Book One: The Era of Change

Chapter Four: Training Starts Now

Third pov

Two days later, Shiori and Leiko found themselves at Train Ground 3 at 6:00 am sharp despite knowing Kakashi's late tendencies.

"What do we do now?" Leiko asked, her eye twitching as the clock hit 6:30.

"I honestly don't even know why I bothered," Shiori sighed, sitting down next to a wooden post.

"What do we do while we wait for him?"

"Uh I would say train but there ins't really much to do is there?"

"Well, fill me in on how the last two days have been," Leiko said sitting down next to Shiori.

Leiko's pov

"Nothing much. Sasuke is taking the news of family surprisingly well. I just lazed around the past two days. What about you? How did meeting Neji and your uncle go?" she asked.

Haha. I would say 'totally great' to anyone else, but not this girl.

"Uncle hasn't said anything other than 'hi' to me. Guess that fits the character's personality." I pick at my hair. I'm still not used to it being long again. "He hasn't payed me much attention...no mentions of anything about the seal yet," I continued, "I'm neutral towards him..."

Shiori sighed in relief.

But I wasn't finished.

I pursed my lips, "Neji, on the other hand, is the most unpleasant guy I've ever had the 'pleasure' to call my brother..."

That got me a laugh, "You don't have another brother."

"True, but still. My point stands," I insisted.

I mean, pre-chunin exam Neji? Ugh. Mix that with me? You get a really, really bad product.

- 2 hours later -

"Hey guys! Sorry I'm late, a Gai crossed my path and I had to take the long way," Kakashi waved smiling.

"Did he happen to be carrying a black cat by any chance?" Shiori muttered under her breath.

"Why did we expect otherwise?" I grimaced shaking my head.

Kakashi rubbed the back of his neck in a sheepish manner.

"Maa maa, cut me some slack," he said.

"Okay, so what are we doing today?" Shiori asked, jumping up.

Kakashi frowned, "We'll only be focusing on tapping into your chakra and basics today, but you might want to get some ninja gear for tomorrow."

"Hehe, we'll make sure to do that," I grinned. Ninja gear. Weapons. Sparring. Sorry, I'm a martial arts student, I have interesting standards regarding fun.

But not today. I thought as Kakashi clapped, "Ok! Let's get started,"

"What do we do?" Shiori asked.

"Well for starters, sit down somewhere comfortable. This is gonna take a while," Kakashi said sitting down on the ground.

"So firstly I want you to close your eyes and forget everything. Focus on nothing but my voice and your heartbeat," Kakashi said closing his eyes as well.

I struggled to rid everything else from my head. Just my heartbeat...

thump...thump...thump...thu-CAWWW!

I jumped. The crow's call seemed louder than usual. Settling down once again, I trained my focus to my heart beat again. Focus.

thump...thump...thump...