Chapter four.
Konoha general hospital was reputed for having one of the best medical teams in all the shinobi villages, whether it be life threatening wounds or simple aroma therapy, they could help you get back on your feet.
Right now, Uchiha Sasuke was undergoing therapy for the brutal massacre of his entire clan, at the hands of his older brother.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"He shows little signs of improvement, it's as if the shock to his system rendered him mute." The doctor sighed as e closed his file, handing it to the Hokage.
Sarutobi, looking particularly worn out, scowled at the test results. He'd known Itachi was having some sort of emotional issues, but for him to wipe out is entie clan...what had happened to the boy?
"Could Itachi have used THAT jutsu?" he asked, earning a shrug in reply.
Sighing the elder ninja thanked the doctor for his time, and turned on his heel, bumping into someone on his way towards the exit.
"Sorry." The youth muttered, walking past him towards the room the Hokage had just left.
Sarutobi raised an eyebrow, wondering if Kakashi had started a family without him knowing; the blonde had resembled the cycloptic jounin almost to a tee, were it not for the hair.
Deciding to stand back and watch, the Hokage hid around the corner, listening in on the conversation between the youth and the doctor.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"I'm here to see Uchiha Sasuke, where is he?" the blonde asked, scowling up at the doctor.
Said doctor looked down at the blonde and frowned, apparently unimpressed and on guard.
"We never announced that he was in hospital, how did you know he was here?"
"I'm asking the questions doctor," the blonde replied, blue eyes like flints, "now where is Sasuke?"
The doctor was about to call for orderlies when he froze, eyes widening in horror as an aura of death seemed to swamp over him.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The killing intent coming off the boy was so staggering that even Sarutobi, who was standing at the end of the hallway, felt it make his blood freeze.
'That is no ordinary child…' he muttered, sweat dripping down his cheek, unchecked.
'Few can focus their killing intent like that, and all are at the jounin level…or higher.'
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"I will not ask you again, doctor." The boy asked, his eyes seemingly becoming even more slit-pupiled and animalistic than when he'd come in.
"Either you tell me where Sasuke is, or I drag you through every room until I find him."
He held up a hand, causing the joints to crack as he twitched his fingers.
The Doctor didn't miss the little bolt's of chakra that leapt off the surface of the youth's skin, like miniature lightning bolts, and almost wet himself, as the blonde stepped forward.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sarutobi decided to step in, before the good doctor suffered a cardiac arrest, and cleared his throat.
"What business have you with Sasuke-kun?" he asked, puffing at his pipe, though on the inside he was preparing to whip out a katon kutsu , just incase the 'boy' turned out to be itachi, come back to finnish the job.
The blonde, turned, the killing intent diminishing, but not vanishing completely, like a wolf that was analyzing the situation before pouncing.
"Hokage-sama." He said, bowing slightly, "I'm Sasuke's classmate, I came to see if he was alright."
"Sasuke is recovering from the shock of having his entire clan killed, by one of their own." Sarutobi replied, stating the textbook reply, not quite trusting the blonde.
He watched as the blue eyes widened slightly, indicating surprise, before they narrowed. Even though the red mask kept the rest of his face concealed, the Hokage could tell that the blonde was telling the truth, as Itachi wouldn't have let ANY emotion slip through the disguise.
"Let me see him." the boy demanded.
Looking up at the doctor, the hokage nodded slowly, reassuring him, before guiding the youth to the room.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Inside, Sasuke sat up in the bed, staring straight ahead, knees up to his chest.
He didn't respond when the door opened, or when it closed. Not even as the footsteps approached his bed.
When he felt a gentle hand on his shoulder he flinched, until a voice cut through the hazy fog that was his mind.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"You look like shit." Naruto said, smiling behind his mask as he patted the Uchiha on the shoulder.
"What happened, one of the girls jump you in an alleyway?"
When the raven-haired boy didn't respond, Naruto put on a look of mock horror and recoiled slightly.
"Please tell me you weren't raped."
This had the desired effect of causing Sasuke to twitch and take a swipe at him. Chuckling, he moved back, rubbing his arm slightly.
"Thank Kami, I would've lost all respect for you if they had."
Sasuke snorted half-heartedly, eyeing the blonde with red-rimmed eyes.
"My brother…"
"The fossil already told me." Naruto interrupted, pointing over his shoulder at the Hokage and doctor.
Ignoring the outraged choke form the doctor, he continued, placing a hand on his friends shoulder.
"For what it's worth, I'm sorry man…but there was nothing you could do…"
"YES THERE WAS!" Sasuke yelled, fists knotting itno his shorts.
"I could have attacked him! I could have slowed him down, but all I did was run!"
He slammed a fist on the bed, "I ran away like a coward, I couldn't even look him in the eyes!"
Clenching the covers between his fingers he chocked, tears falling on his knuckles.
"He told me I wasn't worth killing…that I wouldn't be worth the effort."
"That's two mistakes he's made then." Naruto replied, voice calm, causing the Uchiha to look up.
"First off, he let you live, that's not the sign of a professional killer, or even a crazed lunatic…I think he left you alive for a different reason."
Naruto smirked, eyes relaying his expression to the Uchiha.
"Still, what's done is done, next time you see him, I don't think running away will be on the top of your priorities."
He nodded towards the doorway, holdig out a hand.
"Now, are you gonna sit there all day as they stick pins in you, or are you gonna show the public that Uchiha Sasuke's a survivor?"
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sasuke looked up at the teen in awe for a moment, then smirked, ignored the offered hand and got out of the bed.
Naruto nodded, "Now there's the Sasuke I know."
He put his arm around his friend's shoulder and led him out the doorway.
"C'mon, I'll treat to ramen at Ichiraku, trust me, it's the best in town."
Walking past the doctor and Hokage, the two moved towards the exit, ignoring the looks form the orderlies and nurses.
By the time they reached it, Sasuke remembered Naruto's words, and looked at him.
"You said Itachi made two mistakes…what was the second?"
Naruto snorted, "He pissed me off, trust me, that is NOT a good thing.
He leered at the Uchiha, almost sinisterly, "Just ask your fan-club."
Sasuke shivered, "I'll pass."
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The hokage stared after the two as they left the hospital.
'An odd pair indeed.' He thought, watching as they conversed, seemingly laughing at something the blonde had just said.
'Sasuke was suffering from shock not to long ago, so out of it not even genjutsu could reach him. Then this youth shows up, and suddenly he's back to normal…'
He exhaled a stream of smoke, looking thoughtful.
"Perhaps this is a good sign…maybe I should check in on Naruto-kun, I haven't seen him in a while."
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sitting at Ichiraku Ramen, Naruto and Sasuke were putting away their third bowl of the liquid ambrosia that old man Ichiraku and his daughter provided. Naruto actually took his mask off to eat, revealing the scars on his cheeks for the first time in almost a year. Sasuke wondered what they meant, but decided to ignore it.
"You ask me, something's fishy." Naruto said, setting his chopsticks down for a moment.
Sasuke looked up, still chewing on his noodles, and the blonde elaborated.
"Correct me if I'm wrong, but didn't you tell me that he was an ANBU captain, right?"
Sasuke nodded, though he scowled as he did so.
"ANBU are the village's elite right?" Naruto asked, "I'm pretty sure they wouldn't permit someone with a penchant for going completely bat-shit crazy and killing their entire clan to join…"
He glared into his ramen, "there's more to this than we're being told."
Looking over at Sasuke, Naruto nodded grimly.
"I think your brother found something out…something BIG."
Sasuke frowned, then looked at his ramen, "Even if he did…to kill off the entire clan like that…just to see what he was capable of…"
Naruto frowned as he slurped up the last of the noodles, picking up the bowl.
"The only way we're gonna find out is to ask Itachi face to face, and before we do that, we got to get stronger."
Sasuke looked at Naruto in confusion as he drained the last dregs of the broth from the bowl. When he finished he turned to the Uchiha and grinned.
"What, you think I'm letting you go alone? We're partners buddy, I got your back."
Sasuke looked at the blonde, scoffed, then finished his ramen.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sarutobi gazed into his crystal ball in wonder.
He'd never expected the blonde youth from the hospital to be Naruto! True he'd not kept much watch over the boy recently, but he'd not expected so drastic a change.
'Still, he's offered friendship to Sasuke, this could prove beneficial.'
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The next day at school, and all through the passing weeks, Naruto stuck to Sasuke like glue, the two doing what they did best, pranking the unfortunate chunin instructors.
Mizuki awoke from a nap to see his hair in a perm, Raijuta was trapped in a tiger trap, and Moro found himself trying to explain to his angered Female students how he'd mistaken the signs for the toilets.
It seemed no one was safe, two instructors handed ion their resignation slips that day, requesting a transfer to smothing less strenuous, like ANBU squads.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Iruka eyed his students with caution, like a cornered wolf.
He had a hunch that the perpetrator was targeting him next, since he was the only one not pranked yet.
However, he'd not taken his guard down the entire lesson, and it was nearly time for the bell to go. Unfortunately, the Students all seemed to be sporting little halos despite the fact they were eying him with a frightening type of hunger.
'Maybe tripling the doseage was a bit too much.' he chunin muttered, shaking his head.
As the bell rang he sighed in relief, thinking the day was won.
"See you tomorrow class." He said, watching as they marched off, or in Kiba's case, stampeded, through the door.
As Naruto and Sasuke filed out, followed by the Uchiha's fan club, Iruka finally relaxed and pulled his coffee mug out of the drawer, taking a long sip.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Iruka spent the rest of the day on the toilet, cursing the man that invented tasteless laxatives with all the words in his arsenal.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Several years passed, far to quickly for some, namely Naruto, and not fast enough for others, namely the blonde's traumatised victims. The denizens of the school had quickly learned never to cross the boy, lest you incurr the wrath of hisn twisted sense of humour.
Finally though, the time came for the students to undertake the genin exam.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Naruto walked through the streets, reading his copy of Icha-Icha paradise as he maneuvered through the crowd, subconsciously relieving random villagers of the contents of their wallets as he bumped into them.
Though he still enjoyed taking these small revenges against his tormentors, the blonde felt that Konoha had little else to offer in regards to challenges; the Hokage, the villages champion, had been far to easily defeated with the Oiroke no jutsu…he'd expected more from the old man, and he'd already committed most of the scroll to memory.
'I may not have some so called blood limit.' Naruto thought wryly, 'but since the scroll of seals is pretty much stored within my memory, I've got one hell of an ace up my sleeve.'
He smirked at a group of women that he remembered from his childhood, hurling garbage and stones at him as he walked past.
'This village…is pathetic, a sheep that has grown too fat and complacent.'
Looking up at the monument he snorted, amused.
'Shodai's last living relative left the village, Nidaime had no children, the Sandaime is a pervert, and the fourth…'
Looking up at the image of the man who people referred to as the village's hero, he snorted derisively.
'Yeah, a hero that would use a child as a sacrifice…'
Naruto scowled and moved on, swiping twice as much from the villagers as he moved on.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"For this exam, you must perform the bunshin no jutsu correctly." Iruka said to the assorted students, who for once, were paying rapt attention.
"Succeed, and you'll join the ranks of Konoha shinobi, as genin."
He waved his hand over the assorted headbands before him, before looking at the youth's a serious expression on his face.
"Fail, and you must repeat the year at the academy."
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Naruto scoffed at this 'test', not impressed in the slightest.
He'd been pulling off the Kage bunshin jutsu since he had stolen the scroll a few years ago, a simple thing like a regular bunshin was hardly going to be a challenge.
One by one he watched as his classmates marched forward, some walking away wearing a headband, others dejectedly leaving the class with their heads bowed.
He was just considering going to sleep, he felt someone's eyes on him.
Turning slowly he saw a dark haired girl with a pale expression looking at him shyly, as if afraid he'd make eye contact. When she caught him looking back she let of a small squeak and looked away, redder than a tomato.
Raising an eyebrow, he tried to picture her face somewhere and came up blank. Shrugging he turned around, only to feel her gaze come on him again.
Nudging Sasuke he nodded over his shoulder.
"That one of 'yours' back there?" he asked, 'yours' being his joke title for one of Sasuke's groupies.
Sasuke looked over his shoulder at the girl, then shook his head.
"Never seen that one before…not following me anyway."
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Hyuuga Hinata." Iruka called out, as Haruno Sakura marched out of the hall with her Hitai-Ate headband being used as a hair bobble.
The shy girl stood up, indicating she was the next candidate and moved forward.
Suddenly she tripped over the sleeping Shikamaru's foot, causing her to stumble forwards in a fall, had Naruto not caught her.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Watch that first step, it's a doozy." He joked, setting her up right, sending a glare at Shikamaru.
"Hey, Captain snooze-alarm, when you're done studying the back of your eyelids you owe someone an apology here.
Shikamaru snorted and rolled over in his sleep, causing the blonde to sigh in exasperation.
"Forgive the shaved sloth there, he's an idiot."
When he noticed how the girl seemed a little red in the face he raised an eyebrow, concern showing hin his eyes.
"You're not hurt are you? You're looking a little flushed."
The girl shook her head so fast it was a blur, and then ran past him without saying a word, entering the classroom and closing the door behind her.
Naruto sweat dropped.
'What the hell?'
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Naruto, please perform the bunshin technique." Iruka said, eyeing the blonde cautiously, expecting yet another prank to go off at any moment.
Mizuki was eyeing the blonde cautiously as well, watched intently, and fingering a kunai under the table. He'd finaly gotten his hair back to normal, adn was damned if someone was going to mess it up again!
Naruto sighed and made the seal. Abruptly, the room was filled with Naruto copies, some sitting in chairs, others lying on tables, one even reading the infamous orange book, giggling like an idiot.
"Is this enough?" he asked looking at the senseis, thumbing over his shoulder.
Iruka stared at the assorted Naruto copies in awe, nodded dumbly, and handed the boy his headband.
Naruto, rather than putting the thing on, placed it in the pocket of his coat, and walked out.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Mizuki sighed, thinking they'd gotten through it unscathed.
"Glad he's done with, eh Iruka-san?"
Iruka looked up at his colleague and was about to reply when he saw the jounin's hair, and choked, trying not to laugh.
"What?" Mizuki asked, putting a hand to his precious locks, only to shriek in horror as he found he now sported an Afro.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Naruto episode preview music plays.
Naruto: Keh, listen to those hags sneer, if they only knew what I got instore for- eh? isn't that Mizuki?
Mizuki: Naruto! Come with me and I'll tell you a little secret.
Naruto: Gee, follow the creepy looking man into the woods...alone, Sorry, ain't happenin'
Mizuki: Then Die-what the I can't move!
Next time on Cry of the Youko: Naruto get's some payback.
Naruto: Oh I'm going to enjoy this.
Music Ends
Well? R&R