An Unexpected Romance

Chapter 25

Chkako fell asleep with Tobirama's arm under her head secure in the knowledge he was behind her one hundred percent. When she woke in the morning her nervousness had lifted enough that she was able to smile through it as they got ready.

They arrived at the training grounds early. The other Konoha ninja were there but only a few Iwa men. Just outside the training circle Tobirama stopped. "I won't ask again, but are you sure Chikako?"

"Positive." She grinned up at him, waved to the men and went to lean on the fence surrounding the field. The Konoha men smiled and waved back, Dai approaching her with a wide grin. The Iwa men wrinkled their brows and frowned.

"Will you be joining us this morning?" Dai nodded his greeting to Tobirama but directed his question to Chikako, just loud enough the Iwa men could hear him.

"I will be." Chikako bit her lip as the Iwa men exploded with whispered comments that only increased as other men filtered into the field and were, assumably, informed of her intention.

"You'll do great." Dai bowed to her and returned to his team.

The Iwa men gathered at the edge of the field, mumbling and glancing toward her with haughty looks. Sadao was the last to arrive, her father with him. They noticed her immediately, and, unlike the other men, approached her with narrowed eyes. Her father spoke, though it was Sadao's anger that burned her skin and made her want to run.

"This is mens training Chikako. You don't need to be here, you'll just be a distraction."

"I may be, Father, but I have something to contribute. I won't stay the entire training, but I'll be here for a little while." She met her father's curiosity with a firm, confident look.

Tobirama broke the tension by clearing his throat. "Shall we warm up?"

The men nodded and took positions for the warm up exercises they would use. Tobirama tipped his head to her.

"Chikako, won't you warm up with us?"

"Thank you for the invitation." She ignored the grumbling and joined them inside the training field. She could not ignore Sadao's discomfort, but he remained silent so she set her gaze on Tobirama and started stretching.

After warmups Tobirama set an arm around her shoulders and drew her close to him. "I'd like you to all gather around, Chikako has some information that might be interesting to you."

Chikako got a moment of nerves looking at the twenty or so men surrounding her and Tobirama. When Sadao joined them in the middle he spoke up with a scoffing tone. "I don't know what your game is Senju but this better be good."

Tobirama stiffened beside her and scowled. "I was invited here to share training techniques, listen to what we have to teach you."

Chikako cleared her throat hoping she could speak loudly enough. "It's unusual for you to see a woman at training or to consider seeing one on a battlefield but it's important for you to know that the world outside of Iwa has changed. It's moved forward and Iwa needs to as well if it's going to be competitive." She saw a few of the men were taking interest and it encouraged her to continue.

"Konoha has ninja they call kunoichi, they're all women." She let the concept settle on them. They snickered, one man laughed outright but Sadao looked outraged

One of the men said "I wouldn't mind fighting one of those."

She faced the direction the comment had come from. "You think they'd be easy to beat? Think again. They're just as strong as you, some stronger."

The men all looked to Tobirama who nodded his head. One called out, "How tough could they be?"

Chikako heard it and approached the man who had said it. "Sho, right? A kunoichi has a weapon you'll never have."