Chapter 7
There were only a few days left until the chūnin exams when Naruto felt Haku's chakra calling him through his corresponding seal. It was mid-morning and he had been training in the forest with his clones since the sun had come up. It was the first time that Haku had called him, so Naruto was glad that the seals worked. He had tested them out himself, but he was starting to worry that perhaps they didn't work so well over long distances. He made sure that his clones were all working on something before he used the Hiraishin to where Haku and Zabuza were waiting.
"Good morning, Naruto-kun." Haku said when Naruto appeared before them.
"Yo." Zabuza said, sitting on a couch next to Haku.
"Good morning Zabuza-san, Haku-chan. I hope things have been going well for both of you." Naruto replied. He was nauseous from the Hiraishin, but he hid it. He knew it would be much worse when he got back.
"Very well, thank you. We really appreciate the information you gave us regarding the safe houses." Haku bowed to Naruto.
"Yeah yeah, enough with the bullshit. Do you have our payment?" Zabuza asked. Naruto cocked his eyebrow at Zabuza, but threw a pouch full of money at him.
"What have you got for me?" Naruto asked. If Zabuza wanted to get to the point, then he would too.
"We have heard quite a bit regarding a new village called 'Otogakure'. It seems to be growing and expanding bases into other countries fairly quickly. From what we heard, a man named Orochimaru is the leader of this group." Haku explained. Naruto narrowed his eyes. He knew of this Orochimaru. He was the one that had created the curse seal that was on Anko and he was also one of the Legendary Sannin of Konoha. And apparently an evil genius, if what he had read in some books was true.
'So that is what he has been up to these past years.' Naruto thought.
"We have also heard that he plans to use Sunagakure in an invasion of Konohagure. I am not sure how he plans to do that, but from what we hear, it has something to do with the upcoming chūnin exams taking place there. I'm sure you know of that?" Haku continued. Naruto nodded his head. This was bad. So Orochimaru was going to use Sunagakure to attack Konoha in his place. Or did Suna ally with Oto? But why? Oto was even smaller than Suna, which was the smallest of the Five Great Shinobi Nations. Even with Oto allied with Suna, they would not be able to take on Konohagure. Sure, it would damage the village but Konoha would still be able to win. Why was he even wanting to attack Konoha? It seemed as though he wanted to start a war but was it just because he wanted to get back at Konoha? That didn't seem right. If he wanted Konoha weakened enough to take over then he should use Kumogakure, which was the closest to Konoha in power. Besides, Orochimaru had left the village himself, although his was getting heat from the village due to his experiments, and he had started up his own village, so he shouldn't even care about Konoha anymore. There had to be some other reason.
"Is that all?" Naruto asked.
"Actually, we have heard of another group that has been getting some attention, which Orochimaru was once a part of. They are calling themselves the 'Akatsuki'. They first appeared in Amegakure around the Third Shinobi War, but there isn't much we know besides they overthrew the leader of the village and took it over. Apparently now it is just a small group of mercenaries, as far as Zabuza and I can gather, who are incredibly powerful, probably all S-ranked shinobi. We haven't been able to collect much intel them, since they keep to themselves, so we're not sure of their motive. It seems they only have a handful of members, whom move in teams of two. They all wear black cloaks with red clouds on them." Haku supplied with a frown. Zabuza had an annoyed look on his face.
"Did they approach you and ask you to join?" Naruto asked, getting an odd feeling from the two. They looked at him in surprise, before nodding. "What did you tell them? I'm sure they could offer more than I could."
"We told them no. Zabuza-san and I have our own plans and we don't want to be deterred from them. You're assistance is all we need." Haku responded.
"You have been most helpful. Is there anything you need while I'm here?" Naruto asked.
"Actually, I have a question." Zabuza said. Naruto's eyebrow lifted, silently telling him to continue. "You used those dual blades when we fought before. You any good with them?" Naruto was surprised by the question, but didn't let it show.
"I'd say I'm proficient with them." Naruto responded, before Zabuza threw something covered in cloth at him. Naruto caught it, feeling an odd energy coming from whatever was wrapped within it. After looking inside, he found two slim, double-edged blades that were pulsing a strange energy. They both had small, upward pointing blades near the top and bottom of the main blade.
"They are called Kiba." Zabuza told him. Naruto frowned. He knew he had heard that name before. His eyebrows shot up in surprise.
"These are-" Naruto began in awe.
"One of the swords of the Seven Swordsmen of the Mist." Zabuza finished for him. Naruto just looked up at him in confusion. A look of embarrassment came over Zabuza's face. "We retrieved them from the previous owner. We thought you would make better use of them."
"And we wanted to thank you for everything you have done for us." Haku added with a smile. Zabuza was still looking away from Naruto, in obvious discomfort.
"Thank you." Naruto said with genuine appreciation, giving them a deep bow. This was the first gift anyone had ever given him and for it to be such an inexplicable one, Naruto was truly honored that they would give such a gift to him.
"Yeah yeah, just don't cut yourself. These are known to be the sharpest swords in existence, you know. They utilize lightning chakra, but if you can't use that, it's fine. They'll still be deadly." Zabuza said, feeling awkward about the whole situation.
"Not to worry. I will figure out how to use them properly." Naruto said with a small smile. Zabuza looked away again in embarrassment, scratching his head. Haku just looked between the two with a smile of his own.
"That was all. You can go now." Zabuza said quickly. Naruto just bowed to them and disappeared.
"Naruto-kun is going to be a great shinobi one day. And we can say we were right there, next to him, helping him along the way." Haku said softly to Zabuza, who nodded.
When Naruto arrived back in the forest, he immediately fell to his knees a retched. The clones stopped what they were doing and ran over to him in worry.
"I'm fine. Just give me a sec." Naruto told them sitting back and breathing deeply. They looked at him with doubt, but went back to training, keeping their eye on him. He wrote a letter while sitting to send to the Hokage. He didn't know if the Sandaime knew of the Suna threat or not, but he wanted to warn him, just in case. He left out the part about the Akatsuki, because they didn't seem to be interested in Konoha. He then had a clone deliver the letter.
"Ugh, not now." Naruto huffed in annoyance. The barrier seal on his apartment just went off, letting him know that Sakura was there, about to knock on his door. He was getting awfully popular lately.
"I can go." One of his clones offered. "It'll just get worse if you use it again."
"It's fine. I'll go. You guys continue training. I need to get used to it anyway." Naruto said with a sigh, getting up slowly. He used the Hiraishin to get into his apartment. Once there, he fell to his knees again but held back the retch. He could hear Sakura still knocking at the door. He took a deep breath, stood up, and composed himself while he slowly made his way to the door.
"Hello Sakura-san." Naruto said after opening the door. It looked like she had just turned and was starting to leave.
"Oh! I thought you weren't home." Sakura said with a blush.
"Can I help you with something?" Naruto asked her.
"Um, well actually…Can I come inside?" Sakura asked awkwardly. Naruto didn't respond, just opened the door wider and moved out of the way, inviting her in.
"Would you like some tea?" He asked her, having read that when guests come over it was polite to offer tea, as she closed the door behind her. She was looking around his apartment curiously. It was devoid of everything but some old looking furniture and was impeccably clean. Sakura didn't know why, but she thought it would be messier.
"Yes, please." She answered with an awkward smile, making her way to the couch and sitting down while still looking around. Naruto moved to the kitchen and put some water in a pot. His stove was old and took almost ten minutes to boil water, so instead of using it he concentrated some fire into his hand and heated the water quickly. He poured the water into two cups that were chipped and mismatched and added the tea. He set her tea on the coffee table in front of her and took a seat on the opposite end of the couch.
"That was quick!" She said in surprise. Naruto just shrugged in reply, sipping his tea gently, waiting for her to explain why she was here. He was glad for the tea, since it began to alleviate his nausea. Sakura picked up her cup and held it nervously in her hands.
"I know you've been training with Sasuke. I can tell whenever we get together as a team to train that he has gotten so much stronger lately. I…feel like I'm so far behind you two. I don't want to hold you guys back, but I don't know what to do! I'm just so weak…" Sakura's eyes started to water as she looked into her tea cup, hands tightening around it. Naruto was quiet for a moment, not sure how, or if he even wanted to, console her. He didn't know why she decided to come to him, but just as with Sasuke, Sakura was part of his team and he acknowledged those that realized they were weak but wanted to get stronger. Naruto knew that Kakashi didn't know how to train Sakura, so she was usually left on her own when they all trained together. He did feel bad that Sakura wasn't able to get stronger. She needed someone to teach her but her parents were civilians and her sensei paid more attention to Naruto and Sasuke than her.
"I can probably help you out." Naruto said slowly. He was the only one that he knew of that could train her and she desperately needed training.
"You can? Really?!" Sakura asked in excitement, looking at him with her eyes still watery. Naruto nodded in reply. "Can I train with you and Sasuke?" Naruto cocked his head to the side.
"Our type of training would not work with you. I have to teach you separately." He told her. Her excitement diminished.
"Why?" She asked dejectedly.
"Sasuke's natural abilities allow for him to excel in ninjutsu and taijutsu. You have excellent chakra control, so I think your focus should be medical ninjutsu and genjutsu." Naruto told her thoughtfully. Sakura looked at him in surprise.
"You really think I could be good at those?" She asked. She had never even thought about doing any other type of jutsu before. She supposed it was because all Team 7 ever worked on was ninjutsu and taijutsu, so she thought that was what she was supposed to be doing. Naruto nodded. "But…are they really useful? They seem more defensive. We didn't even learn any of those in the Academy and I don't know anyone that does medical ninjutsu besides the nurses in the hospital and I only know of Kurenai-sensei as a genjutsu user." She said, unsure.
"They are more defensive, but you could use them offensively too. And our team is not very well rounded the way it is. Think about the other teams compared to ours. They all have strengths and weaknesses, but each of the other teammates pick-up where one lacks. Sasuke and I are the powerhouses and Kakashi was trying to train you to be one too. But there are ways to counteract straight ninjutsu and taijutsu even if you are masters in them." Naruto explained to her. Sakura was looking into her tea with a frown.
"You're right. We don't know anything but ninjutsu and taijutsu. The books that we read in the Academy said the same thing, that a team full of just those two jutsus could easily be overtaken." Sakura said thoughtfully.
"I will say though, that they seem to do that on purpose; having teams that are trained for specific uses such as the Hyūga, Inuzuka, and Aburame team. Their skills allow for them to be a great tracking team. But they still have different abilities themselves that allow for great teamwork. For example, the Aburame is a long-range fighter with his kikaichū, the Inuzuka is a mid-range fighter, and the Hyūga is a close-range one. The Ino-Shika-Chō team is excellent for reconnaissance. Shikamaru can hold enemies with his shadows while the Yamanaka enters their mind and gathers information and the Akimichi covers their back, allowing them time to gather necessary information. Our team is made to be the powerhouse team; the one that is sent out to mess up the enemy, but so far, we use only ninjutsu and taijutsu. That's why, if you were to be a medical ninjutsu and genjutsu user, you would round out the team. Not only that, you would be the most essential part of it, giving Sasuke and I much needed support." Naruto didn't understand why he had to spell it out for her. He thought she would understand how important she would be to the team if she learned the proper jutsu for her specific skill set. But he supposed that she was never told the importance of a well-rounded team. Naruto, himself, was a well-rounded jutsu user, knowing many different types of jutsu, but he wasn't going to do all the work for the team.
"We could easily be the strongest team then." Sakura said in awe, eyes wide. Suddenly, all hesitation left her face, and a look of determination took its place. "Please teach me in medical ninjutsu and genjutsu."
"There are only three days left until the chūnin exams. I am going to have to really push you for you to be prepared by that time, you understand?" Naruto asked seriously. Sakura just nodded her head, the same determination in her eyes. "Very well. I want you to gather as many anatomy and medical books as possible and start reading them immediately. I will be quizzing you throughout our training, so be prepared. I can only teach you so much before you understand the physiology of the body. Let us begin."
