did very well, Princess, I can see how well you have improved." Hogo-Sha gives a smile and bows.
"Thank you, Hogo-Sha." I smile proudly.
"I agree, I can see what your Sensei and Lady Hokage were talking about last night, where did you come up with that Jutsu of Kogosei?" My mother asks.
"Honestly though my chakra control has become better I am still having trouble sensing chakra so I was trying to come up with more ways to find opponents and made a blend of the Ivy trap and the vine essence link Jutsus. It does take a lot of chakra though." I smile and she nods understandingly.
"Come let us all rest and check to see if the caravan is packed up." The Queen says, reminding me that they will have to leave soon. I frown knowing that I was going to have to say goodbye again.
We are sitting waiting for the last bit of the caravan to be packed up, we are resting, drinking some water and talking more about my training when a Jonin makes his way towards us. He looks to Kakashi then my mother. I can tell he doesn't know who to address first, I smile when my mother stands.
"Can I help you?" She asks.
"I'm sorry I am here to give a message to Kakahi." He says bowing.
"You may," My mother says, sitting back down and the Jonin turns to face my Sensei.
"Kakashi, sir, Lady Hokage says that she has found a mission for you as you asked, she asks that you see her after the Hyohaku-sha clan leaves."
"Understood," Kakashi nods. "Thank you."
"Yes, sir." He nods, bows and leaves.
"We have a mission?" I ask, getting excited.
"Well, no," Kakashi says avoiding eye contact. "This mission is a solo mission for me."
"Oh, Ok." I frown. He asked to go on a solo mission… "Well be safe Sensei," I tell him looking towards a clan member hooking the horse reins to a carriage.
"I will thank you, Kane." He says as I look around more and see that all the others are hooked up. This signalled that it was time for my clan to leave. I turn to my mother and see that she is watching me. I try to smile but I know she has already caught on that something was wrong.
"Looks like the clan is ready," I say to her and she frowns but looks around and stands up nodding.
I sigh standing next to the gate as most of my clan members have made their way out of Konoha and said their goodbyes to me. Part of me wanted to go with them and forget about what happened and that Kakashi was now trying to avoid me. I didn't blame him but it still hurt. I turn to face the last three of my clan.
"Well, I guess this is goodbye, again." I sigh and frown even more.
"What did I say last time, Musume?" My mother smiles, giving me a tight hug.
"It's not goodbye, it is 'I will see you later'," I whisper to her giving a small smile as I pull away.
"Are you okay?" She asks her hand on my cheek. I nod and grab her hand, squeezing a bit and turning to Hogo-Sha and hugging him.
"Stay safe." I tell him and he nods.
"You as well, Princess." He tells me and I turn to Masao.
"You are doing great Princess. Keep doing what you're doing and improving and you will do well." He tells me and I nod, stepping into him to give him a hug.
"Stay safe, Masao. I love you." I whisper.
"You as well, Princess." He tells me as we pull apart. I frown even more as I watch them leave. I turn around to go back to my apartment. I avoid Kakashi's eye as I start to walk away but pause.
"Stay safe on your mission, Sensei." I tell him.
"I will thank you, Kane." I hear him say. I nod and turn around to say something else but find him gone. I sigh and start to wander the village.
I wandered around trying to find something to distract myself with for 30 minutes. I was failing miserably. A sad smile makes its way on my face as I smell all the flowers outside the Yamanaka flower shop.
"Kane, Hi!" I hear Ino from inside the shop behind the counter. I wave to her and Sakura as I walk in looking around.
"Kane, are you ok?" Sakura asks from her spot by the counter.
"I'm bored, frazzled, sad and don't know what to do with myself." I answer honestly. Sakura frowns.
"OK, I understand being sad and bored but frazzled?"
"I am not sure I wish to speak on that." I can tell Sakura and Ino are about to protest but I interject. "At least not yet. I'm still processing what happened…"
Sakura nods and I turn to continue browsing the flowers. I spot some Tiger Lilies and grab enough to make a small bouquet. I walk to Ino and hand them to her. I turn and look some more trying to find a good flower for peacefulness. Walk around again and grab some white Daisies. "Can I get a small vase for the daisies, please?
Ino nods and stares at the daisies for a bit.
"May I ask who these are for?" I know she knows the meaning of them, as she and I have gone into many discussions about the language of flowers.
"Ms. Lu, she is staying in the hospital and will not be leaving with the clan, she, unfortunately, will not make it. Only about a month left." I answer sadly and turn when I feel Sakura's arm wrap around my shoulders.
"I'm so sorry." She comforts me. "Would you like some company for the visit or the whole day? I have nothing to do today." I only nod my answer as Ino rings up the flowers and vase. I place my money on the counter and grab my stuff not caring for the change. I can feel Sakura follow me out of the shop.
After visiting Ms. Lu for a little bit I guide Sakura back to my apartment as I didn't feel like wandering the village anymore. I let out a heavy sigh and plop on my couch taking up two cushions as I lay and toss my arm over my eyes. I can feel Sakura sitting at the other end of the couch.
"Do you want to talk about any of it?" Sakura asks, I can hear the frown on her voice and I peek out from under my arm at her.
"I'm not sure," I answer honestly. "So many things happened in the last 2 days that I can't wrap my head around any of it, I wouldn't even know where to start."
"Well, when in doubt the beginning is always a point?" I can't help but snort at her remark.
"Ok, starting from when you kept me up till past mid…. Mmm… no I'm over that. Let's see, skip to my mother drove me to the point of embarrassingly snapping at her in front of everyone, I embarrassed myself again by accidentally almost kissing our Sensei during training… then the next day I snapped at him when he tried to help me sort through my issues with my mom and actually make out with him further embarrassing myself to the point where he leaves on a solo mission. My mother hounded me again with the suitor shit this morning and also tell me about Ms. Lu. All on my birthday and the anniversary of my father's death. Yeah, I think that sums it up." I tell her finally sitting up to see her staring at me. Her green eyes are the size of dinner plates and her mouth is open in shock.
"YOU MADE OUT WITH KAKASHI SENSEI!?" She screams and I jump from how loud she is. I almost wish I could run away at that point as the embarrassment hits me again as I slowly nod my answer. "Ok, Ok, Ok… Let me calm down for a sec… I can't help much with your mom and her suitor shit, as I can't pry into clan stuff much and I am sorry about that. I am here if you need to vent on any of that or just talk about it, your father or anything else with me." She shifts fully facing me cross-legged on the couch. I can't tell she wants to talk more about the make out but smile softly at how kind she was being to let me vent about my mother first.
"Honestly, I'm just sick and tired of all my mom ever cared about since I turned 15 is finding me a suitor. It's like I lost my mother that day. I just want her back, I only ever get small glimpses of her, I just want one day where I can just have my mom, not my Queen."
"I can't say I know how that feels… or how your mother feels, but maybe as a Matriarchal clan finding you a suitor is her way of protecting you, the males are there only for protection and with you now an adult and can't protect you as a mother she wants to find you the best." Sakura tried to help. I sat on her words for a bit.
"So you're saying that because I'm an adult in my clan now that my mother can't protect me any more and she's using the suitor thing to find me someone perfect to protect me? I can't say that makes sense but ok." I shake my head. I slightly change the topic to what she wanted to talk about fully."Kakashi tried to talk to me about it this morning but I was still angry about the birthday dinner that I snapped at him." Sakura perks at this statement but still grins at me.
"You need to start at the beginning of the Kakashi Sensei issues."
"After the birthday dinner and you left, Kakashi Sensei could tell I was still too worked up and angry to rest so he suggested training." Sakura nods understanding but waiting for the juicy details still. "We came to my apartment first for me to get out of my kimono. I found him looking at that picture." I point to the pic Sakura nods while looking at it. "It's from my 15th birthday. It was when my mom fully told me about the suitor thing and when I finally realized I would not ever find true love." I frown. I must have zoned out Sakura puts a comforting hand on mine.
"I don't know what I would do if I was in your position." She mumbles sadly. I grab her hand and squeeze but continue.
"I explained when the picture was taken, he asked why I didn't look too happy in the pic and I answered, leaving out the part about not finding true love, I also told him about my father's death being on the same day as my birthday. We went to his apartment for him to change, I almost read the summary of one of his pervy books." I chuckle at the memory and Sakura laughs. "We then went outside the walls to train as my clan was at the normal training grounds. There he taught me how to get out of grapples, during one of them he had his legs wrapped around my waist and I had to figure out how to get out. Well, your damn words you said about him 'knowing what he's doing due to his pervy books' ran through my head and distracted me." I poke her chest as she starts to laugh. I wait for her to calm down for a second and nod for me to continue. "I got to work up and fall on top of him, if it wasn't for his mask I would have been kissing him." Sakura grins at me trying not to giggle. I roll my eyes at her. "We get back here and he takes the couch, you know the morning from there. Well after you left we finished getting ready for the day and Kakashi asked if I was ready to go see my mother, but I wasn't. He asked if we always argued and I told him only about the suitors, which is true, he asked why it irritated me so much and tried to talk to me about it. But remembering the real reason just got to me, and I think with him being my crush it didn't help." I sigh and remember what happened next. I lean back again as I feel the heat rise in my cheeks. "I grabbed some mint from my garden and stomped into the kitchen to start making tea. I got the damn kettle going and tried to wash the mint but didn't realize I was crying. Kakashi pulled me into a hug, I went to pull away but couldn't. I got lost in his eyes and he didn't stop me from pulling his mask down." Sakura's small giggles cause me to look at her but I regret it instantly as she shrieks out.
"Go on!"
"It only took him a second to kiss back, but when he did, it… it was perfect…" I say throwing my hands on my face to cover my embarrassment.
"OH MY GOD, Is he a good kisser, did you use tongue, anyone better than him?" Sakura asks, bouncing on my couch in excitement. I rolled my eyes from under my hands. Shaking my head no.
"I would know if anyone is better than him, he was my first kiss, and as far as I can tell he is a great kisser and yes we fully made out using tongue." I admit only loud enough for her to barely hear me.
"Oh!" She bounces again and grabs my hand from my face. "What happened after?"
"The tea kettle started to screech! Damn thing almost scared me to death. But it brought us both back to reality. I fumbled around making tea, Kakashi did state that he wouldn't tell anyone what happened and I said I wouldn't either, by the way, you don't know this!" I gave a small glare at her and she nodded understanding, her eyes gaining some seriousness to them. "He then said it can't happen again. I agreed, the rest of the morning was awkward for us but when we got to my clan he must have sent a message to Lady Hokage because after training while waiting for my clan to leave another jonin came to tell him that Tsunade had a mission for him. A solo one. He left to talk with her after my clan left. He clearly can't be around me right now, I messed up so much with this."
"Hmm… I don't think you messed up really," Sakura holds a hand up to stop me from interrupting her. "He didn't stop you and even kissed you back, fully making out with you. I think he likes you back or at least now does, he may be getting away, due to like you said, he is your Sensei and you are his student. Oh, forbidden love." Sakura blissfully sighs for a second. I stare at her. "He left to think if one thing I know about our Sensei is that he thinks over too much. You will have to hide the relationship if it happens but what could be the harm in being with him while you're here?" My eyes widened at her suggestion.
"A lot could go wrong, Sakura, he could lose his job. My mom can find out! Not to mention the judgment." I cringe at the truths running through my head.
"People suck!" Sakura says. "Well, at least you got a small taste of him while you were here." She giggles and I stare at her, I think back to the kiss and a grin spreads on my lips. I giggle with her.
"Is this what being a normal teenager feels like?" Sakura just nods.