Well... I guess chapter two was an utter flop. Not that I'm surprised. I
guess it really did suck, however I'm not one to give up so easily. Let's
just say that, while the first two could have easily been one-shots of
their own, this chapter will be the one that starts connecting ideas all
together. I hope maybe this one gets someone's attention.
Title: Jaded
Series: Naruto
Rating: PG-13 (Will go higher later on)
Genre: Action/Adventure, Angst, Drama, Romance, Humour, Horror, Tragedy, Supernatural, Fantasy, etc. (pretty much all)
Summary: For most of his life, Naruto has had one dream (becoming Hokage) and one love (Sakura), but as he grows up he realises not everything is as easy as he wants to believe it is, and his romances are not as simple as getting the girl, but finding a love that's not bound by superficial reasons. (Eventually it'll be SasuNaru)
Pairings: So far, nothing... if you know me and the fics I write you know how it will eventually end up.
Chapter Title: 3. Unwelcome Demon
Since Naruto, Sakura and Sasuke never passed the chuunin exam the second time (too busy with the war to take it), they continued to work as team seven, completing many missions together. Occasionally, though, Naruto would be called away from the team by Shikamaru who had developed a trust in the blond and only wanted him, among certain others, to go with him on the higher-class missions. Most times this special honour went straight to his head, like when he returned from his missions and boasted of his successes to Sasuke who had remained behind to do the D-class missions of a genin, but most of the time he was much too tired to do anything more than sleep his missions off.
"He's late!" Sakura cried out in frustration, surprised that for once she wasn't complaining about Kakashi. "He was supposed to be back from his mission yesterday, so what's taking him so long?" Kakashi was ignoring her whining and focusing on his book and Sasuke had been sent to retrieve the lazy blonde. He'd been spending too much time with Shikamaru.
After about another half hour of complaining, the pink-haired kunoichi stomped her foot and slumping to the ground in exhaustion. Kakashi looked up from his book and looked from the girl to the road, smirking beneath his face mask.
"Ohayo Sasuke-kun." He greeted cheerfully and loudly, in order to wake the thing lying on Sasuke's back.
"NARUTO!!" Sakura screeched, jumping up and smacking the boy hard on the head. This was effective in waking the poor boy up.
"Itai, Sakura-chan." He muttered, rubbing his head delicately. "Nice to see you too." Stifling a yawn, he rolled his shoulder to work out the kinks from his nice little nap.
"Baka! You were supposed to be here two hours ago!" Naruto looked up and smiled apologetically to her.
"Gomen nasai. I had a big mission, though." Sakura ground her teeth and clenched her fists, furiously.
"Hai and now we've finally got a big mission of our own, dobe." Sasuke interrupted before they could start a one-sided argument that would result in a very sore Naruto. "Can we go now?" He looked up to Kakashi who nodded.
"So, what exactly is our mission, anyways?" Naruto asked after ten minutes of wandering.
"It's a B-class mission." Kakashi explained. "We're escorting the Fire Country Lord's wife out of Konoha to the Hidden Stone village just inside Earth Country."
"The one who lost her cat?!" Naruto moaned. He never did like that lady; she gave him the creeps. Kakashi nodded.
"It shouldn't take too long." Sasuke nodded and they went to pick the large woman and her cat, Tora, up.
***
Things went smoothly, with the occasional fight between Sasuke and Naruto or Naruto and the Fire Country Lord's wife. The woman snubbed the boy which ticked him off thoroughly and when she was safe and sound in the Earth Country he couldn't get away fast enough.
"I swear that woman hates me!" The blond exclaimed, throwing his hands up. No one cared enough to agree or disagree, so Naruto was left to sulk on his own. A sudden rustling in the bushes caught his attention, cutting off his next complaint. "Did you hear that?" He asked, pointing in the general direction of the noises.
"Don't tell me you're going to start that again, baka!" Sakura whined. Last time Naruto had flinched at every noise they ended up with dinner enough to last them a couple of weeks.
"I'm telling the truth!" Naruto persisted until Kakashi stopped, hearing it too.
"Naruto may be right, though it's probably nothing more than some wild animals." He continued walking, not realising that now even Sasuke was nervous. The silver-haired jounin, on the other hand, hid his unease very well.
All of a sudden there was another rustling, from another bush and dozens of kunai were shot out at the team. A handful of them landed where Sakura's head had been and, had Naruto not pushed her to the ground, she might have been hit. With a loud rumbling, the landed kunai began to blow up from the exploding scrolls wrapped around their handles.
"Shit." Sasuke cursed under his breath as six chuunin sound ninjas surrounded them. "A greeting from Orochimaru, I suppose." They all pulled out their kunai and shuriken and began to fight their way past the ninjas.
Two minutes into the fight and Sakura fell to the ground, her body and clothes torn. Kakashi immediately took up his battles above her so he could fight and protect her at the same time.
"Sakura-chan!" Naruto cried, making his way over to the girl. She had numerous gashes covering her entire body and seemed to have lost a lot of blood. Naruto stood up angrily and nodded to his sensei. "I'll look after her, go help Sasuke-kun." He looked to the other genin and noticed that the boy really did need help. He was limping and hunched over, holding his shoulder from which a handful of shuriken were embedded. If it wasn't really serious Naruto would have laughed, the dark-haired shinobi looked almost identical to Kakashi's illusion of him when they first started out. Kakashi noticed this too and jumped off, leaving Naruto to defend his fallen comrade.
"It's okay, Sakura-chan. We're going to make it out of this one." He whispered to the girl not caring whether or not she could hear him, only that the words were said. They helped calm his own heart. Naruto was about to slit the throat of one ninja when he disappeared in a puff of smoke, similar to the last time they met Orochimaru's shinobi. They were only serving as a distraction or a warning. Naruto ground his teeth, knowing this meant the evil snake was planning to make his comeback.
He dropped to the floor to check Sakura's wounds. She seemed to be okay, but her breathing was shallow and irregular.
"Sakura?" He called softly, hoping to wake her but no such luck. He turned around to see Kakashi carrying Sasuke's limp body. "Is he alright?"
"Hai, demo we need to get these two to shelter fast." Naruto nodded, picking up Sakura on his back and began limping in the general direction they had been originally heading. "You need to get that ankle checked out, too." The blond nodded and they continued on, slower than ever.
***
It took them an hour before they finally found a small hut a couple of miles from the Konoha gates. It seemed completely deserted and Naruto would've assumed so if it hadn't been for the small wisps of smoke coming from the chimney. On his back, Sakura began to stir.
"Naruto?" She said, her voice hoarse. "What happened?"
"You passed out, Sakura-chan." Naruto replied. "We're at a hut. We're going to get you and Sasuke some help." She just nodded, not really taking in all that had happened.
Sasuke had woken up a few minutes earlier and was limping at Kakashi's side, using his shoulders as a crutch. He refused to let himself be carried, especially when Naruto was doing fine carrying Sakura.
They came up to the front door and Kakashi knocked loudly. A small, stout woman came to the door, opening it enough to poke her head out. She smiled kindly at the teacher and the corners of her eyes crinkled in delight.
"What can I do for you?" She asked.
"My students are in need of medical assistance. They need a place to stay for the night." She nodded, her expression saddening at the sight of the two wounded. That was before she got a good look at Naruto.
"I'm sorry, but I cannot allow that *THING* into my house." She pointed a crooked finger in the blond's direction. "I will not help that demon under any circumstance!" She narrowed her eyes dangerously and her upper lip curled. Everyone was shocked by her sudden change in attitude, but only Naruto and Kakashi understood what was going on.
The normally cheerful genin's spirit was quickly put out and he let go of Sakura.
"That's okay, I'll go. Please make sure they get help, Kakashi-sensei." He turned to go but Sakura's hand on his arm stopped him. Both she and Sasuke were angry.
"Why should he leave?" She asked, angrily. "He's no different than me or Sasuke. He shouldn't be denied treatment. You're being very disrespectful." The woman scoffed at Sakura's words, bringing a frown to the pink-haired girl's face.
"There's no way, while there's a breath in my body, that I'll let that murdering Kyuubi into my house. Not after the lives he took. The nine- tailed fox demon is not welcome." She spat. The two injured genins were left speechless and Kakashi's face went from nonchalant to flushed with barely suppressed anger.
Naruto went white and bolted.
~~~~~~~
Well... yeah... Poor Naruto. I guess the secret had to come out sooner or later, ne?
Title: Jaded
Series: Naruto
Rating: PG-13 (Will go higher later on)
Genre: Action/Adventure, Angst, Drama, Romance, Humour, Horror, Tragedy, Supernatural, Fantasy, etc. (pretty much all)
Summary: For most of his life, Naruto has had one dream (becoming Hokage) and one love (Sakura), but as he grows up he realises not everything is as easy as he wants to believe it is, and his romances are not as simple as getting the girl, but finding a love that's not bound by superficial reasons. (Eventually it'll be SasuNaru)
Pairings: So far, nothing... if you know me and the fics I write you know how it will eventually end up.
Chapter Title: 3. Unwelcome Demon
Since Naruto, Sakura and Sasuke never passed the chuunin exam the second time (too busy with the war to take it), they continued to work as team seven, completing many missions together. Occasionally, though, Naruto would be called away from the team by Shikamaru who had developed a trust in the blond and only wanted him, among certain others, to go with him on the higher-class missions. Most times this special honour went straight to his head, like when he returned from his missions and boasted of his successes to Sasuke who had remained behind to do the D-class missions of a genin, but most of the time he was much too tired to do anything more than sleep his missions off.
"He's late!" Sakura cried out in frustration, surprised that for once she wasn't complaining about Kakashi. "He was supposed to be back from his mission yesterday, so what's taking him so long?" Kakashi was ignoring her whining and focusing on his book and Sasuke had been sent to retrieve the lazy blonde. He'd been spending too much time with Shikamaru.
After about another half hour of complaining, the pink-haired kunoichi stomped her foot and slumping to the ground in exhaustion. Kakashi looked up from his book and looked from the girl to the road, smirking beneath his face mask.
"Ohayo Sasuke-kun." He greeted cheerfully and loudly, in order to wake the thing lying on Sasuke's back.
"NARUTO!!" Sakura screeched, jumping up and smacking the boy hard on the head. This was effective in waking the poor boy up.
"Itai, Sakura-chan." He muttered, rubbing his head delicately. "Nice to see you too." Stifling a yawn, he rolled his shoulder to work out the kinks from his nice little nap.
"Baka! You were supposed to be here two hours ago!" Naruto looked up and smiled apologetically to her.
"Gomen nasai. I had a big mission, though." Sakura ground her teeth and clenched her fists, furiously.
"Hai and now we've finally got a big mission of our own, dobe." Sasuke interrupted before they could start a one-sided argument that would result in a very sore Naruto. "Can we go now?" He looked up to Kakashi who nodded.
"So, what exactly is our mission, anyways?" Naruto asked after ten minutes of wandering.
"It's a B-class mission." Kakashi explained. "We're escorting the Fire Country Lord's wife out of Konoha to the Hidden Stone village just inside Earth Country."
"The one who lost her cat?!" Naruto moaned. He never did like that lady; she gave him the creeps. Kakashi nodded.
"It shouldn't take too long." Sasuke nodded and they went to pick the large woman and her cat, Tora, up.
***
Things went smoothly, with the occasional fight between Sasuke and Naruto or Naruto and the Fire Country Lord's wife. The woman snubbed the boy which ticked him off thoroughly and when she was safe and sound in the Earth Country he couldn't get away fast enough.
"I swear that woman hates me!" The blond exclaimed, throwing his hands up. No one cared enough to agree or disagree, so Naruto was left to sulk on his own. A sudden rustling in the bushes caught his attention, cutting off his next complaint. "Did you hear that?" He asked, pointing in the general direction of the noises.
"Don't tell me you're going to start that again, baka!" Sakura whined. Last time Naruto had flinched at every noise they ended up with dinner enough to last them a couple of weeks.
"I'm telling the truth!" Naruto persisted until Kakashi stopped, hearing it too.
"Naruto may be right, though it's probably nothing more than some wild animals." He continued walking, not realising that now even Sasuke was nervous. The silver-haired jounin, on the other hand, hid his unease very well.
All of a sudden there was another rustling, from another bush and dozens of kunai were shot out at the team. A handful of them landed where Sakura's head had been and, had Naruto not pushed her to the ground, she might have been hit. With a loud rumbling, the landed kunai began to blow up from the exploding scrolls wrapped around their handles.
"Shit." Sasuke cursed under his breath as six chuunin sound ninjas surrounded them. "A greeting from Orochimaru, I suppose." They all pulled out their kunai and shuriken and began to fight their way past the ninjas.
Two minutes into the fight and Sakura fell to the ground, her body and clothes torn. Kakashi immediately took up his battles above her so he could fight and protect her at the same time.
"Sakura-chan!" Naruto cried, making his way over to the girl. She had numerous gashes covering her entire body and seemed to have lost a lot of blood. Naruto stood up angrily and nodded to his sensei. "I'll look after her, go help Sasuke-kun." He looked to the other genin and noticed that the boy really did need help. He was limping and hunched over, holding his shoulder from which a handful of shuriken were embedded. If it wasn't really serious Naruto would have laughed, the dark-haired shinobi looked almost identical to Kakashi's illusion of him when they first started out. Kakashi noticed this too and jumped off, leaving Naruto to defend his fallen comrade.
"It's okay, Sakura-chan. We're going to make it out of this one." He whispered to the girl not caring whether or not she could hear him, only that the words were said. They helped calm his own heart. Naruto was about to slit the throat of one ninja when he disappeared in a puff of smoke, similar to the last time they met Orochimaru's shinobi. They were only serving as a distraction or a warning. Naruto ground his teeth, knowing this meant the evil snake was planning to make his comeback.
He dropped to the floor to check Sakura's wounds. She seemed to be okay, but her breathing was shallow and irregular.
"Sakura?" He called softly, hoping to wake her but no such luck. He turned around to see Kakashi carrying Sasuke's limp body. "Is he alright?"
"Hai, demo we need to get these two to shelter fast." Naruto nodded, picking up Sakura on his back and began limping in the general direction they had been originally heading. "You need to get that ankle checked out, too." The blond nodded and they continued on, slower than ever.
***
It took them an hour before they finally found a small hut a couple of miles from the Konoha gates. It seemed completely deserted and Naruto would've assumed so if it hadn't been for the small wisps of smoke coming from the chimney. On his back, Sakura began to stir.
"Naruto?" She said, her voice hoarse. "What happened?"
"You passed out, Sakura-chan." Naruto replied. "We're at a hut. We're going to get you and Sasuke some help." She just nodded, not really taking in all that had happened.
Sasuke had woken up a few minutes earlier and was limping at Kakashi's side, using his shoulders as a crutch. He refused to let himself be carried, especially when Naruto was doing fine carrying Sakura.
They came up to the front door and Kakashi knocked loudly. A small, stout woman came to the door, opening it enough to poke her head out. She smiled kindly at the teacher and the corners of her eyes crinkled in delight.
"What can I do for you?" She asked.
"My students are in need of medical assistance. They need a place to stay for the night." She nodded, her expression saddening at the sight of the two wounded. That was before she got a good look at Naruto.
"I'm sorry, but I cannot allow that *THING* into my house." She pointed a crooked finger in the blond's direction. "I will not help that demon under any circumstance!" She narrowed her eyes dangerously and her upper lip curled. Everyone was shocked by her sudden change in attitude, but only Naruto and Kakashi understood what was going on.
The normally cheerful genin's spirit was quickly put out and he let go of Sakura.
"That's okay, I'll go. Please make sure they get help, Kakashi-sensei." He turned to go but Sakura's hand on his arm stopped him. Both she and Sasuke were angry.
"Why should he leave?" She asked, angrily. "He's no different than me or Sasuke. He shouldn't be denied treatment. You're being very disrespectful." The woman scoffed at Sakura's words, bringing a frown to the pink-haired girl's face.
"There's no way, while there's a breath in my body, that I'll let that murdering Kyuubi into my house. Not after the lives he took. The nine- tailed fox demon is not welcome." She spat. The two injured genins were left speechless and Kakashi's face went from nonchalant to flushed with barely suppressed anger.
Naruto went white and bolted.
~~~~~~~
Well... yeah... Poor Naruto. I guess the secret had to come out sooner or later, ne?