Growth through Chaos

by Animephilosopher1

As they return from the Land of Waves, Team 7 fall into somewhere far more chaotic and divided than the Ninja World. Follow Naruto, Sakura, Sasuke and Kakashi, after they find themselves in the World of the One Piece. Growing through a Special brand of Chaos across trials, battles, training and more as members of the Straw Hat Pirates on the Grand Line.(LuffyxNami, Kakashi x Robin)

16. Chapter 16: Dreams, Development

Chapter 16: Dreams, Development and Dangers:
Kakashi's training begins.

"…."=speaking.
'…'=thinking.
"'Inner thoughts'"=images or memories within somebody's head.

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or One Piece.

Reminder: Everyone has until the next chapter to vote on the Loguetown Marine set to meet Luffy: Garp or Smoker.

If you haven't vote through a review or a PM to me.

Thank you to my Beta Reader Leaf Ranger for reading this chapter.

Sakura Haruno was smiling, comfy and warm floating in the air. A gentle sigh came from her dreams, rolling over in her sleep-

-to crash on the floor head-first.

"Oww! Ow-ow-ow-ow!" Throwing her hands to the ground, Sakura brought one near her left ear, rubbing the crown just above it to sooth a sharp ache on her head.

"Hmmm? Oh, are you okay, Sakura?"

Came Nami's voice, with a gentle hand rubbing the same place over her own. The pinkette slowly took her bearings, looking around to find a pretty room, occupied with a bookshelf before her, an elegant sofa and store chest, and a two-person bar in the far corner.

'Where am…oh, that's right. I'm in the girl's cabin of the Going Merry with Miss. Nami.'

Glancing up to find her roommate sitting at a desk, Sakura smiled at Nami's concern. Then caught a hammock in the corner of her eye, spanning the width of the room from the hatch in the roof.

She quickly groaned, "Miss. Nami. Please don't tell anyone how I fell out of my hammock."

Smiling down, Nami decided to forgo her usual fees, all too glad to have another girl aboard the crew.

"Well, I did tell you so last night. How about next time you use a blanket on the floor like I suggested? Beds are a lot more comfy to sleep in. Still, I bet the boys aren't doing any better, aside from those on the night shift up on deck."

On their first night aboard, Nami had no problems sharing a room with Sakura, but the 8 boys on board made finding space to sleep, challenging. With only six hammocks and one couch plus the mast in the centre, several storage barrels and Zoro's training weights, space inside the men's cabin became a premium. Naruto had tried to use a henge to argue for himself to stay in the girl's room, for Nami to knock him overboard one second later.

In the end, Gin and Kakashi solved the issue. The experienced sailor suggested a night shift for the crew. Gin and Zoro took the first shifts while everyone else slept; as well as they could between Luffy and Naruto snoring.

Now in the bright and ready morning, Sakura got to her feet, brushing down her plain red pyjamas; the same she had slept in since leaving Konohagakure 2 months ago, now.

"Miss Nami, did Sanji call everyone for breakfast, yet?"

"Not yet, but I did hear him shouting at Luffy to get out of the kitchen a short time ago. Now that you're awake, let's head up and see what's going on." With her reply, Nami stood up from her desk, wearing a loose white shirt over bright blue panties, tied on by two knots at her hips. Walking to a storage chest near the sofa, she bent over, sparking a jolt of jealousy from Sakura.

'Wow, how did Miss Nami get her butt so bubbly!?' the girl silently exclaimed

'"CHAAAA! THAT IS IMPOSSIBLE!"' Inner Sakura exclaimed, flailing left and right with envy.

'"NOBODY SHOULD BE THAT SEXY AND ONLY SIX YEARS OLDER THAN I AM! THAT'S TOTALLY UNFAIR! I'M GONNA GET HER SECRETS OUT NO MATTER WHAT IT TAKES!"'

Ignorant of those thoughts, Nami began to frown and rummage around in the chest, bouncing her lower assets left and right towards the other girl. Then she finally stood up, holding two sets of clothes in her arms. Staring at the smaller ones for some moments, she took a glance at the preteen kunoichi with her.

"Sakura? How many outfits do-"

Out of nowhere, a horrid tearing exploded from above them, "AAAAHHHHH! No! My Special seat!" Luffy's voice rang through the ship, following the sound of wood shattering to splinters against pure destructive force.

"DAAAA-You careless barbarian! Kaya gave us this ship, so don't go about breaking it like that!" Ussop's indignant cries followed. Sparking both Nami and Sakura to bolt for the hatch.

Outside in the morning sunlight, the girls found their sniper acting quite reckless, whacking Luffy's head left and right with a hammer. Before either could ask why, they saw a chuck of the mast was missing, with splinters littered around the jagged hole and the sheep's figure-head prow totally missing from its place. All as a strong gust beset the ship, sending anything loose fluttering high.

"What just happened out here!" Nami cried as the rest of the crew assembled behind her, all of them catching a rare sight as she felt cool air brushing her rear.

"WWWWWHHHHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA—OOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

"AHHHHHHHH! YYYYEEEAAAAAHHHHH! WOOOOOO! Nami-swan, thank you for this exquisite morning appearance!" Both of the girls turned around, to find Sanji's legs shaping into formless noodles, blood dripping from his nose and heart-filled eyes trained towards Nami's exposed waist. While Ussop continued shouting with pervy-glee, before shooting ram-rod straight and bowing towards Nami; "THANK YOU VERY MUCH!"

The girl made a mortified yelp, yanking the hem of her shirt to cover herself, then looking up with furry.

To see a blur of pink shooting forward to kick Sanji in the face. Nami quickly joined with two strong fists before another kick from Sakura sent the pervy-cook fly overboard. Next, the females turned on Ussop, who'd had enough willpower to run away and hide below deck to escape.

Kakashi watched, hiding his own blush and chuckles at the view of such a supple beauty, as Nami dashed inside to find some clothes, then turned his attention over to Zoro.

"Luffy! What the hell!? Why'd you be that careless and wreak our ship!" the First-mate exclaimed, as he pinned the younger man against the deck head-first. Luffy struggled to push him off for a few moments. But Zoro simply glared down, eager to avoid any blame.

"Now, Zoro. Why don't everyone quiet down, and we talk about what happened," a voice came to his ear.

'Kakashi?' Zoro thought, looking to the side, where the Jonin stood at his shoulder. Gin was just inches away, holding back a certain courageous coward from slamming a hammer into Zoro's ear. 'When did Ussop come back up here?'

"He and Luffy are both to blame, Kakashi!" the sniper declared.

"One of them asked about sparring together, then that same moron's punch missed Zoro and took out a chunk of the mast before knocking the Merry's figurehead clean off."

"And Zoro is just as bad about it, because if he'd taken the hit then the ship wouldn't have been broken!" Ussop recounted, with one finger pointing straight at the swordsman.

At this, everyone looked at the pair; Luffy was flailing around trying to get free, while Zoro kept his eyes sideways to deflect any blame.

"Uhhh….this can't be my fault! If it had hit, my wounds would've opened again!" he mumbled an excuse.

Before anyone could react, a shadow burst between them before getting caught by Kakashi.

"Let me at them! Let me at them! Those perverts need to pay up!" Nami shouted, now sporting navy-blue shorts and thrashing around the get free and collect some payback.

"Alright, enough!"…..

Nobody moved; the Genin especially. Kakashi's commanding voice left nearly each and everyone aboard frozen in their place. All but Luffy, who kept struggling to escape Zoro's grasp.

Kakashi glanced around, before continuing in a more relaxed tone.

"Sasuke. Go retrieve Sanji before he can drift away. Sakura. The figurehead got launched out to the northwest and is likely behind us now. See if you can drag it through the water to bring the missing piece back here. Ussop. Get some nails from below deck and a few boards of wood to patch up the mast. Naruto, Gin and Zoro. Bring the ship around the meet Sakura and Sasuke."

Everyone nodded, the Genin jumping over the side to run for their missing pieces. While the rest began to sheath-sails and turn the Merry starboard.

Soon, Luffy finally wiggled free, standing up to brush his hat.

"Thanks for finally letting me up, Old-man Kakashi. Oh, USSOP! I'M SORRY ABOUT THE MERRY!" the Rubber-man shouted, enough to rock the entire ship. Before dashing to the railing to scan the horizon; his head jerking left and right.

"Where is it! Oh, man, where's my special seat go! I've gotta catch it somehow!"

Luffy was darting all around the deck, trying to spot the missing piece of his beloved ship.

"Luffy, it's out over there!" Nami pointed for him, standing at the corner to point behind the ship. "And Ussop! Don't think you're off the hook! You each owe me another 100,000 bellies! And Gin as well, don't think I didn't know where you were looking!"

The man-demon fumbled his load at those words, blushing at the reminder before cursing at the money he owed.

'Hmmm?' Luffy followed Nami's hand to look out the starboard side towards the stern. 'Hmmmmmm…my seat, my seat, my seat, my seat-' "Ah-ha! There it is! Wow, Sakura found it already! That water-running thing is just so cool!" he exclaimed, with stars dancing in his eyes.

As Sakura reached the piece, Luffy began rolling his right arm. Then threw back the limb, frowning to concentrate, Lufy stretched his arm just right, "Gum-gum…" and let loose. "Grab!"

Shooting his arm straight on target, the Rubber-man snagged both his precious seat and the kunoichi straining to drag it.

"Ha! Got it!" Luffy declared, pausing to frown with greater care, he began reeling both in with surprising care. After moments, he was holding the wooden sheep's-head at his shoulder height, with Sakura hanging from its ear, careless for the weight of both under his monstrous strength.

"Whoa! Your rubber powers are so cool, Captain! Please, let me ride like that next time! Believe it!" Naruto pleaded with the careless captain. Until a pair of hands interposed between them.

"Let's save that for another time, Naruto," Nami interjected, then stepping up to help Sakura back abroad and facing Luffy with her head bowed with care. "First," she spoke, with one open palm-that slapped Luffy, hard. Sending his rubber head towards the open air some 7 meters!

"Why did you break our ship in the first place, Luffy!? That caused me to run out here without getting dressed and let Sanji and Ussop get a peek at my panties!"

Halfway across the world, a certain wondering soul blew a sneeze through his nose. Or he would, if he had a nose at all![1]

"Well, I was training, Nami," Luffy replied, his head sto;; bobbling back and forth. "Zoro and I were sparring when one of my Gum-gum: rifles missed him and hit the ship on accident. I'd never break the Merry on purpose."

Walking over to the prow, Luffy placed his load down easily, while Kakashi came over to stand beside him.

"That looks like it went a little far for a training session, Captain. Aside from wreaking this boat, Zoro shouldn't really be doing anything for another day to let his wounds heal properly," the ninja lazily advised.

"Also, where did the sudden idea to train come from?" he inquired, hoping it wouldn't mean additional work for his plans for the day to come.

Luffy didn't answer for a moment, before meeting his eyes, and Nami's beside them.

"Because, Old Man Kakashi. Some of my nakama got hurt. Back when we fought against bastard-Krieg and Arlong. I didn't do enough and Naruto, Nami, Zoro and Ussop got hurt because of it."

A glare was creeping over Luffy's face while raising one hand to rest it on his treasure and looking across the others aboard.

"I meant what I said inside that hospital," he declared. "I promised Shanks that I would return this hat to him one day, after finding the One Piece. But I can't do that without my friends with me, otherwise it won't be worth being the King of the Pirates. Naruto got poisoned trying to save my life, Ussop and Zoro were hurt when I wasn't around, and I can't just take that and do nothing."

"That's why I destroyed bastard-Krieg and stopped Arlong from hurting Sanji, but more is out there."

Reaching to grasp his bicep, Luffy's face remained unchanged with the active pose he set.

"I've got to be really ready for the Grand Line. Enemies just as bad as them will come to meet us there. So training is how I can get strong enough to be a captain who can get his crew through anything, and not lose any of them!"

To those who knew him, none made a sound. The weight behind his words, with shame clear in his dark eyes, it stopped Nami, Ussop and his first mate in their tracks.

'Luffy…' Nami blinked towards her captain. While Ussop nearly dropped his hammer, Zoro's eyes were the widest of all, and Gin felt his respect for Luffy rise even higher.

Sanji, nodded, after shaking some water out of his hair.

"I see. Not a bad idea, captain. In the meantime, I'll start on breakfast." He promised, moving back inside the kitchen.

"Hey, Sanji-senpai! Let's make up some Ramen to eat!" a fellow blonde demanded while following the cook inside the kitchen.

"No, we're not having Ramen for breakfast, kid!" a shout came from inside, while the others outdoors were still gawking towards Luffy in amazement.

Nami herself was almost sure it was still a dream. 'Did Luffy actually just talk about preparation, like he had a plan for something?'

"I see," Kakashi spoke up. "You know, there are other things to do than just sparring if you want to improve, Captain Luffy. Why not try some exercises that you did before leaving to become a pirate."

At that suggestion, Luffy only turned and blinked. "Other stuff? What do ya mean, Old Man Kakashi. That is how I trained all the time as a kid. Shishishishishishishshi, I even broke at least 9 different houses before to learn how to use my Gum-gum powers. So, a small dent like this isn't so bad."

The boy declared with a smile of pride.

"This is a ship, you can't just break it, idiot!"

"If you did that here, then we'd be stuck out here stranded on the water!"

Nami and Ussop admonished him, together. With a huff, one of them turned back to fixing the Merry, while the other grabbed Sakura's hand to move back inside and get changed.

Another 30 minutes passed before everyone got the makeshift repairs done on the ship, helped along by Kakashi and Sasuke.

'Never thought any skills from a D-rank mission might actually become handy at all, except to enjoy a good book,' the grey-haired man reflected.

After they were finished, Sanji announced breakfast was ready. Everyone poured into the kitchen, leaving a few spare Naruto's to man the ship.

Kakashi, Sasuke and Ussop occupied one side of the table, eating omelettes with a few different contents, especially Sasuke's tomato overload. While Sanji waited hand-and-foot on Nami and Sakura, with Zoro and Gin shoulder-to-shoulder, and Luffy at the head, wolfing down an extra serving, then reached back for more.

"Ow! Owowowowowow-hot, hot, hot, hot, hot, hot!"

The captain cried in discomfort, waving a burning hand in the air.

"Well, what do you expect, rubber-man! Try to grab food from my skillet again and I'll kick you out of the kitchen!" Sanji berated the whining Luffy.

"But I'm hungry! And you keep on giving Nami and Sakura all the rest!" the straw hat shot back.

"That's because Sakura and Nami are ladies! The absolute beauties I was put on this earth to serve above all else! Today especially to give thanks for that amazing sight from Nami-swan this morning," the pervy cook replied, folding two hands to his cheek with hearts in his eyes.

Until Nami herself smacked him out the door. "I'm charging you just the same, 100,00 bellies plus 500% interest!" she declared, before walking back to sit with the others.

Naruto, standing near the kitchen space, gulped down his fears before reaching back to the meal and speaking with Luffy.

"Captain! It's Sanji-senpai's rule that girls get to eat first. Believe it! That's how things go back at the Baratie too!" Sakura and Nami thanked them, in their own way.

"Thank you, Naruto. I would like a little more fruit if you have any," a pinkette replied, politely.

"Ohhh, Naruto? I'd love a tangerine smoothie right now," Nami's musical voice beset the knucklehead. Sanji arrived back inside the kitchen just as Naruto fulfilled Sakura's request, and quickly had Nami's smoothie ready within moments.

All the rest of the men could only pity the pair, 'I'd feel sorry for the guy if he wasn't such a total perv.,' Ussop expressed. 'Let's hope Naruto doesn't end up that hopeless.'

Until a crash of plates from the sink stopped everyone.

"Oh! I almost forgot!" Naruto's voice rang through the room. The boy was running to his backpack, pulling out a trio of picture frames.

"Sakura-chan! Sasuke! Kakashi-sensei! Here!" Coming to each of them, Naruto handed the copies to his teammates, of the photos back at the Baratie.

"Before we left to chase after Nami, the cooks wanted to get a goodbye photo together, for us to remember them by. You guys weren't there, but I made sure you were in the pictures! Believe it!"

Sure enough, each member of Team 7 was found in the frames. The other three were surprised, with Kakashi examining his carefully. "So…I imagine you used shadow clones and different transformations to place us in these photos Naruto?

"Yeah. Pretty good idea, ya know, sensei," the orange, unpredictabl, maelstrom described. While Sakura frowned at her copy, and Sasuke was brooding. Beside him, Zoro was staring at the picture while Ussop had a hand to his mouth, laughing.

"Naruto. Why is my copy holding up a "Lame" sign to his forehead in this picture?" the Uchiha questioned him, his brow furling deeper than usual.

"'Cause it looked better, Sasuke," Naruto threw back at his academy rival. "Come on, it's not like I made you smile or something. Nobody would think it's the real you at all if I did. And Patty used to say you are a bit lame and broody all the time, believe it," the boy threw back with a pout.

Most of the crew leaned back, waiting to hear Sasuke's reaction. While glaring at his teammate, Sasuke's tight lips had enough pressure to produce a diamond; taking the urge the throw Naruto out a window and forcing it beneath his own shame from their fight against Chew.

Sakura was doing the same, still recalling her promise to Kakashi about hurting Naruto in any way, form or shape.

A sharp clap broke the tension, as Kakashi rose to his feet.

"Naruto, these pictures are thoughtful and should be appreciated for the memories of our time there. Although, I do believe Chef Zeff is the most amusing one in this memento, especially with that glare while you are on his shoulders."

Looking back to their copies, Sasuke and Sakura each nodded, while Kakashi took note of how the trio each dropped their passive-aggressive moods.

'Well, now is as good a time as any. I finished those plans this morning, and Zoro will likely start his own with us, too.'

"Naruto."

"Yeah, what is it, Kakashi-sensei?"

Looking his student over carefully, Kakashi raised on hand to rub over his wild blonde hair.

"How does your head feel, after getting smacked between Zoro and Sanji the other night? And does it feel like the antidote to the NH5 poison you inhaled from Krieg has run its course?"

Naruto glared at the two at fault, with Nami joining in. Both perpetrators had enough sense to be quiet and accept the looks without complaints.

"Yeah, I'm actually better than I ever have in the last week, sensei!"

Glancing at his jinchuuriki student, Kakashi fixed him with a careful stare that set the boy on his nerves, before glancing at his stomach.

'It's been over a month since he first drew on the Kyuubi's power at Tazuna's bridge. I'll discuss it with him on the night shift tonight. But otherwise, it seems Naruto's prisoner has accelerated his recovery from that poison gas completely. He was close to mastering water-walking the day before Don Krieg arrived and we made a rapid departure from the Baratie, so a little extra practice should be the push to mastering it. That said, it's time for some bitter work to start.

"Sakura, Sasuke! After leaving the table, pack each of your photos away with your own possessions. It's time to resume your training."

Resuming his role as a Jonin-sensei, each of the Genin began to jerk in surprise, then grew serious at this news, and the magnitude of focus in their teacher's eye.

"I'm going to increase your workload by a serious measure. Despite that victory in Cocoyoshi village, the dangers we encountered could be gauged as between B-rank to A-rank. According to what Chef Zeff described, and some additional knowledge I gained from Johnny and Yosaku, dangers of a similar scale, or even greater lie ahead on the Grand Line and elsewhere in the world."

The Jonin himself stood tall, glaring down at his students, "Particularly that swordsman who defeated Zoro, Mihawk. And other pirates at or higher than Arlong's league. We were able to handle Zabuza together, but during recent incidents, the four of us were separated to face dangers you three are unqualified to face at your current levels."

"I cannot guarantee a similar case won't happen again," he continued, in a sorrowful tone.

"Instead, I want to ensure each of you can protect one another and survive against any kind of threat we find."

"I'm going to up my own training as well, so prepare for a lot of sweat, strain, and discomfort. Because everything we did at the Baratie and more…is about to get much, much harder."

Each of the Genin coiled in their seats at their teacher's promise, while the other Straw Hats had different reactions. Some reflected on themselves, others worried about what kind of pain Kakashi had in mind for the children around them. While two were looking at a pair of boys they had been training with lately.

Still, Kakashi was smiling at the three one moment later.

"Plus, we'll also be learning some new jutsu and different skills, as well. Particularly after something I learned from Zoro and Sanji just the other night.

At this news. Naruto was grinning, deeply excited to grow stronger and to learn more jutsu. While another two people turned to face the floor, their thoughts on the recent past.

Sasuke's hands curled into fists, recalling the events between himself and Naruto

'"Fire-style" Great Fireball jutsu!"..."Sasuke! That the hell was that. You could'a burned me down there, and my clones already had everything handled! Come on, that really being a bad teammate!"...joined with an image of Naruto cut to pieces by Chew, the latter shouting "Those flames of yours hurt a lot. But they weakened the ground around me enough to pull myself out of that hole."

Shame was burning through his mind, compelling the Uchiha to become sharper, more than stronger. While the sole kunoichi took a more balanced perspective.

'I…I barely did anything. And I had to be saved by others more and more,' the pinkette acknowledged. 'Maybe training like this will be a good idea. I am a smart girl, and did some good thinking to keep the Cocoyoshi villagers safe, Sensei praised me while we were chasing Miss. Nami and I got to help her, Ussop-san, Zoro-san and Captain Luffy with their injuries. I'm still useful, but maybe a little more training would go further to stop them from getting hurt, like what Captain was talking about earlier.'

"Hey, hey, hey, hey! Old Man Kakashi!" Luffy crashed into his thoughts.

"If you're gonna be training with them, then I'll join in too! It'll be fun! SHishishishishishishi!"

"Hmmmm," Zoro grunted at the news, before grasping his sword in one hand.

"Might be a good idea to make sure that accident this morning doesn't come again. I'll join in too, if you don't have an issue, Kakashi. Maybe we'll even have another spar together."

The first mate shot the ninja an eager grin; the success of Kakashi's advice in his fight with Hatchi was deep in the swordsman's consciousness.

The instructor met both the captain's and first mate's faces with a pondering eye; weighing the benefits, downsides and extra work their demands might bring.

"I suppose we should be training together, if we are going to be travelling until Sasuke, Naruto, Sakura and I find our way back home," he resigned with a shrug.

"'Scuse me, Kakashi?" Gin's voice came into the group.

"Hmmmm?"

"One moment ago. Ya mentioned 'A-rank' an' 'B-rank" categories; then new techniques, callin' 'em 'jitsu.' What're those, if ya don't mind me askin'," the former brigand inquired.

Each of the ninjas looked over at him before Ussop and Nami joined in.

"Actually, I'm wondering that too," the sniper confessed. "Are these letters some kind of label or system that you follow to gauge different dangers?"

"Yeah, what do those things mean, Kakashi? Plus, if you guys start training here on the deck, will similar terms come up again? Oh-"

After his question, Ussop shot from his seat, planting one foot on the table and forcing a hand into Kakashi's face.

"Don't you dare do anything to break the Merry at all! And keep Luffy from doing the same again today, or any other time!"

Pushing the finger aside, Kakashi tried to answer before Zoro pushed the long-nose pirate to the ground, gently.

"Tone it down, Ussop. I'm sure all of us agree. Actually, Kakashi?" the swordsman turned over to the Jonin. "If Nami's right, then how would I rank up based on that system if it does address someone's threat level?"

"OHHHHH! That's right, you guys don't know anything, ya know!" Naruto declared. While Sakura herself took on a pondering posture.

"Hmmm. We never really have spoken about the different ranks, or classes that shinobi follow since we got here. Even at the restaurant, Chef Zeff and Sanji only learned about how our ninja arts work from chakra."

"Alright, alright!" Kakashi cut between them, arms raised to settle the entire group.

"There is a lot I want to cover today with my students, and only so many hours of daylight to use. I'll give you all a basic description, then the work will begin, alright!"

Luffy himself stood from the table and walked over to the doorway.

"Nah. That stuff sounds boring. Let's get started fast. The rest can wait 'till dinner. I'm gonna go stretch."

Closing the door, the rubber man left his crew befuddled. Many simply couldn't wrap around how whimsical their captain could be, while Kakashi blinked at an opportunity.

"Naruto, Sasuke, Sakura!"

Now used to when their sensei got serious, the Genin were ready in mere moments.

"Follow Luffy and begin a few standard warm-ups. The same we did at the Baratie, but stay within a comfort zone, for now. I will answer Ussop, Nami, Gin and Zoro, and then we'll start the real work. Go!"

Each of the pre-teens dashed outdoors, while Kakashi himself faced the rest of the Straw Hat crew.

"First, Nami. You are correct about A-rank and B-rank serving to classify different components within the shinobi system. I'll give a summary of the basics and a few extra topics that my students will likely talk about. Everything else will wait until tonight, then the training begins.

0…..…..0

15 minutes later, everyone was on deck, with one eager blonde, one temperate pinkette and one fixated ravenette standing at attention.

Zoro was in a separate corner meditating, while Nami lounged in a deck chair, Ussop and Gin stood ready with the sails, and Luffy was working on his aim.

"Gum-gum: rifle!" From the deck, the Rubber-man left another long punch fire out to the water. Nearly 3 dozen Naruto's stood some 30 meters out, spread throughout the waves. Kakashi had asked for the shadow clones to allow Luffy to improve his aim; the Straw Hat having cut the original 4 dozen to their current numbers. At first, a long-range Gum-Gum: Gatling barely hit any, so the Captain followed his instincts and took a few more moments before letting loose.

Back on deck, Kakashi began an explanation to his students.

"Now," Kakashi began. "Each of you have improved immensely from our A-rank mission against Zabuza and Haku. However, more dangers are around the corner, and our goal is not to defeat every enemy we find; but to sur-"

"WHhaaat!"

Kakashi could not suppress the groan at Naruto's cry.

"Sensei, you've gotta be getting it wrong. By defeating everyone we find, we've been helping people left and right since getting here. And it's gotten us a lot of help along the way from different people. Like Tarm, Chef Zeff, Cocoyoshi Village and more! Believe it!"

His teammates blinked, before pondering the "dead-lasts" perspective somewhat, but their sensei disagreed.

"That's true Naruto. But such cases will be the exception now, not the rule!" Kakashi ordered, brokering no complaints. "Such incidents did happen, yes. However, in each case, we had our own reasons to do so, and it was only by chance for them to match up with the goals of others. There is a real chance we will encounter more dangers in the future. Our goals will be only to survive."

"I'm not saying we shouldn't give aid when it is necessary but standing our ground in every fight will only give adversaries more chances to kill us," the Jonin explained, professional and detached.

"We aren't on any official mission, and our goal is to make it back to Konohagakure. We have to stay alive long enough to do that. And that entails survival as our goal, not victory in every battle that we find. Understood?"

Two-thirds of those before him nodded, while the stubborn one gave a pout.

"Sensei, wouldn't beating everyone we meet mean we survive just as much? After all-!"

"Naruto!" a sharp, commanding tone came from his teacher. Kakashi thought for a moment, before choosing a different concept.

"How about this. If you stand your ground and die right here, then you won't be able to become Hokage at all if another person kills you. If you back off from one fight to keep yourself and your comrades alive, that is how you can succeed in that goal. Do you understand?"

Immediately, Naruto's mind turned about on a dime. "Oh! Okay, yeah I get it now, sensei. Survive instead of solving every problem I find. Okay!"

With that complaint covered, Kakashi resumed his original point.

"Now, each of you have different skills, and I understand now that you have your own style of learning; or one method of it that works better than others do. Each of you also have distinct individual talents that set each apart from one another, and certain shortcomings that can be dangerous weaknesses."

His students each glared at such a suggestion, but it wasn't anything Kakashi hadn't already expected.

'I wish I had a stronger idea of how these learning styles work. I know they are present, but tailoring the best way to approach them might take more time.'

"Each day," the sensei continued, "we will go through different physical exercises, but at a far higher intensity than before. I need all of you strong and ready, with no room for slacking off. Next, improving your reactions to danger and defensive skills will be paramount. That will be followed by refining your current jutsu skills, learning new ones, and finally one-on-one training with me or sparring matches."

Naruto and Sasuke shared a grin, eager to grow in this new intensive training. While Sakura gulped in clear discomfort.

"To that end, survival is once again, our goal. So, ensuring your ability to see and avoid danger is paramount." With Kakashi's words, a harder mood came slipping to his words.

The Genin could only blink-

-until three kunai cut by their heads, each one taking hairs with them.

"Why?" Kakashi's demanding tone attacked them. Beneath the bright, scorching sunshine most of Team 7 felt a chill through their nerves. The other Straw Hats rose with outrage until a certain look silenced each within seconds.

"Naruto, Sasuke, Sakura! All your attention was focused on me, and none of you saw the kunai until after they had struck. Were those aimed at your throats, death would be all you found, and none had survived."

"All of you need to learn to recognize, evade and avoid dangers immediately!" Kakashi ordered them, adopting the same persona that set Zabuza Momochi shaking in his shoes.

"Our first stage of training today is about evasion! Either to avoid any and every attack that comes, whether up-close, medium or from long-range. Use the substitution jutsu if you nearly get hit or dodge the rest of the time. Your goal…is to stay unhurt."

0…0

Sasuke threw himself sideways, rolling over the water to avoid the shuriken and kunai flying off the deck of the Merry. He rose in a crouch as one leg, impossibly long, sliced through the surface of the ocean and nearly hit Sakura.

The kunoichi herself jumped aside, scrambling to watch her footing on the choppy waves surrounding them as the slightest shift would cause her to slip for a swim. Sasuke found himself weaving around more shadow-kunai-and felt a solid rubber sledgehammer nail his head!

"Owww!" Sasuke exclaimed, the hit causing him to lose any grip on the waves and slide in the water. Sakura cried out in worry, running to help just as the Uchiha caught a grip on the surface. Accepting her help, Sasuke was above the water yet his shorts were soaked through,

"Hey Old-man Kakashi! I hit Sasuke in the head!" Looking over towards them, one of the clones nodded with approval.

"Good work taking that opening, Captain. And Sasuke!" the clone shouted, raising a hand to his mouth.

"Remember, no Sharingans at all. Otherwise, there'll be no training later to develop new ninjutsu."

The Uchiha growled back at his sensei, not aimed at the teacher, but at the conditions he could not argue against. He and Sakura stood a few hundred meters from the Going Merry. Kakashi had decided to mix everyone's training together by having Luffy practice his attacks by throwing them at the Genin from several meters away, refining the aim and extension of his moves away from the ship. Ussop had been invited to practice his aim by sniping at the Genin with his slingshot, with two Kakashi shadow-clones providing a close watch and more dangers without wasting real ninja tools lost in the surf.

Both Genin were tired, the constant use of water-walking draining their chakra slowly; something a single clone on deck kept careful watch of via his own sharingan. Sasuke especially had been forbidden to use his own to conserve chakra for more training later in the day. While Naruto was still on deck locked in a sparring match with their sensei.

'I thought he'd help me with more sharingan-practice. But I guess—' "OWWWW!" Sasuke's thoughts were silenced by a solid lead ball to his chest.

"Ha~ha~ha~. ~Good thing that's not the ex~plo~ding~ones~" Ussop sang out to them, drawing back his slingshot with another lead star.

The pirates themselves had even begun to work Luffy's more broad attacks and Ussop's precision together in combinations; the former to set up the targets for a shot, or the latter blocking one angle to move in while Luffy hit them clean-on.

Sakura stood near her teammate, watching closely for the next attacks to come and picking up patterns in the training drill.

'Right now, Kakashi-sensei should give us a moment to recover as his clones evaluate everyone's moves, while Captain Luffy will throw a rifle or battle-axe, and Ussop's attack might follow. Or the other two will switch places, and Luffy's attack might be easier to evade.'

'I can't believe I got this soaked from falling in or getting splashed,' she continued, running a hand through her wet clothing. 'But I'll never take my clothes off like Luffy said we should! I just need to get my own swimsuit somewhere soon,' the girl promised herself.

The knuckle-head captain had talked about them stripping down to undies while on the water to keep their things dry; with little thought of discomfort or, other details. Still, Nami whacked him upside the head and Kakashi point-blank refused it too.

"Gum-gum: Whip!"

Both the genin heard Luffy coming, Sasuke preparing to jump until Sakura whispered to his ear. Glancing down, he nodded and both sunk underwater, swimming together to their right before grasping the surface and vaulting back above; the momentum making it easier to dodge the kunai and shots that followed.

Sakura's prediction was right on the mark. Both of the Genin were growing better; while their teammate on board had his own struggles.

Naruto was trying to weave and duck under his sensei, but a knee to his chest sent him tumbling back, still too slow.

"Hhhhhhh," his instructor sighed.

"Naruto. I know this is very much against your instincts, and you're efforts are certainly there. However, the results are not enough to keep you alive. That hesitancy spent fighting with the drive to hit me is what causes you to get hit."

They had been at it for nearly half an hour; Naruto was given strict orders to only evade Kakashi's taijutsu hits, not fight back. The instructions were absolute but did not change the boy's hesitancy at all.

"Sensei. This is backwards to everything I did at the Academy! Believe it! Fighting back is what I do, no matter who or what does something to me! Ya know!" the boy complained again, rubbing the bruise on his chest for a moment.

The Jonin himself reflected on that, and Naruto's choices during the bell test and their first hostile encounter with pirates in Hanma Village. Pondering that for a moment, he sighed in resignation.

'I'm sorry Iruka.'

"Naruto! In any of those cases, did you win? Running in to throw the first hit or throwing more and more into it? Did you have success in any of them, especially at the Academy?"

"GGGGGGRRRRRRRRRRRRrrrrrrrrr!" the boy's frustration was easy to see, and Kakashi took it as a no.

"That is because you were not instructed properly. The teachers at the Academy, if they saw you doing that but said nothing about it or suggested another way to fight someone, were in the wrong. Then they failed you as the teachers."

The words stopped Naruto colder than ice. His building frustration was doused completely.

Kakashi himself continued. "It is the ugly truth, but the problems you have and your struggles at the Ninja Academy rest with the instructors. If a teacher sees one of their charges with a bad habit and does nothing to fix them, then they fail as a teacher." The Jonin even smiled in shame at the shimmer of his own reflections, catching himself sharing and applying the same revelations to the present.

"I know about what happened between you and Mizuki. I also know that you respect Iruka; however, he is not a perfect teacher and also fell short of helping you prepare to succeed instead of only giving words and suggestions."

"You are my student now, and it is time to make you a much better fighter than before."

Naruto could barely stand, blinking with awe at someone suggesting he was not at fault for his Academy performance. 'Kakashi….sensei….'

"I….hu-hu-hu!" the boy forced a laugh through a lump in his throat.

"I never did win a spar at the Academy with anyone, Sensei. I guess I didn't really ask myself that before, ya know. So, what do you think I should do instead?"

"First," the Jonin continued. "If one option does not work, then looking for a separate way to reach the same goal is a good choice to make. You want to hit back at me, I understand that. But, the goal here is still to survive and avoid being hit. Don't look right at my hits but look around them to find an open space to move into. Let's try this different way and see if you can last longer sparring with me than you did against others at the Academy."

Taking a classic stance again, Naruto nodded before bracing himself. Kakashi threw a combination out with a minor degree of speed, with Naruto's eyes darting around before shifting to his right, ducking under a kick and pushing back with his legs to avoid punches.

Kakashi did the same thing, and Naruto dodged them again. Before a different combination came and the boy came close to getting hit, he managed to find distance just in time. The sensei chose to throw several kicks next and grew surprised as Naruto ran forward to roll between his legs to escape them.

'Hmmmmm. He's getting creative.'

Kakashi pivoted on the spot, keeping his balance perfectly as another knee came forward to Naruto's bewilderment. Following instincts, the orange Genin threw his arms out to deflect the hit aside, then began hopping back to a safer distance, breathing heavily.

Kakashi fixed him with a look, then nodded with approval. A grin stretching ear-to-ear lit up Naruto's face, before growing determined and preparing for the next set.

Their spar continued, until Kakashi began boxing Naruto into a corner of the deck, and the boy had to improvise.

"Hhhh?"

"Shadow-clone jutsu!" A spare clone appeared behind Kakashi, who frowned as he pressed on. Naruto ducked around a combination of jabs, one knee until an open palm lightly pushed him back, to get nailed with a side-kick.

Yet, the figure Kakashi hit immediately dissolved into smoke.

"Phew, that was a close one, sensei." At the call, Kakashi's head shot to his right, where Naruto was standing near Gin and Zoro as the pair were cleaning their weapons.

"Naruto! What was that, kid?" the former Krieg officer questioned him.

"Huh?... uh…well…." the boy scratched the back of his head, clueless to explain what he'd improvised. Still, Kakashi pieced everything together, to his own surprise.

"A shadow-clone jutsu mixed with the substitution jutsu," the Jonin surmised, calling over to them.

"It's also called a body-switch technique. It's a rapid move, where a ninja exchanges their position with another object around them. It moves them away from danger at the last second."

Finishing his explanation, Kakashi's mind continued to spin, forming a new concept with enough potential to leave his conscious staggering.

'I was watching his hands closely, and with Naruto's chakra control, he is months or years away from using that jutsu without hand signs. However, I wasn't watching his clone and expected it to try and attack my blind spot. Instead….the clone must have used the substitution, moving the original out of danger to let itself be destroyed.'

"Naruto!" Taking a far more serious tone, the Jonin-sensei brought a pause to their spar to interrogate his student.

"Did you intentionally create that clone to substitute you away from my attack? A move like that truly is brilliant, if that is the case that occurred moments ago."

"Uhhh, Yeah! Of course, I did, sensei!" the blonde replied, with a thumbs up far too innocent to be honest. "I'm just the kinda ninja to think it up and keep something ready when I need it, thinking more moves ahead of you and all that stuff. Believe it. Ha hahahaha!"

At this point, Zoro fixed the back of his head with a scowl, while Kakashi kept his eye straight, and Nami palmed her face.

'Keep talkin', kid. All you'd need is face-paint with 'lia'' written on your forehead.' Gin thought with pity.

"So, you improvised under pressure and pulled that right out of your head," Kakashi surmised, moving back to business.

"Naruto. That was true brilliance. Now," the Jonin cast a look out from the ship, pointing towards Sakura and Sasuke.

"I have a few ideas on how that trick could be refined to a very potent skill. Please, make around 20 shadow clones and position them to watch Sasuke and Sakura!"

"Uhh…..ok, sensei! Shadow-clone jutsu!" In a moment, the deck of the Going Merry was filled with that precise number of Naruto's, with Kakashi taking count.

"Alright. Let's discuss some formations we can use for the clones."

Taking the blonde aside, a minute later he had a stack of paper and pencils from inside the Lounge.

Sakura herself let out a yelp, at several shadow-kunai tearing through the water in front of her, driving the in-training ninja to shuffle backwards. Her footing was clumsy but sufficient. She shook her head before she found herself back on the deck of the Merry.

"Huh?"-

"What! How did a copy-Naruto get out there, then turn into smoke?" Luffy asked, his left arm retracting back with a snap.

"Oh, Sasuke!"

Turning at the shout, Sakura watched as a clone of Naruto became replaced with her crush out on the water.

Blinking at the move, she pieced together what happened, while Sasuke took a glance at the clones around them. Looking out to see another one out on the water, he recalled the same trick saving Naruto from Chew during their fight.

Even the last Uchiha couldn't stop giving a nod at the principal. Then took a closer glance at the Kakashi clones around them, their sharingans uncovered.

"What, Kakashi! Your sharingan, how can this be trained if….." his accusation died off, as the clone gave a nod.

"Huh? Sensei, if your clones have their sharingan out, how are you missing us out there?" Sakura questioned him.

"These eyes aren't to make everything hit the pair of you," one clone reassured. "It's to watch where you are in case a threat interrupts our training and to track your chakra pools to ensure we do not have a case of chakra exhaustion to cripple anyone for the remainder of the day."

He gave them a moment to consider the point, then started shooing the pair and the orange-clad clones out to a further distance.

Elsewhere on deck, Gin spun his remaining tonfa through an easy set of moves.

"Hey, y' ready now, Zoro?"

Across the deck, the swordsman nodded as he held his one remaining sword in a classic middle-guard. Dashing forwards, the first-mate set a basic kata to start their spar. Gin replied with deflection moves, connecting the metal ball at the end of his weapon to the blade, while keeping one open palm at his chest for balance and focus.

Zoro pressed on with over-head cuts followed by a cross-slash. Each was parried before Gin ducted below and came with an uppercut to his jaw.

The swordsman leaned to avoid it, stepping back to regain enough distance to use his blade and prevent the shorter weapon's benefits inside close range. Gin did the same, cursing.

'If Ah had both of'em, AH could ah grappled with Zoro. And Ah'd rathah not pistol-whip th' first-mate. I ain't got a definitive rank hereabouts, so riskin' that's a no-go.'

Zoro carried a frown deep with self-reflection.

'I'll need to get some new swords before we reach the Grand Line. Too bad none of those back in Arlong Park really suited me,'

'Still, I haven't used my Ittoryu techniques often enough to grow. I've been focusing on Santoryu too much, so this is a nice opportunity.'

Zoro kept his guard angled at Gin, lowering his blade and turning its edge aside, just above and parallel with his left leg, hips turned aside and well-balanced. Gin himself shifted, holding his tonfa's Monouchi[2] parallel with his forearm, both men taking defensive postures and waiting for the other to strike first.

Nami eyed the pair, before growing bored and turning to the morning paper. Sanji was waiting on her hand and foot, handling the rest of the sailing with her as the rest of the crew continued training.

Gin and Zoro remained patient until Zoro's lesser experience showed itself and he raised his blade to strike. Gin smirked, eyeing his partner's wrists. They spun right, angling the sword-edge to fall to the left, not straight on his crown. Gin followed accordingly, deflecting the blade around, yet didn't close in fast enough before Zoro drew back for a thrust.

Sakura and Sasuke continued their evasion training, with Ussop and Luffy growing more in sync and skilled alongside them. While Kakashi found a new headache by training to explain theory and concepts to Naruto step-by-step with words alone.

Another hour followed before the clones of Kakashi disappeared, their uncovered sharingans taking the last drops of chakra after using no additional jutsu the entire time. Kakashi himself nodded, taking in all the clones had seen then calling Sakura and Sasuke back to the deck.

Gin and Zoro each were battered, bruised and grinning at the other, while the Genin were tired and Ussop swung his arms left and right.

"Wow…I've never shot so many stars in such a short while. My arms actually hurt from holding my sling-shot at-ready so much."

"Thank you for your help, Ussop. And you too Captain," Kakashi nodded at the pair, with Luffy nodding, then strolled over to his seat and dropped down cross-legged.

"Alright, Naruto, Sakura, Sasuke. Each of you did well," he praised his students, to which two boys nodded, and the one girl could only slump, drained of chakra from such a long time and feeling every sore shot that did connect.

"We'll take a small physical break for now. I want to review your jutsu repertoires next, and then we'll begin more intense physical training."

Naruto went first, having shown two of the three he was capable of already. After transforming into every one of the crew, Kakashi sent him over the side with new instructions.

"Your chakra control for water-walking still needs a lot of work, if your clones reflect anything on the matter," recalling how several sent out to Sakura and Sasuke had dropped under the water.

With a nod, Naruto walked to the side as Sanji came out the door.

"Hey there, Naruto! If you see any fish down there, try and grab them and we'll have a few spare hors-d'oeuvres at dinner tonight!"

"You got it!" the boy cried, jumping over the side.

Kakashi only needed minutes to review every jutsu Sakura knew to perform, and moments to smack himself in the face.

'Am I truly that stupid?"

"Sensei? I…is something…wrong?" Sakura spoke to him. Turning to look at the girl, her face was clear with worry towards an obvious concept.

"No, you performed each of those jutsu flawlessly, Sakura," Kakashi explained. "A few memories of some dearly stupid decisions came to mind," he spoke, falling into more silent reflections.

'Only the 3 baseline E-Ranked jutsu. That is literally all she has, and I've taught her nothing else. Even to face A-rank situations back in Nami no Kuni, and the lightest training load after she completed the tree-climbing exercise so easily,' his thoughts a mixing of admonish awe. Before looking at his final student.

'Sasuke clearly has the broadest jutsu arsenal of the three. But I'd better give Sakura something to work on in the meantime, instead of repeating another mistake,' Kakashi decided.

"Alright, Sakura, you have each of those jutsu down very well; and your chakra control is better than Naruto and Sasuke's capacities combined," he praised her.

"Now, like Naruto I want you to work on something while I do the same with Sasuke. Watch my hands carefully," he instructed, forming them together, before dissolving before everyone's eyes.

"Huh!" Sakura gapped at the spot where her teacher disappeared. Sasuke activated his eyes and found the chakra outline of the man moving just behind the girl.

"Ninja Art: Transparency jutsu," a certain voice came from the railing, calling everyone's attention, even Luffy's from the prow.

"Whoa! You can turn invisible! Is that another mystery power!" he asked, shaking with excitement. Nami even dashed right in front of Kakashi, her hands folding up to beg, with eyes cuter than a needy Puppy.

"Please….please, Mr. Kakashi. Can you teach me that, and make sneaking around so much safer?" she begged him; with eyes gleaming for one thing only: money.

Kakashi tried to answer, but-

"Did someone say, INVISIBLE!"

Sanji burst right through a wall, leaving a clear imprint of himself behind and running straight to his knees before for Kakashi.

"Invisibility! Really?! As in nobody can see you, or only see right through you? You ninjas can really do that—and—and-and—and—grrr—and become transparent anywhere?!" he demanded, with lustful hearts in his eyes.

Naruto had come back to the deck to see what the noise was all about.

"Uhhhh. Yes," Kakashi replied. "The transparency jutsu was a simple one invented by a legendary ninja, Jiraya the Sannin. It's quite a useful skill, and Sakura does have the fine control to learn this one rather quickly."

"PLEASE!" Before anyone could react, Sanji tackled Kakashi, pinning him straight on the ground and begging with a face glowing bright red.

"My dream. It can happen, even without the Clear-clear Fruit! For years and years and years, I have wanted to experience invisibility for myself! I can see it clearly even now! I can do so much good with it, the power of-NUDE GIRLS!"

The building intensity of the crew…..came to a screeching halt.

"Ghkkkhh-No I meant invisibility! I can benefit all of humanity by protecting-NUDE GIRLS!—No, I mean mankind from the peeping-no problems that beset this earth-OF NAKED LADIES!"

Everyone flopped. Sanji kept speaking, but the truth was not covered anywhere.

"Shut up, Peeping Tom! We get it, you want to learn this transparency power to sneak in and spy on naked women! You degenerate pitiful idiot," Zoro declared to the cook.

"And Sanji, you're worse than Luffy! Stop putting holes in our ship!" Ussop admonished him while crouching behind a certain navigator.

"WHAT WAS THAT, YOU COWARDLY BOY AND MOSS—HEAD MORRON! THE ONLY THINGS YOU CARE ABOUT ARE YOUR SLINGSHOT AND SWORDS! YOU DON'T GET TO BE TALKING LIKE THAT TO A REAL MAN!" the cook bellowed from his dirty heart; his eyes still wide with glee.

"You PERVERT!" A scream shook the boat, as someone kicked Sanji's head from behind. Sending the Peeping Tom barreling towards Nami, who held two fists at her eye level.

Sakura joined in, and the beat-down that followed left even Sasuke pale with fear. Kakashi even backed away several steps, Gin and Ussop were too scared to move, and Zoro wisely did nothing.

Eventually, the girls stopped; both their fists smoking and cloaked in righteous womanly wrath.

Naruto especially was shivering in his shoes; 'Actually…it might be a bad idea to learn that and get more looks for my sexy-jutsu,' he silently decided.

"Naked girls, what's so special about that?" Luffy questioned. Causing a gong to drop on the deck, leaving Gin, Ussop and Kakashi bleached with dismay.

"Looking at them seems kinda dangerous and stupid. I'd use that mystery skill to steal meat, not to bother a girl taking a bath," the captain claimed, looking at Sanji's body with worry.

Some of the crew blinked, and in that moment the two female crewmates were at their captain's side. "Luffy, you are the best captain ever!" Sakura proclaimed, hanging from his shoulders with a bear hug. Nami took his chin and guided it to face her, smiling. "Keep thinking like that Luffy, and you will be an amazing catch for any girl to have," she promised, then looked away as a blush began growing on her face.

"Uhhhhhh….Naruto!" Kakashi called over to the boy. "Create 10 different shadow clones to stay here, then move back down for water-walking practice."

Eager for the distraction, Naruto followed orders and hopped back down, taking measured steps on the surface before going faster—and falling into the dip.

"Uhhhhhh…Sakura?" the pinkette turned to face her sensei. "Uh huh, Kakashi-sensei?"

The man swallowed his fears and dismay towards two particular people and got back to the training at hand.

'I'll write myself a note to never tell her, or anyone, how Lord Jiraya tested this jutsu, or why he invented it in the first place,' the former ANBU promised himself.

"The Transparency Jutsu can often be used to gather intel on a target or to steal certain goods and prepare for a larger operation. I actually used it in Arlong Park to sneak in and out undiscovered, along with stealing the Saw-blade that belonged to Arlong," he recounted.

"It would be a good tool to ambush people if you can master it, or to create distractions and move them away from your goal during a fight. Are you interested in learning it?"

To answer him, she stood at attention, ready and eager to add something new to her skill set.

"Yes, sensei!"

Smiling with his eyes, Kakashi showed her the hand signs again and described the mentality and chakra usage for the jutsu, then turned his attention over to Sasuke.

"Alright, Sasuke. Show me what you have, along with shuriken jutsu on the clones here at the deck, and the firepower that you can bring to this crew," he encouraged the boy. A few Naruto's complained but Kakashi silenced each of them. With a smirk, Sasuke followed his instructions easily, then displayed the Fireball jutsu for everyone on board to see.

Kakashi nodded, satisfied with the display; 'It's growing more powerful from his own development. Not quite near Obito's magnitude by the time he made Chunin, but the progress is coming steadily.'

"Alright. Now, it's time for physical training to start!"

"Zoro!" the jonin-sensei called over to the first mate.

"You and Sasuke have been training together well for some time. Would you mind continuing that while we travel with each of you?"

The green-haired swordsman nodded his reply. "Sure. Do you want Naruto and Sakura to join us too?" Kakashi pondered the question, glancing between his students and gauging the capacities each had shown thus far.

"I'd appreciate you working with Naruto, but I'm going to be focusing on Sakura for this stage," he replied. "I'm not sure if she could handle the kind of intensity your training regimen follows. Instead, I'm going to build her flexibility and a few utilitarian taijutsu measures."

With a shrug, Zoro agreed, moving out to grab his weights as Sasuke followed. Calling overboard towards Naruto, the blonde quickly followed them as Sakura's practice with her new jutsu was cut short by Kakashi.

0….0

2 full hours later, only Zoro, Naruto and Kakashi were standing. Sasuke was panting on his knees with every muscle in his arms and waist deeply worn down. Sakura was only held up by her hands, trying to find a comfy pose after Kakashi's full attention.

Unlike the boy's, she'd be forced through different taijutsu stances and katas with a level of detail finer than a senbon. After drilling her through each form, Kakashi decided to increase her flexibility, pushing the girl through several exercises to build heat in her muscles, then stretch them in ways and shapes at the edge of her comfort zone.

She was exhausted, lacking even the energy to say so.

Naruto himself was still doing push-ups, leaving Zoro very impressed.

Sanji, now conscious and able to walk, came outside with plates loaded with food, placing them on a small table near the tangerine trees.

"Alright! Come on up and chow down brats! You've really earned a good lunch today!"

Immediately, the Genin mustered their energy and shot for the food.

Kakashi chuckled at the sight but didn't follow just yet.

Luffy was running for the same thing until a powerful grip took his head. A body followed, pinning the captain and his near-bottomless stomach to the ground, far from the table.

"Hey! It's lunchtime, and I'm hungry! Somebody let me up before I starve!" he complained, wriggling to get free as Kakashi kept him solidly pinned.

"Good catch Kakashi," Nami complemented, stepping out from the door as Gin and Ussop finished patching up the imprint left by Sanji on the wall.

As everyone sat down, the Genin were inhaling their meals without a thought for how they looked; all of them, even Sakura, were just too hungry. Nami grabbed a tangerine on her way while Sanji moved back inside to cook more.

Kakashi joined him, having asked the chef to prepare a plate inside instead of bringing it out with the others.

"It's on the table for you Kakashi," the chef called over. With a nod, the Hatake took his meal and cast an eye on the door. As Sanji finished a chicken with orange sauce for Nami, he turned around to plate it; before realizing Kakashi hadn't left.

"What's up Kakashi? Something you dislike, because that meal still has to be eaten regardless."

With a jump, Kakashi's hand flew at his jawline, covering it as the plate fell to his knee, staying balanced perfectly, and a shuffle could be spied around his face.

"Oh, no," he replied, dropping the hand to show he was once again covered by a mask.

"It was delicious as it always has been, Sanji; thank you," he called back, one hand raised as he moved through the door.

With ab link, Sanji turned back to his job, with a flicker of curiosity at the man, his mask and what lay underneath it.

Back on deck, the Jonin cast his eyes over the Genin, noting how all of them were relaxing from the intense workload from the morning. The rest of the crew were there as well, while Zoro was out of the floor, slipping in for a nap.

'Well. Now that things have grown quiet, I can talk about the next stage of our training, and the revelation I found with Sanji and Zoro,' Kakashi decided.

"Alright, Sakura, Naruto, Sasuke? Now that all of us are here, there is a certain discovery that each of you needs to be aware of."

"Yeah—brugwhhhhat istgghcu itmmummmumm Ka—" Naruto replied through a mouthful.

"Naruto!" Nami called at him, with a sharp flick to his forehead. "Swallow first, then answer him. It's rude to talk like that, and nobody can make out what you want to share."

Naruto quickly followed her instructions, before apologizing to Nami and asking Kakashi, "What are you talking about Kakashi-sensei, and what's so important about it?"

"Well, I had a small altercation with Zoro and Sanji before we departed from Cocoyoshi Village," he continued, folding his arms while glaring at the pair. A pair of heads hung in regret, wise enough not to excuse the incident with Nami and Kakashi close by. While the rest of the crew perked up, curiously.

"After Naruto got hurt from saving Sakura from getting stuck in between their argument. I trapped each of them deeper in the forest, then tried to cast a genjutsu over each; the Death Mirage-jutsu."

Nami, Gin and Ussop each blinked at the name, their minds following a similar tune as the Jonin faced the trio with his single grey.

"Dearth-Mirage jutsu is a C-rank genjutsu. It can be easy to break out of or recognize, but shows what a person fears the most, causing a distraction fueled by their emotions to leave someone open for an easy kill."

"With no background on how they work, I induced each of them would be trapped in a nightmare with no way to escape from it."

Recognizing the terms now, Sanji and Zoro paled, the others nodded, while Luffy managed to hit 4 clones with one punch as Kakashi raised his headband, to display the Sharingan.

"However, the genjutsu failed to work at all, with Zoro and Sanji totally unphased. Following that, I examined them closely with this," he revealed, pointing to his eye.

"Some jutsu in our world are concentrated in a single limb or part of the body. This, a dojutsu, is called the Sharingan. It comes with a lot of special advantages, but one is to visually see the chakra pathways in another being," the Jonin described.

Sanji and Zoro nodded, recalling the nature of that eye from days ago, while the others took a moment to digest it.

'How many different powers can these ninjas have?' Nami questioned, silently.

"So cool! So, you have a mystery eye to see special things, huh?" Luffy cried towards them.

Most of the group sweat-dropped, having heard Kakashi's basic descriptions, while Sakura her voice.

"Kakashi-sensei! Did you mean they are immune to genjutsu!" she fearfully questioned.

"Maybe, Sakura," Sasuke answered her. Looking closer, their sensei found the other pair of Sharingans active, examining the other nakama carefully.

"Everyone here, even the Captain with his Devil-fruit powers. None of them have any chakra, let alone a chakra network within them at all."

Kakashi nodded, seeing half of Team 7 starting to catch on to such implications and piecing the mechanics behind Zoro and Sanji's immunity together.

"Why's that such a big deal? Does it just mean they can't learn ninjutsu like we do?" a knucklehead asked.

"That's only half of it, Naruto!" Sakura answered her teammate.

"Genjutsu works by using chakra as a medium to invoke those illusions in someone. That way-hhhhhmmm!"

Her mouth was covered by a hand, but light enough to stop her lecture Glancing up, Kakashi was standing between Sakura and Naruto.

"That may be the textbook explanation, Sakura. But, I don't think Naruto will grasp what you're talking about very well."

"Naruto? To work, a Genjutsu needs someone being targeted by it to have chakra in their bodies for it to work.[3] I'll give you more details later, but since nobody here, not even Arlong and his fishmen or the people in Cocoyoshi village have chakra at all, it means Genjutsu cannot touch them whatsoever."

Watching his student carefully, a surge of relief came through Kakashi as Naruto began to nod.

'Well, I did say they all have strengths and weaknesses. With Naruto, keeping things simple is his strong-suite.'

"Oh the other hand," Kakashi continued, "it also means that none of the pirates can learn any chakra techniques either. Like how to walk on water…or for Sanji to learn the transparency jutsu."

The impact of those words left the cook whiter than a cloud, petrified at the loss. Sinking to the ground, he began rolling about the deck in total loss. Gin was fighting the urge to snap his fingers, thinking only 'Goss, damnit.' Nami began cheering at the news, her arms high and voice loud with glee.

"Whooo! That's quite a big relief, Kakashi. Otherwise, Sakura and I'd have to watch out anytime we got changed or wanted a bath."

Sasuke was more curious than unbalanced, as illusions never had been his most eager tool-set. While Sanji and Zoro put a few pieces from that encounter with Kakashi together, and Luffy nodded along with Naruto at Kakashi's explanation.

Sakura was the most shaken, her mind imagining the worst.

'This means one entire third of all ninja arts are useless here, and we have only 2/3's to survive with. Kakashi-sensei defeated me so easily with the same genjutsu he used on Zoro and Sanji, so it must be a huge loss for us to not have that weapon at all.'

"Well, this is something of a benefit in any case," Kakashi announced to his students, and everyone else around.

"If they don't work, then teaching any of you to use genjutsu would be a redundant activity. Instead, your physical arts, taijutsu, ninja arts and team-forms are going to be the foremost of our training from now, until we return to the Elemental Nations. I will still develop each of your capacities to recognize and dispel any genjutsu, to prevent any complacency in that branch of combat."

"But otherwise, physical power, distractions, and ninjutsu will likely be our most dependable skills. Thankfully," the jonin sipped a touch of self-praise, "I am more than familiar with all the former."

"That is why I had each of you focusing on your physical skills throughout the morning. But now, we'll start something specialized towards ninjutsu."

At his announcement, the Jonin reached into his hip-pouch, pulling out a few thin squares of paper. Holding each in his hand, he thought back to Konoha for a moment.

'Looking back, it's amazing that I had the presence of mind to keep that preliminary Jonin-sensei kit with me to Nami no Kuni. Otherwise, I'd be left with nothing to work with on things like this.'

"Chakra-litmus papers! Oh, you're going to find our element affinities, sensei?" Sakura asked him. Sasuke looked a little dejected, while Naruto could not be more confused.

"How are tiny bits of paper gonna help us learn ninjutsu? Come on sensei, why not just each us a cool one right now, like that ice-move you did on Arlong!"

Sasuke couldn't help it and whacked his teammate on his head.

"Owww! Sasuke, what was that for? Paper isn't gonna help us learn anything cool and powerful!"

With a groan, Sasuke rolled his eyes at Naruto's answer. "That's exactly what it does do, you loser. It's a chakra litmus paper. That thing can test our chakra and…" Sasuke stopped his own description, thinking for a sec. about Naruto's very slow mind and the waste of breath trying to explain it like a book.

"Hhhh. Basically, it can tell someone what elemental jutsu will be the easiest ones to learn. Right, Kakashi?"

As his student asked, the Jonin sensei nodded, also noting the different looks the rest of the Straw Hat had towards him.

"That's correct Sasuke. Nami, Zoro, Ussop, Gin, Luffy? One form that ninjas can apply their power towards is called elemental jutsu," he began, while Sanji continued rolling in his own depression.

"Back in Nami's village, I actually used three different types of elemental jutsu during the course of the mission: Water-style, Earth-style, and a very special one called Ice-style. Some clans or entire villages in the Elemental Nations often create their own unique elemental techniques, like Ice-style from Yukigakure. I actually learned that technique by stealing them from different people I was fighting years ago."

"However, others are very basic and commonplace to all shinobi, and are practised by everyone who becomes a ninja."

"OOOOOOO, so it's a mystery-power that lets you make your own weather!" Luffy cried with glee.

"Yeah, yeah, what's so big about all this boring talk, Kakashi-sensei. I thought you said you'd teach us more ninjutsu, not give a lecture that's a big waste of time," Narutop outed from his seat.

Kakashi's head nearly shot sideways at their reactions; while the others groaned in unison at the more childish crewmates.

"Ummmm. Maybe it'll work better if I show you something, instead of using long explanations," Kakashi decided. Standing up, he moved a few meters away, to give everyone a safe space.

"Watch me closely in how I use a jutsu," weaving together the signs for his own iconic jutsu, Kakashi grasped his arm as a familiar blue orb of pure energy gathered in his palm, focusing it to become easy for the mall to see.

"First, I channel the chakra through those three hand signs, and form it here in my right hand."

"Next, I change to nature of the chakra to a specific element; in this case like an electrical current." As he spoke, a crackle began forming in the chakra, a jolt of lighting could be seen surrounding it as the orb's colour began to shift into a brighter shade and a more solid form of power.

"So that's…an elemental jutsu like you were talking about, Kakashi-sensei?" Naruto's voice came to his teacher, with a mood of curiosity and awe.

"Yes. For them, I can actually elevate this jutsu even further, by doing this!" The lightning energy in Kakashi's hand grew louder, filling every ear with the sound of a thousand chipping birds; lightning bolts were dancing wildly not across his arm but surrounding his entire body, with the strongest discharge still kept solidly in his hand.

"Hey, hey, hey, hey! Is-isn't that the jutsu you threatened Mihawk with after he beat Zoro, Kakashi?" Ussop asked him, shaking with excitement.

"Yes. This jutsu is called the Chidori, Ussop. It's actually one that I personally invented and a lightning-style jutsu at that.

Letting the technique dissipate, Kakashi raised his hand again, looking straight at his students.

"Okay, now listen very, veeeeeeeeery carefully, especially you Naruto," the man instructed with a detailed and slow pace.

"There are five basic types or natures of chakra. And every person in our homeland is born with the ability to use a single one easier than all the others. That one is called their natural affinity. There are Fire, Wind, Lightning, Earth, and Water. You got all that?"

Naruto frowned deeply, trying to make sense of it all before he nodded. "Yeah, I think I got it sensei."

"Okay then. Like Sauske described, that one element will be the easiest for somebody to learn, and in turn the most powerful element they can use, with enough training. To find that element, were used the slips of paper in front of you."

Finishing his lesson, Kakashi walked forward, taking one of the slips in his hand.

"I'll skip the explanation since you might find it boring. Right now, I'm sending a small amount of chakra into my hand so the paper can detect it and will react to the nature my chakra carries."

"If it turns to fire, then the person who used it has a fire-affinity. If it cuts in half, then it's wind. Earth will crumble it to dust. Water can leave it dripping wet. And lightning will make wrinkles form."

Everyone kept their eyes glued to the slip until it crinkled in his fingers.

"This means that I have a lightning-style affinity. And I later used it to invent a lightning-style jutsu, the Chidori. Still, I learned other natures after mastering this one, including water and earth. Now, Sakura, Sasuke, and Naruto take a slip and hold it in your hands. Channel a little chakra into them, and we'll find out which types each of you have.

Naruto's hand moved faster than the others, while Sakura did the same, but Sasuke didn't move at all.

"I already know my natural affinity, Kakashi. Every one of the Uchiha clan holds a fire-style nature, and I've been training in fire-style jutsu for years, so let's start on a new technique while the others learn theirs," he suggested, rising to his feet and walking to the stern to find an open space.

"Actually, Sasuke, that might not be the case." Stopping in his tracks, Sasuke turned about-face to eye his sensei carefully. Yet, Kakashi did not wait for any questions or denials to come.

"It is true that the Uchiha often possess fire style and specialize in fire-jutsu; in fact, becoming quite famous for it. However, some shinobi are able to gain more than one natural affinity or have a primary one and a secondary one. It's usually a skill which ninja around Jonin-level accumulate, but there are exceptions."

Taking another slip from his pouch, Kakashi held it forward at his more prideful pupil.

"Sasuke, ever since our talk in Hanma village, I've kept a much closer eye on you, along with Sakura and Naruto. I have a suspicion that you and I may be very much alike, but I need to verify that theory. Please, let's test your natural affinity and see what happens."

Sasuke looked his gaze on the litmus-paper, before deciding he had nothing to lose and took it.

"A clan? What the heck does that mean?" Luffy's voice came from the table, holding a bowl of ramen in both hands.

"A clan? What the heck does that mean?" Luffy's voice came from the table, holding a bowl of ramen in both hands.

"NOOOO! THAT'S MY RAMEN, LUFFY!" Naruto's Hollard in dispair leaping straight for the glutton. Luffy barely noticed, until he swung around to leave Naruto tumbling across the floor and raising the delectable noodles to his mouth. The boy shook his head and made a dash for his beloved meal, only for Luffy to kick him overboard and swallow the last few drops.

"AAAAAHhhhhhhhh That was good," the captain proclaimed, as an angry silhouette came up behind him.

"You Bastard!" Nami shouted, smacking the captain's rubber head hard enough to fly a few meters sideways.

"Sanji!" the navigator called down to the kitchen. "Luffy stole Naruto's Ramen for lunch. Cook him up a fresh bowl, please!"

"Right away Nami-swaaaaannn!" a musical promise responded, while the girl walked over to the side to help the ramen-robbed Naruto. With a very special mood around him, a little comfort from a big-sister figure manged to move him from depression to a moderate pout.

"So, what is this Uhiewa-clan that Sasuke is a part of?" Luffy asked again.

"Luffy," Ussop answered the captain. "A clan is a group of people who are all extended family to each other, cousins, Grand-parents, great-uncles, 4th cousins, and more. All of them live together and often become real important if they have a big name that everybody knows about."

Turning back towards the ninja's, Ussop's face was honest and neutral.

"I bet Sasuke here is one of them, and those people became famous in their home-village for this fire-power chakra and a few other things. He's gotta have bucket-loads of family and all of them taught him how to use these powers as a kid. Must be why he's such a good fighter. Am I right?"

….

If an eclipse had come, bathing the daylight in pitch black, it would have carried a light tone than the mood radiating from Sasuke. The Uchiha's face only met the deck, drawing tighter by the moment to keep his emotions locked from showing.

Kakashi's eye was drawn in a line, glaring between his student and the sniper. Naruto's head and shaking between them both, any thoughts about his ramen totally thrown aside as memories of others talking about the Uchiha forced their way into his consciousness. Sakura's eyes had grown ultimately wide, but slowly morphed into a pensive expression.

'That's right, Ussop isn't from Konoha, so he doesn't know about Sasuke…'

"What's wrong? Why did everyone suddenly go all quiet and sad?" Luffy asked the four shinobi. Sasuke raised his head, but a hand fell on his shoulder, protectively.

Kakashi stepped forward.

"You are…correct, Ussop. Our village, Konoha, was actually founded by two prominent ninja clans forming an alliance together. The Senju clan, and the Uchiha clan; Sasuke's ancestors. They were one of the most power and prominent forces, and produced several shinobi' who's skill became legendary."

"Hold it!" Nami exclaimed, rising to her feet. "You just said 'was.' Did…something happen to-"

but her questioned died faster than an instantly eyes shooting wide as a memory clicked in her head.

'Back at the Baratie, "Your parents must be proud to have such a helpful hand when you're at home, Naruto," Nami praised him. She thought the complement would have brought happiness, not the gaunt eyes of depression and sorrow that met her. The boy, both Naruto and Sasuke looked away, shuffling off along the roof.'

"Naruto? Sasuke? You…do…you have any parents?" Nami pushed through the lump in her throat. She could recognize the loss in those eyes on anyone, best of all herself.'

'Neither boy responded for several moments, while Nami remained frozen in her seat. Until Sasuke responded. "My parents were stolen from me…by a murderer years ago."'

"Enough!" Kakahsi ordered all of them. "The matter at-hand right now is our training. Tonight, if you want to know, we will tell you more. But not right now! Understood?"

His tone brokered no complaints or questions, even Sanji who'd arrived by then didn't rise an issue over what incident had come.

For Nami, everything else faded to a blank, leaving only Sasuke and Naruto remaining. Glancing down to the boy, recalling his own words towards lost family, the girl felt a powerful impulse. Wrapping one arm around him, like her own sister often did to her, she brought Naruto back to a seat before aiming a very careful watch on Sasuke.

'I need to learn more about this, and soon.'

"Alright, now everyone, let's see what your affinities are," Kakashi announced. Luffy, Gin and Sanji moved over to Naruto, while Nami leaned closer to Sakura's slip and Zoro got to his feet to stand beside Sasuke, sensing this was a crucial point for each of them.

"Uhhh, sensei, I got it!" Sakura cried after a moment, holding up her piece, with water droplets slipping down her fingers.

"A Water-type, huh. I must say, given we're raveling on a ship, that element will go a very long way, Sakura. It's also a well-balanced and versatile one, and often takes quite a bit of intellect to use all of its benefits. Congratulations."

The kunoichi herself thought back to what she'd seen the Demon Mist-siblings and Zabuza doing during their first encounter with danger; then reflecting on how Kakashi copied their own techniques; 'Maybe he can teach those to me, and I'll grow to be a better kunoichi!' she found herself very excited.

"Hmmm. Hey, Kakashi," Zoro called over at the Jonin. His eyes were trained on the wrinkled paper in Sasuke's hand. "It looks like you were right, this paper looks the same as your did; so that means Sasuke here can use lightning?"

The Jonin nodded, "Yes, that is correct. You also saw the fire-style jutsu that Sasuke used earlier as well, form his own clan's heritage. It seems that he'll need to pour a lot more training into this since it would be a waste to leave one stagnant for the sake of the other. Sasuke himself has two developing elements, and both of them very offensive-orientated at that."

Meanwhile, the last Uchiha actually thought back to one of his few, closely kept family memories.

'When father first taught me the Great Fire-ball jutsu. It came out somewhat below-par. Still, this means it wasn't my primary natural affinity, and I still managed to train and advance it to a level that led him to complement me.'

'If I can go that far with only a secondary element, then this will be a huge step to growing even further than I ever did on my own,' he silently pledged.

"I got it!" Naruto shouted out, waving around four different strips of the litmus-paper.

"Hmmm, the paper cut itself apart, so according to what he said, that means you have wind-power, right?" Sanji induced.

"Hmmmmmmm," Kakashi pondered in response, eyeing the jagged tares Naruto was waving around.

"Yes, that is true Sanji, but it goes a step even further," Kakashi's, voice became very serious towards them, walking straight up to Naruto.

"Often, a standard wind-type will only cut these papers in half. But Naruto's was nearly shredded to bits. This means he likely has a very powerful affinity, and one for wind-style even more."

The Jonin was frowning now, grappling with a notable dilemma. 'Wind-style is my weakest element, and the one I use in battle least of all.[4] Training Naruto in this might take some trial-and-error, but I can't wait until me get back to the village or go to Lord Third or Asuma for some help either.'

Silently, Kakashi started pondering over how to address this problem, while Sakura was gapping at Naruto's results.

"Hey, Naruto, you know…actually I'm going to take a guess that you don't," she amended herself. Something that pulled the blonde's attention naway form their teacher.

"Know what, Sakura? Is it something important?" he questioned her. To which she sighed at his hopelessness, then went straight to explain.

"According to Iruka-sensei, Wind is THE rarest natural affinity across every ninja in the world. Sure, some people can use them, but having a natural talent for that elements is extremely rare; even among the other Hokage, none of them had a wind-style affinity and the element can be one of the best combat-focused natures of them all."

Naruto's eyes grew bright than the sun with everything Sakura described, until Kakashi joined-in.

"She's right. Truth be told, there is only one other ninja in our village who has this kind of natural affinity; Asuma Sarutobi. Naruto, having this element certainly is amazing."

"Hey, there!" Nami cut in between them. "If Naruto can use wind-power like that, what about using it the sails to propel the Merry if we lose the natural wind-currents on the ocean? Or he could blow-away storm-cloud that come towards us too?"

Naruto was dancing around the deck now, almost singing about how great he was, while Sasuke eyed him carefully and Sakura sighed in exasperation.

"That might be useful as well, Nami. But, it's still a very, very long way away. Knowing your affinity is one thing but learning how to use it is an exponentially harder process. For now,"

The Jonin pulled out a scroll and a single light-bulb, unsealing the former to reveal a pile of green leaves on the table. Taking three of them, he held two out towards Sakura and Sasuke.

"The first step to learning how the use your elements to the fullest is by becoming more familiar with their use. Sanji, will you grab Naruto for a moment?"

The cook reached out one arm, snagging Naruto by the collar and dragging him over to stand before Kakashi, "Quit complaining, brat. You know what you have now, so focus on learning how to use it."

Naruto immediately grew quiet, distracted by the lesson.

"Thank you," Kakashi nodded to Sanji.

"Now, I have a few of these leaves from Cocoyoshi village. Sakura, Naruto, I want each of you need to take one of these leaves to hold in your palms and channel your chakra into them for a while. Sakura's goal is to soak her's all the way through using only her chakra, while Naruto has to cut through this leaf in the same way. Once that is done, we can start learning how to use specific wind and water jutsu. Deal?"

"Believe it!" Naruto shouted, snatching one leave and backing of the start. Sakrua only nodded and started doing the same. While Kakashi tookt he light-bulb and held it towards Sasuke.

"Sasuke, you have to take the light-bulb and keep it running from around 5 minutes; then we'll start with the same. However, it has to remain on with your chakra alone, and not end-up popping from an electric over-charge. Do you understand?"

Nodding, Sasuke took his own and started the same.

Kakashi nodded, then walked away to the prow.

"Hey, where are you going, Old-man Kakashi?" Luffy called after him. With a deep sigh, the Jonin turned back to face the crew.

"Well, I've been helping my students train all day so far, and I can't let myself remain complacent either. It's time to look after my own training for a bit; and refine a few techniques I learned a short time ago."

"I'll be out here practicing different ninjutsu if anyone wants to watch—but not my students!" he cried out, spying Naruto getting distracted.

"Each of you are to keep working on your element affinities, then I'll move on to something else. That is an order!"

Naruto gulped down and turned back to the matter in-hand. Each of the pirates looked on as the Genin kept trying, and found some strong disappointment. For all the hype, Naruto kept checking his leaf to find not even a small scratch in it, while Sakura's was even worse and she found herself growing tired, and Sasuke only managed a small flicker on his bulb.

Zoro watched each of them sternly, while Ussop nodded before walking downstairs and returned with several cases of tools and supplies.

"Might as well make some fresh stars. And work a little more on that new tobacco star," he muttered to nobody. Yet just as he sat down, a terrifying roar emerged from the sea as the waters began churning around.

"Oh no, Not a Sea King!" Nami exclaimed, while most of the others began looking everywhere in terror. Yet, the next moment, a massive dragon shot up from below them.

"Waster-style: Water-Dragon jutsu!" Kakashi's voice announced.

The serpentine spectre was crafted solely from water and spiraling up to the skies, revolving around the Going Merry to climb twice the height of the mast. The creature hung above them, in great magnificence, before dissipating into millions of tiny water droplets, forming a rainbow that left everyone in awe.

Kakashi looked on, before weaving through the signs again and repeating the same process.

Gin, Nami, Ussop and Luffy ran up to him, shouting their excitement and bombarding him with questions. While Zoro, having seen the same thing before, only knocked Sakura, Naruto and Sasuke to focus back on their own practice.

0….….0

Sakura formed her hands in a tiger-seal, ran his mind over the different steps to the Transparency jutsu, then applied it. "Transparency jutsu!"

Unfortunately, no changes came in her physical being at all, still the girl could feel her chakra spreading throughout her body rather smoothly. Glancing in the mirror, a frown curled beneath her massive forehead.

'Hmmmmm. I can feel it working, but not enough to bring any changes to my visual form. Maybe there is another way to apply this, or I could….wait, how about I try that!'

As she began to critique a new possibility, Kakashi took a deep breath and looked out towards the sunset.

'One final try, then that's be it for the day.'

Gathering his hands, the man ran through five different hand-signs before extending his left arm straight above his head.[5]

"Ninja Art: Hidden Mist Jutsu!" Follow his commands, a wide spray of water engulfed the Going Merry, shifting about until the entire ship was obscured by the heavy mist. Everyone on-board froze in their activities, having been warned by Kakashi before he began practicing this jutsu. Feeling around, the Jonin body-flickered to the stern, to find approval for himself for finally covering the entire Caravel.

Forming another hand-sign to dissipate the jutsu, the Copy-nin noted his progress from the day.

'That was every technique I gained from Zabuza during our encounters. There is still a lot of room for improvement, and I have to use far too many hand-signs for the Hidden-mist jutsu since the mechanics will take some time to comprehend and master.'

'On top of that, the next water-vortex and water-dragon jutsu will take a lot more refinement in-case I need them in a pinch; but this has been a good day overall.'

Satisfied, he looked back over his students. Sasuke was now doing warm-downs with Zoro after managing to reach 15 seconds with the light-bulb. Zoro himself was balancing weights on his feet, from hand-stand push-ups while holding an even larger dumbbell in his mouth. Luffy was also there, with a single giant bar across his shoulders weighted down by nearly half a ton. The rubber-man was doing jumping-squats under them, propelling three feet in the air before landing down with enough elasticity to dissipate the impact from rocking the boat.

Ussop and Sanji were tying several ropes and cleaning one part of the deck, while Gin, Naruto and Nami had disappeared indoors.

"I did it! Kakashi-sensei, come here! I did it!" Sakura cried over at her teacher. Holding up her left arm, the colours of the limb were a swirling collage of the wooden deck behind it and their true colours.

Kakashi noted how it stopped at the elbow, and grinned with approval "Good job using creative thought Sakura. I believe that is enough work to focus into this day for your ninjutsu. Let's run through your taijutsu-forms again, then we will call it a night."

The girl stopped jumping, swallowing back the instinct to decline more physical activities forming in her throat. 'Remember what Sensei said, and I guess it is a good principle to improve something I'm bad at, she reasoned.' But another voice had separate ideas.

'"What but look here at what I'm doing now!" Inner-Sakura complained, kneeling towards a goal labeled "Transperency," while another far, far below it was labeled "Taijutsu."'

"Yes, sensei."

For the following 30 minutes, Sakura followed the basic fundamentals under Kakashi's watch. His eye for details let nothing faulter, editing even the smallest flaw in her movements and stance. Sakura herself was soon covered with sweat, such unfamiliar movements and the intense focused they demanded leaving her entire body rigid, strong, and straining.

Finally, Kakashi asked her to throw a light series of punches, and allowed her to relax.

"Ok everyone!" Sanji announced. "Naruto and I will go start on dinner, then make some calls around when everything is finish."

With that, Sakura dragged herself down to the women's cabin with Nami close behind her.

As they came to their room, the girls began to stretch while Nami faced her new roommate with a warm smile.

"After working as hard as you have all day, I imagine you're exhausted, Sakura. Ready to eat and then drop into bed?"

"Actually Miss Nami, I was hoping to take a bath after all the work from today before eating dinner," the pinkette replied.

"Oh, great idea!" Nami praised with a smile.

"it's been a while since I got a bath either, Sakura. Why don't we take one together? The hatch up there leads right to the bathroom. I'll ask someone to draw-up some water."

Minute later the girls were in the bath, taking turns in the narrow tub while the other stood close-by soaking up the steam. Nami offered Sakura to take hers first, then to wash her back and hair. Now Sakura was leaning back in bliss, feeling Nami's gentle hands combing through her hair. While the older teen smiled in reflection:

'Nojiko and I hated bath-time at first. But then, it became so much fun together, especially with Bellemere playing along with us after getting us washed-up.'

Smiling at the sweet memory of the only mother she knew, Nami's mood began to shine with a thrill; of thinking back to that time and her home with a sweet, clear conscious, free of any worries about Arlong or her sister's life.

While Sakura, her face hidden from Nami's eyes, quickly began frowning towards herself. The girl was feeling sore and exhausted in 2 dozen different ways. But, all of it was tempered by a few specific moments from her recent memories:

'Time began to slow for Sakura, watching her new friend fall to her knees, from a bullet wound in her shoulder….The Marine pulled the trigger. Another shot tore through Ussop's right pectoral…Sakura's mind, trying to digest what was happening. Everyone around her faded to the background, tunnel-vision forming on Nojiko and Ussop. Until a hand seized her by the chin, turning the girl to face its owner.'

'"CHichichichichichichichichi! Quite a pretty thing," Nezumi appraised her. "Young, healthy and with room to grow. Perhaps Alrong would allow me to take you to a Human Auctioning House as compensation for my wasted time."'

'Breathing hard, Sakura was on her knees as the Fishman moved to attack. Her eyes wide in terror, the Genin could only raise a single kunai towards his sword, with both hands and hope. "Exploding star!" A fresh explosion hit the Fishman's face. Before one person in brown overalls appeared, hurling through the doorway with a hammer in-hand.'

'After landing in a crouch, the final enemy snatched her by the hair, holding the girl up before himself. "Nobody moves! You have hurt my brother's enough. One more thing, and I will kill this one!" he demanded.'

'Sakura struggled against this enemy, the pain on her scalp running deep. "Ow, ow, put me down! Let go! Let go!" Sakura's hands rose above her head, clawing at the strong fingers while her legs were flailing about with each word.'

"Something wrong, Sakura? Why does your face look so down?"

Jumping in the bath from Nami's question, Sakura looked up at her. Thinking back to her line of thought and raising single hand to her scalp, Sakura's features became deep and regretful as she arrived at a decision.

"Miss Nami, do you know an island where someone can get a haircut?" she asked.

"Hmmmm…well I could style it up for you-Wait!" Nami's eyes grew wide, perplexed.

"You actually want to cut all of this? Why, your hair is gorgeous!"

While Sakura did enjoy feeling Nami's gentle hands comb through her hair and nodded that she did enjoy having long hair, the girl had given some thought into this choice.

"You see. Back during the fight with Arlong's crew. One of those Fishmen grabbed me by the hair and was almost helpless. Kakashi-sensei was right about how we need to be more ready for battle, and if that guy hadn't wanted to bargin…"

Sakura drew her legs in, hugging tightly around herself while looking aside in shame.

"He might have just killed me right there. All this training the Kakashi-sensei has us doing will definitely make us stronger. But more than that, I need to be a real kunoichi from now on! Better skills will be one thing, but I also need to remove some weaknesses. Some ninjas do have long hair, but right now I'm just too exposed like this," she explained, running one hand through her long pink mane.

"Please, will you cut it for me after me finish here?"

At her pleading eyes, Nami pondered the concept. Then nodded, smiling down at the younger girl.

"Sure, I will. Let's dry it first then we'll do it in the storeroom. But for now, it's my turn in the bath."

Grinning, the girls changed places, with Sakura helping her, and somehow thankful for the second voice in her mind

'"AAHHHHH! Your Boobs are so much bigger than mine! If Kami had blessed me with such a killer bust, Sasuke would never keep his hands off of me at all! I'm gonna find your secret Nami, so get ready to spill when it calls-CHAAAAAAAA!"'

"Huh?" Nami herself held one shoulder outside of the tub, with a bandage on her shoulder. Sakura was about to ask, until she recalled watching Nami driving a knife into that very spot, tears shaking from her eyes until Luffy ended her misery. Deciding not to ask, the girls quickly finished up before doing some fresh cloths and walking up to the kitchen.

Inside, Sanji held a large bowl of paella that made every mouth water. While Kakashi and Gin were holding Luffy to the wall until everyone else had taken a share of the meal. Once that was done, the Captain took the whole giant bowl and started eating as Sanji began to cook up second-helpings.

Everyone was at the table, ready and relaxed from all the activity they'd seen and done from the day.

"Hey there, Sasuke? Kakashi?" At Luffy's call, both shinobi faced him with neutral eyes that would not last very long.

"Back at lunch, Ussop asked you about Sasuke's clan, and promised to talk more about them right now. So what is so big about the Uchiha?"

….

Quick as a snap, the peace around the table broke apart. Pierced by a sharp thrust, sending many to grasp Luffy's question with sincere curiosity, while others shivered in their seats.

Sasuke didn't move, holding a bit of food close to his mouth, with eye wide at the memories of everything that had been taken from him. Naruto and Sakura both remained quite, joined with Nami as she recalled her own reflections over tid-bits of Sasuke's past.

"Captain," Kakashi answered him. "I…did promise that. But,to a ninja, giving out information about our home isn't really-"

"No, Kakashi!" Sasuke cut him off, pushing his plate aside. "From what we've seen, Luffy probably won't stop asking if I don't tell him something, just as he refused to accept Sanji didn't want to join at first."

Everyone fixed their gazes upon him, some intense while the instigator simply took another mouthful. Sasuke remained hunched over, taking deep, deliberating breaths. Zoro took close notice of this, as did Sanji as both gave their stronger focus to the boy.

"Since none of you have ever been to the Elemental Nations, it makes sense that you wouldn't know about it. It's no different from our ninja-arts or the ranking system that Kakashi shared with you earlier. I'll tell you about my clan, and their history. And why there is somebody out there that I need to kill, one day,"

Folding his hands, the Uchiha grew silent….marshalling his thoughts into a clear way to describe….everything.

As he took a deep breath, the Uchiha looked across the room, finding everyone several eager crewmates, and one apprehensive navigator to hear his story.

"For hundreds of years, ninja were divided among different clans, or extended family who lived and trained together; hiring their services out to clients or even entire nations. One of those clans were mine, the Uchiha Clan; and were famous for our power and skills."

"Many of the different clans were enemies and rivals with one another, and spent a huge amount of time fighting and killing other clans," Sasuke continued, fixing his eyes on the table while the story came through his words.

"All of that took a powerful toll on the clans, some even forcing children onto the battlefields to fight for the memory, honour and vengeance for the family they had lost."

Clink! CRANGGG!Nearly everyone winced at the sound, of glass breaking on the floor. Nami's hand was slack, her face absolutely pale, ignoring the cup she'd dropped.

Upon hearing of children being forced to fight and die, she was not the only one shaken. Gin's gaunt face lost an entire shade. Zoro was sneering in disgust. Sanji had even dropped a pan on the stove, without a slightest care or concern. Ussop couldn't respond and even Luffy himself was glaring.

"But all of that changed nearly 80 years ago," Sasuke continued, catching their attention once again.

"My clan were the strongest rivals with a group called the Senju Clan. Their leaders, one of them Hashirama Senju, formed an alliance and desired to live in peace, protection and to end the suffering from the Warring Clans era. Both of them achieved that ambition but founding our home, Konohagakure, the Village Hidden in the Leaves, that was named by an Uchiha.[6] Other clans gradually joined them as well, and the model for a village they created was copied by other ninja's from different nations; creating the Hidden Villages."

"Out of those villages, there are 5 Great ones that wielded greater military power, political renown, numerical dominance and more compared to small villages. Each of those have a leader known by the title of a Kage; and within Konoha our leader is the Hokage, or the 'Fire-shadow.'"

"The decision to choose the First Hokage was between the leader of my clan, Madara Uchiha, and the Senju clan leader, Hashirama Senju. It was put to a vote and the Senju was chosen as the First Hokage, and was followed by his brother, the Second Hokage."

"My clan was entrusted by Lord Second to be the Konoha Military Police Force, singled out from the other clans to ensure Konoha remained safe against outside and inside threats. Later, Madara Uchiha left Konoha when he felt the Senju were too dominant, but my clan remained loyal and desired for the peace to continue rather than plunge into another war. And we stood as one of Konoha's strongest powers across Three Great Ninja Wars that followed between the Great Villages."

"And many were renown as powerful ninjas and great heroes along the way," Kakashi cut into Sasuke's musings.

Everyone's attention shifted to him, as the Sharingan Warrior began sharing more details.

"The Uchiha clan have long be famous inside of Konoha and beyond for their innate aptitude for everything related to combat, and tendency to produce many talented ninjas. Many of them have long traditions towards certain powers and skills; and many became great heroes to their villages."

"Kagami Uchiha himself was a direct student who learned under Lrod Second Hokage, Tobirama Senju and became highly famous. During the Third Great Ninja War, Sasuke's own father became an extremely renown figure, known as "Wicked-Eyes Fugaku.' And other Uchiha, Shisui, became extremely famous for his speed; to the point he could move so fast they called him 'Shisui the Teleporter.' I…"

Kakashi's mind began to ponder over the image of another young Uchiha, wearing goggles and proclaiming he would become another Hokage. An image quickly replaced with the same figure buried under rock, half his face crushed beyond recovery and begging him to keep their friend alive.

"Yes!" Sasuke cut into the gap left by Kakashi's silence.

"My clan did become very powerful and very famous for years. My father actually was the head of the clan, I'm Fugaku Uchiha's son. And-"

"Wow, Cool!" Naruto's voice cut him off, leaving Sasuke fuming at the constant interruptions.

"That name, 'Wicked Eyes' sounds so awesome! Hey, maybe you could get a name just like that and be as great as your Dad was, Sasuke!" The blonde was grinning straight at his teammate…his, very perplexed teammate.

Sasuke's mouth hung in an O, before tying it in a line to force the tiny smile from breaking out at the idea. "Maybe, Naruto. My father was one of the pillar in my life, but his time often led him away from our home due to the responsibilities as the Military police chief."

"At one time, he taught me the Grand Fire-Ball jutsu. Learning it is a right-of-passage within the clan, with mastery earning someone their place as an adult; and a technique I successfully accomplished by age 8."

Sasuke paused for a moment, as now…the story was moving on to that man.

"Quite an impressive feat, and one that left me surprised," Kakashi interjected again, but this time Sasuke sighed as he took the opening to process the emotions attached to those memories.

"Sasuke managed to surprise me with that jutsu in our first sparring session; most Genin have not developed enough chakra-levels to use such a move, especially since it takes more raw power to apply. Within Konoha, children have to pass through the Ninja Academy to become ninja's at all, learning and nurturing their fundamentals in a safe environment, and not being thrown onto battlefields to either die or learn. Even after graduation, they follow D-rank odd-jobs until their patience and capabilities are dependable before advancing to handle greater dangers."

At that concept, it was easy to watch the Straw Hats start to breath, again. The tension invoked by describing children forced onto a battlefield drained away as the excessively safer alternative was pitched to them.

"Sasuke himself would still have been an Academy student when he mastered the Grand Fire-Ball Jutsu," Kakashi continued.

"And the man who currently stands as the most gifted to come out of the Academy, is by brother," Sasuke proclaimed, his tone mechanical and detached.

"Brother!" Luffy's excitement came in a shout. "You really have one! That's cool, what is the guy like?"

"Wow, why didn't you talk about this before, Sasuke?" Ussop questioned with a grin. "Having someone that talented must be really great. I bet he trained with you a lot, and maybe taught you how to make that giant fireball!"

Nami herself almost smiled, before her face dropped like a stone! "Wait!"

Shooting to her feet, the girl's hands extended to the boys, silencing everyone. "Sasuke. When we talked beforehand, you….you said you were an orphan, and that your family had been stolen from you."

With just those words, a certain ice-man could have strolled through the room moments before. Nobody moved, least of all Zoro and Luffy. One of them were glaring now, while Luffy stopped eating, his face tying itself in a note, piercing black eyes honing in on Sasuke, with dread.

Naruto, who'd grown excited at Sauske story, had the recall of his teammate's family-state whipped back to the spot-light. His face stopped cold, then dropping into trepidation and reflection.

The Uchiha was silent, before coming to a decision.

"Yes. They were."

"My clan is still part of Konohagakure. And all of them can be found in one place," Fixing his eyes on the table again, Sasuke's lips made a twitch before a soft proclamation followed.

"All of them are dead, and are buried inside the Konoha Cemetery. And have been since the Uchiha massacre."

Sasuke didn't even pause before he continued.

"I was seven years old. I had spent the day out training and was coming home late. When I reached the compound…there were bodies everywhere. My clansmen, adults, women, children, all of them were lying about, in pools of blood!"

"They were…countless. Ninjas, civilians, elders, newborns, other children, all of them. Murdered in one night."

"I…" curling his hands into fists, Sasuke closed his eyes, sinking deeper into the memory.

"I lost my brother, Itachi, that night as well. I started running, finding more and more of them dead everywhere I glanced. Until I reached my family's home. There, my parents were dead, my mother's body lying over my father's. While HE was there."

A pulsing way emerged from Sasuke, lasting less than half a second; yet strong enough to raise the hairs of everyone in the room. Kakashi kept his own surprise hidden, with a close watch on the others in the room. None of them made a sound…Nami was covering her mouth, with eyes wide and filled and dread. Sakura was barely breathing, a paler shade than everyone else. Zoro and Gin could not contain their shock, one of them nearly dropping his sword. Ussop was hyperventilating, Sanji's mouth was pressed in a line, all composure lost.

And Naruto was gaping, soundless.

"The one, who killed them all, he was standing there in the room," Sasuke continued, drawing his arms around himself.

"He…captured me. Then for the following 72 hours, I was inflicted with torture, at his hand. Soon after, the man escaped and left me behind. I was in a hospital for a short time. And since that night…I am the last of the Uchiha to remain."

Turning back to face Luffy, the captain's serious face caused Sasuke to blink.

"You were alone?" Luffy's voice crashed through the room, even making Sanji and Ussop jumped at the distraction.

"You had a brother that you lost. Everyone you knew was gone, dead, and you were all alone?"

Sasuke didn't even flinched, outwards he was calm, before mentally twisting Itachi's role into enough of a shape that it aligned with Luffy's words.

"Yes, Captain Luffy. That is what happened, from the Uchiha Massacre."

With that, silence ensued, the signal that Sasuke's story was complete.

The Uchiha didn't move for a time, until someone came to a seat beside him. Looking up, he found Nami's face, and nearly jumped at a weight settling on his shoulders. A pair of arms wrapped around him, pulling him into a hug.

"Wha-" "SHhh!" his question was silenced by a sharp hush.

"Sasuke. This is why, isn't it. The reason why you called me a betrayer for joining-up with Arlong. And not doing anything about the man who was responsible for Bellemere's death," she stated, keeping the boy locked in comfort, laced with respect.

"After that, Nojiko talked about suffering for revenge, or having patience to see it through, and then you questioned whether I could accept Arlong's fall without a hand in it directly."

Entire minutes followed, with Sasuke inside Nami's embrace, unsure about how it felt but not finding the discomfort that was present before she came. Elsewhere, Ussop's mouth hung open, tears of horror and disbelieve pouring down his face. Sanji had burnt-out his cigarette and felt too numb to light another. Gin wasn't moving, unable to fathom such a loss, and recalling his own feelings towards the deaths of his crewmates, the closest family a pirate can know, at Mihawk's hands.

As the last Uchiha was about to speak, a sword slammed the table before him.

Everyone looked, to find Zoro standing nearby, with a presence daring anyone to speak.

"Your ambition," he stated, clear enough to cut through a mountain.

"When we first joined together. You stated you had no dream, but an ambition. To restore your clan, and to destroy a certain someone," the first-mate recalled, locking eyes with Sasuke, still inside Nami's powerful embrace.

"Someone that you especially hated. This man, it is the same one who destroyed your clan? And your driving goal is to kill him?"

Sasuke returned Zoro's glare with his own and gave his answer. "Yes."

His brow sinking deeper, Zoro took a single breath. Drawing his blade, he leveled it towards both Sasuke and their captain.

"Then by this sword, by the promise I carry with it, and on my own honour as part of this Pirate Crew," the swordsman declared. "So long as you're here with us. I will train you unrelentingly and ensure you will have the skill and the strength to destroy that man the next time you meet!"

"This is my oath to you, Uchiha Sasuke, so long as you call yourself a Straw Hat Pirate!"

Those words echoed through the room, with different people reacting to them, but Kakashi the strongest of all.

"Yeah!" Naruto exclaimed, "you're letting us help you Sasuke! This is something you want to do, I get that. But you're letting us train you to get there, and to find this guy and make sure he doesn't slip away when you kill him!"

Naruto's eyes were burning, showing determination and new form of rage. It wasn't the type of anger most of them had seen before; not anger for his own purpose. Naruto was furious, on Sasuke's behalf.

Frowning at this additional pledge, Kakashi found himself more than slightly torn at the turn-of-events. He rose to his feet-but Luffy overtook him.

"Zoro!"

"Yeah, what is it Luffy!?" the swordsman demanded, then actually blinking at the look in Luffy's eyes.

"As your captain, I order you to follow that promise through, no matter what or where it leads to!" the rubber-man commanded, driving Sasuke's amazement even higher, while Nami's face drew a serious line, nodding her consent. Ussop got a grip on himself, while Gin nodded as well, and Sanji let out a breath.

"This man did something unforgivable. Make sure that Sasuke is good enough to not lose to him. And so that he doesn't end-up all alone either!"

"Whether you're a ninja, a pirate, a bandit or anyone," Luffy's voice came, filled with a drive and reflect that set everyone in silent awe.

"Pain is something we encounter all the time. But after your clan died, you were left feeling something worse than pain, because nobody else was around, were they?"

"You were alone. And being alone is much worse than getting hurt. Right?"

Three people at the table found themselves shocked deeper than the core. One of them was in Luffy's cross-hairs, leaving the other pair unnoticed…..

Naruto swallowed, sneaking out of the Lounge and back down to the men's quarters, Luffy's words echoing in his mind. Kakashi found his self-disciplined tested near the limits, recalling all the times someone was lost in his life and the total sense of loss invoked by every death of those close to him, and the regret from Itachi's actions as his own protégé in the ANBU.

"Y…yes," Sasuke's confession snapped the Jonin back to the present. "You're right, Captain Luffy."

"Then we'll get you that strength, to beat this guy when you meet him. Deal?"

"Let's slow down!" Kakashi moderated between them, stepping up before anything went further.

"Now you all know about the Uchiha clan, and Sasuke's motivations. It's getting dark out, and my students have another long training day tomorrow, so let's get-ready to turn-in for some sleep. Naruto and I have the watch tonight, so can you send him up here?"

Everyone suddenly found themselves deeply worn after the emotional roller-coaster Sasuke's life threw them through. Quickly, some even found themselves nodding and walking off the sleep.

Nami lingered behind, still forcing Sasuke into a hug but saying nothing to him. Strangely, the boy found stronger comfort in that, and the lack of hollow words others had given to him before.

Soon, they were moving to their own rooms, especially Nami to find Sakura drawing out a futon and spare set of bed-sheets.

Back on deck, Zoro came out form the Lounge, to find Kakashi waiting for him. "I want to speak with you, about Sasuke."

Frowning at the disapproval laced in his words, Zoro nodded over to the side then waited.

Kakashi didn't move for some moments, sparking a duel of whit's between them. Gentle waves shook the boat, clear ocean breezes swept over, but neither man moved.

"If you want to talk me into taking back that promise, don't waste your breath," Zoro demanded, his arms folding across his chest. "The kid isn't going to give up on a memory like that, and whomever it was, the man who destroyed his clan needs to pay at his hands alone."

"I will not deny that," Kakashi responded. "Sasuke has been obsessed solely with his revenge across that past 5 years since that happened. He actually lashed out against Sakura and myself when we became cut-off from the Elemental Nations and had no way to return, cutting him off from that revenge."

"Even during the fight with Arlong's crew, Sasuke was blinded by his sense of vengeance and nearly got Naruto killed. I want him steering towards a more measured mindset, without revenge as the paramount factor in his training. That is absolute!"

Now Kakashi was very serious, invoking Zoro with the temptation to obey. Still, the First-mate's will was strong.

Zoro glared back at the man, grasping Wado Ichimonji even stronger in his hand.

"Nothing is going to stop Sasuke after a goal like that, even I know that much, now. Nami herself went through a different kind of suffering and watched the man responsible for destroying her life run around unopposed for nearly ten years. Often, the best way for anyone to learn is by making such mistakes and growing through them."

"I did the same thing when I challenge Mihawk before knowing I was ready. Yet I survived it and learned much more, now. Naruto also lived, and that obsession isn't going to leave simply through distractions. Learning how to hone it into a fine blade, and not an unwieldly club that smashes everything around itself sound like a good plan to me."

Kakashi sighed, finding Zoro had the wrong understanding in-mind. "I agree with you, but such a drive needs to be tempered first by creating something to counter-balance that revenge. First, survival and depending on his teammates should be the better way to follow, then bring revenge back to mind when he can lean on others and rise above his revenge. That is what he needs to learn and grow in. And make fewer mistakes that will leave others endangered, or dead."

"Tell you what, ninja," Zoro challenged him. "If you share your life-story with me, then I'll do the same, and we'll see who can know and recognize that kid's drive and ambition deeper."

End.

[1]-You all know who this is. And his Skull jokes are great, shaking anyone's funny-bone.

[2]-The name for part of a tonfa, the longer poll the separated from the shorter end, the Soko, by the handle. The Monouchi is turned outwards, while part that rests against a wielder's forearm is the Shomen.

[3]-There are several crossover fanfics that apply different powers from their canon-material without much analysis into the mechanics or confines of those sources. Naruto's system of chakra is a rarity in how systematic and computational different powers can be, rather than softer ones that keep their mechanics quite vague. Hence, genjutsu or even the Juken would be useless in One Piece without specific contextual explanations, see "Demons of Family and Destiny," Chapter 14 for one such example.

[4]-To date, I have not found a source in the Naruto Manga or Anime that depicts Kakashi actively using wind-style. He is attributed with all four elements and does make heavy proactive use of them throughout the series, but his natural light-affinity would make Wind-style an innate shortcoming to use with his own chakra.

[5]-I am aware the in-canon seals for this jutsu are much shorter. However, Zabuza himself was a consummate master of this skill, while Kakashi would only have been able to observe the mechanics of the technique. He and Zabuza never had the direct contest over with the Water-Dragon Jutsu with the Hidden Mist Jutsu.

I doubt that Kakashi would be able to directly emulate the same results without such a visible exposition of the very technique. So some experimentation was needed to produce the same results, and to further cultivate one very valuable skill to have out on the ocean.

[6]-For all that he did in-life, death, and his third time around; Madara truly did provide the name "Village Hidden in the Leaves."

And that's a Wrap! I promise, future training scenes in Growth Through Chaos will not be this excessively long; but there was a lot to cover to build the context for how the ninjas will train and grow going forward.

It took a lot of re-writing this chapter to find something I was satisfied with that did not become a boring mess of excessive writing. Cutting different parts down to size and shifting the focus of different exercises went a long way. Plus, it was fun to add a few gags like Nami's wardrobe-malfunction, and Sanji announcing his dream (yes, I did use Dragon Ball Super for inspiration there, season 1 episode 17 "Vegeta's doing WHAAAAAAAT!")

And then the was the Uchiha massacre to cover. I didn't reveal Itachi deliberately, as there are more opportunities to unveil his part later on the Grand Line. Especially around more people who would literally go nuclear at hearing what he did; Ace, Whitebeard, and Charlotte Katakuri especially.

I hope everyone enjoyed this chapter, and the developments that are now beginning to kick-off.

As for the length….

Personally, I actually dislike regulating most of the growth and training different characters undergo to the gaps between different scenes; as it can actually detract from the growth and drive they cultivate leading-up to a later fight. Especially if they talk about throwing so much time and effort into training, which readers do not see happen and almost make their claims feel like hollow complaints.

Training montages are great and make the success of the hero even better when the fruits of their dedication start to pay-off. Especially towards characters like Zoro and Naruto. But, almost too often the POV of the anime focuses on a small number of people and the growth others make can leave the audience very unexcited; such as comparing Zoro's growth to Luffy's 2nd Gear and 3rd Gear that almost came out of the blue. They did carry shock-value but lost that same intensity after a couple of re-runs. The same can also be found in the Naruto Chunin Exams Arc, comparing Naruto's training to fight Neji against Sasuke's off-screen developments with the Chidori.

Here, I plan to give more of the Straw Hats their own training scenes, though I promise that any as long as this chapter will be sparse. And, of course, the best candidate for them to turn to will be a certain lazy grey-hound in-love with Icha-Icha Paradise.

Kakashi's gonna hate it.