"Ugh, sensei. Do we really have to do this mission?" Naruto asked with a deep frown etched across her face, her voice tinged with disappointment.
They had just received their very first mission assignment and it was far from what she had been expecting. Even Sasuke, usually stoic and composed, appeared quite disappointed by the mundane nature of the task. They had all been anticipating something more hands-on, more exciting and challenging.
"Every genin starts with missions like this. You'll have to complete these kinds of tasks for a while before you can gain the permission to take on higher ranked and more complex missions," he explained patiently as he led them toward the designated location.
They all sighed heavily in collective disappointment. Meanwhile, Sakura was completely absorbed in conversation with Sora. She had numerous questions she wanted to ask regarding the intricacies of medical jutsu and their applications.
"That's precisely why you have to exercise extreme caution and careful precision when treating diseases or dealing with poisons," he said in a measured tone.
She nodded slowly in understanding, absorbing the important information.
"But the nerves and veins throughout the body are so incredibly small and delicate, how does someone even manage to channel their chakra through them without causing them to rupture or explode?" she asked with genuine curiosity.
"Control," he simply stated, his answer concise yet profound.
She nodded once again in understanding, processing the implications. Someone with the ability to accomplish such a delicate feat wasn't just any average person—they would need exceptional skill and discipline.
She made a firm promise to herself that she would one day be able to master that level of technique. She carefully wrote down notes in her little notebook, documenting everything she was learning.
"But what if I find myself in a situation where I get attacked when there's no one around to protect me?" she asked, concern evident in her voice.
He didn't turn to face her as he considered his response.
"Chakra coating. You can coat your entire body in a layer of chakra and use it to reinforce your physical form. The more precise control you have over your chakra, the more advanced techniques you'll be able to perform. Eventually, with enough practice and mastery, you'll reach a point where you can even reinforce your blood vessels themselves. But we'll just have to see if you ever manage to reach that day," he added with a hint of challenge in his voice.
His carefully chosen words sparked a new realization within her mind. There was so much potential, so many possibilities for what she could accomplish now. She continued writing diligently inside her book, her mind racing with ideas.
Naruto on the other hand just frowned deeply, her expression darkening. She didn't like the fact that Sakura was getting so close to Sora, and she especially didn't like the fact that Sora was talking to her so much and giving her so much attention.
"Kekeke, I told you already. He clearly likes that girl. You still remember that time when he said he would join a team with a cute girl, don't you?" the voice echoed ominously in her mind.
Shut up, he was obviously talking about me, she thought defensively, but deep down she wasn't fully sure of that anymore.
"Stop kidding yourself and face reality. If he was actually talking about you then he would have just directly called you cute to your face. And besides, has he ever acted this attentive and gone so far out of his way for another girl the way he does for her?" the fox echoed mockingly.
These pointed words slowly riled her up, getting under her skin. Her emotions began to stir turbulently within her. Her anger and jealousy steadily rising to dangerous levels.
What the nine tails had said was calculated purely to provoke Naruto and manipulate her emotions. The fox wanted Naruto to completely lose control of her emotions and in turn be forced to enter the tailed beast form involuntarily.
With this transformation, Sora would be able to clearly see and understand without any doubt that Naruto was a jinchuriki, and the nine tails hoped he would begin to hate and fear her as a result.
But what the nine tails didn't know, couldn't have known, was that Sora didn't actually care about his dead parents—people who he had barely even spent any meaningful time with during their brief lives.
They were essentially strangers to him, distant figures he had no real connection to. But the main reason why the nine tails was doing this, her true motivation, was because Sora carried the scent of an Uchiha, and she absolutely didn't like it.
"Are you ok?" Sora asked with concern from his position beside Naruto, noticing her distress.
Naruto paused in her tracks as she began to calm herself down, taking deep breaths. Her chakra had been leaking out uncontrollably and he had immediately sensed the disturbance. Kakashi, who had also noticed the fluctuation in her chakra, was already on high alert and ready to intervene, but seeing that she had calmed down on her own, he gradually relaxed his guard.
"I'm fine," she smiled up at him, trying to appear reassuring.
He knew instinctively that something was clearly wrong, but he nodded anyway and decided not to pry into her personal matters. If she didn't want to explain what was bothering her, then that was perfectly fine with him.
She reached out and grabbed his arm firmly and then held onto it possessively. Holding him close to her as they continued walking together. The others in the group noticed the intimate gesture but decided not to comment on it. Sora himself didn't seem to mind the physical contact at all.
She rested her head gently on his shoulder as she breathed in his familiar scent deeply, finding comfort in his presence. The others couldn't help but blush at the brazen and open expression of affection she was displaying.
After a considerable period of time had passed, Kakashi finally broke the silence and spoke up, addressing the group.
"We're here," he announced, coming to a complete stop in front of a building that had only recently been constructed and completed.
The others turned their attention toward the building, examining it carefully. At first glance, it didn't look like anything particularly special or remarkable. However, based on the architectural design and layout, they knew immediately and without question that it was a shop of some kind.
Upon entering the establishment, a man approached and greeted them warmly.
"Are you the ninja team that accepted and agreed to take on the task?" He asked with a soft, welcoming smile spreading across his face.
Kakashi nodded in confirmation.
"This is my genin team," he said, gesturing as he presented Naruto, Sasuke, Sakura, and Sora to the shop owner.
The man looked at each of them individually with a smile, taking them in. Then he paused abruptly, and his soft smile quickly disappeared from his face, replaced by something much colder.
Everyone in the group noticed the sudden and dramatic change in his demeanor, but nobody said anything about it or addressed the obvious shift in atmosphere.
"Please help me with moving and transporting the boxes," he said in a more businesslike tone, and pointed first at the numerous boxes scattered around, then gestured toward the storage room where they needed to be taken.
The team got to work immediately and began moving the boxes as instructed, working efficiently together.
The man continued staring intently at Naruto, his eyes completely full of unmistakable hostility and disdain. Sora observed this carefully but didn't do anything yet or make any moves, since the man hadn't actually opened his mouth to verbally insult her or say anything offensive out loud.
Sasuke and Sakura had already noticed the man's hostile behavior and intense stare as well. They didn't understand or know why everyone in the village seemed to look at her with such deep-seated hostility and contempt, but it was impossible to miss.
Naruto, on the other hand, simply ignored the man completely and continued with her work. She didn't see any point in doing anything about it or acknowledging his behavior. She had dealt with this kind of treatment countless times before.
Her times growing up alongside Sora and being in his constant presence had slightly changed her perspective and approach to these situations. But it hadn't changed her to the point of being a completely different person from who she had always been.
As she carried the boxes into the storage room one by one, she found herself contemplating deeply on personal matters that included Sora and their relationship, letting her mind wander as her body performed the repetitive task.
After they were completely done with the assignment and had finished moving all the boxes, they received their payment from the shop owner and left the premises without incident.
"This is a complete waste of time," Sora stated bluntly, voicing his frustration with the mundane nature of the mission.
He then summoned five shadow clones with practiced ease and made them transform into perfect replicas of team seven members.
"They will do our tasks for us and handle the missions while we focus on training," he explained matter-of-factly and started leading the way toward a more suitable location.
Kakashi just stood there in his place with a completely dumbfounded look on his face, clearly taken aback by the bold solution. He let out a long sigh and in reluctant acceptance of the situation, he followed along behind them.
After reaching training ground 4 and settling into the area, they began their training session in earnest. While Sasuke and Naruto sat cross-legged and meditated to improve their chakra control, Sakura was focused intently on learning the delicate and precise technique of how to revive a fish using medical ninjutsu.
Sora, who was overlooking and monitoring everything that was happening with a careful eye, nodded in satisfaction at their progress. He then turned his attention to Kakashi, who was lazily laying sprawled out on the bench nearby, appearing completely relaxed.
"Kakashi," he called out to get his attention.
Kakashi's visible eye focused and shifted onto Sora with mild curiosity.
"Yes?" He asked in his usual casual tone, wondering what Sora wanted from him.
"Join the training session," Sora said directly, his words more of a command than a suggestion.
The words made Kakashi freeze completely in place, his eye widening in genuine surprise. He then slowly got up into a sitting position and pointed to himself with his finger in disbelief.
"You want me to train?" He asked, as if he couldn't quite believe what he was hearing or that Sora was serious.
Sora nodded firmly in confirmation.
"If you do, I'll give you completely free meals from now on for breakfast, lunch, and dinner every single day," he said, presenting the offer that he knew would be too tempting to refuse.
"Deal," Kakashi immediately said without any hesitation whatsoever, and stood up from the bench quickly.
He ran to the training ground area and started training alongside his students with surprising enthusiasm. He absolutely didn't want to miss out on free meals, especially ones that were made and prepared by Sora, whose cooking he had come to appreciate greatly.
Witnessing this display of enthusiasm and dedication, the persistent itch that had been nagging at the back of his head finally dissipated and faded away completely as he redirected his focus and started concentrating intently on his own personal training regimen. He carefully shifted his body and got into a proper fighting stance, positioning himself with precision.
He had invested and spent a considerable amount of time, effort, and dedication, and through countless hours of practice and refinement had finally managed to create and perfect a brand new fighting style that was completely and utterly unique to him alone, unlike anything anyone else practiced.
It was called Sonata, a name he had chosen carefully to reflect its flowing nature.
This particular fighting style was incredibly special and distinct from traditional martial arts. It featured and incorporated multiple different sequences of attack patterns and combinations that could seamlessly change and adapt at any moment the user wanted or needed them to, providing maximum flexibility in combat situations.
It was highly structured, deeply technical, and required extreme precision in every single movement. It was specifically designed and crafted to be both devastatingly powerful in its execution and completely unpredictable to any opponent who might face it, making it nearly impossible to counter effectively.
He began fighting and sparring against an imaginary opponent using this sophisticated technique, moving through the various forms and sequences with fluid grace, but because of the sheer magnitude and intensity of his power and the force behind each strike, the surrounding environment and landscape were slowly but steadily getting damaged and torn apart as deep claw marks and gouges began to form and appear on the grounds, across rocks, and even carved into the bark of nearby trees.
After several long hours had passed by and the sun was gradually beginning to set on the horizon, casting long shadows across the training ground, he finally stopped his intensive training session and allowed himself to rest.
"We'll end and conclude training for today. Make absolutely sure that you all get proper rest tonight. It's extremely good and beneficial for your mind to refresh and recover from the day's exertion," he added thoughtfully, showing genuine concern for their well-being.
They all nodded in understanding and acknowledgment of his words, appreciating the wisdom behind them.
Sasuke and Sakura, both appearing tired but satisfied with their progress, gathered their belongings and headed back toward their respective homes for the evening.
"I'll go home first and clean myself up properly before anything else," Kakashi said with his characteristic casual tone, and then suddenly disappeared and vanished into a cloud and poof of white smoke, using his body flicker technique.
"Let's go home now," he said gently to Naruto, his voice warm and inviting.
She nodded eagerly in agreement and immediately reached out and grabbed his arm again possessively, holding it close to her as they walked home together side by side, enjoying each other's comfortable presence and companionship.
After finally arriving back home at their shared residence, he immediately and without any delay started the process of cooking dinner and preparing their evening meal while Naruto separated from him and entered the bathroom to wash up and clean herself after the long day of training.
He thoroughly cleaned and washed his hands with soap and water, then reached out and grabbed a large pot from the cabinet. Carefully placing it on top of the stove, he poured in some cooking oil and adjusted and heated the fire to a steady medium heat level, allowing the oil to gradually warm up.
During that waiting time, he quickly and efficiently moved through the kitchen and cut and prepared all the necessary ingredients with practiced movements and skill. One by one, he carefully added the white parts of the finely chopped scallions, minced garlic, and diced onion into the heated oil.
He sautéed them together for approximately one minute, stirring occasionally, then added a generous portion of red pepper flakes to introduce some heat and spice, and continuously stirred the mixture for exactly 45 seconds to prevent any burning and to release the aromatic oils.
After that initial preparation step, he added a substantial amount of minced pork to the pot and mixed it thoroughly with the aromatic base. He continued cooking the meat for another 2 full minutes, breaking it up and ensuring it browned evenly before adding a measured amount of water to create the broth base.
As the water gradually started heating up and approaching a simmer, he added both soy sauce and fish sauce to the mixture to deepen and enhance the savory umami flavor profile of the dish, creating layers of complex taste.
He carefully increased the heat level until the liquid started actively boiling with visible bubbles, then decreased it once again back down into a gentle simmering state to maintain the proper cooking temperature. He then reached over and grabbed the freshly cut mushrooms from the cutting board and gently put them into the simmering broth.
Letting the pot continue to simmer undisturbed for approximately 6 minutes to properly soften the mushrooms and allow them to absorb the flavors, he then carefully added the delicate cubes of tofu to the pot, placing them gently. He made absolutely sure not to stir too vigorously or too much because the tofu was incredibly soft and fragile and could easily break apart if handled roughly.
After another two minutes of patient simmering had elapsed, he carefully cracked multiple fresh eggs directly into the pot, spacing them evenly, and then let the entire mixture rest without stirring to allow the eggs to set properly and cook through gently. Finally, as the finishing touch, he added the vibrant green parts of the chopped scallions for color and freshness and immediately turned off the heat source completely to stop the cooking process.
He then turned around and headed toward the refrigerator and opened it, reaching in to take out the already prepared and marinated skewered chicken pieces that he had thoughtfully made earlier that morning in anticipation of tonight's dinner.
He carefully took the chicken skewers out of their container and placed them into the microwave to heat up and warm them through properly. While that heating process was happening and the microwave was running, he grabbed the heavy pot with both hands using protective mitts and carefully carried it over and put it in the center of the dining table where there was a protective cloth placed to prevent heat damage to the wood surface.
Ding! Hearing the distinct sound that indicated the microwave had finished heating up the chicken and the timer had completed its cycle, he promptly grabbed the hot plate and carefully carried it over and put it on the kitchen table next to the pot, then turned and left the kitchen area momentarily.
Moving toward the hallway closet with purpose, he opened it and took out a fresh new pair of comfortable clothes and a clean towel to dry himself with. And arriving at just the perfect time with fortunate timing, Naruto emerged from the bathroom, having finished taking her bath, her hair still slightly damp and her skin glowing.
He entered the bathroom in turn and took a refreshing cold bath to clear his mind completely and wash away the fatigue and sweat from training. After he was thoroughly done cleaning himself and feeling renewed, he exited the bathroom and made his way back and entered the kitchen and dining area.
Everyone was already assembled there waiting for him. Kakashi had returned and was seated, along with Naruto, and even Hiruzen had arrived at some point. He shook his head in mild exasperation when he immediately noticed that there were no rice bowls set out on the table for anyone to use.
He walked over and headed to the kitchen counter area and grabbed four ceramic bowls from the shelf and carefully scooped generous portions of freshly steamed white rice into each one. After properly preparing all four portions, he went back to the kitchen table and sat down in his usual designated seat and passed and distributed everyone their individual bowls before finally starting to eat his own meal.
Naruto, as usual and completely predictably, absolutely loved the food and its delicious flavors and enthusiastically and crazily took as much as she could possibly fit on her plate, not holding back at all. Kakashi and Hiruzen, who had originally planned and intended to take it slowly and eat at a leisurely pace to savor the meal, suddenly had to rush and move quickly as well to get enough food for themselves or else Naruto would eagerly and happily take it all without leaving much for anyone else.
Sora simply just shook his head in amused resignation at the familiar scene playing out before him and continued to eat patiently and calmly at his own comfortable pace, unbothered by the chaos around him.