Title: One more Time
First of all thank you to everyone, who reviewed the first chapter. There were several reviews that made me think about the direction that I have taken and will be taking in the future, whether they be about Naruto/Sakura's personalities, their character growth, their dreams and desires for the future along with various other tangents. So thank you very much.
Also, I am happy that people enjoyed the first chapter; I was especially surprised when I received the notices for alerts. It's very satisfying to think that people actually liked my story enough to eagerly await the next chapter, so hopefully I won't disappoint you too much. Secondly, there was a reviewer who asked about Naruto working with Kurama's chakra. The only thing I can say is that it will happen of course you will just have to wait and see. They will be friends because it's Naruto, and when he works his magic even demonic entities can't resist him.
Thirdly, I am very grateful to the people who pointed out the spelling and the grammatical errors. I have already fixed them in the first chapter and have proof read this chapter. However, if you find them please let me know.
As a warning, I feel this chapter is also dialogue heavy; however, there is action as well. I think my desire to read about a character's thoughts and dreams take me on a journey when I am writing them and curbing that desire seems hard to do at the moment. It could very well be because of my inexperience in writing, so hopefully it will improve as I mature.
Also, I feel it's prudent to inform you the naming system used in the story regarding the use of techniques. I will use a mix of Japanese romanji and English for jutsu names. The elemental techniques especially would be in English as it makes it easier on me to come up with new techniques. However, the common techniques like replacement, transformation, clones, body flicker be in Japanese romanji.
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or anything else written by Kishimoto or David Weber, because if I did then you can be sure that there are several books that I would love to combine with Naruto's storyline or create crossovers and get paid for it. Alas, I have no such authority, for which I think the world is all the more poor for it.
***OMT***
"Ugh…" Uzumaki Naruto groaned while trying to wake up from the onslaught of drugs that Sakura had injected in him.
He felt nauseous even though there was nothing in his stomach to vomit, except for bile, which he could feel at the back of his throat. His painful cry must have awakened Sakura because she came into his field of view with a glass of water.
Holding the water in front of his lips, she gently cradled his head and bent it forward, "Here, just take a few sips," she advised, "I know your throat is parched but that's just the meds dissolving in your system."
After tasting a few drops and waiting a few minutes to stop his head from spinning, Naruto asked, "So? How was it?"
Sakura raised an eyebrow in question, "You had any doubts?"
Naruto chuckled lightly on asking a stupid question. This was his Sakura-chan, his wife and she was performing an operation on her husband, of course she would do everything in her power to make sure that the surgery was a success. To Sakura there was no alternative, "Sorry, it's the medication." Naruto wheezed.
Sakura just looked at Naruto, sitting beside her with his head in her lap and said, "Ah huh, that's what I will take it as because the substitute statement of you not trusting me enough to insert a simple pharmascope in you seems very unlikely."
Naruto just wanted to curl up and turn the other way around because Sakura was scaring him; also considering the fact that he didn't feel well enough to get up and walk, there was no one to save him from her wrath, so he did the only thing that he could think of, "hehehe, Sakura-chan, you know I was just joking, hospital humour and all that."
Sakura just shook her head in amusement, "Baka."
They sat in silence for a while with Sakura running her fingers through Naruto's hair. It was something that she had started to do in her previous life whenever Naruto was injured and was on the way to recovery. For some reason, it seemed to relax him; to Sakura this seemed like a left over trait of Kurama. He might be a demonic entity but the shape was still of a fox so maybe it was similar to rubbing the fur of an animal.
Looking at Naruto it seemed that the surgery was successful. He wasn't having an adverse reaction other than being nauseous, which was a good sign. It wasn't that this was a hard operation for her but there were certain factors that made it one of the worse to perform. First reason was that it was her husband who was under the knife so to speak, therefore it was infinitely more demanding to remain objective. Second reason was that she had to fight Kurama's chakra throughout the surgery to keep him from closing the cut before she had inserted the pharascope. And the third reason was the placement of the pharmascope.
The pharamascope was nothing more than a seal matrix that would be embedded into Naruto's brain, covering all the lobes. The Seal matrix itself was made of a concoction of various medications that Sakura had researched to increase the functionality of the brain and thus induce an effect where the person was able to think clearly, react faster and was able to multi-task better than others.
However, the best part was that once it was embedded, the production of the 'tick' as Naruto had dubbed it due to the sensation of having more time was done instantaneously by the seal matrix. The starting materials used in the formation of the seal itself would multiply and augment the production of more medication by using the person's chakra. However, the placement of the seal was directly into the brain itself and any mistakes meant that the consequences would be permanent, which highlighted the point of it being one of the worst tasks that she allowed herself to undertake.
Once he felt the disorientation go away, Naruto slowly opened his eyes once more and looked around the chamber. When he had first arrived in the evening, he didn't have a chance to look around properly because Sakura wanted to finish inserting the pharmascope in him as soon as possible.
She wanted to make sure that he didn't have any adverse reactions from it that they couldn't solve before their test against Kakashi. Remembering that, Naruto smiled, it was so good to see him again and he made sure that Kakashi received the new Icha-Icha just like last time. He had surprised Tsunade when he hugged her, though he could see that it made her really happy and she returned the hug as well which made his day because it was not very often that Senju Tsunade didn't kill someone who initiated a hug without her express permission. Of course, Shizune-neechan also received a hug, though funnily enough, her whole face turned red before she hugged him back. At that moment he had subtly winked at Sakura while he had Shizune in his arms but she didn't rise to the bait and just rolled her eyes.
The pleasant atmosphere had continued till the evening, with Naruto and Sakura regaling everyone with the stories of their training. When both of them had asked for permission to be excused in order to get the surgery done on time, the evening had just started. Since he couldn't see the clock because Sakura was holding him in her arms, he asked "What time is it Sakura-chan?"
Sakura just got on the bed and hugged him tighter before replying, "Last I checked, it was getting to be 5 in the morning. Don't worry, we still have time."
Instead of replying, Naruto just snuggled closer to Sakura. He missed this warmth during the three years that he was away from her. Just being in her arms and having her close to him was the best drug for him, so Uzumaki Naruto drifted back to sleep in his wife's arms knowing he was safe.
***OMT***
2 hours later…
Naruto woke up feeling refreshed, sitting straight up and popping the joints in his neck, shoulders, back and fingers he released a sigh of relief. Compared to before he was feeling much better and he was sure that once he took a bath he would be fully awake.
Looking around the place he saw that it was probably the smallest room in the house. Away from any prying eyes and as such there were no windows. How could there be, the room was underground and he was sure that Sakura had constructed it afterward to be able to do her research.
Though he wondered how deep underground he really was because he couldn't hear any footsteps above the ceiling, which meant that either he was in really deep or the walls were plastered together really well to create a sound proof room. It was most likely the latter because it would be easier for Sakura to construct the room through the use of doton jutsu and pack the walls tightly.
Slowly, the door on the left opened and he saw Sakura bringing a tray of food for him, "Good you are awake, saves me the trouble."
"Aww…" Naruto whined, "I wanted you to wake me up, Sakura-chan."
Shaking her head at his playful expression, Sakura came closer, "Well, I have the next best thing for you, breakfast in bed."
Naruto smiled a brightly in appreciation, and pointed towards the bedside table for Sakura to put the plate down. Once she was done with that he pulled her into him, "But first I want the best thing in the world Sakura-chan."
Saying that he leaned forward and kissed her first on the forehead, then on the eyes, both cheeks and finally on the lips. Sakura moaned as she felt his lips on hers, god did she miss this. For the past three years she had waited for him to come back and the desire had just been building. In a sense, it was a good thing that they were apart because now at 16 years of age, once they were able to find the right time then they would declare their relationship to the rest of the village.
For now though Sakura just enjoyed being in the arms of her husband. She had her arms wrapped around his neck while her fingers were playing with the hair at the back of his head. Naruto had one hand in her locks and the other around her waist trying to bring her closer to him. Losing herself to the moment Sakura moved closer and kissed him back just as hard.
Both of them were duelling with their tongues, trying to outdo the other when Sakura upped the ante by shoving Naruto back so that she could be on top. Naruto obliged to lie down on the bed and let his hands roam around her back. His touches were alternating between soft and hard, which was driving Sakura mad and he knew it was because he had done it a million times in his previous life. Slowly, his hands started going downwards but stopped at the small of her back to lift the top and slide them under her shirt.
Sakura shuddered as soon as his hands went inside the shirt. She moaned lightly between the kisses, his touch hammering her lust to the point of no return. Gently she rubbed his cheeks, especially the whisker marks; she knew it was a really sensitive place for him, if he was in the mood. Her answer was in the hitch of his breath as he suddenly stopped kissing back and just grabbed her tightly. She knew he was fighting the urge to groan out loud but he was holding himself back not wanting to give her the upper hand and that was just fine with her. She enjoyed it when he fought back; it made things interesting although before they could go any further, the alarm clock on the side of the bed starting ringing breaking the spell.
Both Naruto and Sakura groaned in disappointment; Naruto wanted to chuck the stupid alarm clock and smash it to pieces. Here he was back in his 16 year old body that was going through puberty and he had his wife with him who was willing and just as ready as him when the alarm had to sound. He really must have done something bad because right now it felt as if the Gods were playing a stupid joke on him.
Taking shuddering breaths both of them separated displeasure clearly visible on their faces. Breathing deeply to calm down Naruto watched Sakura get up from the bed and turn the alarm off, "Sakura-chan…why? Why did you bring an alarm clock down here?" He said in frustration with tears in his eyes.
Sakura looked at him in amusement and arousal, "Because I knew we were going to get carried away and we don't have the time for that right now."
Looking up at the ceiling to calm herself she let out a deep breath that she was holding, "Good thing too, otherwise we wouldn't have had the time to prepare for the bell test."
Naruto just shook his head in defeat and bent forward to pick up the tray of breakfast from the bedside table, "I still don't get the point of the test."
Taking a bite he continued, "I can understand the point of the test in the previous timeline, since we weren't as strong. But, what's the purpose this time?"
Drinking a bit of juice, he took another bite of the bread, saving his precious ramen for last, "Both of us have shown our teachers that we are strong enough to compete with them. What exactly is this test going to tell them this time?"
Sakura turned her back to him to go in the opposite corner from the door to pick up some scrolls at the end table, "I think they probably want to see whether we can still work together or not."
That was the only thing that she could think of. She knew her level…knew she could compete with the best of them and during her time in the village she had made sure to keep an eye on as many of the stronger shinobi as she could. Hatake Kakashi was one of the top ones in the village so it was not that hard to keep an eye on him. It might be hard to beat him but she knew she was capable of it. Of course, Tsunade-shishou also knew that though she hadn't said anything and from the word around the village anyone else was not any wiser to it as well.
"Teamwork, huh?" Naruto mulled in his head, breaking Sakura out of her reverie.
Shaking his head in pity, Naruto chuckled at the irony that both their teachers wanted to test them on something that was instinctual for them by now. The three years apart from each other was not even a factor in the grand scheme of things. After all they could talk to each telepathically, had known each other all their lives were married and were literally in each other's heads. If that didn't imply perfect teamwork than Naruto didn't know anything else in the world that would even come close.
The fact of the matter was that they were going to ace this little test. However, the question became how? What exactly should they use, the type of fighting they should conduct, should it be overwhelming victory or a showcase of abilities type of battle.
For Naruto and Sakura the outcome of the battle was obvious, it was the path that was taken towards the outcome that needed to be outlined. Of course, that was not to say that they knew they were going to win one hundred percent. Throughout their years in the previous life they had learned that during a fight there was no such thing as one hundred percent certainty. There were times when a much stronger opponent got taken down by someone that usually had no chance of winning. After all, Naruto was an embodiment of that philosophy, right from the beginning. No, what they learned was that it was much better to make sure that the odds were stacked in your favour right from the start and when it was time to fight, using those preparations made life much easier.
After all Murphy's Law always applied in battle; since they knew such a fact of life by now, it was time to rig the fight in their favour. Preparations for such a task required careful planning and a swath of tactics that would make sure that the fight was settled according to their preference. If, in order to do that they had to cheat then so be it, they were ninja after all. Lying, cheating and fighting dirty were part of the job.
Sakura saw Naruto finish up his breakfast and took his plate, "Come on Naruto, I need you to go through a few trials to see whether the procedure was successful or not and whether you can access the tick through your pharmascope correctly. "
Moving up the stairs in front of him she continued talking, "Then you will take a bath before we sit down for our planning session and I will fill you in on the preparations that I have completed."
Naruto just looked at Sakura's delectable behind moving from side to side. Too mesmerized to say anything due to the sight in front of him, Naruto nodded absentmindedly through the haze of desire for the wonderful creature that was his wife ahead of him.
She was of course aware where his eyes and mind were, though it didn't discourage her sway of hips at all. After all, what better way was there for her to make sure that Naruto followed her upstairs without thinking about the task ahead of him of using the tick. She knew how hard the first few times were and that breakfast he had just finished was coming back out pretty soon. So, she gave him a little show beforehand; it was of course meaningless to say that Sakura wasn't enjoying his attention. It was empowering for her to know that Naruto still found her attractive even after all this time and that she could still make him follow her with just a shake of her hips.
****OMT*****
Once the testing of the procedure was complete and Naruto was somehow able to pull himself together to get to the shower, Sakura started closing the windows and curtains and sound proofing the rest of the house. It was a habit that both of them maintained from last time, never knowing if there were prying eyes and ears in the walls. One of the major reasons for this security requirement was of course to prevent anyone from finding out the plans that both of them were going to concoct.
The foremost reason for soundproofing and preventing any person from getting a peek was because there were several classified materials that she would bring out. If found on her person she could be sent to jail or worse accused of treason so following the motto 'Prevention is better than the cure,' Haruno Sakura went about activating seals throughout the house, making it one of the most secure building throughout the village. The subterfuge was made even more convincing because the house was located on a busy street, therefore no one would find it bizarre that her house had her windows closed during the day. Of course, she could have gone to the basement and set everything there, however there was flaw when using doton jutsu to create chambers that another doton user might be able to utilize and thus bypass the soundproofing.
Once she was convinced that the house was locked down tight, she started to bring out various scrolls that would be required to plan for the bell test. This was an important part in the start of their journey and from now on they would be under higher scrutiny because more people would be relying on them. That was all part of the plan to make sure that Naruto's name was spread out throughout the village as the only viable candidate for the position of Hokage once Tsunade stepped down. In the future when Naruto would be able to wear the Hokage's hat then the true semblance of their plan would start. However, that was still far down the line before anything else, they had to make a name for themselves.
Five minutes later Naruto arrived wearing a new set of clothes, with a towel hanging on his shoulders. His hair was still wet and dripping water on his face, "That was refreshing."
Naruto sighed but then he looked at Sakura, "Is there anything else to eat? Testing the tick took everything out of me."
Sakura just smiled in understanding and kissed him lightly on the lips before going to the kitchen to get him another breakfast, "Here I made some more ramen."
Upon hearing of his favourite food Naruto's face lit up. Taking the bowl of ramen from Sakura, he placed it on the table before kissing her again to show his appreciation, "You are the best Sakura-chan."
Sakura just laughed amusedly, "It's your reward for being so brave during testing," happy to see his childlike persona when confronted with his much-loved ramen.
While he was slurping his ramen, Sakura spread the map of training ground where the test would be conducted, "Okay, let's start this session."
Before she could say anything further, Naruto interrupted her after swallowing a mouth full of ramen, "Do you have the map of the whole village?"
Sakura nodded her head, "Yeah, I have the whole village mapped out along with various underground pathways as well."
Naruto smiled, pleasantly surprised and impressed, "Roots as well?"
Sakura smirked with a slight upturn of her lips, "Everything Naruto. I even have the rotating locations for the barrier squad."
Well damn, colour him impressed. With such an extensive collection of map of the whole village they would be able to plan for the future quite comprehensively. It would prevent unnecessary problems of others finding out before they were ready to reveal their plot, "Sakura-chan, you are the best."
Looking at the maps he muttered, "This will make life much easier," then looking at her he asked, "There was no suspicion?"
Sakura replied with a shake of her head, "I haven't had a problem. Might be because of my status as Tsunade-sama's apprentice but I don't think anyone was able to find out."
Once, Naruto finished with his ramen, he went back to the kitchen to put the salad bowl into the sink for washing up later. He was grateful that Sakura made a lot of ramen for him knowing his appetite. And the salad bowl was big enough for him to feel full for now.
Coming back into the strategy room or more precisely the dining room Naruto sniggered, he leaned over the map of the training ground, "Okay, Sakura-chan, take it away."
Pointing towards the wooden stumps that were found in the ground, Sakura continued, "First let's start with what I have already spread out."
"Around the stumps there are various caltrops, kunai, shuriken, ninja wire and maces spread out to a radius of about 25 metres," Sakura made a circle to indicate the circumference on the map.
Naruto nodded at that knowing that the various weapons were probably sealed, "What's the seal matrix made of?" Because unless he knew what materials were used for the seal matrix he would not be able to open it stealthily.
Sakura took out vial of transparent liquid to show it to him, "It's the same stuff from last time odourless, invisible and untraceable. "
Naruto nodded his head and dipped his fingers into the vial so that he would have a medium to be able to access the seals. Of course another reason was because he was mixing his DNA into the vial so that from then on he would be able to gain access to any of the seals that Sakura made and vice versa.
Making the seals was not just about the symbols but also the construct by which the seals were created. The starting material or more importantly the ink that was used was one of the fundamental aspects of seal making.
Therefore, by dipping his finger in the vial Naruto was able to absorb the liquid in his skin and make it a part of his blood. When the vial was empty he passed it back to Sakura, "Let's try it once, shall we?"
Sakura nodded and gave him a piece of paper, "What seal are you going to try?"
Naruto thought for a few seconds, "I know, check this out."
Sakura looked over his shoulder intrigued as to what seal he was making. It took him a total of thirty second to finish making the seal after cutting his finger. Once he was done he brought his hands in a ram seal, "Seal: Folding Origami."
Within two seconds the paper was folded and changed color while taking the shape of a rose. Naruto grabbed the origami flower and presented it to Sakura, "I didn't give you a present for our new life together. Sakura-chan, I know this is nothing…but as long as we are together I will give you the world." Happy to see a surprised expression on her face, letting him know that she wasn't expecting this, which made it all the more worthwhile, "Let this be a token of my promise to you until I find a suitable gift."
Sakura looked at Naruto, even though she was sitting right beside him she went and sat on his lap hugging him, "I didn't get a present for you either Naruto. But I will find it too and once I do we will exchange them at the same time."
There was nothing said for a few second just two people deeply in love with each other. Even after all the time that they were together it was the little things like this that gave them pleasure. It was a security blanket for both of them to know that they were there for each other. So, they were enjoying each other's company before the task at hand disrupted them once more.
Giving him one last peck on the lips, Sakura got off Naruto's lap and moved back to her seat; looking at him once more she smiled at him before getting serious, "Okay…now that the medium requirement is fulfilled. Let's move on to the next area of assortment."
Sakura then pointed at the tress behind the training ground, "Here I have basically spread the same weapons mentioned earlier, except there are various poisons ranging from nerve, optic and the like that are spread out as well."
Pointing to a drawing of a leaf Sakura continued, "If you want to access them you have to unseal them through the leaves. These are peculiar leaves because even if you see the midrib, when you touch them you won't feel it."
Sakura then pointed towards the veins of the leaf, "In a hurry though just count the number of veins, if there are 10 then that will be the one."
Naruto frowned, while examining the leaf in his hand, "Sakura-chan? There are no other leaves with 10 veins there?"
Sakura shook her head, "No, it is not the right time, so the leaves are still young."
Naruto nodded while memorizing the peculiarities of the pattern, "Okay how harmful are the poisons though and what's the rate of spread?"
Sakura unsealed a scroll from her wrist and presented it to Naruto, "They are not harmful per se….just painful in the short term…extremely painful, unless they are not treated on time," Sakura continued showing him the seal for the spread of the poisons.
Naruto sweat dropped, hearing Sakura's description of the poisons not being harmful, shaking his head he looked at the seal and seemed satisfied, "So the speed is variable. That makes it easier." Then he looked at Sakura and raised his eyebrow, "Didn't that take longer to setup?"
Sakura nodded, "It took me 7 nights working intermittently between shifts. I started when you told me that you were at the border of Hi no kuni."
Naruto turned his eyes back to the map of the training ground, and pointed towards the symbols that were spread out throughout the whole area, "So what are these?"
When Sakura looked at the seals that Naruto was pointing at she smiled knowing that once he knew what it contained he would barely be able to control himself, "Those my dear husband are chakra transmitters."
Naruto's eyes widened and he looked at her surprised, then his whole face lit up just as Sakura knew it would because this would ensure that Uzumaki Naruto would kick Hatake Kakashi's ass all over the training field, "Sakura-chan?"
Once she nodded Naruto leapt out of his chair and grabbed Sakura by her waist to twirl her around, "You are the best Sakura-chan. I don't even know how you were able to do this because this seal is tedious as hell."
He knew how she had done it of course. It wasn't her knowledge that he was questioning, no it was the time requirement. During the 3 years that he was away, he was surprised, when Sakura told him that Senju Tsunade was well versed in fuuinjutsu. In hindsight, he shouldn't have been surprised considering that Uzumaki Mito was her grandmother, thus the seals might have been part of family business as well. So, he knew that Sakura had no reason to hide her knowledge once she learned everything from Tsunade.
Looking at Sakura thankfully, he made sure that she was standing on her feet before he let go of her, "Kakashi-sensei is so going down. Ohh, it is going to be a glorious day."
Sakura laughed at Naruto's happiness; it was addictive, and said "I have only been able to cover the training grounds for now. Now that you are here we can start on spreading the seal sequence, throughout the village."
Naruto nodded, "We will cover the outskirts too."
Sakura opened another scroll that was empty and titled it 'Priority', once that was underlined she put chakra transmitter underneath it, "Here is the start of the list that we know will only grow bigger as the time goes on."
Naruto agreed with her but at the moment he was just too happy to let it affect him. Sakura had just given him a great boon during the fight. The reason behind it was pretty simple. Chakra transmitter seal allowed a person's chakra to be used somewhere else where ever the seal was present. For the whole training field to be covered meant that Naruto would be able to send his chakra to any point individually or to all of them at the same time. This would tremendously help him with his genjutsu. Even though he was capable of breaking any genjutsu in the world, it was performing the art of illusion where he used to get stump. During his training he was able to perform genjutsu, however his method of performing them was a little different from the standard format.
For a person immersed in the art of illusion, the effective ability of a potent illusion comes when a person is able to inject chakra into another person and control their senses. That aptitude for sending chakra into another person requires control so that the injection of chakra is minimal and thus the other person would not be able to recognize it in time that they had been injected until the illusion took hold. For someone like Naruto, the concept of sending chakra into another person was clear enough but problem occurred when he couldn't make it small enough for the other person to not be able to detect it.
Thus, the solution to his problem that he could come up with was to surround the opponent in a haze of chakra. Basically he would saturate the air with his chakra and thus trick the opponent by overpowering their senses by his chakra onslaught before trapping them in the illusion.
With chakra transmitters he would not require his clones to saturate the air with chakra, so the chances of Kakashi-sensei finding out his location and ability would decrease significantly.
Still beaming with joy, Naruto sat back down on his seat and looked at Sakura, "Is there anything else Sakura-chan?"
Sakura smiled at his pleased expression and shook her head, "Other than the random release of optic poison to deter his Sharingan, I think we have covered everything else."
Naruto nodded his head and took Sakura's hand in his to rub his thumb on the back of her palm, "I think that's more than good enough. Seems almost overkill for such a little test doesn't it?"
Sakura closed her eyes in bliss, the sensations from his hand sending pleasure throughout the arm, "It's required for shock and awe. This is to prove a point and I can't think of a better way than to thoroughly dominate the test."
Naruto agreed with her reasoning, so he listened, "Of course, we need to be aware that we are fighting against Hatake Kakashi. The man is not known as one of the top Jounin of Konoha for nothing."
Once again Naruto agreed with her and emphatically moved his head up and down, "Yeah, he was also dad's student so we will have to be on our toes the whole time."
Yes, they were going against a fierce opponent, Sakura thought, so we need to be at the top of our game because if we give him any chance of gaining ground on us he would not back down and so the best option was for them to take him down quickly.
Reaching the same vein of thinking as Sakura, Naruto asked, "So, have you thought about how quickly you want the fight to finish?"
Still feeling his thumb rubbing the back of her palm, Sakura focused on the problem at hand, "I think that finishing the test in less than 15 minutes would be better."
Naruto tilted his head back on the chair so that he could stare at the ceiling, "15 minutes huh?" Thinking some more on it Naruto decided that it was the right amount of time to showcase their abilities, while stopping Kakashi from figuring out the whole show.
Sakura nodded and started to speak in what Naruto defined as her lecture mode, "Kakashi-sensei has three things going for him. One is of course the Sharingan, second is his intelligence and third is his sense of smell, which is further emphasized by his dog summons. These three things are crucial for us to trick in order to finish before giving the game away."
Naruto just listened and hummed quietly in agreement, "Okay then, I know the lay of the land. Let's start planning the battle shall we?"
Sakura smiled since it was time. She had been waiting for this planning session for quite some time. It reminded her of old times when both of them along with Shikamaru would plan for things. So reminiscing of the times past while concentrating on the present Naruto and Sakura got about working on the plan.
***OMT****
At precisely, 12 O' clock in the afternoon, Hatake Kakashi arrived at the training field with a ready excuse on the tip of his tongue regarding his chronic lateness. Waiting for his students to unleash the barrage of accusations, regarding his late arrival he was surprised to find a toad his size, which turned even more bizarre when a slug jumped on top of the toad's head, though she was just as tall.
Of course nothing beat the surprising, "You are late!" from both of the creatures.
And the only thing Hatake Kakashi could do was stand around blinking before he got his mental abilities under control and asked, "Where are my students?"
The toad shrugged the slug of his shoulders and started cleaning out his ear irritably, "I don't know, where they went. All we were told was that we had to stand here and wait for you to utter that line."
Kakashi could see tick marks forming on the top of the toad's head, "Though, Naruto-nii didn't tell me that I would have to stand in the sun for three goddamn hours."
Raising his head to the sky, the toad shouted, "I will get you for this Naruto-nii. See if I help you out in the future," looking at his webbed feet he cried a little, "I have sun-burn dammit…," then getting his spunk back he declared, "You are going down, you hear me?"
Kakashi sweat dropped, upon hearing the summons's predicament. Naruto is the only person in the world whose summon creatures were just as over the top as him.
"Gamakichi-kun, man up," the slug said in her regal voice, "A little sun-burn is nothing compared to the honour of completing the mission given to you by your summoner."
Gamakichi looked at the slug, who was the Slug chief's daughter and next in line to be the chief of the Slug clan, "Easy for you to say Katsu-chan," while crying rivers of tears, he continued, "Your summoner took care of you and you can even heal yourself."
Interrupting the pity party, Naruto and Sakura arrived at the scene, "Sorry we are late," both said at the same time.
Kakashi sweat dropped once more, "Yes, I can see..."
Before he could say anything else, Naruto continued, "You see we were coming here early but then this old lady decided to cross our path. Usually this wouldn't have been a problem but she had a black cat with her, so we had to go around the village in order to avoid getting jinxed."
Not missing a step, with a smirk on her face, Sakura looked straight at Kakashi, "Then when we were passing by the hot springs, we found this old pervert that we just had to put down."
Kakashi took a step back as he had a very good idea, which pervert she was talking about but before he could say anything, Naruto started back up, "When we were nearing the training grounds, I started feeling hungry, which course meant back tracking and going to the Gods of ramen," he said with reverence in his voice.
Before Sakura could start her monologue, Kakashi interrupted her, "Okay…I get it," crying a little on the inside, "You guys were much cuter, when you were younger."
Right then Sakura stood straighter and turned her head at an angle, "Hmm, did you say something?"
Watching Kakashi's stunned face before he started crying about how his students gave him no respect, Naruto and Sakura burst out laughing. Naruto had tears in his tears watching Kakashi's expression. It wasn't anywhere near his best pranks but this one had a different kind of feel to it. To get back at Kakashi using his own excuses, provided a perfect way to shut him up or at least embarrass him to make better excuses next time.
Still sniggering both Naruto and Sakura raised their hands, "Yo," which further dissolved in chuckles.
Taking the good natured hazing in style and seemingly proud of his students, "Okay, that was good. Now that you have had your fun, it's time I had my own."
Still smirking Naruto looked at Kakashi, "Are you sure Kakashi-sensei? We might just surprise you again?"
Hearing that Kakashi eye-smiled, "I am not one to be taken by surprise twice in the same day, Naruto."
Shaking her head, while chuckling, Sakura smiled at Kakashi, "Then it seems we have to show the old dog some new tricks, don't we sensei?"
Before he could respond to Sakura's taunt, Kakashi felt it was prudent to point towards the summons, especially the toad that looked pissed off, "Umm…guys as fun as this is for me, you might want to deal with your summons first."
Naruto and Sakura turned around to see the problem, and saw a pissed off Gamakichi who looked ready to skewer Naruto, what with his webbed limb tightly gripping his tanto.
Naruto slowly stepped in front of the toad, "Woah, easy there fella. I didn't forget about you," taking out a big bag, which was half the size of Gamakichi, from a scroll, he dropped it in front of him, "See, as promised a bag full of candy…just for you."
Gamakichi drooled just thinking about all the candy he had in front of him, quickly pulling the bag behind him he bellowed, "Ya, well, this doesn't mean that I forgive you alright?" Getting angry once more, he shouted, "because of you I got sun-burned."
Naruto's eye twitched at the stupid reason, "You are bitching about a stupid sun-burn? What kind of summon are you if you are just going to bitch about stuff like this every time huh?"
Before the summoner and summon could go any further in their argument, Sakura who had finished giving Katsuya, her summon, the gift that she promised so that they would be informed when Kakashi arrived, stepped up to Gamakichi and activated 'Shosen no jutsu', "Don't worry Gamakichi-kun, I will heal your sun-burn right now."
Sighing in relief from Sakura's healing, Gamakichi bowed, "Thank you Sakura-san. Katsu-chan is lucky to have you as her summoner," before giving Naruto an evil eye, "unlike some people who apparently don't care."
Getting angry, Naruto replied, "Oh yeah…then give the candy back. See if I call you next time you are bored," before muttering under his breath, "stupid Kichi, lazy ass punk."
Before it could escalate any further, Kakashi interrupted the duo from verbal attacks on each other, "Okay then…seeing as Gamakichi has been healed, I think it's time we started our test."
Sakura nodded and thanked Katsuya for helping her before sending her home, then turning around she started walking towards the training ground, "Yes, let's go get this started."
Naruto turned around to walk to the training ground as well, waving his hand lazily in the air, without looking back, "Later Kichi."
Showing his maturity, Gamakichi yelled, "Kick nii-san ass, Kakashi-san," before quickly dispelling to avoid Naruto's retaliation.
Kakashi just shook his head and chuckled to himself regarding Naruto's unique summon, though if he was honest with himself, Gamakichi's personality was just like its summoner.
***OMT****
One they arrived at the training ground, Kakashi saw both of his students looking around, "Looks familiar?"
Naruto smirked while staring at Kakashi, "Hehe, you bet Kakashi-sensei," though he was trying to remember the last time they had been at the training ground together like this and came up with nothing.
Sakura was eyeing the training ground trying to look for any lose ends in their preparation. Seeming satisfied she turned back to Kakashi, before shrugging, "It's the same as before."
Kakashi eye smiled in the unchanged cognizant way as always, "Not the people though."
Shrugging once more Sakura started putting her gloves on her hands, "Were you expecting anything different?"
Kakashi ceded the point, nodding his head, "That's true," taking a deep breath he stood straighter seemingly changing into serious mode, "Okay then…the rules are the same as before…Take the two bells from me before sunrise tomorrow."
Staring straight at his students to show his seriousness, he continued "Come at me with intent to kill…otherwise you won't be able to succeed."
At hearing those words, Naruto just smirked, "You shouldn't have said that Kakashi-sensei," and looked at Sakura.
Continuing where Naruto left off Sakura finished the words, "we are going to make you regret those words."
Kakashi just smiled, raising his hand to move the headband in order to unleash the Sharingan, while looking at Naruto and Sakura and saw them staring at each other. Uncovering the Sharingan in the left eye, Kakashi was surprised to find himself ensnared in an illusion. Breaking the genjutsu he started looking around for his students, while muttering, "I didn't even say start."
He was impressed, figuring that it was Sakura who had trapped him in the illusion; he found himself filled with pride that she was able to get the drop on him. However, before he could go any further, he observed another illusion except this time the illusion was even subtler. It wasn't anything overt, just messing with his depth perception, which was ingenious because he wasn't sure that without the Sharingan he would have been able to recognize it so easily. The best that he could observe was that the change induced would have made him miss his attack by 3 or 4 centimeters. Marvelling at the skill of the illusion; he used his Sharingan to break it once more.
Then he frowned again when he was unable to break out, 'layers.' He was surprised because layering a genjutsu was a hard skill to learn and using it in battle was something only the best of them could do, 'I wonder how many of them there are,' Kakashi thought while gathering chakra to force his Sharingan to break them apart.'
Meanwhile hiding in the trees, on the opposite ends of the training field, Naruto and Sakura were conversing telepathically. Sakura was closer to Kakashi, concealed in the trees near the entrance of the groove, while Naruto was far back waiting for the signal from Sakura.
Sakura was observing Kakashi, when he broke the first and the second illusion, once she saw him gathering chakra, she intoned through the link, "Get ready….the illusion will shatter on my mark," thus saying she moved to the back, while keeping an eye on Kakashi the whole time.
Naruto was standing in the back of the groove away from Kakashi waiting for Sakura's signal. The plan was simple enough, in order to saturate the air with his chakra he had to release it into the seals. However, if he was close, than Kakashi would be able to pinpoint his location just from the sheer output of chakra, so he was standing away from the action, for now.
If anyone else would have observed him, they would have found a person hiding quietly in one place but Naruto was counting the time. It seemed to take forever from his point of view, when it was only a few seconds in reality but that was one of the downsides of using the tick. The brain was processing information at a very fast rate but to the person it appeared as if time itself had slowed down.
Before he could think any further, he heard Sakura's voice, when she shouted "Mark," through the link. Forming the ram seal quickly, Naruto released all the chakra he had gathered in one move before leaving the hiding spot, and said excitedly through the link, "Phase I complete…initiating phase 2."
Moving closer to the front of the groove to keep an eye on their opponent, he used the seals embedded on the leaves with 10 veins to quickly release a barrage of shuriken and kunai at Kakashi's back, while informing Sakura, "He is turning around."
***OMT***
As soon as he released the chakra in order to break all the layers of the illusion, Kakashi found himself surrounded by a haze of chakra. Before, he could even register the disbelief within himself at the sheer amount of chakra saturating the air; he heard the sound of weapons in the air. Knowing the barrage was coming for him; when he turned around he was able to discern the various weapons like kunai, shuriken and maces that were coming towards him, he deadpanned "They must have taken my words to heart. Seems like they are seriously trying to kill me."
Moving back, he jumped out of the way of the weapons before he found himself trapped, "Another illusion?" Breaking this one easily, he felt another onslaught of illusion, 'What's this?' he frowned, 'I can feel the chakra invading my system, is this Naruto?' before he released the illusion once more.
Through the trees Naruto saw Kakashi, getting irritated, though of course he didn't show it in any expression on his face, it was just the rate at which he saw Kakashi breaking his illusions apart, 'Keep going Kakashi sensei….Please expel a little more of your chakra,' he thought to himself while chuckling silently, "Sakura-chan, he is in position."
Sakura moved silently through the trees, her eyes looking everywhere. She was looking around to make sure that Kakashi had not bested them and hid somewhere else. They were shinobi after all fighting dirty was a job requirement. Not finding anything odd with the surrounding environment, she sighed, "Naruto, he is the real one; I don't sense anyone else around."
Receiving the nod from the other end, Sakura started to sink underground, before she uttered, "I am in position."
***OMT***
Kakashi was moving around in circles, he could feel it but the onslaught of illusions wouldn't end. He had tried everything, he could think of; the Sharingan was able to see through the illusions and break it, he was able to stop the flow of his chakra and break the illusion, he was able to expel the chakra and break the illusion, heck he had even cut his palms to use pain to break the illusion and he was successfully able to break the genjutsu each and every time. But the air was saturated with so much chakra that even when he stopped one illusion another took its place.
He had figured out that it was Naruto who was doing this due to the potency of the chakra and he was so proud that it was hard for him to even speak. This was his student who was supposed to have no talent for genjutsu and yet here he was using it and keeping him occupied even with the Sharingan on, 'Naruto, you have grown so much,' though he had to chuckle to himself as only Naruto could come up with illusions that would annoy the heck out of his opponent. The concept was similar to the clones that Naruto was so fond of using, each and every illusion acted as a clone. Once, one was dispelled another took its place without fail.
The only reason that Naruto was able to trap him in illusions over and over again was because of the chakra surrounding him that was able to invade him again and again, "Okay then, time to show them how it's done," Kakashi muttered, while making the hand seals for dispersing the chakra.
In the meantime, behind the three stumps in the training field, Sakura's head slowly emerged out of the ground. This was a delicate step as she did not want Kakashi's attention on herself until she was fully out of the ground. As her hands surfaced, her left hand stayed on the ground, while the right hand formed a hand seal. She was crouching as the rest of her body emerged from underground.
This was a critical moment, if their plan was to be successful then the next few seconds were absolutely vital. As if it was clockwork, while keeping an eye on Kakashi, she saw him start to form hand seals; recognizing them instantly, she shouted through the link, "Futon...Dispersal!"
Nothing more needed to be said. Sakura moved her right hand in an arc in front of her and sent a fire attack towards Kakashi, which was followed by the release of shuriken and kunai through the seals imprinted in the ground. Moving away from the spot quickly, she sunk underground.
***OMT***
Hatake Kakashi was flying through the air, he was bloody, his clothes were burnt and he had just had his bones thoroughly rattled. He was sure if he didn't have the experiences that he had accumulated throughout his years as a shinobi he would have been dead. This test was turning out to be an eye-opener on many levels. After the onslaught of genjutsu attacks, he guessed that it was time for ninjutsu. But he had lost the opening gambit already.
His plan was simple enough; he was going to use a futon jutsu to disperse the chakra surrounding him and then hide to get a little reprieve from the genjutsu attack. However, as soon as he released the wind attack, there was a fire attack in front of him. And it was fast enough that he had a hard time keeping track of it with his Sharingan, while at the same time denying him the chance to use a replacement technique.
Kakashi's eye was wide; still in shock as he thought, 'What the heck was that?' He was shouting in his mind trying to come up with an answer, 'That speed, it should be impossible for a fire attack to be that fast.'
He could understand if it was a lightning attack, but the sheer velocity of the attack stumped him. Fire attacks relied more on power than speed, since it was the ruthlessness of fire that was utilized in a ninjutsu attack and in all his years he had never seen anyone use a fire attack that was so fast. However, the most surprising part of the attack was the end result, Kakashi thought, still in absolute awe of the hit, 'My own attack was used against me...' shaking his head from side to side, he realized he was still shivering from the intensity of the attack, 'Over burn…the fire attack was overpowered by my wind attack but since it was packed so densely, it created an explosion.'
Though, it wasn't the explosion itself that hurt him; no he was able to coat his body with chakra to save him from the devastating effects of the fire. It was the shockwave after the explosion that from what he could feel cracked his ribs, injured his right lung, and created other internal injuries. He knew he was bleeding on the inside but the sad part was that he didn't know who attacked him, 'I know the attack came from behind the tree stumps but before I knew it, I was airborne due to the explosion.'
***OMT***
When Naruto saw Kakashi go flying in the air from the explosion, he exclaimed to himself, 'HOLY SHIT!' even though he knew the plan and was ready for something like this to occur, it was still a breath-taking attack, 'It's not over yet sensei…try not to die in the next one as well.'
Moving quickly, he arrived a little ways away from where Kakashi would land, in order to avoid being seen. Making the hand seals he used the 10 vein leaves to release the ninja wires towards Kakashi to trap him. Moving his right hand away from the seal, while the left hand was still in position, Naruto quickly threw a kunai at Kakashi before leaving the area, while informing Sakura through the link, "Phase 2 complete…"
***OMT***
While in the air Kakashi saw himself surrounded by ninja wire, however before he could retaliate he was pierced by shuriken in the abdomen and both the thighs, 'Dammit…this came from the same place as the tree stumps…must have been in the shadow of the fire attack.' Suddenly, hearing a kunai whizzing through the air at his back, Kakashi turned around in mid-air to deflect the metal, when he came face to face with Naruto, 'Must have been in a henge,' Kakashi thought, while looking at the smoke surrounding Naruto, otherwise he would have been able to sense him.
Taking out his own kunai from the holster, he parried Naruto's attack, getting a cut on the arm for his trouble. Not letting the opportunity pass, he twisted in the air once more to throw a shuriken at Naruto's back, dispelling him in the process. Looking around him once, he quickly replaced himself with the trusty logs to avoid getting tangled in the ninja wire.
Quickly throwing a smoke screen to hide his presence Hatake Kakashi vanished.
***OMT***
Hiding behind the tree stumps, Uzumaki Naruto was quickly drawing a seal on the palm of his left hand, "Sakura-chan, he is marked," he informed his partner through the link.
Sending feelings of exhilaration at hearing those words through the connection, Sakura asked, "How long till the seal is ready?"
Concentrating on the task at hand, Naruto replied quickly, "Just 10 more seconds, dattebayo."
Calming herself down, Sakura kept a lookout for Kakashi's position, through the trees, while keeping Naruto in her line of sight. Transmitting reassuring feelings towards Naruto, through their link, "Take your time. We almost have him."
Of course that wasn't true. As long as a ninja was alive and able to plan the next move, you never have him anywhere but the situation required a little bit more tact. Once, Naruto completed the seal they would be able to pinpoint Kakashi's location, however before that happened they had to finish deploying the seal that would work in conjunction with the mark that Naruto left on Kakashi in the previous attack.
In order to calm Naruto down through their link because 10 seconds to a person who was using the tick seemed like hours, especially when the work involved detailed construction of a seal, Sakura broadcasted the abundance of love that she felt for him. She could feel it working before she heard, "It's done Sakura-chan.
Taking a deep breath, Sakura calmed herself as well, "What's his position?"
Activating the seal, Naruto could feel the line of chakra exposing Kakashi's hiding spot, already on the move from his position Naruto exclaimed with self-satisfaction through the bond, "He is underground…100 metres to the east."
As soon as she heard the words Sakura jumped high into the air, gathering chakra in her right hand, before she unleashed the monstrous strength that was a staple of her master, while smashing the ground to pieces. Smirking slightly at his surprised expression, Sakura looked straight at Kakashi, "Enjoyed your rest, sensei?"
Kakashi was stunned, heck he was scared. Naruto and Sasuke might have been the powerhouses on the team in their earlier days but Sakura was ferocious, at least towards others who were not Uchiha Sasuke. So, for Kakashi to see his only female student smirk with self-satisfaction, gave him absolute shivers. Why exactly Hokage-sama had decided to teach her student this monstrous strength of hers was something that he was unable to say.
Another thing that was bugging him was her peculiar movement. Earlier as well when he was fighting Naruto, he saw the absolutely smooth… in a sense the almost mechanical way his head turned. It was disturbing and hypnotising to watch at the same time. When Sakura raised her eyes to meet his, her head tilted with a metered precision of a controlled self-contained kunai turret, snapping to the exact angle with a viperish speed. If he was honest with himself it was similar to a trance except everything was precisely calculated. The worst part was that his Sharingan couldn't predict the next move by looking at them. It was like they had so much control over their body that the next set of move didn't need to be telegraphed, which was supposed to be impossible.
However, before he could say anything in retaliation, he sensed Naruto's arrival behind him but he was unable to turn around because he was boxed in…literally.
'What the heck?' Kakashi thought frantically. He couldn't move anything on his body, there was not enough space, not even to contort.
Sakura looked at Kakashi trying to exert pressure on various areas of the body, most probably to twist his body enough to get some level of movement, "Don't waste your time trying to contort, Kakashi-sensei. It's useless."
Naruto nodded his head in agreement but Kakashi was unable to see this, "Sensei, the barrier is in the shape of your body…contortion won't help."
Not giving Kakashi anymore time to think, because a thinking Kakashi was a dangerous Kakashi, Naruto changed the hand seal and the barrier started sparking with lightning. Thirty seconds later when they found Kakashi conscious though barely hanging on, Naruto frowned, that last attack should have made him unconscious. Anymore and it will be dangerous.
Sakura saw Naruto's worried expression and knew he didn't want to hurt Kakashi anymore. She felt her heart fill with pride because even after all this time, their age and all the wars that they had fought, lived and survived...likely longer than anyone else, Naruto had never let go of his noble streak. His empathy for other was still a major part of him, along with his desire to protect the treasured friends and family that he had created around him, whether they were the people in his previous life or will be in this one. It hurt him as well when he electrocuted Kakashi but Sakura knew Kakashi could take it and it's not like they were trying to permanently harm him or something, "Naruto, you have to up the ante. He won't go down with that little jolt. After all, lightning is his element," Sakura said telepathically.
Naruto hesitated for a second before he turned the attack up a little more. It was nowhere near its full power but it should be enough to make him go unconscious, 'Please Kakashi-sensei, just stay down, you-' before he could finish his thought he saw something that was shocking in its brutality and absurd given the reason behind it.
Hatake Kakashi was feeling pissed off; it was safe to say that more than anything in the world, he wanted to kick himself to the ground. Throughout the test, he had been defending, there was simply nothing more to it. He personally had not done a single attack that these two were not able to counter. And now he was trapped in a barrier without the use of his arms and legs and on top of that he was being electrocuted alive.
Not wanting to give Naruto and Sakura an easy win, he wanted to set an example to show them that even when the chips were against you, you just had to think outside the box or look underneath the underneath. If he couldn't even do that much then he wasn't much of a sensei. So, with that thought in mind, Hatake Kakashi, activated chidori inside the barrier.
Sakura was looking at Kakashi with apprehension. It was foolishness on Kakashi's part to activate chidori, especially inside the barrier. His right arm had no room to move; considering it was trapped near his thighs, it meant that Kakashi was burning his right thigh. Her mouth must have been opened with clear disbelief because she saw Kakashi chuckle through the pain. Narrowing her eyes, she sensed her surrounding, checking to see if the Kakashi they had captured was a clone, though the burning in his leg was an example to the contrary. Finding nothing, she tried to think of the next plan of attack if he was really able to get out of the barrier. This was supposed to be the coup de grace of their plan, of course they had backup plans as well but they would take time to setup and already they were pushing the 12 minute mark.
***OMT***
Naruto was standing still behind Kakashi, holding the seal sequence for the lightning attack, when all of a sudden Kakashi started the chidori directing the lightning from the barrier into his right hand. Naruto was not surprised that Kakashi was able to think of something unorthodox. No, what did surprise him was the dislocation of his right shoulder.
Suddenly he heard Sakura's shout in his mind, "He knows of the seal's placement!" reacting instantly Naruto dropped the barrier to disorient Kakashi before he was able to reach it with his fingers. Finding the opening, when Kakashi stumbled he moved quickly to intercept before he could get away.
At the last second he saw a faint outline of chakra from Kakashi, signifying his success at replacing himself with a clone, before stabbing the clone in the back to remove the distraction. With the clearing empty, Naruto found himself back to back with Sakura. Since, they didn't know what Kakashi was going to do it was better to stick together.
Both of them had their senses wide open, looking to sense anything from movement, to chakra signature. In the meantime, both of them kept moving around especially in circles to keep a lookout for the whole area, while watching each other's backs.
Naruto was looking at the groove of trees, "Front portion of the forest...clear," He spoke through the link to keep the lines of communication open.
Sakura was looking towards the jutting rocks, where she had smashed her fist, "West ground…clear."
Turning towards the three stumps, Naruto kept watch, "Entrance…clear," while Sakura looked towards the small river and narrowed her eyes, "12'O clock my time."
Quickly turning around, Naruto send a blast of wind in the direction Sakura specified, while sending a clone behind it to investigate. Of course, he could have peppered the area with clones, or Sakura could have decimated everything and cleared out the area but that wasn't the point of this little test.
Both of them were sure that Kakashi was now aware that they both could compete with him, but the game had changed with Kakashi's last manoeuvre. Now, Kakashi was testing them to see, whether they could delve into the unknown and survive.
The clone saw Kakashi try to go towards the river, so he wrapped himself in a shroud of wind chakra and sped up before landing in front of Kakashi. Looking at his sensei he noticed that the right shoulder was popped back in and he was leaning on the left leg, signifying burn injury to the right leg from chidori.
Keeping out of the range for taijutsu, Naruto taunted, "Where are you going sensei? Don't tell me you didn't like our little surprise?"
In retaliation, Kakashi appeared in front of the clone, using 'Shunshin no jutsu,' and kicked him in the face. The clone ducked under the kick before placing both hands on the ground, "Earth release: Swamp of the underworld," trying to trap Kakashi in quicksand.
However, as expected his sensei proved to be illusive when he used Kawarimi no jutsu to escape the trap. Watching him escape, Naruto saw Kakashi start forming handseals, stopping at the tiger seal, "Fire release: Great fireball," as he released the fire attack at Naruto.
Naruto used the wind release to once again speed up and side step the fireball, before he pointed his two fingers straight at Kakashi, "lightning release," shooting lightning out of his fingertips.
Kakashi twisted his body to the side to let the attack pass by, but kept his eye on Naruto the whole time. He figured this Naruto was a clone because of the distance that was being maintained and the lack of the taijutsu attack. Still, the attacks without the hand seals were throwing him off.
Using 'Shunshin no jutsu' he jumped to the top of the trees to avoid the lightning attack, however, when he looked behind him, he saw Naruto waving his hands back and forth throwing wind attacks in his direction; so using 'Kawarimi no jutsu,' he escaped to safety once more, "damn there's no end to this."
All of a sudden, Naruto saw Kakashi put his hands in a cross shape, while calling out, "Kage Bunshin no jutsu."
Naruto knew he would use the clone as a distraction to escape, however he wanted to cut off Kakashi from going towards the river at the back of the training field. With the amount of ninjutsu, he had used he knew there was still a lot of chakra left in him, so the clone pulled out a scroll to make a quick explosion seal. Putting as much chakra into the seal as he could, the clone saw both Kakashi's coming towards him. Knowing there was not much time left, he threw the scroll in the air and yelled, "Seal release: chakra bomb."
Kakashi's eye widened, he always knew that Naruto's clones were a little eccentric but he had no idea that they were suicidal as well. Knowing a lost cause when he saw one, Kakashi abandoned his plan to go towards the rivers and quickly used, 'Shunshin no jutsu' to escape the area before he sunk underneath the ground.
***OMT***
Naruto suddenly tilted his head when he felt his clone getting destroyed; he just had a feeling that this was going to be the last skirmish of the battle. Quickly analyzing the situation, he realized that before his clone dispelled, he used the last of its chakra to create another clone to find out Kakashi's location, thus having received the information, he yelled through the link, "2'O clock my time, 50 meters, underground."
Once Sakura knew the location, she pivoted on her right foot and stopped in the specified direction before extending her left hand with her palm facing upwards and lifted it up. At the same time, the earth in front of her shifted and Kakashi emerged from underneath with surprise written on his face, before he schooled his features and came head on to attack her, when he saw the position that she was in from the doton jutsu.
Before, he could come close enough to attack, Naruto and Sakura pivoted once more, and Kakashi saw Naruto, with a rasengan in the right hand and a kunai in the left; understanding his student's desire to fight head-on Kakashi smiled and created his own rasengan.
Right before they were about to clash, Kakashi stumbled from pain that raked his body. With surprise fully visible on his face, Kakashi fell face down in front of Naruto. He couldn't figure out the reason behind the pain. It felt as if his whole body was burning up and his muscles were cramping not allowing any movement.
As soon as Sakura saw Kakashi stumble behind her through the corner of her eyes, she turned around and side stepped Naruto to reach for the bells. Once she had them in her hand she threw them far away from Kakashi, before stepping up to him and turning him around on his back as he laid on the ground. Knowing the amount of poison in Kakashi's system was debilitating enough that if not treated promptly, the amount of pain would cause the mind to shut down, she started to heal him instantly.
Making sure that Kakashi's heart kept pumping and his brain received enough blood, Sakura turned to Naruto, "I need you to destroy the bells," while turning her head to point towards the bells, "they have enough poison in them to do serious harm by just touching them."
Naruto nodded and went on to do as asked. In the meantime Sakura had already removed the poison from Kakashi's body and was now healing his leg that he burned by his earlier use of chidori, "You really did a number on yourself there, Kakashi-sensei," while shaking her head in mock seriousness, "I never knew you were such a masochist."
Kakashi, once he got his breathing under control looked at Sakura and asked instead, "When did you poison the bells?"
Smiling at her sensei, she replied, "I didn't," seeing his questioning look, she elaborated, "I didn't personally poison the bells, it's just a drug I created that is sensitive to sound waves. Once, you told us the objective I used a seal to make sure it was attuned to the sound of the bells."
When Naruto came back from destroying the bells, he sat down beside Kakashi, "So, sensei, are you satisfied?"
Before answering the question, Kakashi had one of his own as he kept coming back to something that had been irking him the whole time, "The argument with Gamakichi…that was all an act right?"
Naruto just nodded his head with a smile on his face, "Yeah…"
"That was when you introduced the poison into my system…right from the beginning?" Kakashi asked Sakura.
Seeing her guilty expression was all the answer that he needed that Sakura's, "Yes, sensei," was not required. Kakashi though he was tired, just smiled at his students, "I am very proud of you both," with pride evident in his voice, he continued, "You never gave me a chance to attack. Looked underneath the underneath and used misdirection beautifully," Sighing merrily, while reminiscing about the times past Kakashi continued, "I think it's fair to say that both of you will do very well out there on your own."
Naruto just smiled at him, happy that Kakashi was able to see the point they were making. Sakura, also smiled, "Thank you Kakashi-sensei," Then getting a mischievous look on her face, she reminded Kakashi, "Though what did we tell you before? Do you regret your words now?"
Kakashi just chuckled conceding the point, "Getting the two of you after me and giving you permission to try to kill me nearly did me in. I think I have learned my lesson."
Naruto chortled, raising his hands in the air, "Woohoo!" Looking down at Kakashi he persisted, "What do you know…you can teach an old dog, new tricks, after all."
Seeing his students delighted at their success, Kakashi was glad to note that even after the overwhelming victory, they both remained humbled, the hazing being an exception, since it was a form of release after a hard fought battle.
***OMT***
Naruto and Sakura arrived at Sakura's apartment quickly, so that she could come down from the tick away from the prying eyes of the public. Once they were inside, Sakura quickly ran towards the bathroom, while Naruto closed the door and activated the seals around the house.
Naruto could hear Sakura retching in the toilet her body going through tearing spams of nausea. It was a very violent procedure and it occurred after every use of the tick. The seal placed in the brain would allow a counter agent to be dissolved in the bloodstream which would then involve the spasm inducing nausea among various other things. Basically, Sakura made sure that the body didn't get addicted to the tick, physically or mentally and her idea of stopping that was the side effect where at the end of the session the person would feel as if their stomach had been brutally turned inside and out.
He had already had his chance at vomiting at the training ground, when Sakura directed him to destroy the bell. She knew that with the tick in their system, the way they talked, walked and looked at the world was different. So, Kakashi would have asked some questions that they were not yet ready to answer. He already knew that Kakashi was suspicious; there was no doubt in his mind, which was fine with both of them for now at least.
So, to save themselves the trouble, Sakura had sent him off, to get down from the tick away from Kakashi's eyes, while she herself had used her medical jutsu to delay the effects of coming down from the tick induced haze. However, she was now paying the price, as her body was wracked with pain, with twice the intensity. Once, he heard the lack of vomiting, he arrived in the bathroom and saw Sakura just lying on the floor moaning in pain.
Gently picking her up, he carried her from the bathroom to the living room floor before making her lie down. He went to the kitchen to grab a jug of water, along with an empty garbage bin. Arriving in the living room, he lifted Sakura's head, "Sakura-chan, just rinse your mouth, it will make you feel better."
Slowly opening her eyes, Sakura took a gulp of water before spitting it in the garbage bin. After rinsing her mouth 3 or 4 more time, Naruto made her lie down, while keeping her head on his lap. He gently rubbed her forehead and sat with her showing his support. Slowly, Sakura drifted off to sleep with Naruto keeping watch as always; after all it was his duty to take care of her in sickness or health, through this world or the next.
***OMT***
Senju Tsunade was sitting at her desk talking to her old teammate Jiraiya, when she heard a knock on the door. Giving permission, to whoever was on the other side to enter, she was surprised to find Kakashi in her office. Looking around she saw that Jiraiya was just as surprised though he seemed to have expected an outcome similar to this from what she saw of his expression. Looking at the time she noted that it was 25 minutes past 12, which meant that either Kakashi started the test early or Naruto and Sakura had just beaten Sharingan no Kakashi in less than half an hour.
Raising her eyebrow, Tsunade exclaimed, "I wasn't expecting you this early Kakashi," leaning forward a little, she narrowed her eyes, "you did give your students the test right? Don't tell me you were later than usual?"
Kakashi sighed, "I wish Hokage-sama," before exhaling some air, "it would have made things much easier."
Jiraiya chuckled boisterously, "So you were beaten were you?"
With a proverbial raincloud on his head, Kakashi answered, "20 minutes…" shaking his head in disbelief, he repeated, "20 minutes, that's all it took them to beat me."
Tsunade raised the other eyebrow in surprise, "And how were they?"
Looking Tsunade straight in the eyes, Kakashi asked, "If you would allow me, I can show the battle to both of you.
Tsunade and Jiraiya both knew that Kakashi was talking about using the Sharingan to weave a genjutsu of the battle. It would allow each of them to see the progress and assess the skill level.
Though Kakashi was sure that both the sannin just wanted to see how their students faired against someone whom they hadn't fought in a while. Seeing them nod to give him permission, he lifted his hitae-ate to reveal his Sharingan.
***OMT**
Once they finished viewing the battle and came out of the genjutsu, both teammates looked impressed with what they had witnessed. Naruto and Sakura had shown a keen mind, they were able to plan together very well and were able to keep their cool when the situation went away from them.
Tsunade looked at Jiraiya in puzzlement; something had been bugging her since she saw it in the genjutsu, "Since when can Naruto perform genjutsu?"
Jiraiya just looked at Tsunade with a shit eating grin on his face, "Surprising huh? The kid is stubborn as a mule," looking like a proud parent Jiraiya continued, "even when I told him it was impossible, he didn't back down and now look. He was giving Kakashi fits," he laughed.
"Though, I have to say Tsunade-hime, you seriously remodelled that girl after you," Jiraiya shook his head in amusement, "even taught her that monstrous strength of yours."
Tsunade smirked, pride on Sakura's performance evident on her face, "She is ready to surpass me Jiraiya. From what we saw I think it's safe to say that she has been experimenting on her own as is required to reach our rank."
Kakashi knew what they were talking about, "That movement, you were not aware of it before this?"
Both Tsunade and Jiraiya shook their heads, while Kakashi frowned, thinking about that weird movement. It was strange to say the least because not only was the movement absolutely smooth and precise, it was so much so that the Sharingan's usual ability of predicting an attack seemed useless against it.
Kakashi was broken out of his reverie, when Tsunade spoke, "It's probably Sakura's doing. I knew she was experimenting on the side with seals but I was unaware that she was making new drugs as well."
Jiraiya eyed Tsunade, "That new drug that she created, getting attracted to sound…has some serious potential."
Tsunade nodded her head in agreement, "Agreed, but I am more interested in the drug that created that peculiar movement."
Kakashi knit your brow in confusion, "Are you sure, it's a drug Tsunade-sama?" Kakashi questioned, continuing before he could be interrupted, "Because Naruto was able to move similarly."
Tsunade bobbed her head up and down, "I am pretty sure. When you looked at the movement, you saw how quickly they turned their heads, and eyes around. It was as if everything around them was in slow motion but in real time." She mumbled while thinking about it, "I can think of several dozen chemicals that could give that sensation, however the side effects that they have are harmful to say the least."
Kakashi didn't know what to think, he had never thought that one of his student's would be able to surpass him so quickly let alone two. If Tsunade-sama was right than Sakura had even found a drug that was effective in negating one of the abilities of the Sharingan, "That drug has some serious potential, Hokage-sama. It was able to negate the prediction ability."
Tsunade shook her head, "To me it just seems like a side effect Kakashi. If I am right then the drug allows the brain to speed up the thought process, of course their reaction time is increased as well, but it won't enhance what's not already there."
Seeing a look of understanding on Kakashi's face, Tsunade lectured, "I know that during the past three years Sakura had worked on her physical condition every single day. The same is true for Naruto. They both have a solid base, which means the improved reaction time and concentration with the drug basically allows them time to react with ample control, so unlike the rest of us they don't project their moves."
Thinking about the explanation, Kakashi asked, "The Sharingan, also provides improved reaction time, at least in the sense that a person is able to see and react better, but even Uchiha projected their moves. So, what's different about Naruto and Sakura?
Jiraiya interrupted before Tsunade could answer, "It's different Kakashi, because a Sharingan user has to consciously think of the attack as they are looking at the opponent. Whereas, Naruto and Sakura were not thinking about their movements consciously…It was more like they were on auto-pilot.
Looking at Tsunade thinking deeply about her student's achievement, Jiraiya shook his head in mirth, "Tsunade-hime, you have created a true kunoichi in her. So, much so that she is mysterious even to her own teacher."
Tsunade agreed with Jiraiya's reasoning but then teased him back good naturedly, "Look who is talking," while pointing towards Kakashi, "Naruto or at least his clone went against Kakashi in ninjutsu and didn't allow him to copy anything," thinking back to the battle in fond memory, Tsunade remarked, "Three elements…wind, lightning, and earth."
Even Kakashi was impressed, "Yeah, able to use 3 elements and he is only 16."
Before Kakashi could continue his monologue, Jiraiya interrupted, "You are both wrong," Looking at their confused expressions he elaborated, "I know for a fact that Naruto can use all 5 elements with various levels of usability."
Seeing their surprised expression, he continued, "I am telling you that kid is a juggernaut," looking at Kakashi he continued, "From what I saw if they wanted to they could literally have killed you, especially when you were trapped."
Tsunade nodded with Jiraiya's statement, "I know for a fact that if you were an enemy, Sakura would have killed you in that fire attack."
Kakashi's eye widened, "Really?" though he remained highly sceptical. Watching Tsunade dip her head, he frowned, "how?"
Tsunade closed her eyes, knowing the next statement would surprise both shinobi in front of her, "I know that Sakura has really good control over fire and water."
Jiraiya raised his eyebrow in surprise, "Opposites?"
Tsunade got up from her chair and moved towards the window overlooking the village, "That's not the surprising part Jiraiya," turning around, she looked him straight in the eyes, "It's the level of control that she has regarding the elements. I will say it's probably on par with Sarutobi sensei's and my granduncle, Senju Tobirama."
Jiraiya was shocked; this was the same girl who three years ago tied with the Yamanaka in an embarrassing match during the Chuunin exams. She had no overall ability then but somehow in three years she was able to reach a level where Senju Tsunade, the foremost expert on medical ninjutsu endorsed her to be her successor. So, Jiraiya thought, she is not only good at medical ninjutsu her elemental abilities are also on par. Also, he saw her using Earth elemental release as well, which meant that she was already working on her third element.
"Also, like Naruto she can use elements without hand seals with varying levels of manipulation," looking pleased with her student's success, Tsunade smiled cheerily.
"Tsunade, that girl is damn impressive," shaking his head in bemusement, he continued, "I thought Naruto was a one of a kind, maybe both of them are just two of a kind."
Looking at Tsunade he saw her questioning look, "3 years ago, she was basically useless…cannon fodder to say the least, but now…" Nothing more needed to be said.
Nodding her head, Tsunade went back towards her seat, once seated she folded her hands in front of her, "Looking at the evidence, I think it's clear to say that both of them are ready to tackle missions of high calibre," eyeing Jiraiya she continued, "The question is whether Naruto and by extension Sakura would be able to mix it with the Akatsuki."
Jiraiya looked back at Tsunade, "If you are asking me then with Kakashi on their team, I would say Team 7 has a really good chance to survive Akatsuki attacks."
Kakashi nodded his head in agreement, "I agree Tsunade-sama. If the two of them fight with the same level of teamwork then even Akatsuki will have a hard time capturing Naruto."
Gazing at Kakashi and Jiraiya, Tsunade ceded the point, "Hmm, I agree but I can't help but worry for the gaki," before shaking her head fondly, "Anyway, what rank do you think, Naruto should receive? For him to remain a Gennin seems like a travesty and waste of a good potential."
So, for the leaders in the annals of power of the village of Konoha, the discussion regarding Naruto and Sakura continued without knowing that the two new leaves that they thought were sprouting on the great Konoha tree, were actually two fully grown trees themselves just waiting to release their seeds out into world.
Thank you for reading the chapter. As I mentioned before, it is dialogue heavy and I understand it if many of you were waiting for cool awesome jutsu. I also know the pace is not fast at the moment, however, it will pick up considerably in the upcoming chapters. So please stick around. The things I am mentioning in the early chapters are important and will play a considerable role in the future; therefore I feel that they deserve to be exploited thoroughly. Hopefully, they don't take anything away from the overall enjoyment.
Also, I know there will be people wondering why Naruto didn't use senjutsu, or other forms of rasengan or Kakashi with his dog summons etc. Remember the test was to show Naruto's and Sakura's teamwork. It wasn't about showing who could throw the biggest jutsu around. There will be more than enough fights, jutsu and smashy bits in the future. With that thought in mind, I would like to be excused to get back to the misery that is real life. So, thank you for reading the chapter and have a great day. Kyi-Ragkiril, signing out.