I'd like to thank 'call015' for the idea concerning Futeki in this part.
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. ON TO THE FANFICTION!
Chapter 15 – The Choice
Last time:
Sasuke was a flurry, dodging attacks while performing his own. Using the sharingan made it all too easy for the Uchiha. The problem was he got too cocky and forgot to watch his back. Futeki, the one that appeared to be the leader, had come up behind him with a sword raised, ready to take the Uchiha's head clean off.
This Chapter:
Time seemed to slow down as Futeki's sword was rushing towards Sasuke's neck. Sakura looked over from the thug she had just knocked out. 'Now or never.' She thought as she started dashing toward him. There was a loud 'CLANG!'.
Sasuke looked over his shoulder when he felt the presences behind him. What he saw shocked him slightly, there was the supposed leader of the thugs, Futeki, and just a few millimeters from his neck was the man's sword. The only thing keeping it at bay was a kunai held by Sakura, she was standing with her back to Sasuke but her head was turned so she was facing the swords blade. Sasuke looked over to her face, there was a fire in her eyes, a resolve. She would save him. Futeki, on the other hand, was looking at her with anger in his eyes. "You're going to regret that!" Futeki shouted as he brought his other sword forward, trying to stab her. Sakura, seeing the sword going for her gut, froze. She couldn't block it, she was doing everything she could to keep the sword from going through Sasuke's neck. She did the only thing that came to mind, she closed her eyes and waited for the blade to skewer her.
There was no squelching sound of metal hitting flesh as Sakura had expected. Instead there was a dull thud of something blunt hitting flesh. Sakura felt the pressure on her kunai disappear. She opened her eyes to see what had happened. There, standing a few of feet from her was Naruto, zanbatō in hand, out-streched to his right away from her. Futeki was a few yards away sprawled on the ground. "Sakura-chan, never close your eyes like that again. You gave up before you tried, I expect a hundred laps with your weights on when we get back to Konoha for that." Naruto stated calmly as he swung the zanbatō again, knocking another thug back. "Sasuke you forgot an important rule when outnumbered, always watch your back." Naruto stated calmly again as he struck two thugs this time. Both landed face down unmoving. Sasuke and Sakura still hadn't moved, they were watching Naruto. "What are you waiting for? GET BACK TO THE FIGHT!" He yelled at the two, shocking them from their state of shock. Both went right back to work.
The thugs were losing this fight, Futeki knew it and Naruto knew it. There were only six of them left... five now after Sakura hit another with her senbon... four, Sasuke had just knocked another out with an axe kick. Most of this wasn't registering with Futeki at the moment though. He was staring at the sword Naruto was wielding. He recognized it, it was the sword of Zabuza Momochi, one of the seven swordsmen from the mist. He knew this because he had tried to be one of those swords men, to be recognized as one of the greatest swordsmen used to be his dream. That dream however, died when he was beaten by Zabuza, who hadn't even drawn his sword during the fight. 'How did this brat get the sword!?' He thought as his anger flared and with it came some killing intent.
"What can I do for you?" Naruto asked sarcastically to Futeki, who had just stood up and was directing as much killing intent as possible toward the blonde. Naruto eyed the two broadswords the man was holding. From their design, he could tell they had been made to be used as a pair. The man was only wearing one scabbard and it looked like it could house the two swords very easily. The guards and hilts on both swords only confirmed this since they both had a flat side, the flat side made it so they could both be held side by side in the scabbard. "Those are some nice looking swords. I'll be happy to relieve you of them when this is over." Naruto announced as he brought the zanbatō out in front of him.
"Don't be so cocky, kid! I don't know how you got Zabuza's Kubikiri Hōchō but you're not getting my swords!" Futeki said, the anger evident in his voice.
Naruto glanced around quickly taking in the fight around him. He noticed that Sasuke was fending off a couple of men with his kunai, both men were attacking with some sort of spears. "Decapitating Knife? So that's what this sword's called, I always meant to ask Haku about it's name." Naruto glanced around quickly again, he saw Sakura leading the final thug away, he was trying to slash her with some sort of multi bladed weapon. "Since I forgot to ask Zabuza before I finished him off!" Naruto replied, breaking into a sadistic grin he hoped would intimidate the man, alas it didn't work.
"Bull! I went toe to toe with Zabuza for the title as one of the seven swordsmen of the mist. He beat me without even drawing his sword! How did a Gaki like you beat him!?" Futeki shouted at the blonde.
'Kyu-sensei, could you send me enough youki to activate the fox eyes, please?' Naruto asked Kyuubi through the mental link. "I'll tell you how." Naruto announced, lowering his head slightly so his face was blocked by shadows and his hair.
'On it's way, Kit' Kyuubi announced.
Naruto felt the youki, he directed it straight to his eyes. His eyes changed as did some of his features. "Unlike him... I'm a real demon!" Naruto announced just loud enough, snapping his head back up to show of his new demonic features, his deepened whiskers and his elongated canines. He saw the fear on Futeki's face, even if it was fleeting.
"Nice try kid, you almost had me with that genjutsu." Futeki said as he closed his eyes, calming his nerves. Naruto saw the opening and made his move. He dashed forward raising the zanbatō, ready to strike with the flat edge. "I really thought you were a-" Futeki didn't get to finish the sentence though as the flat edge of the zanbatō collided with the side of his head. He had opened his eyes in time to see Naruto smirking at him, just before he lost consciousness from the blunt trauma.
Naruto looked down at the unconscious swordsman. "I thought you of all people would know not to close their eyes during a fight." Naruto said, he sighed. "And here I was hoping for a good sword fight to test my skills, oh well back to the matter at hand." He said as he felt the youki leave him and his features returned to normal.
Sakura downed her opponent as soon as she had disarmed him of his weapon. Landing a spectacular punch to his face followed by a roundhouse kick from the opposite leg. She looked around to see Naruto was finished with the leader and Sasuke was still fighting his opponents. "Sasuke! Stop playing around and take those guys out! I know you want to train your sharingan but not during a mission, please." Kakashi said as he appeared next to Sakura.
"Thought he was holding back. He still made a mistake earlier though." Naruto said as he walked over to the two, zanbatō over his shoulder.
Sasuke glanced over to the three. 'How could I let that guy almost get me? How did Sakura get that fast? How did Naruto get better than me? I've been training all this time to enact my revenge, how did they get past me!?' Sasuke thought angrily as he looked back at his opponents. He decided to finish it now, he dodged a spear thrust and grabbed the handle. The next thing the owner of the spear knew, he had a sandal in his face and he was falling. His friend tried to use this to his advantage as slashed at Sasuke's head with his own spear. Sasuke saw it coming and blocked it with the spear from the other guy. He twirled his way down the shaft, bringing up his foot and planting a twirling kick to the man's face. As the man was recoiling from the hit, Sasuke brought up his other foot and planted another kick into the mans face knocking him back into a wall and knocking him out.
"Nice one Teme, you could have done that earlier though." Naruto mocked the Uchiha.
"Shut it, Dobe. I took them down didn't I? Besides, at least I got here on time." He said with a smirk as he walked over to the three, his sharingan fading.
"Actually I arrived just as you were taking them on. I even saw that Sakura-chan was the first to take any of them down. I also see you're having trouble keeping a hold of your sharingan." Naruto taunted.
Sasuke seethed and his sharingan flared back with a vengeance only to die back down. "I don't have to control my sharingan all the time, Dobe. I don't need it all the time, I have skill."
Naruto raised an eyebrow. "Really? Where was that skill when you were about to lose your head to their leader? And if I'm not mistaken you were also saved by Sakura-chan."
"Naruto-senpai!" Sakura howled. 'Great, Sasuke probably hates me now.' She thought to herself.
Sasuke was seething again now. "Alright, calm down you two. We need to tie these guys up and watch over them until the law enforcement of the fire Daimyo gets here tomorrow. Now, Naruto, I want you to make some clones and gather up their weapons and keep them in your storage scroll. Sasuke, Sakura, I want you two to tie them up with Sasuke's ninja wire. Get to it." Kakashi ordered the three in his laid back tone of voice.
Naruto just grinned as he created a few shadow clones and sent them out to gather the weapons and pile them up in a corner. He sat next to the steadily growing pile and took out his storage scroll, he kept his hand behind the scroll as he concentrated on a storage seal that could keep all the weapons. He did this to hide the glow that came with creating a seal like this. He placed his hand on an empty spot as soon as the seal was ready and the copy flared on the scroll he took out the small ink pot he carried with him and went over the glowing symbols.
Sasuke and Sakura were currently dragging the third thug they tied up over to the side. Things were going slowly and by the looks of things the area was completely devoid of the weapons that had littered the area earlier. Naruto's clones worked fast. "Hey, Dobe, get your ass over here and help move these guys!" Sasuke shouted to the sitting blonde.
"Hm? Oh, them, give me a sec and I'll create more clones to help." Naruto replied looking over the opened scroll. He put the scroll down to his side after another few brush strokes. He created a clone for every thug that had yet to be tied up and had them get to work. A few minutes later they had the whole gang tied up and lying in a row on the street floor. Naruto had stored all the weapons into his scroll. "Hey, Kakashi-sensei? What are we gonna do with all these weapons now?" Naruto asked the jounin.
"Hm? The weapons? Oh, right, keep 'em if you want or sell 'em, those guys aren't gonna need them and I doubt the law enforcers will want them." Kakashi replied as he kept reading his book.
Naruto's eyes glittered at this. Sasuke looked over at the blonde ninja. "What about us? We took some of them down, shouldn't we be allowed to take some of their weapons?" The Uchiha asked, his eyes lingering on the scroll Naruto now held open.
"If you want Teme, but I call dibs on all the swords." Naruto said quickly as he went to unseal the pile again. It took a moment but the weapons reappeared in a puff of smoke and a light 'pop'. Naruto proceeded to grab the two broadswords and their sheath and any other swords he could find. By the time he was finished sorting out all the swords, among them a few wakizashi that the weaker thugs had been holding, the broadswords from the leader. He also coveted a short double-edged sword with an elaborate guard that spread out to the sides and then bent upwards to be parallel with the blade, with a sharpened point a the tips, from one of the ten that the three of them fought and, finally, another form of broadsword, unlike the ones from the leader though the blade was serrated. The rest of the swords were pretty plain. He also took a few select daggers/knives he liked the look of and a set of tonfas that had a single edge blade hidden in the longer portion so they could also be used as swords if the bulky sheath was taken off. He left the pile open for Sasuke and Sakura to look through.
Sasuke looked through all the weapons. He didn't find anything of interest. Sakura just said, "No thanks, I'll be fine with with what I got. I don't think I'll be killing anyone for a long time anyway." Sakura said in a defeated voice, hanging her head.
Naruto had a feeling she would be like this. "Don't worry Sakura-chan. You would be a better medic anyway, with your awesome chakra control. You always came across as someone who would want heal rather than hurt." Naruto announced trying to cheer her up.
"Arigatou, Naruto-senpai." Sakura replied smiling lightly as she lifted her head back up.
"No problem. Now, unless you want a weapon, Kakashi," Naruto shouted to the jounin, to which he received a lazy 'Nope'. "I'm gonna seal the weapons again. I have a friend back in Konoha that might be interested in these weapons. Especially the weird weapons." Naruto announced as he gathered the weapons back into a pile and resealed them.
They kept watch on the thugs in turns. They didn't want to bother moving them around again, especially after most of them woke up. Whoever was watching them was always supported by a small group of Naruto's earth clones. When Sakura had the chance she reattached her holsters and put her weights back on. The weights, of course, got Sasuke very interested, when he first saw them in wave he didn't think much of them. He thought they couldn't make that much difference, now though he wanted some for himself.
The fire Daimyo's law enforcement arrived the next morning a little before dawn with a couple of large wagons. The inside of each wagon had been divided up into small cells to hold criminals. Each law enforcement worker wore light samurai armor and carried what appeared to be a spear, except it had three prongs at the end and a few pikes coming out of the shaft a short way from the tip. Naruto asked about them and found out they were designed to capture criminals. Apparently, all the worker had to do was place the end of the spear onto a criminals clothes, twist sharply and the criminal's clothes would be captured by the spikes.
Naruto tried to barter one of the workers into giving him one and eventually got him to part with a spare one for a few ryou and one or two of the weapons he had coveted from the gang. After that was done and the thugs were sealed in the wagons. The team of ninja headed back to Konoha, making good time since the wind was behind them.
When they arrived in Konoha, the sun had just set and if they were lucky, they would catch the Hokage to give their report before he turned in. They were lucky, as they arrived the Hokage put the last piece of paperwork for the day into the OUT bin. He looked up when team 7 entered via Naruto kicking the door open. "Hey Jii-san! We got done early!" Naruto called to the Hokage.
"Yes I can see that, a whole day early to be precise. Very well, Kakashi, give me the verbal report." Sarutobi said while stifling a yawn. Kakashi relayed the whole mission and by the end Sarutobi was happy with the outcome. "I'm glad to hear that the three of you could handle yourselves without your jounin-sensei. I am also very happy to hear of your teamwork, watching out for each other is what I expect from my ninja squads. It is what makes our village strong." The Hokage told team 7.
"Arigatou, Hokage-sama." Sakura replied with a bow.
"Hn." Sasuke replied as a thanks.
"Thanks, Jii-san! We do our best." Naruto replied with gusto.
"You're welcome. Now, you three are dismissed, there is something I need to talk to Kakashi about. You are to meet him again tomorrow at your usual meeting place." Sarutobi told the three genin. They promptly bowed and left. "Well, Iruka, did they pass the test?" Sarutobi asked out loud.
Iruka appeared outside the window, behind the Hokage. "Yes, I'm happy with their teamwork. You can tell them about the chunin exams tomorrow Kakashi-san. Although, outside of fighting, Sasuke still seems pretty distant." Iruka replied.
"Yeah, he's an excellent fighter but he has to learn to get along with his teammates better. He and Naruto are almost always fighting but I have a feeling they regard each other as friends. If not friends then rivals at least." Kakashi said from behind his book.
Iruka had a look of concern on his face. After a look from the Hokage he voiced his concern. "Maybe, but I'm still worried about Sasuke's arrogance. If Sakura and then Naruto hadn't been there to help him we would have lost a potentially good ninja."
"Don't worry, Naruto won't let anything happen to his teammates. He would give his life for his friends or for this village, he has become the hero that the Yondaime wanted him to be seen as. Hopefully, the villagers will see this in time and accept him." Sarutobi informed Iruka, taking a small drag from his pipe.
"I hope so, Hokage-sama. After what they... we, have done to him, he deserves it." Iruka said as he lowered his head.
Naruto was in the compound testing out his new swords and looking over them. He was currently looking over the broadswords and their sheath which was a dark red/brown colour. "These broadswords are really well balanced, maybe I should keep them outside the scroll as my main weapons. What do you think Kyu-sensei?"
"Well it would be good to have a weapon ready to draw, instead of having to open the scroll to get a weapon. You may want keep more than just the broadswords though, how about you also keep that wakizashi on your opposite hip of where you keep the broadswords and you could keep these two knives on your back underneath your vest? They seem to be a pair anyway." Kyuubi suggested.
Naruto grinned. "You saw me looking at them huh?" Naruto rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. "I was hoping you would approve, there's just something about these knives I like." Naruto replied as he picked the pair up. The blades were a foot long, single edged, with a thick spine and was bent slightly halfway up the blade. What was also strange is that the blade went wider near the tip but still sharpened off to be used for stabbing. The sheaths for the two were black with a brass metal covering for the tips and clips at the openings to keep the knives secure. "It's a good thing I grabbed the sheaths, otherwise I wouldn't have any idea how to make one. The wakisahi, I just think it looks better than the others I got." Naruto said as he put the pair down after sheathing them.
He then picked up a wakizashi with a pearl coloured sheath and hilt wrap. He drew the blade, it looked to be perfect, he wondered why or rather how the thugs had a blade like this. 'Probably stole it from somewhere.' He looked over the guard, it was completely flat and a slight lavender colour, except for a pair of pearls on either side of the blade, the habaki was also the same slight lavender colour. "It's beautiful, I'll have to choose when to use it carefully." Naruto said as he replaced the blade and set it down. "Now that I've figured that out though, I'm still wondering why Iruka-sensei was outside Jii-san's window."
"He probably wanted to talk to the Hokage." Kyuubi suggested.
"Probably, guess it doesn't matter though. Now, how 'bout you teach me how to use these two." Naruto said excitedly as he drew the two broadswords.
Kyuubi sighed deeply. "Fine, but create some shadow clones and work some jutsu while I'm teaching you. I am not going to train you all night and the shadow clones should help tire you out."
Naruto proceeded to create a couple hundred clones and sent them off to perfect jutsus he knew. He and Kyuubi headed for the taijutsu training area as soon as Naruto finished sealing all the other swords, knives and daggers he kept with him. The broadswords and wakizashi he attached to his belt, while he attached the knives to the back of the straps that held the kunai holsters under his jacket.
The next day Naruto came up to Sasuke and Sakura standing around the bridge that they usually met Kakashi at. He was now carrying the weapons he had selected the night before, the broadswords on his right hip and the wakizashi on his left. "Hey guys, How long you been waiting?" He asked the two.
"Not long Naruto-kun. I got here a few minutes before you did." Sakura replied.
All Naruto got from Sasuke was a 'Hn'. "Well I haven't had breakfast yet, so I'm going to Ichiraku's quickly. I'll be back in about ten minutes, want me to get anything for you two?" Naruto asked before turning to walk away. They both gave a negative and he started walking away.
After a couple of steps though, he picked up a small rock and flicked it with his thumb toward some bushes. Right before the rock went into the bushes a box that had been decorated to look like a rock emerged slightly. The rock punched a hole in the front of the box and an audible 'OW!' was heard from inside. "Konohamaru, what have I told you about your stealth techniques? You still need to work on them and your camoflauge." Naruto shouted toward the box.
"So you saw through the disguise, Nii-san? You still didn't have to hit me with the rock though!" A voice sounded from inside the box. The box then exploded with three different colored smoke bombs accompanying it. Coughing was heard from inside the smoke. "I think we used too much gun powder guys." Came Konohamaru's voice, when the smoke cleared it revealed Konohamaru along with another boy in glasses and a girl with her hair done up into two ponytails.
The three looked up at Naruto suddenly and went through introducing themselves in an... eccentric way. The girl introduced herself as Moegi, apparently the sexiest kunoichi in preschool, the boy as Udon, who loved algebra and of course Konohamaru came last claiming to be the number one ninja in the village. By the end they introduced their group as the 'Konohamaru Ninja Squad'. At this point Naruto had very large bead of sweat on the back of his head and an eyebrow raised. "Okay... I gotta ask, what's up with those goggles you and your friends are wearing? They kinda look like mine." Naruto asked, bringing his hand up to the goggles around his neck.
"Yeah, you used to wear them around your head so we're copying you! Hey, cool swords, Nii-san!" Konohamaru replied , shouting almost, looking at the swords Naruto was carrying.
"Riiight... so how can I help you guys?" Naruto asked bringing his hands up to rest behind his head.
"Come on, Nii-san. You said you'd play ninja with us today!" Konohamaru almost pleaded.
"I did? Oh yeah! I did didn't I. I can't play right now though me and the team are waiting for our jonin-sensei." Naruto said gesturing to Sasuke and Sakura. "I could always treat you three to ramen, I was just on my way to get some." Naruto received a bout of cheers for his offer.
'A ninja playing ninja, you're pathetic, Naruto.' Sasuke thought looking at the blonde.
'How sweet.' Sakura thought with slight blush and a smile directed towards Natruto's back.
Konohamaru of course had to see this and assumed something was up. "Hey, Nii-san, why's that girl looking at you like that? Oh, wait I got it, she's your girlfriend isn't she, Nii-san." Konohamaru asked raising his pinky finger.
Naruto looked back to see Sakura blushing at the comment. "Sakura-chan? Nah, she's not my girlfriend. Whoever does get her as a girlfriend will be lucky though." Naruto told the small boy and his friends.
Konohamaru had to push his luck though. "I get it, you don't like her because of her huge forehead, huh?" Konohamaru whispered, unfortunately he still whispered it loud enough for Sakura to hear.
A cracking loud enough to reach the other side of Konoha was heard as Sakura cracked her knuckles. She looked almost as scary as Naruto when he uses Kyuubi's youki. Naruto just looked down at Konohamaru and in a calm voice said. "Konohamaru, you better start running if you wanna live."
"Why?" Konohamaru asked as he looked back at Sakura and immediately understood. He started running for his life less than half a second later.
It didn't seem to help much as Sakura was quick to catch up, going around the bend in the street, heading straight for the kid. Naruto, seeing the potential lethality of the situation decided to run after them. 'This can't end well.' He thought to himself as he rounded the corner himself.
What he saw angered him slightly, there was some guy in black overalls and a hood with some kind of cat ears on them. He was also wearing some purple make up and something bandaged up on his back. Naruto also noticed a the hitai-ite showing just from under his hood. Sakura was standing a few feet from him. What got Naruto angry though was the fact that this guy was holding up Konohamaru by his scarf. Konohamaru let out a slight wail of pain. "What's the matter kid? Does that hurt." The guy asked Konohamaru in a mocking tone.
It was that question that sent Naruto over the edge. "Hey you, the freak in the cat suit and purple make-up." Naruto said as he put a hand on the hilt of the broadswords.
The guy looked up at Naruto. "What do you want runt?"
Kakashi was walking up to Iruka who was sitting behind a desk. "Hey there, I'm here to pick up some forms for team 7 so they can sign up for the chunin exams." He told Iruka.
Iruka of course already knew the reason and pulled the forms from behind the desk. "Did they really do as well as you say they did? Did they really take down those thugs without any help from you?" Iruka asked the gray haired jounin.
"Pretty much, I just thought up the basics of a plan and they took it from there. Naruto was a big part of it thanks to his clone jutsus. He used them to take down the majority of the thugs and the real team 7 just took down the rest." Explained Kakashi.
"So, Naruto's a real powerhouse, huh? You know I haven't seen him since the mission to wave, he must be training hard!" Iruka exclaimed.
"Yes, I suppose he is." Kakashi said in low voice seeing as he didn't really know how Naruto was training.
"What I want..." Naruto drew the swords slightly out of the scabbard and disappeared. "...is for you to put my friend down, unless you want to lose your head." Naruto finished, reappearing behind the guy holding a broadsword to his throat. Naruto was holding on to the bandaged package held on the guys back, Naruto's face was leaning forward so it was next to his.
'How'd he do that? I didn't even see him coming or draw the sword completely.' The guy thought, glancing side ways at Naruto, surprise evident in his face. "No problem, I was just playin'." The guy lowered Konohamaru gently to the ground. "See? No harm done." He said quickly, trying to get Naruto off his back, literally.
"What kind of trouble did you get into this time Kankuro?" A new voice sounded from behind the newly named Kankuro.
Naruto took the sword from Kankuro's throat, jumped off the package, somersaulted and twisted in midair while sheathing the sword and landed in front of Sakura, Udon, Moegi and Konohamaru, Konohamaru having run over to Sakura, Udon and Moegi having shown up to make sure their friend was okay.
Naruto looked to where the voice had come. He saw a kunoichi with her hair up in four ponytails, a hitai-ite around her neck. She was wearing a steel mesh shirt underneath a pink dress, with a small red sash around her waist. She also had some more steel mesh covering her right shin and left thigh, part of her dress had been hiked up just slightly to show the mesh. Behind her back was some sort of weapon, what exactly, Naruto didn't know.
"I'll ask again Kankuro, what, kind, of , trouble, did, you , get, into, this, time?" The girl asked again, emphasizing each word.
"It's nothing Temari, just making some friends." Kankuro replied to the newly named Temari.
Temari looked at the group in front of Kankuro and her eyes instantly fell on Naruto. 'Looks like I just found the local hottie. I knew Kankuro was good for something and I knew there was a reason I liked this village.' She thought, a light blush adorning her features while she looked at Naruto's chest and the top of his abs through the mesh shirt. "I don't know why you insist on causing trouble. You know your just gonna pay for it later." She scolded Kankuro.
Sakura looked warily between the two. 'They're outsiders from somewhere but what are they doing here?'
"Relax, I'm just gonna mess this guy up a bit for ruining my fun." Kankuro said as he took the package off his back.
"You're gonna use the crow for this!?" Temari asked in an alarmed voice.
Naruto looked away from the two in front of him and looked toward a tree a few feet away. "Sasuke, are you actually gonna do something from up there or are you just gonna watch? You better watch your back too cause it looks like someone just snuck up on you."
Everyone turned to look up to the tree Naruto was looking at. Sure enough, there was Sasuke sitting on a branch. 'Another local hottie, now I know I like this village.' Temari thought as she looked at Sasuke. On the other side of the tree was another ninja with the same hitai-ite as Kankuro and Temari, hanging upside down from a branch. "I'm impressed you sensed my presence as soon as I arrived." The ninja stated opening his eyes. He had red hair, a tattoo of the kanji for 'love' on his left temple and teal coloured eyes, his eyes were surrounded in dark rings, as if he hadn't slept in a long time. He had a gourd strapped to his back with the hitai-ite attached to the strap, he also wore a black shirt and pants with a white sash going over his left shoulder and ending at his right hip. The nin shifted his gaze to Kankuro. "Kankuro, you're an embarrassment. Have you forgotten the reason we came all the way here?" The nin asked in a cold voice.
Kankuro quickly put the package on his back again. "I know... I-I mean they challenged us! They started the whole thing really, see here's what happened-"
Kankuro was trying to come up with a believable lie and this nin knew it so he just interrupted him. "Shut up." He said in the same cold voice, causing Kankuro to flinch and sweat slightly. "Or I'll kill you!" The nin finished in an even colder voice.
"Uh, right. I was totally out of line, I-I'm sorry Gaara, I was totally out of line." Kankuro quickly apologized.
The newly named Gaara looked toward the group that Naruto was at the front of as Sasuke dropped down to join them. "I'm sorry... for any trouble he caused." Gaara said in his cold tone.
'There's something up with this guy, something familiar.' Naruto thought to himself as he felt Gaara's chakra signature and analyzed it, he was currently giving Gaara a sideways glance.
'The Kit's right, there is something about his chakra but what is it? There's something familiar but he isn't using enough chakra, I can't tell what it is.' Kyuubi thought to himself, frustrated.
'That guy has an evil look in his eye.' Sasuke thought to himself, looking straight into Gaara's eyes.
'The one with the blonde hair could have killed Kankuro at anytime he wanted to, but he didn't. The one with dark hair managed to sneak up on everyone except the blonde one. I think I'll keep an eye on these two.' Gaara thought as looked over the two. Sand started swirling around Gaara and he disappeared off the tree limb, only to reappear in between Naruto and company and his fellow nin. He appeared kneeling on the ground but quickly stood up and addressed the other two. "Let's go. We didn't come here to play games." He ordered in a cold voice.
"Oh, right, sure, I get it." Kankuro said quickly. The three then started to walk away.
"Hold on!" Sakura shouted to the three as she stepped from the group. "Hey!" She had to shout again to get the three's attention.
"What?" Temari asked with her back still turned.
Naruto stepped forward to stand beside Sakura. "From your hitai-ite, me and my teammate here are able to tell that you come from Suna, the village hidden in the sand." He announced.
"Hi no Kuni, The land of Fire, and Kaze no Kuni, The land of Wind, are allies but no shinobi are to enter another's village without permission." Sakura stated.
"So state your purpose, or in other words, what the hell are you doing here?" Naruto asked crossing his arms over his chest.
"Have you guys all been living under a rock or what? You don't know what's going on do you?" Temari said as she turned around. She took out a slip of paper, it had a picture of her and some details. "We have permission." Naruto narrowed his eyes at the slip of paper. "Of course you're correct we are hidden sand genin. Our home is the land of the wind and we're here for the chunin exams."
"So it's time for the chunin exams, already? I thought there were still a month before the next one was supposed to take place." Naruto said as he brought a hand up to his chin. "Guess I can't do anything about you being here. Before you leave though, I would like to know your name, mine is Uzumaki Naruto."
"You mean me? The name's Temari." Temari answered with a slight blush and smile.
"That's nice to know but I was actually talking to your teammate with the gourd. So what's your name, I have given mine." Naruto asked again.
"I also wish to know your name." Sasuke said as he stepped forward so he was on Sakura's other side.
"I am Garra, also known as Sabaku no Garra. I am also curious about the two of you as well. What is your name?" Gaara asked in his cold voice, looking at Sasuke.
"I am Uchiha Sasuke." Sasuke replied simply.
"Good luck in the exams Sabaku-san. I hope we get a chance to face each other." Naruto said with a small bow, keeping his eyes on the red head throughout the bow.
"I would say the same but you're going to need more than luck." Gaara replied in his cold voice. Without another word Gaara and the others left.
'Things are getting interesting.' Sasuke thought, watching the sand nins leave.
'I'm gonna have to watch that guy. There's definitely something strange about him and his chakra.' Naruto thought as he was also watching the sand nins leave. "Well now that they're gone how 'bout we go for that ramen?" Naruto asked the group. He was met with three cheers from the kids and a 'hai' from Sakura while Sasuke just walked off. Naruto started patting his pockets. "Huh. Why don't you guys go on ahead, I think I may have dropped my wallet back near the bridge." Naruto said sheepishly as he rubbed the back of his head.
"Nii-san!" Konohamaru yelled, disappointed.
"I know, I'm a baka. Just get going, me and Sakura-chan have to get back to the meeting spot after we get our ramen." Naruto told the group as he motioned for them to go. Eventually they all walked away and around another corner on their way to Ichiraku's. Naruto turned his head to face another tree in the area. "If I find you three spying on any Leaf nin again, I won't be polite about it."
"Hmm. So, someone did notice us? I guess this place isn't full of weaklings after all." A nin with bandages covering the majority of his face and head announced as he and his teammates showed themselves. The nin that spoke looked like he had a rug on his back with all the fur and a shirt with overly long sleeves. To his right was a male nin with a yellow shirt with kanji of some sort going down the front, the nins hair was black and stood up in a similar fashion to Kakashi's. To his right was a kunoichi with a sleeveless vest and some forearm guards, her hair was also black and was left to just hang behind her back. All three were wearing a hitai-ite with a song note etched into the plate and all three were wearing matching camo pants and scarf.
"Damn right I noticed you. Care to explain yourselves or are you just going to run?" Naruto asked crossing his arms again.
"I think we'll run, thanks." The one with bandages said as all three disappeared again.
Naruto felt their chakra signatures moving away and relaxed. He quickly checked to make sure there was no one else about and started jogging to catch up to his friends.
"We should watch the Uchiha and the desert rat. The blonde guy however, I think we should avoid him if possible." The nin with bandages told his teammates as they were leaping from rooftop to rooftop.
"Come on, he can't be that good. So he managed to sense us, doesn't matter. He could just have very good instincts and sucks when it comes to real combat, I say we just watch him along with the other two." The other male nin spoke.
"No, he was strong alright. Did you see his speed against that sand nin? And when he announced the presences of the other two. His hand was always on one of the sword hilts or near them, he was always ready to fight. I say we try to avoid direct confrontation but watch him all the same." The kunoichi added. 'Plus, I'll get to see more of those cute whisker marks.' She added to herself mentally as she kept up with the other two.
"Yeah right, you just wanna watch him flex some more don't you?" The nin in the yellow shirt taunted.
The Kunoichi opened her mouth, about to argue when the one with bandages covering his face spoke up. "That's enough Zaku. Kin maybe right, we better keep watch on him as well. Just in case he becomes a problem along the way. Yes, we will watch him if not to try and avoid him but to find a weakness." He ordered the other two.
"Hai, Dosu." The other two replied in unison, not wanting to argue with their leader.
It had been almost a quarter of an hour since the confrontation with the sand nin and Sasuke, Sakura and Naruto were all back on the bridge still waiting for their sensei. Since Konohamaru, Udon and Moegi had still pestered him after getting the ramen, Naruto had decided to create some shadow clones to send off with them. Not just to play ninja with them but to also watch out for them, just in-case that sand nin came back for revenge.
"Dammit! Where is Kakashi-sensei!?" Naruto asked out loud, obviously frustrated. He took out a couple of kunai and started twirling them to pass the time.
About ten minutes later Kakashi finally showed with his ever present book and the usual greeting. "Yo! Sorry I'm late, I-"
"Stop trying sensei. It's always obvious that you're lying, it's not even funny any more." Naruto cut in.
"You could at least let me finish Naruto." Kakashi said in his usual monotone.
"Whatever, just give us the forms for the chunin exams." Naruto replied, extending an open palm after replacing his kunai.
"What makes you think I nominated you?" Kakashi returned without changing his tone of voice.
"Let's just say a little dolphin told me the exams were coming up and told me all nine new genin from this year would be taking them." Naruto replied with a small smirk. 'Gotta thank Iruka-sensei for the info but I have to remember to prank him for lying to me about the date and place.'
"A little dolphin? Don't you mean a little bird Naruto?" Sakura asked, confused at her teammates mix up.
"I know what I mean, Sakura-chan. Don't worry I haven't gone nuts or anything. Now, about those forms Kakashi-sensei?" Naruto said turning back to Kakashi.
"Fine, you're right, Naruto. I did nominate team 7, here are the forms, you are to sign those and bring them to the academy, room 301, in four days time." Kakashi explained as he handed the three of them the identical forms. "We won't be taking anymore missions for now so you can use those four days to think on wether or not you'll be taking the exam or to train and get ready for the exam. This is all voluntary, it's up to each of you. I'll leave you to think about it and Naruto, next time you see your informant, give him a bop on the head for me okay? Well, see ya 'round." Kakashi said as he disappeared in a cloud of smoke.
A few minutes later, after reading over the forms and signing it quickly with the brush he carried around to make his seals, Naruto announced what his teammates already knew. "Well, I'm taking the exams. Sakura-chan, if you're gonna be taking the exams too and want some more training from me, then I'll be over at the usual training grounds. Just make sure to announce your approach, I'll be training with my swords and might just attack you if you try and sneak up on me." He told her quickly before leaping away.
"Hn. Dobe, there's no point in him taking the exam, he has no chance of passing." Sasuke said as he walked off the bridge.
With the boys gone, it left Sakura to think about the exams. 'Should I take the exams? Training with Naruto-kun has made me stronger but am I really ready for this? I did take down three of those guys in the last mission but they were just civilians. Naruto-kun did most of the work and back in wave I had to be saved by Sasuke-kun.'
Sakura started walking without an actual destination in mind, being too deep in thought. 'This exam is gonna have a lot skilled ninja in it. Am I ready to face another ninja in a life and death situation? I did face Haku but he never really tried to kill us, he's even a friend now. Wait, before the mission to the Mantis village I got attacked by that rain nin, I managed to take him on pretty easily but then again he used mostly genjutsu on me and ran away, I never got to try an actual fight with him. Guess I'll just go and ask Naruto-kun for some more training and advice.'
At the last thought she started walking towards the training grounds. She was still deep in thought on her way, weighing the pros and cons on taking the exams. She was so deep in thought, that she forgot to announce her approach and soon found a sword at her throat. "Sakura?" Naruto asked dumbly. "Didn't I tell you to announce your approach? I could have killed you! You're lucky I check my targets before I go on a full on attack." Naruto ranted as he took the broadsword from her throat. "So... you taking the exam?"
Sakura just looked at him numbly for a moment, until she finally snapped from her thoughts. "Hey! You're supposed to call me Sakura-chan."
Naruto just sighed and lowered his head as a bead of sweat formed on his head. "I thought that was just when we were around other people? Wait, that doesn't matter, why are you here?" Naruto said quickly, sheathing both broadswords.
Sakura got a serious look on her face as she looked away for a moment. "Naruto-senpai, do you think I'm ready for these exams?" She asked dejectedly. "I know I'm stronger than I was in the academy and all but do you think I'm ready to go up against enemy ninja?"
Naruto looked at her surprise clearly evident on his face, from the eyebrow he raised and the look in his eyes. "Sakura-chan, why are you asking me this? After all it's your choice to take the exam or not. I don't know why you're so worried, if you think you're not ready then you don't have to try it this time around. If you want my opinion on your skill level though, I think you've grown a lot. I would say you're probably one of the strongest kunoichi genin from Konoha right now. I know it sounds like my pride as your substitute sensei talking but I really am impressed with your progress, especially after you started focusing more on training rather than 'Sasuke-kun'." Naruto said, walking over to a tree and sitting down, he signalled for Sakura to join him.
What he said was true, Sakura had grown, she held her hair in a ponytail now instead of letting it fall all over the place, although she still had a couple of bangs framing her face. She had adjusted the dress she usually wore in the academy so it wouldn't hinder her training or fighting. She had rolled up the front and secured it with a belt so that her legs were free to kick, run, block or counter if need be. She also used the belt to carry medical supplies such as bandages and gauze, she also kept a small pouch filled with senbon on her right hip. The pants she wore were a little baggier than they used to be to, again, free up movement in her legs.
She smiled at him thankfully and walked over and sat down near him. "Arigatou, Naruto-senpai. I still want to know your opinion though, do you think I'm ready for the exams? After all, you and Sasuke had to save me a few times before now."
"That may be true Sakura-chan but that's what teammates are for, to watch your back. Besides, if I remember correctly you saved Sasuke a couple of times. To be brutally honest with you Sakura-chan, I think you are ready for these exams. You may not make it to chunin but you can always use the experience. If I were to make the choice for you Sakura-chan, I would tell you to try it." Naruto told her, his arms resting behind his head as he looked to the sky.
Sakura smiled over to him again. "Naruto-senpai, I'm taking the exams. Before talking to you Naruto-kun, I didn't think I was ready but now, after what you said and all the training you've given me, it would be wrong to not try." There was a new confidence in her voice, she wanted to try this, she wanted show Naruto that his training her was not a waste and that he and Sasuke didn't have to save her all the time.
"Glad to hear it. Now, how about we go back to training? We gotta be in top shape if we expect to pass." Naruto announced as he leapt back to his feet and created some shadow clones. "You can spar against these guys until I'm done training with my swords. They won't be using any ninjutsu but they will use weapons so you can use weapons as well or ninjutsu, if you want."
One of the clones looked at her and made a taunting gesture. "Well? What are you waiting for? An invitation?" The clone drew a broadsword ready to defend.
Sakura looked at the clone and then saw the real Naruto walk off, drawing both broadswords as he went. Sakura looked back at the clone and smirked. "No, just coming up with a plan." She replied as she went on the attack with a renewed confidence.
Sasuke was at the training grounds he and Kakashi used whenever they trained or whenever all of team 7 trained together. He was taking the exams and he wanted to be ready. "Kakashi! I know you're here. Train me, I want to learn how to use my sharingan more." He shouted from the middle of the field.
"You know, Sasuke, if you want something you usually say please. Besides, I've already trained you on activating your sharingan. What else could I teach you?" The lazy jounin asked after dropping from a tree.
"I want to learn how to keep it activated, like yours. It's no use if I can't activate it and keep it going for as long as I want. Now, train me!" Sasuke demanded as he snapped into a taijutsu stance. 'I have to get better I need to master the sharingan if I'm to have any chance against him. Naruto... you will be my measuring stick. You act like you're better than me and yet every time a ask for a spar you turn me down. You may even be better than me with some things but I am an Uchiha and I will not be beaten.' Sasuke narrowed his eyes at the approaching jounin.
"Alright, Sasuke. If you want to train so much I think I can help you. Give me a second." Kakashi said as he brought his hands up to create the cross seal for the shadow clone jutsu. A clone appeared next to Kakashi and quickly shunshined away. "That clone has just gone off to find Naruto. You'll find out what my plan is in a couple of minutes, until then you may as well warm up." Kakashi told the Uchiha as he walked over to a tree and leaned against the trunk to continue his reading.
Sasuke just remained in his taijutsu stance. A couple of minutes passed and several plumes of smoke erupted in the training ground. "Alright, Kakashi-sensei, what did you need us for?" A voice sounded from within one of the smoke clouds.
Kakashi had looked up from his book as soon as he noticed the smoke. "Excellent. Thanks for the assistance Naruto. This amount of clones should be perfect to spar with Sasuke."
"So that's why you needed us, I guess it would be okay to spar with him since we're only clones. I wouldn't get your hopes up about copying any of our techniques though, Teme. We won't be wasting any chakra like that, all our attacks are gonna be straight forward taijutsu and don't worry, we won't kick your ass... too badly." The clone finished.
"This is your training for me? Getting the Dobe to make some clones just so I can destroy them!? This is pointless!" Sasuke yelled to the jounin.
"Not true, Sasuke. The best way to learn control of your sharingan is to use it as much as possible. If I were to spar with you then eventually, I would tire" Kakashi paused for a moment for Sasuke to take it in. 'Might take a while but I would definitely get bored before then.' He added in his thoughts. "With the shadow clones though, as soon as the one you're fighting is gone you can go straight on to a fresh one. It'll be good as stamina training as well as training for your sharingan, since you seem to have no problem keeping your sharingan active during a fight. Oh, and Narutos? Please go slow enough for him to at least block your attacks."
One of the clones 'humphed' and crossed his arms. "Fine, I'll go slow enough for him to block but I'm not pulling any punches."
"You won't have a chance to throw any punches!" Sasuke yelled as he charged at the clone that had been talking. He cocked his right fist back to throw a punch only to have it blocked.
"I said I'd go slow enough for you to block but I never said anything about slowing down my blocks... or counters!" The clone yelled as he grabbed the arm and pulled Sasuke into his fist. "If you want to have a chance at blocking the next one, you better activate your sharingan." Sasuke flew back a few feet and skidded to a stop on his back.
"That was a lucky shot, the Dobe always gets at least one in any fight he's been in. You're nothing more than a clone of the Dobe so you won't have a chance of getting another one!" Sasuke yelled as he leapt back up.
The sparring continued late into the day. Sasuke managed to dispel a couple of the clones but there were at least twenty to begin with. What infuriated Sasuke more was the fact that the clones weren't using any advanced moves or jutsu. 'I want to learn more so I can get better dammit! Use some advanced moves or jutsu you damn Dobe!'
In another training grounds, far from Sasuke, Kakashi and the Narutos, there was the dull 'thunk' of kunai hitting a target. "Gai-sensei has been talking about his rival, Kakashi, a lot more than normal. It seems his flames of youth have been fanned by his rival's actions." A green spandex clad genin announced.
"Why? What's he done this time?" A kunoichi asked as she threw another kunai, only for it to land next to the last one.
"It seems Kakashi has entered his own genin team this year. From what I've heard they seem to be very youthful, I've also heard that one of his students was rookie of the year." The spandex clad genin replied.
"Interesting, what are the names of his students?" Another genin with long brown hair and a hitai-ite made with black cloth and some belt like attachments asked his teammates.
"They are only rumors, but the names I have are..."
Author Note;
Well another chapter closer to the chunin exams. Just made a few correctons, namely Gaara's name, I put it down as Garra. Thank you to the person that corrected me. You know who you are. ;)
Even more corrections made. I figured out a way to sort it out but still keeping the geneal idea going. Thanks for the info, I really should research the japanese language some more but then again I find it more fun to learn a little bit at a time like I'm doing now.Right now I'm just hoping that my other translations into Japanese are correct. I really should find a beta or a friend who can talk Japanese so I can get the correct terms and translations for my made up techniques. Okay rant over, I'm done.