Chapter 111 New Direction
"Why does this curry taste different every time?" Kiba said as he stuffed a big mouthful of curry into his mouth. His eating manner was very unsightly. Ino covered her mouth in disgust.
Hinata just chuckled at his enthusiasm.
"I think there's progress," Shikamaru murmured expressionlessly, while serving himself another spoonful.
"It tastes really good," Shino commented. He took off his coat to prevent the curry from splattering on the light-colored fabric, and Ino noticed that he looked very different without the heavy coat.
She could see the little holes on his bare arms where his symbiotes nested. She hadn't seen them poking their heads out yet, and when she asked, Shino told her that they hibernated most of the time unless he actively channeled his chakra. She found that a little strange, but fascinating.
They sat together on a large flat rock in a grassy clearing near Hatake's house, close to the edge of a cliff.
Looking from her stone seat, Ino felt as if she were on an isolated island in a sea of swaying light green grass.
The cliffs dropped steeply down to the wilds of Konoha, where dense emerald green trees intertwined into a dense canopy that filtered the chlorophyll-like light.
Ino was startled by Sakura who suddenly sat down next to her, holding her own bowl of curry and gently stroking a thick fringe of hair across her forehead.
"Kume-sensei did a great job with the damage control. It looks good," she hummed, carefully examining the areas that were burned by Aoba's incendiary bomb.
Ino subconsciously touched her short hair. It was not a large area, just behind her temple, where Teacher Hong cut the damaged hair. Her hair was now combed to the other side of her head. She was a little unhappy at the time, but she thought that this hairstyle might become more and more pleasing to the eye.
“Are you sure that doesn’t look weird?” she asked, trying not to sound so unsure.
Sakura just smiled and shook her head.
"Not at all! I think it suits you, really. It adds a touch of heroism to your smooth blonde hair."
"Really?" Ino asked. She had never thought of it that way before. Her mother had always told her that a woman's hair was sacred and should be her most important aspect of her appearance. But Kurenai warned her that long hair might not be practical in battle and could even be used to advantage by the enemy if she wasn't careful.
She looked up at Sakura's ponytail, noting the short, jagged pale pink strands. It was barely half as long as it had been when she'd left that strange C-rank mission that none of the three Genin from Team 7 seemed willing to talk about.
"Did your hair get cut short during the mission?" Ino asked, pointing at her ponytail.
Sakura blinked in surprise, her spring eyes sparkling turquoise in the light filtering through the leaves, then she smiled and shook her head, reaching out to stroke a strand of her hair.
"No, I just feel the need for a change," she said casually, as if making this decision was as simple as eating and drinking water. Maybe it was true for her.
Ino rested her chin on her hand and tilted her head to look at Sakura.
"So you really gave up on him? Sasuke, I mean."
To Ino's surprise, Sakura scoffed at this.
"If you mean I'm no longer obsessed with someone I don't know, then you're right." She replied easily. "But now I know him. The real Sasuke? He's a nasty guy, a picky eater, grouchy in the morning, practicing shuriken late at night, always using excessive firepower in his jutsu, and cheating at hide-and-seek." Sakura turned her head and looked into Ino's pale sky blue eyes with her bright lake green eyes. "He's my family now. Sure, I gave up that stupid crush, but I'll never give up on my family. Both of them."
Ino blinked, staring at her thoughtfully. Sakura sounded like she was ten years older than she was, her maturity was something Ino had been envious of for months.
She was always so confident, and Ino wondered where she got that confidence from.
Sakura's words echoed in her ears, and Ino unconsciously glanced to the side, where Akimichi Chouji and Nara Shikamaru were sitting together, talking in low voices about their curry.
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After the others left, Kakashi-sensei showed them around the building.
As soon as Naruto stepped into this place, he could feel the chakra contained in the walls, the echoes of those ancient chakra structures sleeping under the walls and floors.
"What is this place?" Sasuke asked.
"It's a black temple," Kakashi answered easily. "They were built during the First Shinobi World War to strengthen and restore the body. From what I understand, it has been abandoned for a long time, and many of its functions rely on now-lost ninjutsu." Kakashi paused and looked at Naruto. "But I thought that since we already have an expert in lost ninjutsu here, you three might be able to figure out something."
"I've seen something like this before," Sasuke chimed in. "There's a similar building in the Uchiha clan land."
"Most clans have a more elaborate and professional Black Temple in their territories, used to help clan members recover faster from injuries and illnesses when on missions, which would otherwise require long periods of treatment," Kakashi explained. "But this Black Temple is a little different."
"What are we going to do?" Sakura asked curiously, looking down at the empty floor of the room, which was surrounded by a dozen oval basins, embedded in the ground like numbers on a sundial.
"You can do whatever you want with it," Kakashi said. "Think of it as a project you three can work on between missions. I have a feeling it will help you prepare for the Chunin Exams in June. I'll sign you up."
"Great!" Naruto shouted. "Does this mean we'll be doing more C-rank missions in the future?" he asked.
"As long as you can handle it, idiot." Kakashi said kindly, freeing a hand to ruffle his blond hair. "Also, in exchange for helping me with this project, you and Sasuke will learn battlefield medical ninjutsu from Ryouta when you're not on missions."
"Oh?" Sasuke scoffed. "We all have to learn it sooner or later anyway."
"Don't speak for me." Naruto complained. "My chakra control is still poor."
Sensei Kakashi looked at them with a smile and shooed them out the door.
"Alright, you three, do some stretching exercises tonight and get some good sleep. I'll see if there are any C-rank missions I can take tomorrow morning. Now, everyone, go back."
