Tale of a setting sun

Chapter 5: "Eyes like cold steel"

Knowing that the road to becoming Hokage would be a long one, Naruto had always had faith in his own patience. But as he chased down the Fire Lord's wife's pet kitten for the umpteenth time that afternoon, he found himself entertaining thoughts of premeditated murder.

"It's little wonder it's always running away," muttered Rai.

With varying looks of pity on their faces, they watched the pig of a woman press the squirming kitten against her folds of chin fat in a show of fervent adoration. 

As the woman pulled out several crisp bills of ryō from her handbag, the kitten wriggled out of her grasp again and began to race for freedom towards the exit. 

Noting the look of extreme terror on its small face, it was only half-heartedly that Naruto grabbed the animal and returned it to its owner's claws.

It had been several months since Team 7 had passed Kakashi's test, and in the days following, they had carried out a long, repetitive series of D-rank missions. 

Most of these missions involved mundane odd-jobs that posed little to no risk to their lives, and they were getting restless.

Nonetheless, Naruto was pleased with their jōnin sensei. 

The man understood the significance of chakra manipulation, and when Naruto demonstrated his own experimentation with his wind affinity, seemed willing to teach him how to refine his control. It turned out that most jōnin were able to use at least two elemental chakra, with 

Kakashi suggesting to Naruto that he could begin training in another nature once he had mastered his Wind chakra.

Despite his lax appearance, Kakashi was quick to correct any flaws or inefficiencies in their forms and never seemed to lack for experience or knowledge in anything. 

After the trial with the bells, Naruto had never again managed to get the upper hand against their sensei. 

Though it was frustrating at times seeing the huge difference in their skills, it was still gratifying to know that he was learning under one of the very best jōnin Konoha had to offer.

Everything about having a jōnin instructor was new for Naruto. But if he had to say, the strangest part about it all was that sometimes, it seemed to Naruto that Kakashi held no bias against him. 

Though the man's gaze was piercing and unapologetic, Naruto had never detected even the slightest glimmer of resentment or revulsion. 

He couldn't quite rule out the possibility that the jōnin's capability to control his emotions simply exceeded his own ability to detect them. 

But despite his apprehension, sometimes Naruto even thought that Kakashi seemed...interested in teaching him

. It was an odd feeling. Naruto tried to quash it, and yet, against his will, he found himself going out of his way to approach Kakashi.

Gradually, as Team Kakashi grew more experienced, they began to be given C-rank missions. C-rank missions were missions anticipated to have some combat involved with the possibility of injury, and the three genin eagerly snapped up every opportunity they got.

To Naruto's perplexity, the three of them worked well together. Despite his initial apprehension regarding Rai in particular, after their success in Kakashi's bell test, Rai had proved to be responsive and willing to follow Naruto's directions.