Gotta Be A Sensei [Squad 001.]

Kai wasn’t sure how long it had been since she had taken her team out on their first mission, but she knew they had waited long enough to hear something from their young sensei. So, the young Kage had called them to the valley for a training session the moment she had the time to. It was difficult to find free time to spend with the members of her team and she felt like she was failing them in a way, but she couldn’t just dump her duties onto the shoulders of Diana. The woman had her own set of duties outside of being her regent and she preferred the female focused on that rather than picking up the slack left behind by the Raikage. Besides, the village’s defensive measures was very important for she didn’t want a repeat of the attack that resulted in the council being disbanded and her becoming Kage. She was doing the best that she could though and she hoped her students understood that. Besides, they should be using this free time to either learn from high-ranking shinobi such as Kosuke or bringing in some money for Kumogakure whilst making a case for their future promotion by performing missions and helping out around the village. So, despite the fact she felt guilty for leaving them hanging, she didn’t feel that guilty.

She was the first to arrive at the training grounds located on Mount Yakushi. It was one of the few mountains that could be access via cable car and wooden bridge. It boasted a rather large area where shinobi, aspiring and official, went to train since most who lived on the mountain were shinobi. It was, frankly, the perfect place for them to live seeing how it was connected to Mount Saisho by cable car. It was also a whole lot easier for them to get to the outer mountains that formed a ring around the inner ones which served as a naturally defense. Of course, a massive wall had been built to cover up the gaps and watchtowers set. A good deal of shinobi were on those walls at all times, ensuring the border was safe from danger. There were plans to further security for Kumogakure, but that was entirely up to Diana and could wait for another day. Kai’s students would be arriving soon and she needed to throw together a training regime before they appeared.

She considered putting them through the rigorous training her father had put her through and continued to put her through, but that was tailored for someone who was primarily going to serve as a hand-to-hand combatant. She knew Kaitekina was far from being one and with what she gathered during the mission Mei and Soul weren’t about to join the Taijutsu primary group. She would need to tailor this succession for people who were flinging techniques at their enemies or putting them in an illusion which wouldn’t be easy seeing how all of her training boiled down to being the best Taijutsu user within the village. This regime would be haphazardly made and could spell trouble, but Kai would simply learn from the experience and move on

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Kaitekina arrive seven minutes after Kai. She was the first amongst her three students to show up which wasn’t much of a surprise to the young Kage. The blonde narrowed her eyes to see if anyone else was with the nine-year-old, but doing so only confirmed what she already knew - the girl came alone. Though it had been seven minutes since her students were summoned to the training grounds, she wasn’t concerned about where they were at the moment. She saw absolutely no reason to concern herself with their location since she would train whoever showed up. Sure, it would be nice if the entire team was here, but she was well aware that they had lives of their own and that this session may inconvenience them in some shape or form. Though she was the Raikage, she didn’t expect people to immediately stop whatever they were doing - they weren’t at her beck and call.

Kai smiled as Kaitekina approached her, waving her hand as she let out a ‘yo’ that didn’t fit her at all. She wasn’t sure why, but some words she knew that she was totally incapable of saying the right way and she was aware that some words in her vocabulary should never travel pass her lips. ‘Yo’ just happened to be one of them. She motioned for the nine-year-old to take a seat on the ground as her eyes scanned the area for her remaining two students. She would give them five minutes before she began training since she had no time to waste today. The blonde allowed this information to be known to the other blonde by putting up five fingers, flashing the kid a reassuring smile before she began scanning the area once again.

Surprisingly, Kaitekina spent those five minutes in utter silence. Kai hadn’t even seen her so much as fidget and it made her a little curious, but not enough to ask about it or think about it. Yellow eyes turned to her student as her fingers were interlocked behind her back. “I guess we start without them.” Stating the obvious, a minor annoyance to some but something the ten-year-old was prone to doing as a way to start a conversation or interject herself into one. It got mixed responses, but she liked to think her purpose for using it succeeded more then it failed. She didn’t expect Kaitekina to say anything though, so she continued.

“Alright. You can stand up now, Kaitekina.” She stood on her tiptoes for a brief second. “I’d had plans of a skirmish of sorts against all four of us at once, but that won’t happen until your teammates show up.” She paused for a moment before adding, “if they ever show up.” A grin spread across her face. “No matter what though, I shall do my best to help you out with any skills you’re lacking in. I know for you, personally, hand-to-hand combat isn’t your thing, so I’ll teach you a couple techniques so you’re able to defend yourself.” She cocked her head to the side as she chuckled. “You got mad Genjutsu skills, but I’ll feel more comfortable knowing that you had a back-up plan.”

“Sounds good?”

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Kaitekina was up for the task of improving her hand-to-hand combat skills, though that didn’t surprise Kai at all seeing as how the nine-year-old was always eager to learn something new. She assumed it came with being locked up in a single building and restricted to two parts of said building. It upset the ten-year-old that the council thought it was right to do that to the nine-year-old, but she wouldn’t allow herself to be angered by individuals that had been erased from the world. If the attack on the village had any benefits, it was all the corruption that had occurred within Kumogakure came to light. Not every member of the council was guilty of doing things for their own benefit instead of the benefit of the village like they were suppose to and those were good apples, but the bad apples more then made up for that. Assassinations that should’ve never happened, kidnapping of children with unique bloodlines, and the molding of some of those children into the council’s personal puppets. She had no doubt that Kaitekina would’ve been amongst the puppets if the attack never happened which would’ve left her without a friend. The attack may have destroyed the lives of hundreds and reduce their shinobi force by thirty-two percent, but a lot of good did come of it and that made it enough to outweigh the bad - at least for Kai.

She took several steps towards Kaitekina, a smile present on her face. An arms length apart, Kai ruffled the nine-year-old’s hair receiving a satisfied ‘mm’ and a soft giggle for her troubles. Yes, a lot of good did come of the attack and she would continue to ensure that even more good came of it. She had grown a lot, she pretty much was forced to when she took office as the Raikage. This is not to say that her personality changed drastically or anything, it really hadn’t, but she thought more about the people than herself and that was a big step towards maturity for Kai. There are still days when she feels like it should be her way or the highway and she had felt sort of bad about it, but her father assured her that sometimes it was good to have that mentality. It showed that she meant business and she wasn’t about to let herself be bullied into a scenario she didn’t like. Yet, he also told her to use it sparingly since some people didn’t like that mentality and would overreact.

She knew how to navigate herself in the world of politics thanks to her regent and her father, but Kai knew she needed more experience before she could make major decisions. Until she did, those decisions were made with the help of her regent and the young Kage usually went with the option picked out by Diana. The woman was her regent for a reason and it wouldn’t do to step on the toes of someone who agreed to be her advisor as well as her Minister of Defense.

Kai glanced at Kaitekina as she put her hands on her hips. “We begin with two laps around the training area!” She definitely matured and she would continue to do so.

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Kai activated her Byakugan the moment the two began their two laps. which was a little over three miles, around the area reserved just for Squad 001 for half the day. She did it simply to get a better look at Kaitekina’s chakra system as well as to get her eyes use to being active. Despite all the training the young Kage had received from her father upon entering his household, she hadn’t focused too much on increasing the power of her eyes. That’s to say that her father focused on her body, forgoing increasing the range she could see in favour of just making her physically strong. She was fully capable of seeing people’s chakra system, but it was at the level expected from a beginner in the Hyuga arts, not a seasoned individual. So, she decided that now would be the perfect time to help herself out on top of helping Kaitekina with her physical capabilities.

She wasn’t particularly sure how one went about improving the vision of their Byakugan, but she felt like having them active when it wasn’t needed was a good enough start for an utterly clueless Hyuga. She made a mental note to ask her father for some tips when she got home as she jogged to the center of the training area. There, she got Kaitekina started on some stretches that would loosen up her muscles. Stretching was pretty important for this form of training since the nine-year-old didn’t want to end up pulling a muscle - it would definitely hamper her and Kai could say that from experience.

Once the kid was done, well, once both of them was done - she typically practiced what she preached - she got started on instructing the younger blonde on how to properly throw a punch. Odd seeing how she, personally, dealt out palm strikes to her opponents but that was because she was prone to using her clan’s fighting style. Besides, palm strikes were a little more advance than simple punches and so that would wait for a later lesson - if they got that far.

She instructed Kaitekina the same way her father had five years ago when she had begun her training. She kept an eye on the kid’s entire body, not just the arms, since the nine-year-old needed to use her whole body in order to deliver a punch. It was pointless to just do so with the arm, not enough force was generated by that method. After making sure her sole student understood what to do, she showcased it. She punched directly in front of her ten times, each strike as powerful as the last and quicker too. With the demonstration done, she would flash smile at Kaitekina.

“Your turn.” She chirped, her body turning to face the nine-year-old. “I want you to do six of them, three thrust per arm.” She paused for a little bit before adding, “remember to breath.”

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Kai watched as Kaitekina did as she was told. Yellow eyes zoned in on her torso, watching as it rotated with each thrust just like she had shown her. The nine-year-old could definitely increase the speed and power she delivered her punches, but the ten-year-old would focus on fixing that after she fixed up the one mistake she spotted. For some reason, Kaitekina seemed to alway break form, that’s to say that she never fully extended her arm. It was always slightly bent, though it was such a minor mistake that she may have missed it if she hadn’t been paying attention. With the nine-year-old done and eagerly awaiting what she had to say, Kai tapped her chin with her index finger. A soft ‘hm’ escaped her mouth and she seemed to be in deep thought.

“Nice job.” She finally said, a grin on her face as she placed her hands on her hip. She cocked her head to the side, the smile wiped from her face. “But, you need to extend your arms fully.” Before she could get awarded a confused or funny look, the young Kage took a step back and clarified whilst simultaneously demonstrating what the nine-year-old was doing. “Your arm is always slightly bent when you throw your fist forward.” She showed Kaitekina what she meant by bending her elbow slightly. “It sort of prevents you from generating the speed and power your body is capable of, but not by much.” She shrugged her shoulders. “It’s such a minor mistake, but it only cost you a small fraction of speed and strength, so nothing big. Most people wouldn’t even notice it.” She paused for a moment as a grin worked its way on her face. “But I did.”

“You should do it again, but this time without the slight bend in your elbow. Fully extend your arm for maximum speed, strength, and reach.” She interlocked her fingers behind her back. “Don’t pull anything. I have more I want to teach you and it wouldn’t do to end things early because you pulled a muscle.” She chuckled a little bit, then coughed, then cleared her throat. She directed her eyes on Kaitekina, a serious look on her face as she nodded her head. The nine-year-old could proceed now that Kai was paying attention. Yellow eyes once again watched as Kaitekina performed the punches, noting that her elbow still bent slightly, and she would address the problem again. She wouldn’t move from this exercise until the nine-year-old had it down.

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Though Kai had intentions of teaching Kaitekina how to kick with so much ferocity that she broke ribs and damaged organs on impact, she had decided to turn the day into a punching only day. So, instead of jumping straight to the limbs most used when one was trying to keep a distance, she demonstrated several other punches and instructed Kaitekina to try them out. Palm strikes was amongst the various things she showed the nine-year-old, but she had advised her not to use them until she got to that stage since she could end up seriously injuring her hand - something Kaitekina wasn’t all that concerned about since she was fully capable of healing herself.

With the sun going down, Kai had called that the end of the training regime. As the prepubescent girls made their way home she let Kaitekina know that she wished to train further early the next morning, right before she headed into to work. Kicks was the next thing on the young Kage’s agenda and she could tell that her nine-year-old student knew it. She was a bright little girl, capable of picking up on even the most vague hints, but she wasn’t all that good when it came to dealing with the emotions of others. She was use to one mode, happy, and she strove to keep everyone in that mode since that was all she could comprehend. Kai could tell the blonde was improving the more she interacted with the people of Kumogakure - she wouldn’t be surprised if Kaitekina mainly focused on people’s reactions whenever she talked to them. Yet, she had a long way to go.

She woke up well before the sun began to make its presence known, the ten-year-old climbing out of bed and heading straight for Kaitekina’s room. She had to make sure her student was up and ready for the regime which was going to be similar to the one they did yesterday. After a couple minutes of donning some clothes appropriate for training, the girls made the short trek to the Hyuga clan’s private training grounds. After letting Kaitekina know that she was allowed to use the training grounds whenever she pleased she started the girl on warmups. She, Kaitekina, was instructed to run three whole laps around the outer part of the training grounds and make her way to the middle once she was done. Kai on the other hand ran as many laps as she could whilst her student was completing hers, meeting the nine-year-old in the middle afterwards.

Once stretches were out of the way Kai began instructing Kaitekina on how to do a front kick. Simple, but effective and deadly when used properly. No need for anything fancy if you can seriously damage someone with a front kick. Kai, personally, preferred the roundhouse kick or a sidekick, heck even a high kick, but she would get to those soon enough. First, the art of front kicks.

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With eyes activated, Kai watched as Kaitekina made a very good attempt at replicating what she had done. She, the nine-year-old, seemed to be having fun with the front kick and something told the young Kage that the youngest member of her team would be using it often when people got too close to her. It was the smartest thing for someone with little hand-to-hand combat training to do since the legs provided better extension compared to the arms and thus kicks could be thrown when the opponent was a little too far for a kick. It was also safer, capable of knocking the wind out of someone if it was aimed well enough, and of course maintained a comfortable distance. Yet, it had its disadvantages just like everything else, disadvantages she would need to tell Kaitekina about, but later.

For now, she would tweak the way Kaitekina threw her kicks, show her a couple other ones that were simple to deploy, and go over what they had learned yesterday. A test of sorts would wait for another day since Kaitekina would need more then two training sessions to become any good at what she was being taught. Once Kaitekina's front kick was good enough for Kai, the young Kage moved along to the back kick, demonstrating that one to the younger blonde and instructing her to replicate it the best she could.

Once that one was out of the way, she would show her the roundhouse kick, sidekick, and, her favourite, the axe kick. Of course, Kai was aware they wouldn’t be getting through every last one of those, but she hoped to get through a majority of them before she had Kaitekina practice the various strikes she learned yesterday. She was most excited about teaching her the axe kick, but that was last in line. Now that she thought about it though, it should be the second to last one since it would be easier to learn compared to the roundhouse kick. She wasn’t sure, but she would make adjustments later if need be.

She had Kaitekina repeat the back kick several more times even after she was satisfied with it, the blonde wanting her companion to feel comfortable with it. It took her a moment, but the younger blonde did get the hang of it and seemed comfortable enough to move onto the next thing. Albeit, given the current time and the fact the two hadn’t eaten breakfast, Kai decided that now would be a good time for a break. It would last an hour, giving both girls plenty of time to rest and fill their tummies before resuming the training regime. It also gave Kai’s eyes time to rest, the blonde having had the Byakugan active the entire time.

Once the break was over, Kai reactivated her Byakugan and resumed with what she had planned. She managed to teach Kaitekina all the kicks she wanted to and get her to practice her punches before nightfall. And with the entire day having been spent doing nothing but train, the two ended up eating and going straight to bed once they got home.

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