I do not own Naruto or the elements I take from Rave Master
A/N: In the last chapter, I put the name of the song that Hinata sang at the bottom of the story as well as who did it, but since some missed it based on the reviews which is understandable since I should have had it at the top of the chapter, I'll say it again here. The name of the song is "Yours to Hold" and it's by "skillet". If you wish to listen to it, go on to Youtube and check it out (you may even find some NaruHina music vids with the song playing if you look around).
Also, The reason I had Naruto obtain Blue Crimson during the Haku fight was because it made the most sense seeing as Haku could attack from multiple spots at once so having two swords makes it easier to attack and defend from attacks coming from more than one spot at a time. Naruto will also be gaining a new sword during the "Chunin Exam arc", the "Tsunade arc", the Sasuke Retrieval arc", the "Northern Realm arc", the "Pain arc", and the "Darkness Within arc". Take a guess as to which sword you think Naruto will get during each of those as well as when you think he'll get it. The final sword won't happen till near the end of the series.
Sorry for the delay. I suffered a worked related injury last week that left me unable to use my left hand for a few days (not to mention stitches and a scar). And it's hard to type when you have only one usable hand. Luckily, I can now use it again.
And sorry if this chapter seems a little "bleh" when compared to the last chapter's I've done, but even the best stories need to have the occasional less than stellar chapter. It's what makes the really good chapters coming up even more better.
The ending theme in this chapter is called "Higher and Higher" with lyrics by Kumoko
Rave Master Naruto
Rave 12: Warrior's of the Desert
"Puun. puun" said Plue as he tried to wake Naruto up. But as usual, Naruto was dead to the world as his snoring kept him from hearing the sound's the little carrot nosed dog was making to wake him up. Plue finally pulled away and sighed. He knew that there was only one thing left to do.
Hopping off of the bed, Plue walked over and grabbed his boom box as well as a pare of head phones Tenten had gotten for him. Plue hopped back onto the bed with his stuff, plugged the head phones into the boom box and then placed the phones on Naruto. Plue then turned the volume up to max and then turned on the radio.
"I WANT IT THAT WAY" came exploding from the head phones into Naruto's ears. His reaction was immediate.
His eyes bulge open as he shrieks as loudly as anybody ever possibly could as he went flying into the air from the shock, only to come back down hard onto the floor. Plue quickly turned off the radio and ran to the bed edge and looked over to see Naruto writhing in agony on the floor below.
After a few moments and a small trickle of blood coming out of Naruto's ears, his eyes fell onto Plue and immediately sat up and lunged for the little guy. "PLUE, YOU ARE SO DEAD" shouts Naruto as he begins to chase Plue all over the room. Plue manages to stay away from Naruto for a few moments until he finds himself being backed into a corner.
Plue looks up and shakes a little when he sees Naruto glaring down at him, an evil look forming in his eyes and what appears to be foam forming in his mouth as he says "Plue, what have I said about those wake up calls in the past?" Plue simply shrugs which makes Naruto even more insanely angry.
"I told you to NOT do them again. Having to wake up to Jackal Mackson first thing in the morning is bad enough, But having to be woken up from my sleep by Sync' N is totally unforgivable. Now, you are so..." Naruto goes to move towards Plue at that moment, but he trips and falls face first....right into Plue's nose/horn.
Naruto and Plue blink as they try to figure out what just happened until Naruto feels something sliding down his face. He reaches a finger over it and looks to see a small trickle of blood on his fingers. Adding to the fact Plue is still in front of him unmoving, Naruto puts two and two together and realizes that his forehead was impaled onto Plue.
"AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH" screams Naruto as the pain suddenly hits him.
(downstairs)
"Here you go Tenten. And here's yours Haku" says Hinata as she places every bodies breakfast down on the table before them. "Alright, it's chow time" shouts Tenten as she begins to eat her meal quickly. Hinata frowns and says "Tenten, where are your manners?" Tenten looks up and says "Oh right, my bad. Thanks for making this, Hinata." She then goes back to eating.
"No, I didn't mean that" said Hinata with a sigh. Tenten looks at her again and says "OK, then what did you...oh, I know. I haven't said grace yet, huh?" Hinata sighs as Haku says "I think what Hinata means is that we should wait for Naruto to come down and join us." Hinata nods at hearing that.
"Oh yeah, I noticed something was missing and that it seemed to quiet in here. It's Naruto and he's missing. Ah, who cares. If he can't get his lazy butt up in time, I say let his food get cold. After all why should we have to wait on him when he should try and take us into consideration for once." After saying that, Tenten goes right back to eating.
"I guess you have a point there. Very well, then I shall eat as well" said Haku as he too also started eating his breakfast. Hinata puts hers and Naruto's meals on the table and says "I'm going to go check on him. Maybe he just slept in." As Hinata goes towards the stairs, Tenten says "Just remember Hinata, take a deep breath before you get to work if you know what I mean?"
Hinata freezes as her whole body goes red from embarrassment. She turns around and cries out "Tenten, how can you say that? I...I couldn't do that to Naruto. Not with out his OK first" she says the last part softly enough so only she can hear it. Tenten winks at her and says in a sly voice "Sure, just try and keep it down up there will you. We don't want to get the neighbors complaining now, would we?"
Just then, they hear Naruto yell at the top of his lungs followed by a thud sound on the ceiling. "Never mind Hinata, it looks like Plue already woke him up" says Tenten who sighs at thinking what could have been. "I wonder if Plue took a deep breath before waking Naruto" said Haku to the two girls.
Immediately, Hinata's face becomes even redder from hearing that while Tenten spits her drink she was just having off to the side before she begins to laugh uncontrollably from Haku saying that. "Oh my god, that was beautiful Haku. Just perfect. I wish I had thought of that one." Just then, they hear another thud followed moments later by Naruto screaming in pain.
"Oh no, something has happened to Naruto" says a worried Hinata as she turns and runs to and up the stairs. Haku and Tenten follow her up to Naruto's bedroom door. Just as Hinata is about to open it, it opens itself as Naruto emerges with Plue hanging from Naruto's forehead by a nose/horn.
"Naruto, Plue, what happened to you both" says Hinata as she reaches up and pulls Plue free from Naruto's forehead. "Just a bad wake up call followed by tripping over myself. Nothing big...SPLAT" Naruto's eyes roll into the back of his head as he tumbles down the stairs with blood squirting out of the hole in his head.
"Oh no, Naruto" cries Hinata as she runs to catch him "Puun, pu-puun" says Plue as he follows. Haku smiles and says "Does this happen often around here?" Tenten sighs as she shakes her head and says "More often than I would like to admit. But at least they make it interesting here if nothing else." Haku nods in agreement as they follow Naruto, Hinata, and Plue downstairs.
(ten minutes later)
"Ow, my head is gonna be sore all day now" complains Naruto as Hinata finishes putting a large band aid on his forehead. Tenten laughs and says "Serves you right, ya idiot. Chasing after Plue like that must have frightened him. You should be thanking Plue for not giving you a lobotomy for trying to hurt him."
"Ah hush, who asked you anyways?" says Naruto in a huff. Hinata smiles and says "Are you OK, Naruto?" Naruto looks at her and smiles back while saying "Yeah, thanks to you. Your really good at helping people, Hinata. Have you ever thought about a career as a doctor?" Hinata blushes and says "No, but do you think I would make a good doctor?"
Naruto nods and says "Definitely, Hinata. I bet those hands of yours can work miracles." Tenten snorts as she says "Maybe on you, Naruto. Or rather, certain parts of you." Naruto gives her a confused look while Hinata goes red from embarrassment again which makes Tenten laugh hard.
"Hey Hinata, Haku, what's so funny here anyways?" asked Naruto. Hinata doesn't answer as her mind is elsewhere. Haku sighs and says "You'll understand when your older, Naruto." Tenten finally calms down and says "Oh god, I love living here. I can never have trouble finding new things to laugh about. OK, time to get serious here guys."
Hinata takes her seat as they all look at Tenten. "OK, since we got back home yesterday and Haku got permission to come live with us, we've all been here helping Haku get settled in. I think that after breakfast, we should take Haku around and show him the whole village. Seeing as her will be living here for the foreseeable future, it would do him good."
Naruto nods and then says "Good idea. Besides, we've been gone nearly a month so we should find out if anything happened while we were away." Haku bows before them and says "Thank you, I'm glad I met and became friends with you all." Hinata looks at him and says "Same goes for us. Now we better start eating before our food gets cold." And so the four of them ate their meal, then they set out to explore the village.
RMN
The four youths walk around the village as Haku is given the full view of everything. Naruto's eyes suddenly spy something that makes his mouth water. He grins as he says "Hey Haku, follow me. I'm gonna show you the most amazing place in the whole village." Haku nods and says "OK Naruto, lead the way."
"Naruto, we just had breakfast. Can you at least wait till lunch before having a ramen snack?" shouts Tenten as Naruto and Haku walk towards the ramen stand. Well, Haku walks while Naruto runs as fast as he can. Hinata sighs, then looks at Plue and says "I guess Naruto will always be Naruto, huh?" Plue nods as they go to follow.
Naruto dashes inside and says "Hey old man, give me fifteen bowls of Miso Pork Ramen and don't hold back on anything." Teuchi pops his head into view and says "Naruto, your back. Boy, we sure missed you kid. Business has been dead with out you around." Haku walks up and says "So, what is this place?"
Naruto turns around in his chair and spreads his arms wide as he proclaims proudly "This here is the greatest place ever to be created on this earth. You now stand with in the hollowed halls of Ichiraku Ramen, best ramen stand there is." Haku nods before taking a seat. "Considering how you talk about it, this place must be very good."
Tenten. Hinata, and Plue enter and Tenten says "Yeah sure, Naruto tends to get carried away when it comes to Ramen. Though the food here is good, they way Naruto talks, you'd think ramen is the food of the gods." Naruto looks back and says "Oh, but it is. Those three years old man Hokage made me take a ramen free diet made me feel like I was committing the ultimate sin."
"Ramens ready, here ya go Naruto" says Ayame as she walks up with a large tray filled with the bowls. Naruto grabs his chop sticks and smiles happily before going crazy with consuming the ramen. Haku's eyes go wide as he sees Naruto devour the food as he says "Impressive, Naruto is serious about his love for this stuff."
Ayame giggles as she says "I know, it can be really scary to watch him eat sometimes. In fact, I bet there isn't anybody around who could beat him at Ramen eating. By the way, I'm Ayame. My father owns the shop. Who are you? I don't think I've seen you around here before."
"I'm Haku and I recently came to this village and Naruto and his friends have been nice enough to let me live with them" said Haku as he reached out and shook Ayame's hand. "And just so you know, Haku's a guy, despite how he looks and dresses" said Tenten. "Oh, I already guessed that. Actually, I think Haku's really cute. Do you have a girlfriend, Haku?" asked Ayame.
Haku shakes his head and says "No, I've been to busy traveling to take a chance on love. But seeing as I'll be staying in this village for a while, maybe I might try dating if I find some one who's interested." Ayame blushes and says "Good, that's good to hear. If you ever need help with anything, just let me know....OK."
Teuchi steps out and says "What's this? Is my little girl got herself a crush? Well, it's about time. I was wondering if I would be seeing any grand kids in my life time." Ayame blushes as she says "Father, please. Your embarrassing me." Haku, wanting to help out says "Actually, once I know my way around the village, would you want to go out with me so we can get to know each other better?"
Ayame nods as he blush increases. "Yes, I would like that very much. Thank you, Haku." Hinata smiles and says "Well, things seem to be going well for you, Haku." Meanwhile, Naruto finishes off his last bowl and is about to ask for more when Tenten grabs him by the back of his shirt and drags him out. "Sorry, but we have more showing the village to Haku left to do."
"Wait Tenten, I still have some room left for ramen. Let me have another few minutes...please" begs Naruto as she drags him away. "Hell no, Naruto. You've already had enough and I'm not going to get in trouble with the Hokage for not keeping you in check with the ramen meals." Naruto struggles to get away, but Tenten's hold remains unbreakable as they disappear from sight. "But my ramen, my precious ramen" Naruto cries out with tears in his eyes as Tenten drags Naruto away.
"Hey, wait for me" yells Hinata as she rushes out with Plue right behind her. Haku gets up and bows to Teuchi and Ayame as he says "It was nice to meet both of you. Once things have settled down, I will be back to take you up on your offer, miss Ayame." Haku leaves as Ayame, with stars in her eyes" says "I'll be here waiting for you."
Teuchi sighs as he shakes his head and thinks to himself 'Kids today grow up so fast. It's both funny and sad at the same time.'
(Kage tower)
"Asuma, what's going on?" asked Kurenai as she caught up with her boyfriend. Asuma turns around and surprises her with a sudden and very sensual kiss to the lips which makes Kurenai moan before she can even stop herself. He pressed her against the side of the wall in the empty hallway as they both show each other how much they missed and loved each other.
When the kiss finally ends, Kurenai has to grab onto Asuma as her knees have suddenly lost all strength and she finds herself falling. Asuma wraps his arms around her and holds her close to him as he says "I've missed you this last month. You have no idea how hard it's been for me."
Kurenao nuzzles his chest with her cheek and says "I know. I felt like I would go mad with out you there to hold me. Maybe later, we can go back to your place and...catch up for the month we missed out on." Asuma kisses the top of her head and says "It's a promise. We'll do it later today. Now, what were you asking me about?"
Kurenai blinks in confusion for a moment before she remembers and says "That's right, I almost forgot. Why have we been summoned here? Do you know anything about it?" Asuma shrugs and says "Beats me. Dad'd messenger didn't say anything other than for all Jonin with squads come here and meet with him. Although, I have a good idea on what this is about."
"Are you thinking..." starts Kurenai as an idea pops into her head. Asuma nods as he says "It's the only reason why he would want all team training Jonin present. Come on, lets go so we won't make everybody wait." As they go to move, Kurenai chuckles as she says "No, it'll be Kakashi who does that for us." Asuma nods as he laughs at that himself.
They arrive in the Hokage's office a few moments later to see several others already waiting for them. And not surprisingly, Kakashi was not present. "Lord Hokage, now that Asuma and Kurenai are here, maybe we should get started" said Guy as gave a nod to the new arrivals.
Sarutobi took a long deep puff on his pipe as he said "We'll wait till Kakashi arrives, then we shall talk. That way, I won't have to repeat myself to him later." "But why, lord Hokage? Isn't Kakashi only training Sasuke? If this meeting is about what I think it's about, then wouldn't Kakashi not be needed here?" asked Kurenai.
Sarutobi remains quiet for a moment, then says "That may be true, but this is something that does effect everyone here. Regardless of what you personally choose, we will wait till every one can have a say in the matter." Everybody nods as they find a place to sit and await the arrival of the Copy Nin.
(back with Team Rave)
"Man Tenten, how can you be so cold. Separating me from my ramen should be made a serious crime" whines Naruto as he walks down the street, his arms folded across his chest and he huffs in anger. Tenten is getting mad herself as she yells out "Oh, you can be such a baby sometimes, Naruto. You need to grow up a little or else you'll never get a girlfriend."
"Now now Tenten, Naruto is just being himself.....I'm sure of it. And besides, Don't they say that the quickest way to a man's heart is through his stomach? All a girl would need to do to get Naruto's attention and undying love would be to make him the best ramen he's ever had in his entire life" says Haku.
Hinata's eyes widen as she thinks 'Is that true? Does that really work? I mean, I've heard of that....but I thought it was just a joke. Maybe I should ask Ayame for ramen cooking tips.' Tenten notices Hinata's expression and realizes what she must be thinking about. She walks over close and whispers out so only Hinata can hear her. "Or, you could strip naked and cover yourself in ramen and let Naruto do the rest."
"EEP" squeaks Hinata as an image of that appears in her mind. Naruto and Haku turn around as Naruto ask "Hey, what was that? Is something wrong with Hinata?" Tenten fakes a confused look as she says "I don't know. Maybe she saw a mouse or something." Haku nods and says "Yeah, that must have been it" though he knows better. "Puun" says Plue suddenly as he points towards a fence.
"Huh? What is it Plue?" asked Naruto as he approaches the fence. At that moment, he hears a sound followed immediately by three figures jumping over the fence and landing right on top of him, making a loud thud sound. Hinata snaps back to reality and rushes towards Naruto while saying "Naruto, are you alright?"
"Ow, what the hell landed on top of me?" asked Naruto as he feels the weight moving off. "Hey boss, is that you?" comes a familiar voice. Naruto gets up while rubbing his back and says "Huh? Who's that? OH, hey Konohamoru.....what's the big idea jumping on me like that for?"
Konohamour grins mischievously and says "Sorry boss, but I didn't know you were over here. You OK?" Naruto just groans and says "Yeah, I'm just peachy. Now, if you excuse me, I'm off to see a chiropractor about my back." Konohamoru shakes his head, then looks down and sees Plue. "Hey Plue, how have you been?" Plue raises a paw and says "Puun, pu-puun."
Konohamoru nods and says "Uh-huh, uh-huh, OK....I see. Well that's good to know." Naruto gets an annoyed look on his face and says "Don't pretend like you actually understood any of that. Now, why are you jumping over fences for and who are these two with you?" Immediately, the other boy lowers his gaze from Naruto while the girl seems to keep her eyes on him.
"I can to understand him. Just because your to dumb to understand doesn't mean anyone else can't, Naruto" says Konohamoru. "Why you little..." starts Naruto as he goes to choke the younger kid, but Haku stops him. "Oh, these are my two best friends in the whole world. This here is Udon and this is Moegi."
Naruto calms down and says "Udon and Moegi huh? Well, it's nice to meet you both." Udon simply nods and says "Umm...it's nice to meet you too, Mr. Naruto." Moegi steps forward and extends her hand while saying "Konohamoru has told us a lot about you, Naruto. I've been wanting to meet you for a while now." Naruto is confused by that, but reaches out and shakes Moegi's hand.
Her eyes immediately light up as she pulls away and cradles her hand with the other while saying "Oh wow, he actually touched it. I think I'm in love." Both Naruto and Konohamoru become wide eyed with shock as they both go "HUH...WHA?" Haku laughs while Tenten says "Oh boy, this is bad for you Hinata. Looks like you might have a new rival for his heart now."
"I'm not worried. She's to young for Naruto anyways" says Hinata. Tenten raises an eye brow and says "I don't no. Naruto could be one of those Lolita lovers or he could just be into younger girls. After all, you can never be to sure when it comes to a guy." Hearing that suddenly makes Hinata nervous as she tries to reassure herself that Naruto wouldn't want to date Moegi.
"Hey Naruto, who are they? Your teammates by any chance?" asked Konohamoru. "Huh, oh yeah. You haven't met them yet. This here is Hinata and Tenten, my teammates from Team Seven. And this here is Haku, formerly of the Land of Water who's staying with us at present. Now, are you gonna tell me why you three were running or not?"
RMN
"Temari, do you have any idea where he could have gone?" asked Kankuro as he looked around frantically. Temari finished looking down the alleyway she was standing by and said "No, he isn't over here. This is bad, very bad. You know how Gaara can be when ever setting sets him off. We need to find him quickly before something bad happens."
Kankuro nodded as they began to move quickly over to the next street. "Yeah, we're not just here for any random reason. We're here to complete the biggest mission we've ever been given and the last thing we need is for Gaara's little mood swings to go and screw it all up." Temari nodded in agreement and said "Plus, dad will kill us if we fail this one. After all, the future of the Sand Village is counting on our success here."
With that, the two siblings continued their frantic search for their wayward younger brother.
(Naruto and the other's)
"We're on the run from this scary guy" said Konohamoru while Udon and Moegu nodded. "Running from who?" asked Hinata as she walked up next to Naruto. "Umm....well, we were on are way to see Ibisu-sensei who was going to be giving all three of us special lesson's today when we...." started Udon.
"We ran into this pale skinned guy with these dark rings around his eyes and this tatoo over his left. He was very scary looking" said Moegi as she shook from the memory. "So, why would you guys be running from him for?" asked Tenten. "Well, when Moegi said we ran into him, she meant it. We really ran into him as we rounded a corner hard" said Konohamoru.
"Did you apologize for running into him" asked Naruto who was thinking that they ran before doing so. All three nod quickly as Moegi says "We did, but he didn't seem to care. He had this strange look in his eyes. It was like he was fighting some sort of internal battle over something. I could tell from the strained look on his face."
Udon continues as he says "He said something about needed to feel alive after he looked at us. He then started rambling about blood and monster's and other such things. When Konohamoru tried to ask if he was alright, he..." "He suddenly attacked us with this weird jutsu we had never seen before. He could control sand that was coming from this gourd strapped on his back. Being smart, we ran for it and have been looking for Ebisu-sensei when we ran...er...fell onto you, Naruto" said Konohamoru.
Naruto thinks for a second, then says "OK, I understand. We'll stick with you guys till we find that closet perv and tell him what's going on. And if we run into this sand man along they way, then I'll set him straight for you." The three of them smile as Konohamoru says "You will? Thanks boss, we owe ya one."
Udon sighs in relief and says "It's nice to have some one to help and protect us, right Moegi?" He looks over and sees Moegi looking at Naruto with stars in her eyes as she says "Wow, he's so cool. I hope I have a boyfriend like that one day." Haku looks up and says "Hey, by any chance did this guy have red hair to go along with his gourd and black rings around his eyes?"
Konohamoru looks over and says "Yeah, now that I think about it, he did. Why do you ask anyways, Haku?" Haku points into the nearby tree and says "Because he's here now looking at us. At least I'm sure that's him from your description of him." Everyone looks up and sees the very person Haku was pointing to looking down at them with a serious look on his face.
"AAAAHHHH, IT'S HIM" the three seven year old's shout out at the same time as they quickly jump behind Naruto before peeking back around to look. "I've found you" is all the person said. "Why won't you leave us alone" says Udon quietly. "Yeah, we apologized for running into you. What more do you want?" adds Moegi.
"Blood, I want your blood. Make me feel alive" says the person in a emotionless voice as he jumps to the ground. "Naruto, please save us" ask Konohamoru as sand begins to form around the person after them. "OK, that's enough. I think you've had your fun, now leave them alone and go away or else I will put you in your place" says Naruto as he reaches up to grasp Eisen Meteor's handle.
"Are you strong?" asked the person suddenly. Naruto cocks his head to the side in confusion before saying "yeah, I'm strong/ So what's it to you?" The sand begins to move wildly as the person says "Then maybe you can make me feel alive." At that moment, the sand blast forward right at Naruto and the kids. Naruto pulls Eisen Meteor out before him while he yells "Get back guys. Hinata, you and Haku protect them while I handle this lunatic."
Konohamoru, Moegi, and Udon rush back to Hinata as she says "OK, becareful Naruto." As soon as they are by Hinata, Haku creates an ice shield around them to protect them. "Naruto, what about me?" asked Tenten as she morphs her Silver into a battle staff. Naruto looks back at her and says "Just stand there and watch. I can do this myself."
A vein pops out on Tenten's face as she yells "What? You want me to just stand back and watch you? Why don't you just stand back and let ME show you how to deal with this guy." The sand comes at Naruto as he swings Eisne Meteor down hard which causes the sand to split. "Hah, I showed you huh?"
"Guess again" says the attacker as he raises his hand and the sand immediately shoots around Naruto and engulfs him. "Wha...?" says Naruto before he's consumed by the sand. "Naruto? Told you that I should let me handle this" shouts Tenten as she charges in at the sand man with the intent to strike his head.
"I got you" she shouts as she swings around, but he ducks out of the way and back steps a few feet. Tenten tries to stay on him while shouting out battle cries. "Enough, you don't have the skill to hurt me" he says suddenly before a hand made from sand appears and grabs Tenten's weapon in mid swing, stopping her attack.
"Hey' let go" shouts Tenten as she struggles to free herself. Instead more sand appears and wraps around her. "Wha...what are you doing?" she yells as all but her face is covered by the sand. "And now, Sand Burial" shouts the attacker as he goes to squeeze his hands. WOOSH is suddenly heard which catch's the attacker's attention and saving Tenten.
The sand around Naruto suddenly becomes glass followed by it freezing up and shattering. Naruto appears with Blue Crimson and says "Sorry, took me a moment to break free. Now, where were we?" Naruto rushes forward and hits more sand coming at him with fire and ice attacks. He then jumps into the air and yells out "Explosion" as he swings down at the attacker.
A sand shield forms, taking the full extent of the blast as Naruto lands and fires off a Explodia Disc that frees Tenten. "Took you long enough, idiot" shouts Tenten as she goes to stand beside him. "Maybe, but didn't you tell me that you were going to show me how this is done" retorts Naruto.
As they start to argue, they hear "Enough, now I will make you two help me feel alive." Just as another wave of sand comes up at them, they all hear "Gaara, stop right now." The sand attacks halts in mid strike as Gaara looks back and sees Kankuro and Temari standing a few feet behind him. "Why should I?" asked Gaara as he looked at them.
"Remeber why we're here, Baki-sensei won't be to happy if we screw things up" says Kankuro. "And don't forget, lord Kazekage gave him that scroll that can be used to supress your powers and induce great pain if you get out of control" adds Temari. Gaara looks back at Naruto and Tenten, then back at his team again.
Finally, the sand recedes back into the gourd as Gaara says "Fine, they aren't strong enough to satisfy my hunger anyways." Gaara turns to leave when they all hear "So, why are Sand nin doing walking around inside our village for anyways?" Everyone looks up and sees Sasuke standing on a tree branch looking down at them.
The ice dome melts away, releasing Hinata and the others as Haku says "Well, looks like that trouble over. So who's that guy?" while looking up at Sasuke. "He's Sasuke Uchiha, last of the Uchiha clan here in the village. He and Naruto have a sort of rivalry going on between them" said Hinata. "What do you mean by sort of?" asked Haku. "Naruto sees Sasuke as his rival, but Sasuke sees Naruto as dirt beneath his shoes much like everyone else. He's rather arrogant because of him being an Uchiha by birth" says Hinata.
"Who are you?" asked Kankuro. Sasuke looks down at the Sand nin with a smirk and says "Sasuke Uchiha, now why are you here in our village?" Temari looks at him and thinks 'He's cute, wonder what he can do.' She then says "Why don't you find your sensei's and ask them. They should be aware of the truth by now." And with that, the Sand nin walk off, though Gaara does look back and thinks 'Perhaps he will be the one to quench my thirst.
Sasuke jumps down from the tree and begins to walk off, but stops as Naruto yells out "Yeah, how long have you been here for anyways?" Sasuke looks back and says "Long enough to see you and the bun girl make yourselves look like fools. If it had been me, I would have taken him out in a few seconds.....loser's." And with that, Sasuke walks off.
"WHAT, COME BACK HERE AND SAY THAT TO MY FACE" shouts Naruto as he goes to run after Sasuke while Tenten yells "YEAH, WE'LL SHOW YOU WHO THE LOSER REALLY IS." However, Haku uses his ice to halt their movement. "I think we better find miss Kurenai and ask her about this" says Haku. Hinata nods and then looks at Konohamoru and the others and says "You three better go home before anything else happens today." The three seven year old's nod as they take off while Team Rave goes looking for Kurenai.
RMN
The door to the Hokage's office finally opens and Kakashi steps in with a fake apologetic look on his face. Seeing everyone look at him, he scratches the back of his head and says "Sorry about being late. I had to help a cat gets it's little girl out of a tree." Everyone looks at him with a dumb founded expression while thinking 'He can't be serious, right?"
Sarutobi takes a puff on his pipe, then says "Now that EVERYBODY is finally here, we can begin the meeting. As you all know, the time for the Chunin Exams has finally arrived and will be held here in the village starting in five days. Already, the team from the Hidden Sand village has arrived and we expect the other teams to be arriving over the next several days."
"Pardon me lord Hokage, but why has the Sand team already arrived?" asked Genma. "As you know, the Land of Wind has a rather large region of desert with in its border's. And since the Hidden Sand village is located with in the desert, their team has little experience in forest related battles. And since we use the Forest of Death training ground for the second stage of the Exams when they are held here, the Sand team wishes for a few extra days of practice in the forest outside the village."
"Also, I here they wanted to get the good rooms from the hotel as well while they could" added Sarutobi. "Makes sense. And I'm guessing you called us here for more than just telling us this" said Asuma who already knew were this was going. "Indeed, the real reason I asked you all here today is for one very important thing. If any of you wish to have your team enter the Exam, I would like to know now so we can make the appropriate arrangements for them."
Might Guy was the first to speak. "I was planning in letting my team enter, seeing as they have a years worth of experience behind them. However, our kunochi was injured on our last mission and will be out of action for the next two months. So my team will have to decline entry this time." "How about I lend you the use of Sasuke?" asked Kakashi suddenly.
Guy turns and says "Wait, what? But Kakashi, isn't Sasuke only got two and a half months behind him in training? Don't you think the Chunin Exams would be a little more than he could handle right now?" Kakashi shrugs and then says "His growth has been above my expectations of him. Is desire to surpass and defeat his brother has been a good motivator for him. I have no doubt he would make it all the way to the end. The only problem is that he is not on a team, so he wouldn't be able to enter with out being placed onto one."
Guy still isn't sure till Sarutobi speaks up. "Guy, how about this. Why don't you and Kakashi have your team and Sasuke do some training together and see if they could work well with each other. We'll go ahead and say yes to this and if your not satisfied with things on the day before the Exams begin, then come back and let me know and we'll drop your team from the listing's" says Sarutobi.
Guy sighs and says "Very well, lord Hokage. Kakashi, have Sasuke meet my team and me at the #9 training ground at nine in the morning. We'll see if he can help or hinder my team. Also, he better not be late like you so often are your I won't even give him a chance, got it?" Kakashi smiles and says "He'll be there. And what do you mean about me being late? I'm always on time, it's just that the rest of you are always early."
Everybody looks at him like he's crazy again. "Now, with that aside, what about the rest of you?" asked Sarutobi. Kurenai steps forward and says "I would like to recommend my squad, Team 7, for the Exam's lord Hokage" taking Guy and Kakashi by surprise. "But Kurenai, your team is just starting out as well. Are you sure..." starts Guy, but Kurenai cuts him off.
"It's true my team has only just started out, but we already have a good record behind us. For one thing, Tenten Musica is on our team and she was trained by you for her first year as a Genin unless you forgot, Guy?" Guy shook his head and said "No, I haven't forgotten. But isn't Naruto Uzumaki and Hinata Hyuga on your team as well?"
Kurenai lowers her eyes in a dangerous way and says "Yeah, what about it?" Guy raises his hands in defence and says "I meant nothing negative by those words. It's just that Naruto has a rather bad reputation about him when it comes to certain things even through he was given special training for three years. And Hinata is said to be an embarrassment to her clan and not a very competent ninja."
Kurenai sighs and says "People like to talk, but I know the truth having trained them. Did you know that my team just returned from a A-ranked mission just a few days ago?" Everyone looked at her in surprise which made Sarutobi chuckle in amusement. "It's true, what she says that is. If any of you wish to read the report on that mission, let me know and I will give you copies of what she wrote out for me" says Sarutobi.
"Believe me, I think that they are more than ready to face this challenge" says Kurenai confidently. Asuma steps in and says "I would like to nominate my team as well. I think this would be a good learning experience for them." A few other's speak up before Genma decides to add his team to the mix as well.
"I would also like to request my team for this challenge" he said. Sarutobi looks at him and says "Are you sure? Of all the teams to come out of the academy this year, yours has had the most difficulties and has come close to being sent back to the academy for further training. And I'm aware that your team has been difficult for you in teaching."
Genma nods and says "Yes sir. Shino has been a good student for me and I have learned a lot from him as he has learned from me. But Kiba and Sakura have been a challenge. They are like oil and water when it comes to working together. Furthermore, Sakura hardly trains as she is always going on about Sasuke which causes Kiba to lose focus as he yells at her about it and they start to fight. I'm hoping this might actually make them come together as a team at last."
Sarutobi nods and says "Very well, I shall leave it to you to inform you teams of this. Let them know that the Exams begin in five days and will be held in room 301 at the academy. They are to be there no later than nine in the morning, or they forfeit their place in the exams. Now, let me hand out these paper's for them to sign. I will need them back with in the next four days for them to officially qualify for entry."
(later)
Team 7 had returned home and was eating dinner when a knock came to the door. Hinata got up and answered it and came back a minute later with Kurenai. "Hey sensei, we've been looking for you all day, but couldn't find you. What's up?" asked Naruto. "yeah, we had a run in with these Genin from the Sand village. Why are they here?" asked Tenten.
"They came to the village for the Chunin Exam's. And that's why I'm here as well. I have gotten permission from the Hokage to let you three try you luck at becoming Chunin at this time if your interested" said Kurenai. "For real? We can become Chunin already?" asked a stunned Naruto. "Wow, wasn't expecting this to happen so soon?" adds Tenten.
"Umm, but are we really ready for this, Kurenai-sensei?" asked Hinata who was naturally worried. Kurenai nods and says "I think you three are. You all went beyond my expectations of this team back in Wave. And I think this challenge will be good for all of you. So, do you want to try it?"
The three teens look at each other and nod. "We'll do it and we'll make it all the way to the top, believe it" says Naruto. Kurenai smiles as she says "That's good to here. And it's a good thing you all agree, seeing as you must enter as a three man cell in order to compete. Haku, will you help them prepare for this?"
Haku nods and says "Yes, I would be honored to help them." "So, when does the Exam's begin anyway?" asked Tenten. "Five days so you three have four to get ready for it. Now, I better get going. I won't be able to help you train myself as I have thing's I must do. But I know you will do well. Good luck." And with that, Kurenai leaves to attend to "other" matter's.
"Hey guys, I just remembered I have something to do. Don't wait up for me since I'll be gone all night. But I'll see you guys in the morning. Oh, where should we train at?" says Tenten. "How about training ground #0. That way, we won't have to hold back with training" says Naruto. Tenten nods as she grabs the rest of her dinner and runs off.
Hinata looks at Naruto and says "Naruto, do you really think we can make it to the top now?" Naruto looks at her and smiles while saying "Of course we can, Hinata. After what we accomplished in Wave, there isn't anything we can't do." Hinata smiles and says "Yes, your right Naruto. All we have to do is believe and we will prevail."
(Tenten)
"Hey dad, you here" shouts out Tenten as she enter's her family home. Tenzen steps out from his workshop and says "Yeah, I'm home. So, how sis your mission go? I hear you had some big excitement happen to you." Tenten nods and says "We'll have time to talk about it later. Right now, I need you help with something."
Tenzen smiled and said "Got a special project your working on?" Tenten nods and says "Yeah, my team and I are entering the Chunin Exam and I thought of something that might help us out. But I'm going to need help making it if it's to be done on time." Tenzen heads into the workshop with Tenten right behind him. "Well, what is it you want me to help you with?"
"This" says Tenten as she pulls a piece of paper out from her pants pocket and unfolds it. Tenzen looks it over, then looks at her and says "Hey, isn't this...?" Tenten nods and says "Yeah, I made a few modifications to the design of it. But I think it might work under the circumstances. Can we do it?"
Tenzen nods and says "Well, this is something no one will see coming. OK, let's get to work. I'm sure we can have this done by morning if nothing goes wrong." As they begin to work, Tenten remembers something important. "Dad, has anyone found the Silver Ray yet?"
Tenzen shakes his head and says "A team found the merchant you sold it to, but he had already sold it to some one. Sarutobi said that he'll have his team keep a look out for the person who has it so all we can do for now is hope." Tenten goes back to work, but then stops again and asked "So, who did he sell it to anyways?"
"He said that the person was wearing a cloak and hood, so his apperance was hidden. But he gave his name as Asuki" said Tenzen. "Asuki? That can't be good" says Tenten. Tenzen looks at her and says "Why? Do you know him?" Tenten shakes her head and says "Haven't met him, but I do know that he has something to do with the return of the Dark Bring in this world."
Tenzen pales at hearing that and says "If that's true, then we must find Silver Ray as soon as possible. In the hands of someone who might know how to create Dark Bring, Silver Ray can be very dangerous. Especially if he can use it's power."
(ending song 1)
takaku takaku tobe tanomoshii miraie / Fly higher, and higher to the hopeful future
mabushii hikarinonami bokurawo mattereiu / The wave of a dazzling light is waiting for us
daichikette susume! / Kick off the land and advance!
kyoumo matowaritsukukage bokurawo komaraserukeredo / A shadow follows about and troubles us today, too
taisetsuna nanikawo itsuka dakishimerutame / To embrace something important someday-
sou, darenimo yuzurenai mamoritaimonodakara / I can't give up to anyone that I want to protect
takaku takaku tobe hateshinai miraie / Fly higher, and higher into the endless future
mabayui hikarinonami bokurawo yondeiru / The wave of glaring light is calling to us
hiroi hiroi sorani ryoutewo kakagete / To the wide sky with open arms
yuuki terashinagara massuguni maeeto / To advance forward with a reflection of courage
takaku takaku tobe hateshinai miraie / Fly higher, and higher into the endless future
mabayui hikarinonami bokurawo yondeiru / The wave of glaring light is calling to us
hiroi hiroi sorani ryoutewo kakagete / To the wide sky with open arms
yuuki terashinagara massuguni maeeto / To advance forward with a reflection of courage
daichi kette susume! / Kick off the land and advance!
RMN
next time on Rave Master Naruto: With only four days to train for the Chunin Exam, Naruto and the others must do as much as they can in order to get ready for the coming trials. But what is the secret project Tenten is working on and how will it effect the team's chances at victory?
find out next time on RMN: The Gentle Shot
also, a new chapter of Rave +12
