Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or any other respective media, only my OC
Naruto – Chapter 7
A New Chapter Begins! Powerful Opponents Appear!
Team 7's week of R&R had officially ended and starting today they were back on missions like usual.
Toshirama woke up to the sound of his alarm clock in his room as the morning sun beamed into his room, scratching at his eyes Toshirama got out of bed and began his daily routine of getting ready.
Dressed, he went to his small kitchen and prepared breakfast, nothing fancy; just some rice, miso soup and some pre-made tonkatsu cutlets he'd bought from the market earlier in the week.
After having eaten and stretched to start the day, Toshirama locked the door behind him and with one last session steadied himself, "Alright, time to wake up, let's go!" With that Toshirama took off to meet up at the bridge for his team.
Toshirama made it to the bridge and there he found Sasuke already waiting with his elbows on the rail behind him. The two shared a quick stare before they shared a smirk with the other.
Toshirama spoke first, "Ready to lose?" He said, the Uchiha replying, "In your dreams." The two then went over to the empty training field nearby as the two were facing off both made the Seal of Confrontation, then just like a leaf falling on the ground the two were engaged in combat.
The two started off with taijutsu; Sasuke opening the fight with several quick kicks and strikes, most of which either Toshirama blocked or parried waiting for his opportunity.
Toshirama found his chance when he blocked one of Sasuke kicks he grabbed one of the boy's legs and with a twirl threw Sasuke across the field. The Uchiha quickly recovered however as the fight continued.
This time Toshirama was on the offensive as he now delivered a series of light-but heavy strikes on Sasuke who found himself constantly guarding against the white-haired boy. Toshirama went in for what seemed to be a typical punch forward, which Sasuke seemed to block perfectly, but Toshirama then used his new chakra enhanced strength to break through and sent the Uchiha back a few feet.
The Uchiha was pushed onto his back as he got up and grabbed his jaw which was now in pain he looked to his rival and said with a slight glare, "You've been holding back." That was no question.
"Well I can't reveal everything now can I, want to change things up?" Toshirama inquired as he began as put his hands in front of him. The Uchiha caught on and prepared himself as well, after going through a series of hand seals:
Water Style: Water Wall/Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu!
The water and fire colliding creating just like last time a great cloud of smoke leaving both boys blinded to the other. Both moved in the direction they believed the other did when they emerged, they realized that they were in close-range so both boys went for their weapons.
Toshirama went for his tanto, while Sasuke took out two kunai. The two clashed before they once again began to duel, one matching the other blow for blow as they continued to fight on. They both went in to finish this fight until they heard a shout.
"Stop it, what are you two doing?!"
They both turned to see Sakura was the one who shouted at them. Sasuke's trademark glare resonated as the two looked at the pinkette who carried a look of anger on her face.
"What does it look like, were training." Sasuke answered with no hesitation. Toshirama let Sasuke word's speak for himself. This however didn't convince the kunoichi.
"I come here and find the training field destroyed, I expected this from Naruto and maybe Toshirama, but come on you g…" Sakura never finished when Sasuke spoke up, his glare still etched on his face, "Shut it Sakura."
Not wanting any more tension Toshirama played peacekeeper, "Alright guys, no need for arguments, although we may have gone a bit overboard in reality, Sasuke." With that Toshirama pointed to the training field around them and even Sasuke was surprised at the small amount of destruction they had made.
"Besides you two looked like you were gonna kill each other, seems a bit more than just 'training'." Sakura said
"Look we did go overboard Sakura, but were both fine okay besides I think that'll do it for me, you satisfied Sasuke?" Toshirama inquired of the Uchiha, who in turn nodded in agreement. After a few more minutes Naruto finally arrived at the bridge where everyone was now gathered.
"Hey you guys…?" Naruto started to say until he saw the torn-up training field nearby and went wide-eyed. "What the heck happened?"
Sakura immediately pointed to the two other boys in her team, "Note to self: Sakura will rat if given the chance."/ "She's so annoying." Both Toshirama and Sasuke thought respectively.
As soon as that drama was over Naruto and Sasuke took notice of each other and then simply looked away from each other in annoyance.
"They've been like this since we've gotten back, we'll never achieve anything with them like this." Toshirama thought in despair as he looked at Sakura who too seemed to notice the dynamic between the Uchiha and Uzumaki.
After that the four of them waited what seemed to be hours for Kakashi to finally make it as they heard Kakashi from atop one of the gate posts, "Hey guys, you ready for today's missions?"
Naruto and Sakura both replied in anger, "YOUR LATE!" Kakashi replied, "Sorry, a black cat crossed my path, so I had to go the long way."
"LIAR!" The orange-clad ad pinkette screeched once more. With that we began our day with simpler D-rank missions.
"I'm ready for the next ninja mission sensei and no more this dumb beginner stuff, I want a mission where I can prove myself!" Naruto asked to Kakashi as Naruto then looked back to Sasuke in annoyance once more.
"Hey uh, Naruto can you finish fantasizing later so can we please just finish today and be done?" Toshirama said to this brother, who then sheepishly scratched his cheek in embarrassment.
One of the missions today was to clear out the weeds in a villagers garden that were growing near her herbs, so Team 7 took to picking up parts of the yard and digging up weeds, but one member took it too far (Guess who?)
When Toshirama looked back at Naruto after they'd finished and he saw the boy's huge mistake, "Wait Naruto those aren't…" He was too late as the client walked out and in anger pointed out that Naruto had dug up her ENTIRE garden.
That mission only led to half the pay for Team 7, although they still had other to do. The next one was cleaning out the riverside of all the litter and trash that had been left there. Everything was going smoothly until Naruto lost his footing and slipped into the river which started dragging him towards the nearby waterfall.
Moving to save him Sasuke took some wire string and rappelled down to grab Naruto while Toshirama held the line with Sakura, "Your such an idiot." Naruto was not happy that he had to saved once more AGAIN by Sasuke.
The last mission of the day was to walk the dogs of several villagers, Sasuke and Sakura had taken more smaller dogs, while Toshirama walked a German shepherd that had taken a liking to him. Unfortunately for Naruto… (Do I really HAVE to go over this?) Let's just say it was a rather explosive end of the day for Team 7.
After all the mission were done for the day, Toshirama and Sasuke were carrying Naruto by his shoulders, "Naruto, I swear you're gonna get yourself killed someday acting like this." Toshirama said.
"You really are just one big problem." Sasuke said, this however angered Naruto even more he broke free the hold and went to challenge Sasuke, but Sakura stopped dim, "If you keep this up, I'll finish you myself."
Toshirama and Kakashi both frowned looking at the dynamic between the group, "Not much teamwork now a days, not since the Land of Waves that's for sure." Toshirama spoke up as Kakashi nodded in agreement.
"Yeah, our teamwork's all of whack because of you Sasuke. You think your better than everyone else!?" Naruto questioned in anger as he glared at the Uchiha.
"Not everyone, just you. Face it I'm better ad stronger than you are it's a fact. Unless you want to prove me wrong." Sasuke taunted by the end as the two stared off once again.
Having enough of these antics Toshirama spoke up, "So tell me Sasuke, where does that leave me?" The Uchiha looked to the white-haired boy as they now stared off against one and other.
"So, you've never beaten me in any of our spars, face it I'm just as strong as you are Toshirama." Sasuke replied, his thoughts lingering on Haku from before.
During all of this Kakashi looked to the sky to see a messenger hawk circling the skies above, am indirect message from the Hokage gathering all jonin to the tower.
"Well, I'm gonna drop this mission update, you can beat each other to a pulp later." Kakashi said, the Uchiha tired of all the arguing spoke up as well, "Whatever, I'm out of here." Sasuke then started walking back home.
Sakura then dashed after Sasuke trying to get his attention, "Wait, Sasuke I'll go with you." With that she left Naruto and Toshirama behind, "I would've thought she's drop that act by now, but obviously not." Toshirama thought to himself.
"So um, how about we doing something personal, you know… to help our teamwork?" Sakura asked with a smile on her face.
The Uchiha was not obliging, "I swear your just as bad as Naruto." To say that damaged Sakura was an understatement she started to look defeated, "Instead of flirting why don't you work on your jutsu and make the team stronger, let's face it your even worse than Naruto."
That was straw that broke the camel's back as they say, Sakura looked dejected having been compared to Naruto of all people.
"He's right, what have I really done on any of our missions; nothing…zip." Sakura thought in despair as she realized the truth of Sasuke's words.
Naruto spoke up trying to help Sakura but made things worse, "Don't worry about him Sakura, we can develop or teamwork all day." To say that Sakura was mad would be an understatement hearing that from Naruto just made her even more furious.
With that Kakashi disappeared in a puff of smoke, leaving the three behind. As they were talking a large, square "rock" crawled its way towards Naruto. The two brothers looked to see it and thought in unison, "Fake rocks, what's up with that?"
The two tried to walk away but the rock only kept up with them as they tried to run over and over until Naruto had enough and shouted, "That's the lamest disguise ever, there's no such thing as square rocks!"
"You saw through my camouflaged again, your slick boss that's why you're my rival." A voice came from inside. The "rock" flashed brightly until it exploded in a field of smoke and revealed three academy students.
Their names were Moegi, Udon and Konohamaru. All three of them were studying at the Academy at the time.
"Yeah, I knew it was you Konohamaru, what are those goggles on your head for anyway?" Naruto asked.
Konohamaru giggled and replied, "Well, were copying you boss, just like you did." Naruto was not impressed. "Oh"
Konohamaru took note of Naruto's unimpressed tone and look, "Hey boss, what's with the cold shoulder today?"
"So did you want something?" Naruto asked still acting uninterested. Moegi took over and asked, "You know what we want, are you busy now?"
Naruto at least seemed amused now, "Hm, I have to train. Believe it!" Konohamaru was upset, "What but you said you'd play Ninja with us today remember?"
Naruto now was scratching the back of his head in embarrassment, but Sakura still in her foul mood spoke up instead, "A ninja playing ninja, how twisted is that?" She slowly made her way to the group to stare at Naruto who was now blushing a deep red.
"Hey boss who are these two anyway?" Konohamaru asked. Naruto then regained his senses, "Oh yeah guys, this is my bug bro, Toshirama we've known each other since we were kids."
Toshirama then smiled at the group of students and greeted them, "It's nice to meet you all, I hope though your still taking your studies seriously?"
The group then chuckled nervously indicating that may have not. Konohamaru then looked at Sakura and he came up with a reason for her staring, "I knew it boss, you're a slick guy, she's your… girlfriend?" He said raising his pinky.
Naruto trying to play it cool replied, "Well you can obviously tell she's crazy about me." With hat statement Sakura then punched Naruto so hard he flew into the nearby fence and cracked it.
"I didn't she had that kind of strength is it natural or was that chakra just now?" Toshirama thought as he watched the event unfold in front of him.
Udon, Moegi and Toshirama then went to check on Naruto, "That was quite a hit, but he seems to be fine just a sore jaw from the looks of it."
"You're a witch and your ugly too, what kind of girlfriend are you?!" Konohamaru screamed however those few words would be his greatest regret that day, as Sakura then went to town on Konohamaru as well.
With that beating done, Sakura walked off in anger. The two idiots finally getting over their pain, Konohamaru was still upset, "I don't even think she's human, did you see how wide her forehead was?"
Sakura stopped dead in her tracks everyone noticed this and watched as Sakura turned around with a menacing glare as everyone was whimpering in fright as Sakura then took off full speed after them.
The entire tried running as fast as they could until Konohamaru ran ahead and knocked into someone ahead of him, "Do you need something?" One of the said wearing a dark black shirt and hood with a large object on his back. The other was girl about heir age as well, with a large fan on her back wearing a mesh undershirt with a light-colored robe and a red sash.
The former then lifted Konohamaru by his neck as Konohamaru was now in pain. "So, does this hurt punk?"
"Konohamaru!" Naruto yelled in worry. "Put him down Kankuro, or you'll pay for it later." The girl tried to warn the boy named Kankuro as they now learned.
"Put him down, right now!" Naruto yelled out once more. Kakuro then noticed the symbol on their headbands, "So, these are the Leaf Village genin, huh?"
"We got a few minutes before he gets here, let's mess with these punks." Was what Kankuro said until Toshirama suddenly appeared before him with a kunai at his throat and grabbed the boy's arm tightly. Everyone looked at the white-haired boy as no one seemed to see him move at all.
"Drop him now, or would you rather go down as the ones who hurt the grandson of the Third Hokage?" Toshirama told them in a serious tone as they both were now in surprise who Kankuro was now holding.
"This is your last chance; I'm not asking a third time." Toshirama threatened, but Kankuro called his bluff, "Hah, punks like you are…" Without a moment's rest Toshirama broke Kankuro's wrist on his other hand, leading the boy to drop Konohamaru and letting Toshirama grab him and rejoin his group.
"You okay kid?" Toshirama sked him. Konohamaru nodded as his friends joined him in worry. Kankuro was now in pain as he now held his broken wrist in his other good hand.
"That's it, I've had it with you punks!" Kankuro said as he took off the object from his back, the girl then looked even more worried.
"Your going to use the Crow here?" She said in worry. Before that happened though a rock hit Kankuro's other hand forcing him to drop this "Crow" item on the floor.
Everyone looked up besides Toshirama as he knew who it was, "Well you took your time… Sasuke." Everyone looked to see Sasuke in the tree beside them as he had another rock in his hands.
"What are you all doing here in our village, your both a long way from home that's for sure." Sasuke stated.
"Well, another local hottie." The girl thought to herself as she clearly looked at both Toshirama and Sasuke more clearly.
"Get lost." Sasuke simply said as he crushed the rock he was holding. It was then Toshirama felt a dark presence and threw his kunai in the spot next to Sasuke only for a wall of Sand to stop it.
"Kankuro, back off." A dark voice spoke up as everyone looked to the tree that Sasuke was in had another ninja who was wearing a large gourd on his back and wearing a black shirt and a mesh underlay beneath.
"Temari, I told you stop Kankuro from causing trouble when I left to get supplies and now this mess, honestly what am I going to do with you guys?" A girl's voice spoke up as everyone turned again to find a young girl with light black hair and yellow eyes, wearing a black body jacket with a brownish-beige flak jacket over it; on her hip she carries a small canister with her.
"Mariko, you're back. You too, Gaara." Kankuro said now nervous as ever. "Mariko, your too soft, he's an embarrassment to our village." Gaara spoke up ignoring everyone else.
"I didn't even sense her, but that guy with the gourd, something about him is… troubling/The kid in the blue jacket, he was able to sense Gaara and he's fast enough to catch Kankuro off guard even." Toshirama and Mariko thought about the other.
"Look I know this seems bad, but they started see…" Kakuro began to explain himself, but Gaara didn't care, "Shut up, or I'll kill…"
"Gaara!" Mariko shouted as Gaara seemed to calm himself hearing the girls voice. Gaara then turned to Sasuke, "Mariko and I apologize for any trouble they've caused."
"This guy… he's gotten an evil in his look."/ "He stopped Kankuro with just a pebble, and that one in blue he found me before I said anything, he's fast." Sasuke and Gaara both though to themselves as they watched the other.
Gaara reappeared in a wave of sand in front of his teammates, "Come on, we didn't come here to play games." Gaara's team then started walking off when Sakura ran to them and asked, "Hold on, I know that the Hidden Sand and Leaf have an alliance, but why are you here?"
"You really are clueless aren't you, were here for the Chunin Exams, of course we have our passports that allow us to be here." Temari spoke up as she showed the document.
"Chunin Exams?" Naruto asked. "That's the test all the genin take to become a full-on Chunin and be promoted." Konohamaru explained.
"Hey, stop. Identify yourselves." Sasuke said as he hopped from the tree. "Huh, you mean me?" Temari asked with a slight blush on her face.
"No the one's with the gourd and the girl with the cannister on her hip." Sasuke informed. Gaara and Mariko stopped and turned around to answer him, "My name is Gaara of the Desert."
"I'm Mariko of the Iron Desert, I'm curious about you two." Mariko answered as well, also wanting to know the names of her potential opponents.
"I'm Sasuke Uchiha." The raven-haired boy spoke clearly, "My name's Toshirama Sora." The white-haired boy said
Both sides stared off as Gaara and Sasuke did, while Mariko and Toshirama did the same to each other.
"Hey there, I bet your dying to know my name, right? Naruto asked. "I could care less." Gaara simply replied and with that his team left.
"This is going to be fun, but still that dark feeling of Gaara's it reminds me of…" Toshirama thought to himself as he thought back to the Land of Waves.
Toshirama brought himself back to reality as the group then decided to splinter off once again; Sasuke left to either train or go home, Naruto found himself surrendering to Konohamaru's group, Sakura left to go back home as she was still mad from before.
That left Toshirama all alone, he decided that with the Chunin Exams now on his mind, a little walk was needed. He continued on for a while until he rounded a corner when someone bumped into him as they were running.
Both got up and looked at each other, the girl he found out was wearing a red uniform shirt with one sleeve missing wearing a mesh underlay with a beige sash on her waist. He black a hair and eyes stood out to the boy as the complete opposite to his hair.
"Hey bud, watch were your going next time alright?" The girl said in an angry tone. "Me!? You were the one running like an immature child, if anything you should be paying attention!"
The two looked like they were about to kill each other when the girl saw Toshirama's headband, she immediately back away. Toshirama noticed this and started towards his holster in case of trouble.
"Who are you, what's your name, what's a Stone ninja doing here, are you here for the Exams too?" Toshirama inquired. "Sure am, and why don't you introduce yourself little hotshot its only nice to introduce yourself first."
Not letting down his guard he replied, "My name is Toshirama Sora, and you?" The girl introduced herself, "The name's Kurotsuchi, and your right I'm from the Hidden Stone Village."
The two continued to stare off until another voice was heard, "Kurotsuchi, where are you?" The two looked to see a slender female with brown hair wearing a short, sleeveless dress with bandages on her waist and thighs.
"There you are, what are you doing with Leaf trash like this, I hope your not causing problems, young lady, should I tell your Lord Grandfather?"
Kurotsuchi flinched at the mention of her grandparent, "Grandfather, what do you mean?" Kurotsuchi turned and answered, "My grandfather thank you, is the Third Tsuchikage and one day I'll take his place just you watch!"
"Alright enough, let's go the team is waiting for us." The Stone jonin answered. "Yes, Tatsuko-sensei." Kurotsuchi answered as the two left, Toshirama was now even more hyped for the exams.
Kurotsuchi watched from the corner looking at Toshirama's back she thought to herself, "Hm, Toshirama Sora, huh? I've got my eyes on you."
But Toshirama's day was not done yet as he decided to take a quick trip to the market seeing as it was getting late, he now decided to run along in order to get things done faster. But he found himself once again in trouble when he ran into someone again.
This time he looked to see an older woman with fair skin who had a very curved figure, wearing mesh armor underneath her gray robes and waistline flak vest.
"I'm sorry about that ma'am, I wasn't paying attention." Toshirama said as he put his hand out to her. "It's cool, no harm was done." The woman says as she takes his hand and helps her up.
Toshirama then notices she's carrying a tanto on her backside and immediately steps back for his safety, "Why do you have that short sword and you have no headband, who are you?"
"Hm, I see your rather cautious, you were right to call me out, I am Samui of the Hidden Cloud, I'm here as the jonin in charge of my brother's team." Samui replied.
Toshirama still stood ready in case of anything, it wasn't until he heard a rather loud and boisterous voice was heard, "Hey, big sis, where are you, its so hot in this village even I can't stand it." A young man around Toshirama's age was seen with the same blonde hair as Samui carrying a sword on his back wearing a typical Hidden Cloud uniform.
"Atsui, where have you been, I've been looking everywhere for you." Samui said to her brother as looked slightly embarrassed.
"Well, uh in this hot weather I kind of lost my bearings, you see?" Atsui sheepishly replied as he looked to see the Leaf genin near his sister, Toshirama at first was ready for a fight but then heard the boy say:
"I see what's going on here, I never thought you'd be in the dating scene sis, but isn't he a bit young for you, I mean he looks like he's my age, right?"
Both Toshirama and Samui couldn't help but share a look of utter astonishment as they both looked at Atsui for a moment after what he just said.
"He's your brother?" Toshirama asked, his answer came in the form of Samui's annoyed utterance of "Yes, my hot-headed brother Atsui, who never seems to just play it cool."
Wanting to escape his current situation Toshirama quickly turned to say goodbye, "Well it was nice meeting you, maybe I'll see you all during the exam, perhaps?"
With that said Toshirama quickly left the scene and simply headed home. Samui looked on at the boy as he left, "The fact he stood his ground even against another jonin, I think that's rather… cool if you ask me, Toshirama Sora huh?"
Toshirama finally made it home and skipping dinner that night, he spent some more time studying until he finally went to bed and the next day came.
With the new day, Team 7 was waiting patiently for Kakashi as Sakura and Naruto voiced their displeasures of the constantly late jonin once again. Finally the one-eyed jonin arrived standing on one of the bridge gates and greeted his team.
"Hey guys, sorry I'm late, afraid I got lost on the path of life." Kakashi replied as if he said it a hundred times. "YOU LIAR!" Sakura and Naruto exclaimed.
"I know this a bit sudden, but I've recommended all four of you for the Chunin Exams. These are the application forms." Kakashi stated as handed all his students the forms.
"Application forms?" Sakura inquired. "You're repeating me Sakura, it's all voluntary; it's up to each of you whether or not you want to participate, you can always wait til next year." Kakashi stated.
"All right, Kakashi-sensei, you rock!" Naruto said excitedly as he jumped on Kakashi. "Hey, don't slobber on my vest." Kakashi said in annoyance taking Naruto off him.
"Whoever wants to take the exam, fill out the application and take it to room 301 at the Academy. It's at 3 P.M. five days from today, that's all." Kakashi finished as he vanished.
Team 7 was walking along all of them were thinking about there chances in the exams thinking of all the opponents they could possibly face.
"That Mariko girl was quite interesting she's not like that Gaara; there's also Kurotsuchi, and I wonder if that loudmouth I meet is any good?" Toshirama thought to himself. He turned around during his walk to see Sakura rather dejected.
"This is hopeless. I can't keep up with Sasuke. I can't even beat Naruto. I'll never pass these exams." Sakura thought to herself in dismay with a look of dread on her face.
Not one to leave a teammate in trouble, Toshirama approached the pinkette, "Hey, Sakura?" The kunoichi replied in surprise to see Toshirama in front of her.
"I know you feel like some sort of weak link but you're not, I know you've got the talent and potential to do this, were a team, we help each other out. So, how about I help you with your training for the rest of the week?" Toshirama offered to his teammate.
Sakura smiled in happiness and gave the white-haired genin a tight hug until the two realized how close they were and backed away from each other, both with blushes on their faces.
"W-w-well its late so we'll s-s-start tomorrow okay?" Toshirama tried to speak while stuttering at points. Sakura only nodded in agreement and the two walked off back to their houses.
They had 5 days to get ready, so that week would be the hardest they'd ever work to get stronger.
"It really was sweet of Toshirama to help me like this, but why though we haven't talked that much since the Land of Waves and back in the…" Sakura stopped herself thing about the first time she'd ever met Toshirama as kids.
"I think that's about the longest I've talked with Sakura since the Land of Waves, and she used to be so chatty when we were…" Toshirama stopped as well as he too thought back to that day, when they meet as kids.
AN#1 – Here's Chapter 7 of my Naruto story. Many new faces have appeared along with new rivals:
· Mariko and Gaara of the Hidden Sand
· Kurotsuchi of the Hidden Stone
· Samui and Atsui of the Hidden Cloud
With these three teams in the mix who knows how the game will change up!
If you guys have any questions, just remember to leave a PM or leave it in a review without potentially spoiling anything PLEASE!?
AN#2 – Remember to Favorite, Follow and Review! I wouldn't be here without you guys! :)
AN#3 – While I'm at it I've decided to add a new love interest to the bunch… Hanabi Hyuga
Now before you scream, they'll have nothing to do with each other until around Part II when I start her story after Sakura's and we finish the Last and start Boruto the Movie and the series!
I know have a general order I wish to follow:
· Sakura
· Hanabi
· Ino
· Tenten
· Kurotsuchi
· Samui