Chapter 12: Teamwork

The walk to the training grounds was full of squeaky flirting and loud talking. I wanted to rip my ears out by the time we reached the gates. Before they could walk in, I turned to them and stopped them. I had the most serious expression I could muster on my face. "From here on out, loud noises and any impure actions are forbidden. These training grounds are my safe haven and I won't let any of you ruin that for me, understood?" They all nodded slowly, confused at my seriousness about this place.

We walked in and I pulled out my scroll, sitting on the floor. They came and sat around the scroll, trying to see what I wrote. Sasuke took one look at the scroll before walking away and sitting next to a tree. Sakura and Naruto started arguing about the meaning of the 'symbols' on my scroll as I sat back and watched with amusement. Their arguing was getting loud and I flinched at the noise. Sasuke seemed to notice my discomfort, "Morons. These are not symbols, it's another language. I've been trying to interpret this language for days now. there's no way you'll be able to understand it." I frowned at him, "I told you not to open that now! Idiot." Sakura and Naruto listened to Sasuke and gave me back the scroll. "now that you guys are finally willing to listen, let me tell you what each of you is going to be doing today." I looked at Sakura first, "I want you to make 4 bracelets out of wire and connect them all. Sasuke, I want you to find out what your limit is for your fireball jutsu. Naruto, I need you to find out what your limit is for your shadow clone jutsu. You have till 6 to be done with all of those things." I never thought being bossy would come in handy. They all set off to finish their individual tasks. Thankfully, Sasuke had enough common sense to direct his fireballs towards the river and not the forest. Naruto was all over the place but he kept quite concentrating on making more copies of himself. Sakura was making the bracelets carefully so that they can fit all of us.

Seeing that they're all working, I got to work as well. I sat down and started feeling for my chakra, ignoring the chaos around me. Once I was able to finally feel it, I practiced moving it around inside my body. I sent some to my ears to completely block the noise from the outside. When I am anxious my chakra decreases, so naturally the opposite will have the opposite effect. I relaxed my body and listened for my own heartbeat. The constant beating calmed me down further and helped keep my thoughts at bay. I focused on my breathing, the fresh air going in and out of my lungs. At that moment, I was completely calm. I could feel my chakra slowly but surely filling my reserves up, but it didn't stop there. once my reserves were full the chakra started gathering around me, outside of my body. I had enough chakra for me and Sakura but not enough for the rest. I tried to move the chakra outside my body. It wasn't easy at first but as time passed, I could move the chakra around me freely as long as it was near my body. I was trying to extend my reach but no matter how many times I tried, I couldn't get it to move more than a few centimeters away from me. I was getting frustrated. I usually get things on my second or third try if not my first. I was snapped out of my frustration by a tap on my shoulder. I opened my eyes to see that the sun was setting. How long have I been doing this? Sasuke and Naruto looked exhausted but Sakura looked just fine. "you guys are done?" they nodded tiredly. Sasuke sat down next to me, leaning back on a tree. I pulled out my scroll and pen and got ready to write down the results. "ok, everyone gather around." They all made their way towards me and sat down in a circle. "I'll let you guys tell me your results just 2 things before that. One, Sakura..." I held my hand out and she placed the bracelets in my hand. not only were they the perfect size and length but they were also decorated with intricate braids. Damn, that girl is talented. "Thank you, they're perfect! And two, I'm going to need to measure something. Stay still." I said as I put my hand on each of their stomachs and pushing my chakra inside to measure how big their reserves are. Sasuke's was almost 1 and a half times mine and Sakura was half of mine. I tried measuring Naruto's but his body rejected my chakra. Looks like this jutsu won't work on him. I feel bad getting his hopes up. I'll make sure to make him a special jutsu. I wrote down what I found and their results. "ok, I'm done. I have some good news and bad news." They nodded, curious about what they were doing this whole time. "The good news is that I found a way to instantly recharge your chakra. the bad news is that this won't work on Naruto." Sakura looked at me shocked, Sasuke looked like he was deep in thought, and Naruto looked sad. "Aw man! All of this for nothing." I patted his shoulder and smiled at him. "It's ok Naruto. I'll make it up to you, I promise." He looked at me and nodded, his smile reappearing on his face. "How will this work?" Sasuke asked, looking at me seriously. "Well, you see, I have the ability to make chakra out of nothing. All I have to do is transfer that chakra to your reserves. It's a really simple concept." He nodded in understanding his face remaining thoughtful. Sakura was looking at me with wide eyes, "why would you go through all this trouble to help us?" I smiled at her my warmest smile, "You guys are my teammates, you're my responsibility now." The sky was completely dark by now, looks like it's getting late. I better send them home so that they can rest up. "That's enough training for today. We should go home and rest up for tomorrow. We'll continue working on this later."

We all got up and I was about to walk away when someone grabbed my arm. I turned around to see Sasuke staring at me, "You promised me a question." I pulled my arm away and nodded, turning to face him completely. "Remember, you get only one question so pick your words carefully." His stare turned into a glare, "Do you know Itachi Uchiha?" My serious look turned into a sad one. Poor Sasuke, he is so obsessed with revenge it's going to be the death of him. I nodded slowly. "I know who he is but I never met him in person." He shook his head at my answer. "How can you prove it?" I hardened my face at his statement. "Listen Sasuke, I might be a lot of things, but I am not a liar. You asked me a question and I answered it. I don't need to prove anything to you." He looked so full of hatred and pain. I get what Gaara meant now. I can see the loneliness in his eyes. I sneered slightly, softening my face again. "It's like looking in a mirror." He raised his eyebrows at me, his glare easing slightly. "There's no point in arguing with me. I am just a supporting character; My goal is to help you reach your goal. You're going to know everything eventually." With that said, I left him there and headed back to my apartment to get some sleep before the sun rises again.