Anko watched hidden amongst the trees as the genin waited in the training ground. Naruto had fallen asleep with Sakura not too far behind him, and Sasuke had taken to doing occasional stretches, and some weapons practice, but after a while he just sat in the shade of a nearby tree.
The silence between them broke when all three of their stomachs growled in sync.
"I can't believe they listened to him and didn't eat breakfast" Anko muttered to herself
Anko reached into her trench coat and pulled out a pocket watch, it was almost 9:00 am. She wondered what was taking him so long. Anko sensed his faint charka signature not too far from the training ground when she arrived. She assumed he was just setting some things up for the test, but he'd been there for over 2 hours.
Growing impatient she decided to see what the hell he was up to. Anko jumped through the trees toward the direction she felt his chakra signature. When she arrived Kakashi was standing in front of a large stone with names carved throughout. Anko recognized it as the Memorial Stone. She never really had a reason to come here since she never had any close comrades die in the field. She saw him looking intensely at the stone. Anko felt like she was interrupting something personal and began to jump back into the trees toward the training ground.
"Yo Anko"
Kakashi didn't raise his voice, but due to them being in an open clearing with little noise around, Anko heard him well enough. Taking the greeting as permission to walk forward, she went closer before replying.
"Hey, I just wanted to see what was holding you up, I didn't mean to interrupt whatever you're doing."
"No, it's fine I was just about done anyway."
An awkard slience settled between them. Anko shifted, ready to leave
"Well I guess a see you back with the brats"
Before she could go Kakashi's question caught her off guard
"Why did you agree to do this?"
Anko looked back confused "What do you mean?"
"Training the genin I assume that you'll be with us full time. So, I was just wondering what made you accept teaching them. I don't exactly see you as the teaching type, and plus you don't exactly scream patient with children" Kakashi said bluntly
Anko bristled "Well what do you know about me anyway" the words came out sharper than she'd intended
Kakashi raised his hands disarmingly. "Well, not much I guess. Just figured with how carry yourself, Professor Anko wouldn't be your first pick".
"Do you have a problem with working with me, Hatake?"
Kakashi shook his head. "No no not at all, I'm quite glad actually, sorry if it came off as if I was insulting you, I'm just curious about your reasons. "
"I haven't taught before outside of Anbu, and I think seasoned black ops operatives are a little more independent than twelve-year-olds." Kakashi said jockingly
Anko gave a small laugh, she felt the tension leaving her body realizing that he wasn't taking any shots at her character.
"Well, At first I thought it was ridiculous, but the more I thought about it, it seemed more fun. I mean it's not like I was doing anything anyway, the only thing that prevents me from going out on higher rank missions and proctoring the exams. And this will probably be the best chance for me to get any promotion in the near future."
Kakashi nodded. "Yeah, I wouldn't even know where to start teaching them. I was probably at their level when I was six"
Anko rolled her eyes at the not-so-subtle brag. "Is that why you're such a lazy ass now to make up for lost time "
Anko didn't think much about the jab, but it seemed to strike home for Kakashi as he got a faraway look in his lone visible eye. "Maybe I am" He turned around and took a long look at the memorial stone.
Anko sensing the end of the discussion decided to make her leave. "Well, I guess I see you back with the brats, don't make them wait too much longer."
Kakashi didn't answer as he continued to look at the stone as Anko made her way back to the training ground
The noise of the bell going off signified the end of the test. Anko shook her head. She looked down at her notes on each of the genin. Doing a quick analysis of what she wrote down.
Sakura did the worst of the three. While she had a decent hiding spot from the beginning it looked like she had no idea what to do afterward and made no plan of strategy, just watching and only reacting when Sasuke moved. While she wanted to dock her points for her falling to see through a low-rank genjutsu, Anko knew the academy barely touched on the subject, and depending on what illusion Kakashi drugged up it's not surprising for someone who has never been put in one to faint.
Naruto had the same issue as Sakura with no planning or strategy, his first engagement with Kakashi left a lot to be desired, his taijutsu was sloppy and unbalanced and he clearly was just attacking with no purpose other than to hit Kakashi. Anko was very surprised when Naruto pulled out the shadow clone Jutsu, she knew from her talk with the Hokage that he used it to defeat a Chunin, but it was still surprising to see. The clones were uncoordinated. But probably could have been effective against lowered-skilled opponents. Anko didn't even see the kid sneak his clone around Kakashi until he was a few feet away, which showed that he was at least capable of stealth.
Sasuke was far and away the most impressive, He showed solid and adaptable Taijutsu, as well as skill in traps and throwing weapons. He also analyzed Kakashi from the start and struck out at Kakashi when his defenses appeared to be the lowest. The most impressive showing was his elemental jutsu. As far as Anko knew she didn't think he had any personal trainers, so learning a technique like the fireball with no guidance at his age, was truly impressive.
As she looked down at the section of her journal which was supposed to be used to judge the team's teamwork, Anko realized that it was almost empty. The only note she had was when Sasuke stayed to see if Sakura was okay when she passed out after seeing Sasuke's head in the ground. Other than that the genin only stayed together briefly after the test started. Anko bemoaned internally. If they did this bad at finding the point of the test then. It might be a while before they can start training.
Anko spotted Kakashi and the genie in the clearing. She stopped in a tree hidden from sight and caught the end of Kakashi's lecture.
"And to remind you again if you feed Naruto you will all fail"
Kaskhi then vanished and appeared next to Anko in the tree and began speaking without pause
"So anything I missed"
"No, they just suck, but you already knew that since you were the one kicking their ass." Anko said dryly.
"You don't have to be so mean Anko"
"You know it's true, Sasuke was the only one who showed any advanced skills. Naruto's shadow clones were impressive, but outside of that, he is below average. And I could barely evaluate Sakura before she passed out. It makes me wonder what the hell they are taught in the academy." Anko said exasperated by the team's performance
"Yeah, most students that graduate aren't skilled outside of the basics. That's why I haven't taken a team since I was qualified to have one." Kakashi said sharing Anko's sentiments
"Well, now we're stuck whipping them into shape," Anko muttered.
"Wait, look." Kakashi gestured downward.
Sakura and Sasuke feeding Naruto their bento.
Anko groaned "Can we pretend we didn't see them so we can get this over with so we can pass them"
"No, they pass"
"What?"
"Just watch and you'll understand"
Kakashi flickered back into the clearing shocking the genin
Anko watched the following display with great amusement. Kakashi had an almost manic tone to his voice and used genjutsu to create an ominous storm over the area.
"Do you have anything to say for yourselves"
"But, sensei," Naruto said struggling while tied to the post
"Were a three-man squad right?" Sasuke said standing defiantly
Sakura finding her confidence spoke up as well
"That's right! The three of us are one."
"That's right" yelled Naruto
"The three of you are one huh?" Kakashi slowly approached the genin looming over them.
"You pass." he said in a soft, almost proud tone."
"HUH!"
Kakashi straightened his posture and began his explanation
"The first part was meant to fail. The Academy teaches blind obedience—but a shinobi must see through deception. You didn't follow my order to starve Naruto. You thought for yourselves. And when you stood together? That's loyalty."
Kakashi paused to let his words sink in
"In our world rule-breakers are trash... but those who abandon their comrades? Worse than trash.. A shinobi without loyalty to those close to them is just a weapon waiting to be used."
All three genin smiled in relief and began to celebrate at the fact they just become ninja
"Yes, I'm a ninja, I'm actually a ninja!" Naruto began to shed light tears as the realization that he had just achieved a lifelong goal hit him.
Sakura hopped up and down internally screaming in joy.
Sasuke let the smile fall from his lips and got a determined look on his face. He would need to head straight home to begin his nightly routine, this was only the first step to his true goal.
"Well, I meet you guys here tomorrow," Kakashi said as he began to walk away
Both Sakura and Sasuke began to follow him out of the training ground. Naruto didn't notice, still on his high from becoming a ninja. But he did notice the movement of air behind and the sound of a familiar voice.
"Hey, where are you all going?" Anko yelled after them, as she cut Naruto's ropes.
All of them turned around and surprisingly Sasuke was the first one to answer
"Home"
Anko looked at Kakashi
"You know for being all about teamwork, I thought you would know the most important rule in developing teamwork"
"Which is?"
"Food. Let's get dinner." She didn't know much about team bonding, but all her closest friendships had started over meals. Same principle, right?
"No I want Ramen, we can go to Ichiraku it's not even far from here," Naruto said stretching out his limbs
"What makes you think that you are going to be the one to decide brat"
"Well I'm the one who almost starved because of your stupid test"
"Well maybe if you didn't listen to Kakshi, and ate before you got here then you wouldn't be hungry"
Naruto stuck his tongue out at Anko and she followed suit.
The three others watch the childish display baffled
Sakura coughed. "I, uh, promised my parents I'd head straight home."
Sasuke used the distraction to slip away.
Kakashi rubbed the back of his neck "Maybe, we can eat together another time, I have to turn in my report to the Hokage"
Anko and Naruto watched as the other three left the training ground. Anko looked over and saw the disappointment all over Naruto's face. Anko could just leave and go to her favorite spot, but she couldn't just leave the kid alone.
She sighed, clapping a hand on his shoulder. "C'mon, kid. Let's get that ramen."
"You mean it?"
"Yeah, I got nothing better to do, but I can't hang out all night, I have to set up a schedule for your training tomorrow."
"Yes, come on you are going to love Ichiraku," Naruto bolted ahead, his energy restored.
They arrived at a small food stand in the middle of the village, Naruto barged into the empty stand and announced his arrival
"Hey, guess who's back?"
A brown-haired woman behind the counter greeted him. "Naruto, I thought we missed you today." Ayame then noticed the woman following in behind him "Oh hello there are you a friend of Naruto's?"
Anko smiled and slid onto the stool beside him."His new teacher, actually"
"Well anyone from Naruto's Team is welcomed here" Ayame said warmly
"Where is the old man? asked Naruto"
"Dad's out right now so I'm just managing the stand by myself."
Anko leaned over to Naruto. "I can see you got this little place wrapped around your fingers as well. Respect"
Naruto blinked. "Huh?"
"The place I mentioned earlier? The Dango Shop." Anko propped her chin on her hand. "When I was a kid, I'd go there after training—no money, just lurking like a stray cat. Eventually, the owners started giving me free tea and dango. Been a regular ever since."
Naruto nodded, slurping his broth. "Yeah, I get it. I like lots of food, but ramen here… it's like…" He gestured vaguely at his chest. "Warm, y'know?"
Anko grinned. "Whoa. A brain and a heart in that thick skull? Shocking."
Ayame set their bowls down—one for Anko, Naruto's third already half-gone. He pouted at the jab, then suddenly perked up.
"So sensei you're an orphan too right?"
"Yep. Konoha Orphanage until I was nine." She frowned. "Wait, why don't I remember you? Not many blondes in the village."
"I haven't been to the orphanage probably since I was like five," Naruto said after slurping down his bowl
"Five? Did you get adopted out or something,"
"No, that's just when the old man got me my apartment "
"Wait, apartment? Do you live by yourself?
"Mostly. Gramps checks on me sometimes. Tries to visit, but…" He shrugged.
Anko's jaw tightened. Oh, we're definitely having words with the Hokage later.
She steered the conversation to lighter topics—mission mishaps, near-death stupidity—until their bowls were empty and Naruto's laugh echoed off the stall's wooden beams.
Outside, streetlamps flickered on as they said goodbye to Ayame.
"That was fun, I haven't eaten with anyone before outside of Iruka sensei," said Naruto happy and full.
"Well, don't worry that is going to change. I'll make sure the rest of our team will join us the next time we go out like this."
Naruto smiled brightly, Naruto then began jogging back to his apartment and waved back at Anko "See you later sis"
Anko froze. Sis? She should've been annoyed. But the warmth in her chest disagreed.
She checked her watch and groaned. "Damn."
The Dango Shop's lights were off. Convenience store snacks it is.
As she walked away, the ghost of a smile lingered.
The next morning, three senbon lodged into the alarm seal on Anko's wall—her solution after destroying ten clocks. Years of hypervigilance had made sudden noises a bad way to wake up.
She left her bedroom navigating through loose clothes piles and empty boxes of junk food. She sighed when she saw the stack of notes and books left on her sofa. Kakashi had left all of the training plans to her, and in the past two nights, she had skimmed through just about every popular teaching guide.
She meandered her way through her morning routine, after she got out of the shower, and had a light breakfast with some tea, she grabbed some of her loose notes and journal and began to make her way to the training ground.
When Anko arrived at training ground three and saw that Sasuke was already there doing basic stretches. He acknowledged her presence with a nod. Anko began to do her stretches as well while waiting for the other two to arrive.
Sakura was the next to arrive and instantly went toward Sasuke after a light wave to Anko
Sakura brightening when she saw Sasuke. "Good morning! How—"
He turned away without a word. Her smile faltered, but she rallied. "Maybe after training, we could—"
A glare cut her off, as Sasuke reolacated to the otehr side of the training ground. She deflated, sitting heavily on the grass.
Naruto arrived just a few minutes later. He was overloaded with energy as usual and began to hop up and down next to Sakura.
"Isn't this awesome Sakura we are real ninjas? In a few weeks, we will be recusing princesses and taking down bad guys daily."
Sakura looked up at Naruto and glared. "Leave me alone Naruto, you're being annoying"
Naruto recoiled at the harshness in her tone,
"Sheesh, Sakura sorry I was just trying to make conversation"
Guilt flashed across Sakura's face and she looked down at the ground and looked and mumbled "Sorry."
"It's okay, it's my fault I saw that you looked like you were in a bad mood, so I just wanted to cheer you up, but I guess you are not really a morning person."
Before Sakura could respond to her shock at Naruto being thoughtful, Anko yelled at the genin from the middle of the clearing. "Okay let's get started!"
"Shouldn't we wait for Kakashi sensei to show up" Sakura voiced
"Oh, he'll show up in his own time to help you guys."Anko said as she waved off the lateness of her partner. While it annoyed her slightly she knew he was probably back at the memorial stone, and Anko knew that as a ninja everyone had their way of coping with their trauma and she didn't want to disrespect Kakashi's
Anko reached into her trench coat pocket and pulled out a folded piece of paper that had the training schedule that she made last night.
"Okay so here's the schedule"
She cleared her throat before reading what she had written down
"Training will start at 7:00 every morning. Every day will begin with us doing training as a team. Mondays, Tuesdays, and Wednesdays will be individual training days for each of you. After the first hour on those days, I will take one of you aside and help you develop skills for your strengths. While the other two continue on whatever we were practicing. When you guys aren't training in your individual or core skills, we will be doing spars, teamwork drills, and conditioning. Thursday and Fridays will start the same but at 10:00 we will do D ranks for the rest of the day. Saturday will be a free day where we can work on whatever area you think you're lacking in under our guidance, and you have Sunday completely off. And the next time you do individual training I will look at the progress you made since our last session. You'll also be expected to make progress each week and train your skills in your own time."
Anko stopped voice a little dry from talking for so long. She was quite proud of her explanation; she only wrote about half of that on the paper and the rest she just made up on the fly.
All three genin seemed quite pleased with the training schedule. Naruto and Sasuke with the amount of training they were doing, and Sakura was happy with the detailed instructions of what was expected of her.
"That's so awesome we are going to be the greatest ninjas ever with all of that training."
Despite the immaturity of his statement, it did get a small smile out of both of his teammates.
Anko smirked. "Don't think it's going to be easy brats, you'll all be going to get run into the ground. Okay, let's get started."
30 minutes later Anko was laughing at the continued failure of Sasuke and Naruto to walk the tree. Every time one of them fell she gave a sharp laugh loud enough for them to hear to both of their annoyance. This last time Naruto got around 7 steps up the tree before falling and somehow landing in a painful split. The laugh from Anko was the final straw and Naruto started yelling
"If you are just going to stand there laughing then you can help me figure out how to do this!"
Anko shook her head,
"I can only give you tips, you have to be able to do this by yourself, there is more to this exercise than just being able to walk up a tree with chakra."
"Yeah and what's that," asked Naruto still annoyed
"Another point of this exercise is to increase your control and for you to become more equated with channeling charka to specific points in your body. If you can master that skill, then your potential as a ninja can increase tenfold. Do you know why?"
She looked at each genin. All of them thought about the question for a few seconds before Sakura answered
"No, why sensei?"
Anko decided to answer her with another question
"What's the difference between ninjas and civilians?"
Naruto put his hand to his chin in a thinking gesture and said
"Is it how badass we are? I mean Ayame and Teuchi are pretty cool with how well they make ramen, but they can't shoot fire out of their mouths."
Naruto then began pondering which was better, being able to spit fire or make the most delicious meal to grace the planet.
Both Sakura and Sasuke rolled their eyes before Sauske clarified
"No idiot it's Chakra"
"Bingo!" Anko pointed at him. "Chakra enhances everything. Control it, and you amplify your strength, speed—everything." She grinned. "Watch."
With a running start, she launched fifteen feet up a tree, kicked off sideways, and spun through three backflips before landing in a crouch. When she got up from the crouch she put both hands on her hips and held her head back a cocky smirk gracing her lips.
"Yeah yeah I know I'm awesome no need for further applause "
Anko boasted excited she was able to impress the kids
"That's so awesome, you have to teach us how to do that" shouted Naruto
She looked down at the kids still in her boastful pose.
"The first step to doing what I just did is tree walking, since charka gathers poorly at the feet it's an excellent way to work with building up and expelling chakra from your body. Each time I jumped I expelled chakra at my feet to increase the power of my jumps. I then strengthened the muscles in my legs to take the fall. "
"Wow," Sakura said impressed
After Anko's explanation, Sasuke and Naruto looked at each other with new determined looks in their eyes
"I'll bet I being able to this before you bastard Naruto" yelled as he pointed at Sasuke
Sasuke scoffed
"As if you'll ever be able to beat me, idiot "
Both began to run toward their trees in an attempt to master this exercise.
Anko then looked toward "Come on girlie you'll be first up for individual training since you already basically mastered this part."
She said the last part extra loud since she knew Sasuke was slightly annoyed when she got the exercise down so quickly. And it wouldn't hurt if he began to her as a rival like Naruto.
Sasuke gave a quick glare toward Sakura mixed with jealousy and disbelief. Upon seeing it Sakura's face fell and she gave a pointed look at her teacher.
Anko shrugged and began to walk away from the clearing gesturing for Sakura to follow her. Sakura sighed and started to follow her teacher
Anko led Sakura deep in thought on Sakura's relationship with her teammates. The girl was clearly hurt every time Sasuke ignored or glared at her and she often took that misplaced anger out on Naruto.
Anko could also tell that the girl's obsession with the boy could hurt her training. She spent way more time looking at Sasuke than focusing on the exercise, so much so that she almost lost focus a few times and almost fell off the tree.
She knew the girl was only twelve, and it was only natural to have crushes, she was also starting a career path as a shinobi where she would have to fight and kill for her team and village. And Anko knew if Sakura stayed acting this way it could become a wedge between all three of them.
The only question was how to change her behavior. While Anko could be hard on the girl and make her grow up, that would require her to be cruel and despite her reputation, Anko didn't want to be overly mean to people who don't deserve it, especially children. The girl also clearly has some confidence issues, so berating her could drive her into a shell. So Anko decided the best path forward was simply to ask the girl why she was so obsessed with the boy
"Sakura?" Anko said looking over her shoulder
"Yes sensei"
Sakura looked up from the ground where she was following behind looking at her sensei sandals.
"Why do you like Sasuke?"
Sakura perked up at the line of questioning and began to talk about her crush
"Well he's cool, has beautiful hair, and alluring eyes, and his skills as a ninja are amazing" Sakura gushed
"Yeah but that's why you think he's hot or whatever, like let me rephrase, it's clear just being around you and him for a few days that your crush on him goes deeper than just his looks"
Sakura stopped and looked at the ground. She hadn't needed to explain why she liked Sasuke outside of his attractive qualities since it was understood by most in her class. They had already arrived in a small clearing a few minutes away from where the boys were training
Anko turned around and looked at Sakura
"I guess…"
Sakura started with hesitation in her voice
"When I was younger I got bullied a lot for my hair and forehead and Ino, I mean Ino Pig, helped me out and suggested I join the academy. When I first started I was so nervous and I didn't know anyone outside of Ino. Sasuke was the first one to talk to me. He was quiet and still kind of a loner, but the few times I talked to him he was nice. "
Sakura smiled at the memory
"When the mas.. the thing happened he changed"
A somber expression came across Sakura's face
"After it happened, at first just wanted to be his friend or find a way to help him, but then a lot of the girls in the class started to crush on him too. Then I just supported him by cheering him on during spars and asking him to go places with me on dates, since I knew he only went straight home every day with no one to talk to. "
"And.."
Sakura stopped wondering why she was pouring her heart out to this woman she just met.
Anko gave her a smile "Don't worry Sakura, anything you say will stay between us."
"And I guess I liked the attention I got from liking Sasuke," Sakura said surprised she was able to admit it out loud
"The louder I was about my crush the more popular I became I even became the leader of The Sasuke Fanclub 2.0"
Anko's eyebrows rose at the implied predecessor of the fan club
Sakura rolled her eyes
"That Ino pig ran the first one into the ground so I started my own and much better fan club"
Sakura put her thumb into her chest, clearly proud of her achievements.
"So what did your fan club actually do? Stalk him around town."
"No!" Sakura yelled clearly not meaning to be that loud as she lowered her volume
"That was my main disagreement with the previous fan club. They started to follow Sasuke around and one time they had to be escorted away so Sasuke could get into his house."
Anko shook her head only imagining the amount of annoyance the boy had for this kind of obsessive behavior.
"So what did your fan club do?"
Anko couldn't believe she was talking about this, but if it helped her figure out what motivated the girl it was worth it.
"Well, you know normal things. Like sitting around and talking about Sasuke, planning our looks and outfits around what he liked, and creating plans to capture his affections."
Sakura shook her head
"The last one was a stressful job"
She ran her hand through her hair as she remembered her previous frustrations
"I had to replace the executive planner position five times during the academy, and the stress of the position got to some girls, Near the end it got to the point where we just left it vacant"
Anko sighed in exasperation at the absurdity of multiple political groups of fangirls vying for one boy's attention
"I understand you want to help him Sakura but I think you have been going about all wrong"
Sakura looked up surprised
"What do you mean"
"Well, do you like it when Naruto asks you out"
Sakura's face morphed into a light scowl
"Of course not, god he's so annoying, doesn't he realize I just am not interested in dating him."
"Yeah, I'm sure it is annoying when someone constantly looks at you and continues to ask you out on dates despite making it perfectly clear that you in no way have any interest in dating them," Anko said in the most sarcastic tone she could muster
"Exactly why can't he get through that thick skull of his, I mean come on how dense can you be?"
Anko tapped her foot and waited.
Sakura's face then changed into multiple phases, first shock, then confusion, and finally pure horror. She put both hands on her head
"You don't mean Sasuke thinks the same about me asking him out, the same as I do Naruto"
Anko nodded
Sakura fell to the ground defeated "But that can't be true" Sakura mumbled in denial about the similarity in her and Naruto's behavior
Anko then crouched down to Sakura's level
"Listen, if you put Sasuke on such a pedestal that you believe he can't do no wrong, but that's not you liking someone, it's you idolizing him."
Sakura looked down ashamed
"Sasuke needs friends more than anything right now, and the first step is to be nicer to Naruto, and more honest with Sasuke."
"How does being nicer to Naruto help Sasuke"
"I skimmed through most of Sasuke Academy reports and do you know who the only person he talks to is?"
"Naruto" Sakura her voice giving away recognition
"I think Sasuke considers Naruto a friend even if he doesn't know it, and I don't think he appreciates you being mean to him. Besides the kid isn't that bad, a little annoying sure, but if you give him a chance then I'm sure you'll come to like him"
Sakura nodded
"I get it sensei, I'll try to do better"
Anko gave a light chuckle and stood and gave a loud clap.
Instantly her demeanor changed and became more carefree
"Okay, enough sentimental stuff it's time for your first lesson."
Sakura stood at attention
"Now with your success at tree walking, it's clear your chakra control is excellent, I don't think I heard of anyone succeeding on their first try."
Sakura beamed under the praise
"So, I will be giving you lessons and testing your aptitude in genjutsu"
"That's the thing Kakashi sensei used on me during the bell test right?"
Anko nodded
"Are you good at sensei?"
Anko raised her hand in a so-so motion
"Not my specialty but I'm decent at it. Anyways here catch"
Anko reached inside her coat pulled out a small scroll and tossed it toward Sakura. Sakura caught it and began to unroll it.
"There are some basic techniques you probably could have learned in the academy"
Sakura opened the scroll and found instructions for three genjutsu two D ranks and one C rank. Sakura looked over each jutsu in the scroll
.The Double Vision Technique- A D rank that causes the opponent to see two of everything when cast.
The Drunken Sight Technique- This causes someone to see the world as if they were drunk
The C rank technique in the scroll was the False Surroundings Technique which places an illusion in the surrounding area where it is cast
"I didn't want to overwhelm you with too many techniques to start with, but most of these are pretty easy to master. Speaking of, do you know why the first three are considered D-rank techniques? "
Sakura held her face in a tight expression
"Is it because they are really obvious, I mean if in combat you start seeing double, or start getting drunk you'll know immediately, and can just shake off the genjutsu."
"You got it half right, it's true most ninjas would not even be affected by these techniques, even the most experienced genin would probably shrug it off. But it's not really about the techniques it's how most people use them that makes them D rank"
Sakura gave an interested look
"You see if you manage to reach the level of mastery my friend has with these techniques you could cast these with no hands signs in the middle of combat. Whenever I spar with her she uses the double vision and drunken sight techniques to set me off balance. Only masters at chakra disruption can disrupt genjutsu with no loss of focus, especially if you have an enemy engaged in close quarters at the same time."
Sakura looked pensive and asked
"Do you have a notebook or something to take notes on? This is a lot to remember. "
"Sure"
Anko reached into her trench coat and a produced notebook and pencil. Sakura decided to not want to know where her sensei stored all of these things and gladly took the items.
Anko looked off into the forest and began talking
"Sakura, the reason I want you to think about things like this is because I don't want you to get into the mindset of just being in a support role. Despite the perceived equality of the ninja profession, there are still biases that are placed on kunoichi. Only about a third of the shinobi force is made up of women, even less are jonin level or above and are almost always pushed into backline support roles."
Sakura thought to herself, realizing that outside of Anko and the sensei of Team 8, she had never really seen elite female shinobi in Konoha.
Sakura ran it over in her mind. Her mother warned her she might face bias in her chosen career path since she was a girl. She didn't think much of it at the time, but thinking back to the academy the girls had to take flower arrangement classes while the boys continued to take extra taijutsu lessons.
"Listen you'll always be underestimated because you're a woman, but don't let yourself get boxed into the support role mentally or you will find yourself as a bystander next to your teammates."
A smile came over Sakura's lips
"So you mean that instead of focusing on being just and in a support role I should focus on being a badass kunoichi like you sensei"
Anko gave a toothy grin
"If you keep talking like that you are going to end up as my favorite student. Anyways let's get started. Try out some of these techniques on me, I'm not the best sensor, but I should be able to tell you if you're molding your charka wrong."
Over the next two hours, Anko taught Sakura how to visualize her techniques and then cast them onto another person's senses. It was rather easy since Anko allowed her to do it, but by the end of the session, Sakura could cast all three of the D ranks and had made decent progress into the C rank technique.
As they made her way back to the boys with Sakura she noticed Kakashi had arrived, and that the boys had both made considerable progress in tree walking.
"Yo"
Kakashi said to both Anko and Sakura as he leaned against a tree with a book in hand
"You're late!" Sakura yelled and pointed a finger at him
"Well you see, I had to help my neighbor move some furniture across town."
Naruto glared from the ground he recently fell on
"Hey, that's not what you said earlier I thought you helped your neighbor paint his living room"
"Naruto I am sure even you know that people can do more than one thing at a time."
Naruto scowled and Anko had to hold back a laugh. Kakashi certainly knew how to press people's buttons. The rest of the day went as planned with them doing conditioning and teamwork drills for the rest of the afternoon.
The next day Naruto was staring angrily at the books laid out in front of him."This is so dumb I thought you were going to teach me ninja skills not bore me to death."
Anko leaned against a tree, arms crossed "With your clones you can have a constant squad of people who know exactly how you think on call. During the test, you just swarmed Kkashi, but if you used your clones more effectively you probably could have grabbed a bell. "
"So what does that have to do with me reading?"
"Because if you learn some battle tactics and troop organization, you have the potential to be a one-man army. "
Naruto's eyes lit up—then narrowed. "I'll be a one-man army faster if you just teach me cool jutsu!"
Anko's eye twitched. Patience, Anko. He's twelve. She took a deep breath. "Kid, your chakra control is so bad, you'd blow yourself up trying most ninjutsu. You've got too much—like shoving a tidal wave through a straw." She flicked his forehead. "That's why Shadow Clones work for you. They don't need control they just split your chakra evenly."
Naruto rubbed his forehead, he still was not exactly following what this lady was getting at.
"How much did you read when you learned the technique from the forbidden scroll?"
Naruto gave a surprise squawk in response to her question
"Don't worry brat you're not in trouble with me. The Hokage told me what you managed to do with that technique. Good job by the way, but if Mizuki wasn't such a sorry ass he probably could have countered your technique with your skills the way they are now "
Naruto bristled
"Bet you just skimmed the name and hand signs, huh? Didn't read the description?"
Naruto gave an awkward laugh and rubbed the back of his head "Maybe"
Anko sighed and began to explain the Jutsu "To keep it short the technique you found was the more advanced version of the shadow clone technique. It uses more chakra, but it allows you to create a lot more clones. You also gain the memories of your clones when they are destroyed"
Naruto looked shocked, "Why haven't I noticed that yet?"
"Probably because you haven't used them for anything outside of combat, but maybe the version you use can't transfer memories. So let's test it out, I wanted to see if a theory I had about your training could work. Make five clones now."
Naruto proceeded to put his hands in the ram seal and made six clones.
"Close enough"
"Okay, I want three of you to work on the leaf control exercise to improve your control, Two of you need to start reading. And you..." the final clone looked up waiting for instructions, and had a brief look of betrayal before a pierced the front of its neck."
"Hey what's the big idea" All of the other Naruto's shouted in unison
Anko shrugged
"I had no idea what to do with that one, and plus I don't know what effect it may have on you if we overload you with memories. So we are going to keep the maximum number to five, But before you begin I feel like you're someone who doesn't see the value in something unless they know what they could get in the end, so I'll show you the jutsu, I'll teach you when I feel you have made enough progress on your control."
All of the Naruto's turned to Anko and watched her intently, excited to see a new jutsu. Anko then turned toward five target posts
Anko pulled out one shuriken and threw it at one post. She then began to weave through hand signs and performed the Shuriken Shadow Clone Jutsu, as one shuriken turned into five, All of them raced forward and hit the bullseye of each target.
"WHOAA! TEACH ME NOW!"
"No."
"WHY NOT?!"
"Because you'd make thousands and accidentally bomb the village."
The clones grumbled but split up—three meditating with leaves on their foreheads, two grudgingly cracking open books.
The original Naruto cracked his knuckles. "So what's my training?"
"Taijutsu. We're fixing your form."
Naruto grinned. "Bring it—"
THUD.
He hit the ground flat on his back, groaning.
Anko sighed. This'll be a long day.
The following day Anko took Sasuke to the other side of the training ground to a rocky clearing with several training posts lined up in front of a large boulder.
"Okay listen here kid, You're good. Any genin who can use elemental techniques at your age is impressive." Sasuke gave a self-satisfied smirk.
"Do you know any other fire techniques "
"I know the Phoenix Fireball Justu, but I haven't mastered it yet"
"Better than the basic Fireball," Anko said. "That one's flashy, but impractical against skilled opponents. Blocks your vision, easily countered as Kakashi demonstrated during the test."
Sasuke's jaw tightened at the reminder.
"The phoenix flower jutsu is a great one for control although it is not as powerful. You can hide weapons in the fire to control each individual blast."
Sasuke looked at her annoyed as if he didn't know this.
Anko rolled her eyes. "I'm getting there. The jutsu I'm teaching you combines Phoenix Flower's control with Fireball's power.""
Sasuke's attention sharpened.
"Fire Style: Great Dragon Fireball. B-rank. Demands advanced shape manipulation, burns more chakra—but it's worth it." She jerked her chin toward the treeline. "Back up."
Sasuke backed away toward the treeline as he watched Anko turn away from the targets and perform a multitude of hand signs to perform the Fire Style: Fierce Dragon Flame Jutsu
A dragon's head of fire erupted from her lips, twisting midair before slamming into the posts. The explosion scarred the earth and left the boulder blackened, cracks spiderwebbing through stone.
Sasuke's eyes gleamed.
"This jutsu forces you to master all aspects of chakra," Anko said, wiping soot from her mouth. "Power, shape, control. Master it, and you can modify techniques—or create new ones.".
"Create?"
"Most Konoha fire jutsu were Uchiha inventions. Enemy ninja expect them." Anko's grin turned razor-edged. "But if you alter techniques—or make your own—you turn their knowledge against them."
"For an example watch this"
Anko then went through a similar amount of hand signs and performed Fire Style: Flaming snake jutsu.
A coiled streak of fire shot forth, morphing into a serpent mid-flight. It dug into the boulder, searing through rock before detonating—shattering what remained of the stone.
Sasuke's breath caught.
"Smaller than the Dragon, but hotter," Anko explained. "I compressed the chakra, shaped it to pierce earth defenses. Boom."
She met Sasuke's gaze, deadly serious. "Shinobi today are rigid. Centuries ago, new jutsu were forged daily. Now? Most just regurgitate clan scrolls." Her voice dropped. "You've got potential. Don't limit yourself."
Sasuke's smirk returned sharp and hungry. This was what he needed. Tools to craft techniques even Itachi couldn't predict.
"Start with the seals," Anko ordered. "No chakra yet. Get the pattern down."
By session's end, Sasuke managed one unstable Dragon Fireball—barely controlled, sputtering out after a few feet.
Anko clapped him on the shoulder. "Not bad for day one. Work on it."
As they left, Sasuke's fingers twitched, already rehearsing seals.
A few hours later Kakashi and Anko were overseeing Naruto's and Sasuke's water walking. Sakura was on the water doing some basic taijutsu drills, to get used to fighting on the water
While on land Anko began to talk to Kakashi about a pressing issue
"You have to tell Sasuke about your Sharingan. The kid already has trust issues, so if he learns about your eye from somewhere else, then he'll probably come to his own conclusions. "
"Yeah I know, I just don't think now is the right time. "
"When would it be, you can't put it off forever."
"I know, I know I'll get around to it."
There was a brief silence before Anko spoke
"You read his psych reports, right?" Anko asked
"Of course, I looked over everyone over the past few years"
"Then you know that he needs someone badly, and I'm not saying that it has to be you, but I don't think I could do it."
"Why not?"
"Because I haven't really lost anything before. Sure I lost my memories and that sucked, but all the people I care about are all still alive and well, and the fact that I haven't experienced even a little of what he is feeling, I doubt I'll be able to truly understand him."
"So, you're saying I could." Kakashi's voice was getting tense
"Don't worry I didn't go through your file or anything, I'm not that nosy, but because we spend a quarter of your day staring at the names of dead people, I assume that you have probably lost a lot."
Kakashi didn't respond
"Look, I'm not saying you got to be the kid's therapist or anything just talk to him. Every time he starts to enjoy any part of life he closes himself off from it. If that keeps up he'll never even bond with his teammates, much less gain loyalty to the village. "
Kakashi sighed
"I understand I'll talk with him, today after training is over, I don't know what to say, but you're right if I put it off for long enough then it might be too late to make a difference."
Their conversation ended there and they continued to supervise the genin
Once training wrapped up Anko went over to Naruto and Sakura and said
"Hey, you two come with me, and let's grab a bite to eat."
"Hell yes, ramen" Naruto yelled excited
"Hell no, ramen, we had it the last time we went out. We are heading to the Dango Shop."
Naruto pouted, she did have a point and he wasn't going to say no to a free meal.
"Are Kakashi sensei and Sasuke going to join us?" Sakura asked
"Eh, maybe later, but they have to have a talk alone."
Sakura immediately got what her teacher was trying to say, and resigned herself to going.
Her implication, however with over Naruto's head and he said
"Ha, the bastard is in trouble, serves him right"
Sakura rolled her eyes "No, he's not you idiot,"
"What do you mean he's not what else is Kakashi sensei going to talk with him about?"
"I don't know and it's none of our business"
The light banter continued between the two as they headed to the Dango Shop with Anko. Leaving Kakashi and Sasuke at the training grounds.
Sasuke sat stiffly as Kakashi remained silent, minutes stretching between them. Finally, he turned to leave
"Sasuke"
When he heard his name he turned around only to see a Sharingan in Kakashi's left eye. Sauke's heart dropped in his chest, a myriad of emotions went through him, but ultimately it settled on anger.
"So, you're a thief then"
"No, I'm not, this was a gift from a friend. I brought you out here to tell you the full story of how I got this eye, but I couldn't find a good place to start."
Sasuke didn't respond, but Kakashi seemed to appease him and he continued to stand waiting for Kakashi to speak.
Kakashi had no idea where to start, he had never talked about his past with anyone, not even with the yearly therapist he was required to go to. It was another few minutes before he would speak, and he decided to start at the only place that made sense at the beginning.
"My father killed himself when I was four"
Sasuke's eyes widened gaining emotional whiplash at the statement
"I only remember seeing him a few times in my life, when you're that young you only really get flashes of moments. He was always busy, and one of the few times I remember him is coming home to find him dead in the middle of the floor."
Kakashi took a deep breath while the pain of his father's death was long since dulled, it was still difficult to talk about
"He was shunned by the village, a mission gone wrong. I don't know much about the details, most of the records of it were destroyed by the time I had enough clearance to access mission records. All I know is that he ran a diplomatic mission that ended up going wrong, two of his teammates ended up getting captured and his decision to recuse them ended up with some important people dead. It ended up getting us involved in the third war. "
Kakashi paused
"After that, I felt that my father died because he broke the rules, and betrayed his duties as a ninja of Konoha for his friends. I was obsessed with becoming elite, I trained every day for hours, and only ate and slept when my body was on the brink of exhaustion. I ended up graduating from the academy in a year and became a Chunin."
Kakashi at this point forgot that Sasuke was there and was just telling his truth. Saying things he never even thought of before.
"I hated being a Chunin. Both my teammates were over twice my age and treated me like trash. It was like that for three years until I was transferred to a freshly graduated genin team, my Team 7"
Sasuke had a slight look of shock on his face but other than that showed no other reaction and kept listening
"One of my teammates was actually your cousin, Obito Uchia, you probably wouldn't know him, I don't know if your clan talked about him. A Uchiha with bad eyesight,"
Kakashi gave a humorless chuckle.
"Despite my reluctance, I grew to like my teammates Rin was kind and intelligent, and Obito was actually a lot like Naruto. Desperate to prove themselves to the world, loud, and untalented, but they had enough confidence and charisma, where you can't just help to believe in them.
"During the war, Rin ended up being captured, I wanted to leave her behind. Every fiber of my being wanted to abandon the mission and save her, but I... I was scared I didn't want to be seen as a failure to the village, I didn't want to be my father. But, Obito, despite me refusing to go, went to rescue Rin."
"Eventually I ended up getting my head out of my ass and followed suit, but maybe if I just went right away things wouldn't have gone differently. I eneded up losing my left eye during the fight and the cave Rin was held in was collapsed by an Iwa shinobi and Obito's body ended up being crushed under the rubble. He asked me to take his eye, to remember him."
"He was a true shinobi, after the mission I went back to the village and cried for the first time in years. Not just because of Obito's death, but because I realized that my father was right. He ended up losing hope, but the actions he took to save his teammates were those of a true shinobi."
Sasuke didn't want to speak further, but he did notice the absence of this Rin person, and with the story, he was just told the feeling of what already happened, but he had to know for sure.
"What happened to Rin"
"I killed her"
Sasuke's blood ran cold.
"She was captured by mist ninja a few months later. And after I rescued her she jumped in front of my technique. I don't know why, or what happened that made her want to die, but she wanted it to be by my hand."
Sasuke expression was blank as he was deep in thought
"Look Sasuke, initially I didn't mean for this talk to turn into a saga about my life story, but the reason I felt I could tell you this is because you remind me of myself back then. Lost and confused and, launching yourself relentlessly toward your goal, with anything else in life being useless"
Sasuke looked up at Kakashi and he didn't see the normal indifference in them or the determined eyes of an avenger. His eyes looked tired as if he hadn't slept since the night of the massacre, it was the most vulnerable he had seen Sasuke.
"I'm not offering you to tell me anything that's on your mind Sasuke, I'm probably the worst person you could go to for emotional support, but all I'm saying is that you need to enjoy life and the people around you. Your goal isn't going anywhere, and the only thing worse than a grudge is regret."
Sasuke didn't respond, looking at the ground and mulling over Kakashi's words.
After a few moments, Kakashi began to walk away but as he went a few feet past Sasuke he spoke
"I'm heading to the dango shop," Kakashi said, turning away. "Your choice whether to join. The ghosts will wait... if you let them."
Kakashi continued outside of the training ground leaving Sasuke behind.
Minutes later Sasuke continued to stand there, his mind a whirlwind. And he then remembered the two versions of his brothers. The brother who used to take him on piggyback rides throughout Konoha, the one who he looked up to. And the brother who killed their family in cold blood to prove himself. The one who made him watch over and over again as he slaughtered their clan.
A sob tore from his throat.
He'd mourned his clan. Mourned his parents. But never him. Never the brother who'd loved him before becoming a monster.
When the tears stopped, his mind was clearer than it had been in years.
Itachi died long before that night.
This wasn't about vengeance anymore.
This was justice.