Training Hard

“Come on Naruto, you’re better than this! Stop being so predictable!” Sakura shouted from the sidelines as she provided another ‘hazard’ to the area, their dueling on already unstable ground made even more difficult by the barrage of items which were tossed into the arena. The low yield explosive tagged kunai were always the worst, and Naruto couldn’t help but frown at the way his nice skirt had already been torn by one of the less expected shrapnel charges which Sakura had preset into the training field. The evil bitch was herself standing on the side of a tree, looking out at the rest with a technique which their lackadaisical sensei had shown her, fully expecting her to teach it to the rest of them.

Of course she refused teach it without some promises of future concessions on both of the boys parts. In particular, for someone to go pick up a copy of Sensei’s book from the first issue for her, too embarrassed to actually do it herself.

She was currently paying back the teasing which Naruto had put her through about it after the fact by abusing his insane durability.

“That’s easy for you to say! It’s not like I can use my best move.” He groused out loud, even as Sasuke rounded their small arena, ducking behind a mound of piled dirt in order to strike from the side. Naruto was already on the move however, seeking to close the distance between the two of them in order to strike in close combat. While a less skilled Taijutsu fighter, Naruto was hardly a slouch and his insane combat stamina tended towards making any close combat engagement into a slugfest. Frankly the gap between him and his opponent was far smaller than Sasuke would have liked.

And, Sasuke had to admit, he was getting better every day.

It became