Well it's been a while...kinda'.
But hey! The first half of the story is nearing completion so, good for us!
And just to let you all know, our protagonists' paths will cross in Chapter 10, uploaded on Valentine's Day (cliched as hell, I know) if everything goes according to plan.
The "Mystic Naruto" update is pretty much ready to go, and "A New Beginning" will receive updates. You can hold me to that.
Anyway, here's chapter 7!
- x - x - x -
"YOUTHFUL SLAP!"
(*WHAP*)
"OW! WHAT THE HELL BUSHY-BROWS!?"
The enthusiastic nin had backhanded his fellow enthusiastic nin across the face.
"Your youthfulness had dimmed to dangerously low levels! That slap has returned your spirit to its former glory!" he said in front of a beach at sunset, "youthful tears" streaming down his cheeks.
"...You just wanted to slap me, didn't you."
"...No youthful comment."
"Sure."
He nodded to Team 10, "Thanks for your support."
They nodded back and leapt into the woods.
"Yosh! I must be going too! My youthful comrades await me!"
The nin with the bowl cut bowed low to the pink haired kunoichi.
"Take care, Sakura-san!"
He blurred out of sight.
"Unnhhh..."
The two nin turned to the source of the noise behind them. It had appeared that the last Uchiha had woken up.
"Well, well, look who decided to wake up."
"...Piss off, dobe."
- x - x - x -
"That was too easy!"
"Shut up teme, you didn't do anything!"
"I know! That's why it was so easy!"
Our three heroes were leaping through the trees with Sasuke fingering their recently-acquired Earth scroll in his pouch.
"It's not like I could help it, that snake freak knocked me out!" he shouted.
"Well, it's your fault for getting knocked out in the first place!" he shouted back.
"Guys!"
The two stopped shouting and stared back at their teammate.
"Will you stop yelling?! You're going to lead the enemy right to us!"
They looked back at each other for a bit.
"I guess she's right," said Naruto.
Sasuke nodded, "Yeah. If Sakura's the one telling us we have a yelling problem, then we have one hell of a yelling problem."
"WHAT THE HELL'S THAT SUPPOSED TO MEAN!?" she yelled, using Iruka's patented Big-Head no Jutsu.
(*SHWING*)
The trio looked to the source of the noise, only to find that someone had taken a saw to the branch they'd been standing on.
"Shit!"
The Uzumaki managed to create a few clones during his descent, and used them to right himself and cushion his fall. Two others did the same for Sasuke and Sakura.
"That's what that's supposed to mean," muttered Naruto, standing up and dusting himself off.
Sasuke's Sharingan swirled in anticipation.
"We're not alone," he muttered.
Sakura pulled out a kunai and held it close. Sasuke fell into the basic "Intercept" stance. Naruto drew two kunai, both held in reverse grip.
(*WSH*)
Something had moved in the brush behind them. Sasuke flung a handful of shuriken at it, causing the ruffling to stop.
…
(*ROARGH!*)
A Kishin Egg leapt out of the bushes and landed on the ground before them. Several shuriken were sticking out of its body, and it looked more pissed off than anything else.
"Shit," he muttered.
(*ROOOAAAARGHHH!*)
The demonic creature threw back his head and let out a tremendous roar that echoed through the forest.
One by one, Kishin Eggs began to appear all around them.
"Nobody move..." murmured Naruto, grip tightening.
…
(*whoosh*)
Silence reigned for about half a minute. Sakura felt the sweat drip down her face…
(*drip*)
And at the unspoken signal, the monsters attacked.
- x - x - x -
"Argh, how long are we going to walk for!? My legs are killing me!"
The band of weapons and meisters had been walking along the dirt path for half a day now, and it was clear some of the more hyperactive students were getting more and more irritable.
"Just a little further, Black*Star…" muttered Spirit, wiping the blood leaking from his ears.
The large group of around 30 split off from the path at Stein's insistence. They were now walking through the trees, deeper into the woods.
"Where exactly are we going anyway? We're in the middle of nowhere, and everything looks the same!"
"I'll explain when we get there," Stein responded in his usual monotone.
"And when will we get there? We've been walking for hours…"
"Just a little farther...here we are!"
The group had arrived at a rather large clearing. The area looked to be a glorified campsite rather than a village.
"This is going to be our base of operations? It's pretty big, all things considered…"
Kid set down his symmetric suitcases, "How does a clearing this large exist in the middle of nowhere?"
Stein's glasses glinted in the sun, "Well, I have a theory."
He sat down cross-legged before them, unpacking his things.
"During the First Grand Shinobi World War, the Shodaime Hokage would use his powers over wood to manipulate the trees. He'd do this often, closing old paths and burning some trees to create new ones."
"My theory," he said, turning the screw in his head, "is that the small village that used to be here was destroyed during the war. The Shodaime probably closed the paths and forgot about it."
Black*Star (who probably wasn't paying attention anyway) ran off toward the sound of running water.
"H-hey! Black*Star!" his weapon shouted, chasing after him. The rest of the class soon followed.
Stein sat there, not moving from his spot.
"...Were they even listening to me?"
"Doubt it," muttered Spirit, stretching out.
- x - x - x -
"Whoa!"
The group of students stopped before the enormous valley in front of them. Two massive statues appeared to be locked in combat, prepared to cast their respective techniques.
"Wow, who're those guys?"
"Those," Stein said, walking up, "Are Hashirama Senju, and Madara Uchiha. The two founders of Konoha fought in this very valley to determine the fate of the village. If we want to get to Konoha, we'd have to cross the river to the Senju side."
Everyone took in this new information as they walked back to camp.
- x - x - x -
"Well, that's all of 'em," muttered Sasuke, putting away the kunai.
"Still, I don't think we should just leave these things like this," Sakura said, gesturing to the soul floating about.
"Let the ANBU handle it," said the Uchiha, "Let's go."
The two leapt into the darkness.
…
'I guess I shouldn't leave these things lying around…' thought Naruto, grabbing them.
- x - x - x -
That should be good for now.
Oh, and Stein's whole tree theory thing? That's a reference to "JackofBladesX"s "Icha Icha Paradise: Spiraling Love".
This story will receive frequent updates over the next two weeks, so watch out for those!
'Til Then!
- Objection234 (Akane Sasu Sora on YouTube)
