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Regular speech: "Wryyyyyy."
Thoughts: 'Wryyyyyy.'
Summon's, higher beings regular speech: "Wryyyyyy."
Summon's, higher beings thoughts: 'Wryyyyyy.'
Locations: Somewhere in the deep ocean…
Techniques: Kawarimi!
'Document, quotation'.
Italics can be used for certain kinds of emphasis or snide comments.
Bold can be used for forceful yelling/shouting/screaming.
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or JJBA.
Chapter IX
The sun's first light crept over the trees, illuminating the Hidden Leaf.
After completing their mission in the Land of Waves. Team 7 have returned home with Gato as their prisoner, and turned back to their usual routine of D-rank missions and intense training. It was made clear for Naruto, that if he were to become Hokage, he should use his head more often. He wouldn't be always lucky to be saved by his teammates, nor couldn't he expect to rely too much on his newfound ability.
And that is why he spent the whole night going through various scrolls on tactics, trying to nurture his strategic genius. Waking up from a short sleep, the blond genin tried to shake away the drowsiness. Rubbing the back of his neck, he sat on his bed.
"Good grief… What time is it?" he said absently, looking at the clock on the wall, soon realising that he is late.
"Just great…" jerking up from his disheveled bad, he ran to the bathroom to clean up, knocking over some books and scrolls, putting the kettle full of water on the stove beforehand.
After a few minutes of refreshing shower, Naruto emerged from the bathroom, brushing his teeth aggressively and trying hard to dry his hair with a towel, which has grown a little bit since they've accepted their mission about a month ago.
Throwing the towel and the toothbrush back into the bathroom, he rushed to have what little breakfast he could. Looking over his collection of ramen cups, he picked the pork-flavoured noodles, opening the lid and pouring the hot water in. Rather than wasting 5 minutes in an agonising wait, Naruto dressed up, putting on his pouches and a kunai holster, and finally, tying his hitai-ate tightly, looking into the mirror. Sizing himself up, he noticed that his jacket was a little bit jagged and worn from the Wave and the trainings since.
'Damn, I gotta fix it up a little…' he thought with a furrowed brow. Casting a last glance on his outfit, he walked over to the kitchen, picking up his chopsticks and digging in the instant noodles.
Having finished his breakfast, Naruto created a clone, instructing him to clean up the mess. Leaving his disgruntled clone at home, genin sped off, jumping from roof to roof.
Although the boy new nothing but training and missions as a shinobi, he couldn't deny that he loved the view he would get from up there. The streets of the Leaf were always buzzing with life, and each and every one of the people in those streets had their own lives, their own duties and friends. Watching it all made Naruto feel like he was part of the story he so desperately wanted to have, and it motivated him on his way of becoming Hokage.
After all, it was the Hokage who taught him that 'a leader must care for his people as if they were his family', and these words the blond took to heart. It was easy to hate strangers, who scorned and belittled him at every opportunity, but Naruto couldn't bring himself to hate people who have gone through tough times, because he knew what it was like — to drown in misery so much, that you resort to vent it out on others.
That was one of the reasons he started doing pranks. He figured that if he can't make them love him, he would try and wash away the grudge they held for him by creating new grudges. It may be a questionable logic, but being a child, he saw no other way to change his situation, not until he saw how folk looked at his Jiji. The very same people who glared at him with anger and pain, held nothing but happiness in their eyes for their leader, his sole presence inspiring hope. It is then that Naruto decided that he will do his best to erase the pain and sorrow in the hearts of the people, the same that didn't let you see a boy in the shadow of a monster.
Landing on another roof, he could see his teammates waiting on the bridge that led to many training grounds in the Leaf. Jumping down from the building, he ran to greet his friends.
"Hey guys! Kakashi isn't here yet?"
"No, as always," answered Sakura in a bored tone.
"Phew, I thought I was going to keep y'all waiting…" the boy said in relief, leaning on the rails, trying to catch his breath. "Why did he even make us get up so early? We don't have a mission, do we?"
"It must be something important," argued Sasuke. "I heard that all jonin have held a special meeting, don't know what they've been talking about though…"
"Hmm, maybe they have been evaluating our performances?" suggested Sakura.
"Then why not just hold meetings with active teachers, why all jonin?" Naruto rubbed his chin in thought.
"That's a great question," said a voice above.
The genin turned their heads to the top of the torii arch, on which Kakashi sat, with a paper folder under his arm, his book nowhere to be seen.
"Kakashi-sensei! You know what's going on?" Naruto asked, putting his hands on his hip.
"I do," the man said, jumping down on the bridge. "After our mission in the Wave, I've decided that you guys should participate in the upcoming Chunin Exams!" he said with an eye-smile, that seemed strangely more sincere. "Here are your clearances."
Looking at the piece of paper, the genin couldn't help but smile. Even Sasuke wore a satisfied none could match Naruto's enthusiasm, who shouted happily at the top of his lungs and pumped his fist in the air.
"So that was the topic of the jonin meeting?" Sasuke said, waving the piece of paper in his hand with clear doubt in his voice
"Well, I can't tell you the real topic, because it's classified," the jonin made a pause, wearing a look that meant 'no further discussion'. "But, the Chunin Exams where heavily discussed, partly because this year it will be in the Hidden Sand."
Kakashi then leaned on the rails, watching how the genin's puzzled expressions turned into even more joyful than before, so much that Naruto started jumping on the spot, like a child, that got the toy he wanted for his Birthday.
"YEAAAH! That's even more cooler than before! We're gonna see so much new stuff and meet so many new people!"
"Come on, quit it already! No need to yell around all day, you idiot!" Sasuke said in an irritated tone.
Stopping his celebration, Naruto turned to face Sasuke, wearing a frown. "Look who's talking! I bet you won't even go past the first stage!"
His teammate then grinned slyly, pointing at Naruto. "Not before you, dumbass. You are the dead-last here, remember?"
Grinding his teeth out of frustration, Naruto wanted to retort back at the Uchiha, when Sakura interrupted them.
"Kakashi-sensei! Do you really think we're ready to go to another Hidden Village on our own?!" Sakura's sudden question made both boys stop dead in their tracks, slowly facing their mentor with a deadpan expression, which could be easily mistaken for some kind of illness.
'Only a couple weeks ago we went to the Wave, and got our asses kicked, and he wants to send us to a different Hidden Village?' the boys seemed to think the same, staring with fuming eyes at Kakashi.
"Easy there, I never said you'd go alone, I'm your sensei, of course I'll go with you guys!" Kakashi dispelled the boys' dreading thoughts, casting a glance at a giggling Sakura.
'She diverted their attention at me, so they would stop squabbling… Cheap move, Sakura…' the former Anbu captain smirked at the girl, who desperately tried to hold in her laughing to save face, but ultimately failing.
"HAHAHAH, you boys are so stupid!" the girl pointed at the male part of the team, so much that, she sat on the ground, so she wouldn't fall.
Her teammates soon joined her, heartily laughing together, as friends should. Kakashi just stood by the rails, a pained smile on his face. Although it was a moment of joy for them, he suddenly remembered his old team. They too once were as close as siblings would, but fate decided to separate him from his teammates, and then it took his sensei too. Silver-haired jonin felt that this flashback wasn't for nothing. Looking at the cloudless summer sky, he sighed heavily.
"A calm before the storm…"
Somewhere in the vast deserts…
Hot sun scorched the lifeless dunes, the heat forming mirages for any unfortunate travellers that are damned to walk this way.
In the daytime, the many species living in the wasteland hide in the caves and in the hills, the only exception being ravenous vultures, scurrying lizards, slithering snakes and measly insects. But none would tell you about the gigantic centipedes and many other immense creatures that plagues certain areas of the deserts. Not many are fortunate to meet them and live to tell the tale. The shinobi, however, lived by their own rules, and used such sites as training grounds, the monsters being nothing more that a large-sized straw dummies for them.
The sand wave crashed against the canyon's cliffs, crushing a giant beetle to pieces. The small hooded figure with a sand gourd on his back stood for a few moments, his dimly green eyes not betraying any emotion, then turned around to the valley's end, the bloodied sand flowing into the gourd. Having almost exited the canyon, he heard a call from the top of the cliff.
"Hey, Gaara! Over here!" a gentle voice of a girl echoed in the deep pass.
Slowly lifting his gaze to where the voice came from, he laid his eyes on the pair of shinobi, one being a girl of medium height and slim built, wearing a light purple-coloured gown, that extended halfway down her thighs, a fishnet covering most of the exposed skin on her arms and legs. Right next to her stood a slightly higher boy of medium built, that wore plain dark clothes with a red and yellow circle on his abdomen, his face in purple war paint and covered with a hood.
"We were supposed to meet here fifteen minutes ago, where you've been?" he said to Gaara.
The said boy didn't answer, disappearing with a gust of wind, leaving only dust behind him, reappearing next to the pair.
"Shut up, Kankuro," he said, his dim eyes sparkling with malicious intent. Kankuro gulped in fear, breaking the stare between them, not wanting to further anger the boy.
Turning to the girl, Gaara asked monotonously. "Temari, where's our target?"
"Brother, you've just returned from your A-rank mission, surely you want to…"
As if not hearing her pleas, he turned to the horizon, interrupting her. "I heard that Chunin Exams will be held in our village."
His siblings shared a puzzled look, Kankuro deciding to answer. "We don't have to, Gaara, from our missions alone we can get the promotion, it'd be child's play for us!"
"You're an idiot, Kankuro," Gaara said, as if it was the simplest truth imaginable. Turning back to the pair, he said with finality. "This one is going to be more interesting than any other from the past years. I feel it clearly."
Befuddling his siblings with his convoluted answer, he turned back to the horizon. "We should hurry, a sandstorm approaches from the south-west."
As the three genin got closer to each other, sand encased them fully, forming a vortex of sorts, that dissipated shortly after, taking the trio with it.
Back in the Hidden Leaf…
"One second remains."
Naruto admired his handiwork: he managed to torn a giant block of wood in shreds with only his chakra enhanced barrage of punches. Brushing off the sawdust from his hands, he stepped back.
"And time resumes."
With the surrounding area going back to normal, the wooden block was blown off, the shreds embedding in the trees behind.
"Not bad, Naruto," Kakashi nodded in appreciation, rubbing his chin in thought. "Good, even. You managed to improve your chakra control significantly."
Shyly rubbing the back of his head, Naruto laughed. "Yeah, I guess I'm just that awesome!"
"But you still have the worst chakra control in our team."
Naruto then hung his head, the hard truth hitting him hard.
Sighing over his pupil's drama, he patted him on the head. "Don't fret about your chakra control. What you lack in it, you return a hundredfold with your hard work and huge chakra reserves. If you're not a genius like Sasuke, then you are a genius of hard work."
Seeing no deceit in his mentor's eyes, Naruto smiled wider than ever before. "Thank you, Kakashi-sensei!"
Before either could say anything, the alarm clock ringed in the distance, alerting that the training is over. Gathering the equipment, the two walked back into the training ground, meeting the other genin, each with their own copy of Kakashi.
"Alright, let's see what we've done so far," with that silver-haired jonin made a kai sign, dispelling his clones and receiving their knowledge.
"Hmm, Sasuke, well done on unlocking the second stage of the Sharingan,"
The said boy nodded at his mentor, while Naruto gave him a smile and a thumbs-up and Sakura cheered loudly.
"Sakura, you're doing great so far improving your stamina and chakra reserves, you are becoming a true kunoichi."
The girl smiled, looking red from both the rigorous training earlier and compliments, Sasuke nodding with approval and Naruto cheering with a smile.
"You guys are growing every day, come the Chunin Exams – you'll steal the show. Now, you guys can go and get a mission until the end of the day, but I have important matters to attend to. See you tomorrow!" and just like that, Kakashi vanished in a swirl of leaves.
"Well, are we going for a mission today?" Naruto asked his teammates, scratching the back of his neck.
Swiping sweat off her brow, Sakura sighed wearily. "I don't know about you guys, but I'm done for today. I can barely stand…"
Naruto nodded at her, trying to smile as charmingly as he could. "Alright then. Do you want me to walk you home?"
"No, I'm fine. Well, unless Sasuke would…"
"I refuse," Sasuke said coolly, walking towards the Hokage Tower. "Come on, Naruto, or I will take the mission for myself."
The crestfallen from the girl's refusal blond jerked up, and ran after his comrade. "W-wait, Sasuke-teme!"
Watching her teammates walk away, Sakura sighed, looking at the sky. 'If only I could be as weightless as the clouds above…'
Then, the girl's eyes widened with realisation. 'These two left me here alone!'
"Hey, guys! WAIT FOR ME!" with this cry she ran after the two with a slight limp.
The Third Hokage sat in his office, signing papers. With Chunin Exams approaching, he had to prepare his shinobi for it: assign new patrol routes, new missions, and to send an emissary to the Hidden Sand. But beyond that, he had to deal with what they got from Gato, who died of a heart attack during the questioning some days ago. Unfortunately, they didn't manage to read his mind with the Yamanaka's technique in time, and most of the info they got from him was also on his diary, retrieved by Kakashi. So far, he assigned his Anbu to investigate the Tanzaku City on the subject of a yakuza unit there. Making any harsh moves would just scare them off.
Suddenly, someone knocked on his door. Lifting his eyes from the paperwork, he said calmly. "Come in."
Opening the door, Kakashi entered the room, gently closing the door. "Hokage-sama, they've accepted the mission already?"
Hiruzen nodded. "Indeed. But only Naruto and Sasuke did. Naruto said that she went home to sleep." Placing silence seals and ordering his Anbu away, the old man picked up his pipe, filling it with fresh tobacco. "I gather that you are taking their training for the Chunin Exams seriously."
Nodding back, Kakashi answered. "That is correct, Hokage-sama. Sasuke has unlocked the second stage on his Sharingan, and Sakura continues to impress me with her determination."
"Hmm, I see," said Hiruzen, nodding with approval, smoking his pipe. "And Naruto?"
Sighing heavily, Kakashi shook his head, wearing a somewhat tired look. "His ability keeps amazing me. Even in the hands of a genin it is a much too powerful weapon. Although it won't give him much advantage in an intense fight, Naruto is guaranteed to win the fight, if the opponent lets him to have his way. Beside that, his chakra control is improving steadily. His chakra enhanced punches gain more strength with practice."
"See to it that he won't rely on it too much, the same with Sasuke's Sharingan," Hokage said, levelling a serious gaze on the jonin. "You know yourself what will happen if they are to fight without their kekkei genkai."
"Will do, Hokage-sama," Kakashi answered.
"Good. You are dismissed," the old man said, putting the pipe back in his mouth, removing the silencing seal. As the jonin left, Hiruzen turned back to his work, sighing tiredly. More than a break from the exhausting paperwork, he wanted someone to get the weight of the Hokage's hat off his shoulders.
"We got the paper rolls, now, where should we deliver them again?" said Naruto, putting a storage seal in his pouch.
Checking a piece of paper with the client's location, Sasuke looked at houses around, searching for a plate with an address. "Hmm, it should be two blocks down the street."
Naruto lifted an eyebrow at that. "Only two blocks? Why did he ordered for a mission then?"
"Not everyone use seals, Naruto."
"I guess so, but still, hiring a couple of civilian workers would cost him much cheaper," and with that, the blond walked off, paving his way through the crowd.
Now it was Sasuke's turn to raise an eyebrow. The thought never occurred to him, but more than that, he was surprised with Naruto's shrewdness. Deciding not to raise the issue, Sasuke shrugged his shoulders, following Naruto to their client.
As the two was approaching the apartment block, they saw less and less people around, the empty street giving an eerie feeling. Looking through the gates into the inner yard, Naruto saw not a living soul.
"Strange, no one's home."
Pushing the gate open, Sasuke narrowed his gaze. "It's open."
Sharing a worried look, the two entered into the yard, looking around the empty neighbourhood.
"What was the number of the flat, again?" Naruto asked, keeping his eyes on the many windows around.
"506, fifth floor."
Taking a big breath, Naruto said with finality. "Alright, let's get this over with."
Deciding to take the stairs, the pair went up the stairs to the fifth floor, walking by the other flats, Naruto felt a chill down his spine. As they finally come to the right flat, the blond stopped Sasuke from knocking.
"Didn't you feel it?"
"No, nothing."
"Exactly," Naruto said in a hushed tone. "Nothing in a full apartment block? Where's everyone?"
Narrowing his gaze and thinking through Naruto's point, Sasuke retorted. "It's not a cheap apartment. Besides, its weekend, they must be gone for some leisures. Let's just get this over with."
Choosing not to squabble further with his teammate, Naruto sighed. "Okay, let's do it."
As Sasuke knocked on the door, a monotonous voice came from inside the flat. "Come in."
Entering the surprisingly vast apartment, the two looked upon a spacious room, adorned with many bookshelves, a rare painting adorning the free space on the wall. Perched up against the only window was a thick table with a man working behind it. As he turned to face the guests, the genin could see that he was surprisingly young for his voice, looking not older, even younger than Kakashi. His face was surprisingly handsome and grim, free of any scars or facial hair, wearing an empty gaze. The client wore an indoor kimono, the sleeves rolled-up to the elbow, in the hand he held a brush.
"There you are, I've been waiting for you…
= = = To be continued... = = =
I'll be the roundabout
The words will make you out 'n' out
I spend the day your way
Call it morning driving through the sound and
In and out the valley...