Chapter 32: Chapter 14 Genin Life (Quest 1.1)
It was the sound of hushed whispers that woke me up. The pitter-patter of the rain had stopped and aside from the voices, only the crackling of fire remained.
"Thank you for trusting me with this, Naruko," Kakashi said softly. "To be honest... I wasn't expecting any of you to be this open."
My eyes were shut, so I couldn't really see what was going on and I wasn't risking opening them. Kakashi was just that good.
"Uh, yeah. Honestly, I'm a bit surprised I did too," Naruko answered. "I guess... I guess It's thanks to him too."
A friendly hum left Kakashi's lip.
"You two really are close, aren't you?"
She chuckled, perhaps a bit too loudly. After a second of silence, she answered.
"He's my best friend. I'd probably be a completely different person If he hadn't been around, or at least I'd be a lot more... closed off."
"Then it's a good thing he was," Kakashi said. "Know that I'll always be here, so don't be afraid to talk about anything else that's on your mind."
"Thanks. And I will, sensei."
The conversation died down and the crackling of the fire swallowed all sound. Eventually, Naruko came and shook me awake.
I let out a small yawn, feeling somewhat guilty of having listened in on what was obviously a private conversation.
"Your turn, lazy butt!" Naruko huffed with the same goofy grin as always.
"Yeah..." I didn't say anything. It wasn't my job or right to question her about every little thing. Her life didn't revolve around me. "Get some sleep."
She smiled and gave me a thumbs up.
"You bet!"
I nodded and left for the cave's entrance. Kakashi was waiting.
"Rain's stopped," I greeted him with a small wave.
"We should be good to head out in a few hours, yes," he replied confidently.
The atmosphere was a bit awkward, and there was a worry a churning feeling in my stomach. Did he know? If he did, he said nothing. The two of us patiently studied the horizon for anything that seemed odd. We exchanged a few words here and there, but there wasn't anything out of the ordinary.
Soon enough, everyone was up and we were back on our way towards our destination.
---------------------------
It was anti-climactic, but the rest of our mission went without a hitch. Though, that's not to say it was boring. On the contrary, it was really fun. At one point, Naruko had found a boar in the brush and mounted it. She'd then went on to ride it for a bit before it threw her off and escaped. It was the sort of thing that no disciplined ninja would ever want to be caught doing, but the three of us were children. Thankfully, Kakashi was kind enough to ignore it and only tell Naruko off once she was done with her fun.
"Just try to be more professional in front of our clients, ok?" He said.
Still, it wasn't just Naruko that was enjoying herself. Even Sakura found something to entertain herself with. Namely, she went around collecting bugs and even managed to trap a snake!
"Why are you catching all those weird things?" Naruko had asked her. Sakura's answer had been both amusing and enlightening.
"Oh, um, I like animals," she said softly. "The snake might be a good source for poison and the bugs are just interesting. It's fun learning about them, you know?"
"I guess...." Naruko said with a shrug.
Of course, even I wasn't an exception. I hadn't been this far out of the village ever. It honestly felt like we were going on a cross-country trip. The thick forest and stretching fields of green were jaw-dropping vistas. I had grown up in a city twice, so this was the first time in decades that I'd been to the countryside, basically.
Unlike them, I mostly stuck to just taking everything in.
"Hurry your butt, slowpoke!"
That did mean I was quite a bit slower than everyone else. But that was fine because I was having fun.
Eventually, the gates of the town appeared in the distance. Though, calling it small would have been an understatement. It definitely wasn't as big as Konoha, but it wasn't "small."
"And we actually made it with some time to spare," Kakashi mused with a smile. "I'm not sure how we managed that, but it's a nice surprise."
I was already thinking about what that could mean.
========
It wasn't every day we got to explore new towns. Konoha was great, don't get me wrong, but I'd basically seen most of it. Well, as much as a kid my age could see. I hadn't gone down every alley or scoured every street corner, but I'd seen lots. It was a nice place to call home, but after so many years it just all blended together.
"What? You guys are going to take a bath?!" Naruko huffed when she heard Sakura and I were going to the hot spring. A devious thought crossed my mind and I couldn't help but jump at the chance to mess with her.
"Sakura was right about the smell," I said with a nod. My pink-haired teammate blushed and practically tried to turn into a shadow. "I don't know about you, but I don't want to be all sticky and smelly. Not all of us can just ignore it."
Naruko rolled her eyes and raised an arm, quickly taking a whiff of her own body. She stuck out her tongue and scrunched up her nose.
"Ok. Fine. But you guys have to get better at this stuff," she said with a small nod and quickly moved beside me. "Being a ninja means enduring the elements, crawling through dirt, and doing things you don't want to but have to!"
I almost winced at her words. It was true. We were basically little more than soldiers and the thought made my stomach churn. Kids really shouldn't have to go through this sort of stuff. I personally didn't mind, but I wasn't exactly normal.
Sakura shook her head.
"There's more to being a ninja than that," she spoke up with a small, meek smile. "You can't always just take everything and try to push on. You have to be smart about it," she said confidently.
Out of everyone, I'd say she had probably changed the most. She was rarely loud and always tried her best. I wouldn't be surprised if she trained twice as much as Naruko and I.
"Eh, that's why we have you!" Naruko quickly said with a grin. "You're the smart one that knows all sorts of weird stuff. Like the triangle thing!"
Triangle thing?
"You know? The whole sides adding up and stuff?"
Was she talking about the Pythagorean theorem? They called it something different here, but it was basically the same thing.
Sakura opened her mouth to say something, but Naruko moved on to me.
"Sasuke's the guy who's really strong but sucks when it comes to reading the room. Also, I guess he's good at motivating people? Also, his hair kinda looks like a duck's butt?"
Son of a- I deliberately changed my hairstyle because of that!
"You're never going to let me live that down, are you?"
"Nope!" Naruko said with a laugh. Floating above my head, Yue let out a grumble.
"She's really rude!" the small fairy said before a mischievous smile spread across her lips. "Want me to play a prank on her?"
That was pretty uncharacteristic of Yue. I guess even the nicest of people can get a bit annoyed sometimes.
I shook my head and then rolled my eyes.
"What does that make you, then?" I said to Naruko.
"Isn't it obvious?" she told us confidently. "I'm the awesome ninja who kicks everyone's butts!"
Yep. A very Naruko answer. In that case, I'd rille her up a bit. We had time to spare, so why not spend it having fun?
"Right, well, we should hurry up. You're butt smells."
I took off running.
"My butt?! I'll show you who's butt smells!"
She ran after me, eyes flashing with no small amount of childish fury.
Sakura stood there, confused about the whole situation as we ran off. It didn't take her long to come after us, a small smile decorating her face.
Hopefully, the bath would be nice and relaxing.
—————————
Apparently, the hot spring was only for mixed bathing right now. If this were an anime, there would be all sorts of blushing, embarrassment, and then punching the male characters for peeping or whatever. Thankfully, real life was a lot more reasonable. Maybe it also helped that everyone was still kids.
"Mommy, how come she's only showing her head?" a small boy in front of us said as he pointed to Sakura. That only made her blush even harder and scurry away.
"Don't bother her, dear. She's just embarrassed."
"Oh. Ok!"
"I guess it is a bit embarrassing," Naruko said with a nod. "But that's why we have towels for. Not like we're naked, like that big booby lady..." she grumbled.
"I-I guess," Sakura mumbled. "If I knew it was like this…"
She whispered for a bit and then shook her head.
"It's something we'll have to get used to, probably," Naruko shot back. "Like, watching each other's backs while we bathe in the middle of a combat zone or something! A real ninja-like experience!"
I wasn't so sure about that. Bathing in the middle of a place like that? Sounded like a dumb idea.
"Maybe…" Sakura stuttered out as she sent me a glance.
"What? Sasuke making you embarrassed?" Naruko called out. "You shouldn't be! I really don't get what there's to be embarrassed about! Like, this one time when we were kids we went swimming naked and it was super fun!"
I rolled my eyes. She was right. We were kids here and I really didn't find it all that embarrassing. Granted, Naruko and I were really not the best examples of a normal upbringing. If anything, her words just made Sakura blush even harder.
No.
The real danger here was the other people. I made it a point to look away from any mothers and such. It seemed like right now it was just women and kids. Naruko and Sakura didn't do anything to me, but the actual women…
I coughed and made sure to keep enough distance from them. It was a totally normal reaction, but Naruko would absolutely use this as ammo for her teasing. I couldn't give her the chance.
"Hey, maybe we could practice water walking here?" Naruko suddenly spoke up. "They might help distract you, right Sasuke?"
…
I wasn't so sure about that. It was obvious that she was trying to help Sakura, but was this the best way to do it? The pink-haired ninja loved learning new things and practicing Jutsu, but I wasn't sure if a hot spring was the best place.
"We could make a bet! The one to stay up longest can tell the losers what to do for the rest of the day!
…
Floating in the water next to me, Yue let out a satisfied breath.
"So warm and nice..."
"Come on, Sasuke. You think it's a great idea, right?" Naruko asked with an excited smile on her face.
"Eh, I don't know," I said with a shrug. "I don't want to spook the people here. Besides, If Sakura's embarrassed, then I'm not sure having people looking at her will help."
"Ah!" the small bookworm gasped. "T-That's right. I'm sure it'd draw a lot of attention!"
Well, I wasn't planning on shutting down that option, but it seemed I'd done it anyway.
"Oh… I didn't think of that," Naruko said with a giggle. Her cheeks turned red for a moment. "Sorry! Didn't think about that."
Sakura shook her head.
"It's ok…"
And so it looked like the two of them would be fine. Me?
"Mom! How come your boobies are so much bigger than everyone else's?"
"Mom! You have a super big butt! It's so funny!"
"Mom, can I climb on your back?"
God damned kids! Why couldn't they just stay quiet and let their parents bathe them? It wasn't hard!
I shut my eyes and took a deep breath. Half-forgotten memories from my days at school came back to me.
"When faced with a difficult situation, turn to your skills."
"Use what you know to help the situation."
In other words, I needed to ignore them! And wouldn't you know it? I really needed to practice my meditation and breathing techniques! This was the perfect time for it. And so, I shut my eyes and took a few minutes to calm my heart.
Silence the world. Silence my mind. And in silence, attain enlightenment. Deep breath.
…
There. That was so much better. I could feel my chest rising and a warmness spreading through my body. It was incredibly peaceful, to be honest.
"Whatcha doing?" I nearly jumped as Naruko's breath brushed against my ear. God damn it! Why did she have to be such a troublemaker?!
"I'm meditating. It's really useful to calm your mind and refine your thoughts. Also, I'm practicing some breathing techniques I learned."
"Sounds boring," Naruko said. I could just taste the disappointment in her voice.
"D-Don't bother him, Naruko," Sakura quickly said. "He looks really focused."
"I am," I replied with a nod. "If you're nervous, I really recommend trying this. It helps."
"Really?" Sakura asked curiously.
"Yep. Just shut your eyes and take deep breaths. Try to feel your chakra and sort of pool it together near your stomach."
"O-Ok…"
I couldn't actually see her, but I was sure she was doing it. This wasn't the sort of thing someone just picked up with a few words, but hopefully, she'd take it to heart. I didn't exactly have a book to give her, but I was sure there were some in Konoha. Now, I-
"Want me to help?" Naruko said as she hopped onto my lap. "You need something distracting you so you can get better, right?"
Trust her to try and make this difficult. Thankfully, the meditation had helped me. I plastered a grin onto my face and nodded.
"Sure. Go ahead."
I wasn't scared. When she reached up and started pulling my cheeks, it stayed determined. When she started ruffling my hair, I thought of the sky. When she plugged my nose, I started breathing through my mouth.
And then she bit my ear.
"Are you an animal now?" I asked jokingly.
"How come you're so good at this?" she asked with a huff. A mixture of amazement and annoyance rolled off her tongue.
"Honestly, I think it'd be a lot harder if anyone else was doing it. I'm just used to your antics."
"Ugh… thanks?"
With that, she got off me and started relaxing. Like a spent puppy, she was tired and knew that I wasn't just going to go along with her pace.
The rest of our bath was quiet and uneventful. Just how I liked it.
————
"I feel so refreshed!" Sakura practically shouted as we left the hot spring.
"Yeah! I think we should take baths like that more often, right Sasuke?"
"I guess?" I said with a yawn. My eyes turned to the discrete little "menu" in the corner of my vision. It didn't look like that little meditation lesson had been enough to raise the skill, but I did see that I had a small buff now.
"Where do you think Kakashi went?" I asked. There were a few things I wanted to talk to him about.
"Probably reading some of those dirty books of his," Naruko answered with a shrug. "I mean, they're not even that good."
"H-How would you know?" Sakura suddenly asked.
"I found a copy on sale, so I finished it," Naruko said with a shrug. "Do you want to read it?"
There was a small pause.
"N-No…"
Why did she look at me like that? Ah… right. Kids would be kids. It was honestly kind of adorable. Though, I was a kid. It still felt a bid odd considering how much I'd regressed...
"I'll be back in a bit. I needed to ask him a few things, so you two have fun. We can meet up back at the gate later like he told us."
And with that, I ran off. None of them came after me, so I considered my job done. Girls always liked to have alone time, right? At least that's the feeling I got in both worlds. Honestly, it was a bit lonely not having guys to talk to.
How were Shikamaru and the rest doing, I wondered?
…
Either way, it didn't take long to find Kakashi. He was by some pawn shop, browsing what they had on sale. If it wasn't for the mask and uniform, he'd be the spitting image of a normal guy.
"Hey sensei," I greeted him with a smile.
He turned, showing his good eye. The weird "eye-smile" he did was his response. It was crazy how expressive someone could be when seventy percent of their face was hidden.
"Hello, Sasuke. Did you come looking for me?"
Sharp as a knife, as always.
"Yeah. I wanted to talk about a few things."
"Oh? Do you need me to teach you about the bird and the bees? I was sure your parents had already told you."
…
His jokes sucked…
I rolled my eyes.
"No."
Hopefully, he'd give me a straight answer. But knowing him, this wouldn't be easy.
=======
"Chakra affinity, huh?" Kakashi hummed, eyes turning back to the myriad of things being sold in the store. "You mean you don't already know yours? It's probably fire, to be honest."
I rolled my eyes.
"No. I don't know," I said with a huff. "My parents never brought it up, and honestly it had slipped my mind until now."
It's kind of dumb, to be honest. Stuff like this should be figured out back at school. That was better, right? Though, to be fair, I don't know how expensive chakra paper is. It could be rare or limited in some way. I guess it would be a waste to give that to kids who haven't even proven themselves.
"Hmm, alright," Kakashi replied with a nod.
Yes! That was eas-
"But you're going to have to help me with something first."
…
Ok. Maybe I'd been a bit over-eager with that. Was he doing this on purpose or did he actually need help?
"With what?" I asked, brow furrowing questioningly. What could he need my help with?
"Oh, this and that," he answered with a casual wave. "What? You think it'll be too hard for you?"
I rolled my eyes. Yeah, that was definitely some kind of teasing.
"Doubt it. Alright, let's do your thing and get this over with."
"Excellent," Kakashi said a bit too eagerly. "Come with me. It's not anything too difficult."
Great. I just knew this was going to be a pain in the ass. I hoped my hunch was wrong…
=========
"Huh, that's it?" I asked, blinking in a bit of confusion. "This is a lot easier than what I was expecting."
I reared back and threw my kunai. The sharp, metal weapon sliced through the air like butter. A high-pitched whistle was the only warning the poor boar had. Not that it did him any good. The weapon tore through his head as cleanly as if it were made of paper.
I stood there, taking in exactly how deadly a simple throw could be. Chakra was a hell of a thing and I don't think I'd ever stop thinking that.
"Good. We'll only need a few more before we have enough."
I looked at the dead boar and then turned back to Kakashi.
"What? No, I'm not the one that's going to be carrying it back." He paused for a moment and blew a hum. "Think of it as training."
Jerk! Training, my ass! He was just too damn lazy to do it himself!
"Whatever," I huffed and stepped forward, easily lifting the boar with a bit of effort. It wasn't all that big, but it would still be pretty heavy by my old home's standards. Yet here I was, lifting it with a single arm.
"So why are you doing this again? You needed money?"
Kakashi shook his head.
"Just being a good samaritan. Did you know the town's recently had a bit of a boar problem? Seems like they've been breeding quite a bit."
Have they? I didn't really notice.
"Their fields and livestock have been suffering because of it. They were about ready to contract mercenaries to solve the issue."
I shrugged.
"So you wanted to make Konoha look better?" It wasn't a bad strategy.
"No. I'm just a good samaritan, remember?"
…
Yeah, bullshit. But whatever.
"Whatever you say, sensei."
He chuckled and nodded. The whole mysterious teacher bit didn't really fit him. But I couldn't blame him. Life hadn't exactly been kind to him, after all. Every man had a right to choose how he presented himself to the world. In the end, we all wore masks.
A small yawn caught my attention. Yue fluttered closer to my shoulder and touched down.
"Sleepy," she mumbled and crawled into one of my many pockets.
"So how many more do we have to kill?" I asked. Hopefully, it wasn't too many. I didn't think I could carry more than two back by myself.
"Six should do? I'll handle the other twenty."
What?
"So you are going to actually do some work?"
He laughed.
"Sasuke, what sort of person do you take me for? I'm not the kind of individual to have his student do my work for me."
Yep. He was definitely messing with me.
I blew a sigh and nodded.
"I guess I'll have to ask for help then."
Jubei would probably love to get his hand on some boar meat. It wasn't tuna, but that didn't mean he wouldn't eat it.
Anyways, the rest of our "mission" went by pretty smoothly. At most, it took us a quarter of an hour to find and get rid of all the boars. The village would have lots to eat and I'd learn my chakra nature.
Speaking of which, Kakashi handed me a tiny slip of paper after we'd cleaned our hands of the boars.
"Just channel a bit of your chakra through it and you'll find your answer."
It was just as he said. He held his part of the bargain, so I happily snatched the paper and pumped it full of my chakra. It subsequently fell apart like wet tissue paper.
Water? Huh, I wasn't expecting-
The soaked bits of paper immediately burst into flames.
"Two? Impressive," Kakashi said with an amused chuckle. "Opposing elements at that… I guess it suits your paradoxical nature, huh?"
What was that supposed to mean? Wait-
"Did you just make a pun?"
"Oh? Did I?"
Yeah. This Kakashi was just a bit more mischievous than the original, wasn't he? Or maybe he'd always been like this?
I blew a sigh and shook my head.
"Thank you for the help, sensei. I think you should probably get Naruko and Sakura tested too."
He nodded.
"I think I can afford that. It had honestly slipped my mind."
Heh. Maybe the two of us weren't so different?
"Sasuke!"
"Kakashi-sensei!"
"Speak of the devil," I said with a smile. "Looks like they're here."
Kakashi nodded and turned towards the gates.
"I think that's that, then. It's time to head back."
I only hoped that the trip back would be faster. Another rainstorm would really suck!
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Trait updates
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Chakra Nature: Everyone has one, though some have more.
-Fire (Natural): Your "natural" affinity.
-Water (Natural): Your second "natural" affinity.
-Lightning (100%): You've got the hang of Lightning Element chakra. (Lighting Jutsu gain bonuses | Higher Tier Lightning Jutsu Can be Learned)
CREATORS' THOUGHTS 
Leekz01
Leekz01 I was really close to dropping this quest/story, but Decided to continue it in the end.
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