Chapter 17

Someone mentioned that Yuzuki was being extremely mean to Sakura and it's explained a bit more in the next few chapters, and before you get mad at me, let me make this clear, I don't hate Sakura. I'm disappointed that there was such promise for her character. She could've been just as strong as her two teammates, but she let her obsession with Sasuke take over her life after the Sasori battle. I had been so proud that she had grown during that battle, but then she was back to how she acted during the first half. It was such a let down of what could have been a cool and completely badass. (Honestly, for the poll, I'm kind of hoping that Hayate wins because he is a soft boi, but I want you guys to have a say in who wins it!)

17

"You okay?" Genma asked Yuzuki as she walked behind him.

"Yeah, just thinking," She answered with a slight frown, "Why would suna join forced with oto, didn't the Kazekage work hard to get the current alliance with us?"

"I agree it doesn't make sense," He nodded, "But sometimes what people do, doesn't make sense."

"Where are we even going?" She asked him with a strange expression on her face.

"It's a secret," He said, and she gave him a look, "Besides, I wanted to ask you something."

"Ask away."

"Why are you so angry at Sakura, why not Kakashi?"

She paused at that and tried to think about it. She was guilty of acting better than the pinkette, but even she was letting her emotions get the better of her. She was taking out her anger and frustrations on the pinkette. She was being the bitch her men called her when she reached her peak annoyance.

"Because I really don't handle elevated levels of anger well."

"What kind of an answer if that?"

"The truth and I suppose I'm angry at her for squandering away her time and not taking initiative, but I'm also angry at Kakashi for not helping her get stronger."

Genma stared at her for a few seconds and realized that she had gone after the easiest target without thinking. She was acting a bit more like a child then she usually did. He stopped for a few seconds and she did the same. He put a hand on her forehead and one on his. She wasn't running a fever, but there had to be a reason behind the odd behavior.

"What are you doing?" She asked him.

"Well, you aren't running a fever," He muttered, "What's got you so out of sorts that you aren't acting normal?"

She stood there for a few seconds when it finally hit her. Ah puberty, an absolute tornado of emotions that were hard to control. One minute she could be normal and then the next angry. She looked at him with a blank expression as she tried to find a way to explain it without sounding embarrassed. She supposed the direct way was the best way.

"Puberty," She said, "I'd forgotten that I had such trouble during my teenage years, I was as rebellious as I could be."

"Ah, if that's all we can fix that," He said in a cheerful tone and she felt a shiver go down her spine, "And when we get back you can yell at Kakashi."

"Oh, I will," She said, "And I'll try to apologize to Sakura."

"Good, but I wasn't expecting the apology," He stated with a raised brow, "She called you a heartless monster, you don't really need to apologize for that."

"And acting like she does makes it all right?" She asked with a frown, "That just makes me a hypocrite!"

"It does."

"I hate you sometimes."

"I know, but sometimes you need someone to keep you from going too far."

"Yeah, I might've gotten her to stop being a ninja if you hadn't pointed out my behavior."

"You did."

She froze at that, her mouth parted for a few seconds before she slowly closed it, and the guilt on her face was obvious. She may have been too rough with her in her anger. She clenched the straps of her backpack in hands and started to walk away from Genma. He watched her go and noticed that she wouldn't look up from the ground. He shouldn't have told her that. He started to follow and watched as she kicked rocks on her way.

She had caused someone to quit. She didn't really want her to do so, she thought the girl was made of sterner stuff. She tightened her hold on the straps of her bag and frowned. Oh god, she was a terrible person. Sakura was right, she was a heartless monster. She didn't want her to quit, she just wanted her to clean up her act.

"Damn it." She muttered.

"Let's take a break for lunch and try to sign that summoning scroll," Genma said and she gave a tiny nod.

She took off her backpack and was about to put it down when she ducked and rolled to the side. There was a kunai in the tree where she had just been. She jumped back and reached into kunai pouch and tossed three at the brunette. He raised a brow and easily deflected them. She pulled chakra to her legs and was about to run forward when she simply collapsed. She was so tired.

"You're still suffering from chakra exhaustion," Genma commented and he poked her in the back with his kunai, "No matter how strong you are, there is always someone stronger than you that can use your weaknesses against you."

She frowned at him and clenched her jaw as she tried to move her arm. She couldn't even lift them, she had to wonder just how he had messed with her weights. She sent a burst of her chakra out and lightened how heavy they were and knocked the kunai out of the way and grabbed onto his arm and tried to drag him down to her level. He switched with a log and she quickly moved to her feet and dodged a senbon sent her way.

She was forced on the defensive by a flurry of senbon. She had to jump back, but still ended up with a leg covered in senbon. He wasn't playing around; he was taking her seriously. There was something that he was doing, and she didn't know what it was. She felt her chest heaving and tried to think about it. She crouched down and started to sprint towards him.

"Behind you," He said, and her eyes widened.

She hit the ground as he drop kicked her. She was kept down by a foot between her shoulders and she was forced to listen to her heavy breathing. Her heart was thumping in her chest and she slowly looked towards him. His expression was unreadable.

"I lied you know," He told her, "You truly are out of sorts if you couldn't pick that up."

Ah, so Sakura was still a genin. She felt some relief at that but pondered his words. Her hubris had caused her to believe she was better than others. She was finally let up and he went to take his lunch a few seconds away from her. She could feel his disappointment from where she sat. he gave her the permission to wipe the floor with her, but she really did go too far.

She stared down at her hands; the scars that littered the pale skin seemed to mock her. She was starting to find that she didn't like making her father figure disappointed. With her previous grandfather it had been so easy to disappoint him that she had just ignored it. Now, with someone she really cared about, it hurt. Her throat constricted and she pushed down the tears that wanted to rise. Now wasn't the time to be acting like a child, she gave that up years ago. She needed to act like an adult, but was she really?

How could she be considered an adult if she was stuck in such a form?

Thirty-five years of living was starting to make her question her existence. It wasn't that she had lived that long, it was the conflicting memories and feelings, the lies that she let herself believe. She couldn't help but wonder if she was Yamanaka Yuzuki or…huh she couldn't remember what her name had been in her past life. What was it again? It didn't matter, all that she knew was that she was a horrible person.

"Kid?" Genma asked as he felt her chakra go flat.

"Genma," She sounded so small, "I really am a horrible person."

Ah, now he felt bad. He rubbed the back of his head and chewed on the senbon hanging from his mouth. He meant to drive it home that she shouldn't let her emotions cloud her judgment and to lay off the pinkette that had earned their ire, but he didn't mean to make her question her existence. Who the hell fucked his kid up so much? This wasn't completely brought about by his actions; this was something that had been growing for years.

"What's your earliest memory?" He asked her, "It doesn't matter if it's from this life or your previous one."

"My father's funeral," She answered, and he looked towards her, "There's a reason why he wasn't there, a gun to his head ended his life."

"Was it by his hand?" He asked.

"No, someone tried to rob him as he was shutting the gate at his work," She answered, "They never caught the guy."

"What's your favorite?"

"As much as I love you and Hayate, babysitting my niece she would always make me flower crowns to wear and this tough admiral would happily wear them."

Ah, there she was. That smile on her face was what he wanted. He got up from his spot and decided to plop down next to her. He watched as she began to pluck some of the wildflowers around them and started to slowly weave them into a crown.

"I taught her how to do so, she ended up being better at it than me even if her first attempts weren't the best, I was proud of her."

"You didn't have any kids of your own?" He questioned in surprise.

"My grandfather reacted negatively to my older brother having a kid and I guess it really stuck with me," She answered, "He lived in my house, and I would never bring a child into that environment."

"Ah, now there's someone you hate," He muttered.

"He's the reason I'm like this," She huffed, "He's the one who first taught me to kill, though it was with a gun, taught me to hide my emotions to the point where even I bought the lies that I spouted."

"If I ever meet the guy in the afterlife, he's the first on my list to try and kill again."

"Thanks, Genma."

"What about your mother in this life?"

"She hated me, she believed that I should've had the bird cage seal on my person like she did."

He had a feeling that he knew what that hate had brought. He remembered seeing her back before her parents had died, she was even quieter and wore long sleeves all the time. Yuna really didn't tell them anything about how her parents treated her, but his uncomfortable expression when answering what he could had been all that they needed. He began to braid her hair and she sent him a look as he weaved flowers in it.

"Someone once told me, that as much as we remember the past it does not do well to dwell upon it," He told her.

"Do not dwell in the past, do not dream of the future, concentrate the mind on the present moment," She quietly quoted, "Buddha might've had a point with those words, I think I missed out on becoming a monk."

"You would've been a shit monk."

"Thanks, Dad."

Genma snickered at that and they started on their journey again. This time they were using the trees and chakra to go faster. He knew that there was a small town that did gambling that allowed konoha-nin to train there. He couldn't remember the name of it, he was sure that it didn't have a name. He was hoping that they would run into the slug-hime by chance, his kid had some luck when it came to such things.

"Please stop messing with my weights," He heard Yuzuki huff from behind him as he paused on a tree branch.

"You need to learn how to stop it from happening," He said in an offhanded manner.

"Right," She nodded.

"This will be a month of trying to get your emotions under control and to use your abilities to their fullest," He informed her, "You need to manage your time correctly."

"Understood."

"I won't be easy on you."

"I got that from your little stunt a while ago."

He rolled his eyes at that as they finally reached the gambling village. He found a hotel that catered to ninjas and booked a room with two beds. The owner gave him a raised brow. He was a bit annoyed by that and Yuzuki sighed.

"He's my Dad," Yuzuki piped up while giving the man a look, "What's going through your mind sir?"

"O-Oh, my apologies." The Owner apologized.

Genma accepted the keys to the room they'd be staying in for a month and they headed deeper into the hotel to reach their room. He waited a few minutes before ruffling her hair. She was starting to get back to normal, she needed that talk. She needed someone to point out her behavior.

"I can't believe people," She muttered as she gave a yawn.

"Go ahead and get some sleep kiddo," Genma ordered, "You'll need it."

She grumbled at that but kicked off her sandals and slipped into the bed closets to the window. If she woke up due to a nightmare, then she'd have something to watch and try to calm down. It didn't take her long to fall sleep and he sat down on the other bed and pulled out a scroll that Hayate had handed him before they left. He opened it and started to read it.

It was a plan for her training that he had written up before the second exam started. He wanted her to work on kenjutsu, taijutsu, and genjutsu. He was throwing in the hiraishin to help with her speed, and as such was going to teach her fuinjutsu. He brought a pen out of one of pouches and slowly started to add that to the scroll. He wanted to keep her on track. He thought for a few seconds before writing something else.

Family bonding, and attitude adjustment.

If she ever got a hold of that then she'd get a kick out of it. He looked towards the sleeping genin and noticed that she looked peaceful. His expression softened a bit and he removed the hitai-ate from her forehead and placed it on the bedside table. She really did look like a kid.

"Y'know, I kind of want to see you have a family," he quietly muttered, "You'd be happy, and that's all that matters."

She mumbled something in her sleep and burrowed into the blankets a bit more. It was an adorable sight and he chuckled as he headed back to his bed and laid down. He kicked off his sandals and placed his hitai-ate on the table as well. He closed his eyes and fell into a light sleep. He couldn't wait to train up his kid.

"This is an auditory genjutsu," He informed her as they began to train the next day, "You seem to be handy with them, but here's one that'll allow you to confuse your opponent."

"Right," She nodded as she waited for him to perform the hand seals.

He did so and he watched as she copied them for a few seconds to get the pacing right. He nodded and she closed her eyes to perform it. He sat there and waited for something to happen. It was strange, everything had gone silent and then he heard a distant song beginning to play. He jumped when he heard a loud "aaahaaaaha hooked on a feeling!" followed by loud music.

"What the hell?" He questioned her.

"It's Hooked on a Feeling by blue swede, it's a good song," She huffed.

"It's weird," he muttered, "You were able to startle me with that, just what kind of music did you listen to?"

He was subjected to it. Metal mixed with pop songs; she had listened to some Japanese music before her death. Artists like Eve, Baby Metal, and the cover artist Miy_yuu had been the majority of what she had listened to. He stared at her for a few seconds before sighing. She was going to drive people insane with such music. He could just imagine the pure joy on Anko's face. He really needed to make sure they didn't burn the village down.

"Hey, don't diss my music likes," She grumbled.

"Fine, let's work on that taijutsu shall we?"

It was two weeks in that Genma found his first snag with their training. She was progressing faster than he thought she would. She was starting to keep up with him going all out. She still couldn't land a proper hit, but she was able to keep the amount of injuries she received to a minimal amount. He hadn't worked with her on summoning yet, but he knew it was only a matter of time before she signed that scroll and gained control the summons for it.

He had left her on the training grounds, he knew she wasn't in any danger, to train by herself for a while. He needed to go grab lunch for the two of them. He was starting to miss her home cooked meals. Yuzuki watched him leave in a slightly amused fashion, she could tell that when they made it back to the village she would have to make a group dinner. That was after she yelled at Kakashi, beautiful man be damned.

She shouldn't be allowed to advance due to her actions towards Sakura, but she promised herself that she would do better.

She slid into the juken stance and began to move through it, pushing herself to go faster with each strike. She slammed her palm into the ground and pushed some chakra through the point there and created a small crater. She barely winced at the slight burns that appeared on her hands from such an action and continued to try and make a larger crater. She brought her other hand down and grimaced at the wasted chakra in that attack. It created a larger crater, but she gathered that it could've been done with less chakra wasted.

"One more time," She huffed as she wiped at the sweat on her brow.

She readied herself and brought her palm down again. She almost smirked at the crater that was left behind, she was right about the amount of chakra. She was brought out of her victory by an unknown chakra near her and she quickly threw a kunai towards it. It was caught by a young blonde around her age, with wide amber eyes.

"Woah, I just heard the commotion and wanted to see what it was." The blonde said.

She stared at her for a few seconds before pulling a face of disbelief.

"What is there something on my face?"

"N-No."

Yuzuki couldn't believe her luck as she stared at a younger Senju Tsunade. She had no clue why the woman was going around looking as young as she was, but who was she to judge. She brought her hand up and caught the kunai that was tossed back to her.

"So you're a ninja huh?" The disguised Tsunade asked as she walked towards the genin, "Working through some things?"

"You could say that, I'm training for the chuunin exams," Yuzuki found herself saying, she knew that she couldn't lie to the blonde, "I want to be at my strongest."

"Why do you want such power?"

"To protect those I care about, someone close to me almost died…I want to make sure he stays safe."

"Lucky guy, sounds like you really love him."

Yuzuki turned a bright red and slightly sputtered at that. The disguised Tsunade watched as the girl brought her hands up to her face to try and hide how red it was. It was such a reaction to being flustered, little did she know that it was the first time she truly was.

"I mean I care about him yes, but love is a bit much!"

"With a reaction like that I wonder."

The glare sent her way by the preteen brought a smirk to her face. She brought a hand up and flicked her right in the head. She watched the pale eyes widen in surprise before she let out a slight hiss of pain. She rubbed at her forehead to try and remove the red spot.

"Would you mind if I try to spar with you?" She asked the girl.

"A-Ah…sure." Yuzuki almost sounded defeated.

Genma she was starting to be able to keep up with, a Sannin was going to decimate her. It was divine punishment for what she did to Sakura, she was sure of it. Five minutes later saw a downed Yuzuki trying to get back up, she wasn't bleeding though. She found it odd that the sannin didn't seem to hit her to the point where she was bleeding. She wondered if the older woman was afraid of blood.

"Not bad," Tsunade softly said, "But you need to get better."

"Aren't you supposed to be a normal girl?" Yuzuki pointed out.

"You and I both know that's not true, brat."

Yuzuki let out a groan at that and let her head hit the ground. She needed an actual vacation one of these days. She felt the chakra of Tsunade leave after a few seconds and she relaxed a bit. She really hadn't expected to run into a sannin this early on in her life. She felt something being set down on her head and she gave a sound of thanks to a very confused Genma.

"What'd you do, makes clones and have an all-out battle?" He questioned.

"More like ran into a Sannin," She informed him as she slowly sat up, "I think she left though."

"You don't want to chase her?" He asked.

"Fuck no," She answered, "She has her reasons for not wanting to go back to the village, I think they should be respected…its not like she's going around hurting anyone like Orochimaru."

"That's valid."

"I feel as though your mocking me."

"You might be right about that."

The look Genma received for that was priceless.