Hihihi! I'm back! Yeah..
Don't know if this counts as Tuesday but as I write the ANs it's 12:27 am so.. yeah.
Anyways, guess who was no school for another week? I guess who will probably still slack off and not write chapters to this? (Me to both if you were wondering.)
I do have a semi legitimate reason for ignoring this fanfic for a couple weeks, AN below if you're curious but please read the chapter while you're here! :)
"What do you mean let's start training?" Naruto yells. Kaosu's terrified eyes at the forefront of his mind. He stands knee deep in water but doesn't seem to notice or care, "We need to go after them and save her!"
"No." Kakashii says calmly as he walks towards them, stopping to rub his temples, this was the longest C rank mission he had ever been on and it was far from over.
"Why? She was under our protection!"
Kakashi grabs Naruto's upper arm and hauls him none too gently back on shore while Sasuke huffs, "It was her fault for coming with us, if she had stayed behind this wouldn't have happened."
"Not necessarily Sasuke. By accompanying us she was surrounded by three genin and one jonin, she should have been safer."
"That's why we need to go save her! This shouldn't have happened!" Naruto shouts, he couldn't believe that she had been snatched from right under their noses.
"Naruto, calm down." Kakashi sighs, "We're not going to rescue her because: A, you need training, B, we don't know what we're going up against and I'm not charging into an enemy base with an inexperienced team of genin, and.." He trails off, wondering if it was worth mentioning his last thought.
"What Kakashi-sensei?" Sakura questions, she had remained quiet up until now.
No, they wouldn't believe me if I told them a six year old 'civilian' is probably better than them and working against us.. and a girl. (Nothing against Kunoichi!)
"Nothing." He says quickly, "Now as I was saying." He glances at Naruto who glares back, still POed that they weren't going to save Kaosu. "We- you guys need to train and master water walking."
Sasuke huffs, "Why are we doing this? We should be learning jutsus or something."
Kakashi sighs, "Somebody wasn't listening the first time, water walking has the same benefits of tree climbing, better chakra control, the ability to fight on more terrain, better chakra reserves."
"Fine, this shouldn't be too hard." Sasuke steps out onto the water and his uninterested eyes widen slightly as he realizes how different it was from tree climbing. After fighting to stay dry for a few moments he steps off and purposefully doesn't look at any of his teammates.
Sakura gazes wistfully at Sasuke as he nurses his wounded pride, "Kakashi-sensei? When the water flows under your feet don't you have to adjust the chakra in your feet accordingly?" "Kakashi-sensei?" she repeats when she receives no response.
The trio glance around to see their sensei already set up under a tree with his book, "Hm? Oh right, you need to adjust the chakra in your feet as the water flows underneath them, good luck."
The genin grumble about their sensei and his perverted ways, they had already figured out what that book was about, before getting into place on the shore a few feet apart and getting to work.
The genin work on that as their sensei sits in the shade under his tree. He stares at his book but couldn't seem to get into it like he normally would instead he was deeply immersed in his thoughts, who was that girl? If she was a kunoichi where was she from if they would train and send them out on solo missions so young? Was she travelling with Zabuza, working for Gato or working apart? Should he warn his students, possibly scare them for nothing? Would they believe him?
He sighs and firmly shuts the thoughts away, they could stew for a while, right now he wanted to read his book.
48 hours, 4 meals and a lot of coaching later the three genin had at the very least a decent hold on their water walking abilities.
Sakura had gotten to the point where it was almost instinctual, Sasuke still needed to concentrate a bit but he could easily spar and do other things on top of the water, Naruto needed to concentrate quite a bit because the moment he let his mind wander too far he would start wobbling.
The sun sets as the genin train, Sasuke goes through some basic drills on top of the water, Sakura sits on the shore and reads a book, having exhausted her chakra supply for the day, Naruto sits and gently bobs with the water as he focuses.
"Okay, let's head back and get some food and some rest." Their sensei's voice rings over the water and the children quickly obey.
The two boys huff as they get off the water and follow their sensei and teammate. Sakura quickly doubles back and latches onto Sasuke with an adoring expression, Sasuke makes no move to throw her off.
Kakashi waits for Naruto to catch up before walking at the brisk pace he set, "Any improvement?"
Naruto gazes ahead resolutely, he knew that he was holding back the group because his water walking was sub par and he didn't like it.
"Naruto?"
Naruto returns from his thoughts with a jolt and the realization that he had been scowling, the future Hokage, scowling! He quickly remedies that by grinning widely, "It's getting better, I just need more practice that's all!"
Kakashi blinks at his student's apparent mood swing but doesn't comment instead he smiles, "You may not catch on as quickly as your teammates but you're persistent, I like that."
Naruto laughs but it was tinged with hurt, "Is that an insult or a compliment?"
Kakashi is slightly taken aback, although I can't really blame him, he thinks with a sudden, growing realization, I may be his sensei but he's been mistreated so badly by the villagers it may take a while before he completely trusts me when I say I mean no harm. Also, he reflects, his teammates aren't helping matters, Sakura is so obsessed with Sasuke and Sasuke with himself, most of the time they could probably care less about Naruto, the scapegoat, prankster, demon...
Finally he eye smiles, "An observation."
Naruto mentally sighs in relief having dreaded his sensei's response after such a long pause. Some of the relief shows on his face and Kakashi winces slightly, yeah, it'll take a while.
The quartet reach the house and head inside for some well deserved grub.
"Did she show up?" Tsunami was still holding out on a faint hope that Kaosu would miraculously appear while the ninja were out.
"No, she didn't." The raven snaps, he was tired of her asking them to perform miracles, they were only ninja, genin at that.
"Oh, okay." She responds as they join her family at the table and quickly sits down herself.
The food was simple, well made and a testimony to Gato's monopoly regarding the village.
After supper the genin busy themselves with getting ready bed and half and hour later they're all in bed, trying to sleep.
Sakura falls asleep quickly with nothing more than her unconditional love for Sasuke on her mind.
Sasuke broods for a while but soon follows his fangirl.
Among the genin Naruto has the most trouble falling asleep. He lies awake, staring at the ceiling. He grumbles something unintelligible and gets up, hoping a brief walk outside will put his racing mind to rest.
He quietly makes his way outside and sighs as the cool evening air caresses his body. With no destination in mind he starts walking. He smiles to himself, no one was around so he didn't have to pretend, his only companions were the full moon illuminating his path and his shadow, dancing behind him.
With a start he finds himself on the shore of the lake they using to practice. He stares at it pensively and for a moment and contemplates contemplating the meaning of life. He chuckles, better leave that stuff to Shikamaru and focuses his chakra to his feet before walking onto the surface on the lake.
It seems easier at night, he thinks. He was able to stand still and a large portion of his mind was free to wander.
"Naruto?" His head whips around and his hand immediately jumps up to soothe the sudden pain.
The figure was wearing dark clothing but the silver hair topping it was unmistakable, "Naruto, you should be in bed."
Naruto turns to fully face his sensei and shoves his hands into his pockets before remembering he was in his PJs- no pockets, instead he lets his hands hang at his sides. Slapping on his trademark grin he replies, "Couldn't sleep."
Kakashi disappears in a swirl of leaves and reappears behind Naruto.
The blond flinches away, expecting a harsh blow from him like from the many other chuunin, jonin, drunk men, men in general, People in general, he mentally shakes himself before he falls into a spiral of hurt and loneliness. Instead Kakashi gently grabs his arm and leads him back to the shore, "I'm not going to hurt you Naruto."
Naruto blinks at the gentle tone his sensei had used and finds himself at a loss of words, another person who wouldn't hurt him for no reason, another precious person. He lowers his head and stares at the ground moving beneath his feet at a moderate pace, "I'm sorry," He says quietly.
"I don't blame you," his sensei responds at the same volume.
Am I the only one who finds the little bit at the end cute? No? Just me, well this is awkward.. No it will not turn into a KakaNaru fanfic (As much as I love them! Call me crazy but it's cute :D)
I actually have no parings in mind, well maybe a couple.
Congrats to you who hath made it to the end of the chapter (and halfway through the AN), I'll be quick.
I submitted a couple OCs to this person, realized how Awesome they are and am now writing a small backstory for them. It'll be a Soul Eater fanfic and I definitely recommend watching it if you haven't already. While you're at it check out Attack on Titan, good, nah baddass anime right there. :D
So, if I don't update this I'm either updating that or being a lazy ass. :)
