❝ move aside, I brought hot tea ❞

with a flat look. That man fainted after the hunter ninja left. His timing is right. Fortunately, Tazuna was the one who carried him.

Now she was in one of the rooms of Tazuna's house. The man kindly gave his house to a temporary shelter. "You may go out," Shizuka said, wrapping her fingers with bandages. "Sakura, please bring a towel." She didn't need to look to see if they had left or not. She could tell by the sound of the door closing and the sound of footsteps coming out.

Shizuka removed her blazer and rolled up her light blue shirt. Then take off Kakashi's headband and vest. Letting him rest comfortably.

"I brought the towel," Sakura came and sat next to Kakashi. "Is he okay?"

"Just tired," Shizuka answered. "Please wipe the sweat."

"Ok," Sakura began working, but her attention was on Shizuka who was emitting a green light from her palm. "Is that ... healing jutsu?"

"Yeah," Shizuka answered. "This will speed up his healing, rather than using the old method."

"Sakura, can you make herbal tea?" Shizuka asked, taking a scroll from her bag. "This is the method and the ingredients."

She waited until the girl left the room before staring at Kakashi again. "I know you're awake, Kakashi," Shizuka said, raising her glasses up.

"Ugh," the man opened his eyes and sat down. Staring at the wall with a blank stare.

"You're tired," Shizuka folded her arms. "I understand it actually. You are not used to using your Sharingan anymore. So your body is shocked."

"Now, I miss my time at ANBU," Kakashi pulling out his novel. And Shizuka would have been annoyed if Kakashi had pulled out the novel. Because he sometimes won't pay attention to what the girl says. "But Shizuka, you have noticed, aren't you?"

"Of course." She raised her glasses.

SLAM!

The loud noise successfully made both of them turn towards the door. There were Sasuke, Naruto, and Tazuna. And Shizuka spotted Sakura behind them. "Kakashi-sensei! You're awake!"

"Move aside Naruto! I brought hot tea!" Sakura exclaimed, walking in the middle of them then giving the tea to Shizuka. "Is it like this?"

"It's good," the girl then gave it to Kakashi, who instead of drinking it immediately, he only held it. Shizuka huffed at that.

"Have you all noticed?" asked Kakashi, watching his students whether any of them were quick to realize the anomaly.

"Noticing what, Kakashi-sensei?" Naruto asked, scratching his non-itchy back neck.

"Listen carefully," said Kakashi. " Usually, the Shinobi Hunters who manage corpse disposals are supposed to destroy the bodies of those they kill at once, right on the spot. And how did the kid in the mask dispose of Zabuza's corpse?"

"He took the body with him," Sakura murmured. "but, isn't all he needed to take home as proof he'd made the kill was the head?

"You're right," Kakashi nodded in agreement, pleased to know that one of his students had begun to understand. "And the weapon that the Hunter used to dispatch Zabuza ... just an acupuncture needles."

Sasuke gasped. "No way ..."

"Yes, way ... " Kakashi ruffled his hair. "That it's likely ... Zabuza is still alive."

"What are you talking about?!" Naruto exclaimed. "But, Kakashi-sensei, you checked to be sure Zabuza was dead, didn't you?"

Kakashi nodded. "Maybe it's like a temporary death."

"Those acupuncture needle weapons that shinobi Hunter used can be deadly if they hit a vital spot. If not, the mortality rate is surprisingly low. And remember, they were originally designed as medical treatment tools," Shizuka took over. And she could see Kakashi heaving a sigh of relief. Surely he was lazy to talk. "Shinobi Hunters and all members of any village's disposal squad must possess an intimate and thorough knowledge of human physiology. It would be simple for one of them to place a person into a near-death state."

"And judging by how he carried Zabuza's body and used the needle," Shizuka raised her glasses. "Obviously he wants to save him."

"Therefore, I will train you," Kakashi said, waving his hand. "Alright, you can get ready now."

"They've left, you can drink it now," Shizuka glanced at Kakashi who wanted to open his mask.

"Midorima clan's herbal medicine," Kakashi said as he raised his mask. "I haven't drunk it in a long time."

"You're still on the Tenzou team?" asked Kakashi, getting up from the bed.

"No, I've moved and become the team leader," Shizuka said, staring at her green ball with a flat gaze.

○○○

The training that Kakashi meant was actually a tree-climbing training, without using hands. To be more precise, it is a chakra control exercise.

Surprisingly, Sakura was the first to succeed among the three, excluiding herself. Even though the girl looked like she wasn't a ninja. Shizuka didn't even know if she really wanted to become a ninja. Or she just wants to follow Sasuke.

But despite all that, Shizuka admitted that her chakra control was pretty good especially for her first try.

Then she turned to Naruto. The blonde haired boy used too little chakra and made him slip and fall. In fact, Shizuka believes he has the most chakra than the others. Because he is a descendant of Uzumaki and a nine tailed fox jinchuriki. Wait, did he know that he had a lot of chakra?

The last one is Sasuke. Shizuka first thought that the Uchiha boy would reach the top first. However, it turned out that her estimate was wrong. The boy used too much chakra which made his feet pinch against the wood. Although not as big as the Uzumaki clan, Uchiha clan members are also gifted with a large amount of chakra. So, Shizuka somewhat understood why he was like that.

"Hmm, great," Kakashi nodded appreciatively. "Shizuka, Sakura, I'm assigned you two to look after Tazuna."

The two of them glanced at each other then nodded in agreement. Their journey to the bridge was awkward. Neither of them opened the conversation. And Shizuka noticed something was a little strange about the pink haired girl. Not that she was worried or anything, she could feel the anxiety from Sakura. Actually it was a bit strange because she was the first one to reach the top of the tree and now she was anxious. Shouldn't she be happy?

"What's wrong?" Shizuka finally asked, looking at the river below them.

"Ah, no! It's nothing!"

From her answer, clearly Shizuka knew that something had happened to her. Shizuka chose not to answer. She did not want to force her to tell her.

Sakura sighed heavily. "I just ... feel useless on this team," Sakura suddenly opened her voice. "Sasuke-kun is good at taijutsu and other things, you're very good at ninjutsu, and Naruto ... even though he is stupid and stubborn, he managed to save Kakashi-sensei! And what did I do? Do nothing!"

I was surprised she realized it quickly, Shizuka blinked. Maybe their encounter with Zabuza changed her.

"So," Shizuka looked at Sakura who was biting her lip. "what would you do?"

"Umm ... I'm afraid I'll trouble you but," Sakura closed her eyes tightly. "C-can you please train me?"

Shizuka was silent for a moment, thinking. "Alright."

"Thank you!!!" Sakura hugged Shizuka tightly.

"Hmph," Shizuka blushed, between embarrassed and holding her breath because of her hug. "It's because I had nothing else to do, nanodayo!"

○○○

The next day, Shizuka chose to take a short walk in the forest before she took care of Tazuna with Sakura. This morning air is very good, maybe she will meditate for a while.

Indirectly, Shizuka's gaze turned towards a person in orange cloth sleeping on the grass. Why did he fall asleep this morning?

"Naruto?" she called, walking towards the boy who gasped at her call.

"Shizuka? What's wrong?" Naruto scratched his cheek, his eyes staring at Shizuka curiously.

"What are you doing, sleeping at this hour?" Shizuka asked in an interrogation tone, frowning.

"I'm not sleeping, really!! I'm not going to sleep before I can climb this tree!" He stood up, then straightened his headband that he was proud of. "Yosh! I can't waste time, dattebayo!!"

He ran towards the tree and climbed up. Not until he was in the middle of the tree, and Naruto immediately fell. Judging from the current score, it was somewhat higher than yesterday. At least his efforts paid off.

"Yosh!" Naruto stood up again, about to run. His eyes still gave off that light that he wouldn't give up.

"Stop," Shizuka ordered suddenly before Naruto set foot on the tree trunk, making him startled and fell face first.

"What's wrong, Shizuka?"

"You're using too little chakra. If you keep doing that, you'll slip all the time," she explained, raising her glasses. "stand up."

Naruto followed her orders. His eyes flashed a confused expression. "Try to focus your chakra on your feet. Pull out your chakra until I say stop." Naruto again followed her orders without any questions popping out of his mouth. It's not like what Shizuka thought.

"Stop," after thinking it was the right amount, Shizuka stopped him. "Try walking slowly."

He walked slowly —even though it looked like a robot— and walk up to the center of the tree's height before stopping to stand on a tree branch. "Shizuka!!! I did it!!" he shouted. His blue eyes glowed and his mouth was grinning widely, showing his fangs.

He jumped down, then ran towards her with his arms spread open. Shizuka immediately stopped him by pressing his face with her palm so he wouldn't move forward and hugged her.

"You can't hug people so freely, Naruto," she said, a little blush appeared on her cheeks. "It's inappropriate."

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