Scarlet Kunai
By Ginta and Hakakku Fangirl
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, or any of the characters
A/N: Original Character's name is Kyoko, female, only a few months older than Uchiha Sasuke, no Kekki Genkai, ANBU-ranked kinoichi, more info in story.
Rated M for violence, language, lime, maybe IMPLIED lemon
*I may have to "rearrange" some events, in order for this fic to make sense.
Hey! Okay, since this is original character, I'm going to post a link to a picture of her, it's on Deviant Art, the link is on my profile page. I just put up a few more, one of which includes Sasuke-kun and Itachi-sama another is a picture from Kyoko's preliminary round for the Chunin Exams, it's really good.
Chapter Six: Nostalgia and Training On the Road
"We reach the Village Hidden in the Stones tomorrow," Kakashi said, shaking Naruto wake. "As we're only retrieving documents from their Kage, I doubt that we'll come across any trouble. However, I think that we should be prepared, just in case."
"What do you mean, 'prepared?'" Sasuke asked.
"Since Kyoko-san has never fought with us before, we're going to train together today in two-man groups. After a while, we'll trade partners, until all five of us have worked together for at least an hour."
Naruto nodded.
"Uh-huh…so, who trains with who?"
"You'll train first with Sakura-chan, while I go over our gear and sharpen weapons. Sasuke, Kyoko-san…you two work together."
Kyoko scowled; so did Sasuke. Kakashi sighed and beckoned for both Sasuke Kyoko to walk with him, as Naruto and Sakura immediately began to practice her Ginjutsu and his chakra control.
"Kyoko-san, I've already told Sasuke you became a genin four years before everyone else your age."
"Anything else, Sempai?"
"Why do you call Kakashi 'sempai?'" Sasuke asked.
"He's not my sensei, he's a fellow shinobi."
"Whatever."
Kakashi cleared his throat loudly. "To answer your question, Kyoko-san, I also told him how you were another victim of the Mangekyo Sharingan, how long you were in the hospital, and where you were after that."
"The Fire Temple?"
"Hai. And I'm sure that Sasuke has quite a few questions to bomb you with. Question each other all you like, but Sasuke?"
"What?"
"Don't get too personal about the past."
"Hn."
"And I told you not to make that noise."
"Tch."
"That's better."
XXX
"So…what did you want to ask me, Sasuke-kun?" Kyoko asked, after Kakashi had taken half their weapons to inspect, leaving them the other half to train with.
"What's the real reason you use Water Clones instead of Shadow Clones?" Sasuke asked, making hand signs for his Fire Style Jutsu.
"I already told Naruto-kun, my Water Clones are stronger. Do you want me to show you?"
"It might convince me that's the only reason."
"Fine. Water Clone Jutsu!" Kyoko said, producing a single clone, who looked at her expectantly. "Shadow Clone Jutsu!"
"I don't see any difference," Sasuke said.
"Fight them."
"What?"
"Fight them," Kyoko repeated. "Then you'll see what I mean."
"Okay…"
"Use your Sharingan," Kyoko said. "You'll see it faster."
"Fire Style! Fireball Jutsu!"
Both Water and Shadow Clones jumped out of the way, but one slightly faster than the other, Sasuke noted, looking closely with his Sharingan.
"Throw weapons!" Kyoko commanded, joining her clones in the "fight." "We can train while I prove my point. You now which is which, right?"
"Yeah, I can tell!" Sasuke said, running ahead on the path while drawing his shuriken.
"Duck!" Kyoko's Shadow Clone yelled at her, while her Water Clone threw a kunai at Sasuke.
"Here!" Kyoko dug into her bag and threw a shuriken at Sasuke; he actually smiled.
"Demon Wind Shuriken!" He threw it straight between both Clones, who dodged. There was a puff of smoke, but no water.
"You hit the Shadow Clone," Kyoko panted. "My Water Clones are always faster. And they can take more than one hit before vanishing. You got my Water Clone too, see."
She pointed to her double's ankle. Looking closely, Sasuke could see a cut; but water, instead of blood, dribbled down the Clone's foot. Kyoko dismissed her clone, which fell into a puddle before soaking into the road.
"I see," Sasuke said.
"My turn to ask a question," Kyoko said, pulling out her water flask.
"What?"
"What's with glaring at me all the time? It's annoying."
"I'm not glaring."
"Not now, but you were."
"Tch."
"I can't help what happened in the past, Sasuke-kun. The Hokage thought that I needed special training, and that your brother would be the best to teach me."
"Why?"
"Why what?"
"Special training. What could the Third possibly have seen in you that he didn't see in anyone else in our class."
"I was more advanced in some areas," Kyoko shrugged, pulling Sasuke's shuriken from the ground.
"What areas?"
"Chakra control. Ninjutsu. Genjutsu isn't required to pass the Genin graduation exam. Accuracy with weapons."
"And were you taught during your training?"
"How to think on the battlefield, Taijutsu, Genjutsu, what my chakra element was and how to control it."
"Basically everything we had to learn."
"Hai."
"How fast did you learn it?"
"As fast as you would have, I guess," Kyoko shrugged, aiming a kunai at Sasuke's stomach; he caught it easily. "Just…faster."
"That makes no sense."
"I only had one sensei. You had several. I trained nonstop all day, on everything all at once, and I had to learn it then. You spent weeks on the same subject. So, while you and everyone else were able to take your time learning, I didn't have that luxury. Besides, if I didn't show immense progress, I would have had to join your class again, and I wouldn't have been able to stay where I was."
"What do you mean?"
"I mean, I would have had to go back to my parents' house," Kyoko muttered bitterly.
"Oh." Sasuke said nothing. He remembered perfectly well how Kyoko had reacted anytime someone had mentioned her family when she was at his house…
"Hello? Sasuke? Do you hear me?"
"Huh?"
"Stay sharp, Pretty Boy, or you're going to end up with a kunai in your head."
"Hn."
Boom!!!
"Or a foot blown off!" Kyoko giggled; Sasuke gaped at her in disbelief.
Kyoko was holding a small box of what looked like paper tags. But when she held one up, Sasuke could see that it was really just a label. The real bomb was tiny, and, upon closer inspection, looked a lot more like…a heart.
"I also learned to find my own specialty!" Kyoko grinned. "I think these might not have enough gun powder. They're really more of a distraction, all they do is make a big bang."
"Are you crazy?!?" Sasuke yelled; Kyoko just broke into hysterics.
"He--here!" she gasped, holding out a bright blue heart. "They're color-coded according to how loud they are, and how much smoke they'll give off. The brighter the blue, the higher pitched the bang. The darker the blue, the deeper the bang. Try one!"
Sasuke looked at her skeptically; Kyoko shrugged.
"They're still a work in progress, but they're perfectly safe!"
"It's a bomb."
"Well, as safe as a bomb can be."
"And all it does is make noise?"
"Yup! It's supposed to make a lot more smoke than that one earlier did, but I guess I didn't use enough gun--"
"So, I can throw this at someone, and they won't get hurt?"
"No. It's like I told you, it's just a distraction. If you want a real bomb, then you should try these! Sasuke-kun, wait!"
Kyoko ran after Sasuke, who was clearly headed straight towards Naruto.
"It's still undergoing some work! I haven't perfected it yet! Damn it, Uchiha, get back here!!!"
BANG!
"Argh!" Naruto jumped out of Sasuke's way, just as the Uchiha genin threw the "heart" at him.
"What the hell was that?!?" he yelled at Sasuke; Kakashi glanced up, then decided to ignore the oncoming argument.
"It's one of Kyoko's, ask her," Sasuke said with a shrug and a smirk, bending down to pick up the spent bomb.
"Wait, Sasuke-kun! It's not--"
BANG!
"--done." Kyoko sighed as Sasuke, Naruto, and Sakura were all engulf in a huge puff of purple-grey smoke. Kakashi came to stand beside the ANBU, who crossed her arms, her head in her right hand.
"I told him I was still working on them," she said.
Kakashi sighed as well, saying, "Well, he can be a little rash sometimes, competing with Naruto. Let's just say…This is Sasuke's version of being immature."
"Sounds accurate," Kyoko said, head still in her hand, as she and Kakashi heard Sasuke yelling inside the smoke, "You said you hadn't used enough gunpowder!!!"
"I know I said that!" Kyoko yelled back. "I just didn't say which one!"
"WHAT?!?!" Naruto yelled.
"The dark bombs don't have enough gunpowder!" Kyoko cried. "The lighter bombs do!"
"This is enough?" Sakura screeched. "I can't see anything! Sasuke-kun, do something!"
"I'm trying! You're hugging my throat, Sakura, I can't breathe!"
"That's me!"
"Ugh, get off me, Naruto!" Sasuke yelled at the blond.
Kakashi sighed. "Is there anyway to get rid of all this smoke?" he asked.
"Uh…"
"Kyoko-san?"
"Well, it's really a distraction," she said. "It's meant to slow the enemy down by confusion."
"Well, they're confused alright," Kakashi said as they heard Sasuke continue to yell at Naruto for grabbing him around the waist, only to find out that this time it had been Sakura.
Kyoko sighed. "Maybe a lot of wind would clear the smoke just long enough for them to see and come to us," she said after examining the tag on another bomb, identical to the one Sasuke had thrown. "C2, C1, gunpowder…H2...Um, we might want to get them out of there soon…"
"Why? None of what you just said is toxic."
"No, but they are starting to cough really badly…" Kyoko said. Sure enough, all three could be heard coughing. "Breathe through your nose, Naruto-kun!" she yelled; his coughing was the worst.
"Why are they coughing so soon after the explosion?" Kakashi asked. "Most smoke bombs are clean enough that--"
"It's just the color," Kyoko said. "The purple mixing with the grey…it's almost like a Genjutsu. The smoke is thin enough, and clean enough, that a shinobi can breathe it for nearly an hour before it begins to irritate the throat. But I designed the purple smoke to swirl around and in the grey smoke, it tricks the mind into thinking that the smoke is really much, much more dense."
"Ah. I see how that could work," Kakashi said, pulling up his forehead protector and peering at the smoke through his left eye.
"Do you see how it works now, Sempai?" Kyoko asked, before yelling, "Sakura-chan, think of it as a jutsu!"
Sakura's coughing ceased almost immediately, and both shinobi could soon hear her calming Sasuke and Naruto's coughing.
"Hai…Sasuke!" Kakashi yelled. "Use the Sharingan! Do you see where the two smokes separate?"
"Hai!"
"Run through the smoke at it's thinnest point!" Kyoko yelled; moments later, all three genin were in front of Kyoko and Kakashi, gasping.
Finally, Naruto whacked Sasuke in the back of the head.
"Baka!" he yelled. "Just what the hell were you thinking?"
"Oh, shut up, you loser!" Sasuke yelled.
Kyoko just sighed, uncrossing her arms and handing her water flask to Sakura, who smiled sheepishly.
"It was kind of like a Genjutsu, right, Kyoko-chan?" she said, taking a grateful drink.
"Yeah, that's how it's meant to be," Kyoko said. "My Genjutsu is weak compared to my teammates, so I make up for it in my other abilities."
"Did you make that bomb?"
"Hai. It's not finished yet, I can't believe Sasuke-kun just
took off with it like that!
Sakura just shrugged. "He's been acting strangely lately, ever
since we started this mission."
"It's because of me, isn't it?"
"No!" Sakura said, too quickly; Kyoko raised an eyebrow and the pink-haired kinoichi sighed. "Maybe."
"Maybe?"
"Well…yeah. I mean, you were always at his house when we were all still academy students. Maybe you just remind him of his family too much."
"I guess…" Kyoko glanced over at Sasuke and Naruto, who were deep in an argument, with Kakashi standing between then, on hand holding Icha Icha Paradise, the other on Naruto's shoulder, holding him away from Sasuke, who had his arms crossed.
"You want to train together for now?" Kyoko asked.
"Sure."
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Flashback: Training for Graduation.
"Sasuke?"
"Hai, Kaa-san!" Eight-year-old Sasuke turned to his mother.
"Your classmate, Kyoko-chan…she's going to be coming here after school today, alright?"
"Oh…Okay." Sasuke helped himself to one of Itachi's cookies; the ANBU captain just grinned at him and continued polishing his katana.
"Is she coming over to play?" Sasuke asked.
"No." Time it was Itachi who answered. "She's coming over to train."
"Huh?"
"Training," Itachi said. "She's coming here so that I can train her."
"Oh…" Sasuke looked down at the cookie in his hand. "Is that why you were looking for her a few days ago, Nii-san?"
"Hai."
"Why are you going to train her?"
"She needs the help," their mother said, before muttering quietly, "and a good meal."
"What, Kaa-san?" Sasuke asked, but Itachi put a hand on his shoulder.
"Kyoko knows already that she's coming home with you, Sasuke," he said.
"Okay…" Sasuke said. "But, Brother?"
"Hn?"
"She's always sick."
"What?"
"Kyoko-chan. She's always sick. She keeps fainting, and yesterday she vomited after we ran laps and practiced the Shuriken Jutsu."
"She'll be fine," Itachi said. "Now, get to class."
"Okay…"
XXX
"Big Brother?" Sasuke called, walking through the door, kicking off his shoes; Kyoko placed hers by the door. "Big Brother, are you home?"
"He's with the Hokage," his mother said, walking into the room. She smiled warmly. "Welcome to our home, Kyoko-chan!"
"Arigato, Uchiha-san," Kyoko whispered, looking at her feet.
"Sasuke, why don't you go put your bag in your room," his mother said, before smiling again at Kyoko. "Would you like something to eat before Itachi gets home?"
"No, thank you," Kyoko whispered.
"Are you sure? It's no trouble."
"It's okay."
"Alright…"
"I'm home!" Itachi called, slipping out of his shoes; Kyoko turned to stare at him blankly.
"Hello, Itachi-Teichou-sama," she whispered.
"It's okay to call me something shorter, Kyoko-chan," he said.
"Hai, Teichou," she murmured.
"Are you ready?" Itachi asked, checking to see that his kunai was safely sheathed.
"Hai."
"Then let's go to the backyard."
"Hai."
XXX
"Kaa-san!!!"
"What, what is it!?!"
Itachi stood up with something in his arms as his mother came running into the yard.
"She…she just fainted!" he said, shock apparent on his face; Sasuke peered out into the yard.
"Kyoko-chan!" he yelled, running to Itachi, who held the unconscious girl in his arms.
"Is she alright?"
"I don't know…"
"What happened?"
"She was just throwing shuriken, then she collapsed."
Kyoko groaned softly. She could hear the voiced talking and tensed, readying herself for the sharp sting of the slap that would surely be used to bring her around.
Instead, groggily, she realized that she was being lain on a soft surface, and a woman's voice that wasn't her mothers above her.
"Itachi, take Sasuke out to eat, you'll both be in the way…Kyoko? Kyoko-chan? Kyoko-chan, are you alright?"
"What happened?" A man's deep voice entered Kyoko's head.
"Oh, thank goodness you're home!"
"What happened?"
"Itachi was training her, and she just collapsed." The woman's voice…
"It's no wonder. Look at how thin she is. Is she even cut out to be a kinoichi?"
"I don't think this has anything to do with how thin she is."
"Should we take her to the hospital?"
"No, she's waking up, see!"
"I'll go get some water. She should stay here for tonight; I'll contact her parents."
"Okay…"
'NO!' Kyoko's thoughts screamed, but she couldn't find the strength even to open her mouth.
'Not my parents…anyone but my parents…'
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Review!!! Next chapter: "Chapter Seven: Land of Earth. The Village Hidden in the Stone, and the Story Behind the Explosions!!!"
-Fangirl
