Waking the Demon
Disclaimer: Sadly, I don't own Naruto or any Naruto characters. The only people, so far, in this story that I own are Akki, Aiku, Katsuo, and Okuri.
New: Haruko, Gen, Ayame, Cana and all other summoned wolves are also owned by me.
**Disclaimer #2: I do not own the song in this chapter or any other chapter. The song is 'Waking the Demon' by Bullet for My Valentine.
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Chapter 3
There's not much longer, so don't try and fight
Your body's weakening, walk to the light
Most painful times, so alone, so ashamed
Well I'm not coming back, there's nothing to gain...
-Story start-
Sasuke and I sat in silence for a few moments, my legs swinging back and forth absently as they hung off of the dock. I swallowed once again, unsure. He was a complete stranger—why should I tell him?—I just met him today, after all. No matter, I felt connected to him; like I could rely on him. And so I began my story, still uncomfortable and unsure.
"I lived in a small country, in an even smaller village and clan, but that doesn't matter anymore. I'd rather forget about that. It was only a few hours walk from here. But that's not the point." I went on, keeping my pale blue eyes on the lake. "Anyways, my parents were among the most important and powerful people in my clan—I was happy about that, but it came with costs. My brother and I, along with every other kid with 'important' parents, had to start training at an early age, in order to protect ourselves if we were to ever be kidnapped. As soon as we can walk, talk…" I trailed off, still avoiding his eyes. "We started out with easy training, like laps around the village and endurance training, and then moved onto aim and basic hand-to-hand combat skills. It kept getting harder and more complicated from there, as expected. It was a lot like what people here do, only at a younger age." I explained a bit, just so he could understand my past a bit better.
"I almost always had to train by myself—Aiku was always on missions, along with my parents. No kids from my clan, my village even, could stand to be around me." I admitted, feeling childish. "There were too many rumors surrounding my brother and me, and kids stayed away from us, more specifically me. Rumors usually stated something about me and Aiku being from another clan, another village even. They said that both of us were kidnapped when we were younger, but how could that be true? Aiku would remember if we were kidnapped." I continued. "Either that, or their parents told their kids about… about Okuri." I blushed slightly as I realized I was rambling on and on. But if he wanted to understand me, he had to know, right? "No one paid attention to me there, except Aiku, which was rare because he was always away on missions. Not even my parents paid mind to me." I paused to sigh, remembering those lonely, tear-filled days that I spent all my time training, until it was time to eat, then I would train again, until I collapsed on the ground outside. My brother, Aiku would always find me sleeping outside when he came home and took it upon himself to take me inside each night. I remembered it clearly—people had just begun to trust me when it happened; when he happened.
"But that doesn't matter now, I've moved on. Anyhow, my parents were among the most respected people in my clan, only two other people were more respected: Haruko and his wife Gen. Their son, Katsuo, was my best friend since I was little, one of the only two friends I ever had. Katsuo was the most skilled kid of our age group, better than me or anyone else my age. He would win every sparring match he was in and that led him to be respected by all. He was the pride and joy of the Akita clan.
"But then he betrayed us." I stated, bracing my voice and face with a cold exterior, as I glanced towards Sasuke. From my point of view, it looked like he was in a trance-like-state. To others, it may have looked like he was just listening to me ramble on about my past. Little did I know, he was thinking about his past and remembering the night when his clan was massacred and destroyed. "He killed everyone—his family, friends, and he would have killed me and my brother if he got the chance." I shuddered at the thought that, without Okuri, my life would very well have been over, and so would Aiku's.
There was a chance that, together, Aiku and I could have defeated him, but that was a very small chance, if I do say so myself. I wasn't emotionally strong enough, and I doubt Aiku was either, even if he had been in the ANBU black ops—he wasn't completely emotionless, after all, even if that had been what he was taught. Closing my eyes, I allowed myself to remember what had happened; Okuri taking over my body before I could even think, and running straight at Katsuo. I knew she purposely misaimed her blows—or rather, my blows, only with her chakra coating me in an unbreakable defense. I could still tell what was going on; I could see it with my own eyes, only my mind was clouded with Okuri's rage. "That's really all there is to it. Aiku and I came here after that." I finished, careful to still avoid his gaze. "Really, my clan was attacked and destroyed by my best friend, who, previously, I trusted with my life. He would have killed me and Aiku if Okuri hadn't stepped in." I summoned it all up. "But anyways, I will kill him, even if it does cost me my life." I vowed.
Sasuke seemed to be debating on something as I sat silently, quiet determination burning in my eyes. I didn't want to push him into telling me anything, which was really unusual for me. I guess I didn't want to mess up my first friendships in my new life. Finally he spoke, "I see, and I'm sorry. I have a similar story… one that you might learn later. I'll just say I'm an avenger, like you." After that, the subject changed completely.
"What's your favorite jutsu?' asked the raven-haired boy, looking into the lake. I didn't answer immediately, thinking. What was my favorite jutsu? I didn't have one.
"My favorite jutsu… I have more than one. Well, I only use a few jutsu really: Shadow Clone Jutsu, Multi-Shadow Clone Jutsu, and two new ones I was learning, Rasengan and The Summoning Technique." I listed. "Those are my usual jutsu, but I do know more, I just rarely use them." I concluded, a thoughtful look gracing my face. "And you?"
"Not too many," He admitted. "I like Fire Techniques, like Fire Ball Jutsu." He offered, before changing the topic once again. "Iruka-sensei said something about meeting our sensei around," He paused, looking towards the sun. "In about 30 minutes. Let's go." Sasuke decided, standing up and looking back at me, before looking in the direction of the academy. I blinked in confusion before hurriedly standing up and running after him.
~~~~~Room 303; 4:37 P.M~~~~~
"He's late," Naruto declared, standing by the double doors of the room. I fought back a sarcastic remark; no really; I didn't know he was late, I thought to myself. Naruto Uzumaki—he really was different from all of the other jinchuuriki.
"Naruto," Sakura exclaimed, exasperated. "Just sit down!"
"I don't want to; how come our teacher's the only one that's late? I'm ready to roll, believe it!" Naruto yelled decidedly. He really was loud, wasn't he? Like you used to be? My demon taunted, it sounded like she knew something I didn't, but what? "The other groups already met their new teachers and took off on some adventure or something, and Iruka-sensei is gone, too!"
"We know, okay?" Sakura chimed her head down; it was obvious she was annoyed with the blonde-haired jinchuuriki. Sasuke sat in one of the desks, his eyes closed head down, and hands folded under his chin. "Hey, what are you doing?" The pink-haired girl suddenly shrieked, and my head snapped up to look at what was happening, as did Sasuke's.
Naruto was standing on a chair and trying to lodge into the door, so when it opened, the eraser would fall straight onto the unsuspecting person's head, or at least, that's what it looked like he was doing. "Naruto," screamed Sakura. So, Naruto wasn't the only loud one in the group. Oh, this is great. I'm already getting a headache because of the two.
"That's what he gets for coming late." Naruto explained triumphantly. I smiled slightly, okay, Naruto wasn't all that bad, and at least he wasn't complaining like Sakura. "Surprise!" He added, for extra effect.
"You're asking for trouble. You know you shouldn't do that," Sakura grumbled, hands on her hips, glaring directly at Naruto.
"Hmm, our teacher's a jounin, an elite ninja; you think he'd fall for that?" Sasuke spoke for the first time. I was torn, I wanted to agree with my friend, but at the same time I wanted our sensei to fall for the prank, just to see the look on his face.
"Yeah, Sasuke's right, you're so clueless, Naruto." Sakura exclaimed, quick to side with her 'one true love,' as she would put it.
Suddenly, the door opened, the eraser plunking on a head with messy, unkept silver hair. Naruto burst out laughing and pointed at the jounin as the rest of us stared in shock. "I got him, he totally fell for it!" The blonde-haired idiot choked between laughs. I, myself, fought back a laugh, at the priceless look on the man's face; well, what you could see of his face anyways. A mask covered his nose and mouth and his forehead protector covered his right eye.
"I'm sorry, Sensei!" Sakura apologized profusely, her hands folded by her face, looking almost scared with her face flushed in embarrassment. "I told him not to do it, but he wouldn't listen, I'd never do anything like that!" Sakura rambled.
"You actually fell for that cheap trick? Is this guy really a jounin?" Sasuke mumbled, though I was the only one who heard. I chuckled slightly.
"I guess he is, if he's our sensei." I spoke up, mumbling so only he could hear.
The jounin picked up the eraser, gazing at it with bored eyes. "Hmm, how can I put this?" The jounin started. "My first impression of this group," He went on, his hand now under his chin, observing us. "You're a bunch of idiots." My mouth almost dropped and I glared at him. Looking around, I noticed everyone looked crestfallen.
The four of us were now on a roof of one of the many buildings in Konoha. "Alright, why don't you introduce yourselves, one at a time?" Our sensei, Kakashi, stated his voice monotone.
"Introduce ourselves?" Sakura and I echoed at the same time, unsure. What did he mean by that? "Well, what are we supposed to say?" Sakura continued, glancing in my direction.
"Things you like; things you hate; dreams for the future; hobbies; and things like that." Kakashi-sensei ticked off.
"Why don't you tell us first, I mean, before we talk, tell us about you, so we can see how it's supposed to work." Naruto suggested a mixed look on his face.
"Me?" Kakashi-sensei echoed, pointing at himself, before continuing. "I'm Kakashi Hatake. Things I like and things I hate, mm, I don't feel like telling you that." He paused, giving time for Naruto and Sakura to gasp and gape at him. "My dreams for the future, never really thought about it." He's not telling us anything! I realized. "As for my hobbies, I have lots of hobbies." Our new sensei finished.
"That was totally useless; all he really told us was his name." Sakura complained.
"Which we already knew." I chimed in. Naruto nodded, giving an 'uh-huh.'
"Okay," Kakashi continued, interrupting our rambling. "Your turn; you on the right, you start first." He stated, looking towards Naruto.
"Believe it, I'm Naruto Uzumaki." He started, fiddling with his Forehead Protector. "I like instant ramen in a cup, and I really like the ramen Iruka-sensei got me at the Ichiraku Noodle shop." Naruto explained. "But I hate the 3-minutes you have to wait after you pour the water in the ramen cup. My hobby is eating different kinds of ramen, comparing them." Is ramen all this boy thinks about? I mentally asked myself. "My future dream is to be the greatest Hokage; then the whole village will have to stop disrespecting me and start treating me like I'm somebody; somebody important!" Naruto exclaimed, standing up, still fiddling with his Forehead Protector. Kakashi-sensei and I raised an eyebrow at the last part. Okay, that definitely wasn't expected. I thought his dream would be something like making the world's best ramen or something.
"Alright, next." Kakashi-sensei called out. Sakura was next, after her was me, then Sasuke. I tuned out her little speech and concentrated on the sky, thinking.
"Next!" I heard, breaking me out of my trance. That was fast. "My name is Akki Akita. My likes are… nothing you need to know of. I hate… my ex-best friend. My hobby," I paused to think. What was my hobby? "My hobby is training to get stronger so I can defeat one person." I finally forced out. "My future dream is to simply defeat him and to become the best ninja I can." I finished. That didn't give off too much information, did it? Nothing I said there could be used against me, right?
"Last." Our sensei demanded, his gaze shifting towards Sasuke.
"My name is Sasuke Uchiha." Sasuke deadpanned. "I hate a lot of things. And I don't particularly like a lot of things." Sakura looked so sad. Poor her-she needs to get over it. "What I have is not a dream, because I will make it a reality. I'm going to restore my clan and destroy a certain someone." He definitely sounded evil right now. I'm glad I'm not that 'certain someone'. I shuddered slightly, though it wasn't enough for anyone to notice it. It was silent after that, everyone staring at him; even Kakashi-sensei.
"Good. You're each unique and have your own ideas. We'll have our first mission tomorrow."
Naruto grinned. "What kind of mission are we going to have?"
"It's a task that the five of us will do together." Was all Kakashi would give away.
"What? What, what, what, what, what?" Naruto wailed desperately.
"A survival exercise." I tuned out after that, at least until he said, "Out of the 27 graduates that just came here, only ten will be accepted as genin. The other teams will be weeded out and sent back to the academy. In other words, this is a make it, or break it, pass-fail test. The chance that you'll fail is probably at 66 percent." At the dumb looks plastered on our faces, Kakashi-sensei chuckled and continued. "See? Didn't I tell you that you wouldn't like it?" Once again, I tuned out. How would I make it? Well, considering I started training at an early age, I probably had at least a slight increase of chance, right? "Be at the designated training spot at 5:00 AM and bring your ninja gear." The four of us were fuming, but I didn't say anything. "That's it. You're dismissed. Oh, and tomorrow you better skip breakfast, or else, you'll puke." With that, he leaped off of the building, away from us, leaving four stunned, unsure students.
"I'll be going now…" I stated harshly.
Sasuke said nothing, but followed me. Sakura, distressed, wailed out 'Wait, Sasuke. I'm coming with you!' Naruto departed soon after as well…
It was 5:00 in the morning; I was cold, hungry, tired and grumpy. Yawning, I looked up, seeing Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura all trudging toward me. Both Sakura and Naruto looked as tired as me, but Sasuke looked fine, as if he always got up at this time. I wouldn't be surprised. They stood in a triangle around me, barely moving as the sun rose. They all had a lot more patience than me. I kept shifting, standing up and pacing, sitting back down, and doing it all over again. Dang, why did we get the sensei that is always late? Finally Naruto crouched down beside me, yawning and drifting in and out of sleep, or that's what it looked like at least. It was at least noon before Sakura collapsed, half-asleep.
And still, it wasn't until a few hours later, Kakashi-sensei showed up. I was ready to attack him, my temper wearing thin since he made us wait so long. Let's hope I don't snap on our first 'mission'. "Morning everyone," Kakashi-sensei said, bored, as he gazed at the three sitting figures and one standing form. "Ready for your first day?"
Instantly, Naruto and Sakura were on their feet, pointing at our sensei, while I remained sitting on the ground, mouth agape, fuming inside and attempting to hold my temper by the thin thread I had it on. "Hey, you're late!" The young ninja and kunoichi wailed, glaring at the silver haired man.
"Well, a black cat crossed my path so I had to take the long way," Sensei said calmly, using hand motions as emphasis. Right, of course, that's definitely true. I thought sarcastically. "Well," The jounin cleared his throat. "Let's get started." Jumping to my feet, I was quick to follow him. Sitting there for so long wasn't exactly exciting, hopefully this 'mission' would be. The jounin plopped some sort of clock on a tree stump. "Here we go. It's set for noon," All four of us stared at him, confused, as he pulled out two bells. Two, but why—when there were four of us, how could we all get one? At least two of us would fail. Unless we worked together, as a team, all of us would fail. But I know for sure, Naruto won't work with Sasuke without making a fuss, and I know Sakura would be more than happy to if she got to work alone with Sasuke… a sigh escaped my lips. This wasn't going to work if we didn't work together. I guess I tuned him out while I was thinking, for as soon as I looked toward him again, Naruto was charging, a kunai swinging in his grasp. Somehow, Sensei ended up behind the blonde-haired jinchuuriki, holding the hand with the kunai behind his neck, the kunai pointed towards the idiot.
"Don't be so hasty," Kakashi-sensei advised. Or you'll be killed. That had been drummed and pounded into my head so many times in the past few years."I didn't even say start yet." Kakashi released his hold on the genin, who immediately stepped away from his teacher and rubbed his arm. "But, you came at me with the full intention of destroying me. So—how can I say this?—I'm actually starting to like you guys. Get ready, and… start!" A small smile appeared on my face, but before I could even open my mouth to say anything about teamwork, the other three had took off, leaving me standing there in the open, my mouth hanging open, my eyes suddenly becoming annoyed. Thanks a lot, guys. My mind growled sarcastically. Quickly, I decided I would try to help the others, even if they didn't catch on. I had watched the direction the others had gone in, and using some of Okuri's chakra, or rather, special abilities; I used scent to discover their hiding spot. Sasuke was concealed somewhere in some bushes, Sakura as well, and Naruto was… in front of me? When did that happen? Taking this chance to escape and forget about my plan, I seemingly disappeared.
What do I use? What do I use? My mind was frantic. I had to pass. Aiku had some high expectations of me, and I was required to meet them if I wanted to defeat Katsuo. Kunai? No, too simple. He would dodge those, even if he were fighting with Sasuke or Naruto, or even Sakura. My jutsu… Shadow Clone! Perfect! I doubted the plan would work, but it was worth a try, right? Making the hand signs, I muttered, too low for anyone but myself to hear, "Shadow Clone Jutsu!" Two perfect clones of me appeared, and being the childish person I am, I waved to them before sending them to find Sasuke and Sakura, making sure they knew not to be seen by the silver haired ninja.
"You and me, right now, fair and square!" Naruto cried, distracting the jounin slightly. This was working out find for me. I stayed, crouched up in the tallest tree I could hide in at the moment, for about 5 minutes before one clone poofed back to my side silently. It was the clone I sent to Sakura. She, however, disagreed with teaming up with me, before I had gotten an 'okay' from Sasuke. Stupid girl, it's not like I'd go through even more trouble just so she could team up with Sasuke. She disagreed and that was that. If Sasuke said yes, I wasn't going to send another clone to find her again. Only a few minutes, 3 minutes tops, the second one appeared at my side. With an inaudible groan, I leaned my head against the tree, concentrating on what was happening around me, not anyone else. Silently, noticing that Kakashi had pulled out a book, at which I almost burst out laughing, I leaped from my tree, and using the Body Flicker Technique, which I had recently learned before my clan was destroyed, I landed beside a charging Naruto.
"I'll help," I mumbled. Naruto, being the stubborn baka he is, objected my offer. Slightly crestfallen that I had exposed myself for no reason at all, I looked around. I stared as Naruto received the 'Thousand Years of Death', holding back a laugh, before once again, using the Body Flicker Technique and appearing somewhere in the cover of the trees. Looking around once more, I noticed everyone was tired and hungry… except for me; wonderful. I had a better chance without as much competition. Thanks to Okuri's chakra, I had more stamina and endurance. Not to mention, I also took a little nap while the rest were waiting for Kakashi-sensei.
What now? I could use the summoning jutsu… no, there aren't too many wolves in these areas… it wouldn't be normal for one to suddenly appear. Kakashi would instantly know to keep clear of it. What about a pack of wolves? They might have a chance to take him down, but it wasn't likely. Anyways, it was still almost impossible for me to summon a pack of wolves. My chakra control wasn't the best. When I tried to summon a pack, I usually ended up with Ayame, the chief wolf. This is hopeless… With a silent sigh, I sat back in the tree. What could I do? My main jutsu, Multi-Shadow Clone probably won't work, but anything was worth it now. It was nearly noon, and not one of had gotten a bell.
Once again forming the correct hand signs, several hundreds of me appeared, with Okuri's chakra. A sly smile appeared on my face at the look on Kakashi's face. So apparently Lord Hokage had not told my teacher that I had a demon inside of me. I was somewhere in the middle of the group while I forced one of the clones to stand off at the side, lurking, as if looking for a spot to strike and grab the bell. This was working too well. In my mind, I ordered the clones to charge. But it was at that moment I noticed a few—seven, maybe—Naruto clones mingling in with my clones. I blinked, but decided not to do anything about it. Naruto was yelling about something, being overconfident, maybe? My clones all stopped as the seven Naruto clones attacked… one captured him from behind, and, oh this was confusing. I watched, amazed. Was the flunky actually going to get one of the bells?
No, it was so close! Sensei used a replacement jutsu to make it seem like Naruto had captured him, when in reality, Naruto had captured Naruto. Where'd he go, then? All 299 of my clones set out to hunt him down, me following along as well.
Suddenly, Naruto yelled, "A bell?" I turned, gaping. Since when did he get so luck—or not. From my position, I saw the rope, but from Naruto's view, he wouldn't be able to see it. NO! Immediately, I sent one of my many clones in his direction, but, alas, it was too late. Naruto, assuming I was trying to steal 'his' bell, stepped forward hurriedly, as my clone yelled, "NO! It's a trap!" But Naruto was already hanging upside down from the tree and my clone froze in place.
"Oh well." Grabbing a shuriken, I threw it at the rope, followed by several other shuriken of my clones. Why? I don't know, I didn't command them to do it. Naruto fell from the tree, only his feet were still tied, and, I guessed that he was dizzy. Kakashi, uncaring that his capture was now writhing on the ground, continued his little speech on how ninja need to know what is a trap and what is not. Suddenly, though, shuriken flew towards him. I didn't have time to call out, nor did I have time to deflect the six lone shuriken with my own. Only, I was glad I didn't give out my position among my clones as 'Kakashi' was now a log. I stared dumbly, like everyone else.
Suddenly, the sound of footsteps hit my ears, along with leaves moving and blowing around. Sasuke and-or-Sakura was on the move once again. Kakashi was somewhere, hiding, probably watching Sasuke and/or Sakura's position. Naruto was still tied up and—wait, did Sakura just scream? Yes, I do believe that was her—Kakashi-sensei must have caught her. I, well, Okuri could sense the chakra in the air, around the area Kakashi and Sakura were in. He must have put up either a barrier, the less likely of the choices, or put her under some type of gen-jutsu.
I watched from the bushes, my clones' numbers down to a mere 3 copies of me, as Kakashi and Sasuke faced each other. I gasped, giving out my position rather stupidly, as Sasuke almost managed to grab a bell. I blinked, as I heard, "Sasuke, no! You've got to survive, please!" Pathetic—she still didn't know it was just a gen-jutsu? Sasuke's fine, right in front of me… and a Kakashi clone is right behind me. A growl of annoyance escaped my throat as I turned to face the clone. When did he even make the Shadow Clone hand signs? "I'd rather like to face the real Kakashi, thank you." I growled venomously. I wasn't as stupid or clueless as Naruto and Sakura, but was I as skilled as Sasuke? Probably not, but I'd rather not be grouped with them, right now. Later, sure; now, not quite.
I was thankful my clones had not been right beside me, but rather hidden in the trees and bushes around this space, as I realized I couldn't do hand signs with him staring at me with those bored eyes of his. Mentally, I told the three clones to use the Body Flicker Technique and get Kakashi-clone from behind. They did, quite easily, seeing as we now surrounded him. He poofed away, and I slumped back down. Now he knew what my best ability was. Well, I could always try out my summoning jutsu, even if it did need some more work.
Impatiently, I waited for him to appear before me. I knew the real Kakashi-sensei had used some earth jutsu to trap Sasuke in the ground, so he could appear at any moment now, right? No, apparently not. I heard a yell—Naruto's yell to be exact—and I knew exactly what happened. He tried to steal some of the lunch; that much I knew, and Kakashi-sensei found him. I decided I would try to get Sasuke out, and summoned a small pack of three wolves. Hey, at least I was getting better. I used to either summon Ayame or Cana, one of the youngest, most inexperienced summoning wolves. But, anyhow, at least Cana was reliable. The group of three was Cana, the youngest of the group this time; Convel, her older brother who I had summoned a few times; and Kurt, the oldest of the three, and also a brother to Cana and Convel. I had summoned all of these wolves at least twice.
"Hi." I waved, and Kurt, bowing his head to me (he, like the other wolves, saw me and other wolf summonses' as their beta, higher than them, yet not as strong as Ayame, although I was considered more powerful than Ayame, probably because of Okuri.) "Can you dig him out?" I pointed in the direction of Sasuke. "If he refuses, ignore him. I might need his help later on, in defeating…" I paused, suddenly noticing Kakashi leaning against a tree. "…that guy." I finished, pointing. "He's my teacher." I added on, just so they wouldn't think he was a threat and attack him instead of digging poor Sasuke out. They were so much like… I abruptly cut my own thoughts off.
The three wolves, happy to be helping their 'alpha,' bowed, Cana barking out, "Will do," just as Convel nodded. "We won't disappoint, alpha." The three of them then took off, leaping through the undergrowth easily.
"Did you need something?" I said, almost teasingly. It would be nice if I could hold him off until Sasuke was dug up, but even I know with only a pack of three, it will take a while, and I don't have the patience to keep him occupied for that long. I'd rather not share the same fate as Sasuke did.
"It's almost noon." Kakashi-sensei clucked. Dang, I just noticed that. What to do? Try out Rasengan? It's not nearly close enough to be able to cause too much damage, because I can't maintain the shape and chakra too long, and because he is so quick, I probably won't be able to catch him. It's worth a try, though. Holding out my hand, one arm supporting the other, I concentrated on forming a ball of chakra, imagining getting one of the bells. It wasn't long until my eyes snapped open to reveal a near-gaping Kakashi and a large ball of chakra rolling in my palm. "It's amazing, isn't it? My brother taught me this, along with the summoning jutsu and other things, even though he can't remember how or when he learned it." I stated, grinning cheekily. I was just buying some time; though I didn't care if he knew or not. It wouldn't hurt.
Kakashi nodded, I knew he already knew what I was trying to do—procrastinating—but he almost seemed interested. "And who's your brother?" I gave him a 'duh' look. Hadn't everyone in the village heard about the two kids who came into the village covered in blood? "Aiku; his name is Aiku." I stated proudly. "Anyways, it's almost 12:00," I said informational, looking at the sky; at the sun more specifically. "And I'd really rather not go back to the academy, right? So, it would be nice if you handed over a bell… or I could just take it from you." I stated slowly, blinking. Before he could answer—and I knew his answer would be a definite 'NO!'—I lunged towards him. I know, I didn't have time to put up any traps, like Sasuke, but hopefully my nin-jutsu and tai-jutsu are good enough. Too fast for him to notice, I did several hand signs, whispering under my breath. At least 199 clones appeared, making there be 200 total me's.
With an annoyed look in his eyes, he fended off attacks, while at the same time, doing some sort of harm to them to make them disappear in a pool of smoke. Several times, images of my clones grazing the bells flashed into mind as they disappeared. Yes, I knew that if I concentrated, I could learn what my clones learned about my opponent; also that this technique used to be used for spying missions. Each time a clone got close, excitement welled inside of me, only to vanish until the next clone got close, and the same process would happen, over and over again.
Finally, I got annoyed and dove into the mass of struggling clones, adding more and more, each time one got destroyed. Once Kakashi-sensei realized he was only adding more clones to his attackers, he seemed just the slightest bit hesitant. He knew he needed to find the real me, but that was impossible unless—what?
My mouth gaped open, standing nearly right in front of him, as I gazed at the red Sharingan eye. But that's only possible if you're from the Uchiha Clan… it was a bloodline limit. That confused me to no end, but no matter, I had to do what I had to do. I leapt toward Kakashi-sensei, dispersing the few clones that were in my way. "That was interesting, wasn't it?" Maybe I shouldn't have used so much chakra… I was nearly out, and I didn't want to use Okuri's chakra just to defeat my own teacher. I puffed slightly, doing my best to stay still to regain chakra faster.
Kakashi stared at me, seeing the evil chakra of a demon within my body, using his sharingan. Taking advantage of his state, I aimed a hand toward the bell, nearly grabbing it, my eyes already shining with victory… until my arms were caught and twisted behind my back, and the position they were in, I must say, was quite painful. The Kakashi in front of me disappeared in a puff of smoke and my mouth fell open. Glancing behind me, I saw the triumphant look on Kakashi's face, and, huffing, I relaxed, closing my eyes. If I moved even the slightest bit, pain shot through my arms and rushed throughout my body, causing me to wince and receive more pain than necessary. "I get it, I get it. You win, I lose! Now let me go!" I demanded, pulling out of his reach once he felt I had been captured long enough. "That hurt." I pouted, rubbing my sore arms and shoulders.
Suddenly a grey-brown blur appeared behind Kakashi, silent and swift, making not one noise, grabbing a bell gently but with force and yanking away from the man. I realized the blur was the one and only hyper-active wolf, Cana, the pup who I'd come to love so much. The young wolf, dashed away from the shocked ninja and to my side, all while I was grinning and victory. "I didn't tell her to do that, I swear." I grinned, looking at the bell, shocked, before patting the young wolf warrior on the head. "Go back to your brothers and help, now. I'll take care of myself. But if I do need help, I'll call, right, Cana." With that, still out of breath, I took off running, guessing Kakashi would try and get it back. Why I didn't use Body Flicker Technique? I really was nearly completely out of chakra. Okuri's chakra was an option, but an option I didn't want to take, in case I lost control. I hadn't had enough time training with her, yet.
I looked at the clock as soon as I got close enough; 11:58 AM. Good, I only had to last 2 minutes, and I'd pass… maybe. Let's hope so, even if I do end up passing out from using up all of my chakra. I sauntered around in the cover of the tree, every now and then seeing Kakashi-sensei, before turning and pacing in the other direction. Every time, there was an expression of shock and amazement. No one was on my side, and I know if Sasuke got out already, he'll probably come after me, since I'm weaker than Kakashi. "Cana," I whistled. I didn't feel like being alone and not noticing Sasuke or Kakashi sneaking up on me, before it was too late and my prize was gone. The grey-brown dashed through the forest, skipping over twigs or bushes, before she was at my side, fur bristling. "Don't get near her, or I'll shred you to pieces!" The she-pup howled to the world. "It's her prize; you're not taking it from her!" I laughed, resting a hand on her head.
"You do know you just gave our position away, right, pup?" The wolf puppy lowered her head and gave a high, disappointed whine. "It's okay, though. I wasn't planning on staying here anyways. We've got to keep moving. Did you already dig Sasuke out?"
"My brothers should be done in a matter of minutes. And I saw your mentor on the way here, he looked exhausted. I couldn't see, what did you do to the poor guy?" Cana and I had always gotten along the best, even more so than Ayame and I.
"Oh, I just used my famous Multi-Shadow Clone Attack. But I think I exhausted myself too much, and I don't want to use Okuri's chakra in case I get too protective of the bell and accidently hurt someone." I admitted.
The puppy didn't respond, only lifted her nose to the air and sniffed. The two of us walked back towards the stump, only to be ambushed by Sasuke. Traitor. But I didn't blame him. Cana snarled, hurling herself at the boy, while I ran for cover. He didn't have the nose of a dog or wolf… or even Inuzuka, and I don't think he got the Sharingan yet, so really, he had no manner of searching for me in such little time. I leapt high into the trees, watching and peering between the leaves to make sure Cana was safe. No doubt I'd risk losing my prize in order to save a comrade.
And that's exactly what I did when I saw Sasuke, growing annoyed; began to use the Tiger Hand Sign… that's fire jutsu… right? Cana was only still a pup, and hadn't mastered her chakra completely. "No!" I wailed, jumping from the tree, stuffing the bell in my jacket pocket. I threw a kunai to distract him and hopefully get to the limp wolf in time. "You won't hurt Cana! You won't hurt my comrade!" I managed to get to the scene, seeing as I wasn't too far away in the first place, and stood between Cana and Sasuke, my lips pulled back in an angry snarl-like look. It was just one of the habits I had inherited because of Okuri.
Convel and Kurt came sprinting to the scene, lips peeled back in a snarl, their eyes wild and angry for hurting a pack mate. "Kurt, can you get Cana somewhere safe, and then protect her?" I ordered and the young male wolf obeyed, picking the smaller grey-brown pup up by the scruff and taking off into the forest. "Thanks for coming, Convel." The black wolf nodded; he wasn't one to talk a lot.
"Turning against your own comrade, Sasuke?" I snarled. "You know, we could have gotten both of the bells if we had worked together, like I suggested earlier." However, I didn't notice Kakashi was peering from a tree-top, careful to listen to what was happening.
-Kakashi's POV-
I was beginning to take an interest to the girl, Akki. She thought that if she had the bell, she was sure to pass, right? Yet, here she was now, saving a comrade, and just asking her prize to be taken away. Even I knew she wouldn't last against Sasuke, without her chakra back to the full amount.
Speaking of chakra, what was the red chakra I saw? Were the rumors true—the rumors about the ten-tailed—was Okuri, the ten-tailed wolf, really sealed inside the body of this young girl? If so, he would have two jinchuuriki in his team… if they passed that was. Although it could might explain her behavior if it was true; if it was true that Okuri had been sealed inside of her.
I watched from the tree-tops, peering down anxiously. She was in a lose-lose situation, it seemed. She could run, but then he would follow her, probably outrunning her, and she would most likely lose the bell. Or she could fight, and also most likely lose the bell. She was low on chakra, and I didn't need her passing out.
Akki confused me… why was she saving her competition from certain doom? Naruto; she already cut him down from the tree once. Sasuke; she summoned her wolves to dig him out. And now one of the wolves—Cana, did she say?—when it was almost impossible for her to beat the Uchiha heir with her full chakra, unless, of course the rumors were true and she used the Demon Wolf's chakra. Cana wasn't competition, she was a team-mate, and she's risking her life—yes, if she used too much chakra, she could easily die—and risking having to return to the academy.
Peering closer, I noticed the wolf-like snarl on her face, and a slight red tinge to her eyes. Okay, now that I knew my thoughts were correct, I needed to break this up before Sasuke got hurt. As of now, he didn't have a chance-what-so-ever against the Demon, even if she only did have one tail, which I could see the red chakra surrounding her now, even without the Sharingan, and I could tell it was taking the shape of a wolf , even as much as Akki resisted.
Listing off the reasons of why I guessed she did hold inside her the great Okuri, I leaped from the tree, debating on using the Body Flicker Technique to get there faster.
She has the loyalty of Okuri. The only reason that the Demon Wolf attacked was because we hunted down her pack-mates, slaughtering them all. The wolf was actually quite sweet and helping, until someone hurt her friends.
The cloak of chakra. It's taking on a form of Okuri.
Her glare was tinted with red, the color of the wolf's eyes before she died, when she found out what had happened to her family, friends, comrades.
The impatience of Akki. She seemed to be more impatient that Naruto, which was surprising. Okuri always had been impatient, willing to train and get stronger, or that's what I had always been told.
Her past; from what I've learned from the Hokage, which wasn't a lot, nothing about the wolf, but she had a rough childhood, much like Naruto.
The reasons dispersed in my mind as I pushed my way in between Akki and Sasuke. "That's enough."
-Back to Normal POV—
I glared menacingly at Sasuke, scolding myself for trusting the traitor with my past, as I fought to control the Wolf Demon's raging spirit. I felt the cloak of Okuri's chakra begin to surround me, and struggled to hold off her fury. Who knew, if she somehow took over, would she kill Sasuke? I wouldn't doubt it; her past—it made her hate all traitors, weather they betrayed me or someone else. It was all because of her past, it was the reason of her 'trust issues; it was the reason for her being sealed inside of me; it was because of her past that my life had been horrible, being teased about being a jinchuuriki; it was even because of her past that I had trust issues.
Kakashi-sensei stepped between us, which only fueled Okuri's rage. She felt like she should have the chance to get revenge. Sasuke didn't even do anything too bad, right? He just wants to pass, and in order to do that, he has to get a bell. And in order to get a bell, he has to either defeat me or Kakashi-sensei. Of course, being the smart person he is, he chose to go after me, since I was low on chakra and considerably weaker and less skilled than Kakashi.
No matter, even I, her jinchuuriki, could not calm the crazy demon spirit down. It was weird, unless my life was on the line—and in no way was it right now—she'd calm down after some pleading. I barely heard Kakashi say "That's enough." Convel stepped back, head bowed, and I tried to do the same, only Okuri kept me in my place. Finally, after what seemed like hours of struggling, the cloak or blood red chakra faded down, and, gladly, my eyes became the normal blue.
"I'm sorry." I spat out, though, inside, I wasn't sorry at all. I knew Kakashi-sensei's favorite student was Sasuke, and I'd rather not have my sensei hate me because I made his favorite student mad. "Right," I went on. "I still have the bell, but… I have to go check on something real quick," I shot a glare at Sasuke before sprinting into the forest in search of Cana and Kurt.
"This way," Convel suddenly said and I nearly jerked to a spot. I totally forgot he was still there, but nonetheless, I let him lead me to his sister. Once there, I doubted I'd be able to find my way out of the cave by myself. There were several different tunnels, in every direction. Probably half of them had some sort of trap set up or would just lead me back to where I started getting lost. Gladly, I had wolves on my side and wolves had heightened sense of smell. I peered silently into darkness, thankfully seeing the still form of the young wolf, Cana. She was still, yes, but I could see the faint rise and fall of her side.
Without Cana, I know I wouldn't have been able to get the bell; she always knew what to do to help me, like Kiara had, before…anyways, she knew what to do even if I didn't ask her to. Picking up the wolf, I decided I needed more light in able to see if I could help her any. I was fairly certain that she would live even if I didn't help speed up the process, but I wasn't completely sure. "Can you all take me back outside? I need more light to see her. And if she's really bad, I might need to take her to the Inuzuka family. They're vets, I think." I babbled, picking up the limp grey wolf pup and cradling her like a baby.
The two older wolves trotted in front of me, obviously worried for their sister, their pack mate. If Cana ends up dead, Sasuke will regret it. But as they got closer to the entrance to the cave, Akki could clearly see that the pup was just passed out, and definitely had no fatal wounds. "She'll be okay, I think. You two are dismissed, but I'm going to keep Cana here with me just to make sure. I'll summon someone if anything happens with her." I said, nodding to them.
Still cradling the pup fondly, I entered the clearing once again. I saw Kakashi-sensei behind a tree from the corner of my eye; Sasuke was sitting on one side of Naruto, who was tied effectively to a tree, and Sakura on the other. I decided to say nothing about Kakashi hiding, watching, and sat down in front of Naruto, not lifting my gaze away from the fainted wolf. But whenever I did, I made sure to send Sasuke a deadly glare.
Since when was I so hungry? I looked around for another lunchbox, but saw none. Naruto didn't have one either, so I guessed there were only two. Naruto was going on about how he definitely wasn't hungry, until; of course, his stomach had to betray him by rumbling loudly. I smirked a bit, before lying down, looking at the clouds, Cana curled up on my stomach. I heard shuffling, before sitting up, cradling my friend once again. "So, what's happening?" I asked, keeping my eyes purposely away from Sasuke.
"None of us passed, but I don't know about you. Once we eat lunch, we have another chance. Kakashi-sensei scolded us about not working in a team before you came back. And if we try to feed Naruto, we fail." Sakura said dejectedly. Wait, but then we—Naruto and I—won't be at full strength. Just as dejectedly, I looked at Naruto.
"Can I borrow someone's lunch? If someone's going to fail, it might as well be me," I reached in my pocket, grabbing the bell and looking at it sadly. It wasn't even me who stole it from Kakashi—it was Cana. Unless we were allowed to have summoned animals steal it while we distracted him, I didn't get it fairly.
"No! Wait! If we feed him, we won't be going to the academy; he'll drop us from the program." Sakura objected. I glared at her.
"He's a team-mate. And he won't be much use to the team if he's sitting there starving to death." I snapped. "We just have to make sure Kakashi-sensei doesn't see." I spat at her, holding my hand out for a lunchbox. Sasuke started to hand me his lunch, before Sakura interrupted his movements, reaching out and dropping her lunchbox into my open and waiting hands.
"Thanks." Suddenly noticing his hands were tied too—of course they are; otherwise, he'd be able to escape—I paused. Reaching up to feed him, just as he took a bite, smoke swirled around us. Surprised, I gasped, falling onto my bottom, my mouth hanging open as Kakashi appeared.
"You," He cried, drawing out the lone word. Sasuke and Naruto started screaming, fighting against the force of the wind, while Sasuke just made an 'uh' sound, his hands protecting his face as he pushed against the wind. I grabbed for the wolf pup, holding her against my chest, shielding her while at the same time, fighting against the force. "You broke the rules," Kakashi-sensei hissed, suddenly in everyone's faces. I flinched back slightly, still in a trance-like-state. "I hope you're ready for your punishment!" He began making hand signs, but I wasn't paying enough attention to decipher what exact hand signs, or the order. Storm clouds appeared overhead and it started lightning. "Any last words?" My mouth, still agape, snapped closed. At that second, I was sure that he was going to kill me; kill us.
Sasuke, like me, was glaring menacingly at Kakashi; Sakura was shuddering and covering her head while Naruto's teeth clattered silently.
"But…you…said," Naruto clattered out.
"Yes?" Kakashi-sensei's head tilted to the side, his eye staring mercilessly at Naruto.
"You said that there were 4 of us! That's what you said and that's why Sakura and…" Naruto started yelling, his voice quieting with each word.
"We're all on this squad, and we're all in it together." Sasuke stated firmly.
"Yeah, that's right! We gave our lunch to him because the three of us are one!" Sakura yelled, suddenly gaining courage.
"They're right." I said solemnly. "If one of us is weak, then the whole team is weakened because of it." I growled, leaning up so I was sitting on my knees, much like Sakura, glaring defiantly.
Naruto, feeling the need to talk as well, shouted, "Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah; believe it! That's right!" Naruto cried, thrashing about in the ropes.
"The four of you are one, that's your excuse?" Kakashi said his voice deadly. Then, his mood changed completely. "Hmm, you pass." Kakashi smiled in a sing-song voice.
My jaw dropped once again and I gaped unbelieving at him. "We…pass." I repeated, echoing his words.
"You… pass." Kakashi-sensei said slowly, nodding.
"What…do you mean?" Sakura put in. "How'd we pass?"
"You're the first squad who ever succeeded. The others did exactly what I said, and fell into every trap. They couldn't think for themselves. A ninja must see through deception. In the ninja world, those who break the rules are scum—that's true." He paused. "But, those who abandon their friends are worse than scum." I stared up at our teacher, amazed. Honestly, I didn't think he had it in him to be nice. "The training session is over. Everyone passes; squad seven starts its first mission, tomorrow." My eyes shining in victory, I stood up as to hand him the bell.
"Here," I mumbled, dropping the golden bell into his palm. "I'm going to go now," I glanced towards Cana, sent a glare to Sasuke, before walking away from the group, clutching the young wolf in my arms. I was going to get Cana home, and take care of them there.
Suddenly a loud yell brought me out of my thoughts. "You forgot to untie me!" Naruto's voice cried. I snickered; I knew that they were leaving him tied for a reason.
Now what? My only human friend turned out to be a traitor. Sure, Naruto and Sakura could be considered friends, even possibly Kakashi-sensei, but it's not like any of them could understand me.
