Hidden In the Stars

8Gekko Hayate and Uzuki Yuugao were a couple. Anyone who knew them could tell you that. Yuugao had even been caught in her ANBU uniform… though to her credit, she was mostly out of it… because of that relationship, as she hadn't waited until she had dropped her uniform before jumping on her boyfriend.

In his living room.

The problem being that Hayate had a roommate named Genma who caught them in the act. Of course, the entire village learned immediately afterwards.

Nevertheless, the two made a good couple, both in and outside the battlefield, complimentary. Hayate preferred a more fluid fighting style that allowed him to move around the battlefield, leading his opponent where he needed them to go, whereas Yuugao, trained by the ANBU, was much like lightning, striking fast and devastatingly, retreating just as swiftly. To put it in perspective, Hayate danced around the battlefield. His thin physique and ill appearance made it seem as if the wind itself could carry him, and his fighting style certainly gave that image. Yuugao instead moved straight forward and retreated before you could even tell she was there.

Hayate would lead the opponent into revealing a vulnerability, and Yuugao would promptly attack it.

Against a single opponent, it almost always resulted in quick victory.

Keyword being… almost.

Signum was not a normal opponent, faster and more skilled than both of them… but they could keep her on her toes. Neither was on a level with Orochimaru, but together, they approached something similar. This was Konoha's true power, the power of teamwork. Two in harmony, surpassing one in perfection.

The style they used was something new, and Signum was learning of a lot of problems that she had, in particular dealing with very speedy fighters that would strike and retreat. In order to capitalize on it, Yuugao had long since taken to forgoing defense, instead relying on Hayate to defend her, while she concentrated on hitting and running as quickly and damagingly as possible.

Even tired and wounded after the training session, Signum had already decided that this had been a good idea. At the very least, she'd introduce the idea to the others.

***

Zafira fell into his favorite stance, something that many considered superficially similar to the Hyuuga stances, at least, those of the basic Gentle Fist.

Three ninja stood in front of him, each of them in their own approximation of a fighting stance. The fact that one of them was dressed in bright green and body tight clothing was only a small distraction at this point.

"You've improved significantly since we started," Zafira said, his eyes scanning all three of them.

"Yosh!" the most bizarre one of the group, the one with the bright green clothing and a bowl cut, cheered. "Zafira-sensei, hearing that from an expert like yourself is indeed an honor! The fires of my youth have been stoked! If I can't achieve victory here, then I will do a hundred pushups, and if I can't do that, I will—"

"Shut up, Lee!" the only female of the group said.

"Your strength is incredible," the only serious member of the genin team stated. "I understand now why Sensei had us practice against you while he was on a mission. But Fate has decreed that you will lose."

"Fate… destiny…" Zafira said, shaking his head. "You know nothing of it. Your fatalism is ill suited to one so young," Zafira stated. It was the most verbose he'd been since they'd been introduced, and Zafira was actually finding a certain amount of… pleasure in teaching these three.

"I respect your strength, but you are as naive as all the others. These eyes… they see everything, and they see your defeat!" the fatalistic boy shouted.

Zafira grunted in effort, and moved much faster than he'd been moving before, burying his fist in the Hyuuga's solar plexus, knocking him out entirely. "A real man… makes his own destiny, with his own two fists!"

"Yosh!" Lee shouted, taking a notebook out of one of the pouches that lined his belt, followed by a pen. He wrote down Zafira's words. "You are certainly a youthful person, Zafira-sensei! Come on, Tenten, we have to avenge our fallen comrade!"

Tenten rolled her eyes. "You know he was knocked out, right? I doubt he heard it?"

Hearing that, Zafira shook his head. "It doesn't matter," he said.

"Great, you're just as crazy as Gai-sensei, aren't you?"

Zafira shrugged. He was literally an alien, to them. He wondered how they'd react to his real form… but it didn't matter. He was busy dealing with Lee, as the boy unleashed all of his speed at once, while simultaneously using a steel plated vambrace he'd borrowed to block all the weapons being thrown at him by the boy's teammate.

The Hyuuga was back up, too. It seemed that not only were they skilled, they were tenacious, too.

They weren't quite at his level. Even all three together didn't present a great challenge. However, returning the favor to Gai for accepting to train with him turned out to be a more interesting experience than he'd originally thought.

Maybe he'd take up Sarutobi's suggestion, take a genin team. Training students seemed quite interesting.

***

"I'm a puppeteer these days," the woman said, "but I used to be famed for my wire jutsu… and I don't see what that old windbag saw in you. You're meek… you should be in the kitchen, making dinner for your husband, not being a kunoichi."

"I'm not a kunoichi," Shamal stated, a little forcefully. She was used to dealing with this sort of bullshit, usually from chauvinistic masters. She was used to presenting a firm front, no matter the insults slung her way. "And while I am not at the level of my comrades, I can still strangle you with my bare hands."

"Hah! The old windbag told you how to approach me, didn't he?" the woman said, shaking her head. "I'm just screwing with ya, kid," she said.

Shamal laughed, internally.

"Anyway, I'm sure you ain't got time to listen to my rambles. But you're the only one who's approached me in like a decade, so I don't want to waste an opportunity to pass down at least some of my skills. I will introduce myself formally. I am Utatane Koharu, former ninja."

At this, Shamal nodded. "I am named Shamal. I will be in your care."

"Anyway, you don't use normal wires, don't you? Why don't you give me a demonstration, then I'll give you what pointers I can…"

"ANYONE ELSE WANT TO MAKE FUN OF MY HAT!?"

Truth be told, her oversized hat WAS kind of silly. But clearly, telling her that was a very, VERY bad idea.

"I like my hat! You got a problem with it?"

Unlike the other three, Vita was very definitely not having as much fun with her training as she could…