Kimiko's P. O. V:
I wait with my teammates in the dining room of Tazuna's house after Naruto and Sasuke had carried Kakashi to a spare room. Tsunami, Tazuna's daughter, had helped tend to Kakashi's wounds, including the deep gash on the back of his right hand, caused when he'd blocked the shuriken from Zabuza. As we wait for Kakashi to regain consciousness, Naruto, Sakura and Sasuke ask me questions about my past, to which I answered vaguely to.
It was a few more hours before Tsunami goes in to check on Kakashi.
We go in just in time to see Kakashi lying awake on a futon mattress. Sakura goes to sit on the left side of him and Tsunami stands on his right, with mr leaning against the wall with my arms crossed and a foot braced in the wall, as the pinkette says, "Listen, Sensei, your Sharingan is amazing, and everything, but if it puts that much strain on you, maybe it's not worth it?"
Kakashi apologises sheepishly, "Sorry."
Waving a fan, Tazuna says, "Heh. Well, you did take down one of the powerful ninja assassins, so we'll be safe for awhile."
Sakura muses, "Right. But, you know the boy with the mask, what about him?"
Kakashi explains, "He's from the elite tracking unit of the Village Hidden in the Mist. Those masks were only worn by the most elite shinobi."
Sakura asks Kakashi, "What exactly do they do?"
Kakashi explains, "The Anbu Black Ops, also known as the Inferno Squad, destroy all traces of a rogue ninja's corpse. The shinobi's body contains many secrets: Ninjutsu, chakra, special medicines used on his body. These are the secrets of his village. If his enemies find them, his people will be in grave danger.
"For instance, if I were to die at the hands of an enemy, he would try to analyse my Sharingan. In the worst case, my entire Jutsu could be stolen and used against our home village. It is the sacred duty of the shinobi trackers to prevent this, to keep the village secrets safe. If a ninja betrays his village, the trackers hunt him down, eliminate him, and obliterate every trace of his existence. That's their specialty."
Despite everything Kakashi has said, I know for a fact that Zabuza is still alive. He'll come back, and next time, he'll be certain to finish us off for good.
I notice Kakashi, now sitting up, has his right hand to his face with a deep, pondering look.
Naruto calls to him, "Hey! Are you okay? Sensei!"
"Hm?" The silverette utters as he drops his hand. "To finish what I was saying, Tracker Ninja deal with the body immediately, on the spot, so there's no room for error."
Sakura questions, "Is that really important?"
Kakashi says, "Think about it. Do you remember what that Tracker did with Zabuza's body?"
Sakura says, "We don't know exactly. I guess he took it away somewhere."
"Exactly," I state, causing my teammates to briefly glance at me.
Kakashi wonders aloud, "But, why? He should've worked on Zabuza right there, as quickly as possible."
I say thoughtfully, "Think of the weapons he used for the takedown. Do you remember what they were?"
Sasuke says in realisation, "Throwing needles! No way!"
I remain silent as Kakashi murmurs, "Exactly. None of it adds up."
My teammates look confused.
Tazuna wants to know, "What are you all yammering about? You demolished that assassin."
I state in a blunt tone, "Here's the truth: Zabuza's still alive." This causes everyone to gasp in shock.
Naruto exclaims, "But we saw his body! Believe it!"
Sakura says to the Jounin, "Kakashi Sensei, you checked him yourself! You said that his heart stopped!"
Kakashi responds, "His heart did stop, but that was just a temporary state. To stimulate death. The weapons that Tracker used are called senbon. They can pierce deeply but rarely kill unless they hit a vital organ. Not in the neck. They're modified for needles used for medical treatments, like acupuncture. Trackers are trained to know every detail of the human body. Causing the heart to stop temporarily while keeping the body alive is an easy manner for them. First, he carried Zabuza's body away, even though it's much heavier than he is. Second, he used senbon, which have a precise effect, but are rarely fatal. From these two factors, we can conclude that the Tracker wasn't trying to destroy Zabuza, he was trying to save him."
Here, Kakashi flicks his gaze to me, remembering that I was in the same tree with the Tracker Nin.
Tazuna grumbles, "Come on! You're overthinking this, aren't you?"
Kakashi states simply, "Encountering suspicion, the ninja prepares quickly. Hesitation leads to disaster." He narrows his eye. "Every shinobi knows this saying."
I notice Naruto grinning, no doubt at the prospect of fighting Zabuza again.
Sakura queries, "Sensei, you said "Prepare quickly." But how can we do that when you can barely move?"
Kakashi chuckles, confusing the green eyed girl, making her raise an eyebrow. "Huh?"
"I can still train you."
Sakura exclaims, clench king a fist, "Hold on! A little last minute training won't make us strong enough to fight Zabuza! You and Kimiko could barely defeat him, even with her skills and your Sharingan! We have to be reasonable about this!"
Kakashi questions, "Sakura. Why was I able to stop Zabuza? Because, you all helped me. You've grown. Naruto."
"Huh?"
Giving a closed eye smile, the Jounin tells him, "You've grown the most."
Naruto says happily, "So, you've noticed, Kakashi Sensei! Now things are gonna get better, believe it!"
"I don't believe it! And nothing's gonna be good!" A young boy's voice snaps, causing us to whip our heads around. A little boy about six years old, stands in the doorway. He has black hair, dark eyes, and wears a bucket hat on his head.
"Who are you?!" Naruto yells, pointing at him.
Tazuna says as he holds out his arms and asks, "Inari! Where have you been?!"
Inari says happily as he jumps into Tazuna's arms, "Welcome back, Grandpa!"
Tsunami scolds her son, "Inari, that was very rude! These ninja helped your grandpa and brought him here safely!"
Stroking Inari's head, Tazuna chuckles, "It's okay! It's okay! I'm rude to them, too."
Inari gazes around at us before turning to his mother. He says frantically, "Mum, don't you understand? These people are gonna die! Gato and his men will come back and wipe them out!"
"What did you just say, brat?!" Naruto snaps indignantly before jumping to his feet and pointing at the black haired boy. "Listen up! You know what a super ninja is? Well, that's me! Only a lot better! I'm gonna be Hokage!" Naruto clenches his fist. "This Gato or Blato, or whatever he's called, is no match for a real hero like me!"
I raise a blonde brow at him. Was it my imagination, or did Naruto just insult himself...? Oh, well. I'm not going to bother pointing it out to him.
His bucket hat hiding his eyes, Inari scoffs, "Huh! There's no such thing as a hero! You're just full of stupid ideas!"
There's a moment of silence as Naruto processes his words.
"What'd you say?!" Naruto demands, beginning to head for the boy, crying out indignantly.
Sakura whips Naruto a glare as she tells him, "Naruto, calm down!"
He ignores her.
Inari says, "If you wanna stay alive, you should go back where you came from." He then turns and heads for the doors.
Tazuna asks him, "Inari, where are you going?"
Inari simply responds, looking back as he pushes the sliding doors open, "To look out on the ocean. I wanna be alone!"
Naruto scowls but stays put as Tazuna says to us apologetically, "Sorry about that."
🗡🗡🗡
Sometime later, Tsunami had gotten Kakashi some crutches and my teammates and I now gather before him in a forest clearing outside of Tazuna's house.
I stand with my arms crossed below my chest as Kakashi declares, "Alright. Your training starts now."
"Right!" Naruto says eagerly.
Kakashi explains, "First, we'll begin with a review of chakra, the ninja's basic source of power. Understanding chakra is essential."
"We know that," Sasuke says, closing his eyes.
"Right! A long time ago, we learned about, err, cakchra!" Naruto says dumbly, making me and Kakashi deadpan.
"Chakra," Kakashi corrects him, making him gasp. He then gestured to the Haruno. "Go ahead, Sakura."
"Alright, Naruto. I'll explain it simply so you can understand it," She says with the backs of her hands on her hips. She then whips out a scroll with pictures of ninja in certain positions on it. "Chakra is the elemental life energy a ninja uses in Jutsu. It's the source of all his power. Now, the energy has two forms: the physical energy, which consists of the all the cells in the body working together, and, spiritual energy, the primal source of power which is intensified through training and experience. As you see, these two types of chairs must be drawn out and brought together in order to perform Jutsu. Notice the interplay between physical and spiritual power. That's the key. Finally, the hand signs; focus and unleash the chakra."
Kakashi says in a tone of astonishment, hand to his chin, "Right on all points. Iruka Sensei really did have some excellent students."
Sakura says happily, smiling, "Huh!"
Naruto complains, "What's the big deal with all these complicated explanations?! The whole point is to learn the Jutsu, isn't it?!"
Sasuke says, "Naruto's right, for once. We're already using chakra energy in our Jutsu."
Kakashi tells them firmly, "No. You have not mastered this power—you've barely scratched the surface of it."
Naruto demands to know, eyes animated white circles, "What do you mean?!"
"Calm down and listen," Says Kakashi in a calm tone. "It's just like Sakura said: you have to draw on physical and spiritual energies, and then combine them within yourself. But! How do you do that? Each Jutsu requires different types of chakra use different proportions. You must select and combine them in exactly the right way. Up to now, you've just guessed at the proportions, hoping they'd come out right. Even if you produce a lot of chakra, unless you can balance and control it, it's all worthless! The Jutsu won't work at all, or it'll just be a joke. You waste so much energy that way. Then you're out of chakra, and you can't fight at all! You're just a target."
"Uh... so how do we change that?" Naruto chuckles sheepishly, rubbing the back of his head.
Kakashi explains, "Train so hard that controlling your chakra becomes second nature. To achieve this goal, you must be ready... to put your life on the line." The others stare at him in shock but I remain unfazed.
Sakura asks, "What... do we have to do?"
Kakashi chuckles as he holds up his right index finger and says simply, "Climb a tree."
Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura echo in confusion, ""Climb a tree"?!"
Kakashi affirms, "That's right. But, there's just one rule," He holds up his hands, adding, "no hands."
Sakura deadpans, muttering, "What? You're kidding!"
"Am I?" Kakashi asks. "Let's see." He puts his hands in the Ram sign and focuses his chakra. Even with his crutches, Kakashi goes up to the tree in front of him and puts his right foot on its trunk, astonishing my teammates. Kakashi calmly walks up the tree without using his hands.
Naruto says in amazement, "He's climbing!"
Sakura adds, just as amazed, "Straight up! And he's only using his feet."
Kakashi steps beneath a branch about five metres above us, and faces Naruto, Sakura, Sasuke and I. He drawls, "Well, you get the idea. Focus the chakra towards the souls of your feet, and use it to connect to the tree. This is one way to apply the power of chakra."
Sakura wants to know, "Wait a minute! That's a nice trick, but how does that help us fight Zabuza?!"
Kakashi explains, "It's the only way to fight him, Sakura. That's the entire goal of this training. First, you'll learn to draw a precise amount of chakra to a precise point in your body. This is difficult, even for advanced ninja. This type of climbing requires a subtle mix of physical and spiritual energy, and the bottoms of the feet are the most difficult points to focus chakra. Are you getting the picture? If you can master this, you'll be able to master any Jutsu. Well, theoretically. The second point is to learn to maintain your chakra levels. When a ninja is focused in battle, it's even harder to control and maintain his chakra levels—a deadly mistake. To avoid this, maintaining chakra must become second nature. Effortless. Well, I could talk about this all day, but that won't advance your skills, will it? You need to apply the power of chakra through training."
The silverette takes out four kunai knives and chucks them to us, and the weapons embed in the ground at our feet. "Use the kunai knife to mark the tree at the highest point you can climb, without using your hands. Then, try to get past that mark the next time and the next. But, first, you'll need to run at the tree so your momentum can take you as high as possible. Until you get used to it. Ready?"
Naruto says determinedly as he, Sakura and Sasuke yank their knives out of the ground, "I'm more than ready! This is gonna be no sweat all the way! Believe it! Remember wha you said, Sensei!" He points at the Jounin standing under the branch. "I'm the one who's groan the most!"
With a deadpan expression, Kakashi retorts smoothly, "You're definitely the one who talks the most. Now, get focused and do it!"
Naruto deadpans as they all close their eyes in concentration and place their hands in the Ram sign to focus their chakra to their feet. As they do that, I calmly pick up my kunai and spin it around my index finger. I did get cuts from doing this when I first started out with my training, but I'd gotten better in the past few years with no injuries.
"I've got it!" Naruto exclaims as they snap their eyes open. "Chaaarrrggee!!" We all head for our trees but when my feet touch my trunk, I continue up my tree a lot more calmer and casually than my teammates.
When I get to about 15 feet, I cut the trunk with my kunai before I step onto a branch and sit with my back to the trunk, my right leg dangling over the branch while my left rest along it.
Granted, back with my former master who'd taught me this technique, both on trees and water, I was always punished whenever I'd fail to get it right away.
I look back at my teammate's. Naruto had taken no more than two steps up his tree before having fallen and landed on the ground, gaining a large bump in the process, Sasuke got a couple of metres, a hole where his foot had been, meaning he'd used too much chakra, and Sakura got about 8 feet, now sitting on a branch with her kunai stuck in the tree.
"Hey, this is fun!" The pinkette says, poking her tongue out cutelybas she giggles, causing her teammates to whirl to her.
"Sakura!" Naruto exclaims happily.
Kakashi says in an astonished tone, "Well, it seems as though one of the female members of the squad had the most advanced chakra control! Well done, Sakura!"
Sakura continues to poke her tongue out cutely while giggling as Naruto says excitedly, "Yeah! Way to go, Sakura! I always knew you were awesome! Believe it!"
"Whatever!" Sasuke grumbles, much to the Haruno's dismay as she hangs her head.
Kakashi says with a closed eye smile, "Well, it seems as though Sakura not only understands chakra, but she can control and maintain it, as well."
Naruto interrupts, "Hey, where'd Kimi-chan go?!"
This causes everyone to glance around but they could find no trace of me.
Sakura says, "I don't see her..."
I take that as my cue to lazily throw my kunai knife down to the ground. It strikes the base of my tree with a heavy thunk, causing Naruto to cry out and the others to whirl toward me.
Shock appears on their faces once they take in the sight of me up in my tree, while I gaze back at them.
"Whoa!! She's higher than Sakura-chan!" Naruto cries in disbelief.
Kakashi says with a closed eye smile, "Well, that's very impressive, Kimiko. It seems you have excellent chakra control, too."
Sasuke scowls fiercely.
I just shrug uncaringly back in response.
Kakashi mocks Naruto first, "We spoke about someone becoming Hokage one day, didn't we? It seems Sakura or Kimiko have the best chance at that, wouldn't you say? As for the great Uchiha clan... maybe they're not so great after all."
Sasuke glares.
Sakura snaps at the Hatake, pointing at him, "Shut up, Sensei! You talk too much." She then frowns to herself.
Naruto and Sasuke glare at each other.
Naruto says determinedly, clenching his fists, "Alright! First, I'll match Sasuke! Then, I'm going all the way to the top! Believe it!"
🗡🗡🗡
A few hours later, I get down from the tree. I now lean against with my arms crossed. My teammates are still going at it, Sakura slumping against the base of her own tree and breathing heavily.
Naruto has bumps on his head from continually falling off. He gets up and scowls fiercely, frustrated that he hasn't made much progress at all.
"Hey," I look up questioningly when I hear someone approach me, to see it's Naruto. "You're good at this. How about some advice?" I blink my eyes on surprise, wondering why Naruto came to me instead of Sakura. "But please don't tell Sasuke I asked! Please, please!"
I say, "Okay, Naruto, listen closely. Chakra requires spiritual energy. So if you get all anxious and frantic, it doesn't work. You have to relax and focus on the tree. That's how you get a steady chakra flow in the bottoms of your feet."
Naruto grins widely at me as he whispers, "You're the best, Kimi-chan! Thanks a lot!"
Naruto resumes training and I gaze after him.
Just what the heck is happening to me?!