Disclaimer: I do not own "Naruto"
Thank Yondaime-Hokage, the beta-reader. But people are whining that he's not doing that great of a job. Whatever. I'm working on it.
Sorry for the dry spell. To tell you the truth, I'm just damn lazy. I'll only write when the mood strikes me. If I write for any other reason, it won't be as good. So as a bit of a warning, and if you look at the dates between updates.. I write slow.
And yes I know I know, I think I illustrated Naruto too powerful with his fight against Gaara. Though I'm a fan of Naruto, I will admit that Naruto's win through the fight was mostly luck and circumstance. Lucky that he had Gamabunta to help him, circumstance was that Gaara didn't have his protective sand to defend him. Happy? Jeez.
Chapter 2
Jiraiya sprawled out on Tsunade's couch, lazily drinking wine. Tsunade was at her desk, also enjoying the new intoxicating drink. Rather than just gulping down something that was acidic and hot, wine held actual flavor.
"Jiraiya, this is really," She paused to take another sip, "Really good. Where in the world did you get this?"
Jiraiya grinned. "West. Extreme west. Thanks to Naruto, we were able to travel ten years worth of ground in a year."
"What?" Tsunade was more than confused to say the least.
Jiraiya looked a bit hesitant. "Our first month traveling together, I discovered Naruto had been speaking to the nine-tails."
She nearly spit her drink back out. Nearly. "What! What does he think he's doing talking to that thing?" Oh God… where is this leading to..
"With his life, which was crap to begin with, slowly falling apart... He began to feel inadequate and tried to get the demon to teach him, and then some. Or at least thats what I figured. I didn't catch it at first, but there were times he would just sit there for the longest time, with an almost meditative face. And when I'd ask him about it, he'd say its only been a few minutes when its actually almost an hour." Jiraiya said with a sour expression.
"Did he get .. it .. to teach him anything?" Tsunade ventured, hoping it wasn't some apocalyptic type where the world would be in total chaos and what not.
"Naruto was able to get the demon into teaching him to create dimensional rifts. As long as he knows where he's going, he can rip a dimensional rift, walk through it and end up where he wants to. It even works just by looking at pictures."
For a feat for his student to accomplish, Jiraiya looked anything but proud. But, something was fishy.
"How long can he stay in the rift?"
He sat up, a forlorn expression on his face.
"Not long. The human body can't withstand being in the dimension for long. It slowly deteriorates. He was even able to manipulate it so that I can be with him."
"Jiraiya, cut the shit. What is wrong? Does this have anything to do with the fact that you came early?" Tsunade narrowed her eyes, practically glaring Jiraiya down.
He sighed. "Tsunade, do you realize how fragile he was and still is?"
Tsunade blinked. She wasn't expecting that. "What are you talking about?" She was growing irritated.
"Tsunade..." Jiraiya was at a loss for words. He was lying to himself. If he told her, it would be the first time he admitted to himself even. "Naruto is ... Mentally ill. Perhaps that's too strong of a description. What do you call a person who might be the verge of destroying everything within a ten mile radius?"
Tsunade's glass fell and shattered on the floor. "What?" She whispered. It didn't make any sense...
"He looked perfectly fine when I saw him!" If this was some sort of joke, she was going to have Jiraiya's head on a platter.
Jiraiya exhaled slowly. "Tsunade, it took me almost a year to figure that out. With that damn facade he always puts up, I can barely read him. He isn't the type to wallow in depression or mope around. Acting the way he always has is second nature to him. You know the villagers treatment of the boy..."
Tsunade numbly nodded.
"But what I'm sure no one has yet to truly realize how Naruto felt. He's extremely unstable. Can you imagine hated from the day you are able to realize something as cold as that? I've spoken to Iruka many times about this before we left and recently. If Iruka hadn't finally acknowledged Naruto when he became a Genin, he would have snapped a long time ago. His mind is in pieces." Jiraiya paused, collecting his thoughts.
Tsunade just stared. She had always believed Naruto's inner strength would always preserve him. Jiraiya was bluntly throwing that out the window.
"Putting him into a team was one of the biggest mistakes Sarutobi-sensei has ever done. It would have been easier on him to send him away or something to distance himself from the people. But having teammates that to a point cared about him, Naruto learned exactly what he was missing. He considers his old team almost family, you know? Watching how normal people interact with each other, facing everyone's harsh treatment of him, it has been too much. He's young. No one should live like that. Now that Sasuke incident two years ago... Do you still have the report he gave you?"
Tsunade composed herself. "Yeah. Hold on a minute." Rummaging through the files, she pulled one out and unsealed it.
She handed it to him. "What's in there that you don't already know?"
Jiraiya ignored her and kept reading. He sighed. "It's just as I thought. Tsunade, this isn't what happened between Sasuke and him."
"What? Why would he lie?" She didn't want to believe her Naruto would lie to her.
"He was betrayed by his only true friend. A warped sort of friendship, but still. He was in denial. When that happened, it's when he almost lost it." Jiraiya's expression was almost dead. They both were disgusted about this subject.
Her eyes narrowed. "What really happened? According to the report, they traded a number of blows, Sasuke pulled out the curse seal, and the Rasengan and Chidori collided. Stalemate. Naruto said he couldn't fight anymore and passed out."
Jiraiya shook his head and pulled out one of his 'projector' type scrolls. "I read the report before, but at certain points in his murmurings, he said things that didn't add up. I finally got fed up and was able to pry this out of his mind while he was asleep. "
Everything was through Naruto's vision. There was sound in this one. Tsunade's temper flared at Sasuke's neglect for comrades. Sarcasm was one of her major pet peeves... Orochimaru used it far too much back in the old days. With the way Naruto spoke, she truly felt Sasuke would give and return home. But he didn't. Instead he Mocked and taunting him constantly. The little shit even had the nerve to spit on him.
"He called this his best friend?" Tsunade was bewildered. What the hell did Sakura see in him? Hell, his whole fan group in general!
Jiraiya snorted. "Naruto was never really that bright."
Every thing happened just as he said, so far. Blow for blow, kick after kick. However, Naruto was taking more beatings than Sasuke. Kakashi personally trained Sasuke to build speed, after all. Naruto's legendary stamina came into good use though. It more or less evened out.
Tsunade watched in silent awe as two of some of the world's deadliest techniques came head to head with one another.
Rasengan and Chidori.
Surprisingly enough, it was a stalemate.
"Sasuke said he was his best friend, so why the hell would he try and kill him for? But with the direction he was aiming, he seemed to be focusing on the Rasengan, not specifically Naruto." She didn't really see what could have been the last straw of Naruto's sanity.
"Kakashi said he knew something, but I'll get back to him on that. Just keep watching. And besides, it wouldn't have been a stalemate if he'd done it properly."
Tsunade gave him an odd look but ignored him.
Sasuke distracted Naruto with a fire technique that followed with a beating. What happened left Tsunade with her mouth gaping.
Sasuke, in the level one of the seal, almost pierced through Naruto's heart. Naruto avoided it, and got hit in his right lung instead.
"Oh my God…. I had no idea Sasuke went that far….Naruto…" Tsunade was not prepared for this. She knew Sasuke was traumatized, but was Sasuke insane just as well? The file on him stated therapy was cleared and though he would never heal from what Itachi did, he was healthy enough to go back to a somewhat normal life.
But there it was.
Kids.
Barely even teens! Attempting to murder someone who was supposedly your best friend.
And for what? Power? Revenge? It was all dim-witted. Absolutely fucking stupid.
She had always believed Konoha to be the only place in the world where things of the like could not happen. Yet, there it was, flashing before her eyes. Mocking her for a fool to believe otherwise.
"Sakura has always told me of his hate for Itachi... Does he realize he is no better than him? It makes no sense… Breaking bonds... Could he be trying to...?" She rubbed her temples. Damn kids these days... Oh what the hell am I talking about... This happened two years ago!
Jiraiya nodded. "I always believed the Mangekyou Eye was only passed on to certain individuals of the clans... But I guess the rumors were true… Achieving it can be through killing your best friend. I really need to get back to Kakashi on that…"
"I always thought we were the most unique when it came to comrades suddenly betraying you, and yet... Naruto and Sakura's case is so much worse. They were only kids, and they didn't suspect a thing, nothing that would foreshadow this. Nothing they would know off anyway." Tsunade tried to ease the headache away as she talked. There were too many problems, and too little solutions.
"Yeah. I guess we had it easy. Orochimaru was always the weird one. When he left us, we were old and didn't really keep in touch that often anyway."
Tsunade nodded numbly. Looking back at the projection, she flinched as Sasuke pulled his hand out of Naruto's body. "How in the world did he survive? When he came back all he had were bruises and cuts. And those were already healing by the time he got here!"
"Just watch." She turned her attention back on the scroll.
She watched in awe when she saw the hole began to disappear, the blood sizzling to nothing. "He can regenerate that fast? Remarkable. He's just like Kabuto. No... Better." She muttered.
This time it was Sasuke's turn to be the rag doll being abused. She winced at the sound of flesh pounding flesh. After watching practically nothing but blurs, it stopped when Sasuke shouted at Naruto about not having anything. The pain of loosing a loved one; a pain in which Naruto is not yet experienced with. But Naruto softly spoke of the bonds he had made during his miserable amount of life.
Iruka, a father.
Sasuke, a brother.
If this was twenty years ago, Tsunade would have shed some tears. The next section was growing more horrifying by the minute...
Sasuke gaining his third pupil, looking far too much like Itachi for anyone's good.
Catching glimpse of Naruto from the water, he taking more and more from the Kyubi, looking more feral and fighting practically on instinct alone.
Sasuke pulling from the seal, transforming into what looked like a demon from the depths of hell. A sickening looking creature, pale disgusting face, and even wings. The only things missing were some horns and a cattle prod.
Orochimaru, you are one twisted soul, they both thought.
The final clash was literally a boom. Through Naruto's vision, the flash was too bright to really make out anything clear. She could barely make out Sasuke's hand nearing Naruto's heart again as the Rasengan neared Sasuke's face.
Tsunade's eyes widened. "He couldn't do it... Naruto, after all that, after all Sasuke did, he couldn't do it. He pulled back power and stopped most of the individual spins within the Rasengan at the last second and just scraped the hitai-ate…" Jiraiya nodded.
"That demonic chakra, along with the multiple rotations within the Rasengan, it would have totally obliterated Sasuke's body. If didn't pull back at that last minute, Sasuke would have been nothing but a mangled corpse on the ground. The boy just doesn't have it in him to kill anyone, let alone a 'brother'. Sasuke must have had second thoughts as well. He didn't push the Chidori through. He just closed his fist and hit a pressure point to knock him out. Naruto saw that. That's probably why he thought Sasuke could still be saved. I figured it was a lost caused and tried to convince him other wise, but you know how stubborn he can be. After seeing that, I could at least understand his reasoning somewhat."
Tsunade laced her fingers, contemplating on Jiraiya's words. "He does realize that even if he does brings Sasuke back, he is going to be executed? There will be no trial. Betrayals are all treated that way. If he was two years younger I might have been able to do something…Hmm. Perhaps we could his his lineage as leverage.""
Jiraiya didn't really know what to say. He knew that could happen if they bring Sasuke back. But who knows what sort of condition Naruto will be after that?
"Still. That the amount of stamina that brat has is just inconceivable. Being drained of chakra for almost an hour from that fat sound-nin, performing several of the Rasengans, producing that many clones against Kimimaru, and finally have an all out match with Sasuke? The mission might have been a success if he was fresh…"
Jiraiya let a low chuckle escape him. "The brat does have an insane amount of stamina. And I'm not so sure anymore if it's really from Kyuubi."
She raised her eyebrows. Jiraiya cut her off.
"Don't worry about it... I'll have to do more research on it to prove it."
"So, how exactly was he when you traveled?"
Jiraiya exhaled slowly. "What Sasuke could have done, if it weren't for his healing factor, didn't really affect Naruto till months into traveling. Nightmares, talking to no one… Sometimes he would totally be disconnected with his body. He'd just sit there, unmoving. It went as long as three days once. All this, eventually led him to try to talk to Kyubi. I was foolish. I didn't want to give him too much attention; trying to get him to grow up." Jiraiya stood up and walked over to the window.
"Leaving him to do business in the city... bad idea. I started to pay closer attention to him. More direct one on one teaching but it went worse over the year. Usually, spending time to yourself along with your master is supposed to help you relax your mind. It didn't work for him. However, his scrambled mind led him to do great things, Tsunade. His power, his skill, everything. But he acts like an utter moron so many times so I really have no clue how strong he really is, but after seeing him attack in sync with Kyubi, he could easily wipe out a third of Konoha. It's a good thing he doesn't know exactly how strong he is. It would probably go to his head. Being arrogant and insane is a gruesome mix." Jiraiya said wearily.
Tsunade shivered. "How was he right after you two left? Perhaps this betrayal is what drove him so far."
Jiriaya shook his head.
"Even before all that. He was a genius in his own right. The summoning technique for example; he managed to summon one of the lower levels in a month. It took me half a year to summon a lower level. It took Yondaime two months to get that far. Then his trick with the Rasengan! Who would have thought a Kage Bunshin could have been that useful? And yet he proves himself to be a complete idiot with hare brain schemes or tripping over his own toes if he's not careful!" Jiraiya held up his hands in mock defeat, failing to truly understand the blond.
"I guess its true then. The insane are always the most powerful." The words left a bitter taste in her mouth.
Jiraiya brightened a bit. "I wouldn't say so... I was thinking about bringing him back a year ago, but he found something that seemed to help him work even better." He snickered a little.
"What?" She was a little more than interested to find out what can help. Besides, if he snapped the village would probably be the first thing on Naruto's list. Konoha had enough problems already.
"Company." He turned from the window and beamed at her.
"What?"
"We encountered the sand siblings. You know them? Gaara, Temari, and Kankuro. You know that axiom you said? The insane are the most powerful? Naruto proved that dead wrong. With them around, his growth tripled. I spent even less time with him with them around but he still learned faster somehow. There was this trick I was teaching him with with power nullifiers. You have to learn to gather a certain amount of chakra or you can't move. Before then, he was making a decent pace of working with them. With this wind user and puppeteer started tagging along, he seemed to find motivation and nailed it easily. He even began to spar with that other container from Sand. When I decided it was time to go, his growth slowed down to his normal pace, slower even. I could tell he wasn't trying very hard. Still, him putting a little effort was more than when I was trying my hardest. That's when I decided to come back. If three people he barely knew could help him that much, how much more could be done with those he considers family? It's risky, with those who continue to treat him like some piece of trash…" Jiraiya felt frustrated to the core. He finally finds a suitable apprentice, and it turns out that certain apprentice's sanity has been slowly ebbing away since a childhood from fools who couldn't find other ways to vent their miseries.
"How is he now?" She said, making a mental note to talk to the siblings later.
"His healing immediately stopped when they left, and started to revert to his old self. I tried to preoccupy his mind with grueling training. It worked, to some degree. But now, it's up to him. We can only pray that social interaction is key."
Jiraiya let himself a small laugh.
"Naruto is a people person. He can never live the life of a hermit."
Tsunade remained silent. Who would have thought that loud brat can have scars that run so deep? "I suppose, what really kept him sane, was the fact that he's so stubborn." She allowed a small smile crept its way on her young beautiful face.
"You could say that. He has a soft spot for women, you know? His consciousness just blatantly ignores them. Doesn't want to register them as a threat." Jiraiya chuckled. "A six year old girl can probably sneak up on him."
Tsunade had a good laugh with that one. "There are a lot of powerful kunoichi these days. He needs to be careful."
Jiraiya waved his left hand as if he was trying to bat a fly. "After staying here with you for a good while, I'm sure he'll be normal."
"So," He continued since the mood seems to have lightened. He made a little dance in his head since he weaseled his way out of getting pummeled from his insult "How is your student?"
Tsunade was about to give him a nasty lump but decided to gloat about her student. She's had enough bad news in one day. "Well, at first I really didn't want to take her up as a student. To tell you the truth, she's fairly spoiled and selfish. But after goading from Kakashi and Naruto, I gave in. It wouldn't hurt to have another successor other than Shizune around anyway. Give her another year, and she'll be as good as a nin who went through the full course for medical school. And then some." She stated a bit proud.
Jiraiya nodded in approval. "How long is medical school now days, five, six years?"
"Seven." She answered.
Jiraiya whistled. "Her chakra control must be something to be admired."
"It is. She's very intelligent for someone her age. One of the few kids running around with book smarts. And her ability to deal with sealing techniques is remarkable as well." She paused looking a bit thoughtful. "Did you know she has the potential to have the brute strength equal to about half as strong as me in my prime? With proper supervision maybe more."
Jiraiya's eyes bugged out. Half as strong in her prime? Jeez! Another Tsunade for the next generation... Man, perverts can never catch a break, now can we?
Noticing that odd resentful/lecherous look in his eyes she tried to break him out of his reverie. "It seems the three of us has all received the most potential out of their generation then." She stated, a hint of resentment in the edge.
"So it seems…"
"Jiraiya," He looked at her.
"What?"
"This entire time, you still haven't told me what you're teaching him." She glared.
"I really didn't teach him all that much. More of just further improving his strength, speed, and stamina. And I was trying to drill military tactics in his brain. Not to mention roles specifically for war. Let me tell you something now, if you think he was hyperactive then, wait till you see him in action."
"That's all?" Tsunade hardly seemed impressed.
"I taught him a few moves, but.." He paused, seemingly lost his train of thought. "He developed this trick… In fact... I think you could call him a Kage Bunchan guru or something like that."
Tsunade raised her eyebrows.
"Believe me. You have to see it to believe it."
Before either could say anything more there were a series of loud explosions and crashes coming from the town.
"What the hell..." Jiraiya scanned the area from the window.
"Jiraiya, go see what the hell was that. I'll call the ANBU." Jiraiya nodded as he leaped through the window. They were over twenty stories high. She was worried for but a brief moment till she remembered both Orochimaru and him had a talent for manipulating the wind, enabling them near flight capabilities.
Going to her desk to buzz Shizune, she heard a scream. A familiar scream at that. Then another. She was definitely positive it was Sakura's scream of rage. Following that came a familiar howl of pain.
Tsunade chuckled. "So, she finally met Naruto then. No need for the ANBU..."
She walked towards the direction where Jiraiya had made his hasty exit and looked through the window, a hopeful smile on her face.
"Find your peace, Naruto."
Wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww
To say Naruto was scared would be equivalent to slapping mud in and outside of your home and say it was clean and new fresh way to express yourself.
Naruto wanted to shit his pants.
For some reason in which he didn't understand, he wanted to cry out to his mommy. A strange thought, he mused, he didn't even know exactly what it felt like to have a mother. Back to the subject of his horror…
He didn't think Sakura could be this fast. Sure she probably would never catch him, but it was still close. Then there was her monstrous like strength.
Damn obba-chan! Had to turn my Sakura-chan into a brute!
He narrowly avoided a fist coming that in turn, demolished some poor innocent wall. Naruto cringed.
That could have been me!
He turned around and began to back peddle so he could reason his way out of meeting the pavement headfirst.
"Aw c'mon Sakura-chan! It's not like I did anything wrong!" He pleaded.
She ignored him and gave a rather acrobatic round house that he managed to hop over ungracefully.
People were already staring. Shinobi made no effort to move, seeing it was the Hokage's apprentice. After all, Tsunade's legendary temper was passed on to none other than Sakura. Who'd want to mess with that?
Most were too lethargic to do anything anyway. It was just one of those days.
As Naruto continued (and failed) at trying to calm the raging pink haired kunoichi, he had the misfortune (or fortune, depends on however you look at it.) to see a rather seductive civilian hottie walk outside her home in short shorts and a tank top. It didn't help that her bust could rival Tsunade's.
That was the very opening Sakura needed. With a conclusive cry, she gave him a nasty right hook that sent him flying across the street. He hollered all the way there.
A simple looking boy peered down at a smirking girl whose hand was entwined with his. His eyes were wide with terror.
"I told you all women have super human strength when pissed. That's why you should never cheat or do me wrong in anyway." She stated as if it was an obvious fact.
He nodded numbly.
"Now c'mon! I saw this cute outfit at the mall!" She was practically skipping.
Pray for the poor soul.
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Back at the party, if any guy, that met Sakura's standards of 'agreeable' she would have accepted the breakfast, lunch, or dinner offer. The truth was, the only reason she ended it with Lee was because she felt and knew she didn't deserve someone as passionate as him. So after almost two years of turning guys down and wallowing in self-pity, "David" was like a kick in the rump to move on in life. But at the café, it went down like a bag of bricks.
She really shouldn't have been surprised. Her thought's focus after the party was on Naruto after all. Really now, how many people in the village were blond haired and blue eyes? In a population of over five hundred thousand, there was practically none. Of course, when compared to other blond haired blue eyes, Naruto stood out. His eyes were so captivating. It held a sense of confidence yet child like innocence.
But she hated to be tricked, she despised it. That could be in part to her parents who lied repeatedly to her about the real ways of the world. To sum it up, she only recently found about the falsehood of the tooth fairy when she was nearing graduation from the Academy. She was finally going to open herself to someone and it turns out to be none other than Naruto. The turmoil within Sakura's mind was interesting to say the least.
"Okay, why are we chasing him and wasting all this energy again?" Asked the Sakura most people are attuned to seeing.
But at the helm of the body, it was none other than the infamous Inner Sakura pulling the strings.
"Are you shitting me? This is Naruto! That ugly mutt! He fucken' changed his appearance just to get into your pants!" She screamed.
Sakura sighed. She had long ago accepted that she was weird and would live with the fact that she had a split personality. But still, Inner Sakura more than not, tended to be more emotional and exaggerated things.
"Would you just stop and use your brain for just one second, Saky? The only thing Naruto altered was his whisker marks. He's hot because he is. And beating him unconscious isn't what we intended to do with him, remember? We still have to have that conversation with him."
This was the only argument Sakura had ever won. Most of the time, Inner Sakura a.k.a. Saky, had more influence. Sure Sakura was always polite and nice on the outside, but Saky had been the one to make the more important decisions.
But, for the first time in years, rationality won over, though a bit late, having knocked Naruto in the face already. Anyway, Sakura found herself walking side by side with Naruto towards the deserted café. Looking over to him she roughly calculated that she was probably an inch taller than him. She snickered.
"Hmm?" Naruto looked at her.
"Eheh... Nothing..." she said, waving both her hands dismissively. He didn't buy it, but let it go all the same.
They didn't speak much during the walk. But it was comfortable. Sakura almost believed it was just like the old days. Of course, it wasn't. Though she could never hate Sasuke, she was frustrated with him for practically destroying her childhood. Sure she wasn't all that old yet, but those earlier years were supposed to be the best period of your life. Yet, hers was filled with rejection, false hope, and ultimately, betrayal.
She felt so foolish. Who wouldn't? When having wasted so much of your youth on someone unreachable? She looked at Naruto again.
He had that same cocky, but not arrogant, grin plastered on his face. She gave a pleasant sigh. At least Naruto didn't turn out to be a cold jerk over the two years.
"So Naruto, how in the world did you meet Tenten of all people?" That really was nagging her. Even while she was chasing his ass halfway across town.
Naruto gave short laugh. "It was sort of weird. I kind of gave Lee some liquor at the party last night..."
Sakura raised her eyebrows. Ino told her earlier in the morning what happened. It didn't sound like it was only "some".
"Okay I gave him a lot. Neji, Shikamaru, and Chouji did this weird formation to take him out. By that time I had already ushered out most of the people except Tenten, who was totally hammered and knocked out cold on the floor. Neji told me to take her home and then they ran off."
"You're lucky Tsunade-sama didn't find out. She made a law against him drinking and there's a nasty punishment for anyone who lets him drink." She stifled a laugh thinking of the last poor fool who allowed Lee to gulp down a few pints.
"Well, lets just keep it on the hush hush, okay? Everyone else is.." He smiled pleadingly.
She exhaled and waved a hand at him in annoyance. "Whatever."
wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww
When Sakura and Naruto finally walked into the café, Tenten was not expecting to see Naruto to look like someone had punched him a week ago. That mark was definitely not there when he ran out giggling like some random schoolgirl. Her experience with bruises and cuts (mostly from Lee's earlier Genin days) were acute. Lee would have the same sort of mark after a rather nasty blow from Neji after if not days, but weeks.
How did he get a mark like that so quickly?
Of course, you can't call Tenten dumb; she's fairly smart. Getting a brief flashback from the Chunin Exams, she clearly remembered Naruto healing from various scratches and bruises acquired from Neji.
Fast healer… I should ask about that later…
"I take it that things went well, Naruto-kun?" She snickered.
Naruto took up an annoyed expression but failed and smiled instead. "Sakura-chan is the one who blew her lid over something so weird."
Sakura proceeded to smack up upside his head. "Can we just eat? Kakashi-sensei said since your back, you might as well come along with us on missions. I do not want to be hungry during a mission."
"Brain damage! Erk.. Missions?" He went silent for a brief moment. "Yeah.. I still need to collect my pay for various stuff I did while I was away." He scratched his chin, apparently in deep thought.
Tenten raised an eyebrow. "You did missions while you were gone?"
"Of course. It's not like ero-sennin let me mooch off him for free. Which reminds me… Um…"
Sakura groaned. "Don't tell me you're broke…"
He grinned and scratched the back of his head. Before he could get grilled, the waitress from before came back.
"Should I wait or take your order now?" She asked with the typical waitress smile.
"Now would be good. Our blond idiot --Naruto pouted-- here wants the lunch special, and I'll have my usual." Sakura came here often. It was close to the tower where she would train with either Shizune or Tsunade herself, and it was fairly close to home. A perfect in-between.
She glanced at Tenten.
"I've never been here before, so I don't know what's good." She was a bit flustered. She was hungry after all.
"Ah... Mera, can we get a menu?"
"What the hell? How come I didn't get a menu?" Note that Naruto muttered all that. Sakura heard anyway.
"Idiot, I'm the one who's paying for your meal. Tenten is responsible enough to pay for herself."
"Eh… Heh…" Same idiotic grin on his face, scratching his head.
"I wouldn't mind if I paid for him, Sakura. I owe him anyway," Tenten proposed.
Sakura shook her head with a smile. "He's my teammate. I'll pay."
Mera came back and handed Tenten the menu. "Here you go. If you have any questions just ask. Oh, Sakura, what do you want to drink?" She said turning to look at Sakura.
"Water would be fine."
Mera directed her stare at Naruto. "You?"
Before he could answer, Sakura cut him off. "Water."
Mera and Tenten let themselves a little laugh at the pouting blond complaining about wanting something sweet to drink.
"Regular tea would be fine for me. And I think number 4 would be nice."
When the food arrived, Naruto couldn't complain. It was a two-foot long, four inches wide, and three inches tall sandwich. He was fairly quiet during the meal, a great feat, for someone like him.
It turns out, Sakura and Tenten had ordered the same thing, which lead to a pleasant conversation between the two of them, with Naruto throwing in a comment or two. Time flew by before it was time for Sakura and Naruto to meet up with Kakashi.
As the two walked out Sakura didn't notice the jealous stare from Tenten, nor did Naruto notice the heated glares from the male occupants of the room for eating with arguably the village's most untouchable kunoichi.
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"C'mon Sakura! You act as if Kakashi-sensei will be there on time or something. From what I've heard, he's been doing that even before we were his team. I doubt two years will change that sort of habit."
One half of team seven stood at the same exact place from years ago. Same logs, same memorial. Same loud, overly annoying, yet cute blond brat complaining.
Sakura frowned.
"That's not the point. As his subordinates, we should always respect a direct order. Besides, why do you think he always shows up two to three hours late all the time?"
Her arms were crossed as if to say she knew and is wondering when the blond idiot would figure it out.
Naruto was clueless. He never did wonder why their infuriatingly late sensei never wanted to show up on time.
"Uh… You know... I really don't know..."
Sakura slumped at the response. She was hoping maybe he knew.
It was only a mere thirty minutes later that Naruto started fidgeting. The heat was almost unbearable. The sun was already above them, leaving hardly any shade left for the pair to stay cool in.
"Oi, Sakura." Naruto grunted from his position on the ground.
"Yes?" A half-hearted reply came.
"Want to have a quick spar?" Truth be told, he sounded hopeful. Then again, anything seems better than just sitting here for who knows how long.
"Spar?" She really didn't feel like it. It was too damn hot.
"I think we should. If we're going to work as a team it would be better if we already had a feel to our different fighting styles. I'm sure we both changed over the past two years."
Sakura pondered the blond's wise words. The old Naruto would have never of thought of that. Perhaps all the rumors about Jiraiya really were that exaggerated. It was only when the two found a clearing not to far away when she started to get nervous.
The old Naruto was powerful. Though he may lack the finesse and an intellectual capacity like the caliber of Kakashi or Neji, but when in need he was able to perform plans that could rival the top geniuses.
Naruto settled into a stance unfamiliar to Sakura. Her anxiety was almost nerve racking now. If Jiraiya not only polished Naruto's brain, who knows what he could have done to Naruto in terms of power? Earlier, when she was chasing Naruto, she had hit him with enough force to knock off his head, but he only walked away with a bruise. And that hit was only managed because he was distracted! Scrutinizing his face further, the bruise was already gone.
That actually didn't bother her. Naruto always had been an abnormally fast healer.
Sakura shook her head and began to concentrate on the task at hand.
They locked eyes and as the wind blew several stray leaves by, Naruto's stern face of concentration reverted to a grin.
"Let's see if the old hag can teach!"
Still reeling from the second insult of her master, she ogled at the two clones that just popped into existence. The odd thing was, Naruto hadn't done any seals, or at least none that she saw. He didn't even twitch. How fast were his hands? Then again, she had been distracted when he insulted Tsunade, and the Kage Bunshin only took one seal…
The clones rushed her and barely managed to avoid punches and kicks thrown her way. She was fairly surprised to find the clones actually coordinating together and using actual fighting techniques rather than just blindly rushing in as a decoy. They were fighting as if they were supposed to finish her off. Naruto, hell, people in general, typically used the clones as a distraction. She oddly noted that when one of the punches or kicks would miss from the clone attacking her from the right, she wouldn't feel a whiplash from the wind. However, with the intensity of the clones, it was filed to the back of her mind.
Damn Jiraiya-sama, she thought bitterly.
Fingering a couple of kunais she jumped backwards and threw them at the clones. They abruptly paused in their assault to avoid getting impaled, creating the opening Sakura needed. At the exact moment she landed back on the ground she lunged forward to backhand the clone closest to her. In the brief interlude from stepping forward to hitting the clone, she caught a good glimpse of Naruto.
She was expecting him to be preparing a jutsu - anything, really. Not just standing there and intently watching her duke it out with the clones. He actually seemed to be observing her, just like he said. She idly noted that she hadn't really seen him in action yet.
A gasp of surprise escaped Sakura's lips as her hand went right through the clone instead of smacking it out of existence.
Bunshin! She berated herself in her mind. How could she have been so careless? And they say her Genjutsu and analytical skills were top notch. Still, that was why it didn't effect the environment around her.
She almost lost her footing so she rolled to not make herself a fool to fall. Glaring at Naruto, who was no doubt fighting to urge to smirk, Sakura sprinted towards him. She forgot about the other clone, though. That one was real.
With a resounding crack, the clone's fist met Sakura's jaw. Fortunately, she twisted her body to absorb part of the rather ferocious blow. She lashed out with a kick to its abdomen. Instead of puffing out of existence, it was merely knocked into a tree with a loud grunt.
Sakura almost groaned in frustration. She may have finally dealt a blow to Naruto, it was the fact that he kept tricking her with clear and thoughtful tactics, that was extremely annoying. And here she thought he would remain her only constant in life. Just got too damn tricky and smart.
As Naruto was composing himself after getting knocked into the tree, Sakura rushed the clone that was still observing her every move. The clone raised its eyebrows at the upcoming kunoichi once again, without moving, not even a twitch, two more copies popped into existence.
Startled, Sakura briefly paused towards her destination. She had never really seen Kage Bunshins do any sort of chakra techniques. Another fact filed to the back of her mind.
One of the clones leaped up into the air towards her while the other kept running low near the ground. Getting a tad frustrated, she burst forward in speed she hadn't used yet, surprising the clone coming from the sky. She elbowed it to the ground and landed a heel on head of the one on the ground.
She landed in a defensive crouch and looked over her shoulder to view her handy work. Her eyes narrowed at the scene.
Instead of just seeing Naruto and the clone she left untouched, there were still four of them. The copies she had just hit, rather hard, were just getting up. This time, the one observing her had a very smug look on his face.
"C'mon, Sakura…" He drawled, smirking. "Takes more than that to take out my bunshins."
Then it all came crashing on her. The oddly powerful clones, and exactly what Naruto was doing the whole time.
"Are you telling me.." She let it linger in the air. He had really played her like a fool this time. It was hard enough just saying that.
"Yeap. Didn't move at all." Naruto was clearly pleased with himself.
"Fine." She stated oddly, as if to say 'on to plan B'.
Pulling out a kunai, she nicked herself on her thumb and drew a small amount of blood; launched out several shurikens and kunais at the clones and Naruto. While the clones were preoccupied, she began a few familiar seals before slamming her hand on the ground.
Naruto knew what she was doing, he probably should have stopped it, since its going to make the fight harder, but he needed some fun after all.
After the trademark smoke cleared, a decent sized slug appeared next to the pink-haired kunoichi.
It was a slimy blue, half laid on the ground, and its upper body almost reaching Sakura's height. The beady eyes were focused on the clones and Naruto.
It had an annoyingly normal voice, in which Naruto pondered on why it sounded so much like Shizune on a sugar high…
"Oi, Sakura-chan. Hey! Who… Is that the blond boy...? What's his face... Naruto? YEAH. Naruto!"
Naruto raised an eyebrow, while the clones took defense positions.
"Yeah, Riku. But we're having a little match right now so could you try and take out those clones?" She gestured towards the one she recently hit, and the one that she laid her heel on. "They are impossibly stronger than normal Kage Bunshins, so be cautious."
With a weird slug-like nod, it moved oddly fast (for a slug) towards Naruto's two frontal clones. As the clones prepared to counter, the slug split itself into two separate slugs and launched at its own targeted clone, spitting acid at them in the process. The two dopplegangers screamed and finally popped out of existence.
Meanwhile, Sakura was going at it with the remaining clone, the one she had knocked into the tree. She was hoping she would be able to over power at least one clone, but apparently, Naruto was by far more powerful than her. Perhaps not in the physical sense, but his skill and speed that he was finally starting to display was making her feel like she was slowly flapping her arms around.
Naruto, who was more than surprised at how fast his lavish clones were destroyed, finally decided to step in. Using the fox's ability and pulling some of its chakra, warped to the first split slug he saw, reappeared besides it, and delivered a sharp kick, puffing it out. Before the other one realized what just happened, it too was puffed out, the last image was seeing Naruto's head crashing hard onto its own head.
Sakura finally finished charging the electrical sparks around her hands and with a smirk, slapped the clone. Not very hard, a fly would have survived a hit like that, but it was the tendrils of electricity that did it. Obviously.
It popped at the same time as Riku.
Naruto gazed at Sakura appraisingly.
"Not bad Sakura." He paused, as all his memories of Tsunade fighting flooded back to him.
"You fight a lot like Tsunade though. But I'd say you used your brain a bit more than she ever cared to."
Sakura twirled a kunai on her index finger.
"I suppose." She retorted in a strange sweet voice.
Before he could say anything else, she threw the kunai and rushed him.
She really likes to do that, he thought, snickering.
He grabbed the kunai from the air and flung it back at her. Surprisingly, she didn't try to evade it and Naruto groaned. It was a normal bunshin. Naruto pondered on when she made the switch, when the ground beneath him erupted.
He quickly jumped into the air to avoid all the dirt and what not thrown everywhere.
"Damn, Sakura! There's no need to destroy the wildlife!" He yelled while landing on one knee.
Amongst all the rubble and dirt, Sakura was amazingly clean. The joys of being a nin.
She smiled impishly and shook her head. Her growing frustration with Naruto was mind numbing! She was going all at it and has yet to even manage a finger on him. And for the most part, he was just playing around. The clone couldn't count, since it wasn't the real deal, and though he hadn't touched her either, she knew she had left loads of openings that he didn't take full advantage of.
And then those bunshins of his! Who knows what sort of damage he could cause if he wanted to. She repressed a shudder.
I wonder if his bunshins can do jutsus... She thought idly.
Naruto suddenly darted towards her, throwing her off with surprise. As she was readying herself for the upcoming onslaught, she heard two distinctive pops.
Naruto had once again pulled his "I can make a clone with just standing there" trick and she should have expected it. Sadly, she didn't.
The two clones grabbed an arm each and attempted to hold her still.
Sakura pondered on why Naruto would even bother. She could rip the clones off her like paper. Perhaps he was planning something.
Sakura was rather far from the truth.
Forming and sending off clones was almost instinctive for the blond, working on them so constantly it wasn't really a surprise for him nor was it for Jiraiya. He was actually distracted from the feeling of dread of what was behind Sakura. Or put correctly, what was lacking behind her.
They were fighting off a steep hill, and Sakura's back was toward it. But by the time he figured that out, he was already a foot away from Sakura.
Sakura, finally catching his surprised expression hastily threw the two clones, landing God knows where. But it was by far, too late.
Naruto crashed into her, flying off the hill, both their arms and legs dangled spinning out of control. When they finally started to hit the slope, they were rolling, too disoriented to do anything otherwise.
Somehow, Naruto landed on top of her, arms on both sides of her torso.
Sakura astonishingly giggled. Naruto snorted a chuckle. Soon both were laughing hysterically in the same position the whole time. But then the raging teen hormones started to kick in.
Naruto really looked at her for the first time he came back to Konoha. No longer did she wear idiotic colors that would foil her attempt to blend into the environment easily. Her shorts were gone, replaced by sturdy black pants with the standard pouch of supplies. The top she was wearing was of simple design with a stylish blend of black and white. Her short pink hair grew back out, but never got in the way since it was tied in a strict ponytail.
Her eyes were still that remarkable green he always remembered. Her face had seemingly left behind the child like innocence it once held.
It seems Sasuke's absence made a better impact than what Naruto supposed.
He felt his childlike emotions for his first crush coming back with a vengeance; the fact that he was so close to her didn't help matters.
Sakura was still laughing when Naruto kissed her. Oddly enough, instead of pulling back, she responded quite passionately. She wrapped an arm around his neck and let her free hand comb through his wild, golden hair.
And for the first time in years, Sakura and Naruto were relaxed.
I know what you're thinking. But it's not going in the direction you think it's going. I still pretty much loathe Sakura anyway. Besides, I still need to develop Naruto's emotions towards Tenten anyway. Right now, he's only attracted because of her looks and openness with him. I'd rather have it go much deeper than that. But yes, I'm so damn impatient with the relationship myself; I've already started other projects.. too…erm.. adult-type-stuff. Heh.
Update quicker? Cutting chapters? Well… I would do that.. But its not that writing a lot takes a long time, cause the last chapter believe it or not, took me three days to write, while the first chapter took me a month. Chapter two is at a mother load of 10k plus words. It all comes down to writers block and stuff. Besides, sometimes when I go back and read something it sounds utterly stupid and I'll change it, or maybe I want to add something. Sorry but I'll be taking my time.
About the story in general… Well I have full access to all the current running of the manga, but I had a big plot and what not all before it. The manga... I'm just going to be using it as a reference. Besides... I haven't really enjoyed where Kishimoto and his staff are making the series running towards anyway. Whenever I finish this.. The only things I'll probably ever write are AU's or grown up fics. I have a particularly lemony fic brewing up for Naruto and Anko.. (snickers) He's older of course. So, if you want to check it out, its in my profile.
-Chakra handcuffs- OMG. Genkai's thing for Yusuke! Maybe that's where I got it. Never really was sure. It was all spontaneous thinking.
-Naruto's dimension thingy- Actually, I was really leaning toward what "Dave-d" had been going for in Where Eagles Dare. But mine works out much different. When I was writing this, it was all before the Kakashi-gaiden thing. As you can see, I really planned ahead before I posted everything.