"W-Where am I?" Yukana's eyes opened slowly.
"Yukana, she's waking up," a certain female Genin informed. The team gathered around a tired Yukana who was lying next to Kakashi who had just awoke.
"Yukana, are you alright?" Blonde hair and blue eyes came into view.
"N-Naruto?" Yukana looked up at him and she started to cry.
"What's wrong!?"
"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry. . . I hurt you." Yukana covered her teary eyes with the palm of her hand.
"No, I'm ok." The blonde assured.
"What the hell happened?" Sasuke crossed his arms.
"Let her rest, team. She's had a long day." Kakashi stopped them from probing answers out of her.
"But the demon of the mist, did you get him?" Yukana turned to face her sensei.
"He's still alive."
"What?!" Everyone was shocked at Kakashi's words and he explained why.
"The tracker nin that showed up didn't dispose of him on the spot like they were trained to do. He was trying to save Zabuza."
"Come on, you're over thinking this aren't you?" Tazuna chimed in.
"Encountering suspicion, a ninja prepares quickly. Hesitation leads to disaster. Every shinobi knows this saying." Kakashi confirmed. Naruto's eyes were filled with excitement at the news. He's actually pleased to hear Zabuza's alive. He's anxious to have another shot at him. Kakashi laughed inwardly.
"Sensei, you said prepare quickly, but you can barely move." Sakura pointed out.
Kakashi laughed. "I can still train you."
"Kakashi sensei, how much training can we really get done in a short time before he shows up?" Yukana asked.
"How was I able to stop Zabuza?" Kakashi made her think about. "You all helped me. You've grown. Naruto, you've grown the most." The silver haired Jonin gave a closed eyed smile at the boy. Yukana looked to Naruto as well, glad that he is becoming a good shinobi.
"So you noticed, Kakashi sensei. From now on, things are gonna get better. Believe it." Naruto said with determination.
"I don't believe it." The young voice of a boy sounded from behind them. Everyone looked to the voice. "Grandpa, don't you see these people are gonna die? Gato's men will find them and wipe them out!" Yukana couldn't help but laugh at the boy's ignorance.
"What's so funny?" The little boy asked with a scowl.
"We've already faced the strongest ninja he's thrown at us and we got out fine. Next time we face him, we'll be even stronger."
"Yeah! This Gato person is no match for a real hero like me!" Naruto proclaimed.
"There's no such thing as a hero. You're just full of stupid ideas. If you wanna stay alive, you should go back where you came from." The boy turned to leave.
"Then, how are you going to live?" Yukana asked, making the boy pause.
"Inari, where are you going?" Tazuna asked his grandson before he left.
"To look out at the ocean." Inari shut the door behind him.
"Ewe. Ocean." Yukana said with a shudder.
"We have two spare rooms upstairs for you." Tazuna's daughter offered.
"Thank you." Kakashi turned to his students. "Sakura and Yukana will be in one room while the boys take the other. I'll stay in here but for now, let's start training immediately."
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Team seven stood in a clearing in the nearby woods. Kakashi leaned on his crutches and first went over a review of chakra which Yukana kind of ignored since the basic rules didn't apply to her chakra flow. Sakura took over the chakra explanation when Naruto couldn't pronounce 'chakra' incorrectly. When she started to talk about the balance between spiritual and physical energy, Yukana thought that maybe hers was imbalanced and her spiritual energy may be overpowering the physical.
"But what does it matter? All we need to do is know the jutsu." Naruto piped up in which Sasuke agreed for once.
"No," Kakashi spoke firmly. "You barely scratched the surface of this power. Listen, it's as Sakura said, you have to combine the spiritual and physical energies within yourself." Kakashi then started to explain the different types of chakra and how one needs to use them in different proportions per each jutsu.
But, what if I don't have any of those other natures? Yukana knitted her brows in thought.
"Up until now, you have only guessed at the proportions and to fully learn it, you must train so hard that controlling chakra becomes second nature to you." Their sensei eyed them strictly.
"What do we have to do?" Sakura asked.
"Climb a tree," Kakashi said with a closed eyed smile. Now, everyone was confused once again. How could climbing a tree be beneficial? "There's just one rule, no hands." Kakashi did a hand sign and slowly made his way to the nearest tree and started walking up it!
"How is he doing that?" Yukana stared in awe.
Kakashi stood upside down on a branch and looked up at his team. "Well, you get the idea. Focus your chakra to the soles of your feet and use it to connect to the tree."
"That's a nice trick, but how is this going to help us fight Zabuza?" Yukana nodded her head at Sakura's conclusion.
"It's the only way to fight Zabuza. That's the entire goal of this training." Kakashi explained how only advanced ninja's can focus chakra in different parts of their body and the feet are the most difficult. "If you can master this, you can master any jutsu. Well, theoretically at least." He looked to Yukana who was deep in thought. "I can talk about this all day, but you need to apply the chakra through training." The Jonin threw a kunai at the feet of each student. "Use the kunai to mark the tree at the highest point you can climb and keep trying to get passed it. Run at the tree first to gain momentum, until you get used to it."
Yukana picked up her kunai and did the hand sign to focus her chakra. It's still hard to pinpoint its direction and focusing it to my feet just seems impossible! The other three Genin shouted that they got it and started running at their trees. Already!? Yukana focused harder and flat out shoved all her chakra downwards. "Kyaaaa!" the white haired girl shot fifteen feet up in the air with a scream. Everyone had puzzled looks on their faces. "I'm ok!" She got up and focused again. Her face started to tinge red in embarrassment.
Well, I haven't seen that done before. Kakashi sweat dropped and looked at his other Genin. Sasuke used too much chakra and Naruto didn't use enough. That's about what I expected from those two.
"Hey, this is fun!" Everyone looked to Sakura who was sitting on a branch. Kakashi praised Sakura's skill in front of her teammates.
Already!? Yukana looked at the pinkete in disbelief. Kakashi then began to taunt them about how were they supposed to fulfill their dreams if they couldn't do what Sakura has learned in such a short time. Give me a break already, sensei! I'm on a whole different playing field. Yukana frowned and continued to focus. "Kyaaaa!" She flew up into the air again landing on her butt. Each time she flew, there was a small crater where she stood. Naruto and Sasuke looked at each other, forming a silent challenge.
Good, I think they're motivated. He looked at Yukana as she flew into the air again and sweat dropped. Perhaps she needs a little one on one.
Yukana looked behind her getting the feeling as if she was being watched again, but saw a glimpse of Inari as he walked away. I'm sure that didn't look promising, she frowned.
"Yukana." The girl looked up at Kakashi. "Let me help you." Yukana sweat dropped.
I must be terrible if he's so quick to help. Yukana explained her chakra flow as best she could and how it doesn't match up with the charts. Even Kakashi seemed confused at how to deal with this predicament. But with Jonin's help, Yukana started to get a better feel for directing her chakra and started struggling with each step towards her tree and her face scrunched in concentration. She took one step up the tree and right before she could place her second foot in front of it, she fell right down. "I did it. Kakashi sensei, I did it!" Yukana jumped up and down at her accomplishment. "I think I understand how it works now!" The other Genin were leaning up against their trees all worn out.
You mean, she's just getting it? Sasuke looked at Yukana in disappointment at how far beneath him she was. Even Naruto's not that bad.
Yukana was getting used to directing her chakra every time and was slowly making her way higher up the tree with each try. She was nowhere near Naruto's level yet, but her small accomplishments kept her motivated.
Kakashi watched Naruto as he made his way over to Sakura for advice. He's catching on. Now, he will get stronger and stronger. After all, Naruto possess more chakra than Sasuke in fact, the chakra Naruto possesses is greater than my own. Yukana on the other hand, I honestly can't tell her chakra level almost as if it's nonexistent, but I can still sense it. She's running on a completely different system.
Kakashi, later on, had Sakura go to the bridge to guard Tazuna while the other three continued their training. The sun had set an Sasuke and Naruto kept competing with each other to be the best.
I'm not gonna lose to Sas-
"Kyaaaaa!" The boys looked towards the scream and this time, Yukana shot away from the tree instead of the ground. Naruto giggled and even Sasuke stifled a laugh, but they quickly changed their facial expressions into seriousness as they looked at each other once again and ran up their trees. Both boys kept on getting higher until Sasuke approached Naruto.
"Hey, Naruto!" Sasuke disrupted the blonde's concentration causing him to face plant on the ground.
"Hey, Sasuke! What are you doin? I was trying to focus my chakra!"
"Well uh, the thing is-"
"Look oooout!" Yukana plummeted into Sasuke knocking him over. "Sorry Sasuke." Yukana sweat dropped. She accidently launched herself from her tree again. Sasuke pushed her off with a frustrated grunt.
"As I was saying," the Uchiha stood up, "you asked Sakura for advice while she was here, so what did she tell you?" Yukana perked up at the question wanting to know as well. A mischievous grin spread across Naruto's face.
"I'm not telling you." Sasuke deadpanned.
"Naruto, what about me!?" Yukana pouted and Naruto's face softened.
"Come here Yukana," Naruto coaxed her with a finger and she quickly got up and put her ear to his lips. He told her what Sakura told him while Sasuke grew a tic mark.
So, it does focus on spiritual energy and I have to concentrate on the tree to get a steady chakra flow to the bottoms of my feet. Yukana looked up at her tree. Focus on the tree. . . say, would the tree itself contain any spiritual energy? Yukana's thoughts drifted. If it does, can I sense it? The girl leaned her forehead against the trunk with her eyes closed to try and feel the tree with her chakra. "Whoa!" The tree's energy, I. . . I can feel it! Yukana's original theory went for a complete turn around. It's like making a contract with the tree. Our spiritual energies need to work together and combine for me to attach to it! With this new epiphany, Yukana closed her eyes and put one foot flat on the tree. She drew on the tree's energy and combined it with her own. Before she knew it, she climbed up the tree while perfectly maintaining her chakra, courtesy of the hard training earlier. She opened her eyes and she looked to see that she was even higher than Sasuke! Her accomplishment didn't go unnoticed while both boys looked up at her with wide eyes. I might as well make my way to the top! She kept going without a hitch and she reached the tip. "Woooooot!" Yukana cheered and laughed at her success. "I did it!" She yelled.
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Everyone returned to Tazuna's house for the night. "Well, I suppose I could use a shower." Yukana said once she walked inside with the boys to find everyone already home.
"Huh?" Everyone was taken aback by her statement.
"What?"
"How do you take showers when you hate water so much?" Sasuke asked in a dull voice.
"I said I hate standing water. I can do showers just fine." Everyone raised an eyebrow in confusion as Yukana made her way upstairs with her backpack in hand.
Yukana stripped in the bathroom and looked at herself in the mirror. Good thing I have a change of untorn clothes, I don't want to show any of my scars. I wish I came to this world sooner. Everyone else here is loved and were protected from demon attacks. They might think something's wrong with me if no one bothered to protect me while growing up. Most of the girl's scars were on her forearms. Bite marks surrounded her shoulders and ankles. Two parallel lines of teeth marks went across her stomach over her trigrams scar and claw marks adorned her chest and back. She was glad her face of ok, she made sure to protect her throat at all costs. Yukana finished her shower and put on a black long sleeve shirt and pants as well as socks. Living without shoes for half her life sure didn't leave her feet unscathed either. The white haired girl walked back downstairs to find everyone sitting down at the table. Yukana's mouth started to water at the savory smell. Food. She quickly found an empty seat next to Naruto with a big grin on her face.
Yukana and the two male Genin chowed down as fast as they could. Yukana, for the single reason that she was just plain hungry and the boys turned it into an eating contest. "I want some more!" The three announced at the same time and the boys glared at each other while Yukana looked confused at the hostility, then the two simultaneously threw up while the white haired Genin continued to hold up her empty bowl.
"Don't eat so much if you're gonna puke it up!" Sakura scolded.
"I have to eat." Sasuke declared.
"I have to eat more than him, that's the only possible way to get strong enough to beat him." The blonde countered.
"That's true, but puking won't help you." Kakashi said from the wall he was leaning on.
"Um, I'm just hungry." Yukana commented. Sakura's jaw dropped as she focused on Yukana.
Where does that girl put it all!?
The household relaxed with a cup of tea after dinner while Tazuna's daughter, Tsunami, washed the dishes. Sakura commented on a torn photo hanging up in the kitchen and all went silent. Tsunami said the one who was torn out was her husband and Tazuna added that he used to be considered as a hero. Inari stood up and walked out without a word. Tsunami ran after him and scolded her Father for talking about his father like that in front of Inari. Kakashi asked if there was a story behind the man in the photo and Tazuna told them about the village's hero before Gato executed him.
Yukana listened how Inari's fear of water matched hers and felt a connection with the boy. She felt bad for him and remembered how she felt after she no longer could feel her Father's presence. Yukana felt anger when Tazuna described the execution, but was even more angry at the people who, suddenly, submitted to the monster. "Can humans really be this pathetic?" Yukana whispered to herself before standing to her feet and scraping the chair on the wooden floor. Naruto launched up from his seat beside her and face planted.
"No training for you tomorrow. You've used too much chakra." Kakashi told the blonde. "Keep pushing harder, it will kill you."
"I'm gonna prove it." Naruto declared. "That in this world, there are real heroes." Yukana looked at the wobbling Naruto, feeling proud that she was able to have him in her life.