Chapter 11: Moving Forward

Chapter 11: Moving Forward

"Hah... Hah... Hah... And that's the last one." I wiped the sweat off my brow and held onto my knees as the training grounds no longer had any craters. Though they did have some slight hills... I'll even them out later.

"Wow Yuki. I'm impressed." Ino said, walking up to me with Sui.

"With the right motivation, Yuki can be pretty amazing."

"The right motivation?"

Before Sui could answer Ino's question, I heard Tayuya yelling at me as she stood on the recently filled grounds.

"Yuki! You fucking slacker! Who said you could have a break! The ground is uneven, and you still need to make those holes for Flower Girl."

I stared at Sui and Ino with a dead gaze. "Please... Save me..."

Ino stepped forward, and I felt relieved until Sui stopped her. Wh-why would she do that?

"You can't turn coal into diamond without a bit of pressure." Sui said, reciting some kind of proverb. There's no way Ino is going to fall for that—

"Hmmm, makes sense." Ino pursed her lips as she nodded. "Is that how you got Yuki to be less of a joke."

"Yup, if you give him harder things to do, he'll do them, but if it's too easy, he'll get cocky and mess it up." Sui sent a smirk my way as Ino listened to her.

There's no way...

"I should try that with Shikamaru. Thanks for the tip Sui."

She fell for that!

"Yuki!" Tayuya cracked her knuckles with a demonic smile that matched the yellow glint in her eyes.

"Not the face!" I shot up feeling energized again with the weight of their expectations on my shoulders. "Can I at least take off the scroll?"

"Nope. The old geezer wrote that it's a part of your training."

"Are you sure you didn't read that wrong—" I blocked the punch that went for my face. My feet slid back, but I held my ground.

"See, it's already working." Tayuya smiled at me.

"I guess so." Though you've hit me harder than that before. "Wait, what are you doing?"

Tayuya gripped onto my arm, and her feet dug into the ground as she tightened her hold on me. "I told you..."

"Ino, Sui help!" I screamed as I no longer felt the ground. They both held their hands in a prayer.

"I can read!" Tayuya threw me towards the hills I created, yet I flew past them. She threw me too high and too hard!

As I sped at the looming trees, I tried to think if earth turning palm would help soften the crash, but I was too late. My head smacked against the hard surface though I didn't break through it. I shook my head and realized something strange. Why is the tree warm? Am I bleeding!

"Yuki, you ok?"

"Oh god, I have a concussion and hearing trees talk."

"Is that a fat joke?"

The tree's grip tightened around me, and my eyes popped open. I was in Chōji's gigantic hand... he saved me but was crushing my ribs!

"Chōji, I would never joke about that." I said, barely able to get my words out. "I mean–come on–you know me, I have more class than that."

Chōji stared at me with steam fuming from his nose, his chubby face red. I'm so fucked if he doesn't calm down.

One of the rules of school, you never made fun of Chōji's weight unless you wanted to become a pancake. Though by some miracle, he started to laugh and loosen his grip.

"If you say so Yuki." Chōji placed me down then popped open a bag of chips as his hand shrunk. "Try not to go flying again. You could've gotten hurt."

"Yeah... I'll keep that in mind." I glanced at the learning scroll on my back, and it was surprisingly fine. What is this made of? Adamantine?

"Yuki!"

"Oh god." After hearing that, I was no longer delirious. "Well, thanks for the save Chōji. I'll be sure to pay you back sometime, but I got to run."

I was about to leave, and I should've left, but I stopped because I heard him speak.

"Barbeque."

"Barbeque?"

"Yes, my stomach got hungry for barbeque, and I was disappointed when I didn't find any here."

"Can't you go to Yakiniku Q on your own?"

Chōji shook his head as he pulled at his empty pockets. "All my money goes into chips."

"Well I'm broke right now—"

"This Friday please."

"Yuki! I know that didn't kill you! Bring your ass back here!"

Hearing Tayuya's yell told me time was up, and I sighed as I gave in to Chōji's wishes. Ino, Shikamaru, and Chōji, they all helped clean up my mess. It would be rude not to pay them back.

"God... Sui is going to kill me." I muttered. "But sure, I'll treat Team 10 again this Friday."

"Oh... Yeah, we should invite them."

"You didn't think about them?"

Chōji conveniently ignored me as he munched on another bag of chips.

This guy... wanted to exploit me for food! I wanted to say something to him, but I was out of time. A screech filled my ears as I was knocked onto the ground.

"Graah!" A small Doki, its pink face covered in bandages, pulled at my collar, dragging me out of the forest. I didn't resist this time with the idea that if I pretended that I couldn't walk, maybe she'd cut me some slack.

She didn't.

2

We weren't finished until the afternoon when Asuma arrived... with Shikamaru in tow. He tossed Shikamaru next to us, and we saw the red bump on his forehead. One look from Shikamaru's sunken gaze told me everything, but he said the words anyway.

"I hate you, Yuki."

"Ha-ha." I laughed as I scratched my cheek. "Don't worry, I'll be paying Team 10 back with another Yakiniku Q party this Friday."

"Oh really. That's so sweet of you Yuki." Ino said, pulling Shikamaru up off the ground.

"Yeah thank Chōji for that."

"Munch. Munch. Munch." Chōji just nodded as he continued to eat.

"Friday..." Sui muttered behind me. I'm dead...

I hadn't told Sui yet as I wanted to wait until we got to the Hokage's Office to tell her since Hiruzen-sensei would be able to save me. But seeing Asuma, I figured that'd be safer since the last time Hiruzen-sensei just let Tayuya beat me down.

Yet as Sui's dark hair covered her face and it felt like she would jump at me, I noticed that Asuma didn't look like he'd move to save me. Plan B I need to get out of here!

I turned around and planned to run as I explained. "Sui, I know we were supposed to go on a date, but—"

She jumped at me, but I wasn't tackled to the floor; instead, she playfully hung her arms around my neck, leaning on my back. Her bright smile was enough to make me relax. I smiled back at her and thought about how much lighter she was than the scroll.

"That's an amazing idea! Tayuya can also meet everyone. It'll be fun!"

Sui being all bubbly made me forget about something important, like right in front of me important. And it wasn't Tayuya; she was still trying to figure out what Yakiniku Q was.

Sui and I both coughed as a cloud of smoke hit our faces.

"Team 9. Care to explain why one of my students tried to keep me in place." Asuma pulled his grizzled face away from ours and tapped his cigarette, causing the ashes to drop onto the floor. Ino was right when she said the training grounds smelled like Asuma's breath.

How the hell did Chōji think this was a barbeque?

"You know what? I don't care anymore." Asuma sighed as he blew another puff of smoke into the air. "Since my team is on time for a change. I guess I don't need to pry. Though Shikamaru, you gave in too easily. If you're covering for your friends. You don't just give up after your first Jutsu fails."

Shikamaru sighed. "Yeah. I understand."

"I'm glad you do because Team 10 we're doing endurance training today."

Ino, Shikamaru, and Chōji all groaned. Which signaled it was time for Team 9 to leave them to their training. Sui didn't get off my back, so I had to carry her back home while Tayuya carried my scroll. Luckily, she didn't break us up because apparently, that was my reward for today's training.

3

"What's Yakiniku Q?" Tayuya asked while we ate lunch.

We had just finished getting ourselves cleaned up since smelling like cigarettes was not the plan. Well, not me and Sui's plan; Tayuya would have gone through the day smelling like ashes if Sui didn't drag her into the shower. I wished I got to see that scene, but I could dream.

"It's a barbeque place mostly, but it's the only other hangout spot besides Ichiraku's ramen." I said, trying to think of other places ninjas our age hung out at, but nothing came up. Besides training and some shops, there's not much to do. There may have been a bar, but that was not for us. A drunk Tayuya... that's scary.

"Mmmhm." Sui nodded as she finished taking a bite from a piece of Sashimi. "But the meat there is delicious like better than Yuki's cooking."

"Really?" Tayuya perked up at the sound of that as Sui nodded.

"Rude..." I stared at my bento box of dinner leftovers. "I think my cooking is pretty good."

"It is, but eating out with friends just tastes better." Sui wasn't wrong, but it was still a blow to my ego.

"Eating with friends tastes better..." Tayuya muttered as she picked at her food. "Then I'd rather just eat Yuki's food."

With how serious she looked, Tayuya reminded me of my annoying little brother. Who I would never invite to another social event again! I put my arm around Tayuya's neck as I leaned my smiling face towards her. She didn't even flinch and just gave me a glare. Yup, just like Sasuke.

"I appreciate the compliment, and you don't have to go if you don't want to." I said, righting my wrongs.

"But know that—" Sui leaned against Tayuya's shoulder.

And yeah, Tayuya really sat between me and Sui while we ate lunch. My big sister was the biggest cockblock out there.

"—Yuki and I, we're your friends, so eating out with us would definitely taste better."

"Sis... You know if you look at me like that... Ugh fine. I'll come." Tayuya had lost to the Sui's Talk-No-Jutsu paired with the bright white eye; not even I could refuse that.

"Yay!" Sui pushed me out of the way as she hugged Tayuya, making me fall on the floor. I was so glad we ate inside of the residence today. If we were on the Hokage's rock like usual, then I'd be screwed.

"B-but only to make sure Yuki keeps his hands off you." Tayuya said, trying to keep her cool as Sui held her close. I stood up, staring at the fact that my girlfriend was currently rubbing her face against another person.

"Shouldn't that be my line?" I laughed. "You're going to steal her from me at this rate."

"Th-that's not my fault—Sis get off! You're smothering me!"

"Can't I just have you both." Sui said as she released Tayuya from her love.

"Sui... has anyone ever told you you're greedy." I said, cleaning up our empty bento boxes.

"I'm not greedy. I just want my dreams to come true." Sui took my hand as I reached for her trash. Her eye, like 雪 (yuki), was beautiful. I think she deserved a name meaning snow more than me, but then what would I be called? "You'll make them come true right? Yuki?"

I looked away from her, all red in the face. Sui's Talk-No-Jutsu had no limits. "O-of course—N-no problem—I mean, isn't that what we promised."

I sighed and facepalmed as they both roared in laughter. I did not just fumble my words.

"Wow Yuki. It's been a while since you let that slip."

I took my hand away from Sui's clutches, grabbing her empty bento box, and walked away. "Today has been rough on my feelings. Ok."

"Too cute."

"I'm cool not cute." I said, tossing their garbage away.

"No. No. Sis is right. You're a total softie!" Tayuya roared as she continued to laugh.

"Ha-ha, very funny. I get flustered around my girlfriend one time." I picked up our mission list. "We should get going. We still need money if we want to go out."

"Fine. Fine. Let's go." Tayuya got up and walked past me but not before tugging my cheek. "Cutie."

"I..." I didn't know what to say as I rubbed my cheek.

"I wished you got embarrassed more often." Sui said, placing a kiss on my other cheek as she walked away.

I sighed, accepting that having an angel on one shoulder and a demon on the other was hard work. Yuki may have meant snow, but just because snow is cool, that doesn't mean it couldn't melt.

4

Outside we had warm light, clear skies, and a breeze.

They actually waited for me even though it took me some time to put the heavy-weighted scroll on my back. Man fighting with this thing on is going to be a hassle.

Yeah, Tayuya wasn't wrong, and I did have to carry that thing around pretty much everywhere I went. Apparently, some of the contents inside are forbidden, but Hiruzen-sensei entrusted me with his knowledge.

"So what missions are we doing first?" I said, passing the mission forms to Sui.

"Up to you guys. We obviously have to do the Tuesday restricted missions today, but other than those, we can pick whatever." Sui looked over at Tayuya, who was messing around with her Leaf headband choker. I tapped her shoulder to get her attention.

"I was listening..." She looked up but didn't stop rubbing the proof that she was a Leaf ninja. "I just don't care what we do. It'll be a chore either way."

"Yeah it would be, which is why I'm thinking we should split the missions up again today." I said, deciding that would give us the most money in the least amount of time.

Sui shook her head. "Nope, we can't do that. A part of my training is making sure that we do things together as a team. That means no splitting up."

"I guess so." I started to sigh, but then I remembered that getting complaints would cut our pay in half, so it was better if Tayuya was with us. "Ok, then we can use this as a chance to practice our teamwork—"

"That way it's not a waste of time." Sui said, completing my sentence. "If that's the case, then we should do this one first."

The mission Sui showed us was a simple find a lost... Diamond ring? Inside of the sewers! What the hell is this? I stared at Sui in horror as she had a wide smile.

"You ready to get down and dirty today."

"No! We literally just cleaned up... does that reward say 50,000 ryō?"

Sui pulled the paper away from me nodding. "It's the highest bounty a D rank mission can give."

"But?" I said, waiting for the catch. Since there was no way with that much money for a D rank mission, other ninja didn't already try to collect the bounty. Which meant either they didn't want to trudge through sewage, or they couldn't find it.

"But this has been up for the last month."

"Just like the other missions." I sighed.

That 'Finding Peckers' mission was also like that where no one completed it since catching a bird, especially one that wanted to peck your eyes out, was a hassle. Thus, they expire. Only Genin did fetch quests, so most wouldn't even be skilled enough to finish a mission like that. I wouldn't be doing boring missions like those either if I wasn't a Genin.

"Yup. Pretty much Hiruzen-sensei wants Team 9 to do the impossible so that village doesn't lose out on money." Sui said with a smile never leaving her face.

"Sui, I don't know why you're so happy. This sounds like we might not get paid and a waste of our time."

"What? How could I not? You should be happy too. We're fulfilling your dream." Sui said with a tap against my Leaf forehead protector.

"Yuki's dream?" Tayuya said, finally taking an interest in the conversation. "I don't see how this is going to help him reach that Masked Man. If anything, it gets in the way of that."

"Oh, it seems you didn't get that memory." Sui sent a mischievous smile my way.

"Good that one's personal." I said, mentally preparing myself for the dumpster diving we're about to do.

"What memory? Why are you fucking laughing?"

Sui wiped the tear from her eye. "It's because even Yuki's Genjutsu hates recalling that day."

"Tayuya, just know that my dreams are more than just revenge." As I finished the hand signs. I felt the wind blow around me, making my body lighter so I could at least walk around normally, even with the weight on my shoulders.

"I want to be known as a ninja that does the impossible."

"You're joking right? You can't be this corny."

"Why do you think he's the Joke of the Uchiha." Sui said, walking up beside me taking my hand.

"Because of his shitty jokes." Tayuya grumbled. "And what the hell is that! I want some distance!" She pushed in between us, taking her place in our lives.

"You know Tayuya, you've changed." I said with a laugh.

"Go fuck yourself rat."

"Well we're all about to be rats." Sui said, laughing along with me.

"I fucking hate you two." Tayuya muttered, but I could've sworn I heard a slight chuckle from her.

Of course, it could've just been the wind, but with how Tayuya walked forward with a half-smile leading us into the unknown, I realized how close we actually were.

All three of us had a rocky start, and honestly, I had made more mistakes than I could count in the short time since I became a Genin. Hell, I even knew I'd make more mistakes along the way, but at least when I did, they were there to tell me:

"Let's go."

A/N: Heyo! (￣▽￣)/ T.K.月狐 here. We have finally reached the conclusion of volume one. All that is left is next week's 10k worded Epilogue to wrap up the first arc of Yuki's story. I hope you enjoyed this chapter and will enjoy the next one too. Since I probably don't want to bog down the next chapter with any more words, I'll do it here.

Since you made it this far, I'd like to congratulate you and say that I truly appreciate you for taking the time to read my story.

☆*:.｡.o(≧▽≦)o.｡.:*☆ You're really awesome.

I hope that it brought you a lot of enjoyment in your life, whether through good or bad times. It was really fun for me to revisit Naruto after all this time and write a story that I had started years ago. And it won't stop here! After I'm done with the other writing project, I'll be back. Even though I'm hoping you will join me for my journey through this writing adventure once more.

On that note, I think that is everything besides the usual check out my social media. After the next chapter, I may edit some of the other chapters like cleaning them up for grammar mistakes and possibly adding side stories if I feel like it. No promises on that one. But I do plan on embedding images into the story if I can figure that out. Fingers crossed.

And with that, I must end this author's note. Once again, it was fun, and don't forget about the 10k Epilogue chapter next week. Pace yourselves because that one is a bit of a doozy.
ヽ(￣д￣;)ノ=3=3=3