Naruto gritted his teeth at Sasuke's insult but did not rise up to it. Instead, he concentrated on the calculations in front of him. So far, he was the only one of the three genin who hadn't tried to climb the tree. Sakura had already managed to reach the top, much to her delight and Sasuke's displeasure. He had noticed how crestfallen she had seemed and scowled inwardly. Her emotions were becoming repetitive, tedious and a danger to the team. She would become a liability and a hindrance at this rate, but since she had easily done the exercise and he hadn't even begun, he kept his mouth shut, but resolved to approach Kakashi about it. Something needed to be done, and soon.
The exercise was simple; use chakra to stick the feet to the tree. But the amount of chakra needed to be just right, or else the user would not stick at all because of too little chakra, or would be pushed off because of too much chakra. This exercise was similar to the one Naruto had been taught by Sakumo, where he was required to stick a leaf to his forehead, and then gradually increase the distance between leaf and forehead. Sakumo had been able to increase the distance up to ten metres, making it seem like he was levitating the leaf, before he had asked Naruto to do it. As Naruto looked at the calculations, he hoped they were right. He had to calculate his increased weight because of the chakra weight effect of the dragon armour he was wearing. Sasuke and Sakura hadn't seen it yet because of Naruto's long sleeved kimono shirt and trousers, which is why they brushed him off and called him an idiot when he had been slower than usual as a result of the increased weight.
Naruto slowly approached his tree, noticing that Sakura was now jumping from tree to tree with Kakashi as the next stage of the training. Naruto put one foot firmly on the tree trunk, and then the other. It was a strange experience, looking directly up a tree with his back only a metre of the ground. Then ever so slowly, he started climbing the tree. He took it slow so he would get the amount of chakra just right for the next foot. One foot after another, he went up the tree. Sasuke noticed that Naruto was slowly approaching the highest point he had been able to reach and gritted his teeth. He would not come last to a dropout. Losing to Sakura was bad enough. Kakashi noticed the scene, and felt the underlying tension between the two boys. He landed on a branch out of sight of the two boys, and a moment later Sakura landed beside him. Together, they watched.
Just as Naruto reached Sasuke's highest point, he put a slightly more chakra than was required down his right foot. The bark gave way beneath his foot and Naruto was pushed back from the tree. He landed silently on the ground and gritted his teeth. Already the Uchiha had gained five metres on him. He went back to his calculation written on the floor and studied them for a few seconds, then changed a few numbers. Of all the shinobi intellectual skills, Mathematics and the Sciences were his best by far. Unfortunately, these skills were used rarely by shinobi, and so his talent went unrecognized. This was how Naruto had managed to perfect all the jutsu in his arsenal; by approaching the task with a level head and breaking it down into logical pieces so that his untalented self could learn difficult things easier. He started his climb up the tree again.
XXX
"Naruto, you idiot," muttered Sakura, thinking along the same lines as Sasuke, who was fifty metres away from her. "Kakashi-sensei said to run at the tree at first."
"Interesting," murmured Kakashi, as he unveiled his Sharingan so as to see the clearing the boys were in better.
"What do you mean, Kakashi-sensei?" Sakura asked, surprised by the impressed tone in Kakashi's voice.
"Well, Sakura," Kakashi said, unconsciously taking on his teaching tone, "With this exercise, its true that running at the tree will get you better results. By running at the tree, you gain momentum, and therefore have to use less chakra, which means that not only do you conserve chakra, but you also complete the task at a faster rate. It's a simulation of many shinobi fights; a ninja rarely has the time to stand still while fighting, so this prepares young shinobi like you for that. However, the system has drawbacks; first of all, because a trainee is not really focusing on his or her chakra whilst moving, the trainee will not gain the full amount of chakra control this exercise is designed to teach them; secondly, because a trainee is using the Trial and Error method, they will use a lot much chakra is they are not adept as you are, and therefore it may take some a lot of time to master such a simple exercise; thirdly, because a trainee is not fully aware of all the subtle movements of their chakra, the true purpose of this exercise may be lost on them for quite a while."
"The true purpose?" Sakura murmured.
"Yes, the true purpose," replied Kakashi. "Basically, this exercise is supposed to teach young ninja to focus their chakra so they don't waste any when doing jutsu. It teaches just how much chakra to put into a jutsu and in what differing amounts, since some jutsu can contain variable amounts of chakra types. There is a much more complicated exercise that accomplishes the same thing. While the Mist Village created it, Iruka Umino improved it especially for Konoha."
"Iruka-sensei?" asked Sakura in surprise. Their teacher at the academy had not seemed that special in her time there.
"Yes, Iruka," Kakashi said seriously. "He was offered several times the rank of Jonin by the Third, but each time he refused. He said that teaching young students was his passion. He is one of Konoha's best ninja, despite all appearances. He is even capable of giving me a hard fight. Without my Sharingan I would be hard pressed to beat him, if at all." Sakura could not help but stare. It seemed her first impressions of people were turning out to be wrong all the time. She turned back to Naruto.
"Naruto's method, on the other hand," continued Kakashi, "is a little different. From the look of his calculations, he has opted to put the amount and concentration of the chakra required into an equation, but since there is no official scale for chakra, his calculations will be dodgy at best. All the same, by the look of that equation, he is a very capable mathematician, and therefore his system of Trial and Error will grant him results faster. He has calculated his mass," Kakashi informed Sakura, not mentioning that it was five times his own weight, "the thickness of the tree trunk, the force of gravity acting on him and finally just how much chakra would be required to lift his body, all things considered. This method works best because he is taking it slow and steady, which means that he is able to grasp the full amount of chakra control he is intended to learn. Also, once he masters this exercise, he has mastered it for life. It will simply be a matter of substituting the different numbers, which won't be difficult if that equation is anything to judge his mind by."
Wow, was all Sakura could think. In all her life, she had never thought Naruto was as brainy as this. It seemed this mission was revealing a lot of things to her. She turned her attention back to the two rivals in the clearing below her.
XXX
Naruto looked at his calculations. This time, he had been able to double the distance, but this wasn't good enough. Sasuke was a step ahead of him, literally. Naruto looked at Sasuke and frowned. This was getting bothersome. He needed to get to the top first, and fast. He looked at the problem long and hard, shutting out all distractions. His mind became a blank slate, on which he put the problem smack in the middle, just as he had been taught by Taita. Finally, he saw it. The solution. He smiled and rewrote the problem. Yes, this time he was sure he had got it right on. With a small smile, eh started his trek up the tree, his steps confident. Sasuke noticed, saw the confidence in the dropout's face and knew that he was going to get beaten. When Naruto was halfway up the tree, his mind flashed back to the point when Naruto had unashamedly asked for Sakura's advice. Concentrate on your chakra until you feel its right. Well, no time like the present to start. He did it, and instantly knew the feeling Sakura had been talking about. With confident strides, he ran up the tree, gaining on Naruto. Kakashi and Sakura watched with keen gazes and both genin neared the top. To Sakura's utter disappointment, both boys reached the top first, Sasuke slightly out of breath. Naruto looked at Sasuke with laughter in his eyes.
"Well, well," he said. "Look who managed to catch up. About time too." Sasuke scowled, but his eyes were also filled with humour.
"Do you really think I'd let a dropout like you get the better of me?"
XXX
It was during the last day of the bridge's completion that Tazuna was attacked. He was attacked by two shinobi from Kirigakure. The moment they showed up, a thin fog came in from the lake. One of them had a zanbato, much like Zabuza's, and the other hand two giant broadswords. Even with the fog, it was easy to see that they were related. They had that same blood crazed look in their eyes, that lust for death.
"So these are the Konoha ninja who defeated Zabuza-senpai?" said the one with the zanbato.
"Yes," said the other one in a soft voice. "Kakashi the Copy Ninja and his little team of genin. They must be something, to have defeated Zabuza-senpai. Don't you agree, Dogetsu? Their blood will taste extraordinary," the nin said, licking the sword in his right hand.
"You should not get so worked up, Kagetsu," Dogetsu said. "You should be more down to earth, like me!" Both ninja laughed at the pun, their voices slithering like serpents in the heavy air. They both smiled bloody murder. They were going to enjoy this fight.
Naruto looked at Sasuke, who was all tensed for battle. "Wait a while," Naruto commanded. Sasuke scowled at him. Naruto stalled any objections with a wave of his hand.
"Kakashi will take Kagetsu, while Sakura and I fight Dogetsu. And if you are wondering why, it's simple. First of all, your arsenal consists of fire jutsu, and they cannot compete with the fire jutsu of a member of the Seven Swordsmen, as his name suggests that he is proficient in them. Secondly, Dogetsu might be proficient in earth jutsu, which is bad for you because his attacks naturally block yours. Thirdly, both of them have to be proficient in water jutsu, which is bad for your fire jutsu. Lastly, they look deadly, which means you will need them tired and slow for your fire jutsu to hit them full on and cause heavy damage. You can't do that now while they are still fresh. We need you to protect Tazuna-san while we deal with these two. If they do manage to get past us, you are the best line of defense we have other than Kakashi himself, who we can't spare. So what do you say?" both Kakashi and Sakura looked at Sasuke with interest, waiting for his reply to such a request, especially Naruto. Kakashi resolved not to interfere since such scenes made or broke a team. He did like Naruto's use of logic, however. The boy was turning out better than he had thought.
"Fine," Sasuke said with a smile. "Just don't mess this up, dropout, or our first mission will go down in flames."
"Hey," Naruto pointed out, "you're the one guarding the principle. If anything, you should keep a sharp eye." Sasuke scowled but did not reply.
"Are you sure you can take on the Hozuki Brothers, boy?" asked Kagetsu, his smile widening.
"The famous Hozuki Brothers. Looks to me like you are one short," Kakashi said, stepping toward the ninja and cracking his knuckles. "Aren't there supposed to be three brothers? Where's the other one?" Both brothers suddenly tensed, their smiles turning into bared teeth, which were just as sharp as Zabuza's.
"We'll make Konoha pay for the insult your shinobi committed!" Kagetsu shouted, running toward Kakashi, his twin broadswords at the ready.
XXX
Naruto scowled in irritation. Ever since they had begun training with Kakashi-sensei, he had taken to leaving his Scroll at the house. Now it proved to be his undoing. There were weapons in there that could completely turn this battle around. No matter, he still had a few smaller weapons he could summon using Tobidugo, Projectile Weapons. He unrolled a scroll from his pouch and summoned a jian broadsword. He did so just in time to block the massive swing by Dogetsu. The force behind the zanbato drove him to his knees. Dogetsu smiled, but the smile was soon washed off by Sakura, whose timely kick sent him sprawling. Naruto got up and looked at Kakashi, whose fight was a lot worse. The hot headed Kagetsu was proving to be smart, even through his blood-lust. Already Kakashi had some superficial wounds, while Kagetsu had none.
"Never take your eyes off your opponent," shouted Dogetsu from behind Sakura and Naruto. Sakura looked at the man she had kicked; only to see that it was a water clone. Dogetsu sent the pink haired kunoichi and the blond ninja flying with a water jutsu that pummeled them into a tree fifty feet away. He smiled a he saw the pink haired kunoichi groan with pain and the blond struggle to his feet. He looked into Naruto's face and saw that the kid was smiling. After a second, Naruto disappeared in a puff of smoke. Instinct saved him from a fatal blow as he jumped left and brought his zanbato in front of his face, blocking Naruto's heavy cut. They both landed in the same tree, opposite each other.
"You are a very impressive swordsman, for a boy. Are you sure you want to fight me?" asked Dogetsu. "You are no match for me. I trained with the Seven Swordsmen." Naruto smiled.
"That's one thing you Mist ninja need to learn." Dogetsu frowned.
"And what's that?" he asked.
"To always rely on your team," Naruto said, and Dogetsu turned just in time to see the giant fireball coming straight toward him. He had no time to react and was blown straight off the tree branch. Sasuke landed where Dogetsu had been standing a moment before. He smirked.
"I thought you said to wait until you called. What's with the shadow clone you sent to guard Tazuna?"
Naruto shrugged. "I thought you might be bored." His face suddenly turned serious. "Dogetsu is a dangerous ninja. Sakura and I cannot defeat him alone. We need your Sharingan to help us. With it, we have a chance. He is simply too good. The only reason I'm not hurt now is because I planned for Kagetsu and Dogetsu to think you're out of the game, giving you a chance to kill them. Already Kakashi has got the upper hand in his fight, but ours is a different problem. Dogetsu is even more of a pain than Haku." Sasuke nodded. He turned toward the rising Dogetsu, who was wiping the blood off his lips. Sakura landed next to him, her legs trembling slightly from the pain of the water jutsu she had been hit with.
"We'll support you, Naruto," she said, "seeing as you are the only one of us who has a sword to fight with." Naruto nodded, though he was peeved by her implied meaning. She meant that Sasuke was undoubtedly the better swordsmen, and that she was only supporting Naruto because he was the logical. To add injury to insult, she thought he was too stupid to figure it out. He was used to being treated like dirt by now, so he didn't comment. This wasn't the time. With a heave of his Jian, he launched himself at Dogetsu.
XXX
Two weeks later…
Naruto waved at Inari, smiling his rare goofy smile. Even with his abnormal healing abilities, he still had not completely healed from the fight with the Hozuki Brother, which is why he twinged slightly as he aggravated the blow Dogetsu had landed to his ribs. Naruto still couldn't believe that Inari had got the courage to rouse the villagers and face down Gatou and his bandits. If it hadn't been for the little squirt, Team 7 would have been slaughtered like lambs, what with them being tired from the battle. Kagetsu and Dogetsu had not gone down without a fight. They had lived up to their reputation as students in the art of murder. At the moment Naruto was the only one without some kind of medical aid. Kakashi had crutches, Sakura's abdomen was heavily bandaged, and Sasuke's arms were next to useless.
"Come visit!" yelled Inari.
"You bet I will," Naruto yelled back. "Your mom makes the best Ramen I have ever tasted! … Oh, and I'll come to see you, of course." Both boys laughed, and with one final wave, Naruto ran to catch up with his team. For a second, a frown disfigured his happy face. The two battles had shown him just how big a gap he had to cover before he caught up with Sasuke and other genin considered geniuses. Thanks to his training post, his taijutsu had significantly improved, and so had his weapons skills. In only a month he had managed to catch up to Sasuke, but that would not last long if he slacked off now like he used to do. He needed to maintain a permanent lead, which meant he was in for a lot of work. He smiled again, the beauty of the Wave Country washing over him. The Chunin exams were seven months away. He planned on being stronger when that time came. He would show the village that he wasn't a monster. He would show them just what a strong ninja he was. He would be acknowledged as the next Hokage.
XXX
Right, we are going to part ways with Naruto for a chapter or so. This is a Naruto and Hinata fan fiction, so I need to introduce her.
Next on the list is the matter of Team 7's fight with Zabuza. I only made it short so I could make way for this. I am not very good with describing fights because people said I put too much description in my other fics, the ones I have written of shurtugal fanfiction and others not on the net. I still have to gain that art.
Also, the Hozuki Brothers are mentioned in the manga of Naruto Shippuden, and so anyone who can tell me WHEN, by WHO and most of all can explain the PUN that makes them both laugh will get a prize. You also need to explain Naruto's logic, but because I am not Japanese and therefore not fluent in the tongue (I apologize no for murdering the language and culture I admire) I may have skewered the language a little. Here is a clue – Kakashi says that they are one short, meaning there is another brother, meaning your answer lies with him.
