Chapter 4: A Quick Break
The group finally made their way toward Tazuna's house. After a long walk, they all sat down and were able to finally relax.
Sasuke who was heavily injured was laid down.
"Phew finally, we're able to rest" Sakura stretched her arms up giving a yawn before she quickly covered her mouth.
'Oops!' Hopefully Sasuke-kun didn't see that!' she thought.
During their stay at the old man's house, a girl somewhere between her 20s appeared.
"Tou-chan your back!. You made it home!" She exclaimed in glee.
"Ah Tsunami, I'm back safe and sound. We had a slight problem on the way but all well end well!" He cheerfully let out.
Tsunami had a skeptical look.
"Wait. What problem?" Her voice stretched out the word as she asked, squinting her eyes towards the bridge builder to show her interest.
"Dear, It was nothing. just a strong ninja who wanted me dead, but he was no match for these brats sensei! Not to mention how reliable this one kid was" As he patted Madara's back to show who he was mentioning.
Madara let out an oomph sound which caused him to growl at Tazuna's sudden action and edged farther away.
"TOU-CHAN! That's dangerous! Don't ever do that again!" She started to lecture her own father while the man himself tried to get himself out of his situation.
"No no, I couldn't stop it even if I wanted to! I swear I won't do it ever again Tsunami dear" He chuckled.
The conversation reminded Sakura of what happened before.
"Speaking of ninjas, who was that masked kid? Kakashi-sensei, you seem to know who he was" Sakura curiously asked.
"The masked signified that he was part of the ANBU Elite hunter-nin team of Kirigakure. Another name they go by is Body Erasers and as the name suggest, they literally erase the body of ninjas that leave their village"
"You see a ninja's body holds many secrets like the villages ninjutsu, secret medicines used on a ninja's body, herbs that will reveal things about the village"
"For example, if I died, then the secrets of the Sharingan could be revealed. If you are not careful enough then even your jutsu's can be stolen
"So by eliminating and erasing all the missing-nin who have abandoned the village, the hunter-nin are able to protect the information from leaking out. They guard their village's secret. No sound, no smell, that is a ninjas end"
"Wait, so Zabuza has been chopped up? That's scary!" Sakura said as she imagined a dismembered Zabuza.
Despite what Sakura thought, meanwhile in the forest, the masked boy sat down as he laid down his pouch full of medical tools and opened it. He grabbed a tool and moved his hand steadily towards Zabuza's lying body on the floor.
"First I'll remove the mouth cloth and have him cough out some blood..." As he was about to use the tool to remove the cloth, a hand suddenly grabbed him.
"That's alright I do it myself," He told the boy.
"Oh, you've already come back to life" He spoke back in an emotionless voice.
Zabuza lifted his back forward.
"Damn, you're really rough" as he pulled out the senbon that was embedded into his neck where blood flew out.
"You shouldn't be so rough yourself, if you pull them out like that you really will die" He responded to Zabuza who ignored him and continued to pull the last senbon out as hard as the first.
"Hmph. How long are you going to wear that stupid mask?" Zabuza asked.
"It reminds me of the past. It was also useful for this act" The masked boy slowly removed the mask as he reminisced.
Behind the mask was a feminine-faced boy.
"If I hadn't saved you. You would have definitely died,"he explained.
"If you were going to put me into momentary death, you didn't need to use my neck. You could have used a safer acupuncture point. Your annoying as always" Zabuza complained at the boy's method of saving him.
"You're right" Responded with an eye smile.
"I just didn't want to damage your beautiful body" The boy blushed while speaking.
"And the neck doesn't have much muscle, it's easier to hit the acupuncture point there"
"You shouldn't be able to move much for about a week, plus add on the damage you sustained from your previous encounter, it might even take more than 5 weeks for you to recover"
"But... you might be able to move pretty soon. Stay away from fighting, i don't think you're even 40% fully recovered yet" The boy tries to reassure the clothed ninja.
Zabuza stared at him for a moment. "You're so pure and clever. That's what I like about you" He told the boy.
The boy gave him a burst of derisive laughter. "That's because I'm still a child," they cheekily responded.
He looked around before he stood up.
"Look... The mist has cleared"
"Will you be alright next time?" He asked.
"Next time I will defeat the Sharingan!" His words boomed from his mouth.
The boy slapped his injuries and scolded the man. "No you won't"
Zabuza flinched in pain as he slapped one of his sore spots.
Back in Tazuna's House, Kakashi had a bad feeling.
He felt a shiver go throughout his entire body. It told him that something was wrong.
His mind worked to answer the feeling he felt.
Sakura noticed that something was wrong and wanted to voice her concern.
"Sensei? What seems to be the problem?" She asked the masked ninja.
Kakashi snapped out his thoughts as he heard his student speak.
"Ah, well body erasing teams usually dispose of the bodies of the person they kill on the spot," He told the group.
Sakura, unable to understand, continued to ask "So what?"
"Don't you see? How did that masked kid dispose of Zabuza's body?" He asked them a question.
"He ran away with the body and stole my kill," Madara answered who was still irritated at the boy.
"Yes... well, stealing anyone's kill part aside, If he wanted proof that he killed Zabuza, all he needed was his head" Kakashi stopped before he continued.
"Also the weapon. What weapon did he use to kill Zabuza?" He then asked.
"Regular senbon" Sasuke answered not thinking much of his answer before he realised.
"Wait! no way!" The Uchiha avenger felt sweat drip down his face.
"Yeah, exactly no way," Kakashi repeated what Sasuke said.
"I don't get it?" Tazuna, who was listening earlier, still did not understand what they were talking about, scratched his head.
"To put it simply. Zabuza...is ALIVE! " Kakashi raised his voice to emphasise his point.
Tazuna and Sakura both gave a panicked look while Tazuna's daughter Tsunami felt herself sweat at the sentence that was spoken.
"Wasn't he dead!?" Tazuna asked.
"We thought you said he was dead" Sakura followed up on what Tazuna asked.
"Yeah I did, Although I said that, I never checked his vitals but it's highly likely that he was put into momentary death" He answered the 2.
"The senbon that the hunter-nin used...unless it hits a vital organ, it has a low probability of killing your opponent. It's an item even used by doctors in acupuncture therapy"
"Hunter-nin's know about the body's structure thoroughly. Putting a person in a momentary dead state is probably easy for them. First he carried away the body of the much heavier Zabuza."
"Second he used a weapon that has a low probability of killing. These 2 points indicate that his motive was...not to kill Zabuza but to save him...We can't ignore that possibility" Kakashi finished his explanation.
"Aren't you thinking too much? Hunter-nins are supposed to kill Missing-nins" Tazuna argued back.
"No, with all the suspicion, we will prepare before it's too late. That's a shinobi rule. Plus, whether Zabuza is dead or alive...There's no assurance that Gato hasn't hired an even stronger shinobi" Kakashi countered.
"Sensei. What do you mean preparing before it's too late? You can barely move" Sakura asked.
Kakashi let out a small chuckle much to Sakura's dismay.
"You guys will receive training" Answered the jonin.
Sakura's eyes widened.
"HUH training?! Sensei! What's a little training going to do?! Our enemy is a ninja you struggled against even with the sharingan" Sakura pointed out the flaws with his plans.
"Sakura, if Naruto was able to beat Zabuza or at least knock him down, then theoretically you guys should be able to do the same" His argument left Sakura contemplating.
"But obviously this is just training until I get better, you won't be able to defeat him without me" Kakashi said much to Madara's irk.
"But sensei, if Zabuza is alive he could attack at any time, so should we be training?" Sakura let out another concern.
"About that. A person put in a momentary death situation should take a while before their body can recover. Not to mention the damage he sustained while fighting Naruto and I. I suppose approximately we have at least 3 weeks before he's fully healed. So we will train until then." Kakashi assured the pinkette.
"I see. Well then, Kakashi, dance with me again. You're the only one remotely close to the fun I have" Madara told the masked man.
Another voice was heard in the room. "That's not fun"
A boy wearing a blue and white striped hat along with a green jumpsuit with a yellow shirt and a simple pair of sandals appeared.
Sasuke noticed the boy and immediately went on guard as Sakura was both on guard and confused at the sudden appearance of the child.
Madara simply did not care.
"Oh Inari! Where were you!?" Tazuna asked.
The boy ignored the man and only welcomed him back.
Inari's mother told his son to say hello to the team stating that they were the ones that protected Tazuna.
Inari briefly stared at his mother before monotonically saying that they were going to die.
"Mom. They are going to die" Madara raised a brow.
"There's no way you can win against Gatou" Tazuna looked at his grandson in a more worried manner.
"If you don't want to die, you should leave" he looked at them saying his last words before leaving to another room.
The door slammed behind him and Tazuna could only mutter a word of sorry for his grandson.
Outside the forest, Team 7 started getting ready for their training session.
"Ok, we will now start the training," Kakashi stated.
The 3 genin only stood almost shoulder to shoulder from each other as they watched their sensei explain their training.
"Before that, I want to talk to you about the shinobi ability, chakra" The jonin then started to explain what chakra is.
"Right. Did you get that?" Kakashi asked. The 3 genin nodded.
"So now we'll start learning how to use chakra" Kakashi then stated leaving the 2 genin in confusion.
"But we already know how to use chakra?" Sasuke commented, wondering what his sensei meant.
"Nope, you are using chakra correctly," Kakashi explained. He told the group about what chakra means and how it brings out both the physical and spiritual energy together within their bodies.
"Even if you are able to release a high amount of chakra, unless you control it properly…the justus will be weakened or not work at all" He explained.
"And by wasting energy, you won't be able to fight as long, these kinds of weaknesses will appear. You must learn to control it with very tough training." He continued.
"What do we have to do?" Sakura asked worryingly.
"Tree climbing," Kakashi answered.
"Tree climbing? What kind of training is that?" Sakura asked again.
"This isn't normal tree climbing, you'll climb without using your hands" This immediately got the attention of the 2 members.
"Err…Sasuke-kun will you be okay? You are pretty injured after that last encounter" Sakura asked the Uchiha survivor.
The boy coldly shrugged off her worries. "I'm fine, worry about yourself"
"Well, let me give you a demonstration" Kakashi made a hand seal before he proceeded to climb up a tree with just his feet.
"He's climbing vertically? With just his legs?" Sakura said, amazed.
"You understand now?" Kakashi asked.
"Gather your chakra in the bottom of your feet and climb up a tree. This is something you can do once you can use chakra well."
"Wait a minute, how is climbing a tree going to make us stronger?!" Sakura asked angrily.
"Here's the main part. Listen closely. The purpose of this training is first to teach you chakra control. To bring out the proper amount to the proper area. As I said eariler, this is the most important aspect when using jutsu."
"This can be difficult for even a skilled ninja. The amount of chakra needed to climb a tree is small, but it must be exact. And it is said that the foot is the most difficult area to gather chakra. So basically if you can learn this control, you should be able to master any jutsu theoretically"
"The second thing is for you to develop the stam-"
Madara stopped listening to Kakashi. Currently, he didn't need to know how to do what the jonin was explaining as he already knew about it.
Why he actually decided to listen to the history lesson of chakra control was beyond him, but it doesn't matter. Only the sound of a kunai thrown near his feet snapped him back into reality.
"This is something you'll have to learn with your bodies," Kakashi said.
'Use those kunais to mark how high you make it up the tree. Then use that mark as your goal and try to surpass it. You guys won't be good enough to walk up the tree at first. So get some momentum and try running up the tree. Got it?" He looked at the trio and asked.
Apart from Madara, both Sasuke and Sakura started to make a hand seal to gather their chakras.
Once they felt they gathered enough chakra they started to run towards their respective trees.
Madara watched in amusement as the Uchiha made a run up the tree only to have to jump backwards back to ground, only managing to mark the tree.
The former Uchiha gave off a chuckle at the sight in front of him causing the boy to scowl.
Sakura on the other hand was easily able to climb up the tree with minimal effort.
"Hey, this is pretty easy!" Both boys looked up to see Sakura sitting on a tree branch." Sakura stared down both boys sticking out her tongue.
"It seems only Sakura has good chakra control and stamina. That's unfortunate, I guess the Uchiha Clan isn't worth much at all. And I guess that a certain someone (Naruto) isn't as strong as he claims to be." Kakashi continued to patronize the 2 boys.
"Don't look so condescending Hatake. I am merely choosing not to interfere in childish squabble" Madara responded.
"I don't want to hear you speak, Naruto. You haven't even tried" Sasuke called Madara out.
"Sasuke-kun is right, Naruto. You haven't even moved at all since we started" Sakura agreed.
Madara crossed his arms as he gave a small huff slowly walking towards a tree.
Rather than walk on the tree normally, he jumped up to the branch high above and clung on the bottom.
"How dare you question me about not knowing something that is considered basic. This is not even worth learning a lesson about." Madara walked all around the bottom of the branch as he moved to the trunk of the tree much to the astonishment of the 2 genin.
"N-no way!" Sakura gasped in amazement.
Sasuke could only look down on the ground and growl internally. The sound of Madara, snapping him out of a daze.
"Do not fret boy. It is better for you to fail than for you to succeed. This indicates how large your chakra reserves are." Madara informed the Uchiha.
"My…chakra reserves?" Sasuke asked intriguingly.
"The larger your chakra reserves, the harder it is for you to control your chakra." Madara pointed to Sakura.
"You, girl. The reason why you have great chakra control is because of your pitifully small chakra reserve. Whether that is from a commoner bloodline or from your own handiwork, i do not know. Having good chakra control may be good for you but you'll quickly learn that you'll fall behind everyone else and become dead weight." Madara voiced his reasons bluntly.
Sakura looked down dejectedly.
"Wait…does walking on trees with chakra also work for walking on water?" Sakura realised the battle from before, where the mercenary ninja had done.
"It's a more advanced form of chakra manipulation. Unlike trees, which remain completely steady, water can change its form anytime there's a ripple. But don't worry about that for now. We can learn that later once you get the hang of using chakra" Kakashi told the kunoichi.
"I understand sensei" Sakura nodded in response.
27/07/2024
I'm going to be honest, I had this chapter in the works for over like 3 years but I never got around to completing it. And then I figured...Instead of keeping up with the constant 4k word limit I set, why don't I just cut it in half and split the chapter into 2 parts. So that's what I'm doing. Atleast so people know I'm not dead LOL.
I haven't been in the Naruto Fandom in so long, so it's going to take some time to get back into writing this.
Also now that I had like 4 years of writing 0 fanfiction, I don't know what to do with the information that my fic is trying to be both serious and crack at the same time. Back then I wrote it down thinking it would be good to add.
Present time, I'm realizing...Ah! I just made this harder for myself. Now do I drop the jokes and make it more serious or just make go full crack fic shenanigans.
I'm not experienced in writing fanfic btw, so just correct me if I'm just being dumb and not realizing what these words means.
I also have my reasons for portraying Narada in a certain way it's just that I'm taking forever to write it down. Also I'm planning on deviating from canon sooner of later. I just don't want this to be a rehash of canon.
But yeah...this chapter didn't introduce much, it's just I wrote down like 5 different transitions for the most random scenes, which is why in order to rearrange the scenes I written, I decided to post this first and then I can just add the latter half later. Then I can stitch them together like one big Frankenstein's monster.