The two exchanged a glance, then looked away at the same time.
"All right, enough joking around." Sasuke tossed them each a bottle of water. "Go back and rest. Tomorrow morning at six, we continue."
Kiyomi dragged her exhausted body back to her lodgings.
It was a small apartment Shikamaru had arranged for her in the eastern part of Leaf, not far from the Training Ground. The room wasn't large, but it was clean. It had a bed, a table, a wardrobe, and a small kitchen.
Kiyomi set the Kurama plushie on the bed, then went to take a shower.
The hot water washed over her body, carrying away the day's exhaustion. She looked at herself in the mirror: the bruises on her arms, the scrapes on her face, and the tiredness in her eyes.
But she didn't feel miserable.
Instead, she felt a strange sense of satisfaction.
After her shower, Kiyomi lay down on the bed. Moonlight streamed through the window, falling across the Kurama plushie.
She hugged it and closed her eyes.
This time, she slept peacefully.
The next morning, Kiyomi arrived at the Training Ground right on time.
Sasuke was already there, with an unfamiliar man standing beside him.
The man wore a green skintight suit. He had thick eyebrows, large eyes, and a smile so radiant it was almost blinding.
"Good morning!" The man gave Kiyomi a thumbs-up. "I'm Might Guy, the Azure Beast of Leaf!"
Kiyomi froze.
"Guy is Leaf's strongest taijutsu ninja," Sasuke introduced him. "Today, he'll teach you the basics of taijutsu."
"The strongest?"
"That's right!" Guy laughed. "Though I'm in a wheelchair now, nobody can beat me when it comes to taijutsu theory!"
Only then did Kiyomi notice that Guy was sitting in a wheelchair.
"Are you injured?"
"It's an old injury,"