Hey guys… Well I don't really have much to add that I didn't add on before, since I am posting two chapters in a row.
Welcome back to the story of Legends!
Dialog legend
-"Spoken"-
-'Thoughts'-
-Flashbacks-
-Kyubi-
Previously…
All of the Konoha Eleven, along with their sensei, was there. The Konohamaru Corp, Umino Iruka, Jiraiya, Tsunade, and even Temari were there. The only two people he couldn't spot were Kakashi and Sylis. The place was decked out with tables covered in food and drink; it is an understatement to say that Naruto was surprised.
'Oh boy.' Naruto thought as he scratched his head. 'And here I thought I would get a good night's sleep.'
&&&&
Legends of Konoha
Results of Training
&&&&
The sound of clapping and cheering filled the air, as Naruto still stood shocked at the mob of people that were at his new residence. He scratched his head as he put on his best grin. Scanning the crowd, his gaze fell on Tsunade. She simply smiled and gave him a thumbs up.
"Long time, eh Naruto?" He quickly looked to the owner of the voice. Her purple outfit had mostly remained the same, though her white wrappings had disappeared. Her blonde hair had fully grown out to her waist; a large mass of her bangs blocked her right eye from view. The sky blue of her left eye was unique as the pupil was almost invisible. These features were all a dead give away to the identity of the female.
"Ino," Naruto smiled, "you're looking good. How have you been?" She smiled and shrugged her shoulders.
"Well, I'm good as you can get when you are grouped with these two." She quickly pointed to her sides. At quick glance, Naruto saw Shikamaru to her left. A quick nod between the two took care of the introductions. To her right was a rather larger boy, dressed in black pants and black sandals. His upper body was covered in red clothing with armor similar to a samurai. His hair was long and spiky; similar to Jiraiya, around his forehead was a red hitai-ate of the Leaf village. Red swirls were on each of his cheeks.
"Choji, nice working keeping Ichiraku in business while I was gone." Both boys shared a quick laugh.
"Great friends among Ichiraku Ramen lovers." Choji smiled, along with Naruto. "Good to see you back Naruto." As soon as he had stopped talking, more of their little group joined them. Sakura, Shino, and Kiba. Naruto was quickly put into a headlock by Kiba as laughter surfaced.
"Naruto…" Everyone looked up, seeing group of three. The man who spoke wore a mixture of black and white clothing, notably the formal robes of the Hyuga clan. His brown hair reached his lower back, tied into a ponytail half way down. Around his forehead was the Hitai-ate of Konoha. His pale eyes and expressionless face hadn't changed at all over the years. Hyuga Neji stood as tall as Naruto. A smile slowly formed on his lip. "Welcome back." Before Naruto could respond, a rather enthusiastic voice made itself heard
"Naruto! The Flames of Youth have brought guided you back home!" The voice was none other than the Green Beast of Konoha himself, Rock Lee. His appearance had remained the same, with the exception of the Chunin vest he now wore. Naruto laughed nervously at his friend's remarks.
"Hey Lee, it's good to see you doing so well." His response was followed by Lee's 'Nice Guy' pose, causing all of the others to sweat a little.
"You are so weird Lee…" The last one to make her existence known hadn't changed much, appearance wise. She wore clothing of Chinese origin, a white short sleeve shirt, and maroon colored pants. Her brown hair was still worn in two tightly wound balls, her Hitai-ate around her forehead. She looked at Naruto and smiled. "Welcome home Naruto, but I'm afraid you might have gotten Lee a little excited." She said in a worried tone, causing the group to look at their bushy brow companion. He was very antsy, yelling about his chance to test his skills again Naruto. Yet again, everyone was sweating. Suddenly, a thought came Naruto.
"Hey Neji." The older Hyuga looked at his blond friend. "I heard you made Jounin, congratulation." Neji smiled and nodded.
"Thanks."
"So, I don't have to worry about you being a proctor for the written part of the Chunin Exams, do I?" Neji couldn't help but grin at his question, which got Naruto a little worried.
"No," he stated calmly while shaking his head. "They said that would be an unfair for the Genin taking the exam, so you are spared." The blond let out a sigh of relief. Neji looked over at the girl next to Naruto, his cousin looked away from him. "I heard a rumor that you were going to participate this year, Hinata-sama. Is this true?" Hinata was surprised that her decision had spread so quickly, she had only decided this morning. "I see." Hinata looked up at her cousin. "You will need to find a third team member, I suggest you start looking now." Naruto listened carefully to his words, because he was right. "It will be hard to find someone you can work in sync with, it can't be just anyone."
"Yeah, you have a point…" Naruto began running through names, trying to think of a third partner. "What about Sylis?"
"Chunin." Shikamaru stated clearly. Naruto looked at him dumbfounded.
"Really?" The blond asked. "He made Chunin?"
"Yeah, would have guessed he has what it makes to be a leader." Kiba said, after scoffing.
"He doesn't work well with anyone, he refuses to work with us." Sakura shrugged her shoulders. "It really is a surprise that he became one." Naruto was once again, running through names.
"What about Ryuu Kenshin?"
"Did someone mention me?" The Konoha Eleven turned to see a young man wearing standard shinobi attire. Blue sandals, dark blue pants with kunai holster on his right leg. Over his black shirt, he wore a red jacket that covered the length of his arms. On his back, was a black footprint, similar to that of a dragon. He his hair was crimson red, his bangs hanging in front of his golden eyes while the back was tied in a bushy ponytail that reached his lower back. (The hairstyle is a direct copy of Himura Kenshin from Rurouni Kenshin.) He wore a black hitai-ate around his forehead. He stood slightly taller than Naruto.
"Speak of the devil." Everyone turned to Shino, some jaws dropped and other just shocked. Neji just raised an eyebrow toward the bug user. Shino eyes glanced back and forth between the group, though the action was hidden by his shades. "Is it that unusual that I talk?" The silence and nervous moment of the group confirmed it.
"Anyway…." The red head looked at Naruto, smiling. "It's good to see you back after such a long time." His smiling face turned into a questioning look. "Now why did you same my name?"
"Still a Genin?"
"Yep." Naruto gave him a pat on the back, showing his signature grin.
"Congratulations, you're our third team member." Kenshin now wore a worried expression.
"Wait, team member? For what?" He nervously looked toward the others for an explanation, though he quickly faced Hinata when she spoke.
"Naruto and I are going to take part in the Chunin Exams, but we are short one member." She smiled slightly. "Would you be our last team member?" Kenshin simply smiled and nodded.
"Well I can't say no to you guys." He placed his hands in the pockets of his jacket. "Though I can't train with you guys just yet, I have a mission tomorrow and it's going to last a couple days."
"A mission? Before the Exams?" Shikamaru looked over at their red haired companion. "Missions are put on hold for the Chunin Exams…"
"Usually, that's true." The group looked over to the blonde girl walking towards them. "But there seems to be some commotion at a town that serves as a check point between Suna and Konoha." Temari shrugged her shoulders. "My brother and the Hokage-sama wish to keep the roads safe for those traveling here during the exams."
"Just the two of you?" Naruto questioned, receiving a shake of the head from Kenshin.
"Four member team, the first is a female Leaf Genin, Kokuzoku Junko. The other, oddly enough, is Sylis." After finishing his sentence, some of the others looked at him like he was crazy.
"Wait, wait, wait… You're actually on a mission with Sylis? The Shadow Fox of the Arena?" Kiba scratched his head, mumbling to himself. "I didn't think that guy worked with anyone." Naruto stared at Kiba, confusion plastered on his face.
"Shadow Fox… of the… Arena?" Naruto had barely gotten his sentence out before Lee followed up.
"The Arena is a competition that started recently and became popular almost instantly." Lee's excitement showed in his eyes, as they seemed to be set ablaze. "It is a place where fighter's let loose their flames of youth in combat!" Once again, everyone was nervously sweating due to Lee's outburst.
"To put it short," Neji began talking over his teammate, who had yet to notice everyone was ignoring him, "the battles of the Chunin exams became so popular that the Hidden Shinobi Villages created the Arena. Like Lee said, it is a place where shinobi fight in, more or less, friendly competition. They thought it would help increase friendly relations between the villages. Currently, there are four ranks of the Arena. Genin, Chunin, Jounin, and Elite. You enter in teams, ranging from one to three members." Neji crossed his arms. "While most fight in teams, some fight alone like Sylis."
"Arena huh… Sounds like fun." Naruto grinned. "After the Chunin exams, I gonna have to enter."
"Well, it sure didn't sound like Sylis was happy about going on this mission." Kenshin sighed. "Before I entered the Hokage's office, I could hear him yelling from outside." The red head shivered. "I have to say, I would never have the guts to say the kind of things he… said…" Kenshin's attention at been averted, staring off to his side. When the others turned to see what he was looking at, they saw a girl with long raven hair speaking with Tsunade. Naruto and Hinata recognized it to be Haku. "Excuse me for a second." Kenshin said, quickly turning to his friends and bowing. He calmly walked toward the ex-Mist shinobi, and they began to make small talk. The others just watched then turned their attention back to each other.
"Anyways," the group turned to Kiba. "It's good to have you back kid." The brown haired boy held his fist out towards Naruto. The blond grinned and met his fist with his friend's. After a short 'Good bye', Kiba took his leave, heading toward the buffet table.
&&&&
After many hours of food, laughter, and story telling, the crowd slowly deteriorated into a small group. As the full moon continued to rise, the only people left were Naruto, Hinata, Neji, Sakura, and Tsunade. The five were talking casually, a bottle of sake in front of the Hokage while the others had canned beverages. Before long, they were interpreted by the footsteps of a silver haired man.
"Sorry I'm late, I had to take Pakkun for a walk, so I took a long way around." After a long period of silence and many glares at the copy-nin, he took notice of the lack of people. "Say… Didn't the party just start a few hours ago?" Everyone turned to Tsunade who was laughing so hard; she almost fell out of her chair.
"Well," she tried to compose herself, "I had a feeling you would show up late so I told you the party would start three hours later than when it did." Naruto couldn't help but join Tsunade in laughing, Hinata and Sakura were attempting to hold their laughter back as well. Even Neji grinned with amusement. The silver haired Jounin let out a sigh, accepting defeat. His attention turned to Naruto, who was wiping the tears from his eyes. "Naruto." The blond quickly turned to his sensei. "I hear you are going to attempt the Chunin exams again, have you gotten a team together?" The blond simply nodded.
"I have Kakashi-sensei." He hand motioned to the girl to his left. "Hyuga Hinata, and Ryuu Kenshin will be my teammates." Hinata confirmed Naruto's statement with a nod. Kakashi rubbed his chin with his index finger and thumb.
"I see." Be reached into the pouch on his waist. "I would like to see how strong you've grown, Naruto." He now held three small bells in his hand. "Since Kenshin will be on a mission, I guess I will test you, Sakura and Hinata." Naruto and Sakura grinned at the thought, while Hinata and Neji look at each other with a confused look, then at Kakashi. "Don't worry, I'll explain everything in the morning." After pulling out his little orange book, Kakashi turned to make his exit. "Meet me at training ground seven, six AM." With that, the copy-nin disappeared into the dark night. Soon, the Godaime rose to her feet, stretching out her limbs, knocking over an empty bottle of sake at the same time.
"I am calling it a night." She said, a slight tint of pink under her eyes. "It's great to see ya back kid. I'll take care of your team's registration for the exams." The Hyugas would remain for at least another hour, before Neji stood.
"I should get Hinata-sama home, it would be unwise to upset Hiashi-sama." At his words, Hinata stood next to him.
"Hai, neesan." She turned to Naruto, a smile on her face.
"Thanks for all the help today Hinata." Naruto placed his hands behind his head. "I couldn't have done it without ya." Hinata could feel the heat rise to her cheeks; she tilted her head in an attempt to hide her blush.
"You don't need to thank me. I… just wanted to help." The blond nodded at her answer, happy that she cared enough to help. After saying their goodbyes to Naruto and Sakura, the Hyugas were about to leave, but Naruto remembered something important.
"Wait Hinata!" The two turned around, confused by the sudden outburst. "Meet me here at eight AM. tomorrow." A confused look appeared on the faces of Neji and Hinata, though Naruto knew why. "I know what Kakashi-sensei said, but trust me." A mischievous grin appeared on his face. "It's time to give him a taste of his own medicine."
"Hai." Hinata smiled, she had heard of Kakashi's bad habits. She quickly figured out what her crush had planned. "Good night, Naruto-kun." She bow respectfully and followed her cousin out of sight.
Naruto glanced up at the night sky, the full moon shining brightly. In his first day back, he had gone through so much, yet there was one person who stood by him the entire time.
"Thank you… Hinata…" Silently, Naruto headed back to Sakura. She also said goodnight and made her exit. Inside his new home, Naruto was preparing as best as he could for a night's sleep on a wooden floor.
&&&&
The morning was rather cold; a clear sign that fall was just around the corner. The multi colored leaves were swirling in the wind, pacing by the face of a silver haired man. It was now ten AM; Kakashi had been reading his book for the last two hours. He had finished and was now rereading it. What was really bugging him, was the missing shinobi he was suppose to test.
'It's not like Naruto or Sakura to be late…' He let out a sigh. 'And from what Kurenai has told me, Hinata is always the first one to arrive.'
"Yo." After the smoke cleared, Naruto, Sakura, and Hinata were revealed, each standing on one of the three training posts. Kakashi reluctantly put his book away, giving a slightly annoyed glare at the three. "Sorry we're late, our clothes were dirty, so we had to clean them before we came."
"That's your excuse?" The three simply nodded. "I see…" A smiled was hidden under the mask of Kakashi as he let out a small chuckle. "That's a good one, I must write that one down." With the excuses out of the way, Kakashi once again held the bells out in front of him. "Sakura, Naruto, I'm sure you remember the rules." His single eye turned to the lavender haired kunoichi next to Naruto. "Your task is simple. You are to obtain these bells from me, by any means." He tied the bells to his waist and moved to adjust his hitai-ate.
"What? No Icha Icha?" Naruto smirked.
"No, I have a feeling I should be serious." Kakashi brought his hands to his sides, his Sharingan now revealed. "You have until nightfall to-"
"Let's go!" Naruto didn't give his sensei a chance to finish, whipping a barrage of shuriken at the Jounin. Kakashi swiftly fell to the ground, launching his own assault of projectiles. The blond leaped high into the air, avoiding the attack, but now he was a sitting duck.
'Looks like I get to end this quickly.' Kakashi thought as he threw four kunai at the male Genin. He was confused by the blond's positive smirk.
"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu! (Shadow Clone Jutsu)" Two Narutos were now floating in midair, the clone pulling Naruto out of the way.
'I see… Interesting.' Kakashi bolted forward in an attempt to subdue the blond before he could attack. Thanks to the Sharingan, the Jounin had avoided the attack of Hyuga Hinata's Juken (Gentle Fist) style. Landing several feet away from the Genin, Kakashi stood in a battle stance. A few seconds later, the Jounin could feel a slight pressure in his back. With a poof of smoke, the Naruto's disappeared and Hinata now stood alone while the real Naruto stood behind him with a kunai pressed against Kakashi's back. "You're timing with shadow clones has improved a lot. And your teamwork with Hinata…" He could only smile at his student's performance. "Even though your been gone so long and she isn't your normal teammate, you two are quite in sync." Needless to say, Hinata and Naruto were both pleased with Kakashi's words. "It looks like I'll really need to watch myself." The Jounin suddenly disappeared in a puff of smoke.
"Damn." Naruto cursed.
"Naruto you idiot!" Sakura scowled. Hinata quickly formed the necessary hand seals to activate Byakugan. With the three now scanning the area, Kakashi was nowhere to be found. A small smirk appeared on Naruto's face. "If he is to the left or right..." A clone appeared next to him as the original began to gather chakra in his right hand.
"Not behind." Sakura cracked her knuckles.
"And he isn't above." Hinata also dawned a smile, the power of her kekkei genkai scanning the last possible area, finding their target.
"Below!" The three yelled in unison. Naruto's clone hand finished its job as the real Naruto held a swirling ball of chakra in his hand. What he wasn't prepared for was the sudden tremor that nearly knocked him off his feet. Sakura stood, her fist connected to the ground in front of the devastated terrain. The earth was jagged, the ground torn up in more ways than one. Amidst of it all, a stunned and somewhat scared Kakashi sat.
'W-What the hell…" Kakashi had no time to be shocked as Hinata quickly launched an offensive. Once again, the Jounin barely escaped as Hinata's palm slammed into the boulder, cracking slightly. 'There teamwork… Years being away from the village, yet his teamwork with these two is flawless.'
&&&&
Off to the side, three figured were in hiding, observing the battle.
"I see you really took that one under your wing, Tsunade." An older man chuckled. "Beauty, strength, and a short temper." Jiraiya could only burst out laughing. "Definitely a second Tsunade."
"Sakura will become a great medical ninja." The Hokage crossed her arms. "There is no doubt about that."
"Tsunade-same, do you think they stand a chance against Kakashi-san?" Shizune asked. Tsunade glanced over at her assistant.
"It all depends." She smiled, her attention now back to the battle. "They have all improved a lot after all."
&&&&
The team of three was hopping through the forest as the sun began to set, leaping from branch to branch. It had been many hours since they started and they had yet to obtain the bells.
"I think it is time, we pull out all the stops." Naruto began reaching into his hip pouch.
"Yeah, no more kidding around." Sakura grinned, keeping her eyes peeled for Kakashi. The three continued through, Naruto arming himself with shuriken. As he removed his hand, an object fell out of his pouch, landing on the forest floor. Unaware of it, he continued with the two kunoichi in tow. After they were long gone, figure came out of the underbrush. He picked up what looked like a little blue book.
"Is this?" The figure examined it closely, his eyes wide as saucers. "The new book!" Kakashi was giggling like a little schoolgirl. "Icha Icha Tactics huh?" He looked around, poorly checking his surroundings for his enemy. With no one in sight, he decided to take a quick peek. His eyes began scanning the pages, taking in each genius sentence. He had gotten to page ten when he heard a sizzling. A look of fear appeared on his face as he turned the page. "Oh shi-"
A loud explosion leveled a good section of the forest, leaving a smoldering crater.
"Unbelievable…" Hinata stood dumbfounded, staring at the devastated area.
"I can't believe that he fell for that." Sakura just shook her head, afterwards she turned to Naruto. He couldn't help but laugh, especially seeing his sensei crawling out of the burning debris.
"Don't take the bait if it's too obvious! Right, Kakashi-sensei?" Kakashi could only give an annoying glare at his student.
'Smart ass little brat…' The older man watched as the three jumped to the ground, no more than thirty feet in front of him. 'Well, if they want to play with fire,' he began forming hand seals at an alarming rate. 'Then I'll give them fire.'
"Hand seals!" Naruto warned the others.
"So fast." Sakura prepared for a defensive position. She then noticed the final seal, a look of fear on her face.
"Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu! (Fire Release: Great Fireball Jutsu)" Kakashi brought his hand to his mouth, a large mass of fire approaching the three at an alarming rate. Hinata stood in the center with her arms out forward, Naruto to her left and Sakura to her right. It seemed that the three couldn't get out of the way, or perhaps they weren't trying to. The fireball engulfed the younger ninjas, covering the entire area with smoke. Kakashi grinned under his mask, but a slight look of fear soon took over. As the smoke cleared, two large scorch marks could be seen, the trio standing in between them. Hinata was breathing heavily, her hands were moving at a slowing pace. The Jounin could only stare in disbelief. 'What the hell was that?'
"Nice work Hinata." Naruto smiled, "you never seize to amaze me." This made the said girl's cheeks to turn red. "Taju Kage Bunshin no Jutsu! (Multi Shadow Clone Jutsu)" Kakashi was surrounded by hundreds of Naruto clones, all preparing to strike. "Let's go!" Clones began flying at the Jounin from every angle. Kakashi would dodge one clone, just to almost get hit by another.
'This is going to be awhile…' Kakashi thought to himself, punching another clone out of existence. During his battle with the clones, he had forgotten the other members of the team. Scanning the area while defending himself, he spotted Sakura coming right at him. 'I have to avoid her punches.' He swiftly dodged her, landing his right heel in her side. He soon spotted Hinata and Naruto, charging him at the same time. 'Avoid hers as well, I don't have to worry about Naruto.' He did just as he had planed; he avoided all of Hinata's trusts while he blocked the attacks of Naruto. The two seemed to back off, watching the older Jounin, a few seconds later; Kakashi's right arm went limp. He stared at the pair, trying to figure out what happened. It wasn't until he took a more detailed look at how the two had been attacking him. All of Naruto's trusts began as a fist, but ended as a palm strike, where Hinata's appeared to be a less than perfect form of the Juken taijutsu style. "I see… I was too worried about avoiding Hinata's attack, I never thought you would use a transformation." A grin appeared on the two, before they switched places in a puff of smoke.
"You should pay more attention to the battle sensei." Kakashi quickly spun around to see an airborne Sakura, her right fist glowing with chakra. Just as he was about to leap backwards, his left leg buckled underneath him.
'Damn! She got my leg too!?' Has the Jounin stumbled backwards, Sakura's fist connected with the ground in front of him. As the dust cleared, the setting sun tinted yet another devastated patch of terrain, Kakashi was sitting right in the middle of it all. He smiled under his mask, failing at his attempt to get up. "Well, you all have improved over the years. I'm proud of you." The trio hopped to where Kakashi was, being held in place by jagged earth and the immobility of his leg. Reaching with left hand, he grabbed the bells and held them up. "Nice work." Each one grabbed one of the bells, Naruto and Sakura helping their sensei up. Hinata quickly unblocked Kakashi's chakra points. (I work the Japanese name for Chakra points. If someone remembers, please let me know in a review.) After the Jounin was in condition to walk, the four shinobi made their way back towards civilization.
While Jiraiya and Tsunade smiled in approval at their student's performance, Shizune was as excited as could be.
"And you had doubt in them Shizune." Tsunade calmly said. "They haven't been training all this time for nothing." The older man chuckled.
"Naruto has grown into a fine shinobi, he is just like his father." He couldn't help but boast. "I did train his father after all, there is no way he can fail." The male Sannin let out a loud chuckle.
"Sakura's results are pretty clear, she will probably surpass myself at her rate." Tsunade crossed her arms.
"And Hyuga Hinata shows great promise." Shizune smiled. "With her Byakugan and ability to control and mold chakra, she could master many techniques, maybe even create some." She and Jiraiya watched as Tsunade began to walk. "What will we do now, Tsunade-same?" The blonde turned around with a large smirk on her face.
"We drink to success!" She continued walking, receiving an approving grunt from her former teammate, who quickly followed. The youngest of the three just sighed, thinking of the hassle of dragging home a drunk Hokage.
Sakka Bunsho no Jutsu!
All right, the second chapter is posted! It was a little shorter than I wanted it to be, but if I had the story get and longer, the bell test would have just dragged on and I am sure that would have bored you all. I would like to focus more on the building relations of the characters than the battles. Don't get me wrong, they are fun to write, but I don't want this to turn completely into an action-based story. So that's why I cut this one shorter, plus I didn't really have much planed in between here and when the Chunin exams.
You may have noticed that I have placed the translated version of techniques next to the un-translated ones. The reasoning for this is that not everyone knows Japanese, even if they are reading stuff way ahead of the English anime and magna. For the time being, I was going to do this for the first time a move is used, but any time after that it would simple be the Japanese name for it. If you think this is a good idea, let me know. If you think I should just have the translated or just the un-translated jutsu, let me know. Feedback is important.
Like I said before, I like to make this story a challenge to write as much as I want it to be fun to write. That is why I am offering to add in 'Original Characters' of the readers, it makes me adjust to them being added to the story. I also will involve the reviewers by letting a certain reviewer to inspire their own touch into the story.
Sorry again for the long delay of the story. I blame .hack//G.U. because it came out in the middle of me writing this chapter. I just had to play it! I had to finish the third game!
So review and let me know what you think, I need your input to make the story what it is. Also if you notice any mistakes, feel free to point them out. I am not perfect and I do make spelling/grammar mistakes, though I trust spell check to fix most of the grammar parts.
