Chapter 9 Learning Teamwork
Hey everybody, I'm glad most of you liked the last chapter.
For those who didn't and think I'm bashing Sasuke, I am not trying to, but in order to make a somewhat more likeable version I need him to hit rock bottom early on. And despite what his fans may think, Sasuke's background and the spin Obito put on the Uchiha Massacre does not change the fact that he never tried to think for himself or that he devoted most of his life to revenge and being a power hungry prick.
Sasuke will be getting knocked on his ass a lot and he is going to be portrayed as an obnoxious prick with no sense of loyalty, so I'm going to ask his fans who are reading to deal with it as it is just temporary, worst case scenario I turn him into Rob Lucci Lite, you know: less violent, not an emotional cripple, not a mass murderer all that good stuff.
Now on with the chapter.
The weekend was over and Naruto and Hinata were on their way to the Academy, now this was not unusual but Naruto was distracted by something. Before Hinata could ask what was on his mind Naruto decided to tell her.
"Hinata-chan I think I should apologize."
"What do you mean Naruto-kun?" she asked her crush.
"Last week I was talking about how Sasuke's poor attitude would ruin his ability to work with others, but how I handled the situation will do the same for me."
"Unfortunately, most of our classmates won't hold what happened against you Naruto-kun."
"Perhaps, but Sasuke and I may have to work together at some point and I don't want any hard feelings between us."
"I understand but Sasuke-san has a great deal of
rage inside of him, he may not be so forgiving."
"I know, but I have to try at least."
With that the two arrived in front of their classroom entrance, but before they entered Naruto took a deep breath to calm himself down. With that done, he opened the door for Hinata and followed right after.
Silence fell over the classroom as the students noticed Naruto's entrance. Well, I suppose I should have expected this, Naruto thought. After a quick scan of the classroom Naruto found who he was looking for and decided it was now or never.
"Hey Sasuke, I wanted to apologize for what happened last week, my actions were over the top and I hope we can put that behind us," Naruto said, voice full of sincerity.
"Hmph,"
"Uh okay, that went better than expected actually," Naruto said as he took the seat next to Sasuke, with Hinata following his lead and taking the seat on the end.
"Naruto beat it can't you see that you're bothering Sasuke-kun?" Came a nasally voice.
Naruto turned and saw a girl with short dark hair flanked by two other girls. Naruto said to the girl, "You're name is Ami, right? Your father said you and he were the ones who tried to ruin my Saturday."
"I said beat it Naruto, you too Hinata," Ami said in a tone that suggested she thought she was superior to everyone.
"Neither Hinata-chan nor I have to listen to you, you're our classmate not our superior," Naruto responded.
"Listen you little orphan brat, my Tou-san is on the Civilian Council so that makes me better than you," Ami declared, quickly losing her temper.
That comment made Naruto laugh, Oh, if you only knew.
Ami had about had it and probably would have done something she would have regretted had Iruka and Mizuki not entered the room.
"Ami, Kasumi, and Fuki, please take your seats," Iruka ordered.
"But Sensei-," Ami started to whine.
"But nothing, sit," Iruka said leaving no room for arguments. After taking roll Iruka told his class that they would be doing some special training.
"What kind of training Sensei?" Akimichi Choji asked.
"In our classes up until now we have worked on individual skills, but in your ninja career you will be required to work together in teams, to ease you into it Mizuki-sensei and I will be breaking you into teams of…," he paused to check the number of absent students, "two and have you spar against each other," Iruka told the class. Iruka read off a list of names it was going well until he called out the final pair.
"Uchiha Sasuke and Uzumaki Naruto," Iruka called out.
Oh crap, Naruto thought.
"Don't get in my way, dobe," Sasuke told Naruto.
"Sure, whatever," Naruto responded. Naruto then asked the question that had been on his mind all morning, "You aren't still mad about last week are you?"
If looks could kill, Naruto would have been dead. Had Naruto not known better, he would have sworn right there Sasuke would have thrown any number of matches just to get back at him from the glare Sasuke was giving him. In an attempt to quell Sasuke's anger Naruto said, "Sasuke, I really am sorry about what happened, but we need to focus on the matches."
"I don't need your help," Sasuke said as the class made their way outside.
Iruka thought for a minute before saying, "The first match will be the team of Inuzuka Kiba and Akimichi Choji vs.-."
"How about the team of Sasuke and Naruto," Mizuki suggested.
"Ugh, best of luck kid," the Kyubi said to Naruto, knowing full well he would need it.
I'll be fine, I'm pretty sure Sasuke hates losing more than he hates me me, Naruto said, not really convinced.
"Whatever you say Naruto," came the Kyubi's response.
"Do your best Naruto-kun," Hinata said to her crush.
"I will Hinata-chan," Naruto responded all the while thinking, I just hope Sasuke and I don't start fighting each other.
"Ha, we've got this in the bag Choji," Kiba declared.
"If you say so Kiba," Choji said, evidently less confident than his partner.
"Of course we do, hell these two will probably just ignore us and fight each other," Kiba said arrogantly.
"So Sasuke, any ideas?" Naruto asked his partner.
"Like I said, stay out of my way," Sasuke responded.
"Go Sasuke-kun!" Sasuke's fan girls shouted.
As soon as the four students were ready Iruka called out, "Hajime."
"Expansion Jutsu," Choji called out as his body ballooned out.
"Ninja Art Beast Mimicry" Kiba shouted as he got on all fours.
"I guess I can't use Interdiction, right?" Naruto asked in a voice full of desperation.
"No weapons Naruto," Iruka said, although he wasn't entirely sure if he should even have allowed Kiba and Choji to use their clans' taijutsu styles since they required ninjutsu to get started, apparently the Inuzuka and Akimichi styles were a gray area.
"Human Boulder," Choji cried out as he rolled forward in an attempt to ram his opponents.
"Tsūga," Kiba yelled as he spun his body like a mini twister, and took off along the ground in an attempt to trap Naruto and Sasuke between the attacks.
Naruto and Sasuke managed to dodge but they underestimated how much control Kiba and Choji had over their movements, both could turn on a dime and proved it with a pincer maneuver. Naruto and Sasuke took the full force of both attacks and ended up eating dirt.
"Ugh, Sasuke I think I have a way to put us in control of this match but I need your help," Naruto said as tried to get back on his feet.
"That's a good one, but if you're gonna try to pull a plan out of your ass at least make sure you stand up first," Kiba said smugly.
He's crass but he's right the two of them are the heavy hitters in our class, Naruto thought.
"Alright dobe, let's hear it," Sasuke said.
"What?" Naruto asked unsure if he had heard correctly.
"I don't really want to work with you, but if we lose to these two I'm seriously going to consider seppuku," Sasuke told his blonde partner.
"Since losing this means losing to Kiba, I agree with you," Naruto said. Getting serious he said, "I need you to activate your Sharingan before we do anything."
Sasuke mumbled something unintelligible which prompted Naruto to ask quietly, "What's wrong?"
"Don't you think I would be using it if I could?" Sasuke asked in the same hushed tone.
"Try channeling chakra into your eyes or something then, because I don't have anything else," Naruto all but ordered.
"Alright, fine," Sasuke retorted. Almost immediately he noticed a change, his vision was much clearer and everything was more pronounced.
"I though you said you couldn't activate your Sharingan, it may be in the early stages but it looks to be in working order," Naruto hissed thinking Sasuke was messing with him.
"Oh up yours dobe, now what?" Sasuke responded.
"I think I have a way to counter Kiba's Tsūga but I need you to tell me what direction he's spinning," Naruto whispered.
"Are you two almost done? We don't have all day you know," Kiba shouted.
"Come on then dog-breath I'm ready when you are," Naruto shouted back.
"You asked for it! Tsūga!" Kiba shouted as he resumed attacking his opponents, although his primary focus was Naruto.
"Sasuke, which way is he spinning?" Naruto asked setting up to counter.
"Counterclockwise," Sasuke said. He then asked, "Now what?"
"Once I catch him hit him with all you've got," Naruto responded as he flipped over on to his hands and launched himself feet forward towards Kiba. As Kiba approached Naruto set his legs up like a pair of scissors and brought them together with enough force to stop Kiba from spinning. After that Sasuke hit Kiba with jump kick that knocked him out of bounds.
"Not what I had in mind but I can't argue with results," Naruto said glad that he and Sasuke could focus on one opponent now.
"Any other ideas?" Sasuke asked in a hushed tone.
"There is something I would like to try, but we need to get Choji into the air first," Naruto whispered back.
"Kiba has us covered," Sasuke said pointing out the trench left by Kiba's first Tsūga.
"Great, either Choji will have to stop his technique or he keeps going and goes out of control," Naruto said. "In the first case I need both of us to get the back of his neck on our shoulders after that just follow my lead," Naruto continued.
"And in the latter situation?" Sasuke questioned.
"I don't know, but hopefully it will buy us some time," Naruto said.
"Alright, your last plan worked; let's see if miracles can happen twice," Sasuke said in jest.
"You cracking jokes, I think that's a sign of the Apocalypse," Naruto joked back.
"Come on Choji, you could still have a chance to win," Naruto said hoping to coax another Human Boulder out of his classmate.
"Don't get cocky just because you beat Kiba, Human Boulder doesn't have a weak point," Choji declared as he got ready to charge his opponents.
Without Kiba to trap them Naruto and Sasuke could dodge Choji easily even with his enhanced size. After leading him around for a bit Naruto and Sasuke finally managed to get Choji to roll into the trench Kiba left. Just as Naruto had expected, the trench forced Choji into the air. Choji being Choji and wanting to keep the damage to a minimum stopped spinning and reverted to his normal size. Unfortunately for Choji, he misjudged how he would stop and was falling head first, and that was exactly what Naruto wanted.
"I'll get his right side, you get his left," Naruto told Sasuke.
"Got it," Sasuke responded, and with that the two boys had the back of Choji's neck resting on their shoulders and their hands around one ankle each. From a third person perspective Naruto and Sasuke had Choji upside-down and dog-legged. It was then that Naruto called out, "Buster Variation Part 5," as he and Sasuke landed in a knelling position.
"Gah," was the only sound Choji made as his opponents let him drop on his back, defeated.
"Winners Naruto and Sasuke," Iruka declared, relieved that the two boys hadn't started fighting each other.
"That was fun, let's do it again sometime," Naruto said to his partner.
"Not interested," Sasuke responded.
"Alright, but I still think we need to talk," Naruto told Sasuke.
"Fine, whatever," Sasuke said, too tired to argue.
When the final team matches finished Iruka decided that his students deserved a break, "Alright class, we'll break for lunch and then finish up the day with a review." Answering his class's unasked, collective question he announced, "The best team is the duo of Uchiha Sasuke and Uzumaki Naruto." After a short applause the students went off to eat and do their own thing until class resumed.
"Alright dobe, what do you want?" Sasuke asked as he met up with Naruto and Hinata
"This morning I tried to apologize for last week, but I think a peace offering is in order," Naruto said. He then went on to explain, "I can't teach you any of my techniques because I barely know how I do them, but maybe I can teach you something."
"What is it?" Sasuke asked, finally showing some interest.
"I learned five elemental jutsu, and since I'm sure you already know Katon: Phoenix Flower Jutsu how about I show you the other four and we'll call it even," Naruto suggested.
"Alright fine, but what do you mean that you "barely know" how to use those other techniques?" Sasuke asked.
"Hinata-chan and I both completed Mu Training yet we both had very different results: I somehow gained the ability to use light and dark as well as mu jutsu; whereas Hinata can use ethereal weapons and create barriers like I can, but so far that's all I know about her abilities," Naruto explained.
"Any theories on that?" Sasuke asked.
"None that make sense, no," Naruto responded.
"Alright, show me those four jutsu and let's never speak of last week again," Sasuke said.
With that Naruto showed Sasuke how to perform the Futon: Great Breakthrough; Suiton: Gunshot; Doton: Headhunter Jutsu; and Raiton: Discharge just as the Sandaime had shown him. Sasuke attempted all four on a training post, not showing much more skill than Naruto had during his first attempt, but went away satisfied.
"Do you think I did the right thing Hinata-chan?" Naruto asked his friend.
"I think you did what you believed was right Naruto-kun and that is all anyone could ask for," Hinata responded. Thinking back to the matches she said, "You and Sasuke-san worked well together."
"Thanks Hinata-chan," Naruto said. "You and your partner did pretty well too," he complimented.
"I think that was only because our opponents seemed so distracted, none of our techniques complimented each other," Hinata said, more to herself then to Naruto.
"Geez, take a compliment Hinata-chan," Naruto joked. After pondering Hinata's words he said, "You do have a point though both Ino and Sakura have been acting strange today."
"I wonder what's wrong," Hinata said.
"If I had to guess I would say that Sakura is upset about when Sasuke yelled at her, and Ino is worried about Sakura," Naruto suggested.
"And of course, Ino is too proud to admit she's worried about Sakura," Hinata said.
"Exactly," Naruto said.
The rest of the school day was uneventful; just a few lectures and reviews. When it was finished Naruto and Hinata made their way back to Training Ground 7. Their training proceeded as normal: physical conditioning and taijutsu practice, only deviating from this pattern when Naruto was hit with inspiration. The two stopped abruptly when they heard a rustling noise.
"Who's there!?" Naruto demanded. Upon receiving no response he summoned Interdiction, got ready to fight; and asked, "Hinata-chan, can you see who it is?"
"No they're wearing a mask, but there's only one and I think they're male," Hinata said.
"Alright, I need you to tell me where they are," Naruto told her.
"Turn 45 degrees left and fire," Hinata whispered already anticipating Naruto's plan.
And so he did, Naruto shot ethereal blades at the mystery assailant and then asked, "Did I get him?"
"No, he dodged."
"Damn, I can't fire my blades any faster," Lightning jutsu might work, it's certainly fast enough.
"Naruto-kun, here he comes," Hinata warned.
"Kid, put up a barrier around your hands and summon Interdiction inside of them," the Kyubi suggested.
What will that do? Naruto asked mentally.
"If you summon them but don't focus them into blades the dark matter will go wild, then you could possibly fire it at this guy," the fox suggested.
It's worth a shot, Naruto said as he did just as the fox had suggested. It began to look as though he had a ball of blue lightning in his hand, some even found its way outside of the Mu barrier. The figure had taken this moment to charge the two academy students
"Here it goes," Naruto said as he fired the mu lightning at the figure. Two bolts hit the mark simultaneously as the figure grunted and was slammed back into a tree. With that the assailant decided to cut his losses and leave.
"What now?" Hinata asked, visibly shaken.
"Now I think we need to see the Hokage," Naruto said, grabbing her hand and leading the way towards the Hokage Mansion.
"Dammit!" the masked assailant yelled as he removed his mask revealing himself to be Mizuki. "I could have given the Hyuga girl to Orochimaru-sama; pinned the girl's disappearance on the demon; killed him; and have my record expunged all in one evening," Mizuki ranted.
After he calmed down Mizuki said, "Well, there will be more chances, maybe I should try a different approach." With that Mizuki figured he would need to keep up his charade a while longer, and began to plan a way to get Naruto alone.
Finished.
I don't know if it's my best work but I like this chapter, I just hope you all do too. I know some of you may not like me having had Naruto patch things up with Sasuke, but it seemed like the right way to go. Don't worry, Sasuke will still get knocked on his ass, Lord knows he needs it, but I figured the more mature Naruto would do something like that.
I noticed no one commented on the Naruto learns Zero's K Knuckle techniques idea, that's fine, since no one is against it I'll go with it, some nin-taijutsu hybrids seem like a good idea.
I might dabble in the upset Sakura and prideful Ino thing as "B" parts of the story, I haven't decided yet.
The way Naruto stopped Kiba's Tsuga is based on a strategy used by Mantaro in Kinnikuman Nisei and the Buster Variation Part 5 is from Kinnikuman, both are property of the duo called Yudetamago, I figured if I was going to put a slightly comical fight scene then I figured these would fit right in.
I think I described the attack Xemnas, then the Unknown, used in KH Final Mix, the one Sora deflected with his Keyblade, but I didn't have an actual description so I had to use Youtube for reference. Sora, Xemnas, and the Keyblade are property of either Disney or Square Enix, I think it's the former but I'll just cover my all my bases here.
Anyway read and review my friends. Ideas are always welcome here.
