"Raiton: Hiraishin!"
The shadow clone currently pinned down by Sasuke shuddered as the electricity from his jutsu ran through his body before popping in a cloud of hazy smoke. Panting, Sasuke stumbled to his feet and gave Naruto a quick thumbs up. "I think I've got the hang of it." Grinning, Naruto formed the tiger seal and two more clones popped into existence.
"One more round? This time against two? Sakura should be done at the library soon, she's going to want food before we meet up with Kakashi-sensei." Naruto motioned for the clones to take their place in front of Sasuke before standing up from the grass to stretch his legs.
They had been training in the forest near the Uchiha Compound for a few hours now, focusing mostly on Sasuke's new jutsu. It was a lightning release technique, one that required contact to work. Using Naruto's clones, Sasuke had taken advantage of their time by practicing different ways to take down an enemy in order to actually put the new jutsu to use. It had been draining, and there had only been one incident where Sasuke had accidentally shocked himself with his own chakra.
It had taken Naruto almost twenty minutes to quell his laughter from the sight of Sasukes hair standing straight up.
It had earned him a bruise on his arm from Sasuke's fist, but it had been worth it.
They had gotten back from Wave only two days ago, immediately throwing themselves back into training after taking a day to rest. Naruto had approached both Sasuke and Sakura with a proposition and was pleasantly surprised when they agreed with no complaints. He had offered to help them both train in return for them helping him as well. Their teamwork could use work after all, and there was no point in going at it alone.
Sakura had agreed before rushing off to the library to start research on potential jutsu and theories they might need, while Sasuke had told him to meet by his place the next day.
Hence the current situation; Sakura was researching at the library and would guide them through what she learned when they met up with Kakashi-sensei for the day.
Their sensei had informed them that it was time to learn the next step to chakra control before promptly disappearing after they turned in their mission report. They only knew to meet later due to a note they each found taped to their window.
"I should probably save my chakra for whatever Kakashi-sensei puts us through." Sasuke wiped the back of his hand against his forehead, scrunching his nose as the sweat clung to his skin. "I need to stop by my place and change, Sakura will never shut up if I show up in public soaked to the bone in sweat."
Naruto cringed as the thought of Sakura berating them appeared in his mind.
"I should probably change too."
Sakura sighed softly as she realized just how many books she had grabbed. There was no way she'd have time to read everything and still be able to explain their content to her team. Standing up, she started to pick through what she had already read before taking the discarded books back to the shelves.
I can't find any jutsu that would suit me. I don't want something stupid or overpowered. I don't have enough chakra yet.
Placing the last book on the shelf, a small book sticking out of the shelf caught her attention. Tilting her head in curiosity, Sakura hesitated before reaching for the item.
"A book on earth jutsus? This shouldn't be in this section." She murmured to herself, flipping the book open to briefly scan the words.
The book was obviously meant to be in the Chunin section based on the contents. Shaking her head, She started to head for the front desk.
I'll just give this to the clerk. This is way above my skill level..
Suddenly the thought of knowing how to perform a chunin leveled jutsu sounded appealing.
It wouldn't hurt to learn just one jutsu...I doubt this book will be missed.
After quickly scanning the room, Sakura slid the book into her bag and made her way back to her table where she gathered the rest of her books.
Half an hour later she was standing in front of the Uchiha compound. Waiting patiently just outside the arch leading into the compound, she reached into her bag to pull out the book she had grabbed earlier. Thumbing to the page she had glanced at earlier, Sakura began to read.
Iwa no Yoroi...The user sends Earth chakra to each major chakra point, creating a deep layer on their skin that is able to protect the user from blunt-force trauma and even enhances their strength.
This was perfect for her.
Sakura had found out about her chakra nature shortly after she became a genin. She had found out in academy that ninjas were able to learn ninjutsu faster in the type that resonated strongly with their chakra. Unable to get a hold of the chakra paper due to being an academy student, she had vowed to find it after she graduated.
Surprisingly, Sakura's chakra nature happened to be both earth and water. Lacking enough chakra to properly learn techniques would hinder her training, but with time she knew she could expand the measly reserve that she did have. It certainly helped that her chakra control was one of her strong points.
The less chakra she wasted, the more she had to work with.
"Sakura! How was the library?"
A loud shout shook her out of her thoughts, hands immediately snapping the book shut.
Naruto and Sasuke were walking towards her, dressed in clean clothes for training.
Their outfits were rather similar, both had on a pair of dark shorts they often wore for training, as well as a loose t-shirt. Naruto's was shockingly orange with a small hole near the bottom, most likely from a previous training session. The complete opposite of Narutos, Sasuke was wearing a black shirt with the uchiha crest on both arms. They both completed their outfits with the typical blue ninja sandals and headband wrapped around their forehead.
"I think I found something that would fit both of you, I'll tell you about it when we get to Ichirakus!" Sakura grinned, shoving the book into her bag before skipping over to take her place between the two boys.
"Did you get that new jutsu down Sasuke-kun?"
"Aa. For the most part." Sasuke shrugged as he stuffed his hands into his pockets. Sakura nodded, satisfied with that answer. They walked in comfortable silence for most of the way, at least until they bumped into Team 10.
"Sasuke-kun!" Ino Yamanaka shouted, immediately leaving her teammates to attach herself to his side with a large smile. The blush on her cheeks was obvious, eyes shining with adoration. "It's been too long! You must have been so busy with training."
"Leave Sasuke-kun alone Ino." Sakura gritted out between her teeth, hands already reaching out to shove her away. "He really doesn't need a parasite like you bothering him." Ino's expression switched to annoyance for a brief moment before she hugged Sasuke's arm tighter.
"Sasuke-kun is probably relieved to see me, he's had to put up with you after all." The blonde smirked, her tight grip on the boy's arm bringing out an expression of irritation to his face.
"What a drag." Shikamaru mumbled as he and Choji trudged up to the small group. The genin was obviously annoyed at Ino running off and causing issues, though his face was blank with disinterest. Choji was munching on a stick of dango, heading straight for Naruto.
"Heya Choji!" Naruto cheered, turning his back on his team as he and Choji began to converse.
After a few moments of bickering, Ino reluctantly allowed Sasuke to shrug her off. Taking her place back at her team's side, the Yamanaka didn't hesitate to shove the unsuspecting Naruto away from her team. The boy stumbled away with a shout of indignation, shuffling over to his own team when he found his balance.
"You win this time Sakura, but you won't be so lucky next time. I have to get back to training anyway since the Chunin exams are in a few weeks." Ino huffed out, flipping her hair over her shoulder before dragging Shikamaru and Choji off.
"Chunin exams?"
"Ah yes..I must have forgotten to mention that."
Kakashi laughed sheepishly, already mentally planning the murder of whoever told his genin about the exams. Naruto and Sakura began voicing their annoyance at their teacher, irritated that he had failed to inform them of something as important as the Chunin exams.
To tell the truth, Kakashi hadn't planned on telling until at least a few days before the exams took place, if at all. He wasn't even sure he wanted them participating. It wasn't that he didn't think they could pass-
He didn't think they would pass.
They had barely survived their first mission out of the village, they weren't prepared for something as deadly as the chunin exam. He had heard a rumor that two of the proctors for the exam were Ibiki Morino and Anko Mitarashi.
Ibiki was known for being cold and tough on those he interacted with, there was no doubt whatever test he came up with would be hard to pass. With mind games being a speciality of his, his genin were in for a whirlwind of pain with an exam like that.
Anko was just insane.
She was probably in charge of the Forty-Fourth Training Ground. Although that exam stayed relatively the same each year, Kakashi wouldn't put it past her to put a deadly twist on it.
Then there were the individual battles to think about.
Sasuke would probably do just fine in them, his skills were suited for singular battle. His confidence could be his downfall however. If he went in assuming he would easily win every battle, he would get too cocky and make careless mistakes. If his enemy was actually suited for chunin level, they would take advantage of his attitude and errors.
Naruto was a wildcard. From his observations, the boy was either going to lose miserably or demolish everyone he came across. It all depended on him and who his opponent was. There were the obvious weaknesses, like genjutsu to look out for as well.
Sakura didn't stand a chance. If they really wanted to participate in these exams, she needed to step up her training for these next few weeks. Being the weakest link, and an obvious one at that, put a target on her back. The students in the exam would immediately go for her, seeing her as an easy target to take out. They would need to get her to a point where that wasn't her biggest worry.
"Are you even listening to us?!" Naruto groaned as he took in Kakashi's blank stare. Stomping his foot like a child, Naruto began to berate his sensei.
"Maa..I should be lecturing you Naruto-kun. You don't trust your sensei." Kakashi reached out to ruffle the boy's hair, chuckling when he ducked away and moved to stand next to Sasuke.
"Sign-ups aren't until a few days before anyway, you're being too hard on your poor sensei."
"Poor sensei?" Naruto scoffed, "Whatever. Tell us more about the exams then Kakashi-sensei!"
With a heavy sigh, Kakashi planted himself on the ground as he pulled out a few pieces of chakra paper from one of the pockets of his jounin vest.
"First things first, I need you to channel chakra into this."
"You're a little behind Kakashi-sensei!" Sakura snorted from her spot in the shade of the tree near them.
"Fire and Lightning." Pointing her finger as Sasuke, who nodded in response.
"Wind." Naruto nodded quickly, opening his mouth to ask Kakashi a question about his release.
"Do you know-" Sakura cut him off with harsh glare before she motioned for herself.
"Water and Earth."
Kakashi blinked in response, mind whirling as he tried to figure out when his genin had become so independent. They were already ahead of him, how odd.
"Okay..You've all got different chakra natures, that's good. Variety doesn't hurt when it comes to teamwork, you'll be prepared to combat whatever comes your way. With that being said, I want each of you to learn at least one jutsu for your-" Kakashi paused as he recognized the bored look in Sakura's green eyes.
"You've already beaten me to that as well haven't you?"
"Yup." Sakura confirmed, stretching her arms over her head with a soft sigh. "Keep up Kakashi-sensei, you're falling behind."
Kakashi contemplated just skipping the village and finding a nice seaside home to live in for the rest of his days. These genin clearly didn't need him.
"Then let's skip all that boring ninjutsu talk and get right to the next step. Chakra control." Kakashi stood up and brushed his pants off before motioning for his genin to follow him.
"Follow. I'll explain on the way."
After explaining the next step in their chakra training, which was really just him telling them to coat their feet in a layer of chakra in order to stay on top of the water, they arrived at the hot spring that was dedicated to training ninja in this exact technique. He offered no details, no additional instructions, just a few simple words that basically helped with nothing.
He really did like seeing them struggle after all.
Kakashi found a spot near the water to sit, already pulling out his book to read.
"You really aren't going to help us?" Naruto mumbled, glaring at the water before him. He already knew he would be here for hours, the thought of being soaked for the rest of the day was unappealing.
"Less talking, more walking."
With a huff, Naruto marched towards the water and hesitantly pressed a foot to the water. Not putting his full weight down, Naruto focused on sending chakra to the bottom of his foot.
"I see." Sakura murmured before stepping up besides Naruto to follow his lead. Instead of being hesitant, Sakura focused her chakra and placed both feet on the water. Eyes shut in concentration, she kept the flow of the water in mind as she slowly started to take steps.
Naruto, curious to see if she'd succeed, watched closely as he took his own foot off the water.
The girl only took a few steps before her foot slipped beneath the water. The shock of the heat broke her concentration for a moment before she coated her hands in chakra and pressed it to the water to keep herself balanced.
"You have to adjust your chakra to the water, it's different from a stationary piece of wood."
Sasuke finally stepped up to the waters edge after letting her teammate work out how to handle it. Both boys took Sakura's advice and began to step out onto the hot water, neither of them making a mistake now that they had been told exactly how to mold their chakra.
Kakashi watched in amazement at how effortlessly they walked around on the surface of the hot spring, with Sakuras initial hiccup being the only time any of them slipped below.
Maybe they do have a chance.
After letting his team get comfortable in their ability to walk on water, Kakashi called out to them with a grin,
"There will be times that you'll have to fight while using this technique."
A kunai suddenly whizzed past Naruto's ear, embedding itself in the wood fence behind the hot spring.
"Let's begin."
Kakashi-sensei was actually insane, he was sure of it.
After almost two hours of non-stop dodging and taijutsu practice, with several breaks scattered in between, Sasuke was actually exhausted. It had taken them the first thirty minutes just to figure out how to keep themselves above water while trying not to be impaled by the seemingly nonstop kunai Kakashi-sensei threw their way. Once they had that down, Kakashi-sensei himself had stepped out onto the water with two clones and began a vicious taijutsu spar with each of them. If they landed a lucky hit on the clone, he easily summoned more, not giving them enough time to breathe as the spar went on.
By the end of it, Sasuke and Naruto were down to just their shorts and sandals, having found it easier to get back up with less clothing. Sakura had found it harder to give up her training outfit, but eventually had ended up just taking a kunai to the bottom of her dress to get rid of the extra fabric.
"Giving up already?" Kakashi pouted, staring down at the genin that were currently sprawled out on the ground just outside the hot water. "You lasted longer than I thought you would."
Naruto groaned in indignation, glaring up at the sky as he tried to catch his breath. Sakura was in a similar state, having collapsed the moment Naruto had called it quits and crawled out of the water.
"Aa..don't worry though. You'll have another chance tomorrow." Kakashi chuckled before reaching down to tug both Naruto and Sakura up to their feet. Sasuke grunted softly as he forced himself to his feet as well, the wet fabric of his shorts uncomfortably sticking to his thighs.
"Take the rest of the day to rest up, but be prepared to do a repeat of this exercise tomorrow, as well as practicing the jutsu of your choice." With that said, Kakashi disappeared in a swish of leaves.
It only took the three genin a moment of staring at the spot he had previously occupied before Naruto and Sakura began complaining about how annoying their sensei was.
Sasuke tuned them out as he scooped his wet shirt and headband from the ground, shaking the water from his head as he did so. Within moments he was taking the path leading out of the hot springs, Sakura and Naruto hot on his trail.
"Hey Sasuke-kun, why don't we all meet up later for dinner? I had an idea earlier while we were sparring.." Sakura sped up for a brief second before stopping with a groan. "I can hardly walk."
Sasuke slowed to a stop at her words, glancing back at her with a raised eyebrow.
"What's your idea?"
Sakura brightened as she heard him speak, forcing her legs to move as she caught up with him.
"I was thinking, our clothes might get in the way in a real battle. My dress was hindering my movements after we were covered in water, If Naruto had been wearing his jacket he probably wouldn't have even been able to get back up, and your normal shirt might be an issue too. What if we all go out to purchase something new? We could help each other pick out clothes that would be suitable for battle, especially since the Chunin exams are coming-" Sakura stopped her spiel when she realized Sasuke had nodded in acceptance, with Naruto voicing his agreement as well.
"Really? Okay. Let's meet up at Yakiniku Q in 3 hours, we can go look around after we eat. The shops in the ninja district are typically open late."
"Let's start with Naruto."
Sakura had dragged both boys to the closest shop that sold ninja gear and clothes, unsure of where exactly they would find the perfect outfit for each of them. Pulling them over to the larger section of dark clothes, she ordered them to start looking for both a long sleeved and short sleeved dark shirt, preferably a turtleneck.
They had only been looking for a few minutes when the shopkeeper marched up to Naruto, who was a little further away from them, and started speaking to him in a low, nervous tone.
Unable to hear the conversation, Sakura put the shirt she had been looking at back on the rack before hurrying over, a puzzled expression on her face.
"Is something the matter?" The shopkeeper whirled around to face her, tone suddenly adopting a sweet note.
"Nothing to concern you, dear." She hummed, the smile on her face bright considering she had seemed tense moments before. "Just trying to keep my shop safe."
Sakura glanced over the lady's shoulder at Naruto, whose face was flushed in embarrassment at the situation.
Why is he being quiet? What did she say to him?
"Oh! Naruto is with me, ma'm." Sakura spoke as she stepped around her to grab Naruto's arm. "Don't worry! I'll keep an eye on him. He won't be pulling any pranks while I'm around." Without waiting for a response, Sakura squeezed Naruto's arm tight and walked him back over to Sasuke. Only letting go when she saw the shopkeeper head back to the front of the store, Sakura turned back to the racks to continue browsing.
"What was that?" Sasuke questioned, glancing between his teammates in bewilderment. "Don't tell me you've pranked this shop before?"
"Ah, probably." Naruto shrugged, trying to look indifferent. His cheeks were still flushed, and Sasuke could tell that he was uncomfortable with the question. Deciding to drop it, in case he set Naruto off, Sasuke reached for the shirt he had been looking at moments before.
"Try this on."
It had only taken them about two hours to find everything they were looking for. Sasuke ended up paying for both his and Narutos when the boy realized he had forgotten his money at home. Originally he had refused to let Sasuke buy the clothes, arguing that he didn't need them anyways and that orange was more his color. Sakura had smacked him over the head and took the money from Sasuke's hand to pay for it, spending a few minutes afterwards berating him for not letting a friend do something nice.
Naruto had quieted down after that, looking distracted as they finished up their shopping.
Sasuke now wore a tight sleeveless grey shirt. His white shorts were traded in for a pair of black ones, which he had rewrapped his thigh in order to place his kunai holster there. To complete the new outfit, Sasuke had bought a black high collared, zippered shirt to go over the other shirt, keeping it mostly unzipped to show underneath. The Uchiha crest sat on the back, having been stitched on when they made the purchase. The owner had offered to do it right then and there for the boy.
Naruto hadn't wanted anything too different, so Sakura allowed him to get a jacket to replace the one he already had. This version though, was thinner and less bulky, and was now just plain black. He wore a mesh shirt underneath it, along with tight ninja pants and black ninja sandals. Sakura even convinced him to buy a belt that contained a few pouches that sat along his side, whispering to him that he could easily hide more smoke bombs and explosive tags with it.
Sakura herself had changed the most, discarding the qipao in favor of a dark red kimono type shirt, with a black sleeveless undershirt. The kimono was loosely tied at the moment, though she planned on tightening it for actual training and missions. She was now wearing tight dark pants that she wrapped in bandages at the ankle. The Haruno symbol was missing from the outfit, but Sakura told them she would take care of that when she got home.
"I think we look pretty good." Naruto commented once they were heading out of the shopping district. "I'd look better in orange though." A swift smack to his head was in order before Sakura moved in between them and interlocked their arms. Sasuke huffed at the action but didnt pull away, while Naruto only grinned.
"Do you think Kakashi-sensei would care if we trained some more today?"
Both boys looked over at Sakura in shock, obviously not expecting the female member to want to continue on with more training after the harsh day they had. Naruto and Sasuke's eyes locked before they both nodded,
"Doesn't matter. Lets go." Sasuke stated, tugging on Sakura's arm to lead them down a different path than the one they had been taking. They were now headed for their normal training ground,
"I have to get stronger, for the Chunin exams." Sakura admitted softly as they walked, eyes focused on the ground below her. "Right now I'm the weakest member, I think Kakashi-sensei knows that. It's probably why he hadn't told us about the exams, He probably doesn't think I'd be able to pass."
"Well he's wrong! You're plenty strong Sakura, right Sasuke?" Sakura immediately shook her head in disagreement, seeing his words as an empty praise.
"You know I'm not Naruto. You don't have to say that just to make me feel better. I know I'm weak, but that's why I need extra training. It will just be easier if you both are there to push me to my limits. It's the only way I'm going to get better." Her tone of voice was firm and unfaltering, not a hint of hesitation in her words.
"Count me in."
Sasuke suddenly spoke up, approval shining in his eyes as he looked over at his teammates. He had never seen this side of Sakura before, one that was so determined.
That mission really did change us.