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Himaru chuckled. Both Sasuke and Naruto had passed out on the ground last night. "How should we wake them up, Sakura?" Sakura looked up at her brunette sensei.

"What do you mean?" Himaru sighed and shook his head.

"Are you sure you were in Naruto's class?" Without another word, Himaru reached into one of his many pants pockets and pulled out a simple scroll. "This should do." He unrolled the scroll above the unconscious pair and bit his finger, drawing blood. He ran his finger across the fluttering paper, and a flash flood of icy cold water spilled out, soaking the boys to the bone.

"COLD!" Naruto leapt several feet into the air and landed hard on his almost numb butt. Sasuke just shivered, but he was shivering fast enough that he was a nearly a blur. Himaru laughed loudly, his dark blue eyes closed in little rainbows. When his laughter died down he absentmindedly brushed his spiky bangs out of his eyes, even though they fell right back down.

"I'm proud of you. You both stayed here all night. You're either very determined, or very stupid." Both Sasuke and Naruto growled at him. Then their stomach growled. Himaru started laughing again as both boys blushed, though you could hardly tell on Sasuke.

"I foresaw this." Himaru reached into yet another pocked and pulled out another scroll. Naruto was several yards away by this point. "Relax, I'm not going to douse you again…yet." Himaru laid the scroll down like a picnic cloth and then applied his blood. Several bowls of piping hot ramen came out of it. Naruto was immediately back and already sitting down. Himaru smiled as he started slurping down the noodles, and then turned to Sakura. "You eat too. And stop skipping breakfast. A ninja can't afford to diet." Sakura's jaw dropped.

"But…How did you-"

"You're a boy crazy, self-conscious girl Sakura, it wasn't hard to guess. Plus I used a little bird to spy on you." Sakura was gaping like a fish. Himaru ignored her and sat down to eat before Naruto ate everything. Sakura eventually started eating as well, right after Sasuke. Naruto just finished his third bowl.

"Guess what, Sensei? We made it almost to the top!" Himaru patted Naruto on the head, much to the blond's chagrin.

"Good. I'm sure you'll make it to the top today. Then, I'll teach you all some more jutsu." Naruto was about to leap into the air in joy, but Himaru pushed him back down.

"Naruto, you really do need to be a little quieter. Shinobi must be stealthy, and a Kage is the best ninja in the village in all aspects, not just power." Naruto seemed to mull it over, and for some reason he actually obeyed Himaru and grinned like an idiot instead. "Much better." Both Sasuke and Sakura sweat dropped. While Naruto happily slurped down his fourth bowl, however, Sasuke was glaring at him on the inside.

'I can't believe what the dobe said last night. He practically called me a fool, and now he's just grinning and being an idiot! As if he knows what I should do with my life. I am an Avenger, and I must kill him at all costs. Naruto can't understand, he doesn't have anyone to take revenge on!' Himaru clapped once all the ramen was gone in order to take their attention back to him.

"Time to go back to tree climbing! You too, Sakura. We still need to build those reserves of yours." All three genin got up and immediately headed to their own trees. Himaru watched as they charged up, Sakura making it all the way to the top, and Sasuke and Naruto were close behind.

Climb, fall, climb, fall… Himaru was starting to nod off as he watched them continue to try to get to the top. Sakura was resting on the ground, gasping for air. "Okay, enough tree climbing for now!" he shouted at them "The Hokage gave us another mission to rescue the daimyo's wife's cat." There was a pause.

"AGAIN?" Naruto practically tore the tree in two with his sudden burst of rage. "WE JUST DID THAT YESTERDAY!"

"QUIET!" Naruto was immediately silent, shocking both Sasuke and Sakura. No yell had ever gotten him to shut up before. Naruto, on the other hand, had no idea why he suddenly stopped yelling, or why he no longer felt like it. Himaru coughed, to get Sakura and Sasuke's attention.

"Ahem. As I was saying, we have to rescue the damned cat again, but, I'm going to teach you a new jutsu to make all the day's missions better." Now everyone's attention was stuck to him like a magnet. "Watch closely." He began to slowly perform hand seals: ox-snake-horse-hare-rat. In a blur of emotion, he was almost instantly several dozen yards away. "This jutsu is simple, using the seals and then pumping chakra into your legs, or any other limb, you move incredibly quickly. It's called Haipa-Sumiyaka no Jutsu (Hyper Speed Technique)." Himaru brushed his bangs out of his eyes again before gesturing for them to try.

"Haipa-Sumiyaka no Jutsu!" they all cried out, and began moving around as lightning fast blurs. Only a few moments later, Sakura collapsed. Naruto skidded to a halt, accidentally passing her by several feet. Sasuke also skidded to a stop, and Himaru was already by her side.

"I'm sorry. I forgot how draining this jutsu is. Here." Himaru handed her the same kind of pill as yesterday, and Sakura slowly got back to her feet.

"Are you alright, Sakura-chan?" Sakura nodded at Naruto and then looked to Sasuke hopefully, but his attention was on Himaru.

"Himaru-sensei, where's the cat?" Naruto was all over Sasuke.

"What do you mean, 'where's the cat?'? Sakura-chan nearly passed out!" The two glared at each other for awhile, but Himaru pushed them apart.

"Sakura will be fine, Naruto." Then he turned to Sasuke. "It is always important to think of the mission, but it is far more important to think of your comrades. Remember that, and you'll get all the power you'll ever need." Sasuke glared at Himaru when he turned his back to him.

'Tch, comrades, right. What a waste of time and space.'

"The cat is actually somewhere in this very forest Spread out!" All three genin followed his command and were off, hopping thought the trees, desperately trying to find the dammed orange cat. Once they left, Himaru sighed. "Why oh why do they have to hate each other? Then again, someone can't truly be your friend until they've been your enemy."

There was a trio of blurs zipping across the Konoha playground, and almost no litter was left on the premises. Every now and again, you would see on of the blurs, Sakura, stop to take a breather, and then start the jutsu again. Himaru, meanwhile, was sitting on a bench, doing absolutely nothing. "Okay, Team 7, that's it for this mission." The blurs stopped, revealing three, very tired genin with litter sticks and full garbage bags.

"Can we do training now?" Naruto whined as he tossed his bag into the playground trash can.

"Of course." Sakura nearly collapsed again. "But first, I need to take Sakura home. Those pills may give her more energy, but they're a pretty big strain on the body." Himaru walked over to Sakura and disappeared in a cloud of smoke with her in tow, leaving Sasuke and Naruto alone, at least temporarily.

"I hope Sakura-chan's alright," Naruto said, a little worried.

"She needs to get stronger." Naruto's eye twitched.

"What right do you have to insult her, Sasuke-teme?" Sasuke didn't even look at Naruto.

"She's weak. She wastes her time on all those girl things. She should focus on being a strong kunoichi." Naruto had to resist punching Sasuke

"Sakura-chan's not weak! She's got really good chakra control and hits really hard!" Sasuke smirked at him.

"Maybe for you, dobe." Both genin glared at each other, and then Himaru reappeared with a puff.

"Glad to see you two are getting along," he said, completely and utterly sarcastic.

"We are not!" Naruto huffed at him." Sasuke and Himaru both sweat dropped.

"I was being- oh never mind. I'm letting you guys take a break from tree climbing. We're going to move on to good old fashioned working out. Push-ups till you drop, then laps around Konoha." Both genin fell to the ground, landing on their hands and began the exercise. It became a race of who could do the most push-ups the fastest. It was roughly a tie, and then they sprang up onto their feet and began racing around the village. Naruto was behind Sasuke for the first lap, then he got closer and closer as the laps went on, but on the final and fifth lap, Sasuke still won.

"Good," Himaru commended them. "Now go get dinner. Meet me at the bridge tomorrow."

Himaru was already there by the time the members of Team 7 arrived at the bridge. "Good morning, Sakura-chan! Good morning, Himaru-sensei!" Naruto waved at them wildly, but Sakura was already fawning, or attempting to, over Sasuke. Naruto mumbled something about arrogant bastards as he arrived. Himaru brushed his bangs out of his eyes again before speaking.

"Just to let you know, this is our new official meeting place. I like the view."

"What missions do we have today?" Sasuke asked, desperate to get away from Sakura. Naruto had his hands together in prayer.

'Not the cat, not the cat, not the cat…'

"We have to rescue-"

"DAMMIT!"

"a dog from the sewer system," Himaru finished, sweat dropping.

"The sewer?" Sakura almost screeched.

"Yep." Everyone groaned except Sasuke because he did it on the inside. "But afterwards, I'll teach you each a specific new jutsu!" Naruto almost jumped into the air with joy. "Follow me to the man hole!" Himaru began walking off the bridge, back into a Konoha street. The genin followed him, Sakura treading behind in dread. When they found a man hold, Himaru bent down and dragged the lid off by the holes. "Ladies first," he said with a smirk, and Sakura gulped before climbing down the slimy ladder. She had to suppress an 'ew' several times, couldn't let Sasuke think she was a wimp. Naruto was probably the only one who was excited by the time they were all in the stinky corridors of the town's plumbing.

"This place is huge." Naruto's voice echoed through the partially green and brown halls. "And the floor is squishy!" Sakura turned a shade to match the décor as Naruto poked the watery floor in several spots.

"Come one," Himaru said as he started walking again. "We're looking for a small wiener dog. We should probably split up."

"Sp-split up?" Sakura squeaked.

"Yes. Like Naruto said, this place is big."

"And squishy."

"How about we pretend that's not true?" Himaru suggested dryly as he walked off in another direction. Then Sasuke, then Naruto, and finally Sakura headed off in different directions.

"Here, doggy!" Naruto's voice echoed through the sewer, as did Himaru's. Only Sakura and Sasuke were quiet, and on opposite ends of the sewer. Sasuke made sure of that. Sakura was thanking the kami that there were little sidewalks in the sewer, so she didn't have to step in the sewer water.

"NOT A WIENER DOG!" Naruto suddenly cried out from somewhere, and then there was a flash of light, as if from a fire.

"What's that idiot gotten himself into this time?" Sakura thought out loud, trying to concentrate on not being afraid. Her head snapped around when she heard a sudden noise, and she started walking a little fast. She heard it again. She started running, she couldn't tell where it was coming fro- "Aghhh!" she tripped on something, and the noise sounded like it was right not top of her. Just when she was about to scream, her mind recognized noise, and she sweat dropped.

Himaru observed his students with an amused eye. They were all back on the bridge, and covered in grim, especially Sakura, who looked like she's fallen in it. But Sakura was also the one holding a very scared and very dirty little brown wiener dog. Then there was Naruto. His clothes were torn and heavily singed. He was mumbling something about an army of giant rats. "I suppose that mission was a success. Sakura managed to find the target and pull him out of the drainage pipe. Good job. Now hold still." His hands moved in a blur, and the river underneath the bridge rose up, grabbed them, spun them around and dropped them surprisingly clean. At this point the poor little dog was utterly terrified, and Sakura could barely hold onto it without crushing it. Himaru, who was also soaked from the technique, took the dog.

"I'll take him to the client. You guys just dry off until I get back." He disappeared with a poof, leaving the trio alone and very, very soggy. Naruto suddenly burst out laughing, and pointed as Sasuke.

"You look ridiculous! You're hair's all clinging to your head and stuff!" Sasuke growled at the blond, and readied on of his favorite jutsu.

"Goukakyuu no Jutsu!" Suffice to say, they were all very dry when Himaru returned just moments later.

"Well, that was fast." Strangely enough, their sensei was also dry.

"Jutsu!" Simple, and to the point, courtesy of Naruto. Himaru smirked and brushed his bangs out his eyes again.

"Well, I did tell you I would. Okay, Sakura, you're first. Watch." Himaru's hands glowed green as he performed the seals, dog-dragon-ox. "This a medical jutsu that takes incredible chakra control, perfect for you, Sakura. This is the Kizu Nitto no Jutsu (Wound Knit Technique). You focus a special chakra into your hands using the seals. You need to find the part of you chakra that feels almost motherly." Sakura performed the seals and focused, her eyes scrunched in concentration.

"Kizu Nitto no Jutsu!" Her hand glowed a faint green, more a tint that a glow, really.

"An excellent first try, Sakura. Let's test it out." Himaru pulled out a kunai and made a small cut across the back of his hand. "Now run your hand along and slightly above the cut, transferring you chakra as you go." Sakura nodded dumbly at her sensei, a little surprised that he'd cut himself just to test a jutsu. She extended her hand and rested them above his hand, running them across the cut. Her eyes widened as the cut disappeared, like her hands were erasers. When she was done, Himaru took his hand back and examined it. "Good. Every time you see a cut, practice that jutsu on it, okay?" Sakura nodded her head, a huge smile on her face for succeeding. She looked at Sasuke for recognition, and he didn't blatantly ignore her! He didn't do anything to acknowledge her, but he didn't glare or shift his gaze. Nothing could ruin this day for her!

'Not even going through the sewers again!' she squealed in her mind, and Inner Sakura was shouting about winning Sasuke over and saying 'Cha!' a lot.

"You're turn, Sasuke."

"Go, Sasuke-kun!" Naruto, on the other hand, seemed disgruntled.

"How come he's going before me?

"Because I want them a ways away when I teach you your jutsu." Now Naruto was grinning from ear to ear, and Sasuke was scowling slightly. "Anyway, back to you, Sasuke." Himaru brushed his bangs out of his eyes again. "Watch." Snake-dragon-tiger-snake. Himaru's right hand was engulfed in flame up to his elbow. Sasuke smirked; he already liked this jutsu. With a wave of his hand, Himaru dispersed the fire. "You can probably guess how the Kasai Kougake no Jutsu (Fire Gauntlet Technique) works, right Sasuke?" Sasuke nodded, still smirking, especially at Naruto's gaping mouth.

"It's your turn, Naruto." Naruto almost jumped into the air again, instead settling for grinning like a madman and fidgeting a lot. Himaru took a deep breath, and brushed his bangs out of his eyes before continuing. "Sakura, Sasuke, back up. Back up really far." Sakura obeyed, but Sasuke seemed reluctant, though he backed up nonetheless. Once they were several yards away, Himaru began with the seals. Ox-monkey-boar-rat. Himaru inhaled deeply, and spat out a small, glowing sphere several feet away from them. At first it looked unimpressive, but once it landed, it blew up. The explosion rocked the ground and was incredibly bright, almost blinding. Once the smoke and light faded, both Sakura and Naruto's jaws dropped, and even Sasuke was gaping at it. A giant crater, nearly twenty feet in diameter. Once he retracted his jaw, Naruto looked like he was about to cry in happiness. Naruto was about to put his hands together, but Himaru stopped him.

"No. While performing the seals, you need to gather up a huge amount of chakra, and pass it through your throat and blow, like you would a spitball." Naruto grinned again. He already had this jutsu nailed. "Normally, a genin wouldn't be able to perform this jutsu at all, because of the massive chakra cost. One reason it's perfect for you." Naruto puffed up in triumph. "The other reason is because it also requires a highly erratic chakra source for the full effect." Now Naruto wasn't sure whether he should be insulted or not. "Go ahead, try it. It's called the Bakuyaku Tsuba no Jutsu (Blasting Powder Spit Technique)." Naruto was so excited, he didn't even notice Himaru backing up to join Sasuke and Sakura.

"Bakuyaku Tsuba no Jutsu!" Naruto spat out another ball of energy, and it landed several yards away, courtesy of a lot and lots of spitballs in the academy. When it blew up, however, the explosion sent was so strong it sent chunks of rock every where, including at Naruto and the rest of Team 7. Once it was over, Sakura had a bump on her head and fully intended to kill her bumbling teammate. She stalked over to him, only to see him collapse from a rock to the head he received only moments prior. She couldn't quite bring herself to hurt his twitching form, but she couldn't quite bring herself to heal him, either. Himaru chuckled and shook his head.

"I better go take him home." He walked over the unconscious blond and hoisted him over his shoulder, like a sack of potatoes. Sasuke, meantime, was absolutely seething.

'How could the dobe have so much power?' He glared at Naruto's crater; it was even bigger than Himaru's. 'I can't let the dobe surpass me!' Sasuke ran off to train somewhere, leaving Sakura to stare at Naruto's crater.

'Is Naruto really that strong?'

Just to let you know, the Kasai Kougake no Jutsu is not like a fire version of the Chidori. While the Chidori pierces, the Kasai Kougake pretty much just adds fire to an ordinary punch. Please read and REVIEW! Flamers will be frozen, smashed by water, zapped, burnt and finally eaten by my dragons. Constructive criticism is always welcome. The Wave story arc is up next! Bye!