"Hey, hey, where's Tsunami?" Naruto asked, looking around the training field. "She's usually here with us!"
"Tsunade-sama sent her on another mission," Sakura informed his teammate. "She's going with Gai-sensei's team."
Kakashi lowered his orange colored book, tucking it away. "She'll be back soon. Anyway, let's get started. We're going to have a practice match, to evaluate your skills. Sasuke and Naruto up first."
The onyx-eyed boy sighed as he took his place on the field. In the past few weeks, he had searched out Shizuka Tsunami every single day to help him with his taijutsu. Since she was from the village Shoumaru, she was extremely advanced. Sasuke didn't doubt that she could probably beat Rock Lee at his own expertise. But an Eliminator's taijutsu was slightly different from a ninja's. They had a lot more aerial movements that were incredibly complicated to block. And it was for those reasons Sasuke trained with her. She could make him stronger.
Naruto started charging at Sasuke the moment Kakashi said "Begin." Sasuke watched him carefully. He didn't even need his Sharingan. Over the weeks, Naruto had grown incredibly strong, despite the fact that he was dubbed the Village Idiot. But his movements were still bold and rash and Sasuke could see through all of them before they struck.
He quickly caught Naruto's punch with one hand, swinging his foot around and slamming it into the blond boy's gut. Sasuke didn't let go of Naruto's hand, using the momentum of his body to kick Naruto upwards. In another few seconds, Sasuke had his teammate pinned to the ground, victorious. The blond boy was cursing, struggling hard. Sasuke merely pressed his foot harder against his back and sighed again, bored.
He wished Tsunami was here. She was much more interesting to train with. He would always learn something new from her. Sasuke frowned, mulling over his thoughts. Why was he always thinking about her when she was gone? Did he miss her?
He pushed that thought away quickly. He missed training with someone that was at his level. That was it. He longed to be stronger.
"Okay," Kakashi said, waving his hand dismissively. "Good job, Sasuke. Your speed and agility have improved greatly. You actually look like a cross between Rock Lee and Tsunami," the older man commented.
Sasuke released a grumbling Naruto. It wasn't surprising that Kakashi had noticed. He had used his Sharingan to copy some interesting moves from the two taijutsu experts. Lee's Lion Combo, and an unnamed combo that Tsunami often used. It consisted of flipping over the opponents shoulder, using that momentum and surprise to kick the opponent up, and then immediately following a powerful spinning kick to the gut. It seemed pretty normal, but with her incredible speed and the effect of surprise, Sasuke fell for that move the first six times she used it. And after every time, his body ached as if he'd taken a thousand punches.
"Next up, Naruto and Sakura," Kakashi intoned from the side. Sasuke walked over to join him, watching as his two teammates took their places on the field. His dark eyes wandered, taking in the colorful trees. The autumn had already taken its toll on a few trees. There was one that bore bright orangey leaves. The same color of her hair. They swayed gently in the wind.
Sasuke rubbed his eyes, blinking hard. Was he hallucinating? Or was that really her standing underneath the great oak? Her long fiery hair swaying in the wind alongside with the orange trees?
"Tsunami!" Kakashi said, surprised. "You arrived sooner than I thought."
In a flash, Shizuka Tsunami was next to them. She looked rather bored, her large boomerang strapped to her back. How she carried the huge weight around with her so easily was still an enigma to Sasuke.
"Neji figured out who the ghost thief a lot faster than we gave him credit for," she replied, glancing at Sakura and Naruto, now locked in combat on the training field. "His Byakugan is really creepy, but it's pretty handy."
She abruptly turned her dark blue eyes to Sasuke. "Did you fight yet?" she asked.
Sasuke stared at her. Finally, he forced himself to tear away, focusing on Naruto's blond head. "Yeah," he muttered. "I won."
"You want to train over there then?"
Sasuke turned to look at her. She was pointing to an empty area next to where Naruto was fighting Sakura.
Tsunami grinned. "I want to test something out. You've never fought me with Bousekikire, have you?"
Sasuke slowly shook his head, a strange warmth flooding his body. He felt excited and almost content. Because he would gain new experience. He could grow stronger, and hopefully someday strong enough to finally beat his brother.
"Where's Naruto and Sasuke?" I asked Sakura as we walked through town the next day.
She shrugged. "Sasuke's going through some freaky intense training with Kakashi-sensei. Naruto left with Jiraya-sama awhile ago to train too." Sakura sighed, closing her eyes. "They're so obsessed with growing strong, it's creepy. Train, train, train. That's all they do."
I mulled over her words, thinking about the days when I used to be like them too. Father forced me to train every minute every single day, until I was too tired to even move. I only realized now that it was Father's persistence that I had made it to a red sash. I could never train to kill. But as a ninja now, I trained to protect others. I smiled.
"Tsunami! Sakura!" Ino's voice suddenly rang in our ears. We turned to see her run towards us. "Tsunade-sama wants to see you, Sakura. And she also wants you to deliver this to Kakashi-sensei," she directed towards me.
I took the note from her. "See you later, Sakura. Thanks Ino." I waved, and disappeared over the rooftops.
I found Kakashi in a woody area with two enormous boulders. Sasuke was leaning heavily against them. The rocks had two large craters in them, and they were smoking.
"Your limit is two," I heard Kakashi tell his student. He turned to face me when he noticed I was there. "What's up, Tsunami?"
I handed him the letter. "I was told to give this to you."
He scanned the note, and folded it up, sighing. "Very well then. Sasuke, I have some business to attend to, so I'll see you later, okay? Bye guys!" He waved and disappeared in a poof of smoke.
I felt someone watching me intently. "What?" I directed at Sasuke. His black eyes stared into my blue ones, and I felt heat slowly crawl up my face. I turned my back to him. Geez, did he have to stare like that? His gaze was so intense.
"I'm going back," Sasuke announced as he got to his feet. He hesitated a moment before asking, "D-do you want to come too?"
"Sure," I immediately answered, slightly stunned at the speed of my own response.
Sasuke took no notice and started walking. I quickly caught up to him as we headed back to town side by side in a comfortable silence. And for some reason, I couldn't explain why I felt so content with this boy's presence beside me.
...
Sigh. I admit now I have the entire storyline finally set in stone in my head. It's going to be sad, but I'm not giving away anything yet. Anyway, I'm sorry if this chapter isn't anything too great. I'm not that good at developing feelings. XD Rates and message?
