Red Is A Pretty Colour

128

Hiko's pov

It turns out Genjutsu was absolutely Akira's thing. Kurenai had nothing but good things to say and it had given Akira a boost of self confidence. Now Itona was getting my full attention during training sessions. It gave us time to work on developing Itona's fighting style which was a mix of capoeira, Taido and Ninjutsu. The style was highly inspired by Toka's dancing and the martial arts festivals that used to be held in the hidden hot water village combined with his talent for lightning style. Kakashi~Sensei had been quite impressed when he came to train with me on Wednesday and saw Itona fight.

"It's quite impressive, I've never seen someone fight quite like that." Kakashi~Sensei praised.

"Thank you very much lord 6th, Sensei and I have worked to perfect it these past few days." Itona said proudly.

"I told you my kids have some real talent. That's why I pushed so hard to have them skip the academy and why I insisted they get a shot at the chunin exams." I said.

"I can see that now." Kakashi~Sensei said. "But where are your other students?"

"Sasuke and Kurenai." I replied.

"Now you know how I felt." Kakashi~Sensei said with a chuckle, patting me on the back.

"Hey! My students didn't leave me, I set them up with people that had the skill sets they needed to be the type of shinobi the want to be. I'll get them back in time for the chunin exams." I said. "Besides, Sasuke says Toka is driving him to the brink of a nervous breakdown. He's not gonna keep her!"

"Of course she is." Itona said with a sigh, shaking his head.

"But he also said that she's impressive when it comes to sheer power." I said.

"What about Akira?" Itona asked.

"Kurenai can't praise him enough, apparently he was made for genjutsu. He's been doing really well." I replied.

"Are you sure? He asked me to help him with Taijutsu yesterday." Itona said.

"I'm sure, he just doesn't want to fall behind on his other skills." I explained.

Itona would never admit it but he cared a lot about Toka and Akira. He worried about them whenever they weren't around and was always checking up on their progress. He really was their overprotective older brother.

"Hiko! Can we talk fo- Kakashi~Sensei, what are you doing here?" Naruto asked as he approached us, excitement radiating off of him.

"I'm here every Wednesday. I've been helping Hiko train for the past year." Kakashi~Sensei explained.

"Naruto~san." Itona said, bowing to him.

"Hey kid, how are ya?" Naruto greeted as he gave the boy a casual wave.

"I'm doing well, thank you." Itona replied.

"You're way too formal Itona." I said. "Now, what do you need moron?"

"Hinata and I are getting married." Naruto announced suddenly.

I grinned at him before pulling him into a hug. It was about damn time. Hinata had loved him for forever and had always been the nice one, if anyone deserved to get their happy ending it was her. Naruto was also deserving of such a happy moment in his life, after everything he'd went through to save the world marrying the love of his life was well earned. I was just so excited for them and their future together.

"Congratulations! I'm so happy for you! If only mum could see you now, you definitely found a good one." I said.

"Yeah, I know." Naruto said, a rare soft smile playing on his lips.

"Congratulations." Kakashi~Sensei and Itona said.

"Thank you." Naruto said.

"So, what's the plan?" I asked. "When's the wedding?"

"In 5 months." Naruto said with a grin.

"So soon?" Kakashi~Sensei asked surprised.

"You've not given yourself much time have you?" I said.

"We wanted to have it during Hanami, for the cherry blossoms ya know." Naruto explained.

"I better start getting stuff ready," Kakashi~Sensei said.

"You and me both." I agreed.

"Yeah, try not to be late to this one." Naruto said.

"I'll try." Kakashi~Sensei and I both said in sync making Naruto laugh.

"Let me know if there's anything I can do to help out with the wedding. You know I'll always be there for the two of you." I said.

"Aren't you busy with the chunin exams and everything?" Naruto asked.

"The chunin exams start in two weeks and run on for two months, the results come out a month later which leaves me a month of nothing before your wedding. I have plenty of time." I said.

"If you say so. I've gotta go and tell Sakura!" Naruto said with an excited giggle. "See ya!"

"See ya." I said before watching him run off. "I guess I'm gonna have to come up with a present. Until then, back to training."