The White Flash

Onimaru

A.N. I got this reference from an actual sword from Japanese culture named Onimaru, one of the Tenka-Goken or "Five Swords Under Heaven". Although, the style and appearance are different to fit into the story.

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            Ayumi leaned against the outside wall of the house, towel drying her white locks. Her body free from bandages, forearms and legs covered by long sleeves. She looked up at the growing night sky and watched the stars pop into the sky. Dishes rattled inside as Tsunami cleaned after dinner, Sakura's excited squeals from their room as she tried to move her sleeping bag closer to Sasuke's while the boys took their bath, and Waddles-san swam in circles a few feet from the dock. Naruto's blond hair ran down the dock towards the woods. Ayumi draped the towel over her head and watched him go. She should want to follow, but at the moment the only thing she wanted to do was crawl into a hole. Her head hit the wall, eyes closing.

"Ayumi."

"Hm?" She hummed.

"I want to ask you something, come with me." She peeked through her lids as the onyx hair strolled in front of her. He wasn't waiting for a response. Though, the fact that he came up to talk to her did pique her interest; she left the wall and followed the Uchiha. He led her to a corner of the house that the family slept. He stopped. "You already completed the tree climbing exercise, right?"

"Yeah, I did that a few years ago."

"Well." His hands flexed at his sides, head moving as he gazed in different directions, voice tight; all without turning to face her. "I... haven't gotten the hang of it yet, so... I was wondering if there... if there was any advice you could give."

"Why ask me?" Ayumi questioned, "Papa told me that Haruno-chan got it pretty fast. Why not ask her? Why do you think I would give you good advice?" All of these questions people need to ask only her were annoying. Not when there were four other people that could answer the same damn thing and let her have some time to herself.

"Sakura would be too busy making a big deal out of me coming to her and not even get to the advice." Sasuke finally turned to face her, "and I... trust the advice of someone on the same level as I am more."

Ayumi smirked and crossed her arms, "is this humility from the great Uchiha-sama? I never thought I'd see the day."

"Uchiha-sama?" He echoed.

"That's what you call the member of one of Konohagakure's most powerful clans, right? Hyuga-sama, Sarutobi-sama, Uchiha-sama."

"Don't call me that."

Ayumi sighed. It couldn't have been easy for the prideful prick to ask for advice. She had to respect it. "I find chakra easy to control when I picture it." She held her hands in front of her, formed like claws with her palms a few inches apart. "Like a fire that I weaken and strengthen on command, the more I need the larger I make the fire." She moved her hands apart to emphasize her point. "Whereas, with tree-climbing, you need something way smaller; like embers. Then you just shift that flame to whatever point in your body that you need."

"Picture it?" He echoed.

Ayumi spread her arms, twirling her hands like a showman. "Now that is all of the wisdom I have to bestow upon you. Remember, Uchiha-sama, there are no shortcuts to greatness; to climb the ladder of strength one must start at the bottom." She slapped her hand on his shoulder before turning her back to him and heading back to where she was standing. She pulled the towel from her hair, entering the house.

"No, you can't sleep next to me, Kohei-kun!" Sakura shouted.

"But Sakura-chan!" Ayumi strolled into the room they shared. Sakura was sitting on her sleeping bag that she placed next to Sasuke's, glowering at Kohei who was attempting to do the same thing with her. Hiro sat in front of Kakashi with his scroll of fire ninjutsu spread on the floor. Ayumi tossed the towel into the pile of dirty laundry in the corner.