Fire, Wind, and Ice
Book One: The Vision
Chapter One: Chiaki, Son of Uchiha
The hot noontime sun beat down mercilessly on the young boy as he sped through the streets of the Hidden Leaf Village. Not stopping to breathe, he raced gamely past street vendors and ramen stands, ignoring the catcalls of the people whom he accidently rammed into. Suddenly, he reached his hand out in front of him, and feeling the cool iron of the doors to the academy, he skidded to a stop not ten paces away. Gasping for breath, he wiped beads of sweat off his forehead, and calmly as he could, opened the great doors and made his way stealthily to the largest classroom in the middle of the campus. The door creaked as he opened it. Cursing under his breath, he crept in and slid into his empty seat, fervently hoping he had gone unnoticed. However, all his stealth had been in vain, for as soon as he had reached his chair, he felt Kakashi-sensei turn from his lecture and pin his single good eye upon him. The boy cursed again and slid down as deep as he could into his chair, but thankfully the sensei didn't say a word, and instead turned back to his lecture. The young boy was not surprised. After all, wasn't Kakashi-sensei the very exemplary example of unpunctuality? Chuckling cleverly to himself, the boy settled in, still feeling the melting glares of his classmates around him, but it didn't matter, not to him. After about a half-hour, Kakashi-sensei finally finished his lecture and clapped his hands, announcing that it was time for the teams to be chosen.
An excited ripple of chatter and laughter arose within the students, and the young boy felt excitement at the presence of unimaginable power as the mentors entered the room. He sensed Hinata-chan, soft and gentle yet incredibly strong; Shikamaru-san, a brilliant battlefield leader; Choji, a seemingly well-mannered man, but not when it came to the fistfight; and many others that he could not quite distinguish. Kakashi-sensei called for quiet, and then began reading the names of students and their line of descent, and as they made their way down to where the mentors stood he gave them their team number and their mentor. Three to a team; usually two boys and a girl, and Chiaki excitedly ran a long list of names down his head, wondering who he would be teamed up with. Eventually Kakashi-sensei's voice began to bore him, and as the students were picked off one by one he began to realize that what he feared was about to come true. He knew he would be picked last; and he knew why, but it still angered him, it wasn't fair! The young boy was just starting to doze off when he heard Kakashi-sensei's voice: "-and Chiaki Uchiha, son of Uchiha Sasuke-chan and Haruno Sakura-san, okay, you guys are Squad Nineteen!" The sound of his name abruptly roused the young boy, and as he pulled himself nervously to his feet he heard others calling his name. "Chiaki! Come on, Kakashi-sensei called you!" "Get down there, Chiaki!" "Move your butt down there, quick!" Slightly overwhelmed at being the sudden spot of attention, he slowly made his way to the head of the class. A freshly familiar scent filled him and he felt arms grip him from behind in a tight bear hug that almost lifted him off the floor. "Chiaki!!! I knew it, we're on the same squad, un! All right! Oh man, this is gunna be awesome, un!" Chiaki could not help a laugh from escaping his lips. "Ryuumaru, that's you, isn't it?" The other boy laughed at put Chiaki down. "Duh, you should've known, I'm your best friend, remember?" Chiaki nodded. "Yeah, of course. I'm glad we're on the same team. Who's our other-" Ryuumaru made a shushing sound with his lips. "Shhh, Kakashi-sensei's gunna speak!" Kakashi-sensei waited for the room to quiet down before he spoke again. "Squad Nineteen, your leader is Inuzuka Kiba-chan. Kiba, step forward." The older male approached the newly appointed team, his aura bristling with ferocity and power, yet soothed by understanding and compassion. Chiaki's heart jumped. Kiba-chan! Wow- he's so cool! I remember stories about him! And his little fox-hound too! Geesh, I'm so excited! He'll be an awesome mentor! Kakashi-sensei seemed to approve. "Alright, Kiba, you are now the leader of Squad Nineteen. Guide them and train them as best as you can. I'm counting on you." Kiba's voice was an animalistic growl, yet it was controlled and respectful. "Yes, Kakashi-chan. Thank you." Then he turned to his team, and his voice softened. "Alright gang, let's get the heck outta here. I'm ready for some fresh air." His voice was a chuckle and was reassuring to Chiaki. As Kiba-sensei led them out Chiaki tugged at Ryuumaru's sleeve, meaning he wanted to talk to him. "Ryuu, who's our other teammate?" Ryuumaru fell silent, unsure if he wanted to tell Chiaki. "Well? Ryuu? Is she a jerk or something? Or is she preeteeeh?" Chiaki laughed and punched Ryuumaru's arm. But Ryuumaru made no response other than the flat, sullen words that fell from his mouth. "Damnit Chiaki, un, we got Shun."
"Shun?" Chiaki felt a shudder crawl up his spine. "Oh crap… no freaking way." Ryuumaru seemed equally upset. "Yeah, all the girls in the entire academy, un, and we get stuck with Shun." Chiaki shrugged. It wasn't that she was ugly or anything (according to his other classmates, at least), it was just that… Shun was the coldest, most malicious troublemaker in the whole academy, and she hated Chiaki. He wasn't even sure why. She just hated him beyond understanding. Sure, he had tried plenty of times to be likeable, but she had always ignored him. And now, to think that they were now teammates… Chiaki shuddered and cursed silently under his breath, but decided to say nothing. After several minutes of walking they finally reached their destination, and stopped to rest. Chiaki breathed in the warm outside breeze and was met with the fresh fragrance of tall summer grass and lavender. They were in a large, endless pasture, he reasoned. That was good. He like wide open spaces. There was nothing that he could run into, nor anything he could accidently trip over. He heard the crisp crunching of grass as Kiba-sensei sat down, and he sat down too, with Ryuumaru beside him. For the first time he turned to breathe in the scent of his other teammate. There was a strong, sharp scent to her, not necessarily unpleasant, but incredibly keening and musky. He could also feel her aura, and it crackled with static electricity, not unlike Kiba's. Shakily, Chiaki ventured a greeting. "Ummm… hey. Shun, right?" There was a moment of dangerous silence, and then her reply came back like a well- measured whip, incisive and laced with malice. "Yes, what do you want, batboy?" A low hiss escaped Chiaki as he struggled to keep his actions under control. She had officially given him that nickname years back, because of his ears, which were, figuratively and literally, sharper than normal ears. "Nothing, just because I'm talking to you," he growled back. Shun let out a rude snort of laughter. "Okay, fine then, I guess." Kiba turned to regard both of them, and also Ryuumaru. "Well… I know we already know each other, but why not make introductions again? Okay, here's what we do: I want each of you, one at a time, to give me your name, one thing you like, one thing you dislike, and your dream. Something you want to do when you get older." He was met with an awkward silence, and he laughed softly. "Okay then, I'll go first. My name is Kiba Inuzuka, I love my little fox-hound Sune"-here the creature previously hiding in his coat gave a muffled bark of excitement-"I dislike animal-hater-people, and, well, I've already discovered my dream, haven't I? I'm mentoring you guys!" A hearty laugh escaped his lips, and here Sune gave another bark. "Well okay, I've gone… Why don't you go next, Ryuumaru?" Chiaki felt Ryuumaru puff out his chest with pride as he gave his reply. "My name is Ryuumaru Uzumaki. I like ramen, un! I dislike it when there's no more ramen, and my dream is to become the next Hokage, un, like my father, Naruto Uzumaki!" Chiaki could not help but laugh. Ryuumaru's words had exactly matched his father's when he was first trained by Kakashi-sensei, and Chiaki knew why: Ryuumaru wanted more than anything to be like his father, to be as great and powerful as the Fifth Hokage. Kiba laughed again. "Ah yes, Naruto. You know, he was quite a handful when he was your age." He stopped to reflect a bit. "You know, Ryuumaru, your mother, Hinata-chan… she trained alongside myself for many years. We were on the same squad, you know. Squad Eight." Ryuumaru's aura sparked with excitement. "Yes Kiba-chan, I know, un. She has told me much about you, un." Kiba seemed approved, and then turn to Chiaki. "Okay Chiaki, your turn." Chiaki licked his dry nervous lips and started. "Umm, ok… My name is Chiaki Uchiha, I like wide open fields, I hate people who fail to understand me and judge me, and my dream is to be an ANBU warrior, like my father." There was a silence following this, and Chiaki had seen it coming. He knew what they would think. It was impossible. At the edge of his ears he heard Shun whisper "huh, as if that'll ever happen" below her breath. Chiaki felt his face getting hot, and reminded himself not to leap up and punch Shun in the face. As much as he wanted to, he knew that would look really bad, a supposedly honorably young man hitting a girl, even if she was several years older than him, so he kept still. Next, it was Shun's turn. "My name is Shun. I have no last name. I like beautiful things, yet I hate the natural balance of this world. My dream is to avenge what has not yet been avenged…" Shun's words struck a chilling fear in Chiaki's mind. Her words reminded him of his father's, when his brother Itachi and the massacre of the Uchiha clan had been hot on his mind. Beautiful things… But Chiaki had heard of the Atkasuki bomber Deidara, who had called art a beautiful thing, with hot blood and bodies flying everywhere. Chiaki shuddered. Surely Shun wasn't that kind of person…
Kiba's growly voice roused Chiaki from his thoughts. "Okay gang, time for a little… challenge… before you all head home. Whadja say?" Ryuumaru seemed eager. "Yeah!!! Let's do it, un!" Chiaki felt him teammates beside him stand up and he did the same. He heard Kiba rummaging in his pocked for something and felt apprehensive. What's he gunna make us do? He wondered nervously. Then Chiaki heard a enjoyable, yet unfamiliar sound: the light jingling of metal upon metal. Bells! There were two of them, and as he gaped Kiba jangled them furiously from their leather straps until they jingled raucously. "How do you like that? Alright, here's the deal: Whoever nabs a bell gets lunch. Whoever doesn't… starves. The catch? I have two bells- and there are three of you." He stopped to twitch his hand slightly, making the bells ring again. "That means one of you is not getting anything to eat. Got it? Good." Chiaki felt nervousness and pressure building up steadily inside of him, and he felt the muscles in his teammates' bodies tense as they crouched down in the grass like panthers, waiting for Kiba's signal. Slowly Chiaki bent his knees and placed his hands on the warm earth, and a single thought rushed through his head like an uncontrolled, blazing wildfire.
I can do this.
End of Chapter One
Well hey there Tiger!!! ^___^ hope you enjoyed!!! So yeah, this is the first book, The Vision, in my series, Fire, Wind, and Ice. PLEASE comment/review!!! I'll add chapters after five reviews. So get reviewing!!! Bwahahaha...hahaha...haha...ha...ha.
O___O;;
~Gabrielle