Kakashi yawned as his team appeared in front of him.
"So we're all here. Good. Now, we'll begin the first training session. For that, I'll need an overview of what you three can do. I already have a little bit of an idea on what Sasuke can do when he approached me asking for advice on lightning manipulation," Kakashi announced. "Whoever wishes to start may do so, but keep it brief."
Naruto nodded. "I have mastery over wind release, some intermediate skills in earth and water release, and I'm fairly proficient in kenjutsu. My taijutsu is fine and I have some talent for genjutsu. I can also use the shadow clone." Kakashi nodded. Good, good, a well-rounded moveset. Then what Naruto said sunk in. Wait, what the hell? Wind, Water, AND Earth? Man, I have my work cut out for me.
"How do you use your genjutsu, by any chance? Would it be possible for you to show me?" Kakashi inquired as he lifted his head and over his eye, revealing a fully matured, three tomoe sharingan. "I'll explain how I got this later. This is just to observe Naruto's genjutsu."
Naruto nodded, snapping his fingers. Nothing seemed to have happened.
"Interesting. Auditory genjutsu, perhaps? But why didn't it do anything?" Sasuke asked.
"Well, it's because I don't have much to affect. If we were fighting, I would subtly change things to my advantage, like the terrain or the hand seals you're performing. I don't like large scale illusions because they're too difficult to maintain." Naruto shrugged. Kakashi gave a small nod as he closed his sharingan. Interesting, I would never expect him to be able to use genjutsu, much less auditory types.
As Sayuri moved to ask how Kakashi had a sharingan, he held up his hand to stop her.
"I'll explain later. For now, just detail your skills," She sighed, but relented.
"I have mastery in wind release, proficiency in fire release, skills in kenjutsu, good taijutsu and when I awaken the sharingan, I'll have a good grip on genjutsu as well. I can use the shadow clone jutsu, and my shurikenjutsu is very good." Fairly similar to Naruto, but that's fine.
Kakashi nodded. "Sasuke?"
He nodded. "I have great mastery over archery, some of which is afforded by my sharingan, I have use over fire, and as you know, lightning release. I can add lightning to my arrows, and I have a personalised version of the Uchiha's traditional taijutsu. I can use the shadow clone jutsu, but I delegate it mostly for training." Archery. That's rare, and always has been among ninja, since a bow is bulky and inaccurate.
"How well do you shoot?" I got a pretty good demo during the bell test, but a second one couldn't hurt. Sasuke ran a hand through his hair, unslinging his bow from his back and collecting five arrows, nocking them. His eyes swirled red as he fired all five. Four arrows ricocheted into each other, each slamming into a deer at the edge of the clearing. Insane.
"That's how well I can shoot," he finished as Naruto sighed, conjuring a clone. It ran off, dashing to the felled stag.
"Well, we're eating venison tonight then. Do you want any, Kakashi-sensei?" Naruto asked as the deer was laid down, next to him. Naruto slipped out a hunting knife from a wooden container, as he began to cut into the muscle tissue, cutting open the hide.
"I swear to all that may be holy Sasuke, could you please stop accidentally taking down wild animals? You've already done it three times this month, and it's only the tenth," Sayuri groaned. Three times? Ok, this might be interesting.
"Well, that's meat sorted for the next three months then, give or take." Three Naruto's sealed the cuts, leaving the carcass on the grassy floor.
"Well, I suppose that means that I have to plan your training. How much chakra control do you three have?" I suspect that they can already walk on trees, but anything past that would be fairly difficult, considering that they would have almost no guidance.
"I can walk on kunai, along with trees and water," Naruto shrugged. "They," he began, pointing to Sasuke and Sayuri, "can walk on trees and water." I really have my work cut out for me then. He mentally sighed. Oh well. It's for Minato-sensei.
He nodded. "Alright then. We'll work on survival exercises. Head to training ground 44."
The three nodded. If Kakashi's peers could say that there was any upside to teaching, it would be that watching them grow would feel amazing, cathartic, as they had described.
Kakashi was very interested to see if it would work.
Flickering over to the training ground, he stood before a chunin guard. "I'll be using this training ground to teach my students. I request clearance into the forest." The chunin nodded, twin barbed wire fences swinging inward.
Naruto, next to Sasuke and Sayuri, landed on their feet, kicking up a small dust cloud.
"We're here, sensei. What now?" Sayuri asked, as she tucked a strand of hair behind her ear.
"We'll head in, of course. I did say we were going to work on survival exercises, didn't I?"
"Wait, Kakashi, don't you think that there's something just a little bit screwed up about sending your fresh genin into the forest of death?" Kakashi smiled, not that anybody could see it. All of the genin there shivered slightly at the name, except for Naruto. He merely touched the hilt of his blade.
"No, there's nothing wrong with that."
"Says a 27-year-old, PTSD-afflicted war veteran. Well, at least you could protect them. Hurry up before I decide that you won't go into the forest." The chunin shrugged, sinking further into the chair.
"Of course."
"Well, we don't have much to fear here. We've got each other. It'll be fine," Naruto said, his hands glowing orange. "We've got this." Kakashi felt a small compulsion to tear up at the sight. If only you were here to see this, Obito. You would've loved to see the kid. Maybe he could've been your little brother figure.
The regrets began to creep ever closer as Kakashi banished them from his mind. That would be for another day, another place.
"For the next month, we will work on survival exercises. As of now, you only have the meagre rations on your persons, whatever that might be, and what you can forage from the forest. We'll work on your teamwork, as well as good fundamentals for survival training." The three genin nodded.
"This training structure is one that I would use during my days as an ANBU captain for new recruits," he continued, rolling up his left sleeve, revealing a red swirl. A tattoo which signified his service to the ANBU as a Captain. "This is your last chance to back out. No one will judge you if you do. After all, this is ANBU training, for the elite amongst the elite. Decide amongst yourselves whether you'll take this training." Their decision will decide the course of their training and their lives after. For all their sakes, I hope that they chose to take this training.
The three ambled into a clearing to discuss. Unfortunately, over his years spent assassinating, spying, and peeping, Kakashi had developed a great sense of hearing, and could hear them very clearly.
"So, we're going to say yes, right?" Naruto looked between the two of them.
"I would, but the question is: are we ready for it? This is a training course for ANBU." Sasuke fiddled with his bow.
"I mean, sensei is going to be there, right? That means that if anything happens, then we'll be fine." Sayuri ran a hand through her hair.
The three nodded, heading back to Kakashi. "So, your decision?" The three shuffled erratically, and then stilled.
"We'll do it." Good.
Kakashi clapped. "Very well then. Enter the forest."
After a decent fifteen minute stroll through the forest, Sayuri asked a question.
"So how are we going to do this?"
"What do you mean by that?" Kakashi looked at the mushrooms scattered throughout the forest floor. He smelled seven species of trees.
"How are you planning to train us in survival?" Sayuri asked with an edge to her voice.
"Ah, that. Well, I brought a set of multiple scrolls detailing survival exercises. During this month, you'll survive against squads of chunin, assorted jonin, and ANBU. Of course, they won't be going all out, but eventually, you'll all be able to take the best objective course of action in any situation, in any environment," Kakashi summarised. Sayuri nodded.
They reached a small clearing with a ring of trees. "Alright, so you're going to be setting up camp here. How you do that doesn't matter, as long as it's suitable."
Pulling out his trusty orange book, he flipped to his bookmark, pocketing it. Ah, so Kagari is finally getting laid. About time, what with Lord Jiraiya pulling all of that teasing, all that will-they won't-they tropey fun.
Flipping a page, Kakashi absently noted as Naruto had brought a tarp on his person and had laid it on the ground, and the three all had made makeshift stakes out of their kunai. They had better sharpen those later, lest I give them a lecture. Ah, now here's the good stuff. The descriptions are always on point. As they say, 'write what you know'. Well, Lord Jiraiya was always one for expanding what he knew, and it shows.
Naruto hauled in multiple stones, along with sticks and twigs, presumably firewood.
"So Sasuke, wanna hunt something?" He nodded. Ah, their teamwork is great. Communication is definitely one of their strengths. He flipped another page. Ah, here it is! Finally, I've endured a good hundred pages to get here, so let's see it. If his mask no longer existed, his blush would be clearly visible, but the perverted giggles came out all the same.
The two leapt through the trees, and soon after came screaming back, being pursued by bears. Such is the forest of death, as they say. Sasuke wove through hand seals, along with Sayuri. Rat- Tiger- Dog- Ox- Rabbit- Tiger. "Fire Style: Phoenix Sage Fire!" The two whispered, both spewing out a dozen fireballs at the bears, felling them.
Naruto unsealed four tents, measuring them twice each on the tarp. Conjuring four clones, they each pitched one tent as Naruto arranged a small campfire. Gesturing towards it, Sayuri nodded and spat out a small fireball, igniting the firewood.
Kakashi returned to his musings, absentmindedly flipping through the passages. He sighed, gazing at the sky.
Perhaps this training wouldn't be so fruitless after all.
—
Red chakra floated around Naruto like a haze, flowing this way and that as he leapt over an errant sword swing from a chunin, followed with a devastating punch, which sent the chunin flying.
The fox- a transformed clone, no doubt- growled and leapt out of Naruto's grasp, biting into the jugular of a ninja on a high branch above them, spraying blood all over them and matting its fur. He had a spider mask and a black cloak.
On further inspection, the man's tongue was branded with a cursed seal- a set of black bars lining his tongue. What the hell is this? Before his eyes, the bars slowly vanished, dissipating and fading away, with no sign of the seal.
"Who- what was that?" was Sayuri's immediate response to the situation.
"I have an idea," Kakashi began, dropping from his ledge. "But you're really not going to like it." Dammit, I always find myself in the center of these messes. Why?! What have I done to deserve this?! Kakashi mentally wailed.
"Okay, what is it then?" Sasuke irritably asked.
"There's a subdivision of the ANBU called Root, or the foundation, depending on who you ask. This division is led by Councilman Danzo Shimura, otherwise known as the Shadow."
"No way," Naruto replied, jaw dropped. "If that's the case, why is that agent here?"
Kakashi face-palmed. "From what I can remember, when you were born, Naruto, Danzo attempted to take you in, but Lord Hokage refused to allow him to."
"Oh. So he wanted to abduct me?" Naruto sighed. "Whatever, I guess. That just means that I have to keep a closer watch on my senses."
Sayuri nodded. "That makes sense. I mean, he's a council member and a good friend of the Hokage, right? So that would mean that he has the village's best interests in mind," Sayuri wondered.
"Yeah," was Kakashi's eloquent response. "So do you want to continue this or not?"
"Yeah," they all chorused.
Good.
-----------------
Hello again!
It's good to see you all again.
Danzo is beginning to make his moves, and nobody is happy about it.
Review!
Alright, see you next Friday,
(｡•̀ᴗ-)✧