Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto and gang. Just playin' with 'em ;P. Any OCs you see in the story are mine.
Notes: Mad chapter. Sorry for the delay, but school and warcraft3 were in the way ;p. Anyway, this chapter is my longest, because I had a sudden urge to just write madly, so. . .um, yeah. Again, thank you to all who reviewed. Kyuubi no Tai, check my profile. Sorry if I had offended you in any way. Meep, Idon'tquiteunderstand what you are saying, but this fic is set before the chunnin exam arc, so Sadaime is still alive. Tsunade is not hokage, but she is in town.
To the rest, all I have to say is that chakra chaos is not fully explained yet. Try to make your guess from this chapter! Enjoy!
Chapter Nine: Silver Bells and Orange Books
". . .Hatake Kakashi. My dreams are few, my hobbies are none of your concern. I like and dislike various things," he said, carelessly flicking his silver hair away.
Sakura and Sasuke raised their eyebrows. In a sentence, their new sensei managed to evade their every question, and yet answer them at the same time.
"You forgot very unpunctual," muttered Sakura under breath, crossed that their sensei had arrived three hours after the supposed time.
"You, the black-haired one," Kakashi motioned, ignoring the murmur of the kunochi.
"Uchila Sasuke. My hobbies are few, I like tomatoes, and dislike people who get in my way," he uttered, giving a pointed look at Sakura. "My dream. . .is to kill a certain man."
Kakashi nodded slightly in acknowledgement, his mask and headband hiding the jounin's reaction.
Sakura stared at her crush with love struck eyes --- HOW COOL! her inner voice screamed --- before shaking her head and introducing herself.
"Haruno Sakura. My hobbies are research, mediation. I like my friends, like Haku and Hinata and. . .
She eyed Sasuke, who looked away with his eyes closed. A faint blush tinged his white complexion.
"I dislike bullies! My dream is to one day be a great medic-nin and, um. . ."
She stared at Sasuke again before giggling madly.
Kakashi signed. A love struck girl and a stubborn boy. At least the girl is willing to put some effort into being a nin, or she'd be useless. Let's hope the last member is more open and hardworking. . .
---
Sasuke growled. Not only was the dead-last in his team, the guy did not even know he graduated! Now, he was standing behind his sensei and Sakura, both of them hammering loudly on Naruto's door.
His patience already at the thinniest, the dark-haired ninja was about break and unleash a Katon jutsu onto the door when it swung open.
"Eh, hello?"
A blond peeked out from behind, his hair glistening with sweat. His clear blue eyes stared questioningly at the three. Naruto was aware of their looks, especially on the bandages wrapped tightly around him. Already, his chakra was snapping free of its chains, snarling and whipping furiously while it struggled to get free.
He had to return to his mediation quickly.
"Um, can I help you?" Naruto asked politely, mentally gulping when he noticed the rising killer intent.
Sakura twitched. His hands were about to fling around the blond's neck to break it painfully when her sensei spoke out.
"Kento Narashi?" Kakashi asked, his unhidden eye lazily scanning the boy. "Iruka, on a second penning, decided to pass you. Thus, you are assigned to Team Seven, along with Haruno Sakura and Uchila Sasuke."
Naruto cocked his head sideways, as if to judge whether the jounin was joking or not. "Really? I thought I failed."
"Iruka decided that it was a erroneous decision to fail you, and has decided to promote you to a genin."
"I see. . ." Naruto answered slowly, gritting his teeth as a searing flame leapt through his veins. "Um, that's nice and all, but I'm a little busy now. Anything else?"
Kakashi was surprised and mildly curious that the blond was that excited that he graduated. Narrowing his eye, the silver-haired man noticed the slight tremble of his body and the grit of his teeth.
Strange. . .why is he in pain?
"Well Narashi, you need to pass a second test to officially be confirmed as a genin. The second test is in ten minutes, Training Area Four. Get changed and meet us there."
Weakly nodding, Naruto swiftly closed the door. Sliding down onto the floor, he closed his eyes. His body was ablaze with agony. His blood bubbled. Invisible needles dug deep into his skin. His bones rattled, slowly cracking and snapping.
GET A HOLD OF YOURSELF BOY. IT'S ALL IN YOUR MIND! IT'S NOT REAL! SNAP OUT OF IT YOU STUPID PANSY!
The loud, contemptuous snarl of Kyuubi jerked Naruto out of his delirious state. Struggling to stand, the boy grabbed a short piece of wood before stumbling into the spare, empty room of his apartment.
Naruto stuffed the wood into his mouth. Clamping the pain down, he forced the trembling to stop as he arranged his fingers in seals.
Tiger. Dragon. Fox. Tree. Flower. Grass. Rat. Cat. Dog.
He felt his chakra explode, seeping out of the chakra holes. His teeth bit deeply into the wood as waves of white-hot pain peeled off his skin and crushed his lungs. Naruto could not breathe as the malevolent energy pressed down on him.
Seal. . .of. . .snake! Ten-part, chakra control technique, invisible seal-type method five.
The twirling energies screamed and howled as invisible chains grabbed them, drawing them back into the prison within the blond. They clawed the ground, their misshapen talons leaving an ugly tear on the floor.
Naruto gasped as the chakra was forcibly dragged back into his veins. Laying on the ground, the blond coughed. Blood dribbled out of his mouth. Panting, the boy closed his eyes, going into a semi trance.
Can you heal this, Kyuubi?
PERHAPS. BUT NOT SO QUICKLY. IT'D TAKE AT LEAST TWO HOURS.
Kuso.
I SUGGEST YOU HURRY. YOU ONLY HAVE ABOUT THREE MINUTES TO GET TO THE TRAINING AREA.
Craning his head back to glance at the clock on the wall, Naruto realized the damned fox was right.
"KUSO!"
---
"GOMENASAI!"
Naruto yelled as he hurried up to his team-mates.
"I had to do something," he said sheepishly. "Gomen."
At least he's polite, Sakura thought.
Kakashi just waved his apology away.
"Whatever. Now, let's get things started. The objective of this test is to grab these two silver bells---" the jounin said while waving the bells. "---from me. Notice that there are only two bells here. Therefore, one of you will fail."
Sasuke gave a faint smile, excited to test his skills against a jounin. Sakura was less excited, but had a confident smile on her.
Naruto however, cursed his luck again.
NOOOOOOOOOO! NOT AGAIN! I CAN'T POSSIBLY FIGHT IN THIS STATE!
DEAL WITH IT PANSY. NOT EVERY BATTLE WILL GO YOUR WAY.
Stupid fox. . .shut up, grumbled the blond.
"Yo, Narashi! Aren't you supposed to be hiding and waiting for a chance to attack me?"
"Nani?" asked Naruto, whipping his head left and right only to realize his team-mates already left to hide.
Great, what wonderful team-mates I have.
"Well, I guess I just have to defeat you by myself, EH?" smirked Naruto loudly. Let's see how bad my condition is.
Kakashi twitched at the loud boy's arrogance. Wonder why Iruka even promoted him.
Suddenly, Naruto leapt forward. He slid to the front of the silver haired man, furiously kicking sand up into his face, before darting forward with several kunai between his fingers. The blond closed his eyes, using his innate sense of heat to pinpoint Kakashi. He thrust the metal knifes forward, grinning when he felt his blades being parried away.
He's a jounin after all.
Strafing left to avoid any counter, Naruto crouched and swung his leg in a sweeping arc while flicking the kunai into the air above. A small, triumphant smile spread across Naruto's face when he heard the thud of his knives burying themselves in the truck of a log.
Suddenly, pain shot up and all over his body, forcing the blond onto his knees. Blood oozed out of his mouth, forming a single, glistening line down his chin.
DAMNIT BRAT! YOUR BODY HASN'T RECOVERED YET AND NOW YOU GO AROUND OVER-EXERTING IT? ARE YOU FUCKING INSANE?!
Stuff it fox, I just forgot, grunted Naruto, extremely annoyed and irritated by the searing sting. Damnit, what am I gonna do now? I can't fight him this way. . .
---
Sasuke widened his eyes when Naruto had ran at Kakashi and swiped the jounin with his kunai. Then the battle was dragged into a midst of dust, which blocked Sasuke's view of the fight. When the dust settle, the dark-haired boy smirked as he saw the blond on ground, in pain with blood dribbling out from the side of his mouth.
"Dumbass. Attacking a jounin head-on like that."
---
Kakashi panted slightly as he peeked through the leaves from his perch in the tree.
The boy was fast, any very deadly. For a genin with no battle experience whatsoever, the blond had cleverly used his surroundings to his advantage, and attacked with the intent of injuring the him.
Interesting. . .
Suddenly, he saw the boy drop down onto the ground, in obvious pain. Before he could do anything, Naruto already ran into the bushes.
Strange, I didn't touch him. How could he be injured?
---
Naruto tired leaned back against a tree, falling into a semi-meditative state. Slowly, he felt his awareness increase ten-fold. The raging maelstrom of chakra within him howled, swirling around him in angry laps. The blond did not try to tame it; instead, he channelled the power into his surroundings, sifting through the leaves and bushes. He stretched out to it, temporary calming the fierce energy with a gentle caress.
Knowing that he did not have six hours to do a complete meditative chakra control technique, Naruto called out to the shimmering energy again, whipping it into a glimmering green sea. The water washed over him, enveloping him a cool embrace, soothing the sharp ache over his body.
While he let himself be healed, Naruto kept his awareness up on the battlefield. It may have been hard, being in a trance and watching reality at the same time, but after doing it for more than six years, it was second nature.
Sasuke had attacked furiously, unleashing Katon jutsu one after another. The battlefield was scorched, blackened as Kakashi calmly ducked and dodged his punches and kicks. The jounin's actions were polished, almost liquid-like as he twisted his body left and right to avoid flying shurikens. The battle ended shortly when Kakashi suddenly disappeared and pulled the surprised boy into the ground with a Doton: Shinjuu Zanshu no Jutsu.
Sakura also tried to defeat Kakashi. Apparently, she had taken to wearing weights, improving her speed greatly when she dropped them to the ground. Using needles, she ran around the jounin, flicking them at him. Kakashi used his kunai well, deflecting some, dodging the rest. In the end, Sakura ran out of stamina, and was defeated by a genjutsu of Sasuke being pierced by the needles she had flung.
Wow, Kakashi-sensei's sadistic.
I THINK I LIKE HIM ALREADY.
Slowly, Naruto extracted himself from the trance. He had no time to waste.
QUICKLY. YOU HAVE NOT FULLY TAMED THE BEAST. HURRY, OR IT WILL AWAKEN AGAIN.
Naruto nodded. Already, he could feel the chakra growling again.
We need to work together to defeat Kakashi-sensei. Let's hope Sakura and Sasuke will understand that.
---
Kakashi glanced around, seemingly bored. Underneath the mask, however, he was cautious. Sasuke and Sakura were good, with great potential. In fact, Sasuke and Sakura reminded greatly of Rin and himself.
The last member, however, was an enigma. Iruka had suddenly revoked the grade, and passed him. From what he heard, the boy could not even do a simple Bushin no Jutsu.
Yet, when the blond had attacked him, he attacked with a power and style unheard of by Kakashi. The boy relied heavily on surprise and randomness to achieve his goals. He led Kakashi to underestimate him, before attacking straight on. He had no pattern, in fact, from what Kakashi could see, the boy forced himself to attack without a pattern. Everything relies on the fact that his opponent could not read or anticipate his movements.
Another strange fact was that for a minute, Kakashi had pinpointed Naruto's position from his chakra. Yet, the chakra presence suddenly enveloped the whole area, giving the impression that Naruto was everywhere.
Then, as suddenly as the chakra inflation had come, it disappeared. It was only because that Kakashi had, under the insistence of his sensei, taken meditation as an morning exercise that allowed the jounin to spot it.
The immense chakra presence had completely melded into the surroundings, mimicking that faint energies of the earth, water, trees, flowers. This time, Naruto was hidden, completely camouflaged in his surroundings.
That boy. . .who is he, really?
Suddenly, he felt a slight flicker of chakra behind him.
Spinning around, a kunai in his hands, Kakashi slammed it against a shuriken, deflecting the projectile. Sliding another kunai into his palm, the jounin brought it up, blocking another shuriken.
"Narashi."
The blond did not reply. His eyes were closed, his fingers were in a strange position. A seal? he wondered.
Suddenly, the boy was off, running furiously around him. Kakashi could match up in speed, circling cautiously as he tried to discern the jutsu Naruto was forming.
Dragon, dog, rat, wait, what's that? Hmm, more unfamiliar seals. What is he doing?
Suddenly, a small black cloud gathered above Naruto, pouring a huge amount of rain onto the blond. Then, the cloud disappeared, leaving a wet smirking blond.
"Gomen, Kakashi-sensei."
Suddenly, the boy leapt forward again, twirling his hands in strange formations while he ducked, dodged and twisted his way around Kakashi's attacks.
Pleasantly surprised, Kakashi grinned under his mask, stepping up his speed. Naruto, realizing his sensei was getting a tad more serious, smirked in excitement.
Come, sensei.
Testing his seals, he quickly experimented with the seals, checking which seal drew chakra in a particular type. Finally, he perfected the seal formation. He had, in his meditation, picked up Kakashi's Doton Jutsu. Although it was dangerous to experiment in battle, it was part of strategy to confuse his enemy.
"Yo, sensei, remember this?"
Kakashi widened his eyes when his student suddenly disappeared with a soft murmur of "Doton: Shinjuu Zanshu no Jutsu".
Then, Naruto was behind him. Mud slapped on his vest as Kakashi sidestepped the attack. But Naruto, who was covered in mud, skidded on the sand, kicking against the ground and launching himself at Kakashi. Silently, Naruto freed some of his chakra. It had snapped and snarled, lashing out furiously at Kakashi's chakra, temporary messing it up, causing the jounin to be unable to do a Kawarimi no Jutsu.
Kakashi tried to dodge, but Naruto grabbed his vest, pulling the jounin towards himself. He latched his mud-covered body on his sensei anchoring him on the spot.
"NOW!"
Sasuke suddenly leapt out of a tree, his hands already ending off a jutsu. Cupping his hands over his mouth, Sasuke yelled "Katon: Goukakyuu no Jutsu!", before unleashing a fury storm of fire.
It was all that Kakashi heard before the huge fire engulfed him.
Dizzily, he felt a genjutsu being lifted off him and the bells pried from his vest. It was then when he realized the genjutsu was a simple Ishiki Mumikansou dulled senses which, although slowed one's senses and reactions, but was extremely easy to dispel. Yet, considering Naruto had attacked him head-on, he was focused on the blond, causing him to let the genjutsu go unnoticed.
Lifting himself up from the ground, he staggered into a sitting position. The noon sun shone brightly on the training grounds. Sasuke was faintly blushing as he held a dead-tired looking Sakura up. Naruto was sitting, scraping off the baked mud that protected him from the flames.
Smiling cheerfully, Kakashi passed the his first genin team.
"Congratulations. You three, PASS! Hmm, how about I treat you to a meal?"
Naruto grinned, trying hard to conceal his pain. It was growing worse and worse by the second.
"Look guys, I'm, err, not feeling well. I think I better rest at home. See you tomorrow!" he croaked, before dashing home.
His team-mates raised their eyebrows, but shrugged it off. Kakashi narrowed his eyes, but said nothing.
---
The blond staggered into his spare room, kicking the door close. Soon, his skin cracked while his bones rattle. His chakra rose, clawing its way out of Naruto, shaking furiously against its binds. Long, bleeding gashes split his skin open. Dozens of glimmering yellow eyes glared at the boy.
Meditative control stance, level six. Chakra control seal, release.
Closing his eyes, Naruto felt the world slip away, falling into a deep, inky, darkness. The chains on chakra shattered. Pain echoed in the abyss, but it was dulled. The howls of the angry sea throbbed painfully in his ears, but he ignored it. He stretched his hands out, seeking to calm the churning water.
Sooth it, not control it. Sing to it, for you can never befriend it. Calm it, for its rage will destroy you.
Remembering Iikagen's words well, the boy sat in the middle, singing to the rampant, violent energy that circled him. It twisted and shrieked, slamming against the wall while slashing the concrete. It howled, biting deep into the blond's body, leaving a multitude of cuts and wounds on his skin. Dust swirled around the room as the chakra, in the form of a large dog, savagely attacked the walls. Plaster and bits of bricks were chipped off.
It leapt at Naruto, shredding his shirt and tearing his skin. Blood flowed onto the ground, forming a red pool and trembled and quailed under the immense power.
Slowly, the dog quietened, circling the sitting boy. Its yellow, bloodshot eyes stared unblinking at the boy, before shimmering out of existence with a whispery snarl.
The evening rays shone through the broken window, onto Naruto as he slumped to the floor into his blood. His gashes slowly closed, forming a scar, which already started to fade.
---