Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto

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"Alright, training starts now."

"Right!" Naruto exclaimed excitedly.

"First, we will begin with a review of chakra, the ninja's basic source of power," Kakashi started, "Understanding chakra is essential."

Sasuke scoffed, "We know that." He was standing with his arms crossed and his eyes closed like the overconfident bastard he is.

"He's right!" Naruto exclaimed, "A long time ago we learned about... Uh.. Catra."

"Chakra, Naruto," Kakashi corrected.

Naruto blinked.

Kakashi sighed, "Do you even know what chakra is, Naruto?"

Naruto nodded his head vigorously, "Of course I do! It's uh...uh..." He trailed off, scratching the back of his head nervously.

Kakashi sighed once more, waving his hand, "Go ahead, Sakura."

Sakura nodded and cleared her throat. "Alright," she started, "Listen up Naruto, I'm going to put this in simple terms, but I'll only say this once."

I rolled my eyes at this.

"Simply put, Chakra is the energy a shinobi needs when performing a jutsu. That energy has two parts. The body energy that is in each of the billions of your cells. And the spiritual energy gained through training and other experiences. These two parts are combined.

"So by bringing out and releasing chakra, you can use a jutsu. This is done through the process of performing a deal with the hands," Sakura explained.

Kakashi nodded, "You got all the points down, Iruka really did have some excellent students."

I blanched, simple terms my ass.

Naruto now looked even more confused that before.

I sighed and turned to Naruto, "Naruto," I began, "Chakra equals energy. Chakra energy is used to form a jutsu."

A look of understanding crossed his face as he nodded. "I get it," he said.

I sent a triumphant smirk in Sakura's direction as she scowled and looked away. Hey, don't look at me, she started it.

"But, wait," Naruto protested, "What's the point of this anyway? We just need to learn jutsus!"

Sasuke raised his hand, "For once I agree with Naruto. We're already using chakra energy in our jutsus."

Kakashi sighed, "No, you have not mastered this power, in fact, you've barely scratched the surface."

"What do you mean?" Naruto questioned exasperatedly.

"Calm down and listen," reprimanded Kakashi, "It's just like Sakura said; you have to draw on physical and spiritual energies and combine them within yourself. But, how do you do that?

"Each jutsu requires different types of chakra in different proportions. You must select and combine them in exactly the right way. Up to now you've just guessed the proportions, hoping they come out right. Even if you produce a lot of chakra, unless you can balance and control it, it's all worthless.

"The justu won't work at all, or it'll just be a joke. You waste so much energy that way, then you run out of chakra and you can't fight anymore, making yourself a target."

Naruto scratched the back of his head sheepishly, "Uh, so how do we prevent that?"

Kakashi's eyes narrowed, "Training so hard that controlling chakra becomes a second nature to you. You must be ready to put your life on the line." He closed his eye and lowered his head.

We all stared at him, hanging onto his every word.

"What do we have to do?" Sakura questioned hesitantly.

Kakashi flashed us a closed eye smile.

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"You want us to what now?"

Kakashi sweatdropped before composing himself. "Climb a tree," he repeated.

"And this is going to help us defeat Zabuza... How?" I deadpanned.

Kakashi flashed us a closed eye smile, "Oh but there's a catch. You can't use your hands."

"What?" Naruto exclaimed.

My eyebrows furrowed, "I'm sorry to say this sensei, but you are making less sense by the second."

Kakashi sighed. "Here," he said, "Let me demonstrate."

Kakashi started walking towards the tree until he took a step onto the tree. My jaw dropped as he started casually walking up the tree.

Geez, first his hair, now this? Does this guy have no respect for the laws of gravity?

Kakashi stopped on branch, standing upside down. I looked to the side to see the reactions of my teammates were roughly similar to mine.

"How... How did you do that?" Naruto asked, staring at Kakashi in awe.

Kakashi smiled a closed eye smile, "This exercise is to help you control your chakra. To climb the tree, you must focus your chakra into the souls of your feet. If you focus to little chakra, your feet will slip off. On the other hand, if you focus to much, your feet will deflect off the tree."

Kakashi walked to the end of the branch, "If you can master this exercise, you will be able to perform any jutsu," he explained.

We watched as he got into a crouching position and jumped of the branch. My eye twitched as he landed perfectly. Um, last time I checked this guy was injured.

Kakashi looked up to face us. "Understand?" He asked us.

Naruto fist pumped, "Yeah! We focus the Catra into our feet!" He exclaimed.

"Chakra, Naruto," Kakashi corrected him exasperatedly.

He then sighed and tossed us each a kunai. "Use this to mark how far you get," he said, before walking off.

I glanced at my distorted reflection in the kunai, a look of determination crossing my features.

This'll be easy.

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This is fucking hard.

Like honestly, why won't my stupid feet stick to the goddamned tree? It's not freakin' rocket science.

You're not doing it right, Rin commented.

"Well no shit Sherlock," I muttered irritably, rubbing a sore spot on my side. I winced as my hand slid over it; that was definitely going to leave a bruise.

Unfortunately Sasuke happened to be nearby and overheard my supposedly one-way conversation. He looked at me weirdly.

I gave him a death glare, making him narrow his eyes and look away.

Yeah that's right bastard.

"Woah this is surprisingly easy!" A voice exclaimed from above.

My eyes travelled up only to see Sakura sitting on the highest branch of a tree. I did a double take as I stared at her giggling figure.

But how..?

"Well well," Kakashi mocked, "It seems like the Uchiha clan isn't so great after all."

Sasuke tensed.

"Naruto," Kakashi continued, "It seems like Sakura has the best chance at becoming the Hokage out of the four of you."

Naruto's head shot up.

"And Sena, it seems that Sakura has more use on this team than you," Kakashi taunted.

My eye twitched. I know he was just laying out the bait, but I couldn't help it; I snapped.

"THAT IS SUCH HORSE SHIT!" I screeched, before loosing my footing on the tree.

"Oh for the love of God," I muttered exasperatedly as I fell to the ground, landing hard on my side.

Sakura giggled and I sent my most intimidating death glare at her, groaning in pain. Even Kakashi looked mildly amused. Damn traitor.

"You go Sakura! That's my girl!" Naruto cheered, and Sakura gained a look of annoyance on her face.

"Kakashi-sensei, you shouldn't talk about the Uchiha clan like that, it isn't nice," Sakura reprimanded, glancing not-so-secretively at Sasuke the whole time.

Sasuke grunted irritably and turned away, making Sakura sigh dejectedly.

I snickered at the situation, making Sakura glare at me. I stuck my tongue out at her.

Humans... Rin sighed.

I shrugged, she started it.

Once again, I ran at the tree, trying to climb up. I braced myself for a hard landing, but surprisingly, my feet stuck to the tree. A smile pulled at my lips as I started walking up the tree, I was actually making progress. Just a little more-

"SASUKE! STOP BEING MEAN TO SAKURA!"

I yelped as I lost my concentration, fumbling with the kunai and quickly slitting a line across the bark before I landed hard on my backside. I groaned frustratedly, gaining an irk mark on my forehead.

"Damnit Naruto!"