The Red Maelstrom

[35] Down the River

The following day came soon enough with Kohana having spent the rest of the day prior recuperating—not that she needed to take that much time off. She'd only fainted and would have been perfectly fine to resume training that afternoon, but apparently her three new guardians knew far more than she did about her own body and strongly suggested (with vague, but no less potent threats) against engaging in rigorous physical activity. Osamu must possess the same line of thinking as well. However, as strong an advocate as he was against training for long periods of time, he tended to force as much as he could onto Kohana's entire regimen within the allotted period of his design. It was routine, but it helped Kohana stay on her toes... perhaps for better or for worse.

Right now, it was becoming increasingly apparent that Kohana would know what it was like to be wary of what he had planned for the first time today.

Osamu's behavior started off innocuously enough, with him visiting at the crack of dawn just as promised. Kohana had only been shaking off the vestiges of sleep when he'd come knocking on her front door with a serene smile on his face. "How are you?" he'd asked. "Are you ready to resume your training?"

His query successfully woke Kohana up. She'd said, "Hells, I've been waiting since yesterday!"

"Good," he'd replied. "But first, let us share breakfast and meditate together."

It was wonderful; Osamu taught Kohana how to mince, heat oil properly, fry, and a host of other procedures. They had shared the first hour of their morning working together to prepare both breakfast and lunch. Kohana hadn't fared as well as she had hoped she would, but at the same time, it wasn't as though she even cooked on her own in the first place. She'd certainly tried a few times in the past, only for those attempts to result in lackluster and sometimes even disastrous results. More often than not, she resorted to eating in cheap stalls or purchasing ready-made bentō lunches.

Kohana should have noticed all the red flags that followed. First, Osamu had kept a watchful eye on her as she ate, going as far as to give her some of his slices of beef and cherry tomatoes. He'd given her more instructions than he usually did, telling her to pack a spare change of clothes, a towel, and some of the various medicines he and Kakashi had provided her. Meditation and warm-ups lasted far longer than Kohana was accustomed to, but her eager mind dismissed it in favor of imagining what Osamu had in store for her. That eagerness only multiplied after she'd set aside her shirt and fishnets (as she always preferred to train in just the cloth around her chest). Osamu had smiled at her and remarked upon her progress, telling her that she was more than ready to proceed to the next phase of her training. After having cultivated her bodily strength and speed to Osamu's standards, it was probably time to move onto agility.

Unfortunately, Kohana really should have expected how much pleasure Osamu derived from going far beyond how she imagined training would be.

And so, Kohana found herself in a situation she never quite dreamed of happening in such an early stage of her life. Normally, a shinobi would expect to be chased down by a group of jōnin twenty or so years into their career—or better yet, not at all. Kohana hadn't been counting on it, especially considering how much she wanted to steer away from ever landing herself in infamy, no matter what Anko said. However, Osamu always, always had other things in mind.

Kohana nearly slipped off a branch when one of Osamu's five shadow clones appeared in her periphery. How on earth was she going to escape Osamu if he had so many clones hot on her trail? Moreover, there was no way of hiding anywhere; no matter how accustomed she was to forests, Osamu was always going to be two steps ahead of her.