AN: Holy Moly, I'm actually continuing this. I'm as surprised as everyone else. I made some small grammar edits to previous chapters. Maybe a sentence or two to help with the flow. I'm probably going to do edits every week on previous chapters to remember what I was writing. I'll be sure to update the chapters all on Sunday so I don't annoy anyone.

To TheReaper999: I'm u/AbyssNerd. I don't really make any posts as I said I'm a lurker. You might see me around r/NarutoFanfiction replying to fic searches. I might post deleted scenes there, I haven't really decided. Also sorry, I put the wrong name. Fixed it. Did my eyes really fucking do that?

To everyone else: Thanks for the support!

Exit Sage Left

A Light Breeze

Satsuki felt her shoulder pop.

She had spent the evening training and was on her way home. Her hand ran through her hair, fingers running like a comb. Her hair frizzed up from the combination of training and the day of missions. Normally, her hair would form slight curls that would turn inward, as if to remind the world that she wanted to be left alone.

Once she was satisfied with the lack of knots in her hair, the ravenette brought her hair back into the hightail that it normally was. Her hands then traveled down to brush the dirt from her clothes. She decided to keep the high-collar blue shirt and khaki shorts as her mission attire.

Her slightly boyish style was a result of the fact that she had never felt comfortable with just wearing spats as many of the other girls had taken to. Baggier clothing just felt more natural and less... revealing.

Once satisfied with her appearance, Satsuki's thoughts ran through the events of the day. She had wasted her morning waiting for a sensei that did not show and wasted her afternoon doing chores for the ignorant. She did not doubt that Kakashi was a formidable ninja and that in time, she would be able to obtain the power he was offering her; though, the act of wading through the swamp of simpletons was far from the harrowing experience that he seemed to suggest.

Having learned nothing new since that night, the Uchiha had spent her evening blowing the same fireballs into the same Naka river. The act had certainly improved her chakra capacity and made going through the motions more reflexive; however, these were hardly the breakthroughs she expected to experience upon becoming a genin.

There it was again...

Once more, she felt the darkness claw at her shoulders. The whiteness began to spread in her knuckles. It always came whenever the path forward seemed unsteady: the lack of control over her own future. The chirping of the crickets seemed to only add to the thumping in her ears. Gritting her teeth, she soldiered on, hoping to get home before anyone saw her like this. The young girl refused to cause a scene. She hated when people looked at her.

She was persistent. She was strong. She was powerful. And no setback, no matter what would slow her down. She could handle this path. The words slowly being drowned out from the pounding drums in her ears.

However, the beating seemed to stop when her eyes caught a patch of blonde hair. It was the half-wit.

Naruto

She let out a huff and walked around a corner, avoiding him. She had wasted enough time retorting his pathetic jabs. The fool would remain an idiot, just as the evil remained wicked. This was because people did not change. It was simple fact of life.

And Satsuki Uchiha was strong, not only because she had to be but because she always was...

The following day...

Everyone arrived on time. If the ravenette were more expressive, she may have blinked and rubbed her eyes at the sight. The Uchiha knew that a ninja was neither too late nor too early, so she had always made an effort to arrive exactly on time. Even with her tardy sensei and annoying teammates, she could still spend the time doing some stretches and exercises.

However, what had left her confounded, was that when she arrived at the training grounds, she had found that Kakashi had actually arrived on time. Naturally, she was not the only one staring at the jonin, and she knew the man felt their gazes. However, the man annoyingly ignored the unasked question.

"Alrighty, kiddies!" Kakashi clapped, trying to disperse the questions, "it's about time we started doing some exercises."

"Um... sensei?" Sakura interrupted.

"Hmm?"

"Er... I think we are all wondering, did something happen?...Like why are you coming on time now all of a sudden?"

"Mah... Sakura, I'm a very busy ninja," Kakashi easily waved away, "helping all those old women was very time consuming, but I've managed to find someone to take my place."

Before anyone could question further, Kakashi continued, "we'll be starting with some one-on-one sessions and then team—"

Satsuki half-listened to Kakashi, not caring too much about his teamwork drivel. She dawdled on what Kakashi might've been implying before settling that it was likely to do with some darker responsibilities. Moving on, the young genin returned her full attention back to what Kakashi was saying.

"—reason for this is that I want to see what each of you are working individually. I know what you are all good at from the bell test, but what have you all been doing to improve?"

As Kakashi summoned two shadow clones, "we'll split off. You'll tell me what you're working on. I'll give a few tips, maybe some demonstrations, then reconvene and share. Understood?"

At each of their nods, they split up.

Kakashi had decided to train Naruto himself.

Really, it didn't matter who he trained in person, but considering this would be the only time for what would likely be months to have a one-on-one with the boy. Well, Kakashi wouldn't pass up the chance.

As Kakashi let his mind wander, his clones and the girls disappeared into the distance. While explaining, he could tell each of the kids were excited in their own ways. Naruto had been rocking on his feet, no doubt he'd be jumping if he weren't trying to hide his excitement. Sakura had a look of determination. There must have been a change there recently. Satsuki had probably hid her excitement the best with the only sign giving her away being the slight shake of her fists.

As his attention returned to the matter at hand, Kakashi looked to the boy. Waiting for him to notice his gaze, Naruto stopped rocking on his feet and took the hint.

"Oh! um... I've been working on chakra control by practicing with the leaf exercise."

Kakashi hummed before responding, "have you been having any trouble with it?"

"Er... well, last night," Naruto stammered, "I was trying to get two leaves to stick to me."

Naruto continued to explain, "I tried putting them over my chakra points, but I was having trouble remembering where they all were."

Kakashi shifted to his side, "well the ones you should practice depend on the type of jutsu you want to specialize in."

Vaguely recalling that Minato-sensei was a sensor type, Kakashi continued, "I would suggest you focus on your eyes, ears, forehead, and nose for now."

Even if Naruto did not want to develop into a sensor type, the boy stands to improve his spatial awareness. Well... he could improve in a lot of things, but that just means he has more options.

"As for why you're having trouble," Kakashi continued, "have you tried meditating?"

At Naruto's nod, Kakashi questioned further, "what about?"

The genin seemed to get embarrassed for a moment, but relented under Kakashi's stare, "ways to impress everyone on the team," Naruto paused to find the right words, "I want to be acknowledged for my strength by the others."

Kakashi felt a smile form underneath his mask, knowing how much he played a role in Naruto's words, "well, I know you and Sakura have been getting along better, but I would suggest treating Satsuki a bit better."

Seeing Naruto frown, Kakashi expanded on his words, "I understand that she only really respects power, but if you want to also be friends with her, then you'll also need let some things pass."

The blonde seemed to relent and nod. Kakashi felt a wry smile form underneath his mask. Quickly picking his words, Kakashi spoke, "that means you shouldn't tell her that she grunts like a caveman."

"That was becau—"

"Or that her breath stinks."

"But it—"

"Or that her shirt makes her look fat and frumpy."

"But she said—"

"Naruto," Kakashi said with a softness that he knew the boy probably wouldn't have recognized. At least, not from anyone that wasn't Iruka.

The boy paused, letting his surprise show on his face before the understanding overtook it. Naruto's smile widened as he threw his arms behind his head, "Of course, the future Hokage can. Y'know it."

Kakashi drank in the sight before returning to the task at hand, "alright, that's enough chit-chat; we need to talk about your Taijutsu..."

Naruto flopped onto his bed.

He enjoyed his day, but that didn't stop him from being exhausted. After the genin reconvened and discussed, they split off to individual physical training regimens. As Naruto let his sore muscles relax, his mind recalled the morning with Kakashi-sensei. The events began to replay in his head.

"Let's go over the bell test," Kakashi spoke in a bored tone.

Naruto felt himself deflate. He wasn't all that proud about his performance.

"The feinting on the left hook to throw a right jab and then using a roundhouse kick is actually the perfect combo for the situation. That is charging at an enemy who knows you are coming for them."

The blonde let his weight shift back to his heels. He was a bit surprised that his performance wasn't entirely garbage.

"That said I want to hear what you would have done if I'd thrown a jab in response to you charging."

He let the thought stew in his head a little before responding, "I would have ducked under it and continued with the hook."

The silver-haired man nodded at the response, "do you know why that is the correct answer?"

He didn't. Naruto just knew from experience. He felt like he ran through that scenario at least a dozen times during Academy spars.

At his silence, the jonin answered for him, "If you had gotten that close, then a hook would have put immense pressure on me. And if you had the power behind it, I would have to have a death wish to try and counter that hook."

The blonde boy let his face scrunch up as he thought about the words.

"Here, let me demonstrate," the older man said as he transformed into a boy that was the same height as Naruto. "You do the jab, and I'll duck under it. Try and counter it."

As they both fell into their stances, Naruto expected the man turned preteen would slow down so that he could watch. Oh, how he was wrong. Naruto threw out his left. And In one moment, Kakashi stood where he was with his fists raised, and in the next, he was in Naruto's face. Fist cocked back and rearing to take his head off.

The blonde tried to bring his fist back to himself and reel it back for a counter. But in the process, he caught Kakashi's lone eye and felt himself lock up. There was no doubt in his eyes. It looked like he was going to really take his head off.

'Shit,' he didn't have enough time to counter. Trying to jump back, he found he didn't have time for that—especially after his legs locked up. With his options ran dry, Naruto did the only thing he could do now.

Bringing both fists up into a guard, Naruto grit his teeth and closed his eyes to brace for the impact. Only for it to never come. When Naruto opened his eyes, he found Kakashi, as an adult, standing a ways off from him, waiting patiently.

The man must have seen how stunned he was but did not care and continued with his lecture, "next time, don't close your eyes."

"You want to always watch what your enemy is doing," Kakashi slowly explained, "As you can see when people are that close the pressure is too much for anyone to fight back."

"However, that doesn't guarantee that they won't," Kakashi resumed his lecture seeing Naruto regain his bearings, "if you don't have the power to be a threat. Or if they are fast enough and crazy enough, then they will go for the counter anyways."

"I thought you would slow down, so I could see," Naruto muttered.

"I did" was all Kakashi said in response.

"There are a couple of things people might try like a lunge to grab you or jump back," Kakashi went back to analyzing, "in the case of the lunge, bring out a kunai for them to lunge into. And if they jump back, then you've lost the interaction. However, if they aren't fast enough, you can transfer the energy of the hook and put it into a roundhouse kick."

"As you can tell, speed is very important for this interaction to occur, and technically, you want this interaction over a feinted hook."

"To improve your speed," Kakashi paused to express a smile in the only part of his face that wasn't covered, "well, we'll go over that with everyone."

Naruto's mind began to melt back into the present.

The boy let out a sigh. Running up the Hokage monument with logs tied to him wasn't how he expected to spend his morning.

"Ugh," he huffed while shifting into a seated position.

He might as well do some meditating. He didn't have any leaves to help facilitate the exercise, but sometimes, it was good to just meditate on its own, right? Before Naruto could close his eyes to start his breathing exercises, his eyes were drawn to piles of clothes and old food sitting around his room.

'Gross,' feeling his face scrunch up. Naruto thought back. His mind had always been too occupied. That in the past, when he was in his room, he barely even registered the mess. The boy resolved to clean it up at the end of the week. They had some free time from training and missions then.

Naruto forced his mind back to work. The preteen boy felt his breathing become rhythmic and mind lighter as he slowly let the day's stress and events flow out of him. And that's when he noticed something.

Faint blue specks shaped like... people? 'What's that all about?' Naruto questioned to no one in particular. After a moment of thinking, he decided that he'd ask Kakashi-sensei about it later. That didn't mean he couldn't have a look around. Watching the specks had been nicer than he thought it would. The view had reminded him of the time he was stargazing with the Old Man.

While enjoying his time, something else seemed to appear. 'A string?' Naruto thought as his... hand(?) slowly moving to pick it up. As his hand wrapped around it, it felt like he was holding onto... something. He couldn't explain it. It was like life or energy. Wind. It felt like a gust of wind.

While holding on to the string, it seemed to pull him along, taking him away from the star-like lights. Words began to slowly leak into his head.

"...ly came up with the name while eating ramen," Naruto felt his eyes widen but still couldn't see anything.

"Naruto," a soft voice interrupted. So much like Ayame's.

"I think it's a wonderful name."

It was said with such warmth. It was like the feeling of a full stomach after a day of starving. Like the first time, he had ramen. Like whenever he heard Iruka or old man Teuchi say his name, but so... so much better.

It was at this point that Naruto was tugging on the string desperately to hear more, to see more. And it worked for a moment, he saw a shade of red and violet.

The boy sat alone in the void as the specks of light began to flicker around him once more. The string he once held onto now gone and blown away by the wind.

Naruto was about to return to himself and stop meditating when he noticed another string. It was a pale violet string. His desperation had gotten the better of him, hoping that maybe he would see something about that woman before. He latched on to it.

The same breeze hit him, but things were much clearer this time. And what he saw was... Satsuki throwing ropes off of herself.

That nitwit—

'huh,' Naruto looked around before settling his sight back on Satsuki, 'was that...?"

I'm going to kick his ass.

Naruto watched as Satsuki walked past him. Still not really understanding what was going on, Naruto felt his body get dragged along.

'What's going on?!' he watched as she approached the area where he had lunch with Sakura. Well, when he had transformed into Satsuki.

"Oh! Satsuki, are you okay now?" Sakura tried to pry, "is there anything else you wanna talk about? You can talk to me!"

"I have to go," Satsuki replied abruptly, "where's Naruto?"

Thoughts of different ways to twist his own arm began to appear in his head. Naruto couldn't help but pale at the thoughts. 'Am I seeing her memories?' Naruto thought as his eyes scrunched up.

"Eh? I don't want to talk about him. Who cares about Naruto?" Sakura brushing off the question, tried to deter Satsuki by saying, "I mean, all he does is pick fights with you."

Seeing Satsuki ignore her, Sakura relented, "well, he doesn't have a normal childhood..."

"I mean, he doesn't have parents," Sakura seemed determined to rant, "he can do whatever he wants; if I acted like that, my parents would ground me for months."

"He's so lucky, all alone, parents to never say what to do and what not to do," the pinkette seemed not to notice the disgust forming on ravenette's eyes, "that's why he always causes so much trouble."

Naruto felt his shoulders turn inwards at not only at the words but also at the images of the empty home that appeared in Satsuki's mind.

"All alone," Satsuki felt the need to retort, "the feeling of a parent yelling at you is nowhere near what he feels."

"What's wrong Satsuki?" Sweat beginning to drip from Sakura's face in panic.

"You're annoying."

The buzzing of the white noise in Naruto's ears distracted him from the scene melting away. Soon enough, Naruto was back in his room, sat on his bed. Slowly, He slid to his side to try and sleep, pulling down his sleeping cap over his eyes.

The clarity he had just moments ago gone. Blurring into an incomprehensible mess as it felt like his world was doing flips again.

...He didn't even remember his plans to clean his room.

AN: Maybe, I should add the drama tag.

I feel like I should remind everyone that I won't bash Sakura or anyone. I'm just stirring the pot a little. I feel like everyone would get bored if we just watched Naruto train for a month with no conflict.