"But I don't know where to start training…" Sakura said with some despair.
She wasn't good at ninjutsu, taijutsu, or genjutsu.
The only thing she could keep up with Sasuke and Naruto in was chakra control.
When Naruto heard this, he realized she was once again looking for him to teach her.
So he rubbed his fingers together and said, "You know the rules."
Even though he wasn't short on money now, one thing hadn't changed… he never helped for free!
Sakura hesitated, then took out thirty thousand ryō and handed it to Naruto.
It was all the pay from her last mission, pretty much her entire savings.
Naruto didn't bother counting it, just swept over it with his senses and got a rough idea of the amount.
He tucked the money into his pouch, then waved his hand and created a clone identical to himself.
Light Style. Clone Puppet!
"I don't have much I can really teach you, so the only way is through practice. This clone isn't real, but under my control it will attack you. What you need to do is dodge all of its attacks. Got it?"
"Got it!" Sakura nodded with a serious look.
"Then let's begin!"
As soon as he finished speaking, Naruto's clone shot a kick at Sakura.
She wasn't ready, and the kick landed, leaving a glowing footprint on her body!
"This clone won't hurt you, but every time it lands a hit it will leave a mark on you. I hope when you see those marks, you'll think about why you got hit."
After explaining, Naruto controlled the clone to attack again.
The clone wasn't fast, only about the level of a regular genin.
But even then, Sakura had a hard time dodging.
Clearly, she hadn't been putting much effort into training. Naruto guessed her last real practice was before the Chunin Exams.
Mission coming up? Then she'd remember to train.
Exam coming up? Then she'd remember to train.
With that kind of mindset, how could she ever get stronger?
By the time the night dragged on, Sakura's whole body was covered in glowing marks.
Fist marks, shoe prints, finger marks, even spots where kunai had struck!
Her whole body looked like she was glowing.
"That's enough for today."
Naruto yawned and headed for the cabin. With a squeeze of his hand, the clone vanished, and all the glowing marks on Sakura's body disappeared too.
She finally let out a breath and collapsed to the ground.
After hours of training, her body could barely stand, and her strength was completely drained.
If she kept going, she felt like she might actually die!
When she turned her eyes to the side, Sasuke was still training!
Is this the strength that makes Sasuke so powerful?
But why is Naruto just as strong without even training?
...
The next day,
Yuki woke up on the ship and was forced to continue her acting work.
As she put it, since she was already stuck on the ship with no way to escape, she might as well earn money by filming.
Naruto could totally understand that.
From Yuki's point of view, she was just a woman with no power at all!
At most, she was nothing more than a runaway princess!
She had no authority, no strength!
Facing a greedy boss, a greedy manager, and even the Konoha gang, what could she do?
Other than obediently acting, what else was there for her?
Go back to the Land of Snow and inherit the throne?
"Lights, ok!"
"Mic, ok!"
"Camera, ok!"
"Alright, start shooting!"
"Yeah!"
"Scene 23, Part 6, Shot 1, action!!"
With the clapboard snapped, the filming officially began.
On the worn-out ship, traces of the battle were everywhere.
With her makeup done like a beauty, Yuki knelt on the ground and suddenly turned. Seeing the fallen, muscular man, her eyes filled with tension. She threw herself onto him, clutching his collar tightly with both hands!
"Shishimaru! Stay strong!"
"Princess... I wasn't able to help you... I'm deeply ashamed..."
"What are you saying? It's because of you that we found the courage to keep going!"
"Princess, I really wanted to see the other side of the rainbow with you..."
"Shishimaru!!"
...
Watching a movie being filmed firsthand was a rare experience for Naruto and the others.
Sakura was especially impressed after seeing Yuki's acting in person.
"Such amazing acting! She's completely different from the Yuki in real life!"
"That's Miss Yuki for you. Once she's in front of the camera, no one can match her acting skills!"
Manager Sandayu had just proudly praised her when Yuki suddenly raised her hand and called for a stop.
"Hold on a second!"
"Sandayu, get me the eye drops, eye drops!"
Sakura: "..."
Sasuke: "..."
Clearly, you should never take a manager's praise of their own star at face value.
The filming went on and off, and it wasn't until evening that it finally wrapped up.
Since the whole ship was being used for shooting, Sasuke and Sakura couldn't train either and had to just watch the whole time.
At dinner,
Naruto tapped Kakashi on the shoulder. "Kakashi, want me to give you something?"
"What is it?" Kakashi looked at Naruto with doubt.
"A wallet!"
Naruto pulled out the Pakkun wallet he bought during a mission in the Land of Tea. "What do you think? Want it? Only costs... ten thousand ryo!"
"..."
"No thanks, I already have a wallet."
Kakashi politely turned him down, but Naruto wasn't planning to let him go that easily.
He spent a whole three hundred ryo on this thing!
If he didn't sell it, he'd be at a loss!
"Kakashi, this wallet is different! It's a symbol of who you are! And look at this wallet, the quality is amazing!"
"I'm going back to my room, sorry!"
Kakashi tried to escape, but Naruto stuffed down his dinner in one gulp and followed him. "Even if you don't like it, do you think Pakkun wouldn't? Call him out, I'll sell this wallet to him!"
"..."
Kakashi stayed silent and just kept running away!
Naruto didn't give up and kept trying to convince him!
One ran, one chased. In the end, Kakashi gave in to Naruto's persistence and bought the Pakkun wallet for ten thousand ryo!
Holding the ugly Pakkun wallet in his hand, Kakashi let out a sigh and looked at Naruto.
He was counting his money!
This guy had really changed. Before, he wouldn't even talk to him much, let alone try to sell him a wallet.
What got into him...?
Kakashi thought he still preferred the old Naruto who was quiet and cool.
Now Naruto still didn't smile much, but he sure talked a lot more and liked doing these silly things.
Had he been holding back for too long?
Or maybe it was from following Jiraiya for so long, slowly picking up his habits?
Not sure if it's a good thing or a bad thing...
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