Growing strength and disturbing feelings

And there I was, face to face with Orochimaru-sama again, but this time it was only the two of us.

"Good, Mikura-chan, I see that you are better." He said with a friendly tone.

I nodded.

"Then we can begin. As I know, you have a strong wind chakra nature, but water chakra nature is present too. In order to be able to attack, you must learn some mid and long-range ninjutsu. This combined with your Kekkei-Genkai and taijutsu will make you a dangerous opponent."

"I understand."

"We'll start with something simple. It's called Wind Release: Air Bullets. As you probably figured, with this technique you can shoot multiple bullets of air, with intense speed. You can subdue an entire group with it, and it works for all ranges."

"Sounds good, I can't wait to learn it," I said, excited.

"That's the attitude, Mikura-chan. I'll do it now, so pay attention. The only hand seal we need is bird."

He weaved the seal and took a deep breath. He exhaled several air bullets with an amazing speed, which pierced a wall.

"Your turn."

"I... Um... Alright."

I took the same position. I weaved the sign and took a deep breath. I exhaled... a small breeze. What?

"You have to channel more chakra. You have a good chakra control; you can do it. Now try again."

I did as he said, but I failed again. And again. And again. I made the same thing five more times. I was almost out of chakra when I managed to release a few air bullets, but the number and the speed couldn't compete with his.

"Good. It's enough. Well done." He said smiling.

"Well done? I did it only once and it was weak."

"What, you thought that you'll do it from the first try?" He asked laughing.

"Not from the first one... But I expected to do it after the 10th one..."

"Learning ninjutsu it's not easy, Mikura-chan. You must be patient. We'll make baby steps, but you'll master all the techniques, you'll see."

"Thank you, Orochimaru-sama. I'll do my best."

"I know you will. Now you should talk to Kabuto and Kimimaro-kun about your taijutsu training. We'll see again tomorrow. Till then, you can do whatever you please."

I nodded and bowed as he left. I left too, searching for Kabuto-san first. I found him in his lab, working among dozens of scrolls and test tubes filled with colorful substances.

"Sorry for bothering you," I said feeling bad for breaking his concentration.

"It's OK. What do you need?"

"Orochimaru-sama told me to talk to you about my taijutsu training."

"Ah, that. I'll come to take you in the morning. Get some rest." He said, starting to read again.

I left in a hurry because his mood was not a good one and the last thing I wanted, was to make him mad at me.

I tried to find Kimimaro-san, but he wasn't in his room. I went to the kitchen, but he wasn't there either. I took a peach from the fruit basket, and I went to my room. I ate as fast as I could and got under my sheets.

"Mikura! Wake up, we must start your training."

"Kabuto-san?" I asked with my eyes half-open.

"Yes. Hurry, we are wasting time."

"Five minutes."

I showered and changed my clothes faster than I thought I could. When I opened the door, I found him looking impatient as usual.

"Let's go."

We went outside and I was amazed to see the sunrise. We walked a bit until we found a beautiful meadow. He gave me his pouch again, and I tied it to my thigh.

"That pouch will be yours. Kimimaro will show you today where the weapons are kept, and you can choose some of them for yourself."

"Got it."

"Shall we begin? For now, I want to test all you got and to see what needs improvement."

"I'm ready."

He was already attacking me. I ran in his direction too, getting almost too close, but I managed to bent down and slid on the grass, hitting his leg. He lost his balance a bit, but he remained on his feet, trying to use my disadvantageous position against me. He stepped back and threw a few shurikens, but I got up fast enough to avoid them with my kunai. That made me distracted and I almost got hit by his fist. I blocked it with my hand, and from there, a tough exchange of punches and kicks began. I barely dodged half of them, but I managed to make a deep scratch on his forearm with my kunai and to punch his right shoulder hard. We kept it like that till the sun was up in the sky. He wasn't going easy on me at all. I was sweating like hell and I was exhausted. I got exhausted enough to lose my fast reflexes and to be grabbed by the neck and put down.

"We need to improve your stamina." He said, helping me to get up.

I nodded.

"And you should learn how to read your opponent. If you pay attention to my fighting style, you'll notice a pattern. Try to visualize and to anticipate what's coming next."

"Understood."

"Good, we're done. Let's go."

I went to my room, and after cleaning myself, I went to the kitchen to have my breakfast. I found some firewood and lit the stove. I knew how to prepare some basic foods, but I wasn't such a great cook. I searched for the ingredients in the pantry. I found there some fresh and dry vegetables, smoked meat, some noodle packs, rice packs, and spices. Hmm, not bad. I choose to cook some saucy mushrooms with noodles. Finding the right pots, I started to cook. Till the water boiled, I got a bit lost in thoughts, but the feeling of a familiar chakra brought me back to reality. For an unknown reason, I got very excited.

"Kimimaro-san," I said with a smile when he came in.

"Mikura." He said with a shadow of a smile.

"Are you hungry? There is enough for both of us."

"Yes, thank you. I see that you got used to this place already."

"I did," I said, putting the food on our plates.

"I'm glad. You'll be treated well here."

"I don't doubt it."

I put a plate in front of him, took mine, and started to eat.

"Is your training going well?" He asked with curiosity.

"Slow... " I sighed. "I managed to learn a new technique, but I'm not brilliant. And Kabuto-san just beat the life out of me."

He started to laugh, confusing me. I knew I was pathetic, but his laugh made me feel even weaker.

"Mikura, you can't learn a technique in a day and to make it perfect. And you can't beat someone with experience in taijutsu from the first try. You need a lot of training to be able to become a skilled ninja."

"I guess I'm a bit impatient," I said, happy that he wasn't laughing of me after all.

"It's natural, we all are. Talking about that, you have to train with me too."

"Oh, yes. Well, in the afternoon I'll be training with Orochimaru-sama. So I'm free in the evening."

"We can train before dinner. You'll need to recover your chakra."

"Perfect."

Since we were done eating, I washed the dishes and went to my room. I had to prepare for my training. I was surprised to find some new basic ninja clothes in my wardrobe. Well, those will come in handy.

Doing this and that, I was summoned for the training. I was nervous again. Nervous enough to fail miserably my first attempts to do the jutsu.

"Hm, I have a better idea," Orochimaru-sama said with a devilish grin.

He waved some signs and a bunch of snakes suddenly approached me. I jumped back, trying not to get freaked out. Those snakes were coming at me with killing intent. Driven by fear, I put my hands in the right position and I managed to use the air bullets to kill some of them, and dodged the others. Orochimaru-sama took care of the rest and smiled.

"Very well. I knew that you'll succeed."

"Thanks to your training."

"And to your skills. You'll become a fine shinobi, Mikura-chan."

"I'll do my best!" I said with a wide smile.

"Good, we're done for today. Tomorrow we'll practice this one again, and I'll show you the basics for Wind Release: Breakthrough."

"Sounds good. See you tomorrow, Orochimaru-sama." I said bowing.

I went straight to the kitchen. I was so hungry; I could eat a dragon. I ate two bowls of rice with grilled fish and two boiled eggs. I was happy that no one joined me because I ate like a pig. Hm, but I kind of missed eating with Kimimaro-san. I slapped myself mentally for that thought, wondering why was I thinking about Kimimaro-san so often.

Back in my room, I lay in my bed and fell asleep instantly.

I was somewhere between dreaming and reality, fighting some imaginary snakes when I heard a knock on the door.

"Mikura?"

"Hm? Kimimaro-san?" I asked, blinking away the sleepiness.

"Please get ready."

"In a minute."

I took my pouch, my shoes and ran to him. When I opened the door I almost collided with him. I stepped back, with burning cheeks.

"Sorry."

"It's fine. Follow me." He said, smiling.

Wow, he really had an amazing smile. And mesmerizing eyes, I thought while we were walking through the hallways in silence.

"Is something wrong?" He asked confused.

"N-no. Why?"

"You're staring."

I felt the blood warming my cheeks. Damn! What was I doing?

"I... I was just lost in thoughts."

He nodded. Ha, lost in thoughts my ass! Thank Kami he believed my pathetic lie.

We stopped in front of a door which he opened and left me to go in first. He turned on a light, and I was astonished to see the number of weapons. There were all kinds of swords, drills, axes, bows, arrows, chains, claws, explosive equipment, kunais and shurikens, scythes, and other things that I was unfamiliar with.

"Do you see anything that you like?"

"Hm, let's see..."

I started to study in detail every weapon, weighing my options. Kunais, shurikens, explosive tags, and smoke bombs were basic equipment, so I took a few of each one. As for the main weapon, I had no idea which one would fit with my battle style. I didn't even have a battle style yet.

"Hard to decide?" He asked, coming next to me.

"Mhm."

"Well, as far as I know, you are using long and mid-range jutsu. Which means, we have two options. You choose a weapon that fits your range to stay in your comfort zone, or you could choose a close-range weapon and cover all ranges. Or you could simply fight without weapons. It's up to you. But if you choose one, try to choose something that won't be too big or heavy for you. It should not get in your way. "

"You are right, thank you for your help."

I looked again, trying to use his advice. Long-range... Hm. This should do it! I took a bow and some arrows. But covering all ranges might be better, it would improve my chances to win a fight. Being so doubtful about my choice, I took a katana too.

"I don't know what would be better for me, so I have to try both ways," I said slightly amused.

"Fine, let's begin then." He said, chuckling.

We went to the same place I fought with Kabuto-san in the morning. The sun was still in the sky, but in an hour or two, it will set for sure.

"OK. Let those weapons down, and show me what you got."

"W-what?" I asked, confused.

"You thought that we'll start with them?" He asked, laughing.

"Well, yes."

"You really are impatient, Mikura. Let's take it easy, OK? We need to do it step by step. I have to test your skills first."

"Right. Sorry, Kimimaro-san." I said feeling stupid for acting like a child.

"Please, drop the 'san'. Now give me all you can." He said, taking his battle position.

I tried to attack, but he disappeared in an instant. He was already behind me. Lucky me that I felt his chakra in time and avoided a direct hit. I grabbed a kunai from my pouch and fought back, but the moment a sharp bone came out of his skin, I lost my balance and fell on my butt like a baka that I was.

The dangerous-looking bone was in front of my neck, and then I remembered that I read about that jutsu once. It was the Kekkei-Genkai of the Kaguya clan. Right, then he was the last survivor of that clan. Who would have thought?

"You lost your focus, Mikura. In a battle, you may encounter greater powers. Try to control yourself no matter what's in front of you. You shouldn't show your fear." He said, helping me to get up.

"I'm sorry Kimimaro-kun, I never fought against someone like you. Your Kekkei-Genkai is really amazing, but it's... scary."

"OK, I understand. Let's try again."

This time I attacked without hesitation, but I found out that he was fast, strong, and untouchable.

On the other hand, I was scratched on my forearms, my abs, my left thigh, and my clothes were ripped in some places. He managed to throw me on the ground countless times. He was so powerful and had a perfect balance.

I was almost out of chakra. I used my clones and substitution jutsu too much. We lost the daylight and, in the end, I was on the ground again, with his sharp bone touching my neck. I could have dodged the attack, but his mesmerizing eyes looked even greater in the moonlight and I got distracted. My cheeks were warm again.

"Why didn't you oppose my attack? Are you hurt?"

"No, Kimimaro-kun. I'm just exhausted." I lied without blinking.

My gaze fell on his lips for a second, and I felt my heart racing.

"Mikura, you're staring again." He said, helping me to get up.

"I... Um..."

He left out a little laugh, making me a sign to follow him. He took the weapons and handed them to me.

"I think we can call it a day. We have to work on your focus, speed, and stamina. Your strength as well. After that, we can start to use weapons."

"OK..."

"Are you hungry, Mikura?"

"A bit."

"Let's meet in the kitchen in twenty minutes. I'll cook dinner for both of us."

"Great," I said, excited.

Kimimaro-kun... He was really impressive. He was so wise and mature, even though he seemed only a bit older than me. And strong. And gifted. And... handsome. No, Mikura. Just forget the last part. Don't be stupid, you should not think about things like that. A future shinobi shouldn't be distracted like this.

When I arrived in my room, I left the weapons and spoiled my skin with some warm water. My scratches were not happy with it, but I couldn't care less. I felt my muscles so tense and I needed to relax.

After I was done with the shower, I put on some clothes and ran to the kitchen. He was already there, cooking. His gaze met mine as I entered, and made me blush in an instant. He wore a light purple robe; his hair was wet and left loosely. It cutely framed his face.

"Smells good. What are you cooking?" I asked to hide my hesitation.

"Hayashi Rice."

Mm, meat. That was a good treat for my stomach after such harsh training.

We both remained quiet, even as we ate. He seemed lost in thoughts, and I was lost in his emerald eyes. Why was my heart racing like I was in the middle of a fight? Was it all due to my hormones and puberty stuff?

His eyes were back to reality, and when they met mine, I averted my gaze. I knew I was blushing, but I tried to act cool about it.

I finished my food, washed the dishes, and left in my room. I had to do something about the way I felt next to him. Distractions weren't in my plan, so I had to gather myself and to be set on my purpose.

I went to bed with confidence. I will do the right thing; I was sure about it. And finally, after such an intense day, I fell asleep like a top.