Naruto dropped his paint brush into the bucket with an annoyed sigh. "I really hate chores," he stated to his teammates behind him.
Kiba grunted as he started to peal off dried paint that more or less covered him and Akamaru yipped in response from his position on top Kiba's head. Hinata nodded silently as she made sure that she hadn't got any paint on her.
"Just ten more until you get a C rank," Kakashi said from his comfortable spot on a picnic table while reading his book.
It had been almost a week since team seven had been formed and started taking the ninja world by storm. In the past week they had accomplished over 15 D ranks. They did two a day, sometimes three, so they were ahead of their fellow graduates who only had around 4 or 5 done.
Kakashi had decided that teamwork exercises wouldn't be necessary for the green genin. The teamwork between Hinata and Naruto was almost flawless; the only real problem they had with it was when Kiba challenged Naruto for the right to lead the fellow genin. Kakashi was still the leader of course, but every team typically had a genin that acted as a leader for his fellow squad mates in trivial tasks or when their jounin instructor was indisposed.
Naruto had ignored the challenge's but Kiba wouldn't press the issue because he thought Hinata would get mad at him for beating up her friend. Kiba still struggled for the position of team leader but he didn't let it get to him while on "missions" so their teamwork was stable. It could be improved of course, but the best way to deepen their bond was through overcoming challenges together.
Which is why Kakashi was blowing through to the minimum amount of 25 D ranked missions so his team could start applying for a C ranked missions.
The three of them were miles a head of their fellow graduates already and the distance was only furthering as Kakashi would turn the meaningless chores into training situations.
Today's simulation was dodging enemy "kunais," which were actually thin paint brushes dipped in paint, while they were focusing on the task of painting a civilians fence.
Kiba, as mentioned before, was hit a few times but was still passable. Hinata had turned out to be spotless due to her Kekkei Genkai and Naruto only had one spot on his forearm where he had shoved Kiba to avoid a paint brush hitting Akamaru.
Akamaru now viewed Naruto as one of his favorite people.
"Why do we have to do these lame mock missions Kakashi-sensei? Everyone knows that we're too badass for 'em!" Kiba whined, Akamaru barking his support for his master.
"Because we're very fresh genin, Kibbles. Would some princess really trust us to protect her if we've only been genin for less than a week?" Naruto answered wisely as he took a seat at the picnic table.
Kiba grumbled about the unfairness of it all but didn't argue because he knew Naruto had a point. He had long gotten used to Naruto's nickname for him; he just prayed to kami that neither his sister or mother ever go word of it. The only way to alleviate that level of embarrassment would be to commit seppuku.
Hinata giggled before sitting down as well along with Kiba. They were waiting for their client to bring their pay for a job well done.
"So what are we doing after this sensei? Training or another lousy D rank?" Kiba asked as he sat down.
"I have a bit of a treat for you three today. We're having a group sparing match with the other rookie genin!" Kakashi informed. It had been the day after the true genin test that it had been decided that they would pit their cute genin against each other.
Flashback
Kakashi, Kurenai and Asuma all stood in the Hokage's office since their teams were the only ones that passed.
The Hokage repressed a sigh at the fact only three teams had passed this year. He was seriously considering strapping a few jounin and special jounin with reserved genin to simply bolster Kohona's numbers. Their numbers had taken a major blow thirteen years ago by the Kyuubi attack and since then their intake of shinobi had dwindled further by failed graduates and work deaths.
'Is it a problem with the academy? Are they not preparing the next generation well enough?' Hiruzen silently asked himself, unknowingly hitting the nail right on the head. However, he shelved his thoughts aside and focused on the meeting he was currently in.
"Asuma, begin your report." He commanded.
Asuma nodded, "My three passed easily enough. Their goal was to pin me down long enough to draw blood and they succeeded at the two hour mark.
"Ino is the definite leader of the three. She's loud, brash, and a fan girl," he said with a sigh. It was going to take a lot of work to break her out of that mentality. "Although, she can focus on the task before her when needed. Her skills are decent enough I guess. She's moderate at stealth, her accuracy is moderate, and her jutsu are limited to her Mind Transfer jutsu."
"Chouji is quiet, nice, and sensitive. He's a follower and does pretty much what the other two tell him to do. If I'm being honest; he's not cut out for the shinobi life.
"They would have had me at the hour mark but Chouji had refused to strike me. He said he didn't like hurting others. That's a major problem in our line of work. His skills are moderate from the academy reports, I can't verify them because Chouji wasn't used for stealth. He can use one of his clan jutsu's but can expand his body at will."
"Shikamaru is lazy, un-energetic but brilliant. Like Chouji, he's a follower but he can take the lead when needed. He's a strategist and I know for a fact that the academy test scores do not reflect his true abilities. However, as I said before, he's incredibly lazy and anything involving actual work is "troublesome." He can use one of his clan's jutsus but I think he may be able to learn a few more if I can get some motivation in the kid." Asuma finished his report with a small sigh. These kids were going to take a lot of work to be whipped into shape and that meant more work for him.
Hiruzen repressed a disappointed sigh. Even the few that passed were not ideal shinobi by any means. However, he motioned for Kurenai to begin her report with hopes that her team would be better.
Kurenai nodded and began, already dashing the Hokage's hopes. "My team passed but barely. Their goal was to track me down and capture me, they succeed but it was more luck than skill.
"Sasuke Uchiha is a one man show. He doesn't work well with others and believes that he shouldn't even bother because they would only hold him back.
"He rushed me head on, even though he currently has little to no tracking abilities, and left the other two behind and ignored them for most of the test. He's strong for a genin though, I'll give him that.
"I had stopped once and engaged him in a light taijutsu match and he seemed very adept his family style. He also managed to use Fire release: Grand Fireball jutsu and was barely winded afterward. He'll make for a great heavy hitter for the team once we awaken his sharingan and gets a few more jutsu under his belt.
"Sakura Haruno is very much like Ino without the ability to focus on the mission. She abandoned Shino to chase after Sasuke. Her skills are abysmal; despite having a high aptitude for chakra control and genjutsu, I took her out of commission with ease when I used a D ranked genjutsu," she said with a sigh. She thought that Sakura would be at a much higher level than what she was since she was next in line for kunoichi of the year but it seemed she only was because of her book smarts.
"Shino is antisocial but isn't a one man show like Sasuke. He attempted to get them to work together in the beginning but since Sasuke thought he was going to slow him down and Sakura following his lead, it met no success.
"Shino is calm and logical and already has ability as a tracker thanks to his bugs. As far as I know, he can't use any jutsu due to his bugs feeding off his chakra network but he is definitely a long ranged fighter.
The only reason they passed was because of Shino. Sasuke realized that he couldn't track me on his own when I eluded him after our encounter so he used Shino to track me and the two temporarily teamed up to capture me. Sakura was still unconscious," Kurenai finished. Like Asuma, she knew she was going to have her work cut out for her.
Kakashi suppressed breaking into a full blown eye smile as he began his report. "My cute little genin were excellent! I almost had to go all out on the brats!" he beamed, causing the other two jounin present to look at him like he was insane.
"You're not joking," Asuma observed in a surprised tone.
"No, I'm not. The little brats nearly killed me." He thought of a spiraling ball in the hand of a chakra hand aimed at his stomach and shuddered. "A couple of times."
Kurenai wasn't believing it. Kakashi was one of the strongest ninja of the village: he made genin at five, chunin at six, and jounin at twelve. There was simply no way that three genin could possibly take him on and force him to go all out on them!
Kakashi saw the disbelief written all over Kurenai's face and decided to explain further. "As you all know, my test focuses on teamwork and they passed with flying colors.
"Kiba is hot headed, defiant, and seems to have a habit of rushing in, but due to his pack instincts he's able to take orders. Though, he may just be following instructions because he has a crush on Hinata," he added thoughtfully. He didn't think that the crush would last too long though. Kurenai's eyebrow twitched at the mention of Hinata. Not only was she still miffed that she wasn't on her team but she didn't view Kiba worthy of her sister.
"He's strong for a genin though, maybe high genin or low chunin in taijutsu, and can use several of his clan's techniques. He didn't really get to use them but I hear he has an excellent nose that can be used for tracking.
"Hinata is soft spoken and maybe a bit shy but in combat she is calm, confident, and a tad ruthless. She turned several poor logs into pincushions with those senbon of hers.
"She demonstrated the chakra control that the Hyuga are known for when she displayed water walking and has terrifying accuracy; she managed to hit my Tenketsu with her senbon and I'm guessing that she has a few more tricks up her sleeve. As a side note, she works incredibly well with Naruto.
"Naruto is a bit antagonistic to Kiba but when he's with Hinata he's kind, compassionate, and loyal to a fault. He seems to push away everyone that's not Hinata but I'm hoping that I can work on that and get him to open up to his fellow squad mates." What Kakashi really meant was, 'I hope he doesn't reject me from his life.'
"He's defiantly not at genin level from what I saw-"
Kurenai suppressed a smug smile at that. She didn't particularly care for Naruto despite Hinata's pleas. It wasn't anything personal but she saw him as an annoyance that would only bring Hinata down. She knew he wasn't the dead last he appeared to be, but she didn't put him any higher than the middle of the class.
Hinata was the heiress of an important clan and more importantly her little sister. She only wanted the best for Hinata and Naruto simply wasn't the best.
"He's much closer to jounin level, and I haven't even seen a third of his tricks yet. He only really used one jutsu and that was an improved version of the Rasengan," Kakashi stated.
3
2
1
"What? What in the hell do you mean Naruto's at jounin level?!" Kurenai practically yelled.
"I'm not saying that he's an SS ranked shinobi or anything but he's defiantly in the high B rank to high A rank, if I'm guessing correctly. Like I said, I haven't really seen any of his tricks so he could have something special hidden in his metaphorical sleeve," Kakashi laminated.
Hiruzen puffed on his pipe, pleased that there was at least one good team out of the bunch. He was even more so when he heard about Naruto.
"A variation of the Rasengan you say? How did he improve it?" Hiruzen asked. He knew Naruto hadn't added an element yet. The entire village would surely have noticed such a jutsu from the training grounds. Minato had theorized that the finished product of the Rasengan would be an S ranked jutsu easily. If he had used it, the entire village would have known.
"He turned it into a long ranged attack; nearly hit me with it too...I should probably talk to him about that," he added as an after thought. A jutsu like that should never be used on a comrade!
Hiruzen seemed pleased by this. A long range Rasengan was actually one of the variations that his late successor had attempted to make but hadn't been able to figure out.
Asuma seemed thoughtful. He had been a jounin far longer than Kurenai and had seen kids half Naruto's age be stronger than him so he was much more open minded. Was it really true though? Did Naruto really improve one of the Yondaime's legendary techniques? If so, then Kakashi was right. Naruto was miles ahead of being a mere genin.
"You believe him Asuma?" Kurenai asked as she saw the thoughtful look on his face. However, before he had a chance to answer and risk pissing her off, Kakashi interrupted.
"Is it really so hard to believe?" Kakashi asked rhetorically, not only did he feel a bit insulted that she thought he was lying but she was also doubting Naruto's skills. That bothered him.
"Yes! It is hard to believe! He's been the dead last since he joined the academy! I know he's been holding back but saying that he's been holding back the skills of a jounin is ludicrous!" she responded and earned an annoyed one eyed glare from Kakashi.
"Naruto has single handily pranked everyone in this village, myself included. He's made a fool out of ANBU, jounin, chunin, genin, and civilian in this village. Are you really putting it past him to hold back his skills to end up on a team with Hinata?" Kakashi asked in a slightly annoyed tone.
Kurenai's eyebrow twitched again in annoyance. "I won't believe it until I see it," she refuted flatly.
"Then how about our cute little genin have a spar? Team verses team," Kakashi offered but Kurenai was already shaking her head no.
"Not team verses team. It doesn't matter if you're telling the truth about Naruto, but my team is a mess right now. He could be the dead last and you'd still probably win because of Hinata and Kiba."
"How about genin verses genin? That way we can accurately measure their skills against each other."
She turned to Asuma. "Do you want in? It could be good for Chouji to spar," she asked.
Asuma hesitated for a moment before agreeing. "Sounds fine to me."
Kurenai smirked. "We'll do it at the end of the week. That way it gives both of us a little time to get a little training in and learn our genin's strengths."
"You're taking command of what was my idea, but sure," Kakashi said flippantly before turning to the Hokage. "Will that be all Hokage-sama?" Hiruzen sighed and nodded, feeling a little ignored.
"That'll be all. You're dismissed."
Flashback end
Kiba started to cheer after Kakashi told them the details of the match. Basically it would be like the ones they had in the academy but this would be the first one as shinobi, so Kiba was incredibly excited.
Hinata was also sporting a small grin, she was looking forward to seeing how far her fellow classmates had come since they joined the shinobi forces.
Naruto's face was impassive but on the inside he was looking forward to crushing a certain teme since he no longer had to hold back.
"Calm down Kiba. You'll wear yourself out," Naruto said as he rested his head on the table. His neck was beginning to cramp up from looking at the skies so he was stretching it out.
Kiba scoffed but sat down all the same.
Moments later they were joined by their client. He was an old and weathered man and you could tell he had been a farmer for most of his life.
"Ahh! You three did a great job, a bit odd with all the throwing paint brushes at each other an all, but it worked! Here's your pay!" he said in a grandfatherly voice as he handed Kakashi small stack of bills. "Try not to spend it all in one place!" he called out to them as he returned to his home a few yards away.
Naruto eyed the bills and bit back a sigh. Unlike higher ranked missions, the shinobi that completed the missions received payment directly from the client.
They simply got paid so little that it wasn't worth the hassle of going through a middle man.
'That's barely enough for five bowls of ramen!' he mentally whined. If he didn't start getting decent pay sometime soon he'd either have to resort to stealing again or cannibalism. It could really go either way.
He took his meager pay with grumbling but was surprised when he saw Hinata handed him her stack of bills. Maybe surprised wasn't the best word because this wasn't the first time she offered her pay to him.
He gave her a good-natured grin. "You keep it Hinata-chan. I'm okay!" he lied. Anyone who was considering cannibalism was defiantly not okay.
However, Hinata didn't withdraw the bills but put a concerned yet stern look. "You're not okay, Naruto-kun. I can hear your stomach grumbling. I'm a clan heiress. I don't need it nearly as much as you do," she said with a you're-taking-the-money-and-you're-going-to-like-i t tone.
Naruto looked down at the bills then back up at Hinata before sighing. "Are you sure, Hinata-chan? I know you don't like using your clan's money to buy things," Naruto asked and got a smile and a nod in return.
Naruto took the bills with an embarrassed blush as Hinata smiled at him.
They didn't even notice Kiba watching the little exchange with great interest, a conflicted look upon his face.
Later at training ground seven
Team seven walked to their training ground and were surprised to see that the other two teams were already there...well, except for Kakashi.
"YOU'RE LATE!" Ino roared, "WE'VE BEEN WAITING FOR TWO HOURS!" Sakura yelled with her friend.
"Oh? Sorry. The road of life has many twist and turns...we just got lost I guess."
Naruto looked immensely pleased with himself for beating Kakashi to the punch. As the two jounin present glared bloody murder at Kakashi, Kakashi gave Naruto a pat on the head. "I'm an amazing sensei," he congratulated himself.
After they all settled down, Asuma looked at his fellow jounin. "So how are we going to do this?" he asked.
Kakashi seemed to think about it for a moment. "I dunno, picking numbers? Let them choose their opponents?" he asked himself aloud.
He glanced down and saw that was the popular reaction among the group. Ino glared at Sakura, who surprisingly, was ignoring her. Kiba and Sasuke both shot a look over at Naruto, who was staring up at the clouds with Shikamaru, neither of them listening.
'Hmmm. Maybe we should let the rivals duke it out now so it won't cause problems down the road,' Kakashi thought as he sent a questioning glance at his comrades. Asuma and Kurenai shared a look before nodding, both thinking along the same lines as Kakashi.
"Okay, here's how it'll be:
"Sakura Vs. Ino
"Hinata VS. Chouji
"Shikamaru VS. Shino
"Naruto VS. Kiba and Sasuke in a handicap match," Kakashi said, picking the match to prove his point that Naruto was way above genin level.
Ino shot Sakura a cocky smirk. "You ready to lose?" she mocked, but to her annoyance Sakura ignored her and walked towards a small clearing that would act as the battlefield.
Everyone else watched in idle curiosity. They expected some long drawn out slug match that honestly gave kunoichi a bad name.
Asuma acted as the proctor of the match. He looked at both parties. "Are you two ready?" he asked and got nods in return. "Begin!" he said as he jumped back.
Sakura started off by throwing a barrage of shuriken and kunai at her long time rival.
Ino was startled by the show of ruthlessness but managed to dodge in time without taking a hit. "Is that all you got billboard-" Ino would have insulted further but the sounds of horrified screams cut her off.
Ino whipped around and saw what had caused the screams. Ino could only gape as her mind slowly processed what she was seeing.
Directly where she had dodged the barrage of shuriken and kunai was Sasuke...a bloodied and dying Sasuke.
Ino suddenly took off running towards Sasuke and the group that surrounded him, all murmuring to each other about what they should do.
"No...No this can't be happening!" Ino yelled to her fallen love, crouching down and crying over his wounded form. Tears flowed out of her eyes as she tried to stop the bleeding but it was to no avail, her attention snapped up to those around her. "GET HELP! DO SOMETHING!" she screamed and would have continued if it wasn't for Sasuke weakly reaching up and brushing away a tear.
"Ino...I (cough cough) have something...I have to tell you..." he said weakly spitting blood up with every word.
Ino's eyes blurred with more tears as she leaned down for Sasuke was too weak to make himself clear. Her ear hovered over his mouth and she felt his hot breath tickle her ear as he said, "I...win Ino-pig!" "Sasuke" said victoriously, sounding exactly like Sakura.
It was at that moment the genjutsu broke and Ino realized she was kneeling over nothing and had Sakura's kunai at her throat.
"W-what?" Ino asked in confusion
Sakura smirked at her. "I placed you in a genjutsu that showed you your worst fear," she answered simply and removed her kunai as Asuma called her the victor of the match.
Everyone except her team were dumbfounded at the incredibly quick match; it had been the exact opposite of what they had been expecting!
"Wow! Who would have thought Sakura would be able to win that quick?!" Kiba said excitedly. While he was a bit disappointed he didn't get to see a cat fight between two pretty girls, he was impressed that Sakura had managed to beat Ino while barely lifting a finger.
"Hmmm...that was almost an instant win...when did Sakura get even more troublesome?" Shikamaru wondered aloud.
Sakura beamed happiness for she had just beaten her long time rival and ran happily to her team, completely ignoring Ino who was both insulting her and saying that this wasn't over.
Everyone jaws nearly dropped as Sakura completely brushed past Sasuke and stopped in front of her sensei. "How did I do, Kurenai-sensei?" she asked, her tone much like a child showing a parent something they had done.
Kurenai smiled at Sakura. "Excellent, Sakura! You're finally owning up to your potential!" she said with true pride in her voice.
Kurenai was glad her talk with Sakura had sunken in.
Flashback
Kurenai looked at her genin and bit back a frustrated sigh. The kids were great on paper but in truth they were two lone wolves and a fangirl. Not the best formula for a team.
"You can all go except for you Sakura," she said as she pinched the bridge of her nose. She was going to cut this fangirl habit of Sakura's off here and now.
Sasuke and Shino both nodded before walking away. Once they were some distance away, Sakura looked up at her sensei with an uncertain expression. She didn't think she did anything bad enough to get held back so she asked, "Did I do something wrong sensei?" just to be sure.
"Sakura...why did you become a shinobi?" Kurenai asked in a serious tone.
The question threw Sakura off. "W-Why I became a shinobi? Because my dad was one before the Kyuubi killed him...I wanted to honor him I guess," she answered, unsureness in her tone plain as day.
Kurenai nodded. She thought the girl had became a shinobi to impress Sasuke.
"Thats a decent reason...but do you really think you're honoring him with the way you're acting?" she demanded, shocking Sakura.
"With the way I'm acting? What are you talking about, sensei?" Sakura asked, her tone taking an angry edge because she felt insulted.
"I'm talking about your fangirl bullshit Sakura. Do you really think you're honoring your father completely ignoring your training to impress Sasuke with your figure? Do you think you honor your father by dieting and starving yourself when you should be eating twice as much as a civilian? Do you even know what it means to be a kunoichi?!" Kurenai was practically yelling at the end but before Sakura retort angrily, Kurenai sighed in extreme frustration.
"Sakura, do you know why there are only a third as many female ninja?" Kurenai asked in a very serious tone. Kurenai was going to stop at nothing to change Sakura's actions.
Sakura's angry retort dried up in her mouth. "Because sexual related crimes are more common against women than they are against men in the field," she recited from memory. It was common knowledge for all kunoichi to know.
Kurenai nodded. "Thats exactly what the text book says. Now, knowing that, why haven't you taken necessary precautions to ensure that doesn't happen to you?" she asked, no anger in her voice. Just curiosity and disappointment.
Sakura floundered for a moment before quickly finding her answer. "Because Sasuke-kun will save me," She stated firmly, like it was a fact.
Kurenai rose an eyebrow. "Sasuke will save you," she asked and received a nod. "100% of the time?" Another nod.
Before Sakura could even react or put up a defense, Kurenai had firmly taken the nipple of her right breast, some how finding it through her shirt and bra, in between the fingernails of her thumb and pointer finger and gave a savage pinch.
Sakura screamed out in surprise more than pain. "Sensei?! What are you doing, LET ME GO!" she yelled out trying to push away Kurenai's hand but her grip was like iron and she was beginning to squeeze tighter.
Kurenai didn't like the fact that she was having to do this. She took no pride nor pleasure from harming her student but it was better a little pain than her ending up either dead or as a sex toy for an enemy ninja.
"Why am I doing this? The better question is: where is he?" Kurenai said as she applied more pressure. Sakura had stopped struggling at this point. It seemed the harder she fought to get away the harder her sensei pinched. She could only grit her teeth at the intense pain in her breast.
"What?" Sakura asked, her voice thick with emotion as angry and confused tears sprung in her eyes.
"You said Sasuke would save you 100% of the time, so where is he?" Kurenai asked again.
Realization crashed on Sakura as Kurenai continued. "He's not coming Sakura and you're helpless. If I was an enemy shinobi, I would be doing a lot more than pinching your nipple. If I was an enemy shinobi, I'd be violating you. If I was an enemy shinobi, I'd be passing you around to my friends as we mercilessly violated you in unimaginably horrifying ways!" Kurenai said, steadily adding pressure to get her point across. Her nails were almost touching at this point and Sakura was barely containing a scream.
Sakura was crying freely now. Not only because of the sharp pain in her breast, but she knew what Kurenai was about to say.
"And you would be completely at our mercy! Because you chose to diet and skip physical training, your body is weak. Because you decided to waste your time ogling some boy, you didn't develop any sort of skill to defend yourself!"
Kurenai dropped her hand and Sakura dropped to her knees crying as she massaged her abused breast.
Kurenai sighed sadly and gently rubbed Sakura's shoulder. "Sakura... You have amazing potential! With your chakra control you could make an amazing medical ninja or you could be a genjutsu specialist, like I am, but don't waste all that talent so you can fail to impress some boy! He's not worth it; no boy is," Kurenai said in a reassuring tone, calming her upset student. She felt terrible for having to do that, but it was to protect her in the long run.
Sakura was silent for a long time after her sobs had ceased. She felt like she had spat on her father's grave.
How had she let her crush on Sasuke get in the way of her original goal? How had she veered so far off the path she had wanted to walk? She meant to be a shinobi first and try to impress Sasuke with her skills but she knew that she didn't have any skills to speak of. She had blown off the entire physical aspect of being a shinobi so she could ogle Sasuke!
It was half an hour later before Sakura had managed to calm herself. "Sensei...can you teach me genjutsu?" she asked, determined to make up for lost time and if that meant sacrificing her crush for Sasuke than so be it. She was a shinobi first and she had to learn to protect herself or what Kurenai just described would end up happening to her.
Kurenai smiled, "Of course, be here an hour early for your first lesson."
End Flashback
As everyone congratulated Sakura on her win, even Sasuke gave a hn of approval, Hinata and Chouji headed to the small field.
As the two faced off, Hinata smiled lightly at Chouji's obvious hesitance. "You don't have to be afraid of hurting me Chouji," she said in a reassuring tone.
It didn't have much of an effect on Chouji's nerves. "But I could though! I don't want to hurt my friends," he stated, feeling conflicted. While Asuma-sensei had said that if you spar with your friends it would help them and yourself get stronger but Chouji had difficulty actually overcoming the entire hit your friends part.
"Chouji, you won't hurt me. I've been training with Naruto-kun a very long time and he's very strong! So don't hold back, okay?" she said with a kind smile as she got in one of her stances.
Chouji hesitated and Asuma decided to offer a reward. "Chouji, if you give this match your all, I'll buy you an all you can eat buffet at your choice of restaurant."
"Now, Begin!" he said as he jumped back.
For a moment nothing happened, then surprisingly, Chouji jumped into action. "Expansion Jutsu!" he yelled as he suddenly bloated into a large ball.
Hinata immediately jumped back several feet to give her room to dodge what would happen next.
"Human Bullet Tank!" Were the words that followed soon after as Chouji began to spin before shooting off.
Hinata jumped high into the air, senbon in between each knuckle and her Dojutsu activated, to avoid Chouji. Hinata threw her senbon, thinking that he would be forced to stop spinning if he had a few senbon sticking out of him, but, much to her surprise, Chouji was spinning so fast that the needles just bounced off of him.
Hinata's eyes narrowed as she gracefully fell back to earth, already thinking of a few different strategies.
Chouji pulled an impressive turn and charged Hinata again like a raging bull, however, Hinata was already prepared.
Surprising everyone except for Naruto, she jumped forward and in midair turned around and began to throw several volleys of seemingly never ending senbon.
...
"What's she doing? She's going to get crushed!" Kiba yelled, worried about his crush. Everyone heard the sound of Naruto scoffing. "What the heck is your problem? Aren't you worried that Hinata-chan's going to get hurt?!" Kiba demanded.
Naruto sighed again. "Do you really have so little faith in Hinata-chan? Chouji won't lay a finger on her," he said, pointing at the match telling him to watch it.
...
Hinata landed and turned back around mere moments before Chouji was on his way to crush her, though he was trying to slow down. Smirking to herself, Hinata dodged to the left by taking two graceful steps. It didn't even look like she was dodging, more like she was dancing as a ballerina.
...
The younger females felt a stab of jealousy at Hinata and Kiba commented, "Wow...Hinata-chan sure is flexible..." with a perverted blush on the bridge of his nose. Even though he was only twelve, he was going through puberty and that meant perverted thoughts about girls.
The sound of cracking knuckles came from behind him and Kiba turned around and saw Naruto cracking his knuckles and giving his squad mate a glare that promised death. "Continue that line of thought and I'll neuter you, dog breath."
Kiba gulped loudly before turning around while sweating bullets. Everyone chuckling at his expense.
...
Chouji raced by Hinata, though he was still trying to slow down, and directly towards the trap she had laid out. Even though Chouji was spinning rapidly, he could still catch glimpses of the senbon stick out of the ground and were aimed at him. While Chouji could repel things like senbon when he was spinning so fast that they just bounced off of him, he didn't think he would be able to avoid being impaled by the needles if he rolled over them.
So, naturally, when he came too close he disabled his Expansion jutsu and flew over the needles.
Chouji landed on his face, the bystanders winced on his behalf, and kept tumbling until he come to a complete stop almost 30 yards from where he had ceased the jutsu.
"Owww...!" Chouji said, cupping his injured face as he struggled to stand due to the number of small injuries that now covered his body.
"You okay Chouji?" Asuma asked, feeling proud that he had taken the initiative but also thinking that Chouji should probably quit while he was ahead.
"Yeah...I'm fine," Chouji said as he once again took up a fighting stance, thinking that he was going to eat Asuma-sensei broke after this match.
"Do you wish to continue?" Hinata asked as she approached.
Chouji thought about it for a moment then shook his head no. After spending years with Shikamaru, his smarts and foresight had kinda rubbed off on him. Chouji knew that the Human Bullet Tank jutsu was really the only ace he had and Hinata had countered it. He only knew the academy jutsu other than his clan's and those wouldn't help him so he had no choice but to quit since he had nothing else to throw at Hinata.
Hinata smiled at him. "You did very well, Chouji! Now let me take care of your wounds," she said as she helped sit Chouji down and with a glowing green hand she began to go over Chouji's body and healed his minor wounds.
Asuma was impressed as was Kakashi, though the latter expected that Hinata had practiced in medicine considering her words on the lake.
'So apparently Kakashi got an A ranked genin and a medic-nin?' he thought in surprise but quickly turned sullen. 'Some guys just get all the luck!' he thought, looking at his mess of a team. Granted, it had only been a week but Asuma knew it was going to take a lot of work to get his three in order.
'Maybe I'll do whatever Kurenai did to straiten up Sakura. I'll ask her when this is over.'
After Hinata was declared the winner and healed Chouji, Shikamaru and Shino headed out to the field while Hinata and Chouji came back.
"You did great, Hinata-chan! I knew you could do it!" Kiba said with a broad smile but Hinata could see Naruto mouthing that Kiba was lying behind his back.
"Thank you, Kiba," she said politely before taking a seat by Naruto who was more or less saying the same thing.
Kiba watched the little display and felt jealousy surge in his chest. 'I'll show the teme who's top dog around here!' he thought as he turned to watch Shikamaru and Shino's match.
Asuma looked between the two boys, one of which was yawning and the other standing there, waiting for the match to begin.
Asuma sighed. He had a very good idea of how this was going to play out. "Begin!" he said but didn't even bother to jump back.
Only half a second later the words, "I forfeit," were heard from our favorite Nara.
Everyone except the few that saw that coming; Asuma, Kakashi and Naruto, face vaulted.
"That lazy son of a..." Ino growled in frustration that her teammate could be so lazy that he would actually forfeit a match so he wouldn't have to fight but also the fact that he was also on her team. Sakura nodded in agreement with her friend.
"That's it?! They didn't even fight!" Kiba roared angrily, he had been interested to see how that fight would turn out. They were both long range fighters but he wanted to see which clan technique was the better one.
"Wow...Asuma was right, that kid lives up to his clan's reputation," Kurenai commented to her self.
"I didn't know Shikamaru was that lazy..." Hinata mumbled to herself but her friend heard her.
"It's not just because he's incredibly lazy that he quit," Naruto said, causing a few around him to give him puzzled looks.
"Oh, you noticed too?" Kakashi said in a tone like he was sharing a secret.
"Notice what, sensei?" Kiba asked, wondering just what in the heck they were talking about.
Kakashi just pointed at Shikamaru, signaling that they should pay attention to what he had to say in his defense.
...
Asuma sighed. "Really Shikamaru?" he asked in an exasperated tone. He had been expecting that but it didn't make it any less annoying.
Shikamaru sighed as he also saw the dirty look he was getting from Shino as well, even though most of his face was covered. "How troublesome...I would have lost in the end no matter what so why bother wasting all that time?" Shikamaru answered.
Shino rose an eyebrow, while he fully understood the logic behind Shikamaru's actions, he wanted to hear his reasons.
"Shino and I are both long range fighters, however, our styles are very different. My Shadow Binding jutsu can hold Shino down, and maybe I could force him to surrender, though the odds of that are unlikely, but I cannot bind every single Kikaichu inside of him. He could easily send out a swarm as I held him down, since they respond to his will, and suck me dry of chakra," Shikamaru laminated.
Shino nodded. That had been his strategy since he found out who he would be fighting.
Asuma sighed. "Victory goes to Shino," he announced, feeling embarrassed that every member of his team had lost.
As Shino and Shikamaru rejoined he group, everyone congratulated Shino on his win and laughed when Ino began to verbally tear Shikamaru a new one. He tried to explain his logic but it did not work so he simply stood there listening to his teammates yelling while mumbling about troublesome blondes.
However, two genin were ignoring them as they made their way to the center of the clearing along side Naruto, who seemed completely fine with fighting two opponents. Both genin were thinking among the same lines, but for different reasons.
'I can't wait to crush Naruto-teme! Once I do Hinata-chan, will see he's a total loser and go out with me!' Kiba thought excitedly, showing that he knew absolutely nothing about the opposite gender.
'Finally, I get to fight you again, Naruto. You better stop holding back so I can crush you and prove that I am superior,' Sasuke thought as he remembered the first time Naruto had thrown a match.
Flashback
Sasuke stood in the middle of the circle, the teachers finally letting him spar again. It had been almost a month since Naruto had broken his arm and the talk with his older brother.
Many were surprised at the changes in the boy's behavior in such a short time; it was almost as if he was a different child.
His arrogance had been cut down by a major degree. It was still there and occasionally surfaced but those time were few. Sasuke smiled more, was kinder and even made a few "friends."
He no longer mocked others for being inferior but he did pick on some kids: Naruto, Hinata, and Shino. Though, what he now made fun of them for was vastly different. He still maintained a bit of his bully nature but that was a mix between his superiority complex as well as his inferiority complex.
Naruto walked into the center of the ring, looking completely apathetic to what was going on but on in the inside he was screaming at the injustice of what he was about to do.
Iruka looked between the two children. "Make the symbol showing that you wish to spar," he commanded and the two children followed.
'This time I'll win.'
'It's to protect Hinata-chan. I have to suck it up!'
"Begin!"
Sasuke and Naruto meet in the middle in a clash of blows, however, Naruto seemed sluggish compared to his previous fight with the Uchiha.
To Naruto, it seemed like Sasuke was moving in slow motion. His movements were so predictable he honestly felt like he could win blindfolded. It was actually hard to lose!
Naruto put up a sluggish arm to block a punch as he made eye contact with a puzzled and absolutely furious six year old Sasuke. Sasuke could easily tell that Naruto was holding back and that pissed him off! This was the kid that broke his arm with ease! Why was he suddenly slow?
Naruto let a punch hit him in the chin and took a few steps back, his heel only a foot or two away from the line.
Sasuke snarled as he let loose a number of punches and kicks. Naruto played the panicked fool and tumbled out of the ring and landed on his butt. That caused everyone to laugh except for Hinata, who was completely perplexed as to why Naruto let himself lose.
"Winner Sasuke Uchiha!" Iruka called out, wondering the same as Hinata.
Sasuke's fan girls went wild as they complemented how Sasuke had done and hurled insults at Naruto, saying the usual and how he had cheated last time they fought.
"Now make the harmony symbol," Iruka instructed.
Naruto got up, feeling like a total fool but glad he had kept Hinata safe, and walked towards Sasuke while offering a hand with two fingers pointing out for him to shake. However, Sasuke had other plans.
Sasuke slapped Naruto's hand away. "What's your problem?! Why did you let me win?!" Sasuke roared, feeling insulted.
Naruto glared but did not respond. If he did open his mouth a series of impressive profanities would make their way out of his mouth.
"Sasuke, that's enough! Make the Harmony symbol," Iruka instructed again.
Sasuke ground his teeth as he held out his hand and interlocked fingers with Naruto who began to squeeze them as hard as he could. Sasuke winced but began to squeeze back, vowing to find out why Naruto held back.
End Flashback
The three faced off in the clearing, a gentle breeze rustling their hair.
Sasuke turned to Kiba. "Stay out of my way, mutt. This fight is between me and him," he said as he sent a glare to enforce it.
Kiba scoffed as he set Akamaru down. "As if, teme. You're mine!" he responded with an angry growl.
Naruto sighed. "It's really tough being this handsome...I have all the beautiful women and apparently men fighting over me!" he said dramatically, enraging them both.
"Shut up, idiot! I'm not gay!" Kiba roared, easily letting Naruto's words get to him. Sasuke however tsked. "I want to fight you one on one so I can prove that I'm stronger than you are and so you can't use the excuse it was two on one when I crush you," he stated flatly.
Naruto chuckled. "Oh? You're going to crush me? You seem to be forgetting the fact you've won every fight we've had since we were kids because I allowed you to, right?" he asked in a mocking tone.
However, it wasn't like the friendly mocking tone he used with Kiba. No, this was the type of mocking you used on someone you loathed. It was filled with contempt and dripping with anger.
Sasuke grunted. "That was then. I'm going to win because I train harder than you do and that makes me stronger than you," Sasuke said in a matter of fact tone.
Naruto barked a laugh. "So you train harder than I do, eh? I thought training would be below your noble blood?" he mocked, sneering at the word noble.
Sasuke narrowed his eyes, wanting to go off on Naruto for insulting his clan but chose to answer is question instead. "No. Before Itachi went insane he was right that hard work pays off more than talent and I work harder than anyone to achieve my ambition. That's why you won't lay a single scratch-" Sasuke answered but he was cut off when in a blast of wind and a flash of movement, Sasuke's shirt had a large cut from the sleeve down and his shorts were the same just bellow a belt loop.
Sasuke's eyes went wide as he saw his now ruined clothes. Kiba gasped a few "holy shits" before Sasuke noticed that there was a continuous shallow cut from his shoulder to his knee that only broke off from the belt loop. The cut wasn't even deep enough to draw more than a drop of blood but maybe that's what made it so intimidating.
"Sorry about that...you left yourself so wide open and I couldn't resist. You were saying something about a scratch?" Naruto said in flat tone. There was no mocking nor teasing in it. Naruto was just giving Sasuke a peek for what he was in for.
Sasuke looked up from his clothes and saw Naruto holding a wooden sword that looked identical to a real katana minus the guard. Though he did not know that the wooden sword was made out of a special kind of wood that could conduct chakra, which was how Naruto cut Sasuke's clothes.
...
"Wow...I didn't even see him move!" Chouji exclaimed, clearly impressed with what Naruto just did.
"He hurt Sasuke-kun..." Ino said weakly but on the inside she was practically drooling at the thought of only a thin scrap of cloth prevented her true love from being naked.
Sakura agreed with her friend but did not share her inner thoughts.
Shikamaru didn't say anything but he was paying far more attention to the match. Shino was doing the same.
'That speed...I blinked and I missed it! Speed alone doesn't make him jounin level but the match hasn't even started yet!' Kurenai thought in shock.
Hinata smiled lightly, glad that Naruto was getting to confront Sasuke, something he's wanted to do for years, and happy that everyone was impressed with her crush's speed. She couldn't wait to see their reactions when they saw what Naruto was really capable of.
...
Asuma blinked a few times. 'Damn...the kid's fast,' he thought before he turned to an enraged Sasuke. "Do you want to change shorts before the match begins? Yours are hanging by a thread," he asked and received a glare for his efforts.
Sighing, he yelled, "Begin!" before jumping several yards back.
Sasuke immediately shot off, intending to make Naruto pay in full for wrecking his clothes. However, Naruto dodged each punch by a hair with an eat shit grin on his face.
"Is this really all you have Sasuke? I'm not impressed," Naruto mocked, his grin widening as he saw his words getting under Sasuke's skin.
Sasuke roared as his punches and kicks sped up, determined to hit Naruto if it was the very last thing he did, but Naruto dodged every single one with ease. He waited just long enough for Sasuke to think he had managed to get him, but at the very last millisecond he would shift his body ever so slightly and Sasuke's attack would miss.
It was embarrassing and infuriating.
Sasuke just grunted before smirking.
"Tsuga!" Kiba yelled as he became a human drill and aimed himself at Naruto's back.
However, to everyone's shock, Naruto planted his feet and as the Kiba drill neared him, he caught Kiba.
Kiba was spinning so rapidly that it tore right through Naruto's glove as well as his skin but he held on, his face not even hinting that he was even in pain.
...
"Holy shit..." Kurenai said in a breathless tone. She had done a little research on Kiba since she wanted him on her original team so she knew just how devastating his Tsuga was. A glancing blow and your skin was torn but a direct hit and your skin was shredded.
Her doubts about what Kakashi said vanished in an instant. She knew for a fact that she would be a wreck after taking one of those, let alone stopping it with her bare hand.
Like Kurenai, the genin were beyond impressed with Naruto; maybe except for Hinata for she knew his strength.
Shikamaru and Shino were both reassessing Naruto. Shino now thought Naruto was even more of an enigma and Shikamaru now thought Naruto was far more troublesome than he was originally.
Ino and Sakura both openly gaped; they didn't know the specifics like Kurenai but they had seen Kiba use it enough to know that it was very powerful.
Hinata and Kakashi were both surprised, Kakashi being more so than Hinata since she knew just how reckless Naruto was, that he choose to stop the attack with his hand. However, they both knew that the Hokage had given him permission to stop holding back. Maybe this was just him testing his new freedoms.
...
"Damn...that stung more than I thought it would," Naruto commented as he tossed Kiba away. He looked down at his hand and wasn't too surprised to see bone in a few places that had more contact with Kiba's rapidly spinning head.
Sasuke just stared at Naruto in shock. He was completely and utterly dumbfound by what he had just seen.
Kiba had used his Tsuga and Gatsuga on him before during some of the later acadmey spars so he knew from experience what that human drill felt like.
So that raised the question; how the fuck did he just stop it with one hand?!
Kiba landed a few feet away on his feet, looking just as shocked as Sasuke. "What the heck are you?!" Kiba demanded. Not even his mother could toss away his Tsuga like that.
Naruto didn't answer but focused his chakra to his wounded hand, muscle and skin quickly covering the exposed bone. It wasn't medical ninjutsu, his chakra control was far too poor for that, because Naruto couldn't heal other people. It was more like a kekkei genkai. The more chakra he focused; the faster the healing, though there were limits.
"Kiba...stay out of this. I'm crushing Sasuke right now; I don't want my teammate getting harmed because you were in the way," Naruto said in a serious tone that almost sent shivers down Kiba's spine.
It wasn't just his tone that, not that he'd admit it, frightened Kiba. It was his eyes.
They held no remorse. Naruto meant what he said: he was going to crush Sasuke.
Kiba truly wondered what Sasuke did to piss Naruto off so.
Naruto didn't wait to see Kiba's answer as he turned to face a recovering Sasuke.
Naruto bounced his mock sword lightly on his shoulder. "Teme...it's nothing personal, well thats a total lie; its completely personal. Anyway, I hope you're ready to meet the rest of your clan," Naruto said in sickeningly sweet tone. It was the tone of a predator deciding it was going to have a little fun with it's prey before eating it whole.
Naruto suddenly vanished, only to reappear before he delivered a devastating backhand to Sasuke's jaw. Sasuke went flying in the direction Naruto sent him in, too stunned to get his feet beneath him, and landed on his face almost a dozen yards away.
'He should be glad that I held back with that slap. If he were a civilian, his neck would have broken,' Naruto thought as he lazily walked over to Sasuke who was getting back up.
Because shinobi used chakra, their bones, muscles, tendons, and all that other medical junk got strengthened to an amazing degree. That's how if you threw a civilian through a wall he'd be a bloody mess but if you threw a shinobi through a wall they'd brush themselves off.
"One slap and you're already done?" Naruto asked as he stopped a few feet away from Sasuke. His face was already beginning to swell where Naruto had hit him.
Feeling enraged by the comment, Sasuke threw another punch but it was knocked away with a light flick of Naruto's mock sword wielding hand before it stabbed him in the stomach.
It didn't pierce his skin but it hurt like hell.
Smacking the wooden blade away, Sasuke began to rain blows down on Naruto. He was hell-bent on landing at least one clean hit on the blonde. However, each punch or kick was smacked away with a strike from Naruto's weapon.
Sasuke threw a left hook, only for the blade to strike his elbow. He lashed out with a jab, only for the wooden sword to snap his wrist. He lashed out with a kick, only to miss and take a strike to his kneecap. He could already feel the bruises forming as his anger and embarrassment deepened.
Why couldn't he hit him? He trained for hours on end so he could avenge his clan but he couldn't even touch Naruto! He was so sure that he trained harder than the blonde, harder than any genin and most jounin, but he now knew he was wrong.
Naruto was in a completely different league and judging by the mocking grin on his face, Sasuke was guessing that this wasn't even close to Naruto's true strength.
"Don't you have any other tricks up your sleeve?" Naruto asked as he deftly ducked past a punch before delivering a rapid succession of attacks on Sasuke's ribs and back.
Sasuke growled as he ceased attacking and put some distance between them before flying through the handsigns for one of his family's signature jutsu.
...
Kurenai's eye went wide as she made to stop Sasuke before this got out of hand but she was stopped by a hand on the shoulder. She looked back in surprise at Kakashi, who was shaking his head. "Don't stop them. Naruto especially needs to get this out of his system," Kakashi said.
"He's trying to kill your student, Kakashi!" Kurenai informed in a ridiculous voice, bewildered why Kakashi himself wasn't jumping in.
Kakashi shook his head. "Just watch and don't interfere," He commanded in a lazy tone. Slowly relaxing, she turned her attention back to the match.
...
"Fire Release: Grand Fireball Jutsu!" he called out, his flames enveloping where Naruto stood.
Sasuke kept the flames up for an impressive 30 seconds before he canceled the jutsu to avoid exhaustion. As he gained control of his breath, he peered into the lingering smoke, trying to see if he got Naruto. It was almost a minute later when the smoke finally cleared and much to his surprise, Naruto was gone.
'That fireball wasn't anywhere near hot enough to reduce him to ash...' he thought in confusion.
"Whacha lookin at, teme?" said Naruto as he used Sasuke's shoulder as a prop to keep him up. Sasuke instantly whipped out a kunai and tried to slash Naruto but his attempt only managed to make it to the half way mark as Naruto grabbed his wrist.
"I think I've played with you enough, Uchiha scum," he said as he gave Sasuke's wrist a squeeze and twist, causing it to snap loudly.
Sasuke screamed out in pain, but that was silenced by a knee to the gut. As Sasuke involuntarily bent over, Naruto grabbed his hair, releasing the broken wrist, and yanked. Hard. "Oh no you don't, Sasuke. I still have seven years of bullshit I have to pay you back for," Naruto said, his boken dropping to the ground as he smashed his now empty fist into Sasuke's body and arms.
...
Kurenai went to go stop this. It was as clear as day that Naruto was the victor of this match, but once again Kakashi stopped her.
"Don't interfere," he said as he watched Naruto beat the last "loyal" Uchiha.
"Kakashi you can't be serious? Sasuke's getting pummeled! We have to step in before he dies!" Kurenai demanded.
"Kurenai-neesan, Naruto-kun won't kill Sasuke," Hinata said, answering for her sensei.
Kurenai whipped around at her little sister, feeling a bit betrayed that she didn't back her. "What do you mean? Aren't you watching the match?" she asked rhetorically as she gestured to the what was now only a one-sided beating.
"She means that Naruto is just playing with the teme. If he wanted him dead, then he would be," Kiba said as he sat down.
Kakashi rose an eyebrow. "Did you surrender? Doesn't seem like you," he commented.
Kiba sighed. " Naruto took on my strongest technique and it did absolutely nothing to him. I might be a little slow sometimes, but I'm not an idiot. If I tried to keep fighting, Naruto would have put me outta commission so he could take on the teme," he said with a sigh. Seems like his plan to woo Hinata wouldn't come into fruition.
Hinata nodded. "Naruto-kun won't kill Sasuke," she stated adamantly.
Kurenai sent a nervous glance over at Naruto pummeling Sasuke, just in time to see him punch Sasuke so hard in the stomach that Sasuke's shirt ripped away and he flew several feet.
"No. I'm sorry but I can't in good conscience let this go on," she said before disappearing in a Shunshin.
Kakashi sighed. "I hope she knows that Naruto's not going to be the one upset."
...
Naruto apathetically walked over to the bruised and battered Uchiha.
"Thats enough, Naruto!" commanded Kurenai from behind Naruto.
He looked behind him and saw Hinata's older sister figure glaring at him. He rose an eyebrow while still gripping the tattered remnants of Sasuke's shirt. He was about to respond, but Sasuke coughed up blood and barely rolled onto his side.
Naruto sighed as he tossed the ruined shirt on top of his beaten opponent. "I guess you're right. This wasn't even fun," he said in a tired tone as he began to walk away.
Despite what people may say about how he ruthlessly beat Sasuke down; it wasn't revenge.
It was retribution.
Sasuke deserved every cut, bruise and broken bone that Naruto just dealt him. Heck, he deserved a hell of a lot more, but Naruto couldn't stomach much more.
Naruto began to walk back to the others and past Kurenai, who was giving him her best "you-should-feel-terrible-about-what-you-just-did" look when they heard a weak voice stop them.
"Stop...I'm not done with you yet," Sasuke said as he struggled to stand up.
Naruto sighed and stopped as Kurenai rushed to her student's side. "Sasuke! Stay down you-" Kurenai began and placed a hand on Sasuke's shoulder to keep him from rising but it was smacked away.
"Don't touch me! I have to prove that the Uchiha-" He was cut off by Naruto kicking him in the face.
"Stop being delusional! You can't win, so stay down. This isn't some movie where you can win by sheer force of will. If you get back up, if you threaten me or Hinata again, I will end you.
"I am so sick of your arrogance and pride. You are not special, Sasuke. You are not a prodigy like your brother and the odds against you killing your brother are astronomical.
"At the rate you're advancing, it will be a thousand years before you could manage to lay a finger on Itachi. That's the truth. And do you know why you'll never kill him?" Naruto demanded.
There was silence.
"Because you're too fucking arrogant and prideful to accept help. You say you train hard and that makes you think you don't need anyone else, but you are so wrong that you should get an award. You can only get so far on your own, teme, and you've already gotten there.
"If you truly want to kill Itachi, and I imagine you do, admit that you can't do it on your own because the cold, hard truth is that you can't. If you continue as you are now, even if you do find Itachi, the only thing you'll be able to do is bleed on him," Naruto finished angrily before letting out a sigh and tucking his hands in his pockets, while his mock sword disappeared in a puff of smoke.
"I'm done with this," he said before walking off in the direction of town, Hinata following behind him to make sure he was okay.
Sasuke began to think about what Naruto had said and struggled to his feet, ignoring Kurenai's pleas for him to stay down.
"I'm going to the hospital," he said ignoring everyone and began to limp in the general direction of Konoha's hospital. Ino saw this and quickly began to try to help the fallen Uchiha along but he ignored her attempts.
Before long, all the genin had dispersed until only the jounin remained.
"So...still think I was lying?" Kakashi asked as he read his favorite novel.
Kurenai sighed. "No...but this turned into a mess didn't it?" she asked and received two grunts in reply.
Kurenai's attention snapped to Asuma. "Why didn't you stop the match earlier?!" She demanded, causing Asuma to sigh.
"There are three types of fights: fights to protect a life, fights to take a life, and fights to protect your pride. The last one is the type you do not interfere with," he said as he took out a cigarette.
Kurenai's brow furrowed in confusion and gestured for Asuma to explain further.
Taking a deep drag. "Sasuke was fighting to for his clan's pride and Naruto was fighting to regain lost pride with the Uchiha incident." Kurenai winced at the mention of Naruto's stay with the Uchiha clan. She always seemed to forget about it every time our favorite blonde was brought up.
"I didn't want to jump in because not only would it be a major insult against their pride but it's better that they deal with it now than when they're both high ranking shinobi...though Naruto was a bit stronger than I anticipated," he admitted with a sigh.
She paused, then turned to Kakashi, who already started answering her question before she could even ask it. "Yes, that's why I told you not to interfere. Naruto wouldn't kill Sasuke, not even the Hokage would be able to protect Naruto from the shitstorm that would get kicked up if he murdered the last loyal Uchiha. They, more Naruto than Sasuke, needed to vent their anger. It seems Naruto got most of his out, but since the fight was so one-sided, Sasuke's anger may either fester or vanish with that little talk," Kakashi mused as he flipped the page.
"So it doesn't matter that I saved my student from additional pain," Kurenai said with a nod.
"Hmmmm, not necessarily. You may have made Sasuke's anger fester because you thought he needed to be saved. So we may end up with a much more violent and antisocial Sasuke than we already have," Kakashi said thoughtfully, before clarifying to Kurenai. "I guess it's a guy thing."
Kurenai's shoulders dropped. She was desperately wishing that Naruto's words penetrated Sasuke's thick skull. She didn't know if she could handle two completely antisocial students.
Kakashi gave her an eye smile. "Lets hope for the best, shall we?"
Hello everyone! Hope you enjoyed the chapter and sorry if it seemed a bit rushed. It was. I had only a few days left with the computer so I just pumped this chapter out as fast as I could and asked my beta, SamusOlderBrother, to finish it as soon as possible. Luckily, I got it ahead of schedule and that meant you got to read it sooner.
Unfortunately, this will be the last update until I either get a computer for myself or until the beginning of next school year. I may try going to my library to try and type up a chapter or two there but I won't make any promises.
Also, with the Sakura and Kurenai, sorry if that seemed a bit harsh. Sakura needed to get he act together and Kurenai just helped her along. The entire pinching her nipple thing was inspired by my friend telling me to go buy him a drink and when I said no he gave me titty twister so freaking hard that I'm sure the devil cringed. It was effective though since I did get him a drink.
Lastly; theres a poll on how you want Sasuke to be on my profile page. You can vote to make him continue as he is or make him change his ways. However, if you vote to change his personalty it will be a little while until you see any major changes.
'Till next time!