Chapter 5 New Training
Team 7 made it to Tazuna's house where they rested. Kakashi lay in bed, finally waking up in a couple of days but-
"Must have overused my sharingan. Great, I won't be able to move normally for a week!" Kakashi said.
"You better rest then," a woman's voice said. "I'm Tsunami, Tazuna's daughter."
Kakashi looked and saw a woman with black hair and eyes. His team walked into the room.
"Hey the Sensei is coming around!" Naruto said.
"You know, sensei, your sharingan is great and all but if it puts that much pressure on you maybe its not worth it!" Sakura said.
"Sorry to make it hard on you guys. But I only use it when really necessary," Kakashi said.
"Well at least we got rid of Zabuza," Naruto said.
"Hopefully Gato doesn't have any more powerful ninja," Sasuke said. "Cause we won't be able to hold them off by ourselves right now."
"Yeah, though I can't help but feel something is amiss," Kakashi agreed.
He drifted off, unable to stay awake. After a few more hours of rest, he figured it out.
"Guys, we got trouble. I don't think Zabuza is dead!"
"What?" Naruto and Sakura said. "But we saw him, his heart stopped!"
"Yes, but that was just a trick. The Tracker used senbon, which can rarely kill, they're designed to incapacitate. He wasn't trying to kill Zabuza, he was trying to save him!"
Naruto and Sakura both shook. If Sasuke was scared he didn't show it.
"So, that stands to reason that we will meet Zabuza again. And if I'm right then the Tracker, or more likely, the man in the mask who wears a tracker mask, will be with him. We don't know what sort of jutsu possesses so we will need to be prepared for anything. I will train you all."
"But sensei you said you can't move for a week!" Sakura reminded him.
"I can still move enough to show you a few things," Kakashi said.
"Alright! Look out Zabuza, masked man, Gato! We're gonna train hard and bring you all down! Believe it!" Naruto stated.
Suddenly a voice spoke up. "I don't believe it! Nothing around here is gonna change!"
They looked and saw a small boy with a hat on. He looked at them with angry eyes.
"Inari!" Tsunami shouted in a scolding tone.
"Inari!" Tazuna said in a warm one.
"Grandpa you're back!" the boy said running to Tazuna and hugging him.
"Inari, that was very rude! These are the ninja that have protected our grandfather!" Tsunami lectured her son.
"Grandpa you should them back home or they're gonna die!" Inari said.
"No way we're gonna head back!" Naruto said. "We never give up."
"You're just gonna die!" Inari said. "Grandpa please stop making the bridge! Gato might let you live if you do!"
"I can't do that Inari," Tazuna said. "If I stop now things will never have a chance to get better."
"They won't anyway!" Inari said storming off. "Heroes don't exist!"
He vanished into another room. Naruto stared after him with a frown.
…
Kakashi used crutches to walk and lead his team into the woods.
"Okay, we're gonna need to grow stronger if we are going to face Zabuza again. Even though he is alive, he'll need time to recover same as me. But we can't waste any time! You've all grown stronger, especially you Naruto."
Naruto grinned. "Alright so what are we gonna do?"
"We're going to learn better chakra control. I'm gonna show you an exercise to do that. Climb a tree."
"Climb a tree!" Naruto and Sakura exclaimed, they then looked at each other and blushed before looking away.
"There's just one rule, no hands!" Kakashi said.
That stumped them.
"How can we climb trees without using our hands?" Sakura asked.
"Watch," Kakashi said.
He walked over to the nearest tree and with his crutches began walking up it with only his feat to the amazement of the genin. Once on a branch, he threw three kunai down in front of them.
"Use the kunai to mark the spot where you are able to climb," he told them. "Concentrate your chakra into your feet. You'll need to apply the right amount of chakra or it won't work."
They took up the kunai and ran to a different tree. Naruto fell right back down as soon as he took both feet off the ground. Sasuke managed to get several steps up before he made a crack in the tree and was forced back down. He quickly slashed the bark to mark the spot before he fell, managing to land smoothly on his feet. Naruto had applied to little chakra to allow himself to climb up while Sasuke had put too much and damaged the tree. As for Sakura-
"Hey this is fun!" Sakura said.
She had managed to climb up the tree and stick her kunai in before jumping on a branch and looking down at her team.
"Hey great job Sakura!" Naruto said to her.
"Thanks Naruto!" Sakura said.
Though she'd hoped to impress Sasuke, Naruto's praise still warmed her heart somehow.
Maybe Naruto is a better guy then him. Her inner self said. He might not be as cool or strong, but he's much nicer and funny too!
They continued to train, Sakura was able to run all the way up the tree several times but was soon left exhausted. Naruto and Sasuke, while not as good at controlling the amount of chakra they used had much more chakra reserves then her. For a while Naruto didn't make any progress at all. Sasuke also struggled with it even though he managed to get higher up the tree. Frustrated, he turned to Sakura and walked over to her.
"Hey, you're good at this, how about some advice?"
This surprised her as she wouldn't think he would come to her for her advice.
"Just don't tell Sasuke please?" he added.
Sakura figured he must not want to look like he needed help.
"Alright," she said.
Neither of them noticed Sasuke look at them.
"Alright chakra requires spiritual energy so if you get all anxious and frantic it doesn't work, relax and totally focus on the chakra flow in the bottoms of your feet. That's how you get a steady chakra flow to climb the tree."
…
Sakura, since she was the best at climbing trees was assigned to keep an eye on Tazuna as he constructed the bridge. It was nearly complete, which would likely mean Gato was gonna have to make a move soon. Though Sakura was relieved nothing happened aside from Tazuna firing a worker that encouraged him to quit while he could get out alive. Unfortunately as she accompanied Tazuna to the store one day she saw the people holding signs looking for work, children sitting in the streets hungrily, and the very limited food supply at the store there. She recognized that they had to help these people. One person at the store tried to rob her bag (though she assumed he was trying to touch her butt when she sensed him), and she kicked him.
She remembered back when she'd been a child walking with her mother through the streets of the Leaf. They saw Naruto, Sakura recalled the first time she saw him, she'd thought he looked sad, only for her mother to look at him and say-
"Lets leave, and get away from him!" Mibuki Haruno said as she lead her away.
Back then, she'd been young and impressionable. But now she asked why everyone, including her mother seemed to hate Naruto. She'd come to be influenced and dislike him as well, thinking he was just getting the way of her and Sasuke. But now she knew that he'd done nothing of the sort. Sasuke had never been interested in her.
On the way home Sakura felt someone grab her, she turned ready to attack again but saw only a young child asking for food. Looking at the child, she was again reminded of Naruto. Wishing she could have done something nice for him back when he'd been young, she handed over a bit of the small amount of food she and Tazuna had gotten from the store, if one could even call it that since it was practically empty.
…
At dinner they learned that when Gato arrived he'd executed Kaiza, Inari's father who'd been a Hero in the Land of Waves. This had destroyed the morale of the Land and they bowed to Gato. It traumatized Inari greatly.
The days passed, Naruto had been out training all night and woke to find a beautiful girl standing over him. She was prettier then Sakura he thought. Probably just a couple years older then him, she carried a basket.
"You should be careful. Sleeping out here you could catch a cold."
Naruto sniffled. She might have been right.
"Guess I just trained so hard I passed out and slept till morning."
"I see while out gathering herbs for an ill friend. He needs them to recover," she said. "Why are you training so hard?"
"Well, I have to outdo someone, and become strong so I can become Hokage someday."
"Hokage, I've heard of that. You're from the leaf village then," the girl said.
Naruto nodded.
"You know, something that has made me strong is having someone to protect."
He looked at her and pondered her words. "Someone to protect?"
"Yes, when you have someone precious to you, it makes you stronger. If you fight only for yourself then what do you have that's worth fighting for?"
Naruto pondered her words. "Well, I do have my Team, Kakashi Sensei, Sasuke and Sakura."
"Are they precious to you?" the woman asked.
"Well, not sure. I mean Sasuke and I kinda hate each other and always compete. But Sakura, man she is just beautiful, she used to always belittle me but now she's been nicer. I kinda like her."
"Well, if she is precious to you then protect her at least."
"Hey Naruto!" a familiar voice called.
"Sakura!" he exclaimed.
She appeared soon with a scornful look.
"Its breakfast! Kakashi sensei sent me to find you!" she said.
"Oh right!" Naruto got up and looked back at the girl. "Bye!"
"Goodbye!" she said.
"Who's that?" Sakura asked as Naruto ran up to her.
"Oh just some girl that woke me up while I was gathering herbs!" Naruto told her.
"Actually, I'm a boy!" she shouted at him as she got up with the basket she had.
"Huh! Ah! No way!" Naruto exclaimed in shock. "He's prettier then you Sakura!"
Sakura blushed at that and narrowed her eyes. She was flattered that Naruto thought she was pretty, of course she'd always known that as he'd constantly tried to ask her out. Or at least, used to. He hadn't done anything like that since they'd become a Team, aside from the first day. At the same time though, she felt a tinge of jealousy with him saying this 'boy' was prettier then her. She looked at the boy dressed as a girl.
"Who are you?" she asked.
"Someone you will likely meet again," the boy said.
"Wait!" Sakura had heard that voice before, and the boy had dark hair, it was a different style but unmistakably the same color. "You're the one in the mask that saved Zabuza!"
"Huh?" Naruto exclaimed.
"You guessed it. You're sharp there," he said with a smile. "Well, I will be leaving with these herbs. I won't attack you but I will have to soon once Zabuza is recovered."
He turned and began walking away.
"Hey come back!" Naruto made to follow but Sakura held him back.
"We don't know if we can win against him!" she said. "If he has an Anbu tracker mask he probably killed the one it belonged to. Anbu are just as strong as Jonin or even stronger. We can't win against him. Lets get back to the house and tell Sensei."
Naruto wanted to protest but he knew Sakura was smarter then him. He followed her lead. They went back to the house and found Kakashi and told him.
"Well good thing he decided to let you two go," Kakashi said. "But he is still our enemy. Be on guard."
…
A couple days later, Sakura and Kakashi (who was now able to walk without crutches) returned to the woods where the boys were still hard at work training. To her amazement she saw Naruto up around halfway up the tree standing on a branch.
"Wow, you were able to climb that high Naruto? That's great!" Sakura said.
"You're getting better," Kakashi said.
Suddenly Naruto looked like he was going to fall! Sakura yelped as he swayed to one side with a yell, but it turned out to be fake as he hung upside down from his feet.
"Haha! Got ya!" he said.
"Naruto! We were worried about you!" Sakura yelled, feeling the urge to go up there and slug him.
Suddenly Naruto's feet separated from the tree as he stopped channeling chakra. Sakura screamed.
"Naruto!" she yelled.
Faster then the eye could see, Sasuke leaped to that tree and was on the branch Naruto had been upside down on. He caught Naruto by the ankles before the blonde boy could plummet to the ground.
"Phew!" Sakura breathed in relief. "Go Sasuke! Nice catch!"
Even if she was starting to lean more toward Naruto, Sasuke was still so cool! Ah well.
If I'm still sane by the time I finish their training it will be a miracle. Kakashi thought.
Finally, come nightfall one night, Naruto and Sasuke were looking at each other from the tops of their trees. They headed back to Tazuna's home where dinner was ready.
"We did it, we made it to the top!" Naruto said.
This pleased everyone. Now it was time to dig in. Tomorrow they would all protect Tazuna, just a few more days and the bridge would be completed. The only one not happy was Inari.
"Why? Why are you doing all this? All that training and cool stuff you talk about, its all just a waste! Gato has a whole army and he'll beat and kill you just like he did my father! Nothing's gonna change! This isn't your land so why can't you just butt out! You have no idea what its like to be treated like dirt!"
Naruto snapped. "Listen to yourself whining and complaining, you're nothing but a coward!"
Inari gasped.
"Naruto! You went too far!" Sakura scolded.
Naruto silently got up and walked away.
"Hey wait!" Sakura said as she got up and followed.
Naruto didn't say a word. Sakura just looked at him. Sasuke joined them as well. The Team stood in silence as they looked up at the stars.
Finally the silence was broken.
"I used to feel so hopeless," Naruto said. "So alone, but I don't anymore since I'm on this Team with you two."
Sakura smiled at that. "I'm glad Naruto. I feel like I've changed as well. I was so mean to you back in the Academy but I've been trying to be nicer."
"I know Sakura," Naruto said.
"You're not a loser you know," Sasuke said. "Not completely anyway. You did manage to get to the top and as much as I hate to admit it you have grown the most out of all of us. Still a pretty big loser though. And competing against you gave me some extra resolve to work harder."
"Yeah same for me Sasuke," Naruto said. "And I won't be a loser forever! Someday I'm gonna beat you!"
"Heh!" Sasuke said with a smirk. "I'm getting stronger too you know. And I'm not gonna lose to you."
"Yeah! Bring it on!" Naruto said. "Tomorrow we're gonna guard Tazuna! And whenever Zabuza and Gato show up we'll beat the crap out of them!"
Sakura smiled at him. Naruto had such a positive attitude. He never gave up. Somehow, she felt that they would be alright for whatever came. Looking from Naruto to Sasuke, she asked herself. Which one?
Sasuke was cool, but often cold. He'd already turned her down, and would only consider dating her (or any girl for that matter) once his revenge was fulfilled. Now that Sakura had gotten to know her teammates, she imagined each of them in the future. Two scenarios ran through her brain, one in which she was married to Sasuke. She'd be a house wife for the most part, taking care of the house and the kids while he was an elite ninja who went on dangerous high paying missions to provide for his family. But somehow even she imagined it she had a feeling he would not be home very often. When he was, he'd just care about his children's career as ninja and not give her a kiss. The thought made her feel lonely and incomplete.
Then Naruto, he seemed so bright like a ray of sunshine. His face would grin whenever he saw her. Then some words that Sasuke had said to her when he'd been about to kiss her came back to her.
"Sakura you have such a charming forehead. It makes me want to kiss it," he'd said. "Sorry that's the kind of thing Naruto would say."
And she could imagine him doing just that in about ten years. They would be older. An image of Naruto in that time popped into her mind and she thought he looked handsome. He didn't look that bad looking now she admitted. Even if he was a goofball. And she imagined him fulfilling his dream. He'd come home to her every night in the hokage's robe and kiss her forehead. She blushed at the thought. He'd play with the kids with a smile on his face while Sakura laughed and watched with affection. A life with him would be so bright. -
Okay, I guess its Naruto then. Sakura thought.
"Well, I think we better get some sleep," Sasuke said.
Naruto and Sakura nodded and went to their rooms. They would need the rest for what would come tomorrow.
Well, Sakura's decided to pursue Naruto. Next time we will have the battle against Zabuza, Haku, and Gato. It will be changed from canon or so I've planned. I won't spoil too much so you'll have to find about in another two or three weeks. But I'm open to suggestions. Like how might Sakura use her genjutsu here? I'm considering doing another chapter on my Star Wars fanfic which has been on Hiatus for a couple months now. If anyone is a Star Wars fan I could use some reviews on that story, only three in nearly a year for that one. :( Ah well, just gotta not give up. Please review this one and any others that you might like on my profile. Hope you have a good day.