AN: Its been a few months since my last post and I apologize to those who were hoping that I'd update one of the fics that I already have out, but this fic has had most of my focus. Plus, having read the other fics for this crossover, big fan and can't wait for any of them to be updated, I wanted to write one of my own. A smidge of good news is that at the very least I've started working on few updates for my other fics. Unfortunately, none of them are near finished though I will try to get them done as soon as possible.
Disclaimer I do NOT own Naruto or Darling in the Franxx
Chapter 1
"Talking"
'Thinking'
(Author's Notes)
Whenever Jiraiya thought of how he'd meet his end he always expected it to be on the battle field. Though he sincerely hoped and prayed to every deity in existence that when he died it would be smothered in a pile of the sexiest women in the entire Elemental Nations while completely naked, with the bonus of it being Tsunade's large assets that his head was resting on. But as much as he wished it was the second option Jiraiya knew that chances were' it would be the first.
He never imagined that he would die because of the overly sweet display that he was being forced to endure. When he had heard people say, 'So sweet I could die.', he thought they over exaggerating in the worst way. Now he knew better. Kami did he wish he didn't know better.
"Well don't you two just look chipper today." He remarked his voice carrying a slightly sour edge to it.
The two people ahead of him glanced back at Jiraiya from over their shoulders with brilliant smiles on their faces.
"We haven't seen Konoha in three years and were finally going home. Of course, I'm excited!"
"I'm with my Darling, why wouldn't I be happy Ero-sennin?"
Jiraiya cringed at the name. It was a nickname that his student had come up with when they had first met. It was an insult that meant Pervy-Sage. Wherever they went, whoever they met, he never failed to call him that at least once. What was more insulting was the fact that it made him out to be some simple perverted old man. He was a man among men, worshiped by women across the Elemental Nations. A pervert without equal the Legendary Super Pervert.
Worse then being labeled a simple pervert though was the fact that it wasn't even his student that called him that. But rather the person walking next to him. 'Dear Kami,' Jiraiya grasped in horror. 'It's spreading like a disease!' He had to quickly shake the disturbing thought.
Seeing a girl with long pink hair, fair colored skin with a flawless complexion, and green like eyes, cyan actually, one could be forgiven for mistaking her for Sakura Haruno of Konoha, though the similarities between the two ended there. The most obvious distinction were the two small red horns that sat atop the girl's head with a white metallic head band at their base. Around the corner of her eyes was what looked like red eyeliner. And though he couldn't see them Jiraiya knew that the pinkette possessed a pair of fangs. She wore a red military styled uniform with a white collar and orange tie, white overcoat, with black leggings and white high-heeled sandals. Jiraiya did notice that the girl was missing the white officer's cap that she normally wore that hid her horns.
Walking next to her, their arms intertwined, was his student Naruto Uzumaki; a sun kissed blonde with slightly tanned skin and cerulean blue eyes. He wore orange pants with an orange jacket that had black mixed in near the jackets top and down the front, and on the back was the red Uzumaki swirl. On his forehead was a black clothed Konoha headband and on his feet black shinobi sandals. Three distinctive whisker marks were on each of his cheeks.
The pair grinned back at Jiraiya with remarkably similar grins before returning to their whispered conversation that Jiraiya had previously interrupted, the pink haired girl giggling every once in a while, at something that Naruto said. If he wanted to Jiraiya knew that he could listen in on the pair's conversation, but even as a super pervert there were some things he just didn't want to hear.
Naruto stared out at Konoha from where he stood on top of an electrical pole a fond smile spreading widely across his face. He had been all across the Elemental Nations on his training trip with Jiraiya, but there was no place quite like Konoha. The bonds he had formed, the memories he had made, the good and bad ones, it all made Konoha his home and now that he was back Naruto realized just how much he missed it. "This place hasn't changed at all." Naruto said fondly, though he did catch something that was different. "Guess they finally got around to adding Baa-chan's face." He commented to himself staring at the Hokage monument. 'I'm going to be up there someday.' Naruto thought filled with determination. He would achieve his dream it was all just a matter of time.
Jiraiya let out a heavy sigh as an amused grin cross his face. 'That brat just doesn't change.' The Toad Sage thought.
The pink haired girl stared up at her Darling with a smile of her own. At the moment she couldn't understand what he was feeling, the happiness of finally being home. She didn't have such a place of her own. Honestly, she didn't care if she ever had such a place because she had her Darling and what else could she ever want. Of course, his happiness was also important and that was why she was happy at that moment.
"Naruto!" A female's voice drew the girl's attention away from her Darling to another girl walking toward them calling her Darling's name. She had pink hair and green eyes like she did and that was enough for her to identify this girl as Sakura Haruno, her Darling's teammate. Her Darling had told her about Sakura on a few occasions. Seeing the other girl, the horned pinkette didn't want to acknowledge the flare of that jealousy bloomed in her chest for a moment; even as the smile she sported was wiped away and she stared at the other girl fixedly.
"Sakura?" Naruto replied spotting his teammate down below. Her outfit had changed since he last saw her; she wore a red sleeveless top with a pink skirt, elbow protectors of the same color, black shorts underneath her skirt, black gloves and knee-high black boots, and the cloth of her forehead protector was replaced with a red one. Jumping from the top of the pole Naruto landed only a couple of feet from his teammate. "Hey." He greeted her with his trade mark grin.
Sakura returned her teammate's smile with one of her own taking in how much he had changed in the last three years. He was taller then her now and his clothes had changed, but beside that she really couldn't see anything different about him. His eyes were as bright as ever with a smile to match and a presence that was as open and welcoming as she remembered. When they were first put on the same team Sakura didn't have very high opinion of Naruto, or a good one for that matter, but during their time on Team 7 Naruto had quickly, if not a bit roughly, become one of her best friends and Sakura was happy to have him back after so long.
The medic-nin was brought of her introspection when a pair of slender arms wrapped themselves possessively around one of Naruto's own. Sakura blinked bewilderment when a girl that looked remarkably like her appeared at Naruto's side. Faintly Sakura thought that even their clothes were vaguely similar, even if only in their color scheme.
"Hi, I'm Sakura Haruno." Sakura eventually got out introducing herself, though she was feeling perplexed and curious of the girl in front of her. "And you are?" She asked at least figuring the girl was someone that Naruto met during his journey. Who he was apparently very close to.
With a sly smirk, as she brought the arm she holding closer to herself until it was resting firmly between her breasts, the girl responded to Sakura's introduction with her own. "You can call me Zero Two." The oni like woman said.
"Zero Two?" Sakura repeated bewildered at the strange name.
Eventually Jiraiya, Naruto, Zero Two along with Sakura found themselves in the Hokage's office standing across from Tsunade Senju, the Fifth Hokage. Despite being a beautiful woman with blonde hair, chocolate brown eyes, and possessing the biggest breasts many in the Elemental Nations have ever seen, Tsunade was actually the same age as her old teammate Jiraiya, using a powerful Genjutsu to hide her true appearance.
Currently she was staring intently at the three who had just returned to Konoha. Two of them she had expected, Jiraiya looking the same as when he left and Naruto having grown during his time away, but the third person was completely unexpected and was who Tsunade was focusing most of her attention on. The pink haired girl hardly looked like she cared about the fact that she was standing in front of the Hokage, looking around as she was, and actually appeared bored if the expression she was sporting was any indication. Tsunade repressed a sigh as she tried to ignore the temptation to grab one of the saki bottles that she kept in her desk or rub her temples.
Zero Two, 'What kind of name is that?' Tsunade wondered idly.
Then again, there was a girl in the village who had the name Tenten. So sure, why not.
The fact that the girl had come with Jiraiya and Naruto was hardly an issue. That she was standing so close to Naruto was mildly interesting, Tsunade having raised an eyebrow when the pair walked into her office and the girl had her arms wrapped around one of Naruto's arms. What she found a little annoying was the fact that Jiraiya had never mentioned the girl in a single one of the reports that he had sent her, and now the girl was here with the intention of joining Konoha's ranks as a kunoichi and was fully expecting to be assigned to the same team as Naruto.
It's not like she couldn't do it, she was the Hokage after all. In the past Sarutobi had basically handed out headbands to anyone who wanted to join the village and be a shinobi. But she wasn't Sarutobi, she wasn't about let someone become a shinobi under her command without at least an assessment of their skills first. Though a little consideration on her behalf would have also been appreciated, she already had mountains of paper work and this would only add to it.
"Fine," Tsunade agreed with a heavy sigh before a smirk spread across her face. "Actually, this is the perfect chance to see how much you two have grown in these last three years as well." Tsunade said addressing Naruto and Sakura. "What do you think, Kakashi?" She asked confusing the three teens until someone stood up from just the other side of the windows to the room. He had grey hair that stood nearly straight up wearing the standard Konoha shinobi uniform, a face mask covering the lower half of his face and his headband concealing his left eye.
"That sounds like a good idea." Kakashi stated, entering the room through the window, to his leader before turning his attention to the student that he hadn't seen in three years.
"Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto greeted his old sensei happily.
"Yo," Kakashi returned with a wave of hind, his other holding a copy of Icha Icha. "It's been a while Naruto." He said with an eye smile.
As happy as Naruto was to see Kakashi he remembered something that he had planned to give to Kakashi. Searching through his backpack for all of a second Naruto pulled an item out. "Here, it's the latest issue in the Icha Icha series Ero-sennin gave me." Naruto told Kakashi holding out a small green book to Kakashi. "I thought it was boring, but I think you'll like it."
Off to the side Jiraiya let out a huff as he crossed his arms over his chest. 'Ungrateful brat. You don't understand the first thing about good literature.' Jiraiya thought silently.
Kakashi slowly reached out for the as of yet unreleased book, his hands trembling as if presented with the most holy of items. Yet before Kakashi could take it out of Naruto's hands a female one snatched it from him.
"Ne, Darling, you shouldn't give this away when we should keep this for ourselves." Zero Two claimed with teasing smirk on her face. "It might have been written by Ero-sennin, but it might inspire our own fun." She added causing Naruto's face to burn red.
'Darling?' A majority of the room thought flummoxed by the intimate term of address the girl used.
'And she calls me a perv.' The Toad Sage scoffed mentally before a self-satisfied grin spread across his face. 'At least one of them appreciates my art.'
Kakashi was able to eventually snap out of his stupor, his eyes trained on the book in Zero Two's hands as the realization that he wouldn't be receiving his gift dawned on him. "But, but." The grey haired Jōnin mumbled holding a desperate hand out for the book.
"Quit griping Kakashi we have other matters to attend to." Tsunade scolded the masked man, getting a pitiful nod from him. Tsunade let out a sigh and shook her head at how pathetic one her most respected Jōnin was acting before returning her attention to the three teens in the room, making a note with a tick of her brow how the girl, Zero Two, was casually leafing through Jiraiya's book. "We'll be holding your evaluation at Training Ground 7 in half an hour so get ready." The female Hokage told them, giving them the chance to gather any tools they might not already have on them.
Sitting on the edge of the river that flowed through the training grounds of Team 7 Naruto stared out at the water. Since he got there Naruto had been flooded with the memories of his time on Team 7 with Kakashi-sensei, Sakura… and Sasuke.
If he looked behind him Naruto knew he would see the three training posts, one of which he had been tied to, and not far away from them was the Memorial Stone where Kakashi imparted his most important lesson to his three students. So many things had changed since they had first become a team.
"Naruto!" Sakura's voice called out to the blonde shinobi rousing him from his thoughts as he turned his head slightly to see the pink haired kunoichi land a few feet behind him. "Hey!"
"Hey Sakura," Naruto replied a little nervously his eyes flicking back to the river.
Sakura easily picked on Naruto's nervousness, and how he kept glancing back at the river, yet when she looked over at it she couldn't spot anything that would cause Naruto to be so nervous. Eyeing him suspiciously Sakura approached her teammate slowly trying to figure out what had him so rattled. "Alright, what's with you?" Sakura demanded.
Naruto tried to wave off Sakura's suspicion but the cause for his nervousness made itself apparent at that very moment. From the river Zero Two broke through the water's surface, droplets of water sparkling around her. There were two things about the girl that stood out to Sakura; first was the fish in the girl's mouth, though that was really inconsequential compared to the other thing; second, and most prevalent, was the fact that Zero Two was completely naked. It was only then that Sakura finally noticed the folded pile of clothes resting neatly next to Naruto.
As dumbfounded as she was Sakura couldn't help but to take in Zero Two's form. Her supple breasts, that Sakura with more then a hint of envy realized were larger then hers, toned stomach and slim waist. With her eyes trailing lower Sakura couldn't quite confirm if the other girl had natural pink her like herself. With a blush that had been growing darker every second since she laid eyes on Zero Two, Sakura managed to finally tear her eyes away from the naked girl to land back on Naruto. As flustered as she was Sakura immediately reverted to her default settings, which were to clobber Naruto on the head for anything perverted. "NARUTO! YOU PERVERT!"
Naruto stared in awe at Zero Two's naked form, clearly seeing the mischievous sparkle in her eyes as she stared back at him. It was hardly the first time that he had seen the girl naked, Zero Two hardly being shy about her body where he was concerned, yet he always found himself entranced by her each time and each time he made sure to commit everything to memory. Naruto only got to enjoy the moment for a couple of seconds though before Sakura's shout caused the blonde shinobi to flinch. It might have been a couple of years since Naruto had heard Sakura say his name like that but on instinct he braced himself for the punch that he knew would be coming his way. Yet as Sakura advanced on her teammate before she could even get into striking distance she felt something wet and scaly smack her in the face. Stumbling back a step Sakura looked down at her feet with a stupefied look on her face spotting a fish lying at there. Looking back up at the only place it could have come from Sakura felt her whole-body freeze at the glare that was being directed at her by the other pink haired girl.
'H-her eyes, are her eyes red?' Sakura thought with some difficulty, staring at the red pupils with cyan iris eyes of the girl. A second later Zero Two shifted her attention away from Sakura causing the girl to lean forward slightly nearly letting out a gasp of air. 'W-what was that? KI?' She wondered. It had been a long time since she encountered Zabuza and Orochimaru and felt the effect of their Killing Intent, and the Killing Intent of some not so noteworthy shinobi, but what she had just experienced seemed different somehow. Looking at Zero Two watching her carefully Sakura didn't notice anything out of the ordinary about the girl, besides her horns, and that her eyes were her normal cyan color leaving Sakura wonder if she had just imagined the whole thing.
With a confident smirk on her face Zero Two placed a hand on Naruto's cheek drawing his attention back to her. With his eyes opening Naruto stared up at Zero Two before his eyes started to drift downward, the girl taking a special delight at the gleam of lust that appeared in his eyes as he did so. Leaning over, providing a quiet tantalizing view if anyone had been behind her, "I don't mind if Darling is a pervert. As long as he is being perverted over me." Zero Two stated, leaning closer as she licked Naruto's whiskered cheek her smirk growing wider as the blonde shivered. "This taste always gets my heart racing." She murmured savoring all the flavor she got from her Darling. How could Zero Two describe everything that she experienced about her Darling from that one taste of him. His kindness, bravery, compassion, selflessness, and power; in a sense it had all been conveyed to her in that one instant. Not to mention the sensation of danger that was present as well. It was all uniquely his. "Although," Zero continued taking a small lick of her arm and a dissatisfied look appeared on her face. "This isn't salty like the ocean at all." The oni muttered disappointingly.
"Well it is only a river." Naruto pointed out with a cheeky grin.
"Darling~!" Zero Two whined cutely. "I know that much, but lakes and rivers like these are the closest I've come to actually swimming in the ocean." She pouted.
Sakura stared at the two teens, her blush as dark as ever, feeling like she was completely forgotten about by them. With a twitching eyebrow Sakura coughed into her closed hand in order to try to get the pairs attention. When she saw that they were both staring at her the pink haired kunoichi did her best to keep her eyes from trailing where they shouldn't. "What do you think your doing?" She questioned them staring at Zero Two for a moment and then quickly averted her gaze.
Zero two straightened herself to her full height placing her hands on her hips. "I wanted to go for a swim." Zero Two stated obviously. "And I decided to take a bath while I was at it." She added.
"And your okay with doing something like that here and letting Naruto to see you naked?!" Sakura nearly shouted out scandalized.
Zero Two shrugged her shoulders uncaring. "I already said that I don't mind as long as it's Darling." She replied.
Sakura stared at the girl, blinking a couple of times stupefied, before she rested her face against the palm of her hand. "Could you please just get dressed." Sakura begged exasperatedly.
With another shrug of her shoulders Zero Two reached for the clothes that she had laid out next to Naruto. When she was done Sakura saw that Zero Two was wearing something different from what she had on earlier. She wore a red top that almost seemed like it was skin tight. Over that was a jacket of the same color accented white along the edges and a hoodie that looked like it was almost ridiculously big in Sakura's opinion. Black shinobi pants along with her white sandals. Besides that, Sakura saw that Zero Two was also still wearing her white head band.
For the next hour the three teens waited for Kakashi to show up, two of them very well used to their sensei's propensity for arriving late for everything and the third having been informed ahead of time that it was likely to happen. Still even knowing that it was going to happen Zero Two quickly found her patience with the grey haired Jōnin running thin. That's why when Kakashi did appear in the cloud of smoke of a Shunshin he found himself dodging not one, not two, but three kunai that came close to impaling his head. At first Kakashi figured that his two students and Zero Two had gotten tired of waiting and were expressing their displeasure quiet openly and obviously. Only when he looked over at the three teens he found Sakura with a shocked expression on her face, surprisingly pale, and Naruto trying desperately to keep Zero Two from throwing a fourth kunai at him. By the looks of it he wasn't going to succeed.
"Y-yo." Kakashi greeted them a tad bit put off.
"Your late Kakashi-sensei." Naruto grunted out, his arms wrapped around one of Zero Two's.
Kakashi considered offering up one of his excuses to why he was late but thought better of it rather then risk Zero Two realizing that she still had one free hand that she could use to attack him. "Yeah, so why don't we get right to it." He suggested, reaching into his pocket and pulled out a trio of bells. "I'm sure that you two remember these." Kakashi said addressing his two students. "The rules will be the same as when we first met. If you don't come at me with the intent to kill, you will never succeed in getting the bells."
Naruto and Sakura stared at the bells each sporting a determined look in their eyes. While Zero Two didn't share the same history with the Bell Test that Naruto and Sakura did she was just as determined. After all this test was also to evaluate if she was suitable to be on a team with her Darling and she wasn't about to let anything stand in the way of that.
"You'll have until sunrise tomorrow." Kakashi continued. "Now things are obviously different from back then." He said glancing at Zero Two. "At that time Sasuke was the one with us…" The Jōnin said only to trail off as he watched as Naruto and Sakura fall to the ground in depression. 'I guess Sasuke's name is still a taboo for these two.' Kakashi thought silently.
Zero Two clenched her fists until her nails dug into her hands.
Off to the side watching the proceedings from the trees located near the edge of the training grounds were Jiraiya and Tsunade. Both had come to see how their respective student fared against their old teacher. Tsunade though was also there to see with her own eyes what Zero Two was capable of and if she really had the skills and abilities to be a kunoichi of Konoha. Glancing at her companion standing beside her, Tsunade noticed how serious Jiraiya seemed to be, something that was strange for Jiraiya when he wasn't in a fight. "And you're sure you can't tell me anything that girl is capable of?" She questioned her fellow Sannin.
Jiraiya peeked briefly over at Tsunade before turning his attention back to the open field. "There are plenty of things I can tell you about Zero Two." Jiraiya admitted before shaking his head slightly. "No there are things that I definitely need to tell you about her." He continued gravely. "But for now, its best if you just see for yourself."
Tsunade stared at Jiraiya for a moment longer, her brows furrowed, trying to figure out what had the lecherous old pervert acting so strangely.
"Well then," Kakashi started, drawing Naruto's and Sakura's attention and getting them out of their depressed stated. "Shall we begin?" He finished reaching for his headband and fixing it to reveal his Sharingan eye, getting Naruto and Sakura's absolute attention. "Although this time I feel like I'll have to take things a little seriously too."
Naruto acted first launching shuriken at Kakashi. Even without his sharingan Kakashi would have been able to dodge the shuriken that Naruto threw so with it, it was almost laughably easy for the Jōnin to duck under them and then retaliate with his own. Naruto shot up into the air in order to dodge but immediately had to create a Kage Bunshin to move him through the air to avoid a second barrage of shuriken from Kakashi. Once he landed on the ground Naruto had his clone transform into a giant shuriken, yet before he could throw it he felt Kakashi suddenly appear behind him; one hand holding his head still and the other moving his arm so that the giant shuriken was close to the back of his neck.
"Still as hasty as ever I see." Kakashi commented causally while internally he was a little impressed at how effective Naruto had gotten at using his clones in the last three years. "You didn't wait for me to say start again."
Naruto smirked back at Kakashi. "Heh, I just wanted to get the first shot in before she did." He told Kakashi.
"Hm?" They grey haired Jōnin hummed curiously only for his eyes to widen not even a second later. Instincts that he had developed through countless life or death situations screamed at Kakashi to move. Without a second thought Kakashi dove out of the way hearing the rush of air and the sound something big imbedding itself into the ground where he had just been standing. Landing in a crouch Kakashi looked behind him at the cause.
Kakashi couldn't say that he was all that surprised when he saw that it was Zero Two who attacked him. But what ultimately drew Kakashi attention was the spear that she was now carrying. Its handle was a pure white while the blade was rounded at its tip and squared off near the base. The blade was colored a light orange with a couple of white rings near the base. It was different from any spear Kakashi had ever seen before and he was sure that there was more to it that he couldn't quiet make out from the way it was angled.
"Neither of them is really the patient type, are they?" Kakashi murmured softly to himself with a sweat drop. 'If I hadn't moved she might have really killed me.' He thought watching Zero Two pull her lance out of the ground. 'Well at least I know she's taking this seriously.' "Alright then, start." Kakashi said out loud before disappearing in a cloud of smoke.
Sakura found herself staring at the duo not quite sure if she should be in awe of them or aghast at the fact that Zero Two actually looked like she was aiming to kill Kakashi. But when Kakashi disappeared Sakura snapped herself out of her daze and immediately started looking for the man. 'He's not to the left, right, behind, or above.' Sakura thought quickly, glancing each if those places before coming to the only remaining possibility. "Then its below!" The kunoichi cried gathering chakra into her fist before slamming it into the ground beneath her and unleashing it all at once. With the earth shattering around her Sakura looked through the rubble that she created with a smirk on her face as she spotted Kakashi within it. "Found you."
Kakashi stared at Sakura wide eyed only his mask keeping him from his mouth hanging open as well. 'The Godaime didn't just teach her Medical Ninjutsu.' Kakashi thought obviously. 'With Medical Ninjutsu, this amazing strength, and Sakura's natural talent for Genjutsu she may become a stronger kunoichi then the Godaime.'
Zero Two whistled impressed, despite the rather low of opinion of Sakura that she had at the moment, Zero Two had to admit that what she had just seen Sakura do was rather extraordinary. Naruto's thoughts followed along the same line as Zero Two's only his concluded with that Sakura could kill him if he wasn't careful around her. Off to the side Jiraiya stared at Tsunade dryly while the woman stuck out her chest with pride to match.
Kakashi moved to stand on top of the rubble, getting a clear line of sight on his three opponents. "I guess it's my turn to do something." The Jōnin mused going through some hand seals. "Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu!" Kakashi released a giant ball of fire that roared toward Naruto and the two pink haired girls. Three years ago, Kakashi would never have considered even using such a jutsu against his students, but they grown a lot since then and he was confident they could easily deal with this level attack.
And while Kakashi wasn't wrong he wasn't expecting what happened either.
With a battle cry Zero Two charged straight through Kakashi's jutsu her lance thrust forward, the flames dispersing around it, leaving Zero Two completely unharmed and heading straight for the Jōnin; though Kakashi had already jumped back to put more distance between himself and Zero Two. As he moved away Kakashi picked up on something that he might have missed had he not been using his sharingan, the blade of the lance was glowing as chakra flowed through it. Now chakra conductive metal was hardly something new to Kakashi the orange glow was a nice little trick, but he figured it was just a result of the color of the blade.
Out of his peripheral vision Kakashi caught Naruto once more jumping into the air throwing the giant shuriken that he still possessed. Almost fluidly Kakashi sidestepped the thrown giant shuriken and just as easily slid his hand through the hole at the shuriken's center. Letting the shuriken's momentum carry him Kakashi spun in a full circle before throwing it at Zero Two.
The oni didn't slow in her charge at all, her gaze firmly locked on Kakashi, brimming with confidence and having absolute trust in her Darling. When the shuriken was only a few inches from Zero Two's face, and Kakashi's eyes widening actually thinking that she was about to be hit, it suddenly went up in a cloud of smoke the jutsu being released. With a wide grin Zero Two thrust her spear forward once more as it glowed brighter.
When he thought that Zero Two was going to be hit with the shuriken Kakashi instinctively moved forward in an effort to keep that from happening. Seeing the shuriken disappear Kakashi instantly pulled back his sharingan trained on the lance, as more and more chakra was channeled into it, although he realized that it was probably already to late. A second later a blinding flash of bright orange light surged from the lance heading straight for him and impulsively Kakashi performed a Kawarimi and what was left were the charred remains of a log.
Within the woods hiding behind a tree squinting with his sharingan eye Kakashi tried to see through it only to give up after a minute and slide his hitai-ate over the eye. If there was a downside to a Dōjutsu it was their sensitively to light. Looking at the log with his normal eye Kakashi saw that it was broken into pieces and severely burned. 'So, either her lance creates explosions or she was channeling fire chakra into it and then released it all at once.' Kakashi rationalized leaning toward the latter.
Sakura approached Zero Two, Naruto landing beside her, while she was curious about what she had seen the other pink haired girl do she was more focused finding Kakashi. "Where is he?" Sakura asked them her eyes searching for any sign of the Jōnin. Zero Two ignored Sakura for the most part as she sniffed at the air. Seeing what she was doing Sakura couldn't help but look at Zero Two strangely. "What are you doing?" She continued to question.
With Zero Two focused on finding Kakashi, Naruto decided to answer for her. "Zero Two has a sense of smell as good as Kiba's." He explained simply with a smirk on his face.
"Oh," Sakura mumbled her eyes widened a bit as she gazed at Zero Two.
After a few more seconds a large grin spread across Zero Two's face. "Found him." She declared taking off towards the woods.
Seeing the three teens heading towards him Kakashi retaliated by throwing some kunai at them only for them all to be deflected by a quick swing of Zero Two's lance. The oni attacked Kakashi repeatedly with her lance only for the man to stay just out of the reach of her stabs, feeling intense heat coming off it with each strike. Following another failed attempt by Zero Two, Kakashi rushed Zero Two, landing a couple of quick jabs on her arms to keep her from retaliating with her spear before landing a solid punch on her head. The pink haired oni felt herself stumbling back for a second from Kakashi's punch before she felt him grab hold of her jacket. Spinning around, forcing Naruto and Sakura to jump back to avoid being struck by either Zero Two or her lance, Kakashi tossed the cyan eyed girl at a nearby tree watching as her back slammed into it.
Kakashi didn't have a moment to relax, or even to enjoy his small victory over Zero Two, before he had to dodge a punch thrown at him by Sakura. While he still managed to dodge Sakura's strikes like he did Zero Two, knowing that if he blocked them he'd either wind up with broken bones or on his back, he also had to deal with the earth shattering beneath his feet and quakes being created whenever one of Sakura's punches or kicks struck the ground.
Naruto lunged at Kakashi from behind arm outstretched trying to snag the bells that were tied to Kakashi's waist. Just as Naruto managed to land a finger on one of the bells Kakashi clasped his hand keeping a firm hold on him. Naruto retaliated by throwing a punch at Kakashi only for the Jōnin to block it with his other free hand. Trapped in a deadlock with the man Naruto smirked at Kakashi.
Kakashi was confused by the smirk on Naruto's face until he sensed something behind him. Looking over his shoulder Kakashi saw another Naruto coming at him. 'A Kage Bunshin!' Kakashi realized in slight alarm. Quickly getting over his surprise Kakashi spun around tossing Naruto at his clone before delivering a kick to Naruto's chest.
Advancing on Kakashi, Sakura punched at him only for the man to immediately start to backpedal in order to dodge her attacks. After a few seconds of dodging Kakashi found his back against a tree. He briefly glanced back at it before he dove out of the way just as Sakura threw another punch, her fist going straight through the tree. With the tree falling over her Sakura had to disengage.
The three teens regrouped, giving Kakashi a few seconds to catch his breath, although the respite didn't last long before the three of them once more charged at Kakashi. Before they could reach him though the Jōnin dropped a couple of smoke bombs that completely hid him from view. Zero Two swung her lance through the cloud of smoke only to let out a groan of disappointment when it was clear that Kakashi was no longer there.
"This again." Zero Two muttered as she began to sniff the air in order to track Kakashi down once more.
"Even without the sharingan Kakashi-sensei is really strong." Naruto said searching the forest for any signs of Kakashi.
"Well he is a Jōnin." Sakura pointed out obviously, her mind busy going through everything that she knew about Kakashi hoping to come up with a weakness they could exploit. "And since he can't use his sharingan right now he'll probably buy as much time as he can for it to recover." She voiced out, thinking of the one thing that was currently going for them. The flash that Zero Two created with her attack had been nearly enough to blind Sakura she could only imagine what it would do to someone with a Dōjutsu.
"Then I'll just blind him again." Zero Two stated confidently, hefting her lance a bit.
Naruto and Sakura nodded in agreement at the advantage they had. "Kakashi-sensei won't fall for the same trick twice though." Sakura said surely.
"We just ne-" Zero Two started only for her eyes to widen as she caught Kakashi's scent… from right above them. "MOVE!" The oni shouted moving toward Naruto and jumping away from the area with him. It took Sakura a fraction of a second longer to figure out what was going on before she too got out of the way, just as a several kunai landed where they had been standing. In the next instant Kakashi appeared were they once stood and along side him were two Kage Bunshin of himself.
Each of the Kakashi's grabbed a kunai that were on the ground before they each picked at an opponent. Naruto and Zero Two moved away from each other, giving one another enough room to fight their respective Kakashi, Naruto grabbing his own kunai from his pouch.
Zero Two found herself backtracking, moving her further and further away from Naruto, as she clashed with Kakashi blocking his slashes with her lance. At any other point Zero Two would have the advantage over Kakashi's kunai thanks to her lance, but the Jōnin was using his superior speed to keep her off balance.
Naruto and Sakura were in the same boat as Zero Two, both of them realizing just how better skilled Kakashi was. When Team 7 was first formed and Kakashi tested them, he stressed just how important teamwork was and how working as one cohesive unit they would be able to take down foes far stronger than them. Now he was doing his utmost to keep them separated and prevent that from happening. Having a better then fair understanding of this Naruto and Sakura fought fervently against their respective Kakashi. Either to catch one by surprise and be able to land a successful blow on them, and hope it didn't turn out to be the real Kakashi, or survive long enough for an opening to present it self so that they could regroup with one of the others.
Sakura dodged under one of Kakashi's punches and then had to block a kick using her forearms. Putting some distance between herself and Kakashi, Sakura continued to retreat until her back came to rest against a tree. But unlike most people instead of panicking a smirk appeared on her face causing Kakashi to stare at her cautiously. Quickly spinning around Sakura tore through the base of the tree. Having seen her do this already once before Kakashi wasn't nearly as surprised when he saw Sakura do it again, his eyes did widen in horror as he paled beneath his mask though when instead of just letting the tree fall he watched the pink haired kunoichi grab a hold of it. With her super strength Sakura launched it at Kakashi.
'Shit,' Kakashi thought seeing the tree coming at him.
Sakura didn't stay to see the aftermath of her attack, Kakashi or his bunshin either being distracted avoiding the attack or the bunshin being dispelled because of it, instead choosing to find either Naruto or Zero Two.
Zero Two swung her lance feverishly and although she would hate to admit it she knew she was on the defensive. The problem was the longer that she was on the defensive the more reckless she became as evident by the few tears in her clothes and the cut on her cheek with a small trail of blood going down it. Now while Kakashi had the advantage that didn't mean that he had it easy. With every passing second Zero Two's attacks were becoming faster and faster, already Kakashi had had several close calls, and with the intense heat that was continuously coming off the spear Kakashi had more than broken a sweat. What Kakashi found most concerning was how Zero Two was slowly improving the longer they fought. Kakashi didn't know if Zero Two was just growing used to his fighting style or if the girl was naturally improving as the fight dragged on, which would go along with her becoming faster by the second. Either way it wasn't good for Kakashi.
'Well she has more then proven her skills in Taijutsu.' Kakashi thought backing away from Zero Two. 'Let's see how she does with some Genjutsu.'
Zero Two paused for only a second after Kakashi broke off from her before she charged back at him. When she saw Kakashi start to go through hand seals Zero Two braced herself for whatever jutsu that Kakashi planned throwing at her. Pushing off the ground Zero Two jumped high into the air, her lance pulled back. As she was coming down Zero Two thrust her lance forward unleashing a blast, one not as strong as the first. Yet before the blast could hit Kakashi or the lance could tear through him he just seemed to fade away.
Landing on the ground Zero Two started to look around searching for where Kakashi had gone. "Where is he?" Zero Two muttered having lost completely lost track of Kakashi, she couldn't even smell him. Then there was all the fact that the area had grown dark all of a sudden.
"Z-Zero Two," Naruto's voice called out to the pink haired oni.
Almost instantly Zero Two forgot all about searching for Kakashi as she turned to face Naruto only for her eyes to widen in horror at what she saw; Naruto standing in front of her severely wounded. His hitai-ate was missing and his clothes were nearly in tatters and Zero Two could see various splotches of blood all over, the biggest stain covering nearly all of his abdomen. His right arm hung limply at his side, the sleeve of the jacket torn open, with blood trailing down the hand and forming a small puddle steadily beneath it, looking closely Zero Two could see some discoloration in the limb. Her Darling's blonde hair was matted down by blood and a fair bit of it was now dyed red. Naruto's face was heavily bruised his right eye nearly swollen shut. What alarmed Zero Two the most was the large amount of blood present on the other half of his face and how his hair was blocking her view of his left eye and the damage she was afraid she would find. "Dar-" Zero Two swallowed heavily. "-ling."
Naruto grinned at her, as best he could, before he started to fall forward. Zero Two shot toward Naruto catching him before he hit the ground.
Darling!" The oni cried, tears gathering in the corner of her eyes, "Darling!" Gently Zero Two turned Naruto in her arms as she slowly knelt on the ground staring down at Naruto in her arms.
Naruto's grin widened a bit more raising his one good arm up to Zero Two's cheek. "I-" Whatever Naruto was going to say was left unsaid as his arm fell before it could reach her cheek. His eyes staring up unseeing.
"Darling," Zero Two called out softly, even as her tears started to spill down the side of her face. "Ne Darling, enough… please." The pink haired girl continued shaking his form lightly like she was afraid even doing so would cause him to shatter like glass. "DARLING!" She wailed as the reality started to set in.
Outside the genjutsu Zero Two hadn't moved from where she had landed since she was placed in Kakashi's genjutsu with the exception of the loosely held lance in her hand and the tears streaming down her face. Kakashi stood a few feet away silently with a small sense of guilt as she heard the girl repeatedly say darling with mounting despair. By the very nature of the genjutsu Kakashi could guess what the girl must be seeing.
"Guess we'll have to work on her breaking out of genjutsu if she makes the team." Kakashi said to himself starting towards the girl in order to knock her out.
Tsunade and Jiraiya had been witnessed to everything that had happened so far, having moved as Team 7's battle did. Currently two of the legendary Sannin were standing on a tree branch that offered a clear view of things. When Jiraiya saw Kakashi get ready to cast a genjutsu the Sannin had been ready to jump in and stop the Jōnin only to stop a second later when it became evident that he had been too late.
"Shit."
At the single word Tsunade looked over at Jiraiya curiously. It was hardly strange to hear the man curse, but she had never heard it so definitively. With that one-word Jiraiya made it sound like it was the end of the world.
"We should hit the deck." Jiraiya advised, not even waiting for Tsunade's response as he jumped out of the tree and landed on the ground.
Tsunade landed next to Jiraiya a moment later still looking at the white-haired shinobi strangely. "What's gotten in-" Tsunade was cut off as something that she could only described as an explosion went off accompanied by a roar filled with anguish and unbridled fury. Wind rushed passed the Hokage as she stared with wide open eyes, her twin tails waving through the air furiously behind her, at the cause.
Zero Two roared out to the heavens, tendrils of chakra surging out from her body, as she stood at the eye of gale force winds that caused nearby trees to shake violently. Kakashi found himself being forcibly pushed back, as he held his arms in a futile effort to protect his face from the winds, staring at the pink haired girl. From what Kakashi could make out Zero Two's nails looked more like claws and the fangs that he noticed she possessed looked longer and sharper than they did before. Her pupils were a bright red while her horns were rapidly flashing just as brightly. If Kakashi didn't know any better he would have thought that Zero Two was a Jinchuuriki; as the only he could compare this to was when he's seen Naruto use the Kyuubi's chakra.
The only difference was that there wasn't an oppressing and malevolent presence in the air. Anguish, and unbridled fury was conveyed in Zero Two's cry.
Ignoring all of that this was still more chakra then he had seen most normal people release.
Naruto slammed his rasengan into the copy of Kakashi that he was fighting. A couple of minutes ago Sakura had shown up and working together the two managed to land a decisive blow on Kakashi. Before Naruto and Sakura could even begin to consider forming a plan to take on the real Kakashi they heard a monstrous roar pierce the air. While Sakura was trying to figure out what was responsible for such a pain filled cry Naruto knew instantly who had made it. Naruto didn't even think about it and just took off, not heading Sakura's call, reacting on instinct driving himself forward pushing chakra through his body to make him go faster. As he ran through the woods there was only one thought in his mind.
'Zero Two!'
"Zero Two!" Kakashi shouted to the pink haired girl, trying to snap her out of the state that she was in. Unfortunately, all that he did was give the enraged girl a target.
The oni snapped her head toward Kakashi, her red eyes glaring at the man as she let out a vicious snarl. In a split second the loose hold that Zero Two had on her spear became firm its tip glowing brighter then ever before. With a mighty roar Zero Two thrust her spear at Kakashi unleashing all the chakra that it contained.
Kakashi's eyes widened when he saw how brightly the spear was shining and when she unleashed the blast he was almost blinded once more. Even blind though Kakashi had enough sense to perform a kawarimi. Reappearing Kakashi looked back at where he stood previously unlike before the log he replaced himself with wasn't just in rubbles it was completely gone. Then his eyes trained to a long trench that dug into the earth, and several trees that had their trunks completely torn through; Kakashi could hear a mounting number of trees falling as they hit the ground and the shaking of the earth beneath his feet.
His survival instincts once more screaming at him Kakashi performed another kawarimi just as Zero Two, having appeared above Kakashi, unleashed another blast down at him. Zero Two landed a second later in the crater that was formed from her attack letting out a snarl when the dust settled and there was no sign of Kakashi's remains. Yet before Zero Two could hunt down the Jōnin again she felt a pair of arms wrap themselves around her as she was pulled into a strong embrace from behind. The young woman thrashed around trying to break free of the hold, swinging her spear back at the person trying to hit them. The oni felt herself being further enraged at whoever was stopping her from tracking down Kakashi and holding her so closely. There was only one person who'd she let hold her and he was, was… because of Kakashi.
With her blood boiling Zero Two started to channel chakra into her spear not caring about what would happen to her if she unleashed an explosion with her in its radius. Just as she was about to release the discharge for her attack a voice spoke gently into her ear that caused her to freeze completely. "Zero Two."
The red haze that Zero Two had been under dissipated almost instantly at that person's voice, Naruto's voice, her Darling's voice. "D-Darling?" Zero Two asked, her voice cracking as she choked back a sob, and her eyes watered as she felt like her legs would give out under her at any second. Her shaking arms rose coming to rest on top of Naruto's her fingers slowly tracing over his arms then his fingers before interlocking them with her own. "I-I thought you were…" The girl trailed off unable to bring herself to finish.
"Shh," Naruto said comfortingly. "I'm ok, I'm right here."
Zero Two spun around and threw her arms around Naruto's neck, pulling herself as close as physically possible, afraid that he might disappear at any second. For a moment the two just stood in each other's arms; Naruto trying comfort her while Zero Two tried to reassure herself that he was indeed still alive.
Sakura had arrived a couple of seconds after Naruto, standing at the edge of the crater, looking down at them feeling like she was intruding by even being there. From where she was standing Sakura thought she could see Zero Two crying as Naruto whispered gently into her ear. But as much as Sakura wanted to give them some time alone they were still in the middle of something. Clearing her throat loudly Sakura drew the two's attention. "Alright you two," Sakura started, a light chastising tone to her voice. "In case you've forgotten we still need to get the bells from Kakashi-sensei." She reminded them.
Zero Two was quick to remove the tears from her eyes, Naruto checking really quick to see if she was really okay, before the two jumped out of the crater to land beside Sakura. Now that she had calmed down Zero Two was more determined then ever to find Kakashi, if for no other reason then to beat him to a bloody pulp for making her think her Darling had died in her arms. Honestly, she wanted to do more to the man but she figured she had to show some restraint.
"Okay are we ready to finish this?" Naruto asked the two pink haired girls.
Sakura adjusted her gloves with a smirk on her face. "Ready," Sakura answered gamely.
Zero Two gave Naruto her own confident smirk, tightening her hold on her spear and a predatory look in her eyes. "I'm ready if you are Darling." The oni replied.
With a fox like grin directed at Zero Two and Sakura the trio took off going after Kakashi once more.
Kakashi had stayed in his hiding spot long enough to see Naruto calm Zero Two down, but once it became evident that the three teens would soon be going after him once more he moved. After several minutes, something which surprised the Jōnin and made him suspicious, Kakashi sensed the three of them closing in on him, no doubt thanks once more to Zero Two's tracking abilities. Kakashi was forced to come to a stop when Zero Two's spear suddenly impaled the ground right in front of him just as he heard Naruto and the girls land behind him.
"Well then," Kakashi started reaching for his headband as the three behind him tensed visibly, "I think it has been long enough." He finished turning to face them and revealing his sharingan once more. Though none of them could see it, it was clear that Kakashi was smirking at the three from beneath his mask. "It probably wasn't such a good idea to throw something that offered you such a clear advantage." The Jōnin claimed reaching for Zero Two's spear. Yet when he tried to pull it out of the ground he was shocked to discover how heavy it was as it wouldn't even budge when he tried to lift it. 'What the?' Kakashi thought, staring at the spear, summoning forth his chakra to boost his strength only to end with about the same results. 'How the hell does Zero Two manage to swing this thing around so easily?!' He wondered incredulously coming to the decision that wielding the weapon was a lost cause.
"Doton: Doryūheki." Kakashi heard Zero Two cry out turning his attention back to them just in time to see the earth wall rise up.
'She knows Doton jutsu too?' Kakashi questioned silently a little surprised by the revelation. Kakashi didn't have much time to consider this knew facet when he noticed cracks starting to spread throughout the earth wall. 'Shit' He cursed having a fair idea as to the cause as he went through hand seals in a blur. "Doton: Doryūheki!" The grey haired Jōnin finished slamming his hands onto the ground and summoning his own earth wall protection, with the addition of the faces of three bulldogs. The wall of earth rose just as the other one was destroyed, the rocks from the destroyed wall hurtling across the ground hitting Kakashi's jutsu. Kakashi could see the earth wall shake minutely, dust from the destroyed rocks slipping from the edges of the wall, and hear the loud banging as each stone hit the wall.
Zero Two's voice suddenly came from above Kakashi causing him to jerk his head back to see the girl high above him, one hand close to her mouth. "Katon: Hōsenka no Jutsu!" From her mouth the pinkette unleashed a volley of small fireballs at Kakashi that roared down at him.
With his arms up protectively Kakashi jumped away; even as he felt the fireballs soar past him singeing his clothing. The Jōnin reached into his pouch with the intention to throw some shuriken only to be attacked by Naruto before he could. With the use of his sharingan, Kakashi was able to block or deflect all of Naruto's punches and kicks. Kakashi was overpowering Naruto until Zero Two joined the blonde shinobi against Kakashi fighting seamlessly with him. Kakashi could tell that Zero Two was no Taijutsu expert, more than likely relying heavily on her spear during close quarter combat, but managed to at least be proficient at it. But whatever weak points there were in her fighting style Naruto was covering for her and vice versa.
Kakashi was so focused on the two teens in front of him that he almost missed Sakura coming up behind him. Spinning around on his heel Kakashi intended to grab Sakura's arm before throwing her at either Naruto or Zero Two, yet before he could grab her she vanished in a cloud of smoke. For just a second Kakashi just stared at where Sakura stood as he realized what happened. 'A Kage Bunshin.' Kakashi realized, guessing that Naruto had one of his clones henge into Sakura in order to catch him off guard.
That one second proved to be costly as both Naruto and Zero Two slammed into Kakashi. Despite begin caught by surprise Kakashi easily dislodged himself from the two and was about to retaliate when Sakura appeared before him standing between Naruto and Zero Two. While his eyes were trained on her they quickly went to the spear that she was holding behind her, a spear that Zero Two quickly grabbed a hold of, to the book that he easily recognized that Zero Two threw back at the spear. Kakashi's eyes widened in absolute horror when he saw, in impossibly slow motion because of his sharingan, the book head straight for the spear's blade seeing it shine brightly and knowing what was going to happen.
What followed was a loud explosion and a blinding flash of light.
After a couple of seconds with the light having died down Kakashi distantly thought he could hear the three teens talking excitedly, but just couldn't bring himself to focus on them at the moment. He just stared blankly ahead not even seeing a trace of the ash that represented the last remnants of Jiraiya's destroyed masterpiece.
"Oi Ero-sensei~" Zero Two said in a sing-song as she held Icha Icha Tactics in front of him, waving the book in front of him, with an amused smirk on her face.
Kakashi's gaze fixated on the book, hope and light returning to his eyes as he saw that the book was not in fact destroyed. The Jōnin reached out for the book only to have it cruelly, at least he thought so, taken away at the last second. Kakashi could almost weep as he pitifully grasped out for the book that was kept just out of his reach. "I-I thought…"
"A decoy." Zero Two said as she found herself nearly bursting out in laughter, her cheeks slightly puffed out and a single fang visible over her lips, but managed not to. "Why are you so surprised?" She questioned the man. "I wasn't ever going to destroy it. I did say that it might provide some inspiration for me and Darling." She pointed out as she sent Naruto a sultry look that caused the shinobi to flush brightly.
One look and so many thoughts started to fill Naruto's head. So many delicious and tempting thoughts.
Seeing that the book was fine, and still very much out of his reach, Kakashi let out a sigh as lowered his hitai-ate to cover his sharingan seeing Naruto with the trio of bells.
Clapping sounded throughout catching all their attention turning to see Tsunade approaching them with Jiraiya beside her. "Good work you three. Naruto, Sakura, you two have come a long way." Tsunade congratulated them, her gaze turning to each of them and lingering on Zero Two. "Zero Two, you have more than proven how skilled you are." The Hokage said appraisingly. Staring at the girl Tsunade could see the confident smirk on her face as she stared back expectantly, nearly pressing herself against Naruto from how close she was standing. While she had been impressed by Zero Two's performance during the evaluation there was still so much that Tsunade didn't know about the girl that gave her pause. Hopefully the conversation she would be having with Jiraiya would help her get a better understanding of Zero Two. "While there are few particulars that still need to be taken care of as of now you can consider an official member of Team 7." Tsunade decided.
Anyone one who met Zero Two, anyone who knew her for more than a minute, the first thing that they realized about her was that she nearly exuded self-confidence that bordered on arrogant. Yet she was still relieved and ecstatic to know that she would be on the same team as her Darling. "Did you hear that Darling?" Zero asked with a bright smile on her face. "We're officially partners!" She declared happily.
Naruto was just as happy as Zero Two, not quite having the heart to tell her that they were part of a team so they were technically teammates, laughing out loud when the girl pulled him into a hug. "We should celebrate." Naruto suggested, getting an enthusiastic sound of agreement from the girl in his arms.
As the members of Team 7 made plans on how they should celebrate Tsunade directed a pointed look at Jiraiya, conveying without words that they would be returning to her office in order to have their talk.
AN: When I started writing this it came out much shorter then I would have liked at about 3k words now it's at 10k and longer then I intended. This obviously takes place in the Narutoverse, and while I also have the scraps of a fic planned that takes in the Darling in the Franxx world, I wanted to get this one out since there is only one fic, out of three, that happens there. Not to mention my first fic that actually takes place during Shippuden. While there were parts that I wasn't quite happy with I hope this is well received.
Until next time.
