Secret Technique
The next morning was all sunshine, something Natsuki couldn't stand, the sun's rays creeping through the curtains and shining right in her face. It was and is THE worst alarm clock ever and no amount of cover up can put her back to sleep once her eyes are open. "Why? Why me?" she complained as she kicked off the covers in frustration and went to see if Dairuko was still asleep which he wasn't. "Of course he's gone," she sighed "stupid morning people don't know the trials we go through every morning waking up." she muttered as she went to the kitchen and made breakfast for herself.
After breakfast, Natsuki made her way to the park to meet her team and get briefed on the mission status. Despite the rude awakening by the giant yellow orb in the sky the day was beautiful, along with a park full of children playing ninja. She remembered the days when she and Dairuko played ninja together later joined by Itachi and his little brother Sasuke back when life was easy. As she thought that her fellow teammates appeared.
"Hey you three." she said as Jiraiya took a seat and began to explain the mission.
"So we're the safety net then." Dairuko shrugged.
"Basically yes," Jiraiya said "unfortunately I won't be part of the mission."
"Why not?" Natsuki asked.
"I'm stuck training a genin for the finals as a favour to his parents."
"Who's the kid? Maybe we can help out." Itachi offered.
"Uzumaki Naruto and thanks for the offer but I'll go solo."
"The blonde kid with whiskers?" Natsuki asked.
"Yes...you met him?"
"Once but we only got a name."
"He's also the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki." All three of the students froze as they remembered their first encounter with the Kyuubi.
FLASHBACK
The red tinted sky due to the fires; the cries of those ninja who have died trying to protect their village, cries of their loved ones and three genin too stunned to run but brave enough to fight for those precious to them. The battle was intense; every able-bodied shinobi was fighting all out against the Kyuubi. The latter was about to unleash a powerful chakra bomb that was heading straight for a large number of ninja and the Third could do nothing but watch, when out of nowhere a small girl appeared with tears in her eyes and a furious expression on her face. She suddenly created a shield out of pure chakra that blocked the chakra bomb; however the shockwave knocked many shinobi off balance, including Sarutobi. As they were getting up the Kyuubi went for a more direct approach and was about to slam his paw down on the Third when a boy bearing the Uchiha symbol on his back appeared, finishing a series of hand signs. "Fire Style:Great Fire Annihilation!" he screamed and unleashed a gigantic flame that pushed back the tailed beast.
Meanwhile as the beast recovered; a third child ran across the Kyuubi until he was face to face with it and unleashed a thunderous punch right between it's eyes. The child was flung overhead upon impact but caught by the Fourth Hokage who appeared out of thin air.
"Hokage-sama," he said stunned "where'd you-"
"Are those two your team-mates?" the Fourth asked looking at the unconscious forms of the two children in question about to be crushed.
"You have to save them!" he screamed and in an instant the genin was with the other two and the Fourth had disappeared. No sooner had he reached them when the Kyuubi was suddenly on them again, a huge paw swinging down on the spot where he and the others were. He shut his eyes and threw up his good arm (the other one was still numb from punching the Kyuubi) ...barely his strength alone would be able to hold it for long so he used what strength he had left to push the paw high enough that anyone would be able to grab the other two and escape safely instead, the Third showed up and managed to get all three of them out to safety.
"What you did was incredibly stupid!" the Third scolded the young boy "but it was quite brave of you and your teammates."
"They are...not...my teammates." the child said barely able to speak.
"Who are they to you?"
"They are...my friends." he said before passing out from exhaustion.
End Flashback
"Don't worry kids, Naruto doesn't seem affected by it so if you're worried about me don't be, I'll be fine." Jiraiya assured them.
"I'm more worried about Naruto having to deal with your perverted, money wasting ways." Dairuko added.
"Hypocrite."
"I don't waste money...I make it."
"Only because I made you realise your natural talent for gambling."
"Yeah what a thing to teach a 10 year old."
"OK." Natsuki intervened "Stay safe, sensei."
"Yeah and try not to get into too much trouble you old pervert." Dairuko added sarcastically, Itachi just nodded.
"Thanks I'll see you three later." with that, Jiraiya left.
"Itachi how about we go a couple rounds...for old times sake." Dairuko nudged Itachi.
"You make it sound as if we haven't sparred in months." Itachi said.
"Are you two coming or not?" Natsuki called out to Dairuko and Itachi.
"God Damn it Natsuki, the trash-talk had just begun!" Dairuko complained.
"We all know how this ends; you challenge Itachi, Itachi pretends he doesn't want to but deep down he does and then you two go off to fight, which either ends in a draw or one of you wins depending on how serious the fight is. So can we now please just go to the training grounds and spar? My skills need to be up to par for our current mission."
"You can be such a spoil sport Natsuki."
"Yeah yeah whatever Dairuko can we go now?" she sighed and they left.
At the training grounds the three ninja stood in complete silence, all you could hear was the gentle breeze until Natsuki threw an explosive kunai in the centre of the stand still which allowed all three to back away and think up strategies.
'Think, Natsuki! You've fought these two before; Dairuko's strength and physical prowess are unmatched; his intelligence is above average despite how he acts. He is an excellent, in-the-moment strategist so fighting close combat with him is dangerous if not plain down suicidal. Itachi is well rounded; specialities are his Sharingan and his genjutsu. His ninjutsu comprises mostly of fire and water style and taijutsu skills are impressive though not at Dairuko's level but strong enough to send opponents flying.' Natsuki thought as she hid in a tree.
'Natsuki is the smartest out of the three of us no doubt about it. She knows the most jutsu and contains more chakra as well not to mention her way to manipulate her own chakra into whatever she needs...she's probably set traps for Dairuko and I.' Itachi thought while hiding in a bush.
"Helloooooo!" Dairuko called out. He was the only one who still stood in the open "are you guys done yet? I'm bored!" he finished when a water dragon appeared behind him which he dodged easily although while in mid-air he noticed a fireball heading straight for him; to counter it he clapped his hands together causing a gust of wind to extinguish it.
"Earth Style: Mudslide Jutsu!" Natsuki exclaimed as the entire grounds moved forward into Dairuko as he landed, trapping him in solidifying mud while at the same time forcing Itachi out into the open.
'That mud will be able to hold Dairuko until it solidifies. Now I just need to take care of Itachi quick or at least subdue him until I take out Dairuko.' she thought when shuriken came straight for her.
"Easier said than done I guess." she said as she dodged the shuriken.
"Sorry Natsuki but I won't go down as easily as Dairuko." Itachi said as he made a fireball and she countered with a water missile. Itachi lunged at Natsuki who used Hidden Mist on top of the vapour left from their jutsu clash allowing her to disappear right before Itachi's eyes leaving him to look around for her.
As Itachi activated his Sharingan he saw a fireball coming right at him and he countered it with his own when Natsuki popped out of the ground in an uppercut but Itachi grabbed her wrist then another Natsuki charged him with her Lightning Cutter causing him to shove the clone away and leap into the air waiting for Natsuki to pass him as he readied his fireball however, she didn't run pass him instead appearing above him -Lightning Cutter active- and with nowhere to go her jutsu found its mark in Itachi's chest. When the two hit the ground Itachi turned into crows.
"Of course you'd use your crows." Natsuki sighed.
"I know you saw that coming Natsuki only Dairuko wouldn't." Itachi said when out of nowhere Dairuko broke out of the ground in a flurry of stones and rocks causing the two to leap away.
"ITACHI!" Dairuko screamed as he grabbed Itachi's leg and flung him into Natsuki and the two of them flew into a tree.
The impact hurt but it wasn't as bad as it could have been since Itachi's fall was cushioned by Natsuki. He found himself on top of Natsuki who -with her head tilted far back looking at Dairuko- said,
"Dairuko shouldn't have broken out so soon."
"Is he getting stronger?" Itachi said before Natsuki rolled him over so that she was on top.
"Can't think if I'm at the bottom," she said "besides I like this position...better centre of gravity."
"Where was this confidence last night?" he closed his eyes and smirked.
She blinked, confused.
"I wasn't-" she was cut off by Itachi opening his eyes and putting her under a genjutsu.
"Get a room why don't you!" Dairuko called out while facepalming.
"Now we can begin our battle Dairuko." Itachi said as he got up.
"Finally." Dairuko sighed as he took his fighting stance while Itachi activated his Mangekyou Sharingan. "Well you stepped things up a bit Itachi...I may have to use my secret weapon." Itachi remained silent.
Their clash began as Dairuko charged at Itachi who back-stepped and shot a series of fireballs that Dairuko was able to dodge without losing speed; Itachi then sent two clones at Dairuko. Though Dairuko was able to block and dodge the clones' attacks they were doing the same attack forcing Dairuko to block his left and right side making him unable to counter until he got an idea; the two clones both attempted to punch Dairuko, but instead he punched one and when the other landed its punch he grabbed its arm before it could pull away completely and swept it off it's feet, then while still airbourne Dairuko slammed his fist into it's chest causing both clones to disappear. Itachi was still standing there giving that famous Uchiha stare before sending a series of explosive clones toward Dairuko.
"Nice try Uchiha but;" Dairuko said as he uprooted a tree and slung it over his shoulder "I have this." and he swung that tree like it was nothing which, by the end of it there was pretty much nothing left due to the explosives.
"You are quite resourceful as always." Itachi noted.
"Eat this!" Dairuko screamed before throwing what was left of the tree at Itachi who put his hand on the tree and used it as leverage to dodge it. "He flew?!" Dairuko said in shock as Itachi turned into crows and appeared behind Dairuko, holding a kunai to his throat.
"It's over Dairuko." Itachi said then tensed the kunai when suddenly Dairuko turned to a puff of smoke.
"You saw what I did to your clones and you still want to fight me in close combat...either brave or stupid Itachi." Dairuko said and the two shinobi charged into one another neither one giving an inch as they exchanged blows. Unfortunately for Itachi he didn't have the luxury to block Dairuko's attacks he could only dodge and counter where possible due to Dairuko's monster strength; eventually Dairuko landed a punch that knocked Itachi away.
"Fire Style: ..." Itachi started the handsigns.
"Secret Technique:" Dairuko reached into his ninja pouch "Barrier!" and pulled out a picture that stopped Itachi dead in his tracks.
"N-nani?" Itachi was stunned, Dairuko smirked and punched Itachi in the face effectively K.O'ing the Uchiha Prodigy (the latter thoroughly distracted).
"Gotcha." Dairuko smirked until two hands emerged from underground and grabbed his legs then Natsuki appeared out of nowhere. "Where did- you were supposed to be in a genjutsu!" Dairuko looked at where Natsuki should be and the body that was there disappeared in a puff. "A shadow clone?"
"Yup. I escaped the genjutsu while you two were fighting and used the distraction to make a shadow clone and hide away until there was an opening." Natsuki explained "Now what's on that picture?"
"Nothing!" Dairuko exclaimed as Natsuki snatched it out of his hands. Once she looked at the picture her face went as red as a tomato.
"DAIRUKO!" she roared as she balled up her fist.
"Secret Technique: Barrier!" he screamed desperately as he grabbed Itachi, ripped off his shirt and threw him on top of Natsuki causing her to blush-out -dropping to the ground like a sack of rocks- due to seeing Itachi's shirtless form. "Whew; that was waaay too close for comfort." Dairuko sighed in relief as he crushed the picture and left, but not before having fun with his unconscious teammates.
Itachi finally came to after that sucker punch he received from Dairuko when he realised he was shirtless, in a bush full of flowers and Natsuki snuggled on his chest.
'What did you do Dairuko?' he thought as he looked at the unconscious woman on his chest. 'I'm not complaining though.' Natsuki snuggled closer to Itachi and he softened his stare, taking note of all her features. He imagined her light grey eyes, as he ran his hand through her silken, soft hair. Her perky lips held a small smile. Her piercings giving her a punkish look, all of these features made her beautiful to him even though her personality was the opposite of his. Thoughts of his family briefly crossed his mind.
'Feelings like these are natural;' He told himself, 'we are human; we all require love but I am a shinobi and as a shinobi you cannot get too attached to another for if I were to die I'd put her through unnecessary pain and grief that she does not deserve...' he pulled Natsuki closer '...but I can indulge myself in this feeling for a little while longer.' and he closed his eyes.