After Akari had left Kakashi's room she glanced around the house for her squad ever before stepping outside. She didn't expect Kakashi to take time off from their mission for training but she could understand his reasoning for it. As, it's not like she walked out on him because he had upset her. Akari knew that he was looking for more information about her. She may have only mentioned Itachi and left out Shisui but if he thinks about what she told him enough, he may be able to piece the puzzle together, and that is dangerous. So it's not like she could have simply sat there and appeased his curiosity. To her, she gave him more than enough as is. He knew Itachi, so what she told him should have led his thoughts enough to know that she can do everything Itachi could. That is if he allows himself to believe it.
There standing just on the shoreline stood her three squad members, waiting for her and Kakashi. It was Sasuke's eyes that notice her first ever before the other two even realize she was now walking up to them. However, when Sasuke's gaze moves past her toward Tazuna's she nearly stiffens from not realizing Kakashi had followed her out of his room as quickly as he had. "Alright, come along." Kakashi speaks up evenly as he reaches the four genin. With those words, he leads the way into the forest. Naruto and Sakura follow directly behind the jonin as Sasuke takes his place at Akari's side. A glance he sends her way only tells her that he is beyond curious about why Kakashi had wanted to talk to her alone. But, he knew it was a long shot that she would answer him and that slim chance she would definitely be nullified around the others.
Once they were further in the woods the four genin stand in a line with Kakashi facing them. A set of four trees parallel to them at their backs. The order went from Kakashi's right to his left. Sakura, Naruto, Akari, and Sasuke. As usual not only was Sakura placed away from Akari but the two Uchiha were standing side by side with Akari putting distance between Naruto and Sasuke. Once again Akari had silently directed them in a way to keep the fights at a minimum. To Kakashi, from the information he had managed to get from Akari, was only things he had already pretty much figured out himself. Not only is she too skilled to be a genin but she has officially taken the role as their backup leader. The dynamic of the squad would change drastically if he was able to take her off of the squad. During training and on their previous missions, the three other genin have begun to look to her when Kakashi himself doesn't tell them what they should do. It is more than a possibility that their teamwork is progressing due to her guidance.
"Alright. Training starts now!" Kakashi claims setting his mind on what he is going to teach them today as he leans on his crutches looking over the genin. His lightweight demeanor suddenly changes to a more serious tone as his gaze was now no longer soft but hard. Nearly cold. "Right!" Naruto was the only one of them willing to speak up anxiously. "First we are going to begin with a review of Chakra. The ninja's basic source of power. Understanding Chakra is essential."
"We know that." Sasuke practically groans as he sets his right hand on his hip. "He's right. A long time ago we learned about... A.. uhh... catra." Naruto tries to sound like he knows what he's saying but only causes Sakura to roll her eyes as Akari shakes her head. "Go ahead, Akari." Kakashi speaks up giving her his approval for her to explain to Naruto about Chakra. "Kakashi Sensei," Akari speaks up as she glances around at the other genin. "Hn?" He utters a sound of question when her eyes fall on him again. "Sakura would be a better choice to give the explanation. She would be able to word the information in a way they would more easily understand." She points out before she turns her head in Sakura's direction causing the girl to look up from the ground with a grunt of question.
I see. Since the mission began, Sakura has been the odd man out. Akari is wishing to use this as a way to bring up the girl's morale. He summarizes his suspected reasoning before he looks to Sakura himself. "Go ahead, Sakura." He coaxes her causing the pinkette to blink up at him momentarily before she finally smirks. Stepping forward she then turns to face the other three. "Alright, Naruto. I'll explain it simply so you can understand it. Chakra is the elemental life energy a ninja uses in jutsu. It's the source of all his power." She explains as she reaches into her ninja pouch and pulls out a scroll. Sakura unrolls it so the images are facing the boy she believes needs this review. "Now this energy has two forms. Physical energy which exists in all the cells in the entire body working together, and spiritual energy. The primal source of power which is intensified from training and through experience."
Sakura turns her head a bit looking down at the images herself as she shifts the scroll so more pictures could be seen. "As you can see, these two types of chakra must be drawn out and brought together in order to perform jutsu... Notice the interplay between physical and spiritual power. That's the key... Finally, hand signs focus and unleash the chakra." She finishes her explanation before she rolls up her scroll again and puts it away. "Right, on all points. Iruka Sensei really did have some excellent students." Kakashi compliments drawing Sakura to chuckle and put her hands on her hips with her head held high as if this meant she is better than everyone.
"What's the big deal with all these complicated explanations? The whole point is to learn the jutsu isn't it?!" Naruto protests obviously not understanding Sakura's form of simple explanation. "Naruto's right for once. We are already using chakra energy in our jutsu." Sasuke agrees with Naruto causing Akari to look in his direction clearly stunned. The rare expression showing on her features nearly has Kakashi chuckling before he could catch himself. "Calm down and listen. It's just like Sakura said. You have to draw on spiritual and physical energies and then combine them within yourself. But, how do you do that? Each jutsu requires different types of chakra in different proportions. You must select and combine them in exactly the right way. Up till now, you've just guessed at the proportions hoping they'd come out right. Even if you produce a lot of chakra, unless you can balance and control it. It's all worthless. The jutsu won't work at all or it'll just be a joke. You waste so much energy that way, then you're out of chakra and you can't fight at all. You're just a target." Kakashi speaks up pointedly for the two boys as Akari slips a hand into the pocket of her jumper.
"Uhh... So how do we change that?" Naruto asks finally understanding what chakra is or maybe even just hoping to figure it out by asking more questions. "Train so hard that controlling your chakra becomes second nature. To achieve this goal you must be ready to put your life on the line." Kakashi closes his eye and pauses waiting for someone to speak. "What... do we have to do?" Sakura questions nervously causing the Jonin to chuckle before he holds up his finger. "Climb a tree."
"Climb a tree?" Three of them question in unison with disbelief. "That's right, but, there's just one rule... no hands." He iterates for them with barely bridled laughter from their reaction. "What? You're kidding." Sakura speaks disbelievingly. "Let's see if it's possible." Kakashi calmly states as he raises his hands in a seal before turning towards a tree and crutching over to it. Once to the tree, he puts one foot on the bark and then the other. Crutching slowly up the tree causes three of the genin to gasp in wonderment. "He's climbing!" Naruto exclaims in shock. "Straight up. And he's only using his feet!" Sakura calls out finishing Naruto's beginning statement.
Kakashi stops while he is upside down on a branch looking down at the genin. "Well, you get the idea." He states as his gaze flits over the four below him. Taking in their looks of amazement except for one. "Focus your chakra to the soles of your feet and use it to connect to the tree. This is one way to apply the power of chakra."
"Wait a minute! That's a nice trick but how does it help us fight Zabuza?!" Sakura yells up at the Jonin with a vein distending against her temple. "It's the only way to fight him, Sakura, that's the entire goal of this training. First, you'll learn to draw a precise amount of chakra to a precise point in your body. This is difficult even for advanced ninja. This type of climbing requires a subtle mix of physical and spiritual energy and the bottoms of the feet are the most difficult points to gather chakra. Are you getting the picture? If you can master this, you can master any jutsu! Well, theoretically. The second point is to maintain your levels. When a ninja is focused in battle it's even harder for him to control and maintain his chakra levels, a deadly mistake. To avoid this, maintaining chakra must become second nature. Effortless... Well, I can talk about this all day but that won't advance your skills. Will it? You need to apply the power of chakra. Through training." Kakashi explains as he pulls out kunai and throws three down toward Sasuke, Sakura, and Naruto. Causing one to stick in the ground in front of each of them.
"Use the kunai knife to mark the tree at the highest point you can climb, without using your hands. Then try and get past that mark the next time and the next. At first, you are going to need to run at the tree so your momentum will take you as high as possible. Until you get used to it. Ready?!" He calls down so they know it's time to pull the kunai out of the ground in front of them. "I'm more than ready! This is going to be no sweat all the way! Believe it!" Naruto claims holding his kunai out at the ready and looking towards his tree. "Remember what you said Sensei! I'm the one who's grown the most!"
"You're definitely the one that talks the most. Now get focused and do it!" Kakashi snaps down at Naruto, watching as two of the three begin to focus on their tree. However, Sasuke looks at Akari and then back up to Kakashi. "What about Akari?" He finally asks when he couldn't figure out why Kakashi would leave her out. This question though draws Naruto and Sakura's attention to the violet-haired girl. "Huh? Hey! Why doesn't Akari have a kunai?!" Naruto shouts out in confusion as he realizes what Sasuke had meant. This has Akari sighing heavily and turning her head away from the rest of them. "Hmm, I wonder. Right Akari?" Kakashi comments rather playfully causing her to pull her hand from her pocket. She then turns and walks over to the tree that had been meant for her and walks up it. Stopping once she reaches the lowest branch before leaning against the main part of the tree itself. "What?! No way!" Naruto shouts. "How in the world?!" Sakura follows him up as Sasuke watches her closely. Seeing that she can actually do this exercise already didn't surprise him at all, though he couldn't help the annoyance that comes with this fact from her never having brought this up in their training before.
With a click of his tongue, Sasuke turns back to his tree and narrows his eyes on it. "Well you guys get it now, so focus!" Kakashi calls down to the two who hadn't snapped out of the shock quite as quickly as Sasuke had. "Right! I won't lose!" Naruto claims before he raises his hand and closes his eyes focusing on his chakra until he could feel it at his feet. He was the first to run toward his tree to try and make his way up it. Akari crosses her arms and turns her head away from the others in silence. Looking rather relaxed at first glance, however, Kakashi could tell her stance was the same as before in the room. She is on guard and ready to leap into action if necessary. Reminding Kakashi that even though the others are training and he hasn't given away the possibility of them being attacked so soon after the battle yesterday, Akari has known to remain vigilant.
"Well, it looks like the female members of the squad are the most advanced at chakra control. Well done Sakura." Kakashi speaks calmly as he looks from Akari to Sakura who is now sitting on the lowest branch of her designated tree with a giggle and sticks out her tongue. "Yeah! Way to go Sakura! I always knew you were awesome! Believe it!" Naruto cheers for his crush causing her to rub the back of her head sheepishly.
Hours later Kakashi had returned to Tazuna's house so he could rest and the three other genin were on the ground breathing heavily with sweat clinging to their faces. Naruto, however, manages to make it to his feet before yelling out his determination and running back for his tree. Akari jumps down from her branch landing behind Sasuke who was trying to gather up his strength in order to continue as well. "You aren't judging your chakra correctly." She states causing him to grunt and look over his shoulder at her. "When you slip from the bark that means you aren't using enough chakra. Just as when your feet break the bark you are using too much. Focus and find the right consistency. Forget about Naruto, forget about me. There is nothing but you, your chakra, and the tree."
Sasuke turns his head away from her as his hand visibly clenches more tightly on his kunai. His gaze shifts to Sakura and Naruto seeing them focusing on their training again so they wouldn't be listening. "When?" He asks quietly drawing Akari to step up closer to him. "Since when?" Sasuke reiterates a bit of his frustration and anger more than lacing his tone. "I... HE and I figured it out when he was six." She begins to say Itachi's name before shifting to the usual way Itachi is ever mentioned between the two of them. "So you knew since you were... two?" He more states than asks with his disbelief before he manages to move back to his feet.
Sasuke turns to face her as his onyx hues narrow upon her. "All this time." He utters out now practically seething with his anger. Akari simply slips her right hand into her pocket and moves her gaze to the other two as if she was making sure no one was listening. "Has it all been a lie? All this time, at home, the academy. Was it all a lie?!" He begins hissing rather quietly before his anger finally begs him to raise his voice a bit. "I don't want any unnecessary attention." She rephrases the original reason that she had given him the day he found out that she was purposefully messing up in the academy. "And also." She sighs before her onyx eyes find him again causing him to stiffen. "I didn't want to be pulled away from you." This admission has his eyes widening as he thinks back through their time in the academy and the fact they had voted to graduate his older brother before he had completed his first year in the academy. Akari's words were telling him that at any time if she hadn't of used him to limit herself as she had, they would have done the same to her. Just as she is claiming she did it, so they wouldn't be separated. All this time he believed that she didn't truly care about him at all.
"Don't use me to judge your own abilities." Akari suddenly says as if she was expecting his mind to turn in that direction rather than where it had. "You are strong Sasuke, and your abilities are growing quickly. Continue pushing yourself but using your own abilities as a reference. Meaning, what you can do today, push to be better tomorrow. What you can do now, push to advance today."