Spear & Shield

Spear & Shield
Chapter 29

A bead of sweat dripped from her temple, down the side of her neck. The sun shone high in the sky, bearing down on the field with a warm light that was steadily growing warmer. 

She had shed her chunin vest and overshirt, which had been abandoned under a tree at the edge of the field as they fought. Even in the mesh armor tank top she wore under her shirt, she was still panting with heated effort. 

“You’ve been practicing!” Gai praised with exalted breath. 

Yasu smirked at the jounin, deflecting another hit with the heel of her palm. “Of course,” she said, easily dodging a punch that could have broken her ribs. “I couldn’t let myself slack off while you were away.” 

She didn’t mention the pining or the loneliness or how taijutsu made her feel closer to him. In fact, she shoved those thoughts as far down as her subconscious would allow her, unable to justify the thought without admitting to something she wasn’t quite ready to acknowledge. 

“Yosh!” he grinned, spinning out of way as she swung a fierce kick. “Your Youthful Enthusiasm is Captivating!”

She scoffed, attempting to elbow him across the face. He easily caught her elbow, using her own momentum to send her flying across the field. 

Yasu landed on her feet, crouching to attack once more. 

This time, she landed a mean palm-strike to his side, her free arm blocking his retaliation hit before leaping back to safety.

There were tears of pride in his eyes as he rubbed his bruising side. “A Wonderous Attack, My Delicate Azalea Blossom!”

“Gai-sensei, I think I’ve more than proven I’m anything but ‘delicate.’”

But that wasn’t the word she lingered on. 

He called her his… And she didn’t mind. In fact, she liked it.

Thankfully, he gave her no time to ruminate on it.

“Strong Fist--!”

The hit caught her across the face, too fast for her to absorb completely, snapping her head sideways. Her hand came up to clutch her jaw as she doubled over, groaning in pain.

Gai balked immediately, reeling in his follow-up attack with a gasp, “Did I harm you, Yasu-chan?!” His voice was sharp with panic and regret.

She hid a smirk behind her hand, quickly diving into a kick that collided with the underside of his chin.

Gai fell backwards with a shout of surprise, catching himself in a backflip that put some space between him. 

“That was cruel and deceptive, Yasu-chan!” he cried.

She gestured to herself with a smug shrug, “I’m a ninja, Gai-sensei.”

“Cruel,” he repeated, looking a bit chagrined. 

Yasu couldn’t help herself. “Sorry,” she chuckled good-naturedly, going in for another attack.

He dodged her delayed assault easily, turning offensive before she could collect herself. 

Gai appeared behind her, his movements now too fast for her to follow. 

‘He’s increasing his speed,’ she thought, absorbing a hit to her side, ‘So he’s getting serious.’

The fight was as good a distraction as any. Not just from her morning anxiety attack, but from life itself at this point. It was nice to just forget all her stress in the heat of battle. It was like the world outside of the training area didn’t exist. Just her and Gai in the clearing, just them.

She saw him rally for another onslaught, but noticed his left knee twitch. ‘He’ll feign right, but swoop left…’

She caught his fist just in time. The sheer force of his punch brought with it a wind that ruffled her hair.

He smirked at her, visibly impressed by her foresight. 

She needed both hands to hold him back, leaving one of his free for attack. 

For a moment, electricity sparked between them.

Eyes of warm brown met steel grey, captured in the heated stare of a challenge.

Yasu caught his punch in a flash of movement, now holding a fist in each hand. She shifted her hips, firming up her stance best she could while still holding him back. The balls of her feet slid against the ground, leaving a trail of up-turned dirt as he slowly began to overcome her. She barely maintained the hold, even using her full strength. Of course, Gai remained cool, hardly breaking a sweat to keep her at bay.

Her teeth grit in a scowl as she tried to push back, only succeeding in leaning slightly closer to him. Frustration clawed at her skull, adding to the pressure she felt. Instinct was begging her to break free and escape, but pride kept her fighting. Adrenaline flooded her brain entirely, sending her into a combat-induced high.

Which is the closest thing to an excuse she had for what came next. Her battle-addled brain wasn’t thinking clearly, she was sure of it...

Her eyes darted around the area, keenly searching for any sign of spying. Satisfied she found none, she went ahead with her plan.

With a valiant push, she leaned in to capture his lips with hers.

And it worked. His arms went a bit slack in his shock, fingers curling away from hers. She finally gained the upper-hand!

But only for a second.

Gai’s surprise had vanished almost instantaneously, and he melted.

He released his hold to snatch her around her waist, drawing Yasu as close as possible. A muffled yelp erupted in her throat as he dipped her, bending her back to deepen the kiss. Yasu's own shock webbed just as quickly. Her eyes drifted shut as she craned her neck to meet his every movement and match his fervor. Her hands reached up, fingers gently brushing against his jawline. Her fingertips kept his face close, a light tether of uncertainty as they allowed themselves to drift away from reason. Their lips moved and melded together, each lost to the other.

He finally pulled away, keeping Yasu tightly wrapped in his arms.

Oxygen flooded into her starving lungs, but Yasu still felt breathless.

Slowly, she pulled away from him, hands coming resting gently on his shoulders. Her lips buzzed, electrified by the kiss. His body felt warm against hers, his arms firm and strong as he held her. Their erratic heartbeats slammed together in a jumbled rhythm.

The question floated silently between them, ‘What just happened…?’

She searched his face for an answer, "Gai…"

He shifted her in his arms, leaning upright to pull her into a proper standing position, but neither took their hands off the other. 

They were close, but so, so still. 

They had been this close before, sure, but under entirely different circumstances. There was no blistering heat of combat here… This was a different kind of heat.

One of Gai’s hands left her waist, coming up to caress her cheek instead.

She relaxed into his touch, eyes dropping shut as she lost herself in the feeling of his warm, calloused palm against her skin. She was hot all over, everything was alive and tingling. There was a part of her mind that was trying to tell her to step away, to apologize and run home before embarrassment set in. But she pushed that part away for just a moment longer, burying it beneath her beating heart. 

Mindless… Thoughtless… Her lips searched for him again.

He bent down to meet her half-way, this time pressing their lips together for a chaste peck. They parted slowly. Gai, unwilling to lose anymore of her touch, left his forehead pressed against hers.

And for a moment, they just were.  

He was Gai and she was Yasu. 

Until that sensible part of her mind clawed up out of her chest.

Reluctantly, she peeled herself away from him, only willing to take a single step back and no more. Fear began to grip her, its icy claws a sharp contrast to Gai’s warm touch. Her embarrassment and denial lashed at her from the inside, brutally reminding her just how wrong the kiss had been. 

Then why did it feel like that?

She wanted to ask him to kiss her again. She wanted to demand that he sweep her up into his arms and keep her there. 

Instead, she said, “I’m sorry.”

Gai wanted to tell her there was nothing to apologized for. He wanted to tell her to stop talking so he could kiss her again. Instead, he said, “It’s alright.”

"I, uhm, gotta go," she mumbled, eyes to the ground. Her shoulders were squared straight, limbs twitching with panic. She fidgeted, putting a few more steps between them before pausing. Her mouth opened and shut with words she desperately wanted to say, but instead she parroted herself, "I gotta go."

But Gai just stood there. He didn't know what to say. For once in his life, Maito Gai was lost for words.

"I'll see you around." 

Quick as a dart, she grabbed her discarded vest and shirt, racing back to the trail they had come from. He watched her the whole time, whether she knew it or not, wondering how everything had happened so quickly. 

It was only when he could no longer hear her footsteps or sense her chakra, he let himself breathe. It took him another few minutes for him to gather himself enough to move again.

'One thousand push-ups,' he decided eventually, lacking his usual gusto. 

And after the one thousand push-ups, he did one thousand sit-ups. Then one thousand squats, followed by another few laps around the Village. It was around the time he was scaling Hokage mountain with one hand tied behind his back, that he came to the realization no amount of exercise or training was going to get a certain kunoichi off his mind.

'Cruel...' he thought, finally reaching the top.