Beep! Beep! Beep!
The accursed alarm clock woke me up. I glanced at the time and groaned. I had literally fallen asleep five minutes ago!
I heard Tessa- oops! I mean Taeko grumbling from across the room.
Yoshii lobbed one of her' pillows at the offending alarm clock and sent it crashing to the floor.
Taeko cheered. "Yeah!"
"Take that you stupid clock!" I exclaimed.
Yoshii just pulled the comforter back over her' head. Fifteen minutes later, she still refused to move. Taeko looked at me and began to spell something out to me in sign language… P-I-L-L-O-W F-I-G-H-T… Pillow fight!
I grinned and nodded. We both grabbed pillows, and at the same moment, slammed them down on Yoshii's still figure.
She leapt up and flung a pillow back at us, and a full-fledged battle initiated.
It didn't stop until about ten minutes later when a crash behind us caused us all to whirl about. The sight that met our' eyes was an interesting one to say the least. Hinata lay, sprawled out on the floor, with part of a pillow stuffed in her' mouth; her' eyes as round as silver dollars.
The three of us leapt forward to assist her; asking questions like: "Are you okay?"
Hinata spat out the pillow and brushed the feathers off of her' self, while assuring us that she was all right.
"Neji went to see the Fifth Hokage, Tsunada, early this morning. He told her about the three of you, and Tsunada said that you are welcome to stay in Konoha until you are able to locate the whereabouts of your' uncle." She said.
I felt a wave of relief rush over me. If the fifth Hokage had believed our' story, then we were doing pretty well.
"Tsunada also said that you should come to the training grounds with me so that some of the sensies can see the extent of your' training."
"Okay, when?" Yoshii asked.
"Ummmm…This morning."
"Oh…okay…uhhh…give us ten minutes to get ready." I said.
Ten minutes later, Taeko, Yoshii and I met up with Hinata and followed her to the training grounds.
Upon reaching the training grounds, we were introduced to Kurenai, Kakashi, and Guy, all of whom we recognized instantly from the manga and anime.
Kakashi was, of course, reading his' dirty, orange book and completely ignoring Sakura's lecture of disapproval.
"Well, it's good to meet you." Kurenai said after we were introduced.
"Ah, It is always a pleasure to meet young maidens, blossoming in the flower of their' youth!" Guy exclaimed enthusiastically.
Taeko, Yoshii and I exchanged glances. Yep! That was Guy all right. No doubt about it!
Kakashi put down his' book and stepped forward. "Yo!" He greeted.
"Yo!" We replied.
"The Fifth Hokage requested that we evaluate the extent of your' training. What would you say to a spar with some of our' pupils so that we may analyze your' training?"
Taeko, Yoshii, and I shrugged feeling somewhat apprehensive. "I guess so. Whom do you want us to fight?" I asked.
Kakashi looked me up and down. "How about you fight Tenten?" He suggested. Kurenai and Guy nodded in agreement at his choice.
I wracked my' brain, trying to recall every thing I could about Tenten's fighting style. I knew that she was called the weapons mistress of Konoha and that she was probably the most powerful out of the Konoha kunoichi. I also knew that Temari had easily overcome her at the chunin exams and that Shikamaru had later defeated Temari. I didn't recall having heard that Tenten had any special trademark jutsu, and I knew that she did not posses a kekkei genkai of any sort.
For a moment I thought I had an advantage. After all, I knew Tenten's abilities and she did not know mine'. But then I remembered that, other than my' Kaaroye, I didn't know my' own abilities.
Well…this ought to be interesting. I thought. "Sure, I'll fight Tenten." I said.
Kakashi nodded and Guy called the said kunoichi over to us and explained to her that she was to fight me.
Tenten nodded. "Okay."
The others backed up a ways and we fell into fighting stances. Tenten Charged and hurled several Kunai and Shuriken at me. I dodged them only to find myself surrounded by torrents of senbon. Some how I managed to evade them and come out of the attack, unscratched. How on earth did I get so good a t dodging all of the sudden? I wondered.
I soon found that I had magically become a master acrobat as well. I flipped and spun from side to side in order to evade Tenten's continuous attacks of needles, blades and bombs.
I landed gracefully opposite of Tenten. Okay now how am I supposed to use any jutsus if I don't know the signs and words for them? I wondered. Then I recalled the words of the "Messenger"."The signs will come to you. Focus and let your' soul show you the signs."
I closed my' eyes and focused. It was as though I was watching a screen. I saw the signs before me in my' mind and, as I watched them being formed, I felt my' own hands rapidly forming the exact same signs as if I'd been doing it my' entire life. It was as though my' body was being controlled by what I was seeing. I opened my' eyes and I felt chakura rushing through me as I heard my' self whisper the words, "Earth possession no jutsu."
Suddenly the earth where Tenten stood seemed to come alive. It formed three, strange, serpent-like creatures as thick as my' waist. One was made of mud, one of stone, and one of sand/soil. They coiled about Tenten's Legs and torso wrapped themselves around her' shoulders and neck. Tenten attempted to do a transfer jutsu but my' "mud serpent" trapped her' arms to her' sides, preventing her' from succeeding.
Independent from my' mind, my hands rapidly formed three new signs. "Stone Coffin no Jutsu." I whispered.
The "Stone Serpent", suddenly began to grow in size it became three times as large as the other two. It wrapped its' self around Tenten, covering her' completely and then, changed its' structure. It's coiled body flattened. It became dark and smooth until it looked like coffin formed completely of obsidian.
I took a deep breath and glanced at Kakashi. He nodded his' head in approval.
I turned back to the coffin and formed a hand sign. "Jutsu Release." I commanded. The coffin instantly disintegrated and fell to the ground. Having been released from her' solid stone prison, Tenten came up to me and said. "Wow! That was one amazing jutsu!"
"Arigato Tenten-chan." I told her.
"Well done Rika-san." Kakashi said.
I nodded to him. "Arigato Hatake-Sama."
I joined Taeko and Yoshii who had been sitting beneath a tree, watching my' spar with Tenten.
They shot me glances that clearly read, what the heck was all that?
I shrugged. I sat down next to Yoshii.
"How did you do that?" She whispered.
"I just closed my' eyes and focused, just like the messenger said. And I formed the signs that came to me." I told them.
Kakashi gestured to Yoshii. "You can fight Lee."
Yoshii stood up. "Wish me luck."
"Good luck." Taeko and I chorused.
Yoshii and Lee settled into fighting stances. Lee charged and Yoshii executed a neat back flip to dodge his' attack. She closed her' eyes and when she opened them again they were the yellow, black and silver colors of her' Kaaroye.
Good thinking Yoshii! I mentally applauded her. The Kaaroye will help you anticipate his' charges and make it easier for you to avoid his' attacks.
Yoshii evaded several more of Lee's attacks before she closed her' eyes again. She was focusing. I could sense the gathering of her' chakura. She formed eight hand signs and whispered something. Suddenly, the air was filled with strange, glowing threads. They multiplied, and then encircled and entrapped Lee in a web of sorts.
Lee shivered. "What is this stuff?" He asked. "It's freezing!"
They continued to multiply until Lee was covered in a glowing cocoon.
Yoshii formed the same hand sign as I had used to release my' stone coffin jutsu. "Jutsu Release." She said.
The cocoon collapsed instantly and the threads disappeared. In its' place stood Lee, blue and trembling from cold.
Within a moment he was fine again. "Yosh Yoshii-chan! That was amazing!!"
Yoshii smiled and sat down next to Taeko and me.
"What was that jutsu you used?" I inquired.
"It was called, "Asphyxiating Ice Thread no Jutsu"." Yoshii told me.
"Asphyxiating! So it suffocates you?!" Taeko asked.
Yoshii nodded. "I think it freezes you too."
Taeko stood up and Kakashi told her that she would face Shino.
Taeko fell into a stance.
I swear it's a good thing that the three of us took martial arts together. Now at least we can do a passable fighting stance!
Realizing that we would be able to better observe the spar, Yoshii and I activated our' Kaaroyes.
With my' Kaaroye activated, I could see that Shino's body was literally swarming with his' beetles.
"Ick!" Yoshii exclaimed softly beside me. She didn't really like bugs.
Shino released his' beetles and they charged at Taeko.
I watched Taeko. I could see her' chakura condensing inside of her' body, I felt her focus and as I watched she formed several rapid hand signs.
Suddenly she shot one hand forward, palm facing out as if she were going to do some sort of kung fu strike. From the center of her' palm sprung a huge, dark purple, serpent or eel. Bolts of electricity covered the eel's surface. It opened its mouth and sucked in its breath inhaling all of shino's beetles. Then it returned to her' palm and disappeared.
Shino was momentarily stunned. He was generally good with backup plans, but he hadn't expected that.
Before he could recover, Taeko formed another hand sign and she disappeared. Shino looked frantically around trying to locate her. Suddenly, to everyone's amazement, she appeared directly in front of him and just stood there, watching him. Shino recovered from his' surprise and charged at Taeko, (not that he had very far to charge) and aimed blow at her' stomach.
My' newly acquired exceptional vision picked up the flow of chakura that was condensing in Taeko's solo flexes. (A/n for those of you who don't know, the 'solo flexes' are a large cluster of nerves, located in the abdomen, right beneath the rib cage.)
Taeko waited patiently and, just as shino's fist connected with her' stomach, Taeko released all the pent up energy packed inside of her. Her' entire body began to glow and chakura, in the form of rays of high voltage electricity shot out from her' hands, feet and solo flexes. They encircled Shino, entrapping him in a net of electrical currents.
"Cool!" Yoshii breathed.
I nodded in agreement.
Guy nodded to Taeko and she released Shino from the electrical web.
Kakashi motioned for Yoshii and me to join Taeko and the senseis.
"That was a couple of very impressive jutsu displays." He complimented.
"Domo, Hatake Sama." We chorused.
"You are definitely up to chunin level." He exchanged glances with Guy and Kurenai. "Tsunada has decided that until you find your' uncle, you may remain in Konoha and will be trained under one of the Jounin who is currently without any students."
We nodded to show that we understood. "Your' choices for teachers are: Jiraya, Anko, or Shizune. Which would you prefer?"
"…"
"Eway eednay otay alktay ightray ownay!" Yoshii exclaimed suddenly. (A/n for those of you who don't know, that is Pig Latin and translates to: "We need to talk now!")
Taeko and I got her' meaning instantly, but the Jounin shot her' puzzled looks.
"Uh… Could you please give us a second?" I asked.
They nodded and we went behind a tree to discuss our' "options".
"Okay girls, what do you think?" Taeko asked.
"Well Jiraya is definitely out." Yoshii said with a shudder. "No way am I training with that perv!"
Taeko and I nodded. "So it's down to Shizune or Anko."
"I say Anko." I said. "Shizune is good of course, but she's more of a medic nin where as Anko's more of a fighter, you know?"
Taeko nodded. "Yeah, she's pretty tough alright. Okay let's take a vote. I won't ask about Jiraya since I already know the answer so, all in favor of Shizune raise your' hand…" All of our' hands remained down.
Taeko raised an eyebrow. "Ooookaaaay…All in favor of Anko?" All three of our' hands shot up.
"Awesome!" Yoshii pumped her' fist into the air. "I love democracy!"
I grinned. "Let's go tell the other's our' decision."
That night, Taeko, Yoshii and I sat in our room talking when suddenly…
"Konichi wa."
The three of us nearly jumped out of our' skins. Fortunately, we managed to suppress our' screams.
"Oh did I frighten you? I'm sorry." The voice purred.
"Messenger!" Taeko exclaimed in a tone that implied extreme annoyance. "Can you at least give us a warning instead of scaring us half to death?"
The sound of chuckling was heard and the transparent figure of the messenger materialized before our' eyes.
"What are you doing here?" I growled. I was still not sure whether or not we should trust this guy. He was sort of creepy!
He smirked. "I am here to tell you something very important."
"Such as?"
"Come forward." He directed.
We exchanged confused glances but did as he asked nonetheless.
"I want you three to try something." He said. "Close your' eyes and let your' hands form the signs that come to you."
We did as said and I felt my' chakura condensing within my' hands.
"Now, Open your' eyes." He instructed.
I opened my eyes as did the others and was shocked to see that our' hands were glowing with energy.
"What the heck is this stuff?" Yoshii inquired.
"It is your' chakura. The jutsu you performed made it visible." He explained.
"Hold on a second!" Taeko exclaimed. "Chakura is supposed to be one color unless of course the person using it is a medic nin or else the person is someone like Naruto with his Jinchuuriki. So then why is mine black, Yoshii's white, and Rika's dark blue?"
The messenger gave a nod of approval. "You are very observant Taeko; and you are right. This is what I wanted to tell you. You are special shinobi. Actually, you are much like Naruto."
"What are you saying, messenger?" I interrupted.
"I'm saying that you, Taeko, and Yoshii are forms of Jinchuuriki."
There was a moment of stunned silence followed by Yoshii's sharp exclamation of "WHAT?!"
The messenger held up his hand. "Allow me to explain. Many years ago, there was a clan called the "Sajido" who possessed a special ability to foretell the future with acute accuracy. But when Konoha went to war with the land of Suna, the Sajido clan was wiped out, leaving only one survivor. The survivor was a young woman by the name of Miyuri. She was an expert fighter and as a result was chosen to lead the Konoha army into battle.
Under her' leadership Konoha was victorious, but Miyuri was fatally wounded during the fight. But while she was on the battleground she had one last vision.
As soon as the Suna army had been beaten, Miyuri, the blood draining from the wound to her abdomen, drug herself to the Hokage's office and told the elders of Konoha her' vision.
She told them that many years in the future Konoha would be attacked once again, but this new enemy that would arise would be much worse than Suna. She said that if something wasn't done, Konoha would be completely destroyed and the ground would be died red with the blood of its citizens. Needless to say, the Hokage was thoroughly distressed over this grave prediction. He asked Miyuri what they ought to do. And this is what she told them:
"There is only one means by which our' village may be saved. We must find three powerful beings that will be willing to help us. We must use the forbidden jutsu to travel to the future and seal the beings within three people, that they may protect our' village."
The Hokage was skeptical about this plan for the forbidden jutsu was extremely dangerous. He asked if there was any other means by which one could travel to the future to seal the beings.
But Miyuri answered him saying, "The forbidden jutsu is the one and only method by which to seal the beings, for we must not only travel into the future, but also into a separate world, a world where the beings can live continually until the time when they must return here. I know it is a dangerous undertaking and that is why I will personally seal the beings myself. But you must hurry and find creatures who are sympathetic to our cause, for I can only hold out so long before this wound destroys me."
Thus, the Hokage hastened to meet with the creatures living in the forests surrounding Konoha. (In those days, many mythical creatures roamed the forests.) The Hokage was able to obtain the aid of three powerful beings: Katashi, the White Wolf and Protector of the Forest, Arisu, the Black Tiger and Ruler of the Southern Canyons, and Isamu, the Midnight Dragon and Master of the Night Skies.
Then, with the little strength she still possessed, Miyuri used the forbidden jutsu to transfer herself through time and worlds and sealed the three creatures into three humans of a separate world… you, are those three humans."
Taeko, Yoshii and I stood there gaping at him. "Say WHAT?!" Yoshii exclaimed. "You mean those beings are inside of us?"
The messenger nodded. "Yes. You carry Katashi, the White Wolf. Taeko contains Arisu, the Black Tiger. And Rika holds Isamu, the Midnight Dragon."
The three of us exchanged glances. "But…" I began. "If that is true, then that means that we…"
Taeko finished finished where I left off. "We are going to have to save Konoha!"
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Hey Everyone!
Sorry it took me so long to get this chapter posted. I had to figure out a bunch of things with Brianiac5 and Child of Storms before I could get it written. Anyway, I hope it was satisfactory.
Remember that reveiws are greatly appreciated. (No flames please.)
-Yaruhi