Looooong Author Input:
So yeeeaaaaaa, actually the "mega super huge" chapter wasn't actually that "huge" at all I know. I try to keep my chapters around 3k words each and that one was 3.2k. lolll xD
Sasuke and Naruto are going to get some butt-kicking in this time! First battle scene yay!
I'm not really moving in any order through the plot of Naruto, however there are subtle hints, like the overall theme of the entrance trials is sort of similar to the second stage of the chunin exams, and then them getting barraged by senbon is reminiscent of Haku's attack in the first arc of Naruto.
BTW I'm sorry if some of the threads aren't entirely making sense right now, I've got most of it worked out. If you didn't notice yet, this actually used to be a modern high school fanfic but I changed it due to it not making sense. (That's why Naruto has a flippin cell phone lol, I wanted to keep the Iruka scene xD)
I getting this beta'd ASAP so bear with me.
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto
Chapter 3
Sharingan
Sasuke Uchiha squinted through the pouring rain and cautiously observed the menacing creature crouching in front of him.
They walked on all fours, claws dragging through the ground, leaving deep rivulets in the rain-soaked earth.
The Uchiha noticed that "it" seemed to have been impaled all over its body by those long, silver needles. Senbon, he had heard the girl call them. But if it was injured then why was it moving so fluidly? It was as if they were connected to it's body…..
He grit his teeth and examined the blue streams of chakra racing through its body, trying to see what might enable the beast to throw the needles at will. That is, if he had been the one attacking them from the bushes earlier that day….
"EWWWWWW! What the hell! EWW! That thing is so gross…. I… I think I'm gonna throw up my ramen…."
Sakura raised a pale pink eyebrow, "You eat ramen for breakfast?!"
The raven-haired teen glared at the two idiots. Eyebrow twitching in irritation. Yes, this was the perfect time to be talking about the moron's healthy breakfast choices.
The three monsters were still crouched, one in front of each of them, slitted eyes narrowed. Watching. Waiting.
Sasuke bent his knees and brought his fists up in front of his face, sizing up the creature, searching for weak points in the energy flow. He ignored his two teammates, who were whispering excitedly, probably devising some strategy.
The Uchiha smirked, Naruto looked like he might be able to give the beast a run for his money, owing to his muscle and overall strength. But Sakura….. She wouldn't last five minutes with the thing, fragile as she was. It was probably best she and the idiot worked together anyways.
He, on the other hand, would work alone. The sooner he left these two behind the better. He'd come to this place to get stronger, and didn't want hindrances.
Whatever Sakura and Naruto had been planning, they seemed to be finished now. They each stood in front of a beast.
Then Naruto charged. "HIIIYAA!" The blonde drew back his fist and threw a heavy punch at the creature's head, diving to the side as it launched a barrage of tiny needles from its neck, effectively stopping the blow. Naruto wasn't deterred, he leaped to his feet and threw a flurry of punches at the monster's head, distracting it enough so that he could kick at its soft underbelly, the only part not covered in needles….
"AAARRGHHH!" Naruto yelled in pain as three senbon lodged themselves in his thigh. The thing was too quick for him. He jumped back, retreating to pull the needles out of his leg. Blue eyes screwed shut as he yanked the needles out with a grimace. He hoped Sakura was doing alright, but he had no time to take a peek, he had his own problems to deal with.
Sakura had not yet begun exchanging blows with her creature. Instead, she circled it, her bottle-green eyes calculating, looking for a weak spot, an advantage, anything.
The thing was larger and heavier than she was, which meant she was probably faster. This could be an advantage but, then again, that meant that it also had strength on its side. Not to mention weaponry: Claws, needles, the works. Sakura had no weapon to defend herself and no way to fashion one without the beast noticing and attacking.
The pinkette narrowed her eyes, the needles seemed to stick out from every inch of its body with the exceptions of its face and underbelly. That would seem like a good target, but how to reach it was the question.
The petite girl raised her fists and took a step forward. If this thing could be beaten, she would find out how.
Sasuke twisted his head around just in time to see the flash of gleaming metal come his way. He back flipped and skidded through the thick mud to take a look at his opponent.
The Uchiha scowled heavily and wiped away the sweat glistening on his forehead. His initial plan was to let the monster try and hit him while exhausting its supply of senbon. It seemed to be working, but the thing was getting more vicious by the minute, Using it's claws to try and slash him as he dodged the needles.
Obsidian eyes swirled into Crimson and narrowed. The chakra was definitely flowing slower than before. He squinted and peered at the head of the thing. It was covered with spiky needles just the other areas but, strangely, chakra flow to that area was constant and heavy. Strange.
He took a step forward, trying to look closer into the system. Then he had an idea.
The boy leaped into the air prepared to let loose a punch, aimed at the thing's head.
The beast let loose a volley of needles and lashed out with a clawed hand. It was too late, Sasuke lunged to the right and raised his arms to block the needles from hitting his head.
The senbon buried themselves in his forearms with a sickening *thock*. He grunted in pain and stumbled backward, wrenching them out and…..smirking.
"Well, it seems like, whatever's in your head is pretty valuable….."
"Hokage-Sama."
"What is it Iruka?"
"I heard that you were incorporating… animals in your entrance trials."
"Summons you mean?"
"Yes well, I they…."
"You're worried about Naruto, aren't you."
"Hokage-Sama, he's like a son to me."
"Are you concerned about the weaponry being used against them?"
"Yes."
"Then you can relax. Senbon needles aren't meant to kill or even injure permanently. They are used to slow down or stun opponents….."
Naruto groaned and slammed himself into the sloshy ground to avoid being impaled by another round of cat and mouse.
He'd given up on trying to land a few hits on that thing. All it did was make his knuckles bloody.
He picked himself up and managed to sneak a glance at the rest of his squad.
Sakura was in air, defensive, leaping and flipping to get out of the way as she tried to find an opening in which she could strike. She was small and fast but, even he could tell, she couldn't keep this up much longer.
Sasuke, on the other hand, was leaning against a tree, arms bleeding, just staring at his beast…..smirking….
"HEY BASTARD! Why are you staring at your monster like you just fell in love?!"
Sasuke turned around and scowled at him, "If you weren't such a dead-last, maybe you would've figured out how to defeat these things before I did!"
Naruto looked astonished, "Wait you know how to get rid of these things?"
The other teen just smirked, "Too bad I'm not telling yo-"
An earsplitting scream rent through the pounding rain.
"Sakura!"
Sakura's monster was moving closer toward her. She was on the ground, emerald eyes glassy. Five senbon needles sticking out of her side.
Sasuke ran as fast as he could towards the beast, Naruto on his heels. It didn't matter if he didn't like them. He wasn't gonna let someone die because he wasn't enjoying being a team.
The raven-haired boy flash-stepped in front of the beast and grabbed at the spikes sticking out of its head.
Then, he wrenched with all his might.
Red.
His hands were covered in dark red blood. The needle-like things had cut deeply into his palms.
Crimson droplets fell onto the rain soaked grass.
The beast had collapsed and was lying on the ground, motionless. Dead.
On the ground, Sakura let out a little gasp of pain and shakily tried to stand up. Naruto rushed to help her.
"Sakura-chan what happened? You were doing awesome when I looked over a few minutes ago!"
I… well…I was distracted. It won't happen again.
"Okay, I'm glad you're alive, do you need help pulling those ou-"
The pinkette yanked the needles out of her torso with a wince and turned to them. There's still two more…. You guys, they're coming closer.
Sasuke turned to the blonde, "Quick, try to get around it and fake a move, then, grab the spikes on the head and yank them. It'll stab you but make sure you don't stop pulling."
Naruto took off in the direction of his opponent, intent on revenge. He let out a battle cry, lunging at the beast and grabbing its head. A stabbing pain blossomed in his arm, but he ignored it, tearing the at the head-spikes with all his strength. It fell to the ground. Dead.
"Naruto you idiot!" The blonde saw Sakura joggingtowards him, "Your cry of war near enough shattered my eardrums! Did anyone ever tell you that you are as loud as hell?"
Naruto laughed, a sense of calm taking over his body after the heated rush of adrenaline.
Their other teammate leaped down next to them, having already finished off his own creature.
The pinkette glanced at him and fidgeted, looking at the ground. She cleared her throat, "I.. Sasuke-kun ...th-thank you."
The Uchiha's eyes widened at the addition of the suffix but he nodded, a smirk forming on his face. "Hn. Someone had to save your life."
Sakura seemed to regain her composure because she glared at him. Viridian eyes sharp and menacing.
Naruto chuckled, "So, how did a Teme like you figure out how to kill the damn thing?"
"Sharingan."
Sasuke looked at Sakura, who was smirking up at him. "How the hell do you know that?"
The girl smiled, tucking a stray strand of hair behind her ear. "Your name. It made me remember something I had read awhile ago. A unique bloodline trait or, Kekkei Genkai, as it is called, gets passed on from generation to generation in the shinobi clans. And then your last name, Uchiha, made me think of a special Kekkei Genkai I had done more research on. The Sharingan, distinctive by the bright red eyes and black tomoes, unique to only the Uchiha Clan." She smiled, "I'm just curious as to how you still have it since ninja from the Uchiha clan died out a long time ago…"
Sasuke frowned and turned away, "Yes, that was how I was able to see the energy flowing through the beast's head, it was thick and spreading to other areas of its body. I assumed it was important, so I ran at the thing and tried to attack its head. It protected that part violently, and I noticed that it could throw senbon from all areas of its body with the exception of that one body part."
Sakura's eyes widened and she clasped her hand together, "So, those things must've been connected to its nerve-endings! Deceptive, but vulnerable if figured out. Great job Sasuke-Kun!"
Sasuke scowled at the added suffix, but Naruto piped up, "Hey Sakura-chan! Ignore the bastard, you can call me Naruto-Kun whenever you want!"
"Naruto you're a baka."
"But Sakuraaaa…."
"We need to get to a cave or something, I'm freezing and bloody."
"Yea me too! Build us a shelter teme!"
"Hold your breath."
"Awww c'mon…"
Eventually, squad seven ended up going back to the rock structure that they had found earlier that day.
Sakura had wandered into the woods, looking for something for them to eat, leaving Naruto and Sasuke to set up camp.
It wasn't going well.
"Hey, Bastard! Hurry up and make a fire already! I'm cold as hell! Believe it!"
"Shut up."
"Well, you've been working for the past thirty minutes! How useless can you get?"
"Maybe you should try making a fire with wet wood, dobe."
Naruto grumbled as he flattened out he'd bed of damp leaves. The dried blood on his leg was itchy and he really wanted to wash it off.
"Hey, Teme, is there a stream nearby?"
Sasuke didn't answer, he was too busy trying to strip the wet bark away from the dry wood with a senbon needle.
"Uggh, when's Sakura coming back? Not only is she nicer than you, she's talkative, aaaand she's got curves in the right places... If you know what I mean…."
The raven-haired teen snorted, "Pervert."
"Least I ain't gay…"
At that moment, Sakura appeared from behind the trees carrying a dead rabbit over her shoulder and a handful of limp green plants.
"Hey guys! How'd you do while I was gone?"
"Well, Teme here was relaxing, but I made the leaf beds, just like you asked me!"
Sasuke snorted, sticking his needle through a piece of bark.
Sakura giggled and put down her load.
"Hey Sakura-chan, how'd you kill a rabbit?"
The pinkette bit her lip, "Well, I kind of impaled it's leg with the needle so it couldn't run, then I finished it off, I didn't want to kill it but, you know…. It had to be done."
"That's alright! What are you gonna make with it?"
"A stew seems preferable since I've got meat, greens, and water from the stream…."
The blonde jumped up and pumped his fist in the air, "A stream! Yes! I'm gonna go and have a bath, believe it! C'mon Teme, you know you need a wash, I can smell you from here…"
"Whatever."
The youth grinned at Sakura, "You know, you're welcome to come bathe with us….."
Sakura death-glared him.
Sasuke smirked, getting up from his spot and passing his dry wood to the girl. Then he stalked off in the direction of the forest.
"Hey bastard, wait up!"
Sakura grimaced and began to skin the rabbit as best she could, wiping the blood from her hands, she'd never been one who liked killing.
By the time the guys got back from the creek, Sakura had finished building a fire and was trying to cook the stew by placing the liquid in a hollow piece of wood. It wasn't working.
She looked up from her struggles to see Naruto and Sasuke walking through the wet grass towards her. Shirtless.
She gaped then reddened, "Hey! W-what, guys! Get some damn clothes on!"
Naruto chuckled, "What's wrong? You like what you see?"
Sakura turned to him, bottle-green eyes murderous, "You'll freeze to death, idiot, and try having some respect in front of a lady!" She huffed and slumped back down, poking their dinner with a stick.
Sasuke sat down in front of the fire, shirt on. He looked at the rabbit, "Is that even edible?"
The blonde winced, ready for an explosion of Sakura's wrath.
But the rosette was smiling sweetly at the boy, "Okay, Sasuke-Kuuun, let's see how you cook it!" She tossed the stick to him and left in the direction of the stream.
Sasuke was startled for a fraction of a second, then he scowled, tossing the stick aside, "Handle it dobe."
Naruto picked up the half-cooked rabbit and dangled it in front of his face. Utterly confused.
Sasuke closed his eyes and sighed, knowing that the chances of dinner being edible had just died out completely.
Sakura got back in time to eat Naruto's burned rabbit supper, the teens were so hungry they barely cared what it tasted like. They lay down on their leaves and fell asleep almost instantly, worn out from the day's events.
Naruto had tried to stay awake, struggling to figure out the meaning of the trials. He assumed that what they had gone through with the monsters was their physical trial, which left the confusing riddle and the mysterious fear trials to be determined. The blonde yawned before sleep stole his consciousness and he drifted off into dreamland.
"You shouldn't be worried about the physical aspect so much Iruka."
"Why? Is there a more dangerous trial I should be concerned about?"
"You could say that."
"You mean the fear test? Why? What does it do?"
"It's a unique illusion Jutsu, altered to each individual's separate fears. It tests a person's strength of will. They will face their worst fears. Those who break will not be able to pass. Shinobi must be practical and calculating. Fear is a weakness."
"But! Hokage-Sama! You know Naruto, his past, it was cruel! Why would you subject him to such a thing!"
"Exactly that. The sooner he faces his fears, the better a ninja he can become."
"But-"
"Iruka, do you know who I chose to be on the same team as Naruto?"
"Who?"
"Uchiha Sasuke and Haruno Sakura. Our two most promising future students. Both with dark pasts of their own…."
Cerulean eyes snapped open, staring at the blue sky, sun streaming down through the trees, illuminating the greenery, making it seem golden.
He craned his neck to look at his teammates.
Sakura was running her fingers through her rosy locks, apparently trying to get rid of the knots and tangles.
Sasuke was laying on the ground, staring blankly at the sky overhead.
Sakura walked over to him and handed him a cup of water, he took it without a word. Then she walked over to the blonde and handed him a cup, before sitting down next to him and whispering, "We decided to set out early and get the next trial over." She glanced over at their dark teammate before continuing, "Sasuke's not too excited about the whole fear thing, says he's got a bad feeling about what we're gonna see."
Naruto nodded and took a sip of his water, he hadn't wanted to set out so fast. He didn't want to face this. He didn't know what he'ddo. Nevertheless, he looked at Sakura and grinned, "Tell me when we set out!"
Team seven walked through the woods in silence. They had packed up camp and put the rest of the rabbit in Naruto's backpack. No one spoke. They didn't want to.
Sakura walked along numbly behind the boys. She fought to keep the tears from spilling out of her eyes. She was scared. She didn't want to remember. She had promised she would forget. She could only pray that this test wouldn't break her spirit. It had taken years to build it back up since the last time.
Sasuke stalked forward, insides churning, thoughts dark. He would do anything to gain power. Even this. He had a very bad feeling that if he proceeded to walk into this fear trial he would crack. He had already relived it once. Blood. The bodies. Screaming. He couldn't go through that again, it had taken years to stop waking up with the nightmares. It didn't matter, he had to do it. He was an avenger. Revenge was his only goal.
Naruto kicked a stone lying in the pathway they were taking through foliage. He wouldn't lie, he was absolutely terrified about what lay ahead. He could only hope the test didn't know just how deep his fear was. He hoped they didn't find the monster. The demon. The curse.
They kept walking until they reached the edge of a wide clearing.
There was a loud crack. The teens whipped around.
Colored smoke filled the air.
Naruto tried to move but his whole body had frozen. Paralyzed. His mind screamed at him to run, far far away…
"Congratulations, you've made it to the Fear Trials. Let's begin, shall we?"
Then everything vanished.
Special thanks: to Thabane Tha Creator for commenting on both chapters! Awesome job instantly decoding the riddle! The answer is coming soon!
Yay, cliffhanger!
So, yes. Sakura does have a dark past in this story as well, all will be explained in chapters 4 and 5 :)
I take weekends off, this means that I skip it when writing new chapters.
There will continue to be two updates per week if you guys review!
Constructive criticism is welcomed.
Till next time!
- Silla