A/N: Hoorah! We have reached number 10 and I have a review! It may seem kinda dull at the moment but it will get better :)

Training With Trees

"Up, get up." I rolled away from the voice when a sharp pain in my rips jolted me awake. I opened my eyes to see Sasuke leaning over me with an irritated expression. "Training, breakfast's ready" he said.

By some way or another I had ended up sharing a room with Sasuke. The rooms were too small for all of us to share so we'd had a jumble around. Inari was with his mom, Tsunami. Tazuna decided to share Kakashi's room. Naruto and Sakura were in Tazuna's and myself and Sasuke were in Inari's.

You may be wondering why I wasn't with Sakura instead. Kakashi gave a huge speech and sent us away to our rooms rather early.

"Let's see, Naruto you can't go with Sasuke because you'll just end up fighting and annoying the client and his family. Sakura, you can't go with Sasuke because of the law, I don't want a battering when I get back because you're far too young for such things. Kari, you get along with all of them so you can share with Sasuke. That leaves Naruto and Sakura to also share. I'm afraid it's the only way. You should all retire and get a good night's sleep for training tomorrow. No questions are permitted."

Training was actually meant to be yesterday, however Kakashi was apparently asleep and Tsunami forbade us from disturbing him. Instead, we were left to check our weaponry, explore around the house a bit (we were told not to go outside… because), be nice and help Tsunami with chores and in my case in particular, rest and allow ourselves to heal.

So this morning Naruto was absolutely full of it, having been confined to a boring house with no action for a full eighteen hours, including a restless sleep. Breakfast was a speedy affair, Naruto and Sasuke seemed to be having a bit of a competition, surprising seeing as whenever I'd seen Sasuke eat at his apartment he had the best of manners. It kind of hurt to eat because of my ribs so I didn't eat as much as Sakura, but I'd make up for it at dinner when I was worn out.

Kakashi then rose on his crutches, the ones Tazuna had given to him from when the Bridge builder once broke his leg, and led us into the woods hobbling along the path contentedly.

"Ok then, training begins now" said Kakashi turning and stopping in a clearing surrounded by trees. I had an arm around both Sasuke and Naruto, who had to half carry me there. I'd forgotten all about my leg until I tried to put weight on it. I hadn't noticed my limp yesterday. That and I had my nasty rib fractures to put up with. It hurt to breathe for God sake! I'm doomed!

"YOSH!" Naruto cried enthusiastically. I let go of Naruto and Sasuke giving them a break from carrying me. I stood on one leg, deciding not to fall over. My injured leg was slightly swollen and was throbbing dully, just waiting to hit me with a sharp pain the minute I try to put my foot down. So I sat stretching my leg out, taking a welcome rest.

"First we will begin with a review of chakra the ninja's basic power source. Understanding Chakra is essential" said Kakashi.

"We know that" said Sasuke boredly. I don't, I only got into this world a few days ago.

"He's right! A long time ago we learnt about uh... CATRA!" said Naruto.

"Cats?" I asked. What did cats have to do with ninja's?

"Chakra" Kakashi corrected sighing. "Besides, Kari needs to know about it as she didn't attend the academy. Go ahead Sakura."

"All right Naruto, I'll explain it simply so you can understand it" said Sakura. She pulled out a scroll. "Chakra is the elemental life energy a ninja uses in jutsu; it's the source of all his power. Now this energy has two forms, physical energy, which exists in every cell in the body all working together and spiritual energy, which is the primal source of power intensified through training and experience. As you can see, these two types of chakra must be drawn out and used together to perform jutsu. Notice the interplay between spiritual and physical power, that's the key. Finally hand signs focus and unleash the chakra" said Sakura.

"Right on the point Iruka sensei really did have excellent students" Kakashi complimented. Sakura flushed with pleasure as I fell back from a dizzy spell. Sasuke used his knee to keep me up, probably thinking that I'd never be able to get back up. Personally that was too much information for my small brain to take in at once.

"Ugh! What's the big deal with all these complicated explanations!? The whole point is to use the jutsu isn't it?!" Naruto cried.

"Naruto's right for once, we're already using chakra energy in our jutsu" said Sasuke. I looked up. Sasuke and Naruto agree on something? Is the sky falling?!

"We are?" I asked confused. I actually had some of this chakra stuff?

"No! You haven't mastered this power you've barely scratched the surface of it!" Kakashi said seriously.

"WHADDA YOU MEAN!?" Naruto cried. I was just thinking that! Creepy! Maybe we have a psychic connection!

"Calm down and listen. It's just like Sakura said. You have to draw on spiritual and physical energies and combine them within yourself. But, how do you do that? Each jutsu requires different amounts of chakra in different proportions. You must select and combine them in exactly the right way. Up to now you've just guessed at the proportions hoping they'd come out right. Even if you produce a lot of chakra, unless you can balance and control it, it's all worthless. The jutsu won't work at all, or it'll just be a joke. You waste so much energy that way, then you're out of chakra and you can't fight at all. You're just a target" said Kakashi.

"Err... so how do we change that?" Naruto asked puzzled.

"Train so hard that controlling your chakra becomes second nature. To achieve this goal you must be ready... to put your life on the line" said Kakashi.

"What do we have to do?" Sakura asked staring at Kakashi intently.

"Climb a tree" said Kakashi simply.

"CLIMB A TREE!?" All four of us repeated.

"Yes. But there's only one rule... NO HANDS" said Kakashi. Do we have to use our legs and our teeth or something?

"What? You're kidding" said Sakura.

"Am I? Let's see" said Kakashi. He put his hands in a hand sign. Dust swirled around his feet, as though his sandals had just pushed out a small gust of wind.. Using his crutches he walked over to a tree… Then continued walking… Up the tree…

"He's climbing..." said Naruto, stating the obvious.

"Straight up and he's only using his feet!" Sakura cried. Kakashi was now walking across a branch upside down.

"So that's how Kakashi-sensei styles his hair" I said, noticing our sensei's silver hair had not been affected in the slightest by the force of gravity. Naruto laughed and Sakura giggled. Sasuke simply smirked shaking his head.

"Well you get the idea" said Kakashi. "Focus the chakra to the soles of your feet and use it to connect to the tree, this is one way to apply the power of chakra."

"Wait a minute, that's a nice trick but how's that gonna help us fight Zabuza?" Sakura asked.

"It's the only way to fight him Sakura. That's the entire goal of this training. First you'll learn how to bring a precise amount of chakra to a precise point in your body. This is difficult even for advanced ninja, this type of training requires a subtle mix of physical and spiritual energy and the bottoms of the feet are the most difficult points to focus chakra. Are you getting the picture? If you can master this, you'll be able to master any jutsu. Well... theoretically. The second point is to maintain chakra, when in battle it's even harder to maintain and control his chakra levels, a deadly mistake, to avoid this, maintaining chakra must become second nature, effortless. Well, I can talk about this all day, but that wont advance your skills will it? You need to apply the power of chakra through training" said Kakashi. He threw four kunai at our feet. I jumped out my skin and did a backwards somersault to avoid them, succeeding in making my ribs and leg feel a hell of a lot worse and adding to the pain by smacking my head on Sasuke's kneecaps.

"WATCH WHERE YOU'RE THROWING THOSE BLOODY SHARP, POINTY OBJECTS!" I shrieked pointing angrily at our sensei who chuckled slightly rubbing the back of his head sheepishly. He shook it off and once again droned seriously on about the training.

"Use the kunai knife to mark the highest point you can climb without using your hands. Then try and get past that mark the next time, and the next. At first you'll have to run at the tree so your momentum can take you as high as possible, until you get used to it. Kari take it easy I'm still not happy with you training at all in your condition. If it gets too much you're to take a break or try tomorrow instead." I picked up my kunai and twirled it round my finger. Kakashi gave me a stern look, reluctantly I nodded. "Ready?"

"I'm more than ready! This is gonna be no sweat the whole way, dattebayo! Remember what you said sensei? I'm the one who's grown the most!" Naruto cried confidently.

"You're definitely the one who talks the most… now get focused and do it!" Kakashi said. My team mates did a hand sign and focused their chakra to the bottom of their feet. Dust moved from under their feet.

"I got it!" Naruto cried. "CHAAAAARGE!!" All three of them ran at a tree. Naruto got up two steps, slipped and fell on his head. That had to hurt… Sasuke got a couple of metres up, but then he applied too much chakra and had to jump off. Naruto was rolling around holding his head which had a rapidly swelling bump on it.

"That's about what I expected from Sasuke and... Naruto" said Kakashi thoughtfully, now back on the ground.

"Hey this is fun!" Sakura cried.

"Sakura!" Naruto cried. She was sitting in a branch high up on the tree.

"Well, looks like the female member of the squad has the most chakra control. Well done Sakura" Kakashi congratulated.
"I'm female too y'know" I pointed out. "You go girl!" I cried, also turning to congratulate my bubblegum friend.

"Way to go Sakura! I always knew you were awesome, dattebayo!" Naruto cried. I could still sense his annoyance and his smile was rather forced.

"Whatever" said Sasuke clearly annoyed. Sakura's head drooped sadly. He could at least try and tell her she'd done good…

"Well not only does Sakura understand chakra, she's able to focus and maintain it. We spoke about someone becoming Hokage someday didn't we? Seems Sakura's got the best chance of that wouldn't you say? And as for the great Uchiha clan well, maybe they aren't so great after all…" said Kakashi.

"SHUT UP SENSEI YOU TALK TOO MUCH!!" Sakura cried as Sasuke and Naruto glared daggers at each other.

"You knew exactly what you were doing didn't you?" I said giving our sensei a knowing smirk. Kakashi simply tilted his head to the side slightly as his mask moved to show his smile.

"I might have" he replied giving me a pat on the head. "You know what they're like, now if you don't mind I have an interesting chapter to read. Remember what I said, don't strain yourself." With that he went and sat underneath a tree, flicking open his dirty orange book.

"First I'll beat Sasuke, then I'm going all the way to the top, dattebayo" Naruto said to himself. I sensed Inari as he was walking away. Try and stay strong kiddo, you can't live your life in sorrow.

"Kari what are you doing?" Sasuke asked, seeing I hadn't moved. That look he gave me practically screamed lazy.

"Well, I'm gonna try a jutsu" I said. That caught everyone's attention, geez it's not that interesting. I closed my eyes. Hand signs naturally formed, my fingers lacing fluidly in the different signs. "Inu, tora, inu, tori, inu, ryuu, inu! Kokoro no Ookami-ko jutsu!" I cried. I held my hands out in front of me. A ball of light appeared in front of me. It was the size of a basketball. The ball exploded and small lights like fireflies swirled around a small white puppy. The lights disappeared and the puppy opened its eyes. It was a beautiful pale blue.

It sat up in my lap and tilted its head to the side in confusion. It looked up at me and wagged its tail. It looked like it was about six weeks old. It jumped into my arms trying to lick my face.

"WOAH!! HOW DID YOU DO THAT?" Naruto cried. I shrugged.

"Dunno I just knew what to do" I said. Kakashi walked over and looked at the little fluffball.

"It's a wolf" he said slightly surprised.

'She'll be a great help to you Kari, she'll help you settle in and assist you in any way she can.' A female voice spoke into my thoughts.

'Ehh? Who're you?'

'All will be explained in due time my ko, fear not for we are not your enemy. For now, enjoy your training. You should feel your pain numb for a while, we'll heal you as fast as we can.'

"Kari, why don't you try climbing the tree?" Kakashi asked, bringing me to my senses. He was staring at the little wolf intently, probably wondering why she was white.

"Um… ok" I said. I stood up, still with the little wolf cub in my arms, she didn't fidget at all. She looked up at me and gave you that loving puppy-eyed look that just melts your heart. After giving her a mushy smile, I closed my eyes and focused chakra to my feet. It felt like I was being levitated or something. I ran towards the tree determinedly. I can do this, I can so do this. I felt my foot connect with the tree and almost at once I felt as though I became one with it, a part of it's strong trunk, a leaf, gathering light from the Sun to photosynthesise. I ran up my chakra keeping me practically glued to it. The lady in my thoughts was right, it doesn't hurt as much as it did… I reached the top and looked around at the sea of green and in the distance, the unmistakable blue line of the ocean. The wind was stronger this high up, and gently combed through my hair making me feel awake.

"Great view huh Kita?" I said. The wolf cub looked around with interest her nose twitching at the smell of salt in the air. I know Kita means North, so I named my little friend after her snow white fur, and there's the fact I just like the name.

"Yo! Kari-chan! How far up are you!" Naruto cried.

I looked down. CRAP… this tree is pretty high. I made a funny squeak at the thought of falling off. Oh god, oh god, oh god! Kita whined and looked up at me confused. I heard a rustle behind me and the tree branch moved down. I screamed, almost falling off, but something grabbed the back of my shirt.

"DON'T DO THAT!" I shouted, rounding on the Uchiha boy. Kita threw Sasuke a dirty look as she lightly growled at him.

"You didn't answer" Sasuke said simply. "Why are you scared?"

"I-I'm not scared!" I cried, looking down then quickly up again, trying to be believable.

"You're scared of heights aren't you?" Sasuke sneered as an amused smirk crept across his face. He folded his arms and looked down at me feeling all superior and fearless.

"AM NOT!" I cried indignantly.

"Jump then" Sasuke said challengingly.

"I AM NOT COMMITING SUICIDE FOR YOUR PLEASURE!"

"SUICIDE?! SASUKE RELEASE KARI-CHAN OR I'LL COME UP THERE AND UH... UH... BEAT THE CRAP OUTTA YOU!" hollered Naruto, who couldn't actually see us. But his protective outburst was appreciated all the same

"Do you… want help getting down or something?" Sasuke said slightly awkwardly.

"NO! I am gonna live up here for the rest of my life!" I said stubbornly, turning away from him refusing the hand outstretched to help me. Sasuke rolled his eyes. "Hey! I saw that!"

"Shut up already it's for your own good" he said as he grabbed me round my waist.

"NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! SASUKE IF YOU DARE JUMP I WILL--!! AAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!" he jumped without a moment s hesitation. I screamed, holding on for dear life as the wind rushed past and leaves and branches whipped our faces.

"We're on the ground. You can let go now." I shook my head, eyes still tightly closed as I buried my face in his shoulder. He'd be waiting a while because I couldn't move at the moment I felt completely frozen.

"I hate you so much…"

"KARI-CHAN! Are you ok? I heard you scream? Did Sasuke hurt you? Why are you stuck to him? Why are you so pale? Are you ill?" Naruto cried worriedly.

"Naruto..." Sasuke said.

"WHAT!?"

"Shut up."

"NO! Let go of Kari!" Naruto cried, after a long pause where he racked his brain for a comeback.

"If you were paying attention loser, she is stuck to me" Sasuke pointed out.

"You're used to Sakura doing it for no reason! You just freaked me out!" I cried, refusing to be insulted like I wasn't there.

"HEY!" Sakura cried.

"Yeah right Sasuke you probably want Kari-chan to hug you 'cause no one else would want to!" Naruto cried. Are you completely oblivious to Sakura's constant advances? That Ino (I think that's her name?), she was all over him too.

"Well, Naruto-kun is well nicer than you!" I said joining in the argument and finally managing to let go.

"Yare, yare… Go back to training, arguing does nothing for teamwork." Kakashi said tiredly, finishing the argument.

And so, the four of us ran up trees again. And again. And… well, so on. Three hours later, Sakura was lying at the bottom of her tree, she scratched at the resting branch each time she got up, not daring to go higher to the thinner part of the trunk. Sasuke was standing panting glaring at the numerous scratches about a quarter of the way up. And Naruto bless him, was once again on his head, having still not managed more than four steps. I was out of breath my chest practically on fire. I'd tried going slower, which was a lot harder. I tried to hop too, but gravity's a complete bitch. It was harder getting to the top again and I already felt tired. The trees are huge after all. I sat against my tree with a sleeping Kita snuggled up against me. I coughed violently, spitting out red tinted spit.

"OW!" Naruto whined, rubbing his grievously abused head. I walked over to him and put my hands on his head. I focused chakra to my hands. A golden green glow surrounded my hands and Naruto's bump went down. "Hey my head don't hurt any more! Thanks Kari-chan!" Naruto cried leaning back to look at me so his head was in my lap, he grinned appreciatively and it made my heart go to mush at his lovely nature.

"Anytime" I said. He'd called me Kari-chan most of the time, saying that I was his best friend therefore deserving of the affectionate suffix. No he didn't actually say it like that. He used shorter words. Naruto frowned and looked at me worriedly.

"You okay?" he asked. I nodded. He looked at his tree and cried out in frustration. Then suddenly, it was as though a light bulb had lighted over his head. "Hey, Kari-chan? You're good at this, can I have some advice?" Naruto whispered. "But please don't tell Sasuke I asked please, please!" he whispered. I giggled slightly at his attempt of puppy eyes and shifted slightly so I was in a more comfortable sitting position. His head was still resting in my lap and he listened attentively to every word I said.

"All right team, that's enough for today. Let's go feed you and let you rest so you're ready to train tomorrow. Sakura, you'll be guarding Tazuna on the bridge tomorrow as you've pretty much got it down. Kari, you'll be observing Naruto's and Sasuke's training and working on tree climbing as you heal. Besides, Naruto may need that healing jutsu again. Good work team, let's turn in."

"UGH! WHY IS THIS SO HARD!?" Naruto cried.

"You've improved a lot Naruto" I said encouragingly. I had to keep stopping because of my stupid injuries, so took to learning through observation. Naruto still used too little chakra and Sasuke still used too much. The two of them stood up at the bases of their trees, glaring at each other. I sighed at their immaturity.

I hadn't got Sakura to converse with; she was busy helping out Tazuna. Kakashi had gone out to look around the area and see if he could spot any signs of Zabuza and Kita was currently out exploring with my permission.

Hours crept passed and they were still climbing. It was getting dark; we'd have to go back soon. I was seriously bored, attempting to walk up my tree around twice every hour, but I felt like absolute crap and didn't get that far. Sasuke and Naruto glared at each other. Naruto was noticeably catching up to Sasuke and I felt a small burst of pride that Naruto had actually taken my advice into account.
"Hey Kari?" Sasuke asked looking round at me. Naruto jumped out his skin, slipping mid-run to land flat on his face.

"AGH! SASUKE! NANIYATTERU NO DESU KA?! WATASHIHA SHUUCHUUSHIYOU TOSHITE MAI CHAKRA!!" Naruto cried. What are you doing? I was trying to focus my chakra! Yup, that voice in my head was still there. I had thought it was that lady that said things would be explained in due time, but the voice my head was much lighter, if that makes any sense.

Sasuke walked up to me, seemingly arguing with himself, his eye was twitching and he looked like he was clenching his teeth, a light pink dusted his cheeks and I felt slightly alarmed at his strange behaviour.

"Well uh... the thing is" He paused, wondering if he should continue, or if he could actually force the words out. His voice was a reluctant mumble that was barely adible. "Ya know… Naruto… asked you for… advice? So… whaddidyoutell'im?"

"Err… So… what?" Sasuke's eye twitched worse before he closed his eyes and his blush darkened.

"Oshiete kureru tte nanidesu ka?" What did you tell him?

Was Sasuke… Actually asking for help?

"Heh" said Naruto, smiling slyly. "Don't tell him Kari-chan!" Sasuke glared at him, enraged at the fact Naruto found amusement at his pride being hurt.

"We need to go back anyway" I said, standing between the two and breaking up the argument. I scowled at the croakiness of my sore voice and gingerly placed weight on my pained leg. "Dinners nearly ready and you two could do with the energy."

"DINNER?!" Naruto cried happily. He started walking. "OH YEAH FOOD, HERE I COME! I'M STARVING!" I shook my head at his hyperactiveness, picking Kita up, who slept contentedly.

"Get on my back, I'll carry you" Sasuke said suddenly.

"You what?"

"Your legs swollen and your breathings got worse you won't be able to make it in that state, now get on."

"I'm fine, I'm fine! Besides… I'm… Too heavy!" I said. That was the first excuse that came to my head. How sad am I…

"Get on Kari" he said stubbornly. I sighed giving in. To be honest, I didn't particularly fancy walking all the way back anyway. I held on to Sasuke's shoulders and he picked up my legs. I wrapped my arms round his shoulders. "You're not actually that heavy you know" he said. I leaned my head on his neck and closed my eyes.

"Whatever" I mumbled. Kita layed across mine and Sasuke's shoulders also closing her eyes. The Uchiha didn't complain, just began to walk back, while the gentle plod of his footsteps and the rocking as he took each slep lulled me into a welcome sleep.