His Approval

Ko's Power

It's been six days since the team arrived at Tazuna's house. Ko and Sakura still protected the bridge builder, despite Ko's pleas to train on her own, and even started helping out ever since his workers started quitting. Everyone sat at the table eating breakfast when Ko came downstairs.

"Ko, are you hungry?" Tsunami asked giving the girl a sweet smile. She had tried to get her to come out of her shell wishing she would interact more with everyone.

"No," she answered barley acknowledging her as she headed for the door.

"Where are you going?" Kakashi questioned just as she opened the door.

"To look for Naruto, he didn't come back last night." Ko said as she walked out the door.

"I'll come with you." Sasuke said getting up.

"Sakura and I will join you when we're done eating."

Sasuke nodded and followed Ko out the door.

"Why are you looking for Naruto?" Sasuke asked catching up to her pace.

"Can't I be concerned about my teammate?" She answered already knowing Sasuke couldn't be fooled; maybe can't fool anyone now actually. She hasn't been careful at hiding her apathy and disinterest towards her teammates.

"You don't show a lot of concern for us." He scoffed at her response.

"I do, just not always. I was concerned when fighting Zabuza. I was planning an escape route just in case Naruto's plan failed." She lied; she was only concerned about her and Sasuke's safety.

Ko stopped making Sasuke look back at her giving her a questioning look. Ko looked straight ahead focusing on something.

"What is it?" He asked curious as to why she would stop so abruptly.

"Someone's with Naruto," she informed him making his heart skip a beat. He wasn't scared this time, but he wasn't prepared for another fight at the moment.

"How do you know?" He questioned as he scanned the area not seeing anything through the thick forest.

"I've been working on sensing chakra signatures. It's nothing compared to a talented sensor, but most shinobi can sense others to an extent."

"Is it Zabuza?" He put his guard up getting ready for a fight.

"No, someone else; doesn't seem threatening." Ko yawned stretching her arms as she continued to walk.

Sasuke still stayed on his guard despite her words and calm demeanor. As they walked further, they noticed a young girl walking away from a puzzled Naruto.

"What's with the face?" Ko questioned looking down at the blonde.

"Huh? Oh it's nothing." He chuckled rubbing the back of his head.

"Here, I brought you some food." Ko said reaching out a piece of bread which Sasuke hadn't noticed from before. He wondered how she swiped that from the table without him noticing.

"When did you get that?" Sasuke asked.

"While I was leaving, you guys didn't notice me at first. You guys only noticed when Tsunami announced my presence. Now, since we're here, get to training."

Until Kakashi and Sakura arrived, the boys were still practicing their chakra control while Ko was working on her target practice.

"Ko, have you seen the boys?" Kakashi asked just as she threw two kunai making them collide in order to make them deflect to hit her designated targets.