"I can't believe they woke us up at dawn for this," Kiba complained, stretching until his back popped. Beside him, Akamaru let out a yawn that was almost as loud as his owner's.
"Come on, Kiba! Aren't you excited?" Naruto shot back, bouncing on the balls of his feet, his energy already overflowing despite the early hour. "New training! I bet it'll be something awesome, like breathing fire or summoning something giant!"
Sasuke just snorted, leaning against a tree with his arms crossed. "Don't be an idiot. We can barely focus our chakra. We're not summoning anything."
"Nobody asked you, Sasuke!" Naruto snapped.
"Quiet, all of you," Kakashi ordered, cutting through the morning argument. He looked as sleepy as ever, his book already in hand, but there was an edge of authority in his tone that made everyone fall silent. He moved to the center of the clearing, next to a huge tree. "Today's training is about control. Specifically, chakra control."
Sakura raised her hand, ever the diligent student. "What kind of control, sensei?"
"The principle is simple," Kakashi continued. "The trick to walking on trees, or any vertical surface, is balance. Too little chakra in your feet and you slip. Too much and the bark repels you. You have to find the exact point."
He explained the theory with an efficiency that bordered on boredom, and then, to demonstrate, he put his book away and walked effortlessly up the trunk of the nearest tree. He didn't stop until he was a dozen meters up, where he flipped upside down, took his book out again, and continued reading. It was such blatant showboating that Naruto gritted his teeth.
"He always has to show off," he muttered to himself.
"Alright, your turn," Kakashi said from his perch, his voice barely altered by his inverted position. "Whoever gets the highest first wins my eternal respect. Or something like that. Begin."
Sasuke scowled, his gaze shifting from Kakashi to the tree and then to his own feet. He focused, feeling the buzz of energy inside him. "Here I go."
He ran toward the tree. On his first attempt, he released too much energy. His feet hit the bark with a CRACK! that left a mark the size of his sandal before the force pushed him backward. He landed with agility, but his expression was one of cold frustration.
"Damn it," he whispered, only for himself to hear.
Kiba laughed. "Looks like the great Uchiha isn't so perfect after all!"
Sasuke ignored him. He looked at the tree again, this time with even more intense concentration. He closed his eyes for a second, visualizing the flow, adjusting it. On his second attempt, he got it. He ran, and this time, his feet stuck. He walked up the trunk with an ease that seemed almost natural, stopping a few meters off the ground. From there, he looked down at the others with a silent superiority that was more irritating than any words could be.
"Were you saying something, Kiba?" he asked, his voice dripping with smugness.
Hinata, meanwhile, approached her own tree calmly. Kurenai placed a hand on her shoulder.
"Don't think about the height, Hinata," she advised in a low voice.
Hinata nodded and closed her eyes. She didn't think about climbing; she focused on the flow of chakra she could now feel so clearly within her. She felt it swirl at her feet, a warm, obedient energy awaiting her command. She opened her eyes and walked. Her feet adhered firmly to the bark, and she climbed the tree with a quiet, fluid grace that made Kurenai smile with unmistakable pride.
Sakura and Kiba were another story.
"Come on, come on, come on," Sakura muttered to herself, her forehead beaded with sweat. She had her hands on her knees, staring intently at the tree. "The right amount of chakra... steady flow... no energy spikes..."
But every time she tried, her analytical mind seemed to get in the way. She would either release such a minuscule amount that she'd slip after two steps, landing on her butt with a thud, or she would get frustrated with her failure and release too much, shooting backward to land in a pile of leaves.
"This is impossible!" she yelled after her fifth failed attempt.
"Move it, Sakura! Let me show you how it's done!" Kiba barked. He thumped his chest and winked at Akamaru. "Ready, buddy? Watch the next Hokage in action!"
"HERE I GO, AKAMARU!"
Kiba launched himself at the trunk with all his might, his feet glowing with an excess of chakra. The result was always the same: a crack of splintering wood, a choked cry, and Kiba sliding down the bark, leaving a trail of fabric from his jacket and several splinters in his butt.
"Ow! I think this tree hates me!" he complained as Akamaru licked his scrapes.
And then there was Naruto.
His case was different. He wasn't just a disaster; he was a spectacle of failure so grand it almost seemed intentional.
On his first attempt, he focused so much chakra into his feet that, instead of sticking, he created a small explosion. A muffled BOOM! left a crater at the base of the tree and sent him flying into the lake, creating a wave that soaked everyone nearby.
He emerged from the water, spitting and coughing, with seaweed in his hair.
"I THINK I USED TOO MUCH!"
"You think, genius?" Sakura shouted, wringing the water out of her hair.
On his second attempt, trying to correct his mistake, he was extremely cautious. He used so little chakra that his feet barely stuck. He managed one step, then another, and just as a triumphant grin spread across his face, the connection broke and he slipped, falling flat on his back with a thud that knocked the wind out of him.
"The tree... betrayed me," he gasped from the ground.
And so it continued. Each attempt was a new and creative way to fail. He tried running so fast that inertia would keep him stuck; he bounced off. He tried jumping and sticking midway; he missed and face-planted. He tried yelling at the tree to cooperate; the tree, surprisingly, did not respond.
Kakashi watched him from his branch, his shoulders shaking with silent laughter. But Kurenai watched Naruto intently.
She slid gracefully down her own tree and walked over to Naruto. He was sitting on the ground, covered in mud, leaves, and frustration.
"You're overthinking it, Naruto."
He looked at her, annoyed and defensive. "What do you mean? I'm barely thinking at all! I'm just trying to climb like everyone else!"
"That's the problem," she said, kneeling beside him. "You have immense power, but you're releasing it all at once. This exercise isn't about strength, it's about precision."
"I don't get it at all!" he protested, crossing his arms. "What am I supposed to do?! Ask it nicely?! It's a tree!"
"Exactly," she replied, to his surprise. "Close your eyes."
Naruto looked at her skeptically. "Close my eyes? I'll just fall again!"
"Trust me," her voice was soft but firm. "Close your eyes. Forget about the tree. Forget about Sasuke watching you from above and Kiba laughing. Feel the ground beneath your feet. Now, imagine your feet are roots, that they're growing, sinking gently into the ground. Don't push... adhere. Become a part of it."
He scowled, but Kurenai's calm voice soothed him. He closed his eyes. He took a deep breath and stopped thinking. He focused on the feeling of his feet, on the earth. He imagined the roots, small and stubborn, growing from his heels, searching for an anchor.
"Good," Kurenai whispered, seeing his frown relax. "Now... walk. Just... walk."
Naruto stood up, his eyes still closed, and took a hesitant step toward the tree. His foot made contact with the bark. And it stuck. He took another step. And another. The feeling was strange, as if the tree itself was holding him.
He snapped his eyes open. He was two meters off the ground, standing horizontally.
"I'm... I'm doing it," he whispered in awe. A slow, genuine smile spread across his face.
"I'M DOING IT!" he roared a second later, his joy exploding. "LOOK AT THIS! I'M THE KING OF THE TREES! BELIEVE IT! HAHAHAHA!"
The premature celebration, of course, broke his concentration. The chakra flow cut off, and he slid down the trunk, landing on the ground with a soft thud. But this time he didn't care. He jumped to his feet, a smile on his face that lit up the whole clearing. He had done it. He knew how. In his excitement, he even hugged Kurenai.
It was in that moment of triumph that the calm was broken. One of Gatō's thugs, a man they had seen in town, burst into the clearing. He was out of breath, his clothes were dirty, and his face was pale with panic.
"Ninjas!" he gasped, bending over at the waist and pointing at Kakashi. "Gatō-sama... demands an answer!"
Kakashi dropped silently from the tree, his book disappearing into his vest in a single motion. His lazy demeanor had vanished. "An answer to what?"
The thug pulled out a scroll with trembling hands and offered it to him. "To... to this."
Kakashi took it and unrolled it. Kurenai gently freed herself from Naruto's hug and came to his side to read over his shoulder. The genin fell silent, the playful atmosphere instantly dissolving.
Kakashi's voice, when he read the message aloud, was cold. "To the Konoha ninja. Playtime is over. You have until sundown tomorrow to bring me Tazuna's head. If you do, I will spare your lives and grant you safe passage home. If not, my new associates and I will hunt you down and kill all of you. Choose wisely."
*****
The assassins' hideout was a damp cave behind a waterfall. Zabuza sat on a rock, sharpening the edge of his giant Kubikiribōchō with a whetstone. The rhythmic, metallic shing-shing-shing was the only thing that broke the silence.
"That damn coward with his traps has delayed us by two days," he growled, the vibration rumbling in his chest. "If it were up to me, I would have already gone into that house and cut everyone to pieces. I'd start with Kakashi, just to enjoy it."
Kageri, huddled in a dark corner, was weaving a web of nearly invisible chakra threads between his fingers. His voice, coming from the shadows, was sharp. "And you would have fallen into at least three perimeter traps that the Konoha jōnin have surely set. Your style is loud. Noise alerts the prey. A patient hunter always wins."
"Patience is for the weak and the cowardly!" Zabuza retorted, testing the blade's edge with his thumb. A drop of blood welled up, and he ignored it. "Strength conquers all."
"Zabuza-sama, Kageri-san is right that caution is necessary," Haku intervened with his perpetually soft voice. He approached with a cup of tea. "But I also understand your frustration. Kakashi of the Sharingan is a formidable opponent. The wait only heightens the anticipation for the battle."
Just then, one of Gatō's thugs ran into the cave. "Zabuza-sama! A message from Gatō-sama!"
Zabuza snatched the scroll from his hands and read it. A cruel smile spread across his bandaged face.
"It seems our employer has grown tired of waiting," he said, crumpling the scroll in his fist. "Good. I was sick of all this subtlety and your stupid, useless threads anyway," he added, shooting a sharp look at Kageri.
He stood up, his imposing figure filling the cave. "Your game of patience is over. Tomorrow, we attack. And we'll do it my way: head-on and with all our strength."
Kageri stopped weaving his threads. He slowly looked up.
"A frontal assault is suicide," he stated, his tone flat and analytical. "They have two jōnin, one of them Kakashi. They have an Uchiha who, though inexperienced, might read your movements. They have a Hyuga with nearly three-hundred-sixty-degree vision who will detect your approach. Every variable is a danger."
"I don't give a damn about your stupid odds!" Zabuza roared, slamming the hilt of his sword against the rock. "Those are for gamblers, not for fighters!"
"But..." Kageri continued, his tactical mind already adapting to the new variable, "...a frontal assault, loud and foolish, could be the perfect distraction."
Zabuza paused, his anger replaced by a flash of interest. "What do you mean?"
"If you, the great 'Demon of the Hidden Mist,' make your grand, bloody spectacle on the bridge, you'll draw their attention," Kageri explained. "You'll draw the jōnin. Kakashi won't be able to resist a duel with you."
Slow understanding dawned in Zabuza's eyes. "...and while Kakashi is busy with me and my mist..."
"...I, along with our... noisy friends," Kageri gestured with his head toward the Demon Brothers, who were watching from the entrance, "...will infiltrate the house. We will separate the genin from their commanders, and I will eliminate the primary target. Tazuna will die before Kakashi even realizes the real battle wasn't on the bridge. Divide and conquer."
Zabuza considered it for a moment. The plan was cunning. It gave him the fight he craved against Kakashi and fulfilled Gatō's objective at the same time. He smiled beneath his bandages.
"Alright. We'll do it your way. For now," he conceded. "Haku, get ready. Tomorrow, the Konoha ninja will learn why they call me the Demon of the Mist."
******
Back at the lake, Gatō's ultimatum had left a chilling silence.
"Kill all of us?" Sakura whispered, her voice barely audible. "Is he serious?"
"Guys like Gatō are always serious," Sasuke replied, his hand already near his kunai pouch.
"Let him try!" Naruto shouted, his fear quickly replaced by a protective fury. "I'll kick his ass and his thugs' asses!"
"What do we do, Kakashi-sensei?" Sakura asked again, seeking reassurance in her teacher's voice.
Kakashi looked at Kurenai. They didn't need words. He saw in her eyes the same resolve he felt in his own chest. Konoha doesn't negotiate with tyrants. And its ninja don't abandon a mission or the people they're protecting.