Katsuro was in a good mood. He had gained a little sister who had warmed up to him over time as they lived together. On Granny Mito's request he began building on her Fuinjutsu knowledge which came naturally to her as a Uzumaki. But more difficult was Ninjutsu - Kushina already had Taijutsu down to a certain extent mainly because of her Uzumaki body but was held back by her chakra control. Thus, Katsuro took it upon himself to teach Kushina, because he was teaching Nawaki anyway. Unfortunately, her teaming up with Tsunade and Nawaki was less than ideal.
"I'm telling you Kushina, he is a devil, trying to steal my sister away from me."
"You're right, I see him staring at Tsunade a bit too long sometimes, y'know!"
Katsuro blushed slightly, but looked at Tsunade to see her reaction just to see her as red as a tomato. The sight was beautiful to take in, and when their eyes met as she looked up shyly - it made it almost worth it.
"Ahem," Katsuro coughed into his fist, "it seems you two are quite energetic, no? Looks like we should continue training. Kushina, shall we continue with your sealing practice? Are you proficient in the 4 symbols seal yet? And Nawaki, you want to become a Chunin as soon as you can, right?"
"Yeah!" Nawaki exclaimed, but Kushina grimaced at Nawaki, watching him get caught in the trap and drag her along too. "Forget those stupid seals, let's practice!"
"Now, now Nawaki, sealing Jutsu is quite useful y'know," Katsuro said as he glanced at Kushina, "I make most of my money making explosive tags for the village nowadays. But forget that, I think you're right, let's train. And what better way is there to train than fighting!"
Nawaki's face turned ashen as he finally realised what was going on.
"Katsuro, let's not be rash here, I was just joking…"
In that moment, seeing Katsuro's sinister smile was like seeing the devil's face.
"Sister! Help me, Katsuro's gonna kill me!"
"Suro, stop bullying my brother," Tsunade interjected. Before Katsuro could reply,
"Suro huh… he he he," Kushina who seemed to have escaped, giggled.
This time both Katsuro and Tsunade both blushed heavily, but Katsuro was quick to divert the subject. He body flickered and grabbed both Nawaki and Kushina by the back of their shirts, and took them to the yard. "That's it, you brats really have been missing some 'training' haven't you?"
Kushina realised her mistake, "Dammit, we are so screwed."
"Come now children, big brother Katsuro is going to help you become a great Shinobi!"
As the three walked together towards the central courtyard, which had quickly become their training area due to its large open space, Kushina and Nawaki glanced at each other grimacing. Katsuro wasn't the slow, theory-type sort of teacher. Rather, his "lessons" involved a continuous stream of fast-paced, brain-intensive training on hand signs, various footwork and balance drills, Taijutsu, chakra control and much more. The two, along with Tsunade, often noticed a subtle harsh, relentless aura around Katsuro during these training sessions. However, only Granny Mito truly understood Katsuro's methods. He didn't want the same thing that happened to him, to happen to the others that he deeply cared about. The same pain, sleepless nights and a continuous feeling of heartache from losing a loved one.
The training that followed, as usual, pushed Nawaki and Kushina to their physical and spiritual limits. Katsuro was dedicated to help them fulfil and exceed their potentials, and he knew they would be capable of such. He would often comment words of encouragement and constantly feed them useful feedback and corrections to allow them to nearly perfect every Jutsu, footwork, posture, technique, situational awareness and anything that would keep them alive.
Then came the sparring. Each of them would take turns to practice their improved or newly learnt jussu, techniques and maneuvers in actual combat and sometimes together. Of course, Katsuro didn't go nearly all-out at all, but he made sure to constantly challenge them to their limits. It also allowed him to see where any potential adjustments, more drills or simply moving onto the next part of training was required.
"Good judgement, Kushina - woah - careful there - you still need to walk on your chakra control!"
"Nawaki, your Earth Flow Spears need to be formed faster or in a more appropriate situation, it is too easy to dodge and wastes your limited chakra."
"Kushina, focus more on Ninjutsu and strategy! Running in head on isn't always smart. As a shinobi you always need to be aware of your surroundings whether that's in combat or walking to the shops!"
"Good, your Bottomless Swamp has improved a lot, Nawaki!"
Relentless training proved to be fruitful, and after training they shared laughs and inhaled meals.
"You've both come really far in training- I mean it," Katsuro smiled as they sat down for a break, "Soon we can move onto more complex Jutsu and techniques. Before you know it, you'll both be able to protect yourselves, your comrades and your family." Nawaki and Kushina, while exhausted, still managed to grin in triumph, looking up at Katsuro. But a distant look of sadness in his eyes managed to wash their smiles away.
"Suro, are you okay?" Nawaki tapped him on the shoulder.
"You look like you're reliving your past, snap out of it!" Kushina told him.
"Huh? Oh yeah, I'm fine, don't worry about it! Besides, kids don't tell adults what to do, y'know!" Katsuro quickly glanced at Kushina who began fuming as a tick swelled on her forehead. One quick look at Nawaki was all it took for the two boys to erupt into laughter, seeing Kushina's temper flare.
Before they knew it, the girl had grabbed Nawaki by the ear, having tried and failed to grab Katsuro, yelling at them to stop laughing while it only made them cackle even more. Meanwhile, Granny Mito and Tsunade who were watching nearby shared a smile. Life was almost perfect. Almost…
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"What did you just say?"
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