The night air was crisp, cool against his skin as Naruto padded through the quiet yard, the faint rustling of leaves the only sound accompanying him. The sky above was an endless stretch of black, the moon a pale crescent, silver light draping over the house and surrounding trees like a thin veil. It was peaceful, the kind of silence he liked—where nothing was expected of him, where he wasn't bound to human conversation or strange social customs. Just the night and the whisper of the wind.
And the sudden, overwhelming urge to pee.
Naruto frowned, shifting uncomfortably where he stood. He didn't remember Tsunami mentioning where the bathroom was, and he wasn't about to wake someone up just to ask. He figured the bushes outside would do just fine. He'd been an animal for most of his lives—humans were the only ones who made a big deal about where to relieve themselves.
Padding toward a more secluded area, he unfastened his pants and—
A prickling sensation crept up his spine.
Naruto paused.
His senses flared.
A presence.
Subtle. Hidden. But not enough.
Someone was watching him.
Slowly, Naruto straightened, adjusting his clothing before turning his head, scanning the trees with eerily calm, glowing eyes. He stood still for a long moment, letting the silence settle, waiting to see if the person would move. They didn't. But they were there, just beyond the tree line, barely visible in the shadows.
A shinobi.
Naruto breathed in.
"Owl," he whispered.
Immediately, his vision sharpened, pupils expanding, eyes glowing faintly in the dark as his world became clearer, more detailed. The figure in the trees came into focus.
Small. Slender. A girl, maybe, although she smelt like a boy. The one who had "killed" Zabuza.
She was crouched on a thick branch, watching him. Studying him.
Naruto tilted his head slightly to the side, mirroring an owl's motion, blinking slow and deliberate.
The figure hesitated for a moment longer before vanishing into the darkness, gone as quickly as she'd appeared.
Naruto stayed where he was, staring at the empty space she'd occupied.
Then, with a soft huff, he turned back toward the house.
That was weird.
The next morning, Kakashi decided it was time for some actual training.
"If we're going to fight Zabuza again," he said, still looking half-asleep, "you're going to need better control over your chakra."
"Uh, sensei?" Sakura perked up. "Does this mean we're skipping D-ranks?"
Kakashi gave a lazy eye smile. "For now."
Sakura actually sighed in relief. Sasuke huffed. Naruto blinked.
"Alright," Kakashi continued, "today, we're working on chakra control. Specifically, tree climbing."
Naruto frowned. "I can already do that."
Kakashi gave him a look. "Not like this."
Then, with all the grace of a veteran shinobi, Kakashi walked up the side of a tree.
Naruto's frown deepened.
"Huh."
Sakura was watching with fascination, Sasuke looked interested, but Naruto remained expressionless, eyes tracking every step Kakashi took.
"This technique," Kakashi explained, coming to a stop upside-down on a branch, "is a fundamental exercise for controlling chakra. By focusing chakra into the soles of your feet, you can stick to surfaces and walk up vertical structures without using your hands. It requires precise control—too little, and you'll fall; too much, and you'll repel yourself."
He flipped off the branch and landed effortlessly before them, still radiating an aura of casual boredom.
"To practice, you'll need to run up the tree and mark the highest point you reach with a kunai before you fall. The goal is to reach the top without slipping."
Sakura nodded eagerly. Sasuke smirked. Naruto was still frowning slightly, as if mentally dissecting the technique.
"Alright," Kakashi said. "Go ahead and try."
Sakura took a steady breath, focused her chakra, and sprinted toward the tree. She ran up with perfect precision, marking her spot near the top before flipping off and landing gracefully.
Naruto blinked. "Huh."
Sasuke narrowed his eyes, determined, and launched himself at a tree. He made it about halfway before the bark cracked beneath his feet and he was forced to jump off, landing in a crouch. His jaw clenched.
Naruto observed.
Then, after a pause, he stepped up to his own tree.
Lifted a foot.
And walked straight up to the top.
Effortlessly.
Silence.
Sakura gawked. Sasuke stiffened. Kakashi sighed.
Naruto, still standing upside-down on the highest branch, looked down at them blankly. "…Was that not it?"
"…No, Naruto," Kakashi said dryly. "You were supposed to practice."
Naruto tilted his head. "This is practice."
Kakashi pinched the bridge of his nose.
Sasuke scowled, clearly irritated. "How did you do that so fast?"
Naruto blinked at him. "I dunno. Just did."
Sakura muttered something under her breath, rubbing her temple.
Kakashi exhaled slowly. "Alright, Naruto. Since you're ahead of the lesson plan, you get to work on the next step."
Naruto perked up. "Next step?"
"While your teammates train, you're going to practice keeping your balance in different positions. Walking, running, jumping—anything to make it more difficult."
Naruto considered that. Then, without hesitation, he flipped upside-down, hanging off the branch by his feet.
Sakura sighed.
Sasuke stabbed a kunai into the tree and muttered something about "damn freaks."
Training continued.
Sasuke kept struggling but progressed.
Sakura had already mastered it and was now watching Sasuke critically, sometimes giving unsolicited advice, which only made him more irritated.
Naruto, meanwhile, had stopped walking normally altogether and was now crawling up trees like a spider, occasionally jumping from branch to branch in odd, animalistic movements.
Kakashi, watching all this, just sighed again.
What an interesting team.