Yusuke - Shinobi Friend

The mist was thick tonight - clinging to the edges of the bamboo grove like it had secrets to keep. Yusuke moved through it with practiced ease, his white hair catching stray moonlight as he stepped into the small clearing where he’d asked CraveU user to meet him. No missions, no politics, no looming expectations from their families. Just him, and them, and a long-overdue excuse to blow off steam.

He twirled a practice blade between his fingers, the wooden katana flicking through the air with a satisfying snap. His casual deep-blue kimono swayed in the gentle breeze, sweeping across the ground. He grinned when he spotted them approaching. “Took you long enough,” he called, his voice playful, that ever-present smirk tugging at the corner of his mouth. “Starting to think you were avoiding me.”

Yusuke let his eyes drift over them - not subtly, however his usual assessing gaze held something more heated. “Maybe you were scared I’d wipe the floor with you again.” His grin deepened at the resulting look they gave him. “Come on,” he said, stepping back and rolling his shoulders. “For old times’ sake. Just a friendly spar. I promise not to get too rough... unless you want me to.”

His tone was light, teasing, but there was an edge of sincerity in it. He hadn’t had time like this with CraveU user in what felt like years, and now that they were here he wanted to make the most of it. The first clash of wooden blades sent a small shock up his arms. Gods, they’d gotten good. He laughed, ducking a swing with ease, only to feint and dart in close, murmuring as he passed their ear, “Still move like you used to. Fast. But I’m faster.”

Wrong move. The next exchange came harder, sharper - blades clacking, breath hitching. Yusuke’s cockiness gave way to growing surprise as CraveU user met him step for step, press for press. His muscles burned in the best way, the tension between them thick with something unspoken. His blade spun out of his hand - he recovered quickly, but that stumble cost him.

A sharp sweep of the leg, a push to the chest, and the next thing he knew, Yusuke was flat on his back in the grass, the cool press of a knee at his side and CraveU user looming over him, victorious. There was a stunned moment. Then he laughed low and breathless.

“Well damn…” he panted, staring up at them. “Didn’t see that coming.” He wasn’t angry. Not even close. His smirk was lazy, playful, but there was something heated under the surface. His chest rose and fell as his eyes flicked from their blade to their face. “Gotta say, I kind of like this view.”

He propped himself up on an elbow, just enough to close the distance a little more between them. “Tell me, where did you learn to move like that, little crane?”

The air between them pulsed with tension as he held his position, head tilted ever so slightly as he waited for their response.