Chapter 11: Real Test And Slick Uchiha Moves

Sasuke barely catches himself to keep from being punched. However as he backs up and to the side, I'm waiting there, and he ends up with a foot to his ribs. I hear a shrill scream. One of Kakashi's clones must have found Sakura and placed a genjutsu on her. Of what, I have a pretty good idea but I don't really bother to ask. I step around a kick sent to my face- kid's flexible for a boy, as all male shinobi should be- and push him to the side into Kakashi's kick to his but. Sasuke is then taken by me by the scruff of his shirt and thrown back to give us some distance.

The boy's slightly battered form glares at us, and his hands weave through signs before settling on one. My eyes widen as he speaks up, "Katon: Gokyakyuu no Jutsu!" His right hand forms a single O with the opening via his thumb and forefinger. He takes a breath, and through his hand and from chakra concentration a large fire ball that's impressive in size takes form.

I look to my partner and raise a brow. I wouldn't know so, "Are Genin supposed to be able to do A-ranked jutsu?"

Kakashi shakes his head with a wide eye, "No...But he is Itachi's brother". His hands fly through a few handsigns before simply sinking into the ground, leaving me to face the large fire ball all on my own.

His words make me grin. Itachi's brother he is indeed. My hands easily slide through sign after sign before I call my own jutsu in return, "Suiton: Daibakufu no Jutsu!" From behind me at blinding speeds a large wave wraps around me and rises up upon my command, protecting me from the grand fire ball that dare to try and get at me. This causes a bunch of mist, and I grin. I see you Itachi. Hiding and watching your little brother's prowess after or before a mission? You sneaky man you. Five years ago I wouldn't be able to travel through this mist. However, I've learned that one does not just rely on their eyes to battle. I ignore my lack of vision, and go to where I can hear Sasuke's breathing. My steps are silent, and soon enough I find myself standing behind the boy. I place my hands on his shoulders, making him gasp and curse and jump from being startled all in one. I grin as my tail comes around the sharp edge of the arrow head tip coming to his throat. "You're very good, Sasuke," I whisper into his ear, "I never figured a Genin could do such a high level jutsu; I'm very impressed". I take a look at his serious and mostly stoic face as I continue to whisper in his ear. "Do you know what they say about men who can make big fireballs?" I laugh as I feel his body twitch under my hands, and I switch ears, Kakashi's had plenty of time to get under him by now; he's just waiting for the perfect moment, "They say they've got large chakra reserves!" My voice goes from low and seductive to happy and playful all in one sentence. I take a single step back as I see Kakashi's hand pop up from the ground and grab Sasuke's ankle. A second later and the boy is pulled down into the earth up to his shoulders. Shinju Zanshu no Jutsu; what a wonderfully humiliating technique.

Kakashi makes his way out of the earth, standing in front of the young Uchiha while I make my way to his side. He gives the boy an eye smile, "That too was a good try. But you let yourself get distracted by Cross; never take your eyes off of your opponent".

I blink as a shadow clone that I had told to keep an eye on the clock and the food dispels and gives me the information she learned. I sigh and shake my head, "Kakashi, we have a fox in the garbage," I tell him with a side glance.

"So we do, do we? I'll take care of him. Why don't you take care of Sasuke and make sure that Sakura is on her way back?" He says this just as the bell rings, and with a simple shinshun he disappears in a poof of smoke. Show off.

"Yea," I mutter before spreading my wings and ridding the area around us of the mist that had been created. With a few powerful pushes and pulls of my wings, the mist is gone as planned and I crouch before Sasuke. "You ready to get out of there?"

Sasuke looks at me blankly. At least it's better than the glare or stoic look he's always giving the others. I feel special. "Obviously".

I roll my eyes, "Alrighty. Hold still". I roll through the handsigns as is needed before slapping my palms onto the ground and letting my chakra run through the earth. I'm not too good at earth release, but I am good enough to be able to use them to my advantage- I'm just not a master at them. "Doton: Doruki Gaishi," my voice practically sighs out. The result is a large wall of earth that also contains Sasuke moves in order to stand on one of its thinner sides. Knowing that that's all I have to do, I stand, and the jutsu breaks apart with Sasuke falling to his feet. "Go back and meet up with Kakashi. I'm gonna go make sure Sakura is on her way back too".

"I'll come with you," Sasuke tells me as I make my way towards the surrounding trees.

"No, Sasuke. You go back to the stumps. Do as I tell you," I turn to throw him a smirk to show that I'm not trying to be a bitch or anything, "'Kay?" Once I enter the woods, I walk for about ten minutes before stopping and looking up to see a weasel mask looking down at me expressionlessly. I raise a brow before nimbly jumping onto the branch to join him, "Come to check on your brother? I thought you asked me to take care of him?"

"I did," Itachi states, sliding his mask to the side of his head to show me his real face, "But I couldn't help myself. I saw the fire and wanted to see just how large Sasuke could make it; he did well at holding his own".

"Yea but that's not the point of the test," I throw out there with a shrug, "There's no point on being good at one on one stuff if you can't also fight on a team". Itachi silently nods. My brows furrow, "Do you mind me asking...How your relationship is? Brother to brother wise?"

Itachi is silent and then he sighs, "I don't mind, no. Our family relationship is...Strained. Mainly because he thinks that because I was already used to seeing and causing death due to my profession that I wasn't as impacted by the loss of our family as much as he. Even when I insist that I feel just as much pain in my heart every day when I walk out of that compound and see it empty save for the two of us. He also wants revenge on the man called Tobi that you both encountered. I've tried telling him that revenge gives him nothing in the end- not happiness, not our clan's lives, nothing but more the death. But he disagrees. He believes that killing Tobi will bring calmness to his soul; I know it won't but he stands firm. None of this is helped by the fact that I am not home half the time. As you know being an Anbu means that it's mission after mission and it's not uncommon for you to be away from home for weeks at a time," he sighs and lightly ruffles his hair. I can see that his eyes are tired. So very tired. "When I am home, I tend to sleep for a good while, and during that time he's out training. When we do spend time together, it's nice, but it's not like old times".

I purse my lips and sigh. Poor Itachi. His only brother is so hell bent on revenge and the search for power that not even he can dissuade him. And if Itachi can't, then who can? I know I can't. I'm just a stranger to him. "I'll try to do what I can in terms of getting him on the right path. But if you can't, then as a stranger and a sensei my powers are limited. If maybe he had a source of love in his life- a girl- he'd be tempted to stay and we could act on that. But I'm not willing to play games and I'm too old for him so I can't. And I don't see any of the girls of his generation being of any use; they're all fan girls and those who aren't are few in number to the point where I can't think of any". I pause before stating, "I've gotta get going; my team and Kakashi are probably off doing stuff". Itachi nods before moving to put on his mask. I stop him for a second, before pulling myself closer to him and hugging him. He's slow to react, but eventually his arms are put around my frame. We stay like that for a moment or two before I back off and release him, "You needed one of those," I smile to him before taking off via branch hopping. When I do get to the others, I find Kakashi freaking the kiddies out.

"What?! You're a team and you're in this together?!" Kakashi demands, his hands weaving through handsigns and as a result a storm above appears. I grin and use their concentration on him to sneak up behind him. My frame is just small enough that I can hide behind him and spread my wings to make it look like he's the one with the wings. I bet he looks nice and scary now. "That's all you have to say?!" Lightning crashes before his hands fall from the sign and the storm moves away, I furl my wings as he eye smiles to them, "You pass".

"...Huh?" Naruto, whom is tied to a post- dumb ass- questions with confusion written on his face.

"You...Pass," I grin out before Kakashi can speak up. I step out from behind him and continue to grin. "Good job kiddies".

"Wait...We pass? But we went against your orders," Sakura insists, obviously not getting it. And she's supposed to be the smart one? Ugh.

"Those who go against the rules, are trash," Kakashi states, "But those who abandon their friends and team mates are worse than trash". They're practically the murderer themselves if the abandoned friend or team mate is killed. Kakashi turns and walks away, eye facing the sky as he speaks. "Have any of you ever heard of the KIA memorial we have in the village? It's a stone with many heros' names on them".

"Heroes?" Naruto's ears perk up and he squirms in his binds, "I wanna be a hero! One day my name is gonna be on that stone! You'll see!"

"Naruto," Sakura mutters lowly, her green eyes sorrowful, "KIA means Killed In Action," she tells the boy.

"O-oh...," blue eyes drop to the ground no longer so enthusiastic about the memorial. At least he realizes his mistake. My eyes fall to Sasuke, who's hands are clenched into tight fists, and his eyes bore holes into the ground he sits on.

"Not only mine, but Cross' comrades are on this stone; best friends even. There are times when as a shinobi you are put into a life or death situation, and it's not your life that's in danger or your team mate's," Kakashi continues, now turning to look at the trio.

"For example," I sigh out, walking around the three only to suddenly strike as Sasuke still glares at the innocent grass- poor grass, didn't do anything to him. The ball of my kunai heeled sandal slams into Sasuke's back, and I pin him there, knee slamming into his spine none too gently. A single pointer claw is unsheathed and placed to the boy's throat while my other heeled foot pins his wrist between kunai heel and ball of said foot; my free hand pins his other hand to his back leaving him immobile. My gaze becomes dark and unforgiving, tail lashing back and forth and fangs bared, "Sakura: Kill Naruto there or Sasuke dies!"

Her green eyes go from surprised to horrified as she looks from the downed Sasuke to the tied up Naruto. "W-what?!"

"S-S-Sakura-ch-chan! Please don't," Naruto whimpers, squirming in his binds against the pole.

"I didn't stutter you little pink haired bitch," sorry, but that was needed, "You heard me! Kill Naruto or your beloved Sasuke here dies," a low growl rips from my throat, and the talon at his neck draws a tiny bit of blood. Poor girl looks like she's about to cry. I pause, and just like that my dark look disappears completely. My hold on Sasuke is gentle and my claw returns to simply the length of my finger instead of double that. "Things like what just happen all the time, you three". I stand and help Sasuke up. I look at his neck and see a bit of blood dribbling there, and put a hand on his shoulder as to make him stand still as I wipe his neck clean with a gentle thumb.

"Enemies are unforgiving. Even to children," Kakashi states. "That's why Cross and I are going to train the three of you to become the strongest shinobi you can be. That way that situation never happens for real". He relaxes completely. "Now...Now that all of that is over, how about some lunch? My treat".

"Alright!" Naruto beams, "I'm starving!"

"Thank you Sensei," Sakura smiles to Kakashi, "I'd love something to eat; I'm hungry too".

I smile and cut through the rope holding Naruto so he doesn't get left behind with one of the sharp edges of the arrow head tip of my tail. He goes dashing off to catch up with Kakashi and Sakura. Sasuke and I are about half a yard behind them. I look down the black haired boy, "I didn't hurt you, did I? If that cut on your neck still hurts, then I'll nurse you back to full health," which is a day of healing but I might as well as be nice.

I watch as he pauses, eyes wide for a moment, before he continues to walk, "No, I'm fine," He tells me before speeding up to walk with the others, I follow soon after.

"Are we gonna have ramen Sensei? I know of this place that's really great! It's called Ichiraku's Ramen!" Naruto questions me as I've taken to Kakashi's left side.

I laugh at him and shrug, "If that's where we're going, then of course you can have ramen," I see Kakashi nod his consent.

"Allllright!" It's like the boy just had his first Christmas or something.

By the time we're at the ramen stand, me having ordered beef along with Naruto, Kakashi speaks. Wait...Damn it! He's done already again! Asshole not showing us his face! "Tomorrow we take on our first mission. Meet Cross and I at Hokage tower at seven in the morning; don't be late".

"Yes sir!" Naruto talks through his mouthful off food before swallowing. Damn this kid can eat!

It's not long until we're all done lunch and going our separate ways. I stand and walk towards Hokage Tower with Kakashi, aiming to head for the meeting to report whether our team passed or not. The meeting is two hours away from right now, however anything Hokage related Kakashi refuses to be late for- as opposed to him being late for everything else. Scratch that. I would be walking with Kakashi when a droll voice speaks up from behind us.

"Cross," Sasuke intones and I turn to meet his eyes, "My neck hurts".

I raise a brow. It shouldn't. I shrug before turning to Kakashi, "I probably cut him a bit deeper than I thought when I pinned him earlier as an example. I'm gonna patch him up; I'll meet you at the meeting". Kakashi looks from me to Sasuke, curious as myself, but says nothing save an 'alright' and goes on his way. Once Kakashi is gone and down the street, I turn to face the thirteen year old boy and suggest, "The Uchiha compound is closer to here than my place. Why don't we get you cleaned up there and I'll be on my way?" Is silent but nods all the same before turning and leading the way to his home.

SASUKE'S POV

Alone at last with my angel. My beautiful, breath taking angel. I don't think she remembers me, I've changed a lot over the passed five years, but I remember her. She hasn't changed at all. Still that beautiful smile, that welcoming voice, the strides in her steps full of grace and power all in one. Yes. I remember. My angel. My Cross. My mind goes back to the bell test that ended only forty five minutes ago. I recall when she had been fighting at Kakashi's side. Her timing with his was perfect. It was like their body was one, and that her left hand was his own even though she was merely talking to him about some sort of book. I remember my awe at her grace with those movements. She is the perfect example of what a kunoichi should be: beautiful, graceful, gentle, and yet powerful, merciless, dangerous all meshed into one body. My angel. My Cross. One day, we'll fight side by side, and one day our timing will be just as good as hers and Kakashi's was.

Even though I'm not that strong yet, I'm still very impressed that she so easily blocked by Katon jutsu with nothing but a Suiton jutsu that seemed to be done almost lazily. I knew both she and Kakashi were playing with me, but I took it all seriously. I wanted to beat down Kakashi, and show Cross my power. But I'm not there yet, I realize. One of these days she'll see my strength and she will come to me, begging to be mine. But not yet. I can wait. Though that doesn't mean I have to like the men she's close to. Kakashi, for example. I don't like him; his relationship with my angel is too close. I'll go with what he says, let him make me stronger, and then I'll take him down and Cross will be mine. And then together we can take down Him.

I sigh as we enter my clan's compound, opening and closing the gates of the wall that surrounds it. The place is empty and as clean as my brother and I keep it. But I remember where each and every dead body laid when I found this place painted red five years ago. I throw that from my thoughts; I need nothing like that on my mind when Cross is right next to me. I look her way just because; white is a good color on her. Just like black. Or any color. We're welcomed by an empty house; Itachi must be on another mission. As usual. Into the bathroom we go and I pull down the first aid kit from behind the mirror, then hand it to her which she takes with a nod.

"Here, we'll do this in your kitchen so things aren't so crowded," she tells me as she exits the bathroom. Damn it. I liked it in there; you were close to me, Cross. I silently nod before leading the way out of the bathroom, through the living room and dining room, and into the kitchen itself. "Sit on the counter if you will," I do as told, picking myself up easily and placing my butt on the white surface. I watch closely as she shuffles through the first aid kid. I don't think she's noticed, but while she and Kakashi were walking away, I found the wound she gave me and not only opened it, but made it deeper. Nothing to the point of truly harming myself, but enough to get the attention I want from her. After seeing what she has to work with, she turns to face me and makes her way to stand in front of me. "Alrighty, Sasuke," a shiver runs down my spine; I love it when she says my name, "Let's see what we got here. Tilt your head for me so I can check out the cut". I do as told, only to jump a bit back as her hands touch the surface of my neck. She pulls back and looks at me, "You okay?"

"Yes," I tell her, dark eyes meeting molten gold, "Your fingers are just hot".

She raises a brow and looks to her fingers, "Huh. Never realized that. Maybe you're a naturally cold skinned person. To be honest, you feel cold to me and I'd be lieing if I said it didn't feel a little nice. The differences in temperature that is". The fact that she enjoyed touching me in any way shape or form makes my heart race. "Anyways, tilt your head so I can get a look see," I comply once more and she brings her face close to my neck; I watch every single one over her movements as best I can. I manage not to flinch as she pulls at the skin that has already started to stitch itself together on the outside yet not on the inside of the wound. "Well, It looks like you won't be needing any of my care after this," she tells me, "The wound, as you might have noticed when I pulled at the skin- sorry about that by the way- has already started to work on healing. I'd give it a few days and it should be gone without leaving a scar". She stands and backs off. As she does so, I manage to take in her scent of pure vanilla, fresh air after a heavy rain and something I can't quite pin point. I meet her gaze one more time as she speaks. However I can't help but to look down at her lips every now and then. I wonder what they'd feel like on mine? "I have to get going to that meeting, okay?" She turns and begins to show herself out, however I won't be having my angel out of my sight if I can help it. She smiles to me one more time before saying, "Don't be late to get our missions tomorrow or else we'll leave you behind". And with that, she's from my sight. I sigh a low sigh. I should have committed her scent to memory when I had the chance. Next time...Next time for sure.

CROSS' POV

I watch as Jonin after Jonin file their way into the Hokage's office, here to report whether or not their team of wannabes pass or not. Failed. Failed. Failed. That's all I hear for a good while from those lined up behind myself, Kakashi, Kurenai, and Asuma as we stand closer towards the front.

Asuma takes a nice long drag of his cigarette before smiling to his father, "Team 10 passed. Lucky them".

Kurenai seems like she couldn't be any happier at the moment as she speaks the words of, "Team 8 passed with a bit of a struggle, but they made it".

Now it's Kakashi's and my turn, eyes falling upon us, mainly the silver haired man at my side due to his apparent fame for harshly failing students. However this time it's different, "Team 7...Passed with flying colors".

I don't know where Kakashi went after the meeting, seeing as I had stopped to ask Kurenai about her bundle of kiddies and who they were. A tracking team she's been made in charge of. A Hyuga: Hinata, the shy heiress of her clan. An Inuzuka: Kiba, a loud and hot tempered boy and his ninken partner Akamaru. And finally an Aburme: Shino, the silent- as all Abumes are- and careful heir to his own clan. I wanna meet them some time. I think I may have in the past on my seventeenth birthday, but I can't really put faces to names. Even if I could, they'd be out dated.

None the less, I make my way out of the first floor's door and go to the outside world. However I'm greeted by three men walking towards the tower, while I'm walking away. They're obviously triplets, what with their similar facial structures and practically identical over all builds. However, they're quite different all the same.

The one on the far right has his hair on the longer side compared to his brothers, bangs choppily framing his face and the rest of it being pulled into a short braid that I bet you money is only down to between his shoulder blades. He is obviously Anbu, what with the tattoo of it being on his right arm. Over the standard Anbu uniform is a haori, the sleeves' edges along with the bottom hem being jagged like a saw. His skin is on the slightly tan side, like a mix of mine and Naruto's own complexions. But it's his eyes that get to me the most. They're not scary or anything, they're just very different. The one is at least. And I'll tell you why. While his left eye is blue like ice, the pupil black and round. The right eye however, is not normal, nor is it human. While the iris and scleroses are both black as the sky on a new moon's night, the pupil is as red as blood or fire, and slit like a reptile's.

The one to the left- to me- as said is identical to the first one. He may be a bit bulkier, but it's hard to tell. None the less, like his brother over the standard Anbu gear is an identical haori when compared to his brother's. His hair however is not long to the point of being put into a braid. Instead, it's about to his shoulders and styled to the point that the symmetry is perfect. Two bangs lightly falling over both his eyes while the rest neatly rests on his shoulders. His eyes are three different colors. The left eye's iris and scleroses is gray, the pupil slit like a reptile's and being of an ice blue color. While although the right eye's iris and scleroses are also gray, the pupil is slit like a reptile's but red like blood or fire.

Finally, the third identical face to look at has auburn hair like his brothers', though the hair is of a naturally windswept look, spikiness taking over the top layer while the other layers are straight and end at his ears. Also just like his brothers, his frame is well built, as any shinobi's body should be unless their genetics say otherwise. Standing at a solid height of at least six foot one like the other two, he's definitely a handsome man. However just like his brothers, his eyes are odd even by my standards. The right eye is a nice spring time green, like that of freshly grown leaves or fresh grass after a long winter. But the iris is white, just like a scleroses naturally is and should be. However he does not look blind due to this. The pupil is slit like a reptile's and is ice blue that reminds me of winter skies.