Melted Snow (Discontinued)

Chapter Nine

        It took a week before Tsunami let me leave the house so we could train, and this really annoyed me. I didn't care if I was going to over exhaust myself, I was bored out of my mind! Seriously, one doesn't simply keep an awesome ninja like me from doing something completely amazing. Who wants to lay in bed all day sleeping? Not me, that's for sure.

       Of course, being out of the house wasn't much better. With Kakashi and me both needing crutches to walk, the trek to the destination he had in mind was slow. I groaned loudly, throwing my head back. I'm so bored! Not even Naruto and Sasuke were fighting, and the silence was disturbing. When Kakashi finally stopped, I gave a sigh of relief.

        "Finally! We can get something done!" I shouted, grinning.

        "Well, the others can. Yuki you aren't in the condition to be doing what I have planned," Kakashi said apollogetically.

        I whined, letting myself fall to the ground so I could pout. Why was the universe so cruel to me? I mean really, I didn't do anything to deserve this! I huffed, crossing my arms as I watched the clouds roll by lazily. I ignored the rest of my team, seeing no point in paying attention since I couldn't participate in the training. I glanced at Kakashi, then sulked even more. Great, he's teaching them how to climb trees!  Without their hands!

        I turned my gaze back to the sky, remembering when I would train with my parents and best friend's. We would always have so much fun, making fun of each other and improving with each other. I smiled softly at the fond memories, wishing I could go back to that time. I closed my eyes, getting lost in my thoughts.

        I panted heavily, sliding across the ground from the force of the impact. Chika beamed at me, despite the fact that she was sweating like a pig. I grinned back, then rushed forward. Just as she moved to block my attack, I feinted right and got behind her. She took quick action though, ducking and swiping her left leg at my feet to try and knock me off balance. Surprised, I managed to jump just in time. She swung her right leg up, twisting into a seemingly impossible postion. I yelped in surprise when I was suddenly kicked back into a tree.

        I took a moment, getting my breath back before standing. I smirked at the brunette in front of me, my breathing heavier than before. I started performing handsigns before my mother stopped the fight. I whined, looking over at the blonde kunoichi.

        "I told you, taijutsu only."

        "But Mom--"

        "No buts. You agreed to this training schedule, and I expect you to stick to it."

        I huffed, but nodded in reluctant agreement. I dropped my hands, once again getting into a defensive position. Chika glanced at my mom, then rushed at me when she nodded. I dodged her as fast as I could, nearly losing my balance. My stumble gave the hyper girl a chance to tackle me to the ground. I grunted as she put her knee in the center of my shoulders, pinning me.

        "Give up yet?" she asked, amusement strong in her voice.

        "Alright, alright! I cave!"

        "Yay!"

        "Yuki? Are you alright?" Kakashi asked, snapping me out of my flashback.

        "Huh? Yeah, I'm fine. Why?"

        "You're crying."

        I frowned, bringing a hand up to my face to feel tears. I sighed, then shrugged. He stared at me for a moment, as if expecting me to tell him why, but I really didn't feel like explaining my past to him. It still hurt to think about how much I lost. When it was obvious that wasn't going to happen, he sat next to me.

        "The Hokage told me about why you came here," he said casually, glancing at me.

        I shrugged. "Not exactly something I'm trying to keep a secret," I replied.

        He sighed, and nodded. "Right. Well, if you need someone to talk to, I'm here."

        I made a face. "Wow, Kakashi-sensei, are you some kind of pedophile now?" I teased, grinning at him.

        He rolled his eyes, then ruffled my hair. I swatted his hand away, getting an irritated look. I hate it when people do that. As if my hair wasn't messy enough. He chuckled, then looked back at Naruto and Sauske as they competed against each other, sitting in a comfortable silence next to me. It went on like that for sevral hours. Kakashi had sent Sakura off to gurad Tazuna at one point, and I just enjoyed the outdoors.

        I looked over at Kakashi to find he fell asleep, making me grin. I stood, my legs shaking at the strain. I took a few deep breaths, then began to walk to see if my legs could handle it. When I didn't fall, I started running towards the tree directly in front of, applying chakra to the soles of my feet. I managed to run a few feet up before I fell back to the ground, making me growl in annoyance. Why couldn't I be as good as Sakura?

        I continued trying, eventually getting to a low branch. I panted heavily, feeling immensely proud of myself for getting so far when I was so weak. I totally have this chakra thing down. Of course, I had been practicing chakra control for a long time so I could perform high level jutsus, but I had never tried using it to climb a tree.

        "Yuki!" Kakashi shouted, making me look at the ground where the jounin was standing at the base of the tree.

        "Yeah?" I asked, leaning forward slightly so he could see me.

        "Didn't I tell you you couldn't do this excercise?"

        I shrugged, grinning mischeviously at him. "Maybe. You fell asleep though, so no one was stopping me. Come on, Kakashi, I'm a ninja. You seriously can't expect me to sit still for over a week?"

        "I can and I will. Ninja need to know when to rest and recover. They can't afford to exhaust themselves just because they're bored."

        I huffed, crossing my arms. "Fine. But you gotta admit, this is pretty impressive for someone in my state, huh?"

        Kakashi sighed, and nodded. "Yes, now get down here. We need to head back and get something to eat."

        "Oh, yay food!" I cried happily, carelessly jumping down. Kakashi rushed forward to catch me, making me laugh.

        "Don't do that, Yuki!" Kakashi scolded, only for my laughter to increase in volume.