The next day, Wednesday, Tsunade-sama called her into her office with a serious expression. After what Kakashi-sensei had told them the previous day, Seina could imagine what this was about.
"Do you have your report?" asked the Hokage. Seina tossed it to her. "Thanks."
She quickly read it before handing it to Shizune, who was standing by her side.
"I see. You were very lucky to encounter only one of them."
"I know. Kakashi-sensei told me about it yesterday."
"I saw the body myself. He was a rogue ninja from Kusagakure who appears in the bingo book. You'll receive a reward for bringing us his head. Did you see anyone else besides that ninja?"
"No."
"Then you're even luckier," sighed the Hokage with relief. "We found a scroll with instructions. They were planning to kidnap Kobayashi to exchange him with someone unknown from Takigakure for money."
"For 100,000 ryo? That's the rumour that reached Kobayashi."
"It seems so."
"But that means there's someone in Takigakure who wants to kidnap or pressure Kobayashi, right?"
"Yes, but that's not our business. Unless they hire us again," the Hokage shrugged. "For now, I'm just glad your mission went well, and that no one realized you killed an S-rank ninja from the bingo book. Otherwise, you'd now be in the crosshairs of even more people. With some luck, Akatsuki won't connect his death, or disappearance, to you."
"I don't think they'll recognize me. I spent the entire mission transformed into a mini version of the client to look like his daughter," Seina shrugged.
"Even better. You can go now, Seina. You have the day off."
Seina left the office, thinking about what she had just heard. That guy was an S-rank ninja? It had been quite difficult to kill him. In fact, she had so few injuries because of the modifications to her clothes, and even then, her ribs still ached from the impact of his ninjutsu without seals. If it hadn't been for her magic and her new genjutsu, she wasn't sure what would have happened because she had been on the ropes… Maybe she needed to employ a different tactic against stronger enemies. Instead of attacking herself, she'd start by sending her clones until she got an idea of who she was up against, but she had to do something.
She walked through the village, feeling the February sun on her skin. In two weeks, the month would end, and March would begin. In April, Tsunade-sama would present her as a candidate for the jonin exams, and there would be a drawing to determine which village would host the exams. She just prayed it wouldn't be Kumogakure.
"Seina!" called a voice from behind her.
It was Ino, accompanied by Chouji and Shikamaru. She stopped in the middle of the street, waiting for them to catch up, and observed Shikamaru's bored expression and her friend's enthusiasm.
"Long time no see! Where have you been?"
"I came back from a mission yesterday, and before that, I was busy at the hospital. How about you guys?"
"We were just about to train with Shikamaru," said Ino. "He's not taking the chunin exam with us, but he helps us train as a team every now and then."
"Why don't you come with us?" Shikamaru surprisingly asked.
"You want me to help you train?" she asked, blinking. "Maybe Naruto and Sasuke could join too…"
"Great! That's a good idea, Shika!" Ino exclaimed, squinting at him.
"What? I have good ideas, you know that. Besides, Seina is a tokubetsu jonin. With her and me training against you, we'll definitely push your limits."
"Naru, Sasuke? Want to train with Ino's team?" she asked mentally while the others argued in front of her.
"Seriously? Of course! We're on our way now!"
Her brother disconnected as he quickly started getting dressed. She snapped back to reality, noticing that now they were arguing about where to train, while Chouji silently munched on some chips. In the end, they decided on Team 10's training field, which was closer to the village than their old training ground, which they hadn't set foot in for months.
Naruto and Sasuke arrived at the field before they did. She didn't even need to open her link, she just had to listen to them bickering as usual. She glared irritably at Shikamaru for suggesting it, but said nothing. After all, she knew that Naruto and Sasuke needed to train against different opponents.
"So, how do we train?" Ino asked.
"If I were you, I'd train in taijutsu. It's the weak point of your entire team."
"What else would you recommend?" asked Shikamaru, even though he wasn't taking the exam with Ino and Chouji.
"For starters, if I were Ino, I'd try using clones to guard my body while I used my dojutsu. For Chouji and for you, I'd try to learn some ninjutsu. Shikamaru, for you, jutsus to hide yourself while using your shadows would be very useful instead of being in plain sight, while Chouji, clearly the support of the group, should learn defensive jutsus. After all, you're not an attack team, but one of capture and interrogation."
"Yosh! What about us?"
"Keep up with our usual training. We train everything, Naru," she rolled her eyes.
"I'm not sure if I have enough chakra reserves for kage bunshin," Ino said, frowning with concern.
"Then you should train your chakra reserves," Chouji interjected for the first time. "Seina's right. If we manage to do what she says, we'll improve a lot. You wouldn't be completely defenceless anymore, Shikamaru could attack from more angles without putting himself at direct risk, and I could defend you from more threats without using my own body."
"He's right. What jutsu can you teach me to hide?"
"What's your nature?" she asked.
"No idea. Asuma-sensei has us reviewing the basics," Shikamaru replied with a sigh.
"Then I'll teach you the three jutsus I know," she shrugged. "One of them should work, I imagine."
That's how Seina started teaching the fire concealment jutsu to Shikamaru, Ino, and Chouji. Team 10 took a while to get the hang of the ninjutsu. Even so, after 10 tries, Shikamaru managed to produce a light ash, while Ino and Chouji couldn't even create a flame. After that, Shikamaru spent time playing with the jutsu until he finally got it and collapsed, panting on the grass.
"Clearly, you two don't have an affinity for fire," Sasuke told Ino and Chouji. "Want me to teach you the earth concealment jutsu?"
"Yes, please," sighed Ino.
Curiously, Sasuke was right. Both Chouji and Ino had a clear earth affinity, so it took them less time to learn the ninjutsu properly. The problem came afterward when Ino ran out of chakra and couldn't get out. Seina had to pull her out using another jutsu before she started panicking underground.
"How about we take a break?" she said, pulling out a bento under Naruto's hungry gaze.
"Ugh. I barely did anything," Ino sighed. "My reserves aren't enough."
"The more you practice ninjutsu, the more reserves you'll have. It's like a muscle, after all. One way to practice faster is to stick a leaf to some part of your body with chakra," she commented, "that way, you're using little chakra while practicing control and increasing your reserves."
"Is that what you do?"
"Something like that," she said, thinking of the invisible seal on her forehead that she kept filling, and the chakra Kurama constantly gave her to stretch her reserves like a stomach.
"You should put weights on your limbs," Sasuke recommended. "If you're going to train taijutsu, it'll help improve your endurance and speed."
"When we get back to the village, we'll buy some weights," Ino promised, as Shikamaru groaned in annoyance. "All of us, Shikamaru!"
"Want to practice some taijutsu?"
Team 10 sighed in unison at the energy of her team, who weren't tired at all. Chouji sparred with Naruto, Sasuke with Shikamaru, and she paired up with Ino. She planned to teach her the same taijutsu style she had learned: a mix of Kakashi-sensei, Tsunade-sama, and Guy-sensei. After all, she believed it was the best style for any medic, and Ino was also training to be her team's medic.
"Just dodge! Don't waste strength trying to hit me harder!" she said, as she threw another punch at Ino. "Use my strength against me by redirecting my moves!"
She let Ino intercept the next kick. Ino listened and redirected her kick instead of blocking it with her arms. She used her hand to let her leg continue its trajectory without using strength while avoiding being hit.
She realized that Ino had been paying attention to her movements, copying her style. She smiled, seeing that she was making progress. Even so, Ino wasn't able to stop the next hit when Seina quickly changed direction, using a hand on the ground to sweep her with a low kick.
"Are you okay?" she asked, hearing Ino groan.
"Yeah. I'll just get a bruise."
Seina laughed at her, offering a hand to help her up.
"I see you've picked up what I wanted to teach you."
"Let me try again," Ino requested.
She agreed. They exchanged katas, not to hurt each other or using all their strength, but more slowly so that Ino could get used to the movements. When they returned to the village hours later, Ino assured her that she would practice her peculiar taijutsu style, buy the weights, and start increasing her reserves so that she could at least create a shadow clone to watch over her defenceless body while using her clan's techniques.
"Could we meet another day to practice?" Ino asked. "We could train a couple of hours a week."
"Why don't we train every Monday here?" Seina suggested, seeing that her team also liked the idea.
"Sounds good to me."
"Great!" Ino smiled.
They said their goodbyes a little while later, seeing that Team 10 was too tired to keep training.
"We're much better," Naruto confirmed. Sasuke nodded.
"It's obvious they haven't trained as hard."
"Honestly, I don't get it. How long does Asuma-sensei plan to wait before teaching them ninjutsu? I know all three have their clan bloodlines, but more knowledge never hurts."
"I know. My clan was expert in fire techniques, despite having the sharingan," Sasuke nodded. "Maybe it's just Asuma-sensei's style."
"Doesn't seem like it. The same thing happens in Hinata's team."
"And in Bushy Brow's team."
When they got home, it was already lunchtime. Surprisingly, Kakashi-sensei was waiting for them with food prepared.
"I was waiting for you," he said as soon as he saw them. "Were you training? Why don't you take a quick shower?"
They exchanged a glance, as Kakashi-sensei was usually the busiest of them all, but they obeyed. They went down to eat a few minutes later. Seina always felt like a new person after a good shower. As she sat at the table, she raised an eyebrow in the jonin's direction, but he just shrugged.
"Nothing's happened, in case you were going to ask. I just found myself with more free time than expected. Were you training together?"
"Yeah, with Ino's team," Naruto replied. He proceeded to explain everything that had happened in detail. "...and in the end, we agreed to train together every Monday."
"That's a good idea. After all, your competitors in the chunin exams will be other genin, and Seina will review the basics, which should never be forgotten. Do you want to train this afternoon, or are you too tired?"
"Tired, us?!"
That's how they spent the afternoon in the training grounds, fighting against Kakashi-sensei and his clones. She was glad to see that their teacher wasn't wasting time but was also getting something out of training with them, as she noticed from his focused expression.
"You're at jonin level," he praised her at the end of the training, while Naruto and Sasuke lay semi-conscious on the grass. "No one will be surprised if you get promoted again in a few months."
"Thanks," she nodded, "although after my solo fight with Akatsuki, it's clear I need more training."
"No. You need more varied training. Those are two different things," the jonin corrected her. "That man was an S-rank rogue ninja, Seina. You've only been out of the academy for less than two years, and you still managed to defeat him."
"Because I had my magic and my genjutsu."
"And? There are people out there with other kekkei genkai. Does that make them less of a ninja than someone without special abilities?"
"...No."
"Then why do you think using your magic is cheating? That's what ninjas do!"
"Hmm... Yeah, you're right. I forget that sometimes."
She was no longer an auror but a ninja. Maybe she couldn't have beaten that ninja without her magic, but she had her magic, so why was she beating herself up over it? Ugh.
"I'll see if I can talk to some other S-rank colleagues," Kakashi-sensei muttered. "If you're going to keep facing these kinds of situations, you'd better be prepared."
"Ugh. Don't remind me."
The next day, Naruto and Sasuke were called for a mission, while Kakashi-sensei vanished to find his high-ranking friends. She stayed at home, cleaning and finishing some potion orders, the only thing the Hokage usually asked her for, when her teacher reappeared.
"Come on. I found someone to train with."
"Seriously? You were only gone for 25 minutes!"
"It was quite the stroke of luck."
They left the house, heading to the forest. Waiting there, lying on the grass, was someone who could only be a relative of Shikamaru. He had his hair tied in a high ponytail, eyelids slightly droopier than his friend's, and a small beard, but other than that, he was a spitting image of Shikaku.
"Ensui, this is Seina."
"Pleasure," he replied, slowly getting up. "Shikaku has spoken about you."
"Are you his cousin or nephew?"
"Nephew," he smiled. "Do I really look that much like him?"
"Do you even have to ask?"
Ensui chuckled. Kakashi-sensei leaned against a tree trunk, watching their interaction with his arms crossed. Seina turned to look at him. He had arranged the training, so he must have something in mind. Or so she assumed.
"Are you also ANBU like Kakashi-sensei?" she asked, inspecting him.
"What makes you think that?" her teacher raised an eyebrow. She raised one back at him.
"All your colleagues are anbu, except those who were close to my father, who are probably anbu too, and the new senseis you talk to because they're new senseis, like you."
"She's got you all figured out, Kakashi-senpai," the Nara smiled in his direction. Then, he turned to her with some interest. "Why don't we have a little warm-up duel? That way, I can see what you're made of without your teacher explaining it to me."
"Sounds good to me," she agreed, realizing with a smile that he hadn't verbally confirmed he was anbu, but it was implied in his words.
She hadn't even finished her sentence before launching herself at the Nara at maximum speed, quite fast considering she was wearing weights on her limbs. Ensui, somewhat surprised, vanished, but she tracked him with her enchanted eyes. With one punch, she shattered the tree where he had been hiding, simultaneously using the hiraishin to disappear before he could catch her with his shadows. She knew Shikamaru very well, so she knew how to counter him.
"Maximatenebris," she cast the spell nonverbally, as always, watching as the clearing where they were fighting was enveloped in a bubble of total darkness.
She saw Kakashi-sensei put on his modified goggles to observe what was happening, while Ensui seemed to hesitate before trying to trap her in a genjutsu, to no avail. It took him less than two seconds to realize he had failed before giving up and trying to attack her using his other senses. Since she hadn't activated her invisibility bracelet, which also muffled her, Seina knew the only way he was tracking her was by sound. They exchanged kunai strikes until Ensui grew tired and tried to dispel the darkness with a wind jutsu, again without much success.
Seeing that she had him trapped, unable to use his greatest advantage, Seina changed tactics to keep the fight going.
"Lumosmaxima."
Ensui let out a pained groan, instantly covering his eyes against the ultra-bright light in front of his face, and then stopped her kick to his chest even with his eyes closed. Seina dissipated the darkness at the same time they both jumped back. Then she realized that Ensui had predicted it and had caught her a millisecond later. She tried to move, confirming she was perfectly bound.
"Came close to blinding me," he said, blinking a few times. "Tell me, how would you get out of this?"
"I can think of a few ways," she smiled teasingly. "Which one do you want: the painful one or the painless one?"
"... The painless one?"
"Somnus."
Ensui fell asleep instantly from the power of her spell. One second he was awake, the next he was snoring. Maybe she'd overdone it with the amount of magic. The shadows disappeared as Ensui could no longer control them while asleep. Kakashi-sensei climbed down from the tree.
"You definitely need more opponents at once to push your limits," he commented, glancing at her sideways. "Can you wake him up?"
"I suppose," she replied. "Ennervate."
Ensui woke up slowly, looking tired. After all, he'd been in a deep sleep under her influence for a couple of seconds. As soon as he saw her, he knew what had happened and groaned in exasperation.
"How did you do it? No, wait. It has to be something related to your strange powers. Can you teach me the darkness jutsu?"
"No. I'm afraid only I can do it. Sorry."
"I figured as much..." he sighed. "Are you immune to genjutsu? I didn't feel you break free or fall into it."
"I am."
Ensui looked at Kakashi-sensei with a calculating expression. What could he be thinking? She had no idea, but it surely wasn't anything good.
"See why I said she needs more people?"
"Now I do."
Seina frowned as she listened to them. Kakashi-sensei turned to look at her.
"How would you feel about fighting multiple ninjas at once?"
"What? I'm only a tokubetsu jonin, in case you forgot. You want me to fight several anbu at once?" she asked, incredulous. "I only win because they can't handle my kekkei genkai."
"And as I told you before, your kekkei genkai isn't going to disappear," her teacher replied. "You need someone to push your limits when fighting with your kekkei genkai alongside your regular skills. Otherwise, you won't improve further."
"Kakashi-senpai is right. Plus, you wouldn't just be helping yourself; you'd also be helping us," Ensui added, standing up. "Up until now, few people have beaten me so quickly because I've never fought anyone with your powers. If I could train with you, you'd force me to improve my weaknesses, you see? Now I understand a few things..."
Ensui looked at her teacher, who was grinning mischievously behind his mask.
"You've been sparring with her when she uses her powers, haven't you? You've had to improve your creativity and use new strategies to not get overwhelmed. No wonder you're even more ruthless in training now."
Seina crossed her arms, watching Kakashi-sensei with an amused glint while he ignored them both, smiling slyly. Ensui turned back to her.
"How would you feel about training once a week?" he asked. "I'd like to figure out a way to defeat your shadow jutsu, if you don't mind."
"Sounds good. I've got Mondays reserved for my team and Shikamaru's team."
"Tuesdays, then?"
"Look at my two kohais making decisions on their own," Kakashi-sensei fake cried, obviously mocking them both. "Pretty soon, you won't even need me."
Seina raised an eyebrow as she tried to stifle the massive smile trying to escape. She cast a prank spell on him without him noticing. When he opened his mouth to keep talking, he couldn't help but burst into song. Ensui stared in shock until he realized what had happened, glancing at her, and had to bite his lip to stop laughing as Kakashi-sensei looked horrified. She lifted the spell.
"Are you sure you want to go down this road, Kaka-sensei?" she said in the sweetest voice possible.
"Maa... Better not. Not a word of this, Ensui," he ordered, half-joking, half-serious.
"Of course," smiled the Nara, his lips trembling with effort.
"And as for you..." Kakashi-sensei whispered, leaning over her. "No more prank jutsus today!"
He hoisted her up, throwing her over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes, and ran off. Seina couldn't help but laugh as she remembered his singing and his momentary look of terror. She felt the shunshin and saw they had appeared in front of the house. He opened the door with her still on his shoulder, still laughing. She recalled that Naruto and Sasuke weren't there; otherwise, she would have shown them the memory instantly.
"Are you going to take over all the ninjas in Konoha?" Kakashi-sensei asked, gently setting her down on the floor.
"Only the ones who don't have a stick up their butt or the ones who need a stick removed from their butt."
Kakashi-sensei let out a surprised laugh. They prepared lunch together while talking about a bit of everything.
"Do you really think I need to spar with more than one ninja at a time?"
"Definitely, yes. Even when we fight, you never give it your all. You're afraid of hurting me, and with good reason," he admitted. "Maybe you can't use your deadliest abilities in training, but fighting multiple people will force you to use less harmful skills more creatively."
"Alright. I'll take your advice."
"That aside... Would you like to have dinner in the village tonight? We've got nothing else to do, and Naruto and Sasuke aren't here," the jonin smiled.
"Sounds great. What do you feel like eating?"
"I don't mind, really."
"You know, now that I think about it, I've never seen you wear anything other than your uniform," she mused out loud. "When was the last time you wore civilian clothes?"
"...I don't even remember," Kakashi-sensei smiled, shaking his head. "Tonight can be the first time in years."
Seina smiled. When they ate, sitting across from each other, she once again noticed Kakashi-sensei's foot against her ankle, just the way she liked it.