The Lives Worth Saving

Chapter 4 - People take notice Pt 2

Down below, Haruki finished off the last of the clones with a series of high-kicks that sent all three Naruto lookalikes into the air, tumbling away head-over-heels and dispersing before they could hit the ground. Whirling around, he caught the fist that had been aimed at his back and with a gentle but deft twist only strong enough to throw the blond off-balance and spin him around, Haruki had Naruto's arm neatly pinned behind him as he flipped out a kunai and finished the spar by tapping the flat side of the weapon against the boy's left shoulder.

"I believe this match goes to me." Haruki said mildly as Naruto craned his head around to scowl up at him. Smiling slightly, he released the blond and Naruto scrambled up, shaking out his arm as Sasuke and Sakura approached them.

"You're crazy strong, Haruki-san," Naruto complained as he flopped onto his back, blond locks damp against his forehead.

Sasuke came to a stop beside them and toed the blond. "Hn, dobe. You need to get faster."

Naruto glared up at the Uchiha, swatting away the Genin's foot. "Shut up, teme! I already know that!"

"Naruto!" Sakura had her hands on her hips and was scowling down at him. "Don't be so rude to Sasuke-kun! He's giving you good advice!"

Naruto huffed sulkily before sitting up and peering at Haruki who had unsealed another water bottle and was now holding it out to the blond. Naruto grinned and took it, downing half the bottle in one go.

"Good job, Naruto," Haruki sank down to a crouch in front of the blond. "Your use of Kage Bunshin is excellent. What you need to work on now is polishing up your taijutsu and, of course, increasing your speed. Right now though, I'm more concerned about your fighting style. You don't follow the standard style the Academy teaches, and while that's good for keeping your attacks unpredictable, it also means you don't have a very strong foundation."

Naruto frowned, glancing up at Sasuke who was listening just as intently. "The senseis show us some stances in the standard style," Naruto admitted, rubbing the back of his head. "But we usually have to learn from the scrolls they give us." He made a face. "I don't like sitting all day studying."

Sasuke snorted while Sakura just sighed, but Haruki nodded instead. "That's alright, not all shinobi learn best by studying. You're better at learning by doing, right?"

At Naruto's immediate nod, Haruki stared thoughtfully at the blond before glancing up at Sasuke. "Sasuke, if you were the one fighting Naruto earlier, what would've happened?"

The Uchiha had an instant retort at the tip of his tongue. "Hn, I would've won."

Haruki arched a challenging eyebrow even as Naruto protested loudly. "With no trouble?"

Sasuke's curt nod seemed to stall halfway through the motion as he glanced briefly down at Naruto. Then, with obvious reluctance, he admitted grudgingly, "I might have had some trouble defending against all the Kage Bunshins. His... second jutsu," Haruki hid a smile at the boy's obvious embarrassment at this. "Would've been distracting as well, but it would be his clones that would be dangerous since they can come at all sides."

Haruki nodded. "How would you have defended against that then?"

Sasuke cocked his head, a faint frown making its way onto his face. "I would've used my Fireball Jutsu to get rid of most of them. Because his taijutsu is sloppy, I would be able to dispatch any remaining clones by myself."

Haruki nodded again and turned back to Naruto. "And you, Naruto? If you had been fighting Sasuke, what would you have done if he had countered by doing this?"

Naruto scowled, striking an unconscious thinking pose as he dropped his chin in one hand. "I would've made more clones to distract him." Blue eyes suddenly sharpened slyly as he glanced up at his rival. "And then, while he was busy with them, I'd attack from his left side, from behind."