Second Chance

Chapter 09

Chapter 09: Kakashi's Revelation
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As the ship left early the next morning Kakashi couldn't help but feel his pounding in response to the previous day. He had absolutely no luck finding a captain willing to take them over to Uzu and yet Naruto had somehow managed in an hour. When he asked about it, the blonde confessed to making a very dangerous gamble. Despite that he was proud of the boy for his efforts and the way that he had somehow managed to temporarily, at least, mend the rift between the Konoha nin and the sailors in that port. The sea breeze was refreshing and he had the genin practicing some safe chakra control exercises for the duration of the trip. He could only hope that he would be able to try and gain some trust with Naruto soon. The Sandaime was starting to apply pressure to find out why Naruto and Sasuke seemed to change so quickly. Especially so close to the forbidden scroll incident. It was going to be a long trip.

Naruto, Sasuke and Hinata were sitting on the other side of the ship across from Kakashi staring intensely at the water balloon that they were holding. The goal was to try and add fire chakra to heat the water slightly but not enough to pop the balloon. Unfortunately Naruto and Sasuke had already melted the balloon five times and Hinata kept making the water boil rapidly. So rapidly that the balloon popped and sent water hot enough for tea spraying everywhere. The rubber layer between their hands and the balloon was making it difficult because they were trying to get the elemental chakra to the water without disturbing the container.

"ARGH! Kakashi-sensei there has to be some trick to this! Can't you give us a hint?" Naruto finally yelled in frustration. The jonin merely eye smiled at them and went back to his book.

"I know dobe. I'm struggling over here to and I thought that I had pretty good control over my fire chakra before." Sasuke sighed leaning back. Hinata continued to stare at the balloon until she cried out in triumph. The males looked over to see the water at a gentle boil and the balloon intact.

"HOW DID YOU DO THAT?!" Naruto shrieked in disbelief. The heiress blushed and looked at her teammates.

"Channel your chakra into the balloon first and then change its nature after it has merged with the water. From there just raise the concentration until the water begins to boil." She lectured. Both of the time travelers blinked three times at her before screaming in frustration at the easy solution that they had missed. Within minutes they too had managed the exercise.

"Good now keep trying until it only takes five or less seconds." Kakashi ordered much to the genin's dismay. Nodding in acknowledgment they went back to work. The captain looked over at the jonin in contemplation. While he seemed far to laid back and somewhat irresponsible, Naruto-san truly seemed to respect him. As a result he had found himself begrudgingly respecting the jonin as well. While it seemed that Sandaime did indeed have an ulterior motive for sending them to Uzu, the jonin seemed to have no intention of following through with his orders. Similarly though, the jonin seemed to have his own agenda for going to Uzu as well. Shaking his head he focused ahead once again.

The whirlpools of Uzu were notorious for swallowing any vessel that dared approach carelessly. There was only one safe passage for anyone that did not know the seals for releasing the security that was in place and he was only one of two that knew it. How the invaders got on Uzu he still didn't know, however he was determined to one day find out. Immediately after hearing the news of the invasion his father had checked the other ship captain that knew the route and found that he was still in the hospital, in a coma. The same place that he had been for two years. Ever since he had refused to tell a group of pirates how to get to Uzu. Without a Yamanaka it would have been impossible to find the information and as far as anyone knew there had never been a Yamanaka in the hospital. His father had taught him the route and made him continuously take it until he had memorized the pattern. The last thing that his father had ever taught him.