CH 16
Naruto - New, Yet So Old - Naruto - New, Yet So Old
The Konoha ninjas were fast approaching their village coming home from a surprising mission in the Land of Waves. They were all eager to get home. However it was a good C-Rank mission that finished well. Plus they'd had an added bonus when a high paying B-Rank mission was requested, while they'd been in the area, in order to ensure that the bridge got built without further interference. Talk about being at the right place at the right time.
Their journey home took less time then it did to travel to the Bridge Builder's village. However for some, it felt like it was taking too long to get back home. Sasuke just wanted to get away from the pink burr that continued to ignore his wishes to be left alone or to leave him be when he's training with his blond teammate.
Naruto had been pushed aside again and again and again…by Sakura's selfish needs to manipulate the Uchiha's time. At least the boys were able converse using coded hand signs that their sensei had taught them, well the man actually handed the boys a scroll that they quickly used Kage Bushin to help memorize the signs in order to use them. They'd taken to talking in sign in order to prevent the pink haired girl's freakishly, loud voice from damaging their eardrums when she was upset because someone wasn't paying attention to her.
'This didn't turn out how I thought it would,' the blond contemplated things while looking in, hopefully, the last campfire for a long while. 'Sakura was supposed to have matured more than this. What the hell went wrong?'
(…Gaki…) The fox rumbled from his slumber. (…If I tell will you, will you stop pissing and moaning about it…)
(…Yeah sure…) Naruto said, wondering what the fox would say about it. (…Do you have an idea of what's wrong with her?…)
The fox huffed and then said (…From what I understand, in your past life that girl was present on the bridge and had witnessed some kind of traumatic event. It didn't happen on this mission, so there was no reason for her to mature…yawn, like you wanted her to… now let…us, yawn…sleep…)
Naruto stilled upon hearing that. (…I never realised…wow. Thanks! I'll think about that a little later, oyasumi…) (good night or 'night)
(…Oyasumi, Papa…) Kita said with a yawn. (…Oyasumi, gran'pa…)
(…Whatever, sleep now…) Kurama said. Somehow his words were enough to allow the blond to turn over, close his eyes and go to sleep.
Sasuke had taken to sharing a tent with Naruto because there was an incident early on during their journey back to their village, where he woke up with a face full of pink hair. He'd woken up screaming at the girl and telling her that he'd charge her with invasion of privacy the next time she even thought about doing it again. He could tell that she was about to ignore his wishes, when Naruto signed to him that he'd share his tent and set up wards.
The Uchiha wasn't the only one shocked by the girl's strange, possessive and stalker-like actions. Kakashi and Tokuma shared a look that said this would have to go in the mission report. Risa was stunned and couldn't wait to go tell Akiko how her cousin had acted on a mission away from Konoha. It might seem like harmless gossip, but this was something that the Haruno family needed to know.
The black haired boy was forever grateful that the blond knew Fuuinjutsu because that was what had been used and worked. Dark ink writing marked several words in key locations of the tent and that prevented anyone of the opposite gender from entering it. "We'll just test this now," Naruto had said. "That way if it works, we can sell the idea to the tent makers."
"I don't care what you do so long as it does work," Sasuke had told him with a shudder. He'd watched the blond staring into the fire that last night of travel wondering what the boy was thinking about. He also knew that he boy was going to be out like a light as soon as he entered the tent.
"Oyasumi, Teme," Naruto told him, as he lay on top of his sleeping blanket and fell straight to sleep.
"Dobe," Sasuke said. "Oyasumi," he whispered.
This was a rare moment that he could look at the boy and it was then that observed some of things that he'd never seen before. The blond boy looked young in his sleep, but there was also a tension in the body that spoke of being ready to spring into action.
'Two years on a Genin team,' the black haired boy thought. 'He had to start over with Team Seven…That doesn't seem fair. He'd already been to one Chunin exam and is probably going to miss out on any new ones because of our bad team dynamics…Unless we can make some changes, like getting rid of that pink haired dead weight.'
Sasuke yawned, lay down and muttered, "There's gotta be a way to fix this."
Naruto - New, Yet So Old - Naruto - New, Yet So Old
The next morning the boys woke up, they changed and packed away most of their stuff. Then they did what they've been doing ever since Sasuke started sharing a tent with Naruto. They talked using only hand signs. They'd been doing this so long that it was almost interesting because it wouldn't take them that much more to be speaking completely in sign language. They'd have to learn that form of speaking before using it.
(…What can we do?…) Sasuke asked. (…Having her on your team is holding you back from promotions…)
(…Well there are several options…) Naruto signed back. (…We continue on as is and hope that eventually she changes. We can force her to do intensive training and I mean by badgering her into it. Then there's the official option. We can put the request in writing and submit it to the Council. If we write it now, we can have Kaka-sensei submit them at the same time as the mission report and then the Council and Hokage would have to seriously consider it. Plus he'd be aware of what we wanted and why…)
(…Does that mean that she'd be re-assigned to another team…) Sasuke asked and received a nod. (…But what about our team? Are they going to assign some new Genin with us to take her place?…)
(…That's what they do, but…) Naruto paused and looked through the crack of the tent door to Risa and her ninja dog. (…We could also make a particular request for a specific Genin to be placed on our team…)
(…She's really good with bombs…) Sasuke said. (…I do want to continue learning about them…)
(…She's also studied all of the scrolls that you've lent her and she's been successful in learning most of those elemental spells…) Naruto commented. (…Even, if they were the three lowest levels…)
(…I know…) Sasuke replied. (…Even the dog learned a fire spell, it was only E-Level, but the thing is just a pup. Can you imagine what he'll be like when he gets older and bigger, doing huge fire spells? It would be like having a fire breathing dog on your team…)
(…Makes you wonder how many spells Sakura learned, doesn't it…) Naruto said with a pointed look.
(…Why her…) Sasuke asked. (…Don't get me wrong I don't mind, but doesn't she have a problem with that hand of hers…)
(…She's ready for the Chunin Rank…) Naruto said. (…I don't know the reason, but I suspect that they don't want someone with that kind of disability defending the village or maybe something else is wrong with the treatment she's getting. However, she hasn't even been given the opportunity to work with a Genin team as a temporary forth. We could work with her and there's always a way to compensate for a disability, especially on a team that cares…)
(…I've seen her training…) Sasuke said. (…If something's hard, she tries harder. If something's messy, she doesn't care. We'd need her placed with us as soon as possible in order to get the teamwork down. She deserves the Chunin Rank, like you…)
Naruto scratched his cheek, embarrassed to have heard that admission from someone that has always looked down on him. (…I'm glad because I think that unless we have a fully functioning Genin team we won't be invited to the next Chunin exams, which I have a feeling will be happening soon…)
(…Can you tell me what to expect during a Chunin exam?…)
(…The first part is something written, but it's really about information gathering more than testing what you know…) Naruto told him. (…They're going to be watching for obvious cheating and there's also another component to it, but I've a feeling that that's different with every exam…)
(…Okay…) Sasuke said nodding his head and understanding that part. He smirked and then asked, (…Can you make this eye shield work in Konoha too?…)
Naruto snorted and signed, (…Of course. The second part of the Chunin exam is extreme survival. We'll be given a task to complete and it's guaranteed that we will be fighting the other teams. However to pass the second part, it needs to be done as a team too. No one can be injured beyond reason and no one can die, unless the rules are stated differently…)
(…What about the last part of the exam…) Sasuke asked.
(…We didn't make it to that point…) Naruto said. (…Tokuma-sensei did mention that it was a display of skills, more than likely we'd need to demonstrate those in one-on-one battles. But that part I'm not too sure about…)
(…That's good enough for me…) Sasuke said. (…Can you write the request to make changes to Team Seven? Kakashi-sensei did say that he'd support our decision when I asked him about her the day we came back from training with Zabuza…)
Naruto pulled out a scroll that he'd been working on. It was a basic mission report of Team Seven and how it was currently functioning. The very first part contained the request to have Genin Haruno Sakura removed from the team and a recommendation, as to who her replacement should be. He handed it over to Sasuke and said, (…Write up one that looks similar. Make sure that your request and recommendation is added at the very beginning and then you can list the things you've learned as opposed to Sakura's failure to learn the same. We'll have to stand together and you do know that she'll feel betrayed because of this…)
(…That doesn't matter…) Sasuke said. (…She's making us pay for her lack of effort. We can't let this go on! It's just not working team wise…) He took the paper and ink offered. Slowly he built his case and even though it looked similar he still added the fact that the girl had crawled into his tent uninvited and that her unwanted attentions were very distracting during the mission. He even added that the senseis had to use a Jutsu to test him for sexual assault. Luckily the girl had only been sleeping beside him that one time.
Naruto looked at them both and said, (…They're not word-for-word and they look to have been written at different times. That's good. You give them to Kakashi-sensei while I pack up my tent…)
The boys got out and noticed that the others were slowly waking up. "Sensei," the black haired boy said to the Jounin still reading the perverted orange book, nearby. "Could you please turn these in when you submit the mission reports?"
The man skimmed through them and said, "Are you sure?"
"Yes sensei," Sasuke said looking the man in the eyes and bowed.
"I can see that you are," Kakashi-sensei said, having also noted that Naruto bowed at the same time before the blond turned back to finish his packing. "I said I'd back you up. Be prepared for probing questions."
"Thank you," Sasuke said and then he went to help break up the camp.
Naruto - New, Yet So Old - Naruto - New, Yet So Old
Upon entering the village, Sasuke felt the constant chakra tug from the Seal that changed his is eye colour and hid his activated Sharingan disappear. He blinked and noted that nothing affected his vision. However, he officially knew about the changes when he heard, "Sasuke-kun," Sakura said with a happy fan girl squeal. "Your eyes are back to normal. I was getting kind of worried about that."
"Hn," Sasuke said and then looked to his sensei. His blond companion did the same because they were waiting for instructions.
"We've completed our mission," Kakashi-sensei told them. "I'll turn in our mission reports tonight and tomorrow we'll meet at our regular time and place to discuss the next one." He used the Shunsin technique to flicker away quickly in order to take care of reporting the details to the Sandaime.
Sasuke signed to Naruto that he wanted to stay with the boy for the night.
Naruto tilted his head, but nodded his agreement. He watched the black haired boy walk away and then shrugged at the others that were still nearby.
Risa called out to the Uchiha saying, "Wait, what about your scrolls?"
"Risa," Naruto said getting her attention. "Don't worry about them. He knows where to find you. Did you manage to learn all of them?"
"There are a couple, that I'm having difficulties getting the hang of, but I think it's because of my minor affinity," the Inuzuka girl said.
"Well when you've succeeded you can give them to me to give to Sasuke," Naruto said. "He might have some others that you can borrow at a later date."
"All right," Risa said. "You come by someday to see me, if you want to practice Taijutsu."
"You betcha," the blond said, as he walked away from the others. "See you around Tokuma-sensei. See you tomorrow Sakura."
"Naruto," the pink haired girl replied absentmindedly. Her shoulders were slumped and then she plodded all the way to her home.
"Tokuma-sensei," Risa said.
"Hm," the man replied.
"Do you think that Team Seven is going to be all right," the girl turned to look at him.
"That'll depend," Tokuma answered. "That girl really has to get her act together, but it might also be too late for her. Come on, I'll escort you home."
"Thank you Sensei," Risa said and Akoba barked his thanks too.
Naruto - New, Yet So Old - Naruto - New, Yet So Old
The Hokage read the mission report because he'd been curious to see if his Jounin knew about this new and mysterious company in the Land of Waves. He was also curious to find out how come the team was specifically requested for the B-Ranked mission, even though it made sense to give the mission to group that was already in position to deal the request.
He'd then been surprised to see the three formal requests by all members of Team Seven to have changes made regarding cell members. "All three," the old man asked. "I don't understand."
Kakashi rubbed the back of his head and said, "The boys handed theirs to me, together. Their requests are similar. They don't know that Sakura submitted one to have Naruto removed from the team."
"Interesting," the Hokage commented and then read the girl's reasoning, which from his vast experience as Hokage and leader of the village, he'd still been surprised by it because it was the first time he'd seen anything like it. It was a frivolous piece of selfishness and it contained no valid reason, other than her belief that Naruto was a 'bad' influence to the Uchiha. "She doesn't even provide supporting information, as to why the boy should be removed."
"I never showed them how to write a report," Kakashi stated. "I suspect that Naruto learnt it from his previous placement on Team Eleven and showed Sasuke how to do it."
"The Inuzuka girl is still attending rehabilitation sessions," the old man said. "However her progress in that matter appears to have been stunted." He paused to think and then signalled for one of his ANBU in the room to go fetch Naruto.
The boy had a strange skill that may be of use to the girl. His monkeys had informed him how his grandson's friend Udon had been afflicted by some kind of spore that prevented the boy from breathing properly. His summoned creatures had not be able to fully observe the technique, but the way the children acted the following morning during one of their 'survival trips' with their 'Boss', it was clear that the blond Genin had done something. The young boy, Udon, had been breathing easier ever since and no more annoying 'snot-bubble' was present on the young boy's face.
The ANBU returned with a broken wrist, a limp in his step and a couple of cuts to his uniform. At everyone's startled expression he admitted sheepishly, "I startled him and there was a very good trap on the window."
The blond appeared next to him, fully dressed in his darks browns, reds and oranges, with a scowl on his face. The boy bowed to his Hokage and said, "You summoned me, Jiji-sama?"
"Naruto," Kakashi-sensei said in a tone to chastise the boy.
"I was asleep," Naruto told his teacher with a pout. "It was the first time in a long time that I could fully, finally relax and that idiot completely ruined it by activating my window trap."
"A window trap... really Hawk?" The Hokage questioned with a funny quirk of his eyebrow.
"An 'invisible', 'undetectable' window trap," Hawk replied in a wry tone. "It had a snap trap that captured my wrist and broke it at the same. Then the trap released chakra guided Senbon needles that targeted only the one that triggered it, which was when he woke up and kicked me in the shin, telling me to keep quiet."
"A ninja is always aware of his environment and I'm just glad that he didn't wake up Sasuke," Naruto said. "He'd have been burnt, instead."
"I see," the old man said, removing his pipe from his mouth before it fell from his shocked expression. "I summoned you to ask if you have the ability to heal Genin Inuzuka Risa's hand."
"I'm not sure what you mean," Naruto said. "I'm not a Healer and none of us have trained in any ninja healing techniques."
The old man coughed and a spider monkey landed on his shoulder. "Udon," he said as the blond looked at the small monkey summon that stared back at him. "Two months ago."
"Ah," Naruto said and rubbed the back of his head. "That was something different."
"Can you do something," Kakashi-sensei asked.
"I can do many things," Naruto told his sensei and basically everyone in the room. "Specific things are another matter. What are my orders, Hokage?"
Sarutobi really liked this boy and he liked the fact that the information was told in never a clear manner. It was such fun to guess about things that this boy may or may not know. "Genin Uzumaki," the old man said. "Your orders are to ensure that Genin Inuzuka Risa passes her next physical assessment, which I believe is in three days time. It's the requirement for her to be re-instated into the Active Genin Ranks or else she'll have to be placed on permanent disability."
Naruto bowed and then turned to his sensei, "May I be excused for the next two days?"
Kakashi-sensei smiled his moon-eyed smile and said, "I believe a small holiday is in order. I'll send a notice to Sakura and you can inform Sasuke. We'll meet Friday morning. By then the results and..." He received a nod from the Hokage. "The evaluation of our two missions should be completed."
Naruto nodded to the others in the room and then flickered away to the surprise of the others in the room. "Shunsin no Jutsu," the old man stated. "You taught them the technique."
"They are quick learners," Kakashi-sensei told the man without stating specifically that he did or did not teach them that particular technique. "The boys have also been given this," he produced the scroll of hand signs and said, "They learned it in a short time period and have used that method to converse most of the time on their way back to the village. I believe they did it to prevent friction with the third member of their team. I strongly recommend that they learn sign language before they begin to invent their own. It'd be wise that they do so for future undercover purposes, of course."
The ANBU in the room were surprised to see the scroll that contained their hand signs. Jounin Rank knew how to use them and it was usually learned when you gain the Chunin Rank. But to hear that two Genin had learned it quickly and had used them, well this was nearly unheard of.
"What of the Haruno girl," the old man asked. "Has she learned the Shunsin technique or any of the hand signs?"
"No," Kakashi told everyone in the room. "Nor has she approached me with a request to be taught. I do not even believe she noticed the hand signs between the two boys."
"We'll meet the current Team Seven, Friday at ten o'clock in the morning with our decision," the Hokage said. "Your team is dismissed until then." The Jounin bowed and used the flicker technique to leave the office. He did this for a specific purpose.
It was to show the difference in his and the boy's technique, which was immediately commented on by one of the ANBU. "The kid used only one leaf, wind and dust motes," Hawk said. "How could he have left with less of a trace than his sensei...?"
"Hawk," the Hokage said. "You're on desk duty until you've been cleared by the medical core. Go get treated." The Hawk ANBU left the room, leaving the Hokage with one guard and several attendants outside the door.
The Sandaime pulled the active Genin lists to find a couple that were not formed or assigned to a team and then he thought, 'Maybe now would be a good time to implement a couple of Genin medical first aid teams.'
Naruto - New, Yet So Old - Naruto - New, Yet So Old
Naruto returned to his apartment, changed back into his comfy sleepwear and was about to fall asleep when he heard the black haired boy walk into his room. The blond sighed and said, "Can't sleep?"
"You left," Sasuke said. "You were gone and I...um..."
Naruto sat up and said, "The Hokage wants me to do something, so our team meeting for tomorrow has been cancelled. We only need to show up Friday morning at our regular time."
"What are you going to do," the black haired boy asked.
"Hi..mi...stu," Naruto said (secret). Then he looked closely at the other boy. "Why don't you bring your bedding in here? It might be easier for you to fall asleep, if you have company."
"I never used to have this problem before," Sasuke told him as he dragged his sleeping bag and the mattress he'd been given into the blond's room. "Ever since she was there..." He shuddered. "How could I not know that she'd even crawled in?"
"You didn't set traps," Naruto said. "However you should have been aware that another person was there, unless they used something to keep you under? Did you eat anything funny that night?"
"The tea she'd given me was off," Sasuke confirmed. "Risa never let her give me any more during the journey back. Akoba tripped Sakura the second night and Risa handed me my cup every night after that."
"She's smart," Naruto yawned. "She wanted to return your scrolls even though she hadn't learned a couple of the spells yet."
"I want her to continue to teach me bomb making," Sasuke replied with a yawn. "It'd be nice to get rid of the bad buildings in my compound."
"Let me and Risa stay with you for the next two days," Naruto suggested. "She can continue teach you, while I work with her hand."
"What happened to it," Sasuke asked.
"Burned," Naruto stated. "Really badly burned during the winter Chunin exam in Suna, but I think something else is going on and it might be something that no one is detecting at the medical centre."
"Okay," the black haired boy said. "You two can stay with me and we'll figure something out. Thanks, Dobe."
"Oyasumi, Teme," Naruto said.
Naruto - New, Yet So Old - Naruto - New, Yet So Old
The following day before the sun even peeked over the Hokage monument, Naruto was doing his regular run around Konoha village. He was out of practice with the weights he was carrying, so he only ran around three times. Then he continued his routine of exercises and stretching before running with Sasuke to the Uchiha Clan compound to have a look around the place.
"It's depressing," Naruto said. "I'm sorry for what happened here, but most of the buildings look gloomy and very depressing."
"I know," Sasuke said. "At least it's fenced in, but...what do you think?"
"Let's explore a couple of the buildings," Naruto said excitedly. "Unless there's still personal stuff in them?"
"No, there's nothing left in a lot of them," Sasuke said.
"What no secret rooms or hidden passages," Naruto said looking at the other boy in shock. "That doesn't sound very fun."
"I've never found any," Sasuke said and he noticed that the blond had his hands on his hips and was looking at him with his head tilted. "What?"
"Sharingan," Naruto said. "Underneath the underneath, your family's Kekkei Genkai can see..."
Sasuke's eyes widened. Then he ran into the main building and to the room that been his father's office. He knew that he'd seen something there once and he'd always wondered if it had been a trick of the light, however now...
He closed his eyes, concentrated on the chakra and there before his red eyes he saw several outlines in the walls, one in the ceiling and a couple in the floor. "Why did I never think..."
"You only just got it," Naruto said. "I doubt that you'd have been able to see anything without it." He knew that he had to leave the boy to his exploration. "Before you begin that can you pick a building for us to stay in for the next two days?"
"Us," Sasuke said. He turned to look at the blond through his Sharingan eyes and noted that the boy had dropped his goggles. There was something about he blond's eyes that made him think that he had an ocular Jutsu too, but he didn't want to press the matter.
"Risa," Naruto reminded the boy. "You wanted to learn bomb making..."
"Oh, you guys can stay here in the guest rooms," Sasuke said and then blinked to turn off his Sharingan. "I still need to get used to activating it."
"We can work on that too if you want," Naruto said, putting up his goggles.
"Why'd you drop them," the black haired boy wondered.
"I cycled through the lens to see if they'd detect anything," Naruto said with a shrug. "I only saw three outlines, but maybe before you get too involved in exploring them, we should deal with our team problems."
"All right," Sasuke said. "Follow me," he led them to a smallish building and explained. "This was the school room that the Clan had. In the mornings the smaller children attended and then in the afternoon some of the older kids and cousins did. This was before choices were made to attend the Ninja Academy or some other program in the village."
Naruto walked into the place and looked around. It was basically a square building with some windows on two walls and a full-length chalkboard wall at the far end. It had been built to slope, which was interesting to know. "Any hidden rooms here," he asked. "Why don't you make sure of that and I'll go kidnap Risa and Akoba?"
"Thanks," Sasuke said looking out the window.
"Don't do anything stupid like getting injured, ya hear," Naruto said and snickered while running out of the room to the sound of someone saying, 'Baka'.
Two hours later, Sasuke was in his private room, looking at a couple of old school journals that he'd found hidden in the floorboards of the schoolroom. They were enlightening and scary too. 'The lives of my cousins are in these,' he thought. 'I'd forgotten about most of them and yet here they are...'
Naruto had returned with Risa and was down in the living room area of the main house so that the black haired boy wasn't alone in the building. The blond had explained to his ex-teammate what they'd done regarding their combined request for a change in team members. He also explained the conditions under which she'd be considered a good candidate to replace the pink haired Kunoichi.
"I have two days to see if I can figure out what's going on with that hand of yours," Naruto said. "Are you willing..."
"Naruto, stop," Risa said. "Do whatever you think you need to do, okay? I trust you. Akiko and I have always trusted you even if you are two years younger than us. You just seem confident about some things, so do your worst."
"I'd rather do my best," Naruto said with a smile. "Speaking of Akiko, she says hello and wished you good luck. Plus if this works, she said that you had to go to her for the coolest gloves she could make you, so that you'd have some type of support for when you're placed on your next Genin team."
Risa swallowed past her nervousness and then removed the medical glove that her therapist had ordered her to wear. The girl's left hand had awful scars on it, but the medical core of Suna had been very good. They prevented further damage and infection to the hand.
Naruto looked at the hand with his regular eyes. He used his hands to feel the muscle and bone. He pushed and pulled at the skin. He bent her fingers and had her straighten them. "Bend them yourself," he said and watched how the fingers curled slowly. "No prevention of motion. Have you been doing this with or without the glove?"
"The therapist said that I had to do this with the glove," Risa said. "I have some medicated lotion that I'm supposed to be using too, here." She gave him a pot of creamy ointment that had him looking at it closely and smelling it. "Is something wrong?"
"I don't know," Naruto said. "Have you been able to wash that stuff off?"
"I was given a special soap," she said. "This is it. It's only to be used on my hand."
"Who told you about this?"
"The therapist," Risa said. "She's a distant cousin, but..."
"Does she hate you or is she jealous that you're a Kunoichi," Naruto asked.
"We never really got along," Risa explained. "I don't know why because I've never done anything against her, but she's dedicated to her job and would not do anything to prevent me from returning to mine."
"Sometimes you don't have to do anything for someone to not like you," Naruto said. He dug out a scroll that he specifically used as medicine storage. He took out a small cake of astringent soap. "I want you to take this and wash your hands completely first. Then I want you to give me a set of your clothing to wash. Once those are done, I'm going to ask you to take a bath and use the products I give you to see if you feel or sense a difference, especially with your hand, okay?"
"Why," Risa asked.
"Do you know why the Hokage asked me to help if I could," Naruto told her and Sasuke as the boy had just rejoined them with some tea on a tray. "Konohamaru, the Hokage's grandson, has a friend named Udon, who had troubles breathing some of the time. I basically took them back to nature for a weekend. That's when I found out that the detergent that the boy's mother used was aggravating the boy and causing some of his breathing problems. He had a few other issues, but that was the biggest one."
"So you think that the detergent or some washing product is causing the slow healing," Risa said. "I have been using a couple of new products because of Akoba." The pup growled and whimpered at having been the cause of his bond-mate's issues. "Nonsense," the girl comforted the pup. "You are not to blame. This is just one method of trying to narrow the problem down. It could be one ingredient out of a whole bunch that causing this, so we'll just have to see."
"I'll show you where the machines are," Sasuke told him. "If you have any more laundry, Naruto, that you'd like to get done, just go ahead and do them too."
"Really," Naruto perked up at that. "Thanks Teme," he said as he took the clothing that Risa had given him. "Risa wash your hands first."
"Dobe," Sasuke returned without anger. "Follow me."
An hour later, lines and lines of clothes were fluttering in the soft warm breeze that Naruto called forth to dry them. He was dressed in a pair of simple dull orange overalls without a shirt, with the pant legs rolled up to the knees and he was barefoot. He was sitting on the roof of one of the buildings in order to maintain his elemental clothes dryer.
His black haired teammate was similarly dressed in dull red overalls, watching the clothes flutter. His teammate had washed all of his too. His eyes were half closed in the sun. He was reliving a few pleasant memories of his mother having done his laundry.
A brown haired girl was sitting next to him in dull yellow overalls too, but she was wearing a dull red sleeveless hooded shirt. The hood was specifically reinforced to hold the pup that was snoozing in it without the pup's weight choking her. She was making the fingers of both her hands work through a series of specific fingering walking exercises.
"Well," Naruto said to Risa.
"It's getting easier now," she said. "What's our trade?"
"You get better in time for your next appointment," Naruto said. "Besides this is kind of an unranked, unpaid mission for me. We're going to get you better so that you can return to active duty."
"We can get her to work on the ANBU hand signs," Sasuke said. "She can continue to teach me to make a few simple bombs."
"Oh speaking of hand signs," Naruto said. "Kakashi-sensei dropped this off when I was hanging the clothes on the line."
"Hm," Sasuke said catching the scroll. "Sign language for the deaf?"
"We'll use Kage Bushin for it," Naruto said absentmindedly. "Risa, can you make them?"
"Yes," Risa said. "Tokuma-sensei showed me how to, during our travels to the Land of Waves, I can maintain three. Can the two of you use Shunsin no Jutsu?"
"I can only maintain two," Sasuke told the girl. "Zabuza and Haku taught us the flicker technique."
"Begin the bomb learning in the main house," Naruto told them. He called forth two Bushin. "It's book learning because of formulas first. I'll go ward the school house so we can assemble them later."
The other two looked at each other, shrugged, conjured two Kage Bushin and left the blond alone on the roof to finish doing their laundry using elemental jutsu to dry their clothing.
"Go into a separate room," Naruto told the six clones. "Don't talk, just use the signs and study the sign language scroll." The clones then left him to think about other ways and other things to do to possibly help improve Risa's chances at getting released into a Genin team.
Naruto - New, Yet So Old - Naruto - New, Yet So Old
TBC…