Here you go, hope you like an extra chapter for this week. I hope you all enjoy it.
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Four days later, near the land of fire border;
"All of you, we can stop now." Kakashi said, making the group descend from the trees onto the ground.
"We are now near the Land of Fire and land of hotsprings border. We set camp, make food, and sleep for tonight. Tonight is the last night we cook our food; after that, we will consume food pills and dried rations as we enter less-than-friendly territories. It will take about two days to cross the land Hotsprings, then another two days to cross the land of frost into the Land of lightning. The Village of Kumo will be three days' travel from there. Any questions?" Kakashi said with a bored tone.
A journey from Konoha to Kumo could take civilians weeks, if not months. High-level shinobi can travel that distance in four days. So right now, the group is traveling at a comfortable pace by shinobi standards.
"If there are no questions, then start setting camp." Kakashi said.
"Let's go. Food and good sleep help maintain youth." Guy said enthusiastically as he started to prepare his camp spot.
"Hatake-san" Naruto called, making Kakashi stop what he was doing and look at Naruto with a raised eyebrow.
"I would like to talk to you before we go to sleep, privately." Naruto said, to which he received a nod from the silver-haired young man.
An hour later;
"So, what did you want to talk about?" Kakashi asked Naruto, who stood in front of him. Both stood in a spot near the camp but far enough to have a private conversation.
"I wanted to ask you if I can use Chidori?" Naruto asked, making Kakashi's eyes rise in surprise
"Use? As in you already know it?" Kakashi asked, a little bewildered
"Yeah, I do. You are the creator of the jutsu, so if I want to use it, I need to ask you first." Naruto said.
"Where did you learn how to perform it? I didn't teach or show it to you?" Kakashi asked.
"I have access to the scrolls that the Yondaime left behind. One of them is about the Chidori. I have an elemental affinity to lightning, so I tried to find a high-level lightning jutsu. The Chidori is the only one I could find that isn't experimental." Naruto said with a shrug
"You know that we are acquaintances at best. So, if you want the Chidori, you need to give me something of equal value, right?" Kakashi said with a raised eyebrow, to which Naruto nodded
"I know that, so that is why I am giving you this." Naruto said as he unsealed a scroll from his belt and gave it to Kakashi.
Kakashi took the scroll and opened it before reading its contents.
"This is..." Kakashi said with surprise in his voice
"It is the steps to learn Rasengan. Or do you already know the jutsu?" Naruto asked
"I know the concept of the jutsu but haven't trained in it. I didn't even know that it had steps to achieve it." Kakashi said with a bit of wonder in his tone
"You can learn the Jutsu without the steps, but it will be very difficult. The Youndaime and his sensei came up with these steps when the pervert attempted to learn the jutsu." Naruto said with a huff, making Kakashi sweat drop as he closed the scroll and put it in his vest.
"You seem satisfied with the exchange." Naruto said
"Yeah, it's an even exchange. But I want to ask? What would you have given me if I already knew how to do the Rasengan? The Yondaime was my sensei, after all." Kakashi inquired
"I would have given you a variant or two that I have developed based on the Chidori." Naruto said with a shrug, making Kakashi's visible eye widen in surprise.
"You already made variants?" Kakashi asked with astonishment
"Yeah, it is fairly easy jutsu to make variants of compared to the Rasengan." Naruto said simply
"Easy, you say." Kakashi muttered, but Naruto heard it, which made him give Kakashi a weird look.
"Yeah, if you change the shape and output of the Chidori a bit, you can get different variations. Unlike the Rasengan, where you can only increase its size and that is it. If you add elements to the Rasengan, it immediately enters the S-rank category of Jutsu. You and I know how dangerous experimenting with S-rank jutsu is." Naruto said, to which Kakashi nodded slightly
"I am surprised that you don't have your own variants." Naruto said, but he was met with silence from Kakashi as well as a feeling of grief and sadness.
"Looks like I made you remember something you don't like. Sorry about that. I will leave you to your thoughts then. It was nice talking to you, Hatake-san." Naruto said before leaving and returning to the camp.
Kakashi sighed as he looked at the star-filled sky. Just talking about the jutsu made him remember how his teammate met her end with it. He can hardly look at his invention with pride anymore, let alone improve it.
"Sensei, Obito, Rin." Kakashi muttered with sadness dripping from his voice.
Seven days later, at Kumo's main gate;
"Halt, state your business." Stated the guard when he saw an unknown group approaching the gate.
"I am Kakashi Hatake. I am here with Might Guy to escort the Genin team who are participating in the Chunin exams." Kakashi announced with a bored tone.
The guard looks at the group for a second before saying: "Present Identifications and Chunin exams participation slips." Making Kakashi present 4 small red booklets with Konoha insignia and two slips of paper.
The guard checked the documents, after which a Kumo Anbu operative appeared in a body flicker before taking the two slips and disappearing the same way he came.
"Welcome to Kumo. The Chunin exams are in three days. You can go sightseeing and see what our village has to offer until they start. Don't cause any trouble." The Guard said with a slight warning tone in the end as he gave back the booklets. The group nodded as they got their IDs back.
As the group entered, Naruto and Anko looked around in slight fascination. It is not every day you get to visit a Village that your own has less than friendly relations with.
"For Today, we will find an Inn to rest. Then tomorrow, if you want to go sightseeing, you need to take one of us, Jonin, with you. No one goes out alone. Is that understood?" Kakashi said while giving Naruto a side look in particular as they walked inside the village. He got an affirmative answer from the others in return.
At the same time, in the Raikage building;
"An Uzumaki?" The Raikage said astonishedly as he read the two participation slips.
"Are you sure it is an Uzumaki?" The Raikage asked, looking at the Anbu operative
"Yes, Raikage-sama. The boy has that distinctive red hair." The Anbu replied, making the Raikage silent for a bit.
"Who are the two Jonin escorting him?" A asked
"Kakshi Hatake and Might Guy, Raikaga-sama." The Anbu replied simply, making the Raikage's eyes narrow slightly.
"Have an Anbu team monitor them from a distance. I want to know who that boy is to Konoha." A ordered
"It will be done, Raikage-sama." The operative said before disappearing in a body flicker.
"An Uzumaki, huh." A mmuttered to himself in the empty office
"Didn't know Konoha had another one of them after the last one died." A muttered as he put the two slips on a stack of other participation slips on his desk
The next day, around noon;
"I didn't know that Kumo is full of mountains." Naruto said as he appreciated the scenery around him
"Every place has its unique feature. Did you think that every village would look similar to Konoha?" Kakashi said with his usual bored tone while raising an eyebrow
"My apologies, Mr. World Wide. It is my first time outside the land of Fire." Naruto said with a joking, sarcastic tone.
"It's noon, now. Let's go find a spot for lunch." Kakashi said.
"Shouldn't we get Guy-sensei and Anko to join us?" Naruto asked
"Don't worry about them. The inn has a kitchen that serves food. And Anko shouldn't move much until she gets better. The exam is in two days." Kakashi said
"Her Dango addiction is really out of hand." Naruto said with a sleepish smile
When they found an inn yesterday, they also found a Dango shop beside it. Anko was adamant about going there after they got their rooms in the inn, which the others agreed to. The guys got a serving of Dango each, which consists of three sticks, with each stick having three Dangos. But Anko went ahead and ordered 11 servings, saying she had to compensate for the lack of dango in the journey to Kumo.
Let's just say, while her brain and taste buds were happy, her stomach was not a fan at all.
So, she had to stay in the inn until she recovers with Guy reluctantly staying with her. He wanted to explore Kumo and Kakashi didn't want to stay indoors all day. So, they settled it with a game of rock, paper and scissors, which Guy obviously lost.
"Let's go to the market street and see what we can find there." Kakashi said.
At the market;
"Wow, there are a lot of different varieties of food here." Naruto said while walking and looking through the crowd at the different stands and restaurants filling the market.
"The market in Konoha has more to offer." Kakashi commented.
"I don't go to that market." Naruto said with a blank tone. His experience with Konoha's market made him avoid that place. He only goes to the Ichiraku stand, and that is it. He didn't even visit any of the famous Akimichi restaurants or that famous barbecue restaurant he had heard about. He may have good relations with the clan head Choza and his famiy but the rest of their clan, not so much.
"So, what do you want to eat?" Kakashi asked but was met with silence. He looked to his side and stopped walking when he saw Naruto standing still and staring into the moving crowd.
"What are you looking at?" Kakashi asked Naruto as he came and stood beside him
"I felt something interesting." Naruto said vaguely and then started moving toward where he was looking, making the intrigued Kakashi follow him.
End the Chapter.
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