"Naruto." — Direct speech.
"Naruto." — Thoughts.
*Slurp* - Sounds.
The day of the final exam. Training Ground 7.
Three wooden posts stands in a beautiful clearing surrounded by a forest and a river. On the riverside, distant mountains are visible, adding to the enchantment of this place.
Next to the wooden posts, Sakura and Sasuke stand in complete silence. Sakura constantly throws enamored glances toward Sasuke, while boy diligently ignores her. That continued until the sleepy Naruto entered the clearing.
"Hey, guys..." Naruto mumbled, rubbing his eyes.
"The hell! We're taking important for us exam today, and you didn't even get enough sleep?!" screeched Sakura, preparing to punch Naruto in the head.
"Sheesh, good morning to you too, Sakura-chan..." This response was not the right, as Sakura attempted to hit Naruto on the head. Naruto lazily dodged her strike, not stopping on his way to the wooden post. He placed his backpack with supplies under the post and turned to his teammates. "Yesterday, after Kakashi-sensei dismissed us, I spent a lot of time thinking about how we could pass this exam..."
"I thought it wouldn't rain today..." Sakura interrupted.
"I came up with an interesting idea. We need to work as a team." At these words, Sakura looked at him as if he were an idiot.
"Duh, obviously! Why do you think we placed in a three-men cell?" Naruto nervously rubbed his temple. Sasuke looked at Naruto with a calculating expression.
"So, you want to work as a team?" Sasuke asked.
"Don't get it wrong. My dream is to become Hokage. If this team is the only way to achieve it..." His facial expression became more determined. "No one can stop it." Sakura's eyes widened as Naruto finished his sentence. Sasuke still looked at Naruto as if he were looking into his soul.
"Alright," Sakura said, turning her head back to Sasuke.
"Fine." The speed at which Sakura turned her head to Sasuke made her neck produce a strange crunching sound. "Just try not to slow me down, dobe." A self-satisfied smile appeared on his face.
"How cool," Sakura thought, her eyes sparkling with hearts. Looking at Naruto again, she noticed he was looking at her with anticipation in eyes. "Of course, I will work as a team too. I planned it from the beginning," Said Sakura while thinking, "I planned to work with Sasuke, but there's no need to him to know that."
Naruto's smile could light up all of Konoha.
Half an hour later.
"Well, this will be our plan. If something goes wrong, we need to meet and rework this plan," Sakura said with a smile.
"Alright," Sasuke replied.
Naruto, with a shy smile, turned his gaze to Sakura. "Can I talk to you? Alone."
Sakura sighed but still agreed. Stepping away from Sasuke at a sufficient distance, Sakura stopped and gave Naruto a questioning look.
"Um... I'm not sure how to say this, so I'll just say it. Sakura, I like you! Really like you!" Naruto exclaimed, making Sakura cringe a little and shift her gaze to Sasuke, who heard his outburst. "I don't know why you hate me, but I can change!" Becoming quieter towards the end, Naruto nervously confessed. "I-I love you..."
"That feels... different," Sakura thought before responding to the sincere confession of love. "Naruto, you're not a bad guy. And I don't hate you. You just annoyed me with constant date invitations." Looking into his eyes, she saw hope, which made her sigh. "But I love someone else. My feelings for him are too strong, even if he doesn't love me in return..." Sakura murmured the last part.
Naruto's eyes dropped to the floor, and his hair covered his eyes. "Understood..."
Sakura's heart twinged at the sight of the sad Naruto. With one last glance at Naruto, she returned to the wooden posts, leaving him alone.
"*Ha-a-a...* That hurts..." Naruto sat in the shade of a tree and lifted his head to the sky. Tears were visible in his eyes, which he quickly wiped away with his sleeve. Nervously smiling, Naruto thought, "Respecting others means respecting their choices. Sakura made her choice, and I don't want to scorn it..."
Another half hour later.
Kakashi arrived at the meeting place, where he saw Sasuke and Sakura sitting under the wooden posts. A bit away from them, he noticed Naruto's orange jacket.
"Good morning, kids," Kakashi lazily greeted.
"You're late," Sakura replied.
"Yes, you see... When I was coming here, a black cat crossed my path. So I had to take a detour. Around all of Konoha," Kakashi explained.
Approaching them, Naruto smiled. "Hey, sensei. What are we doing?" Sakura and Sasuke looked at him, one with concern in her eyes, the other with a blank look.
Kakashi took an alarm clock from his backpack and placed it on one of the wooden posts. "I set this alarm to go off at noon." Grabbing a pair of bells from his pocket, he continued, "I have here two small bells. Your task is to steal them from me before the alarm rings. Anyone who fails won't get lunch and will be tied to one of these posts while I eat in front of you."
"...,"
"All you need is just one bell... apiece. But since there's not enough for one, one of you will definitely be tied to the post. And whoever that is, one of you on the way back to the academy... And disgrace."
*Gulp* Naruto swallowed and looked at his teammates for a second before turning his look back to Kakashi.
"You can use shuriken if you want. Attack as if you're going to kill, or you'll have no chance." Kakashi smiled beneath his mask, seeing the determined faces of his students. "Well, if there are no questions... On my command. Ready... Steady... GO!"
Immediately after the command, all three genin jumped into the forest. Stopping together not far from the clearing, they turned to look at each other. An awkward silence passed before Naruto said, "I think we should stick to our plan."
Sasuke responded first, "He has only two bells, Naruto. Do you understand? One of us has to go back to the academy."
"We'll figure that out after we get them," Naruto said, quite easily holding a determined stare from Sasuke.
Another minute of silence passed between the three genin until Sakura decided to be brave. "I-I agree with Naruto... We need to take the bells from him. Together is more chances to do so. After that we'll figure out who is going back to the academy. " Sasuke narrowed his eyes at her.
"...Alright. But let me make it clear, I won't go back to the academy." Sasuke finally agreed.
Back with Kakashi.
Left alone in the clearing, Kakashi decided it was a great opportunity to read his favorite book. Immersed in the book, he occasionally let out a few perverted giggles. Until nine shuriken flew out of the forest aimed at his right side.
Executing a quick Kawarimi, Kakashi began to follow the attacker to find three Naruto fleeing toward the river. Unsurprised by the use of physical clones, Kakashi decided to let Naruto lead him into a rather obvious trap.
Not reaching the river, the three Narutos turned around and threw shuriken at Kakashi. At the same time, dozens of shuriken flew out of the forest around them with various trajectories. The original Naruto, hiding in the bushes, thought, "Man, it's a good thing the clones decided to practice Shurikenjutsu yesterday."
Knowing about the trap in advance makes it easy to come up with an escape plan, right? Kakashi, at whom shuriken were flying, disappeared in a poof of smoke. Naruto's eyes widened. "Kage Bunshin!"
"You didn't think you are only one could get use of this technique, did you?" A voice sounded behind him. Quickly turning around, he saw the real Kakashi looking at him with a bored look on his visible eye.
Naruto throwed two shuriken at Kakashi, which he caught by sticking two fingers into the holes of the shuriken, and began to run away. Sighing, Kakashi set off after him, but not taking even ten steps he felt a presence behind him and immediately heard several whistling shuriken. "I allowed shuriken, of course, but this is starting to get annoying." Turning around, Kakashi threw one shuriken, which, bouncing off one of the flying shuriken, hit another. He simply stepped aside from the third shuriken.
Kakashi's eyebrows raised when he saw Sasuke attacking him from a tree with one hand poised over his head, ready to strike. "Well, here goes the first lesson: Taijutsu." Kakashi easily stopped the fist and grabbed it, only to receive an elbow to the jaw.
"..."
Swiftly turning Sasuke around without letting go of his arm, he twisted it behind his back enough to cause pain. In the next moment, Sasuke disappeared in a poof of smoke, and Kakashi leaped aside from another ax kick from another Sasuke.
"Kage Bunshin? Hm..."
Around him, no fewer than thirty shuriken appeared, flying straight at him. Right behind them, ten copies of Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura rushed out, each with a smile on their face. Kakashi's visible eye widened when he saw one of Sasuke's hands was in a tiger seal.
"Katon: Great Fire Ball!" A large fireball shot out of Sasuke's mouth and flew towards Kakashi, hitting several clones in it's path.
"Second lesson: Ninjutsu," Kakashi said before quickly performing a series of hand seals and shouting, "Suiton: Water Waves!" A large amount of water spewed from Kakashi's mouth, hitting Sasuke's technique and all the shuriken flying toward Kakashi, even those behind him. Due to the clash of techniques, big cloud of steam rose, blocking Kakashi's visibility.
Remaining in his place, Kakashi noticed movement to his right and abruptly grabbed the attacking Naruto by the scurf, stopping his fist from reaching his head. Immediately after, the clone dispersed. Kakashi was confused by the clone's action until his visible eye widened again, and he heard shuriken flying toward him. Quickly forming the necessary seals for another technique, Kakashi shouted, "Fuuton: Great Breakthrough!" Kakashi exhaled a strong stream of air in front of him, deflecting the shuriken and dispersing the steam. Immediately after, he used Kawarimi. The Log that appeared in his place had several holes from the shuriken.
Hidden in the tree leaves, Kakashi observed the clones searching for him. "They have certainly passed the real test of this exam. I'm... Impressed."
At the same time, with Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura.
"Here goes the plan..." Sakura said nervously. "I'm sorry... I couldn't help much..."
"Just stay safe and look for opportunities to steal the bells," Sasuke replied.
"Yeah, leave the heavy lifting to us. You work with your head," Naruto said.
"Okay, thanks..." Sakura replied. "Naruto's clones are incredibly useful. We have to use them to the maximum." Naruto nodded with a huge smile on his face. "Sasuke, can you still perform the Great Fireball?"
"I think two or three more times. Running around this forest seriously drains stamina..."
Naruto gained a quizzical expression. "Really?" Sasuke looked at him with a strange look.
"Then here's what we can do..." Sakura began, ignoring Naruto, but she was interrupted by a familiar voice not far from them.
"Oh, do tell," Kakashi said, emerging from behind a tree. Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura immediately assumed taijutsu stances. They were about to attack, but stopped when Kakashi raised his palm, signaling them to stop.
"Enough." Immediately after that word, a distant sound of the alarm clock rang. "Time's up, the bells are still with me. Ready for the academy?" Kakashi asked with a cheerful voice.
"I won't go back to the academy!" Naruto shouted, and he and Sasuke were about to attack Kakashi.
"Yes, you won't." Kakashi said in the same tone. "It wouldn't be fair to send you back to the academy after passing the final exam with flying colors."
"Huh?" Three surprised voices sounded.
"The real purpose of this exam is to see if you have the most important characteristic any shinobi needs. Teamwork." The eyes of the three genin widened after hearing these words. Naruto and Sakura sighed in relief, while Sasuke looked at them with a blank expression.
"From now on, you're a team. While individual skills are important for a ninja, what's even more crucial is teamwork. Making a play as an individual is bad for the team and exposes your allies to unnecessary damage. You might as well kill them yourself." Naruto and Sakura lost the smiles that were on their faces. "Follow me."
Memorial stone.
"Look at the marker... All the names carved in the stone are the heroes of our village. Ninjas." Naruto's eyes lit up, and he was about to say something, but Kakashi interrupted him. "But the heroes listed here are not ordinary heroes."
Naruto asked with a smile and shining eyes, "Really? What kind of hero are they?"
"The dead kind. They died in the line of duty." Naruto instantly lost his smile, and Sakura paled. Sasuke's face turned into a frown.
"This is a memorial. It includes the names of my best friends. One of them told me words that I will remember all my life." Turning his head to look at the river and the mountains beyond, he continued, "In the ninja world, those who break the rules are trash. However, those who do not care for and support their fellows are even worse than trash."
Naruto blushed a bit, "That's... kind of cool!" Sasuke wore a smirk on his face, and Sakura smiled.
"This exam is now concluded. You all pass! That's all for today, Team Seven. Your duties will commence tomorrow. See you at this place at seven in the morning." Kakashi showed them a thumbs-up and disappeared in a puff of smoke.
"Kage Bunshin..."
The next day.
Kakashi arrived at Training Ground 7, as promised, at nine o'clock. Seeing his students with sour expressions, he asked in surprise, "What's with the sour faces?"
Sakura and Naruto pointed their index fingers at Kakashi and exclaimed, "You're late!"
Kakashi had a stupefied expression. "What?" Looking at the watch, he replied, "It's exactly nine o'clock now. Did I oversleep?"
"You said to come at seven! And now it's already eleven!" Sakura shouted.
"Oh, sorry, looks like my clock is two hours behind..." Kakashi replied, scratching his head.
"Even so, you're still two hours late..." Sakura grumbled.
"Well, team, today we will carry out our first mission!" Kakashi said, completely ignoring Sakura's grumbling.
After Team Seven's first experience in Konoha's crucial D-rank missions.
"That sucks!" Naruto exclaimed, leaving the Hokage's residence.
"Well, at least he didn't start it in the Hokage's office..." Kakashi thought.
"These missions will help you work better as a team. They don't pose a danger to life, so you can gain experience as a team safely. But the ease of the missions doesn't exempt you from responsibility; perform them with maximum efficiency." Stopping, he looked at the three genin. "Well, that's all for today. Next meeting in two days at Training Ground 7 at seven in the morning. Until then..."
"Kakashi-sensei." Naruto stopped him. Kakashi, Sasuke, and Sakura looked at him. "Hokage-jiji told me you can teach us the next exercise in chakra control." Sasuke and Sakura turned their gazes to Kakashi.
"Hmm... Do you think you're ready?" Kakashi asked him.
"Of course! I've been training with the Leaf Concentration Exercise for so long that leaves stopped falling at all! I even learned to move leaves around my body and attract them from a short distance using only chakra!"
Sasuke and Sakura's eyes widened a bit, while Kakashi raised one eyebrow and pondered.
"Hmm... Well, I can teach you Tree Walking... We'll do that in our next meeting."
"Thank you, Kakashi-sensei." With an eye smile, Kakashi disappeared in a leafy Shunshin.
Sakura returned to Naruto and asked, "You hated the Leaf Exercise in the academy, and now you're asking for extra training in chakra control? Are you sure you're Naruto and not a Henge?"
"Rude..." Naruto replied with a pout. At that moment, Sasuke turned around and walked home, and Sakura ran after him, throwing a quick "Goodbye" to Naruto.
Naruto, leaning back and putting his hands behind his head, was about to go home to eat before training. However, he stopped when he felt a pair of hands on his shoulders, and something incredibly soft touched his back.
"Hey there, Na-ru-ko-chan..." A sultry voice whispered in his ear. "I heard you want to learn Tree Climbing. I could teach you." Running her hand down his cheek, she stood in front of him, her face just inches from his. "... For a small price."
"Stop it, Anko, we're in the middle of the street." Anko clicked her tongue and backed away from Naruto, keeping one arm around his neck. Naruto's face turned incredibly red and incredibly white in a matter of seconds. Glancing toward the voice that saved him, he saw the beautiful Jonin-sensei he had met yesterday.
"I'm dead," Naruto thought before quickly dropping to his knees in front of Anko and began to apologize. "I'm sorry for my clone's actions! He had a tough day of training, and he couldn't resist..." After a small silence, he continued, "This won't happen again!"
Anko started laughing, and Kurenai looked at Naruto with a blank expression. "Haha, calm down, kid. I won't do anything to you. In public." She muttered the last part almost inaudibly.
Naruto got up from the floor and looked at Anko hesitantly. "Can you teach me Tree Climbing?" At that moment, he noticed something. "Wait, Tree Climbing? I can already climb trees..."
"Hmm... I envy Kurenai-chan a bit cause she has her genin, while I have none. I guess we can give it a try." Anko's smile didn't sit well with Naruto. "But now, Kurenai and I are going for dango. You can come in two hours to Training Ground Forty-Four."
A nervous smile appeared on Naruto's face. "T-thanks..." His mind was thinking, "Should I run?"
Anko and Kurenai went to buy a dango when Kakashi appeared next to them and asked Anko with an eye smile, "Are you seducing my student, Anko?"
Anko returned a smile to Kakashi. "Jealous of your student?"
"Anko? Do you truly want to teach Naruto?" Kurenai asked her.
Anko threw her hands behind her head, and Kakashi sweatdropped a bit as an image of Naruto in the same pose flashed in his mind. "I just want to have my bit of fun, what's wrong with that?"
"Do note that usually those with whom you have fun end up in the hospital," Kakashi replied.
"Don't worry, I'll be gentle..."
Sighing, Kakashi looked at Kurenai. "I'm going on a short-term mission today. Can you make sure that when I return Naruto still has all his limbs?"
"Only for today. Tomorrow, I'm planning training for my team."
"Thanks."
"Tomorrow, I'm also on a mission, so you don't have to worry, 'mommy'..." Anko said playfully, after which Kakashi disappeared in a leafy Shunshin.
Training Ground Forty-Four. Two hours later.
Naruto stared deadpan at the huge sign 'Dangerous.' "Why am I not surprised..."
Naruto heard the sound of a kunai whistling behind him. Turning around, he threw his kunai, diverting the trajectory of the flying kunai. Immediately after, he felt the cold of a kunai pressed against his neck.
"Ho, you've got skills... Maybe let's see how good they are?" Anko said, walking the kunai over his neck.
"Anko, I promised he wouldn't be missing parts of his body after your teaching." Kurenai, who had appeared next to them a second ago, said.
"... Missing parts..?" Naruto started sweating actively, which Anko immediately noticed.
"Oh, are you scared? You seemed braver to me when we met last time. In the hot springs." She finished her sentence with a huge Cheshire smile.
"This is a trap. I knew it!" Screamed Naruto in his mind before telling, "I am really sorry..."
Anko removed the kunai from his neck and stood in front of him. "Oh, enough already... I promised to teach you, so that's exactly what I'll do."
Naruto, scratching his head, asked Anko, "Oh right, about that... I know Tree Walking is supposed to be a chakra control exercise, but I can climb trees; we were taught that in the academy."
"Even without hands?"
"Excuse me?" Anko approached the nearest tree, putting her foot on it without stopping and started walking up the tree, completely ignoring gravity.
Naruto's eyes widened, stars visible in them. "How?! How do you do that?!"
Jumping down to the ground, Anko began to explain the technique to Naruto. "Magic." Naruto tilted his head, and a question mark appeared over it. Seeing this, Anko burst into laughter.
While she was calming down, Naruto took a moment to look at the clothed Anko without the need to run. Underneath the tan overcoat, as he remembered, was metal mesh and an orange mini-skirt. Remembering the events in the hot springs, Naruto couldn't help but notice Anko's beauty as she continued giggling.
Kurenai, noticing Naruto's blush, smiled, but then she remembered her student Hinata and frowned. "Naruto, what did you want from us, Hinata and me, on graduation day?"
Turning back to Kurenai, Naruto grinned widely. "That's exactly what I wanted to find out! Hinata, huh? I just realized that I don't know her name, though we're in the same class..."
"He didn't even know her name? Hinata..." At that moment, Anko finally calmed down and started explaining the principles of Tree Walking to Naruto.
"Tree Climbing or Tree Walking or Chakra Adhesion. By concentrating a fixed amount of chakra at the bottom of your feet, you can climb trees without using your hands. You can give it a try." Anko explained with a smile.
After hearing Anko's explanation, he ran to a tree. But as soon as he placed his foot on it, he was thrown several meters back, leaving a dent in the tree. Getting up from the floor, he shook off the dirt, and narrowed his eyes at Anko, who started laughing again, and Kurenai, who covered her mouth with her hand to hide her laughter, although her shoulders twitched every few seconds. "She knew this would happen! It's a war!" A second later, he blushed again. "No, this is fair. It's payback for the perverted clone..."
Noticing his blush, Anko grinned madly. "What happened, Naruto? Did you hit yourself too hard?" She asked with a teasing tone.
Naruto muttered a quiet "I'm fine" before approaching the tree again and putting his foot on it. Anko and Kurenai raised their eyebrows at his actions. "Hmm, if that was too much..." He moved his foot up and down before it stuck to the tree. "That's it!" Lifting his other foot from the ground, he placed it on the tree and took his first step on the vertical surface. "This is so cool!" Naruto exclaimed, managing to maintain his chakra control even though it wavered a bit.
A few minutes later, he ran back and forth on the tree, laughing. "You don't have to be so upset because I did it on the second try, Anko-sensei!" Anko, who had been crouching with a dark cloud over her head and a stick in her hand, drawing circles on the ground, raised her head to look at Naruto with a serious expression.
"Say that again!"
"What?" Naruto asked, not understanding.
"What did you call me?"
"A-Anko-sensei?" Nervously repeated Naruto, now less confident.
Looking into Naruto's eyes with a serious expression for a few more seconds, Anko smiled. "I like how that sounds! Maybe I should become a teacher?" Kurenai sweatdropped as Naruto apologized to all her future student-victims. "I know!" Anko jumped to her feet and looked at Naruto. "Water Walking!"
"Water Walking? What's that?" Naruto asked while trying to sit on the tree parallel to the ground. Anko's eyebrow twitched, but she ignored him and turned toward the Forest of Death.
"Let's go."
"Huh? Where?"
"There." Anko pointed her index finger at the entrance to the Forest of Death.
"Urm... Anko-sensei, I don't know if you've noticed, but there's a sign 'Entry Forbidden' over there..."
"Mmm..." Anko mumbled but didn't stop in her tracks. Naruto turned his head towards Kurenai, who just shook her head and followed Anko.
*Gulp* Nervously, Naruto followed Anko.
Thirty minutes later. Forest of Death.
Naruto walked behind Anko and Kurenai, examining his surroundings. "Is that a giant centipede?" Spotting the creature, Anko turned back to Naruto with a wide smirk.
"Scared?"
"For some reason, I feel like you're the scariest creature in this forest..." Naruto muttered, but Anko heard him, and a spark lit up in her eyes.
"Oh? What was that? Are you scared of your Anko-sensei?" Anko threw her arm around Naruto's shoulders, pressing him to her body.
"Uh, no?" Naruto said, blushing.
"We've arrived," said Kurenai, who was ahead of them. Naruto noticed that they had reached a small river. Anko, releasing Naruto's shoulders, approached the river and calmly stood on its surface.
Turning to Naruto, whose eyes were wide open, she smiled. "The technique is similar to Tree Climbing. Focus your chakra and walk. Now, give it a try." Naruto narrowed his eyes at the smiling Anko.
"Is there a catch here too?" Anko's smile widened, and a small smile appeared on Kurenai's face. Sighing, Naruto removed his upper clothing, ready to get wet. He blushed heavily when he heard a wolf whistle, courtesy of Anko.
Left only in his underwear, he approached the water and stepped forward. After a few seconds of balancing on the water, he fell in. When he resurfaced, he heard Anko laughing, and looking in her direction, he noticed that she was still standing on the water. With a smile, Naruto dived underwater and swam a bit downstream towards Anko. Kurenai, noticing his actions, raised an eyebrow.
Reaching his target, who was sitting on the water, splashing it and laughing, Naruto pulled his hands out of the water and pulled Anko into it.
Emerging from the water, Naruto started laughing at Anko, who was still standing in the water with her face covered by her hair. After a second, he dodged shurikens flying towards him. Looking at the direction they came from, his face paled when he saw a mad smile on Anko's face as she retrieved kunai from behind her back.
Kurenai, who was giggling at the situation, turned her head towards Naruto and said, "Run." Without waiting a second, Naruto grabbed his clothes and, using the newly learned technique, bounced off one tree, and jumped onto a branch of another, avoiding the kunai.
Five minutes later.
Naruto, naked and tied up, lay in his underwear under a large tree near the river. A small cut was visible on his cheek. Anko stood over him with a predator smile. "Hmm, the taste of the original's blood really differs from the clone... I wonder what else distinguishes you..." Before she could start her experiments, Kurenai approached them and threw a kunai that cut the rope and freed Naruto. «Mmm... You're taking all the fun out of his training, Kurenai-chan.» Anko's face turned into a pout.
"Hmm... It's a shame to hear that, but Naruto needs to learn to walk on water. We can't waste time on your games, Anko." Kurenai turned to Naruto, who had already freed himself from the ropes. "You can start again."
Naruto cautiously looked at Anko before approaching the river. He placed his foot on its surface and, feeling the flow of chakra, stood on the water. After making two steps, he felt like he was starting to fall, so he focused more chakra on his foot and jumped. Blinking, Naruto found himself on the other side of the river from Anko and Kurenai, narrowly avoiding crashing into a tree.
"Huh?" Turning back to the river, he decided to start training seriously. Focusing his chakra and forming seals, he exclaimed, "Taiju Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"
Anko's and Kurenai's eyes widened as they saw the number of clones Naruto created. "What an incredible amount of chakra!" Both kunoichis thought simultaneously. Looking at Naruto, they noticed a confused frown on his whiskered face as his clones began to try to stand on the water.
"What happend, Naruto?" Anko jumped over the river and put her elbow on his shoulder.
"This is strange. I'm doing the technique just like always, but the number of clones is greater than I wanted... I thought my control was supposed to improve?" Naruto asked Anko with a worried face.
"Are you doing it the same way?" Anko pondered for a moment before looking at Naruto. "Oh, you always knitted chakra for ten clones but could create only five due to poor chakra control. After improving your chakra control, you no longer waste as much chakra."
«Ha?»
«It's normal, just perform the technique several times and feel the necessary chakra for the jutsu.» Anko removed her elbow from his shoulder and placed her palm on his head.
"Oh, okay, thanks, Anko-sensei." Naruto thanked with a wide smile.
Kurenai, observing this scene, smiled. Turning her head toward the clones practicing, she was surprised to see that many clones were already standing on the water for more than thirty seconds. "Such an amount of chakra and excellent chakra control! I heard that he was the last in his class. He learned Kage Bunshin during the Mizuki incident, and reached this level less than a week after obtaining this technique?" Turning her eyes to Anko, she saw that Anko was also looking at Kurenai with a smile.
"He has a bright future ahead," Anko said, approaching Kurenai and sitting on the ground.
Smiling playfully, Kurenai replied, "Fufufu, feeling happy about your pupil, Anko-sensei?"
"Yeah, I envy Kakashi; he's lucky with this kid. Does he also have a Uchiha genius? Maybe he'll sell this one to me?" Anko's laughter sent shivers down Naruto's spine.
Turning his head towards the laughter, Naruto blushed at the sight of Anko undressing. After a while, all the clones turned their heads towards Anko, their faces slightly red. Anko noticed their reaction and continued undressing, hanging her wet clothes in the sun. Suddenly, Anko heard a wolf whistle behind her and turned to see Naruto dispersing all the clones and diving underwater, grumbling, "Stupid Kage Bunshin..."
A minute later, Kurenai approached the river where Naruto was still sitting. "Are you okay?" Naruto blushed and submerged a bit more under the water.
"Yeah, I just overheated in the sun and wanted to cool off a bit..." Naruto blushed even more and submerged further when he heard Anko's laughter.
An hour later.
"Alright, disperse the clones!" Anko shouted, fully clothed and dry.
"Okay!" Naruto shouted, sitting on the water's surface. All the clones around him either stood or sat on the water; some still wobbled a bit, but no one fell into the water. Jumping onto the shore towards Anko, he dispersed the clones.
"Well, try again; memories from the clones should make it easier," Kurenai said, waving her hand toward the river.
Naruto immediately jumped towards the river and landed almost without creating a ripple. "This is so cool..." Naruto said with stars in his eyes. "Before, I always had to concentrate on chakra to stand, but now, I stand and don't even notice it!"
"Shit... The kid is good," Anko thought.
Naruto turned to Anko with the widest smile she had ever seen. "Thank you, Anko-sensei!"
"No problem. Now you owe me dango. Right now," Anko said with a smirk.
"Dango? I thought you went for it before coming here?" Naruto asked, scratching his head.
"Yeah, but that was three hours ago! I need my dango now, or..." Whined Anko.
"Or?" Naruto inquired.
With a bloodthirsty grin, Anko replied, "Blood." Making Kurenai sigh and shake her head. Naruto had lost all the blood from his face by now.
"D-Dango is a nice option..."
Dango Shop. Twenty minutes later.
"I'm saying it one last time. Dango. Better. Than. Ramen," Anko said aggressively, glaring and baring her fangs.
"You wish!" Naruto shouted, unafraid of the obviously aggressive kunoichi.
"That's it, you blond bastard! Get ready to die!" Whatever Anko planned to do to Naruto was averted when Kurenai stuffed a dango stick into Anko's mouth. Turning her gaze to Kurenai, Anko saw her holding several dango sticks, and like a lost puppy, she ran after Kurenai to the shop.
Naruto sweatdropped at the scene but sighed and followed them into the shop. Inside, he was surprised to see familiar faces sitting at a table with various sweets on it. "Sakura, Ino, Hinata!"
Hearing the familiar voice, the girls turned their heads toward him. "Naruto? I didn't know you liked sweets..." Sakura said. Ino just stared at Naruto with a raised eyebrow, while Hinata blushed rapidly.
"Sweets? Oh, no, I'm just treating Anko-sensei for teaching me Tree Climbing and Water Walking." Naruto replied, rubbing the back of his head. Sakura raised an eyebrow at Anko's name, while Ino lost a bit of blood from her face. Hinata became even redder.
"Can you introduce us to your girlfriends?" Anko asked, holding ten dango sticks in her hands. Next to her stood Kurenai with the same number of dangos. "I didn't know that Kurenai-sensei also likes dango..."
"Oh, from right to left, these are Sakura, Ino, and Hinata. They are my former classmates. Sakura is my current teammate," Naruto introduced his classmates. "And these are Anko-sensei and Kurenai-sensei, who is also Hinata's team leader."
With a beautiful smile, Kurenai asked, "Can we join you?"
"Of course!" Ino exclaimed. Sakura nodded, and Hinata just blushed even more.
Sitting at one table, Anko began to eat dangos from her hands and, very soon, also ate those that Kurenai was holding. "Ah, she was just holding them for her..." Naruto thought with a sweatdrop.
Observing Anko devouring dango as if in a trance for a few minutes, Naruto jumped slightly when he heard Sakura's shout, "Naruto!"
"Sorry, did you say something?" Naruto said, turning his attention away from Anko, and making her and Kurenai turn sharply back to him. "It hasn't even been three full days since he became Kakashi's student and the resemblance!"
Clearing her throat, Sakura repeated her question, "So, what did Anko-sensei teach you?"
At that moment, a dango stick flew right in front of Sakura's eyes. Looking at where it had landed, her face drained of color as the stick was embedded in the wall, at least two inches deep. Returning her gaze to where the stick came from, she saw Anko's serious face – as serious as it could be with a dango stick in her cheek.
"For you, Anko-san, pinkie," a smirk appeared on Anko's face. "Or Anko-sama, your choice."
"Excuse me, Anko-san," Sakura stammered.
"Hey, why is this even a big deal?" Sakura, Ino, and Hinata quickly turned their heads toward Naruto with concern in eyes.
"Don't worry, shortie," Anko replied, causing Sakura, Ino, and Hinata to look back at Anko, their eyes wide.
Naruto began drawing circles on the table with a dark cloud over it. "I'm not short; I'm still growing."
"Keep telling yourself that," Anko said as if she had actually heard his thoughts, making Naruto fall off his chair and quietly cry on the floor. Hinata looked like she wanted to say something but didn't dare, causing Kurenai to make a sad face.
"*A-Ahem* Naruto, I wanted to ask you, what did Anko-san teach you?" Sakura asked again.
Getting up from the floor, still looking sad, Naruto replied, "Tree Climbing and Water Walking." Sakura raised an eyebrow. Meanwhile, Anko finished her dango and threw the stick in her mouth, leaning back with a dango stick in her teeth, listening to the conversation.
"Kakashi-sensei said he would teach us Tree Climbing the day after tomorrow, right?"
"Yes, Anko-sensei heard what Kakashi-sensei told us and offered to help me," Naruto ate his dango sticks and threw his hands behind his head, unintentionally copying Anko.
Seeing the similarities between Anko and Naruto, Ino asked the obvious question. "Are you and Anko-san related?"
Naruto almost fell off his chair while Anko laughed loudly at the question. "What? No! Where did you get that idea?" Naruto exclaimed.
Raising her hands in the air, Ino smiled at him. "Calm down; I just noticed some similarities and thought…"
"No, we're not related, although... I never knew my parents," Anko said, looking at Naruto, whose eyes widened like plates.
"No, no, no, no, no," Naruto quickly denied. "This can't be."
"Why, don't you love your Onee-Chan, Naru…" Anko interrupted the loud sound of a fall when Naruto fell off his chair again and crawled backward. "No, Otouto! Are you okay?" Jumping off her chair, Anko rushed to Naruto with a fake concerned smile as he lowered his head. Meanwhile, the other girls at the table barely held back their laughter, even Kurenai's shoulders twitched slightly.
Leaning down to Naruto, Anko lifted his face with her hand and stopped. Standing up, she returned to her seat, with Naruto quickly following suit. Both of them had blank expressions. Kurenai raised an eyebrow at Anko, but she ignored it. After a few minutes Sakura, Ino, and Hinata settled down. Hinata looked at Naruto, worried, while Sakura continued questioning Naruto.
15 minutes later.
"Thanks for the treat, Naruto," Kurenai thanked Naruto and turned to her student, who was gathering herself to speak.
"T-Thank you for the t-treat, N-Naruto-kun," Hinata said, her face very red.
"Haha, no problem, Hinata-chan!" Naruto laughed and waved to them as Kurenai and Hinata went home. Kurenai supported Hinata to prevent her from falling because Naruto called her '-chan.'
Ino and Sakura had gone home earlier, so only Anko and Naruto remained. "*Ha-a* I'm totally broke."
"You spent almost the entire evening with me and Kurenai, then had dinner with five girls, and all you lost was your wallet. In my head, that sounded like a blessing, but..." Looking at Naruto's innocent eyes, she sighed, "Whatever. Well, I want to go home, take a relaxing bath, and get a good night's sleep before tomorrow's mission."
"Then, see you later, Anko-sensei," Naruto said with a wide smile. Seeing his smile, Anko approached him and hugged him tightly.
Naruto couldn't find the words or strength to say anything to Anko. He awkwardly raised his hands and cautiously hugged her back. He didn't even notice that his face was in her soft chest.
"Call if you need help, especially if it concerns training," Anko said to him without her usual bloodthirst in her voice. But a second later, her bloody smirk returned. "Or if you want to feel my boobs again."
Naruto, who until then had enjoyed the warmth of the hug, realized where his head was and quickly jumped away from Anko with a face as red as a tomato.
"Hahaha, bye, midget!" Laughing, Anko disappeared in a leaf-style Shunshin.
Naruto went home in a daze. Arriving home, he washed up, changed clothes, and lay in bed. Looking at the ceiling in his room, he had only one thought, "So soft..."