12 True Yin-Yang Body and Soul Tempering (2/2)

Naruto, Sasuke, Kakashi, Mitoku, and Shiho continued to observe Sakura's own exercises from one of the scrolls she picked. Naruto looked at the scroll. Its premise wasn't bad in his eyes, though Sakura stuck a little too much to form in Naruto's eyes. ”Sasuke, do you remember what Sakura was like in taijutsu class?” Naruto suddenly asked as he watched his female teammates work. Sasuke raised an eyebrow before he snorted.

”You and I both know she struggled with her taijutsu. Even Shikamaru was better than her and he was about as low as you were on the grading system.” Sasuke said with a fold of his arms. Naruto stared at the glass. He then turned to Shiho. Out of the corner of Mitoku's eyes, he watched Naruto's action. Naruto moved over to the computer. Shiho turned and noticed Naruto looking at the numbers.

”Something wrong Naruto-san?” Shiho asked as Naruto looked at the images on the computer as they translated into numbers while Sakura worked. Naruto turned back to see Sakura breathing. He then looked back at the computer. Her heart rate was increasing which wasn't so far out of the ordinary. Naruto closed his eyes. ”Sasuke, did you feel any…weight in the glass room?” Naruto asked. Sasuke turned to himself once again. Everyone saw Sasuke give a nod and at this Mitoku gave Naruto a look. He hadn't told them, but to get some better results, those stickers were embedded with seals that increased weight over the body, but it shouldn't have been so big that a genin would notice. ”Nothing more than usual. What are you getting at?” Sasuke asked. Naruto turned a stare to Mitoku. The man looked into Naruto's eyes before he turned to Kakashi. The jonin looked at the head of the Cryptanalysis Team. He gave an unseen nod. Mitoku turned back to Naruto and gave him the nod to do what he wanted. Naruto excused himself and knelt next to Shiho. She widened her eyes as he took the keyboard and pulled up his and Sasuke's files.

”If this is because of her lack of training or even her lack of muscle strength I don't know, but Sakura's going to wear herself out before she gets her two hours finished,” Naruto said. Mitoku and Shiho widened their eyes as they turned and noticed Sakura perform a sidekick. Kakashi, Sasuke, Mitoku, and Shiho looked at Sakura and then at Naruto.

”How do you know that? I mean sure she doesn't train as often as I'm sure you guys do, but that shouldn't hinder her that she couldn't get to her training,” Shiho said in slight amazement. Naruto leaned up and turned back to the glass. He watched Sakura perform more exercises.

”Rather than call it a tactic of know how Sakura does things, it would be better to call it…a heavily-based intuition.” Naruto said. Shiho looked back at the screen and then turned around to look at Sakura. She then turned her eyes to look at Naruto. Somehow, Shiho couldn't help some form of anxiety surfacing. She wasn't sure why. Had Naruto always been this attentive?

Everyone watched as Haruno Sakura continued with her exercises. She seemed to be keeping well in stride as her heart rate continued to increase. As it stood, Sakura was approaching 1 hour and 45 minutes. Shiho didn't see it. Sakura still looked to be fine. Shiho had suppressed a laugh. It looked like Naruto wasn't able to trust in his teammate's abilities. Course then again he probably assumed that as physically women were weaker than men then Sakura wouldn't be able to hold her own, but obviously that wasn't the case. Either he had looked at the numbers on the screen wrong or he was just boasting about their training. With his grades, Shiho didn't necessarily believe it to be the former. ”Then again I would have been impressed if Naruto-san was right. That would have took a lot of prediction and calculation to achieve.” Shiho said to herself.

”Shiho, give Haruno Sakura new stickers in five minutes,” Mitoku said as Shiho looked up from her thoughts. ”Huh? Erm…why?” Shiho asked as Mitoku glared through the glass. Sasuke, Kakashi, and Naruto continued to look on though Shiho could tell that they were a little surprised.

”Tell me Shiho, when training, how long does it take you to work up a sweat?” Mitoku asked. Shiho blinked. She blushed at the question in embarrassment. She hadn't trained as much as she probably should have given her time with the team, but Shiho always managed to get her times in when she could. That didn't mean that she didn't stop thinking about the question.

”I guess a good sweat is two hours in depending on what I'm doing. Maybe by four hours I would be drenched I guess.” Shiho replied before she widened her eyes. She stared back at the glass and noticed Sakura's pink outfit completely soaked from her sweat as Sakura performed a set of punches. Shiho stiffened. Had Sakura been moving too hard? How was that much sweat accumulated in only 1 hour and 50 minutes?

”I think either Sakura will have to change her scroll to fit something more to her style or she might have to have another method. If what Naruto said is true then there is some weight, while unnoticeable at first, accumulates over time. I think she's worked enough,” Kakashi said with a narrowed eye. Mitoku quickly nodded and leaned forward. ”Sakura-san, you can stop there. We will leave everything for tomorrow!” Mitoku said as Sakura threw out a punch. She gasped as she, surprisingly, fell to her knees and panted. She watched as the drops of water fell from her forehead and to the ground. She didn't realize she had been working that hard. Sakura just nodded. Her arms and legs were killing her. With Kakashi's help, Sakura was able to get to a chair and rest. Sakura panted as she had a towel draped over her head.

”Alright I think we can stop there. We will pick this up tomorrow. There is water in the receptionist area. We will see you back here at noon.” Mitoku said as he and Shiho left. Naruto noticed Shiho give him a look before she followed after her supervisor. This left Team Seven alone.

”Kakashi-sensei…what are we doing here?” Naruto suddenly asked. Sasuke, Sakura and Kakashi glanced at Naruto. Kakashi had a mirthful smile. ”We're doing a D-rank mission Naruto. Did you forget that? It's just a little special is all” Kakashi said. Naruto folded his arms. This was no D-rank mission.

Naruto had thought about it when explaining Sakura's predicament to the others, but he was hella sure that he had seen her taijutsu form before from that scroll. Maybe it wasn't from THAT scroll in particular, but he remembered that form from somewhere. Maybe one of the episodes from Naruto? But…which one? Plus the style Sasuke had used. Naruto had been able to read it just a bit. That one was recognizable also! They didn't look like Konoha taijutsu techniques. The one Sasuke picked was called Botsuraku( Downfall) and Sakura's was called Tenkōka( Heavenly Descent). Naruto had seen the list of every taijutsu form recorded in Konoha you have to memorize in the academy, chunin-level and above. Neither of these was in what he had seen from the scrolls.

”Right. Sure it is.” Naruto answered before Kakashi had them all file out of the room. They were allowed to take the scrolls home if they so desired so Naruto took his taijutsu scroll home. He figured he would need it. So Team Seven had gone their separate ways for the day.

Naruto came through his door and turned on his lights. A quick shower and dinner followed soon after. Once those were finished, Naruto immediately made his way to his backpack. He took out the taijutsu scroll and got to work. ”Warning, this exercise will hurt. First aid is required to complete this exercise. Have ice nearby and heating pads nearby” Naruto read from the scroll. He took out a tray of ice and his first aid pouch along with a small heat pad. Looking over what he had, Naruto gave a nod before going back to the scroll.

”If you have prepared yourself…take a candle or other flame and move it over your body for one minute.” Naruto frowned. Perhaps it would have been a good time to switch taijutsu scrolls. Yet, Naruto found himself lighting a candle and staring at it for a time. He then looked at his right arm. He gave a small sigh. Naruto closed his eyes and….

Moments passed as Ashe, the frost archer, found herself in her summoner's home supplying him with a multitude of ice arrows as Naruto continued to wrap his hand, while Annie was in the background letting a small fire go over and under his left hand. ”I…do not understand this process you are trying to make,” Ashe said as she watched Naruto take one of the arrows and hold it in his hands. He gave a small groan of relief. He looked at some of the burned parts of his skin. He then registered Ashe's response.

”Sorry for calling you all the way out here. It's training.” Naruto said. Ashe blinked. She looked at the flame in Annie's hand before looking back at Naruto. An odd training method, but Ashe could relate…somewhat. A rite of passage for all warriors of the Freljord was to be able to survive in the harshness of the frozen wasteland with suboptimal gear and food. Ashe remembered when she had done it. When she returned she had a cold spanning weeks. Not her best time that she could remember.

”I see. Well we all do things to strengthen our bodies I suppose. Though I don't know a lot of training that requires the user to burn and then hold ice to the burns till it cracks open.” Ashe remarked. Naruto gave a snort at her remark which earned a smile from the archer and a giggle from Annie. Naruto took another pained sigh as he applied some burn ointment to his hand.

”So this training is a part of your…'taijutsu' arts. Am I correct on that assumption?” Ashe asked. Naruto gave a nod to her question. ”That's right. It's a training exercise. The scroll said that the exercise would hurt. I was supposed to feel a warmth in the chakra points on my burned hand then a coolness when I help the ice to it.” Naruto answered her. Ashe placed a finger to her chin.

”Would you consider this…chakra to be like mana?” Ashe asked. Naruto looked up at her in relative surprise. ”I suppose it's something similar in the term that you're thinking about, but we have vastly different aspects I imagine.” Naruto replied to her. Ashe nodded as Naruto took another arrow and held it in his hands.

”How long will you be doing this?” Ashe asked. Naruto glanced at Ashe, then the flame in Annie's hand, and then back to his hand. ”Until I get it right.” Naruto said to her. Ashe just stared at her summoner, still much confused by the person whose home she was in. Such an unusual young man she had decided to help. Though given that he was only perhaps 4 years younger than her, but she had to admit he had spirit if not much else. She was certain he had a lot of other things too. He was smart, though her extension of smart men were labeled to a very…very select group of men in her life.

”So will I be summoned again to take care of more burns?” Ashe asked, rather good-naturedly. Naruto turned his eyes toward her and she watched him give a light grin of his own. ”Well, I would imagine this to be the only thing those ice arrows are good for,” Naruto said jokingly. Ashe twitched at the jab before she folded her arms.

”Very funny.” Ashe drawled out. The smile on Naruto's face didn't leave as he closed his eyes and wrapped his hands. ”I'll try not to be so cold next time.” Naruto responded with another. Ashe looked at him, her eyes unmoving from his form for the very poor joke. Still Ashe couldn't hold her stern look as she offered a light smile and giggle. Not that she would ever tell her tribe about this, but despite paperwork, a war, and being a champion in one life, Ashe was looking forward to the coming days.

And look forward to the days she did as Ashe had been summoned each days for four days in a row along with Annie who was surprisingly quiet, by Naruto to provide him with ice arrows. Ashe was happy to oblige him. It actually benefited her as well. Contrary to popular belief, it wasn't easy for Ashe to create ice arrows. They actually took a good portion of her Mana, which she explained to Naruto was like Chakra, to create. Naruto's continued injuries had been great practice for her in making arrows for dire situations. However, there was always one thing Ashe couldn't understand and that was Naruto's ability to heal. Just by his burns, his hands should have had at least second-degree burns by this time which how much he had placed his hands in that candle, but each and every day his hands had healed like nothing had happened. Ashe couldn't understand it. She had asked Naruto about it on the fourth day. The way he stared at her had told her that he had a nine-tailed demon fox that killed his father and mother sealed inside of him that helped heal him along with the fact his mother side of his family had crazy Vitality. Well, Ashe was gobsmacked nonetheless and decided to just forget what she heard, lest she go crazy thinking about how crazy this 12 year olds life is. This was, however, an interesting time. No war meetings, no politics, just a bit of story time between her and her summoner.

The fourth day passed as Ashe gave Naruto another arrow. Naruto squeezed it tightly, it's cooling aura surrounding his burn. ”Any progress?” Ashe decided to make small conversation. Naruto sighed. ”I have made a bit. Shiho-san said that I should be careful because my temperature was getting high on my left side and cold on my right side. I don't feel sick so I believe it to be the results slowing coming.” Naruto said to her. Ashe merely gave a nod. ”I will admit, from this distance you do feel…warmer though I can't tell if you are cooler or not since I'm used to the cold. However, I have noticed that while you…heal your burn wounds you always ask me to bring you a book to read. You seem to be looking for something rather than just reading.” Ashe said to him. Naruto nodded before he looked back at the scroll.

”I have a feeling there is more to this mission than my sensei is saying. He tells us that it's a D-rank mission and yet what we're doing…doesn't feel like a D-rank mission. D-rank missions generally start and finish in a day or two. There can't have been any records of D-rank missions that have taken over 4 to finish. Add that this is the Cryptanalysis Team, they encode and decode messages…, classified messages. They work directly with the Hokage. I have trouble believing that they would need a group of genin for help.” Naruto said. Ashe watched as Naruto used his right hand to grab the scroll.

”And then there are these scrolls. I've read on every taijutsu style in this village. Why don't I know these? Then they have us learning these styles, showing the data to not only us, but claiming to make…it…a training manual!” Naruto said as he widened his eyes. Ashe raised an eyebrow. Obviously her summoner had just had some type of epiphany. She watched Naruto jump to his feet. Ashe watched him run from the main room and into a dark room which left the Frost Archer alone.

It was only about two minutes later that Naruto returned with a book in his good hand. ”Ashe-san, turn these pages for me please. Go to page 65.” Naruto said. Ashe took the book from him and looked at the title. ”Shinobi Taijutsu: A True Guide?” Ashe thought to herself. She placed the book on a table and flipped through to page 65. Ashe couldn't help, but shiver as Naruto had a hand on her shoulder as he looked at the page. She was sure he wasn't aware of it, but she was actually lost in how his blue eyes seemed to get even darker.

”Page 32!” Naruto called which made Ashe jump for a second. She turned back and landed on the page that Naruto wanted. Naruto skimmed over the words that were written on the pages. ”Page 107, 120, and 130 please Ashe-san!” Naruto said. Ashe turned to each page for Naruto and the blond read down each list. Naruto's hair shadowed his eyes for a second. Ashe's ears picked up on chuckling. She turned back and noticed Naruto's body twitching. She blinked her blue eyes as Naruto's chucking turned to a light laughter. Naruto then proceeded to clap his hands.

”Not bad. Not bad at all Cryptanalysis team! So that's how it works, dattebayo!” Naruto said before he covered his mouth. Ashe gave a small smile and giggled at his tick. ”I will take my leave now!” Ashe said as she vanished in smoke. Naruto watched her go before he cursed underneath his lips. That was definitely going to come back and haunt him somehow. However, Naruto was willing to let that go for now as he couldn't stop the grin on his face. As he clutched an ice arrow, he moved over and picked up the scroll.

”Just a little special Kakashi-sensei? Very well, I'll play your tactic for now. Yours and Mitoku-san's.” Naruto thought to himself. He gave one last chuckle as he turned out the lights to his apartment room and closed the door to his bedroom. As Naruto climbed into his bed, he looked at the moon. It's natural beauty made him smile before he drifted off to sleep.

[{(Getting close to the point where it gets good in my opinion.)}]