Third Person's POV

Kakashi slowly opened his eyes to see the ceiling. A girl approached him, she was Tazuna's daughter Tsunami
"Are you feeling alright sensei?" she asked as she sat at his side on the futon
"Yep.. I'm alright" Kakashi replied, footsteps were heard and they revealed his Genin and Tazuna
"Kakashi-sensei! Are you alright?" Naruto asked as he went to Kakashi's side and sat down cross-legged, Kakashi gave him an eye smile
"Yes I'm fine" Naruto smiled happy that his sensei is okay
"Sensei, if you're gonna end up like this when you use the Sharingan then it's better not to use it much" Sakura suggested, Kakashi sweat dropped
"Right.." he then tried to sit up but was struggling and Tsunami had to help him
"Don't force yourself, you need to rest" Tsunami said
"Don't worry, I'm fine" Kakashi finally sat up. He thought back to the Anbu Kiri bringing Zabuza's body with him instead of doing it at the scene and looked at his Genin
"There's something you need to know, it's just my gut feeling though" Kakashi said as the Genin listened attentively. He explained about how Anbu are supposed to eliminate their target and leave no evidence on the spot making him suspicious about the Anbu that took Zabuza.

"So you're saying that.." Sakura started, Kakashi nodded
"Yeah. Zabuza is alive somewhere, and that Anbu helped him" Kakashi stated earning gasps or wide eyes from the people in the room
"But he won't bother us for a while right?" Tazuna asked, Kakashi smiled
"From our battle he's probably gonna get the same duration of rest as me" Tazuna sighed in relief that there won't be battles later but soon.

Kakashi turned to his Genin
"And by the time he comes back you're gonna fight him but you'll be stronger" Kakashi's words made the Genin looked at him confused,
"But sensei, how are we gonna get stronger in a week's time?" Sakura asked
"Simple. Training" Kakashi stated matter-of-factly, making his Genin give a more confused look, Kakashi sighed
"Don't worry. I'll be teaching you what to do" Kakashi said as he attempted to stand up but fell back on the futon instantly
"You can't get up yet, you need to rest" Tsunami insisted, Kakashi just sweat dropped as he turned to his Genin.
"All of you have improved, especially you Naruto!" Kakashi claimed, Naruto widened his eyes but grinned soon after
"You find it interesting don't you sensei?" Naruto asked excitedly

"It's not interesting at all" a new voice said, all of them turned to see a younger boy wearing a hat
"Oh Inari! Where've you been?" Tazuna said as he opened his arms
"Welcome back grandpa!" Inari said as he went to Tazuna and gave him a hug,
"Come on Inari, say hello to them. They protected your grandpa on the way here" Tsunami said, Inari looked at the Genin intently, he let go of Tazuna and stood up to face his mom
"Mom, these guys are gonna die" he said bluntly surprising everyone
"Inari! That was a rude thing to say!" Tsunami scolded,
"Hey, one day I'm gonna become a great ninja, like a super hero, and become Hokage!" Naruto claimed, Inari looked at him with a mocking face
"Hero? There's no such thing, that's ridiculous!" Inari turned back to leave. Before he left he looked back at the ninjas
"If you don't wanna die then hurry up and go home"
"Where are you going Inari?" Tazuna asked
"To watch the sea" he answered as he left the room. Naruto clenched his fists, angry about Inari mocking him
"I'm sorry about that.." Tazuna apologized
"Don't worry about it" Kakashi said. Naruto stood up
"I'll use the bathroom for a second" he said as he left. Naruto went up the stairs to find Inari

"What are you gonna do kit?" Kurama asked, 'I was thinking of giving him a piece of my mind but I'll figure it out once I find him' Naruto replied to Kurama, he heard distant sobs, he went to where the sobs came from and ended up in front of a room that was half open. He peeked inside to see Inari holding a picure frame
"Dad.." Inari sobbed, Naruto only kept his serious look and left.

Team 7 were at a nearby forest, though Kakashi was using crutches. They stood at a small clear space and Kakashi started talking
"This training will help you improve on your chakra control" Kakashi began,
"Chakra.." Naruto accidentally muttered out loud, Sakura looked at him and sighed
"Do you need me to explain it to you?" she asked, Naruto looked at her
"Oh, no need. I already know about it" Naruto replied surprising Sakura a bit. Kakashi then started explaining why this training was really important
"You need to learn how to control the chakra with your body. It's difficult training that requires you to put your life on the line!" Kakashi said making all three Genin have serious faces
"What should we do?" Sakura asked, Kakashi stayed silent for a while
"Tree climbing" he stated, making the Genin sweat dropped
"But it's a little different this time" he said catching their full attention.
"You have to climb the tree without your hands" Kakashi stated, making Sasuke sweat drop and Sakura shocked while Naruto only widened his eyes
"Is that even possible sensei?" Sakura asked
"Of course! Observe" Kakashi said with an eye smile. He channeled chakra to his feet and walked to the tree, he then walked on the tree with ease reaching the branch standing upside down
"See?" he said with an eye smile, he then took out three kunai and threw them in front of the Genin
"Channel chakra to the soles of your feet to stick to the tree and use the kunai to mark where you stop" Kakashi said as he walked down. They took the kunai and channeled chakra to their soles

"You already know how to do this" Kurama stated, 'I know. But they can't know that now can they?' Naruto thought as he did a hand sign and channeled chakra to his feet. 'Oh right. I have to run' Naruto thought as he ran to the tree, he nearly forgot that he wasn't supposed to show that he could do it so as he reached halfway he stopped the chakra flow and marked where he stopped as he jumped down. He looked at Sasuke to see he use too much chakra breaking the tree a bit, mark where he stopped and back flip to the ground. He looked at Sakura who was able to reach the branch with ease, 'Sakura-chan is amazing!' Naruto thought, Kurama rolled his eyes upon Naruto's comment. Naruto does this repeatedly, the marks rising with his attempts and same goes for Sasuke. Inari watched from afar, furrowed his brows and 'Tsk' as he walked away
"Even if they do that, it's just a waste"

They continued doing this for a few hours but soon Sakura was beat and out of chakra, she looked at her teammates while catching her breath, 'How can they still go on?' she thought. She looked at the marks to see Sasuke's marks are higher than Naruto's, she looked at Naruto and smirked 'Hah. Naruto is gonna give up soon, he's so predictable' she thought but was proven wrong when Naruto attempted again and surpassed Sasuke. Sasuke noticed that Naruto surpassed him and clenched his fists, 'I'm not losing to that loser!' he thought as he attempted to climb the tree again.

Upon eating dinner Tazuna was happy since it's been a while for their table to have guests. Naruto and Sasuke were competing, they finished their food and held out their bowl to Tsunami
"Seconds!" they said in unison, they then looked at each other and glared. They both choked on their food and drank water
"Eat so much and you'll choke!" Sakura scolded.
"It's good that you're eating a lot but you're bound to puke in the end" Kakashi stated

They finished dinner, Tsunami was washing the dishes while the boys were at the table, Sakura looked at a picture frame that was torn
"This picture is torn.. was someone supposed to be here?" she asked loud enough, Inari stood up and left the table
"Inari, where are you going?" Tsunami asked, Inari didn't respond but left, Tsunami followed him after
"Inari.. what happened?" Sakura asked, Kakashi turned to Tazuna
"There must be some kind of story behind" Kakashi said, Tazuna sighed and started telling them about Kaiza who was Inari's father figure. Naruto furrowed his brows and stood up but he felt a little dizzy and leaned on the wall
"You should rest for the day, you've used too much chakra. Any more and you could be killed" Kakashi suggested, Naruto stood up straight
"I'll prove to him that there are real heroes!"

Everyone ate breakfast but the blonde ninja wasn't around
"Don't tell me he trained all night.." Tazuna said
"He's gone crazy. He might be dead from using too much chakra" Sakura assumed
"I hope he's okay" Tsunami said
"Don't worry about him. Naruto's a full-fledged ninja" Kakashi stated
"Sakura's right. He might be lying around dead" Sasuke said as he stood up and left
"Sasuke-kun you're foo-!" Sakura was about to protest but noticed his plate clean

Naruto was sleeping in the middle of the forest all dirty from training. Haku was in normal clothes with his hair down and had a basket with him. He recognized Naruto as one of the ninja who fought Zabuza, he walked to his side and crouched. He was planning to choke him but his hand stopped midway, so he shook him instead
"You'll catch a cold if you sleep here, wake up" Haku said, Naruto groaned as he sat up he looked at Haku and blushed slightly
"Uh.. what are you doing here nee-chan?" he asked bashfully Haku just smiled and said
"I'm gathering herbs" he said, then Naruto volunteered to help Haku in gathering herbs
"What were you doing out here?" he asked, Naruto grinned and said
"Training!" Haku blinked and asked
"But you look strong enough" Haku said, Naruto shook his head
"No no, I should get even stronger! I wanna be acknowledged by the village and there's someone who I wanna prove something to. But most of all, there are people I want to help and protect!" Naruto stated, Haku widened his eyes but smiled
"When you have someome to protect you become strong" Haku stated, Naruto smiled
"Yeah, I understand that" he said, Haku stood up and took the basket
"You will become strong, very strong" Haku said, Naruto nodded
"Goodbye. We will meet again sometime" Haku said as he walked away. Suddenly Haku stopped in his tracks
"By the way, I'm a boy" Haku said before leaving, Naruto was shocked. 'What?! He was cuter than Sakura-chan!' Naruto thought as he slumped. Kurama rolled his eyes

"Forget that. Didn't you notice?" Kurama asked, Naruto went serious in an instant
"Yeah.. his chakra signature.. matches the chakra signature of the Kiri Anbu who took Zabuza" Naruto muttered, Sasuke was in front of Naruto and he hit his head
"Ow! What was that for?" he asked, Sasuke clicked his tongue
"Did you forget about breakfast? Usuratonkachi" Naruto just grinned creeping out Sasuke .

~A few days later~

Everyday Naruto and Sasuke do tree climbing to train. Well, Naruto only continued since he felt sorry for the Uchiha. By nightfall they finally reached the topmost part of their trees
"Shall we go home?" Sasuke asked as he smirked
"Yeah!" Naruto answered as he grinned

Tazuna, his family, and the remaining Team 7 were eating dinner. Sakura looked at the door and sighed
"When are they coming? They're late again"
"Leave them be, they'll come any moment now" Kakashi said as the door swung open revealing Sasuke and Naruto's arm around him supporting Naruto in walking, both of them were filled with scratches and dirt. Naruto grinned as Sasuke kept his calm face.
"What took you guys so long?" Sakura asked,
"We reached the top most part of the tree!" Naruto exclaimed, Kakashi smiled at the both of them
"Okay. Tomorrow the both of you will be guarding Tazuna" Naruto's smile widened from the news
"Alright!" he yelled as he used his free hand to punch the air only to tumble and fall to the floor briging Sasuke along
"Tch, you're so clumsy, usuratonkachi" Sasuke said as he clicked his tongue making the others laugh.

As they finished dinner, Tsunami was washing the dishes while Kakashi sat at the small step while Sasuke just did his own thing somewhere near Kakashi and Sakura was still at the table and Naruto rested his head since he was tired from repeatedly climbing the tree. Inari who was on the opposite side of the table facing Naruto furrowed his brows and clenched his fists as he looked down
"Why..?" he asked, Naruto glanced at Inari in a tired manner
"Hm?" he asked, Inari was slightly shaking trying to let out what he kept to himself
"All this stupid training is just a waste of time!" he yelled as tears fell from his eyes, catching everyones attention
"Gato has an army and he will kill you! No matter what you do, the strong will always win and the weak will always lose!" Naruto shrugged
"Speak for yourself, it won't be like that for me" Naruto said calmly trying not to burst since he was tired from training along with the thought that he encountered the Kiri Anbu
"Shut up! Looking at you makes me sick! You don't know anything about this country, you're just butting in!" he then continued
"Always laughing and playing around. You don't know what it's like to suffer and be treated like dirt!" this was the last straw, Naruto sighed deeply to not completely burst
"Listen to yourself whining and complaining like some sorry ass victim" Naruto said shocking Inari
"You can whimper all day for all I care. You're nothing but a coward!" Naruto said glaring at Inari and releasing a bit of killing intent, Inari trembled from the killing intent along with Naruto's glare
"Naruto, you went too far!" Sakura said but Naruto stood up and ignored her going to their room. Inari cried from what just happened.

Naruto sat at his futon and thought of other things trying to calm down

"Kit.."

"It's okay Kurama. I'm fine"

Inari sat outside at the edge, Kakashi went to him and asked
"Can I talk to you?" Inari didn't answer as Kakashi sat to his left.
"Naruto can be harsh sometimes but he doesn't hate you" Kakashi started
"Tazuna-san told us about your father. You probably don't know this but Naruto grew up without a father" Kakashi continued
"In fact, he never knew either of his parents and he didn't have a single friend in our village" Inari's eyes widened since he was surprised to hear this
"But Naruto never cried or sulked. He's always eager to jump in and he wants to be acknowledged, that's his dream. And he'll put his life on the line for that in a heartbeat" he said as he looked at Inari
"I guess he got tired of crying and decided to do something about it" Inari looked at the water feeling guilty from what he said, then Kakashi continued
"Though he's still young and learning he knows what it means to be strong, like your father did. Out of all of us, Naruto knows better what you're going through"
"Eh?" Inari looked at Kakashi with wide eyes, Kakashi looked at him and said
"What Naruto said earlier, as cruel as it sounds, he probably kept telling that to himself a thousand times"

Yeyy!! Finishedd!! Lel, I'm doing this in the middle of exams HAHHAHAHA 🤣🤣 but anywayss!! U know what day it is?? It's our boy's birthday!!

Happy birthday to our big ball of sunshine!!

This chapter was pretty long phew! Anyways! Look forward tk next chapter!!

Wifizone shutting down
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