A/N: Masashi Kishimoto owns Naruto. Not me. I only own Shirayuki. I forgot to mention this in the first chapter. This is my latest story. If you read what I have posted already and are waiting for me to update it. I will as soon as I get the inspiration to write the chapter that needs to written. Have some faith in me please? And as always read and review please. Also, Sasuke is going to seem OOC at times. Italics are thoughts. "Italics" is Inner Sakura. Bold is Sound effects. Also I apologize that the Zabuza fight might seem rushed. I want to get more of how Sasuke and Shira act around each other while alone.

I apologize for not updating this in a long time. I had to have my gall bladder removed in February of last year and I work many hours to where by the time I get home, I'm exhausted. Plus I had lost a small interest in Naruto for a while since it ended. But I am back and will update when I can.

Chapter Nine: Training

"What do you mean?" Naruto asked the brunette as he looked over at her. "We all saw that hunter nin kill him."

"Hunter nins are meant to dispose of the body right away. Right where the target dies. Even if it means right in front of shinobi who is not from the same village." Shira explained as Sasuke growled slightly. He knew that his best friend was right, and felt stupid for the fact did not see it before Shira mentioned it.

"She's right. That hunter nin didn't dispose of Zabuza's body like he was suppose to. He took the body away." Sasuke stated as he looked at the others. Naruto looked at him like he was confused.
"Think of it Naruto. The weapons that were used by the Hunter nin was senbon. They are modified needles from the medical field used for acupuncture." Shira explained as she stretched her arms in front of her. "Hunter nins are trained on the body's structure thoroughly. Putting someone into a death like state, by stopping the heart but keeping the body alive, is no problem for them."
"Shira's right. While I checked Zabuza's body myself, and did not find a pulse, he could have been in a death like state." Kakashi explained as he covered his mask with a hand. The jonin noticed how Shira rubbed her forehead and groaned. "What is it Shira?"
"The hunter nin carried Zabuza away, while the body would be much heavier than him. The senbon pierced the neck, around pressure point locations. It's clear now that he meant to save Zabuza and not kill him." Shira stated as Sasuke rested his chin on her shoulder.

"Yuki's right. That hunter nin was at most my height. If not just a few inches taller than Yuki or Sakura." Sasuke mused as he glanced at Shira from the corner of his eye.

"Sas is right. I would place that hunter nin at around my or Sakura's height." Shira said as she leaned her head against Sasuke's.
"You guys are thinking too much. Hunter nins are supposed to kill missing nin right?" Tazuna asked as Shira started to cough softly. Sasuke gave her some of the medicine that her family makes and held her close.
"No. With all the suspicions surrounding this, we will be preparing before it's too late. That's a shinobi rule that is extremely important."Kakashi explained as he looked over at Shira before looking back at Tazuna. "Not to mention the idea of Zabuza is dead or is alive… There's no real assurances that Gato hasn't hired a shinobi that could be even stronger." When Kakashi stated that, Sakura and Naruto looked at Shira as if she was going to explain who could possibly be stronger than Zabuza. Though, Naruto looked like he was hoping that would be the case.
"Stop looking at me. Just because I know a lot of things does not mean that I know everything." Shira sighed as she closed her eyes before opening them again. "Sides, there are a number of shinobi who could be possibly stronger than Zabuza. All depends on how he or she was trained."
"Shira's right." Kakashi said before Sakura pointed out that he couldn't move. "Hehe. You guys will still receive training. You will need to be prepared."
"How? What is a little training going to do?" Sakura demanded as she got a scowl on her face. "Our enemy is a shinobi that even you struggled against while using the sharingan!"
"Are you trying to get us killed?!" Inner Sakura demanded as Shira sighed and shook her head the same time as Kakashi.

"Sakura, who was it that saved me while I was struggling inside of that water prison?" Kakashi asked while he looked at her. "It was you four. You all are growing rapidly with skills. Especially you Naruto." Kakashi looked over at the blonde of the group. "You're the one whose improved the most."
He does seem better than he used to be. Probably not that much though. Shira was the one who attacked first when it came to Zabuza. She seemed to not even be intimidated by him. Sakura thought as she glanced at Naruto before turning her attention to Shira. Sakura couldn't help but let a small scowl appear on her face as she saw just how comfortable Sasuke and Shira seemed to be with how they were sitting.

"But, clearly this is just training until I heal. You four won't be able to defeat Zabuza without me." Kakashi stated as he ran a hand through his hair. He could practically see the wheels in Shira's head turning as Sakura asked about how soon they should start training and the fact that Zabuza could attack at anytime.

"A person who is put into a momentary death situation like Zabuza was will have to take a while before their body returns to how it normally is." Shira explained as everyone looked over at the brunette. "What?"
"How do you know all of that? And how did you know about Kirigakure's graduation exams?" Kakashi asked, curious as to how much information Shira knew.
"I read a lot. You would be surprised by the number of books that are in my room are actually medical books due to the mass that is on my lung. As for the graduation exam that gave Kirigakure the nickname of the Bloody Mist Villige, my dad told me about it. I had found one of his bingo books and was looking at some of the shinobi that were from Kirigakure. Instead of having Kirigakure, it had Bloody Mist Village." Shira explained as Sasuke shrugged.

"I only knew of the books in your room." Sasuke said as he knew that the others would ask on what he knew.
"That's because you have come to check on me when I'm forced on bed rest." Shira told him as she yawned some. She was starting to get tired and knew that soon they would be training.
"We will worry about training tomorrow. Relax tonight, we all need it." Kakashi said as Naruto mentioned something about the training sounding like fun.
"That's not fun." A little boy's voice said, causing Naruto and Sakura to turn their attention to the door. Shira rubbed her temple as she Naruto demanded on who the boy was while Tazuna greeted the boy. "Welcome back Grandpa."
"Inari, say hello to our guests." Tazuna's daughter told her son as the boy looked at the Konoha shinobi. "They're shinobi who protected your grandfather."
"Mom, they're just going to die." Inari said, causing Shira to frown while Naruto shouted at the boy. "There's no way you can win against Gato."
"Do they ever shut up?" Shira whispered to Sasuke as Naruto and Sakura both shouted, Naruto at Inari and Sakura at Naruto. Sasuke looked down at her and shook his head before he wrapped his arms around her and held her close.

"Hey Inari, listen. I'm a super hero who will one day become an incredible shinobi called Hokage. I don't know this Gato guy, but he's got nothing against me." Naruto shouted as Shira cocked an eyebrow at him.

He truly does like to make it known that is stubborn. Shira thought as she leaned back against Sasuke more.

"Pfft. What are you stupid?" Inari deadpanned as he gave a glare at Naruto. "There's no such thing as a hero!" Shira widened her eyes some this time at Inari's words. She could not believe that a boy at Inari's age could not have someone who was his hero. She knew Sasuke used to idolize his brother at Inari's age and Shira herself idolized Sasuke's mother at the same age. "If you don't want to die you should leave."
"Something's off about that boy…" Shira whispered to Sasuke as he frowned at her words. Tazuna asked where Inari was going, which the boy answered that he was going to his room to look at the ocean. Tazuna apologized to the others as Naruto got up and soon left the room as well. "Not good…" Shira muttered as she watched Naruto leave as well.

"What's wrong?" Sasuke asked Shira as he turned his attention to her. He had been paying more attention to the fact that Naruto left the room.

"Naruto… Something tells me that he will do something rash." Shira told Sasuke as she stood up and held on to her side. "I'm going to go find him." Shira tugged on Sasuke's hair some before leaving the room. Shira found Naruto just as he was coming down the stairs and saw the look on his face. "What's wrong Naruto?"

"Huh?" Naruto looked up to see Shira standing at the end of the stairs. "Oh Shira. It's nothing." Naruto lied before he and Shira both walked back to where the others were. Shira let it go, but knew that the blonde shinobi was lying to her.
"Today we will now start your training." Kakashi said to the genin he mentored the next day. He observed the four noting how Shira and Sasuke looked bored, Naruto excited, and Sakura starting at Sasuke out of the corner of her eye while trying to listen to him. Naruto shouted his excitement causing Shira to smile and Sasuke to shake his head while Sakura looked annoyed. "Before that though, I want to talk to you about the shinobi ability chakra."
"Um…" Naruto trailed off causing Shira to look over at him. "What's catura?"
"It's chakra! You're a shinobi and you don't know what it is?! What did you learn in the academy?!" Sakura shouted at Naruto causing Shira to flinch some at the noise.

"Chill out Sakura. Naruto isn't like you or me when it comes to remembering things. He knows what it is, just doesn't remember much about it." Shira said to the pink-haired female, stepping in to Naruto's defense.

"I used to sleep during classes that I thought were hard." Naruto admitted sheepishly as he rubbed the back of his head. Shira shook her head at Naruto's words with a smile on her face while Kakashi could only sigh and think about how bad the current information that Naruto provided was.
"Fine…. Sakura, if you would please." Kakashi said, giving the floor to Sakura who launched into a long lecture of what chakra was and how shinobi used it. Shira noticed how confused Naruto was and frowned at Sakura's words while Kakashi praised her.

"Naruto, think of the Shadow Clone Jutsu that you can use." Shira stated as she got everyone's attention. "The amount of energy used in order to create that many clones is built up with in your body and then with corresponding hand signs is what creates the physical clones instead of the image in your head. The energy used is chakra."
"Oh. I understand better now." Naruto admitted as Sasuke tugged on Shira's hair gently. "So learning with the body."

"Not exactly, but close Naruto." Shira said with a small laugh as Sasuke confirmed that they could already use jutsu.
"While Shira's explanation was a simpler version, she is also right." Kakashi said as he watched Shira run a finger down Sasuke's arm. "But concerning Sasuke's statement, you four are not using chakra properly."

"WHAT?!" Naruto demanded as Kakashi sighed some.

"Well, as Sakura and Shira both explained earlier. To release chakra means to bring out the energy, both physical and spiritual mixed together, within your body." Kakashi stated as he talked to the genin. "Fire, water, earth, wind, and lighting are the basic jutsus. Based on what jutsu you use, the type and amount of chakra that is released will be different. In other words, you guys are not using chakra effectively yet."
"Even if we can release a high amount of chakra, just to create as simple as a clone, unless we can control it properly the jutsu will be weakened or not work at all. Just like all the times you tried to make a clone in class while in the academy Naruto." Shira said as she quickly figured out what Kakashi was saying and dumbed it down for Naruto.
"Shira, you scare me at times, you know that?" Naruto asked as he looked at the brunette of the group, causing her to laugh as she shrugged her shoulders.

"Not the first time someone said that to me." The Nara girl said with a smile before looking over at Kakashi. "So how are we going to learn to control our chakra better?"
"By climbing trees." Kakashi said simply as the four genin looked confused at him.