Chapter 10: Chakra control

Suddenly, Kakashi-sensei fainted. After a few hours, we arrived at the old man's house, and soon after Kakashi-sensei woke up, we overheard him talking to the old man's daughter-in-law, Tsunami.

Kakashi: "It seems I've overused my Sharingan."

Tsunami: "Are you alright, Sensei?"

Kakashi: "Not really… It will be hard just to move for about a week…"

Tsunami: "It would be better if you didn't move for a while."

The four of us entered the room:

Naruto: "Hey, Sensei, we came to visit you!"

I smacked Naruto on the head before saying, "Hey, keep it down!"

Sasuke: "You know you're screaming too, right?"

Hinoka: "Oops," I said while scratching the back of my head.

Sakura: "Come on. Your Sharingan is fantastic, but if it puts that much strain on your body, it may not be worth it!"

Kakashi: "Sorry."

Tazuna: "But you know… He did take down a real powerful ninja like that! We probably don't need to worry for a while."

Sakura: "Anyway, that kid with the mask… What was he?"

Kakashi-sensei explained that Tracker Ninjas, like the ANBU black ops from the Hidden Mist village, wear masks and specialize in erasing all traces of rogue ninjas, preventing the leakage of vital village secrets by eliminating their bodies.

Kakashi-sensei paused for a second before I said, "Sensei, you're feeling uneasy too, right."

Naruto: "Huh?"

Kakashi: "Yeah, tracker ninjas take care of the bodies of people they've killed, immediately and on the spot."

Sakura: "So what about it?"

Kakashi: "So, do you remember what that person did with Zabuza's body?"

Naruto: "That masked one took Zabuza away!"

Kakashi: "That's right. If he needed proof, he'd killed Zabuza, he could simply have taken the head… And the question is the weapon the Ninja tracker kid used to kill Zabuza…"

Sasuke: "A regular Senbon… That's impossible…"

Kakashi: "Right… it's impossible?!"

Tazuna: "What are you guys talking on and on about?"

Kakashi: "It's probably that… Zabuza is alive!"

All three of Tazuna, Sakura, and Naruto looked at Kakashi-sensei in shock.

Naruto: "What the heck do you mean?!"

Sakura: "But Kakashi-sensei, you made sure that he was dead!"

Kakashi: "It's true, I did make sure… But he was probably in a state near-death. The Senbon that Tracker Ninja used has a very low ability to kill unless it hits a vital spot… it was originally used for medical treatments like acupuncture therapy. From everything that youth did, he was probably wasn't aiming to kill Zabuza but save him. I'll train you during this week to handle Zabuza if he shows up again."

Sakura: "But sensei how can we fight Zabuza!"

Kakashi: "Don't forget you guys were the ones who helped me this time."

Suddenly, a small boy comes in from the door while we wonder who he was; Tazuna says, "Welcome, my grandson, Inari."

Inari: "Hi grandpa."

Inari then sees us and says, "You better go back or you'll die."

Naruto: "I am the person who will become the Hokage. There is no way I will go back! I'm going to become a hero!"

Inari: "There aren't any heroes in real life." After saying that, he quickly runs away.

We all went to the forest for training. Kakashi-sensei then talks about chakra and tells us that we use hand signs to use the technique with the help of chakra in our body.

Kakashi: "What I am going to teach you is how to correctly use chakra. Although you can use chakra right now, you cannot use it accurately at any place you want."

We then go to a place with plant trees. Kakashi then says, "What we will train on is how to climb a tree without using your hands."

Both Naruto and Sakura look at Kakashi-sensei confused.

Kakashi-sensei then climbs up the tree and stands on the branch upside down before asking us to select a tree and practice. We all selected a tree and started practicing. As Kakashi-sensei climbed down, I saw him look up at me as I was standing upside down on the tallest tree with a surprised look on his face before chuckling and saying, "Wouldn't expect anything less from you; you picked that up pretty quickly."

Hinoka: "So what's next, Kakashi sensei?" I said with a smile on my face.

Kakashi: "Well, the next step would probably be walking on water, but for you, it might be a little difficult."

Hinoka: "Walking on water. That sounds cool!"

Sakura got it soon after a few tries, and Kakashi-sensei told us to protect the old man while he was building the bridge. But I left it to Sakura while I practiced walking on water.

I found a big, deep lake and was able to stand on the water after 2 tries. But once I took a few steps, I fell in and was soaked with water. After around 1-2 hours, I was able to take a bunch of steps, but when I tried running, I fell into the water again. Since I was in the deep part of the lake, I got completely soaked. After finally getting dried, I tried again, and this time, I was able to run. I then tried to sit down and fell into the water, dried up again, and was able to do it. I then tried lying down and got it on my first try.

It was getting dark, and I was sleepy, so I decided to take a quick nap.

Kakashi: "Hinoka!"

I woke up and saw it was already dark. I turned to see Kakashi-sensei, Naruto, and Sasuke standing and looking at me in shock.

I stood up, ran to them, and jumped on Naruto. He caught me as I said, "I was able to learn to walk on water! Even running! It took me a while, but I did it!" As Naruto dropped me on the ground, I said, "You've really gotten stronger. Not long ago, when I jumped on you, you would fall, but now you can catch me." I said to Naruto with a smile on my face.

Kakashi: "I knew you were talented, but you learnt how to walk on water in one day not only that but also lying down!"

Hinoka: "Wait, learning how to do it in one day is fast?!"

As we headed back to the old man's house, Sasuke said, "Hinoka, can I talk to you later?"

Hinoka: "Sure."

After we arrived at the old man's house, Sasuke mentioned he wasn't hungry and went upstairs. Then Sakura started scolding me because I left her to guard Tazuna alone, but I ignored her and had dinner with everyone. After finishing my meal, I announced that I was going to bed early. Once in my room, I exited through the window and went to look for Sasuke.

Hinoka: "Hey Sasuke, what did you want to talk about?"

Sasuke: "Oh hey, I just wanted to ask you, well, umm..."

Hinoka: "Are you okay? You look troubled."

Sasuke: "Yeah, I'm fine! I just wanted to ask you if you could help me with tree walking."

Hinoka: "Sure. So why did you ask to talk to me?"

Sasuke: "What?! I just told you."

Hinoka: "Oh come on Sasuke, I've known you for so long, so I know when you're lying."

Sasuke looked at me as I shot him a smile.

Sasuke: "Why are you always jumping, hugging… Naruto, but you're so cold to me?" His face turned red.

Hinoka: "Huh? I treat you both differently since Naruto is my best friend, and you're, I guess, both my rival and childhood friend. Also, because every time I used to try and hug you, you would dodge me, and I would fall on the ground! But Naruto tried to catch me. Even if I don't treat you the same way, it doesn't mean I don't care about you. I can't believe you didn't eat because you were worried about this, and don't try and say you just weren't hungry!" I said with a smile as I looked at Sasuke, patting him on the head, and handing him a bento before heading back to the old man's house.