A Collection Of Metal Maelstrom Random Scenes
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Reflections
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Sasuke
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Uchiha Sasuke growled as he stormed away from the Hokage Tower.
How dare the old man tell him that he wouldn't be allowed to become a ninja until he learned not to try and kill his would-be team-mates!
It wasn't as if he'd meant to actually kill that pink-haired fan-girl, only scare her so that she wouldn't want to be a ninja any more, thus keeping her out of his way. She was so damned pathetic at any of the real ninja skills that she should have been thanking him for trying to get her into a safe, civilian career!
How could he have known that she was so damned hopeless that she couldn't even dodge a simple kunai spread!
And Naruto…
The bane of his life! The blond who was somehow always one step ahead of him!
When he demonstrated the leaf exercise, Naruto did it with two leaves. When he performed the fireball jutsu from his clan scrolls, Naruto countered with a larger one! When he got a perfect score on the tests, Naruto somehow managed to get bonus points for correcting some of the questions!
And now he had what was probably the most powerful bloodlimit ever! No matter what damage he took, he could heal instantly!
"Uchiha Sasuke."
Sasuke halted and turned, finding himself looking at a bandage-wrapped man.
"You have great potential for power." The man said. "I can help you attain it."
Sasuke glared at him. "And who are you?"
"My name is Shimura Danzo." The man replied with a slight smirk. "And I am one of the few who can train you to reach your full potential."
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Sakura
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Sakura looked in the mirror and sighed.
Although she had been placed on a team with the heart-throb Sasuke, he had tried to kill her!
Her gaze firmed as she looked at her reflection.
No longer would she be a fan-girl, she would prove herself worthy of being a real kunoichi!
But how?
A thought suddenly occurred to her. Naruto! He had always been equal to Sasuke and he had saved her life, perhaps he would be willing to show her what she needed to do to become strong on her own.
Sakura nodded. Tomorrow morning, she would ask for his help.
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Kakashi
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Kakashi stood before the Monument, lost in thought.
His sensei's son had a bloodlimit that had seemingly come from nowhere. His father had possessed enhanced healing while his mother had the use of chains made from solid chakra, but the ability to turn into metal?
Kakashi sighed. No matter how he tried to put the two together, he couldn't see how Naruto had gained his bloodlimit.
Naruto.
A mystery wrapped in an enigma.
By comparison, the other two were easy. Sasuke was so driven by thoughts of revenge that he saw everyone else as either a stepping stone or an obstacle.
Hardly conducive to teamwork, but fortunately not his problem any more.
Sakura was book-perfect, which meant that she was going to be a liability in the field until she learned that reality did not match what she had learned. From her expression as Naruto saved her, she was already starting to learn.
She had some promise.
Kakashi sighed again. Of the three, only two would be his to lead. Hiruzen had officially placed Sasuke as Danzo's apprentice, announcing it publically.
A wry smile crossed his face. By making the announcement public, Danzo would be forced to keep Sasuke in the public's eye and even accompany him on official missions.
The thought of the old cripple performing D-ranks was rather amusing.
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Training
Teamwork
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"Naruto?"
Naruto turned and gave his team-mate a quizzical look. "Yes, Sakura?"
"I… was wondering. How did you turn into such a small puddle? Where did the… you go?"
Naruto looked round, then walked over to the still-charred circle. Motioning for Sakura to join him, he pointed at the ground.
"This was where I was at the time. You tell me."
Sakura gave him a confused look, then crouched down. An instant later, she looked up, wide-eyed.
"There's a hole here!"
"That's where I hid." Naruto confirmed. "I made a small hole using a Doton jutsu and poured myself into it."
Sakura whistled, then frowned. "Naruto… how can I get strong? I mean… I'm weak and I need to get strong quickly, and I don't think that tree- and water-walking will help with that."
"Well, first of all, drop your diet." Naruto said, earning a shocked look. "You need more food if you're going to improve. Ninja burn more energy than civilians, even when sleeping, because of our chakra. Second… I'm not sure that weights will help enough, you need resistance training."
"How?" Sakura asked and Naruto sighed.
"Will you trust me?"
"You saved my life." Sakura replied instantly. "Do whatever you need to do."
"Okay, just… stand with your feet shoulder width apart and your arms out. Then, when I'm done, try to run round the field a few times."
Sakura spread her arms as Naruto stepped behind her, then she squeaked as he flowed over her, forming a layer of metal over her limbs. A small tickle in her ear made her cringe, then she heard Naruto again.
"Alright, start running."
Sakura tried to move, only to find that her legs seemed to be trying to wade through glue. Her arms were similarly encumbered, but her torso…
"Naruto, it's not just my limbs that need… eep!"
"Sorry. It's hard to avoid… certain areas." Naruto apologised as his mass readjusted itself to encase her from her chin down. "Okay, keep going."
Sakura managed to take the first step, then a second. "I… don't think I'll be running today." She admitted as she fought to take a second step. "But I'm not going to stop!"
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Kakashi stared down at Sakura.
"What happened?"
"Strength and stamina training." Naruto shrugged. Kakashi continued to stare, then sighed.
"We're meant to have a mission, but if she…"
Naruto scooped Sakura up and carefully draped her over his back. "We're ready to go, sensei."
Sakura twitched in what might have been a nod, then started to gently snore.
"Riiiiiiight." Kakashi drawled.
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Control
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Sasuke collapsed, gasping for breath as Shimura Danzo loomed over him.
"Excellent." Danzo smiled. "You have succeeded."
Sasuke frowned slightly. He had just finished being kicked around the training salle (quite literally on a few occasions) by the old man, completely failing to get a single hit in and avoiding jutsu attacks by the skin of his teeth.
Sasuke's thoughts juddered to a halt as Danzo held out a mirror and Sasuke met his own gaze.
His red-eyed gaze.
He had activated his Sharingan!
"You have gained a powerful tool, Sasuke, but that is all that it is. A tool." Danzo stated. "Should you use it to learn a Jutsu, you will find that you will only be able to perform it perfectly when you have your Sharingan active. As for using it in combat… you need to get faster in order to capitalise on it. Knowing what your enemy is about to do is useless if you cannot move fast enough to avoid his attack."
Sasuke nodded weakly and Danzo's smile turned predatorial.
"Tomorrow, we will begin your proper training as there is no reason to keep going easy on you."
Sasuke's eyes widened. Danzo had been going easy on him?!
"For this afternoon, though, I have something else planned." Danzo said. "We will discuss the power of the Sharingan and why using it could cause you to become reviled."
Sasuke blinked. "R… reviled?"
"The Uchiha were respected for their power, but the other great clans of Konoha saw them as thieves." Danzo stated as he turned away. "We shall discuss this once you have showered and changed. We will also work on your self-control issues."
"I don't have self-control issues!" Sasuke snarled as he scrambled to his feet.
"And thus is my point proven." Danzo riposted as he closed the door behind him.
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Armour
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Sakura looked round. Her vision was unobstructed, even though Naruto had shaped part of himself into a helmet that covered her entire head. Somehow, he had made it so that he was transparent from inside, but not from the outside.
Dropping into a basic stance, Sakura started to flow through the Kata, adjusting her balance as she did so in order to compensate for Naruto's mass and the fact that he was magnifying her strength.
"How do you do this so smoothly?" She asked as she flowed through a five-punch and spinning kick combo.
"I think fast." Naruto replied through the small tendril resting in her ear, the shrug evident in his voice. "Really. It took me a while to adjust to how slow everything around me is."
Sakura nodded slightly as she delivered a series of high kicks to her imaginary opponent.
"How much faster are you?"
"Hard to say." Naruto replied. "Based on your reading speed, I'd say about… between a hundred and a hundred and fifty times faster."
"You mean that one second for me is two minutes for you?" Sakura gasped, her stance wobbling slightly before she regained her balance.
"I think so." Naruto agreed. "Okay, ready for the next stage?"
Sakura adjusted her stance and then staggered slightly as a half-dozen tentacles erupted from her backplate. A moment later, a line of small blades formed on the front of her lower legs as well as on her arms.
"Run through again." Naruto commanded and Sakura dropped into her stance, trying to ignore the blade-ended tentacles hovering in the corners of her vision.
"Ready?" She asked.
"Let's see how your idea works." Naruto agreed and Sakura began to flow through the Kata once more, Naruto's tentacles weaving a web of death around her.
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Chunin Exam
Meeting Up
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"Uzumaki-san, Haruno-san." Sasuke said politely. The two genin stared at him as if he'd ripped his face off to reveal himself to be Senju Tobirama in disguise.
"What… Kai!"
Sasuke blinked as Sakura tried to dispel a genjutsu. "What are you doing?"
"Who are you and what did you do to Sasuke!" Sakura half-shouted. "That emo-teme is never polite!"
Sasuke winced internally, but his training under Danzo allowed him to hide all of his emotions.
"I received training to help me identify and counter me weaknesses." He said calmly. "My temper was one such weakness, as was my previous inability to interact with others."
"It would seam that Shimura-sama made great progress with you." Kakashi said from behind him and Sasuke mentally cursed. He hadn't detected the Jonin's approach which meant that after the exams, he'd have to undergo the sensor training again.
"Anyway since you need to be a team of three to enter the exams, Sasuke has been temporarily assigned to Team 7. Sasuke, if you would introduce yourself and give an overview of your skills?"
Sasuke nodded. "I am Uchiha Sasuke, loyal genin shinobi of Konohagakure. I have been trained to chunin-level in taijutsu, kenjutsu, genjutsu and shurikenjutsu. My ninjutsu is high-chunin level and I have elemental affinities to lightning and fire. I have trained in basic combat medicine, although I am not an Iryonin. My Sharingan has evolved to three tomoe due to my training, although I am under orders to only use it in battle against non-Konoha ninja."
The other two genin exchanged glances, then Sakura spoke.
"Haruno Sakura, genin. I'm a level-one Iryonin and I've studied genjutsu. My taijutsu is adequate to my level, as are my kunai and shuriken abilities. I work best with my partner, Naruto and together we've taken down a Jonin."
Sasuke raised a mental eyebrow at that, especially when Kakashi didn't correct her.
"Uzumaki Naruto. My abilities are differet enough that ranking them is hard, but I'm a close-range type. My kekkei genkai lets me enhance and support other ninja, Sakura-chan has a lot of experience working with me that way."
Sasuke nodded in acknowledgement.
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The Test
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Sasuke's pen skittered across his page as he wrote down the answers to the questions, as whispered to him by the small tendril that Naruto had created and placed in his ear. Sakura had a similar tendril and Naruto could talk to her through it, or use it like he was doing now to look at the answers that she was writing down and then transmit them to Sasuke.
Sasuke finished the test and put his pen down. Looking round, he reflected that Danzo would be very interested in Naruto's newly-revealed capabilities with his Bloodlimit.
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The Forest
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"Before we enter, I think I should do something." Naruto said, then Sasuke blinked as the Blond's colour seemed to drain away, leaving him looking like a living statue. A moment later, he seemed to flow and twist until two Naruto's stood before them.
"I've seperated myself into two, using some of my stored mass." The one on the right said. "Sakura?"
Sakura nodded and stepped in front of the first Naruto, standing so that he was behind her. An instant later, Naruto seemed to flow over her, forming into a suit of armour, then the visor lifted up to reveal Sakura's smiling face.
"This is how Naruto and I took down Zabuza." She explained and Sasuke nodded.
"Bonuses?"
"Enhanced speed and strength, automatic tree and water walking and special techniques. We'll explain as we go." Sakura laughed. Sasuke nodded, then stepped in front of the remaining Naruto.
"I'm ready."
Despite his mental preperation, Sasuke flinched as he felt the warm metal flow across his skin, mounlding itself to his body. Flicking on his Sharingan, he sighed.
"I need unblocked vision if I am to use my Sharingan."
The transparent visor retracted and Sasuke nodded.
"Impressive."
"Oh, you haven't seen anythng yet." Sakura giggled.
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The blast of wind tugged at them, but failed to move them.
"Impressive." A voice said and a female Grass ninja appeared. "Resisting my wind like that."
Sasuke blinked the dust out of his eyes as the ninja strolled forwards.
"Interesting armour you have. But where is the third one gone? Oh well."
Sakura pointed at the ninja and Sasuke caught a glimpse of a small hole opening on the back of her hand. "Who are you?"
"Why should I tell-hurk!"
The woman toppled over, the poisoned senbon lodged in her throat, then she dissolved into mud.
"Oh, this isn't good." Sasuke muttered and Sakura nodded.
"We need to escape." She whispered, her voice coming through the small tendril in Sasuke's ear. "Naruto, metalstorm technique."
Before Sasuke could ask what was going on, his visor solidified, then a massive cloud of smoke engulfed them, dissipating to reveal so many clones that the forest seemed to have turned silver.
"Relax, let me do this." Naruto whispered and Sasuke let his limbs go limp. An instant later, he found himself racing through the trees at high speed, a scream of frustration echoing through the forest behind them.
"If my clones come across another team, they'll grab the scroll and we can then go to the tower." Naruto said.
"Sounds like a plan." Sakura replied approvingly.
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The Tower
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"Well, since only twelve of you made it through the first two rounds, we won't need a preliminary." Ibiki said and Sasuke mentally nodded in agreement. Only fifteen teams had been brave enough to take the tenth question of the first stage and only four teams had made it through the Forest of Death.
"Take a number from the box to determine the matches of the third round." Ibiki said as Anko stepped forwards, the box in her hands.
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"…and your plans for Naruto?"
"I currently have no true plans due to his unusual ability." Sasuke admitted.
"It is a wise ninja who admits when he does not know something." Danzo confirmed. "Do you have any ideas?"
"Raiton is currently the only thing I can think of that might work." Sasuke admitted. "During my Genin test, my fireball did not faze him in the slightest."
"Then we shall work primarily on your Raiton for the next month." Danzo agreed.
"Thank you, Danzo-sama."
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Aaaaaaand that's all of the Metal Maelstrom scenlets I'd written. Sorry.
Lets hope someone adopts this story, I'd love to see what a good writer could do with it.