"So Kurenai-sensei, who is this friend of yours?"
Kurenai looks at her redheaded student as they make their way to training ground 38, where he typically is training his team. "He was one of my teammates. A fair warning however, he's a bit… eccentric." That was an understatement, to say the least. Most thought the man had lost his marbles years ago. But he was undeniably strong. He was an S-rank nin for a good reason and is practically unmatched in Taijutsu. Not to mention he had a heart of gold.
"Kurenai-sensei, I think most of the ninja in this village are eccentric." Every high ranking ninja the redhead had ever met had some weird quirk to them.
"How do you think I fall in that category?" The red eyed woman said, quivering an eyebrow. Haruka gestures to her and answers.
"You wear sealing scrolls as clothes." Sure they were hidden under the guise of being bandages with designs, which was still weird, but that doesn't change what they were.
"Point taken."
"Oh yeah, Hina-chan sung me a lullaby and said I should ask you about it. Do you know anything about it?" Kurenai's breath hitches. She wasn't ready for this at all. She loved the girl like a daughter/sister but she wasn't mentally ready to let the girl know personally how deeply she failed her.
"We, uh, should talk about it later, see we're here." She said as they stepped into the training ground. Haruka could have sworn she heard the call of some weird creature. It sounded like.
"Youth!" No, she was definitely hearing that. Along with the words. "Gai-sensei!" it sounded weirdly familiar but she can't put her finger on it.
They continue making their way through the training ground and find the strangest combination of people Haruka had ever seen, she also realized she recognized two of them, one better than the other. The first she recognized was Hyuuga Neji, Hina-chan's cousin. He had long black hair, and wore the Konoha forehead protector over his forehead. She wonders if he just prefers it there or if he's covering the caged bird seal. He was also wearing black ninja pants and sandals, along with a beige jacket.
The other person she recognized seemed to have split in two. It was the weird green guy who told her about her abnormal weights. He had black hair styled in a bowl cut. In addition to that he was wearing green spandex and had the jonin flak vest. He was also wearing orange leg warmers. He had the largest eyebrows she had ever seen. Were they alive? Oddly enough when he smiled his teeth seemed to twinkle.
He also had a smaller version of himself that had a softer face and larger eyes. Along with that he didn't have a flak vest of any kind so he was likely a genin. Both men had their forehead protectors around their waist like she did. Only they had the standard cloth.
If asked however, Haruka would have to say the last person was the weirdest of all. She had dark brown hair tied into two buns that kind of gave her the appearance of a panda. On top of that she was wearing clothing foreign to Konoha with a pink tang shirt. But the odd thing was she reminded Haruka eerily of the bland kids from her class. It's like she had somehow retained that blandness while also making herself stand out. The girl was a paradox and Haruka didn't like that.
The Jonin seemed to notice them and turned. "Kurenai! It's great to see you, my most youthful friend!" The man seemed to only know how to shout. Haruka could have sworn the eyebrows seemed to be moving on their own.
"It's good to see you too Gai, we should really catch up sometime, maybe over coffee. But I'm actually here to introduce you to my student." She said, gesturing to the redhead. Gai looks towards the young girl and can't help but notice she's grown to look even more like her mother. He smiles at her, his teeth twinkles and he gives her a thumbs up. He had to hide the grim expression that threatened to come out. His team used coffee as code for something horrible is happening, either to them or someone they care about. It was because Kushina-sensei hated coffee and similarly passed the dislike to her students.
"I've already met the most youthful Haruka-san; she's only grown more like her mother." Haruka had to remind herself that he was Kurenai-sensei's teammate so of course he knew her mother too.
"I didn't realize you two were acquainted." Haruka speaks up now.
"I met the weird green guy, I think you called him Gai, about a year ago while running laps around the village. He had also told me about my weights being abnormally high, at least in comparison to most ninja."
Kurenai nodded and said, "Well Gai, we're here to see if you'd be willing to show her the basic forms of Uzuken and Uzuashi." The Uzumaki Taijutsu style was two fold, there was the Uzuken, which focused on the use of the upper body in combat. Then there was the Uzuashi which focused on the lower body. Each one was formidable on its own but it was the strongest when both styles were put in practice together. Gai had mostly adapted the Goken off of the Uzuken while taking a few points of inspiration from the Uzuashi as well.
"Yosh! I would be honored to teach young Haruka her mother's style! And if I cannot do so then I will run around Konoha with only my hands and 1 ton strapped to each leg! And if—" Kurenai cuts him off before he launches into his tangent. He probably would do it regardless. There is a reason he is nearly unmatched.
"Don't worry Gai, if anyone could teach her the style it's you."
"Come Haruka-san, join my team and I in our exercises, we were just about to climb the Hokage Monument with only one hand. Once that's done I'll teach you the first form of each style." Haruka nods. It will probably be hell, even for her, but apparently this style suits her. And somewhere deep inside she has to admit it also connects her with her Kaa-chan.
"Gai-sensei, why are you wasting time on this failure?" It was Neji who spoke up.
"Neji-kun, it will never be a waste of my time to help those seeking to improve themselves."
"She is weak and she is fated to always be weak." This earns the ire of Kurenai who speaks up now.
"Gai what are you doing Saturday, because I was wondering if perhaps you'd like to have a little tournament between our two teams, if only so your genin would put his money where his mouth is." She had confidence her team would win, even if they are brand new. Talent like theirs comes once in a generation.
"That sounds most youthful! We can work out the details over coffee later. Now come, we have a monument to climb." Without another word the group of five leave Kurenai at the training ground.