Hey guys!
Sorry for the late update. Had some trouble writing this one and I hope you'll like it.
Foxxel: Well not all chapters can be action filled with tons of blood. Don't worry. Those will come.
Cloud Ex-SOLDIER: Thanks for the review. Well for the Mizuki thing, Kyuubi trusted Naruto's judgement. And for kevlar vest, I don't think it's really much. He is already training with the gravity seal so he's used to extra weight. Also look at Rock Lee and his weights. In my opinion they are heavier than the vest.
Decius23: She's not falling for him. Yet. I'm planning on making some progress in the wave. Now she just sees him in a different light. Calm, collected and in different attire which makes him look better. It's a natural reaction.
Enjoy!
The morning came fast for Sakura as she groggily got out of bed. Looking through the window she could still see the light of the street lamps. She sighed as she went to the bathroom to do her usual routine. As she finished, she packed her ninja equipment and went outside. She skiped breakfest since Kakashi told them to.
Walking to the meeting place, she looked at the dark windows of the houses she passed by. "Why do we have to meet so early. I could've still sleep for few hours."
Eventually she found herself standing at the bridge close to the training yard. She saw a dark figure leaning at the rail. She was feeling a bit scared while approaching the figure, but when she saw it clearly, she sighed in relief.
"Hey Sasuke-kun. How are you?" She asked with a smile and the only thing she received was his signature 'Hn'. She didn't pay much attention to his response and leaned next to him.
"Sasuke-kun, do you want to get something to eat after this?" She asked hopefully, only to receive fast and unconditional "No." She looked down sadly and leaned little further from the Uchiha.
They waited in silence for the next 3 hours. Sakura was really angry at the moment. She could expect from their sensei to be late, since they waited him for hours at the academy, but not from Naruto. She thought he'd get on time. Little did she know that Naruto was already training at the Training ground 7.
After few more minutes, in puff of smoke, Kakashi arrived. "Yo." He said with a wave. "YOU'RE LATE!" Sakura screamed in frustration while pointing her finger at the jounin. "Oh I'm sorry. I saw a black cat and had to take a different route." He smiled sheepishly while Sakura looked away while muttering 'Liar.'
"I see somebody's missing. Where is Naruto?" Kakashi asked, looking at the rest of Team 7.
"We don't know sesei. He never showed up." Sakura said and looked around.
"No matter. I'm sure he'll find us without a problem." He said. "Now please follow me."
They followed Kakashi, wondering what they will do today. Suddenly they heard sounds of swords clashing behind the trees. Looking at Kakashi for answers, they realized they won't get any. When they walked to the clearing, they saw two Naruto's engaged in a kenjutsu spar.
Kakashi couldn't hide amazement in his eye as he looked at Naruto. Naruto moved gracefully, almost like he was dancing, while delivering heavy blows with his sword. They watched in awe as Naruto slashed, blocked and dodged with great speed and precision like he was doing it for years. Kakashi couldn't believe that Naruto was so skilled with a katana at his young age. He was even more surprised when he saw a hue of blue chakra surrounding the blade.
After ten more minutes of jaw-dropping spar, Naruto noticed his teammates standing by the trees. He released the clone and walked over to them with his sword resting on his shoulder.
"Hey Kakashi-sensei, Sasuke, Sakura. How are you all?" Naruto smiled as he sheathed his sword on his back.
"Ah Naruto. You've been training I see." Kakashi chuckled.
"I sure did, Kakashi-sensei." Naruto grinned.
"Anyway, let's start with the exam." Kakashi said looking at the stunned expressions of his students. "What?"
"We've already had our exam." Sakura said.
"Academy exam is just for us to see if you're worthy enough to become a genin. This one is to see if you're worthy enough for me to train you." Kakashi said while smiling under his mask.
"So what's the test gonna be?" Naruto asked.
Kakashi then pulled out two bells. "Your test is to take away these bells from me." The genins nodded. "However, the one who doesn't get the bell, will be sent back to the academy."
"You can't do that, Kakashi-sensei!" Sakura yelled.
"Watch me." He said as he placed an alarm clock on the stump by his side. "You have until noon to get the bells. Look underneath the underneath. Now begin!" Kakashi said as he watched his three students scatter around the training ground. "Now, let's see if they understand the meaning of this test."
Naruto was sneaking behind the trees looking for his teammates. He was thinking about what Kakashi said. "Look underneath the underneath. What the hell does that mean?" He was looking for a few more minutes until he spotted something pink. "Sakura." He whispered to which the girl jumped. She turned around and saw Naruto jumping out of the bushes.
She frowned. "Naruto! You scared me!"
"Heh sorry." He said as he scratched behind his head. "Anyway, do you have any plan on how to get the bells?"
She shook her head. "I don't have a clue. I don't understand why does one of us has to go back to the academy."
"Of course!" Naruto exclaimed. "Look underneath the underneath! How did I not see it immediately?"
"What are you talking about?" Sakura asked.
"Tell me, have you ever seen a team with only two genins?" She shook her head. "See? He's not going to send one of us back to the academy. The sole purpose of this test is teamwork! We don't stand a chance against Kakashi-sensei if we attack him alone. We have to work as a team."
Sakura's eyes widened. "Of course! Wow Naruto, you're pretty smart." Naruto grinned. "Hehe thanks. Now let's go find teme and tell him that." She frowned. "Baka, don't call him that." She raised her hand and tried to punch him but he swiftly caught it. "Now Sakura, I'd like it if you don't punch me. Now let's go. We have a test to pass." He smiled and ran toward the spot where he felt Sasuke's chakra signature with Sakura on his tail.
They found him lying in the bushes, observing Kakashi who was by now reading his 'Icha Icha' book.
"Oi teme." Naruto said.
"What the hell do you want dobe?" Sasuke asked angrily.
"I realized the purpose of the test. It's teamwork, we have to work together to get the bells."
"I don't need anyone's help. Especially not yours." Sasuke said angrily and jumped away from them.
"Guess we can't count on him." He turned to Sakura. "Can I count on you?" She nodded. "Ok here's the plan." He made one shadow clone. "I'm guessing that Sasuke will attack Kakashi by himself. After that, you and my clone will attack as well and throw me, henged as a shuriken, at Kakashi-sensei. I will get the bells and we'll pass." Sakura nodded. "Good plan, Naruto. Let's do it." Naruto henged himself and Sakura picked him up. At that moment Sasuke attacked.
"Katon: Goukakyuu no Jutsu."
Large fireball engulfed the field. Sakura looked at the clone, who took his own shuriken, and nodded. They jumped down and ran at Kakashi. The clone threw his shuriken first and Kakashi jumped to avoid it. Sakura saw that he can't dodge while he's in the air and she threw transformed Naruto at him. Kakashi was watching as the shuriken got closer so he turned in the air to dodge it. At the last second, Naruto transformed back into himself and grabbed the bells, which were hanging on Kakashi's waist. Naruto landed on the ground and grinned victoriously.
"Hehe looks like we pass, Kakashi-sensei."
"Ah. I guess you do." Kakashi smiled under his mask and gave them a thumb up.
"Yay we did it!" Sakura cheered. "Good job Naruto."
"I couldn't do it without you, Sakura." Naruto said with a smile which put a blush on Sakura's face.
"Anyway, you still did it. Even though Sasuke acted by himself." Kakashi smiled. "So how about we do some sparring matches now?"
"Uh, I don't know, Kakashi-sensei." Sakura said.
"Oh don't worry, Sakura. Only Naruto and Sasuke will spar today." Kakashi smiled. "How about it, guys?"
"Yosh! Let's go teme." Naruto grinned. "I'm gonna kick your ass."
"You cannot beat an Uchiha." Sasuke said with a smirk.
"Let's just see about that." Naruto said as they stood at the center of the field.
"Both ready?" The two genins nodded. "Begin!" Kakashi said as he lowered his arm.
Sasuke ran full speed at Naruto, with a smirk on his face. He threw a punch which Naruto easily dodged. He followed with a kick and another punch which Naruto dodged, again. Naruto smirked as he saw the Uchiha pulling out a kunai and throwing it at him. Naruto caught it by putting his finger through the ring at the bottom of the handle.
"C'mon Sasuke. I thought you were better than this." Naruto said as he threw the kunai back at his opponent, who barely dodged it.
"Shut up! Do not underestimate and Uchiha." Sasuke said angrily.
"If what you've showed me today is the power of the Uchiha, I'm not impressed." Naruto smirked.
Sasuke was glaring daggers at Naruto. "At least I didn't buy my hitai-ate."
"What did you say?" Naruto's smirk turned into frown.
Sasuke smirked when he saw that he hit the spot. "I've earned mine. You probably begged for yours."
"Shut up." Naruto said shakily.
"You begged on your knees to let you become a ninja. Just like the loser you are." His smirk widened.
"SHUT UP!" Naruto yelled as he punched the Uchiha right in the face. Sasuke flew through trees before crashing into a rock. Naruto's eyes flashed red as he pulled out his katana and run toward Sasuke.
"NARUTO!"
Naruto stopped in his tracks as he realized whose voice just called him. His eyes returned back to their deep blue color as he looked at Sakura. He saw her on brink of tears. A lone tear left his eye as he sheathed his sword and shunshined away.
"W-what was all that, Kakashi-sensei." Sakura asked.
Kakashi sighed. "That is a really hard topic for Naruto." He looked at Sakura. "Can you go and talk to him please. He's probably at the Hokage monument."
"But what about Sasuke-kun?" She asked as she looked at unconscious Sasuke.
"Don't worry. I'll take care of him." Kakashi smiled as he walked over to Sasuke.
Sakura sighed as she ran away from the training ground.
Naruto sat on top of Yondaime's head. All events from the past few days crashed in his brain. He saw Iruka with a giant shuriken in his back and Mizuki with a sword going through his heart. Tears ran down his cheeks. He didn't notice Sakura walking toward him.
"N-naruto. Are you ok?" She asked as she sat next to him. She saw tears on his face and sorrow that filled his eyes. They sat there in silence before Naruto decided to speak.
"A-at the graduation day, Mizuki came to me and said that there's another test that will allow me to become a ninja." He said with a shaky voice. "He told me to steal the forbidden scroll from the Hokage's office. When I took the scroll to the place he told me to meet him, Iruka-sensei found me. Then Mizuki attacked us." His voice was beginning to crack. "He…he hurt Iruka-sensei badly and…and I k-killed him." At that point Naruto broke down. Tears were running down his face and he was breathing heavily. He barely noticed when an arm wrapped itself around his shoulders.
"Naruto, you've done nothing wrong. You saved Iruka-sensei and that's all that matters." She gave him a warm smile.
"B-but I still killed him." He said while looking down.
"You did, but you still feel bad about it." He looked up with slight confusion in his eyes. "You killed him to protect someone important to you. And the fact that you don't approve what you did makes you human. As long as you do it to protect someone important instead of doing it for fun, it's justified."
"Thank you, Sakura…chan." He said with a slight smile.
"No problem, Naruto-kun." She gave him another warm smile and she stood up. "Now let's go find Kakashi-sensei and Sasuke-kun and go somewhere to eat."
Naruto stood up. "Yeah, let's go."
"He really did a number on you, Sasuke." Kakashi said while checking Sasuke's bruised face.
"Hn. He got lucky." Sasuke replied.
"I don't think so. He does seem stronger than you."
"Shut up! He's nothing. I'm an Uchiha, he can't do anything to me."
Kakashi sighed. "Right." He turned around and saw the rest of Team 7 approaching. Naruto seemed much calmer and he had a genuine smile on his face.
"Oi Kakashi-sensei, let's go eat something!" Naruto said with a grin while Sakura nodded in approval.
"That's a good idea, Naruto. What do you have in mind?"
"How 'bout that barbecue restaurant?"
"Sure, why not." Kakashi smiled under his mask before he stood up, pulled out his orange book and walked in the direction of the restaurant.
Naruto looked at Sasuke, who stood up shakily. He was still angry at him, but he decided he'll let him be. He knew that Uchiha clan was one of the founding clans of Konohagakure, which led them to believe that they're superior to others. He shrugged as he walked past his teammate and followed Kakashi. Sakura stayed little behind to check up on Sasuke.
"Are you okay, Sasuke-kun?" She asked with a slight hint of worry.
Sasuke only ignored her as he walked behind Naruto. Sakura, not wanting to be left behind, ran up to her teammates to catch up with them. They walked in silence for the most part before they stopped in front of the restaurant. They entered and saw familiar faces of Team 10 in the corner. Upon seeing Team 7, Sarutobi Asuma, jounin sensei of Team 10, called them over to sit with them.
They instantly noticed the bruise that covered a good part of Sasuke's face. "Sasuke-kun, What happened?" Ino asked frantically while running up to him. He just ignored her as he walked past her and sat down.
"Well, let's say Naruto got a bit angry during their spar." Kakashi chuckled
"Are you telling me that Naruto beat Sasuke-kun in a spar?" Ino asked.
"That's right." Kakashi said with a nod.
Ino smirked. "Yeah right. Like anyone could beat Sasuke-kun." She turned to Naruto. "He was probably going easy on you so you wouldn't be sad when you lose."
"Believe what you want, pig." Naruto said angrily as he walked past her. He never liked Ino. She was always a total bitch to him and every time he tried to talk to Sakura, Ino would come and drove him off.
Flashback
Eight year old Naruto was walking through the park. He just got his fair share of ramen for the day and he decided to just take a stroll in the bright sunny day. In the distance he saw a pink haired girl sitting on a bench. He could hear some silent sobs coming from her as she looked at the ground.
"Are you okay?" He asked as he stood in front of her.
She looked up. "Did you come here to make fun of me?" She asked, trying not to sob.
"Why would I make fun of you?" He asked confused.
"Everyone make fun of me." She said weakly.
"Why do they make fun of you?"
"Because of my big, stupid forehead." She said, trying to hold in her tears.
"I don't think it's stupid." He said with a grin. "I think it's cute."
"R-really?" She asked with a glint of hope in her eyes.
"Yeah." He said as he leaned down and kissed her forehead. Sakura blushed heavily. "I think you're really cute."
"T-thank you. I-"
"What the hell are you doing?" Another voice was heard. The turned around and saw angry Ino walking toward them. "Get away from her you freak!"
"What? But I was jus-"
"I don't care! Get away from her." She said as she slapped him.
Naruto turned around and ran away from them.
End of Flashback
"What the hell was that about?" Ino asked slightly angry.
Sakura looked at her. "Really Ino? Why'd you have to be so mean?"
"How do you expect me to believe that Naruto beat Sasuke-kun in a spar?"
"Well he did beat him most of the time at the academy." Sakura said. "He is very strong."
"Well I still don't believe you. Sasuke-kun is the best." Ino said as she sat down and clung onto Sasuke.
Naruto ate his lunch in silence. He was still slightly pissed at Ino for thinking that the Uchia was stronger than him. Naruto lost against Sasuke couple of times at the first year of the academy, before he started to train with Hayate. After that he never lost. As he finished his lunch, he put some money on the table and got up.
"Where are you going, Naruto?" Kakashi asked.
"I'm gonna train a bit. Can't stay out of shape can I?"
"Okay, but meet us tomorrow morning at 8. We are going to start doing some missions." He said with a smile.
"Sure thing, Kakashi-sensei." He smiled as he shunshined with a wave.
Naruto didn't go to the training ground immediately. For a while, he was interested in lightning manipulation. He decided to go to the library and find some books on it.
He entered the library and got a glare from the librarian. Shrugging it off, he walked to the shinobi part of the library that was available to genins. Looking around, he found a book which explained the basics of lightning manipulation and had couple of basing lightning rented it and went straight to the training grounds.
When he arrived, he sat under a tree and start reading. The book was very helpful and it was easy to understand what it said. According to the book, in order to control lightning chakra, he needed to 'see' it first. He closed his eyes and began his meditation. He could see his normal chakra flowing through his system. When he was training his wind techniques, in meditation, he could see slight gusts of wind around his chakra. The book said that lightning chakra would spark around him. It also said that it will be harder for people without lightning affinity to control it.
For the rest of the day, Naruto sat there meditating and trying to get his hakra to spark. In few occasions he would see slight sparks around him, but then he'd lose focus and he had to start again. Seeing how late it was, he decided to call it a day and go home.
On his way home, he decided to stop by his favorite ramen stand. It didn't take him long to catch a scent of ramen. In few short minutes he found himself in front of Ichiraku's.
"Hey old man!" He yelled out.
"Oh hello, Naruto. How have you been?" Teuchi asked.
"I've been good. I'm training very hard and I've gotten really strong." He said with a grin.
"That's very good Naruto. So, what are you having?"
"Miso with lots of pork please."
"Coming right up."
Naruto waited for few minutes until his bowl was ready. When it arrived, he ate it in seconds. Since he wasn't very hungry today, he left after his third bowl. He left some money and went home to sleep.
The next day was pretty boring for Naruto. In the morning, they did some D ranked 'missions'. Naruto was especially pissed when they had to catch Tora, the cat owned by madam Shijimi, the wife of the fire daimyou. After couple of those 'missions', Naruto went to the training ground to work on his lightning manipulation. He still didn't make any significant progress and he was getting pretty annoyed already.
Naruto almost called it quits when he got a visitor. Naruto looked up and saw his sensei standing above him, smiling.
"Hey Naruto. What are you doing?" Kakashi ashed as he sat on the ground.
"Hey sensei. I'm training in lightning manipulation, but I still can't get more than some occasional sparks here and there."
"Would you like some help?"
"You know lightning manipulation?"
"Well, lightning is my affinity." Kakashi chuckled.
Naruto grinned. "Sure thing, Kakashi-sensei. I'd like some help."
Kakashi smiled. "Now, the trick in lightning manipulation is to send chakra through your nerves and charge it at the same time. It will take a while and lot of work if it's not your main affinity."
"Don't worry sensei. I'll get it done in no time." Naruto said with a grin.
"I'm sure you will. Now don't over train yourself. We have missions tomorrow."
"Yeah, those are certainly tiring." Naruto said.
"Well see ya tomorrow." Kakashi said with a wave.
"Bye sensei." Naruto waved back as Kakashi disappeared.
And that's it for this chapter. Thanks for reading.
Don't forget to review!
See ya later!
