DISCLAIMER: WHHHOOOOOOOOoooooooo! I'm back, but I will never own Naruto because the universe hates me! Insomnia_queen blasting off again~! *disappears into the distance and becomes a star*

Carry On by Cœur De Pirate

Itachi gif

A/N: SORRY FOR THE LONG WAIT, LIKE ALWAYS! I SEND MY SINCEREST APOLOGIES!

A/N/N: SORRY FOR ADVANCE, THIS CHAPTER MAY SEEM MORE INFORMATIONAL. I HOPE YOU STILL ENJOY IT~!

Chapter 35: Training Pt.2
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THIRD POV
TSUKI HARUNO could only think about the prophecy that presented itself to her, the images running rapid in her head. She knew that they were only possibilities, not facts. The future isn't written in stone, prophecy or not.

Sighing, she lets her fuchsia eyes settle on the goddess before her. It's been a day since she revealed what she saw, and Tsuki isn't going to allow that to stop her from the training she's meant to do. Crossing her arms across her chest, she speaks up.

"So, what's next on my schedule?" Tsuki asks with a quirked brow.

Cerridwen looks to her host. "Are you sure you're ready for the next step," she questions with slight concern.

The Kunoichi smirks, determined. "Whatever you throw at me, I'll be ready for it. I won't back down, not now. Besides I don't think I'm allowed to," she states with a laugh.

"Your funeral," the goddess scoffs before smirking.

"Well, that counts for you, too. If I die, you die as well. Just momentarily at least, until your essence regenerates again," Tsuki states knowingly.

"Ah, you're right. But let's move on from this morbid topic and get to the explaining of your new training! These next two weeks will consist of you learning the techniques of the Dark Arts, also known as the Underworld jutsus, and the property of Life energy, that includes the Healing Arts. You know how whenever you heal someone with Life Remedium and become blind? Well that's because you haven't learned how to properly channel it. It's a bit different from Medical Ninjutsu, but somewhat similar. Though, with this training, you'll learn how to channel it and you'll be able to heal without losing your eyesight," the Goddess informs with a sincere smile.

The thought of healing someone without risking her sight, Tsuki grins at the whole idea, feeling a good sense of giddiness. She's used the Life Remedium twice now in the past, and both times she almost died because of her blindness. Remembering the strategy of using a Blood Clone, she still felt the sensation of pain when it was struck with a Chidori. Not as great, but still enough to make her cringe. The thought of a Chidori still triggers a painful feeling in Tsuki's core.

Then, there was the time when she was blindly stumbling through the woods after healing Itachi, who barely fought against Sasuke, only to be caught by Zetsu. That was the second time where Madara tortured her, she still has yet to figure out why he does that. Was it to make her submissive to his future plans where he needed the Goddess sealed inside her? That seems most probable.

"All right! I'm ready, when do we start," Tsuki exclaims, punching her open palm with determination.

Cerridwen scoffs, amused by her host's actions. "Easy there, moon pie. Naruto's behavior is starting to rub off on you, you can't just dive in and start. Life Remedium is a delicate art because you're using the Life Energy from the earth around you and channeling it into the person you're healing. The only reason you became blind was because you using the action blindly, kind of ironic, isn't it," she informs the pink haired Kunoichi.

The Haruno deadpans. "Is that suppose to be funny," she's asks, directing it towards the last statement.

Cerridwen boasts with laughter, "yes." Though, she soon stops and becomes serious. "But no, Life Remedium is only one part of your training, although it's essential to the rest. Because when you draw from nature's life energy, you'll do the same with the Underworld's dark energy. Only this time, you'll connect with everything dead, plants, animals, people, spirts, etc. It's a balance of scales, tip too much on one side, you'll become overwhelmed. Remember when I said that the Dark Prophecy and it's dark essence can become your downfall, well that's because you're consuming too much dark energy. The same thing is said for the light, or life, energy."

Tsuki furrows her brows, confused. "How can too much life energy be bad," she asks.

"It's a cycle. If there's life, there needs to be death. There's light, and there's darkness. Yin, yang. Take one away and the whole concept of balance is screwed. That's all I know," the pale woman explains.

"Alright, that seems reasonable enough. I'm not going to question your knowledge since you're obviously older than me," Tsuki quips with a smirk.

Cerridwen shakes her head. "Yes, and you're obviously a baby," she remarks with equal sass.

"Alright, alright! Anyways, if I'm going to learn how to 'properly' use Life Remedium, don't I need something to heal," the Haruno asks, crossing her arms with a raised brow.

"Oh, yes. I'm glad you asked," Cerridwen states with a knowing smirk. "Now, why don't you come over here, darling," she looks towards Tsuki.

The aforementioned girl furrows her pink brows in confusion, what? Darling?

Though, before she has the time to vocally question it, footsteps sound from behind her. Already knowing that no else is here besides herself and a certain Uchiha, Tsuki's face immediately begins to slightly flush.

That's why she smirked! She's a cunning one, that's for sure, Tsuki thinks while directing a glare at the goddess.

"Now, this idiot here, thought it was smart to train with some advanced techniques when he barely finished healing! Tsuki, your job is to heal Itachi's burn wounds with the Life Remedium," Cerridwen informed.

It took a couple of seconds for Tsuki to process what she just said. "Wait, what? Bu-"

"Don't worry, I'll talk you through it. Now, chop chop!" The goddess ushers to begin with a double clap.

Tsuki inhales, mentally cursing the goddess for putting her in this position. To Tsuki, Cerridwen is like a best friend, slash mother figure, but that doesn't help when she's met with the latter's teasing. Her quippy comments and suggestive looks don't help either, especially when the topic of conversation is usually standing next to her. Though, when the Haruno is met with the comments, she usually begins to stutter and her face goes through a series of red shades which never helps her.

Especially, not when Cerridwen claims that she and the Uchiha are lovers.

"S-so, burn wounds. H-how that happen," Tsuki questions, already beginning to feel her own cheeks burn.

Itachi closes his eyes, and sighs before explaining. "Since my almost death, my chakra control has been out of balance, and I may have added too much chakra into my fire jutsu," he sheepishly smiles, looking at the Haruno girl.

"Ouch, that doesn't sound fun at all," she states with a wince. Though, she soon forgets her flustered state and immediately locks her concerned gaze on his body. "Are you hurt, I-I mean, obviously you are, but are you in pain? Where's the burn, is there more than one? H-how long has it been since it happened?"

Her fuchsia eyes roam his body, searching for the damage, and immediately she mentally slaps herself for not noticing the small burns on his cheeks. Stepping closer to the Uchiha, without hesitation, she closes the distance between them and gently caresses his face. Her slender fingers give whispering touches over his burn marks, careful not to hurt him. Even when it's barely there, Itachi can feel her ghostly fingers touching at his face which causes his heart to flutter. As their eyes lock in a contrasted gaze between fuchsia and onyx, Cerridwen can feel the sparks flying around them.

To Itachi, Tsuki's eyes are like a burning sunset as the pinkish hue reminds him of the one that dances, a fleeting dance, in the sky as the sun dies into the night. The shade so enticing, so brilliant, and blazing, that he wouldn't mind if it scorned him. One he yearns to stare into for eternity.

To Tsuki, Itachi's eyes remind her of the starry night sky, a shade of black so dark that she can literally drown in and she wouldn't even care. The way his eyes shine remind her of the billions of stars that dance in the night. A pair she would spend her whole life exploring.

They're dancers that meet as soon as the sun dies and greet as the night sky arises with a shining melody. They would spin, twirl, and caress each other with the repeating symphony until they died.

But until then, the song needs to start playing.

With a fleeting glance, Itachi looks away first as he directs his eyes to his left arm. "The burns mostly caught against my left arm. They've been irritating me since earlier today, but they don't hurt that much," he informs the girl he's starting to slowly care about.

He knows that his younger brother, Sasuke, hurt her too much. A pain that grips strongly at her heart. The action of small lies caused a damage too great, one that can't be fixed by a few weeks. Besides if he wanted to initiate a relationship, he would need to wait until Tsuki is ready, physically, emotionally, and mentally. Plus, she's younger than him, his brother's age which is a five year difference, and he will never force her into a relationship, if it were to happen, until she was ready.

Tsuki smiles up at him. "You need to be more careful. I know you want to be prepared for the upcoming war that's about to happen, but you can't rush into it. Like you said, you nearly died, it takes time for your body to recuperate. Especially when you already had existing heart problems. You're lucky I managed to save you with my minimal healing skills," she says, finishing with a small laugh.

Itachi scoffs, smiling. "Hn, I would hardly call them minimal. You healed me, and because of you I'm in better shape than before," he informs.

Tsuki laughs, "Ha! Whatever you say, hotshot!"

As they continue to banter, Cerridwen stands to the side, grinning like a madwoman while rubbing her hands in a victorious manner.

"Okay, let's see your arm," Tsuki changes the topic.

Though, before the Uchiha can say anything, Tsuki grabs his hand with one of hers and gently runs her other hand up his forearm. The said action sends pleasured shocks up his spine and as her hand continues to touch his arm, his fair skin gains goosebumps at her feathery touch.

"Okay, this is going to hurt, well maybe," Tsuki announces, snapping him out of his dazed state.

"Wait, wha-"

He's cut off when she suddenly touches the burn wound on his bicep. Feeling the instant pain, Itachi winces, almost flinching away from her touch.

Releasing a hiss, he looks at the female before him. "Did you really need to touch the wound, or were you just doing it to enjoy my pain," he professes with a grimacing smile.

"If I wanted you to be in pain, you would know the difference. But to answer your question, I needed to confirm if the burned skin was raw. If it was, it would have been sensitive and painful which you now confirmed," the Haruno explains with a knowing smirk.

"Excellent! Now, that you assessed the wound, I'm going to run through the steps on how to correctly use Life Remedium. First, focus on the area around you, listen to the sounds of life, feel the air against your skin, smell the various scents of flowers and trees. When you feel the weight of everything against you, use the technique that you usually use to absorb chakra. You do know how to absorb chakra, right," the Goddess suddenly asks.

Tsuki, who has her eyes closed in concentration, keeps still in her position. "Yes, I know how to absorb chakra," she quips.

"Alright, well, do that. Instead of chakra, you're going to absorb that feeling, that weight, because that's the life energy. Then, once you feel the energy inside you, use the technique of releasing chakra and transfer that life energy into the wound, but like medical ninjutsu, do it slow and steady. That energy regenerates the cells because it's basically giving life to the dead cells, it's healing it. If you feel a prickly sensation, that's normal, since it's the essense of light running through you. Almost like getting a sun tan, your skin prickles when it feels too much heat," Cerridwen explains, trying to simplify it as much as possible.

Like the goddess said, Tsuki can feel a weight against her skin. It's not heavy, but it's like a thin, silky, sheet. With her skill of chakra control, she absorbs the energy and almost immediately she can feel her veins burn, not enough to cause pain, but slight irritation. Then, with the experience of using medical ninjutsu in the past, she repeats the technique. Opening her eyes to get visualisation of the burn marks, all of them, she concentrates a steady amount of life energy into the wounds, slowly, but surely.

Having felt the life energy herself, Tsuki transfers it into Itachi, but at the loss of it, it makes her feel drained. It feels like she's the one who's losing energy, but she needs to remind herself that it's just the life energy leaving her system. However, unlike medical ninjutsu, Tsuki witnesses how the wound almost immediately heals, like nothing ever happened. Fuchsia eyes watch as burned skin turns to perfect fair skin, no scars, or markings are left on Itachi's arm or cheeks.

Finishing with the given task, Tsuki immediately takes the Uchiha's arm and inspects it. She runs her fingers up his forearm and bicep, marveling at the sight of perfect skin. Although, she's slightly exhausted, the Haruno girl grins before raising her arms into fists.

"Oh, that was so cool! Did you see how fast the wounds healed?! Look at how Itachi looks, no scars or markings left behind on his skin, he's perfect! Although, I do feel slightly drained, it's still so amazing! Plus, on the upside, I can now heal without going blind, how awesome is that," Tsuki exclaims, talking too fast with excitement. She smiles towards Cerridwen, practically gushing at the newly gained skill.

"Okay, okay! Calm down, you barely accomplished step one of the training. You still have a lot to do," the Goddess reminds the Kunoichi.

And like that, Tsuki's excitement is washed away. "You're no fun. Couldn't you just let me have this small victory for one minute," she grumbles, dejectedly.

"Ha, you're funny." Cerridwen lets out a sarcastic laugh. "The Healing Arts has a total of three jutsus. Life Remedium which you just accomplished, Life Ultimatum, similar, but much more advanced, and lastly, Touch of Life, you only use that for certain situations because it's such a great toll on your body. Plus, you still have all the Dark Arts jutsu to perfect," the goddess informs with a smug smirk.

Tsuki's eyes widen with disbelief. "B-but I'm already tired and I-I barely finished one jutsu," she remarks, crying out.

The pale woman turns on her heel, facing the Kunoichi with a grin as she places her hands on her hips. "Well....it's about to get a lot harder," she states with amusement, a hint of malice in her voice.

With that said, the goddess crosses her arms, but it does nothing to reassure the girl. All she can do is let out a whimper, feeling sympathetic for her future self.

× × × × ×

IT'S BEEN FOUR days since the lesson of Life Remedium, and Tsuki is still struggling with the other two Healing Arts jutsu. Her arms are currently numb, but she can see them shaking, trembling with exhaustion. Her skin is clammy due to the warm sensation of life energy prickling through her veins, it adds a few degrees to her normal body temperature, hence why she's sweating.

Life Ultimatum, it's an advanced version of Life Remedium. Basically instead of healing just one person, Tsuki's aiming to heal people inside a circle radius of herself, the distance depends on how much she's skilled. Though, since she's a beginner, she can barely reach a five feet distance around her. Not only does it put a strain on her body, but Tsuki also needs an expertise level of concentration. That's because she's not only healing one person, she's healing several. To say that it's a mental toll would be an understatement.

Concentrate, Tsuki berates herself, slowly losing her patience.

Standing still, she inhales the air around her before exhaling. She repeats the actions until she reaches a calm state. Being calm is an essential key to performing the Healing Arts because with calmness, comes needle like precision.

Feeling the familiar sense of a silky sheet overcome her, Tsuki absorbs the life energy with the perfection of chakra control. Once the prickling needles of heat run through her veins, Tsuki visualizes a circle around her with the diameter of ten feet. Opening her fuchsia eyes, the Haruno can literally see a white circle on the ground, almost as if it's a light source.

Breathing heavily, she mentally forces the circle to become larger. From a five foot radius, it turns to ten, then with a few deep, but struggled, breaths, she wills the radius to grow even more. The actions repeat until she reaches a full radius of thirty feet, sixty in diameter.

Once she sees how far she's gotten, Tsuki let's go and practically falls to the ground in full exhaustion. Falling to her knees, she sits on the grass and uses her arms to support her weight. Every limb on her body is basically screaming, no they're crying in gratitude, relieved that she's finished torturing them. And if someone came and blew a breath in Tsuki's direction, she would topple to the side and fall in a heap.

"Yeesh, who came and killed you," Cerridwen's voice interrupts Tsuki's second of bliss.

The Haruno scoffs. "Har har! You're very funny," she states with world's supply of sarcasm.

"Well, I do bless myself as a comedian," the goddess remarks with a hairflip.

Tsuki glares in her direction, "I hate you."

"Love you, too! Anyways, from the looks of it, I say that you just finished with perfecting the Life Ultimatum jutsu. Are you secretly dying in the inside right now? Well, if you are, that's normal because Life Ultimatum takes a toll on you, both phsyically and mentally. This is what I was telling you about, if you do this too much, it can become your downfall. Is your heart beating like crazy, are your muscles numb with exhaustion, are you feeling the affects of dehydration? Using Life Ultimatum too much can practically drain you of life, basically killing you. I know there's a war coming, and there will be many casualties, but don't make it your life's mission to save everyone, or else it will cost you," Cerridwen states sternly, all fun and games disappearing from her behavior; The sense of seriousness is practically oozing from her obsidian eyes.

Tsuki clenches her jaw, gulping, feeling the intensity of the goddess' words wash over her. "Right. So, too much life equals death? Got it," the Haruno summarizes with a bitter laugh.

"Yes, now engrain that into your brain so you don't forget. Then, there was one. Touch of Life, that's the most exhausting because not only are you using life energy, but also medical ninjutsu, at the same time. You're combining the two because with this jutsu, you're basically bringing a person back to life. You're healing their wounds, and curing their souls of any damage," the pale woman explains to her host.

Tsuki beams at the explanation. "That sounds amazing! Is it even possible, I mean it sounds like a miracle," she questions.

"Possible, yes. Miracle, I don't really call it that. But Tsuki, only use Touch of Life with people who are close to dying, use it on people who are lost causes. If they're dead, no pulse, no breath, and confirmed dead, don't use it on them. I may have said that you can bring people back, but in reality, you can't. If they're about to die, you can heal them. Though, if they're dead, dead, dead, you can't," the goddess specifies with great detail.

"Can I ask why," the Haruno questions.

"Do you want to die," Cerridwen answers with her own question.

"No," Tsuki retorts, immediately.

"That's why. If you were to use Touch of Life on a dead, dead, person, you would have to exchange your life for theirs, hence you dying. Do you understand," Cerridwen informs which makes the girl nod with the universal shocked face.

Tsuki is a person who cares about others, well to be really specific, she only cares for a small handful of people. Yes, sometimes she acts out of the kindness of her heart and saves people who are important to others. One example was healing Asuma, Tsuki didn't really care much about him, or know him, but she knew that Team Ten would be devastated if they lost their sensei, not to mention Kurenai. Tsuki remembers in the attack to Konoha with Pein, the aforementioned woman was heavily pregnant, and she could only assume that the father of that child was Asuma. If he had died, Team Ten, which is Shikamaru, Ino, and Choji, then there is Kurenai, their child, not to mention his nephew, Konohamaru, also adding his friend, which is her sensei, Kakashi, they would all be affected with his death.

Then, there was Itachi, Tsuki didn't really know him apart from the Akatsuki. She only knew that he was Sasuke's older brother, though when she was still with the mentioned brother, she could have predicted that Sasuke would come to regret his decision to killing his older brother. So, taking his feelings into consideration, and also having empathy to how Itachi lived his life in pain, Tsuki decided to save him. Yes, she said that she healed the brother for Sasuke's sake, but Tsuki found herself relating to the older brother in some ways. To have a younger sibling cast you out, to live in pain whilst hiding your emotions with a stoic mask, punishing their lives by making themselves a target to their sibling's hate which somehow motivated them to get stronger. In some way, Tsuki thought that if she saved Itachi, she was saving herself.

Though, apart from her handful of people, and her minimum acts of kindness, she could really care less about what happens to people.

"Luckily for you, you don't have to actually do this training because I, unfortunately, don't have anything that's currently dying. Though, when time comes to serve when you actually have to use Touch of Life, I'll talk you through it. It's already great that you excell at medical ninjutsu and have a good sense at using life energy because it makes it so much easier," Cerridwen tells the Haruno, informing her.

Tsuki grimaces, "I find your enthusiasm for dead things disturbing."

"Well, I am a creep, what did you expect," the woman shrugs with a smile.

The Haruno deadpans. "Right. Anyways, if I'm not actually training with the Touch of Life, am I moving on to the Dark Arts techniques," she questions, raising her pink brows.

"Aha! You're hilarious!"

"Thanks, I try," Tsuki mutters sarcastically.

"No, but really. Drawing from the dark energies right now, when you're exhausted, can be dangerous. You have the rest of today to eat, relax, shower, sleep, and whatever you need to do to build up your energy," Cerridwen informs before dismissing the Kunoichi with a flick of the wrist.

"Oh, that's fun," Tsuki remarks, already bored of her free time.

× × × × ×

FREE TIME WASN'T Tsuki's best quality. Heck, she wasn't familiar with free time. When she was younger, and still living in Konoha, she was always preoccupied with different tasks. If she was busy with something, her parents wouldn't disturb her or chastise her for wasting their time. Free time would usually buy her some insults, either if it was being called lazy, waste of space, annoying for being around, and anything related.

So, now it was almost a habit to preoccupy herself with something. In the Akatsuki that was either taking solo missions, cleaning her room, joining other teams on their missions, sharpening her weapons, or training.

But now, that she's not a part of the Akatsuki, or Konoha, she's finding the concept of free time, foreign. It feels strange. She doesn't know what to do. Sleep? She's spent most of her life staying awake through the nights which made the days blur together. Relax? What's that? She spent three, almost four years with the Akatsuki, and during that time she always had her guard up, she was tense. Eat? She was usually always so stressed that the idea of eating food made her sick, and if she did eat, she usually puked it back up. Because of that, she lost a lot of weight, though if it wasn't for the muscle in her arms and legs, she would practically be a walking stick.

Tredging through the peaceful scenery of cherry blossoms, Tsuki uselessly wanders with no destination in mind. It's calming and the scent of the aforementioned flower reminds her of her sister, which ironically means Cherry Blossom. Then, with Sakura on her mind, she starts to remember her other teammates.

Naruto, Kakashi Sensei.... And Sasuke, Tsuki winces at the last name, but she still wonders what they're doing in the preparation of this upcoming war. Unfortunately, the mention of war, brings Konoha to mind and almost immediately she feels a wave of guilt hit her. She's partially responsible for its destruction, she was there, she helped, she killed. However, if the guilt wasn't enough, she starts to remember every kill she ever made, or participated in.

The capture of the Kazekage, I killed several Suna Nins, I even helped kill the Kazekage, also known as Gaara. No wonder his siblings hate me. Basically every Jinchuuriki the Akatsuki has captured, I helped killing them as well. Then, the Monks I killed when I was with Hidan and Kakazu. The bounties, Shinobi, or people, I killed when I was in my Dark Maiden persona. Oh, Kami, I've killed from almost every country! What would happen to me If I survive this war, what then, Tsuki remembers, only to find a horrifically, large estimation. The number sends a panic to run wildly in her head which causes her to worry.

"Hey, what are you doing," Itachi's voice snaps her out of her head.

"Oh, you know the usual. Thinking about my horrible, horrible, life which is full of disappointments and a world's supply of guilt, plus I can't forget about the mistakes I've made throughout my whole existence. Yup, totally normal," she explains before releasing a bitter laugh.

"Well, it can't be better than mine. A life full of tragedy, death, an unending supply of guilt, plus the disappointment I feel everyday for myself, oh, I can't forget about the loneliness, and then there's the fact that my only living relative hates my sole existence. You know, the usual dandy life," Itachi tells her with a small smile.

Tsuki grimaces. "I don't know whether you told me that to make me feel better about myself, or to feel sorry for you. Either way, they both worked," she gives a small smile.

Itachi shakes his head, smirking. "Neither, I just wanted to confess my secret pain. Not everything is about you, Tsuki," he scoffs, smiling at her shocked face.

"You ass!" She hits his upper arm, pushing him away. "I don't make everything about myself. Besides what secret pain?! If you keep making fun of me, I'll make you feel real pain!"

"Are you sure about that? Won't you add to the supply of guilt if you hurt me," Itachi questions with a smirk.

"I hate you," the Haruno grumbles.

"Keep going, you're just adding it to my secret pain," he chuckles.

Tsuki's eye twitches. "I bet you say that to every girl you meet," she smirks, crossing her arms.

"Why, are you jealous," Itachi asks, raising a suggestive brow.

The Haruno scoffs, her smirk widening. "Please, I can do so much better than you," she states, unaffected by his low-key flirting.

Itachi steps a bit closer, a mischievous look in his dark eyes. "Sure, but your imaginary boyfriends don't count," he quips.

The Haruno's stoic face morphs into shock as her mouth gapes, though that's before it changes into false anger. She playfully glares at the Uchiha, who smiling at her reaction. On the inside, Itachi's actually happy that he gets to see her away from her usually stoic nature. In the Akatsuki, she was all broody, stoic, and somewhat violent. Though, to see her like this, actually expressing her emotions, he's enjoying all of it.

"You are so dead," she laughs, raising her fists.

Itachi smiles at her. "Well, that's if can catch me," and without any hesitation, he quickly saunters off in the direction she was walking in.

Huffing, Tsuki glares at his retreating figure before mocking his voice. "Imagingary boyfriends don't count. You're just adding it to my secret pain, blah, blah, blah. Tch, idiot." She states, before smiling.

But a cute idiot, she thinks, her cheeks flushing instantly.

× × × × ×

THE NEXT DAY, Tsuki had gloating rights to actually catching up to the Uchiha before punching him in the right bicep. Though, she has a secret theory that he let her catch up to him. Whatever her theory is, it just causes Tsuki to think.

Why would Itachi let me catch him, what does he benefit from it, she asks herself.

However, whenever she had a time to question Itachi, she always remembers what she thought of him and that causes her to immediately blush. Then, like always, when she becomes too flustered, her confidence dwindles away, and the plans of questioning him usually ended up with her walking away.

Now, as she walks toward the table to get something to eat, Cerridwen rushes in and takes her by the arm, and leads her outside. All thoughts of eating some dango disappear to the back of her head as soon as Tsuki sees the outside scenery.

"W-what? Where are we going? And why couldn't you let me eat some breakfast first," she asks the goddess for some possible information.

"Trust me, you don't want to eat when you're about to train in the Dark Arts. If the scent of death makes you queasy, then you better prepare yourself to actually feeling death," Cerridwen explains with a usual laugh, not bothered by the conditions.

Tsuki's fuchsia eyes widen with alarm, feeling death, she thinks, incredulously.

"So far you have only seen the beautiful, and lively, side of my world. Well, today I'm going to introduce you to the dark side, it's basically my little piece of hell," the goddess informs, a twisted smirk on her face.

The Haruno just stumbles behind Cerridwen as the woman pulls her by the wrist, she contemplates every word she's saying. Dark side, piece of Hell, Tsuki questions in her head as she tries to picture what she's about to walk into.

Death doesn't disturb the Haruno, in fact she's gotten pretty used to it. Though, the scent and feeling of death, that's something entirely different. Tsuki never had the, I don't know, expirence of smelling anything dead. It's not like she spends her time sitting next to a corpse and waiting until they decompose. Then, there's feeling death, I mean, she's had her little brushes of death, where she felt like was going to die, though that was only momentarily. She never had that chilling effect as if Death was standing next to her.

However as she stumbles behind the goddess, Tsuki gapes at the contrast of scenery. It's like there's an invisible line separating both life and death. Though, before life touches that line, there's a few feet where the plants begin to wilt until they're on death's side, all dry and shriveled up, basically dead.

"Now, this is where you're going to practice the Dark Arts, where you'll draw from the dark essence called death, or Hell, whatever you prefer, it's the same thing. You know, all this energy absorption reminds me of Sage Mode, but don't confuse yourself, it's not the same. These little training exercises are basically preparing you for Goddess Mode," Cerridwen informs, letting go of Tsuki's wrist and turning towards her.

But before she can question the goddess, the older woman speaks up again.

"Talking about Goddess Mode, after this form of training is done, you will have mastered the Second Seal. Then, the crescent moon on your forehead will turn to a half moon. Next, if you manage to complete the next portion of your training, well beforehand you have to open the third seal, but if you complete the training, you'll receive a full moon. Then, lastly, you open the fourth and final seal, that's when you'll practice and perfect all the skills you have learned until then, once you have mastered them, you'll achieve Goddess Mode and gain the moon's aura as an armor. After that, that's when we'll have our showdown," the pale woman enlightens with new information.

Tsuki stands still with astonishment, the training seems to settle into her core, now that it feels real. The thought of gaining an armor that is given from the moon fills her with giddiness. The idea of achieving a title that's called Goddess Mode, makes her so much more determined to complete the training.

"Alright! Let's get this ship up and sailing, I want to complete this training now,"Tsuki exclaims, her movements becoming spastic with excitement.

Cerridwen laughs at her host's behavior. It's been a long time since she's seen Tsuki liberate real, genuine, happiness. The Akatsuki kept her in such a gripping hold, they were practically squeezing all the life out of her. Tsuki was dying a slow death in that organization.

"Very well. Then, let's get started," the goddess announces, gaining the teenager's attention. "As you preform any of the techniques that are related to the Dark Arts, you will draw energy from death, Hell, or what I call it, the Underworld. Just like the life energy, you'll feel an essence. However, this essence isn't going to be fluffy and warm like a blanket, no it will be chilling and it will feel as if a knife is cutting at your insides. On the plus side, the more you use it, that cutting sensation you'll feel will become numbing. "

Tsuki's excitement goes away at the mention of feeling pain. The thought of a metaphorical knife cutting at her insides makes her shiver. She doesn't need a metaphorical knife to feel pain, she already knows how excruciating it is to have her insides being cut at.

Noticing Tsuki's pale face, Cerridwen grimaces remembering what Madara did to her host. "Right. You already know how that feels, my bad. Look on the bright side, at least you have some expirence," the goddess says, only to cringe even more.

"Not helping," Tsuki deadpans. "But you are right, that pain will be nothing compared to what I actually went through. Let's continue," she remarks with a newfound determination.

All awkward tension leaves as the youngest sets herself for the new goal.

"Right. First thing, you need to enter your Second Seal state. With that, it'll be easier for you to draw from the dark essence for all the Dark Arts jutsu," Cerridwen states, informing the Kunoichi.

Without hesitation, Tsuki opens the seal, delving into the newfound chakra. The black vines appear on her fair skin, running and twisting down her limbs, marking it's presence.

"How is this easier," the Haruno girl questions.

"The seals are made with darkness, so as you release them, you're allowing that dark essence to enter your system. Your seals are basically a doorway to my dark chakra and the dark energies," the goddess professes.

Tsuki smirks, "so I'm a doorway now?"

The pale woman deadpans. "Shut up. Anyways, like the life, and light, energy you trained with earlier this week, you'll do the same with this. Meditate, focus, do whatever it is that allows to feel all of this. Feel the cold, chilling air. Smell the scent of dead leaves, grass, and trees. Listen to the sounds of silence, indicating that there's no life. Look around and see that there's nothing, but death. Notice the shadows lingering, focus on that. Focus on the darkness," Cerridwen instructs her, pointing out all the factors.

Her fuchsia eyes settle on the shadows that creep on the ground, it's as if the darkness is inching towards her. Her mind is drawn into the pitch blackness that is an abyss. She's reminded of every negative feeling. She feels loneliness, hate, the sinister feeling of killer intent, everything that causes a negative reaction, that's what she's feeling.

The trigger of emotions is almost like a key to the dark essence, and just immediately, Tsuki senses the icy feeling touch at her body. Though, it takes one second until her body is feeling that knife like sensation cutting at her insides.

Releasing a straggled gasp, Tsuki clenches her jaw in pain. Cerridween is quick to notice her change in posture and she doesn't hesitate to dive into the lesson.

"Once you're feeling what you're feeling, use your instincts of survival to fight through the pain. Use that determination. Use the anger that you use to fight for your life. That thrive, that force of will, push that feeling through your body. Because with Dark Arts you're using every negative emotion," The goddess explains to the suffering girl.

"How are my emotions any help," the Haruno yells, frustratingly.

"Yes! That rage you're using to yell at me, use that! Rage, anger, those are specific keys to any fire related jutsu! The amount of any emotion will result to the capacity of destruction your jutsu will cause. Example, if you're feeling loads of wrath, you can practically use that to burn down the world, neat huh? Well, you know how there's a balance to things? Then, you know how life energy is drawn from positivity, right? Then, that means that the Dark Arts is drawn from negativity, correct? But you might ask, the light side and the dark side of what? Well, here's the answer, the moon. We're using the moon, as always, seeing as I'm the goddess of that too! And originally, the moon is something that affects the soul, your emotions. That's why your anger and every dark emotion is key," Cerridwen states in a single breath.

"What do you feel when you use Dead Man's Grip?" Cerridwen continues.

Tsuki huffs, her body still feeling every inch of pain as the dark essence absorbs into her skin. "I feel arrogance, pride, whatever," she professes.

"How about when you used Devil's Touch against Danzo," the goddess questions.

"Unbelievable amount of hate!" Tsuki yells, still enduring the knife like sensation.

"Hell's Chains?"

"I felt anger."

"Demons of Hellfire?"

"The urge to kill," Tsuki answers.

"Exactly! Every Dark Arts jutsu you preform, you always feel something negative! You draw that emotion, and every time it gives you great results," the moon lady informs with a crazed smile.

"If my results were great, then why am I doing this," the pink haired Kunoichi asks, referring to the painful state she's in.

"I said they were great, not perfect," Cerridwen deadpans. "With the dark energy, you're jutsu results will be so completely accurate, not to mention deadly!"

"I'm starting to question your mentality," Tsuki states, gritting her teeth.

"Who cares about my mentality! Now, use the pain you're feeling, then urge the feeling of rage and express it into the jutsu. I suggest Devil's Touch because with the dark essence and your emotions combined, it will be scorching," Cerridwen yells, totally crazed. "Now, burn this motherfucking deadland to the ground!"

As Cerridwen suggested, Tsuki wills the pain throughout her body and urges the feeling of rage. To help her, she thinks of every memory that ever upset her. The memory of Danzo, the reminder of Madara, the feeling of betrayal that was caused by Sasuke, her comrades, her parents, the unfairness of all her life, the constant comparison between her and Sakura while growing up, and especially the insecurity of not being good enough. Each and every factor causes a rise of absolute rage.

"Dark Arts: Devil's Touch!" Tsuki yells, releasing every once of emotion.

Though, the original jutsu just burns anyone at the simplest of touches, melting the opponent down to their bones. However, with the colossal amount of rage, the heat of a touch is amplified to a enormous heatwave which disintegrates everything in its path. The scorching heat that is oozing from Tsuki's body is practically compared to the sun's heat as the deadland around them falls to ashes. Trees wither to a hot pile of ash, leaves and grass disintegrate to nothing, and the brown dirt is scorched to black sooth.

With the finished action of the jutsu, all the dark energy from Tsuki's body disappears which leaves behind a sensation of emptiness. Altogether, Tsuki huffs in exhaustion.

"Hot damn! You, Tsuki Haruno, are on fire," Cerridwen laughs before spinning, admiring the new scenery that screams hell.

"You did perfect," the goddess compliments her with a smile.

______________________________________________________________________________________________

WELL, THAT'S CHAPTER 35! It's a loooong 7,009 words, I hope you enjoyed it all!

So what did you think?

Did you like the training?

How about the concepts of Life Energy and Dark Energy? I tried to explain it as well as I can, I hope you didn't get confused.

Did you like the Healing Arts jutsus(Life Remedium, Life Ultimatum, and Touch of Life)?

Do you like how the energies derive from the moon's sides which are basically her positive and negative emotions?

Most importantly, did you enjoy the little Itachi and Tsuki (Itsuki) fluff moments? (I know I did, especially the eye contact part where they're describing each other's eyes)!

Anyways, don't forget to

COMMENT

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FAN!!!

JA NE, MY BEAUTIFUL AND INCREDIBLY AWESOME READERS!

LOVE YOU ALL~!

?¿ QUESTION: WHAT BOOK SHOULD I UPDATE NEXT?¿

IT MUST BE 'I'M IN NARUTO?! IT'S A JOKE, RIGHT?' (URSA)

'RED MADNESS' (HITOMI)

OR 'DISCARDED AFFECTION' (RIKO)

BYE!