Disclaimer: Naruto is a Japanese manga created by Masashi Kishimoto. All characters in this story are copyrights of Masashi Kishimoto, Shonen Jump and Studio Pierrot.

The Lazy Uchiha

By Bud

Chapter 9: Training

Inside a two story house along the coast of the Country of the Wave, Sasuke sat in one of the guest rooms that he shared with his brother. It was almost a full day after the encounter with the exiled Mist Jounin Momochi Zabuza and the Hunter-nin that took his corpse away. It was nearing high-noon and as usual Itachi was still in bed, sleeping, just a few feet from him.

He's sleeping more than usual. Thought Sasuke, watching his brother. I wouldn't blame him either after fighting that Zabuza guy. He looked perfectly fine after the battle, but once we got to Tazuna's house and was shown his bed, he immediately went to sleep.

Sasuke continued to replay the battle over and over in his mind. From the time Itachi was lost in the mist to when he was trapped in the hydro-prison. From when Naruto, Sakura and himself worked together to get Itachi out of the prison to when they discovered the one that was trapped was an exploding clone. When Itachi took the battle to a taijutsu match to when he mimicked Zabuza's ninjutsu, and finally to when Itachi used the Sharingan to steal and copy Zabuza's attack before he could even use it himself.

During the last moments of the battle after they went into melee, he was using some sort of psychological warfare to confuse that Zabuza guy somehow. He remembered Itachi's eyes. It had to be some sort of dojutsu technique that created a genjutsu that only Zabuza could see. Did he really know the first technique, that Water Dragon Blast, or did he actually copy it? How can he perform one-handed seals? And why was Zabuza freaking out before Itachi used the Sharingan?

Many questions, but only Itachi could answer them.

"Is he alright?" asked a woman with long black hair, stepping into the open room and looking down at Itachi. "He's been in bed almost half the day."

"Ah." Sasuke nodded. "He's fine. This is just how he is." he said with a hint of annoyance directed at the sleeping Jounin. He smacked Itachi on the head. "Hey!"

Itachi slowly opened his eyes, moving his mouth to get the taste of pillow out of it. He yawned and stretched, making a few bone-popping sounds as he did so. His still sleep-hazed eyes moved to the person standing by his bed-side.

"Sasuke, I didn't know you were so gay that you would use henge no jutsu to attract male attention." he said to the woman.

Sasuke's eye twitched and he immediately punched his brother's face. "I'm over here!!"

Itachi rubbed his face, glaring lazily at his brother. "Oh." He looked at the female then back at Sasuke. He looked back at the female and realized it was Tazuna's daughter. "Good morning, Tsunami-san."

Tsunami chuckled. "Good morning to you also, Uchiha-san, but it's 12PM right now. You've been asleep most of the day."

"Sensei's awake!" noted Naruto as Sakura, Tazuna and himself came by the room. They all entered the room while Sakura moved and next to Itachi's futon.

"You must of been really tired, Itachi-sensei." said Sakura. "We let you sleep in because we knew you needed it, but we got worried when you didn't wake up until now."

Zzzz...Zzzz...

Sakura's eyebrow twitched and Sasuke immediately smacked Itachi again. "Hey!!"

"Oh... it's you again." he stretched once more and sat up, giving everyone a lazy look. "Anyway, since I'm up we should start preparing."

"Preparing for what?" Tazuna asked. "You defeated such a strong ninja. We should be okay for a while, right?"

"By the way, who was that boy with the mask?" Sakura asked, taking a thoughtful posture.

"He had a mask of a pursuing ninja from a special squad from the Kirigakure, Hidden Village of the Mist, ANBU..." Itachi began. "...They are known as the fire extinguishing unit, and their job is to erase any evidence that ninja was alive. A ninja's body will give away the secrets of ninja techniques and chakra of the village it was in, along with medicine that was used on the body, and other various things."

He looked at Sasuke. "For example, if I die, the secret to my Sharingan will be examined.... And in a worse case scenario, there's the possibility that my techniques, including the Sharingan, will be stolen. In other words, pursing ninja will kill exiled ninja who have abandoned the village, dispose of the ninja's body, and stop any secrets of the village from being revealed. They are specialist in the field."

"Where you a Hunter-nin before being a commander, Aniki?" Sasuke asked.

Itachi nodded. "No, but occasionally during certain missions I would get Hunter-nin placed under my command. I learned alot of important information from watching their type of work, that is why we have to prepare."

"Prepare for what?" asked Sakura.

"Tell me, what did that Hunter-nin do with Zabuza's corpse?"

Naruto raised his hand. "He said he would dispose of it?"

"That is correct, Naruto. Pursing ninja are suppose to eliminate the corpse on the spot. But that boy, instead, took away his body to do his job. All he needed to show proof of Zabuza's capture and erasure was to being back his head. Also, the weapon that the boy used to kill Zabuza has a low fatality rate."

"He used.. senbon (long needles)." noted Sasuke. His eyes narrowed. "Could it be that...?"

"Correct." He saw Naruto and Sakura's confused looks. "Senbon are mostly used for acupuncture healing and such. When used as weapons, they have a very low fatality rate unless they hit a critical spot like the eyes. From my understanding of the human body, the senbon struck and pierced Zabuza at the neck in two critical spots that did not kill him, but placed him in a near-death state."

"WHAT?!" came three shocked voiced, excluding Sasuke.

"What I am saying, is that Zabuza is still alive." He continued. "Hunter-nins are trained similar to medical-nins, except their focus on training is to kill the target instead of saving them. With their knowledge of the human body, they can easily pin-point and target any of the five places which will put anyone in a near-death state. For example, the area and positioning of the senbon where Zabuza was pierced pinched the jugular veins without damaging them. His stopped his blood flow from reaching his heart and placed him in a state of near-death. It is like placing someone in a sleeper-hold until they become unconscious."

Sasuke eyed his brother. "So what you are saying is...?"

"Yes, the Hunter-nin had no intension of killing Zabuza, but to help him."

"Sensei, why didn't you stop him them?" Sakura asked curiously. They way you fought, you could of stopped anyone. Itachi stared at her for a moment before answering.

He shrugged his shoulders. "I was kinda tired. Didn't feel like it."

"....." Everyone sweat-dropped.

Itachi saw the look on Naruto's face. He's happy that Zabuza might be alive. "Naruto, don't look so pleased. If Zabuza really is alive, then we'll have to face him again including that Hunter-nin. And this time he will be prepared for me."

"Sensei, how are you going to prepare for this?" asked Sakura. He shook his head.

"I don't need to prepare for anything." He pointed at them. "You three will need to be prepared. I'm going to make you all go through some much need training."

The three of them looked curious.

"When I was observing you three during the battle, I was making note of several key areas were each of you need improvement. Your teamwork is still rough, but it is better than before we left the village. I only notice a few things that you need to work on individually, but those can be worked on when our mission is complete. We'll all train together later on a group exercise."

"Speaking of which, I am all proud of you three. Even though I was captured," he said the last word with sarcasm. "You found the courage to stay your ground and help your comrade despite the obvious strength of the enemy. Not only that, you worked together as a team and even out-smarted an elite like Momochi Zabuza." He allowed them to see a rare smile. "You are all growing at a rapid rate. All three of you, especially you, Ototo."

Sasuke smirked, feeling great from getting such a compliment from his brother of all people. This was a very rare occasion.

"And Naruto," he caught the blonde's attention. "You've grown the most."

Naruto smiled. "You sure know your stuff, Itachi-sensei. Now things are getting interesting!"

"Itachi-sensei, if Zabuza is alive he could attack at any time, so should we be training?" asked Sakura.

Itachi nodded. "Yes. But it does not matter if Zabuza attacks or not. A person like Zabuza who has been put in momentary death, especially with that blow to the neck and being swamped by his own technique, should take a while before their body returns to fighting condition. So we train until then."

"Sounds like fun!!" exclaimed Naruto with an excited smile.

"That's not fun..." said a little boy wearing a hat behind the sitting ninjas.

The three genins looked at the boy with questioning glances, though Naruto asked what was on their minds. "Who are you?"

"Oh!! Inari!! There you are!!" Tazuna held his arms out to the little boy.

"Grandpa!! Welcome back!"

Itachi watched the little boy with a lazy look.

"Inari, say hello to them. These are the ninja that escorted Grandpa." said Tsunami.

Inari eyed the three genin and Itachi for a short moment before turning to his mother. "Mom, they're going to die. There's no way a person can win by going against Gatoh."

"What did you say, brat?!!" Naruto shouted, standing up. He pointed at the kid. "Listen up. I'm a super hero that is going to become a great ninja known as Hokage. I don't know who this Gatoh of Chocolat is, but he's no enemy of mine." he finished with a clenched fist.

"Hmph." Inari snorted. "A hero? How stupid. There's no such thing as a hero."

"Wha..." Naruto stared at the kid before becoming angry. He started moving towards the kid. "What did you say?!"

Sakura held her teammate back. "Stop it! He's just a kid."

"If you don't want to die, you should go home." he turned and started to leave.

"Inari, where are you going?" asked Tazuna.

Inari looked back for a moment as he slid open the doors. "I'm going to look at the ocean." Then he was gone.

There was a short pause before Tazuna looked at everyone. "I'm sorry."

Itachi shook his head. "It's okay." He watched Naruto follow after the boy when a few moments passed. Naruto...

-----

A little later, Itachi sat on the pier by Tazuna's house watching the waves crashing on the beach across the small bay. He had a look of contemplation as he stayed focused on those waves, watching them start out at the mouth of the bay, traveling closer to shore. He seemed to enjoy watching them peak and crest before crashing in a loud roar against the shoreline. The contemplating look turned to a look of need, of want.

"I never been to the beach before," he suddenly said, startling the approaching Sasuke. "I have occasionally passed by them or stepped of a boat during missions onto them, but I have never been to the beach for fun."

Sasuke sat down on the pier next to Itachi, looking down at the clear blue water below them. He studied their reflections. "We have not done anything fun since that day."

"Yeah."

A long pause.

"During the fight with that Zabuza guy, it seemed like you copied and executed that Water Dragon Blast technique at the same time he executed it. I also noticed that you made seals with one hand behind your back." He looked at his brother. "How? Did you know the technique already?"

Itachi shook his head. "First, I did not know the technique, and before you ask I did not use Sharingan until the very end. Taijutsu specialist like myself have mastery of the human body and combined with my extensive studying over the years and a little medical training that was a requirement for my position as ANBU commander, I can predict movements of the opponent by watching the flexing of his muscles on his hand and fingers." Itachi looked at Sasuke.

"So you mean...?"

"Yeah. Every seal Zabuza made, I also performed at the same time using it's one handed variant."

"How is it possible to form one-handed seals? When I was still at the Academy, I asked many of the instructors and some of the visiting Jounin about it, but they have never heard of such a thing."

Itachi snorted. "It is not a skill that is very common."

"How did you learn them, then?"

"When I mastered the Sharingan when I was still a genin, it was the first thing that I copied." He sighed. "Our team was assigned to help the Hokage with some D-rank job that I forgot all about. While we worked, we all talked until ninjutsu and hand seals became a subject. One of my teammates asked if one-handed seals were possible and Hokage-sama demonstrated them. So I copied them with Sharingan."

"Wow."

He shook his head. "Not really. I almost got killed during a C-rank mission because I did not have much practice with one-handed seals." He looked at Sasuke. "Even though I had good chakra control, one mistake in any of the seals and the technique will fail and leave you open for attack, especially in close range. One-handed seals are actually impractical, but if you master the skill you can easily deceive an enemy and execute techniques without their knowledge, or even one of your hands are disabled or occupied."

Sasuke nodded. "Like you did yesterday."

"Yeah."

The younger brother asked another question. "What happened at the end? When I was watching, it looked like he was really freaked out over something. And why did you use Sharingan when you were already winning without it?"

"Dojutsu. I kept my eyes locked on his eyes so he was always looking right at me. I was using a type of hypnotic psychological attack where I keep direct eye contact with him. I read a few books on psychology and the body and many things can be found out from just watching the eyes and subtle movements. I predicted everything he was thinking and what he wished to do."

"I see." Sasuke rubbed his chin in thought. "What else?"

"Then I used a little genjutsu to confuse him by echoing my voice all around him using chakra. When he couldn't take any more, he started getting frustrated and started to execute a technique to end the battle. At that point, I activated my Sharingan and copied the technique. He was so disturbed that he was left open for me to get him with his own attack."

Sasuke nodded his head, now understanding.

"Sasuke."

"Yeah, Aniki?"

He stood up, taking his little brother's hand and helping him up also. "Get the others and meet me in the forest. I'll mark a path. Training starts now."

"Hai, Sensei."

-----

A few minutes later Itachi stood with his team in the middle of a small clearing surrounding by very tall trees. He watched his students with a lazy look he always had and had his hands in his pockets.

"We start the training now."

Naruto clenched his fist. "Hell yeah!"

"Enthusiasm. Good. But before that, let me give you a repeat lesson on Chakra, the base ability as a ninja." said Itachi.

"At a time like this?" Sasuke asked, sounding a little bored. "I already know about chakra."

"Yeah, I umm... umm..." Naruto scratched his head. I heard of something like that... "What's chakra?"

"You're a ninja and you don't know that?!!!" Sakura pointed accusingly. "What did you do in school?!!!"

Naruto looked sheepish. "Hehe... I use to sleep during the hard classes..."

I slept during all my classes. Itachi chuckled for a moment before looking at Sakura. "Okay then, Haruno. Tell us all about chakra."

"Listen Naruto! I'm going to explain it simply. Somehow try to remember it with that slow brain of yours!!" She opened up a scroll. "Chakra is the energy that a ninja needs to use to utilize a technique. That energy is collected from the body energy that is collected from every cell in the body and from the spirit energy that comes from training and experience. In other words, techniques come from these two energies that are squeezed out of the body and molded together. This process is known as molding chakra. And with this chakra one is able to execute a technique by forming a seal."

Itachi stared at Sakura for a long moment, making the girl fidget a little.

"Has anyone every told you that you're a nerd?" He ignored her upset look. "That is correct. Although training and experience does not build ones spirit energy, but their stamina, or physical body energy." he corrected.

"What's with that?" Naruto said. "You can just learn stuff with your body even if you don't understand the hard stuff."

"Exactly what Naruto said. We're able to use techniques anyway." Sasuke added.

Itachi sighed. "Those techniques that you two morons know are just waste of good chakra." He shook his head. "No, you all don't know how to use your chakra completely."

"What?!" Naruto said, a little shocked.

"The nerd," he jerked his thumb at Sakura, who shook her fist at him. "explained that chakra is created by extracting energy from both the body and the spirit, then mixing them up in the body. The amount of each energy will differ from the type of technique you wish to execute. The mixing will be different."

He walked over to one of the taller trees and leaned up against it. "When I saw you three using your techniques, I have noticed that you can use your chakra, but you also waste a fair amount at the same time. You cannot use your chakra effectively. Even if you can mold a large amount of chakra, if you cannot control the balance, your technique will only be half as effective or not executed at all. Worse case scenario, it'll blow up in your face. Wasting energy will create a great weakness of not being able to fight for a long time."

Naruto scratched the back of his head. "So what do I have to do?"

"Your going to have to learn how to control it with your body." He turned to the tree he leaned on. "And you're going to do it by climbing trees." He saw their curious looks. "Without using your hands, like this."

The three genin stared at Itachi as he planted his foot on the tree trunk and started casually walking up along the huge tree. Their eyes widened when he got to one of the highest and thickest branches and began walking upside down along it before stopping in the middle.

"Wow!!" Naruto exclaimed.

"H-how did you do that?" questioned Sakura, shocked.

Woah... Thought Sasuke.

"Gather chakra at the bottom of your feet and make it attach to the tree trunk. Something like this is possible with Chakra." Itachi explained.

"Wait, how can we become strong by doing that?" asked Sakura, somewhat disbelieving in this training.

"The purpose of this training is to accumulate the proper amount of molded chakra in the right location. This is difficult even for well-training ninja. The amount of chakra required for this exercise is quite subtle. And the most difficult place, in theory, to concentrate chakra is said to be at the base of your feet."

Actually, I found that the hardest place to accumulate chakra is at... He glanced at his crotch. ..But I'm not telling them that.

Itachi continued. "In other words, if you are able to master this, you can learn almost any kind of technique, again in theory, that is. Another purpose is to maintain that molded chakra. Most of the time, ninja mold their chakra during battle. In that situation, it is even more difficult to maintain that chakra." He paused. "Take out one kunai."

They did so.

"Use your knife to mark where you are able to climb up with your current ability, then try to make a mark above that and above the next. You all must learn this with your bodies, so get to it! Also, this is not a contest," he specifically eyed Naruto and Sasuke. "You can either try walking up and experiment, or can take the harder path by giving yourself a running start." He pointed at the branch he was standing on. "I will be here observing until you are ready for the next lesson."

Running is the harder path? Thought Sasuke. Aniki said he always took the harder path to become better, so I will too! With that, Sasuke started running towards one of the bigger trees. Just as he planted one foot, he saw Naruto take two steps and fall on his head. He concentrated on maintaining the chakra at his feet as he continued up the log. When he got up to his tenth step, half-way up the tree, the pressure of the chakra he was concentrating broke the bark he stepped. Quickly he marked his spot with a quick slash before flipping back down to the ground.

Damn, I didn't know it was this difficult. If the chakra is too strong, I get repelled. He looked at Naruto, who was on the ground rubbing his head. If I use too weak, the absorption will not generate, and I'll end up like that.

Sasuke did pretty good for a first try. Naruto sucks. Thought Itachi. And Sakura...

"This is easier than I thought." said Sakura, sitting on the high branch of the tree she climbed. She was up near Itachi's level a few trees over.

"Huh?" Naruto looked up. "Sakura-chan!"

"It looks like the one that is best at controlling her chakra is Haruno." noted Itachi. And I know why...

"Wow, Sakura-chan! That's something I expected from the girl I have high hopes for!" exclaimed Naruto. But it's a little annoying...

"Damn it." Sasuke he muttered, looking away. He was embarrassed at being beaten by a girl, especially a fan-girl.

Sakura's face fell. I wanted Sasuke-kun to compliment me. Why does it always turn out like this?

Itachi decided to berate her now. "Your knowledge of chakra was splendid, and your control is good as well." He narrowed his eyes. "But while your teammates ran, or attempted to run, up the tree, you took the easier path by walking up. The reason you reached the top of the tree before the other two was not because you have good chakra control, but because you have such a small amount of chakra reserved in your body that controlling it is easy."

He held up two fingers. "This exercise has two purposes. The first, to train your body to properly apply and control chakra. This training is the second of three steps that will help prevent you from wasting chakra when you perform techniques and learn how to control it properly."

Sasuke was confused. "When did we learn the first step?"

"When you first learned to use chakra." he replied. "The second purpose of this exercise is endurance training. It is similar to the running I been making you do. Running is a cardiovascular exercise that helps strengthen the bodies circulatory system, which increases your overall stamina, and how much chakra you can mold. Chakra does not stay in your body. It dissipates over time and must be molded once again. This exercise will train you on molding chakra while attempting to control it at the same time. It will also help you in molding chakra faster."

"I see." said Naruto, a look of actual understanding on his face.

He looked down at Naruto and Sasuke. Sakura seems to be the only normal genin compared to these two. Naruto is the honored carrier and legacy of the Fourth Hokage, according to Sarutobi-sama. And Sasuke... Itachi chuckled to himself. He is my little brother, after all.

"Naruto. Sasuke. Continue with the exercise. But this time I want you to concentrate more on controlling the chakra, not the objective of getting up the tree. Experiment if you have to, this is why it is called training." He looked at Sakura. "Haruno. You'll start on the next phase of the training. I want you to walk down the tree, then run up. Then you will recycle that pattern until you feel you can run down the tree without trouble. You will repeat this until I believe you are ready for the next lesson."

"Now get to it!" He barked!

"Hai, Sensei!"

-----

The next day...

Itachi yawned, watching the construction workers go about building the bridge.

Seeing that his team needed to work together in the group exercise, he placed Sakura, who showed better chakra control than all of them, in charge of instructing Naruto and Sasuke. The two of them had greater stamina that Sakura, so when she was dead tired from running up and down the trees, she would be giving advice and tutoring them while she rested.

While they trained together, he took up the task of guarding Tazuna.

"You look bored." Tazuna noted, walking by with a steal I-beam on his shoulder. "Where are those other kids?"

"Training together. I have already instructed them yesterday, so now they have to take what I have taught and learn on their own." said Itachi, leaning against the railing of the finished section of bridge. "So I'm here to guard you."

"I feel so secure." Tazuna said with a hint of sarcasm.

"May I have a words with you, Tazuna?" asked a man approaching from behind the expert builder.

"Eh? What is it, Giichi?"

Itachi listened in.

"Well, after thinking about it... Can I quit the bridge building?"

"W-why all of a sudden?! Not you, too..." Tazuna shouted in surprise.

"Tazuna, I've known you for a long time. I want to help, but if I get too involved, Gatoh will come after me, too." Tazuna didn't looked pleased. "Everything will lose meaning if you die." Giichi stared at the older man. "Why don't we stop building this bridge."

Gatoh has frightened these people in such a short period of time that they are willing to live in such poverty. For a rich snob, he has such a strong psychological effect on these people. Such as most corporate C.E.O.'s. Itachi observed. This Giichi person was the second man to quit today, the first whom quit earlier in the morning before work commenced.

"I can't do that." said Tazuna. "This bridge is our bridge. This is the bridge that we've been building with the people of this town in hopes that distribution and transportation will increase to this poor Country of the Wave, which possess few resources."

"But if we die..."

Tazuna started walking away. "It's already lunch time. Let's stop for now."

"Tazuna..."

He looked back at Giichi. "Giichi, you don't have to come anymore."

It is effective him more than he seems. Itachi observed. He looked at this Giichi person. Coward...

-----

Sakura laid against the tree she was running up and down, her chest rising rapidly as she tried to catch her breath. She was watching Naruto and Sasuke continue to run, or try to run up, their trees over and over.

How much stamina do they have?!! she thought, wondering when those two would tire out.

Heh, this is starting to get fun, thought Sasuke, making a new mark above his last. He saw Sakura laying on the ground in exhaustion and he couldn't help but taunt the infamous fan-girl. "Oi, Sakura. Tired already? You've been laying there for almost 10 minutes." Oo.. she looked upset.

"I'm... not tired." She slowly got up and tried to walk up the tree, but slipped and landed on her butt. "Oww..."

Sasuke shook his head. He happened to look up at the sky and determined the time. "We should break for lunch. Naruto, Sakura. Let's head back for now."

"Hey, hey, who made you in charge?!" shouted Naruto, jumping down to the ground.

"My stomach did," Sasuke said sarcastically before heading back to Tazuna's house. I sounded like Aniki for a moment.

-----

It was later in day and the sun was setting in the distance, signaling the change between afternoon and evening. Workers were leaving the bridge job-site and heading home for another night before returning the following morning. The man in charge, Tazuna, was also heading back along with Itachi.

As they made their way back to Tazuna's house, Itachi took in the site of the area of town were most commerce is conducted. He observed the poverty stricken town. Many shops were closed or shut down, and those that were open had little or no goods. The homeless and poor littered the street, mostly children and the old. There were many whom were desperate for work that they held signs stating that they would work for only food and do any job. Traveling the street were mostly hitch-hikers that travel from job to job and also many thieves and pick-pockets.

The Country of the Wave was a shadow of it's former self.

"Alot has changed in four years." Itachi stated, watching a child steal food from a vendor and run away.

Tazuna nodded. "Many changes have happened since last year. That is when Gatoh took over."

"Where are we going?"

"I've been asked to buy the ingredients for tonights dinner." said the old man.

"This is it," Tazuna noted, turning into the shop with Itachi following. The owner gave them a lazy greeting.

There is barely anything here, as I expected. Itachi noted, stuffing his hands in his pockets. These are home grown vegetables, and the meat section is completely empty. That was mean that most of their produce, meat and poultry is imported, or they have no resources to properly farm.

"I understand that times are rough, but if you pick my pocket, I will kill you." he said out loud, shocking Tazuna and the pick pocket behind him. He nonchalantly stroked the back of the pick-pockets neck with his kunai, barely scratching the skin.

"H-how---??!!"

"If you wish to earn money and help build this country to a better future, then sign up to help with the construction of the bridge." He looked at the frightened pick-pocket. "Or are you just afraid of Gatoh like every other coward in this town?"

"WAAAAAAHH!!!" The pick-pocket ran away, his pant obviously soiled.

"Hmph.." He holstered his kunai and shoved his hand back in his pocket. "I'll be outside."

Pathetic. Itachi thought to himself. I'm starting to feel sorry for these saps. Maybe it's because I have lived in the semi-comfort of having a home to come back to and a job to support myself and my brother. I should not feel sorry for these... losers. They allowed themselves to fall into such a depression instead of fighting against the Gatoh Company. He narrowed his eyes. What is a life if you have nothing to fight for?

After a few minutes Tazuna came out of the store and they started back down the street towards his home.

"You scared me for a moment back in there." said the old man.

"...." Itachi kept his eyes forward, not answering. Then he spoke, but not to Tazuna. "Child. I have nothing of value or any food to give you." And he continued forward.

Tazuna happened to look back and saw the sad look on the child's face. Such was a common sight in his country.

"Ever since Gatoh came, it's been like this. Adults have become cowards." he said to Itachi. "And our children have suffered because of it. That is why we need to build that bridge right now. It will be a symbol of courage. We need it to get back the spirit in this country, for the people to have decided to do nothing."

Itachi looked at Tazuna with an uncaring expression.

"If only..." the old and clenched his fist. "If only if that bridge is finished... This town will return to how it was. Everyone will return to normal."

"....." Itachi shook his head and continued ahead. You seem to be the only man with balls around here, Tazuna.

-----

"This is really fun! It's been a while since I ate with this many people!" exclaimed Tazuna, feeling excited about eating with his ninja escorts.

"I appreciate the meal you have prepared for us, Tsunami-san. It is very delicious." Itachi said, enjoying his meal. Though his eye was twitching at watching Sasuke and Naruto stuffing their faces. These guys...

"Seconds, please!" The two boys said at the same time. They glared at each other... then barfed.

"...." Itachi's eyebrow twitched.

Sakura stood and shouted at them. "If your going to bard, don't eat!!!"

"No, I'll eat." Sasuke said, wiping himself off.

Naruto sat back up, glaring at Sasuke. "I have to eat even if I have to force myself..." he said. "I have to become strong quickly."

"There is no quick way to becoming strong." Itachi snapped, nailing Naruto on the forehead with his spoon and smacking Sasuke over the head. "And forcing yourself to eat isn't good either. Chew and swallow, you morons."

Sakura crossed her arms. "Yeah, Naruto, you moron." She was promptly knocked the head. "OW!! Itachi-sensei..." she whined.

"Stop whining, you nerd. And eat more food, or I'll eat it and make sure you don't eat all day tomorrow just to show you what can happen when a kunoichi stays on diet." Itachi threatened, placing another bowl of food in front of her. "Tomorrow I'm going to instruct you on some physical exercises and from then on you can train by yourselves."

-----

So... that is why this town is in such horrible shape and morale. Itachi looked at Tazuna square in the eyes. He looked back at the picture on the wall with the torn piece missing. Now I see why that little boy is so depressed...

Earlier, when Sakura brought up the subject of a picture that Inari was looking at, the three members of the house hold seem to become quiet. When Inari, then soon Tsunami left the kitchen, Tazuna began to explain about the picture, or more specifically the hero of the town. It was a story about Inari's step-father, Tsunami's husband, and how he was heralded as the hero of the village. A man with no fear.

But when Gatoh got his money grubbing hands on this man, Kaiza, he had him executed in public and that stripped away everyones hopes and courage. Itachi shook his head. In some cases, one man does make a difference.

Smack!

Eyes moved to Naruto, who just tripped and fell on the floor. Itachi just rolled his eyes at him, having some idea of where he was going. "If you're going to go train, don't. You have molded too much chakra. If you mold any more, you'll get sick and do more harm than good."

Naruto struggled to get up. "I'm going to prove to him..." He looked at Tazuna.

"Prove what?" asked Sakura.

The blonde boy stood on shaking legs. His fist were clenched and he had a determined look in his eyes. "I'm going to prove to him... that there are heroes in this world. I'm going to prove it to him!"

A sandal smacked Naruto on the back of the head. "OW!! Sensei, what was that for?!!"

"For being an idiot." Itachi stated, pulling a near invisible wire to retrieve his ninja sandal. "If you wish to train on your own at night, then that is fine by me. But, you will not slack off when I train you during the day. If you do..." Itachi's lips turned into a devilish smile. A smile that promised pain. "... I will take away that precious forehead protector of yours, and you will never become Hokage."

Sasuke and Sakura stared at Itachi, shocked.

"Heh heh heh...." Naruto turned around and had the exact same smile on Itachi's face. Except in his eyes, there was fire that burned with determination. "Sensei... I have already told you once already.... I'll go through any hardship to become Hokage... That is my dream!"

Itachi face fell and he narrowed his eyes.

"We'll see."

End of Chapter 9
Author's Notes:

Chapter done! Wow. Neat, huh? Make sure to leave a review!!

This chapter is somewhat of a filler to give a little background on the Wave Country for the main characters and set the stage for the next few chapters. This chapter was also use to show Itachi's views on chakra and how he wants to train his genin.

Also, this delves into the inner thoughts of some of the characters, like Itachi and Sasuke. As you could take a hint, they seem to feel closer to each other now because of their new relationship as instructor and subordinate. When they talk, you also discover how Itachi learned one-handed seals and how he mastered that art. He also explained how he pwned Zabuza at the end.

Next is Chapter 10: Show Down at the Bridge