Chapter 5

Naruto tried smashing his alarm clock, but didn't have the strength to do so, and switched it off. It had been three days of his new training schedule and it was killing him. Seven until nine was team training, of which the three genin had to take on Kakashi using only Taijutsu until he said stop, giving the rest of the time for improvements. After that, Naruto went off to Gamaishi's place to train for three hours, being taught the most basic things over again (including parts of the body, ninja spike seals, etc). After that the three had missions to complete, which in Naruto's opinion completely sucked as the only mission they had done so far is the 'Retrieve Tora' mission - Jiraiya was going to pay for not telling him about that.

On top of all that, after missions and hanging out for an hour, Naruto had deciphering seals to work on. This was tedious and seemingly fruitless, as it took the Genin ages to understand the smallest part of seals. But he continued doing it, as he made a bet with Sakura that he intended to win.

Today would be his fourth day, and he was tired. The gloves he wore had to suck the most though in his opinion.

The first day he put them on, he would get loads of mild shocks which eventually made his arms move less effectively. The second he would get a shock once a minute. On the third day his progress faultered and he was pretty much getting as many shocks as in day one. But, today when he rolled out of bed and put them on, he had less trouble. He was probably as good as he was somewhere inbetween day one and day two.

Naruto noted this down (something he did now after seeing Shino's notes on their academy lessons) and began looking for some food. His place was a mess - scrolls thrown about the place, stacks of empty instant ramen noodle pots, and a collection of practice seals hanging around in various places. This stuff, despite limiting space, made his home look a little more... ninja like in the blond's opinion. He felt more grown up, and with this came a sense of pride. Although, he was still making up for his lack of chakra control, which now meant that he could only just run up a tree if he tried. Even that was after training really hard in his spare time.

Walking over to the kitchen area, the blond pulled out some fruit and began to eat it, making sure to review his notes before he left. Team training began two hours later than usual today, as Shino had a clan meeting and Kakashi needed to go see the Hokage. Naruto had thought about asking Sakura to hang out with him, but remembered how her Mother reacted to him, and decided to leave it.

Sakura on the other hand, could not stop thinking about what had happened between Naruto and her Mother.. She knew the blond was a prankster - he had done it to everyone. But, she also knew that he had never done it to her or her parents. So, why did she have that reaction? There was so many things on her mind, that she decided to go for a walk that morning to clear her head. She doubted that she could of sorted out her feelings on this matter with Naruto bouncing along beside her.

The two genin left their houses at the same time, and both stopped to take in the view before getting on with their mornings. Naruto had decided to take this opportunity to visit his old teacher Iruka, as his class had the day off for survival training.

He made his way to the academy, thinking about the scroll he read last night. It was about chakra theory, and it was complicated. Naruto took a long time (like with sealing) to fully understand concepts and ideas, although he was getting better. He made a note of to ask Iruka about some of this stuff, as Jiraiya can be somewhat unhelpful when it comes to answering his questions. It wasn't that the Sannin was a bad teacher, but he had a certain tendancy to 'allow the brat to figure out for himself and continue to look at women'. This teaching method worked for techniques, but not for theory.

Despite it being only a few days since he had been to the academy, it felt strange looking at the entrance. Naruto had so many memories, and stood for a while thinking about everything he could regarding the academy - his many pranks, the boring lessons, his lack of friends...

Naruto didn't dwell long on those thoughts, and walked inside, feeling somewhat less energetic than he did on the way there.

Iruka hadn't seen Naruto out of class at all since the Mizuki incident, and was impatient for the boy's arrival. Although, he was a little suspiscious when the blond troublemaker came through the door at a normal pace, not jumping around or even being loud.

"Morning Iruka-sensei!" Naruto said happily.

"..Hi.. Naruto" Iruka said, feeling slightly on edge. "How are you doing?".

The blond frowned.

"Are you ok, sensei? You are acting weird".

Iruka shook his head.

"Oh, sorry. I guess it is weird to see you a little more mature since getting that headband - it fills me with confidence" The teacher said proudly.

Naruto sighed, looking up at the ceiling.

"I guess, but sometimes it gets boring. I mean, it has only been a couple weeks since my last prank... but to me that is a long time!".

Iruka laughed, causing Naruto to look confused.

"I'm not laughing at you Naruto, but you have the wrong idea about being mature.." Iruka said, suddenly holding his head higher in an attempt of seeming sagely. "Being mature is to know when to be grown up, and to know when to be childish. You must find a good balance Naruto, otherwise times will be tough".

"Uhh, so you are saying I can pull pranks? Sweet!" Naruto shouted, fist going up in the air.

"I didn't mean that.." Iruka said as Naruto started to look around on his desk. The genin had a thing about going through Iruka's stuff, although not in a rude way. Just things out of interest that were laying around, nothing important.

"Anyway, I have a few question sensei, wanna go get breakfast?" Naruto asked, picking up a pencil. "I know the perfect place...".

Iruka nodded happily, saying that he just needed to tidy up and they will go. It wasn't a mystery as to where they were going, and they both knew it. They both smiled as Iruka tidied his desk, and then left.

...

"So, I was reading this book on chakra theory, and it explained how chakra is a mix of mental and physical energies. I was thinking about it, and I think I probably have more physical energy than mental, so what would happen if I got smarter?" Naruto asked, pausing to eat some ramen. "I mean, I don't need more chakra, so what do I do?"

Iruka looked at Naruto, outstanded at the questions he had been asking. On the way to the ramen stand, Naruto was talking about seals (an area of which Iruka is still a novice, but knows a little) and marvelled at the blond's thoughts on seals. His ideas were scarily good, and he seemed to know how to change the seals to fit his ideas.

"Having more chakra wouldn't be that bad Naruto, but I can understand why you would worry about that" Iruka slowly ate some noodles, contrasting to the blond who was now on his third bowl. "What will probably happen is that your chakra will increase in its strength, and will easier to use".

Naruto turned smiling, mouth full of food, and said something along the lines of 'awesome'. Iruka laughed at the boy's antics, and continued eating.

"Oh, and also.. *slurp* ..I read about chakra flow into other objects, but it was kind of vague about what it is actually used for, apart from weapons and such" Naruto said, finishing his bowl and directing his attention to his teacher. "Do you know of anything that I could do to grasp this idea?".

Iruka smiled profusely.

"It is funny you should ask, as I just found out a great chakra control exercise which gets you to work on putting chakra into objects, wait there one second" Iruka said, searching around in his pocket.

After a few moments, the man pulled out a balloon, and put a small ball inside of it. After asking Teuchi to fill the balloon with water, Iruka gave the balloon to Naruto.

"Ok, one of my old friends who works at the hospital shown me this one - it is a technique which helps one see if someone's arm is broken, or if they have damaged organs, etc. The user sends a wave of chakra into the object, and when the waves hit anything, they bounce back and hit the user, allowing for him to interpret the signals. The stronger the reflected waves, the denser the material it hits. It takes a while to be able to read these waves but this really is useful for control of chakra, and shows one way of how chakra can flow in objects" Iruka said in his lecture voice. Naruto, despite finding it hard to concentrate, took in the key facts.

"Now, watch and learn".

The man made a half ram sign with his right hand, holding the balloon in his left hand. He stuck his two fingers onto the balloon's surface, and shot out a wave of chakra from his two fingertips. Naruto couldn't see much, until the balloon gained a lump about the size of the metal ball. Iruka then popped the balloon, and shown he had the metal ball on his fingertips.

"Well, no mean to point out the obvious, but that didn't look very cool" Naruto said, stretching. "You just popped a balloon when a metal ball touched your fingertips".

"Idiot!" Iruka said, and took out another balloon. "Look, I know it doesn't look very cool but do you know what I just did? I used the technique to find the location of the ball, and use my chakra to move the water inside to get the ball to touch my fingertips, where I held onto it with chakra. It is a really difficult thing to do, and can become useful if lets say your friend got injured in battle and you do not know the extent of his injures - this can tell you what can't be seen" Iruka explained, rather annoyed by the boy's comments.

Naruto looked at the balloon again, and took it.

"I guess I should try and learn this, it would help with my chakra control.." The blond said, trying it out. Unfortunately, his chakra wave wasn't strong enough for him to feel it come back. "I am seriously lacking with control" He admitted.

Iruka, less annoyed now, made the metal ball rotate on his finger.

"I'll give you a little tip - it helps for you to use more mental energy than physical energy. The balance is importance - too much mental and it doesn't go very far, not enough and it won't become a wave" The teacher preached.

Naruto sighed, and pulled out a notebook to make some notes.

'Even making notes on this little lesson... is this even Naruto?' Iruka thought, watching Naruto think about his task.

"Sensei, how do I know what ratio of chakra stuff I am using?" Naruto said, confused.

Iruka laughed. "So many questions! Just think about it, and try it out. After a couple times, whatever gave the best result is the one you want to use" the teacher gave a sigh of relief, as his talk with Naruto had been quite long. "Come on, that is enough ninja questions - I want to know about your team".

Naruto smiled.

"Well, Shino is a great guy, and I really want to be friends with him. Sakura-chan is.." Naruto couldn't quite finish his sentence, and seemed to be puzzled with what to say. "I don't know, sensei".

Iruka nodded, thinking to himself that it is amazing how the knucklehead in front of him is using his brain for once! It was almost funny.

"Well Naruto, I think it is great that you are thinking about things now, it is refreshing" Iruka said in a friendly tone.

Naruto pretended to get riled up, shouting something along the lines of 'how dare you insult the great Naruto!' and jump up from the bar.

"Sakura-chan's parents seem to hate me though, so it will be hard being friends with her" The blond said, becoming quite solemn. "I don't think we can be friends for long".

Iruka turned and suddenly was reminded of all the stigma the boy faced. Now it was stopping him from being a part of a ninja team. It angered the man to no end, but he was a teacher; he knew how to keep a cool head.

"Don't worry Naruto, just focus on building team work with each of them - friendship comes naturally. I'm sure her parents will come around eventually. A great Hokage wouldn't be a great leader if he couldn't change a couple of people's minds about himself now would he?" Iruka said, cheekily smirking at the blond.

"Sensei..." Naruto was overcome with emotion. "...thank you".

With this, the genin began to walk away, smiling.

"Hey Naruto, Catch!" Iruka said, throwing him a book.

Catching it, the boy noticed that the book didn't have a title, nor an author. The cover was completely blank, and looked more like a journal if anything.

"Open it when you get home tonight, I promise you won't be disappointed" The teacher said, getting up and walking away. "Don't look at it until then! See you again for the ramen...".

Naruto watched his teacher walk away, smiling a pure and honest smile. He was brought out of this trance-like state with Teuchi calling his name.

"Yes?".

"Seeming as Iruka didn't pay, I guess you are paying for the ramen, right?".

"I'll kill that no good jerk!" Naruto shouted.

XxX

Kakashi sighed as he left the Hokage's office, and knew that there would be a lot of fuss about his task. The Hokage had told him to start training the Uchiha early, not waiting for his Sharingan to awaken as he thought that the Jonin could relate to the boy and hopefully help him out in more ways than one. Although it hadn't been stated, Kakashi could guess at how the blond felt about Sasuke.

'Today might be a good day to turn up late' Kakashi thought, taking a right turn and walking in the opposite direction of the field.

Whistling, Kakashi started to think about his Genin's abilities, and about their potentials. Shino, being an Aburame, already had many techniques, but risked getting absorbed by them and becoming just another bug-weilder. He needed something that could make him formidable - not that bugs weren't this. He would have to teach him some earth techniques, possibly introduce him to the art of stealth. Shino was a quiet guy and could probably take to it easily. 'Yeah, a few demonstrations on keeping noise to a minimum, concealing your chakra, leaving no trace of you being somewhere...'.

Turning another corner, the man saw an old lady crossing the road and smiled.

"Need any help, ma'am?" Kakashi asked politely.

The old lady jumped, but soon collected herself.

"Oh, what a kind child!" Kakashi flinched at being called a child. "If you want to help, carry these bags here".

The lady dropped eights bags in front of the Jonin, and slowly started crossing the street. Kakashi picked up the bags - with effort - and wondered what kind of old lady could carry so much stuff. Even he was struggling not to use his chakra to help him.

Walking for a few blocks, the two talked about current affairs, voicing opinions, etc. They reached a small, unassuming house to which the lady unlocked, and walked in. Kakashi followed, noting that the walls in the hallway had masked hanging up all along it, and made for a creepy appearance.

"Come in here and put the things on the table" The lady shouted from the kitchen.

Kakashi obeyed, still looking at each and every mask. The kichen was a massive contrast to the hallway in how bright it was. Whereas before he had been in a dimmly lit, small space, the kitchen was very large, and had a massive window letting in a load of natural light. It was almost blinding, but after a few moments, his eyes adjusted.

The man put the stuff on the table, and was about to leave when the old lady began talking.

"Stay a moment, I would like the company. I hardly ever have guests" The lady said, putting a kettle on the stove. "I'm making tea".

"Well, I guess one cup wouldn't hurt.." Kakashi said, smiling at how this would be a great place to kill some time. Now he had a genuine excuse for being late. Usually, a Jonin would be on edge in a situation like this. But it was the Konoha, and she was an elderly person who he had helped out - what danger could he be in?

To allow his mind to rest, he examined the lady properly for the first time.

She had long, grey hair tied up in a hammer bun - something Kakashi expected to be of Chinese origin. It made her head looked bigger than it probably was, but it looked repectable - beautiful even. Her clothes were simple, just a blue happi coat with sakura blossoms on it tied with a red ribbon, and wooden geta shoes.

She sat down at the table, and looked into Kakashi's eye.

"Your eye tells many stories, as do mine. You have seen a lot of this world, and you seem to be strong" The old lady said, pulling various food items out of her bag. "My name is Etsuko Kaisen".

"Kakashi Hatake, if I may be so bold, what is with all the masks in the hallway?".

The old lady laughed.

"I'm a fan of Noh masks, I guess. Do you know of them?" Etsuko said, putting food away.

"Oh, only a few, not too many" The man said, looking around the kitchen.

"Tell me about yourself, Kakashi Hatake".

The Jonin breathed out, and smiled.

"Well, I am a Jonin of our village here and don't have much time to be invested in interests and such.." The man said, giving the excuse he tells everyone.

Estuko looked at the Jonin sternly, and then attended to the tea.

"How curious, you know an old lady like myself can always tell when a man is lying - call it a sixth sense. What do you do with your time when you aren't on missions?".

Kakashi chuckled.

"Do they now? I had better watch what I say then" Kakashi said playfully. "I spend my time training my Genin squad and doing missions with them - they can be quite a handful sometimes".

The old lady chuckled, bringing the tea over to the table.

"Oh, I remember my days as a genin, the trouble we would give our sensei! Oh, those were the days.." Estuko said, thinking back to those times. Her eyes were closed, trying to relive those moments in her life to the full.

Kakashi, despite looking exactly the same, was surprised.

"You are a ninja? I wouldn't of guess..".

"I guess old age caught up with me, but back then I was some ninja. I made it to the rank of Chunin and had potential to ascend higher until I messed up on a mission. I nearly died, and my chakra system is all messed up" The lady said impassively. "I guess I'm glad that happened, as I tended to be reckless - I became an instructor".

Kakashi thought about Etsuko's story and sympathised. It wasn't everyday you met someone like her, but then an idea formed in the back of his mind.

"Say, what did you specialise in when you were a ninja, if you don't mind me talking about your past" Kakashi said, hoping that his plan was possible.

"Well, I dabbled in most things, but I guess I was good at Kenjutsu and Taijutsu - weird combination but I chose to study the former because it was interesting and seemed useful. The latter I chose because... I love to hit things" The old lady said mischievously.

Kakashi couldn't believe his luck.

"I know this may sound odd... but could I send one of my Genins over here for a couple times a week for extra training - she could be great, but needs a little boost. I certainly can't do it because, you know, I don't have enough free time" The man mentally crossed his fingers.

"I haven't taught in years.." The old lady said, considering it. "Maybe... tell me about your genin".

Kakashi was over the moon. Now, he just had to sell Sakura to the lady, which shouldn't be difficult. Easier said than done as she was an Uchiha fangirl, and Estuko struck the man as one who would frown on such things.

"Better get this out of the way now, she is an Uchiha fangirl" The Jonin said, scanning the old lady for any sign of disappointment.

She didn't say anything for a while, and stirred her tea. Her face, neutral and didn't give any sign of emotion what so ever. Scary.

"I hope the girl has some skills then, or at least something" Etsuko said.

"She is the brightest in the class, but is not good in the field" The Jonin said, seemingly in a staring contest with Estuko.

After a while of thinking, the old lady smiled.

"Bring your genin over tomorrow at seven for training, but if she doesn't meet my standards I won't train her" Etsuko said, still smiling.

Kakashi mentally breathed out, believing that he now had lightened his load on training. Still, he didn't really know this person, so he would have to watch from a far - he was the Anbu captain once, such scouting should be childs play.

"Thank you very much" The Jonin said.

Kakashi was now quite happy - he wouldn't have to work as hard with training his genin, and he wouldn't have the trouble of Sakura feeling weak. What luck he had today!

The two of them talked for half an hour on various things, until Kakashi left to allow for the lady to have some time to prepare for his team's arrival.

Etsuko made some more tea, and walked over to a door in the kitchen. She opened it, and pulled out a chest which lay inside. It was quite heavy, so she had to drag it out. She had a key on a necklace which she used to unlock the chest and open. Inside lay a Chunin flak jacket, a weapon pouch, and a sickle.

"I guess one is never too old.." She said to herself, lightly touching the sickle.

xXx

Naruto tried suppressing his chakra, hiding behind a tree in fear that the toad might find him. He knew that Gamaishi could sense chakra, and was trying to keep his output as low as possible. Today, after his anatomy lesson, was stealth, speed and seal training (this involved Naruto trying to write out a seal on the move, trying to get away from the toad. The best thing about these lessons was that they weren't chakra intensive - just made Naruto's muscles ached which enabled him to train for longer. Today he was given part of a seal to study - the part which manipulated the chakra).

After Gamaishi decided to allow Naruto to use his ninja spikes, he shown Naruto the various seals he had for them, and made the blond try and make his own. He had started with the first aspect of the spike seal - chakra. How the seal uses it, how it effects chakra.

Naruto, seeing that he hadn't been found yet, started to write out the first part of the seal, trying to get his head around the mechanics of it. After a few seconds, a spike flew into his right arm with a tag on it. The pain was unbearable, but he had to deal with the explosion.

Nearly passing out, the blond ripped the spike out of his arm and threw it as fast as he could into a nearby tree. What followed was a massive explosion, destroying the tree it had embedded itself on.

"Hey you stupid toad!" Naruto shouted, clutching his arm. "I could of died!".

Naruto felt something hit the back of his head, and he was sent flying into another tree.

"You gave away your position.." Gamaishi said, landing in front of the boy. "You lose".

The blond was barely able to get up, due to both fatigue and injury. He may of had the Kyuubi to help with recovery, but even he had to rest. The more he thought about it, thanks to his poor control, he frequently ran out of chakra during these exercises. He was always scraping the bottom of his resources to make clones, never having enough control to do exactly what he liked.

"That wasn't fair sensei..." Naruto said, wrapping his arm in a bandage he had on him. "That hurt a lot".

"An enemy wouldn't care about such things, would he? Regardless, here is what you wanted" Gamaishi said, throwing the boy a scroll.

Unfortunately Naruto tried to catch it with his right arm and was instantly in pain, not being able to lift it up. The scroll hit him in the face.

"Another thing, you always use your right arm for everything, and it takes most of the damage, you are going to lose it some day if you keep relying on it" Gamaishi said, hopping back in the direction of the house. "Come back with me, I'll teach you a technique which will help you out".

The pain Naruto was feeling halfed as soon as he heard 'techenique', and ran off after the toad, clutching his right arm with his left hand.

At the house, the toad walked inside, and called Naruto in. Gamaishi grabbed some bandages, and walked over to the boy.

"Now, hold your arm out".

"No way, you know medical ninjutsu?" Naruto said, obeying the instructions.

"Nope" Was the toad's reply as he flicked through four hand seals. "Kaeru Shōsen".

The toad then breathed in, and spat out a clear substance from his mouth, which covered the boy's injured arm. Not only was it embarrassing and gross, it also stung majorly.

"What the hell are you doing?!" Naruto screemed, arm shaking.

Gamaishi sighed, and wiped his mouth.

"Don't worry, look at your arm".

Naruto did and noticed that the cut that had rendered his arm useless was disappearing, as well as any other cuts on his arm. They were just seemingly healing at an extreme rate, and the pain slowly going away. After a couple of minutes, his arm was without pain - a little weak but otherwise fine.

"What was that?" The blond said, not knowing whether to find it gross or to be impressed. Clearly it was both.

"Just a technique I developed as I couldn't be asked to learn medical ninjutsu. I'm a toad, do you know how hard it is for us?" Gamaishi said, picking up a notebook from the table. "These are some training exercises to start to learn how to do it, but it probably won't take you long to learn. Unfortunately, it is hard to be able to produce the plasma without a couple months of eating this, and regular exercises.." Gamaishi said, watching Naruto stare at him dumbfounded.

After a few awkward moments in silence, Naruto began speaking again.

"You want me to learn that?! It is gross!" The blond shouted, forgetting about how useful it would be.

Gamaishi sighed, and hit the boy on the head.

"This can save your life and your teammate's lives? Stupid brat, we are not going to argue about this" The toad said, hopping over to the kitchen and getting a bag of small black balls. "You will need to eat two of these a day, and perform the exercises in the book".

Naruto wanted to protest, but in his mind, he guessed it would be best to learn it. His arm did heal quickly, and just imagine how useful it would be for him - no need to beat himself up for having poor chakra control, this would help majorly.

"You got it sensei! What if I run out?" The blond said, stashing the bag away.

The toad smiled fiendishly.

"Well, I guess I have to tell you..." The toad scratched his head. "Every night at nine, you need to sneak into the Nara forest and grab some supplies".

Naruto fell off his seat when he heard what he needed to do. The Nara forest?! One of the most prominant clans in the Konoha, and he was being asked to steal from them.

"Why do I need to do a stupid thing like that?" Naruto said, slwoly getting back to his seat. "It sounds dangerous".

Gamaishi grinned.

"Those medicine balls of sorts are made from plants and deer horns found in the Nara forest. I have been going there for years and have found my way around. Actually, we are close to the border of the forest so it shouldn't be too much trouble. Think of it as a stealth exercise".

Naruto thought about this, and then shrugged. He had almost died today and was drained. Only an hour with the toad and he was nearly sleeping due to lack of energy, and now he was being asked to steal supplies from other people. It was accept and live, or decline and die. Naruto knew which one to pick.

"But if I get caught, I'm blaming you" The blond said, getting up. "I have to go now anyway, see you later sensei. Thank you for the stuff".

Naruto excited the house and ran off at a slow pace in direction of his training field. Gamaishi stared out of the window, chuckling to himself. Out of the shadows in the corner, a black haired ninja with a flak jacket walked out, yawning.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" The ninja asked, doubt apparent on his face. "You know that the Nara forest will eat him up! Only a Nara can navigate it".

Gamaishi smiled.

"Don't worry, it will be good training. Anyways, you will be watching him so he will be fine" The toad said, turning and bowing to the man. "Good thing you owed me".

"This whole thing is a drag, but it is impressive you have lived here so long and not been discovered by more ninja - the previous Hokage, Jiraiya of the Sennin, Kakashi Hatake and the Nara clan are the only ones to know of your location. It was strange of you to call this boy out though.." The man said, musing on his thought.

The toad smiled. He enjoyed solitude - maybe too much. Some would call him derranged.

"Well, I needed somewhere to work on my techniques - and where better to do it than here, where I can have all the supplies I need. Regardless, that boy has a lot of potential, no?" Gamaishi said, grabbing a fly out of the air with his tongue.

"Yes, I am surprised that he is doing so well with your training, from the academy reports he should be dead already" The man said, snapping out of his deep thoughts. "I might as well go now, I'll prepare everything for you".

"Thanks Shikaku, we should play shogi some time - I have gotten better" The toad said smiling.

"I'll hold you to it.." The man said, disappearing out of the door.

XxX

"Sakura-chan!" Naruto shouted, running across the field.

The pinkette was sitting by the tree, seemingly thinking about this and that. She was startled by Naruto's shout, and flinched a little. She didn't know how long she had been there, as she lost track of time but now she guess it was nine, maybe ten o'clock.

"Hi, Naruto" The girl said, getting up slowly. She had sat there for so long and her mind had been thinking through things non-stop that she was tired and achey. "When does Kakashi-sensei get here?" Sakura asked matter-of-factually.

"No idea, ina few minutes hopefully" Naruto said, flinching as a jolt of electricity shocked him. "What have you done this morning?"

Sakura was in her own little word, trying to sort out her ideas, and when prompted with such a question she just shrugged it off with a 'this and that'. The blond felt somewhat upset at this response, but didn't give up.

"Hey.. Sakura-chan, after our D-rank mission do you wanna go get ramen?" Naruto said in a hopeful manner.

Sakura clenched her fists.

"I'm not going on a date with you, you need to stop asking" The pinkette said, half paying attention.

Naruto frowned.

"I wasn't asking out on a date, I meant as friends".

Sakura looked at Naruto with curiosity, but just sighed.

"Well, no, I have things to do" Was the girl's reply.

Naruto nodded, and walked over to the tree, defeated. He was thinking his relationship with the girl had changed since a few days ago, but she had slowly started to go back to how she was. Although, she hadn't insulted him or hit him yet, so that was a step in the right direction.

The blond sat and started to read the scroll Gamaishi gave him, as to try and understand the exercises. The very first one involved focussing chakra into your chest and moving it around your body, performing sets of movements while doing so. Naruto didn't think it looked hard, and tried focussing chakra in his chest. However, this proved difficult and the blond was shocked by his gloves.

'Note to self, cannot do exercises with gloves' Naruto thought while flexing his arm, trying to get feeling back into it.

A puff of smoke appeared in the center of the field, and Kakashi emerged out of it, smiling.

"Yo Genin" The man said, walking over.

"You're on time again!" Naruto said, thinking back to their first meeting with the man. "This must be a miracle, for you to be on time four days in a row".

"Don't get used to it" Kakashi said chuckling. "Anyway, today I have some news for you two".

Naruto and Sakura looked at the man suspiciously.

"No need to look like that, but as you know, being a Jonin and the leaer of a Genin squad is quite taxing. I myself have no free time. So, I have decided that team training can be done in your own time and on missions, and have made sure that you guys are trained without me" Kakashi didn't want to say the real reasons for doing this, but this was believable enough.

"WHAT?!" Naruto and Sakura shouted in sync.

"You are our team's Jonin, you are supposed to train us!" Sakura shouted, more upset than angry.

"I don't care what you say!" Naruto shouted. "You are going to teach us, I just won't leave you alone until you do".

Kakashi wasn't surprised by this outburst, and simply laughed.

"Don't be foolish, I was the ANBU captain you know, loosing a little Genin is easy. But, I do see your point about not being taught by me" The man pulled out a scroll. "You two try and learn this technique, and if you both can do it then I will continue to teach you. You have until the end of the day".

"What about Shino?" The blond said, realising that his friend wasn't here. "And our missions?".

"Shino is still at his clan meeting, and then has clan duties today. You two better get started, unless you don't want training" Kakashi said mischievously.

Sakura and Naruto both looked at each other and nodded, and grabbed the scroll together.

"Gōkakyū no Jutsu?" Sakura questioned. "This is a C-rank jutsu?".

"Good luck! I'll be back at nine" Kakashi was already out of the field when he said this.

Sakura suddenly looked defeated, and let go of the scroll. Naruto, despite feeling giddy about learning a C-rank move, was troubled by this.

"What's up Sakura-chan?" The blond said, putting the scroll on the floor.

"This technique requires an above average amount of chakra, and I have.. one of the smallest reserves in the academy" Sakura admitted.

Naruto thought for a moment, and smiled.

"So? The amount of chakra isn't important" Naruto said, picking the scroll back up. "With enough control, you could perform any technique you want!".

Sakura still felt like it was hopeless, but decided to give it a try regardless.

"Ok Naruto, I'll try it" She said, half-smiling.

Naruto shouted 'Yes' triumphantly, and took his gloves off. Both started to read the required hand seals.

Sakura, while figuring out how to perform the technique, thought about their team. Despite everything, she had to admit to herself that Naruto was a better ninja than her. He actually made Kakashi stop reading and fight him, despite being miles apart in level of skill. She could only watch. Shino also had his clan techniques which, despite not seeing them, still made him a great ninja.

She on the other hand brought nothing to the table apart from her mind, which didn't help much during a battle. Sure she could come up with a plan of some kind, but what then? Make her teammates do all the work. She had to get better if she was going to not be a hinderance.

With this in mind, Sakura focussed intently on the scroll, and promised to try her best to perform the technique.

XxX

"I can't do this!" Naruto shouted, punching a tree as hard as he could.

Sakura focussed all her chakra, and breathed out, producing a small fire ball about the size of her body. However it was slow and didn't look like a strong flame - it was a failure. She fell to the floor, nearly passing out. Sakura was pushing herself further than she had ever pushed herself, and her body wasn't doing well.

"I did... it" She tried shouting, but ending up whispering.

The blond looked at her with admiration.

"You got it down in half a day? Wow, you are so cool" Naruto said, trying the technique again.

Nothing happened when Naruto breathed out, and this only made him more angry.

"Damn my control!" He shouted, before cursing about how life was unfair.

Sakura walked over to her friend slowly, smiling.

"Don't worry about it, we still have half a day left. But I am feeling dead right now".

Naruto looked at her, and could see that she was shaking a little, and felt worried. Although, an idea hit him. He smiled profusely, and started to dig around in his jacket. Sakura didn't know what to make of this, and just watched. After a few minutes, the boy pulled a book out of it.

He scanned the contents of the book, until he found the page he was looking for. Naruto started smiling even more.

"What is it Naruto?" She said, trying to see what was in the book.

"I know how to fix your problem!" The boy said, holding himself proudly. "It is all here in this book!".

Sakura grabbed the book and read what it said, but still didn't understand the so could 'solution' to her problem.

"What does this have to do with me not having enough chakra?" She asked, trying to not show how tired she was. Learning the technique wasn't hard, but performing it was something else. She had nearly fainted twice while trying to get the disired effect.

"In the book, it shows a man using a water technique, and a man using a wind technique" Naruto said in a way mcuh like Iruka. "They mix the two techniques together to create one massive technique, much stronger than one of them could produce on their own. Now, it explains on the bottom how this isn't the only way to combine techniques. It says that you can mix your chakra together, and then perform the technique." Sakura's eyes widened. "So, if I give you my chakra, you can use it to do the Gōkakyū no Jutsu easily!".

Sakura was impressed. Not only was the idea great, as it used both of their strengths, it came from Naruto of all people.

"Are you sure this can work?" Sakura asked, thinking about the best way for Naruto to give her his chakra.

Naruto again thought about it for a while, and sat down pulling out his notebook.

"Give me a second" The blond said, flicking through the pages.

After a while of Naruto pulling out various scrolls and looking at his notes, he jumped up from ground. Sakura didn't know what to think - the blond was like a whole new person. This couldn't be the dead last of their class, could he?

"Thank you Gamaishi!" Naruto shouted, and held up the scroll he was given today.

"What is that?" The pinkette questioned.

Naruto grinned.

"It is something to help with my control of chakra, and its flow. If we can do this right, I should be able to just push my chakra into you, like this" Naruto held up a childish drawing of a person using the Gōkakyū no Jutsu, and someone else standing behind them with hands on the first person's back. "If I get the flow right, it should work. In medical ninjutsu, the flow of your's, and the patient's chakra is very important".

Sakura didn't know how to react, and just smiled.

"Let's try it!" She said, feeling more energetic.

For the next few hours, the two worked on the movements in the scroll, trying to get their flow of chakra right (Sakura resting for most this time though, as she was running dangerously low on chakra). After another hour, they found the best way for Naruto to push his chakra into her. As well as getting their breathing in sync, Sakura had to pull Naruto's chakra once it came into her body, and it would enter her body fast, but she couldn't use it and it would be useless.

The key would be to pretend Naruto's chakra was fanning her flames, and this allowed it to not only create a bigger flame, but also spread into her Keirakukei. Then she could just perform the jutsu normally, but instead of only being able to perform a small fire ball, she could now create massive ones, and still have chakra left over due to the massive amount of it in her system. It worked best when Naruto gave her chakra as she was moulding, producing the best effect.

However, it felt strange for Sakura. When the chakra filled her system she felt better than she had ever felt (physically). She could move faster and lift heavier objects, and it always made her feel warm inside. She had tried using the jutsu but she couldn't control it and it failed.

The two continued doing this until they were really tired. Naruto was getting tired and Sakura, although having plently of chakra, was aching all over. Her chakra system was burning due to the amount of chakra running through it. Truth be told, she was about ready to faint there and then, but due to her determination, she pushed on.

It was seven in the evening, and the two decided it was best to go eat. Despite saying she had things to do, Sakura offered to go eat with Naruto, as she owed a lot to him. If she was being honest, while they were training, Naruto was really quite funny and the two laughed a lot together. Before, their training had been grueling and left no chance for conversation. But this technique, although chakra intensive, required understanding of how it is done. So, before using any chakra, the two discussed how to do it.

"Lets go get some ramen!" Naruto shouted, walking off in the direction of his favourite ramen stand.

Sakura sighed.

"Ok this time we will go there, but next time our team goes to eat we go to a place of my choice" The girl said, thinking of her other teammate. Despite not knowing the 'bug-boy', she was happy with him. He didn't make a fuss over anything and, once you got over the fact that his body was a nest for a collony of insects, he was an ok guy.

Mostly.

Naruto was nearly out of energy if he was being honest with himself, as the one hour training session with Gamaishi was tough, and he wasted a lot of chakra trying to do the technique and get the chakra transfer correct. He was about ready to drop, and needed to rest for two hours.

xXx

Shino walked into his room, and fell onto his bed. The boy liked to be precise and calculated in everything he did, but right now he was too tired to care. He flicked his sandals off and threw his coat across the room.

Today's training was tough, as not only did he work on a new clan technique, his mother thought it would be best for him to work on an earth technique.

He could only lie in his bed and think about what the rest of his team was doing. He looked at his clock, and realised it was ten to nine. Shino got under the covers and allowed sleep to take hold of him, hoping that tomorrow wouldn't involve anything too taxing.

XxX

"Yo" Kakashi said, greeting the two rough-looking Genins.

They looked as if they had been training all day, and the Jonin was proud. He knew they would never be able to both get the technique down, and assumed they would give up after a couple hours.

"Hi Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto said, stretching.

Sakura got up from the floor, wiping the sweat from her brow, feeling sore all over.

"Hi Sensei" The pinkette said, sounding tired, but excited.

"How did you two do?".

Naruto and Sakura looked at each other, before nodding. Kakashi's eyebrow raised.

"We can do the technique" Was all Naruto said.

Kakashi looked at the two in disbelief, and chuckled.

"Well, prove it" The man said, keeping his cool. "Both of you perform the technique".

Naruto stood behind Sakura, and she started to go through the hand seals. The blond put his hands on her back.

"Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu!" Sakura shouted.

The two breathed in at the same time. When they breathed out together, Naruto pushed his chakra into hers, and a massive fire ball worthy of the name 'Great Fire Ball' shot out, hitting a few trees and burning them.

Kakashi was stunned, and just looked at the two in front of him in awe. They figured out that the two of them couldn't do the technique alone. Sakura didn't have enough chakra, and Naruto didn't have enough control. So, they used the strengths they both had to create a lethal jutsu. Not only that, but they got it done in one day.

Although, Kakashi noted that because of the simplicity of the technique, this would be one of the only ones he would expect the two could do in one day. If you could make your chakra turn into a flame, you could do this technique. The only problem with it was you needed a lot of chakra to practice with.

"Well.. done you two" Kakashi said stuttering slightly. "That was really impressive - a smart sollution which most Chunin wouldn't be able to think of".

Naruto and Sakura were smiling, although panting, and both were happy.

"I guess I have to continue training with you guys. However.." Kakashi said, scratching his head. "We are going to have to all welcome a new member to our training sessions. Hokage's orders".

"Who is it?" Naruto asked, feeling confused.

"You will find out tomorrow. Good job Genin, you have surpassed my expectations" Kakashi said, and disappeared in a puff of smoke.

"He always does that!" Naruto said, frowning.

Sakura chuckled at Naruto, and began to walk home.

"Good night Naruto, I'm tired. You should get some rest too - you can't have that much chakra left" The pinkette said, waving.

"Bye Sakura-chan!" The blond shouted.

Naruto made his way home, and chuckled when he thought about his day today. He know felt like he had a team, one which he could trust. He was already good friends with Shino and Sakura turned out to be fun to be with. He no longer felt the disire to go out with her. He might fancy her, but he liked his day today and wanted things to stay like that.

When Naruto got home he started to write about all the stuff he did with Sakura and the effects of him giving chakra to her, what worked best, etc. Then, he picked up a waterballoon that was on his bedside table, and pushed his two fingers onto its surface.

He shot some chakra into it, and closed his eyes. After a number of tries, he felt a 'ping' as his chakra bounced off the ball. The blond smiled, and began to use the palm of his left hand to try and spin the water around.

After ten minutes, Naruto fell onto his bed, completely drained of chakra. He was so tired, and was unable to get the ball to touch his fingertips. He just couldn't direct the flow of the water in the way that he wanted, and got frustrated with it. He decided that locating the ball was good enough (although this was true for about thirty percent of the time, he couldn't find it a lot).

xXx

Shino, who had gotten to the training field early, raised and eye brow when Sakura slowly plodded up to him, coughing. She looked tired and seemed to wince with every step.

"Good Morning... Shino" Sakura managed to get out, stretching. "How was clan stuff?".

Shino nodded.

"It was good, thank you. Are you ok..." The Aburame asked, looking at the pinkette with slight concern as she started coughing.

"Yeah... yeah... just learnt a technique yesterday and pushed myself too far..." She had another small coughing fit. "I can't do much today, in fact I think I am just going to watch today".

Shino was tempted to ask further, but the girl decided to sit on the ground, lean up against a tree and close her eyes. The Aburame thought he could just ask the blond, whenever he would decide to turn up.

As if on cue, Shino saw an orange blur jump through a tree in the distance, and come running towards him. He looked as energetic as ever, with milk dribbling out of his mouth and ramen down his jacket, the boy was glad Naruto was as normal as he usually was.

Naruto, as he was running, was cleaning himself up, and slowed down as he noticed where he was. He smiled, and waved at Shino.

"Hi Shino! What's up? How was your clan meeting? Was it boring? Guess what I did yesterday?" Naruto said (shouted).

Shino chuckled.

"I see you haven't matured in the day I have been away.." Shino teased. "It is a nice morning, my clan meeting was interesting, you learnt some sort of technique with Sakura".

Naruto feigned being hurt by the boy's comment, and was impressed he answered every one of his questions.

"Now it is my turn to ask numerous questions. One, what technique did you and Sakura learn? Two, would you like to come over for dinner later, per my parents request" Shino said in his impartial way.

The blond was surprised, but smiled.

"It was the Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu! Sounds cool, but we couldn't do it on our own.. So that is when I came up with a great idea!" Naruto continued to explain his idea to the Aburame, who was impressed to say the least at what he heard. "And you would actually want me to come over to your house?..." Naruto said, the realisation of what he was being asked dawning on him.

'But what if... wait, his parents asked for me to come over, so it should be ok' Naruto thought as Shino smiled from under his collar.

"We are friends, are we not?" Shino asked, thanking kami for his collar.

Naruto smiled.

"Thank you Shino! I'll be there" The boy said, walking over to Sakura. "Whoa, you ok Sakura-chan?".

The pinkette opened her eyes and looked at the hyperactive blond in front of her, and sighed.

"You are so loud... but I'm fine... just achey and tired" She began coughing. "It is going to take me at least a month to get used to using that technique Naruto...*cough*...my body simply can't cope".

The blond, although a little unhappy about not being able to perform the technique for Shino, smiled and gave her a thumbs up.

"Its ok, at least we will be able to do it, and when we do, our team will be unstoppable!" The blond said, looking up at the sky, imagining his team in a few years.

He was brought out of this thought when Kakashi appeared seemingly out of thin air.

"Sup" The man said, waving. "I trust we all are well".

The Genin's response was nodding in the man's direction, turning and looking straight at him, waiting patiently for the new training partner to arrive.

"I would like you all to welcome our latest training partner, Sasuke Uchiha" Kakashi said, pointing to the raven-haired boy who just walked into the field.

Naruto gritted his teeth.

"Why does that bastard have to join us?!" Naruto said bluntly.

Shino shifted uncomfortably, while Sakura turned quickly to confirm what Kakashi had said.

"Sasuke!" She said quietly, blushing slightly. she tried to move but pain ran through her body

Sasuke ignored the team, and walked straight to Kakashi, asking him about why he was getting sent over.

The blond hated being ignored, and walked up to the Uchiha.

"What are you doing here?" Naruto said, glaring at Sasuke.

Sasuke chuckled.

"I have no idea, Dead-Last, I was told to come here by my Jonin-sensei".

Naruto looked at Kakashi for an answer, but the man just smiled.

"Well, I think it is time for training to begin. So..." Kakashi started. "..Who wants to spar against our friend here?".

Kakashi was pointing to Sasuke, who just folded his arms. Naruto looked behind him and saw that his teammates were as confused as he was.

"You want one of us to fight him?" The blond said in disbelief.

"Well, I have to judge his level of skill, and well I thought it would be unfair for me to go against him" The Jonin said, stepping away from the Genin. "I guess you might as well, I mean, if you don't mind".

Naruto didn't know what to say - he thought the boy was stuck-up, but wasn't sure that he could take him in a spar. The blond had been working on his attitude to things, and he knew that his taijutsu was sloppy if anything.

"Why do I have to go against the dead-last? This won't even be a workout" Sasuke said to Kakashi, who just waved him off.

"Sasuke is right! Naruto doesn't stand a chance" Sakura said, getting a hurt look from Naruto.

Shino stayed silent, observing everything that was going on.

"Naruto? Do you want to fight?" The Jonin said.

The blond clenched his fists.

"Bring it on, teme" Was all he said, before sliding into his taijutsu stance.

Shino started to step back, giving the two genin some room. Sakura, with much effort, sat up.

Sasuke chuckled once more, and darted towards Naruto, swinging his fist at his face. Naruto jumped back, quicker than Sasuke expected, and jumped towards the Uchiha as soon as he touched the floor. Sasuke moved to defence, blocking the various attacks Naruto used, and ended up knocking the boy away.

Naruto, as he hit the floor, quickly rolled onto his feet, preparing for another attack. The same thing happened three times, before Sasuke got bored of it. Once he knocked the blond back, he went through some hand seals, and jumped into the air.

"Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu" He said, launching a huge fireball at Naruto.

Naruto's eyes widened, and he quickly formed a clone who threw him out of harms way. Although, the clone was killed instantly. Sasuke didn't see what how Naruto evaded his attack as the fireball obscured his vision.

The blond smiled, and formed a familiar handseal. Sasuke didn't hear what Naruto said because he said it quietly, but he wanted to laugh when he saw ten clones pop out of thin air.

"What are you going to do with these things Naruto?" Sasuke said, running towards the original, not reacting to one of the clones targeting him.

The clone cocked his fist back, and sent it towards Sasuke. The latter took no measures to avoid the fist, and ended up being hit to the ground, clone popping due to the force they hit the boy with.

The Uchiha, angry now, got up wiping the dirt off himself, and looked at the many clones that started to surround him.

"I guess it is time to take it serious" He said, pulling some shuriken out.

He threw the shuriken, aiming for various clones. Two were hit and ceased to be. He then parried an attack coming at him from his left, and grabbed his attacker. He threw his clone into another one coming to attack him, effectively kiling both of them.

"Six more" Sasuke muttered to himself, fending off three more clones, attacking and defending. It was a stalemate until one of the clones messed up, and payed for his mistake.

The Uchiha kicked the clone in the head with a spinning motion, landing on the ground in a crouched position. He dodged an incoming strike and planted his hand on the attacker. Using this as support, he leapfrogged over the clone and hit the last clone of the group in the stomach. Without dely, Sasuke ran away from the clone he jumped over, and smiled. It a matter of moments the clone exploded, making the field rumble.

Naruto and the remaining three clones looked at eachother, and nodded. The formed a diamond formation (original at the back) and charged. Sasuke, enjoying the fight, ran foreward, holding a kunai.

The first clone at the front threw a kunai at Sasuke, who deflected it, and rushed foreward with a fist ready to strike. Waiting until the last possible moment, the Uchiha dodged the punch by moving slightly to the right, and hit the clone on the back of the head...

...only for the clone to disappear and a log to be hit instead. All the clones then pounced onto the Uchiha, while the original made a few more clones and circled the fight.

Sasuke fought off the two clones easily, taking them down in two minutes. Then three more clones came after him.

The Uchiha put some chakra in his legs and demonstrated his superior speed. The first clone was punched in the face and popped before it could dodge or block, and the second took a kunai to the face. However, this drained Sasuke, and he had to spar with the last clone for a bit until he finished it.

Naruto made yet another three clones (feeling really tired now) and charged formationless with his clones. Sasuke threw shuriken, and waited for the group to reach him. All projectiles were deflected, and the first clone jumped towards Sasuke.

The Uchiha knocked the kunai out of the hand of the clone that was attacking him, and grabbed it by the collar. He threw it to the ground face first, killing it.

Smoke came pouring out of the spot the clone had popped and the Uchiha couldn't see anything. He thought for a moment, and then started to try and hear things. He could hear the three remaining enemies, but they were constantly moving so it was hard to determine where they were.

A kunai came from his right, and was dodged easily. A second and third came from his left, which he deflected. The Uchiha then reacted on instinct when he was forced to defend against a kick aiming straight for his stomach. His block, although rushed, was perfect and he was able to knock the attacker away. As soon as he did, Sasuke's eyes opened wide as he jumped high into the air, trying to avoid the massive piece of metal that was coming towards him.

Unfortunately, due to the smoke, the giant shuriken hit his leg and left a big, but not deep cut. It was painful, but not very hindering, and only fueled the raven-haired boy more.

Falling back into the smoke, Sasuke tried a different approach. He listened for movement, and hear a target. He ran towards said target, arming himself with shuriken. When a kunai tried to stop him, he jumped over it, and threw a shuriken at the source of the attack. Once he landed, he heard a satisfying pop, and spurred him onto running.

The smoke was getting thinner, and the boy increased his spead. He could make out two sillouettes - one on one knee, the other in a defensive stance over him.

'Now is my chance'! Sasuke said, throwing shuriken at his targets in a wide spread.

The first Naruto blocked all shuriken, and threw a kunai back which was dodged easily. Sasuke lept foreward with such speed that even he surprised himself, and he fell onto the defensive Naruto who had no choice but to try and deflect to attack. Sasuke didn't make it through the clone, and ended up ten feet away from his target. However, the Naruto defending had been killed, and the recovering boy was left wide open for attack.

Sasuke sprinted and, in one swift movement, had the boy by the throat.

"I win" The Uchiha said smuggly.

Naruto shook his head, and disappeared in a puff of smoke. When the smoke cleared, all that was left was a jacket, which tighted around Sasuke's arm and pulled him towards another spot on the field.

"I win" Naruto said, yanking on the ninja wire which was attacked to his jacket. He stood in a black t-shirt.

Sasuke flew helplessly into the blond's fist, causing him to fall to the floor in pain. Naruto fell on one knee, breathing heavily. Both boys wanted to keep fighting, but their bodies didn't agree with them. They smiled at each other, and jumped back away from each other.

"It's time to finish this" Sasuke said, clenching his fist. "I hope you are ready".

Naruto smiled, and chanelled his remaining chakra into his fist.

"I'm more than ready".

The two charged at each other and launched each other's fists into the other's face, both hitting their mark. Each genin was sent hurtling across the field.

After a few moments, Naruto slowly tried to pull himself up. After a minute of trying, he fell to the ground and stopped trying. The Uchiha opened his eyes, only just regaining consciousness, and looked at the blond who was lying down.

"Call it a draw?" Naruto said in pain.

For an answer, Sasuke stuck his thumb up.

Kakashi walked into the battle area clapping, and smiled.

"Well done you two, good fight. Never would of guessed this outcome though. I think it is time to get you to the hospital.." The Jonin signalled for Shino to come and get Naruto.

Sasuke was grabbed by Kakashi, and was pulled up with a grunt. Shino helped Naruto to his feet, who was able to stand shakily. Sakura had managed to get up and walk over to her team.

"So, what did you guys think?" Naruto said, talking to Shino and Sakura. "How was the fight?".

His voice was only just audible, and no one responded straight away.

"It was... interesting" Shino finally said. "I was surprised by your jacket binding Sasuke".

Naruto chuckled.

"I thought of it yesteday, cool right?" The blond said. "I put my jacket on one of my clones, so when he popped the clone my jacket stayed there".

"But why did you do the smoke? Both of you couldn't see a thing so it was pointless" Sakura said, still trying to get her head around the result. 'How could Naruto draw with Sasuke?'.

"I used a jutsu..." Naruto took a deep breath, trying to regain some strength. "It is very tiring though and I don't have the control to keep it up for more than a minute".

Sakura was silent, and was for the whole time.

XxX

Naruto and Sasuke were admitted to the Hospital, and both allowed sleep to take them as they got into beds. After ten minutes, Sakura went for a check up as well. Shino stayed in the hospital for a while, thinking about various things until Kakashi said he had to come with him. Ten hours had passed since they Sasuke and Naruto had been asleep.

The two walked around for a bit, talking about various things until Kakashi handed a scroll to Shino.

"What is this?" The Aburame said.

"It the exercise for producing earth chakra" Kakashi said, winking. "Don't expect to complete it soon - it takes most ninja years".

Shino looked at the Jonin.

"Thank you... but why are you doing this?" Shino started. "Why are you training us so much and turning up on time? You are known for being late (just like our first day of meeting you) and you strike me as the kind of guy who would prefer us to do our own training. So why?".

Kakashi stretched, noticing that the sun was starting to set.

"I don't know. I guess I owe it to the man who taught me to try with my genin. I wasn't the best student, and this is my way of repaying it" Kakashi said, smiling. "You are a bright kid Shino".

Shino was surprised by the honest answer - there was more to the story but he didn't ask.

"Thank you again, sensei. I have to leave now, I guess Naruto won't be coming for..." Shino was unable to finish his sentence as Naruto fell into the area they were standing in.

"SHINO!" Naruto shouted, catching his breath. "I will not be late for a dinner I have been invited for".

The Aburame chuckled, and Kakashi laughed.

"How did you recover so quickly?" Shino asked, puzzled.

Naruto shrugged.

"I don't know, when I woke up I realised the time and left the hospital. But I am feeling quite weak" Naruto said, stretching. "Sakura and Sasuke are ok - they both are resting and should be ok tomorrow, ready to train for the day after".

Shino nodded and began walking to his house.

"Bye Kakashi-sensei" Shino and Naruto both said, and walked off.

Kakashi waved, and then started walking home himself.

"What an interesting day" He said to himself.

xXx

A/N

Another chapter, sorry it is kind of lame, but hey, we no one is perfect. Don't have much to say, except I don't really want to write the omake things. I started a short one, but decided against it now. I can't do them at all.

Kaeru Shōsen is the newest jutsu. The user builds up a plasma like substance which you spew from your mouth onto the target. It speeds up the healing process, and can be used in a number of ways.

The ending was kind of rushed, but I don't care c;

Have a nice time reading and have a nice three weeks!