Chapter 2 Burning Sky on a Happy Day



The mid-day sun burned down in unbearable heat. Insects were cowering under any shelter they could find, as were most of Konohagakuri's residents. But for the young ninja teams, this was good training for hot climates. For that reason, no one was in the classrooms. The lucky ones were by streams. The unlucky ones, to put it plainly, weren't.

Team 7 found themselves by a small waterfall. They were doing one-on-one hand-to-hand training with Kakashi, who seemed to like the heat. It was amazing how much they had all matured in 3 years, and even Sakura's skills could stand against her teachers', at least for a time. Naruto and Sasuke had both grown, and Naruto was actually almost 6 feet tall.

Everyone was exhausted. Naruto, having just finished a nearly hour-long bout with his teacher, was sprawled on the ground, almost unable to move. Sasuke sat perched on a rock. He had discarded his normal clothes and was wearing only his shorts and tabi. It seemed the heat was suffocating. Naruto only wore shorts and a shirt, and Sakura was in a thin shirt with her normal shorts on. She was fighting Kakashi, currently being driven back towards the waterfall. One more hit, and she went over the edge, landing in the pool below.

Kakashi laughed, a sign of approval, and finally said what they had all wanted to hear. " Good work today, you're dismissed." The next second, all that could be seen of team 7 was three figures running in the distance.

"Huh, you'd think they were relieved or something," he remarked, flipping open Icha Icha Paradise and seating himself on a rock.

Once the heat of noon had passed, the shops opened again and the hustle of commerce could be heard. So, of course, Naruto treated everyone to ramen in honor of Hinata's birthday, and nearly everyone came to celebrate. Even Kakashi and Sasuke were there. Iruka was buying ramen as fast as he could, and Naruto was having an eating contest with Shikamaru. Currently, the blonde shinobi had eaten 16 bowls and was on his 17th. Shikamaru had given up at 9.

"Dude, you know the contest's over, right?"

"Whats your point," asked Naruto in between slurps of pork and miso ramen.

"Wow," added Ino," he actually came up for air." As a group of spectators closed in around Naruto to watch him continue on to his 19th bowl, Kakashi stepped in.

"Naruto, you know we have survival training again tomorrow, right?" Naruto's eyes bulged for a second before he calmly put his chopsticks aside and began to stare at his bowl longingly. Sakura and Hinata started to talk, and after a time the party calmed down. Shikamaru and Ino left hand-in-hand, and Kakashi started laughing to himself.

'Twisted perv,' thought Sasuke, who was at the back of the noodle bar. But when he looked down at his drink, something was wrong. There were ripples in his water. And they were growing.