Forbidden Skills

Alexnandru Van Gordon and Namu

Alex: Good-morning/afternoon/evening/night, everyone! Having fun yet?

Namu:…Aren't you going to say hi to me?

Alex:…I don't know, are you going to kill me?

Namu:…Thus far…No.

Alex: Okay—Hi!

Namu:…Let's get on with it

Disclaimer: Same as chapter one.

CHAPTER TWO: The beginning of the game

"Do you see anything?"

"…Yeah."

"Really?"

"In the sense of greenery, then yes."

Iruka sighed. Normally he would've jumped down into the 'cave' with Gai, but, from what Sakura said yesterday (while pulling everyone up with a rope), there wasn't much room to work around down there. It was okay for her when she had to help them pull everyone up, but two adults would have been pushing for an argument.

"So…his team thinks someone mugged him and threw him down there, while Kakashi is convinced he was somewhere entirely different and has no idea how anything of the like could have happened." Iruka recalled. "What do you think?"

"…I can give you my 'rival' opinion, or a 'concerned' opinion. Which would you like to hear?" Gai called back up, making his way to the surface.

"Hm…both."

"Rival-wise—I think someone finally caught him off guard, beat the hell out of him and threw him down there. Concerned-wise…I still think someone beat the hell out of him and tossed him down there."

Iruka mentally rolled his eyes. "There's not much of a difference between the two opinions."

"Yes there is." Gai grinned, pulling himself up onto the ground. "Concerned, I think Kakashi should take a long needed break, realize that he can't feel his legs, and admit to himself that it is possible to be beat."

Oh yeah…why didn't he see that coming?

"He will feel his legs again soon, you know."

Gai shrugged, rolling up the rope. "I know, but he won't be jumping around anywhere for at least a week."

"A week?" Iruka paused. "I was thinking somewhere closer to a month."

"He might be a little weak." Gai answered, letting his macho side out again. "But I have to admit he isn't that weak. You couldn't keep him down, even if you tied him to the bed and had the Black Ops team watching over him. He'll swallow down the pain and start hopping around the room like a little bunny to get his knees back in shape—I dare you to send someone to watch. You'll see…"

Whoa, he never thought he'd see Kakashi hop around like that, but he was more concerned with the state of his body. Kakashi knew how to take a beating, and he knew his limits after using his Sharingan for too long. Kakashi had to realize this was one of those rare few situations where he'd have to swallow his pride.

Scratching the back of his head, Iruka followed after Gai as they headed back toward the village. "But honestly…what do you think happened to him?"

"Honestly?" Gai looked a little guilty. "I still think he was beat, but I have reason enough to believe it was due to what he ate."

"Oh?"

"Naruto said he mentioned something about diet ramen…"

-NarutoNarutoNaruto-

The men took a while to leave, but Namu was on their heels already. Waiting until the coast was clear, Jin jumped down from the leaves and moved toward the hole cautiously.

"They're right, Kyoko." He muttered, staring down into the darkness. Two green dog-eyes glistened in the dim light and gave him a clear view of the odd cave. "It's nothing but roots and vines…"

Kyoko, crossing her arms and not even bothering to look down into the mess, turned away to stare after Namu. "But this is the place—no doubt about it. You said you could still pick up part of its scent from around here?"

"True…"

"…So, it hasn't been taken yet?"

Jin, brushing his long dark hair from his view, leaned forward to see deeper into the small pit. "I didn't say that—the scent is weak, but it's there…and not. I think whoever was here last only took part of it."

"But that still doesn't explain the sudden growth." Kyoko muttered, referring to the plant life swarming below. "I thought it was held in some gigantic cave…You think this was someone's doing?"

"It's more or less a some-thing rather than a some-one. Do you believe in curses or spells?"

"Curses, somewhat; spells—not in the least bit."

Jin frowned up at the young brunette woman. "Why not?"

"…Just tell me why you think there's a spell or something on the place."

"I have no idea why, but I know whoever created it didn't want it to be taken all at once. Part of it is still here and the original creator was hoping to hide it from plain view."

Kyoko laughed incredulously, hands on her hips. "Oh—give me a break! I've heard enough of this Oogie-boogie mumbo-gumbo."

Jin flinched internally. 'This is coming from a woman who lives in a world of chakra-wielding ninja?'

"It doesn't matter anyway—the Master wants the 'whole'." Jin sighed. "And I'm picking up four other scents besides the two guys who were just here."

She fake-saluted him. "Well then, captain, let's hop-to before Taiku dies of boredom and the Master decides to beat some sense into us again."

-NarutoNarutoNaruto-

"I'm bored."

"Shut up."

"…But I'm bored."

"I thought I told you to shut up…"

"…But—"

"Naruto, shut up!"

The blond-haired misfit shrugged and crossed his hands behind his head. Marching slowly behind Sakura and Sasuke, at least his legs were getting stretched from sitting in the hospital all night and day. It was noon by now and Kakashi actually admitted that he was tired. So, simply glad that he wasn't still comatose, his three students left quietly to find some other way to entertain themselves besides annoying their Sensei half to death.

"Why should I shut up?" He mumbled to Sakura. "I'm just speaking my mind…"

"Because I have a headache, and you only made it worse when we were visiting Kakashi Sensei."

"I had good reason…"

She didn't turn to face him, but he could just imagine seeing her roll her eyes. "And what possible reason could that be?"

Hs eye were shifty, dashing from one side of the alleyway to another, pausing only on the shadows. "…He's not telling us something."

Sakura stopped right then, Sasuke moving on, and turned to stare at his odd behavior. "Duh—he's kept plenty of secrets from us, and still does. Haven't you noticed the mask yet?"

Yeah….but pulling a cloth up over your mouth didn't count as a mask—and why did he do that anyway? It wasn't like Kakashi was hideously ugly or hiding under an assumed name or…something related to those reasons.

"But….he seemed kind of distant." He tried to remember the far off look in his Sensei's eye. "Like something was on his mind."

"Well, yeah. Think about how many days he was unconscious. He was probably trying to remember how many dogs he has."

"Well…what happened to him?"

Sasuke decided to speak up now, waiting for the others to catch up. "Obviously we're going to ask Iruka and Gai Sensei."

"Really?"

Sakura frowned. "Where did you think we were going?"

…Actually, he thought they were just wandering around aimlessly.

-NarutoNarutoNaruto-

As tired as he was, he couldn't sleep. It could have been because he slept three days straight, but that was just nonsense. It could have also been because he couldn't move or feel his legs as well as before, which was annoying the hell out of him. A few bruises and a broken ankle—how does that count for paralyzing both legs?

He had no idea who did this to him, but the moment he remembered anything—aside from the creepy room—he was going to hunt them down personally…Whether or not he needed crutches.

Hearing voices outside his door, he opened his eye and sat up in bed. The moment he turned to face the door, it opened to reveal Iruka.

"How's it going?"

"Not bad." He replied to Iruka. Noticing Gai following into the room after his friend made him a little embarrassed (seeing how Gai always looked forward to proving how much better he was then Kakashi…and hey…wouldn't this be considered an opportune moment for such a thing?). But at least he could get the apology over and done with.

"Thanks for your help." He said, directing most of the appreciation to Gai. Iruka knew he was just as thankful to him. His friend, however, was finding it hard to hide a small grin at seeing his friend admit a little defeat. That wasn't something you saw everyday. Kakashi wasn't defeated on a regular basis.

"No problem." Gai replied, managing to sound sincerely humble. "But I wish we had some good news for you."

"The hole is just a hole." Iruka admitted. "Nothing more, nothing less. No one saw you after you ate lunch and the first person to go anywhere near the hole was Naruto. What happened between when you left and when you were found is a complete mystery to us all."

That didn't bother him in the least. "If you're implying that someone ditched me down there or I fell into the pit, then you're wrong. I'll figure it out on my own when I'm better, so don't worry. I'm sure you have other business to attend to."

Both Gai and Iruka made the same face of disbelief, glancing between each other uneasily. But—come on…he'd been through worse.

"Can you remember anything?"

Kakashi stared at Iruka. "No…"

There was long and eerie silence.

He knew they were doubtful. Kakashi was one of the best ninja and yet he had absolutely no idea what happened to him, which meant either something powerful was wandering around the village or he just proved he has completely human by making his first mistake in…a lot of years…

He was tired, he was sore, he could barely see straight, and if someone was standing right outside his window, waiting to shoot him down, he had little hope of noticing them as soon as he usually would. He really didn't want to dwell on the subject until he knew something more about what happened. Iruka, Gai and his team weren't the only ones that knew about the incident. Others would be keeping their eyes out and then the whole thing would fall back into place. Someone was bound to find the underlying cause of this "hole" sooner or later…

-NarutoNarutoNaruto-

The hospital was a three storey high building and the men Namu was sent to follow made their way to a room on the first floor. It made his job easier. Standing up in the trees surrounding the building, he watched the window to the room in plain view as they began talking. Standing as still as stone, he listened quietly as they brought up the topic concerning the gap in the forest.

Thankfully for him, they had absolutely no idea what they got themselves into (quite literally), and now he knew who exactly stumbled upon it first. The young guy with 'gray' hair…

"Boo!"

He shrugged his shoulder in irritation and refused to turn to Kyoko. She had really bad timing when it came to delivering news.

"Can't you see I'm in the middle of something?"

"Oh…the guy with the mask is a cutie. Mind if I stay and watch for a while?"

"Don't you have something better to do?" He grumbled.

"Jin went to get Taiku. Apparently he they're chasing after three other kids who stumbled across the hole. What do you have to report?"

He smiled inwardly and sighed pleasantly. "I know who has it."

She paused. "…Really?"

"Look, stupid—what do you see!" He pointed to the room, gesturing to the three men inside the hospital room. "See the two guys barely in view and the one sitting in bed?"

"Oh yeah." She grinned.

"Think about it. What happens when you're adapting to it?"

Her smile faded and she voiced her answer quietly. "Temporary paralyses."

"And who here is a hospital patient?"

She grumbled something incoherent that sounded like a rant of bad luck. "This can't be good. We're in trouble on soooooo many levels, and the moment Raidon-Sensei finds out he'll have our heads…"

'That's what you think.' Namu mused to himself. Even if the young man was temporarily paralyzed (and no doubt feeling down with the weather), he was only partially paralyzed. If he had used the whole of 'it' then he would have been in a coma for nearly two weeks—and Namu knew for a fact (with the help of Jin's powers) that the gap in the forest only appeared a few days ago.

"What should I tell Jin and Taiku?" Kyoko asked.

"Follow those kids. They might have the other half—"

"If they haven't used it already."

"Just go already!"

With an immature groan, Kyoko was gone with the next uplift of the wind. Namu, no longer concerned with the men in the hospital, turned to find Jin and Taiku. Even if those kids didn't have the other half, they could still come in handy. The men were either a Chuunin or a Jounin, meaning that the 'three' kids had to be Genin belonging to one of their groups.

This could be interesting…

-A and N-

Alex: (suspicious and evil glare)…What are you up to now, hmmmmm……-.-……?

Namu: No idea. Raidon makes the rules.

Alex: And who is this Raidon guy anyway?

Namu: (smiles) You'll find out soon….

Alex:…Is he big and powerful?

Until Again,

Alexnandru Van Gordon,

And

Namu