Chapter 2: Worse Than a Grudge
Anko watched, hidden amongst the trees, as the genin waited on the training ground. Naruto had fallen asleep with Sakura not too far behind him. Sasuke had taken to doing occasional stretches and some weapons practice. Still, he just sat in the shade of a nearby tree after a while.
The silence between them broke when their stomachs growled in sync.
"I can't believe they listened to him and didn't eat breakfast," Anko mumbled to herself.
Anko reached into her trench coat and pulled out a pocket watch. It was almost 9:00 a.m., and she wondered what was taking him so long. She sensed his faint chakra signature near the training ground when she arrived. She assumed he was just setting some things up for the test, but he'd been there for over two hours.
Growing impatient, she decided to see what he was up to. Anko jumped through the trees toward the direction she felt his chakra signature. When she arrived, Kakashi stood before a large stone with names carved throughout. Anko recognized it as the Memorial Stone. She never really had a reason to come here since she never had any close comrades die in the field. She saw him looking intensely at the stone. Anko hesitated, feeling like she was interrupting something personal, and began to jump back into the trees toward the training ground.
"Yo Anko"
Kakashi didn't raise his voice, but Anko heard him well enough because they were in an open clearing with little noise. Taking the greeting as permission to walk forward, she went closer before replying.
"Hey, I just wanted to see what was taking you so long; I didn't mean to interrupt whatever you're doing."
"No, it's fine. I was just about done anyway."
Anko, still feeling awkward, tries to exit the conversation
"Well, I'll see you back with the brats."
Before she could walk away, Kakashi asked her a surprising question.
"Why did you agree to do this?"
Anko looked back at him with confusion
"What do you mean?"
"To train the genin, I assume you'll be with us full time. So, what made you accept teaching them? I don't exactly see you as the teaching type; you don't exactly scream patient with children," Kakashi said bluntly.
Anko felt insulted by that statement
"Well, what do you know about me anyway."
As soon as the words left her mouth, Anko realized they were more aggressive than she had intended.
Kakashi raised both of his hands in a disarming fashion
"Well, not much, I guess; I just thought with how you present yourself, you wouldn't take the role of Professor Anko."
"Do you have a problem working with me, Hatake?"
Kakashi shook his head.
"No, no, not at all. I'm quite glad, actually. I'm sorry if it came off as if I was insulting you. I'm just curious about your reasons. "
"I haven't taught outside of Anbu, and I think seasoned black ops operatives are a little more independent than twelve-year-olds. "
Anko gave a small laugh. The tension left her body, and she realized he wasn't taking any shots at her character.
"Well, at first, I thought it was ridiculous, but the more I thought about it, the more fun it seemed. It's not like I was doing anything anyway; the only thing that prevents me from going out on higher-ranking missions and proctoring the exams. And this is the best chance for me to get a promotion in the near future."
Kakashi nodded
"Yeah, I wouldn't even know where to start teaching them. I was at the level they were at when I was six."
Anko rolled her eyes at the not-so-subtle brag
"Is that why you're such a lazy ass now to make up for lost time "
Anko didn't think much about the jab, but it seemed to strike home for Kakashi as he got a faraway look in his lone visible eye.
"Maybe I am."
He turned around and took a long look at the memorial stone.
Anko, sensing the end of the discussion, decided to make her leave
"Well, I see you back with the brats; don't make them wait too long. "
Kakashi didn't answer, looking at the stone as Anko returned to the training ground.
The noise of the bell going off signified the end of the test. Anko shook her head. She looked down at her notes on each of the genin, quickly analyzing what she had written.
Sakura did the worst of the three. While she had a decent hiding spot from the beginning, it looked like she had no idea what to do afterward. She made no strategy plan, only watching and reacting when Sasuke moved. While she wanted to dock her points for failing to see through a low-rank genjutsu, Anko knew the academy barely touched on the subject. Depending on what illusion Kakashi drugged up, it's unsurprising for someone who has never been put in one to faint.
Naruto had the same issue as Sakura with no planning or strategy; his first engagement with Kakashi left a lot to be desired; his taijutsu was sloppy and unbalanced, and he was attacking with no purpose other than to hit Kakashi. Anko was very surprised when Naruto pulled out the Shadow Clone Jutsu. She knew from her talk with the Hokage that he used it to defeat a Chunin, but it was still surprising. The clones were uncoordinated. But it could have been effective against lowered-skilled opponents. Anko didn't even see the kid sneak his clone around Kakashi until he was a few feet away, which showed that he was at least capable of stealth.
Sasuke was far and away the most impressive; he showed solid and adaptable taijutsu and skill in traps and throwing weapons. He also analyzed Kakashi from the start and struck out at Kakashi when his defenses appeared to be the lowest. The most impressive showing was his elemental jutsu. As far as Anko knew, she didn't think he had personal trainers. So, learning a technique like the great fireball with no guidance at his age was truly impressive.
As she looked down at the section of her journal, which was supposed to be used to judge the team's teamwork, Anko realized it was almost empty. The only note she had was when Sasuke stayed to see if Sakura was okay when she passed out after seeing Sasuke's head in the ground. Besides that, the genin only briefly stayed together after the test started. Anko bemoaned internally. If they did this bad at finding the point of the test, then. It might be a while before they can begin training.
Anko spotted Kakashi and the genin in the clearing. She stopped in a tree hidden from sight and caught the end of Kakashi's lecture.
"And to remind you again, if you feed Naruto, you will all fail."
Kakashi body flickered away, appeared next to Anko in the tree, and began speaking without pause.
"So, anything I missed."
"No, they just suck, but you already knew that since you were the one kicking their ass."
"You don't have to be so mean, Anko."
"You know it's true; Sasuke was the only one who showed advanced skills. Naruto's shadow clones were impressive, but he is below average outside of that. And I could barely evaluate Sakura before she passed out. It makes me wonder what the hell they are taught in the academy." Anko said, exasperated by the team's performance
"Yeah, most graduate students are only skilled in the basics. That's why I haven't taken a team since I was qualified to have one. " Kakashi said, sharing Anko's sentiments.
"Even so, that just means that we have to work our asses off and get these kids up to snuff," Anko said, determined.
"Wait, look."
Kakashi put his hand up and gestured to the teens,
Anko saw both Sakura and Sasuke feeding Naruto their bento. Anko shook her head,
"Can we pretend we didn't see them so we can get this over with so we can pass them"
"No, they pass."
"What do you mean?"
"Just watch, and you'll understand."
Kakashi body flickered back into the clearing, shocking the genin
Anko watched the following display with great amusement. Kakashi had an almost manic tone and used genjutsu to create an ominous storm over the area.
"Do you have anything to say for yourselves"
"But, sensei," Naruto said, struggling while tied to the post
"Were a three-man squad right?" Sasuke said, standing defiantly
Sakura, finding her confidence, spoke up as well
"That's right! The three of us are one."
"That's right" yelled Naruto
All three genin stood their ground, awaiting their punishment
"The three of you are one huh?"
Kakashi slowly approached the genin and bent down
"You pass." he said in a soft, almost proud tone."
"What!" All three genin said they were surprised by the outcome
Kakashi then straightened his posture and began his explanation
" The first part of the test is meant to be failed. The academy teaches you to follow authority figures, no question asked. So anything I told you would have been taken to heart. A shinobi must be able to see through deception and look underneath the underneath to see the true goal of any situation. You guys didn't blindly follow my orders to not feed Naruto, which showed you can think for yourselves. When you rallied by each other and stood up to me, it demonstrated loyalty to one another.
Kakashi paused to let his words sink in.
"In our world, shinobi who break the rules are treated as garbage, but those who don't show loyalty to their friends are worse than that. A shinobi without loyalty to those close to them is just a mindless weapon waiting to be used."
All three genin smiled in relief and began celebrating their just becoming a ninja.
"Yes, I'm a ninja, I'm actually a ninja!" Naruto began to shed light tears as the realization that he had just achieved a lifelong goal hit him.
Sakura hopped up and down internally, screaming with joy.
Sasuke let the smile fall from his lips and got a determined look on his face. He would need to head straight home to begin his nightly routine; this was only the first step to his true goal.
"Well, I'll meet you guys here tomorrow," Kakashi said as he began to walk away.
Both Sakura and Sasuke began to follow him out of the training ground. Naruto didn't notice, still on his high from becoming a ninja. But he did notice the movement of air behind and the sound of a familiar voice.
"Hey, where are you all going?" Anko yelled after them as she cut Naruto's ropes.
They all turned around, and surprisingly, Sasuke was the first to answer.
"Home"
Anko looked at Kakashi
"You know, for being all about teamwork, I thought you would know the most important rule in developing teamwork."
"What's that" Kakashi responded
"Food, come on. I know this nice place in the village. Let's all head there and get dinner."
Anko knew little about team bonding, but she made all her closest friends when she ate or drank. So, it couldn't be much different when it came to this team.
"No, I want Ramen; we can go to Ichiraku. It's not far from here," Naruto said, stretching his limbs.
"What makes you think that you will be the one to decide brat."
"Well, I'm the one who almost didn't eat because of your stupid test."
"Well, maybe if you didn't listen to Kakashi and ate before you got here, you wouldn't be hungry."
Naruto stuck his tongue out at Anko, and she followed suit.
The three others watch the childish display, baffled
Sakura spoke up
" I actually can't go tonight. I promised my parents I would come home to tell them how my test went."
Sasuke took advantage of the brief distraction to continue walking out of the training ground toward his home.
Kakashi rubbed the back of his head.
"Maybe we can eat together another time; I must turn in my report to the Hokage."
Anko and Naruto watched as the other three left the training ground. Anko looked over and saw the disappointment all over Naruto's face. Anko could leave and go to her favorite spot, but she couldn't just leave the kid alone.
Anko stepped forward and put a hand on Naruto's shoulder
"Come on, kid, let's get this ramen you mentioned."
Naruto looked up with hopeful eyes
"You mean it?"
"Yeah, I got nothing better to do, but I can't hang out all night; I have to schedule your training tomorrow."
"Yes, come on, you are going to love Ichiraku," Naruto said, moving toward the place earnestly.
They arrived at a small food stand in the middle of the village; Naruto barged into the empty stand and announced his arrival.
"Hey, guess who's back?"
A brown-haired woman behind the counter greeted him
"Naruto, I thought we missed you today."
Ayame then noticed the woman following in behind him
"Oh, hello there. Are you a friend of Naruto?"
Anko smiled and said
"Yeah, I'm one of his new teachers."
"Oh well, anyone from Naruto's Team is welcome here."
Anko took a seat next to Naruto
"Where is the old man?" asked Naruto
"Dad's out right now, so I'm just managing the stand alone."
Anko leaned over to Naruto and said
"I can see you got this little place wrapped around your fingers as well; I can respect that."
Naruto looked at her, confused
"What do you mean."
"The place I was talking about earlier is called the Dango Shop. I used to go there after finishing training when I didn't want to return to the orphanage. I didn't have any money to buy anything then, but after I started coming in after a while, the owners would give me free tea and dango; since then, I've been going there almost every day in the village."
Naruto nodded
"Yeah, I get it. I like a lot of different types of food outside of ramen, but when I eat ramen, I get a little bit of the same warm feeling I get when I eat at Ichiraku," Naruto shared, his voice filled with a sense of nostalgia and comfort.
"Whoa, looks like there is a brain in that head of yours after all, " Anko said playfully.
Ayame put both of their bowls down in front of them
Naruto pouted her her jab. He then remembered something he wanted to ask her.
"So sensei, you're an orphan too, right? "
"Yep, I grew up in the orphanage until I was nine. Thinking of it, why didn't I see you there?
"I've been going back there every so often for years, and I'm sure I would have remembered you since there are not a lot of blondes in Konoha."
"I haven't been to the orphanage probably since I was five," Naruto said after slurping down his bowl.
""Five? Did you get adopted out or something,"
"No, that's just when the old man got me my apartment."
"Wait, apartment? Do you live by yourself?"
"Yeah, sometimes Gramps sends people by to check up on me. He tries to come by every few months to hang out."
Anko nodded,
It looked like she would have to talk with the Hokage about why he had taken a five-year-old out of the orphanage to live by himself.
Anko continued her discussion with Naruto, telling some stories about some of her first missions. When Anko finished her bowl and Naruto finished his third, they both said their goodbyes to Ayame and exited onto the street.
"That was fun; I haven't eaten with anyone before outside of Iruka sensei," said Naruto, happy and full.
"Well, don't worry, that is going to change. I'll make sure the rest of our team will join us the next time we go out like this."
Naruto smiled brightly, then jogged back to his apartment and waved at Anko, "See you later, sis."
Anko was surprised at the sudden nickname he gave her. She felt like she should be annoyed about it but didn't have a problem with it.
Anko looked down at her pocket watch
"Damn," she said under her breath
The Dango shop was already closed. It looked like she would have to stop by a convenience store on her way home for snacks, Anko thought as she went down the street..
Three sebon flew into the alarm seal on Anko's wall the following day. She added it to her wall after breaking her tenth alarm clock. It turns out that when people condition themselves from childhood to be hyper-aware and cautious of danger, they suddenly don't like being woken.
She left her bedroom, navigating through loose clothes piles and empty boxes of junk food. She sighed when she saw the stack of notes and books left on her sofa. Kakashi had left all of the training plans to her, and in the past two nights, she had skimmed through just about every popular teaching guide.
She meandered through her morning routine. After she got out of the shower and had a light breakfast with some tea, she grabbed some loose notes and a journal and began to make her way to the training ground.
When Anko arrived at training ground three, Sasuke was already doing basic stretches. He acknowledged her presence with a nod. Anko also began her stretches while waiting for the other two to arrive.
Sakura was the next to arrive and instantly went toward Sasuke after a light wave to Anko.
"Hey, Sasuke, how's your morning going."
Sasuke ignored her question and continued to go through his stretches
A brief look of disappointment flashed onto Sakura's face, but it quickly went back to a kind smile
"Well, I was wondering if you would like to go out and do something after training."
Sasuke then glared at her, making her flinch, and he began to walk away to the other side of the clearing.
Sakura sighed and sat down.
Naruto arrived just a few minutes later. As usual, he was overloaded with energy and began to hop up and down next to Sakura.
"Isn't this awesome, Sakura? We are real ninjas; We will be recusing princesses and taking down bad guys daily in a few weeks."
Sakura looked up at Naruto and glared
"Leave me alone, Naruto, you're being annoying."
Naruto flinched at the harshness in her tone,
"Sheesh, Sakura, sorry, I was just trying to have a conversation."
Guilt flashed across Sakura's face, and she looked down at the ground and looked down and mumbled.
"Sorry"
"It's okay; it's my fault I saw you looked in a bad mood, so I just wanted to cheer you up. I guess you are not a morning person."
Before Sakura could respond to her shock at Naruto being thoughtful, Anko yelled at the genin from the middle of the clearing.
"Okay, let's get started!"
All three traveled to their teacher.
"Shouldn't we wait for Kakashi sensei to show up?" Sakura voiced
"Oh, he'll show up in his own time to help you guys,"
Anko said as she waved off the lateness of her partner. While it annoyed her slightly, she knew he was probably back at the memorial stone, and Anko knew that as a ninja, everyone had their way of coping with their trauma, and she didn't want to disrespect Kakashi's
Anko reached into her trench coat pocket and pulled out a folded piece of paper that had the training schedule that she made last night.
"Okay, so here's the schedule."
She cleared her throat before reading what she had written down.
"Training will start at 7:00 every morning. Every day, we will begin training as a team. Mondays, Tuesdays, and Wednesdays will be individual training days for each of you. After the first hour on those days, I will take one of you aside and help you develop skills for your strengths. While the other two continued with whatever we were practicing. When you guys aren't training in your individual or core skills, we will be doing spars, teamwork drills, and conditioning. Thursday and Friday will start the same, but at 10:00, we will do D ranks for the rest of the day. Saturday will be a free day where we can work on whatever area you think you're lacking under our guidance, and you have Sunday entirely off. The next time you do individual training, I will review your progress since our last session. You'll also be expected to progress each week and train your skills in your own time. "
Anko's voice was a little dry from talking for so long. She was quite proud of her explanation; she only wrote about half of it on paper and made up the rest on the fly.
All three genin seemed quite pleased with the training schedule: Naruto and Sasuke were pleased with the amount of training they were doing, and Sakura was happy with the detailed instructions about what was expected of her.
"That's so awesome. We will be the greatest ninjas ever with all that training."
Despite his statement's immaturity, it got a small smile from both his teammates.
Anko grinned
"Don't think it's going to be easy, brats; you'll all be going to get run into the ground. Okay, let's get started."
Thirty minutes later, Anko laughed at Sasuke and Naruto's continued failure to walk up the tree. Every time one of them fell, she gave a sharp laugh loud enough for them to hear, to both of their annoyance. Naruto got around seven steps up the tree this last time before falling and landing in a painful split. The laugh from Anko was the final straw, and Naruto started yelling.
"If you are just going to stand there laughing, you can help me figure out how to do this!"
Anko shook her head,
"I can only give you tips. You have to be able to do this by yourself. There is more to this exercise than just being able to walk up a tree with chakra."
"Yeah, and what's that," asked Naruto, still annoyed
"Another point of this exercise is to increase your control and to become more equated with channeling chakra to specific points in your body. If you master that skill, your potential as a ninja can increase tenfold. Do you know why?"
She looked at each genin. They all thought about the question for a few seconds before Sakura answered.
"No, why, sensei?"
Anko decided to answer her with another question
"What's the difference between ninjas and civilians? "
Naruto put his hand to his chin in a thinking gesture and said
"Is it how badass we are? Ayame and Teuchi are pretty cool with how well they make ramen, but they can't shoot fire out of their mouths."
Naruto then began pondering which was better, being able to spit fire or make the most delicious meal to grace the planet.
Both Sakura and Sasuke rolled their eyes before Sauske clarified
"No idiot, it's Chakra"
"Exactly "
Anko said as she pointed at Sasuke
"When you unlocked your chakra when you first entered the academy, you became faster and stronger than the average civilian. Chakra reinforces your muscles and increases your speed and strength. When you channel it to specific spots in your body, you are learning to adjust your chakra throughout it, and you can further increase your physical attributes."
Naruto rubbed his head, still slightly confused. "So what does that have to do with us being ninjas."
Anko gave a smile
"Allow me to demonstrate."
Anko walked several feet away and started to stretch. All three genin waited in anticipation.
With a running start, Anko jumped 15 feet into the air at a tree nearby. She then turned parallel to the tree in mid-air. When she landed, she jumped off the tree and launched further into the air. She performed backflips as she hit the peak of her jump until she landed perfectly in a squat in the middle of the clearing. When she got up from the crouch, she put both hands on her hips and held her head back, a cocky smile gracing her lips.
"Yeah, yeah, I know I'm awesome. No need for further applause."
Anko boasted, excited she was able to impress the kids
"That's so awesome; you have to teach us how to do that!" shouted Naruto
She looked down at the kids still in her boastful pose.
"The first step to doing what I just did is tree walking; since chakra gathers poorly at the feet, it's an excellent way to build up and expel chakra from your body. Each time I jumped, I expelled the chakra at my feet to increase the power of my jumps. I then strengthened the muscles in my legs to take the fall. "
"Wow," Sakura said, impressed.
After Anko's explanation, Sasuke and Naruto looked at each other with determination.
"I'll bet I can do this before you bastard," Naruto yelled as he pointed at Sasuke.
Sasuke scoffed
" As if you'll ever be able to beat me, idiot."
Both began to run toward their trees to master this exercise.
Anko then looked toward Sakura and said
"Come on, girlie. You'll be first up for individual training since you've already basically mastered this part."
She said the last part extra loud because she knew Sasuke was slightly annoyed when she got the exercise down so quickly. It wouldn't hurt if he began to regard her as a rival like Naruto.
Sasuke gave Sakura a quick glare mixed with jealousy and disbelief. Upon seeing it, Sakura's face fell, and she gave a pointed look at her teacher.
Anko shrugged and began to walk away from the clearing, gesturing for Sakura to follow her. Sakura sighed and started after her teacher.
Anko led Sakura to their training spot, thinking deeply about Sakura's relationship with her teammates. The girl was hurt every time Sasuke ignored or glared at her, and she often took that misplaced anger out on Naruto.
Anko couldn't help but notice that it was also distracting Sakura. The girl's infatuation with Sasuke was becoming a hindrance to her training. She would often lose focus, her gaze drifting towards Sasuke instead of the task at hand. This preoccupation almost led to a few accidents, like the time she nearly slipped off the tree branch.
As Anko watched Sakura, she couldn't help but feel a pang of concern. The girl was at a crossroads, torn between her blossoming emotions and the harsh reality of her shinobi career. Anko knew that if Sakura didn't find a way to balance these conflicting aspects of her life, it could potentially drive a wedge between her and her teammates.
The only question was how to change her behavior. While Anko could be hard on the girl to make her grow up, that would require her to be cruel. Despite her reputation, Anko didn't want to be overly mean to people who didn't deserve it, especially children. The girl also clearly has some confidence issues, so berating her could drive her into a shell. So, Anko decided the best path forward was to ask the girl why she was so obsessed with the boy.
"Sakura?" Anko said, looking over her shoulder
"Yes, sensei"
"Why do you like Sasuke?"
Sakura perked up at the line of questioning and began to talk about her crush.
"Well, he's cool, has beautiful hair and alluring eyes, and his skills as a ninja are amazing," Sakura gushed.
"Yeah, but that's why you think he's hot or whatever; let me rephrase, it's clear just being around you and him for a few days that your crush on him goes deeper than just his looks."
Sakura stopped and looked at the ground. She hadn't needed to explain why she liked Sasuke outside of his attractive qualities since it was understood by most in her class. They had already arrived in a small clearing a few minutes from where the boys were training.
Anko turned around and looked at Sakura
"I guess…"
Sakura started with hesitation in her voice.
"When I was younger, I got bullied a lot for my hair and forehead, and Ino, I mean Ino Pig, helped me and suggested that I join the academy. When I first started, I was nervous and didn't know anyone outside of Ino. Sasuke was the first one to talk to me. He was quiet and still a loner, but he was nice the few times I spoke to him. "
Sakura smiled at the memory.
"When the mas.. the thing happened, he changed."
A somber expression came across Sakura's face.
"After it happened, at first, I just wanted to be his friend or find a way to help him, but then a lot of the girls in the class started to crush on him, too. Then I supported him by cheering him on during spars and asking him to go places with me on dates since I knew he only went straight home every day with no one to talk to. "
"And.."
Sakura stopped wondering why she was pouring her heart out to this woman she just met.
Anko smiled at her. "Don't worry, Sakura, anything you say will stay between us. "
"And I guess I liked the attention I got from liking Sasuke," Sakura said, surprised she could admit it out loud.
"The louder I was about my crush, the more popular I became. I even became the leader of The Sasuke Fanclub 2.0."
Anko's eyebrows rose at the implied predecessor of the fan club
Sakura rolled her eyes
"That Ino pig ran the first one into the ground, so I started my much better fan club."
Sakura put her thumb into her chest, clearly proud of her achievements.
"So what did your fan club do? Stalk him around town."
"No!" Sakura yelled, clearly not meaning to be that loud, as she lowered her volume
"That was my main disagreement with the previous fan club. They started to follow Sasuke around, and one time, they had to be escorted away so Sasuke could get into his house."
Anko shook her head, only imagining the boy's annoyance with this obsessive behavior.
"So, what did your fan club do?"
Anko couldn't believe she was talking about this, but it was worth it if it helped her figure out what motivated the girl.
"Well, you know, normal things. Like sitting around and talking about Sasuke, planning our looks and outfits around what he liked, and creating plans to capture his affections."
Sakura shook her head.
"The last one was a stressful job."
She ran her hand through her hair as she remembered her previous frustrations.
"I had to replace the executive planner position five times during the academy, and the stress of the position got to some girls; near the end, it got to the point where we just left it vacant."
Anko sighed in exasperation at the absurdity of multiple political groups of fangirls vying for one boy's attention.
"I understand you want to help him, Sakura, but I think you have been going about this wrong."
Sakura looked up, surprised
"What do you mean."
"Well, do you like it when Naruto asks you out?"
Sakura's face morphed into a light scowl.
"Of course not. God, he's so annoying. Doesn't he realize I am just not interested in dating him?"
Sakura said
"Yeah, I'm sure it is annoying when someone constantly looks at you and continues to ask you out on dates despite making it perfectly clear that you in no way have any interest in dating them," Anko said, mustering up as much sarcasm as she could manage.
"Exactly. Why can't he get that through that thick skull of his? I mean, come on, how dense can you be?"
Anko tapped her foot and waited.
Sakura's face changed into multiple phases: shock, confusion, and pure horror. She put both hands on her head.
"You don't mean Sasuke thinks the same about me asking him out like I do, Naruto."
Anko nodded
Sakura fell to the ground, defeated. "But that can't be true," Sakura mumbled, denying the similarity in her and Naruto's behavior.
Anko then crouched down to Sakura's level.
"Listen, if you put Sasuke on such a pedestal that you believe he can't do no wrong, that's not you liking someone; you idolize him."
Sakura looked down, ashamed.
"Sasuke needs friends more than anything right now, and the first step is to be nicer to Naruto and more honest with Sasuke."
"How does being nicer to Naruto help Sasuke?" Sakura asked, her brow furrowed in confusion.
"I skimmed through most of Sasuke's Academy reports. Do you know who the only person he talks to is?
"Naruto," Sakura her voice giving away recognition
"I think Sasuke considers Naruto a friend even if he doesn't know it, and I don't think he appreciates you being mean to him. Besides, the kid isn't that bad, a little annoying, but if you give him a chance, I'm sure you'll like him."
Sakura nodded
"I get it, sensei; I'll try to do better."
Anko gave a light chuckle and stood and gave a loud clap.
Instantly, her demeanor changed, and she became more carefree
"Okay, enough sentimental stuff. It's time for your first lesson."
Sakura stood at attention.
"Now, with your success at tree walking, it's clear your chakra control is excellent; I think I have yet to hear of anyone succeeding on their first try."
Sakura beamed under the praise.
"So, I will give you lessons and test your aptitude in genjutsu."
"That's what Kakashi sensei used on me during the bell test, right?"
Anko nodded
"Are you good at it, sensei?"
Anko raised her hand in a so-so motion.
"Not my specialty, but I'm decent at it. Anyways, here catch."
Anko reached inside her coat, pulled out a small scroll, and tossed it toward Sakura. Sakura caught it and began to unroll it.
"Some basic techniques you probably could have learned in the academy."
Sakura opened the scroll and found instructions for three genjutsu, two D and one C rank. Sakura looked over each jutsu in the scroll.
The Double Vision Technique- A D rank causes the opponent to see two of everything when cast.
The Drunken Sight Technique: This causes someone to see the world as if drunk.
The C rank technique in the scroll was the False Surroundings Technique, which places an illusion in the surrounding area where it is cast.
"I didn't want to overwhelm you with too many techniques, but most of these are easy to master. Speaking of, why are the first two considered D-rank techniques? "
Sakura held her face in a tight expression.
"Is it because they are really obvious? I mean, if in combat you start seeing double or start getting drunk, you'll know immediately and can just shake off the genjutsu."'
"You got it half right; most ninjas would not even be affected by these techniques; even the most experienced genin would probably shrug it off. But it's not really about the techniques. It's how most people use them that makes them D rank."
Sakura gave an interested look.
"You see, if you manage to reach my friend's mastery with these techniques, you could cast these with no hands signs in the middle of combat. Whenever I spar with her, she uses the double vision and drunken sight techniques to set me off balance. Only masters at chakra disruption can disrupt genjutsu without losing focus, especially if you have an enemy engaged in close quarters simultaneously."
Sakura looked pensive and asked.
"Do you have a notebook or something to take notes on? This is a lot to remember. "
"Sure"
Anko said as she reached into her trench coat and produced a notebook and pencil. Sakura decided she did not want to know where her sensei stored all of these things and gladly took the items.
Anko looked off into the forest and began talking.
"Sakura, I want you to think about things like this because I don't want you to get into the mindset of just being in a support role. Despite the perceived equality of the ninja profession, biases are still placed on kunoichi. Only about a third of the shinobi force comprises women; even fewer are jonin level or above and are almost always pushed into backline support roles."
Sakura thought to herself, realizing that outside of Anko and the sensei of Team 8, she had never seen elite female shinobi in Konoha.
Sakura ran it over in her mind. Her mother warned her she might face bias in her chosen career path since she was a girl. She didn't think much of it at the time. Still, thinking back to the academy, the girls had to take flower arrangement classes. At the same time, the boys continued to take extra taijutsu lessons.
"Listen, you'll always be underestimated because you're a woman, but don't let yourself get boxed into the support role mentally, or you will find yourself a bystander next to your teammates."
A smile came over Sakura's lips.
"So you mean that instead of focusing on being just and in a support role, I should focus on being a badass kunoichi like you, sensei."
Anko gave a toothy grin.
"If you keep talking like that, you are going to end up as my favorite student. Anyway, let's get started. Try out some of these techniques on me. I'm not the best sensor, but I should be able to tell you if you're molding your chakra wrong."
Over the next two hours, Anko taught Sakura to visualize her techniques and cast them onto another person's senses. It was relatively easy since Anko allowed her to do it. Still, by the end of the session, Sakura could cast both of the D ranks and had made decent progress into the C rank technique.
As she made her way back to the boys with Sakura, she noticed Kakashi had arrived and that the boys had both made considerable progress in tree walking.
"Yo"
Kakashi, as nonchalant as ever, greeted Anko and Sakura with a simple "Yo", leaning against a tree with a book in hand.
"You're late!" Sakura yelled and pointed a finger at him
"Well, you see, I had to help my neighbor move some furniture across town."
Naruto glared from the ground he had recently fallen on.
"Hey, that's not what you said earlier. I thought you helped your neighbor paint his living room."
"Naruto, I am sure you know that people can do more than one thing at a time.
Naruto scowled, and Anko had to hold back a laugh. Kakashi certainly knew how to press people's buttons. The rest of the day went as planned, with them doing conditioning and teamwork drills for the rest of the afternoon.
The next day, Naruto stared angrily at the books before him.
"This is so dumb. I thought you were going to teach me ninja skills, not bore me to death."
"Listen, with your clones, you can have a constant squad of people who know exactly how you think on call. During the test, you swarmed Kkashi, but if you had used your clones more effectively, you could have grabbed a bell. "
"So what does that have to do with me reading?"
"If you learn some battle tactics and troop organization, you have the potential to be a one-person army. "
While that sounded cool, he still had to read, 'But I can be a one-man army if you just teach me some ninjutsu."
Anko held her annoyance at the boy's audacity.
"Listen, kid, I can't teach you any ninjutsu techniques, and you definitely can't know anything close to elemental manipulation. Your control is so bad that you'll hurt yourself trying to do any ninjutsu."
"What does my control being bad have to do with me not being able to learn any awesome ninjutsu," Naruto said
Anko rubbed her hand across her face and sighed.
"Look, your chakra reserves are large, which is good, but your control is so bad that you waste most of your chakra; it's like forcing a tidal wave through a water hose when you put chakra into your techniques; some water might get through to the end, but not enough to fully complete the technique."
Naruto looked down, remembering his inability to do the regular clone technique.
"In cases like the Shuriken Shadow Clone Jutsu, the amount produced is based on the chakra you put in; there is no limit, making it very dangerous for you to use. That's why the shadow clone works so well for you. It doesn't require control; it splits your chakra evenly between your clones, and there is no dangerous drawback with you putting too much chakra in. "
Naruto nodded, though he still did not exactly follow what this lady was getting at.
"How much did you read when you learned the technique from the forbidden scroll? "
Naruto gave a surprise squawk in response to her question
"Don't worry, brat, you're not in trouble with me. The Hokage told me what you managed to do with that technique. Good job, by the way, but if Mizuki wasn't such a sorry ass, he probably could have countered your technique with your skills the way they are now."
Naruto glared at her for insulting one of his most significant accomplishments.
"I'm assuming you just read the technique's name and saw the low numbers of hand seals, but you didn't bother to read the actual description of the jutsu."
Naruto gave an awkward laugh and rubbed the back of his head
"Maybe"
Anko sighed and began to explain the Jutsu
"To keep it short, the technique you found was the more advanced version of the shadow clone technique. It uses more chakra but allows you to create a lot more clones. You also gain the memories of your clones when they are destroyed."
Naruto looked shocked, "Why haven't I noticed that yet?"
"Probably because you haven't used them for anything outside combat, or the version you use can't transfer memories. Let's test it out; I wanted to see if a theory I had about your training could work. Make five clones now."
Naruto put his hands in the ram seal and made six clones.
"Close enough."
"Okay, I want three of you to work on the leaf control exercise; you two, start reading. And you," the final clone looked up, waiting for instructions, and had a brief look of betrayal before a senbon pierced the front of its neck.
"Hey, what's the big idea?" All of the other Naruto ' shouted in unison
Anko shrugged
"I had no idea what to do with that one, and I don't know what effect it may have on you if we overload you with memories. So we are going to keep the maximum number to five." But before you begin, I feel like you don't see the value in something unless they know what you could get in the end, so I'll show you the jutsu; I'll teach you when I feel you have made enough progress on your control."
The Narutos turned to Anko and watched her intently, excited to see a new jutsu. Anko then turned toward five target posts.
Anko pulled out one shuriken and threw it at one post. She then began to weave through hand signs and performed the Shuriken Shadow Clone Jutsu; as one shuriken turned into five, all raced forward and hit the bullseye of each target.
"Wow, can I learn that now," the Narutos asked
"No "
"Why not?"
"Because if I taught that to you now, you'll create thousands and probably throw a couple hundred at the village."
The Narutos all had a brief look of sadness before steeling themselves.
" Just wait, sis. I will get you to teach me that jutsu in no time."
The Narutos then began to go to their assigned roles.
"So what do I do?" Asked the original Naruto
We are going to work on your taijutsu. I won't teach you a specific style, but we need to work on your form.
Naruto smiled, "Alright, bring it on."
And began to charge at Anko before ending up flat on his back, groaning
Anko sighed. This was going to be a long training session.
The following day, Anko took Sasuke to a rocky clearing on the other side of the training ground, with several training posts lined up in front of a large boulder.
"Okay, listen here, kid; you're good. Any genin who can use elemental techniques at your age is impressive. Sasuke gave a self-satisfied smirk.
"Do you know any other fire techniques "
"I know the Phoenix Fireball, Justu, but I haven't mastered it yet."
"Good, you will probably find that much more useful than the great fireball jutsu."
Sasuke raised an eyebrow.
Anko explained
"While the fireball is a powerful technique, it is also impractical when fighting a skilled enough enemy. It blocks your view of the enemy and can be countered with low-rank earth and water jutsu by a skilled enough user. You saw how that ended when you fought Kakashi."
Sasuke grimaced at the memory of him being humiliated by Kakashi
"The phoenix flower jutsu is a great one for control, although it is not as powerful. You can hide weapons in the fire and control each individual blast."
Sasuke looked at her, annoyed as if he didn't know this.
Anko rolled her eyes.
"The reason I'm talking about this is because I want to teach you a jutsu that has the control of the Phoenix flower jutsu and the power of the fireball jutsu."
Sasuke perked up at her words.
"It's called the Great Dragon Fire Technique and is technically a B rank, but you can handle it. It requires a lot of advanced shape manipulation. It uses more chakra than the previous techniques, but its power and versatility make it very useful."
Anko then motioned Sasuke to move away.
Sasuke backed toward the treeline as he watched Anko turn away from the targets and perform many hand signs to perform the Fire Style: Great Dragon Fireball Jutsu.
Anko spat out a fire in the shape of a dragon's head. The dragon went straight forward and then curved upwards and went towards the posts. On impact, there was a massive explosion of fire. When the technique dispersed, all that was left was scarred earth and a partially charred boulder.
Sasuke gave an impressed nod.
"I want to teach you this jutsu because it requires all of the aspects of chakra manipulation. Power, Shape, and Control. If you manage to master this jutsu, you will be able to create new fire jutsu or alter the ones you already know.
"Create new jutsu. Do you want me to do that?"
Anko looked at Sasuke
"Listen, kid, you're talented. I don't want to limit you to learning techniques from scrolls. Most fire jutsu from Konaha were created by your clan and have been used for generations. Enemy ninjas expect fire jutsu from Leaf shinobi and usually counter them. Still, if you use new techniques or alter existing ones, you can turn their knowledge against them. "
"For example, watch this:"
Anko then went through a similar amount of hand signs and performed Fire Style: Flaming Snake Jutsu.
She then spat out a fast-moving flame that transformed into a snake. The snake began to wrap around the boulder and melt into it before exploding, taking most of the boulder with it.
Anko smiled at the shocked look Sasuke gave the aftermath of her technique.
"I made that one, especially for defensive earth techniques. Despite being smaller than the Great Dragon Fire Jutsu, I used a lot more chakra. I concentrated my chakra into the shape of the snake to increase the heat of the flames, and once it had dug deep enough, I released the technique, which caused it to explode and shatter the boulder.
Anko's face took a more serious look.
"Another reason I'm showing you how to do this is because I believe shinobi are too rigid. In the past days, new jutsu were being developed daily. Today, most ninjas learn whatever their clan or village tells them to learn. You have a lot of potential, and I don't want you to learn just all of your clan's century-old techniques.
Sasuke nodded, a small smile gracing his lip.
He wanted this type of training to get the tools necessary to create techniques that his brother would not be able to counter.
"Okay, watch my hands carefully and go through the hand signs without molding the chakra to get used to it."
For the rest of Sasuke's training session, he managed to cast the jutsu once, but he didn't have much control of it outside of a couple feet; Anko decided it was significant progress and told him to work on it more until the next week.
A few hours later, Kakashi and Anko oversaw Naruto's and Sasuke's waterwalking. Sakura was on the water doing some basic taijutsu drills to get used to fighting on the water.
While on land, Anko began to talk to Kakashi about a pressing issue
"You have to tell Sasuke about your Sharingan. The kid already has trust issues, so if he learns about your eye from somewhere else, he'll come to his own conclusions. "
"Yeah, I don't think now is the right time. "
"When would it be? You can't put it off forever."
"I know, I know I'll get around to it."
There was a brief silence before Anko spoke
"You read his psych reports, right?" Anko asked
"Of course, I looked over everyone over the past few years."
"Then you know that he needs someone badly, and I'm not saying it has to be you, but I don't think I could do it."
"Why's that? " asked Kakashi
"Because I haven't really lost anything before. Sure, I lost my memories, and that sucked. However, all the people I care about are still alive and well. Because I haven't experienced even a little of what he is feeling, I doubt I'll be able to truly understand him."
"So, you're saying I could," Kakashi said, his voice getting a little tense.
"Don't worry, I didn't go through your file or anything. I'm not that nosy, but because you spend a quarter of your day staring at dead people's names, I assume you have probably lost a lot."
Kakashi didn't respond.
"Look, I'm not saying you have to be the kid's therapist or anything; just talk to him. Every time he starts to enjoy any part of life, he closes himself off from it. If that keeps up, he'll never even bond with his teammates, much less gain loyalty to the village. "
Kakashi sighed
"I understand. I'll talk with him today after training is over. I don't know what to say, but you're right. It might be too late to make a difference if I put it off for long enough. "
Their conversation ended there, and they continued to supervise the genin
Once training wrapped up, Anko went over to Naruto and Sakura and said
"Hey, you two, come with me, and let's grab a bite."
"Hell yes, ramen!" Naruto yelled excitedly.
"Hell no, ramen, we had it the last time we went out. We are heading to the Dango Shop."
Naruto pouted. She did have a point, and he wasn't going to say no to a free meal.
"Are Kakashi sensei and Sasuke going to join us?" Sakura asked
"Eh, maybe later, but they have to talk alone."
Sakura immediately got what her teacher was trying to say and resigned herself to going.
Her implication, however, went over Naruto's head, and he said
"Ha, the bastard is in trouble, serves him right."
"No, he's not, you idiot," Sakura said
"What do you mean he's not? What else is Kakashi sensei going to talk with him about?"
"I don't know, and it's none of our business."
The light banter continued as they headed to the Dango Shop with Anko, Leaving Kakashi and Sasuke at the training grounds.
Sasuke sat, waiting for Kakashi to say something. He had been silent for ten minutes and showed no signs of doing anything but wasting his time.
Fed up, Sasuke began to walk away. Just then, he heard Kakashi speak,
"Sasuke"
When he heard his name, Sauke turned around only to see a Sharingan in Kakashi's left eye. Sasuke's heart dropped in his chest. A myriad of emotions went through him, but ultimately, he settled on anger.
"So, you're a thief then."
"No, I'm not; this was a gift from a friend. I brought you here to tell you how I got this eye, but I couldn't find a good place to start."
Sasuke didn't respond, but Kakashi seemed to appease him, and he continued to stand, waiting for Kakashi to speak.
Kakashi had no idea where to start; he had never talked about his past with anyone, not even with the yearly therapist he was required to go to. It was another few minutes before he would speak, and he decided to start at the only place that made sense at the beginning.
"My father killed himself when I was four."
Sasuke's eyes widened, gaining emotional whiplash at the statement
"I only remember seeing him a few times; when you're that young, you only get flashes of moments. He was always busy, and one of the few times I remember him is coming home to find him dead in the middle of the floor."
Kakashi took a deep breath while the pain of his father's death had long since dulled; it was still difficult to talk about
"The village shunned him, a mission gone wrong. I don't know much about the details; most of its records were destroyed when I had enough clearance to access mission records. All I know is that he ran a diplomatic mission that went wrong. Two of his teammates ended up getting captured, and his decision to recuse them resulted in some essential people dying. It ended up getting us involved in the third war. "
Kakashi paused
"After that, I felt that my father died because he broke the rules and betrayed his duties as a ninja of Konoha for his friends. I was obsessed with becoming elite. I trained every day for hours and only ate and slept when my body was on the brink of exhaustion. I graduated from the academy in a year and became a Chunin.
At this point, Kakashi forgot that Sasuke was there and was just telling his truth, saying things he had never considered before.
"I hated being a Chunin. Both my teammates were over twice my age and treated me like trash. It was like that for three years until I was transferred to a freshly graduated genin team, my Team 7
Sasuke had a slight look of shock on his face, but other than that, he showed no other reaction and kept listening.
One of my teammates was your cousin, Obito Uchiha; you probably wouldn't know him; I wonder if your clan talked about him. A Uchiha with lousy eyesight,"
Kakashi gave a humorless chuckle.
"Despite my reluctance, I grew to like my teammates. Rin was kind and intelligent, and Obito was actually a lot like Naruto. Desperate to prove themselves to the world, loud and untalented, but they had enough confidence and charisma that you couldn't just help but believe in them. During a mission during the war, we were tasked to blow up the Kannabi Bridge. "
"Rin ended up being captured; I wanted to leave her behind. Every fiber of my being wanted to abandon the mission and save her, but I... I was scared. I didn't want to be seen as a failure in the village; I didn't want to be my father. But, Obito, despite me refusing to go, went to rescue Rin."
"Eventually, I ended up getting my head out of my ass and followed suit, but maybe if I just went right away, things would have gone differently."
"I lost my left eye during the fight, and the cave Rin was held in was collapsed by an Iwa shinobi, and Obito's body ended up being crushed under the rubble. He asked me to take his eye, to remember him."
"He was a true shinobi; after the mission, I returned to the village and cried for the first time in years. Not just because of Obito's death but because I realized that my father was right. He ended up losing hope, but his actions to save his teammates were those of a true shinobi."
Sasuke didn't want to speak further, but he did notice the absence of this Rin person, and with the story, he was just told that he had a feeling of what already happened, but he had to know for sure. He asked
"What happened to Rin."
"I killed her."
Sasuke's eyes grew wide.
"She was captured by mist ninja a few months later. After I rescued her, she jumped in front of my technique. I don't know why or what happened that made her want to die, but she wanted it to be by my hand."
Sasuke expression was blank as he was deep in thought
"Look, Sasuke, initially, I didn't mean for this talk to turn into a saga about my life story, but I felt I could tell you this because you remind me of myself back then. Lost and confused and launching yourself relentlessly toward your goal, with anything else in life being useless."
Sasuke looked up at Kakashi, but he didn't see the typical indifference in them or the determined eyes of an avenger. His eyes looked tired, as if he hadn't slept since the night of the massacre; it was the most vulnerable he had ever seen Sasuke.
"I'm not asking you to tell me anything on your mind, Sasuke. I'm probably the worst person you could go to for emotional support, but all I'm saying is that you need to enjoy life and the people around you. Your goal isn't going anywhere; regret is the only thing worse than a grudge.
Sasuke didn't respond, looking at the ground and mulling over Kakashi's words.
After a few moments, Kakashi began to walk away, but he spoke as he went a few feet past Sasuke.
"I'm going to go to the Dango shop now to meet the others. But whether you want to go is up to you, Sasuke. You can head back home and continue to fight with ghosts, or you can finally take a step and move forward with your life. Trust me, the ghosts don't go away, but they won't be upset if you forget about them, at least for a while."
Kakashi continued out of the training ground, leaving Sasuke behind.
Minutes later, Sasuke continued to stand there, his mind a whirlwind. And he then remembered the two versions of his brother. The brother who used to take him on piggyback rides throughout Konoha was the one he looked up to. And the brother who killed their family in cold blood to prove himself. The one who made him watch over and over again as he slaughtered their clan.
Sasuke fell to his knees and began to cry. He had mourned everyone who died that night, but he never mourned his brother. He couldn't mourn that monster. But after Kakashi's story, he couldn't get the memories of his brother out of his head.
After a while, Sasuke stopped crying and got up, his head feeling the clearest it had been in years. He was no longer on a mission to kill his brother; his brother was dead, and he probably died long before that night. No, he was hunting down the man who slaughtered his clan and nothing else.
Sasuke made his decision as he left the training ground and made his way to the Dango Shop.