Why is ramen so delicious?-thinking
Kage Bunshin no Jutsu-jutsu
YOU LITTLE BRAT/you little brat- demon speech
Singlehandedly
Chapter 1: A Novel Idea.
It was another beautiful day in the Land of Fire, a day that seemed like any other day. It held no pretense, no warning that there was anything special going on or going to happen. But therein, as the Bard would say, lies the rub.(Whatever that means) *sigh* But I digress.
Our focus is on a group of ninja, one is renowned through the shinobi world as a genius, the only man to possess the legendary dojutsu of the Uchiha Clan without being an Uchiha; the son of the legendary Konoha no Shiroi Kiba(1), Hatake Kakashi, the Copy Ninja. He was dressed in the standard Jounin uniform and a mask covering the lower portion of his face and his hitai-ite slanted to cover his left eye. Beside him is a raven-haired ninja who seemed to be in a deep, meditative mood(that means he was being emo), dressed in a blue shirt with the Uchiha Crest on its back, a pair of white shorts a set of warmers on his arms and legs and his hitai-ite tied on his forehead. He is the sole survivor of the Uchiha Clan Massacre; Uchiha Sasuke. Right next to him is a pink-haired kunoichi dressed in a red battle dress with her hitai-ite serving as a ribbon to hold her hair in place. Her name is Haruno Sakura. Finally, we come to the last ninja. He is a blond-haired boy dressed in an orange and blue jumpsuit. His hitai-ite was around his head, keeping his unruly hair out of his eyes. His cerulean-blue eyes shine with mirth and determination. Yet, underneath all that, is a dark secret and an evil and dangerous power. He is Uzumaki Naruto; Jinchuuriki of the Kyuubi no Yoko, the nine-tailed demon fox that besieged Konoha many years ago. But once again, I digress.
Team 7, their official name, had just returned from a C-ranked mission that escalated into an A-ranked mission. It began as a simple escort and protect mission; they were to escort a bridge builder named Tazuna to Wave Country and protect him till he completed his bridge. They ran into the Demon Brothers of Kiri and the Demon of the Mist, Momoichi Zabuza and his apprentice, Haku. They had been hired by Gato, a shipping mogul who was trying to take over Wave Country. Tazuna's bridge was an effort to free Wave from the restrictions of Gato. After a hard battle, Team 7 proved victorious and completed their mission, but not without a few scary experiences.
First, they were ambushed by the Demon Brothers. Thinking Kakashi was killed in the ambush, Naruto froze up and was saved by Sasuke. Kakashi reappeared in time to save the bridge builder and discerned the true status of the mission. Willing to take the risks, Team 7 pressed on.
At their first run-in with Zabuza, he captured Kakashi in a dome of water. Working together, Naruto and Sasuke managed to free Kakashi who unleashed the true powers of the Sharingan, the Uchiha Clan's prized dojutsu, to defeat Zabuza. But before he could deal the killing strike, Zabuza was saved by his apprentice posing as a hunter-nin and, afterwards, Kakashi fainted from chakra exhaustion.
A week later, Zabuza and his apprentice attacked Team 7 again, this time striking at the bridge. Zabuza managed to compromise Kakashi's Sharingan and Haku trapped Sasuke in his ultimate technique, a dome of ice mirrors that was impervious to flames and allowed him to travel at very high speeds from mirror to mirror. Naruto, who had been left behind, saved the bridge builder's family from two samurai sent by Gato and raced to the bridge to aid his teammates. In his haste to save Sasuke, he ended up trapped in Haku's technique. As they struggled to survive, Sasuke managed to awaken his Sharingan and took a hit meant for Naruto. Naruto, thinking that he was dead, tapped into Kyuubi's chakra in his rage and defeated Haku. But before he could strike the death blow, Haku escaped to take Kakashi's Chidori in the chest; saving Zabuza in the process. Unfortunately, Gato ended up double crossing the missing-nin. Encouraged by Naruto's words, Zabuza killed Gato in an effort to atone for all his wrongdoings. Injured in his battle with Kakashi and his effort to kill Gato, Zabuza died alongside his apprentice. It was later revealed that Sasuke was only in a near-death state and woke up soon after. For all his determination and encouragement, the completed bridge was named The Great Naruto Bridge.
As they walked home, Naruto was pelting Kakashi with questions. None of them, however, were quite relevant.
"Kakashi-sensei!!"
"What is it this time?"
"From what Sasuke-teme said, how was Haku able to use the Ice Needle jutsu?"
Kakashi sighed, another irrelevant question.
"What do you mean, Naruto?"
"Sasuke-teme said that he was trying to stab Haku with a kunai and Haku blocked with a senbon. With one of his hands occupied, how was he able to do the ice jutsu?"
Kakashi looked up as realization struck him.
"That's right, he wasn't there when Sasuke first began fighting Haku."
Kakashi stuck his nose in his book and answered Naruto's question.
"He used one-handed seals"
"NANI!!"
Naruto was dumbstruck at this discovery. The ability to use one-handed seals could serve many purposes.
"I could use jutsus as I fight with a weapon or I could conceal whatever jutsu I do from Sasuke's sharingan or probably.....I COULD DO TWO JUTSUS AT THE SAME TIME!!"
Naruto looked to his sensei, wondering if he could help.
"Sensei, when we get to Konoha can you teach about one-handed seals?"
"Maybe or....wait a minute."
Kakashi rummaged through his backpack and took out a small book.
"This should do, if you need help just ask me."
Naruto checked out its title, it was "One-Handed Seals: Everything You Need To Know About Them."
"Thanks sensei."
He opened the book and began reading. After a while he reached a certain paragraph that got him wondering.
"It is said that one-handed seals were originally made to allow the user use two jutsus at the same time. Though it sounds possible, it has proven to be a venture that exhausts chakra way too quickly to be useful to shinobi. Also the using two different jutsus at the same time poses a few risks due to the way elements react with each other. For example if an attempt is made too use a fire and water jutsu at the same time the fire jutsu will be neutralized by the water technique or they might neutralize each other leaving the user with either half his technique or nothing at all. Also, if an attempt is made to use a fire and wind jutsu at the same time, the wind will amplify the fire technique to the point where it could spiral out of control and end up harming the user. As such, no one has ventured further into the use of one-handed seals to use two jutsus at the same time. Of course, it is not impossible, it is just too risky."
Naruto looked at this and smiled.
"Risky is my middle name. If I could figure this out, I would be a kick-ass ninja."
A/N(PLEASE READ): This is the second story I have written, and it is a work in progress. To all of you who complain about my chapters being short....well I try to use the first chapter as a sort of prologue, gradually increasing the lenghts of the following chapters as I continue. Think of it as my unique style(well one I'm trying to develop at least) Ideas are welcome, as always. READ & REVIEW.
(1)Konoha no Shiroi Kiba: Konoha's White Fang. This was the name that was recorded in the bingo books for Hatake Sakumo. It referred to his saber which was capable of producing white chakra.