Hey, people! Sorry for the infrequent updates. Real world drama going on, plus college stuff. I've been accepted to UNR! Woot! :D
Here's a new chapter for you guys! Have a Happy Easter everybody!
Naruto: Fangs of War
Chapter 6
Cynder's last nerve was working overtime without pay. First this Kiba ass kept hitting on her, this pale kid was creeping her out on a spiritual level, and then there's this woman who has to be on some sort of hallucinogen was supposed to be her leader... What next Malefor coming down the street in a pink tutu while singing about rainbows?
No, she can't think of something like that. Let's see... Spyro squirming in embarrassment? Not enough. Sparx freaking out because he flew into something bile? Sparx freaking out because he saw Spyro squirming in embarrassment? Perfect. All was right once again in Cynder's mind.
She noticed that they stopped in what appear to be an open air bar. Well, there are worse places... She entered behind Anko and Kiba, she noticed that Sai didn't enter until after her.
They got into a corner booth after Anko got a large plate of white blobs on sticks. She picked up two and popped one of the skewers in her mouth to consume one of the blobs. Kiba reached for two and gave one to Akamaru. They proceeded to mirror their sensei, with notably less enthusiasm. Cynder mentally shrugged and reached for one and bit into it...
Oh... Dear ancestors... It was creamy and filled with a bittersweet paste. The ball itself tasted slightly sour to her. She put the skewer down with the remaining blobs and settled into her seat.
Anko looked at her and Sai like they insulted her mother. "You okay, brats? What didn't you finish the dango?"
Cynder gave a weak smile in reply. "I never tried this before, it's not for me."
"I simply do not like dango, sensei," Sai explained with his usual creepy, fake smile.
Anko now looked like she'd been told that she was infertile. "You've never had dango before, and you're telling that it doesn't taste good... Today is a sad day, a sad day indeed..." She looked down in what appeared to be mourning. For about thirty seconds, she looked down at the floor and didn't make a sound or moved a muscle that any of the teens could see.
"Well, that's a little heartbreaking, but that's life..." she said somberly. She bounced back, however. "Anyways, introductions, seeing as we have two noobs, we need 'em! I'll go first," she said with a grin. She cleared her throat a little dramatically. "My name is Anko Mitarashi. I love dango, snakes, torture, and tea ceremonies. I hate traitors, bigots, and those who look down on other due to things out of their control or their past. My hobbies are tea ceremonies. My dream is to hunt down a traitor and put an end to him."
Kiba took the initiative and went next. "I'm Kiba Inuzuka, and this is my partner Akamaru. We like going for walks and pretty much doing anything together, and meaty foods. I hate stuff that isn't chewy and horrible smells. My hobby I guess is going for walks with Akamaru. My dream is to become a famous and renown ninja." Akamaru barked with what they believed was agreement.
Sai went next. "I am Sai Shimura. I like my father, Elder Danzo Shimura. I enjoy painting and training. I do not like those who stray from the shinobi code or protocol. My hobbies are drawing and calligraphy. My dream is to serve the Leaf Village as best I can."
I guess its my turn. "My name is Cynder. I like my BOYFRIEND, Spyro," she said while glaring at Kiba, to a caliber that impressed Anko. "Messing with him from time to time, and my friend, Naruto. I hate it when someone is judged because their past and things they had no control over, like sensei. My dream I guess is to be with Spyro."
Anko nodded. "I think you and I are going to get along swimmingly, Cynder," she said with a toothy grin. "Now, you may have past the exam, but you're not genin yet."
This shocked Kiba and Akamaru. "What?! What do you mean we're not genin yet?"
"This is a way of weeding out those who need additional training or those who shouldn't be in the ninja program," Anko explained. "If you fail this test, you'll either be sent back to the academy for additional training or be dropped out of the ninja program entirely."
"Alright, sensei. What is our test?" Sai asked. She looked at Cynder and Sai with a evil grin.
"Look at you two, cool as cucumbers... Your test is to track me down and capture me. You have until sundown to do it. You're going to have to come with lethal force if you want a chance at doing it. Got it?" Her students nodded, each with a burning determination.
"Alright, your test starts now," she said as she disappeared in a plume of smoke.
Sai narrowed his eyes at where Anko once was. "Shadow clone... She was never here to begin with." He felt like he should be reprimanded for not noticing.
"Come on, staying here all day won't find sensei! Me and Akamaru know her scent now, let's go!" Kiba said dashing out the door, waiting for Sai and Cynder impatiently.
"I knew you were a mutt, but I didn't think you could smell like one," Cynder said somewhat jokingly as she and Sai stepped outside, where Kiba and Akamaru were sniffing the air.
"It's one of my clan's techniques. We can send chakra to our noses and enhance our sense of smell to the level of a dog's," he said between sniffs.
"Your whole family can do that?" Cynder said surprised.
"The Inuzuka Clan are renown for their canine-like characteristics, styles, and techniques," Sai said with that same smile.
"You're not from around here are you?" Kiba asked without thinking.
Cynder's eyes gained a hard emerald edge. "No, I'm not. Let's find Anko-sensei and pass this stupid test."
Kiba smiled. "That's the spirit, Cynder," he said just before Akamaru barked a gave a sharp sniff. He grinned in a feral manner. "Found her!" he exclaimed like a victorious predator.
He took to the rooftops, followed very briefly by Cynder and Sai, heading northwest, towards the training grounds.
With Spyro...
Spyro felt his world spinning. His vision was blurry, and all he could hear was this gentle breeze ruffling leaves. He felt light-headed like he was about to faint, yet, he felt completely awake.
He felt himself collapse on the ground, finally feeling normal again. He slowly got up, not sure why those symptoms suddenly went away. He looked around and felt his blood freeze.
In chains, he saw the Guardians, unable to move and unconscious. He saw his home in the swamps ablaze and his parents and Sparx being held in lantern cages. Worse of all, he saw Malefor sitting on a throne, with Cynder at his feet. He grinned and looked straight at him with those yellow, slitted eyes. "This is what will happen now that you have left, young dragon... Make no mistake or any foolish belief that all will be peaceful. I shall return from the core of the planet, and there will be nothing you or Cynder can do to stop me."
Spyro was paralyzed. His mind simply unable to cope. "No... No... This can't be..."
Malefor laughed, "It will be true, young Spyro. I will return, and the Destroyer will consume your world in fire and ash. Then, I shall come to this new world you are in!" As he said this, he saw the Destroyer, towering over the mountain with faces on its side. Spyro's eyes widened in terror. The Destroyer gave a mighty roar and the Leaf Village was set ablaze. He heard chuckling from behind him that was definitely not Malefor's. Definitely female...
He turned and saw Cynder, fully grown and corrupted, laughing at him and the destruction around them. "Sorry, brat," the adult Cynder boasted. "You don't get points for being persistent, not this time."
All his fears were coming true before his eyes. One moment he was with Kurenai-sensei, Shino, and Hinata, then he heard this voice say... Wait. Spyro's eyes grew sharp in realization. "None of this is real. It's an illusion," he said with near disbelief. He looked straight at Cynder and Malefor. "You are not real. You're just fake."
Malefor and Cynder roared and went straight at him. Spyro closed his eyes, and focused on himself and tried to reach out for what is real. Malefor and Cynder went straight through the dragon in human form. Spyro's eyes opened with a flash of purple and power surged through him, a small burst of his dragon energy mixed with his recently found chakra. It roared with the fury of the Fire dragon Ancestors. The world around him dissolved away and left him standing in the park. With Kurenai looking at him in surprise, Hinata with the veins around her eyes bulging and her eyes in shock, and Shino with his eyebrows raised. Spyro's power faded, and he feel to one knee, drained.
Kurenai was amazed. While it was a very low level genjutsu, the Demonic Illusion: Hell's Viewing technique was one that brought someone face-to-face with their own worse fears. She had expected Hinata to be able to detect the illusion with her Byakugan, and Shino due to the fact that insects lack a prosencephalon structure* of the brain, making the Aburame less susceptible to genjutsu. With almost any genjutsu, you could dispel it by stopping your chakra and then releasing it to disrupt the flow of chakra. She knew Spyro was a dragon, due to the Hokage informing all Elite Jonin ranked personnel and the sensei for the two, herself and Anko. Due to his lack of training, she thought he wouldn't be able to break the genjutsu, at least on his own. I'll have to keep an eye on this dragon... she thought.
"Spyro! Are you okay?" Hinata called, coming to her teammates aid her Byakugan still active. She hadn't realized that a genjutsu was cast until it was broken by a flare of power that felt somewhat like chakra next to her.
Spyro looked up groggily. "Yeah, I'm okay, I think." He tried to pick himself up with much effort, but failed and almost dropped back down. Kurenai-sensei caught him, however. "Easy there, Spyro. I'm impressed that you were able to break the genjutsu like that. I was going to dispel it after a few minutes." She set the dark blond to sit on the stump behind him.
This is when Shino decided to speak. "Why did you cast a genjutsu on us in the first place, sensei?"
"Well, it was to see if you had the will to face your fears." Kurenai explained. "As shinobi, all of you will face horrible, monstrous things. Things that are inhumane, things that are evil, things that defy everything you believe to be right. You will eventually have to kill in order to put an end to these things."
"The other is that each jonin, when they take on a genin team, they must administer a test of their own choosing to see if they candidates are worthy to become genin, go back to the Academy for additional training, or be dropped out of the program entirely. Out of your entirely graduating class, only about thirty-three to forty percent of you will move on to become genin this year," Kurenai finished.
"Only forty percent?" Hinata gasped, worried that Naruto may not become a ninja after all.
"Yes. It's quality control, Hinata. You've all passed my test since you were able to face your fears and stand tall against them. It also helps that Spyro was able to dispel the genjutsu, and I could tell that both you and Shino were about to dispel it on yourselves before he did," Kurenai said with a smile. "Welcome to Team 8." Her students smiled with glee. "From here, the road only gets harder. Come to Training Ground 33 at 9:00 A.M. for team training, then missions. The rest of the day is yours to with as you wish." She said before she disappeared in a swirl of leaves.
After a moment of looking where their sensei was, Shino was the first to speak. "I apologize, my father wanted me to report back to him after we met out sensei. I will see you tomorrow, Hinata, Spyro," Shino spoke as he began walking home.
"I have to go report to father as well. I'm sorry, Spyro," Hinata said with a bow. "It is okay, Hinata, I don't know where the training ground is, can you meet in front of the Academy to show me the way?" he asked politely. She smiled softly and nodded. "Yes, I will, Spyro. Goodbye."
Spyro decided to go back to the apartment. Today was a good day...
With Cynder...
Cynder roared as she swiped at the large serpent standing between her and Anko-sensei. They had managed to find her, but then she summoned snakes for her team to fight while she got away. Sai went after her, leaving Kiba, Akamaru and Cynder to combat the snakes.
"I've always hated snakes!" Kiba said as he kicked away the snake's head as it tried to strike at Akamaru.
"I'm just getting tired of this!" Cynder said. She called upon her draconic energy, and it mixed with her chakra. She had a flash of a vision, telling her what to do. She did a trio of hand seals and inhaled sharply. "Fire Style: Shadow Fire!" she yelled out, unleashing black flames that struck true on her target.
The serpent did not expect a elemental technique, let alone one that seemed so advanced and powerful. It would have to return to the summon realm to heal after being struck by the ice cold, black flames. It disappeared in a poof of smoke, as it came.
Kiba and Akamaru were surprised. "Whoa! That was awesome! Didn't know you knew a Fire Style jutsu!"
Cynder shrugged. "No time to gawk. We got to help Sai with Anko-sensei!" She dashed off as fast as she could to where she last saw Sai.
With Anko...
They were outside Training Ground 44, also known as the Forest of Death. She ducked under Sai strike at her neck with his tanto. There's no doubt about it. He's definitely a member of Root. His taijutsu style and characteristics matched up perfectly. She'll have to report to the Hokage immediately after this. She dodged another strike and jumped back. "Hidden Shadow Snakes!" she called out as a few dozen serpents shot out at Sai from her sleeves.
Sai narrowed his eyes, and went to the trees to avoid the snakes turned projectiles. He open his scroll and open the ink and brush and began to draw quickly. He raised his hand in a one-handed Ram seal. "Ninja Art: Super Beast Scroll." he said calmly. As a drawing of large mongoose burst from his scroll and dived straight for Anko.
She threw a kunai with an explosive tag and detonated it when it hit the inked marsupial. "Clever. A mongoose, didn't think Danzo raised any of his shinobi to have a sense of humor," she said with a mild glare.
Sai stared back evenly. He drew again and this revealed to be very large tigers to maul the snake mistress. "Father raised me to be a strong shinobi for the Hidden Leaf Village," he replied.
She flew through a few hand seals and cast a small Fire Style jutsu and went to throw a few shuriken and kunai at high speeds at the Root ninja. He deflected a few of them, but he missed a few and they grazed his arm and thigh.
Sai reached down put pressure on the leg wound. That was close to a vital artery. I must exercise caution. He then saw the rest of his "teammates" coming towards them. That's right... We're supposed to capture Mitarashi for the genin test. He drew a bird creature to ride on and quickly proceeded to draw a large snake to capture her while Kiba, Akamaru, and Cynder engaged their sensei.
These brats are doing well. She noticed the snake and tried to kick it with as much power as she could manage while fighting three other opponents, but it turned slightly and was able to hook her foot. "Damn!" Anko swore as she felt herself trip and Kiba put his hand around her throat with a kunai in his other hand at the ready. She was vaguely reminded of a date with another Inuzuka, she pushed that aside for the moment. "You pass, brats. Congrats." she said. Kina released her and the snake dissolved into ink. "That's slightly gross," she said looking at the ink now dripping down her leg. She was also reminded of the date with that Inuzuka. "Report here for training at nine in the morning! See ya later!" she disappeared using the Body Flicker jutsu to report to the Hokage to confirm her team passing and to report about the Root she's been placed in charge of.
As they watched their sensei disappear in a swirl of leaves, Kiba hollered. "Yeah, we did it! We're genin!"
Sai was smiling, and it didn't seem as fake. "I look forward to working with the two you. I must be off now, Father has asked me to report to him when I came home. Goodbye." He disappeared in a swirl of ink, leaving Kiba and his dog with Cynder.
"So... Want to go for some barbeque?" he asked.
Cynder smiled, but raised her hand. "Perhaps another time, Kiba. I want to go home and rest. Maybe next time as a team."
Kiba smirked. "Alright then, me and Akamaru got to go talk to my mom anyways. See ya tomorrow, Cynder. Come on, Akamaru!" The feral boy and his dog took off running back towards the village.
The black haired girl looked towards the setting sun. "This might not be so bad," she said to herself. She started to walk at a leisurely pace to her shared apartment, wondering how Naruto and Spyro fared with their tests.
Meanwhile, in the Hokage's Office...
Hiruzen took a long drag from his pipe, savoring the tobacco's flavor. The Sarutobi always loved smoking. "I should've known Danzo would put a agent on to the team roster... But why claim this boy as his son?" he asked aloud. Anko was standing at attention, as was his son and Kurenai.
"He must have a lot of faith in this agent to do so, Lord Hokage. Anko did say that she had minor trouble with him, and that he brought drawings to life," Kurenai stated, giving her thoughts on the boy her friend has been put in charge of.
"I know of no such clan that is able to bring drawings and art to life, except maybe the Kurama Clan; but, from what Anko has described, it is certainly ninjutsu, not genjutsu," the Hokage rebutted respectfully to his subordinate. "At any rate, I'll have one of my best ANBU monitor your team during training, Anko."
"It is perfectly alright with me, Lord Hokage. I just request that my team be out of the way for if we need to take this Sai down."
"He might just be monitoring Cynder for Danzo to see if she is a threat or something to be used later," Asuma brought his thoughts to the table, after he took a drag from his cigarette.
His father grunted in agreement while taking a drag from his pipe. He turned to Kurenai. "How has young Spyro done?"
Kurenai took a breath to clear her mind. "Spyro is... unusual. He dispelled one of my genjutsu not just on himself, but on the while team by flaring his chakra."
Anko gave a impressed whistle. "Wow, Nai, kid must be good if he could dispel one of your genjutsu..."
"It was a low level genjutsu, the Hell's Viewing. My entire team was under it for about three minutes, and I could tell that Shino and Hinata were about to break it on themselves, but then Spyro flared his chakra," Kurenai rebutted and explained.
"Hmm. I sense that there's something else Miss Yuhi," the Hokage said.
"His chakra, it was like there was something else there. Something I couldn't place," she said, frustrated that she could not place it, despite being a jonin.
"It is quite alright, Kurenai. I believe that was what the dragons call "Fury Energy," Hiruzen explained. "It is possible that given their new forms, and their run in with the Nine-Tailed Fox previously, they might have gained the ability to use chakra, and their Fury Energy somehow mixed with the chakra they gained," Hiruzen theorized.
"Seems legit. What do we do about it?" Anko asked.
Hiruzen dragged on his pipe and thought for a moment. "Ask them to stay behind for additional training after your team training. Inform them that you were let in on the information and offer to train them in the use of the chakra. It is unlikely that they even know the three basic jutsu that are taught in the Academy."
"Understood, Lord Hokage," sounded Anko and Kurenai. Hiruzen nodded. "Good, dismissed."
At the apartment...
Cynder just walked in the door as it got completely dark out. She came in and was surprised to find Anko-sensei with Spyro and Naruto, all of them eating furiously into ramen and dango. They all looked up from their meals and swallowed.
"Glad to see you made it, Cynder. Take the scenic route?" Naruto joked.
"I did actually, the village is beautiful during the sunset," she cheekily replied. She the noticed that Spyro was feasting into the dango. "Why are you eating dango? It doesn't taste very good."
Spyro looked at her like she grew a second head. "What are you talking about, Cynder? It tastes great!" the Purple Dragon turned human exclaimed before he took a bite off the skewer.
Anko grinned. "While you may not like it, at least your boyfriend likes it," she teased, wrapping an arm around Spyro and pulling him close. Cynder growled dangerously and shadow fire was leaking from her fingertips. Anko noticed this and smirked. "Feisty, I think I;m really going to get along with you, girly. As for this," she gestured to the dragon-teen in her arm, "You better get used to claiming your territory. Girls in the Land of Fire are especially, what's the word... persistent."
Spyro swallowed nervously. "Territory?" He looked to Naruto pleadingly. "Persistent?" He felt himself grabbed by Cynder "Mine!" she growled as she carried Spyro towards their bedroom. "Help?" Spyro squeaked. Cynder threw him in and slammed the door.
Anko and Naruto stared at the door for a while minute before they started to laugh. "Ah, I've missed nights like this, little bro," she said somewhat softly as she pulled Naruto in a one armed hug. "Me too, big sis," he said returning the hug.
So they sat there on the couch for the rest of the night, just talking, until Naruto fell asleep. Anko smiled and carried him to his room and tucked him. "Good night, kiddo." She placed a kiss on his forehead and look back to his sleeping form and smiled. Before shutting the door behind her.
Hehehe. I'm evil. I find Cynder and Anko to very similar, don't you? Did you guys like the Anko-Naruto sibling fluff? It was my first time writing fluff so, tell me what you think? Remember to review please! Have a safe and happy Easter!
Also, I'm looking for someone who can draw me a cover for this! You will have my eternal gratitude. Thank you!