My Dark Heart: Chapter Two
Hey guys! Man, it's been a long time since I've updated, but life happened, so meh. This would've been up earlier, but it got deleted from my computer. I also reworked some stuff. Now this is a fucking monster chapter- 19 pages, over 6,000 words. In total, this story is now about 7,000-8,000 words long, so I'm pretty proud of myself. This chp concludes the opening arc, so next chapter will start the Land of Waves! Enjoy~
Shiori P.O.V.
I woke up in a panic, shaking and clammy, eyes frantically searching for the cause of my alarm.
That's when I let out a shaky sigh.
"Another nightmare, huh, Shiori? That's the third one this week. You're starting to loose sleep over it, and people will start to notice." Looking at my clock, I see it's 2:40. If I know myself as well as I think I do, then I know I won't go back to sleep.
I'm too shaken.
Instead, I get out of bed and pull on my day clothes. Making my escape out the bedroom window, I wonder around on the rooftops, thinking.
The nightmare always starts off pitch black, I can't see a thing. But that doesn't stop me from hearing, smelling, feeling, and tasting. I can hear the yells of people in pain, men, women, and children, all bleeding together into a symphony of agony. I can smell their fear, as well as the pungent smell of rotting flesh, the metallically sweet smell of blood, and the smell of urine from so many people pissing themselves.
Lastly, I can taste the rotting corpses, the iron of blood, the terror of being found. And the power. The horrific, beautiful, destructive, overwhelmingly delicious power coursing through me.
I can feel power, raw and destructive flowing through me and around me, taking me high without the chance of getting low. It's an addicting feeling, the power. But, like every addiction, it would lead to the demise of the person.
After that, I would start walking through the inky blackness, looking for light, a person, anyone! Hell, even Sakura would've been nice so we could hate each other in silence and feel reluctant companionship. Possibly start a fight or something.
Eventually, I can see… something. Any other time I had this nightmare, I would wake up. It was almost as if my brain was defending me or something, a safe guard to anything horrifying. But this time… it was different.
The something turned out to be a sphere of bracket and vines, creating a thorny exterior. I had no flippin' idea if this was symbolism or what, but something was moving inside the sphere, and from what I could see through the gaps , it was a young woman, just a few years older than me.
A low hissing then fills my mindscape. I don't know where it's coming from, but I turn around anyways, looking for it. As soon as I do, I see a gigantic cat. It's too dark to make out anything else about the feline before a clammy hand harshly turns me around.
It was the young woman.
She was me. Except… not me. It was me, about 16 or 17, and terrifying. The vines and thorns were growing out of my head like hair, and my skin was pale as milk.
My eyes were those accursed eyes, bloody lips pulled into a snarl.
"Your pure heart shall be taken by hate and rage. Be loyal to the Red Dawn, for they shall be your family. Be loyal to the Weasel, for he shall be your friend. Beware the Snake, and the Music. Beware the Ninja Warrior, for he shall want you. But, most of all, beware the Leaf, for they surely will betray you."
I (the current version) try to speak, but the Plant Me continues.
"The Demon Who Only Loves Himself shall guide you, and the Maelstrom will be your only friend in your times of need."
I start at the "Maelstrom '' part.
" But, please, head my last warning; The Bright Prince shall be your downfall to madness."
She fades away, and the last thing I see is a red cloud and a pair of rippled, grey eyes.
The eyes I so passionately hated.
I have no idea what this dream means, but I hope it just means I had too many pork buns before going to bed.
Carefully , I make my way into the forest, wandering around. Eventually, I make my way to a small clearing. There, I hear faint, panicked mewling. Landing silently on the forest floor, I make my way over to the roots of a tree. Crouching down, I see a small family of cats.
Well, small isn't correct, the mother is bloody huge, I'd say about five feet tall. The kittens are small, however. A family of rogue nin-cats? Well, the mother is obviously dead, as is most of the litter. One kitten, however, is alive.
Reaching into the small den, I pick it out, cradling it gently against my chest. Looking at the small animal, I deduce it's only a few weeks old, but not yet old enough to open its eyes. Noticing that it was shivering, and cursing myself for leaving my supplies at home, I rip off my tank top and wrap the kitten in it.
Silently thanking Kami-sama that it was night and no one would see me in my bra, I turn around to go back home with the cat ( which, as I found out, is a she), when I heard shouting.
"You're the Kyuubi, kid!" Said the voice, which sounded quite a bit like Mizuki-sensei. Creeping towards the voices, I crouch under a bush, careful of the kitten in my arms.
Looking into the clearing, I see Iruka-sensei, Mizuki-sensei, and Naruto.
So, I think, Naruto's the kyuubi's container. How interesting. As they all run out of the clearing, I crawl back out from under the bush and walk back home. I have a kitten in my care, now. This isn't my fight.
===========
The Next Morning
The kitten was doing fine, if a bit hungry. So, after a hurried breakfast, I rushed to the vets office to see if they had any mothers that could feed the little cat. Thankfully, they did, and I ran to the Academy, one of the first to arrive.
Looking around, I decide to sit down next to Uchiha. He was quiet and mostly unobtrusive, which was all I really wanted right now. Taking the seat, he glances over at me before giving me a nod of acknowledgment. Nodding back, I just zone out for a bit until someone sits next to me. Looking over, I see that it's Naruto, and I grin at him.
"Hey there, Naruto-kun! So, you passed the exam?" I ask, not giving any indication about what I heard earlier that morning.
"Totally! Believe it!"
"I'm glad, Naruto. Maybe we'll be on the same team!"
"Yeah!" Naruto exclaims, giving me a big grin.
Suddenly, two girls burst through the door of the classroom, arguing. Naturally, it was my cousin, Ino, and Haruno Sakura.
Well, this ought to entertaining, at the very least.
"No, I got here first!"
Nope.
Turning back around to face the front, I zone out until Naruto lets out a groan of pain. Looking in his direction, I see him on the ground with Sakura standing over him, fist raised. She then looks at me, glaring.
"Yes?" I inquire coolly, not impressed.
"You're sitting in my seat, Yagami." Haruno growls.
I go by my mothers lastname casually, but officially, I'm Yagami-Yamanaka Shiori. It's not something I like to talk about with, well, anyone.
Mockingly, I look around the seat, saying "Well, I certainly don't see 'Haruno Sakura' written anywhere on the desk or seat. So, it's not, in fact, your seat, and I don't have to move." I turn to Naruto to help him up, but while talking with the pink-haired girl, he had jumped onto the desk in front of Uchiha and was currently staring into his eyes-
Oh.
Oh.
This is so going into my blackmail and shipping pile, holy shit. They are NEVER living this down.
I started to cackle, then out right laugh.
"You two are NEVER living this down, hahahaha!~"
A lot of anger is suddenly being directed at me from the horde of fangirls standing by the desk. Sakura cracked her knuckles, glare intensifying, but I still wasn't scared. Ignoring the gagging boys behind me, I stand up, barely coming up to her chin. 'Damn this seal,' I grumble in my head, once again cursing my family.
Anyways, I glare right back at her. "Do we have a problem?" I ask, cocking a hip.
"I was supposed to be Sasuke-kuns' first kiss!" Haruno exclaims.
"Do you control his life? His romantic and sexual orientation certainly up to you, neither is his personal life. So all of you should really fuck off."
I almost laugh at their scandalized looks.
Almost.
"Have you ever really considered your precious 'Sasuke-kuns' feelings? You say you love him, but how much do you really know him?" I muse. "In my opinion, you're more in love with yo-"
I'm cut off with a punch to the face.
Rude.
Snapping my head back to Haruno, I narrow my eyes and grab the front of her dress, slamming her face-first onto the desk in front of me. Fisting the other girls collar, I yank her face up to mine and snarl.
"You're just a pathetic little girl too scared of the truth. You disgust me, Haruno Sakura."
I shove her off the desk and onto the floor. "Oh, and if you ever do that to me again, more than just your pride will be bruised, I can guarantee." Casting one more glare in her direction, I glare at the others "That goes for you, as well."
Hauling Naruto back into his seat, I sit back down as well, determinately staring at the front when Iruka-sensei walked into the room, fangirls scattering to their own seats. I quickly shoot a glance at Uchiha. He nods again, I think in thanks and I shoot him a quick, small smile before turning my attention back to the front of the classroom.
"Team Seven… Uzumaki Naruto… Haruno Sakura…" Naruto cheers "… and Uchiha Sasuke." Haruno cheers.
As all the teams are called, and I'm not assigned to a team. Raising my hand, I ask "A-ano, sensei? What team am I assigned to?"
"Well, I've discussed this with the Hokage, and he says that he believes you can be bounced around between the teams for training, as so far they all have a specialty, like tracking or frontliners. Do you think you can handle that? "
"Yes, sensei."
"Alright. Now, for today and tomorrow, what team would you like to train with? You can meet up with the other jounins to figure out a schedule."
Nodding, I close my eyes to think. 'I could be on Team Eight with Hinata and Kiba and it would be totally bro-tacular' I muse 'But since they're specifically a tracker and infiltration team, and I'm really not, so no go. Dad will probably want me on Ino's team, but fuck him. Besides, they're pretty balanced out, if they ever get off their asses. So…' Sharp inhale.
"Team Seven," I say out loud. It makes the most sense, as they don't really have a specialty or focus, really. Everything should be okay for now.
Probably.
Hopefully.
XxXx Lunch xXxX
"Hey, Naruto-kun," I call out, "Would you like to have lunch together? I mean, we're on the same team now, if only for a little while." I ask, holding up my large bento. "My aunt packed her beef and pork buns!"
Naruto nods enthusiastically, "Let's invite Sakura-chan as well!"
"And Sasuke-san." I gently remind him.
"Yeah, him too," Naruto grumbles.
Laughing, I lead him away from the Academy to search for our other team mates. We find Sakura fairly easily, with her bright pink hair and everything. "Sakura-san," I say when we get close enough, "would you like to eat lunch with us? We're also going to ask Sasuke-san."
Reluctantly, she says yes, and we set off to find the last part of our group.
XxXxX
After about five or ten minutes, we see Sasuke hiding out in a more remote part of the Academy.
"Sasuke-san," I yell up at him, "Do you want to eat lunch with us?"
Looking down at us, he frowns.
"No."
Normally, someone would walk away, dejected, or try to talk to him, only making the Uchiha more annoyrd. However, I've done my research on the Uchiha Clan, and right after Fire Jutsus, they fucking love tomatoes.
"Aw, that's too bad," I say, still loud enough for him to hear me. " I have fresh tomatoes, and theres no way I could eat them all~" coyly, I take one out of my bento and show it to Naruto and Sakura- and in full view of Sasuke. I start walking away, tossing my tomato up and down, feeling Sasuke's intense stare. "Well," shrugging, I turn a little to face Naruto and Sakura, "I guess I'll have to eat them all by myse-"
Sasuke lands in our midst, eyes still trained on the tomato in my hand. "I've changed my mind."
"Oh, really?" I ask, leaning towards him.
"Tch," he jerks his head to the right.
…
'Kay.
Turning once again, I lead them closer to the main building and sit down in a shady spot on the ground. Unpacking my bento, I hand two of the tomatoes to Sasuke and some buns to Naruto. I hold one out to Sakura, but she shakes her head.
"No, thanks. I'm on a diet, and I'd never take anything from you."
Taking a bite, I glare at her. " A diet is't going to help you become a good ninja, you know."
"But I need to keep my figure!"
"… Do you really know anything?"
She just glares at me.
"Listen, Sakura-san, for the average civilian, they need to eat from fifteen hundred to two thousand calories a day to stay healthy. However, for a ninja, we exercize and train everyday, burning more calories, therefore needing more food to keep up our strength. Now, I'm not saying that we need to eat as much as an Akimichi, they're a whole other level. But, I think for us, about three or four thousand calories a day would suffice."
"How do you know?" Sakura asks, disbelieving.
I smile. "My mom. When I was twelve, I-"
"WHAT?!" Three consecutive yells from the others.
Well, Naruto and Sakura yell, Sasuke just kinda… stares.
"Yeah, I'll be fourteen in just a few months."
"WHAT?!"
"I traveled with my parents a lot when I was younger, so I never had the chance to pass the genin exam in any of the other countries. So, yeah, I'm older than you guys." I shrug, not really caring.
"But you're so short!"
Snapping my head around, I Glare at Naruto. "What's your point?"
"N-nothing! Ahahahahaha…"
"Damn straight. Anyways, when I was twelve, I tried going on a diet while continuing to train my ass off. My mom kinda beat my ass for that," I laugh, the memories from the Sand Village were some of the best.
Shoving the bun into Sakuras' hand, I say "Take it and eat it, or I'll take offence.~"
Shakily, she takes it, and starts eating, and I do too.
A grumbling comes from my right, and Naruto shoots off towards the bathroom.
Smirking, I look down and say, "He's never going to live this down."
XxXxX
Back in the classroom, we were the very last ones, and Naruto had just set up a prank to hit our extremely late sensei.
"Naruto, he'll never fall for that. He's a jounin," Sakura nags, arms crossed and hip cocked.
"It'll still be funny," I reply.
A few minutes later, the sensei opened the door and-
Bullseye.
Naruto and I start cackling, while Sakura tries suck up to hito claim that she would never do that.
As if.
"My first impression is… that all of you are idiots."
"Oh no, you've hurt my delicate, fragile, teenage ego. Whatever shall I do?" I lay dramatically on a desk, hand over my eyes. "I've been defeated. No one's ever called me an idiot before!" I slip off the desk and onto the floor, hitting my head.
"…Ouch."
"… Meet me on the roof."
"'Kay."
XxXxX
" Now, why don't you introduce yourselves? One at a time."
"What do you mean, sensei?"
"Yeah, you go first!"
"Me? I'm Hatake Kakashi. Things I like and things I hate… I don't feel like telling you that. My dreams for the future, well, I've never really thought about it. My hobbies? I have lots of hobbies."
"That was useless, all he really told us was his name." Sakura grumbles to Naruto, who nods.
"Okay, you on the right, you go first."
"Believe it! I'm Uzumaki Naruto, I like instant ramen in a cup, and I really like Ichiraku ramen! But I hate the three minutes after you put the water in the cup. My hobby is eating different kinds of ramen and comparing them. And my future dream is to become Hokage, then the whole village will stop disrespecting me and start treating me like somebody important!"
I grin slightly, typical Naruto.
"I'm Haruno Sakura! What I like, u-uhh, I mean who I like," Here she looks at Sasuke and squirms a little. "My hobby is, uhh," giggles, "My dream for the future is-" and she squeals really loudly.
Ow. She needs to calm down.
"And? What do you hate?" Kakashi-sensei prompts.
Sakura scowls and says "Naruto and Shiori!"
"I'm emotionally wrecked. Oh no. My life is over." I say in a monotone while Naruto groans in anguish.
"Now, you, the one in blue."
"My name is Uchiha Sasuke. I hate a lot of things, and don't particularly like anything."
Sakura deflates a little.
"What I have is not a dream, it's an ambition, because I will make it a reality. I'm going to restore my clan, and destroy a certain someone."
Well. That sounds a little… heavy. Depressing.
Emo.
"Now you, smart mouth."
Grinning, I begin. " My name is Yagami-Yamanaka Shiori, though I prefer my mothers last name. I like peaceful days and reading quietly, and I don't like people who are tardy or abusive. My dream, or ambition, as Sasuke-san put it, is to become the best ninja I can be," I narrow my eyes ", no matter what it takes. And to bring about a more steady, long-lasting peace between all the shinobi nations, not just the Big Five."
Naruto and Sakura look at me strangely. 'It's a big ambition, I know, but I will make it a reality,' I think to myself, gripping my hands tight and looking at the ground. 'It has to be, or I'll die trying.'
"Good. You're each unique and you have your own ideas. We'll have our first mission tomorrow," says Kakashi-sensei.
"Ah, what kind of mission are we going to have?" Naruto asks excitedly.
"It's a task the five of us will do together."
"What, what, what, what?!"
"A survival exercise."
"Huh, survival exercise?"
"I thought we were supposed to have a real mission, not more practice," Sakura complains. "We already did this stuff at the Academy, that's how we got here."
"Isn't it obvious, Sakura-san?" I ask, looking at her. "Yes, we passed the exam the Academy gave us, but that was only to weed out the ones that couldn't even do the three most basic jutsu. Now, Kakashi-sensei probably wants to make sure we'll survive against a higher level opponent, or at least how we fare so he can lead us in the right direction."
"Shiori-chan is right, and out of the twenty-eight graduates, only nine or ten will become genin, as Shiori-chan is a bit of an anomaly. The other eighteen or nineteen will be sent back to the Academy. In other words, this is a make-it-or-break-its, pass or fail test, and the chance that you'll fail is at least sixty-six percent."
I expected this, but the other three obviously didn't. Naruto makes an appaled expression, Sakura looks annoyed, and Sasuke is currently glaring at Kakashi.
"See, I said that you wouldn't like it. Meet me at training ground eleven tomorrow at five a.m. Oh, and don't eat breakfast, or you'll throw up." He stands up from his relaxed position against the railing. "Shiori-chan, day after tomorrow- assuming you pass, of course- I'll take you to meet with the other jounin senseis' to talk about your schedule after training." Then he disappears.
"Well," I say into the slightly awkward silence surrounding the four of us, "I'm going home to figure out my active-duty outfit and stuff. I'll see you three tomorrow!" I start walking towards the edge of the roof, before turning back to look at them. "Oh, and eat breakfast anyways, because I'm not going to be feeding you! Bye-bye!" With that, I jump off the roof and head to the vet to check on my cute little kitten.
XxXxX
After arriving at the vet and signing in, I'm called to the back by an Inuzuka.
Figures they'd work at a animal clinic.
She was young and pretty, probably only about sixteen or seventeen. She smiles, her two red tattoos only enhancing her smile making it more roguish and feral. "So, you're the kid who brought in the kitten~ You're both so cute!~"
Naturally, I start blushing. 'Damn my short stature. I'm not as young as I look, I swear!'
"A-ano, I'm thirteen…"
"What? But you're so short and cute!"
"Yeah… I get that a lot."
"Oh, well…"
And now it's awkward.
"Hey, it's okay! Now I'll be underestimated and I can punch people in the nuts, it'll be great!" I say quickly and excitedly, earning a laugh.
"I like you, uhh," she checks her clipboard, "Shiori-chan. I'm Inuzuka Akira, your kitten assigned vet." Opening a door on the left, we enter a large room, where several kittens were being nursed by mothers. She quickly picks up the dark brown cat, cradling her gently and placing her on a blanketed examination table. "There's a lot of good news. One, she's healthy and unharmed. Two, she's a nin-cat, and she'll grow up to be friggin' huge. However, you didn't write down her name when you signed her in. She is yours, right?"
"Oh, I found her on a walk early this morning. Her family is dead and I dropped her off as soon as the clinic opened. I didn't think of naming her, thinking she might be someone else's."
"Alright, well, we'll keep her under 'Unidentified' until her owner shows up, if they do at all. But, if they don't by the time she opens her eyes, which should be in a week or two, I'll send you a message so that you can adopt her and start your bonding with her."
"Really? Thank you so much, Akira-san!"
"Hey, man, no problem. Feel free to visit her whenever you like, okay?"
"Totally, I'll see you around." I reply. "Now I have to go and train a bit. Bye!" Waving goodbye, I leave the vet and run back home. I'm really not looking forward to dinner- Ino's probably going to complain about her team.
XxXxX
The next morning, I show up at training ground eleven around 8:00, and Naruto, Sakura, and Sasuke were already there.
"You're late!" Sakura yells at me.
"Well, yeah. I asked my uncle, Inoichi, about Kakashi-sensei last night and he said that Kakashi-sensei is almost always late for training, and said I could get here up to three hours late and still be fine." I place my bag down on the ground. "We shouldn't expect Kakashi-sensei for at least another thirty minutes, if not hour. I'll be fine." Flopping down on the grass, I stretch out a little bit and groan, pulling out my bento. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I woke up about fifteen minutes ago and didn't eat breakfast, so-"
"Kakashi-sensei told us not to eat!"
"I don't follow orders blindly. I found his order suspicious, as we would be here early and probably until lunch time, then continue training. Did you three at least pack a lunch? It's not like he told us not to bring our lunch, so I did."
Judging by the silence, they didn't. Sighing, I take out some onigiri and throw one to each of them, chewing some of my own. "We won't be at the top of our game if we don't eat, and we'll be fighting Kakashi-sensei together, so I want us all to do our best." Glaring at them all not eating, I scowl. "If you don't want the onigiri, give it back, and I'll eat it." They all start to eat.
Good.
After they finish, I say, "Oh, and you all owe me one- no, two- favors."
Naruto and Sakura choke and shriek "WHAT!" and Sasuke's eyebrows twitch in irritation.
"Well, I certainly didn't have to share my lunch or my breakfast with you guys, and I did. Now you all owe me some favors."
"Like hell we do!" Sakura growls.
"Oh, it's nothing major- if you repay them separately. Together, something a little bigger is needed to get rid of 'em."
"What exactly do we need to do?" Naruto asks, confused.
"Just small things, really. I'll have to think about it, but I'll be sure to let you know when I find out." With that, we sit in silence again, and I take out a book to read. It was an adventure thing called The Legend of the Gutsy Ninja. Jiraya-sama gave it to me last time I was in Konoha, but I never actually got around to reading it until today.
A few minutes later, Naruto speaks up. "Hey, Shiori-chan, why did you change your clothes?"
I look down at my forest green, short sleeve half shirt, dark-gray undershirt, metal mesh arm bands, and dark-brown cargoes that were bandaged at the ankles to keep the hem from flapping in the winds. "Well, as shinobi, we're expected to blend into shadows and the surrounding environment. This is appropriate for forests, as we probably won't be leaving the Fire Country any time soon, but for Wind Country it would be tans and browns and muted oranges. But, if we're meant to blend in with civilians, then brighter colors, like Sakura-sans dress would be used. We're expected to be chameleons, so I think a set of clothes for every possible mission would be prudent."
"… Why are you so long winded?"
"Good question. I don't actually know, probably just a quirk or whatever." Blushing, I look away slightly. "But do you understand?"
"Yeah, I think so."
Once again we lapse into silence, at least until Kakashi shows up at ten , five whole hours late.
Which Naruto and Sakura are glad to point out, very loudly.
"HEY, YOU'RE LATE!" they shout together.
"Well, a black cat crossed my path, so I had to take the long way." Kakashi-sensei shrugs, like it's the most logical thing in the world.
He clears his throat, and I take out my last onigiri and hand it to him. "Good morning, sensei."
"Good morning, and thank you. Now, let's get started." Walking over to a tree stump, he places down an alarm clock. "The timer is set for noon."
Naruto makes an inquisitive noise, and I cock my head slightly to the right in confusion as Kakashi holds up three bells.
"Your assignment is simple. You just have to take these bells from me, that's all there is to it. If you can't get them by noon, you go without lunch. You'll be tied to those posts and be forced to watch me eat my lunch."
"That's cruel and unusual punishment, sensei," I say, nodding my head.
He just eye-smiles at me.
"Wait a minute, there's four of us, how come there are only three bells?" Sakura asks, confused.
"Well, that way, at least one of you will be tied up and ultimately disqualified for failing to complete the mission, and goes back to the Academy."
Naruto makes a determined noise.
"Then again, all four of you could flunk out, too. You can use any weapons, including shuriken. If you don't come at me with the intent to kill, there's no way you can pass."
"Those weapons are too dangerous sensei!" Sakura exclaims.
"Haha, especially 'cause you couldn't dodge that eraser," Naruto adds.
"Well, you two," I join in "If he wasn't good at his job, he wouldn't be a teacher, much less a jounin. Besides, we're genin level, only one of us attacking him would probably be kin to a mosquito."
"Shiori-chan is right. Besides, you can safely ignore class clowns- lowest scores, and complete losers."
Naruto protests this.
"When I say start, you can begin."
Of course, Naruto jumps right into action, though it hasn't technically started. Sakura makes a noise of surprise, and I just raise my eyebrow. 'He has a temper, doesn't he? I really can't talk, though…'
Kakashi easily blocks Naruto and maneuvers him so that the kunai the blonde drew is now pointed at the back of his neck.
"Don't be in such a hurry, Naruto-kun. I didn't say start yet."
He releases Naruto as Sakura, Sasuke, and I all back up a few steps.
"However, he did come at me with the intent to destroy me, so, how do I say this? I'm actually starting to like you guys."
I give him a grin and a peace sign.
"Aaand… Start!"
With that, we all jump away to hide in the surrounding forest.
XxXxX
After making sure that I was out of sensei's line of sight, I start making my way to the team mate closest to me, as quickly and quietly as possible. As I do, however, Naruto, the idiot, jumps out and challenges him.
Oh my Kami-sama.
Ignoring this, I jump into the tree that Sasuke is in, landing a branch below him. "Sasuke-san," I whisper as loudly as I dare.
"What do you want?" he asks, glaring down at me.
"Do you want to team up? He's way out of our league."
"No, I'll do it alone. I don't need help."
"Okay, but don't blame me when you get your ass kicked." I mutter, jumping out of the tree as I hear:
"LEAF VILLAGE: SECRET FINGER JUTSU!"
It's sensei sticking his finger up Naruto's ass.
His blackmail list keeps on growing and growing.
"ONE THOUSAND YEARS OF DEATH!"
And with that, Naruto is shot into the air, hands clamped over his butt, landing in the river.
'Now, I heard Sakura say something this way…'
With that, I set out to find the pink-haired kunoichi, filing away Naruto's misfortune and Kakashi's little move.
'I'm so gonna spin it to sound like he molested Naruto during training, if need be.' I mentally cackle. 'I'm gonna be the Gossip Queen of Konoha in no time!'
"Hey, Sakura-san," I whisper, wriggling my way under the bush next to her. "Would you like to team up against Kakashi-sensei? We can't beat him on our own, he's too powerful for us."
"Sure, Shiori-san, but where's Sasuke-kun?"
"He said no."
"Then I want no part of it! I follow Sasuke-kun, because he knows best!"
Sighing, I wiggle my way out from under the bush, moving quickly away while watching Naruto and his shadow clones all attacked Kakashi.
But he only ended up punching himself, and that Kakashi had just used a replacement jutsu with one of the clones.
'Well,' I shrug, 'It was a good try.'
Then Naruto gets tricked by a bell on the ground. 'Dammit, Naruto.'
As Kakashi is berating Naruto, shuriken come spinning out of the tree Sasuke was hiding in, all of them hitting Kakashi…
…who used the replacement jutsu. Again.
After making as sure as I could be that Kakashi wasn't around (Sakura screamed. Ehehehehehe), I ran out of the trees to cut Naruto down. "Okay, Naruto, we should team up, because you know first-hand that we can't beat him on our own."
"Okay, sure. But where are they others?"
"They said no."
"Oh."
XxXxX
Whilst running through the forest, we follow the sounds of battle and found Sasuke, who was… just a head.
…'kay.
Naruto and I start digging Sasuke out while I start to talk."Okay, Mr. I-don't-need-help," I start, uncovering Sasukes' shoulders as he continues to wiggle, loosening the dirt. "Now do you want to team up? Because you just got soundly beat, proving me right. And I don't care if you touched it, Sasuke-san, close isn't good enough."
Sasuke reluctantly nods and manages to get his arms free, dragging himself out of the dirt.
"What's our plan, Shiori-chan?" Naruto asks.
"Well, while Sasuke-san was being stupid and you held sensei's attention, I came up with a plan. And, no, you aren't living that down for at least the next month. So, here's how it goes…"
XxXxX
I come running out of the foliage, kunai in hand, directly at Kakashi. He looks up from his book- it's Icha Icha Paradise, Kami-sama, sensei is a perv- and says "I was wondering when you would appear. Honestly, I thought you were more intelligent than this-" I cut him off by running straight through him.
Yeah, it was a shadow clone. And that was the sign.
Naruto and his Kage Bunshin come bursting out of the bushes, and attack him, weaving their way around him, causing him to back up slightly, and leaving openings where kunai and shuriken would occasionally appear, leaving sensei to protect himself from both opponents, one random one he couldn't see, and one random one he could see.
Still, Kakashi quickly dispelled the clones, looking around. The kunai had stopped.
"Now, where have they go-"
Naruto, Sasuke, and I come bursting out of the bushes on every side of him, all making a grab for the bell-
When the alarm rang.
XxXxX
Back at the posts, Sakura is tied to the posts while Kakashi lectures her.
"Sakura, I'm rather disappointed in you. When Shiori-chan asked to team up with you, you agreed, but when you found out that Sasuke-kun said no, you declined. Plus, you were too busy obsessing over Sasuke-kun, who wasn't even within your sight, to help Naruto-kun, who was right in front of you. Then, you didn't even notice me when I was right next to you, and you screamed, which, on a mission, Sakura-chan, would've indicated your location to enemy ninja. Furthermore, you couldn't see through my genjutsu, though that might've been a little graphic for such a new genin like you, so I'll take partial blame." He sighs, before turning to Sasuke and Naruto, who were each smirking/grinning in turn.
"Now, you two's performance wasn't flawless either. Naruto-kun," the orange-clad genin looked up, "you didn't bother hiding, or coming up with a better plan than 'Let's just take on a jounin and hope for the best.' Hoping for the best doesn't work in the real world, Naruto-kun. Come up with a plan and a back up plan when it doesn't work. You didn't even consider asking for help, but thankfully, Shiori-chan got you down from the rope and you agreed right away, meaning you learned.
"Sasuke-kun," Sasuke glares, scowling." Shiori-chan approached you first, but you declined her offer, saying you could do it on your own, like an idiot. Only after your enormous pride had been injured by me did you agree. I'm just glad that one of you actually knows when their opponent is too strong to face alone, however, Shiori-chan still made a few mistakes."
I nod, glad that he wouldn't leave me out. You learn by critiques, after all.
"Shiori-chan, you made quite a bit of noise while looking for the others, and when you ran out to free Naruto-kun, I was there, and I was watching you. I could've killed you at three different times. And when you were digging Sasuke-kun up, you were completely unaware of your surroundings and could've easily been ambushed. Lastly, and the worst thing you did, was abandon Sakura-chan. You didn't even look for her," I look down in shame. I don't even try to defend myself. "Remember, those who don't follow orders are trash," and he gives me a look. ", but those who abandon their comrades are worse than trash."
"Yes, sensei."
"Now, you four are going to try again after lunch, but don't give Sakura-chan any. You have ten minutes." Kakashi-sensei leaves, giving Naruto, Sasuke, and I our lunches.
Sighing, I open my bento and shove a pork bun into Sakura's mouth. She makes a muffled sound, probably a curse word..
"Mmrph-!"
"Shut up and eat it, lunch, the four of us are going to try again, as a team, and we all need to do our best, which you can't do when you're hungry. Quickly." I say, slapping a hand over her mouth to keep her from shrieking at me.
Dark, ominous clouds fill the sky. Lightning clashes, thunder booms and Kakashi-sensei appears out of the darkness, growling
"YYYOOOOOOOOOOOUUUUUUUU…"
We all wince, expecting the worst.
"…Pass!"
The storm clears, the sun shines brightly, and birds chirp."
"W-wha?" I say eloquently.
" You all pass!"
"…'Kay." I mutter, still stunned.
…
…
"You're not going to ask why?"
"… Teamwork?"
" Yup."
"'Kay."
…
"Are we free to go?"
"Sure."
"Cool."
I stumble away, and down the road, bag hanging limply from my fingers, bento stored away.
A few hundred yards away, I grin evilly.
'So many bad memories were made today…' I cackle inside my mind, still stumbling away. 'I need to write it all down! I'm not letting them live this day down ever!'
XxXxX
End Chapter Two
End Opening Ark
XxXxX
A/N: So, that's it for now. That was about 10-12 hours of typing over two days. As always, thanks for reading, review, and I'll see you next time!