Naruto: Dream of Dragons

by MoonlightWolf16

Some people say that death is like falling asleep. I'm here to tell you that all of that is absolute nonsense. Death is painful, frightening, and lonely. I should know. I died. And for some absurd reason, I was given a second chance. This is the story of how I became Akina Morimoto, Kunoichi of Konoha. Naruto OC Reincarnation fic.

11. Past Connections

Author's Note

I just wanted to say that I am sorry for the extremely late post. A lot of things have been going on in my life right now that have left me unmotivated for writing. My great-grandma fell and broke her hip and fractured her knees, my Uncle died, and another person that I know committed suicide. All within the span of the last couple of months. So, needless to say, my time away hasn't been easy. I will try to be more regular with my posts now that the summer is here. Thank you all for understanding. I hope you enjoy the chapter.

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Chapter 10

I'm so scared…

Someone…

Please help me…

I shivered in my hiding spot. I had to control my breathing, but I was so frightened. There were people here! I could still hear the screams outside the borders of my hiding spot. I could hear the clang of metal on metal, and I could also hear the roars of my family and friends as they were in pain.

I just wanted it all to stop!

PLEASE STOP!

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I woke up with a startled gasp as I sat up straight. I looked around to see that everyone was still asleep. Naruto and Sasuke were still in their beds, and I could see the beginnings of dawn's light start to peek through the window at the far wall of the room.

Sighing to myself, I suppressed my fear from my dream and quietly got up to start the new day a little earlier than normal. It was now the second day that we had been here. Yesterday, I had done all I could to heal Kakashi-sensei's wounds and ground up medicines that my family would often use to help recover chakra faster. I couldn't force Kakashi-sensei to drink it, so I had dried the ingredients and was waiting for him to wake so that I could brew it into a tea.

Today, I figured that he would wake up, and so I started down towards the kitchen to start breakfast and boil some hot water for tea. I had helped Tsunami, Tazuna's daughter, with all of the cooking yesterday and had her permission to help her from now on as well.

I had to smile at myself, remembering how in control Tsunami had been when we showed up on her doorstep yesterday before lunch, carrying our unconscious sensei and Tazuna looking worried for him as well. She had immediately known that we were the ninja her father had hired and she ordered for us to get comfortable after our sensei was lying down in a room upstairs.

I was just getting done when Tsunami came down the stairs to start the morning. She smiled when she saw that I was already making breakfast. "You didn't have to cook, Akina. You should be resting as well after your fight from yesterday. I can finish up everything."

Smirking under her mother-hen-like behavior, I looked to her as I replied. "I'm already done with the cooking, but there are some dishes that I haven't cleaned yet. I was going to get everyone else up and see how Kakashi sensei is doing."

Tsunami smiled at me as well. "Consider it done."

Letting her take over her kitchen once more, I went to Tazuna's room and knocked on the door to let him know that there was food ready, getting a low grumble for my efforts. I also knew that Tsunami had a son as I headed to the room across the hall from Tazuna, but I had not seen him yet. None the less, I also knocked on his door to let him know about the food. Then I proceeded to the room that had been provided for us ninja. When I opened the door, I saw that Kakashi-sensei was still asleep from chakra exhaustion while the other two boys were slumbering away as well.

Normally, I would be a little mischievous and prank the boys in some way so that they would wake up. However, with Kakashi-sensei needing his peace and quiet, I decided to let the boys have a little bit of a break. Poking both of them in their sides, they groggily looked to me as they woke up. At the smallest mention of food, Naruto was wide awake and heading straight for the kitchen to have some. Sasuke was a more calm about it, but he was none the less excited for some homemade breakfast as well. I told him to save me some food from Naruto while I have a healing session with Kakashi-sensei to which I got the standard response of "hn".

Barely ten minutes into the session with my medical ninjutsu, I heard a groaning from my patient. I glanced down from where my hands were working to see that Kakashi-sensei was now awake.

"I think I overdid it with my Sharingan," Kakashi-sensei moaned.

I gave him a smirk. "Really? I hadn't noticed. It's not like I haven't been working on you with my medical ninjutsu or anything. I thought you were just taking a long catnap."

Sensei gave a sheepish eye smile as he tried to move to sit up. He quickly realized that this was not a smart move as he gasped a little at the soreness in his body.

"It's better if you just stop moving, so lie back down. I don't want to have to heal anymore injuries that you cause from trying to get back up to speed before you need to. You'll probably be out of it for another four or five days. If I hadn't been doing some healing sessions with you, it could have been a week. As it is, I have done all that I can for now. Your body needs to heal on its own now."

"Thanks, Akina," Kakashi-sensei seemed to smile at me as he lay back down on the futon.

After that was done, I could hear the pitter-patter of feet coming towards the room and saw that everyone else was coming to check on our Sensei. I was surprised to see that Naruto was carrying a platter of food with him.

"I thought I would bring you up some food since you were helping Kakashi-sensei," Naruto grinned at me. I gave him an appreciative smile in return as I began to eat my breakfast off to the side.

"There's some for the sensei as well," Tazuna chimed in, and that's when everyone else saw that he was awake.

"Sensei is awake!"

I gave Naruto another grin. "Did you think I was going to let him snooze away the whole day?"

With a sweat drop, Naruto sheepishly smiled and scratched the back of his head which gave me my answer. But after a moment, he looked to Kakashi-sensei. "Sensei, your Sharingan is cool, ya'know? But if you're going to faint every time you use it, maybe it isn't worth it…?"

Naruto phrased it as a question, but I knew that he was just concerned for someone who showed that he cared about all of us. Naruto didn't have many people who did that for him right now and he wanted to make sure that everyone was fine. It was sweet to see Naruto be so concerned for someone, when he was normally the person that I was worried about with all of the trouble he got into even without my help.

"Sorry," Kakashi apologized.

Tazuna grunted his agreement and continued. "Well, you did take down one of the most powerful ninja assassins, so we'll be safe for a while."

I could see Naruto looking down from the corner of my eye though, looking discouraged when he mentioned, "But that other guy…"

"He's from the elite tracking unit of the Village Hidden in the Mist. Those masks are only worn by the most elite shinobi," Kakashi-sensei answered Naruto's unsaid question.

"What do they really do?" Naruto voiced this question.

"The ANBU Black Ops," Kakashi-sensei began, "also known as the Inferno Squad, destroy all traces of a rogue ninja's corpse. The shinobi's body contains many secrets: ninjutsu, chakra, special medicines used on his body. These are the secrets of his village. If his enemies find them, his people will be in grave danger."

This reminded me too much of things that I wished I could forget. My dream from the last night replayed in my head for a second before Kakashi-sensei continued on with his explanation.

"For instance, if I were to die at the hands of an enemy," at this I felt a shiver run down my spine, "he would try to analyze my Sharingan. In the worst case, my entire jutsu could be stolen and used against our home village. It is the sacred duty of the shinobi trackers to prevent this, to keep the village secrets safe. If a ninja betrays his village, the trackers hunt him down, eliminate him, and obliterate every trace of his existence. That's their specialty."

After saying this, Kakashi-sensei seemed to stare off into the distance with a curious look in his eyes. I wondered if he was having a nagging feeling about how Zabuza died like I was. I can't help but think that something was not right with this.

Naruto's voice brought me and Kakashi-sensei back to reality. "Sensei. Hey, are you okay? Sensei!"

"Hm? Oh, yeah." Kakashi-sensei regained his composure as he went on to explain. "To finish what I was saying, tracker ninja deal with the body immediately, on the spot, so there's no room for error."

With that being said, everything clicked into place. No way!

I must have said this out loud because Kakashi-sensei seemed to nod to me and looked to Naruto and Sasuke as he asked a question. "Do you remember what that tracker did with Zabuza's body?"

Naruto thought on it for a second before saying, "We don't know what he did. That guy just vanished with it."

"Exactly," I pointed to him, glad that he was following.

Kakashi-sensei nodded as well. "He should have worked on Zabuza right there, as quickly as possible. Think of the weapons he used for the takedown. Do you remember what they were?"

Sasuke spoke for the first time. "Throwing needles." It took him a moment, but then his eyes widened as he turned to look at me and repeated my own words from before. "No way…"

"Exactly," our sensei remarked. "None of it adds up."

Tazuna must have been tired of being out of the loop, because he questioned us. "What are you all yammering about? You demolished that assassin."

I shook my head as Kakashi-sensei revealed the awful truth. "Zabuza's still alive."

As a response, Tazuna and Naruto screamed in disapproval while Tsunami gasped at this new knowledge.

"But we saw his body, ya'know" Naruto exclaimed. "You checked him! You said his heart stopped!"

"His heart did stop. But that was just a temporary state to simulate death. The weapons that tracker used are called senbon. They can pierce deeply but rarely kill unless they hit a vital organ, not in the neck. They're modified from needles used for medical treatments, like acupuncture. Trackers are trained to know every detail of the human body, causing the heart to stop temporarily while keeping the body alive is an easy matter for them."

Holding up one finger, Kakashi-sensei went on to explain how he figured this out. "First, he carried Zabuza's body away, even though it's much heavier than he is." Now he lifted up two fingers. "Second, he used senbon, which have a precise effect but are rarely fatal. From those two factors, we can conclude that the tracker wasn't trying to destroy Zabuza. He was trying to save him."

Tazuna didn't seem to want to believe it though. "Come on, you're over-thinking this, aren't you?"

"Encountering suspicion, the ninja prepares quickly. Hesitation leads to disaster. Every shinobi knows this saying," Kakashi-sensei answered.

Beside me, Naruto was shaking as if in anticipation for a match with a certain masked ninja, and I don't think it was Kakashi-sensei. A grin formed on his face as Naruto began to laugh at the opportunity to face Zabuza and the tracker again. I grinned at his enthusiasm, but I knew that I was not ready to come face to face with the Demon of the Mist again.

"What did Zabuza mean?"

The question startled me. I looked over my shoulder to see Sasuke giving me an intense stare that would normally make someone else nervous. For me, I could see the concern behind the intensity.

"What do you mean, Sasuke?"

Everyone's attention was now on the two of us. It made me feel uncomfortable. I wanted Sasuke to drop whatever it was that he was thinking of. I didn't like to be the center of attention.

"What did he mean about how there was a bounty on your head, and that your mother was a kunoichi from the Hidden Mist? We don't care where your family came from, because you are still our friend, but we want to know what he meant," Sasuke answered.

While I was impressed that this was again like listening to a speech from Sasuke given that he is usually a person of few words, I didn't really want to answer the question. It brought back painful memories. Glancing around at everyone else, I could see that I wasn't going to get away with not saying anything. I could however see an understanding expression in the one visible eye of my sensei. The Hokage must have told him something…

"How much do you know, sensei?"

"Your mother was the sensei for one of my friends, and she was married to my sensei's best friend, your father. So, I know a fair amount about your clan, but not how Zabuza knows you personally."

Sighing, I resigned myself to explaining the connection I had to Zabuza.

"The Morimoto clan was a clan which originated in the Village Hidden in the Mist. We were known for our dragon summons and the closeness we had to them. There was even a myth that we were originally dragons who decided to become humans but never lost sight of our past selves. When my Mother, Tsubasa Morimoto, was a child, her clan was being slaughtered by the very village she called home. Just after the attack happened, her parents, fearing for my Mother's life, sent her to a friend of theirs in Konoha. He name is Hiruzen Sarutobi."

Naruto looked surprised. "Old Man Hokage knew your grandparents?!"

Despite what I was about to reveal, I couldn't help but smile at Naruto. "Yeah, they were friends, despite being from different villages."

"That's so cool!"

My smile faded after a moment. I was ready to continue. "The Third Hokage helped to raise my Mother. But the point is that attack on the Morimoto clan was ordered by the Mizukage since he felt that clans with Kekkei Genkai were getting too strong to contain. So he ordered that they be wiped away from existence. Once someone had learned of the fact that there was a survivor of the Morimoto clan, the Mizukage then created a bounty for the head of the survivor, my Mother."

I smiled a little. "Mother was happy in Konoha, and her new home protected her from those who sought to collect on her bounty. In time, she made friends and found who she wanted to be with for the rest of her life, Yuuto, my Father. Having been an orphan, my Father didn't have a name to give my Mother when they married, so he took on the clan name of Morimoto. This turned out to be his downfall though when he was out on a mission. Since he carried the symbol for our clan on his back, people assumed he was the survivor and killed him. He died before I was even born."

I felt a hand on my shoulder, and knew that it was Naruto. Despite the fact that he never knew his parents at all, he was trying to give me comfort. I, at least, still had the memories of my Mother since I was a bit more aware than the average infant.

"After my Mother also died during the Kyuubi Attack, my Mother put me in the care of the wife of the Dragon King, Sora, who was her most powerful summon and one of her dear friends. I was raised with them in their own sanctuary for dragons and for the last survivor of the Morimoto clan."

Tazuna seemed like he was following, but was growing impatient. "While the back story was helpful, how is this tied to how you know Zabuza?"

"Because it was a tradition of Sora's to go and pay respects to the site of the Morimoto Massacre, and that is where I met Zabuza."

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Flashback…

It was that time again.

Sora, my Mom, was saying that it was time to go pay our respects to those who died at the old site of the Morimoto clan. Many of the dragons who were going with us were those who had once been the summoning of a fallen clan member. Some of the dragons were old enough that they were retired from combat, some were a little older than Sora, and some were just a little younger than her.

Those younger dragons were ones who had been helped by my Mother after they hatched. One of the things I could remember about our house when I lived with her was how many young dragons visited. They had been orphaned by the massacre as well and Mother helped look after them.

Also accompanying Mom and I were my siblings Ichigo and Nami. While I was hoping Dad would be able to go, I knew that he couldn't leave for as long as we were going to be gone. He had important duties to uphold as the Dragon King.

"Akina," Nami tried to get my attention. I took this time to really look at my sister. Our family was one of the few who spent most of their time in a human form. While all dragons had a human form to better hide their presence in the regular world, many chose not to change into this form, or they let many dragon features show which created a hybrid-like appearance. Nami in both her dragon and human form was breathtakingly gorgeous in my eyes. She was always the one I wanted to be like. Her turquoise hair flowed like water down her back as she kept her mid back length hair in a low and loose ponytail with a few bangs framing her flawless face which held emerald jewels perfectly set above her compassionate smile.

Despite only being three years older than me, she was very mature for her age of nine years. I only hoped I could be like her one day.

"Silly Akina, did you hear what I said?" Nami laughed at me lightly.

I hear a small scoff. "You know Akina is prone to daydreaming, Nami. Why would now be any different?"

I scowl as I turn to my brother. Ichigo is the twin brother of Nami and is older than her by twelve minutes, a fact that he never lets her forget. Ichigo is a person that looks so terrifying when you first meet him, especially with his piercing yellow eyes that will search deep within your soul. He also had ebony colored hair that he ties in a high ponytail and wears his long bangs loose, but once you become his friend, he is going to always have your back in the "annoying older brother" protective way.

Don't get me wrong, he is a serious guy, who likes to poke fun at anyone and everyone. But then there are moments when you see the care that he has for someone and it makes all the times you wanted to strangle him seem like nothing just to have that guy on your side.

I tended to feel that way more often when there were snowball fights in the winter at Mount Ryuumoto. Ichigo has a wicked aim with whatever he throws, which included snowballs. But right now, he was just annoying.

"Hush, Ichigo," Nami admonished. "Today is a somber day, it is understandable that Akina would be thinking deeply on many things concerning today."

At the mention of today's meaning, I frowned and was reminded of why we were going to the distant outskirts of the Village Hidden in the Mist. This was the day, many years ago, that the Hidden Mist wiped out the Morimoto clan, leaving only my Mother to survive.

Ignoring the scoff that I heard from Ichigo at being scolded by his twin sister, I made my way to the front of the group where my Mom was. Her name is Sora and she is someone that I had come to see as my true Mom. I still remember my Mother, Tsubasa, fondly. However, it was Sora that had raised me and helped me become the young girl I am currently at six years old.

This is the person who I would always aspire to be like, even if she was a dragon. As my Mom gazed down at me with her endearing smile that makes you feel so warm inside, I couldn't help but smile back at her with all the love that I could convey.

"Little One, are you ready?" Mom beamed at me with a hint of sadness now.

I nodded seriously. I knew that this was important for my Mom to go and pay our respects to those she and the rest of the dragons had lost. We would go to a memorial that had been built by the dragons at the center of where the main household had been and perform a cleansing ceremony and send our prayers to those who had perished there.

I'm not sure that I was all for the spirituality of the ceremonies. However, there is a calming sort of feeling that comes over me when I go to this ceremony, like as if my sadness has been washed away for a little while because I know that the spirits of my kinsmen are still there with me.

As we neared a point on Mount Ryuumoto where there were many intricate seals that I didn't understand. All I knew about this place was that it was a way for a group of people to be reverse-summoned to a location without the use of scrolls or someone else's chakra at the new location. Everyone who was going with us was now in the circle and my Mom brought her hand in front of her face as though she was doing a single-handed prayer. I could feel her chakra swirl around us and flow into the seals.

With a large plume of smoke, I could no longer see the scenery of the place I called my home, instead, I saw destruction. I was in the middle of a clearing it seemed, and beyond this clearing, there were torii gates to signify the entrance. These gates were like what I had seen in many pictures from Japanese temples from my first life, and at the top were kanji for the Morimoto clan (森本).

Entering the compound, I could see many fallen buildings and stains all around the walkway we were taking. I had a feeling that I knew what these stains were, but I didn't want to think about it at the moment. All around the crumbling buildings, I could see stones marked with what appeared to be names as well. They must be markers from where people were buried, or had fallen. I didn't know which it was, but we didn't stop for each individual one. I remembered that after the ceremony, Mom always gave others the time to go have some time. I can imagine that it was so they could visit each of these grave sites.

However, the place we were marching through to perform the ceremony was further ahead in what I could now see is a large mansion. It reminded me of the old tatami-style mansions that they had in abundance in Japan many years ago from my other life. It was beautiful and surprising in how it was still standing perfectly in its majesty. I knew that no one was home, but I had the ominous feeling that there were presences still within the home.

Once we reached the center of the home, everyone remained still. Looking up, I saw a stone monument. It was an immense orb on which was the kanji for my clan, and wrapped around this orb was a mighty dragon which twisted around this name without hindering the view of the clan's name. As I focused more, I could see small inscriptions on the platform that I realized now must be the names of my kinsmen.

Mom was stepping forward again to bring a large container of sake to pour on the memorial stone when I had that foreboding feeling again. It seemed that Mom also felts something, because she paused in her procession to the memorial to look around and sniff the air. It was when her eyes widened and showed fear and worry that I was alerted to something being terribly wrong. What Mom said next, released the floodgates for chaos to reign in this once peaceful but saddening place.

"AMBUSH!"

All at once, shadows from everywhere rained down on our group. I could almost instantly hear screaming and sounds of something sinking into flesh. Many calls for help or cries of pain were heard as bodies were falling everywhere and my world was painted red. I was even almost crushed from the movement of some children a little older than me trying to flee from the wrath of our enemy, but not everyone made it past them. While the enemy was a blur, I could see children that I would play with on Mount Ryuumoto die right before my eyes. So many dragons were dying and I could hardly believe what was happening around me. I couldn't help but feel so afraid that I began shaking in fright, and my body refused to move away from the danger before me.

Something landing beside me jolted me from my mental battle to move, and I could see it was the body of an enemy. My heart sank as I finally knew who was attacking us.

The corpse was a young man who looked so ordinary, but what really drew my attention was what was on his forehead protector. I could see the symbol for the Village Hidden in the Mist, and I grew terrified. Before I had time to think further on this fear, a figure was instantly in front of me and I had a split second notice to see that something sharp was in his hands.

This is it, I thought. This is the end of my second life.

Sounds of metal striking metal and the absence of pain alerted me to the fact that someone was protecting me. I looked up to see the visage of my brother, Ichigo, as he held the ninja at bay with his own katana blade.

"Stay away from my sister!" Ichigo growled at the enemy, fire spitting out of his mouth. Despite him being only nine years old, I could tell feel his killing intent rolling off of him to the ninja. I was suddenly grateful to have Ichigo as a brother more than ever.

Two arms wrapped themselves around me before I could think more about my newfound appreciation for Ichigo. I was about to resist when I saw a lock of turquoise hair in my periphery vision, indicating that it was my sister, Nami, who was taking me somewhere.

Before I could even thank her as we ran through the halls to avoid enemy combat, a ninja suddenly blocked our path. This ninja was wearing the standard flak jacket and he had spiked obsidian hair with his headband sitting sideways and diagonally across his head. Below this, his face was half covered in bandages, but it didn't obscure the view of his murderous earth colored eyes which zoned in on the two of us.

"Where do you think you're going?" Even his voice was gravelly and low, making me shiver with how frightening it was to my own ears. "The party has just started."

End Flashback

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"Zabuza was one of the ninja who was there when the Mist had attacked us," I looked to everyone sitting around in Tazuna's home.

I turned my gaze downward, no longer able to take the looks of pity coming from some in the room. "I watched as dozens of dragons were slain: the elderly, the children and grandchildren of many dragons were also slain. I felt so useless, insignificant, and weak. I was a scared little girl who only knew how to hide behind others to protect myself. If it wasn't for the combined strengths of my brother and sister, I would have been dead long before my Mom was able to come to our rescue and help us escape from the chaos."

Closing my eyes, I could see the scene playing out again behind my eyelids. "Zabuza had only just become Jonin at this time and was not proficient in the Art of Silent Killing yet. He was terrifying even then. I remember at the end of our encounter, when Mom had arrived, that he would let the world know that there was still a price on my head."

Finishing my tale, I surveyed the room to gauge how people might treat me now that they knew about my discouraging past. The obviously troubled Tazuna and Tsunami would probably pity me for a while and try to take it easy on me. Sasuke, who had originally asked about my connection to Zabuza, looked at me with understanding and I knew that he would have my back, without babying me. Kakashi-sensei was the wild card, since I still couldn't completely read his face with only one eye visible at the moment.

And then there was Naruto.

Naruto was not even looking in my direction. He held his gaze firmly downward, and he was shaking slightly. At first, I thought he was going to look at me with the same pitying look that Tazuna and Tsunami had on their faces. I was about to tell him it was okay when he snapped his head up and surprised me with the most determined expression on his face. His cerulean eyes shone with the spirit I saw in him even from the page of a manga, but in real life, there was no comparison. He would never give up on what he had just determined he needed to do.

Holding out a pinky from his right hand and I gave him a surprised and confused expression as his eyes never strayed from my own. "Then we will just have to get stronger, and prove them all wrong!"

My eyes widened at him.

"We'll keep moving forward, never stopping, until we prove to everyone and ourselves that we will not be left behind. We are going to get stronger together so that no one ever has to die for us again. And that is a promise!"

Staring at him, I had no words.

I couldn't believe that Naruto could take my sad excuse of a past and turn it into strength, especially when I thought about how hard of a life he has had. Compared to his and Sasuke's lives, my life has been easy. But here Naruto was, trying to make me feel better and to move on from what had happened, and helping me move forward.

The two of us smiled at the same time, Naruto's being one of triumph, and mine being a smirk of amusement and amazement with my best friend. I reached forward to wrap my own right pinky with his and we shook them slightly, sealing our promise to each other and ourselves.

From my peripheral vision, I could see everyone else looking at us with their own smiles. Even Sasuke was smiling without it being a smirk. The moment couldn't be any more perfect.

However, deciding that we needed to move on, I glanced over to Kakashi-sensei. "So, Sensei, your said that a ninja needs to be prepared. How do you expect to prepare us when you won't be able to move properly for another few days at least?"

To this, our sensei chuckled. I scowled a little at his response. I didn't like that he thought his need to recover was hilarious.

"I can still train you," Kakashi-sensei reassured me.

I was unimpressed with his bravado though. "And what last minute training do you have that can help us take on the likes of Zabuza when you had trouble with him while using your Sharingan."

"Akina, why was I able to stop Zabuza? Because you all helped me. You've grown." After saying this, he looked to Naruto and called out his name, making the boy glance up to see his sensei give him a beaming eye smile. "You've grown the most."

At this, Naruto grinned at our sensei. "So you noticed, Kakashi-sensei. Now things are going to get better. We're all going to keep getting stronger, ya'know!"

"No, I don't know. And nothing's going to be good."

The unknown voice interrupted us from our current conversation. We all turned to see a little boy of around eight years old. With dark green coverall shorts and a tan shirt underneath as his ensemble wardrobe, he hid his face under a large white and blue hat. It covered his black spiky hair and cobalt eyes which shone with defiance and doubt. Whether that doubt was in himself or us as ninja, I had yet to determine.

Naruto had already had enough of this kid though. "Who are you?!" he yelled as he pointed an accusing finger at the boy.

"Inari," Tazuna exclaimed, "where have you been?"

The boy, now known to be Inari, ran to Tazuna with his arms open. "Welcome back, Grandpa."

Just as Tsunami went to scold Inari, I realized that this was her son who I had only heard about but had not seen yet. I wondered why he was so negative towards us.

"It's okay. I'm rude to them too," Tazuna tried to reassure his daughter on his grandson's behavior to us. The old man laughed at his own joke, but while he did this, Inari had a calculated expression set on his face as he regarded all of us ninja.

"Mom, don't you see? These people are going to die. Gato and his men will come back and find them and wipe them out."

Thanks for the vote of confidence, kid.

"What did you say, brat?!"

Oh, boy… Now, he got Naruto all riled up as well.

"Listen up. You know what a super ninja is? Well, that's me, only a lot better. I'm going to be Hokage. This Gato or Blato or whatever he's called is no match for a real hero like me."

That word "hero" reminded me of something. Inari smiling with someone else, but it wasn't Tazuna or Tsunami… so who was it?

"Ha!" Inari laughed at the idea. "There's no such thing as a hero. You're just full of stupid ideas."

The negativity just rolled off of this kid in waves. I really wanted to remember why Inari had become this way. From what little I do recall, he wasn't always a glass half-empty kid. I really wanted to help him smile again, but I didn't know how to at this point.

Naruto must have made a protest against the kid, because, he made to go over to Inari and probably show him a thing or two about something. However, before he could do that, I decided to grab a hold of Naruto's jacket so that he couldn't go any further.

"Settle down, he's just a kid," I remarked calmly.

"If you want to stay alive," Inari turned just before heading out the door, "you should go back to where you came from." And with that, Inari left the room saying he was going to look at the ocean and to be left alone.

If you wanted to be alone, you shouldn't have come in here from the beginning…

I couldn't help but feel a bit annoyed with the kid, despite wanting to help him out a bit. No amount of wanting to help could desensitize someone from the blatant disrespect he showed everyone in the room apart from his family. I could understand that we were strangers to him, but it didn't mean that he needed to basically say we were going to die because we were too weak to take on a business tycoon.

Tazuna sighed and looked back to us. "Sorry about that."

Naruto stormed out of the room, and I knew he too was annoyed with how he was being talked to by Inari. I wanted to go take Naruto outside to calm down with some sparring, but I figured some yelling might do him some good as well. However, Inari is still a kid and might not take to that reaction as well, so I followed in the direction that Naruto went.

At the top of the stairs, I could hear crying and I spotted Naruto in front of Inari's door with a dejected face. I think Naruto could see why Inari was the way he is, and had lost his will to yell at the kid. Smiling at Naruto's understanding, I went back down the stairs to leave both Inari and Naruto to their own thoughts.

000000000000000000000000000000000000

"Alright," Kakashi-sensei sighed. "Training starts now."

Kakashi-sensei had taken all of us to a clearing in the forest that surrounded the town. At first, as his doctor, I had refused to let him come out here on his own. But Kakashi-sensei was fortunate that Tazuna had a pair of crutches lying around for him to use, otherwise we would be doing our training with him riding on someone's back. However, now that we were here, I guess that he would be fine. Looking around us though, enormous trees completely surrounded us, and beyond that was dense forests as far as the eye could see.

"First, we will begin with a review of chakra, the ninja's basic source of power. Understanding chakra is essential."

"We know that," Sasuke interrupted.

I couldn't help but sigh mentally.

"He's right," Naruto chimed in. "A long time ago we learned about…cattra."

"Chakra," Kakashi-sensei corrected.

Naruto sweat dropped at that, and I couldn't help but let loose a slight chuckle at seeing his face when he was proven to be wrong.

So when Kakashi-sensei gave me the go ahead, I started to explain chakra to my two less informed teammates. "Chakra is the elemental life energy that all ninjas use to perform jutsu. It is the source of any ninja's power. There are two forms of chakra. The first one is physical energy which is what the body produces on its own. The other form is spiritual energy which is strengthened by training and your own experience. Both physical and spiritual energies have to be brought together in the right amounts to perform different jutsu. And lastly, the hand signs that you form focus and unleash that molded chakra."

When I could see Naruto and Sasuke's confused faces, more Naruto than Sasuke, I decided to explain it further. "It's kind of like cooking. You need the right amounts of different ingredients to create something, but the way you cut and cook things is going to determine what meal you get. If you don't do everything right, it will come out as mush. But if everything is done right, you could have a nice bowl of homemade ramen in the end."

Kakashi-sensei seemed to smile at me. "Right on all points. Iruka-sensei really did have some excellent students."

"Thanks, sensei."

"What's the big deal with all the explanations? The whole point is the learn the jutsu, isn't it?" Naruto questioned, annoyed.

"Naruto is right for once." Oh, how I wish I had something to record this moment. "We're already using chakra energy in our jutsu."

"No," our Sensei disagreed. "You have not mastered this power. You've barely scratched the surface of it."

"It's like Akina just said. You have to draw on physical and spiritual energies and then combine them within yourself. But how do you do that? Each jutsu requires different types of chakra in different proportions. You must select and combine them in exactly the right way. Up to now, you've just guessed at the proportions, hoping they'd come out right."

Closing his one visible eye on his mostly covered face, Kakashi-sensei continued. "Even if you produce a lot of chakra, unless you can balance and control it, it's all worthless. The jutsu won't work at all or it'll just be a joke. You waste so much energy that way. Then you're out of chakra and you can't fight at all. You're just a target."

Naruto seemed to be understanding the need to know about chakra now. "So how do we change that?"

"Training so hard that controlling your chakra becomes second nature. To achieve this goal, you must be ready to put your life on the line."

"What do we have to do?" Naruto asked. I had an idea, but I didn't want to spoil the surprise.

Chuckling to himself, Kakashi-sensei pointed up and answered, "Climb a tree."

"CLIMB A TREE?!" both Naruto and Sasuke exclaimed simultaneously. I smiled at their reactions, it was just priceless.

"That's right. But there's just one rule. No hands."

Both boys gave our Sensei a funny look, as if they were trying to picture how to do this. "You've gotta be kidding," Naruto dared.

"Am I? Let's see." Kakashi-sensei wove his hands into a sign with his left hand holding up two fingers together, and then using his left hand, he wraps it around the two fingers, also holding up two fingers on that hand.

With my sensor capabilities, I could practically feel the chakra in Kakashi's body being focused to his feet. In response to this, a tiny swirl of movement happened in a circle around Sensei's feet, the chakra itself being invisible to the naked eye. Then, with his crutches in tow, Kakashi-sensei proceeded to a tree not far from him.

When he put his foot against the tree, I could hear the boys gasp in surprise. There was our Sensei, walking up a tree!

"He's climbing!" Naruto says, amazed. "He's only using his feet!"

At this point now, Kakashi-sensei had reached a branch and was hanging upside down with his crutches. "Well, you get the idea. Focus the chakra toward the soles of your feet and use it to connect to the tree. This is one way to apply the power of chakra."

A scoff from Sasuke was heard. "How does this help us fight—"

"It's the only way to fight him," Sensei interrupted. "That's the entire goal of this training. First, you learn to draw a precise amount of chakra to a precise point in your body. This is difficult, even for advanced ninja. This type of climbing requires a subtle mix of physical and spiritual energy. And the bottoms of the feet are the most difficult points to focus chakra."

Looking to all of us, Kakashi-sensei looked to see if we were following. I could almost swear that I saw an understanding glint in his eye when he glanced my way though. "Do you get the picture? If you can master this, you'll be able to master any jutsu. Well, theoretically. The second point is to learn to maintain your chakra levels. When a ninja is focused in battle, it's even harder to control and maintain his chakra levels, a deadly mistake."

I shuddered, knowing full well how this could go wrong.

"To avoid this, maintaining chakra must become second nature, effortless." He sighed once again as he seemed to realize that he was rambling on. "Well, I can talk about this all day but that won't advance your skills, will it? You need to apply the power of chakra through training."

Grasping three kunai in his one hand, he threw them towards the ground in front of the three of us on ground level. "Use the kunai knife to mark the tree at the highest point you can climb without using your hands. Then, try to get past that mark the next time, and the next. At first, you'll need to run at the tree so your momentum can take you as high as possible until you're used to it. Ready?"

After grabbing the kunai in front of him, Naruto had a determined look on his face. "I'm more than ready! This is going to be no sweat, all the way, ya'know! Remember what you said, Sensei, I'm the one who's grown the most."

"You're definitely the one who talks the most," Kakashi-sensei replied. I let out a surprised chuckle at this remark. "Now, get focused and do it."

All of us, closed our eyes and focused. For me, it didn't take long to focus chakra to my feet and snap my eyes open to face the tree in front of where I stood.

"I got it!" Naruto exclaimed. "CHARGE!"

With that signal, all three of us ran towards our respective trees. Right away, I could see that Naruto didn't have enough chakra in his feet. As a result, he fell to the ground on his back and head. He squirmed a bit in pain, holding onto his injured head as he rolled around with tears in his eyes. I could also see that Sasuke had way too much chakra in his feet. This resulted in him being propelled off of the tree and he maneuvered quickly so that he could make a mark a fair distance up the tree.

I was having a much better time with my tree. I didn't falter in how much chakra I put in to my feet, and it was second nature. Once I reached the top of the tree, I looked down from the highest branch to see Sasuke and Naruto looking for me on the ground.

Did they really think I was not going to be that good?

"Hello down there!"

My shout caused all of the males of the team to look further up than they were expecting me to be, and I saw Naruto and Sasuke's eyes widen at how far I was up the tree. Kakashi-sensei seemed to know that I would be able to do this training easily.

"Well," Kakashi-sensei remarked as I jumped down to a branch closer to all of them, "looks like the female member of the squad has the most advanced chakra control. Well done, Akina."

I sweat dropped a little at his praise. "I've already had this training before so that I could control my chakra for medical ninjutsu. I have to be precise, or I could wind up hurting a patient from my wild chakra control."

Naruto didn't seem to mind that I had already done this training before. "Way to go, Akina! I always knew you were awesome, ya'know!" From his expression afterwards, I could tell that he didn't like being left behind, no matter how happy he was for me.

Sasuke just scoffed at me. I smirked, knowing that he hated being left behind as well. He was probably pouting inside his head. It made me want to giggle at how childish Sasuke could really be sometimes. But now wasn't the time to do that. I looked over to my Sensei and gave him a knowing look, hoping he was getting my message for how to motivate the boys into action and jumpstart their determination to get better.

"Well, not only does Akina understand chakra, she can control and maintain it as well. We spoke about someone becoming Hokage one day, didn't we? Seems Akina's got the best chance of that, wouldn't you say?" Naruto gave a disgruntled look up at that. "And as for the great Uchiha clan, maybe they're not so great after all."

Naruto and Sasuke both seemed to contemplate the words of Kakashi-sensei for a moment before they looked to each other. They each wore expressions that I can only describe as driven to be on top. They now had the right motivation and they had the added effect of having a rival to compete with and help them grow. I sometimes envied them of that relationship. I just wish they could be better friends outside of training and missions. Life would be simpler if they were able to do that. Maybe I should just force them into a room and make them stay there until they discuss the real reason why they were hard on each other.

"Alright!" Naruto revved himself up. "First, I'll match Sasuke. Then I'm going all the way to the top, ya'know!"

Smiling to myself, I went over to Kakashi-sensei as the boys really started their training. Sensei acknowledged my approach with a slight nod and then glanced my way. "Have you mastered the Water Walking chakra exercise as well?"

"Yes," I answered honestly. "I was required to master both before Mom would teach me anything about medical ninjutsu, and even that right now is restricted to being able to help with minor injuries and chakra exhaustion. So you should be thankful that I know what I do about chakra exhaustion, Mr. Sharingan."

Chuckling to himself, Kakashi-sensei at least had the decency to look sheepish.

At that moment though, my attention was caught on Naruto again. He was just crashing down from a fall again, but I could tell he was getting frustrated. The next second, he was about to throw a tantrum like a child. I thought my influence would change some of his petty tantrums into becoming extinct, but I guess I was wrong.

However, Naruto suddenly searched around the clearing until his eyes found where I was. As he made his way to my location, I smirked, already having an idea of what was coming next.

"Hey, Akina," Naruto whispered behind his hand. "You're good at this. How about some advice for your best friend? But please don't tell Sasuke I asked. Please, please!"

I smiled, already knowing that this is a new and improved Naruto. He was already keeping with our promise to get stronger. Knowing that he needed help was the first step, and being willing to ask someone was another big step forward in the right direction. Being able to see Naruto continue to grow into a fine young man and shinobi was something I would never get tired of in my life time.

And I couldn't wait to be by his side as he changes the world.