So it's been a while. I have the same excuse as before. School bites, but dem grades are important. Anyways, a little tidbit of information here. I decided to drop techniques written in Japanese and instead just stick to english. It saves me time and effort since for moves that I can't find in Japanese, I have to either not use them and find new moves, or waste time figuring out how to write it out in a language I'm not used to. But yeah, here's the chapter. I decided to start it off from a different point of view since I'm not gonna leave a gap in my story about how certain important people met or didn't meet. Enjoy...hopefully! Favorites, likes, reviews, and PM's are all appreciated! As of May 15 reviews are down so I can't see new ones. My apologies.
I don't own Naruto!
Chapter Ten:
The dull light of sunrise shone through glass windows onto a figure that was half stumbling, half walking her way to a futon that lay at the other end of the room. Clutching her head with one hand and reaching out to grab a table in an attempt to steady herself with the other, Tsunade yelled out a curse as her hand met empty air instead, falling to the ground in a messy heap.
"Dammit! Why'd you move the table Shizune?" she asked, struggling back onto her feet. Receiving no answer she placed half lidded eyes on her apprentice. Shizune was lying flat across the dining room table, drool dripping from the corner of her mouth. Right beside her lay Tonton, the pig snoring rather obnoxiously with her tail occasionally twirling from some exciting dream she was having. Around the pair lay countless bottles of sake, some empty, some full.
Just looking at the bottles made her headache ten times worse and Tsunade winced in pain as her temples throbbed uncontrollably. All too quickly the room began to spin and she blinked furiously in an attempt to refocus, shaking her head only to regret her mistake a moment later when the room simply begin to spin even faster.
Falling forward and this time thankfully catching the table that had alluded her before, Tsunade painfully hobbled towards the futon, to which she crashed down on upon reaching it. Disheveled and fully intent on riding out the headache, she stared listlessly across the room. Chairs were strewn out everywhere, plates lay cracked on the floor, and there were even a few holes in the wall.
"Just what the hell happened last night?" Immediately she winced again, her own voice further aggravating her condition. Rubbing her temples with glowing hands to try and stem some of the pain, Tsunade tried to recollect what had happened, only managing bits and pieces.
Flashes of booze and food being thrown, of Shizune singing raucously atop a table, of even Naruto stripping came to mind, but everything else was a blank.
Just thinking of the blonde drew a smile to the her lips even though her head felt like it was about to explode. To think it had only been five years since she had met that loudmouthed, boy. While much had changed since then others things hadn't and she had secretly relished the time since then.
Her mind trailed off, back to an event years ago that had not only brought her to Konoha, but had saved her from the worst enemy imaginable. Herself.
XxX
(Five Years Prior)
"Hurry it up Shizune! They'll catch us if you don't!" Tsunade roared behind her, sprinting down an old beaten road. There was an obvious red flush to the woman's cheeks as she ran, occasionally hop skipping as she overbalanced to one side.
"Tsunade-sama please wait!" Shizune cried out, panting as she tried to keep up with her mistress. Not only did she have all the heavy luggage to worry about, but Tonton was clinging tightly to her head and was refusing to let go.
The two were in a hurry to get out of town. Tsunade had once again bet more than she could provide and suffering yet another losing streak the pair, along with their ever faithful pig, had hurriedly jumped out their hotel window and bolted. It wasn't an uncommon occurrence. They had been doing it for years now and while those that that were owed money were quick to catch onto their escape, none of the group were able to keep up with the two kunoichi.
"Can't wait! If we hurry we can get to Tankuro before dawn! There are people there that owe me money!" Tsunade yelled back. Her veins were coursing with the need to gamble, burning even. The itch. Curse that itch. It was coming back, making her skin crawl and her heart rate quicken. It was an uncontrollable feeling. A feeling that filled her every waking moment. It was as if this itch was alive, feeding on the booze and gambling, but yet was never satisfied. Oh no. It was and could never be satisfied.
Pushing her legs harder, she sped forward without restraint, plowing through anything that might get in her way. She didn't care. She just needed to stop that ever insistent itch. She needed…
A kunai landed in front of her and the sound of sizzling filled her ears. Even in her half drunken state her mind clearly and immediately registered the imminent danger and her ninja instincts frantically kicked into overdrive; instincts that had been honed for over four decades. Skidding to a halt and jumping back, her ears popped as the explosive kunai went off just three meters in front and for a moment all she heard was a loud ringing. Falling to the roadside clutching her head with one hand she looked forward with narrowed eyes, searching for her assailant.
As expected a figure burst from the darkness, a kunai gripped tightly in hand as they charged at her. Tsunade growled. She would not be deterred from her vice, assassin be damned. Lifting up a hand, her fingers curling into a fist, she slammed it down and the ground erupted in front of her, the earth splintering apart.
The figure reacted quickly. Showing remarkable speed, they planting a foot down hard just before the attack hit and leapt to the side, sticking themselves sideways on a nearby tree.
Rising Tsunade stared at her attacker, wondering who had the balls or lack thereof to send an assassin after her. While most people she encountered got pissed off about her gambling money she didn't have or even losing the money she had borrowed from them, it was rare someone actually sent someone after her. She was still one badass kunoichi, S-rank to boot, even if she had been inactive for years...and hadn't worked out in a while...and drank every day...and was wasted almost every second of her life. Well that last one could be connected to the previous one so it didn't really count.
"What the hell lady?! You trying to kill me or something?" the figure roared at her and a few things were made clear when they did. He was definitely a he and he was young; probably in his mid-teens going by the still somewhat high pitched voice.
Tsunade twitched. The would be assassin was calling her out on trying to kill him? Really? Was this boy living in his own little fantasy where he thought she would just let him drive a kunai through her heart? Or explode her into little pieces as it was in this case? She scoffed. "Of course I was trying to kill you. You were trying to kill me!"
By this time Shizune had appeared by her side, crouching low beside her mistress with a fistfull of senbons held tightly ready to throw. An unknown liquid dripped from the tips of those senbons and anyone could guess that it was probably some form of poison. "Tsunade-sama are you alright?"
Tsunade nodded. "Of course I am." She was a sannin. One of the three legendary sannin that had survived the second shinobi war. It would take a lot more than some random explosive kunai to get her to kick the bucket anytime soon.
"Oi lady!" the mysterious ninja returned, "Why would I be trying to kill you?"
"I don't know," Tsunade replied with a sarcastic drawl, "Why don't you ask the explosive kunai you threw at me."
The figure fell from his perch on the tree and landed gracefully on his feet. With the moon finally breaching the wall of clouds that had before been blocking its light Tsunade was finally able to see the visage of their mysterious ninja. He was rather short, dressed in gear that was meant for stealth and possessing no obvious village affiliation. Bangs of blonde hair bordered a porcelain mask that depicted, curiously enough, a tiger's face with its maw half open. While she couldn't see his face, she could see his strikingly blue eyes staring back at her through the mask's eyeholes; eyes that seemed to widen for some reason after getting a good look at her. She just figured he must have recognized her as one of the Sannin. You didn't see much of them these days.
Finally, after apparently getting over his surprise the boy shook his head, bangs following along. "Yeah that wasn't my kunai," he paused, "Tsunade-sama."
Yep. Totally recognized her.
"Oh? Then who did it belong to?"
The boy's eyes blinked behind his mask before he turned and pointed back where he had shot out of the forest. "Uh...them?"
Both Tsunade and Shizune turned to look where he was pointing and sure enough, out of the darkness, emerged six figures. Unlike the boy, these figures were all tall, probably adults. Each sported long sleeved black shirts beneath a grey chest plate with matching gloves. Like him they all sported a mask, although each had a rather simple design of four curving lines near the top; lines that signified only one group in all the Elemental Nations. Kiri Anbu.
'What the hell did this twerp get himself into?' Tsunade asked herself, keeping one eye on the kid and the other on the Anbu. She hadn't survived this long as a ninja by turning her back on the enemy. While the Anbu seemed like the more pressing issue at hand, you could never really tell in the shinobi world what was more dangerous: the obvious or the not so obvious.
She watched one flash through a set of hand signs, signaling some type of message to which another furiously responded back. The first Anbu seemed to consider the other's frantic message before he or she shook their head and countered with a curt message that signified their commands were to be followed. The second nodded slowly, obviously still opposed to whatever their leader had said, but as one they and the other five Anbu turned towards her.
Tsunade stiffened. "Shizune, we're going."
"Tsunade-sama?"
"We're goi-" She didn't have enough time to finish her order a second time, having to roll to the side sharply to avoid a hail of kunai. Going with the motion of the sideways plunge, she rolled once then, after setting her feet under her, she shot forward towards the nearest of her masked attackers who was charging at her.
The enemy was ready for her. Smartly ducking away from one of her punches directed at their head, they threw two handfuls of both kunai and shuriken at her. Scowling at the miss, she dodged the counter and in turn, pounded the ground with a fist, causing the earth to erupt beneath the feet of her attacker.
The attack was so sudden and so unexpected the Anbu was unprepared for it and their feet were torn out from under them from the ground ripping apart beneath them. And she took advantage of that momentary lapse, appearing before them and, with a roar, delivered a heavy punch to their masked face. The mask easily crumbled under the force behind the hit and the Anbu was launched back, blowing right through a tree before their back hit a rock with a loud crack. Their body sank slowly towards the ground and from there they didn't rise again.
Scoffing, having expected more from Anbu belonging to one of the Five Great Hidden Villages, Tsunade turned to see Shizune engaging with another one of the now five remaining Anbu. Both were long ranged fighters and evenly matched in skill, unable to get the upper-hand against the other.
Knowing her apprentice was fine and trusting in her skills for the time being she then turned to observe the fight between the boy and the other four Kiri nin and was genuinely surprised to see he wasn't already dead.
Facing off against the four Anbu, the kid created a clone on either side of him before each began to flash through different hand-seals.
Fire release: Expanding Fire Stream
Fire release: Fire Breath Technique
Wind release: Great Breakthrough
All three lifted up their masks. With chests puffed out and heads cocked back, they each launched their respective attacks, two fire attacks erupting from the mouths of the clones while a strong gale of wind blew behind them from the original.
The techniques, all C-rank or higher, flew towards the four Anbu and if they hadn't been powerful enough before, the wind began to fuel the fire, enlarging the two separate techniques until they were twice their original size.
His attacks landed right on target and the fire roared upon impact, expanding out in an enormous inferno that engulfed the four Anbu.
Tsunade watched on from the sidelines, her mind racing with eyes widened from the show the kid was giving. His style of fighting, while unorthodox, was not something she hadn't seen before and Tsunade was brought back to her genin days, days where her ass had been handed to her on a daily basis by her sensei, Sarutobi Hiruzen, who had wielded a very similar style. In fact, he had become famous for it, creating clones to serve as self-thinking, self-acting soldiers that he could combine attacks with to create devastating destruction. Hundreds if not thousands of enemy shinobi during the First Great Shinobi War had born witness to how deadly these combination techniques could be, crushed brutally beneath the might that was now the Third Hokage.
The sudden call of one of the Anbu alerted Tsunade that the kid's attack hadn't killed off his attackers and blinking away the memories from decades before, she watched as one of the Anbu blurred into existence above him, kunai poised to strike at the back of the kid's unprotected neck.
As if sensing the presence the kid flipped forward, narrowly avoiding his spine being severed and spinning around quickly, launched a barrage of kunai in retaliation. His attack hit, stabbing the Anbu through chest and limbs, however, the victory was short lived for in the next moment a log took the place of the Anbu, showing that they had performed a quick kawirami to avoid the counter.
"Damn…" she heard him mutter but was quickly forced to put her fists up when two of the Anbu separated off from the group, one appearing in front of her, one from behind, and both with hands already set in seals.
Water shot out from their mouths and raced towards her. Quickly drilling her fist down into the ground, large chunks of rocks exploded from the earth, surrounding her on all sides and blocking both attacks. Sensing a presence above, she snapped her head up to see both Anbu again, this time throwing down multiple kunai.
Roaring out her challenge, Tsunade grabbed for a nearby boulder and hauled it above her head as a makeshift shield. Blocking the kuani with the raised boulder, it didn't take long for her to hear the soft sizzling sound that marked explosive kunai.
'Shit!'
Bracing her legs and drawing the boulder back, she chucked the offending rock away from her, right in the direction of Anbu falling to the ground. Their surprise was evident and they furiously flashed through hand seals, trying to beat the oncoming boulder until they ran out of time and got a face full of rock, the large stone exploding moments later with a loud bang as the explosives detonated.
Tsuande smirked at her success, quite pleased with herself. That was until one of the Anbu blurred behind her and jabbed at her with a kunai. Swiftly planting a hand on the ground, she swung her body up in a great showing of gymnastic skills, moving into a handstand only to grab the Anbu's head hard in between her ankles. With the Anbu clutched tightly between her legs, she continued with her original momentum, hammering his head down harshly into the ground with such a force that his head was buried beneath the dirt and large cracks formed upon impact.
Gracefully flipping back to her feet, she dusted herself off. Peering around, she saw the second Anbu rising slowly from where he had fallen; apparently he hadn't been lucky enough to dodge the exploding boulder like his friend had. With clothes singed and mask falling away into little pieces, he showed little intent on wanting to continue his fight with her; and this theory was further supported when he darted off to the side, off towards…
"Shizune!" Tsunade yelled out in warning and began rushing after the Anbu, knowing exactly what his plan was. Her feet beat hard as she furiously tried to close the distance between her and the Kiri-nin, but the head start was just too much to overcome and she watched on in horror as he pounced on her unsuspecting apprentice.
Having heard her mistress' cry of alarm, Shizune had instinctively moved, turning only to be stopped short when a kunai flashed down into her field of vision. The sharp tip of that deadly kunai cut through both kimono and flesh oh so easily, splitting a large gash down Shizune's front, and blood immediately began to spurt out from the wound.
Tsunade stumbled over her own two feet at the first sight of all that blood and she fell heavily to the ground. A myriad of emotions crossed over Shizune's face whilst she lay there: shock, pain, remorse, all these emotions came together and ended in a dumbstruck look before Shizune toppled to the size, crashing to the ground in a limp heap. Moments later a dark pool of blood could be seen forming around her unmoving body.
'Shizune!' Tsunade mentally cried out and she struggled to reach for her fallen apprentice, bidding her body to move only to find in surprise that it was resisting her demands. 'Dammit move! Move!'
Her cries came unanswered and instead, with her eyes locking onto the blood, her body began to shake involuntarily, her mouth going dry and pupils dilating.
Blood. Just the sight of it caused unwanted and heartwrenchingly painful memories to emerge from deep within her consciousness. Flashes of her younger brother, happy and smiling, quickly transformed into a cold, stiff, blood covered little body as it lay on cold metal in the hospital morgue. Memories of dancing and laughing with her long dead boyfriend soon switched to her painful and sorrow filled cries as she tried in vain to save his life that had already left his bloodied corpse. Blood blood blood. It was an accursed thing. It marked misery for all those around to witness it. How she hated blood.
All this inner turmoil kept her in check and frozen in place whilst the same Anbu that had wounded Shizune began to slowly approach her; dead leaves crunching beneath his sandals as he casually twirled the still bloodied kunai around a finger. So lost was she that she barely heard the passing remark he shot her as he stopped next to her.
"How the great Senju Tsunade has fallen. To be reduced to such a state? By a little blood? Pathetic…" His voice was contemptuous of her, condescending and completely mocking. He stopped his idle spinning and gripped the kunai with two hands. "Who would have imagined I'd be the one to take the life of one of the three legendary Sannin. Go figure." Shrugging as if it didn't really matter, he raised the kuani high above Tsunade. "Please just die for me…" With that he struck down with as much force as he could, aiming at her head for a sure fire kill shot.
Tsunade could do nothing to stop him, barely coherent enough to be aware of his imminent death; still able to see the blood from in between his legs.
Something passed in front of her vision, blocking the blood from her sight. Soon after a grunt was heard and something splattered across her face. With her vision cut short, Tsunade jerked her head up to see the blonde kid standing over her, his body placed strategically between her and the Anbu. His body shook from the effort of holding back the kunai that was buried in his shoulder, hands clamped tightly on the wrists of the Anbu's. She could see the veins on his neck bulging, and even though he was battling with a much stronger, heavier opponent, he looked back over his shoulder, his eyes wrinkled as if he was smiling. "Perfect timing huh?"
Tsunade stared dumbly up at him, feeling the small droplets of his blood slowly coursing down her face. It was clear the boy was losing ground quickly as the Anbu began to overpower him, driving the kunai further and further down his shoulder, but still the blonde kept his eyes on her, not even uttering a sound that signified he was in pain.
"Why…?" She began to ask.
The kid looked like he was about to answer, but his knees suddenly began to collapse beneath him. Releasing a growl, he snapped his head forward and swept out his right leg, clipped his assailant's feet out from under him. Releasing one of the Kiri-nin's wrist as the man fell, a swirling blue ball in his free hand. "It doesn't matter now, you old hag. Just. Get. The. Fuck. Up!" He then pushed his hand forward, thrusting the glowing ball of chakra right into the Anbu's gut. "Rasengan!"
The Anbu's mask, already half broken, crumbled in that split second after, splittle bursting from his mouth as he shot back like a twister from the force of the boy's attack. His body hit a tree a moment later, blowing straight through in only to crash into a second, a third, and then finally a fourth tree before his momentum was halted.
"Gah!" the boy yelled and fell to one knee, his right hand clutching at his injured shoulder. Trembling from his injury, the boy slowly turned about on one knee and Tsunade was immediately trapped within the regard of those crystal blue eyes staring right back at her. "You okay, Granny?" His voice was pained and blood dripping down his hand from in between his fingers.
Tsunade's eyes flinched when she saw the bleeding shoulder, and shakily she brought up a hand to her face, pulling it away to reveal it covered in blood. His blood. Quickly she rubbed it away on a sleeve. She needed to focus. "Why did you save me?"
Once more the blonde's eyes seemed to wrinkle in an apparent smile behind his mask. "I just can't let someone die if I have any say in the matter can I? Plus if I had let him kill you, I think Ero-sensei might've killed me."
'Ero-sensei?' Tsunade blinked. She only knew one person that was called that; Minato used to call him that all the time. "You know Jiraiya, don't you?"
The boy chuckled dryly as he rose. "Sure do."
A small smile came to her lips at hearing that. So the damn pervert had taken on another apprentice huh?
She watched as the blonde removed his mask and when she saw his face flashes of her younger brother assaulted her. A bright smile and those startlingly blue eyes eyes came into focus, very different from her brother, but the face radiated the same sense of resolution and confidence. She had been right, he was only a boy, maybe fourteen or fifteen at most, but she recognized the family lineage. This was the son of Minato and Kushina who stared back at her.
The boy combed a hand through his sweaty hair before offering her another large smile that seemed to radiate as bright as the sun itself. "I'm Naruto by the way. Nice to finally meet you."
Tsunade nodded, staring into those blue-jeweled opals. Slowly, as if hesitant to touch him, she placed her hand on his shoulder. Pushing chakra into her hand, she began to heal his wound only for him to draw away from her, breaking the close contact needed to heal him. Flashing him a confused look, she saw him turn to eye Shizune's body. "Save it for her. She's still alive after all."
Almost forgetting about her apprentice, Tsunade rose and rushed over to her side. Assessing the inflicted injury, she breathed a heavy sigh of relief when she saw it wasn't as bad as she had made it out to be; it wasn't fatal in the very least. Placing her hands above Shizune's chest, she began her ministrations, her hands glowing a soft green as she pushed chakra into them.
Still keeping an eye on the remaining Anbu who had wisely joined back up, she saw them beginning to move towards her position only to stop when ten Naruto's surrounded her. One, presumably the original, stepped forward and spoke. "If you want her you'll have to get through us, tough guys."
The Anbu seemed to consider that, but a few hand-signs from their leader saw them quickly retrieving the bodies of their dead comrades and disappearing into the darkness thereafter. They apparently had had enough for one night.
With the distraction now out of the way she could focus more on healing the ghastly injury across Shizune's front, guarded by an ever-vigilant Naruto. An hour later found her brunette companion looking pale, but alive. From her steady blush it was plain to see she hadn't expected to be taken down so easily.
"It was my pleasure," Naruto said after Shizune had thanked him profusely with a tight hug that had almost broken his neck. Thanks to Tsunade his shoulder was healed and if it wasn't for his ragged appearance, no one would have guessed he had been in a fight just over an hour previous.
Tsunade stood a good ten feet from the pair, watching on with a curiously quiet smile. The initial association she had experienced connecting Naruto to Niwaki had mostly dissipated, but there was still that ever linger feeling in her gut that wanted to believe both boys were very similar.
After managing to separate himself from Shizune's surprisingly strong hold for a second time, Naruto brushed himself off and turned to her. "I think it's time I go. I've got some stuff I need to report to Ero-sensei."
Tsunade cocked an eyebrow. "Let me guess. He had you spying for him. What? Get caught in a Kiri hot spring?"
Naruto snorted, and his behavior oddly amused her. "I wis-," realizing what he was about to say he quickly corrected himself, "I mean no. I just need to tell him that…" and he stopped again, this time offering her a wink and a smirk, "Just some super secret info. You know. Spy stuff."
Rolling her eyes, she approached Naruto and flicked his forehead, knocking him back a step. "Great. The pervert's already corrupted you."
Naruto rubbed his forehead gingerly and grimaced when he touched the inflicted area. "Oi. You can't blame me. I've been stuck as the guy's apprentice for five long years. He begins to rub off on you after awhile."
'Five years huh? That's long even for him'
"But anyways I really need to get going so uh...see ya around?" With a two finger salute and another flash of one of his bright smiles, Naruto placed his mask back on and jumped up to the nearest tree limb, and from there disappeared into the darkness.
Tsunade stared after him thoughtfully, somewhat intrigued by the boy. That fighting style of his could only be as a result of training with Sarutobi-sensei, and plus he was Jiraiya's apprentice and the son of the late Yondaime Hokage to boot? What an interesting child.
"Did you know Jiraiya had taken on another apprentice, Tsunade-sama?" Shizune asked her in the silence that followed.
"As if I keep track of what that perverted idiot does," Tsunade scoffed. Grabbing up her bags, which surprised Shizune since her mistress never carried anything, Tsunade began to resume her walk down the path.
Quickly grabbing up the remaining packs, Shizune hurried after her. "So are we still going to Tankuro?"
Tsunade didn't answer and continued walking. When the pair had reached a split in the road where one way led to Tankuro and the other Konoha, there was a flash of pain that crossed over her features. These features quickly morphed into resolution and her grip on her bags tightened.
"Tsunade-sama?" Shizune asked and even Ton-Ton let out a questioning, "Oink?"
"It's been awhile since we visited Konoha, hasn't it Shizune?" Her voice was soft, a mixture of hesitance, pain, and fear evident.
"Yes it has," Shizune said and she tried to keep the longing out of her words. She failed and Tsunade finally recognized what she had been doing to Shizune. She had been keeping her apprentice away from her true home, from Konoha where she had been born and raised, where she had friends. While the name of the village brought her pain, Shizune still loved it for it was her home unlike the endless roads they had traveled for the many years since she had left. She had been selfish, depriving her ever loyal and faithful companion for so long. 'Not anymore.'
Hiking a bag higher up on her shoulder, Tsunade turned and took one step then two down the road leading to Konoha, a path of life that was both physical and mental for her. She was going to return to the village, a place she hadn't called home let alone had visited for years. She was going back to Konoha. "Let's get a move on then. If we hurry we can get there by tomorrow night."
"Hai, Tsunade-sama." There was an edge to Shizune voice as she followed after her mistress, and if Tsunade had looked back, she would have seen her apprentice crying tears of happiness.
XxX
(Back to Present Day)
When they had arrived in Konoha, a great deal of surprise had been felt by all within the village. One of the, if not the greatest medics of all time, granddaughter of the Shodai Hokage, and a member of the village's three lisyed S-rank shinobi had returned to them after years of self-exile. There had much celebration and soon after Tsunade had accepted the head position of the hospital with Shizune as her second. They had to get money somehow right? That was Tsunade's reasoning anyways, although everyone thought it was more an excuse to stay than anything else.
A few days after her arrival she finally met with Naruto again, and then later his sister. She had quickly formed a close connection with the orphaned pair and after some time, they had begun to see her as a grandmother or aunty figure. Ah the times she had had with those two since.
Sighing in nostalgia and finishing up with her headache healing to the greatest extent she could manage-she really did need to work out how to completely erase a hangover-she looked at the clock and saw it was half past seven. A jolt of surprise hit her. She had surgery in less than half an hour and her mind quickly switched to full on medic mode. Haku had sustained a major injury near the region of her heart, and because of the area surgery was going to be risky so she needed to be prepared for anything.
"Shizune."
No response.
Getting up off her couch, Tsunade saw her apprentice still passed out. Walking over to her, she cocked a hand back and neatly slapped Shizune on the back of the head.
"Ahhh!" came Shizune's immediate response and she clutched her head with a grimace, now fully awake. Her face scrunched up in pain as she asked, "What was that for Tsunade-sama?"
Tsunade flicked her twin ponytails behind her as she moved towards the shower. "You weren't waking up and we've got surgery in 30."
The pained expression dropped and looking at the clock for confirmation, the woman snapped to attention. "I'm sorry Tsunade-sama! I didn't realize the time."
Tsunade glanced back over her shoulder. "It doesn't matter. Just get ready." The door closed behind her as she entered the bathroom. Shizune followed her mistress's order and departed quickly thereafter. She was in such a rush that she completely forgotten she had left behind something, or rather someone rather important.
Tonton lay on her back with her feet pointed towards the ceiling. A trail of drool dripped from the corner of her mouth and her tail twirled as she dreamt about whatever pigs dreamt. When the door slammed behind Shizune as she ran off Tonton was snapped from her dreams and she looked around drowsily to see no one around.
"Oink?"
XxX
(Anbu HQ)
There is a place in Konoha that is unknown to most of the Konoha populace. It is situated deep beneath the village, built into a hollow cavern crafted as a result of the constant shifting of tectonic plates. Smoothed over by use of earth chakra, this place is the headquarters to the shinobi that manage all the higher-class mission requests as well as control order and stability within both Konoha and Fire Country itself. This place is Anbu Headquarters and it is where one blonde man scrubbed away at filthy clothes with vigorous industry.
Naruto was not having a good day so far. His back hurt from having to bend over the wash bucket, his hands hurt, and he was soaking wet; how he managed the last one was a tale in itself. What's worst was that every time an Anbu passed by the entrance to his humble little nook in the wall or stopped by to give him their laundry, he would hear the faint sounds of laughter filter through the air as they left. The sound grated at his self-control and he was just about ready to burst out of irritation.
"Why the hell did Jiji make me do this? It's not like I got any of them killed or anything," Naruto grumbled to himself, slapping a pair of pants into his wash pan with such force that soapy water splashed up into his face. "Dammit!" He cursed angrily, rubbing at his stinging eyes as he tried to scrub the soap out of them.
"Ma ma will you pipe down? Some people are trying to read here."
Naruto stilled at hearing the voice, a voice he recognized distinctly. Uncaring if it was dirty or not, he grabbed for the nearest article of clothing and scrubbed at his eyes hard. When he had managed to clean most of the soap out of them he looked up and saw Hatake Kakashi looking back at him, leaning back against a wall and casually holding his customary red book of filth.
And the sight of him caused a scowl to cross over his features. "Well I'm sorry that my suffering is bothering you, Kakashi. I'll try and keep the sound of my misery down for your benefit."
Kakashi eye-smiled and his facemask crinkled up as if he was smiling beneath it. "Apology accepted."
Naruto rolled his eyes, but he couldn't keep the scowl in place for long and it soon melted away into a genuine smile as he stared at the man that was like an older brother to him. "So let me guess. Here to drop off some clothes?"
Kakashi's face morphed into one of surprise and miraculously a large bag appeared in the man's hand out of thin air. "How ever did you know?" He then threw it at Naruto, who neatly caught it. Naruto's smile instantly dropped once the reeking odor of the sack reached his nose.
"What the hell, Kakashi?! It smells like shit!" He clapped a hand over his nose and threw the bag away in disgust, right next to all the other laundry bags that still needed tending to.
Kakashi beamed as though he was pleased at hearing how much the bag disgusted Naruto and the blonde half expected that was actually the reason. "That's because it is full of shit! Well I guess I should say my clothes are covered in it." Seeing Naruto's appalled face he then went on in normal fashion, describing how he managed to make his clothes so filthy. "You see, I was taking one of my normal walks around Konoha and I was so enthralled by the beauty of our amazing village that I didn't pay attention to where I was walking and fell right into a big pile of horse manure. Manure! The nerve of some people not cleaning up after their animals honestly. Well then, hearing you were back, I decided to come visit my dear little Naruto, but then some Inuzuka dogs decide to use me as a place to pee. I was so surprised I couldn't move out of the way. Can you believe that? And then..." Kakashi paused, seeing the growing tick mark on Naruto's forehead and the looks of disgust the blonde was shooting him.
Naruto rubbed his temples, trying to stem the annoyance that was building. "You're joking right? Please tell me you're joking."
"Nope! And if you can get them to me before I leave tomorrow that'd be great," Kakashi chirped happily. His face then grew more serious and the conversation was turned completely around with his next words. "So how's that new team of yours? I just got back and heard the news. To think, the great Yellow Wraith taking on a few little kawaii genin."
Naruto rose and cracked his back. Leaning over a small washbucket all day really got to your back, and it didn't help he was tall and had to lean further over than most. "Oh they're fine. More than fine actually. They're pretty awesome."
"I heard you got into a little trouble in Wave Country. What happened?"
After Naruto had retold the story, Kakashi whistled, obviously impressed. "Haori and Guri huh? Have any trouble?"
"Nothing I couldn't handle," Naruto replied in a non-braggart manner. He wasn't bragging. He was merely stating a fact. While both men had been A-rank, the gap between A and S was vast. It would take Kakashi, who after years in Anbu had honed his skills tremendously and was actually very near S-rank himself, or someone else of equal rank to give him trouble.
"Glad to hear. It'd be really embarrassing for you if people heard you died on a simple escort mission," Kakashi teased lightly with his classic eye-smile.
Naruto chuckled. "It would, but I'm not six years old anymore. I can take care of myself you know," he paused in thought, "And don't forgot I beat your sorry ass last time we saw each other."
Kakashi rubbed the back of his head, similar to how Naruto did, and it seemed he was almost embarrassed. While he hadn't lost badly, the last time the two had fought the blonde had come out on top after a straight two hours of fighting. "Well maybe we should try again some time. I'm sure that team of yours is making you extra soft and mushy."
Naruto grinned and walked towards the man. "You wish, Hatake." He then wrapped Kakashi in a bear hug. "It's real good to see you, you know that?"
Kakashi returned the hug lightly, but then quickly drew away from the blonde, "Now that all the gay stuff is out of the way, lunch? My treat?"
Naruto's mouth instinctively began to water at the mere mention of his vice, but he was forced to shake his head. "I can't. I've got some stuff I need to do. How about tonight instead? Let's say eight at Ichiraku's? I'll even bring Rina along."
Kakashi's face paled a bit. Feeding even one of the siblings was tough on the wallet. Feeding two? Oh boy now that was like a one way ticket to bankruptcy for some people. But he had gotten a huge check for his last mission and he could splurge. "It's a date then!"
"Not a chance, perv," Naruto said, punching the man's shoulder. "Now get out of here. I need to finish this drude work by three."
Kakashi feigned surprise. "I'm sorry Naruto. While you might have enjoyed the thought of getting in my pants, I'm strictly a ladies' man." Naruto gave him a look that hinted he should stop now. And of course he didn't. "But if you really want that sort of stuff, I hear there's a place downtown that offers it."
"Get out!" Naruto roared.
Giggling like a little schoolgirl, Kakashi tactfully danced out of the room, leaving behind
a thoroughly annoyed Naruto. When the man had left, the blonde went back to washing laundry, cursing his fate with every scrub. When he got to Kakashi's clothes and had removed them from the bag, a mixture of mud, vomit, crap, piss, and even what looked to be snot assaulted his senses. Eyes watering and nose overwhelmed by the terrible stench of the mess, Naruto screamed.
"Kakashi!"
XxX
Naruto fidgeted nervously. He was currently sitting outside the operating room and had already been there for several hours. Beside him sat Rina, who was kicking her heels against her seat out of nerves. Both were looking at the blaring red cross that signified surgery was still in session, and they wondered how everything was going since it had been hours since the surgery had started.
Their attention was diverted when the doors to the operating room were flung open and Tsunade walked out. Her surgery clothes were covered in blood and there was an air of exhaustion surrounding her. Striding over to the pair, she removed her mask.
Both siblings rose and it was Rina who spoke first. "How is she?"
Tsunade gave them a tired look and took a seat on their vacated couch. "Gimme," she said, holding out an expectant hand towards Naruto.
Unrolling a scroll and releasing the bottle of sake it held, he tossed it to Tsunade, who caught it deftly with practiced ease. Popping the top off, the woman took long gulps of the stimulating liquid, and only stopped when the bottle was empty. Wiping her lips with the back of her hand, she then sighed contently, her thirst sated at last. "I underestimated the severity of the injury," she started, immediately putting both siblings on edge. She was about to go on when a group of medical-nin rushed by them and disappeared beyond the operating room's doors. Naruto and Rina exchanged concerned looks.
Tsunade saw the looks and shook her head. "Relax. We managed to stop the bleeding, although it took awhile." Her face grew more serious. "There was a lot of damage. The arteries leading from her heart to the rest of her body were severed, preventing oxygen from getting to her brain and all her important organs. We were able to fix all this, but there's still a twenty-percent chance she may never be able to be a full shinobi again due to possible lasting damage." She fixed her eyes on Naruto. "Still though, your quick thinking saved her life, Naruto."
He nodded solemnly, and Rina looked a bit stricken at the news. All this caused Tsunade to growl in irritation.
"Didn't I tell you two to relax? It'll take another few hours for Shizune to complete the surgery, and who was it? Haku? Haku will need a few months of recovery time," she paused significantly, "But in my honest medical opinion, I think she'll make a full recovery."
Looks of relief crossed both siblings' faces.
Tsunade pointed at Naruto. "Hey kid, you owe me big for this."
He gave her a somewhat amused look. "The usual I'm guessing?"
"Yep and make it a double."
"I'll have a toad deliver them then," he responded. Tsunade's eyes brightened and her lips crept up in excitement.
Listening to the pair, Rina could only surmise they were talking about booze. "So when can we see her, Baa-chan?" she asked, dying to know.
Tsunade feigned annoyance at being called baa-chan, although everyone knew deep down she enjoyed the name; but only from these two. "Oh give her a few days of rest in the hospital. After that you can visit her all you like."
Rina beamed and would have hugged Tsunade had she not been covered from head to foot in blood. "Thanks, Baa-chan! You're the best!"
For her part Tsunade merely rolled her eyes, but then a smile and wink later from her caused everyone to laugh.
After the good laugh, Naruto glanced over at a clock on the wall. It was near eight and the time reminded him of the dinner promise to Kakashi. "Crap. We gotta go, Baa-chan. I promised we'd have dinner with Kakashi at Ichiraku's."
Rina's face scrunched up in confusion. "You did?"
Naruto ruffled her hair earning him a growl. "Yep! And guess what? He's paying!"
Rina's agitation quickly melted away and was replaced with a wicked look. Tsunade would never admit it, but the girl was kind of scary when she put that face on. "Well in that case we better eat our fill tonight, right Nii-san?" Her eyes twinkled malevolently.
Naruto smirked down at her with the same twinkle to his eyes. "Oh yes. We definitely must, my dear sister." Both began to chuckle evilly and Tsunade was barely able to conceal her amusement watching them. Kakashi was so screwed. He must have really missed the pair to have offered the infamous Ramen Gluttons a virtual free all you can eat buffet. Good thing she had just signed that check for his completed S-rank mission the day before, or he might not have enough to feed the two bottomless pits. Although, come to think of it, even THAT absurd amount of money might not be enough to sate the siblings' insatiable, ravenous appetites when it came to their precious ramen.
A flurry of movement brought her out of her musing.
"See ya, Baa-chan!" Naruto called back over his shoulder, dragging behind him an unresisting Rina. She waved back to the them in farewell and once they had rounded the corner, she began making her way to the baths. She needed a good soak and some booze to curl up with before taking a nap. The surgery had really taken it out of her and last night's drinking hadn't helped matters.
Passing by her third in command on the way, she remembered something very, very important. Turning, she called out. "Hey Siska! Set up a bet for me."
"What bet might that be, Tsunade-sama?" Siska asked.
"It'll be which Namikaze eats the most bowls of ramen tonight and I've got 200 ryo on Naruto."
"Very well, Tsunade-sama. I'll get right to it"
Tsunade did a little jig as she made her way to the showers. She had this bet in the bag.
XxX
(The Following Day)
"Thanks, Naruto. Because of you I lost 100 ryo," Kurenai grumbled as the pair stood waiting for the rest of the those attending the first unified training session. Team 7 and 8 sat in front of the pair, conversing quietly with one another about what they were all doing here. As usual, Sakura was fawning over Sasuke, who was pointedly ignoring her and staring at Naruto.
"Sorry," Naruto said, "I had a big breakfast yesterday." Seeing Sasuke was looking at him, Naruto met the Uchiha's gaze and held it. After a few moments Sasuke offered him an almost incomprehensible nod before he looked away.
'I'm finally getting to him' It had taken awhile, but it seemed he was finally getting through to the broody Uchiha.
"Yo," a familiar voice said. Asuma appeared out of the outskirts of the tree lining. The jounin had a cigarette in his mouth, but when he saw Kurenai glaring at him, he quickly put it. Behind him came Team 10. Shikamaru carried his usual lazy demeanor, appearing as though he'd prefer to be elsewhere as he laid down on the grass and closed his eyes. Choji was munching on a bag of chips, while Ino was scolding him over something or nother. The ranting ended when she spotted Sasuke.
"Sasukeeee-kun," she cooed and rushed to him only to be intercepted by Sakura.
"Get ouf of here, Ino-pig," she blurted out, putting herself between Ino and Sasuke.
Ino didn't respond well to the frequently used insult or Sakura blocking her way to Sasuke. Marching resolutely up to Sakura, she pressed her forehead up against the pinkette's whilst glaring daggers. "What did you say, billboard? I got distracted by your giant forehead!"
Sakura grabbed her shirt. "My forehead is not big!"
"Is so!"
"Is not!"
Naruto had had enough of this pathetic fight. Honestly, they were kunoichi now, and they needed to start acting like it. Blurring out of sight he appeared beside the pair. Grabbing them each by the arm, he whirled around and unceremoniously threw them apart. Both landed on their rumps and exhibited startled looks.
Naruto straightened and fixed hard looks on first Sakura then Ino. Both girls shirked away from his stare and all conversation stopped as the blonde spoke, his voice demanding silence and their full attention. "Shut the hell up, the both of you." He flared his chakra to emphasize his words and all the genin felt the pressure fall on them, pressing down on them from all sides. When questioning looks went unanswered by their respective senseis, they nervously endured until Naruto's chakra dissipated to nothing.
"Now then…" and his voice took on a softer tone, "Are you two done acting like spoiled brats so we can get on with what he have planned for today?" The girls instinctively nodded their heads in assent. Giving the two one final look, Naruto strode back to stand beside his fellow jounin. A glance from him signaled Asuma to start and the bear-like man stepped forward.
"Team 7,8, and 10, from this day forth you will all be performing in a specifically designed training regiment meant to improve upon your shinobi skills. Every week from here on out will be devoted to this regiment. All other days will be devoted individual team training and missions. Any questions?" Asuma was brief and precise.
Shikamaru, showing unusual attentiveness, raised his hand in inquiry. "What will this regiment consist of?" The boy scowled when Kiba lightly elbowed him in the side goodnaturedly.
"What's wrong, Shikamaru? Worried you won't get your sixteen hours of sleep anymore?" Many of the genin either chuckled or giggled, but Shikamaru ignored them all and the jab at his usual disposition, instead staring at his sensei, patiently waiting for an answer.
"We'll be dealing with one-on-one's, team workouts, and some other stuff we'll let you know about when we get there," Asuma answered blandly, pointedly refusing to give away any real specifics.
"Are all the other teams doing this?" Sakura asked.
Asuma shook his head. "Nope. Just these three teams and Team 9 when they can find the time. Lucky you."
Shino turned shaded eyes onto Naruto. "And you feel this new training is necessary for further advancement of our skills?"
"Very. Trust me, by the end of this you guys will be thanking us," Naruto replied easily. Shino seemed to accept this and Sasuke was next up to question them.
"What's the point of training with these...," he stopped himself when he saw the warning look Naruto shot him and decided to take a more tactful approach, "Other teams? Our training with you is good enough for me."
Naruto smiled. "Sasuke, some things you learn by yourself, some things you learn with others. Just trust me on this." Blue met black as sensei and student stared at one another. Sasuke's gaze showed he was searching for something. He looked away when he had apparently found what he was seeking. "Tch. Whatever."
"Any other questions?" Naruto asked, looking at the rest of the genin assembled who remained quiet. "No? Right then. Warm-up time for you sorry lot. Give me twenty laps around the field." All the genin groaned, but when threatened with twice as much running if they didn't get off their lazy asses and start running, they all readily complied.
The trio watched their genin for a while, both Kurenai and Asuma grimacing when they noticed Ino and Sakura lagging behind the pack.
"So what do you guys wanna do today? One-on-ones?" Naruto asked.
Kurenai considered that. "I'm fine with it. Asuma?" Asuma assented as well and stuck a cigarette in his mouth. Making to light it, he was stopped when Kurenai snatched it from him. She then stomped on it and ground the cigarette beneath her heel.
"Dammit Kurenai! Those things are expensive!" he growled in annoyance. Kurenai merely arched one of her finely crafted brows.
"Excuse me for worrying about your health," she replied with a roll of her eyes.
Asuma made for another cigarette, but stopped short when he saw Kurenai staring at him with narrowed eyes, as if daring him to do it. Sighing dejectedly, he put the cigarette pack in its pack. "What's the big deal, Kurenai? You know these things barely affect me."
Kurenai was quick to respond. "And you know I'm not willing to take that chance, no matter how confident you might be."
Naruto watched on totally forgotten, not that he minded. It was usually pretty hilarious when the two started bickering. Phasing their conversation out for a moment, Naruto watched the genin circle round and round the field. Everyone was bunched up with Kiba and Sasuke in the lead. Behind the group were Ino and Sakura and the gap between both groups was lengthening by the minute. He needed to something about that.
"Hey Kurenai. Can you help me with something?" When he illustrated his plan to her and she had agreed to go along with it, Naruto flashed them one of his huge, cheeky grins before blurring out of sight.
The two remaining jounin watched on, knowing they were about to get a good laugh.
XxX
"Get out...of my way...Ino-pig," Sakura gasped out through ragged breaths as both girls chugged along wearily.
"No way...forehead," Ino snapped back. They were way behind the rest of the group and had already been lapped once.
All of a sudden something warm and wet landed up against Sakura's shoulder and she shivered at the touch. "Ewww. That's just gross, Ino!"
Ino looked at her archrival in confusion. "What's gross?"
Sakura glared heatedly at Ino. "You just spit on me!"
"What? I did not!" Something wet started running down Ino's neck then and she immediately stopped running. "Oh that's just rich Sakura! Just because you think I spit on you, you spit on me? How immature. I can't wait to tell Sasuke all about this."
Fire burned in Sakura's eyes at the implication. If Sasuke though she spit on Ino then he might think she was disgusting and not want to date her. 'Oh hell no!' Sakura inner mind roared and the real Sakura raised her fist threateningly. "You wanna go, piggy?!"
Ino was quick to respond and she too raised her fists. "Bring it, billboard! I'll mop the floor with you." Both girls fixed heated glares on the other and were about to get it on when a familiar wetness settled on both their shoulders. They immediately froze. If the other was there then what…? Slowly they turned their heads and the sight of something grotesque met their eyes.
Looming over them was a disgusting and vile creature. Its body was covered in thick, slimy tentacle-like appendages that writhed and coiled around it, slapping the ground and giving off a sickly odor that assaulted their senses. And it's face. Its face was composed of ten great big eyes that stared down at them like they were just fresh meat. The sight froze them in place. They couldn't move. Not until it leaned towards them and uttered a quiet…
"Boo."
Both screamed. Turning sharply around, they bolted away with all due haste, forgetting all about their initial weariness. A large dust storm formed and followed behind them as they frantically ran away, passing by the rest of the genin and continuing on showing no signs of slowing down.
"Bwahaha!" the creature laughed hysterically. "Thanks Kurenai!" it called across the field. The woman waved back and released her genjutsu. Immediately, the visage of the disgusting beast melted away revealing a grinning Naruto.
Man he loved being a sensei. These kids were so easy to scare.
XxX
After the group had reassembled the jounin decided to start things off. Since there was odd number of genin Hinata was given a bye this time around. She'd get to participate the next time they did one-on-ones.
The rules were simple. No killing and first to submit or decided as incapable of continuing with the match were ruled the losers. Everything else was free-game.
The first two up to fight were Shino and Kiba.
"I'm not gonna go easy on you, Shino," Kiba said with confidence and Akamaru barked in accord with his partner.
"I would expect nothing else. Why? Because we must fight with our full strength if we are to better improve upon ourselves." Shino's hands were in his pockets and everyone could hear the sound of buzzing coming from the boy.
Naruto looked first at Kiba then at Shino. "Ready?" They both nodded and Naruto chopped his hand down. "Hajime!"
Immediately after getting the signal to start, Kiba tossed a soldier pill into the waiting maw of Akimaru. The puppy gulped the pill down. A moment later there was an explosion of white smoke and when it had cleared two Kibas stood in front of Shino. Both sets of hands came up in a sign and as one, they crouched onto all fours. Blue chakra began to swirl around their bodies. Fangs and teeth grew into vicious points and each took on a much more feral appearance.
"You ready Akimaru?" one Kiba asked and an answering bark was heard from the other Kiba. They turned their eyes on Shino.
"Ready or not, Shino, here we come." Kiba said and then they charged, running all fours as they rushed Shino.
Shino wasn't about to let them get close. He knew he wasn't close to Kiba when in came to close-quarter combat and would be put at a disadvantage if they managed to get to him. Reaching towards the running pair with both hands, insects swarmed out of his sleeves and raced to intercept. The two clouds broke off into four and then eight groups, coming at the Inuzuka and his partner from all directions.
Kiba broke off his straight forward dash and darted to the side as did his partner. They were fast. Extremely fast for a genin and his dog and Shino's bugs just couldn't keep with the virtually flying pair as they dodged and weaved through the swarms, finally finding a hole in the wall of insects to pounce on him. With claws extended, they swiped at Shino and raked through his body was ease.
"Ha! Did you see that, buddy? We totally whooped his ass!" Kiba cheered to Akamaru as they landed back on all fours. When they turned to Shino, however, his body was already dissipating into a cloud of insects.
"What the-?"
"You would have done well to pay more attention, Kiba," said Shino as he reemerged from behind a tree. "Why? Because you would seen that was merely a clone all along."
"But it had your smell," Kiba protested vehemently. His nose never failed him. Never.
If Shino had been anyone else he would have been smiling. "We of the Abureme clan house our insects within our own bodies. Why is this relevant? Because after so long within our bodies, our insects adapt to us, even so much as retaining our scent."
"Why you…" Kiba was about to attack Shino again when he felt something crawling at his feet. Looking down, he saw the ground beneath his and Akamaru's feet covered in bugs. It was only then that he noticed the sharp drop in his chakra. Knowing he needed to move, Kiba jumped away followed by Akimaru.
"You wanna go, tough guy? Bring it!" Kiba yelled at Shino and removed a handful of smoke bombs from his pouch. Throwing them at Shino, they exploded at the boy's feet and blanketed the surrounding area in a smoky haze, cutting off Shino's sense of sight.
Shino was on guard immediately, recalling his insects to him. They swirled around him, forming a living, buzzing shield around him as he waited for what was to come.
'Thud'
There was an indentation in his insect shield as something hard and fast hit it from behind.
'Thud Thud'
Another two hits, both coming from the side quickly followed. Shino quickly deduced what was happening. Kiba and Akamaru were using the smoke as cover as a means to get close to Shino without having his insects attack them. Their sense of smell would allow them to pinpoint his location and they knew he hadn't had enough time to form another clone. But what they didn't know was that Shino had prepared for something like this. When both Inuzukas had attacked his bug clone, two females had attached themselves to the two and were constantly releasing pheromones that his males insects would easily be able to track down.
Shino lifted his arms. It was the signal for his insects to attack.
The swirling, roiling mass of bugs surrounding Shino dispersed out into the smoke. The males bugs were eager to find the females and didn't need sight to find them, only smell. Surrounding the first person they could find with a female, they enveloped the figure in a writhing blanket of bugs, sucking out their chakra greedily.
A yelp was heard followed by a whimper. Shino's bugs had managed to find Akimaru.
"Akamaru!" Kiba's voice rang out and as the smoke cleared, everyone saw the living cage of insects surrounding a now sprawled out puppy. The bugs had already leeched most of the chakra from him, enough so that he couldn't move, and were now keeping him imprisoned.
Kiba set rage filled eyes on Shino.
"You'll pay for hurting Akamaru!" Kiba yelled at Shino and ran at the boy who remained unmoving, watching the charge almost nonchalantly.
This was something Shino had accounted and had even hoped for. The bond between an Inuzuka and his or her partner(s) was a unique connection. Communication by mouth became obsolete, the two needing only to offer a glance to know what the other was thinking. It was an instinctual relationship and coupled with the empathetic feelings they held for one another, when one was injured, the other would desperately seek out a way to relieve them of that suffering.
That source of suffering right now was Shino, and Kiba was furiously charging at him, paying no heed to anything except getting at the Aburame.
Shino waited for Kiba to draw close before making his move. When Kiba was within ten feet of his position he crouched down and slammed his hands onto the ground.
Earth Release: Earth Dome Prison
The ground around Shino's hands cracked from the infusion of his chakra. Forcing out even more chakra, the area around Shino became saturated with his life energy, and where that chakra went so too did the cracks. They surrounded Kiba, forming a crude circle and forced him to stop his mad run. Soon after the cracked stones began to restructure themselves, and piece by piece they glued themselves together with chakra, ultimately forming a small dome around Kiba and trapping him within.
"What the hell is this?!" Kiba's muffled voice was heard inside the dome.
Holding his technique in place and providing a continuous stream of the chakra, Shino simply said, "It is a technique I learned recently. Now please submit or I will have no choice but to make you submit."
"As if some dumb rocks will stop me!"
The sound of fists and claws striking stone was heard next. While the size of the dome offered a limited range of movement, there was still enough for Kiba to strike at the wall encasing him.
Kiba's attempts to get out seemed to be taking a toll on Shino who was shaking visibly. The jutsu Shino was using required a constant infusion of chakra lest the technique be released and break down. Kiba's strikes were forcing Shino to push more chakra into his technique to keep the Inuzuka contained and coupled with the fact Aburames weren't known for their large reserves of available chakra, Shino was having a very difficult time holding his technique in place. All this forced him to play his final hand.
Beneath Kiba's feet suddenly burst out a steady stream of insects that had been hiding under the top layer of soil. Crawling up the Inuzuka's ankles, they swarmed him and began to suck away his chakra. At first Kiba resisted, throwing punches and kicking his legs to try to dislodge the pests, but because of the tight confines he was in he couldn't escape and eventually his snarls turned to groans as his energy quickly left him.
Shino dropped his technique then and the rocks fell away to reveal Kiba flat on his back and breathing heavily. He was covered in sweat and he didn't seem to have enough energy to even lift his head. Aburame insects were very effective.
Naruto called it then. "The match is over. The winner is Shino."
Shino's insects flew back into his sleeve as he weakly approached Kiba. Dropping to one knee, he bent over the boy who was able to turn his head to fix his eyes on the Aburame.
"Come to gloat?"
Shino regarded Kiba with a tired, but equally confused look. "That is not the case at all. Why?" If Shino had been anyone else he would have been smiling, "Because you and Akamaru were hurt and I do not take pleasure in the misery of my friends."
There was a yip beside Shino and Akamaru jumped into the scene, applying a wet tongue to his partner's face. Kiba grinned at his friend's antics and accepted the hand Shino offered to help him up. It seemed Kiba was willing to let bygones be bygones. It was only a fight between fellow shinobi after all.
"Well done, Shino," Naruto said as his student passed by him. "Although I don't remember teaching you that move."
"After returning from our last mission I went to the library to look over techniques that could assist in future battles and found it. It is a B-rank and requires a constant stream of chakra to keep in place."
Naruto assessed his genin and using his sensory skills, he saw that Shino didn't have a lot of chakra left over. That worried him. "Shino. Only use that technique if you absolutely must. You don't have near the chakra capacity yet to sustain something of that level," he warned.
"Noted, Naruto-sensei. My chakra levels were depleted drastically when attempting to keep Kiba locked inside. As well, I was only able to make a small version of the actual technique due to my limited chakra and allotted time given to practice it. I will be careful in the future." Shino said a bit shakily. When Naruto offered him a soldier pill, he readily ate it and the tremors stopped after a few moments.
Following this fight was a battle between Ino and Sakura. The jounin felt that they were about the same level skill wise and anyone else would otherwise knock either of them out with the first punch. What followed thereafter was a pitiful display of fighting, if one could even call it that. It was more a school cat fight, with both girls yelling, tugging at each other's hair, and trying to scratch each other's eyes out. In the end Naruto was forced to call it a tie, more so because everyone just wanted it over and done.
"This is so troublesome," Shikamaru said as he and Rina moved to begin the third battle. The boy's usually lazy air was apparent around him, and his whole body showed it as well, all except his eyes which were focused contemplatively on Rina who stood across from him.
"Oh shut the hell up and get ready, lazy ass," Asuma said from his position in between the two.
Rina couldn't help but smirk. While Shikamaru might assume an indolent and lethargic disposition, she knew underneath that unimposing visage was an extremely intelligent and analytical mind that was already thinking up several strategies on how to go about beating her. Whether his words were meant as a means to offer him more time to think, or just because he actually thought everything not involving sleep was troublesome, the latter being more plausible in Rina's opinion, had yet to be seen. However, this should prove to be a fun fight and she prepared herself in the initial pose of the Namikaze style. She was going to attack Shikamaru fast and hard.
Asuma looked between the two. After getting their nods of readiness, he chopped his hand down and yelled, "Hajime!"
Rina didn't wait long to move. Her legs were tingling with all the chakra she had focused in them and all that power was waiting to be released. She provided that release as she dug the balls of her feet into the ground and burst forward, speeding towards Shikamaru with strong, powerful beats of her legs.
She was in front of him in moments, fist clenched and aimed right for his face.
"Shit!" Shikamaru cried out as he frantically formed a hand seal to try and stop Rina. A small sliver of black broke off from his shadow and sped with all due haste towards her's.
Rina noticed the counter. Halting her attack, she instead pushed her right foot into the ground and somersaulted over Shikamaru's head. With fingers already formed into a familiar 't' as she landed, three clones appeared beside her. Quickly moving to surround Shikamaru on all sides, they drew out kunai and began throwing them at the Nara.
"Isn't this cheating or something?" Shikamaru asked in desperation as he was forced to dodge, but not before getting scored on the cheek. Rina was attacking him so aggressively, so quickly that he didn't have time to think of any plans to win. All he could do was dodge and hope he managed to get out of the way of all the kunai.
Rina continued on with her onslaught of kunai, apparently dissatisfied with her apparent ineffectiveness in hitting Shikamaru. So it came as a surprise to Shikamaru when the rain of kunai suddenly stopped. Looking at the Rina in front of him, he was startled when he noticed a single line of ninja wire running from each of her hands, both bound tightly around a wrist.
She gave him a cheery smile then pulled on her lines, as did the other three Rina's and eight wires that had been inconspicuously tied to thrown kunai became taut, surrounding Shikamaru in a webbing of ninja wire. Before he could react all four Rina's began running counter-clockwise, the wires wrapping around his chest, pinning arms and legs together, and ultimately ensnaring him in their trap. In the end Shikamaru was left like that of a bug trapped in a spider's nest: tied up, squirming, and unable to escape his captor.
Rina walked up to Shikamaru with that same jovial smile on her face. "I win," she said happily and tapped him lightly on the forehead. Shikamaru lost his precarious balance and toppled onto his back.
Asuma walked up to the pair. Staring down at Shikamaru who looked like a wriggling caterpillar he smirked. "A little tied up are we kiddo?"
"Bite me."
The man chuckled and called it. "This match is over. Rina is the winner."
Rina gave everyone a triumphic look then moved to Shikamaru. Cutting away his bonds, she helped him up. "You really suck at fighting, you know that?" she said jokingly.
"I'm a Nara. We're known more for our tactical retreats than full out fighting. Give me a break," Shikamaru said as he dusted himself off. "Glad to know my suspicions were right though."
"Suspicions about what?"
"About you pretending to be a complete idiot for the last five years," he answered, surprising her. "What? You thought no one would notice?"
Rina scratched the back of her head. A small blush of embarrassment came to her cheeks. "Well yeah. That was the plan anyways."
"Troublesome Namikaze," Shikamaru said. Rubbing the back of his neck he walked back over to his team. Rina listened as Ino pointedly berated him for losing to her, about how he was such a slacker, but Shikamaru simply ignored her and lay down, closing his eyes.
'Glad I don't have her on my team' Rina thought as she watched Sasuke and Choji take the field. Choji was munching on his bag of chips and Sasuke had on his usual 'better than thou' face. Moving back to her team, she settled in to watch the show.
The match that followed was pretty much one-sided. While Choji had the muscle to go head to toe with Sasuke, he didn't have nearly the level of speed the Uchiha possessed. In the end, it came down to Choji nearly exhausted and Sasuke appearing only slightly out of breathe. All it took was a kunai placed up against Choji's neck for the match to be called with Sasuke as the victor.
Sasuke walked up to Naruto after. His hands were in his pockets and he held an annoyed look. "That was a complete waste of my time. Let me know when we actually do something productive." With that he walked off to the other side of the field to train alone.
Naruto sighed as he watched his young genin go. Even with the amount of work he had put into Sasuke, the Uchiha blood running through him held a strong influence on the boy's mentality. The Uchiha clan was a warrior clan, always training and striving to be the best. They wasted little time on matters unrelated to honing their skills, especially Sasuke who was of the opinion he had to reach Itachi's level as fast as humanly possible. It was going to be uphill battle for Naruto if he wanted to break that mindset.
"Good work everyone," he said two hours later after they had finished with a few more minor activities. "While today was more an introduction than anything else I was very impressed with most of you. Next week we'll really kick things off so get some rest and continue training."
With that said everyone separated off into their respective teams and left. Team 7 was last to leave on account of having to wait for Sasuke. When he had finally arrived none too happy, they too left to go collect their daily D-rank mission reports.
Ah the life of a genin. Such a hard, yet boring life.