AN: I wanted to get this out yesterday but ended up being swamped with errands. Wrote for an hour before bed but knew that I shouldn't rush out a partially finished product. So that brings us to today. Today brings us a bit of a quicker chapter before the inevitable climax of the first arc. Going to try and explain more behind abilities and where things are headed. I also think after I wrap this arc up I may take a small break from this project while I work on something else that has been brewing in my head. Either way, more for you guys to read.

"Of all people, why did they send you," Kakashi groaned as he tried grabbing his precious book back from Anko. Anko, who had snatched the novel since joining the squad, snorted in response.

"First of all, you aren't getting this back. You need to be concentrating on your surroundings. A jonin of your caliber shouldn't be getting surprised by an ambush from the likes of Zabuza," Kakashi sighed at this, knowing the violate-haired woman was correct. "Second of all, who else did you expect them to send? Potentially an A-rank mission with you heading to the land of waves without a solid route that could be followed - you'd need a tracker. You do know tracking is my specialty. On top of all this, who do you think you are keeping this squad of children,"

"Hey, we are not just children!" Naruto fired at the woman.

"This squad of children," Anko repeated, "on such a mission that could kill them." Sakura began to look at the ground. A scowl grew upon Sasuke's face. Naruto, for once, said nothing.

She is right, he began thinking, this mission could have easily killed any one of us before. Had it been Sasuke or even Sakura... I don't know what I would do. His thoughts were interrupted by Anko continuing her point.

"I mean seriously Kakashi. Look at who you have on your squad. It isn't just some random run-of-the-mill ninja you have. You have Sasuke Uchiha, the last of his class. Sakura Haruno, healing for a regular ol' civilian family sure, but nevertheless being the top kunoichi of her class - such potential should not be wasted. And on top of these two, there's also Naruto." Sasuke and Sakura grew confused at this last sentence.

"What is so special about Naruto?" Sakura asked as the group continued walking down their path.

"Hey!" Naruto shouted, "I'm pretty special!"

Sasuke grunted, "Before today I would've said especially useless."

Anko stopped and turned, glaring at Sasuke and Sakura. "You two have no idea what it's like to be him," she frowned, giving a sympathetic look to the other village outcast, while also noticing that they didn't have any idea what she was talking about. "Wow, you guys really have no idea do you"

"No idea of what?" Sakura asked.

If she's trying to say no idea of being alone, well she's dead wrong with that, Sasuke thought to himself with every bit of disdain he could muster.

"Anko, you know, this really may not be the time and place for that discussion," Kakashi warned. Even though they were comrades in the same village Ankoy knew that Kakashi would be a bit more than just a little angry if she spilled the news about Naruto's little fox friend.

Sasuke and Sakura were still confused but decided not to press any further. They had never seen Kakashi angrier before. Naruto, on the other hand, knew exactly where the conversation was going. It served as another reminder of his alienation and the beast that was dormant inside him. He looked at the ground and didn't say a word as the group continued onward.

They had arrived at Tazuna's house, met the family, and learned of the tragedy that was Kaiza through Tsunami, Tazuna's daughter. Tsunami's grandson, Inari, had stormed out after yelling at his leaf ninja guests, too heartbroken to stay any longer. He sat crying alone in his room gazing out at the ocean. Naruto, all too familiar with this story, felt sad after hearing it a second time. He didn't have to go chasing after Inari to know that boy was crying. He already knew. The situation only gave Naruto more resolve to ensure that he didn't fail this time around.

After the group had eaten they went to sleep. Once he was sure that everyone was out cold Naruto decided to give his new friend a chat.

Hey, Kurayami, you there? He thought, hoping that he'd find a timely response.

What is it, kid?

What's the deal with this cooldown stuff from earlier? I'm so confused, Jutsu doesn't have cooldowns. I should be able to use it as many times as I want as long as I have chakra!

While that is true, you do know that what you did was not a jutsu. It was a spell, an ability that's similar to jutsu, but is not a jutsu. Of course, you could turn this spell into a jutsu by leveling it up, thus finding a way to get around the limitations of a cooldown.

Naruto mentally groaned. More handicaps. More hurdles to jump over. You gotta be kidding me. I worked so hard on that leaf thing just to get the chakra control necessary for that ability and here you are telling me that it isn't even a jutsu!

Consider yourself lucky you even get to learn anything from my gift Naruto. You know, not everyone gets a second chance. How many times do I need to remind you of this? Naruto let out a sigh as he brought up the spell ability in his mind's eye. A scroll popped up, informing him that Piercing Wind Gale was indeed not a jutsu. At least, not yet. At level one the ability scaled off chakra in a 1 to 1/2 ratio, meaning that for every ounce of chakra put into it only half an ounce was converted into power. On top of that, at this level, the ability was not considered a jutsu, and as such could not be utilized through normal means. A user still needed to channel chakra and use hand signs, but the key difference between it and a jutsu was the cooldown attached. The ability could only be used once every half an hour. For Naruto, this meant he could only use it once per battle. Twice if he could stall long enough.

I guess I need to really use these abilities sparingly don't I. Naruto sighed before being startled by his sensei.

"You're still up, probably worried about what happened earlier with that little jutsu of yours," Kakashi said, his voice calm and steady. "I have a question for you." Naruto gulped. "Why do you think they call me Kakashi the copy ninja?"

Naruto responded quietly, "I guess it's because you copy jutus right?"

Kakashi's eye smiled, "Yup, that's exactly correct. This Sharingan in here gives me that ability. Now let me ask you another question. How come I could see your jutsu, but couldn't copy it? In all my years as a ninja, I had never heard of a jutsu called that name. I have seen jutsu that are similar, of course, and those I've copied. The only jutsu I can't copy are from kekkei genkai abilities. But we both know you don't have that."

At this point, Naruto was sweating. He had no idea what to do. Buddy, help me here. What do I say? What do I do? He was panicking. No response. Naruto internally cursed his friend.

"Ah, you got me," Naruto chuckled nervously, "You see, I didn't really use a jutsu," he paused as he tried to figure out the best excuse. "I used something like a paper bomb! It was sold to me by the guys at the ninja shop in town. They said it would be useful for traps and stuff." Kakashi grunted, somewhat satisfied by the answer.

"Ah. I see. Well, you don't need to go shopping for jutsu like that. If you want to learn something, you just gotta ask your sensei," he smiled. Naruto's face was in disbelief, especially after the hassle that it was to get Kakashi to teach them basic chakra control. "Speaking of teaching, you should get to bed, training starts tomorrow. With that, Kakashi ended the conversation.

"So you're telling me," Naruto accentuated and paused his speech, "that we can," he then paused again, "can walk up trees!" Kakashi's face was mute.

"Naruto, I've answered this twice already. Yes, yes you can. You even saw me demonstrate, so now you try," he said dryly. Anko was off to the side, shaking her head at the join.

"You've had this squad for a while now and are just now teaching them how to climb trees?" She questioned. Kakashi gave a nervous laugh in response. He walked over to his comrade so they could talk more quietly. Partly to ensure that his students could focus on the task at hand. Partly to ensure that the two would not be overheard.

"Well, you see, I needed to make sure that they had proper teamwork before I-" she cut him off again.

"You were too busy sulking, again, weren't you." She deadpanned. "You know, you're not the only one who has lost friends." Color Kakashi was surprised, Anko was showing him a comforting side of herself, and it felt genuine. This was not shocking but definitely welcoming from Kakashi. "I know what you're thinking and you can stop that now. I'm here for you, as a comrade, that's all."

Kakashi smiled nonetheless, "I know I know. It's still just nice to have a friend around."

Anko began to scowl, being kind was not her forte. "Yeah, and I know friends need to be honest with each other. And, honestly, you're a perv with motivation issues. If you actually want to make a change and make sure these kids don't make your mistakes, you need to pick yourself up and stop moping. You're not in black ops anymore. You do have emotions, start using them." Kakashi grew quiet, nothing he could say. He knew she was right. Anko left the man to stand and rethink his life decisions. "I gotta do some work. You should make sure these kids get ready."

—

Naruto flew off the tree as he once again channeled too much chakra into his foot. Sasuke was slipping off his tree, utilizing too little chakra. Sakura, on the other hand, was perfect in achieving this exercise, just like the exercise prior.

"Hehe YAY look at me I did it I did it! Sasuke did you see that!" She asked but the boy just grunted and looked away. His face looked angry at his own failure.

The leaf was so much easier. This is much more difficult. I don't want to use too much chakra and end up like Naruto. Sasuke thought as he sat on the ground thinking about this problem. His eyes grew wide as he thought of a trick. This exercise was just like the leaf on the forehead trick. Except for this time, he was the lead and the tree was the forehead. He needed to knead his chakra to his feet in such a way as to stick without falling- obviously. Except if he kneaded just the right amount of chakra he would be able to feel himself stick to the tree with just the right amount of force. He laid down, body extended and feet against the tree. His mind began meditating so that he could focus just the right amount of-

"Sasuke what're you doing?" Naruto asked as he saw the raven-haired boy laying down. Sasuke's eye twitched as he held back yelling at the blonde for interrupting his focus. "Are you just giving up this easily, laying down and resting when we have barely even started-"

"Can you, for once, just shut your mouth," Sasuke began, "and if you are so dense that you can't understand what I'm doing maybe you should shut your mouth and think a little harder. I'm meditating, focusing harder on the flow of chakra in my body. Now, please, just do me this one favor and shut up."

Naruto closed his mouth and crossed his arms. He let out a humph sound before thinking to himself, Okay maybe he's right. Maybe I should try meditating.

It was at that thought that Naruto crossed his legs and closed his eyes, focusing on the energy that was deep inside him. The longer he sat there and felt his energy the more intense of a feeling he could sense within his stomach. Visions of storms raging and waves crashing entered his mindscape. Winds raged against the waves and lightning brightened the skies as thunder crashed. The longer Naruto sat in his spot the easier the nature of his inner landscape became to control. Nature's wrath subsided as a very feint hue began to glow around his body. Naruto sat like this for hours before finally feeling a wave of control and bliss rush over him. The storm had been controlled, and with that, he opened his eyes and saw a scroll pop up in front of his head.

Activity - Meditation

Level - 5

Status - Complete

Reward:

1 +3 to chakra control

2 +1 to intelligence

3 Ability - Sticking to Walls Rank 1/2: meditate to focus your chakra and draw enough control to stick yourself to surfaces. Practice for 10 hours to unlock Rank 2/2. Rank 2 allows the user to stick to surfaces without thinking about the action.

Naruto smiled as he realized that meditating not only worked in helping his chakra control but also gave him some sweet stats to boot. Now that's what I'm talking about. To his surprise, he also saw that he unlocked new points to spend in his spell book. Oh, that is also nice. Hehe, I'm excited about more training. Just a few days and I already got some new abilities and another point.

"Hey, idiot, you're sitting there still smiling off into space. What, did you have a nice dream or something when napping?" Sasuke taunted, his body inverted and standing upside down on a tree branch.

"For your information, I was not napping!" Naruto jumped to his feet as he yelled. "I uhh," he paused before blushing slightly, embarrassed by the fact he took Sasuke's advice, "I took your advice alright. I meditated, and I think I got this now, just watch!" Once he finished the words he began running toward the tree Sasuke was hanging from. Right before his feet hit the tree he began channeling chakra and actively thinking about being able to scale the wood. Within minutes he was at the top, grinning right next to Sasuke.

Sasuke couldn't shake the surprise from his eyes, and for a moment he wasn't sure if what he saw was real. The same Naruto who previously botched the leaf exercise just figured out tree climbing in a matter of hours. "I'm not that great at it though," Naruto's voice broke Sasuke's train of thought. "I gotta like, really focus while I'm sticking. Otherwise I'll just fling off. It's really hard, maintaining focus like that," Naruto didn't like it but he had to admit his faults here.

Sasuke smirked and turned his head away from the blonde, "Well, maybe you should spend more time practicing than meditating. Can't just think about something, you gotta actually do it." Naruto smiled, even though he could tell Sasuke was mocking him.

"You got an answer for everything, dont you Uchia," Naruto teased.

"Well, when you're the best, you're the best. Goodluck catching up," Sasuke jumped from his branch, "you'll need it." Sasuke didn't show it but a small smile apeared on his face. Naruto mirrored the boy's actions unknowingly.

Is this... is this what friendship is like? The question rang in both minds.

In another part of the Land of Waves Anko could be found hot on the tails of her target. Staying in the shadows, refusing to make a sound, her eyes glowed as she made a few mental notes. Target one - large strength, swordsman, vast chakra pool. Experienced Assassin.

Target two - small, almost fragile looking. Androgynous. Abilities unknown, although arrears to be an expert tracker. I need to be careful with this one.

Targets three and four - completely unknown. Both cloaked, no abilities shown so far.

Right as Anko deemed her reconnaissance finished the second target on her list turned and made what appeared to be eye contact. Anko froze, refusing to believe she'd been caught. If she moved now then discovery was 100%. After what felt like ages the second target turned their attention back to the original target.

AN: Chapter Five done. Wohoo. Thats a milestone for me for sure. Hope you guys enjoyed this one as much as I enjoyed writing it. I really like the emphasis on building relationships through interactions. I don't particularly like forcing behavior just coz. But, again, doing my best here. Feel free to write your thoughts below as I love reading the reviews. For those wondering about cooldowns, I hope the explanation in this chapter helped clear some things up.

QOTD: What kinds of side missions or activities would you like to see explored?