Chapter eleven: Achieving new Heights!

Trying to get back on a regular schedule, we shall see how that goes.

Enjoy?

Disclaimer: If I owned it then I wouldn't need to write fanfiction.

...

"After a few days we finally began our new training, which turned out to be climbing trees using only chakra applied to the soles of our feet. Though Sakura and I quickly achieved our goal, the boys were having some difficulty and I, therefore, was placed in charge of overseeing their training. Sakura took on the job of protecting Mr. Tazuna while Kakashi-sensei was still recovering.

We also got to hear a little about what caused the townspeople to become so troubled and what made Inari such an angry kid.

But can we really help? Naruto seems to think so."

...

The morning on the sixth day of training everyone was already eating breakfast when Sakura walked out, yawning.

Sasuke, Inari, Mr. Tazuna, and Akina were sitting at the table. Kakashi was sitting on the floor in the living room, and Tsunami was bringing another plate to the table.

"Naughty Naruto stayed out all night again, didn't he?" Mr. Tazuna asked.

"Ever since you told us that story, he's been in the trees, training all alone, night after night… An idiot with an obsession!" Sakura answered, rubbing the sleep from her eyes. "If he exhausts his chakra, he could kill himself…and be lying dead somewhere right now."

"…I hope he's all right." Tsunami said worriedly. "It's not good for a boy to spend night after night alone outside!"

Just like any good mother, she not only worries about her own child, but other children as well… Akina smiled sadly.

Sasuke noticed the distant look on the girl's face, but didn't bother saying anything about it.

"There's nothing to worry about." Kakashi spoke cheerfully. "Naruto's a goofy kid…but he's also a full-fledged ninja."

"Is it possible…could he have killed himself? That bone head…" Sasuke mumbled.

Akina suddenly stood up from her seat. "That's it; I'm going to get that big dummy and bring him back! I'll bet he hasn't even eaten anything yet."

Sasuke stood as well, though he didn't look at anyone. "I'll go, too…"

The girl just shrugged and walked out the door, with Sasuke following quietly, leaving everyone else to ponder over what had just happened.

...

It seemed very peaceful out in the woods in the early morning, but at the same time Akina felt strange walking next to Sasuke like that. It had been such a long time since they'd last walked together in the streets of Konoha. Everything was silent aside for the sound of the ocean breeze and the occasional bird chirping.

"Akina?"

"Y-yes?!" she stuttered, slightly startled.

Sasuke turned away, hands in his pockets. "You've been unusually quiet since we left the village."

She looked down. "You know why…"

"The Mist." Sasuke whispered. "What are the odds?"

She looked up at him, an ironic smile on her face. "About the same as you and I walking in the woods together without killing each other."

He smirked. "…Yeah…"

Akina gazed up through the treetops as the sunrise filtered through the green leaves. "It wasn't that long ago, was it? That we were walking like this in the village. To school, lunch, training, going home…" She glanced at Sasuke; he was also looking at the treetops thoughtfully.

"No. Four years is a very long time." He seemed to glare at the sky. "We're not the same little kids we used to be."

This time Akina turned away. "Yeah, your right. We're not the same anymore."

Sasuke and Akina had just entered the training area when a very pretty girl passed them by.

I wonder who…?

Sasuke stopped to stare at her. As where Akina just shrugged and walked over to Naruto.

"Hey, Naruto! Who was that girl?"

He was sitting on the ground with his arms crossed. "The world is an amazing place sometimes!" He mumbled.

"What? Naruto, are you feeling okay?" Akina placed her palm on his forehead, checking for a fever.

Naruto then looked up at her, only noticing she was there once she touched him. "Oh! Hey, Akina! What are you doing here?"

The girl lightly bonked the blond boy on the head. "We came to get you, you big dummy!"

Sasuke walked up next to the other two, his bad mood evident. "Since we're already here, guess I'll start training."

"What's his problem?" Naruto asked.

Akina shook her head and smiled at him. "You missed breakfast this morning, Naruto. But I think Tsunami might have saved you some."

The blond grinned. "I'm starved!"

Some time after Naruto had left to go eat; Sasuke noticed that Akina had disappeared, she'd been doing that quite a lot lately. Stopping from his training for a while the boy set out to find her; it didn't take him long though since the girl was only in a nearby clearing.

Sasuke stood halfway behind a tree, watching as she just seemed to stand there, holding the nodachi aloft in front of her. The ocean breeze blew through the trees gently, causing a few leaves to scatter towards the ground. Just then he noticed Akina shift her stance, bringing the blade to the side of her body; he almost didn't see when she began to moved, swinging the blade with every turn she made, like an intricate dance; when she finally stopped Sasuke noticed that her eyes had been closed the entire time.

The falling leaves touched the ground, all of them sliced in half.

Sasuke couldn't help but gasp, drawing the attention of his teammate. Quickly the boy moved completely behind the tree, hoping she hadn't seen him.

"…Sasuke…we both know you can't hide from me." She spoke calmly.

The boy sighed and walked out from behind the tree, making his way over to the girl. They both stood there a while in silence; Sasuke was looking through the trees as Akina stared at him expectantly.

Finally he spoke, still not facing her. "That's the first time I've watched you train in four years." He paused, as if choosing his words carefully. "It doesn't look as stupid now as it used to, when you had nothing but a bamboo sword." He turned to glance at her, smirking slightly.

She snickered, turning from him. "I've had four years of practice. There'd be something really wrong with me if I hadn't gotten any better in that time."

"Yeah…you'd be like Naruto." This earned him a smack to the arm.

He glared at her, but she merely smiled, giggling slightly.

The next morning, on the seventh day of training, Sakura and Kakashi walked into the training area.

"Where did Naruto go this time…?" Kakashi asked. "Pushing himself beyond his limit, going out by himself again last night…"

Sakura was looking back and forth anxiously. "And at breakfast time, Akina says she's going for a walk…and Sasuke disappears, too!" She seemed angry about that.

Just then, a kunai landed in the ground between them.

They both looked up to see Naruto lying on a branch at just about the top of his tree.

"Naruto can climb all the way up there?" Sakura spoke in amazement.

"Well?! Did you see? Lookit how high I can go!" Naruto shouted excitedly. He began to stand up on the branch, but suddenly he slipped, falling backwards.

"You idiot!" Sakura screamed.

"No! If he falls from that height…" Kakashi couldn't even finish his sentence.

But instead of falling, Naruto stood upside down on the bottom of the branch, grinning like the idiot he was. "Psych! Hah…gotcha, suckers!" he laughed.

"You… You…almost gave me a heart attack, you jerk!" Sakura shouted furiously.

But then Naruto's feet came off the branch, sending him toward the ground again.

"Hey! Twice is too much, Naruto! Stop messing around!"

But Naruto was falling for real this time; that is, until Sasuke caught him by the leg, hanging from the same branch the blond dummy had fallen from. "You bonehead."

"Yessss! Sasuke saves the day! He gives me shivers!" Sakura cheered.

"And that sentence just gave me indigestion…"

Sakura jumped and spun around to face the violet haired girl. "A-Akina?! You scared me!"

Akina rolled her eyes. "Well, that's not an easy thing to do, is it?" She then put her hands on her hips and glared up at Naruto, ignoring any further outbursts from the other girl. "Naruto, you big dummy, I told you not to mess around!"

Naruto gave a cheesy grin. "Heh-heh… Sorry!"

Sasuke had managed to get Naruto safely back on the ground and, after a bit more scolding from Sakura and a few lumps on the head, the Blond boy was laying down in the grass, resting.

"Where were you anyway?" Sakura asked as she turned back to the Mizuto girl.

"Who, me?" The other girl asked innocently. "Oh, I was just…ah…"

"She was sleeping." Sasuke provided, receiving a sour glare from his violet eyed teammate.

Kakashi was smiling.

That night, after another whole day of trying, Naruto and Sasuke had finally made it to the very tops of their trees.

"Want to head back?" Sasuke asked the blond.

Naruto smiled and nodded, panting from exhaustion. "Sure!"

Akina smiled up at them. "Those two are both dummies."

Akina ended up helping Sasuke carry Naruto back to Tazuna's house since he had nearly exhausted his chakras, though the raven haired Uchiha wasn't much better off.

"So, you're finally back!" Tazuna greeted. "Looking like something the cat dragged in!"

Naruto smiled. "Heh… Both of us… We made it to the top of the tree."

"I told you if you didn't take a break you'd wear yourself out, you dope." Sasuke scolded.

"Yeah, like you're one to talk." Akina teased, receiving a slight glare.

"Good!" Kakashi interrupted before any fighting started. "Naruto, Sasuke, Akina, starting tomorrow you three can help Sakura protect Mr. Tazuna."

"Yes, sir!"

After dragging Naruto's tired butt over to the table, Akina and Sasuke sat down for dinner.

"Whew!… Well, I'm dirty, sweaty, and real worn out from all of the work on the bridge today… But construction is almost complete!" Mr. Tazuna announced.

Oh, good. Finally, we'll be able to go back home soon.

"Father, you and Naruto are two of a kind. Please don't work yourselves to death!" Tsunami scolded softly.

"Yep." The old man agreed.

Naruto groaned and plopped his head on the table.

"Really, Naruto. Carrying you all the way back to the village isn't at the top of my list for this mission." Akina laughed.

No one but Akina noticed when Sasuke gave a small chuckle as well.

Inari was glaring at Naruto the whole time. But then his face grew sad, and he began to cry.

Naruto stared at him, noticing the sudden mood change. "What's wrong?"

Inari slammed his hands on the table and stood up. "Why do you wear yourself out trying? No matter how hard you train, you'll never be a match for Gato's thugs! You act all cool, and you talk all tough, but big, strong guys like that are always too much for people weaker than they are. They'll destroy you!"

Everyone stared at Inari with utter shock.

"Shut up! I'm not you, and I'm not gonna lose!" Naruto growled.

Inari was still crying. "Just watching you ticks me off! You go running your mouth when you don't know a thing! This isn't your town! And you don't know a thing about me. You're always clowning around and having fun. You don't know a thing about suffering or loneliness or what my life is like!"

Naruto sat up slowly. "So…you figure it's noble to star in a melodrama and treat everyone around you like guests at your pity party?" He glared at Inari. "It takes a really big man to sit around and cry… You brat! You big baby!"

Inari was crying even harder, though it seemed that he was trying to fight it.

Naruto stood and walked away.

"Naruto! You went too far!" Sakura scolded.

No… I think having Naruto yell at him is exactly what Inari needed…

Later that night Akina found Inari sitting on the deck, looking out at the water.

"May I join you?" She asked politely.

He looked at the girl through the corner of his eye but he didn't say anything. She sat down next to him and stared out at the water. "You know, Inari. Naruto's a big dummy and all, but he wasn't trying to be mean… He just doesn't know how to express himself."

Inari looked down sadly.

"Your grandpa told us what happened to your father. I think it struck a chord with Naruto since he grew up without a father as well."

Inari seemed shocked to hear this.

"Actually, Naruto didn't have anyone growing up; no parents, no friends, no one at all. Naruto's been alone his whole life."

"R-really?" Inari asked, looking up at the violet haired girl.

She nodded and glanced down at him, smiling slightly. "But you know; I've never seen Naruto cry. And I've never seen him give up. No matter what happens Naruto always finds a reason to smile. Even when everyone shunned and ignored him, he kept trying, hoping that someone, anyone, would notice him and be his friend." Her smile widened. "I think Naruto realized when you grow up that way crying just becomes useless."

Inari looked down again.

Akina looked back out at the water. "I was around your age when I lost my parents, but at least I got to know them for that little while. Naruto was never given that chance." She then smiled down at Inari again. "So Naruto understands, probably better than anyone, what you're going through."

Inari looked up at her "What?"

She was still smiling. "He thinks he has to yell at you, because you remind him of himself. Like a big brother, ya' know?"

Inari stared at the girl, wide-eyed.

Akina stood up. "Well, just think about it, okay?"

Inari nodded and watched as she left.

Akina's sensei was standing around the corner with his arms crossed. "I came out to talk with Inari, but it seems you beat me to it." He smiled.

"Sorry, sensei, maybe next time." She smirked and patted his arm.

He chuckled.

Akina walked into the house and to the bedroom that the Genin were sharing. After walking to the girl's side of the room divider she saw Sakura was sitting on her bed, twiddling her fingers and looking a little sad.

The violet haired girl knelt down by her. "Hey, Sakura. What's wrong?"

She looked like she was about to cry. "Akina… Can I ask you something?"

"Yeah, sure. What is it?"

She looked up at her with teary eyes. "Is there something…" She sniffed. "…going on between you…a-and Sasuke?"

Akina sighed and shook her head, glad that it wasn't anything serious. "Woah. No… There's nothing at all going on between us."

Sakura still seemed a bit panicked. "But you two…Sasuke….he's always following you! Sasuke acts…" She quieted and looked at her hands. "…He acts so differently when you're around…"

Akina sat down cross-legged and stared at the pink haired girl. "Sakura, would you like to know something?"

She nodded, though unsurely.

The Mizuto girl smiled. "My mother was from the Uchiha clan, so Sasuke and I have known each other ever since we were babies."

Sakura looked completely shocked; she clearly hadn't known.

Akina continued. "We used to be friends when we were little kids. He was always following me around like a little lost puppy, even though I'm younger than him by half a year. We would fight a lot, too. He was such a little crybaby back then; I'd tease him about it all the time. Of course, we were only little kids." she laughed, her gaze going off to those sweet, innocent years long ago.

Sakura seemed calmer now. "What happened? The two of you aren't friends anymore?"

Akina sighed, coming back to reality. "We... drifted apart. Sasuke didn't want to be a kid anymore. And I…well, I wanted to be a kid for as long as I possibly could. In the end we just went our separate ways."

Sakura smiled a little, somewhat sadly. "I see… But, Sasuke seems so comfortable around you, even now."

Akina smirked. "It could be…that inside Sasuke is still a little lost puppy."

Sakura giggled, imagining Sasuke as a puppy. "You think?"

The two continued with Sakura asking more about what Sasuke was like when he was a little kid and Akina telling embarrassing stories that Sasuke would kill her for if he ever found out.

Maybe the two girls could be friends after all.