HALF || Naruto x Crossover Story

014

Always Trust Your Teammates

The moment Kaiden opened the door to Tazuna's home, she was bombarded by her worried teammates.

"UCHIHA! WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN?!"

"DID YOU REALLY PASS OUT FROM TRAINING OUTSIDE?? YOU'RE MORE OF AN IDIOT THAN SIMPLETON!!"

"HEY!"

The loud noises bothered her ears. The thought of being lectured before noon soured her mood all of a sudden as she had still yet to eat a proper breakfast at least. As the loud pair kept babbling, Kaiden's attention shifted to her sensei finishing up an omelette made by Tsunami. This is the only way to progress faster...

Kaiden walked towards her teacher, earning an even louder nag from Kuroo; 'YAH, I'M TALKING TO YOU!' Hand on his hips. "Miyuki-sensei? May I speak to you about my tree progress after breakfast? Maybe..." Kaiden scratched the back of her head, a little embarrassed to be asking for help. "give me tips on how I could get pass the halfway marker without, um, collapsing?" She slowly asked. Her eyes shifting to the wood floor, waiting for an answer. Maybe a negative one.

But not this. "I like my students showing confidence, Kaiden." The white haired sensei swirled her tea around, holding her tea cup in an odd manner. "Doesn't matter if you're struggling and in need of help." Miyuki took one last sip before setting her cup down. "Having confidence, even in the brink of failure, still gives a sheer path to knowing success is still possible." Kaiden looked up at her sensei as she stood up from her seat between Kakashi and Naruto. "So if you need assistance, don't be shy about it. We are put into teams for a reason, Kaiden. Always trust your teammates and sensei. We will always assist each other and grow together, as a team. All of us move forward, or none of us will."

At her sensei's words, Kaiden's lip twitched into a small, relieved grin. She laughed internally at herself. Of course. Trust my team. The half Uchiha recalled the numerous lectures she got about the importance of being in a team from Kuroo and Bokuto. Random yet serious lectures.
She assumed maybe the two morons did worry about her being a 'lone wolf' like Sasuke deep down.

Kaiden felt disappointed in herself for acting like such when she trained with others. Comparing herself to others, making a competition of strength and skill then distancing herself from the others because of it...became a negative habit.
What Miyuki just enlightened Kaiden about what being in a team means felt like the great tug from the dark tunnel. The end of the tunnel was being discovered.

Hearing her sensei loud and clear, the half Uchiha nodded in understanding. "Hai, sensei!" Kuroo and Bokuto had previously told Miyuki sensei of Kaiden's sudden downturn when they witness her first failed attempt to climbing the tree. Understanding the situation, Miyuki thought best to wait for Kaiden to come around rather them go to her. After all, Uchihas are usually the stubborn types. Kuroo and Bokuto were glad to have see Miyuki sensei be right about the situation. It seemed like the Uchiha did come around after all.

Miyuki placed her left arm behind her back and her right fist over her heart. Kaiden got the memo, shortly. She reflected her sensei's gesture. The Fuyumi smiled in delight, releasing the salute.

"Eat well and wash up, twerp. We got a long day of training to do." Miyuki informed her student, who headed to the washroom. Her sapphire eyes landed on Kuroo and Bokuto. "I gave you two your individual training assignments last night. Go work on those techniques after breakfast, and I'll evaluate them after I'm finished training the little Uchiha."

Having no other comments, other than how cool their sensei is, Kuroo and Bokuto saluted. Both stuffed their mouths with the remaining food on their respective plates before eagerly running out the door. Miyuki followed behind after.

After team 9 had all left the dining room, Naruto reached over to his left to poke Kakashi with a finger. "Why didn't you help us figure out how to climb the tree, Kakashi-sensei?" the Uzumaki questioned his sensei in an almost comical tone.

The other two team 7 members looked at their sensei, waiting for an answer as well. But they only witness the copycat ninja shrug as he continued reading his perverted orange book.

"You never asked." Kakashi answered, dully. Irking the two boys. "Besides you didn't need my help. You both had Sakura. But walking and running up a tree is simple chakra control that would essentially aid in your overall chakra control when learning and mastering new jutsus. Easy stuff for fresh genins. What the team 9 is being put through is much more complex than just that." The Copy Cat ninja briefly explained, turning the page.

Sakura scrunched her brows together, confused by her sensei's words. "What do you mean by complex, Kakashi sensei?"

Shutting his book and pocketing it swiftly, Kakashi explained further. "To put it simply, Sakura. Miyuki is not only teaching her students chakra control, but showing them their physical and mental strength limits and how to break passed those limits. This is taught unconsciously as you all grow as ninjas. From a genin to a chunin to a jonin, etc."

"If we learn that as we train, then why is she pushing her students passed the limits now?", Sasuke asked next. Though he felt almost jealous at the fact that team 9 is getting an opportunity to grow in strength at a faster rate than his own team is.

"Well, Sasuke. Miyuki was raised in the extremes of passing her own 'limits'. Plus every sensei has their own techniques and methods to aid their students growth. Of course we can choose to take our time to polish our students, or throw them head first into lion's den like Miyuki is.", Kakashi told his students. "Not to mention, this mission did just turned into an A rank."

Naruto thought about Kaiden struggling with walking up the tree with a handstand. After he and Sasuke bandaged her hands, he tried doing it on his own to try it out, but to no avail. He looked at his hands. If I want to be Hokage, I'm going to make sure I could walk up a tree with my hands too! He declared, mentally. His blue eyes landed on the tiny scratches from his first attempt. A sheepish 'hehe' escaped his lips as he thought otherwise. Maybe after I get more muscle in my arms. I'll ask Teuchi to add extra meat to my ramen!

"Although" Kakashi's voice brought his student back to the conversation. "this is just Miyuki poking their heads to look at the lion's den. If I'm being honest."

This made team 7 synchronously slouch, tired on behalf of team 9. "How intense is Miyuki Sensei exactly?", Naruto asked, afraid to hear the answer.

Kakashi smirked under his mask, knowing all too well what kind of woman she is. "Very intense."

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