The Turning Point

Last Day In The Land Of Waves

Two days had passed since the events of the bridge, Kakashi and Team 7 had taken it upon themselves to bury both Zabuza and Haku side by side on a hill overlooking the Land of Waves.

It was there that the blonde ninja had decided that he would create his own 'way of the ninja' and refused to follow some of the cold rules of the way of the shinobi. Kakashi had seemed pretty pleased with this notion, finally it seemed his students were experiencing growth and development….

Well, at least some of his students.

Glancing around the table on the third and final morning in the Land of Waves, Kakashi stirred his tea nervously. Naruto was stuffing his face full of various foods, along with Inari who followed the blonde ninja everywhere.

Tsunami continued to bring food to the hungry boys as she exchanged friendly banter with her father. Tazuna, having completed the bridge, maintained a cheerful mood. Thrilled at the outcome for the village and his family, the old man was on cloud nine.

Unfortunately, the cause of Kakashi's nerves was the dark auroras surrounding his other two students. Sasuke and Sakura had not been on speaking terms since their fight at the bridge, every so often they would catch each other's eye and vicious glares were exchanged.

The silver haired Jounin sighed quietly, he had hoped that the lecture he had given them would have made some difference but no avail. The mounting tension in the house was suffocating to all, except Naruto who remained oblivious as ever.

A loud knock at the door roused Kakashi from his thoughts; Tsunami placed yet another bowl of miso soup in front of Naruto before moving to answer it.

"Hello. What can I do for you?" Tsunami asked

"We wish to speak with the ninja" A deep male voice answered, Sakura turned her head towards the door in vague interest.

Hearing this Kakashi sighed to himself and took a long slurp of the sweet tea as Tsunami reappeared.

"Mr Hatake, you have some visitors" Tsunami said before collecting up the mountain of dishes stacked up on the table.

Kakashi got to his feet and headed for the door, aware of three sets of eyes glued to his back.

"This is unexpected to say the least" Kakashi said. Before him stood a group of fifty determined looking men, dressed in mock ninja outfits.

"I, Fumio Suzuki speak on behalf of all these men here. We wish to be trained by you so that if something like this happens again we will be prepared. We implore you" A stout man said, stepping forward from the front of the group.

Glancing back at his students, Kakashi offered the man a small smile through his mask. "Well I don't see why not. It is our last day here after all and we have nothing planned. Besides I think it would be good for some of us in particular"

Sakura rolled her eyes, the last comment clearly directed at herself and Sasuke but she got to her feet with her teammates nonetheless.

"OHHHHH YEAHHHH! BE PREPARED TO LEARN FROM THE BEST! NARUTO UZUMAKI FUTURE HOKAGE!" Naruto yelled, spraying the remainder of his soup all over the table. With a sheepish smile at Tsunami and a ruffle of Inari's hair he bounded towards the doorway.

Sasuke rose slowly from his own seat, giving a curt nod to Tsunami and followed the blonde boy. Kakashi extended his hand in a lazy wave to Tazuna and his family and departed outside. Trailing behind Sasuke and Naruto Sakura hadn't even reached the door when Fumio stopped her.

"With all due respect Miss Sakura, the ladies of the village have requested your presence at the tea house to show their appreciation" The stout man said rather nervously, he too had heard of the fiery temper which the teen possessed.