Naruto: The Lost Phoenix

Chapter 114: Hidden Talent

"And what's the point of this again?" Kai asked while indicating the blindfold over his eyes before he suddenly felt something hit him in the right shoulder with enough force behind it to knock him to the ground.

"For you, maybe nothing. But for me it's for some much needed stress relief." Darui replied before he kicked Kai's dropped wooden sword into his hand so that he could have it again. "Well that and, seeing as you can't sense people with chakra, you're going to need to be able to do it to at least some degree with your other senses."

"Sight is a sense, isn't it?" Kai asked dryly.

"Yeah, but one that you've been relying on too much." Darui agreed. "Therefore we're doing this to train your other senses."

"So I'm supposed to somehow hear you coming or feel the disturbances that your movement makes in the air?" Kai asked almost to himself while wondering if such a thing was even possible.

"Either that or just keep being beaten. I don't mind if this takes a while." Darui stated lazily and Kai could tell that the man was shrugging as he spoke.

"You know, you're actually pretty mean." Kai stated while preparing himself to try and defend against the man's attacks again.

"You're the one that asked me for training, so get used to it." Darui replied before Kai heard something swoosh through the air to his right only to then be hit on the left side of the head and knocked down again. "Come on. Try to follow the blade."

"I can barely tell where you are, much less where your sword is." Kai grumbled as he got back up.

"That sounds like your problem." Darui snickered to himself while further earning Kai's irritation. "But we're going to have to put any progress on hold for now because it looks like the others are finally here."

"Good morning Kai! Darui!" Fumi greeted them enthusiastically while running up to them. "What are you guys doing?"

"Training."

"Anger management." Both of them replied at the same time with Kai  sending their team leader a reproachful look afterward.

"Good morning." Namaki greeted them while surprising Kai as he'd taken off his blindfold just in time to see that the kid actually looked in his direction he greeted them.

"Good morning..." Kai replied awkwardly.

"Alright, so are you guys ready for today's mission?" Darui asked.

"What are we doing?" Fumi asked excitedly before cringing as she must have thought of something that she didn't like. "Not guard duty again, right?"

"We actually have today off so we're going to spend it training." The man explained before pulling out three small pieces of paper. "But first, we're going to discover your chakra natures."

"Our chakra natures?" Fumi asked curiously.

"I already know what mine's going to be." Kai waved the thought of being tested away.

"The others are testing their's, so just humor us and follow along." Darui replied before slowly walking up to each of them and handing them one of the papers. "Just concentrate your chakra into them and they'll tell you what nature your chakra is. If it's fire then the paper will catch fire and turn into ash, if it's water then it'll get wet, if it's wind then it'll rip, if it's earth then it'll turn into dirt and if it's lightning then it will crumble."

"I am so getting lightning." Namaki seemed unusually excited as he declared his hopes.

"I want fire too!" Fumi echoed his enthusiasm.

"None of you will know what you have until you pour your chakra into the paper, so try it now." Darui instructed before waiting a few moments in silence before Namaki let out a loud 'woop'.

"Lightning!" The suspiciously happy Namaki shouted while grinning from ear to ear.

"Speaking of lightning, do you remember that thundercloud coin that I gave you last week? When am I going to get that back?" Kai asked.

"Huh? What are you talking about?" Namaki asked curiously. "I haven't taken anything from you in a long time, you know."

"Wow... Sorry, I guess it's nothing." Kai replied before speaking to himself out loud. "Seeing as you were acting like a normal human, I thought that you might be another spy from the empire."

"Oy!" Namaki shouted angrily at him before Fumi started laughing hysterically from beside them.

"He's right! Normally you're just really grumpy!" Fumi agreed with Kai.

"That's because I have to put up with you guys on a daily basis!" Namaki harrumphed before he began to act hesitantly as he looked at Kai again. "W- What would you have done if a spy really did replace me?"

"I would have tried to find you, of course." Kai replied as if the answer should have been obvious. "No matter what you've done to me before or how much you hate me, you're still my classmate."

"Would it have been the same for what you did for Futoshi?" Namaki asked, and after being stunned for a moment, Kai sent a glare towards their team leader with the man suddenly finding something extremely interesting with his shoes which required his full attention.

"I'm not sure if it would have been like it was with Futoshi or not." Kai finally answered after thinking for a few moments. "But I still would have found you. Like I said, you're my classmate."

"I see..." Namaki replied awkwardly while averting his gaze before he eventually looked back towards Kai with a determined expression. "And Kai?"

"Hmm?" Kai grunted in reply.

"Thanks..." Namaki thanked him, further shocking Kai before he summoned his new sword from its scroll and held it out towards the infiltrator.

"Where's Namaki?!" Kai shouted with his target holding up their hands in surrender.

"I am Namaki!" The boy shouted.

"Cut it out." Darui interrupted them by bringing his knuckles down on Kai's head hard enough to knock him to the ground again. "Rather than making a fool of yourself, why don't you follow the earlier instructions?"

"Nooo!" Fumi cried out before everyone looked towards her to see that the paper in her hands was wet and dripping with water.

"Water isn't a bad element to have, Fumi. In fact, it's beneficial to those who are looking to become a medical ninja." Darui explained.

"Really?" Fumi asked hopefully. "I'm still mad though. I wanted the same element as Kai."

"Who knows? Maybe his element is water." Darui shrugged before glancing at Kai again. "We won't know that until the slacker finally tests it."

"I'm telling you that it's going to be fire." Kai sighed before he held his paper out, sent his chakra into it and watched as it burst into a small flame in his hand. "See?"

"What I 'see' is interesting." Darui replied. "Most of it turned into fire, but what's that you're still holding in your hand?"

"Still holding-?" Kai was about to ask, before he released his grip on the paper and watched as a small amount of dirt fell to the ground. "But that's- That's not possible. I replaced all of my chakra with nature energy..."

"If you did that, then you wouldn't be a human anymore. You'd be something akin to the tailed beasts." Darui explained. "But you being proficient in two elements is good news seeing as you should be able to sense people normally. You only have to train at it."

"But I was sure..." Kai left the rest of the sentence go unspoken as he was now uncertain of his chakra natures.