Naruto stared at Jiraiya.
Jiraiya stared back.
"So?"
"So what?"
Naruto threw his arms into the air. "Training! You just said you're gonna show me how bad my Fūinjutsu is!"
"Tomorrow."
Naruto's face fell.
"Tomorrow?!"
Jiraiya stood and brushed some dirt from his clothes. "Your chakra network has spent days compensating for Orochimaru's seal. I removed the interference, but that doesn't mean you should immediately start throwing around every jutsu you know."
Naruto frowned.
"But my chakra feels fine."
"Exactly. It feels different."
Jiraiya pointed at him. "You've spent days unconsciously adjusting to bad chakra control. Your body learned to compensate for resistance that isn't there anymore. Take the rest of today and get used to what normal feels like again."
Naruto looked down at his hands.
That actually made an annoying amount of sense.
"So what am I supposed to do?"
"Basic exercises. Nothing complicated."
Jiraiya started counting on his fingers. "Tree walking. Water walking. Move chakra around your body. Make a few clones if you want. Figure out how much chakra you're actually using now instead of immediately blasting a hole through something."
Naruto crossed his arms.
"I wouldn't blast a hole through something."
Jiraiya looked at him.
Naruto paused.
"...On purpose."
"Tomorrow morning. Training Ground Twenty-Three."
Naruto perked up.
"What time?"
"Eight."
Naruto narrowed his eyes suspiciously.
"You're actually gonna be there at eight?"
Jiraiya looked offended.
"Of course."
Naruto had known the man for less than two hours and already didn't believe him.
"Fine."
Jiraiya turned away.
Naruto called after him.
"Hey!"
Jiraiya glanced back.
Naruto grinned.
"Don't be late, Pervy Sage."
Jiraiya's eyebrow twitched.
"Pervy—"
Naruto disappeared into the trees laughing.
Jiraiya watched him go.
Then sighed.
"Kushina would've loved that kid."
He paused.
"...Probably would've encouraged him."
That was significantly worse.
Miles away, Sasuke's fingers found another crack in the stone.
He pulled.
His entire body screamed.
Sasuke ignored it.
The cliff stretched hundreds of feet beneath him, the training ground below reduced to patches of green between stone and trees. His right arm hung uselessly at his side.
Not injured.
Forbidden.
"One hand," Kakashi had told him.
Apparently Kakashi hated him.
Sasuke's left hand closed around another narrow ledge.
His fingers shook.
He pulled himself higher.
Above him, Kakashi sat near the edge of the cliff with one knee raised. His breathing was finally back under control, though sweat still darkened parts of his undershirt.
He'd done the climb first.
One-handed.
Without chakra.
Sasuke had watched him reach the top, roll onto his back, and lie there for almost five minutes before speaking.
That had been the only reason Sasuke hadn't called the exercise pointless.
If it exhausted Kakashi, there was probably something to it.
Sasuke's foot slipped.
Stone broke beneath his sandal.
His body dropped.
His left hand snapped tighter around the ledge.
For several seconds he hung there, breathing hard.
Kakashi looked down.
"Thinking about Gaara?"
Sasuke glared upward.
"No."
"Good."
Sasuke pulled himself higher.
Kakashi waited.
Twenty feet later, he spoke again.
"Itachi?"
Sasuke's hand stopped.
Kakashi saw it.
Sasuke continued climbing.
"Shut up."
"There he is."
Sasuke's jaw tightened.
He climbed faster.
That lasted approximately thirty seconds.
Then his body reminded him that anger didn't magically make exhausted muscles stronger.
His pace slowed again.
Kakashi watched silently.
Sasuke reached for another ledge.
Missed.
Caught it on the second attempt.
"There's a reason we're doing this."
"I figured it wasn't because you enjoy watching me climb rocks."
Kakashi's visible eye curved.
"That's only part of it."
Sasuke grunted.
Kakashi looked out across the forest.
"Your mind is loud."
Sasuke stopped.
"What?"
"You hide it well."
Kakashi tapped the side of his head.
"But there's always something happening in there. Your clan. Your brother. Naruto. Gaara. Whether you're strong enough. Whether you're progressing quickly enough."
Sasuke's expression hardened.
"You don't know what I'm thinking."
"No."
Kakashi looked back down.
"But I know what it's like when anger is easier to hold onto than everything underneath it."
Sasuke said nothing.
His fingers found another crack.
He climbed.
"When you're rested, you can feed those thoughts forever," Kakashi continued. "You can replay things. Build them up. Convince yourself anger is helping because it makes you feel focused."
Sasuke pulled himself another foot higher.
"But exhaust the body enough..."
Kakashi waited as Sasuke struggled over a difficult section.
"...and the mind has to simplify."
Sasuke's breathing grew harsher.
"Grip."
He reached.
"Pull."
His foot found another ledge.
"Breathe."
Another reach.
"Don't fall."
Sasuke understood.
There wasn't enough energy left to hate Itachi.
Not properly.
There wasn't enough room to think about Gaara's defense or Naruto's progress or whether he was strong enough.
There was only the next handhold.
Kakashi watched him climb.
"You won't always be able to stop yourself from feeling angry."
Sasuke reached again.
"And trying to become someone who never feels anger is pointless."
Another pull.
"What matters is learning that anger doesn't get to make decisions for you."
Sasuke's fingers tightened against the rock.
For once, he didn't have an argument.
Across Konoha, Naruto stood sideways on a tree.
He took one step.
Then another.
Then stopped.
"Huh."
His feet felt almost too sticky.
Naruto reduced the chakra.
Took another step.
Better.
He grinned.
Then a blue screen appeared directly in front of his face.
PING!
Naruto flinched.
"GAH!"
His concentration broke.
He fell out of the tree.
CRASH!
Naruto landed in a bush.
"...Ow."
The blue window politely followed him down.
Naruto shoved several branches away from his face.
"What now?"
Growth Link Activated!
Sasuke Uchiha has experienced meaningful growth!
Through physical exhaustion and guidance, Sasuke has begun developing greater control over negative emotions during high-stress situations.
Rival Growth Link has reacted!
+1 Intelligence
+2 Endurance!
Naruto stared.
Then his eyes narrowed.
"That bastard's training without me."
He paused.
"Wait."
Naruto reread the notification.
"Why do I get smarter because Sasuke got tired?"
The System did not answer.
Naruto considered this carefully.
Then grinned.
"Keep training, Sasuke."
He climbed back onto the tree.
"Make me a genius."
Sasuke's hand reached over the top of the cliff.
His fingers clawed into dirt.
He pulled.
Nothing happened.
His arm had almost nothing left.
Sasuke gritted his teeth.
His shoulder trembled violently as he dragged himself another inch upward.
Kakashi watched from several feet away.
He didn't help.
Sasuke got an elbow over the edge.
Then his shoulder.
With one final pull, he rolled onto solid ground.
He remained there.
Flat on his back.
Breathing.
Kakashi looked down at him.
"Good."
Sasuke's eyes remained closed.
"I hate you."
"That's alright."
Kakashi stood.
"Can you stand?"
"No."
"Good enough."
Sasuke opened one eye.
"What?"
Kakashi grabbed his shoulder.
The world twisted.
Sasuke nearly vomited.
One second he'd been lying on a cliff.
The next he was on his knees in the middle of a forest clearing.
"What..."
He swallowed.
"...the hell?"
Kakashi appeared beside him.
"Transportation technique."
"You couldn't have used that to get us up the cliff?"
"I could have."
Sasuke slowly looked at him.
Kakashi's eye curved.
Sasuke decided murder could wait until his arms worked again.
"Why are we here?"
Kakashi walked toward the center of the clearing.
"Because tomorrow we start the reason I needed you exhausted today."
That got Sasuke's attention.
He forced himself upright.
Kakashi turned toward a large boulder near the edge of the clearing.
"Your Sharingan lets you perceive things most shinobi can't."
He raised his right hand.
"But perception isn't useful if your body can't keep up with what you see."
Sasuke watched.
Kakashi formed several hand seals.
Ox.
Rabbit.
Monkey.
Then his hand dropped.
Chakra surged.
Sasuke's eyes widened.
CHIRP.
A spark jumped between Kakashi's fingers.
Then another.
CHIRP-CHIRP-CHIRP-CHIRP!
Lightning exploded around his hand.
Sasuke's exhaustion disappeared from his expression.
The clearing filled with the sound of hundreds of birds.
Kakashi lowered his stance.
Sasuke's Sharingan activated.
Kakashi moved.
For a fraction of a second, Sasuke saw everything.
The acceleration.
The chakra concentrated into Kakashi's hand.
The lightning nature transformation.
The way Kakashi committed his entire body behind the strike.
Then—
BOOM!
Kakashi's hand disappeared into the boulder.
Cracks exploded outward.
The entire section of stone collapsed around his arm.
Sasuke stared.
Kakashi pulled his hand free.
Lightning faded from his fingers.
Silence returned to the clearing.
Sasuke looked at the destroyed boulder.
Then at Kakashi.
"What was that?"
"Chidori."
Sasuke's eyes dropped toward Kakashi's hand.
"You created it."
Kakashi nodded.
Sasuke looked back at the boulder.
Gaara's sand flashed through his mind.
Lee breaking through the defense with speed.
Kakashi's hand tearing through solid stone.
His Sharingan spun.
"Teach me."
Kakashi smiled beneath his mask.
"Tomorrow."
Sasuke's expression immediately darkened.
"Why tomorrow?"
Kakashi pointed toward him.
"Because right now you can barely lift your arm."
Sasuke tried.
His arm moved three inches.
He stopped.
Kakashi's eye curved.
"Tomorrow."
Sasuke glared at him.
Then looked back toward the shattered boulder.
For once, waiting didn't bother him quite as much.
Tomorrow, Kakashi was going to teach him how to make lightning scream.
Name: Naruto Uzumaki
Village: Konohagakure
Rank: Experienced Genin
Stats
Strength: 68
Agility: 81
Endurance: 82 (+10%)
Intelligence: 84
Charisma: 60
Luck: 12
System Points: 360