Hi no Ishi (The will of Fire) - Ninja-tag Arc
I do not own Naruto as a game, Manga, Anime series or a character. All original characters are mine though :P
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 out favourite blond dobe?
The students of Iruka's class were gathering at the school gate, as they were instructed. Since this was first time any of them had ever been on a survival, everyone seemed exited.
"Teme! Why did I have to get teamed up with you anyways?" Well, almost everyone.
"Like I asked to have a dobe on my team." Sasuke 'helpfully' pointed out. Needless to say the conversation went like it always did: Naruto said something either about how cool he was or how uncool Sasuke was, and Sasuke either ignored him or made a counter argument. Hikaru just shook his head anytime either asked his opinion (ESPECIALLY Sasuke), doing his best to simply stay out of the argument.
"Jeez, you'd think those two would learn to get along after being in the same class for four years." Ino complained.
"Yeah right, Naruto never learns anything quickly." Sakura belittled him, again.
'Shannero! that Naruto, if I find out he makes my Sasuke look bad, I'm going to let him have it!' Inner-Sakura ripped an imaginary Naruto's arm off and proceeded to beat him to death with it.
Shino just looked at them in mild amusement.
"Man, am I glad that neither of them are on our team, huh Shikamaru?" Choji said between bites; his left hand holding the bag of chips, while his right hand fished in in for new victims.
"Anyone would be better than having Naruto and Sasuke on our team. Separately they might be tolerable, but they are such a paintogether." Shikamaru complained in reply.
"Well, maybe Naruto just likes sticking out." Hinata said so softly that neither Shikamaru nor Choji heard her, who were standing closest to her.
"Well, I guess we won't have that much entertainment while we're out there, so we might as well enjoy the show, ne Akamaru?" Kiba joked.
"Well, I will enjoy the peace and quiet to be honest." Yuuna said softly.
"I'm with her on this one." Tatsuko announced.
"Alright you two, settle down." Iruka announced as he poofed into view about a meter away from the offending teme-dobe argument. Everyone lined up as they had been trained: team leaders in a line next to each other, approximately a meter apart, and the rest of their team lined up behind them, about the same distance apart.
"Good morning, class." Iruka smiled, they had gotten themselves in order without so much as a peep from Iruka, and within ten seconds. Not bad, in Iruka's opinion.
"Ohaiyo, Iruka-sensei." Came the uniform reply.
"I have two announcements to make before we head out. I shouldn't even have to say this, but I expect that everyone will treat their team-leader with the same respect that I would expect you to show me. The other thing you all need to know is that the set up has been slightly modified to properly test each student and chuunin. That's right, this is a test for the chuunin as well as you academy students." Iruka waited for everyone to soak in the information he had given them so far.
"Now, the three day survival was initially intended as a three day competition. That is still the case, only there is more to it now.
"Day one will focus on the individual. Each student will be tested and analysed by their chuunin team-leader to see where their strengths lay.
"Day two will be teamwork building exercises, mainly to learn to work as a team.
"Day three will be the real test, because you will all take part in a competition to see which team works best together. There will be a twelve-hour long game of ninja-tag. I'm sure you all know how that works, but I will explain anyways.
"Each team will be given a rival team as a target, along with three tags with the kanji 'suwaru' inscribed on it. These tags work a lot like the paper bombs we have been practicing with, only they force the target to sit until it is removed, instead of exploding. Think of it like a kunai with a bomb tag attached, if it hits you - even if they miss your vital points - you're out.
"The team that 'eliminates' their target quickest wins. Any questions?" Iruka knew that two questions were coming: 'can I be assigned to a different team', and 'why do we have to train for three days straight'... and he knew who was going to ask those questions. Not surprisingly, Shikamaru raised his hand.
"Shikamaru-kun?"
"Can we choose a target, or at least have a preference for a target?" No complaints... hmmm interesting.
"No, a target will be assigned to you on the third day. You may only engage your targets. If anyone engages an opponent on a team you are not assigned to, you and your team forfeit the game." Iruka assumed that either Shikamaru wanted to target Tatsuko to see what she was capable of, or to target anyone but her, because it would be too troublesome. "You can however discuss who your preference would be with your chuunin team-leader. The five of us will announce the targets on the day of ninja-tag." A second hand shot up.
"No, Naruto you cannot be assigned to a different team." The hand went back down, with some muttering and swearing under his breath. After thinking about the teams for a long moment, Iruka decided it might be best to add something: "More importantly, if any of you sabotages a team-mate, or tries to exclude them in any way... you will be severely punished! A true shinobimust be able to work with anyone in order to accomplish his goal." Iruka noted the mixed emotions on Ino and Sakura's faces, just like Sasuke pointedly not looking directly at the academy instructor. "Any other questions?" Another hand shot up.
"Iruka-sensei, will it be light contact ninja-tag, or anything goes?" Hikaru asked curiously. He wanted to know how far he could take it, or if he should just tag them and run.
"Good question. Zero contact: you will not be allowed to touch your targets at all. Each tag will be thrown and attatched with a sticky string, which will be provided. This is supposed to simulate a covert operation, so if you are so much as seen you must immediately withdraw. A 'free word' will be issued before the game starts. Anyone who says the 'free word' cannot be attacked for five minutes, and the attackers must withdraw." Tatsuko's hand shot up this time.
"So this is really to test the chuunin's ability to observe our every movement, and how well they can teach us to accomplish this complex task?" Tatsuko asked with a blank expression on her face.
"Exactly Tatsuko-chan, but there is one more element to this survival than just that. It is also to test how well you all can cope with living in a harsh environment, with long training hours and little rest. This is key aspect of being a shinobi: surviving in the most adverse conditions. And yes, you are being tested as severely as the chuunin who are guiding you. So I expect you all to do your best, and nothing less."
"All right, you three. Time to start our first round of exercise. Here is what we are going to do." Yamashiro Aoba began. The three students assigned to him seemed of the capable sort, but he had too much riding on this little trip to chance it. "I want to have a sparring match with each of you in turn. I want to to come at me with everything you've got."
"N-nani?" Yuuna asked in a worried tone, looking at Tatsuko uncertainly.
"Don't worry, I won't hurt you. I just need to see how good you are, and no amount of explanations or schematics on your current level of skill will say anything. Let's start with you." He explained, pointing at Kiba.
"Fine by me. Only unarmed taijutsu?" The boy asked.
"No, you can use anything you like. I need to know where you are in all aspects." Aoba-sensei said plainly.
"You ready, Akamaru?" Kiba crouched forward and crossed his arms at the elbows, balancing himself by placing his fingertips on the ground. Akamaru jumped on his back and barked to announce his readiness.
"Beast Mimicry!" Kiba's face stretched a bit, making room for somewhat larger fangs. His fingers seemed to bend a bit, almost painfully, as his nails grew sharper and pointier. "Juujin bunshin no-jutsu!" Akamaru disappeared in a puff of smoke, leaving a very feral Kiba-clone on the original's back. Both Kibas had a very cocky smile on their twin faces.
"Congratulations, Kiba-kun," Aoba-sensei began, "you know how to look scary."
"Oh yeah? Gatsuga!" Both Kibas jumped up and clapped their hands together, causing them to spin at a dangerous rate.
'I wonder if they'll get dizzy like that?' Tatsuko thought.
"Okay, you know a topspin. But you're limited by your dizziness tolerance." Aoba-sensei said, after dodging both attacks effortlessly.
"Tsuga!" One Kiba continued the attack solo, while the other held back a bit.
"Shikyaku no-jutsu!" The other Kiba spun around, and started running in a canine fashion at their opponent. Both attacks struck their opponent head on, ripping the man to pieces.
"NO!" Yuuna was horrified. She watched, terror stricken, as parts of Aoba-sensei were torn out of place.
POOF!
A tree stump plopped to the ground, in pieces. Kiba looked on in fascination, wondering how he had missed it.
"Kawarimi no-jutsu. A handy trick to use. I am actually quite shocked that you didn't expect it." The suspected victim explained, suddenly right behind the shorter girl.
"WAAAAAA!" Yuuna jumped and clung onto to Tatsuko for dear life.
"Well, that is enough for now, Kiba-kun. Very well done." He smiled at the boy happily. "Now, would you care to go next?" Aoba asked the blond of the group. He was somewhat taken back when she gauged him coolly.
"If you want." Tatsuko shrugged.
'Why do I get the impression she is not impressed with me?' Aoba thought, getting a familiar tingle at the base of his spine. He was getting exited about a match with a pre-genin? That doesn't make sense!
"Same rules as with as with Kiba-kun?" She asked, taking a ready stance.
"If you think you can handle it." He said vaguely. How far could she take the match? Why was he so interested in her? Sure she was a Senju, but to get this exited?
Then she disappeared.
"Whoa!" Her trail was hard to follow - well, harder than Kiba's at least. She was fast! But more than that, she was not sloppy. Aoba found himself dodging wave after wave of attacks, volleys of kunai and smoke bombs to hide her presence.
Sure, if he compared her to most people he knew, she was nothing special. But compared the Class-E taijutsu and speed he was supposed to test her for... she was a shining star! Still he felt there was something he was missing...
'The pattern! She is laying up traps within her attacks!' Aoba actually had to start pushing himself a bit, as evades were being made more and more difficult. The shuriken and kunai she threw were all lined up like a grid on the ground, she was setting up a much more complex strategy than someone of her skill should know.
"Check!" She shouted proudly. Check? Did she think she was playing Shogi?
"What are you playing at?" He asked her out loud.
"Strategy. Since you are too busy trying to test me, you failed to notice the pins and wires placed."
'Pins and wires?' He looked around, the shiruken and kunai were all he could see. So it was a reference to something else then. Pins and wires, pins and wires... 'Living steel wire!'
Two hands reached into an oversized jacket's sleeves; one pulling out two shuriken and wire, the other pulling out a... bamboo stick with holes? The wire and ninja stars were tossed callously into the air, while the stick was brought to her lips and the top of it was kissed, producing a single jumbled note.
'A flute, huh? Can't say I'm surprised.' Aoba thought, carefully gauging his surroundings for the tell-tale signs of a genjutsu.
Seconds went by, revealing not just a lack of genjutsu, but a lack of more than one note? What made it weirder, the girl's fingers were flying from hole to hole, covering, uncovering, then re-covering them again. Still, there was no change in the tone the flute made.
"Senju Mateki - Ikite iru hagane-sen!" What the...! That wasn't even Tatsuko's voice. It sounded almost as if the flute was talking? However, there was not time to mull over that!
The wire snaked its way through the rings on the butt of the kunai turning the grid into a two-dimensional puzzle. The two shuriken simply hovered several metres high and twenty metres apart. 'All this without a single hand-seal?'
Sure Aoba could have simply attacked her, but he was curious about what she could do with the jutsu. He knew the living steel was easy to defeat: simply hit it with fire. The heat would melt the steel and the chakra would diffuse the jutsu. It's just... well dammit, what she was doing with it just made him curious.
"Gyoen no bouei!" The puzzle shifted and moulded into the frame of a tent. All it needed was some cloth or wood and it could become a comfortable home. Slowly, as the wires shifted more, Aoba could see a whole new level. There were now wire-frames hallways, doors, windows... there were forms and figures everywhere, almost resembling a maze.
'She is making a very complex 3D puzzle with this simple jutsu. Unless you precisely estimate the wires, you could easily be ripped to shreds. Impressive way to show off your brainpower.' He looked at her carefully now, she was definitely not someone to underestimate. Then, the pattern her flute playing had been following changed; she had changed the pattern just before the last jutsu too. 'Is there more?'
"Jigoku no meriigourandou!" The flute sang again; then the wire-frame house began to spin. Slowly, true, but it was moving! Aoba smiled as he had to start planning a little better now, and dodging a LOT better. This was going to get interesting.
The only thing that was really keeping his limbs attached to his body was quick reflexes. No energy was being wasted on either side either. Every time Aoba found a pattern in the jutsu, Tatsuko would immediately notice and change it again. Either by shifting the turning axis, or by tugging the wholes in the wire tighter or even by shifting entire sections into other shapes and patterns.
'Even for a low level jutsu, this is dangerous!' Aoba thought as he jumped through yet another hole, then watched as the hole shift closed behind him. 'Well, I guess this is as far as she can take it. Still, very impressive.' He was just about to overpower her jutsu, when he noticed something... her flute playing pattern was changing again.
"Do you want another challenge? Or have you had enough?" She (the flute?) asked him playfully.
'She has more up her sleeve?' He wondered in awe. "Gimme all you've got!" He announced with a cocky grin.
The fingers of Senju Tatsuko started dancing frantically now, as the mateki's song became agitated. The monotonous, jumbled note was gone now; in its place came the fury of an off-key allegro. "Countdown to doom jutsu." The flute announced again.
"What the..." Metre by metre of the wire was suddenly being sucked back into his opponent's pouch, forcing the cage to constrict around him at an alarming rate... and he had to admit, it certainly was a cage now!
'No helping it now. Still, I am impressed.' He said, then focused and simply disappeared.
"You got the most of what you had." Aoba said, putting his hand on her shoulder.
"Aya! Where... how... but..." Yuuna was completely confused, but Tatsuko just smiled.
"I take it you enjoyed the workout?" She asked him.
"It certainly was more than I was expecting. But after seeing what happened at the spring festival, I guess I should have known better." He said, smiling at her. "Now clean this mess up, I still have one student to test." His jocular tone hid whatever he was feeling, but that didn't stop Tatsuko from deflating completely.
She focused on her jutsu for another long moment and the kunai, the shuriken and the wire flew back into her pouch, leaving no sign that a battle had taken place at all - if you ignored the cuts in the earth where the weapons once lay embedded.
"What happened at the festival then?" Kiba asked, as Yuuna started her round with Aoba-sensei.
"Nothing." She turned away from him, hugging herself with her eyes cast down. The new crease between her now knit eyebrows and the slight sheen in her eyes plainly showed what she felt. Unfortunately, Kiba was too focussed on Yuuna's match to really notice anything.
Aoba-sensei had just blocked a front kick, as he sweeped her other leg. The girl landed ungracefully on her bum, mumbling something incoherent. The chuunin decided now was a good time to take a few healthy steps back.
'She may not be that fast... but her brute strength makes up for it.' He thought, trying to ignore the stinging in his left wrist. 'I'd better not block any more of her attacks, she might accidentally break something on me!' Aoba knew that not every attack only hurts the target. A sloppy punch could easily shatter your own elbow and/or wrist!
Yuuna got up, still grumbling, and stole a quick glance at Tatsuko; who was - unfortunately for Aoba - preoccupied in her own little world. It wasn't hard for the redhead to figure out what was wrong with her blond. Or more importantly, who had caused it...
She darted forward and shot a right roundhouse punch at his ribs that was meant to break each and every one of them... only to have him bend over backwards to dodge. Aoba placed both hands flat to maintain balance, then - while arching his back and bending backwards - he slipped his left foot behind her right knee. Pulling her off-balance with his foot, he then caught, balanced and held her bridal style using only his shins and feet.
"If you landed that punch, you might have broken something. You need to control your anger better." He then placed her back on the ground, and flipped over to stand up. "Still, very impressive. I've seen enough for now. Kiba, I want you to work with Tatsuko on her taijutsu, while she helps you with tactics. You both can learn a lot from each other on those topics. Yuuna, I will be working with you on your taijutsu, simply because I think you might break Kiba."
'What is it with these two?' Kiba asked himself for what must have been the hundredth time. They had all been sitting and enjoying their meal in silence for the past fifteen minutes.
"Hey sensei, what happened at the spring festival?" Kiba couldn't help being nosy. He already had these two girls on his mind since before lunch the day before, and he understood almost nothing of either of them.
"It's a long story, and I'm not entirely sure Tatsuko-chan would want me to tell it." Aoba said simply, sipping at his tea.
"Aw come on. It's not like I'm going to start acting goofy because of it." Kiba pleaded, then turned to Tatsuko. "Come on Tatsuko-chan, you know I'm not like that."
Tatsuko looked away from the canine-boy. "Nothing out of the ordinary." Came a small voice. Aoba was suddenly glad that he always wore his shades, because they hid the completely shocked and sad look that his eyes held.
"Will you at least tell me why Hikaru refers to you two as 'his girls'?" Kiba ventured, refusing to give up.
"That's because he is the only one who has ever protected either of us." Yuuna said softly. A lone tear escaped from Tatsuko, mutely cascading down her pale cheek. Kiba didn't notice it at all, but Aoba couldn't have missed it if he wanted to.
"So that gives him the right to claim you to be his?" Kiba asked, not thinking about what it really meant.
"Yuuna, I think we need to go and do our afternoon workout. I'm sure Aoba-sensei and Kiba won't mind cleaning up while we're gone." Tatsuko's voice wave heavily laden with an emotion that Aoba couldn't pin down, and that was not something he was used to. Suddenly Tatsuko jumped to her feet and walked towards the lake in the distance, dragging Yuuna behind her.
"Na-... nani?" Kiba was left feeling completely lost, and more than a little ashamed. "Did I say something wrong?"
"Nothing worse than what they must be used to." Aoba said sadly.
"Aoba-sensei, could'ya please stop speaking in codes. Cause I really ain't getting nothing about this." Kiba griped.
"I'm pretty sure that Tatsuko left so that she didn't have to explain anything, but left us the task of cleaning up so that you could ask whatever you wanted to me... Or I could just be reading her wrong." Aoba said vaguely.
"So what happened then?" Kiba felt hopeful that maybe he could finally understand something about those two.
"I don't know about even half of what they went through, but I was there last spring when she got into trouble. The worst part is she did nothing wrong." Aoba had a far away look in his eyes, thinking back to the festival.
"I was there with my cousin, Yuuhi Kurenai and... a friend of hers. The day was nice, but the night was simply gorgeous. There was a group of women doing a traditional dance and there were a few musicians playing the song that accompanied that specific dance. Suddenly there was a flute being played, and everyone knew that there were no wind instruments used by the musicians, so people were curious about what was going on. Moments later everyone was trapped in a mass genjutsu, only this genjutsu was different." Aoba thought about the peculiar moment a little longer, which Kiba took as a dramatic pause (like all good story tellers used). Kiba sat silently, totally absorbed in the story.
"The buildings slowly faded away, the clouds disappeared, even the noises from the children running around were suddenly missing. The stars were shining majestically, more beautiful than any... no every other time anyone had looked at them. The moon was suddenly bigger too, like it was falling to the Earth, but not in a horrid way. No... it was all just so romantic. A shame I was there with my cousin, but anyway. The wind suddenly carried the scent of sweet flowers, and even carried a few cherry blossoms with it. The dancers were engulfed in a beautiful light, like the very Heavens were moved by their performance. All in all, it was a festival that was worthy of Kami-sama." Another dramatic pause ensued.
"Or so I thought... the townsfolk who realised that it was a genjutsu were furious. They saw it as practice for something much more sinister. So much so, that when they found her they started throwing rocks at her. Kurenai and I had to intervene to save the girls life, but that didn't spare her the pain. The townspeople accused us of defending a demon and were about to start attacking us too, but Hokage-sama intervened. He had the ANBU escort us and Tatsuko to his office.
"Kurenai and I both gave detailed explanations of what happened, including the genjutsu itself. After hearing it, Tatsuko just asked how we could have seen it. She was completely unaware that her music had any affect on anyone else, or even if anyone else was listening to her play. Eventually Hokage-sama asked her to play her flute again, thinking about the dance. Again we were all trapped in the genjutsu, only this time everything seemed bleak, like it was meant for a funeral; and when she stopped playing, the genjutsu faded away. No one seemed to know of anyjutsus that you could activate with nothing more than the notes from a flute, not even Hokage-sama himself. Until Danzou-sama pointed out that they were famous in the Rice Patty Country."
"What so everyone thought she was a spy from another village then?" Kiba asked a bit subdued. He began to understand how the girls felt, even if only just a little bit, and he didn't like it.
"Oh no, people thought she was possessed. That some demon had taken control of her and was going to destroy the village." Aoba said honestly, with a heartfelt sadness gripping his heart.
"Why the heck would they think something THAT stupid?" Kiba asked dumbfounded. Aoba knew that his family, or anyone in the village really, had never told him the story.
"Well, have you ever heard about the Kyuubi that attacked Konohagakure?"
"Yeah, everyone knows about that. Yondaime Hokage-sama died defeating it; but what does that have to do with Tatsuko, or anyone for that matter, being possessed by a demon?" Kiba's head was starting to hurt from trying to figure this all out. Aoba was quiet for a long time, and the look on his face depicted the horrific scenes playing out in his head.
"If you are truly lucky, Kiba-kun... you'll never know."
END CHAPTER 3
A/N: Once again, much love to my beta-reader! Kiravu, I'd kiss you if I thought my nuts were safe afterwards ;)
Anyway, I know this chapter is significantly shorter than the previous two. I hope that the changes brought to it and the fight scenes make up for it though.
Read&Review = quicker updates, for those who haven't figure that out btw.
Teme - Bastard, what Naruto calls any he doesn't like.
Dobe - Loser, dead last. I had to get this one from Urban Dictionary.
Suwaru - Sit.
Juujin bunshin no-jutsu - Man Beast Clone jutsu.
Gatsuga – Fang over fang.
Shikyaku no-jutsu – On all fours jutsu
Tsuga – the jutsu used without their animal familiar.
Kawarimi no-jutsu – Replacement jutsu.
Senju Mateki - Ikite iru hagane-sen - Senju Magical flute - Living steel wire.
Gyoen no bouei - Imperial Garden's defence.
Jigoku no meriigourandou - Hell's Merry-go-round.