Kureiga
Naruto and I stood across from each, with only about six feet between us. This was the second time we ever sparred. However, a lot of things were different. We were both coming off of weeks of training under Maito Gai, and it showed.
Our stances were different from the last time. Naruto's body was turned to the side, with his left shoulder turned towards me. He was bouncing slightly, shifting his weight back and forth between his left and right foot. His left hand was lowered near his waist and his right hand hovered above his mid section. As for my stance, most of my weight was on my right leg. My left leg was out in front, bent at the knee with the tips of my left foot just barely touching the ground. My arms were up, with my hand balled into fists, bent forward and turned towards Naruto.
Off to the side, stood the rest of our team near the rest of our team, along with Tazuna. The latter was curious to see how we fought. Kakashi-sensei, who stood up on crutches, was standing between Sakura and Sasuke.
"Are you two ready?" said Kakashi. We both nodded at the same time. "Go!"
Naruto was the one to start this off as he rushed forward, which was typical of him. As he got close enough, he lifted his left hand up, prompting me to send my right hand toward his limb. However, he quickly dropped his right hand and sent his right fist into my stomach. I stumbled backward as I doubled over. I looked up before I jumped to my right, avoiding downward heel kick that would have spelt my doom. I dropped down to my feet and sent my right leg around in a sweep. It caught his right left foot, causing him to stumble. I rose up and brought my hands forward to catch him in a clinch. However, he brought his hands upward and used them to slap my arms outward, thwarting my clinch. He sent a straight right-handed punch towards my jaw. I ducked underneath and sent my right elbow into his stomach. As he doubled over, I used my left leg to jump as I brought my right knee into his face. He staggered backward as he righted him up from pain. I followed up the knee with a strike from my right elbow. He dropped down, however, and replied with a leg sweep of his own. I was taken off my feet as I fell onto my left side. As I turned on my back, Naruto tried to follow that up with another attempt with a downward heel kick. I turned towards my body to the right, his heel grazing my right shoulder.
I took this time to windmill my legs through the air. I caught him across the face with my left foot. As he stumbled backward once again, I performed a kip up to get to my feet and tried another clinch. This time, I succeeded. I sent my knees into his midsection, alternating each limb back and forth. I was in control of the match, but only for a bit. One of my knees was caught in the arms of Naruto. He then used his strength to lift me up for a second and slammed me on my back. I clenched my jaw as I sat up. I then laid down again, his foot missing my faces by a mere centimeter before I recovered and scrambled to my feet.
"That's enough," our sensei said. I dropped my stance and nodded towards Naruto, smiling.
"Guess I don't have to pick you up off the floor this time," I said with a chuckle. "Nice job." Naruto rubbed the back of his head, blushing slightly.
"You weren't so bad yourself, dattebayo," he answered back. I smirked as I turned towards my other two teammates. What really caught my attention was the look on Sasuke's face. He normally held a neutral, almost uncaring expression on his face, except when he is angry or, during immensely rare occasions, when he smiles. However, his face had a subtle hint of surprise. It was so subtle that if it wasn't for the fact that Sasuke's range of facial expression was, as far as I knew, limited, I wouldn't have noticed.
I looked towards Sakura, who also had a look of surprise on her face, mixed with confusion. Her eyes were locked on Naruto for a few moments as if he was a different person from before. She then looked off to the side, whispering a few things to herself.
"Very good," Kakashi said, nodding. "You two have improved tremendously. I'm glad you two are taking your training seriously. Now go get ready for bed. I have some special training for you all to go through tomorrow morning." Naruto and I both nodded before we started to head back into the house.
"Um….Sasuke?" Sakura started to ask. Sasuke stopped in his tracks before he looked over at her. "I was just wondering… I'm heading into town tomorrow, and I was wondering if –"
"Not interested," Sasuke said bluntly before continued on his way towards the house.
"That was harsh," I commented. Naruto scowled at Sasuke before turning towards Sakura.
"I'll go to town with, Sakura-chan," Naruto offered.
"Why would I want to go to town with you?" she said bluntly before she turned away, heading towards the house herself. Naruto scowled, closing his eyes as he bowed his head, hurt by the rejection.
"That was even harsher." I shook my head.
Truthfully, the romantic situation with my team caught my interest, much like how a carriage accident catches the attention of bystanders on the street. Naruto liked Sakura, who, in turn, liked Sasuke, who, in turn, didn't even seemed to be familiar with the concept of romance. It would have funny to me if it wasn't such a shame. Naruto and Sakura were in love with someone who didn't even return their feelings.
"Why do you like Sakura?" I asked, turning towards Naruto.
"What do you mean?" Naruto replied, raising his head.
"Why do you like Sakura? I mean, there must be a reason."
"Well…. She's smart. She's beautiful. And she's nice, 'tebayo!"
I considered what he said for a few moments. Was she smart? No doubt, she was. She knew a lot of stuff that I didn't know. Plus, she was the top student in our class when it came to academics, even trumping Sasuke in that area. Was she beautiful? I tend to think so. She had a beautiful set of green eyes that went well that unique head of pink hair. Sure, she had a big forehead, but nobody's perfect. Was she nice?
HEEEEEEEEELL NO!
She had to be one of the meanest girls I ever met. She was always quick to punch anyone who's not Sasuke, which I found rather ironic considering that she got on me for being violent. Plus, I always hated watching Naruto or anyone else ask her out. Don't get me wrong, I'm not getting on her for turning down someone. She has as much right to do so as everyone else on this planet. What really ticked me off was how she did it. Not only would she say no, she'd take the extra effort to make the person feel like crap for even thinking they had a chance with her. And just to add cherry on top of that sundae, she often berates Naruto for repeatedly asking her out when she always say no.
Yes, you read that right. The girl who constantly asks out Sasuke despite the fact that he had constantly, in no uncertain terms, made it perfectly clear that he wasn't even the least bit interested in her, was berating Naruto for constantly asking her out. I'll leave you to take in the irony.
"Well, I hope you know what you're doing," I said as I made my way into the house. To this day, I always wondered why I didn't say anything at this point. I could have easily took him aside and told him flat out why Sakura wasn't worth it. But I didn't.
Later, that would come back and haunt me.
I tried my best to go to sleep that night, but I wasn't quite able to. With the thoughts of the earlier battle still fresh in my mind, I kept on fearing that if I went to sleep, I'd wake up just in time to see Zabuza's blade come down upon my neck. Was I paranoid? Maybe I was. But you know what? Try coming this close to getting decapitated and not be paranoid. And what made it worse was that I knew for fact that we had to face him again.
I sat up in my sleeping bag, deciding to give up on sleeping. I buried my face into my hands, sighing. I was scared and pissed. I was scared because there was a good chance I was going to die. And I was pissed off because I knew for a fact I wasn't supposed to worry about a guy like Zabuza on a C-Ranked mission.
I lifted my head up, looking up at the wall, trying to figure out what I did to deserve my current position. That was when heard a thumping noise, coming from downstairs. I sighed as I stood up and reached for my knapsack. I unzipped one of the compartments and reached into it, fiddling around until I pulled out a kunai. I then stood up from my sleeping bag, clad only in a black pair of boxers and a black t-shirt. I sighed as I slowly walked out of the room. I made to the stairs before I used them to quietly creep towards the first floor. I moved slow, not wanting to alert the intruder presence. I finally reached the bottom of the floor and moved the kunai around my hand until the ring of the weapon was between my index and middle finger. I then turned the corner, bringing my hand up to throw the kunai (which, in hindsight, wouldn't have been a good idea, considering that I only had one kunai on my person).
I stopped myself, however, when Kakashi look up at me, slightly surprised. He was sitting at the table, with a glass of water in front of him and his crutches leaning up against the table. I sighed as I lowered my hand and shook my head.
"….Yo…" Kakashi said in greeting. I looked up and nodded at him. "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine," I lied as I walked over to one of the cupboards. Truth be told, I wasn't in the mood to talk about it. I opened one of the cupboards, grabbed a cup, and closed the cupboard's door before I walked over to the table and had a seat across from Kakashi.
"You're afraid," he said. I didn't respond. Instead, I grabbed the pitcher of water and poured its contents into my cup as he said this. After pouring enough water, I placed the pitcher into its previous place. I took a sip before setting the cup back down. "You know, you shouldn't let yourself get rattled."
"Easy for you to say," I said bitterly. "You're a Jonin that knows a whole lot of techniques and have an eye that many would give their left nut… or even both to have. I'm just a genin who, prior to this mission, had zero experience. Oh, and let's not forget that I'm supposed be on C-Ranked mission, not an A-ranked!"
"So you're angry about this."
"Of course," I said before I took another sip. "Wouldn't you be?"
"…You're not too familiar with the ranking system, are you?" he said. I looked at Kakashi, head tilted, as he stared back at me with his one lone eye. "The thing about mission rankings is… that they are very fluid. When you're out doing a mission, things can change quickly. You may go to a certain place to handle a minor threat and come back from taking on a Missing-Nin. It was made this way so ninjas could be fairly compensated for the services. After all, how would you feel about merely getting paid D-ranked money for a D-ranked mission when you happen to defeat a ninja while carrying your objectives? But I digress. The point is… you have to be ready for everything and never expect things to go the way they are supposed to. Though granted… not even I expected to run into Zabuza. Say, Kureiga, do you trust me?"
"It's kind of hard not to when you saved me from becoming part of The Headless Genin," I replied.
"Then believe me when I say you'll get through his. Especially after the training that I'm going to put you through. Alright?"
"…" I pressed my tongue against the inside of my cheek. I then nodded. "It must be some great training."
Kakashi
"I'm sorry, we're doing what now?!" Kureiga said.
"We're going to climb trees," I replied.
The following morning, the whole team had an early breakfast. During that meal, the four genin were really excited about that training. Kakashi kept on cracking his knuckles in anticipation. Sakura kept on asking what the training would be. Sasuke ate faster than he usually did. And Naruto claimed that by the end of this training, he'll be able to "kick Zabuza's ass" (before he was promptly punched on the top of the head by Sakura for cursing). After the meal, I lead them to a forested area not too far away from the house. I picked the area since it was the first one I could find that four trees next to each other that was relatively the same height. That was when I told them about the type of training they were going through: Tree climbing.
Their reactions, while varied, were expected. Naruto's jaw would have been on the floor had we existed in a cartoon. Sakura raised her right eyebrow at me questioningly. Sasuke looked at me as if I tricked him into going on a date with one of his many adoring female fans. And Kureiga…
"Thank you Kakashi-sensei. Because of this brilliant idea for training, I will have the skill and confidence to take on a man who could handle a ridiculously large sword as it was a kunai and use it to slice through my neck as if it was made out of rice paper. Please, Sensei, impart on me, thy knowledge of the Deadly Art of Tree Climbing."
… was his normal sarcastic self.
"We already know how to climb trees, dattebayo!" Naruto exclaimed.
"True," I said as I used my crutches to walk up to a tree. I brought my hands together in a seal, diverting some chakra towards my feet. Once that was done, I gripped the handle of my crutches and placed one foot against the trunk of a tree. "But do you know how to climb trees like this?" I then brought my other foot up as I began to walk up the trunk of the tree as if I was treading ground. I kept on walking until I reached halfway up the trunk. I then turned around walked back towards the ground. Once I reached the ground, I looked over at the four genin, each with a look surprise on their faces.
"I retract every word of my earlier sarcastic statement," Kureiga said.
"But that still doesn't explain how that's going to help us," Sakura said.
"This exercise will help with chakra control," I replied. "The more control you have over your chakra, the easier it will be for you to use in battle and create jutsus."
Naruto bowed his head and closed his eyes. It was something he did whenever he was mulling over a subject. He then opened his eyes and asked the one question I didn't expect him to ask.
"What's chakra?"
Sakura tilted her head and looked at him, eyes widened in surprise. She then shook her head before opening her mouth. Before she could speak, Kureiga cut in.
"Chakra is a mixture of the energy present in every cell of the body and the spiritual energy gained from exercise and experience," the black-clad genin explained. "Once those two energies are mixed, they can be channeled through the Chakra Circulatory System in the body to be molded to create jutsus, like my lightning attacks."
Naruto nodded at Kureiga, who nodded back. The latter then gave me an aside glance. I shrugged at him before continuing.
"Now with that out of the way, we will begin your training," I said. "Choose a tree. Then focus on diverting a minimal amount of chakra towards the bottom of your feet. After that is done, move towards your tree and begin your climb. Due to your current level, you must make a running start since you'll be unable to merely walk up the tree. Use your kunai to mark your progress. Now begin!"
The four of them faced their respective trees before bringing their hands together in the Ram hand seal with their eyes closed. They stayed in that position for a few moments, as if they were statues. Then, as if a signal went off, they all opened their eyes, reached into their holsters and pulled out a kunai. They made a mad dash for their respective trees.
Sasuke was the first to reach his tree. As expected, he was able to reach halfway up the tree before he started to fall. He quickly slashed the bark before he kicked off the tree, performing a back flip before landing on the ground.
Naruto was next to reach his tree. He barely made it five steps before he started to fall. He quickly made his mark on the tree before falling on his back.
Kureiga was the third. While he made more progress than Naruto, he was still well behind Sasuke. As he landed on the ground, he looked over at Sasuke's tree before muttering a few words under his breath, some of which I was sure were not kosher. He then looked around.
"Hey, where's Sakura?" he asked.
"Up here!"
The four of us looked up to see Sakura standing on the top branch of the tree. The three other genin's eyes were wide.
Sakura didn't have a large chakra reserve compared to the other three. Then again, that was to be expected. Sasuke has the bloodline of one of the most prestigious clans, Naruto was the jailor of the nine-tailed fox demon, amongst other reasons, and Kureiga… well, Kureiga was lucky considering that he had no ninja background whatsoever. With that said, she had the best chakra control out of the four of them. Under my mask, I smiled.
"Great work," I said. I then looked back at the other three. "You three keep on working on it."
Sakura and I stayed for bit and watched them. In my head, I recounted the issues that each one of them had.
Naruto had a lot of untapped potential. His chakra reserves were well above that of even the average chunin, and that's not even factoring the power that his prisoner could give him. However, he is really unrefined, like a chunk of diamond taken straight from the quarry. He was a particularly hard diamond to mold, but once he is molded, the only thing that would keep him from becoming the Hokage was the prisoner he held in his belly.
Sasuke was, at this point, the best ninja out of the four. He already has a grasp on how to change his chakra into an element, thanks to his clan training. Also, he was the number one all-around student out of his graduating class. However, he was too antisocial. Granted, he has his reasons. But like I told him earlier, he looked at his teammates as if their insignificant at best and obstacles at worst. This was bad considering that he already rubbed Naruto and, to a much lesser extent, Kureiga, the wrong way.
Kureiga was an amazing prospect. As far as anyone, including himself, knows, he has no ninja background whatsoever. Despite that, he was the first person other than Sasuke to master his chakra element and graduated within the top ten of the class. And when things go as planned, he is as efficient as they come when completing his objective. Problem is, when things don't go as planned, Kureiga has a tendency to panic. And as anyone who has experience as a shinobi will tell you, things rarely go as planned or expected. While Kureiga has a lot of tools to work with, if he didn't keep himself calm in such situations, he'd be dead before he even reaches chunin.
Sakura was an interesting case in and of herself. She has a lot of potential to become strong in Genjutsu, and be a great kunoichi in general. Plus, she has a lot of focus. Problem was, she was very focused on Sasuke. I could only hope that it doesn't distract her from her training.
"Come on, Sakura," I said. I then turned towards the other three. "You guys keep on working on your training. Meet us back the house for lunch." I turned towards the house, walking towards the house.
Sakura
Kureiga was the first person to return from his training. He waved at me before sitting at the table with me. His forehead hit the table with an audible thud as he took a deep breath.
"How's Sasuke?" I asked.
"Oh I'm doing well, Sakura, thanks for asking." Kureiga said sarcastically. He then sighed. "Sasuke is still with Naruto, training."
"I see. You're taking a break?"
"Nope." He lifted his head up, sweat and grime covering his bandaged face. "I'm done."
"Really?" I said, surprised written on my face. Kureiga scoffed.
"Don't take me for a slouch."
Kureiga really surprised me during this trip. As far as everyone knew, Kureiga had no ninja blood running through his veins. However, he was able to use a chakra element, despite most ninjas without a prior ninja heritage, clan or otherwise, don't learn elements until about three years into their career. Truthfully, I misjudged Kureiga. He was a lot more powerful than what I gave him credit for.
If only Naruto followed his example, I thought.
"Where's Kakashi-sensei?" Kureiga asked.
"I'm right here," Kakashi said as he carefully made his way downstairs on his crutches. "How was training Kureiga?"
"It went well. It took me a while, but I made it to the top."
"That's good," Kakashi said, smiling under his mask. "Congratulations." As he said this, Sasuke came in. "Glad to see you could join us. How was your training?"
"It was good," Sasuke said curtly as he joined the rest of us at the table.
"Man, that was very descriptive," Kureiga deadpanned. "Almost felt as if I was in your shoes." This earned him a glare from Sasuke. Kureiga merely scoffed at the display.
"Where's Naruto?" Kakashi asked.
"He's still out there," he said nonchalantly. Kureiga shook his head.
"I hope he's not overdoing it again." The black-clad nin tapped the table a few times with his index finger.
"Maybe," Sasuke said as he stood up. He then headed towards the stairs. "Call me when lunch is ready."
Kureiga watched Sasuke as he disappeared from view. He then shook his head.
"Well, Kureiga," I said. "I guess after lunch, I'll be seeing you later."
"Yeah, I guess I will," he replied as he stood up. "Be sure to bring Naruto his lunch when you check on him." He then made his way towards the stairs.
"Yeah I will… Wait, what?" I stood up from my chair and walked over to the staircase. As I stood up, I glimpsed Kakashi rubbing the bridge of his nose with his fingers. As I reached the stairwell, Kureiga was already halfway up the stairs. "Why should I go and check on Naruto?"
Kureiga stopped at the staircase for a moment. He then looked over his shoulder. "Because last time I checked, I'm not his only teammate." He said this with a subtle amount of heat in his voice. "Besides, I have to guard Tazuna after lunch, and I don't think you have anything better to do anyway."
"I do," I said. "I planned on going into town and buy something for Sa…" I trailed off as I saw Kureiga continuing his walk up stairs, muttering a few words that I couldn't make sense of, though I had a feeling those words weren't exactly kosher, knowing him. I sighed in defeat, knowing full well that I wasn't going to win with him.
So, after lunch, I was out in the forest, with a bento containing Naruto's food, heading back to the training area. I was very angry with Kureiga at the time. I didn't want to check on Naruto. If it wasn't for Kureiga, I'd be in town right at that moment. Plus, I was more than sure at the moment that he was fooling around.
I was wrong.
When I reached the area, I saw Naruto. Or more like Naruto's back. His shoulders ascended and descended slightly and repeatedly, signifying Naruto's shallow breathing. He then took a deep breath before putting his hands together in the Ram Seal. Once that was done, he ran towards the tree once again, intent of climbing the tree again. However, as soon as he planted his first foot on the trunk, he fell onto his back. He laid there for a few moments, trying to catch his breath. He then tried to stand up, only for him fall back onto his back again. He tried rise again. This time, he settled for sitting up.
I stood there watching him. I recalled all of the conversations he and Kureiga had about training. While I heard about the lengths Naruto had put himself through, I never believed it. He was always the prankster back at the academy who only talked about ramen and becoming Hokage, and never did anything right. And yet here he was, pushing his body beyond his limits just to climb a tree.
"Naruto," I called out. He turned his head towards to look at me over his shoulder.
"Sakura-chan?" he said in a whisper. He tried to stand again.
"Don't move, I coming." I walked over to him and took a seat right in front of him. I took in his features. His skin was pale and his eyes were bloodshot. His face was covered in sweat, and the fabric that made up his forehead protector was soaked in it as well, to the point where it was actually dripping. I pushed the bento towards him. Naruto looked down at it. "It's your lunch. Tsunami-dono made it." Naruto nodded as he took it.
As he ate in silence, I looked over at the tree he was using for training. Sadly, he only made it a few steps from his last spot. I looked back at him, only to see that he was already done and on his feet, ready to resume his training.
"Naruto, don't," I said. He turned towards me and gave me a questioning gaze. "You need rest. Just come back tomorrow."
"I can't," he said. He pointed at his tree. "I've worked for hours, and that's as far as I managed." He then pointed to Sasuke's tree. The slash mark ended about five feet from the halfway mark. "Sasuke, on the other hand is way ahead of me. I can't stop, 'tebayo."
I frowned at him. He was rather adamant about staying to train. However, I knew if he stayed, he'd just burn himself out like Sensei did. I pondered his situation for a moment. I then came up with a solution.
"Naruto," I said as I stood up. "I tell you what. If you come back to the house with me and rest for the rest of the day, I'll help you with climbing the tree tomorrow." Naruto's eyes widened slightly, taken aback.
"You mean it?" he said. I smiled and nodded. "Thanks a lot Sakura-chan!"
"Don't mention it," I said. "Now let's go. The sooner you rest, the earlier we can leave tomorrow morning." He nodded as the two of us began to make our way back to Tazuna's house.
Later on, that same night, we had dinner. Much to my surprise, Kureiga wasn't there. I asked everyone where he was. Naruto mentioned something about him being on the roof. After dinner was done, I made my way towards the rooftop and found Kureiga looking up at the night sky. I furrowed up my eyebrows as I walked towards him. As soon as I reached him, I planted my fist on the top of his head.
"Ow!" Kureiga yelled out. He then turned his head and glared at me. "Sakura, what the hell?!"
"That was for making me go after Naruto!"
"Is that the only reason why you came up here?" Kureiga said irritably.
"Actually, I came here because I was actually worried about you." Kureiga scoffed.
"Thanks for your concern, but you really need to work on your way of expressing it."
"Why are you even up here in the first place?" I asked, sitting down next to him.
"I'm thinking about earlier," he said. "On our way back, Tazuna and I went into town." Kureiga frowned. "Truth be told, I didn't like what I see. Struggling businesses, abandoned buildings, kids begging for a bite to eat… All these things are happening to this island, and yet Gato is still milking this country as if it was golden chimp that craps diamonds. Gato is a real a-" He stopped in mid-syllable. I knew what he wanted to say, and knew why he did stop in mid-syllable. "Gato's a real jerk. That much is apparent. I just hope we can protect Tazuna until the bridge is complete. Though, quite frankly, I hope I get to see Gato's face before we're done here."
"Why would you want to his face for?" I asked.
"So I can put my fist through it." Kureiga looked over at me and wink. I chuckled slightly before shaking my head at him.
"You're something else, you know that Kureiga?" I smiled at him. He smiled back at me.
"I know. So, I take it Short Stack was able to make his way back to the house okay."
"Yeah," I said. "The idiot was really pushing himself." I then furrowed up my eyebrow. "I didn't think he'd push himself that hard. It's surprising, really."
"No, not really," Kureiga said. "He wants to become the Hokage, the strongest ninja in the village. He's not going to take being second Sasuke lying down." I shook my head.
"Do you honestly think he can become Hokage?" I asked. "He's always screwing up everything."
"Like when he came up with a plan to save us all from having our heads mounted on a wall?"
I opened my mouth to retort, but then I closed it. I didn't have anything to say to that. I then sighed. "Touché," I conceded. "You seemed to have a lot of faith in Naruto. Why?"
Kureiga paused for a few moments before answering. "One, he busts his behind just to become a stronger ninja than where he was the day before. Two, he came up with a plan to save our lives and save us from failing this mission, despite it being way above our pay grade and the circumstances at the time, so I can actually, without even batting an eye, bet stacks of ryo that he's looking out for my life and intent on passing the mission. And three… well he's our teammate. What am I supposed to do? Not have faith in him?"
I tilted my head at him, thinking over what he said. I then nodded. "Fair enough, but one question. Do you have that faith in me?"
"What do you think?" Kureiga said as if the answer should be obvious. I looked at him, not satisfied with the answer. He sighed. "Of course I do." He then looked up at the stars. I smiled at him before standing up.
"I have to go," I said. "I have to be up bright and early."
"Early?" Kureiga said. "Tazuna's not going to be working on the bridge until 10 o'clock."
"I have to help Naruto tomorrow. I promised I would help him with the tree-climbing exercise so he wouldn't hurt himself."
"Ya don't say," Kureiga said. "Well, I hope you can help him. Goodnight."
"Goodnight," I said as I turned and entered the house.
The next morning, I was up and ready, walking the hall to wake up Naruto. I expected him to be still sleeping. But one again, he surprised me. When I reached the door that belonged to the room the guys were sleeping in, I knocked on the door with my knuckles.
"Naruto, wake up!" I called out. "Time to go!"
I heard a groan, followed by stream of obscene words, which was followed by a few footsteps heading towards the door. It opened to reveal Kureiga, eyes half-lidded and face twisted slightly into a scowl. I stared at him, and he stared back. He then pointed towards the direction of the front door.
"Short Stack is waiting for you outside," he said before turning back into the room and closing the door with an emphatic slam. I sighed and shook my head as I turned towards the stairs. I made my downstairs and out towards the front door. Sure enough, there was Naruto, sitting on the floor, stretching. As I approached him, he looked over his shoulder, trying to see who was coming. When he realized who it was, he smiled as he made his way to his feet.
"Sakura-chan!" he yelled out in greeting like he usually did whenever he saw me. I smiled at him slightly, surprised to see him up this early. I mentally shook my head. Naruto had been rather unpredictable as of late. Just a few weeks ago, Naruto's taijutsu skills weren't even on a level of an academy student. And then all of a sudden, he's able to stalemate Kureiga, who seemed to improve dramatically from the last I saw him fight. One minute, he cowers before two chuunin. The next moment, he comes up with a plan that could throw a jounin off balance. So who is Naruto? All this time, I thought of him as a hopeless idiot who screws everything up. Maybe he was something more.
"Good morning, Naruto," I said. "How long were you up?"
"Since about two others ago," he laughed out, rubbing the back of his head. He then sighed. "I'm really anxious to finish this training. So let's go, dattebayo!" I nodded as we made our walk over to the training area. The walk was rather quiet, which was surprising considering how talkative Naruto usually is. The silence made the trip seem longer than it really was. We finally made it to the training area. Naruto took a few moments to eye his tree. He then averted his gaze towards Sasuke's tree before looking back at me.
"What must I do?" he asked.
"I don't know yet," I said. "I don't know what you are doing wrong. Go and try to climb the tree the way you were doing yesterday. Then I'll give you an answer."
The blonde-headed boy nodded before turning towards his tree. He brought his hands together into the ram seal, conjuring up the chakra that he needed. That's when I felt it. As he ran forward towards the tree, I already knew the result. And I knew the reason: He was putting too much chakra into it.
Techniques using chakra needed the right amount of chakra. While some techniques become more effective when you put more chakra into the technique, you can't put too much too much into or the technique, at best, is rendered useless, and at worst, harmful or even deadly to the user. Naruto was pouring way too much chakra into the technique. Tree climbing only required the faintest amount of chakra. Naruto (who landed on back, stopping at his previous spot before falling on to his back) was using the same amount of chakra Kureiga would use for one of his lightning attacks. How did I know this? Because had he been using a just a little bit of chakra, I wouldn't have been able to feel his chakra being redirected.
"Naruto," I said as he stood up. "Come here a moment." He walked over towards me. As soon as he stopped in front of me, I tilted my head. "Do you know how much chakra you put into that technique?" He paused for a few moments.
"Only a little bit?" he answered, his response sounding more like a question. I shook my head, partly to say no his answer, and partly in a mild frustration, as I placed my hands on my hips.
"You used as much chakra as Sasuke would use for his Great Fireball." This made Naruto wince slightly. I mentioned Sasuke to drive home the point, knowing that it was one nail that could pierce him. "You're using too much chakra, Naruto. You need to tone it down a little. Actually, you need to turn it down a lot." I then straightened up and smile slightly. "I'll show you a trick. But for it to work, you must do as I do, okay?"
"Yes ma'am," he said in salutation. I smiled at this. His response almost made me feel as if I was a sensei of a team of my own. I then closed my eyes and stood still.
"Alright, close your eyes, take a deep breath, and clear your mind." I opened one eye to peek at Naruto. He had his eyes close and his face was calm. I closed my lone open eye before bringing my hands together in a seal. "Form a seal with your hands and try to divert chakra towards your feet. It should be easier to put a small amount of chakra towards your feet now. Remember, only a little bit. Just a little bit… And now go!"
I opened my eyes to see Naruto charging towards the tree. Before he reached the tree, he quickly grabbed a kunai from his holster. He then planted his left foot against the tree, then his right foot. He was running up the trunk of the tree now. He kept on running until his footing gave way about halfway up the tree. He slashed the bark before dismounting off the tree and landing on his feet.
"Yatta!" he cried out, pumping his fist.
"No you didn't," I said bluntly. "You only made it halfway." This caused Naruto to bow his head slightly. I then smiled. "But hey, it's a start. You're a lot farther than yesterday." I gave him two thumbs up. "You should be able to complete the exercise in no time." Naruto lifted his head before smiling, giving me a thankful nod. "Well, I have to go. I have to watch Tazuna today." I waved at him before I turned to walk.
"Sakura-chan?" Naruto called out. I turned around, expecting him to ask me out on a date like he usually did.
"Yes?" I said, trying to hold back the annoyance in my voice.
"Thank you." I widened my eyes slightly. I then smiled.
"You're welcome."