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 our favourite blond dobe?
All underlined terms are explained at the end of the chapter.
The sun was almost had its highest point now, glaring down unhappily on three academy students and their elite chuunin instructor. I mean, how could anything be happy about three would-be ninjas failing so spectacularly that the chuunin felt like bashing his own head into a rock?
'To hell with sending them back to the Academy! At this point, I might as well just tell them to quit trying to be a ninja!' Aoba glared at Kiba, Yuuna and Tatsuko. 'If it wasn't for the jounin exams, I would have told them to quit hours ago. 'Cause this is pointless... no, less than pointless! How can you manage to mess up walking behind someone that doesn't know you're there?'
"All right, you three. Time to take a break... again." Aoba announced, ending in a harsh tone. Three pre-teens sat down heavily near the fire, which had out itself sometime during the night.
"Now, who would like to explain to me why you three suck at this?" Aoba asked plainly. He didn't have the time or the patience to hold their hands on something that should come naturally to members of three of Konoha's most prestigious clans.
Not surprisingly, silence was the only answer given.
"No one? Shocking." His words were dripping with sarcasm. "Well how about I point it out then: Tatsuko. You are the problem to the team. Not because of your lack of skill, but because of your lack of input. It is obvious that you have been unanimously selected as the leader amongst your peers, but you suck at actually living up to it." The blond hung her head despondently, knowing the man was right.
"Aoba-sensei, ain't that a bit harsh?" Kiba asked, hoping to salvage the girl's ego from the onslaught.
"Maybe, but is it accurate?" He gave all three a second to think about that. "I could spend the rest of the day pointing out where you went wrong. However, right now doing it right is more important. So I want to know what is going on in that little head of yours."
"Nothing." She answered dejectedly.
"Nothing made you go for a walk in the middle of the night? Nothing kept you awake until dawn? Nothing is ruining three good students? Why am I having a hard time believing that...?" The look on Tatsuko's face said that what was wrong was a lot more serious than 'nothing'.
"What do you want from me!" Tatsuko suddenly exploded. Without even thinking, she was on her feet, hands balled and shouting at the top of her lungs.
"How about a little honesty?" Aoba probed. He knew she was already past her limit of self control, but he might be able to get through to her better like this... at least, he hoped so...
"...honesty... Honesty...?... HONESTY? The last person that demanded honesty out of me, used that honesty and tried to 'honestly' rape me and Yuuna!" The blond was beside herself, her breath was ragged and tears were spilling onto her cheeks quicker than her half hearted attempts to wipe them away could deal with.
"So you'll just have to EXCUSE my cynical approach to every 'HONEST'person who 'truly' wants to help me." She was clenching her hands so tightly that she was drawing blood where her nails dug into her skin. The blond then stormed off towards the river, with Yuuna following closely.
What could Aoba say to that? How could he show the fragile and broken spirit of a clearly abuse little girl that he was different? Even in Konoha, being orphaned - or simply different for that matter - was little different than being a traitor, or worse.
Down by the riverside, two sisters were having a rather drawn out, and all too familiar, argument.
"Why are you giving them such a hard time?"
"Because I do not trust them."
"What did they do to you?"
"Nothing yet, and I don't plan on blindly giving them that chance."
"You have trust issues, you know."
"And you trust too easily."
"Nee-chan, why are you being so difficult? Not everyone is like Uchiha Fugaku."
"Not everyone is like Ii Reimi either."
"Nee-chan, you need to stop being so... so... paranoid."
"My paranoia has kept us alive and safe, Imouto-chan. You know that as well as I do."
"So this is what you call living? You don't even trust Kiba enough to give him a fair chance!" Morose pink met angered blue eyes as the younger of the pair refused to give an inch.
"Imouto-chan, I understand what you are saying - I really do - but please understand that I am trying to keep you safe. Even at the cost of my life, or my happiness." The blond stated pensively.
"Isn't that why you went to Hokage-sama last week? To keep me safe? So why are you still so stoic and paranoid!"
"You can't be stoic and paranoid. Stoic means to live without any kind of passion or emotion, while paranoia is excessive suspicion of the motives of others... which is not necessarily passionately done... Argh, not the point! Can't you see that I just need to keep you and Hikaru safe!"
"Nee-chan, I may not be as smart as you or Hi-chan, but I can see." The redhead stated dejectedly. "I know that I-"
"Don't. Even. Think it!" Came the vehement interruption. "Don't you dare see yourself as a burden to me or Hikaru!"
"Even if I don't say it... even if I don't think it... I still feel it, Nee-chan. Nee-chan and Hi-chan are both strong enough to defend themselves, but I... I..."
"You are too precious to both of us for either of us to give you the chance..." Tatsuko stepped closer to Yuuna and wrapped her arms around the slight girl, planting a kissed on her forehead. "... and don't ever doubt that."
After yet another quiet meal, Aoba decided he had had enough of the odd situation. He was not entirely sure how to handle the Senju orphan, but more importantly... he knew he couldn't sit idly by. So, he gathered his courage and his wits to try salvage what he could with the blond.
"Tatsuko, can I talk to you?" The chuunin asked sombrely. Unknown to the man, there was a silent and brief exchange between two girls. No man alive could understand the voluminous discussion that had taken place with no more than a meeting of two pairs of eyes, or the threat of absolute annoyance if one of the pair refused the talk, by an arched red eyebrow and the slight frown that captured the edges of the girl's lips...
"Nn." Was all the blond was able to say. As smart as she was, she knew there was no escaping Yuuna in 'I'm going to annoy you to death' mode. Well, that... and the fact that they shared a room.
"I'm sorry about earlier. I should have been more concerned with your reasons and your mental and emotional state, than with your performance." The man began, leaving the blond flabbergasted... and the redhead with an amused and obviously satisfied smile on her face. "I know I have no right to even ask, but I am concerned. What kept you up last night?"
"I... um... that is... it's just..." It felt like Kami-sama was playing yet another cosmic joke on the Senju. Suddenly this man knew how to affect her in a way only Yuuna had ever been capable of doing. Now, all she could do was wonder: 'Is Imouto-chan right? Should I trust this... Aoba?'
"Just... some old memories, I guess." Gone was the confident shell she had crafted around herself, gone was the happy-go-lucky persona that seemed to be called upon with the drop of a hat. Now all there was, was an unhappy little girl with worn eyes and a broken spirit.
"I understand, I think." Aoba seemed to grow old for a moment, then suddenly perked up and smile warmly at her. "I won't press any further. Just know that I am here if you ever need a shoulder to cry on, or to lend a sympathetic ear."
"M-maybe..." Yuuna began, smiling shyly. This instantly earned her the undivided attention of the two males and a very annoyed glare from the other girl.
"Yes, Yuuna-chan?" Aoba encouraged her a little.
"M-maybe... Nee-chan will t-talk m-more... i-if you did too?" This caught him off guard, his mouth opening in slight shock.
Quickly schooling his features, he smiled cockily at both females. "I'll make you a deal: if all three of you impress me with the drills I wanted to run through with you, I will honestly answer any and every question you have tonight after dinner!"
'A blank check for questions? With only honest answers!' A certain academy student's curiosity was aroused... and there was NO chance that she would give up the opportunity to sate her curiosity!
"All right, now let's run through this one last time. This time, Tatsuko will be the target, and Kiba will be the point man." Aoba instructed. They had spent the whole afternoon running through five strategies. Aoba had them practice each one at least three times, switching positions each time, so that each of them would know what to do regardless of which side of the situation they were on.
"All right, take your positions." Aoba ordered. The sun was just about to set, so that meant time was running out. They would need to rest up tonight, to be in top condition for the next day - and a to-remain-nameless-chuunin had a game of twenty-one questions he still had to suffer through.
All four of them disappeared, and Tatsuko re-appeared between two trees, ten metres farther up. Tatsuko had run the situation through in her head at least five times, and she knew that they were not allowed any kind of contact in the game the following day. So all she needed to do was use the safe word if she felt them close by. That was the point of this exercise, to sense them. Tatsuko closed her eyes and formed the Tatsu - Dragon - seal, focusing her chakra just behind her eyes. "Hyouhiryugan."
Aoba was about twenty-five metres away, but he clearly saw the difference when Tatsuko opened her eyes. Her irises, normally pink, were now jade green with a gold overtone, with almost cat-like slit pupils. 'No, too feral to be feline.' Her demeanour was slightly augmented as well. She... well, she glowed with confidence. 'It's almost like she is looking forward to this now.'
"That isn't even fair, Nee-chan. How can we sneak up on you like that!" Yuuna whined loudly. Aoba looked at the naive girl, trying to figure out what she was doing.
"You can complain after you stop trying to confuse me." Tatsuko retorted, but not nearly loud enough for her voice to reach anyone, forcing Aoba to read her lips. Kiba was a mere five metres from his target now, seemingly unknown to said target.
"This is going to be interesting." Aoba said in a low voice, causing Tatsuko to look at him dead in the eyes. 'Hmm? Very interesting.' He thought.
Tatsuko tried to look at everything at once. 'Kuso, this is not good. Yuuna knows my weaknesses too good, and Kiba can move around completely soundlessly. He doesn't even need to see me to know where I am, with Akamaru's nose.' She was frustrated, but sadly very impressed with her little sister too.
"Not bad, Yuuna! You are using the situation completely to your advantage!" Tatsuko shouted, hoping that it would help her to pinpoint the missing two people. She knew that Aoba was sitting in a tree 25.2 metres to the South, and that Kiba should be the one closest to her. However, she also knew that Yuuna knew all to well how to get around her Hyouhiryugan.
"Aren't you giving me too much credit!" Yuuna teased, giggling a bit. Tatsuko tried to track the voice to its source, but failed miserably.
'Somehow I doubt that.' Suddenly Tatsuko sensed something moving behind her, she twisted around to catch Akamaru scratching his ear. A bead of sweat rolled down the side of her face. She knew Kiba was never far from his companion, but she couldn't sense him anywhere. There were too much noise around her, and Kiba's stealth made it hard to hear him. Her doujutsu was also proving useless at the moment.
'Come on, Tatsuko, focus... focus.' She chanted mentally. She closed her eyes for a moment, focusing her Hyōhiryugan to the point where she could sense the dragon flies near the river... All in vain.
"Tag." Kiba tapped her on her shoulder, smiling from ear to ear. Tatsuko turned to him, opening her eyes. She saw the tag on his forehead...
"Kuso, YUUNA! AND YOU COMPLAINED ABOUT ME NOT BEING FAIR!" Tatsuko shouted so loud that Kiba and Akamaru had to block their ears.
"I don't want to sound dense, but I still don't get how this even worked." Kiba complained as they sat around the camp fire waiting for dinner to finish cooking. They were having fish and potatoes, again. It was the only food that grew wild in their assigned area.
"I think I figured it out, partly anyways." Aoba said, thinking back.
"Her doujutsu allows her to see things normal eyes can't see. Like sound waves, which is how she heard me whispering to myself. Kiba, your clan is trained to be stealth hunters, so you know how to move around and not make a single sound, that way she couldn't sense you very well. To complicate things farther, Yuuna was shouting and whining constantly, sending sound waves all over the place, confusing Tatsuko's senses even further. Then that little trick with Akamaru was the straw that broke the camel's back, if I read this right. My only question is what the tag on your forehead had to do with it." Aoba explained.
"You are only half right, Aoba-sensei. Seeing sound waves is one of the three things my Hyouhiryugan sees. I can also see the well into the infra red spectrum - body heat, and heat sources - and moisture levels. Basically, every element I master, I can sense with my jutsu." Tatsuko explained. "And that tag Yuuna put on your forehead, is a family secret of hers. It allows her to cast jutsus through the person that wears the tag."
"..." Kiba was speachless. He had never imagined that Tatsuko held that potent a secret.
"So she used her Earth style jutsu to mask his and her body heat." Aoba deduced.
Kiba's eyes went wide with shock. He knew that he felt at one with the earth, but thought it was because he was crawling around in it. He tried to say something intelligent, and insightful... but all he could manage was: "Su-sugoi."
"It wasn't that special. Hi-chan figured that trick out a few months back, we just never had the oppertunity to try it against her." Yuuna said, blushing from all the attention and compliments.
"Come on, Imouto-chan, you beat me fair and square." Tatsuko offered, throwing an arm around her waist and pulled her closer. "Besides, Karu couldn't have managed that without your help anyways."
"Well, I guess that's true." Yuuna smiled and blushed at the compliment.
Aoba announced that the food was done, and all four grabbed their stick with a fish on it, and - using the same stick - poked their potato still hidden in the fire.
"Itadakimasu!" They corused.
Eventually dinner ended. Even after Aoba had eaten twice as slow as he normally would. Even after offering to run to a twenty-four-hour convenience store that had terrific ice cream sandwiches. Nothing seemed to dull the childlike joy barely hidden behind a pair of pink eyes.
"All right, team. A deal's a deal. You three not only impressed me, but showed superior skills all afternoon." He sighed dramatically. "So, without further ado. Take your best shot."
He would forever regret EVER saying that to these three. Anyone else would have probably asked things that any idiot could answer, or only an idiot would ask...
~Over in the camp of team Izumo~
Naruto suddenly sneezes. Too bad he was facing Sasuke at the time, causing said emo to react in a very non-emo-like fashion.
"Now. You. Die."
"Nice shot, Uzumaki! I'd say that's S-class aim." Hikaru joked, while laughing at the Uchiha-teme dashing for the blond of their group.
~Back in the camp of team Aoba~
The team captain was just mulling over a rather intriguing question. "I dunno, never thought about joining the ANBU... but I guess the intelligence division is where I would fit in best." He answered Yuuna.
"Really? I would've pegged you for a T&I man, myself. So you really prefer intelligence gathering and codes to interrogation?" Kiba asked.
"Well, I am working for the Interrogation Department right now, but I am looking to relocate in the future. It isn't hard to tell that I am never going to be the best there, so why not try my hand at my other talents. Perhaps broaden my portfolio a bit. That way, if things get quiet in T&I I won't have to worry about paying my bills."
Tatsuko's turn again. They had all settled into an unplanned rhythm of one question each, which meant he took as long as possible to answer Yuuna and Kiba... before Tatsuko got another chance.
So far he had been astounded at the speed Tatsuko was gauging him four times. The business card information was shot through the window at the first opportunity! The only things she was interested in were his battle tactics (distract and decapitate), his taijutsu stances (non existant, he preferred the flexibility of free form fighting), whether he was a sensory type or not (yes), did he have a kekkei genkai (yes). Very specific, very revealing... very personal information to a shinobi.
"What is your kekkei genkai?" That makes five times now. Even though he saw the question coming, it didn't really make that much of a difference.
'She is really getting me back for using my family's chakra paper on her last night...' He rubbed his right index finger and thumb against the bridge of his nose, briefly raising his shades.
"So your eyes are red, what does that have to do with your bloodline limit?" She was not going to let him off easy... not in the least.
He sighed for the... ach, he lost count how many times her questions caused him to sigh. This girl would be a shoe in for interrogations, she had an obvious knack for it! He was definitely going to talk to Yamanaka-san about letting her watch them work one of these days. 'I wonder if there is a bring-some-kid-you-don't-really-know-to-work-day no one told me about?' He sighed again.
"It's a very uncommon, nearly unheard of doujutsu call the Kokorogan. The mind's eye." He answered her. He hoped she wouldn't come up with anything deeper than that, but he doubted it.
"But Nee-chan said that came from the Ii clan! Are you from that clan?" Great, it wasn't even the Senju's turn and he was still getting her questions! He sighed again...
"My mother's maiden name was Ii, and yes, she was from the Ii clan. However, no one really goes by that name much any more, other than Aunt Reimi. She's kinda stubborn." Why did he offer any amount of questions as a reward! At this rate he'll be answering questions well into next Christmas!
"What happened to your clan then?" Kiba wondered. Did they have this planned out? Were they following some pre-agreed-on script? And why did he say he would answer them honestly? Even if he gave short answers, he knew that the brainiac would just follow up on it and get the most out of him she possibly could! He sighed again.
"Well, our clan's techniques favoured the fairer sex, so my ancestors researched everything they could to ensure the majority of pregnancies bore girls. So we ended up marrying into other clans often enough to ensure that there was enough fresh blood to keep us strong." He rubbed his nose again, seeing that Tatsuko was actually thinking this time. Odds of her asking an easy question we less than zero.
"What are the strengths and weaknesses of the Kokorogan?" She had to ask...
"Well, I don't know about you guys, but I'm beat." He fake-yawned, trying his best to avoid the question. "We really should call it a night, seeing that we have that long, drawn out, twenty-four-hour long game of Ninja-tag at dawn."
Later that night, after everyone had gone to sleep, Tatsuko walked down to the river. She sat near the river bed and marvelled at the countless stars in the sky, thinking back on everything that had happened in the last two days. She thought about what Kiba told her...
/ "... I'm not like the others..."
"... In a friendship you need to trust your friends..."/
... and about what Aoba-sensei had told her too.
/ "... I am here if you ever need a shoulder to cry on, or to lend a sympathetic ear..."/
She thought about whether or not it was a smart move to show them her jutsu... but mostly, she wondered how Hikaru would react when he found out.
"I wonder how Hikaru is doing?" Tatsuko asked no one in particular.
"I wouldn't worry about him, Raidou-kun would never let anything happen." Aoba smiled, walking over to where she was sitting.
"Good evening, Aoba-sensei. I thought everyone was asleep." Tatsuko said, not sounding in the least bit surprised.
"I was, but I have a nasty habit of waking at the slightest sound." He teased.
"Oh... Gomen." She blushed, suddenly realising how he knew she went for a walk the night before.
"No need for that. I was hoping to talk to you anyways." Aoba said with a serious look on his face.
"... about my doujutsu, right?" She asked cautiously. She was already unsure if she should trust him as much as she did.
"Hai. The Hyouhiryugan. I have been thinking about what you said, and I wonder if you know that people will notice it if you should use it tomorrow. You said yourself that you didn't want people to know, right?"
"H-hai." She suddenly felt stupid for not trusting him. 'Maybe Yuuna is right. Maybe I need to trust people more... Well, certain people at least.'
"Any thoughts on how to hide it completely?" He asked her. She shook her head in the negative. "Do you want to use it tomorrow, or at all in the future?"
"If it meant showing people that I am a freak... No, I'd rather not use it at all." Aoba came closer to her, and sat down next to her. He gazed at the stars for a long moment, sorting out his thoughts.
"I don't know about the whole 'being a freak' thing... but I can tell that it is important to you. So why not try covering your eyes with something?" He offered.
"Like you with your shades?" She guessed.
"Well, these are more intended for the style. However I do use my shades to help focus for certain jutsu, and you would never guess my kekkei genkai without me removing them. You would need to find something that suits you though." He said vaguely.
"Well, that means I'd have to wait until after we get back to go shopping for something." Somehow she felt like she would let down her team if she didn't give it her all. She knew that Hikaru knew her weaknesses too, so if his team had to target them, then she would be little more than dead weight. She needed to figure out how to get back the edge in the situation.
"Or you could borrow a spare from me." Tatsuko looked down from the stars, and right at him. He held out a pair of red wire frame shades out to her. "Always carry a spare or two, in case you need 'em."
The next morning was a very early start. Everyone was expected to meet up for dawn, which meant they had to wake up at 4:00 AM, pack their stuff, have some sort of breakfast and break camp before leaving.
"Well, well, a mini Aoba-sensei." Kiba teased when he saw the new accessory on Tatsuko's face.
"Ehhh, I didn't even see them!" Yuuna complained, after yawning and rubbing some of the sleep from her eyes.
"Aoba-sensei thinks that it will help me use my jutsu while not showing it to anyone, but I won't be able to test that until after sunrise - and the colour is going to throw my accuracy for a while; which is why I want to start using it from now." Tatsuko tried to explain, but it all came out too fast for anyone to really follow properly.
"Hey, that might work. Not a bad plan." Kiba replied, smiling. He might have been lying through his teeth, but that cocky smile - the one that always made Tatsuko nervous around him - made sure she didn't care.
"Well, we will be walking to the rendezvous site, to give her enough time to adjust to them. Are you sure that you can use the jutsu that long?" Aoba asked cautiously.
"Hai, it doesn't put much strain on my chakra, but I never got the chance to use it for long periods of time. If I start to get tired, I can always just take a little rest." Tatsuko was exited about being able to use more of her skills, without giving herself completely away.
'How can she say all of that without pausing to breathe?' So without any hesitation, she made the Dragon seal.
"Hyouhiryugan!"
The familiar reds and blues came in view. She could see the the wind blowing gently, and the river behind her. The air had a slight chill to it, because of the early hour - she could see that too. Then there was also...
"Sugoi..." Tatsuko breathed, seeing the sound waves map out the whole area for her. She could see every tree, every branch, every leaf for almost fifty metres in every direction. She could see the birds sleeping soundly in their nests, rats and rabbits in their holes underground, even a few snakes hanging lazily in a tree.
"I can even see your heartbeats now... and practically everything else around us too. I've never been able to look around so freely." That last was said so soft that it was hard to make out. "Arigato gosaimasu, Aoba-sensei." He smiled at her and nodded.
"We should be able to pick up the pace nicely now, since you can see better than any of us in the dark. Warn me if you see anything, or if you need to rest a bit. We are only a half a kilometre from the rendezvous-site, so we should be there pretty quickly. All right, let's head out!"
End Chapter 5
A/N: As always, lots of love going out to Kiravu! Both of us have been busy with Christmas, so please forgive us both :P
And for those of you who think I am overpowering my characters... umm, you might be right. Kiravu keeps telling me that too, but trust me, it will balance out.
Coming up next time: Ninja-tag, you're it!
Hyouhiryugan - Ice Dragon Eyes.
Kokorogan - Mind's Eye.
Doujutsu - A type of jutsu that affects the eyes of the user. Think of the Byakygan or the Sharingan.