AN/ Well, I seem to be in the writing mood. Not a day ago did I finally finish writing the sixth chapter for my other story, and I'm already writing chapter six of this story. Maybe if I finish this chapter fast, I'll even write chapter two of 'Cursed,' a fic whose name might still change. But that all depends on whether I'm still in a writing mood after this.
I had an original plot for this fic, but now I'm changing it slightly. I still wanna use the plot, however, but it will be used as filler chapters, which I will state in the beginning of the chapter if it is a filler. Now, this one isn't, and the first one probably won't be out until later. I'm making the fillers fit in the time between arcs. I'll explain more when I write the first one, which should be during the time after Kakashi's test and the supposed C-rank mission.
"Speech"
'Thought'
'Inner Sakura'
"Kyuubi"
Just Following Orders
Chapter Six: First Team Meeting
As Naruto and Sakura walked towards the academy, the pair seemed to be getting a mix of looks. One, and the most common, was the glares directed at Naruto. Another was the gentle smiles Sakura seemed to be getting from some people. Then there were those of confusion, suspicion and even disbelief that the 'demon' was trying to trick the pink haired girl into thinking he was worth her time.
While Naruto seemed to either be ignoring the looks or not taking notice of them, Sakura did. It was almost impossible to not notice the pure hatred on their faces as they glared at the blond boy beside her. Sakura had never thought so many people could hate a single person so much, before. It only made her wonder why they did.
Naruto walked with his hands behind his head, his eyes squinted and a large smile on his face. The people observing him would assume that it was because he had a fairly pretty girl with him, or maybe because he was gonna meet his sensei that afternoon. He had, after all, made the village think he was just a dimwitted prankster. He knew they would think again about glaring at him and calling him a demon if they knew it was a compliment to him.
For, honestly, what better way to compliment a being who idolized the feared Kyuubi no Yoko than to say he was the demon itself? The only way would be for them to say that it chose him to be it's vessel, not the Yondaime.
As they continued to walk towards the academy, they began to see more students doing the same. Those that weren't busy talking to their friends gave them a questioning look before returning to whatever it was that they were doing. Eventually, they neared the building, which by this time was surrounded by Genin nervously waiting to meet their Jonin sensei. However before they rounded the last corner, Naruto pulled Sakura into an alley in between the last two buildings.
To say Sakura was surprised to be pinned against a wall by Naruto would be an understatement. He hand one hand covering her mouth, and the other was on her shoulder, pushing her against the wall. He seemed to be scanning the alley and trying to make sure no one was around.
'Oh, god. Don't tell me he wants to do that?' she mentally asked herself, blushing slightly. 'I-I don't think I'm ready... not to mention we're in public!' Surprisingly, there was no response from her inner persona. She was snapped out of her thoughts when the blond began to speak.
"Alright, Sakura, I'm going to let go, but you have to listen to me. Okay?" he asked, only getting a small nod from the girl. He let go of her and backed up a bit, spacing himself away enough to be able to dodge her if she chose to strike; she did have a reputation for doing that to him. "Okay, I'm going to have to ask you to act like everything is normal."
"What do you mean?" she asked, confused. Was he talking about the fact that he marked her? Or that he kissed her (after he said she was his)? Sakura blushed as she remembered their rather passionate make-out session.
"I mean, you need to act like I never marked you." he explained, proving her first guess correct, however at the same time making her look down. Naruto, figured she thought he was ashamed of her, which wasn't, entirely, true. He moved forward, grabbing her chin with his thumb and index fingers, pulling her face up. "I don't need everyone making fun of you for being... involved with me. I don't have enough stamina to beat up everyone from the academy." he said, smiling falsely.
Sakura just stood there for a few seconds, staring at Naruto, unable to believe what he said. He wanted to protect her; he wasn't trying to hide her. "Okay..." she finally said, softly. Naruto gave her a wider smile before turning around and walking further down the alley.
"Good. Now, you go on to the academy, first. I'll catch up, later." he said, rolling his eyes at the fact that she had believed that. But, as he had read in the Icha Icha book, before he had gutted it, so he could use it to review his data on the village with people only thinking he was being a pervert, 'A happy woman means a happier man.' The sole reason Kyuubi-sama had made him get a mate was... well, to mate with.
"Wait, where are you going?" Sakura asked. He stopped and turned around, grinning.
"I usually get to the academy late, so I'm going to go walk around for a while." he replied, half lying. He was gonna walk, but to the Hokage's office. It's been a while since he last visited, and he knew the old man would make him stay and listen to him go on and on about the council if he didn't go soon. Honestly, why he didn't just kill those bunch of geezers, he didn't know.
"Oh. Well, I guess I'll go meet up with Ino, then." she said, turning to leave. When she walked out of the alley, she bumped into someone, making them both fall over. "Sorry about that." Sakura apologized, looking at the person she knocked over. She was surprised to see a pair of lavender eyes staring back at her.
"I-It's okay, Sakura-san." the young heiress replied, getting up with the help of the two older Hyuuga's that were escorting her to school, one of which was asking if she was hurt. She was wearing her usual large gray sweater, with a pair of dark blue tight pants. Her dark blue hair was short. Smiling she told him that she was okay, before holding her hand out to Sakura. "I wasn't paying attention to where I was going." she said as she helped the rosette to her feet.
"I wasn't either." Sakura said, looking back at the alley where Naruto had previously been, only to find it empty. Turning back to the young Hyuuga, she noticed the guards behind her keeping an eye on her, as if daring her to do something while they were there. "Well," she began, getting uncomfortable from their stares, "thanks for helping me up. I guess I'll see you in class." she said turning to leave.
"Wait, I'll go with you." Hinata's voice was almost too small for Sakura to hear. Turning to her escorts, she smiled at them and bowed. "Th-Thank you for bringing m-me here, but I'm going with Sa-Sakura-san." she said nervously, only getting nods and bows of respect before the two took their leave. "Y-You don't mind, do you?"
Sakura smiled slightly. "No. not at all." she said. Quickly, both of them began walking down the street.
--Elsewhere --
Naruto sighed as he removed his Henge, still unable to believe that all the men in the village fell prey to his useless attack. He stared at the man on the floor, passed out from blood loss, inside of the Hokage tower.
'Honestly, must I use that Jutsu on him, every time I visit the old geezer?' he thought, hoping to hear Kyuubi-sama tell him about how the man was a useless waste of space. Nothing. Sighing, he continued to the old man's office, stopping only when he reached the large oak doors; there seemed to be people conversing in the room. He didn't have time to eavesdrop, however, when the doors opened and two elderly people walked out. They seemed to have noticed him but just ignored him.
'At least compliment me...' Naruto thought as he saw the Sandaime's advisors walk down the hall. He snapped back to his senses when he saw the doors being closed by a pair of Jonin; apparently there were quite a few of them in there. "Wait!" Naruto yelled in the annoying tone of voice he used around others as he ran to get in the room.
As soon as he was inside, he noticed that there was a total of nine Jonin in the room, along with the aged Hokage.
"Naruto-kun, what are you doing here?" the Sandaime's voice came out gentle and slightly confused, causing the young blond turn towards him. Sarutobi was old, if the wrinkles and liver spots were any indication. His gray hair didn't help the argument against this fact either. He wore the usual Kage garb which consisted of a long white robe and a triangular white hat with the front tip colored in his country's color, in this case red, and a kanji symbol that stated what country he hailed from. The old man stared as Naruto blinked before grinning sheepishly.
"What? I can't come visit my favorite old man?" Naruto asked, hearing the gasps from the gathered Jonin. He also heard a small chuckle, but it wasn't from the Hokage. Said old man coughed lightly drawing Naruto's attention away from trying to figure out who was chuckling.
"I appreciate the visit, Naruto-kun, but I'm afraid that you'll have to come back another time. We are currently discussing important Shinobi business." said the old Sarutobi, smiling apologetically at the orange clad boy in front of him.
"Is this a mission briefing?" Naruto asked, arching an eyebrow in confusion. 'Don't tell me all of these Jonin are going on this mission.' he thought.
"No, but—"
"Well, then, I don't see why I have to leave. I mean, if it's just Shinobi business, then I can be here." Naruto grinned, pointing at his headband. "I am, after all, a Genin, now. Shinobi business is now my business." he stated, smiling widely. Someone began laughing on the other side of the room, making Naruto and the Sandaime turn to see a Jonin with black hair and a short beard laughing.
He calmed down shortly and wiped his eyes from the tears that had gathered there. "That's rich, brat. A Genin fresh out of the academy thinking 'Shinobi business' concerns him." he said, referring to the fact that he was an actual brat, not because of the demon. "What are you, the dead last?" he asked. One would certainly think that if they saw his appearance and the way he acted.
Naruto just narrowed his eyes, annoyed. He had learned to not show any hostel feelings near the Hokage; the old goat seemed adept at picking up any ill will. "For your information, I'm the 'rookie of the year!'" Naruto yelled, pointing at the man. "So if any Genin has a right to be here, it's me!" The Jonin didn't appear to believe him.
"No offense, but last I heard, you were sleeping in class, and close to failing the year, again." said the Jonin, smirking and crossing his arms across his chest. That merely got the young blond madder, but before he could say anything, he was cut off by an amused but gentle voice.
"It's true, Asuma, Naruto-kun is the 'rookie of the year.'" The Sandaime said, smiling at the exchange between the blond and his son. The younger Sarutobi looked speechless for a second before dropping the subject, obviously admitting defeat. "But Naruto," the Hokage began, turning his attention towards the whiskered boy, "since you are the rookie of the year, it's your job to represent all the Genin of this year. Meaning you have to be on time to all your appointments, including waiting at the academy for your Jonin sensei."
Naruto groaned. "Aw man. You serious?" Naruto pouted, making the Sandaime chuckle. Then the old man stopped and stared at the Genin intently.
"Naruto, Iruka told me a friend of mine showed you the Kage Bushin." he began, making Naruto stiffen slightly. "Who were you talking about?" he asked, making Naruto put his brain into overtime. A few scenarios came into his head, but he figured he would use the one that would be most expected of his 'dumb' persona. It seemed to work before.
"He didn't tell me his name, just that he knew you and that he could teach me a cool Jutsu." said the blond, his face bearing the look of trying to remember. "But after teaching it to me, I never saw him again." he added, as an after thought in case they asked where he was. The Hokage closed his eyes in thought.
"I see. Do you remember what he looked like?" the old man asked, making Naruto return to his 'thinking pose;' his eyes closed, fingers on his chin and face turned slightly upwards to the left.
"Not really, he had a mask covering his face, all I could see were his lips." he said, making the Hokage sigh.
'Leave it to Naruto-kun to accept an offer from someone he doesn't know.' thought the aged Hokage. "Is that all you remember?" the blond resumed his pose for a few seconds before nodding his head. "Alright then, if that's all, hurry up and get to the academy."
"No, wait, wait! I just remembered something." Naruto said, though the Hokage only looked at him disbelievingly. "On his chest... he had these... uh, arms—"
"Get to the academy, Naruto-kun." the Sandaime said, exasperated, as his son began laughing, joined with a few other Jonin shortly. Naruto pouted before stubbornly agreeing.
"Fine, but the next time you feel lonely and want someone to come visit you, don't come crying to me!" he said as he walked out, arms crossed across his chest and a half scowl, half pout on his face. As soon as he was gone, Asuma turned to his father.
"Is he really the 'rookie of the year?'" he asked, making the Hokage sigh.
"Unfortunately." as soon as he finished his answer, there was a poof of smoke in the middle of the room. When the smoke cleared, a man with gray hair made to stick up and to the left by his slanted headband which covered his left eye, a Jonin uniform and a mask covering the bottom half of his face, making so the only visible part of his face was his right eye, stood there. His visible eye was creased upwards as he waved his hand at everyone in the room.
"Sorry I'm late, I saw a cat stuck in a tree and just had to help it get down." he said, making the other Jonin in the room stare at him with a blank expression on their faces.
-- With Naruto --
Naruto walked out of the Hokage tower, ignoring the still unconscious guard at the bottom, with his hands folded behind his head, a habit for when he wanted to walk without being distracted. He supposed the old goat was right, he did need to get to the academy, but he really didn't feel like going. He knew today was probably just gonna be meet and greet, so why bother?
"Because your mate is there, and I need you to test something out." a familiar voice said in Naruto head, making him grin slightly.
'Kyuubi-sama, welcome back.' Naruto greeted his master, as he pick up a carton of milk from a stand nearby, making sure that the owner wasn't looking, before opening it. 'And what is it that you want me to test?' he asked as he began drinking stolen milk. It tasted off.
"I did a bit of rearranging in Haruno's mind," the Kyuubi began, thinking back at how that entity had screamed in pain, "and I found something intriguing. It seems Haruno has a separate persona inside of her, one that expresses what she truly thinks, compared to what she may say or do." it explained, almost making Naruto spit out his milk
'A separate persona? How the hell is that possible?' he asked, as he felt something lumpy pass down his throat. "Fuck, I think it's spoiled..." he said before letting it drop onto a pile of trash in front of a grocery store.
"I'm not entirely sure, but it might be due to the fact that she, like all of the Konoha bitches, seemed to act according to how they think the Uchiha wants them to, instead of how they want to." Made sense to Naruto; almost all of the girls in the village had their hair long because it was rumored that Sasuke liked long haired girls. "Maybe in her case, she involuntarily created a persona inside her head that relieves her stress." explained the great demon, before adding, "How exactly you release stress in your mind, I don't know."
"Hn. I wonder how many, if any, of the females have developed something like that as well." he said out loud to himself as he neared the academy. 'But you didn't answer my question, Kyuubi-sama.' he thought as he walked to the swing outside the academy and sat down. He didn't see the need to hurry.
"Just because you're on his team, doesn't mean you get to sit next to him, Forehead!" a yell came from inside the academy. Naruto put his face into his hands and sighed.
'Please let it be some other girl with a slightly larger than normal forehead Yamanaka just yelled at." he said, almost pleadingly.
"Shut up, Ino-pig! You know Iruka-sensei will just make us sit with our teammates anyways!" Naruto sighed from his swing outside. "So just go with your own teammates!" Looking up at the sky, Naruto mouthed 'Why?'
He knew he told Sakura to act natural, but why did his mate have to be so... annoying? Fighting over a seat? Sure, the Yamanaka was at blame as well, but if Sakura knew what would happen, couldn't she just let the dumb blond have it for a while?
"Naruto, hurry up and get inside. The faster you get this meeting over with, the faster you can test out my experiment." The Kyuubi ordered. Naruto nodded his head and got up, quickly making his way to the class room.
'What exactly do you want me to test?' by now, he was quite curious by his master's intentions. 'What exactly did you do to the poor girl?' Naruto was never one to question the fox's intentions, but he also knew that it was a brutal creature, willing to kill the one that kept it at bay, knowing that if he were to die, so would it.
"You'll find out soon enough." it responded. "I think you'll like the additions to the seal's original functions." it added, sparking Naruto's curiosity. He stopped wondering what the demon had done when he reached the classroom doors.
"Nice of you to join us, Naruto." Iruka spoke sarcastically when the blond opened the door. Naruto just stared at him, muttering something like, 'Not like I had a choice,' before walking in, closing the door behind him. "Now, if you would, please take a seat with your team." said the Chuunin as he erased something on his clipboard before making a check on it.
Walking past Iruaka, Naruto walked over to where Sasuke and Sakura were sitting, noting that the Yamanaka was sitting in between the Akamichi and Nara boys, an angry look on her face. He held back a smirk as he sat down near Sakura. Said girl glanced at the blond before turning away when she heard a voice say, 'You're supposed to be acting natural.' It sounded like Inner Sakura, but colder.
"Well, everyone wait patiently, your sensei should be arriving soon." Iruka said, before sitting down in the desk in front of the class. It was a few minutes before the first of the Jonin began to arrive. They had arrived pretty much in order, until team seven's sensei was supposed to arrive. When he didn't, a black haired woman walked into the room.
Her hair was waist length, and her eyes were blood red, almost resembling tomoe-less Sharingan eyes. She was covered in loose bandages around her chest, mid-section and reaching to her thighs, while a single red sleeve was on her right arm. "Alright, team eight, come with me." she said, making Kiba, Hinata and Shino stand up and walk out of the room with her.
After her, team nine left with their Jonin sensei, and then a man with a short black beard walked in. His hair color matched his beard, and he wore the standard Jonin outfit, similar to the Chuunin outfit, along with a kanji for fire on his right hip. He had a cigarette in his mouth, which he pulled out to say, "Team ten, come with me." Before he could finish, however, he was interupted.
"You!" Naruto yelled out, pointing at Asuma. Said man took another look at the room, specifically at the number of Genin left, before groaning.
"Oh, hell no. Don't tell me you're on my team. And I am not taking on a team of this size." he said, making the Genin look at him and Naruto.
"Don't worry, your team is just those three." Iruka pointed at the InoShikaCho trio. "Team seven's sensei hasn't come yet." he said, allowing Asuma to sigh in relief.
"Thank Kami-sama." he whispered, before adding, "Well, let's go. And see you later, Mr. 'official-ninja-business-is-now-my-business.'" he said, before leading his team away, leaving a group of confused (Sakura and Iruka), uninterested (Sasuke) and annoyed (Naruto) ninja.
Afterwards, time continued to pass, during which Iruka had left, saying he was going to get lunch, even asking if they wanted anything. Naruto, not being one to pass free food, had yelled, "Ramen!" while Sasuke and Sakura had declined. Though that had been ten minutes ago. It had been an hour since team ten had left.
"How long is our stupid sensei gonna make us wait?" Naruto yelled, only getting a 'hn' from Sasuke and a shrug from Sakura. Sasuke had decided to balance a kunai on the tip of another one, while Sakura had begun drawing on a piece of paper she had gotten from Iruka. Naruto had tried to talk to the Kyuubi, but the great demon had grown bored and decided to sleep, severing Naruto's link with it.
"That's it" Naruto said as he walked up to the front of the room, grabbing a chalkboard eraser and sprinkling it with a jar of power he pulled out of his Kunai pouch. "That'll show him." he said as he propped it against the door and the wall.
"What the hell did you just do, dobe?" Sasuke said, still balancing his kunai, although now there was a shuriken between them. Sakura stopped drawing and looked up, interested in what her idiot—though she wasn't supposed to say it out loud—had done.
"You'll see." Naruto answered, stepping back, smirking mischievously. Not even a second after he said that, the door opened and a gray head appeared in the doorway. A small pat was heard as the eraser fell on the man's head. "I can't believe it worked!" Naruto said, laughing.
'This man's a Jonin?' Sasuke thought, a blank expression on his face, letting the Kunai and shuriken fall onto his other hand.
"Sorry about that, sensei." Sakura apologized to the man. "Naruto was being an idiot—"
"My first impression of this team is," the man interrupted her, "you're all a bunch of immature idiots." he said, making Sasuke and Sakura glare at a still laughing Naruto. They were all wondering why he was laughing so hard about a dumb prank when the man suddenly began to get an unexplainable urge to scratch his head.
"Ha! Would an idiot be smart enough to put itching powder on the eraser?" Naruto exclaimed, watching his sensei scratch his head furiously. The man dropped a piece of paper before turning into a puff of smoke. "what's that?" Naruto asked when Sakura went over to pick it up.
"They appear to be directions." Sakura replied. "Walk out of the room. Turn left, and walk forward until you reach the stairs." she said as she followed the instructions, followed by her two teammates. "Then walk down to the basement and turn right." They did so. "Then walk forward until you reach the stairs at the end of the hall. Climb up to the second floor." they followed the directions. "Then walk out and to the left." they were nearing the end of the paper. "Continue until you reach the stairs. Once you do, climb up to the top. Turn page" Sakura turned it, expecting more directions. "If you get confused, or lost, just meet me on the roof."
The roof was peaceful, with the only person up there being a gray haired man reading a book. 'I wonder if they did get lost.' he thought, his face in the book. His clone had dispersed almot five minutes ago. The second he finished the thought, the door leading inside opened, revealing three very pissed off Genin. "Well, I guess you guys are pretty good at following instructions." he said. They continued to glare at him as they made their way over, sitting on the steps in front of him. Apparently, they didn't find him funny.
"Anyways," he said, closing his book shut and putting it in his pouch, "now that you're all hear, let's get started, shall we?" he sighed when they just stared at him, with glaring but curious faces. "Tell me your name, likes, dislikes, hobbies, and dreams for the future?" Sakura's hand reached into the air. "Yes?"
"Why don't you go first, sensei, to show us how it's done?" she said, nervously. The man seemed to agree.
"Alright. My name is Kakashi Hatake. My likes and dislikes are... none of your business. My hobbies... don't really have any. My dreams for the future... I don't feel like telling you them." he said, making his team's faces go from glares to disbelief.
'All he really told us was his name.' they all thought in unison.
"Alright, who would like to go first?" Kakashi asked. Naruto's hand rose in the air. "Alright, you." Naruto instantly put on his famous false smile.
'Might as well get this over with.' he thought. "My name is Naruto Uzumaki. My likes are Ramen, training to be Hokage, and the color orange. My dislikes are Sasuke-teme, the three minutes it takes for ramen to cook, this big guy named Asuma and you, now." he shot a glare at Kakashi. "My dreams for the future are to become Hokage, so that then everyone will have to respect me!" at this, Kakashi closed his eyes and nodded.
Mentally, though, his answers were different. 'My likes are Kyuubi-sama, training, inventing new tools and spying on the village. My dislikes are humans, this pathetic village, the Uchiha and the fucking Yondaime. My hobbies are training with my clones, throwing the village into a goose chase with the occasional crime, and following Kyuubi-sama's intructions. My dream for the future is to free Kyuubi-sama and continue to serve under him.' However he knew that the second part of his dream would be impossible. But that was why it was called a 'dream.'
'He's had an interesting childhood.' Kakashi thought. 'And it seems Asuma has a new 'enemy'.' he added before pointing at Sakura. "Why don't you go next?" he questioned, getting a nod from the girl.
"My name is Sakura Haruno. I like my mom, my friends and..." she glanced off towards Naruto, but to Kakashi, it looked like she was looking at Sasuke, because of their formation, the two boys on the right of the girl, with Naruto in the middle of the three. "My hobbies are hanging out with my mom, my friends and..." the feel of the blond's lips on her own came into her mind, but she knew she couldn't say that out loud. "My dreams for the future are..." again, she glanced at the blond. Then her face fell slightly. "My dislikes are this one man..." a picture of her step-father came into her mind, making her bite her lip.
Inside Naruto's mind, the Kyuubi saw the image that appeared in the Haruno's mind, before smirking. "A new victim."
"Oh-kay..." Kakashi said, while thinking, 'Maybe she's not a total lost cause. She has some other interests other than Sasuke.' he then glanced at his remaining student."Why don't you wrap this up?" he pointed at the Uchiha, who merely sighed.
"My name, is Sasuke Uchiha. I have very few likes, and I hate everything that I don't like. My hobbies are training to become strong enough to fulfill my dre—no ambition. That ambition is to revive my clan and kill a certain man..." he said, his face hidden by his bangs and his hands clenched together in front of his face. Kakashi sighed inwardly.
'You have no idea how much you ruined your brother's life...' he thought, staring at the boy who was emitting quite an amount of killer intent. "Alright, now that that's out of the way," he got off of the railing he was leaning against, "I want you all to meet me tomorrow in training ground 7. We will be going over a survival exercise. Dur—"
"What? Survival exercise? I thought we were done with those!?" Naruto exclaimed, annoyed. Kakashi just stared at him before continuing.
"As I was saying, During which, I will evaluate your skills. If I don't find your skills satisfactory, I will return you to the academy." he chuckled at their shocked faces. "You didn't think it was that easy to become a ninja, did you?" their faces spoke for them. "Out of the thirty Genin that just graduated, only nine will pass this test. The other's will be sent back to the academy. That means there's a sixty-six percent failure rate." this time it was Sakura that spoke out.
"But then what was the exam for?" she asked, somewhat angry. If she didn't become a ninja, even though she was turning fourteen, she couldn't move out legally. There was no way in hell she was staying in that house with that man there until she was eighteen.
"Oh, that? That was just to select potential candidates. This is where we narrow it down to the nine best Genin. Now, once again, meet me in training ground seven at six in the morning." he put his hands in a hand seal before adding, "And don't eat breakfast. You'll puke." A puff of smoke now replaced the spot where the Jonin previously was, leaving the Genin alone.
The first to get up was Sasuke, who didn't even announce his departure. 'If they think this will slow me down, they're dead wrong. I will pass this test, and I will get stronger.' he thought, clenching his fist on the door handle. "Strong enough to kill him..." with that, he punched the wall around the door, leaving a rough imprint of a fist in the cement, and left.
The resulting bang from the impact of Sasuke's fist against the wall made snapped Sakura out of her stupor. She had been thinking about how she was far from the best of her class, in terms of strength. Sure, she aced the written exam, even surpassing Sasuke, but but she doubted the exam tomorrow would require her to solve problems. When she turned around, she saw that she was alone with Naruto, who had decided to lie down on the ground, his arms behind his head.
Naruto was having his own mental talk, though in his case, he was getting responses. 'I wonder what the exam is... I never really got a chance to see, seeing as they move around the field too much and the danger of being caught is too great to risk spying.' he thought.
"It doesn't matter, it seems we'll have to postpone our experiment." Kyuubi stated, making Naruto raise an eyebrow. "Your mate seems to be having problems at home. Seems her step-father has been abusing her." Naruto didn't get what the demon wanted him to do.
'And? As long as she has that mark, he can't do anything, right?' the blond questioned, making the demon growl.
"It is your responsibility as a male to dispose of any rival male that tries to mate with your mate." the Kyuubi explained, making Naruto sigh.
'Seriously? Seems like an awful lot of trouble for something that is nothing more than a nuisance, rather than a possibility.' Naruto tried to reason. Instantly, he found himself in front of the cage that housed the giant demon.
"Are you... trying to disobey an order, Naruto?" Before the young shinobi could respond, red chakra sprang towards him from the cage. It wrapped around him, hoisting him into the air. For a moment, the image of the manifestation inside Haruno appeared in the Kyuubi's mind. He shook himself out of the amusing memory by doing something he couldn't do inside Haruno's mind. Naruto was knocked against one of the walls of his own mind, knocking the wind out of him.
Pulling him out of the wall, the great fox asked him again. " I said, 'Are you trying to disobey an order, Naruto?'" Naruto shook his head furiously.
'No, Kyuubi-sama. I'll eliminate the man.' Naruto responded, fearful of more punishment. He knew from personal experience that the longer he didn't respond, the worse his punishment would become. He had already gotten a permanent scar across the left side of his waist, he didn't want a matching one on the other side. 'But how do I go about it?' he questioned, when the demon released him.
"What method you use is of no concern to me. As long as you get it done." it responded, finishing by pushing Naruto out of his mind scape.
Naruto found himself back in the real world, but for some reason, his head was being shaken back and forth. 'What the—'
"Naruto, wake up!" Sakura yelled as she continued to shake the boy's shoulders. After Sasuke had left them alone, she had begun to think about her current 'relationship' with the blond boy. However, her thoughts were cut short when his expression changed to one of pain and he grunted, his body going stiff. "Naruto!" she yelled again, getting worried that maybe he'd lost consciousness. She was about to go get help when Naruto's hands grabbed her own shoulders, mirroring what she was doing.
"Sakura, stop shaking me, would you?" he asked, relieved when she let go of his shoulders, as he did the same. Getting into a sitting position, his forehead knocked against her chin, making him lie back down, holding his head. "God dammit, Sakura. What the hell?" said girl only muttered a sad apology as she rubbed her chin.
Naruto sat up again, this time making sure Sakura was out of the way, and turned towards her, his legs stretching out on either side of her. She was now kneeling in front of him, in between his legs.
He stared at her slightly blushing face before asking "Sakura, I'm curious... Who is this 'one man' that you dislike?" he asked. She only looked down, not wanting to meet his gaze. He grabbed her shoulders, limiting where she could look and said, "Come on, Sakura. I'm your mate, I deserve to know who's bothering you." He knew who it was, but he needed her to tell him for his plan to work.
"He's no one. It's nothing, really—"
"Sakura." Naruto cut her off, his voice serious now. "Who is he? Is he the one that gave you those bruises?" Naruto questioned, making her eyes widen.
"How did you know about that?" Sakura asked. Even though she hadn't felt her back hurt all throughout the day, she didn't really have the ability to look at her back to view the condition of her bruises.
"I saw them yesterday, when I took you to my place. Those were some nasty bruises. If someone is hurting you, I want to know." Naruto said, pulling her into his chest when she didn't seem to want to talk. This way, she didn't see the annoyance on his face, and it made her think he was being kind. If he needed to make her think he was one of those weak caring guys, he do it if it saved his ass from more punishment.
"Tell me and I'll help you, Sakura." he whispered. A few seconds later, he felt the front of his jacket get wet, and her shoulders shake slightly.
"I don't think you c-can, Naruto." she sobbed out. "He's a Jo-Jonin. And he's m-my step-father." she added, crying into his chest as he rubbed her back. She never saw the smirk on his face. "He b-beats me when my mom isn't th-there. And lately, he's been saying th-that he was going to do t-to me what they do in those stupid b-books he reads." her crying was getting worse, and she was reaching the stage where she started hyperventilating.
Naruto wasn't all that interested in what the man had done, at first, but the more he heard, the madder he got. Now he understood the feelings of possession that came with marking someone as his; What the Kyuubi meant by his duty as a male. If Sakura hadn't been crying on him, there wouldn't have been anything stopping him from finding that man and ripping out his own intestines only to strangling him with them. But she was, so his first concern was to calm her down.
"Sakura, calm down. I'm not gonna let him touch you, ever again." Naruto whispered into her ear, rubbing a circle on her back, ironically using the Haruno clan symbol as the circle. It continued for a while until she calmed down, and then all she did was bury her face into his chest. "Come on, Sakura. If you don't let go, I can't go beat your dad up. He's at your house, right?" he asked.
Sakura only clung tighter, worried that he was only going to get hurt. Sure, he was the rookie of the year, but Ishida was a Jonin. There was a world of difference between the two. However, she still answered his question. "Yeah. I think so. He got back from a mission yesterday, so he should be resting right now." she mumbled into his jacket.
"Alright. Now, let go, Sakura." he said, getting the expected response of her shaking her head and tightening her grip. He sighed, seeing the argument wasn't going anywhere. "Would you rather just go to my place, then?" Naruto asked, getting a nod. He smirked and made a Shadow clone, which he then performed Kiwamari with. "Then he'll take you," he said, making the girl turn around, "I'm going to find that asshole."
"No, Naru—" but before she could finish, he had already lept off towards the Haruno residence. "Dammit!" she yelled, about to run after him.
"Hey." the shadow cloned called her. "Does this mean you don't need me?" it said. Sakura decided she could respond how she used to when she was hiding her feelings completely. She reared back her fist and punched the clone in the face, making it explode in a puff of smoke. With that done, she lept off after Naruto.
--
Naruto was jumping from rooftop to rooftop when he received the memories of the clone he had made not five minutes ago. 'Wow, when Kyuubi-sama said she was spunky, he wasn't kidding. And she made it disappear with one punch.' he thought, as he neared the part of Konoha that housed small clans like the Harunos. 'Alright, since I don't know which house is hers, I'll just have to search for the one with her scent.'
He spent the majority of the next few minutes sniffing around the streets, before finding a small red house with three floors. Deciding against just breaking in, in case it was somewhere she spent a lot of her time at, he jumped down to the ground. Sighing and fists shaking with anticipation, he rang the door bell. He heard some shuffling on the other side before a red haired woman opened the door. Her eyes were bloodshot and her nose was red from wiping on a Napkin too much.
"Uh, Hi. Is this Sakura Haruno's house?" Naruto asked, getting a shaky nod from the woman. "Alright, is her dad here? I need to talk to him." he said, expecting a few scenarios. The classic, 'Get away from my house, demon!' was the first that came to mind. However, he didn't expect the woman to start crying.
'What, do they share the same emotions or something?' Naruto thought, reminded of how Sakura had been crying just minutes ago. When he was about to ask what the hell he did, he heard a gasp and Sakura's voice call his name. Turning, he saw he land next to him as she knelt down in front of her mom. She helped her up and into the house, sitting her down on the couch. Naruto walked in with them, the door closing behind him.
"Mom, what happened?" Sakura asked, before turning towards the blond boy. "Naruto, what did you do?" she demanded, staring the boy down.
"I don't know! I just asked if your dad was here!" he answered, making the woman cry louder and Sakura glare at him.
"Idiot. My dad died years ago. You need to ask for my step-father." she scolded him, but was surprised when her mom disagreed.
"N-No, Sakura." she said, making her daughter look at her. "It d-doesn't matter what you call either of them." Sakura just stared at her mom, confused as to what she meant. "Sakuira... Ishida died. He died on his mission. His team was ambushed, and by the time they returned, he had already died from blood loss." the red head watched her daughter's face turn into shock. "And, I know you didn't like him, but he was still family."
Sakura nodded dumbly, already too far gone to really do anything else. The nightmare was over. It was really over. She felt happy, but guilty at the same time. How could she be happy about a human being dying? She didn't know how to feel. All she knew was that she was safe and Naruto didn't get hurt.
Naruto was beyond annoyed at the moment. 'God dammit! After all that, he died before I got to kill him? That's just fucking great!' he yelled in his mind. When he calmed down, he decided to leave the two women alone, and look around the house. He walked over to the fireplace, where there were several pictures. Most of them were of the rosette from when she was younger, and her mom. However, some of them had two different males.
The newer picture had a man with spiky dark blue hair, and dark amber eyes. Naruto figured this was her step father. However, the other male, from the older pictures was of a man with brown hair tied into a braid with bright green eyes. Naruto stared at the picture for a while before Sakura walked up to him.
"That was my dad." she said, picking the picture up and bringing it closer. "He was a kind man, always going out of his way to help others." a few tears rolled down her cheeks as she remembered her nightmare. "He was murdered when I was around eight. They never found out who did it. And it's been so long, I doubt they're still looking." She said, as a few tears fell onto the picture. "I miss him so much, though. Sometimes I wonder why he had to die.
"Why my dad? Why not someone else's?" she questioned, wiping her eyes with the back of her wrist. "Selfish, I know, but I can't help it. I loved my dad." Sakura couldn't take it and fell onto the couch with her mom, clutching the picture to her chest.
Naruto continued to stare at the picture. 'Why do I feel like I've seen that man before?' he asked himself mentally. He was surprised when the fox answered him.
"You should remember him. He was, after all, the first person you ever killed."
To Be Continued...
AN/ Well, there's Chapter six of Just Following Orders. It took me a bit of time racking my brain, but it was hopefully worth it. As long as people like it, it was worth it. I guess next chapter will be the bell test. Dunno how I'm gonna change it yet, but I have an idea. If any of you are wondering why no one asked where sakura was, it will be explained next chapter.
I guess there's nothing else to say, so I'll end it like always. Please review.