Chapter ten: Time for training! Climb to the top!

Okay, I know it has been like a year since I last updated. I have gone through some stuff and I'm getting my life together, so bear with me. I'm not giving up on writing.

Enjoy?

Disclaimer: If I owned it I wouldn't need to write fanfiction.

...

"I suppose, for now, I'm going to have to watch what I write in here since a certain bubble gum headed girl keeps trying to read over my shoulder."

Akina turned the page in her journal.

"Day two of our C-rank mission:

Kakashi-sensei has come to the conclusion that Zabuza may very well still be alive, as well that he may have more accomplices, so he will be starting us on a new training regimen as soon as he's able to move again. And I'll have to begin some new training of my own.

We also met Mr. Tazuna's grandson, Tsunami's son, Inari. He's kind of a brat if you ask me. I don't know what happened to make him lose so much faith in people, but I guess it's really none of my business anyway."

The girl closed the journal and put it back into her pack before laying down in the futon that was set out for her, right next to Sakura's, on the "girl's side" of the room divider Naruto had called it. And, of course, both boys were sleeping on the other side of the guest room.

...

After Kakashi was well enough to walk, though with the help of crutches, he took the four Genin out into the woods for their first day of training.

"So, it's decided. The new training regimen begins today!" Kakashi announced.

"Yeah!" Naruto cheered.

"I would hope you didn't just bring us all the way out here into the woods for any other reason." Akina jabbed.

Kakashi cleared his throat, sending the girl a slight glare. "But first…let's discuss the basis of your ninja powers… The body energies known as chakras."

Naruto had a clueless look on his face "Uh… Right. So, um… Chakra… What are those again? I think I've heard of this before…haven't I?" he mumbled the last part to himself.

"And you call yourself a ninja? Did you sleep through every class you ever took?" Sakura shouted, pointing at Naruto.

"Talk about clueless. I already knew what Chakra was when I was three years old." Akina sighed.

Naruto scratched the back of his head. "Why don't you say I got in some really high quality nap time?"

The girl sighed again. "You've got to be kidding me…"

"All right! Sakura." Kakashi motioned for her to begin the lesson.

Sakura pulled out a scroll. "Pay attention, Naruto! It's a pain, but I'll try to keep it simple! Try to find some storage space for this information somewhere in that brain of yours." She explained about how chakra is the energy made from the combination of spiritual and physical energies, which are then focused into jutsu using hand signs. "Read and repeat until you find it starts to make sense…"

"That's correct! Iruka taught his students well!" Kakashi complimented.

Sakura smiled proudly with her hands on her hips.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever!" Naruto waved a hand. "I don't do so well with long explanations, but if you could just show me, my body can learn it!"

Sakura looked ready to kill Naruto. And who could blame her? She just went through all the trouble of explaining it to him and he wasn't even listening.

"Naruto's right… We all already employ the ninja arts and techniques…" Sasuke agreed.

"Wrong...!" Kakashi corrected. "None of you yet has full mastery of your Chakra!"

Not even me…

"What?!" Naruto shouted angrily.

"Now, listen…" Kakashi then explained that the energy required depended on the jutsu being performed and that too much or too little could have negative effects. "You not only lack the stamina for a prolonged fight… But you develop significant vulnerabilities."

Naruto smiled and scratched the back of his head. "So…uh… What do we do?"

"You learn to control your body through the harshest of training… Go out on a limb, and learn from the experience!" Kakashi appeared to smirk at his own joke.

Naruto had that clueless look on his face again.

"How do we do that?" Sakura asked.

"How?" Kakashi repeated. "We climb trees!"

"Climb trees?!" Naruto and Sakura asked.

"That's right…" Kakashi answered.

"Thought it would be something like that." Akina smiled, removing her nodachi and harness.

Sakura looked like she didn't have a clue. "How would that qualify as training?"

"Listen up, you four. This won't be any ordinary tree climbing. You're not allowed to use your hands." Kakashi said.

"That sounds like fun!" Naruto laughed.

Sakura still looked unsure "…How…?"

Kakashi held his hands in a Jutsu sign. "Watch and learn." The teacher walked over to a tree and began walking straight up the trunk, crutches and all.

Sakura, Naruto, and Sasuke all looked just a little shocked. Akina wasn't surprised in the least.

"He's climbing…" Naruto said in an amazed tone.

"…With his legs…and feet…parallel to the ground!" Sakura added.

Kakashi then climbed up to a branch and walked upside down.

"What a show off…" Akina rolled her eyes.

"That's it, in a nutshell." Kakashi said "Focus all of the energy of your Chakra toward the soles of your feet and use that power to cling to the trunk. When you have full mastery over your own Chakras, this is the kind of thing you can accomplish."

"But, Kakashi sensei, how will learning to climb trees this way make us any stronger?" Sakura asked.

"I'm just getting to that." He replied cheerfully. "Listen and learn. The point of it all, the goal, is greater mastery over the chakras." He explained that this type of climbing required a very fine tuned application of chakra and that once the technique was mastered then no jutsu should be beyond reach. "…In theory, anyway."

Naruto seemed Happy to hear that part.

Kakashi went on to explain that the training will build up their stamina and make it easier to use jutsu while on the move or during battle. Kakashi then took out four kunai. "…Now, no more talk. It's time for action. The only way to learn is by doing." He then threw them, each landing in the ground in front of one of the Genin.

"Use the kunai blades to score the bark at the highest point you can climb to. It will serve as a reminder for later. Your goal is to make a mark on a higher spot each time you climb. I don't expect any of you to reach the treetop on your first try. A running start will probably be enough momentum for a good first effort. All right?"

Naruto grinned and posed after picking up the Kunai that had been in front of him. "No sweat! I could do this one before breakfast! I'm the fastest-developing ninja on this team!"

"Less talk and more action." Kakashi scolded. "Chose your trees and up you go!"

The four Genin all made the same hand sign Kakashi had, and each ran to a different tree.

"Ready or not, here I come!" The blond shouted. But Naruto barely took one step up the tree before he fell back on his head. Sasuke went about twelve feet before he was pushed back from too much Chakra, then landed on the ground and watched as Naruto rolled around, holding his bumped head.

And as for Akina and Sakura…

"This is easier than I thought!" Sakura chirped.

"No kidding!" Akina giggled.

Sasuke, Naruto, and Kakashi looked up to see both girls sitting on branches more than half way up their own trees.

"Sakura…?! Akina…?!" Naruto shouted in shock.

"Well, now we know which of you four has the best control over their chakras. Our young ladies." Kakashi said while still hanging upside down from the tree branch he had climbed to.

Sasuke slumped down and sighed.

"Incredible! You go, Sakura! That's my girl!" Naruto shouted excitedly.

Sakura slumped in disappointment at the fact that the only praise she got was from Naruto.

Sasuke wouldn't have said anything even if he had been impressed…you should know that, Sakura.

"Well… Understanding the use of one's chakras and manipulating them, successfully is quite an achievement so far…" Kakashi spoke. "…Sakura and Akina are probably the one's closest to overtaking our leader, Lord Hokage…despite all of Naruto's boasts and aspirations…"

Naruto didn't look too happy to hear that.

"And the finest hope of clan Uchiha doesn't seem too impressive, either."

Sasuke glared.

"Kakashi sensei, how could you?!" Sakura shouted as she pointed at their sensei.

Akina jumped down from her tree and stood in front of Sasuke, smirking slightly. "You don't seem impressed, Sasuke. Jealous?"

The Uchiha boy huffed and crossed his arms before turning his head away.

"Alright. We'll continue this for the rest of the day." Kakashi announced.

...

Naruto fell once again, adding another bump to his already bruised head. He hadn't made it any farther than about seven or eight feet up the tree.

Sasuke wasn't making much progress either, after his first attempt he only managed to climb around three or four feet higher.

Sakura was lying at the bottom of her tree, and Akina had stopped to take a little nap on a branch in her own.

"Dang it!" Naruto shouted.

The purple haired girl looked down to see him walking toward Sakura.

"Hey, hey! Sakura! Could you help me get the hang of this?" Naruto whispered to her.

She looked confused. "Hunh?"

"She'll never get it." Akina sighed. Hmm… It feels so good up here. It's warm, but shady. Ahh! I could stay up here all day… and she began to doze off.

"Akina! …Akina!"

The girl looked down. Sasuke was standing there, glaring up at her.

"What?"

"Kakashi says we're done for today."

She jumped down, rubbing her eyes. "Really? I must have been sleeping…"

Sasuke turned and began walking away. "Come on, the others are already on their way back to Tazuna's."

Akina jumped down and retrieved her sword and harness before walking up alongside him. "You stayed behind just to wake me up?" She asked sweetly, mocking the tone Sakura usually used when talking to the raven haired boy.

Sasuke quickly turned his head away, but she could still see the pink on his cheek. "No! I stayed behind to get in some extra training time."

The girl smiled. "Whatever you say."

The next day Sakura was sent off to protect Mr. Tazuna, while Akina watched over Naruto and Sasuke's training. She had made as much progress as she could at this point, according to Kakashi, and was appointed to oversee the boy's training while Kakashi rested a bit more back at Tazuna's house.

She sat under one of the many tall trees, drawing pad and pencil in hand. Well, since she had nothing better to do, she figured she may as well draw to keep herself occupied.

About an hour later Naruto and Sasuke were still at it, both making quite a bit of progress.

Naruto's highest mark was nearly halfway up the tree. And Sasuke's was only about five feet above that.

Once again they both ran up their trees at the same time.

Naruto climbed a few inches above his last mark before he slipped, slicing the tree and jumping back down to the ground. He looked up to watch as Sasuke climbed a bit higher before he, too, slipped and was forced to jump back down from tree to tree. Sasuke didn't look pleased that Naruto was catching up in height.

It's obvious that this has become some sort of competition between the two. They're both very childish. Akina rolled her eyes.

Naruto formed a hand sign again, and Akina watched as he gathered chakra to his feet.

He's getting better at it. A lot more focus and control. She smiled "Must be Sakura's advice…" To be honest, I was a bit surprised she helped him out.

Naruto was about to run up the tree when…

"Hey, Naruto!" Sasuke called out.

And Naruto promptly fell on his face. "You!" Naruto shouted. "You're breaking my concentration! Stop bugging me!"

"Uhhh… Well…" Sasuke mumbled, becoming quieter with each syllable.

What's this? Akina stopped her drawing to watch, suddenly interested.

Naruto had crossed his arms, and plastered a scowl on his face. "Wh...what? What is it?"

Sasuke's face was almost tomato red. He turned away. "Wh… What did Sakura say to you…?"

Naruto had a look of pure shock on his face, but it was soon replaced with a sly grin. "None of your business!"

Sasuke looked like he'd been slapped in the face.

Akina giggled. Burn! That was pretty mean, Naruto!

Naruto went back to practicing. Sasuke was sulking.

Akina stood, leaving her drawings on the ground, and walked over near the Uchiha. "You could always ask me, you know. Kakashi left me here to help you guys, after all."

Sasuke looked even redder than he had when he'd been talking to Naruto. "No, thanks…"

The girl put her hands on her hips. "Oh, what? You can ask Naruto, but you're too good to ask me?"

Sasuke moved away.

"Hey!"

"I'll do it myself! …Isn't that what we're supposed to do, anyway? Learn how to do things on our own?" The raven haired boy walked to his tree and stabbed it with the kunai out of frustration.

You don't have to do everything on your own, Sasuke. When will you learn that…?

…

That night at dinner they were all sitting at the dinner table in Tazuna's home. Mr. Tazuna was at the head, with Kakashi sensei to his right, and Inari on his left. Naruto sat next to Kakashi, Sasuke was next to Inari, and Akina and Sakura shared the other end of the table, Akina next to Sasuke, and Sakura next to Naruto. And Tsunami was standing in the kitchen area behind Mr. Tazuna. And if you're wondering why Sakura didn't snatch the seat next to Sasuke, it's because Akina was already sitting there before Sasuke walked in. So, technically, Sasuke sat next to her, not the other way around. Needless to say the strawberry haired girl wasn't very happy about it.

"Boy, this is real fun!" Mr. Tazuna spoke cheerfully. "I can't remember the last time I shared a meal with so many people!"

Sasuke and Naruto were eating like a couple of starving dogs.

Jeez! That tree climbing training may have taken a lot of their energy, but I didn't think it had taken their manners as well…

"More, please!" Both boys shouted as they held out their dishes. They glared at each other a moment before the both of them suddenly threw up on the floor.

"…That…is so nasty…" Akina could almost swear her face had turned pea green. I'm just glad he didn't throw up on me…

Sakura stood and slammed her hands on the table. "Stop eating if you're just gonna hurl it back up!"

Sasuke wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. "…No, I wanna eat!" He said stubbornly.

Naruto smiled "Because even if we make ourselves sick to do it, we have to eat if we want to get strong!"

"No, throwing up will only make you sick, so it defeats the purpose entirely!" Akina scolded. "Now go brush your teeth!"

...

After dinner everyone sat down to have tea. The floor, and the boys' mouths, had been cleaned.

Sakura was looking at a picture on the wall while everyone else sat at the table, except Tsunami, who was washing the dishes. "Um. Why is this picture torn? Little Inari was looking at this the whole time we were having dinner. Someone's face is completely gone. Is that deliberate?"

Everyone waited for the answer.

"…It was a picture of Inari's father." Tsunami finally spoke.

"…Once upon a time, if you will… Our entire city called him a hero." Tazuna continued.

Inari shoved away from the table and walked toward the door leading out of the house.

"Inari… Where are you going?" Tsunami asked.

Inari merely walked outside without answering, slamming the door shut behind him.

"Inari!" Tsunami shouted, she then turned to glare at Tazuna. "Father! I've told you time and again not to mention that in front of my son!" She then ran after Inari, also slamming the door.

"Well, then..." Akina broke the lingering silence.

Sakura turned to Mr. Tazuna. "So… You're talking about what it is that makes Inari act so strangely…?"

"It sounds like there's a story there…" Kakashi added.

Tazuna explained that the man in the picture was not Inari's birth father, but that they had been equally as close. He spoke of how happy Inari had once been, then Tazuna began to cry. "But Inari changed... after what happened to his father." Tazuna said that the entire village, and especially Inari, had been robbed of the meaning of courage.

Everyone was silent for a moment.

"What could have changed Inari so much?" Kakashi asked.

Tazuna took off his glasses and wiped his eyes. "Let me start at the beginning… And tell you about the man who our entire land called a champion and a hero."

"Champion…?" Naruto repeated.

Akina tapped the boy on his head. "Shush."

Tazuna told them the story of how Inari had met his adopted father, Kaiza, three years ago. He told them how the man had rescued Inari from drowning when some kids had stolen his puppy and ended up pushing him in the water. They had thrown the puppy in the water and told Inari to save it.

"What little jerks." Akina growled.

Naruto shushed her.

Tazuna continued explaining that Kaiza was a fisherman who had come to the village seeking his fortune, but ended up gaining a son and family through Inari instead. He then told the story of how Kaiza had saved the village from a flood, almost losing his life in the process. "That was when… People here started calling Kaiza a champion and a hero. With a father like that, Inari could hold his head up high. …Until Gato came to town…"

"…And the incident you've alluded to took place…" Kakashi stated more than asked.

They all waited. Mr. Tazuna didn't say anything.

"So…what happened?" the Jonin asked.

Mr. Tazuna shuddered. "In front of the entire city… Gato had Kaiza put to death!"

"How cruel…" Akina spoke sadly.

"Ever since then, Inari has changed…and Tsunami…and everyone in this city's changed, too."

They all sat in silence for a while before Naruto suddenly stood up only to fall flat on his face.

"What are you doing, Naruto…?" Sakura asked.

"Are you trying to hurt yourself?" Akina scolded.

"…Don't even think about training any more today. If you try to work your chakras any more without getting some rest first, it would probably kill you." Kakashi warned.

Naruto began to sit up. "I'm going to prove to him that he's wrong!"

"Prove what? To whom?" Sakura asked in clear confusion.

Naruto stood again and walked, with some difficulty, towards the door. "I'm going to show Inari… that there are still heroes in the world!"