This is a long one.
2/3 of todays release
Glossary:
Kitsune - demon fox/ fox ayakashi
Taijitu - yin yang symbol
Tamagoyaki - rolled omelet
Hibachi(fire bowl) - traditional heating device, essentially a portable heater that uses hot coals
2. Trial Run
Kakashi opened his book as he perched into a tree with a clear view of the room with his prospective genin. He distractedly watched them interact while he read.
His little gem had been a godsend for the stress this team was already putting him through. He hoped he wouldn't have to wait too long for a sequel when he finished it. The misunderstanding obviously would not be cleared up by the end of this one; if they wanted to keep the drama grounded, anyway. A cliff hanger could only keep an avid audience for so long.
"There needed to be a balance between the heartfelt drama and the steamy moments of catharsis," he nodded to himself.
A sudden ruckus tore his attention away from his reading to see the Uchiha boy hacking while the orange one was being attacked by a gaggle of girls; a pink haired one among them. He wondered what happened even as he felt their chances of passing, even with the extra time he was allotting them, were growing smaller.
Iruka entered the room not long after and the children immediately quieted down and looked toward him attentively.
'As good with children as always,' he thought.
If the reactions were anything to go by, the teams were being called. Looking for his prospects, he was a bit surprised to see they had sat together. Uzumaki was covered in minor bruises. Uchiha looked almost like he was sleeping if not for his unfriendly stare. The girl was looking at the coal haired boy with such a sappy look that he wanted to groan. Great, if she was distracted, on top of all her other deficiencies, then it didn't bode well for their chances.
Glancing at Iruka for a moment to read his lips. When he listed off his team's names, he looked back at them. Uzumaki straightened a bit at his name and stood in celebration. A familiar sappy look sent her way, as the girl's name was called as she slumped in disappointment. Only for their reactions to flip when the last member's name was called.
Kakashi rubbed at his temples. 'If they survive the week and pass, I'm going to have to deal with two crushes and two childish grudges.' He had a guess what spoiled the girl's image of Uzumaki but why did he dislike Uchiha? Whatever it was, it looked one-sided at least.
The Uchiha finally spared the two beside him a glance. He looked at the girl with an aspect of long-suffering frustration that he felt a sort of sympathetic twinge. It reminded him of the little hangers on he had when he was roughly the same age, maybe a little older. But the look of anger when he looked at the blond was unmistakable.
He sucked in a harsh breath. 'Three childish grudges…,' he amended mentally. 'Why were these three put on a team again?'
Feeling a headache pulse into being, Kakashi decided a nap was in order until it was time to pick up his team.
.
.
.
He had just gotten comfortable and was drifting when he heard a scuffle. He debated if it was worth moving to deal with children when he heard a distinctive laugh. A laugh that was the topic of ire of many a chuunin who had to chase him throughout the village.
Kakashi sighed.
Moving to where he last heard it he watched as Uchiha emerged from a window and nearly slipped off the roof before running off. That got his eyes narrowing as he made his way to the window. Sure enough, Uchiha was still in that room. Tied and gagged.
Since the boy was faced away from the window, Kakashi left him to his own devices and followed the imposter.
Sakura huffed as she put away her empty lunchbox. She had asked her mother to add more meat in her lunch, but it was the same as always.
The voice snickered, "You're going to have to cook for yourself then."
Sakura glared at the voice's mocking. It knew her cooking skills were less than desirable. It made her even angrier that it had a point. She shouldn't expect her mother to make her lunches to her exact requests when she could barely keep a promise that only involved her doing nothing different from usual.
She stewed in her anger until she noticed the voice practically purring. 'H-how is it even…,' she shook her head and pushed her attention to something far more pleasant.
Sasuke had been as cool as ever and now they would be on the same team. She mentally squealed as she buried her face in her hands. Even with Naruto being a third wheel, it couldn't detract from her excitement of working with her long-time crush. He had never seemed interested when she asked him to spend time together outside of class, but now they were going to interact more than ever. This was her chance to get him to reciprocate her feelings.
The only problem was figuring out how. The only thing she had to go off now was the fact he liked long hair, but he didn't give any of the girls with longer hair than her much attention, either. So what else did he like in a girl? "This would be much easier if I had something about myself that would catch his attention," she sighed. Then she could use that to reel him in and get to know him better after.
"Well~, that forehead of yours is certainly eye-catching," the voice called in a sing-song tone.
Sakura grumbled and tried to flip that insult by fantasizing that one of her greatest insecurities actually caught his eye positively. He'd walk over and compliment it. Then he'd sit next to her and hold her hand before leaning in to…to- she squealed quietly as she hid her face in her hands again and kicked her feet.
"You're delusional," the voice deadpanned.
"Shut up!" Sakura pouted. Why couldn't it let her have a little fun? She huffed as she looked up and froze.
'Sasuke-kun!'
Fate must be on her side. She attempted her best 'bedroom eyes' to get him to come over. She had read in some book it was supposed to make guys come running. It was confiscated shortly after she got to that part, so she had no clue what to do next, but the book was popular with the female teachers, so it must have been a good reference for relationships. The voice snickered something about fiction, but she ignored it.
To both their surprises, he actually came over. Sakura reflexively looked down, missing him stumbling as he made his way over, as she and the voice mentally started screaming at each other.
"You have such a noble brow," he smiled at her, "So charming I could kiss it."
Sakura ignored the sudden shift in attitude as thoughts of their future together and getting married rushed through her mind.
"Is something I-Naruto would probably say." He said with a smirk.
Sakura's head flopped in disappointment as her delusions crash and burn. 'Of course he doesn't see me that way.' She stewed in her hurt feelings, but the more she did, the more confused she became at his odd actions today.
"Was Sasuke someone who would make a joke like that?" The voice asked with the same confusion, "Or joke at all, for that matter?"
Sakura could see the point it was making. She was comparing his odd actions with what she knew about him, but her thoughts were derailed when he sat next to her. Her face felt warm as the voice groaned.
"Sakura, I'm curious… what do you think of Naruto?"
"Naruto…?" Her brow twitched. That's all he approached her for?
She supposed it made some sense to want her opinion on him, considering he was their teammate now. Sakura wasn't happy that the first time that he approached her, it was because of that nuisance. Especially with how he started it. Was that part really necessary? She sighed and focused on what he asked.
The first thing that came to mind when she thought of that loud blond was those dumb pranks of his. He had gotten paint on her favorite dress while being chased because of one; utterly destroying the fabric. Then, for some reason, she had become a prime target for a while. Left dead bugs and live frogs in her seat during breaks. Hiding around corners and scaring her. Dumping water on her several times; she had gotten sick at least twice because of that. The list went on and only angered her more as she thought about it.
Sakura didn't know what she had done to deserve it, but she guessed that harassment didn't really need a reason. Her bullies had proved that much.
She had hoped that moving classes would reduce her interactions with her bullies. Not give her a new one.
"I don't think he was bullying, per se. He just wanted your attention," the voice tried to intercede.
Sakura glared at the stone road. 'That doesn't make it not bullying.' She didn't like what the voice was trying to imply. In fact, it made even less sense to her. She pushed that thought away and refocused on her problems with Naruto.
There were the many disruptions he caused in class. Not only did it make her lose out on her well-earned recognition several times, but she was convinced it led to the gaps she found in her education. Since she didn't have a shinobi clan that could supplement anything not covered by the academy, she needed all the knowledge she could get. She was sure that the body enhancement jutsu she had found would have been covered. It had to have fallen through the cracks with all the hijinks he caused during class. There's no way they would just leave it for something to learn on their own with so many civilians in the school… right?
Naruto also picked fights with Sasuke as soon as she tried to ask him to go somewhere with her.
He always inserts himself into her life for the worse.
He always finds a way to insert himself into her life for the worse.
"Don't forget how jealous he makes you. That certainly dampens your impression of him." The voice droned.
"Shut it," Sakura growled lowly. Whose side was that thing on, anyway?
"What?" the boy beside her asked.
She jerked to meet his eyes. 'Dang it!' She must have spoken aloud again.
"I-I said… that I don't like him." She made a face as she continued, "All he does is torment me when he's around. I'm sure if he had his way, I would never find love or happiness."
She turned away as she muttered, "if I had mine we wouldn't be anywhere near each other."
If she was still looking the boy's way, she would see an oddly offended confusion cross his face. Not that it mattered, considering it melted into a blush when she suddenly leaned into his space.
"In fact, the one I want to be closest to… the one I want to gain the attention and respect of most… is you." She blushed as she finished speaking.
She took his silence and lack of moving away to push forward.
"I've had a crush on you for the longest time and want to be someone special to you. Someone worth spending your time with." she leaned in closer to kiss him and saw him do the same as she closed her eyes.
Just as their lips were going to touch, he jerked up and sprinted away.
"Huh? What the- Why?!" She pouted as she watched him go to the loud laughter of the voice.
"Aww… desperate for a happy ending huh," it mocked.
The pinkette flopped onto the stone bench, arms crossed. "Shut up!"
.
.
.
She kicked her legs as she wondered about why he ran off so suddenly. Sakura couldn't quite place it, but he was obviously off. He rarely approached anyone, and her dislike for Naruto was no secret. As much as she wanted to think that it was an excuse to talk to her, it made no sense. He was too direct as a person to need one, and running away wasn't like him. If he didn't want to kiss her, he would be straightforward about it.
'Maybe he wasn't rejecting me, then?' She thought before her brow scrunched again. 'But why run?'
She chalked it up to nerves, much to the voice's derision. So when she saw him approaching while looking around for something, she ran up to him. "Sasuke-kun! Where'd you go? Did-"
"The break is almost over," He interrupted, not even looking her way. "Where's that jerk, Naruto?"
Sakura's eye twitched. He had come to ask about Naruto and now all he wanted after dodging her kiss was to know where that nuisance was?
The voice seemed to give off a feeling of unease at her temper, somehow. "I suggest calming down before you say something you'll regret."
Ignoring its advice, she ranted.
"Can we not focus on Naruto?" she huffed. "He's always impeding everything! I guess you can't expect much from someone with such a bad upbringing."
The pinkette had turned away from him, so had missed the way his head snapped in her direction. His posture stiff.
"You mean… because he never had any parents?" His tone cold with obvious warning.
"I think you should stop talking," the voice tried again. It fell on deaf ears.
"Obviously! He doesn't have anyone to answer for his bad behavior and it's made him selfish!" She crossed her arms as sneered in a confusing mix of frustration and jealousy. "If I did anything a fraction as bad as what he does on the daily, my parents grounding me for the rest of my life would be the least of my worries."
"That's enough," the voice demanded, a dark silhouette forming in Sakura's periphery. Unfortunately, that didn't give the usual response of caution and consideration.
"Don't you envy him being alone? No parents to nag and pressure you all the time?"
Sakura startled and took a step back when a shadowy version of herself, the only color the familiar green of her eyes, suddenly appeared so close their noses could have touched. "WHO THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU'RE TALKING TO!?"
That got her out of her sour mood. Her stomach sank as she whipped around to look at Sasuke, the last Uchiha.
If looks could kill… she shuddered.
"I'm sor-" Sakura tried only to be cut off.
"Kids without families always grow up selfish."
"Sas-," she reached out to him, but flinched when he stepped away from her.
"That, and lonely… being scolded by your folks doesn't even compare." His tone was clipped and strained as he clenched his fists so tight his knuckles were turning white. It almost looked like he was shaking.
Sakura curled into herself as she tried to apologize again. "I didn't mean-"
"You are so unbelievably annoying!" Sasuke glared at her with a level of anger and disappointment that made her feel extremely small.
Without another word, or a second glance, Sasuke left.
o*🌸🌸🌸🌸*o
Sakura sat with her head down and her hands fisting the fabric of her skirt as she tried not to cry. She knew what she said was insensitive. She was in the wrong. Even still… having someone she cares so much about calling her annoying… and with so much animosity. It hurt.
That brought a thought to mind. The voice had implied that Naruto felt something similar for her… 'Is this what he's been feeling when I treated him similarly?' She frowned as she wondered if she'd been too harsh regarding him.
"If Sasuke's the Sakura in this situation…," the voice drawled in a way suspiciously close to mocking. "Does that make you his Naruto?"
Sakura stiffened at the image that painted. "Does that mean I've been making Sasuke-kun feel uncomfortable this whole time?" Her head fell further as she slumped into the bench as she muttered. "I thought I was being charming."
Sakura felt even worse than before.
The Jounin rubbed roughly at his temples. He was really thinking that the girl was a horrible fit for this team in particular now. Regardless of if she survived the week, he could only see tension and dysfunction in the future.
A part of him knew he should feel a bit of ire towards his teacher's son as well. He wasn't exactly being the paragon of an exemplary teammate. Attacking one to use his image to get close to his crush. The backlash that could happen if she ever found out, especially since she was a part of their cell, would likely cause as many problems as her own ignorance. A headache was threatening to come just at the thought.
He huffed through his nose. As much as Uzumaki wasn't blameless in the situation, the girl had a family to guide her. She should have known better than to say what she said.
He took a deep breath and tried to calm his nerves. Maybe failing this team outright so they could be shuffled around would be the best course of action? It would certainly save him from having to deal with the melodrama that was already starting.
"It's only fun when you're not the one responsible for cleaning up after," he muttered.
0o🚫🚫o0
Perching onto his tree again, Kakashi opened his book and tried to smooth his ruffled feathers. He got lost in the light-hearted and steamy plot easily. A bit too easily, considering the next time he lifted his head to check on his prospects. They were the only ones left. 'Oops.'
Taking a moment to watch them interact, he couldn't help but feel this week was going to be a lost cause. They had moved as far apart as the classroom would allow.
From what he could see, the pink one seemed to send Uchiha worried glances while sizing up Na-Uzumaki; seems she didn't know how to treat them now.
Sa-Uchiha hadn't looked at either of his teammates once. He'd shown zero interest in them and while he couldn't blame him, especially considering what happened a couple of hours ago, but it still hurt their chances. It also didn't help that he looked like he was planning a murder. Kakashi doubted it was the girl's, or the blond's, hopefully. If his assumptions were right, he'll need to keep a close eye on him.
His teacher's son, unlike the other two, seemed unable to sit still for long. He was either looking through his hip bag, drawing on the chalkboard, or trying to pick a fight with the quiet boy and failing. He'd even tried to get close to the girl a few times, but a look was enough to send him back to his earlier rotation.
Kakashi sighed, "This is going to be a long week."
.
.
.
Walking up to the room, he noticed the eraser lodged in the sliding door. He gave it a bland stare, almost offended at the unimaginative prank. He debated on how to deal with it when he decided to just let it hit him. 'Let's see their reactions,' he thought with a shrug. 'First impressions are important, but they'll need to look past that if they want to live long and avoid drama in this career.'
He opened the door and was glad for his mask when a puff of chalk surrounded his head on impact.
The blond, who likely set this up, was falling over himself laughing. "Gotcha good," he yelled.
An impulsive fool. Not that he was surprised, just expected him to at least attempt to hide for a little while is all.
"I'm sorry, Sensei," the pink one apologized. "I tried to stop him, but he…"
He would almost believe her if not for the poorly concealed smile on her face. It was not lost on him that she had left Uzumaki high and dry with that false apology, either. She was a two-faced one. Whether out of selfishness or cowardice was yet to be seen.
The dark one had remained quiet, but the look of undisguised disappointment and contempt was loud enough. He was a little surprised by that reaction, actually; he seemed the most aware and introspective of the group. It looked like Uchiha was more short sighted than his behavior showcased. That gave Kakashi pause. He may need to keep a closer eye on him than he first thought.
Making a show of sighing and pondering something important, he placed a gloved hand on his covered chin. "Hmmm. How should I put this?" He tilted his head slightly. "Based on first impressions, I'd have to say… I hate the lot of you!" He said that last part with an eye smile and a jovial tone.
The reactions that got were at least amusing.
0o🚫🚫o0
On the roof of the academy, he sat on the railing in front of his prospective genin. He could see the boys looked fit enough. Well, Uchiha did. He couldn't really tell with N-Uzumaki that oversized sweatsuit of his swallowed him. But with the constant trouble he caused, it should've made him fit enough so he couldn't be too far behind the coal boy. The girl, however, looked like a harsh breeze could knock her down. She only had enough muscle, because it couldn't be fat if she had graduated, to not look knobbly.
The way they sat gave him an interesting insight. Uzumaki was practically sprawled out, taking up as much space as possible. With his hands touching the ground between his feet, it reminded Kakashi of a frog. Fitting in a way. Uchiha looked confident moodily with his elbows on his knees so he can rest his chin on his clasped hands, his eyes barely visible with the shadow his bangs cast on his face. It reminded him of a bird ready to dive for the kill. While he understood why he was like this, he couldn't help but think it must be exhausting to be so tense constantly. Haruno had essentially curled into a loose ball, hands clasped in front of her ankles. It wasn't cold enough to need to huddle for warmth. It seems she was self-soothing; being so open with her insecurities doesn't give a good outlook for her future. He tried to keep his face neutral as he looked away from her, focusing on all of them.
"Now then, first things first. Tell me a little bit about yourselves."
"Like what?" The pink one asked with the tilt of her head.
"You know…," he drawled with a wave of his hand. "Your favorite thing… what you hate most… dreams, ambitions, hobbies. The usual." He shrugged as he finished.
Uzumaki squinted at him with a frown. He looked like one of those old paintings of transformed kitsune. "Help us out here, teach. Show us how it's done."
"Yeah," Haruno added, "you're the stranger here, after all."
Kakashi lifted a brow as he looked at the sky. "...me, huh? Well, my name is Kakashi Hatake. I'm not one for talking about my likes and dislikes. Hmmm, I have lots of hobbies that don't involve teaching… and my dreams for the future are none of your business." He gave them a cheeky little grin.
The three looked displeased as they grumbled about only really learning his name. He only gave them a shrug in return.
"Now it's your turn. Starting with you on the right."
Uzumaki straightened as he adjusted his hitai-ate with an extreme level of exaggeration. Kakashi couldn't help but picture a Kabuki performance. "All right, my name is Naruto Uzumaki! I like instant cup noodles. Even better is the ramen at Ichiraku's, especially when it's Iruka-sensei's treat. I hate…um…t-the three-minute wait after I pour the water for my noodles."
"My dream is… is to one day be a better shinobi than even Hokage-sama, ya know! Then all the villagers will have to acknowledge my existence!" Even with the broad smile and confidence he spoke with, Kakashi couldn't help the feeling of guilt that stabbed at his conscience. "My hobbies are…," he rubbed his head. "... pranks and practical jokes, I guess." He seemed unsure of his answer.
Kakashi took a moment to take in his words. That first pause told him that waiting thing was not exactly true, at least it wasn't the only thing he hated. It made sense they were strangers and his team weren't exactly friendly with each other. The rest painted an interesting mess of motivations.
Is being Hokage really what he wants or is it the attention it would bring? He doesn't even seem to like the mischief he gets into all that much if he didn't even really consider it a hobby despite how regularly he does it. Would it have stopped if they have given something more productive to work on or given him a proper caretaker? Kakashi felt an urge to rub his temple over the mismanagement of the blond.
Pushing that issue aside, he noted how the other two didn't look the least bit surprised at his declaration. Seems it was common knowledge amongst his peers. The girl seemed to have had to physically hold her tongue when he stated his hobbies. He wanted to sigh at the thought that the boy had been pranking his crush for her attention and it backfired horribly. Was that comment more about Uzumaki himself rather than his situation? Thoughtless either way, especially considering who she said it to.
"Good to know," he nodded as he finished processing. "Next."
Sasuke didn't lift his coal head as he spoke, not really looking at anyone. "My name is Sasuke Uchiha. There are plenty of things I hate and very few things I could say I like. 'Dreams'...," said with a level of contempt uncommon in someone so young nowadays, "are inconsequential to me. What I have is determination. I plan to restore my clan and have sworn to kill a certain… someone."
He leaned back as his hands fell on the railing, holding back a frustrated sigh. He had suspected as much, but the confirmation didn't make him any less concerned. It was already obvious the boy wasn't taking care of his mental health, considering where he lived. That vengeful look showed clear negligence for his physical.
If he doesn't handle this carefully, his emotions could jeopardize the entire unit's safety, or get himself killed for a mountain he may never be able to scale.
He looked over to the girl to see a misplaced admiration for the Uchiha's self-destructive speech. The blond wasn't much better since it looked like he felt that he was the boy's target.
Kakashi held back a sigh as he crossed his arms. "And finally… the young lady."
For a second, he saw a micro-expression twist across her face as she scrutinized him. It melted immediately when she turned to the boy in blue and blushed. "My name is Sakura Haruno. My favorite thing… well, my favorite person is…," she looked at Uchiha before moving on, even leaned over to him a bit. "Umm… My dream is to… to be," she cuts herself off to squeal and squirm. "I hate pranks!" She said with vitriol as she gave Uzumaki the side eye. "My hobbies are research and literature." She finished with a smile as she returned to her loose ball.
He wanted to take it at face value and write her off as a fanciful lost cause, too focused on love to train properly. 'I'd be a fool if I did though,' he mentally sighed. He could tell that most, if not all of that, was an act. Maybe just an exaggeration from his previous observations. If the searching look she gave him wasn't enough proof, then the confused expression on the coal boy's pink face cinched it for him. Naruto didn't seem to notice anything odd with her behavior, but maybe he was too crushed by his crush's snide rebuff to notice.
Kakashi really wanted to sigh as he closed his eye. Worse than gaining nothing from her false introduction was the fact it was his fault.
He had assumed the slip up with his superior earlier in the week had been because of his greater experience, but if this waif of a graduate could see through his facade… Has he gotten rusty since his demotion? Or had he just gotten too reliant on his coverings to hide his expressions?
Kakashi left that for later inspection.
"All right. Provisional training starts tomorrow." He stated plainly.
Uchiha and Haruno understood his meaning almost immediately. The boy looked at him through his coal hair with something promising violence. The girl was his opposite, looking worried and unsure as she tightened her hold on her legs.
Uzumaki wasn't very quick on the uptake. "Yes, sir," he nearly yelled as he gave a casual salute. "What'll we be doin'? Our first shinobi mission!?"
"In a way," he drawled as he rubbed his covered chin, "but not quite. Each Jounin tests their genin before they officially take them under their wing."
"Due to an outside request…," he was a little surprised to see Uchiha and Haruno glance at Na-the blond, "I'll be pushing that off until the end of the week." He crossed his arms as he leaned forward. "In the meantime, I'll be testing your potential and seeing where you all are in your training."
"What exactly would that entail?" Haruno asked. "And what kind of test will it be?" She looked nervous. Most likely feeling unprepared.
"The training will just be going over some basics. As for the test, it will be a simple survival exercise where you'll apply everything you've learned up until then." He gave them an eye smile, but saw that it wasn't comforting them at all. Good.
His smile turned mildly malicious, and all three of them tensed. "I expect you all to be at training ground two by seven in the morning." The blond and pink one groaned. "You only need to bring yourselves. Oh, and if you eat breakfast, keep it light."
The group shuddered to his delight.
Naruto yawned as he shuffled his way into the training grounds. He looked around and was very disappointed. He thought the field would be filled with interesting equipment for them to use, but it was just an open clearing surrounded by trees.
Lookin around to find at least something more interesting than the academy fields, he sees that Sakura-chan and Sasuke were already here. That brooding lover was by himself under one of the trees. Naruto hoped he stayed over there as he walked over to Sakura-chan.
"Good morning, Sakura-chan!" He waved with his greeting, giving her a broad smile.
She started as she looked up from her book. That was odd, not that she was reading, but the book itself. Techniques were written in scrolls, but it didn't look like any book he saw in the regular library either. It looked like it was covered in leather. Was it a diary? She wasn't writing in it, though. What was it?
"Good morning, Naruto" Her greeting pulled him from his questions. It was cold, but that she answered at all and wasn't telling him to get lost was new. Maybe that comment about not wanting to be near him was just an exaggeration? Or was she just in a bad mood?
Naruto took the new behavior as a sign to keep talking to her. "What d'ya think Kakashi-sensei's going to have us do in this empty field? Even the academy had obstacles and stuff for us to practice on, ya know. Do you think he wants us to spar? I can't wait to show y'all this super cool jutsu I learned!" He had to try really hard not to bounce or wave his arms around. There's no way she would think that's cool. He tensed a little when Sakura looked annoyed at his word storm.
"I'm not sure," she sighed, "but this field is perfect for conditioning exercises and sparring." She glared at the open field as she muttered, "That comment about a light breakfast points to the former."
He saw the pinkette looked worried about the thought of harsh training as she rubbed her leg like it already hurt. What Iruka-sensei said about trust ran through his mind. If he was here, what would he do?
"Don't worry, Sakura-chan. The academy prepared us for even the harshest training sensei could put us through. You'll get through it, no problem," he comforted.
Sakura looked a bit surprised but relaxed a bit as she thanked him.
He felt so proud of himself that it worked. He tried to keep it up. "And when we're an official team. I'll be protecting you, so there's no need to worry about how bad you are with physical stuff, ya know."
For some reason, the look of gratitude she was giving him dropped, replaced with a sour look. He flinched instinctively, but all she did was stalk off to sit in the shade of the trees; reading that strange book again.
What was that about? 'Wasn't saying you'll protect them the way to gain trust?' he thought. It worked for him. He scratched his head, unable to see where he went wrong.
He couldn't find the answer no matter how long he thought about it and before he could just go ask her, Kakashi-sensei arrived.
"You're late!" Naruto yelled.
Sasuke walked over with a scowl, "You only got here thirty minutes ago yourself."
Naruto glared back at him and was about to tell him to shove it when Sakura spoke.
"Still, being two hours late as a teacher is unacceptable." She glared at the gray man.
Kakashi ran his hand through his hair with a lazy smile. "Sorry. I was paying my respects to some old friends of mine."
Naruto was pretty sure he wasn't sorry at all. He squinted at him, but before he could call him on it, he started talking again.
"Today, I'm going to be teaching you the most basic technique all genin are expected to know before they can take on any mission." He had paced in front of them in a way that he ended up next to one of the many trees that lined their clearing. "Tree walking," he punctuates this statement by literally walking up the tree.
'What the hell!?' Naruo thought as he watched him slack jawed.
"Or a more umbrella term; adhesive steps. I had a friend who liked to call the technique her 'lizard feet'." For a second, what he could see of his face looked sad, or longing maybe, before it returned to that oddly bright smile. "Whatever helps you get it right is all that matters."
"What does this have to do with testing our potential?" Sasuke asked while glaring up at their sensei.
"This exercise relies on controlling one's chakra. That is a very important aspect of your potential as a ninja because," Kakashi-sensei answered nonchalantly, "with enough control, you can learn just about anything."
That statement seemed to make Sakura want to say something, but before she could, Kakashi-sensei moved on.
"Now, back to the exercise." He jumped down from his fully horizontal stance on the tree and landed right in front of them. "It's extremely simple. Send the chakra you molded to your feet and envision sticking to the surface you're trying to climb."
"What's chakra," Naruto thought out loud.
He hadn't realized he did until he noticed that Kakashi-sensei had stopped talking. Looking up, he saw his sensei was staring at him with extreme astonishment. Slyly glancing beside him, he found that his so-called teammates were looking at him with varying levels of contempt. Jerks.
"I-I mean, I know what chakra is! Just… not the, uh… exact definition… ya know." He felt his face burning as he tried to hide in his collar.
Kakashi-sensei rubbed his masked face and looked like he was going to move on. Naruto was hoping he would, but then he turned to Sakura-chan. "Haruno, I heard you were the best when it came to theory. How about you explain?"
For some reason Sakura-chan looked at their teacher like she thought he was playing some sort of trick before looking over at him. He flinched and tried to push his collar up higher when she sighed. "All right, but listen up Naruto because I'm not saying this again."
He nodded, maybe a little excessively, so she wouldn't focus her anger on him.
She gives him a less than believing look while she explains, "It's believed that chakra came about around the time the Mother of Chakra appeared in our realm. It's unknown if we had chakra before then and it was used up, so she could summon, or create, a physical form for herself or if her appearance brought the chakra as a byproduct. But that's besides the point." She picked up a stick and drew on the ground; it looked like a torso with two tomoe-like symbols in the middle. It sort of looks like a separated taijitu symbol to Naruto. "Chakra is the energy required for shinobi to use ninjutsu and enhance their body for taijutsu. It's made up of two types of energies. One, those extracted from each and every of the over thirteen trillion cells believed to make up the body simultaneously; generalized as physical energy. And two, those of a spiritual energy accumulated by the knowledge and experiences a shinobi gains through their life; generalized as mental energy."
Naruto was feeling a little overwhelmed by the information dump. He didn't know why she needed to go into so much detail when she could just cut to the chase. He almost felt thankful when Sasuke interrupted her.
"If chakra's composed of two energies that our bodies make… how could the Mother of Chakra be credited for it? Shouldn't she be considered what led to the discovery rather than its creator?" He asked with furrowed brows.
Sakura-chan's eyes seemed to twinkle at the question. He couldn't tell if it was because it came from Sasuke or not. "She's considered the creator because our bodies don't actually create the energies we make chakra with. In fact, you could even say what we make can't even be called true chakra. A lot of researchers like to differentiate the two by calling the energy around us chakra and what we make greater energy; some call true chakra, nature energy while keeping what we make as chakra. It's an interesting facet of naming conventions that have a lot of research on its own that-"
Kakashi cleared his throat.
The pinkette pouted as she focused back on Sasuke's question. "Anyways, our bodies, presumably the skin, kinda act like filters for the chakra that surround us and break it down into physical and mental energy. This process leads to aspects of true chakra being lost. It's believed that happens because the body can't handle the effects of true chakra on the body." She moved her stick to add waves around the torso she had drawn and drawing fewer, shorter waves on the inside. "There was more on why this happens, and what it means, but the librarian told me you had to be of a certain rank to access it," Sakura scowled before moving on.
"Bouncing back to chakra itself," she spoke with an excitement he reserved for Ichiraku's coming out with new flavors, "mental and physical energies must be balanced for the most consistent results." She glanced up at him. "Which, considering your bloodline, must be why you had so much trouble in class."
Naruto tilts his head, 'What's that supposed to mean?' She went on without elaborating.
"Because of this, all arts and jutsu of shinobi are born out of the combination and balance of these energies." She clasped her hands together with her index and middle fingers up. "Hand seals are used to bring the balance of the body and spirit easier and to focus that chakra into jutsu."
Naruto scratched his temple, feeling a little like he was drowning, and grasped at the last thing she said. "If we need to weave signs to get techniques to work… why doesn't the tree-walking thing need them?"
"Because chakra is inherently sticky," she replied, while rubbing her forefinger and thumb together. "So we only need to keep an image in our minds to enhance that stickiness. Moving chakra within our bodies is also a lot easier than moving it when it's outside the body. It shouldn't be much different from enhancing our limbs but allowing it to coat our feet on the outside." She finished with a shrug.
Kakashi-sensei nodded, "Very good, Haruno."
Sakura-chan practically preened at the praise.
Naruto pouted. 'I've given more praise than that and she's never reacted like that.' He glared at the older ninja like it was his fault.
"Back to training," he continued, unbothered by the blond's glare, "once you've mastered tree-walking; which, for this exercise, will be when you reach the top of the tree. Then we'll go onto the rest of the training schedule." He walked behind the three of them. "Now, pick a tree."
Naruto did as told and built up as much chakra as he could.
"Ready…Go!"
At his call, Naruto ran as fast as he could, but he knew at his first step. He'd messed up. Trying to power through it only gained him a couple more steps, striking out to mark his attempt before he fell on his butt. Looking up, he glared at how low the score on the bark was.
He could jump higher than that, damn it!
Glancing over at Sasuke, he took some comfort in that he didn't do much better. He'd even smashed up the bark. Some Rookie of the Year he turned out to be; served his arrogant ass right. He was about to mock him to his face until Kakashi-sensei spoke.
"Well done, Haruno," he praised, while walking up to them. "Seems you're the first to progress to the next step."
Sakura was sitting on the largest branch at the top of the tree. A kunai stabbed into the tip of the trunk. From what he could make out, she was beaming down at them.
"Great job, Sakura-chan!" He yelled up at her, giving her a double thumbs up. Instead of smiling at him like he hoped, she looked suddenly downcast. He frowned as he followed where she kept glancing.
That bastard; the only one who had kept silent. He scowled. 'What did she see in him, anyway?'
He huffed and refocused on his training while Sakura-chan and Kakashi-sensei walked off.
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The sun was setting when Kakashi-sensei called an end to the day. Glancing at his tree, Naruto couldn't help but grimace. The tree had a deep, ugly gash, showing his lack of progress in its abused trunk. There were even pulpy holes in the bark above and below the wound where he lost what little control he had over his chakra.
He roughly scratched at his head as he growled at himself. He glared over at Sasuke for the umpteenth time that day. It wasn't like he was much closer to the top than him, but he was at least making some progress.
Looking back at his abused tree, he couldn't help but feel bad for it. Sasuke's cuts were spread out and shallow. Sakura-chan managed it in one try, so she only cut hers once. If he could just get his chakra under better control, then he wouldn't hurt the tree as much.
Naruto glared at the ground, arms crossed, as he stomped away from the training grounds.
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The next day, he walked to the training grounds listlessly, but on time. No matter what he tried last night, he couldn't get it to work at all. He had tried to walk up the sheer face of the cliff the Stone Faces were carved on; hoping even if he failed, he wouldn't hurt anything. All he managed to do was fall on his butt constantly.
He went to sleep late with a backache and a throbbing in his head. He had hoped he could use it as an excuse to get out of doing the tree-walking thing and do the other exercises, but he had woken up refreshed and pain free.
He kicked at a rock on his path. He just knew that dumb fox had something to do with it. He should ask Iruka-sensei to make sure… or should he be asking Kakashi-sensei?
That made him pause. 'Does he know, too?' He thought as he grabbed at his stomach.
He tore his hand away and puffed out his chest. "It doesn't matter if he does! I'm Naruto Uzumaki, and if he can't see past the stupid fox to see that, that's his problem, ya know!" Even with the bravado, he couldn't quite squash a nagging worry that was twisting his guts.
A welcomed distraction caught his attention when he saw Sakura-chan as he entered the grounds. She looked half-asleep as she lounged on a tree. He was hesitant to disturb her until he remembered the comment she made about his bloodline.
Maybe… she knew a way to help him?
He hmmed and hahed to himself a while, second guessing, messing with her attempt to rest. Straightening, he walked up to her. She's been nicer to him recently. She wouldn't get mad if he asked about training related things… right?
"Hey…," her groggy glare made him flinch. "Um… I was wondering if you could explain what you meant about what you said yesterday? The thing about my… bloodline?"
Her glare melted into a look of confused doubt as she looked him up and down. He wanted to be indignant, but a certain interaction where he told her theory isn't important to ninjas drifted up from his subconscious. Probably wasn't the best thing to say to the theory princess, huh?
She lifted a brow when she found nothing that gave her the answer she wanted.
"Well, I'm not getting anywhere with the tree thing and wanted to see if you knew something that would help?" He cringed a little when it came out as more of a question. He hoped it didn't sound like he thought she didn't know how to help. He hadn't actually had to ask anything from anyone around his age before.
Her suspicion disappeared, leaving her with a surprised expression. "Well… if you really want to know… I-I mean… shouldn't you already know this?" She looked at him with growing confusion. "It is your family, after all. Didn't… didn't they tell you anything about them?"
"No," he said plainly. He rushed to add to that, realizing that sounded a little… indifferent? "T-the old man, he's technically my… guardian, I think?" His brow wrinkled as he realized he had never really thought about what the man was supposed to be to him. He was never around long enough for it to matter. "Well… he said that-that it wouldn't be important to know, so I never really asked… again." He ends up scratching the back of the head.
Naruto realized that the fact he wasn't told anything about his parents or family was really odd. Considering the importance placed on ancestry, especially as a ninja, not knowing his… made him ignorant. In the worst possible way. His face felt warm.
"Not… not important." her tone made him flinch. "Knowing about your family is not important? Knowing something that is a struggle so common in your family that it was assumed it only affected them for decades is not important?!"
She looked angry as she continued to mutter to herself, her tiredness forgotten, but it didn't seem like it was aimed at him. It seemed it was the fact that he was left to be ignorant than that he was. It made him a little uncomfortable, if he was honest. What was there to be mad about? It didn't hurt him or anything.
He was fighting with his discomfort when he really understood that last bit, "What do you mean… a struggle exclusive to me?"
That seemed to break her out of the weird one-sided conversation she was having with herself. Had she always been like this?
Sakura-chan took a deep breath, flinching like she pulled something, and glared at the ground. "Yeah, sorry… that's not important right now. Genealogy…," she seemed to catch his lost look and reworded herself, "the study of family lines is just a major focus for my family."
"Especially when it came to avoiding and remedying problems like yours," she muttered to herself, but he still heard. If it made her this mad, he should probably find out why this was never brought up. Ask the old man why at least this part of his family wasn't told to him? He knew Naruto was having problems, after all.
"Anyway," she huffed, "Uzumaki clan members tend to have bodies that create massive amounts of physical energy. Th-"
"Isn't having a lot of energy a good thing?" he interrupted, while tilting his head. "Shouldn't that just mean I have larger reserves than normal?"
He curled away from the glare she sent his way. Mumbling a quiet sorry for interrupting.
She smoothed her glare into a less severe frown as she continued. "In theory, but only if you have the mental energy to match. Chakra is about balance. The excessive amounts of physical energy certainly help with healing and weathering through possibly fatal wounds. But it can also affect chakra creation. Unbalanced chakra can be extremely hard to control."
Naruto grabbed at his chin in thought. "So… I don't have problems with control, but with… balancing my energies?" He grinned as he leaned closer to Sakura-chan. "Does this mean I could be amazing at controlling my chakra when I get the balance right?" He was almost bouncing when she dumped icy water on his enthusiasm.
"Don't know. The fact you can't get the right ratios could mean you have worse control than average or you have average control, but the imbalance is making your control look worse." She yawned with a shrug. "For what it's worth, it also means that you won't need to work as hard physically to grow your chakra reserves."
Naruto was grinning again and was ready to whoop in excitement.
"You'll just have to study twice, if not ten times, as hard to accumulate enough mental energy to match," she chuckled at his despairing expression.
Naruto suddenly perked up as a thought hit him. He was opening his mouth when she cut him off.
"And experience and skill only come with effort and, more importantly, time. The only thing you can forcefully cram in your head is knowledge," she said in a sing-song way.
Her mocking tone softened as she smiled at his dejected posture. "You can start by actively thinking about your actions and maybe actually read those scrolls on theory instead of using them as weights."
He straightened from his bent position to squint at her. "How's thinking supposed to help?" Not contradicting her guess with how he treats the stuff they gave them to read. It was true; she just didn't need to know that.
She pinned him down with a hard stare, just shy of actually glaring. "You don't think before you act."
He squirmed a little. She wasn't wrong, but he knew she wasn't just talking about how he acted during sparring matches or training techniques. Were those pranks really so bad?
"And that behavior is most likely showing in how you mold chakra," she sighed as she stopped staring at him. "Being actively aware of your actions should help you notice when you're not mixing your energies properly."
He was about to ask if there was a way to directly apply that on the exercise, but Kakashi-sensei finally showed up.
He felt a bit sheepish when Sakura-chan got up with a groan.
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Naruto fell to the ground as Kakashi-sensei called for the mid-day break. He looked up with a satisfied grin. He was nowhere near the top, but he was now sticking to the tree more often. There were fewer pulpy footprints and the cuts he was making were more spread out. So he'd never repeat making that horrible gash.
'I should treat Sakura-chan to some ramen as a thank you,' he thought.
Thinking about ramen made his stomach rumble. He sighed. He wished he could get one of those pre-made bentos, but his next stipend won't be for another week. If he'd known he would be outside all day for a week, he wouldn't've used the last of his money stocking up on all his favorite instant ramen.
He looked at his teammates' lunches with envy until he felt something warm being set on his head.
"Eat up, Uzumaki." Kakashi-sensei said and disappeared in a puff of smoke with no explanation.
Not wanting to look a gift horse in the mouth, Naruto immediately tore into his gifted lunch. 'Kakashi-sensei's a lifesaver!'
He was finishing up when he heard an unlikable voice.
"Hey… uh what did Sakura say to you?" Sasuke asked, oddly hesitant. Naruto could even see a bit of a blush! Weird.
His shock transformed into a smug pride. He knew something he didn't. "Wouldn't you like to know?" He drawled as he smirked at the coaly bastard. "Maybe I'll tell you if you say… I'm better than you!"
Sasuke jerked back as if struck, his face now red for another reason. "What!? Why would I do that?"
"Because," Naruto stood and crossed his arms, chest puffed out, nose to the sky. "I've made more progress than you in the same time. So obviously that means I'm the better prodigy than the so-called Rookie of the Year!" He looked at the Uchiha from the corner of his eye, smirking.
Sasuke glared at him. "That's only because Sakura helped you!"
"And that's the info you want," He said with a little shoulder wiggle, thrilled to finally have something to lord over the other boy. "So unless you're gonna ask her yourself, you better praise my greatness!"
He had leaned over with his hand cupping his ear. Eyes closed. Ready for victory.
"Fine!" Sasuke yelled and stalked off.
Only to wince and rub at his ear instead.
"Ow! What the hell!"
Naruto watched him storm off into the trees, grumbling about something. He wondered why he even came to him if he wasn't against talking to Sakura-chan. That guy had problems.
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Naruto made his morning trek to the training grounds with renewed confidence. His progress yesterday put him practically neck and neck with Sasuke. He grinned as he nearly started jumping.
The blond couldn't wait to ask Sakura-chan to Ichiraku's to say thanks for her help.
When he saw her as he entered their training area, he waved and called out to her. Naruto noticed she looked even more tired than yesterday. He opened his mouth to comment about it, only to choke, as he nearly had a heart attack when she suddenly smiled at him.
"Naruto!" She tried to run over but limped instead. It didn't seem to dampen her excitement, though. "I got permission to teach you something that should help you visualize balancing and moving your chakra!"
Not used to her directing such positive attention his way made him nervous. All he could do was give a wonky grin in reply. Before he could calm himself enough to speak without stuttering, she suddenly looked over his head. "Sasuke-kun! You're just in time."
Naruto scowled as he turned to the intruder as his crush eagerly shuffled to drag him over. 'This was supposed to be my time with Sakura-chan. Unbothered,' he thought as he glared back at the coal bastard while the pinkette was none the wiser. He wondered if he should tell the so-called prodigy to shove off, but that might make Sakura-chan not help him.
He huffed and shoved his hands into his jacket pockets as he turned away from the unwanted third wheel.
"To start off, you both need to make a little chakra," she started explaining, "and don't disperse it; let it clump up. Enough to fill a small bowl."
"Why so little?" Naruto asked.
He really wanted to ask about that 'even' comment but didn't want to look ignorant again; especially considering Sasuke looked like he knew what she meant. It was bad enough she thought he was dumb enough to forget what chakra is. If it was important, it would come up later.
"That's 'cause you won't be able to feel how the chakra moves within your system if it's already full." She looked annoyed. "Now stop interrupting."
"This technique is technically not meant to be a chakra control exercise," she said, rocking from side to side at the word 'technically.' "It's a type of meditation that uses gentle movement to create harmony between the mind and body; it's great for your physical and mental health, by the way." She added quickly. "But if you only have a little chakra and focus on it while you do them, it helps with visualization."
She picked up a stick and drew four arrows, two going the same way and two opposing each other. She pointed at the two arrows, following each other. "It will help you learn how it wants to move when you send chakra somewhere in the body." She points at the opposing arrows. "Instead of working against its natural flow. That just leads to wasting chakra and concentration."
Sakura-chan motioned for them to give each other room to move around. She sunk into a low stance that reminded Naruto of the beginning of a martial arts kata. He copied it easily enough. "Now, this is the most important part. Don't move the chakra at all. Just feel how it moves around the chakra system as you do the movements; it should feel something like warm syrup."
That said, Sakura-chan moved in slow circular motions that fluidly moved from one half-remembered stance to unfamiliar ones. Each smooth motion was simple enough to follow; though he felt a little embarrassed at how clunky he felt compared to the ease he saw in her movement.
A few repetitions later, he felt he got the motions down better. So Naruto turned his focus inward and felt a little frustrated. His chakra wasn't moving. At all.
Looking beside him, Sasuke was lost in his own world as he kept moving. He noted he was nowhere near as fluid as Sakura-chan, though.
Little comforts as he called out to her, "ummm… Sakura-chan, my chakra isn't moving."
The girl fluidly stopped her motions and limped to his side. She had to go through some of the motions again with her hand against his back. He tried to hide his red face as he forced himself to focus.
She rubbed at her cheek, "I think that your problem is the ratios-the balance of your energies. I can't really help you there because I can't really see or feel what you're doing wrong."
Naruto squinted as he looked from side to side. If she can't feel the chakra… why was she touching him?
She fiddled with the ends of her hair as she looked like she was listening to someone. She nodded to something and focused back on him. "What I advise is that you try to mold your chakra with an image of what that would look like and go through a few of the exercises until you get it right." She shrugged with an apology.
"It's all right, Sakura-chan," he grinned at her. "You at least gave me an idea of what to do."
She smiled back at him and that made him grin wider. She wished him luck and moved back to her own meditative movement. Leaving him to his trial and error.
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Naruto kept at it until he came up with imagining his mental energy was in a watering can and his physical energy was a hose with a mostly closed valve. The chakra that made wasn't exactly the best, but it was enough to get it moving with the meditation.
It was closer to sludge, or barely warm tar, rather than syrup, though.
Once he got it right, he felt an oddly comforting feeling as he fell into the rhythmic movements. It was like walking in a cool stream on a hot summer day. Getting buffeted by strong breezes when the chakra runs through certain areas of his system.
Kakashi-sensei came then, late as always, ruining his peace. Naruto stuttered to a stop and glared at him.
"You couldn't've waited a little longer before showing up! I just got it right!"
The gray man was surprised that upon his arrival, two hours late as usual, he was met with cries to be later, along with the usual glares. The boys had stomped off, grumbling all the way to their respective trees for the day.
Was that technique really that important? It made their chakra move oddly from what he could sense. Like a sort of cycle… a tide, maybe? Too curious to focus on his book, he turned to the girl struggling through her conditioning. "Haruno, what was that technique you all were doing?"
The girl fell over when she lost concentration. Shakily sitting herself up, she sent him a glare filled with suspicion. Probably thought he only called out to her to make her fall. To be fair, she'd be half right.
She moved to massage her sore muscles as she answered, "It's a type of moving meditation. It's called Tai Chi."
"Tai Chi…," he questioned.
"Yeah," she seemed to not get the question in his tone. "It was a common exercise among the civilians of the Land of Dragons."
"If it was so common, why isn't it common knowledge? I've never heard of it before." He drawled as he turned a page idly, more to have something to do than because he actually read the contents. The Land of Dragons sounded almost familiar, but he couldn't quite place it. Was it one of the smaller countries?
"It was common then, but was lost when the Land of Dragons fell and re-established itself as the Land of Crafts. Luckily enough, they lost very little else from their culture," she added nonchalantly. "The exercise was popular with the masses, but the ones that survived to rebuild were of the upper echelon and so had access to things more substantial than exercise to look after their health."
"If the technique was lost, how do you know it?"
That got her squinting at him, head tilted, "Is… is that supposed to be a joke?"
He gave a noncommittal grunt.
Kakashi was a little taken aback at the girl's extent of knowledge; he supposed that research was really something she enjoyed doing. It was doubly impressive that she was able to recall all that on demand. That was a hard skill to obtain and immensely helpful for investigations.
He looked up from his book again when a thought hit him. "What does that have to do with your current training goals?" What made her teach them something that seems to have only long-term benefits?
Haruno glared at whatever implication she took from his question. "Research into it found that it has positive effects on mental and physical health due to the movements churning the energies that make up chakra in a soothing manner. When done with actual chakra, not only do those benefits multiply, it gives insights into the proper balance of energies for making said chakra and how to move it efficiently within the chakra system. Both of which should help Naruto and Sasuke-kun with this exercise."
"Heh," he drawled as he stood up. "You'll need to start that plank from the beginning, since you stopped in the middle."
Her glare melted into horror. "BUT-"
"No buts." He cut off as he walked off to find the boys. "I'll know if you don't, so no slacking," with that he left the girl to grumble as she restarted her training.
He wondered if her parents were all right with her sharing a technique that only their family remembered so flippantly. The techniques would have been lost for centuries if it came from the country that became the Land of Crafts. That-
He shook that line of thinking away as soon as it started. This was the behavior he wanted to cultivate in his genin. It would go against the principles he was trying to teach if he held contempt for things he would surely praise if the other two did it.
He sighed as he settled against the roots of a tree with a clear view of the boys. He couldn't quite see into the canopy to see where they were, but he could see the tips of the trees, so that would have to do.
He opened his book to whittle the time away.
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"Hey! Kakashi-sensei~!"
Almost blinded by the midday sun, he looked up to see Uzumaki and Uchiha at the top of their respective trees. Kunais stabbed into the tip. He motioned for the boys to meet him at the bottom.
Standing up to meet them, he scratched at his neck. Surprised at their success. This exercise was meant to stump those two for the entire week. Which led him to a problem… he had only scaled down his friend's-he would rather die than admit it to him-ridiculous training regimen for the girl.
"Hmmm…," Kakashi drawled when the two of them were standing in front of him, looking incredibly smug. "First things first, congratulations. I honestly wasn't expecting you both to succeed so soon." They looked offended at this; how cute. "For now, let's break for lunch."
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The gray man appeared in the midst of the eating prospects with a flurry of leaves. N-Uzumaki nearly choked while the other two just glared.
"Your break is almost over, so I'll be telling you how you'll be conditioning." He said with a clap of his hands. "You two will need to do more than what she's been doing since you both are in far better shape." That got him a serious scowl from Haruno. "So I've decided that the sets will be… 200 laps around the field followed by 400 push-ups, sit-ups, squats, jumping jacks and burpees, ending with a twenty-minute plank." He found the growing horror on the boys' faces absolutely hilarious. "I think… three repetitions of those will fill up your day." He gave them a vibrant smile that gave his visible eye a pleasant crescent shape, if he could say so himself. "All without direct chakra use, of course."
"Tha-," Naruto looked at him wide-eyed in disbelief. "That's not even possible!"
Sasuke nodded his agreement as his horror morphed into a glare.
Kakashi only shrugged at the accusation. "It certainly is. Any adult ninja can even do up to 800 of those sets, no problem."
'Of course… I only know of one that would actually waste their time and chakra doing so,' he inwardly commented. They don't need to know that now, though.
"And your weakest member," he could swear the girl actually hissed, "has been doing almost half that since day one and hasn't given up yet."
The girl looked like she was sucking on a lemon, but didn't correct his statement. He almost shook his head. While the sets were indeed only half what he gave the boys, the repetitions made it where she was doing roughly two-thirds of what he'll have them doing. Her unwillingness to go against his declaration made it unlikely that she has the will to actually apply one of the tenants he'll be teaching.
The minor fib at least had the intended purpose on the boys, who turned to her shocked at the information. Her ire quickly turned to them. It seems they had no trust in her physical prowess.
"The trick," she flashed her glare at him before focusing it back on them, "is to distribute your chakra evenly in your system and force it to stay still. If it moves even a little, he'll make you start over." And as though to wave off any poor decisions, she added, "Trying to do it with an empty system would be suicide." She speared a nearly burnt tamagoyaki as if to emphasize her warning.
The boys focused back on him, doing a real commendable job of keeping the rising terror off their faces. He hated to admit it, but Haruno was the best of them with chakra control; they were doomed to restart several times over. He'd have to go easy on them. Kakashi had only meant to do it to her to cause an added stressor to her training, but it wouldn't do to treat them differently now, would it?
"And don't forget, if you take too long between exercises, you'll have to start again as well." He smiled over at the glaring girl as he continued, "We still have the afternoon, so I suggest getting started."
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Surprisingly, Uchiha and Uzumaki finished their assigned workout with roughly an hour of sunlight left. He was expecting them to take longer to get used to the strain. They had collapsed, but it seemed more because they were out of breath than anything else. 'For now, anyway,' he chuckled darkly.
He glanced over at the pink one going through those odd motions.
She had finished roughly an hour before; a personal best, considering it usually took her the whole day. 'Of course, that's mostly due to not having to restart several times for losing a grip on her chakra,' he thought wryly. The boys were so far behind in this area that he almost felt bad for adding the condition on her in the first place. Almost.
"All right," he called the group to attention. "We have an hour of daylight left, so… we're going to have a sparring match before I let you all go."
Looking over the children glaring at him, he could see that Haruno was practically dead to the world as she swayed where she stood. How she was able to move through that tai chi thing was beyond him. Or was that the only way she could cope with the strain? He wondered if he should be worried that she wasn't handling the training well or impressed that the boys took on the challenge with such tenacity.
He sighed internally. Her constitution was really barely passable for a genin. She'll likely need to keep up a similar conditioning regimen even after this trial period just to keep up.
If they even passed, he reminded himself.
"Uzumaki. Uchiha. Get into position."
The blond looked ready and willing despite obviously being tired. Finding enough energy to rush into the open field. S-Uchiha just nodded and moved to face the other boy.
"Ninjutsu will be allowed, but don't maim each other, okay," he drawled with a mock yawn. "Ready… Fight!"
Kakashi was a little surprised that instead of immediately launching headlong at Uchiha, Uzumaki kept back and did the sign for the Kage Arts: Clone Jutsu.
'So that was the jutsu he got from the scroll,' he remarked internally as he saw the outcome of his jutsu was a single clone. 'Fitting for what he is.'
Kakashi felt almost cheated out of a good show when instead of attacking his opponent, he started screaming at his copy.
"Wha-!? Where're the others?!"
"How the hell am I supposed to know!?"
The gray man barely kept himself from rubbing at his temples as Uchiha made quick work of the distracted clone and Uzumaki. Seeing the confused look on the dark boy's face, he assumed the clone was fully corporeal; which would be praiseworthy if not for his disastrous mistake after. That was a possibly fatal fuck up and showed a lot of bad habits he'll need to break.
"That wasn't fair," the boy spluttered. "I-I wasn't ready. I could make like fifty of 'em before." He waved his hands around to emphasize the numbers he apparently made before. "With that many mes I'm practically a chuunin already since I beat Mizuki when he was attacking Iruka-sensei!"
That made Uchiha's brows raise. Kakashi, himself, was about to ask for a bit more context until a drowsy voice broke in.
"If beating Mizuki-sensei is all it takes to be a chuunin, then I'm one too," she yawned as she toddled closer. "That teacher is easily caught off guard and known for failed missions because of his habit of underestimating his opponents. He doesn't make a very good benchmark for competence."
Na-Uzumaki looked crushed. Whether cause the scrawny girl that was barely awake from a less intense training routine beat the same guy he was using as a metric for his skill level. Or because his win was apparently against some incompetent schmuck was hard for Kakashi to pinpoint.
Uchiha seemed to think something similar as he gave the blond a mocking smirk. "A better prodigy, huh?"
"Shut up!" He puffed up at the perceived insult before deflating with slumped shoulders and a pout. "My jutsu came from a scroll full of powerful techniques… it's gotta count for something."
"Not nec-," Kakashi started before getting interrupted.
"It's likely you were just really determined at the time because he was attacking Iruka-sensei," Sakura said with an absent-minded shrug. "Chakra responds to our emotions, so it worked with you despite your lackluster control. It was unlikely to happen again without stress. I'm surprised that you even managed the one you did."
Uzumaki practically shrunk at her thoughtless review. Kakashi placed a hand on the blond's shoulder to get his attention. "It could also be because you're tired from today's training. Depleting energy to build stamina and constitution so you can develop larger reserves of physical energy can be a double-edged sword when it comes to chakra reserves."
He leveled the girl with a hard stare and watched her curl away at the implied rebuff. The pinkette glanced over at S-Uchiha before muttering a quiet apology for her thoughtlessness. Kakashi's brow twitched at the implication that she valued the dark brunet's opinion above his own, but it was better than nothing.
Rather than latch onto the excuse he gave him, Uzumaki looked conflicted. "But… aren't Uzumakis supposed to have a lot of physical energy?" He looked to him for answers.
Kakashi took a deep breath and satisfied his need to rub at his face by shoving his hands into his pockets. He just knew he was going to get a friction burn on his face if these kids passed. Good thing that was looking more and more unlikely.
"Yes, they usually do, but you haven't trained this intensely before, right?" He nodded. "You likely have a larger amount of physical energy than average, but since you've never trained to gain those reserves… it's likely not much bigger than the more advanced students." He waved over to the other two children. "Case in point, Sa-Uchiha and Haruno show the severe ranges those reserves can be. She's barely awake while he isn't much worse off than you."
"So…," Uzumaki slowly brightened as he thought it over. "I'll do better after resting?"
He gave the boy a heartfelt smile. "Of course."
Kakashi leaned back and crossed his arms before continuing. "Now, that bout was abysmal." The blond deflated again. "Not because of the jutsu's apparent disobedience, mind you, but because you allowed that to distract you from reacting to your opponent."
"What was that jutsu, anyway?" Sasuke asked, giving the blond a speculative glance. "It felt like hitting squishy paper mache?" It seemed he didn't like the picture that painted considering the face he made at his own words.
He chuckled lightly. "That was a kage level Clone Jutsu. A very high-ranking technique that can make authentic copies of the user." The older shinobi gave the pink and coal one a serious look. "And I would suggest that the two of you don't try it. Unlike Uzumaki here, you both lack the required reserves to do it without dying."
'Neither should Naruto, for that matter. Not yet at least,' he thought with fears of headaches becoming common in his future. 'The seal master might need to get involved if anything else seems amiss.'
"It was forbidden for a reason."
Uzumaki was practically preening at the praise, if you could call it that. He was sending a rather condescending look Sas-Uchiha's way.
The coal brunet gave Uzumaki another considering glance. Obviously surprised that he was better than him at something, if Kakashi had to guess.
The pinkette seemed more thoughtful than surprised, like she was noting a fact for later study. Just how much information did the girl have? He really should get around to looking into her family at some point.
With a sigh, he called an end to the day. Disappearing with a puff of smoke and leaves, he hid in the canopy and watched their solo interactions.
The girl seemed willing to help, but doesn't do it unless asked first. She never stayed long when he called an end to training, either. He's not sure if that's because the training is keeping her too tired to be proactive or if that was normal behavior. A negative he hadn't expected to have to deal with.
Uzumaki approached her for something, but she only yawned and said no if the boy's obvious disappointment was anything to go off. She left with a limp that was more pronounced today than yesterday after saying her goodbyes.
Uchiha was listless as he meandered around the grounds. He usually was the first to leave, but Kakashi guessed the training today blew his schedule off course. There was no longer an excuse to train his body and stay out of the house for longer. He could have easily looked to his teammates, at least one of them, for a distraction, but that didn't seem to cross his mind as he finally left the field.
Uzumaki seemed to notice his odd behavior, but the confusion on his face showed he didn't understand it. He shrugged and left soon after.
Kakashi sighed. While there was some minor progress, he wasn't sure if it was enough for them to understand and pass his test.
Walking into the grounds, Sasuke saw he was the last one to make it for once. Sakura was speaking to Naruto before falling into the meditative motions she taught them yesterday. He was grateful for the help, but scowled as he realized that meant he owed her something now.
It was practically unheard of to just be given a technique this helpful that wasn't already well known, especially if they aren't from an established shinobi clan looking to get something from you in exchange. Considering what her family used to be, it made some sense, but it still didn't feel right to not give something in return.
He huffed as he settled into the first stance and decided to deal with it after their test.
He'd spent most of his time after training in the comforting trance these motions wrapped him in. It had made staying home far more manageable. It reminded him of those nights he spent watching the glowing embers of the hibachi in his room as a winter storm raged outside. Each time chakra moved and filled a node in his system, the embers would flare and lightning lit up the window to the rest of his mind. Familiar and comforting. Everything felt far away. More manageable.
Kakashi cleared his throat and destroyed that peace.
Sasuke wasn't as angry as Naruto obviously was at the interruption. As comforting as the meditation was, he actually preferred the energized buzz after more. It felt sort of like that time he'd meditated normally throughout the night, but more… complete? He didn't know how to describe it any other way.
Naruto was loudly disrupting the routine with his complaining, but Sasuke didn't really care about Kakashi's schedule. 'He certainly didn't care about it himself,' he thought as he glared at the man.
The training yesterday showed him he wasn't pushing his limits like he thought he was. It had left him too drained to do anything else, but focus on useless things. That is until he figured out he could just do the motions to while the time away. He should ask Sakura what they were called. A blessing in disguise, considering he was sure he'd just be a giant sore muscle otherwise. He still felt some discomfort, but not as much as he thought he would.
He continued to glare at the older ninja as he called for them to start for the day.
.
.
.
He and Naruto finished that grueling regiment only an hour after their noon break. Sakura was still struggling with roughly a third of hers left. Watching her while they caught their breath, he wondered why she was having so much trouble.
"If Sakura-chan graduated, why is having so much trouble?" the blond asked with a tilt of his head. "She even gave us a tip on how to finish it without dying, so why isn't it helping her?"
Sasuke sneered at the question, "That's rich coming from the dumbass that couldn't even graduate without special treatment." He knew the venom was mostly because they were thinking roughly the same thing. He was nothing like that blonde dunce, but…
'He's not exactly wrong,' he thought as he rubbed his neck. 'Maybe it's because she's been doing it longer than us?'
"It wasn't special treatment!" Naruto yelled as he went off on some rant.
Ignoring him, he shook his head. It was a shame she had such a poor constitution. All that knowledge at her disposal would only take her so far, especially if she couldn't even use it herself. The thought of being out on the field and having to rely on her physicality made him want to shudder. He ignored the feeling that rose at her, somehow ending up on her own in the field outright.
"All right, you two," Kakashi's voice brought him out of his thoughts. "You're going to spar with each other while Haruno finishes up."
"Get ready to lose, bastard!" He scowled as Naruto shoved his finger in his face. "I won't be distracted this time."
The coal brunet scoffed at his declaration. He hadn't won a single time in their spars at the academy. What was he expecting, barely two weeks out of it, to have done?
Getting into position, Sasuke launched himself at Naruto as soon as their sensei called the match. Wanting this to be over as soon as possible so he could challenge Kakashi. He needed an actual challenge if he wanted to grow stronger.
Naruto tried to use that forbidden jutsu again, but he wouldn't let him. Each time he moved to weave hand signs, Sasuke either grabbed and flipped him or landed a strike on his face, dazing him.
He growled when after a clear strike to the chin instead of getting knocked out like most, Naruto just stumbled and tried to strike back only to get flipped on his back. 'The only thing he's ever been good at is taking hits and escaping before I could finish him,' Sasuke thought as he missed a kick that would have surely laid the other boy out.
Striking as soon as the blond got back onto his feet, he landed a blow directly on his cheek. But when he tried to pull his fist back from the dazed idiot, his face came with it.
Confused, Sasuke waved his hand, trying to dislodge him. He moved to kick him away when he was suddenly grabbed by two pairs of arms.
He had been so distracted he hadn't noticed Naruto perform his jutsu. Now two clones were wrapped around his legs and shoulders.
Struggling, he managed to disperse the clone around his legs, only to be tackled and placed into a chokehold and a leg lock.
Completely immobilized, he seethed as Kakashi called it as Naruto's win.
Sasuke got up, glaring as Naruto high-fived his clone. He was ready to attack him on the spot for that dirty trick when Kakashi placed a hand on his shoulder. "Ah ah ah, that was entirely your fault."
"What," he growled.
"You knew about his jutsu and even heard he was potentially capable of making dozens of those clones," he went on unbothered by his ire. "Your initial strategy was good, but fell apart after a single obstacle. A single surge of chakra to your hand would have disrupted your opponent's poor control."
Naruto's smug face crumpled at the insult, "Hey!"
"You underestimated him with info you knew was outdated," Kakashi shook his head at him. "Take the loss and do better moving forward."
His coal hair fell over his face as he nodded. A burning sensation in his palms as his nails bit into them. There was nothing he could argue against.
"Good. Now, Reset."
o🔴🔴🔴o
Sparring with a single partner for two hours was as enlightening as it was infuriating. He won most of the time, but those damn clones kept eking out a win for that dead last loser.
It would even be an insult to what the academy taught them to call what he was doing a technique. He swung wildly, leaving himself open. Overexerted himself on strikes he knew had no chance of landing, leaving himself off balanced. Left his head and chin unprotected but had the audacity to be slow to retreat. All these weaknesses and more. He had barely passable instincts and, when he could get it to work, that damn jutsu saved his ass and caused distractions.
Dispatching one such clone with an elbow strike to the back of its head, he quickly grappled the original into a submission hold.
"Ow!" His scream came out a bit muffled. "Why'd you hit my head so hard?!"
"I hit the clone, not you, loser," he groused distractedly. The blond was hard to hold with all the wiggling.
"But I felt it! Wai-what?" he looked confused as he stiffened.
Sasuke was about to mock his lack of intelligence when Kakashi called them.
"All right, make the unison sign and come over here."
He glared at the aggravating blond and made to move to leave him, but grumbled and did as he was told at the older shinobi's glare.
Sakura was already standing beside Kakashi, panting heavily and looking ready to fall over.
"Good. Uchiha, you'll be sparring with Haruno," he waved them off with an annoying amount of indifference. "While I work on Uzumaki's horrifying fundamentals."
Naruto grumbled about how he won a few times at Kakashi's tired glance.
Watching as their teacher walked away with the sulking blond, Sasuke couldn't help but feel something was… off. It made sense that he would want to work with Naruto one on one, but why did he want him to spar Sakura? Wouldn't it make more sense to leave them to meditate, or rest, until he needed them for something?
She didn't look as tired as yesterday and she had stopped swaying now that she had caught her breath. Considering how she was going through this intense training for the entire week, he wasn't surprised. The 'Theory Princess' wasn't known for being fond of physical training. She was never found doing it outside of the required conditioning necessary to pass. The nickname was as much an insult as it was praise. At least it was to him.
He felt like groaning at the thought that he was supposed to depend on her in a fight.
"Are you ready?" the coal brunet huffed.
She asked for a second before doing a pose that he recognised as one of the stances from the motions she taught them. When she finally straightened up, she was noticeably more steady.
"Okay," she looked like she was trying to cheer herself on. "I'm ready."
"About time," he grumbled. He wasn't expecting much, but she beat the same guy Naruto did. He'd never live it down if she got a lucky win, too.
.
.
.
Thirty minutes and roughly as many spars later, Sasuke was sure that Kakashi had made him spar Sakura because he didn't like her.
It wasn't like she was bad… technically. She just lacked the instincts. Sakura was performing the techniques perfectly. Telegraphing everything. She couldn't seem to make her own sequences, or just outright stalled in the spar when he disrupted the flow of her movements. Maybe that methodical and routine meditation style translated badly to combat, leading to these bad habits?
He tried to smooth the scowl off his face, but he was sure he was failing. 'At least Naruto would be able to down his opponents even if he lacked finesse.'
Her family were traveling scholars, weren't they?
She should have a family outside of the village. Why was she trying to be a ninja instead of just joining them in their profession?
After their next boring bout ended as easily as the rest, he couldn't help himself. "If this is the best you can do, you'd have been better off with your family outside the village." How was that guy a chuunin if he couldn't handle someone this weak?
He froze when he made eye contact with the hurt, wide-eyed stare she was giving him. For a moment, he thought he had said something worse.
His brows furrowed as he doubled down. "What? It's not like I'm wro-"
The following attack was unexpected.
Kakashi watched his teacher's son butcher the basic academy kata and sighed. He had perfect form when it came to the conditioning, but he fought like a backwater bandit. The seasoned shinobi wondered how such poor technique got him through the academy.
'Oh, yeah…,' he placed a hand on his hip as he rubbed at his temple. 'What exactly did Iruka see in him again?'
He was about to correct his form again when he heard a pair of screams.
Running over where he left the other two left him shocked.
"Get her off of me!" The coal brunet yelled as soon as he noticed him.
The pink one was crying and trying to swing at Uchiha while on top of him. He was holding onto one of her arms and redirecting most of the aimless strikes raining down on him.
Shaking himself out of his surprise, he quickly pulled the hysterical child off of him. "What happened?"
The girl was sobbing, so he focused on the boy.
Uchiha looked just as astonished as he felt and couldn't seem to decide whether he wanted to glare at her or look at her in confusion. "I just said she would be better off with her family outside the village, since she's already struggling." His face settled into a glare. "Then she just attacked me."
Kakashi kept his face neutral even as he agreed with him. The training may be hard on the body, but with the boys as his reference, she really shouldn't be struggling this hard. The teams were meant to be balanced and her assignment with these two seemed… out of place. Maybe it was just a simple misassignment. Maybe she just needed more time. But as it stood, she was obviously the weakest link. At least in terms of physicality.
"While that was rude…," he scratched his head and kept any opinions he had out of his voice. "Why exactly did that warrant such a… an aggressive reaction?"
For some reason, that made Haruno freeze and look at him with a look uncomfortably close to betrayal. That could only mean he would not like what happened next.
"I-," he started.
"I get it." She sounded almost calm, if not for the venomous glare pointed at him. "My family isn't a shinobi clan, so obviously they aren't worth remembering. So I'll make it easier for you."
"Now-"
"The Harunos have been nomadic scholars, their academic focus being the effects of chakra on the body, with special interest in Kekkei Genkai, since before Hagoromo's children started their grudge match and pulled the continent along with them."
Uchiha tensed and scowled.
"They were welcomed as healers across the continent until the end of the second great war. At the start of the third, the range of their research became a 'liability'," she spit the word. "and became the target of the major players of that war. There was only one place willing to give sanctuary."
Kakashi sighed as he realized where this was going. Uchiha looked uncomfortable.
"I 'overreacted' because there are no Harunos outside these walls!"
The teary girl glared at them for all she was worth, then stomped out of the field.
He did nothing to stop her.
Uchiha looked almost panicked at the realization of what he'd implied. Quickly channeling that into anger, when Naruto decided it was a good idea to take that moment to mock him for getting on Haruno's bad side. He sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose at the ensuing fist fight.
Knowing the day was surely shot, he dismissed the other two early.
0o🚫🚫o0
The last day of this little trial run, he was late as usual. The kids were doing Tai Chi as far apart as the clearing would allow.
When he called them together, it was clear a rift had torn whatever progress they had before.
Haruno looked angry and conflicted. The gray man wasn't sure what would make her conflicted until he caught her glancing at Sasuke, who looked more tense than anything. She obviously wasn't as star-struck, but there was still a flame for the boy.
'Why wouldn't that kill whatever feelings she had? I don't understand gi-' That thought fizzled as he watched N-Uzumaki's dopey expression as he tried to get close to her while giving Sasuke a dirty look. Remembering the less than flattering picture she had painted about how she saw him, straight to his face no less… He sighed.
'Maybe… the age for genin is still too low.'
.
.
.
Training went surprisingly smooth. When Haruno had finished her exercises, he called an end to the boys sparring.
"Okay," he leaned on a tree in front of the three prospects. "I'll be letting you all go early. The last test before you officially become genin will be tomorrow. We'll be meeting at training ground three at seven sharp."
Haruno looked to be debating something before speaking up, "What kind of survival exercise will we be doing?"
He looked up to the side as he pretended to think about it. "I could tell you… but that would ruin the surprise." He smiled at her glare. "Be sure to bring all the ninja tools you know how to use, though."
The other two joined the pink one in glaring at his flippant tone. Maybe there was hope yet.
"Don't bring lunch; we should be done before then." He moved to leave, only to pause. "OH… and be sure to skip breakfast tomorrow. I really don't want to explain why there's a mess again." He sighed.
Their concern was obvious even as they tried to keep their glaring expressions. He chuckled as he disappeared in a puff of leaves and smoke.
I think I got the starting dynamics pretty good. Tree walking just felt like it would in no way help in their fight with Zabuza and Haku, so I'm switching that out for something else.
Hope you liked it. Plz comment your thoughts.
