Shattered Dreams
A/N: This story takes place when everyone is around the ages of 14/13.
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.
Chapter One: The Challenge
Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura were waiting at the training grounds for their sensei. As they waited, Naruto started going on about how he was going to become Hokage and what he would do when he became the Hokage. The blonde ranted on as Sakura stared at Sasuke and the Uchiha just looked away from his teammates. Suddenly in a puff of smoke, Kakashi appeared.
"Hi,'' said the silver-haired ninja as he gave a quick wave. Naruto and Sakura stopped what they were doing and shouted in unison, "YOU'RE LATE!" Kakashi rubbed the back of his head as he said, ''Well, that is easy to explain. You see, my house caught on fire and I..." Naruto interrupted as he threw a rock at his teacher's head. "You liar! You were probably reading your perverted book until five in the morning and then you slept in late, right?"
Kakashi gave a smile under his mask and said, "Well, yeah. But that is not the point. Anyway, today is the day when you practice throwing kunai while hanging upside down from a tree branch." Naruto groaned as his sensei took out some of his own throwing knives. "Why do we have to do this? We don't need to know how to do this!" complained Naruto. Kakashi looked at the blonde and gave a rather large sigh. "Well, since certain missions will require the use of stealth on unsuspecting foes while from unusual positions. Camouflage also helps but that will be tomorrow's lesson."
Kakashi each gave them ten kunai and told them to climb a large oak that had evenly spaced branches. He then set up a pole that a drawn target on it about twenty feet away. "Firstly, pick one of the lowest branches and use your chakra to hang from it. Next aim carefully and throw your weapon slightly higher so that you will have a better chance of hitting the target. For each hit, you score will go up. Do you get all that?" asked the Jounin as his students nodded. Their sensei showed them how to throw the kunai while hanging and then did a quick demonstration. Kakashi hit the pole with all ten.
Sasuke went next and threw his weapons with speed and precision. When he finished, nine had hit and one had missed; he passed with a ninety. Sakura then threw her kunai and ended up with a score of seventy meaning she passed too. Finally, Naruto climbed up, hung from a branch and threw each one at a steady pace. In the end, he finished with a total score of ten. 'This may take awhile for Naruto,' thought Kakashi as he told the blonde to try again.
By the time the sun started going down, Naruto could only get three to stick in one grouping. Kakashi just shook his head as he left his students to do what they wanted to do. Naruto was complaining about how this training was stupid as Sasuke smirked at him. "What's wrong dobe? Can't hit the target like us?" said Sasuke. Naruto tightened his fists as he shouted, "Who cares about throwing anything like you, you stupid teme! Besides I can take you in anything any day!"
Sasuke smirked again and said, "Fine. How about a fight with no rules? I'll take you on right here tomorrow morning at eight o'clock. Is that fine with you loser?" The blonde only nodded as he turned around and left his teammates. Sakura, who was watching the argument, decided to slip away and tell Ino about tomorrow. Finally, only Sasuke remained at the training grounds. He looked left and right searching for something to do before heading home so he could eat some tomatoes.
Once everyone was gone, two men wearing Jounin outfits and Konoha headbands with scratches through the symbols appeared. They were missingnin who seemed very dark and menacing. The first one was a tall blonde who had black eyes that showed hatred. The second one was an average sized man with black hair and eyes to match.
The tall ninja looked down to his comrade and said, "Which one is the demon-brat, Koji?" Koji gave his friend a smirk before replying. "The loud blonde in the weird orange jumpsuit. He is the one are after, Kenji." Kenji laughed as he said, "I can't wait until we rid our village of this pest." With that, the two silently followed Naruto home.
A/N: Oh no, a cliffhanger; I hate cliffhangers myself but today I am feeling extra evil (trust me, or my friends, I am evil enough on a normal day). But anyway, I am sure some of you want to know what happens but to know you must...
Naruto: Review!
Me: Hey! Where did you come from?