Sakura whimpered.
"Why is she wearing a bag over her head?" asked Kakashi.
"She fell down," said Sasuke. "Swarmed."
"Oh, I guess she wasn't ready for that level of training," said Kakashi.
"Agreed," said Sasuke.
"We'll have to work her up to that level," said Kakashi. "What could I use that's a little slower than bees?"
Sakura whimpered again.
"Anko has some pretty good ideas about training," said Kakashi thoughtfully.
"Right, she's the one who came up with the bee avoidance exercise?" asked Sasuke, taking out a little notebook.
"Yes, Anko Mitarashi. What's that anyway?"
"Vengeance list," said Sasuke, writing the name down and then putting the notebook away.
"Naruto, how's the eggercize going?" asked Kakashi of his final genin.
"Eggsactly as you might eggspect," said Naruto, happy to throw puns around.
"Let me guess," said Sasuke. "You were a smash?"
"The yolk was on me all right," responded Naruto.
"Please stop," said the kunoichi in their midst.
"The voice of eggsaspiration," noted Kakashi.
"Maybe she's trying not to crack up," observed Sasuke, who didn't think losing to Naruto in ANYTHING was particularly acceptable or maybe it was just the bee stings irritation.
"Well, we've got a mission to get to," said Kakashi. "There's the Hiryu Shrine, a nice little place that's just set up. We'll work on Sakura's endurance, Sasuke's avoidance skills, and Naruto's strength control after it."
"Hello, I am called 'Keri'," said the shrine priestess. "Hello cousin."
"Eh?" asked all three genin.
"That's you, Naruto," said Keri.
"Eh?!" asked all three genin.
"I've got a relative?!" asked Naruto.
"Distant," said Keri. "I'm also to instruct you in fuuinjutsu, so I specifically requested Team 7 for assistance. I expect that if you do a good job, I may have to do so again in the future."
"You're related to Naruto?" asked Sakura.
"Yes, and... what happened to you child?" asked Keri.
"Training accident," supplied Kakashi.
"Come along," said Keri, shaking her head. "I can't have you greeting petitioners looking like that."
Kakashi had found a little stone bench under a tree and begun reading. It was a pleasant morning, things were going well, but he was distracted by the shrine priestess. She had the red hair that Kushina had, and it was possible that she was a relative. Uzumaki were pretty rare though after the fall of Whirlpool.
"Here we go," said Keri's voice, prompting Kakashi to look up and begin staring.
Sakura and the priestess were wearing the traditional white and red of shrine priestesses, but it was Sakura having a freshly-scrubbed look and a lack of swelling that caught his attention.
"You think I can learn to do that?" asked Sakura.
"Medical jutsu? If you've got good chakra control, I've a scroll on the basics," said Keri. "Now if you'll sweep this area? This is mainly to be obviously here and able to provide for visitors. I've already got Naruto working on some stone engraving and Sasuke is working on repairs of the warehouse."
"Really?" asked Sakura thoughtfully.
"It really is important at your age to think about specialization of your ninja skills, so you can concentrate your efforts there," said Keri, glancing up at Kakashi. "Unless of course, you're the famed 'Copy Nin' who is good at everything."
"Well, we can't all be as awesome as me," said Kakashi, smiling to indicate he wasn't completely serious. Though his mask was blocking most of that smile.
"So, if it meets your training schedule?" asked Keri, raising an eyebrow.
Kakashi hesitated. There was more going on here than just what was visible on the surface. He was sufficiently experienced that he could get a feeling for a potential opponent's raw power - and he was currently getting the feeling he was facing someone of Kage-level power. He was also getting absolutely no threat from that individual, but there was something off about her.
Kakashi waited until the woman was off instructing Sakura on what the various plaques, wards, prayer strips, and fortune telling procedures were. Acting as if he was just idly scratching an itch, he moved the forehead protector away from his Sharingan eye for just a moment.
When he pulled it back down, he was a little more confused.
Read the comments on this episode
(Posted Sun, 24 Apr 2011 17:33)
Questions? Problems? Suggestions?
Send a mail to addventure@bast-enterprises.de
or use the contact form.
らんま1/2 © Rumiko Takahashi
All other series and their characters are © by their respective creators or owners. No claims of ownership of these characters are implied by the authors of this Addventure, or should be inferred.
The Anime Addventure is a non-profit site.