XxXWeAsHumanXxX: Welcome to Chapter 2! I do not own Naruto, and thanks for reading! If you see any mistakes, let me know!
Ich putte gern meine Katze! Deutsch ist ganz toll!
Naruto's POV:
My eyes cracked open slightly. Outside, the sky was a dark and the stars tinkled slightly. The light in my room was dimmed slightly so I could rest comfortably. I looked at a package that rested on my bedside table and picked it up carefully and peeled the wrapping off.
What first caught my eye was a note addressed to 'Dobe'. I immediately crumbled the note and threw it into the waste bin. Is he trying to apologize?
Sighing, I stood and carefully walked to the trash can. I unwrinkled the note, and it read:
Dobe,
I was going I give you this myself, but I'm banned from seeing you due to your outburst, so I had Sakura give this to you.
The mission I was assigned to by the Hokage was to obtain a special herb that only grew in the Cloud Village. This herb is used to treat people with illnesses like yours and extend the little amount of time they have left. Inside the package is the herbs that we collected.
About Sakura and I, I didn't expect for that to happen. Though I may not like it, I have to take responsibility.
I gritted my teeth. That bastard. I continued reading the letter.
She might not be the ideal woman, but the strings are tied and there's no going back now.
It was a moment of weakness in my part. I was feeling lonely and she was just there.
You'd probably make a much better father than I, but you won't be around that much longer.
If they let me visit, I will. But until then, goodbye.
Sasuke Uchiha
Are you kidding me? I skimmed over the letter again. I ripped the letter into pieces and tossed them aside. They fluttered slowly to the ground like small snow flakes. I blinked an looked around my room.
In the corner there was dozens of presents and balloons. On the wall, the calendar read 'October 15th'. I laughed lightly. I'm 18 now... and I slept through my birthday. Tears sprung from my eyes and dripped into the tiles.
I shakily walked to the pile of gifts and crouched besides them.
Inside the first gift, there was a new ninja headband. I tossed it to the side. That's not going to be of much use anymore.
In the next present, there was a knitted red scarf. It looked handmade. The individual knits were somewhat skewed to the right.
Inside the other presents, there was a green jumpsuit, some vitamins, chakra pills, a new frog wallet-mine was getting worn out-, some new sandals, and another jumpsuit, but this one had 'THE POWER OF YOUTH' stitched into the front of the green spandex.
I smiled slightly and put the gifts into a neat pile, save for the headband that laid in the middle of the floor untouched. I picked it up and brushed my fingers over the leaf symbol, tracing it, and tossed it into the trash.
I have no need for it anymore.
Konohamaru burst into my hospital room with a look of disbelief etched into his youthful face. A nurse had a frustrated expression.
"Visiting hours are closed after six!" He ignored her and trained his brown orbs into my blue ones.
"You dying?" His weak voice broke the chaotic nurses scolding and she silenced.
"I'll leave you two be for five minutes, but no more than that!" Her eyes held sympathy as she briefly gazed at me while she shut the door behind her.
I looked away from Konahamaru's teary gaze and focused on my white bed sheets.
"I just got back from a mission-" He sniffled. "A-and I heard some of the villagers talking about... about your illness." I stayed silent. "It-It isn't fair!" He suddenly yelled causing my to look at him and my heart ached painfully. he rubbed some tears from his eyes.
"Konahamaru..."
"W-we're supposed to be competing for the title of Hokage!"
"Konohamaru, I can't..."
"You never give up!" He screeched while more tears pooled down his cheeks. "That's your ninja way!"
"That was my ninja way." He stared at me in disbelief.
"T-this isn't you. My Boss would never give up... No matter what!" I stood angrily and almost tipped over.
"I can't!" He looked like he was going to interrupt, but I cut him off. "Look at me! I can't even form a simple shadow clone anymore! My-" my voice cracked. " My legs can barely support me anymore!"
"But-" I took a deep breath and collapsed onto my bed.
"What am I suppose to do?" I whispered to him.
He was silent.
"Boys, five minutes are up." Konohamaru looked as if he wanted to say something, but he kept his mouth shut as he was escorted out by the nurse.
Satou walked in and sat in the stool besides me.
"Sit up." I did as instructed, and he pushed cold metal of the stethoscope against my inner elbow (What is that called?). He whistled. "What's got you so worked up?" I gave him a blank look and he just sighed and applied disinfectant to my bicep. Satou inserted the needle and placed a bandage onto the puncture sight. He stood and left the room without another word.
I sagged into my hard pillow and looked outside at the setting sun. Slowly, my eyes closed and I drifted off into a light slumber.
The individual blades of grass under my feet tickled slightly as I slowly stumbled along the dirt path.
I chuckled lowly. Those stupid nurses will never find me here. The terrain smeared mud against my pale, bony feet, leaving a dark contrast.
The early morning sun was steadily rising above the hill of children's park I was currently inhabiting. A spare squirrel or two would scamper against the muddy terrain and gracefully leap from tree to tree.
The birds chirped a peaceful tune as they awoke from their slumber and stretched their wings to take flight.
I leaned against the rough back of a tree, the sun gently shining against my cheeks. The orange sky contrasted with the dark night that was currently retreating.
I twirled a blade of grass in my fingertips and smiled at the sheer simplicity in this situation.
"Heh. Stupid Satou and those nurses are probably looking for me right now..." I folded my hands behind my head.
The wind softly brushed my face and caused the trees to sway softly.
"Oi, Naruto-baka..." I looked up to the masculine voice.
He walk slowly up to me, his white furred companion trailing close behind him. His wild brown hair swayed along with the wind and his face stretched into a wide grin.
"What're you doing here Kiba?" He stopped a few meters in front of me.
"I'm part of the tracker nin assigned to find your rebellious ass." I grumbled lowly.
"I thought it would've taken you awhile longer to find me..."
"Not with Akamaru and I. We can smell you a mile away!"
Dammit... I crossed my arms stubbornly.
"I don't want to go back yet." Kiba rolled his brown eyes.
"I know you don't, but you have to." I gritted my teeth
"I hate being in that hospital! I understand that I'm dying and I have to be hospitalized,, but why do I have to be cooped up in that damn place until I kick the bucket?" I dug my fingers into the mud.
"You don't have a choice..." I growled.
"What am I?! Some animal that you all can keep confined!?" Kiba's face contorted from a relaxed and peaceful expression into an angry and hurt one.
"Why would you think that?! We're just trying to keep you safe."
"Well Stop." I stood quickly and my knees shook, and I struggled to walk away with whatever dignity I had left.
"Naruto..." I felt a sharp stinging sensation in my neck. "I'm sorry it had to come to this." He returned the syringe to his pouch and picked me up. I struggled to keep consciousness.
The last thing I remember is the bird overhead, singing a mournful tune as it soared overhead.
My eyes peeled open after much difficulty and I peered at my hospital room. I attempted to sit up, but found that I was unable. On my wrists and ankles there were buckled straps securing me to the bed.
Out of my blurry vision, I could see Satou jotting down something on his clipboard and I tried to blink away the fogginess, but to no avail.
Satou noticed my awakening and he pressed his lips into a thin line.
"You should be able to think and see more clearly in a few hours or so..."
I turned my attention to the bright overhead lights above me. The brightness of them blinded me slightly and I clenched my eye lids shut.
"Go back to sleep." Though I didn't want to sleep, it seemed as though an alien force propelled me into unconsciousness.
The next time I awoke, I found Tsunade-baa-chan and Shizune besides my bed. They were talking, and were completely unaware of my awakening.
"That fool..." Tsunade took a swig of her sake. Shizune 'tsked' lowly and grabbed the bottle.
"No drinking right now." She chastised Tsunade as if she was a child. The blond woman pouted, but otherwise let it go.
"Naruto... Is such an idiot sometimes." She sat in the stool besides my bed and put her head into her hands. Shizune fiddled with the hem of her skirt silently.
"What did I do?" The Hokage jumped in surprise and turned to face me. She had a saddened look in her brown eyes.
"Naruto, some results came in." I attempted to sit up, but I was still strapped to the bed. "Oh, sorry..." She unbuckled the straps and I massaged my sore wrists after I sat up.
"What did you find?" I wasn't even sure I wanted I know.
"We roughly determined how much time you have left..." I stayed silent and gave her my full attention. "Your illness is progressing at a much faster pace than anything I've seen before. Most of the patients with a terminal illness last up to a year, or close to that." She adjusted her position to a more comfortable one.
"..." I clenched my fist tightly making my knuckles turn white.
"You have around five months left at the most. There's only a 1.7% chance of you surviving for six months."
Shizune bent her head and stared at the floor and followed Tsunade out of my room without another word.
My fist clenched tighter and I slammed it onto my mattress.
"Dammit!" A few tears ran down my face. It's not fair... I was suppose to prove everyone wrong and become Hokage. To gain everyone's recognition and approval.
Yet here I am. Sitting in a hospital. I'm as threatening as a butterfly. I hastily wiped the tears off my face and picked up the scarf from my bedside table. I wrapped the scarf around my neck.
The red wool scratched against my neck and irritated my skin. The crimson of it contrasted greatly with my pale skin.
I sunk into my pillow and sulked.
In the academy building's classroom, Sakura, Sasuke, and I were to wait for our Sensei. Every other freshly graduated Genin's Sensei had already arrived.
Sasuke was currently sitting in the first row of one of the desks with a blank expression on his face.
Sakura was standing a little ways away from the bastard Uchiha. She kept glancing at him occasionally and giggled some too.
I growled lowly and grabbed the chalkboard eraser and situated a chair next to the door. Standing on the chair, I carefully wedged the eraser in between the sliding door and the wall.
"That's what you get for being so late!" I chuckled childishly and stepped off the stool, and returned the chair to it's rightful position.
"Geez..." Sakura muttered. "I'm not involved." I glanced at her, slightly hurt, and noticed the smile she was trying to repress.
"Pft." Sasuke began behind his interlaced hands. His eyes looked from me to my trap boredly. "Like a Jounin would fall for such a simple booby trap..."
A few moments after that statement, a hand with black fingerless gloves pushed the door open. He stuck his head in and the chalkboard eraser fell right into his messy mop of grey hair.
I burst into a fit of laughter and held my stomach. "You fell for it!"
"I'm sorry Sensei, I tried to stop him, but Naruto..."
Sasuke slouched forwards slightly from disappointment.
"How can I say this...?" He stroked his imaginary beard in a thoughtful manner. "My first impression is..."
The three of us turned our attention to our Jounin Sensei.
"I don't like you guys." We fell into a semi-depressed silence. So much for a good impression.
The Jounin clapped his gloved hands.
"We'll meet on the roof for introductions." He formed some hand signs and disappeared into a puff of smoke.
The sky was a light blue and some white clouds passed peacefully overhead.
The male Jounin leaned against the railing of the roof and had a bored expression etched onto his face, well, the visible portion of his face.
"Okay, Let's begin with some introductions."
"What do you want to know?" Sakura said from Sasuke's opposite side.
"How about your likes, dislikes, dreams for the future, hobbies... Stuff like that."
"Hey, hey! Why don't you introduce yourself to us first?!"
"Yeah, you look suspicious." The Jounin pointed a finger to himself.
"Oh... Me? My name is Hatake Kakashi. I have no desire to tell you guys about my likes and dislikes. Dreams for the future...? Hmm... Well I have lots of hobbies..."
We sweat-dropped.
"So all we learned..." Sakura said. "Was his name?"
"Now it's your turn, from the right." I grinned widely and adjusted my headband unconsciously as I spoke.
"Me, me! My name is Uzumakii Naruto! I like cup ramen. What I like even more is the restaurant ramen Iruka-Sensei buys me.
"What I dislike is waiting three minutes for the cup ramen to cook.
"My dream..." I took a deep breath. "Is to surpass the Hokage! And for all the people in this village to acknowledge my existence!"
Kakashi-Sensei's eyes widened slightly, but he quickly returned to the bored stare he had earlier.
"Hobbies... Pranks I guess." The Jounin scratched the back of his head.
"I see... Next." Sasuke glared at nothing and leaned his usual position: Elbows on his knees with his fingers interlaced, blocking most of his face from view. I seriously don't see what Sakura-chan sees in this moody bastard.
"My name is Uchiha Sasuke. There are tons of things I dislike but I don't really like anything. And... I don't want to use the word 'dream', but... I have an ambition. The resurrection of my clan, and...to kill a certain man."
The wind rushed by ominously an I leaned back, a dribble of sweat rolling down my hairline. I hope he didn't mean me...
"Okay. And lastly, the girl." Sakura blushed and shifted slightly from side to side with her arms pressed against her chest.
"I'm Haruno Sakura, the thing I like is... Well the person I like is..." She giggled and gazed dreamily at the emo prick. "Um... Should I say dream for the future...? Oh my!" She squealed and covered her face from view with her clenched fist. Her happy persona dropped, and she lowered her fist. "The thing I dislike... Is Naruto."
I fell from the steps with anime tears dripping down my cheeks.
"My hobby is..." She blushed more and dreamily looked at the raven once more. (Geez... Why don't you spell it out to him? 'I wanna rape Sasquey-kun~~~~~~~~')
"That's enough of that. We will start out duties tomorrow." I cheered.
"What kinds of duties?! Duties, duties!"
"First," He crossed his arms over his chest. "we're going to do something with just the four of us."
"What, what?!" The three of us leaned closer to him slightly, eager to hear our first mission.
"Survival training."
"Survival training?" Sasuke stayed silent, but had a slightly annoyed look cross his face for a moment.
"Why is out duty training? We did enough training at the Ninja Academy."
"I'm your opponent, but this isn't normal training..."
"Then! Then! What is it?!"
Our new Sensei suddenly lowered his head and laughed.
"Hey! What's so funny Sensei?" Sakura pressed nervously.
"No... Well... It's just that... When I tell you this, you guys are definitely going to flip."
"Flip?" I questioned.
"Of the twenty-seven graduates, only nine will be chosen as Genin. The rest will be sent back to the Academy. This training is a super difficult exam with a failure rate of over sixty-six percent!"
"Ehhhh?!" Sakura and I uttered in unison.
He laughed again.
"I told you you'd flip."
"What the hell?! But we worked so hard... Then what was the point of graduating?!"
"Oh, that? That's just to select those that have the chance to become Genin."
"Uhh! What?!"
"Anyway, tomorrow you will be graded on the training field. Bring all your Shinobi tools." I was still simmering. "Oh, and skip breakfast, you'll throw up."
I was shaking with nerves. I can't fail here! I'll have to kick Kakashi-Sensei's ass and have him recognize my strength! No, no seriously!
"The details can be read in this printout. Don't be late tomorrow." Sasuke and I reached for the papers while Sakura whined in nervousness.
"Ehh?! Throw up? Is is that tough?!" Sakura squeeled in nervousness.
I peered at the paper. There's too much Kanji!
We arrived at exactly six in the morning, just as the printout instructed. Our stomachs were empty, and mine was already growling.
Yet Kakashi-Sensei is no where in sight.
As time passed, the sun steadily rose to around midpoint in the sky, and the birds and other animals where lively and gathering food.
A few squirrels scampered in front of us, and I considered cooking it over a bonfire.
A familiar puff of smoke brought out attention forward and a Jounin waved with a closed-eye smile.
"Your late!" Sakura and I hollered.
"Good morning."
The trees shook with the wind, and our Sensei set an alarm clock on the top o one of the wooden stumps.
"Okay, it's set for noon." He took two bells out of his pocket. "Here are two bells. Your task is to take these from me before noon. Those who cannot get a bell before noon... get no lunch.
"I'll not only tie you to one of those stumps, but I'll eat right in front of you."
Dammit. That's why he told us not to eat... My stomach growled lowly and I clutched the orange fabric of my jacket.
"You only need to get one bell. There are only two, so one of you will definitely be tied to a stump." He shook the bells. "And... The person who doesn't take a bell fails. So at least one of you will be sent back to the Academy.
I gulped and clenched my fist. I have to get a bell.
"You can even use your Shuriken. You won't succeed unless you come at me intending to kill me." He clenched the bells into his fist.
"But... You'll be in danger!"
"Yeah, your so slow you can't even dodge a blackboard eraser! We'll kill you!" I put my hands behind my head smugly.
"In the real world, those with no talent often bark the loudest. Well, ignore Mr. Dead Last and start when I say..."
Dead Last, Dead last, Dead Last!? My eye twitched and I pulled a Kunai out of my weapon pouch, twirling the handle on my middle finger before I gripped the weapon tightly. I charged at the Jounin, but before I hit him, he disappeared behind me and twisted my hand that held my Kunai behind my head.
"Slow down... I haven't said 'start' yet." He paused for a moment. "Well, it seems like you're prepared to come at me with the intention to kill. So you've finally acknowledged me?
"Hehe... It seems like... I'm beginning to like you guys.
"Okay, let's get going. Ready...
"Start!"
Konohamaru had visited again. Actually, he's been visiting consistently for the past three weeks on fridays.
Usually when he visits, he tells me stories about his missions, or new techniques he's learned. Konohamaru is a Jounin now, meaning he can go on C, B, and low class A rank missions.
"The mission I was just on was to protect a merchant from enemy nin or thugs while he was traveling to the land of Lightning.
"We encountered a whole group of Rouge nin, low level Chunin I believe.
"Udon guarded the merchant, while Moegi and I fought the Rouges." He used lots of hand gestures while he told his tale.
"I took down four or five in one hit with my Rasengan, and Moegi took down some with her ground style, mud slide! (Im just making Moegi's shit up, okay)
"After that. we didn't really run into anyone else, and we completed our mission!"
A nurse poked his head in the door.
"Five more minutes."
Konohamaru stood and stretched his back, making it crack and pop in certain places.
"I'll see you next Friday." I gave him a small smile with my chapped lips.
"See you."
Honestly, I live for everyone's visits. If they didn't come by, I'd probably die of boredom. I relaxed into my covers, and smiled lightly. Tomorrow, I was allowed to go to the park with Ms. Judy, one of the nurses.
Satou walked in and gave me my prescription, and my shots. On his way out, he dimmed the lights and instructed me to get some rest.
XxXWeAsHumanXxX: Damn you log...