Naruto: Jinchuriki of the Six Paths by X009

Chapter 3

Naruto walked down the streets of Konoha, covering his mouth as he yawned. The sun had only risen a few short hours ago and most of the people of the village were still within their homes, leaving the streets almost empty.

Making his way to the training ground his team frequented, the blond raised his hand to his eye, moving his sunglasses out of the way before rubbing it. As he neared the gates, he saw his teammates coming from different directions. He smiled and waved at Sakura as she approached.

"Morning Sakura." Naruto greeted before turning to Sasuke, his hand clenching as he glared at the Uchiha who glared back before scoffing and turning towards the training ground.

Sakura sighed at their behavior before she and Naruto followed after their teammate. 'Geez... They're at it already? Ever since Wave they've been even worse, if that's even possible...'

Naruto turned to his crush. "Hey, Sakura. You think Kakashi-sensei's going to be on time, today?"

Sakura looked at him as if he'd just asked if the sky was blue. "You must be joking. You should know better than that by now."

Naruto sighed, hanging his head down. "Yeah, guess you're right." He then looked at her with a slight grin. "Good thing we have Zabuza and Haku to help us out now, huh? I'm sure they won't keep us waiting until we're dead on our feet."

Sakura shivered slightly at the thought of the former Kiri jonin. "Are you crazy? At least with Kakashi we didn't have to worry about him actually killing us." Haku seemed alright to her, though she did hold some negative sentiments towards him for what he did to Sasuke, but after nearly killing them and learning what she did about him she still found Zabuza a frightening figure.

"Oh, come on. They're not that bad."

"Well... I guess Haku seems alright." Sakura admitted.

"At least they seem to take this seriously, unlike Kakashi." Sasuke spoke, adding his two cents.

"He does usually spend most of his time with us reading his book... I wonder what it's about, anyway." Naruto commented, looking to the sky before turning to his crush again with a smile. "So, Sakura. How about after we finish training today you and I-"

"Shut up, Naruto!" Sakura suddenly yelled. Naruto backed away slightly when the girl balled her hand and raised her fist over his head, but was unable to get out of range before she brought it down on his head, causing him to kneel down, grabbing his now aching head. "It's too early to deal with that."

"Aw, come on. He's not the only one with an awesome bloodline anymore." Naruto said as he raised his head, nursing the lump that had grown through his hair. He didn't think much of it yet. After all, he didn't even really know what they did yet besides what it did to his vision and those two abilities that he still had no idea how to use, but he hoped that might appeal to Sakura.

"And you think that makes up for everything bad about you?" The pink haired girl grumbled as she turned away before adding in a slightly wistful tone. "His Sharingan isn't the only thing that makes him amazing." Sasuke seemed unaffected by her comment.

Naruto hung his head dejectedly. "Sakura..."

The trio soon reached the clearing, before stopping dead in their tracks, almost comical expressions of shock on the two more expressive genin's faces. Even Sasuke's eyes widened and his mouth opened slightly at the sight that awaited them. Zabuza and Haku had arrived before them. That, they had expected.

What they hadn't expected was to see Kakashi leaning against a tree, reading his book, having arrived on time despite all the evidence that such a thing would never happen. Even more surprising was his reaction to their arrival: he glanced out them out of the corner of his exposed eye before putting his book away. He then stepped away from the tree and gave them a slight wave. "Hey guys." The copy ninja greeted. "What's wrong? You look like you've seen a ghost."