In The Arms of Angels
By: Kyubi X
Chapter Four: The Ultimate Lesson….
Naruto woke up bright and early and hopped into the shower. He choose to take a cold shower to wake himself up and when he was done he used a small fire jutsu to dry himself off without the use of a towel. He put on a pair of hazy gray shorts and put on one of his fishnet undershirts. He then quietly wrapped the pure white and golden kimono around his body tying it down firmly. He picked up his headband and looked at it before getting an idea. He closed his eyes and called out to Gabriel. He felt a presence fill the room, but when he opened his eyes he saw an angel that looked nothing like Gabriel. "Who are you?" Naruto asked in a confused voice as the angel bowed to him.
"My name is Tobias, I am second in command to Gabriel and I'm your guardian angel, all that simply means is that in your times of great need, I will be the first to aid you for it is my job to constantly watch you." Naruto gave a respect bow to the angel and asked him a simple question, "Do you think that I could get some of the material that made my kimono to create my headband with?" The angel named Tobias smiled before reaching into his kimono's pocket and pulling out a medium sized peace of the cloth handing it to him. Naruto just stood there mouth open amazed that Tobias just happened to have the right piece of cloth on him at the time. "It was no problem at all Naruto-sama, I am here to help you and as such I know your every want and need. Now I will take my leave Naruto-sama, but don't ever lose heart, I'm always watching out for you." And with that the angel disappeared.
Naruto grinned deciding that he liked his guardian angel, although he felt uncomfortable with the title Naruto-sama, but he would deal with that later. For now he attached the metal plate with Kohona's symbol on it to the white cloth and placed in around his forehead. He then ran to the kitchen and had some cereal when his eyes came upon a note on the table. He picked it up and saw that it said, "Dearest Naruto, if you pass Kakashi-sensei's test, then I'll teach you something very special tonight. Your big sister, Anko." Naruto smiled big and then put the cereal and milk away before grabbing his kunai pouch and strapping it to his belt on the right side and his sword in the left clip walking out the door and making sure to lock it up.
As he walked down the street he decided to add 15 pounds to his kimono putting it at the weight of 115 pounds, which was already much more than he weighed. He wanted to groan as he had to force his feet into steps to keep them from dragging. He hated the weight, but he knew that it was making him stronger and faster. And so he arrived at the bridge a half hour early only to find Kiba and Hinata already there and it appeared that they were far to close for normal contact. Naruto immediately hid his charka presence and dove into the bushes to watch them. He saw Kiba whisper something to Hinata which made her blush and then he gently took her chin in his hand and kissed her. It took Hinata a moment, but she slowly closed her eyes and began to kiss back. Naruto turned away knowing that they deserved their private time on so he sat there and pulled the scroll he had been working on out of his pocket along with his pencil and began to work some more.
Naruto looked soon decided that he had waited long enough and so he crawled out of the bushes and brushed himself up before walking up on the bridge. He smiled at Kiba and Hinata who were holding onto each other and Kiba just smiled back. Naruto had known since they had met that Kiba had a crush on Hinata and he was glad that both of his friends were in love with each other. And so he sat down next to them not needing to say a word. And so, Hinata and Kiba fell asleep in each other's arms and Naruto continued to work on his scroll until Kakashi showed up an hour later. Kakashi gave a "Yo!" and Naruto nudged Kiba who gently woke up Hinata.
"Your late sensei…tardiness is not a good virtue…" Naruto said simply as he struggled to get back up on his feet. Kakashi noticed this but choose to keep it to himself. He also chose to let Naruto's comment slide by giving the excuse that he got lost on the road of life. Naruto and Kiba simply rolled their eyes and Hinata giggled. As Kiba and Hinata stood to their feet, their stomachs growled showing that they were already hungry. When Kakashi looked at Naruto he could see in his eyes that Naruto defied his orders and ate breakfast. Without a word, Kakashi rushed the gennin and gave him a powerful punch to the stomach which put Naruto on his knees throwing his breakfast up on the bridge's surface. "Not listening to your superior's orders is not a good virtue Naruto, you must learn respect for me if we are to work on the same team and that means following my orders even if you don't understand them." Kakashi said simply waiting for the blonde to get back onto his feet which he did shakily.
"Now then, with that aside, today's mission is quite a simple one all three of you, have until noon to each land one solid hit on me, and blocked hits don't count. It has to be full contact, and I would suggest that you aim to kill if you even want to come close. It is now 9:00 A.M, you have three hours to each land a hit on me, if you do not manage to land a hit on me, then you will go without lunch and you will be sent back to the academy in disgrace. Ready? 3, 2, 1…BEGIN!" Kakashi shouted out and all three gennin leapt away to find a good hiding spot.
Kakashi scanned the area with his eyes and discovered to his satisfaction that all three gennin were very well hidden; now it was only a matter of one of them gaining the courage to attack. Suddenly, Naruto leapt down from a tree and unsheathed his sword. Kakashi's visible eye widened some with amusement as he said in a sing song voice, "A sword without a blade is almost as useless as you are Naruto-kun," Naruto let out a low grumble and let the fire burn inside of him as the sword's blade of fire burst to life. Kakashi's eye now widened in a show of shock when he felt the killer intent radiating from Naruto.
"Don't…call…me...useless…" Naruto let out in a soft voice as he rushed towards Kakashi grasping the swords handle with both hands and swinging it like a heavy blade. Kakashi simply dodged the attacks with the greatest of ease and said, "The fire blade makes no difference Naruto-kun, its to heavy and yet again, the sword continues to prove its uselessness the same as you." Kakashi knew it seemed cruel to say these words to the boy but he was trying to make the boy angry enough to show him his "secret" bloodline limit, which he knew nothing about. Naruto let out another angry roar as he sliced at Kakashi's head, Kakashi simply ducked to avoid the hit, but his eyes widened in shock as Naruto turned the blade with one hand and brought it sweeping back cutting threw him completely.
Naruto was shocked that he had hit his teacher so easily but was even more surprised when his sensei disappeared in a puff of smoke. He began to look around frantically in every direction trying to find his sensei when a thought hit him. "Below!" was the only thing he could get out before a hand burst from the ground and dragged him down to his neck in the soil. "It was a nice trick Naruto, trying to make the blade seem heavier than it was to catch me off guard, but your sword handling skills are poor and in serious need of work. However, I am impressed that you managed to destroy my clone, however, you had better figure out how to get out of the ground if you want another chance to hit me." With that being said, Kakashi pulled out an orange book and walked away leaving a muttering Naruto to his own devices.
When Hinata was sure that Kakashi was gone, she rushed out to Naruto and offered to help him out of the hole. Naruto accepted and simply stated, "He's thinks he's so smart and so good, little did he know I was weighed down, but next time, next time I will get a good hit on him!" With that being said Naruto picked up his sword and placed in on its clip before looking at a very worried Hinata. "Naruto…I am going to need your help if I'm going to hit him, I have no where near your skill and I can't hit him on my own, will you help me?" Naruto thought for a moment before saying, "We need to find Kiba, now! Follow me!" With that Naruto entered the bushes with Hinata close on his trail trying to find their other teammate. Unfortunately for them, Kiba and already rushed out and challenged Kakashi to a great battle.
"Urgh, only the weak speak loudly, must you be so loud Kiba?" Kakashi asked lazily as he continued to read the little orange book in his right hand. Kiba and Akamaru both let out a low growl as they charged at Kakashi. Kakashi just continued to chuckle at his little book as he used one hand to dodge all of Kiba's and Akamaru's attacks. When Kakashi had had enough, he put his hands in the sign of the tiger and screamed out, "KOHONA'S MOST SACRED TECHNIQUE! THE THOUSAND YEARS OF PAIN!" And with that, Kakashi stuck his fingers up Kiba's butt and launched him into the air, Akamaru whimpered and ran up to his master.
Kakashi began to walk towards his student but his eye widened in surprise as Kunai came out of nowhere and stabbed Kiba right in his leg. Kiba let out a scream of pain and Kakashi looked up to see what appeared to be a grass ninja sitting in the tree twirling another kunai with his right index finger. Kakashi stooped and realized that something wasn't right, he looked at to Kiba and immediately noticed that Akamaru was nowhere to be seen. His eye drooped again as he yelled out, "release!" which dispelled the genjutsu only to find that Kiba and Akamaru were gone. Kakashi smiled under his mask and thought, "Naruto, what a guy…"
Kiba was pissed, and he was letting Hinata and Naruto know it. Hinata choose to defuse the situation by giving Kiba a small kiss on the lips which immediately calmed him down. Alright listen up, Hinata brought this to my attention, alone, none of us have the skill to hit him. However, if they all worked together, they could get him by surprise. Naruto then brought out a scroll he had copied from the library and showed them how to burrow underground using their charka. He explained that they plan was for the two of them to keep underground and get right below Kakashi, then Naruto would take off his weights and keep Kakashi busy by surprising him with a speedy attack. The two were to wait for an opening in Kakashi's defenses which would be seen by Hinata's eyes and then they would burst from the ground, they would all then use the element of surprise to each land a hit on him at the same time. Kiba and Hinata agreed and began the jutsu which burrowed them under the ground.
Naruto then jumped out from their hiding spot and dispelled the weights on his kimono. "Get ready to lose Kakashi-sensei!" Kakashi was about to respond, but could only widen his eye as Naruto rushed him with a speed that Kakashi was certain that he didn't have before. Naruto began his attack right as Hinata and Kiba got into position. Hinata activated her byakugan and watched for a lapse in Kakashi's defense. And so as the fight raged on, Kakashi let one hand slide down a little which left his upper body venerable. Hinata yelled out "now!" and Kakashi looked at the ground shocked as Hinata and Kiba burst from the ground. Hinata aimed for Kakashi's stomach, Kiba aimed for Kakashi's chest, and Naruto aimed for Kakashi's chin, all three fists connect at once and sent the Jounin flying towards a tree. Kakashi did a flip in the air and pumped charka into his feet which made him stick to the tree.
Kakashi smiled at the three exhausted gennin in front of him and said with a happy voice, "You all pass! Not only did you realize that the point of the exercise was teamwork, but you also came up with and executed a surprise attack that even caught me off guard. In celebration, I am going to take you all to the Ichiraku Ramen stand for lunch!" "But before that, there is something important I have to tell you about being a ninja, those who abandon their missions are trash, but those who abandon their teammates are lower than trash, I hope that none of you every forget that lesson." The three looked at him and nodded in respect before heading out to the Ichiraku Ramen stand.
When they arrived, Ayame ran up to Naruto and gave her usual greeting now of a kiss on the cheek. Naruto blushed and said, "Good afternoon Ayame-kun." She then gave him another quick hug before running back behind the counter and taking their orders. Kakashi glanced at the girl and knew that she had a crush on the young blonde. He smiled at Naruto, and knew that it didn't go unnoticed by the boy. When Ayame walked away, Naruto turned to the Kakashi and asked, "What are you smiling at me for Kakashi-sensei?" Kakashi just simply smiled and said something along the lines of him being dense, Kiba let out a hearty laugh with Akamaru and Hinata giggled in agreement. Naruto scowled because he didn't get what they meant. And so they ate their food in a comfortable silence.
When they were done, Kakashi told them that they were to meet at the bridge for their first official mission as gennin's of the leaf. And with that, Kakashi paid the bill and disappeared in a puff of smoke. Soon after Kakashi left, Kiba and Hinata excused themselves to go for a walk leaving Naruto and Ayame alone in the restaurant. "Where's your father Ayame-chan?" Naruto asked curiously noticing that the old man was no where to be seen. "Oh, papa's at home sick so I'm running the store for him today." Ayame said to Naruto giving him a sweet smile which soon faded when she looked outside. Naruto turned and followed her gaze to see the rest of the gennin's walking with their senseis towards the ramen stand. That counted eight people to serve and only one Ayame. She groaned knowing that this was going to be a long day when she turned her head only to watch Naruto jump over the counter.
"Naruto-kun, what are you doing?" She asked as she watched him grab a spare apron and a paper hat and put it on his head. "You are going to need help with all these hungry people and I can't just leave a friend all alone!" Naruto said with a genuine smile. Ayame blushed and whispered out a thanks to him as they prepared for the small rush of new ninja's they all came in and Ayame took their orders, she then yelled out, "Naruto-kun, three orders of miso, two orders of chicken, and three orders of pork!" Naruto shouted back that he was on it and Ayame smiled at them before preparing their drinks. Everyone looked at each other puzzled upon hearing Naruto's voice in the back. When Naruto was finished he brought out the ramen and gave out the orders with a smile until Sasuke snorted and asked, "What's wrong dobe? Couldn't hack it as a ninja so you became a ramen chef?"
Naruto just simply smiled at Sasuke and said, "Only the weak speak out so loudly Sasuke, must you speak so loud?" Sasuke shut his mouth quickly and everyone laughed even Ayame who was giggling. When everyone was done they paid their tabs and left Ayame and Naruto alone again. They both worked quickly to pick up the dishes and went into the back to clean them. About halfway thru the dish washing, Ayame slipped on some water and let out a surprised yelp.
Naruto rushed forward and caught Ayame only to slip on the water himself and land on his back with Ayame on top of him. Naruto looked up into Ayame's eyes and suddenly felt a feeling tugging at his heart. He blushed and Ayame looked down to see the position they were in. She blushed as well and picked herself up and Naruto did the same. They quietly went back to washing the dishes until they were done. Ayame thanked Naruto for his help and Naruto surprised her by leaning forward and planting a kiss on Ayame's cheek before telling her that it was "his pleasure" before running off back towards his home. Boy did he have some questions for his sister…
A/N: The next chapter is going to be hilarious however, I am not sure when I am going to be able to get it out because this week is the final week of my first freshman semester at college and its final exam week so I am going to be very busy, but I will most likely have it out by Wednesday or early Thursday, until then, please read and review! And thank you so far to all who have reviewed you guys and gals are awesome!