Chapter 41 Nature Discovery
Sakura cursed the cold feeling she felt run up her back, as she tossed and turned on her oddly very hard bed while lifting up her sheets, only to find her feet were now shivering.
'What a horrible nightmare.' She mused, remembering the awful dream she had, where Sasuke's older brother tried to take Naruto. Only it was not a dream, and she distinctly remembered the last thing she did was faint in Naruto's arms. She bolted up from her spot to be greeted by her world spinning through an agonising headache.
'Damn that genjutsu!' She cursed, remembering her uphill struggle with Itachi to release the genjutsu she could have sworn was fought for days. It never turned to her favour, but she never gave up, even when she was exhausted. She wanted to make sure the Uchiha ate his own arrogant words.
'Where am I?' She tried to look around, but her vision had not been restored, all she could tell was she was lying down on what felt like rough wooden floorboards. She jumped in surprise to the sudden cold contact on her back, which she guessed was a hand.
"Hey Sakura-chan." Pacing herself from her still spinning blurred vision, she squinted to see what looked like a blond blob, but she knew who it was without any doubt.
"Hey Naruto."
"How do you feel?"
"...Fine." His warming chuckle always could bring a grin to her face.
"Sakura-chan...You look like the opposite of fine."
"...My head hurts a lot, and I can't see very well." She reluctantly admitted, feeling his hand on her back tense up in what she suspected was worry.
"What can I get you Sakura-chan?" Pulling away her hand from her pounding head, she tried to find her weapon's pouch, only to discover it was gone. She then looked blankly in his direction, hearing him shift something.
"I have it right here Sakura-chan, what do you need?"
"...May I have some water, please?"
"What else?"
"And pain killers please." She heard a clip released, and Naruto muttering while he pulled out said items.
"Here." She could see some transparent like thing presented in front of her, and when she attempted to grab it she missed and felt a cold rush from Naruto's shirt.
"Hehe, here." She shivered on contact when she felt a gentle hand take her own, and lead it to the bottle, while her other had a small round capsule dropped into her palm.
Sakura quickly gulped down the capsule, "Thanks." She muttered, returning her hand to her pounding head involuntarily. The cold rush to her back was felt when a hand stroked up and down her back.
"Can you see any better?"
Sakura rubbed her eyes and squinted, but the world was still a blur. "A bit better." Sakura shivered from a cool breeze, as her sheet was slid up to cover more of herself.
"We didn't want to risk starting a fire, and there isn't really much in this dump." Sakura shrugged it off, while trying to recall what happened.
She then gasped in memory of the blood splatter, and looked roughly in the blonds' direction, "Are you still hurt?!" Sakura felt his hand briefly pause, but then continued its comforting and now warming motion.
"N-No, I am fine, worry about yourself." Sakura didn't need to see clearly to know he was lying, and stuck out her arms to search for his chest. Finding her cold mark, she got to work with a green glow illuminating their surroundings.
Sakura groaned in frustration at the damage done, "...It looks ok, but these constant hits are not doing your lung any good Naruto."
"...I guess."
"I am serious Naruto. Even if you have amazing regeneration, it won't do squat if the injury continues to get strained. You should have listened to me and ran for it."
"Why are you making it sound like I did wrong!? What do you suggest I should have done? Let you take on that bastard by yourself, and I just watch on the sidelines like a bloody cheerleader?!" Sakura looked up, stunned at what she was certain was his offended blue eyes, but softened.
"You didn't do anything wrong...I am sorry Naruto...I understand what it feels like to just sit back and not being able to do anything...I know that feeling really well, and I hate it so very much, that I will do anything to get rid of it...but if you don't, you are only going to get yourself killed with an injury like that...and I don't want to see that happen."
A heavy silence fell upon them, but eventually Naruto sighed, "...I didn't mean to get angry at you Sakura-chan."
"Hey! Don't be a wimp Naruto...you have just as much right as I do to tell me I am wrong...do you feel you did wrong today?" Silence followed again, so she gave him a friendly nudge.
"Come on baka, I won't get offended." The sound of teeth clenching together could be heard from the blond, which she guessed was his hesitation.
"...No, I don't."
"Tell me why then?" She could feel she was pushing him by his tensed touch on her back, but she really wanted him to see he has just as much rights as she does.
"...I did not want to flee while you could have died just to hold that teme off for my protection...an injury will heal...you won't." Sakura grinned softly while cursing not being able to see clearly. Instead she patted around and found a cold paw like hand she assumed was his and closed her own around it.
The gasp from him was taken she was correct, "Was that so hard?"
"Err-umm...a-a little."
"Well you are just as right as me, I didn't exactly think straight when I said I would handle him...and thank you for showing your concern."
Silence once again fell in the room, but it was a calming atmosphere between the two. Sakura gave the blonds hand a firm squeeze, before reluctantly letting go.
"Your hands are like ice Naruto." She rubbed her eyes again, finding her vision was finally starting to un-blur, and roughly saw the blond scratch his head.
"Meh, I am ok."
Sakura decided to ask her next question, "Where are we?"
"We made it to the place, we are in swamp country. We arrived after dark, so we had to settle for this crappy house we are in...Oh well, at least it is one of the few still standing."
The kunoichi wanted to ask what he meant, but concluded she would find out for herself later. "Where is Kakashi-sensei and Lee-san?" she noticed the blond tilt his head and scoff.
"Fuzzy Brows is sleeping like a bloody baby on the other side of the room, while Kakashi-sensei is keeping watch."
Sakura nodded her head, while rubbing her eyes again. Finally she could see the fine whiskers of her teammates cheeks and turned to survey her surroundings properly now. They were in a large room, with a lantern in the middle as the only other means of light than the moon that was blooming through the broken window. The room itself had nothing in it, save for backpacks she guessed were theirs on the side. Turning to the entrance to her left, she could see the door was missing, and judging by the rotten and broken wood around its border, she could tell somebody had kicked the door down some time ago. The walls itself held a history too it appeared.
There were numerous traces of puncture marks, and a large shadowy burn mark creeping up the side and ceiling, hinting there was a fire in this room long ago, but the burnt timber could still be smelt. She was located near the corner of the rectangle room, with Naruto sitting back against the rough wall. Looking on the opposite side of the room, she could see a peacefully sleeping Lee without any signs of Kakashi, just like Naruto had told her.
She then turned back to the blond and gasped, "Naruto?! why are you not wearing your ja-" It was then that she noticed that her 'sheet' did not feel anything like a sheet at all, and when she looked down in question, she was greeted by a flaming red whirlpool symbol, on a orange and black patterned jacket that covered roughly half of her body.
Her softening eyes returned to Naruto who grinned sheepishly while scratching the back of his head.
"You were shivering, so I thought you needed the warmth." Sakura smiled in thanks, but she still felt guilty at the result.
"Thanks Naruto...here." Naruto was taken aback when she handed the material back to him.
"Huh? I am fine Sakura-ch-"
"No, it's yours, and you are making me cold just looking at you...take it back, please."
"But what about you?" Sakura groaned in annoyance, this kind of argument was NOT what she needed with her headache.
"Baka, I am fine. It is your jacket, take it."
"Sakura-chan not to pick a fight here or anything...your wearing a bloody sleeveless vest and tights!"
"Naruto!" She hissed in the demonic voice she knew got her way, but this time he didn't even so much as flinch.
Sakura dropped her glare and sighed. He only was looking out for her, but the very fact that he was sacrificing comfort for her sake just did not sit well with her in the slightest.
"...Fine then." Naruto yelped in surprise when she dragged herself next to him, and chucked the jacket over both their shoulders.
"Does this bother you now baka?"
"N-N-N-No! Not in the slightest!" Naruto stuttered out, his cheeks turning pink at their close proximity.
Sakura herself was blushing, but she did not let it get the better of her as she glared, "Oh come off it Naruto, It's just sharing body warmth."
"O-Of course! What else would I be thinking?"
"...Pervert."
"NEH?! How am I a pervert?!" Sakura couldn't resist laughing at his dumbfounded expression.
"You're not baka, you're not...well at least most of the time."
"Sakura-chan." She giggled for a moment longer and shrugged, as the pair said nothing for a few moments.
Naruto tensed up when he felt a heavy but soft weight rest against his shoulder and looked in conformation to see pink hair, and an arm cuddling around his own, "For gods sakes are you afraid of me or something!?"
"I-I'm not!"
"Naruto, you're as tense as a brick wall, just relax...I'm not going to bite. Jeez."
Naruto chuckled while mumbling an apology, "I'm just well...not used to this."
Sakura giggled, "Get over it...Are you warm at least?"
"Yeah..." Neither spoke for what seemed like minutes after that, but both were simply enjoying the others company. Once he was over his shock at Sakura's actions, Naruto eventually relaxed, and found his new weight against his shoulder surprisingly very calming to his nerves, and actually quite comfortable.
Sakura didn't want to ruin the serene mood, but spoke her thoughts, "Akatsuki..."
Just the word alone made both teens frown, but she continued, "Why were the after you Naruto? I thought they were not going to try anything for at least another half a year."
The blond tried to shrug, but the heavy weight on his shoulder denied him the gesture, "I wish I knew too...Ero-sennin can't be wrong...he just can't." Naruto shook his head clear, he already broke down before when Sakura was unconscious, the last thing either of them needed was weakness.
"You're worried aren't you?"
"H-Huh?"
"Talk to me Naruto...you are brave and strong when you need to be...but even so, that doesn't mean you don't fear anything...unless you really are crazy."
Naruto lightly chuckled and relented, "It's...just a bit much for me, but I am fine."
"Hehe, join the club baka, I am surprised you haven't broken down as much as me, but it's still relieving none the less."
"Hey...what exactly happened in the genjutsu?" Sakura blinked at the topic change, but then groaned at the memory of the cause of her headache.
"He put me in this strange genjutsu Naruto...I would describe it if I could, but I don't even know where to start." Feeling a concern blue eyed gaze on her head, she lifted her head up to meet his eyes.
"But I fought him back as hard as I could."
"Really?! You looked hell exhausted once he let you go." Sakura shrugged sheepishly.
"Honestly if you didn't interfere, I probably would have been out a lot longer than a few hours of exhaustion."
"But you still put up one hell of a fight Sakura-chan, that's mad!"
"Thanks..." Sakura nibbled on her lower lip, but went with what her heart believed.
"...I could not have found the strength if it wasn't for you though."
The blond retorted with a surprised 'huh?' making her continue, "...For helping me believe in myself...it was what made me ignore his taunts at my attempts being hopeless or a waste of time."
The blond held surprise at her soft voice full of gratefulness, but recomposed with his traditional teeth showing grin, "See, I told you to ignore what bastards say to you!"
"..."
Silence once again filled the room soon after that, as the pair still exchanged smiles. Sakura's new habit came into play again, as she lost herself in his joy filled irises, which were looking right back at her, bringing an incredible sensation that she could not describe. Her heart began to skip beats, but she no longer was frightened of its unnatural rhythm, nor the knot constricting feeling in her stomach.
Her headache was long forgotten, as if his soft grin had numbed her pain. The kunoichi could have sworn she was going to faint again, as her head now felt almost as light as a feather. She tried to break eye contact, or say anything, but all of her strength seemed to have just faded away, like she was under a binding spell. Her eyes drifted to his grin, and found its warming shape so fascinating, and so intriguing to her, that it was making her heart's strange rhythm pick up its tempo.
On the other side, Naruto was lost in her gaze. He was beginning to understand his teammate more and more as time went on more than ever now, but there was something he was not interpreting in her soft emerald orbed gaze. The blond had looked into them on many accounts, but never did he see or notice the emotion held behind them before, or at least not directed at him by anybody before. Finding himself entrapped in her stare, he studied the fine patterns in her irises, depicting the several different tones of bright and dark green the blended together almost like a grand master piece. What was that emotion foreign to him? Why did he find himself so awestruck to it?
'Sakura-chan...'
"Am I interrupting something?"
Both teens jumped in surprise, while they snapped their gaze at the entrance to see a very amused Kakashi. Kakashi let out a chuckle when he saw both of his student's cheeks sharing an identical blush, but decided to not comment.
"Nice to see you are not injured Sakura."
"T-Thanks sensei." Kakashi lost his will to not tease after that, it was just too irresistible, especially since he could see them so comfy sitting next to each other sharing Naruto's jacket...Sakura's arm intertwined with Naruto's only added fuel to fire.
"Quite cold out here isn't it?"
"Y-Yeah sensei! We need to buy some sheets or something from that town not far." The blond then eyed the still snoozing spandex wearer in the corner and cringed.
'How the hell is he so cosy with just that stupid spandex?!' Kakashi shrugged while a smirk formed.
"True...but until then, we will just have to make do with what we have...ourselves included too it seems." The satisfaction could not be displayed more on his face from the comical sight of his student's furious blush, along with Sakura shuffling in her spot now feeling exposed, while Naruto was mumbling incoherent excuses.
"What is the problem Sakura-'chan'? Naruto-'kun'?"
"N-Nothing!"
'STOP TEASING ME SENSEI!' Both teens mused and replied. As much as Kakashi was finding this situation very entertaining, he felt he needed to push on more pressing matters.
"Moving along, Naruto...it appears the Akatsuki has shown up earlier than expected."
"...Yeah..."
"Do you have any idea why?"
"I...don't know." Sakura dropped her gaze while recalling the so called 'fight', even though it was more of a struggle if anything.
"Are all of the members of Akatsuki as strong as Itachi?" Both looked in concern to just how defeated her voice sounded to their ears. Kakashi ran a hand through his silver hair.
"Nobody knows Sakura...but it wouldn't surprise me if there are members that even surpass Itachi in talents." Sakura clenched her fist by her side in response.
'They may even be stronger than Itachi?! All I could do was save Naruto from falling to a genjutsu...while I was hopelessly trapped in one from the beginning!'
The feeling of being really over her head with this entire nightmare began to creep up on her like it did at the start, but she didn't show her growing panic to the other two.
"...I'm sure Ero-sennin would not make a mistake with his information on them being ready this early."
"You heard him though Naruto...he was after you, it has to be the case."
"Not necessarily."
Both teens looked up at their sensei, wondering what Kakashi had thought that they missed, "I think they are here for you Naruto...but not to capture you for what you both are thinking."
After a brief pause to see the curiosity in his students fixed gazes, he continued, "I believe they are here...to protect you." If the situation wasn't so serious, he would have laughed at their identical agape expression.
Sakura recovered first, nodding her head, "As much as it is disturbing, I think you are right sensei." Sensing her teammates questioning look, she explained.
"The ANBU Naruto, are trying to k- well you know...if that happens...then the Akatsuki will not succeed."
Naruto's shocked expression did not leave his face, but soon a frown formed, "Great...So the ones that are after me, are also trying to protect me as well...can this get any more confusing?"
Kakashi shrugged, "Just a theory, but I'm confident it is the case."
"Well that's just swell."
"We will discuss this again later when Lee-kun is awake, I will return to my post on the roof."
Naruto nodded as his sensei walked out of the entrance that was missing a door, and turned to his silent teammate.
"You should get some rest Sakura-chan."
Naruto raised an eyebrow at her deflated grunt in response, "What's bothering you?"
Sakura was long used to the blond reading her now that little surprise struck her.
'I won't go down this path again, Naruto has already told me I am helping him more than enough...I won't doubt his faith in me.'
Sakura smiled at his concerned gaze, "I'm fine Naruto." Naruto at first was at a loss at her sudden change, but her smile was more than enough to put him at ease.
"We better get some sleep Sakura-chan, we have a drag of work to do to this dump to at least make it bearable for the time being." She raised an eyebrow when he began to stand up, breaking out of her lock on his arm.
"And where are you going?"
The blond perked an eyebrow in puzzlement, "Err...over there to sleep?"
"And your jacket?" She shook the item that was still around her shoulders for emphasis.
"Keep it for tonight, I don't mi-"
"Get back down here...right, now!"
"H-Huh?-"
"NOW!" Naruto paled as she practically tore him back down next to her as she took control. Leaning back against the wall, she threw the jacket over their feet. She then leaned her head on his shoulder again and snuggled in, all of this causing the blond cheeks to practically glow in the low lit room.
"S-S-Sakura-chan?!"
"Oh for gods sakes Naruto! Look...It's cold, you don't want me to freeze, and I don't want you to either...just be mature, as hard as that is for you."
"I-I can be mature!"
"...Listen, if you are truly unhappy with this, just tell me already...I will understand." Sakura prompted, feeling that maybe she really was making Naruto uncomfortable with this gesture. While her reasons were genuinely legitimate, if he was unsettled then she wouldn't argue.
"...Umm." Sakura lifted her head to look into his eyes. Naruto chuckled while scratching his head with a nervous grin.
"Can you possibly, ermm...your forehead protector is umm...cold against my neck." Sakura chuckled and untied the material, allowing her hair to freely hang down, while she placed her forehead protector by her side and snuggled in again.
"Better?"
"Y-Yeah...thanks."
"...Oh and Naruto." The blond gulped at 'that' tone that meant he was about to be warned something.
"If I so much as detect the slightest hint of your sensei's ways lurking in your head-"
"I won't do a thing!" Sakura really couldn't resist giggling at how easy he was to make squirm. She felt him pull out of her arm lock though, but before she could voice a question, she felt a comforting hand slither behind her back, and rest on her waist. She looked to see the 'too' innocent grin on her teammates face.
"Be mature Sakura-chan, just sharing body heat dattebayo!" Sakura shook her head and giggled while coming in closer.
"...I will let that one slide, since that was clever...you pervert." She burst into soft laughter at his retort of 'How the hell does that make me a pervert!?'. Kakashi chuckled on the roof top hearing their bickering, finding the situation very cute and amusing. His enjoyment was robbed of him though when he recalled what happened on the way here.
It just seemed that every time they had established a plan, or things were starting to look up, another unexpected problem would occur. The Akatsuki now getting thrown into the fray by far was not what they needed on their already overflowing plates. While he was still considering other options, he felt more than satisfied with the verdict already. Kakashi suddenly felt a pair of eyes burning on him from somewhere, and tensed.
Trusting his instinct, he flicked out a kunai and threw the gleaming blade through the darkness at a shadow. The sound of metal meeting flesh was heard on impact, as Kakashi dashed to identify what he hit. He was rewarded with a large rat that was bigger than his hand. Kakashi sighed in relief, while returning to his post.
He had a feeling it was going to be a long night.
'Where the hell is Itachi?!' Kakuzu mused, while beginning to wonder why he had listened to the Uchiha's instructions to allow him to apprehend the jinkuriki on his own. Kakuzu desperately was trying to some fault to scrutinize Itachi with, but other than his silent attitude, Kakuzu had no legitimate reason to question Itachi's orders. Sensing a presence incoming, he turned to the source and clicked his tongue when he knew who it was.
'About time.' Kakuzu narrowed his eyes though when it was only Itachi who casually walked into his sight, then walked past him without even addressing him.
Kakuzu felt a smirk brewing at what this meant. Itachi had failed in the task he was so confident in handling by himself, and now Kakuzu had the ammunition he was longing for.
"Where is the jinkuriki?" Itachi stopped in his tracks at the question, and looked lazily at his partner.
"Naruto-kun successfully made it to swamp country."
Kakuzu's smirk widened under his mask to the taste of satisfaction, "You failed, How...disappointing." Kakuzu voiced as neutral as he could will, although some amounts of amusement slipped through.
"Tell me Itachi, is this boy really that hard to deal with?"
The Uchiha didn't show any impact at Kakuzu's obvious insult and replied with a dismissive 'Hmmph '.
"Naruto-kun has shown himself to always be full of surprises."
Kakuzu formed a scowl, feeling that somehow he was being told a lie, but in the end held it down to pride, "Whatever, it is time you let go of your Uchiha pride and this time we will handle him together. Surprises or not, even with his group, the Jinkuriki and his team will not be a hassle for the two of us."
Itachi was about to respond, but the loud squawk over voiced him, as the hawk darted over Kakuzu's head, and landed on Itachi's shoulder. Kakuzu folded his arms as he watched the Uchiha stroke the birds head like some kind of cat, while reading its memories with his always activated sharingan. The older ninja while he didn't question Itachi's loyalty was not comfortable with their new little member for reconnaissance. The lack of being able to see the information for himself, and relying solely on Itachi as an 'interpreter' just did not sit well on his shoulders.
"It appears Kakashi-san has grown aware of our means of surveillance, our hawk was almost killed under his watchful guard. I do however know where the Konoha group of now only four are taking refuge."
"Go on..."
"They are in an abandoned war torn town."
"Interesting...capturing the jinkuriki will be much easier now." Itachi looked blankly at his partner, while the hawk glared.
The older ninja sighed, "Disagree with me still?"
"There is no need to capture Naruto-kun. He is too much of a random variable that it may work against our favour if we possess him for laying our trap."
"Then what do you suggest?"
"We let Ronan locate Naruto-kun himself, and strike in one decisive blow when the moment is right."
"And how exactly is he going to do that?"
"We return the hawk to him of course Kakuzu-san." Kakuzu narrowed his eyes in annoyance at mention of 'that' bird again, that was still trying to stare him down.
"Ronan will soon discover Naruto-kun's location has changed, and he will resort to using his hawk for scouting to cover ground quickly. We will simply return it to its spot beforehand."
"And what about the lovely scar you left on it Itachi? You are saying he won't suspect something." The Uchiha smirked, while the hawk almost on cue extended out its wing, blocking a green glow.
Kakuzu snickered, "How is it you know medical jutsu?"
"It was basic procedure started from the second shinobi war for special forces such as ANBU to know basic first aid knowledge, which Tsunade-san preached for during its time. These eyes even though not perfect, still could understand the basics of medical jutsu better than most." The glowing stopped, revealing a fully healed wing, which closed to reveal a smug smirking Itachi. The smirk soon deformed back into a neutral line soon after.
"If we do not let the hawk return to Ronan, he will be suspicious as to why it has been missing when he needs it."
Kakuzu had to give in, since as much as he hated to admit it, Itachi was once again right, "Very well then, we will do this your way."
Sasuke always hated when his sensei was up to his tricks, since it always seemed to involve him in a way. He would prefer to continue training than be called by the sannin to join him on an 'eventful' trip with him. Kabuto was elsewhere, although the young Uchiha didn't really care.
"Why are we shifting to the northern hideout?" Sasuke asked the silent sannin, as they continued their travel through the near pitch black forest.
Sasuke didn't need to see the snake sannin to know he held his familiar smirk, "I have pressing matters that need to be dealt with Sasuke-kun."
The Uchiha rolled his eyes at the dismissive comment, knowing clearly there was more to it behind that blatantly poor excuse. Sasuke was aware of what happened up north, it was where Orochimaru conducted his experiments, and where the sannin keep a lot of captives. The people were mostly innocent victims that Orochimaru's shinobi had kidnapped, to please the sickening sannin in his quest for immortality.
Even though Sasuke was always silent when walking through the prison cells, it always made a part of him stir when he heard the whimpers or sobs from the imprisoned people. What left a scar in his mind though were the faces he saw, looking into the eyes of people that once had a life, and were now spending it as a lab rat for the sannin's stomach-turning will.
Sasuke also could never forget that tank he walked up to in Orochimaru's lab, peering into the crystal clear water with interest, only to see a face form against the glass, and stare back at him with violet irises, and a mouth that resembled a shark. The Uchiha wondered if whoever that person was had finally been freed from his entrapment, but knowing his sensei's ways too well, Sasuke knew he was simply lying to himself.
The snake sannin's smirk widened when even in the darkness, he could easily see his dug in entrance resting between two gigantic trees. The Uchiha as always payed no attention to the prisoners gasps at the sight of the sannin, knowing that they were in for another horrific event if Orochimaru so chose. The one thing that made Sasuke feel very self aware was when he felt the shifty gazes fall on him, with equal fear for him as well as the sannin.
Ignoring the sentiment, the Uchiha pressed on through the cells, when Orochimaru turned to him with that ever present smirk still on his features.
"Do as you wish Sasuke-kun."
The sannin said dismissively, as he approached the closest cell, with each footstep causing a chain reaction from the people behind it backing away in terror. The old snake looked akin to a kid bruising a candy store window, and his eyes focused on one individual. It was a young man, who had a large stitched up scar running down his cheek. The man was wearing a white shirt that had lost its whiteness to the dirt and dust to the place, along with torn trousers.
The sannin's finger pointing at him sealed his fate, as the man just stood in defeat and didn't speak, as he closed his eyes as if praying today he would finally be set free from this place, and Sasuke knew it was not via means of physically leaving. The cell door opened, as a large python entangled around the person, and dragged him out of the cell and left with the sannin into a room. During the entire event Sasuke didn't move or say anything, but he wondered why his fist was trembling in a skin tearing clench.
His hand went limp, and the Uchiha continued his trek, although the sudden anger that had washed over him did not leave his aura. Sasuke opened a door, and entered a room filled with tanks, as he continued walking down a path he had walked down before. He then eyed the large cylinder like tank, which was firmly secured with steel over its top and bottom. On approach, he noticed a shift within the water, but didn't seem fazed when he saw a violet eye solidify, then disappear.
When his face was inches from the glass, a murky but childish like voice called out to him from within the cylinder.
"Well now, look what we have here." The Uchiha showed no emotion, as he continued to stare into the cylinder.
"Silent type are we? And stop looking at me like that, before I question whether your lady killer looks are just a facade." The snort from the Uchiha somehow brought refreshment to his nerves, as a grin that felt long forgotten formed on Sasuke's face.
"HOLY COW! You actually can do something other than scowl!" The face Sasuke had seen before reappeared to reveal a boy that could not be a year or so older than him. The familiar shark like teeth could been seen with a wide smirk, along with his amused violet irises.
As if feeling he was doing wrong, the grin returned to a scowl, which made the boy perk an eyebrow.
"Oh, my mistake, there's the scowl again ." Sasuke perked an eyebrow back, but decided to introduce himself.
"I am Uchiha Sasuke." He said simply, as the boys smirk widened.
"Hehe, you're one strange guy...I am Hozuki Suigetsu ."
Morning to Sakura's regret came sooner than she wished, as she lifted her head from her comfy 'cushion'. In retaliation to losing his warmth, the blond shivered causing the kunoichi to giggle softly at his antics. Sakura reluctantly pulled away, and slid up the wall to stretch, not waking the still snoozing Naruto next to her.
"The comfy beds in Wave just do not compete, eh Sakura-'chan'?" Sakura had to resist jumping at the teasing voice of an amused Kakashi, who was on the opposite side of the room, reading his book.
Quickly glancing to see the blond was still fast asleep, she glared at Kakashi, "S-Sensei! Stop picking on me!"
"Why, who says I am teasing?" Sakura snorted while shaking her head at his obvious lie.
"Where is Lee-san?"
"He took over watching, while I decided to relax...although I must admit I regretfully had nobody to snuggle up to keep me war-"
"Kakashi-sensei!" Sakura growled, feeling her cheeks heating up. Naruto shivering caught her to look and softly grin, while kneeling down and lifting up his jacket to cover most of his body. She couldn't resist smiling at his calming expression as he continued sleeping.
Dragging her gaze away, she grabbed her discarded forehead protector and did it up while standing.
"I'm going to take a look around Kakashi-sensei."
"Be sure to keep within eye shot of Lee-kun." Sakura mumbled a 'hai', while exiting out of the entrance into the dimly lit sun light. She was greeted by a destroyed cafeteria in front of her view. To her left and right were similarly ruined buildings, ranging from inns to restaurants, and homes. This town could not have been any bigger than two or more blocks of Konoha, making her guess this was just a small country town. A feeling of isolation hit her though, since there was nothing but birds chirping in her ears. Overhead were thick almost black coloured clouds, which looked ready to pour any minute.
"Hey Sakura-san!" A voice from above caught her to turn and look up to see Lee standing on the roof of the single story building. Deciding to join him, she jumped up with a little help of chakra.
"Hey Lee-san...what is this place?"
"It is a war ruined town in swamp country...at least that is what I heard from Naruto-kun." Sakura nodded while absorbing the sight in her eyes while turning. The town could not be larger than a kilometre or two in both directions.
Quite a few of the grey and paint torn buildings in the distance appeared to be either completely collapsed, or barely standing, while parts were crumbling away. She had been told some stories by Tsunade of what it was like during the times of the second great shinobi war, but even Tsunade's words could not illustrate the horrific truth compared to what her two eyes were bearing in a mere second.
What had happened here?
What happened to the people that once lived here?
Did she even want to know?
She had been told by Tsunade that during the second great shinobi war, there was a small scaled conflict between the Fire country and Lightning country over Lightning wanting to expand its border. While it was not worth mentioning over the large scale war between Suna, Konoha, and Iwa, it till had its own dark marks lurking behind in its time. This town was an example of the numerous places that were destroyed in the 'small' dispute that only was mentioned in history books. Originally it was claimed by the fire country this land, which started the conflict. By the end of it, the two kage's decided to keep the area a neutral zone, and hence the small swamp country was formed.
"What a depressing place." Sakura voiced dryly, with the miniature Gai nodding his head in agreement.
"Be it as it may, it still is good that there are no civilians nearby."
"...That is true I guess." Sakura replied, while now seeing the monstrous mountains in the distance.
"Is that the border of Lightning country?"
Lee was about to reply, but surprisingly a wide awake voice that sounded like Naruto responded, "Yep. Huge mountains, lakes, wetlands and ridiculously massive storms...pretty much summarises the Lighting country."
Sakura tilted her head to chuckle, "Sounds like you been there before?"
Naruto cringed in memory, "We didn't really travel far in...But yeah, it sucked pretty much."
"Does Kakashi-sensei have any new instructions for us Naruto-kun?" The blond shook his head.
"Nope, what we are doing now basically is it, just sit and wait for Shikamaru." Sakura could already tell something was forming behind Naruto's impatient words.
"You do not agree I take it?"
Naruto nodded, "Of course I don't. I sure as hell am not going to lie around looking at the clouds like Shikamaru does when there is nothing else to do." Sakura narrowed her gaze and noticed how strongly determined he was.
'I see...after what happened with Itachi, he wants to get stronger...I can't blame him.' Sakura still as much as she agreed with the blond, had a firm argument against it, while Lee was clueless to what they were suddenly talking about.
"...I see what you were saying. But we are not exactly as safe now as we were in Wave Naruto."
"I know but Sakura-chan-"
"We don't even know this place well-"
"Then we can look around, knowing what's around us is good to know!"
'Did I miss something?' Lee pondered, as the teammates still argued oblivious to him being left in the dark.
"I admit you have a point there, but did you even ask Kakashi-sensei for his approval?"
"O-Of course he said it was fine!"
"Naruto..."
"...Ok maybe I didn't ask him."
"This is because of what happened yesterday isn't it?" Naruto narrowed his eyes at her question, but didn't reply, which more than delivered her the answer she wanted.
Sakura sighed in defeat, "I agree with you...Lee-san please tell Kakashi-sensei what we are doing, let's go Naruto."
"Yosha!"
The still confused Lee didn't even realise when they had jumped down and began walking away from him. '...Is Naruto-kun and Sakura-san talking about training?' He was about to voice his question, until he realised they already were gone.
"...YOSH! I SEE WHAT WE ARE DOING NARUTO-KUN!"
'This is just like that time with Kakashi-sensei and Gai-sensei!'
"I WILL FIND YOU BY SUN DOWN NARUTO-KUN!"
"Did you hear something Sakura-chan?"
"Umm...no, I didn't hear anything." Both teens shrugged it off and continued down the path neither of them knew what it would lead to.
To Sakura's further dismay, every twist and turn they made in their journey opened up more of the chaotic history this town held, each house's crumbling remains telling a story to her. What made her pause and really hit her though, was a small elementary school. The overhanging sign of the school's name had been snapped in two, with what looked like once bronze lettering had rusted away, with have the letters missing.
The school itself was maybe three stories high, but parts of the wall were missing, as if they were blown out from the inside, revealing the remains of some class rooms. What was really playing with her heart though was the stench of death that was intoxicating the place. Sakura shook her head clear when a tear fell.
"What on earth happened to this place Naruto?" Naruto pretended he didn't see her emotionless tear and answered.
"Ero-sennin told me that there used to be people from all over the fire country living here, just looking for a quiet life away from what was happening in the west...so much for that."
Sakura rubbed her tear away and nodded.
"You ok Sakura-chan?"
"Yeah...let's go."
"Wait." Naruto held her back with a hand on her shoulder while looking back at the school.
"School's do have yards right?"
"U-Umm yeah..."
Naruto turned to her in question to see her hesitance, "We will look somewhere else the-" "No, it's ok, let's look."
'This place creeps me out, but as long as we don't go inside I am fine with it.' Both teens entered into the grounds, and both stood outside the large building.
"Kage bunshin no jutsu." He announced, as several clones appeared, and all dashed off in different directions.
Naruto couldn't resist the chuckle, "I can so get used to this!" It always amazed her how he always could cheer her up, even in such a place full of death.
"You are going to be literally turning into Shikamaru at this rate!" Naruto grinned while looking up at the clouds with his hands behind his back, as if seeing if anything clicked for him.
"...That would really suck." His eyes then widened as he nodded his head to his teammate.
"Follow me Sakura-chan." Like he knew the place, he guided her past a few buildings in the school, and presented his finding. It was an area more than adequate for their task, with a couple of still useable benches, all of which was shaded under an enormous tree in its centre, which branches spread over the entire area with its thick nest of green leaves.
"Wow...nice find Naruto."
'I can't believe there is still life even in this place though.' Naruto shrugged, while looking back from where they came.
"We cannot be seen by Fuzzy Brows or Kakashi-sensei from here, we will have to tell them about this place when we head back."
"Agreed...Now what is it you are practically itching to do anyway?"
The blond then presented the small vile, earning a smirk, "Very well then. Do you remember what Ero-sennin said?"
"Yosh-...no." Sakura shook her head and took the vile from his hands, and jumped at how cold it was, but didn't drop it.
"Hold out your hands together." She instructed, while pulling open the metal cap. She then looked up at her teammate.
"I am going to pour the water into your hands, then you simply flow your chakra into the water...I will tell you what your primary and secondary element is from that."
Naruto nodded while he suddenly paled, "Err...but isn't that water-COLD!" Naruto yelped as she dripped a small drop into his closed palms.
"Oh don't be such a wuss baka!" Naruto struggled to keep himself composed from the icy cold liquid he was about to be met with in full force, but nodded.
"Hehe, my bad"
"Ready?"
"Y-yeah." Naruto's teeth chattered away involuntarily from freezing sensation in his hands. Sakura groaned when his shaking was causing some of the water to slip between his fingers, and decided to hold his hands together with her own.
"For gods sakes, don't be such a-WUSS!!-" Sakura shivered as some of the cold liquid dripped down her skin, and even Naruto's hands were sending a chill travelling down her arms and back. "O-Ok...that is pretty cold."
"Y-You t-think!?"
"Hurry up and ch-channel your chakra, b-baka." Naruto tried to ignore the freezing feeling in his hands and concentrated, closing his eyes to help keep focus.
Naruto found it strange that its freezing cold touch seemed to begin to warm up, as his chakra flowed into the liquid.
Did that mean his element was fire?
A sharp gasp was heard, as he opened his eyes in puzzlement to his teammates shock, "W-What is it?"
"Look..."
Naruto followed her focused gaze to see the water in his hand was rippling, as if a strong current of wind was blowing over it from an indeterminable direction. The force of the wind must have been violently strong, as small droplets of water went air born and rained against their faces. The water then began to spin, with a small miniature like whirlpool forming in its centre akin to a bathtub drain.
"Futon...wind." Sakura announced, looking up to see his stunned face.
"Wind...what can wind do Sakura-chan?"
Naruto asked, hoping she knew something, "I umm...I really don't know Naruto."
Feeling she should show more enthusiasm though, she grinned, "But I am sure it is a hell strong element!" Remembering from when Kakashi and Jiraiya talked to him about this, he nodded.
"I think Kakashi-sensei and Ero-sennin said something about wind element being mainly a close range to medium ranged element."
Sakura chuckled, "Sounds like you at least." Naruto was about to retort, but felt the water in his hand begin to heat up causing him to look down in anticipation.
What was his second element? His brows furrowed when the water did not change.
'Huh?'
"Err...what does that mean?" Sakura blinked in surprise and squinted at the seemingly unchanged water.
Her eyes widened when she noticed something was off, "Naruto...its glowing."
Naruto shook his head and looked again, until he could then see very dim glow, "W-Whoa! It is!"
"Suiton...water is your second elemental affinity Naruto."
"Aww." Both teens almost jumped when a deeply amused voice from behind them made his presence announced.
"K-Kakashi-sensei?! Stop doing that!" Sakura shouted over her head, knowing he was innocently shrugging.
"I didn't mean to startle you both...am I interrupting something?" Both teens suddenly blushed at his repeated question, but Sakura retorted more annoyed than embarrassed.
"We are training sensei!"
"O-h!" He stretched the word over for almost ten seconds, while approaching under the shade and looked.
"Is that what Jiraiya gave you before we departed Naruto?"
The blond nodded, "Yep, Ero-sennin gave it to me...I guess he knew I didn't want to sit around and do nothing." Kakashi nodded, knowing that was going to be the case.
Sakura narrowed her eyes in suspicion now though, remembering what Naruto had pointed out earlier...did Kakashi follow them? "What are you doing here anyway Kakashi-sensei?"
"Well you see, I thought I saw something suspicious, and decided to cut through the school to investigate."
"THAT'S A LIE! AND YOU KNOW IT SENSEI!" Both teens shouted, while Sakura definitely concluded he followed them.
"So...wind and water eh? Interesting combination there Naruto." Naruto sheepishly grinned, while Sakura did not miss how he so 'smoothly' changed the topic...and indirectly admitted he was watching them.
"Y-yeah pretty awesome huh?"
"Indeed. You know it's very rare for to be a wind type user in Konoha?"
"Really?!" Kakashi nodded, while turning to sensing a question for the kunoichi.
"Yes Sakura?"
Putting aside her thoughts, she asked a more relevant question, "How exactly does this whole elemental affinity thing work sensei? Is it really just random what element we favour?"
Kakashi knew Sakura was the type that wanted to know all the technical things, and he did not disappoint, "At first it was believed that, but we soon were able to prove it has to do with genetics and inheritance from your bloodline family."
'Minato-sensei's elements were lightning and wind...while Kushina was water only I believe.' Sakura nodded, but then realised what it meant.
"So Naruto's parents...were either wind or water natured?"
"...Correct, more or less."
Sensing Naruto go quiet earned him a gaze from Sakura, "You...don't know who your parents are Naruto?" The simple shake of his head was all that was needed for her to understand.
Deciding to lighten the mood, she changed the topic, "But what does it mean by only a small glow sensei?"
Naruto's ears perked and he nodded free of his sudden silent attitude, "Yeah, does that mean I suck at Suiton jutsu's or something?" Kakashi shook his head, but it seemed it made sense to Sakura already.
"Remember it is your primary and secondary element Naruto. So basically it is saying while you have a natural affinity to water too, it is not as strong as your wind element. "
Kakashi gave the thumbs up to her explanation, "As always, very good Sakura, but not everybody has two elements as you make it sound. There are also some cases where you may find a person who has only one strong element, or even none."
Naruto mouthed an 'oh' and grinned, "Cool."
"Kakashi-sensei...what are Sasuke-kun's elements?" Naruto went quiet, while Kakashi sighed. During the chuunin exams, Kakashi before teaching Sasuke chidori, made him take the elemental affinity test.
"His primary element is lightning, and since it seems traditional for Uchiha's, I can safely say without any hesitation that his secondary is fire." Sakura nodded, but feeling the icy cold water now dripping down her hand again made her press on.
"Let's put this water back in its vile, before we catch Pneumonia."
"No." Sakura and Kakashi looked at Naruto in question.
"H-huh?"
"Well I mean not yet."
"Naruto?" Sakura looked into his gaze, trying to decipher what he was thinking, and then it clicked, since he was meaningfully looking at her.
"Naruto...why?" Naruto smiled and nodded.
"It is only fair Sakura-chan, why should I undergo something sweet, and you can't as well?" Sakura was completely caught off guard, but smiled softly.
"...Sensei?"
Kakashi shrugged sheepishly, "Don't look at me, Naruto is giving you an opportunity, it's your choice to decide."
"But I thought it would take years for a shinobi to master their element?"
"That it does...but that is no reason to be put off learning something because it takes time."
"Go on Sakura-chan, maybe your wind natured too!"
Sakura shrugged, "I...I don't know."
"You know about your parents Sakura-chan, maybe you already can guess what it is?"
Sakura shook her head looking at her blond teammate. While she was generally quite open with team 7, her family was something she never really talked about.
"Neither of my parents nor previous family have ever been shinobi...I am just as blind as you are in this case Naruto." Naruto was taken aback at that, he always had thought Sakura was part of a shinobi clan, he never imagined her entire family were civilians.
Sakura grinned, "What? You didn't think Haruno was some grand nobility clan or something did you?"
Naruto grinned sheepishly, "T-The thought may have crossed my mind once."
"Baka." Sakura then looked down at the freezing liquid in Naruto's hand, as she formed a cup underneath with her own.
"Ok...I am ready." Sakura thought she was used to the ice like touch of the water, but when Naruto poured the contents from his hands into her own, she now understood why it was so difficult to not break her trembling hands apart on reflex.
She felt a rush of warmth when Naruto held her hands together in a similar gesture of what she did earlier.
"Don't be a wuss Sakura-chan." He teased with a mischievous grin.
"What did you just call me?" she said in mocking seriousness, making the blond pale.
"N-N-Nothing!"
"Ok baka, I get it, it really is hard. You're not a wuss." Naruto sheepishly grinned, as she returned focus on the water in her hands.
Closing her eyes, she concentrated, while her mind pondered on what her element could be. Maybe she was like Sasuke, with Lightning and Fire. Or maybe she was like Naruto. Either way she prayed she even had an element.
Now that she spent time thinking about it, did it even matter either way?
What could she do knowing what element or elements she benefited from? How would this help her in regards to her current training? She was a medic nin, and her strengths were more in genjutsu than ninjutsu.
Sakura halted her thoughts when the liquid started to warm up with her chakra, but she was at a loss when it felt less.... like liquid, it felt more...thick, stickier, and almost solid. She opened her gaze to go agape when mud was now resting in her palms.
"E-eh?!"
"Oh....now this is interesting." Kakashi voiced his curiosity, while he didn't need to look any longer for confirmation.
"Your primary element is Doton or earth element Sakura."
'Doton...' Sakura did not know what to feel, was she disappointed she didn't have a strong attachment to an element that the other two had?
Out of all the five elements...Doton?
What could she do with that?
"Wow that's awesome Sakura-chan!" That was all the reason she needed to not hold any more doubt.
"Y-Yeah...it's pretty good, eh?"
"That means you can do those cool jutsu's Kakashi-sensei does dattebayo!" Sakura chuckled while shaking her head.
"Maybe."
Her interest fell back on the mud, as it lost its squishy, brown colour, and turned back into the transparent water, leaving no trace of the mucky mud behind.
Sakura swallowed the lump of anticipation at the back of her throat. So she was strong with Doton's, but what else was she good at? She stared expectantly at the water, waiting for it to decide her secondary element, if she even had one. She cut in a sharp intake of breath when the water shone a near blinding bright blue.
"Woah!! You're a water element just like me!!"
"Y-Yes...b-but, why is it glowing so much brighter than Naruto's?! I thought it was my secondary?!" feeling he needed to explain, Kakashi helped her out of her confusion.
"Primary and secondary element affinities have a dominance or 'balance' if you will Sakura. Naruto's wind affinity simply is his dominant element, meaning that while he has a natural affinity to both wind and water, his wind nature is stronger. You are more of a rare case, where your primary and secondary elements are at a close or equal strength."
"Oh! So are you saying Sakura-chan has a kekkai genkai?!" Sakura was not at eased of her shock, as Kakashi quickly put a hand up.
"Settle down there Naruto. I explained that merging your two elements to create a hybrid element is a kekkai genkai. Sakura is not that. However she is a rare case where an individual has a strong if not near equal affinity of not one, but two elements. But since the water changed to mud first, it means her earth element is stronger than her water." Sakura shook her head still in disbelief.
"H-How rare is it to have two strong elemental affinities?" Kakashi put a hand to his chin while thinking.
"There are only a couple of jounin in Konoha to my knowledge that is in your boat."
"O-Oh...is it possible to have a strong strength for more than two elements?"
"As I explained to Naruto, it is considered impossible to have more than two elemental affinities, at least of what I know." Sakura nodded her head, while looking to her ecstatic teammate.
"Man, now I am jealous!" Sakura giggled at his antics, but yelped in surprise when the water turned icy again.
"C-c-can we put this water away already?!" She stuttered at the shivering blond, who looked for the forgotten vile.
Once the water was back in the vile, Naruto placed it dismissively in his weapons pouch and turned to Kakashi.
"What do we do now Sensei?" Kakashi yawned, something told him he wasn't going to be getting sleep anytime soon, not when not only one, but both of his students were keen as ever to train.
"Well the first step is to actually use your elemental chakra, to do this there is a different exercise for each element. Once that is done, you are ready to at least put it to some use. To further enhance it, there are harder exercises. Once they are done, it really is up to you to decide what to do after that. Use it to enhance previous jutsu's you know, learn new ones of that specific element, or even create your own." Sakura rubbed her neck at the options.
"Well we don't have time on our hands for creating our own...and I can speak for myself in saying that I don't know any Doton or Suiton jutsu's." her teammate nodded as well in agreement.
"And you cannot learn new jutsu's efficiently unless you pass the first exercise to actually use your nature chakra..." Both teens frowned at Kakashi's dismissive statement, but none the less he was right.
Naruto shrugged, "I guess that means we will have to give it a miss then."
"Not true."
Kakashi this time broke into chuckles at both teens similar blank expression, "You can practice the first step, while training normally with other things."
"What is this, first step, sensei?"
Kakashi picked up a stray leaf on the cracked concrete floor, lifted it to in front of him, "The first step for a wind user is to use their wind natured chakra to cut this leaf. By doing so, you are at the minimum using your elemental chakra." Naruto nodded furiously in excitement, taking the lone leaf, but then prompted.
"What about Sakura-chan?"
"Well, the choice is up to you Sakura, do you want to learn Water or Earth first?"
'If I learn water, I may be able to help Naruto learn how to use his water element...but if I learn Earth, I will be benefiting myself.' Feeling her choice was already made, she was about to voice her response, but Naruto cut her off midway.
"Why can't we both learn water?"
'W-What?'
"But Naruto, I am strong with Water, you are not! You would be putting yourself at a disadvantage!"
"I may be, but we can work through it together, and then once done, we can focus on our own separate ones." Kakashi decided to stay out of this, as really he was not fussed with what they decided.
"Naruto, it still is not fair to you."
"But you remember what I told you, it takes years to nail this down."
Naruto then pointed to himself while continuing, "I have a way to bypass that, maybe somehow by working together we can break that down to no time at all." Both then turned to their sensei in confusion, only to receive him waving his hands blankly.
"The choice is up to you, Naruto does have a point, but at the same time, you are not the same person." Sensing the blond about to protest he automatically answered by assumption,
"Yes, you can explain what it is you are doing to use your nature chakra to Sakura, but that can only help her so far..."
Sakura ran a hand through her hair and looked at her teammate unfazed, "I want to ask you something first."
"Sure go ahead?"
"Are you suggesting this just to help me?"
Naruto was about to auto reply with 'yes' but bit his tongue and instead scratched his head and mumbled incoherent words, "Err-umm...well-"
"Naruto."
"Ok! Maybe...I am."
"Baka...You're too nice to me." She affectionately rubbed her hand up and down his arm, while grinning.
"While I am touched, I feel like I am crippling you just so I can keep up...I am sorry, but I won't be a burden like that."
"But-"
"We will still learn water together, but until then Naruto, No."
The blond still had some fight in him, "I swear you are not crippling me, it makes sense to learn one faster. That way may get the grasp on the other one quicker."
"They are different elements Naruto." She argued.
Both turned back to their silent sensei, who actually was reading his book, "Decided yet?"
"Tell us what to do." Kakashi sighed at their synced instruction, and lowered his head further into his book.
"You want me to hold your hands every step of the way? You are both old enough to make decisions that you both agree on without needing me acting as a referee."
Both teens gritted their teeth, and returned to their discussion, "Sakura-chan, what were you going to say before I interrupted you?"
Sakura hung her mouth open in hesitance, but reluctantly answered, "...Water."
"Why?"
"..."
"Aw, Sakura wanted to help Naruto with Suiton over Doton."
"Shut up sensei!" Sakura growled with a blush forming, but lost it when Naruto shook his head.
"So you want to help me, but I can't help you? That is not fair!"
"But I benefit closely with either..." Feeling she was losing she spilled her real reasoning.
"I just wanted to help."
"I know...." The sound of rain now was easily heard over their silence, the small needles of water crashing against the cement while the tree sheltered them from most of the down pour.
Sakura broke their silence with a soft smile, "You are so bloody stubborn you know that?"
"Hehe look who is talking."
"What did you just say?"
"N-Nothing."
"Good." Sakura sighed while nodding her head slowly to her decision.
"Do you really want to learn Suiton?"
"Yes."
"There is no part of you that is curious about wind element?"
"Of course there is...but aren't you the same with earth?"
"I am..." Sakura waited a couple moments before continuing.
"I will ask this because it's only right. Are you sure that you want to learn an element you are not stronger with just so there is the chance we can learn Suiton faster together? You are not the one that will benefit greatly from this, I will...is that what you really want?"
Naruto was about to answer straight off, but she shot her hand up between their faces, "Think about what I said first. I mean it."
The blond complied with several moments of silence, and even watched the rain shoot down and collide with the cracked cement. He then shot back to her gaze in an instant after what he felt was long enough.
"Dattebayo!" Sakura shook her head with a grin, but replied with a soft 'Alright', and then turned to Kakashi with no hesitation and announced her decision.
"We will learn water element together then sensei."
Kakashi snapped his book shut, "Excellent, then let me introduce you both to the first step."
"Yosha!" Naruto beamed, while tossing away the leaf as if to make a point.
Both perked an eyebrow though when Kakashi grabbed the stray leaf in the air, and handed it back to Sakura, "There is the first exercise then."
"....HUH?!" Both teens looked blankly back and forth between the large leaf and Kakashi.
"T-This is also the first exercise?!" Sakura stuttered out, still confused as to how.
Kakashi nodded, "Yes. Plants like all living things, rely on water to survive, even the smallest leaf contains a minute amount of water to retain its vibrant colour...this is why in the dry season, the leaves crumble up and die, because their primary source of survival is scarce." Seeing Sakura's mind ticking gave him the impression she was beginning to understand, but to both their surprise, Naruto spoke the answer first.
"So we need to use our water element chakra to drain out that small water in the leaf?"
Sakura nodded with a pride filled smile, "Hai, and this exercise will be teaching us the important step of being able to manipulate water within objects, right sensei?"
"Correct both of you. The first key to Suiton jutsu's is through being able to gather and then utilize the water necessary to perform a jutsu. The Nindaime is a good example of this step taken to enhance his talents with Suiton jutsu that have been unmatched to this date. Water can be found basically anywhere in our world, you just simply need to know where to look. Using your water natured chakra, you are to gather the water from within the leaf, making it change from its soft and vibrant colour, to crumbling dry brown."
"I think I understand, so the purpose of this exercise is to be able to manipulate the water, which later on leads down through using it for jutsu's?"
"Neh...But why not just manipulate the water itself then?"
Sakura felt confident enough to take a stab and answer, "Because most shinobi can do that basic step already Naruto, remember in the fight long ago between Kakashi-sensei and Zabuza-san?"
To confirm her suspicion, she then addressed Kakashi, "You're not water affinity are you Kakashi-sensei?" Kakashi shaking his head made her continue now without doubt.
"Kakashi-sensei was able to manipulate the water around him to perform the Suiton jutsu's, but had it been an area without a lake, sensei would not have been able to copy Zabuza-san's Suiton jutsu's."
"You are right on the mark yet again Sakura. Zabuza was a water element user as I am sure you could determine. If he had performed his final technique he did in our fight, without any significant water in the area of our fight, even the sharingan would not be able to copy it. I would have lost that fight otherwise."
Naruto gaped in response, "R-Really?"
Kakashi nodded while patting his forehead protector, "The sharingan can do many things, but even it has a limit. Elemental affinities are one such limitation, which is unique to the shinobi themselves. In saying this, this is also why the sharingan cannot copy a kekkai genkai."
Both teens looked down at the leaf which held the key to their training, then at each other, "How should we handle this Naruto?"
The blond put a hand to his chin, while he formed an answer, "Let's continue with the training we were doing before, and do this in our breaks."
"Hai, you actually can make up extra time working on this while I am training with Lee-san."
"E-eh?"
Suddenly Naruto just remembered...'him'.
"Umm...I could help you instead Sakura-chan."
"Thanks, but no thanks...you are still injured remember?"
'Stupid injury, stupid Fuzzy Brows!'
"Ok" He mumbled in deflated attitude, but before both could say anything, Kakashi cut in with a harsh tone.
"Remember you two...we are no longer within the safe boundaries of Wave, nor are we amongst a lot of allies...and we also have the Akatsuki out for us as well...that does not mean you cannot train, but it means you must stay alert. More importantly though, you are not to push yourselves...the enemy may be waiting for an opportune moment to attack, namely when we are not in top condition...do you both understand me?"
Both teens looked at each other again, and nodded their heads slowly.
"We promise sensei." Naruto replied for the two.
"Good...let's begin then."