Alright, this chapter should be better than the last one. I had to keep the confrontation between Kakashi and Zabuza more or less the same so that the setup for the battle on the bridge wouldn't be much different. This chapter gives me more artistic liberties since the part with Zabuza is already set up for the bridge.
Also, a little note about Sasuke's chakra reserves - I can't remember how large they were in canon, but I'm putting them at nearly the same level as Kakashi. My reasoning behind this is because 1) iirc Uchiha usually have above average reserves anyways and 2) Sasuke, as Indra's reincarnate, should have more potent and just generally more chakra than anyone his age short of Asura's reincarnate, Naruto. He's also been training to keep his Sharingan active for longer periods of time in this, which would help his reserves grow.
And, for Naruto's chakra control, I'm working off of two things. 1) Naruto's always been more of a doer than a thinker. Being able to see and memorize the way chakra is released with his Sharingan would speed up the process of him learning. 2) Naruto, in the show, learned water walking (although it was shaky) while he still had Orochimaru's seal interfering with his own, so I'd say that how much he sucks at chakra control is kind of exaggerated. When Jiraiya removed the seal, he was water walking perfectly.
Lastly, sorry for not getting this out right after the last one like I said I would. I ended up sleeping after that, and honestly forgot that today was New Year's eve.
This was gonna be longer, but I got kinda caught off guard because of the New Years. I originally wanted to show at least the start of the bridge battle, but I'm already a day later than I wanted to be, so I'll just start on the battle tomorrow. I'd rather postpone the battle than try than write it now without knowing what I'm doing.
I also didn't get the chance to reread this and anything I do right now would probably be useless, so I'm gonna go ahead and post this and double check it tomorrow, so there may be changes made in the morning (and by morning, i mean whenever i wake up, which may be the afternoon). Though, I did feel pretty good about this chapter until the very end which was a bit rough. And by very end, I mean like the last few paragraphs. Also, based off this chapter, I should be able to make longer chapters as the story gets to the arcs where I really want to be. So far I've done like 3k-8k. This one probably would've been 10k if I didn't get distracted by new years.
Training and Recovery
Team 7 and Tazuna had made it back to Tazuna's house late the night before. Tazuna's daughter, Tsunami, found a place for them to put down Kakashi so he could rest until he was better. Naruto and Sasuke noticed Tazuna's grandson, Inari, watching them but they were too tired to care, and went to sleep in the living room shortly after they made sure Kakashi was alright. Tsunami found Sakura a place she could sleep, away from the boys, and they were all asleep within 30 minutes of getting back to Tazuna's house.
Sasuke was the first one to wake up the following morning, and he walked over to where Naruto was sleeping, and shook Naruto to wake him up.
"Wuh-?" Naruto mumbled, and opened his eyes to see Sasuke standing over him.
"Cmon, Naruto. Let's go check on Kakashi. He might be conscious soon." Sasuke told him, and started to walk towards the room Kakashi was in. Naruto rubbed his eyes, yawned, and then followed after Sasuke. When they opened the door to Kakashi's room they saw him already sitting up, reading his orange book.
Kakashi looked up from his book when the two Uchiha entered, and gave them an eye smile. "I assume it was one of you who carried me here?" Kakashi asked
Naruto nodded. "Yeah, I made a few shadow clones to carry you here. Are you feeling better? Sasuke noticed you had chakra exhaustion, because we could see that your reserves were low when we checked on you with our Sharingan." Naruto explained, and Kakashi closed his book.
"About Zabuza-" Kakashi started, but Sasuke cut him off.
"We know he's alive. We saw that his chakra didn't fade away when the hunter ninja hit him with those senbon. We couldn't stop the hunter ninja from getting away with him, though. How long do you think it'll take for him, and you, to get back to full health?" Sasuke asked, and Kakashi thought about it for a few seconds.
"I'd guess about a week, for both me and him. Even if I didn't get the chance to kill him, he was still basically immobile by the time the hunter ninja got him, and I doubt the senbon helped his health." Kakashi told them.
"How do you think we could train, Kaka-sensei? Do you think you could teach us some of those Sharingan tricks you used?" Naruto asked Kakashi, thinking back to the fight between Kakashi and Zabuza.
Sasuke nodded in agreement. "Yeah, was it a genjutsu you put Zabuza under? Because, while I've heard of the predictive abilities a three tomoe Sharingan grants, I've never heard of a Sharingan actually being able to look into the future."
Kakashi nodded at Sasuke. "Yeah, it was a subtle genjutsu. I made him think he wanted to do a jutsu that I already knew, and then I just did the jutsu before he got the chance to." Kakashi explained. "Though, I doubt he'll fall for that a second time. The Sharingan lets me cast and break out of genjutsu relatively easily, but it's not my speciality. You two could probably make more use of that trick than I could, though. It uses up a lot of my chakra, so I can't really spam it or make the genjutsu any stronger without crippling my chakra reserves for the rest of the fight."
Naruto thought about it for a second, before asking another question he'd been thinking about. "While we're on the topic of genjutsu, how exactly does that work with the Sharingan? The old man told me I put Mizuki under one the night I awakened by Sharingan, but I haven't really tried it again since then, except when I was threatening to put that cat under a genjutsu." Naruto told them, and laughed a bit at the last part.
"Don't they teach you about genjutsu at the academy?" Kakashi asked Naruto.
"Hehe, maybe? I wasn't exactly the best student, I was probably asleep or something for that." Naruto admitted to Kakashi, and sheepishly grinned at him.
Kakashi and Sasuke had to fight the urge to facepalm at that, and Kakashi decided to explain it to Naruto. "Well, basically, genjutsu work by controlling someone else's chakra flow and manipulating their senses. Usually, it takes really precise chakra control to use genjutsu. With your chakra, you'd probably be hopeless at genjutsu without your Sharingan. However, thanks to the Sharingan, we're able to directly push our chakra through our eyes and into someone else's, just by making eye contact. It's one of the thing that makes the Sharingan so famous. Those with the Sharingan can subtly cast genjutsu without using any hand signs, so the target won't even notice that they've been placed in a genjutsu." Kakashi explained. "My, uh.. friend, I guess.. Might Guy fights me while watching my foot movement so I can't place him under a genjutsu."
Naruto's eyes widened a bit at that, and he activated his Sharingan. "Ohhhh! That's really convenient, you know! No wonder the Sharingan is so famous. Hey, do you think I could practice genjutsu on one of you?" Naruto asked, and they both shook their heads.
Sasuke activated his Sharingan, and stared into Naruto's. "It wouldn't work as well for you to try it on us, that's another thing that makes the Sharingan famous. On top of being able to cast genjutsu, we're essentially immune to them if the genjutsu isn't an extremely advanced one, and there aren't many on a high enough level for that." Sasuke explained, and deactivated his Sharingan, followed by Naruto deactivating his own.
"Oh, really? That's awesome! Do you know anyone with high level genjutsu that would work on us?" Naruto asked Kakashi.
"Well, there's Kurenai Yuhi, team 8's jonin sensei. She's Konoha's genjutsu specialist. There's also.." Kakashi looked at Sasuke, who gave him a nod. "Itachi Uchiha. Kurenai is good, but you two may be able to escape her genjutsu thanks to your Sharingan. Itachi, on the other hand.."
Kakashi trailed off, and Sasuke picked up where he left off. "Itachi is a master of genjutsu. Sharingan or not, you should never look in his eyes. And his eyes.." Sasuke paused, getting confused looks from Kakashi and Naruto. "A little bit before he killed my-" He looked at Naruto. "-our clan, he showed me something with his eyes. They were.. different than the normal Sharingan. Instead of tomoe, his eyes looked like a shuriken. The night he.. did it, he showed it to me, again. But, that time, he put me in a weird genjutsu. It was.. torture. I think he called it the Mangekyo Sharingan, and he told me.." The emotion of thinking about it caused his Sharingan to activate, and Naruto put a hand on his shoulder.
"It's alright, Sasuke. You don't have to-" Naruto tried to tell him, but Sasuke started to speak again.
"He told me I'd have to.. kill my best friend, in order to get the eyes he has." Sasuke finished, and Kakashi's eye widened.
'Wait.. When I killed- when Rin died.. I felt something in my Sharingan before everything went black.. is that how all those ninja died?' Kakashi thought, realization dawning on him. "The Mangekyo Sharingan.." Kakashi echoed, and raised his hand to his covered Sharingan.
Naruto looked into Sasuke's Sharingan eyes, hand still on his shoulder. "Sasuke, you don't have to listen to your brother. There are other ways to become strong enough to defeat him, and I'll help you. You aren't alone." Naruto told him, and Sasuke deactivated his Sharingan.
"I know.. Itachi is just so powerful." Sasuke sighed. "I don't know how to beat him."
Naruto stayed silent for a moment, and then his eyes lit up. "Hey! From what the old man told me, my father was one of the strongest shinobi ever, and he never awakened the Sharingan! If he can become that strong without the Sharingan, we can become stronger than Itachi without the Mangekyo!" Naruto told Sasuke, excitement evident in his voice. Kakashi was still silent, and still had his hand over his covered Sharingan.
Sasuke gave a small smile at his teammate's enthusiasm, and then turned to look at Kakashi, noticing his weird reaction to the Mangekyo. "Kakashi?" Sasuke asked, snapping Kakashi out of his silence, and Kakashi turned to him. "Have you heard of the Mangekyo before? You started acting weird once I mentioned it."
Kakashi lowered his hand from his eye and opened his mouth to speak, but he was cut off by Sakura barging into the room. "Kakashi-sensei, you're awake!" She exclaimed, and all three of them turned to face her.
"Oh, hey Sakura." Kakashi greeted her, somewhat happy to avoid Sasuke's question, for now at least.
Sakura turned to face Naruto and Sasuke. 'Ohhhhh, Sasuke looks so cute with bedhead!' She thought, even though Sasuke's hair was barely messier than usual. "What were you guys talking about?" she asked, and Naruto shared a look with Sasuke.
Sasuke just told her "Nothing." before turning to Kakashi. "Me and Naruto need to ask you something later. When do you think you'll be good to train us?" Sasuke asked, and Kakashi wiggled his legs a bit.
"Well, I'll need crutches but the first thing I want to teach the three of you doesn't require much chakra usage." Kakashi explained, and picked up his orange book. "Well, it's still really early. Tazuna probably has a pair of crutches around here somewhere, so we'll just have to ask him once he's up. We can train after we all eat breakfast." Sasuke looked a bit annoyed that Sakura interrupted the conversation they were having, but nodded in agreement.
Sakura looked at the three of them, confused. "Training?" She asked, and Sasuke sighed.
"Zabuza's alive, remember? We need to train so we'll be ready to fight him and that fake hunter ninja, and you need the most training out of all of us." Sasuke told her, and Sakura's face of confusion turned to one of fear.
Sakura looked down at Kakashi, then looked between her two teammates. "We have to fight him? He's a Jonin! I thought Kakashi would fight him!" She said shakily, obviously terrified.
Naruto shook his head. "No, Kakashi will be fine by the time we have to fight Zabuza," he started, and Sakura let out a sigh. "but Zabuza will likely have the fake hunter ninja with him. Me and Sasuke will fight the fake hunter ninja, and you'll have to protect Tazuna." He finished, and Sakura looked uncertain.
"I have to protect Tazuna?" She asked. "From what? If you three are fighting the ninja, what do I need to protect him from?"
Kakashi gave her an eye smile. "Just stray attacks. The three of us will try to make sure our fights are away from Tazuna, so you just need to watch out and make sure that he's not killed by a kunai or something we missed." Kakashi explained, and Sakura let out another sigh of relief. "However, that doesn't mean you can slack off on your training. Now, how about the three of you go do something, I want to finish this chapter." Kakashi turned back to his book, and continued reading. The three genin looked between each other, and walked out of the room, leaving Kakashi in the room, alone.
Kakashi turned to make sure they'd left, and then muttered "Mangekyo Sharingan, huh?"
Tazuna's dining room
Tsunami, Tazuna, and Inari all woke up around an hour after the 4 shinobi. Tazuna did have a spare set of crutches lying around, and he gave them to Kakashi so he could get around without help. Now, they were all sitting at the table and eating breakfast. Naruto was making conversation, being loud like usual, when Inari finally spoke.
"Shut up! Why are you so happy! You're just gonna get yourself killed! You can't stand up against Gato!" Inari yelled at Naruto, tears streaming down his face.
Naruto, who was looking at and talking to Sasuke, turned to face Inari. "Huh? I'm not gonna get myself killed, we're gonna take down Gato!" He yelled back, and Inari slammed his fist down on the table in response.
"No, you're just gonna get yourself killed! You're just butting in, acting all happy! You don't know what it's like to suffer!" Inari shouted, crying even harder.
Sasuke looked over to Naruto, and could tell he was getting pissed off, and noticed his Sharingan activate from the anger. "Naruto-" He started, but Naruto didn't give him the chance to finish.
Naruto glared at Inari, his Sharingan spinning. "Are you just gonna let Gato take over your country? Just gonna sit here crying all day? Do you have any idea what others are going through, while you're just sitting here in your cozy little house? There are people who have watched their entire clan be slaughtered! People who have lost friends and comrades! People who grew up without any kind of family, who were shunned by everyone they met! But they aren't just sitting around, wallowing in their own depression! No, they get up and DO SOMETHING, instead of just sitting there and crying!" Naruto shouted, and Inari stared back at him, wide eyed. Naruto deactivated his Sharingan and went back to eating, ignoring the eyes on him. Inari got up from his chair, and ran out of the room.
Sakura, watching Inari leave, turned to Naruto. "Naruto, that was a bit harsh, you should-" she started, but was cut off by Sasuke.
"Sakura, shut up. Naruto was right, the kid can't just sit there and cry and not do anything." Sasuke told her, and Naruto finished his food.
Naruto stood up, and looked at Tsunami. "Thank you for the food." he said with a small bow, and then walked out of the house. Sasuke finished his own food, and followed Naruto out before Sakura could say anything else.
After Naruto and Sasuke left, Sakura turned to Kakashi. "What did he mean by growing up without a family and being shunned?" She asked Kakashi, who had somehow finished his food without anyone seeing under his mask.
"Ah, you noticed that? Well, that's something you'll have to ask him, it's not my place to tell you." Kakashi told her, and she gave him a confused look. Kakashi got up from his chair, crutches under his arms. He turned to Tsunami and said "Thank you for the food, Ms. Tsunami." before leaving the way Inari went, heading out to talk to him about what Naruto said. This left a confused Sakura, Tazuna, and Tsumami sitting at the dinner table.
Outside Tazuna's house
Naruto was walking into a clearing, followed closely by Sasuke. Naruto stopped and turned back to look at Sasuke, who stopped in front of him.
"Look, I know I went too far-" Naruto started, but Sasuke stopped him.
"No, you were right. If he kept going on, I might've ended up putting him in a genjutsu or something." Naruto chuckled a bit at that, and rubbed the back of his head.
"Yeah, I'd be lying if I said I didn't consider it. Though I think Kakashi might've scolded me if I put a civilian child in a genjutsu because he got mad at me." Naruto stopped scratching the back of the head, he could tell that Sasuke wanted to talk about something else.
Sasuke looked around, making sure Sakura didn't follow them out, and then looked at Naruto. "Did you notice Kakashi acting weird when we were talking about the Mangekyo? Before Sakura interrupted." He asked Naruto, who nodded.
"Yeah, I was gonna ask him about that whenever we got some alone time with him again. Though, it can probably wait till we're done with this mission, since we really need to train first." Naruto told him, and then activated his Sharingan. "Wanna spar until Kakashi and Sakura get out here? I think I've got the style you showed me mostly down." Naruto said, and Sasuke activated his own Sharingan. They both got into their fighting stances, and sparred.
After a few minutes, Kakashi and Sakura showed up to see Naruto and Sasuke both sparring, a trail of red following their blazing Sharingan. Kakashi was impressed by how much Naruto had improved since the bell test, and Sakura was surprised by how fast the two of them were.
When Naruto and Sasuke noticed Kakashi and Sakura's arrival, they quickly stopped and walked over to the two of them, deactivating their Sharingan. Sasuke was a little dirty, but he was mostly unharmed. Naruto had a few bruises, but they were quickly healing and fading away.
"Hey Kaka-sensei, Sakura, are we gonna train now?" Naruto asked them, and Kakashi began to walk over to one of the trees.
"Since I'm more or less out of commission right now, I'm gonna teach you how to climb trees." Kakashi told them, and he was met with three faces of disappointment.
"But we already know how to climb trees, Kaka-sensei." Naruto deadpanned, and Sasuke grunted in agreement.
Kakashi held up a hand, his crutches still under his arms, and gave them a smile. "Ah, don't look so down, my cute little genin. I'm going to teach you how to do it without hands." He told them, and started walking up the tree with his crutches.
Sasuke immediately activated his Sharingan to see what Kakashi was doing, and he nudged Naruto to do the same. They could see the small amount of chakra he was using to do it, and prepared to try it themselves. Sakura was watching just as intensely, though she didn't have a Sharingan to see the chakra itself.
"It's a cool trick, Kakashi-sensei, but how will that help us in a fight?" Sakura asked, with Naruto and Sasuke still focused on the chakra on his feet.
Kakashi walked back down the tree, and stood in front of the three genin. "It's all about chakra control. If you can master this, in theory, you could master any jutsu. You have to apply a constant amount of chakra to your feet, and you have to use just the right amount to stick to the tree, without falling off or being sent flying." Kakashi explained to them, and motioned for them to try.
Sakura got it immediately, thanks to her innately good chakra control. 'Hey, I beat those two at something!' She thought to herself, excited.
Kakashi looked at her and gave her an eye smile. "Oh, and the girl beats the two dojutsu users!" Kakashi told them 'Seems like she's a natural with chakra control.. though she doesn't have nearly enough for it to matter in a fight, the way she is now' Kakashi thought to himself, and looked over at the boys. 'These two, however.. Sasuke has really potent chakra for his age, and it's pretty abundant, even for an Uchiha. And Naruto.. his chakra is insanely large. Though, I doubt they'd be getting it so quickly if they couldn't see the chakra with their Sharingan.'
Naruto and Sasuke were having a little bit more difficulty than Sakura was, but they were still getting it down relatively quickly. They started by trying the amount of chakra Kakashi used, but that sent the two of them flying off the tree because of the weight difference. They then looked over at how much Sakura was using, but she weighed less than them so they slid off the tree. After a few minutes of trial and error, they were able to find a good middle ground between the two, and could walk up and down the tree without issue.
Naruto and Sasuke walked up to where Kakashi was leaning against another tree, reading his orange book again. "What next, Kaka-sensei?" Naruto asked, and Kakashi looked up from his book.
"Ah, done already? Well, all three of you won't be doing the same thing. Sakura?" He asked, and she walked up to him. "You need to work on your chakra capacity. Your control is amazing, but you don't have very much chakra. You should just keep walking up and down that tree, until you can barely move." He instructed her, and she groaned.
"Really, Kakashi-sensei? What about them?" She asked, and pointed to Naruto and Sasuke. "Shouldn't they do that too?"
Kakashi just shook his head. "No, the two of them have extremely large chakra reserves for their age. Actually, the two of them have extremely large reserves in general. It doesn't help to expand their reserves, but I'm sure they could walk on vertical surfaces for days without feeling the drain." Kakashi explained, and noticed that Sakura looked upset at that. "Don't feel bad about having less than them. These two just have exceptionally large reserves. The three of you are under half my age, yet Sasuke has reserves nearly as large as my own. And Naruto.. has reserves larger than mine." He explained, and Sakura looked a bit less disappointed at that.
"Oh.. alright." She told them, and headed off to the tree she was training on.
Naruto shared a look with Sasuke, and then turned to Kakashi. "Hey, me and Sasuke had an idea of a way we could help Sakura. Do you think you could find someone to train her once we get back to the village? Me and Sasuke both have you, but.." He glanced over at Sakura, who was just walking up and down the tree, apparently already feeling it a bit. "I don't think you could train her as well as you train us. We both have Sharingan, like you, so you understand us a bit more, but she doesn't have that. Maybe you have a friend that could help her?" Naruto asked, and turned back to Kakashi.
Kakashi thought about it for a bit, trying to think of someone who could train her. "Yeah, maybe Kurenai? She's team 8's sensei, but they're probably trained by their clans more than they are by her. Or.." Kakashi trailed off, getting an evil look in his visible eye. "I'm sure Might Guy would love to have another student he can train."
"Might Guy?" Naruto echoed. "The guy you said fights you while watching your foot movement? Why'd you mention him like it'd be torturous?" Naruto asked.
"Well, Guy is certainly an.." Kakashi suppressed a shiver. "interesting character. He's definitely a strong shinobi, probably even stronger than me, but he's got a special personality. You'll see what I mean whenever you meet him." Kakashi explained. "Though, I won't force any training on her. I'll ask Kurenai if Sakura asks for some extra training."
Naruto gave him a grin. "Thanks, Kaka-sensei!"
Kakashi rustled Naruto's hair and gave him an eye smile. "No problem, now, how about I start you and Sasuke's training? We don't know how strong that fake hunter-ninja is, so I want to help you two as much as I can in the next week."
Naruto grinned at Kakashi, and Sasuke smirked. "Yeah! What're your gonna teach us? Some cool jutsu?!" Naruto asked, obviously excited.
"Just follow me." Kakashi told them, and used his crutches to start limping away.
A few minutes later, outside of Tazuna's house
Naruto and Sasuke looked at their sensei, confused. "Kakashi? Why are we back here?" Sasuke asked, looking around for anything they could use to train.
Kakashi hummed, and walked over to the edge of the dock, and then stepped over it, into the water. "Well, my little prodigies, since you mastered tree walking, now we're gonna move onto water walking." He told them, and the two Uchiha activated their Sharingan. "This is harder than tree walking, since the water is constantly moving. As I'm sure you two can see, you have to constantly-" Kakashi started to explain, but was interrupted by the sound of Naruto plummeting into the water.
"C-c-cold!" He screamed, and crawled back onto the dock.
Kakashi rolled his visible eye. "As I was saying, you have to constantly adjust the chakra output from your feet." He told them, and Naruto and Sasuke looked closely at the chakra output from his feet.
Sasuke stepped out onto the water, not plummeting into the water like Naruto, but his foot up to his ankle was submerged in the water. Naruto followed his example, and got the same result.
After a few minutes of trying, and falling, Naruto and Sasuke were both soaked, but they finally got it. They were able to walk on the water, though they were still slightly shaky.
Kakashi was sitting on the dock and reading his book while they were training. He looked up from his book at the two Uchiha, and gave them an eye smile. They were both looking at him expectantly, waiting for his next instruction.
"Now, I want the two of you to spar on the water." He told them, and they both went wide eyed.
"Spar? On water?!" Naruto asked, and then Kakashi threw a kunai right in front of him, interrupting his focus and sending him plummeting into the water.
Sasuke, startled by Naruto's fall, also fell into the water.
"Think back to my fight with Zabuza. Do you think I was focused on standing on the water the entire time?" He asked, and the two Uchiha shook their heads as they got back up onto the dock, and then stepped back out onto the water. "Of course I wasn't, I'd fall whenever he sent an attack at me or whenever I used a jutsu. I want you two to spar until walking on water becomes second nature to you." He told them, then grabbed his crutches and stood up. "Now, I'm gonna go check on your other teammate." He told them, and limped off with his crutches.
Naruto and Sasuke slipped into their fighting stances, Sharingan active, and charged at each other. At first, they'd both slip into the water every time one of them attacked the other, and would have to get back up by using the dock. After about thirty minutes, they could trade hits for a couple minutes without falling in, and lift themselves back up onto the surface of the water without using the dock. After another thirty minutes, they were able to fight normally on the water, and even slide across it when they were hit. Both of them were sweating, but it was hard to tell because of the water soaking their bodies.
When Kakashi showed back up, an exhausted Sakura was following behind him. They saw Naruto get a hit to Sasuke's stomach, which sent Sasuke sliding across the water, but he didn't fall in. Sakura was surprised to see them walking on water so easily, and Kakashi was proud of his two students.
"Alright, that's enough for now." Kakashi called out to them, and they turned to look at Kakashi and Sakura.
"Hey, Sakura!" Naruto called out, and ran across the water back to the dock. Sasuke followed behind him, but walked instead of ran.
When Sakura was snapped out of her shock at seeing them walk on water, she noticed what they were wearing. Naruto had ditched his jacket and it was laying on the dock, and both of their shirts were soaking wet and sticking to their forms. 'Wow.. they're sofit! Even Naruto!' she thought. 'CHA! INO-PIGS'S GONNA BE SO JEALOUS WHEN SHE FINDS OUT ABOUT THIS!' Inner Sakura shouted.
"You done tree walking?" Naruto asked her, and she nodded her head.
"Yeah, I was too tired to continue." She told him, and Sasuke stepped onto the dock behind her.
"If you stop whenever you're 'too tired,' your reserves won't grow very quickly." Sasuke told her, and Sakura scratched the back of her head in a very Naruto-like way.
"Well, we can't all have huge chakra reserves like you two." Sakura told him, and Sasuke just sighed.
Sasuke pointed his thumb at Naruto. "Well, this idiot has chakra reserves larger than basically anyone, and he still trains until he drops whenever he trains." Sasuke said, and Naruto grinned.
Sakura stared at Naruto in surprise. "Really? If your chakra reserves are so massive, wouldn't that take forever?" She asked him, and Naruto shrugged.
"Well, I guess. But it'd probably take longer for me to become exhausted if I didn't use shadow clones so much. They cut my chakra in half, so every shadow clone kinda halves the amount of time it'd take me otherwise. Dispelling them also exhausts me even more for some reason and sometimes makes me pass out, so Sasuke ends up dragging me back home occasionally." Naruto told her. "Though, more than a few times, he's passed out from the exhaustion too and we just wake up on the training ground. We've been using the one in the old Uchiha compound, though, so we don't really have to worry about anyone finding us when we do."
Sakura felt embarrassed by her work ethic, compared to her two teammates. "Oh, I guess I'm just not as motivated as you two. I've only ever really studied until I passed out from being tired, and-" She started, but was cut off by Sasuke.
"Well, you should really find some motivation if you don't want to get killed. Why did you want to become a kunoichi in the first place? Because basically everyone else who graduated with us has some form of motivation driving them to be a shinobi, even if most of them are just motivated because they're from shinobi clans and are the heirs to their clans. My motivation is to confront the one who killed my clan, Naruto wants to confront him too, and he's motivated to become Hokage. You'll need to find some motivation if you ever want to advance as a kunoichi." Sasuke told her, and waited for a response from her. Even Naruto was uncharacteristically quiet, as both he and Kakashi were interested in hearing her reaction too.
Sakura didn't know how to respond to him. 'Why did I become a Kunoichi? In the academy I always told myself it's what Sasuke would like, but I entered into the academy before I even met Sasuke.' Sakura tried to think of a response, but she couldn't think of one that made sense. "I.. I don't know.." She admitted.
Sasuke sighed. "Well, I suggest you either find one, or give up on being a shinobi." He told her, stepped back out onto the water, and turned back to face Naruto. "Cmon, let's spar some more." He told Naruto, who glanced at Sakura before stepping out onto the water with Sasuke, leaving a silent Kakashi and a contemplative Sakura.
Once they were further out on the water, and out of earshot, Naruto spoke to Sasuke. "That was kind of harsh, but you're right. I hope she finds motivation because I don't want to see her quit or get killed."
Sasuke nodded in agreement, and then activated his Sharingan. "Yeah, though I won't hesitate to tell her that again if she can't find any motivation but continues as a kunoichi, and I'll be even harsher if I need to. Now, how about we use ninjutsu in this spar? Could make things more fun." Sasuke told him, and Naruto grinned and activated his Sharingan.
"Oh, you sure you won't be overwhelmed by a group of water-walking Sharingan shadow clones?" Naruto asked, held up his hands to form a sign, and created 3 clones of himself before charging at Sasuke. Sasuke quickly ran through the hand signs for the fireball jutsu, and launched one at Naruto. Naruto, seeing this, got two of his clones to launch him above the fireball, and punched Sasuke from behind.
While those two fought out on the water, Sakura and Kakashi watched them. Sakura was amazed by her two teammates, and watched how smoothly they fought with each other. 'Wow.. they're so skilled. Even Naruto, and he was the dead last! If both of them are that good, how good is the rest of our class now? Sasuke was right! Everyone in our class is destined to be something great, I don't want to be the only one who's forgotten by history. Especially since I'm on a team with those two!' Sakura thought to herself, and decided to go back to training, reenergized. "Kakashi-sensei? I'm gonna go back to training. Can you check on me in a few hours, if I'm not back? I don't want to pass out and end up sleeping in the forest all night." She told her sensei, and began walking back to the clearing where she was training.
Kakashi smiled under his mask as he watched her walk away. 'Sasuke may have been a bit harsh.. but he had a point. I'm glad she found a reason to train, and I can only hope it's enough to help her survive in this world.' He thought, and turned to watch the two Uchiha fighting smoothly over the water. "Hey, Naruto! Sasuke!" He called out, and they both turned to him. "I think you've both mastered that enough, how about I teach you some new things?" He asked them, and they both stopped sparring and ran back to the dock where he was.
Naruto was the first to reach the dock, but Sasuke wasn't very far behind. "What're you gonna teach us, Kaka-sensei?" Naruto asked, excitement in his voice.
Kakashi pulled out 2 small pieces of paper, and handed them to the two Uchiha, and was met with looks of confusion. "These are tools to test your elemental affinity. You push chakra into them and their reaction shows you your affinity. I have a lightning affinity, so mine would crumple up. A fire affinity would burn, a wind affinity would cut, a water affinity would soak, and an earth affinity would crumble. Try it out." He instructed, and they both did as told.
Sasuke went first, and his paper crumpled up into a ball, which somewhat surprised both Kakashi and Sasuke. "A lightning affinity, huh. Uchiha usually have fire, which is actually the most common affinity in our village. It's really impressive that you can use the fireball jutsu so well despite it not being your affinity." Kakashi told Sasuke, who smirked.
Naruto went next, and his paper cut in two, surprising Sasuke and making Kakashi smile under his mask. "A wind affinity. That's actually the rarest affinity to have, the only living person I can think of that has it is team 10's sensei, Asuma." Kakashi told him, and Naruto grinned at Sasuke.
"Ha! Mine is more rare than yours!" He gloated to Sasuke, who dropped his smirk.
"You know who else had a wind affinity?" Kakashi asked, and Naruto shook his head. "Your father." Kakashi told Naruto, who's eyes lit up. "Which, now that I think about it, is also really surprising for an Uchiha. Man, whichever one of his parents wasn't an Uchiha had to have some strong genes to pass on those blue eyes and blonde hair to your father, and onto you."
Naruto just laughed at that. "Yeah, my dad's genes must be awesome!" Naruto exclaimed, and then looked at the torn paper in his hands. "So why did you have us test our affinity, anyways?" He asked Kakashi, who realized he got off topic.
"Oh, right. Your affinity helps me know what elements you'll find the easiest to learn, so I can teach you the right jutsu. Your Sharingan is good for copying jutsu, but the strength of the jutsu will be dependent on your affinity or how much you've practiced the element of the jutsu you copy." Kakashi explained.
"Ohhh, so I'll find it easier to copy wind style jutsu, and Sasuke will find it easier to copy lightning style?" Naruto asked.
Kakashi nodded. "Yeah, though I don't know many wind style jutsu, since it's such a rare affinity." Kakashi admitted, and Naruto deflated a bit. "However, I can still help you practice with lightning style. Usually it'd be ineffective because other affinities cost more chakra, but your massive reserves should offset the difference. You can ask Asuma to show you some wind style jutsu once we've made it back to the village."
With that, Naruto got visibly excited again, and even Sasuke looked like he was somewhat excited "Thanks for this, Kaka-sensei!" Naruto shouted.
Kakashi gave him an eye smile. "It's no problem, it's kind of my job as your jonin sensei. Though, I can't actually do jutsu yet, so you'll have to learn without using your Sharingan until I'm well enough to do demonstrate the jutsu for you." He told them, and their faces fell a little, but they were still excited to be taught.
I completely forgot what I was gonna say here, so I may have some notes about this chapter at the start of the next. As always, I really appreciate the favorites, follows, and reviews.
Luckily I usually type out my responses to the reviews as I get them, so I can just copy and paste those here without forgetting what I wanted to say.
Review responses
KongFooMaster46 - Yeah, I feel like people kinda just gloss over Kagutsuchi. His weakest Susano'o was able to cause the Raikage to lose his arm, since he added an extra layer of protection with Amaterasu and Kagutsuchi. I think people just mix up Amaterasu and Kagutsuchi, or treat them as one ability, since a lot of people assume Sasuke has Tsukuyomi like Itachi.
I thought about giving Naruto the Mangekyo when he thinks Sasuke died, but I feel like that'd trivialize the Chunin exams. I think it'd make it too easy for team 7 to escape Orochimaru, even if he doesn't have Kamui mastered because he'd still be able to open wormholes.
Dw about accidentally pressing send, the mobile apps can be pretty weird about anything other than straight up reading fanfics. I have ffn on my iphone and my mobile app doesn't update the amount of follows and favorites shown on my story, it also doesn't let me open my pms or moderate the reviews so I have to do all that through my laptop.
I've noticed that about Sakura in a LOT of fics. I get that she was really fangirly at first, but I don't see where the whole "HEY! GIVE THAT TO SASUKE!" thing comes from. Those fics always over-simplify Sakura and Sasuke, which is something I'm doing my best to avoid in this. No hate to those fics, I've seen a few of them I like, but it seems like a pretty big mischaracterization.
I think that "Return of the Flash" by Kamikaze132 is the fic that got me liking Naruto x Temari, though Naruto's personality is pretty different in that iirc.
Vonta01 - I appreciate that. I was a bit worried about how my writing would be but I'm glad to see that people like it
MoonKnight030 - I'll have to go back and rewatch character interactions, no matter who I end up pairing. Though, I don't want to base any ships on what kind of child they would make, so I wouldn't do Karin x Sasuke just for the sake of another Uzumaki-Uchiha child.
crazy-bout-mione - Kakashi had the perfect Susano'o, but DMS Kakashi was a bunch of weird circumstances. I kinda just don't want to give him the perfect Susano'o because of how busted the Kamui Susano'o is. Maybe I'll give it to him eventually? But that wouldn't happen for a long time.
As far as Kurotsuchi, I think I'd like to start there interactions a bit more antagonistically, since Iwagakure isn't a huge fan of Minato, and Naruto is essentially a mini-Minato with whiskers. I want there to be friction between Iwa and Konoha because of Minato/Naruto.
I considered giving Naruto a swirl for his Mangekyo, but Indra's Mangekyo in the manga is essentially that and it wouldn't make much sense for Asura's reincarnate to have Indra's Mangekyo.
ML3 - Yeah, I didn't want to make an OC arc so close to the beginning, since it wouldn't make much sense. There will, obviously, be more variations as the story goes on (butterfly effect), but the Wave arc is so close to the beginning that it's start wouldn't be too different from the canon.
For his Mangekyo, I have a few ideas that may work. Thanks for the idea of having 9 lines instead of 6, it makes a lot of sense for his eyes to have a connection to Kurama.
I thought about Indra's, but I feel like I'd need to come up with an excuse for that. Part of me kind of wants to make his Mangekyo resemble Obito's, since they both have Kamui, but I'm not sure how I could edit Obito's. So far, I think the design I have that I edited from Rai's might be the one I go with.
Yeah, I agree on OCs. I don't plan on making any that have major significance. Of the three you listed for pairings, I think I'd go with Temari. Temari or Hinata, so far. I do kind of like Naruto x Sakura, but only in specific stories and scenarios, so I won't be going that route in this story. As for Sasuke, I may go the route of Sasuke x Sakura once Sakura's moved past her fangirl stage and starts to act like an actual kunoichi. If not her, then it'd probably be someone from a different village who can call him out on his dickish tendencies, since most girls his age in Konoha (except Hinata and Tenten) are just "OOooooOooo Sasuke you're so dreamy when you ignore our existence!" Also, if he's dating someone in another village, he'd have to use Naruto as a Kamui uber to go see his girlfriend and that'd be funny.
4th hokage minato - Thanks for the compliment
Monfe7 - For Naruto x Ino, I think I mentioned something about that in a previous review response? I wouldn't mind writing it, but honestly, the more I respond to reviews, the more I want to do Naruto x Temari. I just think there's a lot of fun things I could do with that, and I think it'd be good for both of their characters. Naruto being with someone who didn't know him as the village idiot, Temari being with the person who helped her brother (Naruto will still be helping Gaara in this story, because Naruto and Gaara may have my absolute favorite friendship in the series).
For Mangekyo design, I want to keep Sasuke with what he has in canon because his EMS is maybe my favorite in the series. I'm eh about his Mangekyo design, but I love the Eternal design with the shuriken in the middle of it. For his Susano'o, I do have an idea of how to make it even more destructive than the regular Perfect Susano'o in canon, but that's a long ways off. Mangekyo Sharingan will probably show up sooner than in canon, but they'll learn the abilities of the Mangekyo gradually (and Sasuke won't immediately spam it into blindness like he did in canon).
1/14/22 - someone pointed out my little oops with the affinities thing, so i went ahead and fixed that. if this accidentally gave you a story update, my bad. however, next chapter should be out soon