The Backside of the Rose, chapter 9
GoldenStrike
Author's note- Yes, this story seems sequential so far, but please understand this isn't how it'll be forever, I need to set things up and all first, and time-skips are for impatient authors, which I think are the worst ones. Here's chapter 9, though. As always, please post reviews!
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Naruto's eyes swirled round in his head, and if he could see straight he'd see that just about everyone in site was in a similar state. It was rather funny, Ibiki thought to himself. He'd done this many times, but he still had to suppress a smirk each and every time he'd done it.
"Welcome genin, to the Chuunin selection exam registration." Morino paused. "Now, gather up into your squads of three, and get in line. Any of you who aren't checked in by 4:00 are automatically not allowed in, thus failed."
Quickly the low-class ninja hustled to get into line, grabbing their teammates' shirts and dragging them into an adjacent space. This seemed to be Sakura's job; Sasuke and Naruto were pulled in by here by the collar of their shirts. And the young kunoichi had gotten a good spot too; around 10th in line. She didn't see any other piers from Konohagakure in site, but she figured that's just better for their team. She sighed to herself, Sasuke and Naruto could be so disorganized at times.
"Hehe, thanks Sakura-chan" Naruto said with a hint of regret in his voice, Sasuke just nodded with a similar expression. Naruto just stood there, carefully taking in his surroundings, other shinobi that stuck out, killing intent… No, as far as he'd known, everything was normal.
But there was one person he missed, and soon to be more. A shinobi with his sibling on either side of him was not far from insane, so how could Naruto have missed him? Dumb luck, perhaps, Naruto thought. There was killing intent oozing out of this ninja, yet nobody seemed to notice.
It was just then, Naruto noticed. His eyes shot at the source of this intent, and he found a pair of sunken eyes staring back into his, driving them back into his head like a battering ram. The ninja looked terrible, to say at least. He was a red-head, and carried a weird gourd on his back. But he was scrawny, short, and he looked like he hadn't slept for some time. But even still, his eyes shone like a full moon, and Naruto was genuinely frightened. He turned his eyes away from this ninja.
Why, why in hell's name hadn't someone else noticed this? Was Sasuke in dreamland? Naruto couldn't find answers here, and he tapped his male teammate on the shoulder.
"Oi, Sasuke. Can you feel it?" he asked grimly.
Sasuke paused before answering. "No, I don't know what you mean. I was checking to see if something was out of the ordinary too, sorry for the pause. You're losing it." He finished with a 'Tch' sound.
Naruto didn't glance back at the shinobi, who looked around his age of thirteen. He tuned out to the buzz of voices, until Sakura snapped at him to pay attention. Their turn for registration was here, now.
Fifteen minutes later, Team 7 exited the building, and Kakashi was right there.
"How'd the registration go? No problems?"
"Yeah, it was alright. You made us think today was the day the exam started. When are they?" Naruto asked. Sakura rolled her eyes.
"You idiot, they told us like ten times. It's in six months, Monday the sixteenth." Sasuke answered.
"…Shut up, teme." Naruto said, verbally pot-shotting Sasuke
"Oh, good one. You use that line every time you don't like what someone says to you. Is it because you really are quite weak?" Sasuke replied.
"That's enough. Your teamwork is blundering today, I see. Anyway, we have our mission today. It's a B-rank.
The three teens instantly turned all attention to Kakashi. B-ranks were for Chuunin and up. This was suicidal for genin.
"Before you protest, it's perfectly fine. Sandaime-sama wishes to test your true colors as ninja. Pack your bags for a two-month trip, it's going to be quite a mission." Kakashi said seriously. "Meet me by the front gate in forty-five minutes.
And so forty-six minutes later, to Sakura's surprise, all four of them were there ready to leave. They nodded to each other, and began to run. Well, Kakashi did; the teens tried to keep up. They didn't know where he was leading them, but Kakashi had earlier told them this will be a hard mission. Naruto was psyched, to say at least.
Trees, trees… Large splotches of green and brown. Naruto had grown quite bored of this setting. He didn't even know where they were going! Kakashi hadn't told them where they were going… What's wrong with him?
Maybe it's a surprise like ramen!
But Naruto quickly dismissed his thought, when Sasuke called his name. He poked his head out and looked at his dark-haired acquaintance
"Eh, we're going to call it a day." Sasuke informed him.
The whiskered-boy nodded, and then the foursome stopped progressing, and hopped down to the ground. Kakashi quickly summoned the necessities of a camp, while the kids talked amongst themselves.
Well, that'd be half-true, Naruto hummed to himself quietly.
'Flying alone and I feel like I don't belong, and I can't tell right from the wrong and why have I been here so long'
The words grabbed at his memories, and his eyes drooped. This song seemed to be written about him. It's so weird. He recalled the time Sakura had even turned on him, and he truly thought he was alone. He'd really changed since then, hadn't he? But, these memories still yanked his soul, forcing him to peer back into the awful life that was once his. Funny, he didn't know how bad he had it until it was gone. A lucky man, he thought of himself, to be where he was at this time. Free like a bird.
He brought his head down to earth, and began talking with the others.
"So, Naruto. What kind of music do you like?" Sasuke asked with a smile.
"I dig the rock. Being a rock-star would be my dream if there weren't any shinobi." He said, as Kakashi brought out three scroll-summoned dinners. He really knew how to treat three teens.
"Any bands really?" Sasuke asked.
"It changes a lot, but I really like the Red Hot Chile Peppers, and there was this one song by a punk band called Yellowcard. I like that one song 'City of Devils'. I like the Rolling Stones, too." He said. "What do you guys like?"
Sakura answered first. "Well, I like Fergie and the Black-eyed Peas. Oh! And JT". (Justin Timberlake, noobs xD)
Naruto and Sasuke cringed inwardly, but didn't express it or even toss each other a glance. No taking chances with a girl and her temper.
"I like jazz, and a little blues." Sasuke said. "Buddy guy is my favorite."
Without looking up at his team, Kakashi smiled softly. This conversation proved their teamwork was becoming better. He joined his team in the conversation, not revealing his tastes, or anything important or even about him for that matter.
The team shared lots of laughs that night, and they began to recognize that they weren't pinned up with such bad people after all. Sasuke and Sakura had begun to tell where Naruto was coming from just by the way he talked; they could tell he didn't really live up the 'loser' title he'd acquired in the academy. Maybe that's why Sasuke had talked to him back then; he was always an observant kid anyway, Sakura pondered.
The next morning, Naruto awoke to an interesting site. It was a dark day out, the clouds were black; and they seemed ready to let out the immense amount of water held inside. The trees swayed in the rather strong winds that day, as well. Leaves rustled on the ground, and the roaring of the winds awoke Sasuke, Sakura, and Kakashi. They silently packed, and began to move on, wherever Kakashi lead them.
Trees, trees, and more trees… It seemed like a familiar scene to Naruto that day. He wasn't adjusting to his terrible view of just trees. He missed the sun, and longed for it to come out and brighten the day. Naruto gazed up at Kakashi, who then stopped, without an obvious cause. He pulled his headband up, so that each eye was visible. Then he cocked his Sharingan eye, and stared off into absolutely nothing, as Naruto and Sakura concluded, upon waiting for their instructor to speak. Sasuke seemed drawn to it as well; his eyes were blinking red as he looked where Kakashi looked.
"You guys can't see this, Sakura, Naruto… But there's an immense twister in the direction that I'm looking. It almost looks like it's right on… Konohagakure- "Kakashi was cut off by the roaring of the wind. Sasuke could tell he was right, he squinted and his eyes picked up the movement of the storm. He instinctively was ready to counter, as his Uchiha blood suited his Sharingan to combat. Sasuke clenched his fists, yet made no action. His eyes didn't hurt anymore, but they could feel the power about to surge into them, when one day his clan's power would flow into him.
"Sensei, what does his mean?" Sakura asked, referring to the squad's plan of action.
"The assignment is canceled; we're shifting into a rescue mission. You know the formation." Kakashi stated grimly, and hopped off at a faster pace than ever, with the youngsters desperately trying to keep up. With each passing moment, Naruto's temper slipped closer to blowing, he couldn't watch his hometown like this.
The team continued at this rapid pace for three hours, which at this time Sakura simply couldn't continue, and as she collapsed, Naruto screeched, emitting an ungodly noise that normal humans aren't supposed to emit. His eyes were drenched with blood, and he almost looked like an animal.
"Dammit all!" he growled as he grabbed Sakura and Sasuke, who looked quite startled by his teammate's appearance. Naruto crouched low, as his sensei continued to sprint home, and he bolted like no other. Straight home, through trees, out of a path, just straight home, Naruto dashed. Kakashi kept up, too. The two sprinted home, and within the hour, they had arrived.
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Just as Naruto had passed through Konoha's gates, he felt drained of all energy, and his appearance returned to that of a normal human's. He slumped down, and collapsed on the ground, out cold. The weather here was intense; the wind was extremely strong, the sky was an eerie shade of green and purple. Kakashi gestured for Sakura to take Naruto and run away, and set up camp.
"Sakura, take these. At exactly 10:00 PM tonight, use them. We will come." Kakashi told her, handing her a package. Sakura was confused, but didn't waste any time taking Naruto off to safety. He'd just hauled some major ass for her, at a breathtaking speed, too. Grabbing her fallen comrade, she too hopped off away from Konoha, and back into the forests.
These are…!!! Sakura's eyes opened wide and she sighed in relief.
Sasuke meanwhile, with Kakashi, staggered to the center of the village to witness their beloved Hokage. It was quite a challenge to get there in the midst of the storm. They saw that Sandaime wore a battle helmet, with his headband straps loosely flying in the wind. He was dressed in a tight black suit, with no indication that was Hokage. And with one knee on the ground, he didn't look like he was in fighting shape. Across from him, about twenty feet, was a figure dressed in all black, and wore a white mask to hide his face.
Kakashi's eye opened wide, drawing the scene in his mind. Sasuke ran in from behind him.
Sasuke, this is for your own good…
Pain
That was all that could be felt by Sasuke, prompted by darkness. The darkness grew and grew until he couldn't see, and then he gave up, and passed out.
Kakashi grabbed Sasuke, who was out cold.
This wave of killing intent, I have to leave now… everyone could be killed.
Sweat dripped on Kakashi's face, and his nerves were tingling with animosity, threatening to eat him alive if he could do nothing.
Slowly, Kakashi turned, and began to tiptoe away, and he masked his chakra to help him. He took one step, before the mysterious figure with the white mask was standing right in front of him. He entered too swiftly, it was like he was here at one moment, and gone the moment before. In that same second he appeared, Kakashi found himself unable to breathe; the figure's hand was at his throat, and he clenched it, strangling the jounin. Kakashi's eyes bulged, and this was it. He couldn't take it. So he panicked, and released his breath, before his eyes slowly closed into darkness…
That was until the hand released its grip, and Kakashi slumped to the ground, gasping for air. Sasuke lay next to him, still out. His heaving was very audible, and he suspected that was why they were detected.
Kakashi didn't bother to look up, instead he lay there with his eyes shut, and he didn't dare to move. The cold ground was a nice alternative to the burning sensation in his lungs he had previously while he couldn't breathe.
The figure with the mask looked down at his victim, and then grunted.
"I guess it can't be helped." He spoke softly, audible to Kakashi.
Kakashi opened his visible eye, as the man started to walk off. He was about to close his eye, when he noticed someone walking behind him. Then came a sensation on his back; a large hand rested on his shoulder.
Sakura, I hope you've opened that box…
The hand brought it's male body to the head of Kakashi, and the male whispered into his ear.
"Kakashi, it's been a while, and I hope you haven't forgotten me. Everything will be alright." Kakashi knew the voice… It was the voice of Minato's sensei!
"…Jiraiya-sama…" Kakashi croaked. He felt Jiraiya's hand place a pill into his mouth. He swallowed instinctively.
Suddenly, he felt totally rejuvenated. It was a soldier pill! Kakashi smirked, and began to pull himself up. Reaching his knees, Jiraiya assisted him, and brought him up. Kakashi dusted himself off, and looked at his savior.
"Thank you" He smiled.
"Hehe, don't mention it."
Kakashi looked around, and took in his surroundings. The entire ground was brown, not a single blade of grass in site. A deep fog surrounded them all, and he couldn't tell where he was at all.
"Sandaime…how is he?" Kakashi asked, his voice strained.
"Sensei?" Jiraiya asked. "He's here?"
Jiraiya looked behind him, and sure enough, he saw his teacher, lying on the ground, with a pool of blood under him. Jiraiya sped over to him, and then pulled out a kunai. He stabbed it down just in front of his teacher, and right then a young woman with blond hair, a green jacket, and sandals appeared behind him.
"Sensei! Jiraiya!" She said. Kakashi noticed she sported some very large breasts.
"Tsunade! Please! Help him!" Jiraiya pleaded. At once, the woman named Tsunade raced through many seals, forming a jutsu unknown to Kakashi. She placed her hands on the Hokage, and green chakra enveloped him.
He stirred, and he grunted. Then he began to swear. The old man still had no sense of decency, Jiraiya noted.
Tsunade flipped him over on his back, and continued with healing him. Jiraiya looked on fearfully, he had very sickening wounds, and his bones were sticking out of his body in the oddest fashion. All of his ribs were sticking straight up into the sky, and his lungs were quite visible. A long streak of blood oozed out of his mouth, and much, much, more
poured out from his chest.
"This is it for me… So don't worry. I've been around for a long time as it is. I've been around for a very long time, and the village needs a new leader." The eldest man croaked.
"Jiraiya, Tsunade, I wish for the best for you two, you were my first team. It was great, the memories we shared. We had a grand time." He began to smile.
"Tell Orochimaru this, if you meet him again." His mouth stopped moving, and no sound could be heard. He lay there with his eyes opened, and Jiraiya could not feel his chakra signature.
"SENSEI! DON'T DO THIS!" he yelled out. He smashed his fist into the ground, and began to shake slightly.
Tsunade began to weep, and her bouts were audible to all present. The two sannin lay there, unmoving.
Then suddenly, Jiraiya jerked up, and called out.
"GET BACK HERE! YOU SON OF A BITCH!" he pointed to the man in the cloak, who turned, and laughed.
He adjusted his mask, and then said to them. "Fine, if you see it fit.
Kakashi looked at the man, and then removed a kunai from his pouch.
-Flashback-
"So, this is our first day of missions. I have something here for each of you three, so use them well. These kunais will make all of us return to the same location of the one that used it. This will work, as long as you all sign the blood contract, here." Kakashi finished.
The three signed their names in blood under Kakashi's, and he put away the scroll.
-End Flashback-
There was a cloud of smoke, and then Kakashi saw three figures that were about as tall as Sasuke. One was Sakura, who still held Naruto in her arms.
The third was a little bit taller than both of them. The figure had short hair, and wore blue pants, exactly like Kakashi. He had an undershirt that he was wearing and a head band from the Rock Village on his forehead, with two slashes through it.
"Hello sensei, did you need me?" He asked.
The man with the mask laughed, and answered calmly.
"No, but I do want you to get some killing experience. The leader always could use stronger ninja.
The conscious ninja each were puzzled by this statement, save Jiraiya.
"You're form Akatsuki, aren't you." He stated without the implication that he asked a question.
Again, the mysterious man chuckled. "That's not something I'll tell you, old man. But, I must say, you're 'sensei' was pretty weak, for all he was hyped to be." Jiraiya growled, and a menacing frown formed on his face.
"And thank you for that one's brother." The mystery man pointed at Sasuke.
Meanwhile, Sakura lay down Naruto, and removed two kunai. She nodded at her sensei, and he nodded back. They'd talk about this situation later.
She tied up her hair, and clicked her heels to remove a set of weights. And then she was gone, and the new boy with the undershirt had a knife sticking into him.
Kakashi smiled. His student was getting better. She'd really done something that he hadn't thought she could do.
Meanwhile, the boy that was stabbed sliced in half, revealing a rock. He wasn't there at all. Sakura quickly stepped back, looking around, and not seeing anyone near here.
"Is that really all you've got?" the boy's voice called.
"Hell no!" Sakura shouted back, full of fire. She quickly found the boy in front of her, and he was beginning to attack. She put out her arms to defend, and then so did he. The two of them began to send punches and kicks back and forth at each other, dodging in between. Not either of them could land an attack, until Sakura changed the pace, and leg-swept him, forcing him to jump to avoid. He'd only gotten about a foot off the ground when a lighting-speed right hook crashed right into his face. He fell down to earth, landing on his feet.
Sakura took this opportunity to unleash a flurry to high-speed punches on the boy, until he squirmed away. He hopped to his feet, and planted a kick straight through her defense, catching her off guard. Then, he raced through his own seals, panting slightly.
"Lighting Release! Lightning Strike jutsu!" He called out and began to point his index fingers at Sakura, which shot lighting streaks out at her. She maneuvered away in time, just before he began to throw many at her, and she was forced to bring forth her new speed. Quickly bolting straight to the boy, she jabbed a kunai at him.
She stopped, and her eyes opened wide. She saw his hand hold the kunai, stopping any momentum she had from attacking. The next thing she'd remember was very odd; he snapped it in half with three fingers.
"This has gone on too long. I've over estimated you." The boy stated. His hand lurched out at her neck, and she too was strangled. He only gripped harder and harder, and Sakura squirmed with all her might to break free. She kicked, but he held her up so that she only kicked air.
Panicking, she cried out loudly. "NARUTO, SASUKE!"
And then, he grabbed his own kunai, and ran it straight into her gut. He took it out, and ran it through her shoulder. She moaned in pain, for she had no air to scream. Her world was spinning, and she was ready to throw up, when he launched one more attack, He slipped his kunai at her throat!
"This is it!" He called out, and ran it by her throat, or so he thought. He was halted by something he had not expected.
A boy he didn't recognize was right next to him, holding his hand with Sakura. He squeezed so hard, that he let go immediately, and Sakura slumped to the ground. He also noticed another boy in his other side, holding his hand with the knife in it.
The boy on his left wore an orange jumpsuit, and there was a huge amount of killing intent radiating from him. He sported long claws, thick whispers, and red eyes. The boy holding the knife slowly backed away, as the other boy let go of his arm.
The boy that previously held his knife-holding arm was dressed in a white undershirt too, and he had khaki shorts on. His eyes were also completely red, with three tomoes in each eye. There was less killing intent from him.
He noticed the first boy was hunched over, standing on all fours, and the boy with the tomoes was poised for taijutsu.
"You must be Naruto and Sasuke, who she called for?" the boy asked.
Naruto growled very loud, and a deep voice could be heard. Not the voice of a thirteen year-old.
The other boy was the one who answered.
"What did you do to Sakura?" he asked loudly, his eyes shot open, and his temper flared.
"It's a battle, you fool. This kind of thing happens. Did you just assume that nothing happened when you were out cold?" he answered with a howl of laughter.
It was Naruto this time, who answered. Well, he really didn't; but he charged straight at the boy with much, much more speed than Sakura had, and clutched his throat.
"YOU…." A deep voice bellowed from within Naruto
The boy looked at Naruto, utterly afraid. He was lifted into the air, and he lay motionless.
"YEAH, WELL JUST KILL ME ANYWAY! SEE WHAT HAPPENS!" he yelled, with a smile and his eyes wide.
Naruto did just that, he sent a punch through his entire body. He gave him a left hook that went through his stomach, and exited on the other side. Then, with his other hand, he squeezed slightly at his throat, and his claws caused him to bleed.
Sasuke, Sakura, and Kakashi wouldn't forget what happened next. Naruto set the near-dead boy down, and ripped out his throat.
And then he howled, like nothing anybody present had ever heard before.