𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐒𝐄 𝐃𝐀𝐘𝐒 | shisui uchiha

Hot Springs

"Gaara! Naruto! We're so glad you could make it!"

Haruki greeted the pair enthusiastically as they approached her and the crowd of Suna children, all of whom were buzzing with excitement at the prospect of their first day trip in the village.

"Wouldn't miss it for anything, Haruki-chan!" grinned Naruto, scratching the back of his head as he led Gaara towards the Hyūga.

"It's perfect that you two came, now we have more hands on deck to help the kids out," gushed Haruki, glancing down at her clipboard and mentally calculating how many groups the students needed to be split up in. "If you don't mind?"

"I don't! How about you, Gaara?"

Haruki suppressed a gasp as the redhead gave a small smile and nodded.

"I'd like to help too," reaffirmed Gaara quietly, looking towards Haruki. Stunned by the change in his persona compared to when they had first met, Haruki merely uttered, "Great! That's great!" in response to his surprising response. It was surprising to her that he'd even agreed to come along to today's training trip.

"Haru-chan! Shall we?"

"Coming!"

Rushing to the front of the group to address the students, Haruki waved her arms to get everyone's attention.

"Alright, everyone! Let's go!"

*

"Haruki-sensei, this is too hard!"

"Paku- AH!"

The hot springs buzzed with the sounds of the students attempting to perfect the art of focusing their chakra in the soles of their feet, so as to avoid falling into the steaming water below them. Judging from the shouts Haruki could hear coming over the wall from the boys' side of the spring, they didn't seem to be faring any better.

"Come on, you can do it!" encouraged Haruki, standing effortlessly on the water with her arms crossed as her students struggled around her. "Just- whoops! Careful!"

As one of the girls lost focus, Haruki reached out and swiftly grabbed her by the arm, holding her up so that she wouldn't sink into the water.

"Focus," instructed Haruki, holding up the girl's weight with one arm until she'd succeeded in pooling her chakra to her feet again.

"Y-yes, sensei!"

Across the spring, Haruki grinned at the sight of Pakura training with her own group of girls.

"Kanoko, you're sinking."

"AHH! I AM!"

"Focus."

Although it was a difficult training session for the children, the concentration on their faces elicited pure joy for Haruki.

"Everyone, focus! After this, let's try walking across the water, okay?"

"Yes, sensei!"