9 ch 8

Chapter 8: The Rivalry Booms

Three days passed since Kakashi had given his genin their new jutsu. For Team 7, the daily schedule consisted of Naruto and Sasuke would usually arrive at the training ground sometime between 7-8, Haku would show up not too much longer after and Sakura would show up by 9, after she finished fixing her hair and everything else that she felt she had to do to get Sasuke's attention. Kakashi said he would show up around 8:30 to help them, which meant he would normally show up around 10-10:30. At 12:00, Team 7 would get a lunch break and then reconvene for a series of missions in the afternoon.

This morning, Kakashi was sitting underneath a tree reading a book. He had just given Naruto and Sasuke some advice on their jutsu and the two had gone straight to work figuring it out. "Silly genin" Kakashi said to himself. "It'll take weeks, maybe even months for them to get those jutsu down. But, that means a good amount of time without them complaining about missions."

"Yeah! I've got it!" shouted Naruto as Kakashi nearly choked on his words. Kakashi looked over at Naruto's training stump and saw two shuriken lodged in the post.

"Damn it" swore Sasuke to himself. "I won't let you get ahead of me, Naruto." While Naruto had just gotten his shuriken to duplicate, Sasuke had yet to turn his fireball into a flamethrower. That is until he did the jutsu again. Sasuke concentrated the chakra in his lungs, building up as much as he could. He made the necessary hand seals and took a deep breath, mixing the molten fire chakra with the air in his lungs. "Katon: Dragon Fire Breath Jutsu!"

Sasuke unleashed the fire in his lungs and a stream of flames were unleashed. This wasn't the previous fireball, this was a sustained stream of flames. Sasuke smirked at his progress, even if he didn't melt the ice.

Kakashi stared on in amazement. "They've already got the basics down?" he thought. "It should be atleast another two weeks until Naruto could even make a single shuriken clone or Sasuke could generate a constant stream of flames. Of course, Naruto only made one shuriken and Sasuke's fire wasn't strong enough, but still. Now all that's left is for them to figure out how to pump more power into the jutsu."

Sasuke was panting hard, having used up a lot of chakra with that last attempt and Naruto wasn't looking too much better.

"Alright, I think you all have deserved a break" said Kakashi, standing up. "You're all coming much farther than I initially expected. Why don't you grab lunch and I'll see you for missions later this afternoon."

"Sasuke, do you want to get lunch?" Sakura asked. Like every other day, she was hoping Sasuke would say yes.

"I'd rather not" responded Sasuke. "If you've got time to be bothering me, then you have time to be working on that jutsu Kakashi-sensei gave you."

Sasuke left a deflated Sakura behind to go do whatever he did for lunch. "Umm Sakura, if you want you could come get some ramen with me" Naruto asked, trying to cheer his crush up.

"And why would I want to do that?" growled Sakura. Like every other day, Naruto had been rejected as well.

Later that afternoon, Team 7 received their mission. It was a simple D-rank again. While they wanted to complain, Naruto and Sasuke kept their mouth shut. There would be plenty of time for complaining when they got their jutsus down. However, Naruto was steadily getting tired of the D-rank. After the mission in the waves he had been hoping for at least another C-rank, even if he felt he was ready for a B-rank or something more.

"Umm, Kakashi-sensei, I know we promised not to complain and everything, but I don't suppose we could do something different than a D-rank. I know we are ready for another one" asked Naruto after they had reported in.

"Yeah, come on sensei. Naruto's right. Right, Sasuke?" replied Sakura. Even she was getting tired of the D-ranks again. Today they had to help out on a farm and Sakura was probably dirtier than she had ever been, a feeling she was not enjoying all that well.

"The dobe's right. I know we promised not to say anything, but we've completed the equivalent of an A-rank mission. These D-ranks are just starting to get old again" responded Sasuke.

Kakashi sighed. So much for the jutsus staving off their desire for something a little more. He looked over at Haku, who had just been smiling. Kakashi figured that Haku had just been putting a mask on and taking the D-ranks. "Perhaps. How about this, I'll reserve a C-rank for a few days from now. I want to get Haku to 10 missions before we take on some longer mission and I suspect a few more days of D-ranks will get him there."

"Umm…why does Haku need to get to 10 missions?" asked Sakura.

"It was just part of the requirement that Hokage-sama gave me when he assigned Haku to this team" said Kakashi. In reality, he needed to get Haku to the 10 mission minimum for the chunin exams that were coming up in a few weeks. The council had requested that Sasuke and Haku specifically be able to compete in these exams. In reality, they were most likely trying to kiss up to the last two bearers of a rare bloodline.

"Fine, I suppose that will work" said Naruto.

"Good. Now the four of you are done for today, I'll go and reserve our mission for a few days. Just remember that you have tomorrow off. I'll be around sometime around noon to help you, if you wish to train a little, as there is something I need to do in the morning."

Today was their day off and Naruto and Sasuke were hard at work competing against one another to complete their jutsu. Thankfully for them, they had the entire day to work. They both had the basic forms of the jutsu down. They just had to increase the power now.

Although Sakura enjoyed her days off, she had decided to use this day to train as well, especially after what Sasuke had said to her. She had tried to talk to Sasuke after their mission, but he made a comment that was basically translated as she was below Naruto. Naruto was now pulling his own weight in the team and his abilities were rapidly growing to a point where they were easily above hers.

Sadly, she realized Sasuke was correct. During the Wave mission, she had done nothing more than stand in front of Tazuna while Sasuke, Naruto, and Kakashi-sensei did all the fighting. Also, Naruto and Sasuke were constantly training, pushing each other while she would do nothing but sit around and fantasize over Sasuke. Not to mention, she was smart and it wasn't long before she was beginning to realize that Sasuke didn't care for her fan girl attitude. From the sounds of it, he wanted her to not be a burden. Perhaps if she were to be the one to get her jutsu down.

Sakura remembered that Kakashi told her to go and see Kurenai, Team 8's sensei, if she needed help on the genjutsu. Thankfully, today was one of Team 8's training days and they weren't out on missions.

"Hey guys!" Sakura shouted to Sasuke, Haku, and Naruto, but mostly to Sasuke.

"Sakura?" Naruto asked, wondering what she was doing at the training ground on their day off.

"I thought this was your DAY OFF? It's okay Sakura, you don't have to come out here if you don't want to" Sasuke said smugly.

"Well, if you must know. I was talking to Kurenai-sensei about the genjutsu, and I think I have it" Sakura said, trying to impress Sasuke. She actually managed to get a little smile out of him.

"Alright then, go ahead and let's see" Sasuke said, challenging what she was saying. Sakura went through the necessary preparations for the genjutsu and cast it on her three teammates. Just like Kakashi, cherry blossoms swirled around them, greatly obscuring their vision. Sakura then proceeded to tap Sasuke repeatedly as Kakashi had done. After she canceled the jutsu, she was congratulated by Naruto. She was hoping that it would have been Sasuke saying that, although she did get a nod of approval from him. Considering that this was Sasuke, she would take that for now.

They proceeded to continue training. Although Sakura truly wanted to go home, she knew that she would never get closer to Sasuke this way, so she stayed and trained with her team.

A few more days passed with Naruto and Sasuke making some progress on their jutsu. Tomorrow would be the day that Kakashi said that they would be getting a C-rank mission and they knew that today would be the best day to get their jutsu down.

It was getting late and Naruto and Sasuke were running low on chakra. They were either going to get their jutsu now with this last attempt or they wouldn't have enough chakra for another attempt. Naruto and Sasuke took one look at each other, which basically said 'watch this, I'm going to complete my jutsu with this last go.' Haku nodded and made an ice mirror while Naruto pulled out a shuriken. Both of them focused, gathering their chakra for the upcoming jutsu. At the same time Sasuke unleashed his fine, Naruto let his shuriken go. After everything happened, Sasuke inspected the ice mirror that was no longer there and Naruto went to count the number of shuriken in the stump. As Sasuke had completed his goal, Naruto counted 14 shuriken in the stump, meaning he had accomplished his goal as well. Up until now, Sasuke had always been beating Naruto, even if just barely, but now, they had tied. Naruto was gaining on him. Sasuke didn't like it and he had to push himself so that the 'dobe' wouldn't beat him.

Sasuke had to admit though, he probably would not have gotten his jutsu, his first B-rank jutsu, completed in the time that he did if it wasn't for Naruto pushing him. Even Kakashi had mentioned that he had expected that it should have taken them at least two weeks to get the first part of the jutsu, which was the fire stream. For Naruto, the first part was getting the first shuriken clone. However, he had the jutsu complete in just over a week, something Kakashi didn't even think was possible. He still didn't want to admit it, but perhaps he had found a worthwhile rival.

Kakashi appeared the next morning outside the mission hall holding the C-rank that he had promised his students. It was a delivery mission. A lord by the name of Fujiko Kazaka had purchased a sword from a local weapon shop in Konoha. The sword was an older katana, crafted by the legendary sword smith Masamune a few centuries ago. The age and maker of the sword made it an incredibly valuable piece of work and both the seller and client were certain that there would be a few bandits along the delivery route. While the sword was valuable to a lord, it wasn't special in a shinobi sense, making it very unlikely that the sword would be targeted by a shinobi. As such, a C-rank mission was requested to deliver the sword and a team of genin who had survived a face-to-face encounter with Zabuza Momoichi, let alone one who studied under Zabuza, was expected to be more than enough protection for said mission.

"Kakashi-sensei, so what sort of cool mission are we doing today?" asked Naruto.

"It's a delivery mission, Naruto" responded Kakshi.

"What? A delivery mission? But you promised us a cool C-rank mission. All the delivery missions so far have been nothing but boring D-ranks" complained Naruto. Kakashi just chuckled.

"This one's a little different. We have been assigned to deliver a valuable sword to Fujiko Kazaka, a lord in the northwestern part of the Land of Fire. While I don't expect any shinobi activity on this mission, the sword is valuable, and as such attractive to thieves and bandits. Now, go pack for about three days and meet me at the gates in an hour" said Kakashi.

Team 7 accepted the mission without any more complaints. A few thieves was much better than catching a cat or milking a cow.

A few hours after they left the village, any boredom Naruto may have accumulated was soon ridded from him as they encountered their first bandit attack. A group of bandits, roughly half a dozen, emerged from the forest and demanded that the traveling ninja hand over any valuables they were carrying.

When Kakashi denied their request, the bandits followed through on their threat and charged at the genin. Within about 20 seconds, all 6 of the bandits were incapacitated. Kakashi was glad to see that one of his students had put their new jutsu to good use. Sakura had used her genjutsu on the bandit she was facing to distract the man while she delivered a strong punch to the bandits cheek, knocking him against a tree and unconscious. Naruto and Sasuke had both beaten their bandits pretty good, although they had not used the jutsu Kakashi had given them, which was understandable as their jutsus carried the potential to kill. It was hard distinguishing Haku's bandit from the porcupine that had just run out of the bushes a second ago. Kakashi's two were handled with ease, even more so than he had done with the demon brothers.

The team continued on with their mission and the following day, they wandered upon the remainder of the bandits had shown up. This time, it was roughly two dozen bandits that had descended upon them. Sasuke and Naruto took one look at each other before the action started, this was most definitely a competition between the two of them now.

Naruto ducked underneath one attack, responding by nailing the bandit in the stomach with a strong punch. This gave him a little breathing room as he summoned a few shadow clones to aid him. The clones soon went to work overpowering most of the bandits that had decided to take on, as they saw it, the 'short and stupid looking one'. Boy were they mistaking when they were hit by the wave of orange.

After he was finished with his bandits, Naruto looked over to see Sasuke sitting on top of a pile of battered, beaten, and burned bandits.

"Seven!" declared Naruto.

Sasuke growled, having only beaten 6. That was before he noticed a forgotten bandit sneaking up behind him. Sasuke swung his foot at high speed around, catching the bandit in the side of the head, knocking him into a tree. "There, seven."

Naruto and Sasuke smirked at each other, satisfied that the other wasn't giving up so easily.

A few days passed and Team 7 had returned to Konoha by that time. Today was designated as a training day for the team as Kakashi said that he had something to do. After lunch, Team 7 had met in an alleyway, waiting for Naruto, who had apparently forgotten something. Sakura was stuck waiting for Naruto as Sasuke and Haku had left to go train.

When Naruto came back, he noticed something…out of place.

"Is that supposed to be a rock?" Naruto thought to himself. He took a few steps forward, only for the 'rock' to follow him. Even the Fox inside Naruto's head was confused at the 'rock'.

"What the hell is that?" said Kurama.

"Don't even ask" Naruto said to his inner demon, dropping his head. Coming back to reality, he turned to face the 'rock'. "What kind of rock is square with two holes?! I can see right through that!"

"Just what I would expect from my rival" the rock said as it exploded, revealing Konohamaru, Moegi, and Udon.

"Oh, it's just you Konohamaru. So what do you want now?" Naruto asked, trying to get away from the kids so he could train and not let Sasuke get so far ahead of him.

"Leader, are you free?" Moegi asked, trying to make herself cute and irresistible, which really doesn't work to well on Naruto.

"Nope, I'm training!" Naruto said. Meanwhile, Sakura was standing slightly behind him, watching the whole endeavor.

"What?! But you promised that you would play ninja with us today!" Konohamaru shouted out.

"Um…why would a ninja want to play ninja?" Sakura asked, staring at the three kids with a look of annoyance.

"Hey bro, who is this girl?" Konohamaru asked Naruto. 'She's starting at him like she wants to eat him alive' he thought. Konohamaru got an idea in your head.

"Huh?" Naruto asked, wondering what the kid was thinking.

"Not bad bro. She's your…" he leaned closer to Naruto to whisper in his ear. "Girlfriend?"

"Hehe, you brats are very perceptive…" Naruto said, just as a fist made contact with his face, sending him flying back into a fence.

Konohamaru turned to Sakura, who was now looked like she was ready to kill the three kids. "How dare you, you ugly bitch!" Konohamaru said, pushing his luck to far. Sakura smacked him, leaving just as many lumps on his head as Naruto had gotten. Once the two regained consciousness, Konohamaru still didn't learn his lesson. "Damn it. That ugly huge foreheaded…is that really a girl?" Naruto got a signal from the fox in his head to run as they turned around to see Sakura charging full steam towards them.

"Ouch, that hurt!" Konohamaru said, running into something solid. When he looked up, he saw a ninja in black pants and a black shirt, with a bandaged bundle on his back, and paint on his face. Standing next to him was a girl in her mid-teens with blonde hair tied into four ponytails. On her back was what looked like a rather large collapsed fan. "That hurt you little brat!" the man with the painted face said.