A/N: Alright, training is taking wayyyy longer than I thought it would. I have tried my best to cut it down as much as possible. But, damn, I did not expect it take as much as it has before getting to Wave. WAVE! PEOPLE! That happens at, like, episode 5! I need to accelerate this story or its going to be well over a million words before ending the first arc. Please forgive me if this and the next chapter seem to pass over a bit of detail and time. I tried to smooth it out as much as possible. But the skip is is out of necessity. Otherwise this next part will be over 100k words. Trust me, I've written them. This whole forest of death scene, clone realizations, calculations, and that was just the beginning. After sixty thousand words just in the forest of death I realized that it would bog down the story way too much. Too long, friends, far too long.
Chapter Five
N
The second step, Investiture. Life force channeled through coils and Tenketsu in the human body, this application of chakra is required to achieve the desired effect. This includes, but is not limited to, body enhancement, genjutsu, fuujutsu, and Ninjutsu. With out this and the previous step, results are impossible to achieve.
Line Break
There was something very wrong with the world. It was in the air. It was in the earth. And most importantly, it was in the ramen placed in front of him. It was Miso, his favorite. The dark broth bubbled softly, bespeaking a deep and powerful character. The eggs complimented the meat perfectly, displaying the chef's mastery of the art. Even the small additives bobbing in the broth were on point.
Naruto stared at it dumbly. He couldn't help but to stare. Free ramen – the best kind – was sitting directly before him and he couldn't eat it because of the man sitting just opposite of the table from him. The creature, commonly referred to as Kakashi, had added an extra ingredient to the each of team seven's meal. One that would prove most uncomfortable if improperly ingested.
Naruto leveled a glare at the cruel man. Kakashi lounged comfortably in the long bench across from team seven. The jounin had appeared from the darkness as though a wraith. There hadn't been warning, no preamble, and no discussion. He had attacked without mercy.
Naruto glanced to the side at where Sasuke, a purple bruise spreading across his cheek, was picking at his ramen with his chopsticks. His glazed eyes moved slowly, wandering around and fixing on individual parts of his meal that he was pushing around, watching them tumble over each other.
Training had been particularly hard for Sasuke today, so much so that Naruto almost felt some sympathy for him. In team fights, Kakashi usually let them engage him for a few moments, before taking their guard apart and pointing out where they were going wrong.
He hadn't tolerated Sasuke's presence for more than a couple seconds before ruthlessly tossing him aside, calling out some jib on how he expected more from the top of the class. At first Sasuke, had remained stoic, his façade of the calm and in command elite in place. That, however, had evaporated after five hours, when Kakashi had refused to let them leave the clearing to take a breather.
Sasuke had grown red-faced as his every effort, his every jutsu, his every attempt, had been carelessly batted aside and turned against him. It hadn't been pretty, but the Uchiha had remained quiet, true to his form, though he was anything but calm.
"Thallium or Waterleaf," Sakura proclaimed from Naruto's right, pushing her bowl away from her.
Naruto turned to face her just as he folded her arms and gave Kakashi a weak glare through eyes nearly swollen shut. There was still a dried blood trail that extended from her nose to her chin, the memory of a broken nose.
"What do you take me for?" Kakashi asked with a snort, "I'm not nearly so common as to use infamous poisons like those. Try again."
"Ricin," Sakura countered.
Kakashi shook his head. "You're simply listing the top five most common poisons from your academy books. I'll give you a hint." Reaching into his pouch, he pulled out a clear vial full of a purplish liquid and set it on the table.
Entranced at the mulish look on Sakura's face, Naruto absent-mindedly picked up his bowl and sipped from it, sucking in a couple of noodles.
"Exo 374b? Some form of DDT – Tetrodotoxin." Sakura said, glaring at the vial as if it'd insulted her.
"This is wrong, you know." Naruto put in suddenly. "Breakfast ramen shouldn't be used like this – poisoning a perfectly good meal just for a game."
"I'll tell you what," Kakashi said, leaning back in his chair with a half grin. "I'll give you one hint per reasonable explanation you give."
"What do you mean?" Sakura asked, face screwing up in annoyance.
Kakashi had a habit of asking frustratingly difficult questions with little given information. He expected them to already have most of the information before hand. Or, barring that, reason out between themselves a satisfactory answer. Punishment if they couldn't was harsh.
Sakura looked at down at her bowl. It wasn't likely to be fatal. She had been thinking along the wrong lines before. It was more than likely going to make her extremely sick if ingested.
"I've reviewed the academy files and found their critical thinking in technique theory lacking." Kakashi elaborated. "So I'm going to ask you a question about a particular technique and you're going to answer it. You get it right, I'll give you a hint about the poison."
"What are the weaknesses of the Hiraishin?" Kakashi asked, taping one slender finger on the table to accent his question.
"There isn't one," Naruto said instantly, perking up at the question. He loved anything to do with the fourth Hokage. At the academy, history regarding any of the Kage's was one of the few subjects he exceled at. "The Hiraishin has no weaknesses."
Kakashi gave Naruto a long look. "In all of my time as a shinobi, I have yet to come across a technique that is infallible. The Hiraishin is no different. There is always another secret, you just have to look underneath the underneath."
Naruto's face twisted in annoyance at hearing Kakashi's favorite quote directed at him for the hundredth time. It was frustrating. The jounin had warned them that he wouldn't hold their hand, but it aggravated Naruto that Kakashi actively prevented them from learning any jutsu. Sure, it was just the third day of their training, but Sasuke had gone into town intending to visit Konoha's library, only to find that his name had a hold on it, barring him from entering the repository.
"There is a jutsu that cancels the Hiraishin from activating," Sasuke said, narrowing his eyes in thought.
"No," Kakashi answered flatly. "If such a thing ever existed you and I probably wouldn't be here and the rest of Konoha would be speaking Iwan."
Naruto considered himself a fair hand at poker and, despite others thinking otherwise, was pretty decent at reading people. Kakashi's masked covered most of his face, but accurately anticipating other's emotions was more than just facial reactions. Accents changed and people twitched in various ways when they were being duplicitous.
Kakashi was an impenetrable wall. His voice betrayed nothing, his eyes a blank slate, his voice a controlled measure. It was slightly disconcerting for Naruto that he couldn't gauge what Kakashi would do.
"Naruto," Kakashi said, clasping his hands together and leaning forward. "I want you to think carefully on this. Breaking down the opponents Ninjutsu and being able to come up with a counter as fast as humanly possible means life and death on the battle field."
Naruto set down Sakura's bowl, settling into his thinking pose. Sasuke and Sakura regarded him with expressions ranging from bemusement to outright condescension.
If it isn't some form of jutsu to stop the Hiraishin, then it has got to be something else – something to do with the technique itself. Naruto thought.
"Kunai," Sasuke said, interrupting Naruto's thoughts. "He's got to appear where his kunai is."
Kakashi brought his hands together in a slow clap.
It wasn't the clap of a superior used to encourage a subordinate. It had genuine enthusiasm behind it which was, somehow, worse.
"An easy statement to make, if there were only one," Kakashi said. "The fourth was known to have hundreds, both on his person and hidden throughout the elemental nations. Do you think you could keep track of hundreds of kunai being thrown around the battlefield? Not to mention the fourth Hokage himself?"
Sasuke ground his teeth. "No."
Kakashi nodded, reached forward and pushed Sasuke's bowl over towards a grinning Naruto. "You are nevertheless, more or less, correct," He said. "Continue thinking about it, but I'll give you your hint, 'Iwa'".
Sasuke frowned. Did the hint mean that the poison came from Iwa? Or it was commonly used in Iwa? Or perhaps it meant that cure was native to Iwa. As hints went, this one was about as useful as pebbles in your shoes.
"Where's my ramen?" Sakura asked, looking at the empty space where her ramen had been earlier.
"Same place as where Sasuke's is," Kakashi commented nonchalantly, waving a hand at her blond teammate. "Naruto ate it while you lot were trying to be clever. It would appear as though his particular condition grants him a certain leeway with toxins."
"My stomach feels like it is on fire," Naruto put in helpfully with a smile.
"And you're happy about that?" Sakura asked skeptically.
"Sakura," Naruto said, meeting his teammates eyes. He spoke slowly, using a tone usually reserved for speaking with the incredibly slow. "I like ramen. The thought of wasted noodles granted to us by the gods is more terrifying to me than the idea of dying to poison."
Sakura stared at him incredulously, uncomprehending. "You're insane." She breathed after a moment.
Naruto grinned toothily, slapping her on the back. "Now you're getting it! I figure if you've got a giant ball of hatred and healing inside of you, you might as well get something out of it. If poisoned ramen is what comes, who am I to argue?"
"Touch me again and I'll use one of these chopsticks to nail you to the table." Sakura threated through gritted teeth, eyes narrowing to slits.
Contact with others was something Sakura had found difficult to bear ever since their liberation from Kakashi's genin test. It set her on edge. Simply being around others ground on her nerves like a sharpening wheel.
Sasuke was the only exception. Naruto probably would have been as well, if fate had played out slightly differently. Her blond teammate had scars of his own. She saw it in the way he always kept an exit within his vision. Or how his lips curled in distaste whenever he saw the color white.
But he hadn't gone through what she and Sasuke had together. It wasn't his fault, nor did she hold it against him. They had all been Kakashi's prisoners. But the mere fact he hadn't suffered alongside her and Sasuke made him uncomfortably different. He wasn't as bad as strangers, but physical contact was still out of the question.
"Aww come on Sakura," Naruto said.
He probably though he was being funny when he reached out and poked her on the cheek.
Sakura stood up from her stool, her face completely blank. She bowed to Kakashi, promising her return to the training ground. Once Kakashi nodded his acknowledgement, she turned and left the restaurant.
"This is quite painful, you know. Totally worth it." Naruto said, gazing morosely at where a wooden chopstick was driven through his hand and into the tabletop.
"You're an idiot," Sasuke said, standing and following Sakura example.
Naruto lifted his hand, holding it up and looking at Kakashi through the small hole that was slowly closing.
"I think I'm going to love them," He said. "Except Sasuke, he can go to ash heap, the noble bastard. By the way, what were the poisons? It would set my stomach at ease know what is causing it to bleed."
Kakashi shrugged.
Line Break
If there was one thing besides Naruto's immaturity and smart mouth that Sasuke truly disliked about becoming a genin, it was that he was now a fully registered adult – and had to deal with all the responsibility that it came with.
Sure, he'd always been mostly responsible for himself. Ever since his brother had orphaned him, he'd been forced to learn certain things. He'd paid his taxes, done his own laundry, and funded his own projects. And yet-
Sasuke closed his eyes, trying to tune out the spindly, elderly man with a wispy goatee and narrow eyes who was speaking and gesturing wildly on the stage in the center of the room.
Sectioned off segments of the circular room held dignitaries and clan heads, each with their own quadrant or alcove to themselves that faced the center stage.
The massive room was arranged so that the Hokage could dominate the proceedings in his large chair that overlooked every section and alcove, should he deem it necessary to attend. Today the Hokage was absent.
"The tariffs have once again increased from our brothers to the west. They say the money is to increase defense, and yet six ships were lost over the past year to pirate attacks alone, all hands and materials lost." The speakers extravagant movements sent his white robes of office swinging and twisting in what would have been an impressive display had the elder possessed a stronger frame. Years ago, he must have been an impressive orator. However, age had made his voice thin and weak, so that it had difficultly carrying far from the stage. An effect of which caused many of the other representatives in the room to close their eyes and let their thoughts wonder, as Sasuke's had.
Their chatter was just so much busywork - endless problems that had no real solution.
"The pirate attack is of little concern for the moment. These raised tariffs are far more troubling to me. If the outer countries raise their taxes in response, it will send a terrible message to the other great nations. We are not a people to be swindled from!"
Sasuke opened his eyes and panned to where the speaker, a large bellied, brown-haired, mustached man in green robes was seated in the merchant alcove. Golden rings capped with emeralds glittered on his fingers and he drummed the armrest with his right hand. "Increased tariffs will drive prices up on imports from neighboring countries in the west."
"Pirates are nothing to scoff at, my lord Taka." The man on stage said, turning to face the dissenter. "They symbolize a failure to properly police our boarders. If we cannot keep annoyances such as an unorganized militant group, the other five nations will see-"
"That they are beneath our notice." The merchant said, cutting the speaker on stage off with a wave of his hand. It was a breach of etiquette, one no shinobi would have made, and certainly one the merchant would have made if the Hokage had been present.
"How dare-"
Sasuke closed his eyes again. How many times would they go over the same things? This had been an issue last week when he was here.
At least one clan representative was required to oversee civilian discussions. The only reason full shinobi councils were ever convened was for security meetings, general overview, shinobi trial, or war. On civil disputes, the clans took turns overseeing the meetings, and because he was the 'new guy' to the council, he always managed to get the flame-cursed boring meetings. Random drawing lots his well-bred ass.
"I see you find these meetings as much of a drag as I do," A bored voice drawled from his left.
Sasuke stiffened, eyes hardening in anger. The clan boxes were not intended for the public. Few, save the Hokage, were allowed to enter unannounced.
He turned to find a man that appeared in his early forties. His body was lean in a way that suggested he was used to combat. A fact reinforced by two scars on the left side of his face, one above the brow and the other on the jaw, a few inches away from a black goatee. His hair was drawn up into a disheveled ponytail.
In this man, Sasuke had met his slouching match. The intruder leaned against the doorframe, meeting Sasuke's gaze with half-lidded eyes that were so similar to Kakashi's that it was eerie. The single difference between the two was that this man's expression held no hint of boredom or veiled impatience, only a whole-hearted desire to fall asleep.
Sasuke could recall vague memories of seeing this man before, only he couldn't quite place it.
"I suggest you leave the way you came," Sasuke said, forcing his attention to return to the speaker once more, ignoring his unwanted guest.
"Troublesome."
Sasuke stared incredulously as the intruder shuffled forward and fell into one of the seats that were once meant for members lower members of the Uchiha head of house. The intruder took a moment to properly adjust himself, shifting so that he was situated just on the edge of his seat, head pressed against the plush backboard, chin resting on his chest.
"Who are you?" Sasuke demanded.
The man regarded him for a moment before closing his eyes, leaving Sasuke gritting his teeth in agitation. He waited for a few second before he began to wonder if the intruder had the temerity to actually fall asleep in his clan's box.
"We've met before, three weeks ago in the interim. You met Choza there. Large man. Likes to talk about steak." The man eventually said.
It finally clicked. This was the man, Shikaku Nara, clan leader, jounin commander, the man who had slept through the entire council introduction when Sasuke had been presented to the dominate clans of Konoha.
"Lord Nara, I haven't seen you since we were first introduced," Sasuke said, trying to keep his irritation from his voice.
"Too troublesome to meet new people, even kids touted as geniuses."
Sasuke struggled to keep his face clear of the anger he felt flaring in his chest. "You may leave now."
Shikaku opened his eyes, surprising Sasuke with the sudden intensity in the leader's formerly lax eyes.
"Why do you let the other clan heads disrespect you? Your fellow Lords Akimichi and Yamanaka are friendly enough… but the others are not as amiable as we are. You have a chip on your shoulder and you aren't afraid to take it out on everyone you meet."
"I am new-" Sasuke began.
"I see you've made yourself familiar with the excuses others have given you and made them your own. Words such as theirs have only so much power as you seek to give them. They are your peers on this council, not superiors. While others may listen to their advice because of their experience more readily than yours, your station still affords you a right to speak here at this council." Shikaku said.
"Civilian matters are beneath-"
"Often ninja who live long enough begin to ignore those they see as below them." Shikaku interjected, cutting across what Sasuke started to say. "It is easy for the guardian to see themselves as superior to those they guard. What they refuse to recognize is that the common people have far more power than they are willing to admit. Without them, there is very little to command. The Uchiha were quite notable for this pitfall."
Sasuke flushed at the insinuation.
"Are you going to let me-" Sasuke tried, annoyance clear in his voice now.
Shikaku interrupted once again, "Might I offer you some advice, kid?"
"And what would that be?" Sasuke growled.
"Forget everything you think you know about being on the council and your place in it. What you're doing isn't working. Your half-remembered politics of a man who, while impressive in his own right, was difficult to get along with on the best of days. The councilmen distrusted him, the civilians didn't understand him, and his family followed him because he was their only option. You have been dismissed so far because you are young. That will only shield you for so long."
This time Sasuke did lose his temper. He rose to his feet, chakra writhing in his system like a snake. Shikaku's eyes followed him. However, if he was alarmed at Sasuke's outburst, he didn't show it. He regarded Sasuke from his slouched position with a tranquil expression.
"If the only reason you came here was to insult my family, then consider it done and get out." Sasuke snarled.
The jounin commander didn't move. Instead, he snuggled himself deeper into the cushion and said, "You can only rely on memories for so long, kid. There will be a time when that will not be enough and your family's memory will fail you. It will probably be sooner rather than later," He shot a distrustful look at the stage.
"What is the point of all of this," Sasuke asked through tight lips. "You avoid my first question and have been hedging around the point since you got here. What do you want?"
"So blunt," Shikaku noted. "You have yet to learn subtly. I suppose its better than the alternative. That's something, at least."
The jounin commander stood up, his movements slow and ponderous. He moved with an inevitable grace that was almost hypnotic.
"Fair warning before I go. You either need to find a mentor in the courts or change your tactics quick, kid. Otherwise, the men and women down there will swallow what little remains of your house's power and make it their own."
With a careless shrug, Shikaku turned and left - leaving Sasuke standing and listening as the muffled shuffling of the commander's footsteps slowly faded into the distance. Once they'd vanished, Sasuke waited to the count of two hundred before began pacing his box in an effort to exhaust his pent up anger. He would have to take it out on his training later. No doubt it would only earn him a harsher beating, but pain was good. It meant he was learning.
"Lord Uchiha!"
Sasuke stopped pacing. Turning to the side, he found the councilman on the stage down below. The elder was looking up at his box, arms held open in supplication.
"As today's representative of the shinobi council, what would you recommend us to do on the matter at hand?"
Sasuke floundered for a moment. Between his conversation with the shinobi commander and his own frustrated pacing, he hadn't been paying any attention to the discussion down below as it developed.
"Do what you will. I have no opinion on the matter," Sasuke replied, trying his best to imitate the tone he remembered his father use when addressing the council - that of a calm, forceful leader, straight backed, arms folded, and in control.
"As you wish, my lord," The councilman said with a short bow.
And Sasuke saw it. As the man bowed, his aged face split for a half second into a self-satisfied smirk. He wouldn't have noticed it if not for the conversation before. The man, the civilian, had probably forgotten Sasuke's family famed vision. Even when their sharingan wasn't manifest, Uchiha's had incredible vision. The elder probably wasn't aware of his blunder.
The councilman turned back towards the rest of congregation. It was probably just Sasuke's imagination, but the man's reedy voice no longer seemed as frail or wispy as it had at the beginning of the meeting.
I've just been manipulated. He realized. He didn't know how, or to what end, but he knew the look well enough – had seen it on his father's face in the privacy of his own home.
Sasuke felt his lip curl in dissatisfaction, both with himself and the councilmen. He couldn't be sure if Shikaku was a part of the orator on the stage's plan, or it were simple coincidence – a prophetic roll of the dice, as Naruto would say. Either way, Sasuke resolved to himself that it wouldn't happen again.
Line Break
Training ground 76 was a ghost town. Originally planned to be an outer district to Konoha, it had been almost functional before the Kyuubi's attack, which rendered such plans redundant. Without the population to support the district, there was little point in filling it. Now the buildings were maintained by retired shinobi earth shapers, solely for the purpose of shinobi training.
Kakashi sat perched atop a water tower, reading his book, one leg dangling over the edge carelessly. He would occasionally glance down to see if his genin had made any progress. And each time he would be disappointed.
The children were dashing through the town in a vain attempt to evade his clones. They would fail. No matter how talented certain members of the group were, they were still inexperienced and lacked information.
It frustrated him.
They asked questions that threw him off stride because he had spent an entire a decade training ANBU, training soldiers who already had a complete understanding of the basic questions his students now asked him on a daily basis.
A bass detonation shook the air, causing him to raise an eyebrow in surprise. Apparently Naruto had managed to swipe an explosive tag from him this morning. Kakashi often forgot the boy had spent a large part of his life on the streets, where he'd developed a few interesting skills.
From the smoking wreckage Naruto came flying to land heavily on the ground. The blond was followed shortly by his teammates, and then Kakashi's clone. Apparently, the explosive tag hadn't been enough to dispel the clone.
Kakashi closed his eyes, burying his frustration under the surface. Opening his eyes, he turned back to his book. He would introduce them to elemental manipulation, he decided. It was early, perhaps, but they could work on the basic principles alongside whatever else he thought for them to do.
That was the most frustrating thing, the annoyance that rasped across the hardwood surface of his soul. He honestly had very little idea what he was doing instructing them. Memories of his own training were a hazy recollection. Mostly, he'd figured things out for himself. So, in order to teach his students, he was forced to put them in as many situations as he could think of, all in order to force them to find their answers.
A strangled yell split the air. Kakashi didn't bother to look up. No doubt his clone was just as frustrated as he was. It was another hour and a half of scenarios. It was an experience that history had taught him would only take him another step towards insanity.
Distraction: that was the key. Kakashi refocused on his book. It was a tepid piece on the treaties between two inconsequential fiefdoms, all neatly disguised behind the cover of that which gave the greatest distraction – Icha Icha. It was a pleasure that was in part the book, and in part the deception it allowed. Sometimes, the book was exactly what it appeared: pornography written by a master of the art. Other times, it was something much less interesting, but slightly more edifying.
He'd give it another hour and a half of this before heading back to their main training ground. On his way he would have to pick up elemental paper and -
Kakashi's clone dispersed, and with its death came it's memories. They were hazy and indistinct, as all of his shadow clone's memories were. He had never considered himself particularly talented in the technique, nor had he considered it worth the effort to master it.
Kakashi stood, face twisting under his mask in anger and disappointment. His students – and here he used the word with the utmost derision – had fallen beneath his expectations.
They had turned on each other.
In the anger and frustration of not being able to damage his clone, they had started to yell at one another. That yelling devolved quickly, soon they had forgotten training in favor of screaming at one another.
Kakashi lifted a gloved hand, forming a fist. He smelt burning o-zone even as control over his temper slipped away. He was not a man easily angered. But once properly motivated, he was past the point of reason.
His students clearly weren't ready for discipline elemental training required, not after today's display. So a change in tact was required. Perhaps they would gain something from it, perhaps not. Either way, they would learn that turning on each other in any situation was not acceptable.
He had been kind when he gave them a nice training ground with a ready supply of water and food available.
Kakashi stepped forward and off the edge of the water tower, vanishing in a soundless Shunshin.
Line Break
Team Seven waited with tense postures as they stared at where Kakashi stood on a post, orange book in hand, appearing for all the world as he usually did. They, however, were still wary. In the couple of weeks they'd been studying under their brutal teacher they'd learned to read his moods.
It was subtle. When he was angry, he stood taller; the air around him seemed to hold its breath in anticipation for what he might do. Where others rage made them careless, an enraged Kakashi carried himself more precisely, every move carefully considered before being taken.
"You know," Kakashi said, closing his book, but didn't turn around to face them.
The three of them didn't question how he knew they were there. He always seemed to know where they were. One day, Naruto had woken up early and tried playing hooky on training for one day and snuck into town to get ramen.
When Kakashi had come to collect them, he silently accepted the news of Naruto's early departure without a word. Nodding once, he left.
To Sasuke and Sakura's discomfort, Kakashi had returned ten minutes later with Naruto carried under one arm. Their instructor strode silently up to them, deposited Naruto unceremoniously onto the ground at their feet, and ordered them to tend to their teammate. Sasuke still wondered how exactly Kakashi had managed to cram the chopsticks so far up Naruto's nose without killing him. He had obviously taken inspiration from Sakura.
"That I never introduced myself," Kakashi finished, turning around and pocketing his book. The jounin's voice betraying none of the impatience that radiated from their teacher's frame like a bad odor.
Immediately, the three genin noticed that Kakashi's headband wasn't in its usual place, slung over the eye to cover his sharingan. The red eye was out, pinning the three of them to the spot with the intensity of the dichromatic glare.
The silver-haired jounin stepped from the post, alighting gently onto the ground. He took a single step; the air seemed to warp and bend, and in that step he covered the entire distance between them. He towered above them, an angered god.
"I am Kakashi Hatake, jounin of Konoha." Kakashi said, voice icy. Naruto would swear to the end of his days that Kakashi's hair actually crackled with electricity. "I enjoy gardening, training, lazing around when appropriate, and drinking with the select few friends I have that are still alive. I dislike… well, probably best not to go into that right now. My dreams of the future… team exercises."
The way he said 'team exercises' made the three of them shiver instinctually. It was like the howl of a predator right before it went in for the kill.
"Of the two of you who carry bloodlines, one of you will care more than the other for what I have to saw. Sasuke,"
The Uchiha snapped to attention, his typical slouch vanishing like morning dew. This was what he was after. Kakashi now dangled his heritage in front of him.
"You will find this of particular interest. Did you know there is two ways to unlock a bloodline?" Kakashi asked.
Sasuke tried not to show his interest, opting instead to remain as physically straight as humanly possible.
"Yes," Kakashi continued, "The first and preferred method is letting it develop naturally, through time. But there is a second way: Near death experiences. The stress of pushing those limits has strange effects on the body. This is called 'snapping'. I have never seen it happen. I look forward to the experience."
"You said two of us have bloodlines? Who is the second?" Naruto asked.
It was the wrong thing to say.
Kakashi struck, his movements machine-like in their precision. Naruto tried to back away, but he hadn't stood a chance. Kakashi's blow took him square in the chest and he felt ribs crack under his instructor's mammoth blow.
As Naruto felt the familiar sensation of blood welling in his lungs, he had several regrets. The first was his question. The second was that, sometimes, it really sucked having regenerative powers.
He hit the ground, rolling harshly. He tried to stand, but Kakashi was already upon him. Somewhere in the split second Naruto had spent tumbling, Kakashi had picked Sakura up and was now dragging her by the hair, her nose leaking blood.
The Jounin's leg snapped out and took him in the chest. This time his ribs gave and Naruto found it very difficult to breath, blood flooded his lungs like released dams. Kakashi spun, throwing Sakura by her hair into an oncoming Sasuke, his foot flying through the air once more to connect with the side of Naruto's head with the tip of his boot. Naruto collapsed to his knees like a boned fish, head snapping to the side, vision flickering as he fought to remain conscious. His body felt like it was encased in iron, and simply breathing was taking all of his focus.
Naruto was forced to watch helplessly as Kakashi rounded on his two teammates, both of whom had managed to disentangle from the other. There was a fistful of hair missing on Sakura scalp, pink tufts which were wound in Kakashi's still clenched fist. He hadn't released her when he'd thrown her.
Kakashi charged. Normally, when they were sparring with their master, the jounin preferred to work on the defensive, pointing out their flaws and tagging them on various body parts or vitals when he saw an opening. This was usually followed by a sarcastic comment or a condescending smile.
There was none of that here. It was a systematic destruction on a level none of them had witnessed since their torture.
Kakashi swept Sakura's wild haymaker aside and retaliated with a jab to the face. There was a crack and she stumbled back, left hand rising to nurse a broken nose that was spewing blood as she exhaled in panic and surprise. Their master stepped forward slamming curled knuckle into Sakura's now unprotect left temple. Sakura's steps faltered, her eyelids flickering, eyes rolling towards the back of her head.
Kakashi wasn't done with her. He stepped forward once again, reached out and grabbed Sakura by the face with one hand, raising her up off the ground. Lightning arced and Sakura spasmed, eyes snapping back to clarity even as thhey widened in pain.
Naruto gurgled and tried to stand, blood welling out of his mouth. All he accomplished was a kind of wobble, arms shaking uselessly at his side. He couldn't breathe. He was going to drown in his own blood, watching his teammates get picked apart.
"Katon: Great Fireball."
Naruto turned bloodshot eyes towards where Sasuke was crouched, hands held together in tiger handseal, exhaling fire that expanded to form a ball in front of him. Too slow – Naruto could see that Sasuke would never make it in time. The jutsu took too long to form and was easy to predict.
Kakashi tossed Sakura aside, turning to face the Uchiha, eyes contemptuous. He stepped forward just as Sasuke released the fireball. Taking an elongated step, he slammed his foot into the ground. An earth wall erupted in front of him. It was half-circle dome that redirected the blast around the jounin harmlessly. He didn't stop there. For the first time since Naruto had been a part of Team Seven, he saw and heard Kakashi form hand signals followed by an incantation.
"Doton: Swap of the Underworld."
Sasuke cried out in alarm as the ground suddenly turned to mush beneath him, swallowing him up to his waist.
Reaching out, Kakashi pressed his palm against the wall he had summoned, which detonated outwards at his touch, propelling chucks of rocks at the helpless Uchiha.
With a cry, Sakura leapt forward on unsteady legs, positioning herself over Sasuke in an attempt to shield him from the rocks. She buckled; gasping as a stone the size of her head took her in the small of her back. She screamed when a rock shaped like a kris buried itself in her thigh.
Kakashi lifted his hand, forming another handsign. However, this time there was no incantation to give warning. Sakura was hurtled away from her companion by a sudden stream of air that shot her almost a dozen feet into the air. She came down maladroitly, landing in a clumsy tumble that drove the spike in her leg deeper, tearing the muscle.
Naruto's felt his blood-shot eyes widened in horror and amazement. Lessons on theory with Kakashi had beaten into him that people with one element – say, lightning – would find using jutsu of another, opposing element very difficult, and in some cases impossible. Their master had just used three separate elements in quick succession, and he'd bypassed the incantation and hand formation phases, each to devastating effect.
Kakashi turned, leveling a cold glare at Naruto. With a hiss of annoyance, he strode forward to crouch before him. He reached forward, palm glowing an eerie green, and pressed it against Naruto's chest. A wrenching cough wracked Naruto's body as blood was forcibly expelled from his lungs to splatter on the dirt.
"I hate using medical Ninjutsu," Kakashi breathed, passing his hand back and forth across Naruto's chest. "It makes my palms itch and my chakra coils thrum. But you kids are just so easy to break. I've probably used more basic field Ninjutsu on you idiots than I ever did on the field."
Naruto found that he could breathe again. He sucked in ragged gasps of air, and he tried his best to reach up and strangle his master. The best he could manage was a weak twitch of the fingers. Kakashi's palm stopped glowing.
"I've cleared your lungs but haven't repaired your ribs. I'll let you and your prisoner take care of that. In the mean time, I have a point to get across about teamwork. You will continue to kneel here, and continue to suffocate, while you watch me hurt the people who you are supposed to be working alongside. This is what happens when you can't work as a team."
He stood turning back to face the other two, hands curling into fists. "You children are my responsibility, my mission. Only once have I ever failed in my mission, and I will not let the same happen to you three. If I have to train you by beating you within an inch of your life until you learn how to defend yourself and others, by the ashen pile, I will do it."
Kakashi moved forward as Naruto felt his lungs choke with blood once again.
Naruto's vision swam, but his own stubbornness kept him conscious, even as his eyes bulged with the strain of trying to draw breath. He closed his eyes, trying to focus on willing the healing to take place. He could hear Sasuke and Sakura's harsh breathing, as well as the sounds of flesh impacting against flesh, the muffled grunts and gasps as.
Once again, Naruto found himself unable to act. This was just like with Mizuki. He'd been unable to help then, too. He hadn't been able to touch the traitorous Chuunin. It was only the intervention of the ANBU that saved Iruka - the ANBU and the Hokage's implacable perception of the situation.
Naruto's fingers formed numb fists as red crept into the edges of his vision. He thought he saw golden stars in the blue sky, though that could just be the oxygen deprivation playing tricks on him. He rose to unsteady feet, wheezing blood from his lungs. Strength slowly seeped back into his muscles as the red faded away.
He'd drawn on the Kyuubi's power. Just a trickle, the small of iota's he dared call upon. It did funny things to his head, regardless. The whispers of his superiority to the rest of humanity would be unbearable for a few days after this. But, flames curse it! He wouldn't just kneel there and watch his teammates get beat to hell. Not when he could stand up and get beat to hell with them.
He'd lost his temper with his teammates earlier; he could acknowledge that much. He'd messed up and now they were all paying the price for his mistake. The only excuse he could offer was… well, the whispers were always worse when Sasuke was around.
Slapping his legs to drive blood through his body, he moved forward to enter the fray. He had a lesson to learn. Who knew? Maybe he'd get lucky and sever Kakashi's spine. Miracles could happen, right?
In his head, he could hear the Kyuubi laughing, though the thundering of his own blood in his ears mostly drowned it out.
End of Chapter Five
A/N: Give "Pain, Hunger, and Betrayal" a look into. I can't recommend him highly enough. The dude knows what he's doing and helps me out a lot by giving my work a little look over.
