Hello! This chapter includes:
A Shadow in Darkness: Danger Approaches Sasuke!
Ebisu Returns: Naruto's Toughest Training Yet!
Long Time No See: Jiraiya Returns!
"Kakashi-sensei?"
"Hm?" He looked down at me. "What is it, Tessa?"
"How is Sasuke?" I asked, furrowing my eyebrows. Kakashi sighed, looking away and putting his hand on his forehead, covered by his headband.
"He's okay. I'm going to go check on him after this. Would you like to come with me?" He asked. I bit my lip and thought.
"Maybe, yeah. Naruto will probably want to stop by, so I'll just go with him." He nodded, turning his head.
"I'm actually gonna head out now. I'll talk with you after you're done." I saw his mask move, probably in a reassuring smile.
"In a calm, orderly fashion, all of you are going to take one slip of paper from the box that Anko is holding." I glanced at the proctor of the second task.
"Everyone just stay where they are, I'll come to you." She stepped forward, Dosu being the first one to reach into the box and take a slip. Slowly she went down the line, me picking a paper after Naruto. When I opened it, I raised an eyebrow, seeing the number 10 written on it.
"Good, now everyone has one. Going from left to right, tell me the number that's written on your slip of paper."
"I've got 9." Dosu spoke first.
"Number 1 of course." Naruto answered, making me smirk at him.
"10." I crossed my arms.
"7." Temari answered.
"5." From Kankuro
"3." Garra.
"8." Shikamaru responded lazily.
"2." Neji.
"6." Shino.
"And that means Sasuke will be number 4." Ibiki said, scribbling on the clipboard. I moved some red hair out of my face, waiting impatiently for whatever was next.
"Right." The Hokage replied. "Very good, now I'm going to tell you about how the final selection tournament is going to work."
"Haaaaa?!" Whatever the sound was, came from Naruto. Tournament? We all have to fight down to one person?
"Is that what the numbers are for, drawing lots?" Shikamaru asked.
"Ibiki, you may reveal which ninja have been paired up." The Hokage gave permission.
"Yes sir." Ibiki turned the clipboard towards us, all of us looking in anticipation. I let out a tsk in annoyance. I have to go against this Dosu guy. I sent a glare his way, and he, mine.
The first match was Naruto vs. Neji. Next, Gaara vs. Sasuke. Then Kankuro vs. Shino, Temari vs. Shikamaru, then Dosu vs. me.
I'm seriously last though? I'll be waiting forever to take Dosu out. Well, at least I could get some revenge on him for The Forest of Death, but even then, I don't have any other stops I could pull out against him in the match. He's already seen what I can do, and I'm sure as hell not showing what I did in this Tournament. I gripped my right hand subconsciously, biting my lip. No, I gotta figure something else out against him.
"May I ask you a question?" Shikamaru suddenly spoke, his hand raised.
"You may." The Hokage nodded. Shikamaru put his hand down and held up one finger.
"Alright, if this is a tournament, does that mean there's only going to be one winner? I mean, only one of us is going to be able to become a Chunin then?" Well, that's actually a good question.
"Actually, its quite the contrary. There are going to be several judges for the final round, including myself, the Shinobi leaders, and the Kazekage, the lords from the various countries that will be ultimately assigning your missions to you. Through this tournament, these judges will be able to make a thorough evaluation of your abilities. They will then decide whether any or all of you possess the qualities required of a Chunin. Even if someone loses the first round, they could still become a Chunin."
"So, there's actually a chance that every one of us who competes in the final selection could become Chunin." I put my hand on my chin, thinking hard. Man, Lee almost made it. He could have almost become a Chunin. I closed my eyes, trying not to remember Lee's screams in pain, but instead focused on the upcoming fight. Dosu fights with sound, so I have to be careful with literally every move he makes. God, this is gonna be difficult. Every single move he makes, he could take me out with just some vibrations. I groaned, putting my hand against my head. Quoting Shikamaru;
"Ugh, what a drag."
"No visitors?! Ah, come on, lady!" Naruto shouted, aggravating me.
"Naruto, this is a hospital, keep it down." Kakashi spoke sternly, coming around the corner.
"Huh? Oh, Kakashi-sensei!" I punched Naruto in the arm, making him yell in pain. "Ow, what the heck was that for?!" I put my right hand over Naruto's mouth, my other one gripping his collar.
"He literally just said this was a hospital, so shut the hell up Naruto!" I spoke quietly through gritted teeth. Naruto's eyes looked down at my right hand on his mouth, and then gently pulled it away.
"What's that on your hand?" Naruto squinted, noticing the black burns on my right fingertips. I yanked my hand out of his grip irritably, but also with some fear, putting it in my shorts pocket.
"None of your business." I growled, looking away. Naruto looked at me a little concerned, but I ignored him, walking up to Kakashi. "How is he?" My voice grew softer. Kakashi nodded.
"He's fine. He'll be up in no time." Naruto seemed to forget our whole interaction which I was grateful for, as he walked up to Kakashi excitedly.
"Oh boy am I glad to see you! I gotta ask you a favor!"
"Stop right there, I already know what you're going to ask." Kakashi replied boredly. "I've been looking for someone who can oversee your training for the final rounds. For both of you." I huffed, crossing my arms and tapping my right fingers against my left arm.
"That's not fair, we both know you're just gonna train Sasuke cause he's your favorite." I pointed out in annoyance. I also stabbed Kakashi in the chest with my finger as I said this.
Kakashi's one eye opened wider, and then his eyebrow furrowed at me. I think he was going to object, but I felt angry. "Don't even bother denying it." It bothered me for some reason, that he wasn't going to help Naruto or I, but I wasn't going to admit that.
"Tessa-" Kakashi started.
"Whatever. I'm going to see Lee." I snapped, stalking down the hallway. Neither of them followed. I crossed my arms as I heard Naruto down the hallway, shouting at Kakashi in objection. Of course Kakashi would choose to train Sasuke. Why wouldn't he? I bitterly mumbled under my breath as I rubbed my arms, feeling weird being in a hospital. I also realized I had no idea where I was going. I sighed, dropping my arms to my side, pushing away my anger, and stopped at a nurse walking by. "Excuse me?" I asked softly. She gave me a soft smile, stopping.
"Yes, how can I help you?" She put the clipboard she was holding against her chest.
"I'm looking for Rock Lee?" I raised an eyebrow, putting my hand on my hip. She pulled her clipboard away from her and looked at it, raising a few pages.
"Hm..Rock Lee...let's see.." She scanned the list. "Hm, well, unfortunately it looks like he's not seeing any visitors yet." She answered, giving me a sorry look. I sighed and nodded.
"That's okay. Thank you." I gave her a grateful smile. She nodded, continuing her way down the hallway.
"Hey, Tessa!" Naruto's voice shouted at me down the street. I huffed, feeling an anime vein pop out of my forehead. I really didn't wanna do this right now. Before I could even react, Naruto caught up to me, stopping in front of me. "Hey, didn't you hear me calling you?" He raised an eyebrow.
"Yup. I was ignoring you." I sidestepped around Naruto, continuing to my house. I heard Naruto groan and follow me.
"Look, Kakashi-Sensei got us closet pervert to train us for the Chunin Exam." I stopped in my tracks, deadpanning.
"I'm sorry-who?" I asked, raising my eyebrow. Naruto looked away, annoyed.
"Closet pervert." He repeated, as if that was going to clear up what he just said. I crossed my arms, narrowing my eyes at him.
"That could literally be anybody. Even Kakashi. Have you seen the books he reads?" I flipped some hair over my shoulder offhandedly. Naruto looked at me with surprise, but I continued. "Who the hell is closet pervert?" I asked, putting my left hand on my hip. "And why is he a closet pervert?" I'm probably gonna regret asking him that.
"I performed my Sexy Jutsu in front of him, and he completely fell to pieces!" I deadpanned again, putting my hand on my forehead.
"Just kill me now. I don't need to fight in the Chunin Exams anymore. Just end me right now, and we'll call it good." I mumbled to myself. Naruto looked at me weirdly.
"Why are you talking to yourself, you weirdo?" He asked carefully.
"Ugh, shut up Naruto. So why did we get stuck with the closet perv?" I asked, walking towards my house, Naruto in tow behind me.
"Uhh...well.." I stopped, making Naruto run into me. I turned around and looked at him.
"Well...?" I asked, feeling like he probably had something to do with it. Naruto chuckled nervously, rubbing the back of his head.
"I..well, I-" He looked away from me, avoiding my gaze. "Well.." I sighed.
"Spit it out, Naruto." Naruto gulped, and then continued.
"Well... We made a deal and he said if I could outrun him, he wouldn't teach us, and well..I couldn't outrun him..." He sounded defeated.
"Hm." I sounded, continuing on to my house. "Well, he is a Jonin, what did you expect?" I asked.
"Well..." Naruto trailed off, obviously not having an answer. We stepped outside my house, and I unlocked the door, motioning in. Naruto looked at me surprised, but followed inside, shutting the door behind him. I pulled off my boots, throwing them aside and then plopping myself on the couch, laying down with my arms behind my head.
"Look Naruto, even if this guy is a Jonin, I need someone who can show me how to beat Dosu and his stupid sound machine." I looked over at Naruto, who was still standing. "And this guy seriously sounds like a loser. How the hell is he gonna help me?" Naruto sighed and shrugged, sitting on the floor next to me.
"I don't know. But Kakashi-sensei wants him to train us, and he wouldn't leave me alone." Naruto said sullenly, his head in his hands. I closed my eyes, thinking.
"Do you even know how you're gonna beat Neji?" I asked suddenly. I must have caught Naruto by surprise, seeing as how he was silent for a moment.
"Uhh, I mean, just normally, I guess." I groaned and sat up.
"You're hopeless." Naruto sat up and narrowed his eyes at me.
"Hey, what's that supposed to mean?!" I leaned my head on my hand, my elbow leaning on my knee, and leaned forward towards him.
"What is he even gonna help us with?" I raised an eyebrow. Naruto leaned back on his hands.
"Hmm...something about chakra control." I scoffed.
"That's it? That's not even worth it." I stood up, untying my headband from around my neck and setting it on the table, along with my ninja tools. Naruto was quiet for a moment, and then spoke softly.
"Uhh..Hey Tessa...so like...what's that thing on your hand?" He asked bluntly. I didn't turn to look at him.
"It's nothing." I replied, holding my right hand close to me.
"I mean, it can't be nothing, right? Your hand is like, seriously messed up, and it doesn't look like anything I've seen." I scoffed and looked at him over my shoulder.
"Drop it, Naruto. I'm not talking about this with you." I snapped. Naruto looked away angrily, before standing and walking to my door.
"I'll see you tomorrow with closet perv." He opened it, walking out and closing the door. I sighed, thankful he's finally out of my house, and pulled off my right glove, looking at the black burn marks across my hand.
It's not nothing, but it's a stain. A big black stain that I'd like to forget, but can't. No one needs to know, especially not Naruto. I closed my eyes, splashed some water on my face, and changed into pajamas.
I'm beat. But I guess I have no choice but to meet Naruto and whoever closet perv is tomorrow.
"Aren't you Konohamaru's teacher?" I asked, raising my eyebrows at the man in front of me. He had on a dark navy shirt with the Uzumaki symbol on his arm, as all of the Jonin had on their shirts under their flak jacket. He also had on a pair of dark blue sweatpants it looked like, and his headband was a bandana that covered the top of his head. He hm'd, pushing his glasses closer to his face.
"Why, yes, I am, thank you for noticing." I rolled my eyes and turned to Naruto, who was basically crab walking with his arms behind his head. For some reason, closet perv brought us to the hot springs. Maybe he's becoming an out of the closet perv.
"So this is closet perv?" I asked. The man in front of me tensed, and glowered at Naruto.
"Y-You told her you called me that?!" He shouted, his voice wavering. Naruto shrugged it off.
"Well, duh, cause you are one." I chuckled at the response, crossing my arms.
"Don't worry. Kakashi is one too. It's like you all have your own little club." I shrugged, teasing. The Jonin started shaking, whether in anger or fear, who knows. The Jonin growled, pushing up his sunglasses.
"My name..." He hissed. "is Ebisu. Naruto!" The Jonin pointed at him, making Naruto stop. "Where do you think you're going?! That's the women's bath! I will not allow any disreputable behavior, young man!" I anime fell.
"You're the one who brought us here. The closet perv." I sighed, leaning against the railing on the bridge. "You're one to talk." Naruto walked back towards us, narrowed eyes at Ebisu.
"What is it? What's that look?" He asked, annoyance showing clear in his voice.
"Oh, nothing, nothing." Naruto shrugged him off. "Anyway, what in the world are we doing here? Are you gonna train us how to wash behind our ears?" I closed my eyes and yawned.
"First of all, you're a Jonin, so you should know better than to walk into the women's bath as well, sensei." He gasped, shock on his face. "Besides, I definitely know how to wash my ears, but I don't know about Naruto." Naruto looked at me crestfallen.
"Listen up you two! This is part of your training!" He led us over to the water. "This is the place." I looked around. There was literally nothing here but the hot water.
"A bath?! Hey, what's going on?!"
"Don't take that tone with me." Ebisu said arrogantly. Maybe I could knock him off his goddamn pedestal, cause this guy is just getting on my nerves. Thanks, Kakashi. I thought bitterly. "Like I told you before, this is all part of your training." He continued.
"So, what are we doing?" I asked annoyed. He had a smug look on his face, pushing his sunglasses up on his face again. Get new glasses if they keep falling down like that, idiot. I'm about 3 seconds away from ripping them off and shoving them somewhere he can't get them.
"I'm going to teach you to walk on water." I groaned, making them both look at me.
"This wasn't even worth it?" I asked annoyance plastered on my face. Ebisu looked at me in confusion. "This is literally walking up the trees all over again, Naruto. This guy is just toying with us." I glared at him.
"Well, if you're so high and mighty, why don't you show us, princess?" He glared at me behind his glasses, leaning forward. I growled, keeping my hands on my hips and walking over to the water. I concentrated my chakra to my feet, and then stepped on top of the water, walking across it easily. I stopped about five feet away on the surface of the water, crossing my arms and glaring at the Jonin.
"Maybe you should get better at being a Jonin and actually teach us something." I spoke sarcastically. I could practically see steam coming out of his ears in anger.
"Whoa, lemme try!" Naruto ignored our bickering, put his hands together and closed his eyes. He was focusing his chakra as Ebisu and I continued to glare at each other. Naruto opened his eyes and walked to the hot springs that I was standing on. Immediately, he fell through the water with a yelp, falling in the hot spring. He popped up out of the water screaming in pain at the heat. The Jonin's anger fell, replaced by smugness, pushing his glasses up as he looked at Naruto.
"Oh, don't forget, it's a hot spring. You don't want to keep falling in like that. You'll be boiled like a lobster."
"Very funny." Naruto said through gritted teeth. Although, why was he having issues with his chakra? It was literally the same thing as the tree thing, which he did fine after a few days. I watched Naruto carefully as he attempted the same thing over and over again, falling in every single time. Something was wrong with his chakra control, which didn't make any sense, seeing as how he was fine on our mission to the Land of Waves.
I was snapped out of my thoughts by Naruto screaming and pointing at something behind Ebisu before falling in the hot water again. The Jonin and I turned to look, and saw someone sitting on the ground next to the women's bath, long spiky white hair laying on the ground behind them. A large scroll laid against their back underneath their hair. Looking at the person, I could see they had the build of a man, broad shoulders, too wide to be a woman. I could hear them chuckling with a deep voice. Ebisu pushed his glasses up on his face again, looking back at the man.
"Are you peeking in the women's bath, old man?" He asked. I walked closer, stepping off the hot water and sat on the railing. This old guy better have a good excuse, or maybe I'd help him find his way with a right hook. "I will not allow any disreputable behavior!" Ebisu repeated, running at the old man. I watched with wide eyes as he got closer, the old man not even registering that he was running at him.
The old man however, suddenly turned his head behind him, seeing the Jonin run at him and fully turned around. "Oh please." He held up a handsign. A puff of smoke appeared, and when it cleared, the old man was sitting on a toad slightly taller than me.
"Huh? What on earth-" The toad opened its mouth, it's peach sticky tongue going right for Ebisu. It wrapped around his torso multiple times, tightening. "What are you doing?!" The toad lifted Ebisu into the air, and slammed him down into the ground, his body practically steaming either from the hot spring or embarrassment, while blood dripped out of his nose. I looked back and forth between the old man and Ebisu, trying to figure out if I should be glad the old man took care of Ebisu, or mad he just took out Naruto and I's only source of education for the time being.
The toad's tongue let go of Ebisu, reeling back into its mouth before closing it, the old man speaking again. "What's wrong with you? Keep it down, do you wanna get us busted, you idiot?"
"You're the idiot for spying on the women, and that was just closet perv, you're ultimate perv now." I narrowed my eyes at the old man, my eyes flickering between him and the bath he was looking at. The old man had a different looking headband, with two small spikes coming out on both sides up top of it. On the headband, wrote Oil. Why Oil? That seemed kind of dumb. Two red lines went down his face under his eyes, and he had a look on his face like he was done. That is, at least until he grinned.
I looked between the old man and Ebisu, the latter laying flat on the ground, probably knocked out cold. Naruto stumbled over to him, stopping at his feet.
"Hey. Perv, you awake?" He asked, kneeling. "One way to find out." My eyes widened, as Naruto continued. "Hidden Finger Jutsu: A Thousand Years of Death." He stated, shoving his fingers into Ebisu's butt.
"Naruto!" I scolded, my head resting in my hand. "Gross!" Naruto looked at me defensively.
"What? Kakashi did it to me!" I rolled my eyes.
"That doesn't mean you should do it!" I looked back at Ebisu, who didn't even flinch at Naruto's intrusion. Man, he's totally out of it.
"Some trainer, he's pathetic." Naruto said, deadpanning. Naruto stood, looking at the old man in frustration.
"Okay Frog Man, what was that all about?!" He shouted. "Who do you think you are anyway?!" The toad licked his lips as the old man stood, flipping his hair around dramatically.
"I'm glad you asked!"
"Oh are you." I stated boredly, biting at one of my fingernails.
"I'm the hermit of Mount Myoboku! The wise and immortal spirit! That's right, it is I the Toad Mountain Sage!" He yelled, posing on top of the toad.
"We could literally care less." I pointed out, my head still in my hand. The man looked at me, his eyebrows furrowed for a moment, and then back to Naruto. His eyes flickered between the two of us, making me scowl.
"What are you staring at?" I finally snapped. He seemed to snap out of whatever he was doing, and continued.
"Uhh.." But before he could respond, Naruto interrupted.
"Well, listen ya Pervy Sage! What are you gonna do about this?! This guy is supposed to be training us, and you laid him out flatter than a bathmat!"
"He's right." I pointed at Naruto with my left index finger. "So, Pervy Sage," I called, using Naruto's nickname. "What are you gonna do about it? You now owe us a teacher." The Sage hm'd.
"I don't owe you a thing. He shouldn't have interfered with my research." I scoffed.
"Research? You're peeking in the women's bath. I'd hardly call that research." I jumped off the railing I was sitting on.
"Well," He continued, ignoring me. "you see," He reached into his kimono. "I'm a novelist. I am a writer of great books. Like this!" He pulled out a familiar title, making me gag.
"You wrote that?" A wide smile broke out on the old man's face.
"Yes! I see you know it!" He chuckled, looking back at the book.
"You call that pervy trash a novel?!" Naruto shouted angrily, his fists balled up in front of him. "Research, yeah right! Just an excuse for you to peek at girls in the bathhouse!" I heard a bunch of women screaming, making the old man turn to the wall of the bath and shout in dismay. He turned back to us, his eyebrows furrowed and a childish tantrum look on his face.
"Look at what you've done, you've ruined my peeking, I mean my research!" He whined.
"Dirty old man!" Naruto responded.
"You little-" The Sage got closer to us, holding a fist up in protest. "There's nothing dirty about it!" I stepped closer, getting between Naruto and the old man.
"There's a lot dirty about it, you just don't want to admit it because you're, as Naruto called you, a Pervy Sage." I spoke boredly, trying to egg him on as I looked at my nails. This guy is at least entertaining, if I'm not gonna get any training done, might as well get entertained.
"Who cares about that, what about our training?!" Naruto shouted, ruining my fun. I looked up at the old man over my nails, raising an eyebrow.
"Yeah, what about our training? You owe us a lesson, teacher, or something." The man looked at us for the first time as if we were normal people, if you know what I mean.
"Your training? You mean the walking on water technique you were having so much trouble with?" I shrugged.
"I mean, he was having trouble with it, but I'm good." I smirked, looking back at Naruto who gave me a glare in return. He looked back at the Sage.
"You mean you can do it?! Okay, then that means its up to you to teach it to me!" He pointed at the old man determinedly. "You at least owe me that!"
"Ha." He walked right past Naruto, closing his eyes. "Stop bothering me kid, I'm busy." I scowled, crossing my arms and glaring at the man.
"It's your fault we can't continue our training. Can't you make an exception for a poor kid and his pretty girl teammate?" I asked giving puppy eyes. I was probably laying it on a little thick, but oh well. Naruto looked at me weirdly.
"Pretty?" He mumbled to himself. Not quiet enough. I scowled, a vein popping out of my temple.
"SHUT UP NARUTO, AT LEAST I'M TRYING TO DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT!" The old man turned around looking at us both, and scoffed.
"Forget it, I can't work with someone who has no respect for a true artist!" My head snapped over to look at him.
"YOU'RE THE ONE WHO CAN'T EVEN RESPECT WOMEN, YET YOU WANT US TO RESPECT YOU?! AS IF!" I shouted in anger, feeling my chakra fill my hands. I was ready to just grab this guy and hold him under the hot water if I had to.
"Besides, I don't like kids." He added, his eyebrow twitching.
"Believe me, the feeling's mutual." I responded, giving him a dirty look. This guy. Who the hell is he? Obviously he said something about being a toad sage, but that's all the information he gave us. Hmm, I wonder if there's anything I can research. I don't think ninja files are public information though..
Before I knew it, the old man was laughing, jumping over the roof and yelling. "So long, and good luck!" I startled, looking at Naruto.
"Now what'd you do?"
"Me?" he asked, looking offended. I looked back at Ebisu laying on the ground, unimpressed. "I don't care how pervy that guy is, he's the real deal!" Naruto added, running after him. I groaned and ran after him.
"Naruto! Wait up!"
Nearby, a woman screamed, followed by a male voice.
"No, no, wait! Ooh~" Naruto stopped, me running into his back and both of us falling.
"What'd you stop for?" I asked annoyed, rubbing my head. Naruto turned and looked at the building next to us, the woman still screaming.
"What do you think you're doing, you disgusting old man?!"
"Oh. That's why." I stayed sitting on the ground. The woman who yelled walked out from behind the cloth curtain, her arms angrily by her side, ready to smack the old man into next year.
"I'm sorry, but you have such a beautiful pair of soft and lovely-uh-hands! You really do have beautiful hands, how do you keep them so soft?!" He stuttered, clearly being creepy. As a girl, I can officially say that you should not start off by complimenting a girls, uh, hands.
"Filthy beast!" She smacked him in the face, making him cry out in pain. He put his hand against his face, red handprints quickly showing up.
"So much for soft hands, yeesh." Naruto looked like he was looking at a hopeless case.
"What was I thinking, this guy is pathetic." I closed my eyes, finally standing up and stretching.
"Well, good luck Naruto!" I said after popping my back. Naruto turned to look at me, but I already was hopping across rooftops. "Hey, Tessa!"