Author's Note: I have been getting many reviews asking for longer chapters, and I would like to take this opportunity to point out a couple things. I do not cut off at a predetermined point each chapter, but rather where I feel the flow would serve best being severed at. I don't aim for 1000 words or anything of a similar nature. I have tried such in the past and found that that type of limitations only serve to frustrate and annoy me as a writer. So, I'm asking for you to please bear with the chapters as they come. Thank you for your patience.
Naruto smirked as the Justicar he'd been watching let out a squeak and vanished into a scroll, her whip landing on the ground next to it with a whisper. This was awesome, he'd never gotten a lot practice doing this during the academy years, since most of the trainers kicked him out of the classes. He knew that any real Justicar would probably have been a lot harder, but this was exactly how the academy ran their training exercises, so he refused to be marked down for pussyfooting around.
Leaping up into the air, he counted the scrolls that he'd captured already. Four out of five in a matter of six minutes wasn't bad, but he knew that he had to do better. He'd have already been failed back at the academy, but it seemed that Kakashi didn't have the same grading scale as they did.
Springing off the tree branch, he was shocked when a black scroll wrapped around where he'd just been. Tracking back to the source, he was surprised when he found that whoever it was vanished from view just after he spotted her. He didn't think that he was facing this level of Justicar, but he wasn't about to let her catch him. It was on now.
Retrieving the two lengths of chain he'd been using to swing around the trees and tie up more than a couple of the Justicars until he could get his scroll deployed. It was time to utilize them for more entertaining means. His first step was to vanish again.
On the opposite side of the playing field, Haku was silently fuming, for the first time 'The One-Scroll Ice Princess' had missed. She didn't think she'd rusty since the Mistress training program had been closed down by the Grand Master of the town. She had been the prized student in the Justicar classes, and as such earned the highest asking price at the slave auction she'd escaped from.
It seemed that Naruto would indeed be a challenge, unlike she had originally presumed. A small smirk played out across her lips as she gave chase to the man that had become a preoccupation to her mind. She would capture him, and prove to Zabuza's leader that she was ready to become a full-fledged Justicar, and not just dress up for the role.
A few shots of freezing water were meant to trap Naruto's foot on the branch, trunk, or patch of dirt he happened to be touching at that moment, but each of her shots seemed to be just a half-second off. Oh yes, he would be an excellent capture indeed, and might prove to be a worthy training partner to keep her Justicar skills honed to a keen edge.
Leaping over a branch she faltered for a moment, finding him missing. A second later she heard the warning clinks of the boy's chains trying to encircle her, straightening out her body she slipped out from the trap, barely clearing the last strands of her hair in time. Oh yes, he was a tricky one, as there was no sign of the Master she was out to capture again.
Naruto panted from his hiding spot, having sacrificed one of his chains in the attempt to snatch the more skilled Justicar as she cleared the blind jump. It hadn't worked, but he hadn't entirely expected it to, as she was nothing like what the others were. Briefly he wondered if Kakashi had summoned a real Justicar instead of the training ones, or worse still a real one had cut into the training, but she was wearing the same mask that the others had been. So that meant that she had to be a member of the right group, correct? After all to steal a Justicar's mask... that was just asking for no ends of trouble, and even the stupidest of sluts knew better.
Sighing silently, he pondered his next move as he cataloged all the tools he had at his disposal. He had a length of chain, a dozen throwing knives, a couple matches, and ten old stink bombs that were just as likely to explode as to release the stink gases. But that could work... he'd just need something quieter than the chains to capture this one. And that's when he saw it, sitting there with an angelic glow about it, in the clearing he'd just abandoned not a full minute ago. A shiny red leather whip, which he knew would slice through the air with nary a whisper until it made impact. But he'd have to break cover to get it.
That's when the stupidest, most hair-brained scheme he'd ever imagined possible came to him. And since he didn't have a single other idea, he decided to go with it. A match strike later, the fuses on the smoke bombs were lit, and tossed into the area he'd seen her disappeared into. Sure enough three of the ten blew up instead of releasing a steady cloud of stink, but those three spread the cloud farther than he'd hoped them to originally, so it seemed luck was on his side today.
Haku gasped as three loud explosions sounded around her, making her worry that he'd broken out explosive tags, but when the when she realized she was fine, she instead focused on the blonde currently running out from under some bushes she'd passed by. Firing off shots of her ice blasts she tried to figure out what he was doing doubling back in such an obvious fashion. There was nothing that could save him now, and he should have known it.
Readying her scroll she took a few more pot shots at his heels, deciding to continue the game as long as she could. And as soon as she tried to shoot at his heel once it contacted with the tree, a body racking cough messed with her aim enough that she missed. What was that putrid, nausea inducing odor that had her doubled over in a coughing fit.
As her eyes were watering so badly she couldn't have seen her own feet, she relied on her other senses to keep track of the blond that had reversed her direction, coming at her again. Popping free her second scroll she wound back to deploy it, only to be forced to leap away as something struck the tree branch her feet were standing on. That's when she knew something was wrong.
Her ascent was curtailed by a circle of leather around her ankle she knew to be a whip's lash, and a sudden jerk had her descending rapidly, and she knew that she'd misjudged Naruto. Her fingers came into contact with a piece of paper, and she had enough time for exactly one thought before blackness claimed her.
'I failed...'
Naruto was currently bent over, trying to catch his breath after succeeding in capturing all five of the trainer Justicars. Now he'd just collect this last scroll once the air cleared, pick up his tools, and shove the other four scrolls sideways up Kakashi's ass. What the hell was he thinking slipping a high level Justicar in on the first training day like that?
Pushing off his knees, he began going around and collecting all the tools he'd used, starting with the chains, which went into his tool's scroll with everything else since he hadn't learned how to return them to his body yet. Not that he was complaining, just being able to summon and release them from his body would have been beyond what he'd thought he would be able to pull off back in the academy.
This was turning out to be an amazingly-super-special-awesome training experience for a single whip mission though, so that's why he was sparing Kakashi the fifth scroll. Besides he needed it as proof. This way he could get Kakashi punished properly for pulling such a hair-brained stunt. Speak of the devil, who should arrive just as he dislodged the fifth and final scroll's pin than the one-eyed pervert himself. "Maa... congratulations Naruto... you were faster than I expected... shall we review your results?"
"Yeah... let's..." Naruto snarled out, tucking the fifth scroll away and pulling out the other four, ready for anal insertion into one Kakashi Hatake, Lord Master of Konohagakure, master of over a thousand techniques, and avid fan of the entire Icha Icha series of novels.
He needed something to fill up the room his ego didn't completely crush out after all...
Kakashi gave him an almost serene eye-smile as he unraveled the scroll that he'd received once Naruto'd used his final scroll. "Uzumaki, Naruto: Master level 2: Training Masters at Rank 4. 5 Justicars were deployed, the defeat and capture of said Justicars at a time of seven minutes, fifty-two seconds is recorded. Additionally, the capture of Momi..." Kakashi read, pausing at the word as his eye nearly bugged out of his skull. Naruto watched as he read over the lines twice, before staring at Naruto as though the blond had just farted a rainbow.
Naruto paused in his planned punishment of his trainer, something about the "Additionally" line catching his attention. "What do you mean, additionally capturing someone? I only caught five people wearing Justicar masks..." Naruto groused petulantly as his revenge was ruined by someone's stupidity. After all, if Kakashi hadn't done it intentionally he couldn't really carry through with it, could he? Also, something else caught his attention from the beginning. "Wait, Master level 2? No way, I should still be a 4, maybe a three if I caught a slave... you sure you're reading that right?"
It was about this moment that Naruto's brain finally caught up with his mouth. "Wait a minute... additional capture... but if I only capture five... then that last one..."
"Was a real Master's duel Naruto..." a female voice spoke from the trees, causing both the blond and silver-haired masters to whip their heads around, just in time to see a Judgenatrix walk out from behind the tree branches. "One I was rather fortunate to observe..."
If it wasn't for the fact it was hammering out a beat on his ribs, Naruto would have been fairly certain his heart was lodged somewhere in the vicinity of his voice box. A real, live Judgenatrix had been watching his duel, and was impressed...
Kakashi on the other hand seemed slightly suspicious, until the woman jumped down and held out a black short scroll, which rolled out to reveal sanctioned orders by Supreme Master Sarutobi himself. And then he simply pulled out the lacquered box with the two masters Naruto'd caught the other day, and held it open to her respectfully.
The two scrolls disappeared from the box and into slots on her belt silently, before she turned to face Naruto properly. "If you would hand me the final scroll you used, please..."
Nodding numbly, Naruto handed off the other scrolls to Kakashi's waiting hands, and fumbled with the clasps holding the one containing the last prize. It took him half a minute longer than he'd have liked, but she didn't seem too overly annoyed at his fumbling. His hands shook as he held out the scroll to her, laying it flat across his palms to present it to her properly.
She didn't touch it, instead took several minutes to study it quietly before folding Naruto's fingers over it again and using a single finger to push them back towards Naruto. "A prized capture Master Uzumaki, Haku Momichi," the Judgenatrix stated from behind her complete face mask, pausing as Naruto's eyes widened at the mention of Haku. "Formerly of the Justicar training school in Kiri, at least until it was illegally closed along with all mistresses being deemed illegals. In recent years she has been illegally aiding a Master Zabuza Momichi in Master's duels as an unregistered Justicar. Her case shall... remain under review until such time as you arrive in Konoha again."
"I do ask that you retrieve the training Justicar that she captured before coming after you Master Uzumaki presently so she may return to the academy for retraining."
Naruto nodded dumbly as he tucked the scroll away, finally looking away from the woman long enough to look at the clasps he was struggling with. As the final one clicked into place, he felt a long, delicate, yet powerful latex-coated finger hook his chin and force him to look her directly into the mask.
A single red 'eye' stared at him from the field of white, and he could almost swear that she was searching for something deep inside of him. After a moment she released him, took a step back and gave them a deep bow from the waist. "A rare Master indeed you are Uzumaki, Naruto... A rare one indeed... I shall be following your advancement... personally."
As she vanished from sight with barely a whisper, Naruto knew that his life was about to go from merely insane to absolutely fucking crazy with a side of bat shit loco. Kakashi reacted first, kneeling to pick up a plain brown scroll that she'd left in her stead, with the word 'Orders' written neatly on the outside.
Kakashi turned to regard the Master that had become a constant source of surprise over the past few days. He'd known the blond was something special when Sarutobi had praised him, all but calling him an apprentice, especially after it was revealed that Naruto was currently a target of the Free Hunt back home.
First had been the restraint with Tanzo and the dealing with the alcohol, then the capture of the sadistic demon brothers using a technique that Kakashi himself had only seen once before, the interrogation of Tanzo without a single blow landed, the rescue of Kakashi at the last minute in the first fight with Zabuza, and now not only had he won an officially sanctioned Master's duel without even knowing he was participating. But it had been his first solo duel ever, and it impressed a Judgenatrix.
Kakashi had only managed that ONCE, ONCE and he was a full Lord Master before it happened.
"Ki... no Master Uzumaki, you are something else..." Kakashi murmured softly to the still stunned blond, who promptly collapsed as his knees turned to jelly. Heck, he was certainly handling meeting a Judgenatrix for the first time better than most, after all... most wet themselves in terror.
As the poor mentally stressed blond departed the crazy train, on the happy-fun-fun pass-out land express, Kakashi could only whisper. "You are going to go farther than your father and mother ever could... and I hope to see every step of the way."
Speaking of, a nice rest was just what the doctor ordered for Kakashi, and so he straightened out the unconscious blond, and settled in under a nice shady tree, pulled out his favorite orange book and began reading. After all, a debriefing like this could wait until the poor kid was awake. He'd been through a lot recently.