Hello all. Someone asked a while ago why my numbering changed. The thing is, I like to separate my parts when my storyline changes settings or areas, so I label them 1.1, 1.2, etc. However, doesn't recognize the dots, so it comes out 11, 12, 20 and so on. Sorry for the confusions thought I know its no big deal. Well, on to the story.
Part 2.1: Gifts Given and Lessons Learned
It had been nearly two weeks since the journey to the Thunder Country started, and Naruto had hated the entire experience from day one. Every morning he was greeted with the usual jeers of "Naruto could you get breakfast for me; Naruto this fire is getting low, chop some wood; Naruto, watch the perimeter, you're not doing anything important; Naruto, clean up after Akamaru, we wouldn't want the enemy following a trail." (With the latter comment coming from Kiba). By midday he had already performed the tasks of at least twenty people. It was as much as an exhausting experience as it was an annoying one. He just seemed to be like the personal maid for the entire group. TenTen was much the same way, and by midday she had already collapsed twice from exhaustion only for Lee to pick up the slack and continue with the work.
Lee seemed to be the only one of the group that was enthusiastic about the experience. Along with the usual training he already did, he also did most of the chores required of them. Anytime Naruto or TenTen would slow down, Lee would simply pick up the slack and work even harder. Naruto didn't know whether to admire his enthusiasm or pity his naiveté.
However, the chores were the least of their worries. After all, Gai had promised a 'most rigorous, personal training experience with the great azure beast', and he certainly did deliver...
"Alright Naruto, are you ready for your most rigorous, personal training experience with the great azure beast?" Gai asked in a voice full of enthusiasm.
Naruto had just finished cleaning up what was left of the campsite and was feeling less than enthusiastic. What he really wanted to practice was hitting Gai over and over again for making this stupid deal. Naruto sighed heavily, "Yeah, I guess so."
"Naruto, I do believe that was less than passionate, and I will except nothing less than your most passionate best," lectured Gai, "So give me the best 'I am ready for my most rigorous, personal training experience Gai-Sensei' that you can give me."
Naruto seethed with rage. He felt that if he clenched his teeth any harder they would break inside his mouth. However, for the sake of just possibly having a really useful training session with Gai, he said through clenched teeth, "I am ready for my most...rigorous, personal training experience with Gai-Sensei, the thick browed bastard," Naruto added in a low mutter.
"Well, I guess I'll get Lee later to show you how to do it properly. However, now we come to the training itself. Naruto, I have been watching your progress very carefully, and I have come to the following, most knowledgeable conclusion. Your main problem is that while you have a variety of interesting ninjutsu, your taijutsu skills are still abysmal. Did I not teach you that the true Taijutsu users are the most powerful, punctual, and prettiest ninjas in the world? Why do you think that Lee and I are the best looking guys here?"
Naruto could have thought of several comebacks to this but kept his comments to himself and continued to listen. "How can you say my Taijutsu is bad Gai-sensei, my style is one of my own personal ones. Its, um, a style that, well, catches my opponents off guard using my...amazing strategic skills." 'Wow,' Naruto thought, 'that sounds so good. I'm such a smooth guy.'
"Is that so Naruto,' said Gai, with a slight tone of malevolence in his voice. "Well then, you wouldn't mind proving it to me." He began to walk towards the middle of the clearing. "Naruto, for this exercise, I want you to hit me once, anything goes."
'Anything goes,' thought Naruto. He smiled deviously, 'This is going to be a piece of cake. I'll have this bowl-headed, super eyebrowed, egotistical idiot on his back and begging for mercy in no time.'
Gai took his usual battle stance with one arm crooked behind his back in a fist, while the other was held in front of him, bent at the elbow turned upward with the back of his hand facing Naruto. He was still smiling at Naruto and gave a small flick of his fingers signaling Naruto to start.
Naruto went into a big, foxish grin and started his attack. "Kage-bunshin no jutsu," he yelled, and ten clones of Naruto appeared next to him. They encircled Gai from all side, but Gai still stood in the same position. He either did not see some of the clones go behind him, or he did not care. Naruto was annoyed at this, 'So, underestimating me are you,' he thought. He thought for a moment and then decided for two of the clones to attack Gai's legs from behind while the rest hit him from the front. His clones nodded in silent agreement, yet Gai still stood resolute, a big smile plastered on his face.
Suddenly, Naruto's clones from the front attacked going high and low while the ones behind Gai went low and for the legs. Gai still stood in the same position, as if he didn't even notice that Naruto had begun his assault. Suddenly, Gai moved the arm in front of him and swept the air in one single, lightning quick motion. Naruto couldn't believe his eyes as all the clones going high had disappeared in a poof of smoke. Gai then grabbed the two going low by their clothes and flung them into the air, delivering a fist in the back to each one.
Despite this, Gai kept his gaze on Naruto, not moving his head throughout the ordeal. Naruto smirked as the clones behind Gai came in for the kill. However, Gai did a small hop in the air and landed on top of the clones, one foot on each, causing them both to disappear. Gai landed and went back to his original position, his eyes never having left Naruto.
'Alright freak, you want to play rough then?' thought Naruto. "Kage bunshin no jutsu," said Naruto with sixteen clones appearing this time. Naruto and his clones encircled Gai again, but just like last time, Gai only kept his eyes on the real Naruto. Naruto made a low growl and charged at the same time as his clones. They were only a few feet from Gai when he made his move.
"Konoha Senpuu," yelled Gai before performing a complete whirlwind kick, deflecting Naruto's attack completely and sending Naruto, himself, sprawling away from Gai, hitting his head hard against a tree. Naruto winced in pain, rubbing what would most likely be a painful knot on his head later on.
Naruto was livid over his second failed attack. He stood up on his feet and glared at Gai, who stared back only to give Naruto a very shiny smile.
"That's it bowlhead, now I'll show you what I'm really made of," screamed an irate Naruto. He again created his shadow clones but this time left one next to him in order to help with his most powerful attack. The clones charged at Gai, attempting to cut his gaze from Naruto. However, Gai gracefully countered every clone Naruto threw at him, destroying each one in a puff of smoke. Suddenly, something rustled in the bushes behind them and Gai's attention was diverted.
'Now's my chance,' thought Naruto. He held out his right hand, channeling charka into it with the help of the clone next to him. The charka swirled into a bright blue ball in the center of his hand. A loud whirring sound was heard amidst the fighting. Finally, the rasengan was focused. 'Alright moron, now you're going to get it!' thought Naruto. He charged at Gai, the rasengan held out in front of him, cutting through the wind making a slight whistling noise to accompany the already whirring sound emanating from it.
Gai's focus went back to Naruto; there was a slight look of surprise on his face as Naruto leapt into the air and attempted to drive the rasengan into Gai's chest. However, the look of surprise was replaced with the same smile Gai had started out with.
Naruto came closer to Gai, traveling through the air with his target right in front of him. He was closer now, only inches from Gai; Naruto could see the force of the rasengan rippling Gai's bodysuit. "You're mine!" shouted Naruto.
It all happened in an instant. Gai bent his back to the point where he was horizontally parallel with the ground, and Naruto sailed right over him. Naruto looked on, wide-eyed in surprise as his rasengan failed to hit its mark. Gai quickly rolled under Naruto and shifted his weight to one hand, bringing his legs around to give a strong kick to Naruto's backside sending him sprawling towards another tree.
Naruto flailed in the air, but managed to allow the rasengan to hit the tree first, slowing his dive into the tree. The rasengan took a large hole out of the tree and left a large spiral mark all across the trunk. Naruto sighed in relief only to hear a crack above him. He looked up to see a broken branch strike him squarely in the face, promptly knocking him on his back.
Naruto groaned in pain as he lay on the forest floor. It was pretty cold, even though the air itself was warm. He heard bellowed laughter and looked up from his position. Gai was laughing heartily at his predicament. Naruto wanted to go over there and punch him, but then thought better of it.
Finally, Gai's laughter subsided, "Now do you get what I'm saying Naruto?" he said. "You have some very amazing skills, but you just don't know how to use them properly yet. You are rough at this point in time, but with my most amazing teaching abilities, I can teach you to shine!"
"WOW, isn't Gai-Sensei incredible!," came a noise from the bushes.
Gai looked over and quickly pulled out an eavesdropping Lee. Lee laughed nervously, "I was just, uh, looking for firewood Gai-Sensei."
At first, Naruto thought Gai would berate Lee in his usual fashion. However, Gai rubbed his chin as if he had just come up with an idea. "Most excellent timing Lee," said Gai, "We're in luck Naruto, I have just devised another most brilliant training exercise for you."
Naruto stared at Gai dumbfounded, 'What could he possibly want me to do with Lee, unless...'
"Naruto," continued Gai, "you will spar with Lee while I make notes on your form and abilities. Now go to the opposite side of the clearing for here you will learn a most important lesson."
Naruto proceeded to go to the other side of the clearing of trees. Gai seemed to be whispering something to Lee. When he was finished, Lee saluted him and gave a resounding, "Yes Gai-Sensei".
Naruto prepared his stance, 'Thickbrows shouldn't be a problem. I can just catch him off guard with some of the shadow clones,' thought Naruto.
"Oh," said Gai, "I almost forgot, for this match Naruto, you can use no ninjutsu. Anything else goes, but no ninjutsu. Alright, begin."
"Wait a second, no ninjutsu, what are you talki-" but either Lee had not heard Naruto's pleas or did not care. He was already rushing towards him; however, Naruto's focus was on Gai, attempting to get his attention.
Lee came in fists blazing, delivering five punches to the stomach and chest before Naruto had time to respond. Naruto look up eyes wide, and the last words he heard before he lost consciousness were "Konoha Senpuu".
Such had been the routine for Naruto for about a week and a half. He was now standing beside the river attempting to catch enough fish for about twenty people. Fishing was scarce, as the weather seemed to go through a paradigm shift as they approached the Thunder Country. What little signs of life were left in the land as they had approached it, seemed to be choked out of it, replaced by hard snow, sleet, and a frost that killed all plant life. The river itself was moving at a very quick pace, so it remained unfrozen. Gai was with him, watching him catch fish. Naruto glared at Gai, 'Another one of these stupid training exercises eh?' Gai merely grinned his bright, shiny smile at Naruto and waved him into the water.
Naruto stared angrily at Gai, but then jumped in head first. The water was frigid, chilling him to the very core. He looked around quickly trying to find a fish as fast as possible. One finally caught his eye and he swimmed quickly towards it. Fortunately, the frigidness of the water affected the fist more than Naruto. The fish swam frantically against the current of the water, but Naruto swam faster, determined to end this ludicrous exercise. He stretched his hand out, his fingers numb, barely moving outward. He slowly gripped the skin of the struggling fish. He swam to the surface, taking in a gasp of air as the wind whipped around him, freezing him completely. He slowly made his way to the shore, throwing the fist onto land to ensure he had it.
"Excellent work Naruto," shouted Gai, "Your most youthful eyes seem to have finally seen that my training methods will bring you glory and recognition like you have never seen before."
Naruto's hair had completely frozen as small icicles now clung to it. He was freezing, even more so than he was in the water, but Gai continued to praise him and his training methods. Finally Naruto turned to Gai, still shaking, "How does diving into icy water, catching fish, and almost being frozen to death have to do with any type of training!?" he shouthed, "You still haven't told me what this most important lesson you were going to teach me was."
Gai scratched his head for a minute and looked up, "Oh yeah," he laughed, "I guess I was supposed to tell you that wasn't I?"
Naruto fell to the ground in amazement, but quickly came back up to his feet. "THAT'S THE WHOLE REASON I'VE BEEN DOING THIS YOU IDIOT!!" he bellowed.
Gai quickly regained his composure and continued. "Well, I guess its about time you learned this most important lesson Naruto, you see- " He was cut off mid-sentence from someone approaching behind them.
"Gai," said Kakashi, "they've arrived, we need everybody back at camp." Gai nodded his agreement and followed Kakashi beckoning Naruto to do the same.
"WHAT!" shouted Naruto, "Wait a second Gai-sensei you haven't told me the lesson yet."
"Come on Naruto, that can wait," said Gai, "Our allies are here and I think we should take time to properly greet them."
Naruto furrowed his brow in confusion, 'Allies?' he thought.
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Raan slowly opened his eyes to find himself in a hospital bed, looking up at the ceiling. He could hear the cacophony of a hospital busy at work; with people shuffling in and out of rooms, sending people to the ER, and prepping patients for surgery. He slowly sat up and looked around. His clothes were setting in a chair next to his bed, and a variety of flowers and gifts sat at a bed stand to his right. The room was ridiculously white, and appeared very bright despite the absence of light in this country. There was a single window in the room. It looked like morning, as the usually dark grey clouds had turned into a white-grey combination as sunlight made a futile attempt to pass through it. It was snowing, though lightly so. It stuck to the window for a few seconds before the heat inside the room turned it into water, which slowly trickled down it.
Raan attempted to move, but found it painful to do so. He looked down at himself. He was in abysmal condition. Half of his body was covered with a blanket, but his upper body was in bad enough shape to suggest the same for the lower. His ribs were heavily taped, 'Probably broken again,' he thought. 'I'd be lucky if they left me without any internal injuries this time.' His hands were heavily bandaged as well. He moved his left index finger only for a shockwave of pain to erupt in his body. 'Broken too I guess.' The rest of his hands seemed no worse for wear. There were several serrations across his arms that had been bandaged up with medical tape. Dried blood was everywhere on his body in splotches and streaks, almost like tribal markings. He gingerly moved parts of his body to see what else was done. Although it hurt to breath and part of his chest look like raw meat, he was alright. 'I guess they've gotten bored with me,' he thought. He allowed himself a small chuckle, only to grasp his ribs in pain. He looked over on the bedstand and retrieved a metal pan. He slowly turned it around to see his reflection in the metal. His eyes were black and puffy, though not too swollen. The rest of his face was inflamed heavily, along with a long dribble of dried blood emanating from his mouth.
"Oh, you're up," said a pleasant voice in the doorway. A young nurse stood in the doorway, dressed in a blue gown that clung to her body. Her hair was short and brown, and her eyes were viewing over some chart, turning pages as she went. She chewed on a pen in apprehension.
Raan stared at her with a bored expression as she entered the room. She went over to the left side of the bed facing the window. She slowly grabbed his arm at the wrist and looked at her stopwatch. She then replaced his arm on the bedside and quickly scribbled something down on her chart. It was at least a few minutes of different tests before she spoke.
"Well," she said, "it doesn't look like any permanent damage, though I wouldn't do anything physical for a few weeks. How did you end up like this anyway?"
Everything came flooding back to Raan at that precise moment. He remembered the intense beating he had received at the hands of Set. 'Julius usually isn't as into these things as Set it, thankfully.' He looked up at the nurse.
"Well," he started.
Set lashed out at him, his fist connected with his abdomen, shoving Raan back a good ten feet. He clutched his stomach and saw Set rearing up a kick for his face...
"...I can't remember exactly..."
A dozen shuriken flew at him. Raan kept most of them away from his vital areas, but many of them stuck into his arms and legs. Raan looked up, as Set delivered a roundhouse kick to his face, knocking him on the ground sideways. He could feel the blood begin to form in his mouth, the copper taste engulfing his senses. He turned around on his back; Set had jumped in the air, readying a knee to be placed into his chest...
"I remember I was in a room somewhere..."
He felt his back slam against the wall. Raan fell to his knees, coughing profusely. Blood had now risen in his throat and he threw up the blood and bile solution on the ground. He pushed himself up the wall for support. Set grabbed his arm at the wrist suddenly and rammed the palm of his other hand into Raan's back elbow, dislocating the joint. Raan screamed in pain as Set cackled madly...
"...and I think I..."
"Cut it out Set, you've beaten him enough," said a very cool voice coming from the side of the room. The figure walked forward, his boots making a dull thud against the wood of the floor. Set had Raan by his throat in the air now. He threw him harshly to the ground. Raan coughed up more blood, some dribbling down the side of his mouth.
"Oh Brother Julius, you always ruin my fun," said Set very jokingly.
"He said he came here to talk to you, not be beaten within an inch of his life," scolded Julius, his tone always serious. He looked at what was left of Raan, "What did you want anyway before we interrupted you?"
Raan could not respond with anything but a slight gurgle as blood and bile filled his mouth. Julius simply shook his head, "See, now he can't even talk," said Julius.
"Well," said Set, in a very cheerful tone, "it seems our business is concluded then. I guess I'll show you the door." And with that, picked Raan up by the collar and threw him violently through the doors of the building back into the snow. Raan landed in the snow, the cold feeling washing over him. He raised his head slightly from the ground and watched Julius and Set staring at him. All he could see was their eyes. Set's eyes were a blood red with a perpendicular black marking crisscrossing in the middle of them. Julius's eyes were a stark contrast, being an unnaturally pale green. They slowly turned around and went back into the building. Raan rested his head against the snow before darkness consumed him...
"...fell."
The nurse eyed him suspiciously. "You fell?" she said. Raan nodded in agreement. "Like into a meat grinder?" she said in disbelief.
"No," continued Raan, "I just fell...out a window. I'm kind of clumsy like that." He laughed nervously at the nurse. He felt he would have come up with a better excuse if he hadn't lost so much blood. His mind was still fuzzy.
"Right," said the nurse in a sarcastic tone. "Well, if you don't want to tell me I can't force you, but Raan, this is the third time this month you've come back to us in this kind of condition. Your body can only take so much. I don't know what's going on but you're going to have to tell someone eventually."
"I just did," replied Raan.
"Whatever," said the nurse. "In either case, you're going to have to stay here overnight so lie back. Oh, and there are a few gifts for you over there. Happy Birthday," she added cheerfully before exiting out the door.
'Birthday,' he thought, 'what day is it anyway.' He contemplated it for a moment before realizing it was his birthday. 'Man, my sense of time is off,' the thought. He looked over by his bedside. Two presents sat there, one wrapped in a small shimmering green wrapping. The other was wrapped in a bright red wrapping with a bow on top of it. He picked up the smaller package first and gingerly unwrapped it, as any movement still hurt. A note was attached to a fuzzy, elongated box. He opened the note and read it aloud.
"To my hospital bound boyfriend, I got this for you since you seem to always lose track of the time and day. Speaking of which we still have a dinner date for tomorrow at six o' clock. It took me nearly a week to get these reservations so I expect you to be there, despite the condition you're in. Well, I've got a mission to do, or else I would have waited for you to wake up. I'll visit when I can. Love you, Kimiko." Raan beamed brightly at this and smiled openly despite the pain he was now feeling. He opened the box to find a gold watch ticking inside. He opened the watch up to find that his and Kimiko's pictures were inside. He stared at her. She was the most beautiful creature the gods had ever decided to place on the earth. Her hair was long and flowing. It was a deep black, much darker than his own. It reminded him of a raven's feathers as silky and as much of a sheen it let off. Even in the picture, the light reflected against her brilliant hair. Her eyes were a deep blue that he found himself lost in constantly. However, her most distinguishing quality was her skin, which was to his amazement a very light tan. He constantly wondered how she was tan in this kind of environment, where his own skin was quite pale in comparison. Her face was rigid across the chin, but nonetheless very pretty. He looked at her longingly, 'She's the only thing in this godforsaken place that makes me want to stay.' He sighed deeply and then placed the watch back into the box with the note.
He then looked over to the second present. It was a bright red, wrapped in a gold bow with a note attached to the top of it. He picked it up, and almost dropped it; it was quite heavy. He placed it on his lap and opened up the note. The feeling of receiving a gift from Kimiko left him quite abruptly to be replaced by a look of horror as he read on.
"To my most illustrious and bedridden keeper. So sorry that we could not continue our little 'chat', but you seemed to be lost for words back there. Ah well, we'll talk later on when it's more convenient for both of us. Anyway, I heard that it was your birthday today so I got you something I picked up after our discussion. I do hope you like it. With much love, Set.
P.S. Don't worry about my artwork, I made sure it wasn't disturbed."
Raan let the note slip from his fingers. He noticed that there was a slight trickle of blood coming from one of the corners of the box. He hastily ripped the bow off and tore open the package. The stench of death entered into his nostrils, forcing him to turn away. He slowly looked into the box and again shut his eyes, dry heaving slightly.
The box contained the severed head of the reporter he had met earlier in the day. The eyes hung lazily open as blood oozed from the mouth. Raan hastily closed the package and placed it in the trash beside his bed. The blood covered his hands. The feeling of helplessness overwhelmed him, and he screamed as loud as he could.
Just outside Raan's window, a Cheshire smile came across Set's face.