Chapter 22
Spear & Shield
Chapter 22
It was going on twenty days since Gai and Yasu had last trained together, and it was getting embarrassing at this point. Between her usual D-ranks, she would run laps around the village (okay maybe it was only one lap, but still) or break away somewhere quiet to run through katas. She would meet with her father and discuss the plans for the Monument, then hide away in some little training area for the rest of the day, honing a strength she wasn't aware she had. She started revisiting her taijutsu notes from the Academy, and checking out books on chakra control from the library.
She thought of so many things during her solo training, but mostly, she thought about Gai. She wanted to tell him all about the plans for the Monument. She wanted to ask him about Rock Lee and how his surgery went. Had they broken the tie between him and Kakashi? Did he get a chance to try that take-out place she recommended? Thoughts of hypothetical conversations and scenarios ran through her head, slowly becoming more and more unrealistic as they went on.
She was desperate, and pining, and so mad about it.
She couldn’t even deny the fact that she missed him. Why else would she be torturing herself like this? For heaven's sake, she was bench-pressing boulders instead of carving hinge-joints. Yasu had truly lost her mind and it was all Gai's fault.
Ninjutsu had never been a priority for her before… At least, not since she was part of a three-man cell. Even back then, the only reason she studied and trained was just so she could keep up with her teammates. Minimum effort, minimum results. The very fact she had even managed to pass her chunin exams (grant it, it had taken her a few tries) was a miracle. No, worse than that. It had been up to chance. And sure, once she realized being a chunin opened doors and offered opportunities she otherwise wouldn’t have gotten, she appreciated the promotion. Before that, it was just a new uniform. Same soup, just reheated.
Until a certain spandex-wearing shinobi flew into her life.
Now, training was fun. She woke up in the morning, eager to leave her bed. Her interest in ninjutsu was renewed and she was making trackable progress. Sure, it may never be her main focus, but it was turning into a fun hobby.
It was around day thirteen that she cornered ran into Tenten at the market.
Yasu had tried to act casual, jumping around the topic, asking about Rock Lee, and even talking briefly about what she was making for dinner. Of course, Tenten didn’t buy it for a second.
“He was asking about you, too,” the girl smirked, “But he’s been out on border rotation for the past week. Neji and I are doing a supply run soon. We can pass along a message if you want.”
Yasu scoffed. “Of course, not… But if you do see him before I do, just tell him I’ve been developing my technique… And-- if you have time, that is-- see if he can write down that tamagoyaki recipe.”
The young girl rolled her eyes, “Is that all? No love letters you want to send, too?”
“No!” Yasu fumed with a furious blush.
Tenten just laughed, waving over her shoulder, “He’ll be back soon, Yasu-sempai!”
Yasu scowled at the girl’s back… But smiled the whole way home.