Welcome back True Believers! I'm sorry it took so long and that I left the last chapter on a cliffhanger, but I finally managed to finish Chapter 14, so now all your questions will hopefully be answered (well, hopefully). Now, when we last left our young heroes, they had just agreed to join Idenshi-X and Sarutobi had just shown up with their new sensei. Who is this Jounin? Are they mutant or an ordinary ninja? How will their presence affect the future of Idenshi-X? Well, why're you asking me all these questions? Read on to find out!
Chapter 14: Mind Games.
As Naruto eagerly swung open the front door to the Namikaze Estate, he couldn't help but feel an overwhelming sense of excitement and curiosity wash over him. From a good majority of the prior evening, he had been taxing his brain and Cerebra's massive database with figuring out the identity of Idenshi-X's new sensei. In the end, his search had come up blank. There was no file of any mutant activity that would suggest that their sensei could be a mutant. But now, as he opened the door to receive Sarutobi and his guest, his questions would finally be answered. "Oij-sama," he grinned slyly at the Sandaime Hokage, "glad you finally made it."
"Thank you Naruto," chuckled Sarutobi heartily as he smiled at the boy. Per usual, he had come dressed as if for official business, attired in his crimson and cream Hokage robes with his shaded hat seated neatly upon his head. "It's good to see you again." Just then, both Sakura and Sasuke finally caught up to Naruto and skidded to an abrupt stop at his side. "Ah," exclaimed the Hokage happily upon seeing them, "good, Kakashi told you. I hope this didn't come as too much of a shock to you."
"Oh, it was a shock alright," Sakura admitted truthfully, bowing to the Hokage a fraction of a second later. "But we decided that we'd do this as a team. We may be a bit unsure about it, but we still trust both yours and Naruto's judgment on this matter."
"Hmp," nodded Sasuke in agreement.
"Well, that's good to hear," smiled Sarutobi warmly. "Believe me when I say that you three will do our village proud on this team." He paused for a moment, and then motioned to the figure standing a few feet behind him. "But, enough about that, I'm sure you're all anxious to learn who your new sensei is, am I right?" All three mutant Genin nodded in unison at this question, each one as eager as the next to know their sensei's identity. "Well, here she is."
'So, our new sensei is a she, huh?' Naruto thought as he peered around Sarutobi to get a better view of the woman in question. 'Well, that narrows it down...' Before he could ponder about their new sensei any further, Naruto stopped as the woman calmly sidled up next the Sandaime Hokage. Immediately, Naruto was reminded of someone he'd seen around the village a lot, but at first he couldn't place her.
She was tall and exotically beautiful, garbed in an elegant red dress that was cut just above the knee and appeared to be made of fine silk. Extending from either shoulder and criss-crossing her lavish attire was what looked to be a pair of snow white scrolls that wrapped around her entire body, presumably joined somewhere behind her. Inscribed on both sheets of paper was a strange, indecipherable formula, which was most likely written in a language not native to the Elemental Nations. The way they were draped around her, it looked as though she were wearing a set of bandoliers. Both of her wrists where bound with tough looking gauze that was torn in some places, indicating that she'd seen her fair share of combat. Her hair was a brownish-black, and her eyes were as blood red as Sasuke's Sharingan, though it seemed they were naturally that way. Almost immediately, something inside Naruto's brain clicked into place.
"Hey, I remember you," he finally realized, pointing at her excitedly as he spoke. "You're that lady I've seen hanging around with Kiba, Hinata, and Shino all the time."
"Yeah, that's right," agreed Sasuke calmly, though he was still surprised to see her of all people here. "I saw you leave with them the day we were all assigned our sensei's after graduation."
Sakura looked at Naruto and Sasuke with a perplexed expression for a moment, then back at the woman again. Finally she managed to put two-and-two together. "Hey, yeah!" she exclaimed in sudden recognition. "I saw you having lunch with them just the other day when I was on my way home. You're our new sensei?"
"Very good, your memory serves you well" smiled Sarutobi in amusement as he watched their individual reactions. "You are correct Sakura, she is your new sensei. Everyone, I would like to present to you Miss Yuuhi, Kurenai, the youngest of our Jounin Sensei as of late."
"It is very nice to meet all of you," Kurenai said with a warm, almost motherly smile. "Sandaime-sama has told me so much about all of you."
"He has?" wondered Naruto in surprise, casting a slightly suspicious glance in the aging Hokage's direction.
"Of course, I couldn't have her accept this position without knowing her pupils first not could I?" questioned the Hokage jovially. Then, all of a sudden, his expression took on more of a serious look and he tipped the brim of his hat over his eyes. "But more about that later." He then turned to Naruto, who was still interested in learning more about Kurenai. "Naruto, why don't you show us out back and we can get the four of you better acquainted?"
"Of course, Oij-sama," he nodded compliantly, then turned to politely usher the group into the mansion. As he quietly lead them through the hallway to the ballroom, which opened up to the backyard terrace, Naruto found himself glancing over his shoulder at Kurenai every once and a while. There was just something about her that he couldn't place, something that seemed... off. Absorbed in his own thoughts as he was, the X-Man still had the presence of mind to remember the task at hand and proceeded to lead his guests across the ballroom floor and out the twin glass doors to the backyard.
About one fourth the size of the ballroom, and just as ornate, the stone terrace was crafted to withstand the most brutal of the elements that assailed it. Not only was it durable, but it was quite illustrious as well. It was cordoned off from the rest of the yard by a white marble banister, supported by short, Greco-Roman columns made of the same material. A few feet from the banister was a quartet of elegant dining tables, for social gatherings, and beyond the banister lay the rest of the backyard. An elegant fountain sat in the center of the yard, a steady stream of water flowing from the mouth of the angel that stood atop it. Off to its right, a few yards away lay the winding labyrinth of the hedge maze. As the group approached one of the tables nearest the banister, Naruto stepped up his pace ever-so-slightly, just enough so he could arrive before them and pull out a pair of chairs for Kurenai and Sakura. If there was one thing that he learned from his father and Remy, it was that chivalry was truly an art not to be lost.
"Why thank you Naruto-kun," Kurenai smiled pleasantly as she took her seat and seemed to relax considerable. Sarutobi took the chair to her right, never taking his eyes off of Naruto and his teammates as they sat across from them. For some reason, Naruto thought about all those times that his father had asked Cable to cover for him for Danger Room sessions. No matter what you did, it always felt as if he was studying you for some hidden agenda.
"You're welcome Kurenai-sensei," returned the blonde with a laidback grin, keeping his really suspicions under wraps for the time being. "So, now that we're here, why don't you tell us a little more about yourself? I mean, when we first met Kakashi-sensei, all we really learned was his name." Upon saying this, Naruto found himself having to stifle a slight chuckle, and he noticed that everyone else at the table was attempting to do the same. "You can imagine how weird that was for us."
"Oh yes, that does sound like Kakashi-sempai indeed," Kurenai said humorously, a sparkle of laughter in her eyes. However, this spark faded out just as quickly as it had sprung up, her expression tensing slightly as a look of silent reflection came over her, as if she were recalling something unpleasant. "Well, since you already know my name, I guess we don't really need to go there. I was born in 1972, and I entered the Academy at 6 years old, a bit earlier that the rest of you, seeing as you're all about 13. During my initial training, I learned that I was... different than most children my age. I had abilities that others didn't and as they began to become more prevalent, I found that my rudimentary knowledge of them made it so they were almost uncontrollable."
'Abilities that no one else had?' Naruto thought in intrigue as he listened to Kurenai's story. What she was describing was something that a lot of kids at the Institute had gone through. Could his previous assumptions about their sensei being an unlisted mutant be correct after all?
"At times, they became so strong that they turned on me once or twice, plaguing me even in my sleep as I dreamt," continued the kunoichi softly, her eyes downcast as she spoke. "They would alter my perceptions of my dreams, forcing me to experience trying ordeals, some eerily akin to what Westerners like Naruto would refer to as the Holocaust." As she recalled those horrible, dark dreams from her past, Naruto could see a sort of sadness in her eyes that spoke volumes to him. However, she then managed to smoothly regain her calm composure. "At the age of 13 though, I finally took it upon myself to rein in my powers and took control of them. Using advanced ninjutsu and genjutsu training techniques that were nearly impossible to master, I gained a greater degree of control over my powers. And these scrolls that I wear help to act as a failsafe, should my control ever waver."
Once her tale had concluded, Kurenai quietly leaned back in her chair and cast her now relaxed gaze upon Naruto and his friends. Still processing what she had told them, in truth they didn't know really how to react. Sasuke regarded her with a look of obvious interest, wondering if what he'd dealt with as a child even held a candle to Kurenai's past, being held a prisoner in her own mind like that. Sakura was touched deeply by what Kurenai had shared with them. She saw the older woman as a kindred spirit of sorts in that moment, seeing as she was somewhat wary of her own abilities as well. Naruto on the other hand, had heard stories like this before. True, it was very moving and he felt like he could identify with his new sensei better after hearing it; but there was still a burning question that continued to linger in the back of his mind.
"... Wow, Kurenai-sensei," the blonde managed to stay, doing his best to try and wisely gauge his emotions for the time being. "That's really deep. I feel honored that you felt like you could share such a sensitive subject with the three of us, three strangers that you barely even know. I do have one question though, what are these abilities you keep talking about?"
At first, Kurenai remained silent and didn't say anything. For a moment there, Naruto thought that she hadn't heard him, which was highly unlikely. Then, all of a sudden, she stared into each of their eyes, locking their gaze with her own. As he looked into her eyes, Naruto was surprised to see that they began to glow an unearthly red. Just as he was about to inquire as to what was going on, he suddenly began to feel extremely groggy, as if he was being sedated by some powerful psychic force. With darkness beginning to cloud the sides of his vision, Naruto wearily turned his head to see if his teammates were being subjected to the same treatment. Sure enough, both Sasuke and Sakura had already succumbed to the mental force that assailed their minds and fallen asleep, heads lolling against the backs of their chairs. And he was next.
"Damn it," he managed to mutter in a tired voice as he slumped to rest his head against the table in induced exhaustion. "I hate telepaths..."
"Ugh, my head," Sakura groaned wearily as she sat up and shook her head to clear her thoughts. When Naruto had invited her to join Idenshi-X, she knew she'd set herself up for experiencing some weird things; but what had just happened had to be on the top of her list.
As Sakura sluggishly got to her feet, she looked around frantically to try and figure out where she was. The last thing she remembered was sitting at a table with Sasuke, Naruto, Kurenai, and the Hokage on the terrace at the Namikaze Estate. But now, as she took in her surroundings, she saw that she was in a completely different place entirely. From what she could gather, it looked like she was standing on a stage of some sort, facing a long, green chalkboard. Just as she was about to wonder what the heck was going on, an enormous roar of laughter erupted from behind her, accompanied by the occasional trill of wolf-whistles. Whirling around, she saw that she at the front of her old homeroom at the Academy, and the people laughing and whistling at her where her old classmates.
"What the hell are you guys laughing at?!" she yelled in annoyance (at Ino in particular), trying to get them to quit making fun of her. Then, as if to answer her, a slight breeze brushed across her bare, naked skin, causing her to hug herself to try and get warmer. 'Wait,' Sakura thought to herself, 'naked?' A grim sense of realization washing over her, she snapped her gaze downward to try and confirm her suspicions, silently praying to every deity she could think of that she was wrong. Sadly, as always, she was right and she was standing in front of her graduating class... stark-naked.
Immediately she shrieked in utter terror and embarrassment, trying her best to cover herself as she thought of a way to escape this living nightmare. But, try as she might, her legs would not obey her commands and remained firmly rooted to the ground, as if she were frozen in place. 'Come on! Move! Damn you, -'
'Move!' yelled Sasuke frantically as he ran at a breakneck pace though the empty streets of the once glorious Uchiha Clan compound. Night had fallen abruptly, and like in the wilds of the forest that surrounded Konohagakure, the darkness brought the predators out, emboldening them with its evil. And on this night, the most lethal of all those predators had come calling, and was hot on his trail. 'Just keep moving and don't look back!'
He reached the main street that led out of the compound and saw the main entrance was only a half a block away, standing there like a wide open passageway to sweet freedom and safety. No sooner had thought to breathe a sigh of relief, than he felt a massive flux of chakra behind him, the familiarity of the malicious energy causing the hairs on the back of his neck to stand on end.
'No! I won't let him catch me! Not when I'm so close!' Desperation and mind-numbing fear driving him onwards, he focused his chakra in to the soles of his feet, just like Kakashi had taught him, and sped off towards the gate as if Hell itself was nipping at his heels. Suddenly, a blur of movement came out of nowhere and lashed out at him, striking him hard in the solar-plexus and sending him flying backwards into a nearby telephone pole.
"Damn you," Sasuke swore venomously as he hit the ground, coughing up blood as he did so. "Damn you to hell, Itachi!"
"Hmph," scoffed the elder Uchiha brother as he cast his piercing gaze upon Sasuke's sandaled feet. Immediately, the air around them shimmered as the temperature began to rise. All at once a sinister flame, as black as Itachi's own heart, sparked to life and set about devouring his brother, who cried out in pain and enraged agony as the licking tongues of fire began to sear his flesh. "Foolish little brother," mocked Itachi in an emotionless monotone as he turned from his sibling's burning form to meticulously pick at his perfectly manicured nails. "After all these years, did you think I'd forgotten about you? This time, you will be shown no mercy."
"Aaaahhhggghh!!" shrieked Sasuke in pained response as the fire began to creep further up his body towards his head. 'Damn it! Not like this! This isn't happening! There's absolutely no way that-!'
'-This could possibly be real!!' reasoned Naruto frantically as he struggled against the steel shackles that bound him to the operating table, gritting his teeth in anger beneath the oxygen mask that had be placed over his mouth. No dice, the bonds on his wrists and ankles were far too strong for him to break free of. The moment he had regained consciousness, he instinctively knew that he was in trouble even before he saw where he was. And where he was couldn't have made for a worse nightmare.
He had awoken surrounded by a feeling of wetness, like he was surrounded by water. When he finally managed to open his eyes, he had seen that he'd been stripped down to his boxers and strapped to an operating table inside an isolation tank filled with clear embryonic nano-fluid, an oxygen mask strapped to his face to keep him alive. At first he wondered where the hell he was, intrigued as to what Kurenai had done to him or sent him. Then the outside of the tank came into view, and he suddenly wished he wasn't so curious. What he saw was darkly akin to a mad scientist's laboratory, only with a bit of a hospital room thrown in. On the walls were LED screens that had pictures of his X-Rayed skeletal structure affixed to them; on the left side of the tank was a group of scientists in white lab coats, writing extensive notes and data on clipboards; and to the right of the tank were three surgeons that were prepped for an operation, wielding crude, bladed instruments of pain.
He was in the secret headquarters of one of the most evil organizations known to mutantkind. A place that still haunted his father in his darkest of nightmares. A place of inhuman cruelty and horror, where his father was twisted and turned into what he was that day by monsters that sought to use him for their own ends.
Weapon-X.
'Come on Naruto!' the blonde screamed at himself, fighting against his restraints with all he had. 'Wake up! This isn't real! It's only an illusion! How many times have you been brain-jacked in the past and come out on top?! Fight back!' Writhing on the operating table with indomitable determination, Naruto rallied all of his mental fortitude and strength to try to shatter the illusion that had entrapped him. Just then, a shadowy figure stepped into view and leaned down over him. As soon as he saw the man's grizzled face, Naruto snarled in pure rage, for this was the man that had betrayed his father and turned him into what he was. Colonel John Wraith.
"Now, don't look so angry kid," smirked the man in sadistic satisfaction. "Think of it this way: we're going to make you and your father, truly family. From this day on, both of you will everything, right down to your bones."
'Screw you Wraith!' Naruto growled in hatred, mouthing his thoughts as he strained against the shackles to attempt at attacking the monster of a man. If superhuman strength had been part of his mutation, it would've been an easy feat, seeing as the top of the tank was open to allow the surgeons to begin subjecting him to the process that had given his father his Adamantium skeleton. 'No, get a hold of yourself Naruto. He's only here to try and make you lose focus. You have to stay calm to get out of this.'
"Colonel Wraith," interrupted one of the surgeons emotionlessly from behind the scarred man, drawing his attention away from Naruto. "We are ready to begin the operation, with your permission of course."
"Of course. You may precede doctor," grinned Wraith cruelly, his voice distorted as it warbled through the liquid to Naruto's ears. Wanting to torment the blonde once more before he began to beg for the sweet release of death, he turned to give the boy a smile full of pure evil. "Pity the anesthesia won't do a damn bit of good for someone with your mutation. Oh well, I guess it just sucks to be you right now, huh?"
'Come on! Wake up!' Naruto shrieked as he struggled to tear free of his bonds, the surgeons closing in on him from all sides. The first had a huge syringe in his hand, no doubt loaded with the raw liquid Adamantium that would soon lace his bones; the second wielded a crude buzz saw in his right hand and a screw gun in his left; and the third held a wickedly sharp scalpel to slice through his skin like a hot knife through butter. 'If you don't do something, then they win! Focus! Wake Up!!'
Suddenly, a massive jolt of electrical energy shot from his restraints and into his body, coursing through him with white hot intensity. It felt as though every last one of his nerve endings was on fire! He howled in primal agony and pain as the current robbed him of his ability to move, but not his ability to feel and think; they wanted him to be conscious when they cut him open like a piñata. Then, just as quickly as it had come, the sensation vanished, leaving him deathly immobile and at the mercy of his captors. Seeing he was now as helpless as a drowned kitten, the surgeons silently reached into the tank and began the operation. The scalpel came down in slow motion, the feeling of the first, lancing incision in his chest like the cut of a katana blade. The amount of pain rising as they opened him up, Naruto felt the heaviness of his mind begin to lessen, as if his assailant was hesitant about continuing the illusion.
'Gotcha!' Naruto smiled wearily as the next cut came. Urging his numb frame to move, he gave a mighty roar of determination and released all of the strength of his will-power to shatter the illusion. Immediately, the laboratory was engulfed in a blinding flash of white light, tearing through everything in sight. 'Heh,' smirked Naruto triumphantly as the light enveloped him. 'I guess it sucks to be you right now, huh Wraith?'
A fraction of a second following the illusion's destruction, Naruto immediately bolted upright in his chair, gripping the sides of the table as if hanging on for dear life and panting heavily. Cold sweat streamed out of every pore of his skin as the memories of the illusion echoed faintly in his mind. As he tried to calm himself, he looked across the table at the Hokage and Kurenai with a face that all but demanded and explanation. Sarutobi's face was nigh unreadable at the moment, though something in his gaze conveyed a sense of relaxed satisfaction. Kurenai on the other hand, was sporting a look of sincere (if somewhat surprised) curiosity. 'This may be the first time someone's ever successfully slipped out of her illusions,' Naruto assumed guardedly as he settled down, closing his mind to outside intrusion in case there were more surprises in store.
"Aaahhh!" shrieked a rightly panicked Sakura as she awoke to his right, her hands shooting up from where they'd hung loose at her sides to cover her chest. Seeing as her face was a bright shade of crimson, Naruto had no trouble guessing what sort of illusion she'd been subjected to. After a second of fright, Sakura quickly realized that she was back in the real world again and let her arms return to their normal positions, her face turning an even deeper shade of red.
"Gah!" yelped Sasuke from her right, causing both her and Naruto to jump slightly. His eyes were as big as dinner-plates, and still held a look of pure, unadulterated terror. He was panting hard, like he was out of breath from trying to outrun the Devil himself, and his pale skin glistened with sweat that trickled over the gooseflesh on his arms and neck. Like with Sakura, Naruto's enhanced sense of smell picked up a fear-scent from Sasuke, but not as lax as her's had been; this one was ten times stronger. Whatever illusion he'd been put in had really spooked him. He looked genuinely terrified.
"Wh-what the hell was that?!" the Uchiha managed to say, a hint of fright lingering on his lips as he spoke. The presence of a hand on his shoulder caused him to instinctively flinch, only to turn and see that it was only Sakura, trying to comfort him. His breathing slowed a bit, and he began to relax, not wanting her to see him like this. "One minute (pant) I'm here, and the next (gulp) I'm being chased by my damn brother (pant) while he's setting me on fire!"
"It's alright Sasuke-kun," soothed Sakura gently, placing her left hand over his to show him things were going to be okay. "Its over, you can relax."
"She's right Sasuke," Naruto nodded reassuringly. "It was only an illusion, like a genjutsu but stronger." Turning his gaze from his hyperventilating friend for a moment, he cast a sort of accusing glance back at Kurenai, which Sasuke and Sakura followed. "Isn't that right, Kurenai-sensei?" he questioned.
"Well, it didn't take a rocket-scientist to figure that one out Naruto," she rebutted with a teasing smirk, prompting an annoyed scowl from the aforementioned blonde. "I must say, Sarutobi was right when he pegged you to be the first to break free of my illusions."
Deciding that a further explanation was needed for Sasuke and Sakura, she continued to describe her powers to them. "My mutant X-Gene gives me the ability to telepathically delve into people's minds, uncover their greatest fears, and more-or-less bring them to life. Normally they're a lot stronger than that, but I lessened the effects for you three. If you had been my enemies, the illusions would've been so real that your bodies would begin to react to them as if they were real; for example, Naruto's skin would begin to bleed from its pores along the lines the scalpel cut in the illusion. Sasuke, your skin would've felt like it was being touched by fire hotter than the Sun's core. And Sakura, well, let's just say that the lesson would've been more 'hands-on' for the class than you would've preferred."
At hearing this, the members of Idenshi-X were both amazed and wary at the same time. The fact that their new sensei was able to invade their 'private thoughts' on a whim like she had was quite disturbing; but on the other hand, the fact that she was a mutant reassured them that they were going to be taught by someone with a lot of experience. While she still felt embarrassed by what she'd gone through, Sakura couldn't help but feel a sense of renewed respect for Kurenai, even if she'd gone a little overboard. Sasuke felt the same way, yet he was profusely angry with himself. If anything, the illusion proved that he needed to get stronger, that he was still too weak to face his brother now... even with his mutation.
Naruto, however, was happily satisfied by what he'd just witnessed. Here he had been concerned that their new sensei wouldn't be able to deal with training them as mutants, and now his fears had been put to rest. Granted, her somewhat theatrical demonstration had been a bit over the top, but that just when to show them that she was the right person to teach them. "Well," he finally said, raising out of his chair and extending a hand to Kurenai, "despite the freaky illusions, I think that I speak for everyone here when I say that Oij-sama couldn't have picked a better shinobi for the job. We'd be honored to have you as our new sensei."
"Now, hold on a moment Naruto," Kurenai interjected smoothly, her expression becoming a bit more serious as she spoke. "I don't recall my saying that I agreed to all of this." Rightly surprised, Naruto stood there for a moment dumbstruck, then sank back into his chair. He needed to try and make sense of what she'd just said. Why would she refuse to mentor them?
"Naruto," she continued in a firm, yet caring tone that bordered on motherly, "I honestly have no desire to act as your leader at this moment in time. I feel that my own squad needs my guidance now more than you do, and personally, I'm not all that comfortable with having powers be known to others, even if they are mutants like you three claim to be. I'm only here because Sandaime-sama told me that his was a mandated priority. I still have the option of backing out of all this. However, I'm willing to give you all a chance to prove yourselves." As she spoke, she calmly reached into one of the folds of her bandolier/scroll. "That is, if you three can successfully retrieve these."
"What?!" Sakura exclaimed in shocked disbelief, bolting straight out of her chair as soon as she saw what Kurenai held between her slender fingers.
"Ugh, not this again," groaned an irritated Sasuke, pinching his brow in annoyance. 'I think the last time we did this, I nearly got a frickin' complex.' After what happened the last time they went through this, he never expected he'd be going through it a second time.
"Man, you Jounin must share teaching methods or something," Naruto grinned slyly as he shook his head in sheer amazement of what he saw before him.
With an equally sly grin plastered on her face, Kurenai deftly held a pair of small, silver jingle-bells in her grasp, both connected by a length of wire like they had been when Kakashi had given them this particular test. As he watched the bells hang there for a moment, Naruto took the time to reflect on all that had happened since the last time they had been subjected to the Bell Test. When they were first starting out, they all bore a sort of mutual dislike for each other in some form or another. However, in the weeks that followed the test, they had learned to accept one another and became more of a team. Though they probably wouldn't admit it straight away, they all sort of felt like they owed Kakashi for that lesson. However, what Kurenai said next got them thinking a bit differently.
"Kakashi-sempai recommended this to me upon learning that I was to be your instructor," explained Kurenai calmly, chuckling slightly at Naruto's statement, "so I can assume that you all know the main objective of the test. However, there is a catch this time around: you may only use your mutant abilities and taijutsu skills. Use ninja techniques or weaponry, and you will be disqualified and immediately fail. Sandaime-sama will oversee this test and ensure that both parties abide by its rules. Succeed, and you will have proven that you can work together using your powers, and that I'll be investing my time in something worthwhile by training you. Fail, and life will go on as usual for me, and you will have to find a new sensei. Understand?"
Naruto was silent for a moment, considering everything that Kurenai had said. After they nearly failed this test miserably the last time, did they have what it took to succeed as a team this time? Warily, Naruto turned his head slightly towards his teammates, looking to how they would react to this test. Sensing his uneasy gaze, Sakura looked him straight in the eye and gave a short nod of understanding, smiling at him warmly as she did so. Sasuke also nodded in return, a faint flicker of a smile touching his lips. Satisfied by their reactions, Naruto flashed them his trademark foxy grin and slammed his left fist against his opposing palm, activating his clothes' Unstable Molecules and transforming them into his crimson X.S.E. uniform.
"Sure, I understand alright," he said boldly, a twinge of laughter in his voice. "But enough chatter, what do you say we get this underway, right guys?"
"Right, Naruto," agreed a determined Sakura, raising to her feet and walking over to stand by his side.
"Hmph, sure," shrugged Sasuke with a sarcastic smirk, getting up to stand at his side opposite of Sakura. "Let's do this, dobe."
Smiling in content with what she saw before her, Kurenai set her gaze on the three mutant Genin before her and swiftly secured the bells to one of her bandolier/scrolls. This would be quite interesting indeed. "Yes, let's get started then," she said coolly, her eyes darting to Sarutobi only for a moment before returning to her opponents. "Sandaime-sama, if you would be so kind?"
"Of course, Kurenai," chuckled Sarutobi good-naturedly, puffing a smoke-ring from his pipe as he raised his hand to give the signal. In the seconds that followed, he gazed at the Genin that stood before him, ready to show their new sensei what they were truly made of. 'If only Minato were alive to see this,' he thought nostalgically. 'I think he would be very proud... of all of them.' Deciding to save such sentimentality for a later time, he relaxed his arm and allowed his hand to fall. "Begin!"
The very second he saw Sarutobi's hand come down, Naruto sprang into action, unsheathing his plasma claws at blinding speeds and uttering a harsh battle cry. In one fluid motion, he launched himself over the table and descended upon Kurenai claws first, causing the kunoichi to leap backward to avoid the red hot blades. Her short jump carried her into the air before gracefully landing in a crouch on the marble banister behind her. With his instincts as his guide, Naruto landed on the spot where Kurenai had been on all-fours and then lunged upwards to slash at the bandolier/scroll that held the bells. However, his opponent was much faster, back-flipping just out of his reach to land softly on the grass of the back lawn. Naruto quickly vaulted over the banister with equal skill and ran at Kurenai low to the ground, arms out at either side with claws barely raking the ground.
"Excellent moves Naruto," remarked Kurenai sincerely as she leapt over the leg sweep he'd thrown her direction. "You really have a knack for the martial arts, and your mutation-" She twisted wildly in midair to avoid the scything claws that came at her from below as sort of a slash/uppercut. "-Is nothing to scoff at either."
"Thanks Kurenai-sensei," the blonde grinned as he continued to slash at his opponent with a flurry of neon streaks as his claws carved through the air. He seemed to be gaining ground, when suddenly, he abruptly frozen in mid-slice just centimeters away from one of the bells. Surprised by this sudden freeze, he initially tried to force his arm into moving, but no dice. It was then that he noticed the tree. Somehow, Kurenai had managed to entrap him in another illusion that seemed to meld his molecules with those a massive oak tree that had sprung up out of thin air. Furious at himself for falling for the same trap twice, he whipped his head around to get a fix on Kurenai's location, hoping to zero in on her mind and shatter the mirage. Strangely enough, the crimson kunoichi was no where to be found.
"However," came the woman's calm voice from above him. Startled, Naruto snapped his head upwards to see Kurenai starting to peel out of the bark of the tree just inches away from his head, as if she had become a part of it! "You can't use the same tactics on me that you used on Kakashi-sempai," she continued nonchalantly, materializing a kunai out of thin air as she spoke. "You of all people should know not to give a psion the Bum's Rush. I know from Sandaime-sama that you can use your claws as projectiles, so that should've been the course of action to take. Instead, you assumed you could attack head on, and because of that, I caught you. Sorry, but I'm starting to think maybe I gave you three way too much credit."
Seconds before she could say another word, a shimmering beam of golden beta energy tore through Kurenai's illusion as if it were mere paper, on a direct collision course for the kunoichi's center of mass. Cursing herself under her breath for losing focus, she regrettably exhumed her form from the 'tree' and released her mental hold on Naruto, causing him to regain his stolen momentum and lurch forward to resume his now useless attack. The blonde caught himself, however, and cast a quick glance behind him to see Sasuke and Sakura rushing to his defense, the latter's hands enveloped in two halos of glimmering beta energy. Turning his attention back to the task at hand, Naruto looked back at Kurenai and readied himself to attack. Only this time, something seemed different about the crimson kunoichi. She looked visibly drained to say the least small beads of sweat appearing on her brow as she began to breath heavily.
"Naruto!" Sakura called out urgently, snapping his senses back to reality. Taking advantage of his confusion, Kurenai performed a quick series of flashing hand seals, and then vanished into thin air. He was about to call her out on this, but then remembered that only they were forbade from using ninjutsu in this contest.
"Damn it, Naruto!" Sakura raged at him once more, powering down and flicking him on the forehead as she did so. "What the hell were you thinking... again?! I thought we agreed to work through this as a team, not jump in like idiots!"
"Sakura's right dobe," Sasuke agreed coolly, staring at Naruto with an annoyed scowl. "We're supposed to be doing this together, but instead you fly off the handle and try to muscle through this without us."
"Hey, at least I knew what I was doing!" retorted Naruto in irritation, a vein throbbing above his left temple as he spoke. 'Why the hell did she have to flick me like that?! They should've been following my lead, not standing around waiting for me to tell them what to do!'
"Oh yeah, that's exactly what it looked like from where I was standing," argued Sakura sarcastically. "So, you were planning on getting caught like a moron? How stupid are you Naruto?! Was all that stuff you said earlier about us being a team and working together just an act, or does it not apply to someone who's an 'official' X-Man?!"
"My seniority with the X-Men has nothing to do with this!" Naruto shot back angrily, before finally coming to his senses. She was right after all. He had simply blown off everything he'd said that Idenshi-X would stand for, acting like he was in charge when it was supposed to be a team-effort. Some leader he was turning out to be. "But, you're right, I'm sorry Sakura," he apologized sincerely calming himself down. "I let my instincts get the better of me and forgot what we were up against, what we were supposed to be... a team. Damn, I'm such a moron!"
"That aside, we need to turn this around somehow," mused Sasuke calmly, his eyes clouded with incite and consideration. "After releasing you from that last attack, she appeared to be worn out, like so many illusions after another weakened her. This could give us an edge..." Sasuke became silent for a moment, analyzing their opponent's behavior and concocting a strategy. "Okay, I've got a plan," he explained in a low tone, "but for it to work, I'll need both of you to keep Kurenai distracted. That should buy me enough time for it to work."
"Sasuke," Naruto started to say, an old feeling of mutual rivalry welling up within him, "I'm not so sure about-"
"Come on Naruto, think about it!" interjected Sakura sternly, trying to be the voice of reason in this conversation. "This isn't like fighting super-villains back in America; tactics like yours won't always work. I think we should try Sasuke's idea. If it doesn't work, that only means we'll have to come up with something else on our next attempt. But I've got a good feeling about this, trust me."
Naruto was silent for a moment. Like it or not, she was right. If they wanted to have any chance of getting those bells a second time, they needed to work together to do it. They were a team now, and they needed to start acting like it. And that meant trusting one another, even when it seemed like a bad idea. Though he wouldn't admit it, Sasuke did have more experience fighting 'real' shinobi than he did. This was probably their best bet if they wanted to succeed this time around. "Alright, we'll cover you," he finally said, swallowing the small amount of pride in his mind as spoke. "But Sasuke, if this goes wrong, I'll take charge from then on, got it?"
For a moment, Sasuke looked surprised by his immediate willingness to go ahead with his plan. Then his expression became one of cool taunting as a sarcastic smirk touched his lips. "Trust me on this one dobe," he replied nonchalantly. "If you could trust me when we fought Zabuza with your plan, can't you at least trust me this time?"
Before he could offer a witty retort, Naruto's highly trained ears picked up the sound of sudden movement converging somewhere nearby. Whipping his head around towards the source of the noise, he saw that Kurenai had teleported to the middle of the lawn, standing there in relaxed manner as if daring them to come at her.
'Looks like someone's got her strength back,' Naruto observed cautiously before motioning to histeammates as if to say 'let's to this'. Without warning, all three of them leapt into action and ran at their opponent with determined strides; Naruto to her left, Sakura to her right, and Sasuke straight on. Kurenai shook her head, as if she were disappointed by their predictable performance, and tossed a hailstorm of kunai at them. Naruto nimbly dodged the blades with a quick aerial flip then took a flying leap into the branches of a nearby tree line and began launching a barrage of plasma claws at her as he teleported from branch to branch in a flickering series of inky, black smoke. To the Jounin's right, Sakura dropped to the ground hard, allowing the kunai to pass harmlessly overhead before popping up in a firing crouch and promptly vaporizing the remaining knives that assailed Naruto and Sasuke in a powerful burst of beta energy. Upon seeing that they were both safe, she quickly directed her energy blasts at Kurenai, Naruto adding to the assault with a fair amount of plasma claws.
'They're more coordinated this time,' observed Kurenai as she performed a series of back flips to avoid the combined attacks. 'They're working together instead of on their own. Perhaps there is hope for them after all.' Relaxing her body, the crimson kunoichi began to expertly bob, vault, weave, and dance around the mutant Genin's assaults as if she were some majestic ballerina performing on stage. So nimble was she that none of the sizzling busts of energy ever came close to touching her once. "Nice work," she shouted at them approvingly as she ducked under a hail of plasma claws.
"Thanks, now watch this!" Sakura returned cheerily drawing her hands back to her sides. As she did so, the air around her clenched firsts began to give off an audible hum, the beta energy encompassing them spiraling faster and glowing brighter all the while. Then with a hearty yell, she thrust her hands out before her, palms facing directly at Kurenai as a massive burst of beta energy shot toward her with incredible speed.
'Incredible,' marveled a wide-eyed Kurenai as she watched the variable wall of beta energy bear down on her. Then, just as it seemed she would surely be struck by the monstrous blast, she regained her composure and hastily dove to her right, allowing the energy to pass her by harmlessly, scorching the unfortunate blades of grass and topiary sculptures that remained in its path. 'Such skill, and she's only just discovered her abilities. Sakura of the three of them has much untapped potential. If they succeed, I'll have to watch her very closely.'
"Losing focus are we, Kurenai-sensei?" Naruto taunted from his hidden perch in the trees, snapping the crimson kunoichi from her thoughts. Before she could even attempt to get a fix on his position, she was forced to leap back as another wave of plasma claws came flying at her from the leaves. "Now who's the one that's been given too much credit?" shouted the blonde from his hiding spot in the trees as he loosed another volley of claws at Kurenai, who promptly had to jump aside to avoid them. As he watched the Jounin evade his expertly aimed blades, only to be forced to perform the same feat as Sakura's blasts followed his attack, he turned his masked gaze to Sasuke, who was busy sprinting around their line of fire, his keen eyes still trained on Kurenai's position. 'Come on teme, what's your damage?! This is your plan here, make a move already!'
"You know Naruto," Kurenai managed to say as she landed in a crouch from dodging Sakura's attack, "you aren't really the one to be making snappy remarks like that." Again, a tightly packed burst of plasma claws spat from the dense foliage and bore down on the crimson kunoichi. Kurenai simply skipped backwards to avoid this attack, the blades biting into the spot where she had been old seconds ago. "From what Kakashi-sempai told me, you have nigh impeccable aim with those claws of yours. But from the performance you've been giving, maybe he was just trying to psyche me out."
"Or maybe Naruto has been aiming to miss all this time, Kurenai-sensei," suggested a serene voice from behind her, causing the hackles on the back of her neck to stand on end. "Did that thought ever occur to you?"
"What?" exclaimed the Jounin in justified surprise, attempting to turn and face her third pupil. But it was too late, as a faction of a second later, she felt Sasuke's hand latch onto the bare flesh of her arm and she cried out in pain as his power took in her own. For Kurenai, experiencing the pain and shock brought on by Sasuke's absorption abilities for the first time was almost unbearable; Sasuke, however, reveled in the invigorating ecstasy of the energy and power that he leeched from her. Oh, how long it had been since he had felt that wonderful rush of raw power coursing through his veins. Just thinking about it brought an odd smile to his face as his mutation greedily devoured the energy from her own abilities. Breaking contact now was regrettable but he knew that he had to see his plan through for his teammates' sakes. The moment he reluctantly released her, it was as if a great door had been somehow unlocked in his mind, showing him what someone like Kurenai was capable of.
'Wow,' thought Sasuke in awe as the infinite realms of his own mind swirled around him in radiant techno-color, invisible to all but himself. 'So, this is what being a psion feels like. Amazing.' All this beauty, all this potential, all this power. It was his and his alone. There was no doubt in his mind now; he had made the right choice. The path to victory over his brother lay with Idenshi-X. Together, they'd be unstoppable and he would finally fulfill his destiny.
Kurenai fell to one knee on the lawn, her crimson eyes wide with fright and shock as she found herself gasping frantically for breath. 'What in the hell was that?!' she panicked frantically, though she only allowed herself to think this and not show it on her expression. 'It felt like something inside of him was starting to eat at me from the inside out! A few minutes longer and... What on Earth is he?'
Suddenly, a pair of sandaled feet appeared in her peripheral vision, the sight of them breaking her out of her thoughts as she reflexively cast her gaze upwards to see the face of their owner. Sasuke stared down at her with a triumphant grin on his face, his eyes glowing an unearthly red to reflect both his active Sharingan and mutation. Before she could marshal an attempt to escape, the Uchiha swiftly whipped out his arm and lightly tapped the middle and index fingers of his right hand to Kurenai's forehead. She flinched apprehensively for a moment at his touch, then let out an audible groan of exhaustion as her head felt very heavy all of a sudden and her vision began to swim.
"Tag, you're it," he smirked in success as he turned her own powers against her and her entire world vanished in a sea of darkness, his mind entrapping hers within itself. Before she blacked out, however, she did hear something that made her smile in pleased approval. It was the shrill chime of a pair of jingle-bells striking against one another in their own melodic cheer of success.
Bring-Brriinng.
Phew! Man, that took a long time to write! I hope you guys like how things are turning out so far. Now, don't tune out just yet, for there is still more to come for our new X-Men in training and there are more questions to be answered. Seeing as they defeated her, will Kurenai follow through with her end of their agreement and become their new sensei? Will they become a successful team? And what lies ahead for your young heroes? All this and more will be answered soon enough, so stay tuned! Remember to R&R. EXCELSIOR!