14: Naruko learns to control chakra

A new morning had arrived, bringing with it the usual heavy feeling in his chest. Kay, looking at him with disdainful eyes, made Seiji swear he could see mockery in the cat's gaze.

"Meow."

Seiji rolled his eyes and greeted his furry companion.

"Good morning to you too, Kay."

He quickly took a bath and changed, stepping out of his room. Outside, he was greeted by the usual solitude and silence.

"I guess Kurenai left early for her mission."

When Kurenai was home, she prepared breakfast and meals. On the days she was away, Kurenai had arranged for a local restaurant with a delivery service, a decent and intriguing place.

This restaurant was a joint venture between the Inuzuka and Akimichi clans. The food had the guaranteed quality of the Akimichi clan, and deliveries were made by the Inuzuka clan's dogs. Seiji could tell when the food had arrived because Kay would get agitated, furiously searching for the intruder.

Seiji, seeing Kay calm, understood that the food hadn't arrived yet.

Seiji headed to Kurenai's room and entered. Inside, he was met with a somewhat amusing sight.

Naruko was sleeping in an... unusual position, to say the least. The girl looked like an octopus sprawled across the bed. Seiji could see her drooling.

Seiji smiled at the scene. He slowly approached the girl.

"Naruko... Naruko... wake up."

"Mmm... I'll wake up tomorrow..."

Seiji shook his head, amused, and kept trying to wake Naruko.

"Wake up, we'll have breakfast soon..."

Hearing Seiji's words, Naruko immediately sat up, though her eyes were still closed.

"Come on, you need a bath."

Seiji took the sleepy girl by the hand. Naruko, nodding off, obediently followed him.

Seiji led her to the bathroom in the room, carefully removed her clothes, and stepped out to wait.

"Wash your hair well, use Kurenai's products."

Seiji leaned against the bathroom door, listening to the sound of running water.

"Naruko, how was shopping yesterday?"

Seiji waited for Naruko's response.

"Mmm, it was nice. Kurenai bought me lots of pretty clothes, and some sweets... I'd never tried them before, they were delicious."

The two continued talking until Naruko finished her bath and came out.

After she came out, Seiji took her to Kurenai's closet. That's where they had stored Naruko's clothes. Carefully, he began dressing her, and then they left the room.

They walked hand in hand. Seiji led her to the dining room and decided to wait for the food to arrive.

"So, everything went well yesterday, right?"

Naruko hesitated for a moment and replied:

"Yeah, there was just one moment when Kurenai argued with a man... though I don't know who he was... he had a cigarette... and a beard."

Seiji tried to think of someone like that, but unfortunately, he didn't know anyone matching that description. He thought maybe it was someone who had tried to insult Naruko, and Kurenai had argued with him because of that.

"Grr."

Kay's growl interrupted his thoughts. Hearing it, Seiji quickly went outside.

"I'll be right back, the food's here."

Naruko nodded and waited patiently, swinging her legs.

Outside, Kay growled, his fur bristling. In the distance, a dog could be seen running away from Seiji's property.

*Sigh.*

"One day you're going to annoy him so much... he's going to snap... you're hopeless."

Seiji went back inside and had a pleasant breakfast with Naruko. Of course, he didn't forget to feed the girl. It seemed Naruko was getting used to being fed.

After taking some time to rest, they both heard a sound at the door.

*Knock* *knock.*

Someone knocked. Seiji went to open it and was greeted with a tight hug.

"Good morning, Seiji."

Satsuki greeted him without letting go. She rubbed her face against his chest and took a deep breath, as if trying to memorize Seiji's scent.

Seiji was taken by surprise for a moment, but he quickly calmed down and patted Satsuki's head.

"Good morning, Satsuki."

*Thud.*

Naruko had run over and hugged Seiji from behind, trying to pull Satsuki's hands off him.

Seiji smiled and thought that kids could be quite intense at that age. Ignoring the fact that he was only two years older than the girls.

After a while, and after they let go, the three of them walked to the backyard of Seiji's house.

Satsuki puffed out her chest proudly and began her "lesson."

"First, we'll start with the basics. A ninja needs to have good stamina, so we'll all run in circles until we're completely exhausted."

Seiji and Naruko nodded. Then, the three of them started running.

Seiji thought about whether it was relevant to clarify that he had inherited his mother's physique... and no matter how much he exercised, he never got tired. His mother, unlike Kasuya, had great vitality and never got sick, or so Seiji had heard.

Plus, Naruko was an Uzumaki and the Kyūbi's jinchūriki, so she also had strong vitality.

About an hour later, Satsuki collapsed, unable to go on. Naruko and Seiji stopped beside her. Naruko had a mocking look and asked:

"Is that all? I expected more, sensei~."

Satsuki clenched her fists, tears in her eyes. Seiji decided to intervene before things escalated further.

"Alright, what other training do you have planned, Satsuki?"

Satsuki sighed, a bit discouraged, and nodded with determination.

"We'll do some chakra control training, a simple exercise."

Seiji looked worriedly at Naruko, remembering that the girl hadn't yet learned to sense her chakra.

"I get it, just wait, Satsuki. Naruko hasn't learned to control her chakra yet."

Satsuki blinked in confusion and then looked at Naruko mockingly. She didn't say anything, just smiled, which annoyed Naruko quite a bit.

After preventing the two girls from getting into a fight, Seiji taught Naruko how to control chakra.

Seiji decided to do exactly what the silver-haired ANBU had done with him.

"Alright, it's pretty easy, Naruko. I learned it right away, and you'll be able to do it with a bit of practice."

After quite a long time, Naruko finally learned to control her chakra. It took her a little over four hours to get the hang of it.

Satsuki seemed surprised and said:

"Amazing... it took me about that long too..."

Seiji didn't know if that was too fast or not. And even though the ANBU had said it normally takes days to learn... that seemed a bit exaggerated to him. Maybe he was just trying to encourage him.

'After all, it didn't seem that hard...'

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