Meanwhile... With Naruto and Sakura...
"Uff!"
Naruto just received another punch that came towards his face, even making some blood spill out. However, like expected from the blonde boy, his clone puffed when making contact with the ground - as the other clones rushed towards Kakashi only using their fists as weapons. The white haired jonin didn't seem to struggle at all with the clones, as he repeatedly got down, dodged while flexing his muscles and attacked with precision at the same time.
All of the clones started to combo multiple movements, having an specific order to their attacks that wasn't hard for Kakashi to see and understand. As such, when the clones and the real Naruto thought they were making progress on hitting Kakashi many times, he would prove them wrong, when he replaced himself with a clone.
The fight had started for a long time - at least for the two soon-to-be genin - and Naruto had a feeling that he didn't make progress at all. The blonde, carrying an simple kunai in one hand, was trying his best to at least cut his sensei's skin; to be able to finally take Sakura out of the situation she was currently in. He also focused more on rushing with the weapon in hands, instead of throwing it at his sensei's direction; afraid that he would have to retrieve his kunai, if Kakashi didn't let him take it back and lose more time then he already lost.
But the consequences of such an fighting style were not having the best results. With every opportunity that appeared for Naruto to strike, Kakashi turned him down on the most practical way possible. Which was infuriating him more and more.
Sakura: 'Urgh! This is getting ridiculous!' The pinkette thought while looking at the situation from above 'How much time is he making us lose here? Isn't this training already over?' Her arms were crossed as her eyes scanned the fight.
The poor pinkette was still hanging on the tree - upside down that is - feeling the discomfort of her blood being concentrated on a single part of her head. Her semblance started to become completly red and her thoughts were becoming more hazzard the more she stayed on the position.
Sakura: 'I simply cannot believe I let Mr White Hedgehog put me in this situation! How could I be so stupid?' She huffed, while the sounds of Naruto's grunts and yells echoed in the air. Her head started to become more heavy, and she putted her hand on top of her forehead with an uncomfortable expression 'Hmph. As if he's actually counting the time I can actually stay like this... If only there was a way for me to...'
Then she realized, while having widend eyes on her face.
It seems that staying upside down made her forget about something very important about her personal training, that she was constantly doing through the years. When she did remember she almost slapped her forehead, but gave up since the area was pretty much sensitive at this point.
Concentrating the chakra of her head, a plan of how she could endure that position for more time appeared, and the girl immediatly putted the plan in action. She started to move the chakra of her head on a constant movement, trying to remove the big amount of blood off from her head. She muffled all the grunting and the sounds of dirt of the batlle and only focused on her own chakra control.
Slowly, she started to feel her blood directing itself with the chakra that was moving in all parts of her body. It was somehow weird to feel and control the movements of her own blood, but she knew it was working when her head started to feel less pressure. The best thing, is that she wasn't even making a hand sign.
Sakura: 'Just... continue to move it...' Suddenly, she heard a sound of a kunai hitting another kunai - closer to her figure - but simply focused on ignoring it more 'Ignore it. Just... Ignore it.'
Naruto: "Grrr! That was so close!" He clenched his fist while gritting his teeth.
Kakashi simply shooked his head on the other side, while his hands stood present on his waist.
Kakashi: "Tsk. Tsk. Tsk. You can't fool me like that Naruto-Kun~. You have to remember that-" He raised his finger at Naruto - as he would usually do like an teacher - but was immediatly cutted by the blonde.
Naruto: "I HAVE TO HIT YOU! I KNOW!!" He yelled back "But that doesn't mean I couldn't try again!" He gritted his teeth.
Kakashi: "And fail in the end, either way." He looked at Naruto, as the dangerous glare that came from his blue pupils told it all of his thoughts "Seriously? You should know by this point that Sakura-Chan won't get back to the ground if you don't hit me at least once." He putted his hand on his chest " And you don't need to worry about me lying by any means. I'm a man of word after all."
Naruto: "As if I'm stupid enough to believe that!" He pointed his finger towards the jonin
Kakashi: "Believe it or not, Sakura won't get down untill you hit me with the kunai. That's a fact." He shrugged, making the blonde boil in more frustration
Naruto: "Fine then! If you want to feel pain so much, I'Il give you that!"
He looked at the direction which his kunai was located and immediatly thought of a plan. Summoning more clones, they made a quick offensive stance before finally going for the attack. The clones rushed forward to Kakashi - who was already prepared for the incoming attack - and made his move.
His clones went towards the Jonin, helding strong fists, and all of them tried to hit Kakashi once more. The first one went straight to his face, only to miss; the second one tried to kick him from above, but Kakashi crouched; the third one tried to make him lose his balance, but Kakashi quickly jumped and kicked the clone away; the fourth one went to grab his torso on a tight grasp, but missed and fell to the floor.
The clones did not stop coming towards the young Jonin who in response could just listen to the powerful yells of the many Narutos present on the area with less care, while they were ready to circle and jump at him; which they did a second after.
As if speed was put on high for an instant, The thirteen clones advanced and delivered their punches and kicks. They crossed through Kakashi in a flash, and his counterattack was just as fast; launching or making the clones disappear in seconds.
A smart duo clone, decided to do one of Naruto's combos, and rushed forward with the attack in mind. They attacked his upper body, trying to get a hit, and in the moment that Kakashi was already memorizing their pattern while defending himself, they've changed completly, going towards the lower part. The jonin quickly backed up, getting just a bit surprised, only to defend the clone's incoming kick. One clone got into the other's back and rushed with his attack.
Kakashi: "It's impressive how many clones you can make." He stopped the clone's punch using his palm "But it doesn't matter because your coordination with them is terrible."
With not much force, he took the clone out of the other's back - kicking him in the process - and throwed the one he was holding really far away, to the point of making him roll and poof right after
Kakashi: "Alright. What now?" He slapped his hands as if he touched something really dusty, and putted them on his hips while looking at the area.
However, Kakashi did not found Naruto anywhere on sight, not even his clones. The only one he was seeing was the pink haired girl hanging upside down on the tree; having her eyes closed as if she was sleeping. The jonin scanned the area trying to find any traces that the blonde had left behind, attentively moving his pupils in every piece of the ground and the grass nearby.
Kakashi: "Hm. Deciding to hide now, huh?" He hummed quietly to himself, while the deadly silence did not disappear on the atmosphere "Well, I guess he'll lose either way doing this so... Nyeh." He just shrugged it off - putting his hands on his pocket - and proceeded to walk towards Sakura's direction.
As Kakashi approached the tree were the pinkette was present, he appeared to be chillin' with an more relaxed posture, but he was still pretty much aware of everything; just being patient enough for the right opportunity. Sakura's chakra continued to move the blood out of her head constantly and patternized a movement that was great enough to make the oxygen flew in on her brain normally. With the new silence becoming present, it was even more easy to concentrate.
Kakashi: "Hey there bumblegum!" Kakashi's somewhat cheerful voice echoed on her ears, catching her off guard "Hanging well in there?" He was directly looking at her, hands still on his pockets
Sakura: "Sensei, your sense of humor needs to be changed immediatly." Still having her eyes closed, she grunted back trying to concentrate
Kakashi: "Aw, come on. You'll get used to it. And if you were in my shoes, you would probably do the same thing."
Sakura: 'Urgh... I hate it when he's right.' She internally deadpanned and then proceeded to remember something that crossed through her mind earlier "Uh... Sensei, what type of techniques does Nohara-Sensei uses? She used an... water clone back then." She tried her best to concentrate her chakra and speak at the same time
Kakashi: "Hmm... Kame-chan is really good with water and fire styles, even though her specialties are more proficient with water." He putted an finger on his chin while looking up in thought "She also likes to combine Genjutsu and Ninjutsu, but I won't tell you about these ones."
Sakura: "H-Huh? Why not?"
Kakashi: "Firstly, because it's better for you to see it rather then me saying it, and secondly because I don't feel like it." Even though Sakura's eyes were closed, she could still imagine the smile he was making both with his eyes and his covered mouth; which he was in fact doing it.
Sakura's annoyance just grew over ten fold, thinking what was the point of not saying what she does, if he already told her what her techniques are.
Sakura: "Sensei... This is just not fair." Her angered face was very visible for him to see, which amused him even more.
Kakashi: "Life is not fair, Bumblegum." His smile still continued as he proceeded to say "But, I must say that I'm still surprised that you are still trapped in there. I was thinking that you would have already thought of some way to get out by now."
Sakura: "Well... I would be lying if I said I didn't... But without any sort of equipment makes it kinda hard, to be honest." She sighed before proceeding "I know that a real shinobi would have already escaped, but... I'm just having a hard time as it seems."
Kakashi: "Yeah... been there already. Know how it feels." He shrugged "But... An advice? Try to think out of the box next time. You would be surprised of how that works if done properly." His hands were back on his pockets.
Sakura: "Hm..." It took some seconds for her to let the words enter on her mind, thinking if they perhaps made some sense. Noting his words and deciding to practice them for later she just responded with an soft "Alright."
Among the leafs an quick sound was made by an unknown shadow, not so high for anyone to hear but not low enough to pass unnoticed by Kakashi, who still managed to hide his full awareness through his body language.
Kakashi: "Say bumblegum? Is Naruto always like this?" He suddenly asked the girl above him.
Sakura: "Sensei you're gonna need to be more especific. Naruto can be everything and even more and... Sometimes I discover things about him I didn't even know he had." Saying on a sarcastic tune, she made herself clear.
Kakashi: "Good point. Well, when I say 'this', I'm actually describing his loss of attention, impulsiveness, stubborness, incapabability of doing any proper plan, bad at Taijutsu, these sorts of things." He said
Sakura couldn't help but chuckle because his tune of voice came out quite funny. The shadow crossed through one side to other, this time closer to Kakashi's figure - the Jonin not even flinching at all.
Sakura: "Well, most of them are visible, but I do think he can be really tricky with his Taijutsu if he wants, so... I'm not going to say he's bad at it, just... Sloppy a litlle."
Kakashi: "Sloppy is quite the perfect word to describe him actually! Is pretty surprising that he simply disappeared out of nowhere." His hidden smile was present while he spoke.
Sakura: "Oh! So that's why everything's so quiet." She opened her eyes for the first time in surprise as an nervous smile became present a second later "I believe in that goofball's capacities, but, I thought you were muffling his screams while aprehending him, hehe..."
Whatever plan Naruto had on his mind while hidden, he immediatly executed as soon as Kakashi's words came out.
Kakashi: "Thanks for the advice, Bumblegum! I should have thought about doing that." His eyes were closed on a friendly manner, as Sakura's surprised green eyes fixated themselves behind the ninja.
Five clones advanced towards Kakashi, each one concentrated on giving him a bad time once and for all. In a poof, Kakashi's clone disappeared and the clones already expecting this to happen, also poofed a second later - simultaneously so the poof would actually fuse with the smoke bomb that two of the Naruto clones throwed on the ground.
As Sakura closed her eyes for a split second - opening them right after - the original Kakashi was now being faced with the enourmous cloud, apparently not giving too much effort to care. Soon enough two other clones appeared on both his sides, launching themselves with kicks towards him, only for him to dodge and make them collide with each other. However a second after, three other clones appeared ready to coordinate their attacks in unison.
The first one ran and immediatly delivered multiple punches; these being directed towards the Jonin's face and ribs. Kakashi, using only one hand stopped each impulsive movement, awaiting the other ones to attack with the same ferocity. As the two came together at him, they jumped in the air in different precision. One jumped really high up in the air, while the other one jumped enough to deliver an kick towards Kakashi's chest.
Kakashi pushed the first clone that was attacking him away, knowing that dodging was the only thing necessary for now. However, as the clone got pushed away he did a flip in the air and a second later started to run back towards Kakashi.
Finally after quite some surprising time, the clones each screamed in determination - the first clone even launching himself in the air alongside the other ones - however as soon as Kakashi saw through them for an opening, the three clones transformed themselves into giant shurikens in mid air.
The shurikens came with surprising speed, forcing Kakashi to jump away instead of just normally dodging; making him go straight inside the smoke cloud that still lingered the area behind him. Inside the surprisingly dense smoke, the Jonin had to admit that Naruto's moves were starting to lead to something.
He didn't know what, but he was starting to have some hypothesis.
The white haired shinobi didn't had more time to think about it though, since he immediatly perceived the multiple shadow clones that circled him inside the cloud in seconds. They didn't screamed and just straight launched themselves into Kakashi, who for the first time, became suspiciously surprised. However, instead of all of them going for a punch, each one started to run; jump and pass through him as if he was an object of ninja training - Kakashi just focusing on dodging every single one.
One thing that Sakura was seeing from above however, is that the clones were not on a bigger level and constantly appearing - Not at all. They were actually doing - whatever they were doing - inside the smoke cloud and when going out of it, they would just return back as if they were playing on the playground multiple times.
The clones casually laughed and continued to shout Woohoo's and Yeah's, as if they were actually having tons of fun.
And that's when Sakura realized something very crucial; something that Kakashi said and Naruto was probably unknowingly doing. Her surprise was not something to miss by any means, but by observing again what the clones were doing, made her become positive of something she could do to put more effort into her training in the near future.
"Man! Never thought that Sensei could actually give us so much fun in the end!" The clone shouted
"I know right? Who would've guessed it?!" Another one shouted
"How long do you think we could do this?"
"I think we can do this all day!"
Kakashi: 'Something's happening... Definetly happening.' Even though he didn't showed his frustration through dump shoulders, his internal voice was completly bored of having to push so many Naruto's around.
Suddenly, an swirling sound became present on the air, but it didn't became loud enough to make Kakashi or even the other clones aware. But as soon as it became close enough, Kakashi turned himself immediatly in shock and unfortunatly did not managed to get away with so many clones attached to him.
It was revealed that it was actually an trap that was sent towards Kakashi, who immediatly swirled on his whole body and trapped him in a second from feet to his torso.
Before starting to lose his balance, all of the clones disappeared in the second he became entangled - even clearing the cloud of smoke that was present in the area. However, as soon as Kakashi was starting to fall towards the jagged floor, an sharp kunai was throwned and immediatly pierced Kakashi's back - proceeding to make him fall in seconds.
As his body touched the floor, another kunai made it's way towards Sakura's trap; cutting it instantly.
Sakura: "Ah! AAAAAAH!"
The pinkette didn't even had the time to hum in confusion, because she was already occupied yelling of the pain she would feel when touching the ground. .
Sakura: 'NARUTOOOOOO!' Her inner-self appeared, visibly cursing while also falling like her original self.
Naruto: "Gotcha!"
In the moment the pinkette was preparing for impact, Naruto rushed and picked her up really fast; even leaving an trail of dust behind him for some seconds. Sakura was flabbergasted for a moment, but when she looked up she became instantly relieved.
Naruto: "There you go, Sakura! Finally out of the trap!" He grinned happily at her, showing his white teeth.
Sakura: "UFF!" breathing out an huge breath with her whole pale body going down in defeat, she couldn't even continue with an normal voice - instead, deciding to use an exhausted one "thank you Naruto.... that was reeeeealy good." Her blood started to run on it's normal course again, even if she felt herself tingle in all places "please just... let me be straight so my blood can circulate more... naturally again..."
Naruto: "Oh! Right."
He slowly supported her while she felt her legs became spaghetti all over, but was thankfull that her blonde friend continued to support her figure. Naruto looked at her quite concerned, even furrowing his brows on the process.
Naruto: "Hey, are you gonna be okay?" His eyes scanned for anything else that she could be feeling.
Sakura: "Y-Yeah. I will, don't worry, hsss..." An hiss was made after she felt that high pint of discomfort on her head, but her voice was more natural at least. She let her body relax more into Naruto while trying to make the pain go away "Just need to accostume myself with gravity again... just continue to hold me for a minute."
As she proceeded to relax more and more, Sakura for a moment saw Kakashi's body still inert on the ground with the kunai pierced through his back. Now that she looks at him this way, she could have never imagined that anything like this would happen, if everything was still going the same way that the original timeline went.
But again, this isn't an normal canonical timeline.
Her new presence has changed some things - as she observed them through the years - but she still gets surprised when an event like this happens and changes the original story litlle by litlle. With her friend thinking like this, Naruto will probably be an even better ninja pretty soon; which is a great thing for now, at least.
But one thing she could absolutely be unsurprised of, was Naruto's beaming aura - that he was trying so hard to keep it down for the right moment - but was completly burning his own cover with his pupils making holes on Sakura's head.
Shaking her head a second later, she just smirked and spoke while looking at him.
Sakura: "Alright, alright! That was really awesome, goofball."
Naruto: "I KNOW RIGHT! Did you saw everything I did there?!" If he wasn't supporting the pinkette he would be jumping in one place in happiness.
Sakura: "Yes I did. So you did actually pay attention to what we've trained yesterday after all. Retreating to make plans can pretty much save you." Feeling her posture more straight and dizziness passing, she stood without Naruto's support while putting her hand on her hip "I just hope this professional abilities don't disappear in the future."
Naruto: "Haha! You can count on me, Sakura! I'Il show you!" He gave her an bright smile while winking in the process, which made the girl shook her head while smiling.
However, one second later, a 'poof' sound was heard.
When both pre-teens looked at the sound's location, Kakashi's corpse was proven to be an clone as he was not there anymore. The cord that trapped him and the kunai that Naruto throwed on his back were just laying on the floor.
It was obvious that Kakashi would manage to switch himself with a clone; Sakura didn't even needed to be surprised at all. However... upon seeing the equipment on the ground, something crossed on Sakura's mind and she looked at Naruto and asked him something.
Sakura: "Hey, now that I think about it, I remember you using two kunais right?" She pointed towards the weapon in the floor "Is that the kunai he gave you or the one you used to get me free is the one?" She asked while pointing towards the kunai.
Naruto: "Well... actually the one I used to break you free was the one he gave me, I used mine since it was more pointy." He said normally.
Sakura: "H-Huh? So you didn't follow his rule?" She asked him curiously and in surprise.
Naruto: "Who cares? I'm pretty sure he would come out with another annoying trick on us either way." He crossed his arms while furrowing his brows, but putted them behind his head a second after "And, at the end of the day I hit him with an kunai, didn't I?"
Sakura: 'Hm... Why do I have an bad feeling about this?' Her worried expression was not even being hidden.
Naruto perceived her unusual expression and asked...
Naruto: "Hm? What is it Sakura?"
Sakura: "Huh? Oh, it's nothing actually... I was just..." She looked sideways while hugging her arms "Thinking... but now that you mentioned this to me, I just got an feeling that Kakashi-sensei wouldn't like this one bit... for some reason." She explained 'Well, he is an tricky shinobi when he wants to... which means that he is everytime.'
Naruto: "Aw! Don't get worried about that." He whined while shrugging his shoulders "What could possibly happen at this point? I won and that's what matters!"
Sakura: "You know, thinking like that just because he's not here it's gonna make you have an bad time." She crossed her arms towards him while having an raised eyebrow "We're gonna have to work out your impulsiveness and recklessness next time. It's continuing to make you look like an idiot."
Naruto: "What?! Aw, come on Sakura! Just when I do something cool, I still have to learn something?" He whined while looking at her.
Kakashi: "She's right though."
Suddenly, Kakashi's voice echoed really closer to comfort for the two pree-teens; whose eyes got completly widened in a second. When they turned their bodies to look at the direction his voice came, the Jonin immediatly make the rat hand sign and Naruto and Sakura felt their surroundings spin incessantly - with leafs circling them by wind's will and making Kakashi disappear on sight with them.
As the wind stopped, Naruto snapped out of it for a second, and quickly looked at his surroundings; moving his head quickly at one side to the other.
Naruto: "Huh?! Huh?! What was that?!" He continued looking at his surrondings in thought, before suddenly calming himself down and analysing the situation "Wait... Kakashi-sensei appeared and then some strange wind blew on my face. Well, it must be an facade." He putted his fingers on his chin in thought, slowly moving them left and right "Yeah! It must be, right Sakura?" She did not respond "Sakura?"
Naruto looked at where Sakura was supposed to be, only to find no traces of the girl nearby. She completly vanished and was nowhere to be seen.
Naruto: "Huh? Sakuraaa!" He called out for her; no response "Where did she- No way!" He immediatly realized "Grr! That white hedgehog must have taken her again!" He pumped his fist in anger "Alright! You wanna fight with me again?! Bring it on! I will- Huh? What is that?"
When Naruto was looking towards every direction while doing his monologue, he noticed something quite peculiar. There was an red flag and a stone closer to tree stumps of wood stuck on the ground. But what catched his attention immediatly was-
Naruto: "Wait! Is that... food on top of that stone?!" He exclaimed "Hihihi! A ninja must see what's underneath, eh?" He crossed his arms with an big grin "Alright! Sorry Sakura-Chan! But by doing this, maybe I can mock this stupid training as a whole! I'Il save us from separating!"
-🌸-
In one second Sakura was with Naruto; in the other, she immediatly woke up from the sudden Genjutsu that she was put on. She didn't know she could make herself wake up so easily, but it seems her Inner-Self made an excellent job on snapping her out of it - an litlle trick she's been working on for quite some time.
Kakashi was apparently after her; her hands just making the many leafs and bushes go away from her face as she crossed through the dense training florest.
Sakura: 'Man that was really close! That's what I get for letting my guard down!' Bushes passed and crossed through her hands as she continued to run away 'I wonder where Sasuke is? Did Nohara-sensei managed to trap him?'
Sakura unknowingly crossed the dense florest and walked out in the open fields. However, instead of the warm feeling of the sun rays hitting her skin, she was instead met with an really unnatural scenario.
Everything around the pinkette was completly covered in a dense fog. It was so dense that it was apparently covering the sun above her.
Sakura: 'A... a fog? What's going on here?' She looked up at the sky, trying to perceive the giant fire ball that was supposed to be there 'Great. The fog is even covering the sun... but how?'
Sakura started to walk again as an new form of aprehension appeared on her shoulders. She started to walk on a normal pace, however her head was moving to every single direction possible.
Everything was completly covered in white, and it seemed like it didn't have an end at all. The more she continued walking, the more denser it became somehow. Her previous worries about Kakashi finding her, was apparently out of the picture now.
Sakura: 'Okay. This is just really weird, we didn't even met the ninja whose capable of doing this yet. Why is this fog here?' Her thoughts started running.
"SAKURA!!"
The pinkette abruptly stopped when hearing the familiar voice of Sasuke; her whole body becoming somehow more stiff then ever. As her foot stopped harshly on the floor, she turned in recognition and immediatly looked in the direction of Sasuke's voice.
Sakura: "Sasuke?! Where are you?!" She screamed back
Sasuke: "I'm here!"
In a minute she rushed towards his direction by jumping swiftly and feeling the cold air hit on her face. Her body just continued to take her towards Sasuke's voice, but there was that old voice of reason on the back of her head, constantly finding weird Sasuke asking for help.
Sakura: "Sasuke?! Still here?" She screamed again after pausing in the ground for a moment.
Sasuke: "Right here! I-I'm stuck!"
Sakura: 'Sasuke stuttering?' She thought and then went towards the direction of his words who was pretty much close to her area.
Sakura managed to find an odd silhouette among the fog and stopped her rushing feet to normally walk again; having the sense that it could potentially be an trap. She took out the kunai that she took before running away from Kakashi, and slowly approached.
Sakura: "Sasuke?" Her voice became of genuine confusion, since she couldn't tell who it was, just from the silhouette.
Sasuke: "Over here! Just keep coming!" He told her on a more natural tone of voice.
However, as her posture became more suspicious and agressive when approaching the figure, her serious face and demeanor dropped, when the girl was met with an peculiar scene. Sasuke was trapped inside a big mass of water that was shaped on a circular form.
His body could be seen inside since the water that was apparently really clean and crystaline, while his head stayed out of the bubble for him to breathe.
When Sakura looked at Sasuke's face, her own face simply held no emotion at first from shock. The Uchiha boy did notice her sudden posture and with no more things crossing on his mind, he simply asked...
Sasuke: "What?" His expression was also neutral as his eyes focused solely on her.
Sakura: "U-Um... Sasuke, what the heck is this?" She put the kunai away and simply looked at him with confusion "Why are you stuck on this water prison?" She asked 'I thought he would be stuck on the ground, but... guess Kakashi being with me and Naruto is the explanation.'
Sasuke: "What do you think? Maybe I trapped myself in here for some reason." He rolled his eyes while being sarcastic.
Sakura: "Oh! If that's the case, it means you can get yourself out right?" She looked at him with an smug smile "I mean... maybe you're just trying on a new magic trick or something."
Sasuke: "Argh! Come on! Can't you give me a break for one minute?" He exclaimed
Sakura: "Hey! You're the one who started. I genuinely became confused since you're not the type to get imprisoned so easily." She looked at him with an serious frown "But, don't bother, it's obvious it was Nohara-Sensei right?"
The boy simply sighed in frustration.
Sasuke: "She was smarter then I thought." He looked sideways for a moment and then back at Sakura "She counterattacked my fire ball and imprisoned me in this water prison."
Sasuke started to shake himself inside of the water prison - trying once again to get out - however he stopped once his movements were more rigid and slow inside the water; giving him more exhaustion.
Sakura: "Yeah. It's pretty difficult to get out this way..." She said and then remembered something "But wait... for this jutsu to work the user must keep their arm inside the sphere of water. How are you still inside this prison if she's not even here?"
Sasuke: "Tch... that's what I'm also wondering. I know that she's an Jonin, but... I still don't get it either." He shooked his head and then looked at his friend "Do you think she's perhaps some sort of prodigy?"
Sakura: "I wouldn't be surprised if she were; otherwise how would she be able to do such a feat?" She hugged herself for a moment while looking at the sphere's structure.
Sasuke: "Seems we have one more thing to theorise." He answered "Can you break it?"
Sakura: "Yeah... I think so." She nodded and then stayed closer to the water prison while touching it "Just need to put some concentration on it."
As both of her hands were present on the sphere's external side, Sakura started to induce chakra inside of the prison. Her chakra was already prepared either way while she concentrated on moving her blood on her body while staying upise-down and even more after running away from Kakashi.
The prison started to expand itself, as the boy inside could feel the extension of the bubble he was trapped in get larger and larger. Sakura focused more and more at the inside of the water prison, as her objective was to induce so much chakra that it wouldn't handle it and explode.
This was proven one second after, as the liquid completly spilled over the floor, while Sasuke's clothing became completly wet; his upper region being the only one safe area. He fell on the floor and started to feel the atmosphere's air.
Sakura: "Are you alright?" She extended her hand for him to take.
Sasuke: "Yeah." He took it and got out of the floor "Just... completly wet... and cold." He twisted his blue shirt so the water could get out.
Sakura: "Hm. Things just keep getting curioser and curioser. How did the Uchiha prodigy himself got caught in such an situation? I thought you would have managed to think of something by now." She smiled
Sasuke: "I miscalculated. That's all." He answered directly "She had the bells, so I thought it would be easier to just focus on that instead of the opponent. Low blow." He shooked his head.
Sakura: "Wait. What? She had the bells?" She raised her eyebrow.
Sasuke: "Yeah. They must have traded last minute. Why?"
Sakura: "I thought Kakashi-Sensei was the one who had it! He made an whole deal with Naruto and..." That's when she realized "I didn't even see the bells with him. He just kept talking that we would get it but never showed it to taunt us!" She exclaimed and Inner-Sakura couldn't stay quiet 'I SWEAR THAT I WILL BUTTHEAD HIM SO HARD HE WILL NEVER FORGET TO ALWAYS TELL THE TRUTH!' Her fists were pumped and her expression was beyond then just anger.
Sasuke: "Deal? What deal?" He asked.
Sakura: "Urgh. Kakashi-Sensei actually managed to create the same trap two times. Naruto was supposed to fall on the second too, but I decided to step in and got myself caught. After that, Kakashi-Sensei did not let him take me to the floor again, since he actually stole my stuff before I even got stuck upside-down and made an sudden deal to Naruto which he accepted it."
Sasuke: "Tch. Typical." He answered in relation to Naruto's involvement.
Sakura: "Don't blame him for anything though. I actually encouraged him to do it and he actually did got me out. We were just caught in a genjutsu and I got away and left him there. He's going to be okay either way." She shrugged.
Sasuke: "Hmpm. The great Sakura Haruno getting stuck on a tree trap. How comical." He smirked while looking at her smugly.
Sakura: "At least, I managed to get out." She smirked back at him with her arms crossed.
Sasuke: "Tch. Either way, it's better if we go back and try to get the bells." He put his hands on his pockets.
Sakura: "Again? I thought our time was already over by now. And worst thing is that this isn't even the main problem." She spoke "What is this fog? Was this here before or what?"
Sasuke: "It started to appear after Nohara-Sensei left. Don't know if it's a jutsu or some weird phenomena of sorts." He responded but got on topic again "Either way, it's not difficult to walk inside this fog. At least not for me. You're right about almost being time for lunch, but I still need to get them. I managed to touch one while fighting Nohara-Sensei, so I'm positive I'm going to get it next time."
Sakura already knew what she had to do, to make everything flow naturally as the original timeline went. Teamwork was something very important for this basic training, however that didn't actually happened so much in this whole event. Yes, Sakura indeed managed to make Sasuke work with her, but the plan was to make all of them work together as an complete team.
It was either, plan this and continue on with whatever we were doing again or work with me, to help me. Not in plural.
They got separated and humiliated alone, instead of simultaneously as a team; which is what she wanted to do since the start, but apparently there's still some things she can't take a control of - Naruto's and Sasuke's demeanor being one of them.
Teamwork was the most important part, but... unfortunatly she knows that Sasuke is pretty much serious about this whole thing and did not managed to catch the message at all. The worst of all is that she know there's an specific goal he wants to do and he will ignore most of these things solely for his own selfish desire.
She regrets not speaking about teamwork with them yesterday... maybe it would be different. At least she thought that the combos they did together was enough to make them pay attention to this topic.
Sakura: "Sasuke, it's impossible to get that thing now. We just need the confirmation that everything's over. Even if we try harder and harder, there's no point if we don't see what's actually in front of us this whole time." She crossed her arms while looking at him with an frown.
The unusual reaction she was expecting to receive came into life when Sasuke looked straight into her green pupils. If seriousness could kill, she would be pretty much six palms beneath the ground by now. Sasuke's whole demeanor changed entirely when she apparently didn't gave too much thought about how serious this whole situation is.
Sasuke: "There's no point? You should be the one to know that's not the truth - or even better, you're the only one who should." His voice became completly cold; not that it scared Sakura at all "If I want to kill that man, I can't simply be weak. I'm an avenger Sakura, if I want to become stronger then him, I can't stand in here and do nothing."
Sakura: "You won't become strong enough if you don't even realize the most basic thing in front of you. If you follow through this thought process, you're only going to get yourself more hurt then anything." She slightly approached him and he didn't even flinched when she touched his shoulder and looked straight at him with no fear "Do you think he doesn't analyse everything surrounding him? That even the most simple thing to note is not important in order for him to become stronger?"
Sasuke did not respond. He simply looked away and couldn't mutter another word. He was not understanding what his friend was trying to say at all; he thought she would agree with him on this specific topic.
And yet again she keeps surprising him with her words.
He wouldn't say he did not pay attention to what she said, he was just trying to see where every single word actually fit on the topic.
Suddenly an ring was heard in the distance - making the pre-teens slighty flinch - signalizing that the training was finally over.
Sasuke: "Damn. Wasted too much time."
Sakura: "Don't worry, Uchiha. We wouldn't be able to make it either way." She messed with his black strands while having an smile; ignoring the tense atmosphere that became present.
Sasuke: "Hey! Watch it!" He got out from her grasp and started to fix his hair with an slight blush.
Rin: "Aw~, it's so beautiful to see good friends interacting with eachother!" She clasped her hands closer to her face while smiling.
Their sensei suddenly appeared behind them and they immediatly turned in surprise. The fog started to slowly dissipate and even start to show the sunrays that were coming from above.
Sakura: "Nohara-Sensei?! Where did you come from?!"
Sasuke: "And how did you managed to find us?"
Rin: "That's simple! I just took out most of this foggy atmosphere and found you standing right here." She answered "Although I thought you both needed time to talk and all, so I decided to not interrupt until now!" She continued "You're training session is over. Come on, your other sensei is waiting for us." She smiled.
-🌸-
10 minutes later and the pre-teens were already sitting on the floor next to the stumps. Naruto was tied up since he tried to get the food prematurely and Kakashi managed to get him on the spot. They had defeated faces but Sakura mostly had an more exhausted expression since she was not preocuppied with the events that would unfold.
After all, she knew what she needed to do either way.
Kakashi: "You guys look really hungry." The jonin said with his arms crossed and dull eyes locked in them.
Rin: "Again, I have no involvement in this whatsoever!" She quickly make sure with an cheerful voice "If you want to blame someone, you know who to pick."
Kakashi: "Hm. The slander I received from your other sensei just made me remember something." He said while looking up and then looking at the pre-teens again "About the training? Well, there's no need for you guys to get back to the academy."
Naruto beamed on sight while Sasuke blantly looked away - but not being able to hide his apparent relief from Sakura. The pinkette did not started to react like them, since she clearly knew the bomb he was about to drop.
Naruto: "Then that means that all three of us!!-"
Kakashi smiled fakely while Rin smiled nervously; knowing what her partner would probably say.
Kakashi: "Yup. All three of you should quit as shinobi."
A silence was made in the same moment; letting the current shock made it's way towards Naruto's and Sasuke's minds. Sakura was completly neutral and just waited for the inevitable screaming that soon came into life.
Naruto: "Quit as ninjas?! What do you mean by that?!" He tried to get out of the stump he was stuck on.
Rin: "Naruto-"
Naruto: "Ok!! Ok!! I know we didn't get the bells but why do we have to quit?!" He continued his shouting; even cutting his own older sister in the process.
Rin: "Well, that's because... unfortunatly-"
Kakashi: "You all are just punks who doesn't deserve to be ninjas." His partner simply looked at him shocked.
Sasuke one second after rushed towards both his senseis, since his frustrations couldn't simply stay put on this situation. Naruto shouted in surprise as Sakura simply got shocked of his actions; a way to remember herself that she keeps forgetting litlle details about the start of the story.
A second after, and Sasuke's outburst became nothing as Kakashi simply put him on the ground. The white haired jonin was sitting on him, while his face became rigid on the jagged floor.
Kakashi: "That's why you're a punk."
Sakura couldn't hold it and simply started to laugh silently at the scene, with Naruto catching up and not understanding. Her laughter died however when Kakashi spoke; Rin completly silent about the whole ordeal since she couldn't believe that Sasuke could actually get so agressive to this point.
Kakashi: "You all underestimate ninjas that much, huh? Why do you think you were divided into teams and are doing this training?"
Naruto: "Huh? What do you mean?" He asked with an raised eyebrow as Sakura stayed silent.
Rin: "Well, until now you did not understand the answer to this test yet." She responded with an worried frown.
Naruto: "Answer?"
Rin: "Exactly, Naru-kun. The answer that helps you pass this test."
Naruto: "So why don't you just tell us?!" He exclaimed.
Kakashi: "Geez, of course he would be the one to say it." He shooked his head.
Naruto: "Ah damn it! What's the answer already?!" He screamed again getting more frustrated by the second.
Sakura whined for a moment, catching not only Naruto's attention.
Sakura: "Naruto is so obvious and you also didn't get it. And here I thought you managed to see it too." She rolled her eyes and crossed her arms "It's teamwork."
Naruto and Sasuke got quite the surprised expressions on their faces but the two jonin just got slightly surprised about the girl's answer.
Sakura: "If we managed to work together since the start, maybe we would have gotten the bells sooner then you'd imagine." She looked back at the blonde boy with seriousness.
Sasuke: "But that doesn't make any sense!" The Uchiha shouted underneath Kakashi "Teamwork? There were only two bells. Even if we managed to work together, one of us would still fail. What teamwork we had anyway?! That would just make us fight each other even more!"
Sakura: "See? That's the point I was trying to make earlier with you." She still had her arms crossed while looking strictly at Sasuke "That was the point all along Sasuke. The test was purposely set to make us fight with eachother."
Naruto: "HUH?!" He shouted
Sasuke only widend his eyes even more in surprise.
Kakashi: "Bumblegum is completly right." His voice echoed after some seconds of silence went down "The purpose is to see wheter you can forget about your own interest and successfully work together under these designed circumstances."
Rin: "Unfortunatly, many of you failed to do this task." She looked at the blonde "Naruto you were just running around by yourself and didn't managed to do anything in the end." Her eyes redirected themselves to the Uchiha boy who was stuck beneath Kakashi's feet "Sasuke, even if you tried to work with Sakura at one point, you eventually assumed the others would get in your way and would make everything more difficult for you; hence why you tried to do everything yourself."
Kakashi: "The only one who apparently tried to help everyone, because she discovered the purpose of the training since the start, was Sakura. Even though she didn't managed to appropriatly communicate with both of you, because things got out of hand in the end, didn't it?" The girl hugged herself and looked away in shame "Sasuke left after the sneaky plan didn't work and because he was found by Kame-chan right after. And she couldn't even speak to Naruto about it, since she was already 'hanging' in a pretty bad situation and was prohibited to help him at all. In the end, she was also the one to leave her teammate alone."
Rin: "Can you all see the patterns now? The duties are done by the team. Of course that superior individuality is important to your paths as ninjas. But what's even more important is to establish an strong teamwork." She spoke and then continued "Individual plays that disrupts the team can put one if not all of your comrades in danger." She said on a serious tone.
Kakashi: "And even get yourselves killed. An example?" He then proceeded to put more weight into Sasuke - holding his arm more tighter - while looking at the pinkette "Sakura! Kill Naruto or else Sasuke dies!"
Naruto: "What?!" He completly got desparate while Sakura just looked at the situation with apprehension.
Kakashi: "You see? If a hostage situation is taken, you will have tough choices and then eventually die. You will be risking your lives in these duties."
He swiftly got out from the Sasuke's back, finally giving the boy some proper air. Rin looked at the situation with some petty thoughts entering her mind, which made her look behind her back and see the names carved on the stone. A stone she was very much familiarized with. An worried frown made it's presence on her face as she slowly walked towards it and stopped when touching it.
Rin: "Did you guys already took an look at this stone?" She turned towards her students; who in response payed attention after hearing her soft voice "There are numerous names carved on it. An immense form of recognition... for the ninjas that are considered the heroes of this village."
While Sasuke was just listening with neutral care, Sakura's brows furried slighty in concern.
Just because Rin is still alive and the pinkette doesn't now how, it doesn't mean that Obito did not got his name carved in there either way. After all, what happened to him probably occured the same way back then.
Of course that Sakura herself knows that both Rin and Kakashi's friend is pretty much alive - and they don't know that yet. But even so, it still bothers her that his death might have still caused an double impact on the two and with Rin still being alive...
...
It just makes Sakura's head spin even more... she just knows there's still some pieces left of all of this - there has to be an explanation for Rin's survival until now. But... The more she thinks about it... the more confused it gets.
Meanwhile, Naruto's mind interpreted his big sister's words in another direction.
Naruto: "Hey! Hey! Hey! That's it! Don't need to say it anymore, Rin-Nee! I got ya!" He exclaimed "If you want me to decide, I've decided to get my name carved on that stone too! An hero is what I'll become! That's right! Mark my words!"
Rin just looked at him with surprise - since he not only interrupted her reasoning - but he also was quick to respond something he didn't needed to. With the familiar patience that she always has around with him, she simply gave him an sad smile before responding.
Rin: "Well, if that's the case litlle man, I must tell you that they aren't simply normal heroes or ninjas."
Naruto: "Yeah? What kind of heroes are they then?!" He still answered with cheerfulness.
At first, Rin simply looked at Kakashi who was also looking at her with an apparent neutral face - even though she could feel some sort of support on his eyes - and when she became silent to create more courage, the wind simply made it's move and hit all of the group in seconds.
Naruto: "Come on, Rin-Nee! Tell me! Tell me!" Rin's face just became more frowned when she looked sideways.
Rin: "Their the heroes who died while on duty."
Her voice was low but was completly audible for anyone to hear. The wind carefully played with brown strands - as well as the strands of everyone - making the sudden silence more present then ever. Naruto's cheerfull demeanor was first replaced by surprise; then realization; and even more realization.
Kakashi: "If you still don't get it... This is a memorial." He said after approaching Rin's figure "Our best friend's name is also carved here."
Sakura couldn't even face the situation with apathy and if Sasuke was starting to jugde what was his Sensei's reasoning was in the end - it simply vanished when she finished her words with so much aprehension. He would never judge anyone who lost people like this... never.
As if an light was turned on the female's head, Rin decided to look up at her students.
Rin: "Well then, what's stopping us to give you all a second chance? I think we can sort things out this time." She looked at her partner waiting for his confirmation.
Kakashi: "*Sigh* Fine. We'll give you guys one more chance." His glare became serious as he looked at the pre-teens "But after lunch, We'll make it even tougher to get the bells. Keep in mind however, that if you still want to accept the challenge you can eat lunch. But, don't give any to Naruto."
Naruto: "Huh?" He asked.
Rin: "This time I have to agree, Naru-kun. Your sensei told me what you did before and it serves as an punishment for trying to eat by yourself. So if anyone gives you food, they will immediatly fail." She hugged herself.
Kakashi: "Don't forget that we are the rules here. Got it?"
After making sure that his stare was the most serious as possible, he and Rin disappeared in seconds. Sasuke had his hands on his pockets with an neutral expression present on his face. Sakura, however, immediatly put her fist on her hip while looking in concern at the area her senseis left.
Sakura: "Well... that was something."
Naruto: "Hah! As if we need to worry about this! I don't need any food at all! I can be fine as it is!" He happily exclaimed while being stuck on the stump, but his stomach said otherwise with the big rumbling that emerged.
Sasuke: "If you say so..." He responded.
The sound of Naruto's belly made his best friends look at him with deadpanned expressions, but knowing how Naruto acts it wasn't difficult to know he would say something like that. An slight huff passed through the girl's mouth as she proceeded to say...
Sakura: "Alright then goofball, just let me eat a litlle and then I can give it to you." She went towards the meal's direction and took one before opening it.
Naruto: "Huh?! But Sakura!-"
Sakura: "Just let me eat first, alright? I need to fill some energy, specially after having to deal with you two all day." She smirked after interrupting him "And don't worry about it. Just trust me."
Sasuke just payed attention to her actions and simply went to grab a meal of his own. The pinkette started to eat the meal after taking a seat, slowly feeling the taste of the food entering in.
Sakura: "*Chuckle* Well, I could say it's... decent enough." She smiled while looking at her companions "What'd you think?" She asked Sasuke.
Sasuke: "Hm." This was his way of saying I agree.
Sakura and Sasuke continued to eat the meal and unfortunatly Naruto's hunger just grew more. Of course he knew that Sakura would give him a taste but, he was still not sure about this either way. He just wanted to be useful but Rin said he just ran up and down and didn't managed to do anything... which in the end, he does know that is correct.
As his stomach just rumbled and he tries to concentrate on his thoughts, it was enough for Sasuke to want some questions answered.
Sasuke: "Sakura?" He asked after munching and gulping it.
Sakura: "Yeah?" She gulped the meal and looked at him.
Sasuke: "How did you know what was the purpose of this training since the beginning?" His eyes glared at her green ones with determination "And don't go lying on me now. I won't accept anything but the truth."
His question made Sakura pretty much with an cold feeling on the stomach, but... she knew he would ask her this; specially after the wya he reacted towards her reasoning back then.
She just didn't expected it to be now.
Sakura: "It... wasn't so difficult to guess. I mean, don't you see an pattern between us? Anything at all that screams 'we are the same'?"
Sasuke looked away in some seconds - trying to find an answer, but Sakura beat him to it.
Sakura: "Let's take you and Naruto for a change?" She said with an smile "I know there is a thing with you and him that... totally says you're the same person sometimes."
Sasuke: "I thought you were going to tell the truth when I asked you." He raised an eyebrow at her using his piercing glare.
Sakura: "I am Sasuke. It's your pride who never let you think so much." She took another piece of meal into her mouth. After crunching and gulping it, she continued "You two really like to do things by yourselves, don't you? I mean, blondie here tried to rush the entire training for us by himself. And I'm pretty sure that you also thought the same thing when fighting Nohara-sensei. When you take note of these two patterns it's not hard to see what is missing."
Sasuke looked down for some seconds after seeing that it kinda made sense.
Sasuke: "Well, I guess when you... look it that way..." He spoke "Even so, you were so convinced that, that was the answer that made me think you knew it before the training started." He said while taking another piece of his meal.
Another cold feeling rushed through the girl's spine but she was quick on her delivery.
Sakura: "You know, in the end, even if I knew it since then... I didn't do so much for you guys." Sasuke looked at her attentively again "I mean, when we made that sneaky plan, I should have told you in that exact moment. Would have made things easier for all of us." She looked down with disappointment "I guess I did more of the barking part. 'We should do this! We should do that!'." She exclaimed "But... didn't actually tried to do anything together; do anything with us three." She looked at Sasuke with an smile a second after "Sorry for that... should have known better."
Pink was soon found on Sasuke's cheek and he couldn't help but turn away. It's impressive the ability that she has to make anyone nervous or embarassed with just an smile. He always thinks it's irritating because he does not like to show these things at all.
Or at least he's trying to not like it...
Sasuke: "You don't need to worry yourself like this. It wasn't anyone's fault. We should be more aware next time." He shooked his head while his embaressement was still present "Geez, always making everything about yourself."
Sakura: "Look who's talking!" She said with an smirk while taking another piece of meal.
As she finished crunching and looked down on her meal, she finally knew it was enough for her.
Sakura: "Here you go, litlle guy." She said while getting up "I think it's time for this belly to be fullfilled with joy."
Naruto: "Sakura, you can't do this! It will make you fail!" He exclaimed "I don't need this now! I swear."
Sakura: "Naruto, it's fine. They're not even here and Sasuke is not sensing them nearby. Right Sasuke?" She looked at him.
Sasuke: "No. Not at all." He said while also going up "If anything, it would be best that after lunch, we work together to get the bells."
Naruto: "But!-"
Sasuke: "Without food, you'll just be in the way Naruto. And then me, you and Sakura will only get hurt. You don't want to just run and do nothing in the end, right?" An simply smirk appeared on Sasuke's lips.
Naruto only watched his two friends, completly deadpanned of their sudden actions. He sure knew they were smarter then that but... this was just... different in a 'cool' way. Even if he was still unsure, an warm feeling was spreading on his chest and... he didn't even know what to do with it.
Sakura: "Come on~." She said softly at him with an convincing smile "Just eat with us, will you? It's not ramen, but you need it."
Naruto could only smile in defeat and really like the concern of his friends.
Meanwhile, Kakashi and Rin simply observed and heard everything behind a tree; the white haired jonin relaxing on the tree while the brunnete was watching them from affar.
Rin: "See? I told yoou~." She softly said at her partner
Kakashi: "Heh. Guess you did."
-🌸-
An immense force - fuse with an cloud - emerged in front of the team making them completly aware and surprised. The strong wind blew through their faces and clothing as the pre-teens only saw their sensei getting out of the cloud with an immense fury.
Kakashi: "YOU ALL...!!"
Then, the Jonin stopped in front of them swiftly.
Kakashi: "Passed~." He said softly; portraying an smile beneath the mask. "Heh."
Sakura: "Oh... we passed?! But, why?" She pretended to be dumb.
Rin: "Because all of you are the first to think out of the box." She appeared behind Kakashi with an smile
Naruto: "Huh?"
Rin: "Everyone else would just do whatever we told them to."
Kakashi: "They were all morons, after all" He shrugged
Rin: "Aside from that." She scolded Kakashi with her glare "A ninja must perceive underneath the underneath. It is true that those who break the rules and codes of the ninja world are called... thrash." She reluctanly said the word 'trash' "But, want to know a secret...?"
Rin looked at Kakashi and they united their voices
"Those who don't take care of their comrades... are lower then thrash." She winked at them with an smile while Kakashi just remained stoic.
Sakura genuienly smiled upon hearing such an iconic line being portrayed by these two. She never imagined it would be so cool to hear Rin saying that. Sasuke remained relieved with an smirk of his own and Naruto could only look at Kakashi and Rin with admiration; thinking about how cool they truly are.
Kakashi: "So that ends our training. All of you passed!!" He raised his thumb in the air "Starting tomorrow team 7 will begin it's duties!!"
Naruto: "Yeah! I did it! I actually did it!!" He exclaimed while tears of joy got out from his eyes
Rin: "That's right! You did it!" She applauded him as if she was an exciting girl receiving an gift for the first time "I know you could do it!"
Naruto: "I knew you trusted me since the start Rin-Nee!" He smiled towards his big sister, however he soon noticed the lack of the others "Huh? Where did the others go?"
Kakashi: "Let's go." He triumphaly spoke while following - or being followed - by Sakura and Sasuke
Naruto: "GOD DAMN IT!! I KNEW THEY WOULD DO THAT!!"
Rin: "*Chuckles* Let's just get you out of there and finally eat something!"
-🌸-
A/N: Biggest chapter as of now! Hope you enjoyed it ^^!