Child of the Moon

Personalised Training

A/N: So I decided to go for slightly shorter chapters, to avoid the random jumping in the earlier ones.  They used to have breaks to separate the parts, but they seem to have vanished.  Oh well, what's done is done.  I might fix that when I have more time, but for now, I'm focusing on my Avatar fic that SashaL and I are working on over on his page.  Anyway, enjoy, share, vote and comment.  Amaya out~

"Again!" Tsukiko ordered, the three girls immediately taking up a fighting position, opposite three clones. Aki and Aiyanna were both blindfolded, continuing the training that Tsukiko had started for them a few days prior.

The moment she gave the order, the clones attacked, and the girls were required to defend. Nanami obviously excelled, having been trained by Tsukiko in this way for a few years already. Aiyanna was next, her ability to use most elements making it easier for her to learn to listen to them.

Aki... She struggled, as listening wasn't really her strength. She frequently would accidentally attack her comrades.

After the third mistake, Tsukiko stopped the fighting and took Aki aside.

"I get it, alright!" she snapped, throwing down her blindfold. "I suck, ya know!"

"No, you don't," Tsukiko said, crouching to Aki's level. "You just need something that works for you, not the others. How's your nose?"

"My nose?"

"Yeah," Tsukiko said, rubbing her chin. "There's a clan here in the Leaf Village, called the Inuzuka clan. They rely on ninja hounds, so they live and train with these dogs. Thing is, in a fight you need to be aware of a lot of things."

"So...?"

"Pretty much all of them have an excellent sense of smell," Tsukiko concluded.

"I'm not from that clan though, ya know?"

"No, but this is a learned skill," Tsukiko said. "I think we'll call this a day, so I can focus on honing this skill in you."

"Wait, you're gonna focus on my training? Aren't you supposed to train us equally?"

"If one member of the team starts to fall behind, it can be bad for the whole team," Tsukiko said, standing up. "I have some missions lined up that they can do while you and I work on your sightless combat."

"So that way they keep busy, ya?" Aki grinned widely, her blue eyes crinkling slightly. She looked so happy, Tsukiko couldn't help smiling.

"Yeah," she said, gently touching Aki's cheek. "I want you all to reach your potential. For that, I can't neglect any of you."

At that moment, Aki reached an internal decision. She would do whatever it took so that Tsukiko's faith in her would not be misplaced.

"Hey, do ya think maybe I could train with someone from that clan?" Aki asked, suddenly inspired.

"I know of one genin who you could train with in your downtime," Tsukiko said. "I'll speak with his jonin instructor to make sure it's ok."

Aki grinned.

"But for now," Tsukiko called over the other two. "Let's go eat!"

"YES!" Aki cheered, jumping enthusiastically.