I don't own Naruto
Chapter 10
It was dark out and the first night that Sakura had been out of hospital. Seeing Sasuke awaken had been the most relieving feeling. Having all three of them come out the other side was labelled a miracle. Despite them all surviving Sakura couldn't help but continuously scratch at the mark on her shoulder. It felt foreign, like it shouldn't be there. Thinking about the foreign chakra led Sakura to remember what the other version had tried to accomplish.
Dark Sakura had told her that she should kill Sasuke, to prevent another Senju vs Uchiha situation. Sakura knew this was contradictory as it would create conflict if Sakura did this but the curse mark exploited ones weakest moments and made the victim desperate. She was told to kill Naruto as there must have been some reason that he was outcast, especially if he was the son of the fourth Hokage.
Obviously Sakura didn't give in to the curse mark's effects but the lingering effect those words had stuck with her. The one thing that Sakura definitely knew after the whole ordeal was that her two most precious people were most definitely Naruto and Sasuke.
Furthermore she had to think about the future, about Gaara. How would she defeat him, especially with so little information about him? The only thing that she did know was that Gaara could use sand in some way. Now that Sasuke was awake this was Sakura's most immediate worry. She lay awake thinking about this until eventually her eye lids grew so heavy that she couldn't fight sleep any longer.
The following morning team 7 met up at their usual spot, everyone arriving with their normal timing.
"Naruto, how are you gonna fight Kurotsuchi," Sakura asked. She wasn't sure what strategy he should use against her.
"I dunno, I guess I'll try beating her with my taijutsu. I'm not too worried, she's never beaten me so I think I should be okay," Naruto replied confidently.
"Don't underestimate her Naruto, she wants you dead more than just about anybody in the world," counselled Sakura. The Senju knew that Naruto was strong but she didn't want him being so overconfident that he made a mistake.
"Well you've got bigger worried. I swear to god if Gaara does anything I'm gonna –"
"Calm down Naruto, I'm sure I'll be okay," Sakura said with more confidence than she actually felt. "Sasuke what are you gonna do, you're fighting that girl from Suna right?"
"I'll beat her easily enough. But she's not the one I want to fight."
"Yo," Kakashi interrupted as he'd finally arrived.
"Well who do ya wanna fight then teme," Naruto asked.
"Hn," Sasuke grunted in disapproval at the name Naruto gave him. "I want to fight both of you; you're the strongest in this exam. And Gaara, he seems strong as well."
Kakashi wasn't even annoyed at this point, he was relieved. If his team was acting normally then it meant that they had gotten over what happened in the forest of death. As long as there bonds with each other were strong they likely wouldn't allow the curse mark to control them. Kakashi had placed a seal on each of them that relied on their will power.
"Ya know what, I wanna fight both of you as well," Naruto said excitedly.
"I guess I'd be okay with that," Sakura responded with a smile. She loved spending time with her team.
"It's a deal then," Naruto grinned at the other two.
"Ahem," Kakashi interjected again.
"Kaka-sensei," Naruto said happily. "What are we doing this month?"
"Naruto you'll be training with Jiraiya. Sakura you'll continue training with Tenzo and Anko and I'll train Sasuke. Make sure you all get stronger," Kakashi answered and then encouraged.
With that said the three Genin parted ways and went to find their senseis or in Sasuke's case, start training.
Walking along the path towards the forest of death the Senju was relieved to see Anko waiting for her. When she was in sight and Anko noticed her; the snake mistress shun shined to her position and embraced her in the tightest hug Sakura guessed she'd ever given anyone.
"Cherry you're okay. I was so worried when all Konoha could hear was the battle taking place in the forest of death. People are already acting like we're at war with Iwa already. I'm honestly so glad you made it out alive."
"Anko-sensei, do you know about…"
"Yeah I heard and when I get my hands on him I'll kill him I swear. That's not what's important right now though, we need to make sure you're ready to fight this Gaara."
"Okay let's get started then," said Sakura.
"Alright then let's go Cherry!"
Walking through the leaf village, Naruto shied away slightly at all the looks sent his way. After thirteen years of dealing with glares he wasn't entirely sure how he should respond in a situation like this. People openly smiled at him like they hadn't been glaring at him four months previously.
While walking Naruto literally bumped into someone and accidentally knocked them over.
"Oh, I'm sorry," Naruto said with an apologetic smile as he leant a hand to help them up.
"Na… Naruto-kun," came the shy voice from the ground.
"Hinata?"
Naruto was surprised to bump into her like this. She accepted his hand and the blonde jinchuriki helped her to her feet.
"Sorry about that Hinata, I was thinking about the Chunin exam and stuff ya know," Naruto said while scratching the back of his head guiltily.
"Don't… Don't worry about it Naruto-kun," Hinata spoke quietly.
"Hey Hinata can I ask you something," asked Naruto.
"Sure Naruto-kun, what… what is it," Hinata responded, surprised that he even wanted to talk to her.
"How's Neji been," Naruto asked and the tone of his voice. After waking up a second time memories of what happened to Tenten came to fruition and Naruto had struggled to sleep that night in the hospital.
"He's been devastated, hasn't left the compound. I'm sorry Naruto-kun… I know you were friends with her."
"Yeah thanks Hinata," Naruto acknowledged her apology solemnly. Naruto began to walk off but Hinata had something on her mind that she needed to ask him.
"Hey Naruto-kun," Hinata called after him.
"Yeah"
"Can I get a question in… return," Hinata asked, her voice growing quieter towards the end of her question.
"Sure what is it," Naruto answered.
"How did you train to get stronger? Ki… Kiba-kun's been training really hard and yet… yet he doesn't seem to be getting any closer to you."
"I dunno, I had the help of my team mates and great senseis I suppose."
Hinata simply nodded her head at this, processing what Naruto had just said.
"Hinata, have you got time off right now," Naruto questioned.
"Um… yes," Hinata responded.
"Did you want to train with me then, I'm sure ero-sennin wouldn't mind. I could use the support."
"Are… are you sure?"
"I mean you don't have to if you don't want to. I just thought I'd ask hehe," Naruto said as he scratched the back of his head in slight embarrassment. He was just trying to be nice but he felt bad as he hadn't even considered if Hinata had something to do. He had bumped into her as well after all, he probably interrupted her entire day just by having the conversation with her.
"Naruto-kun I'd… I'd like that," Hinata said with a shy smile.
Naruto's face morphed into a huge grin. "C'mon the Hinata-chan let's go."
The two of them walked towards training ground 38, this was where Jiraiya had arranged for them to train.
"Again Sasuke," Kakashi said as he sent a fireball at the Uchiha. Using his newly evolved eyes, Sasuke dodged the fireball; that was what his task was for after all. It worked on his reflexes and made sure that he'd be able to react quickly to a situation. Going through hand signs of his own Sasuke sent back a fire ball, causing Kakashi to have to dodge.
The two of them had been training for a while now and Sasuke was use to the exercises that Kakashi would give him. Kakashi's training involved working on everything and they split it up into parts. They did everything on the water as this would help not only improve chakra control but also add to the reserves available to them. Sasuke practised his shuriken and kunai accuracy, his awareness, Taijutsu, Genjutsu, Kenjutsu; the two of them practised most forms of shinobi combat.
"Good Sasuke, now respond to this," Kakashi instructed. He sent a water dragon at Sasuke. The Uchiha copied the jutsu with his sharingan and sent an exact copy back, causing them both to collide creating a great wave of water. Because of Sasuke's training he was easily able to stay on the moving water beneath him as if it were second nature.
"Okay let's take a break and we'll continue in five minutes."
Naruto and Hinata had arrived at the training ground and Jiraiya was surprised to see someone accompany his godson.
"Ah Naruto, is this your girlfriend then," Jiraiya greeted with a pervy giggle.
"I'm not even gonna entertain that ero-sennin," Naruto responded with a role of his eyes. He'd had to copy out Jiraiya's books for four months so this was hardly anything compared to what Naruto had read, still there was a way you introduce yourself and that wasn't it.
"Hey brat what did I tell you about calling me that," Jiraiya bantered back.
"Hinata meet ero-sennin. He's one of the sannin which means he's a really powerful ninja. He can be a bit… weird at times though but don't let it get to you," Naruto introduced her. "Jiraiya this is Hinata HYUGA, don't do anything weird."
"You offend me Naruto for I would never do anything 'weird'," Jiraiya responded.
Hinata chuckled at how the two behaved around each other. It was honestly refreshing to see and Hinata oddly felt quite at ease in each of their presence.
"It's a pleasure to meet you Jiraiya-san," Hinata bowed.
"Ah it's okay to just call me Jiraiya."
"Hey ero-sennin what are we doing today," Naruto asked.
"Well you're practising your writing and I didn't really have anything planned for Hinata-chan," Jiraiya said whilst deep in thought at what he could have Hinata do.
"I know what she can do," Naruto said excitedly. He created a shadow clone and sent it to a shop. "It'll be back in a minute and then I can teach you a really powerful jutsu dattebayo."
"Hai, Naruto-kun."
"Are you sure you wanna teach her that jutsu kid," Jiraiya asked Naruto.
"Yeah I'm sure. Hinata will be really good at it as well dattebayo."
A few moments later Naruto's shadow clone returned with a big bucket of water balloons.
"Okay so basically you wanna spin the water in the water balloon so that it pops and then do the same with a rubber balloon but it needs more power and then you need to have power and movement at the same time for a balloon and then you have a super strong jutsu," Naruto said all in one sentence.
Jiraiya and Hinata looked extremely confused at what Naruto had just said, Jiraiya only understanding what he meant because that's how he taught Naruto to do it.
"Hinata-chan would you like me to explain it in a way that makes sense," Jiraiya offered.
"Um, yes please Jiraiya-san," Hinata responded with a bow.
"So basically what you want to do is spin the water in a water balloon so that it'll pop. This is the first stage. The second stage is power. During this stage you'll need to burst a rubber ball so that the jutsu will have some sting in it. You with me so far," Jiraiya asked as he knew it could be complicated.
"Hai Jiraiya-san," Hinata confirmed.
"It's just Jiraiya," Jiraiya told Hinata. "Anyway the final stage is one where you combine the first two in a balloon and try to not make it pop. If you accomplish it you'll end up with something like this."
A blue sphere of chakra began to form in Jiraiya's hand and Hinata was amazed by the power in the jutsu.
"Rasengan"
The toad sage forced the Jutsu into the nearest tree and forced it to break in half. The Hyuga was shocked that she was being taught something like this.
"Are you sure it's okay for someone like me to learn this," Hinata said shyly. She'd never been an amazing ninja or anything so why was she being taught this.
"I mean if Naruto says so then I'm sure its fine. I believe in Naruto and if he believes in you then I'll do so as well," Jiraiya reassured the Hyuga.
"Okay, I'll try," Hinata said with slightly more confidence in her voice then earlier.
"Wood style: wood dragon," Tenzo called out and fired it at Sakura.
"Wood style: Threefold wood shield," Sakura called out and blocked the entirety of Tenzo's jutsu.
"Good Sakura, now what if I do this. "Wood release: lined Forest technique," Tenzo called out. Two intertwined tendrils of wood erupted from the ground, its target Sakura. Sakura ran forward and jumped onto Tenzo's technique for a brief second before jumping in the direction of Tenzo while severing the part of his technique that was in contact with her foot. She managed to do this with one of her Kunai and got into quite a close range with the Anbu.
"Wood style: Wood spike ring technique," Sakura said. Tenzo was surrounded by a circle of wood with spikes pointed inwards, preventing him from moving.
"Well done Sakura," Tenzo said from behind her as the trapped one was revealed to be a wood clone. This annoyed the Senju slightly, she didn't think she was on his level but she figured she was past being tricked by a wood clone.
Suddenly she began to go through some hand signs that Tenzo recognised and he panicked. "Wait Sakura don't-"
"Wood style: deep forest emergence," Sakura called out. One tree formed and began racing towards Tenzo too fast for his eyes to follow. He got hit full on and sent flying backwards. "I did it," Sakura stated triumphantly before passing out from exhaustion.
The Senju woke up later to Tenzo looking at her and she felt really weak. "That Jutsu takes a lot of chakra Sakura, you shouldn't use it unless your desperate," Tenzo scolded her.
"But it's the strongest one I know how to use, how else am I gonna beat Gaara?"
"You have plenty of techniques to rely on, you don't need to use that one," Tenzo tried to reason. Sakura went quiet, she knew he was right but she felt that if she could use it then she would be one step closer to her goal. "Your chakra is probably the biggest bar Naruto's and yet look how much that Jutsu used. When you're older and your chakra pool is larger you'll be able to use that Jutsu much more effectively but in the meantime you should focus on the ones that you can currently use."
"Say Tenzo-sensei is there a way to increase the size of my chakra pool quicker," Sakura asked.
"Not really Sakura, you can meditate and you can train your body physically as well as use up your chakra so that when it returns it'll push past the limits that you're use to. Other than that there's not a lot you can do."
"Well I'll do what I can do. Just watch me, I'll be the most powerful Senju and protect the leaf village, I promise."
"I believe you Sakura. Why don't I show you how to properly meditate, this way you can get a head start?"
"Thanks Tenzo-sensei, I really appreciate it," Sakura bowed her head before the two of them continued their lesson.
A week had passed since the three members of team 7 had started their training. In this time Sasuke had sharpened up his skills in the majority of areas and the Uchiha felt like he was already prepared to fight Temari, add another week and half and Sasuke had no doubt that he would win. The Senju wasn't so confident, her jutsu were strong but due to the limited amount of Intel that she had on Gaara she wasn't sure how she should prepare for their fight. Nevertheless she was steadily growing in strength alongside her team mates.
For an entire week Naruto had copying down Jiraiya's books whilst making sure his handwriting was perfect. With his time on mount Myoboku and this time spent training the Namikaze had nearly flawless handwriting and Jiraiya seemed to think that he was ready for the next step.
"Okay Naruto your opponent is from Iwagakure so the chances are that they will use earth style ninjutsu. You can use this to your advantage with this," Jiraiya said as he handed Naruto a scroll.
The Namikaze looked at the contents of said scroll before coming to a conclusion. "Hey ero-sennin this is really useful, thanks."
"What is it Naruto-kun," Hinata asked whilst holding a water balloon. When she had time off she often trained with Naruto, the Hyuga enjoyed spending time with the blonde and Naruto had believed in her to learn rasengan, so that's what she was going to do. The Kunoichi was having a difficult time with it however.
"Basically it will increase the gravity wherever I place the scroll and if she's using earth jutsu than that'll become real heavy for her," Naruto said with a mischievous grin.
"That's really smart Naruto-kun," Hinata praised quietly.
"Hehe, anyway how are you coming along with the Jutsu," Naruto asked Hinata.
"Not much at all really, I can spin the water in the balloon but I don't know how to get it to burst."
"I wouldn't worry about it, it took me ages and I supposedly learned it quicker than normal. Did ya wanna spar," Naruto offered.
"I'm no-not sure that it's worth sparring me Naruto-kun," Hinata said as her face turned red.
"Sure you are, I'll focus on defending so I don't hurt you but Hyuga's are really hard to fight."
Feeling encouraged, Hinata nodded her head before Naruto issued for them to start. Waiting just a second to make sure that he was ready Hinata ran up to Naruto. At first she moved relatively slowly but Naruto was having no trouble dodging her Jutsu and even managed to counter her own arm back at her and nearly made her shut down one of her chakra points.
"Come at me properly Hinata," Naruto demanded. Deciding that that was what the Namikaze really wanted Hinata struck at him as quickly as she could. Naruto found himself having to dodge quicker and quicker as Hinata didn't let up. He was dodging and misdirecting her strikes and looking into her eyes, Naruto felt time freeze for a moment. The Hyuga seemed to have pure joy on her face, she wasn't irritated that she couldn't hit him but instead seemed to strive to be better.
They fought for half an hour yet didn't seem to notice it. Kurenai's hard training on Hinata was paying off as she was able to keep up her high intensity for a long period of time. She felt happy with Naruto, the two continued at it and eventually Hinata managed to nick his arm and disable its usage.
"Huh"
Without the usage of his other arm Hinata quickly disabled the Namikaze and closed off more of his chakra points, ending their little match up.
"Well done Hinata-chan, I've never seen you move that fast before," Naruto congratulated her. With drops of sweat on her forehead and hair in disarray Hinata had a beaming smile on her face. This was the payoff that the Hyuga felt after training so hard with Kurenai.
"Thank you Naruto-kun, that was a lot of fun," Hinata said, not feeling shy anymore. "Do you think maybe we could do that some other time?"
"Of course, I had a great time. Can you help me out with my chakra points though," Naruto asked sheepishly.
"Oh I'm sorry," Hinata immediately apologised.
"Okay then let's work on your taijutsu. Fight me again and I'll point out any flaws I find with it. There will probably be few but I'll at least show you where openings are. Let's go."
Jiraiya watched on in amusement as they trained together, Naruto giving tips and advice where he could. Where Hinata would overextend with a lunge Naruto suggested she throw a kick instead as her legs were longer than her arms. Going through the motions Hinata found this an improvement. It wouldn't help her cut off chakra points which was the point of her fighting style but it was unpredictable and meant that it would more likely hit.
The two Genin spent the rest of their day working together and whilst subtle Jiraiya could see Naruto improve. He was self-assessing himself and making improvements where he realised that he wasn't as strong.
Sakura was in the Senju compound and was re-going through one of Tobirama's scrolls. The second Hokage had been extremely adept at using water style jutsu, so much so that he could create huge amounts out of thin air with his chakra only. Sakura had trained her water jutsu to an extent but not even close to the second Hokages level. If I had a water source though, then I might stand a chance. Especially against sand water would be helpful. Sakura pondered on her thoughts whilst reading the Jutsu. It was powerful and would definitely increase her chances of victory. However she'd have to finish learning how to properly do it. Late into the night Sakura went through the jutsus mechanics and was thinking up a way to use it.
Sasuke was still out late in his clan compound, continuing work on something he'd been doing since Naruto left the leaf village. He knew that the chidori was powerful but it was short range, Sasuke wanted to see if there was a way.
"Chidori stream," Sasuke called out but it barely went half a metre away from him. The Uchiha couldn't use the jutsu too many times without getting his chakra exhausted and in four months he'd only just managed to get it to spread apart. Granted he had also trained in other areas and this was more of a side project as well as the fact that the Uchiha had technically succeeded in his task. "Once more"" Sasuke said to himself, he knew it would work he just needed more time.
At the end of the week the day had arrived, Tenten's funeral. Naruto, Sakura and Sasuke all wore black as they attended. It was a funeral for all the lives lost in the forest of death and Naruto felt immensely guilty. All of these lives taken were because Iwagakure wanted him dead and the Namikaze felt the weight of these lives on his shoulder. I said I wouldn't let anyone die for me and I couldn't keep my promise.
Team 7 waited their turn as countless shinobi placed a lily on the memorial stone for the fallen. The sky was grey, a dull day for the village hidden in the leaves and Naruto found it fitting. Looking across at others he could see that the clans were all together. The Hyuga clan stood to the far right, Neji at the front of them. The Hyuga prodigies face showed no emotion, likely he'd spent the week crying and had nothing left to give. Hinata stood closely behind her cousin and her face showed sympathy for the lives lost.
Next to the Hyuga's was the Inuzuka clan. Kiba had wanted to fight in this battle, thinking that he had been ready. He now felt a sense of guilt and relief. He was relieved that team 7 had stopped him and his team from fighting but he felt guilty for feeling this way. I should happily give my life for the village, shouldn't I? It's a shinobi's duty to die protecting their village yet I feel relief in the fact that I didn't fight and I didn't die. Why, why is this? Kiba looked down in shame although he had no need to feel it, he was reacting normally.
The other clans all stood and each of their faces mirrored each other's. At the front of the funeral was the Hokage; shortly behind him was team 7. 3 clan heads stood side by side in guilt. They had fought in the battle and they survived, yet so many others' died. Could I have done more was a unanimous thought running through all of their minds. They thought back to what the Hokage had said at the beginning of the ceremony.
"We are here today to honour the ninja that fell in the forest of death. Because of their sacrifice we can all enjoy peace in our village, because of their sacrifice we can all enjoy security in our village, and because of their sacrifice we may have avoided war. All of us here today owe them a great debt, one we will not be able to repay. What we can do, however, is remember them. We can make sure their lives are not forgotten. Each and every one of these shinobi held the will of fire, they gave their life, body and soul to this village in order to assure your safety. I want to personally thank them for their service," the Hokage said, placing the first lily on the memorial stone created for them.
It was finally their time. Sasuke stepped forward and placed the flower on the stone, bowing his head in acknowledgement at what they had done in the forest of death. Next Naruto stepped forward.
"I'm sorry," Naruto said apologetically. He waited a moment before placing his flower by the others. His index finger traced Tenten's name and Naruto truly could feel the impact of his friend's death.
It was Sakura's turn next. She stared long and hard at the names of her comrades on the stone. Iwa! Sakura thought darkly. She placed her own flower next to Naruto's and stepped back. If Iwa hadn't come wanting a war this would've never happened. Everyone there stood in solemn silence as the funeral carried on.
After the funeral Naruto, Sakura and Sasuke walked towards the Hokages office. They'd been told to see him as the final stage of the Chunin exams was in a week.
"Hey Jiji you wanted to see us," Naruto asked.
"Yes I just needed to make sure that the curse marks weren't giving you any trouble."
"It doesn't bother me," Sasuke answered.
"It's annoying but it hasn't played up or anything," Sakura added.
"Hey Jiji I have a question," Naruto asked.
"What is it Naruto-kun?"
"As a Hokage have you ever have someone die in your place," the blonde asked.
Hiruzen understood where Naruto was coming from now, the jinchuriki was obviously overwhelmed by guilt from what happened.
"People have died in my place before. My sensei, Tobirama Senju made a sacrifice at the end of the first great ninja war to allow me and my team mates to escape. He did so knowing that he would die and his death played on my mind for weeks; especially considering I was the one to take the Hokage seat shortly after his death. What you need to remember Naruto-kun is that you can't prevent everything and protect everyone. In war there are casualties and you need to cherish the time you spend with your friends and comrades."
"Is there gonna be a war Jisan," Sakura asked.
"With your action in the forest of death I'd say it's unlikely. We have a strong relationship with the village hidden in the sand so no one's likely to attack either of us directly. They may want Naruto-kun dead but not enough to start a full scale war unless they felt they would benefit from it. Facing two of the great nations alone is practically impossible, only here in Konoha has it been accomplished and even then the cost has always been so great that it's never felt like a victory."
"That's good Jisan."
"I've lived through three ninja wars and I did fear a fourth. However the Chunin exam achieved their purpose as a substitute for war. Why don't you three worry about your upcoming fights and allow me to worry about Iwa. Naruto-kun, in a few days the Tsuchikage will be arriving to watch his granddaughter in your match with her. He won't try anything as the Kazekage will be there as well but try to stay out of sight as much as possible."
"Okay Jiji, thanks," Naruto said and team 7 left the room. They were all preparing for their finals match the following weak, anticipating when they could put this Iwa mess behind them.
Okay I'm gonna be honest I'm worried that I've made the characters too strong too fast. If people are still interested in this then I will continue it but I struggle to get motivated for it. Please review and tell me what you think.
Thanks.