Chakra Nature

Kakashi's sudden collapse stunned everyone. Tazuna was frightened, but otherwise unharmed.

"He still went down!" Naruto carried Kakashi on his back while Sasuke and Sakura vigilantly watched their surroundings and hurried after Tazuna toward his home.

Nothing happened that night. The next morning, Kakashi slowly woke up. The unfamiliar ceiling and the damp, salty scent of the sea told him that he was lying in a small seaside house.

"Kakashi-sensei, you're awake!" Naruto grinned as he sat guard beside him.

"It's Naruto." Kakashi's gaze was as languid as ever.

Naruto smiled even more happily. "Kakashi-sensei, I saw what you look like!"

"My face..." Kakashi instinctively touched his mask. It was still on his face. "Oh, so you took it off while I was unconscious."

Naruto hurriedly said, "Sorry, Kakashi-sensei. It's just that your true face has become one of Konoha's top ten unsolved mysteries. I mean, Kakashi-sensei, you're obviously so handsome, so why do you keep yourself covered up?"

"To maintain a little mystery," Kakashi replied. Then he warned Naruto, "Don't tell anyone."

"Mm, don't worry. I didn't tell anybody. Sasuke and Sakura don't know either." Naruto nodded rapidly like a pecking chick to show that he understood.

Kakashi said, "Go call the others in. I have something to tell you."

"Okay!" Naruto went out and told everyone that Kakashi had awakened. Before long, the empty house became lively again.

"Kakashi-sensei, how are you?" Sakura asked with concern.

"I'm fine. I'll recover after resting for a while," Kakashi said.

Sasuke stood to the side, looking at the eye hidden beneath Kakashi's forehead protector. He hesitated, as though he wanted to speak but could not.

Kakashi noticed what Sasuke meant and took the initiative to explain. "Sasuke, I know what you want to ask. This is a memento given to me by a former comrade."

His tone was somewhat heavy. Sasuke's eyes trembled slightly as he felt a wave of sorrow. "I see."

Kakashi sighed. "There's one more thing I need to tell you. Zabuza may not be dead."

Naruto and Sasuke's expressions did not change much, but Tazuna's face darkened. Sakura said in disbelief, "No way. Naruto really guessed right!"

"What do you mean, guessed?" Naruto retorted with slight dissatisfaction.

Hearing that, Kakashi gave Naruto a surprised look.

Naruto said, "Didn't you mention hunter-nin back then, Kakashi-sensei? If they were hunter-nin, why would they use a weapon like Senbon? They could have disposed of the body right there, so why go through the trouble of taking it away? I was suspicious at the time, but I didn't know their background, and Kakashi-sensei, you were too exhausted, so I let it slide."

"A wise choice." Kakashi smiled and praised Naruto. "That young girl is far stronger than any of you right now. You still have a lot of potential to uncover."

"Kakashi-sensei, are you going to guide our training?" Naruto asked, barely able to restrain his excitement.

"Mm."

Kakashi nodded.

"Grandpa!"

A little boy wearing a small white cap entered the room and threw himself into Tazuna's arms.

Tazuna laughed heartily. "Inari, come on. Say hello to the ninja who escorted your grandpa. I only made it back alive thanks to them!"

Isn't he his grandson-in-law? Naruto muttered inwardly. But after thinking of the term "marrying into the family," he said nothing more.

The little boy named Inari raised his head to look at Kakashi and the others. His expression was blank, and his eyes seemed to have lost all hope. "You'll all die. Anyone who resists Gato will die."

"Inari!" Tazuna's daughter, Inari's mother, Tsunami, quickly pulled him back. Full of apology, she said to everyone, "I'm sorry. Inari has been emotionally unstable ever since he lost his father. I'm very sorry."

With that, Tsunami took Inari away.

Tazuna sighed. The Land of Waves had not lacked people who resisted Gato. Keisha, the stepfather Inari had admired, had been killed while resisting Gato. Because of that, after Keisha's death, Inari had fallen into complete despair and believed that so-called heroes were all fools.

After that little interruption, everyone finished breakfast. Leaning on a crutch, Kakashi brought Naruto, Sakura, and Sasuke into a forest and began teaching them how to train.

First, after explaining Chakra, Kakashi leaned on his crutch and gathered Chakra beneath his feet, then walked straight up a large tree.

Kakashi continued, "That's how you do it. Naruto, when I fought Zabuza, you stood on the water's surface. That means you've already done this kind of training, right?"

Kakashi's words greatly surprised Sasuke and Sakura.

"That's right. Konohamaru's sunglasses pervert teacher taught me. I can climb trees and walk on water now."

"Walking on water!" Sasuke clenched his fists, deeply unwilling to accept it. Naruto had actually pulled so far ahead of him.

"Konohamaru, the Hokage's grandson... So it was Ebisu. But that nickname, sunglasses pervert teacher..." Kakashi was very curious about what had happened for Naruto to give Ebisu such a nickname.

Kakashi came down from the tree and said while leaning on his crutch, "In that case, Sasuke and Sakura, you two will start with tree climbing. I'll take Naruto for the next stage of training."

Just the two of us... Ah, with Naruto gone, does that mean I'll be alone with Sasuke next? Sakura's pretty face flushed. Thinking of it, she unconsciously drooled.

As Sasuke watched Kakashi and Naruto leave, a sense of helplessness rose within him, along with unwillingness toward his own weakness. Why? Naruto had clearly been the dead last, yet after graduating from the Ninja Academy, he had improved so much, while Sasuke himself had barely moved forward at all.

Kakashi brought Naruto to another area and explained, "Chakra has five basic natures. Beyond those, there are also the special Yin and Yang natures."

"Mm-hm, Kakashi-sensei, I already know all that. Shikamaru, Ino, and Choji's ninjutsu are Yin-Yang nature, right? Kakashi-sensei, are you going to teach me some ninjutsu too?" Naruto nearly blurted out Rasengan and urged Kakashi to teach him Rasengan right away. If he had not been afraid of exposing his secret, he would not have had to keep secretly training that ninjutsu.

Kakashi handed Naruto a Chakra test paper, leaving him momentarily stunned.

"First, you need to know which Chakra nature you are naturally most suited to. My most prominent innate Chakra nature is Lightning. This Chakra test paper can determine your most prominent innate Chakra nature."

Naruto took it and froze for a moment. Through Awen's memories, he knew that his innate Wind-Nature Chakra was the most prominent. He had also been secretly using Shadow Clones to cut leaves, and now he could already slice a small opening into one.

Kakashi said, "Lightning will wrinkle it, Wind will cut it, Water will make it wet, Fire will burn it, and Earth will crumble it. If your most prominent innate Chakra nature is Lightning, Naruto, I'll teach you an A-rank ninjutsu."