Author's Note: As always, I don't own NARUTO. Nor do I have a Beta.
Also, for those who also frequent AO3, I'm there more often than not, and most —if not pretty much all— of my most recent/current works are on there. (Including stuff for FE, KHR, Pokemon, and of course, Naruto.) So please check it out if you're over there!
Honestly, I've been having a lot of trouble cranking this chapter out specifically. You can probably tell by how long it took. I don't know what it is about it —and this arc— that keeps causing me to hit walls, but it has. I swear I've written, scrapped, and re-written each portion at least five time each (no lie), that's how bad it was. It probably doesn't help that Real Life was taking a toll among other things that've kept me busy, but, well, here you go.
Also, for those reading this on Fanfiction, I'm letting you know that this story is now cross-posted on AO3 under the pseud kohaku_shi if any of you are on there. I've found it makes things a lot easier to format/organize/update/keep track of things things there. So I've basically just starting posting there for the most part.
There's also content that's not on here, though I'll probably rectify that when I have more time. For now I'm only here to post the new chapter of TEAM for all of you that've been waiting for so long and to let you all know that I'm mostly on AO3 now. (Though I'll at least try to keep this one updated on here, even if I don't keep up with all the rest right now.)
Chapter 7 (Training Camp in the Forest of Hell ...or Death, Death works too… Part II)
Morning came almost too soon for three stressed and exhausted genin. Each of the trio of twelve-year-old's had since been drenched in water, algae, dirt, and/or some combination of the three.
It had been several days since they'd been tossed into the forest ("More like a jungle," Naruto complained after a while, earning no dispute from his fellow genin), and the trio now found themselves by the edge of a clearing at a lake's edge. The clear scuffs and claw marks here and there signaled that several different species of varying sizes used the area as a drinking hole. Signs of struggle that Kakashi had them go over and dissect or try to guess at in as much detail as possible littered the area.
It would have been concerning to someone with more sanity than the Jounin, who had skewed ideas about 'safety' and 'safe training' to begin with, but then, this was the same man that had tossed aforementioned genin into the most dangerous 'training' area in the entirety of their country. Let alone tossing them —rather literally— into the deep end of it, once he apparently deigned to 'teach' them water-walking upon their arrival at the clearing (and with only vague mentions of other 'things' to take note of or keep in mind).
Thankfully, for the trio at least, he'd at least had the courtesy to wait until after lunch. A special consideration seeing just how tired they'd been simply getting to that point.
Then again, that would only be a small mercy compared to the horrors they'd be facing soon.
And of course, Kakashi hadn't bothered to warn them about the mutated —and mostly carnivorous— creatures and plant-life that dwelled within its deceptively still waters.
Not that it made any difference considering their surroundings. Especially considering what creatures they had already seen and/or encountered prior to arriving at the place. And that wasn't even counting the fact he was having them learn water-walking in such a dangerous area, or that he hadn't bothered to do more than imply that it was 'a good thing they all at least knew how to float' rather than ensuring they at least knew how to swim first.
(Then again, this was Hatake Kakashi, we're talking about. The same man who had deemed the aforenamed Forest of Death a perfectly good training place for a near-fresh out of the academy genin team…)
Needless to say, the genin hadn't been very happy about it. Nor had they been very impressed —though considering what they knew of their supposed Sensei so far… Well, it really couldn't be said that it was truly so unexpected in the end.
But again, that was but a small mercy compared to the horrors they'd soon be facing.
"Alright, gather 'round, you three. We'll be heading out as soon as you finish breaking camp~!" the last Hatake called to his students, countenance both lax yet cheery at the same time.
"What? But you just had us unpack everything again!" the ever boisterous Naruto complained. Still, even he was starting to seem a little less chipper than usual. (Just because he could go on with less sleep didn't mean he liked to, or that it wasn't still detrimental to his health, after all.) And it was true, the man had had them empty out all their stores to double and triple check that they had everything they would need (not to mention, it'd allow the man an easier time to mentally figure out how to spread the weight as evenly as possible between his genin). In the event that one of them 'got separated' it wouldn't do for said person to be bearing either something important for all their survivals, or that would be useless by itself, after all.
(Oh, no. If they were going to end up separated, they would have the minimal they'd need to survive at the very least. Which was not including the bunshin that he'd be assigning to each of his cute little genin as well, of course. But those would take action during actual emergency situations only.)
Ignoring the protest, the jounin hummed. "Well then, you'd best get packing, shouldn't you? I warn you, though~ If everything's not packed correctly, you'll have to do it all over again~!" He all but sang, ignoring the groans that met his announcement.
"Are you at least going to tell us how? " The last Uchiha scowled, glaring blearily at their Sensei.
Even if he said no, there was a chance that he'd say yes and maybe even outright tell them (though it was doubtful, but then, Sasuke was just a little lacking in the rational thought department at the moment. Unlike other kids, he'd always been a 'good little boy' and gone to sleep on time after his daily self-training regimen plus dinner for himself when he wasn't being plagued by sleeplessness or bad dreams... Which, really, probably explained why he usually trained more right before bed, to be honest. It was just so much easier to sleep after tiring himself out as much as he physically could...and not entirely because he'd be stuck dreaming of certain memories , either).
"Hmmmmm..." for a moment, the three thought he'd actually consider it, just so they could get moving.
That hope was shattered in an instant when that man spoke up again, drawing the out right into his response.
"Nope~! Now go on and get to it, you three! Shoo, shoo! Get a move on, now. We're losing daylight here!"
Biting back groans and muttering to themselves ("We can't even see the daylight in here!" "Right?! Dattebayo!" "...") that the man heard but chose to ignore, Naruto and Sasuke moved to get it all done. Kohaku, however, still staring at the remarkably lazy looking Jounin, didn't seem inclined to move at all. Instead, gaze boring into the Jounin that was steadily becoming more perturbed by the girl's antics, golden amber eyes narrowing as the genin's head tilted marginally, as if in contemplation of... something ...that was probably not good for either genin or sensei.
(More than likely it was of their Sensei's competence. Although, it could just as likely be consideration and/or calculations on what it would take to change to another Jounin-sensei. Either, or.)
Finally, after a long moment of silence, she moved —if only because Naruto had all but dragged her over to 'help us figure out how to pack everything, 'ttebayo!' And with a blink, she obligingly turned her attention towards her teammate even as she reluctantly allowed herself to be pulled along. Sparing the man one last, almost dubious glance before silently following. The slow nod her only response to show her acquiescence to the request from the whiskered blonde to 'hurry up already, 'ttebayo!' as she picked up the pace a little.
Kakashi watched her go, resisting the urge to twitch as he did so.
He sweat a bit as he considered the ever mysterious thinking processes of the kunoichi. In the end, shaking his head, the man moved to make himself comfortable, pulling out another volume for him to read in order to pass time.
This time, within the cover of another best seller was a journal he'd found lying around...somewhere... covering the topic of Elemental Chakra Induction. Nothing he wasn't already particularly aware of, of course. It was simply that the...theories...were such an interesting read that the man couldn't resist looking through it (if only for the potential ideas just the first few pages had given him). Besides, leaving such an important looking thing where any old ninja could just walk right by and swipe it...eh, what could he do but to swipe the poor, lonely looking book to indulge in some intellectual reading?
The ideas written in it were simply fascinating, you see... But he was digressing.
No doubt it would probably teach whoever it had originally belonged to to better protect their belongings, so see? Lesson, right there. Kakashi was such a kind soul, wasn't he? I mean, sure, it might —probably, maybe, very likely— set them back in their studies and/or experimentation for a while, but that was fine. He'd be sure to return it —maybe even with some new ideas for them to pursue, as well!
Of course, being Kakashi, there was no way the troll would return it before whoever it was had either finally finished re-testing and recording their original findings, and/or became frustrated enough with their setback to implode...preferably the latter. The cyclops of a Jounin would of course also return his read to its exact place at the scene of the cr—er, right back to where he'd found it, just to be nice.
Probably the, uh, library...or was it the AnBu break room...? (Eh, he could figure out the details later, someone would find it, anyways. It'd end up back with its owner soon enough...someday...maybe.)
Needless to say, said 'someone' was likely covering sneezes even as they cursed the 'mysterious thief' somewhere back in Konoha central, silver rimmed glasses reflecting light off their lenses as they muttered and tried to recreate what they'd remember of their missing experimental notes.
Kakashi, meanwhile, simply continued to read at leisure, making sure to keep at least part of his attention on the trio of genin —or really, two of said three genin— squabbling over who was going to carry what and why.
("What?! Why do I have to carry all the cooking shit! That's stupid! You're stupid." "Well you're the only one who can't cook—" "Can too! I can make ramen!" "— anything other than instant ramen , so you get to carry it. Dobe." "Jerk!" "..." "Anyways. We'll split the other tools between Kohaku and myself. And the other stuff between all three of us. Any objections?" "..." "...Yeah, you're still a jerk ." "Hn. And you're still a Dead-weight Dead Last." "Teme—!" "...")
As expected, things wouldn't go so smoothly or so easily. This...was probably going to take a while.
B y the time they finally got everything sorted out to the man's specifications (after packing, unpacking, and re- packing three or four times at minimum... each ), it was a little past noon. Thankfully, being ninja, their speed and pace far outstripped that of a civilian's, cutting off at least three quarters of the time it would have taken to get to their apparent destination otherwise.
Even with Kakashi-sensei leading at a moderate pace (he wasn't in that much of a hurry, after all. Especially since an extended stay in the forest could only be of benefit his dear students~), they still managed to get there and set up —as well as make and eat a simple if hearty lunch— before three.
After that, however…
" Argh—! " The yells of frustrated genin (or, well, a certain blonde genin, anyways) filled the clearing that wrapped around the edge of the lake most of the waterways in the forest connected to. A loud splash echoing just as loudly afterwards as said genin flailed and splashed about, causing ripples in the water as he tried to get up and out of it.
"Stop flailing, dumb-ass! You're disrupting the surface tension of the water!"
Spluttering as he spit up some water, Naruto coughed and glared at his snappish teammate, "Yeah, well, I'd like to see you do any better!" Like tree-climbing his ass , running straight out didn't help a goddamn thing! Not that they'd been able to do so, Kakashi had only let them do some stretches and warm up before tossing him —and his teammates— right into the water. No warning at all, no matter how he claimed he claimed otherwise.
("Telling us to stretch 'just in case' we fall into the water is not warning!" The two brunettes of the team nodded in agreement, a disgruntled Sasuke along with a completely unamused Kohaku giving scathing glares as their only other responses. All three looking like drowns cats...or rats...as the case may be.)
"Well, if you'd stop disturbing the water, then maybe I could! " Sasuke snapped, closer to shore than the blonde, having at least thought about the fact that getting too far out would only mean getting more wet, along with the potential necessity of swimming.
Of course, he wasn't the closest inland, seeing as Kohaku had that pleasure, eyes narrowed to near-slits as the pre-teen glared at the iridescent water that covered herself and her teammates...and especially her sandals.
Unlike the others, the brunette had decided to take a different approach, sticking as close to the edge as she could and going at a slower pace until the genin was sure that she had the hang of it before heading further out. (She would have been happier not getting tossed into the water by a flippantly cheerful Hatake, but, well, one couldn't exactly have everything. ...She'd find a way to get back at him for that anyways. Whether she had to enlist the others' help or not. She absolutely hated getting wet. Especially if it not on her own terms or was without any warning at all.)
Or, rather, as close as their Jounin-sensei would allow them, as far as the golden —nearly yellow— eyed genin could figure. And it was definitely with much more success than the others, as Sasuke found himself wobbling and sinking every time the altitude between water and earth changed, especially as his concentration cut out with the argument that seemed to be building between himself and their blonde teammate.
Hopefully their arguing wouldn't bring too much trouble to the team, seeing how loud it was starting to get.
Maybe if something happened, they'd finally shut up…?
Just as she thought so, a shriek split the air, and an inhuman shape gurgled, loudly, right after it, along with more enraged yelling (mostly Sasuke being an angry wet blanket after falling into the lake —again— and getting drenched head to toe —again) from her teammates. Kohaku finally looked up, eyes widening at the sight before her, even as she tried to concentrate more on not getting wet, her control...not quite faltering, but… wobbling … a bit as she did.
Silence rang through the clearing (aside from the minimal gurgling and disturbed water splashing) for a moment, before all hell broke loose.
( " Ahhh—! What the heck?! What is there a Giant Squid in the Middle of the Lake?! " " The hell if I know, Dobe! But— Oi, dodge, dumbass—! " )
"..." Maybe she shouldn't have had that thought, wistful as it had been.
(She'd only wanted them to shut up, not get louder! This wasn't anywhere close to what she'd wanted at all. The heck?!)
Kohaku didn't know if there was actually any correlation, but this was definitely not what she'd been hoping for. At all.
For a moment, she contemplated leaving her teammates to it and trying to find a segment of water that wasn't quite so affected by the ensuing ripples from the lake-top fight, before she quickly squashed that thought. As annoying as the boys could be (especially when they were being loud and/or arguing, at least), they were still her teammates.
"The boys look like they're having quite a bit of trouble," their sensei spoke, somehow allowing his voice to travel calmly from the shore, and likely not even haven't looked up from his reading if Kohaku guessed right.
Shrugging, she tested her control on the water once more (she really, really didn't want to fall into the water now, especially after seeing that . No doubt there was more of the forest's 'mutated flora and fauna' under there at the very least), before she shot a glance back at her still lax-looking teacher before looking back towards the boys.
Decisions, decisions…
(It wasn't really one, honestly, but she could still dither a little. She really didn't want to fall into the water at that depth. Not because she couldn't swim —she could do that just fine, thank you— but more because she was concerned about what was under the water. She was pretty sure she'd caught sight of some carnivorous seaweed like plants if she wasn't just disoriented from being tossed into the lake all of a sudden during that earlier dip.)
"You should probably help them," mused the somewhat canid man, finally lifting his eyes from his book to give her an amused 'I know exactly what you're thinking and you and I both know that won't fly in my books' look.
Kohaku dismissed the hint for now, still testing her control for a moment as she lifted her foot, shifted, and made sure that she was still doing well enough in control that she got nothing worse than wet feet —and partially soaked sandals— before finally looking back up at the boys and giving an almost resigned if silent sigh.
(More for the fact that she was likely to get more wet from all the splashing they were doing than anything else, honestly.)
Reaching into her pouch, she pulled out a fresh spool of wire (no need to waste time unwinding the one in her belt when there was no rush. Re-spooling that one would be too much of a pain when she had the time to grab her other one), and a small packet of seasoning (more for the salt, than the actual use of seasoning, since Naruto had insisted on having ramen, and...well, Kohaku preferred mixing something healthy in at least, instead of the...whatever it was in the contents of the packaged 'sauce' packet things in there). Who knew, maybe it'd be helpful, she thought, a delicate shudder running through her as she grimaced, recalling something she really, really did not want to remember.
(She may or may not still have flashbacks from the mutated slug-beast feasting on a rotting carcass nearly twice its size from an encounter earlier on. Of course, it had chosen to attack them when it sensed the 'fresh meat' in its vicinity. Slime, rapid decomposition inducing acid, and other viscera had been involved at the very least. It had given her more than enough nightmare fodder as was. She was pretty sure she'd more than filled her quota of disgust induced nausea, as well.)
Ugh, so gross. Trying to resist the urge to gag, she found herself coughing up water as an angry roar, accompanied by equally violent thrashing, split the air —as well as the water— as it sent waves across the pond. Some of it flying and crashing over her (and more than liberally soaking her in enough water that it was still cascading down and over her head), as she did her best not to think of just what said water she'd been choking on was actually composed of.
Tears mixing with still dripping water, she coughed once more before twitching, lips pressing thin as she automatically threw herself into the fight with the most furious snarl-like sound she'd ever been likely to make.
(Oh Gods, she could still taste the water.)
After all her efforts, all her attempts to stay as dry as possible…!
(So disgusting. She really hoped she'd brought some water purifier with her. Or at least the anti-bacterial and cleansing pills.)
Granted, her coat was —mostly— waterproof, but that didn't mean she liked getting drenched without warning! Sensei was one thing, but this? This was an entirely different kettle of fish...or soon to be Calamari, anyways.
As the only one left behind on shore, Kakashi chuckled, far too amused by his students' antics to really pay much more attention to his book for now. This would probably come back to bite them all —or at least him— in the ass, but hey, looked like they might be having seasoned and/or grilled squid for dinner, at least. Which was always nice.
Free food, that was.
—Or maybe it was more along the lines of dinner and a show?
Ah, well, the kids seemed to be doing fine, from what he could see. Despite their attempts to char-grill the thing first (Sasuke, obviously, since Naruto still couldn't get a proper fireball going just yet...well, he could ...but it was a tiny puff-ball just barely enough to start a fire, not something usable in battle... yet... not even mentioning all the attempts in which the thing would just end up blowing up in his face, instead. From chakra overload, of course. Thank the Kami for his quick healing rate, at least), it was Kohaku using her ninja-wire to start slicing tentacles that finally reminded the boys of the other weapons —aside from kunai or shuriken, that was. Those just either bounced off the monster of a thing or did little more harm than pinpricks with its thick skin— that they still had in their arsenals.
Thankfully Sasuke was at least somewhat adept in wire-use, while Naruto (not being a wire-expert unless he was using a line or rope for pranking purposes) did more playing the duty of heavy hitter and distraction (or tank, as some might say). Especially with his ability call up multiple shadow clones at once.
Good, good…
Looks like they were starting to learn to properly work together, and just barely three days in! Grinning behind his mask, Kakashi chuckled and returned to his book, confident that the trio would be able to handle themselves.
Besides, he'd still be keeping his senses open, and if anything did require his intervention...well, he was still there, after all~~
(He'd be sorely disappointed if they couldn't at least handle a little live calamari, though.)
It wasn't long after that the trio finally dragged their ink, blood (thankfully not theirs for the most part), and water soaked selves back to shore, the dead body of a squid close to the size of a building floating on the water. Only partially dragged to shore so that it wouldn't float too far or sink. There was no way they were letting their prize go after how hard they'd fought for it.
(Seriously, though, why the hell was there a squid in a lake anyways?!)
None of the kids looked amused.
"Damnit, Sensei! Why didn't you tell us there were weird things in the water too?!" Two of the three were scowling (the final mostly sulking) as they shot glares at the man between trying to wring as much water out of their clothes (and some of their hair) as possible. They'd have to clean up and treat whatever injuries (minor bruises or small cuts from accidentally touching something sharp for the most part) that they had before washing their clothes of whatever blood and ink there was before it permanently stained, as well.
"Hmm? But I did~?" he smiled, hiding his amusement (and not very well at that) behind the curved lines of his eye and mask.
"No, you didn't! You didn't say anything about giant squids at all, 'ttebayo!" the rambunctious blonde exclaimed, definitely still the most energetic of the trio, though even he seemed to be getting tired from their seemingly endless 'workouts'.
Ah, well, that just meant he'd have to work a little harder at tiring them out, he supposed.
As it was, he took the time to look at the three genin. Really look at them, as he took note of the fact that, for the moment, Naruto continued to claim first for most vitality. And while all three had been drenched, Kohaku and Sasuke looked more like drowns cats than anything. Despite —or perhaps even more because of— their offended expressions as they wrung what they could before giving it up as a bad job, though they were at least dripping far less than their jumpsuit wearing compatriot.
Noting that none of them really had any injuries —with Naruto having the least thanks to his high vitality and healing rate— he hummed, musing on how tired they all looked in spite of themselves. (Some exhaustion, shivering despite the temperate weather... Sasuke seemed to be cautious with his arm. A bruise or a strain, perhaps? He'd check on that later. Kohaku seemed to have gotten over her nausea from earlier —though he had a guess of what she'd been thinking of then, and he'd likely have agreed if he weren't far more desensitized to such things than the kids.)
Perfectly fine at the end of it all, he thought, satisfied, as he came to a decision.
The trio had worked hard, and a bit of a break now would be better for morale. Especially with how withdrawn they were becoming as of late, complaints aside.
"Well, I suppose, since you did take care of the hunting already, we can cut that much out of our schedule. So why don't you all go get clean and dry before we continue? I can take care of the cooking for tonight," he promised. They certainly deserved that much at the very least. His methods were crazy, true, but that didn't mean he didn't care about his little underlings. (Whether it was now, or even back when he was still Captain of his squad in AnBu.)
"It certainly wouldn't do for my cute little genin to catch colds because of all this, now would it?" Nodding to himself, he poked at the fire he'd starter earlier with a wet branch that he'd picked up while they'd fought. "It'd only delay our return from this little field trip, after all."
(And there went any warm feelings and good will that had been about to bud at their crazy Jounin Sensei's care. Snuffed out like a match doused in water.)
Still, unlikely as it was —for Naruto, at the very least. The other two did worry him a bit as they continued to shiver. Kohaku's being the most obvious even in spite of all the extra layers, though Sasuke was certainly doing a good impression of a recently released quiver despite his attempts otherwise. Even as he spoke, though, the genius' mind quickly ran through various simulations and solutions as contingency for any issues that might crop up.
They would have to remain under a certain amount of stress at least, to get the best out of this trip, but that didn't mean their health was to be neglected either. He had been keeping track of their conditions the entire time, after all.
Shooing them all off to go change, and succeeding not to draw any suspicion —or at least, any more than he usually did, anyways. Really, though, their lack of faith in him was alarming— he quickly proceeded to make preparations for their meal.
There was plenty of squid to go around, and it wasn't like they'd be able to carry all of back with them, or as they went, so best to just make the most of it while they had it. It'd be good bait for some of the more carnivorous fish in the lake once it approached evening. They might not be pretty, but as far as he could recall, they were certainly still delicious if prepared right.
Cheerfully humming to himself as he sliced several portions of squid larger than his own head, he pulled out the set of spices he carried with him —just in case. He could probably make some fried Calamari with the waterproof and sealed flour and some of the other ingredients he kept with him. (Seals were seriously so useful —he'd have to teach his team some basics later. Maybe after dinner even, since they were probably too tired to do anything else, and he'd be damned if he didn't take advantage of any time to train while they were in here. He'd just move the original lesson plan to the next evening, since he doubted they'd be leaving the area for another day, at least.)
More importantly, it was time to impress his genin with their Sensei's campfire cooking skills! He could share a few tips and tricks for doing so when they came back, since they'd most likely only learned the bare basics in the academy. (Seriously, only one training trip per year? And barely even two days worth of practical training at that. He was going to have to talk to Hokage-sama about that when they got back —well, assuming he remembered, anyway.)
Still, having since waved his kids off (and ignoring their dubious belief of his ability to cook), he went back to his mental notes of the group's progress so far. They'd only managed to through a fraction of what he wanted to do, but he'd probably have to readjust some of his plans to take into account that they were children rather than adults. The last few days had reminded him of the fact that none of the kids were actually prodigies as he had been, so he had to readjust how long it'd take. Still probably better than the average genin —though that may have partly been due to duress, considering no other genin team had been allowed to do as they had, and also because, of course, they were his team. And hell if his —first and only— genin team would be anything but Awesome! Just like him.
Minato-sensei's training regimen had been adjusted especially for him, and Obito and Rin had already known most of the basics. Unfortunately, Kakashi hadn't really paid much attention to the 'remedial' lessons the other two had to go through to catch up with him in practical knowledge aside from some taunts and working on his own thing (Seals were probably the one thing he'd really had to try hard on, to be honest. Minato-sensei and Kushina-nee had always had different ways of explaining it, so it was no wonder he'd gotten confused at times. Not to mention it'd pissed him off that Rin had seemed to get some of it faster than him, even if it was only the basic seals compared to his higher level in comprehension).
Oh, he was getting distracted. Either way, even adjusting based on what he'd seen, it probably wouldn't take more than two weeks, tops, to get the basics he wanted them to learn down. His 'one week' had been based on the amount of time it'd taken him to learn it all from Minato-sensei doubled with an extra day or two of practice to ensure they'd got it all down.
(They hadn't been kidding when they'd hailed Hatake Kakashi as a genius, it'd only taken him two or three days to get it all, and only another day's worth of self-practice to get most of it down pat. Though, granted, it hadn't included sleep deprivation and chakra expansion outside of the usual 'use and rest to refill' once he'd hit his safe limit.)
Either way, based on what he'd seen, Sasuke would be able to grasp things quickly once he properly understood what it was he had to do and had practiced enough to get it down pat, if what he'd seen of his use of his skill set up until now was any indication. Most of it was textbook or Uchiha learned stuff that had clearly been practiced until he'd worn himself out. He had good reaction and thought time, at least.
Naruto, while still having trouble with his chakra control had a more instinctive understanding of certain things. Not unlike Minato-sensei to be honest (thank the gods for compartmentalization and the ability to multitask, he mused, carefully separating emotion from clinical thought). If he was anything like either of his parents, he'd probably take to Sealing like a duck once he'd fixed some of his atrocious handwriting. (Something that was very clear he would have to fix, though that could wait. Sealing training would help with that as well, anyway.) The blonde needed to learn patience, though he could take advantage of the prankster's ability to spam shadow clones there, anyways.
(He'd have to remember to warn the other two not to use it just yet, though. They might be able to pull off one at the moment, but it would leave them both severely drained just to do that much. Thankfully, chakra expansion was part of his plans for the week...or two, depending on how well everything went. They'd have to head back at the end of those fourteen days regardless, though. He'd only been able to ask for so long on training leave.)
Naruto's unorthodox fighting and thought process would probably be an asset once the trio had finally learned to work and read each other to avoid getting caught in each other's jutsu and attacks, though. At least a quarter of their cuts and bruises so far had come from accidentally getting in each other's way, though it'd been steadily improving, at least.
Finally, Kohaku clearly had practice with with her skills, and trained diligently, so there wasn't much to be said there. He still ended up scratching his head at her sometimes odd thought process, but whatever worked. She was getting far easier to read thanks to everyone's close proximity, but she still did things that baffled Naruto sometimes, and the blonde had long since been crowned the king of surprise.
Well, it was a two way street, considering she was clearly just as baffled at some of the things they considered normal. He'd really have to talk to her guardian (Totsuka, if he recalled correctly) to get a better handle on the girl's thought process. He hadn't worked closely or often enough with the other brunette to be able get either of them, aside from the fact that they were both clearly rather disinclined to more of the verbal or unspoken social cues. Well, that and the fact that they were surprisingly serious considering how odd they could be at times, yet rational in their own way.
(Using Ninja skills and jutsu for housekeeping wasn't exactly something one would normally think of, even if it did make sense in hindsight.)
From what he could tell, though, Kohaku was actually far more social than her Father/Uncle. Ironically more verbal too, though he had a suspicion that was just because she hadn't learned all the silent ninja cues and hand-signs just yet, or she assumed her teammates hadn't either. Something that would be good to teach them, but not until later.
He wanted her to get used to actually verbalizing rather than seemingly assuming the others understood what she meant when she suddenly said something that seemed completely out of the blue to others. It wasn't as if her thoughts were easily read off her face like they were for some ninja —and most civilians— anyway.
Well, whatever. That wasn't all he'd taken note of, of course, but it was a good starting point. He'd had plans, but those tended not to survive first contact with the enemy anyways, so he supposed he could just use it as a general guideline and play it by ear otherwise.
He'd probably have to teach them not to simply leave their bags unguarded too, though. Even if he was around to watch them, he mused, eyeing Sasuke's pack and what looked to be the ransacked remains of Naruto's things. Kohaku had taken hers along with her, but she'd probably had reason for doing so without considering the security risk either way.
Still, he'd give them a pass this time. They'd worked hard, and he was still present to guard it all, so he'd let it go for now.
Chuckling to himself, as he mused at the unspoken trust they still gave despite everything (his way of reminding them to look underneath the underneath), that didn't stop him continuing to plan and make contingencies for said plans anyways. Maybe they wouldn't survive contact with the enemy, but that didn't mean he couldn't prepare other plans just in case. That was just what being a ninja was all about, after all.
He wondered how the trio would react when they realized that everything he'd done, whether messing with them or not, were still lessons in and of themselves? (Though whether the 'warm fuzzies' he was currently feeling was due to proximity with fire, his fond amusement over his kids, or...something else...was another question altogether.)
Once everyone had returned, Kakashi informed them that the food would be ready soon, as they hung their wet clothes where they could to dry. The scent of grilling seafood causing more than one of the genin's mouths to water. (They definitely hadn't expected the Jounin to be a good cook, even if it was only campfire cooking.)
As the trio sat and warmed themselves by the fire, they waited for the food to finish cooking, watching with unveiled curiosity as the cyclops ensured the food wouldn't burn while heating it as evenly as one could over an outdoors fire.
Eventually, though, he finished, and warned the kids not to burn themselves before passing it all out. He'd leave some squid in a marinate for tomorrow, and sliced some in long, thin strands in place of noodles for later as well. (As close as he'd come to indulging Naruto with his Ramen obsession, even he knew that only ramen was not a healthy diet, no matter how balanced one tried to make it.)
As they settled in to eat, though, Kakashi remembered something that he'd have to remind them of mid-bite of seafood, even as certain members of the group either praised (Naruto) or deemed the food acceptable (Sasuke) for its fare. (Kohaku just enjoyed what she could, nodding in agreement to Naruto's exclamation of surprised content. Sasuke's 'hn' as close to agreement as the raven haired genin ever got. Though she could definitely do without Naruto trying to scarf his food down, only to be reminded to slow down when he ended up burning his tongue due to impatience after the first bite.
(And to think, Kakashi-sensei had already warned them about it being hot, too.)
Said Jounin just hummed in acceptance before speaking up again.
"Oh...By the way," he started, a smile in his tone as his single visible eye curved in amusement. "the plan was to move on from here tomorrow morning, but since you all haven't actually managed to finish the Water-Walking Exercise, we'll probably end up having to stay here another day or so at least," he mused. "Which means an extra day outside of the original week we planned to say!" He exclaimed, extra cheerily. Mostly just because he could.
Wide eyes turned to him in disbelief, especially as they realized he hadn't been joking the other day when he'd said they'd be staying however many days extra it took them to through what was originally only supposed to be a week's itinerary.
"WHAT—?!" Naruto started, choking on his mouthful of Calamari as the other two started thumping his back. One panicked and the other clearly alarmed by the unexpected event.
("This is why you don't talk with your mouth full, Dobe!" "Sh-shu-hughk—" choked coughing ensued, "—Shut up, Bastard! That obviously had nothing to do with it!" Teary eyes and a slight wheeze, a grimace forming on the last member's face as she caught the sound of a piece of food still rattling in the blonde's windpipe. "You shut up and fucking breathe, moron!" was the only response he got from the relieved shinobi.)
Either way, they looked absolutely horrified.
"Now, now, Naruto-kun. Calm down before you choke yourself, okay?" Kakashi chided genially, ignoring the fact that he'd said so far too late to be of any help, but calmly cheerful nonetheless.
("It's obviously all your fault anyways, stupid Scarecrow-sensei," Naruto grumbled, only to be ignored by said 'Scarecrow-sensei'. The others simply gave long-suffering sighs, whether mentally or physically. They almost seemed to be at the point of giving up, honestly. Questioning their entire existence let alone their current situation by either looking to the heavens, or closing their eyes in what Kakashi might even have suspected was despair if he weren't so busy being amused by this situation.)
(Yup, best decision ever. He didn't think he'd ever end up regretting taking his genin team on, if at all.)
He almost couldn't to see how they'd react to the rest of their plans for the week —plus however much longer it took to get through it all— he thought, nearly giddy with glee despite the seemingly calm smile on his face.