The Sword and the Shadow (NSFW, 18+)

Kagura would nod respectfully at her news that she would only take one student at a time. Akari wondered if she was excited by that prospect before mentally realizing that to assume otherwise would simply be stupid. Who wouldn’t be excited by the prospect of one on one teaching? Her words on doubting that she would ever stop learning from you would prompt a bit of Akari’s mischievous side to show, the corner of her mouth twitching up before speaking, a small smirk at the thought. “Oh? Are you trying to tell me you never want to leave me Kagura? My so forward” She would say, a mildly teasing tone as her heart hammered like a piston. Why had she said that? Sure, it was an amusing little joke. But what if she took offense? What if she laughed at the very idea? Wait...What if she laughed at the idea? What did it matter? It wasn’t like that was how she really felt was it?

Was it?...

‘Oh god..’ She would think, her entire world freezing again as she realized what she had felt all along. It couldn’t be? It was too fast, they had just met, how could she be romantically attracted to her of all things? Why was she attracted to her in that way anyway? Was she..well fuck. ‘I guess now that I think about it. I’ve never been attracted to men in any way. None of them can stand up to my brother. With him as a model for others to try to follow, it’s no wonder you’re a lesbian Akari.’ She would think, almost deadpan now. The worst part was that she had just taken Kagura as an apprentice and she wasn’t about to go back on that now that she had said as such to Kagura herself, her feelings be damned. She’d have to keep it secret, but at least now she knew what in the world it was that had been confusing her. Now, she could work with it.

Realizing she herself might have paused too long after her little joke she would shake her head as if to clear it “Sorry, lost in thought. I do need to tell you though, and I’m going to be completely honest here. That despite my rank I’m really not all that powerfully martially. At least, not yet. I took the position because no one else was doing the work. But you and I are actually pretty similar in physical prowess alone. So don’t expect me to be some monster kenjutsu master at the moment. I know a few things, I can learn much more very quickly, and I even have a style I’ve been working on myself. But our spars will be much more evenly matched than you might think.” She would say, wanting to get across that while Kagura was talented, Akari was in all honesty, a fairly weak Kage. She was worried that if Kagura thought she was matching up with her then she might take a risk she otherwise shouldn’t take on a mission or something. So it was smarter to be honest about it now.

[13]

Kagura listened to her little joke and laughed in amusement. “Well, I mean, certainly not a bad thing to think about is it? Having someone who really understands you close by is nice.” She had been talking about how she felt like Akari really understood her and was someone she could trust to lower her guard around, but she also knew that it could be applied the other way. She had been going along with the joke, but that didn’t make the words any less true. She wanted her to know that she wasn’t the type to simply get strong based on her teaching and then cast her aside, usefulness depleted, it just wasn’t how Kagura operated. She enjoyed being around Akari, and would continue to do so if she had a choice, that was the statement.

Listening to how she was relatively lower in level physically, she nodded; it hadn’t felt like she had been holding back all that much earlier in their spar, but that was simple. “Well, that just means we get to grow stronger together right? I mean, my parents taught me a really good workout routine that I’m sure we can use, and the best part is it scales to however strong we get, so it never really gets ‘easy’. It’s how I got as strong as I am now.” She would have to dig into her suitcase to find the key parts of it, but that wasn’t a big deal, nor their focus at the moment. They needed to get these ground rules laid out so they knew how to operate moving forward.

She hoped the hugs wouldn’t be something that got banned.

[14]

Kagura’s response to her joke would make her blush, her mind taking it to the other context as easily as it took Kagura to the real one. Granted it wasn’t like Akari was a pervert or anything. But she was interested in Kagura in ‘that’ way. Which she was glad to have realized now. For now though, it was important for them to get back to it so she considered things for a moment, trying to think of any ground rules they might need to cover. “I suppose I should know your schedule outside of being a shinobi. I don’t know if your parents have you do chores around the house or what your general work load is. I have to be able to schedule around that stuff so that it doesn’t interfere with our training.” She would say, thinking aloud. She had never taught before, so she didn’t know if that was really important to a student/teacher relationship when it came down to it. Or if she was simply expected to say ‘be here by this time’ and make her work it out. But that seemed woefully unfair to Akari for some reason. So she figured working with any schedule she might have already would be better for them both. Besides, that would make it easier for Akari to plan her schedule outside of training with Kagura. She still had paperwork, and other such duties to attend to after all.

“So, any thoughts on ninjutsu you might be interested in?” She asked afterwards. That seemed like it would be the last thing to address, so they could get back to training for the time being. Besides if anything else came up, they could easily handle it then. It wasn’t like all of the rules had to be set up right then. She just hoped Kagura didn’t mind that she wouldn’t be taking hugs off the table any time soon.


[14]

Kagura blinked at comment about her parents for a moment, not even having realized the real reason she had come here in the first place until that moment; to clear her head and put her mind to work on finding a place of her own. “Well that’s pretty easy. In my household, once you graduate from the Academy, you’re an adult. I can go visit them, but I’m looking for a place of my own. Pretty sure my mom has already turned my old room into her personal gym.” The woman had, after all, been joking about that for a month or two now, but the fact that she was homeless, essentially, didn’t seem to bother Kagura in the slightest, causing the girl to give a shrug, when another idea came to mind. “You don’t know of any cheap apartments anywhere would you? Might make for a good place for you to hide when you don’t wanna be ‘Hokage’ for a while and for us to hang out.” The offer on the table and question posed, the conversation shifted to what kind of Ninjutsu interested her.

The answer was startlingly simple.

“All of them? Can’t have too many tools in your kit. I’m also working on a few designs myself for some that will probably be really useful.” She was certainly ambitious, Kagura, but her thinking was sound too. She had never heard of anyone losing a fight because they had too many options to pick from, and generally one was able to adapt better to any situation with more skills at their disposal. That kind of flexibility is the reason Jounin made it as high as they did, but Kagura couldn’t lie… Shadow Clone was probably going to be her favorite, as it was the first technique Akari had ever taught her, and probably going to be one of her fondest memories, thinking of her whenever she used the skill.

[15]

Akari would blink a time or two at Kagura as she essentially stated she was homeless at the moment. Now that was unacceptable no matter how you sliced it and Akari had the answer right then and there. “Cheap apartments? How does free sound? There’s plenty of space at my place. I live at the Uchiha Clan Compound after all. Plenty of houses that range from a comfortable lifestyle to the most expensive money can buy. You could move into my place if you want, or you could take one of the comfortable homes. The extra rooms in my place are the same quality as those comfortable homes so in the end, it’s up to you.” She would say, offering a home for the girl without batting an eye. It would solve a great many things at once. Her student would be nearby, her friend would be nearby. Chores would be a laughable idea, and..well..The girl she was rapidly falling for would be close.

To say Akari’s heart was pounding like a piston while she waited for the answer would be the understatement of the fucking year.

Her answer of ‘all of them’ would cause Akari to laugh, that seemed about right to her. “Alright, we can start there then. We’ll start at the bottom and work our way up, how about that? I don’t know every ninjutsu, but like I’ve said before, I can learn them very quickly and demonstrate them.” She would say before thinking for a moment before palming her forehead. “Silly me, I should probably figure out what you know already. Lay em on me o’ lovely student of mine.” She would say, her mannerisms around Kagura becoming much more laid back as a whole for the time being.

[15]

Free? Free sounded amazing. And her offer was perfect in every way… except… well there was one complication she could forsee. “You’ll have to make it official that you’re training me then, so people don’t ask why a random Genin is staying at your house, but that sounds amazing. You sure I won’t be any trouble?” She wouldn’t mind at all, and already was mentally mapping doing some chores and whatnot around the house to help pull her weight. The fact that she was so close meant that they could easily train together, hang out, learn, go on missions… pretty much be attached at the hip, which the idea Kagura didn’t mind at all.

Upon hearing the request for what she already knew, her eyes went to the ground. “Just the basics of the Academy, Chakra Flow, and a few Kenjutsu Techniques I made myself… and Shadow Clone.” Upon saying the last one, she gained a very genuine, warm smile and looked up at Akari again, giving her full credit and appreciation with the simple gesture. With that said, however, she showed just how much she had to learn; there were thousands of Jutsu in the library, and she just hadn’t been focusing on them yet. She had, after all just graduated from the Academy, but rather than use that as an excuse, she left the excuse just inside her mind. She was stronger than that, and didn’t need to make excuses for her poor repertoire of abilities.

[16]

The idea that she wouldn’t announce that Kagura was her student brought a chuckle to Akari’s lips. “Were you under the assumption that I wouldn’t make it official? You aren’t some secret apprentice.” She would say, giving a warm smile to the girl. “And no, you won’t be any trouble. I live alone anyway, so this will be perfect. And chores are a joke with shadow clones by the way.” She would say, smirking as she remembered all of the paperwork her clones had done for her. So much time saved, it was absolutely insane. This whole thing was making Akari happier by the second. She would get everything she wanted, and it seemed to be what Kagura wanted too. If for slightly different reasons. Granted Akari wouldn’t dream of being forward or doing anything weird. She just...didn’t want to be apart from Kagura if she could help it.

Already she was envisioning spending time with her friend, training, hanging out, gossipping, laughing, and enjoying each other's company. She wanted that more than anything. For now though, it would be important to focus on the training. Akari could easily think of a multitude of jutsu she could teach Kagura, many she could learn herself rather quickly. “That’s fine, it means you’re a nice clean slate.” She would say with a smile that acknowledged the credit given for the shadow clone jutsu. “Let’s see where to start..” She would begin to think before deciding simplest would be best. “We might as well get the easiest stuff out of the way first. I’ll show you a technique that’s simply a way to generate a bit of light.” She would say before simply focusing chakra into the tip of her index finger. Within a moment a small red light appeared upon the tip of her finger, about the size of a golfball. “It’s called Fusee, and it’s about the simplest technique anyone could do. It has no seals and required a miniscule amount of chakra. However learning to how to make a light at times can be surprisingly helpful.” She would say, speaking as if she was simply chatting about the weather with Kagura. After a moment or two she would shake the light away, the orb dispersing. “Your turn, you can make the light any colour. Let’s go with whatever your favorite one is.” she would say, a small smile gracing her features.

[16]

Kagura smiled wider as the woman claimed that she would be taking her on in an official capacity and it wouldn’t be a problem, and nodded at the idea that the shadow clones made chores simple and easy, mentally ensuring that she would memorize the girl’s schedule to make sure that Akari wouldn’t have to worry about those chores anyway; she would do them before Akari got the chance. It would be a small token of appreciation for her making the problem of getting her own place completely non-existent. With that mental promise made, which she refused to share simply because she didn’t want Akari to have any objections, the thoughts moved on to the first Jutsu.

This one was so amazingly simple, she didn’t even need to worry about the Hand-Seals part of it all and simply held up her hand. Honestly, the hardest part about this was thinking about what color she wanted to make the orb, but then a thought crossed her mind as she focused a bit on the spot, and a brilliant blue orb came to life, matching the exact hue of Akari’s natural eyes. “That one was easy,” she said with another warm smile before dispersing the orb and preparing for the next jutsu on the docket.

(Fusee Learned)

[17]

Her smile as her reassurance that she would be a public apprentice warmed Akari’s heart and as she demonstrated the simple fusee technique, her orb blue instead of the Akari’s own red, she would smile at her some more. “All of these will be rather simple for now. We’ll get to the more difficult stuff in a bit. Then we’ll take a break, perhaps go for a swim, and then we’ll pick back up with kenjutsu practice.” She’d say, giving Kagura a run down of her plan for that day. “Then we’ll get you settled at the house, and then get some sleep. Tomorrow, we’ll return here for another day of training.” She would say, nodding to herself at the schedule. It would give them lots to do. Tomorrow would probably be lots of review. However such was necessary for things like memorizing jutsu. “This next one is a simple flare gun. It’s good for calling aid and is simply a manner in which to utilize it differently.” She would say as she raised her hand. She performed the dragon seal with one hand. “Dragon.” She would say, ensuring Kagaura heard it.

Then she would focus some chakra into her finger and fire a flare off into the sky. The red piece of illumination could be seen for miles once it reached its maximum height of one hundred and fifty meters into the air. “You simply overload a fusee with chakra and launch it off into the sky. It can be seen for up to twenty five miles.” She would say, nodding for Kagura to proceed.


[17]

Kagura nodded at the fact that they would be easy for a time, and then get more challenging, and then her eyes lit up a little when the idea of a swim came up. “Oh awesome. I love swimming, and I got my suit in my case over there. But first, I need to earn it right?” she joked, giving the woman a wry smile. The plan was overall amazing, and the smile she had on her face easily conveyed that. And then the lesson for the next Jutsu would begin. She mimicked the symbol, but didn’t hold it for long, forming the ball of energy in her hand and thinking about it, the bright blue ball holding there as she put her hand up towards the sky, and the ball launched as it grew in brightness.

The tiny star reached almost as high as Akari’s herself, and she gave the woman another nod, indicating that she had that one down. So far, so good. She had a little extra motivation to learn these as quickly and efficiently as possible in order to get to the fun of a little water. There was just something amazing about the calming effect of water, and the thought that she could share that with Akari was exciting. She had never had a splash war with anyone either, but had seen others do it, and was looking forward to getting Akari wet.

(Learned Flare Gun)

[18]

“I enjoy swimming too, but I never get to do it very often. I keep my swim suit on me, in a scroll for when I get the rare opportunity though.” She would say a smile on her lips at the thought of getting to relax in the water. She wondered how Kagura would look in her swimming suit but didn’t entertain the thought for long. She didn’t need the distraction for the moment. Besides, she’d see later on. “Yes though, you’ll have to earn it.” She would say before she began instructing her in the jutsu. When it was her turn to demonstrate it she would do so effortlessly, as she expected of her at this point. The slight blue ball of light fired off into the sky to explode into a flare that would be sure to be seen by anyone within a 25 mile range. Then Kagura would nod and Akari would raise an eye. “Ah ah, no hand seals too. I want to see you do every jutsu that has a seal without them.” She would say when Kagura seemed ready to move on.

She wanted to see if that talent of hers had any limitations. It would be interesting for Akari to see if there were any limits to what Kagura could and couldn’t learn do without hand seals. It might be futile in the end, but it would make for easy practice either way and in the off chance that she couldn’t do one of the jutsu without seals, at least they would all know. Which was far more useful than not. Lest she be relying on being able to without seals and then find herself unable to do so. “Once you demonstrate Flare Gun to me without seals, we’ll move on to the next one. It’s for melee combat in case you ever find yourself without your weapon.” She would say, explaining the next technique in the list.

[18]

It was very nice to know that their similarities continued to pile up, to include a recreational activity like swimming, but she didn’t need the distraction of her thoughts at the moment, because her Sensei was giving her more guidance. Kagura nodded at the instructions that she wanted to see her do all the Jutsu without seals. “I don’t consider a Ninjutsu ‘mastered’ until I can get it done without seals, but the more complicated ones I’ll have to practice with seals first to feel how the chakra shapes.” Once she had finished explaining the way she worked with learning Jutsu, she gave her a smile and without seals formed another ball of light in her hand. Just for a bit of fun, she threw it like a ball skyward, but twisted her arm as she did, causing the ball to skyrocket upwards in a corkscrew before detonating.

With that one done, and while she was waiting for the next technique. Seeing that it was for physical combat, she considered putting on her gloves but waited. She felt like doing that would make it feel less personal, and it wasn’t like she needed them; her hands were still soft because she took care of them, but definitely tough because of the sheer number of hours that she had put into Kenjutsu training. She was a little worried because it sounded like a Taijutsu technique, but outside of the minimum basics of hand to hand combat, Kagura was not nearly as talented with it.

[19]

Akari would nod at her words, accepting that learning the jutsu both with and without hand seals was best. It was too, for all the reasons stated before. It also made sense that she needed to practice the jutsu with seals in order to feel how the chakra shapes through doing them. Kagura would flash her a smile and without seals form another ball before launching it into the air with a flourish. The flare corkscrewed up into the air before exploding and bright blue flare again. Akari smiled at her again before nodding. “Very good, now this next ninjutsu supplements the capabilities of hand to hand combat. Which I’ll cover a bit of as well.” She would say before holding her hand up as if she were checking her nails. She made a bit of a show of it before bringing her hand close to her, having her fingers folded into the hand so that Kagura couldn’t see them for a moment.

Then Akari would breath on them as if she were cleaning them. As she did she would activate this next jutsu. The Claw Creation Ninjutsu was again, a technique that required no hand seals whatsoever. It elongated the nails of the hand and reinforced them, making them capable of going up against your average blade without difficulty. Once the claws had formed she would make a show out of revealing her nails moving her hand away from her face and turning it around, as if scrutinizing them. Then she’d smile “This one is just a simple jutsu that reinforces your nails you see. It elongates them and makes them stronger. It has no seals, you just need to find how to channel the chakra properly into them.” She would say, dispersing the jutsu and having her nails revert back to their normal form. “Show me.” She would say, an expectant expression on her features.


[19]

Kagura watched with rapt attention as she began to display the next jutsu, raising an eyebrow at the antics displayed and giggled just a little bit at them before stepping forward, grabbing Akari’s hand gently with her own to look at the nails in more detail before releasing them and beginning to focus her own Chakra. It seemed simple enough she shouldn’t need multiple practices, and she looked at her own nails, splaying her hands so that she could see all her fingernails. Thinking about what she wanted, she felt the Chakra flow into her fingers.

The nice thing was because of the way she trained to use her Chakra, without the seals, that techniques like this were actually pretty simple to do. Her nails grew a bit longer after glowing blue for a moment, turning sharp towards the tips. Idly, she thought that this would be a particularly useful skill for everyday use instead of breaking out scissors for different things. It wasn’t like it was needed for climbing or anything; she knew there were techniques for being able to walk on walls and water and stuff like that. Maybe she could learn those too… But thoughts for a later time. Showing off her elongated nails, she smiled and once they were approved by Akari, shrank them back down.

(Learned Claw Creation Technique)

[20]

Akari would give a smile with mischievous eyes as Kagura giggled at her little antics. When she walked up to her and took her hand in hers to study the nails the dark haired girl would blush mildly. Knowing what her feelings were now didn’t help her much in this regard. Because she knew all too well now that she wanted Kagura to hold her hand. She herself wanted to take Kagura’s hand in hers and kiss it. But she would obviously have to refrain from doing such things. Once her brunette companion had studied her nails she would let go of her hand and begin focusing chakra into her own nails to cause them elongate. Akari herself would watch the nails grow, glowing blue before sharpening at the tips.

The power of this jutsu was in its versatility. Once it was used then one's nails were a deadly weapon, as opposed to the hands themselves. They could be used to slash open throats, gouge eyes out far more easily, and in general cause massive damage to whatever they came into contact with. Akari would nod in approval at the swift success of her new student. “Very good, now then I’ll show you the upgraded version. It takes the principles of Chakra Flow, and applies them to the nails once they are elongated, increasing the capabilities of them even further.” She would say before channeling chakra into her nails once more. There would be no real physical change. So Akari would reach into a kunai pouch with her free hand and utilize the newly sharpened claws to gouge a long line down the length of the kunai. “There’s no physical change to the nails for this one so you’ll need to test them on something. The claws become hard and sharp enough to cause some serious damage to your average equipment, like this kunai. Test them against the other side.” She would say before dispersing the technique and passing Kagura the kunai hilt first. “Still no hand seals for this one either, just combine the principle of the original technique with Chakra Flow.” She would say as she passed the knife over.

[20]

Kagura listened to the explanation and nodded, understanding the concept. Chakra Flow was a technique she had sought out because it made it possible, even with the training weapons they had at the Academy, to overpower her opponents with just a little bit of Chakra. Because she had been trained early on to manipulate chakra for her Paladin’s Will, it came naturally to her, and was extremely easy to apply. This would be no different, she was certain. Elongating her nails again, she focused to enhance the durability with a little extra chakra, and smiled as she felt them responding to her will.

Taking the Kunai, she cut a small line into the metal, smirking at how someone could use this in combat, especially with a one-handed sword style like what she used. It would be all too easy to lock blades and then break their blade at the hilt. She idly was thankful that she had more than your usual amount of Chakra to deal with, her own pool of the internal energy more vast than most people her age, or she probably would have been winded at this point, but instead she seemed just as vibrant as ever. Handing the damaged Kunai back to Akari, she gave her a smile and waited to see what would be next. Her eyes were shining with the light she only gained when she was learning something, her thirst for knowledge unquenchable.

[21]

Akari would nod again in approval at her students' quick application of a jutsu she had been taught. “Well done Kagura-chan.” She would say, adding the suffix to the girls name for the first time. She don’t know why she had said it, she didn’t even notice really. So she would simply move on to the next jutsu. Taking the kunai back and placing it back in her pouch and returning the smile that the brunette gave her. “Now we’ll move on to other useful jutsu. This next one in particular is one of my favorites and one I’m fairly good at myself. It’s called the Body Flicker Technique and you’ll find that it’s a useful way to move around a fight. It utilizes chakra to increase your speed to a startling degree. It generally uses the half tiger seal however this is one jutsu that even I can use without seals.” She would say as she explained the jutsu and showing the one handed tiger seal.

Holding the seal she would activate the jutsu and shoot back twenty meters before doing it right back, ending where she had been. “You can only use it in a straight line though, so be careful because it can easily be used against you if you’re not careful.” She would say, explaining the weakness of the technique. “For that matter, it has a range limit, with a single usage of the jutsu you can only go 100 meters. Then you’ll have to pay the cost again.” She would say at last, finishing the explanation of the jutsu. “Go ahead and show me, and try not to run into me this time, neh?” she would say, throwing a mild jab at Kagura given how she had bowled into her earlier in their very short lived spar.

[21]

Kagura wasn’t entirely certain why, but hearing that suffix at the end of her name made her smile just a little bit more, noting that it felt right to her. They were not equal in rank or skill in the slightest, but neither of them were willing to make that something that, when it was just the pair of them at least, interfered with considering each other equals as human beings. It was very nice to have someone so humble to be her friend, and the Hokage, as a whole. Utterly amazing that she had reached Hokage at such a young age, she was still a teenage girl, and being social without worry about that title was probably a weight off her shoulders.

The brunette listened closely as they transitioned to a movement style jutsu, realizing that it had similarities to her own custom technique, Comet’s Rush. She hadn’t shown it earlier mostly because she didn’t want to accidentally hurt Akari. She also gave a gentle giggle as the explanation was finished, knowing full well that she could put this technique to use in combination with her own since it required a little bit of distance. “OK… but I’m going to show you something else too…” She wanted to show off just a little bit, maybe try to impress her friend.

First, she formed the half-tiger seal with one hand, showing she was capable of such as well, and drew her sword, looking at a small boulder that was nearby. She flickered towards the rock, pretending it was an opponent, giving it a couple of quick jabs that didn’t quite hit the rock, as she didn’t want to break her sword, and then dropped the seal, and then flickered backwards nearly a hundred meters and lowered into a very low runner’s stance. In a rush, she launched forward, picking up speed as Chakra Flow enhanced her weapon’s durability and her speed increased dramatically as she ran, almost blurring as she leapt forward, sword extended, the crack of a sonic boom shaking the area and a wake of wind tossing everything nearby aside as she struck the rock, plowing through it and skidding to a halt on the other side.

One more use of the Body Flicker without a seal, and she was standing before Akari again with a smile. “You’ve been showing me all these cool techniques, I wanted to show you one of mine. That’s Comet’s Rush. Made it myself.” And very suddenly, she felt sheepish about it, not sure if it was even any good, but played it off. “What do you think?” she asked, sounding carefree, even if she was a little worried.

[22]

Her friend’s claim that she would show her something as well as demonstrate the body flicker caused a curious eyebrow to be raised at her. Akari was interested given that she had giggled at the thought of whatever it was. “Alright, sure.” She would say as she watched and waited for what was to come. Akari was halfway tempted to activate her sharingan to watch but decided against it. Most people who heard of it knew of the sharingans copying capability. She didn’t want her friend to think she was stealing anything from her. An enemy of the battlefield? No problem, but simply copying techniques that comrades had spent time, sweat, and blood to make and perfect was incredibly rude. So she would keep her crystalline blue eyes upon her student as she formed the half tiger seal and body flickered toward a small convenient boulder. Upon her arrival she would give a few mock jabs, not quite connecting so that her wooden sword didn’t snap.

What came next would be a bit of a surprise.

Kagura would proceed to flicker as far away as she could and drop into a low runner's stance. Then she would begin to dash forward, picking up speed and momentum as she went. Akari would see the chakra flow upon the weapon, increasing it’s durability for the sake of the impact. She was able to keep her eyes on her without trouble but many would have trouble doing so. When she reached her peak speed though a sudden, resounding, crack would resonate through the air as a sonic boom was made. Akari would blink once in confusion at that and watched as she crashed into the rock, plowing through it with her blades ‘tip’ and moving on, skidding to a halt on the opposite end. Then she would use the body flicker again to appear in front of Akari. Which was fortunate as the dark haired girl was about to step forward. Lord wouldn’t that have been embarrassing? Her smile would draw one from Akari, god was she going to be able to make her smile every time she herself did? Probably, oh well. She would then proceed to explain her technique, it’s name and stating that she made it herself. Then she would ask what she herself thought.

Now, Akari wasn’t stupid. Actually if she were to really consider it she would be one of the top two or three intellectuals in the world. However that was beside the point. Right now, that question was an excessively loaded one. Her new student was looking for her thoughts on a technique she’d made. It was almost inherent that she would be craving approval. The good news? Akari wouldn’t have to lie or act more impressed than she was. Because what Kagura had done was impressive as a whole. “That was certainly something. I can’t say I’ve ever seen someone so casually cause a sonic boom. Comet’s Rush you say?” She would ask, curious before she decided to go ahead and ask something herself. “You know of the Sharingan and its capabilities?” She would ask, seeming to change the subject but in reality about to give what some might consider a compliment in it’s own right.

[22]

Kagura smiled widely and scratched the back of her head at the praise, but she herself knew that it was full of holes and nodded to confirm the name of the technique, but before she could dive into them, she was asked a question herself about the Sharingan. “I know it gives you the ability to copy jutsu and predict people a little… that’s about it, and that’s just rumor more or less aside from the copying bit.” She then connected the dots, and blushed for a moment. Was she saying that she wanted to copy her technique? It meant that she truly did like her Comet’s Rush. In that case, a warning was needed. “It’s got a lot of perks to speed, but you almost have to use it on a stationary target. Like bind them or something… you have to create distance and build up speed in order for it to work, and it goes in a straight line. Great for crowds though and getting to the back-ranks of a formation…”

With the warning out of the way, she could tell that Akari was itching to ask something, and while she had a feeling she knew what it was and was actually preparing to give permission regardless, she decided she would wait and let her ask the question, as it was quite possible that there was more to it than ‘Can I copy the technique?’. With that in mind, she gave a considerable pause to let the woman know she could go ahead with what she wanted to say.

[23]

Akari would smirk at Kagura’s words. “More than a ‘little’ to be honest, and it does offer other benefits as well. I would like your permission to copy your technique, and if possible, any technique you might make down the line with the exception of those you specifically request me not to. I find it rude to simply do such things without permission from allies, and friends. So if you don’t want me to, I won’t.” She would say, before Kagura began explaining the drawbacks. “I understand the weaknesses. It’s a straight shot, effectively a body flicker with a horrendously powerful lunge involved.” She would say, given that both techniques were jutsu that sent one careening ahead in a straight line it was an apt description in her opinion.

“In return, I’ll teach you my own personal kenjutsu techniques if you wish but they are rather simple in execution. Simply well timed thrusts for the most part. Although my personal style causes confusion and causes targets to be unable to follow me.” She would say, admitting that her own style wasn’t as flashy as what Kagura had just shown her. They had gotten off track from the training of ninjutsu for the moment, but it wasn’t like they were going anywhere for a while. So they had time to diverge a bit for something like this. Copying the technique should Kagura agree could be done later, during their spar, where Akari could simply copy it as they were used. The important thing now, was permission.

[23]

She was not disappointed. The request was an in depth one, and actually came with a bonus of learning some specific techniques that Akari herself had invented, causing another smile from the brunette to form. She too had seen the similarities in her own technique and Body Flicker, which is what had prompted her in the first place to show off the technique she had made. Learning techniques that she couldn’t find in a library was akin to offering her a delicious cake that couldn’t be found anywhere else. Despite her excitement, which could easily be seen in her light brown eyes, she reeled it in and made it less of the giddy bouncing and fistpumping and more controlled… with some effort.

“That sounds amazing. Can never have enough Jutsu, am I right? I am just glad my style is something that your trained eye thinks is enough to make the cut.” She took a breath to calm herself again, trying not to bust up laughing at her pair of horrible puns. “The style is called Dance of the Heavens… has a stance and everything. When I was young, I’d spend hours just staring up at the sky at night, watching the stars… it kinda has a heavy influence on the names I choose for the techniques. I have two more techniques proper and then the base stance I can use.” But for the moment, that was it… not a lot, but still enough that she had the edge against most with Kenjutsu.

[24]

Akari would watch her light brown eyes light up with excitement at the prospect of learning techniques that she couldn’t learn anywhere else. To be honest Akari was excited too, but she was keeping a better lid on it than Kagura was. Still though, if one looked close enough one could see the signs. A faint twitch of her sword hand, a shadow of a smirk that didn’t quite form upon her features at the prospect of learning more. When she expressed her opinion on the idea Akari would have to..well, she would fail to keep herself from laughing at the puns that Kagura made. It would take her a few moments to get herself under control again, but soon enough she would be and she would listen intently to Kagura’s explanation of the style's name.

At her words Akari’s features would soften, a small smile gracing her lips at the thought. The star filled sky could be seen quite well from her backyard. She let herself consider a moment, the idea of surprising Kagura with a night that just involved junk food, unhealthy drinks, and a couple of comfortable reclining chairs. A night where they just sat in the backyard, comfortably chatting with each other as they watched the starry universe at play. That was an idea worth remembering later and she made a mental note to do it.

“Everything has to have a beginning right? It’s only a start now, but if you continue the effort, it’ll grow into something much more complete as time goes on.” She would say, giving her a smile that was equal parts caused by her words, and the emotions that idea before had caused. “What jutsu had we just gone over again?” She would ask, coming back into her own head suddenly as she stopped daydreaming about a night filled with drinks, food, gossip, and the starry sky.

[24]

Kagura giggled at hearing Akari laugh, realizing quickly that she very much enjoyed the fact that she could make the other woman laugh with her rather lack-luster wit and sense of humor. She nodded to the wisdom that the basis of her techniques went back to her childhood, and knew as time went on, she would only get stronger, better, and more diverse with her skillset. They would grow with one another and become two ninja that people didn’t want to cross. But the daydreams would have to wait, because it seemed it was time to get back to work on learning more Jutsu, the question posed on where they had left off.

As a reminder, Kagura Body Flickered, having gone under Akari’s legs in a burst of movement and standing behind her with a mischievous smile. “We had just finished Body Flicker.” She said with a bit of laughter painting her words, followed by sticking her tongue out for a moment playfully. It wasn’t easy because Akari’s legs weren’t spread very far apart, as she was standing naturally, so Kagura had been forced to go sideways and even then had felt her chest brush against the woman’s leg for a split second, but the shenanigans of the situation had been more than worth it.

Now she was ready to learn what Jutsu came next.

[25]

Kagura’s giggle would cause Akari to smile at her once more. She seemed to be doing that a lot and she wondered if it was a bad thing per se. Probably not if she were being honest. She didn’t laugh anywhere near often enough. Her response to her question though would cause quite a few problems. A few, extremely embarrassing, some that were simply curious thoughts that she didn’t know if she’d ever get answered. When Kagura answered her question by body flickering between her legs, she would in fact be a bit too preoccupied in trying to figure out which technique to teach her next. So when she crossed between them, her chest brushing against her leg, the momentum of Kagura’s movement, combined with how low to the ground she was, would effectively cause Akari to flip forward.

Now, once the Uchiha Princess was in the flip, the recovery was simple enough. All she had to do was extend a hand, as if she was in the middle of a one handed cartwheel, and use the momentum to carry herself to her feet. Then she would shake her head a moment to clear it before turning back to Kagura with a small smirk. “You know, if you want me on my back that bad someone as pretty as you wouldn’t need to go through nearly so much effort.” She would say.

And as soon as the words left her lips she would internally kick herself. ‘Why not just admit you’re physically attracted to her, you moron?!’ She would think to herself. Such an open flirt would almost certainly prove that was ‘into’ women and she had just offered to let Kagura move in with her not too long ago. What in the world would she think after that?! It took her a few moments to bring down her own fuming self recriminations. “U-Uh, so onto the next jutsu!” She would say, trying to change the subject quickly to hopefully head off any awkwardness. “The Haze Clone Technique is a derivative of the clone jutsu that has multiple clones that cannot be destroyed. The clones are unaffected by attacks, they still can’t speak or do complex actions, but they can be used to set up a trap or confuse and disorientate an opponent.” she would say, almost too quickly, her face beat red with embarrassment. “The hand seals are Dog and Tiger.” She would say as she performed them quickly and spawned ten Akari’s that all looked about as embarrassed and beat red as she did.

Fuck, why was she multiplying the embarrasment?

[25]