One week after completing the bell test, Kakashi called his students to meet on top of the Hokage monument for their next training session. He'd given them the intervening time to spend with each other and get to know their strengths and weaknesses better; whether they recognized that and took advantage of it would say much of how serious they were about being a team.
Sakura arrived first, still wearing the red and white cheongsam and black pants that was her trademark outfit; only minor changes had been made to her appearance, the girl's normally loose hair woven into a pair of tight braids that hung down her back. A sensible decision, that, not as sensible as cutting it entirely yet still workable for a kunoichi. He noted that as she settled into a passive stance next to him that the girl was wearing extra equipment pouches and had a scroll container as well.
Hinata was next, arriving in a leisurely manner that belied the attentiveness she was paying to her surroundings. Independent of the de facto team leader she had conspired with Sakura and come to the decision that they both needed to improve their awareness, both with and without the use of bloodline techniques. Having an opportunity to recognize threats before they became threats and also memorize the appearance of a target in case pursuit became necessary had been touched on in the academy, but never explored in depth; even so they chose to exercise and improve their observation skills. Sakura had 'shared' this idea with Naruto (read: she hit him on the head until he agreed to it), and at the same time wasn't too sure that he'd be able to get the hang of it.
After all, he was the loud hit it until it stopped moving type. And also the last to arrive, wearing considerably different clothing than they'd last seen him in. Gone was the orange jumpsuit with the blue trim; in its place was a black jacket with orange paneling on the neck and shoulders, and loose black trousers. As the jacket was open they could see a woven mesh shirt underneath, the sort that looked like fishnet until you got closer and saw it was actually made of very finely-woven fibers meant to deflect slashing weapons.
"Naruto, who told you to change your gear?" Kakashi queried immediately. The blond just grinned and brushed his fingers over the red spiral icon that decorated many Konoha uniforms, before meeting his teacher's gaze.
"I got lucky in cards the other day. And dice. And a couple of other games…anyway I thought that if I'm a professional ninja now, I should dress like it, right? Besides, being on a team with two lovely ladies means I shouldn't keep wearing the same shabby old clothes." He hadn't gotten rid of the jumpsuit of course, but it was going to enjoy an extended vacation in his closet.
"Naruto, when I said be more observant I didn't mean to cheat at gambling!" Sakura's palm hit her forehead, grinding in slightly just to drive home the headache he was giving her. Naruto just stuck his tongue out at her and grinned up at Kakashi.
"It's not my fault if my eyes are faster than theirs. Anyway, what's this new training you've got for us?"
"First things first," Kakashi said. "After watching your performances during the test I've decided to shift the training schedule around a bit. Normally I wouldn't start introducing elemental affinities or put you on survival training for at least a year, but as it so happens the chuunin exams are going to be held this year, in seven months to be precise. I don't want you to get the wrong impression that I want you to compete, but I do want you to be prepared so when it is time to choose whether you wish to take the exam or not."
Kakashi knelt down on the ground, using a stick to draw the four base elements into the ground that comprised the Second Hokage's head, joined by a circle and including the 'branch' elements. "Earth, Fire, Wind and Water. The four elements that comprise all matter. Earth and Water become Wood. Earth and Fire becomes Metal. Water and Wind becomes Ice, while Wind and Fire becomes Lightning. Are you with me so far?" When there were no dissenting voices, the Copy Ninja continued, drawing lines between the elements within the circle.
"There are very few ninja in the world who can use the opposing element to their affinity. Earth for example is almost impossible for a Wind type ninja to use. Same with Fire for Water. Think of it in terms of slopes. Using the element you have an affinity for is like walking up a shallow incline; attempting one of the perpendicular elements a steep hill, and trying the opposing element like trying to scale a cliff." Normally Kakashi would not be so eager to explain things to his students, though this time he was making an exception. From here on out, though, they'd have to learn from each other or not at all.
"While you may think that because you have an affinity for one element you can use both the base elements and branch elements attached to it, this assumption is wrong. Few people can use compound elements outside of those who possess a bloodline for it, or who have the reserves necessary to shape both at the same time. I don't expect genin like yourselves to be capable of compound elements; all the same I wanted to test you one more time so you have the path available to you if you want to follow it.
"Sakura, let's start with you." Rising again Kakashi opened a vest pocket, and drew out four strips of specialized paper. Each one was infused with elementally-shaped chakra, and would change color according to the person's affinity when they pushed their own chakra into the paper. Once she had this explanation it didn't take her long. Gripping the papers lightly she fed them with energy, watching as one of them turned completely blue, two of them turned partially brown and green, and the last struggled to show through some red.
"Well, I expected that much. Hinata, you're up." The Hyuuga girl took the papers from her teammate and focused on them; she already knew her elemental affinity of Earth but was demonstrating it for her teammates' sake. Having Earth element was rare for a Hyuuga as the clan trended towards Water or Wind affinity. After that brief demonstration she passed the papers off to Naruto without waiting for Kakashi to say so, blushing as her fingers brushed against her crush's. With the papers in hand, Naruto studied them intently for a minute, as if trying to figure out the elemental chakra inside them, rather than just make it react to his own.
Just when Sakura was about to get exasperated he fed his energy into them, making all four surge with color momentarily. Kakashi nearly lost his footing in shock, then, as the colors receded and only the Wind paper remained fully changed, he relaxed visibly. Of course there was no way for him to have a total elemental affinity. That was simply impossible. It was likely a case of the papers being charged with too much energy at once and nothing more. Grinning sheepishly Naruto handed the papers back, and Kakashi stuffed them back into his pocket, looking at the three of them with a critical eye.
"Now that we've gone over elements and affinities, it's time to move on. Sakura, Hinata, I've already gotten consent from your families, and all I need from you is your personal approval. I know you're not going to say no to any instruction I offer you, Naruto, and this suggestion comes straight from the Hokage, so don't go feeling like you're being left out." As Kakashi talked Hinata noted that this wasn't the first time that he'd gone out of his way to make sure Naruto knew he was being included as part of the group. It wasn't hard to figure out why, but that was between the two of them and not her business to pry into, like so many other things.
"If you three agree to this, we'll head immediately for the eastern sea that lies between the Land of Fire and the Land of Water. There is a small island in the middle of the ocean that's uninhabited; once there you three will spend a month alone. No provisions, no tools, no human contact except for each other. You'll each be supplied with a flare gun so if at any point you feel like you can't go on, simply fire it into the air and you'll come back to Konoha for basic training and D-Rank missions. If you do quit halfway through, however, I may consider you unfit to be ninja, and at the very least bar you and therefore the whole team from taking the exams."
Naruto gulped, looking uncertain, which was shared by his teammates as they looked from each other, to their teacher, and to the blond with the wild hair. As their gaze met his, however, he let his expression become like stone, forcing resolve into his eyes and a grin to his face. Startled and encouraged by his resolve, Hinata was the first to pick up the smile, followed by Sakura, though she still felt somewhat shaky on the issue. If her team wanted to try it out, though, she'd be with them one hundred percent. That's what the whole point of Kakashi's bell test was, right? This was just one more exercise meant to weave them even tighter.
"Okay, I'll do it," she said finally. "I think I get why you're doing this, Kakashi-sensei. If we have to work together to survive, it'll make us a better unit, won't it?" Sakura found herself coming to some of the same reasoning as Kakashi himself had. Often during classes she'd noticed that Naruto could learn just fine when he wanted to, but some things which should have been immediately obvious needed pointing out.
"I-I'm in, too," Hinata squeaked quietly. To her shame she hadn't come to Sakura's conclusion as readily as she should have; regardless, her expression brightened up when Sakura put herself forward. At that moment, the facetious glare of determination lost its artifice, transmuting into a true resolve. Naruto was the only one who didn't appear too fazed by his squadmates' shift in behavior.
"Just a month, huh? Is that all, Kakashi-sensei? That month will be up before we know it!"
"Good to hear it. Come to Gate 15 tomorrow morning at dawn. Don't bring anything you weren't born with." The girls blushed immediately, and Kakashi quickly amended his statement. "Alright, alright, you can each bring two changes of clothes, but not an ounce more. Understood?"
"Yes, Kakashi-sensei!" Team Seven chorused.
Hinata H. survival log, day 1:
I know Kakashi-sensei told us not to bring anything we weren't born with but no Hyuuga ever goes anywhere without her journal. I was able to hide the summon scroll inside my…well, I still had it so obviously nobody thought to check me there.
When I arrived at the gate I didn't see any sign of Kakashi or my fellow squad members. Instead someone hit me, quite hard, and when I came to I was lying on a beach. Alone. I've pretty much ruled out this still being in Fire Nation borders because after an hour of exploration I haven't found even the slightest sign of present habitation.
There are indications that people did live on this island at one point but right now I don't have the luxury of wandering too far to investigate further. I'm going to start a fire and send up smoke signals on an hourly basis until nightfall. If Naruto and Sakura are on the island with me hopefully this will let us meet up and increase our chances.
S. Haruno isolation diary day 2:
Pretty damn glad that dad was paranoid enough to include a secret compartment inside my backpack for me to stick things into. Still wish I'd packed more than this stupid notebook and clothes. No sign of Hinata or Naruto yet, though did see smoke signals coming from the west and followed them as far as I could before nightfall.
Not at all thrilled about spending the next 29 days with just those two for company; nothing to do for it now but try and make the best of the situation. Betting that smoke signals are Hinata's doing, Naruto definitely not smart enough to stay put and let someone find him. Then again the wonder idiot probably knows more about trapping than either of us if he's used to foraging like he said at the bell test.
Looking forward to getting out of these stupid woods. The trees in Konoha are much prettier. At least these don't have any giant slugs in them, though. Should not have listened when mom's friends were over for tea. Getting hungry so may have to put off trek to find food tomorrow.
Naruto's ninja record, survival edition, day 3:
Stumbled across Hinata while wandering around the beach looking for a good place to fish. I'm still pretty annoyed at Kakashi's plan, though it's pretty sound logic. If we got separated on a mission we'd each have to fend for ourselves until we could reconvene. Hinata keeps blushing around me and though if circumstances were different it'd be cute right now having her distracted is just not something that I want to allow.
I don't know when they started looking at me as team leader when Kakashi's not around but I'm not really cut out for the whole 'giving orders' thing. I prefer letting someone else do the thinking while I just try to keep everyone on their toes; it's why I always had trouble in class. Sitting there listening to someone talk theory instead of demonstrating practical application doesn't help me be a better ninja.
Sakura found her way to us while I was showing Hinata how to set and bait traps. If all goes well we'll have a nice fish fry tonight and tomorrow we can start working on the stuff we suck at. I'd better find a less forward way of saying that to them, though.
Hinata H. survival log day 4:
Naruto really knows his stuff when it comes to catching and killing things. We caught a rabbit in a snare trap this morning and he knew how to end it quickly so the poor thing didn't suffer. Still, we need to eat and if we hadn't gotten to it first maybe some fox or bear would have. Noticed that Naruto doesn't like to talk about foxes much. May have something to do with that thing we're not allowed to talk about.
Sakura helped out too, showing us some plants that we could cut open to suck water out of so we don't have to risk illness by drinking river water. Right now I'm the only one who hasn't shown any real useful skill for the situation we find ourselves in. Naruto and Sakura both quick to encourage, complimenting my cooking and my idea to send up a signal. Naruto admits he wasn't even looking for signs, hoping just to get lucky.
Need to set up shelter soon. Not up to date on my geography or climatology but pretty sure that wherever we are gets violent storms at this time of year.
S. Haruno isolation diary, day 5:
Between myself and Naruto we've managed to teach Hinata what's safe to eat and what isn't. I know the plants from botany journals but Naruto seems to have obtained his experience through trial and error. How he isn't dead is beyond me. It might be a secret bloodline, I'm not sure. It's the wrong time to bring it up but I've always wondered why I can ask for information on anyone from the hall of records but the moment I submit a query for information related to "Uzumaki" I'm suddenly being escorted out by ANBU.
We did manage to get a shelter set up between the three of us and liberal application of Naruto's shadow clones. Most people would probably only use them for combat; given how Naruto throws them at everything from hunting down game to constructing shelter, with quite decent results. Still, best not to rely on them too much. Wish I had some way of blocking the technique so this whole survival thing felt more like survival and less like an extended vacation.
At least this way we'll have more time to focus on evening out the areas we're weak in. Even without Hinata's eyes I can tell that Naruto's going to need a lot of work.
Naruto's ninja record, survival edition day 6:
There's a storm on the horizon. I can feel it. We got the shelter up okay (right,I got the shelter up, Hinata and Sakura pretty much just showed me how to arrange things). Personally I would've been fine with woven leaves stretched over some branches; the girls wanted as near as they could get to a house, though. The trees here aren't as big as back home so we had to be a bit more careful about how much we knocked down.
Felling timber without axes and saws is a lot harder than it looks; Hinata did some funny thing with her hands, though, and every tree we picked out fell right over, then she did the same thing to the branches. Working on finding suitable stones to use for cutting tools so we can make dishes and utensils from the leftover wood. Pointy sticks are nice for fish but not so much for wild pigs.
Tomorrow we start on training, though if that storm hits like I think it will, then it's going to be something academic. Sakura says I need to work on my chakra control. Well if she had a damn demon stuck inside her she'd have trouble maintaining the proper levels, too! For her sake, though, I'll do my best. I'm not going to let my team down.
Day 7:
It still amazed Hinata that, with the assistance of clones, Naruto had more or less single-handedly built a three room hut sitting on the edge of the beach where the grass gave way to sand. It was a good enough position for an island house to be in: close to food and water, near to the woods without being so close that trees would fall on them so they could get more firewood easily, and with a good view of the sea to the west so they could see the rescue boat coming. Assuming nothing's happened to Konoha and we're stuck here for the rest of our lives, a dark part of her thoughts said. That part of her was selfish and wanted Naruto all for herself, something she wasn't quite ready to admit just yet.
His shortcomings at the academy aside Naruto had demonstrated quite a few practical skills and a willingness to learn he had previously never demonstrated for anyone but Iruka-sensei. Now if he could just make the wind stop blowing the rain sideways, then things would be perfect. At least the shutters were holding so none of them had gotten wet. Really, all the more useful things that Naruto was capable of had yet to stop surprising her with their variety. Not to say that he didn't have failings, but those she was willing to overlook or, like Sakura, help him overcome.
Currently she was trying to get him to understand the basics of chakra control, similar to the curriculum at the academy; unfortunately it was going about as well as the weather, and a pile of chakra-scorched leaves sat off to one side, testament to the persistent failure that Naruto was experiencing. Pained to watch him consume yet another leaf without any result, Hinata thought of some way to help him think of it in terms he could reconcile. Sakura's methodology was sound, though it was also highly technical.
"Umm…Naruto, you're trying to make the leaf stand up on your fingertip, right? If you look at the energy flowing out of your finger like…the difference between a candle and a firestorm…" Naruto and Sakura were staring at her like she'd grown two heads, and the frown on Naruto's face deepened into a positively discouraged scowl.
"Yeah, yeah, everyone keeps telling me how I'm supposed to feel a drain when I perform a technique, but that's the problem. It doesn't feel that way at all. If I had to describe it, it's like I'm drowning and at the same time I can breathe. It's the little things I always have trouble with. Maybe once this storm lets up we can start bigger and work our way down?" His voice was hopeful, hinting that he was getting frustrated. That false optimism he always put on for people was rather worrying.
"Naruto," Sakura chided softly, using the same tone of voice her mother often used when she meant to convey she was disappointed in the results, not the effort, "we can't start big unless you learn how to start small. The leaf exercise has been around since Hashirama. If you want to be the Hokage you'll have to figure out some way of managing to move in small, subtle measures. You can't solve every problem with a hammer." Silence reigned afterward, broken only by the noise of the storm railing uselessly against the occupants of the small hut.
"You're not talking about ninja arts, are you? The old man complains about it a lot, did you know that? Always saying when he thinks nobody hears about how he wishes he was like some of the other kages, making his will into law. That's not what he went to war for, though. I guess if the old man can move in small steps, I can, too. Hinata smiled pleasantly and handed him another leaf; this time Naruto fed it just a tiny little spark, still thinking he was overdoing it. That leaf however managed to stand up on its stem for a few moments, right until Naruto's excitement overwhelmed his control and the plant fibers were consumed in wreathing blue flames as his chakra overloaded them. Again.
Even so, it was progress.
Day 15
Hand signals, wild gesticulations and subtle movements that you had to be watching for. Wild boar, twenty feet ahead, six feet to the left. Doesn't smell us yet. Return signals offered, motions protracted to indicate the pace of approach. Pit finished, eighty feet out at three o'clock from animal. Silent nods, a call to action. They were running low on meat and that one boar would provide enough for another week at least, maybe more if they hoarded it.
Hinata and Naruto were flanking their quarry to ensure it didn't stray from the path they wanted it to take, hoping to goad it into a pit that the genin could climb out of but not the pig; it was Sakura's turn to drive the beast, and as she crept up on it as stealthily as she could manage she readied her voice, pumping chakra into her lungs to boost the volume and modulate the sound into something that animals feared. She couldn't waste breath on naming the art, but the hand seals didn't need a voice until the end.
Performing them quickly, she let go of the technique, framing the call in her mind as she opened her mouth and let out a fearsome roar. There were no lions, tigers or panthers on the island, actually, but the boar didn't know that. Letting out a terrified shriek it ran straight away from where Sakura was crouched, crashing through the underbrush as if it was rice paper. Thankfully her teammates only had to intervene twice, Hinata with wolf's howl (which was easier for her) and Naruto with a roar much, much louder than Sakura's own.
The intimidation tactic had been a spur-of-the-moment invention of Hinata's after the last time prey escaped from them; in a rare show of frustration and annoyance she'd let out a banshee's wail that had set Naruto and Sakura running, thinking she'd been hurt, but when they'd arrived she'd been glaring off in the direction the deer she'd been stalking had run off. Hinata actually didn't enjoy hunting and killing, even if she knew the reasoning behind it. At the rate they were burning chakra they needed all the protein and vitamins they could get, as well as simple raw energy to replenish what they'd been using.
Under normal circumstances a boar of the size they were hunting would provide enough to last the month; however due to their intense training pace, that month tuned into a week. A crash of branches and panicked squealing alerted them to their prize's blunder, and all three burst onto the pit at the same time, looking down into the shallow hole at the beast trying in vain to escape. Wordlessly they turned to each other. Silent consensus; Naruto held a spear in his dirt-covered hands but as much as the animal was thrashing it would be hard to make a clean and quick kill. That left Hinata's Gentle Fist.
Her heart sank a little as they looked at her, but she forced her misgivings aside. This was survival, and besides it wasn't as if she was killing the thing for pleasure. They had to eat something and foraging wasn't an option or else they'd end up eating grass after they exhausted the supply of edible plants. Activating her bloodline, Hinata bounced down into the pit, her left hand flashing out to catch the boar on the side of the head as it turned to face her with its dangerous tusks. Almost in the same moment the animal slumped to the ground, expiring from the lethal strike.
The grisly task finished she shut off her eyes and traded places with Naruto, who lifted the boar onto his shoulders and hopped up out of the pit behind her. By rough estimation it was about a mile from their current position back to the campsite and they were going to run the whole way—a short jog, really. A short jog made all the more difficult by the heavy logs that Hinata and Sakura were carrying to be split into firewood once at the hut, though with the use of makeshift axes rather than the Hyuuga taijutsu style. Overreliance on any one method of fighting was in Naruto's opinion detrimental in the long run, the main reason that he liked to make things up as he went along.
Carrying around heavy objects while they ran everywhere wasn't really to improve their physical strength, though it was helping somewhat. Instead, it had been Sakura's idea for them to build up their stamina so they could go longer without tiring out and between the three of them Team Seven was beginning to notice results. The girls didn't want to be shown up by Naruto, naturally, whose inherent endurance put them to shame at first; but after two weeks of constant effort they were beginning to catch up with him. Each one's abilities was becoming clear to the others by now, as well: Naruto had incredible endurance, but couldn't match Hinata's speed nor Sakura's control; by contrast Hinata's control was only middling and had the lowest stamina, while Sakura who boasted the highest efficiency when it came to using her chakra lacked the reserves to make it worthwhile.
But they were working on it, though, and even if it took a year they had vowed to get each other on an even footing.
Day 21
Hinata grunted under the weight of the ocean, fighting to stay upright in the powerful surf. Next to her stood Sakura, straining in a similar manner, each of them supporting the extra bulk of a perfect copy. Shadow clones provided by Naruto, under transformation and struggling to stay balanced on the outstretched hands of each girl. It was just another stamina exercise, kunoichi with their arms raised into the air, clones doing handstands on them; the object for each girl was to push enough chakra into her legs to avoid falling over, while at the same time exerting the force necessary to support your own body weight.
As if that wasn't bad enough he was making them do squat-thrusts as well, and already she could feel her thighs burning from the effort. Naruto wasn't participating in the exercise, however, still working on the tasks given to him by Sakura which he was trying to do while at the same time doing a series of one-handed pushups. Kakashi-sensei would be retrieving them in ten days, hopefully, and they were in a hurry to advance as far as they could before he started putting them through the wringer.
None of them could recall very many details about his teaching style, let alone if he even had one, and hitting upon a need for physical and psychological readiness the three genin had stepped up their efforts considerably. It was paying off, in small measure, though Naruto was showing his typical impatience in the regularity of his complaints about the apparently slow progress. Sakura was frequently forced to remind him that if they pushed too hard, too soon, they'd just make things worse and actually fall back instead of moving forward, and that it would take time for any appreciable results to appear.
It couldn't stifle his grumbling, however, and Hinata felt like agreeing with him. It would get her mind off of the burning in her shoulders at any rate. Not even the Gentle Fist training could make her hurt this much, and she'd endured a full body tenketsu sealing on multiple occasions. That however had been under the advantage of having her whole body go numb, at the cost of not being able to move. This stuff on the whole was supposedly going to help her overall flexibility, yet she was having trouble seeing how she'd get more limber if after every repetition she felt too sore to move.
But that was the whole point, wasn't it? Every person on the island at this moment was enduring hardship of some sort for the purpose of personal and group improvement. Silently, however, she vowed to get her revenge on Kakashi. She didn't know when, she didn't know how, but it would happen. The rumors about his chronic laziness and the fondness for those little orange books weren't entirely unfounded; in fact she'd been surprised when he'd actually shown up on time a month ago to be given his team, reminding her that it had already been that long.
With a tired groan she finally let her legs and arms give out, the clone dispersing in a puff of smoke as she sank to hands and knees in the surf, taking deep gulps of air that threatened to sear her throat with how sweet and refreshing they were. Hinata gave herself a moment to recover, looking through the strands of dark hair that plastered her face first at Sakura, who was similarly giving in, and then Naruto who apparently had collapsed well before either of them. Understandably, even he had limits. But if he was asleep…no, she couldn't be that cruel to him. It'd just be his turn to cook, and he needed the practice.
Day 22
"I'm not saying I'm going to force you into it, I'm just asking if you've ever kissed anyone before!"
"Um, n-no, but I don't really see what this has to do with…"
"It's just idle girl talk, don't be so shy all the time! You'll never get the guy you like if you're always hiding in the shadows poking your fingers together."
"Would you at least tell me why you even started thinking about this in the first place?"
"Call it the result of a weird dream I had. Now come on, do you want to try it out?"
"I thought you said you weren't going to force me into it! I don't really think I could give away my first kiss that easily anyway."
"So don't think of it as your first kiss. Think of it as practice so you can reel in that guy you have your heart set on easier once you work up the nerve to talk to him."
"Well, when you put it that way…"
"That's the spirit! Pucker up and give it a shot!"
"W-wait!"
…
"Hehehe! You're pretty good at this!"
"I wasn't ready…My turn!"
"Ack!"
Day 30
Kakashi would be retrieving them tomorrow, so today they were going to take it easy. Naruto had spent most of the previous day's rest period crafting a surfboard out of a log he'd felled but ended up not needing to use for firewood; today he was going to test it out. He'd come to the idea in a flash of inspiration, watching dolphins out in the distance riding the waves like it was nothing. Of course people would need something to help them float and that had led to the idea of using a board. If it worked he'd invent a new sport for beachgoers. If it didn't, well at least he was a strong swimmer.
Sakura and Hinata were sunning themselves on the chairs he'd helped make—If this ninja thing doesn't pan out I've got a solid career as a carpenter ahead of me—though where they'd gotten the bathing suits from was a pure mystery and he suspected it was an illusion technique to protect their modesty. Not a theory that he wanted to test, though; he had more important things on his mind. With the long plank under his arm he waded into the surf in just his undershorts, glad for their dark color. As soon as he was chest-deep in the water Naruto laid the board out and settled himself on top of it.
Paddling out was a bit more difficult than he'd planned, and at the same time easier than he'd expected. He found a rhythm to it: wait for a wave to pass and then propel himself madly into the trough, before calming down to ride the crest back up. Getting a fair distance from the shore he turned the board around and moved to a sitting position, spending a few moments figuring out the balance. Then the next wave came and he laid out again, paddling along with it, until it started to break—quickly he got to his feet, spreading them out along the length of the board and crouching to help his balance.
The wave carried him swiftly and it felt almost like he was riding the wind above the frothing water instead of being pushed along by the twelve-foot swell. It was an exhilarating rush and he whooped out, letting his legs move all on their own, following the path that the board wanted to take. As wave and rider neared the shallows, the wave curled over on itself and nearly threw Naruto off his footing, but a quick twist of his waist sent him into carving straight down the tube and another sharp turn to his right brought him over the crest and way into the air. Scrambling madly the boy grabbed the edge of the board to try and complete the turn, managing to come back down on the slope of another wave, pointed at the beach once more.
"Naruto, that's awesome!" Sakura cheered, watching the whole thing with amusement. She spared a look at Hinata, whose head was bowed as if afraid, but nothing could hide the small, proud smile on her face or the way her shoulders trembled as though she were laughing.
"That's our Naruto all right. He's simply…amazing." Together the two girls cheered him on further as he worked up the nerve to try that again. Well, at least he'd proven it could work, though the fins sticking out of either side of the board into the water were making it a little hard to steer in anything other than a straight line unless he leaned his whole body into it. Maybe on the next one he could move the fins towards the tail, and make them dig into the waves more steeply.
Remembering that he probably wouldn't have time to try that refinement out tempered his good mood, and on the next wave that he caught Naruto rode it all the way to shore, letting the nose dig into the sand before he stepped off and gathered it up. Walking over to his associates he stuck the tail end into the dunes and leaned against it jauntily right up to the point that he and it fell over.
Hinata giggled at that and Sakura just rolled her eyes, reaching out a hand to help him up while he spat out some grit and put on a sheepish grin.
"Guess that's what I get for hubris, huh?"
Hatake mission log, entry 452:
Observations of Team Seven, following their completion of survival training:
As expected the students handed to me by the Academy have performed beyond initial projections. I know they will be eager and anxious to return to Konoha to begin real missions, and I am considering starting them on C-rank tasks to make up for the time they've been gone. The training regimen that they've adopted is workable, but, like Naruto's little project involving the board, could use improvement. I am a little disappointed that they never once detected me, except perhaps Hinata, but if she determined my presence did not make her teammates aware of it.
I'll have to take a more hands-on approach to training them; their current rate of progress is acceptable, though increasing the intensity somewhat cannot be too detrimental. Each team member seems to have a working knowledge of the others' deficiencies; I believe that with my assistance they can achieve a level of parity within six months if they are willing to endure the hardships. Using the survival test as a basis, however, I think that none of them will object. If they're capable and willing of setting this pace for themselves, then enhancing the regimen can only lead to further team cohesion.
The sole issue remains with Naruto's seal. It is still functioning properly but I am worried that it is letting enough of the Nine-Tails' chakra through for the Hyuuga girl to recognize it, though not identify what exactly it belongs to. If approached I may have to pass it off as a bloodline limit, even though that is not anywhere near the actual hereditary trait passed on by the Uzumaki clan. Signs indicate that Jiraiya may be returning around the time of the preliminary exams five months from now. If and when he shows up I'll have to talk to him about investigating Naruto's seal.
I wonder if Naruto's aware of his passenger.
