Don't Hesitate

Disclaimer: Naruto does not belong to me.

All shinobi are prepared to kill or die to defend their Villages. Sacrifices are are part of the job, part of being a shinobi. But a few kunoichi are asked to make an even greater sacrifice, and for that they need a good teacher...

She'll have to learn...

When she hesitates that fraction of a second on what should be a clean silent killing strike, a hesitation that could give an enemy the advantage, he strikes her viciously to the ground with a sharp rebuff. She's like a puppy getting a whack with a newspaper, only there's blood in her eyes and on her lips when she glares up at him from the ground. That's better. He's not her sensei and never has been. The lessons he's teaching her now aren't suited for any formal teacher-student arrangement anyhow.

When he feels the blade of her kunai at his neck, even as he's still looking at her on the ground, he smiles. Much better. Her jutsu's are getting faster. And when he feels the prick of the blade breaking skin - payback for his earlier treatment - he smiles even more. He knows she won't hesitate the next time.

The harder lessons are still to come.

She'll have to get over it...

The first time he takes her she only cries a little when it's over. Not because he's hurt her, but because a little more of her innocence and girlish dreams have been stripped away. He watches her closely, but doesn't comfort her. After a few minutes she dries her eyes and says she's ready to try again. She's a good kunoichi and knows how to hide her feelings. He takes his time and shows her more, how to give pleasure and how to receive it, and after a while she does.

He's a skillful lover and she's a quick study. In fact she's particularly gifted in this area, which pleases him. And if she calls out another's name when she comes he doesn't mind. They're not in love, after all. She only does it the once, then never again.

So much more he still has to teach her.

She'll have to get tougher...

He's a hard taskmaster, pushing her past her limits frequently. Always a new technique to learn; a new way to attack, to move, to kill. She wants to cry. She wants to scream and shake and tear his jugular out with her teeth. He can see it in her eyes at times when she collapses to the ground from chakra depletion, that flash of pride and defiance that will keep her from ever being just a weapon. He should beat it out of her. Lecture her on her place and her duty. But he doesn't. He isn't ready to take that fire from her eyes, because he's more than a just weapon too. So he says nothing.

She can take a hit, he gives her that. And she knows what the stakes are, so she always swallows that flare of will and gets up. And starts all over again. Even when her arms can barely hold her weapon, or tremble like a first year student learning the basics. Still she gets up. He doesn't praise her for it. She's a Kunoichi of the Leaf, and he expects no less of her.

She'll have to let go...

She's discreet, which doesn't seem like her, given her personality. He knows because he watches her. Her eyes never seek his out if they pass each other in the village, and she's always polite and respectful of his higher rank if they do happen to meet. He knows who her eyes follow and where her heart truly lies: with the one she still speaks of when she lies beside him in the quiet darkness of his bed. He tells her some hard truths, and then waits for her to make up her mind. When she does, she comes to him with a new resolve. Her eyes are focused now. The naive girl is gone.

He sees the difference in her, in how she moves and how she carries herself and wonders idly if he's the only one who does.

She'll have to need it...

It's not love. And he wonders sometimes about his soul when the hate seems so bright in her eyes for using her. He knows she doesn't understand and he doesn't explain it. He has his reasons. So when he comes at her with all manner of weapons and speed, she knows he's not like her old genin sensei who would hold back. She knows that if she hesitates now he will kill her. It makes her faster, sharper, and even more deadly. He has a reason for every thing he does, for every new technique he teaches her.

And if he sometimes gently carries her exhausted body back home after training, or interrupts her quiet study of serums and exotic poisons to reach for her and take her willingly to his bed, despite that lesson being well covered already...well, he has reasons for that too.

She'll have to want it...

When the time finally comes he goes with her, shadowing her silently as they move quickly through the treetops. Her hands tremble only slightly when he helps her tie her obi and conceal her weapons. She's a good kunoichi and she hides her fear well now that the time is at hand. She's beautiful in the blue moonlight and her pale hair reminds him of starlight. There is nothing more to teach her; it's all up to her now. After some last murmured instructions she's gone with barely a leaf disturbed.

All he can do now is wait. Wait for her to succeed. Or wait for her to fail. He tips his face back to the moon and rolls the long senbon between his teeth to the other side of his mouth. Not for the first time he wonders if the ends really can justify the means. If the sacrifice really matters.

Only then can she understand...

When she returns to him several hours later he has his answer. It does matter. She reeks of another man. And a mist of blood speckles the side of her face and clothes -he'll have to teach her how to avoid the spray better, for next time- but she's alive. The mission is successful and she's alive and unharmed, while an enemy of Konoha is dead because of him and what he's taught her. So when she turns her shining eyes up to his he knows she understands now. She understands his reasons and why he seemed cruel. It wasn't personal. And being a good kunoichi, she doesn't hide her emotions from him this time at all. Her smile of gratitude and triumph is almost as bright as the moon.

He's not her sensei and never has been, but he is her comrade.

And so even though there is no need, and really no good reason for it, Genma still smiles and reaches out to gather Ino close to his chest and hold her.

He's taught her well. She doesn't hesitate.

...A ninja of Konoha should be useful to Konoha.

I saved the Author's Notes on this one to the end so as not to give anything away. This little fic came about as an offshoot of a discussion Sedens and I had with regards to a Samurai Champloo character (Yatsuha). The idea intrigued me and wouldn't let me go so I wrote it out with these two characters. It's an odd pairing for an odd reason... Thanks for reading! Kinomi