Disclaimer: Refer to Chapter 1
The Hirashi ChroniclesChapter 6: Skirmish at the 'Ichiraku Ramen'
The boy with straw-coloured hair dug deep into his orange vest and finally found what he was looking for. With a smile of satisfaction, he opened the frog head shaped purse and removed enough money to pay for his meal.
The man behind the counter accepted the money gracefully and then returned money enough to pay for one bowl of his ramen. The boy's eyes widened in surprise.
" That bowl is on me, Naruto. After all, you are a regular customer here." The owner of the Ichiraku Ramen chuckled.
" Arigato!" Naruto replied, grinning at the shopkeeper. " I'll be sure to come tomorrow!" He skipped off his chair, leaving the mountain of bowls, once containing piping hot ramen, behind. Satisfied with his meal, Naruto turned the corner and accidentally bumped into another boy approximately his age with dark hair streaked with blue. As Naruto reached out to help him up, the boy raised his head, revealing a milky-white left eye.
Suddenly, Naruto's senses heightened incredibly. His blue eyes dilated and were coloured a deep shade of red. Similarly coloured streaks appeared on his cheeks, giving him a cat-like appearance. Naruto's fingernails elongated and became razor sharp. This was no longer the cheerful boy who had stepped out of the 'Ichiraku Ramen'. This was a new being, a killing machine.
Hirashi's eyes widened in surprise. " Kyrubi!" he hissed under his breath while somersaulting backwards to regain his footing.
" So you're still alive. What a pity!" The nasal voice emitted did not come from Naruto, but from within him. " Perhaps I should end your misery and allow you to join the rest of your clan!"
Hirashi smirked. "I didn't think my opportunity to kill you would come this fast." He deftly removed a kunai form his holster and took up his fighting stance.
Hirashi crouched slightly forward with his left leg in front of his right leg. The kunai was held in his right hand in a reverse grip so Hirashi could slash with a forehand blow and cut with a backhand blow. His left hand hovered close to his holster, ready to remove either kunai or shuriken. Few ninja favoured this stance as it required excellent balance and left the back exposed to attack. However, against a single enemy, the fighting stance gave Hirashi the advantage of being able to give a swift offensive.
The Kyrubi-possessed Naruto grinned wickedly and crouched low, placing his right hand on the ground. A burst of scarlet chakra erupted from within Naruto. Numerous cracks spawned on the ground, spreading out as a circle with the golden-haired boy at its center. The power of the chakra was oppressive.
So this was what felled my entire clan! Hirashi decided to take the first offensive and threw 4 shuriken at his nemesis while charging with his kunai.
A new wave of hot red chakra erupted from Naruto, deflecting the 4 shuriken easily. Naruto somersaulted backwards, easily avoiding the Hirashi's violent forehand slash. Using his right leg, he thrust himself upwards before he could land and barreled towards Hirashi.
Caught by surprise, Hirashi bore the full brunt of the Kyrubi's assault, flying backwards and connecting hard with a wall. In a flash, Naruto had Hirashi pinned against the wall with his hand against his neck. He began suffocating Hirashi methodically. A stream of bright red blood flowed steadily down Hirashi's injured forehead and mingled with the darker red blood that he was choking out. His hands struggled feebly to remove Naruto's vice-like grip on his neck.
" Not much of a challenge, were you?" The unnatural voice, devoid of mercy, hissed at the dying shinobi. A scarlet tongue slipped out of Naruto's tongue and spread a trail of saliva up Hirashi's cheek. It was almost tender as it sampled the blood flowing from his forehead. " Your mixed blood tastes pretty good. I'm going to enjoy it as much as I enjoyed the rest of your clan."
" NARUTO, STOP!" The voice registered something in Naruto's mind and he stopped strangling Hirashi. " Naruto, stop this at once." The kind voice was accompanied with a hand reached out to remove his grip from Hirashi's neck. With the lack of support, Hirashi immediately slumped to the ground, coughing out globules of blood.
Naruto's mind snapped back into control of his body as he felt the strong arms around him. " What have I done, Iruka-sensei?" He whispered in shock. Naruto stared at his bloodstained hand and could still taste Hirashi's blood on his lips. The strange thing was, some part of him liked it.
"It's all right, Naruto. It's not your fault." Iruka hugged the young boy fiercely to calm him, whispering the same words again and again to comfort him. When Naruto's trembling had stopped, he then went to his knees to treat Hirashi.
However, Iruka found to his surprise that most of Hirashi's wounds had already been treated. " Who taught you healing jutsu, Hirashi?" He asked quietly.
"I did. The information was all in the shinobi library anyway, and I had the spare time." Hirashi replied weakly. To be able to do this level of healing jutsu when he is not even a Genin, Hirashi is truly a genius shinobi. He might even surpass the 'legendary three Sannin'.
Iruka helped to heal the remaining injuries on Hirashi and then stood to bring the still shell-shocked Naruto home. " Still coming to dinner, Hirashi?" he asked.
"Wouldn't miss it for the world, Iruka-sensei. Besides, you're treating." Hirashi smiled feebly, limping into the Ichiraku Ramen and seating himself at the reserved seats. He had been beaten this time, but he would not lose when they met again. He would have to become even stronger than he was now. He swore he would.
Tenten was the first of the other finalists to arrive and she promptly seated herself beside Hirashi. She was not wearing her usual ninja garb but had chosen to wear a red silk kimono, complementing the red ribbons tied in her hair, which she had let down for the occasion. Wow, she looks gorgeous, especially with her hair let down. Hirashi thought to himself.
" Like what you see, Hirashi?" Tenten smiled seductively. " I can let you see more, you know…" Tenten slipped a finger under the fold of her kimono and parted it slightly. She smiled coyly at Hirashi and licked her lips to moisten them.
Hirashi caught himself staring at the slip of creamy white skin revealed by the parting kimono and quickly looked away, blushing furiously. Tenten laughed and gave him a playful peck on his cheek, causing him to blush even harder if that was possible. As Hirashi turned to tell Tenten to stop teasing him, their lips touched and both were drawn into a soul-searing kiss. Hirashi cupped Tenten's face with one hand and slipped his tongue into her mouth, deepening the kiss and increasing both their desires. His free hand brushed lightly against her kimono. Tenten pressed her body closer to Hirashi and let her hands stray underneath his shirt to touch his skin.
At that moment, Serra, Princess of the Waters, strode in to the Ichiraku Ramen. " WHAT ARE YOU TWO DOING?" She demanded of the blushing teenagers who had broken their kiss at the sound of Serra's voice.
" I can expl…" Hirashi began. " We were kissing." Tenten cut him off and smirked at Serra. " It's a thing people do when they like each other. Any opinions on that?"
Needless to say, Serra was completely livid, as she could not come up with a suitable retort to Tenten's statement. Seating herself opposite Hirashi, she resolved to butter him with death glares for the entire night. For once, Hirashi was perplexed with his feelings. He knew he did not want Serra to be angry with him. Yet, he was also happy that he had shared something special with Tenten and wanted more. Well, you can't have everything in life, I guess. Hirashi was reminded of his neighbour, Shikamaru, complaining how women were troublesome.
The last finalist, Neji, arrived not a minute before Iruka joined the group. Iruka had brought Naruto home and counseled him to forget the incident with Hirashi. He knew he had to report the fight to the Hokage later. What a mess! Luckily Hirashi was not critically injured. In fact, he looks just fine now.
"Ummm… Iruka-sensei, could we start ordering our food now?" Hirashi asked tentatively. Hirashi was shifting constantly, trying to ignore the glares Serra was giving him and keeping his body out of contact with Tenten at the same time.
"Sure." Iruka chuckled as he saw the adolescent squirm uncomfortably. He still has a long way to go in terms of maturity, even if he is an excellent ninja.