Ice Art: Yuno Clan

six

After lunch, the three headed to a calm lake near the village for their lesson. The winds were subtle today which was perfect for walking on water training.

"All you have to do is concentrate and disperse your chakra to your feet and then you should," Hiyori-Sensei said as she levitated on the liquid matter, "walk on water."

Sensei gave them the cue to start training and Asabu went first. As soon as both his feet hit the water, his body was submerged and he failed to do the trick. Next was Hayate's turn and he too fell straight into the water. When it was Kyoko's turn, she thought back to what Hana-sensei said. Focus your chakra all around your feel evenly.

Kyoko felt the chakra at her feet so she took a step into the water. No luck. She fell right in, just like the rest.

"Well, I'll leave you guys to it," Hiyori-Sensei said.

"And what will you do while we're out here soaking wet?" Asabu asked.

"Catching up on some sleep. Today's been a long day, you know."

Asabu looked dumbfounded when he said this like he wanted to bash the sensei's head in.

"Let's just focus on the training. Maybe the second time won't be as bad," Hayate offered.

"I sure hope it isn't," Kyoko said.

Kyoko's second attempt wasn't so different. She sank right through the water once again, getting her clothes wet. Time and time again, she kept at it, each time she was able to get more steps in. After about ten tries, she managed to take a few steps and stand along the radius of the lake.

"Hiyori-Sensei, look, I'm doing it!" Kyoko exclaimed, still standing on the saltwater.

"Great work, Kyoko, practice this a couple more times and you're good to be dismissed for the day."

Kyoko gave him a thumbs up and walked back to the land and then on the water multiple times. She even hopped on the water without breaking through.

"Hey, Kyoko, wanna help a guy out?" Asabu asked.

"What's in it for me?" she asked.

"Wha-"

"I'm kidding! Geez lighten up, I'm your teammate, aren't I? Alright, try to concentrate on your feet but don't think too hard about it. Pretend it's just solid!" She said and remembered how sensei said she could be dismissed after mastering it.

By the time she got home, the sun was setting and she hadn't had time to herself yet. She decided to go and find Shikamaru. The two hadn't talked much in the last few weeks since graduating from the academy.

She tried finding him at his house first but his parents said he wasn't home yet. The only logical place she could possibly think he would be was at his favourite place to cloud watch. Kyoko headed there with muscle memory since she'd been going there since she was a kid.

When she and Shikamaru were kids, they'd spend a lot of time there, not because Kyoko particularly liked cloud watching, but because she enjoyed irritating Shikamaru.

"Aw man, look what you did, my kite is all the way up there now," Kyoko complained and pointed to the sky when a kid in her class tried out here new kite and accidentally let go.

"Sorry Kyoko," she apologized.

"That's okay," Kyoko climbed the stairs of the old building that led to a rooftop in hopes of retrieving her kite. When she made it to the top, she was elated to see that it was still there, only, a kid with a brown ponytail was pinching it by the string.

"Looking for this?" the boy asked.

"Yeah, thanks for catching it!" she applauded.

"Getting it was such a drag. I only did it because it was blocking my view. Try not to lose it next time, will ya."

"Hey, no one forced you to. So stop being such a square," Kyoko said half-jokingly.

"Did you just call me a square?"

When the boy said this, it caused Kyoko to start laughing which progressed to even more laughing. Kyoko even saw a little smirk grow on the boy's face.

"I'm Kyoko Yuno by the way," she introduced herself.

"Shikamaru Nara."

When she made it to the top, she was excited to see Shikamaru laying on the bench on top of the roof gazing out at the dark night sky. The moon was out and the mist made it look all mysterious.

"Hey there, Shika!" Kyoko laid down a few feet away from Shikamaru who had his arms resting under his head.

Shikamaru grunted, "you woke me up from my nap."

"Sorry about that sleepyhead, but we haven't talked in years!"

"More like a week," Shikamaru corrected.

"Okay well, it felt like years. You still haven't told me about your squad."

"Well Choji is typical Choji and all Ino talks about is Sasuke."

"How about your sensei?"

"He's pretty cool I guess. How's that Hiyori guy. He any good?"

"She is great, she knocked out some bandit today with one strike!" Kyoko said.

The two were just catching up and stargazing. Kyoko was exhausted from today's events, she couldn't help but let her eyes drift shut, mumbling the last part of her sentence.