Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.
Chapter 23 – New Seal? New Trouble
Last time:
"His... hands... he was doing something... with chakra in his hands." Sasuke gasped out again.
'Hm, so he was up to something.' Naruto thought. "Doesn't matter Sasuke. Forget about it for now. Come on We're really heading for the tower this time, no more stops."
This Chapter:
"Are you sure that's the only way we could get rid of the enzyme? It's just that it sounds a little much." Naruto asked as he looked over some scrolls he had scattered over his desk. He and Kyuubi were back in the vault under the hidden compound in the forest.
"I am certain that, that is the only way we could do it. These enzymes that Orochimaru created." Kyuubi pushed himself off the wall were he'd been leaning. He went to pick up the vial that contained the enzyme that had been pushed from Naruto's body. "These enzymes are different to the ones in a normal human body. They have been reinforced with chakra in a way that makes them invulnerable to high temperatures. This means that I can not just seek them out and use my natural affinity to fire to burn them. The temperatures required to destroy it are too high for me to safely control in the human body."
"What about an inhibitor? I remember reading about inhibitors for enzymes, couldn't we make one for this enzyme?" Naruto asked hopefully, looking away from the scrolls and up at Kyuubi.
Kyuubi brought the vial up to his eye, he stared intently at the black liquid. "Hmmm. I'm afraid not, Kit. First, we have no idea how to begin to create an inhibitor. Second, I believe only someone of Senju Tsunade's level could create something powerful enough to inhibit this enzyme. As you know, things created from chakra can best be destroyed or overpowered from another creation of chakra." He finished, finally placing the vial back on the desk.
"Tsunade-sama?" Naruto echoed as Kyuubi went back to leaning against the wall. He went back to studying the scrolls, his Kaiseki Boushi rotating clockwise slightly as he looked over a certain seal. "It would be helpful if she were here but there was no information about her whereabouts in dad's files. I suppose we have no other choice. Then again, it's risky which means it'll probably work for us!" Naruto announced with a chuckle.
"Inserting my chakra into another humans body is no laughing matter, Kit. You are mostly fine when my chakra enters your system but that is because it has been seeping into your system to heal you. Your body has adapted for it. Normal ninjas have next to no experience with a demons chakra. Their bodies have not adapted to deal with it." Kyuubi held out his hand as his chakra seeped out and formed a red aura around it. "I could kill a human merely by placing my hand on them and forcing my chakra into them." His chakra flared for a moment, lashing out and whipping violently.
"Can't the Hyuuga do that too though?" Naruto asked as he again looked up from his scrolls. "I've read about their techniques, they can kill with a touch as well."
"Any demon could do this, our chakra is so potent only a slight amount is needed to kill. The Hyuuga have trained for generations to replicate this effect. Even now, their techniques are still not as powerful as our chakra." Kyuubi curled his hand into a fist as the chakra dissipated. "This is because they are only using your human chakra. In their techniques they use much more chakra than we do. They also mold their chakra in a certain method for their techniques. Much like you mold chakra using the hand-seals for different jutsu."
"Uh-huh..." Was Naruto's only reply before he went back to his scrolls. "Anyway, are you sure you could collect it all with just your chakra? You did it in my body but that was only possible 'cause your chakra's already inside my body."
"I can get all the enzyme but definitely not all at once. That would require too much of my chakra and could kill the ninja. I estimate around eight sessions would be enough to collect all the enzyme. There is another problem though, the ninja would have to rest for a minimum of a month or two between each session. It would be required to be sure the chakra does not damage their coils or their organs." Kyuubi replied with a shrug.
"Okay, so, we have a way to get rid of the enzyme. Now, to make a seal to counteract the cursed seal until we can remove it." Naruto announced, he had procured an ink well and brush from somewhere and was furiously drawing symbols on a large piece of canvas.
"Why must you create your own seal, why not just copy one of these?" Kyuubi asked as he gestured to all the scrolls. "All of these you have picked are strong enough."
Naruto stopped for a second. "That's because all of these seals take a lot of chakra and strength from the person they're placed on. If I were to use any one of these seals, Sasuke wouldn't be able to fight for at least four days. There's less than three days now, before this test finishes. If there's another test straight after the end of this one, then Sasuke won't stand a chance."
"I see, then you wish to create one that will rely on your chakra and strength so that he may continue. Why? He has never helped you. In fact, he has openly despised you and even tried to seriously hurt you once. Why should you help him?" Kyuubi asked in a sagely tone.
"No, the seal won't rely completely on my strength and chakra. Some of it has to come from Sasuke. It has to so that the seal knows what to stop. All I want to do is make it easier on him." Naruto paused for a second. He looked over to Kyuubi and stared him directly in the eye. "Why am I making it easier for him? That's because... he's my teammate. He's someone I have to rely on and I'm someone he has to rely on. But most importantly, I think of him as the one who understands me most, like a... friend." He quickly returned to the creation of the seal.
Kyuubi smiled at the answer. "I see. That's a good answer." Kyuubi pushed himself off the wall again. He starts walking for the exit before he shouts over his shoulder. "Just be quick. You have about two hours left before that transport seal you made disappears, remember. If you don't watch the time, you may end up going through the forest of death again." With that he left.
'I suppose I should have expected this Kit. You have me, you have Iruka-sensei and you have your Ojii-san. You even have Teuchi and Ayame from that ramen stand. Even though you have these people, you still seek someone of your own age to associate and bond with. The fan-girls would be good but then most of them don't know about ninja life. I suppose it is your natural human instinct. After all, underneath all the training and conditioning, behind all the jutsu and chakra, you are still a child.' Kyuubi thought as he walked down one of the many corridors leading to the kitchen. 'Now, where did I put those pocky?'
"Sasuke-kun! Please, lie down!" Sakura argued as she pushed Sasuke's shoulders gently. Trying to get him to stay in the room their team had been assigned.
"I'm fine, Sakura!" Sasuke grunted. He tried to shove past her, only to grab his shoulder and hiss in pain. His hand had hardly left his shoulder since they reached the tower. "I'm just going for walk." He grunted again.
"No, you're not. You still have a fever! And don't tell me that your shoulder doesn't hurt!" She suddenly screamed before pushing him not so gently in the chest. He stumbled back a few steps before finally tripping on a futon. He fell on his ass with a quiet 'oomph' and a thud from the floor.
"Sakura, I..." His argument died on his lips when he saw the look on Sakura's face.
"Onegai, Sasuke-kun. Onegai, let me take care of you." Now Sasuke was faced with Sakura, the caring medic.
'If you don't let me, I may have to use anesthetic!' Her inner persona jeered as she hefted a mallet labeled, 'anesthetic'. Well, she was mostly caring.
Sasuke turned away for a moment. He narrowed his eyes and huffed lightly before turning back to face her. "Fine, but only until the Dobe gets back." Sakura did nothing more than nod in response. Sasuke lay down slowly. He just as slowly uncovered his shoulder as well and lay his right hand to rest over his abdomen.
"Just relax." Was all she said before she placed one hand on Sasuke's forehead and the other just over his left shoulder.
Sasuke felt the effects immediately. He felt a cooling sensation rush through his head, while the pain in his shoulder dulled slightly. He just about caught his gasp before smirking toward the ceiling. "When did you prepare them?" He asked coolly.
Sakura knew instantly he was talking about the jutsu "When you looked away. Usually when you do that it means you're thinking it over. And so far you've always gone with the choice that was best for the team or yourself. I had a feeling you'd let me treat you. Plus, Senpai always said it's good to prepare the jutsu when you get the chance."
"More medical jutsu from the great Naruto-senpai, huh?" He asked mockingly, spitefully.
Sakura's face fell for a moment at hearing the question so full of distaste. She opened her eyes to look at Sasuke, since she'd started her eyes had been closed to help her concentrate. "Yeah, these were in one of the first scrolls he gave me. They were the easiest things to learn, apart from the diagnostic jutsu since Naruto helped me with it."
Sasuke was about to smirk some more when he realized exactly what she had said. Naruto had helped her with the diagnostic jutsu. "You mean, he didn't actually teach you any of the other medical jutsu?"
She shook her head. "No, he just gave me scrolls for those." She saw the questioning look on his face and decided to continue. "I asked him once, why he wouldn't teach them to me."
Flashback Start
"Why don't I teach them to you?" Naruto repeated the question dumbly. He was looking at Sakura who held a green and red scroll in her hands. They were both standing in the training grounds they used apart from Sasuke and Kakashi.
"Yeah, you helped me with the first one, the diagnostic jutsu. But since then all you've given me are scrolls on medical jutsu. You haven't once given me an example of how they work before telling me to learn them." Sakura asked him in a near whine.
"Oh, right, well, the simple fact is... I can't!" He answered with a grin as he placed his hands behind his head.
Sakura just looked at him with a blank expression for a second. Right before exploding. "What do you mean you can't! Is it can't or won't?"
"Woah! Easy!" He answered as he held his hands out in front of him. "It's can't, actually. I just can't use those jutsu. When you're using medical jutsu, you're using your chakra to affect another persons body. And in some cases their chakra pathways. If you're gonna be doing stuff like that, you have to be precise with your chakra. Otherwise you could end up doing more harm than good."
"I know that. It was in the first scroll you gave me." Sakura answered back.
"Yeah, and when they say precise chakra control they mean precise chakra control. It has to be so close to perfect it may as well be perfect. You have that sort of control." He paused for a moment and pointed at the scroll in her hands with a slight sour look. "I tried to do the other medical jutsu in those scrolls. I always failed. My control isn't as fine as yours. I'm more reckless with my chakra." He huffed and hung his head for a second only to look right back up with a grin at Sakura. "Besides, I figured you really didn't need me as long as you had the scrolls to learn from. You're definitely smart enough."
"Senpai..." She blushed slightly and looked down at the scroll he had given her. She then looked back at him. "I'll do my best!" She announced, all the while pumping the scroll in the air.
"Good!" A brief silence passed between the two. "So, was my speech about needing precise chakra control good? I tried to memorize that from the first scroll as much as possible. I thought I sounded like I knew what I was talking about if I do say so myself!" He exclaimed happily, both hands going behind his head again.
Sakura, in response, merely looked at him blankly, again.
Flashback End
Sasuke said nothing for a few seconds. "Did he really say that stuff at the end about-" He cut himself off as Sakura nodded with a downcast look. "And you allow him to train you?"
"He's not all bad. He is fairly smart when it comes to things about tactics and fighting. He's kind of... cunning." She smiled slightly. "He really likes to learn ninjutsu and play around with them, finding new ways of using them. And he tries. I've seen him studying scrolls sometimes. Scrolls about the laws of Konoha and it's history." She took her hands away from his shoulder and forehead and took out a water canteen along with a cloth from her pouch.
Sasuke sneered. "What's the point? We've left the academy. We don't need to know that stuff for tests." Sakura wet the cloth and placed it gently on his forehead before answering.
"I asked him the same thing, you know what his answer was? 'A Hokage needs to know everything about his village including it's past, present and possible futures.'" She stared off into space for a moment before slumping her shoulders. "Then he asked me if that sounded good too and that he'd memorized it from another scroll." Both their faces went blank at that. "But, like I said, he's a fighter." She finished with a shrug.
"He's such a Dobe." Sasuke muttered, turning his gaze away from her again. His eyes slowly went back to look at her after a moment of thinking. "What about... your training? How many of those scrolls have you gone through?" He asked hesitantly.
Sakura brightened up again at having him asking about her. "Well, right now, I'm on my fifth scroll. I'm still learning about the basics really. But you need to know the basics before you can do the really hard stuff. It's pretty interesting. The ways of closing different wounds with chakra. Then there's ways of staving off infections using nothing but chakra if you can't close the wound. I've learn't a lot of new ways of controlling chakra." She spoke quickly and cheerily.
"Don't act so happy. I just wanted to know what kind of chances I stood of surviving if I was hurt in battle and you were around." Her face fell as did her mood. His words hurt but she knew she shouldn't have hoped for more. Not yet. "It sounds like I'd have at least a half decent chance at least." He muttered quickly. Her face lit up. Maybe she could hope for more.
"He's trained me a lot in evasion and dodging too. As well as taijutsu. He didn't really teach me too many ninjutsu though." She said sheepishly. "I guess he thought I was better off at being a med-nin and knowing mostly medical jutsu."
"Everyone has their speciality." Sasuke muttered quietly.
Sakura smiled and nodded. "What about you?" She asked quickly.
"If you're talking about being trained by Kakashi-sensei. It's a little less exciting than your training." He finished quickly, narrowing his eyes at the ceiling.
"Come on, training is training. I just gave you the highlights of my training. I haven't told you about all the boring and monotonous stuff Naruto had me do. Just tell me about the stuff that was best in your opinion." Sakura nudged, hoping to get a proper conversation going.
His eyes went down for a moment. "Well, he did help me with some of my Katons. He also helped me with my sharingan. Other than that, it's been nothing but tree walking and other exercises." He finished without looking back up.
"That sounds pretty good! I'm betting that's how you did the big, fire dragon thing in the forest, right?" Sakura asked happily.
"You saw that? When I used it against the Kusa nin?" Sasuke asked in surprise.
"Well, I was kind of groggy at the time but, yeah, I saw some of it." She replied sheepishly. Then her face went downcast again. "Too bad it didn't work against her."
Sasuke glared hotly at the ceiling. "We didn't have a chance against her! She knew it and she played with us!" Sasuke spat angrily, baning his fist on the floor. He flinched and suddenly reached up toward his shoulder again. The pain flaring up.
"Calm down. It's over, she's gone now. There's nothing else we can do." She said quickly, placing her hand on his shoulder again. Once again, the pain dulled.
"Yeah, but I wouldn't mind another shot at her." He spat again. He tightened his grip on his shoulder. "Where is Naruto with his stupid seal!"
Just then the door opened. "I'm right here Teme. I'm gonna need a second to set it up. Sakura could you leave the room please?" Naruto asked all the while staring at the floor with a frown on his face. Underneath one arm he carried what appeared to be a wooden box. Sakura looked at him worriedly for a moment before nodding and leaving.
"What's with the face, Dobe? Something wrong with the seal?" Sasuke asked the blonde as he sat up.
Naruto didn't respond at first but then all of a sudden he shook his head and looked at the Uchiha with a grin. "Nah! Just thinking about something else. The seal's ready to go! Just need to print it, ink it and then compress it all, over that cursed seal on your neck!" He announced cheerfully. "Come on! Help me move these futons."
All manner of symbols and runes had been inked into the walls and floors. From a distance they seemed to make a triangle, with a line extending from each corner and from the middle of each side. Right in the middle of the triangle was Sasuke, shirtless, facing one of the corners. Three of the lines of symbols ran up his body and ended on each of the tomoe that made up the curse seal.
"Are you sure this is going to work?" Sasuke asked in a low tone.
"Pretty sure... I think." Naruto replied in a distant tone of voice. All the while drawing something on his right forearm.
"Should have known not to expect much from you." Sasuke sneered.
Naruto's head snapped up and glared at Sasuke. "Watch what you say, Teme! I could always give up and get Kakashi-sensei to do this you know."
"That actually sounds a whole lot safer and smarter, Dobe. It may even be the first smart thing I've heard you say." Sasuke sneered again.
"YEAH RIGHT! I've said tons of smart things!" Naruto shouted, pointing a thumb at himself.
"Really? Guess I must have been ignoring you so I wouldn't have to hear the stupid things." Sasuke jibed, a smirk appearing on his face.
"You want me to seal this thing or not! 'Cuz if you keep that up I'll seal your mouth instead." Naruto threatened pointing at Sasuke's mouth with his brush.
"Get on with it then." Sasuke ordered. "It's getting cold in here without a shirt on."
"Baby." Naruto muttered as he stood up.
"What'd you say!?" Sasuke asked with a hint of venom as Naruto made his way over.
"Nothing. Just sign your name between these lines and then I can complete this thing." Naruto answered, pointing to a spot on his arm. He quickly handed over the brush and held his arm out.
"What's this for?" Sasuke asked in tone with no sense of curiosity.
"It's so I can use some of my chakra and strength in the sealing. That way, you won't be comatose for about a week. This way you'll be out for a day, maybe more." Naruto replied with a cheery voice.
"What do you mean 'comatose for a week'?" Sasuke asked suddenly, stopping his writing.
"Well, all the other sealing methods I could find used the strength and chakra of the one having the seal put on them. That would leave them severely fatigued and most of the time comatose. This one I'm using on you relies more on the caster than the target. I had to be quick making it but it should be alright." Naruto replied quickly.
"You mean to tell me this is a completely new seal that you've never tested?" Sasuke asked flatly.
"That's pretty much it, yeah. I've checked all the symbols over twice, it should be alright." Naruto replied with a grin.
"It's not just something you've memorized from a book, is it?" Sasuke asked, narrowing his eyes this time.
"Huh? What do you mean by that!? Are you tryin' to say I don't understand seals!?" Naruto snapped with his free hand balled into a fist and shaking.
'No, I just heard about what you said to Sakura... twice.' Sasuke thought before letting out a breath he'd been holding. "Nevermind. So what'll happen to you?" Sasuke asked, eyeing the area he was signing.
"Ummm, I'll probably pass out like you... I think." Naruto answered as he looked toward the ceiling as if it held the answer. A finger from his free hand tapping his chin. 'Actually, I'll probably be fine since I have you Kyu-sensei.'
'Yes, you will be fine, since I'll be supplying you with strength and chakra. But after wards you should still sleep. It's better for you to rely on your own strength.' Kyuubi replied with a sigh.
'Fine. Anyway...' Naruto thought going back to his current conversation with Sasuke. "Hurry up and sign your name will ya!" Naruto yelled, swiping at Sasuke's head.
"Fine, jeez." Sasuke muttered after dodging the swipe. He finished signing his name.
"Finally!" Naruto grabbed the brush from Sasuke's hand and carelessly threw it into the wooden box. He then quickly made his way to the door of the room.
"Where are you going now, Dobe?" Sasuke asked in an annoyed tone.
"I'm just gonna tell Sakura-chan when it'll be okay to come back in here. Oh, and don't move." With that Naruto stepped out into the corridor. Sasuke couldn't hear exactly what was being said but he did hear enough to know one thing. Sakura would be taking care of both of them while they were asleep.
After a few more seconds Naruto came back in and went straight to standing behind Sasuke. It was after the fourth hand-seal Naruto had done that Sasuke spoke. "How did you know she was still out there?"
Naruto's left eyebrow rose and he paused on the fifth hand-seal on hearing the question. "What do you mean? Of course she would be there." Naruto continued with the hand-seals before he would lose his focus completely. "One of her teammates, you, has been marked by an enemy. An enemy you were fighting to try and keep your teammates safe." Sasuke looked to the side at that comment. "Now the other teammate, me, is trying to help the first by sealing that mark. Sealing the mark means you won't have any problems that might cost you your life." Naruto stopped his hand-seals and placed his right hand over the curse seal. Sasuke's signature and the symbols around it started glowing on Naruto's arm. "Plus, all I did was ask her to leave the room. I never told her to leave completely, of course she'd stay close where she could help if she was needed. Now, are you ready? 'Cause this may sting." Naruto finished as the seal on the floor started glowing brightly.
"Wh-!?" Sasuke started.
"Too late now." Naruto's hand clamped over the cursed seal. "SANKAKU FUUJA HOUIN! (Triangular Evil Sealing Method)" Naruto bellowed. The seal on the floor and his arm started glowing even brighter. Until eventually they snapped back to being inky black. As soon as they did though, the symbols started moving off the floor and walls. They started slithering up Sasuke's body and stopped just short of the three tomoe of the cursed seal.
Sasuke froze as a sharp pain kept pulsing from the curse seal. He could even feel the symbols as they slithered onto his body. They felt like ice cubes running over his skin. It was a level of pain he could only equal to receiving the curse seal. His muscles had tensed automatically, he was practically a statue. He would have started gritting his teeth as he felt the drain of his chakra straining his body and causing more pain. All of a sudden that pain was gone though and only the cold of the symbols and the sharp stab of the curse seal remained. He turned his head slightly, forcefully untensing the muscle in his neck to do so.
His eyes widened slightly. Naruto was on his knees behind him. He could see the muscles in Naruto's right arm just as tensed up as his whole body was. Naruto's left hand was currently holding the right arm and hand in place over the cursed seal. He could see Naruto's chakra flaring around him as it was being fed into the creation of the seal. That was all to be expected, what made Sasuke's eyes widen was the red chakra that was starting to replace the blue. It was slowly seeping into the chakra that surrounded Naruto. That was merely the beginning, as more appeared he could feel waves of malice and rage come from Naruto. It was like the encounter with sound ninja all over again but this time the feelings weren't as strong. It was as if they'd been watered down.
It wasn't long before Naruto was completely engulfed in the red chakra. That was when things got very interesting for Sasuke. Ever since he'd feel the drain stop on his chakra he hadn't felt it replenish at all. That meant some chakra was still being taken. When that red chakra took over though, his chakra didn't start replenishing, it was restored instantly with interest. He felt his sharingan activate without him sending the chakra to them. Not only that but he felt stronger. It was like the curse seal's effects except... he felt twice as strong... and just as blood thirsty. He felt like ripping something to shreds. He wanted to demolish the building they were in just for the fun of it. He wanted destruction, blood and fire! From the malice and rage rolling off Naruto now, he knew the blonde wanted it too.
"NOT YET! BACK OFF FOR A LITTLE BIT MORE!" Naruto suddenly shouted from behind him.
Once again he felt his chakra drain and then stop at the same level as before. The desire for blood and destruction left him, along with the strength he felt. He looked back at Naruto to see the blonde's blue chakra was coming back. It was just flickering on the edges of the red chakra but it was there. 'What was that! It definitely came from Naruto. But how did his chakra get in my system!' Sasuke thought feverishly.
'That was bad! The seals almost done but you gave me your chakra too early Kyu-sensei! There's no telling where all that extra chakra from your youki went to! That could have compromised the seal I'm putting on Sasuke!' Naruto ranted mentally.
'Forgive me Kit. I felt you reaching your limit and had to intervene.' Kyuubi replied calmly.
'Fair enough.' Naruto huffed. He closed one eyelid as the last of the symbols snaked up Sasuke's body and the glowing under his hand dulled. His arm muscles finally relaxed and his arm drooped away from Sasuke's shoulder. It revealed a triangle surrounding the curse seal, three lines of symbols crossing the three sides almost meeting in the middle, separating the three tomoe. On each corner, another line of symbols stretched out.
"There ya go Teme. That should keep the curse seal from affecting you." Naruto huffed out between breaths. Sasuke just stared back, breathing just as heavily. "Just don't try and access the curse seal powers. 'Cause all that'll do is drain your chakra. I can tell if you try and access it thanks to this." Naruto explained breathlessly as he pointed to the seal with Sasuke's signature. Sasuke didn't say a word as his breathing slowed. "Any questions?" Naruto finished, lowering his arms. Sasuke promptly dropped sideways and fell into unconsciousness. "Good..." Naruto sighed right before he too dropped in the opposite direction and fell into unconsciousness.
The door swung open soundlessly after a couple of seconds. "Sasuke-kun?... Senpai?" Sakura's voice flooded through the room. Overpowering the near silent breathing of her two teammates. She looked down at the two. She sighed. "Just like Senpai said, ten seconds. I suppose I'll have to take care of you two again. At least this time, we're a little safer." She mused as she set about making them comfortable.
"Team 7?" A voice called through the door of team 7's room. It's proceeded with several knocks. "Naruto, Sakura, Sasuke! Are you in there?"
The door is pulled open from the inside. "Yo! Please be quiet Iruka-san. My team are currently resting and I would like it if they got plenty of rest." Kakashi informed the chunin from behind his orange Icha Icha book.
"Ah, forgive me Kakashi-sensei." Iruka answered, bowing at the jounin sensei. Once he stood back up he looked over the three genin. Naruto and Sasuke tucked up neatly on a pair of futons. Sakura dozing near by with a blanket thrown over her. "Have they been asleep long?" Iruka asked quietly, closing the door with a near silent click. He then proceeded to lean against the door and cross his arms.
"I'm not sure to be honest. I only arrived a few minutes before you. I found all three of them asleep but it looks like Sakura was trying to stay awake to take care of the other two. I thought it would be a good idea to put a blanket on her so she wouldn't catch a cold." Kakashi answered as he folded the corner of a page to mark his place. "So what did you need Iruka-san?" Kakashi asked as he closed his book and held it in the crook of his arm as he too crossed his arms.
"I just wanted to ask them why they hurried off so quickly after my speech. I gave them my speech about being a chunin and having to train and gain knowledge. They listened to me patiently but as soon as I was done they asked to have a room they could rest in. I didn't ask for any reasons since they seemed pretty tired. Then there seemed to be an air of panic from Sakura and worry from Naruto." Iruka mused as he looked over the two. "I was just wondering what the whole problem was. I could have ordered them to give me a report as a chunin but as a teacher I wanted to see if they could deal with the problem by themselves. From the look of peace on their faces I suppose they did deal with it." He finished, grinning at the three dozing genin.
"I see, I see." Kakashi replied with a few nods. "Don't worry about it. Naruto and Sasuke have taken care of that problem." The jounin's lone eye quickly darted to Naruto. "Right, Naruto?"
Both Kakashi and Iruka stared expectantly at the blonde for a moment. "What are you talking about Kakashi-sensei? He's asleep-"
"Not completely Iruka-sensei." Naruto whispered as he sat up with his swords in hand.
"Not very comfortable sleeping with those attached to your waist, is it?" Kakashi commented silently.
"Nah, they keep jabbing into my side, it's really annoying." Naruto answered.
"You should try having one attached to your back, that's even worse." Kakashi commented again.
"The kunai under the pillow thing isn't much better either." He replied as he took a kunai from under his pillow with his other hand. "The pillow just isn't thick enough to get rid of the feeling of the kunai."
"Naruto!... Do you always sleep like that!?" Iruka asked in a surprised but hushed voice.
"Yeah. Well, I don't sleep like this at home. But whenever I'm not at home I do usually sleep like this." Naruto replied while scratching the back of his head, thinking of the cave compound as his home. "Sorry for not answering straight away there, though. It's hard to undo the loop on the sword's scabbards when all I have to go by is touch. It gets knotted up sometimes."
A bead of sweat formed on the back of both the chunin's and jounin's head. "Right." Kakashi sighed quietly.
Iruka shook his head lightly, muttering "Naruto...," under his breath. When his head came to a stop he let a grin break out. He looked back at his ex-pupil and drain on his wallet. "Well, I'm glad to see you could handle whatever the problem was. But I'm afraid, I'm also here to deliver a message. Mitarashi Anko-taichou wants to have a meeting with you tomorrow as soon as you've had breakfast." He sighed quietly before continuing. "I don't know what it's about but if I find out that you cheated in this test in some way... Let's just say you're gonna get to know the Hogake faces really well." He finished with an evil smirk and twinkle in his eye.
Naruto started sweating a little from that look. But soon he broke out in a grin. "Don't worry Iruka-sensei. I haven't cheated. I know exactly what this talk is gonna be about." All the while thinking. ' I hope.'
Iruka's look softened. "I know Naruto." He replied going into a smile. The chunin stood slowly and turned to the door. "You don't need to cheat. I hope I see the three of you in the mess hall tomorrow morning." The chunin walked to the door and turned just before reaching for the door handle. "Good luck with the exams, Naruto." With that final phrase he opened the door and left silently.
After going around one corner Iruka collapsed slowly against the wall. He let out a long sigh. 'I guess that chakra I felt earlier isn't a problem. I suppose there really isn't anything I can do for those three anymore.' He pushed himself off the wall and started walking 'But that won't stop me worrying and fussing over them!' He thought with a small smile.
Naruto grinned happily after his old sensei. "He's very proud of you, you know? Proud of the three of you actually." Kakashi quipped as he went back to his Icha Icha.
"Yeah, I know." Naruto replied with a nod. He started settling back under his blanket.
"You have taken care of the curse mark, haven't you?" Kakashi asked in a steady, no joking voice.
Naruto froze and leveled his gaze with Kakashi. "It's sealed, it won't affect him any more."
"Will he be up tomorrow?" Kakashi asked again in the same tone.
"He should be." Naruto replied.
"Should?" Kakashi asked with a slight amount of surprise in his voice.
Naruto scratched his cheek sheepishly. "I used a new seal on him, I'm not sure if it worked the way I wanted it to. I won't know until tomorrow."
'I suppose that's the best I could have asked for.' Kakashi thought with a nod. "And what about the spike of Kyuubi's chakra I felt earlier?"
"That was... an accident. I had to use his chakra to help with the sealing. But he kinda gave me too much." Naruto replied with a shrug.
Kakashi nodded again. "Alright." He sighed as he too turned to the door. "I'll join the three of you tomorrow morning in the mess hall for breakfast. I'll asses Sasuke's condition then, just to be sure. If it turns out that your seal isn't sufficient, you do realize... I'll have to take him out of the exams?" The one-eyed jounin asked with his back to Naruto.
Naruto glanced down for a second. "Yeah, I know." He looked back up. "That's why I know that seal is good enough. The curse seal won't fully activate, even if Sasuke wanted it to. I made sure of that." Naruto finished, laying a hand over the seal on his forearm.
"Good, I'll see you in the morning. Make sure to sleep this time Naruto." Kakashi said as he left the room, closing the door silently.
Sakura groaned in an annoyed tone as the light from the windows fell on her closed eyes. Her groan was answered by an annoyed grunt from Sasuke. Who kicked out in the general direction of Naruto. The kick was answered by another groggy grunt. "Window." Sasuke mumbled in a sleepy haze.
Naruto grunted again as he got up, leaving his blades underneath the blanket. He went to the window and was about to close the blinds until he noticed the position of the sun. He quickly moved his gauntlet slightly to check his watch and confirm the time. "Damn." He muttered, letting his hands drop to his sides. He shuffled back to his futon, stored the kunai from under the pillow and reequipped his blades. Only after that did he attempt to rub the sleep from his eyes.
Sakura groaned again as she flung an arm over her eyes. Attempting to protect them from the invasive sunlight.
"Sorry Sakura-chan but we've got to get up now. Kakashi-sensei said he wanted to see us in the mess hall this morning. We're already an hour late so he might get there before us if we don't get up and go now." Was Naruto's only reply as he went over to Sasuke to wake him up.
As Naruto kneeled down, trying to think of a good way to wake him up, Sasuke spoke up. "Try anything Dobe and I'll burn away all your hair." He threatened without opening his eyes.
Naruto broke into a grin. "What makes you think I was going to do anything, Teme?"
"The fact that you kneeled down before saying anything." He answered, sitting up from the futon.
"Please guys, don't start this early." Sakura protested as she came up to separate the two. "How do you both feel this morning? Last thing I remember is that both of you had a cold sweat and you were both breathing a little raggedly." Her hands flew to their foreheads.
"I feel okay, a little hungry but okay otherwise." Naruto replied, looking up at the hand on his forehead.
"Same here but I feel like a having shower too." Sasuke replied as he too looked up at the hand on his forehead.
"Good, your temperatures are normal too." Sakura announced as she drew her hands away.
"Well what are we waiting for? Let's get going to the mess hall!" Naruto cheered standing up from his kneeling position. He stretched his arms high over his head and got a satisfying pop from both shoulders.
"You're way too loud in the mornings Dobe." Sasuke muttered, rubbing sleep from his eyes and stretching just as Naruto had. "Besides I already said I felt like having a shower. I'm going to take one before going to the mess hall. You two go ahead without me." Sasuke finished as he got up. He grabbed his shirt which had been hung on the back of the door. The three of them walked out of the room and paused in the hall as Sasuke spoke up again. "I'll be down there in about ten minutes, probably the same time as Kakashi from what you said earlier, Dobe." He informed them as he pulled the shirt down over his head.
"Yeah, that's true." Naruto confirmed, placing both his hands behind his head. "Well, see ya later Teme." He finished, turning and walking off.
"Watch out if you get a dizzy spell, just stop and take a few deep breaths if you do." Sakura told him quickly.
"I know, just go get some breakfast Sakura." Sasuke told her. She just nodded and turned away, following Naruto to the mess hall.
Sasuke watched them go for a second before turning away and heading toward the showers. 'For a headquarters this place is pretty empty.' He thought absentmindedly as he turned a corner. 'Then again it'll get more lively in the next few days, mostly on the last day. The losers will probably come here so they can rest and get medical attention before heading back to the village.' He chuckled lightly as a memory of their encounter with the first team of Kusa nin came to him. 'Except for those guys. They were so close to the outside they probably went right back to the start and quit.'
He stopped for a moment as he looked up at the kanji above a curtained door way. He was just making sure it was the men's shower room before walking in. 'Plus they'll need to sort through the ones that have passed the test like us and tell us what's happening next.' He thought as he stepped up to a basin with a mirror above it. Across one whole wall was basin after basin and directly across from them was a shower head coming out of the wall.
He wasted no time in removing his shirt and draping it over the side of the basin. As soon as he'd done that he moved his shoulder into view of the mirror. "What the hell was that last night Dobe?" He asked himself as he looked over the triangular shaped seal. He traced it lightly. 'That power definitely came from the Dobe last night. Except it couldn't have been the Dobe's chakra, I've seen him use a lot of chakra with my sharingan. Whenever he used it, it was blue, even that layer he always has over his skin. That layer... What the hell is it?'
Sasuke shook his head quickly. 'No forget about that now, it's probably just something he's been practising. I need to focus on what happened last night.' He closed his hand over the seals and clenched his left fist. 'The power was almost... No! I was stronger than how I felt when this curse seal was active. But what did he mean by 'Not yet. Back off for a little bit more.'?' His fist unclenched and his right hand dropped to his side. 'I have to find out where he's getting that power.'
Sasuke sighed as he pulled off his sandals, kunai holster and supply pouch. He looked over the tear in his arm warmers for a second. Then he looked down at the pair around his shins. "Tch, they're useless." He muttered to himself as he tugged them off and threw them into a waste basket. 'They won't be the same if they get stitched back up. I suppose it's a good thing I have spares back at the apartment.' He thought before tugging a string in his waistband causing his pants to drop. He flicked them up with his foot and laid them over his shirt.
Finally he turned from the mirror and walked under a shower head. Stopping only to take off his underwear and throw them back to the basin. He turned the two faucets that controlled the hot an cold water the exact amount of times he would at home. The water felt good as it fell on his head and traveled over his skin and aching muscles. He sighed. 'I should have done this yesterday when we arrived, like Sakura did.' He chuckled lightly as an idea struck him. 'I should have suggested that Sakura watch over me while I did this to make sure I didn't collapse. She would have agreed to that in a blink of an eye.' He chuckled again before letting out a long breath.
He lifted his head back, far enough so that the water fell directly on his face. "I have to know where that power came from. I need to know so that I can get more of it." He declared to nobody, lowering his head again. 'The chakra didn't appear until the sealing was almost done. Wait, the sealing. When Naruto performed it, the chakra was sent into me to empower the seal and that thing on Naruto's arm has something to do with it.' He looked back over to the seals and traced the triangle again. 'I wonder.' He thought as he tried activating the curse seal by inserting his chakra into it.
It was slow to react but eventually the curse seal responded by glowing a strange mixture of orange and black. He also felt the curse seal draining his chakra forcibly after a second. The three tomoe started pulsating until they hit the seal surrounding them. That's when the interesting stuff started. The triangular seal lit up with a fierce, fiery red colour.
Naruto's eyes widened and his hand froze half way to his mouth, nearly dropping the onigiri he had been eating. Sakura's hand paused as well when she noticed Naruto's expression. She lowered the spoonful of oatmeal she was about to ingest. "What's wrong Naruto-kun?" She asked in a worried tone.
Naruto lowered the half eaten onigiri back into the box it had come from. He gave a nervous smile to Sakura before standing from the bench attached to the table. "Sorry gotta go to the bathroom, y'know?" He turned and dashed off quickly out of the mess hall.
As Sakura stared after him through the open door she caught a glimpse of Ten-ten waving after him. When he didn't stop, Ten-ten put her hands on her hips and walked into the mess hall with a frown on her face. When Ten-ten entered she immediately spotted Sakura looking at her and walked over. "Hey there... Sakura-chan right? You did a good job with your hair." Ten-ten commented, looking at Sakura's now neatly cut hair. Sakura nodded a thanks after taking a spoonful of her oatmeal. "Do you know what was wrong with Naruto-kun?" Ten-ten asked before she took one of the untouched onigiri from the box Naruto had left.
"Um, he said he had to go to the bathroom." Sakura answered quietly. Ten-ten merely made a silent 'Oh' and took another bite of her onigiri. A moment of awkward silence passed as the two ate. It was eventually broken by Sakura dropping her spoon back to the bowl and asking, "Have you, um... Have you ever, uh... You've been doing missions for year now, haven't you?"
Ten-ten looked at her for a second before swallowing the last mouthful of rice. "Yeah. Why do you ask?" She inquired, reaching for another onigiri.
"Well, in one of those missions did you-" She was cut short as her mouth shut with an audible click and she sat up a little straighter with her eyes wide. Next to her Ten-ten had done the exact same.
They were both frozen for moment from the feel of the very strong chakra. "Did you feel that!?" They both asked in alarmed unison. They both looked in the direction the feeling had come from. "Naruto!/Sasuke!" They uttered simultaneously as they took off out of the mess hall, leaving the other confused and worried looking ninja behind.
"Kuso!" Naruto swore as he rounded the corner that led to the showers. He could feel the youki pulsating in the air now, instead of just flowing through him. He sped up just slightly as he barreled toward the showers. When he flew through the curtained doorway he was more than a little surprised at what he found. "Um, hey there." He said sheepishly.
He flinched slightly as three sets of eyes, along with a single eye, snapped to him, the fourth set being out of sight. "Hello, Naruto-kun, would you mind explaining to us why Sasuke-kun has Kyuubi's chakra emanating from him?" The Hokage asked with a stern voice.
Naruto fought back the urge to sigh and answered the Sandaime, "Of course, Hokage-sama." Naruto answered with a slight bow.
All eyes then turned to the hallway behind Naruto as the trampeling of running footsteps could be heard. The Sandaime turned to Kakashi. "Stay here and deal with them. Anko-san, take Naruto." He then turned to the ANBU that seemed to be in control of several wooden limbs protruding from the walls. All those limbs lead to a cocoon which Naruto knew held Sasuke. "Take him to the office we will follow shortly."
"Hai, Hokage-sama" The three chorused. The ANBU vanished with a shunshin. Anko stepped up to Naruto and placed a hand on his shoulder. Kakashi merely stepped up to the doorway and waited there. Then Anko, Sarutobi and Naruto disappeared in a shunshin.
'Damn, I wanted to hear what Naruto had to say. Oh well, he can tell me later.' Kakashi thought, getting ready to deal with the incoming kunoichi.
Little Omake
Kakashi leaned against the door to team 7's room as he read his little orange book. "Hey, Kakashi-sensei?" Naruto mumbled out as he sat back up in bed.
Kakashi's eyebrow rose as he looked over his book. "Yes, Naruto?"
Naruto rubbed his eyes as he spoke. "I was just thinking. Back in Nami no Kuni, when you fought Zabuza. You didn't really seem to use that many jutsu. So, how come you collapsed from chakra exhaustion?" Kakashi dove back behind his book as he tried to hide his sheepish expression. Naruto continued as he stared intently at the silver-haired jounin. "Plus, I'm pretty sure you used to be ANBU. So I don't think you'd make that big a mistake." Kakashi started sweating slightly.
He gulped quietly before finally looking back over the book. "Well, you see Naruto. I wanted to, ah... see how you'd react to that kind of emergency situation. So... I expelled all my chakra while I was... inside that water prison. Yeah... Oh well that's that." Kakashi waved his had at Naruto as if to dismiss the subject.
"LIAR! You just fell asleep didn't you!? Just so you could spare walking the rest of the way to Tazuna's place!" Naruto yelled, pointing an accusing finger at Kakashi.
Panic flew into Kakashi's eye as he clamped a hand over Naruto's mouth to stop him saying anything else. As well as keep him from waking the others. "Keep quiet about this and I'll treat you to some extra ramen after the exam is over." Naruto gave a thumbs up in response. Kakashi let his hand drop and slumped back into the wall as Naruto lay back down. 'If he told the other two that, I'd never hear the end of it. Then again losing all my money to that bottomless pit he calls a stomach isn't much better.'
Hey there! Sorry it took so long to get this out, I had hell with my computer. Not only did it get a bad virus, but when it got fixed I couldn't open this file to edit it. So I decided forget it and I just uploaded it to here and edited and finished it here instead.