Chapter 20: First Week of Training
Kakashi was sitting in a high-end bar with his 'date', thinking about what his 'date' told him. While he doing so, his thoughts turned to his team and how they turned out. He had an accurate assessment of Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura's current skill sets and while they were quite promising students, it was their psychological progress that surprised him.
Kakashi first thought of Sakura, whose development as a kunoichi and young woman filled him with pride. At first, she reminded him of his old teammate Rin, with her good chakra control and her crush on the aloof loner of the team. Now she was more like Obito, channelling her energy into training and becoming strong - for her own sake, he recalled, as well as being a beacon of positive feelings and camaraderie.
Next, there was Sasuke, who was exactly like he was when he was younger, although without Sakura driving him away and Naruto being a friend before being a nuisance, he was able to loosen up and be cordial. It was a good thing too, since it kept him close to his teammates and prevented him from falling into further darkness.
Finally, he thought about Naruto. While he expected Naruto to be just like Obito at first (or even like his mother), he was more a mixture of all the good traits of his team. He was energetic like Obito, serious like he was when the situation called for it and supportive like Rin. There was the matter of his palpable bloodlust, but he was able to restrain that part of him outside of battle, so it didn't warrant further investigation.
"So, Kakashi," his 'date' drawled. She took a sip of her drink, which he was told was quite expensive. "What do you think?"
"The only advice I can give you is to diversify." Kakashi replied. "Learning different things and being able to do them well has a variety of uses both in and out of battle. You'll learn to keep a cool head when under pressure and be able to look at things from a completely different angle than what you're used to."
His 'date' smiled. "Is that so? I always figured that being specialized would be for the best, especially with the right circumstances."
"Sure, specialization has its advantages, but at the same time, you become predictable, stale. What happens then? It'll be difficult to spread your talents elsewhere, especially if you didn't spend any effort in learning other things during your training in your specialized field."
His 'date' took another sip of her drink, sighing in satisfaction. "You know your stuff, Kakashi. This 'date' has been... enlightening. We should do this again sometime."
"I agree. If you need advice again, you know where to find me." Kakashi said.
Kurenai finished her drink and left the bar, leaving Kakashi to his barely-finished drink and his thoughts. When Kurenai wanted some tips on training her Genin, I never imagined she would come to me asking for a date. Sure, she was impressed with how my Team turned out, but what about asking Guy for help? He has more experience, doesn't he?
Kakashi hastily finished the rest of his drink and left the bar, a place he didn't quite fit in. In any case, I hope that she learned that to specialize might be wise, there's versatility in diversity.
"Alright, Team, here's how our schedule for the next month is going to work." Kakashi said. Team Seven were currently on the bridge, listening to their sensei. "For the first week, I'll be training Sasuke one-on-one. For the second week, I'll be training Sakura and for the third week, I'll be training Naruto. You'll get one day of rest a week.
"For the last week, we'll train as a team for the first five days. I'll give you the last two days off to prepare for your fight. Any questions?"
"What will we do when we're not training with you, Sensei?" Sakura asked.
"I've organized teachers to assist me in teaching you when I can't do so." Kakashi answered.
"What about Shadow Clones?" Kurama asked.
"If you're not being taught by anyone at the moment, I'll have a Shadow Clone supervise you, but only then," Kakashi replied.
"Sakura, your mother wants to train you, so she'll be teaching you this week. Naruto, you'll be training with Asuma Sarutobi."
While Sakura was ecstatic, Kurama wasn't. "Why? I can already do wind chakra manipulation."
"I told him that, but he said he wants to teach you anyways. Remember, Naruto, he's not your sensei, so if you feel that he's not teaching you properly, then you can stop and train with someone else."
Kurama nodded. If he's anything like the Hokage or Konohamaru, Asuma might not be so bad.
"Alright then. Sakura, I'll see you next week. As for you, Naruto, if all goes well, I'll see you two weeks from now. Until then." Kakashi nodded at Sasuke, who returned the gesture. They disappeared in a swirl of leaves.
"Good luck on your training, Naruto," Sakura said.
"Same to you, Sakura," Kurama replied. Sakura flickered away, leaving Kurama to go and find Asuma. Luckily, he didn't have to look far.
"Naruto," Asuma said roughly. "Let's go."
Asuma disappeared just as quickly, but Kurama could follow his trail easily enough.
"Alright, Sasuke. I can tell you exactly how to beat Lee, since I've fought his sensei frequently," Kakashi said. Kakashi and Sasuke were at a training ground a fair distance away from the village, on top of a rocky mountain.
"Oh, him. He said you were his rival for all eternity, or something," Sasuke replied.
"Did he now?" Kakashi said in an exaggerated tone. "Well, that's not important right now." Sasuke sighed and shook his head in frustration. Kakashi continued speaking. "What you have to know is that, if I know Guy well enough, that he will teach Lee how to negate the advantages of your Sharingan by the time you two fight."
Sasuke's muscles tensed. Kakashi noticed. "Calm down. That just means that you can't hypnotize him with your eyes and that your ability to predict his movements won't work as well. However, you have many advantages he doesn't, such as the ability to use Ninjutsu."
Sasuke's eyes shined. "So what are we going to do?"
"I'm going to train your fitness, primarily. I'm also going to teach you how to match Lee's speed and surpass it."
"How?" Sasuke's excitement was growing substantially with each passing second.
"The Double Body Flicker."
Sakura and her mother were at a training clearing that had a large trench nearby. A dense forest was nearby and both Haruno kunoichi could hear a crashing waterfall in the distance.
"Why are we here, mom?" Sakura asked.
Mebuki pulled up the sleeves of her black jacket. She was happy that Sakura was so determined to become a great kunoichi, so when she heard that Sakura was to compete in next month's tournament, she jumped at the opportunity to train her daughter. "I'm going to teach you a technique that you can use to beat your opponent." Mebuki's hands began to shimmer in a dark green light. The light completely wrapped around her hands and lengthened to a distance of one hands length.
"This is the Chakra Dagger. Unlike the jutsu its derived from, the Chakra Scalpel, this jutsu is all-offense and provides you with some distance when fighting, acting like a weapon."
Sakura looked at her mother's hands in awe. This is going to be one hell of a technique. "Does this mean I don't have to fight with kunai or other weapons if I learn this technique?"
Mebuki smiled, letting the Chakra Dagger disappear. "Not really. It's a technique that wastes a lot of chakra, so it's only useful for assassination or to temporarily counter other chakra-based strikes like the Gentle Fist."
"Is that all you're going to teach me?"
Mebuki turned in the direction of the trench. "I'm going to take your Earth Style jutsu to the next level. That's why we're here. Once I've gone through the basics of how to stay alive inside that trench, we're going to be sparring in there."
Sakura took a look at the trench and gaped in surprise. The trench appeared to be completely embedded with spikes along both of its sides, with more spikes jutting out from the bottom. "Mom? Are you sure you're not taking this training just a little bit too seriously?"
Mebuki smiled cheerfully. "Don't worry, dear, I'm not. If you can spar properly down there, fighting that Hyūga girl won't be difficult for you at all. And if you can't, I'm sure that we can find another place to train that will produce the same results."
Sakura crossed her arms over her chest. "Really? Hinata's no pushover, after all."
"You're right, Sakura, but you shouldn't worry about that for now." Mebuki waved a hand through her blonde hair. "Are you ready to begin? Time's wasting after all, and I know Kizashi wants to teach you something as well. You're lucky that he let me train you first, otherwise you'd just be splashing around in the water."
Sakura nodded, encasing her fists in stone. "Let's begin!"
Asuma took Kurama to a nearby waterfall. Putting on his trench knives, he stepped onto the water.
"So, Naruto, how far are you with manipulating wind chakra?" Asuma asked.
Kurama took a leaf and cut it clean in half using wind chakra. "I have one question. Why are you teaching me?"
Asuma raised his right-hand trench knife and let wind chakra flow through it, which caused a blue blade of chakra to extend from its edge. He placed it near Kurama's neck, but not close enough that it would cut, accident or otherwise. "While I can't accept that you let Ino's mind get assaulted by the demon fox, you apologized to her on its behalf. I won't forgive you, but at least you've shown the maturity to accept the consequences for your actions.
"You can't undo what you did before, so crying about it won't make any difference."
Kurama looked at Asuma with a slight look of respect. "I thought you'd be angry."
"I am," Asuma said seriously, which caused Kurama to stare at him blankly. "I don't regret letting my team participate. I don't. I just couldn't bear to see such a jubilant young woman so broken.
"Anyway, enough about me. Can you cut the waterfall using wind chakra yet?"
After Asuma released the chakra on his trench knife, Kurama stepped onto the water. He walked towards the waterfall and once he got there, he placed his hands within the waterfall, pushing his wind chakra outwards to cut the waterfall in half. However, the edges where the chakra cut the waterfall were not cleanly cut, making them look slightly jagged.
"That's quite impressive for someone who's only been at it for two months. Alright, now I'll teach you the dangers of wind chakra."
Kurama frowend. "I know what they are."
Asuma smirked. "Do you? Then let's spar, on the water only." He pushed chakra into both of his trench knives, extending their length to two feet. He took the stance of the Flying Swallow.
Kurama took out a kunai to increase his chances of survival, but immediately saw a spray of blood coming from his left cheek, a small cut forming quickly. He was on the defensive, countering Asuma's attacks with his own, replacing himself with a log at one point, only to find the log was cut in half by his 'sensei'.
Asuma appeared in front of Kurama, landing a wind uppercut on his chin. Kurama was sent flying towards the waterfall, but recovered, forming a Shadow Clone and wiping away the blood dripping from his chin. What is he trying to do, kill me? Kurama grinned. It's time to kick it up a notch.
Kurama formed a Fireball and blasted it at Asuma, who cut through it with his trench knife. The ensuing smokescreen was blown away, giving Kurama's clone an opportunity to launch a barrage of kunai at Asuma. Asuma sent a wave of wind to stop the kunai from reaching him, but that was a front for Kurama to sneak behind and launch a wind-laced kunai slash.
Asuma replaced himself with a log, which prevented him from being cut in half. Asuma punched Kurama in the face, which caused another horizontal cut to appear along Kurama's right cheek, extending from the ear to just before the nose. Asuma was about to follow up with a punch to the nose, but Kurama replaced himself with the clone, who exploded upon contact.
The explosion was of the concussive type, which caused Asuma to skid backwards on the water. He recovered and came up to Kurama, but before he could hit him with a punch saturated with wind chakra, he found himself unable to move.
"You're willing to spar with Naruto but you won't teach us?" The familiar voice belonged to Shikamaru, who pinned Asuma with his clan jutsu. "Such a drag."
Asuma sighed. "That's the end of practice, Naruto. Hope you learned your lesson."
That was a lesson? Kurama wiped the blood from his face. It's only his ability to use Wind chakra like that that makes him dangerous. I wonder... "I did, Asuma-sensei."
"See, Shikamaru, Naruto's not even my student and he knows how cool I am." Asuma said.
"Yeah, yeah, 'Awesome-sensei'. Let's go. We need to train," Shikamaru growled.
"I swear, sometimes, I just don't get any respect," Asuma grumbled. Besides, the kid learned his lesson. So long as he never lets the Nine-Tailed Fox influence him too much, he won't be a problem. Asuma grabbed Shikamaru and disappeared in a tornado of wind.
Kurama cleaned his wounds in the pool that the waterfall emptied into, removing the blood and taking a break to recover. He pulled out a kunai and let wind chakra flow into it. It only grew about one quarter of a foot in size. This requires practice. I'll do this for the rest of the week, then.
Planning to get some more 'help' with this exercise, he formed his favourite hand seal.
"Shadow Clone Jutsu!"
Five days passed since Kurama began training how to use Chakra Flow properly. He was training at the same waterfall Asuma took him to, but by himself, since Asuma didn't return to train him again. That's not important now. All I need to do is train by myself for a bit, then I can find someone else to help me.
He placed his hands into the waterfall and used wind chakra to split the waterfall evenly, which amazed the young women who were there watching him.
"As you can see, ladies, I need to train in this area and I won't leave. However, feel free to have fun here. I won't bother you, alright?" Kurama said politely.
"Sure, Naruto," one of the women said, She had shoulder-length auburn hair and was wearing a red bikini. "We won't bother you either, but feel free to join us if you get bored with training."
Kurama smiled. "I'll keep that in mind." The brown-haired woman left with her friend.
"Naruto's so cool, isn't he Haruka?" The woman asked. She had waist-length black hair and was wearing a green one-piece swimsuit.
"Totally, Michiru," Haruka replied. What Kurama found interesting that their eye colours matched the colour of their swimsuits.
It sure feels good to be acknowledged. Kurama turned away from the women and faced the waterfall. He placed a foot on it, with the intention to walk all the way up. It was a variation of the water-walking exercise, something that was second-nature to him now.
However, climbing the waterfall proved to be more difficult than he imagined. He would have to regulate the amount of chakra he was using while climbing a vertical surface that shifted frequently. All he knew was that once he finished this exercise, he would be far better at chakra control. However, with all the splashing around he was going to do, he was glad that he wasn't wearing a shirt.
Jiraiya was busy watching two beautiful women playing on the water from his hiding spot in the bushes. It was part of his 'research' for his novels, which weren't disgraces to women everywhere. The last woman who insulted his novel was read a passage from that novel and quickly kept quiet. In fact, she came back to him requesting an autograph for Icha Icha Paradise.
Seems that she got the message. Icha Icha sex scenes were explicit, but the primary draw of the series was the well-developed female characters that appeared during the comedic adventures of the heroic ninja.
Jiraiya was shaken out of his thoughts when he saw a blond boy trying to run up a waterfall. Interesting chakra control technique, but at the same time... The kid looks familiar.
The boy backflipped off the waterfall and impressed the women again, although it was obvious he slipped and had to recover quickly. He turned and Jiraiya caught a glimpse of his face, the whiskers and blue eyes were the boy's most noticeable features.
It's him. If the kid was capable of impressing women like that, he may have some potential. His prized student's son looked at his direction and told the women to leave. After they did, he shot an arm of orange chakra in his direction.
He can already use the Nine-Tailed Fox's chakra so well? Jiraiya replaced himself with a log, using the Body Flicker to appear on top of the pool, right behind the boy.
The chakra arm around the boy disappeared as he whirled around to face Jiraiya. "What are you doing spying on me? Or those women?"
"Research of course," he replied, a wide grin plastered on his face.
The boy snorted. "I know you. You're Jiraiya, one of the Legendary Sannin and the writer of those novels that Kakashi-sensei always reads."
"Glad to see that my reputation spreads far and wide where even young children would know of my greatness," Jiraiya boasted.
The boy nodded, then made his way to leave, but Jiraiya stopped him. "So why are you training by yourself, kid?"
"I have about a week left to train before I get to train with Kakashi-sensei and the teacher he got for me didn't show up for the last four days, so I took the opportunity to train by myself."
"So you trained yourself to use that chakra arm?"
The boy's gaze narrowed. "I did." That was surprising. He would have to see the Hokage about this. The boy continued speaking. "Since you've seen it, can you tell me where it comes from?"
"It's one of the Nine-Tailed Fox's abilities, correct?" Of course Jiraiya knew, he was well-acquainted with the ability, having met multiple jinchūriki in the past, but the ease that the kid released the chakra arm with was surprising. Especially when you considered his age and the fact that he only became a ninja around three months before.
"It is. Do you know who I am?"
What game is he trying to play? "Naruto Uzumaki, right?"
Naruto smiled. "Correct. Is there anything else you want from me?"
Jiraiya's tone turned serious. "Let me see your powers in action for myself. I also want to check some things out with your seal."
"That was pretty straightforward. Is there something you're not telling me?" Naruto asked. His voice was mocking almost. His eyes then turned darker, as if he was lost in thought, considering Jiraiya's request. He then smiled confidently. "Alright then, let's get started."
Author's Note: As you can see, Kakashi is going to train all three of his students, since they've qualified for the finals. Without Sasuke having to fight Gaara and Jiraiya making a move towards training Kurama, Kakashi can balance out his training.