A/N: I tell myself about once a month I need to get out more and not spend so much damn time writing and editing. Then I realize whenever I do actually take my own advice that I spend all of my time not writing and editing thinking about the damn story. If it isn't that, it's ideas for other writing projects. Seriously, though, reality is overrated. Just gotta remember to do that thing that keeps me alive... what was it again? Oh yea... eat.

Sakura might have just fiddled with her food and just off-loaded it onto the ever hungry Naruto, but the way Kakashi watched her the whole time told her that the jonin knew she hadn't taken to his dietary requirements for her.

She consumed everything he told her to, and she was almost always full. The worst part was how her parents had laughed off her indignation at being forced to eat more. Her mother had gleefully made her breakfasts high in carbs and proteins, while her father started buying her energy bars. At least the bars didn't taste like dirt.

"You gonna eat that, Sakura-chan?" Naruto pulled her from her musings. He was pointing to her plate with his chopsticks, smiling.

"Of course she is," Kakashi drawled lazily.

Sakura slammed her chopsticks down and stood up. A moment later she was outside seething. What right did he have? What did it matter what she ate so long as she performed her duties?

"Sakura-chan?" Naruto's voice, laced with concern and a bit of caution caught her attention. The blonde had followed her outside, "What's the matter?"

"What's the matter!?" she wheeled on him, "That bastard of a Sensei thinks he can just control my life! He has no right to dictate to me what I do with myself outside this team!"

"I'm tired of exercising till I drop," she quieted down a bit, seeing that Naruto was cringing in fear at her show of anger, "I'm tired of force feeding myself huge amounts of food. I'm tired of his rules governing our personal lives."

"I'm kinda happy with the last one," Naruto admitted quietly when she paused to breath.

"What?" the kunoichi stared at him, dumbfounded. Her anger receded some as confusion rose to the fore, "But you were so angry when he first told us."

"Yea, but I ended up getting what I wanted in the first place," Naruto smiled at her brightly, "I got a girl friend."

"I'm not..." she began to tell him sharply, but the way he said it caught her interest, "Naruto... what do you think a girlfriend is?"

"A friend that's a girl," he said with absolute certainty.

"I..." she couldn't help it, his sheer naivety was causing her anger to evaporate, "What was with all the date requests?"

"Nii-san said if I wanted a girl friend, I should find a girl I like and let her know," Naruto explained. He obviously hadn't explained too well to Hiroto what he had actually been looking for.

Sakura's face fell into her hands and she couldn't help but smile, "Oh, Naruto. You adorable idiot."

"Huh?" he scratched his head. He hadn't gotten a comment like that from anyone before.

She lifted her face and smiled at him, "Naruto, most people use the term boyfriend or girlfriend for their lover unless its more serious."

"You mean like..." his face screwed up, "Like kissing and holding hands and stuff."

"Yes."

"No wonder you kept hitting me," he frowned, then his face grew pensive, "So how do you make friends with a girl then?"

"How do you do it with guys?" she asked him with a laugh.

"I uh..." he scratched his head, "Don't really have any of those either."

"What about Shikamaru-san and Chouji-san?" Sakura asked curiously, "Didn't you used to cut class with them?"

"Yea, but they never really wanted to be seen around me," Naruto replied a bit sadly.

Sakura frowned, "Well... Team Five always seemed friendly towards you."

"I caused them a lot of trouble," the blonde replied with a sigh, "I didn't want to make it worse."

"So why me?" she finally asked, "Why try to be my friend?"

"Our first year, you were getting picked on real bad," Naruto replied, "I didn't work up the courage to approach you until our second year. Even then I at least got a reaction out of you. Most other people avoid me."

She knew the reaction he was talking about. Sakura's temper was legendary amongst their class after Ino had gotten a hold of her. Naruto wasn't the only one to experience her fury, but he had gotten the lion's share of it. The first time he'd asked her on a date, she had told him firmly that she wasn't interested. The second time, she repeated herself more forcefully. Every time after that, she had gone off on him. By the time the third year had rolled around, she was giving him a good thwack whenever he bothered her.

If he had approached her in that first year, she might have actually befriended him then. Ino had warned her that he was a troublemaker, advice she had gotten from their instructors and various relatives.

Come to think of it, her own parents had seemed nervous about her team make up. There seemed to be a lot of caution where Naruto was concerned. She honestly didn't understand why. Maybe it had something to do with his guardian. Hiroto had admitted to defecting from Kumo.

"Hey, Naruto..." maybe the easiest thing would be to ask him, "Why do you have such a hard time making friends? I mean... I would have been your friend if I knew that's what you were getting at."

"Well we're friends now, right?" he dodged the question with a nervous smile.

He definitely didn't want to discuss that topic. She considered pushing it, but seeing how nervous it made him...

She decided to let it drop, and smiled at him again, "Sure."

At her confirmation, he turned on his heel and stomped back inside. She followed with interest to see why his demeanor had changed so suddenly.

"Sensei," he scowled and pointed at Kakashi, "You don't have any right to tell Sakura-chan what she has to eat!"

"I don't?" the jonin asked with mock surprise, "Do you even know why I'm dictating her diet?"

Naruto faltered in his resolve, caught off guard by the question.

"Because it was unhealthy before," Sasuke answered for him absently as he looked over a scroll on taijutsu forms, "She couldn't keep up before. Now she can."

"Sakura-chan is a great ninja," Naruto crossed his arms defiantly.

"Naruto..." the girl put a hand on his shoulder, "Don't worry about it."

"No!" he turned his head to look at her, "If you think it isn't right, then neither do I."

That was the problem here. Sakura knew full well why she was being forced to eat more. There was just this deep seated need to keep her intake low. That and the casual way Kakashi continually held her very career above her head annoyed the piss out of her. The flippant way he did it grated on her last nerve.

"Why don't you tell Naruto why you were dieting in the first place," the cyclops smiled in their direction.

She mumbled something under her breath. When Naruto looked at her questioningly she said a little louder, "They said I was chunky."

It sounded so silly when she said it aloud, but those memories refused to leave her alone.

"Who?"

"The other girls... when I was younger," she explained more fully, a sad look on her face, "They used to tell me I was fat and ugly and had a huge forehead."

Naruto looked to be about to say something, but the other boy on the team beat him to it.

"Idiots."

"What was that?" Kakashi looked to his broody student with interest.

"Tearing someone else down to feel superior," Sasuke just shook his head. His eyes had never left the scroll, "It's a waste of time. You should try to improve if you want to be better."

"This coming from a guy who called me 'dobe' until recently," Naruto shot at him sarcastically.

"Just stating a fact that annoyed you to get back at you for bothering me so much," the other boy replied calmly, "You were, in fact, the dead last of our class."

Naruto was left sputtering.

"Honestly I'm glad to see you aren't continuing your trend of poor performance," Sasuke sipped some of his tea.

"That sounded suspiciously like praise," Kakashi smiled at the boy.

"Still just stating facts," Sasuke rolled up his scroll and looked over at Sakura, "Here are a few more. Your past eating habits were going to get you or someone else killed, your recent increase in weight is almost pure muscle, and you're catching up to where you should be with endurance."

"That sounded even more like praise," Kakashi's eye began to squint he was smiling so big.

Sasuke sighed and stood up, "I'm going to bed."

He walked upstairs to the room he and Naruto were sharing.

Naruto wheeled on Sakura who was slightly gaping at where the Uchiha had been sitting.

"He's acting weird," the blonde summed up her thoughts quite nicely.

Kakashi continued to smile. His methods were starting to bear fruit.

XxXxXxX

"I'll kill you," Sauke whispered defiantly through his tears, "I'll make you pay."

Around him lay his clan, their corpses still leaking blood.

"You'll need to be strong," Itachi had replied in his flat emotionless voice, "Hate me with every fiber of your being. Only then will you find the strength to kill me."

Sasuke awoke from the nightmare in a cold sweat. He didn't cry out; he'd been through that dream enough times. Inoichi had said it was an artifact from the genjutsu Itachi had used.

Sasuke was angry all over again. The dream always left him irate. The problem was, he wasn't angry enough. He didn't feel any hatred. Just a cold, confused anger. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't find any hate in his heart for his traitorous brother.

It didn't help that his damn team was actually starting to grow on him. Sasuke liked to think of himself as harsh but fair in his judgments of people, and Team Seven was forcing him to reexamine some of his previous notions.

Naruto had proven that he was clever and resourceful. He might have finished the academy as the dead last, but Kakashi had pulled his records and shown that his practical grades weren't just average. They were actually in the top ten percent except for areas involving chakra, which were still abysmal. Hell, it was Naruto's plan that had pulled their Sensei, a jonin, out of a terrible situation.

Sakura for her part, was proving that a good intellect could go a long way. Once Kakashi had forced her to stop obsessing over him and focus on being a kunoichi, she had started to excel. The trick she had played on the water clone had kept herself and their client alive and allowed Sasuke to play his part.

He was forced to admit that they weren't useless, and it was all because of a few simple rules from what he had originally thought was a joke of a teacher.

He had even had to humble himself earlier that day and ask his female teammate for help with chakra walking. Naruto had done so without a hint of shame, and he had begun to pull far ahead of the Uchiha. The only option open to Sasuke had been to get advice from Miss Perfect Control herself.

It annoyed him that he had to acknowledge their abilities. When they had been useless, they hadn't been important. Now the team was showing a certain synergy that he couldn't deny, and he was finding he wanted it... craved it.

He realized with a start that he was feeling lonely. Naruto was more rival than friend, but Sasuke found he didn't want to lose that relationship. Was that the reason for his words earlier that evening? What about Sakura?

He didn't want to consider it, but Inoichi's words from his monthly visits rang in his mind.

"Don't hide from thoughts that disturb or frighten you. Examine them and find their source. If you do that, your mind will remain stable."

He began to sift through his feelings. Naruto wasn't a friend per se, but there was a kinship of sorts there. Naruto was driven to surpass the last Uchiha, and Sasuke was determined to stay ahead of the surprisingly capable blonde. They were rivals, he decided. Maybe given some time, they could even be friends. The idea both thrilled and frightened him.

His feelings about Sakura were a bit more clear cut. She had been a smart girl acting like a fool. Now she was showing talent in areas where Sasuke felt he probably wouldn't excel. If she took to medicine, she would be the perfect support on their team. With Naruto claiming her as a friend, Sasuke would need to be friendlier as well if he hoped to keep his rival.

With his feelings sorted, he felt calm enough to sleep again, but the sound of motion caught his attention.

"What are you doing?" he turned over to see Naruto out of his futon and donning his clothes.

"I'm so close to getting the tree exercise down," he explained, "I can't sleep, so I'm gonna go practice."

Sasuke frowned. It wouldn't do for his rival to pull ahead because of extra practice.

"Hold up," Sasuke threw off his covers, "I'll go with you."

Naruto gave him a suspicious look, but waited anyway.

Soon they were off into the night, giving their all to reach the top of their tree first.

XxXxXxX

Takashi watched with interest as his guest thrashed on the futon the old warrior had provided him. The boy kept mumbling incoherently; though, Takashi could sometimes make out words like 'fire' and 'monster'. The smith had seen this plenty of times in the men he had commanded over the years. It wasn't unusual for a green samurai to have nightmares the first time they came face to face with death.

Hotaka gasped and sat bolt upright. He was sweating profusely and gasping for breath.

"You are too young to be troubled as you are," Takashi commented as he threw another log into his hearth.

"Tell that to my nightmares," the boy grumbled and threw himself back into the mattress.

"I mean to say you should not have been exposed to death so young," the smith clarified, sitting back into his chair, "It isn't right."

"The man I killed deserved so much worse than he got," Hotaka's eyes screwed shut. He could still vividly remember the poor burned woman in the hospital, the gratitude in her eyes.

"You feel no remorse, then?" Takashi asked, raising a brow in mild surprise. It was an unusual, but not unheard of, sentiment.

Hotaka sat up again and hugged his legs close to himself. The old man had to actively remind himself that it wasn't Kaede before him. The two looked so close as to be twins. A glance at the boy's eyes confirmed they were grayish-blue and not vermilion.

"I don't," Hotaka finally whispered, "I made him burn with his own chakra fire. He died just like all of his victims."

Takashi had seen that look in the boy's eyes before. It was one of righteous anger and satisfaction.

"Why does his death haunt you, then?" Takashi couldn't help but ask. His curiosity about this young shinobi had to be sated.

The boy in question heaved a deep sigh and hugged his legs closer, "I always knew I would have to kill one day. I had been preparing for it since I started at the academy."

The smith remained silent, the only sounds were the rhythmic pinging of his working automatons.

"I never expected to feel nothing, though," Hotaka finally went on. His voice was slightly strained, "What... what if I'm like him? What if I start to like it?"

"You are a warrior, Hotaka," Takashi told him after some thought. The boy looked up at him, slightly confused so he went on, "I mean to say you have the Warrior's Heart. It is not in you to feel remorse for your enemy."

The boy looked at him silently for a long time before speaking again, "So you're saying that I don't feel bad because he was my enemy."

Takashi nodded solemnly.

"But... I had no idea what he had done before I killed him," the boy protested angrily, "Sensei told me to kill him, and I did."

"When you saw this man," the old man began to try a different tactic, "How did you feel?"

Hotaka's shudder answered him long before, and more fully, than his words, "Afraid... I knew he wanted to kill me as soon as I saw him."

"Did you want to kill him?" Takashi asked.

"No," the young shinobi answered after a moment of thought, "But... He needed to die."

"You have a clarity of judgment not often seen in one so young," Takashi congratulated him, "You saw a rabid dog, and put it down. Your Warrior's Heart allowed you to do so without the emotional backlash."

"What is that?" Hotaka asked curiously.

"The samurai of the Land of Iron are scholars as well as warriors," Takashi always relished teaching, and this time was no different, "The philosophical implications of war are of particular interest to us."

Looking down, he could see the boy was hanging on his words.

"One of our great Shogun often spoke on the various aspects of a warrior," he had slipped fully into lecture mode now, "He went over strength and skill of course, but he also spoke on matters of the spirit. He claimed it was important for one to harden their heart against death."

"The Warrior's Heart?" Hotaka asked at just the right moment. He'd never had someone hold his attention like this before.

"Correct," Takashi nodded and smiled at his pupil, "It is generally found after fighting for some time. You are lucky enough to come to it naturally. Perhaps your upbringing had something to do with it."

"So you think I didn't feel bad because I knew he was my enemy, and I can't feel bad for the death of my enemy..." Hotaka said more to himself. He looked up at the samurai and asked, "But Sensei didn't tell me why he had to die. He only said he was on death row. It wouldn't be the first time a shinobi lied, either."

"As I said," Takashi told him, "You have good judgment of those around you."

"How does that work, though?" Hotaka frowned as he tried to puzzle out the answer to his own question, "I mean he was pretty vocal about killing me, but how will I know in the future?"

"I'm afraid I can't explain that," the old man shrugged helplessly, "It could be that you won't ever be certain again."

The boy sighed, "There aren't any easy answers are there?"

"If it makes you feel any better," another voice made Hotaka jump in surprise. A grinning Osamu faded into view sitting next to him, "I don't think you'll ever be a cold blooded killer."

His friend looked fully prepped for battle, his bow uncased and strung. It hung with his quiver across his back.

"When did..." Hotaka began to ask.

"About the time you first woke up," Takashi answered for the smaller shinobi, surprising him. He laughed at the feral looking boy's shocked expression, "I am no pushover, child. A pitched battle requires highly trained senses. Your illusions are good, but far off from fooling me."

"Obviously," Osamu recovered quickly and gave the old man a closed mouth smile as he stood. Bowing low with respect, he held out a wax sealed scroll, "I am Sakibou Osamu, Hotaka's teammate. This is a letter from Kaede-san."

Takashi took it cautiously, and Osamu straightened. The two shinobi began to talk quietly with one another while he read.

Takashi-jiisan

I hope you have not been too harsh on Hotaka-san, and I hope he isn't mad at me for making sure you would see through his disguise. I felt you could help far more if you knew what was going on.

Osamu-san mentioned that you were worried for my safety, but I haven't felt this safe in a long time. Their team has been nothing but kind to me. Help them if you can, jiisan.

Kaede

Takashi let out a sigh of relief. Kaede only ever called him jiisan when no one else was around. Judging by the way Hotaka had slipped up the night before, the shinobi wouldn't know that. She was a brave girl to lie to ninja that way.

"When are we meeting, then?" Hotaka asked eagerly. Working with the people of Shun had given him a desire to punish Gato and his men. They were essentially slavers from what he had seen that day.

"As soon as you change," Osamu handed him the scroll with his gear.

"What about my hair?" Hotaka unsealed his equipment and tossed away the rags he'd been wearing after retrieving his Leaf plate.

"We'll take care of it later..." Osamu rubbed the bridge of his nose.

"I wish to go to this meeting with you," Takashi stood and walked out into his workshop to retrieve his 'weapon'.

Osamu followed after him, stopping short in wonder. Hearing about the automatons was one thing, but seeing them was another.

He shook it off a moment later, "That isn't such a good idea, Takashi-san."

"And why not?" the old man asked as he slipped a boken into the sash around his waste.

"This is a clandestine mission," the boy continued with his protesting, "You might be a great warrior, but you aren't trained for this."

"The people of this town are under my care, boy," the old warrior rounded on him as his terracotta smiths dropped their tools and sunk into the ground, "I swore to these people I would keep them safe, and I intend to do just that."

Osamu had no answer for that and couldn't really do anything about it, so he just sighed and turned back towards the living area. When he stepped through the door, Hotaka was tying his hitai-ate back in place around his waist. He had already scrubbed his face clean of the makeup that had matched his face with Kaede's.

"Let's see if the old man can keep up," the taller boy smirked to his friend.

Osamu nodded and they were out the door in a flash, followed shortly after by the large man.

XxXxXxX

Masaru sifted through his explosives, priming one kilo bricks with electronic radio triggers. Once he flipped the switches on them, all he had to do was push a button on his detonator and hell on earth would bloom where ever the bombs were.

Hiroto sat up in a tree above him with Yancha looking out for the rest of their team. He was still pulling the putty off of his face.

"Man this stuff really sticks to you," he complained as he pulled the last of it off. He began to scratch his nose with a contented sigh, "So good..."

"Isn't that the point?" Masaru asked sarcastically.

Yancha growled unhappily at the noise they were making.

"What's her problem?" the jonin asked his student.

"Went into heat this morning," the large boy replied, "She's been bitchy all day."

The cat in question hissed at him from her perch.

"Calm down, Yancha," Osamu landed next to her on the branch and began to stroke her fur. Hiroto in turn dropped out of the tree and unsealed his gear from the scroll Masaru had put it in.

"Any reason why you brought the sword-slinger?" Hiroto asked as he began to strip away Arata's clothes to don his shinobi uniform.

"Have care how you talk to me shadow-walker," Takashi stepped into view finally, "Your operations threaten the people I am protecting."

"Where's Hotaka?" Hiroto asked Osamu instead of responding to the samurai.

"Guard taking a piss heard the big man running," Osamu sighed, "Hotaka went to take care of him when he started to investigate."

The boy in question walked up dragging the body of said guard. The man had severe bruising on his neck and his eyes were bulged out.

Masaru gave a low whistle, "Garotted... bad way to go."

Hotaka dumped the body at his feet and shrugged, "Had to be quiet."

"He'll be missed come morning," Takashi commented, worried slightly at the easy way the other young shinobi accepted the death.

"That wouldn't be an issue if you hadn't insisted on coming," Hiroto kept his tone fairly neutral, "What's done is done, though. I was planning to move against these guys tonight anyway. I'm Ryoukou Hiroto."

"Hibaku Masaru," their demolitions expert gave a short wave from where he was working without looking up.

"Seika Takashi," the man offered his own name, then crossed his arms over his chest, "What is the plan?"

"First we need to compare notes," the jonin told them, "I'm sure even samurai like to have information on their enemies."

The smith ignored the dig and gave a small stomp on the ground coupled with a grunt of effort. A perfectly formed scale model of Shun rose up from the dirt.

Hiroto smirked at the trick, and with a few hand seals added earthen soldiers to indicate enemy positions.

"This is their current deployment," he started as his team began to study the map. Even Masaru had dropped his work to observe, "All of the guards are pretty lax, and most will be asleep by sunrise."

He pointed to the large central structure, "Most of the ship's crew is shacked up here drinking themselves stupid."

"Searching the ship this evening revealed that they were hauling food and some valuables in," Masaru picked up where his sensei left off, "Our original idea to blow the ship is a bust, though. The seal array that powers it could wipe out half this island if it destabilizes."

"Surely you exaggerate," Takashi looked to the large genin in disbelief.

"I wish he was," Hiroto sighed, "Masaru takes fuuinjutsu very seriously, though."

"On the plus side," the trapper went on, "The spirit bound to the ship is unhappy with current affairs. So long as no one serving on the ship tells it to do anything, it won't cause any trouble."

"Spirit?" Hotaka's eyebrows rose up.

"Storm spirit," Osamu specified, "Temperamental and dangerous. We're lucky that it isn't loyal to the crew."

"What about the citizens, Hotaka," Hiroto prompted his front-liner, "How do you think they'll react?"

"With panic," Hotaka shook his head sadly, "Even mentioning Gato in a negative way sent people scurrying away from me like frightened rabbits."

Hiroto turned to Takashi, "Will these people follow your lead?"

The smith rubbed his chin thoughtfully, "They have been beaten down, but I have done more with less, morale wise. What do you want me to do?"

"We need them to hide," the jonin looked down at their model, "Know of any good spots?"

"There's the bluffs to the south on the open sea," Osamu offered. He'd been scouting the area around the town extensively during the day.

"There is no shelter there," the samurai shook his head, "I could carve some out, but my bigger techniques aren't quiet."

"I can make a cave large enough quietly," Hiroto told him, "I can go ahead and make it, while you and Osamu gather the people up. He can befuddle anyone getting in the way."

"I can ease the fear that they'll have, too," Osamu added.

Hiroto nodded and turned to his other two students, "I want you two to rig up the central structure to explode. Hotaka, after that's done do to the ship guards what you did to this guy."

"Want me to trap the rest of the town?" Masaru asked eagerly, his fingers twitching slightly.

"No..." Hiroto said after some thought, "I don't want some blundering guard or straggling citizen to set something off too soon. You can set up a single site, but we'll have to make due with initial surprise, otherwise."

The genin nodded his understanding and went back to his explosives to finish prepping them, mumbling to himself about how to set up a battlefield.

"Takashi-san," Hiroto turned back to the samurai, "It would be best if you stayed with the people of Shun. I doubt many of them have seen or heard battle. Your presence will keep them from doing anything foolish."

"Very well," Takashi nodded.

"Osamu," the boy perked up and left off petting his cat, to her obvious displeasure, "After you get the people to safety, find a good position to support the others and take out any good targets you get."

"Can do, Sensei," the boy leapt down from the tree, followed by his irritable feline.

"Yancha," Hiroto looked down at the cat, "Can you back up Masaru and Hotaka?"

"That's not such a good idea, Sensei," Osamu answered for her, "Her first heat is on. If she goes into battle, she won't be able to resist transforming. The first one could cause her to go berserk if she's fighting."

Hiroto shuddered at the memory of a massive tiger turning on an unfortunate Sakibou over twelve years ago, "Very well. Call her in only if it's absolutely necessary then."

Osamu nodded and bent to give his cat a few more strokes, "Go look after Kaede-san, girl. Make sure she stays safe."

Yancha mrowwed and trotted off deeper into the woods.

"Maybe we should have Kaede-san gather with the rest of the villagers," Hotaka suggested, "She would probably be safer with Takashi-san."

Surprisingly, it was Takashi himself who shot that idea down.

"The people of Shun do not trust her," he shook his head sadly, "If not for me, they would have run her off."

"You swore to protect these people?" Hiroto asked, a slight edge in his voice. He knew all too well the feeling of being ostracized and mistrusted.

"They are nervous and afraid," the samurai defended them, "Their crime is worrying about their own before a stranger. Certainly not honorable, but understandable in this case."

Hiroto sighed and let it go, "Alright. I'm going to head to the bluffs and create a cave to shelter the villagers. Meet back here for final plans. Fireworks go off at sunrise."

Everyone nodded and the jonin disappeared in a swirl of mist. Osamu took off with Takashi shortly after. Finally, with a satchel of explosives for each of them, Hotaka and Masaru moved out to set up the light show.

XxXxXxX

As the sun rose into the sky, Naruto and Sasuke stared at each other from the tips of their respective trees. They had reached the apex at just about the same moment and were silently arguing who had made it first since they were both heavily winded.

As the sun peeked over the horizon, A great fireball rose into the sky to the southeast. It was followed by the distant, but distinct rumble of an explosion.

"WHOA!" Naruto cried as he forgot all about their competition, "The hell was that!"

"My guess would be Team Five diverting attention from us," Sasuke replied with less sarcasm than one would expect from him, "Looks like we're gonna get some good training time after all."

"Maybe we should be helping them," Naruto commented with worry as he and his teammate descended to the forest floor.

"Don't worry about it, Naruto," their sensei's voice caused the boys to jump, "I see you're still out here despite my instructions to get some rest last night."

"We slept," Sasuke defended for both of them, "I heard Naruto get up around three hundred, and I followed."

Kakashi shook his head and turned his cyclopian gaze to the blonde, "Three hundred, Naruto? That isn't near enough sleep for how hard you're working."

"I was so close, though, Sensei," Naruto told him defiantly, "After the advice Sakura-chan gave me, I was pulling ahead of Sasuke."

"Too bad I still made it before you," the other boy smirked at the blonde.

"Like hell you did," Naruto shot back, "Still don't know how you caught back up..."

"He asked me for help, too," Sakura told the boy with a yawn as she walked into their training area.

After a few stretches, the pink-haired kunoichi stepped out onto the stream and began to go through a few kata.

"You asked for help, Sasuke?" Kakashi turned to face the Uchiha with surprise evident on his face, "You're actually making progress. Keep that up, and you'll be shooting up the ranks."

Sasuke huffed and looked away, "How does asking for help make it easier to advance?"

"Cause other people can help you cover your weaknesses," Naruto said, causing everyone around to turn to him, gaping slightly.

"What?" the blonde asked defensively.

"That was just..." Kakashi began to grope for the right word.

"Insightful," Sakura finished for him.

"Well..." Naruto rubbed the back of his head sheepishly, "Nii-san is always saying that a team of mediocre shinobi that works well together is much better than a team of prodigies that are always butting heads."

"What does that make us?" Sakura asked as she walked back up onto dry land. Only the bottoms of her sandals were wet.

"I'd say the three of you have real talent," Kakashi allowed, earning himself strange looks for the praise, "But your teamwork still sucks."

Sakura sighed and pulled out one of her energy bars. They were the only way she could meet Kakashi's calorie demands without feeling bloated all day.

"I'm going to start you guys on some new stuff," Kakashi finally said after some silence, "Naruto, you did good with that first Doton. How about another?"

"Sure Sensei!" Naruto began to hop up and down excitedly.

"I'd like to see if you can learn a Raiton, Sasuke," Kakashi turned to the boy.

"More offense?" Sasuke asked with a raised brow.

"This one is actually a really useful detection technique," he was glad Sasuke was looking for a balanced style.

"That sounds interesting," the Uchiha allowed.

"You did so well with that last genjutsu I gave you, Sakura, I'd like to show you something more advanced," Kakashi looked to his female student.

"I'd really like to learn more medical techniques, Sensei," she told the man.

"I'm afraid I can't help you there," he ran a hand through his silvery hair, "We'll find someone to guide you when we get home, though. Until then, you support the boys with illusions."

She nodded her agreement, "Okay, Sensei."

XxXxXxX

"Did it work?" Sakura asked Naruto.

He looked around at the forest and shrugged, "The trees look funny now, but nothing scary."

Sakura breathed out slowly to control her frustration. Kakashi had warned her that Narakumi wouldn't be easy to pull off, much less master. It didn't help that she honestly didn't want to expose Naruto to a technique that had actually given her some nightmares. Even if it was just a clone helping her.

"Five o' clock," she heard Sasuke say, nearby.

"Getting closer," Naruto's voice called out from Sasuke's three o' clock.

"This is taking forever," Sasuke opened his eyes, "I can't even extend the field out far enough for it to be useful."

"Ah come on," the real Naruto came stumbling into view with a boulder half his size fused to his arm, "Look... I'm making progress."

"I didn't even see any rocks that big around here," Sakura stared in confusion and disbelief, "Where did you get that?"

"I uh... pulled this outa the ground," he tried to rub the back of his head with the arm trapped in the boulder and managed to knock himself in the face.

"Naruto!" Sakura ran up to him, concern evident on her face.

"I'b fine," he tried to stem the flow of blood from his nose.

"You broke your nose, you idiot!" she cried out, her hands already glowing with green chakra.

She placed her hands up to his face and growled in frustration, "I'm not good enough with Naosu yet. I can't even detect the busted blood vessels, and I can't heal the cartilage."

"Sokay, Skura-chan," the blond smiled through the blood, "Jub nibe to be cared bor."

When she turned around, she saw Sasuke was staring at them intently. He seemed to be considering something very seriously.

"What?" she asked nervously. His gaze was rather intense.

"You are my team," the boy said with a great deal of awkwardness.

"Okay..." she replied. That had sounded really weird... and possessive.

"You're acting weird, Sasuke," Naruto said, his voice already getting back to normal. Glancing back, Sakura was surprised to see his nose back in its proper place.

"That means you'll help me, right?" Sasuke asked, ignoring their odd looks, "Because you're my team."

"Uh, sure..." Naruto replied nervously.

"I have to be strong so I can kill him," Sasuke explained the question they hadn't even thought to ask, "You'll help me get there."

"You mean, Itachi," Sakura asked with worry.

"Do not say his name!" Sasuke's voice became sharp making her jump a little. He calmed himself when he saw her reaction and went on, "He must pay. He has to die so when I reestablish my clan, it will be safe."

"Why don't we just help you bring him down?" Naruto asked brightly, a feral grin on his face.

"NO!" the dark eyed boy shouted, making them jump, "No... you can't. It has to be me. Alone."

"Why?" Sakura ventured carefully. This was obviously a sore spot with the broody teen, but her curiosity go the better of her.

"I won't..." Sasuke's face screwed up as if in pain. After a moment he whispered just loud enough for them to hear, "I won't lose anyone else to him... to anyone."

The look in his eyes was a bit crazed, making the other members of Team Seven a bit nervous.

"We should get back to training," Naruto finally said after a long and awkward silence.

Sasuke nodded his agreement and closed his eyes as his copy of Naruto moved to a new position.

Naruto and Sakura shared a look of concern, but got back to their own training without another word.

XxXxXxX

Team Seven came trudging into Tazuna's home annoyed at having been forced to stop their training after only an hour just to eat. Once the smell of breakfast hit them, though. Three loud gurgles could be heard from the genins' bellies.

"Good morning," Tsunami greeted them with a smile as she began setting down plates of food for them, "Your Sensei said you'd be hungry."

They thanked her quietly and began to eat voraciously. Even Sakura was tearing into her food. Her chakra pool was still small, and practicing the same genjutsu over and over ate into her energy reserves.

"How's that other team doing," the single mother sat at the table with them, "I heard the explosion at sunrise..."

"I'm sure their fine," Naruto answered after swallowing the massive amount of food in his maw, "They're Konoha shinobi after all!"

XxXxXxX

The fighting was over. The center of town was a wreck, but the village of Shun had been spared for the most part.

Hiroto was examining a wound on Hotaka's leg and mending it with Naosu while Masaru kept an eye out for any stragglers.

"Thanks Sensei," Hotaka sighed in relief as the worst of the damage began to mend.

"Where's Osamu?" the hazel-eyed man asked as he worked.

"He's right here," another voice said menacingly.

They looked to see their smallest team member held in front of the black-clad Yasu with a short blade to his throat.

"What do you want?" Hiroto asked as he stood. His voice was tight with controlled anger.

"There's something in the rubble of that building I need," Yasu pulled his hostage in closer, "You're going to get it for me."

I suppose a cliffhanger would work better if I weren't going to be posting the next chapter in a couple of days anyway. At least people that find this later and try to marathon it won't be able to take a break here. I can't count the number of times stories on here do that to me, so I'm going to pay it forward like an ass. That's really the only reason I do it. The best part is, you don't even see the resolution to it until the end of the next chapter.