A/N: Don't worry, the following rant will not disturb the length of the story, I'll make sure it's around the same.
Gahhh… okay, some (read: most) people are pissed because the stories are so damn short. Well, get this: I'm just a kid. 13 years old, not a god-damned author who spends all his/her time writing for a living. Now, I realize that not everyone is bugging me on this, but I am writing solely for entertainment (and reviews). Yes, your words matter, but I can't help the bloody long updates – I have to go to school, and do all sorts of thrice-cursed things my mother dreams up for me in her evil mind. Any of you guys have piano, rugby, Chinese and Japanese lessons, and Chess in a week? I don't think so.
Forgive the rant, but I'm sick and tired of people saying that my chapter are too fucking damn short. I can't help it. The time I have for free activities (which is extremely limited) is divided between World of Warcraft, Bleach, and fanfiction writing. As you might expect, this means very little writing time. 2000 words per chapter isn't a lot, you say? Well, let's see how long you write it takes you to write 2000 words of semi-originality. Unlike professional authors, I write completely off the cuff. I have no idea where this is going, besides roughly following the main plot of the story. This means extended periods of staring blankly at white screens.
Now to explain some reviews:
Somebody said: I find Naruto pathetic. Why did he freeze up in fear? The answer is: everything before was a mission. He knew that it was risky, but he thought (obviously wrongly) that even if he failed, it wouldn't mean the end of his life. On the other hand, Mizuki throwing sharp things at him would quite definitely mean something fatal.
Now, here's a super fast update. I've been sick, lately, so I've had a lot of time to write. But, I swear, start whining again…
On with the fanfiction!
Professional Ninja Skills for Idiots
Chapter 12
"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" Naruto intoned. For a moment, a long silence reigned.
Nothing happened. Naruto stared stupidly at his hand, and gaped.
Mizuki felt the urge to start laughing hysterically but fought it down, an ear-splitting grin on his face. "So, the Academy Student failed a Kinjutsu… what were you thinking, brat? You could learn techniques that were forbidden to everyone except the highest in Konoha?" Reaching into a pouch at his waist, he withdrew a long blade that he transformed into a four-pointed, extremely sharp shuriken with a flick of his wrist.
"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" Naruto repeated, slightly panicked. He should be able to do this, he should…
"Just like Iruka. Did you know that Iruka was a drop-out, too? Like begets like, I guess. He was so terribly lonely because of you murdering his parents that he thought I was actually his friend – did you know that? He defended me against the Hokage once himself, when I killed a Leaf-nin on a mission…" Mizuki mused, spinning the shuriken around absent-mindedly. "Such a fool." Abruptly, he twisted his wrist in a quick motion that sent the shuriken blurring around his hand, a ringing noise emanating as the blades spun fast enough to cut the wind.
"Don't insult Iruka-sensei," Naruto suddenly growled quietly, all the fear leeched from him. "You rotten, no-good bastard, he's worth a thousand of you. He's worth a thousand ANBU or whatever, no matter how well they did."
"Why? Because he tried to keep you safe? One might think of that more as an act of stupidity, considering how well you turned out…" Suddenly, Mizuki leapt forward, still keeping the giant shuriken spinning. He landed two solid kicks on Naruto's chest, sending the boy flying backwards where he slammed into a tree, the impact leaving him winded.
Black spots in Naruto's vision nearly led to him getting crushed in the head by Mizuki's other hand, formed into a fist and sent flying at him. His heart beating like a jackhammer, Naruto rolled to the side just in time. 'Damn, I didn't see that until it was nearly too late,' he thought anxiously. 'I'm getting slower.'
Quickly, Naruto rolled again, avoiding a line of kunai embedding themselves where his head would have been had he not moved. 'Incredible… he's doing all this, and still the giant shuriken spins…' he thought wonderingly. 'Is this the power of a Chuunin? Certainly, Iruka-sensei never seemed that good...' Immediately, he felt guilty, as if he was betraying his teacher.
As if Mizuki had read his thoughts, he smiled, barely out of breath, and said, "Iruka was a poor excuse for a teacher. You did so badly, all these years, despite al his efforts… but lately, you've improved quite a lot. How much of that was your lack of talent, and how much of that was Iruka's? It makes one wonder… he should never have become a Chuunin."
"Don't insult Iruka-sensei." The words were ground out slowly, one at a time. Hate seeped from him almost like a tangible aura. Mizuki felt a bolt of terror go through him as he saw a flash of red in the boy's eyes, but he reminded himself – it was Naruto! How strong could he be? The situation was almost laughable. A boy on the ground, lying prone, scaring a trained ninja?
"What'll you do if I do plan on insulting him, brat? You'll try the big, bad, Kinjutsu again? Only Orochimaru can use them, you fool-"With that, he hurled the giant shuriken at Naruto, who had struggled to his feet. Leaping to the side, Naruto dodged it as it soared past him.
But he knew that he'd done something wrong when Mizuki's lips curled up in triumph. "Moron, this is what you get for not paying attention in Weapons class!" he shouted, as Naruto turned around and saw, wide-eyed, the giant shuriken flying back and lancing past him back into Mizuki's hand. The next thing, liquid fire coursed across his side and he fell panting to the ground, as he felt the wound erupt and his black suit get darker as blood spattered outwards, quickly forming a sickeningly wet stain.
'I can't lose.' Naruto thought, abstractly, as Mizuki smirked and started spinning the giant blade again.
'Not now, not like this, not when…' Naruto felt his throat clench, and his eyes stinged. But his body felt so weak, and blood gushed out so fast… 'Not when Iruka-sensei was killed by this bastard.'
"If… If I can't do it with Kage Bunshin," Naruto whispered, almost too quietly to be heard.
"It's time," Mizuki proclaimed with a melodramatic flair. "Now, I shall break you, and bring the scroll to Orochimaru-sama." Readying himself, he drew himself back.
"Then," Naruto continued, almost to himself, one hand clutching the scroll, and completely ignoring Mizuki, "I'll do it… with Bunshin." In the space of a millisecond, red Chakra spread through his body, bursting through him.
"What in the world-"Mizuki gaped. A cold horror settled upon him.
"BUNSHIN NO JUTSU!" the roar came, and thousands of clones appeared in the clearing, on every tree, crouched everywhere on the grass.
Mizuki's eyes bulged, as he saw the hordes of clones in the valley. "Wh-what..? It's… impossible… With Bunshin? They're not real, you fool!"
A Naruto smirked. "Is that so?" A kunai was thrown at him. Mizuki stood there, defiant, only to lose his bravado at the last minute and dodge.
The kunai sank into the ground, throwing grass up. Shock impacted upon him like a war-hammer on glass. Shaking, he reached down, to touch the grass. It was real.
The next thing he knew, the thousands of Narutos said with a fiery rage in their voice, "We'll make you pay for what you did!" And then they flew at him, and his screams echoed in the forest as the sound of fists on flesh sounded again, and again, and again.
But after it was done, and the clones dissipated into smoke, Naruto grabbed the scroll that he had dropped so carelessly on the ground, and stumbled over to where Iruka was, and fell upon him, holding the teacher close and sobbing all the while.
Much later (or so it seemed, to Naruto) he woke up in the hospital, exhausted eyelids fluttering open only to see the blank white tiles in the ceiling.
Almost immediately, a shout came, closely followed by the pattering of feet, and Iruka appeared above his head. "Iruka… Iruka-sensei? You're alive?"
"Of course, you silly boy," Iruka smiled. "Why wouldn't I be? It was just minor cuts, nothing too deep. You, on the other hand…" Now, the tanned Chuunin frowned. "You had a deep slash in your side, your back, and you were suffering from Chakra depletion. Plus, why the heck did you listen to Mizuki in the first place? Didn't you realize that anything involving the Hokage's tower couldn't be proper?"
"I'm… I'm sorry, Iruka sensei." Naruto hung his head – as well as he could, anyway, from a prone position. "I thought… Mizuki told me, you know, and… I thought I failed…"
"I know. I heard what Mizuki said, when I was hiding for a while before coming in." Iruka's eyes hardened for a minute. "Don't worry about him. I've told the Hokage about the whole thing. In fact…"
Suddenly, the familiar, wrinkled face of the Hokage appeared. "Gramps!" Naruto exclaimed in surprise and pleasure. "What're you doing here?" Then his face darkened. "Hey, Gramps, I'm really sorry about the whole thing. I didn't mean to steal the scroll, really! Could I… I don't know, retake the test or something…?
"Well, I heard about the whole thing, and I couldn't just let my favorite student be in hospital without visiting him, now could I?" the Hokage winked. "I know about the scroll. I was hiding up there, you know, in the ceiling-"
"I saw that!" Naruto interrupted excitedly. "I could see the Chakra strands and all, it was really neat…"
"You… you could?" the Hokage said, his brow furrowing in thought. "Iruka-sensei, could you leave us for a moment?"
The teacher started to protest, then smiled resignedly at Naruto. "I guess I'll see you later, Naruto…"
"Nah, Gramps, why can't Iruka-sensei stay here?" Naruto quickly intervened, grinning. "After all, I trust him."
"No, it's okay, Naruto. I'll just wait outside and come in immediately after, okay?"
"I guess."
"Now that that's dealt with," the Hokage sighed. "Naruto, please think carefully. Have you ever seen any Chakra strands like that before?"
"Hmm… no, I don't think so…" Naruto pondered.
"Well, you see, one of my traps was activated – a trap that would detect any Jutsus upon a person and cancel it, so that Henge no Jutsu and things like that wouldn't work, near my Office..."
"So spies couldn't pretend to be Leaf-nins and things?" Naruto offered.
"Exactly!" the Hokage beamed happily at Naruto. "Did you have a Jutsu on at that time?"
"Yeah, the Bright Eyes technique." Naruto grinned. "Mizuki taught it to me, so I got something from the experience, at least." After a bit of pondering, Naruto decided not to say anything about the techniques he'd gotten from the Forbidden scroll – after all, if they didn't work (yet) he didn't really get anything from the scroll, right?
"Hmm, an interesting choice. Didn't it make your eyes tired, Naruto?" the Hokage asked.
"Nah, not really. I mean, when the trap hit, though, it really really hurt…"
"Yes, well… the trap was designed for normal Chakra, but… tell me, Naruto, how much do you know about the Kyuubi no Kitsune?"
-END-
A/N: Okay, super-fast update.
Now, why did he not know how to use Kage Bunshin no Jutsu? I think, for one, that it is unreasonable to expect him to be able to use Kage Bunshin when he couldn't use Bunshin in the first place – the manga is kinda strange -.- However, since he did know Bunshin (and it created real clones) he coulda just used it.