He Who Took Care (Naruto fanfiction)

Chapter 4: Training's Results

For a while, Naruto had been training for a week before and after the team meetings. Even as he walked, he wore chakra weights on his ankles and wrists though most of the weight was on his legs. He had been training with Yukimoto who corrected his stance a couple of times. He was a quick learner, probably because he didn't have a taijutsu style. Yukimoto had commented that he had already master the style but just need experience.

"You are doing very good." Yukimoto commented as Naruto practiced before his team meeting. "You are remembering the steps very well."

"It's not hard." Naruto flipped to his feet and rolled his shoulders. "It's kind of like the way I used to fight but more refined."

"It wasn't meant to be hard." Yukimoto smiled kindly. "People just think it's hard when they see me in battle but that hasn't been for a while."

"Right. I should go." Naruto grinned and hugged him. "I'll bring you some dango later, Yuki."

"Okay. Have fun."

Xxxxxxxxxxx

Naruto jumped from roof to roof occasionally doing an unnecessary flip over one. He was two hours late meaning that, according to how late Kakashi always was, he was an hour early.

Naruto finally landed in the clearing of Training Ground 7 and stopped twenty feet away from his teammates who stared at him with wide eyes. They had barely passed their bell test a week ago and they were still uncomfortable around eachother.

"What? Do I have something on my face?" Naruto rubbed his chin looking at his teammates. Maybe he didn't notice the fact that when he landed, he was on his hands.

"Um.." Sakura pointed at him and he looked down.

"Oh, sorry. I didn't notice." Naruto leaned forward, ending in a back bend before pulling himself up. "Just getting used to all of this."

"O..kay." Sakura shook her head. "Baka, why are you late?!"

Naruto shook his head. "Technically, you can't be late if the teacher's not here." Even as he spoke, he glanced subtly to his left at some trees. "But, yeah, I guess I am late." He stretched and yawned, "Man, I'm tired. It's way too early for this. What do you say, after training, we go get some dango?"

"Naruto-baka, I told you a million times, I'm not going on a date with you!" Sakura huffed.

Naruto raised an eyebrow. "Who said I was talking to you?" He looked at the Uchiha. "So, what do you say, Sasuke? Wanna get some dango with me later?"

Sakura gaped and looked at her crush. Surely not..

"Sure," Sasuke smirked. "I'd love to."

Xxxxxxxxxxx

"Maa, this is interesting." When Kakashi arrived, he found Sakura staring at Sasuke and Naruto who were talking with eachother at a nearby tree.

"YOU'RE LATE, SENSEI!" Sakura exclaimed, noticing him gathering the boys attention.

"Good morning, my kawaii genin!" Kakashi gave an eye smile. "Sorry, I'm late. I saw a black cat and-"

"LIAR!"

Kakashi looked at Naruto who had went back to talking to the Uchiha.

Naruto noticed their looks. "What? Oh, right. Ahem..YOU'RE LATE!"

Kakashi sweat dropped and Sasuke actually looked like he was trying not to laugh. Sakura just rolled her eyes, an action you would expect from Sasuke.

"Right, we're going to collect our first D-rank mission!" Kakashi said cheerfully ushering the children up.

"Awesome!" Naruto smiled and offered Sasuke a hand who accepted it.

'This is going to get some getting used to.' Kakashi thought before shaking his head. "Onward!"

Xxxxxxxxxxx

"Here's your D-rank mission." The Sandaime slid over a scroll to Kakashi. "You must catch Tora the Cat."

"Hai." Kakashi said lazily. He turned to the genin and handed them headsets. "We're going to use these to keep in contact."

Naruto put his on and looked up at him. "Are we having codenames?" He grinned. "If we are, we should pick eachothers!"

Sakura tilted her head in thought. "That's actually not a bad idea."

"Alright, dibs on picking Sasuke's!" Naruto shouted and Sakura glared angrily at him.

"I have Naruto." Sasuke said calmly.

Kakashi gave Sakura an eye smile. "I guess I have yours."

"Alright, hmm." Naruto put a hand on his chin. "How about..." He looked into Sasuke's eyes. "Obsidian Black?"

Sasuke blinked. "I like it. I'm thinking...Cerulean Shine."

Naruto stared at him. "What made you think about that?"

Sasuke turned away. "Nothing, it just came to me."

Kakashi turned to Sakura. "How does Blossom sound?"

Sakura smiled, "It doesn't sound so bad. How does Midnight Wolf sound to you?"

"I like it. Let's go, my kawaii genin. Tora isn't going to catch himself!"

Xxxxxxxxxxx

"Hey, Black. How does cat soup sound?"

"Mm, I'm not really feeling soup.. Can you make barbecue?"

"Black! Shine! Will you pay attention?" Sakura huffed not even noticing that she yelled at Sasuke.

"Sorry, B."

"Sorry, Blossom."

In this short amount of time, Kakashi noticed that Naruto had managed to get Sasuke to open up more. 'I didn't even have to do anything. Well, I guess I did by requesting Naruto on my team.'

"I see Tora. I'm moving in. I'm approximately twenty feet from your position, Black. My guess is that he'll move towards your position, Blossom."

"Hai." Sakura jumped onto a branch, leaning on its trunk for balance.

There were sounds of a scuffle and soon Tora came running by. Sakura noticed Naruto flip past her and she heard him whisper. "Jump back ten feet."

She quickly did and, by doing so, blocked one of Tora's exits. Sasuke was already to her left, blocking off the other one.

"He's going back!" Sakura shouted with wide eyes. They couldn't lose him now! They were almost done!

Naruto, seeming to notice her distress, quickly looked back. "I got him!" He jumped back through some trees, doing some back flip, before landing in front of Tora. He grabbed the cat and said breathlessly over the mic for everyone to hear.

"Mission: accomplished."