Hi no Ishi (The will of Fire) - Five Ninja Academy Students
I do not own Naruto as a game, Manga, Anime series or a character. All original characters are mine though :P
It's been a week since the Ninja-tag games. Class is back in full swing. However, it seems that certain students are holding back some painful secrets. What are they hiding? And why?
All underlined terms are explained at the end of the chapter.
~Flashback Chapter~
~Naruto POV~
"TEME! You better stop disrespecting me! Cause I'm gonna be the next Hokage, dattebayo!" Stupid Daikoku-sensei sent me outta class again; something about it being way above my head, or him not wanting me to distract the others... or something. Who cares! I don't need to listen to him talking about catra! Who the heck likes cats anyway!
"Uzumaki, wait up!" The Yuki... yuki... whatever, the beady-eyed kid shouted. Well, he hates this school as much as it hates me, so I'm just a good excuse to skip class. I stopped to be nice, but I knew that no one gave a rat's ass about me, so I was not putting my hopes up with this guys either. I narrowed my eyes as he came closer. "Treat you to some ramen?"
"What's the catch, beady-eyes?" He didn't even flinch at the name.
"I'm hungry, and I really don't need Funeno-sensei to explain me something that Tou-san taught me before I was born. Now come on, let's eat, I'm starving!" I've never seen this guy talk this much. Especially since even I knew his old man was killed not even a month ago. Still, at least he knew who his father was. "Fine you don't want ramen? I'll eat a bowl in your honour then!" He dashed off leaving me behind. Wait, ramen!
Five bowls... six bowls... "Can I have another double order of pork ramen, Ayame-nee-chan?"
"Of course, Naruto. Tou-san, another double order of pork ramen!" Ayame-nee-san, Teuchi-jiji, the only two people besides Hokage-jiji that would even notice if I went missing. Well, the others would notice, but just wouldn't care.
"Hai!" Teuchi-jiji answered in his usually happy/Military-Sergeant voice.
"Hey, Ichiraku-san, gimme another shrimp ramen, with a side of Tsukune!"
"Tou-san, one shrimp ramen with a side of Tuskune."
"Hai!" They were always like this. Even I knew that Teuchi-jiji could hear the customers' orders, but they always did it like this. I didn't mind, it was nice to hear somebody getting along with someone else when I was around.
"You know, Naruto, I'm glad you showed me this place! The food here is the best I've had in months!" Beady-eyes said.
"Are you kidding me! IchiRaku Ramen stand has the best everything in Konoha!" I boasted. 'And they are willing to feed me too!'
"That's just what I'd expect to hear from our most loyal customer." Ayame-nee-chan teased me. I rubbed the back of my head, embarrassed. Well, it was true, but I didn't really want beady-eyes to know I only eat here... unless I'm in a rush to get to school. Then I have the instant ramen cups Teuchi-jiji makes sure I have in stock.
"So, Uzumaki, there was something I wanted to ask you." Here it comes, it always starts with 'I have a plan, and you're just the guy I need.' "How serious are you about becoming Hokage?" Huh?
"Totally serious, dattebayo! Being Hokage is my dream and I'll make it happen no matter what, dattebayo!"
"Serious enough to start training to make it a reality?" Huh?
"Yeah, of course! Why?" I need to be careful around this guy. He has something up his sleeve and I don't like it.
"Well then you're going to love this. I have a scroll that you need to read in front of Hokage-sama. In it is a special training regimen and a mission that you need to do."
"Hold on right there! I know your type, gaki! You think you can trick-"
"I have orders from Hokage-sama himself, and I am telling Uzumaki to open and read the scroll in front of that very same Hokage. How is that a trick?" Huh? So Hokage-jiji is finally starting to recognize my skills and wants to appoint me as his successor. Took him long enough!
"I'll do it!" I grabbed the scroll and ran straight for the Hokage tower.
"Naruto, what are you doing here? You are supposed to still be in class." Hokage-jiji looked surprised to see me. I guess beady-eyes really was trying to trick me. "Ah, I see you've received the scroll I sent you. Are you interested in the offer to train?" Huh? He wasn't tricking me?
"Of course I am, dattebayo! Someone has to get strong enough to let you retire and enjoy your life, dattebayo!" I bragged, rubbing my finger under my nose and smirking knowingly. It was only a matter of time before I'm running this village, then everyone will have to acknowledge me! Everyone will stop and tell me how much they're sorry for ever doubting me!
"Very well, now please tell me why you are here so early. I wasn't expecting you until well after three o'clock." Oh, that's why he was so surprised to see me!
"Sensei sent me outta class. But that's beside the point, keeping Hokage-jiji waiting is stupid, dattebayo!" I hope he's not mad at me for getting kicked out again. Kuso, stupid sensei. Jiji's eyes narrowed, but luckily not on me. He's thinking something. He's always thinking something when he starts stroking that puff of hair on his chin. I wonder if I'll grow out my hair like that when I'm Hokage...
"Well, I will have it looked into. Naruto, if you suspect you are being sent out for unjust reasons, please let me know immediately." Hokage-jiji is smarter than he looks, too bad the Academy instructors won't care.
Been there, hated that, moving on. Now, about this scroll.
Naruto,
Reading this letter is the first step in a long journey to your becoming Hokage. Congratulations on your choice, now let's get down to business.
There are three main keys to achieving your dream: Shin, Gi, Tai. Senju Tobirama's favourite words - mind, technique, body. You must be willing to endure, to train harder than you ever thought you would to achieve your goal. Are you willing?
Hokage-sama has another letter for you - or at least, he will by the time you prove you are willing. Yes, prove. You will have to prove that you are willing to endure anything to become the next Hokage.
Now here is what I want you to do: Hokage-sama has a map with three locations encircled that I need you to investigate. At each place you will find a scroll with instructions. Follow those instructions. Ask Hokage-sama, or Yukikami Hikaru, or anyone else you truly feel you can trust - which isn't going to be a whole lot of people.
A true friend wants you to succeed, and true enemy never will.
Good luck,
Kuroikage.
"Ne, Hokage-jiji, about that map?"
"The Academy library? What the heck am I supposed to do here?" I couldn't help but ask that out loud, I mean come on! What are books gonna to teach me?
"Uzumaki." Beady-eyes, huh? It figures he'd be here. That Kuroikage seems to trust him, so he can't be all that bad. "Yo." He greeted me warmly.
"Hikaru, right?" I guess I'm just not used to people being nice to me. He nodded gravely, before giving me another scroll and a book.
"Enjoy, I'll be taking a snooze in the back row." Without another word he walked to the back of the large room and sat down at a table and promptly fell asleep. Jeez, is he and pineapple-head related?
'Now let's see, the book is on basic chakra control. Boring! Let's check the scroll... Practical Pranking!' I had to fight back the urge to jump up and down in excitement.
I quickly opened the scroll and the first thing it I read really hurt... "Before reading, please study the book. It will make the pranks flow much better. Trust me." Fine, but only 'cause I have to!
"Chapter 1: meditation using kuji-in. Hand seals are used during meditation to study the internal chakra network. In the simplest terms, a chakra network can be compared to roads in a town or village. Each road, or chakra pathway, is meant to transport chakra from one point to another. The wider the road - or thicker the chakra pathway - the easier and faster any amount can be transported.
"Each kuji-in (twelve major seals in total) allows you to pick a route though your chakra network, allowing specific amounts to travel to specific locations. This eventually allows a person to use jutsu, by carefully combining the chakra with physical energy."
Well that sounds easy enough, I guess.
"Step one to learning and mastering the hand seals is to meditate with each seal individually. They each affect your body in a positive way and are known for their vitality boosting effects." What followed was twelve pages describing each major seal; how to make them, a basic idea of what it does to your chakra network, what element each sign is attributed to... This is actually pretty cool! I like this little book. Too bad that was all the book described. But it was definitely enough to get me started, dattebayo! Now let's see, the first sign is...
'Alone again. I hate being alone.' Hours of meditation to finally understand one handseal told me that that was going to be a long road, but at least it kept me busy. Now though... The only thing I could hear was my own breathing echo off the bare walls of my room. I was alone.
'Even the guy that was supposed to be my roommate never once showed up. I guess he found out that he would have ended up with me. Who needs him anyway! ... who needs any of them...'
I was too tired to focus on meditating; too awake to go to sleep. Just like my life, always stuck somewhere.
Tired of the same old tune; I looked around hoping to find something that would be enough to... something, anything... I dunno. Just something to take my mind off of things. Something to help me to not think for five minutes.
The walls were still bare, but the wood was beautiful. Unfinished wood, bare for all the world to see. I had no pictures of my family to decorate the room, seeing that I never had one. I had no friends either; no one seemed to want to be around me for very long.
I remember I used to play with some of the kids in the playground when I was younger... until their parents found out.
/ "Why are you attacking my child? What did he ever do to you!" A tall woman asked. She was upset, and she seemed so worried. What did I do? I only asked if I could play with them on the swing. "You stay away from him, you demon!"
"What's going on here?"
"Isn't that that child?"
"No wonder she is so upset! I told my daughter to never go anywhere near him!"
"But I just wanted to play. I just wanted to play on the swing with someone. Can't I play on the swing?"
"You can do anything you want to, demon, so long as you stay away from our children!" What does demon mean? Is a demon someone that doesn't have a family? There are other kids in the orphanage too, but they all have someone. Why am I always so alone? Why won't anyone play with me?/
"Kuso..." I mumbled. 'Why am I thinking about stuff like that? I mean, there were a few kids that used to play with me...'
/"Get away from me, you demon!"
"Mommy says your bad, that I shouldn't play with you."
"Are you gonna kill me like you killed my daddy and grandpa?"/
Forget it... no one cares about me... i'm just some demon to them...
/"I-i-i-i... I'm-m not afraid... of you..." A girl stammered. Everyone else had already gone home from the playground, so it was just the two of us there.
"It's okay, you don't have to lie..." I mumbled, kicking away a few innocent pebbles with my feet. One of the pebbles seemed to like the girl and jumped right at her.
"Aa!" She jumped back behind the tree she was hiding behind. "Itee."
"All you okay? I didn't mean to hurt you, honest!" I ran up to her, hoping to check on her before someone came and got mad at me for hurting her.
I quickly check every inch of her, trying to find out where she was hit, but I couldn't seem to find anything. "Are you okay? Where were you hurt?" I asked, trying not to sound too worried, but I guess it didn't work.
"Aa!" She jumped back, holding her hands to her chest, looking down and a bit to one side. Her cheeks turned a bit pink and she was stuttering something again, but I just couldn't understand what.
I looked at her, doing that 'once-over' thing that Reimi-san told me was normal when you meet someone the first time. She is wearing a dark grey shirt and pants, but right by her wrists and ankles it looks kinda like the fence around the playground. She has those flat shoe-things that girls like to wear. Her hair was... blue... black… some dark colour and short in the back and has two longer lazy spikes in the front. Well, the look like spikes, but they're falling down, not standing up like a real spike.
But the thing I remember most were her eyes. They are white, not just the part that is always white either... I know people with blue eyes, green eyes, black eyes... but hers are the first white ones. If I look close enough, I can almost see a little purple in there... real, real little, but there.
"Are you hurt?" I asked calmly. Her head swung slowly one side, then the other; no. "Are you scared of me like the others?" Again, her head swung both sides; another no.
"Well, do you wanna pay then? The sun is still up." Her eyes opened up really big, like they were gonna pop out of her head any second. I thought she was gonna run, just like everyone else, but she didn't.
"I-i'd...l-l-like that..." She stuttered, but nodded anyway./
"Hyuuga... Hinata..." The only kid my age that ever - regularly - played with me. Sure she was shy, maybe even strange... but she isn't afraid of me. She never ran away from me. Until that old guy told her to never talk to me, never to play with me... just like all the rest.
It wasn't her fault. She wanted to play with me... it wasn't her fault... but it wasn't my fault either. It isn't my fault people hate me. No one will even tell me why.
"Stupid people." I curled up on my side again, trying for the hundredth time to go to sleep.
"NARUTO! GET BACK HERE!" Another satisfied customer! I was dashing from alley to alley, rooftop to rooftop. There was just no way these idiots were catching me!
"IN YOUR DREAMS, SUCKERS!" I shouted right back. 'All I gotta do, is make this last jump, dash down that alley, in through that window and I should be home free!'
"HEY WATCH WHERE YOU THROWING THAT! YOU COULD HURT SOMEONE!" I shouted again, wondering what it was... until I got closer to where it landed and grabbed it. 'They're actually throwing kunai at me! Well, fine, two can play that game! Plan B then...' I dashed across the main street, through the market that was just starting to open, but more importantly through some light civilian foot traffic. 'If they risk throwing kunai here, they risk civilian lives that aren't the target's. That has the death penalty for shinobi, even ANBU.'
True to design, the kunai throwing idiot let up. So that meant it was time for phase two of plan B, making it to class!
"Naruto, you're late, again!" Jeez, okay! I get it, you don't like me!
"We were reporting to Hokage-sama, so you may take it up with him." Hikaru explained.
'How'd he show up with me! I don't remember seeing him behind me!'
"Just hurry up and sit down." You know what, no more Daikoku-sensei for you! You wanna grumble and complain when you can't kick me out, fine!
"Hai, squidgy-cheeks-sensei!" It was true, the man had that unique puffiness to his cheeks that old ladies like to pinch and call squidgy cheeks!
"WHAT DID YOU CALL ME!"
"Need I remind you, Funeno-sensei, that we just came from Hokage-sama's office. I suggest you behave, unless you want to go there next." Hikaru threatened. I dunno what's going on, but the class is loving it! Everyone is laughing at squidgy-cheeks!
"Daikoku, my hearing is just fine thank you. Now stop shouting." Hokage-jiji said evenly, trying to calm the raving lunatic down. Jeez, that guy can't take a joke! Just because I actually explained why I called him squidgy-cheeks by squeezing his cheeks in front of the whole class and talking in an elderly lady voice, doesn't mean that he should be upset, right?
"... hai... hokage-sama..." Awww, just like a widdle baby now.
"Good, now I have heard what you have to say. Please tend to the class you are supposed to be teaching and I will deal with these two." Without another word squidgy-cheeks-sensei left, tail between his legs and all. Hokage-jiji rocks!
"Now, Naruto-kun, you know you shouldn't pick on him just because you can." Hokage-jiji told me.
"After everything he's done to me, he's getting off easy." I dismissed his words with a wave of the hand. We've been like this for months now. Every time I complete a very complex prank, I get another scroll, another chapter in chakra control and another even more complex prank to pull! I am learning ten times more like this than squidgy-cheeks would ever let me learn!
"It seems that your teacher is satisfied with your current level of skill. So it has been decided that you will be doing three pranks back to back this time - one in the Academy teachers lounge, one for the ANBU headquarters and one for the Uchiha district. In that order."
"And only after mastering what's in the book and scroll. Gotcha." I knew the routine, so why was he explaining it again.
"Only this time is different. No one will be able to protect you for these pranks, Naruto. This may be comparable to a B-Class mission, and there is no way to guarantee how it will end."
"This is what I've been training for, Jiji. Besides, the only reason why the ANBU chase me, is so that I can practice escaping from them! I could simply slip away and no one would have a clue!"
"I know, Naruto. I know. I just thought you might like to know that there will be no chases this time, because you are actually going to be targeted by upset ANBU and chuunin or higher levelled shinobi. Yes, they will calm down in time-" I was just about to tell him that! "but the point remains that they will be upset and more likely to do things they otherwise wouldn't. Kami-sama knows I wouldn't blame them."
"So only do the pranks if I know I can get away with it scot free, otherwise don't risk it."
"Exactly."
"All right, Hokage-jiji. I'll be as sneaky as I can be this time, just 'cause you asked me to." I answered, a lot more serious than I normally am. There was just something about the way he was talking that demanded a serious answer.
'All right, so what is so big about these pranks this time?' I opened the scroll with the three pranks. As always, there were maps describing the area, patrol routines of the ANBU and any other shinobi, even some info on the individuals I was most likely to meet during the prank.
The Academy Teacher's Lounge prank was a classic, switching the sugar for sea-salt, and creamer for chalk dust before the teachers showed up. They all enjoyed their coffee together before going to their first classes.
As for the ANBU HQ, well, they were getting water balloon traps set up in their lockers. The trap was set to trigger the second the door to their locker opened and each trap was supposed to fire at least three balloons. 'Well, the water is getting replaced with something else... I'm not sure what yet, but they are not simply getting wet for all that trouble!'
And the Uchiha district? All the info, but no suggested prank? "Be creative." Was all was said. Hmmm... What would those stick-up-their-butts hate most? Well since the other two pranks are in the wasps' nest, maybe the Konoha Military Police Corps HQ should take this hit... but what to do?
'Well, there is still time to figure that one out, let's see what I need to know this time.' The book, chapter thirty-eight, using the henge no-jutsu on objects. 'There is even a paragraph on changing what a mirror or a window shows you... YATAI! Uchihas in their underwear at the KMPC HQ! Oh I am sooo good! Hee hee hee!'
Weeks! You know how long that is? WEEKS of preparing everything perfectly for the ultimate day of pranking! I ground nearly six supersized packs of grade A teachers chalk, got two small bags of sea salt on the market, six dozen balloons and well over a gallon on spoilt milk and a couple dozen rotten eggs... and the crème de la crème... mastered the henge for other objects.
I started out simply practising it alone in my room, then I moved on to objects in public, seeing if anyone would notice me doing it - the only advantage to everyone hating me was that I always knew when they saw me doing something!
After that, I would henge stuff while I knew people were looking at me. Like trying to buy fruit from vendors on the market that I knew would never sell to me, they always made a big scene about it. So I would pick up the fruit, smell it, put it back down and just before I run off, I henge it to look rotten!
'The looks on their faces were priceless when they tried to sell it afterwards!' They eventually started telling people that anything I touch rots on contact! I decided then and there that they would be on the receiving end of a lot more pranks in the future.
After that, I started practicing henge-ing stuff that people wore! There was this one lady that always threw rocks at me whenever she saw me... so I started with her.
She always hangs out around the deli that her parents own - don't care about the place, seeing that they never let me inside. She is always outside trying to lure customers in. I stood in an alley tracking her, studying her movements for a bit.
Whenever a shinobi walks past around her age, she would always strike up a longer conversation than with anyone else. She would always start twiddling her hair with her finger, obviously flirting with them. That was my window of opportunity!
After about an hour of waiting, a lone shinobi walks past the deli, but doesn't enter - those are her main targets. She immediately strums up a conversation with the man, doing her usual routine of openly flirting and teasing him to follow her in. The guy is in no real hurry, since he is staring at her partially exposed cleavage, so he stays and chats a bit.
Five minutes in, they are oblivious to anything around them; the girl knew how to draw them in like a professional hooker! So I made my move. Sticking to the crowd - and henged to look like an eight year old girl in a cute little kimono - I grabbed the back of her skirt, giving her the 'I'm lost, which way is the west gate' routine and henged her miniskirt into something more... revealing. Something like that see through plastic used to store food.
Well, the woman never noticed the henge, but the crowd certainly did. A cute looking chick in her underwear in the middle of town - yeah, crowds tend to notice things like that. Although, the group of boys that pointed and shouted that there was a hole in her underwear (courtesy of the henge) didn't help her much, but her running into the deli screaming her head off did! The deli made record breaking sales that day, and no one ever suspected it was me.
The moral of that prank? People with see through skirts, shouldn't throw stones!
Anyway, the day finally arrived when the three pranks would be executed. I was hyped up, and ready for anything!
I snuck into the Academy Teacher's Lounge with no problems; I even got away without a problem with the ANBU HQ. Nothing seemed to be going wrong... until I made my way into the Uchiha district.
Setting up the simple (after doing something a hundred times or more, it really becomes simple) genjutsu on all the windows to show the person in their underwear went as well as can be expected, then I snuck into the kitchen and switched all the signs on the their spices and cooking ingredients - I even threw in some chalk for the hell of it!
I actually thought I was going to simply walk away from it without a problem... Until it happened.
'What the hell is going on?' The sun went out. Lights stopped working. The world simply dove into a darkness I have never seen before! I mean, I've been outside at midnight on a moonless night training, but it wasn't THIS dark! Forget not seeing a hand in from your face, this was you couldn't see your finger poking yourself in the eye!
What's worse was that there seemed to be a... I dunno... a presence in that darkness. It was like someone was staring at you the whole time, from every angle.
So here I am, stuck in the Uchiha district, in the Konoha Military Police Corps Headquarters - after pulling off the biggest prank of my career - and I can't get away. Even though I couldn't possibly get caught, it was only a matter of time for before something went horribly wrong.
"Kuso!" I shout out of frustration, and stumping my toe in a wall. Only, the sound never reached my ear... "What the...!" Nothing.
I decided to check me other senses. I mean, maybe I'm dead? I pinch myself, hard... a bit too hard maybe... "Chikushou! THAT HURT!" I actually just stabbed myself from the way it felt! Wait... That was not a very hard pinch... "Kuso...!" That means that because sight and sound are out of the way, my sense of touch and smell are hyped up!
"Great, Naruto... You're sense of touch and smell are all you've got left... So what? Where does that leave you?" Well, since I can't hear myself, no point in thinking to myself, right?
"Jeez what is that smell?" Just ahead of me I could smell something... coppery? And I was obviously getting really close to someone who decided to soil themselves in fear! "Jeez, get it together Uchiha-temes, it's just a little power outage." Lying to yourself in that situation is called for, okay! The more I walked in that direction, the worse the smell got, so I figured I would just pick another direction altogether. Only...
"Jeez, my sense of smell must be so amped up that I can still smell that stuff! Either that or there are a lot of scared shitless people in this building!" Even ten minutes later, or twenty minutes later... or no matter how much later. The smell only seemed to be getting stronger, and more robust... and more diverse.
I was starting to pick out different levels of coppery smells, some were mixed in with feces... some with urine... some with people throwing up (I had dealt with a lot of that smell from the new kids in the group home)... "I guess I'm the only one not scared."
"Well, no matter where I go, I still ain't getting nowhere. So I might as well just sit down and wait this out." It's true. No matter how far in one direction I go, I can't seem to find anything other than new smells I can't identify (other the four -vomit, pee, poop and that coppery thing - that seem to be everywhere). So why keep walking aimlessly? I think I'll just take a nap... right... here...
End chapter 17
A/N: WOW! Chapter 17 is out! This is going good! At this rate, I have as far as chapter 50 plotted out and that is not even getting to the REAL fun stuff :D:D:D Don't worry, there will be a lot of action in the coming chapters. There will be much more fighting scenes (so calm down guys) and there will be even more fun and funny fluffy goodness, just not right now.
Before anyone wonders, I love you Kiravu!
I wonder if this chapter tells everyone what they think they already figured out, or maybe they still don't know what poor Naruto stumbled into... Hmm, well you tell me what you think and I'll tell you what I know ;)
Lots of love going out to my regular reviewer, RedRangerBelt! And to all my reviewers, I love you guys. I know there are on average 20 regular reads now :D and that number is steadily growing. I wonder what you guys think of my story. Do you love it, hate it but can't stop reading, completely indifferent but already in the groove of it?
"If you are truly an elite, people simply give you the power you need. That is what true respect is."
Tsukune - Minced chicken patties
Kuroikage - Black shadow
Kuji-in - Handseals used for meditation and personal development. Wiki it for more details.