Hi no Ishi, Scroll One: Kannabi
Full Summary: As Orochimaru and his allies threaten to topple Konoha, Haruno Sakura, Uzumaki Naruto, and Uchiha Sasuke are becoming the leaders of their generation. The question is, will they survive the Daiyonji Ninkai Taisen or end up like the previous Sannin did - broken? AU diverging at the chuunin exams. FemNaru because I can. Team 7-centric.
Disclaimer: I got everything I wanted for my birthday except Naruto. Damn.
A/N: I'm still looking for a beta. PM me if you're interested!
When the tree leaves dance, one shall find flames. The fire's shadow will illuminate the village, and the leaves will bud once again.
~ Sarutobi Hiruzen, the Sandaime Hokage
Chapter Three: Remember the Name
Naruto was early to their team meeting the next day; there was nobody else at Team 7's training grounds when she reached it. The blonde mentally shrugged before pulling out her taijutsu scroll and going through the motions for the basic moves. Gradually she sped up as the movements became more and more familiar. Eventually, Naruto began to mold chakra into her hands and feet as per Anko's advice when she preformed the attacks to make them more powerful.
She was rewarded with a resounding crack as the tree she had been practicing on collapsed, its trunk snapped cleanly in half by a single punch.
'Well,' Naruto thought dryly as she watched the tree crash to the ground, 'that certainly is useful.'
She was shaken out of her thoughts by an angry-sounding, "Naruto, what the hell? What did the tree do to you?"
Naruto turned and glanced at Sakura, her expression blank. "It annoyed me," said Naruto, sounding completely serious.
That caused Sakura to pause. "…What? How the hell did a tree, who cannot talk or move annoy you?"
"It was in my way," Naruto answered. On the outside her face was blank and emotionless, but in her head Naruto was laughing her ass off. Damn, it was fun to screw with people.
It was that moment that Naruto noticed the two katana tied to Sakura's back with a strip of white silk. "What's with the swords?" the Uzumaki queried.
Sakura blushed slightly and her hand automatically reached back to touch her swords. "They were my grandmother's. I decided it was time I learned to use them."
Naruto shrugged in acceptance.
"Hey, Naruto?" Sakura murmured
"Yeah?"
"Uh…can I use you as a sparring partner? I've practiced the basics of using twin katana with the Toute but it's hard to judge how I'm doing without actually fighting against a real person."
A mischievous smirk spread across Naruto's face as she slid into the basic stance of the Hebi-Ryuu. "Sure."
Sakura smiled before unsheathing her swords and slipping into her own stance.
Neither of them moved for several moments. They were both waiting for something – a blink, a slight twitch - a single sign. For Naruto, it was the slight tensing of Sakura's right hand around her katana as she prepared to attack.
Sakura began an attack, but it was not coordinated perfectly – there was a slight slip as her swords passed each other, and a lack of defense as both of her swords were used to attack. Naruto dodged most of Sakura's attacks and smacked aside the rest by slamming her forearms into the flat sides of Sakura's blades. As Sakura's arms swung forward with a lunging attack, Naruto ducked and took advantage of the short time between the Haruno's attacks by landing a solid punch enhanced with chakra to her diaphragm. Sakura was sent flying backwards.
"What on earth was that?" asked Sakura as she got up.
Naruto grinned maliciously. "Chakra released at the exact point of contact."
Sakura smirked. "Sounds fun. Shall we continue?"
Naruto returned her smirk, and Sakura got up before beginning her attack anew.
This time, Naruto preformed the hand seals for Raiton: Raisentan before pulling out two kunai. They began to glow faintly blue as she used them to parry Sakura's attack. Unfortunately for Sakura, she didn't bring her left hand back fast enough, and Naruto slammed the ring of her kunai into Sakura's knuckles. Sakura gasped in pain before dropper her sword and shaking her hand out. However, she didn't have any tome to recover as Naruto began her attack with renewed vigor. This time, it was Sakura who was put on the defensive as she blocked both of Naruto's kunai with a single sword.
Once again, Naruto's kunai slammed down, but this time it was to the wrist holding Sakura's remaining katana. Once again, Sakura dropped her sword. This time, however, she turned a fierce, green-eyed glare towards Naruto. The blonde merely gave a small smile in reply and said, "Rule number one for a weapons specialist: Never drop the weapon."
Sakura's glare darkened. "Shut up," she snapped, half embarrassed and half angry.
Naruto's smile widened so that it was almost malevolent before returning to her fighting stance.
Sakura slipped into her own stance, foregoing her swords for now. She went through an unfamiliar series of hand seals before muttering, "Katon: Karui Yakedo." Almost immediately, the air around Sakura's hands began to shimmer with heat.
The two kunoichi clashed again, and Naruto hissed in pain as Sakura's hand glanced off of her shoulder, leaving a minor burn there. It began healing immediately, thanks to the Kyuubi.
Sakura frowned, but renewed her assault. Naruto replied in turn, slipping around most of the Haruno's attacks and landing a few powerful hits in critical areas such as the wrists, knees, and elbows.
Sakura was slowing; her breathing was harsher and she was beginning to sweat. Naruto frowned and said, "You really don't have a lot of stamina, do you?"
"I'm trying to fix that, in case you haven't noticed!" Sakura snarled between harsh gasps for air.
"Well then, come on," Naruto challenged.
Sakura did so, and grabbed her swords on the way up.
Just as the kunoichi had began their fight anew, a snarky voice that Naruto immediately identified as Sasuke's asked, "What on earth are you two doing?"
Naruto turned and glared slightly at Sasuke. "We're having lesbian sex, what does it look like?" she said, sarcasm dripping from her voice like poison. "We're sparring, idiot."
"Naruto!" shouted Sakura, horrified, "don't be so rude to Sasuke-kun!"
Naruto sighed in exasperation as she ducked a particularly brutal slice towards her midsection.
"If you're sparring, you won't mind if I join," said Sasuke as he aimed a quick punch towards Naruto's ribcage. The blonde dodged and sighed again. "Fine. It's a three-way spar now."
Sasuke smirked and proceeded to use Naruto and Sakura as test subjects for his Doton: Shinjuu Zanshu no Jutsu.
0o0o0o0o0o0
Kakashi stared blankly at the scene he was confronted with. Sakura, Sasuke, and Naruto were engaging in a three-way spar, and none of them seemed to be against using ninjutsu. They had made a fine mess of the training ground; several trees had been collapsed and multiple areas of ground were smoking and charred, probably from Sasuke's more advanced katon ninjutsu.
Sakura leaped towards Naruto, both of her katana – 'Wait, where did she get katana?' wondered Kakashi – swinging forward in a deadly arc. Naruto leaped up and was about to preform an ax kick on Sakura but was interrupted by Sasuke, who preformed a flying sidekick and smashed into the blonde's side, sending her ground. Naruto rolled to lessen the impact before leaping up and attacking Sasuke.
"Okay, that's enough!" Kakashi called.
Immediately all three genin stopped moving and turned towards Kakashi. The faint, satisfactory smile on Sasuke's face, Sakura's cheerful grin, and Naruto's smirk was enough to keep him from scolding the three of them for sparring while he wasn't there.
"Well, I guess all three of you are warmed up enough," Kakashi commented dryly. "Get out your scrolls and practice your taijutsu."
0o0o0o0o0o0
Later that afternoon, Kakashi gave his team the techniques he had been promising. The C-Rank he gave them was the clone for each of their elements – Ho Bunshin for Sakura, Kaminari Bunshin for Naruto, and Tsuchi Bunshin for Sasuke. Their D-Rank techniques were Raiton: Kaminari Senbon no Jutsu for Naruto, Katon: Kakyuu no Jutsu for Sakura, and Doton: Da-to Tsumemono wo Keisi no Jutsu for Sasuke.
All three of them were doing well. Sasuke was getting along reasonably well with his teammates, Sakura had mostly stopped drooling over Sasuke, and Naruto…was as much an enigma as she had been the first day Kakashi had met her.
There were times when Kakashi really questioned the competence of the Academy teachers. The Academy grading scale was completely inaccurate. Naruto's taijutsu was as good as Sasuke's, especially now that she had figured out how to increase her strength and speed with chakra. She didn't have any ninjutsu except for what Kakashi had taught her and the basic Academy techniques, but she was no slouch there either.
Sakura, on the other hand, had been grossly underestimated. Her file from the Academy had clearly stated that her abilities lied in genjutsu and other support-type areas. However, Sakura had easily proved them wrong by training with a ferocity that could only be matched by her teammates. Her stamina was already increasing.
Sasuke's file was the closest to correct. If anything, it had overestimated him. It was filled with compliments and quite a few exaggerations. The only completely honest account of Sasuke's abilities was Umino Iruka's, his team's teacher for their last two years in the Academy. Iruka had said that while Sasuke's taijutsu and especially his ninjutsu were above average, his genjutsu was average. Iruka had also commented that Sasuke's state of mind might not be entirely stable.
Luckily, Sasuke had proved to be at least salvageable. Apparently his spar with his teammates that morning had given him a healthy respect for Sakura's swords and Naruto's chakra-enhanced taijutsu. Already, the act of distancing himself from his teammates was starting to wear thin. Kakashi supposed it was a good thing that Sakura and Naruto had been paired with Sasuke as his teammates, as they were the best people to bring him out of his shell. Naruto's patience seemingly had no limits and she never lost her temper unless you counted her sarcastic comments that she seemed to spout out every time somebody spoke to her. Naruto remained calm in the face of Sasuke's irritation and arrogance while systematically giving him advice and teaching him humility. Sakura, underneath her fanaticism for Sasuke, was determined and kind. She wouldn't give up on becoming Sasuke's friend until she either died or succeeded.
Really, the Sandaime had given him a gift from heaven in the disguise of a devil's seed. All of the other jounin had given him pity-filled looks when he reported that he had passed Team 7. They all thought that Team 7 was a lost cause. Kakashi smirked. 'Oh, how wrong they were,' he thought. His team would definitely be ready for the chuunin exam in six months, and they were going to kick ass.
0o0o0o0o0o0
Naruto was going over the parts of the body, what each of them did, how they could be injured, and how to heal them. It was a mountainous project.
"So, what did you do during your team meeting today?" Anko asked as she lazed against a tree, supervising Naruto's studying.
"We worked mostly on taijutsu in the morning, but Kakashi-sensei brought two new techniques for each of us."
"Ooh, what did you get?"
"Kaminari Bunshin and Raiton: Kaminari Senbon."
"He taught you Kaminari Bunshin when he could have taught you Kage Bunshin? Damn, that's just a waste of time."
"What do you mean?"
"Well, Naruto-chan, the Kage Bunshin is a B-Rank technique that creates real clones. Also, when a clone is dispelled, all of its memories are transferred to the user. But the catch is they split your chakra into equal parts, so if you make one, the clone has half of your chakra. And then there's Tajuu Kage Bunshin; that's basically a beefed up version of the Kage Bunshin, but it uses a lot of chakra. For this reason, it's classified as a kinjutsu, but for somebody like you with an inhuman amount of chakra, it's the perfect technique."
Naruto winced slightly at the phrase 'inhuman amount of chakra'. 'I guess that's one other thing I have to thank the Kyuubi for,' she thought grudgingly. "So are you going to teach me this Kage Bunshin or what?"
Anko's smirk widened into a sadistic grin as her hands created a seal that looked similar to a plus sign.
0o0o0o0o0o0
Sakura's mouth curved up into a serene smile as she went through the basic techniques for her swords. The moon was beginning to rise, and the sun was already halfway covered by the horizon.
The Toute was interesting in the fact that, after the basic stances, it branched off into five other styles, each named after an animal. The Ookami, the Tori, the Tora, the Hyou, and the Ryuujin. A true master of the Toute was able to use all five styles, and Sakura was determined to do her grandmother proud.
Sakura slipped into the first stance the Ookami.
Wolf leaps forward and lashes out.
Sakura's swords flickered forward towards an imaginary enemy with impressive speed before she quickly jumped backwards.
Bird flies in and strikes fast.
Sakura was balanced on the balls of her feet, ready to move at a moment's notice. Quickly, her swords flickered forward and retracted a second later as she took a lower stance.
Tiger crouches and leaps.
Sakura jumped upwards and brought her swords down as she descended in a move that would be almost impossible to block.
Leopard awaits the right moment to kill.
Sakura took up the stance of the Hyou for a few moments before lashing out with a quick slash to her imaginary opponent's midsection.
Dragon King fights back.
With a quick stab and a deft twirl of her other sword, Sakura sliced off the head of her imaginary opponent.
0o0o0o0o0o0
A week after the bell test, Kakashi had all of his students sit down instead of practice their taijutsu like he normally would have. They all looked at him with various degrees of confusion; they were already getting used to Team 7's training schedule. Kakashi would have to change that; habit was a shinobi's enemy.
"Today I called you all here to discuss something along the lines of your future as shinobi. As their careers progress, most shinobi tent to gravitate towards a certain field. For example, I am a ninjutsu specialist, while others focus on genjutsu, taijutsu, iryoujutsu, fuuinjutsu…the possibilities are just about endless. In the long run, it's often better for people to start in their chosen field as early as possible to maximize their expertise…but then there's the problem of being over-specialized; if you are a master of genjutsu but have virtually no other techniques, you will inevitably eventually meet somebody who can defeat you in your specified area. For those reasons, I ant to hear a little bit about what you plan on doing skill-wise so I can help you out as much as I can," said Kakashi.
Sakura answered first. "I want to focus on training with weapons," she confessed. "But I also want to learn how to use more katon techniques and I would also like to learn a little genjutsu."
Kakashi nodded thoughtfully. 'Sakura is already on her way to mastering her swords and katon ninjutsu. Genjutsu shouldn't be too hard to teach her with her chakra control.' "That's doable," the jounin said.
"I'll probably work mostly with ninjutsu and taijutsu," Sasuke decided. "Once I awaken my Sharingan, it will be a lot easier for me to learn that sort of stuff."
Once again, Kakashi nodded.
"I like my taijutsu style," Naruto said flatly. "With my chakra-enhanced strength, I would be an idiot not to specialize in taijutsu. But I'm learning iryoujutsu from Mitiraishi-san, and I like working with poison. I would also like to learn some fuuinjutsu; it sounds like a useful skill to have."
Kakashi raised an eyebrow at the "Mitiraishi-san" part. "You know Anko?" he asked, disbelief coloring his voice. Although, he really shouldn't have been so surprised; Naruto had used her name when she was henged into Chiyoko.
"Yeah," confirmed Naruto. "She offered to teach me the basics of iryoujutsu and poisons the other day. I accepted."
Kakashi nodded warily and mentally prayed that Naruto wouldn't turn into a mini Anko. One of them was bad enough. "Alright. Sakura, you should probably keep working with your own scrolls. Sasuke, we'll work on gradually expanding your repertoire of ninjutsu. Naruto, I'll help you with your taijutsu and I'll see what I can do for the fuuinjutsu part, but I can't help you much with your studies in iryoujutsu," he said and shrugged apologetically.
To her credit, Naruto accepted this with good grace and a simple nod of her head.
"Alright!" chirped Kakashi, clapping his hands together and eye-smiling. "Get to work on your taijutsu!"
All three of them grimaced as Kakashi pulled out three sets of weights, still smiling cheerfully.
0o0o0o0o0o0
Team 7 quickly fell into their own rhythm. Sakura's stamina and skill with her swords increased, as did Naruto's speed and skills in iryoujutsu. Sasuke proved himself to be a talented heir to the Uchiha bloodline; he mastered every ninjutsu he came across and asked for more. They did missions every other day and already had a record for being very productive with the help of their various clones. Not that D-Ranks weren't irritating; it was just that any time they would complain, Kakashi's eye would take on an evil glint and his gloved hand would reach towards his shuriken holster like it did every time Team 7 played Hunt. Sasuke shivered at the thought of that torture hiding in the disguise of training. Sasuke would swear under oath that Kakashi had a sadistic streak a mile wide.
It was very effective, to say the least.
It was a month after their team had been formed and Sasuke still couldn't find anything detailing how exactly Kakashi had preformed Doton: Shinjuu Zanshu no Jutsu without hand seals. It was rather frustrating.
Just like every night for the past few months, Sasuke was searching through the Uchiha Clan archives after his training was complete when his hands passed over a scroll labeled "The Theory Behind Elemental Ninjutsu and Hand Seals."
Sasuke pulled the scroll out of the shelves and unrolled it, quickly taking in the information stored within the scroll.
It was basically a compilation of observations of hand seals and how each one molded chakra. It was definitely useful information, but not what he was looking for. As Sasuke continued reading, he reached a section that read:
Some shinobi do not even need hand seals to complete elemental ninjutsu. These shinobi are the ones who have completed the art of "elemental manipulation" for the particular element used in the technique. However, a certain amount of expertise in shape manipulation is needed as well.
Unfortunately, that was all the scroll said about sealless ninjutsu. However, he now had two phrases to look up: elemental manipulation and shape manipulation.
It was another week before he found anything.
0o0o0o0o0o0
Sasuke muttered angrily under his breath as he skimmed through scroll after scroll. 'Still nothing!' the thought furiously, letting out a low growl. Sasuke breathed out through his nose and used his extensive training in self-control to suppress his annoyance.
Sighing once, he picked out the next scroll and unrolled it.
Sasuke's eyes widened in shock. 'I've actually found something!' he thought excitedly.
The scroll he had picked up went into great detail about what exactly elemental and shape manipulation were.
It turned out that elemental manipulation was the changing of chakra from one element to another, which changed its properties and characteristics. On the other hand, shape manipulation was an advanced form of chakra control that changed the shape and form of the chakra. Together, they were what lead towards creating a new technique. Different sequences of hand seals transformed the user's chakra into a certain element and form, but if, say, the user's element was water and they were trying to preform a high-ranking Katon, it would likely fail or simply not be as effective as it should have been. The best way to describe it would be that chakra had a "resistance" to ninjutsu not of its element. Of course, this problem could be gotten rid of by mastering manipulating that particular element.
A slow, small smile spread across Sasuke's face when he read the steps needed to achieve perfect elemental manipulation. It would take a while, but if a Sharingan couldn't copy it, it would be well worth the effort in the end.
0o0o0o0o0o0
The next day found Sasuke sitting in the middle of the clearing of Team 7's usual training grounds. They didn't actually train there every day; sometimes they would go to the other training areas to, in Kakashi's words, "get them used to disadvantageous environments." Sasuke personally thought that it was just another sick joke of Kakashi's.
Sasuke currently held a clump of dirt in his hand. His eyes were shut in concentration and his chakra flared at seemingly random intervals. Already, small sections of the dirt wad were starting to turn to stone. 'All of that work with my Doton ninjutsu really paid off,' he thought, suddenly grateful for Kakashi's insistence that all three of them work with D- and C-Rank ninjutsu before moving up. 'The first part of the Doton elemental manipulation is basically the Da-to Tsumemono wo Keisi no Jutsu without hand seals.'
The first step of mastering Doton elemental manipulation was taking a wad of dirt and hardening it so that it was rock.
"What are you doing?" Naruto's calm voice asked from just behind him.
Sasuke started slightly and just barely managed to resist jumping. He sent a nasty glare at the blonde, to which she just smirked in reply.
He let out an irritated sigh and explained, "I'm working on elemental manipulation."
"I've heard a little bit about it. Can I see?" she questioned, motioning to the scroll in front of Sasuke. The Uchiha only grunted in reply. Naruto snorted and took the scroll anyway. "Hmm…so it looks like the first exercise for the lightning affinity is just running lightning through your body…Tajuu Kage Bunshin!"
Sasuke blinked in surprise as Naruto flooded the training ground with clones. He knew that she had the ability to use Kage Bunshin, but damn…was making that many even humanly possible?
Naruto smirked at him before returning his scroll and disappearing into her crowd of clones, who quickly got to work.
"Sasuke-kun, what are you and Naruto doing?"
Sasuke turned to see Sakura approaching, a look of curiosity clearly displayed on her face. "Practicing elemental manipulation," the Uchiha grunted.
"Awesome!" smiled Sakura.
Sasuke wordlessly handed her the scroll.
0o0o0o0o0o0
Kakashi was later then usual that day; instead of the usual three hours or less, it took him a good four and a half hours to reach training ground 27. To be fair, it wasn't entirely his fault; his alarm clock broke, he ran into a black cat, he had to help an old lady save her cat…
Okay, maybe it was his fault.
"Yes, I've got it!"
Kakashi looked up from his Icha Icha Paradise to see Naruto standing in the middle of the clearing, her left hand stretched out towards the sky, lightning lacing around her air, glowing a pale blue.
His book fell out of his hand and dropped to the floor and he struggled just as hard to pick his jaw off of the figurative floor. 'What. The. Fuck?' was all he managed to think through his shock. 'Elemental manipulation? Where the hell did she - !'
To Kakashi's right, Sakura's chakra flared slightly and a orange flicker of flame hovered above her palm before going out a second later. Sasuke was holding a clump of dirt, some of which shined suspiciously in the light. 'All three of them? Jeez…I have got to have the three most surprising genin ever.' However, a small, proud smile spread across his face underneath his mask. 'I have got to be the luckiest jounin-sensei ever. I got an awesome team.'
That day, Kakashi decided to let his team practice with their affinities instead of asking for a C-Rank mission like he had intended. Tomorrow.
0o0o0o0o0o0
Glossary
Hi no Ishi – Will of Fire
Kannabi – Where the Gods Do Not Help
Daiyonji Ninkai Taisen – Fourth Great Shinobi World War
Katon – Fire Release
Toute – Knife Hand
Kinjutsu – Forbidden Technique
Ookami – Wolf
Tori – Bird
Tora – Tiger
Hyou – Leopard
Ryuujin – Dragon King
Iryoujutsu – Medical Techniques
Fuuinjutsu – Sealing Techniques
Doton – Earth Release
Jutsu List
Ho Bunshin
English: Fire Clone
Rank: C
Classifications: Ninjutsu, Supplementary
Description: The user creates a clone of fire. This clone can be dispelled in one hit, and will dispel in a burst of flame that will injure the attacker if they are near the clone. The clone can use weapons, non-elemental ninjutsu, and ninjutsu of it's own element. The clone only has as much chakra as its creator gives it.
Kaminari Bunshin
English: Lightning Clone
Rank: C
Classifications: Ninjutsu, Supplementary
Description: The user creates a clone of lightning. This clone can be dispelled in one hit, and will dispel in a burst of electricity that will electrocute anything near it. The clone can use weapons, non-elemental ninjutsu, and ninjutsu of it's own element. The clone only has as much chakra as its creator gives it.
Tsuchi Bunshin
English: Earth Clone
Rank: C
Classifications: Ninjutsu, Supplementary
Description: The user creates a clone of earth. This clone can be dispelled in one hit, and will dispel in a pile of mud. The clone can use weapons, non-elemental ninjutsu, and ninjutsu of it's own element. The clone only has as much chakra as its creator gives it.
Raiton: Kaminari Senbon
English: Lightning Release: Lightning Senbon
Rank: D
Classifications: Ninjutsu, Offensive, Long-Range
Description: The user weaves the necessary hand seals as the focus chakra to their hands. Senbon created out of lighting appear between each of the user's fingers, giving them eight senbon before the technique needs to be preformed again. These senbon can then be thrown like ordinary ones.
Katon: Kakyuu no Jutsu
English: Fire Release: Fire Ball
Rank: D
Classifications: Ninjutsu, Offensive, Mid-Range
Description: After the hand seals are finished, the user breathes out a medium-sized ball of flame. This is generally considered to be a watered-down version of Katon: Goukakyuu no Jutsu.
Doton: Da-toTsumemono wo Keisi no Jutsu
English: Earth Release: Dirt Wad Formation
Rank: D
Classifications: Ninjutsu, Supplementary
Description: After the hand seals are completed, the user picks up a handful of dirt and then forms it into a rock any shape they want. With practice, these can become as hard as rock. The size of the object is limited to the amount of dirt.
Kage Bunshin
English: Shadow Clone
Rank: B
Classifications: Ninjutsu, Supplementary
Description: After the hand seal is formed, the user's chakra is split evenly into clones. Unlike the basic clone, these clones are solid and able to interact with the world around them. They are able to preform all of the techniques the original could as long as they have enough chakra. They dispel with one or two solid hits depending on whether or not the user has mastered the use of Kage Bunshin.
Tajuu Kage Bunshin
English: Multiple Shadow Clone
Rank: A
Classifications: Ninjutsu, Supplementary, Kinjutsu
Description: This is a technique that allows the user to create a virtual army of Kage Bunshin. It is forbidden because it uses such a massive amount of chakra that most people will die from its use.
The title of this chapter is Remember the Name by Fort Minor & Styles of Beyond