Kakashi: Consideration
The next morning Kakashi -leaning on crutches- herded his team to a clearing just inside the seal perimeter. The exercise he was going to teach them was the first and most important chakra control exercise all genin had to learn. That it doubled as a good way to travel and infiltrate was part of what made it so essential.
"Today, my cute little genin, you are going to learn Kinbori no Waza," Kakashi said cheerfully.
"Art of tree climbing? Sensei, I could climb trees when I was nine," Sasuke said, narrowing his eyes. "Where's the catch?"
The copy-nin beamed, eye curving up into a happy arch. Sasuke was recovering admirably from his first kill and had internalised the need to look underneath the underneath. Of course, he hasn't had enough practice yet to actually see what is underneath the underneath, but he'll get there.
Oh, and he's chattier than he used to be, which is another plus. May the kami preserve us from overly stoic Uchiha.
"I'm going to show you how to climb trees without using your hands," Kakashi explained brightly.
"That's impossible, Sensei!" Sakura protested.
Naruto frowned thoughtfully. "Is this related to why all the ninja in Konoha above genin level do all of their high speed travel over the rooftops? I always wondered how that was possible."
"Well observed, Naruto! It is indeed," Kakashi confirmed, concentrating a precise and fairly small amount of chakra to the undersides of his sandals and walking calmly up the nearest tree trunk. He paused on the underside of a branch to address his awed genin. "This is a very important chakra control exercise because the soles of the feet are one of the hardest places to focus chakra. Once you can do this you will waste less chakra when performing ninjutsu and will find genjutsu much easier. Now Naruto, did you send clones to keep an eye on Tazuna at the bridge this morning?"
"Hai, Sensei. This particular perimeter is permeable to the caster," Naruto confirmed. "I also made you a key so you could travel through at will," He added, handing over a seal tag once the copy-nin had descended from the tree. "Stick it to your skin somewhere out of sight so no-one tries to steal it. It will work for any ninja."
"Good work. Now get on with learning, the lot of you! Oh and Sakura, come here for a minute."
The kunoichi turned from the tree she'd been about to try walking up. "Hai, Sensei?"
"When you have finished this exercise -when you can walk all the way to the top of the tree and back down again- Naruto is going to teach you something. Treat him with the respect and deference you would any other teacher." Kakashi knew he shouldn't need to say this, but sadly few civilians respected Naruto for his achievements and Sakura clearly reflected the views of her civilian parents. His graduating sane and capable from the academy was an achievement in itself.
"Hai, Kakashi-sensei," the pink-haired girl muttered, clearly chastised by the fact her teacher felt he had to ask in order for her behave properly.
"Good. Now remember all of you, the exercise is complete when you can walk to the top of the tree and back down again. I recommend using a kunai to keep track of your progress!"
Kakashi hobbled off through the seal perimeter toward the unfinished bridge, the thumps and swearing of genin learning how to tree climb gradually fading away behind him. He was exhausted and still had traces of water in his lungs -brackish, slightly muddy water at that- but the bridge builder still needed protection and Zabuza was unlikely to kill him no matter how tired he was.
At the bridge Kakashi delegated everything short of an emergency to the Naruto clones and dozed under a tree while most of the bunshin set up a perimeter and the clone-in chief shadowed Tazuna in a very thorough Sasuke-henge. Nothing noteworthy occurred at all during that first day, allowing the journin to rest and recover his severely depleted reserves. It also gave him plenty of time to think.
The water prison sapped my reserves and using the sharingan made the drain worse. I nearly passed out, which could have been fatal.
I was careless. I haven't been training as hard as I could be since Ame-koi came to Konoha. I have to get back in the habit; giving my genin theory homework will give me more training time, as will delegating command to Naruto or Sasuke when they do D-rank missions. Koi will understand -her own time will be swallowed by the babies soon enough- and I'm sure I can dig up a few former colleagues to spar with.
I wonder where Zabuza knows my Ame-koi from? And what is it about her that causes her to accumulate over-protective nukenin?
Kakashi tried to put his current problems to one side, but that only prompted older, yet to be addressed concerns to surface, like what Danzo wanted from his beloved. The old cripple ran Konoha's blacker-than-black operations division -ROOT- that had officially been shut down at the end of the third shinobi war. That it still existed was a problem, but the implications of Ame referring to its members as 'toy soldiers' in need of rehabilitation was what caused him the greatest concern. Danzo had always been a staunch advocate of brainwashing ninja. That he seemed to have a whole division of obedient little killing machines at his beck and call and Ame in his sights sent a shiver down Kakashi's spine. Do I pray for my koi to be successful in her endeavours or that Danzo be wise enough not to lose any more of his minions to her? Ame with a division of ROOT-nins at her beck and call sounds like a recipe for disaster, what with her pregnancy mood swings getting more severe.
I will just have to trust her gift of foresight keeps her out of trouble and that she limits herself to using her healing skills to rehabilitate them rather than employing them to carry out some scheme or other. I know she has some kind of agenda -other than serving Shinigami-sama as a miko- but all she will tell me is that she is following my dream, which is unhelpful. I wish I knew more about her kekkai genkai than the basics she informed me of.
Kakashi had had several vary interesting conversations with Ame about her heritage. It turned out she had three different kekkai genkai, one from each parent plus her kami-given Sanju Shikaku, which had been dormant in both her parents' families for generations.
Ame had reassured him that their children were far more likely to inherit one of her other bloodlines than the Triple Vision, either the Seishite from her mother or the Kotai no Maroboshi from her father. Either would complement the Hatake kekkai genkai -the white chakra that had prompted his father's nickname of 'Shiroi Kiba'- very nicely.
Hatake white chakra was much denser than normal chakra, allowing Hatake's to use powerful ninjutsu techniques without tiring as quickly as other ninja. It was his white chakra that enabled Kakashi to use his sharingan for as long as he did. Hatakes also had more tenkutsu than normal ninjas, allowing for more precise control of their dense chakra so that those with the bloodline did not have chakra control problems like Naruto did, which would limit their potential in genjutsu or ijutsu.
The Seishite, the hands of life and death, was a bloodline that -like the various elemental kekkai genkai- enabled chakra to easily be transmuted into another form. In the case of the Seishite, the final result was green medical chakra. A great many extra tenkutsu also granted those with the bloodline natural pinpoint chakra control. This natural affinity for medical techniques allowed both for self-healing and and the treatment of others. However it also enabled the wielder the option of making their chakra horribly toxic, killing anyone who came into contact with it, and many other less scrupulous opportunities. Those born with the bloodline tended to be compassionate to allies and ruthless with enemies, specialising either as assassins or medics depending on personal aptitude. Kakashi thought it was a very useful bloodline, one that would guarantee employment regardless of physical strength.
The Kotai no Maroboshi was completely different, a kekkai genkai that somehow twisted reality so that genjutsu cast by someone with the bloodline would physically affect both the victim and their environment, impossible to dispel and lasting as long as the caster required them to. For all that this reminded Kakashi rather uncomfortably of Gai's sunset genjutsu, the journin could see what a powerful bloodline it really was. Someone with this bloodline was limited only by their chakra capacity and their imagination. Unfortunately, a bloodline that granted almost godlike power was not at all good for the human mind; overusing the Solid Illusion kekkai genkai always resulted in insanity for the wielder. Ame herself used it as little as possible, saying her sanity was precarious enough without tempting fate.
It also turned out that her parents had been infamous due to their particular bloodlines; Kakashi had not needed to find out that Ame's father was the dreaded Akumugami, the God of Nightmares, S-class shinobi of Kage no kuni.
That Ame had originally been born in Kuraigakure, the village hidden in the twilight, was not as surprising as it could have been.
Shadow country lay to the west of Earth and Wind country and was a large and mysterious nation whose boarders were always closed to foreign shinobi. The Akumugami was infamous for his part in the second shinobi war, when -as a new journin of barely sixteen- he had singlehandedly held fifty miles of boarder against the samurai armies of Tsuchi no kuni and two dozen squads of ninja. Horror stories of the nightmarish monsters he commanded had filtered through even to Konoha from prisoners of war and the occasional defector from Iwa trying to get as far away as possible from Shadow and its seemingly invincible ninja.
That Ame's mother had been an S-class assassin under the charming moniker of Muonshi -silent death- for her bloodline mastery, stealth and tactical brilliance was also less surprising than it could have been. His koibito was a truly exceptional person; that her parents were also exceptional only confirmed it. Of course, that a pair of S-class shinobi had been forced to give up their daughter in order to save her life told Kakashi how powerful the Yamikage had to be. In fact, all things considered, the copy-nin was surprised that her exile had been so... quiet.
Perhaps they don't care where she is or what she does so long as she stays out of Kage no kuni. Considering how fanatically isolationist they are, it wouldn't surprise me.
Both her parents would be in their forties by now if they were still among the living, which being S-class was more likely than not. Kakashi wondered idly if they intended to come to the wedding of the daughter they hadn't seen since early childhood. I rather doubt that any of the bride's family are below A-class in strength. In fact, most of those who consider her family seem to be S-class. Itachi, Kisame, Zetsu and her parents, not to mention her elusive foster father, the one she calls 'aniki-tou-san'.
Kakashi knew he was an A-class journin, bordering on S-class even, but by the standards of her family and friends he wasn't anything special. Being the last survivor of a bloodline clan wasn't that much of a boost either when his fiancée had three bloodlines. Ame had told him that her parents' marriage had been an arranged alliance, a second son and a third daughter promised to each-other for diplomatic and economic reasons. They had found love together and, despite losing their firstborn to the whims of fate -and the sanju shikaku kekkai genkai- they had persevered. Ame had told Kakashi that she had two younger siblings she had never met, a boy and a girl, the former with the seishite and the latter with the kotai no maroboshi. Ame also explained that being yogensha was what enabled her to express both her parents' bloodlines simultaneously; without the genetic peculiarities her seer abilities entailed one kekkai genkai would have dominated the other.
As the sun dipped towards the horizon Kakashi rose to his feet and hobbled back to the house with Tazuna and the four remaining Naruto clones in tow. The journin prayed the next few days would be as restful as the one that was just ending.
As Kakashi had expected, the tree-climbing exercise had taken Sakura mere minutes to master. She had spent most of the day learning to tie various knots and how to handle rope. She seemed inordinately proud of her achievement, prompting Kakashi to deflate her ego by informing her that such high control reflected poorly on the size of her chakra reserves. He also ordered her to continue practising until sticking to vertical surfaces was reflexive, adding that extended practice would actually cause her reserves to increase.
Sasuke had managed to get to the top of his tree after grudgingly banding together with Naruto to ask Sakura for tips. Kakashi told him he had to be able to walk down the tree as well as up it as well as practice until sticking was instinctive. "Practice walking up and down different trees and jumping from one to another," he instructed the last Uchiha. "When you've mastered that practice your ninjutsu again and see how much less chakra they need with your increased control. Then work on augmenting your bones and muscles with chakra to increase your speed and strength."
"Hai, Sensei."
Naruto, unlike his team-mates, had done badly. At a run he could get two thirds of the way up his chosen tree, but at a walk he blasted off before he reached the halfway mark.
"My chakra is to closely bound to my emotions, sensei," the blond grumbled. "I get frustrated with my lack of progress, which unsettles my chakra and makes me unstick. So I have to sit down and meditate for a bit. Then I get a good way up, get excited and fly off again when my chakra spikes."
"Did you try using shadow clones?"
"Iie. I sent thirteen with you and didn't want to risk overload. The scroll mentioned that more than ten performing different tasks was risky. Specifically, 'the more varied the tasks carried out, the more likely the caster is to suffer from mental overload once the technique is dispelled'."
"Okay, change of plans, then: tomorrow Sakura comes with me to the bridge with two Naruto clones; she can practice walking along the sides and underside of the bridge. Naruto, you get at least a dozen clones to practice tree climbing with you; the smaller reserves will make learning easier. Sasuke, no change for you."
"Hai, Sensei," the three genin chorused.
"Why do you even bother? You're all going to die anyway," Inari, Tsunami's son, said gloomily.
"Nope, not happening;" Naruto countered cheerily, "we're going to keep Tazuna-san safe, get the bridge finished and defeat Gatou so all of Nami no kuni can be freed from oppression."
"That's a lie! No-one can defeat Gatou! Hero's don't exist and you're just going to lose!"
"Shut it, kid," Naruto said a little more sharply. "While you may be getting along just fine as the protagonist of your very own tragedy, the rest of us would rather make a difference and do the right thing."
"You shut up! What do you know about suffering? I bet you've never lost anyone or gone short in your life!" the little boy shouted.
Naruto's reaction to these thoughtless words was volcanic. The KI spike drove his team-mates to their knees gasping for breath and made even Kakashi dizzy. Tsunami fainted dead away, Tazuna went chalk white and wheezed in his seat and Inari -the target of Naruto's ire- froze in absolute terror, unable to so much as draw breath.
Naruto's orange, slit-pupilled eyes bore into the petrified child. "You," the blond said softly with such careful deliberation that it chilled Kakashi to the bone, "are a spoilt, ignorant babe. You know nothing of pain; you are surrounded by living family who love you. You have a roof over your head and clothes on your back. Food is provided for you at every meal. Yet you throw all of this privileges aside and insist you have nothing. You disgust me." The jinchuuriki now had claws and his fangs were poking out over his lips.
"Naruto..." Kakashi said warningly, hoping his student would not make a scene.
"I'm going out to practice, Sensei; don't wait up," The feral blond spat through gritted teeth before stomping out of the house, the oppressive cloud of KI following him.
Tazuna gasped as the pressure lifted, Inari burst into hysterical tears and bolted out of the room -Kakashi caught the distinct scent of urine as the boy passed him- and Sasuke and Sakura sat up properly, relaxing only after Kakashi gave them both a reassuring eyesmile.
"What was that?" the bridge builder asked.
"Naruto is not well loved in our village through no fault of his own," the copy-nin said shortly. He was tired, in pain and wanted to sleep, not deal with the aftermath of his most complicated student terrorizing the client's family. "As a result he has suffered more than any person should at the hands of people who should know better than to take out their frustrations on a child. Even those responsible for teaching him hated him. What he has he has earned many times over and fought tooth and nail for."
"I apologise for my grandson then; he took the loss of my son-in-law at the hands of Gatou's thugs very badly," Tazuna said quietly as Sakura roused Tsunami.
"And I apologise for my genin. He needs to keep a stronger leash on his temper," Kakashi responded, not meaning a single word of it. The journin was inordinately proud of the self control Naruto had shown: Not so much as a whisper of the Kyuubi's chakra had been leaked.
A/N: Ladies and Gentlemen, we have backstory. Updates are going to be a little less frequent now because I'm looking for work. Not being a student any more means a lot less free time for writing in, sadly. On a brighter note, is there anyone in particular my readers would like to see Naruto meet in my Odds, Ends and Fragments colletion now I've done Sai? Specifically outside Konoha as I'm working to the Manga timeline for the main plot, so team seven will not be going to snow country or anywhere like that.