- 10 a.m., next morning, Training Ground 7 -
Creating two clones, Kakashi watched them lead Naruto and Sasuke away before he smiled at Sakura's tired face.
"You stayed up all night thinking about what you wanted to learn, didn't you?"
Sakura flushed in embarrassment.
"I haven't been sleeping much anyway; the hospital and my own training keep me busy."
"That's understandable, but please make sure you're getting proper rest and meals. The path you're on leads to undesirable outcomes for you. You want to get stronger; that's great, but you won't see the improvements you're wanting if you're dead on your feet."
Kakashi admonished softly before speaking in a more neutral tone.
"So, have you thought about something you wish to learn?"
Sakura sighed.
"I thought about it, but I can't really think of anything I'd like to learn. Most ninjutsu don't suit my chakra reserves, and my genjutsu and medical knowledge are covered."
"So, that leaves Taijutsu. I might have something that'll suit you perfectly. The power of this technique can be comparable to the Eight Inner Gates, and it's far less strenuous. The one drawback of this technique is the risk of rib or lung damage at higher levels. But don't let that discourage you; the lower levels are much easier and don't have that risk. The technique boosts the user's lung capacity, chakra, speed, and raw physical power."
'And once Tsunade sees this technique, she'll realize that the Strength of a Hundred Seal would be perfect with the Seven Heavenly Breaths. The healing power of the seal would allow her to use the highest levels of the technique with virtually no long-term drawbacks.'
Kakashi thought with a smirk, just thinking about the two powers working together in perfect harmony.
"Do you think this technique suits me?"
Sakura asked, wanting to hear his honest opinion as she trusted Kakashi not to steer her wrong.
"Sakura, not only do I think this technique suits you, but it's practically made for you."
Kakashi said with full confidence.
"This technique is called Seven Heavenly Breaths; this technique requires you to perform precise, deep breathing patterns to gather massive amounts of oxygen. This process expands the lungs' capacity, allowing a sudden influx of oxygen to saturate the bloodstream and supercharge cells, muscles, and organs, dramatically boosting speed, strength, and reflexes. To train this, you'll submerge yourself underwater with weights holding you down. Practice taking a single, deep breath and holding it while performing low-impact movements. This trains your brain to remain calm during oxygen deprivation and safely stretches the lung walls. Once you're at a level where you can blow into a gourd and shatter it with air pressure alone, then you're ready to begin training the Seven Heavenly Breaths. So, are you up for it?"
Kakashi didn't have to wait long; Sakura nodded, ready to begin whenever.
"Good."
Kakashi ran through a quick series of handseals.
"Earth Release: Great Moving Earth Core"
Kakashi tapped his foot on the ground, and it sank in a perfect rectangle 16x32 and 10 feet deep.
Flashing through more seals, Kakashi summoned a wave of water that filled the hold up to the top.
"There, now you're nearly ready. The weight won't be extreme; it's mostly there to keep you from floating up. You could use chakra to stick to the bottom, but I want your full attention focused on this."
A shadow clone of Kakashi poofed into existence beside him before vanishing and coming back in a swirl of leaves a couple of minutes later with weighted armbands, ankle wraps, a weighted vest, a rope, and a stopwatch.
"Pick and choose what you wish to put on."
Kakashi nodded in approval as she put them all on.
"Now tie this rope around your waist. While I know you can just walk up the wall and out, You've never experienced the sensation of oxygen deprivation before; it's safer this way."
"Yes, sensei."
Sakura tied the rope securely around her waist and got into the water, taking a deep breath before allowing herself to sink to the bottom.
As soon as Sakura's head went under, Kakashi pushed start on his stopwatch.
- With Naruto -
"Alright, Naruto, here are your choices for your further training. More elemental transformation training, increased physical training, and learning some genjustu."
"Elemental transformation training."
Naruto replied without a hint of hesitation.
"I figured as much. You're bound to master all nature transformations before the age of 14 at this rate."
Kakashi chuckled, pulling out a paper- not chakra paper, but a simple sheet of paper.
"Watch."
Kakashi placed the sheet in his palm and placed his other hand over it; a flame erupted and engulfed the paper in Kakashi's hand, reducing it to ash that drifted out of Kakashi's hand with a gust of wind.
"Do you need a hint?"
Naruto hummed.
"Can I see you demonstrate it again?"
Kakashi agreed, repeating the process before looking to Naruto expectantly.
"Are you… creating friction with chakra?"
Naruto made a guess, the two hands clasped over the paper giving him the hint.
"Correct. By focusing your chakra into the fibers of the paper, you. create an intense atomic friction which ignites the paper. The paper must burst into flames instantly for this exercise to be complete: no smoke, no charring."
Kakashi retrieved a prepared scroll and unsealed a large stack of paper, laying it on the ground for Naruto's clones to use when he creates them.
"That's a lot of paper; did you rob the Hokage's paperwork?"
Naruto smirked
"I'm sure that'd be the easiest steal of my life."
Kakashi replied back with amusement.
In the Hokage's office at that moment, the pen Tsunade was writing with snapped, ink destroying the paperwork in front of her.
"I just got the sudden urge to cave someone's face in."
A frightened Team 10 took a few steps back with a collective thought of 'Please not me'.
- With Sasuke -
"Ok, Sasuke, I promised you training, and to be completely honest, you're going to be the only one training with me here shortly."
Kakashi revealed.
"Jiraiya will be taking Naruto on a training trip of his own, and Sakura will eventually end up apprenticed to Lady Hokage, but don't tell Sakura that; I don't want her to be nervous."
Kakashi smiled, taking in his out-of-character surprise.
"So, what would you like to learn most, Sasuke?"
Sasuke thought deeply about his skills to this point; his fire ninjutsu was solid, and so was his lightning jutsu, with Chidori and Chidori Sharp Spear. His Taijutsu was solid even without the Sharingan's abilities; he had been steadily working on his kenjutsu, but one area where he's almost non-existent had to be…
"Genjutsu, I want to improve my Sharingan genjutsu, and learn other genjutsu as well."
Kakashi was a bit surprised by the decision; it was not what he expected.
"That's…. Ok then, Genjutsu it is. Sharingan genjutsu should come naturally to you, so we'll focus on the others first, ok?"
Kakashi clapped his hands.
"Ok, we start now."
Sasuke nodded, waiting for Kakashi to show him a genjustu.
"Maa, take a look around, Sasuke."
Kakashi motioned to the left with a wave of his hand.
Sasuke looked, eyes widening as the world around him seemed to distort; even his own body began to contort in ways most couldn't.
"Sound-based Genjutsu. This one is far too obvious, but the ones that are truly dangerous are the subtle ones you never notice until you're already dead. A clash of a kunai, a snap of a finger, even one's voice can be used to hypnotize."
Sasuke flared his chakra, breaking the genjutsu, looking to Kakashi with a bit of respect, not knowing he was good at genjutsu as well.
"Where are you looking, Sasuke?"
The voice of Kakashi came from behind Sasuke, making him spin around to see him standing there, looking back in time to see what he thought was Kakashi become transparent and disappear.
"When?"
Sasuke was confused; he was sure he had already broken the genjutsu.
"That was the more subtle one; I simply layered it behind the obvious one to show you the difference. Any genjutsu with obvious changes is preferable to the subtle ones 90 percent of the time."
Kakashi spoke meaningfully.
"You're talking about the sharingan genjutsu."
Kakashi nodded.
"More specifically, the Mangekyo Sharingan genjutsu."
Sasuke's eyes darkened at that, remembering the torture he endured that night.
"And how do I counter that?"
Kakashi held Sasuke's gaze for a few moments.
"The smart thing would be to avoid it. Never look an enemy with unknown dojutsu abilities in the eye. Some could be overpowered and therefore broken, but some could have potentially altering effects on you. For instance, your memories and personality. One moment you could be fighting someone; the next you could have been caught in a genjutsu that you could've never possibly sensed."
Kakashi could see the wheels spinning in Sasuke's head, satisfied with the wariness he instilled in his student.
"We're going to start again; are you ready?"
Sasuke nodded, ready for the next genjutsu, already more aware and looking around for any subtle and obvious differences.
- Chapter End -
Ok, everyone, I wanted to address something that I've noticed lately, and that'd be the people taking the powerscaling too far, the ones upset with the haki feats like Divine Departure, and even the ones upset with Shadow Clones, and for the ones saving me from replying to them, I thank you, truly. I, however, welcome you pointing out mistakes with grammar, spelling, etc. Don't feel like I'm upset; that couldn't be further from the truth. I'm glad that you're all… for the most part, enjoying the fic.