Summary: Kakashi is a hard parent to please and Naruto just needs a friend... or a training buddy.
"Get up, Kokoro," Kakashi said monotonously as Kokoro laid on the ground. Her body was twisted and her palms laid flat on the ground. Her face was screwed up into a grimace as she tried to hold back tears from leaking out of her eyes. She had failed over and over to land a hit on him, so over and over she fell to the ground. She pushed herself off the ground and stood up on wobbly feet. She tried to paint a brave face on her person, but she couldn't help but let out a quiet sob as she stared up at him. He wasn't even trying to hide his disappointment.
"I was able to land at least ten hits on my father every spar by the time I was your age," he continued.
"I'm trying!" Kokoro shouted in frustration. Tears rolled down her cheeks.
"Try harder."
Kokoro charged at him and swung her fist at him. He dodged and threw a punch at her with his right hand. She blocked it with her left forearm and grunted under the power the punch had held. He threw a punch with his left hand, and she blocked it with her right forearm. She pushed her left forearm against him to create some distance between them before she grabbed his left fist and pulled him towards an oncoming punch. Kakashi ducked underneath the punch and twisted his arm before he kicked backwards and connected with her ribs. Kokoro yelped in pain and fell to the ground, clutching her midsection and breathing heavily.
"We're done for the day," Kakashi stated as he started walking off. He came back after digging into his bag and pulling out some medical supplies. He started applying cream to her newly forming bruises.
"I'm trying," Kokoro repeated quietly as she allowed him to treat her.
"I know."
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Kokoro held her dad's hand as they walked through the village market. A bag of groceries was in her dad's hands and a bored look graced his face. She chatted mindlessly about the things she learned in a book she finished last night. She knew he wasn't paying attention to a word she was saying, but she liked the fact that he tried to hide it by giving hums here and there. After living with her dad for so long, she began to pick up on some of his habits. She even learned some of them for certain situations. For example, her dad was good at schooling his features and hiding his emotions. At first, Kokoro wasn't good at it because she generally acted before thinking everything through, but through a lot of practice, she's gotten better at it. Now at 6 years of age, she was able to school her features when she wasn't feeling overly emotional. However, if she gets too angry or too sad or too anything, her mask breaks. That happened more than she liked to admit.
The only thing she refused to allow herself to inherit from him was his tardiness. She hated when people were late because she hated to wait. She was impatient. So far, he hadn't been late for anything involving her. Well, he was late to pick her up from Kurenai Yuhi's house once, but that was because he slept too long after his mission. Kokoro wasn't too hard on him for it. She understood he needed rest after being out for so long. Still, she was a bit miffed because she hadn't seen him for over a week and desperately wanted to hug him.
She felt his hand tighten around hers one moment and in the next a blur of green rushed in front of them. Kokoro instantly smiled and let go of her dad's hand. She ran up to the large man and hugged him as best as she could. He picked her up and threw her in the air before catching her and repeating the action. She laughed in amusement and continuously asked him to repeat his actions.
Kakashi sighed and gazed at the two with a mask of boredom.
"Gai, put my daughter down before she throws up," he said plainly. Gai loudly laughed and settled Kokoro on his shoulders.
"She is blooming with the power of youth, my eternal rival!" Gai said as he gave Kakashi a thumbs-up.
"That's because he's the best dad in the world!" Kokoro shouted. Kakashi wanted to hit his face with his hand so badly. Gai and his daughter were a bad mixture only because Gai's presence seemed to energize Kokoro. He hoped she lost all of that energy when they got home later or else he was sure to suffocate from giddiness. He let his despair leave him as Kokoro's words registered in his head. He was filled with immense happiness and love, though none of it showed on his face.
"You are correct, young Kokoro!" Gai said.
"Should I even ask what you're doing here?" Kakashi asked him.
"I have come to challenge you!"
Kokoro grabbed the dark strands of Gai's bowl-cut hair and tugged hard. Gai let out an unceremonious shriek and bounced around. He tried to pry her hands away from his hair but was unsuccessful. Kokoro let go of his hair, only to bonk him on the head.
"There's no way my dad will lose to you again!" Kokoro shouted.
"Kokoro," Kakashi exhaled, "Please stop tormenting Gai." Then, he turned to Gai and said, "Same as usual?"
Gai placed Kokoro on the ground and nodded his head sharply. Kokoro watched them intently, waiting for them to announce the challenge. The few times she saw them challenge each other always involved racing to some destination. Last time, they raced from the Hokage Tower to the main gates, and the time before that, they had raced from the Academy to the Dango Shop.
Kokoro's anticipation turned sour when she watched as her grown dad danced about with Gai before throwing out a closed fist. Gai shouted in defeat when he realized he had thrown out scissors. Kokoro was happy her dad won, but at what cost? He had made a fool in front of her and she was never going to let it go. She marched up to the two adults and unexpectedly punched their stomachs. The two fools hunched over in pain. Kakashi almost lost his grip on his groceries.
"You're so embarrassing, dad," Kokoro said with a scowl. "Why can't you act your age?"
"Everyone brims with youth until they die!" Gai yelled after he recovered after her attack.
"Yeah, well I'm feeling really youthful right now," Kokoro said with a mischievous smirk. Kakashi sighed and grabbed Kokoro's hand to drag her away from Gai.
"This is why I don't let you babysit," he told Gai before he transported away.
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Gaara,
I finally mastered my water manipulation! It was hard after mastering my wind manipulation because directing water was completely different than directing my wind nature, but I finally did it! Dad says I can learn some new water jutsus soon. And then after that, he's gonna show me how to manipulate lightning! Isn't that cool? Dad says I should work on my taijutsu more than my ninjutsu because my taijutsu stinks, but I get bored with taijutsu practice. He threatened me and said he'd make me train with Gai (y'know the weird guy I told you about in the last letter), but I think he's bluffing.
I miss you so much Gaara. Dad says to never give up, but sometimes I feel like we'll never get to talk again! I just hope you're having as much fun as I am. No matter how sad I feel about this, I'll never give up on you, Gaara! Speaking of friends, I made a new one! His name is Choji! Some kids were bullying him about his weight and I stopped them because it's not nice to make fun of people. He thanked me and then he introduced me to his friend, Shikamaru. I like hanging out with them cause it's so peaceful. Shikamaru likes to watch clouds, so that's what we do most of the time.
I hope you're making friends too, Gaara! I'll see you soon!
Kokoro
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"Hey, Choji! Wanna grab some dango?" Kokoro asked as she approached him. He was sitting down on a bench by the park with a bag of chips in his hands.
"Sorry, Koko," he said before he shoved a handful of chips in his mouth. He quickly chewed and swallowed so he could say, "I'm waiting for Shikamaru to get here."
"Ah, that's okay!" she said cheerily. "Do you want me to wait with you? Dad's on another mission and I'm kinda bored."
"Sure," he said. She sat down on the empty space next to him and watched people pass by. When she got bored with that, she studied her companion. Choji was an Akimichi, meaning he was a bit bigger than the other kids their age. She didn't know why that was, but her dad always told her that people come in different shapes and sizes, so she shouldn't judge anyone by looks alone. Choji had a red swirl on each cheek and short, light brown hair that slightly spiked around. He caught her staring, and instead of telling her off, he offered her a chip. She happily took it and ate it, tasting the saltiness on her tongue. She briefly wondered if that was what Gaara tasted when he ate his favorite foods. Minutes trailed by before Shikamaru walked up to the pair of kids. His hands were shoved into his pockets and a bored expression graced his face.
"Shikamaru!" Choji yelled in greeting.
"Hey, Shikamaru," Kokoro greeted with a wave of her hand. Shikamaru waved back and put his hand back in his pocket.
"You're gonna have to fix that posture of yours before you get a crooked back," Kokoro joked. He was slightly slouched over. It wasn't bad posture, per se, but laziness.
"Ma, you're dad's got the same posture and he turned out fine," Shikamaru said offhandedly.
"Yeah, but do you think he started out that way?" Kokoro asked him.
"Yeah, yeah," Shikamaru ticked. He walked off, more than likely to go to the familiar hill to cloud watch or sleep, but Kokoro really wanted something sweet. She grabbed his short sleeve and pulled him in the other direction. He let out a cry of surprise and his eyes widened dramatically.
"Kokoro wants dango," Choji offered as he followed them. Shikamaru grumbled and loosened himself from her grip. He fell into step with Choji and sighed at his misfortune. Kokoro, who was steps ahead, yelled behind her for them to hurry up. She arrived at the shop way before Shikamaru and Choji showed up, so she ordered all of them two sticks each. Personally, she preferred green tea. She handed them their sticks when they caught up to her and motioned for them to follow her to a table. They sat down in silence to enjoy their desserts.
"Now can we go watch clouds?" Shikamaru asked.
"You just want an excuse to sleep," Kokoro accused him as she narrowed her eyes. Shikamaru shrugged his shoulders and looked away from her accusing glare.
"Why don't we catch up with Naruto?" Choji asked around a ball of mitarashi dango.
"Too troublesome," Shikamaru said.
"You've seen Naruto today?" Kokoro asked in surprise.
"Yeah," Choji said. "He ran past me while I was waiting for Shikamaru."
"I wonder what he was running from," Kokoro said.
"Ma, probably got into trouble again," Shikamaru said.
"Probably," Kokoro said quietly. She stood up abruptly and started running away from her companions.
"I'll see you two later!" she yelled behind her.
"Thanks for the dango!" Choji yelled delightedly.
Kokoro ran as fast as her legs could carry her to the one place she knew Naruto would be. Right in front of the Academy, the school for future shinobi and kunoichi, was a lone, wooden swing hanging from a huge tree. It was usually empty, but sometimes there was one boy who occupied it. Fortunately for Kokoro, he was on it that day. She approached him quietly and slowly. She didn't want to startle him. Accidentally, she tripped over her foot and caught her fall with the palm of her hand. She felt eyes on her and sheepishly lifted her gaze to meet them. Her face heated up as Naruto blatantly stared at her. She righted herself and wiped down her clothes in nervousness.
"Hey, Naruto," she said with a wave of her hand.
"Hey, um......," he said as he screwed his face up in concentration. Kokoro sighed as she realized he had forgotten her name. It wasn't entirely his fault. It wasn't like the two of them spent a lot of time together, and, truth be told, Kokoro wasn't sure if she had ever given him her name.
"Kokoro," she offered.
"Huh?" he asked in confusion.
"My name. It's Kokoro. Kokoro Hatake," she said.
"My name's Naruto Uzumaki, dattebayo!" he declared loudly. Kokoro shook her head at the volume of his voice.
"I know," she said simply before she stood behind him and grabbed the parallel ropes in her hands.
"What are you doing?" he asked as he craned his neck to look at her. He felt a small push on his back, causing him to face forward and clench his hands around the ropes in a tight grip. Another push to his back had him moving forward.
"I thought I'd help you swing!" Kokoro said, matching his earlier enthusiasm. She pushed him again, this time a bit harder to get him to swing faster.
"Why?" he asked quietly.
"Why not?" she countered.
"I don't know," he said. "No one tells me anything."
Kokoro was sad to hear that, but she knew the Third Hokage's orders. Her dad wasn't even supposed to tell her, but he did anyway. He told her that he thought she should know, but he told her to never tell anyone else. She had broken that rule once, but it was for a good cause! She wanted to tell Naruto, but she knew that she would get into too much trouble. And not only her but her dad, too. Telling Gaara was different because he was from a different village and she knew he wouldn't tell anyone, especially because of how the villagers treated him.
"I think it's because they're all jealous," Kokoro said.
"Jealous?" he echoed. "Why would anyone be jealous of me?"
"Well, you're gonna be Hokage someday, aren't you?" she asked cheekily. She saw his lowered head immediately perk up. One of his hands left a brown rope and punched the air. He shouted in agreement and right after fell face first in the dirt. Kokoro clapped her hands over her mouth and laughed at his misfortune. When her laughter turned to giggles, she offered a hand of help and pulled him to his feet. At his full height, Naruto was a couple of inches shorter than her, though his spiky blond hair made up for the distance.
"So you believe in me?" he asked after a few beats.
"Of course! Anyone can do anything as long as they practice hard and have enough motivation. That's what my dad says."
"Hmm..." he said in response. He made a checkmark with his thumb and pointer finger and held it against his face. His fingers smashed his face together, causing the three whisker marks on each of his cheeks to become temporarily disfigured.
"Then we gotta spar together, dattebayo!" he shouted.
"You want to spar together?" she asked dubiously.
"Yeah! I understand if you don't wanna. I'm really good and you'll lose," he said confidently.
"Is that so?" Kokoro asked as she crossed her arms over her chest and narrowed her eyes. "Challenge accepted."
"Yatta!" Naruto shouted. His eyes widened and he looked at her quickly before he changed his tone. "I mean, follow me."
She followed him until they were far enough away from the swing that it wouldn't get messed with while they sparred. Naruto planted himself directly in front of Kokoro and spread his feet until they were shoulder length apart. Well, just about shoulder-width apart. Kokoro noticed that his stance was a little wide for his small frame, but she didn't comment on it. She wanted to win and show him she wasn't someone to be underestimated.
"Only taijutsu," Naruto said firmly. "It's not like I can't do anything cool, I just don't want to hurt a girl too bad."
She got into the familiar starting position and waited for Naruto to make the first move. Her dad always told her to be patient against her opponents. And while she was notorious for being the exact opposite, she was concentrated enough not to jump into the fight. He came at her with a raised fist, showing his intent. She dodged the poorly aimed punch and pushed him from behind. He fell to the ground and looked up at her with indignation. She just stared at him with a blank face. A blank face marred by a small smirk. Naruto launched himself at Kokoro, tackling her to the ground. She was surprised by his sudden movement and cursed herself for getting too cocky. Naruto let out a laugh as he straddled her and started raining punches down on her. She blocked all of them with her forearms. Thinking fast, she grabbed his fists and pushed him back. He fell off of her and fell on his back.
Instead of advancing on him, Kokoro leaped back and took in the situation. Her dad taught her to evaluate rather than blatantly attack an opponent. He told her it was what helped him defeat so many enemies, so she took his advice to heart. When Naruto stood up, she assessed his form again. She noted that he leaned more on his right foot than on his left, meaning he favored his right side more. Naruto rushed at her again, but this time, she met him head-on. They exchanged punches until Kokoro finally figured out the pattern to his moves. Right forward, left forward, left forward, right hook, right uppercut, right forward. Between the two forward punches from his left hand, there was a pause long enough to make him an open duck. So, when he went through the sequence once again, she took her chance and landed a punch on his face. He fell to the ground and Kokoro took the opportunity to catch her breath.
"I think....we should....stop now," she said in between breaths. She didn't want to beat the poor kid up. Honestly, she hadn't even used her best moves.
"Not...yet," Naruto breathed out as he stood up once more.
"Naruto-"
"If I'm gonna be Hokage one day, I need to be stronger!" he yelled. He ran at her and she side-stepped him. Angered, he swung wildly and connected with her cheek. It stung, but it wasn't enough to throw her down. When he came at her again, she blocked his punch with a high kick. With quick precision, she returned her leg to its resting position, crouched and spun, throwing her leg out to sweep him off of his feet.
"Look, Naruto," she started, "I think you're a good opponent."
"You're just saying that to make me feel better," he said from his position on the grass. She plopped down next to him.
"No. While your fighting style isn't concrete, your moves have a lot of force behind them. You're strong, just not polished," she explained.
He sighed and said, "I can't believe I just got beat by a girl."
"This girl is about to hit you again if you don't be quiet," she said irritatedly. Naruto held his hands out in front of him and wore a sheepish expression.
"So, uh," he said as he sat up. He scratched the back of his head and continued by saying, "Do you think you could help me?"
Kokoro stared at him for a bit as she thought it over. It wouldn't be all that bad. It might even help her improve. Having her dad as her only opponent was hindering her progress. She needed variety, in both styles and people.
"Sure, I'll help. But I'm not a very patient person," she conceded.
"I'll be the best student ever! Believe it!"