A/N: Thank you for the favorites, follows and reviews!
Naruto training is bogus - learning something like Sage Jutsu in a week? Taming the Kyuubi in about a week? One year to carry like one thousand pounds of weights and still be faster than anyone else at the Chunin Exams? Rasengan in three days? Most of these are Naruto specific examples, but still. An expert jonin like Kakashi focusing specifically on training only and a passion not to let this team die like his…we are going to be seeing results!
The next week was a blur of training. Everytime Kimiko wanted to give up, Naruto was there with words of encouragement, Kakashi-sensei was there with advice, and Sasuke was there with his looks of derision.
Honestly, Sasuke was the most motivating. She was Kunoichi of the Year, damnit. She should be his equal. She was beating him in their chakra control exercises, sure, but she couldn't actually use any ninjutsu beyond the Academy three, so it didn't matter yet. Every day she went home after getting beaten into the dirt, falling from trees, doing sprinting drills, and barely avoiding broken bones sparring with Naruto, gorged herself on food, sank into a warm salt bath, and fell asleep; twice, she had fallen asleep in the bath.
Kakashi-sensei had prohibited her from dodging for the entire week to build up her defense. He told her that her natural inclination towards dodging would eventually become a part of her style, but her blocking had to improve first to be well-rounded. Hence being beaten into the dirt and her constantly bruised forearms and shins. She was pretty sure she had a permanent concussion, but she had only been taken to the hospital once after Naruto had included a new kick from the Whirlpool Style and they had cleared her for more training after scolding Kakashi-sensei for being too rough on his Genin. Obviously, Kakashi-sensei hadn't taken the words to heart. She wasn't sure what the kick looked like because all she remembered were stars, but it was obviously effective.
Kakashi-sensei had given them a day off from training to let their bodies heal, promising a heightened schedule next week. Kimiko had almost cried with relief at the announcement. She slept in until almost noon, enjoyed another hot bath, stretched, and took her sister to the park and for dango.
It was at the dango shop that she had been accosted by a woman with purple hair a few shades darker than Kimiko's, seemingly attempting to eat the dango shop out of business.
"You Kakashi's brat?" She addressed her suddenly.
"Yes, shinobi-san." Kimiko answered politely, confused as to why she was showing interest. The woman studied her critically.
"Did Kakashi send you here to bother me?" She demanded.
"N-no, my sister and I just love dango. I…don't really know who you are." The kunoichi nodded, satisfied with her answer.
"Well, that's a point in your favor, kid. I'll be seeing you around." The kunoichi smirked, collected more dango to go, and vanished from the shop.
"Nee-san, are you going to become weird like her?" Hikari asked curiously, munching on her dango stick.
"I hope not." Kimiko said, but she had a dark feeling of foreboding in her chest as she stared at the exit where the woman had left.
—-
Weirdly, when she woke up the next day for training, she was almost happy to see Guruko. Kakashi-sensei's crazy must be rubbing off on me. She bribed the ninken with part of her breakfast in exchange for a few more minutes to get ready and shovel down some food of her own. She still made it to the Training Grounds in fifteen minutes, feeling refreshed and full of energy.
They started stretching without Kakashi-sensei there. He had given her some weird stretches from what he called the Snake Style, which he thought would match well with her form, natural flexibility, and inclination towards dodging. They were challenging, but in an enjoyable way, and she was excited to start incorporating it into her taijutsu. Naruto and Sasuke had more standard stretches and warm-ups meant to build muscle and loosen themselves up.
"We are going to start today with taijutsu spars," Kakashi-sensei said when he arrived about twenty minutes after the rest of them. "Then, I have new jutsu for each of you." He waited a moment for Naruto's excited gasps to die down. "We will spend time on jutsu practice and chakra control. Then we will break for lunch, and begin obstacle course training. You have spent the week working on your basics - now it's time to start seeing them in action. We will do more training or a D-Rank Mission in the afternoon. Kimiko, you may try to incorporate dodging back into your taijutsu today. Naruto, you will also be sending one clone - ONLY one - to the library. Today, have your clone read about chakra or missions and their ranks, it's up to you." His team nodded, appreciating Kakashi being straight to the point as always. Naruto practically vibrated out of his skin at the prospect of finally getting a mission.
"Kimiko and Sasuke." Kimiko was pleased they had been called first. She was fresh and ready to go. Her muscles no longer felt like jelly, and while it might have been in her head, her limbs felt stronger and more sure than they ever had before. Plus, she could dodge again. It was like a weight had been taken off.
"Kick his ass Kimiko!" Naurto shouted gleefully from the sidelines.
They made their seals of confrontation and as soon as Kakashi told them to start, Kimiko rushed forward. She started with a quick two-punch that Sasuke deflected, and a front kick to his chest that he blocked. He attempted to grab her leg but she was already swinging her other leg, forcing him to duck. She kept up the barrage, her breathing even. Sasuke found his rhythm and began to dish it back, but with the addition of dodging, he only managed superficial blows. They hurt, and even just a week ago, they would have slowed her down significantly, but she was so used to the mild sting she was easily able to ignore it.
I'm not tired yet. She realized with delight, but also immediately noticed, neither is he, and if it goes on like this, he is still going to win.
She allowed her breathing to grow ragged, her movements a little slower. She let a blow slip past her guard and nick her shoulder, allowed a kick to go a little wide, and finally leaned back, as though attempting to take a break. Sasuke immediately jumped at the opportunity, throwing his weight into a haymaker that would send her sprawling into the ground and ending the match quickly. She watched it carefully, letting him commit to the move, before grabbing his arm and using all of his momentum against him to throw him to the ground.
Sasuke felt her energy shift, and could see the gleam in his opponent's eye as he fell into her trap. He tried to pull away but it was too late. He felt his back meet the dirt as the air rushed out of his lungs, and the press of her hand against his neck in place of a kunai.
"Halt. Winner, Kimiko." Kakashi-sensei said calmly, contrasting Naruto's whooping. Sasuke stared at the sky for a moment as he felt rather than saw Kimiko's excited fist pump. He began to feel this deep, dark anger inside of him. He had been training under an elite jonin for a week, and somehow he had gotten worse? It was pathetic. It was rage-inducing. It was -
"Thank you, Sasuke!" He was startled out of his thoughts as he looked up and saw Kimiko extending a hand to him. "If it wasn't for you, I never would have gotten this good, this fast. Thanks to you, now we can actually spar against each other, and we can both get stronger now. Thank you for waiting for me to catch up."
He looked up at her hand, and for a moment, he considered swatting it away and storming off, like he originally intended to do. But, what did he have to gain from that? How would that help him get stronger?
He saw her beaten down in the ground, every day, and he saw her get back up every damn time, no matter how messed up she looked or felt. And now, she could beat him in a match. Wouldn't he be admitting defeat, admitting weakness, if he didn't get back up, just like she did?
He saw himself leave, walk away, and saw the path shrouded in darkness and pain and loneliness. That was the path he had dedicated himself to walking. That was the path to strength. Kimiko's hand remained, extended to him. Her purple hair was framed in sunlight, her face still holding the happiness from their bout and her success. Her eyes didn't look down at him with pity, or smugness, just…he couldn't put a name on it then, but later he would realize her expression screamed friendship. We can both get stronger now. She had said.
Sasuke made a decision, reached up, took her hand, and the future shifted. It didn't change - not yet - but there was a chance that hadn't been there before.
He allowed Kimiko to pull him up - allowed someone to touch him, to help him, to pull him away from that path for just a moment. He didn't know it then, didn't understand how momentous this tiny like butterfly effect would have on their lives, or how close he still was to that dark path. He only knew he was going to get stronger, and Kimiko had proven herself an ally in that cause.
"You know you still won't beat me all the time, right?" He asked casually as they made the Seal of Reconciliation.
She smirked. "Maybe not yet."
Sasuke thoroughly enjoyed the challenge of their next match and the reward of smacking her head so hard into his knee she saw little Pakkun's dancing in the air..
"I think I upset him." She said to Kakashi-sensei, holding a cloth to her bleeding nose. Kakashi let out a rare chuckle that made her feel almost as good as beating Sasuke in their first match. They watched together as Sasuke faced Naruto, and, after some back and forth and taunting, Sasuke barely emerged victorious. Kimiko felt her jaw drop as Sasuke extended a hand to Naruto to help him up. Naruto stared at it for a second, and with a smile that could light up all of Konoha, he took his hand, boisterously demanding a rematch.
"Actually, Naruto, I think it's time for your new jutsu." Nothing except maybe ramen could have distracted Naruto more in that moment. They lined up in front of Kakashi-sensei, trying to look like calm, trained ninja. Kakashi thought they looked like excited puppies.
"First, I will be testing your chakra natures. Kimiko, I plan to teach you a genjutsu first, but we might as well test you now." Kimiko nodded seriously. Kakashi-sensei handed each of them a slip of paper, then held his own hand up.
"First, much like the tree exercise, channel chakra into the paper." They watched as suddenly the paper crinkled around his hand. "This means I have a lightning affinity."
"You used an earth technique on me during the test." Sasuke pointed out. "Isn't that the opposite of lightning?"
Kakashi nodded. "With enough training, any ninja can learn a different affinity. As a general rule, Chunin know at least one affinity, and Jonin know how to use two. I can use all five, though I prefer lightning and earth as a strong offensive/defensive combination." His students looked impressed.
"My turn!" Naruto held the paper tightly, and it was sliced in half. "Ooh, what does that mean? Slicing nature? Attack nature? Cutting nature?"
"Wind nature." Kakashi sighed, cutting off Naruto's rambling. "Wind? I wanted something cool like lightning!" Naruto complained.
"Wind is very…cool." Kakashi explained patiently. "It's actually perfect for your large chakra reserves. Wind jutsu can be refined, like the wind sword, or…" Kakashi sped through hand-signs so quickly Kimiko only caught the last one as he shot his hands forward. "Wind Style:Wind Dragon!" Wind burst from him and coiled into a large serpent with glowing yellow eyes. Just standing near the technique, Kimiko could feel the force of the wind as it pulled at her clothes. With a loud roar, it slammed into a tree, taking it and the surrounding trees down with it.
"Wow…" Naruto whispered. "And I'm going to learn to do that?!"
"Not quite." Kakashi chuckled as Naruto face-planted into the ground. "You will be learning basic wind jutsu to one day build up to that technique."
Naruto nodded enthusiastically. "I'll learn the jutsu so fast you won't believe it, Kakashi-sensei!"
"I'm sure you will." Kakashi eye-smiled at him. "Sasuke." Sasuke's paper also crinked, much to his apparent surprise.
"Well, you have two options. You can continue to learn a new fire jutsu, or I can teach you a lightning jutsu, and you'll have two chakra natures as a Genin."
No one was surprised as Sasuke immediately chose a lightning jutsu.
Kimiko channeled chakra into her paper, and watched it crumble to the ground as it slowly turned into dirt.
"Interesting. I thought at least one of you would have a fire nature - it is the most common, after all. Earth ninjutsu will be very helpful to you in the future." He handed Kimiko a scroll labeled "Genjutsu for Beginners".
"While Naruto and Sasuke start practicing their ninjutsu, you will be working with Pakkun." Kakashi summoned the pug. "I will be making sure they don't blow each other up, or themselves, and you will be attempting to target Pakkun's senses."
"Okay." Kimiko felt a little disappointed that she wouldn't be unleashing gales of wind or lightning strikes, but then she remembered Kakashi's analysis of their abilities. She would trust her teacher. He was weird, but so far he had been right. Plus, Pakkun was adorable.
"Thank you for helping me Pakkun," Kimiko said as they moved to the side, away from the danger zone of learning new ninjutsu.
Pakkun nodded. "If you do well, I'll let you feel my paw." He said seriously.
"Um, thank you." She responded, slightly confused but very much on the "roll with it" train when it came to anything to do with Kakashi-sensei or his summons.
The scroll laid out what genjutsu is, a description of the five senses, most commonly used genjutsu, and then exercises on how to attach chakra to each sense. It wasn't as simple as just overpowering someone with your own chakra; it was much more subtle. The scroll described it as a parasite - small, unassuming, but capable of taking down an entire human body.
The first step was just learning to sense other peoples' chakra, which Kimiko could already do. Pleased, she moved to the next step, which was extending her chakra to Pakkun's.
"I can feel it." Pakkun said when her chakra touched him. She imagined a rope between them, and tried to narrow it to a singular thread. She felt beads of sweat on her forehead as it got smaller, smaller, smaller…
"I don't feel anything." She felt the thread snap in her moment of triumph, and she cursed. "I'm going to keep trying until you don't feel anything the first time." Kimiko said. Pakkun rolled onto his side with a sigh, basking in the rising sunlight. "Go ahead kid, I got nowhere to be."
Kakashi was quite pleased with the results of his training. He had kept his compliments sparse, his attitude casual, and as he had expected, his students had no idea that he was running them ragged compared to their peers. He was training them like they were about to be sent to the frontlines, or like an ANBU squad, not gently nurtured within the village. He was sure Lord Third disapproved as he watched in his crystal ball, but he hadn't summoned Kakashi yet, so he was probably waiting to see the results.
And he certainly had seen results. Even after only a week of training, they were leaps and bounds ahead of where they had started. Only sparring against each other, they hadn't really noticed, but Kakashi had. They had almost mastered the tree exercise, and were working on maintaining concentration while fighting. They all could run up and down the trees with ease. Kimiko was probably ready to move on to water walking, but he had been increasing her chakra pool instead.
Naruto's taijutsu had gone from abysmal to acceptable in a week. He had taken to the Whirlpool Style like a duck to water. That plus his carefully monitored shadow clone usage was turning him into a mini powerhouse. Once he began incorporating gusts of wind around his body, he would be practically untouchable - and if someone did touch him, he had the Kyuubi's healing to help him.
Sasuke's fireball jutsu had been dangerous, but now it was lethal, and he could use it one more time before he ran out of chakra. He was also actually being forced to use his brain, and while everyone called Sasuke a "genius", his mind had been practically unexercised until now. He was beginning to see and recognize patterns more quickly, and he and Naruto would compliment each other well in strategy, plus there wouldn't be as sharp of a learning curve when he gained his Sharingan. He was also learning to rely on his team, though even Kakashi was surprised at how quickly he had taken a step in that direction. He was desperately lonely though, and perhaps that had given him the push he needed.
Kimiko had desperately needed work on her endurance, and while Kakashi was not usually a gambling man, he decided to bet that she wouldn't quit. The first week was probably the most painful for her, mentally and physically. But as Kakashi had learned from Guy, sticking through a grueling training plan produced fast results. If she had been worried about her looks, unwilling to give the training her all, or been diminished by Sasuke's harsh words and constant beatdowns from her teammates, this would've blown up in their faces. Sasuke would have dismissed her and seen her as weak. Naruto would have been pissed at Sasuke for being heartless. Kimiko would have been disheartened and less likely to gain anything from the training.
But none of those things had happened, and the future of team seven was stronger than ever.
With Naruto already learning a chakra nature, Sasuke learning a second chakra nature, and Kimiko taking to genjutsu so quickly…Kakashi didn't want to jinx it, but he was beginning to see the reason the Hokage had put this team together. Are you trying to create the next Sannin?
By the time they broke for lunch, Kimiko was exhausted. Most of the chakra she sent out to tether to Pakkun was spent each time, and she had started to feel a little dizzy just before they took their break. Pakkun had let her feel his paw, which was indeed surprisingly soft and supple. What Kimiko didn't know was that for her to be able to attach chakra to Pakkun, who had a small chakra system that made him about as chakra sensitive as a high level Chuunin, in a way he couldn't feel, was impressive, and indicated good chakra control and a natural talent towards genjutsu. She was just frustrated she hadn't actually been able to affect any of his senses yet.
Naruto popped his clone and spent about a minute frozen and processing.
"Wait, you said we were going on a D-Rank mission?" Naruto confirmed with sensei, who nodded.
"Aw man! Can't we do a C-Rank?" Naruto complained.
"Naruto, there is no way Hokage-sama would let us go straight to C-Ranks." Kimiko sighed around a mouthful of fried rice. Ever since training with Kakashi-sensei had started, she had been eating like a pig. Her grandma kept scolding her on her manners, but she wasn't here, and Kimiko happily shoved more food into her face.
"Yeah, yeah, it's to show our faces to the village, help those who have served the village, work on teamwork, blah, blah. But it sounds so boring."
"Trust me." Kakashi-sensei said, a dark glint in his eye. "After the obstacle course, you will be happy for something boring."
—
"Welcome to Might Guy's Training Course, Level One. Meant to build speed, strength, reaction time, and teamwork!"
"WHY IS IT ON FIRE?"
"Sasuke, don't you dare leave me here, I will haunt you for the rest of your life."
"Run!"
"I am running!"
"RUN FASTER!"
"My clone died to a turtle. A turtle!"
"Whoever called this an obstacle course is crazier than Naruto - IT'S MOVING AGAIN, DUCK!"
His cute little Genin appeared on the other end of the obstacle course in various states of disarray, smelling of burned hair, sweat, and desperation.
"Congratulations! You've achieved the bare minimum of making it through the course in an extremely inefficient manner."
He was pretty sure Sasuke made a sound that was like a growl, but he was too traumatized to speak. Naruto was rocking in a ball, whispering "why did it have teeth?", and Kimiko hadn't moved from where her teammates had dropped her. "I thought I was going to die." She mumbled. "To an obstacle course."
"That wasn't an obstacle course." Sasuke argued, apparently passionate enough to motivate him to speak. "It was hell."
Kakashi allowed them to rest while he reset the course for the next day. "Anyone need the hospital?" He asked when he came back. They shook their heads, still staring at him like he was crazy. Strange.
"Wonderful. Any complaints about a D-Rank mission?" They shook their heads faster, Naruto immediately regretting the action and clutching his aching head.
"Great. Go home and wash up and meet me back at the mission office in thirty minutes." He disappeared, hiding his delight that his team had actually made it through the course, even if they were injured and had taken almost an hour.
Maybe Guy has some idea about this training thing…then he felt a chill run up his spine and shuddered. I have to be careful or I'll start making them wear spandex next.
—
"My house is on the way to the mission office. You can all wash there," Kimiko offered. Sasuke had yet to accept her open invitation for dinner, but the idea of walking back to the Uchiha District must have been painful enough that he agreed. Hikari was at primary school and her grandma was taking a nap, so Kimiko snuck the boys in without having to answer any questions.
Since it was her house, she washed first, throwing her hair back in it's usual ponytail and getting dressed in one of her spare outfits. She threw her dirty clothes in the wash, and also threw in Naruto's jacket, since he had other clothes to wear. Sasuke's shirt she scrubbed and dried by hand as best she could, though it was still slightly damp when he slipped it on.
"Naruto, your jacket is getting pretty threadbare." Kimiko commented as they walked together to the office, munching on some onigiri that Kimiko had had in the fridge. "Have you considered getting a new one?"
"I can't. Prank tax." He admitted, feeling both guilty and relieved at the convenient lie. "Plus, I like my jacket."
"If I find you some clothes, will you wear them?" Kimiko asked.
"It would be nice not to be blinded by your orange every day." Sasuke agreed. Naruto scowled at the comment, but let it go, which spoke volumes to their teambuilding. Kimiko's mom was right - saving each other really did bind a team tightly. That obstacle course…She shivered. Too soon.
"I was planning to use my mission money for Ichiraku…" Naruto said uncertainly. "If you can find something cheap, and still with orange." He said finally. Kimiko nodded. "I'm taking Hikari shopping with my mission money. She's like a bloodhound for deals - it's kind of scary. I'll see what we can do."
They reached the Hokage building and followed the kind directions of the Chunin guarding the door to the mission office.
"Naruto!" A warm voice full of relief greeted them as they entered the room. There were multiple desks, and they could see one team of Chunin turning in a mission report, looking ready to be back in their beds. The voice came from Iruka-sensei, who was manning one of the desks.
"Kimiko, Sasuke, it's good to see you too." He added after a beat. "I had heard you passed the test Kakashi had given you, but I didn't see you for a mission and I got worried."
"He's been a pain in our asses." One of the other desk-Chunin chortled, and then immediately got busy with paperwork as Iruka glared at him.
"We're here for…for a D-Rank, Iruka-sensei." Naruto said, choking out the words D-Rank like they were poison in his throat.
"And where is Kakashi? As team leader, he needs to be here to accept the mission." As though waiting for his queue, Kakashi appeared in the room. "Team leader, ready to accept the mission." He eye-smiled.
Iruka gave him the same disappointed look he would give a student who was tardy, but obligingly read off the list. "We have some weeding that needs to be done, clearing debris from a new house, walking the Inuzuka dogs, finding some lost jewelry, and painting a fence." The three genin glanced at each other.
"Walking the dogs?" Kimiko suggested. "They can't be worse than being chased by Kakashi-sensei's unleashed summons."
"You were chased by what?" Iruka demanded, his disappointed look shifting into a glare.
"We will take the dog-walking." Kakashi said, ignoring Iruka's query.
"Kakashi, they're freshly graduated Genin. They - "
"Are my team." Kakashi cut him off. "And they are more than capable of running a little." Iruka frowned, but reluctantly handed off the scroll. Kakashi let them all look at it to see what an official mission scroll looks like, and then they left the office.
Turns out, Inuzuka dogs didn't like leashes, but did love running. And so they were practically pulled around the entirety of Konoha before making it back to the compound, where Hana Inuzuka thanked them with an amused smile that let them know she knew how difficult walking them was.
Kimiko returned Naruto's jacket after the mission with a promise to keep an eye out for other clothes, shoveled dinner in her face, and passed out with a smile remembering how it felt to slam Sasuke into the ground.
—
The next few weeks passed in a blur. Each member of Team 7 learned their new jutsu and continued to improve their foundational skills. Kimiko now had two basic genjutsu under her belt, and often practiced sensing when they were completing D-Ranks. Sasuke also had two new lightning jutsu, one that temporarily paralyzed someone at short range, and one that could travel along the ninja wires he was starting to favor. He was still winning overall in their taijutsu matches, but Kimiko was now putting up a decent fight most of the time, and she even won a few.
Naruto was now fighting both of them with his clones, and when he was allowed to use his new wind jutsu, it was almost impossible to land a solid enough hit to knock him down. Of course, Sasuke's fire jutsu countered his wind blasts, and Kakashi had to leap in to prevent Naruto from being barbequed when Sasuke's timing was perfect with Naruto's defensive wind pulse. Kimiko and Sasuke had developed a combination jutsu, and of course Sasuke and Naruto had the classic wind/fire jutsu.
Overall, they were pleased with their progress. They felt stronger, faster, and more confident in their abilities. Sasuke and Naruto, though they would never admit it, were enjoying having a team. Sasuke still hadn't accepted a dinner invitation, but Naruto came over once or twice a week, and Kimiko was determined to bribe him now that she knew he liked tomatoes.
"Today is different." Kakashi said as they finished their warm-up routines. "We will be taking a C-Rank mission."
"YES! FINALLY!" Naruto cheered. Naruto was sporting a dark green reversible jacket with the other side, of course, being orange. He wore a simple black shirt underneath, and black pants and shinobi sandals. He also had dark orange fingerless gloves with metal plating on the back (a compromise for all the green), and his jacket had the Uzumaki swirl sewn on the back. Her grandma had done the sewing job, and Naruto had hugged her so tightly Kimiko was worried her grandmother would pop.
"What's the mission, sensei?" Kimiko asked.
Kakashi eye-smiled. "I don't know yet. I thought we would all take a nice, leisurely walk to the mission center to find out."
His students had cleared the training ground before he finished his sentence with a puff of smoke that indicated his ninja dogs had been summoned. His ninja dogs let out a howl of glee and chased after them.
–
Team 7 reached the mission office, out of breath but unscathed. Kakashi-sensei appeared next to them, looking entirely unruffled. Bastard.
Naruto took the lead and entered the office.
"Hey Gramps!" He waved excitedly to the Hokage, who was at the mission desk today.
"Naruto, we're here on official business. You can't call him Gramps!" Kimiko hissed, bowing her head. "Hokage-sama."
"Idiot." Sasue muttered, also bowing his head. Naruto reluctantly bowed his head, throwing a fast elbow in Sasuke's side that Sasuke took with a soft grunt, and a glint in his eye that promised payback later.
"Team 7, it is good to see you." The Hokage said with a smile. "You are here for another D-Rank, I presume?"
"A C-Rank, Lord Hokage. They have earned it." Kakashi-sensei interjected from behind them, "gently" pushing Naruto's head down so he bowed properly, and then ruffling his hair fondly when Naruto glared at him.
"Are you sure they are ready, Kakashi?" The Hokage asked. Kimiko could have sworn a thousand words passed between the high-ranking ninja in an instant, before Kakashi-sensei nodded firmly. "They are ready."
Kimiko felt a warm glow of pride at his words. Kakashi-sensei had faith in them. She would not let him down.
"As luck would have it, a bridge builder has arrived requesting an escort back to his village in the Land of Waves…."
A/N: Yes, we are finally at the Land of Waves! Kakashi is a taskmaster, and it shows. I hope you guys are liking this story. Thank you for all the favorites and follows, and thank you Guest for your lovely reviews :)