Kanimoto: Okay, this time I'm not even going to TRY making excuses for not updating sooner! I suck at updating, and I would be pleased if you would remember that!
*crickets*
Kani: And gomen nasai if this chapter is rather crappy...I was NOT in a writing mood when I wrote it...
Anywayz, read and review!!!
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"Do you know how to swim, Naruto?"
The question was posed tauntingly from Shinzuko as they ate breakfast the next morning.
Where did they eat breakfast? In a huge mess hall, where the cells from the Ryuuchi clan's seven families were also eating. Team Seven sat a table in the corner—away from the others.
"'Course I know how to swim!" Naruto retorted defensively over the chatter of shinobi at other tables. "I swam back home! Remember, Kakashi-sensei?"
Kakashi leaned back, crossing his arms over his chest. "If you're talking about the time I tested your balance and swimming abilities by having you walk across the lake on a rope, and you fell in and thrashed like a harpooned whale, and I had to rescue you and administer artificial respiration...then yes."
Sakura burst out laughing, while Sasuke and Shinzuko snickered. Kyote couldn't help smirking.
"You should've seen him," Sakura managed between giggles. "He was-"
"Shut up!" Naruto yelled suddenly. Grabbing three star-shaped shuriken, he leaped up, almost overturning the table as he lunged for his teacher.
Smiling under his mask, Kakashi easily caught the blond haired boy's wrist, working the shuriken from his hand.
"Calm down, Naruto," he said calmly, tucking the blades back into the young shinobi's holster and placing him back in his seat. "We're supposed to be eating."
Several genin from other tables turned to snicker. Literally blowing steam from his ears, a red-faced Naruto slumped low in his seat. Sensei...I'll get you...
"After we eat...I'm going to the hospital to see how Hikaru's doing," Shinzuko said after a moment. Immediately, the previous good mood of Team Seven was forgotten as they remembered their horror at seeing the Cobra Guardian.
Naruto stared unseeingly into his bowl. He knew that if Hikaru died, it would be his fault since the Konoha shinobi hadn't moved fast enough.
Okay...so maybe it isn't my fault, the blond haired shinobi reconsidered. But I still feel bad about it...
****
"Hikaru? You awake?"
The albino turned his head, letting a slight smile cross his face. "Hey...Shinzu-san," he whispered.
Shinzuko scowled with concern. "You feeling better? Kaasama said that the medicine took effect faster than it was supposed to..."
"I know..." Blue eyes dropped to the sheets. "Where's the team you're serving as a jônin for, niisama? Y'know...Team Seven?"
"They've gone on ahead to start their training. If we had gotten here on time...we wouldn't have had to rush." The black haired teenager kept his gaze on the ground.
"Who's Team Seven competing against?" Hikaru asked softly.
"Eh?" Shinzuko raised his eyes. "Team Iruka. Why?"
"B-but wasn't I supposed to be on that team?" Frowning, the light haired prodigy sat up. "I was part of this year's graduating Dolphin class!"
"Calm down." The young jônin lay a hand on the boy's forehead. "Kaasama and the other doctors said you're still not strong enough to fight."
"No!" Panic crossed Hikaru's face and his chest heaved. "But I wanted to be part of this! It's what I was doing all that extra training for! And the tournament's supposed to be the time for graduating Ryuuchi genin to see just how good they are!"
True...all true. This competition was created to test the new graduates... Shinzuko sighed. Unlike Kyote, he wasn't gentle enough to change his adopted brother's mind. "I'm sorry, Hikaru, but you can't be in the tournament this year! Do you understand?"
Seeing that his niisama was annoyed with having to deal with this, Hikaru glared at his hands. "No," he muttered finally.
"What?" Shinzuko grabbed the boy's shoulders. "You're still sick from the poison, Hikaru! What part of 'can't' don't you understand?!"
"The part where I come in, that's what!" The boy genius' eyes flamed. He grabbed his older sibling's gloved hand, squeezing hard. "I want to graduate with my class, Shinzu-san, and I'm not letting go until you let me compete with my team tomorrow!"
"No! I don't want you to get hurt anymore!"
"I'm not letting go, niisama." The albino tightened his fingers around the young jônin's hand.
Shinzuko grimaced. Hikaru had a death grip. "Look kid...it's not my decision to make." Squeeze. "But—ow!—I'll talk to Kaasama about it! All right?"
Hikaru glared at the teen skeptically. "...okay..."
"So can you let go of my hand now?"
****
"For the first round, Team Seven of Konoha Village and Team Iruka shall compete!"
"Good luck," Kyote said as the three genin got to their feet and started down the small hill.
"Yeah," added Shinzuko, although his voice was more sarcastic. "Good luck."
The three members of Team Iruka were waiting down in the valley below. For some strange reason they all—including Hikaru—looked bored. Sasuke noticed this.
"They don't think we'll put up that much of a fight," he said almost to himself.
Naruto silently agreed, but before he could reply, the call came to begin.
"Ha!" As expected, the first attack Team Iruka used was a torrent of shuriken.
"Get down!" Sasuke ordered, and the others hastened to obey.
While the three of Team Seven were on the ground, Hikaru made his move.
"Dolphin Style! Water Manipulation!"
"Gah!" Naruto rolled away as a tower of water gushed up from the ground itself. Hikaru held out his hands, still making the sign of the Dolphin, and the water slammed into the three genin. Shinzuko scowled when he saw this.
"Not one minute into the second round...and our team's already on the defensive," he noted.
Tempers flared within Team Seven. I'm gonna get you… Naruto thought angrily as he loaded his hands with shuriken and began running towards Team Iruka. Sasuke clenched his fists.
"No, Naruto!" he yelled. "Wait!" But it was too late. The second member of Team Iruka, Kasui, was preparing his attack.
He made several unfamiliar signs before calling, "Ice of the Dolphin!"
It was amazing how the technique appeared. A blinding flash of light, and then Naruto was slipping on ice. He hit his head hard, and his shuriken fell from limp hands.
Like a dart, Kasui skimmed across the ice and drew his harpoon. "Let's get one down!"
"No way!" Sasuke started forward. Breath of the Fireball Technique!
Heat? Kasui spun, causing himself to lose his balance and tumble in the path of the fire technique.
Rikiei, the third member of the Dolphin cell chose this time to intervene. "Water Style! Displacement!"
Before Sasuke knew what was happening, the Fireball technique he had used was exchanged for water. It splashed down harmlessly around the six shinobi.
Damn!
Naruto painfully climbed to his feet. Oh no. Oh...no, no...no... The boy froze as he saw Kasui's harpoon poised to strike above him.
A well-aimed shuriken caught the unsuspecting Iruka shinobi in his arm. Kasui spun and dropped his weapon, clutching his bleeding arm.
Thank you, Sakura...! Naruto used the chance to pounce. He forced the younger boy to the ground, pinning his arms behind his back. With his free hand, the blond haired boy drew a knife shuriken and held it against Kasui's neck.
No way! We haven't lost yet... "Kasui!" Hikaru shouted. "Bunshin no jutsu!" Immediately, six doppelgangers of the light haired prodigy appeared on the field. Naruto's eyes widened.
You're into doppelgangers too...?
The seven Hikaru clones drew a handful of something...
"Naruto can't handle them alone!" Sakura reminded Sasuke. "What're we waiting for?"
"You go on and help Naruto," Sasuke said quietly. "I have a plan."
"Huh?" But Sasuke had vanished with speed. Not knowing what else to do, Sakura created six of her own doppelgangers and ordered three of them to attack Hikaru's. She realized that the stuff in the boy's hands was...blinding powder...?
"Now, Hikaru!" Rikiei urged. "Do it...now!"
"Heh..." The instant Hikaru threw the powder, a violent flow of water surged down over him, ruining the sandy material he had thrown. "N-no!"
Sasuke lightly dropped to the ground before him. He grinned slightly. "So that's the Deluge of the Dolphin..." His hands made several other signs at blinding speed. "Let's see if I can do this technique...!" Dolphin Style! Toxic Water!
It was over in seconds. Liquid tons of black water spurted up from the ground, flooding over Hikaru, Rikiei, and Kasui. Naruto jumped clear of the stuff before it could touch him.
"N-not bad, Sasuke," he ventured when he could breathe. The black haired boy waved a hand.
"Forget it."
"How'd you do those techniques?" Sakura asked as Team Iruka got to their feet.
A sudden darkness clouded gray eyes. "I..." Sasuke's voice trailed off. "I'll tell you later."
Before Sakura could press the matter further, their opponents attacked.
Ox! Hawk! Dolphin! Hikaru, Kasui, and Rikiei raised their hands in the sign of the Dolphin. Iruka Style! Three-Pronged Attack!
Sakura quickly retaliated as the three-fold assault came down upon them. She flashed the signs of the Cobra, Hawk, Tiger...before stopping at the Dragon sign. Ryuu Style! One Thousand Flames!
"Wah!" A wall of fire shot before Team Seven, so great that it consumed Team Iruka's technique and burned them, too.
Kyote's eyes widened slightly as he saw this. I didn't remember Sakura having so much power...
His thought was echoed by Sasuke and Naruto as the inferno vanished, leaving Team Iruka badly beaten.
"H-how'd...you do that?" Naruto demanded when he regained control of his vocal chords.
Sakura grinned. "I've been practicing!" And now that I'm getting better, maybe Sasuke will like me...
"The first round goes to Team Seven!"