"Mikura-san!" I heard a man's voice. "Are you awake?"
"I am now..." I muttered to myself, blinking repeatedly. "Coming," I said for him to hear.
I opened the door and saw one of those masked men in front of me.
"Good morning, Mikura-san. I was sent to be sure that you'll eat breakfast."
What?! Who the hell was he? Actually, he wasn't like the two men I saw in the beginning. He had dark blue, almost black hair, that was longer on the right side than on the left, bright yellow eyes, and fair skin. Only the clothing was the same.
"G-Good morning. But who sent you?"
"Kimimaro-san told me to make sure that you eat. He told me that you don't eat as much as you should."
Kimimaro-kun, huh? That was so sweet of him.
"But where is he?" I asked worriedly.
"He is arranging things around here. Orochimaru-sama left, and he is in charge of this hideout."
"Right. Well, don't worry. I'm so hungry that I could eat a horse."
"Let's go then."
Huh? Was he coming too? So he was treating the request as a mission, I thought, laughing inwardly.
We headed to the kitchen in silence. When we arrived, I was surprised to see the table full of steaming food. Bowls of white rice, natto, fried eggs, and miso soup. It looked mouthwatering. I sat somewhere random and I dug in like a pig.
"It's delicious!" I said, able to imagine my dirty face and how my stomach smiled satisfied after I finished almost all my food.
"Glad you like it. I put some effort into it." He said, and then I realized he took his mask off.
By the looks of it, he wasn't much older than I was. And he seemed interesting somehow. Or I was feeling that way because I haven't met many people so far.
"Um, thank you for the food..."
"Oh, I'm sorry. I have such bad manners." He said with a guilty smile. "I'm Riki Tamashii."
"Nice to meet you," I said with a smile. "It's really great to meet new people since I don't really know anyone except Kimimaro-kun, Kabuto-san, and Orochimaru-sama in this hideout."
"Eh, is that so? So the rumors are true, you really were kept in a shell... Well, that thing is about to change. When we'll leave to the Soun..."
"Good morning." I heard a familiar voice behind me.
"Good morning, Kimimaro-kun," I said excitedly to see him.
He wore his usual light purple attire and he seemed in a bad mood. He gave Riki-kun a death glare and sat next to me. What was with that look? Riki-kun gave him a simple nod and Kimimaro-kun started to eat too.
"Riki-kun, what were you saying?" I asked curiously.
"No, nothing. Forget it."
I shrugged my shoulders and finished my food. Since Kimimaro-kun came, silence fell on us like a curtain, so I felt like breaking it.
"Kimimaro-kun, are we going to train after this?"
"Yes, Mikura. And we have to settle some things." He said in a serious tone. "You will eat three times a day. No more meals skipping. You need to eat well in order to maintain your body healthy and strong. Every day after breakfast, we will do basic training. The main training will be an hour after lunch. In your free time, you can do whatever you please, even going outside, but you are not allowed to go far from the hideout by yourself."
"Got it."
"And we must have your psyche and pain endurance trained too. Unfortunately, from now on, the training will be rougher."
"OK. I'll do whatever it takes to improve my skills, Kimimaro-kun." I said, giving him a closed eye smile.
We all have finished eating, and Kimimaro-kun gripped my forearm tight, taking me with him so fast that I wasn't able to say goodbye to Riki-kun. He dragged me through the hallways with such hurried steps I barely kept up with him. His grip was so tight it hurt.
Once we were outside, he released my forearm and told me to start running. He ran next to me in silence after he made clear that I wasn't allowed to use my chakra in the current training. I sighed inwardly and did as he said. What was wrong with him today? He was so tough and cold... I couldn't stop some glances from the corner of my eye, noticing that he had the same expression the whole time - eyes focused ahead, lips pressed together creating a thin line, and tensed body.
We ran like that for what seemed like an eternity. We ran a much longer distance than I did with Kabuto-san when we trained, and the road from the other hideout seemed shorter too. We ran for at least two hours, and that was a real punishment without chakra. Even if I had an excellent physical condition, my muscles became painful and hard to control. Running without using chakra was way heavier, even if I was used to it. At some point I began to shake uncontrollably so I stopped, panting hard.
"What's the matter?" He asked with a neutral voice.
"I... I need a short break.
"In a real fight, you wouldn't have the chance to take a break. The main idea of this is to overcome your limits. Push yourself until you can't anymore and when you reach that point, push yourself more. Now let's move!"
I knew he was damn right and his training seemed efficient, but that was a bit tough. And his tone wasn't a pleasant one. Anyway, I did as he told me. I pushed myself harder, even though I felt my muscles would tear at any moment. I wanted to do my best, to be worthy of being called a ninja, and... to be praised by him. And Orochimaru-sama, of course.
I handled the damn pain, even the feeling that I was losing my breath, but at some point, I just fell on the ground. I was shaking and my legs hurt so bad I could barely stand it. He noticed what happened, but he seemed indifferent.
"Weak," He muttered, giving me a look full of disdain.
I looked at him with wide eyes, and I could feel some tears trying to escape. But I couldn't let him see that he hurt me so easily. He thought that I was weak anyway, so I had to prove the opposite. I tried to get up, ignoring the heaviness in my chest and his annoying attitude, but I failed miserably.
"Whatever, just take a break. We are close to our destination anyway," He said, turning his back to me and disappearing somewhere behind the trees.
I crawled down to a tree, leaning my back against it. I looked up at the sky, asking myself a lot of questions. For instance, where were we, and what was I supposed to do there? I knew it had something to do with my training, but why going so far away? And what the hell was wrong with Kimimaro-kun? He was so... pissed off. And mean. Maybe he played the nice guy only because when Orochimaru-sama was here he had to behave. I mean, the way he treated me has been strange from the beginning. He used to be too nice, even though he barely knew me. No! Maybe it was a misunderstanding. I shouldn't judge that way, maybe he only had a bad day. Oh, but why did I have such expectations? And why I cared so much about his behavior or his opinion? Who was he to me, anyway? He was only my mentor, nothing more. Why did I make so much drama for nothing?
Thinking that I had enough of my twisted thoughts, I tried to get up again. It wasn't as painful as I expected, but it wasn't pleasureful either. I stretched my muscles a bit and went in the same direction that he went when he left. I walked with relaxed steps, trying to avoid triggering the pain.
After a few minutes, I found a beautiful landscape behind the trees. A lake that occupied a fairly large surface mirrored the intense blue of the sky. In the middle of it was a small island, which had a single tree with a rich crown. And there he was, his back resting on the trunk of the tree, his eyes fixed forward. In the beginning, he didn't seem to notice my presence.
"You rested enough?" He asked, glaring at me.
"Yes, Kimimaro-kun," I said, trying to look confident.
"Good. Let's start then." He said, coming next to me in a blink of an eye. "You know how to swim, right?"
I looked at him confused. I barely went outside, how was I supposed to know that?
"I guess the answer is no." He sighed.
I nodded, feeling sorry. I was such a disappointment to him.
"It's fine, I took into consideration this possibility too. Well, this is going to be your training. You need to know how to handle things in all kinds of situations. These basic training sessions will teach you how to use your body to its fullest when you're in need, even if you're out of chakra or you want to save it for something else. Even if you gained some strength, you have to become your strongest version. It applies for your stamina and chakra reserves too."
I nodded in agreement. He knew a lot of wise things for his age. And he didn't seem so moody anymore.
"Good, now take your clothes off." He said like it was nothing.
"T-take my clothes... off?" I asked flushed.
"Do you think you can learn how to swim with them? It will be harder, they'll get heavy..." He looked at me confused, then he widened his eyes. "Oh, I didn't mean to take all of your clothes off," He said, frowning.
I sighed in relief, feeling stupid for the way I thought. But even so, I felt a bit shy thinking that I'll be next to him in my sports bra and shorts. Anyway, it wasn't like that, I had to gather myself and focus. And I focused, but not in the right way. My eyes landed on his muscular chest while his shirt fell off his shoulders. I also noticed a circular pattern of three curved lines at the base of his throat, but when his abs caught my eye, I totally forgot about it. I was literally drooling unwittingly. My whole damn body was reacting in ways I couldn't understand. My heart was racing, my palms were sweating and I felt some strange thrills in my belly.
When he was done with undressing, I was left jaw-dropped. He wore only a pair of black boxers. How was I supposed to concentrate on my training when he was so distracting?
"Done. Let's get in the water."
I nodded and got closer to the lake with a bit of hesitation in my steps. I tried to avoid looking at him and touched the water with my foot. It was so damn cold.
"Come on, a little faster. There may be times when you'll need to jump in frozen water to save your life."
Said and done, I advanced till half of my body was underwater. The pebbles on the bottom of the lake were pricking and tickling my soles. It was a bit slippery, making to keep balance harder. I went forward, the water covering my chest slowly.
"Ok. Now put your face in the water and blow bubbles. After that, stand back up and breathe normally. Practice until you feel comfortable with your face in the water."
Well, it felt worse than it sounded. I felt like a stupid kid doing that, but if I needed to do that in order to learn how to swim, so be it. I made dozens of bubbles, and when he considered that I had enough, he stopped me.
"Very well. Now take a deep breath and lift your feet while leaning backward. Try to float."
It was a pretty hard challenge. I tried and tried, but I drank a lot of water until I managed to float for like ten seconds. He seemed pleased, surprisingly.
"The next step is going to be harder. I'll explain, and then I'll show you. You must hold your arms out from your side, palms down with your fingers together. Take a breath and bend forward. With your face in the water, bring your right arm up and out of the water, and reach in front of yourself. When your hand contacts the water, pull your arm straight down and make a circular motion underwater until your hand is behind you and at your right side. Your palm should be up at this point. Turn your head to the right and draw a new breath through your mouth without lifting your head. Turn your head back and exhale with your face in the water. All this must happen while kicking your feet out behind you. Your ankles must be relaxed and flexible. You should point your toes behind you and kick up-and-down in a continuous motion from your thighs. Kicking from the calves is not as effective and a simple way to correct this is to make sure your legs are straightened out whilst kicking."
My head was spinning, but when he started to exemplify everything he just said, it was easier to understand. I followed the steps, but I was swimming like a drunken frog.
I didn't know how many minutes passed, or how much water I drank, but when he told me that it was enough, I was done for. I wasn't a great swimmer, but I was sure that I wouldn't die if someone would push me into the water. Anyway, that wasn't enough so I had to train more.
We took a short break, but I just couldn't wait to be back in my bed. My body ached as a thousand poisonous needles pricked me at the same time, so I insisted that we should be going.
On the way home, we weren't running at such a fast pace, but for me, it felt like hell anyway. Kimimaro-kun wasn't moody anymore, but he wasn't talking at all, which was annoying. What in the world happened to him? Maybe if I'll ask Riki-kun... He might know something.