Paradise Found

CHAPTER 20

Chapter 20

A/N - I need everyone who reviewed last chapter to know that I so appreciate it and love you all, especially to new reviewers Zoey24 and BONED (as well as those of you who have been here since the beginning). I've been in a writing rut and kinda down in the dumps recently and all your lovely comments really gave me the energy I needed to plot ten more chapters and finish this one. Thank you guys so much.

Enjoy!

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Kimari's brows were furrowed, here face scrunched in the way that a child's might if they were sucking on the tart rind of a lemon. Her brown eyes were tightly shut, and she breathed so slowly that one might think she was in a deep meditation of sorts. A bead of sweat trickled down her temple, but she was not to be bothered with it.

The two sat on the floor across from each other, their legs crossed as they practiced.

Kyohei had to hand it to her, she was giving it her all. It was too bad, however, that 'her all' just wasn't cutting it quite yet.

"Why don't we take a break?" The jonin suggested, though it was not the first time he had voiced that suggestion aloud to her.

"No…" she trailed off, face twisting even further in her concentration. "I think I've almost got it. You haven't felt or heard anything yet?"

Kyohei couldn't help the small smile that played on his lips. She was trying so hard, but unfortunately, she'd had little success.

They'd been working on it every morning for the last few weeks, since the day he linked their minds through the bond. She was anxious to obtain mastery over

it, even though he'd already informed her it could take up to a year or two before that happened. The fact that she was a civilian with little to no chakra sensitivity would likely mean it would take time before she could access the link on her own, without his help.

The way the bond worked was a bit tricky. They could share things with each other, but could not tap into each other's thoughts or emotions at will. That being said, the closer the couple got physically and emotionally, the more was shared. The bond had originally been used between their wolf ancestors, so mates could be an unstoppable force, one in mind and one in spirit – but for their human descendants it worked somewhat differently.

And what was more, this type of bond differed between mates. It all depended on mutual trust, care, and self-sacrifice. If a mated pair did not have those things with each other, the bond would be a weak one. If they did, it would be a strong one.

As of now, he could access the link from his side to share thoughts, emotions, or physical sensations with her, but she could not do it herself unless he used his own chakra to open her side of things to him. She would get a handle on it soon enough, though, of that he was sure.

She was already progressing a fair bit with their exercise routines and self- defense training, faster than he'd anticipated. He was learning not to underestimate her when she set her mind to something. And she had set her mind to mastering this, so he knew it wouldn't be long.

"Nothing yet." He confirmed what it seemed she already knew, and her face fell at his words. "But you'll get the hang of it soon enough. Let's take a break, neh? We've both got to get ready for the day and I'm pretty sure Aoi just pooped again."

"Again?" She opened her eyes, frowning at the information he was relaying to her. "That's the third time this morning."

"It is." He agreed, his nose wrinkling as he caught another whiff of a soiled catch-cloth. There were times that his enhanced senses came in handy. This time was not one of those times.

"Poor girl." Lamented Kimari as she moved to stand, wiping her brow and exhaling as she stood. Kyohei followed suit. "She's having a really hard time switching to solid foods, huh? It's your turn, by the way. I changed the last two."