I don't own Naruto
Chapter 9
"Did you hit your head? How are we supposed to climb a tree without our hands?"
"Well if you would calm down, Naruto, I would explain. First just watch me." Kakashi-sensei holds his hands in a simple seal, and then walks towards a tree, and then walks up the tree stopping on the underside of the first branch.
Me and the boys just stare at him, even Naruto has no comment.
Jumping down our sensei decides to further explain his actions. "Alright, just concentrate your chakra into your feet," I can see the slight blue glow as he makes his chakra visible for us. "Then try to climb the tree. The chakra will allow you to stick to the tree's bark, but only if you apply the right amount. Too much chakra will crush the bark and push you off the tree and too little will cause you to slip off."
We each pick a tree and stare at it for a minute, until three kunai embed into the ground in front of us.
"Use these to mark your progress, and getting a running start might help you." Picking up the kunai I continue to observe my tree. It's a very tall one and the bark appears rough and after running my hand over it I see I was right.
A crunch catches my attention and I look over to see Naruto on the ground after his first attempt. Looks like he barely made a single step.
Sasuke on the other hand his making his attempt now. With a running start he runs right up the tree, and I count twenty-one steps before he crushes the bark. He slices a line to mark his progress before falling back to the ground. Although he lands much better than Naruto did.
Ignoring the argument that follows the boy's first attempt I turn back to my tree. Holding my hands in the same seal sensei used I search inwardly for my chakra. Channeling it downward I form a film on the bottom of my foot, putting a little more on the ball of my foot because that's where I put the most pressure.
I slowly pick up one foot and place it against the bark, nothing bad so far. Cautiously I pick up my other foot and place it beside the first. It seems to be holding my weight, but I'm very slowly sliding down so I put just the tiniest bit more chakra into my feet. And I'm now standing on the side of a tree.
Taking my first step up the tree I notice that I'm getting a little feedback from the tree. I can feel how uneven the bark is, how in some places it is thinner than others.
Taking more strides I get lost in the feel of the bark until I realize I have less space to walk on. The trunk is getting narrower and narrower and I see I'm nearing the top. Glancing down I see the forest floor way below me and boys have still not managed more than a couple dozen steps.
Deciding to be a little devious I yell down, "Hey this is easy."
They all look up to see me at the top and even from way up here I can feel their jealousy. I slowly stroll down the tree under their watchful stares. Once I'm back on the ground I give them all a nervous smile because they still haven't stopped staring at me.
"Alright boys, back to work. Seems like the female on the team has the best control, try to keep up guys." Kakashi-sensei has become my favorite person with that last sentence. Grumbling the boys continue to run up their trees, falling back to the ground every time.
Turning towards the silver haired man behind me I give a smile and quip "got anything more challenging sensei?"
With a grin that makes me regret my words he answers "Of course, follow me."
With heavy steps I follow him deeper into the woods…
To your doom…
"Wait Sakura-chan," before we can get very far Naruto comes running up. Throwing an arm around my shoulders and taking me completely by surprise he leans real close and starts to whisper.
"Sakura-chan, this is really hard, not even Teme is getting the hang of it. Could you give me a little advice? Please." He's got this puppy dog look on his face and I just can't deny him. Pulling his ear close I whisper exactly what I did.
"Thanks, Sakura-chan, now I can beat that Teme for sure." His grin is uplifting and as he runs off to try it I can't help but smile.
"Seems he is finally getting the hang of teamwork." Turning towards Kakashi I smile and gesture for him to lead the way. If he's going to personally train me then I'm all for it.
It takes a few minutes but eventually we reach a small stream. I pause on the banks while he just keeps walking, but instead of ending up soaking he is walking on the top of the water.
"Okay same principals of the tree climbing exercise, only this time it's moving." He lust stands there so I decide to ignore him and do what I did for the previous exercise.
Okay, so, the water is moving fairly slowly and I'll have to stand on it. This means I need just enough chakra to not break the surface tension, yet I'll have to continuously vary the amount I put in because the water is moving.
I put my hands into the focusing seal and push some chakra to my feet. Taking a step I place one foot on the surface of the water.
So far so good, don't mess up.
Ignoring that negative statement, I place my second foot on the surface. And promptly lose my balance and hit the water with a splash.
"Good first try, but this is harder than a tree. It will probably take you a while until you get it, but don't be discouraged…" at this point I tune him out. I don't even think he can hear what he's saying, not with that book his nose is shoved in.
As Kakashi reads and babbles about not giving up in a monotone voice, I drag myself from the water. Standing on the banks once again, I remember the feedback I got from the water. It was chaotic and messy, nothing like the sturdiness of the tree.
Taking my observations into mind I channel chakra to my feet, putting more there then last time. Taking my first step I can see the difference, with the added chakra it forces the water to calm down just under my foot. Putting my second foot on the water I have much more control this time. Carefully I make my way to the center of the stream, slipping slightly only once, and I stand there until Kakashi-sensei looks up.
It takes much longer than it should have but when he never hears another splash he looks up. "Well it would appear our team has a knucklehead, a prodigy, and a girl with perfect chakra control. Good job, not even when I was learning this did I get it second try, I'm impressed." Under his praise I feel like flying, I'm finally getting somewhere. Walking to the water's edge once again I look up at sensei for his next instructions.
Rubbing the back of his head nervously he laughs as he informs me that he has no more ideas. "Truthfully I didn't expect to get this far for a long while, so I'm not sure what to teach you next. You would be perfect for Med-Nin training, but I don't know much in that aspect of shinobi life." I give him my best puppy dog eyes and for the longest time I don't think it's going to work, then he groans and gives in. "Okay maybe there is one more thing you can do. Trying expanding your chakra into your surroundings, use the same focusing seal."
Automatically forming the seal, I try to do as he asks. Finding my chakra I fling it outside of my body, and I feel nothing. Frowning, I close my eyes and try again. Mentally I visualize my chakra seeping out.
"Good, now what do you feel about three feet in front of you?"
Taking his question seriously I image my chakra gathering three feet in front of me. "It feels like there is something in the way, like a blockage. It feels kinda…warm I guess. And, you're not going to believe me but it taste like its blue." Opening my eyes I look at him for his reaction only to find him standing right where I thought I felt the blockage.
"That's very good, I was the blockage, the warmth was my chakra, and the 'taste' was just feedback. Though I have never heard of someone 'tasting' chakra, and what does blue taste like?" Blushing I turn away from his teasing and glare a hole into the stream.
"Alright I'm done teasing. You can continue this back at the house, try to sense the movements of Tazuna-san and his family. I really need to check on the boys to make sure they don't kill each other. You're in charge of protecting the client for the time being. Have fun," and with that he disappears in a puff.
Blinking a few times at his rapid departure I take in his words. Seems like the boys need more help than I do, that has to be a first and I will never let them forget it. Walking back to the client's house I think back on sensei's words. He said that I have perfect chakra control, I haven't heard of anyone with 'perfect' control since the Sannin Tsunade.
We'll surpass her too in our quest for power.
I don't think that's possible, let's just do the exercises Kakashi-sensei told us to do. Opening the door to the house I check in on Tsunami-san, her son Inari-san, and our grouchy client Tazuna-san, beforeheading to the room we were given.
Sitting down cross-legged in the middle of the room I close my eyes and start my exercise. Sending out my chakra, I feel for things in the room. Moving it like I would my body, I search.
Only to come up with absolutely nothing.
Huffing I try again, with the same results. Let's see Kakashi told me exactly where to search for him, and once he did I could only feel him and his chakra. So that means that I can only sense living things?
Opening my eyes I look around; not a living thing besides me in this room. Listening, I can hear people moving about the house, but I can't yet send my chakra that far. So it's time to improvise. "Inari-san, can you come here for a second."
A few moments pass before the young boy comes into the room, "What do you want." Well he certainly is an unpleasant child.
"Would you mind helping me train for a little while, don't worry you don't have to do very much."
"Why would a ninja need my help," he stutters a little, "besides it won't help you defeat Gato, nothing will!"
Before he can storm out I blurt out the words I know will stop him, "but I want to be stronger! This training will help me detect enemies so we stay safe." I feel bad manipulating him like that, but I am a ninja. He froze at my first sentence and turned towards me with hope in his eyes at the second.
After a long minute he nods and I inform him to hide in the room after I close my eyes and to let me know when I point in his direction.
It takes seven minutes until I find him hiding under the bed. Telling him to hide again I send out my chakra to continue out strange game of hide and seek.
By the fourth round Inari has gotten bored "you're taking too long, this sucks, aren't you a ninja? Shouldn't you be able to do this by now? The bad guys should just wave to get your attention."
Wave…wave…"That's it! You're a genius Inari-kun. One more round, please."
Shocked by my volume, he just nods. Closing my eyes I send my chakra out in a wave pattern instead in clumps like I had been. Almost immediately to my left I feel a familiar disturbance that tastes like cranberries. Pointing to it I open my eyes to see a surprised Inari.
"That was fast it took, like two seconds! Do it again, I'll hide better this time."
By the time Kakashi got back, apparently the boys stayed late training; I could find Inari no matter where he hid in the house and outside of it up to 125 meters.
Looks like we have something else to perfect when we get home.
Chapter 9. Ta Da. Should be one more until the Wave mission is over, then my plans can begin to fall into place... (Evil laugh here)
Thanks for the reviews I really love it that people read this :)
