Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto and am not making any monetary gain from this endeavor
Insanity's Ending
Chapter 2: Intérêt
The Third Hokage walked into his office, a reprieve, somewhat, from all the nonsense that Naruto's actions had brought up. Council members desiring execution, ANBU requesting assassination assignments, having to turn down over a hundred and twenty missions requesting the 'Kyuubi brat's immediate extermination…
It wasn't that they felt for Mizuki, it was more of a grab whatever chance you have to get rid of a pain in your side sort of thing. The recent incident had been publicized to no small extent by a talkative Kyuubi hating ANBU who had been on the scene, and many saw this as the perfect opportunity to be heroes.
After all, who would complain, if Konoha's most dreaded foe was wiped off the map?
The Third sighed, and swiveled his chair around, to face the window.
"I wonder how Naruto's doing with his new team…"
The students filed into the classroom, making copious amounts of noise as they went. They were getting posted into their teams today! Who wouldn't be excited? The girls hoped for Sasuke, and the boys hoped for someone who wasn't Sakura or Ino. One might wonder why they'd want anyone other than said females. The reason for such a statement would be that, though Sakura and Ino were two of the most attractive people in the class, they had qualities that weren't as attra-
"SHUT THE HELL UP, KIBA! SASUKE ISN"T GAY!"
-ctive… As seen in that remarkable display of… Enthusiasm.
However, all the noise ceased to exist, when a certain student walked into the room. All eyes were on the newcomer, and many seemed to be quite petrified at the sight of him. Apparently, the rumors of Naruto's bloodlust weren't restricted to the adults.
Naruto walked up the stairs and into his usual seat, all the while under the classes scrutinizing gaze. He nervously swallowed another of his trademark pills, and continued doing so every minute or so, until most of the student body's eyes were off him.
The class resumed their conversations, though some in more hushed tones, and others in whispers. Some students motioned to Naruto in the middle of their conversations, leading the hapless young man to wonder what they were talking about, and whether it concerned him.
All conversation abruptly ceased once again, once Iruka entered the room. Iruka flashed Naruto a bright smile, before moving into the center of the room, where he remained, sorting out his notes and scanning through some papers on a clipboard, before setting them down and almost gasping at the perfect silence he was observing.
Iruka had wished to relish it for far more than the moments he would be allowed before someone, likely Kiba or the Sasuke club shouted at him to begin.
Sighing, Iruka picked up a small sheet of paper and, eyeing the students, began to speak.
"I'm sure you all know what we're here to do today…First of all, I'd like to congratulate you on your promotions to genin. You are, as of today, legal members of Konoha's Ninja community. And, with that in mind, I expect you to behave as such, and not dishonor the name and reputation of our fair country."
Iruka took a deep breath, and stifled a chuckle, as he noticed a few of the students holding their breaths.
"Now, on to the distribution of genin into their allotted teams. As you should already know, ninja teams are comprised of three genin or chuunin under a single jounin instructor. The teams have been decided by the village council, depending on your standing in terms of skill, and on how certain ninja combinations have functioned before."
Iruka eyed the room, resting on Ino, who had begun to support her head with her hands, obviously understanding the connotations of the last part of the sentence. Iruka smiled, letting the tension set in, before beginning once again.
Naruto had been listening intently, and had along the way, gradually pieced some teams together from his knowledge of Konoha's history and records of past distributions. He had settled on the fact that a Yamanaka, an Akimichi and a Nara would be put together, because of the options that were viable and the successes of past similar combinations. He had pieced together a tracking team, comprised of Kiba, whose impeccable sense of smell would be ideal for such a job, Shino, whose natural symbiosis with his inconspicuous insects would grant great scouting potential, and Hinata, whose byakugan gave her a massive line of sight.
He still, however, had no idea who he was to be placed with. His thoughts were drawn again to Iruka, when he heard his name being called.
"Uzumaki Naruto will be placed with Uchiha Sasuke and Haruno Sakura. Your team will be classified under the denomination 'seven', and therefore, you are henceforth, team seven."
Sakura had cheered loudly at this point, and stuck her tongue out to Ino and a few other girls, before slowly turning to eye Naruto, who was in the process of swallowing another of his pills.
Unbeknownst to Sakura, Naruto had noticed her staring, and, looking at her eyes, understood the fear present therein. How could he not, after all, he saw that look every day, walking down the street, from people far more important and infinitely more imposing that Sakura. How could he not, when it was the only look he had gotten from anyone other than the Hokage and Iruka, and how could he not, when that look had been etched into his mind, along with the word 'Monster'.
Naruto scowled for a moment, before hastily reaching for a pill and swallowing it. He then noticed that Iruka had stopped talking.
Two adults strode into the room, one a black haired lady with striking red eyes dressed in a bandage-like costume, while the other seemed to be a middle aged man whose cigarette scent was strong enough to be detected from the back row, much to the chagrin of Naruto, who hated cigarettes with a passion. Iruka, after checking on his clipboard, called for teams eight and ten, who rose and began moving towards the front.
This process repeated itself for the next thirty or so odd minutes, before only Sasuke, Sakura and Naruto remained, along with Iruka.
There was an overwhelming silence, or so it seemed, compared to Sakura's latest enthusiastically loud profession of affection for Sasuke, which was, as with her other ones, ignored. Said overwhelming silence was broken by Iruka, who began speaking after glancing at his clipboard, then at a nearby clock.
"Kids, I'm sorry, but I can't afford to wait any longer. Your instructor is…Hatake Kakashi, and, obviously, he's late. He has…uh…White hair…I think, and has a mask on. Rather recognizable guy. Good luck, yeah?"
Iruka then smiled at the team seven, and walked out, leaving the room, once again, in total silence.
For the next hour or so, our newly formed group of intrepid warriors remained silent, with Naruto reading a book, Sasuke brooding, and Sakura playing with one of her luscious pink locks of hair. The silence was broken by a small boy dashing into the classroom, staring at the three, shouting something intelligible, and dashing out. Silence reigned once again.
About two hours later, though, team seven's attention was drawn to a white haired head peeking in.
"Are you guys…Team Seven?"
Naruto shifted uncomfortably, as Team Seven sat together on the academy's balcony. Their new sensei sat in front of them, one eye covered, and the other shaped like an upside-down rainbow. Kakashi then began to speak.
"Hello."
Team Seven remained speechless. Kakashi frowned.
"How impolite. My first impression of you guys is…you're impolite. Bad start, people."
Naruto swallowed a pill, then frowned. Kakashi then began to speak again.
"Um…let's start…with your likes, dislikes…dreams, goals?"
Naruto pondered on the question for a moment, before Sakura broke the silence.
"Um, Sensei, if you're the…Sensei, why don't you…start first?"
Kakashi looked thoughtful for a while, then nodded.
"Well…My name is Hatake Kakashi…errm…I like…uh…I dislike…hm…dislike…and…I can't…tell you my hopes and dreams…"
There was silence.
Naruto massaged his temples. They had learnt nothing but his name, which Iruka had already told them.
Kakashi looked around, noticing everyone somewhat unaffected by his introduction. He scratched his head, then pointed to Sakura.
"You, pink haired girl. Begin."
Sakura pointed to herself, receiving a nod, then started.
"My name is Haruno Sakura, and I like…" she began, before blushing and glancing at Sasuke, then continuing. "I dislike insects and lizards, and my dream…my dream…my dream is to…hehe", she ended, glancing once again at Sasuke.
Kakashi twitched noticeably, and beckoned for Sasuke to go next.
"My name is Sasuke, I don't feel like telling you what I like, and I dislike a lot of things, like my team, my current situation and how my future looks. My dream is to re-establish the Uchiha clan and to kill a certain man."
Kakashi nodded, and nodded at Naruto.
Naruto had listened to his teammates introductions with a degree of annoyance. Not only were they vague, but they revealed nothing that was already known, except, maybe Sasuke's dream. Naruto decided that if they were not going to reveal anything, neither would he. Anything important, that is.
Popping a pill, he rose, and began his introduction.
"My name is Uzumaki Naruto, and I like to read, and enjoy gardening, along with learning new techniques. I dislike killing, and death. I hope…I…I hope to meet with The Third's expectations of me and become a good Shinobi."
As Naruto sat down, he popped a pill, and looked down, avoiding his team-mate's eyes.
Kakashi began speaking again immediately.
"How enlightening. Um…since today's your first day out, there are no missions, though I must urge you to come tomorrow morning to training ground 23 for your final test."
Noticing three eyes looking at him quizzically, Kakashi nonchalantly continued his speech.
"Only nine of the thirty-six will go on to be Genin, you know."
Sakura gasped, and Sasuke looked stunned. Naruto simply nodded and displayed nothing.
Kakashi then smiled and continued.
"Call it survival training, if you will. Oh, and don't eat. It'll all just come out again. Hehe. Bye."
As Kakashi dispersed, Naruto was the first to begin moving. He picked up his backpack and was on his way.
Naruto lay in bed that night attempting to decipher the purpose of this so called survival training, to no avail. He then turned to thinking about his new team-mates.
Sakura, he had deduced, had a relatively tiny amount of chakra, as seen in her numerous failed attempts at more than five bunshin. However, with this also came phenomenal chakra control. He had once seen her walk on a wall, and was amazed at how easily she succeeded in performing such a difficult task before she was even a Genin.
Sasuke, on the other hand, had large amounts of chakra, and he knew what do with them. His scope of tactics, however, left much to be desired, as seen from his rather foolhardy approach to dealing with matters, that is, a Goukakyuu.
Naruto then picked up a bottle from the side of his bed.
Eyeing it, he stood up and opened his wardrobe, slotting it inside one of the grooves in his intended attire for the following day.
He then returned to his bed and promptly dropped off to sleep.
The next morning arrived quickly, thought Naruto as he walked to training ground 23, which was a semi-circle shaped clearing surrounded by trees. He had done his research on his new instructor before he'd arrived. Hatake Kakashi. The Copy ninja who'd copied almost a thousand jutsu with his surgically implanted Sharingan. He apparently only had one jutsu to his name, which he had created himself. A mysterious A-Ranked skill known as the 'Raikiri'.
Naruto approached the training ground, popping a pill as he saw Sakura.
Sakura turned around, gasping in surprise as she surveyed Naruto's new attire. He was wearing what looked like a miniature of the Third's battle costume, but the chest was totally covered by a scarf, and he wasn't wearing a helmet. Naruto had also donned upper-arm guards reminiscent of the samurai of old, only smaller, and evidently more compact. His forehead protector was worn on his head, and the leaf symbol was also carved onto his wrist guards, gloves and knee guards. The entire outfit was black, save for the armored areas, which were a dark grey. There was also a flowing piece of cloth covering Naruto's backside down to his feet, spreading over his legs until they were partially covered. On his belt were a large amount of senbon, a few kunai and a small pole that Sakura hadn't recognized.
Sakura looked at Naruto's form get increasingly closer, then broke off, blushing at how 'cool' he looked.
Naruto felt uncomfortable under Sakura's strange gaze, and found that her blushing didn't help either. He had had this suit specially prepared for combat operations, and he felt that this had been a good time to test it out.
Naruto eventually chose to rest by a tree, eating an apple while waiting. He nearly dropped it, however, when Sakura reminded him of Kakashi's advice. Naruto stared at her for a moment.
"You just told yourself my answer."
Sakura looked puzzled.
"It was advice. Not an order."
Naruto went on eating his apple, then pulled one out from a pocket, offering it to Sakura, who looked shocked, and began speaking in a shaky tone.
"I…I think that I'll uh…follow sensei's advice."
Naruto nodded and pocketed the apple.
Sasuke arrived not long after that, and looked at Naruto's apple with disdain.
"Good Ninja don't need to eat."
Naruto looked at him as if he had a third eye, popped a pill, then popped another one.
"Ninja who don't eat are dead ninja."
Sasuke frowned, then walked off.
It was only when the sun shone brightly in the sky that Kakashi appeared.
"Sorry I'm late, guys, I had to go brush my teeth with the tail of a five toed caterpillar for good luck. Hehe"
There was Silence.
Kakashi, undisturbed, began explaining his test.
"Alright, then, genin. This is my test for you. You're to retrieve these two bells from my belt…" Kakashi dangled two bells. "Before the time runs out."
Sakura then spoke up.
"Why are there only two bells?"
Kakashi smiled, and responded.
"Only two will pass."
Team Seven was silent. The three of them wondered if he was joking.
Kakashi smiled, and pulled out an orange book.
"You may begin."
A large puff of smoke appeared, and when it cleared, only Naruto was left behind.
Kakashi scratched his head.
"For a guy who dresses so stealthily, you sure aren't trying to be stealthy…Lesson number one in the Ninja wor…ld?"
Kakashi stopped when he realized that Naruto wasn't listening.
Naruto was in the process of walking to each tree surrounding the clearing, and sticking a kunai from his belt or from under his cloak into each until he came to the river that made the clearing a semicircle, whereupon he began placing kunai on the riverbanks. He continued this strange behavior, confusing both his team-mates and his instructor. He only stopped when he reached the first tree he had 'marked'. He then swiveled on his right foot and threw a kunai at Kakashi, who caught it with practiced ease.
Kakashi smirked, then began to speak in a bored tone.
"Lesson two of the…"
Kakashi felt a large chakra surge as Naruto appeared in front of him, swinging the Raijin in an overhead swing that would have cleaved him in two. Kakashi managed to sidestep, and swung his own kunai, to hit nothing. Suddenly, Naruto appeared again, behind him, with a sideways swing, which Kakashi only narrowly avoided. This chain of events continued for a while, Kakashi having to dodge one slash, only to have to immediately act to dodge another.
Up in the trees, however, Sasuke looked on with confusion. He could only see Kakashi moving around strangely, with yellow flashed appearing out of nowhere.
Sakura was having a harder time comprehending Kakashi's actions.
Meanwhile, Kakashi was slowly recognizing the technique. It seemed so familiar to him, yet so distant. Suddenly, he saw Naruto heading for him again in a flash of yellow…yellow flash…Yondaime. It all came back to him, as he lost his focus for a moment, and braced for the impact…which never came. He felt heat around his left waist, where he noticed his bells were gone. Cursing, he looked around, to notice Naruto sitting under a tree, panting.
Naruto then smiled, and help up the bells.
Kakashi grimaced as Sasuke jumped out of the trees and Sakura walked out of the bushes.
"Naruto…you…you…"
Kakashi was at a loss for words. No genin had been able to retrieve his bells before…
"Fail."
Naruto's eyes widened.
Sasuke smirked.
Sakura's jaw dropped.
Kakashi looked strangely guilty for a while, but then began to elaborate.
"You haven't understood the meaning…of this exercise. The one who…"
Kakashi stopped at the sound of laughter. Soft, it was, but laughter nonetheless
It was coming from Naruto, who was smiling.
A large and extremely dangerous looking smile.
Cliffhanger! Sorry.
I wanted to try it out. Suspense? Yes? Yes?
I'll try to churn the next one out by this week, soon, I'd hope.
Thank you to the reviewers who reviewed.
To those unhappy with the Kakashi fight, the reason for Kakashi's 'loss', is that he didn't expect the Hiraishin, and even though he could have countered, was stunned at the end when he remembered who the last one to use the technique was.
Please give me tips, and help me improve.
By the way, after the next chapter, I'm afraid the updates will slow down. I have school to attend, and I have co-curricular and tuition.
By the way, I hope I didn't make Sakura too evil, Kakashi too unfair or anything?
Still haven't decided on a romance. Please keep sending in suggestions.
Won't be Hinata. Not going to make her interested in Naruto in this one.
Additional notes, if you're wondering why Naruto is so powerful in non-nutzo form, the answer is…he isn't. He's smarter, yes, and more patient, with a better grasp of tactics, but PsychoNaru is a jutsu powerhouse, while, notice Narunormal hasn't performed anything of significance other than Hiraishin?
Additionally, if the description for the clothes confused you, think Darth vader for the lower part(cloth) and traditional ninja sans mask for everything else. And mini samurai pauldrons for the upper arm guards
Have a nice day.