One Change: Chapter 11 – Team 7
Here's the next chapter, hope you enjoy reading it! I suppose it's a bit of a filler but it's necessary to properly introduce team 7 and also to show the development all of the characters have been through. Things will likely start to get more serious after this chapter because the Chuunin exams are coming up!
Ages:
Itachi – 17
Sakura, Team 7 – 12
Haruki and Shin – 14
Team Gai – 13
Kakashi, Gai – 26
Minato – 35
Thank you to: silverwolfighter00, angel897, DeadlyNightshade(Anon), Uchiha Tsunako, Analelle and Guest
This chapter is dedicated to silverwolfighter00 for always reviewing!
Standard Disclaimers Apply.
11: Team 7
When Itachi arrived at team two's usual training ground he didn't quite know what to make of the sight that met him. Sakura was hidden in the top of a tree on the western border of the grounds, silently aiming a senbon with deadly accuracy towards his brother. Aforementioned brother had activated his sharingan and was staring intensely around the training ground, no doubt trying to find the pink-haired kunoichi.
Haruki was in the middle of a one-to-one Taijutsu spar with Uzumaki Naruto, the boy had stamina but couldn't keep up with the Hyuuga whom had 2 years experience on him and so it seemed likely that he would lose the match soon.
Shin was surrounded by snakes that seemed to be under the influence of some kind of jutsu, they were made of ink if his senses were anything to go by. His opponent was nowhere to be seen but he didn't seem to be having too much trouble with the reptilian imitations. He spotted the last member of the team, a pale boy with short black hair and black eyes, his face was pulled into a faux smile as she charged at Shin from behind but the boy turned at the last second and deflected his kunai with a shuriken of his own.
A ways off, not bothering to conceal himself, Itachi could see Hatake Kakashi: The copy ninja. The man was watching the genin with an amused smile on his face and Itachi couldn't help but wonder why the man was here, annoyed that his team were preoccupied so they weren't able to begin their training.
He decided not to intervene with their training, he didn't think that his team would benefit much from the experience but his otouto's team could probably use the experience or at least a 'wake up call'. He shunshin'd next to Kakashi and inquired as to why he had brought his genin to an occupied training ground. The Hatake replied that he was unaware of the status of the grounds and after he arrived he'd come up with the genius plan of making them spar. He, like most of the Jounin in the village, had heard about the excellent progress his team had made in the 2 years he'd been teaching them.
Finding the Jounin to offer unsatisfactory conversation, he turned once again to observe the sparring pairs.
His brother was now pinned to the ground, courtesy of the 8 senbon holding his clothes down in different locations. He was scowling and Itachi could see the smug look on Sakura's face, though he couldn't hear from this distance he was sure that the girl was making taunting remarks.
Since her breakdown last year, Sakura had begun to excel in her training. Her Taijutsu improved by leaps and bounds and he was aware that she had been training with Maito Gai and his own new genin team in her spare time. He had once observed one of their training sessions, Sakura was sparring with Hyuuga Neji. The boy seemed to think that his byakugan would give him the upper hand, it was obvious that he didn't take into account his cousins position as her teammate. Sakura had learned to find the weaknesses in the byakugan, that 1% which the user couldn't see and use it against them. The match had ended with Sakura in the victory and the Hyuuga scowling at her and refusing to talk to her for the rest of the session.
Her genjutsu and Ninjutsu had also improved which was only possible because of her steadily increasing chakra supplies. He had seen her reading in the library by herself, a scroll about expansion of chakra pathways. He knew that she liked to meditate and often found her doing so when she was the first to arrive to their training sessions.
She was now learning B-rank Suiton and Fuuton jutsu and C-rank genjutsu and he had taken to instructing her from the sidelines as she taught herself. The sharingan made Itachi a master of genjutsu so he was more than happy to coach her as she was a genjutsu type and would benefit from the extra training. Her use of the Hyoton element was also greatly improving now that he knew how it worker. They had figured out that by mixing Suiton and Fuuton chakra, both of which Sakura was capable of manipulating, then she was able to manipulate Hyoton chakra. However she still had a log ways to go with this as there were no records that she could draw experience from.
He couldn't help much when it came to her Ninjutsu as he was a user of Katon jutsu but he knew the technicalities and was able to tell her what she was doing wrong by observing her.
Watching her now he could tell that she had found her will of fire. When he first met Sakura she was a broken shell of a girl and tended to blindly follow orders, while it was efficient it would ultimately end in her demise. If Sakura herself didn't know what she was fighting for then how was she supposed to fight properly?
The Sakura in front of him now wanted to protect those who were special to her, wanted to be of equal standing to her teammates and be able to fight alongside them, to watch their backs. He watched as she slowly started to smile more and she listened to his advice but didn't hesitate to ask questions or contest when she thought he was wrong. This was the person that he knew Sakura had the potential to be and he was glad that she was reaching out and taking the opportunity.
One thing didn't seem to have changed though, Sakura and Sasuke still had a hate-hate relationship that most often led to verbal spars whenever they crossed each others paths. Itachi understood that Sasuke had been one of those to torment Sakura during her academy days so she had a reason to dislike him (because Sakura wasn't really capable of hating anybody) but Itachi couldn't quite discern his brothers reasoning for disliking the kunoichi.
He watched as Sakura went and sat unceremoniously on his brothers back, earning a grunt and a growl from the younger shinobi. The girls lips split into a wide grin as she continued to taunt Sasuke, turning once to flick him on the forehead and call him annoying.
Across the grounds Haruki was standing next to Naruto who was now dangling from a tree by one foot and squirming indignantly. The Hyuuga had his arms crossed and wasn't even looking at the Uzumaki, instead choosing to glare at Sasuke whom was now speaking rather vulgarly to his female teammate. Itachi made a note to tell his mother about the way Sasuke had been talking, he was sure that she would be most unhappy.
Shin was leaning against a tree with his eyes closed, not even bothering to keep an eye on his enemy, upon closer inspection it was apparent that he had no need to as the boy was buried up to is neck in the ground. It was a jutsu that Itachi recognised as the Earth Release: Head hunter jutsu and he smirked when he realized that his team and dealt with their adversaries with little to no trouble.
Kakashi also seemed to find his teams easy defeat amusing and was now strolling into the middle of the field looking as though he was going to make an announcement.
"So team 7, do you see what is expected of you in the next two years? You may never reach this level because this particular team is extremely specialized and harshly trained in order to reach the level that they have reached. This is what it means to be a shinobi." he said, gesturing to team 2 who by now had returned to his side and begun speaking quietly amongst themselves.
"Naruto, Sasuke, Sai this is what you'll be up against when you are able to leave the village for missions. You'll likely be up against worse when the time comes for you to enter the Chuunin exams. You have to e serious about wanting to train, there will be no slacking off."
With that said, the Jounin vanished from the field, stating that training was over for today and that the boys should meet him at the next training ground over in 2 days time.
For the rest of the afternoon and well into the evening Itachi trained with his team. Sakura was reading over a scroll on the technique Suiton: Mizu Hari, it was a technique that required a very high chakra control as it was an adaptation of the Hyuuga's Juuken. Haruki had been the one to suggest that try learning it and Sakura had been more than willing to give it a try. She could already use the Jutsu with some amount of proficiency but in order to make her Hyoton Jutsu even more effective she would have to make it even more precise.
A ways off, Haruki was practicing his Hakke Kusho , a technique that the Hyuuga clan was well know for.
Shin was once again doodling seals onto a partially blank scroll. His training with the Yondaime had begun just 3 months ago and the boy was working extremely hard in order to live up to the mans expectations.
His team were powerful, he new that. Tomorrow he would ask them if they'd like to participate in the Chuunin exams, he thought they were ready but he had to let them make that decision for themselves.
So next chapter will be the first round of the Chuunin exams, who's excited?
Team 7 has appeared! Not in the conventional way but they are all still technically members of team 7. These two teams will have a close relationship in the future.
Jutsu used in the last few chapters:
Chapter 11:
Suiton: Mizu Hari – Water Release: Water Needles.
Hakke Kusho – Eight Trigrams Rotation
Chapter 10:
Suiton: Kokuu no Jutsu – Water Release: Black Rain Technique
Magen: Kasumi – Illusionary Release: Mist
Fuuton: Kamikaze – Wind Release: Stream
Katon: Goka Mekkyaku – Fire Release: Great Fire Annihilation
Chapter 8:
Doton: Shuheki – Earth Release: Barrier
Katon: Ensakkai – Fire Release: Flame Murdering boundary
Suiton: Senshokuko – Water Release: A thousand feeding sharks
Magen: Shinkiro – Illusionary Release: Mirage
Please leave a review to let me know what you thought, anything that could be improved, things you liked or questions pertaining to this particular fic.
Sei x
