A Legend
Tell me, how will you confront this shinobi world?
"Ugh, we've been walking forever," Naruto whined, "when are we gonna stop Itachi-nii?"
Sasuke didn't agree with the young Naruto—that would be too much to ask for—but his pouting intensified in silent alliance.
Itachi turned his head back slightly, as he had done countless times before, gave a closed-eye smile and continued walking.
Naruto groaned loudly.
Each of them carried a camping pack on their backs. When Itachi had first mentioned that they would be going on the trip, Naruto had jumped and hollered and cheered for days. Sasuke had tried to hide his own excitement, but even he would devolve into quiet fits of giggles at the prospect of the trip.
Most of this excitement was predicated on the promise that went along with it. Itachi was going to teach them his most powerful technique!
Naruto was starting to hope that it wasn't the power to walk long distances or better yet torture small children (in reality, Itachi was skilled at each).
"Argh, are we there yet? Or, ooh, ooh, we can take a break and you teach us the super jutsu right now!" Naruto laughed triumphantly. Sasuke harrumphed in agreement.
Itachi smiled again. But, this time, he spoke, "Patience."
Naruto groaned again. Sasuke swore that Itachi's smile got just a little bit wider at that, and that made this all slightly better. He and Naruto may not have been at each other's throats anymore, but that didn't mean he wasn't still a pain.
They had been walking for nearly four hours. Naruto had been complaining for the previous two. But, it was only in the last hour that his complaints seemed to go from annoying to agreeable.
"Naruto is...right," Sasuke ground out, "We've been walking for hours."
"See, even Sasuke agrees with me!" Naruto yelled.
"Sasuke is agreeing with you? Hm, that doesn't sound right..." Itachi replied.
"But it is, right Sasuke?!" Naruto said, looking expectantly toward him. Itachi also looked toward him with an "inquisitive" look on his face. Now, Sasuke knew he was the one Itachi was picking on. He grumbled to himself and didn't answer.
Itachi laughed this time, reaching out to ruffle Sasuke's hair. Sasuke immediately tried to straighten it back out, a small pout working its way onto his face.
Itachi looked to Naruto "Don't worry, we're almost there."
Naruto, who had previously been dragging behind, shot forward with a burst of energy. "Yatta! Well, what are we waiting for, come on!" Itachi looked sheepishly after him as he ran off ahead of them.
Finally, they made it to the top of a large, grassy hill with a sheer drop off. Naruto was cheering and dancing near the top. Sasuke dropped off his pack behind him, and whacked Naruto on the head. Idiot.
Naruto quickly recovered rushing down towards Itachi, "So are you going to teach us this jutsu way up here so we don't destroy anything? What's it gonna be? A huge lightning storm? A fireball that explodes?" Itachi kept walking.
"I never said anything about a jutsu," Itachi replied. Naruto froze and then started complaining twice as loudly as before. Sasuke would have joined in, but...there was something about this place.
Itachi kept walking. He walked to nearly the end of the hilly ledge and looked out past the cliff. He was very quiet and still, even as the wind blew past them and the tall grass rustled around them. Surprisingly, even Naruto seemed to sense something was off. He calmed down and looked quizzically toward Itachi.
"Uh, what's wrong, Itachi-nii?" Naruto asked. He glanced towards Sasuke. There was an uncomfortable stillness to everything around them, interjected only by the occasional breath of wind.
"Aniki?" Sasuke volunteered. There was no response.
Finally, Itachi took a long, quiet breath. He turned to face them. Sasuke thought he saw a flicker of something in his eyes, but whatever it was left quickly.
"Naruto, Sasuke. Come here."
Sasuke found himself looking at Naruto, who looked back at him with the same look of uncertainty he had. They walked forward together, looking out over the cliff from either side of Itachi.
It appeared to be an old battlefield. The terrain was littered with rusted weapons, upturned boulders and scorch marks. What grass there was grew unevenly between patches of barren earth. Sasuke thought for a moment that he would see a body, clutching onto a half-broken weapon or sticking out from the beneath the dirt.
Then Itachi began to speak.
Sasuke's eyes snapped open, his dreams dissolving into wisps: a general recollection, a sense of the moment and then nothingness.
He thought he might have dreamed of happier times.
He rolled over. Naruto was still sleeping in the other bed.
It was three minutes before his alarm would go off, but Sasuke rolled out of bed anyway. In those minutes, he dressed, grabbed his weapons, and slipped silently out of his house. The sound of the alarm and Naruto's groans filtered down to him. The blonde might join him eventually, but Sasuke couldn't wait.
He had his own happiness to find.
Today was the day.
Not graduation, that had come and gone. No, Sakura thought to herself, today was team assignments.
And, she was terrified.
"Ah, it'll be fine, Sakura-chan," Naruto reassured her. They were sitting in class, waiting for Iruka-sensei to announce the various teams that would split the graduating class into their groups of Genin.
Sakura's two best friends were sitting on either side of her. That was to say, her only two friends. And that, it seemed, summed up her fears in a nutshell.
"The old man wouldn't dare split us up!" Naruto continued.
Naruto always amazed her with how sure he was about everything. Are you sure you can call the Hokage old man? Are you sure you can get out of detention?
Even when they had first become friends nearly two years ago, he had this same self-assured attitude. He had swooped in, landing between her and a bully that had wanted to "teach her a lesson" for "thinking she was better than everyone else because she was a Senju."
Naruto ran his mouth and got ready to beat up the much larger bully.
As the bully approached, Sakura had whispered, "Are you sure you can do this?"
"Totally," he had responded.
Yeah.
She met Sasuke when he arrived to help the battered Naruto. He, on the other hand, took the bully down easily. That certainly hadn't helped with her already blossoming crush.
So, she didn't ask him if he was sure, knowing he would be and knowing it didn't necessarily mean he was right. Instead, she let out a pitiful noise as her stomach twisted.
Part of her wished she could have Naruto's certainty to the point of stupidity, but she didn't. She lived in a world of uncertainties, and while it wasn't great for her heart, it was quite good for being right.
"Sakura. Sakura!" She was pulled out of her thoughts by Naruto, who looked at her with outlandish passion and determination. "Say it with me. We're gonna be a team!"
"The probability of that isn't great. Maybe they know we're friends, but-"
"Nah, nah, nah-nah-nah." He interrupted, crossing his arms in an 'X'. "I said, we're gonna be a team!"
She stared at him and he stared back and she knew he wasn't going to stop. So she said, "We're gonna be a team."
"What? I can't hear you! I said, we're gonna be a team!" He yelled, smiling.
"We're gonna be a team!" She said more loudly. Part of her just wanted him to shut up, but it also felt good saying it. She clung to those good feelings like a drowning girl to her life-preserver.
"That's right!" He threw his fist in the air, "We're gonna be a team! We're gonna be a team! We're gonna be-"
"Ugh, shut up, Naruto," Sasuke interjected.
"What?! I can't hear you over all our teamwork, Sasuke! Did you hear that-We're gonna be a team! We're gonna be a team!"
Sasuke growled, throwing a scroll at Naruto, who just laughed, continuing his chant. Sasuke turned to her, "Sakura, I need you to do something," he said, "kill him for me. Now."
"Aw, what's the matter, Sasuke? If you want me to stop saying—we're gonna be a team!—you should stop me yourself. Otherwise, we're gonna be a team!"
"Don't tempt me," Sasuke said.
"It's okay, Naruto, thank you, I feel a bit better now," Sakura said. And, it was true.
They were friends. They would still be friends later—probably—and besides that, they were gonna be a team! She smiled slightly at that.
Naruto beamed at her. "Anything to cheer you up, Sakura-chan!" He said and she shook her head at his crush shining through. "But I wonder who our Jonin-sensei is gonna be."
"Who knows? There are lots of Jonin in the village. It's the Genin that decide the type of team, more or less, so that doesn't help either." Sasuke responded.
"Yeah, but they'll need someone awesome to teach us! I mean we've got the future Hokage, the most beautiful kunoichi in the world-"
"Naruto," she reprimanded lightly, but it was nice of him to say.
"-and, of course, the cutest sidekick in all of Konoha! We'll be unstoppable!" Naruto said, laughing.
Sasuke flipped Naruto off. "If anything, you'd be my sidekick," he replied, "Rookie-of-the-year, remember?"
Naruto scowled. He had finished somewhere in the middle of the class. "No, you'd be mine because I can kick your ass, remember?"
"Ha, wanna bet, dead-last?"
"Stop it, both of you," Sakura said. They really would fight in the classroom and that wouldn't be good. Then a mischievous thought entered her head. "We all know you're both my sidekicks!"
Sasuke just rolled his eyes while Naruto looked surprised then laughed loudly, complimenting her for a "good one" before winking at her and talking about being her sidekick anytime.
She just shook her head. And then, there was Iruka-sensei, and she realized she had been too distracted to worry.
Well, might as well make up for lost time.
"As of today, you are all ninja. You have all worked so hard to get here, and I'm proud to have been your teacher." He smiled and next to her Naruto grinned brightly back at Iruka-sensei. "As you know, you will be split into three-man teams under a Jonin-sensei. These are the teams. First, Team 1 under Hyuuga Doto..."
Sakura's mind wandered. Naruto was friendly with the Hokage, maybe that meant it was more likely they would be together? But Hokage shouldn't make decisions like that! Well, the Fourth was known for his emphasis on friendship and camaraderie. A sentiment which was very popular after the disastrous reign of the Third and the war th-
Argh, the tests were over. But the decision filled her with a similar anxiety.
Well, they had already decided, nothing to do now, but find out what the decision had been.
"Team 7 will consist of Uzumaki Naruto, Uchiha Sasuke, and Senju Sakura. You will be led by Uchiha Obito."
Yes! The weight lifted off her shoulders. She wanted to cheer.
She was so happy that she almost missed Naruto and Sasuke freeze on either side of her. Naruto's head hit the desk with a thunk.
Sasuke just scowled. "Typical."
The Fourth Hokage looked at him with a mixture of exasperation and amusement. "You're late, Obito."
The Uchiha grinned. "It's something of a habit." Then he looked down at the crystal ball on the Hokage's desk. The other Jonin had already left. It scrolled over the graduating class of the academy, stopping on a particular group of three students. "Hm, I wonder who's on my team."
"The Uchiha clan heir and an S-rank secret, just for you."
Obito nodded. "Oh boy. You shouldn't have, Sakumo-sama." His eyes drifted over to Sakura. "And the girl?"
The White Fang leaned back in his chair. "A Senju. Well, an adopted one at least. She fills the gap well. Strong focus towards medical ninjutsu that is already way ahead of her peers. All three of them are quite capable." Then, after a pause, he continued, "They have the potential to be the next great Team 7."
Obito's eyes flickered up to meet Sakumo's at that. The Yondaime looked as he often did: a mixture of solemn, hopeful, and kind.
"And you trust me with that? I'm the only member of Team 7 left."
There was a long silence as the pain of past failures bubbled up around them. Obito's gaze traveled unbidden to the north wall of the village.
Finally, Sakumo broke the silence. "Yes. But, these three will help uphold the legacy of Minato...and Kakashi...and Rin." Obito looked down at her name. Sakumo continued reassuringly, "You will do great. Mold them into something great. Make them ready to change the world."
Obito looked up, regaining some of his positive personality. "I was going to do that anyway! But, since you asked so nicely, I'll make it flashy too!"
Naruto was steaming, pacing back and forth, looking at the door, then to the clock, letting loose some noise of frustration before pacing back and forth again. "Ugh! Where is he?! Goddamn it, Obito!" Naruto yelled.
They had been waiting for nearly 3 hours.
Sasuke was sitting, his head down, resting on his arms. His head popped out to comment. "Come on, we knew this was going to happen." Naruto just yelled in frustration again.
Patience was not his strong suit.
Sakura put two-and-two together, "You've met our sensei already? Because he's an Uchiha?"
"Yeah," Sasuke began before Naruto cut him off.
"He's the laziest person ever! Not to mention how crazy annoying he is! We could be here all night because he's petting old ladies or running into black cats or something! For all we know, he's actually forgotten about us!"
Naruto had stopped pacing, but instead was rustling through his bag and searching through the classroom for anything that could be used as pranking materials. He started setting up an elaborate trap, covering every conceivable entrance.
Sakura piped up again. "Uh, don't you mean that the other way around?"
Naruto gave her a deadpan look. Sasuke snorted. Naruto opened the door, leaving a little surprise in the hallway before, putting an eraser above the door and rigging a series of wires.
"It can't be that bad," Sakura said with a tinge of uncertainty.
"He's the worst," Naruto reiterated.
Sasuke smirked. "Oh no. You mean we're going to have to deal with someone annoying and forgetful?" He turned to Sakura with a deadpan. "I don't think I can handle that."
Naruto twitched at that. Screw you, Sasuke.
Sakura smiled. "I know, if only we knew someone who could prepare us for such things. I've never been annoyed at a teammate before, do you know how I should handle it?"
Naruto reached into his pouch for a wire, ignoring his terrible teammates.
"I don't know. If I ever have to deal with laziness and constant pestering, I'll be sure to tell you. Naruto, have you ever dealt with such things?" Sasuke asked.
"Ha. Ha." Naruto replied, but he was distracted attaching a series of wires to the chalkboard eraser above the classroom door. "But, I'm serious. He's supposed to be teaching us. Are you telling me you think Obito would be a good Jonin-sensei?"
Sasuke grunted at that, but responded anyway. "Well, he is supposed to be some kind of badass."
"Exactly, supposed to be!" Naruto said as he finished the trap above the door and went to the windows. A can of paint was propped carefully over the window. "Have you ever seen any badassery from him? No!"
"He's avoided every trap you've tried to catch him with," Sasuke offered. Naruto growled in response.
"He is supposed to be very highly ranked," Sakura added, "Some say he's next in line to be Hokage."
"I'm next in line to be Hokage," Naruto growled, finishing his trap over the final window. "Believe it."
Finally, a hand slid in through the sliding door. All of their heads snapped to it as it opened. The eraser fell, unbalancing the wires. An explosion sounded in the hallway and white powder puffed into the room. The eraser bounced off the floor as the door slid the rest of the way open.
Empty.
A voice suddenly rang out behind them. "Whew, I hope no one was out there!"
Naruto turned around angrily, "How!?"
Obito looked to him, "Hm, oh well you see there was this old cat lady and-"
"Argh, that's not what I meant! How did you get in? I covered everywhere," he said, a touch of defeat creeping into his voice.
"Oh, that?" He looked up, apparently thinking his answer over, then, "I'm me!" Naruto groaned, slumping his head onto a desk.
Obito smiled over the grumbling, "Hey, Sasuke."
The young Uchiha grunted in acknowledgement. Obito smiled. "Same old Sasu-chan. And you must be Sakura."
"It's nice to meet you, sensei."
"It is, isn't it?" Obito said with a smile.
Sakura didn't know how to respond to that.
"All righty then," he continued hopping up suddenly, darting over to the window, "let's head to the roof! Normally we'd take the stairs, but, well, you know," he said, gesturing to the pranked hallway as he opened the window. Naruto gave a hopeful look...which reverted back to stunned defeat.
The paint can over the window was just gone.
Obito hopped out before poking his head back in. "Well, are you coming?" Then he disappeared back out the window, making his way to the roof.
The three friends looked between each other.
"The worst," Naruto said.
"But," Sakura began tentatively, "kind of a badass?"
Sasuke smirked, "Come on."
Each of them made their way out the window, scaling up the side of the academy with the Tree-Walking technique. It was the type of warm, pleasant day that helped make Konoha such a beautiful village. When they got to the roof, Obito was looking out over the village, towards the Hokage Tower. He seemed to be thinking about something.
"And time!" He said, snapping out of his silence like a firecracker, "Man, you guys are slow." He sighed dramatically. "Anyway, sit, sit. It's time for introductions!"
"We already know each other." Naruto grumbled.
Obito cocked his head to the side. "Do you? Huh." He shrugged. "Likes, dislikes, hobbies, dreams for the future! For instance, my name is Obito. I have likes and dislikes. I even have hobbies! As for my dreams for the future, well you're a bit too young to know about those," He said, ending with a wink.
Naruto grumbled to himself. He hadn't told them anything! Not that he would care if Naruto called him out on it.
"Sakura, why don't you go first?" Their sensei continued.
"Um, I like-"
"What's your name, Sakura?" Obito coaxed gently.
"Sakura..." she said slowly. Obito nodded to her encouragingly before motioning for her to continue. "My name is Senju Sakura. I like my family, my, uh, friends, and learning about interesting topics. I dislike Ino-pig and unhelpful rules. My hobbies are spending time in the Konohagakure Clinical Laboratory and reading books. My dream for the future, is, uh," She glanced towards Sasuke but said, "To live up to my family's reputation."
"Very good!"
Sasuke was sitting to her right, so he went next.
"My name is Uchiha Sasuke. I don't have many likes, and I have many dislikes. I don't have any hobbies. My dream is not a dream, because I won't stop until it becomes a reality. I will find him."
Obito nodded solemnly. He turned to Naruto.
"My name is Uzumaki Naruto. I like Sakura-chan, Sasuke, and ramen! I dislike the time it takes to cook the ramen. My hobbies are trying different types of ramen and having ramen-eating competitions! My dream for the future is to help Sasuke with what he said, and then, I'm going to become Hokage, dattebayo!"
"Excellent introductions, everyone! Now, you know what comes next!" Obito exclaimed cheerfully, smiling with a brightness that they would come to associate with oncoming pain and humiliation.
At the time, the genin only looked between themselves in confusion. "Uh, we do?"
Two bells were held in front of them on identical red strings. Obito rung them together. "The goal of the test is simple. Those who get these bells from me will pass. Those who do not will fail and be sent back to the academy. Scary, right? So you better not fail!"
They had been waiting there since 6AM, as per their sensei's instructions, for their second genin test. Mostly they had alternated taken naps until he had arrived.
Not that it did much good, Sakura was still tired, too tired even to really comment on Obito's late arrival. She had left that to Naruto and Sasuke, who chewed Obito out after he had given some weird excuse (really just Naruto, Sasuke had just given one of his more annoyed grunts.)
Finally, he had pulled out the bells and explained the nature of the test, but there was a problem.
"There are only two bells," Sakura started, as Naruto interjected.
"You can't do that! We're a team. You can't force one of us back to the academy!" He yelled. The lack of sleep only seemed to make him more annoyed.
"Hm, I guess I'll just send all of you back to the academy then."
Naruto gave a low growl.
"Seriously though, that would be way less work for me," Obito responded wistfully before continuing, "You have until noon to get a bell." He pulled out a timer, setting it and placing it on one of the posts in the center of the large clearing. Trees surrounded them on either side and from behind, but the clearing gave way to a crystal blue stream that flowed past in front of them. "Any questions?"
They didn't have any.
"Good! Oh, one more thing," His cheery demeanor fell away for a second, "If you want to win, you better come at me with the intent to kill."
Sakura felt a chill pass over her, but it passed quickly as Obito smiled again. "All right! Let's begin. In three, two, one. Go!"
They all darted into the trees to their left. Or at least they tried to. Obito crashed into Naruto with an amazing burst of speed. And, as soon as Sakura and Sasuke landed, shuriken tore after them, screaming past the trees with vicious efficiency. Sakura twisted to her right behind a tree as Sasuke deflected the ones flying towards him. There was another rush of metal and Sasuke cursed.
"Move!" He yelled, jumping past her. She obeyed without question as the trees exploded behind them.
They jumped deeper into the forest. Behind them, she could hear Naruto yelling something, maybe a jutsu name, but it was faint. And she didn't have much time to think about it as more shuriken were still being thrown at them from a much closer distance.
She dodged left as Sasuke dodged right. She slid her staff from her back. Another wave of shuriken flew toward her and she carefully deflected them, wary of more exploding tags, before sliding behind a tree. Her heart was pounding, her drowsiness long gone, but she was breathing heavily. She slowed her breathing as best she could as Sasuke exchanged shuriken with Obito.
Sakura quickly dug through her pouch for an exploding tag. She slapped it against the tree she was hiding behind and darted forward. She rushed past Sasuke, "Come on!"
For some reason, he paused but then followed after her. She waited a beat. Another round of shuriken screamed towards them. She set the tag off and darted right with Sasuke this time.
The explosion shook the trees around them as they descended towards the forest floor. As they fell, Sasuke flipped elaborately through the tress throwing multiple shuriken back from where they came before landing with a flourish. His eyes were blood red.
She landed next to him. Her face was flushed and she was breathing deeply, but she felt pretty good. Sasuke was still looking back towards the clearing tensely. Then he relaxed slightly. Guess they got him.
"Wasn't Obito fighting Naruto in the clearing?" She asked as she caught her breath.
"Must have been some type of clone," Sasuke responded distractedly. His eyes were still scanning their surroundings just in case.
"What, like Naruto's Shadow Clones?" Sakura asked. That would certainly explain it. And would be a major problem if he could use them like Naruto could.
"Maybe," he grunted out, before glancing toward her. "Thanks."
Now that felt awesome. It was a bit unnecessary though. Of course she would have his back.
"No problem." She smiled brightly at him. "Teammates, right?"
He didn't respond immediately. Sakura slowly stopped smiling. Uncertainty began to bubble up inside of her. Then, the reason for his silence and discomfort dawned on her.
"Look, Sakura," he began, but she cut him off.
"There's only two bells," she said, almost to herself, before looking painfully towards Sasuke, "which means you have to pick between-between the two of us, and, of course, if it's a choice between me and Naruto, you're going to pick...you're going to pick Naruto. Right, yeah."
And that hurt. A lot.
But, she could hardly bring herself to be angry at him. It made sense. She was his...friend? But they were brothers. It wasn't even a contest.
Sasuke had the decency to at least look uncomfortable if not outright guilty. "Sorry," he said.
He looked like he was trying to think of something else to say to let her down more gently, but he ultimately gave up. "I have to find Naruto." And with that he jumped off to the right, perhaps planning to circle back to the clearing and find the aforementioned blonde.
Part of her wanted to follow him and do something to change his mind. Another part wanted to help him, knowing he would leave her behind. The rest of her didn't know what to do.
That was the part that wanted to cry.
She couldn't bring herself to follow him. The most she could do was stay out of the way.
Obito looked at him curiously. "You're not very good at this, are you?"
Oh, how Naruto wanted to smack that look off his face. Not that he was having much success. He couldn't even touch him, let alone devise a plan for the bells. His clones kept on eating shuriken. And the ones that got close...
"Ole!" Obito said as he flipped between two clones, the first went flying over him and the other went under. But instead of getting nailed by the two clones hurtling towards his now vulnerable, airborne form from either side, Obito grabbed the ankle of the clone who had flown over his head, and twisted, spinning the clone through the other clone projectiles before landing gently on the ground as the chakra smoke dissipated above him.
Then he immediately sidestepped the clone waiting underground, innocuously dropping a reel of exploding tags.
"Whoopsie," Obito said cheerfully. The resulting explosion, killed off the rest of his clones and sent Naruto careening back into the center of the clearing.
He righted himself with some trouble as Obito walked out the smoke dusting himself off and whistling a jolly tune.
"Ugh, okay, plan, uh..." He was kind of running out of those. Obito had sent a clone after Sasuke and Sakura, and then there had been a few explosions.
He didn't think Obito would kill his teammates necessarily, but they did need his help. Unfortunately, Obito was still standing between them and him.
"Boo! I'm bored. Don't you have anything else?" Obito yawned. "Man, I should carry along something to read. Huh...I would have gotten through so many books."
Oh, Naruto really wanted to smack that look off his face. But that line of thinking wasn't going to help right now. Breathe. Think about your options before you act.
He'd take the long way then.
"I've got this!" He threw down a bunch of smoke bombs, made a few clones to distract Obito and darted into the trees behind him. He checked back to see if Obito was buying the ruse. The clones were Henging into random things, running around in circles and shooting off fireworks to distract him while another group snuck up on him again. Good enough.
Deeper in the forest, he darted off to his right, following the rough perimeter of the clearing as he looked for Sasuke and Sakura. He was also keeping an eye out for any Obito clone that may be trying to find him.
Actually...
He reached down into the raging fire of that chakra. He pulled a small spark from it and it ignited, converting into a raging inferno of his chakra. He used it to make a series of clones to spread out through the forest and distract Obito. He was pretty sure the previous ruse was almost up.
He hopped as quickly as he could until he saw a flash of pink as he darted past. Huh, deja vu. Except this time, he wasn't being chased. Well, he didn't think he was. She was walking along the forest floor alone. He doubled back, landing next to her.
She turned to face him, startled.
He waved happily. "Hi, Sakura!" he exclaimed.
She didn't react immediately, which was weird. Did he have something on his face? Well, besides the blood and dirt and empty hole where his pride used to be?
"Uh, Sakura?" He tried again.
"Yes, I can hear you. Hi, Naruto," she responded. She sounded kind of sad. Well, she was all alone in the forest.
Something told him that wasn't the problem though.
"What happened to Sasuke?" If anything, that made her close down even more. Holy shit. "Did-did something, uh, is Sasuke, um," He swallowed hard in fear and denial.
Her head shot up. "No, nothing like that." Whew, don't you die on me, bastard, he thought to himself. Alrighty then. "Just, he's not here."
"Did you guys get separated or something? Or you split up?" She hung her head again, but nodded at the second one. Man, she was trembling. Either she really missed him or Obito had put her through some hell.
"Well, you found me! So, where's the meetup spot? We've got a gameplan to make." And fast. Something told him that Obito was on his trail.
But, Sakura was just staring at him in wonder.
Which felt awesome. But, it kind of wasn't the time.
"Uh, Sakura?" That snapped her out of it again, though her eyes started to look a bit watery.
Fuck Obito. Seriously.
"Right, right, uhm," she turned, discretely rubbing her eyes in the process. Of course, Naruto was more perceptive than people gave him credit for. "I think it's this way, yeah."
She led him forward along the perimeter of the clearing, towards where the two of them had disappeared into the forest the first time.
There was no sign of Obito as of yet, which was good, but Sakura seemed off, which wasn't.
He didn't have much time to think on it, before they found Sasuke, who was jumping back in the opposite direction. He flew past them, before doubling back. Naruto shook his head. Sasuke pretended to be cool, but he was too hotheaded to just wait at the meetup spot.
Sasuke landed next to him.
"There you are, bastard," Naruto said to him, clapping him on the shoulder. "Obito seems to just be waiting in the clearing again." He wasn't sure exactly why he thought that, but he had a feeling the clone that had been following him didn't make it past his own clones. "What's the gameplan?"
Sasuke glanced past him to Sakura, then looked at him again. "Pretty much the usual. Clone it up, I'll pin him down with shuriken or a Goukakyuu or something. If you get an opening, grab the bells."
Naruto thought about it, "Nah, there's no way that's gonna work. He was styling on my clones for fun. Sakura, any med-nin, stealth jutsu up your sleeve, maybe we could keep his attention and then you can-"
Sasuke grunted something to cut him off, but he didn't catch it.
"Uh, what was that? Was that a 'she's not up for it' or a 'pick me instead, coach' or something? Relax, I was just asking if she had anything good."
Sakura was closing up again though, looking studiously away from Sasuke.
Naruto suddenly felt like he was missing something.
"There's only two bells, dobe," Sasuke said, looking at him seriously.
Huh, oh yeah. Apparently, this wasn't just a beat their sensei down until Naruto felt better exercise. On the other hand, he was pretty sure he was going to aim for that anyway.
He was also pretty sure what Sasuke was getting at.
"So, what? You're saying we leave her behind?" He asked, honestly more incredulous than anything else.
"It's the only thing we can do," he responded tensely.
Sasuke was giving him the same look he had given him when his mom wouldn't let them train unless Naruto ate vegetables. Naruto didn't like vegetables. Come on, Naruto, he had said with frustration as the young blonde nibbled at his broccoli one tiny, leafy bud at a time.
That time, he had relented.
"What the fuck!? No! So-wait, wait," he said, "is this what you told her? Sorry, Sakura, but screw you, have fun at the academy? Stay out of our way because you might get a bell? Fuck no! Don't be a bastard, bastard!" He yelled, shoving the Uchiha back.
Sasuke growled, stepping forward.
"No, stop. It's okay," Sakura said, "I understand. If one of us has to go back to the academy," She shrugged, "it's going to be me. It should be me. I'm not going to split you two up. I-"
"Shut up, Sakura," Naruto yelled at her.
Wait, what.
Even she seemed stunned. "I mean, uh, no. We're doing this together." He finished awkwardly.
"And, what, whoever gets the bells gets to decide what happens? I'm," Sasuke cursed under his breath, "I'm not letting you get left behind, idiot."
"Well, I'm not leaving either of you behind, and Kami knows I'm not going back to the academy. Like they'd take me," Naruto replied, with a small smirk.
"But," Sakura interjected quietly, "there's still only two bells. One of us has to be left behind." She still looked sad.
And now, he got it. If he honestly had to pick, he probably would pick Sasuke, and Sasuke, despite their occasional animosity, would pick him. Family and all that. And, she knew it.
The thing was though, there was no way he was making that choice. And there wasn't a force in the world that could make him. Especially not their asshole of a sensei. A sensei, who, luckily, seemed more content to look at the clouds than for them.
He walked over to Sakura. "After we beat him up and take those stupid bells, I'll personally slap another one out of him." He smiled at her. "You with me?" He asked.
Sakura looked back at him with such emotion in her teary eyes that he closed his own, laughing nervously. Something uncomfortable stirred inside him.
She didn't respond, but he heard her shift. He turned around to also look at Sasuke. He didn't look pleased about it, but he relented, grunting in defeat.
"Great, now apologize to Sakura and we can figure out how to actually do this thing." Naruto added, his eyes narrowed. Sasuke glared back at him but walked over to Sakura.
"I'm sorry, Sakura." He said.
"It's okay, I-thank you. I forgive you." She replied.
Eh, it was a work in progress. Naruto hopped over to them.
"Alright, that's teamwork! Live together, die together and all that. What can I say, I do good work!" He exclaimed, shoving them playfully. They shoved him back at the same time with more force than was strictly necessary, sending him crashing to the floor.
Sakura giggled. Sasuke smirked at his expense.
Beautiful. Bastard. Oh well.
He sat up.
"Sakura, I bet we can get you close enough to use your scalpel staff thing," Naruto said, "That is, if Sasu-chan will provide some cover."
Sasuke grunted.
Oh yeah, Obito was going down.
91313, 91314, 91315, 91316! Obito finished triumphantly. His potential genin were off plotting somewhere, so he decided to count all the leaves he could see instead of looking for them. It was so much more fun than being a "good" jonin-sensei. Hm, or was it fun because it wasn't being a good jonin-sensei?
He shrugged. Oh well, he had thrown some stuff at them earlier, chased them around a bit. Surely, that counted? Besides, it wouldn't matter if they didn't get the bells soon. Time was running out.
Far more importantly, he was getting bored again.
Ah, there they are.
Waves of clones rushed from the trees directly ahead of him. There was a flicker of something, but then it disappeared again in the mass of clones.
Obito waited and waited and waited. A few split seconds later, however, and the clones were still practically ambling across the clearing. He sighed. Kill me now.
Oh well, might as well try and have some fun anyway.
With the lightning-fast reflexes of a Jonin Uchiha, he unleashed a deadly barrage of kunai and shuriken at breakneck speeds. Clone after clone was destroyed with a surprised look on its face and an amusing pop! of smoke. But, not all of his projectiles found their mark. From the trees, another barrage of weapons met his, weaving impossibly between the clones to deflect some of his projectiles. Some, not all. It compensated for maybe a third of them, but it was enough, giving the blondes enough time to meander their way towards Obito.
Those would have to be dispelled by taijutsu instead.
As the clones got close, a fuma shuriken tore its way across the clearing as a final distraction. He grinned in delight. A toy! He snatched it out the air lazily, hoping to use it to massacre his blonde student's clones and teach a valuable lesson about something or other. Unfortunately there was a wire attached to it, so he sent it flying back the way it came almost as soon as it touched his hand.
The trap sprung and the shuriken separated, its sharp blades shooting uselessly into the clones of Naruto. Oh well!
The clones were upon him now. He tore through them easily. Shuriken released up close slammed into their bodies or he dispatched them with kicks, throws and punches. It would be completely mind-numbing, but Sasuke—he was pretty sure it was Sasuke—was quite effective at weaving his own projectiles through the clones to hit his prospective sensei or, better yet, detach the bells from his waist.
Narutos slid in with low kicks from all sides as two waves of shuriken boxed him in on both sides from the front.
Hm. Apparently they wanted him in the air. He didn't have to go in the air, mind you. But, it was always more impressive to escape just when all hope seemed lost.
He jumped into the air as a Naruto cannonballed towards him from the front. He nearly dispersed it with a kunai, but noticed the strips of paper attached to its body. Instead he planted his foot on its face, propelling himself up higher as explosions went off below him.
He smiled. It wasn't over quite yet.
Four clones shot towards his airborne form. He dispersed them, but through the chakra smoke another Naruto rose, staff swinging towards his vulnerable frame. Ah. He thought he had seen a flicker of different chakra. So they decided to work together after all.
Absently, he noted other Narutos rising, kunai in hand from below. A slight rush of air meant a kunai from Sasuke was heading towards him from behind as well. And here he was, out of position from his attack with no time to weave seals.
He'd take them! Their attack would certainly be enough to land a hit on an average jonin like Asuma—or a below average one like Kurenai!
Fortunately, he was neither.
He rose his hand to catch the staff—maybe it would be his toy instead! But, then, he watched as chakra built up inside of Sakura, stretched out, and curled, green energy coalescing around her staff. The Chakra Scalpel.
He almost laughed. Now, that was teamwork. Well done!
Oh, he had so many plans for them! But first...
The staff swung down onto his waiting hand...and through. The thrown kunai zipped through the bell string and the clones slashed through Obito. The bells didn't fall. The blows didn't connect. His body just phased through it. Then, he lashed out, kicking Sakura in her exposed side before eliminating the clones with some well placed shuriken.
Then he saw Sasuke. The Uchiha didn't know what hit him.
Obito landed gracefully on the ground.
Naruto, Sakura, and about a dozen clones stared at him with the familiar shock and confusion that followed his use of Kamui to escape the inescapable. Then, he spit Sasuke out of the alternate dimension on top of them.
"Congratulations! Excellent teamwork, everyone! You passed the test. You are all my genin now," He said, smiling brightly. "As such, it's time for your first lesson: how to take a beating! Pay attention! Ready, set, now!"
And then, he beat them up as he had beaten many before. Except, of course, he left them alive.
Well, they were conscious at least as he tied them to the tree stumps on the edge of the clearing. He smiled slightly as they groaned. Man, genin were weak. Or was he awesome? Or were they weak because he was awesome?
He snorted. But, he had used that joke already. How depressing.
"Teamwork," he said, "is only one part of this test." Naruto groaned as Sasuke glanced up at him through bloodstained hair. Sakura just shook, whimpering quietly.
"Two of you could have worked together. That would be teamwork. But then I wouldn't have even needed to try," he continued, looking to Sasuke. The Uchiha looked away. "Sacrifice. That's the difference. Working together, despite the fact that not everyone will survive the process."
Naruto grunted angrily.
"You may not like it," he looked to Naruto, "but there will be missions where you lose people. Perhaps, a completed mission will soothe that pain, but it probably won't. Regardless, you have to be...ready for that sacrifice. It's the only way you'll have a chance at success."
They didn't respond, and Obito found himself lost in his own thoughts and memories. Perhaps, they were considering his words.
Or, perhaps, they had their own memories to ponder.
Then Itachi began to speak.
"I promised I would teach you the source of my strength. This is the Maelstrom Plateau. In every Great War since before the Clans Era, at least one battle was fought here. But, this is the story of the first..."
Naruto and Sasuke stood transfixed, Itachi's words given an otherworldly vividness, a clarity as if watching the events play out in real time.
He told them of the wars waged between two tribes who were bitter enemies. As they fought, they committed more and more resources to destroying each other and the devastation rose in scale each time they met.
One person, from one of the tribes saw that their ever-escalating hatred would eventually lead to both of their destruction. Thus, when he had the chance, he showed mercy to the other side in hopes of changing the course of the war. When his tribe found out, they killed him. Those he had spared, they said, had gone on to kill their comrades.
Others would go on to repeat this kindness on both sides, but their fates would be the same. Maybe they would be killed by the other tribe, maybe by their own. The vengeful wars carried on.
It seemed whatever kindness grew was met by hatred that arose from past wrongs. Each tribe devolved into civil wars in addition to the wars against each other.
Finally, on each side, those who wanted peace came together to support each other and together hoped to bring peace to both sides.
"They met, here, but they were not alone. Their respective tribes followed them, finding out about their plans for reconciliation. They arrived on these hills, each demanding that they stopped supporting the enemy, accusing them of betraying those lost to the other side."
"Nothing said changed the minds of the others. And the great battle began between friends and enemies. In the end only two remained, both from the same tribe, though from which... It was said they were close friends once upon a time."
They died, that day, together.
"This is the sad tragedy of our shinobi world. The story that plays itself out in different forms and to different extremes and with different names and, yet, the same message. A wealth of suffering. A failure of understanding. A cycle of hatred. Such is the horror of this world. And yet, I seek peace. A way to change this world for the better. And, the closer I get to that goal, the stronger I become."
"For a time I had hoped to spare you these truths, but soon you too will be shinobi, enduring the nature of this world. Such tragedies will come again unless the world gives way to peace. But, how can it when this is the nature of our cursed world? ...I want to hear your answer. Tell me: how will you confront this reality, in order to create peace?"
Then, something shifted and the intensity of everything adjusted to a new normal. Sasuke hadn't realized how focused he had been.
But he had been focused. And Itachi's question burned clear in his mind. His answer seemed clear too.
Sasuke spoke first. "I guess being kind isn't enough. Being too nice just leaves you vulnerable. You need someone strong to really force everyone to be nice."
Itachi was quiet. Then, he said, "One person trying to shape everything and everyone. There may be trouble there, little brother."
Sasuke shrugged.
"And what about you, Naruto?"
Naruto opened his mouth and then closed it. He hung his head. "I-I don't know."
Itachi nodded, but he seemed disappointed. He looked back over the battlefield. "Perhaps, there is no answer," he whispered into the wind.
"No!" Naruto said so loudly he seemed to shock himself. "I mean, if there is a way to make peace, I'll find it! I won't let you down."
Itachi smiled at that. "I know that you—neither of you—will let me down. In fact, I believe that you two will find your way towards a better future."
There was brief moment of silence.
Then Itachi smiled. "Come, we have a tent to setup. Also, I think I may have packed these jutsu scrolls by mistake."