Chapter XV: Turning To What Will Come
"Yesterday's weirdness is tomorrow's reason why." – Hunter S. Thompson
"I put her in a deep-sleep state using genjutsu," Sasuke replied. "A fully developed Sharingan allows an Uchiha access to a suggestive, doujutsu-based subset of genjutsu." The Genin ignored the gaudy couch he was sitting on and settled for taking a sip of his water. "I'm obviously not going to give away all my secrets, but suffice it to say that such a thing is more difficult with a shinobi than a civilian."
Kaori-san smiled. "I see, "she acknowledged, "but I was more curious as to why you even interacted with her at all, much less put her in a genjutsu?" The doctor flipped through her papers. "Ah, yes, it says in Hatake-san's report that you and your teammates' orders were 'eliminate,' not capture and interrogate."
"What need was there to make her suffer?" Sasuke countered with a shrug of his shoulders. "Just because she had to die did not mean she had to die painfully."
"I see," the Yamanaka nodded as she wrote down something in her notebook, "but could not a pain-free execution have been achieved without interacting with the target?"
Sasuke paused, his Sharingan spinning in lazy circles. "I tend to trust my genjutsu. I've been working on it for some time now…" He deadpanned.
"What did you and Yuna Manako talk about before you killed her?"
"Why do you think I spoke to her?" Sasuke asked, visage etched into carefully measured neutrality.
"I don't," Kaori answered, shaking her head. "I think you spoke with her– an actual conversation. I'd simply like to know why?"
The Uchiha merely stared at the blonde woman for several seconds.
Kaori decided on a different approach.
"Look, if you want to hide these things just lie more on your report," she finally pointed out, handing Sasuke a copy of the report he had written on the mission. "Your attempts to hide what happened by telling the truth as you saw it give you away. Next time, just say you killed the target and don't go into details." Kaori watched the Genin take a sip of water. "Your superiors probably won't care either way, but they're not trained to spot these things like I am."
"I had to make sure it wasn't a mistake," Sasuke finally admitted.
"What do you mean, Sasuke-san?"
"When I entered her house all I found was a single mother and two children…" The Uchiha elaborated reluctantly. "I had trouble believing this woman deserved to die… I didn't realize until later that she was a target because of how important she was to Gatou's operations, not because she was necessarily a… 'bad' person."
"Hmm," Kaori-san acknowledged noncommittally, jotting down more notes in her little book. "And what did the two of you talk about before you killed Manako-san?"
Sasuke scowled, refusing to answer.
The Yamanaka sighed. Children could be so petulant when they were confused about things they thought they knew. "Sasuke-san, what exactly do you think my job is?"
"The specifics escape me, but I assume you have some say over whether or not I'm fit for continued duty." Sasuke drawled. "I can't help but conclude that it would behoove me to give you as little reason as possible to think that I might not be."
Dr. Yamanaka laughed melodiously. "Sasuke-san, you give me too little credit. Your commanding officer can determine that better than I can– he works with you in the field. There is no substitute for firsthand observation." Kaori shook her finger admonishingly. "People in my position look for trends in our active shinobi," she explained, showing Sasuke a file with his name on it, "thanks to the ANBU who are always watching where we can't see, every active shinobi starts with a decent-sized file of information."
Sasuke openly gaped at the woman. He figured the ANBU couldn't be trusted—Itachi was ANBU—but he didn't think people were supposed to admit it…
"You look cute when you're nonplussed." Kaori smiled. "Counselors add to your file throughout your career. Normally, Genin don't have to speak with us, due to the easy-going nature of their missions, but we do flag people when they perform their first assassination."
Sasuke schooled his features, studying Kaori Yamanaka for a good, long while.
"Hn."
"Quite!" Yamanaka-san chirped brightly. "So you can see how silly it is to try and lie to or withhold information from me, yes? I'm rather well-trained in my field and most of the ninja I work with don't go rogue or become suicidal."
Sasuke took a long sip of water to hide his lack of response before gazing at Kaori with polite inquisitiveness.
"I know what you're thinking," Kaori continued and Sasuke felt that she probably didn't, "and, no, I never worked with Itachi-san. That was Isamu-san." The doctor shook her head sadly. "He kind of just manages the files and oversees all the paperwork now…" She shook her blonde head before refocusing. "Do you ever talk about your brother with anyone, Sasuke-san?"
"No!" Sasuke hissed before quickly lying. "I don't think about Itachi."
"If you say so," Kaori dismissed as she wrote something down. "You should give it a try. What happened in your pre-shinobi life is a whole-nother barrel of monkeys that we'll probably end up discussing at a later date." The doctor took a dainty sip of her tea before setting the cup down on the desk adjacent to her. "Your team is one that could make for a fascinating case study, I was very lucky to be assigned Team Seven! I have no interest in making this any more painful than it has to be, Sasuke-san," Kaori insisted gently, "so I'll compromise: we don't have to go over what you and Manako-san said to each other if you just tell me why you put her in a genjutsu before you killed her?"
Sasuke took another sip of water, finishing his glass, and idly wondering if Naruto knew about the ANBU and these apparent "files" they helped construct.
"Sasuke-san…" Kaori sighed.
"I put her in a genjutsu because I remember everything I see," Sasuke snarled. "Because of my mature Sharingan, everything I look at is seared into my memory. It's great for fighting, but it doesn't mean I want to be able to relive slaughtering civilians!" The Uchiha looked away, crimson eyes dark with anxiety. "What does it matter if the mother I'm supposed to kill goes quietly and comfortably?" He challenged defiantly.
Kaori had a very satisfied look on her face as Sasuke watched her jot down some information that was several lines long in her little book. It made the last Uchiha supremely uncomfortable.
"I could literally go on for days about all the reasons killing your targets as fast as possible is the most logical course of action." Kaori countered flatly. "But I would not expect you to want to… well, pretty much 'record,' a murder that any sane Uchiha would certainly deactivate their Sharingan for."
Sasuke nodded warily, somewhat reassured.
Somewhat.
"But do you understand that it's important to talk about these things?" Kaori insisted. "I might not be worried about your sanity, but I am concerned with the mental fatigue associated with Sharingan overuse."
"…I suppose that is a valid concern," The Genin admitted stiffly.
"It's much more than a valid concern, given all we know about your personal life, Sasuke-san." The doctor insisted.
Sasuke shuddered at the thought of the ANBU continuing to spy on him and everyone else. There was no way they just… stopped watching whenever a person got naked or had sex.
"Now," Kaori continued, "earlier you referred to your Sharingan as 'matured.' Why was that?"
"Because I have three tomoe in each one…" Sasuke explained flatly. What did she want him to say? He wasn't just going to hand over all his clan's secrets. The last Uchiha might not have delusions of resurrecting his clan, but he still had his pride and enough smarts to keep some things close to his chest.
More things, actually– now that he had learned about the ANBU and their duties.
Kaori Yamanaka laughed loudly enough for Sasuke to glare at her. "Oh, I'm sorry, Sasuke-san, but one day you'll be a Jounin—hopefully—with the same clearance I have. That means you'll know some of the classified information about Madara Uchiha that I do and you'll realize how silly your statement sounded just now!"
Sasuke blanched and Kaori smiled brightly.
"Now, I'd like to talk about Haruno-san and Uzumaki-san, if you don't mind…"
xxxXXXxxx
"I didn't like that!" Naruto huffed petulantly to no one in particular as he exited the building. The blonde stopped, surprised, when he realized Sakura and Sasuke had waited for him after their sessions with Kaori-san.
The evening they had arrived, they'd been briefed by the Hokage and told to write their reports, along with one from Kakashi, to be submitted by noon the next day.
It had all seemed on the up and up until all three Genin had been informed that there was someone they all needed to "talk" to. Kakashi had even reassured them that such a thing was "standard procedure."
Lies.
All of it lies.
Naruto understood enough, even though he admittedly didn't have the whole picture: privacy was a bullshit lie and the village was much more concerned about creating nuke-nin than it let on. Anything else was just an extra detail that the blonde probably didn't want to know.
Still, it was stressful way to end a mission. Debriefing was one thing, everyone had to do that. A ninja didn't say "no" to the Hokage, after all. However, the blonde was sincerely hoping he wouldn't have to speak with Kaori-san every time he killed someone…
"I didn't think you two would stick around…" Naruto fished.
"We weren't gonna," Sasuke corrected, "but Kakashi-sensei made us wait so we could tell you that we had training tomorrow at nine, not the usual six o' clock." With his part said, the Uchiha turned around and promptly made for the apartment he rented near the nicer part of the village.
"That makes more sense," Naruto sighed.
Sakura giggled. "You can't deny he's growing more talkative, Naruto-kun. Progress is progress, no?"
"Yeah," Naruto acknowledged, "but an asshole moving from point A to point B is still an asshole." The blonde sighed and turned to face his remaining teammate fully. "More talkative? Yes." The blonde grimaced. "But our beloved Uchiha has a particular way of doing so that leaves much to be desired."
Sakura frowns, thinking on Naruto's words and cross-referencing them with her own observations before her teammate hastily interrupts her.
"And he has the Sharingan that can predict attacks, copy jutsu, and do untold horrors with genjutsu." The jinchuuriki adds with a little bit of heat. "What kind of unnecessary bullshit is that?"
"You need to stop being so dramatic, Naruto," Sakura advised between titters of laughter. "It's unbecoming. Besides, you have a fancy sword and too much chakra. It evens out in the long run."
"You have a fancy sword, too." Naruto playfully accused.
Sakura shrugged ruefully. "That I can barely lift—for all of two seconds—and can't even swing properly. But that's not all I have," she continued with a meaningful tap to her hip pouch. "I was wondering if you had given any thought to how we might handle that?"
Naruto looked around the main streets that intersected in front of the Hokage Building before his eyes settled on an empty bench located a few feet down from their current position.
"Let's go sit over there," he suggested, pointing to the nondescript, wooden bench. "I'm tired of standing and walking."
A few seconds found Naruto settling down with a contented sigh, left arm splayed on the bench's back support and right arm perched on the woefully inadequate armrest whose only function was to stop the homeless and drunks from sleeping too close to such an important government building.
Naruto surveyed the edges of the park located across the street. It was rather beautiful. Lush with trees grown by the Shodai and dotted with flowers from all across Hi no Kuni. In Naruto's opinion, it was one of the prettier things in the village.
That's where all the smart transients slept. The benches were stone, but they were elevated and large enough to splay out in.
The Genin shook his head to free himself from his woolgathering and noticed Sakura seating herself next to him. Not quite touching, but most certainly closer than necessary. He could feel the warmth of her back and the tickle of her hair against his forearm.
"I guess I can't blame you," Sakura chuckled, failing to notice the look of pride in Naruto's eyes as he mastered the urge to pull her closer to himself, "but I really do hope you have most of the… details planned out for the conclusion of our arrangement." The pink haired girl gave a noncommittal shrug. "I'm kinda just along for the ride at this point… more money is nice, but we're all getting a cut of Zabuza's bounty that exceeds what you and I will get from our exchange, no?"
"Yup," Naruto confirmed. "So thanks for still going along with this." The jinchuuriki gave Sakura his most winning smile as he plucked the sealing scroll from her hip pouch. "I was thinking that we can do it the day after tomorrow. I don't know about you, but I'd like another afternoon to decompress and check in on some things. It'll also give me time to set things up with Tetsuo."
"Sounds good to me," the kunoichi nodded after ensuring Naruto's hands didn't wander. "I'm sure Anko will want to catch up and hound me for all the details of our first mission outside the village." Sakura snorted wryly. "A shit storm C-rank that snowballed into an S-rank. She'll think it's a hoot."
"Are you gonna let her touch your sword?" Naruto asked seriously.
The pink haired girl stared at him blankly for a full one-and-a-half seconds before giggling and punching Naruto in the chest. "Shut up, don't ruin such an enjoyable afternoon by being yourself, Naruto," she said before sighing dejectedly. "Besides, I can't even lift the damn thing…"
"Eh," the blonde shrugged, "you'll figure it out. At the very least you could get strong enough to just lift it the old-fashioned way." Naruto grinned mischievously and clapped Sakura on the shoulder. "But you're a smart one, so I'm sure you'll figure it out with that brain of yours before it comes to that," he said, smoothly glossing over the fact that he was letting his arm linger around Sakura.
"I don't know what I would do without your support," Sakura deadpanned before continuing in a much more thoughtful tone. "Though I will say we kind of all work well together in spite of our collective lack of experience. It's almost enough to make me…"
"Hope?" Naruto supplied helpfully.
"No, no, not that extreme," Sakura dismissed. "Ah," she snapped her fingers, "it's almost enough to make think that the pain of existence tolerable. That's what I meant."
"Nihilism, Sakura?" The jinchuuriki asked with a raised brow. "That's pretty bleak, even for a chibi-Anko."
"No point in believing in anything, Naruto-kun," Sakura shrugged. "You know what I saw that first night in Wave. It shook me because I've been a coddled child my whole life…" The kunoichi shook her head mutely before continuing, "what I saw was just the minute tip of an extremely large iceberg. No point in trying to hide from that, I say."
Naruto chuckled. "Fair enough. I could go into detail about the thing's you'll see that will make you believe otherwise—real quick, in fact—but it'd be counterproductive, so I'll hold my tongue."
"My gratitude is genuine," Sakura laughed, "I never thought I'd see the day where you managed to restrain your tongue." A few moments of comfortable silence lapsed between the two where Sakura briefly contemplated their proximity before dismissing her thoughts. "So, what are you going to do for the rest of the day?"
"All my responsibilities can wait until tomorrow," Naruto explained, "so the rest of today will probably be spent taking it easy. The blonde grinned. "Want to go grab a celebratory drink? We should have a team gettogether for sure, but there's no reason the two of us can't celebrate a successful mission early, is there?"
"I don't suppose there is…" Sakura hedged warily. "What makes you think I even drink?"
"What made me think you would even smoke pot?" The jinchuuriki countered.
Sakura paused, eyeing her friend speculatively.
She sighed. "Point."
xxxXXXxxx
Tetsuo spat disdainfully onto the warehouse's dusty floor.
The dour building had long been vacant, it's metal walls rusting with the decay of disuse even as numerous spiders made their homes in the high, angled metal framework that comprised the roof.
Yes, this was indeed a derelict pile of shit that no decent excuse for a human being would be caught dead in. That, of course, was why Tetsuo was here with his package awaiting a buyer.
Because not everything The Dark Brotherhood did involved killing people.
Sometimes, the money was too good to pass up and they smuggled a person here or there, or maybe they'd steal a valuable artifact. If they were lucky, they might even steal the object, kill the contractor, and keep the money.
Other times, if a client had information of a truly alarming nature, The Black Hand could be enticed into attacking the royalty of the Five Elemental Nations. Normally, the daimyos and their families were off limits for practicality's sake.
A dead body was one thing, but a dead royal would lead to an investigation. If you spill enough noble blood eventually the crimson trail will lead back to the perpetrator.
And then, there were truly auspicious times were a monster would slither out of the dark with something so captivating that Lucien Lachance himself would set together some unholy plot that involved an insane combination of all three.
The Water Daimyo was going to be pissed and out for blood. The fool thought that because he stayed behind his walled, totalitarian city he was safe. From the blood purist dictator pretending to be a Mizukage and Mei Terumi, sure. Those two were occupied with each other.
But he was not safe from the Night Mother.
Enter Tetsuo. Seeing to the culmination of all Lucien's plotting and maneuvering that the assassin wasn't even allowed to know about. The payment would be handled by Lucien personally, Tetsuo was only seeing to the transfer of goods paid for. If the buyer held up their end, they'd live to come collect their prize.
This was silencer work in everything but name, rank, and pay because that was how Lucien used Tetsuo– the Listener wanted to groom that little shit Naruto to be Itachi's replacement. Personally, Tetsuo couldn't wait until that clusterfuck-in-waiting blew up in Lucien's face. Objectively, however, he could be an extremely patient man so long as he wasn't sober.
So he'd wait.
In the meantime, Tetsuo resolved to have words with Lachance about payment for bullshit like this, more incentive for doing the truly distasteful necessities, and maybe even charm his way to some actual semblance of what the fuck is going on.
Tetsuo wasn't holding out for that last one, though.
"Fuck," the Genin spat, dutifully ignoring his package, before lighting a cigarette.
At least he'd be able to unwind later. A bar crawl with Anko, some whores, and cocaine sounded like the perfect foreplay before he laid down, tied off, and woke up for the evening.
Glorious.
But, before such pleasures made continually possible by questionable seals could be enjoyed, Tetsuo had a job to do. One that he certainly didn't want to do, but figured it would be better than being ritualistically killed for insubordination.
He'd seen one of those ceremonies and it involved genital mutilation among many other acts of religious barbarism that were only capable when people got their gods involved.
It wasn't for him, so here Tetsuo was. The Genin continued to smoke and wait for "Natsumi-san", tapping his left foot in a staccato rhythm.
The side door clanged open causing Tetsuo to turn his head.
A young woman stood there, auburn hair flitting about in the breeze as she instructed whoever was with her to wait outside before she stepped inside and allowed the door to close gently behind her.
She was pretty enough, Tetsuo concluded. Decent tits and long enough legs that all came together nicely in the deep blue dress she wore. It was understated for sure, but the way the fabric clung to her body and shimmered in the light screamed "high quality" to Tetsuo.
"Good evening, shinobi-san." The woman bowed gracefully. "Lucien-sama instructed me to come here and finalize my purchase."
Tetsuo did not look at the crate behind him. "Whatever would we do without Lucien-sama's guidance, I wonder?" The Genin took another drag of his cigarette before jerking his thumb at the crate. "Anyway, all yours. Just undo the latch and the side will fall open, Natsumi-san."
The woman stared at Tetsuo pointedly while the Genin continued to smoke.
"What?" He finally asked.
"You're not going to introduce us, shinobi-san?" She asked innocently, smiling when she noticed Tetsuo stiffen. "That strikes me as poor customer service."
"Not my fucking problem," Tetsuo ground out, mastering the urge to strangle the woman, "you bought her, she's yours, you do it."
Natsumi giggled. "Lucien-sama did say you were a prickly one," she responded, striding forward and stopping at the crate, "and a bit too old as well. You're lucky I have an appetite for breaking the more… delicate things in life, or I just might ask for you the next time I come across something Lucien-sama just has to have…"
Tetsuo promised himself that this filthy creature would die screaming before that ever happened. "So you say, Natsumi-san. Now, if you don't mind," the Genin spat hatefully, "please take the Water Daimyo's daughter and get the fuck out of here."
"So rude." Natsumi pouted before turning away from Tetsuo and undoing the crate's latch.
The Genin turned away, dropping the butt of his cigarette and lighting another as he tried to ignore the unbridled lust tucked into Natsumi's deep and shaky inhalation of breath.
"Come with me, sweetie…" Natsumi cooed. "What's your name?"
"…Tomiko…" a voice sniffed.
"It's nice to meet you, Tomiko-chan," Natsumi said, "you're safe now– I'm taking you home."
There was a light shuffling as Tetsuo's cigarette burned, the Genin furiously ignoring the frightened girl leaving with Natsumi, the latter positively glowing with anticipation.
Natsumi stopped at the door and turned to face Tetsuo once more. "Arigatou, shinobi-san," she smiled viciously as the hand she had on the girl's shoulder moved to tuck a lock of raven hair behind the child's ear. "Until next we meet."
The door closed behind her, sweeping both figures from Tetsuo's sight, leaving the young man alone with his tormented thoughts in the smoke-filled darkness of an emptied-out husk of industry.
Tetsuo—in a rare moment of humanity—gave a shaky sigh and lit yet another cigarette before he was capable of forcing his legs to take him to see Anko.
xxxXXXxxx
"Normally, I'd get back to beating you all raw," Kakashi explained, "but after a high-ranking mission like that, it's customary to take week of leave." The Jounin sighed wistfully. "Your beatings will have to wait until then."
"Oh, no." Naruto deadpanned.
Kakashi shook his head sadly. "Soon, Naruto-kun, but not soon enough. However, you three will be free from the hell that is D-ranks, so there is a silver lining!" The Jounin pointed towards the lake that occupied the center of their current training ground. "Today I'll just be teaching you the next step in molding chakra: water walking."
The Jounin began taking several steps backwards until he was standing atop the lake's surface, about twelve feet from the shore. "Sticking to a solid surface requires a set amount of chakra that works like a light switch. It's very 'on-off' and therefore rigid." He explained. "Walking on water is more like a dimmer switch: you have to constantly adjust the amount of chakra flowing from your feet to match the movements of the water beneath you."
With his part said, Kakashi withdrew his favorite book and patiently waited for his little birds to jump out of the nest on their own accord. The analogy was as simple as he could manage and a bit more than his cute, little students deserved, but Kakashi was rather pleased with their performance so he took pity on the three Genin.
Back on solid ground, however, Sasuke was smirking. His Sharingan allowed him to see the chakra emanating from the soles of Kakashi's feet. The Uchiha watched for several minutes, crimson eyes recording every second as they always did, before he strode confidently onto the lake's surface and joined his sensei.
"Very good, Sasuke!" Kakashi smiled before reaching down to touch the lake's surface with his hand. "But memorizing what I'm doing will only get you so far," he continued, giving the water a tug with his chakra-coated hand, causing Sasuke to stumble and sink from the sudden change. "You'll still need to practice fluctuating your chakra through the tenketsu in your feet."
"Hn." Sasuke managed to sneer between wet gulps as he walked back to the shore.
"Yes, you complain now, but focusing on the minute details will better prepare you to understand how the Hyuuga fight as well as what your own body can do," Kakashi pointed out while he turned a page in his book. "There's no point in being gifted if you don't challenge yourself. Copying something with your eyes doesn't mean you have mastered it."
No one seemed to have anything to say to that, so Sakura settled for scrutinizing her sensei while Naruto continued to stare off into space.
Sasuke once again stepped onto the lake's surface, this time settling for walking about in aimless circles.
Kakashi smiled when Sakura took her first tentative steps onto the water's surface, stumbling horribly when Sasuke once again sank down to his ankles, but managing to at least steady herself into a stationary position.
The Jounin had to admire his cute, little jinchuuriki's patience; Naruto had yet to try at crossing the water. It wasn't a race, after all. Getting it right was much more important than doing it first.
Sakura took another shaky step forward, steadying herself after briefly dipping below the soles of her sandals. Kakashi smiled behind his mask and turned to his little Uchiha.
"Think about how much different it would be to jump or roll across the water's surface, Sasuke," Kakashi suggested. "You might not be able to see tenketsu like the Hyuuga, but it would still behoove you to learn how to manipulate your own." Kakashi smiled wide, stretching the fabric of his mask. "Jyuuken hurts the most, but it can still be beat."
Sasuke scowled at Kakashi briefly before returning to his meandering.
Sakura was now strolling around her sensei with confident steps. Kakashi was pleased to note that the kunoichi's control seemed to be a step above her peers'– he would have to see about increasing her reserves in the near future.
There was a loud *sploosh* as Sasuke sank to his knees after a failed attempt at jumping from one spot to the next. It was a damn useful skill to have– practically necessary for someone with Sasuke's talents for speed and maneuvering.
Kakashi thought to his own Sharingan. It had this nifty habit of rewarding its user exponentially for their effort. The more an Uchiha pushed, the more they were rewarded. The Jounin thought to some of the things Itachi was rumored to have done and gave a shudder.
There was pushing yourself, and then there was throwing yourself over the cliffside and hoping for the best.
"How are you doing, Naruto?" The Jounin finally asked after about twenty minutes. Sasuke and Sakura had continued to expand their capabilities—Sakura was almost moving silently across the water's surface—but Naruto had not left his sitting position at the lake's shore.
The jinchuuriki sighed. "I get the general theory, it's the application I'm concerned with. Any fine control… given my unique situation…" Naruto gave his sensei a meaningful look, "It can be a hassle to work out in the initial stages."
"Meaning?" Kakashi prodded with a raised brow.
"That doing this could lead to several instances of floundering about in the water, clothes soaked, and at the mercy of my peers' ridicule." Naruto answered honestly, not seeing any reason to exert the effort associated with lying. "But, more so, I'm thinking about how I want to approach this. Wave gave me an idea…"
Kakashi laughed, making the blonde scowl– which only made the Jounin laugh harder as he approached his student. The older male wiped an imaginary tear away and pointed to a tree about twenty feet away. "Turtle will see it, too," Naruto's sensei explained as a vaguely ANBU-shaped figure gave a wave before disappearing in a rustle of leaves, "and he'll remember it when you finally end up doing a stint in Konoha's black ops. department." Kakashi's eye crinkled as he smiled behind his mask. "So, don't let Sasuke, Sakura, or myself be the source of your embarrassment."
"Yeah, that's a fair point," Naruto muttered before scowling at his sensei, "but I still think them watching us is fucked ten kinds of ways!"
"At the very least, it should make you think twice about having sex in public," Kakashi indulged, "but don't let it hamper your training!"
"I'm not," Naruto insisted, "why would I let that happen?"
"Because you know failure is imminent?" Sasuke asked innocently. He and Sakura were now standing at the water's edge, listening in on Kakashi and Naruto's conversation. "I'm sure there's a joke about you getting wet in there, somewhere," the Uchiha drawled, "but maybe it'll come to us when you experience the actual thing, hmmm?"
"I freely admit that it can be intimidating to be surrounded by such awesome teammates," Naruto smiled. Genuinely, honestly, and with a lot of teeth because he knew it bothered Sasuke. "Sakura controls her chakra with acuity that is rarely seen and has picked up quite a bit from Anko as well, I'm sure. Not to mention your bullshit Sharingan." The blonde stood, his eyes turning red and pupils slitting like an animal's. He made a cross hand sign. "Yours is kinda bullshit, too, Sensei. You're just not a dick like Sasuke. Kage Bunshin no Jutsu."
Kakashi was rather impressed when a hundred clones sprang into existence before dividing up into groups of ten and arranging themselves along the lake's shore just as two more clones emerged from the forest to watch along with the original.
Naruto gave a nod and the clones swept onto the water's surface as one, many immediately sinking even as a few managed to flail about wildly before inevitably sinking.
The process continued for about five minutes, the clones trying repeatedly, until the two at Naruto's side moved forward and began pulling out the more successful clones and sending them a bit further down the lake to continue attempting to master the exercise.
The two senior clones had the group of about eighty watch their peers before resuming their attempts. It took another five minutes or so, but Kakashi couldn't help but smile as at least half the group managed to tread further before sinking and paddling off to join the other twenty who were now managing to string together gangly steps that splashed the water's surface.
But they weren't sinking anymore.
The process repeated itself another time and the first group dismissed themselves in unison. Naruto's remaining eighty clones paused as the collective analyzed the new information.
Sakura actually leaned forward as the water's surface stilled while the clones steadied themselves and continued moving around the lake's surface with a newfound confidence.
The two senior clones stepped onto the water, making their way to the lake's center, as their fellows began dispelling in an organized fashion.
The two remaining clones reached their destination and disappeared as their creator strode onto the lake's surface, completely dry, to join his two wet teammates.
"But I'm learning some tricks of my own, so it balances out, eh?" Naruto asked with a feral grin.
A/N: Well, we're back at it. So this is the beginning of a little time spent developing the characters before starting the Chuunin exams. It'll maybe be 3-4 chapters covering some interactions, training, and a mission to ensure Team 7's combat effectiveness. I look forward to your reviews and any questions you might have as well.
