Wow. Everyone is so awesome! I'm really delighted with the response~
That's why I'm updating early, and combining two chapters to make one awesomely long 14,000 word 2nd chapter. Viola~
Thanks for the favs, follows, and especially the reviews!
Chapter 2: A Splendid Mess
When Naruto opened his eyes again, he found himself being shaken fervently.
"Naruto! Wake up!" The voice was shrill and it took him a few moments to assimilate back to reality. Sakura was the one shaking him. Sasuke sat a little ways off, observing the scene, but not making a movement to help.
"Sakura-chan, what's wrong?" He asked, dazedly.
"Finally! You were really worrying me!" She admitted, but she backtracked when she realized what she'd said. Sakura didn't want to make Naruto think she was interested. "Well, I wasn't that worried, kind of annoyed really." She qualified her statement.
She hadn't needed to worry, because Naruto still wasn't quite awake yet, his mind was torpid and hazy.
"What happened?" Naruto queried.
"After you got knocked out, Sasuke-kun fought off the grass-nin. I haven't seen him since, so I think we're alright for now." Sakura peered out into the dense forest, as if any second the snake summoner would appear again and attack.
"Why were you shaking me so much anyways?" Naruto asked, "I thought we were in danger or something."
"You were crying, Naruto," Sakura replied, marginally softer.
Instead of the loud and defensive reply she'd expected, her teammate merely faced the ground, a shadow covering his face as he remembered his dream.
Most likely it had just been fanciful thinking on his part. As if the Fourth Hokage would actually be his father. That was every orphan's dream, he bet. His eyes moved to the sunlit clearing outside of the cave wistfully. It had been nice though, for those few minutes, feeling claimed. That sense of belonging was bittersweet in that it had only lasted for a few precious minutes. He shook his head to clear his thoughts. He couldn't afford to get caught in those kinds of fantasies right now. He needed to focus on the exams. There wasn't much time until the second exam ended and they needed to complete the objective as soon as possible.
"What was it about?" The kunoichi asked hesitantly.
The concern in her voice honestly touched him, but he had no desire to share something so personal. He looked up, a large, fake smile spread over his face. "Ramen! It was such a great dream. I was bathing in bowls and bowls of it. It doesn't surprise me that I was crying tears of joy."
"Baka! You would have a stupid dream like that!" Sakura declared. Once more she was feeling mildly upset with the concern she had for the blond idiot. Every time it proved unfounded.
Unlike Sakura, Sasuke simply stared at the orange-clad teen, and his eyes narrowed in suspicion. The expression on Naruto's face froze. The mask he'd shoved on wasn't as convincing as normal. His emotions were still in flux from the rollercoaster his dream had set him on.
The Uchiha watched him for a while longer. Normally he would call the idiot on it, if only to prove his own superior powers of observation, but the honestly scared expression on his teammate's face stayed his hand. Instead he just clucked his tongue. "You have such cheap taste. Not that I expected anything else from a dobe like you." The gratitude that flooded Naruto's eyes was almost too much for Sasuke. He felt uncomfortable under that gaze. It wasn't as though he'd done anything that special.
"Sasuke-teme! You're just in denial about the glories of the world's best food."
"Hn," Sasuke replied, only because he wanted to end this false conversation early. The dobe's head wasn't in it and neither was his. They didn't have time to waste keeping up with appearances. If Naruto wanted to pretend everything was fine, then so be it, but Sasuke wouldn't let it get in the way of the exam. Not when his promotion was on the line. Not when that next rung on the ladder was before him— the ladder that would lead him to Itachi . . .
"So, what should we do next, Sasuke-kun?" Sakura turned to his guidance. The Uchiha considered their options for a few moments. "First things first, we need to get food and water."
After that, rest and recovery were next on the list. Sasuke grudgingly admitted the fact to himself that he still needed time to heal and regain his chakra. It was clear to see that Naruto was in similar shape, which was odd indeed because the blond was usually a volcano of stamina. Sasuke supposed it just went to show how tough of a fight it was against the grass-nin. Inwardly, the Uchiha recognized that perhaps he had a smidge more respect for the dobe after seeing him go up against the snake summoner; not that he'd ever let his teammate know that.
"We should set up a temporary base camp. We'll have to find and secure a safe area. After food and water, getting sleep should be our top priority. The scrolls can wait until tomorrow when we have more strength."
Sakura nodded along with his words and waited for him to finish before putting in her own two cents. "Let's set up our base here," she suggested.
Sasuke frowned at the thought. "No, we've lingered here too long already. We need to find somewhere else."
Though the kunoichi was tentative about contesting it, she felt it was her duty to do what she could to ensure their communal safety, (extra emphasis on her crush's safety.) "Really, I know this is a safe spot. Please, let's stay here."
The unusual occurrence of Sakura not agreeing with every word that came out of his mouth was enough for him to look at her questionably. Her insistence at staying here was also suspicious.
"Mmmm, I agree with Sakura-chan. This is a safe place," Naruto nodded along.
Looking at his two companions carefully, Sasuke gathered what little chakra he had and activated his sharingan for a few seconds. He frowned. There was no genjutsu to be seen. Just to be safe though . . .
"Ow! Why'd you hit me!?" Naruto demanded, rubbing his head.
"Do you still think this is a safe place to stay?" Sasuke demanded without preamble.
"Yes," Naruto replied, disgruntled.
The Uchiha let out a sigh. So it really wasn't a genjutsu. "I was just checking something."
"Sasuke-teme!" Naruto growled, but he was pointedly ignored and glared at by Sasuke and Sakura respectively.
"Why do you think this is a safe place?" He asked Sakura.
She paused for a moment. "Well, so far I haven't seen any enemy ninja in the trees or surrounding areas. The fact that our cave is low to the ground makes it less likely anyone will find us, and it offers us shelter against the elements. Also, the fact that there's only one entrance makes it a prime area because it's easier to defend." She stopped before adding cautiously, "And I don't know why, but I'm sure this is a safe place to be."
Right on every count. With no trace of a genjutsu, Sasuke was finding it hard to think of a reason for them to move, especially as weak as they were. Those were very good points. Not to mention that it was Sakura who had been guarding them all this time, and thus had spent the most time in the environment. She would naturally know more about the location. Not only that, but the calmness of his teammates' trust in the area was contagious, and Sasuke had a hard time resisting it. They needed 'calm' desperately. "Alright then, we'll set our camp here for now," he agreed.
Sakura lit up at his words, beaming with pride at her accomplishment. Perhaps she should put in her thoughts more often. Sasuke had certainly been impressed, even if he hadn't shown it visibly. Sakura could tell from his tone. The Uchiha subtly moved away from her excited and girlish energy with a shudder before he continued talking.
"I don't think we should separate after what happened last time," Sasuke rubbed his neck absent-mindedly. "So while it'll take longer, it would be best to stick together and do things one at a time."
Naruto muttered something unpleasant under his breath, but Sasuke didn't particularly care at this moment. It was frustrating, they were all irritated, but they still had to do it. With the matter settled, they decided to start by finding a river. Luckily they stumbled across one sooner rather than later. After refilling their canteens and drinking as much water as they could, they moved onto the rest of the essentials for their night in the forest. The process of finding food and firewood was tedious and mundane. The three grit through it though with more efficiency than usual. All of them were too concerned about their closing window of time to bicker as they normally did.
They decided they would make a plan of attack tomorrow, for now, they would have to try and rest while they could. It was easier said than done when you were camping in an area called 'The Forest of Death.' They returned to their cave after doing a careful patrol around the perimeter. After a sparse dinner of berries and some fish they'd caught at the river, the three were more than ready for sleep. They quickly set up the schedule for who would stand guard. Sasuke and Naruto got the first and last shifts respectively because they needed the sleep the most. Sakura had readily agreed to have the less desirable middle one without any complaints.
Sasuke sat back in his usual casual position as he scanned the scenery. The seemingly at ease form denied the fact he was alert and ready to act at an instant's notice. Naruto scoffed inwardly. 'Sasuke thinks he's so cool even when he's just keeping watch. What a teme.'
With that final thought, the jinchuuriki allowed himself to drift off to sleep.
Meanwhile, Minato lay on his back in the familiar pastel room staring at the ceiling, (or perhaps, lack thereof, as there was no way of ascertaining its existence or location.) His lips were pursed in a frown. Since his son had left, the Yondaime had been running the entire happening over and over in his mind, taking apart every second of it and trying to figure out if he had said all the right things and done what he should have done. Normally, Minato was not the kind of person who would fret over his past actions. He was generally a determined sort of man who acted with a deft, decisive hand. Preparation had instilled him with security in the past, and that coupled with his many years of experience in combat and his sharp mind, meant that he was usually able to think his way out of any problem and come out alive and the victor. The aforementioned confidence was nowhere to be seen, because he had no clue how to deal with Naruto. Really, he had all this time in the world to sit and think about his son. He'd gone over the scenario countless times, and he thought he had imagined every reaction. It didn't seem to help one bit because there was no preparing for actually seeing him. The rushing emotions meeting him brought had dashed any and all planning Minato had done.
Naruto looked so tall, so grown up. Minato lamented the lost time they'd never be able to have.
Hopefully he'd done alright. He had to cut himself some slack because he severely doubted he could ever have anticipated that he would be in the position he was. It truly was a delicate and surreal one.
The Yondaime wished he'd had more time to talk to Naruto. There was so much he wanted to tell his son, and so much he wanted to ask about. He was starved for any personal information from his son. While Minato existed in his mind and was able to catch wisps of Naruto's life when power shifted his direction, it couldn't compare to actually having a conversation with his son. There was a distinct difference between watching a person interact, and interacting with them personally. And that massive distinction lay heavily on his mind.
He also wanted the chance to explain everything. A sigh escaped his lips. He'd have to wait until the hopefully-never occurring situation where Naruto would let out the Kyuubi in order to talk to him again. Minato was probably a bad person for slightly wishing that day would come, though he honestly hoped that his son would never be driven to that point. The thought of Naruto being in that much pain made Minato's stomach flip. He'd just have to do what little he could with his small range of power. Helping keep the Kyuubi's chakra in check was what he did best. Whenever it got too much, he'd pull what little red energy he could back into the seal in order to prevent the Kyuubi from leaking out too much. Naruto's chakra pathways weren't developed enough to handle very much of it. Other than that, Minato was miserably unfit for offering any kind of assistance, much to his intense dismay.
Well, that was before now. Something strange had happened today.
One minute he was enjoying his eternal stay in his son's mind and the next, the scenery changed and the chakra flow was diverted so strongly and swiftly that it temporarily threw open a window into the central system of Minato's son's body Naruto was deep, deep asleep. The teen's absence created enough space for Minato to maneuver himself with his new burst of chakra and take control for a moment. Mild distaste settled in his mind as he remembered what Orochimaru had done to his son. The fact someone tampered with his seal made Minato's hair bristle and he would have been more than delighted to use his momentary freedom to hunt down the snake summoner, dismember him, and then beat him to death with his own detached limbs. Sadly, that matter had to be set aside; the state of the Uchiha had taken priority.
That seal was dark. While he wasn't entirely sure about the schematics, he had a basic understanding of what it would do, and he had needed to address it quickly before it settled all the way. Though perhaps he should have used the time to observe his son's seal, but he knew he made the wisest choice. He had faith that the Third or Kakashi would be able to remove the five prong seal from Naruto, while only Minato could seal the curse-mark. While it pained him to ignore his son's condition in lieu of another's, he knew it was crucial to catch Orochimaru's schemes before they grew out of control.
But the altered flow of his son's chakra concerned Minato the most. For whatever reason, the area where he resided was receiving more energy through some mad-fluke in the universe. The extra energy was certainly welcome, but the implications of what it meant regarding the rest of Naruto's system were serious. Considering that Orochimaru had placed an odd numbered seal on top of his even one, he knew the result was that it twisted up the distribution and flow of his son's chakra. It was good for Minato, but extremely bad for Naruto's already poor control. Somehow, he'd have to do something about it. A wry smile spread over his face, and he shut his eyes lazily. He had plenty of time to think about it.
Hopefully, he had made the right choice. Minato was somewhat comforted by the thought that he'd at least been able to avert an Orochimaru-driven disaster that would have manifested in his son's teammate.
He had taken a great risk through implicating his son and Sakura into the seal. The outcome and effect it would have on the blond and pink-haired teens was something not even he was sure of. Hopefully nothing would happen. His idle mind suddenly snapped to attention and his eyes flipped wide open as a new realization occurred.
Shit.
The Fourth resisted the very tempting urge to bang his head against the invisible floor. He'd forgotten to explain to Naruto what he'd done to his teammate's seal. A frown settled on his face. His son would have a rather shocking time discovering what had happened. Minato could imagine how Kakashi's and the Sandaime's faces would look as they tried to puzzle that one out. No one would be able to piece together what happened to the curse mark, or decipher his seal. Of that he was certain. There was also the fact that there seemed to be no logical explanation for how the curse mark was sealed in the first place. The matching marks on Naruto's and Sakura's skin would also be another point of immense confusion. In the short time he'd been in possession of his son's body, he really had made a bit of a mess. Had he really helped out his son in the long-run? Minato let out a groan. Anything regarding his son made him more uncertain than he'd ever been in his entire life.
The approach of another surge of chakra drew Minato's attention and he finally sat up. He was beginning to get used to these bursts of energy. Perhaps if he stored up his energy he'd be able to make another appearance to his son . . .
"Eh? What am I doing here again?"
Minato turned around so quick it made him dizzy. No, he had not been imagining that voice, because in all of his orange glory, Naruto stood before him, back turned and scratching his head in confusion as he looked around the familiar room.
"Naruto." All the emotion the Yondaime possessed had poured into that single, charged word. Naruto turned to face him, astonishment on his face.
"No way . . ." The sheer hope and disbelief in his son's eyes was enough for Minato to break out in a huge grin. With a running start, Naruto barreled towards him. He warmly accepted and reciprocated Naruto's energetic hug, relishing the feeling of holding his son again, even if it was only a spiritual manifestation.
"I wasn't expecting to see you so soon, but I'm so glad I am." Minato pulled away so he could look into his son's eyes.
"I-it was real?" Naruto asked, still staggered from the shock. "It wasn't just a dream? You really are my—" His voice cracked.
"Yes, it was real, Naruto." The Yondaime was nearly beyond words in the face of an event he never thought he'd be able experience again. "I'm here." His father's soft, earnest smile wrought relief, and a glow of happiness slowly built and surrounded Naruto in a bright aura. After a few moments, the teen composed his thoughts clearly enough to start processing the events properly and search for answers.
"How is this happening?" He asked as he let go of his father and took a small step back.
Minato's expression grew business-like. "I trust you remember the ninja that attacked your team." There was no need for clarification. Only one person could be that shinobi. "Well, that ninja's name is Orochimaru, and he is one of the three sannin, who are some of strongest shinobi alive today."
Naruto's attention was rapt and he swallowed harshly at the words. He'd been able to sense exactly how dangerous the snake-guy was, but it was only now that the reality was really settling in. They had been inches away from dying. It had only been through luck —pure, dumb luck— that they had survived. It was strange to him that when he was actually dealing with Orochimaru face-to-face, he had felt none of the rampant fear he felt now when he looked back on it. When he told his father that, the older man just laughed.
"You're the type of ninja who performs best under pressure. That's a wonderful quality to have, and it'll be a great asset when you start doing more dangerous missions." His smile spread widely. Naruto blushed under the praise and ducked his head slightly, though the brimming smile on his face was clear for Minato to see.
"Anyways, back to the main point," Minato guided them back to Naruto's question. "He hit you with a powerful sealing jutsu."
Naruto scrunched his nose as he remembered vaguely studying seals in class. "Seals keep things in; I don't see how it let you out."
"You see Naruto, the seal you already have has another function besides containing the Kyuubi." The Yondaime noticed the slightly dark features on his sons face with a grimace. Nonetheless, it was apparent he was listening quite closely. "One of the reasons your seal is so amazing, as opposed to other jinchuuriki—"
"Other jinchuuriki . . .? Wait— you mean there are more like me?!"
Minato nodded. "One for every tailed beast, or biju as they're called."
"How many biju are there?" Naruto was hungry for information. More like him? He wasn't alone? Had they been through what he had? Had they felt the consuming loneliness . . . ?
"There are nine in total," Minato explained. "It's believed by many that the more tails the demon has, the stronger it is. Following that logic, the Kyuubi no kitsune would be the strongest of all the biju. Because the powers of the tailed beasts are so strong, the only way to hold them is to seal them into human containers. Those containers are referred to Jinchuuriki." Minato's face grew dark at using that locution to describe his son. "It's an old term that doesn't mean as much now as it did then, but it translates to 'human-sacrifice.'"
The translation made him queasy, but the teen swallowed and tried to focus on other aspects. Naruto filed away all the information into his mind, trying desperately to ingrain every bit of it. When he finished the exam and became chunin, he'd see if he could find one of the other containers. He just had to know . . .
"One of the functions of the seal is that it integrates some of the fox's chakra into your own supply."
Naruto blinked. "Why'd you do that? Isn't that a bad thing?"
"Not necessarily," Minato spoke slowly. "With the extra chakra, you're reserves are greatly improved and it enables you a tool to use in order to become a stronger shinobi. The seal filters the Kyuubi's chakra so it's a milder version so that you can slowly adapt to the poisonous nature of it. The effect of that is that you won't be overwhelmed later when you deal with larger quantities."
"Larger quantities? Is it gonna get worse later?" Glimmers of fear shone in Naruto's eyes. He had dealt with only a fraction of the Kyuubi's energy and it was so much. Remembering the fight on the bridge and the sheer rage and power he had felt made him shiver. The idea of dealing with more of that twisted, wicked energy was suffocating.
Minato's expression grew fastidious and serious. "Naruto, the Kyuubi is both a curse and a gift. Many seek the power of the biju, and often times in the past, the jinchuuriki have been a part of many political gambits, and used as weapons of mass destruction in wars. Their mere presence is often used to dissuade wars from even happening due to the immense threat they pose." Upon seeing his son's flickering and uncertain expression, he lowered a hand to his shoulder. "However, I never intended this kind of life for you. The jinchuuriki before you was still alive, and the thought that this would happen had never even occurred to me." He banished the painful thoughts of Kushina from his mind at the moment and made sure to catch his son's eyes to drive the point home. Naruto wasn't a political chess piece, and he never wanted him to feel that way. "You know the Sandaime would never use you like that."
The teen had to agree there. A small smile spread over his face at the mention of the man he viewed as a grandfather. His father's next words only solidified the point further. "Sarutobi and I both know that you are Naruto. You aren't the Kyuubi's jinchuuriki, and you aren't the demon; you're Naruto, my son."
The teen's eyes widened. There it was again, that feeling of belonging that he'd never even dared to hope for. He wanted to shy away from it. If he folded and basked in it, Naruto knew he would just crave it that much more. Who knew if he would even have a chance at feeling it again? The very thought of it being ripped away from him after having it caused an ache more painful than any abuse. He didn't know if his heart could take it.
Minato, who was ignorant to the battle playing within his son, casually ruffled Naruto's hair. "Don't worry about it." Unknowingly, he'd made the decision for the teen, because once more, Naruto found himself leaning into the touch. He was unable to resist the warmth. Perhaps it would be alright to indulge for a little while longer . . .
"Wait, why didn't he ever tell me about you?" Naruto asked, his brow was furrowed.
Minato ran a hand through his own shaggy hair. "Well, I can only assume it was to protect you from my enemies."
Naruto stared at him uncomprehendingly.
"You see Naruto, after the Kyuubi's attack, Konoha was severely weakened," The Fourth explained, "There was a very real possibility that another village would try to take advantage of that and attack Konoha while it was recovering."
"No one else had to pretend not to be related though." There was still a frown on his face.
"Well, I had a few more enemies than others." The older blond scratched his cheek. Understatement of the year. "In fact, I was hated very much by an entire foreign village. The fact I died made them all very happy, but—"
The absolutely shocked and horrified expression on Naruto's face that made it clear how unspeakable and ridiculous that idea was to him almost made Minato laugh.
"—but many of them lost out on their chance for revenge against me." There was pain in Minato's face. Even considering the possibility of what could have happened made him sick. "If they knew I had a son, they would shift their grudge to you. Sarutobi knew that, so I assume that was probably why he hid my relation to you from you and the public."
When his father put it that way, Naruto had a hard time contesting it and getting angry. Still . . . "You had that many enemies?!"
The awe in the teen's voice knocked the serious mood clean out of the ball-park. "Er, yes," the Yondaime replied with a small smile at his son's behavior. It couldn't hurt to brag a little bit . . . "I was in the bingo-book and the order was to 'flee on sight' if I remember right."
Stars gleamed in Naruto's eyes. "Wow, that's the coolest!"
Now the Fourth really did laugh. His son's energy and attitude were entertaining and heartening. He hated having to draw it to a close, but it was imperative that he explained what was going on.
"Alright, it is important that you listen very closely Naruto; Orochimaru made an addition to the seal I made." Minato brought them back to the main topic. "He probably wanted to make molding chakra more difficult for you."
. . . And why the snake-nin wanted to do that probably had more to do with Minato than it did with Naruto, which made the Yondaime groan in his head. "The result is that your chakra system is extremely altered. The pathways have been disrupted, and it causes the chakra that normally flows to one section of the body, to rush to other places. So when you attempt to mold the chakra for a jutsu, it's ten-times more difficult because the chakra is flowing in dozens of different directions at the same time."
Naruto looked a little confused at his explanation, but that wasn't the thing he found most puzzling. "What does that have to do with me meeting you?"
Minato smiled now as the cogs whirled in his mind. "If my theory is right, then one of your major pathways, perhaps one that led to part of the brain stem or the penal gland—" Minato cut himself off as he realized he'd started thinking out loud and his son's eyes had grown glassy. "Anyways, one major chakra pathway that leads to the section of your brain that produces dreams has been diverted to this section of your mind where I can spiritually manifest."
The teen blinked. "What?"
"It basically means that more power is coming this way instead of going where it normally does when you dream."
"So when I dream, I end up here?" Naruto asked, simplifying it to its very core.
Minato nodded. "That about sums it up."
"Why didn't you say that to begin with?" —was the impression the Yondaime gathered from the younger blond.
"D'you think it'll stay this way?" The Kyuubi container couldn't keep his nervous energy from leaking into the question. "I'll keep coming here when I dream?"
A gentle grin spread over Minato's face. "So long as nothing disrupts the seal or changes, I think so."
Naruto slowly grew dazed and numb as he gradually realized what that would mean.
"We'll be able to talk about so many things; anything you want, Naruto." Minato was equally excited, already imagining all the things he wanted to share; the battle stories, his ascension to Hokage, the traditions, Kushina— The Yondaime forced himself to turn away from that last fact. He wasn't sure if he was quite ready to breach the subject himself. There wasn't a doubt in his mind that sooner or later, Naruto would ask. It was only natural. But for the moment, hopefully he'd be spared the topic until he was better equipped to deal with it.
"Can you train me?!" Naruto's eager question broke his chain of thought.
Minato blinked. "Ah, well . . ." How would that even work?
"C'mon, you just have to!" Naruto begged, giving him large and beseeching eyes as he ditched any and all of the maturity he had shown before. "Please?"
The Yondaime chuckled. Minato would have to figure out how to go about the training of course, but how could he resist it when his son asked him like that? "Yes, I can train you—"
"YATTA!" Naruto was jumping in the air. This was an absolute dream come true. His idol— who now was his father of all things— was going to train him. He didn't know which part he was happier about, and settled on celebrating the entire thing.
"Maa, maa, Naruto." Minato tried to catch the other blond's attention before he got too carried away. "I can only train your mind. You have to do the physical aspect of things yourself."
That realization didn't take a single bit of wind out of Naruto's sails. "It'll be a piece of cake doing the physical stuff. I've always been good at it."
The Yondaime had witnessed many prime examples of his son's words and he could only laugh. Saying Naruto was 'good at it' was another one of the largest understatements he'd ever heard. His son was an absolute powerhouse of stamina.
"Don't laugh! I'm serious!" The teen exclaimed, a slight pout settling on his face. Minato just ruffled his hair again.
"I believe you," he said honestly. Amusement still pulled at his lips.
Before Naruto could utter a complaint, a distinct tugging feeling cut him off, it was coupled with the rumbling of the invisible floor, though it was less violent than it had been before. If Naruto had to guess, he'd say Sakura was waking him for his shift to keep guard. He gave a small shocked laugh. He had almost forgotten the outside world existed when he was here with his father. Speaking of . . .
His eyes flipped towards the older blond. Despite the fact that there was proof supporting the fact he would come back, he was unable to stop the fear from building up.
Minato was feeling similar, but he didn't let it show. Instead, he gave his son a wide and confident grin. "I'll see you later!"
Naruto bit back the uncertainties that were on the edge of his tongue. "Y-yeah, see you."
Within seconds, Naruto had disappeared from the bright room.
The silence was so unsettling without the presence of the loud, orange teenager. Minato found himself already missing it. He sighed at the loss before flipping himself on the ground to continue his hobby of staring at the debatably existing ceiling. The fact he had been able to see his son again was something he hadn't even dared hope for, and yet, it had happened. The Yondaime couldn't keep the smile off his face. The idea that more meetings were very likely made him so happy it was ridiculous. They'd accomplished so much more this meeting, and he wondered what they could do the next time. There were a lot of subjects he wanted to broach with his Naruto, so it made sense to plan ahead. He wanted it to be a bit more organized so he wouldn't overwhelm his son with questions, and so he would be able to start instructing Naruto with at least a vague idea on what he wanted to cover.
Naruto's training was something he'd have to think about for a while. There was so much to teach him! He wasn't sure if his jutsu could be taught using theory alone, but there was plenty of other stuff that they could work on as well. Traps, battle strategy, politics, stealth, tracking, history; everything needed to enable his son to reach his full potential. If Naruto did that, then there was little doubt in Minato's mind his son would achieve his dream and become Hokage one day.
The happy smile only spread wider. Kushina would have been so proud to see what he'd become. Minato had a moment of silence as he remembered the love of his life and all of her energy. He wished so badly she could have been a part of this . . .
The Yondaime had an epiphany and sat up in excitement. He could teach Naruto fuuinjutsu! That would be a wonderful to keep Kushina alive and a part of Naruto's life. Having Naruto become a seal master would also give him a large leg up in the world. Fuuinjutsu was practically a dying art. The fact he would have a skill that his opponents didn't have would undoubtedly give him a major advantage. There were very, very few true seal masters left. In fact, the only one Minato had ever met was Jiraiya, and he knew that the toad-sage had never known another one either—well, besides Kushina and Minato. His wife had sealing in her blood. The main practitioners of the art had all lived in Uzushiogakure, and most had died when the land was destroyed. The rest were spread out around the fire country, so a large part of the art had been lost. Minato was a seal-master himself, but was obviously incapacitated at the moment. He could preserve it by instilling it in his son though.
Naruto would love sealing, Minato could already tell. It was one of the most useful tools. Not only due to the very good example that lay on his son's stomach, but also looking at how useful it had been on his teammate's seal—
"Damn!"
Minato caved and banged his head against the invisible floor.
He'd forgotten to tell Naruto what he'd done with Sasuke's seal. Again. The only thing Minato could do was cross his fingers and hope nothing too strange would happen before he explained the situation to his son . . .
Knowing Naruto's luck, he doubted it.
After Sakura had woken him and made a quick move to her sleeping bag for the second time that night, Naruto began to contemplate things. Mulling over the entire experience in his mind still left him awed and almost in denial that something so amazing could really be happening. In fact, he did weigh the possibility it was just a string of dreams that only fueled one another, but he was comforted by the fact that Minato had spoken about things he could never have known about, or even imagined; the other containers for one thing. And also . . .
And also . . .
Naruto smiled softly. And also, that warm feeling of belonging was still there. He didn't think he could generate that on his own. He didn't know if he even knew what it felt like before now.
Nodding to himself, he decided to accept this new reality. Though he had expected scoffing from the more cynical part of him, it never came. Acknowledging it felt even better than he thought it would. Light and freeing in a way Naruto couldn't really explain.
Besides, what would it take then for him to believe it was true if not the information he could never have dreamed up?
He spent the rest of his shift floating on cloud nine. Already, he was fantasizing about all the cool new jutsu his father would teach him. Learning about the rest of his family was also something he was looking forward to. Questions about his mother teetered on his lips, and the idea that he would be able to ask sometime made him grin.
Eventually, the rest of his team woke up. Groggy and irritated, they were still in better condition than they had been last night.
"What're you so happy about?" Sakura grumbled, noticing the cheerful expression on Naruto's face as they ate their meager breakfast of nuts and berries.
The blond rocked back on his heels, and smiled to distract her from the truth. "Just glad to be alive. I've got a good feeling about today!" He really did. Everything from here on out would be better. He just knew it.
Sakura smiled and replied, "I know what you mean. We'll get that scroll today!"
Two seconds later, Sakura froze at her words and Naruto scratched the back of his head, and gave her a slightly odd look.
"I mean— uhh." Sakura was panicking inwardly. Why had she said that?
Unbeknownst to the other two, Sasuke had barely resisted the impulse to express his similar feelings on the matter. He had wrestled with the urge, and had been forced to bite his tongue to stop himself. That feeling of confidence, however fleeting, had lifted his spirits to soaring heights. He truly felt that things would be better and happier. The sensation was fleeting, and regretted his weakness in giving into it.
Outwardly he snapped at the other two to be quiet. They couldn't afford to waste time on talk like that. They had a mission to do.
"Right now we should see if we can find another team who's weakened at the moment," Sasuke started, drawing Naruto's and Sakura's attention back to the impending danger of the forest and their trickling amount of time.
"Naruto, make some shadow clones to scout out the area."
The blond made a face at how Sasuke took charge, but he began gathering his chakra nonetheless. It was not without a small grumble of, "Who died and made you Hokage?"
A swirl of rebelliousness overcame Sasuke and he wanted to challenge Naruto. 'What are you going to do about it, huh?' Once more, the words had been on the tipping point, just about to spill out, but he bit them back with no lack of effort. Just like before, the urge and feeling vacated his body so suddenly it left him startled and bewildered. Catching the frozen look on Sakura's face, he knew she had experienced something similar.
Sasuke cleared his throat, trying to shove whatever happened out of his mind. "Sometime today would be nice, dobe."
He received a mild glare from Naruto, but the majority of the blond's focus was centered in his chakra channel. "Give me a second," he said, "That snake-bastard Orochimaru fucked with my chakra system. It's a lot harder to get control of my chakra."
Finally, he managed to create about thirty clones and they departed into the forest to scan the area. Meanwhile, Sasuke and Sakura exchanged confused looks.
"Orochimaru?" The kunoichi asked. "Is that his name?"
The blond stopped suddenly as he realized what he'd said. The nervousness he felt was palpable, but he smiled weakly anyways. "Yeah, I read it in a book somewhere. He's the only guy who summons snakes, so . . ."
Naruto was lying. It was blatantly obvious. Sasuke knew it for a fact. The blond had always been easy to read. Though he gathered this knowledge through a new medium aside from his observation skills this time. Sasuke had been able to feel the lie. He ran a shaky hand through his hair. That shouldn't have been possible. From the expression on Sakura's face, he knew he wasn't alone in this new situation. He frowned.
They really couldn't afford to think too hard about it though. Perhaps the forest was finally getting to him. Sasuke cautiously dismissed the occurrence from his mind.
The trio had sat around the cave, all wrapped up in their own thoughts. The air was uncomfortable as each of them tried to puzzle out the disconcerting feelings racing about.
When a Naruto clone descended from the trees, the feeling ceased, and things settled back to normal. The sudden change made Sasuke and Sakura start slightly. "What is it?"
"There are a group of ninja near the river about three hundred meters from here," the Naruto clone reported before poofing out of existence. Sasuke was torn between wincing and grinning. Three hundred meters was fairly close. They had been fortunate they hadn't been discovered by the enemy ninja. Quietly, the Uchiha thanked whatever luck it was that had allowed them to be unnoticed. Now team seven had the opportunity to get the jump on them and turn the exam around.
"What's their status?" The Uchiha asked.
Sasuke and Sakura turned to their blond teammate. They both sighed as they realized the replica had already dissolved.
Naruto was ignorant to their looks and instead scratched his head thoughtfully. "It looks like they're recovering from a fight."
Silence greeted his answer.
"Is there something on my face?" The blond asked as he registered the shock and noticed the looks he was receiving.
"How do you know that Naruto?" Sakura asked.
"What do you mean?" The container didn't understand the question.
"She means, dobe, how do you know that when the clone already dispersed." Sasuke said impatiently.
That stopped the blond as he tried to backpedal and understand how he had gotten the knowledge. "I— I don't know," He finally said.
The cogs in the Uchiha's head were turning. The conclusion he reached seemed impossible, but at the same time, it explained a lot.
"Can it be that you remember everything that your clones know?" Sakura asked, reaching the same answer.
"Huh?"
"Dobe, get rid of another one of your clones." The curt order made Naruto glare, and Sasuke responded in kind.
"Stop glaring at Sasuke-kun," Sakura snapped, unknowingly making a matching expression.
Naruto acquiesced to Sasuke's order, though not happily by any means.
"Where was your clone?" Sasuke asked.
"Eh? Uh, he was near Ino, Shikamaru, and Chaoji," He replied automatically, before what he said finally caught up to him. "How did I know that?"
"You remember everything your clones learn." Sakura tone was surprised as they confirmed the theory.
"This entire time you never noticed?" Sasuke rubbed his temples, trying to combat the urge to hit Naruto for his stupidity. Of course Naruto didn't realize he was gaining extra knowledge every time a clone dispersed. This was Naruto they were talking about after all.
Naruto exclaimed, "Hey, you never noticed either!"
"I wasn't the one making the clones, usuratonkachi!" The sense of annoyance sat heavily in his mind and he didn't know why he was getting frustrated with Naruto so easily. The stress of the exam must have finally been sinking in.
"We don't have time for this!" Surprisingly, it was Sakura who said it, "Can we just finish the exam already? I'm tired," the pink-haired kunoichi grew quiet and disheartened. "I really just want to go home."
The sadness in her voice was palpable. The sense of homesickness hit Sasuke with a hammer and he found himself also wishing he could just be home too, curled up in his bed.
He shook the thought violently from his mind, revulsion taking root. They were ninja and ninja didn't get homesick. Not only that but they were on the field. They all knew better than to cave to feelings like that. Well, perhaps Sakura and Naruto didn't know all that much better, but Sasuke certainly did.
'So then why am I feeling this way?'
Sasuke frowned and turned his mind towards the exams. When they finished, they'd get this all figured out. They couldn't focus on this right now— whatever this was anyways.
"Then let's get this taken care of. We'll survey the area and figure out a plan for attack." Sasuke had anticipated some derisive snorts and comments from his blond teammate, but was pleasantly surprised when he found an equally determined expression on his face.
Gathering their belongings, the trio carefully, and rather slowly, due to Sasuke's and Naruto's poor condition, (much to the two boys' frustration and dismay,) made their way to the river bank. Thankfully, the enemy team had yet to leave or pull themselves together any more since the clone had last seen them. Observing them from the safety of the thick trees, it became apparent that the foreign shinobi were starting to crack under the pressure of the exam. Team seven watched one of their members, a redheaded man, curse up a storm as he argued with one of his companions. The scroll was in his hand and he waved it furiously at his other brunette teammate as if trying to make a point.
Sasuke shared an uneasy look with his team.
"Something's fishy about this . . ." Naruto trailed off, knowing something was askew. What it was exactly, had escaped him. The sense was pervasive though.
Sakura nodded, though she had put the pieces together already. "Arguing with one another with the scroll out in the open— it's almost too perfect."
"They're either plotting something, or they're really just inexperienced," the Uchiha murmured, mostly to himself.
"Hmm, they look like they're really hurt to me." The jinchuuriki squinted as he tried to see the details of their enemies.
"They could be using a henge," Sakura reminded him.
Sasuke had reached a similar conclusion and without another word he channeled chakra to his eyes. "Sharingan!"
The results made him purse his lips even more.
"What do you see, Sasuke-kun?" Sakura stared at her crush with stars in her eyes. Sasuke-kun was just so cool!
A strong wave of affection blindsided the Uchiha and he found himself scrambling to recover from the whitewash.
"I— um, I don't see any signs of a henge," he spoke unusually ineloquent. What the hell was that about? There was a dopey grin on Naruto's face, and it only furthered Sasuke's confusion and suspicion.
"What's the plan?" The pink-haired girl ushered the answer from him.
Sasuke tried to gather himself back together, but all this emotional upheaval left him in a state of disarray. "We should try to get closer and see if we can figure out why they're arguing. It might be useful information."
"Right," Sakura nodded her head.
"Sounds good," Naruto mirrored her tone perfectly, earning him two slightly bemused looks. The blond didn't bat an eyelash. "Then we pummel them."
Sasuke rolled his eyes, "No dobe, then we plan again."
"Plan to pummel them."
Sakura and Sasuke sighed and shook their heads in synchronized exasperation.
After a quick and sharp lecture from Sakura, (which was more of a verbal smackdown than anything else,) the team had decided to send a Naruto clone in a henge of a small animal to get closer. The risk factor for injury was practically at zero, so despite the fact that there was a possibility their cover would be blown if the henge was revealed, they settled on that option.
It took Naruto a couple tries to get his chakra in order, but he succeeded eventually. Due to his miserable control, (thanks in part to Orochimaru,) he created ten instead of just one. Thankfully, his teammates remained quiet as he dispersed the extras leaving just one. Sasuke and Sakura went over the plan with the two Narutos again. Both of them rolled their eyes and exchanged empathetic looks with each other before the clone followed the orders. Or at least tried to. This time it seemed the clone couldn't get enough chakra gathered. Naruto could feel their impatience and it mixed poorly at with his own frustration. Finally they saw a cloud of smoke and heard a popping sound.
Naruto blinked at the miniature orange fox that appeared at their feet. The clone thought he was being awfully funny, didn't it? Naruto was half-tempted to kick it over and make it disperse, but thought better of it. He settled for glaring at the copy of himself fiercely.
In reply, the fox scrambled behind Sakura's legs in a mock show of fear. The fact it was sticking out its tongue rather ruined the effect.
"Naruto, knock it off!" Sakura said unhappily as she tried to get the cloned fox away from her.
"Get a move on dobe, we don't have all day," Sasuke snapped with equal irritation. The fox hissed in sync with the original, but the former finally slunk away with all the stealth and quickness of its breed.
The trio watched with bated breath as the furry creature scampered to the river to pretend to drink. Hopefully the foreign nin wouldn't know that foxes weren't indigenous in Konoha. They used to be, but the majority had been wiped out after the Kyuubi attack. The small creatures had brought up too many bad memories, (in addition to being a convenient outlet for the anger.) Sasuke and Sakura each wanted to punch Naruto and shake him repeatedly. Of all the creatures he could have picked, why the hell did he choose that one?
So far things seemed to be going alright. The two arguing teammates were still shouting at each other, blind to anything else around them. After a few minutes, the third shinobi of the group, a mauve-haired kunoichi, came back from gathering firewood. It quickly became clear who was the strongest (at least tactically,) on the team as she scanned the surroundings clinically. Her eyes settled on the little orange fox lapping the water from the river. Before any of them could blink, she had thrown a kunai with deadly precision.
The ears of the orange fox pricked up. The sound of an approaching kunai was enough to startle the rodent. In a way that was almost comical, the little creature fell face-first into the river, inadvertently missing the kunai. The pathetic show and keening of the wet fox as it was being swept away was proof enough and the on-edge kunoichi slumped as her fears had been unfounded. She wearily turned to her two teammates who had finally noticed her appearance.
Team seven quickly and quietly departed down the river, where the fox had traveled. Sasuke smirked slightly. He couldn't have planned that better himself. They reached a shallow section just as the Naruto fox pulled itself out of the water shakily, looking like a thoroughly drowned rat. The replica undid the henge, but before it could speak, Sasuke tossed a kunai at the clone and effectively dispersed it.
"Why did you do that?!" Naruto rounded on him with a stormy expression.
Sasuke bit back the anger that welled up and instead kept the boiling water under wraps. Displaying a calmness and nonchalance he didn't really feel, he just scoffed. "It's quicker this way. What did you learn?"
Naruto's mouth opened in realization. Sasuke could practically feel the dumb surprise coming from his teammate and resisted the urge to shout at the dunce. The blond took a few moments to sift through the collection of new memories.
"Did you figure out what they were arguing about?" Sakura asked, trying to urge the knowledge out of her teammate.
"Ah, yeah," Naruto said finally, "One of them wants to open their scroll, and the other doesn't."
The pink-haired girl furrowed her brow. "That's against the rules though."
"Remember the first exam, Sakura?" The Uchiha reminded her, "The objective was to cheat without getting caught. Those foreign ninja probably thinks it's the same trick."
"What do you think?" The kunoichi's blind-trust forced Sasuke to look away. Normally he barely noticed it and didn't mind all that much because it made it easier to accomplish their goals. This time though, he could practically feel the complete faith. That sensation was moderately disconcerting.
"I don't think we should open it," Sasuke said finally. These rules didn't have the same subterfuge as the first exam. "Last time, the rules guided us to arrive at the conclusion that cheating was the objective. This time the rules seem to be pretty solid. Besides, it seems unlikely that they would try the same trick twice."
Sakura nodded in understanding, catching onto his train of thoughts.
Sasuke looked upward and assessed the approximate time. The sun would set in a few hours. They needed to hurry and get the scroll so they had adequate time to make it to the tower. "Let's watch the other team and wait for a chance to strike."
The trio moved quietly back to their original stakeout point to observe the team. Even from far away, team seven was able to tell that tensions were still high amongst the group. Sasuke smirked. Exactly what he was hoping for.
While waiting, the trio sent a Naruto clone to go find them food and double check to see if their small encampment had been discovered while they were away. They had made sure to hide any traces of their existence while they were gone, but nonetheless, a skilled tracking nin could always find it. The discovery that Naruto retained his clone's knowledge revolutionized their planning. Sasuke's mind was whirling with all the applications and clever ways they could utilize the ability. Naruto would instantly be able to relay knowledge from thousands of meters away upon the destruction of the clone. No chance of collateral damage when exploring or investigating, and flawless recall. It was a perfect jutsu.
Sasuke was itching to learn it himself, but he remembered what Kakashi said about how much chakra it used. Reluctantly, he had to admit that using that much would probably put him out of commission, or practically deplete his chakra storages making the remainder of his jutsu worthless. No, it was wiser to continue to have Naruto use them for the team's use. The dobe had chakra to spare, and Sasuke wasn't the kind of person to let that be without using it to their advantage. Besides, he had a feeling that the only one who would teach him would be Naruto, and he couldn't allow the blond to think he was superior in any way.
Night began to fall, and team seven was starting to feel the dull boredom that came with staking out an area for hours. Naruto repeatedly moved into fits of complaining asking why they couldn't just pummel them now, and griping about how uncomfortable it was. A few hits from Sakura did the trick for shutting him up.
It probably was because they were staking out and it was taxing on the nerves, but Sakura wasn't feeling any better after taking a few swings at the blond. Usually it gave her an outlet to let off some steam and calm down some. Now it just made her feel even worse than before.
She couldn't help but feel that the forest was chipping at her sanity.
Thankfully, after dark fell, they didn't have to wait very long. They watched the group crouch near each other and discuss what Sasuke assumed to be the guard shift. It only made sense for them to leave the scroll with the single person who was awake. They could see the redhead furiously shouting at the brunette man, whom they now assumed had the first shift, probably threatening him. The other nin scoffed but said something to mitigate his teammate.
After an hour, (just to make it more likely that the other two nin were really asleep,) it was time for team seven to make a move.
"So what do we do now?" Sakura whispered.
Mulling the matter over in his mind, Sasuke frowned. He didn't like the set up at all. It seemed too perfect. The entire thing could possibly have been a show meant to trick them from the very point that they stumbled across the camp and saw the 'fight.' Despite that, the foreign kunoichi's reaction suggested otherwise, but that also could have been planned . . . Sasuke frowned. He was either underestimating their tactical abilities or severely overestimating them. Whatever the case was, they needed to strike now before they lost their chance.
Before Sasuke could make a decision as to how they would attack, he noticed the faintest shimmer around the edges of the foreign shinobi's outline. His eyes widened, and he quickly activated his sharingan.
Just as he thought. The other ninja had created a mud-clone to take his place before sneaking away. Sasuke's suspicion that it had all been a setup from the beginning waned when he realized that the enemy- nin's two companions were solid, and genuine. Scanning their immediate surroundings, he noticed a faint hint of chakra further down the river, but it was nowhere near where team seven was positioned. Only the brunette shinobi had made a clone and snuck away . . . could it be possible?
"That ninja's just a clone," he informed his teammates absently as he deactivated his sharingan and began forming a plan in his mind. "The original is about one hundred meters south east."
"What?!" Naruto exclaimed, irritated.
"Naruto, this is a good thing," Sakura spoke as if she was giving a lecture. "This means we can attack him three-to-one."
"Alright! Let's get him!" the blond smiled excitedly.
"When we get there, stay and wait for my command." The Uchiha mostly directed this to Naruto, and the latter scoffed and looked away. The excitement of actual confrontation was too much to sour his mood though.
Unlike her teammate, the idea of confrontation made Sakura's heart beat nervously in her chest.
Despite how many times in the academy she'd gone over scenarios like this, she was so unsure it made her tremble. The reality of the situation coupled with the very real threat of danger made it clear to her how inapplicable and inadequate those word problems were. Really being in the situation was nothing like that. There were so many ways the enemy could react, countless variables in the setting, weather, weapons, sun position, time— in everything. There was no preparing for this harsh world she had signed up for when she was a little girl. This certainly hadn't been what she imagined, nor aspired to. Sasuke was the only thing on her mind, not actually accomplishing the missions or surviving life-threatening conditions. She had become a ninja to stare at her crush every day. In the end, she had gotten her wish. Sakura was on Sasuke's team, and every day she could, (and did) stare.
The reality of that was also nothing like she had thought it would be. The reality of the situation was that she was deadweight. That was a thousand times worse than being the dead-last, who had proven to be invaluable many times over. She hated Naruto simply because despite how poorly he had done at the academy, he was proving to be a far more competent ninja than Sakura was, and that wasn't fair. She studied so hard! All she wanted was for Sasuke to see how brilliant she was. Her plan seemed to have backfired spectacularly as time and time again she had to be saved by not only Sasuke, but Naruto as well.
Gritting her teeth against the bitter taste on her lips, she promised herself that if she survived this exam, she would train. Sakura would train harder than any kunoichi even had in the history of the world. No more shying away from hard work! First she would surpass Naruto and Ino and everyone else who stood in her way! Then she would take her rightful place besides the Uchiha— where she belonged. With that goal in mind, she steeled herself to the task ahead of her, and vowed to be as useful as she could be.
She was startled out of her musings by a firm clap on the shoulder by Naruto, who matched the determined look on her face with one of his own. Taken by surprise, she didn't have time to react negatively, (or at all for that matter,) because the next thing she knew, they were heading out after the nin. She followed after her two teammates in textbook single-file.
The first thing she heard on arrival was a slightly manic laugh.
"—fools if they want to be. I'm done playing this stupid game."
Sasuke's eyes narrowed as he quickly took in the situation. The brunette foreign ninja was inches away from pulling the outer seal off of the scroll.
"He's gonna open the scroll!" Sakura exclaimed in a barely hushed tone.
"Yosh!" That was all the warning Naruto gave before he started running in, twenty clones appearing and following right after. They quickly began to engage the enemy in an all-out brawl.
Sasuke let out a hiss as he batted away the immense frustration and consequential migraine that dealing with his blond teammate always brought about. "Idiot." He let out a long sigh. "We have to salvage this mission. Come on."
Sakura nodded with resolve. Unlike Naruto, who had run in headfirst, Sasuke circumvented the situation so that he was hovering on the edges of the foliage at an angle to their enemy. The nin hadn't noticed them yet due to Naruto's brash behavior, and Sasuke took advantage of that distraction to slowly begin closing the distance on his side.
"Sakura, apply a deterrent genjutsu," Sasuke murmured lightly into her ear. Giddy and amative shivers worked their way across Sakura's skin. Sasuke nearly shouted in alarm as he felt similar pinpricks. The resulting blush sent him spiraling into mortification. He shook his head desperately, trying to clear the fog and distraction all the oscillating emotions had caused.
"What the hell?!" Naruto exclaimed. The Uchiha jerked his eyes that way in apprehension. Naruto was fine, despite the distinct flush of red, that is.
A slow and horrifying idea was beginning to form in his mind, but with the enemy only meters away, he was forced to lock his jaw and push it aside.
After this, they would settle things. They had to settle things. Any more of this and Sasuke was going to lose his mind.
While he had been occupied with his perturbing thoughts, Sakura had quickly applied the genjutsu as Sasuke had instructed. Thankfully, she had missed his fit of rosy cheeks. If she hadn't Sasuke was certain he would have offed himself then and there from the sheer embarrassment. Uchiha's did not blush.
The purpose of the genjutsu Sakura executed was to direct the targets attention away from the attacker. The effect was that the foreign shinobi was slightly dissuaded from looking in their direction. It was a basic D-rank, but invaluable in missions that required inconspicuous action, such as investigation.
In the end, the jutsu might have been pointless, because Naruto was kicking up such a fit, (to the twelfth power, as there were a dozen replicas reacting similarly,) that Sasuke seriously doubted the enemy ninja would stop staring at the spectacle that was their teammate any time soon.
It wasn't until they were just a meter away, and Sakura's foot landed awkwardly and accidently knocked a pebble aside, that the foreign shinobi noticed their existence. As Sasuke spotted the stiffening of the enemy's posture, he was already moving in with a kunai. The target's reflexes were enough to block Sasuke's attack, but they weren't enough to cover the punch delivered from his blond teammate from behind.
With a few more quick jabs delivered by Sasuke, the enemy was down for the count. Naruto let out a cheer, and though both teammates smiled in mirroring relief, they quickly realized that the danger of the situation had not ended. Swiftly and silently, the trio dragged the body into the underbrush, in case one of the foreign nin's teammates came looking for him.
Within the weapons pouch, they discovered their prize. A heaven scroll was held reverently in Sakura's hands. Sasuke quickly raided the unconscious man's supply of items, pleased to find a couple ration bars, some wire, shuriken, and kunai. The somewhat large collection of explosive tags was a surprise though not unwelcome. He quickly divided them with his teammates. Afterwards, Sasuke and Naruto promptly abandoned the body back where they fought. Sakura tried her hand at a sleeping jutsu, hoping to keep him knocked out for a day at least. Sakura's chakra was practically exhausted, so she couldn't firmly assert that it had worked. Despite that, she hoped that because he was already unconscious and most likely had a concussion, (mostly due to the direct blow from her blond teammate and his power-packed right hook,) the genjutsu would work and he would stay under. Not only would that cripple his team in manpower and put them at a tactical disadvantage, but it would also ensure that he wouldn't come after them. Their anonymity could save them a lot of trouble in the long run.
Nodding to each other and exchanging hard-earned smiles, (smirks in Sasuke's case,) the trio quickly departed to their temporary encampment. The trip back was eerily quiet as each of them was wrapped up in their own thoughts and the puzzle of the recent happenings. Sasuke quickly directed a quick circle around the perimeter of the clearing.
Finding nothing was wrong, the three reconvened at the base of the cave.
Staring at each other, the anxiety that had slowly been building up all day was finally being let out. The combined collection of the three's feelings was like undamming a tsunami of fretfulness. The rush swept over them, raising their heartbeats and thoroughly unsettling their thoughts.
"Wh—what's going on?" Sakura finally asked. The fear in her voice joined perfectly with the boys.'
Naruto shook his head jerkily. "I don't know!" The frustration mixed with the distress. The two feelings complimented each other in a miserable combination.
"I'm having these feelings, and they aren't my own." Sasuke spat out the words like them were venom.
"Me too." Naruto fidgeted uncomfortably.
"I think they're your emotions that I'm feeling," Sasuke said with narrow eyes as he stared at Naruto and Sakura. It took a few moments for the statement to actually sink into his teammates' minds.
Naruto stared incredulously. "Like what, we're sharing emotions? That's stupid!"
"Do you have a better explanation?" Sasuke asked tetchily.
"It could be a genjutsu?" Sakura suggested, wringing her hands.
Without a word, Sasuke activated his sharingan. Just like before, he was coming up with nothing. He had suspected as much. Sasuke would have noticed it when he activated it before. Making sure didn't hurt, and double-checking was never a bad idea . . .
He delivered a swift thwack.
"Damnit Sasuke-teme! Stop hitting me!"
"Stop yelling at Sasuke-kun!"
The rush of anger the Uchiha felt confirmed his fear that it wasn't related to a jutsu. "I'm checking for genjutsu you idiot!"
"Well soooorrryyy!" Naruto sarcastically replied, "It might help a little if you said something first!"
"You should already know this, dobe!"
"Teme—"
"Just calm down!" Sakura cut through their argument. "Stop it with the anger, I can't deal with it!"
Sasuke forced himself to take a few deep breaths and saw Naruto copy.
"I guess it's safe to assume that we aren't in a genjutsu." Sakura stated at last.
Sasuke sighed. "No genjutsu."
Silence reigned for several minutes, the group simply absorbing the information and trying to grasp what was going on.
"So for whatever reason, we're sharing emotions with each other?" Sakura asked; the question was still laced with doubt.
Sasuke nodded grudgingly. The truth of the matter was undeniable. "It's possible that snake ninja— Orochimaru," he corrected, "—did something to us."
"What did he do to you Naruto?" Sakura asked, "All I saw was him hitting you in the stomach with some weird chakra."
The anxiety he was feeling betrayed his calm and nonchalant words. "I dunno, he just messed up my chakra system. I don't think that has a lot to do with what's going on with the three of us."
Sasuke scanned his teammate. He was hiding something, but what he'd said felt true at least. Weighing the matter in his mind, Sasuke decided not to push the subject right now. He would later when they had more time and weren't in a survivalist competition.
"So, if it wasn't to do with him hitting you with that chakra, then what was it?" Sasuke asked slowly. Though the team had recognized the problem, (that in and of itself turned out to be a taxing and arduous ordeal,) figuring out the cause was turning out to be more puzzling still. The trio ruminated over the matter, and it was several minutes before Sakura finally snapped her fingers in realization.
Her delight at possibly figuring out what happened morphed into an awkward and nearly fearful mindset. The two boys stared at her with perplexity.
"What is it, Sakura-chan?" Naruto asked, as he tried to shake off the apprehension that was settling around them.
She hesitated a second more. "Could it be . . . What he did to your neck, Sasuke-kun?"
Reflexively, Sasuke's hand shot to his neck which still ached from the attack.
Naruto stared between the two with a confused expression, "What happened to Sasuke's neck?"
"That Orochimaru guy he uh— well, he—" She stumbled over her words, trying to find a better way of putting it.
"He bit me and then ran away," Sasuke finished bluntly.
The statement sat in the humid forest air for a few moments before it was joined by the guffaws of the blond ninja.
"H—he what?!" Naruto asked with a quivering smile. He had to hear Sasuke repeat the sidesplitting sentence.
A few chuckles forced their way past Sasuke's lips before he could stop them. "It isn't funny," he tried vainly. Thinking about the strange occurrence, it was rather funny. Why the snake-summoner picked masticating him out of all the other things he could have done, Sasuke would never know.
"He gave you a hickey?! That was his ultimate attack?" Naruto began giggling and Sasuke chortled even more.
The light and mirthful exchange didn't last for very long, because a new and overpowering anger began to build from the pink-haired kunoichi.
"It isn't funny, Naruto!" She shouted, "Do you know how scary it was to see that happen!?"
Naruto quelled from her wrath, but Sasuke responded with a dose of his own anger, "Shhh! Sakura shut up! You'll give away our position!"
She immediately wilted and settled back into a meeker state, abashed at her angry behavior.
"Why do you think the emotions flip like that?" Naruto asked his teammates. "Y'know, like why did it go from funny to angry?"
"Hn." That was a good question actually. All of them were forced to stumble around in the dark as they tried to figure out the edges and corners to their new situation.
"Maybe it's whatever emotion is stronger?" The pink haired-kunoichi put in thoughtfully. The logic seemed sound. They didn't have an exact way to prove right now, so it was tentatively agreed upon for the moment. Sasuke in particular decided to file that theory away for further analysis. Perhaps if he was getting overwhelmed by his teammates, he could try to fight back with one of his own emotions and smother the two of them instead. He needed some way to stop all the bleed-through. It was driving him up the wall.
"So what's the deal with the bite?" Naruto asked, bringing the matter back around.
"I'm not sure. My neck kind of hurts, but otherwise I think I'm fine," Sasuke replied.
"Lemme see." Naruto grinned foxily as he moved near his teammate. He wanted to see the love-bite. "Woah! Sasuke, there's something here."
"What is it?" Sasuke shifted as he tried to see for himself.
"It's sort of like—" Naruto's words failed him as he observed the complex red diagram on his friend's skin. It was shaped like a circle, and within there were thousands of characters in seemingly random order crisscrossing it. Below that, he could make out the faint outline of three tomoe.
"It looks kind of like a seal," Sakura put in with equal confusion.
"Orochimaru must have done it. That's probably the reason why then . . ." Sasuke's mood dropped to freezing point. As if he needed another reason to hate the snake-summoning bastard. It was clear that Orochimaru was to blame for this entire situation.
"Fuck." Naruto summed up the entire thing aptly. The other two sighed.
"What now?" Sakura asked.
"We need to finish the exam first off. Then we talk to Kakashi about this, he might be able to undo it— whatever it is."
The choice wasn't a pleasing one for any of them, but it wasn't as though there were a lot of options. For now, it seemed like they would have to put up with each other's moods until they found an earth scroll and finished the second exam.
Easier said than done.
"I think the best thing we can do is try and keep a lid on our emotions." Sasuke knew that Kami couldn't have picked two worse people to put in this situation besides Sakura and Naruto. The blond in particular had influenced them the most by far with his radical and extreme moods. Sakura was nowhere near innocent though. All the infatuation and over-emotional responses made him nauseous when he even thought about it.
"It's a major distraction having everyone's feelings running around in our heads, so we need to be careful," Sasuke continued, trying to press the importance of keeping control of their emotions. The duo nodded, but all of them knew exactly how difficult it would be to stop all the emotions leaking out.
The night was already upon them, so it was obvious that sleep was in order. Before they could even figure out an arrangement for a guard shift, the sound of talking sent all of them on high alert. They quickly backed into the crevasses of the cave, hiding themselves from view. A group of three foreign shinobi exited from the trees.
"—on't know why it's taking you so long?!" The voice was definitely male and the irritation he felt was rampant.
"Shut up. It's harder than it looks!" A female voice replied irritably.
The Konoha trio watched with bated breath and tightly grasped kunai to see if the foreign nin would approach them, but they were moderately surprised to find them walking cleanly around the perimeter of the clearing. It was suspicious to say the least.
Was it possible the enemies hadn't noticed them?
They could make out the vague forms of the people. The girl had long straight locks and one of the boys had spiky hair, and the other—
"It's the guy that attacked Kabuto," Sakura whispered in remembrance. These guys were the ninja from the sound village.
"Hurry up and find the Uchiha brat, Kin. I'm sick of this forest," The spiky-haired boy said. His words sent massive ripples out to team seven.
Sakura felt panic swell in her chest. Looking for Sasuke-kun? But why?
"Sakura, calm down," the Uchiha hissed, trying to stabilize his rapidly beating heart.
"Right, sorry." The embarrassment and apology in the air was enough. With a few deep breaths, the static in the air began to settle down.
Luckily, the other ninja appeared not to hear.
"Ugh! I don't understand why I can't find him!" The female of the group, whose name was apparently 'Kin,' cursed, "All the tracks lead here, but it just cuts off so suddenly!"
"Clearly you aren't trying hard enough," the boy shot back, annoyance clear in his tone.
"Did you want to give it a try, Zaku?" Kin shot back venomously. "Your tracking skills are absolutely pathetic. I don't even know why you got put on this mission."
"Because someone has to fight when we catch the Uchiha."
"I know; that's why I'm here. Perhaps it's more to do with keeping up with appearances," Kin said with a cruel smirk. "It would be awfully strange to only have two teammates, and someone probably has to drop out to keep suspicion away."
"You stupid bitch!" Zaku hissed in reply. The girl just gave a cold laugh as she watched him steam.
"Shut up," the ninja that looked like a mummy finally spoke with a low voice. Out of the three, he seemed to be the most levelheaded by far. "Orochimaru-sama won't tolerate this kind of behavior. Keep it together you two."
The three leaf nin shared a brief flare of surprise and nervousness. Everything seemed to come back full-circle to the snake summoner. All of them were wondering what his deal was with Sasuke. The Uchiha had never met, or even heard of the man before yesterday, and suddenly he was a very active presence in the events occurring around the young clan heir.
Eventually, the sound of the enemy shinobi's voices moved away from the group, moving towards the river. Team seven remained frozen for fifteen minutes, no one felt comfortable moving after their close brush with danger. It was only after Sasuke pulled on the sharingan and did a brief scan and confirmed there was no genjutsu, did the three finally step out from the shadow of the cave. Sasuke growled at his low chakra supply. Activating the sharingan as much as he had, even if it was only for a few seconds, was more taxing than it should have been. After this he would be training for certain.
"What the hell does that snake-bastard want with you?" Naruto grit out shakily, still feeling the aftereffects of the apprehension from before.
Wouldn't Sasuke like to know. It was frustrating seeing the enemy clearly creating plans to do something with him, and not knowing a single detail or explanation about it. The big question on his mind though was what their aims were? What did they hope to gain through finding him?
"This place is compromised." Sasuke tried to rearrange himself back into the cold and clinical shinobi mindset. Easier said than done when the sharp teeth of his teammates' emotions –nervousness and bewilderment— were gnawing at him from the inside.
"Should we send a clone to scout for another location?" Sakura asked her crush.
The black-haired boy shook his head. After their near encounter with the enemy, Sasuke didn't want to spend another minute here if they could avoid it. "We can't stay here any longer."
His stony attitude was hard to argue with. All of them were still wary of what had just happened so in no time flat, they had cleared the area of their existence and prepared to leave. Sasuke squinted at the red edifice at the horizon. The sound ninja had headed towards the river, which meant their best bet was to start moving the opposite direction. Sadly, this meant towards the tower, where there would no doubt be several teams waiting to ambush them. Still, that was less intimidating than the three sound shinobi and their unidentified, (though no doubt mal-intended,) plan for him.
Sasuke quickly relayed his thoughts to the other two, but the distracted air around his pink-haired teammate forced him to clear his throat. He had never actually needed to get her attention. "We're leaving Sakura."
She nodded distantly and spent a few more seconds staring back at the cave, as though there was something more to it— something more that Sasuke couldn't see. She gave the slightest incline, almost like a bow, before her gaze moved back to the present. Without another word, they exchanged quick, (though exhausted) nods, and took to the trees.
.
.
.
.
.
More awesomeness to come next week! :D
We have some pretty neat things coming up.
Soooo the seal Minato added in has some unexpected effects . . . Thoughts?
REview?