AN: One chapter posted and already I'm writing the next one. Damn, I'm on a roll!
Disclaimer: I own neither Naruto nor Prototype.
Edit: Damn it! Stupid Doc. Manager won't let me underline! Just to let you know, Jutsus and techniques are supposed to be underlined as well as bolded.
"Speech"
Thoughts
Bijuu/Jinchuuriki/Elemental form
Inner being to outer being
Jutsu/Technique (underlined)
Chapter 7: Formations, introductions, and what you tell a friend
(Time-skip: One week later)
Naruto awoke with a suddenness that was becoming normal, if still annoying, to him. He quickly got dressed in his usual orange jumpsuit; Alex had insisted that he keep wearing it. 'If you can hide while wearing orange, you can hide anywhere.' He'd said. He had a point, but Naruto was starting to get really sick of his clones yelling 'Bull's-eye!' every time saw him. He reached back to pull up his hood, only to remember that he didn't have one.
I really am turning into Alex. He thought remotely, Maybe I should get something with a hood. Alex probably won't mind me copying him.
He probably wouldn't. Agreed Kina, He seems rather lax when it comes to people imitating him.
As Naruto set off for the academy, he kept his head down in order to hide his now mismatched eyes from the villagers. If they were seen, some idiot might get it into his or her head that the Kyuubi had gotten loose and was going to kill them all. Naruto tried to imagine Kina destroying anything. The resultant mental image had him chuckling under his breath, drawing a few dirty looks from the nearby populous.
He arrived at the academy on time. Upon finding the classroom and entering, the other new Genin stopped their chatter to stare at him. Predictably, Kiba was the first to speak up.
"Oi! What are you doing here, dobe? This class is for people who passed, not failures like you!"
Naruto, to everyone's surprise, stayed silent. He just raised his head and glared the overbearing Inuzuka in the face. Kiba took a nervous step backwards, the sight of Naruto's brown and blue eyes reminding him of the fear Naruto had inspired the previous week.
"That's what I thought." Growled Naruto irritably as Kiba backed up quickly. Then he reached up and tapped his hitai-ate, "I'm here 'cause I have this, mutt boy; haven't you ever heard of common sense? Geez..." stepping around the dog user, he began walking towards the back of the room. However, he suddenly stopped and looked at Akamaru, who was lying on the bench. "How do you stand him?"
The white puppy merely made a motion which might have been the dog equivalent of a shrug, causing Kiba to splutter indignantly. Smirking, Naruto walked over to where Hinata sat with her head on her arms. Noting an apparent aura of gloom hanging over her, Naruto sat down, sighing.
Why is it, He asked his tenants, That every time I see her, she's so miserable?
Maybe she's had a really crappy life. Suggested Alex. There was none of the usual humor in his voice. Why don't you ask her?
Gently, Naruto poked Hinata's arm. "Hinata-chan?" He asked quietly.
For a moment, the girl didn't react. Then, slowly, she raised her head enough for him to see her face. From the wetness on her cheeks, she'd been crying again. Then she saw Naruto. A warm smile lit up her face as she stared at him. "Naruto-kun!" She cried. She threw her arms around him in a tight hug. Naruto was caught by surprise. Sure it'd been a week since the last time he'd seen her, but he didn't expect her to greet him so enthusiastically. After a moment she let go, blushing deeply. "G-gomenasai, Naruto-kun." She stammered. "It's j-just...I thought that I wouldn't g-get to see you any more after...t-that." She trailed off and looked away, hoping she hadn't made him angry by mentioning his failure.
A shadow crossed his face as he remembered the dark feeling of despair that had overtaken him at the prospect of never being able to become a ninja. Then he smiled, "Well, Hinata-chan." He said, prodding his headband proudly, "It turns out I was able to pass after all, so there's no need to worry."
"Ano...if-if you d-don't mind my asking..." She began timidly.
"Of course you can ask. What is it?"
"Um...h-how did you pass?" she asked quietly, "I-I mean," she said, seeing Naruto raising his eyebrow, "I th-thought that you c-couldn't retake the test. S-so how did-"
Naruto put his finger on Hinata's lips, effectively shutting her up as she blushed a deeper shade of red at the physical contact. "If you don't mind, I'll tell you later." He jerked his head at the rest of the class, which Hinata took to mean 'when no one is listening in.'
Finally getting a good look at her blond crush's face she gasped, "N-Naruto-kun, your eyes!"
Naruto blinked, and then nodded in realization. "Yeah, they're different. I'll explain that later also." He paused for a moment and then asked abruptly, "What do you think of them?" He didn't know why, but it seemed important that he know what her opinion.
She gazed at him thoughtfully for a moment."W-well, their b-both yours, but they're both d-different. I l-like them." She said shyly.
At that moment, the sound of running feet came to their ears, along with the cries of "Out of my way, Ino-pig!" "Move it, Forehead!"
Naruto, as well as most of the males in the class, grimaced. It was Sasuke's top fangirls, Ino and Sakura. Things were about to become very loud. Both girls came bursting through the door, shouting "MADE IT!" at the top of their lungs. Then they both glared at each other.
"My foot made it through the door first, Ino-pig! I'm gonna sit next to Sasuke-kun!" Shouted Sakura angrily.
"Hell no, Forehead! The seat next to Sasuke-kun is mine!" Ino yelled back. She turned to Sasuke, who was still staring disinterestedly out the window, completely ignoring them. "Right, Sasuke-kun?" She asked sweetly.
Sasuke, who had only heard his name, looked around, scowling. "Hn?" He grunted.
The blond turned to Sakura, "See, he answered. He wants me to sit next him!"
Naruto rolled his eyes as another girl piped up. "Bullshit! I'm gonna sit next to Sasuke-kun!"
"No, I am!"
"No, me!"
The situation quickly deteriorated into some sort of brawl between almost every girl in the class as they began competing for the coveted seat next to Sasuke-kun who, as always, completely ignored his horde of admirers.
"They look like an avalanche, don't they?" Naruto asked Hinata casually.
Looking down at the fighting girls, Hinata giggled and nodded in agreement. Naruto smiled encouragingly at her, "You should laugh more often, Hinata-chan. It makes you look prettier."
Hinata blushed and ducked her head, which was fortunate, because a few seconds later a stray blunt kunai whistled over her head, thrown by one of the dueling fangirls below. Naruto's face became one of anger. How dare they attack his friend! This called for retribution!
Hey, Alex's voice suggested mischievously, It's been a while since you pranked someone. Hint hint.
Good thinking, Alex. Naruto thought, I've got just the plan. He put his hands up in the familiar cross-seal. "Kage Bunshin." He muttered. Hinata looked at him quizzically, having heard him mumble what sounded like a jutsu. A second later, two clones appeared. Naruto nodded to them and they walked down to the bench Sasuke sat at. Hinata was confused: why would Naruto create clones? From the look on his face, he had something devious planned, but how would ordinary bunshin help? Unless...
Hinata turned so that Naruto would not see her and made handseals of her own. "Byakugan!" She whispered, activating her clan's bloodline. Her vision expanded to observe the clones' chakra. She gasped. Both clones had the same amount of chakra in their systems as Naruto did! Hinata remembered reading about a jutsu that produced such an effect in her clan's library: The Kage Bunshin no Jutsu. She watched as the clones reached the bench. With a tiny *poof*, one of the clones turned into a whoopee-cushion, which the other clone placed on the seat next to Sasuke...and then sat on. There was an enormous *PBBBBB...* as the air in the cushion was abruptly squeezed out. The abused sack quickly dispelled itself in the following silence. Both Naruto and the remaining clone winced as they received the memories of the sack being squashed.
The moment the cushion had gone off, everything had stopped. The fangirls had frozen mid-fight, staring stunned at the orange-clad boy in shock. The other members of the class, who had been entirely engrossed by the fight, swiveled their heads in unison to get a good look at the offender.
"What?" Asked 'Naruto' innocently.
Some of the boys shook their heads at the blond sympathetically. He's in for it now. They thought.
While his stunt did shut the raving fangirls up, they were rapidly getting over their shock and becoming quite livid. The interloper had stolen their prize! They would make him pay. Before they could do more than gather for a charge, however, the door opened and Iruka-sensei entered.
"Eh?" Iruka looked around the room. "What's going on here?"
Sakura, rather predictably, was the first to answer. "Naruto-baka stole my seat!" She yelled pointing accusatorily at said 'baka.'
"Oh, that's bullshit!" Said the clone lazily, "You can't steal a seat that was empty to begin with. Dumb bitch." He muttered under his breath. Despite himself, Sasuke nodded in agreement, having been the only one to hear.
"What was that!" Asked Sakura furiously.
"Sakura!" Iruka said tiredly, "It doesn't matter who sits where, just sit down, all of you. Sakura, take the seat next to Naruto." When nobody moved, Iruka performed his patented 'Big head no Jutsu'. "NOW!" he roared.
The assembled fangirls scurried to their seats as Iruka stood in front of the blackboard. "Alright," He began, "The teams are as follows: Team 1..."
While Iruka was calling out who would be on which Genin team, Naruto leaned towards Hinata and whispered, "I'm hoping we end up on the same team. What say you, Hinata-chan?"
Hinata nodded fervently in agreement.
"Team 7," called Iruka, "Sakura Haruno, Sasuke Uchiha-"
"Ha, take that Ino-pig!" Sakura yelled, shaking her fist at her rival.
"And Naruto Uzumaki." Finished Iruka irritably, "Your sensei will be Kakashi Hatake."
Sakura's victory cries changed to ones of horror. Both the fake Naruto and the real one smacked their heads on their respective desks. "Damn it!" They chorused.
Next to the real one, Hinata hung her own head in disappointment. It seemed she would not be together with her crush after all.
"Team 8 will consist of Shino Aburame, Hinata Hyuuga...and Kiba Inuzuka. Your sensei will be Kurenai Yuhi."
"Shit!" Yelled Hinata, shocking everyone near her. They had never heard the shy heiress raise her voice before, let alone curse. Even Naruto looked surprised at her, but she didn't care at the moment. She was going to be paired with that dog! Shino she could stand, he was nice enough, even with his obsession with bugs. Kiba, on the other hand, would use this as an excuse to hit on her constantly and try to 'assert his dominance' on her. She was doomed. An aura of gloom descended over her again as she imagined being on the same team as that perverted dog-boy.
Tentatively, Naruto patted her on the shoulder. He had some idea of what she was thinking. "Don't worry, Hinata-chan. You'll survive somehow."
Glumly, the dark-haired girl nodded in acknowledgement. Then a thought occurred to her. "Ano...N-Naruto-kun? W-when should we have our...t-talk, if we're n-not on the same team?"
"Team 9 is still in circulation." Iruka continued blithely, "Team 10 will be Shikamaru Nara, Ino Yamanaka and Chouji Akimichi. Your sensei will be Asuma Sarutobi."
Naruto frowned thoughtfully, and then said, decisively, "Well, after we meet our senseis, I'll come find you."
Hinata tilted her head at Naruto, her wide eyes reminding him forcibly of an owl. "W-why?"
"I dunno..." Naruto turned his eyes on the doorway, "I just have the feeling my sensei's not gonna be here for a while." Actually, Alex had told him that Kakashi Hatake was notoriously late to everything.
Just then, the door opened and a tall, black haired woman with red eyes and a dress made of bandages came in. "Team 8, come with me." She said abruptly. Hinata, Shino, and Kiba all stood up obediently and walked out of the room with her.
Soon, the other Jonin came to collect their Genin. Team 10 got picked up by a tall, bearded man with a cigarette. As they left, Ino shot one last scowl at Sakura, who stuck her tongue out.
"Real mature." Quipped the Naruto clone next to her, "Very befitting of a kunoichi."
The pinkette rounded on him. "Shut up, baka!" She yelled.
In answer, the clone stuck his tongue out, like Sakura had just done. She growled and looked ready to pound him, but a cough from Iruka made her remember herself. She looked around and realized that Team 7 was now alone in the classroom. "Um, Iruka-sensei?" She asked Iruka, "Why hasn't our sensei shown up?"
Iruka shook his head grimly, "Sorry to tell you, Sakura-chan, but you're going to be waiting for a while."
"You ditching us, Iruka?" Naruto asked, smirking, "I notice you said 'you.'"
The scarred Chunin rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. "Sorry Naruto-kun. I have other things that need doing..." He broke off, staring. He'd finally noticed that there was another Naruto was sitting at the back of the room. Iruka had no doubt that it was the real one, judging by the way the Kage Bunshin (because it couldn't be anything else) kept provoking Sakura. The real Naruto wouldn't be so stupid as to do something like that himself. The real Naruto caught his eye and grinned, putting a finger to his lips. Nonplussed, Iruka left without saying anything.
(Time-skip: 3 hours later)
Naruto sat slumped in his seat, bored out of his skull. It had been three hours, THREE HOURS, and their sensei had yet to show his face. To pass the time, Naruto had tried chatting with Alex. After clearing with him what was okay to tell Hinata when they had their talk, Naruto mentally went over what he had learned during the week. Some of the things he had definitely made progress in, such as chakra control and mastering the jutsu he'd learned from the Forbidden Scroll. Other things, however, still required some work; the stealth was coming along slowly, though using the biomass cloaking helped enormously.
Suddenly, an idea to break the monotony of the wait occurred to him. He stood and made his way over to the bench behind Sasuke, Sakura, and his own clone. Sitting down, he made few hand seals. "Kage Bunshin, Henge." He whispered, so quietly that the people in front of him could not hear. With a tiny puff of smoke, a brown paper bag appeared in his hand. He filled it with air and held the opening closed with one hand. As an afterthought, he sent a mental signal for the Bunshin in front of him to dispel. Sasuke and Sakura were so caught up in their boredom that they didn't notice the boy between them vanishing. Shaking his head at his teammates' carelessness, Naruto brought up his free hand and walloped the bag in the other one.
*BANG!*
Sasuke and Sakura nearly jumped out of their skins. In the total silence they had been waiting in, the noise was deafening. Both Genin whipped around, Sasuke with his kunai in his hand. They saw Naruto sitting in the bench behind them, holding the remains of a paper bag. "Just checking to see if you were still alive." He said brightly, the bag vanishing from his hand with a puff of smoke.
"How did you do that?" Asked Sasuke, "You were sitting next to us the whole time. And how'd you make the bag disappear?"
Naruto blinked, slightly surprised. "Well since you asked nicely, you've been sitting next to a Kage Bunshin the whole time."
Sasuke frowned, "A what?"
"Oh, that's right; you don't know what that is..." Naruto muttered to himself, "A Kage Bunshin is basically a solid clone that takes a lot of chakra to create. I've got chakra to spare, so that doesn't really matter to me."
Glowering, Sakura said, "So you've been somewhere else the whole time, with a copy taking up another seat? Why?"
"To spite you." Naruto said bluntly, smiling.
"That was my seat, dammit!" She exploded.
The orange-clad Genin held up two fingers. "First, it didn't have your name on it. Secondly," His face hardened, "You should have thought of that before you threw a kunai at Hinata-chan."
Before Sakura could ask him what he meant, the door opened. A man with gravity-defying silver hair peered in. He wore a Jonin vest and a mask that covered the lower part of his face. His headband was worn at an angle which hid his left eye
"Are you guys Team 7?" He asked lazily.
Before his teammates could say anything, Naruto said quickly, "No, they're in the next class over."
The man eye-frowned, "Oh, thanks." He shut the door again.
"Was that our sensei?" Asked Sakura.
"Yup."
"So why'd you chase him off!"
Sasuke suddenly frowned. "Wait...there is no next class over."
"Exactly." With another puff of smoke, a pie appeared in Naruto's hand. He hefted it, his eyes trained on the door with a hunter's intensity. "Let's see how long it'll take him to figure that out." He said evilly.
Sasuke's own eye twitched at the pie the blond carried. "Where'd you get that?"
"It's a henged Kage Bunshin." Said Naruto evenly, never taking his eyes off the door. Suddenly, he hurled the pie at it.
As the baked good flew through the air, the door was opened once more by the silver haired man. "Hey, wait a min-" He began.
*Splat*
The pie hit him directly in the face, sticking for a moment before sliding off, leaving the Jonin completely splattered with the innards of the pie, his one eye wide open in shock.
Naruto threw back his head and howled with laughter. Their sensei looked ridiculous! Even Sasuke snickered at the sight. Sakura, on the other hand, looked horrified.
The Jonin's face now looked murderous. "There are no words," He hissed venomously, "That can describe my hatred for you three. Meet me on the roof in five minutes." He vanished in a blast of smoke as he Shunshined.
"Guess he doesn't like banana cream." Said Naruto. Then he burst out laughing again.
(5 minutes later)
The three Genin stood facing their sensei, shaking. Naruto shook from still-suppressed laughter. Sakura shook from fear of what the Jonin might do to them. Sasuke felt a combination of both.
The silver-haired man was silently fuming. First his students had tricked him into going the wrong way, and then the blond one had hit him with a pie of all things. He hadn't even had time to react, it had been so sudden. Still, the timing with which the boy had thrown the pastry was impressive. Plus it had dissolved into smoke when he'd tried to clean it off, so no lasting harm was done.
"Alright," The three students stilled at the sound of his voice, "Let's go around and introduce ourselves."
Sakura put her hand up.
"Yes?" The Jonin asked shortly.
"Um...how do we do that?" She asked nervously.
He gave her a deadpan stare with his single eye. She seriously has to ask that? "Just say your name, likes, dislikes, hobbies and dreams. I'll go first: My name Kakashi Hatake, my likes are...I don't really have that many dislikes...My hobbies aren't for your ears...dreams for the future? Never thought of that..."
All he really told us was his name. Thought the rest of team 7, sweatdropping as one.
"Right, you go next, pinky." Said Kakashi, pointing at Sakura.
Sakura twitched at the jab at her hair color. "Um, okay. My name is Sakura Haruno; my likes include Sasuke-kun," She shot an adoring look at Sasuke, who grimaced. Then she scowled, "My dislikes are Ino-pig and Naruto-baka!"
"Not to break your heart, but I'm not too fond of you either." The blond shot back flatly.
Sakura sputtered for a moment before continuing, "Well, my hobbies...my dreams include..." She stared dreamily at Sasuke, giggling.
Great, Kakashi thought dismally, Just what I need; a fangirl. "Okay..." He said out loud. He pointed at Sasuke, who looked quite disturbed, "You're up, Grumpy-san."
Sasuke squeezed his eyes shut as if to deny the existence of such a horrible nickname. He had no such luck. "My name is Sasuke Uchiha," He said finally, "I don't really have many likes, except maybe tomatoes."
Naruto snickered quietly.
"My dislikes are too numerous to list, though they include pushy fangirls." Sasuke carried on, "And my dream, no..." His expression darkened, "My ambition is to find and kill a certain man, after which I guess I'll have to revive my clan."
Well, somebody loves melodrama. Alex muttered, though only Naruto heard.
An avenger, huh? Kakashi thought. He looked at Naruto, "Alright, you with the heterochromia, it's your turn."
"Heterochromia?" Naruto muttered to himself.
He means your eyes.
Oh, right. He looked up, "My name is Naruto Uzumaki; my likes are ramen, pulling pranks, and Hinata-chan." The others looked at him in surprise at the last one.
Hinata Hyuuga? Thought Sakura, I didn't know he even knew her. Though that explains what he said before.
"My dislikes," He continued, "Are vegetables, killjoys, people that give us perverts a bad name..."
Kakashi resisted the urge to duck his head guiltily while Sakura looked askance at the boy. He ignored her.
"And finally, I hate people who decide to take the law into their own hands. They think they know better, but they really don't."
Does he mean the villagers? Kakashi thought apprehensively, his eye narrowing suspiciously at Naruto, who went on, not noticing the concern he had caused his sensei.
"My hobbies are training; trying to figure out what I can do and what my limits are. My dream is to become Hokage, though I'm not really sure how I'm gonna get there yet." He finished, looking serious.
There was a long silence, following these last words.
Not sure? What does he mean? Kakashi thought. It seems this team is made of a fangirl, a broody avenger, and a jinchuuriki with an agenda. I wonder if they'll make it. "Alright you guys, it's a bit late in the day, so you can go home now. Report to Training Ground 7 at 8:00 tomorrow for some special...survival training. And don't eat breakfast, you'll just throw up." With that, he Shunshined away, leaving an awkward silence in his wake.
After a moment Naruto said irritably, "Well, that was informative." He looked at his two teammates, "You guys going to listen to him about the breakfast?"
"Baka!" Said Sakura angrily, "He just told us not to!"
"I won't skip breakfast." Sasuke stated, "A ninja needs food to function properly. If we're going to be doing 'survival training,' we'll need to be at our strongest."
"Agreed," Naruto nodded. He went up to the railing at the edge and made some handseals, molding both chakra and biomass. "Ninpou: Karasu Teisatsu no Jutsu!" (Ninja art: Crow Scout Jutsu) With a blast of smoke, a large crow with green eyes appeared on the railing, staring at Naruto intently. "Go look for Hinata-chan, alright? Send word when you've found her."
The crow bobbed its head in assent and took off. Naruto turned to see Sasuke and Sakura staring at him. "What?"
"What was that jutsu?" Sasuke asked suspiciously, "I've never heard of one like that before."
"Oh, it's just a henged Kage Bunshin with a different name." Naruto lied. In reality, the only similarities the jutsu had with the Kage Bunshin was that the crow could dispel and send its memories back to its creator.
"That jutsu seems pretty useful." Sasuke said, partly to himself. It might help him in his fight against him! "Would you teach it to me, please?" He asked.
Naruto felt Alex reeling in shock in his mind.
Whoa!
What is it? Naruto asked. Very little could fully shock the first Blacklight.
Sasuke asked nicely!
So? What's so surprising about that?
You don't get it; in most versions of your world I've been to, whenever Sasuke has asked to learn something from you, he's always been a real dick about it, and throws a fit when you refuse.
So, what do I do here?
Oh, you'll have to refuse also. Just tell him why you can't; I'm sure he'll understand.
Naruto became aware that his teammates were staring at him, still waiting for him to answer. He shook his head. "Sorry Sasuke, but I can't do that."
Sasuke scowled, "Care to explain why?" He asked through gritted teeth.
"Yes." Naruto said simply, "The jutsu takes your chakra reserves and splits it between you and every clone you make. If you make two clones, you each have one third of your chakra. If you overuse it, you could die from the drain."
Sasuke's eyes widened at this legitimate reason. Sakura's voice chose this moment to rear its head.
"If that's the case, then how come you keep using it? Huh?" She screeched, pointing at the heterochromic blond triumphantly.
Unfortunately for her, he had a response ready, "Because I have retardedly huge reserves." He grunted, "I can make hundreds without feeling the drain, which is why I always sucked at making normal Bunshin." At that moment, Naruto received a pulse of memories from his crow. It seemed that Hinata was waiting in the park. "If you'll excuse me, I have somewhere I need to be." With that, he set his foot on the rail and jumped off. As he fell, he heard Sakura shriek with horror. Smirking, he filled his body with biomass so that, when he struck the ground, his legs barely felt the impact, although the road now had a pair of small craters where his feet had sunk into them. In an instant he was off, running at a great speed towards the park, where his dark-haired friend was.
Sasuke leaned over the railing, watching the orange blur streaking off. No Genin, he thought, could move that fast. Neither should a Genin be able to create thousands of clones, if the dobe was telling the truth. What are you...Naruto Uzumaki?
(Secluded part of forest, near park)
Naruto slowed down as he neared his destination. Up ahead, he saw Hinata seated on a bench. Since he was still in a mischievous mood after dealing with his sensei, he stopped and focused. His chakra flowed inwards and became trapped by a sphere of biomass. He remembered Alex telling him that all people subconsciously used their chakra senses when dealing with other people. If someone were to completely cut off their chakra signature, like he was doing now, even if they were in full view of another person, that person's brain might not recognize them because it couldn't detect their chakra signature. He might as well be invisible now. Quietly, he crept up behind the girl. She did not react in the slightest, except to give a deep sigh. Curious, he walked around to the front and crouched down to look her in the face. She looked very depressed.
Maybe she thinks you won't be showing up. Suggested Kina.
But I am here. Naruto said sharply. Judging from the fact that, despite the fact she was looking directly down at him, she was still not reacting, therefore, she could not see him at all. "Hinata-chan?" He asked.
Hinata blinked and looked up, over his head. "W-what...?" She murmured, "I th-thought I heard N-Naruto-kun, b-but no one's there." She put her face in her hands, "Maybe I imagined it," she muttered to herself, "M-maybe I j-just imagined that he b-became my friend. After all, who would w-want to be f-friends with such a failure?" She shook as she spoke, as if the words hurt her. "That must be why he hasn't come; I must have imagined that he wanted to tell me something."
Unable to take any more, Naruto stood, releasing the cloaking technique. "You didn't imagine it, Hinata-chan." He said softly.
The Hyuuga gasped. To her, the object of her affection had appeared out of thin air, looking serious. "N-Naruto-kun!"
He took a seat on the bench next to her. "Why do you think I wouldn't want to be your friend? Who says that you're a failure, Hinata?"
Hinata tried to speak, but no sound came from her mouth. Instead, she felt the burning of tears in her eyes, which she tried desperately to wipe away. "Ooh..." She moaned quietly, the tears flowing faster. "Why d-do I keep c-crying when I'm around you? You must think I'm r-really w-weak..."
"No, I don't!" Naruto protested fiercely. He grabbed her shoulders and shook her. "Why do you keep saying that you're weak! You're one of the nicest people I've met, and I've only known you for a few days, so that's saying something! Being nice doesn't make you weak, so who's telling you that you are? Who is making you cry?"
For a few moments, she stared at him, her tears having stopped from shock. Then, haltingly, she began to tell her about how her family prided themselves on being emotionless killing machines and that, since she was no such thing, they called her weak and a failure. How her father degraded her when she slipped up even a little in her training. She told him that her father forced her to fight her sister, how her sister always won because Hinata held herself back to avoid hurting her.
Naruto listened intently, growing angrier with the girl's family with every word she spoke about them. This girl was treated almost as horribly by them as he was treated by the rest of the village!
Finally, she told him about the division between the Branch and Main houses. "The Main house treats the Branch like slaves; it's sickening!" She told him passionately, "But the Branch can't do anything because of a seal that the Main house puts on their head. If the Branch house members try to revolt, the Main house can kill them instantly!" She shook her head. "Why can't we just live as one family, the way it's supposed to be?"
Naruto shrugged. "I can't help you there, Hinata." He said regretfully. He couldn't help but feel slightly ashamed that he couldn't help her. Although..."But I do have something for you to think of, if they ever call you weak again. If you fail because you can't use their skills, make your own. Don't make their strengths limit yours."
Hinata looked at him in astonishment. He was asking her to disregard her family's traditions! Still, he had a point. "Thank you, Naruto-kun. I'll k-keep that in mind." She said. Now that she had told him her problems, she felt lighter, as if her burdens had been lessened. Then she remembered something, "Ano...but w-we didn't come here to t-talk about me."
"Eh?" Was Naruto's intelligent answer. What had they come here for?
"You w-were going to t-tell me how you passed." Hinata prompted. Her stutter seemed to have improved slightly.
"Oh! Right!" Naruto rubbed the back of his head. "Where do I start...?" Alex, He thought, What do I tell her?
Tell her everything. Alex replied seriously, She has been completely truthful with you so far. If you consider her a friend, you should do the same.
If you say so. Naruto thought dubiously. "Well," He began, "After I failed the test and had my breakdown, soon after you left, I was approached by Mizuki."
"M-Mizuki-sensei?" Hinata asked, surprised, "What did he want?"
"He told me that there was another test, a hidden one that, if I passed it, I would definitely be made a ninja. Obviously, I agreed instantly."
"W-what was the test?"
"I had to steal the Forbidden Scroll of Secrets from the Hokage's office and learn a technique from it."
"The...the F-Forbidden Scroll?" Hinata asked faintly. She'd heard the scroll mentioned before by her father. "B-but isn't it supposed to be heavily g-guarded?"
"Is it?" Naruto asked unconcernedly, "It wasn't too difficult to grab the thing."
Hinata felt admiration for Naruto. He must be skilled if he-
"I just used the Oiroke no Jutsu on the old man. Bam! Out like a light." Naruto continued, causing the Hyuuga girl to face-fault.
Of course... She thought ruefully.
"Anyway, once I had the scroll, I ran to where I was supposed to meet Mizuki. When I got there, I started trying to learn one of the jutsus from the scroll."
"And d-did you?" Asked Hinata curiously.
In answer, Naruto raised his hands and made a seal by crossing the middle and index fingers of his hands. "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" He called. Instantly, two more Narutos appeared.
There are three Narutos... Hinata thought, blushing as she tried to keep any perverted thoughts out of her head. It didn't work.
"I learned this." The boy explained, as the clones dispersed, "Not only are Kage Bunshin solid, anything they learn is transferred to me once they dispel, which helps a great deal when training."
Hinata nodded, "S-so you learned it, then what?"
"Then Iruka-sensei came. He was kinda pissed and didn't seem to know about the test. Then Mizuki arrived and started throwing shuriken at us. It turned out he was just using me so that he could steal the scroll for himself before killing me."
"But w-why would he do that?" Hinata asked, horrified.
Naruto's face became serious again. "Before I tell you," He began, "You need to know that this is a pretty big secret, S-ranked, in fact. It's also the reason I'm one of the most hated people in Konoha. If you tell anyone, and I mean anyone, you would be killed for treason. I can tell you because it's about me, but you won't be able to tell anyone. So do you want to hear it?"
Hinata looked down, reeling on the inside. Naruto was entrusting her with such a big secret...but if it was for him, she would do it. It wasn't as if she had anyone to tell it to. Except maybe Hanabi, but it wouldn't be too difficult to not tell her. She looked back at Naruto determinedly. Naruto was slightly taken aback by the look in her eyes. "Naruto-kun...I swear that I will never tell another person your secret." She said without stuttering.
After a moment, Naruto nodded. "Mizuki told me that, on the night of the Kyuubi attack, the Yondaime did not kill it. Instead, He sealed away." He felt a wave of guilt from Kina.
"S-sealed? W-where did he seal it?" Hinata started to ask. Then she remembered what he had said about the secret being about him. "Did he...did he seal it inside...you?" She asked tentatively.
Naruto looked down sadly. "Yeah. I'm the container of the Kyuubi no Yoko." His fists clenched tightly as he spoke, "I...I'll understand if you don't want to be my friend anymore."
Hinata stared at him for a moment as he looked away. Even with his words of understanding, she could see that he would be hurt badly if she left. She reached over and hugged him.
"Hinata?" He asked, shocked.
Hinata remained silent, and then said softly, "I could never hate you, Naruto-kun, not even if you were the Kyuubi itself. You treated me as a friend, when you didn't even know me. I will stay by your side, no matter what."
Naruto was touched by this. "Thank you, Hinata." He said quietly, "But there's still more to tell you." He told her about defeating Mizuki and Iruka giving Naruto his headband, meaning that he was now a Genin. Then the Hokage had arrived and taken them back to his office, where Naruto had gone on a rant to the old man about having kept the Kyuubi's existence a secret from him.
And so he should be angry! Hinata thought approvingly. Through the years of her...observing the object of her desire, she had seen the coldness with which he had been treated by the villagers. If anyone had the right to yell at the Hokage, it should be Naruto, for the way he'd suffered.
"Anyway," Naruto continued, breaking Hinata's train of thought, "After I calmed down a bit, I convinced Jiji to tell me who my parents were."
"You d-did? Who were they?" She asked.
"Well, my mother was a woman from Uzushiogakure, wherever that is, and a Jonin of this village. Her name was Kushina Uzumaki."
"And who was your f-father?"
"The Yondaime Hokage, Minato Namikaze."
The nonchalance of this statement sounded almost comical in the resulting silence. Hinata's brain had gone into shock; Naruto-kun was the son of the Yondaime! How could anybody treat him with such disrespect if he was descended from such a hero? "N-Naruto-kun, do any of the villagers know about th-this?"
Naruto thought, frowning. "No, I don't think so." He said, "Jiji probably had that info suppressed or something. Moving on, after that I went home, fell asleep, and woke up in a sewer."
"N-nani?" Hinata asked, completely confused.
Naruto laughed, "Well, it looked a lot like a sewer. It was a tunnel, at any rate. So I walked down it and came out into a huge room at the end. Inside was a man with a black hood and a fox-girl."
"W-who were they?"
"The guy's name was Alex Mercer and the girl's name was Kina."
Hinata raised a thin eyebrow. "Alex?"
"Yeah, it's an odd name, but apparently where he comes from, it's pretty normal." And so Naruto retold to the blue-haired girl what he had discussed with the man, the revelation that the fox-girl was actually the Kyuubi (something that, in hindsight, was pretty obvious), Alex's own story, and finally, the fact that Naruto would become a shapeshifter that would eat people.
At the end, Hinata sat there, processing the incredible story that the orange-clad boy had just told her. Not only was he the container of the most powerful demon in existence, but he was also the container of a shapeshifter that was thousands of years old, both of which had pretty much sworn their allegiance to him. She felt a sort of pride as she thought of how far he would go in the ninja world.
"Hinata-chan?" Sounded Naruto's voice. Hinata looked around; it seemed she had gotten to her feet while she was thinking.
"H-hai, Naruto-kun?" She asked shyly.
"I-I know this is a lot to take in but...could you please keep the last part secret? It's something that not even Jiji knows about, and Alex doesn't want anyone to know yet. Also, if the council gets wind of my becoming some sort of super-powered killing machine, they'd have me executed on the spot."
Hinata nodded immediately, smiling. "I already t-told you, Naruto-kun; I will not tell anyone y-your secret until you say it's okay." She clenched a fist over her heart. "I w-will never b-betray your trust."
Naruto's eyes widened at the Hyuuga girl's words. This girl knew the whole truth about him, but she still worried about him trusting her. She still wanted to be his friend. A warm feeling spread through his chest that had nothing to do with chakra.
(At Storia's library)
Storia took his hands off the crystal ball and stood up to leave. "Well, that seems as good of a place to leave it as any." He muttered to himself. Deciding to take a look at one of the books on his shelves to see what was there, he ambled in amongst them. He was bound to find a good one somewhere...
After a few minutes of searching, however, he came across a person standing by one of the shelves, reading a paperback. The person wore green, loose-fitting clothes. His blond hair was cut very short, with a few strands sticking out at odd angles, like antennae. The young man looked up and smiled sheepishly. "Oh hello, Storia! What are you doing here?"
Storia resisted the urge to roll his eyes. "I happen to work here, Nord. On that note, what are you doing here? I never pegged you as the scholarly type."
"If you spent more time with the rest of the groups, you'd have more info to peg me with." The blond retorted lightly, smirking.
The old Spellwright grimaced. "If they're like that bitch Grace and that neat-freak Mason, I'll pass on that."
"Nah, they're alright. Sure, Carlos is a bit of a shut-in and Morris never leaves his cave...and I'm pretty sure Colt is secretly a voyeur. I mean, why else would he keep popping up in the-"
"Your choices in friends aside, Baro, you still haven't answered my question: why are you here?" Storia interrupted, frustratedly. Good god, I know he's an aeromancer, but that shouldn't make him this much of an air-head!
Nord sighed. "The word on the breeze is that Blair is looking for some people to take into one of the worlds. Since I also know that Mason sent her here, I came to find her and try to get on the list."
Storia studied him for a moment. One part of his mind was tempted to send Nord entirely the wrong way toward Blair as a joke. The larger part, the Narrating part that did as the Plot commanded, told him to do something else. "Spoiler alert, Nord: I'm the one who told Blair to do that. Even if she doesn't know it yet, she's gathering a Genin team to take to one of the Naruto-verses. However, I have an offer for you."
"Really?" Nord's gray-green eyes widened, and Storia could have sworn that the strands of his hair leaned towards him. "Do tell."
Storia took a breath, braced for a wave of excitement. "I want you to become the team's Jonin-sensei." He said quickly.
Nord's eyes widened further and he grinned, showing a mouth full of triangular, sharp teeth. "Excellent." He breathed, "I've always wanted to be a sensei. When should we start?"
Storia leaned back. With the look of insanity on the aeromancer's face, as well as the close proximity to those teeth, Storia feared for the safety of his nose. "Not for a while, although there is something you could do right now."
"What is it?" Nord asked.
"For god's sake, change your teeth back!" Storia shouted, positively creeped out by now. "You look like a demented shark, and that hair isn't helping much."
Nord ducked his head guiltily. "Ah, sorry. Got carried away." As he spoke, his teeth shrank back into normal human ones. Then he frowned. "And my hair is fine, thank you."
"It looks like your younger sister went mad with the scissors and missed a few spots. Either that, or you've got a whole colony of giant moths on your head."
The younger man spluttered for a moment before turning and walking off in a huff, into a passage of shelves.
"Was that really necessary?" Asked a voice.
"Quite." Replied Storia absently, staring thoughtfully after his conversational companion. Then he looked down at the speaker.
It was a medium sized gargoyle, in the shape of a large stone frog with a long tail and dog ears. There were a few books tucked under its arm.
"Organization, right?" Storia asked, referring to what the gargoyle was doing, "I'll be happy to take one of those off your hands."
The construct shrugged and obligingly handed him a book. "Suit yourself. Less work for me, anyhow." So saying, it trundled off.
The gray haired man glanced at the book and then walked over to a chair to read it. With all the work coming his way, he would have to treasure these breaks when he could.
AN: Well, that's another one down. I had wanted to finish it by the end of the vacation, but I got distracted too much. Ah, well.
And so we meet another Gorem: Nord Baro. Since he is confirmed as the sensei of the Genin team, his element, wind, shall be removed from the poll. The other names mentioned were the names of other Gormim: Grace Ghiaccio, Mason Gloma, Carlos Binario, Colt Souse, and Morris Nocturne. If you wish to know who and what they are, please PM me. Also, the Gargoyle is a reference to the book Spellwright, the world of which Storia draws his own powers from. And before you start on me about how the names are not Japanese, the Gormim are not part of the Naruto-verse and therefore they are not bound by its rules, leaving me free to give them the names I deem fitting.
What do you think of the crow technique that Naruto used? It's one of the few techniques that I made up, being a combination of chakra and biomass. I've been trying to think of other applications of this combination (properties, how it would affect normal jutsu, unique jutsu that can be performed etc.) as well as combinations of biomass/youki and youki/normal chakra, but I haven't been able to come up with anything. If you have an idea, please PM me, I would greatly appreciate it.
NaruHina-ness: I know it might be going a little fast, so I'll try to slow it down a bit. No guarantees though.
The poll stands thusly:
Glass/Living art (female) 18 (wow)
Metal (male) 14
Technology (male) 12
Ice (male) 6
Lightning (male) 5
Sound (female) 3
Stone (female) 2
Keep it up! :)
Also, be sure to review!
Next time: Bells and strategies, all for some lunch.
