Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, etc. etc. etc..
A/N: Thanks to reviewers!
Havock: needs more chapters
Coming up:P
InuyashaHoujo: Nauto doesn't seem to get any respect. Is he ever going to get the respect he deserves is my question.
As of this moment, those most appraised of his abilities would be, in ascending order, Sasuke (annoyance, aggravation and even a little insecurity as a result), Hinata (a not inconsiderable amount of curiosity, in a general way, but not, yet, overcoming pre-existent prejudices. Hopefully this chapter will expand a bit on this) and Kakashi (who already feels as if he owes the boy something. Kakashi also, it seems to me, is not one to throw around praise. The exception seems to be canon Naruto, and that is all about improvement).
If you are referring to respect for him being a Jinchuuriki, as opposed to the image of him being the Kyubi incarnate, well, Naruto has not exactly been going out of his way to prove people wrong. Stories of his ruthlessness (1 demon brother, 2 samurai, Gatou…) will not help much either.
For both cases, the answer is 'eventually', but I have not fully sorted out the details of this. As with the rest of this fic, I have a general idea of my direction, but predominantly I make it up as I go along. However, if it is not clear I will make it so now: this is not a story where Naruto quite suddenly gets the general respect of the villagers (assuming he ever gets their respect at all).
Anything more would be spoiler material.
xan.tanuki: No major spelling mistakes really, but you messed up on homophones like bore/boar and minor stuff like that...
I am a student, so: sleep is the enemy! I often write this late at night/early in the morning. It is good that it is nothing serious, though.
kyunaru: GOOD CHAPTER.
an idea for your how naruto meets jariya problem?
you could have naruto just walking around in the village or walking by the hot springs for some reason and then him hearing jariya's perverted laughter go and try to find out what it is and you could go from there i guess.
Thanks.
I could, it is a possibility I have considered, but smacks too much of coincidence (it was coincidence in canon, so here it would be doubly coincidental). Of course, I could always get Kakashi to take the whole team to the springs as some sort of day out, but even then it is somewhat dodgy. On the other hand, Jiraiya would likely take him with him when looking for Tsunade in any case, due to Akatsuki, regardless of whether he had met him before, I think.
mortalone: I love the story so far. Few people have reviewed, but don't be concerned by that. The more popular a story gets, the more additional crowd its capable of drawing (since it appears on favorite's lists and in c2's).
Actually, the thermodynamics argument you gave could not apply. Heat is energy and energy is heat. The heat we feel is nothing more than infrared spectrum photons of light that connect with our skin. So really, you must make the leap of faith that chakra can energize particles without creating heat, which is contradictory by definition.
An alternative argument you could use would be to cool the air (thus increasing the relative humidity since cooler air cannot retain as much moisture), but this is something Kishimoto described wind based chakra as doing.
Perhaps the best description would be something as vague as "gather water molecules and concentrate on spreading them through the air in a thin layer." While it lacks the complete feeling left by mixing science and fantasy in a believable way... science and ninjutsu just don't mix whatsoever. :p
Good story so far. I hope to see more!
Thanks.
Well, I did not say that chakra always creates excess heat when it transfers energy. I only ever really mentioned the first law of thermodynamics, not the second. This is what I made Kakashi say:
"What you do is that you push chakra onto the water's surface, encouraging evaporation, and then force more into the vapour using nature manipulation, forming yet more water vapour, but without any extra heat. As you should know from your elementary thermodynamics course, this spread of the same amount of energy over a larger amount of water will cause the temperature to drop, causing the water to collect into small droplets, forming a mist."
The text in italics clearly violates the second law of thermodynamics. In fact, what this would indicate is that heat creation, while being the default result of energy transfer, is not compulsory for chakra.
Wind-based chakra: That could be read as increasing the total mass of air (let's throw mass conservation and Emc2 out of the window, shall we?), and so, again, decreasing the average temperature. :P
Well, I find that vague descriptions are boring both to read and to write. I enjoy trying to fit 'normal' science to various fantasy worlds as an exercise in futility (especially given how the law of momentum conservation is so frequently discarded in anime. Remember the Gaara vs. Lee fight? Lee was rising in the air and kicking Gaara up with him, again and again, but his kicks never caused him to start falling! ;-)). Besides, I am a Physics student; it should be expected from me. And if I do do what you say, it will make Kakashi and everyone else sound like dodgy martial arts instructors (ugh!). Basically, I disagree with you. ;-).
"Boo" speech
'Boo' thought
"Boo" Bijuu speech
'Boo' Bijuu thought
x
x
x
May 20th:
The sun was high in the sky as Team 7 neared the gates of Konoha, after more than two months away in the Wave country. The heat was oppressive, easily exceeding body core temperature. This was the Fire country after all, and summer was starting.
Kakashi led the way, walking lazily on and keeping to the southern side of the road, where there was a thin strip of shade. He had removed his vest and shirt, as had his male students, wearing nothing but shorts and sandals, aside from their hitai-ate and packs. Hinata had reluctantly removed her coat a few days before and remained very self-conscious. She had been walking at the back for most of the time so that they would not look at her, but the most obvious result had been that she had no choice but to look at them, so she had been blushing all the way.
Kakashi thought to himself as he stared at the goal ahead. 'Hokage-sama will want a full briefing, not only on the mission but on Akki… Naruto… as well. I will have to explain how he has no inhibitions about killing, and where I think he got that attitude from. I will also have to explain how he strives to be the best possible weapon, and how he thinks that is his purpose. The Hokage will not be pleased.' He turned his head for a moment to look at the object of his thoughts, and then back to the gate. 'He seems more subdued than he has been for the last month, less active in his movements. Maybe he enjoyed being outside of Konoha? I should request more C-ranks that take us out of the village. It might open him up a little. At least, it could not worsen the situation.' Indeed, it could not. The boy had spoken barely thirty words to anyone that were not answers to direct questions. 'Then again,' he thought bitterly, 'weapons are never meant to talk back, and shinobi are supposed to be mere tools after all…'
Sasuke trudged slowly onwards behind his sensei, staring at the shaded ground, allowing his fringe to shade his eyes from the glare from the non-shaded areas. 'Despite having the demon in my company over the last two months, it is nothing compared to the harpies that will grope for me once we arrive, even if he does steal my kills… I would definitely have killed them myself.' He looked up at the gate in the distance. 'This is the West Gate that my brother was last spotted at, when he left Konoha all those years ago. When I kill him, I will put his head on a spike in the middle of this road, then no one will threaten the resurrected Uchiha clan. No one.'
Akki allowed traces of a bitter smile grace his lips as he soldiered on in the blistering heat. 'The same gate I entered five years ago, seeking shelter and access to techniques, I will enter again now, seeking shelter from the hot sun and yet more techniques to make me worthy of having precious people to protect. All in the place where I am the pariah… Damn I hate this place, but I will gladly open all the windows of my apartment, sit in the closet and open the fridge door, and the fridge will be ON!' He craned his neck as he faced the sky, eyes closed, letting the sun kiss his face, that is, until he found the burning sensation too much to bear. Looking back down to the ground he played back in his mind an old poem that he had found in the Library. 'Odi et amo. Quare id faciam, fortasse requiris? Nescio, sed fieri sentio et excrucior. (I hate and yet I love. Why do I do this, you might ask? I do not know, but I feel it happening, and I am tormented.)[1 Not so much love as a, hopefully temporary, dependence. In fact, it barely has any relation to my situation at all, given that this was written about his lover, so why did this even come into my mind? Maybe I have spent too much time in the Library. Hehe…'
Hinata forced her gaze to the ground, not only to shield her eyes from the sun but also from seeing her team-mates. She had to admit to herself that the other girls were right to see something in Sasuke's looks, and Kakashi was simply something else, and with all the sweat it was easy to see some of the contours of his face through his mask, and for Akki… She stopped herself. 'I am NOT going to even allow the demon into my thoughts. No. Not at all. Not a chance. No. No!' She shook her head. 'It must be the heat,' she thought as she saw the sweat drip from her blue hair, pattering onto her toes, as they were protruding from her sandals. Her thoughts wandered over to what she would do once they had arrived. 'What will tou-san say about my performance? I wasn't really very useful on the mission. I spent most of the time just standing by Tazuna-san, watching the others fight. What will he say?'
Kakashi stopped just as they reached the edge of the clearing just in front of the gate, standing in the last spot of shade. He turned to his team, smiling at them with his one visible eye. "The Hokage will be eating either now or very soon, so I think that we might as well grab a bite to eat before we report in. Where would you like to go?"
"Ichiraku Ramen," said Akki.
"Right. Anyone else want anything different?"
Sasuke shrugged, while Hinata shook her head. He did not care, and she had always eaten what the Hyuuga cooks prepared.
"Ichiraku Ramen it is, then!" said Kakashi as he turned and continued walking, followed by his team. As the Sun's heat hit them, they quickened their pace until they were in the shade of the gate. The guards nodded at Kakashi and waved them on. They walked through the streets for a quarter of an hour until they stood outside a small ramen bar with 'Ichiraku Ramen' painted on the blinds.
Kakashi stepped in and was greeted by Teuchi. Hinata and Sasuke stepped in behind him, nodding their heads politely, with Akki coming in last. He smiled, and slowly nodded at Teuchi.
"Oh, it is you, Akki-kun! What can I get for you today?"
"Three pork miso ramen today, please, Teuchi-sama."
"Coming right up! And you, Kakashi-san?"
Kakashi was in slight shock: never before had he seen Akki smile at seeing another human being. It was surreal. The way the man had reacted was also very non-typical. However, he did not allow this to show, and answered, "I will have the same as Akki, Teuchi-san."
X
As Naruto ate his noodles in silence, savouring the taste of the broth, he turned over the image in his minds that had been disturbing him for the past month: that of Sasuke getting hit with a needle in the neck. 'If I couldn't protect him, even though he was right next to me, how would I be able to protect anyone else in any situation? I really need to improve, and that includes my body conditioning. I will have to put a stop to Hinata's spying… That is pretty much impossible, however. Gah… I suppose some things must be left to work on in more favourable conditions…
'In the meantime, though, I could stroke my ego with her presence. Yes, that would be a laugh. I obviously must be watched by her because of my beautiful body!! That being the case, it is my duty to indulge her! It is the start of summer, and the temperature is much too hot to wear huge amounts of excess clothing! It will be great to see her face at non-spying times, to see if my presence jogs her memory… Hahahaha…'
"You did notice her blush on the way, though, right?"
'And? What does that prove?'
"Oh, nothing, except maybe that you really would be indulging her!"
'Or not. Sasuke is adored by almost the entirety of the female portion of my former academy class, as well as by a couple of the males. They would be better judges of anything than you, grease ball—'
"I am not greasy—"
'--so most likely she is, finally, getting as obsessed with Sasuke as everyone else. She is a little younger than most in my class anyway.'
"Even so, there is some chance, isn't there? Huh? That would be good, huh?"
'Stop trying to ruin my fun with your useless speculations! I know that you crave sensation above all else, but keep that out of your mind.'
"Killjoy."
'Greasestain!'
"Tramp!'
'…'
"Er…"
'…'
"Alright, alright, I apologise! That was too close to the bone, I am sorry!"
"Damn right it was, you bastard! If you do that again, I swear that I will pretend to be insane, and we will get locked in a padded cell somewhere, and I will enjoy your pleas!'
"Right, fine. "
'So… what then? A miscast fire technique that burns off the back of my yukata? A training session standing on the river? Oh, the choices…'
x
x
May 21st, 15:42:
Hinata snuck through the forest towards Akki's usual training area, starting her customary hour of observing him and his seal. It was boring, but Kakashi-sensei had ordered her to do it, and she wanted there to be at least one thing she could do consistently, without failure. It was also a reasonably relaxing diversion from the tension of staying inside the Hyuuga estate. On most days, anyway.
She arrived to see Akki performing some basic stretches, as was normal. He would always start his private training in the same way: stretches, jogging, and then more stretches. Like clockwork. They had just been released from Kakashi's afternoon training, yet he always did a huge batch more after. His reserves of energy were extraordinary. He would go at everything with absolute obsession, until he was forced to stop because his body could not take it any more. She knew, she could see the effect on his muscles in real time, with her eyes. After this happened, as it always did, he would walk up to the nearest tree, and with a look of anguish, as if recalling an unpleasant memory, stab it, as far as he could at the time, with a katar. Oddly, though, whenever he did this he would let go of the katar during the strike, before impacting the tree, letting the handle rest on the palm of his splayed out, stretched back hand, kept in place by the acceleration, as if the blade was sticking out from the end of his wrist. This would, always, cause the katar's handle to tear his skin, causing him to bleed and, because he usually pushed the katar so far through the wood, the blood would mix with the sap or resin, leaving its mark semi-permanently on the tree's bark. He would then spend a while getting the blade out of the tree again. It was an odd ritual, and she had no idea of its significance, and nor did Kakashi, it seemed, who could offer no answers when she told him. She had once entertained the idea that it was extra training for his arms, but, since he only ever used his right arm, she had to discard the idea. As training it was far too unbalancing, favouring right over left. There would have to be some other motive.
At last Akki completed his stretches. 'I wonder what it will be today.' Suddenly, the boy jumped onto a tree branch, and then to another, and then another. 'Oh no… I am still tired out from Kakashi…' she thought as she started chasing after him. His pace was fantastic, and he seemed quite comfortable with it. Hinata had to give her near best to keep up and almost immediately she could feel the ache of lactic acid accumulating, and the damp of the sweat filling her summer jacket. They ran for five minutes until Akki came to a very tall and straight tree. He jumped sideways onto its trunk so that he was standing on it, and started running up the tree. Hinata took this opportunity to pause and rest a little, and took her jacket off and tied it around her waist. Panting, she watched as Akki reached the top of the tree and ran off it and into the sky. She watched in awe as he twisted in the air above the tree and dropped to a branch, grabbing it with one hand and using it as an axle to propel him to another, slightly lower, branch on the other side of the tree. He did this again and again, sometimes grabbing with his hands, otherwise with his legs, arm or feet (these times gripping with chakra), until he neared the height of the rest of the trees of the forest. He then threw himself at the trunk again, landing on it, sideways, on his feet, and then launching himself off it, dropping into the canopy of a nearby tree, and started jumping from tree to tree again.
Hinata resumed chasing when she saw this happening, stumbling a few times due to her tiredness. This continued for another half-hour, with Akki finding some other interesting feature to fool around with every few minutes or so, until Akki's black yukata had its sleeve caught by a branch, wrenching it off and sending Akki flying off to another tree, tumbling through the air. The shock, along with her tiredness and the sight of so much bare skin, was too much for her. She tripped and fell tumbling to the ground. She landed hard but unharmed, making use of her training, with Akki nowhere in sight. Bewildered, frustrated and absolutely exhausted, she let sweet sleep take her.
X
'Did you hear that? Sounds to me like a damsel-in-distress, a-collapsing in the woods. What do you think it was that overwhelmed her youthful heart?' On the outside, Naruto laughed hysterically as he kept up his run.
"Her mother needs new silk from the market, but it cannot be found for any price?"
Naruto's laughter increased in volume. 'Nice one!'
"She is exhausted from rigorous training, but knows that for her noble house her efforts are in vain, she is too weak?"
"Hahahahahahaa…"
"She so wants to be heir, to have all those servants at her heel, but risks being passed over for a younger sibling, her brother?"
"Hahahahahaaahahaaahhaaaahaa…"
"If only she had an extra forty minutes at the ball, then she would have captured Prince Charming's heart? Or maybe, 'if only she had sufficient stamina to keep up with and catch up to her Akki-kun, and capture his heart'? That would be entertaining…"
'Shut up, you grease-covered rag!'
"It's not grease! It is hair gel! I am planning to make myself look more like Kakashi, with his incredible hair, so that you'll do what I say!"
'Really? Then how come it looks more like you have flattened down the hair on your head through scraping the top of your cage?'
"Arrogant human—"
'Stupid fox—'
x
x
May 22nd:
Naruto sat on the rail of the bridge as he waited for Sasuke and Hinata to arrive. He was not training anything, which was unusual, as he wanted to see Hinata's face when she first saw him that day. 'Will she show irritation? Embarrassment? Tiredness? Will she have told Kakashi what happened yesterday and, in the likely case that she has, will Kakashi show it?'
After a few minutes of waiting, enjoying the chill of the morning mist, in contrast to the heat expected later, he heard some footsteps. He turned towards them to see Sasuke's silhouette in the mist. "Ohayou gozaimasu, Sasuke-sama."
Sasuke replied with a grunt as he walked to the other rail and sat on it. Silence reigned again for a few more minutes. As the mist began to clear, letting the Sun's rays hit the planks of the bridge deck, Akki heard the sound of soft footsteps. 'Here she comes, the princess herself, the sleeping beauty. Today, will she be the stiff princess, or will her flexibility survive even the harrows of a run through the forest? Haha…'
She walked through the centre of the bridge, in between the two boys. "Ohayou gozaimasu," she said quietly in a tired voice.
Both boys replied, "Ohayou gozaimasu." 'Tired, then. I overdid the physical exertion aspect and underdid everything else. Not surprising, though, given how quickly she succumbed to exhaustion… It did, however, give me an opportunity to exert myself more fully than normal, however, which made a good change. Maybe I should focus even more on the physical exertion side?'
Hinata stood looking at Akki for a few seconds before she sat down on the bridge deck, leaning against Sasuke's railing. She stared at him for a bit, noting his stillness, wondering what he was thinking about. She then saw him reach with his hand across his shoulder and into his pack, and pulled out a book. She could not see any title on its cover, which was of blank brown paper. It looked like an exercise book. He reached into a pocket in his shorts, underneath his yukata, and pulled out a pen, and started writing in it. She wondered about it for a moment, before leaning against the railing again to snatch as much sleep as she could.
X
X
Kakashi turned away from the memorial stone. Checking his watch, he noted that his team should have been waiting for two hours and eleven minutes. He smirked. 'Akki is probably training on the river, Sasuke will glare at me when I arrive, and Hinata will sigh in relief at seeing me.' He looked up at the sky. 'It is going to be a hot day again. Maybe I should attempt another "team-bonding session"?' He mind went back to the last time he had tried it: it had been a disaster. He had taken them to see a film before the mission in the Wave, and it had been terrible. Akki had asked to be excused fifteen minutes in, echoed by his team-mates. He had then tried to teach them Bridge, pairing Akki with Sasuke and himself with Hinata and… He shook his head. He did not want to remind himself of the horrible atmosphere there had been, that of everyone, well, Sasuke and Akki, making it clear that there were better things for them to do. 'Hopefully, since it might be too hot to train, people will be more inclined to take part…'
He jumped into the trees and went a short way until he was standing in a tree overlooking the bridge. He saw that Hinata was sleeping at the side of the bridge. He recalled finding her in the forest and waking her up, and then being told of Akki's unusual training yesterday. 'She must be totally exhausted. I probably should attempt a "team-bonding session" today.' He turned then to Akki, and stilled. 'Heh… It is amazing how he has developed physically over the last few months. He should soon look almost as mature as Sasuke… Who is at least acting normally, unlike the other two.'
"You're late," said Sasuke, who had noticed him first.
"Gomen, gomen… I couldn't find my forehead protector, so I had to look for it…"
x
They sat in a 'circle' on the grass, all facing inwards, under an oak tree. Kakashi's suggestion of Poker had not gone down well. There had been an awkward silence that continued even now, twenty minutes later. On the other hand, none of them had moved from their spots so, though they seemed to be engaging in introspection, it was promising that none of them had abandoned, or been abandoned by, the group, even Akki.
Looking at Akki, Kakashi noticed that he was clutching onto a chain in his hand and staring intensely at the bottle cap on the end, seemingly having forgotten about anyone else's existence. "What is that, Akki-kun?" he asked.
Not looking up, Akki replied, "A trinket. It is of no importance. I picked it up once." It sounded robotic, rehearsed, as if the question had been prepared for. Akki then paused, as if only now registering that a question had been asked. "I picked up the cap from the street once, and added this chain to it. That is all. I just like the drink."
"Really? You are officially an adult since you graduated, but… isn't that an odd choice? Many older people find that drink too strong for them to 'like' it, so why do you choose it?"
Akki stared at him, and Kakashi thought he could see a trace of a glare. His voice came out slow and level: "I like its pureness of purpose. It is not there to excite the gourmet, or to have as a light drink. Its purpose is to intoxicate, and do it quickly, to wipe away the memories and all inhibitions, to reduce men to a state where all that matters is to do something, or not depending on the mood, with no concern for anything else. It is a drink for those who want to forget themselves." Akki stood up, looking down at his sensei. "That is why I like and drink it, Kakashi-sensei."
Kakashi watched as the boy made his way down to the river and sat on the bank, and then shut himself off from the rest of the world. 'A weapon fuelled and calmed by alcohol? Not really a good sign. Not at all.' "Akki, how often do you drink it?" he called.
The boy turned back to him, shouting back, "Once every few months. That is all."
Kakashi nodded. That rate could be managed. It should not be too damaging, or necessarily damaging at all, if his estimation of the Kyubi's healing powers was accurate. It was only then when he noticed the reaction of his other two team-mates. Sasuke had a look of distaste, while Hinata had a look seemingly of embarrassment. Of what, he had no idea.
X
X
June 30th:
Sasuke turned the corner of the path and walked onto the bridge that was his team's meeting place. He stepped over Hinata's body as she slept, leaning on the rail. He then stood leaning against the same rail Hinata was, looking at Akki, who was sleeping against the rail on the other side of the bridge. Sasuke scowled. 'What have they been doing over the month to make them so tired all the time? Late night training sessions? Why would she be training with him of all people, anyway?' "Hmph."
'In a team with a demon, a weakling and a sensei who is lazy and always late, how am I supposed to kill aniki at this rate? All the missions, all the waiting around, it all seems to be a distraction from my training, and it is not even compensated by Kakashi's training sessions. Although… the demon seems to have been getting quite strong recently… Has he been receiving special training from someone, or has he been hiding his strength all this time? No, it must be special training. From who, though? Kakashi?'
x
"'Morning people! Today I got lost on the road of life…"
Sasuke stared at Kakashi, who was late by three hours and 27 minutes. Akki opened his eyes and stood up when he heard Kakashi's voice and, like he had for many mornings in the past month, rubbed at sore parts of his body that had been squashed against the woodwork of the bridge. Hinata, it seemed, remained oblivious.
"Sasuke, if you would…" said Kakashi when it seemed that Hinata would not wake.
Sasuke sighed as he leant down towards Hinata's form. He grabbed her shoulder and shook it, getting nothing but moans from her. Shaking it again, he finally got her eyes to open. It did not take more than a few seconds for her to realise where she was and hide her face in embarrassment. 'I fell asleep again! I was just going to sit down for a while…' she thought. She saw Akki standing in front of her, staring at her with his eyes devoid of any emotion, in his default state, the one that made her feel as if her heart and neck were being constricted. She forced the feeling down, as she had trained herself to do for months, and glared back at him as well as she normally could, which was not very well at all.
"Ahem…" came Kakashi's voice to her ear. Startled, she quickly stood up. "Ohayou!" she exclaimed when she felt everyone's eyes on her.
"Good," said Kakashi, "Now that I have everyone's attention, I have an announcement to make that really is quite important for your careers as ninja: I've nominated you guys for the chunin selection exam." He watched as Sasuke's and Hinata's eyes widened, though Akki remained impassive. He presented them with three slips of paper. "These are your applications."
They each took an application form from his hand and looked over it, before Akki asked, "Kakashi-sensei, what are the benefits to being a chunin?"
"The benefits? Well, they are, firstly," said Kakashi, numbering the listed items on his fingers, "larger salary," 'Useful to me, but I already knew about that,' thought Akki as Kakashi spoke, "access to C-rank techniques in the library," 'Useless, I already have total access to all non-secret jutsu,' "a discount at all the stores restricted to ninja (you will get a discount on kunai, shuriken, scrolls etc.)," 'Moderately useful,' "you get given a standard issue vest like mine, which you may or may not wear, which will be replaced at no cost if it is lost or damaged beyond repair," 'As small convenience if I use it,' "an increase in respect from your peers, of course," 'Not applicable,' "and finally, and most importantly, your default mission rating will be C-rank, with D-ranks very unlikely, with possibly the occasional B-rank. The obvious result of this is that you get a lot more money from missions. It is at chunin rank that you start to make some real money, as opposed to the pocket money you make as genin. Also, most of these missions, though not all, will be more rewarding than the D-ranks. Are you satisfied, Akki?"
"Hai. I will weigh the advantages and disadvantages in my mind, though I will be applying anyway so I do not deny Hinata and Sasuke the chance to take the exam."
Sasuke and Hinata stared at him in confusion for a moment, before the former said, "The exam is taken in teams? Why didn't you tell us that, Kakashi?" glaring at his mentor. 'He never does go to the library, does he?' thought Akki as he repressed the urge to smirk.
"Well, I…" said Kakashi, rubbing the back of his head and neck with his right hand, "Well; it is obvious, isn't it? Being a ninja is largely about teamwork, as I have told you many times, so I thought it not worth mentioning…" He turned his one eye to Akki, as if sizing him up. 'Did he do this deliberately, to ensure he entered the exam? To quicken his ascent into the status of a weapon? Or was it unintentional?'
Sasuke looked at Hinata, thinking 'Will she or won't she? Should I speak to her?'
"This does not mean, however, that I will tolerate anyone pressuring anyone to take part. If you take part, make sure that you do it because you think you are ready and because you want to do it. Disregard what your team-mates may want, focus on making the decision you need to. Those who wish to take the exam should sign those papers and turn them in to room 301 by 4pm tomorrow. Those who wish to, not those who feel they have to. That is all," Kakashi said, before teleporting away.
Akki started walking away and said, "Regardless, I am applying. The choice is yours, Hinata-sama, Sasuke-sama."
"I am applying as well, Akki," said Sasuke, catching Hinata's eye. "I really want to take the exam."
"Hai," said Akki, who then jumped into the trees and ran off.
Sasuke walked away from the bridge, waving behind him to Hinata, "See you tomorrow, then."
'Even if I do not apply for Sasuke's sake… and even if I do not want to apply, I have to. I am the heiress of the Hyuuga clan, I must. It is expected of me… But… Am I strong enough to survive it? Am I?'
x
x
July 1st:
Akki walked into the academy courtyard, searching for him team among the dozens of other people there. Finally he found them, near the entrance, and walked up to them. "Konichiwa," he said was he approached. 'They are both here. Good. I will now be able to assess, at least partly, whether I will be able to defend anyone from chunin level ninja, although, obviously, this test does not take into account those with no ninja training.'
"Konichiwa," replied his team-mates quietly, eyeing the rest of the crowd. Sasuke then said, "Let's go in, then. We will then have some free time, hopefully."
Hinata and Akki nodded, and followed Sasuke through the Academy doors. They walked up a couple of flights of stairs until they found a crowd of people crowded around a door with a sign above it saying "301". There seemed to be some sort of scuffle and quite a bit of shouting but, while Hinata and Sasuke stopped, Akki kept on through the corridor.
When he had got to the other side of the crowd and was about to resume his normal pace after pushing through it, he heard Sasuke say, "You will let me pass through—" and he quickly said, "Sasuke-sama, there is no need to talk to the idiots. The third floor is this way." He continued walking sedately along the corridor.
Sasuke glared at his back. 'I was going to say that you bastard!' he thought as he followed him, Hinata in tow. Meanwhile, a green-clad boy with a bowl-cut haircut watched him go. 'Uchiha Sasuke!'
X
They were walking in the direction of room 301 some time later, when a voice reached their ears, "Hey, guy with the dark eyes."
They turned to see a boy they had seen in the crowd earlier, green-clad, with a black bowl-cut haircut and, now they looked at him more closely, odd eyelashes and extremely impressive black eyebrows. He was standing on a balcony above them. "What is it?" Sasuke replied.
"Will you fight me right here?"
"A fight right now?"
"Yes." He then dropped from the balcony onto the laminated floor in front of them. "My name is Rock Lee, Uchiha Sasuke."
"Hehe, so you know?"
"I want to fight you; I want to test my techniques against the offspring of the genius ninja clan."
"Challenging me, knowing the Uchiha name… Frankly, you're a fool. You're about to learn what this name means, thick brows."
"Please…"
"Heh… Sounds fun, I'll do it," said Sasuke. He stepped forward a little, disregarding Hinata's stare towards the clock on the wall, and Akki's movement to the wall to sit and lean against it.
X
Akki closed his eyes and leant against the wall, hearing Sasuke run at Rock Lee to start the fight. 'Whatever happens, I hope it is over quickly, I hate being bored.'
He heard Lee shout "Leaf spinning wind!" and then heard some scuffling for some seconds. Then Lee again, "Yes, my techniques are neither ninjutsu nor genjutsu… Yes, my techniques are simple taijutsu, Sasuke-kun. You may not believe it, because it is so basic, but they say the sharingan has the ability to reveal all types of nin, gen and taijutsu. It is true that by reading ninjutsu and genjutsu, which need chakra to be raised and seal to be performed, you get and advantage through the sharingan, but taijutsu is a little different."
"What do you mean?" he heard Sasuke's voice ask.
"Even if you read my movements with your eyes, your body does not have the speed to react to my taijutsu. Basically, even if you can see it, if your body can't move then it's useless. Do you know this? Among strong people, there exist genius types and hardworking types." 'I am both,' thought Akki, 'though much good it has done me so far…' "If your sharingan is a genius type from the Uchiha blood, I am simply a hardworking type who has mastered only taijutsu. You could say that my ultimate taijutsu is the worst possible match up for your sharingan, and I'll prove, with this technique, that hard work surpasses genius." There was then the sound of something, 'A kunai?' thudding into the wall, and Lee said, "That is…"
"That's enough, Lee!" It was a new voice. Akki opened his eyes and looked in its direction to be blessed with the image of a tortoise wearing a hitai-ate around its neck. He then saw Sasuke falling quickly, and limply, towards the floor. He launched himself from the wall, sliding along the floor until he was under Sasuke and grabbed him when he neared the floor, cushioning the fall. He stood Sasuke up and then walked back to stand beside Hinata, ignoring the conversation between the tortoise and the 'green-clad-one', until he heard another new voice:
"TAKU! YOU GUYS ARE THE EPITOME OF YOUTH!" It was a green-clad man with a black bowl-cut haircut and even more impressive eyebrows. He was standing on the tortoise. 'Rock Lee's father? Regardless, he seems strangely familiar, but from where, I do not know.' The man grinned, and his glinted like from a toothpaste advertisement. There was some talking between the man and his look-alike student, and then he punched the latter. He then hugged him. 'Odd, but no concern of mine.'
The man then turned to them and made to smile again, until he noticed Akki staring at him with his default 'empty' stare. Noticing that his face was in mid smile, he redoubled his efforts, resulting in a smile that almost blinded Akki with the glare on it from the sunlight coming through the window. 'So this is Kakashi's team…' he thought. 'If that is the facial expression the jinchuuriki usually favours, that would probably explain why Kakashi has been in the bar so much in recent months. Apparently Asuma had to escort him home last week because he had drunk so much. More than that, he had been the only one at the bar, not even getting drunk in company. My "eternal rival" must feel more responsible for the kid than he admits. Personally, if I were in his position, I would be taking stronger stuff than just alcohol… The man is too stoic for his own good.' "You must be Kakashi's team? Yes? Make sure to do your sensei proud in the exam! You guys and Lee should head over to the classroom. My name is Maito Gai, by the way."
He threw a kunai towards the… ('Pinwheel? Interesting choice,' thought Akki) pinning Lee's bandages to the wall, knocking it out. Akki now noticed Lee's hands for the first time, and noticed how injured they were and how sore they must have been from constant stress. 'Kyuu-jichan…'
"Nani?"
'Arigatou.'
X
"So you are all here? Good luck, then," said Kakashi as he saw his team round the corner and walk towards the door. "It is just through here."
They nodded, and then passed through the door.
He sighed, turned to go, but then saw Gai standing in front of him. "What is it, Gai?"
"I met your team, Kakashi."
"Oh? What about them?"
"This is about the 'legacy' in particular…"
The eyebrow above Kakashi's visible eye lowered above his nose to indicate annoyance. "Yes, what of him?"
"Are you sure it is alright for you to have him as your student Kakashi? Maybe you should concentrate more on your other students, like the Uchiha? Everyone has seen you at the bar; you can't conceal the fact that something is wrong. Akki's presence is obviously not good for you—"
"It is none of your concern."
"Kakashi…" he said as he looked into his visible eye, "I just want to help. I could train him for you for a couple of months maybe, to give you a break?"
"No. Besides, it is essential that Hinata is on his team. I will not explain why."
"I could take them both—"
"No!" Kakashi's one visible eye glared at Gai. His stance looked ready to pounce. Gai had hit a raw nerve.
'He never wants to admit when he cannot handle something, so stubborn. But then… I am probably the same…' Gai held his hands up near his head in a placating gesture and said, "Fine, fine. My offer still stands though. I'd like to compare him to my Lee…" He then lapsed into silence, which then reigned for a couple of minutes. "Well… I'll see you later I guess. Bye!" He teleported away.
Kakashi did the same a few seconds later.
X
Akki followed his two team-mates into room 301, hearing them gasp at the same time as he saw the multitude of ninja filling the room. There was no seating room available anywhere but the floor. There was silence as his team was stared at by the crowd, especially so by the Konoha ninja when they noticed his presence. 'Woohoo! I always wanted to be the star of my own game show! Thank you, thank you, thank you…'
"You really do have a sad sense of humour, you know."
'So? I enjoy it! Do not ruin my fun; I do not get it often.'
"But that was awful! You know full well that you inflict this all on me, yet you have no consideration! At the very least you could—"
'Shhh. Something is happening, Ino, I think.'
"Saaasuke-kun! You're late!" Ino shrieked as she jumped onto the Uchiha prodigy's back and embraced him. "I haven't seen you for a while so I've been waiting in excitement," she said, pressing the side of her face against Sasuke's, which was holding an expression of acute annoyance.
"Get away from Sasuke-kun, Ino-pig!"
"Why if it isn't Sakura… Big ugly forehead as always…" 'Great…' thought Akki, 'the harpies have assembled. At times like this, I really do pity Sasuke. Poor guy, to have to wage a war on two fronts, and one for which he has had no preparation and is defenceless, or nearly so.'
"What did you say?!" shouted back Sakura as she pounced towards Ino, with Sasuke in the way. 'Oh, this is just ridiculous. I am stopping this right now, before Sasuke becomes at risk of being hit.'
Akki stepped behind Ino and grabbed the arm she was using to hold onto Sasuke and wrenched it off him and, still holding it with his right hand, spun Ino around and crashed her into the incoming Sakura, causing them to sprawl onto the floor. "What did you do that for, you monster?!" shouted Ino as she pushed herself back up.
Walking so that he was in between Sasuke and the two girls, Akki replied calmly, "I will not allow anyone to touch my team-mates during the exam period. This is a mission, like any other." Hinata nodded behind him, while Sasuke grunted an affirmative: he really did not want to be bothered by those two.
"That's enough, Ino. So troublesome…"
Ino looked at Shikamaru before pouting and walking o her team, while Sakura was having an argument with Kiba, which mostly featured her pointing out exactly how he was inferior to Sasuke in so many ways.
Akki looked around him to see that all the rookies were here, and started checking them off a list I his head. 'Nara Shikamaru: decent enough, too busy sleeping or complaining to bother me, normally. His clan uses techniques using shadows, most famously for disabling people. Akimichi Choji: too busy eating to bother me. His clan uses techniques that increase their size. Not at all subtle. Yamanaka Ino: One half of the harpies. Vain idiot. Her family is supposed to have techniques to do with mind reading and similar things.'
He turned to Sakura's team. 'Haruno Sakura: The other half of the harpies. No known skills of significance. Is probably carried by the rest of her team, who are both competent. Inuzaka Kiba: One of the bigger bullies. Impulsive, but has strength and a dog. His clan uses dogs, who'd have thought? Aburame Shino: Quiet. Nothing known, except that his clan uses kikai bugs, which feed off chakra, and are reputed to be very dangerous.' He ignored the inane chatter of the other rookies.
That is, until he heard someone call over to them from his right. "Hey, you guys, you should be quieter." It was a spectacled man with grey hair in a pony-tail. He was wearing and odd cream sash around his waist, but the rest of his clothing was completely standard. "You guys are rookies just out of the Academy, right? Screaming like school girls, taku… This isn't a picnic."
"Who do you think you are?" asked an annoyed looking Ino, still angry at her treatment from Akki.
"I'm Kabuto, but instead of that, look behind you."
"Behind?" said Sakura as they all looked behind her. There was a group or Rain nin glaring at them, surrounded by more people doing the same.
"Those guys behind you are from the hidden rain. They have short tempers. Everyone is nervous about the exam, so quieten down before you cause a scene… Well, I can't blame you: you're clueless rookies. You remind me of how I used to be."
"Kabuto-san, right?" asked Sakura.
"Yeah."
"So this is your second time?"
"Nope… My seventh time. This exam is held twice a year, so this is my fourth year."
"Wow, so you know a lot about the exam?"
"That's right," replied Kabuto. 'He certainly knows a lot about failing the exam,' thought Akki, 'but he might have some useful information.'
"How come you have failed so many times, then?" asked Kiba in a jeering voice.
"Well, the exam is quite hard. Tell you what, to give you an idea, I'll share some info with you cute rookies," he said, looking into Kiba's eyes as he emphasised the word 'cute', "with these nin-info cards."
"Nin-info cards?" asked Sakura, speaking yet again. 'Seriously, am I the only one who goes to the library?' thought Akki in annoyance.
"They are basically cards which have info burned onto them with chakra. I have four year's worth of info here, over 200 cards. They look blank but to open the info on these cards…" he said, pushing chakra into one.
"What are you doing?" asked Choji, finally distracted from his crisp packet.
"You can't view them unless I use my chakra, for example…" He placed the card onto the ground, revealing it to be a map of the surrounding countries, hologramatic bars rising from it to indicate the number of applicants to the chunin exam from each country. 'How did he get this information at such short notice?' thought Akki curiously.
"Wow, a really easy to read graph. What kind of info is this?" asked Choji.
"This is the number of those taking the exam and the breakdown of what country they are from," said Kabuto.
"Do you have cards with info on individuals?" asked Sasuke.
"Hehe… There are some guys you are worried about?" Kabuto picked up his stack of cards again, placing the graph card back in it after clearing it. "Of course, the info on all of this exam's participants isn't perfect but I do have it." 'Which beggars belief,' thought Akki, 'unless you have somehow gained access to something genin shouldn't. I know, I have tried, and it cannot be accessed legally. Not my concern, though.' "Even of you guys. Say something about these guys and I'll take a look."
"Rock Lee and…" Sasuke turned to look at Akki, "Akuma-Gaki Akki, both of the leaf." When he heard this, Akki started moving closer, towards a spot where he would be just behind Sasuke.
"Oh, you know their names. Should be easy then." He riffled through the deck and then brought out one card.
"Who's is that?"
"Rock Lee's. I could not find the other one. We can search again later."
"Show me."
"OK. He's a year older than you guys. Mission history: D-rank: 20 completed, C-rank: 12 completed. His sensei is Gai. His taijutsu has improved greatly in this year, the rest is nothing impressive. Last year he gained attention as a talented new genin, but he did not participate in the exam. Like you guys, this is his first time. On his team are Hyuuga Neji and Tenten…"
"And Akki?"
"Like I said, I could not find it when searching just for names. I will try a full search for it now." He riffled through the cards again at lightning speed, before he held another card in front of him. "Let's see… name is Uzu—"
He stopped speaking because a hand had swiped the card out of his. Akki was holding the card and reading it with a glare. 'Nothing on there of importance except my name. I wonder how much of it he saw. Regardless, even if he does know, I will remove it from the card.' Using his fingernail, he quickly scraped off his name, and then, after taking out a pen, wrote in its stead 'Akuma-Gaki Akki'. He then tossed it back to an astonished looking Kabuto, who caught it quickly.
"Er… Right. Er… it says 'non-name: Akuma-Gaki Akki'. Let's see… Wow, 200 D-rank missions in such a short time! It should be impossible. Perhaps it is a misprint and it means 20? Even so, it is a lot for a rookie. And… what is this? An A-rank that has been upgraded from a C-rank? Remarkable. Notes: 'Container for the Kyuubi no Yoko, arguably a demon as a result. Consequently, he possesses rapid healing ability and, potentially, access to the Kyuubi's chakra, though it is not known whether that has happened. Graduated as the dead last of his year, only passing the initial exam due to intervention from the Sandaime himself. Was missing from Konoha for a full year between the ages of six and seven. What happened during this period is unknown. Treats most other people as social superiors. No known social network outside his team.' And then some more stuff, a lot of notes actually. And his skills… it looks like they are all below genin level. Not much else."
"Arigato," said Sasuke. 'The information is obviously out of date, but interesting nonetheless. Arguably? I thought it was a certainty. Missing for a year? What the hell happened then, and why would they let a demon loose for a year? And why do they not know what went on in the meantime? And what was that about his name? Uzu-something? Why does he want to keep it a secret? When he said he had no name, I took it literally…'
Suddenly, there was a 'bang' noise and a large puff of smoke at the front of the room, in front of the blackboard. A group of people had arrived, all in a uniform, with exception of the one who seemed to be the leader. He was wearing a black leather trench-coat and a hitai-ate that covered his whole scalp, and had scars across his face. After looking about the room a bit, he said, "Thanks for waiting. I am Morino Ibiki, the examiner for the chunin selection exam's first test. You are to obey me absolutely while the exam is in progress. We will now start the first test in the chunin exam. Instead of your current seating arrangements, you will pick one of these tabs and sit in the seat assigned to you. We will then hand out the exams."
X
After everyone had picked a tab for their seats, Akki found himself, by coincidence, next to Hinata. 'Obviously they should have thought up a better system, like assigning us numbers and ordering the places in advance,' he thought. She seemed to be blushing slightly from the proximity, and he was still uncomfortable with sitting this close to anyone.
"Do not turn your tests over," said Ibiki, at the front of the room by the blackboard, holding a piece of chalk. "Listen closely to what I am about to say." He started to write, saying out loud what he wrote down, or near so, "There are many important rules to this first test. I'll write it on the board while I explain, but questions will not be allowed, so listen carefully. The first rule. You guys will all start off with ten points. The test is made up ten questions and each one is worth a point, but this test uses a subtraction system. Basically, if you answer all the questions correctly, you keep your ten points, but, say, if you miss three questions, you lose three points and will have seven. The second rule: this is a team test. Whether you pass or not will be determined by the combined score of your team-mates. So, each team will compete to see how many points they can hold on to from the initial team total of 30. And now the most important rule: the third rule is that, during the exam, anyone caught by the testing officers doing sneaky activities, namely cheating, will have two points subtracted for every offence. So there will be some who will lose all their points during the exam and be asked to leave."
"We'll have our eyes on you guys," said one of the examiners. The others chuckled.
"Realise that the pathetic ones that get caught cheating will be destroying themselves. As shinobi trying to achieve the level of chunin, be proud ninja. And then we have the final rule… Those that lose all their points during the test and those that don't answer any questions correctly will be failed along with their two team-mates."
'Now it becomes interesting,' thought Akki. 'The rules are, altogether, a little odd though.'
"The exam will last one hour. BEGIN!"
x
x
x
A/N: Next time on Demon-Kid: Chunin-Shiken! What will happen to our heroes when they are attacked by the sinister Orochimaru? Will Sasuke escape his bite? Will Akki protect his team-mates? Will Hinata fall for our hero and so justify her presence in this fic? Will I stop doing this annoying parody at the end of each chapter? Find out next time, folks!
Jutsu list:
Kuchiyose no jutsu: Summoning technique
Kage bunshin no jutsu: Shadow Clone/Replication technique
Kawarimi no jutsu: Replacement technique
Gikochinai no jutsu: Stiffness technique
Hebi-hyouhi no jutsu: Snake skin technique
Sen'eijashu: Hidden shadow snake hands
Bunshin no jutsu: Clone/Replication technique
Jutsu shou: Technique neutralisation (Sarutobi used this in his fight against Orochimaru, against the third Edo Tensei)
Bunshin daibakuha no jutsu: Clone great explosion technique
Katon: Goukakyuu no jutsu: Fire style: Great Fireball technique
Ninpou: Kirigakure no jutsu: Ninja art: Hidden in the mist technique
Fuuton: Daitoppa: Wind style: Great breakthrough
Chikiri no jutsu: Blood mist technique
Shuriken Kage Bunshin no Jutsu: Shuriken Shadow Clone Technique
Shunshin no jutsu: Body flicker technique
Shiki Fujin: Dead Demon Consuming Seal, the seal that holds Kyubi within Naruto's body.
Raikiri: Lightning Edge
Translations:
Moushiwake arimasen is a very formal way of apologising.
Doumo arigatou gozaimashita is a very formal way of expressing thanks for a deed that has finished.
[1: Catullus 85. Very famous poem in Latin. Wasted weeks in school learning it, might as well use it. ;-)
