When Naruto came back into the fresh air a few moments later, he thought again about what he had just heard. As he did so, he walked back the path at a slow pace. When he was in the immediate vicinity of the fork in the road, Sakura met him beaming.
"Hey Naruto, there you are! Have you already been down at Shiro Lake? It's wonderful. It's really a shame that it's still spring, I'm really looking forward to summer, that's going to be great.", Said she thrilled and the fox cub smiled slightly.
"Do you have any idea where Sasuke is?", She asked afterwards, but Naruto shook his head.
"The market place is great too, there are amazing things there.", The pink-haired girl continued while they walked on together. "I bought a kimono and a super nice necklace, I'll show it to you at home later if you like."
Naruto nodded in agreement. His mind was still revolving around Shing's past story and Sakura now seemed to realize that something was wrong.She looked at him carefully.
"Where have you actually been?", She wanted to know and now the blond boy looked at her.
"In the tea house!" Was his short answer.
"And how is it there?"
"Nice.", Naruto replied and turned away from her again. He noticed Sakura's brief sidelong glance and she sighed.
"You're not exactly talkative!" She stated seriously. "But when you see the lake, you are even more speechless," she added encouragingly.
A few minutes passed and they finally turned right, where a path snaked through flowers and bushes. The path led them several meters down until they finally came to a large meadow. On the right side, the meadow ended after a few meters and a sandy area led to the shore of the large lake. The crystal clear water stretched to the horizon, so that the lake did not look like a lake, but more like a sea. The sunlight made the water glitter and Naruto was stunned by the sight."Well, did I promise too much?" Sakura smiled broadly.
The fox cub made himself comfortable in the soft sand. He lay back on the sand and put his hands under his head. The gentle breeze that passed him felt pleasant.
Sakura sat down next to him and looked over the water.
"It's so nice here, don't you think?" She asked after a while. Naruto, who had closed his eyes, nodded briefly.
"Yes, everything seems so peaceful," he muttered without opening his eyes.
"I'm excited to see what awaits us in our training," he suddenly changed the subject.
"Whatever it is, we will definitely make it, I mean, we've already got a lot done.", Sakura announced ambitiously.
Then there was silence. The two now relaxed and listened to the sounds of nature. Naruto fell asleep and the soothing warmth that surrounded him made him fall asleep after a few minutes.Sakura couldn't help but smile at the sight.
A few moments later she got up and when Sakura turned around, she saw Sasuke a few meters away, who was just walking towards her.
"Hello Sasuke-kun!", She greeted him embarrassed and he just raised his right hand, in his usual cool way. He now also looked at the idyllic lake. Only a few seconds later did he notice Naruto sleeping.
"What knocked him over?", He asked Sakura and pointed at the blond boy. Sakura shrugged.
"I don't know exactly. Strangely, he's not as talkative as usual.", Said the pink-haired girl, but Sasuke didn't seem surprised.
"It's unbelievable, I was only ten minutes in the village and already people are getting on my nerves.", The Uchiha boy snorted and then sat down next to Naruto on the sand. Sakura followed him steadily and made room next to her crush, so that she was now sitting on Sasuke's right."What do people annoy you with?", The pink-haired girl asked softly so that she wouldn't accidentally wake Naruto.
Sasuke looked at her in disbelief.
"Are you saying that the villagers aren't bothering you with their gossip about the three of us supposedly being their new hope and so on?"
Sakura shook her head slightly.
"No, only a few residents greeted me and wished me good luck with my training," she said truthfully. Sasuke sighed.
"Was to be foreseen.", Claimed the black-haired boy. "By the way, I learned that we will start with the initial training of our rank tomorrow. So we first learn the basics and then we have to go through endless theory stuff again. Naruto will be thrilled!" He added and deliberately spoke the last part of the sentence sarcastic. Sakura started giggling.
"Did the villagers say what they mean by saying that we are their new hope?"she asked thoughtfully.
Sasuke shook his head. He talked with Sakura for a few minutes until they got company. It was Jay. His blonde hair was completely tousled by the wind and he looked a little exhausted.
"There you are at last," he said and scratched the back of his head. "I've been looking for you for half an hour."
Sasuke frowned and Sakura smiled sheepishly.
"Well you've found us!", She managed, confused.
"Fortunately for me! In any case, Sensei Jamoto wants to speak to you, but don't ask me about what, he didn't tell me, I should just find you and send you to him."
Without waiting for an answer or anything, Jay turned and walked away. Sakura got up and Sasuke shook Naruto's shoulder slightly, the fox cub then blinking at him. Then he sat up and stretched with relish.
"Sasuke? What-"
"We don't have time, Sensei Jamoto wants to speak to us.", Sakura interrupted instead of Sasuke.
Still a little sleepy, Naruto looked at her now.
"Why? And about what?"
"I don't know! Come on now!" She urged. Sasuke got up now, almost at the same time as Naruto.
"Why are you running like that?" The blond boy nagged as Sakura quickened her pace. He and Sasuke trudged after her.
"I would be interested in that too," the Uchiha heir interjected.
"We were asked to see Sensei Jamoto, so we should go there as soon as possible, because I don't think he likes it if you let him wait long," said Sakura and Sasuke, and Naruto just twisted them annoyed Eyes.
"Maybe it's not that important.", Naruto relented and earned a withering look from the girl. He stopped abruptly. The rest of the way to the school grounds they walked side by side in silence. When they entered the lounge, their teacher was already sitting on the floor and motioned for the three of them to sit down as well.They did as they were told and looked at their sensei expectantly.
"There is disturbing news," announced the black-haired man with a serious expression and Naruto wondered if he was deliberately teasing her. None of the three dared to speak, instead they waited anxiously for their teacher to speak again. There was about a minute of silence before Joe Jamoto took a deep breath.
"I will have to speed up your training a little so that you are not completely unprepared at that moment."
"At what moment?", Naruto asked perplexed.
"At the moment when we can win everything, but unfortunately we can also lose everything.", Replied the man and the fox cub looked ignorant, because this answer had by no means answered his question.
"In order to make the current situation a little more understandable for you, I will have to inform you of our enemies. On the one hand there are the surrounding villages.We avoid any contact with the residents outside of Mangura, as this village has been at enmity with the other villages in the Aarina Valley for decades. I will explain the details to you at a later date. At the moment, however, this is not the main problem. ", described the teacher. Then he told the three friends about Takuro. Here Naruto did not learn more than Shing had already told him.
"His followers are on their way here and so we have to be prepared if there is a fight. Of course I want to keep you out of this as much as possible, but maybe I have no other choice.", Joe continued.
"Just a second, how do you know - I mean, do you know that Takuro's followers are on their way here? And what do they want from you?" Naruto asked and at first accidentally forgot the courtesy phrase. Sakura sighed.
"Isn't that clear? Sensei Jamoto also hired a few people to look out for such information outside of Mangura!"", the pink-haired girl answered his question and her teacher nodded approvingly.
"Exactly!" He agreed. "So our enemies should arrive here within the next few days, which leads us back to the starting point, namely that I have to accelerate your training. That means, I have to teach you the basics and probably break a rule."
"What kind of rule do you think?", Said Sakura.
"I told you about the ranks this morning, do you remember?"
Sasuke, Sakura and Naruto nodded.
"Well, according to a rule I am only allowed to teach you the special technique from the second rank, but I fear this time no longer remains with us. I don't know what our enemies are up to and that's why we need every support and these special techniques are authoritative, to be well prepared in the event of an attack. I'm not sure if you can do it, but I have faith in you. I have to add, however, that it will be a very tough training and that you are aware of your limits you have to in order not to get beyond it. "Again the three friends nodded and then they all stood up.
"Then we should start right away. Go to the training ground, you have to follow the right path! I will come shortly."
Without arguing, Sasuke, Sakura and Naruto went on their way.
"I did not think that this beautiful village has so many enemies.", Said the pink-haired girl, while the three walked along the stone path.
"Not everything that looks peaceful is like that.", Sasuke claimed and his comrades silently agreed.
A few moments later they reached the training ground. There were two huge fields of earth, which were separated in the middle by a wooden fence. Together the fields made up about one hectare. The three friends never expected that they would see such a large training field.
"That's huge!" Marveled the blond boy.
"Isn't that right?" Said a voice