Hope Will Never Die...but one of many paths in which the world takes determined by simple yet significant changes be they one or many, big or small. All it takes is one domino to make the rest tumble...
Hope Will Never Die/ Uzumaki Naruto: Path divergence, Before Chunin Exam. Changes, anxiety increased due to higher expectations of self. Confidence tripled but noble ties severed to many, including his teammates, but lasting bonds tightened to point where any doubt holds significant meaning. Mannerisms more calculating and colder. More changes yet to be determined...
Hope Will Never Die/ Hyuga Hinata: Path divergence, Before Chunin Exam. Changes, old persona almost shattered. Confidence more than quadrupled but trying to balance old emotions with new ones causing friction to all around her, and doubts within her changes. Mannerisms far more calculating, though focuses mainly on self and Naruto. On the brink of adopting obsessed, and distant persona. More changes yet to be determined...
Hope Will Never Die/ Yamanaka Ino: Path divergence, Before Forest of Death. Changes, mind focusing on everything she values due to the fact that she understands that she has changed the least. Thoughts becoming more truthful and she is beginning to see the bigger picture. Mannerisms shifted from 'fangirl', however path has yet to be acquired. More changes, if any, yet to be determined...
Chapter 5: Underlying Fear
If you would have said something weird was happening...she would have completely agreed with you.
It had taken her all of two minutes of being in her brothers company to know that something had changed. If the less glares, and wetter environment due to no sand conjuring was any indication, she'd say that hell had indeed frozen over.
"What?" The monotonous voice of the person on her mind asked.
"Uh..." What the hell was she supposed to say? Hey Gaara, its been over a day since you've killed anyone, want to talk about it?
Ever since he had went to have that talk with that blonde kid, Naruto, he had seemed a bit...a LOT more refined than normal. Hell, for the fact that he was refined in itself was a miracle. He hadn't threatened her nor Kankurou at all. He hadn't said one word of 'mother' and he definitely hadn't killed anyone since they entered the Forest of Death. In a nutshell, Gaara wasn't acting like...Gaara.
Their sensei Baki was too busy to notice anything different. The jonin didn't want to have anything to do with the group in the first place. He was focused on the mission at hand, which was plotting behind Konoha's back. Much good that would do, seeing that if Gaara was acting differently after talking with a KONOHA ninja, then they were probably already compromised. Not that she would care though. She had no grudge against Konoha, albeit, she felt they were arrogant and lazy bastards.
"You look like you swallowed a bug." Gaara simply stated, making Temari's eyes widen. Sitting to their left, Kankurou was in the middle of messing with his puppet when his hands stopped moving and his mouth dropped open, just like his sisters.
'Did he...did he just make a joke?' They thought simultaneously. They couldn't tell, seeing as his face remained as stoic and passive as they'd ever seen it.
"Gaara..." Temari flinched as his gaze instantly landed on her at the sound of his name. She rubbed the back of her neck as she sat with her legs hanging from the side of the branch they were on. "You...is everything alright?"
Gaara cocked an...well he...did something with his face to show confusion. "Why wouldn't I be?"
Temari gulped. She couldn't understand why she felt no malice when he spoke. Now it was her turn to cock an eyebrow in confusion. She would word these next words carefully. "You don't...want to hurt anyone?" Okay, so that wasn't so careful, but Gaara's not so murderous attitude was REALLY throwing her off.
And now for the icing on the cake, the one moment that would leave Temari completely speechless, Gaara smiled.
"Well, I do want to hurt Kankurou for not showering this morning, but by the time this is over, we're all gonna need the water." Gaara dropped down from the tree, ready to continue on towards the tower after being fully rested. Temari, as stated, was completely and utterly speechless. Kankurou's jaw, if possible, went even lower. Then after a moment, he rose an arm and sniffed.
"Ew. He's right."
Naruto dashed through the forest as fast as he could with his burned, but slowly healing foot. The tears in his eyes were slowly drying as he focused more on the pain in his foot than the pain of feeling isolated from Fuu and the others. He was starting to get upset that the fox wouldn't heal him as fast as he usually did. After going several hundred meters in silence, he slowed down near a clearing, landing just on its outskirts in a tree.
"What the hell, fox!" He cried out.
"Oh, so I take it you are willing to listen now?"
Naruto frowned and sat down, rubbing the reddened appendage. He set his hitai-ate on the branch next to him and held his foot in his lap.
"What? What the hell do you want?"
"You need to calm down and go back. How could you expect Fuu not to be worried when you were using my chakra? How could you expect the others not to wonder what was happening? They weren't just scared of your chakra, they were scared of Sasuke's as well, while Fuu just hoped you wouldn't lose yourself."
"Fuu...Fuu wasn't scared?" Naruto slowly stopped his massaging. He gazed upon the ground in front of him. He had impulsively assumed they were all scared of him...just like how the villagers were. It wasn't the group as a whole, since he knew that people would always fear him for his burden. Others would see him as a weapon and others would border the line between those two, and acceptance. For all it was worth, he didn't give a shit. He just didn't want certain people to see him in that light. Hinata, Fuu and her group, Shikamaru, Chouji, and maybe even Lee and his group. The others didn't really matter.
"No kit...Naruto, we have company." The fox growled inside of his mind. "And I can't read his mind..."
And with that, Naruto knew self repentance time was over. He stood up and slowly drew a kunai. 'Where is the chakra signature? Why can't I sense it?'
"It's far too high level for a genin such as yourself Naruto, and that is no insult. Do not stay here! Even with my help, if you want to stay sane, you will die!"
Now Naruto was scared. No matter how strong he had become in those two days, no matter how much training and effort he had put in, if the fox said he would die even with his help, then he needed to go, and fast. Without even needing to sense it, Naruto had a feeling that he knew exactly what the chakra signature belonged to.
"Naruto!" A female voice, though with a much more feminine undertone than he would have imagined called to him from behind. He turned around to be met with the sight of a dispersing giant snake and an extremely worried looking special jonin by the name of Anko. The young sensei landed right in front of the blonde, not even two inches from him, letting him get a view of her cleavage that most men would kill for.
"Anko-sensei! We need to-"
"I know. Come on, before he-"
"Ah, how good of you to join me, Anko-chan, Naruto-kun."
"Shit." Both Naruto and Anko muttered. The bristling feeling of Naruto's hair standing on end was enough to let him know that he and Anko were in deep shit. Slowly turning around, Naruto came face to face with one of Konoha's biggest threats. Anko put a hand on Naruto's shoulder and squeezed slightly.
"Orochimaru. What an unpleasant surprise." She called, though Naruto could feel her hand shaking a bit. He looked up into her eyes and saw the swelling of different emotions. She was trying her hardest to stay calm and keep her emotions in check, however, the fear was evident.
"I'm hurt, Anko-chan! You didn't want to see me?" The snake bastard slowly made his way to the center of the clearing. Naruto was almost frozen in fear as the man leaked killing intent. If it weren't for the Kyubi unleashing its own for Naruto, he would have probably tried to commit suicide on the spot. The man folded his arms and smiled, showing Naruto exactly what the devil looked like.
"He's...Orochimaru?" Naruto breathed out. He couldn't believe it. He was nowhere NEAR ready for something like this. Anko's gaze never left the sannin as she formulated what to do. There was no way they'd be able to out run him, and fighting him was no better. If they didn't get a miracle, and fast, they were going to die.
"What are you doing here? Why are you in the village?" Anko called out. Orochimaru chuckled, sending shivers down the two younger nins backs. This was definitely not good. They were losing the battle of wits.
Orochimaru didn't answer right away. Instead, he looked directly into Naruto's eyes, freezing him in place. His snake like eyes silently studied the ocean blue of the jinchuriki, reading him like a book.
Anko looked down at the boy, taking her eyes off of Orochimaru for the first time.
'Shit! Snap out of it kid!' She wanted to say, but couldn't find it in herself to do the same.
"I find it unsettling that the Leaf leaves its security so lax during the chunin exams. I'm just...paying my contributions to this little fact. The old man has gotten soft over these years."
"How noble of you to point out our mistakes." Naruto called, surprising both Anko and Orochimaru. The Special Jonin's stomach dropped lower, if possible, when she noticed Naruto's red irises and slit pupils. His voice was more guttural and held a darker edge than it did before.
"Always happy to oblige, Naruto-kun. I don't believe we have formally met, Kyubi container."
"No, I don't believe we have. I've heard enough about you though. You were kicked out of the village for being a traitor, doing inhumane experiments under the Hokage's nose, and for just being an all around weird son of a bitch." Naruto dropped down to the clearing right in front of the aging sannin. Orochimaru's smirk faltered just a bit.
"You've done your research. I'm flattered."
"The honor is all mine! There's no end to how much I want to thank you for showing those pathetic villagers what fear truly was. I bow to you." Naruto knelt before Orochimaru, making Anko's mind completely halt. She watched the scene unfolding in front of her in disbelief, and betrayal.
Orochimaru gazed down at the kneeling blonde with as close a face of shock as he could show. Then his shock slowly turned to mirth as he began to chuckle. "My, I wondered how the pariah would have grown up with such a burden inside of such a hostile territory. I guess my assumptions were not far off. You have already learned how to utilize the Kyubi's chakra as well."
"Yes, I have. However, this is the extent of my power." Naruto spoke disdainfully. Orochimaru shook his head.
"Do you seek more power Naruto-kun?"
"Naruto, what the hell are you doing?" Anko shouted, finally coming back to her senses. Naruto stood up and faced the woman.
"What does it look like? Did you really think I still held allegiance to this god forsaken village? After all they've done to me? After every single last day going through strife, wondering if my own sensei would kill me when he got the chance? All of the back stabbing bull shit that I've grown with, what normal human could stay sane through that?" Naruto chuckled. "Hell, I still wonder why you of all people aren't just like me."
Anko's heart skipped a beat. "Naruto..." She bit back tears at hearing that. All that time...had he been playing her and the Hokage? Had he known about the invasion just to lead them into a trap?
"What valid arguments Naruto-kun! Yes, why don't you join us Anko-chan! I'm sure that the accommodations of this village cannot be quite ideal." Orochimaru stepped past Naruto, facing Anko who still remained in the tree. Anko began sweating before drawing a kunai.
"I don't care what you say! Both of you...you'll die for this!" She threw her kunai at Naruto in blind fury. Orochimaru made no move to stop the kunai, wanting to gauge the boys strength. Naruto, expecting the move simply reflected the kunai like he had done before the Forest of Death and then caught it.
"Forgive me, but may I handle this? She doesn't seem as compliant as I'd hope she'd be." Naruto held the kunais reversed handed as he talked to Orochimaru. He smiled darkly up at the Special Jonin.
"As you wish, Naruto-kun. But please be quick, and don't kill her. She can be of use to us. Capture her swiftly."
Naruto nodded and blasted off of the ground towards Anko. The woman didn't get a chance to put her guard up as Naruto's form rocketed into her midsection and knocked them both backwards into the thick forest. Anko landed in a bush with Naruto landing right next to her.
"You fucking traitor!" She roared, however, when she noticed the extremely scared look on Naruto's face, she calmed down.
"Anko-chan, I won't be able to keep the facade going for much longer without having to actually go with that sick freak. I'm letting the Kyubi temporarily have control of my speech and mannerisms, but I still can't fight him. I have a plan but we're going to need to cooperate completely."
Anko looked into his cerulean eyes and saw the many layers of anguish that he was going through. With the Kyubi at its closes to having control of the boy, along with having to act like he was betraying the village, Naruto was going through a personal hell that she couldn't even fathom. If anything, the boy was showing what it took to be a real shinobi and utilizing the one element of the shinobi code that was needed to become an elite ninja: deception. However, to successfully fool a sannin was going to take more than just deception. The fox's trickery was truly marvelous.
"Alright, Naruto. But please, be careful." She said as she grabbed his shirt. "I want to have a chance to apologize to the brat for earlier so get us out of here alive fox."
"Heheh, kit I like her. When this is over, maybe you should try-"
'No, fox.' Naruto deadpanned, leaving the fox laughing his head off at the blushing blonde. Anko rose an eyebrow but said nothing.
In the clearing, Orochimaru felt the fluctuating chakras and assumed a small scuffle had occurred. He would have gone to see for himself, however, he was on the boundaries of a certain other chakra that he couldn't stray too far from. So standing in moot silence, he contemplated how much of an asset the demon boy could be to his plans. He was an unseen variable that just so happened to play in his favor.
But he wasn't stupid.
Orochimaru trusted no one but himself, and maybe, just maybe, his right hand man. The child would be an asset, yes, however, he new nothing of the boy. His attention and focus had always been Sasuke. The power the boy had was still dormant, and remedial compared to that of his brother. But he was still an Uchiha, and his sharingan was as good as any. Not that there were many to choose from in the first place.
Now Naruto, that was a different story. He wouldn't dare try to take his body. The fox would reject or kill them both in seconds. He doubted that the seal on Naruto would allow him to attempt it anyway. The boy's father was far more troublesome than many nations new. But as much disdain as Orochimaru had for the leaf, he held complete and utter respect for the Fourth Hokage. Sure, he wanted to kill the stupid bastard for becoming the Hokage when the title should have been his, but the power that he proved to hold over both the Shinobi world and civilians was admirable. Orochimaru had been unable to do any of his experiments, and even Danzo's ROOT had to be extremely cautious while the Fourth was around.
But that was off topic. Naruto himself seemed to be growing almost in a mindset that his father had. While his father wanted to protect Konoha, albeit with a no nonsense attitude, Naruto seemed to want to be rid of it just as much. Ah, the Namikaze blood line and their determination was truly a fascinating thing. Maybe if he let Naruto mate and breed with one of the girls he had under his wing, he'd be able to study the Namikaze line further. But that would have to wait, seeing that it all came back down to the Fourth Hokage's seal. As long as Naruto had that seal, and the Kyubi remained inside of him, the child was nearly invincible to Orochimaru. So it was better to let the bait hang while the biting was good.
"I have her Lord Orochimaru." Naruto called as he came back into the clearing, looking a tad beat up but nothing bad, carrying Anko unconscious over his shoulder and tied with ninja wire.
"Excellent, Naruto-kun. You are indeed a skilled shinobi. Your talents will not be overlooked." Orochimaru walked over to the blonde, and Naruto knelt before him again. "Now listen carefully Naruto-kun. Until I can gauge your true loyalty, I'm going to have to do something that you're not going to like."
Naruto tensed at that and the fox grew silent. Suddenly, Naruto's eyes shot up into the face of the Sannin as he slammed his fingers into Naruto's gut. Naruto felt the Kyubi's chakra slipping slowly out of his grasp and soon the fox all but vanished from his mind. Naruto dropped to his knees coughing up blood and clutching his stomach. He glared up at Orochimaru.
"What...what the hell did you just do?"
"I've sealed your use of the Kyubi. Forgive me Naruto-kun, but I can't let you continue using that power especially with the risk of you doing something upsetting during the Chunin exams and exposing me. You will continue on as if you have never seen me, and when the time comes, I will call you with that seal."
Naruto groaned, his vision blurring. He tried to call the fox but couldn't even reach its chakra. He groaned and forced himself to look calm as he answered Orochimaru.
"Alright...but will you remove the seal when the time comes?"
"Of course Naruto-kun. Now, for the next part." Orochimaru stepped over to Anko and rolled her to her back. He moved her head so that he had a clear look at the curse mark. He opened his mouth and bit over the seal, making it glow again and Anko cringe in her sleep. Naruto looked in horror.
"What are you doing?" He called, trying to hold his anger. Orochimaru didn't answer until he watched the seal pulse for several seconds and then fade back to normal.
"I have reawakened and upgraded the seal I gave to Anko all those years ago. Now when she comes to, she will be under my influence. She won't be able to spoil our little secret Naruto-kun."
Naruto begrudgingly nodded at that and just thanked Kami that Orochimaru trusted him enough to not speak on his own. Then his eyes widened.
'That's it! He sealed the Kyubi so that if I do try to talk, he or someone he has watching us could easily silence me...damn this snake...he's not a sannin for nothing.' Naruto grit his teeth but held in a growl. He needed Orochimaru to think that he was still loyal to him.
"What do you want me to do now Orochimaru...sama" Naruto had to force out the honorific as if he were trying to choke back vomit. Orochimaru chuckled and turned from the two young shinobi.
"Get back to the Chunin exams. Go about it as if nothing has happened. However, wait for her to wake-up and explain everything I have told you. I must be going now, for our other friends are waiting." Orochimaru leaped up into the trees, headed away from the tower. "Oh, and Naruto-kun. It would be wise not to cross me." With that, the snake sannin left a trembling blonde and unconscious snake jonin.
"What do you mean we're suspects in an unassociated case? If it's unassociated then why the hell are you keeping us here!"
"Fuu, sit down and be quiet. You're not helping us get out of here any faster."
"It's not fair Uriu! We didn't do anything!" The turquoise haired girl spun on her heels and glared at the spectacled pre-teen.
They were inside of the tower, however, they were in a holding cell room. One door, a one-sided mirror and four stone gray walls. Three chairs sat in the middle of the room, two being occupied by Train and Uriu while Fuu angrily paced the floor. An ANBU stood in front of the door while Ibiki himself stood in front of the three. In the corner of the room, Kin had yet to awaken.
"If anything you should be questioning her!" Fuu pointed to the still knocked out girl. "She attacked Naruto-kun's team and Naruto-kun came to rescue them! He even went as far as rescuing her when his own teammate tried to viciously attack her!"
Ibiki's interest was piqued by the statement. "What do you mean his teammate tried to viciously attack her?"
Fuu looked up at the man and noticed that he didn't seem as scary as he had at the written portion of the exam. She didn't know why, seeing that if they were supposed to be getting accused of something, then the man should have been exerting his full ki on them. So not wanting to look a gift horse in the mouth, she sat down and calmed down. Afterward, she explained everything from her team meeting Naruto and Team Gai up to the point of Anko arriving. Ibiki's face showed a stern concern, however, he didn't show just how upset he truly was.
'Anko went after the brat, but they're not back yet. Which means that they had to have run into...'
"Ibiki-sama, we have word that Anko and Naruto are on their way to the tower. The ANBU team found them halfway here."
Ibiki frowned. What the hell? They were on their way back? Then that means they didn't meet Orochimaru after all...then why did it take them so long to start returning? Knowing Anko, she would have knocked the brat out and dragged him back by his hair without a second thought. Something weird was going on here...
"Excuse me, sir, but what's going on?" Train asked. Ibiki met the boys gaze and saw a dead serious look.
"It's none of your concern. You will remain here until we get the story from the other teams and your Jonin sensei arrives. Until then, get comfortable." Ibiki turned to walk out of the door. The ANBU stepped aside and opened the door. When Ibiki was next to him, he whispered. "Be nice to them, and alert me when the sound Kunoichi wakes up."
The ANBU gave a miniscule nod and shut the door behind Ibiki. Train glared at the ANBU and then faced Fuu and Uriu. "Something's not right. He was worried about something. Plus, these are the Chunin exams. They wouldn't have went off on us like that because they know teams can kill other teams. Something that's not supposed to be here is causing a disturbance in the village."
Uriu nodded, pushing his glasses up on his face. "It may have something to do with the strange chakra that the Uchiha was using. It was not an Uchiha trait, and it seemed to influence the boy's aggressiveness greatly."
Fuu looked between the two boys in confusion. "What the hell are you talking about? Speak normal Japanese please!"
Train and Uriu chuckled at the flustered girl. Train put an arm around the girls shoulder, pulling her close and activating his doujutsu, making his irises yellow and his pupils slit, just like those of a cat. Fuu shivered at the close up view of the creepy eye technique and she shut her eyes tight. "Listen closely Fuu...the grim reaper is going to eat your soul!"
"NOOOO!" The girl screamed and jumped onto Uriu's lap, making the chair fall back. Uriu grunted from the impact and rolled Fuu from atop him.
"Dammit Train! Why must you scare her now! This is serious!" Uriu scolded as Train laughed, holding his side. He wiped a stray tear.
"It's...It's just too easy, haha!" His face froze however as he felt a sting in his side. Fuu stood next to him, pouting but with the stinger still in his side. "No...sense of humor..." He called before collapsing to the ground. Fuu stuck her tongue out and flopped back down in her seat. The ANBU watched with mild interest, though he did stifle a laugh at Fuu's reaction.
"Fuu, what we mean is that something else besides the Chunin exams is happening that has the Leaf village on edge. It could be anything from an intruder to a potential attack threat. And with so many other villages having ninja positioned here, it would be the perfect time for a covert insertion." Uriu explained.
Fuu nodded her head in understanding. "But who would dare attack the Leaf Village? The Leaf, Sand, and Rain villages are all allies. Kumo and Iwa are still scared of it as far as I know and Otogakure was just created no more than a few months ago right?"
"Yes, but that is all face value." Uriu continued. "Our village has a standing peace with the Leaf because of the aid we received during the great Shinobi War. And of course Kumo and Iwa are still afraid of the leaf, but together, what's from stopping them from posing a jointed attack? Then you have Otogakure. It may have been created a few months ago, but it has grown at such a substantial rate, and no one knows who the Kage is. How do we know that they aren't in league with each other?"
Fuu frowned. "But there aren't many teams from Iwa or Kumo here. Then you have the one team from Oto and several from Suna. We're the only team from Ame and we know our Kage would never do anything like this..."
"Which makes the biggest candidates Iwa and Kumo..."
"It's not Iwa or Kumo!" The two Ame nin glanced back at the now awake Kin who sat in the corner.
"You're up...what do you mean its not Iwa or Kumo?" Uriu asked.
Kin leaned up, tears in her eyes. She looked at the ANBU whom was preparing to turn around and go get Ibiki. "I'll explain everything..."
The remainder of the Konoha Twelve, minus Naruto and Sasuke, all sat in an open, circular room of the tower. They were preemptively given scrolls and escorted to the tower, all having similar yet distant thoughts on their situation. The group sat in an awkward silence as they all had their thoughts. The ANBU hidden in the corners watched stoically as the students awaited their Jonin sensei's.
First up was Hinata, who sat Indian style in a meditative position with her eyes closed. She was obviously upset, and seemed tense, despite the calming position. Her thoughts were along the lines of Anko taking too long to get Naruto and hoping that they made it back soon. She was worried about the blonde, and wanted to know the full story of what had happened before they showed up. However, the solemn gazes throughout the group made the tension too much to bear and she stayed silent.
Kiba sat next to Hinata, stroking Akamaru and thinking the same thing. He wasn't as worried for the blonde as Hinata was, but he was still worried. The scene they had come upon was indescribable, and with Kiba's limited brain span, there was no point in trying to make sense of it. All he knew was that something big had to be going down if the ANBU had to escort them to the tower.
Shino stood by his two teammates, leaning on the wall. He kept his gaze on the floor in front of him, not that it would make a difference with the shades. The Aburame was trying to read the vibes of the others, but the overwhelming sense of confusion and fear pretty much spoke for itself. Without a verbal lyric of what happened before he and his team arrived on the scene, he would be in the dark. So the logical thing to do was just wait.
Shikamaru sat with his back leaned against the opposite wall of Hinata's team. He had his eyes closed and a scowl on his face as if he were asleep. However, he was far from it as he contemplated everything that they had just seen, piece by piece. First off, Sasuke's situation made no sense with no prior experiences with the power. He and his team had only arrived when the sound team had started picking on the girl and Sasuke was already unconscious. So there wasn't much he could deduce about Sasuke's condition. However, Naruto was a different story. The boy had already been acting different when they had met up for the first part of the exams. And then he showed just how much he had changed when he protected Sakura and even fought against Sasuke. He was much stronger than he was in the academy, but the strangest part had to be his red eyes and chakra. Shikamaru didn't know how to describe it, but he felt a raw sense of fear overwhelm him when Naruto used the chakra. He had to use all of his wits just to keep from running away in fear of the chakra. Then you got the ANBU showing up and now things really get confusing. The mark on Sasuke's neck caught his attention, and then Naruto running off into the forest topped it off. Something was definitely wrong and it surrounded both Naruto and Sasuke.
Chouji was still eating, of course, but taking longer to chew his food. Probably something that everyone around him had felt, fear was the main feeling on his mind. Though he wouldn't mindlessly run from Naruto, that chakra was pretty intimidating. All he wanted to do was ask Naruto what it was about, but that'd have to wait until he arrived.
Ino sat with her legs pulled up to her chest, and eyes on the ground. She didn't know what she was feeling, trying to think of the Uchiha she had claimed to be in love with but finding her mind drifting only to the fear she had of feeling Naruto's chakra and the fear of hearing just how blood thirsty Sasuke had sounded. She was trying her hardest to remember what her father said to do in a situation like this, but for the life of her, she couldn't remember ever going over a situation like this. So with the only forefront facts being that she knew nothing of Naruto and Sasuke, and that both of them well surpassed her and her team's skills, she needed to reevaluate everything she had planned out for herself. She was going to slow down and start looking at things with a more open mind. But that was easier said than done. So as of now, Ino Yamanaka could not move toward the future...
Neji's thoughts were plain and simple. Fate was working in overtime today, and only time would tell what the outcome would be.
Tenten sat next to the standing Neji with a book on different short-swords open in front of her. She was really worried about Naruto and Fuu. When she looked into Naruto's eyes, her own fear of him was completely overshadowed by the pain that the boy looked to be in. She had wanted to run out to him and make him stop, or to at least help calm down the irrational Uchiha. But she had been cemented to her spot by the overwhelming chakras. There was nothing she could do. Then the ANBU took Fuu and her team away when they hadn't done anything. The bun haired girl just wanted this to be over with and hopefully, she'd be able to meet up with her new found friends again.
Lee was as quiet as he had ever been in his life. Leaning on the opposite side of Tenten from Neji, his gaze scanned the ground as he was lost in thought. He had been tracking Naruto's team in order to fight Sasuke, whom he had heard was the rookie of that years graduating class. In his search, he had also found out that Naruto was the so called 'dead last' of that years class. So his joy was sparked when he saw just how strong Naruto truly was, and his mind instantly made the connections that if the weakest person of that class was that strong, then surely Sasuke had to be something special. Lee sighed, shaking his head. That line of thinking disappointed even himself. He was the dead last of his own graduating class, and now here he was almost as strong as Neji. But that was only the first part of his falling mood that day. After following after Naruto and coming to the scene in the clearing, he was left speechless at Sasuke's attitude. To threaten to kill your own comrade was beyond unyouthful. It was downright criminal. As cold and distant as Neji was, he was still a team player...mostly. In the end, however, Lee was able to smile. As the optimist of the group, he had no choice but to think of what would happen if he was to face Naruto later on in the chunin exams. So holding on to that one line of wishful thinking, Lee stood up a bit straighter, anticipating that time where he would be able show off his most youthful skills.
Sakura sat alone, in the farthest northern part of the room. She looked around at all of the sullen faces and couldn't help but feel down her self. Something was happening to her teammates and she was worried sick. First that weird snake guy attacked them, dressed as a grass nin, then he bit Sasuke and gave him a weird mark on his neck. Then when Naruto showed back up, he and Sasuke got into it, and with her limited fangirl attention span, it was obvious that Naruto had attacked Sasuke...which she knew was a blatant lie. Thinking back on the confrontation, Naruto did get in Sasuke's way, however, it was Sasuke himself that threatened and attacked Naruto. As much as she didn't want to believe that, she had seen it with her own eyes. And now that the ANBU were involved, lying would get her into more trouble than she would want. So now it came down to getting Naruto in trouble, or Sasuke. A quick blush crossed the blossom haired girl's face as she remembered how Naruto had come to her rescue. Where was her mind when she was talking to Fuu if she could remember that now? With nothing but a setting sense of confusion washing in over her, Sakura decided to drop the whole thing completely. She was almost in the same position as Ino, however, there were just several things that she couldn't admit to the others, or to herself...and especially Naruto.
The door to the circular room opened and all eyes drifted to the intruder. Ibiki stepped in and gazed around at all of the children before sighing and shutting the door behind him. He casually strode to the center of the room, returning the gazes of each and everyone of the genin there. In the middle, he stayed silent for several seconds, gauging the looks of them all. While some were passive, most held loathing, likely due to the haste treatment they had gotten on entering the tower. But he was impressed that none of the children jumped up or shouted at him for an explanation.
"I take it you all are wondering what exactly is going on here right?" He spoke to drop a bit of the tension in the room, however, he kept his voice stern to let them know that he would not tolerate anything but the utmost respect. The several nods and grunts gave his answer. Then the girl that he identified as a Hyuga rose her hand. Ibiki acknowledged her.
"Ano, sensei. Where is Naruto-kun and Mitarashi-sensei?" Hinata asked.
"They are currently on their way here." Ibiki smiled, remembering that she was the girl in the classroom that had been talking to the blonde kid. It seemed even with her playing hard to get, she didn't want to lose the boy. "Now before I answer any more of your questions, let me make this clear. We will not divulge personal information on Naruto or Sasuke, until more facts are discovered and your Jonin sensei's arrive. Even then, most of what you saw was classified, so you all will be leaving here with more questions than answers, is that understood?"
'That defeats the purpose of us asking questions then...' Shikamaru thought, though he nodded in understanding anyway.
"Now, I have some questions for you all and I need you to answer with nothing but facts and the truth." Ibiki released a bit of ki to emphasize his point. Seeing the shivers go down the genin's spines, he knew he had gotten their attention. "How did Sasuke Uchiha end up in the state he was in when Anko and her ANBU team arrived?"
The genin looked between each other, wondering whom to designate as the speaker. Letting the question roll around for a bit, Ibiki looked over to the oldest team. "You."
Tenten squeaked and shut her book, blushing from the attention. She scratched the back of her head sheepishly, finding the movement quite contagious, and groaned. "Well...Me and my team arrived following after Naruto. Sasuke was already unconscious and Sakura looked to have been attacked by that team from Otogakure."
At this point, Ino spoke up. "She was. My team and I arrived because we felt the disturbance. We got there a few minutes before everyone else, but since we were all low on chakra, we would've been no help to Sakura." Ino felt like that was more of an excuse now though. Even with their team low on chakra, they could've overpowered the sound team with numbers.
Ibiki nodded at the girl and then looked to Sakura who seemed to be trying to shrink into nothingness. He turned back to Tenten and motioned for her to continue.
"Naruto got upset at seeing his teammates in such a position and jumped in to intervene. There was a sound ninja with holes in the palms of his hands. He began to fire chakra enhanced sound at him and Sakura, but Naruto protected her the whole time. After realizing that they were no match for him, the sound team prepared to retreat, however, the Uchiha woke up at this point." Tenten spoke with a bit of malice, gaining supported nods from many of the other ninja present.
"So Sasuke fought the sound team?" Ibiki asked. When Tenten shook her head, he rose an eyebrow. So far, everything the girl from Ame said was true.
"No. He was going to, but Naruto stopped him. I don't know what Naruto was thinking, but seeing as the Oto team was going to retreat anyway, there was no need to continue after them. Plus, Sasuke seemed to be...more aggressive than what we've heard about him. We think it may have something to do with that weird purple chakra he had been using."
Ibiki nodded once more. It was a logical and sound conclusion, also most likely correct. He knew very little about the curse mark itself, outside of what Anko had told him, and apparently it was a stronger version than the one he had given Anko 13 years ago.
"Sasuke didn't like Naruto getting in his way and...he threatened to kill him." Ibiki's eyes widened. "There was no playing around either. I could sense the full intent of it rolling off of Sasuke. By now the Oto team had ran, leaving behind that girl who was frozen in fear of whatever chakra Naruto and Sasuke were using. Sasuke still tried to attack the girl, though she wasn't any threat to them and Naruto began to protect her too. When she passed out, Naruto called for Fuu...the girl from the Ame team to take her to safety. When she appeared, Sasuke attacked her as well. The whole time, Naruto only attacked back to protect others. He was even injured by Sasuke's fireball technique. After Sasuke used another fire attack on Naruto, he pinned him against a tree. That's when Naruto began to use some weird...and extremely frightening red chakra." Tenten visibly shivered as she remembered the overwhelming fear that had frozen her in place along with the others. "He overpowered Sasuke. All he did was squeeze his wrist and then he hit him in the gut, making the purple chakra go back into Sasuke. After that, the red chakra left Naruto too, but before we could go to him, he ran."
Ibiki had gotten upset near the end, wondering if Naruto had somehow lost control of the Kyubi. However, upon hearing that he had simply used the chakra to subdue Sasuke, his fears were put to rest. He was actually impressed with the boy, though he did have mixed feelings on getting in the way when Sasuke opted to attack the Oto team. On one hand, he could understand why Naruto would have tried to stop him, but these were the chunin exams. Sasuke had the right to attack them. Not that Ibiki was saying that it would've been better. If it wasn't for Naruto intervening, then Sasuke would have been allowed to use the power of the curse mark to his hearts content. Though he didn't like hearing that Sasuke had threatened to kill a comrade not one bit.
"Can this be confirmed by all here present?" Ibiki asked looking around at all the genin. Almost instantly, most of the room nodded. However, his gaze dropped onto Sakura and Ino. Sakura was on the verge of tears while Ino fidgeted with a frown on her face. She looked up at Ibiki and flinched under his glare. She shakingly nodded as well. "And you?"
Sakura looked up at Ibiki with a single tear sliding down her cheek. She looked around the room at the rest of her comrades. Most of them looked upon her with disgust, most likely having a feeling that the pink-haired teen was going to make up an excuse or take up for Sasuke. The look from Hinata was the worse, while Ino's looked sympathetic, yet scrutinizing. After several seconds of sitting under the burn of Ibiki's stern eyes, Sakura dropped her head in defeat.
"It's all true." The words left her lips like air, barely audible but heard by all. The respectful nods her way were missed as her eyes were on the ground in front of her, tears hitting the stone floor from the now crying pre-teen. Ibiki showed no sympathy for the girl and found it almost pathetic that she cried at a moment like this. They were ninja, and making a choice as simple as this was child's play to what would happen on the field. He thought that he had proven that point when he talked to them earlier that day.
"You say that the Uchiha was already unconscious when you all arrived. Then you were the only one there to know what happened to him right?" Ibiki asked Sakura. She looked up with pink eyes that were starting to swell.
"Y-yes. We were attacked-"
"Stop." The ANBU captain interrupted. "I'll discuss that with you privately."
Many of the others present took note of it, hoping to ask Sakura about it later. As the room fell into a short silence, the door opened. The ANBU from Fuu's holding room motioned for Ibiki to come. Ibiki nodded and dismissed the genin without a word. When the door was firmly shut behind him, the genin all let out sighs of relief.
As some began to ponder all the happenings, while other conversed amongst themselves, Ino looked over to her childhood friend. Sakura was shaking as she tried to hold in tears. The pre-teen blonde hesitated for a moment, but decided to play the bigger role and walked over to the blossom haired girl. Sakura looked up startled at Ino, expecting it to be Ibiki for some odd reason.
"Hey, you okay?" Ino asked, knowing that it wasn't a good question, but what else could she say?
"No..." Sakura whined. "Naruto and Sasuke were fighting again, but this time was the worse! I don't know what's wrong with either one of them! Ever since Naruto changed, Sasuke's been worried about him. And now Sasuke's changed too, thanks to..." Sakura paused.
"What happened Sakura? Before we got to the clearing?" Ino asked gently. However, a kunai embedded in the ground in front of the two girls from one of the shadows of the room.
"Classified." An ANBU appeared and disappeared just like that, leaving the two girls shivering at knowing that could have easily been aimed at a vital part of their bodies.
"I...I guess I can't tell you." Sakura whispered. Ino put an arm around Sakura.
"Fine, then let's at least deal with what we can." Ino wiped a stray tear from the younger girls cheek. Sakura wiped the rest herself and grew quiet, hoping that Ino would at least feel the same way as her.
Ino, on the other hand, was going to try to explain this to both Sakura and herself. She didn't really understand the meaning of all this, and especially the things she was feeling lately, but she needed to make heads and tails of it. Right there and then, she was going to open the door to a new part of her life.
"Sakura, Naruto has changed, and maybe you don't realize it, but it's for the better...in some ways. And Sasuke...well, he hasn't changed at all. And I'm not talking about what happened in the clearing."
"Wha-what?" Sakura gasped. "What do you mean Sasuke-kun hasn't changed?"
"You're not stupid Sakura. Haven't you once ever wondered why Sasuke is so cold to us? Why he never agrees to go out with us, even when we're not acting like rabid fangirls?" Ino held back a chuckle now that she was able to admit that.
"Oh my god! Ino, Sasuke-kun is NOT gay!" Sakura blurted loudly, drawing others attention. Ino paused, turned red, and then decided to laugh loudly. Sakura cocked an eyebrow, glaring angrily at the blonde head.
"Are...are you serious? That's not what I meant at all, haha!" Ino wiped her eyes as Sakura pouted and blushed as well. "Although, I wouldn't put it past him!" By now, everyone else was listening and joined in on the Yamanaka's mirth. Even Neji stood with a small smirk on his face.
"That's not funny Ino! So what did you mean then?" The pink haired pre-teen demanded angrily. Ino took a few more moments to calm down before continuing.
"I meant that Sasuke isn't as great as you and I made him out to be in our imaginations. He's always been cold, and he acts like he doesn't want anything to do with us. You're on his team, so you spent more time with him, and you said it yourself. He's the same as he was in the academy, probably worse. The only person he actually opens up and talks to is Naruto, but even that's starting to wear thin."
"That's not true! Naruto is always bugging Sasuke-kun, so..." Sakura stopped herself, finding that she was once again saying something that sounded pretentious. She shook her head and actually thought about what Ino said. "No, I'M the one always bugging Sasuke-kun..."
"What else?" Ino urged, finding everything she was saying dead true. However, after Sasuke, both Ino and Sakura's paths took huge turns in opposite directions.
"He finds us...me annoying. He gives Naruto far more respect than me...because he deserves it. Naruto never did anything to me and I treated him like crap. Even now..."
Ino nodded. She was also someone who had treated Naruto badly while growing up. She didn't know if he did, but she remembered the time where he shared his lunch with her because she was dieting and had passed out. He was worried for her, even after she had insulted him countless times, even as he tried to help her. Naruto was a genuinely nice person, and after that event, she didn't pick on him anymore. She didn't try to get the know the older boy either, and right about now she was regretting it.
"Sasuke-ku...Sasuke isn't all bad though. He just needs someone there to be strong for him." Sakura said, though she did show maturity by looking at the situation from an outside perspective. Instead of seeing Sasuke like a boy toy, she decided to look at him as a person and shinobi. "Ino...we messed up. I messed up. Naruto, Sasuke, all of you. I bet all of you are stronger than me. I wasted so much time, and Kakashi-sensei hasn't really taught us anything..." Tears were falling again. "Ino, I could die here. I would've died if Naruto hadn't shown up. And Sasuke...this all just so fucked up!"
Ino blinked at the language Sakura used, but she patted the girls back. She was happy that Sakura held up to her role as the smartest female genin of their class. She understood, or at least seemed to understand everything so far. Now Ino needed to start believing in everything she had told to Sakura.
Sakura felt like a weight was lifted off of her chest, and was now hung over her head. Realization was the first step. But, could she truly change? Or would she continue to be the same girl she was starting to regret being? But her main question remained, what could she do for Naruto and Sasuke?
Ibiki walked the halls once more, deep in thought. He wanted to have something settled before Naruto and Anko arrived because that in itself would raise more questions than he had time for at the moment. He needed to do three things at once. So taking a page out of a certain blondes book, he flared one handsign and created two simple shadow clones. Without needing to explain to the clones, they parted ways. The first clone headed to the cell containing the Ame team while the the other clone headed back the opposite direction to speak to Sakura about just how Sasuke had acquired the curse seal. The real Ibiki headed towards the cell Sasuke was in.
If you could call it a cell. It was more of a room set aside from the rest, far out of sensory of even Hinata and her Byakugan. It was deep inside the tower, several floors down and ANBU were not hidden as they patrolled the sanctum of the floors below. Ibiki walked towards a double door with blue flames on each side. The ANBU guarding the door stepped aside and allowed Ibiki to enter, silently shutting the door behind him.
Inside the room, several of the same blue flame torches sat on pillars. It was the only light and cast a dark ambiance over the room. Ibiki approached the center of the room, and as he walked addressed the other person besides Sasuke that was in the room.
"How is coming along?" He asked.
"All I did was apply the over seal. If Sasuke can resist, he can stop the effects of the seal. However, I've never seen anything like this before. It's far from an expert seal, but its emits a poisonous chakra in the process. I can't undue it without knowing the base form of the poison chakra." Kakashi spoke while still gazing over the cruse mark. Sasuke sat in the middle of what appeared to be a large seal on the floor. His shirt was off and black marks were weaving in intricate patterns from his back, chest and around his neck. He sat quietly, leaving the other two guessing at what could be on his mind.
"Of course Orochimaru must have come up with some other type of monstrosity. Hell, I doubt we could even discern a fraction of the chakra without a medic nin on Tsunade's level." Ibiki spoke remorsefully, Kakashi nodding his agreement. The copy cat nin knelt down and put a hand over the curse seal and applied chakra. Sasuke winced before the marks all around the mark began to recede into his skin.
"Kakashi-sensei..." Sasuke spoke for the first time since he had been brought in to the tower. It had seemed as if his memory was a bit fuzzy after the curse mark had receded.
"Oh? What is it?" The silver haired man asked.
"I...I threatened Naruto." He said low, as if telling to himself as well. It sounded like a question, and Sasuke couldn't believe he had done it. Kakashi, still oblivious to most of the situation merely eye smiled.
"He'll be fine. You threaten him all the time, no big deal!" He waved it off. However when Sasuke spun on him, eyes set in the sharingan, he almost flinched.
"I threatened to kill him!" Sasuke spat. "I would never...I wouldn't..." Sasuke grit his teeth and clenched his fist as he held in his anger. He wanted to strike the jonin. Out of all the times Kakashi had dismissed Naruto, this may have been the worse. It always irked him that Kakashi showed favoritism, even if it was towards him. Even if Sasuke had forgotten at some point, he and Naruto were merely rivals, not bitter enemies. From the way Naruto was looking at Sasuke lately, they both had forgotten. But after his run in with Orochimaru in the Forest of Death, he remembered what happened during their fight against Zabuza and Haku. "We're supposed to protect each other!"
Kakashi glanced back at Ibiki who said nothing and watched the scene play out. Kakashi sighed, knowing that he was one his own with this one. "Sasuke, Naruto's bounced back from a lot worse. Don't worry yourself about it."
Neither heard Ibiki sigh as Sasuke snapped on his sensei. "Bounced back from worse? BOUNCED BACK FROM WORSE? WHO THE FUCK SAYS THAT!" Sasuke clenched his fist until they bled. "You call yourself a sensei but all you ever do is train me to use my sharingan, and that's rarely! We haven't had a team assignment since we've come back from Wave country and that was last month! Me, Naruto, and Sakura barely see each other, and when we did go to train you always showed up late! What happened, Hatake? Weren't you the one preaching about how those who disobey the rules are trash but those who abandon their comrades are worse than that?"
Sasuke groaned and clutched his neck with one hand but he didn't let up on Kakashi, even with the worried look he was leveling. When Kakashi reached out to touch him, Sasuke roughly smacked his hand away.
"Now I tell you something that I can't even stand to remember and you say it's not a big deal? Fine then Hatake, what if you threatened to kill someone you care about and have full intentions on doing just that? What if you would've succeeded if your sensei was a neglectful, perverted bastard?" Sasuke's anger slowly began to fade. The pain from the curse mark and over seal putting too much strain on him to continue ranting.
"Sasuke...I..."
"Fuck you, Kakashi!" He said just above a whisper as he took several deep breaths. "Where is Naruto?" He asked Ibiki, completely dismissing the Jonin in front of him. He had nothing left to say to him.
"On his way to the tower." Ibiki answered. "And did you admit to threatening Uzumaki Naruto?"
Sasuke flinched at Ibiki's cold tone. He looked down, not wanting to be reminded of that. Before he could answer yes, Kakashi stood up.
"Ibiki-san, you must know that the curse seal forces the will of Orochimaru upon the user-"
"STOP IT!" Sasuke yelled out. "Stop doing that! If I was Naruto, you wouldn't have tried to make an excuse."
"Sasuke, that's enough insubordination." Ibiki spoke much more calmly than the situation seemed to need. His gaze, however, made Sasuke cement his mouth shut, though he did continue to send glares towards his sensei. Ibiki looked right into Kakashi's eyes when he spoke.
"As your former ANBU captain, I'm highly and utterly disappointed and disgusted with what I just heard and witnessed."
At the tone Kakashi instantly dropped to one knee, his fist on the ground and head down. "Forgive me sensei."
"You know what you were taught Kakashi. You had me and the Fourth Hokage himself teach you. I don't understand how you could've turned out like this." Ibiki sighed once more, finding himself doing that a lot that day. "As for the curse seal. From Anko's report, it does enforce a part of Orochimaru's will on the victim, however, it's only to strengthen their darker thoughts. If that person was to have a pure heart, its theory that the curse seal wouldn't work."
Sasuke's eyes dilated at that. "So...that means..." Ibiki nodded grimly, finally releasing a ki that he had been building since speaking with Fuu earlier. The two members of Team 7 seemed to shrink under the massive weight.
"Somewhere deep inside you, you truly wanted to kill Naruto."
As the full circle began to slowly reach its end, Ibiki, the clone, found itself once again in the Amegakure teams holding cell. From what he heard, the Jonin sensei's were just arriving. The Hokage would most likely be on his way as well, but to throw Orochimaru off, he would be the last to arrive. The clone frowned at the fact that it could still get a migraine even if it wasn't the original copy. When it entered the room, it paused, taking in the scene.
"Dammit Train! Leave them alone!" Uriu shouted from the wall on the left, right next to the door. Train stood on a chair, seeming to be taking a monster pose as he once again used his doujutsu. Looking to the corner, he found Fuu and Kin huddled together, shivering under the gaze of the boy.
"What the hell is going on here?" Ibiki boomed, startling Train and making him lose his balance on the chair. He tottered for several moments before the chair gave in to vertigo and sent him tumbling backwards to the floor.
"Oooouch." He whined and opened one eye to see an upside down Ibiki. The ANBU head captain looked around when he heard a snicker. When he realized it was coming from the ANBU watching and guarding the room, he turned hard glares on them all, halting the laughs and instilling a moment of awkwardness. When he looked back into the room, all three Ame genin were sitting in their seats with their hands folded on their laps and Kin sat next to Uriu on the floor in the same position. If Ibiki didn't know any better, he would have sworn he could see angel halo's over their heads.
"Sir, she's awake." Train said, sickeningly sweet like.
"I can see that." The clone replied with a small growl. It rubbed the bridge of its nose in annoyance, though he had to admit the sight of Train toppling was quite comical. But this wasn't a moment to be joking around. "I'm not going to beat around the bush. I have questions for you, and I want honest answers. If I believe you are lying, I will escort you to the T&I headquarters, and trust me; You don't want to go there." Kin nodded her head rapidly after paling at what Ibiki had just said.
"What was the condition of Uchiha Sasuke when you attacked his team?"
"He was unconscious after receiving Orochimaru's curse seal!" Kin blurted out without hesitation, getting shocked gazes from the Ame team.
"Orochimaru? The Orochimaru of the sannin, Orochimaru?" Train called in awe.
"So that's what that powerful chakra was..." Fuu mumbled to herself. Ibiki, for what he hoped would be the last time that day, sighed. He hadn't expected the girl to just come out and say it like that. If it weren't for the fact that he needed answers fast, he would have dismissed the Amegakure genin. However, he would just hold them in contempt with the information should they try to release it to the public.
"How do you know Orochimaru did it? Are you working for him?"
"Yes, and no! Orochimaru is the Kage of Otogakure, and now that I'm in your custody, I have no plans on returning to him. As far as he's concerned, I'm dead, or will be if he sees me again. He destroyed the orphanage I was staying in and kidnapped me and a lot of the other children as well."
'So that's why she's singing like a canary.' Ibiki thought. He once again glanced at the Ame team to see them soaking up knowledge like sponges. He would need to question them once more to make sure what was being said did not leave that room.
"Is there anything else?" Ibiki asked, his headache slowly going away as the girl was far more compliant than he expected. It made things so much more easier.
"...Yes..." Kin stated looking down. She began to go into detail about the upcoming invasion on Konohagakure that was supposed to take place within a months time during the finals of the chunin exams. She told them only what she herself knew, seeing as she wasn't important to the plan itself. Hell, Orochimaru didn't even think she was worthy of getting a weak version of his cursed seal.
"Sir, the team from Amegakure's Jonin sensei is here." The ANBU at the door called.
"Send him in."
The door opened and the Ame team's eyes lit up. A man wearing a long red trench coat buttoned fro top to bottom with two rows of buttons stepped into the room. He had hair that defied gravity just as Kakashi's but was platinum blonde, like Ino's. Over his eyes he wore fire orange shades...and was eating a meat bun. The Ame team face planted as the cool look was instantly thrown off.
"Dammit Vash-sensei! Don't you ever stop engorging yourself!" Fuu called with a pulse mark on her forehead. The man inhaled the last of the food and smiled.
"Ne, Fuu? It's too loud I can't see you."
"That makes no sense!" She cried again.
"Excuse me." Ibiki interrupted loudly. Vash faced the ANBU leader with the same smile.
"Oh, I'm sorry. Hello, my name is Vash Stryfe, I'm this team's-"
"I know who you are." Ibiki stepped aside, letting the genin know they were just about free to go. "You're Ame's infamous 'Vash The Stampede'. You're reputation is almost as high as our own 'Copy Cat Ninja.'." Vash beamed at the praise. "However, I need to make this clear here and now. What was discussed in this room is highly confidential, and business of Konoha. If a single word is uttered once you set foot outside of this room, you will be considered a national threat, and the full charges will fall on the Jonin sensei."
Vash's smile was frozen on his face, but his students could see that he was sweating bullets. They groaned at the man. "Sensei, we won't talk. We understand that this is Konoha's business. Actually, if we could speak with your Kage, we would like to get permission to ask for aid from our own Kage." Train said, once again being serious.
Ibiki almost smiled. The Ame team was showing loyalty and level headedness that was missing from a lot of the Konoha genin. Outside of their antics, the team was completely cooperative and almost pleasant. He would grant them that request, as it also would show how the bond between the Leaf village and Rain village was fairing.
"I'll see what I can do. In the meantime, follow the ANBU and prepare for the next part of the exam. You are to act as if nothing has changed."
"Yessir!" All four said. Ibiki rose an eyebrow at Vash and finally began to understand where the Team got its quirkiness from. The team marched out of the room following an ANBU.
"Wh-what about me, sir?" Kin asked. Ibiki eyed the girl with a smirk that would even make Anko squirm.
"You're dead remember? And since you technically don't exist anymore, how about I get you acquainted with the ANBU force."
A/N: (WARNING: This will probably be a long one.)
First off, Phnxfyr1- Congratulations! You were the first one to guess that Train was from Black Cat! (Freggin loved the manga and anime!) You get...A SNEAK PREVIEW AT HE NEXT CHAPTER...naw, just kidding. A pat on the back and virtual cookies.
Twin Silver Dragon- You were the second to get the answer, so here's your shout out! I LOVE YOUR NAME! It just sounds epic.
To the anonymous review with no name, I enjoyed that review. However, I have not seen X-Men First Class yet, so I have no idea what the similarity is between that and Fuu's abilities. If someone could please explain, that'd be much appreciated.
Chewie Cookies- Once again, awesome name! I'm glad that you are enjoying the story, glad that you caught Train (or scrolled down and saw the other reviews XD), and that you caught my mistake with Zaku...that I have no intention of fixing. XD We're just gonna say his full name is Zakuzu and they call him Zaku for short. See, problem solved. ^-^
Now, for the actual notes...
I did this chapter fairly quick because after completing the last one, I had the adrenaline to keep going. I don't really have that right now, so the next chappie might be a bit. I still have to finish Beyond The Horizon.
And before anyone chews me out, Naruto is still a genin and has only been training for two days. With his shadow clones, the training I envisioned him doing would only estimate out to five months mental and two months physical. He is NOWHERE near ready to take on a sannin, and Anko is not stupid enough to believe she can beat him.
I understand that it seems as if Sakura and Sasuke's emotions and personalities seem to be flip flopping so far, but there are reasons for that. One reason, for Sakura is the domino effect. Hearing about changes and actually SEEING changes are different. Sakura is seeing these changes happening between her team with her own eyes. Sasuke, on the other hand, is conflicting with his inner 'avenger' a lot sooner than he did in the anime. I need it done now, and I'm not the type of person to make Sasuke the overly douche bag type without a reason. (Or if I don't need it in the story.)
Now, some of you will say, 'Well if your not making Sasuke a douche bag, how come your making Kakashi one?'
Let's get something straight...I like Kakashi. He is a cool character, and even now one of my favorites. However, you can't overlook how much of an ass he was before and during the chunin exams. There's no 'Oh he needed to train Sasuke with the sharingan' and all that jazz. He could still have found something for Naruto, and something better for Sakura to do, or trained them with the spare time apart from Sasuke.
I believe in trial and redemption, so I will try to be fair to ALL the characters, no matter how much I personally despise some of them. (Except for Danzo. He gets no slack.)
And with that, I hope you all enjoyed this chapter as much as it gave me a headache to write. I will see you all in the next installment! Ikeze.