Best Laid Plans
Arun
Chapter 2: Introduction & Other Accidents
Disclaimer:
I don't own Naruto.
The two boys lay sedated on their hospital beds. Sasuke had an oxygen mask on him and Naruto had an IV attached to his right arm. The mask was mostly a precaution for the former and the IV to help with dehydration for the latter. The two elder nin who stood at the foot of their beds noted the troubled expressions on the face of both patients and the physical restraints to restrict their freedom of movement. The younger of the two visitors checked the case histories for both boys in turn, nodding thoughtfully at the notes within. Apparently, both were troubled sleepers whose rest was regularly interrupted by night terrors.
"So, these are my students," he said.
"Assuming you'll pass them, yes."
"They have potential," Kakashi admitted freely. He had heard of their graduation fight, as had probably the rest of the village by now.
"They're also the war orphans of their class. Naruto has had little love showered on him but plenty of hatred and much coldness. His life and the attempted kidnapping in his childhood have made him mentally scarred and morally unbalanced. Sasuke, while being admired by those around him, has had it as bad and is even worse off. My fears that the cruelty inflicted on him by his brother will return to haunt us all may still come true."
"There are those who argue that neither of these boys belong on the lines. Vocally for the former and quietly for the latter, I might add," Kakashi replied, fishing for the Hokage's thoughts on the issue.
The Hokage smiled.
"My boss is the Daimyo and he knows better than to tell me how to run his Ninja Corps. I would that the civilian figureheads in this village were as wise as he," he said, shooting a sly glance at Kakashi, "Does that satisfy you?"
"Yes, Hokage-sama."
"Good, because I have no doubt that the boys will blossom under the right guidance. They're both of the best crop this village has had in years. It'd be a crime to waste their potential, but I don't want them out on the field if they aren't ready. They may be unpolished gems, but they're also flawed. Exposing them to the shinobi world too soon may break them or have them turn rogue. They need to be nurtured carefully with the right blend of wisdom and yet, firmly guided so that they don't stray from the path. They have to be taught strength and at the same time, loyalty. Naruto has the later in plenty, as does Sasuke, but both have very little of it to the village. This is why I'm putting them under your tutelage. Teach them loyalty and true courage. Do not go easy on them."
"I won't. The third member?"
The Hokage blew out a puff of smoke.
"I'll be going over the list with Chuunins Iruka and Mizuki in a little while to decide on the third member of Team 7. You'll know by the end of the day. That'll be all, Kakashi."
xxxxx
"Hokage-sama, with all due respect, I object to including Haruno Sakura in the same team as those boys."
"Reasons, Chuunin Mizuki," the Sandaime asked, unperturbed.
"It would unbalance the teams, Hokage-sama," Mizuki replied.
"The suggested Team 7 would have the two best students in theoretical knowledge in Sasuke and Sakura, and the two best students in applied knowledge in Naruto and Sasuke," Iruka added.
"And the problem with that is?"
"It makes Team 7 much stronger than the other teams," Mizuki replied.
"And the problem with that is?" the Hokage asked, digging further. He leaned back in his chair with his arms on the armrest and his fingers intertwined at nose level as he waited for the teachers to explain their arguments in-depth.
"It would adversely affect the morale and motivation of the other teams. They'll believe that we're playing favorites. This will lead them to conclude there's something innately unworthy about them that made us favor Team 7 over them. My students don't need that kind of negative reinforcement at this stage in their careers, when they're so precocious. That fight between Naruto and Sasuke destroyed a lot of confidence and Team 7's composition will destroy what remains of it."
"Well reasoned, Chuunin Iruka. But my decision stands."
"But, Hokage-sama…"
"But nothing," the Hokage interrupted in a mild reprimand. "Ultimately, your duty is to follow orders. My orders and the Daimyo's."
Iruka mentally flinched at the Hokage's words. The gentle old man was never harsh with anyone during discussions without good reason. But for the life of him, Iruka could not imagine what those reasons were. Consequently, he shot an inquisitive glance at the aged commander.
"There are several faults in both your arguments. Here's one: Unlike what you believe, the other teams will be endangered if I swap one of their members with any of the three. Sakura, Sasuke and Naruto are too unbalanced to work in teams, but each of the three brings different skills to the table that when put together will be synergistic. I want the two of you to figure out what those skills are and I want a two page report on my table by lunch tomorrow."
The two chuunin looked at each other in confusion. Reports? For this? They were not school children, were they?
The Hokage chuckled at their flummoxed expressions.
"Surely, you did not think that you had learnt all there is to learn about the shinobi world, have you?" he asked. "Think of this as preparation for future commands."
The two nodded.
"Good. You two have also forgotten that Team 7 have yet to pass their jounin mentor's graduation test."
"You say that as if you expect them to fail, Hokage-sama?" Iruka asked in a curious voice.
"Fail? Not exactly, no! But their mentor Jounin Hatake Kakashi is very exacting. He has yet to pass a single graduating class assigned him."
"Then…"
"Then, nothing," the Hokage interrupted, much less harshly than before. "Assumption is the bane of all shinobi. Teams like the proposed Team 7 have managed to graduate and bloom under ardent mentors before. There has been at least one such team in every generation since the founding of the village. My mentors felt – and I do, too – that we're very lucky as a village to have it happen so frequently in Konoha when it happens rarely, if ever at all, in the other villages.
"I expect that report without fail tomorrow afternoon. Dismissed."
xxxx
The sun on his face woke Naruto. He stretched and yawned in the hospital bed and turned to face sleeping beauty beside him. Only, Sasuke was awake. Wide awake, in fact, and staring at Naruto with a peculiar look on his face. Naruto scratched the spot where he had the IV before and glared at the Uchiha in return. Seconds ticked by as both stubbornly waited for the other to break eye contact and admit defeat. Never one for patience, the exercise pissed off Naruto, who was already irritable in the mornings to begin with. Finally, he huffed and broke eye contact, eliciting a slight smirk from Sasuke at the small victory.
"What do you want, Uchiha?" Naruto asked grumpily.
"You're good," Sasuke replied.
"Yeah, I totally kicked your ass."
A frown marred Sasuke's face at the boast. Naruto noticed and smiled proudly.
"Yeah, I own you. Uzumaki Naruto, class nobody, owns the great Uchiha Sasuke."
Anger flashed in Sasuke's face for a brief moment and Naruto saw within it, the crazy animal barely restrained and carefully hidden under a façade of aloofness. He burst into laughter at the revelation and continued without giving Sasuke time to frame a reply, "Oh, this is great. You're crazy. Under that detached exterior of yours, you're as insane as I am."
The look on Sasuke's face was askance.
"Tell me, Sasuke," Naruto's voice dropped to a whisper even as his eyes met the Uchiha's in direct challenge, "how often does the desire to kill strike you?"
This time, it was Sasuke who broke eye contact.
"Everyday," he whispered back, looking into infinity. Then strongly, as if he dared the other to challenge him, "Every second, every minute, every hour of everyday. That's how often. I'm an avenger and I live to kill one man."
Naruto stared back at Sasuke for what seemed like hours, but was in fact only a few seconds and finally chuckled.
"I pity the bastard who pissed you off. But you haven't answered my question. What do you want?"
"Strength. Power. To kill that man," Sasuke replied, his voice now devoid of emotion as a haunted look dawned in his eyes. "I want to train with you."
Naruto bit his lips in thought. He knew he wasn't very smart, but even he could guess what the Uchiha was asking off him and how steep a price it would exact on his mind. The desire to be fastest had been stamped on his soul after his close encounter of the disemboweling kind followed by the bath in blood. His physical speed was what kept the mental demons at bay during the night and peace during the day. Training with him, Sasuke, with his sharingan, would gain that swiftness faster than you could say boo! And without that sense of safety guaranteed by his speed, Naruto knew he would go crazy with fear.
"You ask a lot," he sighed, weighing his options. Possibly more of me than I can bear to lose and live with any semblance of sanity.
Sasuke nodded but did not reply.
Finally, Naruto sighed in defeat. Refusing wasn't really a choice as Sasuke would learn the speed with or without Naruto's help. The Uchiha would get many chances to see the latter in action in the coming weeks and months, after all.
"Alright, but it has to be an exchange. My speed for your jutsu."
Sasuke, who'd expected something akin to this, smiled.
"Done."
xxxxx
The last of the teams but Team 7 filed out with their sensei as the three genin stared daggers at their backs. It had been roughly half an hour since Iruka and Mizuki announced the teams and already, Team 7 were grinding their teeth in impatience not knowing that they were doomed to wait another two hours for their wayward teacher.
At first, the three sat silently, each lost in their own thoughts. Or rather, Naruto and Sasuke were lost in their own thoughts while Sakura made dreamy eyes at the Uchiha. Eventually, Naruto thumped the bench in annoyance and jumped over it to the blackboard. He grabbed the pieces of chalk lying around and without warning, wound up and threw at Sasuke, who had followed his teammate's actions with a disinterested look on his face. Obsidian eyes flashed crimson speckled with pitch-dark teardrops and an open palm shot between the chalk and the target, intercepting it.
"Naruto, what do you think you're doing, throwing that at Sasuke-kun?" Sakura shouted in annoyance, snapping out of the pleasant daydream she had been having about the Uchiha and rising to her feet.
Naruto shot her a look full of loathing and contempt in return. Without seeming to, he observed Sasuke's reaction to their teammate's interference, out of the corner of his eyes. Sakura ground her teeth at being treated like dirt and made to take a step forward to berate the Uzumaki at length when Sasuke shoved past her, clutching Naruto's projectile in his hand.
Yeah, Sasuke-kun, go and show him what happens when he messes with you, inner Sakura cheered.
"Sasuke-kun," Sakura said aloud, "ignore him. He's annoying."
Sasuke stopped mid-step and turned to regard her. Sakura flinched at the look of utter disdain in his eyes.
"No," he murmured loud enough so that his words reached her ears, "he's not annoying. You are."
Of all the things Sakura expected to issue from Sasuke's lips, those words were the last. Why would Sasuke-kun say that? she asked herself. Perhaps, a small part of her mind whispered in return, because I am.
Never before had the contempt Sasuke had for her been so blatant. Or rather, Sakura supposed, never before had his scorn been so great as to break through the veiled outlook she had of the world. She sat down in shook and shook her head in a daze, trying very hard to accept this new reality. She knew she had burned too many bridges pursuing Sasuke. She had destroyed her friendship with Ino and her other friends for that very reason. He was, in fact, her only friend, not that he ever spoke to her for any reason other than to put her down, which just goes to show how sad her life was. And after all she had done, to see him treat her the way he did… But why, she asked herself. What had changed between Sasuke and Naruto to turn them into playmates in the here and now? The only incident involving the two had been the much gossiped about graduation fight…
Could that be the reason? Could it be that Sasuke-kun favors Naruto because the idiot defeated him? It can't be the reason, could it? No, I remember how Sasuke-kun changed the way he looked at Naruto even during the fight. Like most of the other genin, Sakura had not been able to follow the action in the second half of the spar-that-was-a-battle, but she had observed how the two opponents had handled themselves during the frequent passes between exchanges. Sasuke's carriage had undergone a very big change after he awakened his bloodline.
Is that the reason then? Is it because Naruto was powerful enough to force the expression of the Sharingan? The last question felt right, as if it were the closest to the mark. Sakura instinctively grasped that the most important idea in that question was power. Sasuke respected Naruto because Naruto was powerful and she… she, sadly, was not.
Blinking the tears that had brimmed in her eyes at Sasuke's words, Sakura took a deep breath, feeling petulant and betrayed. If she was to be teammates with these two demons masquerading as boys – and she did not doubt that they were monsters anymore having experienced their cruelty first hand – then she would need to be strong. She imagined, as her thoughts took a darker turn, that they would throw her to the wolves if they thought they could gain the least advantage in the fight.
With these and other dark thoughts in her mind and her chin supported by her hands clasped together over the bench, Sakura remained thus. An air of gloom hung around her and she shot ugly looks at the two boys playing/training with the chalk.
Boys being boys, Sasuke and Naruto were totally absorbed in their game and were completely oblivious to all this until Kakashi walked in.
"Yo!" Kakashi said, announcing himself, "meet me in the roof in five."
xxxx
"Do you want to become powerful ninja?" Kakashi asked them as soon as his three genin were seated.
Team 7 nodded separately as individuals. Yes, they wanted power, but for their own reasons. The jounin made silent note of their lack of unity.
"I can give you your dreams. But it'll require hard work, courage and discipline. It'll require pushing yourself beyond your limits. You'll have to learn to master yourself before you ever learn to dominate your enemy. It'll mean broken bones, and a heavy price in blood, sweat and pain. Pain and misery will become your constant companions."
Nods.
Kakashi held up his hand, knowing for certain that the genin did not understand the harshness of the training regimen.
"You're not thinking. Think and understand that the training I'll give you will be pure torture. Ask yourself if you have the necessary courage and the strength of will to become a strong shinobi of the Hidden Leaf. Only once you're sure, give me your answer."
Again, the children nodded. Immediately. Kakashi knew they did not really understand his warnings, but that was not the real requirement here. Only the fact that they agree to his training was. And that training begins now.
"So," the jounin drawled, pulling out a book to read and leaning against the rail on the roof, "let's introduce ourselves. Who wants to go first?"
Team 7 stared at the picture of the half-naked woman on the front cover of the book. After the solemn speech only a few seconds back, they were shocked at Kakashi's conduct, which was completely at odds with his words. Consequently, no one volunteered to go first and there was pin drop silence. Well, not exactly. A dark barked two blocks away and a crow cawed from its perch on one of the trees on the nearby sidewalk.
"Okay…" Kakashi said, dragging out the word after he had waited long enough. Even as he spoke, his demeanor changed dramatically. Temperature dropped precipitously and a heavy smothering feeling descended upon the three genin. Their chests felt constricted and they could feel immaterial hands crushing their hearts, squeezing the life out of them. The aura of fear was comparable to what Naruto had unleashed for that brief instant in the graduation fight, but while Naruto's had lasted but for a moment, this one showed no sign of petering out.
"You think this is a joke?" the jounin asked. How he managed to be so thoroughly intimidating while reading porn would forever more be the subject of discussion within Team 7 till the day they died.
The temperature dropped even further as Kakashi's glare intensified.
"You think being a shinobi is a game?"
Sakura's lips started to turn blue.
"Pay heed and remember this. I'm your superior and your commander, and you're my soldiers. That means, when I ask a question, you give me crisp answers. When I make a request, you scramble all over yourselves to fulfill it. When I give a command, you make as if God Himself had appeared in person before you and ordered you on a holy quest."
Team 7 nodded with all the verve they could muster in their condition. Sakura's eyes looked ready to roll in her sockets. Tears brimmed in them and she showed every indication that she wanted to clutch at her throat, but was paralyzed with fear. Sasuke and Naruto were not much better off either, their breaths coming in short gasps as their lips slowly turned blue.
Abruptly, the day brightened and the crushing aura lifted.
"Good," Kakashi said, smiling in what Team 7 would later learn was one of his defining characteristics. "Let's introduce ourselves. I'll start first."
More vigorous nods.
The jounin's eyes narrowed dangerously.
"I didn't hear, 'yes, Sensei.'"
"Yes, Sensei."
"Louder."
"Yes, Sensei!" the three chorused loudly.
"Excellent." Again, Kakashi's eyes curved again in that imitation of a grin. The genin gulped, wondering what they had done to be saddled with this psychopath.
"I'm Jounin Hatake Kakashi, your sensei and mentor. I dislike spoiled brats," he shot a meaningful glance in their direction. "My likes, you have no need to know. Same with my hobbies. My dream… ditto.
"But enough about me. You, the blond, start."
"I'm Uzumaki Naruto. I like ramen and training. I dislike weakness. My dream is to protect my precious people and let no harm befall them."
Kakashi made to nod, but stopped himself in the nick of time. The boy's dream was admirable. Especially so given the environment he grew up in. Perhaps there was hope for him, after all. But he could not let Naruto know that. Not so soon. Approval should be scant and only grudgingly given this early in training. In the interim, frowns, glares and frequent dress downs would do nicely. Now, if only Sasuke and Sakura had similar aspirations.
"Raven hair."
"I'm Uchiha Sasuke. I don't have any likes. I dislike a lot of things. My dream… It's to kill one man and resurrect my clan."
This time, Kakashi did not have to restrain his reaction. In fact, he put on his best frown – the one he used whenever one of his subordinates royally screwed the pooch – and stared pointedly at the Uchiha until the boy shifted his gaze to the ground. Mentally sighing, because he knew what he was about to do was akin to cauterizing a deep wound, he cleared his throat.
"That's nice," he said, "but tell me, who is this person you fear so much?"
Sasuke's head shot up lightning fast at the taunt.
"Why, you…" he growled, forgetting in that instant of anger the lesson he had been taught scarcely a minute earlier.
"Nah! Nah!" Kakashi rebuked, disappearing from his perch to appear with his kunai mere millimeters from Sasuke's left pupil. On the one hand, he was disappointed that the hotheaded Uchiha would let his emotions cloud his mind so. On the other, he had been looking for a reason to show his students how insignificant they were in the grand scheme of things. They needed to shed their juvenile arrogance to survive the ordeals ahead, after all. Unwittingly, Sasuke had given Kakashi the perfect reason for the demonstration and the jounin knew just the way to drive the nail home in the most unforgettable manner possible.
"Forgot what I said already, Sasuke-kun?"
Sasuke froze at the kunai and Kakashi waited a few seconds before pulling it back. For maximum shock value, he needed to effortlessly decimate the Uchiha and a kunai would give the appearance that Sasuke was enough of a threat to warrant a weapon. Standing up and harshly dragging the boy to his feet by his hair, Kakashi restored the kunai to his thigh holster and forcefully shoved the boy away.
Sasuke stumbled forward unsteadily but saved himself from a fall by planting his hands on the concrete to halt his descent. His pate felt raw where Kakashi pulled his hair, but he made scant note of it. His eyes were focused on the jounin who circled him. When Naruto and Sakura were no longer in the Uchiha's direct line of attack, Kakashi stopped and stared complacently at his charge.
"You think you can take me on?" he asked, his one visible eye half closed.
Sasuke seethed, but did nothing. He knew he had reacted badly the first time, but while attacking a superior officer may be excused once, he was sure to get cashiered and dishonorably discharged from the Ninja Corps if it happened twice.
"Good," Kakashi said, still speaking in a relaxed voice, his pose loose and neutral, "You have some sense. But you thought wrong. I won't file a complaint."
And that was all that Sasuke needed to hear. Quick as a coiled snake, he sprung at Kakashi, aiming to cut any of the great arteries in the jounin's extremities. Even in his madness, he understood after the previous exchange what little chance he had of successfully scoring a hit in Kakashi's center of mass.
There were multiple ways that Kakashi could have used to counter the attack. The objective of the lesson, however, enforced certain conditions. The most important one being that he had to make it look effortless on his part. His students had to be put into a state of shock to internalize the lesson and to keep them submissive for the next few crucial weeks while he molded the team. It would take much longer for them to learn to discipline their desires and their hatreds, but that was for the future. Right now, Sasuke and Naruto were little more than crazed animals hiding behind a thin veneer of civilization ready to be shed at the slightest provocation. Sasuke, not surprisingly, even more so than Naruto.
Kakashi leaned left and pivoted, easily controlling Sasuke's thrust by grabbing his wrist. This was yet another thing that only experience could teach you. When confronted with sharp edged weapons for the first time, people forgot that the weapon is just a tool. They invariably focus on the instrument and give the initiative to the attacking party, forgetting that any weapon is only as dangerous as the man wielding it.
Kakashi knew better. Sasuke was armed, yes, but he was shorter, younger, had less stamina, lesser reach and for all his skill at the art of mayhem, was a novice compared to the jounin, who had survived a war and was a veteran of many battles and numerous skirmishes. So Kakashi turned, pulling Sasuke with him sharply while simultaneously twisting the Uchiha's hand until it broke. The kunai that was to have been the instrument of Sasuke's doom clattered to the ground and Sasuke stared at his rapidly swelling hand open-mouthed, shock keeping him from feeling the pain for the present. His eyes were still focused on his hand when Kakashi connected with a powerful kick that broke two ribs and sent Sasuke into the embrace of unconsciousness.
"Well, that's that," he said to his other two students, pulling out his beloved book and preparing a shunshin. "We'll start training tomorrow. Training ground 4, 5AM. Don't be late or…"
xxxxx
"What do you think?"
"They'll do fine, Hokage-sama," Kakashi replied, "Sasuke and Naruto have the capacity for violence, but Sakura's a bit submissive in the face of authority. I'm sure she has plenty of aggression stored within her, which I'll strive to bring to the fore."
"How did the introduction go?"
Sarutobi had watched the whole "introduction," of course. He just wanted Kakashi's perspective on it.
"I'd decided to break someone's bones if they agreed to my regimen even before the meeting," the jounin confided, "To give them a preview of the next few weeks. Even had a team of medics on standby hidden away a couple of blocks away. Sasuke volunteered and I obliged. I'm sure he'll be fine."
"The test tomorrow?"
"I've decided to forgo it. They'll learn teamwork the hard way. With three firebrands in the team, I'll have to work them to the ground before they do, but they will."
"They're your students. Dismissed, Kakashi."
xxxxx
Author's notes:
Before you go leaping into conclusions, I wanted the graduating exam as much as you do, but after the "introduction", I thought it'd be wasted. Teamwork can be built in other ways, anyway, and Kakashi will use one of those others. I'll leave you to guess which one.
As to why Kakashi did away with the test, it's simple. After the conversation with the Hokage, he'd decided to act as if Konoha were at war. Why? Maybe because he feels the team has potential. Maybe it was the match between Naruto and Sasuke. Maybe it was the Hokage's own words. I don't think it really matters. Kakashi has decided to act this way and that's all that should matter. I'm certainly not going to launch into a two-page diatribe in the middle of the story about the whys and bore what few readers I have into abandoning the story. ROFL
Finally, thanks to Pagan Thundergod for spotting an error I'd made in training Team 7. It's now fixed.
Anyways, leave reviews if you have the time. I'd much appreciate it if you did.