The first thing Sasuke observed was a masked person–a woman standing on a thick tree branch. She had long black hair, pale skin and large, dark-brown eyes, and a slender frame. Her outfit consisted of the standard Kirigakure pinstriped outfit which stopped at his knees. Over this she wore a green haori with white trimmings, and around her waist a brown sash with a fringed trail wrapped around her waist twice. She also wore light-brown platoon sandals with straps in the same color as his kimono. Her long hair was gathered in a white bun holder, while two locks of his hair fell loose, framing his face, bound with metal hair cuffs at the ends. She also wore a black forehead protector with the Kirigakure's symbol upon it. She wore a hunter-nin mask on top of his forehead protector, which was white with thin, curved eye-holes and a red wavy design in place of the mouth, as well as the Kirigakure symbol etched in the top.

"You were right. He died," the masked figure said, eyeing Zabuza and then Kakashi, giving a brief nod. She even sounded like a girl with her rather feminine voice. Natsumi returned to the others, water dripping off her hair and clothes.

Kakashi lept over to Zabuza, checking for his pulse by putting two fingers on his bandaged neck.

"He's definitely dead…" he murmured softly, finally taking his hand away. He sighed and looked up at the masked woman who gave a bow.

"I thank you," she said. "I have been waiting for the chance to kill Zabuza." Kakashi observed her.

"By the looks of that mask… You're a Tracker Ninja from the Village Hidden in the Mist." The woman nodded.

"Impressive. You're very knowledgeable. I'm a member of Hidden Mist Village's Tracking Unit whose mission is to hunt Rogue Ninja." Sasuke observed the tracker ninja as well. She was sort of small, barely larger than Natsumi. Maybe she was young? Sasuke turned at the sound of Natsumi's hurried footsteps toward the tree.

"That Zabuza… That Zabuza was killed!" she said, her voice hushed, in an almost creepy sense, her eyes wide with disbelief.. That person who was so strong… He was killed so easily… by a kid who's no different than me! We're… We're pathetic! I can't accept this!" Kakashi walked up to her, hands in his pockets.

"Well, I understand your disbelief." He leaned down and forward a little, placing a hand on her shoulder, looking at her for a brief moment before looking to the side, up at the woman. "But…this, too, is reality. In this world, there are kids who are younger than you… and stronger than me." He looked back at Natsumi, and when the woman disappeared with smoke, he removed his hand from Natsumi's shoulder. The woman then reappeared next to Zabuza's limp body, slinging him over her shoulders.

"Your battle is over for now. I must get rid of this corpse, because it contains many secrets. Now then, please excuse me." She then disappeared in a swirl of leaves with the dead Zabuza. Kakashi then slid his headband down over his left eye once again, concealing the burn splotches and Sharingan. Natsumi looked close to punching something.

"Our mission hasn't ended yet. We must take Mr. Tazuna home," Kakashi instructed. Tazuna tipped his large hat up a little, laughing awkwardly.

"So sorry, everyone! You can rest at my house!"

"Okay! Let's perk up and go!" Kakashi said. Tazuna and the genin nodded and began to walk. Kakashi did too, but with just the first step, his body trembled, and his body collapsed.

"Kakashi Sensei!"

"Hatake!"

"Kakashi!" Everyone yelled one of the phrases.

"Hey! Sensei's awake!" Kakashi awoke to the sound of Sakura calling everyone else over. She got to his side, on her knees. He was lying on a green futon, the covers up to his chin. "Come on! Your Sharingan is fantastic, but if it puts that much of a strain on your body, it may not be worth it!"

"S-sorry…" he grunted out.

"But, you know," Tazuna began, "he did take down a real powerful ninja like that!" He wiped his forehead off with a cloth. "We probably don't need to worry for a while."

"Anyway, that kid with the mask, what were they?" Sakura asked.

"They were an ANBU black ops from the Hidden Mist Village. It's a mask that the elite Ninja Tracking Unit wears," Kakashi explained, voice strained slightly.

"The elite Ninja Tracking Unit?"

"They're commonly called the 'Fire Extinguishing Corps,' and their duty is to erase all traces that a ninja ever lived. The body of the ninja reveals a variety of things… Ninjutsu secrets and chakra characteristics which permeate the ninja of their village… the composition of secret medicines used on a ninja's body… For instance, if I were to die, every secret about my Sharingan would be investigated thoroughly, and in the worst case, there's a danger that my entire Jutsu could be stolen. In other words, Tracker Ninja are specialists that prevent village secrets from leaking out by killing Rogue Ninja, who've run away from their village, and completely eliminating their bodies."

"Woah…" Sakura quietly whispered, the three genin sitting at Kakashi's side. He sat up, keeping a hand on his forehead, looking uneasy, deep in thought. He shook his head to himself.

"Ninja trackers… take care of the bodies of people they've killed immediately and on the spot." Natsumi's eyes widened slightly, and Sasuke glanced over at her. Kakashi gave her a small nod of approval. "What did that kid with the mask do with Zabuza?"

"They took his body somewhere else," Sasuke and Sakura said at the same time, now both their eyes slightly wide, realizing too.

"That's right… But why? If he needed proof he'd killed Zabuza, he could simply have taken the head… And the question is… the weapon the Ninja tracker kid used to kill Zabuza…"

"A regular Senbon…" Sasuke answered. His eyes widened more. "That's impossible…"

"What have you guys been clamoring on and on about?" Tazuna asked, irritated. Kakashi rubbed his temple.

"It's probably that… Zabuza is alive!" Tazuna's eyes went wide.

"What the hell do you mean?! You made sure he was dead, didn't you?" Kakashi nodded.

"It's true, I did make sure… But, he was probably just in a state of near-death. The Senbon that Tracker Ninja used has a very low ability to kill unless it hits a vital spot… It's something that was originally used for medical treatments such as acupuncture therapy. Ninja trackers know all about the structure of the human body… Putting people into a state of apparent near-death is probably simply for them. First, they went to the trouble of taking Zabuza's corpse, which was probably heavier than they are. Second, he used Senbon, a weapon with a low ability to kill. From these two factors, that youth wasn't aiming to kill Zabuza, but to save him."

"Aren't you reading way too much into it?" Tazuna asked, gesturing a hand. Kakashi shook his head.

"No… If something seems fishy, make preparations before it's too late. That's also an ironclad rule of the shinobi." Natsumi almost seemed glad Zabuza was alive.

"Sensei, what do we do to make preparations before it's too late?" Sasuke asked. Sakura nodded in agreement.

"You won't even be able to move for a while…" Kakashi chuckled.

"I'll assign you training!"

"W-wait a minute! Even with training, we're not gonna be that strong! Our opponent is a ninja whom even you, with the Sharingan, had a tough fight with!"

"Sakura… Who was it that saved me during my difficult battle? You've all quickly grown…" Sakura bowed her head a little, clearly not feeling like she had. Natsumi gave a small nod of acknowledgment.

"Now it's getting interesting," the blond mumbled.

"It's not interesting at all…" a voice spoke. Everyone turned towards the voice. It came from a small boy with dark brown hair that went down his neck. He wore a striped blue and white hat that almost covered his eyes. His clothes were oversized too.

"Hey, Inari! Where've you been?" Tazuna asked. It must have been his grandson. Inari ran up to him, giving him a hug.

"Welcome back, Grandpa!"

"Inari! That was very rude!" His mother spoke, hands on her hips. "These are the ninja who escorted your grandpa!"

"It's okay, it's okay, right, Inari?" Tazuna asked, patting the boy's head. Inari sent glares at each of the genin.

"Mom, these guys will die…" the boy said, turning towards his mom. "There's no way they can oppose Gato and win."

"Say what, you little brat!" Sakura stood up, glaring. "This Gato or whatever… We're not worried about those guys, not at all!" Her emerald green eyes were shining brightly, suddenly full of determination.

"Huh, a hero. That's ridiculous! There's no such thing!" Inari bitterly said. "If you don't want to die, you'd better hurry up and go home…" The boy started to walk off.

"Inari, where're you going?" Tazuna asked as Inari opened the doors out of the room.

"The sea… I'll be looking at the sea…" He then left. Tazuna sighed.

"I apologize…" Tazuna grumbled, rubbing his nose.

Some time later, Sasuke was walking around the house. As he walked past a room, he heard crying. The door was cracked, so he peeked his head in and saw Inari. He was sitting on top of his wardrobe in front of the open window, crying, facing the ocean.

"D-dad…" he cried. Sasuke looked down, listening to the anguished cries a bit longer before he kept walking, his face darkened slightly.

The next day, the genin were outside in the forest with Kakashi.

"So, now the training begins!" Kakashi said, having wooden crutches under each of his arms. "So, before that, let me again explain chakra power for a ninja, from the basics."

"We know that…" Natsumi and Sasuke muttered at the same time.

"Chakra is an energy that a ninja needs when they use a jutsu. It's made up of two energies: physical entry gathered together from each and every cell in the body and spiritual energy accumulated based on numerous trainings and experiences. In other words, jutsu wrings out and combines with two energies from within the body, and this is called 'Combining the Chakra.' Then chakra is activated by forming hand signs."

"The whole point is to learn the jutsu. isn't it?" Sasuke asked, keeping a hand in his pocket.

"Sasuke is right for once…" Natsumi said. "We're already able to use jutsu…" She simply just hated practicing something she was so bad at. She knew she needed to learn it, though.

"No! All of you still haven't used chakra efficiently!" Kakashi explained, voice stern. "Combining chakra means picking up both the physical and spiritual energies and mixing them together within the body. And of course the amount of each energy, the preparation of the energy, changes based on the jutsu you want to activate… All of you at present aren't using chakra efficiently. Even if you're able to combine a lot of chakra, if you're not able to control it in a balanced way, the effectiveness of the jutsu not only will be cut in half, but it may not even be activated at all. Wasting energy will prevent you from battling for long periods. These are some of the weaknesses that can occur. You need to learn to control the chakra within your body. It's difficult training that requires you to put your life on the line to master."

"W-what will we do?" Sakura asked. Kakashi chuckled.

"Tree-climbing…" The three genin raised a brow.

"Climb a tree?" They each asked at the same time."

"That's right. But it's not just simple tree-climbing. You will climb without using your hands." Kakashi clasped his hands together and with his crutches, he started to walk towards a tree, and like clockwork, he walked up it, as if it was normal flooring. He even went upside down on a branch, walking. "So, see, kind of like this… Focus the chakra on the bottoms of your feet and make them stick on the tree trunk. If you use chakra well, you can do things like this. The aim of this training is to accumulate the required amount of combined chakra to the required spot… This is surprisingly difficult, even for an expert ninja. The amount of chakra used for tree-climbing is very subtle. And the bottoms of the feet are the most difficult place to gather chakra. In other words, if you master that control, it will be possible to master any jutsu. In theory, that is. The second aim is to maintain that combined chakra. Ninja combine the most chakra during battles. Under such situations, 'control' and 'maintenance' of chakra becomes most difficult. So anyway, nothing really gonna happen with me saying this and that… You'll need to learn it with your bodies." From hanging upside down on the tree, he threw three kunai at the genin, one landing a few feet in front of each of them. "Use that kunai to put a mark on the spot where you can climb up to under your own strength now. Next, make an effort to put a mark further from it. You aren't good enough to walk up from the start, so run and use your momentum to get used to it… you got it?" The three genin nodded.

"Here we go…" Natsumi murmured under her breath. She grabbed the kunai and clasped her hands together. Sasuke and Sakura did the same. A few seconds later, she dashed towards the tree, Kunai in hand, ready to mark the tree. She leapt up, starting to run up it, but only got up a few feet before slashing a mark on the tree. She then fell back, landing on her back. "Damn it…" she softly groaned, feeling a rush of embarrassment go through her. She had failed quite miserably.

Sasuke went a few yards higher than her before his foot broke off some of the tree bark. He made a slash with his kunai before dropping to the ground.

'I didn't think it'd be this difficult to maintain a constant amount of chakra… If the chakra is too strong, you get pushed back…' He glanced down at Natsumi, who was getting to her feet. 'But if the chakra is too weak, there's no sticking power, and you just tumble down, like Natsumi…'

"Hey! This is pretty easy!" Sakura exclaimed. She was sitting at the very top tree branch of her tree. She got much farther than both Sasuke and Natsumi. Her feet dangled over the branch, and she grinned, proud.

"Whatever…" Sasuke muttered, scoffing. Sakura's proud expression faded.

"Well, her control and stamina are pretty good," Kakashi said. "It looks like… she might be the closest one to becoming Hokage and the strongest ninja…unlike someone else." Natsumi glared. "And also, the Uchiha Clan isn't really that great it seems…" Sasuke glared as well.

"Shut up Sensei!" Sakura yelled, pouting as she pointed a finger at him. "You talk too much!" Natsumi and Sasuke looked at each other, their glares intensifying.

"Looks like they're motivated now…" Kakashi murmured under his breath.

Both Natusmi and Sasuke started up the tree again and again, both panting ragged. They were both making progress, neither 'winning' though as they were about even. Sakura was just as tired, though she had very little chakra reserve. She laid against the bottom of a tree trunk, arms sprawled out.

"Hey, loser." Sasuke walked over to Natsumi. "How about we make a bet?" Natsumi raised a brow at him.

"What did you have in mind?" Sasuke smirked.

"First person to reach the top of the tree gets to ask anything they want about the other person," he said. No doubt he wanted to learn more about her and Itachi…

"Deal," Natsumi almost immediately said. Sasuke was curious about what she wanted to know so desperately, to answer so swiftly. Sasuke nodded in acknowledgement.

"Just try to keep up, Dobe."

Sasuke scoffed at the memory. Turned out the dobe was about just as bad at chakra control as he was, whether he wanted to admit it or not. Natsumi then walked over to Sakura who was sitting on the grass now.

"Hey, Sakura… could you, perhaps… Give me some tips?" she toed her foot in the grass. Sasuke stared at the two girls, waiting to see what Sakura would say. Sakura cupped her hands around her mouth and whispered to Natsumi, too quiet for Sasuke to hear.

The dobe was cheating..! Well, technically not. Neither of them stated anything about not asking for help. Sasuke knew he could ask Sakura as well, and chances are she'd help him, but he wanted to do it on his own.

By dusk, they were still running up the tree, both of them slowly getting better. Natsumi took several deep breaths, suddenly her demeanor changing. She slowly clasped her hands together, and just as she started to take off, Sasuke spoke.

"Hey…Natsumi!" Natsumi stumbled and stopped, quickly turning her head to Sasuke, looking ready to kill.

"What the hell's wrong with you, geez…" she grumbled. "You shouldn't interfere while I'm trying to concentrate."

"U…Uh…Well…" he looked away, his cheeks flushing a little as he scowled at a random tree. "Y-you asked Sakura to give you some tips before… so.. What did she tell you?" Natsumi sighed, dusting off her pants before speaking, recalling the memory of quite a few hours ago.

"Chakra uses spiritual energy, so you mustn't get too strained or frantic. Relax and concentrate on the tree so that you can constantly accumulate a fixed amount of chakra at the bottom of your feet."

That night, everyone ate at Tazuna's house. The drunkard laughed.

"Man, this is really fun!" Sakura sat at one end, and Tazuna at the other. Natsumi sat to her left, then Kakashi, and to her right sat Sasuke, and then Inari. Inari's mother was busy cleaning. "It's been a long time since we've had a meal with this many people!" Both Natsumi and Sasuke were chowing down, both practically starving from their exhausting training.

"Seconds, please," they both said at the same time, before glaring at each other. Subconsciously, they made everything a competition. They both jerked a little, putting a hand over each other's mouth, as if they were close to vomiting.

"Stop eating if you're going to vomit!" Sakura exclaimed, standing from her chair.

"No, I'll eat," Sasuke muttered, wiping his mouth with his sleeve.

"I have to eat even if it means enduring. I have to get strong as quickly as possible, so…" Kakashi nodded his head, arms crossed. At some point, he had stood up.

"Yes–yes. But vomiting is different."

After dinner, everyone for the time being was relaxing and resting their bodies. Sakura stood in the kitchen looking at a picture hanging on the wall. A part of it was missing on the top right, it ripped off. The visible parts were Inari, his mother, and Tazuna, all smiling happily.

"Excuse me, why is there a torn picture hanging there?" the pinkette asked. "Inari was looking at this all through dinner…" she quietly observed. "This torn part looks like someone who was in the picture was deliberately torn off." The three family members visibly tensed.

"It's my husband…" Inari's mother quietly said, chopping something.

"He's a man who was once called a hero of this town…" Tazuna said.

"Yeah! And he's dead, just like how everyone else is gonna be too!" Inari coldly said, glaring at the table.

"Inari!" His mother scolded him. "You can't say things like that!"

"You're all just so stupid! None of you even know what it is like to live in a poor village! None of you know how hard life is to just get by!" Natsumi stood up, her lips quivering, as if she was about to start laughing.

"I–we don't know what it's like?" Her voice was soft, in a hushed tone. "I suggest that you don't assume what other people's lives are like, kid. Not all of us are lucky to be surrounded by people who love us." She then stormed out of the room, shutting the door. There was a long moment of silence before Sasuke felt himself stand up and walk out as well. He felt like his limbs were moving automatically. He walked outside the house, trying to find Natsumi. It didn't take too long. He found her at the small beach next to the house, in front of the soft, crashing waves. She had tears in her eyes, water dripping onto the sand.

AN:

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