Decaying Bluebells

Arc V - Behind

Disclaimer: Only Nao is my own in this story.

Warning: Fighting. Fighting. Death.

Beta: Kalafina94

Beta: silverseed

Edit: 1/1/18

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"We're going to be late," I told Kakashi as the three of us sped away from what was once our training ground for the month towards the village.

"Probably," Kakashi said, "but I'm not worried. They'll hold off the matches for Sasuke. It pays to have an Uchiha with you to use as an excuse."

"So glad I could be of assistance," Sasuke said dryly from the other side of Kakashi.

Kakashi only shrugged.

I bit my lip and continued on, my mind reeling from the thought of the exams, as well as from my month long training session with Kakashi.

To say it was eventful and painful would be an understatement. In the morning, Kakashi would put us through a series of exhausting drills to improve our speed and agility and he would continue to do so until we were nearly ready to drop dead. Of course, we never dropped dead, but we certainly dropped. After a brief —emphasis on brief— break, we would move onto jutsu training.

I had discovered I had lightning and water affinities and Sasuke had fire and lightning. While Kakashi worked with Sasuke on the Chidori, I fumbled clumsily with my own jutsu.

I had one in mind, but dear, sweet Ramen King, I sucked.

In theory I was to push my chakra into the air and condense it into water. The water would be manipulated into a sword or a single long blade with no hilt or handle. I would then mix my lightning chakra on with a twist. Instead of crackling, like the Chidori, and being extremely hot, I would condense and freeze it with my water.

I was abusing the neutral properties of chakra, trying to push the limits of the boundaries to the natural world. It was. hard. I had taken advantage of my Yamanaka roots and placed several blocks in my subconscious to help me perceive lightning as something cold and not hot. There was still, however, a general wrongness to it that I couldn't shake or block. I could change my chakra into its aquatic form, but it would not take the form of a sword. It seemed to like drooping down into the form of a whip (but it was too short to actually be a whip). Adding lightning in the mix didn't hinder or improve the form and when I attempted to change it from hot to cold.

Well.

There was exploding.

The painful part.

I could hold my jutsu for about thirty seconds before it exploded in my face, freezing cold and leaving me mostly numb for the majority of the day. It wasn't lethal (Kakashi made sure to emphasize on using my chakra in a very mild manner, as what I was doing was rather risky), but it was still annoying.

To say I was cranky and very displeased would have been an understatement.

However, I'd be damned if gave up and let that mocking jutsu win.

Still feeling a twinge of annoyance, I pushed more chakra into my feet and sped up.

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