Chapter 9: Teammates
"Well seeing that we approximately have three and a half hours before noon, I say we take a walk around the village, have some snacks and get to know each other more" Naruto suggested casually now leaning on his chair and table, his head between his two teammates'. Sakura and Sasuke looked at him indifferently before looking at each other.
"That's a great idea Sasuke-kun! Naruto-kun is right. We should get to know each other more. We have plenty of time on our hands" Sakura agreed squealing very much like a child.
"And give me a good reason why I should know more about you" Sasuke inquired indifference not living his voice and face.
"There are tons of reasons why you should know us more and the main reason is, well, obviously we are teammates and teammates should know each other as much as possible in order for our teamwork to be at its peak" Naruto replied.
"Teamwork? Teammates? Hmf, like I need one. I know from the very start that teammates will only slow me down and you two will make no difference" the Uchiha said arrogantly as he started to stand up and walk away. Sakura's head stooped down from her crush's harsh words while Naruto only got his eyes narrowed at the brunette.
"Though I hate to admit it, we might really be only a liability for Sasuke-kun in this team. He is the rookie genin of this year after all aside from the fact that he is a genius from the Uchiha clan. No one from our class even dared to challenge him" Sakura explained her head still hanging low.
"No one dared to challenge him, huh? Then why would anyone challenge him in a one-on-one fight if it's clear that he's stronger? Why not anyone form a big group and challenge him in a big rumble? That way he won't get that much cocky to refuse our friendly invitation or anyone else's" Naruto suggested earning some harsh glares from one hundred percent loyal Sasuke fan girls who heard him including Sakura.
"What? That way, he'll learn how to become humble and friendly with anyone. You're pampering of him only makes his arrogance and pride swell that he's just considering all you of you nothing more than rats. If you ask me, I call that inhuman. So do you prefer to be treated like insects by that stuck up bastard or do you prefer to teach him some human lessons and then later become his good friends? Maybe I should also include in the choices if you want to be called fools by those smart enough to see that that Uchiha Sasuke isn't so much of a guy just because you are ignoring his inhuman insults while continuing to worship him like a god though he is really not" Naruto said making the girls hang their heads low in shame. (He should also listen to his words right? Though maybe this world had already changed him for the better or not.) However, Sakura didn't even seemed to be affected by her blonde teammate's, she considered, bad words to her crush. She even managed to lift up a proud smirk.
"Many guys had already tried to do that because they are so much jealous of Sasuke-kun's good looks, excellent skills and most importantly, popularity with girls but none of them succeeded and only ended up with severely battered bodies. Sasuke-kun can beat up a dozen other boys almost as easily as he does with one" Sakura said taking pride on her crush very much like a mother to her child. The other girls' admiration for their idol was restored as their faces now held the same smirks as the pink haired girl.
"Forehead girl is right, Naruto-kun so even if you know how he fights or if he knows how you fight, there will be no difference with if all of you don't have any idea how each other fights. I'm sorry to say all of those words, Naruto-kun but that's the truth" Ino explained a bit sympathetic even for her now former rival in love.
"So you girls are saying that just because Sasuke is the genin rookie of this year and is a genius member of the Uchiha clan, he is already the strongest in this shinobi world. Give me a break" Naruto said making the girls' glares on him intensify.
"How can you say that when he wasn't even involved in an actual combat or did he already had?" he asked trying to challenge them to give him a story of their beloved Uchiha's epic combat. Silence was the only thing heard from the fan girls.
"I knew it and besides no one in this room knows me including that Uchiha Sasuke so no one can really say if he is indeed stronger than me" the blonde continued earning some curious looks this time from the boys.
"That actually makes sense" a little rough voice said. Ino, Naruto and Sakura turned to the source of the voice and saw a boy with red marks on his cheeks.
"Sorry to tell you this but I've been eavesdropping on your conversation since you started talking about that Sasuke-bastard."
"Don't you dare call Sasuke-kun a bastard, Kiba" Sakura angrily demanded as the other fan girls nodded. They all started to advance towards Kiba while radiating a fair amount of killer intent ready to beat the brains out of the fool who insulted their idol. However, Naruto was fast enough to stop them dead on their tracks using tactically placed wires. The girls were now looked like helpless flies trapped in a spider's web.
"You should cool down a bit, girls and start to enhance your self-control for its not good for a ninja to loose his/her calm" the black clad boy said holding the girls firm their places. They glared at him again but calmed down a bit nonetheless.
"This is what I've been talking about. Just because someone called your beloved Sasuke-kun a bastard, you are ready to kill him/her. I believe that's not enough reason for you to loose your self-control and kill someone. Also, I believe this is another form of pampering which caused that Uchiha's ego to become such a monstrosity, thus becoming a reason why he's so antisocial and always ignoring you. Have any of you noticed that?" Naruto asked almost shouting while looking at the trapped girls one by one. They hanged their heads a bit low again realizing their stupidity.
"Besides, somebody else's insults on you or your loved one should not affect your sense of judgement. Why should you care if someone calls you or your loved one a bastard or a bitch when you know for yourself that you or your loved one is not? Your anger for the insults will only make the insults even worse. You should already know this stuff as you are all academy graduates. I suggest you all to mature now or else you'll never survive in a battlefield" Naruto continued making the girls hang their heads even lower. Seeing that they have somewhat calmed down, Naruto decided to release them.
"Jeez, thanks for the help, man. By the way I'm Inuzuka Kiba" the boy with the red marks said handing out his right hand for a shake.
"No problem. I'm Uzumaki Naruto" Naruto replied shaking hands with the hooded boy.
"I believe that you have your own reasons for calling Sasuke a bastard. If you don't then perhaps I can let the girls to really kill you" he continued with a little threat in his voice.
"I do have my reasons. You saw how arrogant and how mighty that bastard considers himself. I just hate those kinds of guys. Just because he is the last remaining Uchiha in the village, he acts like he's above us all. But I like you just as much as I am curious of you. You said it yourself; none of us know who you really are so none of us can say if the bastard Uchiha is really stronger than you so I'm hoping, in behalf of all those who hate the bastard, if you do us a favor" Kiba said with a little pleading tone.
"Maybe I can do you a favor for as long as it is reasonable and perhaps, if I will also benefit from it" Naruto replied.
"Great! Then can you challenge the Uchiha into a fight?" Kiba asked hopefully.
"Well, I'll surely benefit from that since I'm going to know how he fights but I'm not too sure if it's reasonable. I mean, I can't just fight him just to know his capabilities" Naruto replied scratching the top of his head a little and smiling sheepishly. Kiba just sighed in frustration while the Sasuke fan girls chuckled.
"You are just saying that you are afraid of fighting Sasuke-kun because you know that he is indeed stronger than you" Sakura said with a wicked smirk.
"Just like what I said earlier, I will not allow any of your insults to affect my sense of judgement" Naruto replied waving the girls off before turning back to Kiba.
"You know Kiba; I'm not someone who picks a fight just because I hate the person I choose to pick a fight on. But maybe I can give Sasuke a reason to give me a reason to fight" he said then looked out of the window to see the topic of their conversation walking on the academy yards. He smirked wickedly as he stepped on the windowsill and jumping off the window. He landed right in front of Sasuke who in turn narrowed his eyes on him.
"What do you want, dead last?" the Uchiha said with the ever so arrogant voice of his. Naruto's smirk became even more wicked though Sasuke didn't get to see it because of the high collar covering the lower part of the face of the blonde. But his blue eyes told everything as it showed more wickedness than any part of the body.
"Dead last? The last thing that I remember the teacher say about my name is Uzumaki Naruto. What gave you the idea that I am a dead last?" Naruto asked innocently.
"Because you are a dead last" Sasuke replied simply.
"I'm asking you what gave you the idea to call me dead last. Don't just repeat what you already said or else the academy might take away your title of being the rookie genin of this year for not being able to answer a simple question. Well if you ask me, you don't really deserve the title since you can't answer my simple question in first place" Naruto said with a little mocking voice. Sasuke's reaction was very predictable as little annoyance was shown in his entire feature, little but still annoyance.
"Anyway" Naruto spoke again this time his voice turned into a casual one.
"I'm not here to exchange insults with you, Sasuke. I just want us, including Sakura, to get to know each other. That's all I want."
"Just like what I said earlier, I don't need to know anything about you. I don't need teammates as they will only slow me down" was Sasuke's ignorant reply.
"Whether you like it or not Sasuke, we are your teammates and there's nothing you can do about it even if you go to the Hokage's office and ask Sandaime himself to not give you teammates. Bear with it Sasuke. If you really believe that we will slow you down, fine by me for it is your belief. And if we will really slow you down then it's better to know us more so that in the future, we can avoid acts that will hinder each one of us" Naruto continued in persuading the stubborn Uchiha.
"All I need to know is you two will only slow me down and there's nothing you can do about it even if I know all about you including your secrets. Now get out of the way and stop pestering me" Sasuke demanded and started to walk away. As he gets closer to the blonde, he intentionally bumped his left shoulder on Naruto's left shoulder. Naruto only sighed before turning around and speaking again, this time with a challenging tone to his voice.
"You are one hell of a knucklehead, Uchiha. If you really think that Sakura and I will only slow you down and that there's nothing we can do about it and that I'm a dead last just like what you called me twice now, then how about showing us a proof."
Sasuke stopped walking catching the challenge Naruto wanted to imply in his voice and words. He turned his head around to look at the black clad boy.
"You are the stubborn one, dead last. Fine, if you really want proof of your weakness, I'll show it to you" Sasuke said before blurring out of sight and reappearing at Naruto's back.
Sasuke brought up his right leg to deliver a kick aiming for Naruto's head. Naruto, without even turning around, merely brought up his right arm lazily connecting it with Sasuke's shin effectively blocking the kick. Sasuke's eyes widen in surprise on how easily the blonde followed up with his speed and blocked his attack without even flinching. Gritting his teeth a little, he followed up another attack by flipping upwards and delivering an axe kick aiming for his opponent's top of the head.
Naruto, however, again lazily raised his right hand to catch the descending leg and again, without looking at Sasuke. He started to swing his arm around intending to make his opponent loose his balance before throwing him away. It took the Uchiha a while before regaining his bearings but early enough so that instead of crashing on the ground hard, he landed gracefully on both his feet. He looked back at the blonde with his teeth grinding at each other harder than even before.
"Admirable speed at least for someone as young as you but for someone to be called a genius, you are pretty slow" Naruto taunted topped with a mocking smirk. Sasuke gritted his teeth even harder in annoyance but later managed to replace it with a smirk of his own though forcefully.
"To tell you the truth, you surprised for easily following up with my speed but you must know, that wasn't my real speed" he said arrogantly.
"You only sputter words. I want proofs" Naruto replied.
"As you wish" Sasuke talked back and charged again.
Coming right at front of Naruto, Sasuke used his left foot as a brake and at the same time as a pivot to turn clockwise and delivered his right hand for a backhand strike aiming for the face. Naruto used his right hand again to catch the attack. Sasuke followed up with a straight punch aiming for the same spot. Naruto pushed Sasuke's right hand away to catch the left one using again his right hand.
Assured of the firm grip his opponent had on his hand, the black haired boy flipped again upwards again trying to deliver an axe kick. The blonde, however, pushed the Uchiha's left hand back with enough force to drive the latter's whole body away along with it making the attempted kick miss a few inches away from the face.
Landing again on the ground, Sasuke charged again and rained Naruto with a flurry of punches and kicks. Each strike is well aimed and timed. However for someone who has great experience in combat like the young Uzumaki, it's very easy to evade or block such an attack with merely one hand. An attack, no matter how well planned and well timed, is easy to counter if the execution is slow.
For an average twelve year old shinobi or kunichi, Uchiha Sasuke's flurry of attacks is fast and strong and very hard to block, dodge much less to counter. But for one Asakura Hao, now known as Uzumaki Naruto, these attacks are slower than a sloth and weaker than a fly.
People are starting to slowly gather around the schoolyard curious on what commotion that is happening. They saw Uchiha Sasuke, their most beloved and precious person in the village, fighting against a black clad someone who's on the same age as him. They wondered who the foolish kid is who picked up a fight with who they believe to be the strongest genin there is. Thankfully this foolish kid isn't moving too much that it's easy even for the untrained eye to catch up the details he has on his body.
Bright blonde hair and sparkling blue eyes. There's no doubt about it according to everyone who recognized Sasuke's opponent. It is the Kyuubi jinchuriki. Upon realizing that it is their most hated being the Uchiha is fighting, the adult spectators started a loud cheer. Half of them gave out cheers of joy for Sasuke as he is finally ending the reign of terror the demon kid has brought. The other half gave out cheers of hatred directed towards the Naruto shouting on how much they want him dead. However, it doesn't seem like the combatants are paying them any heed as their speed isn't even reducing.
Up towards the series of windows of a classroom located in the third floor of the academy building, loud cheers for the Uchiha were heard as well. Only this time, it's coming from Sasuke's fan girls. They shouted happily seeing how well their idol is attacking but not noticing how well the new comer is defending against the attacks. Only those from the neutral side, namely the boys, and from the newly established Naruto fans club side noticed how much angry, annoyed and desperate Sasuke was becoming. Oh, was it mentioned that Hyuuga Hinata is a part of the Naruto fans club too?
"That new comer can surely fight. He's doing well in defending from Sasuke's attack with only one hand" Kiba commented his eyes glued on what seemed for him to be one-sided fight between Naruto and Sasuke.
"Knowing and not knowing your opponent is very crucial for a shinobi. When you don't have any idea on how your opponent fights or how strong he/she is, you will be forced to constantly guess on what battle tactics and strategies you should use against him/her until you figured out his/her fighting style and strength" Shikamaru also commented with seriousness which isn't supposed to be always in his voice. He had to admit to himself that this new guy had taken his interest as he was shown to be paying a great deal of attention to the occurring fight.
"Also, if you underestimate your opponent just from the weakness you see in his/her outer appearance; he/she will use the opportunity to defeat you while you are not using all of your power. At the same time when you realize that he/she is not as weak as you had anticipated, you will also be annoyed and angry to yourself and your opponent for the foolishness that you had done. Hence, you will loose your self-control and your fighting skills will be dulled by your anger thus allowing again the opponent to use this opportunity to defeat you should he/she didn't manage to in the first place" Hinata said watching the fight just as intently as everyone else is.
"Should this keeps on going, Sasuke will drain himself off of his strength allowing that Uzumaki Naruto to have an easy victory" Shino commented but was unfortunately heard by Sasuke's fan girls.
"What do you mean Sasuke-kun will loose?! Can't you see that he his winning?! Look! That blonde haired opponent of his is only defending from Sasuke-kun's attack. No one can win from just defending" Sakura countered ready to jump on the sunglasses wearing boy.
"Yes, it is true that no one can win from just defending, Sakura-san. But if your opponent attacks just as aggressive as Sasuke-san, he will just wear out quickly and if you managed to defend yourself well until that happens, victory will be an easy catch" Hinata countered back.
"You troublesome girls are only looking on how good your Sasuke-kun fights. Why don't you take a look on how good that Naruto guy fight as well and how Sasuke is getting irritated" Shikamaru said pointing a finger on the two fighting boys. True to his words, Sasuke's fan girls saw what the boys had been talking about. They started to worry and pray that their idol will be alright.
Sasuke is now getting really irritated, more like annoyed and angry. Even some of the academy teachers can't manage to keep up with his taijutsu and even some more of them, he can defeat. However, this Uzumaki Naruto, this dead last that he calls, is easily defending from his punches and kicks using only one hand. He looks more like he's not even trying to defend!
With one desperate move, the black haired boy focused all of his strength to his leg and blurred out of sight again reappearing again behind the blonde. He shifted all of his strength to his right fist and aimed a straight punch to his opponent's back. Naruto, however, again followed up with his movements and ducked with perfect timing evading the attack. He pivoted on his left foot turning counterclockwise and delivered an open palm strike to the Uchiha's chest sending him to the air.
From the academy windows, Hinata witnessed and recognized the last attack that was made by her object of admiration. Her eyes were slightly widened in disbelief.
'That was Hakke Kusho (Eight Trigrams Empty Palm)! How come he knows how to perform it when he isn't from my clan' she thought in wonder.
'One doesn't really need to be from the Hyuuga clan or have some bloodline limit like the Byakugan to perform such an attack. Proper chakra control, release and aiming were the only things needed' Naruto replied in his mind hearing what Hinata had thought.
Sasuke flew quite a few meters in the air before landing hard on the ground back first. He rolled a few times before skidding to a stop. He tried to stand up but got some hard time as he noticed that his body is wobbly.
'It feels like that attack's purpose is not to hurt me but drain my strength temporarily. I feel like a powerful shockwave had gone through my body' he thought while trying to stabilize his shaking body. He looked back at his opponent with an angry face.
'Damn it! After all of those attacks, he didn't even budge from his spot. Who is this dead last anyway? He's getting really into my nerves.'
Gritting his teeth again, Sasuke formed exactly six hand seals ending with the tiger seal before inhaling a great deal of air and focusing all of the chakra he can to his chest. Naruto raised his left eyebrow recognizing the jutsu.
'Well, he should at least know that jutsu if he really is a genius' he thought while focusing chakra on his right hand.
'Try stopping this attack while still staying at your place!' Sasuke thought and cried out his jutsu.
"Katon: Gokakyu no jutsu!"
A fireball three meters in diameter shot out from his mouth and rushed towards the seemingly unfazed blonde. Naruto, in response, brought up his right hand and touch the side of the fireball upon it reaching him. He then pushed it away to his side. (Just like how Kyoraku deflected Chad's attack in Bleach.) The fireball hit a wall creating a huge explosion.
Sasuke's eyes widen in disbelief as well as everyone who was watching. None of them knows anyone who can dare to use his/her bare hand to deflect a katon jutsu. Naruto only smirked at them and answered their unspoken question.
"A trick like that isn't really that much surprising. With the proper application of the right amount of chakra, one can deflect or even change the course or trajectory or certain jutsus of course without sustaining any injuries himself/herself" he explained.
Getting more annoyed than ever, Sasuke performed more hand seals between gritted teeth.
"Tried deflecting this one, you bastard!" he shouted and cried out again another jutsu.
"Katon Hosenka no jutsu!"
Exactly a dozen smaller fireballs shout out of his mouth all rushing at Naruto. Naruto again used the same principle earlier with added speed to his hand to deflect all of the fireballs. More explosions occurred as some of the fireballs hit the walls, some hit the ground and even some hit the academy building making every spectators running for their lives..
But Sasuke didn't seem to be over with his attack for he is already in mid air shooting more fireballs towards Naruto. Naruto again deflected them easily. The fireballs, however, hit the ground a few meters around him creating a ring of smoke and fire which blocks his vision of his surroundings. This is what Sasuke wanted to happen. Landing on the ground facing on what he believed to be his opponent's backside, he formed four more hand seals.
'This jutsu is still incomplete for me and it is best to use if I have the Sharingan or my opponent is immobilized. I also exhaust all of my chakra from just using it once but this is the strongest jutsu I know and the only way for me to win. Let's see if he can deflect this one!' he thought and cried out his last jutsu.
"Katon: Ryuka no jutsu!"
Flames ignited around Sasuke before forming a huge stream of fire which shot towards the center of the ring of fire and smoke where Naruto was thought to be still standing. The biggest explosion for the day was heard and rocked the entire schoolyard. Spectators came back to see what had just happened. Everyone's eyes were wide opened and their mouths agape shocked on how intense the fight between twelve year old boys had become.
A few seconds later, the adults finally came back from their shocks and started to shout cheers for what their thought to be the victory of Uchiha Sasuke and the death of the demon child. The children, however, were more like terrified than shocked. Even Sasuke's fan girls are in deafening silence as this is the first time they saw someone killed, or so they thought.
"H-Hey, did Sasuke really kill that Naruto guy?" Kiba managed to stutter his question after recovering from shock.
"P-Probably. That jutsu may miss him but no one can hope to survive if they are in the vicinity of that blast" Shikamaru responded a little shaky but not as much as Ino or any other of Naruto's fan girls.
Hinata, however, looked far too calm at the situation. Maybe she saw something others didn't for she had her Byakugan activated.
"Naruto-kun is alright. Don't worry everyone. His clothes are not even dirtied" she told her fellow children. They all looked at her even more surprised than before but a little relieved as no one was really killed. They believed the female Hyuuga and her Byakugan. After all, the can see everything, can't it?
Sasuke panted heavily hands on his knees obviously tired after firing his most powerful katon jutsu. He's looking at the area clouded by smoke as a small smile slowly formed from his lips. He gave out a light chuckle almost as weak as a whisper. It then grew louder until it became a full grown laughter.
"You fought well for a dead last. But a dead last will always be a dead last. There's no way for you in the very first place to win against someone like me" he said loud enough to be heard by anyone watching. He then proceeded to laugh again.
"What are you talking about, Sasuke and why are you laughing so hard?" a casual voice echoed from within the cloud of smoke. Immediately, Sasuke's laugh was halted as well as the cheers of the adult spectators shocked on how familiar the voice was. They all looked back at the area of the explosion and saw a shadowy figure slowly starting to form as the smoke started to clear.
All of the smoke finally cleared and Naruto was revealed still standing without even any dirt on his black clad form. He's standing on the center of a big hole created by Sasuke's Katon: Ryuka no jutsu but the ground he's standing on is still intact. Through the blonde's eyes, one can tell that he is smirking even though his lips are covered by his high collar. Everyone's eyes widen even more, except for one Hyuuga Hinata, not believing that he did survive the final attack without even gaining any injuries.
"Pretty impressive! I guess the Uchihas really lived to their title as the flame masters of Konoha. Even someone as young as you had performed a high level Katon jutsu. Allow me to show you my admiration" Naruto said with a bow.
Though everyone will just see this act as mockery, Naruto was indeed impressed. Everyone should just take a closer look in his eyes to see the truth.
"Well then" he continued. Everyone tensed up again expecting the blonde boy to proceed in beating Sasuke. The adults are getting ready to jump in to the scene to interfere as well as Sasuke's fan girls.
"I believe I already learned everything I need about you. So if you let me, I shall take my leave" Naruto said politely and turned around. He jumped outside the crater and walked back towards the academy building.
"Hold your horses, Uzumaki Naruto" someone called making Naruto stop.
(------------)
A little cliffhanger but not that much. I just didn't expect this chapter to be that long.