Chapter – 16

Kakashi slowly opened his eyes. Where am I? Whose house is this? Then he remembered his fight with Zabuza and about the mission.

"Oh! Kakashi-sensei's awake." Spoke a voice.

Kakashi sat up and saw everyone come into the room. The one who spoke was Naruto.

"Hey, you guys. Sorry for the trouble. When I use my sharingan too much, I get like this for a week." said Kakashi.

"It's alright. What matters is that everybody's safe and Zabuza's dead." Said Tazuna.

"Hm. Yes, I suppose so too." Said Kakashi with a thoughtful look. There was a small silence and Sakura decided to break it.

"Um. What's the matter sensei? You are deep in thought about something."

"Hm. Well there is something that's bothering me. First, the timing of that ninja was too good. And second, he lifted up Zabuza who was twice the size of him so easily like he had done it dozens of times." Said Kakashi.

Suddenly Sasuke spoke, "You can't possibly mean…"

Sakura chose to stay quiet. She already knew the whole scenario. Naruto was lost as usual.

"I'm afraid so Sasuke. Its highly possible those two were accomplices. The kid was there to save Zabuza's life in case we were too much for him to handle. He masqueraded himself as a Mist ANBU and took his body. So, most probably Zabuza is still alive." Finished Kakashi.

Suddenly Naruto was openly screaming, "WHAT!? But you checked the pulse of Zabuza, sensei! How can he be alive?!"

"I did check but those needles were the reason I couldn't detect any pulse. The kid must be really skilled in medics and with needles to hit the correct spot. He's got some amazing skills." Said Kakashi.

"OH MAN! WHAT ARE WE GOING TO DO? HE'S GOING TO COME BACK FOR REVENGE!" Naruto started panicking.

Sasuke was also troubled by the news but he hid his expressions. Sakura noticed it and remained unbothered. Kakashi noticed Sakura. He was bothered by her reactions. She behaved like a full-fledged shinobi at such a young age. It was as if she already has been through these kind of situations. But he had to calm down Naruto first.

"Calm down, Naruto. I'll train you guys for a week that I am not able to fight and make you capable of handling that kid on your own while I will fight with Zabuza on my own so that we can divide up the work. Got it?"

"Yeah. This is where team work is going to come in hand. So calm down and follow sensei's orders..." Added Sakura.

"…and you too Sasuke. Don't worry, we'll be fine."

That surprised Sasuke. He didn't know that Sakura was observing him this closely. He felt embarrassed. He said 'Hn' as usual and tried to brush it off. Naruto started to calm down too. The atmosphere was less tense now.

"SO WHEN DOES THE TRAINING START?!" said Naruto excitedly. Sasuke also looked eager to go. Sakura was just smiling. As if she already knew the answer.

"Right now. We aren't going to waste any time. Let's all eat lunch and then we'll go to train in forest nearby."

"Okay." All three of them said excitedly.

Sakura decided to help Inari's mother with the preparation of lunch and went to town with Sasuke for shopping. The town people were staring at Sakura. She was standing out with her pink hair, leaf headband and grace. This was bothering Sasuke and he was glaring at everybody. He didn't know why but it was bothering him when men looked at her. He was too busy driving people away from Sakura that he didn't notice the state of the town. There were no groceries or clothing in the shops. People were more than poor and were living on the streets. Sakura felt just as bad as she did the first time she saw this town. They bought the groceries and were on their way back. A little kid screamed, "Wow! Your hair is pink! Did you put color on it?"

Sakura laughed and dropped down to meet the kid's level and said, "No. This is my natural hair color. Do you want to touch it?"

The kid was gleaming with excitement with the offer and vigorously nodded his head. He was about to touch her hair when the kid's mother came and screamed at him for talking to outsiders. She glared at Sakura with hatred and dragged the kid with her. Sakura felt bad and lowered her head. Her eyes were hidden but she looked up and smiled. She said goodbye to the kid. Sasuke was angry with the kid's mother. The way she treated Sakura like she was just some kind of dirt was unacceptable to him. He saw how she got hurt by the comment but she still smiled! She should have given her a piece of her mind.

"You should have said something." Spoke Sasuke without any further control.

"What good would that have done? The mother was right. I am an outsider. Kids should be careful. She was just doing her job as a mother." Replied Sakura.

Sasuke got angry and said, "No she was insulting you! The way she said that you were an outsider was…"

"I'm fine Sasuke." She said finally and the conversation dropped.

Sasuke was pissed and walking stiffly. Sakura on the other hand was neutral faced and walking calmly as usual. But she was thinking that how could a person like Sasuke care about how someone treated me. Well whatever. What's done is done. He is moody after all. They reached Tazuna's home and Sakura went in the kitchen to help. Sasuke stiffly went to the room Kakashi was resting in.

Meanwhile, Kakashi was thinking about Sakura. She was a puzzle for him. Normally she acted like a normal 12-year-old girl who was determined to learn new things but on the field she acted like an expert. She couldn't have had any experience before so how was she so collected and agile? Plus, Kakashi noticed that there was a throb every time Kakashi touched her. What the hell was happening, even he didn't know anymore. He decided he'll find out more about her.

Lunch was served in half an hour and Naruto and Sasuke were bickering the whole time while Kakashi kept apologizing for them. Sakura was happy and smiling. Inari didn't come down for the meal saying he wasn't hungry. Naruto finally decided to open the Pandora's box and asked,

"Why isn't Inari coming? Did we do something to upset him?"

There was an awkward silence. Tazuna and Inari's mother shared glances and finally Inari's mother nodded. Tazuna spoke,

"Inari doesn't like ninjas or saviors. His father was killed because he tried to save somebody from being killed in front of the whole town. Gato was going to execute somebody but he said he would trade places with the one being executed and died. Inari watched all that when he was 5. Since then, he hasn't liked ninjas or anybody who tries to protect somebody by putting their lives on the line. You guys are protecting me and he hates that. That's why he is avoiding you. Please don't take it personally."

There was a deep silence followed by a loud thump of chopsticks. "What a brat. I'll give him a lesson." Said Naruto. He got up and walked up to Inari's room but he saw that Inari was hugging a picture frame and crying. That's when he truly understood everything. He decided to leave him alone.

Kakashi was walking with crutches. Sakura, Sasuke and Naruto were walking behind him. Naruto and Sasuke were raring to go for training and getting new skills. Meanwhile Sakura was just smiling and walking calmly. Finally they stopped in between some trees and Kakashi spoke, "All right. Let's begin. Today's training exercise is… climbing a tree."

"WHAT? THAT'S SO LAME!" screamed Naruto and huffed. Sasuke also gave a deadpanned look and Sakura chuckled.

"Let me finish. You have to climb a tree without using your hands." Continued Kakashi.

"Huh? How are we ever going to achieve that? We need hands to hold the tree." Said Sasuke.

"That's what you are not going to do. You will walk on the bark of the tree using chakra. Put chakra on the bottom of your feet and walk on the tree. Like this."

Kakashi went and showed them how to walk on a tree without using his hands and stood upside down on a branch. Naruto and Sasuke were fascinated and Sakura was standing coolly. Kakashi noticed that and came down.

"Got it? It'll take some practice but it is a very important skill for a ninja. Controlling chakra should be second nature for us. If you can do this, you may be able to face that kid. Now you three try it. Take a kunai and each time you climb a tree, mark down till where you could climb."

Naruto and Sasuke looked at each other and glared. Sakura bonked their heads hard and said, "Let's go." They both glared at her but followed. Kakashi spoke, "Ready? Go."

Naruto started walking but put in too much chakra and broke the bark. Sasuke put a little less and fell down. Sakura on the other hand, climbed the tree in one go. She sat on the branch and said, "Sensei, this is too easy. Give me some other exercise."

Naruto, Sasuke and Kakashi were gaping at her. HOW CAN SHE DO IT IN ONE TIME?! Al three of them thought. Naruto and Sasuke got more determined and continued to train, while Kakashi said "Very good, Sakura. It looks like you've got good control skills."

"Thank you sensei! Can you give me some other exercise. I want to become a medic. So something related to that…"

Kakashi was surprised at that. She wanted to become a medic? That's too perfect for her. She already acts like a medic on the field. This was getting suspicious.

"I see. Well it's good that you have good chakra control. Why don't you try walking on water? That might be a bit challenging for you. It's the same technique but requires more concentration. You up for it?" asked Kakashi.

"Okay. I can do it." Answered Sakura. I can't be good at everything. Plus, water walking is good practice. I'll try some medics on fishes too when nobody's around.

Meanwhile Naruto and Sasuke were dumbfounded on the ground. Now they were feeling competitive with Sakura. They weren't going to lose to her.

Kakashi said, "Sakura and I are going to the river nearby to train. You guys continue."

That pissed them off even more. Now she was going to get special training apart from them. No way am I going to be left behind. Thought the both of them. Both gave a shout and went running towards their trees.

Kakashi and Sakura found a river nearby. The flow was not too turbulent and not too calm. It was the perfect opportunity for Kakashi to see her skills. Let's see what else you can do.

"All right Sakura. I'm going to show you how to water walk. You need to concentrate very hard for this. The flow is also kind of turbulent so be careful. Here's how you want to look like."

He went ahead and set his feet on the surface of the water. He was floating on top of the surface of the water and started walking on it.

"Push chakra in your feet and match it according to the flow of the water. The water's surface will be wavy and push back your chakra so you have to concentrate for that. Now you try."

He came back and stood in front of her. Sakura decided she'll fall in front of Kakashi to not to look suspicious because she was perfectly able to walk on any kind of surface. She went ahead and kept one foot on the surface and waited to match the flow of the water. Then she decided she'll fall down when she kept her second foot. And that's exactly when it happened. A kunai came from her side and as an instinct she flipped in the air and landed on the surface of the water perfectly still and alert for any attack.

Turns out the person who threw the kunai was Kakashi.

"Got you. Now spill it, who the hell are you?"