Edit: changed the cave scene to make Naruto and Sasuke more in character (thank you Guest for pointing that out, I meant to change that before it was published and forgot). Let me know if you see anything else.
AN: First I would like to say this chapter is up as a trial currently. I don't necessarily like the flow, but I'm sick of editing it. Whether it gets changed or not depends on what you, the readers, think. So it's extremely important that you actually review this time. The author's note at the end will have a few questions to get you started if you need help.
Second of all, I would like to take this time to thank everyone who has reviewed/followed/faved this story. It's you guys who keep me motivated and force me to actually sit down and write as opposed to just have the story swirl around in my head.
And finally I am going to respond to a review posted by guest Shane after the last chapter (so you are all welcome to skip this and scroll down to the dividing line if you'd like). Shane: You mentioned in your comment that you thought Sasuke appeared weak in this story. You are absolutely correct, and I'm actually surprised no one mentioned it before you did. Yes, Sasuke would seem weak in this fic compared to his canon counterpart. Why is this? Well, in this story I am having him understand and address the fact that he has emotions (especially toward Naruto). Now to us this isn't a super big deal, but to someone who has spent a vast majority of his life burying his feelings and pretending they don't exist, that isn't the case. I believe that if Sasuke were ever to admit to having feelings, he would probably freak out a little bit and not know how to handle them - as anyone who spent years denying their existance would. This story is as much a development of Sasuke's emotional strength as it is a romance between the two males. I could explain my reasoning further, but there was one more thing I want to address before I get to the story (by all means message me if I didn't answer something to your satisfaction; I won't bite). You also mentioned that you don't think Sakura could take down Sasuke unless he was injured. I would have agreed with you before one of the more recent canon manga chapters came out where Sakura proved her worth. I think she is now almost on par with Naruto and Sasuke, and if either one were to underestimate her, they would be taken out easily. She is more tactical when it comes to attacking than the two of them, and so would be able to use her new strength and what she knows of Sasuke's abilities to her advantage, however I do agree that for her to capture him she would need a large advantage which she doesn't have. That being said, the events leading up to and including Sasuke's capture will be addressed in this fic; they just haven't come up yet. Once again, I hope I answered your comments completely, but if I didn't (or if you have more questions) feel free to drop another review or message me.
And now, without further ado, I present Fallout: Chasing Hokage Chapter 11 The Keys to Survival.
Chapter 11
"Keys?" Naruto asked, scratching his head curiously. So many teams had passed the written test that they were split into several groups for the second portion of the exam. Each group was starting on a different side of the 'arena' so as to avoid bottlenecking at the entrance. According to Temari, the ninja describing the survival test to the group Team Seven was in, they were starting on the South-most edge of the area.
"Yes. Keys. Five of them. You will need a key from each form of ninjutsu: fire, earth, water, wind, and lightning. Once you have all five keys, you'll notice they fit together in a certain way, kind of like a puzzle." She held up two keys and connected their handles to demonstrate her point. "The connected keys will open the lock to the building, if you're able to find it. Each group will begin with one key, meaning only one in every five groups will be allowed to compete in the third portion of the exam. Are there any questions?"
Silence.
"Good. Then you may all now make your way to your respective jounin leaders, who will hand you your group's key."
Naruto turned and followed Sasuke and Sai. Jounin leader? That's odd. I don't remember having one. He ran into Sai's back when the other suddenly stopped.
"Watch where you're walking, dickless."
"Sai…" Naruto growled warningly.
"I see everything's going well here." That voice was familiar. Naruto's head peeked around Sai's.
"Kakashi-sensei!" The white-haired ninja gave Naruto one of his trademark eye smiles in response. "I didn't know you were gonna be here!"
"Well, every team competing in the Chunnin exam needs a Jounin sponsor. I was bound to show up eventually."
"How'd you get here though?"
"As much as I'd love to stand here and talk with you, Naruto, I'm afraid we don't have much time. Do you boys remember how the last Chunnin exam was run?" Kakashi looked between Naruto and Sasuke at that, clearly addressing them both. It was the Uchiha who responded first.
"Yes."
"This will be a little different. There are too many teams competing, so simply cutting the number in half wasn't enough; that's why they are doing the five key method."
"I figured as much," the raven spoke again.
"But that's not all. You will be in the canyons here, and the Sand isn't known for its water. It looks like there is one main river flowing through and only a few streams after it rains. You'll need to make getting water a priority."
"Water, got it," the blond cut in. "See ya Kakashi!" He turned to walk away before his collar was grabbed by Sai. He turned back, grumbling, but was held by a serious look on his former teacher's face.
"One last thing. And this is important, Naruto." He looked directly at the jinchurikki when he spoke. "Do not, and I mean do not be caught in the slot canyons(1) when it rains. Get out, get to high ground, to a wider area. Do you understand?" The three of them nodded. Kakashi's eyes returned to their smiling state once more. "Good luck."
The next thing the blond knew, they were on their own in front of a large gated entrance leading to what appeared to be a large desert area stretching out well past what their eyes could see (2). Naruto was suddenly nervous. He felt a nudge to his side and looked over to see Sai smiling happily. "Good luck, Naruto-kun," he grinned. The blond felt a little less nervous.
Temari stood atop a large boulder, shouting down at them. "Alright last reminder: five keys. Once you get all five of them, you need to find the building. The keys open the door, and if your team gets in with the keys you pass. You have five days. Five days, five keys, door. Any questions? No? Good." She turned to the Sand ninjas below who were preparing to open the gate. "Ready?"
"Yes, Temari-sama!"
"Open the gates!"
With a creaking sound, the gates were opened. The competing ninjas stood at the base, shifting weight nervously, waiting for the signal.
"Begin!"
They all raced inside. Naruto felt himself pushed around a bit from the sheer number of people trying to get inside the arena, but he didn't let himself fall. He and his team had discussed it that morning before leaving: get inside, move straight until the crowd clears, then turn left – or west in this case – and keep moving until water is reached, or the others catch up. The blond wasn't sure, but he thought he was in front. So it was up to him to find water and hope the others could catch up to him; he'd lost them in the fray.
It took a few minutes to clear himself of the people; none of them seemed too interested in attacking him, and they instead scattered as soon as they were able. Naruto slowed his pace, willing his teammates to find him. He was in luck. Within a few seconds, a tap on his right shoulder announced Sai's presence. It took Sasuke only a few moments more before he, too, appeared. They stopped.
"Now what?" Naruto began.
"We need to find the rest of the keys, obviously." Sai responded.
"But did we even get one?!" Suddenly the blond couldn't remember Kakashi giving them their key.
"Dobe," Sasuke responded flicking his wrist so something shiny dangled from his hand. Naruto felt himself sigh in relief.
"Which one are we starting with?" Sai asked.
Sasuke didn't even glance down before he responded. "Wind." For some reason, he seemed irritated about it.
"Awesome. So we just need to get the rest. What was Kakashi going on about the canyons?"
"Slot canyons. Don't be in them when it rains." Sai answered.
"Why?"
"Because you'll drown, idiot," Sasuke was the one to speak up this time.
"Drown? How?"
"Dobe, can we please just focus on getting the other four keys before everyone else does?" This time Naruto was sure he wasn't mistaken; Sasuke was definitely irritated.
"Fine," he grumbled.
"I vote we keep moving, find a safe place to meet then split up and find the keys." Both Sasuke and Naruto stared at Sai after that.
"You think we should split up?" Naruto began slowly.
"That would mean one of us would be going against three others." Sasuke agreed.
"Not necessarily. There's only one key, so only one team member will have it. You only have to target that one teammate."
"This reeks of a bad idea."
"Aw, Sasuke-kun, are you afraid you wouldn't be able to handle the wittle genins?" Sai taunted.
The Uchiha opened his mouth, presumably to respond, when a large crash indicated the appearance of another team. Naruto turned to see three figures standing on a large boulder behind them. For some reason, they looked familiar.
"Oy, Sasuke! Never thought we'd see you here!" One of them shouted down. Naruto looked toward the Uchiha, shocked. Who are these people? Why do they look strangely familiar? How do they know the teme?
The three of them jumped down and got closer. There was no denying it now, Naruto definitely recognized them from somewhere. But where?
"Suigetsu, fancy seeing you here." To Naruto's surprise, Sasuke's voice was calm.
The ninja with pale hair and a pale face spoke, revealing razor sharp teeth. "I thought you were in jail or some shit. How'd you manage to snake your way into the Chunnin exam, huh?" He was the same one who had spoken before.
Sasuke didn't respond. Instead, the female ninja with bright red hair hit the one named Suigetsu over his head. "Don't talk that way to Sasuke-sama!" Her voice was even more familiar to Naruto.
"Karin?" He asked tentatively, earning strange looks from everyone present. The girl in question finally noticed him.
"Naruto?" Her face broke into a smile. "You're taking the exam too? I thought you'd already passed."
He scratched the back of his head sheepishly. "Nah. Not yet. Hopin to this time though. Gotta pass to become Hokage…"
"Still dreaming of that, then? Good. It'll be nice to have an Uzumaki on the 'throne'." Now everyone was staring between the two of them.
"Wait, Karin, you know him?" Suigetsu blurted out.
She gave him a look that clearly stated 'don't be a moron'. "Of course I know Naruto. He's the one who saved me after he," she pointed at Sasuke, "stabbed me. Turns out we're sorta related." She gave Naruto a warm smile once more. "Last of our clan, you could say."
The pale ninja turned to their third teammate, a larger, quiet guy. "Did you know this Juugo?"
Juugo shrugged. "She mentioned it before, yeah."
"And you would've known it too if you weren't always being such an ass," Karin hit Suigetsu over the head again.
"So how did you three manage to get here? Aren't you criminals too?" Sasuke seemed to have regained his composure.
"Uh, yeah…" Karin trailed off a bit.
"You're criminals?!" Naruto exclaimed.
"Well, we worked under Orochimaru for a time," Suigetsu spat the name.
"The Stone was actually pretty forgiving though, given the past they've had and ours. We were given a chance to prove ourselves, and when the exam came around they encouraged us to participate." Karin added. Naruto hadn't even noticed their headbands, but he could clearly see they were wearing the symbol of the Stone.
Sai, who had remained silent through the encounter, spoke up. "How fortunate for you that the Stone was so forgiving." Naruto could swear he saw Sasuke shoot Sai a warning look, before the artistic ninja continued. "However, we have four keys to find, and unless you are willing to give us yours, I'm afraid we should move on."
"Oh yeah, keys!" Suigetsu exclaimed, as if suddenly remembering about them – which he had, for all Naruto knew. "Which one do you guys have?"
"Wind," Naruto answered immediately, mentally preparing himself for a fight.
"Ah man! Tough luck, I was hoping to fight you guys. We have wind too." He displayed their key suddenly, revealing a pale bluish-silver one, exactly the same as Team Seven's. "I guess we'll have to wait for the elimination."
"Juugo," Sasuke said suddenly. "Are you…?" He trailed off as the bigger ninja nodded.
"I've been learning better control, Sasuke-sama."
Sasuke nodded sharply in response. "Good." Naruto's head whipped back and forth between them, wanting to know what they were talking about, but nobody gave him an explanation.
"I guess we'll see you at the third round then, Naruto," Karin waved at him. The three of them disappeared with a wave.
"Let's keep moving," Sai walked toward where the cliffs were looming before them. Naruto and Sasuke followed silently.
An hour or so later, Naruto was feeling awful. It was hot and dry, and he desperately needed some water. "Where is that damn river?" He grumbled as they trudged on. They were walking above where they had started, having climbed the cliffs after agreeing that it would be easier to fight someone up here rather than get stuck in the path below. Naruto had learned quickly that a slot canyon was a code word for earth-made-trap-path after seeing several teams ambushed by others, simply because there was nowhere else for them to go.
So from a tactical point of view, the top of the cliffs were smart. But from a heat point of view, they were too close to the sun and had yet to find any water or shade. But what Naruto hated the most was not the thirst or heat, but the fact that he seemed to be the only one affected by it. Sai and Sasuke were moving as if they couldn't even tell the difference from before. They didn't complain once, and they didn't show any signs of slowing down. In fact, the only sign that one of them even noticed the heat at all was the line of sweat down Sai's neck and the slight pink tinge on his cheeks. Sasuke, however, was completely unaffected. Apparently he was cool and comfortable. Naruto hated him.
As if sensing Naruto's thoughts, Sasuke stopped, causing the blond to run right into his back and fall over on his butt.
"Ouch. Teme…" He growled, but was silenced by a look. "What?"
Sasuke simply pointed. Sai and Naruto both looked. Oh he could stop without tripping over anyone. Damn perv.
Another team was sitting on the ground, surrounding a small pool of water at the base of singular tree. Naruto wanted nothing more than to submerge his entire body in it and drink until his stomach ached, but Sasuke's arm moved sideways to stop him before he even moved. It's like the bastard is reading my mind now. Dammit though, Naruto was thirsty.
"We take their key first, and then we are going to get some water," Sasuke whispered, crouching down. Sai lowered himself to their level and listened. "Naruto, do you remember the way we stole the balls from Kiba's team by the stream in the woods?" Naruto nodded. "Go."
Sai whipped out his scroll and drew three things swiftly. At once, two lions sprung out and slunk around behind what few bushes and rocks there were to surround the team. At the same time, Sai jumped on a large eagle and flew up into the sky. Immediately, Naruto made the hand signals and eleven clones appeared beside him. Damn, I am thirsty. I could only make eleven. The twelve Narutos scattered and ran toward the team. By now, the other ninjas noticed something was up, and as soon as they saw several figures in orange sprinting toward them, they began to run away.
They were stopped by two ink lions snarling in their way. In vain, the pursued ninjas tried turning to the west and ended up finding the edge of the cliff: a sheer drop leading to a swift death. They turned around, visibly shaking, but still managing to get into a fighting stance. The Narutos and the lions stopped running and approached slowly. The small, brown-haired, female ninja attacked first, throwing a shurinken at one of the Naruto's causing it to disappear in a puff of smoke. This attack gave the other two ninjas a boost of confidence, and they made their moves.
The taller, dark-haired boy quickly made a few hand symbols and suddenly a piece of ground jumped up and hit one of the Naruto's in chin, causing that one to disappear. The last one had clearly attached an exploding paper to a kunai and was about to throw it when he was grabbed from behind, a sword held to his neck.
"I wouldn't do that if I were you," Naruto grinned at the shorter boy, who appeared about to stab Sasuke in the leg with the explosive weapon.
Sai swooped down on his eagle, before jumping off and landing between the Narutos and the ambushed team. "The key if you please."
The three younger ninjas shot each other terrified glances before the girl tossed the key on the ground before Sai's foot. An ink mouse grabbed it and ran up Sai's shoulder before dropping it in his hand. He glanced down at it and then nodded once. The Narutos, Sasuke, and Sai all disappeared in an instant, leaving the three ninjas confused, alone, and key-less.
They managed to find a cave in the wall of a wider section of the canyon, hidden from view of the dry wash below them. Sitting inside the cave, Naruto was happily chugging down water Sasuke had taken from the pool just before joining Sai and Naruto in the fight. He separated from the canteen with an 'aahh' of contentment.
"So what key did we end up getting?" He addressed Sai.
"Water, ironically enough." Naruto laughed at that. Now that they were out of the sun and the heat, he was feeling surprisingly giddy.
"Yeah? What now then?"
"I think we should try to get the remaining three as fast as we can. It'll get progressively harder as we go, and as much as I'm sure we'd all like to test our strength against these teams, it's more important that we move on to the next level and pass the test than hang around here proving we're the best."
"You know, after how easy that other team was to beat, I think we could just split up and find keys on our own…" The blond was starting to feel as though this exam was a piece of cake in comparison to the one years earlier.
"Actually, I think this is a good place to keep as our 'homebase' if you will. One of us should stay and guard it along with the keys."
"But whoever gets stuck here is gonna be so bored, you know."
"Let's draw straws. I read about it in a book one time," the art-style ninja looked overly excited about that.
After searching about the cave for a few minutes, they managed to find three twigs of roughly the same size. They – meaning Naruto and Sai – argued a few moments about the unfairness of one of them – Sai – holding the twigs before Sasuke pointed out that Naruto could just make a clone to hold it for them, because he wouldn't know which was smaller until after the clone disappeared. Naruto grumbled at Sasuke's advice, but made a shadow clone anyway.
The second Naruto stood nervously between the three of them, the tension in the cave nearly palpable. It was clear that none of them wanted to be stuck on guard duty, and the glares the real Naruto was shooting both his teammates would've lit them on fire if he had that ability. In a flash, three hands reached out and snatched the twigs simultaneously.
"Aha!" Naruto shouted, holding his aloft. "Beat that, Sasuke!"
The Uchiha in question sneered and displayed his. "I think I did, dobe."
In disbelief, the blond grabbed the twig in Sasuke's hand and held it next to his, comparing. There was no doubt about it; his was shorter. Sai grinned and held his up as well.
"Looks like no matter the situation, your stick is always the smallest, Naruto-kun." His smile widened. "Even Sasuke-kun has a bigger stick than you do."
"Sai…" Naruto growled in warning.
Sasuke spoke up, sounding bored by the whole thing. "Let's just come up with a plan so we can go, shall we?"
Naruto glared at him, but Sai seemed to agree. "We should come up with a code word in case someone tries to disguise themselves as me or Sasuke."
"Well, I'll know if they're not the teme. All they have to do is say more than 2 words and it'll be obvious."
"We can make the code word dattebayo, since we know nobody but you will say that."
"Yeah and yours can be dick."
"Dobe," Sasuke interjected. "The point of a code word is that there's only one that everyone knows."
"Fine. I liked dattebayo anyways." He didn't feel much like arguing at the moment, too irritataed about having lost at drawing straws.
"Dattebayo it is. If we aren't back by dark –"
"You'll be back."
"But if we aren't –"
"Let's go," Sasuke interrupted. And the two of them left Naruto alone in the cave.
Sasuke growled angrily to himself. Where are all the damn teams? Were they eliminated already? Here they were, less than one day in, and already he was having difficulty finding people from whom to steal keys.
Granted, he had managed to find another team and single handedly take their earth key – Sasuke and Sai had taken two steps away from the cave before wordlessly deciding they wouldn't fight together if their lives depended upon it and split in two different directions – but apparently there were no others. Logically, the raven knew that couldn't be true, but right now he couldn't see how they were avoiding him so thoroughly.
He kicked a small pebble in irritation, where it clattered away from him making noises that echoed about the canyon walls. He knew he was being unnecessarily loud, but he figured if that caused some ninjas to try and ambush him, then he'd at least have a chance at finding another key. He couldn't stand the idea that Sai could show up back at the cave having found two, when Sasuke himself had yet only recovered one.
Sasuke knew he didn't have a real solid reason for hating the other ninja. Yeah, sure, he'd tried to kill him that one time. But other than that, there wasn't really anything that had caused such a sudden intense feeling of dislike. The only thing it could be was the closeness the art-style ninja had with Naruto.
Since being released from the dungeon he'd been kept in, Sasuke had been finally forced to confront emotions he'd kept hidden from himself for over three years. And he didn't like it. As much as he tried to tell himself that his feelings toward Naruto were purely brotherly, he couldn't help but notice that he didn't feel the same toward Itachi. He loved Itachi, respected Itachi – even though he hated him at one point – and even revered Itachi. He felt none of that toward Naruto, or at least not in the same way.
Time and time again, Sasuke would tell himself his feelings were different because Naruto was closer to his age, while Itachi was clearly an older brother. He almost started to believe it, until the unmistakable feelings of jealousy arose. And it was all Sai's fault. If stupid Sai weren't there mooning over the blond every second he could get, then Sasuke wouldn't have even noticed he was jealous and he could've gone on living happily – or, well, sort of happily. Instead, he felt a pang in his heart every time Naruto chose to address Sai over Sasuke or Sai called Naruto 'honey' or 'sweetheart'. He hated that. It made him feel weak. And he knew he wasn't weak. He just needed to get the damn happy blond ninja out of his head before he did something really stupid.
Sasuke kicked the rock again, but harder this time. The echo that came from it was deafening in the silence that had been there just a moment before. He glared at the ground. See? I'm distracted from this stupid exam because of it already.
At that moment, Sasuke heard a sound that caused a shiver to run down his spine: someone let out a blood curling scream. He crouched behind a nearby bush, waiting for whatever had cause that sound to come his way; it was close.
A moan of pain drifted toward him, and suddenly Sasuke felt his blood run cold. He knew that voice. He could recognize it anywhere. A few pebbles came rolling down the path, and Sasuke peeked his head over the bush. Every nerve in his body was screaming at him that this was a trap, but he had to know. He had to be wrong.
In a stroke of bad luck a person came into view. Ignoring all his thoughts telling him he should stay put, Sasuke jerked to his feet and stared. Naruto stumbled into view, throwing needles sticking out of him from every angle. He was bleeding profusely, and it appeared as though he had a bad limp.
Stupidly, the raven stepped out from the bush and took a couple of shaky steps toward the blond. He opened his mouth to say something but nothing came out. Naruto stumbled closer to Sasuke before looking up at him.
"S..Sas..uke," he said, before collapsing on the ground unconscious.
Foot Notes:
(1) A slot canyon is a narrow canyon formed by the wear of water rushing through rock. A slot canyon is significantly deeper than it is wide. (wikipedia)
(2) Landscape based on Canyonlands National Park near Moab, Utah. My main inspiration for the scenery comes from the Needles District, however there are some aspects of the Island in the Sky District as well. I highly recommend you google the park or check it out in person if you can; it's absolutely gorgeous.
AN: Hey there! Hope you don't hate me for that cliffhanger... In my defense, though, I was going to continue on to my favorite scene from the second exam, but I didn't want to have a chapter that was significantly longer than the rest so...
Anyways, as I said at the beginning, this chapter is currently up as a trial and will only remain as such based on YOUR reviews! Never left a review before? Not sure what to say to me? Here is a list of questions to get you started:
1. Did you like the chapter? 2. What about it did you like/dislike? 3. Did you feel as though the characters were OOC or IC? Why? 4. Did this chapter have the same tone as the rest of the fic so far? 5. Are there any grammar/spelling/canon errors that bother you?
Hope that helps. Drop a review and make my day! :)
