Lost (Updated)

60

They finished the downtime and finally moved to a secluded area outside the town. Sora stood off to the side as Jiraiya instructed Naruto on how to do the jutsu he had shown him earlier. He threw a water balloon at Naruto, confusing him.

"You saw the jutsu I used, right? What did it look like to you?" Jiraiya asked.

"it looked like you sent that guy spinning," Naruto said.

This made Jiraiya laugh as he looked at Sora.

"What about you, Sora? What did you see?" Jiraiya asked, putting Sora on the spot.

"It looked like you focused chakra into your hand and made it spin extremely quickly," Sora said, recalling the jutsu.

Jiraiya smiled, seeing the Hokage indeed trained her. Her perception was almost spot on just from seeing it once. He held a ballon in his hand, showing it again as he explained it. Sora observed, noticing she got it slightly wrong. He wasn't just spinning it; he was simultaneously making it spin in multiple directions. As he explained it, Naruto caught on happily.

Tatsuo moved a bit away from those two as he looked at Sora.

"We will be activating your Korigan. We will increase the time you activate it, and you will practise your taijutsu during the break. You need to train your body. We will go until evening today," he explained.

Sora nodded as she took a deep breath but froze, not knowing how to activate her dojustu. She had never done it on purpose before. The only time she had was when she was in a state of terror. Did that mean she had to do that? She gulped nervously as she thought about Orochimaru, and her heart rate quickened. She began breathing quickly as the Korigan suddenly activated. But she still couldn't control it, the memories flowing into her mind without showing any sign of stopping. The ground then began turning to ice as Tatsuo panicked.

"Sora, try and deactivate it," He said.

She struggled, fearing she couldn't. Tatsuo went to perform the seal, worried she still wasn't ready, but before he could, Sora's hand moved to her ninja pouch, touching the dango charm there. She took deep breaths, remembering the story she had told Naruto and his act of kindness. Slowly, the ice thawed as the Korigan deactivated. The second it did, Sora fell to the ground, already drained. That had lasted about thirty seconds. Tatsuo looked at her, impressed she was able to bring it back.

"Thirty seconds is your limit, so we will keep it there until you can handle it. Then, move up in five-second intervals with ten-minute breaks in between," Tatsuo explained.

Sora nodded as she stood up, preparing for the taijutsu part of the training. They kept like this until the sun began setting. Sora couldn't start increasing the time yet, still getting a handle on activating and deactivating it at will. Slowly, she was learning how to do it without forcing herself to relive her past, getting a feel for what was happening to her body when it activated and deactivated, just mimicking that.

The two walked over to Naruto Sora, pretty worn out. She looked at Naruto, who was frustrated that the balloon wasn't bursting. He yelled at it, waking up Jiraiya, who was sleeping. Jiraiya finally decided to help Naruto, telling him he was spinning the water incorrectly. After explaining it, Jiraiya returned to the village, and Tatsuo followed. Still, Sora decided to stay with Naruto, not wanting to leave him alone, knowing he would keep going.

"you don't have to stay," Naruto said.

"You helped me, so the least I can do is stay with you," Sora said.

"Helped you how?" Naruto questioned.

Sora placed her hand on the dango charm, and a gentle smile was on her face.