A Simple Teenage Shop Owner

10

Koneko loved her boyfriend. She loved his bright, sunny hair. She loved his smile that never seemed to fade away. She loved the positive and carefree attitude he had when it came to life. She loved almost every single thing about the boy.

All those feelings had been immediately buried in the girl the second she had began Naruto's training regimen. The blonde had started her off with a grueling set of physical exercises that had left the girl sore in places she had never been sore in. Dragging boulders, thousands of pushups, miles and miles of running, every single thing the boy could think of was thrown at the girl.

"This is to strengthen your body Ko-chan. There's no use in even attempting to learn senjutsu if your body cannot physically handle the power of nature." Naruto had told her as she finished her twelfth lap around the perimeter of a clearing with a small boulder strapped onto her back. Normally, she would've been able to finish the exercise without any issues. Unfortunately for the girl, Naruto, in all of his infinite wisdom, had placed something called a resistance seal on her body. Now instead of blazing through the workout with the use of her devil powers, Koneko struggled to balance herself with the massive rock strapped to her back..

After finishing the set of exercises, Koneko would then be subjected to meditation. Not just any type of meditation but meditation that required her to remain perfectly still. Each time she so much as twitched, she would be bopped on the top of her head by Naruto. The crown of her head had started to get tender after only ten minutes into the meditation. How in the world did her sporadic boyfriend ever manage to get this down, she would never know.

When Naruto had first demonstrated the technique to the girl, he had made it seem to easy. The blonde had simply sat in a crossed leg position before settling his hands on his knees and inhaling a deep breath. After that, the boy closed his eyes and seemingly froze in place within the same moment. Not even the rising and falling of the boy's chest could be seen as he descended deeper and deeper into his meditative state.. He was as still as a tree, completely unmoving as a soft wind blew through the clearing.

Seconds after Naruto had started his meditation, Koneko felt an all too familiar force appear in the clearing. The air grew thick and heavy as nature's hate began to pour from out the plants and grass. The girl had almost fainted when she was exposed to the malice that the clearing contained. It was a thick, ancient feeling of hate that had been built up over centuries of abuse. And all of it was flowing into Naruto.

If it wasn't for the fact that Naruto had explicitly warned her to not come in contact with him while he was gathering the natural energy, Koneko would've immediately ran over and knocked him out of his meditation when she felt the hate. Instead, she watched with a combination of fear and amazement in her eyes as Naruto continued to absorb the chakra, and with it, the hatred. The blonde didn't even offer up a single flinch as he bore the brunt of Nature's wrath. The process had continued for a full minute before Naruto had finally opened his eyes from his meditation.

And with the opening of his eyes, a new feeling filled the clearing. Koneko had to hold in a gasp as the same feeling of comfort and peace from before swept over her body. A wave of comfort swept through the clearing, washing over everything it touched. Koneko was not the only one who was affected as a multitude of animals who had perched themselves around the edge of the clearing slowly came out of their hiding spots in an attempt to experience more of this euphoric feeling. And at the center of this tidal wave of energy was Naruto.

"One key thing that people don't realize when it comes to using senjutsu is that one must become fully connected with nature when using it . You must accept it, all of its flaws, its imperfections, its hate and its strife. You cannot be selective of what you bring in when you absorb natural chakra. You must be able to take it all." Naruto had spoke to her as he approached her downed form. Koneko couldn't even focus on the boy's word as the pure, untainted power of nature swept over her. The power was so exhilarating yet calming at the same time. Just being close to it had filled her with so much energy yet she felt so peaceful at the moment.