The Cloud Over The Leaf

Inside the Illusionary Dojo, a steady rhythm of combat could be heard.

Akumu watched Hii as he struck the training dummies he summoned over and over. 

These training dummy were two random ninjas who kept striking at Hii from different angles with punches and kicks.

"You got to hit harder than that! Remember to use your elbows and knees to counter their blows!"

"Yes!"

Hii was sweating all over as he picked his stance up once more.

Akumu shook his head at Hii's tenacity.

Akumu had shown him all sorts of techniques in the past few days since he got to know how to properly use his Sharingan. 

Sword techniques, martial arts, and even tactical maneuvers were all taught to Hii rigorously.

He could show them all to Hii with ease now.

'I still can't believe he picked that art out of all of them.'

Hii smashed into the dummies with his elbows and knees over and over.

Hii chose to specialize in Muay Thai of all the other martial arts Akumu knew . It was apparently the most versatile for him. It was also one of Akumu's favorites.

In regards to the sword styles, Hii still wanted to focus on the Storm Blade, which Akumu didn't mind. He would just supplement the gaps he may find in the art with the ones he learned.

'Hii learned the moves about as fast as I did. It's kind of strange to see how freakish I was. It's a benefit here though.'

Akumu shook his head of his thoughts on the past as Hii smashed into the dummies some more.

"Ok. Take a break."

"Haa. Haaa."

Hii panted heavily as he felt his muscles ache.

His excitement, however, continued to increase.

He was getting stronger. He could feel it.

"I've given you the basics of all the arts I know. You will just have to adjust them to your own unique style."

Hii nodded his head, and stared at Akumu.

"Hmm? What's wrong?"

"Do you have to go?"

"....."

Akumu stared into Hii's deep blue eyes and sighed.

"Yes. I have to go."

Hii looked down at the tatami floor of the dojo, dejected.

He felt a hand brush his head slowly and looked back up at Akumu.

"If you want to be a Ninja, you have to learn how to endure. I know you'll grow fine without me watching over you all the time."

Hii gave a small smirk, but it still didn't make him feel better having to watch Akumu leave.

Akumu looked at Hii and thought of a good idea.

"I know what I can do for you!"

"?"

Akumu snickered as he extended his hand into the air.

"Hnnnnng!"

Akumu strained as black energy flowed out of his hand to form a sphere. 

Hii watched as the sphere grew bigger and bigger. Soon it was the size of a massive boulder, casting a shadow over the two.

"Now, I just have to condense it."

Akumu's hands slowly closed as the ball of dark energy became more compact bit by bit. The ball slowly became the size of Akumu's palm after few strained attempts.

"Whew. Ok! This should be good enough."

"What is that?"

Akumu smiled as he handed the ball of energy towards Hii.

"Take this! It's my Chakra."

Hii tilted his head as he held the ball of energy in his hands. He looked at the ball closely and then back at Akumu.

"It's a bit big. Where should I put it?"

"Ah! You're right! I'll fix it for you."

Akumu grabbed the ball of Chakra and pressed it against Hii's chest.

*ssssuuuuuu*

The ball of Chakra slowly disappeared into Hii's body, yet he didn't feel anything.

"This chakra will be very useful to you. You can use it to contact me whenever you want as a dream, or use it to form this space. You can also use it as a reserve chakra source in case of emergency. Just be careful if you heal with it again, ok?"

"Cool! How do I use it?!"

Hii was excited to have a backup of Chakra, but he was even more excited to have a way to contact Akumu! 

He quickly learned how to use the ball of Chakra and happily finished the rest of his training with Akumu coaching him on his shortcomings.

"That's the last part of it. You've done a good job."

"Thanks for teaching me everything, Akumu."

"Haha! You're welcome! I'm sure you'll be able to use all you've learned effectively.I have faith you'll get as strong as me soon enough."

The world started to shake as the endless white border came into view.

Soon the two came out of the world and were back in Hii's room. Hii laid back in his bed and Akumu jumped up to his bed as well.

[Since today's my last day, I thought i would sleep close to you this time.]

Hii had a bitter smile as he fought off the fatigue of returning from the Illusion World, a name Akumu came up with.

"Akumu..."

[I won't leave without telling you, ok? Get some rest.]

Hii smiled as he finally let himself drift off to sleep.

[Feels like I'm a parent again. Sheesh.]

Akumu circled around Hii, enveloping him while placing his head on his chest.

[Good night, Hii.]

Akumu lowered his head as well and closed his eyes and welcomed the night.

********

Hii slowly opened his eyes as he looked around,noticing nothing but black fur.

[Morning.]

"Mmmm. Morning."

Hii sluggishly got up.

He stretched his arms wide and yawned.

".....Today's the day,huh?"

[You know it. Let's have fun today.]

Hii nodded his head as he got out of bed to wash up. Akumu jumped off the bed and into his shadow.

"Morning, Hii."

"Morning, Grandma."

Riku rubbed Hii's sleepy head and noticed he looked quite sad.

"You know he has to do this. It's his way of protecting all of us."

Hii weakly nodded his head and sat down at the table with Di.

Di also rubbed his head softly as they waited for the twins to wake up.

Akumu sat around Hii's chair and kept his head on his lap.

Today, he would keep his time all together with Hii and the family.

The twins came out short while later with Henda and everyone ate their breakfast. Riku smiled at the twins and decided to tell them the news.

"Today is the last day for Akumu to stay with us for now. That's why we will take a break from training today and play in the training field."

The twins gasped and quickly turned to Hii.

"Are you gonna play with us today, Hii-nii?"

The twins stared at Hii with twinkling eyes.

Hii held back a snicker as he nodded his head.

"Yeah! Akumu and I will be with you today. Let's play a lot of games together!"

"Yay!"

"Yay."

The two run around the table and start to rub Akumu's face.

[Wash your hands, brats!]

"Hehehe!!"

The two headed off to wash their hands as Akumu sighed.

"Haha! I hope you are ready. Those two are quite a handful!"

[Haaa. Well, I'm as ready as I'll ever be. I might as well have fun before I go.]

"Hehe. You'll have fun, alright."

Akumi felt a shiver as he saw how Di and Riku looked at him. He hoped that wasn't pity he felt in their gazes.

******

Akumu became a toy for the twins and Hii as they played all sorts of games in an empty training ground with Di and Riku watching over them.

"Hahaha!! Come catch me!"

[I'm gonna get ya!]

"Hahahaha!!"

Akumu chased the twins all around the field and forest as they ran and jumped through the trees. Hii chased after the three as well, joining in on the fun of catching his siblings.

"The kids are pretty brave to enjoy being chased by a Biju."

"Well, he's not like any of the other ones we've seen before. It also really cares for Hii as well."

"I thought you would've tried to fight him at some point by now."

Di looked into sky and sighed. 

"I'm not my brother. I don't have a habit of fighting Bijus."

Riku grabbed Di's hand and squeezed it. 

"You know what I meant. I heard Hii learned some sword moves from Akumu. Maybe you would want to find out what he learned?"

Di squeezed her hand back, looking over to Akumu grabbing Moya by the shirt like a small pup.

"I only need the Storm Blade. I'll polish it to the end."

"Haaa. You stubborn mule."

Riku shook her head as she also watched the kids play.

"Aren't you the same?"

"Hahaha! You're right! Isn't that why we got married?"

"I wouldn't have it any other way."

The two just continued to watch the four play around as they enjoyed the moment together.

********* 

The sun soon started to set as the day came to an end.

"Haaa, Haaa, that, was so fun!"

"Umu."

"Yeah. It was pretty fun."

[You kids are too much.]

The kids all laughed at Akumu's tired complaint.

They had played for hours today, playing many different games with each other.

Akumu complained a lot, but he also enjoyed their company.

The twins learned of Hii's Water Wolf Armor and immediately made him race against Akumu.

Hii lost, but it was pretty close according to the twins.

"Come on kids! Let's head home

Riku called out to the kids, signaling for them to get ready head back home.

The twins jumped up at the call, but Hii only sluggishly raised himself up.

Akumu did the same as he watched Hii.

"Come on, Hii-nii!" Let's go home."

"Yeah."

The twins called out to Hii, but Di grabbed the two in his arms.

"You two come with me."

""Eh~?!""

Riku came to Hii and Akumu and patted their heads.

"Make sure you say goodbye properly. I'm sure you'll see each other again."

Riku smiled as she headed back home with the kids.

"Bye, Akumu! We'll see you when you get back!"

"Bye!"

Moya and Yozora waved their hands as Di hoisted the two over his shoulders as Riku followed behind them.

Akumu turned to Hii and motioned to a nearby tree.

[Let's watch the sunset.]

"....Sure."

Akumu and Hii went over and sat under the tree, watching the sunset slowly over the forest.

Neither of them said anything as they just silently enjoyed each other's company.

The sun was halfway below the horizon before Hii finally said anything.

"Akumu?"

[Yeah?]

"I'm going to get stronger."

Hii clenched his fist tightly as he continued.

"I will be a ninja that can endure! I'll show you the next time we meet. I promise!"

Akumu silently nodded his head as he looked at Hii.

"I-I won't let you down!"

Akumu smiled as he tenderly nuzzled Hii's face.

[Make sure that next time, you don't cry as much as well, got it? I'll be waiting for you to show me your growth.]

*Sniff*

"I will!"

Hii grabbed onto Akumu's neck as he tried to silence his sobs, but to no avail. It just poured out of him.

Akumu just let Hii cry himself out as he felt the fading rays of the sun. 

Akumu opened his eyes as he felt night approaching.

It was time to go.

Akumu raised himself off the ground and put Hii on his back.

Hii had fallen asleep after all of his crying, but Akumu didn't mind. 

It would be easier on his heart to leave without feeling Hii's eyes follow him as he left.

Akumu quickly brought Hii back home silently as he phased into his room.

[Okay. Now I just need to put him on the bed.]

Akumu tried to shift him onto the bed, but Hii had a death grip on his fur.

[Haaa. Sheesh.]

Akumu complained, but the smile on his face betrayed any signs of irritation.

He jumped on the bed and phased through it, leaving Hii on top of his sheets.

Akumu came back up from under the bed and smiled.

[Goodbye, Hii. We'll meet again soon.]

Akumu disappeared into the shadows and reappeared outside of the house.

"You're leaving?"

Akumu looked up and saw Kaya returning home in her mission gear.

[You returned, huh? Yeah, I'm going to head out now.]

"You'll be coming back, right? Hii really loves you.]

Kaya stepped forward and petted Akumu.

[I know. I'll be back before you know it. Well, as long as everything is okay outside.]

Kaya nodded her head as she looked into his eyes.

"Be safe."

[I will.]

Kaya watched as Akumu rushed off into a nearby shadow and disappeared completely. 

She sighed and headed into the house.

"Welcome back."

"Hey, Dad. I'm back."

Kaya greeted her dad as she put her gear down on the floor.

"I guess we'll have to give Hii more training, right?"

Di nodded his head.

"Haaa. How irritating. I'll take him out tomorrow then?"

"I'll train him when you're out on missions."

Kaya nodded her head as she headed to Hii's room. She saw Hii sleeping soundly, gripping his sheets with tear tracks on his face.

"Haaa."

She moved to the bed and sat beside Hii while brushing his hair. She decided to sit around for a bit longer before she rested.

She had to make sure her baby was okay, after all.