Book 1
Awakening
Chapter 7 - Albatross
A/N: Hah, I'm getting addicted to responding to these reviews. The few (but ample) amount of you that do review this story are certainly an interesting and, in some cases, thought-provoking bunch! To be honest, I'm shocked that Chapter 6 was so well received, as it were. I wrote it half-asleep in an all-nighter; after procrastinating for two days, I said, "Enough is enough!", and got to fervently typing away, forsaking my supposed need for sleep. Granted, I did have several of the scenes pre-prepared from an earlier point in the day, but I did 'drift' through a good portion of it... This, as you probably noticed, resulted in the assortment of typos, tense shifts and overall sloppiness. Needless to say, I won't be doing that again; the result was a whole host of ugliness. Expect your read for today to be of much higher quality! Anyway, though, not much to say overall, so let me get directly to the review-responses.
jascat: Haha, you know Kakashi; he'd totally do something like that. I'm glad the Chapter title pre-release is working so well, the whole 'intrigued and anticipatory' thing is what I was going for; keep the hooked readers on their toes and put something out there to attract the newcomers.
TheMagicManWithThePlan: Damn, man, your pen-name is a mouthful and a half, hah. More importantly, though, I appreciate your loyalty to the story, but, pressure much?
Helekiller2: First, your usage of commas is fine, lol; in that particular review, it was nearly perfect, in fact. The only place where you didn't need one was between 'unknown' and 'person'. Next, I agree, it was disappointing. However, it had to be said. Finally, I fully intend to carry this story 'til the end, whether or not it becomes a 'legend' as someone had put it. I'm glad that at least one person is determined to be along for the full ride. Have a little bit of faith though, the story isn't going to suddenly plummet from what you now view as 'great', or better, to something not worth reading!
Codaram: Guess I'll address the business-y stuff first. The use of the gerunds, I admit, will be something that I will have to take my time whittling down to a fine medium; I don't really pay attention to the mantra-like effect that I may begin to evoke after a while, or better, I don't even notice it. To add to that, it was probably worse, or if anything, more pronounced in this chapter because of the state-of-being I was in when I wrote it. However, I primarily attribute the continued use of them to style, because I've noticed that you, among many others, never use them! By the way, totally not related to my response, and since we're on the topic of gerunds and their implied clauses; this made me laugh: .upenn. edu/~myl/languagelog/archives/004355. html
Next! Looking back, I do cringe a bit at my promiscuous use of ellipses. I understand what you're saying perfectly, not to say that I wasn't aware of how to best apply ellipses before, but, prior to being 'shocked' into awareness, it was simply something I'd just done without giving the action a second thought. It won't happen again.
Following that... would be the stutter. I sort of (foolishly) found myself to not be committing the 'dial-back' that I'd intended. Although, a lot of the situations Hinata was placed in, in Chapter 6 would warrant the stutter, it was still a bit over-powering in some scenes, sorry. Haha! Now, to comment on the little thing you noticed with Sasuke... The only thing I'll say here is, for the sake of keeping you on edge, shiver on! *Evil laugh*
From now on, the responses won't be in all bold. It's starting to hurt my eyes.
Now that all of that has been addressed, please enjoy Chapter 7.
Everything was white. At least, that was the way it appeared to him. There was no beginning or end to the hazy expanse; there was no left, nor right; there was no up, nor down; there was no near, nor far: there was only the barely visible path that he walked along.
There was no sound in this place—what was this place? He certainly could feel the weight of his body, falling in time with his even, continuous steps; and, were he to look down, he could certainly make out, albeit barely, the rounded, rectangular shapes that were his sandals... were they his sandals? What he could not sense, though, was the sound associated with the action he could, by all means, reasonably assume he was performing. There was no sound in this place.
His mind still lingered on the question of where he was, though he knew it to be a vain effort, he still wondered; after all, what else was there to do? What he thought to be his body still marched on, left, right, left, right; it walked, stepping with one foot at a time, with each step unnaturally identical to its predecessor. The foot would rise, and the foot would fall. It started with the heel of the foot, each time, gradually rolling forward until it lay flat against the sidewalk. He reasoned, now, that it was meaningless to dwell on this.
As he continued, he began to realize that there was more to this place than he'd initially understood. He registered color; a tree stood to his right, quivering with the gentle breeze. He registered movement; a squirrel ran across the ground—soundless—in apparent search of a stray nut... More importantly, though, he registered a hand, fingers intertwined with what he was slowly coming to accept as his own. It was a soft hand, a smooth hand. It was a hand that he could get used to feeling. It was also, a familiar hand.
They still walked on, he was certain at this point, it was they. He was beginning to enjoy this silence. Characteristically it did not suit him, but, he was beginning to enjoy it nonetheless. He knew it wasn't him; but, he also knew that it was something he could get used to. He did like this.
Just as he was becoming submerged in the pleasant ambiance of the walk, he felt the familiar, soft hand tug at his, leading him in a new direction. The shift was inconsequential, he was enjoying himself. What a nice calm. Despite not being able to see through the mist coating his surroundings, he could still inhale the bright energy; he breathed it in through every pore, welcoming the immersion.
He felt the body turn to face the person at his left, he was now explicitly aware that he had no control over the body. Upon turning, he was met with a familiar sight... but... it was hazy. Looking through the eyes of this body, his consciousness just beneath the surface, he recognized that this person had to be someone... someone. Wait. They were now holding his other hand, with as dainty a grasp as ever. They were talking...—he was talking. What was being said, though? For the first time since arriving, he resented the lack of sound.
He felt himself leaning forward, moving forward. Now, he had a clearer view of the person before him... it was a girl, it was... Hinata? His subconscious came zooming to the forefront, he was aware now. 'Hinata? Wh-What... what's going on?' Still, he was unable to speak.
She was moving forward as well, eager to meet his piqued lips. He attempted to will his arms to move, to stop, to communicate; they remained unresponsive, however. He wanted to retreat, to snap Hinata out of it, to snap himself out of it. The closer he found himself to her, though, the less he wanted to resist. Maybe... maybe it was okay... He let his eyes close. His lips brushed against hers in a chaste embrace, both complying to the faint pressure being exerted on each person's behalf.
As he was beginning to enjoy the new sensation, he felt a gentle pull at his shoulder. He ignored it; he did not want to stop, and apparently, neither did she; they were both happy. The pull came again, more aggressive. He shrugged it off again. 'I don't want this to end...'
Bringing his hand up, he brought it to rest on her shoulder, attempting to further the voiceless communication.
When the pull returned, it returned with malice. Retching him away from the simple embrace, he felt a multitude of hands grabbing him—forcefully—dragging him away, gripping his ribs, arms; the hands gripped anything they could reach. 'No!' Harder, came the pull. 'No! Please!' Harder still, came the pull. He could not hold on anymore, he snapped his eyes open, looking to Hinata for some sort of aid. What he found, however, was something that stabbed at his heart, and pulled at his body, harder than he perceived any physical force to be capable of. He'd drifted away, far away, and from where he was, he could only barely make out Hinata... A shadowy silouhette of a man approached her, reaching down to take her hand; though she had appeared distressed, sullen even, her mood brightened at the new figure. They could not see him anymore, as he was still rapidly being dragged away, but he could see them. Through the haze, he could see them. 'NO!'
'Hinata!'
'Let me go!' He struggled against the hands restraining him, only serving to make them intensify their unbreakable hold. They pulled faster, harder.
'LET ME GO! NO!' They pulled harder. Hinata and the mysterious shadow were merely dots in his vision now.
'NO!'
Without warning, he was swallowed by a consuming blackness.
Silence.
Naruto awoke with a violent start, nearly catapulting himself out of his small bed. His breathing was heavy and his entire body was shaking. He had a steady stream of sweat rolling off of his now uncovered body; he clearly recalled, at the back of his mind, having fully dressed himself before retiring the night before.
With a shaky wheeze of a breath, Naruto brought the hand that wasn't supporting his trembling form to his head, to grip it. "Wh-What the hell... was that."
"I..." He shook his head, there was no point in it now—he needed to replenish the water he was loosing. After all, he still needed to be ready for his first day.
He rolled to the right, falling off of his bed, and caught himself in an uneven stumble. Looking to the stand by his bed, he caught sight of his Hitai-ate; in the moonlit reflection, dull blue eyes stared back at him, mocking him—they were not his eyes. With an annoyed scoff, he turned and carelessly dropped his hand to the stand, feeling around until he reached the cold metal of the headband. He tightened his grip around the object and weakly moved himself out of the bedroom, not wanting to look back at the bed that, through the night, had become drenched with sweat.
It was clear what he wanted: To finally escape the haunting mind-scape of that dream.
It had happened again, and it was not something that Hinata enjoyed. As she walked down the apathetic hallways of the Hyūga Compound, Hinata lamented. It was not like her to sulk, but this was a special case... this was something that demanded emotional reaction! Hinata, had, had another dream about Naruto.
Contrary to what one would assume, Hinata did not enjoy these dreams. Sure, she did indulge in them and graciously partake in their splendor whilst trapped within them; but, after the fact, she was not happy in the least. They were lies.
At one point in her life, Hinata had welcomed the beginnings and ends of these dreams. While they did always build her hopes up, that was all they really were at the time: abstract hopes. Now, though, Hinata knew just how great it was to be with Naruto... even as a mere friend—best friend, mind you; but this was not enough, her feelings for Naruto grew every day and she did not appreciate the constant reminder, courtesy of her own subconscious, that Naruto was not interested in her.
Of course, she was happy to be with Naruto in any way that she could, and she knew that she should actually be thankful for these dreams. But alas, it was difficult; the dreams depicted a world so bright and wonderful, while in actuality, she lived in a world that was unfortunately contrasted in so many ways. In these dreams, she had pleasant relations with the entirety of her family, her mother was still around, her life as a ninja went smoothly, and Naruto returned her affection with every fiber of his being... This was not the reality that she woke up to, though.
'I have to be happy with what I have... and try my best. It's what Naruto-kun would do... It's what Mother would do.' She nodded to herself, assuredly. This was the resolve that she instilled within herself daily. 'Besides, today is my first day as a ninja! I c-can't let my team down. Especially Naruto-kun.'
Hinata had finally reached her destination. Hesitantly reaching out, she took a breath to calm herself before placing her hand against the metal siding of the shoji screen and sliding aside.
The first thing that caught Hinata's eye when she entered the tatami-floored room was her father, Hyūga Hiashi, sitting stoically cross-legged at the low table. His eyes were purposefully held closed as he rigidly sipped his tea from a ceramic cup. She was hoping not to be noticed, just this once.
Her hopes failed her, though. "Hinata."
She turned to face him, albeit meekly, with her eyes studying the floor. "G-Good morning... Otō-sama."
"Why are you up so early?" he inquired forcefully. "You do not have training, " he paused for a moment, before adding with spite, "you are not worthy of it."
With her head still held in a bow, she replied, "I... I k-know, Otō-sama. I was j-ju—"
Before she could finish her explanation, he interjected, "Never mind. It is of no consequence. Since you are awake, go tend to your sister; we'll require assistance during her training for this morning." Still refusing to open his eyes and risk seeing her, he waved his hand dismissively. "Go."
"No..." Hinata started, only to be curtly interrupted.
Hiashi slammed his cup, in an oddly graceful motion, against the table. "What!?"
"I-I have responsibilities to my t-team, Otō-sama," Hinata finished in a quick breath.
It started as a light chuckle, a mocking chuckle. It evolved into a heartless choke of a laugh. With a disgusted leer, Hiashi opened his eyes to look upon the annoyance before him, searching for any sign of a lie. He found, however, only the tell-tale gleam of the headband that Hinata had wreathed around her neck. "I am genuinely surprised that you've become a Genin."
Hinata remained silent, still observing the ground. This was definitely not the reality of her dreams; the one that, at the moment, she desperately longed for.
"You will represent the Hyūga properly. Am I understood?" Hiashi said.
"Y-Yes, Otō-sama," she replied, deepening the bow.
"... Do not become a burden to your team, Hinata," he stated, burning holes in her with his hollow eyes. "As you have become to me."
She gulped, forcing back the lump in her throat as she fought against the burning ache that seemed to insistently push against the backs of her eyes; she could not show weakness, not now. "Y-Yes."
The twilight of the morning bathed Training Ground 7 in a diffused light, providing just enough to alert the conscientious creatures of the forest that daybreak was upon them. The world was slowly and groggily waking up, but for some people, the day had already begun. And as for one person in particular, they were ahead of the curve, grudgingly waiting for the world to catch up.
Sasuke had been awake for several hours now, as he'd found himself unable to sleep. He stared at the grass directly below himself, saying nothing and thinking nothing. He simply waited.
Emerging from the forest, an exhausted Naruto trudged through the field, towards its center. No one had told him so, but he knew that the training posts would be the most logical spot to meet at—they had to be. Even with his Hitai-ate securely fastened around his head, his favorite orange jumpsuit on, and his kunai-holster neatly bound to his thigh, it was still overtly clear that he lacked his usual vivacity; there was no sound in his eyes or kick in his step; he merely walked.
As he continued his slow approach, he lifted his head, hoping to find himself to be the first to arrive. Disappointedly, he noticed Sasuke, quietly leaning against the far-left post. 'Great,' he thought with a mental groan, 'just what I need right now...'
With a sigh, he dragged himself the rest of the way to the posts, keeping his eye on Sasuke as he went. Sasuke seemingly didn't pay him any mind, though, as he merely held his gaze on the ground, silent. Naruto, upon reaching the post opposite Sasuke, turned and promptly fell against it, letting himself slide down into a lazy seated position. Right as Naruto sat, however, Sasuke let out the simplest of remarks: "Hn."
"What!" exclaimed Naruto, a little louder than he'd intended.
Sasuke now turned to him, regarding him with a plain smirk. "Nothing. I'm just surprised that you showed up."
"Why wouldn't I?! I'm on this team, just the same as you!" Naruto retorted.
"I don't know. Maybe by some miracle, you'd realize that you aren't worthy of being on this team," the Uchiha smugly spat back.
"What?! What's your problem, Sasuke!" Naruto sprung to his feet, quickly stepping to meet the Uchiha.
"You," he plainly responded.
"Ahh! I've had it with you, you smug bastard!" Naruto snarled, pressing his face right into Sasuke's. "You and me. Re-match. Let's go!"
Sasuke scoffed. In a swift motion he secured a hand around Naruto's collar, gripping it firmly, and raised him to eye-level. "Fine," he said, sneering at the blond.
Just as Naruto was about to reach his boiling point, a soft call interrupted them both. "Good morning... Naruto-kun, Sasuke-san."
Both young ninja turned to the sound of the voice to discover Hinata, eyeing Sasuke with discontent. "Sasuke-san, what are you doing to Naruto-kun?"
With a self-indulgent grin, Sasuke smoothly replied, "Good morning, Hinata," before unceremoniously tossing Naruto to the side, along with her question. Closing his eyes, pleased with himself, he lowered himself into a cross-legged position to passively continue to wait on their now-late sensei.
Naruto landed flatly on his backside, glaring daggers at the aloof Sasuke. A stroke of worry flashed across Hinata's face. Seeking to diffuse the situation, Hinata approached Naruto and gently rested a hand on his shoulder.
"Naruto-kun, are you alright?"
He only gave a grumble in response, with arms defiantly folded, he resolutely kept his eyes on Sasuke, as if hoping to suddenly develop heat-vision. He waited for a moment, in silence, hoping to win the battle of attrition...
In a moment of weakness, he allowed himself a glance at Hinata, only to find her gentle eyes sending him a look that caressed him in warm concern. He sighed, his front deflated; Hinata always had a way of calming him... just like... no, he couldn't let himself think about that now.
"Yeah... I'm fine, Hinata-chan. Thanks," he spoke genuinely.
Hinata's features smoothed over in a smile, her characteristic blush returning. "N-No problem, Naruto-kun."
As if to offset the calm that had fallen over the trio, an ostentatious plume of smoke burst forth in front of them, drawing all of their attention. Yet, despite their vision being obscured to near non-existence, they all strained to see through the thick cloud, billowing all around them.
'Let's see who they've sent us...'
'Alright, they're finally here!'
'Our Sensei...'
The smoke still wafted and rolled about, taking its sweet time in clearing. And, with each passing second, each of the three ninja bubbled with their own unique brand of anticipation.
'Come on...'
'Come on!'
'Who... who is it?'
Upon the smoke finally clearing, in unusual unison, the looks plastered on their faces took a stark leap into utter shock. Before them stood what appeared to be an aged man, coughing on the aftermath of his own theatrics. The man wore a massively over-sized straw hat, which cast a convenient shadow over the better part of his face. The rest of him was simply wrapped in a raggedy brown cloak, and below that, only simple, standard-grade ninja sandals were visible.
Finished with his coughing, the man looked up, slightly, his head tilted to one side to better conceal the remainder of his face; all that sat visible, was his right eye, which was now creased into an indicator of a pleasant smile. "Yo," came his simple greeting.
Hinata and Naruto both struggled to muster a response, a reply, anything! They were stunned, their mouths agape; was this their sensei?
Before either of them could recover, Sasuke's pride was able to shock him back into reality. "YOU!" he shouted, instantly leaping to his feet, prepared to charge.
The man barely turned his head, catching the irate Uchiha out of the corner of his eye. "Oh, Uchiha-kun. Hello there," he happily offered.
"Uchiha-kun?! Have some respect old man!" Sasuke demanded fervently.
At this point, Naruto and Hinata found themselves merely turning their head between the two. "D-Do you think they know each other, Hinata?" Naruto inquired, eyes still wide.
"I-I'm not su-sure, Naruto-kun..." she replied.
"Of course I respect you, Uchiha-kun. You were just so cute, I've grown something of a soft spot for you... and have come to think of you as my own grandchild."
Naruto couldn't help but break out in a choked explosion of laughter. "Ha! He c-called Sasuke, c-cute!"
Sasuke snapped his head towards the offending cry. "Shut up, Uzumaki!"
His eye still twitching at the unignorable seizures of snickering emanating from Naruto, Sasuke turned back to the man and snarled, "And, I would die before admitting any relation to you!"
"Oh, come now. I thought you would have gotten over that little spat by now," he spoke with a false scolding tone, before turning to face the trio as a group. "I apologize for not introducing myself, my name is Tatane Ishika..."
Summoning her courage, Hinata spoke up, "T-Tatane-san, you're our sensei, right?"
He raised his sole visible eyebrow in question. "Sensei? Oh, no no no, you have the wrong idea, child. I'm simply passing by, and greeting you fine folks. I'm a drifter... or, as the kids call it nowadays, a 'Nuke-nin'," he spoke, bending his fingers to form pseudo-quotation marks as he spoke the term.
With a thoughtful sigh, he continued, "I've been watching you three for some time now, you're quite the interesting bunch. Not once, in my travels, have I see children so unique," turning to face Sasuke exclusively, he added, "I apologize for not being more forthcoming with you, Uchiha-kun."
Sasuke intensified his perpetual glare. "You should have stuck around the first time, we didn't get to complete our spar."
Ignoring Sasuke, Ishika returned his gaze to the group. "Now, you children don't plan to tell on me do you? There were a couple of errands that I'd hoped to take care of before being on my way."
Naruto met Ishika's gaze with a questioningly blank stare. "Errands? Like what?"
Ishika shrugged. "Oh... nothing too important. Just a couple of routine little chores: picking up some supplies, meeting with a contact or two, assassinating your Hokage..." He rolled his hand at the wrist in a 'this and that' gesture.
Naruto's eyes widened, his mouth falling in disbelief. "WHAT?!"
Hinata let out a gasp of horrified shock, bringing her hand before herself in a fear that only increased at the calmness of the man standing before her.
Naruto refused to give up; grabbing the side of the training post, he hoisted himself into a standing position to better his position against the potential opposition. "Heh," Naruto started, "our real sensei will be here soon. We won't let you do that!"
With a heavy breath, Hinata steeled herself and rose next to Naruto, settling into a hesitant fighting stance. She nodded in agreement with Naruto's statement. "As n-ninja of Konoha, we can not let you do that!"
Ishika's visible eye closed. "Oh," he started, before recapturing them in his sight with a gaze of steel. "In that case, I'll just have to eradicate you three," he commented with a suddenly grave voice. Raising his hand, palm open, in a gesture of reason, he added, "You understand, right?"
"Besides," he continued, "you three don't actually believe you can stop me, do you? You're not a real team. You're a disorderly, inexperienced and untrained group of brats." Ishika offered them a hard stare, his demeanor had shifted drastically in a manor of seconds.
Her fear aside, Hinata noticed something unusual in the way the man spoke. Despite not having any genuine experience in this type of situation, she couldn't shake the feeling that Ishika's actions seemed to be... contrived. She couldn't place her finger on it, however, and she didn't have time to either, before Sasuke quickly snatched the bait, as if his life depended on it.
Sasuke activated his Sharingan, clenching his face in anger. "Good," he spoke, menacingly, "now I don't have to hold back!" Turning his head over his shoulder as he charged, in the slightest of gestures, Sasuke tossed back at his still stationary teammates, "Stay out of my way, he's mine!"
Sasuke flew at Ishika, unleashing a controlled burst of constantly varying jabs. Ishika, however, was unfazed by Sasuke's display, as he simply stepped back every now and then to avoid having his toes stepped on while he idly deflected Sasuke's fists with his left hand. Shifting his body to the right in an effort to face Naruto and Hinata properly, he commented, "In the interest of sport, I'll give you guys a little head start."
Naruto frantically turned to Hinata, pointing towards the nearby forest as he urged her, "Come on, Hinata! We've gotta get out of here!" Without waiting for a reply, Naruto began to run. "Come on!"
"Naruto-kun!" she called after him. Hinata was torn between keeping the team together in the face of imminent danger, or being decidedly logical and following Naruto.
Hinata turned to face Sasuke, as she hoped to discover him to be heeding Ishika's advice. Unfortunately, this was not the case, Sasuke was still fighting... a Genjutsu? Hinata blinked twice, making sure that she was still seeing clearly; to her dismay, she was: Where was Ishika? In a rushed panic, she spun her head back in the direction Naruto had ran in, twisting herself every which way in hopes of discovering she was not alone. Despite finding nothing, however, she refused to accept that she was simply alone; with a hushed whisper, she activated her Kekkei Genkai and began her search.
Hinata looked high and low, letting her Kekkei Genkai act as a panoramic periscope. She scouted out the entirety of her surroundings, even going so far as to extend her vision to its bare limits, stretching it into the forest. The forest held the usual, small, insignificant chakra signatures of its native inhabitants; she heard leaves crunch, twigs snap, rocks turn and birds eerily chirp, but there was no sign of human life. Her eyes widened. In her haste, Hinata had not even realized that she had become truly alone, Sasuke had simply disappeared; she could not very well observe her own chakra network, were her vision to be distorted by a Genjutsu, so, she had to assume the worst. She readied herself, tensing her arms into a rigid fighting stance.
"W-Where are you," she inquired in a whisper, still scanning the surrounding area. Nothing.
Just as she was beginning to feel confident, she felt a chill behind her—there was no wind, however. There was no way she'd actually have missed it if someone were behind her—she could still see behind her! Her fears were realized however, as she felt the warm dusting of a breath run over hear ear. In a daunting whisper, the originator of the breath answered her question, "Behind you."
Spinning around on her supporting foot, she nearly fell backwards as she came face to face with Ishika. Startled fear consumed her as she forced herself to move. 'Move... Move!' She sprung back with her remaining foot, averting the fall as she began to back-pedal, she brought her hands before her to fend off her potential attacker. Ishika stalked towards her at a measured pace—he wasn't in any hurry. Hinata knew that she was in trouble, the man before her, unlike herself, was not an amateur; he had years of experience on him, years of killing. It was now or never, she had to somehow delay him enough for her to gain the upperhand.
Hinata charged at the slowly moving Ishika, arm cocked back near her face, she held a chakra laced palm up, poised to strike. Reaching Ishika, she used her prepared strike to feint before swiveling and bringing two fingers up in a back-handed strike at the tenketsu on Ishika's elbow, seeking to disable it. The strike connected; she felt the chakra shoot from the points in her fingers, in a needle, into Ishika's system. She saw it. Ishika, however, remained unfazed, as he observed her still in the remnant stance, eyeing him in disbelief. "That's it?" he wondered. Seeing her stare continue, he merely shook his head. "Tsk, that's disappointing, Hyūga-san," he spoke. In rapid change in posture, he lifted his 'injured' arm and grabbed her shoulder. He ducked below, in a crouch and swept her legs from under her, before tightening his grip on her shoulder and thrusting his arm forward, launching her into a skidding tumble.
Hinata winced in pain. 'Th-That's impossible, how could he not be affected by that,' she denied what she saw as she strained her Byakugan. The proof was evident, however, her move had, had no effect whatsoever on Ishika, and he was still steadily advancing. She had to get away. With the best hardened look of determination she could muster, she braced herself. 'I have to regroup. I have to find Naruto-kun and Sasuke-san...'
Leaping into action, Hinata rolled backwards from her felled position and popped up. Decisively turning, she took off at break-neck speed towards the cover of the forest, not daring to take even the slightest glance back.
Ishika trailed at a bored saunter, not watching anything, or anyone. As he walked, he slowly began to fade into a thick smoke, his features twisted and distorted as all of the colors began to blend into a consistent, earthy hue; he continuously dissipated, not bothering to end his patterned stepping, until his entire form was unravelled, and the remaining whisps faded into the noon air, with a gentle breeze accompanying them...
Naruto was flying through the forest, he leapt to the nearest tree and promptly lifted off once more, sending supplementary chakra to his legs to aid the propulsion. As he reached the next tree, he stopped with a pronounced clack. Naruto let his arms hang at his sides, looking up, he let out a sigh before turning his vision back in the direction he'd come from. "Argh! I can't just leave Hinata-chan..." he chided himself, "and I can't abandon the team! What would they do without me, after all?" he finished with a gentle snicker, that fell into a grim scoff. 'Please be alright...'
Several moments later, Naruto found himself on the edge of the forest. Pausing as he held himself up against a tree, Naruto took a deep breath. 'Here we go!' with that thought, he leapt forward, hurling himself into the grassy plane. Upon clearing his head and taking a cursory survey of the land, searching for Hinata, he was shocked to be met with nothing. "Hinata...! Sasuke...!" he shouted, cupping his hands to his mouth. 'Where are they?' he impatiently wondered.
A wild yell ripped him from his prior focus, however, "ISHIKA!" He quickly spun to see a livid Sasuke running at him in a mad-dash, his hand brought to his mouth in a seal that Naruto recognized all too well... 'Shit!'
"Sasuke! Wait!" Naruto said, haphazardly turning about and leaping away as fast as his lopsided bounds would carry him.
"Katon: Gōkakyū" Sasuke shouted, before launching a steady burst of 3 massive bullets of ignited chakra from his mouth. "Ishika, I'm going to kill you!" he warned, Sharingan ablaze.
Naruto turned in mid-air to face fiery onslaught. Bringing the pointer and middle fingers of each hand together in a uniquely cross-shaped seal, Naruto intoned, "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu", and, out of the resulting cloud of smoke, 4 similarly angled Naruto's popped into existence. "Guys throw me up!"
With an affirmative nod, each clone grabbed their neighbor's ankle, effectively forming a chain as they swung their leader, releasing him at the height of their arc into the air, before being met with the oncoming explosion of fire, which, in turn, dispelled the lot of them.
"Sasuke!" Naruto called from his ascended height, "What the hell are you doing?!"
Sasuke looked up to catch Naruto in his crimson gaze. "Ishika..." he breathed out, stressing each syllable with murderous intent evidently percolating from his every pore.
'Damn,' Naruto sighed, 'he's finally gone crazy...er.' He shook his head to dismiss his slow train of thought. 'Whatever, I need to find Hinata-chan, that Ishika psycho obviously isn't here.'
Naruto fell with a well executed somersault. As he came to a firm landing, his hands touched the ground as bracing for his crouched position, and, with one last look towards the still fuming Sasuke, Naruto turned and ran toward the opposite bordering forest, hoping to have better luck there...
With Naruto's departure, Sasuke fell in a heap to the ground, gasping for air. "What the hell... it... it was like I couldn't even control my own... body," he spoke, lifting one of his supporting hands to eye-level, checking his vision; upon finding that he could only see a blur, he deactivated his Sharingan in a winced blink, "and... I'm almost out of... chakra." He closed his eyes, falling forward on both hands for support, once again, still trying to remaster his breathing. "I still have to find that... bastard, though. And... those two."
He shakily pushed himself to his feet, still sightly disoriented, stumbling. With a final deep breath, he took off in the direction opposite of that in which Naruto had...
In the thick, middle of the forest stood Hinata, still looking around desperately with her strained Byakugan. After nearly three hours of searching, she'd yet to find anyone, even her thought-to-be pursuer... She reached a tree, and leaned against it for support, immediately accepting the rare opportunity to rest, as it came. Out of her magnified periphery, just as she was about to settle, she caught the edge of a sealing-tag from beneath her hand; taking the daring step of peering through the flesh and bone that made up her hand, her eyes widened in alarm at reading the seal's identifying character '毒' (Doku). 'Oh no!' she thought in a hurry. Bringing one hand up to shield her mouth and nose, she took a deep breath before channeling a magnificent surge of chakra through the seal, in an attempt to overload it. 'I've already activated it... please work.'
From somewhere deep in the forest, a massive explosion rattled the trees to their very foundations, resulting in a great out-pouring of multi-colored smoke.
"No!" came a shout. Emanating from somewhere nearby the epicenter...
The sun cast a pale, orange glow over the desolate training field, leaving nothing out of it's warming light. But despite the warmth the receding sunlight offered, the usual chipper atmosphere of the field was replaced with a cold silence indicative of the night. Tonight, was especially cold, though; the tension hung in the air, the mood it set leaving a pungent aroma of dread in its wake—the hunt was still on.
In the forest, three ninja evaded a pursuer that they knew was there, but they refused to believe was near them. The pursuer hadn't shown themself for hours, only appearing in phantom traces or letting their voice carry on the chilling, Janurary wind to further promote this sick game of cat-and-mouse. It was mind-numbing: the worry, the dread, the separation, the hunger... They had gotten used to it. But, everything must come to an end at some point.
Sleeking through the shadows that the trees provided at this time of day, the young Uchiha Sasuke maneuvered his way around several barbs that he'd found conveniently placed in this part of the forest. He darted from cover to cover, still searching. He refused to be the prey in this game; despite his worry, he would be the hunter.
In a more open, empty section of the forest, not far from the Uchiha, a blond haired Ninja flew from tree to tree, trying to avoid the meticulously crafted boobie-traps that lay at every twist and turn of this labyrinth of a forest. He paused, looking up at the sky for guidance. It was clear now, and he could see the stars quite visibly; he wasn't as pleased as one may think, though. "Damn," he whispered to himself, darting his eyes to and fro as he spoke, "I swear I just passed this clearing...' His stomach let out a low rumble that grew in crescendo to his hunger, clouding his thoughts. Bringing a finger up to his mouth, he scolded his digestive system, "Shh!" he hissed, "... Who am I kidding, I'm hungry too." He turned his gaze to the darkening maw of the tree-cover. "I have to keep going though."
In another adjacent quadrant of the enigmatic forest that was the surrounding landscape of Training Ground 7, a pair of lustrous lavender-tinted orbs could be seen peering out from a meager cover of shrubbery, glinting against the sharp sun-rays. Hyūga Hinata was waiting, her Byakugan, since becoming an aching disservice, had since been deactivated. Her plan of action was simple: Locate her team. She knew at this point that escape without Naruto or Sasuke was futile, and something she did not want to do, just as well. Determination set in on her face as she tightened her calf and thigh muscles, preparing to make the grand leap from her current perch to the feeble branch of an unhealthy tree. It was a risk she had to take.
The ninja leapt, making their way to their unknown destinations. Rapidly. Tack. Swiftly. Swoosh. Steadily. Fsh.
They ran. 'Closer. I'm getting closer.'
They ducked, avoiding the occasional unexpected projectile. 'Come on...'
The flew, gliding across disarrayed surfaces. 'There!'
Naruto, Hinata and Sasuke all simultaneously burst from their respective covers, intending to traverse the clearing unseen. This was not what happened.
Rushing into each other at unstoppable speeds, they all let loose chaste blows, expecting the worse. Their fists collided, as they deflected each other's last-ditch defense efforts; all of them ultimately bounced back, forming an odd triangle.
Regaining their wherewithal, they glanced to the left, and to the right. What, or rather, who met their eyes came as a shock to all of them, though.
"Naruto-kun!" Hinata gasped, overjoyed to see her... crush.
Sasuke merely grimaced, they were not who he'd been hoping to find. Although, they weren't a bad second option.
Naruto couldn't respond to Hinata, as he was still doubled over in pain from the blow that Sasuke had dealt him. "Agh, S-Sasuke!" he yelled, "What was that all about?! First you try to burn me alive, then you knee me in the stomach! That was supposed to be a warning shot!"
Sasuke regarded him plainly for a moment, before deciding to spare the Uzumaki a simple answer. With a grin, he admitted, "You were't who I was expecting."
"Then explain the fireballs! You were calling me Ishika and trying to kill me!" Naruto retorted vehemently.
"N-Naruto-kun, Sasuke-san..." Hinata attempted to interject.
"Well, Sasuke?!"
"Hn," muttered the Uchiha, turning away. He was clearly not interested in conversation of all things.
"Argh! There you go again with that grunt, give me a straight answer!"
"Naruto-kun..." Hinata tried once more, raising her voice slightly.
Just barely hearing Hinata, Naruto turned to her, curious. "Yeah, Hinata-chan?"
Before responding, Hinata glanced at Sasuke, requesting his attention, "Sasuke-san, we all need to speak... If we don't o-organize ourselves, we'll never get out of here."
Sasuke opened one eye, not willing to give up more than a fraction of his attention. "What do you suggest, Hinata?"
Naruto now eyed Hinata as well, curious as to what she had in mind.
"I-It's just that I've noticed something... from the very beginning even," she began. Naruto and Sasuke both turned their heads, with more of a determined interest. Looking up, she continued, "h-have you noticed that from the beginning, our foe has made no mention of our sensei?"
"O-Or that the forest seems to be constantly changing..." Hinata spoke, before turning to Naruto, "Naruto-kun, we've trained here before, you recognize it t-too, don't you?"
Naruto wore a knowing look. With a nod he added, "Yeah... I've noticed that something about this entire place seems off. And..." turning to Sasuke, he continued, "you thought I was Ishika, right?"
He shot the blond a glare, but, under the simple, honest gaze he received, he decided that pettiness was pointless at this stage of the game, "Yeah. I did."
Hinata interjected, "And, I-I noticed that, after myself and Naruto-kun were given that warning... everything seemed to fade away."
Naruto slapped a fist against his open palm. "That's it!" he exclaimed, "We somehow... see everything differently from each other! That's gotta be why we haven't been able to find each other for like, hours!"
Sasuke chimed in, in mildly surprised realization, "Then... could it be that we're trapped in a collective Genjutsu?"
Hinata shook her head. "There's no w-way a Genjutsu could be that p-powerful..." she paused, still in disbelief, "c-could there?"
Sasuke's features gravely hardened. "Yes there is." Lifting his head, he revealed his immature Sharingan; regardless of it's stature, it communicated the point effectively.
"Doesn't matter!" Naruto exclaimed, flashing Hinata and Sasuke a confident, toothy grin. "We'll get out of here, and get that guy. We just have to stay together."
Hinata smiled. "O-Of course, Naruto-kun." turning to Sasuke, she continued, "Sasuke-san?"
Sasuke stared at them both, contemplating his options; he knew though, he knew what his decision was before he'd even been asked to reveal it. Sighing, he conceded, concealing his hands within his pockets, "Fine."
"Alright!" Naruto cheered. He stuck his hand out, expecting the others to place theirs atop his. "Let's go, Team Naruto!"
Sasuke pierced him with a steady stare, while Hinata, in not-so-distant contrast, eyed him with a look that screamed 'please be reasonable...'
Grumbling, Naruto digressed. "Fine, fine, Team 7," he muttered, with an exaggerated pout.
Hinata let out a mellifluous giggle before placing her hand atop Naruto's. Sasuke—albeit grudgingly—stepped forward and placed his hand atop the small pile, in suit.
Click. The sound rang out in the backs of each of their minds, bouncing around their thoughts with a hollow resonance.
Their vision faded to blackness.
The first sight that greeted their eyes upon their awakening was surely an odd one... Before the three ninja: Naruto, Hinata and Sasuke, stood a tall scarecrow-esque figure with a lopsided spur of gravity defying silver hair, wearing a crooked Konoha Hitai-ate and a Jōnin flak-jacket. The man had only one eye visible, and that eye was glued to what could only be assumed to be the pages of a... colorful reading selection.
He noticed their awakening.
"Yo," he greeted, raising the one hand that had been occupied with cuffing the seam of his pocket, in a sloppy salute.
The young ninja, who'd just started to become aware of their surroundings, had since repurposed themselves to divining just who this person was.
Sasuke, though, was a bit quicker to recover. Jumping up all at once, from his slouched-seat against the (familiar) training post, the Uchiha demanded, "Where is he?!"
"Hm? Who?" The man inquired, feigning genuine curiosity.
Sasuke was not having any flak, not now. "You know who! You must have seen him, he knocked us out. Did you bring us here?!" he asked in a fervent whirlwind.
Letting his vision pan over the bunch before him, the man paused a moment before speaking, "My name, is Hatake Kakashi," he introduced himself, "I am your Jōnin instructor."
Hinata had finally regained the capacity to speak. "K-Kakashi-sensei," she began, "what exactly happened? There was a man attacking us, we were fleeing and attempting to evade him for hours..."
"Ooh? As you can see though, none of that really happened," Kakashi responded, simply, raising his eyebrow. Looking around to illustrate his point, he continued, "as you can see, it's still daylight. Around nine in the morning, in fact." He creased his brow, redefining his features; he was eager to see how she would respond.
It was then, that it clicked in her mind. "Kakashi-sensei..." Hinata started, "your voice... it's the same as the man that was chasing us."
'Impressive,' he thought, looking towards the other two for confirmation, 'and it seems as though they're realizing it too. I was right about them.' Kakashi snapped his book shut, disrupting the silence, before he slunk it back within his vest. With one, gloved hand, he balled his fist at the proper location along his mask and cleared his throat.
Finally, with a deep inhale... he let out a dramatic, side-splitting laugh. "Ah! You've got it, Hinata," he rejoiced. "Indeed," he began again, "the majority of what you experienced today was in fact not real... it was the result of a dormant Genjutsu trigger that I placed within all of you at the beginning of our day together."
"H-How d-di—," Naruto sputtered, not able to comprehend how the man before him was able to do something so... amazing.
"It was simple, Naruto," he responded, raising one finger above himself in a lecturing posture. He spoke to the group, again, "You guys remember that giant cloud of smoke when 'Ishika' appeared, right?"
The group nodded, observing him with wonder.
"That was the beginning of the technique... But," he paused, "that was not what I wanted to discuss with you."
He brought a hand up and pinched the bridge of his nose, searching for the right words. "I was incredibly impressed with how you handled yourselves today... but there is something important that I'd like to impart to all of you..."
They leaned in, listening expectantly.
"Though you all learned it, and your demonstration can attest to that fact, you need to understand that teamwork is the entire idea behind being placed on a squad."
Sasuke opened his mouth to speak, but was promptly silenced as Kakashi raised his hand.
"You need to understand, while you all are talented as you are, each of you will become a burden to yourselves and to each other if you cannot learn to work as a collective whole. Differences are what make a team strong—diversity. However, these differences, if you cannot learn to accept, appreciate, and work around them, can also be your downfall," he spoke, holding them all in his firm, yet lazy gaze.
"As a team, you're expected to resourcefully work about each other's differences in hopes of making the unit stronger; and, in turn, making each other stronger. Your strength will only be a hindrance to you if it blinds you." Kakashi paused for a moment, letting the message sink in. He watched the expressions on their faces shift through a myriad of emotions, however, they all ultimately settled on a peaceful smile; each smile, nonetheless, was reflective of their own nature, but they were all smiles.
Kakashi creased his own features into a pleased smile. "Well, with that, I hope you guys enjoyed yourselves today!"
Each student's face belied their true emotions, none wanted to admit that the mere prospect of enjoying that experience was terrifying.
He turned, promptly and began to stride away as he withdrew his book once again. He paused for a moment, calling over his shoulder, "Oh, and welcome to the life of a ninja! The missions begin tomorrow." He resumed his stride, whistling a merry tune.
In his wake, each of the three newly-minted ninja had sunk into their own state of shock, their trained-faces were no longer able to hide the worried glances of apprehension that they exchanged.
Next Time: Chapter 8 - "D Rank"