Disclaimer: Naruto and all of its characters belong to Shueisha and Masashi Kishimoto. I own nothing but the original characters I create.
"Dialogue"
'Thoughts'
-Author notes-
Chapter 76: Plans for the next month
As Naruto was about to leave the main building, he spotted Kakashi standing next to the door.
"I assumed you had gone to check on Sakura," Naruto said after getting a bit closer.
Kakashi moved his uncovered eye to meet his. "Sakura's been moved to the hospital already. But don't worry, I've been told that her injuries aren't severe, and she'll probably be out in a day or two."
"I see…then, you were waiting for me?" Naruto asked.
There seemed to be something troubling Kakashi before he began to speak again. "Yes, we need to talk about the upcoming month and your training. I've decided it would be best to train you separately. I'll take Sasuke away for two weeks before coming to train you. But don't worry, it's not like I'll leave you with nothing to do for that long. I have a few acquaintances who can help you with tr—"
"It's okay." Naruto interrupted him.
" I was planning on training by myself. No need to call anyone...you can dedicate the entire month to Sasuke," He added.
It wasn't like he didn't want to learn from the jonin, but what he needed right now the most, was some peace and quiet to cultivate, and he should be able to make a breakthrough before the finals.
As he was now, Naruto felt extremely restricted. With his ridiculously low cultivation base, there was not much he could do, no matter how great his knowledge was. He felt like an adult trapped in the body of a toddler...he wanted to remedy that.
"Eh?... Are you sure about that, Naruto?" Kakashi looked a bit shocked. He knew that the boy was very independent, but was not expecting him to reject his training before the finals.
"Very sure. I'll be fine, so you can go inform Sasuke. I'm sure he'll be pleased with the news."
Kakashi made a complicated expression.
"About that…I'd better wait until tomorrow. He seems to be in a sour mood after the preliminaries ended."
"He's always in a sour mood." Naruto had noticed the faces Sasuke was making during the match between Gaara and Rock Lee.
'That boy gets upset every time he sees someone stronger than him.' He reminded Naruto of those young Lords. They would also react the same way and could not tolerate anyone surpassing them.
Kakashi sighed. "Well… I'll take my leave then. If you have time tomorrow, go visit Sakura at the hospital. I'm sure she'll appreciate it."
Naruto nodded. "Sure, that's no problem." He was already planning on going there.
Kakashi stared at him for a moment. If it were anyone else, he would never leave one of his students without supervision for an entire month. But his instincts were telling him that this was the right decision for Naruto.
"Still…if you change your mind about the training, go talk with the Hokage. He'll be able to arrange something for you."
"I will." Of course, he had no intention of doing that. Since he woke up in this world, this was the first chance he had to cultivate in peace.
Back at his old sect, students were always left alone for months at a time so they could meditate without distractions. They would hand out resources every six months and hold optional lectures every month…for the most part, that was about it.
Many would find that lifestyle…boring. But for young cultivators, there was nothing better.
Here...he was kept busy almost every day. When they had no missions, Kakashi would call them to practice some team-building exercise…
Because of this, his strength was not growing as fast as it could.
He had considered leaving the village and wandering around the land, like he was used to doing for so many years. But there were many advantages to staying here.
He still had much to learn about chakra and all the techniques that the inhabitants of this world had developed. And the best place to do so would be a big ninja village like this one.
Besides, if he left now, he would become a wanted criminal. And since he had that powerful demon sealed inside him, he would likely be classified as a high-priority one.
He could not afford to have jonin like Kakashi hunting him down.
There was also another benefit to staying in a populated place like Konoha. There were many talented girls who could make potential dao companions to dual cultivate.
That was a very effective method to increase his reserves and would greatly complement his other methods.
Or at least, that was the case in his old world. He had no idea if it could still work with chakra.
'I won't hurt to try, though….'
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After a proper night of rest, Naruto put on a new change of clothes and made his way to the hospital.
Even if Kakashi hadn't asked him, he would still have come here.
He wanted to check on Rock Lee's condition, as well as Hinata's.
He adjusted the bag on his back as he walked. His plan for today was to buy some supplies and spend a few days in the mountains.
Naruto soon found himself staring at a nurse.
"Excuse me…"
She lifted her head, and the smile on her face disappeared when she saw who he was.
"What do you want?" she grunted with exasperation.
'I guess it's going to be the same here…' No matter where he went, this was the usual treatment he received.
"I'm here to visit my teammate, Sakura Haruno."
"Mmm…" She glanced at a paper on her table. "Room 76, second floor…" She then glared at him.
"You better behave while in the hospital."
Naruto decided to ignore the woman and be on his way. Nothing good could come out of fighting a civilian.
He walked to the second floor, and as soon as he did, he immediately felt that something was wrong.
His instincts were screaming at him to be careful. There was something dangerous here.
Naruto heard some soft noises coming from a nearby room. It almost sounded like…
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