Hey, everyone. Hope you're all doing well in these times.
jtf0012: Sorry, no. The main pairing will be strictly Naruto/Fuu. I like Yugito, but I prefer monogamous pairings. This means no Naruto/Fuu/Hinata either.
HistoNaruto: Even if Minato was an Uchiha descendent, that wouldn't give Naruto the Rinnegan. The reason Obito didn't develop it despite having been given Hashirama's cells; Asura's power, is because the power of the Ōtsutsuki clan is just too diluted in a standard Uchiha, Senju or Uzumaki. It would require the specific chakras of Asura and Indra's incarnates to awaken the Rinnegan, and while I am amendable to tweaking rules, I like that angle. However, as one cannot be a reincarnation of two different people, this means it's impossible to acquire the Rinnegan naturally unless you're either a Ōtsutsuki or a generation or two removed from them.
And don't use Toneri and the Tenseigan as an example: as I said I find his whole existence to be a bit of a plot hole. I hold him as a bad filler villain: the kind whose existence only seems to make sense as long as you think too much about it.
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.
"Why am I not surprised?" Naruto ground out as he leaned back against the wooden pole, staring at the sky above.
Here he was with Sasuke and Sakura at the Third Training Ground. The place where Team Seven had officially formed. And the place where Kakashi-sensei had told them they'd be meeting today.
As per usual, it was well over an hour past when he said they'd meet, and the man was nowhere in sight.
"How is this fair!? He tells us to meet him and keeps us waiting every day!" Sakura yelled in frustration. Sasuke meanwhile remained silent as he leaned against one of the three logs sticking up from the ground.
Naruto was glad to see that a night at home seemed to have done Sakura some good. She seemed to be back to her energetic old self for the most part. He'd been worrying about her.
"I wish he didn't have us meet in different places every time. Then I could set something up to get back at him for leaving us hanging," Naruto growled, crossing his arms before he grinned at Sakura. "Say, think he'd agree if we invited him for ramen or something? I bet I could come up with something good if I put my mind to it."
"I wouldn't try it," Sakura answered back. "After seeing what he's like in the field... I get the feeling he was just humoring us with that eraser thing. I doubt he'd really fall for something like that..."
Naruto clicked his tongue. "Yeah, you're probably right..."
"Ugh, next time I'm bringing a book or something," Sakura growled, hands on her hips as she began to tap her foot.
"Well, isn't that a coincidence? I happen to have brought a few books for you." Kakashi's voice rang out, causing the genin to look to the river behind them. Kakashi appeared in a burst of smoke, giving them his eye smile and a wave. "Sorry I'm late; I had to help a kid find his lost pet."
"Your excuses suck, sensei." Naruto deadpanned while Sakura raised a trembling fist in the silver-haired man's direction. Then what he said clicked, and she was caught flatfooted.
"Wait, you've got a book for me?" She asked, looking at him in confusion.
"Among other things," Kakashi replied as his sole visible eye roamed over his students. "I feel I may have taken a bit too much of a laissez-faire approach to training you..." His gaze settled on Naruto. "In all honestly, I should have taught you the tree climbing exercise, and more, quite a bit before we took that mission to Wave." He then eye-smiled again and pulled out a small sheet of paper, holding it between two fingers. "So, from here on out, we'll be taking fewer missions and doing more training."
"Um, Kakashi-sensei? What's that?" Sakura asked, clearly as lost as he was on what a sheet of paper would do for them.
"Oh, this? This is known as Chakra Induction Paper." Kakashi told them. "It's used to test one's elemental affinity. While you can learn how to use any element, everyone has one they have a natural inclination for. That one will be more powerful and easier for them to use. All you have to do is channel your chakra into this paper." And at that moment, the paper suddenly crinkled in his hand. "And voila. How it reacts tells you the holder's affinity. Mine's lightning, so the paper wrinkles. With the water element, it gets wet. Fire, it burns to ash. Earth it turns to dirt, and with wind, it'll split in two."
"Cool! So you're going to use that to figure out what kind of jutsu to teach us!?" Naruto asked excitedly. That more than made up for him being late.
"That's right." Kakashi nodded. "Oh, incidentally. A little tidbit you might want to know. You need to have mastered a minimum of two elements to qualify to become a jonin. A bit far off, but it's something to keep in mind if you don't want to stop at chunin. Now, let's get started."
The jonin held out three sheets of paper. The genin stepped forward, joining Kakashi at the river's edge, and took one slip of paper each. They paused, staring at their sheets for a few moments, before one by one channeling chakra into them. Sasuke's was first, burning to ash. Sakura's crumbled away while Naruto's split in half.
"Well, looks like Naruto and Sakura have the wind and earth affinities. Sasuke's fire is no surprise; that's the norm for the Uchiha clan." Kakashi noted. "It's fitting from what I've seen of your styles. Wind is an offense-oriented element; known for cutting and piecing foes, though you can also project solid walls of wind for defense. It's also very effective when combined with fire: wind will feed the flames and intensify them. Earth, on the other hand, is pretty balanced. You can make blunt force or piercing stones, summon walls of earth, and traverse the ground for sneak attacks. It offers a wide range of possibilities."
"Aw yeah! We're going to kicking ass and taking names!" Naruto grinned widely, punching an open palm.
"But before we start on that, we'll be working on improving your chakra control."
"Huh? Again?"
"Yes, proper control of your chakra is important. In fact, it's likely why you kept failing in the academy." Kakashi replied.
"Wait, what?" Naruto asked in confusion.
Kakashi nodded. "The more chakra you have, the more difficult it is to control. While it gives you a lot of stamina, you waste a lot of extra energy on techniques. Worse, some techniques, like the clone jutsu, for example, and genjutsu in general, require refined chakra control or have pretty strict requirements. Overload them, and they won't work at all." His gaze then turned to Sasuke. "Sasuke possess an exceptional amount of chakra for your age." He then turned to Naruto. "But you... by any standards, the amount of chakra you possess are enormous."
For a brief moment Naruto was excited to hear that... then that withered on the vine as he remembered why he had so much chakra. Sakura raised a brow beside him before she turned to her sensei.
"So, the reason Naruto kept failing the academy's test is that he couldn't control his chakra well enough to use the clone jutsu? Because he has so much of it?" Sakura asked, seeming to wonder how much chakra he had for that to be the case from how she was looking at him.
"That's right. He likely would have passed the normal way had someone thought to take him aside and help him refine his chakra control." Kakashi replied. "But, I've thought of a way to take advantage of that."
"Eh?"
"Naruto, have you ever noticed that you remember things you shouldn't when you use the Shadow Clone jutsu?"
"Huh?" Naruto hummed in thought, crossing his arms as he racked his brain for what his sensei could mean.
"Ok, maybe a demonstration is in order." And with that, he created a single shadow clone that immediately began to walk off into the nearby forest. "Naruto, create a shadow clone of your own and have it follow mine."
The blond did so, and they waited. "So, what are we waiting... ah!" Naruto blinked as thoughts came rushing to him.
Sasuke frowned while Sakura looked curious. "What is it?" She asked.
"My clone beat Kakashi in rock-paper-scissors!"
"Right," Kakashi said. "You see, when a shadow clone disperses, no matter how that is, its remaining chakra and all of its memories return to the user. Naruto probably would have noticed had he used the clones in any way other than having them work or fight alongside him. If my theory is right, then this should apply to accumulated experience as well. Meaning, if you have five shadow clones working with you on learning a new skill, you should progress five times faster." Naruto began to raise a cheer in excitement. "But there's a catch." That caused Naruto to stop. "The mental fatigue will carry over too. And if you spread your chakra too thin, you won't be able to accomplish anything. You're probably the only one here who can take full advantage of this training, and it'll probably leave you barely on your feet."
"Well, I'm up for it!" This was great! With this, he'd catch up to Sasuke in no time.
"Actually... now that I think about it... Sakura might be able to some make use of this too." Kakashi put a hand on his chin
"Eh?" All three were surprised. Even Sasuke raised his brows before looking at Sakura in confusion.
"H- Huh?" Sakura seemed perplexed. She then began frantically waving her hands in front of her. "Woah, woah, woah, what are you talking about, sensei? I don't have that much chakra."
"You don't," Kakashi affirmed, and Sakura stopped moving. "In fact, with the amount of chakra you have, I'd normally recommend you not use this jutsu at all and certainly not for training." The pink-haired girl seemed to deflate at that. "But as I said, I have some reading material for you. Or maybe homework would be a good way to put it."
With that, Kakashi pulled out a scroll from his flak jacket and kneeled down, unfurling it on the ground before placing a hand on the seal at the center of the paper. In a burst of smoke, several books and scrolls appeared. "Sakura, looking at your talents, I believe you have excellent potential for medical ninjutsu, as well as genjutsu."
"Really?"
"Yes. Both require fine chakra control, which you seem to have a gift for. The latter requires you have a deep understanding of chemicals and the body, which should be right up your alley given your academic record. Now, I'm no specialist, but I can help you with genjutsu. Medical ninjutsu, on the other hand, is not something I have any experience in. And quite frankly, it would take too long for you to explore on the deadline I'm looking at." At his genin's quizzical gaze, he added, "More on that later. Anyway, while medical ninjutsu might be out of the question now, the knowledge that goes with it: anatomy, pressure points, and with them where and how to hit someone for maximum effect, how to identify and create poisons and antidotes... that could be helpful. Hence, your homework."
With that, he gestured to the books before him. "I want you to study these while at home. The shadow clone jutsu might be useful on that front since you'll only be studying and won't use any chakra." His voice became harsher as his gaze sharpened, carrying an authority they hadn't heard outside of the battles with Zabuza. "Let me stress that you are not to use this technique outside of studying. Not in training and definitely not in the field. And don't use more than one clone. With the amount of chakra you have, you'd run the risk of dangerous levels of chakra exhaustion."
Sakura shivered slightly, and Naruto didn't blame her. He knew enough to know chakra exhaustion was dangerous stuff.
"D- Don't worry. I understand, sensei."
"Good. Well, I guess I'll be teaching you that technique then..." Kakashi said with a shrug. "All right. We'll be working on a more advanced chakra control exercise for the first hour of training." And with that, he turned away and walked towards the river. Naruto's eyes widened as he stepped on the water's surface and walked across it as if it was solid ground.
Oh yeah, he remembered his sensei and Zabuza fighting on the water the first time...
They were going to learn that!? Awesome!
"You'll be learning to walk on water for the next hour. Afterward, we'll be working on your taijutsu skills. Naruto, I want you to create 8 clones. I want three to accompany you in this exercise. Four will get started on wind element training, and the last will be brushing up on things you clearly need a refresher course on from the academy. Let's see how well you handle that before we consider moving onto adding to that number."
Naruto nodded and did as he was told. In a burst of smoke, eight doppelgangers appeared around him. In short order, they were all working on their assigned tasks. The three genin stood at the edge of the river, looking determined.
"Ok, now I want you to run onto the water, using your chakra to repel it and keep from falling into the river. You're going to feel the difference between this and tree-climbing very quickly. The shifting surface of the water will force you to adjust your chakra by the moment, or you'll fall in. Stop and focus on keeping above the water when you feel you have to, but try to get as far as you can, ok? And... Go!"
The three immediately took off running. The moment Naruto's foot touched the water, he immediately knew what Kakashi had been talking about. He could feel the way it moved under his feet, the way his soles would waver between standing solidly and being dragged under by gravity. And the whole thing threw his sense of balance out the window.
He made it three steps before he had to stop, holding out his arms to keep upright as he struggled to maintain control. Sasuke made it a lot farther. Eight steps before he came to a near standstill. Even so, he kept moving, fighting to keep standing before taking one quick step forward. Sakura made it even farther, though she was forced to walk. She even managed to stay steady. Almost.
Naruto lasted about ten seconds before he slipped into the water with a splash.
Five hours later, training for the day had been complete, and the three genin were on the ground. Naruto had fallen onto his butt and leaned back, propping himself up with his hands, his shoulders heaving as he panted heavily. He was sore all over. Kakashi had hit him hard whenever he'd made a mistake.
And he'd made a lot of mistakes.
Sakura was lying on her back a ways away, staring listlessly at the sky where she'd fallen at the end of her own training session. Sasuke sat on one of the posts, an arm on his knee. He had mostly recovered, the only sign of his own training/beating being the scuffles on his clothes.
Kakashi's taijutsu session had been grueling. He'd had them come at him one by one, making sure to hammer in every flaw in their fighting style. Naruto had been the last, and his fighting style had overall needed the most work. Kakashi had said Naruto fought more like a brawler than a trained shinobi, not really even having a fighting style at all. Still, he had the trained reflexes shinobi were known for, and strength and speed to make up for it.
He winced as he looked over at Sakura, lying on the ground. Sakura... didn't even have that much going for her. Oh, she fought with a style... but it was pretty clear she hadn't done much practice, and her physical abilities were... well, Kakashi had said subpar. That was the kindest way he could put it. She'd gotten the worst of this first session.
"All right, I think I have a good idea of what you need to work on," Kakashi said, nodded to himself. "Good work. Let's call it a day."
"Wait a minute, Kakashi-sensei," Naruto interjected, his breathing starting to calm.
"Hmm? What is it?"
Naruto took a breath and rose to his feet, looking at his sensei with determination. "I was wondering... can you teach me sealing jutsu?"
"Ah, you want to try out your clan's art?" Kakashi asked rhetorically before thinking about it. "Well... I'm not sure you're suited for it. Just because your clan excelled in it doesn't necessarily mean you will..." Naruto deflated a bit at that. "But we won't know until we try. I was just waiting for you to ask, to be honest." Now the blond looked up in excitement. "It's a bit more involved, so we'll handle it more like a tutoring session. I'll come by your place a few hours after we've trained, give you time to cool off, and then we'll see what you can do. Keep in mind there's going to be a lot of reading involved, but I'll try to make more practical exercises since you seem to learn better by doing."
"Thanks, Kakashi-sensei!"
Iruka made his way up the familiar stairs that led to Naruto's apartment. The sun had made it three-quarters of the way across the sky to the horizon. The chunin figured that by now, Naruto would be back from training or a mission. He'd been worried about his former student after what he heard happened on his C should have been an A-rank mission.
That had surprised him, especially when he'd learned that they'd found out the client had lied midway to Wave and kept going anyway. He'd wanted to tear into Kakashi for that one. Taking experienced genin on a B-rank or even A-rank mission was one thing, but green ones who'd never been on a mission that wasn't basically a chore? But he hadn't.
He was sure that anything he had to say, the Third had already said.
The fact that he'd learned that Naruto had had his first kill was a far more pressing concern on his mind.
Reaching the blond's apartment, Iruka knocked on the door. "Naruto, you there?"
He waited for a few seconds, then he heard the latch click. Naruto opened the door and smiled up at his former sensei. "Hey, Iruka-sensei! Good to see you!"
Iruka chuckled. "Same to you, Naruto." He then looked past the blond, and his eyebrows rose. What had once been something of a pigsty had now decently clean. Not perfect, but a vast improvement on what was there before. The trash had been picked up, no signs of leftover food, the sink was clear... "Huh, looks like someone finally decided to do some picking up around the house."
Naruto chuckled, smiling widely as he rubbed the back of his head. "Yeah, it was kinda gross, huh?"
This was a good sign. The blond seemed to be in high spirits, as usual. The scarred chunin knew Kakashi would help him through processing it and that some time had passed, but he knew from personal experience that this kind of thing lingered with you. Plus, it had been a while since he saw his favorite student.
"Well, I'm glad to see you took some initiative on it," Iruka replied before pointing his thumb behind him. "You up for some ramen?"
"You know it!"
"Ah, Lord Third told you about the Uzumaki clan?" Iruka asked, blinking in surprise as he and Naruto sat at the blond's favorite ramen stand.
"You knew!?" Naruto responded in shock.
The instructor could only rub the back of his head sheepishly. "Ah, sorry... kind of slipped my mind. People don't really like talking about the Uzumaki clan after what happened..."
He really only knew vague details. What he did know; everyone who was an active shinobi at the time felt they shouldn't have missed the attack that destroyed the ill-fated village. They considered their failure to save them a disgrace and didn't like being reminded of it. It wasn't a taboo subject, but it was close enough that it wouldn't occur to most to bring it up.
Himself included.
He couldn't help but feel a bit ashamed of that. Learning he had a heritage to live up to might have lit a fire in the boy and compelled him to train harder.
"Yeah, the old man told me that..." Naruto said, trailing off and staring into the steaming bowl before him.
Iruka's face fell. He imagined it was a mixed feeling, finding out he came from a big family with a legacy to live up to after being on his own for so long. But at the same time, he found out they were gone and that he wasn't likely to meet any of them.
Feeling now was as good a time as any to broach the subject, Iruka asked, "So, how're you holding up? After the mission, I mean?"
Naruto flinched slightly, clearly guessing what he meant. "Alright, I guess. From what Kakashi-sensei told me, anyway." He looked to his former sensei. "Is it normal to have nightmares after all this time?"
"Yeah..." Iruka trailed off before asking. "Want to talk about it?"
Naruto proceeded to give him a more detailed account of what happened during the mission. The chunin grimaced as he thought about it. Yeah, he can definitely understand seeing red at the death of a comrade. He knew the blond must be beating himself up after finding out the boy faked it and meant to spare them all along.
"Given who his master was, you couldn't have known he'd do that. I mean, he followed someone who killed a hundred academy students when he was just a boy."
"I know," Naruto responded.
Iruka sighed. "But knowing that doesn't make you feel better. Yeah, I understand."
There was a moment of silence before Naruto spoke again. "I don't know when I felt worse. When I really realized I'd killed that guy when he'd only faked killing Sasuke, or when I thought Sasuke was dying in my arms because I'd been stupid..."
"Just be thankful your teammate's still alive," Iruka advised. "That situation could have turned out any number of ways, some a lot worse than others."
"Yeah... I know."
There was a moment of silence before Iruka broke it. "So, how have things been going with your team since then?"
Naruto smiled. "Pretty good, I guess. Sasuke's the same as always, but I think he talks even less than he did before. Sakura hasn't yelled at me for the last few weeks. Kakashi-sensei's been training us harder. He really worked us into the ground today, we were all beat when we went home, but he's still late every day. It's crazy. What could he be doing that takes so much time?"
"Eh, I don't know him that well, but he's got a reputation for being late whenever he can afford to be. My suggestion; take something light you can do that won't tire you out for whatever he's got in mind to every meeting." Iruka said.
Naruto frowned before shrugging. "Eh, better than waiting around for Kakashi-sensei every day..." And with that, he went back to his bowl, drinking down the last of it. He sighed as he set it down, only for another to be placed in front of him.
"Huh?"
"Eh, figured you could use another. You usually go for a few rounds." Teuchi said, smiling at his favorite customer. "I happened to overhear you had a rough time of it, so this one's on the house."
"Thanks, old man Teuchi!"
"Haha, don't mention it!" The old man replied with a hearty laugh.
"And don't shy away if you're feeling down, ok?" Ayame added. "We may not be shinobi, but we're here if you need to talk, ok?"
Iruka smiled, thankful for the reminder that some cared for the blond.
Sakura looked at herself in the mirror, her eyes determined. She'd thought long and hard on her father's advice; on what she needed to work on and make up for...
... There was still a lot she needed to figure out. But she had a good starting point.
The first thing that had come to her mind was her team. So far, she hadn't really contributed anything besides taking up some of the work on D-rank missions. She'd done a bit to help Naruto when he was dealing with the aftermath of the battle on the bridge, but that was massively outweighed by how she'd put him down before. She'd never really done anything for Sasuke. And if they were to go on any dangerous mission now, even an actual C-rank, she knew she'd probably just slow them down.
That had to change.
Being there for them would be tough. Sakura didn't even know where to begin, but it was easy enough to not yell at Naruto for every little thing. Of course, he hadn't actually done anything to annoy her lately... but still. She just had to keep in mind to be kinder and more considerate to Naruto and more supportive of both of them. Really supportive, not just toadying when it came to Sasuke.
And she needed to stop being dead weight. And that meant she needed to train. Kakashi had taken to teaching them how to fight more effectively... and, wow, had he hammered into her head how much work she needed. But it wouldn't be enough to just train her skills; she needed to be faster. Stronger. And that meant some personal training.
The books Kakashi had given her were lying on her bed. She'd get started on that later tonight. Unfortunately, she didn't have the Shadow Clone Jutsu down yet, but she was sure she would soon enough. For now, she needed to exercise...
...
But where to start? Sakura considered her options for a moment before deciding to try out a ninja tool shop. They'd have to have something that would help speed things up, and maybe some advice if it was run by an actual ninja.
She nodded to herself and made her way to the door. Once outside, she considered where she should start. She knew the weapon shop she used was probably a no-go, as she knew it was run by civilians. They might be able to help her, but she still thought a ninja run shop would be her best bet.
She remembered a shop she used to pass by on her way to the academy and decided to try that one out first. No luck; the shop owner knew his tools but didn't have much advice for training beyond the standard. So she continued her search.
Two shops later and Sakura hadn't found much other than disappointment. They had, in fact, been run by civilians, and so they hadn't had much advice for her on where to start. They did at least offer quality gear, but she'd had a decent supply of weapons, so that hadn't offered her anything. She could only hope this one would have what she was looking for.
As the door creaked open, she heard a voice within the store. "Yo, Tenji. Is my order in yet?"
The pink-haired girl stepped inside the store to see a slightly older girl standing at the counter, talking to the shop owner. She was a bit taller than Sakura, with dark brown hair shaped into two buns. She wore a pink, sleeveless qipao blouse with yellow buttons and dark green pants.
"Why yes indeed. Just came in, in fact. Sorry for the delay." The shopkeeper said, rubbing the back of his head sheepishly. He was a man who looked to be in his late forties, wearing a simple white shirt, black pants, and a forge apron. He was tall, standing slightly higher than her sensei with a muscular build, almost like a bodybuilder. He had short black hair cut flat at the top and coal colored eyes.
"That's ok, just let me see the goods. I've gotta keep my arsenal stocked up." She said, leaning forward onto the counter, and Sakura could practically hear the smile in her voice.
The man laughed. "You got it. Only the best for my number one customer." He turned around and walked behind the draped doorway that led to the back.
As Sakura walked into the store, the girl turned to see her, allowing the pink-haired girl to see she had eyes that matched her hair. She gave her a cheerful wave. "Hey there, you look lost."
"Huh? Um... yeah, I guess I am." Sakura shrugged. "I usually only come to places like this to buy tools."
"Oh, looking for something new?" The girl asked conversationally. "Maybe I can help out. Name's Tenten, by the way, you?"
"Sakura Haruno." The pink-haired girl returned before looking around, focusing on training equipment. "I'm looking for something to kick start my training, but I barely know where to start. The other shopkeepers were civilians so, they couldn't really tell me anything besides the obvious..."
Tenten raised a brow and gave Sakura an appraising eye after looking at her forehead protector. "Just getting started, huh?"
"Uh... yeah... I kinda have a lot to make up for..."
Now Tenten looked a little irked, resting an arm on the counter. "Ah, you're one of those fangirls who don't take being a kunoichi seriously, aren't you?"
Sakura cringed. Yeah, that pretty much summed up how she'd been until now. She could understand why Tenten was annoyed; she probably had experience with people like her. While she thought her academics marked her as a great ninja in the making before, she could see now how someone like her would give kunoichi a bad name...
... She could deny it, but she wouldn't. She was facing her mistakes and moving past them, and that meant owning up to them. "I am... I was. My team and I had our first real mission not too long ago... it was bad. I couldn't do anything but stand on the sidelines." She stood up straight and looked at the older girl resolutely. "It was a wake-up call. I want to change. I want to be able to fight beside them instead of holding them back like I did before, so... here I am."
Tenten seemed to weigh her words before smiling. "Well, in that case, I'll be happy to help." She then frowned. "Though from what I know of your type, my first bit of advice is stop dieting." She stressed those last two words. "Your body needs fuel, you know? You need calories and the right nutrients to build up muscle. If you don't eat right, it could slow or even kill your progress."
Sakura grimaced. She hadn't even thought of that. "... yeah, that makes sense."
Tenten sighed and ran a hand through her hair. "Where to begin...?" It was at that point that the shopkeeper returned from the back. He was holding a pretty large roll, big enough that he had to carry it on his shoulders.
"Here you go. Everything you asked for." With that, he unfurled it on the counter and... Wow. It covered the whole thing.
There were dozens, probably well over a hundred different weapons inside. Shuriken, kunai, Kusarigama, daggers, short swords, you name it. If it was smaller than a katana, it was probably there. 'Woah, overkill much?' She thought as Tenten ran back to the counter.
As if all that weren't enough, he added three scrolls on top of that, though apparently there was enough trust between them that Tenten didn't feel the need to test it. Her eyes gleamed as she looked over the various pointy objects before she hurriedly took out a check. "Nice! Thanks, old man."
"No, thank you." He said, taking the check. She wasn't surprised he was grateful. If Tenten made purchases like that all the time, she probably half paid to keep him in business by herself.
That was an exaggeration, of course. Probably.
"So, who's this? Friend of yours?" Tenji asked, looking to her while the bun haired brunette pulled out a sealing scroll of her own, sealed away the roll of weapons, and put all four in her pouch.
"Oh, just a rookie, looking to better herself." The obviously a weapon specialist answered before gesturing an open hand towards her. "Tenji, this is Sakura. Sakura, let me introduce you to Tenji, one of the best weapon dealers in the village."
The shop owner rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. "Eh, I hardly think so, but I'm not going to turn down free advertisement." He said with a chuckle before turning a grin to the pink-haired girl. "So, looking for something to help in training, I take it?" At her nod, he stepped out from behind the counter and put a hand to his chin.
"How about some arm and leg weights to start with?" Tenten suggested.
He shrugged. "Yeah, good as place as any." He gestured for her to follow as he walked over to a far wall with all sorts of training equipment on display.
Sakura was doubtful. "Arm and leg weights?"
Tenten nodded. "Yeah, sounds simple, but they really do help. You've just gotta make sure you use both, or you'll screw up your balance... unless you're looking to focus on punches or kicks or you want to make yourself a speed freak."
"Ah, here we go..." He said, placing his hands on a display. "These are top of the line. You could go with the standard weights and have to switch 'em out whenever you're looking to increase the weight... or you could use these." The objects on display looked like standard wrist and ankle guards.
"These babies have sealing jutsu engraved on the inside. Just channel chakra into them to increase the weight. Too much, just touch and release the chakra inside, like any sealing scroll and, it goes back to normal. Just don't go overboard with all of them at once and turn yourself into a living floor mat, and they're perfect for training." He said with a laugh that said he probably knew people who'd turned themselves into anchors with these things.
Huh... ok, that was pretty neat...
"So... how much for them?" The pink-haired genin asked, thinking in the back of her mind she should get some for Naruto and Sasuke too while she was at it. It would help them out just the same, and it'd be a good first step towards being a truly helpful teammate.
"5200 Ryo a set. That's wrist or ankle guards, not both."
Sakura stared for a moment, then her eyes bugged out into large pits of solid white. "WHAT!?"
"What 'what'? Tell me they aren't worth it. Though, to be fair, you could get the same result for free if you're good with sealing jutsu. Or if you know someone who is..." He raised a brow. "You got those skills? Or got a friend who does?"
Well, nice of him to give her an out. Unfortunately, she wasn't sure she did. Kakashi said he'd tutor Naruto in the art, but she didn't know for sure how good he was. Besides, if he could have done something like this, wouldn't he have suggested it already?
She then remembered how he didn't teach them the tree climbing exercise until they were on an A-rank mission. Suddenly, she wasn't so sure.
She turned to look forlornly at the training tools. 31200 Ryo... plus tax... this would wipe out her entire savings. Everything she'd saved up before graduation and all the pay from their missions. She could only barely afford it because of that time they captured Tora.
The one reason that there wasn't a strike on that particular mission, despite how annoying that cat was and how many times it got away. It was owned by the wife of the Fire Daimyo. That meant refusal was not an option... and the pay was good.
"Well, going to go for it?" Tenten asked by her side. "Personally, I don't really have a preference, and my teammate prefers the old fashioned kind, but it's your choice."
Sakura looked at the display before mentally kissing her savings goodbye. "... I'll take three sets of each."
Sakura stared at the scroll that now contained her newly bought training gear as she walked down the road, her face slightly pale.
"Wow, really generous of you to buy some for your teammates too," Tenten said, raising a brow.
"It was for the team..." Sakura replied in monotone. "After how I acted, I owe them. This is the least I can do." She said without a hint of emotion.
"Well, nice to know you're serious about making it up to them..." Tenten said with a sympathetic smile. Sakura got the feeling she'd probably blown all her money on weapons at one point or another.
"Got any more advice?"
"Yeah, get a light start tonight, but talk to your sensei before doing anything too extreme. You don't want to overdo it when you're just starting out. Pace yourself, and once you get used to it, start pushing harder." Tenten continued as Sakura nodded absentmindedly, thoughts still on her empty savings. The brunette seemed to take pity on her. "Let's talk more over lunch. My treat." She gave a slight laugh. "I get the feeling you won't be eating out on your own for a while..."
Sakura grimaced. "Yeah. Thanks..."
"Anywhere you want to go in particular?"
Sakura closed her eyes and set aside all thought of her practically non-existent bank account, with some difficulty. This would probably be the last time she could eat out in a while. Might as well get what she liked best. "How about the Nakamura's Dango Shop?"
"Sounds good to me."
It didn't take too long for the two girls to make it to the shop. Sakura ordered her favorite: anmitsu, while Tenten just went with the shop's signature dish.
"So, what's your team like?" Tenten asked after swallowing the first bite of her dango.
"Hm?" Sakura looked up from her anmitsu before looking to the sky. "Well, there's Sasuke. Sasuke Uchiha. He's..." She curled in on herself and blushed.
"The guy you like?" Tenten guessed.
She nodded, "He's just so cool... He was at the top of our class. He's always aloof, never lets anything get to him. He's just so dreamy..."
"Heh, reminds me of my teammate," Tenten commented. "The aloof part, I mean. Not that I want to ask him out or anything. His name's Neji Hyuga. Always serious, kinda on the cold side. But that's a bit of a breath of fresh air on my team."
"Oh?" Sakura voiced curiously.
Tenten tilted her head back and placed a hand on her head, looking like she'd gotten a headache. "My other teammate: Rock Lee and my sensei Gai are kinda nuts... no, I take that back, they are nuts. They're always so intense! Then train until you drop types and always screaming about the POWER OF YOUTH!" She said the last words in an ardent voice before looking to the side, her expression a combination of annoyed and exhausted. "They make these insane challenges for themselves all the time. Like 'if I can't do five hundred squats, then I will do six hundred push-ups' or 'if I can't do three hundred sit-ups, I will do a hundred laps around the village!'." She sighed. "I just wish they'd cool down and grow up a bit..."
Sakura chuckled. "Sounds tough. But at least your sensei makes you work hard. Mine was... hands-off, to put things lightly. He's only now starting to shape up after we almost got killed."
Tenten frowned. "What? What happened?"
Sakura waved her hand. "Long story. The short version; the client lied about what we were up against."
The bun haired girl's face wrinkled in exasperation. "Oh, one of those..."
"Well, his whole country was in a bad way, so I get why he did it, but still..." Sakura sighed. "It took that to get him to teach us how to climb trees with chakra."
Tenten seemed surprised, then frustrated. "What? Are you kidding? That's one of the first things Gai-sensei taught us!"
"Yeah, looking back, I thought that was something we should have worked on earlier... ugh." The younger kunoichi shook her head. "Well, at least he's actually trying now. Really drove us into the ground the other day. It's tough, but I think it's better than him leaving us to train by ourselves unless it's literally life and death..."
"Suddenly, I find myself appreciating Gai-sensei..." Tenten said dully. "... Just a little."
Sakura smirked. "My other teammate is Naruto Uzumaki. Remember the kid who graffiti the Hokage Monument?"
Tenten chuckled. "Oh geez, how can I forget? Still can't believe no one noticed until he was almost done..."
"He's a show-off and a loudmouth, and he can be kinda stupid... but he's the kinda guy who's always willing to lend a hand to someone in need. Though I only saw that recently..." She said, thinking of how determined he was to pull Inari from his isolation and despair.
"Well, sounds like your team got off to a rough start. Here's hoping better days are ahead." She said, raising her dango in mock salute.
"Here, here!"
The next day once again saw the three genin of Team 7 waiting on their sensei in the Third Training Ground, clearly in no rush to break his habit of being late all the time. Today, however, things were much quieter than usual. Usually, Naruto and Sakura would be climbing up the walls, railing against Kakashi for keeping them waiting. Again.
Not today, however, but the reason why had both Sasuke and Sakura raising a brow. Today, Naruto had his nose buried in a book, as did the pink-haired girl. Well, not just that. He was also writing things out, occasionally looking back to his book and grumbling at some imperfection in his work.
Naruto had to admit he could understand why they were surprised. He was the dead last in the academy and he usually blew off studying when it wasn't about ninjutsu or something cool.
It did somewhat surprise him that Sasuke was the first to voice his curiosity. "What're you doing, Naruto?"
"Eh?" Naruto looked up from his work, eyebrows raised that the question came from Sasuke before he shrugged. "Oh, I'm just working on my sealing Jutsu. Kakashi-sensei told me to write out the symbols until I memorized what they mean. They're not all kanji, you know? But he's having me practice writing that out too. Need to get it all down as fast and neat as possible: one wrong symbol and the whole thing falls apart. He gave me some low-level seals to work out when I think I'm up to it. Thought I could get a little extra practice in since we've got nothing better to do."
Sasuke gave a grunt of acknowledgment and looked away, satisfied with the answer.
The blond went back to his work. Two more hours went by before their sensei deigned to show himself, walking into the clearing as if nothing was wrong.
"Morning guys," He said with a wave.
"Late as always!" Naruto accused, pointing at him.
"Are you ever going to be on time!?" Sakura yelled, raising a fist.
Sasuke's expression said that he'd enjoyed the quiet while it'd lasted.
"Well, at least this time you two had something to keep you occupied," Kakashi commented before his gaze turned to the Uchiha heir. "Give you any ideas, Sasuke?"
Sasuke grunted in response before saying, "A few..."
"Well, that's good. At least you won't all be standing around wasting time just waiting every day."
"YOU'RE THE REASON WE'RE ALWAYS WAITING!" Naruto and Sakura cried in unison.
"Now, now; let's not point fingers," Kakashi said with his eye smile. "Now then, for today we'll-"
"Um... actually sensei..." Sakura interrupted, raising her hand as if they were still in the academy. "I've got something to add to our training."
Naruto looked at Sakura in mild shock. Even Sasuke raised a brow. It was pretty clear to anyone who spent time with her that Sakura didn't do much training. After all, back in Wave after she got to the top of the tree, rather than continuing to practice or doing something else, she'd just stopped training altogether...
... Looking back, maybe he should have said something about that...
"Oh?" Kakashi seemed interested.
Sakura picked up a bag she'd brought with her and reached inside, pulling out... wrist and arm guards?
"You got us protective gear?" Sasuke asked skeptically.
"They're a lot more than that," Sakura replied. "They're actually training weights. This gear's lined with seals that get heavier the more chakra you put in them, so you can control how much they weigh you down. You can release it all like a sealing scroll to return them to normal." She smiled. "I got a complete set for each of us while I was out the other day."
Oh... wow. Yeah, that was one way to speed up your training. And it was a gift from Sakura. Awesome! He was already planning to wear them whenever he wasn't on a mission or something. Not to mention taking a look at those seals.
Even Sasuke looked mildly impressed.
"Wow, thanks, Sakura!" Naruto said as he took his.
"Yeah, thanks," Sasuke added, looking a bit impressed.
"Don't mention it. I was trying to find a way to hit the ground running with my training and thought it sounded like something we could all use." She handed Sasuke his set, which took them and regarded them inquisitively. Sakura rubbed the back of her head sheepishly. "I uh... didn't really know where to start, but I was lucky enough to run into this older girl named Tenten, and she showed me these and gave me a lot of advice."
"Tenten?" Kakashi spoke up.
Sakura nodded. "Yeah, but she said I should run it all by you before I did anything serious, so I don't strain myself."
"Good advice... hmm, this Tenten's sensei wouldn't happen to be named 'Gai', would he?"
Sakura nodded. "That's him."
"Huh? You know this guy Kakashi-sensei?" Naruto blinked in surprise.
"I do. He's my self-proclaimed 'eternal rival.'" The silver-haired man replied, shaking his head. "He routinely challenges me to any sort of contest and won't take no for an answer. When it's my turn to pick, I usually ask for something quick and simple. I've even gotten him to settle for a match of Rock Paper Scissors..." He mused, causing his students to look at him incredulously. "He's... eccentric, but he's easily one of the greatest taijutsu masters around. Not just here in Konoha, but in the entire shinobi world."
"Woah..." Naruto said in awe.
"Yeah, that's in line with what Tenten told me," Sakura commented. "She was pretty surprised when I told her you were my sensei, but she didn't say anything about the whole 'Eternal rivals' bit."
"Did she offer any other advice?" Kakashi asked.
Sakura seemed to shrink in on herself. "She... told me I needed to stop dieting." And it looked like she was taking that to heart, too, from how she grimaced. Good, he'd seen how little she ate in Wave when she started to worry about her weight and wondered how she got by. Dieting didn't make any sense to him in the first place: as long as you didn't eat like Choji you'd burn through whatever you ate fast enough as a shinobi anyway. "And a few other pointers after I told her how lax you'd been so far..."
Kakashi suddenly tensed, sucking in a quick breath. "You... you told Gai's student about my teaching?"
"Uh... yeah."
Kakashi buried his face in his hand. "Oh... oh terrific. If she mentions this to Gai, I'll never hear the end of it. He'll probably run straight to my house with tears in his eyes, screaming about youth dulling or something... ugh, he'll probably try to pull me into one of his hugs..."
Sasuke and Sakura stared at their sensei, exasperated at the Jōnin's antics while Naruto snickered. Sounded like this Gai was going to be a handful for his teacher. Served him right for leaving them hanging all the time.
Kakashi took a deep breath. "Well... nothing to do about it now but hope for the best...Now then, since Sakura was so generous as to get you these gifts it'd be remiss not to make use of them. Let's take a moment to see what you can handle, then you'll be wearing them for all of our training today. I'll work out how I want you to handle them outside my supervision by tomorrow."
"All right, I think that's good for today..." Kakashi mused as he looked over his students some five hours later. He clapped his hands, a signal for the various clones Naruto had training to disperse. The blond swayed on his feet for a moment. Weariness washed over him as everything the clones had gained poured into his mind along with all their combined exhaustion. But it was nothing he couldn't handle. After swaying on his feet for a moment, he righted himself.
He wiped the sweat off the side of his head with his sleeve as he reviewed what they'd gained. It wasn't much. They'd only sliced about a quarter of the way through the paper, but that was progress. He and his clones were getting the hang of water walking too; slightly faster than Sasuke too! Nice! Although, the fact that he was more or less getting five times the work in, plus more as his clones kept at it once they moved on to taijutsu, had something to do with it. Of course, Sakura already had it down.
And wow, did her gift make things harder, but no pain no gain! He'd gladly wear these weights all day long if it meant he could be the awesome ninja he dreamed of being.
"Good work today, especially you, Sakura. It's good to see you're turning over a new leaf." Kakashi said, looking down at the pink-haired girl.
Once again, Sakura had worn herself ragged and was currently lying on her back, staring at the sky. Naruto winced as he looked at her. He hoped she adjusted soon.
"I'm going to have to if I want to stop being dead weight..." Sakura grumbled.
"Sakura..." Naruto started.
"Naruto, don't." Sakura waved him off as she sat up, wincing slightly. "I know what you're going to say, and thank you... but I know I've got a lot of catching up to do... to Sasuke and you." She then looked up with determination. "But I will. I'll work as hard it takes so that I don't drag you two down next time we're in trouble."
Naruto wasn't sure what to say. In the end, he just settled for smiling at her determination to get stronger for their sakes. Surprisingly, Sasuke did too.
"Oh, by the way..." Kakashi began. "I imagine those training tools cost a small fortune." Sakura cringed, proving him right. "To have bought three sets like that... I'm guessing you've pretty much wiped out all your funds, haven't you?"
Sakura hung her head, a cloud of woe hovering over her as she began poking the ground and mumbling to herself.
"Wait, Sakura, you mean you totally broke your bank getting these for us?" Naruto asked, his eyes wide.
Sasuke raised a brow as he looked a the pink-haired girl. "Sakura, you know you could have asked me, right? This wouldn't have made a dent in my funds."
"I know," Sakura replied listlessly.
"Whoa, hang on. You didn't have to do that for us. Take them... oh, they probably won't give you your money back since we've already used them, will they? Then, how much was it? I'll pay you for mine." Naruto said.
"That's alright." She replied.
Sasuke frowned. "I don't-"
"Listen," Sakura said, standing back up. "This is something I wanted to do. I saw how this could help all of us and decided to go for it so that we could be the best team we could be. Just take it as me doing my part for Team Seven."
That silenced all future arguments from him. And Sasuke, from the looks of it. After a moment, Naruto replied. "Well, guess I'll have to do my part too... somehow. I'll think of something."
"Hn." Sasuke gave an affirmative.
"You know, the timing for this couldn't be better," Kakashi said, drawing their attention. "You see, they finally finished processing Zabzua's body today, and so I got my bounty, though the village did keep half of it, as always."
"Good for you, sensei," Naruto grumbled, crossing his arms.
"Hm." Kakashi nodded. "Normally, a bounty is divided between all involved in actually defeating the ninja in question, so of course it all went to me," Kakashi said, closing his eye. "But... since I wouldn't have survived my first bout with Zabuza without quick thinking on Naruto and Sasuke's part... and I should have pulled us back from that mission before then..."
Wait... was he saying...
Kakashi eye smiled and held up three slips of paper. "I decided we should split it."
"Wow, for real!?" Naruto cried, smiling widely, his fists balled before him in excitement.
"Wha- wai- but I-.." Sakura stammered.
"Sakura." Kakashi interrupted. "I know what you're going to say, but this is my money. Just like the money you spent on the weights was yours. If I feel like sharing it with you, it's my choice. If you feel you haven't earned it, then just keep working like you have been these past few days and prove my faith in you isn't misplaced."
"Uh.. o-, ok, sensei," Sakura replied.
"Come on, Sakura, be more excited!" Naruto said as he reached up to take his check. "We're getting... " Naruto trailed off into an exclamation of shock. He stared down at the paper grasped in both his hands with his mouth wide open, his eyes wide open pits of solid white.
"Huh? What is..." Then Sakura got her check. Her reaction mirrored his. As the two stared, stupefied at their rewards, Sasuke simply raised a brow and pocketed his own.
Naruto came out of his stupor first. "Kakashi-sensei, thank you so much!" He cheered among numerous praises as he threw himself at his sensei and hugged his waist.
"H- Hey. Get off of me!" Kakashi tried to shake him off before finally managing to pry him away, sitting him down with the indifferent Sasuke and slowly recovering Sakura. "Now, just do me a favor and don't spend it frivolously. Keep most of it for what you need or things you think will help with your training. And please, don't gamble with it, or at least do so responsibly if you can't resist. Don't be like Lady Tsunade."
"Huh? Tsunade?" Naruto questioned.
"Really?" Sakura questioned incredulously. "Naruto, she's one of the Legendary Sannin, three of the strongest shinobi our village ever produced. She's the granddaughter of the First Hokage and one of the students of Lord Third Hokage! Her teammate trained the Fourth!"
"Woah..."
"Indeed... and I see we'll have to brush up on your recent history too. Lady Tsunade's every bit the kunoichi her reputation paints her as..." Kakashi acknowledged with a nod. "However, she has one problem she's not so well known around here for. You see, she has a chronic gambling addiction. She simply can't help herself. That wouldn't be so bad, I suppose, there are worse vices, but it's coupled with some of the worst luck known to man. She always loses but can't stop herself. This unfortunate combination has earned her another nickname throughout the Elemental Nations."
He paused, letting the suspense build. For once, even with the mask, they could tell he was smiling. They thought they might have even seen him shake as he held back a laugh. "... The Legendary Sucker!"
Sasuke and Sakura looked very unimpressed with this part of Tsunade's legend, while Naruto cracked up in laughter.
Naruto sighed as he pulled out another weed and tossed it into the plastic bag hanging from his shoulder. It had been a few days after Sakura had given their team that gear. Kakashi had been putting them through some pretty tough exercises and taijutsu drills, made even harder by the weights, not that any of them were complaining. They'd all been just a bit unsteady on their feet after all was said and done, him more so after his clones dispersed, but they all felt good about how things were going.
After half an hour of rest, they'd been off to do a D-rank mission. Couldn't put those off forever, could they? Honestly, missions like this seemed to drag on forever. Pull out one weed. Oh hey, there's a few dozen more. Get them all? Time to get started on the next area. Got that done? Great job, you're about a tenth of the way there!
It didn't help that Kakashi had forbidden them all from using jutsu to speed things up. Something about teaching them a lesson in patience. Bah!
"Yeah, I get you," Sakura said, obviously having heard his sigh. "Just grin and bear it like any other D-rank. Just think; some people do this for a living. It's not so bad when you keep that in mind."
"Maybe, but I get the feeling a professional would never let it get like this in the first place," Naruto grumbled.
"Keep it down, Naruto! The client might hear you!" The pink-haired girl hissed at him.
Naruto shrugged. "Eh, I call it like I see it. Besides, she's inside and the doors and windows are closed. I can't see how she'd hear me unless I screamed it from the rooftop."
"You have a point. Still..." Sakura replied with a sigh of her own. She then spied what he was doing. "Eh, wait a second!"
"Huh?" Naruto looked up just as he was about to pluck a small yellow flower from the ground. He didn't know a lot about plants, but he knew enough to know these were weeds. And they spread fast if you let them.
"We might need to ask the client about those," Sakura said, cupping her chin. "Dandelions are technically weeds, but they have their uses. They attract bees to pollinate flowers, and their roots can draw up nutrients for other plants. She might want those left alone..."
Naruto blinked, his eyebrows rising. "Wow, Sakura. You really know your stuff."
Sakura rubbed the back of her head sheepishly and looked away, with a slight grimace. "Not really... I used to be friends with Ino, remember? Her family runs a flower shop. I just picked up a few things..."
"Oh..." Naruto cringed. That was probably a sore subject.
"I... really need to patch things up with her..." Sakura admitted. "But I've got no idea where to start. Not when I was the one who broke up our friendship..." She looked down at that, her face melancholy. Naruto guessed she was probably thinking of past times with Ino... and probably the day they went their separate ways.
Over Sasuke. But this was the first he was hearing that she was the one to end things... Yeah, he got the feeling that fixing that wasn't going to be easy.
"Well, you won't know until you try, right?"
"That's what Tenten said."
"Oh, did you meet with her again?"
Sakura nodded, seeming to brighten up a little. "Yeah, she's been giving me some good advice. And it's nice to actually hang out with a girl my age again... or anyone outside class really..."
Wait, had Ino been her only friend? And she chose to fight with her over Sasuke... huh. Well, he could agree on how great it was to finally have people to spend time with. He knew personally that being alone absolutely sucked. At least she had people she could talk to at the academy. Most of the other kids just put him down aside from Shikamaru and Choji, and they hadn't exactly talked much.
"Well anyway, what's the worst that could happen? She says: 'screw you' and walks off? At least then you can say you tried. You won't get anywhere if you just think about it all the time." Naruto said before giving her a thumbs up. "And worst comes the worst, you still have us. And Tenten, right?"
"... Yeah, I guess so. Thanks."
Things were going pretty well for his team now, Kakashi couldn't help but think as he neared his home.
Naruto was handling the Shadow Clone training method well; as in he wasn't collapsing immediately after every session. Though, today's conversation told him he'd need to improve the blond's knowledge of recent history as well as his vocabulary. Actually, better make that history in general. It also might be a good idea to get his students their own copies of the bingo book. It was a little early, sure, but having knowledge of who's who in the shinobi world couldn't hurt.
It was good to see Sakura step up on her own. He'd been sure he'd have to take her aside at some point and hammer home how badly she'd needed to improve, but thankfully that had worked itself out.
Shame it took was a near-death experience for his whole team, but the emphasis was on 'near' there.
And she'd apparently stopped dieting. That was good, though time would tell if she'd slip back into old habits. Hopefully, now that Sakura was actually training and her body was getting the fuel it needs, her physical energy would improve. She definitely had more than enough mental energy, and with that, her stores of chakra would start to see improvement.
Nothing too drastic. Sakura would never have Sasuke's reserves, never mind Naruto's, but hopefully, he'd soon be able to say they were better than 'abysmal.'
As for Naruto, he got the feeling he'd take to Sakura's gift like a duck to water. Good, with his healing power, he probably didn't have to worry about the usual drawbacks, not to mention the aches and pains that came with overdoing it. He'd have to take Naruto aside and tell him to push things a little harder, and maybe in a few weeks up the number of shadow clones.
And for Sasuke... maybe some tutoring on making use of his Sharingan's genjutsu was in order.
They were doing good, but they'd need to be better for the upcoming Chunin Exams, and they only had about a month and a half.
Finally arriving at his door, he reached for the knob...
.. And suddenly, a sound reached his ears. Loud, pounding footsteps that likely echoed through the whole city block. He turned to the source of the sound to see a massive dust cloud rushing towards him.
And at its front was a tall man, well-muscled but not overly so. He had a strong jawline, black hair shaped into a bowl cut, and, perhaps his most distinguishing feature, sported a massive pair of thick eyebrows. He wore a standard Konoha flak jacket over a green jumpsuit with orange leg warmers, rather than the blue shirt and pants most Konoha shinobi wore. A red forehead protector was tied around his waist like a belt.
"KAKASHI!" He bellowed, and as he grew near, the silver-haired man could see that there were streams of tears falling from his eyes like waterfalls.
'... Oh no...'
So, another mistake from Jinchuriki of the Six Paths, looking back. I just sort of said Sakura and Tenten were friends; I never actually showed how they became friends... ugh. I didn't get any complaints about that from what I recall, but I'm still kicking myself over it.
Oh, by the way. If anyone's wondering how much money they got from Zabuza's bounty and why Naruto and Sakura reacted the way they did: according to the databooks, one Ryu equals 10 Yen. Calculating the current exchange rate, that means a Ryo would be .097 cents American. Not a lot. So, the low-end pay for a D-rank mission, 5000 Ryo, divided between all four members of the team, would be $121.25. Considering Asuma had a bounty of 35 million Ryo and the fact that he's a former member of the Seven Swordsman of the Mist and attempted a coup, I'm giving Zabuza a bounty of 40 million. The village kept half, but even split four ways that still translates to $485,000. Suffice to say they won't be hurting for money anytime soon unless they spend, spend, spend or don't heed Kakashi's warnings and fall prey to Tsunade's vice. Sasuke's the sole inheritor of the Uchiha clan's entire estate, so that probably doesn't mean much to him.
Anyway, hope you enjoyed it.
Edit: Shout out to Dammyd, who picked up something I missed.