The New Variable Chapter 3, a naruto fanfic

Author's note: Hello, third chappie now! I need to talk about bashing. There will be some towards the Hyuga clan, so if you don't like that, I'm going to tell you right now that their opinion of the Hyuga clan is most likely not going to change. There will be some Sakura bashing-at first. I plan to make her cool and badass at the Chunin Exams, and start her character development before hand (maybe, if I decide to put in Team 7 and Team 8 interactions). This one was...sort of painful to write, so it might not be of the best quality. But, I still hope you guys enjoy it!

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. If I did, Tenten would get more screentime.

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Naruto was dragging a very mortified Hinata and a very reluctant Sasuke along with him. The former was mortified because of the unsightly manner she was being dragged in, and the latter was just very pessimistic about everything in general. Naruto, on the other hand, couldn't be happier.

"Old man!" Naruto greeted happily, plopping his teammates onto seats next to him. "Nice to see ya!"

Kakashi followed after, sitting next to Hinata.

"Well, well," Teuchi smiled broadly at his new customers. "Who have we got here, Naruto?"

Naruto remembered that he had to introduce his new team. "Oh yeah, that's Hinata over there," Hinata bowed and smiled shyly. "Sasuke is the one on my right," Sasuke gave a nod. "And Kakashi-sensei is the one right next to Hinata!" He clapped his hands together. "Alright, let's eat now!"

Teuchi laughed. "Okay, okay. What do you all want?"

Naruto gave a thumbs up. "You know me old man! Miso ramen with extra pork!"

"Alright." Teuchi turned to Hinata and Sasuke. "And you?"

Hinata thought about it. "Umm, I'll have tonkotsu ramen, if that's okay."

Teuchi nodded and looked at Sasuke, who, as he was rather unskilled in the art of choosing ramen, chose the same thing as Hinata because he was NOT humble enough to follow Naruto's choice.

"And lastly, the sensei!" Teuchi looked expectantly at Kakashi.

"I'll have what Naruto's having, thank you." He gave a closed-eye smile.

"You got it!" He turned around. "Ayame!"

"Coming, dad!"

A pretty lady with a bandana tied around her head walked in with the bowls of ramen and placed them in front of Team 7.

All four of them grabbed chopsticks and their respective bowls.

"Thank you for the food!" They all chorused.

"No problem!" Teuchi smiled fatherly. "Dig in!"

"Wow!" Naruto, after snapping his chopsticks, began eating at a pace that would give Choji a run for his money. Sasuke, Hinata, and Kakashi stared dumbstruck.

Naruto really likes ramen. Hinata thought, taking her own bite. He really, really likes it.

Maybe he liked it too much because at the end of the meal, poor Kakashi might as well be broke.

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"Okay, that was a really nice meal," Kakashi hurriedly drove Naruto out of the ramen shop before he could go in debt even more. "But I have business."

"Bye, old man!" Naruto waved, and Sasuke and Hinata bowed and nodded respectively.

"Whew." Kakashi sighed and wiped away the sweat on his brow. That was close. But, he wasn't exactly lying when he said that he had business. Now this is going to be tough.

"Right then," He turned to Hinata. "Time to talk to your father about your situation."

Hinata paled for a moment, and then nodded.

"Huh, what do you mean?" Naruto was oblivious. "What do we have to ask her dad?"

"Idiot, Hinata is a heiress to a powerful clan." Sasuke scoffed at his ignorance. "We need to have her father's permission to do dangerous missions."

"Ohh, that's why." Naruto turned to Hinata grinning. "So you're some sort of princess?"

"Oh, no, not r-really." Hinata didn't really feel like talking. She instead hung her head and scuffed at the ground as she walked.

"Eh? Hinata?" Naruto jumped forward to face her. "What's wrong?"

Hinata forced a smile. "It's nothing. I-I just don't feel that well."

Sasuke narrowed his eyes.

Kakashi sighed.

"Here we are!" Kakashi declared cheerfully. "Let's go!"

All of Team 7 walked into the compound.

It feels so cold here. Naruto wrinkled his nose. And it's not the weather.

No, it wasn't the weather. Everybody here held themselves sort of contempt, some sort of arrogance towards other people that was so unlike sweet, gentle Hinata, that if not for her tell-tale white eyes, he would've laughed at anyone who said that she was related to this clan of bastards.

Sasuke bitterly watched Hinata walk with her head bowed. She should be more grateful that she had a family, that she had some place to go to. She had everything she wanted, yet she walked with such sorrow–and was that fear?

His thoughts started to swerve.

Hinata took deep breaths to calm herself. The atmosphere in the Hyuga compound was suffocating for her. It reminded her of the many battles she lost to Neji because of her weakness and reluctance to hurt her own blood, and the many battles she lost to Hanabi because she couldn't bear to hurt a child, much less her own sister, five years her senior. The name "Hyuga" meaning "sunny place" was misleading.

"Okay, you three wait outside," Kakashi said, stopping at the Head's house. "I'll talk to Lord Hiashi."

Hinata nodded. Naruto and Sasuke leaned in to listen to what they were saying. They didn't have to try too hard, though, as the screens were made of paper and could easily let out sounds.

"Lord Hiashi?"

"State your purpose."

"I would like to talk about your daughter. Do I have your approval to take on missions with her?"

"Do what you like. She is superfluous to the clan, an embarrassment. Make her go on the most life-risking missions–I couldn't care less."

Naruto and Sasuke abruptly turned to Hinata, both of them shocked. Hinata had her head bowed, like she had heard those words a thousand times before.

"Now please leave. You are disrupting Hanabi's training." They heard footsteps and saw Kakashi walk out.
"Well…" He looked carefully at Hinata.

"I WILL KILL THEM!" Naruto yelled out and rammed straight through the door. Hinata thought that she could hear a faint giggle that sounded as if it came from Hanabi.

Kakashi groaned. And if I didn't already have a headache…

"No–Naruto, stop–That's not how we–Oh my god, this kid–" Kakashi raced after him. "Sorry Lord Hiashi–will you stop kicking?–sometimes my students get a little–god, Naruto!–heh, I'm so sorry."

Sasuke glanced at Hinata. If he had known… "I…"

Hinata glanced up, knowing what he had to say. "It's okay, Sasuke."

"Why do they treat this way?" Sasuke winced at his straight forward words. He was never known for tact, after all.

"Well," Hinata turned her head up. "Th-they have me fight my blood, my cousin, Neji, and my little sister, Hanabi. I always lose." She shrugged. "I guess I'm just weak."

Sasuke frowned. "You lost to Hanabi?"

Hinata smiled sadly. "I don't feel right hurting a six-year-old."

Sasuke was stunned. "And then?"

Hinata turned to him. "And then they disinherited me in favor of Hanabi." She closed her eyes and continued to smile. "But Hanabi will be a much better heiress than me, I don't have the disposition."
"That's right."

Sasuke turned around at the voice.

"Neji," Hinata greeted.

"Lady Hinata," He stressed the "lady", mocking Hinata, "Will never be fit for heiress."

Sasuke glared at him. "Don't talk to my teammate that way."

Neji sneered at him. At this moment Kakashi walked out of the house, carrying a kicking Naruto.

"Let me go! I'll show those jerks! No, stop! I want to go beat them up…" He stopped talking when he saw Neji glaring at him.

Kakashi and Naruto watched Neji stalk into the house curiously.

"What's up with Mr. Princess Hair?" Naruto mouthed to Hinata.

"That's my cousin, Neji." Hinata's gaze followed him. "But he's like a brother to me."

Sasuke punched the pillar of the house. "They're idiots," He stated coldly. "If they think you weak, Hinata. Let's go. This place is disgusting." He stormed out.

"What's up with the bastard?" Naruto mouthed to Hinata.

Hinata watched Sasuke walk out, a little bit concerened. She hadn't thought he would react that bad. But then again, Naruto did try to destroy her father after hearing what was said about her. She was touched that they cared so much for her, no one, apart from her late mother and her sister Hanabi. But her mother was, well dead, and her sister only could do so much, as Hiashi was also HER father. But these strangers cared so much about her. No, they're not strangers. Hinata thought. They're my comrades, my friends.

Kakashi watched his little team proudly, as they walked out of the compound. He had only restrained Naruto because he didn't want him to get in trouble with the clan. Internally, he had been cheering him on, as he chased him around. And to see a normally impassive Sasuke have such a reaction to his teammate, well that was something.

I chose the right people for this team. He realized.

And then watching Naruto defend his teammate, watching Sasuke protect them in his own way, and watching Hinata act as a medicine to their wounded souls in return, he felt a sensation he hadn't felt in a very, very long time.

He was proud.

"Hinata, why does Neji hate you so much? It can't just be because you're weak. That doesn't deserve hate." Sasuke turned steely eyes on her.

"Yeah, Hinata, why does he glare at you like that?" Naruto was curious as well. The way Neji looked at Hinata, the eyes that glared at her… They were like the ones that the villagers gave him. No one should have to go through that. He decided. Especially not my teammates.

"W-Well…remember when I-I said that what I hate is rather personal?" Naruto and Sasuke nodded. Hinata took a deep breath. "The Hyuga clan has a system where the people not of the main branch are branded with the Caged Bird Seal and are practically slaves to the main house. This was part of the reason Neji's father died. I was the other part." Hinata took another shaking breath.

"Hinata, if you don't want to talk about this, you don't have to," Naruto reassured.

"He's right. I didn't mean to pressure you," Sasuke agreed.

"N-No." Hinata looked up with a new resolution. "I…I want to do this. When I was three years old, a Cloud ninja kidnapped me. My father heard him and killed him when he confronted him. The Cloud Village claimed to have no intentions of stealing me, no intentions of stealing my byakugan, and said they wanted the life of the person who took the life of one of their people.

"My father was too precious to kill off, so they sent his twin brother, Hizashi Hyuga."

"Neji's dad," Naruto realized.

Hinata nodded. "Neji blames me for the death of his father. He's partly r-right." She dropped her head.

"Hinata, did you plan to get kidnapped when you were three years old?"

Hinata looked up, surprised at Sasuke's harsh tone. "N-No, but I–"

"Did you plan to get kidnapped when you were three years old?!" Sasuke had raised his voice now.

"Sasuke!" Naruto glared at him. "Chill!"

"No, Naruto. I will not "chill". Hinata, answer me! Did you plan to get kidnapped when you were three years old?!"

"No," Hinata whispered.

"Then I don't think it's your fault in any shape or manner," Sasuke finished off.

"That's right!" Naruto scowled at Sasuke behind Hinata's back. "So don't ya worry!" He slung an arm around Hinata and dragged Sasuke over. "The atmosphere is getting to stiff, so why don't we have a group hug!"

He immediately proceeded to crush Hinata and Sasuke.

"Mmh, Naruto!" Hinata weakly protested. Naruto is hugging me! She thought internally. But this time it wasn't just based on a silly crush. No, this time I understand Naruto. This is companionship. And it wasn't so bad–to just feel accepted.

"Loser, let go of me–no, you cannot–Naruto, don't you dare–" Sasuke was cut off and dragged into the hug as well.

When Naruto let go, poor Sasuke and Hinata were gasping for air and holding at their broken ribs.

"Heh, I might've squeezed a bit hard." Naruto bashfully scratched the back of his head.

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Kakashi watched the exchange between his precious student and came to a decision. He needed a talk with the Hokage. What better time than to do so at a report about their genin? He chuckled when he imagined what Kurenai and Asuma's faces would look like.

"Ah, Kakashi, you're finally here," The Third Hokage greeted. "Late as usual."

"Why couldn't you just come early to tell how you failed these guys, and then let us move on?" Asuma grumbled through his cigarette.

"Team 7 has passed!" Kakashi brightly announced.

Iruka was shocked and elated at the same time.

Asuma's cigarette fell out of his mouth.

Kurenai blinked. Genjutsu was her thing, not Kakashi's. She opened her mouth to remind him that, when he took on a more serious tone.

"I want to talk to you about my students' well being, though, Lord Hokage." Kakashi turned his eye onto Hiruzen who nodded.

"After the other sensei's report, of course." He looked expectantly at the other jonin.

Kurenai was the first to snap out of her shock. "Oh, right. Of course. Team 8 passed."

Asuma was next. "As did Team 10."

"Wonderful. Dismissed." Hiruzen waved a hand in the direction of the door.

Kurenai and Asuma left with curious looks towards what Kakashi had to say.

Kakashi made sure they all left before starting.

"First things first," He turned accusing eyes on the Third Hokage. "I...overheard Naruto talking about some taxes being placed on things he bought, including food. What do you know about this?"

Hiruzen sighed. "They say the Hokage's word is law, but it's up to the citizens to obey them. I've seen the injustice he goes under. It's all twisting from the council and elders, they hate that they have to put up with the nine-tails being in the village."
"The nine-tail's jinchuriki!" Hiruzen raised an eyebrow at Kakashi voice. "I meant no disrespect, Lord Hokage," Kakashi hurriedly apologized. "But what do you think the Fourth would think about this?"

Hiruzen sighed again. "Like I said, this is out of my hands."

Kakashi grudgingly let go of the matter–for now. He had another subject to tackle.

"Now, my other student, Hinata Hyuga. You do realize she goes under verbal and mental abuse everyday when she's in that damned compound, right?"

"Another matter that is out of my hands." Hiruzen chewed on his pipe. "I cannot risk angering the Hyuga, and the law states that it is a clan matter."

Kakashi let out a frustrated groan, which, in Hiruzen's book, was his equivalent to tossing the desk up and chucking it out of the window. "I'm sorry, Lord Hokage, but they remind me of my own team so much, and it pains me to know I can't help them."

"They remind you of your old team?" The hokage looked at him curiously.

Kakashi nodded. "I'm in Minato-sensei's place, Sasuke reminds me of me, of course, Hinata is exactly like Rin, you know, the peacemaker in the group, and Naruto, Naruto reminds me of Obito." He sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. "I need some time." He stepped out of the room. "See you."

The Third Hokage hid a smile as he looked out of his window. It was nice to see Kakashi care about something so much. His new team probably could work miracles, if they could get such a reaction out of the copy ninja so famously known for his stony and unreachable attitude.

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"Hinata."

Hinata immediately stiffened at the sound of her name. When it was called in the compound, it usually meant bad news. Especially if it was said in that manner. She approached the dojo in which the voice came from. "Yes?"

"Enter."

She did so obediently.

Her father was standing there, arms crossed, Neji at his side. "You will train with Neji. It's good for Hanabi to see how two Hyugas fight. After all, Hanabi is now heiress, and although she is a better fighter than you, she will not fight anybody seriously anytime soon, and your own skills can get better as she studies you."

Hinata noticed Hanabi sitting on the elevated floor on the exit of the training dojo. Next to her was Neji.

"A-Alright then." Hinata slid into position. Her father ushered Neji into the training ground where he also dropped into position.

"Began."

Neji immediately went on the offensive, byakugan activated, and pushed forwards with swift hands that darted towards Hinata's chakra points and organs. She immediately realized that he wasn't holding back when he thrusted for her lungs. She swallowed the possibility of Neji killing her, and the fear that came along with it, and hastily activated her byakugan, smacking away Neji's hands and trying to keep up with his pace. Her byakugan showed his pressure and chakra points, and she aimed for those, careful not to touch any vital organs or points, and instead going for the ones that she knew would just paralyze him or make him unable to wield chakra.

It was this kindness, or naivete, as many would call it, that led to her fall.

Neji took advantage of her carefulness and hammered on. Hinata felt hands injecting vile chakra into her stomach, shoulders, chest…

"Stop!"

Neji immediately halted his ruthless onslaught when Hiashi gave the command to stop. Hinata dropped to the floor, breathing heavily.

"That will be all." Hiashi looked at the sky. "Hinata, you may retire into your rooms now. You have a meeting with your team tomorrow, no?"

Hinata nodded shakily and struggled to her feet. "Y-Yes, father."

Her father frowned. "Do not call me "father". You are no daughter of mine. And drop the stutter, it's annoying."

He swept away, Neji by his side. Hanabi cast her sister a worried look before following Hiashi. Hinata weakly smiled in reassurance. She checked the time. It was 11:00 now. She didn't know that the fight lasted that long. She dragged herself across the compound to her room, numbly moving her sore feet one by one. She stayed awake long enough to get into her room, and then collapsed onto the floor out of exhaustion.

My chakra points are blocked, my arms are disabled, I probably have chakra burns… Hinata listed all the ways she was injured in the fight in an effort to keep away from one question that kept pestering her. Would Neji kill her if not for her father interfering?

Before Hizashi Hyuga's death, she would've fervently denied it. Now? Now, she didn't know.

The thought kept her restless for the remainder of the night.

Naruto and Sasuke were currently at the training grounds. Waiting for Hinata. Hinata who was alway punctual, and at some times early. Hinata who would never dare disrespect her sensei and fellow genin by being tardy.

Hinata who was late.

At this point, Naruto and Sasuke were too confused, and a bit concerned, to argue. Instead, they came up with possibilities of why Hinata was late to ease their imaginations.

"Maybe she wanted to eat at Ichiraku's, and, and she loved it so much she forgot the time!" Naruto said excitedly.

"Idiot," Sasuke rolled his eyes. "Not everybody likes to eat ramen as much as you."

"Well, those people either have deficient taste buds, or are completely cuckoo! Believe it!" Naruto declared.

"So, you're calling Hinata completely cuckoo?" Sasuke raised an eyebrow.

"No, I'm just saying she likes–Hinata?"

Sasuke turned around to greet the missing member of the team–only to have to rush forward and catch her along with Naruto.

"Hey, Hinata?" Naruto waved a hand in front of her face. "You good? Hinata?"

Hinata, currently being supported by Naruto and Sasuke, mumbled a soft, "I'm okay", before passing out.

"Here."

Naruto and Sasuke glanced around again at the new addition to the group. I'm going to get whiplash if this continues. Naruto thought ruefully. But he had more pressing matters on the hand than a head or neck injury.

Kakashi bent down and scooped her up, placing her gently on the bottom of the tree. There he held up a hand that was glowing green and placed it next to the bruise on her face. Slowly, it faded. I learned a simplified version of the healing palm technique with my sharingan. Kakashi thought. But she is suffering from more than simple bruises and scrapes. This is past my expertise, but with rest, she will be able to recover. It's mostly exhaustion that is the problem.

After he was finished fixing up Hinata to his best ability, he gently nudged her awake.

"Hghh." Hinata sat up and rubbed her eyes, and then realized that she was at a meeting and her sensei was standing right in front of her. She immediately stood up and bowed.

"I-I'm so sorry, Kakashi-sensei!" She hastily apologized.

"None of that please," Kakashi guided her back down to a seating position. "But tell me, what happened to you?" Naruto and Sasuke leaned forwards to hear the answer.

Hinata's eyes shied away from her team's gazes. "U-Um, it's nothing. J-Just family training."

Naruto's eyes flared, and he opened his mouth to protest, but was stopped by Kakashi.

"What's the big deal?" He demanded at his sensei.

"Not right now," Kakashi hissed back. He then smiled and turned to Hinata. "Well, good thing today we won't be doing anything too intense. We'll have some individual training to see what your specialities are and whatnot." He formed to seal for shadow clones. "Hinata you follow the shadow clone on the right, Sasuke you on the left." Hinata and Sasuke both walked to their respective shadow clones.

"What about me?" Naruto turned to Kakashi eagerly.

"You get the original me, of course." Kakashi smiled behind his mask.

All three of them watched silently as one of Kakashi's shadow clones led Hinata away into the woods. Kakashi prepared himself for the next moment. It was not going to be pretty.

"Sasuke, Naruto," Kakashi said. "I know you guys know what happened to Hinata, and I know you're both angry, but you guys need to make sure not to do anything rash. This is a clan matter, it is not our business, and it is out of our control."

He was immediately assaulted by multiple protests.

"We'll make it our business!" Naruto insisted. "We'll bring it into our control! Believe it!"

"To hell with the clan matters," Sasuke agreed. "She's our teammate, it's now our matters as well."

Kakashi raised a hand to stop their words. "I know, it's unjust the way they treat her. But what can we do?"

Naruto and Sasuke were silent. That they didn't know.

Kakashi softened his tone. "We just need to support her from over here, and I know it won't solve the issue, but we can let her know that she has a safe haven–with us."

Naruto brightened up. "That's right! She can stay at my apartment whenever she wants to!"

Kakashi wrinkled his nose. "Only if she likes a trashed up place and spoiled milk."

Naruto protested. "My place is not trashed up–wait. How do you know what my apartment looks like?" He eyed Kakashi suspiciously.

Kakashi gave a nervous laugh. "Uh, guesses?"

Naruto let out a "hmph" and turned away. "Perverted stalker."

"Okay, now, Sasuke, follow the clone, and Naruto we'll be staying here." Kakashi hurriedly changed the subject away from him being a "perverted stalker" as Naruto so gracefully put it.

"Woohoo!" Naruto jumped up and punched the air. "Training!"

Hinata followed Kakashi-sensei's clone into the woods. After they came across a clearing, the clone stopped and faced her.

"We're going to start with your elemental aptitude," Kakashi began.

He produced two slips of paper. "To test, simply inject chakra into the paper." He handed one to Hinata, and then demonstrated. His paper crinkled. "Different chakra natures will produce different results from the paper. Fire will make the paper burn and turn into ash, wind will make it split in half, lightning will make it crinkle, earth will make it turn into dirt and crumble away, and water will make it wet."

Hinata held the paper between two fingers and carefully imputed some of her chakra. The paper turned wet. She bowed her head in shame. The common chakra nature for Hyugas was earth, and although they didn't incorporate it into jutsu, it explained their solid grounded stance.

"Hmm, water and lightning chakra nature. Interesting." Kakashi noted.

Hinata's head snapped back up. Lightning? She looked back to the slip of paper and realized it had crinkled as well.

"Well, I'll look up some jutsu for you to learn, but I have a question, Hinata," Kakashi continued.

Hinata looked up. "Yes?"

"Do you have any knowledge about medicine?" The clone inquired.

Hinata nodded. "A-Actually, I do." She pulled up a small container. "I make my own healing salve."

The clone nodded and asked for it by gesturing with his hand. Hinata complied immediately. Kakashi's clone unscrewed the lid and dipped his fingers in, scooping out some of the paste. He looked at it approvingly. It was almost at the same level, if not equal, with the medical paste that chunins got. After wiping his hands and handing the canister back to Hinata, he produced some scrolls.

"I personally think that you would have a lot of potential with the healing side of shinobi," Kakashi explained. "So I thought to teach you what I know. These scrolls are directions to a much more advanced version of the medical ninjutsu I will show you right now."

Hinata nodded. She also liked the idea of healing instead of harming with the abilities she had. Of course, her clan and father would throw a fit if she became a medical ninja, as that role was "beneath" the status of the Hyuga, but she was already considered a failure, and, therefore, had nothing to lose. And so she watched attentively when Kakashi demonstrated.

"I learned a very basic technique of the healing palm jutsu when I was out on the battlefield," Kakashi clarified, opting to leave the part about using his sharingan to learn said jutsu out. "It can only heal simple external cuts and bruises, but it should be a good base to start on."

Hinata looked in awe, as Kakashi's hand started glowing green. It was so unlike the other jutsu she had learned and saw. Those were full of hurt and destruction. This one was calm and healing.

"How do you do it?" Hinata asked, excited. Kakashi noted that she momentarily lost her stutter when she was excited.

"Well, you have to focus your chakra into small balls into the palm of your hand first." Kakashi watched Hinata carefully. "But I assume that your chakra control is very good considering your fighting style being the gentle fist."

Hinata nodded. She closed her eyes and concentrated. Focus. When she opened her eyes, she proudly brandished a hand that was flickering with green chakra. To her dismay, it immediately faded. She looked at Kakashi worriedly.

"It's okay, it's okay." Kakashi gently comforted her. He already knew he had to take a more gentle approach with her then Naruto or Sasuke. While those two would bound back harder than before with criticism, Hinata would just retreat further back into her shell. "You can try again." He knelt down to her level and made direct eye contact. "Just remember, you are my student, and I will be proud of whatever achievements you make."

Hinata looked at him, silent. Did he really mean it? That he was proud of her? Her lower lip started to wobble. No one had ever– She burst into tears and buried her face into Kakashi's flak jacket.

"Shh, it's okay." Kakashi gently patted her back as if handling a small child. When was the last time someone told her that she was fine the way she was? He wondered bitterly. To have such a big reaction to such simple words…

After a few moments, Hinata pulled away and rubbed at her eyes. "'Kay, I'm ready now."

Kakashi smiled. "Alright then. Let's try again."

Sasuke eyed Kakashi, or at least a clone that was made by Kakashi. Very different things.

"Where to start, where to start," Kakashi muttered to himself. Oh yeah. Same thing with Hinata. Chakra nature.

He gave Sasuke a slip of the chakra paper and explained how to use it. "Just inject some chakra into it, and you'll get results." He finished off.

Sasuke took the piece of paper and held it between two fingers. The paper crinkled then burned into ashes. Sasuke stared, a little bit bemused.

"What's wrong?" Kakashi asked.

"I expected the fire chakra nature, that's an Uchiha clan trait, after all, but lightning?" Sasuke stared at the small sheet of paper.

Kakashi tilted his head. "It's just one other chakra nature. Besides, lightning is connected to fire in some ways. And I myself have a lightning chakra nature, so I can help you with a lot of jutsu. But that's for later."

Sasuke shrugged. He'd decide who cheated who later. "What are we doing right now?"

"Well, Sasuke," Kakashi brought out a scroll and unsealed two wooden practice swords. "Let me teach you the beautiful art of kenjutsu."

"So you mean I have wind chakra nature?" Naruto looked at the cleanly cut chakra paper. "Nice!"

"Yep," Kakashi nodded. "Quite a rare chakra nature to have as well." He pondered for a minute. "I'm sure Asuma will have some jutsu that we can work with." He then turned back to Naruto with a more serious tone. "Naruto, I am aware that you are aware of what you're hosting inside of you, correct?"

Naruto nodded. He would never forget that bitter night when Mizuki revealed he was the nine-tails jinchuriki.

"But are you aware that it provides you huge chakra reserves and stamina?"

Naruto thought for a minute. "I think I had my guesses, but not really. What's your point?"

"My point is that I have a type of training only you can do, Naruto, a type of training that includes the use of shadow clones." Kakashi continued to clarify what he meant. "When dispelled, shadow clones send the user of the jutsu all their memories, of all the things they learned. A jutsu that is usually learned in a week can be learned in half of that time with one other shadow clone, a third of that time with two other shadow clones, and then on and on."

Naruto caught on. "Ohhh, so if I make a hundred shadow clones…"

Kakashi nodded. "And only you can do this type of training because out of all of Team 7, you're the only one with the chakra reserves that can keep the shadow clones going."

Naruto bobbed his head eagerly. "Okay!" He crossed his fingers in the ram hand seal. "Shadow clone jutsu!"

Multiple copies of Naruto popped up everywhere.

"What are we going to do?" Naruto inquired to Kakashi.

Kakashi's eye gleamed. "Why, since your Academy skills need honing, Naruto, we're going to work on taijutsu."

At the end of the day, all three genin were worn out.

"Good work," Kakashi praised. "Take tomorrow off. We start our missions on the day after."

All three of them nodded, and set off, shoulder to shoulder.

"Ramen?" Naruto asked tentatively.

"No."

"Please?"

"No."

"Oh, come on, Sasuke!"

"Uh, h-how about we go to a bakery?" Hinata suggested. "They make the b-best cinnamon rolls."

Sasuke wrinkled his nose. "I don't like sweets."

Hinata stared at him. What did he just say? How could one not like sweets?

For the rest of the walk, all three of them were arguing, well, Hinata was trying to play mediator while holding her shock (Sasuke doesn't like sweets?), over where they wanted to eat.

At the end, they somehow managed to come to the conclusion of eating at Ichiraku's, much to Naruto's glee.

"Ramen!" He jumped up and down in excitement.

"Never again," Sasuke muttered darkly.

Well? How do you like it? Tell me! And also tell me, do the characters seem OOC to you? I thought Sasuke did for a bit, it's hard to make them all friends, and at the same time ignore Naruto's ignorance towards a lot of things, cautiously walk around HInata's crush for Naruto, and carefully take away Sasuke's "I want revenge" attitude. I have decided on my update pattern, the first ten (hopefully) or so chapters will come at a faster pace, and then it will slow down with the other chapters. The longest time in between updates will be two weeks, unless I have something come up. I hope I keep it that way. Anyways, happy reading and please review!