AN: I'm late again, and without an excuse other than I found a few interesting fanfics and lost track of time. This chapter is about twice as long as the normal ones though, I hope that makes it up to you.
I just noticed that the links I provided didn't work, I still can't get them to work correctly and you will have to search for the jutsus on the site I tell you about, or if you got another site that works just as well or better.
For some reason I can't link the dagger, at all, even with spaces. It's called Noble Premium Ophidan Dagger and can be seen on Aionarmory. There's a button called 3D preview so you can look at it.
Also I have not been able to decide what to do with Sasuke... So I put a poll up so you can chose 1 out of 3 options to what I'm going to do with him. I have been leaning towards killing him and every other Uchiha so the sharingan will disappear, because I think it's a boring blood line. Also it will help with my Kurama's development since we're not likely to see Naruto go jinchūriki very often and I need to give him something else to do in the story. Only problem is... I like Itachi, and while I think Sasuke is a insane bastard, mental torture have a tendency to do that to people, so I'm feeling torn.
Review Response:
BROTH3ER MENACE: It's actually quite easy to bring Fū from Taki, the problem lies in making it an acceptable explanation. I just hope mine is :P I think it is... It's either that or it's cheesy... Or me being a drama queen... Meh.
Like I said above, I had some trouble with linking the dagger :/
I do not own Naruto
Removing the mask
It had been one week since Uzumaki Naruto had graduated, and he was now sitting in a corner studying the rest of his class. He had woken up early to be the first one to arrive so he could try out Akira's gift, and so far it was working perfectly he thought with a smile. He was sitting completely unmoving as he listed what he knew about those present, and of the whole class only 8 actually stood out, and not just in the good way…
'I can pretty much count out most of the civilians… We got the clan heirs and Sakura, she might be able to pull her weight, if she starts taking being a kunoichi seriously.' He thought and almost laughed at that thought. 'Yeah, like that will happen.'
After a while Iruka showed up and quickly silenced the class before giving a speech about how being a ninja and that he was proud of them. He tuned out most of the announcements about the teams until he heard his name.
"Next, Team 7 will be Haruno Sakura, Uchiha Sasuke." Iruka said but had to stop because Sakura screamed.
"HELL YES! TAKE THAT INO-PIG! TRUE LOVE CONQUERS ALL!" She screeched and pointed at Ino who head butted the desk crying anime tears along with the majority of the girls. The guys all had similar thoughts to each other.
'Oh my god! My ears! I'm Deaf!/Troublesome/Annoying.' They thought.
"BE QUIET!" Iruka yelled. When everyone had settled down again he coughed before continuing. "As I was saying, Team 7 will be Haruno Sakura, Uchiha Sasuke and Uzumaki Naruto, your Jōnin-sensei will be Hatake Kakashi" At this several people started looking around for the blonde while asking where he was. Naruto just tuned them out before he noticed Shikamaru looking at the corner he was hiding in suspiciously. Quickly making sure no one else was looking he gave his friend a small wave. Shikamaru's lips curved into a small smile before he went back to resting his head on his arms.
"Quiet! Naruto will show up eventually. Next, Team 8 will be Inuzuka Kiba, Aburame Shino and Hyūga Hinata, your Jōnin Sensei is Yūhi Kurenai. Team 9 is still in use. Next, Team 10 will be Nara Shikamaru, Akimichi Chōji and Yamanaka Ino. Next, Team 11…" Having heard what he wanted Naruto tuned Iruka out and thought about his team.
'This… could be bad. Sasuke, while skilled, doesn't play well with others and Sakura is obsessed with Sasuke to the point she lets her skill and body suffer to get his attention, if she's on the same team as him she will probably pay even less attention to training.' He thought worriedly. When everyone had filed out for lunch he quickly ate his own and settled on waiting for their Jōnin-sensei. It didn't take long before his classmates started coming back and taking their seats once again. The Jōnin-sensei arrived and took their teams with them when they left, and soon only Team 7 was left. They waited… and waited… and waited some more…
"ARGH! He's late! And Naruto-baka hasn't shown up either!" Sakura screeched after 2 hours, making Naruto give an unseen cringe, damn she was loud. Sasuke just looked annoyed.
"Stop pointing out the obvious." He said in an annoyed voice. Sakura looked at him and brightened.
'Shānnarō! This means we're alone with Sasuke! This is our chance!' Inner Sakura yelled. "Hey, Sasuke-kun? Now that we're a team, would you like to go on a date with me?" Sakura asked with a hopeful smile.
"No." Sasuke said, not even bothering to look at her, causing Sakura to look down saddened. Naruto rolled his eyes at the display.
'Shouldn't she have learned by now? Sasuke never accepts a date, ever, with anyone. More importantly, where the hell is our sensei?! I'm bored!' He thought. This went on for another hour, and when their sensei did show up even Sasuke looked annoyed.
"YOU'RE LATE!" Sakura screeched at the silver haired man that HAD to be their sensei, no one else had any reason to be here at this time. "And that idiot Naruto isn't here either!" The silver haired man cringed at the high pitch before looking around. Sure enough he could only see 2 of the 3 kids he was in charge of. Knowing who trained him he closed his eyes and tried to sense him instead, easily picking up the third chakra signature in the corner.
'He's good, but he can't fully suppress his chakra, although that's not a big surprise.' He thought with an eye smile. "Hmm… how can I say this… My first impression of you guys… You're annoying. Meet me on the roof in 5 minutes." He said and disappeared in a swirl of leafs.
The Roof
Kakashi was sitting on the roof waiting for his team to arrive. The first to arrive was Sasuke, Sakura following at his heels like a dog. Soon after a shadow seemed to make its way up the stairs before disappearing in a shadowed area nearby, causing him to give an eye smile.
'If they manage to pass he will be damn valuable when gathering info.' He thought. 'IF, they pass that is.'
"Ok… let's begin with some introductions." He said.
"Sensei… shouldn't we wait for Naruto first?" Sakura asked, a bit annoyed at her teammate.
"Nah, if he's not here already we can tell him later." He said while looking at the shadow Naruto was hiding in.
"Umm. What do you want to know?" She asked.
"How about… your likes, dislikes… dreams for the future, hobbies and stuff like that." He said with a shrug.
"Why don't you go first sensei? You look suspicious…" She said.
"Ohh… me? My name is Hatake Kakashi. I have no desire to tell you guys about my likes or dislikes. Dreams for the future..? Hmm… Well, I have lots of hobbies…" He said in a lazy tone, earning sweat drops from two of his students, the last one having an idea of what to expect from when Dog was at his birthday parties, the hair gave him away pretty quickly.
'All we learned was his name…' Both Sakura and Sasuke thought at the same time.
"Grumpy, you're next." Kakashi said while pointing at Sasuke, getting him a glare from two people and an unseen smile from the third. Sasuke who was sitting in what he thought was a dramatic pose started talking.
"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" He said in a grim voice.
'Cool…' Was Sakura's thoughts at those words.
'Yeah… You should probably try to find a girl if you want to resurrect your clan…' Naruto thought with a sweat drop.
'… I thought so…' Kakashi thought, trying to figure out how to deal with the vengeful Uchiha.
"Alright, pinky, you're next." He said, dragging Sakura out of her daydream to glare at him. She fixed her clothes and took a deep breath.
"I'm Haruno Sakura. The thing I like is… well… The person I like is…" She said as she looked at Sasuke and blushed. "Umm… Should I say my dream for the future..? OH MY!" She almost screeched as she buried her face in her hands. "The things I dislike are, Naruto and Ino-pig! My hobby is…" queue staring at Sasuke while blushing.
'Why is she a kunoichi?' Kakashi thought fighting the urge to facepalm.
"Okaaay. Stalker, you're next." He said, confusing Sasuke and Sakura who started look around trying to figure out who their sensei was talking to. Naruto waited for a short while before slowly walking forward while speaking.
"My name is Uzumaki Naruto. My likes are ramen, training, Akira-nee-chan, Sandaime-jiji and those who can think as an individual. My dislikes are those who blindly believe what others say and those who wish to harm the ones I care about. My dream is to be Hokage so I can protect those I care about and to make Akira-nee-chan and Sandaime-jiji proud of me. My hobbies are pulling pranks and gardening." He said coming to a stop next to his teammates, while Sakura and Sasuke were staring at him since he just appeared out of nowhere and was wearing a completely different outfit.
'Hmm. At least I got someone that's serious about being a ninja.' Kakashi thought with an eye smile. Before Sakura could start screaming about where the hell Naruto had come from Kakashi started speaking again.
"Alright, tomorrow we will perform a test to see if you are worthy of becoming Genin of Konoha." He said in an airy voice.
"What? But Kakashi-sensei, we already passed the Genin exams!" Sakura said, snapping out of staring at her mysteriously appearing teammate. Kakashi chuckled before speaking.
"You didn't really think that those simple exams would be enough to be counted as a Genin did you?" He said with an amused tone. "Those exams are just to see if you have the potential to be a Genin, this one is to see if you Deserve it. This is a very difficult exam, having an almost 66% failure rate." At the last part he was looking very serious, causing Sakura to gulp and Sasuke to look slightly worried. Naruto seemed to analyze what he'd been told and trying to see if there was a hidden message, but he didn't know enough information to make a guess yet.
"Meet at training field 7 at 08:00, and you shouldn't eat breakfast, you'll just throw up." Kakashi said with a wave and an eye smile before disappearing in a swirl of leaves. At that the three Genin split up to do their own preparations for tomorrow with various levels of nervousness.
Next day, training field 7
Naruto was once again hiding in the shadows. He had eaten breakfast since he knew that throwing up is better than being weak from hunger. He was now observing his teammates that looked both hungry and tired, Sakura more so than Sasuke, most likely from being on a diet. He was keeping quiet while observing how his teammates interact with each other. Well, Sakura's attempt on getting Sasuke to paying attention to her. He shook his head slowly.
'This won't be easy… If the test requires teamwork it will be almost impossible.' He thought and slowly shifted into a better position to wait when his team wasn't looking, he would probably have to wait for his teacher today again.
09:00, still no sign of Kakashi.
10:00, no sign of Kakashi and Sakura was starting to really get annoyed.
11:00 on the dot. "Hey guys. Good Morning!" Kakashi said when he arrived in a swirl of leaves.
"YOU'RE LATE!" Sakura screeched while Sasuke just looked annoyed. "And Naruto is late as well!" she continued ranting.
"No I'm not. I was just resting to save my strength for the test Sakura-san." Naruto said as he stood up from where he was hiding, making his teammates spin around and stare at him with wide eyes.
"How do you keep doing that?! Where did you come from?!" Sakura yelled at him. Naruto just looked at her, only his eyes visible.
"I've been here from the start. And how I'm doing it? I'm a ninja, it's not that hard." He said slowly, as if explaining things to a child. Before Sakura could tear into her teammate Kakashi put an alarm clock on a tree stump nearby and held up two bells.
"Your mission is to get a bell from me. You have until noon. Those who cannot get a bell will not get any lunch, if you don't get a bell I will tie you to a log and eat your lunch in front of you, and will be sent back to the academy." He said before tilting his head forward a bit shadowing his eyes. "And since there are only two bells, one of you is guaranteed to fail." He said in a serious tone. Sasuke smirked, certain that if anyone would pass it would be him. Sakura looked unsure of herself, and Naruto, he seemed excited.
"You have 55 minutes. Start!" Kakashi yelled and his students all ran and hid.
With Sakura
Sakura was hiding under a bush and was nearly panicking.
'How am I supposed to get a bell from a Jōnin?! It's impossible! Sasuke-kun is sure to pass and I'll be left behind!' She shouted in her head.
With Sasuke
Sasuke had hidden himself amongst the branches of a tree and was now overlooking the clearing where Kakashi was standing. He wasn't worried, he was a better ninja than both Naruto and Sakura combined, although Naruto had been displaying an unknown ability of stealth lately.
'It doesn't matter. I'll beat this guy and take a bell, and then I will be one step closer to HIM.' He thought hatefully.
With Naruto
Naruto was squatting in the shadow of a tree, with his forearms on his knees under the cloak and was following one of Akira's many advices. He was trying to make the most of the information available to him.
'Let's see… Something is strange with this exam… Even though I and Sasuke are at a higher level than an academy student should be when they graduate, we don't stand a chance against a Jōnin… If he's even half as strong as Akira he'll wipe the floor with us. So there must be another objective.' He thought. He went over everything he had been told, both today, yesterday and what Iruka had told them about being a ninja. After a while it clicked. 'Worthy of being KONOHA Genin… Konoha values teamwork over everything else. It's a teamwork exercise… Son of a… how am I supposed to convince Sasuke to work together?!' He almost shouted in his head. Sasuke was the key, if he managed to convince Sasuke to work together with him Sakura would no doubt follow.
'Right... First thing first, finding Sasuke…' He thought before making some hand seals. "Karasu Kage Bunshin no Jutsu" He whispered and his cloak bulged before a dozen black shapes burst out. The shapes, which turned out to be ravens, flew off scanning the forest. It didn't take long before a memory of Sasuke hiding in a tree popped up and Naruto started running quietly.
With Kakashi
Kakashi was standing in the middle of a clearing, completely relaxed as he tried to find his Genin.
'I can find Sakura fairly easy, her hair and dress doesn't really mesh with the brush she's lying in. She should probably worry more about camouflage than looking pretty… Sasuke… There he is, not bad, but could be better… and Naruto… I can't find him.' He thought before trying to sense his chakra, and because of his enormous reserves it wasn't that hard even though he wasn't a sensor. 'He's on the move.' He thought a bit surprised. It was one thing that he couldn't find him when he wasn't moving because of the cloak, but when he was moving? That was impressive. 'You taught him well, Akira… Sensei would have been proud of him' He thought with a small smile. 'He seems to heading towards Sasuke… Did he figure it out? It shouldn't have been that easy…'
Looking around one last time he reached into his weapons pouch and pulled out…
With Sasuke
Sasuke tensed up when Kakashi reached into his pouch.
'What is he going to use?' He thought 'Is he going to use shuriken to flush us out?' He focused on the hand in the pouch as it pulled out… a book? He had to blink at that. 'Did he just..? Are you serious? He's underestimating me!' He thought angrily. Just as he was about to reach for some shuriken to take advantage of what he thought was a lowered guard something grabbed his hand. He quickly whipped his head around while reaching for a kunai with his other hand and came eye to eye with Naruto.
"That's a bad idea, the man is a Jōnin for a reason." Naruto whispered.
"Dobe… What are you doing here?" Sasuke asked in a low voice with a scowl. Naruto just rolled his eyes at the nickname.
"I'm here because I think I've figured out the test. The bells are just a distraction." Naruto answered still whispering. This got Sasukes' attention, although he was a bit skeptical to the class clown figuring out any hidden meaning to the test. "No Genin, no matter how good, can beat a Jōnin. If they were on that level they would have graduated early and would already have been promoted. They taught us in the academy that Konoha values teamwork above all else, and yesterday he said if we were worthy of being KONOHA Genin. How many teams with only 2 Genin are there? None. That only happens in case of apprenticeships, and then it's usually only one student." He continued still whispering.
Sasuke actually had to stop and think on that. It was true, a Genin wouldn't stand a chance against a Jōnin, even if he was holding back he would still kick their asses. And since Naruto could sneak up on him he had at least some skill. But…
"What happens if we get the bells and you're wrong?" He asked suspiciously. Naruto just shrugged.
"Then I will give my bell to the other who didn't get one. You got to admit, you and me probably wouldn't mix very well in a team if there was an alternative." He said without a care. "I'm better than I showed at the solid clones so I can easily pass next time if that happens. All that really happens is that I get another year to learn new skills from Akira-nee-chan." Seeing how Sasuke was still being suspicious he rolled his eyes. "Sasuke, I promise not to steal your bell. And you know I NEVER break a promise." He said
And Sasuke did know that. Whenever Naruto gave an outright Promise, he would follow it. No matter what, so in that case… The only problem would be…
"Sakura… If it's a test about teamwork, how are we supposed to work with Sakura?" He asked as he narrowed his eyes while looking at the bush where her red dress was clearly visible from this angle. "Her taijutsu is horrible, her accuracy is average at best, and she doesn't have anything other than the 3 basic jutsus." In his mind, Sakura would be useless. Naruto was an unknown, he was clearly better than what he showed in the academy, and even back in the academy his stamina and unpredictability was a great advantage, he could be a useful distraction at least. "Both of us would have to hold back for her to be able to keep up, and against a Jōnin we can't do that."
"However she is quite good at making traps. I'll give her a message to create as many traps as she can in the area she's in and we can try to drive sensei there." Naruto said, having already thought about that. Sasuke seemed to give it some thought before nodding. They still had over 40 minutes left, if it didn't work he had plenty of time to try again.
"Alright, let's do it. Just hope you're right about this, dobe. If I fail because of you…" He said while fixing Naruto with a glare. Naruto rolled his eyes at this gesture.
"Right, well I'll go inform Sakura. I'll be the distraction with my clones, but you'll have to back me up pretty quickly." He said as he started to turn around. "Oh, I almost forgot, here." He suddenly said before handing Sasuke a round, dark brown pill, about the size of a marble to Sasuke. "That's a soldier pill. It will refill your chakra and stamina. Since you didn't eat you will probably tire quickly and that will help." With that he jumped down, landing on the ground without a sound before running towards Sakura.
Sasuke watched him leave before turning to focus on Kakashi, who was still reading his damn book.
With Sakura
Sakura was still panicking about what to do when she felt someone put a hand on her shoulder. She was just about to scream when another hand was put over her mouth. Before she had time to start struggling a voice whispered in her ear.
"Relax! It's just me, Naruto!" Naruto whispered in an urgent tone. He had no doubt Kakashi would exploit any mistakes, and suddenly shouting would no doubt be counted as a large mistake. "Sasuke and I think the test might be about teamwork so we're going to try and fight Kakashi-sensei together. We want you to create as many traps as you can here and we'll try to force him here. Do you understand?" He didn't let go until he felt her nod. "Good. Here, if you get low on chakra or run out of steam, eat this." He said and handed her a soldier pill. As Sakura turned around to ask what that was all about, Naruto was already gone. She hesitated for a few seconds before deciding to do as he said and prepared her trap making tools.
With Kakashi
'Hmm. It seems like Naruto really did figure it out. Impressive, but, unless they can pull something off it doesn't matter if they know the purpose of this test.' Kakashi thought while reading his porn. He could sense Naruto making his way to the river on the opposite side from the forest, but he hadn't seen him once. 'I wonder what he's planning…'
He didn't have to wait long to get his answer, as suddenly a dozen Naruto's suddenly started rising from the water. They split up in groups of three before rushing forward. Once the clones were halfway there they tossed several shurikens before drawing their special daggers and holding them in a reverse grip. Kakashi easily avoided all the shurikens and waited for the clones to make it into close combat. Nine clones stayed behind while three rushed in so they would still have room to fight.
'Mizu Bunshin no Jutsu… He should know they aren't fast enough to be a challenge… a distraction maybe?' He thought as dispatched the first group with ease. As soon as the last clone died the next group rushed in to meet the same fate, followed by the next group, Kakashi had to suppress a sigh as when he finished the last clone the last group rushed in as well.
'I guess I gave him too much credit, it seems he's just going to swarm me with clones and pray he gets lucky.' He thought as he prepared to punch one of the clones that were getting to close. However, right before his fist would smash the clone in the face it suddenly spun to the right and slashed at his extended arm. 'What the?!' Kakashi thought as only his instincts and superior speed saved him from losing said arm. The clone wasn't finished though as it tried to use the second dagger to slash at his chest. He was forced to take a step back to avoid getting cut, but the clone changed the slash into a stab forcing him to make some distance between himself and the clone, only for the clone that had made its way behind him to stab in him the back. Kakashi's eyes widened, before a log appeared in his place in a puff of smoke. The real Kakashi appeared a short distance away and was currently putting his book away. As he tried to figure out was going on, he suddenly noticed three puddles close to the river which told him what had happened.
"Hmm… Well done, Naruto. That was a good trick. Having shadow clones swap out with water clones to confuse me. Well, it won't be enough, but it was good anyway." Kakashi said with an eye smile. The clones chuckled.
"You really are a Jōnin, figuring it out that quickly." One of them said. "Guess we'll have to step it up a bit, right guys?" A second one said. "I'll cover you, go kick his ass!" The last clone said as his daggers disappeared in a puff of smoke and he started pulling shurikens from somewhere under his cloak. As if on a mental command the clones all acted on the same time. The one using shuriken kept throwing the deadly metal stars whenever there was an opening, the clones using daggers fought in tandem with one attacking and one defending, and if that wasn't enough the real Naruto replaced any clone he dispelled almost instantly. The clones engaged Kakashi in a deadly dance, using their superior reaction speed to counter the Jōnin's experience and avoid any counters.
'Impressive… They can fight me when I'm fighting on the level of mid Chūnin.' Kakashi thought as he tried to attack a clone, just for the other to swipe at him and force him back. 'Damn, screw teamwork, he got his own team that he can create at any time… Guess I should step it up a little.' The clones never knew what happened, one moment they were pushing Kakashi to his limit, before he suddenly relaxed and started completely dominating them. They were forced to focus entirely on defending and still just barely managed to avoid being dispelled.
'Damn, I wanted to land a solid hit before he started trying harder.' Naruto thought and created two more clones, making it a 4v1. Even with their numerical advantage they still couldn't hit Kakashi. When Kakashi managed to dispel the ranged support clone Naruto scowled. At this rate they wouldn't even be able to create an opening for Sasuke, and most of his jutsus were stealth oriented and would hinder his teammates as well. Trying desperately to figure out how to catch the man off guard he suddenly remembered the remaining ravens he sent out to search for Sasuke. Smirking he created a clone and dispelled it to give them a command.
'He just increased the number of clones… Is he out of tricks?' Kakashi thought as he fought the clones while keeping an eye out for his Genin. Then he saw something black flying at high speed straight towards his head. He quickly ducked to see a raven flying past him, barely missing him. Then he noticed the sun glinting of something trailing the bird. 'Ninja wire?' He thought as he noticed ten additional birds circling him as well. The birds flew around him a few times and he found himself bound in the thin wires, dispelling the clones around him in the process.
'An opening!' Sasuke thought and quickly threw a large number of shuriken at the restrained Kakashi. They hit him in the side of the head and neck, before he disappeared, leaving a log in his place as the real one appeared a small distance away.
"Just like last time, not bad, but not enough." He said with an eye smile at Naruto and Sasuke that had appeared between Kakashi and the river. Naruto chuckled.
"Hey Sasuke, got a light?" Naruto asked his teammate and put his hands in a seal. Sasuke smirked and started doing his own hand seals as well. Kakashi looked stunned.
'Yeah, this is bad.' He thought.
"Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu." Sasuke shouted and spit a huge fireball at Kakashi.
"Fūton: Daitoppa." Naruto shouted shortly after, exhaling a powerful gust of wind, increasing the speed, size and power of the fireball.
'Oh shit.' Was all Kakashi could think about the incoming inferno.
KABOOM!
The fireball impacted the ground where Kakashi was standing and exploded, forcing the Genin to cover their eyes from the heat.
"Did we get him?" Sasuke asked once the flames had calmed down and he could look again, trying to find any trace of their sensei. Naruto was also looking around for the same reason.
"I doubt it… The question is where he went…" Naruto said. Suddenly his eyes widened in realization as he heard something and he looked at the ground. "Below!" He pushed Sasuke back and tried to jump away. From the ground where Naruto had just been standing Kakashi emerged and made a grab for Naruto. He caught him but he was too far away from the hole to pull him underground and settled with subduing the blonde in a kneeling position with his right arm behind his back as Sasuke created some distance to figure out what action to take.
"Now now, aren't you two a bit young to be playing with fire like that?" Kakashi asked with an eye smile. "I'm curious to see what you will come up with next though." These words caused the subdued blonde to chuckle.
"Careful what you wish for, dattebayo." Naruto said with an eye smile of his own, making Kakashi's heart swell with pride. "The mask isn't just for show you know." Kakashi's eyes widened again and darted to the blonde's free hand. In it was a blue smoke bomb, which he started throwing into the ground.
"I think I'm starting to hate you now." Kakashi deadpanned before it touched the ground and they were engulfed in a blue smoke cloud. Kakashi soon jumped out of the cloud with his hand clasped over his mouth and retreated to the edge of the forest. He was soon forced to retreat even further as Sasuke launched a steady barrage of shuriken as soon as he touched the ground.
'They are actually doing a good job… But I have yet to see Sakura do anything.' Kakashi thought as he landed on a branch.
Shnikt
'Me and my big mouth' He thought with a sigh when he heard a wire being cut and was forced to dodge a barrage of kunai, bringing him further and further into the forest. This dance continued a few times before he found himself in midair, having just a particularly large amount of kunai and was now staring at a huge log on a collision course with his face. Flipping his body in an incredible acrobatic display, he put his foot on the log and twisted his body so the log barely missed him. When he touched the ground he noticed a shocked and scared Sakura, obviously having run out of traps by now. When he started to walk towards her, a loud ringing sounded across the training field. They hadn't gotten a bell, and now they were out of time.
"Hmm… I guess I don't got time to play with you this time Sakura." Kakashi said in a lazy manner while looking in the direction of the sound. "Oh well. Go and group up with your team." He said while taking out his book again. Sakura looked relieved and terrified at the same time, she might lose her chance to be a team with Sasuke.
Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura was now standing close to a huge square boulder, polished until it looked like a mirror, with a large amount of names carved into it, waiting for Kakashi, who was reading his book and seemed oblivious to the world, to give his judgment about the team. Naruto looked impassive, with the level of skill Kakashi had shown it was clear that nothing he could do would get him a bell unless Kakashi let him, even if he fought with his preferred tactics, so there was nothing he could have done differently. Sasuke looked stoic, although you could tell he was annoyed, if he didn't pass because he followed Naruto's advice, he would be pissed at the blonde. Sakura was terrified since she could lose her chance at being on a team with Sasuke. So now they were waiting… and waiting… and waiting… finally Sakura couldn't take it anymore.
"KAKASHI-SENSEI! DID WE PASS OR NOT?!" She yelled while her eye twitched. The outburst caused Kakashi to blink a few times before looking up from his book to stare at them.
"Oh… I forgot you were here…" He said after a while in a deadpanned voice, making the kids face fault. They looked at him with twitching eye brows, making him eye smile again. "Now now, calm down. Genin needs to keep their calm after all." He said making them glare at him before Naruto blinked.
"Wait, does that mean we pass?" He asked in an excited voice. Kakashi chuckled before nodding. All three of the newly made Genin, even Sasuke, looked excited and happy that they had made it.
"Hell yeah! I knew we could do it, dattebayo!" Naruto said in an excited voice while Sakura was smiling and looking at Sasuke with a small blush.
'Shānnarō! Ino-pig won't stand a chance now! Sasuke will be ours!' Inner Sakura screamed.
Sasuke let out a 'Hn' and looked smug.
Kakashi let them celebrate for a while before suddenly looking serious.
"I'm glad you're happy… but this job isn't a walk in the park." He said in a grave voice, instantly shutting his team up. He looked at the polished stone nearby. "This is the Memorial Stone. On it, all the names of Konoha's fallen heroes are inscribed." He looked back at his team. "My team, my sensei, my family and a lot of my friend's names are on it." He said looking tired. Sakura was looking scared as she stared at the names, there were so many. Naruto was looking at the stone with a mourning respect. Sasuke looked unfazed, but he was thinking about how his sensei also had lost a lot of people in his life.
"Those who break the rules and codes of the ninja world are called trash… But you know what? Those who don't take care of their comrades… are lower than trash." Kakashi said staring at nothing while looking regretful. "It took one of my teammates to give their life to save mine for me to learn that." He fixed his team with a firm gaze. "Don't make my mistake…"
Akira's House
Naruto sat down on the couch with a heavy sigh and turned on the TV. He had passed his Genin exam, although he was certain it wasn't by much. There wasn't really anything he could do, his role on a team would be information gathering and assassination, and his skills just weren't focused around teamwork unless his team had enough knowledge about them. He was just as likely to be killed by friendly fire as by an enemy if he rushed in carelessly.
'And Akira isn't even home yet so I can tell her I passed.' He thought with a pout. Just as he thought that the door opened causing him to blink. 'Speak of the devil…' Sure enough, stepping in through the door was Akira, fully geared for a mission.
"I'm home." She said with a groan as she stretched. Naruto stood up and walked into the hall.
"Welcome back. I thought you said you'd be home yesterday though?" He said with a small pout causing her to chuckle when she saw it.
"Meh, we got delayed on our way back, nothing big." She said with a shrug.
Flashback
Akira was jumping through the trees together with a kunoichi with tied up violet hair wearing a fishnet body suit with a dark orange mini-skirt and a tan trench coat. The kunoichi was Mitarashi Anko, the Snake Mistress of Konoha. Akira was keeping her attention split between the trees and Anko who was clutching her neck in obvious pain. They were coming back from a mission to exterminate a bunch of bandits being trained by a missing-nin. Everything had gone perfectly, except that the base of the bandits seemed to have been an old lab used by Orochimaru, and Anko's curse seal had been acting weird ever since. Casting another glance at her pained companion Akira spoke up.
"We should stop and rest." She said. "We're not in a hurry and you're not fit to travel at the moment." Anko cast a glare in her direction.
"I'm fine! I just want to go home, eat as much dango I can and then drink before passing out on my bed." She snapped before speeding up. Shortly afterwards the pain from the seal spiked to a much higher level, causing her to slip of the branch she was putting her foot on and fall towards the ground. 'Shit, this is gonna hurt!' She thought as she prepared herself for hitting the ground. Before she could touch the ground Akira caught her and stuck to a tree.
"Right, we're stopping to rest." She said. "That's an order." She growled dangerously when Anko opened her mouth to protest. Anko grit her teeth before nodding, clearly unhappy about the situation. Slinging one of Anko's arms over her shoulder Akira changed direction towards a large cliff. When they reached it she gently put Anko on the ground before making hand seals and slamming her palms on the cliff.
"Doton: Iwa no Hinansho no Jutsu." She said. The cliff started shaking before a 2 by 2 meter square of the cliff swung inwards, revealing a huge cave with smooth walls. As she looked back at Anko she noticed that she seemed to be unconscious, the stress and pain from the seal proving to be too much for her in the long run. Shaking her head slightly Akira bent down and put one arm under Anko's knees and one behind her back and picked her up before carrying her inside. Propping Anko up against a wall she placed several seals that started glowing, lighting the cave as well as providing it with air before she pushed the "door" closed, seemingly melding together with the rest of the wall. She removed her cloak and unwound her headdress and sealed the breathing mask into her arm. Looking back at Anko who was still twitching and grimacing in pain even while unconscious she frowned.
'Why the hell haven't they sealed that thing yet? There's no reason she should have to be in this much pain.' She thought as she knelt next to her, moving her trench coat to be able to get a better look on the seal. The seal seemed to… ripple, every once in a while, almost as if it was made by paint in water and someone was blowing on the surface. She gave an annoyed sigh as she stood up again.
'Well that explains that. The seal is unstable, any normal counter seal would be broken down in days, and it would be painful as hell.' She thought as she made eleven shadow clones and handing them a scroll. She then took out a canteen with water and slowly made Anko drink it, careful not to make her swallow wrong. She then wet a towel and tried to cool her down from the fever, most likely caused by the seal as she waited. She looked back at the clones, as they drew a large seal array on the floor. She sighed and turned her attention back to Anko, trying to ease some of her discomfort. When the array was complete she placed Anko in the middle and removed her clothes from her upper body before she drew several complex seals until it looked like Anko had a full body tattoo. She then stood up and carefully inspected both the arrays on Anko's body as well as the floor, not wanting there to be a single mistake. When she was satisfied she went back to the middle and took on last look around. The seal array was arranged in three layers, the inner layer containing two circles with the kanjis for Light and Darkness. The middle layer had four circles in the four cardinal directions, North, East, South and west. The outer layer had five circles for the five elements, Fire, Wind, Lightning, Earth and Water. Akira took a deep breath before making several hand seals.
"Fūinjutsu: Heikō no Hogo-sha!" She said and held her hands over Anko's curse seal. Anko's brow furrowed and her jaw clenched in pain as the seal array on the floor and her body started moving towards her curse seal. Once the process was complete Akira lowered her hands and drew several deep shuddering breaths before she studied the seal. The three tomoes were now surrounded by three concentric circles made up out of a complex pattern of seals. There were small circles inside the circles (Is it just me or does that sound weird?) having the same kanjis as the large array from before. The curse seal seemed to flare up and tried to push out of the seals suppressing it, but the kanjis seemed to light up before the suppressing seals seemed to change slightly, forcing the curse seal back into its original state. Still trying to catch her breath, Akira redressed Anko and unsealed a sleeping bag and tried to get her into it. Since Anko was still unconscious it was quite difficult but she managed in the end. Once it was done she looked at Anko, she was no longer in pain and looked… at ease, peaceful… and something almost seemed to compel her to keep looking. Raising her hand to wipe a tear away, no doubt from the pain of the sealing, only one thought came to mind.
'She's really beautiful…' She thought when she looked at the sleeping Anko. Sure, she was ALWAYS sexy, but something about her expression right now… Shaking her head with a sigh Akira stood up and walked a short distance away before unsealing her own sleeping bag and dimmed the lighting with a handseal. The seal she had used took up an insane amount of chakra and she was feeling the drain, even with her larger than average reserves. She lay down and closed her eyes and slowly drifted off into blissful unconsciousness.
Anko started stirring, stretching her legs as her eyes fluttered open. She was on guard since she didn't recognize her surroundings, but once she spotted Akira sleeping on the floor she remembered that they had stopped to rest. She frowned at the memory, as she had wanted to continue, but then again, seeing how she must have passed out at some point it was probably a good idea to stop. Sighing she stood up and stretched her body before unsealing a canteen of water and drinking greedily with a thoughtful look on her face.
'How long was I out? When the attacks get that bad it usually lasts a long time… Was I unconscious the whole time?' She thought. Usually she was never that lucky, as the pain would wake her up even if she somehow managed to sleep or fell unconscious. She absentmindedly touched the seal, and suddenly froze. The seal was warm to the touch, meaning that it was still acting up, so why wasn't she in mind numbing pain right now? Quickly pulling out a kunai she held it up and used as a mirror and her eyes widened at the sight. She saw the suppression seal and stood there dumbfounded for a few seconds before she felt the panic rising.
'Shit! Please let this be a dream!' She thought frantically as the seal reacted to the fear she was feeling and started turning a molten red. She prepared herself for what she knew what was coming with a feeling of hopelessness. The curse seal would ripple and the suppression seal would start breaking down causing a huge amount of pain. She found herself unable to tear her eyes away from the seals, even though holding a kunai would be a bad idea when the pain started.
The seal rippled
The kanjis on the suppression seal glowed
Anko grit her teeth
The suppression seal changed slightly
The curse seal receded and turned black again
The kanjis stopped glowing
Anko felt her jaw drop. There was no pain, and nothing pointing to the suppression seal breaking down, but that was impossible! Not even Jiraiya had managed to seal it! The hand holding the water canteen fell limply to her side and the canteen crashed into the ground. Akira jolted awake from the sound and reached for her daggers, however calmed down once she noticed Anko studying her seal.
"How do you feel?" She asked, startling Anko and making her head turn in her direction so fast she must have gotten whiplash. "Do you feel any pain?" she said as she stood up from her sleeping bag and cracked her back. Anko just looked between her and the kunai to look at the suppression seal.
"How?" She asked in a shaky voice. This was impossible, she had given up years ago on the seal, choosing to just grin and bear it when the seal acted up. Akira looked at her for a while before answering.
"It's an adapting seal." She said. "Even amongst fūinjutsu users there are very few people who know how to use them, and they are still rarely used even amongst those who know them since they require a lot more chakra and needs to be much more complicated to get the same result as a static seal." She explained while Anko still tried to wrap her head around the concept. "Their only real purpose is to deal with unstable seals, and since few people ever survive having an unstable seal placed on them… you get the picture." She continued as she stretched with a satisfied groan. She looked at Anko, who still looking a bit shocked that her seal actually could be suppressed.
"Well, I don't know about you, but I'm ready to go home." Akira said, unsealing her cloak and breathing mask before sealing the sleeping bags, removing the tags proving the light and opening the "door" as she stepped outside she turned and looked inside. "So, are you coming or not?" She said as she raised an eyebrow while thinking 'I wonder if I broke her or something…' slightly amused with the stunned look on Anko's face. Her words seemed to snap Anko out of her thoughts, and she quickly picked up her canteen and exited the cave. Akira made some hand seals and put her palms on the cliff again causing it to shake. The cave shrunk until it wasn't even there anymore once the door slammed shut.
"Now let's go, I want a bath." Akira said as she turned and started walking towards the trees. Anko took one last look at the seal before smiling.
"Hey, Akira." She said making her turn around to look at her curiously. She quickly walked up and stood on her toes to plant a kiss on the taller woman's mouth and pulled back with a grin. She was thoroughly enjoying the surprised and slightly dazed look on Akira's face. "Thanks!" She said in husky voice before taking to the trees while laughing. Now it was Akira's turn to look stunned. Did she just?
"Oh that sneaky little...!" She said as she jumped up into a tree and started jumping towards Konoha. She touched her lips lightly. "The kiss felt really nice though…" She mumbled to herself.
End Flashback
"How did things go with the team Naru-chan?" Akira asked teasingly, enjoying the twitching eyebrow at the nickname. He glared at her before answering proudly.
"What do you think, dattebayo?! It's me we're talking about!" Naruto boasted. Akira just rolled her eyes.
"I guess congratulations are in order then. So, who did you get on your team and who did you get as your Jōnin-sensei?" She asked curiously. He sighed and looked a bit down.
"I can't say I got lucky… I got Sasuke and Sakura on my team… Our Jōnin-sensei is Hatake Kakashi, he's Dog if you don't remember." He said making Akira raise an eyebrow.
"You actually passed Kakashi's test? Wow. You're the first team he has allowed to pass, ever, that's actually a bit impressive." She said honestly. "Well, I got to warn you, he's Always At Least 2 hours late, unless it is a very important or for a mission. Sometimes it's longer than that, but the minimum is 2 hours. So always take something with you so you won't get bored waiting for him." She said as she walked towards the hot spring. "Now I'm going to take a bath. So, congratulations on making Genin! And leave me alone so I can relax!" She called back making Naruto shake his head before looking back at the TV. He couldn't keep the grin of his face when he thought about all the places he would see now that he was an official ninja.
AN: Ah, some actual fighting! Although it pretty much sucks since my Naruto is stealth oriented... And it's hard to be stealthy in a teamwork exercise... Oh well!
If you think Sasuke accepted working together a bit too quickly, remember that because of the Sandaime's actions he's not quite as broken this time around.
Kakashi started fighting at mid Chūnin and stopped at high Chūnin. He never went all out, because that just wouldn't be fair.
As for Naruto and Sasuke's strength, Naruto is High Genin, while Sasuke is Mid Genin. Sakura is an Academy Student, pretty much. Did I mention I didn't like her very much in part 1? No?
I've always wondered why no one ever thought about sealing Anko's curse seal, is it because she doesn't trust people to mess around with it? Is there a time limit? Or did she just want to show that she could hold it back without a counter seal? I mean really, if she can do it without a seal, there would probably never be any problems if she did receive one. Only Kishimoto knows, and I doubt he will tell us. So in my story, it's because it was from the first batch and wasn't stable.
Oh, and Anko was just messing with Akira with the kiss, mostly at least. It will be some time before they become a real couple.
I will introduce Fū sometime after the Chūnin exams.
The jutsus can be found on naruto . wikia . com
Jutsu List:
Mizu Bunshin no Jutsu - Water Clone
Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu - Fire Release: Great Fireball
Fūton: Daitoppa - Wind Release: Great Breakthrough
My own jutsus:
Karasu Kage Bunshin no Jutsu - Raven Shadow Clone Technique. Creates a shadow clone in the shape of a raven. Unlike normal shadow clones these cannot use jutsus but still cost as much chakra as a normal clone. The can be used for scouting or as a distraction, they can also attack although it is not their main function.
Doton: Iwa no Hinansho no Jutsu - Earth Release: Rock Shelter. Hollows out a solid rock to create a shelter that when closed is impossible to find unless you know where it is. The size of the shelter varies depending on how much chakra is used.
Fūinjutsu: Heikō no Hogo-sha - Sealing Technique: Guardian of Equilibrium. It's an advanced seal used to contain unstable seals by constantly changing to maintain a balance between the original seal and the counter seal. The seal is very chakra draining and like all seals must be done with utmost precision to avoid unwanted results.
