Beginning Again
By Trinity Maddux and Gwenn Withem
Key
Whole section Italicized—look into the time in which the memory is being told
Certain Sentences Italicized—Thought of character
Then text underneath—time change or character's view change
Section Italicized and underlined—look into the past
Prologue
The tower stood derelict. Had it really been ten years? Naruto stared, amazed. Ten years. In 10 years, he had married Hinata, became hokage, and had 2 kids, a boy and girl. Ten years have passed, yet it felt like 100. A rustle sounded behind. Naruto turned. A grin crept up his face. Sasuke and Sakura, teammates when they were genin and friends, were walking up, their twin boys running around and a baby girl in Sakura's arms. Behind them came Neji and Tenten, their 3 year old boy swinging in between them. Ino also followed. Rock Lee and Hope were walking toward the tower, a 9 year old son sulking behind.
"Glad you could make it!" Naruto called. "Where's the others!"
"They'll be here, Naruto." Sasuke said calmly.
"Hey, Sasuke." 8 year old Tsume, Naruto's son, called toward his dad's best friend.
"Yea?"
"Did my dad really save you from Haku?"
"Excuse me?''
"You know," Tsume grinned mischievously, "How you fainted and Haku was goin' to kill you with senbon and my dad took them all and still kicked Haku's butt while you bawled like a baby!?"
Sasuke glared at Naruto. It sucks that He's Hokage. Strangling him would have been quite enjoyable.
"Now, Sasuke, control your temper. Oh, would you hold Dimond for awhile?"
"Sure."
Naruto snickered. Another glare emanated from Sasuke. Sakura handed over Dimond to Sasuke, turned, and pummeled Naruto on the head. A lump started growing. Tsume roared with laughter.
"YOU'RE A…A…A… A DOPE. TRYING TO STEAL SASUKE'S GLORY! WHAT KIND OF EXAMPLE HAVE YOU BEEN SETTING YOUR CHILDREN?!
A cry diverted their attention. During Sakura's lecture upon Naruto, Tsume and one of Sasuke's boys, Roku, began fighting. As the grownups turn, Roku cut Tsume on the shoulder. It wasn't serious, once Tsume assessed it, but he still glared, plans of revenge swirling inside his brain. Suddenly, his face lit up, he put his hands together, and yelled, "Multi-Shadow Clone jitsu!"
Hundreds of Tsume surrounded Roku. He went into a defensive posture, waiting. The Tsumes put their hands together and yelled simultaneously, "Transform!"
Puffs of smoke filled the air and out of them came hundreds of naked female Tsumes. They rushed toward Roku, crawling over him, surrounding him. Roku stood dumbfounded for a moment, and then keeled over in shock. More smoke, then only one Tsume was left, male, clothed, and gloating.
"Harem Jitsu!" He crowed.
Hinata turned to face Naruto, eyebrows raised.
"I know it looks suspicious, but I want you to know, thatHE MADE ME!"
"Oh, really?"
"Yes, but I told him never to use it. NEVER."
"No, you told me never to use it in front of Mom." Tsume butted in. "And I didn't make you."
"Do you want to live to see tomorrow?!"
Hinata smiled, despite her annoyance. Riku, Rock Lee's son, finally reached the group, scowling.
"Dad, why are we here? We're just seein' friends. Can't I go home? I need to practice my taijitsu."
"No, son. You have wondered how your father and I met, how we know the Hokage, the Uchiha Clan, and the Hyuuga Clan. You have wondered why we or any of us are, yet we didn't even finish the Chuunin Exams! Haven't you?"
Riku scowled even more. "Yea, but I don't see what that has to do with this
"Well, son, a year before you were born, everyone we know fought and defeated a man so evil, it is a miracle only one person died. Today, this week, is the 10th celebration of that terror. That's why we're here."
"To celebrate that time of terror?"
"Yes and no. We are here to tell the story. We have not understood every part, and today, we will learn. That is why we are here, son." Rock Lee explained, laying a hand on his shoulder.
"We can't tell the story yet!" Naruto cried. "We're still missing people."
"Not anymore." Neji pointed in the distance.
Itachi, Sarah-Sum, Choji, Hanabi, Gaara, Tamari, Komkoru, Shino, and Kiba were striding toward them, laughing and talking.
"Hey, you guys! Hurry Up!"
Despite Naruto's calls of "Slowpokes!'', it only took a minute. Naruto counted the heads.
"23, 24, 25." Naruto turned in a circle, looking. "Wait. Where Shikamaru and Gem, Ino?"
"They're not here?"
"No."
Ino went red. "They're dead. I told them to be here. 'Me and Gem are going for a walk,' he said. I bet they're watching clouds. When I find them, I…"
"Sasuke! Naruto! Hope you haven't began without us!"
Everyone turned at the sound of voices. Shikamaru and Gem were strolling, in no hurry. Naruto looked down to see his son blushing, staring intently at Gem. Naruto grinned and turned to Faith, his 5 year old daughter.
"Hey, Faith?'
"Hm?''
"Does Tsume like Gem?"
Faith turned to her dad and grinned. "Duh! Every boy does. I think it's because of her dark hair or blue eyes. Maybe it's her figure. Whatever the reason, she turns heads wherever she goes."
"Ah, Naruto. Is Tsume still kickin' your ass?"
"No, not anymore, Shikamaru." Naruto stood.
Gem stood by her father and smiled. It was a small, almost nonexistent smile, but Tsume found himself blushing harder.
"Hi, Tsume."
"H-H-Hi, Gem." Tsume wiped his sweaty hands on his pant legs.
"How's the South Academy?"
"Fine. Iruka's still being a jackass."
"Beating your father during training?"
Tsume grinned. Time to make himself better in her eyes. "Of course. I might even become Hokage soon. Be the youngest." There you go, ol' boy.
Faith giggled. "First, you have to graduate."
Tsume reddened. "Quiet, Blubberbutt."
"Oooh struck a nerve. Listen, bro, you can't woo Gem. She doesn't even like you."
"Get back here so I can pummel you."
"Won't get a lady that way."
Naruto, sensing danger, grabbed the back of Tsume's shirt. Futilely, Tsume scrabbled at the air.
"Let me go, Dad! I promise it'll be swift."
"Can't. Mom'll kill me."
Tsume glared at Faith. "You better be glad that Dad's fightin your battles. Otherwise, you wouldn't see your 6th birthday."
Faith stuck out her tongue. "I'm sooo afraid."
"Though this is interesting entertainment, might I suggest we move into the tower and begin?"
"You're right, Itachi. We don't have any time to waste." Naruto started toward the tower, watching Faith and Tsume through the corner of his eye.
"Boss! Hey Boss! Wait up!"
Naruto turned, dread in his heart. Konohamaru, his annoying, takes-his-job-way-too-seriously bodyguard, was running, intent to join Naruto. Naruto groaned.
He had told Konohamaru that he had the day off. Naruto mentally beat himself to a pulp. Stupid. Konohamaru didn't believe in a day off. He thought Naruto needed protection wherever he went.
"Konohamaru, go back to the village. You have the day off." Naruto scolded as Konohamaru drew closer.
"But…boss. You can't…call for…help way…out here." He panted.
Naruto slapped his head. "Konohamaru, look around. I'm surrounded with S-ranked ninjas. I'm safe."
"But, boss, I…"
"Konohamaru, I'm ordering you to go home and spend the day with your girlfriend."
"I don't have one."
"Then find one. Just go!"
Konohamaru nodded, turned and left. Satisfied, Naruto turned back toward the tower. He pushed open the wide, warped doors with a creak to reveal a large room.
The room was circular, hallways leading to rooms and more hallways. 30 feet high, the remnants of a large staircase swung slowly, threatening to fall. Ivy creeped up the walls, and shafts of sunlight fell through holes, glass fragments still in some. A pile of wood laid in the middle.
"Looks like Dracula's Castle," Zeke commented.
"Really creepy,'' Roku added.
The twins looked at each others, the grins on their faces matching the ivy. "AWESOME!"
Tsume rolled his eyes.
"Sasuke, Itachi will you use Dragon Flame on that wood? We need to keep warm." Sarah Sum suggested.
They nodded. "You do it, little brother."
"NO, you, older brother."
"No, you, brother. I insist."
"I insist you do it, brother."
"You're stronger, bro…"
"Will one of you just do it?! And stop calling each other 'brother'. It's annoying." Naruto and Shikamaru grumbled.
The two shrugged, then made some quick hand signs.
"Dragon Flame Jitsu!" They roared as two large fireballs spewed from their mouths and crashed onto the wood. Soon, a roaring bonfire bathed the group.
"O.K. Now that we are comfortable, we can begin. Kids, everyone of you have wondered how we became S-ranked Ninjas. Today, you'll learn."
"Who's going to start?" Hinata looked around.
"I will." Sasuke stepped forward and took a deep breath. "Here it goes."
Chapter One
"Does everyone have the plan memorized?" Sasuke looked around his fellow genin and classmates.
"Yep!" Sasuke turned, shooting Naruto a look so ugly, even Orochimaru would have died of revulsion. Naruto shifted uneasily. Finally he snapped, "Alright. I have 1/3 of it memorized, but that's all the important stuff. I think."
"You're such a loser, Naruto."
"Yet I beat Gaara, not YOU. Which means you're the loser, believe it. Ouch!"
Naruto, rubbing his head, turned away from harassing Sasuke, facing his two assailants, Sakura and Ino, kunoichi, fan girls of Sasuke, and were spitting at Naruto, fire in their eyes, fists still raised.
"Don't call Sasuke an idiot! He's cooler, cuter, and smarter than you. So, BACK OFF!" They roared.
"Will you behave? Okay, Naruto, here's the plan. We all want to become Chuunin, which isn't going to happen with all of the competition from last year. So, we're going to cheat. First, once one person has the answers for the first part, he'll signal them to the rest of us. That should cause us to pass. In the Forest of Death, we'll join forces and knock out all other teams except Gaara's. Yes, Gaara's," Sasuke answered to Naruto's shocked look. "It'll look suspicious if only leaf shinobi pass. And besides, we have a score to settle."
"Alright. Let's see if I have it. First part, share answers. Second part, eliminate competition. Sounds easy enough. What about the third part?"
"Every man for himself." Everybody averted eyes, hoping no weakness was shown.
Naruto frowned. "Then why are we teaming up?"
People groaned and sighed. Sasuke opened his mouth to explain one more time. The door handle jiggled. Everyone vanished, except for Sasuke, Sakura, and Naruto. They appeared to be training. The door opened and Shikamaru stuck his head in.
"Hey. What are ya doin?"
"Training." Sasuke answered quickly. "Why?"
"None of the Jonin can find their teams. I was wonderin if you've seen anyone from our class."
"Nope."
"Huh. I thought you might know. I heard voices."
"That was me." Naruto raised his hands in a you-caught-me-I'm-guilty way. "I was trying out a new move with shadow clones. Sasuke and Sakura were helping me."
"Great. Thanks anyways."
"Hey, Shikamaru, how's being a chuunin?" Sakura asked nonchalantly.
Shikamaru sighed. "A drag. I would rather be a genin."
"But you get b-ranked and a-ranked missions. We don't." Naruto commented.
"Yea, but that means more life and death situations."
"Big deal."
"Look, you guys need to get to bed. The chuunin exams are tomorrow, and you want to be well rested and ready to go."
"Right." All four left, headed for their houses.
Scene Change (SC)
"Joining forces? Wonderful idea, don't you think so, Itachi?" Orichimaru chuckled, addressing is comrade. The Uchiha boy looked at the image, his younger brother speaking to Naruto, and resisting Sakura.
"Yes, a very good idea for such weaklings. It will make our mission easier as well. Would you like to use my spy, now?"
"Yes, I think your spy would be appropriate."
Itachi nodded, then left the small room. Orichimaru went back to watching the bowl of water. The Atasuki hideout was quite endearing. Built into a cavern, it reminded him of the Uchiha mansions. On the plus side, one could have privacy, a fact Orichimaru enjoyed. On the down side, you could easily get lost. Not that that would happened. Orichimaru heard footsteps and turned away from his scrying.
"Here's the spy." Itachi stepped to the side, and a 15 year old girl came into view. Orichimaru scrutinized her.
"Are you sure, Itachi? She seems young. I think one of mine would do better."
The girl sneered at her elder. "Oh, yea? Would you like me to tell you what you did last night. Or specifically, what you and Kisame did?"
"How do you…"
The girl smirked. "I was in the room. I have several jitsus only known to the females of my clan. We were known for our spying and assassination skills."
Smart girl. Orichimaru looked over one more time, and had to admit, she was perfect. She could easily blend in during the chuunin exams, pretending to be a ninja. She was the right age. And if he couldn't sense her, then she had skill.
"Fine. Go. We need to know the 5 strongest leaf village genin. Any information. Specifically, their strengths, weaknesses, and anything we could use."
"Right. Well, I should be back with the information by tomorrow afternoon, very latest." The girl left.
Orichimaru turned away from Itachi. He watched the group. Poor Sasuke. He won't be able to complete his dream. Especially if I do it first.
"Orichimaru, I need to leave." Itachi waited for his elder to dismiss.
Orichimaru waved his hand. Itachi nodded and left the room. Leader will be proud. Orichimaru doesn't suspect a single thing. Doesn't suspect my mission is to remove him from the picture. Itachi smiled. This mission was going to be easy.
SC
"Where's Kakashi? He wanted us to train, and yet, he's late."
"Calm down, Sakura, he'll be here." Because if he doesn't I won't be able to train.
Naruto looked at his two teammates. "Why are you guys worry? We are going to win this!"
"Quiet. Do you want anyone to hear you?" Sakura hissed.
"Hear what?" a cool voice drawled. Sakura and Naruto turned to face their teacher, Kakashi Hatake.
"Nothing, Kakashi-sensei." Sakura said quickly.
"Really? Oh, well. Now are you guys ready to train?"
"Finally. If I'm going to help out the team, I need to be ready." Naruto had opened his big mouth and said the wrong thing. Sasuke glared at him.
"What do you mean, 'help out the team'?"
"He means, being helpful, ready to fight, and not a teme." Sasuke filled in quickly. "He felt like we would have been finished earlier if he had tried harder. That's all he meant."
Kakashi turned to Naruto. "This true, Naruto?"
"N-uumpff!" Sakura kicked him in the shins, sending him a glare that said Go along, you idiot.
"Nuumpff? Does that mean no?"
"No. It means yea, that's right." Naruto bent and rubbed his leg.
"Don't beat yourself up. C'mon, time to train." Kakashi began walking off the bridge. Before he stepped off, however, a bell rang. Kakashi looked up, not expecting the harsh sound. He stared thoughtfully. "Guess training's not an option."
"What do you mean training's not an option?!" Sasuke glared at his teacher.
"That bell means that the exams will start in an hour. Where I planned to train you three would make you miss the test. I daresay that you don't want that."
Sasuke was now thoroughly pissed. He had a bad night's sleep. Not that he had a good one since Itachi had killed his whole clan, leaving him the only one alive. But last night was even worse. He had a strange dream, a dream where he was begging for Itachi to spare some girl, his sister, he had said. But he didn't have a sister. He spent the rest of the night pacing through his mansion. Now, Kakashi was so damn late, no training could be accomplished. Life sucks.
"C'mon Sasuke, Naruto. We need to reach the tower. See ya later, Kakashi!" Sakura waved as the raven haired and blonde boy followed her quickly. The gray haired young man
raised his hand in farewell, a orange book in his other. As soon as he was out of sight, Sakura turned onto Naruto, ready to hit him. Sasuke beat her to the punch.
"OW! What the hell was that for?" Naruto gave his arch rival a fixed stare, rubbing his head.
"If I wasn't so concerned that Kakashi would spoil our plans, I wouldn't have cover for your dumb ass! Next time, think before you speak. Got that Naruto? Good, now let's go."
Sasuke turned around and headed toward the tower.
"Umm, Sasuke?"
Sasuke turned back around to the pink-haired konoichi. "What?" He snapped.
"Naruto isn't here."
"What do you mean Naruto isn't here?"
Sakura fidgeted slightly. "He used a clone and it just disappeared."
Now Sasuke was angry. Of all the lousy tricks Naruto pulled on him, this was the worst. And he had a hunch on where Naruto was.
"Follow me." Sasuke said curtly to his teammate.
Naruto's apartment was in the last building, top floor. Sasuke pounded on the door, gritting his teeth at the teme.
"W-W-Who is it?" Naruto yawned.
"Get your ass out of there or let us in!" Sasuke roared.
The door creaked open, Naruto grumbling. He leaned against the doorframe. "What do you want, Uchiha?"
"To kick your ass to the first tower. I can't believe you're that lazy. Sending in a clone to take the exam for you, while you try to sleep is the most despicable thing I've ever seen."
Naruto scowled. "Great lecture. But you're not my mother, so back off buddy boy."
Sasuke grabbed Naruto by the collar, and drew him close. "If your not ready in 10 minutes, I will drag you to the first exam with what you have on. Got that?"
"Yea, Yea. Just hold your horses." Naruto slammed the door.
Sakura was leaning against a wall. Why did Naruto have to be an idiot? Why did have to be Naruto? If he was more like Sasuke, he would definitely be datable. But then, there would be more than one Sasuke. Maybe Naruto being Naruto wasn't so bad.
"Ready!" Naruto shut the door behind him. He was wearing an light orange shirt, with a black jacket over that. Black pants hugged his legs. He had dropped the target orange jumpsuit when he was 13. Sasuke was glad. He too, had changed his clothes. A slim dark blue shirt and dark violet pants. He went against shorts. Sakura still wore red, but the dress was slimmer, closer to her skin. All three had gotten rid of big collars.
"Let's go." Sasuke led the group out, and jump to the roof. Naruto and Sakura followed. Then it happened.
"Sasuke, come and get me!" A raven haired girl called. She ran away, laughing. Sasuke followed, laughing himself. She ran around a tree, then put her hands together. Sasuke
recognized the tiger symbol, and jumped to the side. A huge flaming ball hit the tree, which instantly burst into fire.
"Oops." The girl looked at the tree.
"Kids! Time to eat." A woman came out and saw the tree. She dropped the tray which crashed to the ground.
"Who did it?" Her voice shook.
"He did!" The girl said, simultaneously with Sasuke, who said, "She did it!"
The woman shook her head. "I never know who to believe. Well, was it an accident?"
"Yes."
"Then it's okay. I never did like that tree anyways. Hope, your aunt wants to see you after lunch."
"Okay." The girl smiled. "Are you sure you hated that tree? Dad will be mad, you know."
"Are you worried?" The woman stared at Hope.
"No. I just don't want Sasuke to get into trouble. Dad'll never forgive him!!" The girl jutted her chin out defiantly.
The woman laughed. "You are more of a boy than Sasuke is."
"Sasuke!" Sasuke jerked his head. Naruto was shaking him.
"get your filthy hands off me, teme. What do you want?"
"We past the tower. Jeez, pay attention, will ya? And, what is up with spacing out?"
Sasuke yawned. "Didn't get enough sleep. Now, come on."
Naruto shook his head. "You're just as bad as I am, Sasuke."
"No I'm not. You surpass me."
"How's that?" Naruto demanded.
"You think that you're bad at paying attention, and I don't think I am." Sasuke smirked.
Naruto frowned, then became red. "Hey! I didn't mean it like that!"