"You know, you're a special kind of jounin."
Kakashi stirred slowly in the make-shift bed. Opening his eye, he looked to his surroundings. He was in a room… Huh. He didn't remember getting here.
"I guess I over did it with the Sharingan." Kakashi thought, trying to sit up, but falling back down instead.
Then he remembered. He woke up to someone talking to him. He turned his head again and saw one of his students leaning against the wall: Kanoko.
"What?" Kakashi asked.
Kanoko kept her eyes close before saying, "I said you're a special kind of jounin…"
A warm feeling grew in Kakashi, believing his student was paying him a compliment.
"…It certainly takes a special kind of stupid to allow your student to get poisoned, get trapped in a cage made of water, have to rely on your students to bail you out, and then later pass out due to chakra exhaustion while the threat has yet to be neutralized. And that's all in the first week of being a jounin instructor." Kanoko finished in a flat, uncaring tone, and arms crossed.
Kakashi felt like he just received several kunai to his back.
"So hurtful…" Kakashi thought.
Then he jerked up. Last he remembered, he had faced Zabuza in a battle of water jutsu. After nearly finishing him, a Mist ANBU Hunter Nin attacked Zabuza, finishing him off. Kakashi even remembered checking his pulse. What did Kanoko mean by, "the threat has yet to be neutralized".
Kanoko opened her eyes to stare at Kakashi, "The hunter nin. He watched the entire fight from the shadows. If his real interest was Zabuza's death, he would have intervened when the odd of us winning were at its lowest: When you were caged."
Kakashi looked at Kanoko with narrowed eyes, "How come you didn't tell me there were other threats in the area?"
Kanoko shrugged, thinking, "I was a little busy cleaning up your mess."
"Brat." Kakashi thought, deciding against further arguing with his student. It was pointless anyways and there were bigger concerns.
At this moment, Naruto and Sakura came in. "Sensei! You're awake!" Naruto spoke loudly.
After sitting down, Kakashi-sensei explained to them and Tazuna's family about Zabuza's likely survivial. Naruto, of course, was happy by this news – as only he would – because it meant he had another chance to take Zabuza down.
"Sensei you said that we need to prepare quickly, but how are we going to do that, when you can barely move?" Sakura asked, concerned.
Kakashi's eye turned into a smile and said, "Well, I can still train you."
Sakura jumped up and yelled, "Hold on! A little last minute training is not going to help us last against someone like Zabuza! We have to be reasonable about this!"
"It's like… Only the women are sane ones in this timeframe… Well, except for Yoshino… That's always debatable." Kanoko thought, a small smile forming on her face, thinking about her family.
"I wonder what they're doing right now…" Kanoko thought, gazing out the window, ignoring her team's ramblings.
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"What a drag…" Shikamaru said, walking down Konoha's streets, looking for a certain building.
"I wouldn't worry so much… *munch* *munch* Shikamaru. It's just a C-ranked mission." Choji said walking next to his best friend, munching on some chips.
Shikamaru turned his head to Choji and gave him a blank look before saying, "*sigh* It's just troublesome… I don't want to talk about it anymore."
"Ok buddy. If you want to talk, I'm here for you." Choji told his friend.
"Thanks Choji." Shikamaru said with sincerity.
Arriving at the Hokage's tower, Shikamaru waved bye to Choji before walking in and making his way for his father's office.
After talking to the chunin at the front, he was escorted to where his father was.
"Shikamaru, what are you doing here?" Shikaku asked, dismissing a shinobi he was speaking with.
Shikamaru extended his arm out, holding a box wrapped in a green cloth. "You left your lunch at home. Again. Kaa-san told (threatened) me to bring it to you." Shikamaru explained in a bored tone.
Scratching his head, he laughed, "I suppose I did forget it. Bad habit, I suppose." Shikaku grabbed the bento box from his son and placed it on his desk. He looked at it for a moment, still scratching the back of his head.
Shikamaru made a move to leave when he heard his father say, "You know… Your sister brought me my lunch every day. Said something about how it's improper to allow your stomach to growl when meeting and discussing important village decisions, or something like that."
Shikaku looked at his son and chuckled, "Your sister is something else isn't she?"
Shikamaru stared at his father with a bland look before shrugging.
Barking out a deep laugh, Shikaku told his son, "Did you know she once told the Hokage that he was an idiot for not hiring a secretary or five to handle all of his paperwork? The Hokage was in shock! If it was because some 8 year-old had the guts to insult him or because he effectively wasted the last several years of his life to paperwork he didn't even need to do, I don't know."
Shikaku looked back to his desk before continuing, "But his face was priceless." He let out a few more chuckles before he walked over to Shikamaru and placed a hand on his shoulder.
"That's why I know she'll come home safe and sound. She's clever and is always thinking in practicalities. The world may be still black and white to her, but somehow, that makes her even more invulnerable. I'm not always sure how she does it, but she always manages." Shikaku smiled warmly at his son before turning back to his desk and grabbing some paperwork.
A last wave to Shikamaru, Shikaku said, "Have faith in her promise to you."
Shikamaru just walked out, not responding to his father just shrugging and walking away.
Shikaku smirked as he opened his lunch, "That boy… Both him and his sister… They're going to be a rathter interesting force to be reckoned with in the future."
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Kanoko stared at Kakashi.
Kakashi stared back at her.
.
.
.
"No." Kanoko said firmly, closing her eyes and crossing her arms.
"Come on Kanoko-chan!" Kakashi whined like a little kid.
"No." Kanoko firmed again. She had sucessfully dealt with a whiny Hashirama and a lazy Shikamaru. Kakashi was nothing.
"Pretty please!" Kakashi begged with his hands pressed together.
"No!" Kanoko was getting irritated.
"*sigh* I guess if that's your decision…" Kakashi said.
"It is." Kanoko agreed, finally calming, now that Kakashi had stopped bugging her.
.
Kakashi's eye glinted evilly.
Kanoko stood quickly, "You wouldn't dare-"
"NARUTO! SAKURA! KANOKO'S GOING TO TEACH YOU A REALLY AMAZING AND AWESOME NINJA SKILL!" Kakashi yelled from his bed.
Naruto and Sakura both came running, running over each other and pushing the other out of the way. Once they got into the room, they both looked up at Kanoko with innocent, childlike eyes.
Kanoko backed away with a disturbed look, before glaring at Kakashi, "I. Hate. You."
"Awww. That's so sweat Kanoko-chan! I feel the same way about you!" Kakashi said with a small crackle.
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"I wanna know! What is it?! What is this amazing and awesome skill?! Why won't you tell us?! How come you're leading us into the woods?!1 Why-"
"SHUT UP NARUTO!" Sakura yelled at Naruto, whacking him from behind.
"…Sakura-chan!" Naruto whined looking back at Sakura.
Kanoko just kept moving before stopping in front of some trees, "We're here."
Naruto and Sakura looked around before asking, "What are we doing here?"
Kanoko threw two kunai out. Each one landed on a tree, near the peak. "You both are going to go up there and grab it, but there are conditions…"
Kanoko looked back at the two of them, "You going to grab it by slowly walking up your tree. As practice, you can take a running start, but for you to pass, you must show me you can do it slowly."
Sakura looked confused and asked, "How are we supposed to do that?"
Kanoko bent down and grabbed a leaf. She focused on it, and then turned her hand upside down. The leaf did not fall.
"WOW! How did you do that? Is it some kind of trick?" Naruto asked, sticking his face close to Kanoko's hand, trying to look for wires or glue.
"No. Naruto, you know how in order to complete the Shadow Clone Jutsu, you must make hand signs, and then force some chakra out to form them?"
"Yeah. I have to do that with all my jutsus…" Naruto said placing his chin on his fist in thought.
"Instead of flushing the chakra out, you're going to train yourself by limiting the amount of chakra you use. In doing this, you'll be able to attach yourself to things like this leaf or that tree, or a kunai."
Naruto's face contorted, trying hard to understand what Kanoko was saying.
Sighing internally, she started again, "Think of it like this. You're at home, in your bathroom and you want to brush your teeth. First, you need to get your toothbrush wet. You could turn the faucet on max, but it would just splash everywhere – making a mess – when you only need a little bit for your toothbrush. The solution is that you don't turn your faucet on all the way, but limit how much is coming out."
A light bulb lit up in Naruto's head and he slammed his fist into his hand saying, "Oh! I got it! So how do we go that?"
Kanoko sighed, this time out loud, "First, I want you to focus on your chakra." Kanoko sat down, crisscrossed motioning Sakura and Naruto to follow.
"But Kanoko! We know how to do this part already!" Sakura whined.
Kanoko gave them bother a pointed look.
Closing her eyes, she continued, "Focus on the chakra within you. Chakra starts in the stomach and flows out to your body. Focus on your chakra and move it to your feet. Do this a few times."
Naruto and Sakura both sat, eye closed focusing on moving their chakra. After a good amount of time, Kanoko indicated from them to stand.
"Now that you have felt yourself move your chakra, I want to you walk over to the tree and stick your foot out onto the tree. Once you have done that, push out your chakra, in an attempt to stick to it. Don't try to run up the tree and don't get mad if you don't stick. We're not there yet." Kanoko warned, giving Naruto a pointed look.
He laughed nervously before going over and doing as he was told – surprisingly.
Kanoko observed as their first attempt ripped the bark off of the tree.
"What?! Why did it do that?!" Naruto asked, confused.
"You applied too much chakra. You need to apply enough chakra to stick, but not so much that the tree cracks underneath." Kanoko explained.
Kanoko walked over to Naruto, "Naruto, as an Uzumaki, you have an immense amount of chakra in reserve. This is great for ninjutsu because it means you have a better chance of out lasting your opponents and using more powerful jutsu."
Naruto looked up at Kanoko with stars in his eyes. His excitement was too much for Kanoko, "However, it means you going to have a much harder time controlling all that chakra. You remember how you could never complete the clone jutsu in the academy? It's because the jutsu requires a very small amount of chakra, and too much causes the jutsu to come out incorrectly. All Uzumakis faced this same problem growing up."
Naruto looked stuck between depressed that this was going to be another difficult thing to learn and happy that he's not the only one with this problem – or was the only one. (Kanoko never did research whether the Uzumaki clan still existed)
Kanoko walked over to Sakura and said, "You on the other hand, Sakura, are going to pick this up pretty quickly. Like me, your chakra reserves are fairly low. I'll show you ways to improve your reserves later, but for now let's focus on this. Just remember: Enough to stick, but not so much that you damage the tree. After you figure out how to stick, try taking a few runs at the tree, but don't go up too high until you're confident you'll stick."
With that, Kanoko walked over to a spot a ways from the two trees and sat down.
"I can't believe I got suckered into doing that useless jounin's job. He better being using this time productively." Kanoko thought, crossing her arms.
.
Elsewhere.
.
"Hehehehe." Peeking out from behind a brand new copy of Icha Icha Paradise was a masked jounin, also known as the Legendary Copy Ninja of the Leaf Village, with an upturned eye and a small blush on his cheek.
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A few days had passed since Kanoko started Naruto's and Sakura's training. Sakura, as suspected, got it right away. Naruto, however, was spending the days and nights out in the forest, training.
Kanoko praised him for his dedication. Well, not verbally, but it was praise, none the less.
They were all eating at the dinner table when Inari came in and yelled at them: Telling them Team 7 was going to die, and that they should just give up.
Tazuna apologized and told them Inari's story: His life up to this point. How he looked up to Tazuna's son, like he was his father, and how Tazuna's son was suddenly executed by Gato for being a hero.
Naruto stared ahead for a while, simmering with anger before he stood up from his seat, only to fall to the ground.
"Maybe you should take the day off Naruto. You've used too much chakra. Training further could kill you." Kakashi-sensei told Naruto, trying to sound reasonable.
Naruto just struggled to get up from the ground while saying, "I'm going to prove it…"
"Prove what?" Sakura asked.
While getting to his feet, Naruto said, "I'll prove! That it's true. That in this world, there are real heroes!" Naruto finished with a look of determination.
With that declaration, Naruto ran out the door to the forest to train.
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"Where's Naruto?" Kakashi asked the table.
"Who knows! He could be dead by now from chakra exhaustion!" Sakura said, annoyed at Naruto's carelessness.
"That sounds so cold. If I hadn't been raised with them, I'd think she'd really prefer him dead. However, I know that's just her weird way of showing that she cares… I take it back, not even the women are sane in this timeframe." Kanoko thought, poking at her food, wondering herself if Naruto was ok.
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They eventually found Naruto at his tree, up at the top, on a branch.
"Hey guys! Look I can tree walk now!" Naruto exclaimed.
Before he lost his footing.
"If he falls from that height, he's dead!" Kanoko thought breaking out into a run to catch him. Kakashi was still hobbling around on a crutch and Sakura isn't strong enough yet to grab Naruto.
"AHHHH!" Sakura screamed, closing her eyes.
"Whaaa! AH! HAHAHAHA! Got you!" Naruto yelled, as he fell, only to stick to the bottom of the branch by his feet.
"NARUTO!" Sakura growled out.
Kanoko had stopped at the bottom of the tree, when she saw Naruto had caught himself. She took a deep breath and called out, "Naruto. That's amazing. Come down here for a second. I want to give you a secret ninja scroll as a reward."
"What?! Oh boy!" Naruto ran down and stopped in front of Kanoko, "What is it?! A fire jutsu?! A dragon type of jutsu?! What?! What?!" Naruto had a large grin on his face and was jumping up and down.
Kanoko yanked Naruto, by the collar, close to her face and said darkly, "You EVER pull a stunt like that again, and I will DESTORY YOU."
Naruto gulped when Kanoko let him go, and laughed nervously, "Haha. Yep! Got it! Won't do that again!" Before running away behind Kakashi.
"If I'm still sane by the time they finish their training, it'll be a miracle." Kakashi thought with a sheepish smile, looking towards the sky.
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They were all back at Tazuna's house, getting ready for bed, when Sakura popped up with a question, "Kanoko? Remember when we were on the boat, crossing the water to get here? I asked you about those markings on your arm." Sakura finished, holding her knees close to her body.
Naruto jumped out from his covers and crawled over to Kanoko's futon, "Yeah! You said you'd tell us!"
Kanoko sighed, before looking over to Kakashi-sensei. Even he looked interested.
Kanoko pulled up her sleeve and activated the seal, "This is a form of fuinjutsu. Do you remember what we told you before about it, Naruto?"
Naruto nodded thoughtfully, watching light blue lines crawl up Kanoko's arm, "I thought that was about scrolls though."
Kanoko nodded, "Fuinjutsu can be written on scrolls, as that is most common, but it also can be placed on objects or tattooed onto a person's body. I tattooed this seal onto my body, at this point here." Kanoko finished, deactivating the seal and showing the black dot in the center of her palm.
She reactivated it: Six lines extending from the dot in her palm out to a larger circle. These lines extended past the circle, into a curved shape - making the design look like a whirlpool.
"With my left palm, I would touch or grab a ninja, sucking their chakra from them. Like a vacuum cleaner."
Naruto and Sakura both leaned over to get a closer look.
Kanoko then pointed to the two lines that went from her palm, up her arm. Kanoko pulled back her shirt farther, to show another circle of the same design on her shoulder, just above her chest.
"This is where the chakra is converted. Every person has a unique type of chakra. Not just that, they're different types of chakra a person can use, but not everyone can use those chakras. For example, a ninja may be using a rare form of chakra called, "Sage Chakra". This chakra is highly volatile and is nearly impossible to use. Very few in all of existence have used this chakra. If I were to drain this chakra directly, it would kill me. So to combat this, and any other tainted chakra that I may drain, this seal converts and purifies it. Allowing my body to absorb the chakra without ill effects."
Naruto had stars in his eyes, Sakura looked bewildered and Kakashi just stared at Kanoko in shock.
"THAT IS SO COOL! Oo! OO! Can you show me?! Huh?! HUH?!" Naruto yelled, jumping up and down.
Kanoko gave Naruto an unimpressed look, "No. First, you don't need it. You're chakra level is ridiculous and I'm not going to spend my time and patience teaching you something you don't need to know. Second, you'd abuse it. I don't trust you."
Kanoko closed her eyes before continuing, "And most importantly, there are two major drawbacks with this jutsu." She held up on figure, opening her eyes again, "One: Due to the intensity of the conversion process, to remove all impurities, the potency of the chakra is reduced by 50%." She added another figure, "Two: Even with the removal of 50% of the chakra I absorb, if I absorb too much, I'll burn my chakra points – preventing me from using any chakra, not to mention suffering from extreme pain. There isn't a pain much worse than burning your chakra points."
Sakura popped in, raising her hand, "If it's that risky, why do you use it?"
Kanoko looked over to Sakura, "I've spent my whole life increasing my chakra reserves, but they're still very low. They may never get to the level I would like, but with this seal and great chakra control, I will be able fight more battles. Shikamaru would tell you that a battle is determined within the first 5 minutes of a fight, but what he has yet to realize is there will always be a battle after that, and another one after that one. Being able to pace yourself, or recover your lost chakra is critical."
Kakashi decided to add to the discussion, "You talk as if you plan to fight a war in the future."
Kanoko stared back at her sensei and in all serious, said, "There will always be war."
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Kakashi-sensei was off the crutches now, but Kanoko wasn't sure if he was 100% yet.
Regardless, Team 7, minus Naruto, left to escort Tazuna to the bridge. They had decided to let Naruto sleep in because of how drained he was from all his training.
When they got to the bridge, however, they found all the workers on the ground: beaten up.
"What?! What happened?!" Tazuna yelled, running over to them.
.
Then the mist rolled in.
"Kanoko! Sakura! Get ready", Kakashi commanded, as they formed a triangle around Tazuna.
Kanoko pulled out her sword, placing her figures to the ground to search the area for chakra signatures.
Sakura pulled out her kunai and held a defensive position.
"He just couldn't wait for round two." Kakashi thought.
"Sorry I kept you waiting, Kakashi. I see you still have those brats with you." Zabuza's voice was heard through the mist.
Six clones of Zabuza appeared, surrounding them.
Kakashi just gazed over at Kanoko and with a small smile asked, "Kanoko, be a cute little student and take care of this."
Kanoko rolled her eyes slightly before slicing open the surrounding clones. Water dispersed around the area.
"Hmph, you again. It seems you have a rival, Haku." Zabuza said to his smaller comrade.
The ninja replied, "It seems."
"That was impressive, even though the clones were 1/10th the strength." Haku told Zabuza lightly.
"That move still gave us an advance. Use it." Zabuza ordered.
"You got it." Haku replied before spinning around, creating a wind storm around him.
Kanoko and Haku's blades clashed, both holding their positions.
"So, she can keep up with Haku's speed, huh?" Zabuza thought.
Kakashi observed the speed in which his student was fighting and called to Sakura, "Sakura, stay close to Tazuna. Let Kanoko handle this."
"Got it!" Sakura replied.
Kanoko and Haku traded a few more attacks, coming to another stalemate. "We want the bridge builder, not you. If you let us through, I won't have to kill you."
Kanoko just stared back unimpressed, "I assure you. That ship has already sailed."
"You're making a mistake. You won't be able to keep up with my speed, and I already have two advantages over you." The ninja responded, pleading Kanoko would give up.
Kanoko just stared back, not giving Haku a response.
Haku continued, "The first is that you are surrounded by water. The second is that you only have one hand to use." After that, Haku started to preform seals, with one hand.
Kakashi looked over at Haku in shock. "That boy can use one-handed seals?!" His worry for his student was growing.
"Secret Jutsu: A Thousand Needles of Death."
The water around Kanoko rose up, and formed needles. Thousands of needles surrounded Kanoko before raining down towards her.
"As if any water jutsu is going to take me out." Kanoko thought, bored by the theatrics.
Tiger - Snake - Rat - Snake – Tiger
"Water Style: Water Wall!" The remaining water circled around Kanoko, destroying the needles aimed at her. The jutsu was not nearly as powerful as in her past; forming only around her person, instead of surrounding the whole area in water. After all, Kanoko's chakra was still very limited compare to before, so many of her jutsus had only a fraction of the power they once had.
Kanoko then jumped out of the water wall and threw four kunai at Haku. Distracted by the kunai, Kanoko used the body flicker jutsu and teleported behind Haku, bringing her sword down.
*riiiiip*
Haku was able to evade, but just barely. Haku's shirt on the other hand – not so much.
"It's not possible! No one's faster than Haku!" Zabuza thought, not believing what he is seeing.
"You made a mistake insulting these ninjas. You've brought out Kanoko's mama bear side…"
"Kakashi… I'm going to murder you…" Kanoko thought, hearing Kakashi's statement.
"…And Kanoko is the leaf village's strongest genin. And Sakura here is our resident chakra control expert, with book smarts to lean onto as well." Kakashi continued.
"CHA! Haha! I'm a badass!" Inner Sakura thought.
"…And last, but not least is our #1 knucklehead ninja: Uzumaki Naruto!" Kakashi finished.
Elsewhere, Naruto sneezed.
"Hmph. Haku! Get on with it!" Zabuza ordered, no longer interested in listening to Kakashi.
"Got it." Haku responded, forming a seal.
The air around Kanoko got colder and she felt the chakra pouring out of Haku.
"What jutsu is this?" Kanoko thought. Kanoko turned around quickly when she felt chakra form behind her, "A mirror?" Suddenly mirrors started forming all around her.
"Secret Jutsu: Crystal Ice Mirrors!"
Kakashi's eye widen, "What is that? How does it work?!"
Kanoko remain calm as she observed Haku meld into the glass. "Now… We'll begin. And I'll show you what speed really means." She heard Haku say.
"This isn't good…" Kanoko thought before getting hit twice by throwing needles.
"Ch!" Kanoko sucked in air, from the pain.
"Kanoko!" Kakashi yelled.
Kanoko get hit by several more needles, coming from all sorts of direction.
Kakashi moved to help Kanoko, when Zabuza called to him, "Just try to help… and I'll kill the other two in a heartbeat." Kakashi looked over to Sakura and Tazuna, and took a stance before Zabuza.
"I'm sorry Kanoko." Kakashi thought before attacking Zabuza.
Kanoko continued to get attacked by multitudes of needles. Watching Kanoko taking hit after hit, Sakura looked to the ground. She clenched her fists, before telling Tazuna, "I'm sorry… but… I can't protect you." And with that, she ran over and threw at kunai Haku, in an effort to help Kanoko.
Haku caught it instead.
Luckily, the kunai distracted Haku, stopping the attack. Kanoko collapsed to her knee, panting from the pain, blood pouring down her face.
Deciding to end this, Haku looked back at Kanoko from one of the mirrors. Taking aim at Kanoko, but before he could, he was knocked out of the mirror by a few well aimed shuriken.
Shuriken from Naruto.
"Naruto!" Kanoko thought, overjoyed to see the orange-clad ninja. Now that he was here, she could attack from the inside, while he attacks the outside. It should be enough to distract Haku and allow Kanoko to escape this deadly prison.
But then…
.
Fireworks started cracking.
"Whatever, I'll use this as a diversion!" Kanoko thought, running through hand signs.
"Haha! Uzumaki Naruto is here to sa-"
"Water Style: Water Sword! Water Style: Water Bullet!" Kanoko's sword was suddenly covered in water. Kanoko quickly jumped into the air and shot a water bullet at Haku, who was staring at Naruto. He evaded, but it gave Kanoko enough time to the mirror opposite of Haku and cut it in half with her sword.
The mirror crumbled into a puddle of water.
"Perfect! Now I just need to get out of here!" Kanoko thought, making a run for it.
*SMASH*
.
Only to get knocked back in…
.
…by an idiot.
An orange idiot.
.
"Kanoko! I've come to rescue you!" Naruto said with a large grin on his face.
Kanoko shook with pure and uncontainable anger, "You… YOU…" Kanoko watched as the mirror formed into ice again, cutting off her exit.
Kanoko face-palmed, "There goes my escape route! I doubt I'll be able to get close enough to take it out again. Damn you Naruto…"
Haku and Zabuza argued for a bit, before Zabuza gave Haku permission to deal with the situation how Haku choses, but not before adding, "…as always, you're soft."
Kanoko looked at her wounds and realized that Zabuza was telling the truth. None of these wounds were fatal.
"Why wouldn't he aim for vital points?" Kanoko thought.
Naruto narrowed his eyes at Haku before they widened and he yelled, "It's YOU! The girl in the forest! What? Why?! Why are you here with him?! Was everything you said a lie?! What about protecting those precious to you?!"
Haku looked at Naruto sadly before simply stating, "A ninja is a master of deception."
"Naruto can't go up against this kid. I need to help him!" Kakashi thought, before being reminded that if he attacked Haku, then Sakura and Tazuna will be open for Zabuza to attack.
Turning away from Haku, Naruto looked back at Kanoko, "Haha! I bet you're glad to see me!" Naruto laughed, grinning like an idiot.
One thing Tobirama learned, growing up as Kanoko: She inherited her mother's temper.
"Glad to see you? GLAD TO SEE YOU?! I was almost out of this cage of death and then YOU KNOCKED ME BACK IN!" Kanoko grabbed Naruto by the collar, "I'm just about done with you!"
Naruto pushed off from Kanoko and yelled, "Well, I'm just about done with your attitude! You think you're sooo smart! Ohh look I'm Kanoko, I know a bunch of jutsus and I like pressing flowers in my off time!"
"THAT WAS ONE TIME!"
Sparks flew between Naruto and Kanoko as the glared at each other.
"Naruto is building a solid reputation for being the most clueless ninja in history. The more he helps, the worse it gets." Kakashi thought with an embarrassed look.
"Well, if you're so great, why don't you destroy these mirrors with a fire jutsu! They're made of ice right?! Fire melts ice!" Naruto said, crossing his arms.
"Idiot! They're chakra ice mirrors – chakra! I have to throw enough chakra at them to cancel the jutsu. A simple fire jutsu isn't going to help!" Kanoko argued back.
Suddenly the mirrors glowed.
Both Naruto and Kanoko were blown back from another needle attack.
Naruto looked around to find where Haku was, before getting irritated and multiplying, "Shadow Clone Jutsu!"
"This isn't going to end well." Kanoko thought as she watched all the Naruto's pop, without making contact to the mirrors.
"My image is merely reflected in each mirror, but they allow me to teleport to each one. In my eyes, you are moving at a snail's paces." Haku explained.
"I knew it! A kekkei genkai!" Kakashi shouted.
After getting blown back for a second time, Naruto shook in pain and anger, "So what?! He's not going to stop me! I'm not giving up and I'm not going to lose here, because I have a dream and no one is going to take it away from me! Someday, I'll be respected in my village, that's my dream! One day, I'll be Hokage!"
Haku looked like he was facing a difficult decision, before coming to a final verdict.
"I have no choice, but to act as a shinobi, and take your lives!" Haku told Naruto and Kanoko.
"I need to think of something quick!" Kanoko thought, looking back at Naruto.
"Naruto! Keep using Shadow Clone Jutsu! I need a little bit of time to try something!" Kanoko told Naruto.
"Got it! Shadow Clone Jutsu!" Hundreds of Naruto attacked again, each time getting popped by Haku.
"Damnit, I really need to learn Shikaku's Shadow Stitching Justu!" Kanoko thought. "I should have used the Hiraishin no Jutsu and marked an object outside of this trap." Kanoko was angry with herself. She had been through numerous battles and even a few wars - all of which, her ingenuity and skill allowed her to come out victorious.
This current situation mocked Tobirama's intelligence and experience.
She should have never let it get this far.
She should have just told the world to screw off, and start acting like the Hokage she once was.
Ultimately, she knew acting like the Hokage she used to be would just get her and her family killed.
She was nowhere near her previous level of skill and her family wasn't strong enough to take on her enemies. Using a technique like the Hiraishin no Jutsu would just be the equivalent to wearing a big neon sign saying, "Look here! Look here! Zombie Hokage with absolutely no power, but still has all the secrets of the village and forbidden jutsus in her head! Please come and destroy all those that dare to stand between you and ultimate power!"
Even her former student forbid her from using that jutsu and any other sealing jutsus that only masters of the art should know – understanding the risk to her, her family, and to the village.
"Damnit!" Kanoko thought watching Naruto get knocked down for the fifth time.
"This time you'll stay down!" Haku yelled, throwing large needles at Naruto and Kanoko.
"Shit. That last one really hurt. And I'm on my last leg of chakra. I can't use my Chakra Draining Seal either because I can't get to him! Everything he throws at us are physical objects. If he aimed a chakra or elemental attack at us, I could absorb it. Damnit, after all that time! That seal is useless to me when I need it the most!" Kanoko thought, angry at herself.
Naruto's chakra flared and he ran towards Haku, but Haku blew him back with a handful of needles.
"Naruto! You need to be smart about this! You can't waste chakra…" Kanoko trailed off, and looked down at her hand. "Damnit! If I only thought about that earlier! I could have borrowed Naruto's chakra! At this point, it would just kill him!" Kanoko thought, getting angrier at herself.
Naruto collapsed, not able to keep going.
"Looking for a counter attack? Here's one!" Haku sent a massive amount of needles toward Naruto and Kanoko, "Here's goes all I have!" "Water Style: Water Wall!" A wave of water surrounded Naruto and Kanoko, blocking the needles.
"That again… I'm aiming for the vitals, but that water keeps it out." Haku thought.
"Get up Naruto! We need to work together to survive this!" Kanoko shouted to Naruto
Naruto was struggling to move when another group of needles flew towards them.
"Water Style: Water Wall!" Kanoko shouted again as she fell to one knee, panting.
"She can't possibly keep this up…" Haku thought, preparing another attack.
Kanoko couldn't move anymore, but continued to protect Naruto, "Water Style: Water Wall."
"This can't go on. I need to take her out." Haku thinks, focusing on Kanoko.
"Naruto! I can't keep this up! You have to get up!" Kanoko yelled at Naruto again.
"Impressive, you have excellent moves and your attacks are very skillful." Haku complements Kanoko, throwing only a few needles this time.
Kanoko dodges, blocking a few with her sword. She pants as she hit the ground.
"…But it looks like you've reached your limits as well. Motor functions. Reflexes. Judgement. Your abilities are weakening, slowly, but surely. Now you are finished!"
"I don't have a choice! This is all I have!" Kanoko thought pulling out a scroll. "This is the only chance I'm going to get!" Placing her hand in the middle of the scroll, chakra flowed through from the scroll into her body.
She could only do this once, as she is now, or she'll burn her chakra points, but it should be enough for one large jutsu.
Kanoko clasped her hands together and yelled, "Water Style: Water Shockwave!"
"That jutsu!" Kakashi-sensei thought, getting distracted from Zabuza and taking a blow to the gut.
"That jutsu looks powerful! I'll have to distract her, by going for her partner!" Haku thought making a run towards Naruto.
Everything went slow.
He then broke out in a grin and yelled, "My name is Uzumaki Naruto and I'm going to be the Hokage!"
Haku was going in for the kill.
With barely noticeable tears in his eyes, Naruto quickly shook the hurt away and turned it into anger, yelling, "I don't know who you are, but you and I are rivals! Did you hear me?! I'm going to beat you, you bastard!"
Kanoko looked over to Naruto.
Naruto stood up before shouting, "To be the greatest Hokage! That way the whole village will stop disrespecting me and start treating me like somebody! Somebody important!"
She dropped her hand seal.
Naruto didn't move, just held his hand and continued, "I worked too hard to get here. Pushing myself. Training alone for hours. Anything to get stronger to reach my dream… I will never back down and let someone else rescue me! I will never run away and I will not lose to Sasuke or Kanoko! Upon this wound, I make this pledge. Believe it." Still not turning around, Naruto says, "Bridge builder, I will complete this mission and protect you, with this kunai knife."
And turned her body towards Naruto.
While getting to his feet, Naruto said, "I'll prove! That it's true. That in this world, there are real heroes!" Naruto finished with a look of determination.
She leaped through the air, landing in front of Naruto.
.
.
.
"I'm going to be ok. I promise."
.
"I'm sorry. I broke my promise, Shikamaru…"
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Shikamaru was currently training with his team. He was jumping back from a swing from Ino, thinking about how troublesome this whole thing was.
When suddenly…
Shikamaru grabbed his chest, feeling a sharp pain. He fell to his knees, his eyes wide, and pupils microscopic.
"SHIKAMARU!" He heard one of his teammates call for him.
Asuma-sensei ran over and crouched down to Shikamaru, "Shikamaru?! What is it? Are you hurt?!" Asuma ran his eyes over him, and saw he was clenching his shirt, right where his heart was.
He heard his name over and over, but all he could focus on was one word.
.
"Imouto."
.
A tear fell from his eye.