Hi no Ishi, Scroll One: Kannabi
Full Summary: As Orochimaru and his allies threaten to topple Konoha, Haruno Sakura, Uzumaki Naruto, and Uchiha Sasuke are becoming the leaders of their generation. The question is, will they survive the Daiyonji Ninkai Taisen or end up like the previous Sannin did - broken? AU diverging at the chuunin exams. FemNaru because I can. Team 7-centric.
A/N: Hello all! This is a little something that sprouted in my head. Blame the random plot/dust bunnies running rampant in there. Also, a few warnings before I continue: I use a lot of Japanese, so the glossary at the end of each chapter is likely to be pretty long. There will also most likely be large amounts of swearing in later chapters as well as dark themes/extreme angst. If it is requested that this story be put to an "M" rating, I will do so. This starts the day of the team assignments; Naruto passed the fist genin test for reasons that will be explained later. This chapter is also a test drive to decide if I should continue writing this or not. Oh, and I'm looking for a beta reader. I think that's it...?
Disclaimer: If you knew I didn't own Naruto, give yourself a cookie. If you didn't, good luck in life. You'll need it.
Edited 2/19/11
Flames to ashes, diamonds to dust,
All things go as they must.
A keen blade glows silver in the night,
Its bloodthirsty edge ever ready for a fight.
Chapter One: Fallen Leaves
A seven-year-old Uzumaki Naruto struggled to calm her frantic breathing as nervous sweat beaded above her blonde eyebrows. The scent of blood permeated the air, adding to the ominous aura of the destroyed Uchiha Compound. Buildings were burning, and a few were alight with unnatural black flame. The whole scene was eerie, but the one Naruto was watching was even more disturbing.
Uchiha Itachi, Naruto's adoptive older brother, had just massacred his entire clan and killed his mother, Mikoto, in front of his younger brother, Sasuke. The blonde girl had been on her way to visit Itachi just like any other day when her oversensitive nose had caught the metallic scent of blood. Being naturally curious like any other seven-year-old, she had quickly trotted over to the source of the smell. Naruto stared numbly at the scene in front of her; Sasuke was trembling against a wall of the compound while Itachi was standing a few feet in front of his brother, his face blank and empty. "Onii-san…w-why?" Sasuke stuttered out.
"…To test my capacity," Itachi replied bluntly. "That is all."
Tears prickled at the edges of Naruto's crystalline blue eyes. 'Itachi-nii-san…' her brain managed to think as shock began to enter her system. 'Why would you do this?' Why would kind, caring, selfless Uchiha Itachi do something so absolutely horrible? 'Why?'
Naruto wasn't coherent enough to stifle the sob that wracked her whole body. There was so much blood…bodies were lying everywhere. So much needless death. Countless lives, snuffed out by somebody she had once admired and looked up to as family. 'Is this…is this what happens when you trust somebody? Does it always end like this?' wondered Naruto. 'The teachers at the Academy said to be careful of who you trust, but…Itachi-nii-san is a Konoha ANBU, right? One of Hokage-jiji's most loyal soldiers. Then why…why would he..? Is it really so easy for people to create lies like this? Was that kind Itachi-nii-san I knew just a lie?'
Naruto froze as Itachi's eyes, crimson with the Sharingan, surveyed the corner she was hiding behind. 'Did he hear me?' she panicked. Naruto swallowed nervously as the horrid helplessness and smothering darkness that was fear overran her system. Itachi had just murdered his whole clan except for Sasuke; he would not hesitate to kill her. Without another thought, Naruto turned and fled, trying desperately, yet failing, to ignore the bodies littered across the compound.
Naruto allowed herself to let out a small sigh of relief when the gates to the Uchiha Compound came into sight. Suddenly, the air in front of her spiraled, the very space warping and twisting. The blonde girl skidded to a halt and watched with wide eyes as a man wearing an orange mask with a single eyehole and a black, high-collared cloak decorated with red clouds appeared.
"Hello, child," the man said. His voice was coldly arrogant and menacing.
Naruto's eyes widened even further, if that was possible. Her terror only increased at the stranger's threatening aura that seemed to blanket her in a cocoon of darkness. The blonde did what any sensible person would do; she turned and ran.
Naruto had only raced forward a few feet when the man spiraled into existence in front of her once again. 'W-what?' she thought in surprised terror. 'I couldn't even see him move!'
"You're not planning on ending our meeting so soon, are you?" the man chuckled darkly.
"Who are you? What do want?" Naruto demanded frantically as she backed up, only to find her back against a wall. Her eyes flickered from side to side as she looked for a nonexistent escape route.
"In eight years my organization, the Akatsuki, will begin to hunt for the Bijuu. You the most important piece of my plan. So far, things have been…boring. Easy. I'm hoping you can grow into your potential and present some sort of challenge to me."
"What the hell does this have to do with me?"
"The Kyuubi is sealed within you, Naruto-chan. The Bijuu are chakra; chakra cannot be killed, only sealed."
"L-liar! That's impossible!"
"Is it really? How do you explain the way the villagers treat you then, hmm? They're afraid of you, and they're right; you will only bring pain, whether it be through loss of control of the Kyuubi or through people who want to get you and will destroy anybody in their way."
Naruto's eyes flickered downwards. 'Damn it…is that why everybody..?'
"Who are you?" Naruto asked again, more desperate this time.
The light of the full moon illuminated the single eyehole in the man's mask, revealing a three-tomoe Sharingan. "My name is Uchiha Madara."
Naruto shot up into a sitting position with a scream when she awoke from her memory-turned-nightmare covered in cold sweat. She gasped for breath, grimacing when she realized that her hands were trembling. 'God damn it. It's been five years since then and I'm still so weak. I'm still scared. God damn it!'
Just then, her alarm clock decided to go off, ringing shrilly. Naruto picked it up and carelessly threw it across the room where it crashed into the wall and promptly stopped ringing.
Naruto sighed as she eyed the calendar next to her bed. 'And my actual fighting ability is still pathetic. I only have three years left…unless I improve drastically on my genin team, Madara will…'
Naruto shook her head violently as if it would help clear her mind of such morbid thoughts. Today was the day of her team assignments, damn it! Besides, three years was a long time, and now that she was a proper shinobi of Konoha, it would be much easier to improve. The books and scrolls in the library on D-Rank techniques would no longer be classified. She could go on missions and earn money to buy new gear with. She could now buy weapons other then kunai and shuriken.
With these thoughts in mind, Naruto dressed her normal outfit, a pair of plain and slightly baggy dark gray pants, a matching t-shirt and an orange vest. The Uzumaki snatched a rubber band off of her bookcase and used it to tie her hair into a loose ponytail. That done, she grabbed her hitai-ate, leapt out the window, and leaped across the rooftops towards the Academy.
0o0o0o0o0o0
Despite the fact that she was fast, Naruto was one of the last people to enter the classroom. She quickly stepped past the empty seat next to Sasuke; despite the fact that he had been a nice kid when he was younger, the Uchiha was now a complete and utter bastard. Sure, the Uchiha Massacre had been a mentally scarring event – Naruto herself had changed drastically after the event, and she hadn't even known any of the dead except for Mikoto – but he had a village full of people who were willing to help him. 'More then I have or ever will have,' she thought.
Naruto sighed again as she sat down in the back of the room, ignored as always. 'Sometimes it can be useful to live in a village full of people who want to forget you exist, especially if you're a ninja,' she mused. 'Other times it's just plain irritating.'
"Hey, Dobe! This class is graduates only, looser!"
Ah. Inuzuka Kiba had arrived, apparently. Naruto glared at Kiba, pointing at the hitai-ate displayed across her forehead and snapping, "Lookie here. Are you blind or just dumb?"
Kiba blinked blankly before a smirk spread across his face. The puppy sitting atop Kiba's head barked. Whatever Akamaru had said, it caused Kiba to chuckle as the Inuzuka walked towards his own seat, closer to the front of the room.
Yamanaka Ino and Haruno Sakura engaged in another of their arguments over Sasuke, shrieking at the top of their lungs. Both of them could be decent kunoichi if they just tried, but no, they were obsessed with Sasuke, who probably wouldn't give a shit if both of them dropped dead that very moment.
It was at that moment that Umino Iruka decided to enter the classroom. He took one look at the absolute chaos and roared, "Shut up and sit down, all of you!"
It wasn't much of a surprise that everybody did as he said. Be afraid of the mother hen-turned-teacher. Be very afraid. "Anyways. Beginning today, all of you are real shinobi, but you are still merely genin. The hard part has just started. You will now be assigned to missions that will benefit the village. Today you will all be grouped into three-man teams, and each team will have a jounin-sensei. You will be under that jounin's command until you become a chuunin. We tried to balance the strength in each team," Iruka explained.
Naruto sighed and listened as he listed off each of the teams.
"…Team 7 will be Haruno Sakura, Uzumaki Naruto, and Uchiha Sasuke."
Naruto's jaw fell open. 'Oh hell no! Why am I stuck with a useless kunoichi and a complete asstard?' she thought. Naruto groaned and slammed her head against the desk. 'Well, I guess it could be worse. I could've had two useless people on my team or two asstards. Besides, Sakura comes from a civilian family, so it's possible that she could improve. And Sasuke pushed away all human contact after that incident, so in a team where he's forced to interact with others, his attitude could improve. Maybe. If I'm lucky.'
0o0o0o0o0o0
Naruto let out a frustrated snarl before she stood up and started pacing the classroom. "Why the hell is our sensei so damn late? Everybody else is gone, even Iruka-sensei!" she snapped to nobody in particular.
Sakura shrugged. "I'm sure they have a valid reason…" she murmured.
"Valid reason my ass," Naruto muttered angrily. "I swear…"
Just then, a hand wearing an ANBU-style glove opened the door to reveal a tall man with spiky, gravity-defying hair and single eye that was dark gray and held a bored and apathetic look. He wore the basic Konoha jounin and chuunin uniform as well as a black mask that covered the lower half of his face. His hitai-ate was tilted over his left eye, hiding it from view. The jounin looked at them disinterestedly, and said, "My first impression of you guys is…you're boring. Meet me on the roof in five minutes." With that, he disappeared in a puff of smoke.
Naruto's eyebrow twitched. 'I definitely do not like this guy.'
It only took two minutes for the three genin to assemble on top of the roof. Their silver-haired jounin-sensei was already there, slouching against the railing. "Alright, now that we're all here, let's start with the introductions."
"Hey, isn't the sensei supposed to go first for this kind of thing?" Naruto said irritably.
For once, Sakura actually agreed with the blonde. "Yeah, you're a complete stranger to us."
The jounin shrugged and said, "My name is Hatake Kakashi. I don't feel like telling you my likes and dislikes. I have many hobbies. My dreams? Hmm…"
Naruto stared flatly at the now-identified Kakashi. 'The name Hatake Kakashi rings a bell…I have to take a trip to the ANBU records vault soon,' she resolved.
"…So all we learned was his name?" muttered Sakura.
"Anyways, introduce yourselves, starting on the left," Kakashi ordered.
Sakura jumped slightly before she said, "I'm Haruno Sakura. My likes…umm…I dislike Ino-bunta! My hobbies…ahem…dreams…well…"
Naruto sighed. 'I'm Haruno Sakura. My likes are anything to do with Sasuke-kun. I dislike Ino-bunta. My hobby is stalking Sasuke-kun. My dream is to marry Sasuke-kun and have his babies,' she mimicked silently. 'Really, could she be any more single-minded?'
Next was Sasuke. "I am Uchiha Sasuke. I like very few things and I dislike whatever I don't like. My hobby is training. I have a dream, but I prefer to call it an ambition…I want to resurrect my clan and kill a certain man."
Naruto's eyes saddened. 'Gods, you've completely destroyed him, Nii-san,' she thought as she remembered a younger, happier, Sasuke. When everybody's eyes landed on her, she thought for a moment about what she should say before she introduced herself. "I'm Uzumaki Naruto. I like ramen, especially Ichiraku's ramen, and plants. I dislike the three minutes it takes to cook instant ramen and people who judge others based on what they've heard.My hobbies are pranks and growing plants. My goal is to…survive."
"Now that that's over with, I have something to tell you: you guys aren't genin yet," Kakashi said.
Naruto's eyes widened. "What?" she snapped, "What the hell are you talking about?"
"You see, the original genin exams were created to see who had the chance to become a genin. The real test is administered by each jounin-sensei to their team and has a sixty-six percent chance of failure," Kakashi explained in that damnably cheerful voice of his.
'WHAT? Sixty-six percent chance of failure?' Naruto panicked. 'But I have to pass this!'
"The test changes from jounin to jounin, but mine is survival training…against me. The test will be tomorrow at seven (1) in training ground 27. Make sure to bring all of your supplies and weapons; you'll need them. Oh, and don't eat breakfast. You'll throw up." On that morbid note, the Hatake disappeared in a puff of white smoke.
0o0o0o0o0o0
Now, Uzumaki Naruto had never been one to play by the rules. They were ninja, right? Weren't they supposed to specialize in underhanded tricks and foul play?
However, it was Hatake Kakashi that she would be fighting against now. She had snuck into the ANBU HQ using some old passwords and a few tricks she had picked up over the years, – really, they really needed to upgrade the security there – entered the room where the files on individual shinobi were kept, and looked for Hatake Kakashi's file. As a former ANBU Buntaichou, Kakashi would be next to impossible to beat. Naruto was going to have to pull out every trick she knew if she was going to have any chance of beating him.
Last Night, 22:45
Naruto silently snapped the string tying a thin piece of metal to the inside of her vest. With quick, stealthy motions that told of years of practice in less then legal areas, she picked the lock on the filing cabinet labeled "H" in less then ten seconds. The drawer opened with a soft click, and Naruto froze for a full minute, just to be sure that nobody had heard her before she shuffled soundlessly through the different folders.
Just before she reached the folder labeled 'Hatake Kakashi', another name caught her attention. 'Haruno Mihu?' she frowned. 'The only records kept in the ANBU HQ are those belonging to chuunin and higher shinobi. I had no idea Sakura was related to a shinobi…'
Naruto filed away that interesting tidbit of information before she pulled out the file belonging to her new jounin-sensei. She flipped it open and began reading the first page.
Name: Hatake Kakashi
Gender: Male
Moniker(s): Kopi Ninja no Kakashi, Sharingan no Kakashi
Age: 23
Birthday: September 15
Blood Type: O
Height: 181 cm
Weight: 67.5 kg
Family of Note: Hatake Sakumo (Father, Deceased), Hatake Ai (Mother, Deceased)
Ninja Registration Number: 006720
Academy Graduation Age: 5
Chuunin Promotion Age: 6
Jounin Promotion Age: 11
Signature Technique(s): Chidori, Raikiri, Sharingan
And it went on and on and on from there, listing every tragic detail of the genius Hatake Kakashi's life. Well, she assumed it did – a lot of it was blacked out, but that was understandable since he had grown up during the Daisanji Ninkai Taisen.
Naruto winced in sympathy when she read the part about his Uchiha teammate, Obito, giving Kakashi his Sharingan. 'So that's why he hid his other eye. Since he's not genetically suited for the Sharingan, it probably takes more chakra for him to use it.'
Naruto finished scanning through the file before replacing it and closing the filing cabinet. 'Whatever this training exercise is, if we really are fighting against him, I'm definitely going to need everything I have. And then there's the fact that the Yondaime was his sensei…if he holds a grudge, I might end up dying sooner then I'd like. However, looking at his file and how he reacted to certain situations, I doubt that he'd be the sort of person to hold a grudge like that. Also, he is proficient in fuuinjutsu, so he probably knows the difference from the kunai and the scroll it's sealed in. However, it is also possible that he has negative feelings towards me subconsciously. If that's the case, then if I ever get into a situation where my life is in danger…he probably won't save me and then say that my death was an accident,' Naruto realized grimly. 'To be on the safe side, I should be careful around him until I have proof that he can be trusted.'
She locked the cabinet and exited the ANBU HQ silently.
Naruto grabbed a black belt that had four pouches hanging from it and tied it on. (2) The front right pouch had kunai with wire strung with explosive tags tied to them while the back right had kunai with explosive tags simply wrapped around their handles. The front left had kunai with five meters of ninja wire tied to them and the back left had shuriken with the same amount of wire attached.
Naruto slipped a single fuuma shuriken inside of her pack, and she was ready to go. She leaped out the window and towards training ground 27 a second later, leaving behind nothing but a swish of air.
0o0o0o0o0o0
Kakashi was late to the test by an hour, of course. He had been late for years; he wasn't going to change old habits just for a team of brats he probably wasn't going to pass. The jounin was vaguely amused by the scene he saw when he reached training ground 27; Naruto was leaning against one of the three training posts, half asleep, while Sakura was fawning over a visibly annoyed Sasuke. "Yo!" Kakashi called with a cheery wave.
"You're late!" Sakura snarled.
"Sorry, my alarm clock broke," Kakashi lied easily as his eye curved up into an upside-down 'u'. "Anyway," he continued as he pulled out a pair of bells and an alarm clock, which he placed on the training post that Naruto was leaning against. "I will now explain the test. Your goal is to get one of these bells before the alarm clock rings at twelve. If you don't get a bell by that time, you will be tied to one of the training posts while I eat lunch in front of you and be sent back to the Academy."
Sakura's brows furrowed and she glanced at the two bells dangling from his hand. "But Sensei, there are only two bells!" she protested.
Kakashi nodded. "Yep. That means at least one of you won't pass and will be sent back to the Academy. It might be one of you, but it might also be all three. You are allowed to use shuriken and kunai. Come at me as if you mean to kill or else you won't stand a chance."
Sasuke tensed as he prepared to leap away. A calculating gleam entered Naruto's eyes and her hand inched towards the back right pouch hanging from her belt. Sakura grimaced, but a determined glint entered her pale green eyes. "Ready…start!" Kakashi exclaimed.
Immediately, all three of them leaped away in opposite directions. 'It looks like none of them figured out the real meaning of this test,' Kakashi noted. 'But all three of them are hidden pretty well. It seems that they understand that the basics of a shinobi is to conceal oneself from the enemy. Now, who shall I go after first?'
Naruto's chakra signature, which was surprisingly the best disguised out of all three of the genin, was closest. Kakashi soundlessly shunshined a couple of meters behind Naruto and murmured, just loud enough for the blonde to hear, "You really shouldn't allow your enemies to sneak up on you."
Naruto whirled around immediately, her eyes wide with surprise. Her knees bent and she focused chakra to her legs, giving away her intention to leap backwards. Kakashi sped forward and aimed a powerful roundhouse kick towards Naruto's ribcage. She jumped over Kakashi's kick, missing it by less then a centimeter. The Uzumaki flipped once and used her chakra to attach herself to the tree trunk about seven feet up. 'So she already has the ability to do the tree-climbing exercise. Where would she have learned something like that?' he wondered idly, his coal-black eye narrowed slightly. The Hatake shrugged mentally and leaped up and prepared to punch Naruto. "Shinobi tactical knowledge number one: Taijutsu," he said as his fist hit the tree trunk where Naruto had been crouching a few seconds beforehand. 'She's fast,' he observed as he landed on the ground, 'but keeping up that kind of speed must be tiring, especially since she seems to be using her chakra to strengthen her muscles.'
Sure enough, Naruto's breathing had sped up, even if she wasn't showing any other signs of exhaustion. 'She has pretty good stamina for a kunoichi her age, but that's understandable because of the Kyuubi,' Kakashi thought.
Naruto was fiddling with something, maybe ninja wire, judging by the light reflecting off of some small metallic object. In one smooth movement, Naruto pulled out two kunai from one of the pouches hanging from her waist and threw them outwards in opposite directions, completely missing Kakashi. The jounin frowned for a second, but then realized what she was up to as the wire, tied to both of the kunai, began to unfurl. At high speeds, ninja wire could be just as sharp as any kunai. If the kunai continued on their path, they would bury themselves into trees opposite from each just behind Kakashi. If that happened, his head might very well be cut off. 'Clever,' he thought, mentally commending Naruto as he ducked. 'But that won't be enough to get the bells.'
However, her failure didn't seem to perturb Naruto at all. She burst off of the tree trunk at a reasonably impressive speed towards Kakashi. But she overshot slightly so that she was more likely to land near the wire stretched between two trees like a tightrope then she was to land next to or behind Kakashi. The jounin's eyes widened slightly as he realized that that was what Naruto had been planning all along when the blonde landed with both feet on the wire. A burst of chakra later, and Naruto was in the air, zooming away from him. 'So all along, she was trying to escape, not get the bells. But…she won't pass if that's the way she's fighting. I wonder what she's thinking…'
Kakashi was startled out of his thoughts when a string of explosive notes attached to a kunai was sent hurtling at him. He stayed long enough to see Naruto's impish smirk before he shunshined away. 'Cheeky brat.'
0o0o0o0o0o0
Naruto crouched down on all fours as she weighed her options carefully. She analyzed everything Kakashi had done during the brief time he had been in her line of sight. 'He's a fucking former ANBU Buntaichou. The only way somebody like me would stand a chance would be if I tried something so low, so underhanded, that even he wouldn't expect it. But what on earth would shock him that badly? C'mon, think. What is his weakness?'
Suddenly, an evil smirk spread across Naruto's face as she remembered the book Kakashi had been reading when he had showed up for the bell test: Icha Icha Paradise. 'So he's a pervert, eh? I never would have thought my practice with the Orioke no Jutsu would ever actually be useful in combat.' The blonde couldn't hold back her snicker as her hands wove a tiger seal. In a puff of smoke, Naruto turned into a curvaceous red-haired kunoichi with pigtails in fitted black clothing that left very little to the imagination. 'Now all I have to do is charm the damn bells off of him, or distract him for long enough for me to get them.'
Kakashi was leaning against the left training post, and reading his treasured Icha Icha after knocking Sakura out with a simple genjutsu when a flash of red entered his sight. When he realized that the bright color belonged to a kunoichi, he quickly stashed his book into his pocket. Kakashi wasn't stupid enough to think that the woman in front of him wouldn't at least try to beat the shit out of him if she saw him reading porn.
0o0o0o0o0o0
He looked up at the kunoichi and tried to stop the trickle of blood coming out of his nose. She was beautiful; all curves and a sinfully beautiful face. Had he by some chance died and gone to heaven?
"Ahem, Kakashi-san?" she said with an affronted look on her face.
"Huh?" Kakashi mentally slapped himself for his undignified response.
"Kakashi-san, Anko-sempai wanted to speak to you," the redhead said silkily. Suddenly, she moved closer. Was that her hand on his thigh? What-? And why on earth was she pressed against his side? 'Not that it's an uncomfortable feeling,' he thought dryly. "Of course, she did say in a couple of hours, knowing your habit of lateness. I can think of something we could do together in that time, Ka-ka-shi," she purred into his ear.
The silver-haired jounin gulped nervously. The redhead in front of him reminded him a little too much of a prowling cat about to eat it's prey.
"So now you've taken to picking up random women, Kakashi? Your qualifications for a jounin-sensei seem to be rather limited," Sasuke's arrogant voice called from behind him.
The redhead jumped slightly and stepped away from Kakashi. "Remember, Anko-sempai wanted to see you. My name's Chiyoko, by the way. Tatsumaki Chiyoko."
Kakashi nodded sharply before Chiyoko walked away from the training ground. Once she was gone, Kakashi turned and fixed Sasuke with an annoyed stare.
The Hatake didn't notice that both his bells and his Icha Icha were missing.
0o0o0o0o0
Half an hour later, all three genin stood across from Kakashi. Sasuke sighed irritably; if he hadn't been able to snatch some bells, how on earth was he ever going to get good enough to defeat Itachi? 'No,' he snapped at himself mentally. 'It's only a matter of time!'
Kakashi sighed as he surveyed the three genin. "Well, you've all failed," he said flatly.
To Sasuke's right, something jingled. The Uchiha turned to find the two bells dangling from Naruto's fingertips. "Ah, is that really true, Sensei?" she chirped.
Sasuke's eyes widened in surprise. 'How-? How on earth could she have gotten the bells when even I couldn't? She was the dead last of our class!'
Kakashi looked vaguely shocked. "When did you get the bells?" he asked, a slight curiosity in his voice.
The blonde smirked in reply. "What would be the fun in telling you that?"
"Well then, who are you going to give the other bell to?" Kakashi asked pleasantly.
For a moment, Naruto looked indecisive and Sasuke grit his teeth together. He hated having to depend on somebody else for anything. Depending on others made you weak, and Uchiha Sasuke was not weak, damn it!
Then, a grim smile slowly spread across Naruto's face. She pulled out an orange book from her ninja pouch and quickly slapped an explosive tag on it before chucking it a good ten meters away from the group of shinobi. "These bells are like passes to become genin, right? So, Sensei, is your book worth a pass?" Naruto asked slyly as her hands formed the tiger seal.
Kakashi looked alarmed as he said frantically, "Fine, fine you all pass! Now let my book go!"
Sasuke looked flatly at his jounin-sensei. 'Really? He's that desperate for a book?'
Naruto relaxed her hands. "It's safe now," she said. "And I expect a thank you from both of you, Sakura, Sasuke."
Sasuke's eyebrow twitched. Before he could say anything rude, Kakashi returned, his orange book explosive tag-less and safe in his hand. "Congratulations on passing the test, you three. I actually do suggest you thank Naruto, because all three of you would have failed if she hadn't threatened to blow up my book if I hadn't passed you."
Sakura frowned. "What do you mean, Sensei? I thought that the two people who got the bells would have passed."
Kakashi shook his head. "No. You three obviously don't understand the true answer to this test."
"The true answer?" Naruto muttered. "What do you mean?"
"…It's teamwork," the jounin replied.
"Wait, but there were only two bells! How could we have worked together if one of us would fail anyway?" Sakura asked snappishly.
It was Naruto who answered this time. "It's a system meant to turn us against each other. You were looking for the person who would sacrifice themselves for the common good, right, Kakashi-sensei?"
"Exactly, Naruto," said Kakashi. "Although you did it in an unorthodox manner, you still thought about both of your teammates when I asked you who you would give the bell to. But all three of you, try to remember that in the world of shinobi, those who break the rules are considered trash, but those who do not care for their comrades are lower then trash."
Sasuke blinked once. 'Huh. This guy might actually be worth my time,' he thought idly. 'As long as he can help me get stronger, I suppose his quirks don't really matter.'
0o0o0o0o0o0
"All right then, I guess I should discuss your performances and then decide on a training schedule of sorts for you three," Kakashi said, his single eye curved up into an arc. "Sasuke, while you have large chakra reserves for a genin, your fighting style is straightforward and easily predictable. Your traps were of an adequate level, but not hard to avoid or disarm. Your arrogance will quickly undermine you if you do not learn to curb it; while you may believe that your teammates will only drag you down, they can be valuable allies in any situation. Also, arrogance can be the death of you on a mission. You have potential as a front-line fighter, but you nmore variety and an attitude check.
"Sakura, I will be blunt with you. You easily fell for a simple genjutsu and searched frantically for Sasuke even though you had no idea where he was. Your teachers commended your intellect, but you can't see through anything if Sasuke has something to do with it. Your stamina is extremely low, and I suggest you stop dieting if you don't want to starve yourself; shinobi need the extra calories. Not that there's anything wrong with vegetables. At the moment, you have potential for genjutsu and possibly strategy.
"Naruto, you are a bit of a problem. Your skill with shinobi tools is rather high, as is your stealth since you were able to steal my book and the bells without my notice. Your chakra control and reserves are also above average. None of this was mentioned in your file; although I find it curious that the only reason you were the dead last was because of the fact that you never attended the special kunoichi classes and you rarely turned in your homework. To be quite honest, I wasn't able to gauge your skill that well because we never fought directly.
"To properly gauge your skill levels, I will set up a few short matches between you three and myself before we move on. Naruto, you're up first. This will be a taijutsu only battle. Sasuke and Sakura, step back."
Sasuke and Sakura did as instructed, walking a couple of meters away from Kakashi and Naruto, who both settled in to basic fighting stances. Both of them were balanced lightly on the balls of their feet. Neither of them twitched. 'Well, if she's not going to make a move, I guess I'll have to go in first!' Kakashi thought as he rushed in and aimed a vicious punch at Naruto. The blonde immediately dropped to the ground on all fours before lashing out towards Kakashi's knee with both legs. Kakashi wasn't quite fast enough to dodge completely, but Naruto's heel only clipped his kneecap. 'She has speed, but not strength. Judging by her movements and the fact that she aimed towards the side of my knees, where she could have sent me to the ground if she had come into contact with me, Naruto makes up for her lack of strength by aiming for weak points on the body. Clever.'
To test his theory, Kakashi allowed Naruto to stand up before he attacked again, this time with a brutal sidekick. Just as he thought she would, Naruto slammed her elbow into the back of his knee, causing painful tingles to run up his leg. Unfortunately for Naruto, this didn't stop Kakashi's momentum completely, and his heel slammed into her shoulder.
Naruto hissed in pain and backed away, rubbing her injured shoulder. This time, she was the one who attacked first. The side of her hand flickered towards Kakashi's neck. The jounin stepped to the side and allowed Naruto to overextend herself. Taking advantage of her loss of balance, Kakashi smashed his foot into her ribcage and sent her crashing to the ground. A second later, Naruto was up again and leaping forward, elbow extended towards his diaphragm.
Kakashi had seen what he needed to, so he grabbed Naruto's wrist and twisted until her arm threatened to break and her movement had stilled. "That's enough. You do not have a lot of strength, so you relied on your speed to cover for you. But you relied on that speed too much; when you meet an opponent faster then you, your taijutsu style is rendered useless. You don't have a lot of strength, so you focused completely on speed and lashing out at your opponent's weak points. I will admit that it is a clever way to cover for your weaknesses, but specialization can either be your savior or your death. Most of the time, it will be the latter. But my job is to improve your abilities and protect you until you can protect yourselves, so both your speed and strength will improve if I have anything to say about it. Now, if you have any other abilities – ninjutsu, genjutsu, etcetera – now would be the time to tell me about it." When his spoken observation of Naruto's abilities was done, Kakashi released her arm. The genin immediately backed away.
Naruto shrugged. "I don't really have anything else in my arsenal besides Kawarimi, Bunshin, and Henge unless you count making traps."
Kakashi nodded. 'Traps, huh? Her proficiency with weapons is above average, and her taijutsu style is based more on accuracy rather then blunt power. Her stealth is definitely above average. But she doesn't have any ninjutsu or genjutsu, which is understandable since she doesn't belong to a clan of any sort. If you put her skills together and look at them as a whole, Naruto might be a good assassin or spy, but I don't really want somebody so young to have a specialty like that. And then there's the fact that she managed to snatch my bells…the only time I was distracted was when that Chiyoko woman was there. It is possible that Naruto used the Henge to transform herself into Chiyoko. I definitely wouldn't put it past Naruto to use my weaknesses like that.'
"Sakura, you're next," Kakashi said firmly. Naruto stepped back and Sakura took her place, settling into the basic academy stance.
After a moment of indecision, Sakura charged forward and threw a simple punch. Kakashi blocked it easily, and he noted her motions were slightly stiff and awkward, as if the mind but not the body had memorized them. 'She probably spent too much time focusing on her book studies, judging by her file,' Kakashi thought with a grimace.
Once again, Sakura went on the offensive, this time with a quick roundhouse kick. Kakashi blocked the kick with his forearm. 'Even if she has the mind of a strategist, she has personality of a frontline fighter if her offensive movements are anything to go by.' And it was true; even through their brief spar, Kakashi could tell that Sakura was not a defensive type. Her file had also mentioned her volatile temper, meaning she would probably be unsuited for life as a spy, assassin, medic, or strategist unless she could learn to calm herself and reign in her temper. However…that also meant some types of genjutsu might be difficult for her in the long run. Damn. "That's enough," Kakashi said. "Do you have any other techniques you want to show me?" when Sakura shook her head in the negative, Kakashi continued, "Sasuke, I already have a pretty good grip on your taijutsu style. Do you have any other techniques besides Katon: Goukakyuu no Jutsu?"
"I know Katon: Housenka no Jutsu Sasuke said proudly.
"Preform it," Kakashi ordered.
Sasuke nodded as his hands began to weave the needed seals. "Katon: Housenka no Jutsu," he muttered before breathing out multiple smaller balls of fire.
Kakashi nodded thoughtfully. 'The speed of his hand seals was rather impressive for a rookie genin. I guess his title of Rookie of the Year isn't completely misleading,' the Hatake mused. "Okay you three. Tomorrow I will bring three taijutsu scrolls for both of you. I want each of you to select one; that will be your style until you either master it, so choose wisely. Play to your strengths and cover for your weaknesses. We will also begin ninjutsu training tomorrow, so rest up! But before that happens, you guys have to learn something else: how to climb trees!"
Kakashi gained some sort of sick amusement from the disbelieving expressions on his students' faces.
"Um…Sensei, we already learned how to climb trees in the Academy," Sakura protested.
"Not without hands, you haven't," Kakashi replied. Sakura frowned, looking confused, while Sasuke's eyes narrowed. A cocky smirk spread across Naruto's face, reinforcing Kakashi's belief that she had already learned the exercise.
"Sensei, wouldn't that be impossible? And why should we learn this if we can do exactly the same thing with our hands?" Sakura queried.
Kakashi walked up a nearby tree with only his feet touching the trunk in any way to answer Sakura's first question. "This same technique can be used in battle to stick to ceilings or walls. But perhaps even more importantly then that, this is the first stage of learning how to control your chakra properly.
"You see, when people create chakra, they are mixing specific amounts of physical and mental energy based on what type of technique they're going to use. However, unless you have good chakra control, some of that chakra will go to waste. If you run out of chakra, you will die; so learning how to use your chakra effectively can save your life. Also, certain types of jutsu, such as genjutsu and iryoujutsu, require excellent control to work properly.
"Anyways, the tree climbing exercise is done by focusing the correct amount of chakra into your feet and using it to stick to the tree. Use your kunai to mark how high you get and keep trying to improve until you can reach the top of the tree."
All three of the genin nodded and pulled out a kunai before racing up a tree.
Sakura got about two thirds of the way up before she almost fell off. Sasuke only climbed a few feet before the bark cracked under the pressure of his chakra. Naruto on the other hand, easily loped up the tree before walking back down.
Kakashi blinked. 'Okay, note to self: Ask Naruto where the hell she learned tree climbing.' "Sakura, good job. Keep going until you can get to the top and then meet me by the river. Sasuke, try using a little less chakra. Naruto, come with me," instructed Kakashi.
Naruto followed the jounin obediently to the edge of the river flowing through the training grounds. Once they were there, Kakashi turned to face his student. "Naruto, how did you know the tree climbing exercise?" he asked sharply.
Naruto scuffed the ground with his foot and shrugged. "…When we started working on ninjutsu in my second year, I couldn't do anything right. Everything I tried just blew up in my face or failed. When I asked Iruka-sensei about it, he said that it might be because I had so much chakra it was hard for me to control it properly. I asked what I could do to improve my chakra control, and he said to ask a librarian about it. I did, and they gave me a few chakra control exercises. They're not classified, so I was able to get them without any problems," she explained.
"I see. How many of the exercises can you do?" Kakashi asked.
"I finished the kunai-twirling exercise, and I just started on basic shape manipulation," Naruto answered.
Kakashi quirked an eyebrow at that. 'Shape manipulation at the age of twelve…with such good chakra control she may be able to become a medic. I was originally planning to have Sakura learn some medical ninjutsu, but with Naruto on the team it might be better to have Sakura focus more on her combat abilities and train Naruto to act as a medic.' "Hm…then go back to the clearing with Sasuke and Sakura and do push-ups, punches, curl-ups, that sort of thing. I noticed that your strength was lacking earlier."
"Already on it," Naruto smirked.
0o0o0o0o0o0
Sasuke's eyebrow twitched as he glared angrily at the tree he had been trying to climb. Gritting his teeth in frustration and annoyance, he turned to Naruto, who was doing push-ups a few feet away. "Naruto," he called.
The blonde kunoichi paused in her push-ups. "Yeah?"
Sasuke sighed in aggravation and did his best to bury his pride. "Um…can you help me with this?" he asked hesitantly.
Naruto blinked as if surprised. "Sure," she shrugged. "Since chakra is made of both physical and mental energy, you need to calm down. Being frustrated or angry will make it a lot harder to mold chakra. And really, the whole exercise is about finding the right amount of chakra and maintaining that amount of chakra."
Sasuke nodded and did his best to follow Naruto's advice. When he fell down again, Naruto walked over and helped him up.
"Don't feel as if you're too incompetent," Naruto advised.
At that, Sasuke's temper snapped. "Sakura understood this before me! You, the dead last at the Academy, got it before I did! Why the hell shouldn't I feel incompetent?" he spat.
Naruto faced his tirade unflinchingly. "I only got it because I've done this before," she said. "Do you remember how bad I was when we first started working on ninjutsu in the Academy?"
And indeed, Sasuke did remember. Every time Naruto had tried something other then the Kawarimi, it had exploded in her face or failed miserably. Hesitantly, he nodded, not quite sure where Naruto was going.
"Well, the reason I couldn't do it was because I had really crappy chakra control. When you use a jutsu, it's like trying to take water out of a dam. The more water behind the dam, the harder it is to take a small amount. The less water, the easier it is. Because I have very large chakra reserves, it was almost impossible for me to take a small amount of chakra and preform one of the Academy jutsu. For this reason, I went to the library and looked up some books on chakra control. I learned the tree climbing exercise from these books.
"On the other hand, Sakura has a much smaller amount of chakra then you or me. Because of this, it is much easier for her to manipulate her chakra correctly," Naruto explained. "And as for you being incompetent, you are probably the best genin in terms of combat. You already know two non-Academy ninjutsu, your taijutsu has never been something to sneeze at, and your genjutsu potential was supposed to be pretty high if I remember correctly. Sakura does have potential, but it's untapped. Currently, she has extremely low stamina and nothing going her except for her intelligence. I'm not much better; I may have pretty large chakra reserves, but I have no ninjutsu to speak of."
Sasuke nodded slowly; what she said did make sense. For an idiot, anyway. "You had such bad chakra control that you couldn't create a clone? Geez, you really are an idiot," he taunted.
"Yeah, and you're an ass. Tell me something I don't know," Naruto retorted snappishly.
Sasuke snorted and returned to his tree while Naruto continued her push-ups.
0o0o0o0o0o0
In my story, shinobi use military time. For those of you who don't know, that means 8:00 is eight in the morning and 20:00 is eight o'clock at night. Basically, it's a clock that operates on twenty-four hours instead of twelve.
This is what Shikamaru wore when he fought Kakuzu and Hidan, just black.
Glossary
Kannabi – Where the Gods Do Not Help
help
Daiyonji Ninkai Taisen – The Fourth Great Shinobi World War
Onii-san - Brother. The "o-" prefix is honorific, so younger siblings speaking to an older brother most often use this. Nii-san means the same thing with a slightly lower level of respect.
Ino-bunta – Ino-pig
Rikudo Sennin – Sage of the Six Paths
Buntaichou – Squad Captain
Kopi Ninja no Kakashi – Kakashi the Copy Ninja
Sharingan no Kakashi – Kakashi of the Sharingan
Fuuinjutsu – Sealing Techniques
Daisanji Ninkai Taisen – The Third Great Shinobi World War
Shunshined – A shunshin is high-speed movement that is often used with another material (leaves, smoke, sand, mist, ect.) to distract the opponent or to simply make it flashier. "Shunshined" is a fan-made term referring to preforming a shunshin.
Orioke no Jutsu – Sexy Technique.
Kawarimi – Replacement
Bunshin – Clone
Henge – Transformation
Katon: Goukakyuu no Jutsu – Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique
Katon: Housenka no Jutsu – Fire Release: Phoenix Sage Fire Technique
Iryoujutsu – Medical Techniques
Jutsu List
Chidori
English: One Thousand Birds
Rank: A
Classifications: Ninjutsu, Offensive, Short-Range
Creator: Hatake Kakashi
Effect: Lightning chakra is gathered around the user's hand so that it looks like a glowing white ball with flashes of lightning coming off of it. The user then rushes forward at high speeds to pierce the target. Due to the extreme power behind this technique, it is normally fatal. This technique can only be used by somebody who has the Sharingan or a sort of chakra sonar.
Raikiri
English: Lightning Cutter
Rank: S
Classifications: Ninjutsu, Offensive, Short-Range
Creator: Hatake Kakashi
Effect: This is basically a more concentrated Chidori. It has the same effects and drawbacks. It takes the form of lightning molded around the user's hand that has a bluer tint then the Chidori.
Katon: Goukakyuu no Jutsu
English: Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique
Rank: C
Classifications: Ninjutsu, Offensive, Mid-Range
Creator: The Uchiha Clan
Effect: After the user finishes their hand seals, they gather chakra into their lungs before expelling it in a large ball of fire.
Katon: Housenka no Jutsu
English: Fire Release: Pheonix Sage Fire Technique
Rank: C
Classifications: Ninjutsu, Offensive, Mid-Range
Effect: After the necessary hand seals are completed, the user breathes out a volley of small fireballs that can be controlled with the user's chakra. The name of this technique is a pun on a type of flower called Housenka, literally "Pheonix Sage Flower."
The title of this chapter is Fallen Leaves by Billy Talent II.