amethyst solitary (naruto u.)

Training Grounds

Manaka stood quietly in the middle of the open field, her gaze drifting across the endless stretch of green.

A soft breeze wandered through the clearing and brushed against her face enough to raise a faint trail of shivers along her spine.

Ha....

Just recently she was enduring winter back home, wrapped in cold so sharp it bit through layers, and now the air felt warm enough to flirt with summer. The bugs buzzed and sang lazily in the distance, filling the silence with a strange kind of peace.

Manaka took it all in, the sunlight spilling over the grass, the calmness of a place that looked far too innocent for what was about to happen.

'So this is it,' she thought. 'This is where my life takes a turn for the worse.' Or ends. Probably ends. Because, really, "training" could mean anything.

What did they even consider physical combat like? Or spiritual enlightenment? Or...what?

She was confused. But she went along with it because, why not?

'How long is this going to take?' Training with shinobis or going home? She didn't know.

Her eyes shifted toward Kakashi, who stood nearby looking relaxed as ever while reading that damn book. If anything, it made her more nervous.

As if sensing her stare, Kakashi glanced up from his read and gave her a small sigh. "Don't worry," he said. "Naruto should be here any minute."

And, as though summoned by the sheer convenience of dramatic timing, Naruto did indeed appear a second later.

"Kakashi-sensei!"

Both of them turned to see a flash of orange barreling toward them across the field, one hand lifted high in an enthusiastic wave. Manaka narrowed her eyes as the blur came closer and closer until it slowed into an actual person.

When he reached them, the boy flashed a grin so bright it could have qualified as its own weather event.

"Sorry for making you guys wait, but hey, at least I'm here!"

His blue eyes shifted toward Manaka, and somehow his smile grew even wider. "Hello! I'm Naruto Uzumaki. I'm pretty sure Granny Tsunade told you about me. I only just found out I'd be training you, but—"

Manaka's ears blocked out the rest of his blabber as she stared.

'He's...bright.' That was the first word that came to mind. Bright blond hair, bright blue eyes, bright orange clothes. He looked like sunlight, like the term itself decided to become a person and then make itself louder for emphasis. He was almost offensively vivid. But what caught her attention most were the three whisker-like marks on each cheek.

'Are those tattoos?' she wondered.

Then, before she could stop herself, another thought arrived with far less dignity.

'He's really cute.' Heat crept into her cheeks almost instantly, and she prayed no one noticed. 'His eyes are...wow.'

"Hi," she said at last, a little more softly than intended. "I-I'm Manaka Takahashi."

Naruto nodded with a smile refusing to leave his lips, though now with a touch more curiosity. Before either of them could say more, Kakashi stepped in.

"Manaka here has something quite similar to you, Naruto," he said. "That's what we're trying to understand today."

Naruto blinked and tilted his head. Clearly, he hasn't been given much detail beforehand. Tsunade did what authority figured best and told him the bare minimum, preferred someone else deal with the explanation.