The Last Namikaze

Chapter 18) Free time vs. Missions

Itachi Kisame and Sasori were chosen to go get the new member. He'd be Sasori's partner. While she'd been gone Pain had disposed of Hanzo the Salamander and the main base had been moved to the Rain, so Akari went to check it out. It was bigger, brighter, and nice to have food options nearby. This last aspect alone was exciting enough to make her appreciate the move. As Konan officially ran the Rain with Pain Akari hung out to see what it was like. Having some girl time was a welcome change and the two went out shopping, worked out together and even went for drinks a few times. Sasori brought Deidara, the new member, to the Rain hideout a few weeks later. He was a funny kid even younger than Itachi but somehow already a huge flirt. He found out the hard way not to touch Akari on his first day when he slapped her ass. Immediately weapons were flying and Deidara was screaming. After the shock he began chucking small explosives at her. They were beautiful when they exploded and she paused her onslaught for a second to appreciate them.

"Ooh, it's so pretty." She hadn't seen fireworks since the day her father had became hokage and these reminded her of them. His counterattack ceased.

"Wait really? You really like my explosions, yeah?"

"Yeah."

From that moment on the two were cool. She liked his long hair and bangs that were so similar to her own in length and she found too that he was funny and had a temper with a short fuse. The two enjoyed sparring together and sometimes when they were feeling lazy they even tried out new hairstyles on each other.

As Akari had some free time on her hands she began really focusing on sage training. Although it took a lot of chakra Akari was able to teleport back to a seal she'd left at the Oinosu. The training was intense and difficult. Controlling nature chakra, it was found, was not something Akari was naturally gifted at. Sage training required being able to sit absolutely still while harnessing nature energy, allowing nothing to distract the student.

The wolves had her sit under a freezing waterfall for hours, in the snow, on ice, on a mountaintop, and while riding on a wolf's back. Needless to say, this training took a long time. Reo and the others laughed good naturedly at her and she tried and failed not to let them or the training itself distract her, and then tried again. Day after day the routine continued, only taking breaks when Pain contacted her via the ring to go do a mission.

Finally, eight months in from when she'd begun really working on the training, she was there. A complete sage mode was still a little difficult, but a partial was doable. Still this wasn't enough. Continuing to practice Akari began trying to harness nature chakra even while on the move, a feat that was frustratingly complicated. Of course it didn't help that just as she felt that she was getting close to a breakthrough she'd be summoned to go assassinate someone or other or ordered to go get a secret scroll. It was a pain, but as it was Pain she couldn't refuse.

After more than a year of training Akari had done it - she could keep a sage mode going for at least twelve hours if she practiced regularly and was confident in her newfound abilities. Again she wondered why the hell her father hadn't used this power when fighting Kurama but she then shook her head, moving on, not wanting to revisit the past anymore.  

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 Twenty minutes in and she'd nearly finished checking the perimeter when she started to feel twitchy. Damn there are people here.. Fuck. Akari was high in the trees and stood still, focusing. I can hear them coming closer. Frustrating. It sounded like children talking, a girl yelling at a boy for something or other. Deftly she threw shuriken around the area, ready for them. This chakra.. I know this chakra. Hmm, if I had to put a color to it it'd be deep green, just like him. She smiled softly. Why did it have to be you? A bug landed on her arm and Akari refrained from smacking it, not wanting to piss anyone off. Now. Flicking the bug off (not killing it) she teleported. Bugs were suddenly swarming in the air and she was ready, throwing kunais at the same time as creating a massive water cyclone. EWWW! She mentally screamed, having always been grossed out by bugs and being out of the habit of seeing them all the time. Still, she refrained from using fire for her old friend's sake. Sorry bugs, I didn't want to kill you...hopefully water won't do that. It shouldn't. She heard a voice, both familiar and different at the same time shouting orders to fall back and watch each other's backs. Hmph, that won't save them. Akari teleported to the weapons that were now over the genin's heads, catching one and knocking out the fat boy with the butt of her kunai. In midair she turned to see the others and locked eyes momentarily with a boy who looked very familiar.