Welcome to my newest story To Pass or Fail. As a whole, this is experimental writing and is a far cry from my normal drama series Broken Mirrors. That being said, I hope to employ the same air of mystery and drama to achieve a strong sentiment of adventure and friendship.
Without further ado, I present To Pass or Fail for your reading pleasure.
âWolfe
New Beginnings
The moon shined brightly across the land, bathing Konoha in an eerie silvery white light. As it crept along the village's empty streets, it flowed into uncovered windows and open doors, illuminating once dark expanses within. Once and again it found hidden faces covered by all but the corner of a curtain, staring in awe at the magnificence of the transformed landscape. As the silver river continued its path, it came across one such face staring resolutely through an open window, his hands on the frame with his face upturned slightly as if to absorb the moon into himself.
Naruto had been standing in this pose for almost an hour, an extreme sense of calm washing over him as he breathed in the cool night air. With a sense of longing, the blonde stepped back from his window, the darkness of his room swallowing him as he turned and padded towards his bed. Any person in their right mind would have been dead asleep, the problems of their little world delayed until the coming morning. A few hours prior, Naruto had been the same, sprawling across his bed with a large puddle of drool dripping from his mouth and dreams of ramen. But something in the back of his mind nagged him into consciousness and refused to let him sleep.
Rubbing the back of his neck, Naruto heaved a huge sigh before stretching and walking towards his kitchen. If anything in the world could calm him, a steaming bowl of instant ramen was it. The kitchen was dark as the blonde entered, unlike his bedroom, the blinds were drawn against the silvery light of the moon. From years of habit he slid his palm against the wall until his hand lit upon the tiny switch to the room. With a tired gesture he flicked his fingertips upwards and scrunched his eyes shut as the room suddenly exploded into light. Groaning, he staggered towards the cabinet and opened it.
Stacked inside were rows upon rows of instant ramen. On the right were three full rows of chicken ramen, followed by two rows of pork and an empty row, three rows of beef with only a few packages missing and on the far left was a full five stacks of combination style. Chewing his lip he reached up and pulled a pack of beef ramen from its stack and shut the door. Padding over to the table, he placed the pack down and moved back towards the stove, grabbing his kettle and shaking it. The heavy sloshing inside told him it was full, so with a content smile he turned the fire on and walked back to the table.
:You know eating that stuff all the time is not good for you, right?:
Naruto sighed as Kurama's gruff voice boomed inside of his head. Ever since the Fifth and Sixth Hokage had sealed the Kyuubi's second half in him, their bond had grown stronger and stronger, surpassing even the bond between Octopops and Gyuki. The only problem was that Naruto was also feeling side-effects of the strong pairing.
Over the last few months he'd been experiencing flashbacks from Kurama's past and at one point almost leveled his apartment with their shared power during an especially vivid memory. Not only that but he'd been receiving visions about things neither he nor the Nine-Tails could place.
:Oi! Are you even listening to me?: Kurama growled. His thundering voice echoing once again through Naruto's skull. :I feel like you should talk to the Sixth about these dreams.:
The blonde widened his eyes at the sentiment. Kurama had said very little about about the dreams, often trying his best to avoid the subject in general. "Why are you saying this all of a sudden?" Naruto jumped up and walked towards the stove to check on his water.
Kurama was silent for a moment before speaking. :I feel like these dreams aren't really dreams.: He stopped again as if trying to piece together his thoughts. :Something tells me that this is foresight into the future. A gift if you will, from the Old Man."
Naruto carried the steaming pot of water back to the table and plopped into his chair. "I don't know if I'd call it the future. I mean . . ." He stopped speaking for a second as he pulled the top off of his ramen and poured the boiling water inside. "Wouldn't I have had the visions right after I got the power from him? Not two years afterwords?" The blonde propped his elbows on the table and rested his face in his hands, staring dejectedly at the steaming cup.
:Think boy! These visions started after they sealed my other half.: Kurama grumbled. :I think to harness the power, you needed to have both halves of me.:
"I don't know, I mean don't you think it's a little far-fetched? Me getting magical mind powers that tell the future?" Naruto groused back, as he pulled a pair of chopsticks apart. "I think it's just weird dreams and stuff." The blonde pulled his cup towards him before plunging his chopsticks into the aromatic contents within and pulling forth a long stand of noodles.
The fox snorted in disgust at Naruto's meal before continuing. :That's what I thought. But I was awake tonight when you started dreaming. You were drawing a substantial amount of chakra from me.:
Chopsticks halfway to his mouth, the blonde froze. "I was drawing chakra from you in my sleep?" He put the bite down and looked up.
Just like the night I almost destroyed the apartment, I started drawing chakra from him without even being awake. If I keep this up I'm going to hurt someone and not even realize it.
Naruto back down and pulled his soup closer to him. "I'll talk to Kakashi tomorrow." Without another word he leaned over and started inhaling his food, his thoughts far from the steaming noodles in front of him.
In the two and a half years following the Fourth Great Shinobi War, Konoha had rebuilt into a glory surpassing even the village under Hashirama, the First Hokage. Workers from all of the elemental nations flocked towards Konoha to lend their expertise, turning the crater surrounding the village into a defensible valley with high reaching walls and strong fortifications. The elevated main gate meant anyone entering the village was clearly visible for the twenty minute walk into the center of town. The village streets themselves were set in concentric circles with the Hokages tower at the center of the former epicenter of Pain's attack.
The result was an incredibly defensible village numerous little perks implemented by through the collaboration of architects from all over the world. It only took six months to complete the building, completely outstripping the three years it took to rebuild after Orochimaru's attack. The only things left solely to Leaf architects was the reconstruction of villager safe-houses, training grounds, ANBU facilities, and security systems; things that even peaceful nations don't share with one another.
Sitting in the exact center of the village high in his tower, the Sixth Hokage relaxed silently in his office with an orange book in his hands, propping his feet unceremoniously on the oaken desk in front of him. The room was completely silent save for the occasional sound of a page turning and the slight creak of his chair as he shifted ever so slightly. Ever since assuming the prestigious mantle of fire-shadow from the formidable Tsunade, Kakashi had mostly overseen the reconstruction of Konoha and the reassignment of teams whose members were killed during the conflict. The help of other nations greatly helped the former, and surprisingly not many roster changes were needed thanks to Naruto's determination and the combined healing abilities of Sakura and Tsunade.
Kakashi sighed and shut his book, his impromptu meeting with Naruto was soon and as Hokage he was actually required to keep some semblance of a schedule. Pulling his feet off of the table,the silver-haired man pushed his chair back and stood up, stretching muscles stiff from sitting too long. After squeezing his shoulders together and eliciting a nice series of pops down his spine, Kakashi quickly walked across the room and unlocked his door before turning back to his desk.
Only a few papers littered the top, a miracle that Tsunade never seemed to accomplish. Well . . . Kakashi smirked as he remembered how he'd actually gotten through the mountainous stack in the first place.
"Come on Kakashi! We're still tied in our heated rivalry!" Gai had burst through the door over an hour earlier and had yet to leave, claiming Kakashi had to challenge him right at that moment.
Sighing, the silver-haired Hokage raised an eyebrow before looking at his friend. "I have work to do."
Turning swiftly, the man looked at the door with his fist held up, clenched into a fury-filled fist. "Oh you're so cool!" A sentiment meant for an unknown party, but heard by everyone in the Hokage's tower. Flipping back around Gai looked Kakashi in the eye. "You choose the challenge! I don't care what it is and if I lose I will do two thousand push-ups on my pinkies!"
Kakashi sighed, he had so much work to do and Gai just wouldn'tâ "Fine. There is a lot of paperwork that needs filed. Whoever can file the most papers out of this stack wins" He said gesturing towards the huge stack in front of him. Looking towards Gai for an answer, the Hokage was quite please to see the man pulling his sleeves up and cracking his fingers.
"I'm going to win this one Kakashi! I'm the magnificent paper sorting beast of Konoha!" With a sudden frenzy, the man ran towards the stack and started pulling pages down and dropping them into separate piles next to his feet. "You're going to lose if you just keep staring!"
Chuckling to himself, Kakashi gingerly picked up a piece of paper and sat it next to him.
A sudden rapping at the door broke the Kage out of his reverie, grounding him back in reality just in time to hear an impatient voice on the other side of the door.
"Kakashi-sensei! I know you're in there!" Naruto was banging furiously on the door, apparently oblivious to the fact it was unlocked. "If you don't unlock this door I will knock it down and haul you away from your book and never let you see it again." The barrage on the door intensified as the young man became more and more enraged with his "lazy perverted teacher."
Scowling under his mask, the copy-ninja turned around and walked silently towards the entrance and grabbed the handles,. With a grandeur gesture he flung the doors open before staring Naruto down with his uncovered eye. The hall was filled with six clones standing in a semi-circle with the real?Naruto in the center, each with their fists balled to bang on the door.
Holding back a frustrated sigh Kakashi crossed his arms, standing back against the door to prop it open for his former student. "The door was unlocked the entire time Naruto."
The man stepped back into his room towards his desk, leaving a sheepish looking boy in the hallway. With quickly reddening face the blonde dispersed his clones, causing them to disappear into large puffs of white smoke before grinning broadly and following his village leader inside. Once across the threshold he turned and shut the door quickly, bowing his head slightly in a silent apology.
"I'm sorry Kakashi-Sensei, it's just . . ." He broke off into a worrying pause, causing Kakashi to lean forward in his chair and rest his elbows on the table. "Kurama thought I needed to talk to you about something."
The normally stoic copy-ninja clasp his hand slightly as he waited for Naruto to continue. The boy seemed on edge, his hair was more unkempt than usual, he had dark bags under his eyes, his normally proud posture was slumped at the shoulders as if he were carring the weight of the world on them and he sounded like he wasn't doing well. Looking closer, the Hokage noticed the boy's tense posture as if expecting something horrible to happen any second and the stilted way in which Naruto pulled up a chair and gingerly sat in it spoke volumes to the importance of the conversation.
Taking in a deep breath, Naruto looked his former teacher in the eye, his own pleading for a way to make his statement easier. After fidgeting in uncomfortable silence for a while, the blonde closed his eyes and shook his head.
:Boy. Naruto, let me speak to him.: Kurama posited, :I feel like I could explain a little better.
Nodding slightly, Naruto looked up at Kakashi "Kurama is going to explain everything to you." His blue eyes unfocused for a second before clouding into milky-white nothingness. Then, without warning, his eyes closed and then opened revealing dark, slitted red eyes. His features had sharpened, his whiskers becoming more pronounced and his canines growing longer than humanly possible. The switch had taken place.
"Rokudaime, it has come to our attention that more than one ability has presented itself since the transfer of power from the Old Man." The fox started, his red eyes staring into Kakashi's uncovered eye.
The Hokage visibly shuddered as he remembered the night Naruto almost lost control in his apartment. Shortly after the sealing of Kyuubi's second half, one of the neighboring tenants called the landlord on a noise complaint as Kurama's power leaked uncontrollably, whipping around the tiny apartment in a mindless frenzy. When the landlord finally opened the door, and saw the huge commotion, he had Kakashi summoned immediately. Naruto had still been asleep in his room, but an enormous wall of chakra blocked the Rokudaime's entrance to the bedroom itself. After a large amount of yelling, the boy finally managed to wake up and pull his chakra under control, but by that point everything in his unit and the surrounding units had been destroyed.
"What type of ability is this?" Kakashi questioned cautiously, "Is this something that poses a threat to the village?"
The red-eyed figure closed his eyes in contemplation before speaking again, "No." Speaking through Naruto was taxing, so Kurama was keeping his answers short until an actual explanation was needed. Already the simple task of talking through his host was starting to cause a strain on his body. The body swap had been something both of them work on during training, but it was still short of perfection.
The Hokage heaved a small sigh of relief before continuing. "Okay, so it doesn't pose a threat, then what is it?"
Now was the time for the long explanation. Kurama felt the consciousness of Naruto blacking from the reversal in position and hurried with his description. "As far as I can tell, the dreams Naruto has experienced in the last few months have been a combination of my memories, and . . ." The fox trailed off as his mind blacked for a second and his vision blurred. "and we feel," he started again, regaining control, "visions of the future. Nothing incredibly concrete, but strong enough to warn us of an impending danger."
Kakashi could tell the strain was becoming more and more difficult on the boy's body and thought quickly, trying to get as much information before the two lost their grip. "Do you think that we can act reliably on the these dreams or are they too vague?"
Physically reeling, Kurama's breath caught as the room started spinning around him. After a few moments he was able to think clearly again, but he knew there wasn't much time before he and Naruto were forced to switch back. "Some of the dreams are just . . ." The fox lapsed again, the connection was starting to slip, "just vague images but one . . . one of them is undeniable. The . . . there is going to be another war."
Naruto's body slumped forward as Kurama's consciousness disappeared back into its proper place. Naruto always took longer to regain control, and after a few minutes the boy groaned and leaned back, his eyes returning to their natural blue color, his whiskers disappearing and his fangs shrinking. Rubbing the back of his neck he looked at the Hokage with a half-grin.
"We still gotta work on that." His voice sounded less strained than when Kurama was speaking and he was able to keep much better focus. "But yeah . . . the dream Kurama was talking about has been happening a lot recently." The blonde's face suddenly paled as all of the blood drained from it. "I really hope this isn't the future."
Stiffening at the dark tone in his former student's voice, Kakashi lowered his tone and leaned forward. "Naruto, what is this dream about."
Biting his lip, Naruto looked past Kakashi and out of the window, looking at the buildings of the city below. "It's never really clear to begin with, but from what Kurama and I can glean, Konoha is in danger." He paused as he gathered his thoughts "We're pretty sure it's not Madara or any of the weird stuff that happened during the war, but other than that all we know is it's going to happen soon."
The silver-haired man knew Naruto was leaving something out and shot him a pensive stare. The blonde closed his eyes and looked up at the ceiling before continuing, somewhat against his will as Kurama pushed him to speak.
"One of our allies is going to turn on us and . . . it's going to be a bloodbath. If we can't stop this hundreds, no . . . thousands will die. Not just Leaf, but everyone caught in between." Naruto was frank in his answer, sighing deeply as he detached himself as much as he could from the pain of his memories of war and the sheer amount of death he'd witnessed. If he could avoid it, nothing like that would ever happen again.
Kakashi's brows furrowed. The answer was still vague, but even the Kyuubi seemed to be taking the dream seriously enough to tell the village leader. "I will see about strengthening our defenses and keeping an ear for anything out of the ordinary. But, until there something more definitive, I can only do so much."
Naruto nodded in agreement. While he was still young and a knucklehead at heart, he had matured greatly during the war and he was beginning to understand the subtle intricacies of diplomacy. With a slightly less heavy heart, the boy stood and stretched, before turning and walking towards the door. Just as he reached the exit he looked over his shoulder, and smiled. "I also had a dream that Sasuke would be returning soon."
The sun broke across the horizon in a brilliant explosion of fire with long beams of reds, yellows, oranges and the occasional pink streaming across the sky in somber resplendence. Every tree in the forest surrounding Konoha lit up in beautiful flames of color, their tops mirroring the pyre overhead as dawn broke across the Country of Fire. A cacophonous symphony of birds greeted the new morning with complex melodies that roused the sleeping citizens of Kohohagakure from their peaceful slumber and beckoned them into the cool embrace of the summer morning.
A small group traveled swiftly in the burgeoning morning, a tall figure shrouded in black followed closely by three shorter shadows forming an arrow. Directly behind the leader, a boy with unruly brown hair, dark eyes and a blue scarf scanned the area in front of him, his hands ready to relay commands at a moments notice to the people behind him. In the left corner another brunette with straighter hair and glasses scanned the left side of the group intently, preparing for any possible attack from his side. Finally in the right hand corner of the arrow, a bright redhead with almond shaped eyes scanned to the right, every nerve tensed.
Throwing his right hand out, the leader called the group to a stop and within a heartbeat the four of them were standing in a small clearing in the forest. Heaving a sigh, the bespectacled boy dropped to the ground, sides heaving as he gasped for air. The girl doubled over her knees, also breathing heavily after the travel. The leader in his black attire merely looked at the pitiful sight in front of him before turning to check on the scarfed boy to his side. Other than a slight flush in his cheeks, the boy seemed fine, almost eager to return to his travels.
"Moegi. Udon. You have been Genin for three years now, you two should be able to travel at this speed for most of the day before tiring to this point." Shaking his head the black clad leader turned towards the remaining boy. "Konohamaru your endurance has improved greatly since our last mission out of the country." Pushing his glasses up with his middle finger he continued, "Konoha is only a few more hours away, so we'll take a short break and press onwards. The Hokage is expecting us and the information we're carrying as soon as possible."
"Ebisu-Sensei, why does the Hokage need this scroll so bad?" Konohamaru pulled a sealed red scroll from his weapons pouch and looked at it curiously. Across the seam, a bright white seal in the shape of Suna's crest pulsed gently, affirming the document had not been opened. "I mean couldn't they have sent an emissary or even a hawk to deliver this?"
The older man smirked slightly as his student started piecing together the facts of the mission. Konohamaru definitely expressed more initiative than the other two in his group and was well on his way to becoming a great ninja. "I'm not sure why Suna didn't wish to send this by hawk or by emissary." Ebisu baited the boy with just the right amount of information and watched as his mind started sifting through all of the details of the mission.
"A whole squad of ninja are requested to pick up a scroll and deliver it to their home country." He turned the scroll in his hands, examining the object as he thought. "Most things of high importance are given to a hawk or a single ANBU to deliver, but for some reason this one wasn't." Konohamaru scowled as the answer eluded him.
Ebisu watched intently, knowing full well the actual parameters of the mission. He had purposely withheld the information to see if his students could parse out the actual purpose of the mission. Knowing full well the Chunin exams were coming, he had to make sure his students were ready.
"Hawks are too noticeable because everyone sends high level intelligence with them." The boy mused. "Sending an ANBU poses two problems. Not only does it subtract a highly capable ninja from the roster, but anyone chancing upon a ANBU knows there is a high probability they have sensitive information." Konohamaru continued turning the scroll, still concentrating intently on the problem.
The teacher looked on his student and smiled before grimacing at the state of the other two. They were undoubtedly going to hold him back from the exams another year, maybe even two if nothing changed. Moegi had great potential when it came to chakra control, but her endurance and stamina were pitiful. Udon knew the fundamentals through and through, but his ability to mold chakra evenly and activate jutsu was worse than an academy student. Not only that, but Moegi and Udon simply lacked the initiative to train on their own.
"I got it!" Konohamaru suddenly shouted, rousing his still exhausted teammates from their repose. Turning towards them quickly he started speaking excitedly. "Don't you understand what has happened?" He almost yelled, wagging the scroll in their faces. "We're testing a new system! Genin teams aren't as noticeable as highly trained Jonin and Anbu so nobody wants to bother us on a mission!"
Moegi and Udon looked at the frantically speaking boy with blank faces, not understanding what he was trying to imply.
"Konohamaru, they wouldn't give us important information." Udon began matter of factly. "We are Genin assigned only D-rank missions that reenforce our team-work and allow us a chance to use our knowledge in a controlled environment under the supervision of our Jonin." The snot-nosed boy seemed proud of his display as he smirked triumphantly.
"Don't you see the ingenuity in it though!" The scarfed boy was actually shouting at this point. "We have a Jonin with us, but because he's with a group of Genin nobody would think he has important information. This entire trip was to test if that assumption was correct!"
Ebisu smiled, the boy had seen underneath the underneath. He was indeed ready to take the Chunin exam. Glancing at the two Genin gaping in awe at Konohamaru's deduction, he shook his head. There had to be a way to get the boy into the exam. Sighing deeply he called the group back to his side, deciding to take the issue up with the Hokage later.
"Okay kids. Konohamaru is right. This entire mission was to try a new system of conveying messages to allied nations. The smaller nations know we send information through hawk and individually acting ninja. By having a genin squad travel to and from nations, the Kage hope to keep as much information quiet as possible." Pushing his glasses up the man continued, albeit in a different vein. "We should hit the road again. The Hokage is expecting us today and we cannot put him behind schedule."
With unified agreement to his statement, the three Genin resumed their positions and set off through the trees with renewed speed. After the group had traveled a few lengths, a person in the shadows stirred setting off behind in a blur.
Thank you for reading the first chapter of To Pass or Fail. I hope you enjoyed it!
Please check out my other story Broken Mirrors, and don't forget to favorite and review!
-Wolfe