Title: New Future of the Legends
Author: Nakora-chan
Email: nakora(dot)chan(at)gamil(dot)com
Series: Naruto
Rating: T (may end up M later on)
Pairings: None (If I have time later on, I will create an alternate version with pairings)
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.
Summary: Three years have past since Naruto has left Konoha. It is about time that he returns, but when he does, he reveals things about himself and Konoha that has never been known to the public. Despite what he has become, he strives to break free from all bonds.
Warnings: AU, OC, OOC, blood, abuse, mutilation (last three will occur later on)
Interlude: Revelations Aught Not Be Discovered
Sakura studied the newcomer. He certainly was strange; she had never met someone as girly as him. Sure there were plenty of girly men in Konoha, but none of them came close to this man's definition of feminism.
She watched him take out a white band to tie up his long black hair. He certainly was very precise in his motions, not wasting a single ounce of energy on any one motion. First, she attributed this to his shinobi training, but mulling over this, she realized that no shinobi ever moved that precisely even with years of experience and training.
He took out a white band to tie back his long black hair. Her eyes drifted up to his hitai-ate with the Konoha symbol etched into it, indicating he was a Konoha shinobi, but she never knew someone like him, past or present.
She thought it was strange that Tsunade had gotten up from her seat to furiously whisper in this newcomer's ear, and thought it was even stranger when Tsunade backed away without concessions. Whoever this new person was, he certainly had the ear of the Hokage.
Staring avidly at him, she furrowed her brows in confusion; tilted her head to jog her memory. Scrounging through her memory, she could remember ever see him, meaning he could possibly older than anyone of them. Seeing how her shisou also hid her age, she shrugged the matter off; after all, bird of a feather flock together.
Tsurugi Tenkou slipped off his zori and stood on the dusty cement in just his tabi. With the strangely formal clothes, he was oddly at ease with the bulkiness of a formal kimono, and he was not hindered by the ungainliness of the kimono, which was not at all common. Shinobi were known for their great detest for formal events where they would have to dress up, but for a shinobi to casually wear formal clothes, it was strange thing in a strange world.
Looking up at her sensei, who stood by her and observing his opponent, she noted the carefree and aloof look and the hidden motive of his observations: to determine how strong Tsurugi was. Swallowing, she murmured up to her sensei, "Kakashi-sensei, what do you think of him?"
Kakashi glanced at her and shrugged.
She narrowed her eyes on him, annoyed. Why did she have to have a sensei that had no sense of propriety when asked a question? Someone up there must positively hate her.
"Why are we still waiting?" Tsume asked abruptly. Sakura turned to look at the mother of one of fellow shinobi. Tsume flopped down with little to no manners, but still having a respectful air, and looked towards Tsunade for answers.
Clearing her throat, Tsunade answered, "We're waiting for Homura and Koharu."
"Those old coots?"
Shikaku easily reprimanded the dog jounin. "You shouldn't call them that, Tsume. Even though they are old coots, they still have some power over us."
Tsume scowled but didn't say anything more.
"Thank you, Nara-kun. Just as respectful to your elders as always."
Everyone turned towards the two arrivals. Both Homura and Koharu, in Sakura's opinion, looked as old as ever. Though they had mellowed out over the years, they still were stiff and cold. In the back of her mind, she attributed their character to the harsh conditions of the world that they lived in as children, but she never actively looked at their character in that fashion, so it was easier to see them as old coots.
"Homura. Kiharu. We were waiting for you."
The two old geezers sat down in the seats that both Tsunade and Shikaku, who offered his own seat, vacated, regardless of manners or propriety. A faint tick appeared on Sakura's forehead, but controlling her temper, she didn't say anything offensive that would risk her position.
Surprisingly, Tsurugi actually bowed respectfully to the elders and greeted them. "Ohayo gozaimasu, Utatane-san, Mitakado-san."
Casting a suspicious eye on the subject of evaluation, the two merely nodded and indicated that they were prepared for the evaluation.
Sakura looked at the shinobi in question, who tapped his foot against the dusty ground. It was easy to see that though his face showed no outwards irritation, other parts of his body portrayed his irritation, and it made this feminine boy seem a bit more real.
Moving out of her own seat, which she offered to Tsunade, she sat with Neji and Shikamaru in the second row of sitting mats. From the corner of her eye, she watched the scene between Gai, Kakashi, and Tsurugi.
Naruto watched the (one-sided) conversation between Kakashi and Gai, and it was starting to really get on his nerves. Outwardly, he couldn't show it thought, and that irritated him even more. Exactly how was he supposed to keep up his façade if these two idiots wouldn't stop doing what they were doing?
"LET US BEGIN, MY ETERNAL RIVAL!"
"What?"
"ARG! YOUR HIP ATTITUTE IRRITATES ME, BUT IT WILL NOT PREVENT MY YOUTHFUL FIRE FROM PREVAILING!"
"Ano," began Naruto hesitantly, not really sure of how his character would react to this situation. "Could—"
"What are you doing here, Gai?"
"I WILL TRIUMPH TODAY AND PROVE THAT THE FLAME OF YOUTH BURNS THE STRONGEST!"
"—you two—"
"Whatever you say."
"I CHALLENGE YOU, MY ETERNAL RIVAL!"
"—please—"
"What kind of challenge?"
"ANY CHALLENGE THAT WILL PROVE THAT MY FLAME OF YOUTH IS UNDYING!"
"—get off—"
"Hmm… That's a hard choice."
"I WILL PREVAIL THROUGH ANY OBSTACLES YOU PUT BEFORE ME!"
"—the field?"
Seeing that neither of the idiots was listening to him, he decided to take things into his own hands. Literally.
"Huh?"
POW! KABOOM! SMASH!
Those that were watching the scene winced and gave the two jounin sympathetic looks, understanding their pain or least feeling their pain.
Dusting his hands, Naruto glared at the two menacingly, "Now, would you two please remove your bodies from the field?"
"Hai!"
Well at least Gai got off the field and sat with the rest of the audience. Kakashi shook the loose dirt of his clothes and peered at him.
This shinobi was different; Kakashi could tell that right off the bat as soon as he entered the area. Quickly glancing around the area, he scanned for his recently constant paranoia. Ever since he had gone to that meeting with Tsunade, he never lost that paranoia. Though it had lessened after he left the meeting, it had returned full force once he entered the dojo. The only possible source could be the shinobi he was evaluating.
Tsurugi shifted his feet, opting for a traditional yet average balanced stance.
His first impressions of Tsurugi weren't impressive. To Kakashi, the only thing Tsurugi had going for him was the fact that he looked like a girl. As a naturally stronger male, Tsurugi would able to go on missions that normal kunoichi wouldn't be able to take. Other than that, Tsurugi seemed to be just an average male shinobi.
From her place with the audience, Tsunade called out, "There is to be no scarring, maiming, or anything detrimental to anyone's health. The spar ends when either one of you falls unconscious or when I call the match. Am I clear?"
"Hai!" shouted both shinobi.
"Hajime!"
His attention immediately intensified and focused in on Tsurugi, who calmly remained the same stance. Copying Tsurugi's stance, he patiently waited for Tsurugi to begin his attack.
"Hm… That's odd of Kakashi."
The three youngest members of the audience turned towards Gai, staring at the competitors. Frowning, Sakura asked, "What's odd, Gai-sensei?"
Gai looked at the medic-nin. She apparently never seen her sensei in a spar before otherwise she wouldn't be asking the question; but still she shouldn't be asking the question. She had seen Kakashi fight before. It was odd of her, not in the same way as Kakashi's oddity, but still, it was odd. Coming out of his thoughts, Gai answered, "Kakashi usually takes the initiative to take the offensive, but now he's waiting for Tsurugi to attack first."
The medic-nin looked back at the still figures. "You're right, Gai-sensei. It's unusual of Kakashi-sensei not to attack."
"This is too troublesome."
POW!
With a fist clenched in midair, Sakura growled out, "Don't be a baka. Pay attention."
Returning his gaze to the field, Gai wondered exactly what was Kakashi waiting for.
"Ne, Hatake-san?"
"Hm?"
Tsurugi tilted his head to the side and gave the other man a bright smile. "Do you mind if I suddenly change my stance?"
Kakashi narrowed his eyes on the shinobi. What exactly was this boy thinking? Telling his opponent his next move? Was the whole thing a part of his strategy, to throw him off the boy's trail long enough to do something?
"Iie. Dozo."
The boy smiled, and sans a word and without actually seeming to move, his stance shifted. With feet firmly planted on the ground, he swept his right foot to the one o'clock position and pushed his left foot all the way back until it seemed as if he were to go down into the splits but not. His hands were not clenched in fists but spread flat. He held his left hand back past his face and above shoulder level, and he had his right spread hand parallel to his right leg to point down at the ground.
As soon as he settled into his stance, Naruto cocked his head to the side cutely, making his long black hair sway with the wind. The long hair swayed out and was going to get in the way, but he didn't move to push his hair back. His posture was confident, and from what Kakashi could see, there were no openings in his carriage.
Kakashi twitched; the boy's new stance wouldn't make the match any better, only worse.
Unintentionally, Gai gave a quiet hiss.
"What is it this time, Gai-sensei?"
It wasn't Gai that answered though. It was Hiashi. He breathed out, "Buddha no Zen'in"
"All hands of Buddha?"
Gai narrowed his eyes and explained for all the members of the audience that had no idea what either Gai or Hiashi were talking about. "Buddha no Zen'in. All hands of Buddha. A taijutsu style created by the monks of the Fire Temple. It's based on open-handed attacks on eight parts of the body: forehead, collarbone, left shoulder, right shoulder, solar plexus, abdomen, kidneys, and the back opposite of the heart. It's like Jyuuken as it doesn't inflict external damage but internal damage, but the damage that the Buddha no Zen'in causes is much more than Jyuuken."
Feeling slightly left out, Tsume continued, "I've heard that the Buddha no Zen'in could push organs out of the victim's body."
Everyone shuddered. The thought of organs flying out of a body just by an open-hand hit was not a thought that any of them wanted to have in their minds, or imagine.
"Anyway," added the dog jounin, "Kakashi knows about the Buddha no Zen'in and what it can do."
Damn right, he knew about the damage of the Buddha no Zen'in. The only problem was that this was the first time he would ever face it in a real spar; thankfully, the ground rules stated there was to be nothing detrimental to his health, otherwise… he dared not think about it.
Instantly, his eyes shifted to Tsurugi's slight movement, then rose to meet the blue eyes of his opponent. The agreement was made.
CRASH!
In an instant, both Kakashi and Tsurugi had clashed, hand for hand, kick for kick. Tsurugi kept his hands open as he caught Kakashi's punch and swung his right leg to sweep his feet. Quickly, he jumped aside, but he never expected for the kick to be swept into full circle, aiming for his ribcage.
Catching the leg was a feat in itself. The strength from the kick caught him off guard, and it took most of his strength to hold onto the leg.
Holding firmly onto Tsurugi's leg, he mirrored the other's sweep, but Tsurugi jumped in time and kicked Kakashi's chest, throwing him back a few feet and distancing them before landing back on his feet.
Once sure that Tsurugi wouldn't come crashing in on him in the next second, Kakashi rubbed his chest absentmindedly. That last kick hurt, and even though it hurt like hell, in the back of his mind, he was a bit glad that Tsurugi hadn't begun to use his hands.
He looked at his opponent once again in the stance of the Buddha no Zen'in. After this spar, it would be probable that any time he looked at this boy, he would see the boy in this stance, threatening to push his organs out of his body.
"Ikkimase, Hatake-san."
Kakashi had only enough time to blink before he was face to face with an eerily smiling Tsurugi. Acting on his instincts, he immediately tried to punch the boy in the stomach only to be caught by an open hand. The boy twisted his open hand and casually pushed Kakashi's punch back before using the other open hand to give an open strike to Kakashi's left shoulder.
Noticing the hand, he leaned back to avoid the hit only to get hit on the right shoulder. Stumbling back, he grabbed his right shoulder and hissed in pain.
Sakura straightened and leaned forward worriedly. Looking at the various people around her, she asked with a voice on the verge of panic, "Is Kakashi-sensei going to be alright? What happened?"
Gai placed a firm hand on her shoulder, her head snapping to look up at him, and reassured her. "Kakashi will be alright. He's a jounin. He knows how to handle these things. If there was anything too damaging, Hokage-sama would call the match and ask for your assistance in healing either of the two."
The girl could only nod in understanding. Gai quietly let out his breath. Briefly, he wondered how this girl got to be a medic-nin with all her worries and her insecurities, but Tsunade knew what she was doing and that was all that mattered.
From the corner of his eyes, he saw Shikamaru lean towards Neji slightly and ask, "Is he making one-handed seals before he strikes Kakashi-sensei?"
Looking back to the spar, Gai focuses his attention on Tsurugi's hands just before he struck Kakashi. His hands were fast, but the speed and the strain of the muscles beneath the kimono seemed to be very controlled. The willpower to control the mere contraction of muscles had to be legendary, and Gai could only conclude that Tsurugi was going easy on Kakashi, despite this being an honest evaluation of the boy's skills.
He pushed the thought aside though; watching carefully, he did notice that after each strike, the boy would make a one-hand seal before striking again. Although it was easy for the audience to see the seals, it wasn't easy to decipher each seal or what jutsu the seals would perform. It would be ever harder for Kakashi, unless he used his Sharingan.
All he could for now was hope that Kakashi had enough sense in this situation to use his Sharingan.
Kakashi only had a second before he was again assaulted by a barrage of open hand strikes aimed for the front of his body. The movement of each hand blurred and it was hard to distinguish which way to turn. Trying to dodge them, he got struck only on either shoulder several times, blocking the strikes to more grievous areas before he was forcefully pushed back by a leg of iron into the chest.
That kick knocked the breath out of him, and he dropped onto a knee heaving and trying to catch his breath. Shuddering as he took in deep breaths, he thanked the gods that none of his ribs or any bones at all were broken.
Quickly he raised the hitai-ate revealing the Sharingan. His mind skimmed through dozens of strategies only to throw each one of the out since he didn't know enough about his opponent's fighting style to develop a solid plan. Returning his full attention to reality, he realized that the boy had changed his stance again, and kept his face as emotionless as possible as soon as he recognized the stance.
Tsurugi's left hand stretched out behind him above his head, his right downward in front, his right leg stretched to meet the right hand, and his left bent behind him. The traditional beginning stance for the infamous Jyuuken style.
But despite his readiness to counter the Jyuuken, Tsurugi suddenly formed his hands into two different seals and called out, "Ninpou: Jigoku Karyuu no Jutsu."
The earth began to rumble and from behind the boy, a giant dragon made of black fire emerged and roared a deafening howl before heading straight at Kakashi at a fast pace.
Kakashi's only thought was 'Shit.'
"Doton: Doryuu Heki!" he shouted before his cheeks puffed and he spit mud onto the ground. The mud immediately started forming and growing into a large mud wall, ready to defend him from Tsurugi's fire attack. Quickly, unsure of Tsurugi's fire attack's abilities, he quickly went through another set of seals and muttered lowly, "Shinjuu Zanshu no Jutsu" before disappearing into the earth.
"You think you can escape my Jigoku Karyuu no Jutsu, Hatake-san?"
He looked up surprised in the direction of his opponent's voice. Tsurugi shouldn't have known that he used Shinjuu Zanshu no Jutsu; maybe he was bluffing and was referring to the Doryuu Heki no Jutsu, but rumbling vibrated through the earth that surrounded. He turned around and saw the fiery black form of a dragon heading towards him.
"HOLY SHIT!"
"Ne, Gai-sensei, is that possible?"
Gai looked at the very anxious medic-nin. Inwardly, he sighed exasperatedly. This girl had no faith, and neither could recognize Kakashi's abilities as an experience jounin. What caused this girl to lose faith? Just yesterday, she was full of confidence and determination; he knew from his pupil's overdone explanations of his peers' conditions. Something happened yesterday that caused her to lose something or at least have it locked away.
His eyes boring into hers, he straightforwardly asked, "What's wrong, Sakura?"
Sakura looked at him surprised but then looked away uncertainly. Her eyes kept on shifting left to right and she started fidgeting. Not at all looking at him in the eyes, she also avoided the looks that the Hokage, Neji, and Shikamaru gave her. She murmured under her breath, "I don't know. It's just that… I've been a bit paranoid of everything today, like there's something I should be remembering but I can't, and it's really frustrating."
A slight twitch shifted his attention to the Hokage. One of her neck muscles had twitched inconspicuously, but Gai had been looked in her direction somewhat for answers and had caught the twitch. Shifting his eyes between a seemingly passive Hokage and an anxious Sakura, he concluded that whatever happened to Sakura the Hokage knew.
Putting on a reassuring smile, he soothed the distraught girl. "It's Kakashi. He'll get through this spar, just like how anyone of us would. Besides, one of the stipulations of the spar was nothing detrimental to the other's health. Tsurugi would do nothing to incur the wrath of Tsunade-sama."
The girl nodded, and it seemed that talking about her problem and his reassurance was enough for her to regain her calm.
Shikamaru leaned forward to look at Gai, and complained, "You still haven't answered the question, Gai-sensei."
"It is possible to control the movement and direction of the jutsu through chakra control alone, but the sheer precision is phenomenal. The chakra control is comparable to the chakra control of a medic-nin."
The three lower ranked shinobi (Neji, Shikamaru, and Sakura) nodded in comprehension.
He moved through the earth hurriedly, desperately trying to avoid the incoming Jigoku Karyuu no Jutsu chasing him. Reaching the spot underground where he was directly under Tsurugi, he quickly reached up to grasp his opponents ankles.
Only to grasp nothing but air.
Quickly, he sprang out of the earth to avoid the approaching fire jutsu and sprang away from the hole he made to see the black fire dragon shoot towards the sky roaring raucously before fizzling out into nothing.
Scanning his surroundings, he spread his senses to cover the entire sparring area to pinpoint Tsurugi's location. Apparently, while he was underground, the boy took the liberty to leave a chakra marker before concealing his own chakra signature and disappearing from sight. He glanced quickly towards the audience, who gave nothing away from the looks on their faces.
Kakashi slowly forced his muscles to relax after being so tense since the spar began. His muscles were starting to ache from the earlier brief taijutsu spar.
"Hatake-san."
Spinning around, he attacked on instincts alone and quicker than he or anyone could see kicking whatever he could hit first. Tsurugi blocked the kick in time to block another kick. The boy could only block the barrage of new kicks and punches that the desperate jounin sent his way, but soon slid his foot against Kakashi's foothold then pushed out, knocking Kakashi off-balance.
Kakashi anticipating the footsweep allowed the boy complete the maneuver before twisting as he fell back to counter Tsurugi with a drop sweep. The boy had enough sense to permit the execution of the move before he flipped away as he fell, the distance between the two enough to give them time to recuperate from the stress of the high-pace sparring.
Tsurugi once again settled into the beginning stance of the Buddha no Zen'in while Kakashi fell into a complementary stance to fend off the Buddha no Zen'in.
He analyzed what he learned of the style from what the boy had chosen to show. The style required exposure to eight regions of the body, and only permitted exposure to those eight regions else anything else would be hit, so that meant that he had only to maneuver himself around the strikes to avoid anything too damaging or anything too painful. For the best result, any hits from the palms had to returned directly with an open hand and with the same amount of force, to neutralize the attack completely. The style also involved a great deal of legwork and footwork that allowed the user to close in on one of the eight regions of the target's body. So whenever the boy stepped towards him in a long stride with the right leg, he had to take a longer stride back to avoid the kick from the left leg, and vice versa; whenever the boy took a short stride back to prepare for the longer stride, it would be the opportune moment to strike back.
The motions for the counter would be difficult to perform, but with enough focus and a little bit of luck, he could pull it off and force a surrender out of Tsurugi.
Neji commented, "It seems Kakashi-sensei has figured the mechanics of the Buddha no Zen'in."
Gai gave his student a quick glance, and noted that Neji still hadn't caught onto the full ramifications of Tsurugi's style. But then he couldn't really blame the boy. One had to actually see the Buddha no Zen'in in actual combat, not in an evaluation spar, to know the true danger and the true might of the superficially simple taijutsu style.
Finally, he decided to tell the younger members of the audience what the others didn't want to say. "Tsurugi is holding back."
The two chuunin and one rookie jounin looked at him before Sakura asked, "What do you mean?"
"It's not perceptible for those that don't have much experience on the field," Gai said before explaining some more. "You three may think that you have enough experience on the field, but in actuality you don't otherwise you wouldn't have said anything."
The three at last noticed that they and Gai were the only ones talking throughout the spar, save for Hyuuga Hiashi's identification of the taijutsu style. The others of the audience gave the three younger shinobi a quick glance before dedicating their attention to Kakashi's renewed fervor.
Not meaning to upset the three, Gai didn't say any more but still kept a concerned eye watching over them.
Kakashi knew from the very beginning that the boy was holding back; that was the reason why he hadn't revealed his Sharingan. He would have insulted himself if he did so and not recognized that the boy wasn't giving his all into this spar. Despite the spar being an evaluation of Tsurugi's abilities, he couldn't fault Tsurugi for not wanting to reveal all his secrets in front of a group that he might not trust with his full being.
The boy was also limiting himself to using one kata of the full Buddha no Zen'in style, and that should have insulted him. But honestly, he couldn't really bring himself to care.
"Are you ready, Hatake-san, or do you need more time to prepare?"
Passively, he looked at Tsurugi's smiling visage and was suddenly overcome with a nostalgic feeling. Shaking off the feeling, he narrowed his eyes on Tsurugi's hands as each performed one-handed seals. Still smiling, Tsurugi uttered for everyone to hear, "Kanashibari no Jutsu."
Mentally, Kakashi prepared himself for the onslaught of body paralysis and tensed his muscles for it as well, but nothing came. His eyes were on the boy the entire time, and Tsurugi hadn't moved a single muscle but then why… why was Tsurugi getting closer and closer to him?
Spreading out his senses, he hurriedly noted that the shinobi hadn't used any chakra on him, but used the jutsu as a ruse to throw him off track. The boy was currently channeling chakra to his feet and manipulated his chakra to slowly yet quickly slide towards him, to take advantage of whatever surprise that the ruse had caused.
He allowed Tsurugi to close in and avoided all the open-hand strikes to the body; fully aware of the level of power the boy was holding back for some unknown reason. He made no move to attack or to do anything else other than dodge the blurs that were supposed to be arms and hands.
'It's about time that the spar draw to a close. Kakashi knows it, so does Tsurugi, but why won't Tsunade-sama call the match?'
Inuzuka Tsume leaned over to Gai slightly and whispered, "There's something with the boy's smell."
Discreetly, he quickly looked at Tsume, indicating that he had heard, and quietly said in return. "Do you now know why Kuromaru wanted to stay away?"
The dog jounin only replied with the smallest shake of her head.
'From the look in his eyes, he is going to force Tsunade-sama's hand and end the spar. Ma, it was fun while it lasted.'
So as Kakashi kept dodging every one of Tsurugi's quick spear strikes, shuffling backwards as he only moved only his head and shoulders to avoid the attacks. Both of them knew that the match was drawing to a close, and there was something that Tsunade wanted Tsurugi to do before the end of match. Apparently, Tsurugi was doing just that.
Maneuvered into the center of the sparring area, he stood there with his hands in his pockets and waited for Tsurugi's next move.
Using both hands this time, the dark-haired bishounen went through the motions of the jutsu for all to see, regardless that shinobi usually wouldn't want anyone not from their village knowing the seals to a jutsu. "Juuni Chuushin Kekai no Jutsu."
Surrounding Kakashi were twelve glowing kanji characters, and to his perception, he read 'horse' and 'serpent'. Mentally, he sighed and relented to his fate. If two of the twelve characters were horse and serpent, then the others would have to be the other members of the zodiac. Even though he had never heard of the jutsu, he could only conclude that it was a barrier of some kind using twelve markers as anchors.
Lines of blue glowing chakra shot up from each of the twelve points, and sheers of blue chakra connected each point, creating a barrier around him. As suddenly as it began, the endpoints started to bend towards a point above Kakashi's head and the thicker lines of chakra bent towards that point, forming a hemisphere around Kakashi.
Nodding mentally at the impressive display of a seemingly effective chakra barrier, Kakashi lifted a foot to move away from the center of the barrier but found that he couldn't move a single part of his body.
In his line of sight, he saw Tsurugi approaching him and reach the barrier before stepping through the barrier. As he stepped through the barrier, he was wrapped with the same blue sheer that made the barrier, and the sheer merely reformed despite the decrease in its material. He walked up to Kakashi and raised a hand.
Resigned to his fate, the last thing that Kakashi felt was the sharp sting of a knife hand strike to his neck before his whole world fell into darkness.
Tsunade wasn't at all surprised when Naruto caught Kakashi after the boy use a hand strike to the jounin's neck to force unconsciousness. No, she wasn't surprised by his behavior at all. She saw the handseals that the boy made as Kakashi was making his way to a chakra marker that he had made before walking away; the boy had stopped twelve times before disappearing from everyone's sight.
Everyone was confused when they saw Naruto do this, and none of them could figure an answer to this, but once the final act of the spar was made, they finally understood.
Naruto did a good job for the most part. He did make the mistake of not expecting a barrage of strikes and kicks from Kakashi after almost thoroughly surprising the jounin; the boy should have taken advantage of his invisibility to perform maybe a genjutsu… wait, cross that out, Naruto was horrible and absolutely dismal at genjutsu.
Even after Jiraiya had explained the mechanics of the Henge that Naruto imposed on himself, she still would not admit that the jutus he was currently using was a genjutsu.
When Naruto caught Kakashi, he looked expectantly towards her and she complied with his unspoken request. "Winner: Tsurugi Tenkou." For a moment, she was about to say 'Uzumaki Naruto', but immediately changed her words to fit the situation.
Throwing Kakashi's arm over his shoulder and shifting the jounin's weight, Naruto used the other hand to form a one-hand seal before the barrier shattered and the chakra shards dissipated into thin air. He then dragged Kakashi away from the area and moved towards the audience.
She gave her apprentice the go ahead, and Sakura jumped up and scurried over to Kakashi and Naruto, who laid his sensei straight on the hard wood floor. Sakura's hands glowed the usual green chakra before scanning Kakashi's body for any serious damage. She looked up at the rest of them and reported, "Nothing major, and no open wounds. There's going to be a lot of bruising, but nothing that is detrimental to Kakashi-sensei's health."
Eyeing Naruto, who smiled and shrugged, Tsunade ordered, "Heal what you can, then we'll wait for Kakashi to wake up."
"Hai."
Neji avidly watched the newcomer, and continually racked his brain for the person this newcomer reminded of. It was odd; ever since the boy had walked out of the waiting room, he was overcome with a sense of déjà vu and felt that he should know this boy. There was nothing recognizable about Tsurugi, but couldn't help but think that this wasn't his real appearance. But when he used the Byakugan, his eyes were blocked and he could see nothing but just the person. There was a block to the Byakugan's abilities, showing nothing but the features that everyone could see, and instantly he knew that this shinobi wasn't who he said he was.
From beside him, Shikamaru got up and headed over to Tsurugi. Neji briefly wondered what the genius had in mind before standing up and following.
The genius announced, "You're troublesome, you know that?"
Tsurugi turned to them and smiled brilliantly. "Domo arigatou."
"Tsurugi-kun, you have shown an impressive array of abilities."
Both Neji and Shikamaru spun around to face Hyuuga Hiashi approaching them. Hiashi had a passive expression on his face, not revealing any of his inner emotions; his hands clasped inside the sleeves of his traditional Hyuuga kimono, he gave the most imperceptible nod to Tsurugi.
The black-haired bishounen, in turn, return the same nod to Hiashi and following Hiashi's example, clasped his hands inside his sleeves of his kimono. With the same smile on his face, he replied, "Domo arigatou, Hyuuga-san."
Neji cocked an eyebrow as Shikamaru did, and they looked at each other in question. It wasn't usual for Hiashi to be referred with just the –san suffix; Hiashi was on the Council and all shinobi usually used the suffix –sama. There was only one exception to that rule, but it couldn't possibly apply to Tsurugi Tenkou… could it?
"I hope that you will think well of me in your evaluation, Hyuuga-san."
"Ne, Tsurugi-kun," Sakura apparently finished healing Kakashi and stood up, listening in on their conversation. "I was wondering why you were named Tenkou."
The two younger males blinked in surprise. They hadn't even thought of asking about the other male's name; why would it hold any significance? Sakura probably still hadn't figured out that Tsurugi Tenkou was a fake name for this shinobi, and they for a moment questioned whether she would. Besides the obvious block of the Byakugan's abilities, no one would have been able to figure out that the entire thing was just a façade.
"It's a fake name, Haruno-san."
That was unexpected. They had expected Tsurugi to at least make some excuse, but then for whatever reason would parents name their male child 'queen of heaven'?
Tsurugi went on and explained, "It's to ensure my safety, and though I'm sorry about the deception, it is necessary for my protection and for the safety of the village. So I kindly ask that you do not ask for my real name; afterall, ask no questions and I will tell no lies."
Hiashi cleared his throat very subtly, drawing their attention to him, and gestured in the direction of the Hokage. "Tsurugi-san, let us see what Tsunade-sama requires of us."
The bishounen nodded and followed Hiashi over to where Tsunade stood with the other evaluators waiting for them.
Moving away from the older members of the evaluating audience, Shikamaru drew the other two away and observed the happenings while asking Neji, "Don't you think it strange?"
He could only nod in agreement.
"What?"
"Tsurugi added the –san suffix to Hiashi-sama's name," answered Neji, who furrowed his eyebrows in confusion and deep thought. "No one does that; only Council members are allowed that privilege."
Sakura immediately connected the dots and gave a small gasp, "Then you're saying, Tsurugi-kun is a Council member?"
Both males nodded.
"It's odd though," added Shikamaru, "there aren't any open seats on the Council. The only open seat is for Uchiha, and we all know that there's no possible way for Tsurugi to be a part of that clan."
Hands clenching at her side, Sakura asked, "Then which clan?"
They shrugged. They had honestly no idea which clan Tsurugi hailed from, and there was only one open seat on the Council; there wasn't any possible way that Tsurugi was a Council member.
Neji explained, "I've studied the Council dealings for years, and I've come across some really official meetings where it seemed that two Council members were missing." He paused, and Sakura and Shikamaru waited for the jounin to continue. "The other seat apparently belongs to a clan that disappeared during the time of the Shodaime's reign."
Shikamaru frowned, "That clan? Not possible, and besides Tsunade-sama would be the last one of that clan."
"Apparently not," refuted Neji before turning his gaze back to Tsurugi Tenkou.
To be continued…
Author's Notes:
It has been exactly two weeks since I posted Chapter 2 on my LJ (konohanasakuya . livejournal . com) and I'm sorry that I didn't post on my account, but I needed to finish this interlude before I put it up since it's basically the entire Chapter 2. I'm sort of surprised that I actually finished this interlude in two weeks, when the same length for Chapter 2 took me about three months. Maybe it's because it's summer break for me and I don't have much to do, so I have much more time to dedicate to writing.
I said that this entire interlude would be just the fight, but I had to add other things to the interlude to make the plotline flow. I added a lot more hints to the clan than I did in the previous version of Chapter 2, so maybe now it's more evident. The only think about that clan that hasn't been revealed is the name of the clan, and I have that prepared to reveal in another chapter.
In this interlude, I really toned down Naruto's abilities. There was no use of Tsuchi Bunshin no Jutsu, or any other Doton-based jutsu like I had in the previous version of Chapter 2. There's only the Jigoku Karyuu no Jutsu (Hell Fire Dragon Technique); the reason why it's black is because it's hell fire, which would be different from the normal red orange fire. The Doton: Doryuu Heki no Jutsu was used in canon; so was Doton: Shinjuu Zanshu no Jutsu. Juuni Chuushin Kekai no Jutsu (Twelve Pivotal Point Barrier Technique) was a made-up jutsu for the purpose of this spar. There was no genjutsu, but plenty of taijutsu. I changed the Kaihoute: Buddha no Odori to Buddha no Zen'in, and completely omitted the use of Kage Hoshi no Odori, because I thought there was absolutely no use for it and I really didn't like the name of the style since it seemed too cliché and too common and too ughh…
Tsurugi means 'sword', and Tenkou means 'queen of heaven'. I originally thought I'd have to name Naruto's disguise as Tenkou Tsurugi instead of Tsurugi Tenkou because usually the first name is 'of' the last name, so it'd be "sword of the queen of heaven", but I decided to forgo that and just put it as Tsurugi Tenkou since I wanted to make a sort of pun with the fact that Naruto's disguise looked so much like a girl that he could be considered the most beautiful and like a queen. Anyway, I don't know if anyone got the pun, but it's there.
For many parts of the story, I'm going to put parts of canon and refer to them as I continue on the plotline. It doesn't really change the plotline, but only add to it. I still have 45 chapters planned for this entire thing, and I have Chapter 8 to redo since I had a back-up copy of that chapter from when I uploaded it. Note, Neji and Temari is a jounin like in canon, even though I didn't say so in Chapter 2, and Shikamaru and Sakura are still chuunin, though I may have said so at some point.
Again, I will try to put the next chapter in two weeks time, but I can't promise since now that there will be a lot of Interludes and Intermissions to save on chapter length. I haven't started on Chapter 3, but I've finished the outline for it and will start to write it this evening. The title of this interlude reflects the title of Chapter 3, and it'll be like this for other interludes.
There are lot of POV changes in this chapter, so if anything is too confusing, I'll try to clear it up in any review responses that I'll put with the author's notes.
This chapter hasn't been beta'd so I'll need some to beta this chapter as well as the rest of the story for me.
Review!