Hidden Emperor Of The Naruto World

Thunk, thunk, thunk

On a training ground at the edge of the Uchiha territory, muffled sounds were emitted from thrown kunai that embedded themselves in the post.

Mikoto concentrated on regulating her breath, a bit tired after today's training.

Looking at the kunai that were a bit off the mark, she frowned.

"Not yet. If it was him, he would have reached the target perfectly each time" Muttered Mikoto in frustration.

Rustle

Hearing rustling sounds behind her, she instantly became alert and raised the kunai that she was going to throw in a defensive position "Who is it?"

A blond kid came out from behind the trees, and raised his hands in a non-threatening gesture "It's me Mikoto"

"What do you want, Minato? It's the Uchiha clan territory, you're not allowed to come here" Remarked Mikoto

"Am I not allowed to come and see my new friend?"

"Who is your friend? We just ate a meal together and if I came it was because of Kushina"

"Is what she said..."

"So, what are you here for?" Repeated Mikoto, trying hard to keep her frustration in check. Even she didn't know why she was this frustrated. She is of natural calm but seeing the difference between her and Minato made her a bit annoyed. No matter how much she trains, she doesn't seem to catch up to him.

Minato didn't answer her with words but approached her. Not knowing what he wanted to do, Mikoto wanted to back away but doing so will be unbefitting of the Uchiha patriarch's daughter, so she put a strong front and watched him with fake indifference.

Not minding her look, Minato took her hand and inspected it "As expected"

Flustered, Mikoto jerked her hand away and demanded "What are you doing?" while taking out the kunai that she put back in her pouch earlier.

"Easy there, I was just looking at your hands" Seeing that it seems to incensed her even more, he continued "I previously saw that your hands were bandaged so I came here to check to see what you were doing to harm them. And it seems you train so hard that you finished by hurting yourself"

"What does it matter to you that I hurt my hands?"

"Because it's my fault."

Mikoto tilted her head, not understanding. It's her that trained too much...Oh.

Seeing the flash of comprehension in Mikoto's eyes, Minato confirmed it "Since the beginning of the academy, I observed all the talented individuals in the class, and you possess one of the best potentials. Before we began training in bukijutsu, your hands were always perfect, but since I show that I was better than you at what your clan excel, I remarked that you often come in class with bandages on your hands"

"So what, are you here to mock me?" asked Mikoto in a despising voice. Her impression of Minato plummeted, she would never have thought that he was this conceited.

"Do you think I came all the way here to do that?" Quizzed Minato.

Seeing the disdain in Minato's eyes made her pause. It's true that this guy was not the type to do pointless things like that. Even if she didn't talk to him before, with all the pranks that he did with that dog girl during classes, she was involuntarily often looking at him and has a good grasp of his personality.

"It's good to train but forcing it will only worsen things. I know that your clan is the best at kunai and shuriken throwing, but there is one glaring mistake in what you've learned"

Mikoto was going to rebuke him, how can this guy say that her clan teachings are wrong? He is merely an academy student like her. But Minato didn't let her interrupt him.

"It's designed for men"

"?"

Seeing the puzzled look of Mikoto, Minato elaborated "The way to throw that you learned is for men. The Uchiha clan is a patriarchal family, so everything is made with men as a basis, including the training methods. Women are naturally more flexible than men, so the fact that you learn a more 'rigid' way to throw kunai is why you feel awkward when you throw them and that you don't progress"

Mikoto's thoughts stilled. It made sense...It may even be right. Each time she throws her weapons with the technique that her father imparted to her, she felt it's out of place. She said it once to her father but he answered it was because of her lack of talent.

"You can try"

Mikoto shrugged and nodded, she has nothing to lose anyway. Doing as Minato said, she adjusted her grasp on the kunai multiple times till she felt that it was right, and threw it to the training post.

Thunk, dead center.

Not believing how easy it was, she tried again, dead center. And again and again, till she exhausted all her kunai. All her throws were perfect. She couldn't believe it, all this time she was so obsessed to prove her father that she was talented in bukijutsu and tried to throw kunai as he said that she never once thought of trying to find a more suitable way for her...

---

Recalling the first time that she met alone with Minato, Mikoto smiled softly. Since then, they sometimes train just the two of them in this small training ground, doing some sparring or weapon throwing contest, and other times with Kushina and Tsume present too. This particular training ground was not often used by Uchiha clans members because it's at the edge of the Uchiha territory, with people not from the clan sometimes passing near it, so it was a perfect place for some of their sparring sessions.

"What are you three daydreaming about?"

Tsume, Kushina, and Mikoto were broke out of their recollections by the voice and looking at the source, it was a blond hair girl with a single bang which falls down into her face.

"Mebuki" Beamed Kushina, happy to see her friend.

Meanwhile, Tsume and Mikoto greeted her but less enthusiastically. They did not dislike her but are not fond of her either. Unlike them, Mebuki Haruno dislikes training and never once accept their invitations to train, and for them, whose goal is to become strong enough to be on par with Minato one day, hanging out with a girl with no real motivation is not their cup of tea.