Wings of the Leaf

Hey everyone, Sorry this chapter took so long to get up, I've been having a lot happen in my life and new things beginning, along with a very bad case of writers block, I'd go to work, and then have an idea for something to write, then realize I have several more hours at work still, then I've forgotten my idea by the time I leave Y^Y.

Anyway, my sincerest apologies for this taking so long, but I promise both my stories will be getting updated more often from now on.

As always I'd like to say if you really like this story or my other story 'The Maiden's Guardian', And you have any ideas or suggestions for the story, feel free to send them to me in a review or a PM as I do read all of them, any ideas I receive will be discussed between my beta and myself and taken into consideration. Also if you don't like my stories, or have negative things to say about them, please keep those comments to yourself, I understand everyone is entitled to their own opinion, but I'm still learning how to do this, I admit I'm not that great at writing, if you see something wrong and have some constructive criticism or advice to give, that's fine, but don't send me a review or message yelling at me about how crap I am or my stories are.

With that said I'm excited to continue both this story and 'The Maiden's Guardian', and I'm so happy about all the support and encouragement you all have been giving me for both of them, so I will keep doing this not only because I enjoy it, but for all of you as well! =^w^=

And now without further ado, let's get on with the show!

"Konoha"="Normal Speech"

'Konoha'='Thoughts'

"Konoha"=Bijū Speech"

"Konoha"=Jutsu/Techniques"

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any of its characters, I do own my OC.

Chapter 11: Of Waves and Mist

+Tazuna's Home+

+Time-skip: Morning after the encounter with Zabuza+

The three teams from Konoha were currently eating breakfast with their immediate hosts, the bridge builder Tazuna, who they were guarding on this mission and his daughter Tsunami. The teams had arrived at the house in the evening the previous day after team 11 arrived and help fend off Zabuza. Tsunami had made everyone dinner as they went over the plan for the mission from that point on.

After Kakashi, Kurenai, and Yūgao discussed their thoughts together, they had come to the conclusion that the hunter-nin who took Zabuza's body had not actually killed the missing-nin, they told their genin the situation and that they would be training them while taking turns guarding Tazuna at the bridge while he worked.

The genin had various reactions to the news that Zabuza wasn't dead and would probably be back. For Team 7, Sasuke was a bit nervous but also excited to try and fight such a strong opponent again, Kiba was a bit worried but he was also eager to train some more for another round with the missing-nin, and Sakura was scared at the thought of Zabuza coming after them again.

For Team 8, Shino was...well no one could really tell what he was feeling on the news, if he was showing anything. Hinata was a bit worried because she didn't think she was ready at all for another fight with an A-rank missing-nin. Naruto was excited to get some more training with three different jonin-sensei and to have some more action later on.

For Team 11, Sefia was a bit worried he wasn't worried for himself only though, but for his fellow genin, especially Naruto. Sefia was confident of his friends skills, but Zabuza was an A-rank nin for a reason, and without the fact that his clan's styles for combat were unpredictable, he probably wouldn't have done as well as he did included with the fact Zabuza was already a little tired from fighting Kakashi and Kurenai. He also had a bad feeling something might go wrong when the battle came.

The teams had also gotten a summary of the situation the Land of Waves was in thanks to Gatō, and how he had basically taken complete control over Wave with his army of thugs and mercenaries he had working for him along with his monopoly of the shipping and trading on the water.

The leaf ninja also had a brief meeting with Tsunami's son Inari, who just gave all the teams a glare and told them to just leave since they were only going to die anyway before he took his dinner to his room. Yūgao had to hold Sefia back since she could tell her genin really didn't like the way Inari had spoken to them all, especially because Naruto was included in the group.

So today we find all of the genin in a forest clearing nearby Tazuna's home with Kakashi who was going to train them for the day. He gave them all one of his signature eye-smiles before speaking. "Alright, let's get started with your training for the week."

The genin nodded as Sakura spoke first. "So what are we going to be learning today Kakashi-sensei?"

Kakashi looked to them all, a faint glint in his eye that none of them caught. "You're all gonna climb trees."

Team 7 facefaulted right into the ground while Team 8 just nodded a bit having been introduced to the Tree Climbing Exercise thanks to Kurenai, Naruto and Sefia just had deadpanned looks on their faces. Sefia was already proficient in Tree Climbing and Water Walking thanks to Yūgao, since he needed his chakra control as fine as possible to help him use his bloodline, Naruto was decent at Tree Climbing but not to Sefia's level, and he still had a bit of trouble with Water Walking.

Kiba spoke up next after his team recovered. "But we already know how to climb trees!"

Kakashi just eye-smiled. "Without your hands?"

Team 7 was all having the same thought at that moment. 'It's finally happened; his brain has finally started coming late as well!'

Kakashi just looked at a nearby tree before he walked right up the side of the trunk and then upside down on a branch without his hands at all, flooring his own team in shock.

"Kakashi-sempai, why is it they don't know this already?" Yūgao asked curiously, "It's one of the first things the Manual for Jonin-sensei recommends that you teach your genin."

The silver-haired man shrugged lazily. "I never received a copy."

"…in other words, you neglected to pick it up because you expected them to fail." The purple-haired woman concluded.

The cyclopean jonin chuckled nervously at the stink-eye that he received from all of his genin at that.

"Maa, maa, let's just focus on teaching our cute little genin how to climb trees, ninja-style." He placated earnestly.

"Very well."

'Whew. Dodged a bullet there.' He thought.

"I'm still reporting this to Hokage-sama though."

'Damn.' Kakashi groaned. Meh. Well, he'd get a bollocking, but he was infamous for being lazy, so this would be seen as an extension of it.

Sasuke spoke up finally after the two jonin got done speaking. "Why do we need to even learn this?"

Kakashi eye-smiled at Sasuke before responding. "Well it can be very helpful to learn how to do this as it will help greatly in battle when you can traverse the terrain like this, not to mention that this exercise will also help you improve your chakra control and increase your reserves, and by your age, Itachi was already quite skilled in this exercise."

Those words got a reaction out of Sasuke as he looked determined to master Tree-walking now no matter what.

Everyone was broken out of their thoughts on the matter though when Sefia spoke up. "Um...Kakashi-sensei, I have already mastered Tree-walking and the next step Water-walking."

Team 7 just stared at Sefia like his nose was getting longer from that sentence, Team 8 understood that Sefia wasn't lying, Shino obviously because he found it logical that Sefia had done so because he had noticed Sefia fly into the battle they had not long ago, and doing so would have taken a lot of chakra control, Hinata had seen Sefia's chakra network with her Byakugan and how steady his chakra flowed through his network, Naruto knew his friend was telling the truth because he was there.

Sakura spoke up next. "That reminds me, how in the world were you making those swords yesterday just appear out of thin air?!"

Sefia smiled. "It's a part of my clan's bloodline, Jingi Sōzō. It allows Shuiro to create weapons out of our chakra and manifest them into solid objects, I'm still trying to master it though, but I'm getting closer to fully achieving Jingi Sōzō every day!" Everyone seemed a bit confused except for Yūgao.

Sefia coughed a bit. "Sorry, maybe I should explain, the wings you see me have are also a part of my bloodline, but for our creation techniques there are varying levels to it. Buki Sōzō is at the bottom which is what I commonly use. It is the creation of various weapons from our chakra and is the basic style for our techniques. Jingi Sōzō at the very top level of creation is when the weapons we create are at their strongest, there are stories that a weapon at the top level of a Shuiro's bloodline, a blade for example, can be made strong and sharp enough that it can cut through the strongest of materials with ease and not even be scratched in the process. The downside is that the higher the level of creation, the fewer weapons that can be created at the same time and maintained as it takes a lot of chakra control to maintain the weapons and depending on the level, a lot of chakra as well. Another thing that helps us though, and I apologize in advance Sasuke-san, but weapons created by my clan's bloodline can only be wielded by either a Shuiro or an Uzumaki."

Everyone was staring at Sefia in shock at the explanation; Sasuke was seething inside though as he now knew he couldn't use Sefia's weapons for himself.

Sakura spoke up though trying to defend her precious Sasuke. "It doesn't mean you are stronger than Sasuke-kun! His clan's Sharingan could copy your techniques and then he could use them!"

Sefia clenched his fists at the thought of such a possibility before Kakashi cleared his throat to gain everyone's attention. "Actually Sakura, the Sharingan cannot copy any bloodline techniques. While it allows one to memorise anything they see upon seeing it once, such as handsigns and fighting stances, the unique interaction of chakra that a bloodline uses has no handsigns and therefore cannot actually be copied at all. In this case, only a Shuiro can actually perform those techniques."

Sakura pouted a bit while Sasuke was getting angrier that Sefia may actually be more powerful than him. Kiba spoke up next, making everyone else curious with his question. "Actually what did you do yesterday Sefia? I remember you started glowing and sparking and then I blinked and the fight was over. How did you do that?"

Sefia blushed a bit. "Well actually that's a technique only my clan can perform as it's too dangerous for anyone other than us to attempt it. I can't really go into details right now though since I can't reveal any clan secrets, but let's just say that if I use it, I can get a huge boost to my strength, speed, and power. If any of you tried it, you wouldn't succeed in doing anything other than either cooking or melting all of your muscles and internal organs."

Everyone paled at that answer, to think that someone they went to school with was the only person in the world capable of performing such a dangerous technique safely, Naruto almost puked as he remembered the last time Sefia had an accident while practicing that technique, Yūgao almost cried right there from remembering as well, though they both agreed to never speak of that incident again.

Kakashi clapped his hands. "Now then, my cute little genin. Time to start the training. What you must do is this…"

Walking up to a tree and forming the Ram Handsign, the silver-haired Jonin casually strolled up it and then along the underside of a branch to look down at a gobsmacked Team 7.

"The key is to steadily emit chakra from the soles of your feet," he lectured, "This will not be easy, as your feet have no tenketsu, which allow chakra to be expelled from the body. If you are able to manage it, however, you will be able to emit chakra from any point on your body. If memory serves, the Shuiro's Bloodline Limit also emits their special chakra from their tenketsu also, which is why they are able to create limbs of chakra that are almost flawless in movement."

"I am surprised that you know that." Sefia said neutrally, "Most of the information on the Shuiro Clan is limited to members of those clans that were their allies, such as the Uzumaki."

"Maa, I worked with a few Shuiro during the Third Great Ninja War." Kakashi said before he stopped the flow of chakra to his feet, fell down and deftly flipped over and landed on his feet, "It was easy to figure out how they made wings sprout out of them once I received my Sharingan. Being able to see chakra is very useful, although that capability isn't as sharp or developed as that of the Hyūga Clan's Byakugan."

"Wait, if you know how they do it, can't you replicate it?" Sasuke asked with a scowl.

"Nope." Kakashi shook his head, "I told you Sasuke; it takes a special kind of chakra to use the Shuiro Clan's Bloodline Limit techniques. Knowing how they are done is one thing, but being able to use them is impossible without the blood of the Shuiro flowing through your veins."

"Hn." The Last Uchiha grunted in dissatisfaction.

The training progressed from there, with Sakura, with her low reserves and high control, achieving it first among Team 7, which irritated Sasuke to no end. Akamaru and Kiba were able to get a quarter of the way up the tree before falling, which Yūgao and Sefia secretly suspected was Akamaru being nice to his partner. Sasuke, full of residual anger, jealousy and bitterness, made it only a few steps up before falling.

"Sakura, good job, keep going." Kakashi said cheerfully, "Performing this exercise multiple times provides a slight increase in your chakra reserves, which you badly need. Kiba, keep going as you are and up your focus. Sasuke, calm down. Your chakra control wavers if you cling to negative emotions like anger."

Gritting his teeth, the Uchiha Heir tried to calm down, but watching Naruto make it halfway up on his first try angered him even more than Sakura had at fully climbing the tree. His focus went down the toilet yet again.

"He really has poor control over his temper." Sefia noted in an undertone to Yūgao, who nodded.

Team 8 was busy with the training themselves. Hinata, being a Hyūga, had chakra control almost as high as Sakura's thanks to the range of chakra control exercises she had to learn to use the Jūken taijutsu style, so she was first to climb the tree she chose. Shino, also having practiced some Aburame chakra control exercises growing up, was second, but by a medium margin.

Naruto, with his bludgeoning and large reserves, had had a hard time with learning any chakra control exercises as he grew up. Even Sefia had less chakra than Naruto. Yūgao had decided to make it hard for him by making every chakra control exercise more complex. The Leaf Sticking exercise, for example, was usually just a single leaf stuck to the forehead. Naruto had to stick a hundred leaves all over his body at once to avoid shredding it. This paid off with the tree climbing exercise, allowing him to get halfway up on his first try. It took him longer than Shino and Hinata combined to make it up, but he did eventually make it.

After the seven genin, including Sefia, stopped for lunch, Sakura was the one to ask Kakashi when they would be considered to have mastered the tree climbing exercise.

"Hmmm…in ANBU, one is a master of this exercise when you can have a full-contact spar on a tree or wall for ten minutes non-stop." The cyclopean Jonin mused, "For our purposes though it will be when you can run up and down the tree non-stop for ten minutes."

A mass groan came from the genin, except for Sefia, who could already do that.

"Sefia-kun, we'll be going off for jutsu practice after lunch." Yūgao informed him, "You've already mastered the tree climbing exercise to that standard and you need to practice that jutsu."

"Hai, Yūgao-sensei." The white-haired boy nodded obediently.

As the genin ate, Kakashi drew the purple-haired ex-ANBU off to one side. "Yūgao, are you certain Sefia can handle that jutsu he used against Zabuza? It looked like it was at least Mid-B Rank."

"Sefia-kun isn't as reckless and irresponsible as the Uchiha; he'll be fine." Yūgao replied pointedly, "And on the subject of jutsu, what other techniques are you going to be teaching them? You surely don't plan on leaving them with just the tree climbing exercise, surely?"

"A week is barely enough time to learn the basics of tree climbing." Kakashi pointed out, "A jutsu, even a basic D Rank, would take longer and we don't have that much time. You know as well as I do that a genin can make horrible mistakes with a half-learned jutsu during sparring, never mind in actual combat."

"You're Kakashi of a Thousand Jutsu; surely you have some in that number that are straightforward and easy to learn?" the kunoichi frowned, "Even I know about a dozen that would fit them."

"Well then compare notes with me this afternoon once training's over and we'll see." The silver-haired Jonin eye-smiled at her.

Yūgao just rolled her eyes a bit as she walked off with Sefia. Many of the genin were confused what jutsu the female jonin was referring to, but they all chose to focus on their own training soon after though Sasuke continued to internally seethe at the thought that Sefia was already far stronger than him and was already learning powerful jutsu.

Over the course of the next few hours the genin were constantly practicing the tree climbing exercise, some of them even finishing it and aiming to master it, but they all kept stopping at a bizarre occurrence that kept happening, and on a few occasions Sakura kept getting startled enough she would actually fall out of her tree.

Off in the direction that Yūgao and Sefia had walked, above the treeline the other genin kept seeing and hearing many enormous discharges of lightning, what it was only one of the genin actually knew, and even when Hinata and Shino asked several times what the lightning was Naruto said it wasn't his place to tell so his two teammates eventually just accepted that and didn't ask anymore.

Sasuke was furious inside, he knew the lightning was Sefia and it made him beyond pissed that he couldn't get that kind of power himself.

When training was finished for the day, Sefia came back looking like he'd been hit by a small lightning jutsu, with several scorch marks on his clothes and a twitch in his left hand.

"Still?" Naruto had to ask.

The white-haired boy gave his friend an evil look. "Do not start with me Naruto-san."

This make the blond chuckle like a loon for some reason and Sefia gained a tick mark on his forehead. Yūgao, following the two, just grinned to herself as the two started to play-tussle when things became heated.

"Ah, youth." She muttered quietly.

+Chapter End+

Hey everyone, thanks for sticking with the story for this long, I'm so happy to know I have so much support and so many of you who actually like my stories and encourage me to continue them. I'd like to apologize again for the long absence as I had a massive writers block, but I'm gonna try and keep up more now no matter what, hope you enjoyed this chapter, the next chapter for The Maidens Guardian is being started now so look forward to that.

TILL NEXT TIME! =^w^=