Ripples in the Lake - Konoha Interlude - II

Hidden Leaf - Training Ground 7

Leaves scattered in the wake of a high kick, the bark of the tree cracking with a sharp thud. Chips of wood cracked free, scattering into the air. Naruto twisted midair, pushing off the trunk and flipping backwards before launching a flurry of strikes at his shadow clones. They came at him from all sides—fists, feet, and kunai—and he answered each one with much greater force, breath huffing as his body moved on instinct. Sweat dripped from his chin as he twisted, slammed a palm into a clone's chest, and sent it poofing into smoke. The remaining two circled him, each mimicking his exact stance.

Dodge. Counter. Drive his elbow into one's ribs. Dispel another with a knee to the jaw. Again. Again.

He panted, fists clenched as he stared at the dented tree trunk in front of him, the clones all vanishing in smoking puffs.

"Shadow Clone Jutsu!"

He charged forward, growling, fists flying.

But even as he trained harder than ever, he couldn't shake the storm boiling in his gut.

Sasuke.

Naruto knew, he knew Sasuke was alive. He refused to believe that Orochimaru had taken over his best friend's body. No way—no way. Not Sasuke... Sasuke would never let himself be taken over like that. He was too stubborn. Too proud. He would never let take over him, especially not some creepy snake freak.

And Granny Tsunade believed it too, despite looking at his happy expression melancholically. Naruto had wanted to ask why she seemed so sad about it but he was more interested in what the others reported, that Sasuke himself had said he'd killed Orochimaru. That wasn't something Orochimaru would bother lying about. And Sasuke had proven it. He'd taken on an entire platoon from Konoha. Kiba, Lee, Sakura-chan, even Neji and Gai-sensei, all of them beaten, without breaking a sweat, without even pushing him to try.

Naruto stumbled as he threw a punch too wide, frustration exploding across his face.

Orochimaru was dead. Sasuke had killed him. These were the facts.

"So then why?!" he yelled, voice cracking as it echoed off the trees. He panted, staring at his fists. "Why aren't you coming back, you idiot? What are you thinking?!"

He had seen it, that look. In the middle of their fight at the valley, when their eyes had met, he saw it clearly. That same loneliness, the one Naruto had felt his whole life, the pain behind the cold gaze, the mask he had tried to hide it in. Just like when Sasuke had left the village, acting like he didn't care, but Naruto knew. He knew Sasuke had been hurting.

He remembered the Land of Waves. How Sasuke jumped in front of Haku's needles, sacrificed his dreams, hopes and life for Naruto. Naruto remembered how he thought he'd lost him then and there. The sheer pain and anger he had felt, so much so he had released a portion of the nine tails chakra for the first time ever. It was that moment that had taught him what it meant to have someone who would fight beside him, for him. There were those other things, how his best friend treated him like any other, the food he had offered him during the bell test. It meant more to Naruto than anything in the world.

Poof.

All the clones were down.

Slowly, he breathed in.

Naruto's hands trembled slightly, not from fear, but from something more painful.

"Why won't you come back…?"

This time his voice was barely a whisper.

"You're my friend, Sasuke... you always have been. I didn't want you to be alone…"

A twig snapped behind him.

Naruto froze mid-thought and turned.

"…Sakura-chan?"

She stood just beyond the clearing, her pink hair swaying gently in the breeze. On her face was a genuine, warm smile, the kind that seemed to cut through the lingering haze of frustration like a breeze through fog.

In other words, she looked beautiful.

"Hey... Naruto," she said gently, her eyes scanning him from a distance. "Are you alright?"

Naruto blinked. For a second, he didn't know how to answer. Her smile hit him square in the chest, warmth blooming through the cold weight that had sat there since the disastrous meeting at the hospital room. Then he relaxed his muscles and scratched the back of his head sheepishly, giving a crooked, boyish grin.

"Yeah! Of course I'm alright!"

Sakura stepped closer, walking toward him until she stopped to give him a look, one that made him both blush and squirm a little.

"Mmhmm," she said, unconvinced. "Because from what I heard a second ago, it sounded more like you were yelling at ghosts."

The brightness in his eyes dimmed instantly.

His arms dropped back to his sides. "Ah… heh…well, you see - uh…"

There was a pause as he simply stared at the ground, unwilling to look up at her eyes, those intense, searching eyes. For a second, neither of the two spoke nor moved. Then, eventually, Sakura took the initiative and walked forward slowly, coming to stand next to him under the shade of the worn tree trunk he'd been hammering. She didn't look at him right away, but stared up at the canopy, voice softer than before.

"…I want to help too, you know."

Sakura looked at him then, really looked at him, green eyes full of mixed conviction and something more uncertain beneath.

"Sasuke-kun… he's not just your friend. He was - he is my friend too, my teammate. Maybe not in the way I wanted or wished… but I still care about him. I still remember the missions we did together, the things we learned, how he protected me, how he saved me - I can't forget what he said at the chunin exams..."

Her fingers curled slightly.

"I'm not gonna lie and say I've figured out everything," she started quietly. "I'm still angry. I'm still hurt, especially when he... when he... said that," her voice cracked for a second, before she shook it off. "Sometimes, I wonder if all that training, everything I did… was it even worth anything to him? Did he ever even care that we—"

She stopped, just for a second. Then she swallowed it down, expression harder than ever.

"…But I'm not giving up," she said firmly, turning to him. "Not on you, and not on him. You're not the only one who wants to bring him back. As I said, Sasuke was my teammate too, and… my friend." She stumbled slightly on the word, but powered through it. "We were a team once. Team Seven. And that means something. So don't think you're going to shoulder all of this alone, Naruto. I'll help you bring him back. No matter what it takes."

Naruto stared at her for a long moment.

Then he smiled—wide, brilliant, the kind of smile that lit up his whole face.

"…Thanks, Sakura-chan." He beamed. "I'd be really happy to have you with me. But don't worry," he added quickly, grin growing a little sheepish again, "I promised I'd bring Sasuke back… and I don't break my word. So I'll do it, believe it!"

There was a shift in her eyes, the tiniest falter in her expression.

"Naruto," she said, her voice suddenly a little darker. "I know I've been less than useful, and I know I haven't been the strongest - not like you, or even him - but I want to do this with you. I thought we were bringing him back?"

Oh no!

Naruto sputtered, caught off guard. He rubbed the back of his neck, laughing nervously, realizing what he had just said.

"Uh yeah! That's what I meant! We - we're a team, right?"

His face twisted as he turned away slightly, groaning internally.

You absolute idiot, Naruto! What kind of moron says that out loud?! "I'll do it"?! Sakura had literally just said she wanted to help, and he went and made it sound like he was going to do everything himself again. Way to go, future Hokage, Number One Unpredictable Ninja for sure!

Sakura didn't look convinced.

She took a step back, folding her arms. "Right. A team."

He mentally facepalmed, sighing at himself. However, Sakura took a step forward before he could offer a more solid apology. Her hands dropped, curled into fists by her sides.

"Spar with me."

Naruto blinked and faced her fully. "Huh?"

"You heard me. You're training anyway. So fight me. It'll be good for practice."

He frowned, eyes narrowing. "What - Sakura-chan, no. That's not—"

"I'm not asking," she cut in sharply. "I'm telling you. I'm going to prove that I'm not some weakling who needs to be carried. I'm not going to beg - I'm going to fight. If we're going to bring Sasuke back, then you need to stop treating me like I'm still that girl crying on the sidelines."

His expression darkened immediately. "Oi!" he snapped. "That's not - what the hell kind of conclusion is that? When have I ever treated you like that?! Don't go putting words in my mouth! I believe in all my friends, and most of all... you! You think I'd fight with someone I didn't believe in?! That's messed up, Sakura-chan!"

And honestly, he found the lack of faith disturbing. It actually hurt.

"I didn't put words into your mouth," she said simply, picking up a smooth rock from the training ground dirt and tossing it lightly between her hands, "You said that yourself."

"That's not what I meant! I know we're a team! It's just... when it comes to Sasuke, I guess I forget how not alone I am."

"Well then," Sakura said, her tone brisk as she rolled her shoulders, the rock now resting in her palm. "Let's fix that, shall we?"

Naruto's frown deepened. "Wait, we're actually—?"

Sakura gave him a pointed look.

He paused. There was really no way out of this, was there?

Fine.

He straightened, eyes hardening, brows furrowed with new focus. If she wanted to show him she'd grown, to show her strength and fight him, then who was he to stop her?

A grin tugged at his lips. "Alright. Let's go, Sakura-chan," he said, fire returning to his voice. "Show me what you've got!"

"Patience, Naruto," his crush chided, smiling lightly, her old humor returning. She tossed the stone gently into the air, eyes tracking its arc. "When it hits the ground, we start. No excuses."

Naruto nodded.

At once, they put distance between them, each pacing backwards until the space stretched wide, just right.

He gave a single nod. Do it.

Sakura's arm rose, and she threw the rock high into the air.

Both of them lifted two fingers to their faces in the same gesture, a long-practiced Leaf symbol of readiness for a friendly spar.

The rock soared…

And then—

Thud.

It landed.

_____________________________________________________________________

Perched atop a thick branch, half-shrouded in the cool shadow of the treetop, Hatake Kakashi observed the scene below with the lazy posture of someone who could do it in his sleep… but the razor-sharp eyes of his was watching something important unfold. A light breeze tousled his silver as his lone Sharingan eye actively tracked every motion carefully.

Thud.

The instant the stone hit the ground, Naruto did what Naruto always did.

"Shadow Clone Jutsu!"

Half a dozen clones materialized instantly, flanking him with practiced ease. They charged like a wave crashing toward Sakura with loud battle cries and zero hesitation.

Sakura didn't flinch. She met the first clone head-on with a twisting roundhouse kick that sent it spinning into smoke before it even touched her. The next came from the left. Her heel slammed downward into its knee with pinpoint force, and the third she dispatched with an upward palm strike that cracked the air like a thunderclap. Her fists and feet moved with amazing precision, only one wasted motion that had seen her punished for with a kick from a clone.

She was sent skidding, but stopped herself with a singular finger digging in the ground.

Hmm, Kakashi mused. She's gotten good.

Not just good, very good. Every movement screamed Tsunade's training. These weren't just flailing strikes or emotionally charged outbursts anymore. These were the strikes of someone who had trained for years under one of the strongest kunoichi in the world, the result of hours—no, years—of brutal training with the Sannin.

Still…

Kakashi's eye flicked toward the real Naruto, the one leaning slightly back against a tree, watching the battle unfold with his hands in a seal, nodding and commenting aloud, more clones forming beside him.

Kakashi sighed internally. That was the weakness in her current approach. For all her raw power and precision, she was still chakra-bound. Naruto, with the near-limitless well that was the Nine-Tails, could make clones until tomorrow's sunrise. Sooner or later, Sakura would tire. And sure enough, her movements started to grow tighter, breaths shorter, eyebrows furrowing in frustration as she ducked and weaved and dodged another wave.

And that's when she made her move.

Sakura took a step back, breathing hard, and then drove her fist into the ground.

"SHANNAROOO!"

BOOM!

The field exploded.

Chunks of earth shot skyward as cracks spiderwebbed across the clearing. Dozens of clones stumbled, some falling into the newly formed crevices, others vanishing in clouds of smoke from the tremors. The real Naruto's eyes widened as he leapt backward.

She wasn't done. Her fist whipped out, not at anyone, but at the air.

The concussive blast from her strike scattered airborne chunks of rock like miniature meteors, rock-shrapnel imbued with just enough force to penetrate flesh. It transformed simple rubble into deadly projectiles that tore through another line of clones like paper. One, two, three clones fell before the rest even realized they were in danger.

"Hm…"

He smiled behind the mask.

Now that was new.

Kakashi felt a flicker of pride stir in his chest, and alongside it, something else. A very familiar ache. Pride at seeing his student thrive, doing something remarkable, mastering a strength most wouldn't dare attempt. She had come so far, grown so much. But beneath that pride lay a quiet sadness. Not jealousy, but the kind of hollow weight that came from watching from the sidelines, knowing he hadn't been the one to guide her there. Another mark on the long list of what-ifs, another failure, tucked neatly beside the rest.

"Get back here, Naruto!"

Kakashi's eye sharpened as he refocused on the fight. The momentary reflection ended. This was no time to dwell on his past, it was time to see what the future looked like.

Sakura had scooped up a handful of crushed stone and dirt, bits of chakra-hardened rock still faintly glowing in her palm. Dust streaked her hair and face, and though her shoulders heaved with exertion, she stood tall. Naruto, catching on, had leapt up into the trees, avoiding the blast radius, leaving more clones in his wake to get pummeled by the rocks.

Smart move.

Kakashi sighed internally and shifted positions, bounding to another tree higher up, deeper into the shadow, settling on a thick branch with barely a whisper of sound. If he stayed in one place too long, Naruto might spot him, and that would ruin the observation entirely. He could not risk being seen. No more laziness now, he had to give it his full, undivided attention. His Sharingan spun with intensity, tracking every movement.

"Multi-Shadow Clone Jutsu!"

From the treetops, he watched as Naruto shouted as several more clones poofed into existence with signature bursts of smoke. At least a dozen, maybe more. It was messy, noisy, and exactly what he'd expect from Naruto. But… it wasn't just that.

Kakashi narrowed his eyes.

He had kept his Sharingan focused on the real Naruto, knowing that should he have moved it even a little more, he would not be able to differentiate between the impostors and the original. And the real Naruto seemed to have his focus on something else entirely, one singular clone next to him, planning something as Sakura gritted her teeth and dove into the new wave of clones. Her fists blurred as she tore through one after another, craters forming with every hit.

A puff of smoke.

The real Naruto had transformed into a leaf, and passed himself off in the dispersing burst of smoke. The clone quickly caught him midair and silently planted him on the underside of a branch, hiding him beneath the thick bark where shadows cloaked him from above.

Kakashi's gaze narrowed. His Sharingan adjusted, zooming in slightly. What are you planning now, Naruto?

Sakura panted hard as she crushed the last clone under a brutal heel drop, the puff of smoke rising in a ring around her boots. Dust clung to her fists, her sleeves were scuffed, and her hair was a tangled mess. Kakashi could see the fatigue starting to creep in. Still, she stood tall, chin lifted as she turned toward the trees.

"That it? Is that all you've got, Naruto?! Just gonna keep throwing clones at me forever?"

From the side, the last remaining Naruto clone leaned against a tree, arms folded, grinning, the same one that hid the leaf. "Heh. That's just the warm-up, Sakura-chan," he said smugly. "I could send tens of thousands of clones your way if I wanted - and not even break a sweat." He stood straight, tapping a finger to his temple with exaggerated thoughtfulness. "But ya know, I was feeling merciful today. Thought maybe I'd remind you of lesson number one from Kakashi-sensei."

From above, Kakashi chuckled softly. Lesson number one, huh? He didn't remember phrasing it quite like that, but he appreciated the nod.

Naruto jumped down, just next to the bark of the tree.

"On one condition - no super strong punches, Sakura-chan. Just taijutsu."

Sakura flexed a bicep.

"Please. You're just scared you'll get flatlined if I actually punch the real you with my fists."

Naruto gave his signature smile, though this time it was a lot sharper.

"Well, I mean… would you like it if I had all the clones use Rasengan instead?"

Sakura grumbled, torn between pride and reality, shaking her arms out. "Fine. No chakra strength. But don't cry when you land on your back."

"Deal!" the clone beamed.

Kakashi shifted slightly, crouching on the branch for a better angle.

The two sprinted toward each other. Sakura led with a wide swing, controlled but just fast enough. The clone ducked, weaving beneath her fist and retaliating with a side kick that she deflected with her forearm. Their feet slid in the dirt, leaves scattering around them in bursts. Sakura lunged again, but the clone was faster.

Then it happened.

The clone forced her next punch to miss intentionally, striking the base of a tree nearby. A concussive thunk echoed through the woods as the trunk trembled, and a force sent a shock through the bark. Leaves erupted from the branches above.

There, a flutter, different from the others, gone unnoticed by his only female student, but was seen clearly due to his Sharingan. One of the leaves twisted differently mid-fall. It arced slightly right, drifting not with the wind, but with precise marking.

On Sakura's hip.

"Yield."

She had won the taijutsu bout—at least it looked that way. Her knee pressed down against Naruto's chest, and her kunai hovered just beneath the clone's chin, controlled, with just enough force to make it look lethal but still easily escapable. She wasn't panting too hard, either.

"It's over."

No, it's not.

Two sudden poofs of smoke burst into the air, one beneath Sakura and one beside her. She stumbled with a sharp gasp as the weight beneath her evaporated, and before she could react, she felt it. Cold steel.

The tip of a kunai pressed just beneath her jawline, angled with exact care.

"Yield."

Now it's over.

The voice came from behind her, cheerful but steady. Naruto stood with her in a gentle hold, his dominant hand holding the kunai at her neck, the other hand lightly at her shoulder. His clones had been nothing but bait. One had tagged her during the chaos, the real Naruto attaching himself to her through sleight and substitution. A perfectly executed feint.

Sakura froze in place, stunned.

"H-how—?"

Naruto grinned as he stepped back, letting the kunai drop to his side, and proceeded to explain his plan. From high above, Kakashi exhaled through his nose, arms folded against the trunk he leaned on, as he half-heartedly kept an ear out for any further important discussion, but his thoughts drifted.

They were good. Better than he remembered. Sakura had become a force of nature, growing stronger, sharper. Her strikes had the discipline of Tsunade's teachings. Her instincts had matured, and her heart and grit shone brightly. Naruto… Naruto was still unpredictable and it came with a sharp edge of cleverness that reminded Kakashi of someone else.

Minato-sensei…

A flicker of warmth bloomed in his chest. He was proud of both of them. For their technique, their reactions, their teamwork, their skill. But the warmth didn't last because in the space where there should've been three…

…only two stood.

Sasuke.

He had read the mission report.

Every word of it. Twice. Then again, just to make sure he hadn't missed anything. And then he'd gone to his eternal rival to confirm reality.

Sasuke had killed Orochimaru.

Not allegedly. Not "we think." He had said it himself. And knowing Orochimaru… knowing that self-serving, paranoid serpent, Kakashi believed it. That man would never allow such a declaration to go unchecked unless it was true. No, Orochimaru was dead, buried in the dirt, dusted and six feet under. Then came the part that stuck with him like a kunai to the gut.

"I opened the Seventh Gate," Gai said, staring at the floor with a thousand yard stare. "And I lost."

Kakashi hadn't reacted at the time. He'd only stared, nodding silently while Gai's words echoed like Fireball Jutsu inside his skull. He knew what the Seventh Gate meant, what it cost. Gai had trained for decades to master it, to release the sheer overwhelming power that could obliterate any enemy foolish enough to stay in its path. And Sasuke beat him without a scratch, without opening a single Gate of his own. Without, from what the report stated, even trying. Kakashi remembered reading the line twice before silently closing the folder and leaning back in his chair, unable to form a thought. Even now, the image wouldn't leave him. His old rival in mid-air, blazing with blue fire… being casually dismissed.

But that wasn't all.

The report mentioned something else. Something that lingered in Kakashi's mind like a storm cloud.

Sasuke could absorb chakra now.

Chakra absorption.

He didn't know what it was. A bloodline limit? A cursed technique? Some stolen jutsu from Orochimaru's vault of horrors? But it didn't matter. If that was true… if Sasuke had developed or inherited a technique capable of negating chakra-based attacks, of absorbing jutsu outright, it rendered nearly every battle strategy the shinobi world depended on obsolete. No ninjutsu. No genjutsu. Even taijutsu could be punished if chakra-enhanced.

In other words, his wayward student was a walking countermeasure, a shinobi who could delete the battlefield by removing your ability to fight.

Kakashi could hardly wrap his mind around the sheer scale of growth. This wasn't just progress but rather an exponential leap. From a genin fresh off the Chunin Exams to someone who could defeat Gai in his most dangerous form, absorb chakra like a sponge, and dismantle entire teams without killing them, not because he couldn't, but simply because he chose not to.

It was insane. All of it.

And what made it worse, what made it dangerous, was that it was Sasuke. Sasuke, the volatile, furious, obsessed little genius. The boy who glared at the world like it had already betrayed him, who wore his trauma like armor and let vengeance lead him by the nose. All that power, all that potential poured into someone so hell-bent on revenge? It was a recipe for catastrophe, a seething fire that had been handed a matchstick.

He had tried to warn him, especially Sasuke, and said, "Those who abandon their comrades are worse than trash."

And he hadn't been wrong. Vengeance only begot more emptiness with more blood. After all, he had lived it himself.

Kakashi knew what came from prioritizing other things over people. For him, it was the rules and revenge. That was how Rin died. That was how Obito fell. That was how the great "Copy Ninja" ended up alone in a hospital room, clutching report files and mentally reciting the same mantra over and over, wondering if he was even worth living in this miserable existence.

Yes, revenge hollowed people out. It made you forget what the point of the fight even was.

But still, Sasuke was different. Kakashi told himself that because he had to. Sasuke had teammates. He had them. He had Naruto and Sakura. If Sasuke had followed the right path, listened to reason, and stayed loyal to the Leaf, he would have had everything. But no, Sasuke had walked away. Abandoned his comrades. Rejected their care, and he had refused to trust anyone. Power like that, concentrated in someone with no faith in anything but himself—that was the real danger.

No!

Kakashi's jaw clenched imperceptibly and immediately rejected the thought.

No, he would not consider Sasuke a danger. He wasn't that kind of man. In reality, it was a concern, deep, measured concern. The kind that came with being a responsible jonin. A leader. Someone who understood what it meant to endure despite losing everything. He did not want Sasuke to end up like him, another failure, another gravestone without a body.

"Don't talk to me like I'm weak, Sakura-chan! I know what I'm doing, ya know!"

Kakashi blinked out of his thoughts, his lone visible eye refocusing. Down below, Naruto and Sakura stood a few feet apart, tense and rigid. Apparently, an argument had broken out. The topic wasn't hard to guess.

Sasuke, of course.

Some things never change. Even now, with all the time that had passed, Team 7 still revolved around a missing piece.

Kakashi sighed quietly and straightened on the branch.

Time to step in.