Quote of the Day:

"Getting rejected always makes a man stronger. But then again, men aren't meant to pursue happiness."

— Jiraiya, the Toad Sage

Chapter Eleven:

To Become Stronger

Location: (In front of Ichiraku's Ramen Restaurant)

Morning. And Bolt Uzumaki was on his way to the Team 7 Training Grounds for another meeting with the rest of the team.

But as he marched through the busy streets of the Hidden Leaf, he was surprised to find massive crowds of people flocking in front of Ichiraku's Ramen Restaurant.

"What going on-ttebasa?" the blonde wondered.

"Thieves." one of the villagers said. "How dare they."

"Who would do such a thing?" another villager whispered.

The blonde Uzumaki shoved his way through the mob in order to see what happened at Ichiraku's. Being the smallest one among the tall crowds of people proved to be an advantage. The blonde Uzumaki crawled his way to the front to get through.

Then, he saw a familiar face.

"Konohamaru-sensei!"

Bolt rushed towards his team captain's side.

"Bolt? What are you doing here?" the smoking jounin turned towards him after puffing out a smoke from his cigar.

"What happened, Konohamaru-sensei? I thought —"

He was gonna ask but then he stopped himself.

Bolt shifted his gaze to the sight before him. It turns out that someone had broken into the Ramen Restaurant.

The restaurant's glass windows have been shattered, an indication that someone had snuck their way in through the passage. Chairs and tables inside the building were flipped and overturned, lots of furniture destroyed, the whole restaurant was a catastrophe.

A robbery had occurred.

A crime scene.

"Someone broke into Ichiraku's last night. Well, not just one person. They were a group." Konohamaru explained.

"This sucks-ttebasa." Bolt whined. His favourite restaurant would be closed for days because of this.

"And look." the jounin pointed at something.

Bolt looked at where his sensei was pointing at and saw something familiar.

Muddy footprints.

Everywhere on the crime scene.

"Wait. You think it's —" the blonde immediately caught up with the jounin's speculations.

"Yes. Those suspicious men yesterday. Do you remember them? I hardly even saw their faces." Konohamaru asked.

When Bolt was mopping the floors yesterday as part of their mission, he remembered one of the men wearing straw hats walk around the restaurant, leaving muddy footprints everywhere because of his sooty boots.

"Kinda' do, sensei. But I didn't get a full view of their faces. What did they take from the restaurant?" Bolt wondered.

"Just ramen ingredients. Luckily, our shinobi forces arrived on time and prevented further items from being stolen." Konohamaru said. "But they got away."

Bolt clenched his fists.

"Screw those weirdos! There's no way that my favourite place is closing down because of this mess." his lips twisted into a grimace.

The Sarutobi threw away his cigar before turning to his student. He knew that those men yesterday had other motives aside from eating at the restaurant. Their clothes, the way they acted and their looks were already suspicious enough.

"I shouldn't have let them get away." Konohamaru sighed and scratched his head, admitting his mistake.

"It's not your fault, Konohamaru-sensei. We didn't know what they were up to yesterday." Bolt beamed him a reassuring smile.

"Right." the jounin muttered. "Let's go get Sarada and Lee. We're reporting this to the Hokage."

Location: (Hokage's Office)

Naruto received a recent news about the incident that took place last night earlier that morning. Not long, Team 7 arrived and proceeded to give details on what they know about the robbery incident that took place at Ichiraku's.

"I think we might know a thing about the thieves involved with the robbery last night, boss." Konohamaru began.

"That's right-ttebasa!" the young Uzumaki said.

"What's the evidence?" Naruto asked.

"Muddy footprints." Konohamaru said. "Yesterday, a group of suspicious men ate at the restaurant and left the same muddy footprints like the ones we found in the crime scene." the jounin answered with details.

The Orange Hokage took a deep breath as he checked on the file reports, scattered all over his desk. He read the papers and scanned his eyes all over the documents before turning back to the team.

Not long, the door to the office opened up.

"Hokage-sama?"

Nara Shikamaru entered, bringing along with him more papers and results from the investigations conducted by an intel squad assigned to do the mission.

"What have you got, Shika-san?" Naruto queried.

"Looks like we've figured out where the thieves came from." said the adviser.

Shikamaru nodded to Team 7 in acknowledgement before proceeding towards the Hokage's desk and handing out the papers to Naruto.

"I see." Naruto skim-read the report quickly, then turned to Team 7. "I'm sure that I can entrust your team with valuable information, Konohamaru. What I am about to tell you is not yet publicised throughout Konoha."

"You can count on us-ttebasa!" Bolt replied.

"Two days ago, a terrible incident occurred at a remote village West of Otogakure." Naruto began, referring to Sasuke's discovery. "And the kikaichu swarms are involved once again."

They all looked at the Hokage intently, lending him their full attention.

Naruto continued. "The men whom you've found to be suspicious yesterday are survivors of a kikaichu invasion in their village. Some of them came along with their families to seek refuge here in Konoha."

"Refugees from Oto?" Lee Jr finally spoke.

"Yes." the Orange Hokage nodded. "They are refugees from Oto who fled their hometown when it got invaded by the insects-ttebayo."

"Konoha began accepting an group of refugees coming from the affected villages, ever since the kikaichu started to spread weeks ago." Shikamaru added.

"But the public hasn't been informed about this yet. Although I guess some villagers are already aware of these small changes." the Hokage continued.

Recently, there have been new faces walking around Konoha. People whom they haven't seen before or those who aren't even part of any clans here in Leaf.

"But why steal food from Ichiraku's?" Bolt asked.

Before the Hokage got to answer, the all-knowing Uchiha genius interrupted to speak out the obvious.

"Simple." Sarada lifted her glasses up. "They needed food to support their families. What else is there to go on? Refugees need basic needs in order to survive, as much we all do."

"That's right, Sarada." Shikamaru praised the prodigy. "And according to our intel squad, some refugee groups are living outside the village within settlements. We suspect that some of the survivors are sneaking inside nearby villages to steal food for their families."

After a few more minutes or so of explanation, the Hokage dismissed the team.

Location: (Team 7 Training Grounds)

The Team made their way back to their training grounds, after Konohamaru told them that something of utmost importance was going to be announced by him.

Konohamaru ordered his students to huddle up before he starts to announce the news.

"Listen, team. I've got something important to announce." the jounin puffed out a smoke from his cigar.

"Quit making us wait, Konohamaru-sensei! Just tell us already-ttebasa!" Bolt whined.

"Alright, alright. But before that, let's have a sparring session first to start the day." Konohamaru said. "First up, Bolt VS Sarada. Are you two ready?"

Their eyes widened at the sudden declaration.

Bolt's lips twisted into a mischievous grin. He knew that his chances of winning against The Rookie of the Year in the Academy are quiet low, but it wouldn't hurt to strike a deal that might change his life.

On the other hand, Sarada let out a confident sigh. Her Uchiha superiority complex gave her the self-assurance that she was going to win anyways.

"Hey Sarada-chan, wanna have a bet?" the blonde began.

"What do you want, idiot?"

Sarada replied as she trudged on towards the other side of the field to prepare for their upcoming match.

"If I win this match, you'll go on a date with me tonight."

"Wh-what?" the Uchiha's face flushed in response.

"If I win, you'll be my girlfriend. Deal?" Bolt grinned, making his nice-guy-pose.

Sarada tried her best to suppress her blush. True that he may have been annoying to her, but for reasons she couldn't explain, there's just something about Bolt asking her on a date that made her heart race faster.

"What if you lose?" she cleared her throat.

"Then you won't have to be my girlfriend." he said.

Konohamaru sighed. Young love. "Enough with that, you two love birds. Time's ticking."

"How youthful." Lee Jr muttered. "I'M GOING TO CHEER FOR BOTH OF YOU, MY YOUTHFUL COMRADES!"

Under the rays of the early morning sun, the two Genins positioned themselves at opposite sides of the training grounds. The Uzumaki and the Uchiha adjusted to their fighting stances. But to the blonde's surprise, Sarada got out a brand-new weapon from her backpack.

A bow and arrow.

"I didn't know that you use those weapons, Sarada-chan. That's new." Bolt gulped. His cerulean-blue eyes eyed the weapons anxiously.

Sarada didn't reply.

Instead, she pulled out an arrow from behind her and armed her bow, ready for battle.

The weapon was given to her by her father. Uchiha Sasuke had taught her how to use the weapon since she was three years old just like how Itachi had once taught him the same thing, with hopes of passing down his expertise to his daughter.

Oh god. I'm done for. Bolt panicked.

"What's wrong? Scared?" Sarada mocked him. "Why don't you make your shadow clones now, Bolt?"

"I'm not scared of my future girlfriend." he retorted with a chuckle, attempting to tease the Uchiha.

"Future girl— what?"

SHANAROOO! He's doing it again. inner-Sarada manifested. Now she's nervous. Her once superior composure faltered. If she loses, she might actually have to date the blonde Uzumaki and be his girlfriend. Sarada blushed once more.

"BEGIN." Konohamaru announced.

Wasting no time, the blonde Uzumaki performed the necessary hand seals for his trademark jutsu.

Bolt: "Multi-Shadow Clone Jutsu!"

A dozen more blondes appeared on the field and lunged forth the Uchiha who confidently aimed the bow towards one of the clones.

"Clones for my target practice. How convenient." Sarada said with a grin on her face as she stretched her loaded bow and aimed.

Fire! The Uchiha locked her onyx-eyes on the targets before shooting her first arrow, aimed at one of the running shadow clones. It hit the shadow clone Bolt successfully on the leg, dispelling him.

— — —

"Impressive." Konohamaru muttered as he watched Sarada shoot the arrow with accuracy.

— — —

But once the Bolt shadow clones got nearer and nearer, Sarada managed to dispel three more shadow clones with her arrows before she decided that it was time to engage in hand-to-hand combat.

The shadow clones surrounded her, waiting for their turn before attacking the Uchiha one-by-one.

"GOTCHA-TTEBASA!" one of the Bolt shadow clones yelled as he threw a punch towards her.

Sarada used her bow efficiently to dodge the upcoming punch before performing a quick body-swerve to evade the series of attacks successfully. She then countered with a roundhouse kick towards the blonde's whisker-face, sending him flying towards the other clones before dispelling.

"Attacking me one-by-one is a bad idea you know." she muttered, lifting her glasses up.

"Don't underestimate us!" the Bolt clones replied together.

Another clone charged towards her with a careless tackle, but she grabbed hold of his arm and mowed him down to the ground, dispelling the clone. Then she quickly grabbed an arrow to shoot a clone's thigh.

"Time to heat things up a bit." Sarada said after dropping her bow to the ground.

Sarada leapt up high in mid-air while performing hand-seals to execute an Uchiha signature technique.

Sarada: "Fire Release: Great Fireball Jutsu!"

Infernal fire engulfed the Bolt shadow clones, dispelling them all, scorching the training grounds and leaving a searing mark on the surface below her.

Wait, where is he? Sarada wondered as she searched for the real Bolt.

If all the "Bolts" on the surface just then turned out to be simply shadow clones, then the real Bolt must be hiding somewhere else.

"Right behind you, Sarada-chan!"

The blonde Uzumaki appeared behind her lightning speed, ready to strike a taijutsu kick.

I knew it. Luckily, her quick reflexes allowed her to counter the mid-air kick and she managed to swerve away from the attack before they both landed to the ground.

"SHANAROOO!"

With a punch packed with brute force, an immense strength which Sarada inherited from her mother, she landed a relatively strong blow towards the Bolt's stomach. Bolt flinched at the colossal impact, his back landed on a tree just on one corner of the Training Grounds.

… 5 minutes later

"Excellent work, Sarada." Konohamaru praised the Uchiha. "Bolt, you need to work on your taijutsu some more. But your surprise attack was impressive."

"Don't I get to spar, sensei?" Lee Jr asked.

"Well," the jounin turned towards the Uzumaki. "Considering Bolt's condition at the moment, maybe you'll get your chance another time, Lee."

Sarada felt proud of her victory, but as she shifted her gaze towards the blonde, she couldn't help but feel bad for what she did to him a while ago. Maybe she was being a bit harsh towards him.

SHANAROOO! Why does he look so depressed?! The Uchiha thought.

Bolt quietly sat on the ground beside Lee Jr. He hasn't spoken for quiet a while now. A miracle that the loud blonde managed to keep his mouth shut for five minutes.

"Are you alright, Bolt?" Konohamaru noticed the blonde's silence.

"H-Huh? Oh yeah. Of course I'm alright, sensei." Bolt flashed a weak smile towards him.

Not really. The blonde silently thought. He wasn't pouting because Sarada had hit him hard and defeated him. But a sudden realisation dawned on him, a realisation that changed his mind about something. Bolt stared at the ground in front of him glumly.

"Alright. Now for my announcement. Lend all you eyes and ears on me, team." Konohamaru flicked a lighter to light his cigar up before speaking. "I believe that two months from now, you'd all be prepared already."

"Prepared for what, sensei?" Lee Jr asked.

"The Chunin Exams." the Sarutobi announced.

The three Genins eyes widened at the mention of the Chunin Exams.

"You think we're ready for that?" Sarada lifted her glasses up as she questioned the jounin instructor.

"It's two months from now." Konohamaru said. "And I believe by that time, you'd all be ready by then."

Two months. Bolt thought sadly. No, I wouldn't be ready.

"That's all for today, kids. You're all dismissed." the Sarutobi puffed out a smoke after dismissing his team. "Tomorrow will be your day off. So see you in another day."

Location: (Sunagakure — Kazekage's Office)

Political tensions started arising from one of the Hidden Leaf's strongest allies due to the recent disasters caused by the kikaichu.

The Sand Village, as the name so eloquently implies, is a vast land surrounded by scorching deserts and golden dunes across the vast ocean of sand that engulfed the entire area.

The terrain was making it difficult for kikaichu swarms to get to the village.

But the Kazekage wasn't going to take any chances.

After receiving a letter from his good friend and ally, Uzumaki Naruto, Gaara immediately called for a meeting to prepare against an insect invasion that might occur one day. And he was met with opposition from a few officials after declaring his decisions.

"With all due respect Kazekage-sama, to take such extra precautionary measures seem to be unnecessary." one of the Sand officials spoke. "We don't have any agricultural farms that could attract these swarms to invade us."

Gaara listened to the adviser intently, his stoic demeanour remained composed at the strong opposition.

The official continued. "Our village is already protected by an impenetrable colossal edifice, which I have no doubt is capable of withstanding a said insect invasion?"

"That is not the point, Fumio-san." Gaara said to the official. "Our ally Konohagakure, has sent reports regarding this rapidly expanding kikaichu threat that could possibly reach us sooner or later. We must be on-guard."

"But reinforcing our already-massive walls is what I believe to be a waste of precious resources, Gaara-sama." another official objected. "We could instead allot these resources for the further training of our Shinobi Forces."

A heated debate began.

It went on for a few more minutes until the puppet master of Suna interrupted.

"Gentlemen, please." Kankuro, the brother of the Kazekage finally spoke. "Our Kazekage is just looking out for the welfare of our people. After all, the suggestion came from no other than the great Uzumaki Naruto himself, Hokage of Konohagakure."

The opposing Sand officials began whispering amongst themselves at the mention of the legendary Orange Hokage's name.

Most people in Sunagakure perceived that it would be very unlikely for an invasion to take place at any time soon, due to the isolation and the rough terrain of the area surrounding the Sand Village.

"Very well." an official finally spoke after talking with the others. "We will support this plan, Kazekage-sama."

"One of our main suppliers of agricultural resources from Otogakure has recently already fallen. We cannot afford to suffer the same fate." Kankuro added.

"I second the motion." said more officials.

The positive turn of responses earned an obscure smile from the Kazekage, who silently thanked his old friend Naruto for serving as the catalyst for change of the minds of his advisers and officials.

"There is no harm in preparing for the worst." Gaara began. "It is those who deny the foreseeable who will suffer the cost of getting taken by surprise. Meeting adjourned." he dismissed.

Location: (Team 7 Training Grounds)

After being dismissed, the Genins left on their separate ways.

Konohamaru noticed the blonde Uzumaki's sudden change of character. He's been not quiet himself since he lost his match against Sarada. Had it affected his pride?

"Bolt." the jounin called. "Come here."

The Uzumaki was about to walk away before the Sarutobi called for him.

"What do you want, sensei?" he asked blandly.

The jounin eyed him carefully, trying to read his expressionless expression which seemed to give out something. Something wrong.

"Is … there something wrong? You can tell me, you know. I'm your sensei." Konohamaru puffed out a smoke from his cigar. He could just sense it.

"N-no. There's nothing wrong." the Uzumaki denied.

"Don't lie to me, Bolt. Tell me what's bothering you."

Bolt lifted his cerulean blue eyes up to look at his sensei who seemed to have read his mind.

"I'm weak." the blonde confessed.

"Wh-what's that?" Konohamaru's eyes widened at his unexpected words.

"I'm too weak for Sarada-chan." Bolt began. "I keep asking her out on a date, hoping that she might have feelings for me in return. But I forgot to look at myself in the mirror and realise that I'm not even worthy of her."

So, that's what was bothering him.

One doesn't have to understand the meaning of life enough to find someone who matters most to them. And once a man finds someone to love, with that love comes responsibility to protect.

Bolt continued. "I guess what scares me the most is that I won't be able to protect her when the time comes because I'm — I'm just a failure. All I know is how to do Shadow Clones. More Clones. That's just lame-ttebasa."

Konohamaru hadn't realised that he hasn't puffed out smoke for a while, too caught up in listening to his student's words.

"Man up, Bolt."

"Huh?"

"I said man up."

The Sarutobi threw his cigarette away before letting out a deep sigh, releasing a cloud of smoke from his mouth whilst he did so.

"I'll help you, only if you quit sulking about that and man up." Konohamaru said. "Straighten up that abdomen and wipe that depressing look on your face."

"Y-You'll help me?" Bolt's eyes widened at his sensei's words.

"If you want to become stronger in order to protect someone you love, then that's enough reason for me to guide you to the path you wish to take." the jounin gave him a reassuring smile.

Bolt listened carefully.

"My deceased grandfather once said to me," Konohamaru began. "To those who possess the Will of Fire, everyone is family. The desire to protect loved ones builds thicker and stronger bonds between everyone in the village. If the Will of Fire is embraced by everyone, the village will be alright no matter what happens."

/—(Quoted from Naruto Shippuden Episode 281)—\

The Sarutobi recalled the Third Hokage's words to him when he was still a Genin back then. Old man Hiruzen had been the most influential person in his life and his memories lived forever in his heart.

"So, tell me now, Uzumaki Bolt. What do you want?"

Bolt clenched his fists. With cerulean blue eyes burning bright with courage and unsurmountable determination, he looked at his sensei with confidence once more.

A look blazing with the Will of Fire.

"I want to become stronger." the Uzumaki said.