key:

"talking"

'jutsu'

thinking

"flashback"

nonhuman

Survival Training Part 2

Naruto climbed out of the river soaked, but his spirit was not yet defeated. "You sure are weak for someone who is going to surpass the hokage" Kakashi taunted the wet boy. Naruto's stomach growled loudly and he shouted defensively "Damnit! I can still fight on an empty stomach!" Sakura could hear another low gurgling noise coming from a tree not to far away. So that's were Sasuke is… she shared the same thoughts as her sensei who didn't appear to be paying attention, but where is the third student? Kakashi wondered as he turned his back on the boy dressed in a very wet orange jumpsuit. Naruto seized the opportunity to catch his teacher off guard with six shadow clones that now leaped out of the river and ran toward their target. Kakashi seemed to be taken by surprise when a seventh clone suddenly grabbed him from behind. Unfortunately, Naruto's triumph didn't last long and he ended up beating himself up when his sensei used a substitution jutsu to switch places with one of Naruto's own shadow clones. That poor idiot… Sakura felt sympathy for her friend. "Hmmm…", Sasuke wondered where the silver haired shinobi was hiding now.

A shining object caught Naruto's eye, and he quickly turned to see one of Kakashi's bells laying in the grass in the shade of a large tree. Score! Naruto praised his luck and he went over to claim his prize only to be caught in yet another trap, this one leaving poor Naruto dangling upside down like a pinata from the tree. "To be caught in such an obvious trap was very stupid of you, Naruto", Kakashi had appeared through some bushes and now leaned down to take the bell he had purposefully dropped there. He stood up and was instantly pelted with weapons sent down to him from Sasuke. The severely wounded Kakashi disappeared leaving only a beat up log in his place, while the real Kakashi looked over at his dark haired student from where he was hiding, There you are, Sasuke. The adult shinobi's attention was drawn to another movement to the left of him. Now's the time to make my move! The pink haired kunoichi moved from her hiding spot. She saw the silver haired shinobi up ahead and hid in the nearest bushes to observe the man. "Sakura, behind you", the man in front of her spoke without facing her and she turned to see another Kakashi sensei behind her. Kakashi smirked, having caught the girl off guard and quickly place her under his genjutsu.

"Sorry sensei, I'm not that easy to catch!" her words surprised the man, and the Sakura Haruno that was in front of him disappeared with a poof. A shadow clone? Then where is the real one? Kakashi's mind raced. "Sakura, why are you here?" Naruto asked the beautiful pink haired girl smiling down at him from the tree he was tied to. "I'm going to cut you down, Naruto" She grinned at the boy, and he blushed, "But why?" He questioned her. "Cause we're teammates and friends…" She spoke with complete honesty in her voice. Naruto was about to cry from sheer happiness, when the girl continued, "When I cut the rope jump to your right because there is another trap underneath you, okay?", her voice was sweet, and Naruto just nodded shyly in response. Slice! So, she went to help Naruto… Kakashi had finally managed to find the girl. He smiled, then turned and went to assist his clone that was currently battling with an unsuspecting Uchiha.

Naruto was free, but much to his dismay Sakura had left him to see if Sasuke needed any help. He was wandering around the three tree stumps when he saw them, the lunch boxes on top of a rock. "He he he", Naruto chuckled mischievously.

Else where, Kakashi's clone and Sasuke were locked in an intense Taijutsu battle, Kakashi was surprised by how skilled his student was rendering him unable to read his book while fighting. Sasuke used his 'fire style: fireball jutsu' in order to gain the upper hand and Kakashi used the distraction to promptly switch with his clone so he could fight the boy himself. Sasuke was shocked when Kakashi sensei used his own jutsu as a distraction to disappear. He's gone! Behind me…? Above? Where'd he go? Sasuke panicked, and sadly by the time he guess the location of his teacher it was too late. "Earth style: Groundhog Decapitation Jutsu", Kakashi pulled Sasuke's body into the earth so only his neck and head were above ground. "Shinobi battle technique #3: Ninjutsu, just as you predicted, your performance was a cut above the others…" He thought about his pink haired student's performance. "Well… maybe you were just better than Naruto…" Kakashi added. "What?" Sasuke was instantly angered by the shinobi comment.

"Hey, It's my turn. Fight me next sensei!" Kakashi and Sasuke both turned to see their smiling female teammate come out of the bushes. "Alright", The silver haired man was curious about the girl's skill level and he readied himself for her attack. She quickly made two shadow clones and all three ran at him and started to fight hand to hand with the man. The adult shinobi was just barely managing to hold them off, Not bad, not bad, now let's get serious. The man made a quick and easy come back and managed to defeat all three Sakura's who all vanished into smoke leaving Kakashi alone. "What?" Kakashi was stunned, where did she go? Just like Sasuke had fallen into his trap, he had fallen into hers. "Earth style: Groundhog Decapitation Jutsu!" Before he could react his body was pulled into the ground just like Sasuke's had been. Sakura couldn't help but laugh hysterically at the sight of the two men in front of her with only their heads above ground, the extremely shocked expression on their faces only made her laugh harder. She wiped the tears of joy from her eyes as her loud laughter subsided into a slight giggles. "Ah… I'm gonna get Naruto before he eats our lunches", she smiled and turned away from the seemly severed heads of her teammates to walk back to the three stumps they started at.

"Wait, aren't you going to try to get a bell from me?" The older shinobi looked up and questioned her. She turned to face them, "Nah, you can keep them. Besides the Kakashi in the ground is just a substitute, the real Kakashi escaped to that tree over there", she pointed to a tree to her left. "Impressive", The real Kakashi jumped out of his hiding place to met her, while the one in the ground disappeared with a poof. "Oh, don't worry about Naruto, I've already taken care of him",Kakashi smiled dangerously.

On the other side of the training ground, Narato had been busted and was now tied securely to the second of the three stumps, and he was sulking.

"I'd much rather you tell me where you learned that technique", Kakashi continued looking down at his cute female student. "I learned it from you, Kakashi sensei", She spoke automatically, her answer made Kakashi eyes widen in awe. "You learned the technique just by watching me do it once?" Kakashi questioned her, thinking it was impossible. Honestly, she was taught the technique later in life by her silver haired sensei himself, but she couldn't tell him that. "He he, something like that…", She replied nervously, while scratching her head. Kakashi just stared at his student.

During the whole battle and conversation between the two shinobi in front of him, Sasuke was slowly simmering with anger and jealousy. How did she do that? Her skills were always below average if not average, especially in comparison to my own. Had she been secretly training behind everyones back all this time? Was the whole following me around like a puppy, fangirl thing just a facade? He almost reached his boiling point when she crouched down next to him. When their faces were only a few inches apart her eyes seemed to sparkle, and she smiled warmly at him. "I saw your fight Sasuke-kun, you were really cool!" her genuine smile and bell like voice seemed to wash away all the anger and hate in his mind till the only thing he could do was blush. He quickly escaped from the earth so he was standing above the crouching girl, who in response also stood up to meet him. They stood just inches apart. Rrrriiiinnnnnggggggggg! The timer went off. "Okay let's go you two", Kakashi spoke and they followed him back to the tree stumps. Sasuke couldn't help but feel pissed at the timer and his sensei for ruining the moment. He looked beside him to see the happy pinkette that was his teammate practically skipping along side him, and he couldn't help but smile a little, Oh well…