Disclaimer: Not mine, though if you like I can sell you --a nice bridge in San Francisco.
"Begin!"
It was nine thirty in the morning before Kakashi showed up. Even Naruto's patience was near the limit, though he hid it well. Sasuke and Sakura were both hidden in the surrounding trees, observing the man read his book. As for Naruto, he stood in the same position he had held since sunrise, back straight, feet shoulder width apart in a relaxed stance, arms casually folded across his chest as he examined the Jounin.
"You know, I think you're missing the point of this exercise."
No sooner had Kakashi finished speaking than Naruto exploded forward, a fierce Taijutsu battle ensued. Within the first few seconds of the assault Kakashi was forced to stow his book lest it be damaged. Backwards and forwards across the field they battled, even exchanging blows in mid air, suspended for several seconds at a time by the force of their blows and skilfully shifting their momentum.
After several minutes a brief respite occurred as Kakashi forced Naruto to back off with a complex combo, the blond bending backwards to avoid a high thrust kick that would have sent him high into the air before turning his backwards momentum into a flip to avoid the hand attempting to grasp his left foot. Barely half way through the flip Naruto was forced to twist in mid-air to avoid the axe hand from above and the roundhouse kick that followed, barely avoiding it as he hung upside-down. The force of the other knee slamming into his crossed arms as he still hung upside-down sent him flying.
Kakashi watched as the Genin gracefully twisted in the air to land in a crouch facing him, the force of the blow causing Naruto to slide backwards several metres.
'Where the hell did this kid learn Taijutsu? He's at least Tokubetsu level in skill, and I've never seen this style before.'
Standing up slowly Naruto fell into a relaxed ready stance, hands curled and hanging loosely at the wrists, right hand parallel to his shoulders near his centreline, covering his throat whilst his left was low in the centreline, covering his solar plexus.
Seeing the Genin waiting for him to attack, a devious thought entered Kakashi's perverted mind. In a flash he was crouched behind Naruto, his hands in the Tiger seal as though in preparation for a Katon Jutsu.
Naruto's eyes widened in surprise as his head whipped to the side to catch sight of the masked Jounin.
'That speed! I barely saw him move!'
"Looks like you've left your rear unguarded. Konohagakure Hiden Taijutsu Ōugi: Sennen Goroshi!"
With that Kakashi thrust his hands forward in an attempt poke Naruto in the ass from behind. Moving as fast as he had ever before, Naruto used a spinning sidestep to avoid the attack, leaving an icy afterimage in his place. As soon as the Jounin's hands touched the sculpture it dissipated, revealing that it was merely a construct of energy rather than the solid ice-sculpture it appeared to be.
'Was that a Kawirami of some sort, or a Genjutsu?'
Kakashi wasn't given any time to ponder this as Naruto continued his spinning motion to lash out with a heel kick aimed to break the copy-nin's ribs. It wasn't until he tried to block this attack by grabbing the limb that he realised his hands were stuck together.
The brief moment of confusion and break in his co-ordination as his body attempted to do something it was currently incapable of was just enough for the blow to connect, knocking the air from Kakashi's lungs as he rolled with the force of the blow, taking the opportunity to put some distance between himself and his opponent before examining his hands.
"What the hell?" Kakashi muttered to himself as he took in the state of his hands.
From the tip of the Tiger seal to slightly past his wrists his hands were encased in a thin, hard layer of ice holding them in place as effectively as stone, a cold numbness pervading his hands that he had not noticed before.
"How do you like my Zero-Image technique? It's a little something the head of my clan taught me for slowing down an enemy."
Kakashi raised his eye in a lazy half lidded stare as he used his conveniently Tiger sealed hands to concentrate the chakra for a basic Katon Jutsu to thaw out his hands somewhat.
"Pretty impressive," said Kakashi as he flexed his hands slowly, attempting to get some blood flowing in the cold and stiff digits, "I'm surprised a Genin can use a technique like that, especially without seals. Is it some sort of Kekkei Genkai?"
"No, it is a technique anyone with the correct training can learn. I still haven't mastered it yet though. If I had, your entire body would have been turned to ice, the blood frozen in your veins. As it is, your hands are likely stiff and painful. Makes it a little hard to use Jutsu, eh Sensei?" Naruto replied with amusement clear in his voice.
Kakashi studied his potential subordinate carefully as he absorbed this new information.
'Could he have been waiting for me to try something like that just to make it harder for me to use Jutsu? Smart move, whether it was planned or just taking advantage of the situation, my Jutsu will be slower and less effective by at least sixty percent for the next half hour or so, my Taijutsu will be weakened as well. Maybe I shouldn't have told them to come at me with killer intent…'
Suddenly his body was pierced by a half dozen shuriken as Sasuke attempted a surprise attack from the trees.
From his new vantage point in the canopy of a nearby tree Kakashi watched as Sasuke fled from his position once he realised the Jounin had used Kawirami.
'Well, time to get back to work. Let's see how pinky does. First Lesson: Genjutsu'
'I can't believe that bastard tried to poke me in the ass!'
Naruto was pissed, moving through the forest like a ghost, blending with the shadows as he shifted smoothly through the undergrowth, occasionally taking to the canopy, his movements leaving no trace of his passing, silent and invisible as anything more than another shifting shadow amongst the trees to any but the most skilled observers, so great was his stealth.
'Alright, the fucking Cyclops is over that way, and the clearing where we met is that way, so…'
Concentrating on the task at hand, Naruto quickly set to turning the area between Kakashi's present location near the other two Genin and the meeting place into a gauntlet of traps composed of and hidden by the woods themselves. Screw the bells, if Kakashi wanted killer intent, Naruto would dance at his funeral.
'Try and poke my ass motherfucker…'
'That was… kind of disappointing,' Kakashi thought mildly as he walked leisurely away from the clearing where he had recently faced off against the last of the Uchiha Clan, leaving the boy buried up to his neck underground and fuming.
'With her academy scores, Sakura should have been able to pick up a simple Magen: Narakumi no Jutsu and dispel it easily. The level of Kunoichi is really going downhill, if she was the best in her class.'
Flipping a page in his book, the cyclopic Jounin giggled perversely at the full page artwork of his Hentai Manga before continuing his thought process.
'Sasuke has a lot of potential though, low Chuunin level chakra capacity at least, good analytical and tactical thinking, a good grasp of the Uchiha Taijutsu style and he will definitely be a Ninjutsu specialist if that Goukakyuu no Jutsu is any indication. Even if I don't pass this team maybe I should take him on as an apprentice…'
The Jounin's musing was cut short as he stepped lightly on a patch of grass and heard a twig crunch underfoot, causing him to pause a moment as his finely honed senses screamed for him to move at the out of place sound. As a high ranking shinobi it was subconscious for him to tread softly and silently, especially after his time spent in Anbu, so hearing such a noise set off his danger sense instantly.
It's lucky it did as well since shortly after jumping to the right the space he had previously occupied was filled with a dozen sharpened wooden stakes.
Kakashi didn't have long to examine this however, as soon as his feet touched down on the branch he had aimed for it collapsed beneath his weight, leaving him off balance as he began to freefall. Reorienting himself his single eye widened in shock as he quickly used Kawirami to avoid the stake filled pit in the bushes beneath him.
Taking a moment to catch his breath and stow his book, Kakashi set to examining the situation from his new location amongst the upper canopy of the forest.
'Those traps were way above Genin level, closer to what I would expect from a Jounin trying to conserve their ninja tools. The only one who had time to set these up was…'
His thoughts were interrupted yet again as his weight on the branch finally set off the time release on the next trap, a thick tree branch striking him from his blindside and acting as a catapult, sending him careening toward the ground face first. Grabbing a hold of another branch as he sailed past, the copy-nin was barely able to avoid a large log swinging like a battering ram directly at him as he hung from the tree one handed. Thinking quickly, Kakashi decided the ground was far safer than the trees, judging by the fact that every branch he touched seemed to set off some trap.
Looking up from his place within a small dip in the land between several trees, Kakashi idle pulled out his Icha- Icha Paradise as the branch he dropped from was turned to splinters from the collision of the log. Opening to the last page he had read, the chronically late one-eyed pervert student of the Yondaime Hokage hadn't travelled three steps before the sound of groaning wood filled his ears.
With a sigh the Jounin tucked away his book once more, lamenting over the loss of his reading time before turning to the source of the sound, his mouth dropping open as he saw the trees surrounding the small dip in the earth where he stood falling towards him, the jagged stumps of several branches threatening to skewer him, if the trunks didn't crush him at least.
'Yep, definitely shouldn't have told them to come at me with killer intent. Note to self: don't piss off Naruto. Maybe I should apologise for trying to use Sennen Goroshi on him…' Kakashi thought nervously as he prepared himself to risk life and limb to get back to training field seven.
The Hokage's office was quite as the old man finished signing the last few pieces of paperwork for the day before moving on to address the three Jounin standing before him. Taking a moment to light his pipe and take a few puffs before speaking.
"Report."
The first to step forward was Yuuhi Kurenai, one of the youngest Jounin kunoichi in the village and a talented Genjutsu mistress.
"Team Eight, pass. Aburame Shino has established himself as team tactician, his logical mind well suited to the role. Inuzuka Kiba is brash and immature but powerful for his age. Hyuuga Hinata shows great promise but lacks confidence. I think that given time to grow together they could become a formidable team."
With that the red eyed kunoichi stepped back into place as the next in line stepped forward.
"I, Sarutobi Asuma pass Team Ten and accept the responsibility of becoming their Jounin sensei. The Ino-Shika-Cho trio of this generation should be interesting."
The son of the Sandaime then resumed his place in line, a cigarette hanging limply from between his lips.
"Hatake Kakashi, Jounin-sensei of Team Seven. My team… pass."
The rest of the room was shocked as the lazy (and rather dishevelled) Jounin drawled out his approval.
"Finally passed a team, eh Kakashi? These gaki must be something else."
Suddenly a green blur streaked towards a point to the left of the Icha-Icha Paradise reading scarecrow, resolving itself into the form of the jumpsuit clad Maito Gai.
"So it's true, my hip rival has taken on his own Youthful students! But Kakashi-san, my Flames of Youth burn brighter than ever! I shall be a superior sensei and defeat you, my Eternal rival! If I fail, I will run five hundred times around Konoha with a boulder on my back!"
Kakashi glanced lazily at the new arrival before returning to his book.
"Hmm? You say something?"
Gai wept.
"Ooh, so hip!"
The Sandaime coughed lightly to regain everyone's attention.
"Kakashi, please continue."
With a nod the copy-nin did as asked, his eyes never leaving his book as he spoke in a lazy drawl.
"Uchiha Sasuke is definitely a genius, his skills in Taijutsu and Ninjutsu close to Chuunin level, he shows some potential. Haruno Sakura gives kunoichi a bad name, her skills are barely enough to pass the academy and her sole concern in life is Uchiha Sasuke. The only reason she is a Genin is because of her book smarts. Naruto… is unusual."
"How so?" asked the senior Sarutobi with curiosity.
Kakashi looked towards the ceiling a moment in thought before answering, his eyes drifting back to the orange book he loved as he did so.
"Naruto has the Taijutsu skills of a Tokubetsu Jounin, but lacks the speed and strength he should have at that level. He has Ninjutsu techniques I've never seen before and more Chakra then everyone in this room combined but he doesn't seem to know the simplest of Jutsu such as Kawirami or Shunshin. He lacks weapon skills but in stealth and traps he is good enough to elude even me. Oh yeah, he doesn't use hand-seals either."
While the rest of the room was once again in shock at this revelation the Hokage was thoughtful.
'Interesting. If Gai were willing to lend out some of his seal-weights and Kakashi to keep up the boy on Ninjutsu… all I need to do now is find someone to teach the boy Fuuinjutsu and he would be a truly worthy successor to his father.'
The third smiled as he dismissed the ninja in the room, wondering as he did where he had placed the Yondaime's family scroll. Ah well, it would turn up eventually.
A little over a month had passed since Team Seven began performing 'Missions.' They were really little more than chores that the villagers were either unable to complete themselves for one reason or another-or things the villagers were too lazy to do themselves.
'I'm sick of this, I've been doing assassinations, protecting royalty and breaking into secure installations for four years and now they want me to baby-sit some damn toddlers or look for a stupid cat?! We haven't even been training thanks to that damn lazy sensei.'
Judging from his thoughts one could safely say that Naruto was annoyed with his current circumstances as Team Seven awaited their latest assignment, though it was impossible to discern by an outside observer.
"Let's see here… we have babysitting for the Noma family, capturing the cat belonging to the Daimyo's wife or mucking out the Inuzuka kennels. I think…"
Naruto had reached the limit of his patience, as had the rest of his team.
"Hokage-sama," interrupted Naruto, "we have been doing these chores for over a month now. I request a higher level mission."
The Hokage looked over the group before coming to a decision.
"Kakashi, do you think your team is ready for a higher rank mission?" he asked.
"Hai," the copy-nin replied negligently.
"Very well," said the Hokage, "Team Seven will be assigned to the C-Rank mission of escorting the bridge builder Tazuna to wave country. Send in the client."
The door to the briefing room slid open to admit a middle aged man, Sake bottle in hand and obviously drunk.
"So you punks are gonna protect me? Che, you might as well kill me now to save the trouble later. And what the hell is with the facemask kid? You so ugly ya gotta wear that mask to get the ladies? Hahahahaha."
Kakashi decided to interrupt before Naruto did something that would cause the Jounin more paperwork, though the boy seemed surprisingly calm in the face of the insult... on second thought he shouldn't have really expected any reaction at all.
"Team Seven will be escorting you. They may be only Genin but I'm a Jounin so we should be able to handle anything we come across in a C-Rank mission."
Turning his attention to his waiting team the copy-nin continued.
"Meet outside the East Gate in an hour; make sure you bring enough supplies for a month. Dismissed."
With that the number one fan of Icha-Icha Paradise disappeared in a puff of smoke, Team Seven moving casually past the mumbling form of the bridge builder. No one noticed as Naruto gently touched the base of the Sake bottle in Tazuna's hand whilst moving past the drunken man.
"Damn gaki's and stupid sensei, a whole hour I have ta lug this stuff…"
The man's mumbling trailed of incoherently as he raised his Sake bottle to his lips, taking a large gulp of the liquid… before spitting it out with disgust.
"WHAT THE HELL?! I hate cold Sake! But I coulda sworn this was warm a minute ago…"
Author's Notes
Zero-Image
This technique creates an after-image effect that appears as an ice sculpture in the form of the user. When an opponent comes into contact with the image the construct collapses, channelling the energy through their body and freezing them solid, their blood turned to ice. Requires a high level of mastery in Sub-Zero manipulation as the image is created around the user in order to conform to their image and they then must step out of the technique before it is collapsed by the enemy, all in less than a second. If a single part of the technique is miss-timed or performed incorrectly, the user may find themselves falling victim to their own technique, becoming an ice sculpture themselves.
(Like the ice clone from Mortal Kombat. I can't call it a clone because it isn't a clone in the Naruto-verse sense and is more like an afterimage. Naruto knows this technique but doesn't have the same level of proficiency as Sub-Zero…yet.)
Chakra Natures and the Nature of Chakra
Chakra is closely related in basic form to both a muscle and spirit energy, both which can be trained to grow stronger or more abundant or behave in a particular way. Similarly Chakra, through repeated use in a certain way, can be trained to perform specific actions more easily-much like muscle memory-and all uses of Chakra cause the Chakra reserves to grow larger and more potent. Like those who have a great deal of strength, those who have a great deal of Chakra must be careful how much of it they use lest they unintentionally harm themselves or others.
Chakra Natures are an application of the "muscle memory" of Chakra. Through repeated use of certain techniques, such as creating fire with Katon Jutsu or wind with Fuuton Jutsu, Chakra will more easily be able to change itself to cause these effects. So, as a person uses certain types of techniques more often either from personal preference or necessity, techniques of a similar nature/element become easier to perform and require less concentration and energy on the part of the user.
This does not mean that people without training do not have a Chakra Nature of their own however, as it can be passed down through family lines in the same manner as physical characteristics. For example, if a person's father had a Fire element Chakra Nature it is more likely that they will have the same at the moment of birth. This is especially apparent in the Uchiha clan who have a strong propensity for Fire natured Chakra. Once a person has a particular Chakra nature/element they have it for life, even if they do not use it. However, like muscle memory can be trained for multiple actions so too can Chakra be trained for multiple Natures.
As varying levels of muscle memory exist, so too do varying level of Chakra Natures, such that though two people might have the same element Chakra Nature, they will not have the same ability for Katon Jutsu, for instance, though practice and training can improve that ability. So practice hard and you may one day be a master of Element Manipulation through Chakra Natures.
P.S. I hate the ass poke known as Sennen Goroshi. And ass poking in general. Ass poking is WRONG! Don't poke the ass! Motherfucker!
