14 Suspicions (Bonus)

"I think it's the first time I come here twice on the same day..." Standing in front of a beautifully decorated tomb, Kakashi stared at the name on the tomb for a few seconds and continued "But I really couldn't help but remember you today, sensei..."

"Your son... Naruto..." Remaining silent for a few seconds, Kakashi continued "He's changed a lot lately... he used to cause trouble everywhere, being lazy and showing less intelligence than the average civilian."

"But..." Recalling what he saw these past two days, Kakashi continued "When conversing with him today... I couldn't help but see your reflection in him."

"His analytical intelligence seems to be spectacular, his insight is top-notch, and his combat intelligence... even managed to take me by surprise" Shaking his head, Kakashi remained silent for a few seconds and continued "But... I'm worried about him"

"His look... I don't know... he used to remind me of Obito, but now... he has the same emptiness I saw in Itachi before that dark day... Sigh I'm afraid he'll make an irreversible mistake" With a heavy sigh, Kakashi remained silent for a couple of minutes and continued "He seems very resentful about many things..."

"..."

"And I really wish he would just talk nonsense, but..." Turning his gaze to the distance, Kakashi remained silent for a while and frowned slightly "I'll be back tomorrow, Sensei... I have something to corroborate."

Disappearing from his place while running quickly through the cemetery, Kakashi finally reached a slightly secluded area and frowned slightly at the sight of the unkempt lawn surrounding it, then shook his head and approached the graves.

"I'm sorry..." Forming seals with his hands, Kakashi crouched down and rested his palms on the ground, causing a slight noise as four coffins began to rise above ground.

Standing up while patting his hands on his clothes, Kakashi stared at the four coffins for a few seconds and approached the first one, then inhaled deeply and opened it.

Wrinkling his nose at the putrid smell, Kakashi stared at the half-eaten mummified corpse by the larvae and his gaze trembled as he looked at the completely empty sockets, then walked quickly to the rest of the graves and checked them one by one.

"Shit..." Having already checked all four coffins, Kakashi gritted his teeth and his gaze fixed on the corpse in front of him "He... was right."

"'But why...?' With mixed emotions in his one exposed eye, Kakashi brought his hands to his hair and thought with dazed confusion 'With the fall of the Uzumaki and the Uchiha, the village lost almost half of its strength... never before in history have we been left as helpless as now...'

"And it turns out that all of this... was orchestrated by the village itself?"

"I can't believe that kid was right... I guess the apple of doesn't fall from the tree" Shaking his head, Kakashi crouched down and sank the coffins again, then flattened the earth to hide his actions.

Looking sideways, Kakashi sighed and put his hands in his pocket, then walked away quietly while muttering "I guess I have a lot to do now"

***

"Faster Sakura, we don't have all day!"

"I know!" with a sweaty face as she furiously plows the ground beneath her feet, Sakura grumbled "I was one of the best in the academy, but what did I end up accomplishing? Plowing a silly field after spending a whole morning painting fences and trapping animals"

"You're the only one complaining, Sakura" Sitting comfortably with an umbrella covering him from the sun, Kakashi quietly read a paperback book and commented.

Looking up, Sakura looked at Sasuke and Naruto replete with dirt as they plowed the ground in silence, then looked at Naruto and asked quizzically "Why is it whenever I see you you always seem to have more dark circles under your eyes?"

"I don't know."

Groaning in frustration, Sakura put the hoe aside and put her hands on her hips as she asked him "Why don't you use your clones? We'd be done in minutes with all these silly missions."

"How many tools do we have?"

"3"

"And how many are we?"

"3"

"Exactly"

"Ugh!" With exasperation, Sakura picked up the hoe again and continued working.

Pausing after a few seconds, Naruto turned to Kakashi and commented "But I don't think it's a bad idea to paint fences or perform other regular missions."

"It's not a bad idea, but they ask that it be done as a team" Turning the page, Kakashi replied.

"I could use the transformation jutsu, no one would notice"

Raising his gaze to Naruto, Kakashi was silent for a few seconds and replied "Splitting the pay is mandatory"

"I'm willing to give him my pay!" quickly raising her hand, Sakura exclaimed.

"Me too" Looking up, Sasuke nodded.

Staring at the duo for a few seconds, Kakashi turned his gaze to Naruto and spoke "We have to do at least 3 missions a day, but if you'll use your clones, I'll take 5."

"I have no problem."

"If you know it will take hours even for your clones, no?"

"I know"

"..." Looking at Naruto deeply, Kakashi nodded "Fine, but I'm not going to give you my money... and you'll also have to form clones of me"

"I'll settle for 80%"

"Fair enough" Nodding while closing the book, Kakashi took out a stack of papers between his pockets and handed them to Naruto "We'll be doing these missions for a week... use this time to train"

"Yes!" punching the air with joy, Sakura wiped the sweat from her forehead and openly celebrated.

"So..." Standing up while keeping the book in his pocket, Kakashi took the chair and his umbrella, then waved his hand and slowly walked away "Naruto, tomorrow we'll collect the money from the missions."

"Understood..." Watching the man's back slowly walk away, Naruto frowned slightly and muttered "Kakashi-sensei... I really accept?"

"Sasuke-kun!" Running towards Sasuke who was wiping the sweat from his forehead, Sakura took out a thin cloth from one of her pockets and stretched it towards him with a blush on her face "I was thinking... and now that we have the afternoon free, how about we go get something to eat or go for a walk?"

"..." Looking at the cloth in front of him, Sasuke shook his head and replied "I have to train."

"I can walk you!"

"No thanks" Walking past Sakura, Sasuke walked over to Naruto and asked "Can you make it with your clones working?"

"I might pass out when I have to undo them, but I won't have any problems" Nodding as he wiped his sweat with his shirt, Naruto formed a couple dozen clones around him and nodded towards them, then started walking past Sasuke heading towards the forest.

"..." Opening and closing her mouth in surprise, Sakura's gaze trembled in disbelief as she looked at the duo walking off into the distance "Leaving together, no longer arguing, Sasuke-kun talking to him first, dark circles under his eyes... Did they... no, it can't be..."

Opening her eyes a little wider after a few seconds, Sakura looks in horror at the two silhouettes disappearing in the distance and mutters "Naruto... trying to take Sasuke away from me?"

***

"Ino, over here" Wearing a long dark jacket while hiding in an alleyway, Sakura whispered as loud as she could towards the blonde walking past her.

Turning her gaze towards with confusion, Ino stared at the silhouette hidden under the jacket and a pair of sunglasses and took special notice of the exposed pink hair, then rolled her eyes and huffed as she folded her arms "Now what do you want, Sakura? Come to tease me again for being able to spend time with Sasuke-kun?"

"It's not that!" quickly shaking her head, Sakura grabbed Ino's arm and pulled her into the alley, then looked sideways and whispered urgently "This is an emergency!"

"Don't wrinkle my clothes" In disgust, Ino asked "What's wrong now?"

"I..." Clenching her fists, Sakura hesitated for a few seconds and ended up exclaiming "I think Naruto is seducing Sasuke!"

"..." Frowning slightly, Ino asked "You finally went crazy?"

"Listen to me Ino, this is serious!" stomping her feet in frustration, Sakura continued "I've been following him for days and not only do they sneak off to the forest every damn morning, but they eat together all 3 times a day at the ramen store!"

Opening her eyes a little wider, Ino asked "Are you kidding?"

"I swear!" With annoyance on her face, Sakura continued "I even saw Sasuke-kun smile while eating ramen!"

"I don't believe you" With horror in her eyes, Ino quickly shook her head and muttered "Th-that's impossible..."

"If you don't believe me, follow me, I saw them again entering the forest!"

With a slight hesitation, Ino finally nodded.

"Let's go!"

Taking off her jacket and leaving it on the ground, Sakura jumped onto the roof next to Ino and they started running with direction towards the forest "I swear Ino, this situation is very serious!"

"How long have you known about it!?"

"The other day I invited Sasuke-kun to lunch, but he turned me down to go with Naruto!" With anger, Sakura continued "Can you believe that!? He turned me down for Naruto! For Naruto!!!"

"With that big forehead of yours, I don't think it's that weird" Snorting with derision, Ino frowned slightly and continued "But if Naruto really dares to take Sasuke-kun away from us, he'll deal with my fist!"

Arriving next to the forest, Sakura stopped and looked sideways, then walked deeper as she commented "I saw them come in this way."

"Haven't you thought that they're just... I don't know... friends?" Running alongside Sakura, Ino asked.

"Heh" With a mocking laugh, Sakura asked "Naruto and Sasuke-kun being friends? Do you hear yourself?"

"Or maybe they're training..."

"With Naruto?"

"Damn, I'm just looking for a logical reason!"

Moving further into the forest as they conversed with each other, suddenly Ino stopped and turned her gaze to her right, as noticeable crashing noises reached her ears.

Clang Clink Clink Clang Clink Clink

Looking at each other, Sakura nodded towards Ino and they began to move forward crouching in the grass, getting closer and closer towards the source of the noise.

"W-what is this?" ducking into the bushes in front of a small plain among the forest, Sakura stammered in surprise.

"He's... Naruto?" With disbelief on her face, Ino muttered, "And he's really training with Sasuke-kun."

Clang Clink Clink Clang Clink Clink

In the center of the plain, five Naruto clones and five Sasuke clones were exchanging blows with Kunais in their hands, while nearby, dozens more Naruto clones were sitting in lotus position while a thin layer of chakra covered from their hands to their forearm.

"B-but why are they in their underwear?" With a slight blush on her face, Sakura stammered.

"Don't ask Sakura, enjoy" With a satisfied smile as she carefully scanned Sasuke's naked torso and lost herself in the sheen of his sweat, Ino opened her eyes a little wider as she saw a Kunai pierce his chest causing the clone to disappear.

Without stopping his movements, Sasuke formed another clone and sent it to fight Naruto's quickly, repeating with Naruto the cycle over and over again.

After a few minutes of watching everything in silence, Ino finally shifted her gaze from Sasuke to Naruto and raised her eyebrows slightly, carefully scanning every inch of his body.

"Sakura..."

"What do you want?" without peeling her eyes from Sasuke's bare chest, Sakura asked in a daze.

"Have you seen Naruto yet?"

"What would I want to see Naruto for? Don't bother."

"Sakura, I'm serious, look at him" Shaking Sakura's shoulder, Ino swallowed saliva and continued "I need you to check if it's him."

Rolling her eyes in annoyance, Sakura turned her gaze to the Naruto sitting in the distance and blinked dazedly as she looked closely at his body.

"Now do you understand?"

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