Okay all, here's the next chapter of Pets of The Underground. I hope you all like it and thanks to everyone who read and reviewed, and to everyone who added me to their faves and alerts. I really appreciate it.

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Pets of The Underground.

Chapter Fifteen – Defence Lessons.

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"I've found you the perfect tutor." Kakashi told the trio a week later. Sasuke, Sakura and Naruto all stared at Kakashi in surprise.

"That quickly? Is our tutor someone my parents will approve of?" Sasuke asked, not really caring if he was or not.

"It's your brother's tutor actually." Kakashi replied.

"The same guy who trained Itachi?" Sasuke asked.

"The same instructor, yes." Kakashi replied.

"So when are we meeting our tutor?" Sakura asked.

"Your Sensei, and you'll be meeting your Sensei on Saturday. This will be every Saturday for however long is deemed necessary." Kakashi answered. The trio felt a little miffed that they wouldn't get Saturdays to themselves, but compared to learning how to defend themselves that was a minor complaint.

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Naruto, Sakura and Sasuke were taken to an old looking building. Kakashi led them inside and into the old lift. It was the kind of lift that you might use on a building site. You had to pull the top half of the door down, and the bottom half rose up to meet it. Once the door was closed, Kakashi pressed the button for floor fifteen. The lift was rickety and the trio were more than a little nervous.

"Did the police find out anything after last week?" Sasuke asked Kakashi by way of conversation.

"No. The cameras have been out around the gates of Finsbury Park for a long time and there aren't any inside. There are plenty of dummy cameras around for show, but that's about it. Why do you think Orochimaru picked Finsbury Park for his little operation?" Kakashi replied. Sasuke nodded his understanding.

"What about Orochimaru? Do you know anything about what happened to him after?" Naruto asked.

"No. He and Kabuto have gone underground. It'll take us a while to find them, so unless they decide to resurface, Itachi's main concern is keeping you all watched. He has lookouts watching you three to make sure Orochimaru's little henchmen don't come out of the woodworks." Kakashi replied.

"We're the bait basically." Sakura said. She wasn't happy about that scenario.

"Not quite, but Orochimaru now knows that if he wants to get to the Uchiha's he only has to get to one of them. Sasuke is an easy target for Orochimaru. You and Naruto are even easier targets. Naruto was the victim of a botched assassination and you, Sakura, are still a target because Orochimaru believes that you are owed to him. Itachi, Obito and I are not taking the risk that he will come after you while we're out searching for him elsewhere." Kakashi told his daughter sincerely. When they reached their floor, Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura were surprised to find that they were in an empty loft apartment. The whole place was open plan and bare but for some mats that had been laid out on the floor. They looked like old fashioned tatami mats, but none of the trio could be sure.

"So how do you know this guy Uncle Kakashi?" Naruto asked.

"She was in my martial arts classes with Rin and Obito. She's a good friend but she can remain objective while teaching you, which is why I'm not giving you the lessons." Kakashi replied.

"She?" Naruto asked.

"That's right kids." The trio turned and stared wide eyed at Rika McLaughlin, who seemed to have appeared from nowhere.

"No way!" Sasuke yelled.

"Hey if you think I'm a tough English teacher you should see what I'm like as a Sensei. Just ask your brother." Rika stated grinning.

"Wait you're one of ours?" Sasuke asked.

"I'm not one of anyone's Sasuke Uchiha. I'm my own person. The fact I know Kakashi here, and Rin and Obito, means that I'll be kind enough to give you lessons. That does not make me Uchiha family property. I'll still be teaching with the same attitude. You work hard and you earn your stripes with me kid. Your family name has nothing to do with it." Rika stated.

"Thank you for this Rika. I don't think I could objectively teach them. That's why I asked you." Kakashi replied.

"Well you can return the favour and teach my demon offspring if you like." Rika stated. Kakashi smirked.

"Of course Rika, if you ever want me to, I'll be happy to teach your... darling children. You never did explain how you ended up an English teacher in the first place." Kakashi stated. Rika glared.

"Did I ask you how you ended up working for the Uchiha family? No I did not. So I will thank you kindly not to question me on my choice of profession." Rika quipped. Kakashi smirked and looked at the trio.

"Well you three have fun." Kakashi stated as he turned to leave. "Remember to call me to pick you up. I don't want Orochimaru catching you on the streets." Kakashi called back over his shoulder. The trio then looked at Rika, who was glaring.

"Fucking Orochimaru has been messing around for too long in my area." Rika hissed angrily. Then she looked at the trio. "So how did you three get into trouble with Orochimaru?" Rika asked. The trio looked at each other and then at Rika.

"Do we still call you Miss McLaughlin or do we call you Sensei here?" Sakura asked.
"That doesn't answer my question, but here I'm your Sensei. In class I'm Miss McLaughlin. I hope you can remember that, because in all technicalities I'm not supposed to be teaching you three Martial Arts. I'm not licensed and my methods are harsh. If anyone finds out I'm training you, I could lose my job. Are you three really sure you can handle training with me?" Rika asked them gently. Sakura thought about it for a moment before nodding.

"We need to learn how to defend ourselves. If someone had trained me when I was younger I would've been able to defend myself when my stepfather tried to sell me to Orochimaru. I know my Dad told you what happened Sensei. So you asking us, is a little pointless, right?" Sakura replied. Rika grinned.

"Sakura has got it right. I wouldn't take on any students unless I knew the reason I was taking them on. A part of your training with me, is going to be that you're going to have to spot when I'm lying and when I'm telling the truth. I will expect you to practise this skill with each other. I want you to be able to defend yourself with words, not just actions. It may sound terrible for me to say, but you need to learn how to talk your way out of a situation too. I'm not saying that you need to lie. But there may be a time when you have to lie, and lie convincingly. When I worked in the army, I was once captured on a mission beyond enemy lines, and I was asked if I had any back up. Because I trained in the art of hiding my emotions, I was able to successfully lie and say I was the only one. Had I not been able to lie convincingly, if they had had any doubts about what I was saying, I would have been tortured for information before my unit could find me." Rika said.

"You were in the army?" Naruto asked. Rika levelled a look on him and he smiled sheepishly. "You were in the army Sensei?" Naruto repeated.

"That's better. Yes I was in the army for... four years. I joined to pay off my university fees." Rika said.

"How old are you... Sensei?" Sasuke asked.

"I'm thirty-nine, the same age as Obito and Kakashi. I don't know if you know Rin." Rika replied.

"We all know Rin, Sensei, but... well... we thought you were a student teacher..." Sakura trailed off.

"We thought you were much younger Sensei." Sasuke finished. Sakura and Naruto both nodded. Rika grinned.

"We all look young in my family, but thanks. My children will be laughing like crazy when I tell them about this." Rika stated.

"Yeah you mentioned you have children. Is McLaughlin your married name?" Sasuke asked.

"My, my, we are doing a lot of question asking today. But yes, McLaughlin is my married name. Kids have always called me Miss McLaughlin and I don't correct them. That's another lesson you three may wish to learn. The power of assumption can be very strong. You look at someone and make a quick judgement, and sometimes, your judgement is right. But there are times when your brief glance at someone could be very wrong. When you look at an opponent for example, many people will look to see if they're muscled or thin, but that's not always the way to judge someone's fighting ability." Rika told them. After that, Rika allowed them to ask her questions, as they went through training drills that Rika had learned in her martial arts classes and in the army. She took them through their paces and only allowed them to stop when she deemed them tired. The first one to stop was Naruto, then Sakura, Sasuke was the last one Rika allowed to stop. "I'm testing your endurance. You're all at a certain standard and you need to be able to push yourselves further. With Naruto I understand it, due to his recent injuries. However we'll be building the three of you up. It's not easy and it takes time, don't expect to be black belts straight away." Rika told them. The trio nodded as the wearily gulped down water from the bottles they had. After four hours of Rika pushing them to their limits she told them that was it for the day. After Sakura called Kakashi the trio were sat waiting for him as Rika went round checking the place.

"Is this where you live Sensei?" Sakura asked.

"No. Although this is my apartment. I used to live here before I got married. My children come here to train. I'll have to get your father to come and supervise them sometimes." Rika said.

"So that day when you threatened to call my father, that day my stepfather tried to take me from the school?" Sakura asked.

"I know your father, just like I know Sasuke's cousin Obito. He'd already spoken to me before you were enrolled at the school Sakura. He asked me to keep an eye out for you just as he asked me to keep an out for Naruto when he started, and for Yugito and Kyubi too. I've been teaching for a good while. It's the one thing I wanted to do. It doesn't mean preferential treatment to students whose parents I happen to know, as you all should know. I've never been one for preferential treatment." Rika said.

"What about your own children? Do you train them?" Sakura asked.

"Actually my Uncle used to train them, however he's unwell now. He's very old. So I'll be glad to get your father to train them. I don't like to give preferential treatment to anyone. That's why my children go to a different school to the one I teach at. It wouldn't be fair for me to teach my own children at school." Rika said.

"More like everyone would play up to it and try to say you were playing favourites even if you weren't." Sasuke quipped. Rika grinned.

"You're right Sasuke. There are students who would do that to either try and get a better grade or to cause me trouble because they see me as a harsh teacher. I know that you kids call me 'The Devil' behind my back. But I'll wager you've learned more in my class then you have in others, or even in the school you were at before." Rika said. The trio thought about it for a moment before realising that Rika was right. She was a harsh teacher, but because she was harsh they paid more attention and they worked harder. "Now, I'm just as harsh a Sensei as an English teacher, and until Saturday, I want you to run through a regime of exercises every day. Of course Naruto I'm going to be easier on you for now. With your injury I don't want you to do more harm than good to yourself by going too far with the exercise regimes I prescribe. However, the more you can take, the more I'll give you. As you carry on you'll get better and my regimes will seem easier. Well at least that's the plan." Rika stated. Then she went through a list of exercises and drills for them to practise until the sound of the lift coming up interrupted them. "I'll e-mail the regimes to you if you write down your addresses. Make sure to follow them strictly unless you're on the verge of death." Rika told them. The trio nodded as the lift opened and Kakashi stood there waiting for them. As they left the building and got into Kakashi's car the trio all felt as though they were on the verge of something great.

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Okay all, so that's the end of this chapter. I know it's a bit lengthy and I'm giving a slightly larger role to my OC, but don't worry too much about her taking over, because I can promise you that she won't be taking over the story. Anywho, please R&R and let me know what you think and feel free to ask any questions you like. I will do my best to answer. Thanks for reading and I will hopefully be able to update soon.