Forbidden Skills
Alexnandru Van Gordon and Namu
Alex: Namu has made a pact with me.
Namu:…O.o? I have?
Alex: Yes—I won't continue to write this story unless he promises not to kill anyone.
Namu:…
Alex: Well?
Namu:…-.-…Fine…but I can't speak for the rest of my team.
Alex:) Fair enough.
Disclaimer: Refer to chapter one…Wow…that's so much easier than what I used to say…
CHAPTER FOUR: The name of the game is…
He should have known better—he should have been better prepared! Not only was he handicapped for who knows how long—but now he was beginning to lose his mind! He was better than this!
He should've known better…
"I need a railing in here…" Kakashi muttered to himself, resting both hands on the bed and propping himself up off the floor. Unable to keep his balance on his feet (actually, he couldn't put any weight on his knees whatsoever without them buckling automatically of their own accord), he was forced to sit on the side of the bed and stare at the teasing window ('freedom…sweet freedom outside these walls…')—when!—all of a sudden!—Iruka and Sasuke came crashing through the door. Sasuke, despite the cool and collective façade he used twenty-four/seven, fell face first to the ground with Pakkun sitting on his back. Iruka maintained his balance (somehow) and could only blush as Kakashi gave him the most peculiar look a person with a mask could give…
"Forgot something?" He asked as he refrained from laughing. "Or am I really this popular?"
"We heard a crash…" Sasuke said beneath Pakkun—whom he threw off in one swift movement as he jumped to his feet. "What happened?"
"…I tried to walk." Somehow he found himself stroking his chin thoughtfully. "…Maybe those nurses had a point when they told me not to try it…"
Iruka made the best 'Duh' face to date and Sasuke's left eye twitched—quite noticeably, actually. Kakashi could see him as a villain if he kept that up…
"Glad to see someone's feeling better…" Iruka joked, now throwing the little incident over his shoulder like a handful of useless dirt. "And what were you trying to do that anyway? Jump out the window?"
"No…" He lied. In all honesty, that was the general idea. A man could only stand (or lie) aside for so long before his dignity and pride started to eat away at his mind again. He thought maybe if he walked down to the academy and showed everyone he was fine, they'd forget about the whole 'threat' factor…Maybe that was wishful thinking, but hey—he liked to challenge himself.
'Challenge myself…more like kill myself…I couldn't even take a damn step toward the window…'
"Can windows smirk evilly at you?"
Iruka quirked an eyebrow. "What have they got you on anyway?"
"Absolutely nothing. I don't eat any of that medicine they give me, and I know exactly what food they put it in."
"You've been watching them—stalking them?"
"Nope, but this is far from my first visit to the hospital. I know their tricks…"
Iruka looked up to his left, remembering the last time Kakashi landed himself in the emergency room…
"Just don't try it again." Sasuke muttered, saying more than Kakashi usually heard him say. "The sooner you heal, the sooner we get on with our lives."
"Wow…" Kakashi had to pause at that theory. "…You've obviously never lived before, have you?"
The 'huh´ look was expected—the skuriken wasn't. It zipped past his head from the window and impaled itself in the left side of the doorframe. What surprised him more was the fact that none of them noticed anyone within shooting range…
He really should have known better…
'…Maybe they got smart and put the medicine in the water…' He thought to himself. "Pakkun, be so kind as to escort Sasuke to the stairs."
Sasuke moved to protest but Pakkun had him by the hand already. Trying to shake the little mutt off (and yes—those teeth were sure to leave a mark), Iruka pushed him out into the hall and slammed the door shut behind him.
"You really must be popular…" Iruka remarked…
-NarutoNarutoNaruto-
"Damn…I missed…"
"I swear, every time you're getting worse…."
Kyoko made a face but bit her tongue. Anyone who argued with Namu in a bad mood was as good as dead. "Well…at least they ditched the third kid. Did he have anything, Jin?"
The dark haired man shook his head. "He's clean. Hatake Kakashi is the only one we need."
"You know him?" Kyoko had heard of the guy before—Kakashi the Mirror Ninja—but she hadn't the slightest idea of what he looked like aside from the Sharingan Eye…perhaps that was why he had his left eye covered…made sense, anyway…
"Not personally, but anyone who's had to fight him knows that he's not worth messing with."
"Scared are we?" Kyoko mocked—Namu was already ahead of them, dashing into the room. "He's partially paralyzed. Hit him in the head and he'll get a couple extra hours of sleep before the Master bugs the hell out of him."
"Oh…I'm shivering alright." Jin laughed. "But so are you."
She hid her hands behind her back. Quite frankly, she was scared to death. Not many people fought Kakashi and lived to tell the tale—so whoever few were there to send a warning must have been scared out of their wits…and…she was too.
"I get dibs on the guy with the ponytail…"
-NarutoNarutoNaruto-
Silver hair and a porcelain mask, half black/half white—either the kid was all costume and no skill, or he'd been a winner long enough to decide he was worthy of a mask.
The young man was followed through the window by a petit woman with red hair and energetic green eyes. Beside her came a man with long black hair, tall and pale…menacing…The woman was a flame and he was the unmovable stone—the first figure was still a mystery.
It was days like these that Kakashi wished he was at home.
"Most civilized people use the door." He said aloud. Seeing that he had no choice but to sit on the edge of the bed, he couldn't do a thing until they attacked. "And they tend to refrain from wearing heavy black cloaks in this kind of weather."
The woman snorted arrogantly. "Aren't you the talkative kind of guy…"
The silver-haired guy cracked his neck.
Then there was silence…
"…Are you here for something, or do you get a thrill out of breaking into the hospital?"
"Oi, I think you're a little annoying." The woman answered.
"Thanks. The feelings mutual. Now…do I have to guess why you're here?"
"You should already know." The guy with the mask said. His voice was deep and stern—not the kind of person to take lightly. "You stumbled across something in the forest a few days ago, did you not?"
The hole…
"Maybe."
Iruka was bored—either that or he really didn't like it when Kakashi made small talk with creepy guys that jumped through people's windows. Honestly…the next time he was at the hospital, he was going to ask for an inner room…no smirking windows…they were evil.
Iruka was now between Kakashi and the group of intruders in the blink of an eye. His kunai was out, as was that of the masked man, and the two clashed blades as they pushed against each other. The tall man remained by the back window but the woman was gone before Kakashi realized she even moved.
"Hey cutie." Came a voice from behind him. The blade of her dagger pressed lightly to the front of his throat as she knelt on the bed.
"Um, thanks for the compliment...But jumping into my room isn't exactly a nice way to get someone's attention." He said—then he shoved his elbow into her gut. She was quick, but she was a rookie, and the moment she gasped for air he grabbed her arm, stood, and threw her over his shoulder—nearly falling to the ground with her. He had to sit back down again as his knees buckled, protesting against the attack…
Oi…he was going to die.
"Not bad." The second man said—and Oi! He was quick too. Somehow, dodging around the small battle between Iruka and the masked man, he, like the girl, managed to get from one side of the room to the other without Kakashi noticing….Something was definitely wrong with him.
The woman on the ground groaned…Even though she was an enemy, he kind of felt bad if he broke her neck in the throw. But that would have to be left for later thought. The tall menacing freak before him didn't look anything like a rookie…
-NarutoNarutoNaruto-
"Get back here you little twerp! When I get my hands on you—"
"Less shouting—more running, Naruto! He's not letting up."
"I can see that!"
Good grief—no wonder she couldn't get Sasuke to give her the time of day—she was a damn banshee! Always was, now that he thought about it…Yeah….some weird banshee with pink hair. Which, he just found out, she didn't dye that colour….
Creepy.
"You guys are so much fun!" The little twerp squealed in delight—always an arm's reach away from Naruto and Sakura. They were both hot on his tail but every time they seemed to get closer, the more energy the little boy would collect. "Wheeeeeee!"
"That's not a toy!" Naruto barked. "Just give it back and we'll play some other game with you!"
"Really?"
He nearly fell over the kid. The small boy came to a complete halt, heels digging into the ground and dust gathering up in a cloud as he skidded against the dirt. The cloud gathered around Naruto and Sakura and when it cleared up he found his headband tied tightly back around his forehead….
He didn't know whether to be astonished beyond belief or so freaked out that he'd be paranoid of little children for the rest of the year. How on earth did a little shrimp his size…
The boy was no longer in front of them. He was behind them in the long alleyway, waving innocently with a bold-faced smile plastered onto his face.
"The name of the game is..." The boy paused… "Shiritori!"
Naruto made a face. "…huh?"
Sakura elbowed him in the stomach. "It's a word game. Someone says a word and the next person has to use the last syllable of that word as the first syllable of their own."
"Oh…didn't the girls at the academy play that game a lot?"
Sakura rolled her eyes and returned her attention to the little boy. "Can we play this later? We really want to see our Sensei back at the hospital and—"
"You can't."
The two Genin froze with blank faces while the little boy laughed. He clapped his hands together twice and suddenly they each felt a great build-up of pressure against their chests.
"What…what's going on?" Naruto asked, finding it hard to breathe. He tried to take a step forward—falling to his knees as an electrical shock passed throughout his body. "Ah! What the heck was that!"
"Every time you move the pressure grows until the shock is strong enough to kill you." The boy smiled, folding his hands neatly behind his back. "If you play and win, I'll release the pressure."
The colour from Sakura's face drained instantly. "W-what if we lose?"
He continued to smile. "You see, you have three seconds to say your word—I'll go first, the boy second and you, miss, will go last, over and over again in that order. If you can't provide a word within your three seconds, you'll be fine, but if both of you fail then I'll kill you both. Oh—and the word can be anything! A name, an object, a place, a food, an animal—anything you like!"
"You can't be serious!"
The boy pulled a hand out in front of him and snapped his fingers. In an instant the pressure grew and Naruto was shocked yet again.
"Wanna bet?" He waited for an answer. "No? Okay then—let's begin!...Books!"
Naruto paused for only a moment. "S…snake!"
"K-kelp!" Sakura stuttered and it was the little boy's turn again."
"Pumpkin!"
"Indigo?" Naruto suggested.
"O…Ornament!"
"Entity."
"T…" Naruto hesitated. "Wait—Teacup!"
"Upright!"
"Telephone."
"Owner!"
"Ner…nervous!"
"Us."
"Us…" Naruto looked to Sakura. "What starts with 'us'?"
She shrugged."
"You're out, little man!" The boy shouted out with glee. "Looks like it's just me and the pink-haired lady. So, on to round two—Eel!"
"L…lion!"
"Onward." He grinned.
"Dead." Sakura hissed.
"Edison!"
"Sun."
"Uh…'Sun'…uh….damn." The boy stomped his foot like the little brat he was. "No fair…but that doesn't matter." Neither of the Genin liked the look in his eyes. "I'm still going to kill you anyway. But be at ease knowing you're the only kids to have ever won against me at my own ga—"
He didn't get the chance to finish his statement, and for that Naruto was grateful. He wasn't exactly a big fan of Lee, but when his Sensei, Gai, showed up at the oddest of times, he had to be thankful they lived in Konoha. He knew Kakashi and Gai weren't exactly best friends, but the strange man did come in handy at times.
"Quite the little brat, aren't you?" Gai muttered, holding the child up by the scruff of his baggy sweater—but not before he smacked him a good one upside the head. "But, that'd be an understatement, wouldn't it?"
The boy kicked furiously. "Put me down!"
"How old are you exactly? Nineteen—twenty maybe?"
The boy seized in his struggles…then grinned. "Well, I guess I should you give you more credit than I first thought you were worth. Tell me, what did I let slip?"
"The word game—you played it with me last year?"
The boy shrugged (or was he a boy?) and disappeared in a puff of smoke for the briefest of moments. Gai was caught in the cloud, coughing and stepping aside, and then all eyes turned on an older young man kneeling where the boy once stood. He wore the same clothes, although they stretched easily to the correct size, and the same grin remained as he straightened up and crossed his arms. Who was he?
"I'm Taiku of the Hidden Moon Village. I remember you, sir, and that little look-alike brat from last year."
"I knew I saw you somewhere else before." Gai muttered. "And what brings you here? The last time I ran into you, you were part of some kidnapping organization. Got bored, or do I have to beat some sense into your gang yet again?"
"I ditched those losers a while back." The young man boasted. "But I'm still the number one slave-dealer this side of the world. And if you're half as smart as you let everyone on to believe, then you should already know who I'm after."
Gai actually looked surprised for a moment.
"Whoa—brownie-points for the old man. This just gets better and better." The young man smiled. "New game—whoever gets to him first gets to keep him—see ya!"
And then he was gone.
Gai didn't waste any time either. He turned to Sakura and mouth one word before disappearing into thin air as well.
Then there was silence…a small breeze picked up in the alleyway and blew the dust aside as they stood quietly in thought. The pressure had long since left them but even then Naruto hesitated to stand. The shock he received early cramped up his muscles a bit…
"Sakura…what did Gai say to you?"
When he turned to face her, she was pale. "…Kakashi."
-A and N-
Namu:…Please explain something to me….
Alex: Shoot."
Namu: Kakashi was on the first floor of the hospital in one chapter…and then suddenly he's on the third in the next one…How does that happen?
Alex: Depending on where you live, the hospitals place people differently. Where I live, emergency and comatose patients are kept on the first floor. Long term, operation, and all other patients are moved to the higher up floors. After Kakashi woke up, I simply had it so that he was moved upstairs.
Namu:…I see…
Alex: (waving happily) See you later, people! Have a wonderful upcoming weekend!
Until Again,
Alexnandru Van Gordon
And,
Namu