Team 7, led by Tazuna and Ishiro(who was still carrying an unconscious Kakashi), arrived at a small house. Tazuna walked forwards and knocked on the door, a few minutes later, a woman with dark-blue, almost black hair opened the door.

"Father..." The woman muttered, looking at the shinobi behind Tazuna.

"Guys, this is my daughter, Tsunami. Tsunami, these are the shinobi that defended me. Does our house have an extra room? Their jonin sensei has collapsed due to exhaustion." Tazuna asked.

"Oh... Right, this way then..." Tsunami stated, leading Ishiro, carrying Kakashi to an empty room before tucked him into a bed. "Are you as old as your friends? You look much older than them."

"Nah, I never realized that though," Ishiro replied, before leaving the room, but not before Tsunami noticed something.

'Normally when people joke about something like that, they smile... But he didn't smile... I wonder what's up with that.' Tsunami thought, before going downstairs.

-Afternoon-

Kakashi awoke, finding himself in a bed, turning his head, he noticed Ishiro sitting patiently on a chair next to him.

"Kakashi-sensei," Ishiro said seriously. "I have something important to discuss with you."

-After their discussion-

Menma, Dhuveena, and Akane were sat at a dining table, doing their best to avoid any awkward eye contact with a boy younger than them who was staring blankly at the three of them. Just as Menma was about to yell at the kid for the strange staring, Ishiro called them into the room, and by the tone of his voice, they knew it was something serious. The three opened the door, to be greeted by the sight of Kakashi sitting up in his bed, while Ishiro was sitting on a chair, his trenchcoat still on, while he was balancing a kunai on a finger by its ring. Upon seeing them enter, he withdrew his kunai.

"Wait, you're still wearing your trenchcoat? Aren't you hot?" Menma asked.

"Well, the blood of another runs deep within my veins, and I have gained control of ice because of this, and as a consequence, my body temperature is far colder than average, but that's beside the point," Ishiro stated. "I noticed something strange, and something is indeed wrong."

"Uh-huh," Menma replied. 'I've got a bad feeling but I kinda feel excited...'

"Well, the team that a hunter-nin would usually be part of is known as a Body-Erasing Team, and as their name implies, they dispose of the bodies of their targets," Kakashi explained. "If that's the case, how did that hunter-nin actually dispose of Zabuza's body?"

"We wouldn't know... She took the body away." Dhuveena replied.

"That's my point. If they needed proof of the deed, she could've just taken the head and be done with it." Kakashi continued.

"And Akane... You're from Kiri right?" Ishiro began, pulling out a senbon. "The hunter-nin killed Zabuza with this. What do you think that means?"

Akane thought about it before her eyes widened. "No way..."

"Exactly," Ishiro replied as Tazuna and Tsunami walked in.

"What are you guys talking about?" Tazuna asked.

"Most likely... Zabuza is still alive!" Kakashi concluded, shocking everyone present except Ishiro.

"But... Didn't you check on his body, Kakashi-sensei?" Dhuveena asked. "Didn't he have no pulse?!"

"Yes, but it was probably a momentary death-like state," Ishiro replied.

"But is that even possible?" Akane asked.

"Well yes, but here's the thing about these needles..." Ishiro started, throwing the needle into the wall, jamming it into it. "This is usually used by a doctor during acupuncture therapy, and it requires precision accuracy, like that of a surgeon to use effectively. Hunter-nins are supposed to have extensive knowledge about human anatomy, so putting someone in such a state would be child's play. Sorry Kakashi-sensei, but I need to steal your job for a second."

"Nah it's fine Ishiro, you're going to be having my job in a few years anyway," Kakashi replied with an eye smile.

"Well, there are two main points. The first, if she had really wanted to kill Zabuza, she wouldn't have used a weapon with a low chance of death, probably would've just used a knife or something." Ishiro explained. "Secondly, she carried the much heavier body of Zabuza, when she could've just taken his head with her. These two points combined lead me to conclude that her goal was to actually save Zabuza."

"Aren't you overthinking this? Hunter-nins are supposed to kill people..." Tazuna asked.

"We can't overlook the possibility. One of the most important rules of being a ninja is to always expect the unexpected, we must prepare before it's too late." Kakashi stated, "And that brings me onto my next point, you will receive training."

"But Kakashi-sensei, how is a little bit of training going to help us against somebody who even you struggled against?" Akane asked.

"Well, who were the ones who saved me while I was struggling? You are all progressing rapidly, don't underestimate your abilities. Especially you, Menma, you've improved the most." Kakashi praised. "But obviously, this is just training until I get better, you can't actually beat him without me."

"But, couldn't he just attack us anytime?" Dhuveena asked.

"Well, that will just teach you all to stay on your toes," Ishiro replied.

"So training with the risk that Zabuza might suddenly attack us... I'm game! This sounds fun!" Menma exclaimed.

"There's nothing fun about that." A voice echoed down the hallway, turning into footsteps before the door opened, revealing the young boy from earlier.

"Inari! Where were you?" Tazuna asked.

"Hello granddad," Inari replied.

"Inari, come and say hello to these people, they are the shinobi who protected your granddad." Tsunami instructed.

Inari took a good look at Team 7, before turning to Tsunami. "Mom, these people are all going to die."

"What did you say you little brat?!" Menma asked angrily, only being held back by Ishiro.

"There's no way for you to win against Gato," Inari said, before turning to leave, just as Ishiro loosened his grip on Menma, who had stopped trying to attack Inari.

"Wait, Inari!" Menma called out, as Inari turned his head. "I don't know who this Gato is, but he's nothing against me! I'm a hero, who will one day become an incredible shinobi called the Hokage!"

"Pfft..." Inari replied. "Are you braindead? There's no such thing as a hero, especially not in this land."

-Nearby Forest an hour later-

"Ok, we will begin the training now," Kakashi, standing in crutches said to Menma, Akane, and Dhuveena, while Ishiro watched from a nearby tree branch.

"Heck yeah!" Menma exclaimed.

"Ok before that," Kakashi began, holding his arm up. "I want to have a chat with you about the shinobi's most important ability or weapon, chakra."

"Hmm, I've heard about it before, but where?" Menma asked.

"Seriously? We've graduated as shinobi, and you don't know what chakra is?" Akane asked.

"Well, I used to sleep during the harder classes..." Menma admitted.

'I'm starting to lose hope.' Kakashi thought.

"I'll explain it simply to you, listen up," Ishiro stated, letting Menma, Akane, and Dhuveena know of his presence. "Simply put, chakra is the energy used by shinobi when performing jutsu. That energy has two parts. The body energy contained within the billions of cells in everyone's bodies, and spiritual energy gained from training as well as other experiences. By bringing out and releasing chakra, you can perform a jutsu, the process of which is carried out by performing hand seals."

"Thanks, Ishiro," Kakashi said.

"So, it's got something to do with the body right? Technically can't we already use jutsu?" Akane asked.

"Well, yes and no. You three still can't use chakra efficiently." Kakashi replied. "Well, listen. As Ishiro said earlier, to release chakra means to bring out physical and spiritual energy and mix them within your body. I'll add to that, there are five common elements, fire, lightning, water, wind, and earth. Depending on the jutsu used, the type and amount of chakra released will be different. Even if you are able to release a large amount of chakra, if you can't control it well, the jutsu will be weakened or won't work at all."

"Then what should we do then?" Menma asked.

"Well, you three will learn how to control it, through some really rough training," Kakashi replied.

"What training would that be?" Dhuveena asked.

"Tree-climbing!" Ishiro yelled down from the tree branch, confusing the three genin.