7.8k words chapter!
*screams in disbelief and hopes nobody expects another chapter this size anytime soon*
Konohamaru POV
*Made a sketch of the training grounds to be able to write the scene better, if you want to check it out it's in my tumbler Sheripper-fanficer Sorry I can't add links here- anyway enjoy!
Chapter title: The Great Green Spandex Cult
It's a clear morning, the sky a pleasant bright blue and birds soaring across it, gliding in grand loops and chirping.
Konohamaru tugs on his blue scarf by habit rather than nerves, and flashes up a steep large hill, where the view of the training ground is the best; far enough away to be out of the way, but easy to observe from.
Any minute now, Metal-kun and Lee-san are due to arrive. He's a bit pleased with himself, truthfully. Grinning, he settles in the grass. He folds his arms across his chest, humming in anticipation.
A few minutes of waiting somebody calls out "Youthful child!" in over-the-top friendly exuberance.
Konohamaru, who expects his best-friends to stop by, is surprised by the older voice. He turns to see the very strange sight of a man pulling a wheelchair up a hill with ease, as if gravity doesn't hinder him, neither the heaviness of the metal the wheelchair is made of; a clear sign of the man's status as a retired shinobi.
"Guy-san!" Konohamaru hops to his feet lightly, and nods respectfully. "Lord Sixth!" he bows a little deeper to the silver-haired man climbing alongside his friend casually.
"Yo, Konohamaru-kun!" Kakashi lifts up one hand in a lazy wave.
"My eternal rival and I were taking a healthy stroll together, when we spotted you nearby!" Guy-san calls cheerfully.
"You seem quite excited." Kakashi mentions lightly, focused on his book.
"Er – really?" Konohamaru wonders if he's easy to read, or if the sixth Hokage is that good at readying body postures. "Well, you see, Lee-san sort of asked my student to attack him –"
An invisible surge of energy courses through Guy and sparkles up his eyes. "Oh! Lee! What is he up to?!"
"- Just helping Sarada-chan train, but well, she took it very seriously so we set up some stuff." Konohamaru shifts on the spot with nervous eagerness. "I'm curious to see how she's kept up her training so far."
"Sounds super!" Guy gives him a shining smile and a thumbs up.
"Maa, nothing better to do." Kakashi's words and tone stand in juxtaposition to Guy's, and he settles languidly against a trunk of a tree.
Konohamaru blinks, when he realizes that means they're both staying.
Two figures shunshin into the hilltop.
"Lord Sixth!"
"Lord Sixth!"
Moegi and Udon bow in sync. Kakashi waves at them in acknowledgment, but also in dismissal. The Jonin both straighten, and walk over to the group less formally.
"So, a tossup between your students, any competiveness steering up, Konohamaru, Udon?" Moegi smirks teasingly.
Konohamaru huffs at her.
"Hello Guy-san." Udon greets the enthusiastic man, twirling his wheelchair back and forth as if to expel extra energy. Konohamaru is kind of jealous of that; he wishes he was naturally that energetic.
"Hello youthful fellow!" Guy calls, friendly as always, even when Konohamaru suspects he doesn't know Udon's name. "Great day for the might of wills to clash!"
"Ahahaha… It's just a bit of training, Guy -san." Konohamaru reminds the elder. He doesn't want them to criticize his student – she's only a genin, after all.
Kakashi, far from paying mind to his words, appears to turn the opposite direction. He raises his hand again, and wiggles his fingers. When Konohamaru realizes he's waving, he focuses on the far away streets of the village they can sort of spot from the hilltop view. Amongst them, focusing, he can easily sense the gazes set their way.
Another shunshin and Anko and Shino appear, Kurnai held between them.
Kurnai spots Konohamaru and smiles at him, causing him to smile back despite his confusion, at his favorite aunt.
"Kurnai, Anko!" Guy calls in greeting. "How have you been?!"
"Hello Shino-san!" Moegi grins. "Thanks for teaching my brats."
"Heheee! What are you doing here, something interesting?" Anko asks Kakashi and Guy, with a sly smirk, eyes shaped like crescent moons.
"Of course I taught your students, Moegi-san. Why? Because they were my students too." Shino says, in his strict yet sincere way.
"They're here." Udon announces calmly, his glasses coated with the shine of the sun.
They turn to the training grounds easily seen from their vantage point, seeing the two figures entering.
"What's going on?" Kurnai asks.
"A battle of burning hearts, Kurnai!" Guy declares, and Konohamaru jumps at seeing tears at the edges of his eyes.
"A taijutsu test for Uchiha-chan and Metal-kun." Udon translates.
"Why are we watching two brats train?" Anko asks, before settling down on the grass comfortably.
Konohamaru almost lets slip a 'you lot don't have to stay and watch then, kore!'
"I am curious as to their progress since they were at the academy." Shino says formally and remains next to Kurnai, and that closes the conversation as they all sort of agree to observe.
Rock Lee and his son (who could also pass as a mini clone, as far as Konohamaru can see) appear at the path leading to training grounds 14, visibly excited even from a distance.
"That's where Sarada-chan's note said to meet her, didn't it Metal?" Lee asks, arms folded over his chest and gaze steady over the peaceful empty lot.
The bright sun shining over everything. There's a clear patch of paved ground for sparring with some posts for aim practice set up; one kunai forgotten by the last people to have used it, stuck right in the bull's-eye of the target. A bit of a lake at the edge and some thick Konoha-distinctive trees surrounding the glade, allowing cover to a retreating shinobi, bushy and plentiful covered with green happy leaves.
"Yes, Papa!" Metal-kun has round big eyes, swallowing everything in front of him as though at any moment something magnificent will appear. Konohamaru can't help but grin at that show of faith in his student.
"Oh Metal-kun has grown since I've last seen him! How wonderful!" Guy smiles.
"Well, let's hope she gets here soon, isn't that right son?" Rock Lee asks, a bit of a knowing look in his eyes.
His genin son is way too excited for any quick surroundings surveillance, but that's to be expected of the next generation that never ended up in a war zone, unlike them. Shinobi by nature are paranoid, but The Fourth Great War was by itself so bizarre in some forms that it left even odder than normal shinobi in its wake. Taking Lee-san by surprise would be asking a bit too much of Sarada.
"When do you think that'll be Papa?! I can't wait to be tested against Sarada!" Metal-kun hops carelessly with restless energy around the entrance to the training grounds, looking into far away distances for their sparring companion. Wrong direction kid, Konohamaru thinks to himself a bit smugly. He can't help but laugh in excitement when the boy mindlessly steps on a trigger and activates the first trap.
"Maa maa, here we go." Kakashi Hatake leans back on the tree he's sprawled against, attitude lazy but dark eyes sharp. Konohamaru hasn't told them where the traps are, and made sure to show Sarada how to properly conceal them. Sometimes, as mild as he presents himself, it's easy to forget it's the Sixth Hokage standing next to him.
CRUNCH!
A great rumbling and the raising of earth and dust could be seen instantaneously. The rippling effect of thick heavy trees shuddering under the weight of heavy chunks of rock tumbling from their hidden net held up high above by three great trees was immediate and thundering to the earth even from how far the Jonin were watching the entertainment. The trunk Konohamaru was leaning on shook slightly.
His aunt laughs softly in surprise.
"Go Metal-kun! That child has a great youthful spirit!" Guy-san's teeth are blinding, and his hand forms a fist where it rests on the arm of the wheelchair, cheering the kid on, as the kid's yells of alarm and surprise ringed through the forest alongside Lee-san's maniacal laughter of delight.
"Bets?" Anko asks around mildly, munching on Dango, eyes like slits of snake following the movements with ease even from afar.
"I taught her that. It was a tough lesson to get through, Boruto was quite disruptive. I'm glad Sarada-chan paid attention." Shino says solemnly, pride clear in his tone even when it's impossible to determine from his hidden eyes. Metal and Lee seem to be enjoying themselves thoroughly, jumping around a closed area while giant rocks are falling on them continuously from the sky in frightening amounts.
"Should you have helped her so much though, Konohamaru-chan?" Moegi grins, but pretends to look disapproving.
Konohamaru glares at his childhood friend, feeling Udon snicker behind his back (the traitor). He hopes he isn't blushing too hard next to the sixth and Guy -san but he can't help but be a bit embarrassed by being referred to as Chan like when they were kids. He's a Jonin. Not that he'll ask her to stop – that's just going to make sure she never stops.
"Hey I barely gave her some suggestions, Kora! In fact she stocked up all those rocks on her own!" he defends his student. Learning Sakura-san's amazing strength jutsu sure has come in handy when trying to teach a 12 year old girl who's always been a bit on the small side for her age how to set up heavy traps. Even with the obvious added edge she's achieved lately, training with Lee-san apparently.
Which doesn't annoy him. At. All. He's thankful Lee-san reached out when Konohamaru was too busy.
Except… he finally got a genin squad! When Moegi (damn her) was assigned genin teams twice before already, and again last year getting her team 10 which Shikamaru-san himself recommended her for (Ugh he hasn't heard the end of the bragging for months). He's been so excited and for the first few months it went pretty smoothly, but now it's all different and there's nothing he can do about Sarada's training because he will resign from shinobi life before he lets somebody else take up his current S-rank mission because he's the sensei of team 7, not that Konohamaru is even allowed to tell Sarada-chan what's been going on, because of obvious reasons and direct orders, and now it's all a mess.
All in all, annoying his oldest friend at the moment is a nice distraction.
Moegi indeed looks ruffled. Konohamaru smirks.
"Well…whatever!" she snips back eventually, huffing at Anko's blunt laughter at her response. "Chocho's strong too! She could've gotten all those rocks up there if she wanted to!"
"Not that it matters, Metal-kun is too good at taijutsu." Udon sneaks into the conversation smoothly, pushing his glasses up his nose and expertly pretending not to see the glares Konohamaru and Moegi both shoot him. In fact the asshole pulls up some money and hands it to Anko-san casually. "10 Ryu on my prominent student."
Konohamaru can feel his eyebrow twitching, and he's close to choking one of them with his trademark scarf. Why did I invite them to tag along again?
"Alright, alright." Kuranai calms them, albeit being clearly amused. "Everybody's cute genin are talented." She says kindly. Konohamaru isn't fooled, as he remembers when Mirai's genin instructor tried to suggest to his aunt once that Mirai was lacking compared to her teammate, who was from another important clan. (Not as important as the Sarutobi, but distinctly born into wedlock)
She certainly didn't look like everybody's genin were equally cute then. It's fine. Konohamaru is totally used to having scary family members. He was born the Sandaime's honorable grandson, and Gramps used to make that terrifying face Konohamaru still has nightmares about whenever he'd discover the old man's stash. He wonders if anybody except Naruto-nii in this village will ever know the ninja named The Professor of shinobi used to be a pervert.
Konohamaru chuckles fondly, at the image of Gramps behind his desk in his hat and his pipe glancing his way in amusement whenever he thought he was being sneaky. The image is accompanied with grief, as it often is, but Konohamaru lingers on the love it holds for a moment, before letting it go and refocusing on the present.
After a few more moments the last rock rolled off the net and hits the dirt with a thump!
In the sudden calm of the forests, they all use their chakra-enhanced hearing to hear Lee-san call out merrily "Hahahha! What a wonderful warm up!"
"It looked like it was indeed!" Guy-san whines, clearly remiss he wasn't able to experience it with his protégé.
Konohamaru shares subtle looks with his old teammates. Some Shinobi have different quirks. Among them, Guy-san and Lee-san hold a top spot for being eccentric. Konohamaru enjoys being a ninja, but even he'd be muffed with a huge pile of rocks falling on his head and a 12 year old under his supervision. He can tell Udon agrees by the line of his lips as he watches his student closely with tension, hoping he doesn't get hurt seriously. The big kid in his team might be able to stand through it though without issue. Moegi, he can tell, is looking inspired. Konohamaru feels distinctly sorry to the three brats under her reign of terror.
Metal-kun dusts himself and rotates his left arm while wincing. The kid dislocated it when deliberately allowing himself to get hit with a rock, which was the preferable option unless he wanted to fall under a bigger rock aiming for his skull during the avalanche.
"Papa! You knew there was a trap! How?!" The kid yells in excitement and reverie, clearly taking it to mean his father is incredible. Okay, maybe his aunt wasn't wrong. The kid is kind of cute.
"Come now Metal-kun, after all those training sessions with your aunt Ten-Ten, you should be able to see the difference between a kunai thrown and a kunai shoved into a target from close range." Lee-san says, allowing for a teaching moment, as he gestures to the single kunai stuck in the middle post.
"Of course! I –" Metal-kun pauses and stares at the posts for a long moment.
"Oh, the pup finally saw it." Kakashi's tone is amused, but not unkind.
"The Uchiha sure can use the thin delicate stuff, huh? That'd be hard to see even for a chunin, if you didn't know what to look for." Kurnai adds on expertly, red spiraling eyes appreciative.
Moegi joins in, if albeit reluctantly since she's not her student. "Kid used it during our mission too. Didn't fumble once."
"Papa, I think there's a wire on that kunai!" Metal-kun exclaims in discovery (even though there's no way Lee-san didn't clock that immediately) the kid's eyes basically shining. "Wow! It's barely visible!"
"Yes! Isn't that wonderful, everything here could be a set trap!" Lee-san cheers, looking genuinely happy. Then he turns to the thick forest trees. "Well Sarada-chan, will you come out and attack us now, or perhaps we must walk through more of your lovely death traps first?" he asks politely, allowing her to make the next move.
"Papa!" Metal's eyes widen as he realizes the whole grounds are booby-trapped. It's like the kid was told payday is early. "This is like an obstacle race!"
"Haha!" Guy-san exclaims in just as much excitement. "Not bad from your little adorable student, Konohamaru-chan!"
Konohamaru feels himself blush again. Udon coughs to hide his snort and Moegi turns away but her shaking shoulders don't fool anybody. "T-thank you, Guy-san." He feels like crying but that wouldn't make him seem adult-ier.
Why again with the chan? Is it the honorable grandson stuff? Will it hunt me forever?
"Alright, let's go find more fun surprises, how about that?!" Lee-san puts a hand on the kid's shoulder like he just took a five year old to a toy store and told him he can have anything he wants. They keep close to each other but Lee purposely leads them to the few traps he obviously spots first, whilst activating a couple extra on the way.
"Guy, Lee-kun does know he's not supposed to try and activate all the traps, but rather avoid them if possible during missions, right?" Lord Sixth asks nonchalantly, one hand to the back of his head.
Guy-san bursts into laughter and gives him thumbs up. "Well, if you've finished your mission early, what's the harm for some self training when it's all set up nicely for you, my cool and hip rival?"
Lord sixth sighs dramatically, but his two black eyes seem amused. "If Sarada-chan was hoping to frighten them…"
Konohamaru laughs awkwardly. "Yeah, we didn't put much stock into that strategy… Know your enemy and all that." It was obvious anything they'd bring would only excite those two, right down to the avalanche of rocks.
"You were working on good Intel." Kurnai chuckles, twirling red eyes crinkling in amusement as she took a dango stick offered by Anko. Konohamru grins at his Aunt's interest. She was excited when she heard he was assigned as Sarada Uchiha's Jonin sensei, curious as to the next generation's genjutsu abilities. She's been teaching Mirai genjutsu theory since she's been a toddler, after all, Konohamaru remembers a little sadly. Giving birth while still grieving was a big strain on her system and while Mirai was thankfully born a healthy baby, the strain damaged Kurnai's chakra pathways effectively ending her ninja career.
The others shift ever so slightly in their positions, but in ninja body language it's enough of a tell that something new is happening. Konohamaru needs to pay attention again.
Apparently deciding Lee and Metal-kun activated enough traps, Sarada appears from the tree lines.
She's got her usual long red tonic, kunoichi purple shorts with lots of pockets hidden beneath the ending cloth of the long tonic, black long arm sleeves and the standard issued sandals. Her black hair spikes against the wind, so short it doesn't get in the way.
"Emm, smart decision. Brat shouldn't let them set off all the traps before attacking. Mixing both actions should restrict their movements much more effectively anyways." Anko says, munching on her snack. "Nice to know there are brats who listen when you ramble in class!"
"Sarada!" Metal-kun yells enthusiastically. "Where are your weapons?!"
Sarada carefully spreads a few containment scrolls across her lap up on her branch on a tree high and far enough from the excited duo. They've practiced a bit but she's a bit visibly clumsy handling them while keeping an eye on her targets, summoning them, catching them, and making sure the scrolls don't slip off her hold. Konohamaru suspects Lee-san would've been able to intercept the movement in a real battle, but thankfully he lets the two genin take the center of this training exercise.
"Kakashi! You must see this to its youthful end!" Guy -san insists, smiling indulgently at the genin training they've all decided to shrug off their duties in order to observe today.
"Maa, wake me up when it's over." Sixth leans more on the tree, eyes closed and expression lazily content. "Or if someone dies." He tells them mildly.
"Why did you join us then, Kakashi?" Kurnai asks politely, and it's always a weird reminder that like Guy -san, his aunt is one of the few people who tends to call the Sixth Hokage by his first name during unofficial meet ups. Without any honorific. His first name. without. Just. Konohamaru can't even – if there was ever a reason to find the woman terrifying.
"Shika-chan was coming over with what appeared to be paperwork from a distance. Should I get retired tattooed somewhere, you figure?" He muses dramatically.
Konohamaru is affronted. Just because this is genin level, doesn't make this unimportant to his most serious student (Sarada beats Mitsuki by a small margin for the title) and Lord Sixth should treat it as such. He finds himself weighing the benefits of threatening the retired Hokage to pay this moment due respect by snitching to Sakura-san on him.
Coincidentally, Guy -san looks ready to go into a lecture himself - "Now eternal rival of mine, smaller fists burn just as bright as –", when Sarada summons the first set of giant Fuma Shuriken and causes him to pause.
Untraditionally, there are five large blades connected instead of the usual four. It's usually four for perfect balance and projectile. That this one manages to hold effectively with five should be an impossibility.
Anko stops chewing, body tension unchanged, but a sharp gleam enters her eyes. Kurnai gives Konohamaru a questioning look, and Guy calls "Magnificent!"
And because ninja are nothing if not nosy, Kakashi looks immediately and the question flies from him. "Whose craftsmanship is that?"
"As I understand it," Konohamaru says carefully, making sure the least amount of smugness leaks into his voice. Sarada slips a slim wrist through the middle of the projectile and twirls mid-air to throw it with precision at Lee, assessing his response speed as the biggest standing threat on the field. "Uchiha clan inheritance she felt ready to delve into."
Due to most of the information on the Uchiha being declared forbidden in the village, Sarada knows very little. However, she has apparently discovered the old abandoned Uchiha compound, and Konohamaru thinks the destitute abandonment and sense of death in the empty streets of it will hunt his dreams for months. He has no idea how she dealt with it, but he's shyly pleased she shared it with him, and showed him what she found in what used to be a weapon storage room.
Kakashi makes a polite 'ah' before his eyes crinkle in a smile his way. "I see, Konohamaru-chan."
Guy gets the benefit of the doubt. But Konohamaru has no doubt this is Kakashi's way of telling him he failed hiding his smugness in his answer before.
He resolutely ignores Udon's surprised laughter and Moegi's stifled snigger.
The training is finally starting to get serious.
Quickly, the grounds are littered with wayward projectiles that always seem to direct one of the duo's towards another hidden trap, set beforehand for the occasion. Konohamaru and Sarada doubted how much it'll hold against Lee, but so far he seems to be having fun.
In the observers' corner the conversational tone shifts to discussing every new looking weapon Sarada seems to bring out.
"Okay, that's a girl after my own heart." Anko smirks predatorily when a double-edged kunai appears, larger then Sarada herself, and she throws it spiraling through the air, causing the trees in its way to break and tear to pieces as it races after its target. "I thought this was a no-ninjutsu sort of hustle?"
"Uh, it is." Konohamaru says awkwardly. "But Sarada's super-strength sort of seemed fair play since Lee-san's a Jonin and all." He's not sure how she guessed – maybe she senses chakra even from such distances, and maybe it's because Sarada's small frame threw a huge kunai with enough force across a clearing to bury a quarter ways into the earth with one arm.
"It's a bit of a rigged game Sarada-chan got herself into." Kakashi comments mildly, humming "Shame."
'Doesn't have to be', Konohamaru wants to argue, but knows Kakashi's right.
"Tis indeed a pickle." Guy agrees, not unkindly.
"She's not on the same Taijutsu level as the other kid, that's just clear. Not to mention Lee is a specialized Jonin. While she keeps her distance with projectiles and traps she has some ground to stand on," Kurnai leans on Shino-san, one of her arms going around her old student who allows it without a word.
"- But as soon as either of them get within close range its game over." Kakashi finishes her thought.
Konohamaru sees Shino-san's fingers twitching with annoyance, likewise the same as Konohamaru's.
"She knows to keep out of reach." Konohamaru mutters.
"But soon she'll grow tired, and really, I think if he really set his mind to it, reaching Sarada will be all too easy for Lee-san." Moegi tells him.
Almost as if she cursed his student somehow, Lee leaps up from the ground, within range in a second, not five minutes after Sarada began throwing weapons.
Sarada's form drops at once, letting a four-bladed fuma shuriken with twirled edges fall with a heavy clank in favor of small standard shuriken she can throw with more ease and with greater speed. She throws six, keeping the Jonin just enough out of reach.
Lee avoids them, and there's no doubt in any of the observers' minds that he's using about half his speed for this. He launches into the offensive, and Metal is right behind him his heels, catching up and coming up from Sarada's other side. It looks bad. It looks like it'll be over in seconds.
Konohamaru doesn't look away and waits to see what Sarada does. After all, if there's anything she hates it's losing. She'll try something, the question is if it'll be effective and level headed, or panicked and too sloppy due to her fears. A problem Sarada's always struggled with during their missions.
Come on kid!
Both Taijutsu ninja are a hair's length from being within striking distance.
Swoooooooooooosh!
Three of the six shuriken's projectile twirl and collide behind Lee-san's back instead of fall like the others did. Clink! They bounce off each other perfectly like it's an academy exam; it pushes one back towards Lee and the second one against the blades embedded inside the ground beneath their feet powerfully enough it sends the shuriken on again loudly. SWOOOOOOSH!
The shuriken releases a thin string, and there's a moment before they hear a great rumble.
KA-Boom!
Great tree trunks pull from their hiding places between the wooden areas and throw themselves to form a huge barrier behind Sarada. Each trunk released collapses and raises dust and creates damage as it hits the surrounding areas. Metal's distressed "Yeeeep!" is heard clearly all the way to their make-shift observatory hill top.
Lee easily gets out of range when he senses something behind him, and the shuriken whooshes past without trouble. The action took long enough for Sarada to pull on the wires around her fingers hard enough the other three shuriken hurl right at Lee from two blind spots and from above, causing him to jumps back for some distance and pushing him back a little as he dances between them merrily, while Sarada keeps them up and going at the Jonin constantly, not resting for a moment. Lee-san choosing to avoid them and use nothing but taijutsu is a huge advantage, because it means he'll have to avoid all the weapons, or otherwise manage to kick them off their trajectory without injuring himself.
Meanwhile Metal is stuck behind Sarada, unable to untangle the trap set off by the second wayward shuriken, hitting at just the right place to spring it up as Metal came too close.
"Whoop!" Konohamaru grins. That move was perfect!
Yes, it takes only three more minutes after that for her to get trapped again, and for the show to end, but she earned herself a few extra minutes with her quick thinking and during a real battle even a few extra seconds can be precious.
"Go Metal-kun!" Udon fist bumps the air when Metal traps her to the ground, holding her arms tightly in a locking position.
"She's gotten faster." Konohamaru says to himself proudly.
"She's been dragging Cho-Cho out of bed every morning. Good to know it's paid off." Moegi sounds amused. "Udon since your student won, you'll pay for our next drinks right? In celebration." She shamelessly states.
Udon sighs deeply. "But –"
"What? I thought you were proud of the brat?" she asks, putting on a disbelieving expression.
Udon pinches the bridge of his nose, likely lamenting his wallet's fate. "Fine. Ugh."
Moegi elbows Konohamaru with a smug smirk and he returns it with a snigger.
He hears the others discussing the training session as well, more calmly. Guy-san's teeth shine inexplicably as he cheerfully talks Kakashi's ear off. Overall he understands why they're not as invested – it's a genin training session, and they're all just passing time watching it. Still, Konohamaru's proud of Sarada's progress.
"Sarada and Cho-Cho?" He turns to Moegi, and they chat about it.
Now that the fighting is over, they all generally stop sending chakra to their ears, and wait for the main event to join them.
Metal helps Sarada back to her feet and seems to chat with her excitedly. Looking resigned she's lost, but at least not as badly as she could've, Sarada at least isn't outright frowning at everything in sight, and listens back amiably. Lee-san gestures to the both of them and seems to be asking her some questions. Instead of an answer Sarada sighs and unzips the red tonic and lets it fall. For a minute Konohamaru is genuinely confused.
Almost all of the others have already turned away by then; Kakashi even went back to his book.
"Is that tiny Uchiha…wearing a green spandex?" Kurnai's eyebrows go upwards in complete disbelief. "Wow. Times have changed, I suppose."
"Alright then," Kakashi suddenly tucks away his book and looks like he's aware of his surrounding for the very first time, almost vibrating excitement. "tell me somebody has a camera? I have to shove this in Sasuke's face the next time he's around, after all."
"I'm not sure you have to, Kakashi," Kurnai informs him with practiced ease of somebody who knows each other for a very long time.
"I would." Anko says decidedly.
"I would enjoy seeing that." Shino voices his agreement, and Konohamaru remembers he was in the same graduating year as Sarada's dad.
Lee gestures towards their hilltop to his son, and sends an exhausted Metal their way, climbing quickly.
When he finishes climbing, the boy's eyes widen at the group standing around chatting.
Metal is pale. "Guy-sama, Kurnai-san, Lord Sixth. Why -?" the boy fumbles, looking at Udon for help at the sudden pressure he finds himself under, and he seems to freeze up somewhat.
"Maa, we're retired. What else do we have to do but stand around and gossip about what the next generation of ninja is up to?" Kakashi grins down at him calmingly, while Lee and Sarada disable the last of the traps and gather the weapons.
"Did you have fun, Metal-kun?!" Guy booms happily.
"You should stretch so your muscles don't seize up." Udon instructs his student. "Well done."
KA-BOOM!
All the ninja flash to look at the noise, bodies at attention to any threat. Kakashi is incredibly still, seeming perfectly casual. There's a huge wind in everybody's faces. Air-pocket Konohamaru's brain supplies, alert.
The three aim-posts were blasted off to next week, and half the training grounds is a huge crater.
"Incredible Sarada-chan! How did you attach enough-?" Lee-san's voice is so naturally loud it echoes through the area.
"You didn't have to trigger it Lee-sensei… I was about to disable it." Sarada's incredulous tone fails to hide her apprehension. That's definitely the biggest damage to the training grounds they've caused today. And it wasn't even part of the training.
"Ohohoh! I must admit I've been curious what the kunai trap would do so I –"
"Guy." Kakashi hums. "Seriously."
"Ah…" Guy laughs awkwardly. "Hahahaha! W-well, each precious student is special, am I right?" he says, causing Kakashi to sigh in almost comical defeat.
"Pa-Papa!" Metal-kun stutters, looking very pale as he sees what happened to the training ground.
Finally having done what they can to tidy up, Lee directs Sarada with him to the hilltop, chatting with her with a smile, as she nods seriously along.
Lee and Sarada hop up to their ground-level and Lee smiles brightly at them. Sarada fumbles when she sees them, her eyes widening comically.
"Guy-sensei! Did you see Metal-kun's progress!" Lee calls out to Guy, and Metal freezes up shyly.
"Eh?" Sarada calls, funnily enough, realizing her training was watched by all of them.
Konohamaru greets her, reaching her first. "Stretch. Or your muscles will sore." He tells her, grinning in a way he hopes tells her she did well. She seems to be shaking off the overwhelming realization they're all here, and begins to do a serious of familiar stretches.
"Metal-kun!" Booms loudly behind them. "I have fantastic news for you! You have just found your own hip and cool rival! She'll be vital to your growth as a shinobi and you'll both develop a stronger will of fire thanks to it! They also make for good card friends when you're retired! Congratulations Metal-kun!" Guy tells the kid in a grandfatherly voice, which is very weird on Guy who would pick a fight with the sky if they insinuated he wasn't youthful.
Meanwhile Kakashi approaches Konohamaru's student and grins in a friendly manner. "Bold fashion statement, Sarada-chan."
Sarada doesn't groan nor blush (something Konohamaru isn't jealous of his 12 year old student for at all. Seriously sometimes some Uchiha nonchalant-vibe genes would be nice to have, especially when being friends with Moegi.), but she obviously can't help from showing she's quite embarrassed.
"Social pressuring." She mutters, pointedly gesturing to Guy, Lee and Metal standing clustered together like members of The Great Green Spandex Cult or something. "And I wasn't aware of the judging committee attending the event." She adds with a pout, then glances up at Kakashi and belatedly adds "Sixth." polite to a fault.
Konohamaru chuckles into his scarf, trying to snuff out the noise. His students' sass is always appreciated – when it's not directed at him, that is. Sarada might be a bit too loose with her words when feeling slighted, but she'd never disrespect a chain of command, even when the Hokage in question is retired and used to babysit her.
Kakashi seems to be amused under his mask, so not minding her snip probably. Instead a fingerless gloved hand rises and a tip of an index finger rattles a glittery thing near her cheek and makes it swing about gently. "Hmm. I was referring to the personal touch." His voice light yet quiet, and doesn't carry to the rest of the ninja around them besides Konohamaru and Sarada.
And until he mentions it Konohamaru doesn't notice the erring dangling from one of her ears. He frowns; thankfully Sarada was never into accessories, and while kind, she's been a very professional kunoichi even at 12 (too professional, in Konohamru's opinion, remembering team 7's last few missions and the long silences he suffered through without Boruto's presence). He peeks at it, hoping it's not something that'll get in the way of her job. It's a small fan, professionally crafted.
Ah.
He looks down at his student with knowing eyes.
Sarada shifts from foot to foot, glancing up between the two older shinobi.
"What, you've got your scarf." She says weakly, looking away.
Konohamaru coughs, tugging on the familiar fabric self-consciously. It's not the same; his scarf is just a scarf after all. (No matter what his jounin-mandated mind-medic insists; he hasn't developed an existential crisis when she tried to pull it off him for ten minutes during a session).
"Is Ten-Ten-san here as well?" Sarada changes the subject, glancing around.
"Nope. She'd be sad to have missed seeing those weapons though." Kakashi hums mildly, allowing the change of topic by making his own silent inquiry.
Sarada looks uncomfortable, and twitchy. Konohamaru answers for her, already guessing why the genin is relieved.
"Well, these are Uchiha clan weapons, I suppose Sarada would rather they not be copied and sold in the weaponry shop." He pets her on the head kindly, noting she loses a bit of tension at his answer.
"Aha." Kakashi nods, and doesn't offer more.
"E-e-Eternal Rival!" Comes a squeaky voice. The three turn to look.
"Metal-kun?" Konohamaru asks, seeing the 12 year old grand-standing.
Behind the boy Guy-san nods him on with a fierce thumb up. Konohamaru didn't know a thumbs up could be fierce. Kakashi's shoulders shake.
"I-I challenge – I…" the boy pales under the blank stares of everyone around, all looking at him, and promptly freezes. "I – I….. Cha-cha – l …." He fumbles, glancing at the eight adults peering down at him curiously. "I – I -…"
Sarada grins awkwardly. "Why don't you tell me later Metal?" she suggests.
Konohamaru thinks the boy's eyes are growing misty eyed –
"I – I – I'm n-not Stu-S-Sa-Stut – "
Konohamaru does his best not to visible wince in sympathy. Clearly the boy is shy. Udon sighs next to him, telling him it's a common occurrence.
Lee throws an arm around his son and with a blinding smile calls "You did so well Metal!" he yells.
Metal doesn't try and talk again but looks up at his father miserably.
"You tried again and again and you worked up your courage!" Lee says kindly. "One day you'll be able to scream at any shinobi in front of all the five nations!" Konohamaru thinks he can see a cliff and an ocean behind the man for a moment and wonders if he was just under the influence of some genjutsu. "Just keep working hard!"
Metal rubs his eyes furiously and chins up "Yes, Papa!" and it's pretty adorable.
"Mmm. A worthy goal." Kakashi says lightly, dancing away from the elbow to the ribs Kurnai aims his way.
"Don't ruin the moment." She scolds him, Anko appearing next to them with a snigger.
Konohamaru's heart quickens "A-A-auntie! I don't think you're supposed to hit Hokages!"
She blinks at him and then starts to openly chuckle. "I still can't believe they made you Hokage Kakashi."
"Mm," the sixth agrees easily. "Naruto said the same thing, crying about it for a week. It was cute."
"It was probably revenge by the elders, for being late all the time." Kurnai says with amusement.
Kakashi turns a page in his book. "Then it's a good thing I didn't bother fixing that habit." He glances up at her and they share an icy grin, Anko chortling in the background.
Konohamaru shivers, turning away.
He sees Moegi dozing off on Udon, nearly breaking his jaw with how she nearly bumps her head against his chin whenever she almost falls asleep.
He finds the source of Moegi's sleepiness in Shino-san who managed to get both genin in front of him to what appears to be a lengthy lecture about trajectories, and Mathematics, and angles and the effects of body mass to the….
Konohamaru snaps his head with a shake, doing his best to tune out for the sake of his awareness. Lee and Guy-san are nowhere to be seen, and he assumes they managed to challenge each other into some sort of training regimen.
Konohamaru observes Sarada; nodding dazedly to Shino's words, wiping sweat off her brow.
Just keep going, you'll get there.
"Kora!" He exclaims cheerfully, hoping Shino-san wouldn't mind being cut off too much, as he gets everybody's attention. "Let's celebrate with a bite to eat! Who's in?!" he claps his hands.
"Sorry Konohamaru," his aunt tells him with a kind smile "but Shino and I were just on our way to meeting up with the rest of the old team for lunch, with Anko tagging along. You're welcome to join." She offers.
Kakashi waves her off. "I think I danced on young Shikamaru's nerves long enough for the moment, I'll go check out what he wanted."
Privately Konohamaru really hopes it wasn't anything urgent.
Kakashi waves and vanishes in a twirl of leaves.
"Thank you Kurnai-san!" Moegi bows "But I wouldn't want us to intrude to a private get together."
"You wouldn't be, Moegi-san." Shino tells her formally. "How do I know this? Because with Boruto-kun out of the village we thought some company would help Hinata. And you would simply be more company." He says calmly, nodding at himself.
"What Shino's trying to say is," Kuranai grins fondly "you're all welcome."
"Great! Lunch, lunch!" Anko chants, dragging his aunt.
Konohamaru hands Sarada a bottle of water with a grin. "What do you say?"
Sarada accepts the water, and moves closer to him, and says quietly. "Was it okay?"
Konohamaru takes a page from Guy-san's book and gives her a thumbs up.
"You worked hard kid, and just like Lee-san said, that's all that matters." He tells her, hoping she doesn't beat herself up for losing.
Sarada hesitates, but then slightly grins and nods. "Okay." And follows Konohamaru as he walks after his Aunt.
"Let's go Metal-kun." Udon encourages him kindly.
"Yes sir!" the boy chants, and hurries to Sarada's side, chatting freely.
Despite the boy containing even more energy than Boruto at times, it's hilarious for Konohamaru to realize Sarada treats him with infinitely more patience, as she nods along to his words.
The group makes the walk in comfortable conversation, walking under the clear sky and amongst the happy buzz of the busy village.
"One day Metal," Konohamaru catches Sarada's voice over Moegi's story, as they walk. He glances over, to see his student smirking at her friend. "I'm going to beat you in hand to hand combat."
Metal-kun smiles without hesitation "Yes! I can't wait to see that, Sarada!" and Konohamaru gets the feeling Sarada's patient with the boy because he's one of the softest genin from her year, despite being the best at Taijutsu.
Sarada seems a bit taken aback by the loud support and laughs. "Alright. Want me to show you how to throw shuriken like me some time?"
Metal's brown eyes sparkle and he jumps excitedly "Yes! That will be so cool!"
Moegi must've been listening as well, because she grins and says "This boy and Hanabi-san's Namida-chan are both so adorable, honestly."
"Metal-kun does have a soft heart." Udon admits, but his tone is far from cheerful. It's downright worried.
Moegi claps his shoulder. "Remember; times of peace. He'll learn. Come on, let's have some good food with some colorful people." She cheers him up.
Konohamaru grins supportively at Udon. "Yeah, it'll work out."
Udon, far from the wimpy kid Konohamaru remembers from his childhood Moegi and him always had to defend, grits his teeth and nods, a silent promise in his eyes like steel.
Hopefully Metal-kun makes it to adulthood.
The thought is dark, but Konohamaru knows that so is the ninja world. He can't help but be privately grateful all three of his students are already hardened in their own ways.
Sarada's desperation for validation, for example, will one day doubtlessly turn into ruthlessness in how she achieves it, and that will make her an excellent ninja.
He knows she struggles with it, and it sadness him, that at 12, these are the aspects of their personalities he has to help nurture, but Udon's fear is not an irrational one, and Konohamaru isn't immune to it himself. He has no doubt that neither is Moegi. Hopefully, one day all his genin will grow to become shinobi who can separate the ruthless apathy they need in battle, and the lightness they need outside of it. It's not easy, and a lot of ninja fail to maintain the balance, effectively never rising beyond Genin and Chunin, or simply never again rising, cut down.
But thankfully, all three are currently being prepared for a long future in the ninja world.
Suddenly he realized who they'll be meeting soon and quickly left his dark thoughts to turn to his friend.
"Oi, maybe you should speak with Hinata-sama." Konohamaru suggests to Udon, keeping his voice low so the genin don't overhear.
"Why?" he asks, pushing his glasses up.
"Well, she used to have a hard time with it too, you know. Naruto-nii told me," he says, and his friends lean over to listen "she was a bit soft hearted too, when she was young, and fights were hard for her, despite how much she'd train. She found her way – the thing that pulls her through battles – I'm sure she'll give you pointers if you asked how to help Metal-kun."
Udon listens in concentration, deep in thought. "Would that be… okay?"
"Yes, Kora! She's really nice!" Konohamaru assures him.
"If so, you can also speak with Kurnai-san." Moegi hums, glancing at his aunt. "She was also a jonin instructor with the same problem you're facing."
"My student is not a problem." Udon counters her immediately, annoyed.
"If you're worried, it's a problem." Moegi says bluntly.
Konohamaru sighs, tired. "Will you two stop sniping at each other already?"
"SARADA-ONEE-CHAN!" the little girl tackles Sarada into the ground, head first, over-excited.
"Yo, Hime-chan!" Konohamaru greets with a big smile. "How have you been?"
"Hello, Big brother Konohamaru!" she smiles her big smile, reminding him of Naruto-nii when they were younger. "Sarada-onee-chan! Today we learned at school about math and it was boring but also some Kanji and I fell asleep so fast!" the little girl grabs a dazed Sarada's hand and begins to lead her into the restaurant. "Mama's sitting inside by the way – Hello everyone!" she pauses in her rambling to wave at them all in general before going on.
"And I drew so many pictures! I'm getting better! And I wanted to put them in Onii-chan's room, but Mama said he'll need it when he comes back, what do you think? When I helped Aunt Ino's store I saw some of Inojin-senpai's paintings and they were so pretty! Do you think if I ask he'll help me with mine? Did you know" she tugs happily on the arm she's holding " – did you know that Aunt Ino's flower shop has so many beautiful flowers?! In so many colors! And Sai-san, he's really funny! Sai-san! Funny! Did you know? Did you know?"
Sarada shoots Konohamaru a look that he reads as 'Help system is overloaded' and he can't help but snort. As expected, she sends him a glare before venturing to answer the excitable girl.
"That's really…. nice, Hime."
"You paint, that's awesome!" Metal exclaims, almost as enthusiastic as Himawari, and together they chatter about a million things, Sarada blinking owlishly between them.
In the restaurant they meet up with Kiba and Hinata, Akamaru snoozing in their lap, and the large group ends up in the largest table, having several conversations because it's impossible to have just one with so many people.
Konohamaru sits next to Hinata and chats with her happily, pulling Udon down next to him.
He notes how every other person is connected to another somehow, and smiles to himself. Because yeah, everybody is connected to somebody in the village somehow, and that's Konoha's strength.
That's their Will of Fire.
The rest of the evening is nice, and his student seems a bit taken aback, but very animated about the affair.
A\N:
Yayy she finally wore the erring! Whoop whoop!
Okay, so the power progress in this fic is GRADUAL! She's getting better, but she's not some Mary-Sue character who's suddenly very incredible, she's still a genin, and I was trying to point it out during this chapter – with the stronger ninja watching, sort of getting bored. Which is okay, because she'll get stronger slowly. I do hope I did a good job of her having earned how much she's grown in strength since the beginning, were she was lost and bitter, to now, channeling that bitterness into training and elevating herself with let's admit it sheer stubbornness and self motivation. I really love sarada's character! 3
Ugh, Rock Lee's a great dad! Fight me! He's so kind, and I can't imagine him not being furiously supportive! And as long as Metal pushes himself, he'll never put him down for freezing under pressure (as long as it's socially and not – you know – during battle where it could get him killed).
Also also – Konohamaru! He just revealed so MUCH! I tried not to let him, but it would be weird if he was all mysterious in his own thoughts – still some things he just hinted at, if you can spot all the places Konohamaru's inner thoughts nearly spoilers my story to my readers you'll get a cookie. I just called it foreshadowing and let it go *shrugs*
I bet you all had an angry moment when you realized he's aware of sarada's insecurities, but really, I think its likely Konohamaru will try and use it to help her work harder than work her through it. That's the real reason she hasn't had any close supervision throughout this story since the boys left her side – because alone they evaluated she's the type to work even harder. So Konohamaru asked Naruto to give her the resources to work herself up, and went to – well -…. That one is a spoiler so just know he's on a noble quest (actually I kind of hate him for it, but he also knew if not him someone else will have to and it was sweet that he chose to do this, but still, you might think he's an asshat when you realize what's going on # KonohamaruIsTryingHisBest)
The ending took a turn, but metal didn't grow up like lee – he doesn't have a Neji hyuuga counterpart, and in the show he's always shown to be a kind boy, so he sort of reminded me of Hinata in the original Naruto.
Kakashi – okay low-key I think I did a pretty good job of writing him, tell me what you thought! Was he canon?
Lastly, you might've noticed I haven't written out every interaction – sometimes Konohamaru tells us belatedly, or we're left to guess what went down like when lee and guy just disappeared, and when metal and sarada somehow ended up lectured by shino – that's because with that many people keeping track of all conversations is impossible and a lot, and writing this from one person's pov this way seemed the most realistic way for me to handle all the characters in this scene – which were a lot. I mean, its characters watching characters – and they all have a strong personality and it was challenging and I hope you liked it because it was a lot of fun!
Pls, review! Comment! Follow! Subscribe! (I feel like a YouTube channel)