"Yosh! Thank you for doing me this flavor, Kurenai! I am sure that little Julia will be absolutely thrilled to learn from someone as talented as yourself."

"Don't mention it Gai, what are friends for? Besides, I'm a bit curious about this apprentice of yours. I can't even imagine what child would be able to keep up with your rather... Intense lifestyle."

Honestly, she didn't believe it when she heard that Gai of all people managed to get an apprentice. Don't get the wrong idea, he was a great shinobi and an even greater man, however, his methods and principle have always been "To the max!" and "Extreme! 1001% All day Everyday!" She was surprised she didn't hear about any poor unfortunate child being hospitalized in the ICU within the first few days.

To hear that the girl has been keeping pace with her rather exuberant friend for almost an entire year? That was impressive in its own right. So, yes, she was oh so very curious indeed.

After arriving at training ground 12 she could vaguely make out something moving on top of the hill. Up and down it slowly bobbed. Her red orbs widened as the pair walked closer because she could finally make out what she saw. It was a large boulder the size of a rhino, and judging by the grunts she could hear Gai's pupil was underneath using it for weight training.

"-78...-81... 285.."

Her jaw slackened as she could finally make out what was being muttered. As soon as the count reached 300, the boulder rolled to the side and revealed a young girl who's head would only reach Kurenai's collarbone. The ground shook as the 3 ton stone boulder slammed against the ground. The little girl's short black hair was matted to her face with copious amounts of sweat and her tiny chest heaved rapidly in desperation for air.

After only a few moments sapphire met ruby as their eyes locked. It was silent as one was far too busy greedily gulping oxygen and the other far too stunned at the display of inhuman might to formulate a proper thought. Gai seemed to have no such issues, however.

"Yosh! That was a most wonderful display of Youth, my young grasshopper, but this is no time to be lying around! Kurenai, this is my student Julia Rose,"

He waved his hands to indicate who he was referring to, although he was unneeded. Not only because they were the only people there, but because Julia instantly recognized her by appearance. She was currently only a teenager, 15-16 at most, however, Julia could already see the beautiful woman she would become with her pitch-black messy hair, enchanting crimson eyes, supple lips, and budding figure. She only felt mildly ashamed that she was tuning out Gai and having slight fantasies of the woman in front of her.

Asuma was a lucky bastard even if he didn't know it yet.

"Julia, this is my friend Kurenai Yuhi that I mentioned last time. She is an incredibly talented Genjutsu specialist and was kind enough to agree with my request and take time out of her day to tutor you."

"Hello, as Gai said, my name is Kurenai. It is very nice to meet such a hardworking girl, I look forward to teaching you all I can. Unfortunately, unlike Gai, I'm still only a Chunin. This means I'm still part of a team and don't have as much free time. I'll only be able to teach you on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday. I'll pick you up from Willow's Orphanage at 3, however, if I am not thereby 3:30 you can assume that there will be no class. I will try my best to inform you ahead of time if something pops up. Does that sound acceptable?"

Kurenai probably also thought she was stupid because midway she started speaking particularly slowly. Julia was too busy blatantly staring at her to reply, still lost in her daydream. Thankfully she managed to catch the glist of it and nobody noticed her face redding since she already looked like a tomato from the workout.

"Ah, er, sounds good- Great! I mean that sounds great. Oh, but I don't technically live in the Orphanage anymore. I mean that's my official residence, but I practically sleepover at Itachi's, I mean the Uchiha clan district now."

Brilliant, bloody brilliant, great first impression, Julia, really smooth, lady killer.

Of course, she was physically six so there was no way in hell she'd have managed to start anything with the other girl anyways, but that still hurt her pride a bit. She wasn't the type to sleep around or one night stands, but Julia used to have girls hanging off her arms damnit!

Yup, her self esteem just took a massive hit unbeknownst to either of her two teachers.

While a certain little girl was busy berating herself, Kurenai could barely suppress her shock from showing. This girl was friends with Itachi? She wasn't one for gossip, but even she has heard about how much of a genius that kid was and he was still in the academy for crying out loud. They were even close enough for the girl to have sleepovers at the clan that's known for having antisocial and arrogant pricks?

Frankly, that was way more mind-boggling than watching a six-year-old casually life 3 tons.

To be able to break through that clan's infamous no outsider policy, this little girl of Gai was more unique than Kurenai had thought. The only thing left to find out was if she had any lick of talent for Genjutsu, and whether the Chunin herself had any for teaching.

After some words of encouragement, Gai had left in a hurry. He had a mission on the boarders it seems. Although the third shinobi war had recently ended, the Kyuubi attack had greatly weakened Konoha and tensions were still high, especially with Kumo and Iwa.

She already knew that in another 4 years Kumo would pull some shit and attempt to kidnap Hinata. Hopefully, something could be done about that and Neji wouldn't lose his dad, and with any luck, Hinata wouldn't be as timid and could become stronger and faster. Julia planned on doing her damnest to help the poor girl and have her become a major player in the events to come. Hamura had better be ready to hand over his Chakra because Julia was not going to be cleaning up after his and Hagomoro's shit while they sat back.

"As you may already know, Genjutsu is the art of illusions. It was all about subtly and control, misdirections and trickery. While it may not be as satisfying as say, punching someone in the face like Taijutsu, or flashy and "cool" looking as Ninjutsu, however, it was still an incredibly useful and deadly art in the right hands."

Suddenly a whiteboard appeared behind her new teacher's back, while the rest of the world seemed to fade to black.

"It does not actually change the world around us, but how we perceive it. What use is a powerful fighter without his sight? How well will their control over the elements maintain while the feeling of a thousand ants crawling beneath their skin be?"

Two new figures appeared as a demonstration as soon as she said that. One a large and armored samurai swinging blinding in panic, his eyes wide but unseeing. Eventually, in his rashness, the man fell into a nearby stream. It wasn't particularly deep nor were the currents very strong, even a child would be able to play in the area safely if they could swim, yet the man sunk beneath the depths, his heavy armor dragging him down until his struggles eventually stopped after a couple of agonizing minutes. He never knew that it was only a bit taller than he was, nor that the shore and salvation were merely a few feet away.

Another one showed a kunoichi, her headband showing the symbol of Kumo, and she was an incredibly beautiful woman. Her skin was smooth and lightly tanned, her hair a platinum blonde tied in dreads, and her figure was almost spilling out of her flak jacket. Confident, sexy, and self-assured, her emerald eyes stared straight ahead with a look as if welcoming any obstacle to even dare attempt to stand in her way.

It didn't last very long.

Before she knew it the woman suddenly started screaming her head off, scratching at her skin with long manicured nails. The blue polish soon got dyed in bloody crimson as her skin tore, but still the woman didn't stop, if anything her scratching only got all the more intense. Tearing her own clothes off and rolling on the floor, she was simultaneously screaming and sobbing, begging for it to stop. Bloody clumps of hair were tugged off her scalp as she slammed into any and every surface she could in an attempt to stop the all-consuming itch. It was all in vail.

Eventually, the madwoman reached for her own throat, tearing at it to escape her misery.

Welp, I know what I'm going to be having nightmares about for the next 3 months... Or years.

"Of course, causing direct harm isn't the only method. Remember this one thing above all, even if you are to learn nothing else from me. In order to truly master Genjutsu to any meaningful extent, you must use your mind and be creative. There is no true "correct" method of using Genjutsu. In Taijutsu you have stances and forms, in Ninjutsu it either works or it doesn't, but in Genjutsu you have full control and must exert and take advantage of every bit you can get."

Suddenly more figures appeared and Julia was almost tempted to close her eyes or look away from it, but she knew that it was far too late for that. She had signed up for this life when she decided to be a ninja and it was better to get used too it.

The scene was now a large bustling city and Kurenai and Julia were floating above it all. However one thing was odd, every building and person was colored in a slight green tint. The walls suddenly became slightly translucent and she could now see through the buildings. The first thing she noticed was someone glowing yellowing within a castle in the city's center, and on the outskirt of the city was a figure with an ominous crimson light.

The man went about his day as a vendor selling steamed meat buns. There was a sun and moon in this illusionary world, but soon everything seemed as if a movie someone had pressed fast forward on. Day and night circles shifted rapidly and she could see the same crimson man spending every day wandering around the castle.

He was gathering information she realized.

One day he killed a guard without a family and took his place. Was it weeks or months that passed, she couldn't tell any longer, but she watched as the crimson man hang out with his friends, laugh, and impersonated the dead guard completely. Soon he managed to even get closer to the golden lord's son, wiggling his way into both of their hearts, until the lord too was assassinated.

The child never even knew that his loving father was buried in the backyard of the same garden he loved so much while an imposter took his place. The now Crimson lord started harassing a neighboring country, and soon the two entered into a long war. The reason behind it all? A false blood feud where the crimson lord planned the murder of the child and pinned the blame on the other side.

Suddenly the world seemed to shatter before light returned and Julia found herself where she once was, the grassy hill. She didn't even notice she was shaking until her knees knocked into each other and sent her flat on her ass, something that even a charging elephant wouldn't necessarily manage to do. Her breath came quick, short, and hollow bursts.

Although she knew she was hyperventilating she couldn't stop.

She could taste the sharp and bitter tang of bile rising up from the back of her throat but thankfully avoided puking, if only just barely. Tears started forming in her eyes and the world turned blurry, she was so distressed that she didn't even notice Kurenai's hand on her shoulder.

Said Chunin was mentally kicking herself.

It was obvious that she had fucked up, and big time. This was far too much far too early. She had forgotten that the war was over and she was still dealing with a child. The girl didn't look nor act like any child she had seen before, she was as tall as Kurenai was two years ago and held herself like an adult, and so the red-eyed girl had treated her as such. She was careless and held too much expectation for the Wonder girl that Gai always boasted about, only further reinforced by the scene she had walked in on.

Kurenai's inexperience bit them both.

Matters of the mind and body were far too different to compare, and she of all people should know how complicated and sometimes fragile the human psyche was. Ninjas generally don't pray, after all, it was pretty much a certainty they were all going to hell anyway, but for once Kurenai hoped and prayed that the girl would be alright and forgive her as Julia blacked out in the training grounds.