I do not own Naruto as a game, Manga, Anime series or a character. All original characters are mine though :P
Hi no Ishi (The will of Fire) - Ninja-tag Arc
A new class is introduced to Umino Iruka as things get tossed on their head quickly. How is it that so many exceptions are being made? And since when were so many Clan Heirs gathered in one class? How can a little support affect our favourite blond dobe?
All underlined terms are explained at the end of the chapter.
"Jeez, this is so annoying." Shikamaru complained as he was handed a tag. He eyed the item carefully, wondering how it worked. There were three rows of writing above, and another three below a single kanji... "Baku." Explode. There was a chance that this was chakra controlled, but he had seen people simply light it aflame. Was it about preference?
"Now that everyone has a tag, I will explain the basics. First off, as I warned earlier, do not focus any chakra into the tag at any point until I tell you to. Second off, notice the kanji in the center for explode. Directly around the kanji is the immediate seal. This is used to capture the item that actually explodes. Around the immediate seal, there are six scribblings. Three above the immediate seal, three below." Iruka-sensei seemed nervous about something and signaled something to the other two chuunin.
"Mizuki-sensei, Tsubaki-sensei. They both seem pretty familiar to Iruka-sensei. Probably old classmates, maybe even friends." Shikamaru rubbed the arch of his nose, mentally cursing his insatiable curiosity. "I wonder how many cats were killed by the curiosity of the Nara clan."
"These are triggers to activate the seal. Now notice that all six triggers are different. Starting at the twelve o'clock position, the immediate trigger. Notice that this is the only one actually connected to the immediate seal. Which means activating this trigger will immediately cause the tag to explode." With that Ino threw her tag and started screaming hysterically. Something about not wanting her hair to catch afire.
"Don't worry, we are not going to work with live tags just yet. These only light up when you use them right." Tsubaki-senseiexplained, trying to calm the girl. Shikamaru noticed the dirty look she gave Iruka-sensei, almost hearing the lecture he was going to get later on.
"I knew that." Ino offered, trying to act cool. It wasn't hard to tell that she was still unnerved.
"Bad actress, bad liar. Doesn't she know that she isn't fooling anyone? Probably not. Mendoukusei." The boy groaned mentally.
"All right, we will begin by activating the immediate trigger. Just focus your chakra into the very tip of the scribble. You will know it worked, because it will light up the moment you do it right." Iruka-senseiexplained. "Now, let's begin."
Shikamaru got home later than usual that afternoon. Apparently no one thought the better of telling students that senior academy schooldays were scheduled to last two hours longer a day than they were accustomed.
"Great, now okaa-sanis going to be pissed at me for something I knew nothing about, mendoukusei." He complained as he entered the house, before briefly muttering: "Tadaima."
"O keari nasai, Shika-chan. How was your day in school?" His mother greeted him with a warm smile. She seemed serene for some reason, like there was nothing that could upset her.
"Longer than usual, and Ino decided to freak out at every turn. Mendoukusei." He explained. "And somehow I think you knew about it and chose to say nothing, knowing I would simply refuse to go." He didn't ask, but he didn't really Need to.
"I'm sure Ino-chan will get used to her training in due time. I assume you will be helping her with that?" She had a slightly harder edge in her voice now.
"H-hai."
"Good, then she will do just fine. Now go and wash up, dinner will be ready soon."
"Geez, this is almost as much trouble as the team assembly exercise we got for homework. Mendoukusei."
Morning came quickly, a little too quickly. The sun shone a little too brightly, burning into a soon to be complaining boy's eyes. The birds chirped a little too happily, assaulting his ears. Shikamaru could feel himself waking up. He simply refused.
"Just another five minutes." He mumbled, hoping the world would understand and simply leave him be.
"Shika-chan, time to get up. Breakfast will be ready soon." Yoshino sang happily.
"Mmmm!" Came the fully expected complaint.
"Shika-chan, if you are not washed up and sitting at the table within ten minutes, I will simply have to send your father to get you." She threatened. Shikamaru knew that if his old man had to come get him, there would either be a bucket with cold water coming in with him, or he would simply have him walk himself into the shower with the Shadow Possession-jutsu. Nah, he'd prefer not to spoil me and use the cold water... less effort that way too.
Fourteen minutes later, Shikamaru sat at the table, complaining. "I sign up for the easy life and what do I get? More demands and complaints. Mendoukusei."
"Shika-chan, if you don't drink your tea it will get cold and you will end up being late for school!" Yoshino warned from the kitchen. Shikamaru heard her footsteps heading to the front door, meaning that she was waiting on him.
"Hai, hai." He waved it off, trying to stretch as much time as he could.
"Shikamaru, you only Need to say it once. Now hurry up. Your bento is packed and I am sure Chouji will be waiting on you!"
"Hey, ji-ji,why did you have to marry such a strict woman?" The boy asked quietly, afraid of what his mother would do if she heard him.
"Well..." Shikaku began, then slowly thought about that. He thought back to the days before he was married, about what he loved and admired. "She has a nice smile."
"Ah man. That's the best you can come up with?" The boy deadpanned, sweating from the sheer insanity in his old man's analogy.
"No matter how strong-minded a woman is, she will show kindness to the man she loves." The look on his son's face said that he didn't believe a word of it, so he left it at that. "By the way, me and Choza are leaving for a few days, so here is the money to cover your side of the deal."
"Another mission so soon?" Yoshino rushed in with a very subdued look on her face, and obviously to the point of crying.
"Shikamaru, finish your tea before you're late for school." Shikaku said in a soft tone, his eyes never leaving hers.
"This day just keeps getting better and better." Shikamaru complained. "The second class starts, Iruka-sensei decides to start with calculating team strengths and weaknesses. I mean how stupid do you have to be to Need to calculate this stuff? Put the weakest near the middle, the slowest in the front and keep the strategist and the medic alive. How hard is that?"
"Iruka-sensei, is this stuff we really Need ta know? I mean, all we gotta do is send in the strongest guy and complete the mission right?" Naruto asked.
"And what if your strongest is not strong enough? Then what do you do, Naruto-kun?" Iruka-senseiasked, doing his best not to yell.
"They are going to get into an argument, pissing Iruka-senseioff and making Naruto look even dumber. Then he's going to give us some stupid test to make us all suffer because the blond blunder boy can't keep his trap shut. Why did I come to school at all today? Mendoukusei."
"Listen, Naruto, if you don't understand it, just say so! Don't go around calling it useless!" Came Iruka-sensei's typical demon face, used almost exclusively on the hyperactive knuckle-head.
"But how much use is something that you don't get?" Naruto griped. The academy teacher felt his blood pressure rise instantly.
"Ah man, here it comes. I think he's gonna pop."
"Well class, since Naruto-kun seems to not understand how important it is to understand the strengths and weaknesses of your team..." Iruka began. A wave of complaint washed over the class, drowning out any chance to continue.
"ENOUGH!" He shouted, restoring order almost immediately. "Whether you want to believe me or not, I was planning on doing this anyway. This just changes the order I had in mind. Now, if you take out your homework assignment. You all should have selected two of your fellow students for a infiltration mission, bearing in mind that there would be resistance and possibly traps." Iruka turned to the board and quickly drew a simple schematic of a very simple compound. The drawing pointed out the height of the walls, the thickness of the doors and walls.
"Now that we have gone over the basics of team strength calculations, you are going to calculate and plot your best course of action. Based on this compound. You will have no more than ten minutes to come up with a plan and strength-weakness analysis based on your plan. There will be no comparing notes. No discussion of any kind. BEGIN!"
Class-to-numeral conversion, huh? Sensei wants the calculations leading to the ideal situation for the 'mission'. Okay, let's see. Academy student, or E-class, would be zero to one... Genin, or D-class, would be one to two...
1,249 speed out of 5. She is not slow, but is the slowest of the group. 0,985 out of 5, I am physically the weakest. He is not the weakest, or the least capable. In fact, at 1,792, he is nearly twice as strong as I am. At 2,219, he is more than twice as fast. Other than speed, he was always second place, but never by more than a point. Maybe he liked it like that?
It would make sense. He always had a mark to overcome; someone to compete with in terms of strength, taijutsu, ninjutsu, genjutsu, seal knowledge and intelligence. Overall, I would say he is the most capable in the class.
As for the assignment. Three obvious entrances, two less obvious ones. Then there is the slight indentation here in the wall, it would be easy to break through and make a major distraction.
"Okay, since we do not know if this is supposed to be a retrieval, an assassination or a stealth mission, it would be best to think in advance and plot all major possibilities. Now how do I want to do that? Well this room seems to be the best guarded... so..."
Iruka stood at attention, wondering what all the fuss was really about. He kept a keen eye on his students, making sure they were focusing on the task given to them, but his mind couldn't help but wander... and wonder.
"I have only had this class for six weeks, but Hokage-sama already is arranging a 3-day survival? That's unprecedented!" His thoughts were clear, but the motifs were well hidden. "There is something that Hokage-sama knows about this group that I do not. I will have to ask him about that."
"Iruka-sensei?" A hand shot up, showing that the first student solved the problem. That train of thought would have to wait for a while. He walked over to Sakura and checked her calculations based on the people she chose.
"Very good, Sakura-chan. Although, you may want to consider multiple options before you plot out your best course of action." Iruka said smoothly.
"Hai, sensei. That is actually how I got to this answer." Sakura beamed proudly having been one step ahead of her sensei this time around.
"Really, then please write down the other possibilities you considered and the reasons you didn't want to apply them. I am curious to see how far you thought this through."
"Ah man." Iruka heard someone complaining in the back row... that meant.
"What is it, Shikamaru?" Iruka asked, knowing the answer already.
"You mean we gotta write down all the other options we considered? Medoukusei." Exactly what Iruka expected, he still couldn't help but sigh.
"I kind of agree with him, Iruka-sensei. There are too many variables to write downallthe possibilities. Even if we were to break it down to an algorithm it will take a few hours." Tatsuko piped up.
"Hours?" Iruka looked at the blond curiously. "Very well, then I would like the two of you to write down at least five options, with their strengths and weakness."
"Is it a problem if I wrote more?" Tatsuko asked worriedly.
"How many did you write?" Iruka was really curious now.
"Twelve."
"Twelve solutions?" Iruka was impressed, but he tried not to show it too much. Offering one student too much praise meant causing a rift with their comrades.
"Umm, I meant twelve cases." Suddenly the classroom became so silent that you could almost hear what the teacher in the next classroom was explaining.
"And for each case how many solutions?"
"Ummm..." Tatsuko suddenly felt shy for some reason. The combined staring of her entire class, and the weird look on Iruka-sensei's face was really unnerving. "Just one or two." Hers eyes were glued to her desk now, and her cheeks were turning slightly pink.
"That's fine, Tatsuko-chan. May I see them?" Iruka sensed that she didn't want her results to be revealed, but he had to know what her tactical skill level was.
"Iruka-kun, it's almost time to make the announcement." Hagane Kotetsu announced after knocking and entering.
"Come on in, Kotetsu. I was just getting to that." Iruka's attention was momentarily sidetracked, giving Tatsuko the opportunity to hide a few of the papers she had written her answers on, though not from embarrassment. Somehow, it never occurred to Tatsuko that the others would have any problems keeping up with her analysis, and she didn't want to be different. All she wanted was to fit in and make friends.
"Class please meet Namiashi Raidou, Hagane Kotetsu, Kamizuki Izumo and Yamashiro Aoba. They are here to aid me in guiding you through your first three day survival. I would advise all of you to pay special attention to what they have to say, when the time comes, because all four of them are by far stronger and smarter than I. Now, since there are four chuuninaccompanying you all, we will split you into four teams of three. The problem I just gave you is to decide which of you will belong to which group. I will call four names, those four may choose the other two member that will join you, after I announce all teams." He paused to let that sink in.
"Now, Sakura-chanwas the first to finish, so you will be on Kotetsu's team. Sasuke-kun, you put your pencil down second, so I am assuming you finished not more than fifteen seconds after Sakura-chan, you will be on Izumo's team. Shikamaru, you complained almost immediately after, so you will be going with Raidou-senpai. And Tatsuko-chan, you will be going with Aoba-senpai. Please remember which chuunin you are under, because I will not say it twice. Now please stand in front of the team-leader in charge of you for the coming three days."
"What? Now I can't have Sasuke on my team, COME ON!" Inner Sakura complained, while she meekly walked to the front of the class.
"Mendoukusei. After being tricked into this, I'm gonna have to play survivor man." Shikamaru complained, dragging his feet.
"I wonder if he is as strict as he looks?" Tatsuko thought as she walked up to the man with the black and red shades on.
"... This might just be fun..." Sasuke thought as he walked up.
"Now, here are the rules for choosing the remainder of your team. You will say one name, when I point to you, male or female makes no difference. That student will then stand up and walk to their team." Iruka explained once everyone was in place. "Now, we will begin."
Iruka pointed to Shikamaru. "Choji."
Iruka pointed to Sakura. "Ino."
Iruka pointed to Tatsuko. "Yuuna."
Iruka pointed to Sasuke. "Hikaru."
Iruka pointed to Shikamaru. "Hinata."
Iruka pointed to Tatsuko. "Kiba."
Iruka pointed to Sakura. "Shino."
"And that leaves Naruto to go on Sasuke's team." Iruka said, then waited for everyone to group up.
"Now I will announce the temporary teams for the next three days:
Team Kotetsu: Haruno Sakura, Yamanaka Ino, Aburame Shino.
Team Izumo: Uchiha Sasuke, Yukikami Hikaru, Uzimaki Naruto.
Team Aoba: Senju Tatsuko, Kitsunaga Yuuna, Inuzuka Kiba.
Team Raidou: Nara Shikamaru, Akamichi Choji, Hyuuga Hinata."
Iruka made a note to keep track of the teams. "All right, now everyone will have lunch and the journey will be explained to you afterwards."
Lunch in the classroom was always a mixed experience. The girls would usually sit together, exchanging chit-chat and gossip between bites, amiable company being the order of the day. While the boys would compete with each other over one thing or another, exchange competitive looks and half truths to make themselves look better (the latter solely implying Naruto). Today it was general chaos. No one knew what to expect from the 'survival', but most thought it was a test of one kind or the other.
"I guess you and your lover boy will be spending a few days together." Hikaru words caught both Tatsuko and Yuuna completely offguard.
"What are you trying to say, Hikaru?" Yuuna asked in a small, unsure voice, completely unaware of her teammate's reaction.
"To whom the shoe fits." Hikaru said, with a knowing smile creeping onto his lips.
'Well, it certainly doesn't fit me...' Yuuna thought, wondering at Hikaru's cryptic words. Then, she saw something out of the corner of her eye. A small change at first, but it quickly spread like a wildfire. By the time Yuuna turned her head Tatsuko was blushing so completely that it wouldn't surprise Yuuna if her heals were turning a bit pink.
"I didn't think anyone knew." Came a small voice.
"Tatsuko?" Yuuna was staring at her best friend in wide eyed shock. "Oh, Kami-sama. Nee-chan, since when?" She was a bit unhappy that Tatsuko held something this big from her, but she quickly deduced that she didn't tell anyone.
"..." What could she say, how could she explain it? 'I guess she deserves to know.' Tatsuko was just opening her mouth to tell her the whole story, when...
"Hey you two, I was thinking that since we are on the same team, we could have lunch together?" Kiba smiled warmly. He was standing just behind Tatsuko, so he didn't see her face, but the looks on Yuuna and Hikaru's faces made him wonder what they were talking about.
"Sure, Kiba-kun. Come, have a seat." Hikaru smiled impishly, seeming genuinely pleased to see the boy.
"Thanks." Kiba sat down next to the white haired boy and took out his bento. "Everyone seems to think that this is going to be a test of some sort. But you know what I think?"
"That this is going to be a competition?" Hikaru smile widened further.
"Exactly, they are splitting us into teams and are probably going to have us compete against each other. The question is: in what?" Kiba and Hikaru kept talking like that for a while, not that Tatsuko noticed. She alternated between staring at Kiba, and staring at anything but. Daydreaming about him the whole time.
"Well, that settles it. I guess I am having lunch with the enemy. I'll see you guys in a few days." Hikaru announced and stood up to leave.
"Maybe, but I think we'll see you much sooner. Good luck out there." Kiba smiled at him knowingly. That was enough to waken the dreamer.
"Yeah, we'll see you, Otouto-kun." Tatsuko said softly.
"And Kiba..." Hikaru stopped, but didn't turn around.
"Mm?" Kiba noised, looking at him carefully.
"Take care of my girls."
"No prob. I'd never let anything happen to them." Kiba boasted proudly, "Ne, Akamaru?" The puppy barked confidently.
Kiba looked a little longer at Hikaru, knowing that he had just been entrusted with the two people that meant most to the boy. He smiled, swearing mutely that he who protect the girls with his life. "Wait a minute... 'my girls'?" Kiba turned to the team he was assigned to, only to find both of them blushing furiously.
Inuzuka Kiba just came out of the furo dressed in his PJs, ready for a good night's rest. He knew that he would not be able to rest well during the survival, so he was turning in earlier than usual.
"Hey Akamaru, I don't know about you, but I don't get those two. I mean, they both act kinda weird around me, like they have some kind of secret. And then there's the whole Hikaru calling them 'my girls' thing." Kiba's voice was irritated, but he couldn't figure out why. He just rubbed Akamaru's head, which lay idly on his chest, while he tried to make sense of his day.
"It's none of my business what they do with their lives, but then why is it bugging me so damn much?" Kiba imagined the three of them growing up together, going on missions together, raising their children together... without him...
"Those three can do whatever they fucking want." All at once Kiba was filled with intense rage. But what was worse, he suddenly felt sad too. He didn't understand it in the least. "I guess it's pointless to try to figure this out right now. I've got a major test coming up tomorrow, so I Need my rest."
Kiba looked down at his companion... who was sleeping soundly.
"Night, Akamaru." Kiba said softly, patting the canine's head gently. Allowing himself to fall asleep too.
"Morning, Otouto-chan." Inuzuka Hana greeted her little brother. "Sleep well?"
"Morning, Nee-san. Always do. What's for breakfast?" Kiba was wide awake and had already taken his soak in the furo. Having packed his bag the night before, all that he still had to do was eat before he left.
"Rice, tempura, sausage and fried eggs with bacon." Hana replied happily. She was not very good at much in the house, but her cooking was top-notch.
"You hear that, Akamaru? Nee-san made our favourite." Kiba smiled from ear to ear, and Akamaru barked happily.
"Well, you won't be home for a few days, so I figured I would spoil you a little to tie you over." Hana smiled absentmindedly, remembering how much her mother had spoiled her just before her first 3-day survival trip.
"Arigato, Nee-san. I'll be sure not to disappoint you."
"You ready for the survival?" Hana asked, sticking out her tongue. The food was still hot, so she was handling the bowls carefully as she placed them on the table. Kiba served himself and Akamaru a healthy portion of everything
"Of course I am. Mom helped me pack everything last night, before she left for her mission." Kiba said absentmindedly picking at his food. He still couldn't shake the weird dream he had.
Hana had noticed a 'slight' change in the boy's demeanour. Normally he would completely ignore every question until he had his fill, then he would appologize for not hearing a word of it, but now... He seemed to barely notice the food, and was answering every question. "Oh really? Then why do you look like you're a million miles away?"
"Huh?" Kiba seemed to only now notice that there was food in front of him, when he himself had put it there. "Oh, um... nuthin'."
About five minutes passed before Hana had officially had enough. "Kiba what is the matter with you? You're not acting like yourself at all."
"Huh? Didya say somethin', Nee-san?" Kiba was having major concentration problems, which was normal while he was eating. However, Hana noticed that this time he wasn't paying attention to his food either...
"Ototo-chan, what's wrong?" Hana was really beginning to worry, was he just stressed about the survival trip?
"Dunno. Somethin's been bugging me since yesterday at lunch, and I ain't been able to shake it since. Thing is, the more I think about it, the less sense it makes. It's like I've been chasing my own tail, and can't figure out why it is always just out of my reach." Kiba's voice hinted that he had been thinking about it almost non-stop for longer than he wanted to admit, and he was more than a little frustrated about it.
"You wanna talk about it?" Hana asked in an almost maternal voice.
Kiba thought about that for a long moment. He knew that Hana would make sense out of this mess, but did he even want it to make sense? Stupid question.
"Well, I'm teamed up with these two girls, Tatsuko, and Yuuna. But they're normally joined at the hip with each other and this guy, Hikaru. Thing is..." Kiba thought back to lunch the previous day. "After talking wid him for like ten minutes he decides he was going to spend the rest of lunch wid his team. Then he tells me to take care of 'his girls'."
Hana's eyebrow shot up curiously. "He said it... like that?" She asked curiously.
"He said: 'Take care of my girls'. In those exact words." Kiba felt the same anger he had felt last night thinking about this same thing. "It's been buggin' me evuh since, an' I don't get why." Kiba sighed, exasperatedly.
"How did the girls react?"
"Just how you'd expect: they blushed." Kiba didn't understand what his sister was getting at, but he knew she was figuring something out of this madness.
"Was it an embarrassed blush, like they were happy, or more like a 'what the heck did he just say', or like a 'I can't believe he feels that way too' kind of blush?" Hana kept her face as neutral as she could, but she had pretty much figured out what was really bugging the boy.
"What's the difference? They were blushin'." Kiba was totally confused now, were all girls this complicated?
"Their eyes, their facial expressions, their body language, describe them as best as you can. One girl at a time." Hana instructed.
"Well, Yuuna was looking at the floor, but she seemed happy about hearin' what he said. She had a smile - a shy smile. I think she was fiddlin' with her hands too. Like she was playing with her index fingers." Kiba explained as best he could, somehow he had a little trouble remembering how she looked exactly.
"And the other one?" Hana asked.
"Tatsuko-chan? Her blush was the deepest pink I'd ever seen. Her reaction's kinda weird, now that I think about it. It's like... she was happy and embarrassed, just like Yuuna, but she seemed to radiate somethin' else too. Her eyes kept dartin' back and forth, looking at everything and nothing at the same time. And everytime she looked at me she would smile, and blush a little deeper. Then when she would look at Hikaru, and smile uncertainly, like she was trying to figure somethin' out. Everytime I asked her a question she would act even weirder... she would tug at her earlobe, and stammer through half of what she was saying. Then when I would ask Yuuna a question, she would look a little sad... And when I was talking about something... I dunno, I almost felt like she was hanging on my every word, like she studying every nuance. Then I would ask if she agreed with me, she acted like she didn't hear a word of it."
Kiba could make no sense of any of it. "Yuuna seemed to act pretty normal after her blushed died down, but Tatsuko just kept acting off-key. That is, until we started with our drills with Aoba-sensei. Once she had something else to focus on she became all business. And during the explanations, she listened attentively. She seemed totally focused. Completely opposite to the way she was acting before that. It's like she became someone else..."
"Well, don't worry about it too much. I'm sure you'll figure it out soon." Hana smiled at her naive little brother. It wasn't hard to figure it all out, but she knew that Kiba had to handle this one on his own.
"You're not going to tell me what you figured out. Are you, Nee-san?" Kiba stated more than asked.
"No, I'm not. But that's only because this is one of those things you have to do on your own." Hana smiled warmly at him. She really did want to explain it, but this was just none of her business.
"Can you at least give me a hint?" Kiba sounded vaguely desperate.
"A girl's only as complicated as the way she feels." Hana explained. She hated being so cryptic, but anything else would have given it all away.
"The way she feels?" Kiba looked down, trying to piece it all together.
"Now hurry up! You don't want to be late, do you?"
End Chapter 2
A/N: I would like to take this wonderful opportunity to make out with my beta-reader in front of everyone! Kiravu, I love you!
And before anyone tries to point out that this is more romance and fluff than anything, well you Need to be patient and wait to figure out why this is call the Ninja Tag Arc...
Japanese terms:
Kaa-san, Okaa-san - Mom, mother.
Mendoukusei - 面倒くせい - A phrase used almost only by Nara Shikamaru. It loosely translates to "what a drag", or "what a pain". No matter how you translate it though, it is a common complaint he uses.
Tadaima- 唯今 - "I'm home."
O keari nasai - お帰りなさい - "Welcome home"
Jiji - Old man, gramps, grandfather.
Bento - lunch box. BTW, when someone says "O-bento." It usually means, here is your lunch box. Insightful, I know. -.-''
Tempura - Japanese styled, breaded and fried meat/fish.