Naruto the Scarecrow

Chapter 20

Sasuke watched his new team with a small frown. It wasn't directed at them though, it was at Kabuto. Kabuto had said that Naruto wished to learn a little bit of medical jutsu and Kakashi didn't have a problem with that.

This had led to Sasuke's frown. Sakura apparently had great chakra control and also an aptitude for the medical arts. Kabuto had trained each of them but Sakura was clearly the best out of the team.

Sasuke wasn't really angry at Kabuto or for that matter, Sakura. He was angry at himself. Itachi hadn't known medical jutsu, to Sasuke's knowledge, and he saw this a good opportunity to excel at something that his brother hadn't.

Kabuto had told Sasuke that although his chakra control was good, he lacked the patience required to accurately diagnose and treat injuries. He also apparently lacked the finesse needed to heal truly delicate things such as internal injuries.

This frustration at his lack of talent for healing only compounded Sasuke's disappointment at his personal strength. 'I can't keep going at this slow pace. I will never catch up to Itachi at this rate!'

Disappointment wasn't the only thing on Sasuke's mind however, there was a myriad of emotions swirling inside of him and Sasuke didn't know how to handle it. He still mourned the loss of his clan but that was tempered by the return of his mother and strangely enough, Naruto and Eri. Sasuke was worried about the attack and his mother's health and even though Sasuke knew that it was childish, a small part of him resented Naruto's role in it.

Not just the fact that they were there for him but also the fact that Sasuke had rushed to help Naruto and ended up having to be saved. It was an accidental slap in the face, even if Naruto didn't know how it affected Sasuke.

Turning his back on his team and his lack of medical talent, he made his way further out the training ground team Seven was using. He started his usual exercise routine of push ups and stomach crunches but added to the overall workload.

'I need to find something I am truly good at. Something that neither Itachi or Naruto can do. Or for that matter, Sakura.'

〰️➿〰️

Team Seven stood in the mission briefing room watching the Hokage decide their next mission. Looking at Kakashi, Hiruzen asked, "Kakashi, may I ask why you haven't pushed for a C rank mission for your team? They are clearly ready for it, what with all the training you are putting them through."

"Sir, when we started missions, I gave them all a choice, we can get three D ranks done in the morning followed by an entire afternoon training or try and push for a C rank that would almost certainly turn out to be far more boring than they expected. All three of my genin want to push themselves further and at this stage of their ninja career, they will get more use out of training than running around our border on patrol while nothing interesting happens."

It was true, in general, even though C ranks were harder than D ranks, they weren't quite as exciting as most new genin believed.

"Well Kakashi," Hiruzen replied, "I am now giving your team a C rank. Asuma and team Ten have just returned from their mission in Wave country. I was given an interesting report.

"Apparently there is a new kind of drug being sold on the streets. I believe it's called 'Amp'. The chemicals hit one's chakra network and gives it a massive boost. Asuma wasn't able to obtain a sample but according to his report; He killed Zabuza, who had been hired by a man called Gato to kill his client and once Zabuza's comrade witnessed it, he inhaled some Amp and attacked Asuma.