Chapter 154: Pushing Forwards

After the inter class spar, everyone inside my class was motivated to continue, wanting to grow even stronger as they were praised and congratulated by their peers for their outstanding performances.

Some, like Ami or Sasuke, relished the jealousy of those weaker then them - both physically and mentally - and used that jealousy to continue to further the gap, thriving off of the pride they received from being better than most.

Of course, I took those times to humble them by placing them in disadvantageous spars against their equals - namely Naruto, but also Rock Lee and Neji.

Trying to temper and hone each of the unique, rowdy children under my care was a hard task, but one that I found to be so very rewarding to complete.

Watching as they slowly grew stronger gave me a sense of comfort, knowing that these children would be the ones protecting the village when I finally retired, letting me live in peace with my own children, unworried about wars or conflicts.

Each of them had something that I could sharpen and temper to be something incredible.

Tenten seemed to have a knack for utilizing blades and other cold steel weapons, finding them easy to use and progressing further with them then her classmates in such a short amount of time.

Sakura had a penchant for chakra control of such an insane degree that whoever tutored her after she left the Academy would have trouble giving her the amount of jutsus that she would likely want to learn and master.

Shikamaru was proving to be every bit of a genius as people believed him to be, while Ino and Choji were honing their respective jutsus and continuing to strengthen their bonds between themselves.

Naruto and his sealing, alongside his Taijutsu, was slowly placing him leagues above the rest.

Sasuke continued to perfect his clans techniques as best he could, all while continuing to build his strength the normal way as he adopted the training regimen I handed out to the girls.

Each of my students were reaching new found levels of strength each day, and I was proud of each of them the more we moved into the year.

Out of the Academy, I had begun to watch as Riku started exploring her ability to crawl and speak more, although she did remain a rather quiet, reserved girl who preferred her own space.

Akari, on the other hand, was slowly becoming a little demon on her own as she started roaming the house, only to try and find one of us to 'talk' to as she demanded we cater to her every whims, which usually came in the form of playing or holding her.

Kurenai seemed to be getting exhausted from her baby girl, though the smile she wore whenever she was with Akari let me know that her daughter washed away those feelings each time she held her.

Anko also mellowed out a little with the additions of Riku and Akari, spending more time at home then in the field, while also picking up a few hobbies to try and earn some more money on those days where she remained at home.

Surprisingly, she seemed to have inherited her family's knack for calligraphy, and she started with small, simple slips of paper that held each of our names, which I framed and placed in one of the free rooms.

I had been a little worried about her after the job at the Interrogation Unit fell through, but she seemed to have expected that to happen, gently rubbing the back of her shoulder as she looked away.

That was apart of the reason that I was pushing Naruto so hard with sealing - I wanted him to reach a level where he could remove the mark left behind by Orochimaru, so that Anko could have the assurance that her life was truly hers.

Meigetsu also began to make more frequent visits to play with Riku and Akari, enjoying the contrast between the half sisters.

She also spoke more often to me, and when I was able to I went through some light training with her, the dark blue feathered Hawk seemed to mesh really well with me, to the point that she eventually told me that she was considering forming a pact with me.

It had been over a year since I had first met her, but Meigetsu had gone from a small baby to almost fully grown in that time, and I rather liked her.

Time continued to trickle by, and I was blessed to watch as everyone around me slowly grew older, either maturing or learning more about themselves in that time.

I deepened my friendships with my peers, opened my heart more to Anko, Kurenai, and Cameia, watched as my first daughter grew older...

It was all something that I was incredibly thankful for.