United I Stand
The Test
"Look, Uzumaki Kuwabara! It's a good sounding name," Naruto said as Anko nodded in agreement beside him. "It may seem goofy at first but it also holds strength in it."
"I mean, it's not a bad name. I think Uzumaki Yusuke is a pretty strong name too," Anko said. "It just sounds headstrong and cocky. My type of guy really."
"What about Uzumaki Hiei?" Naruto asked.
"If anything, I would give that to sulky back there," Anko said as she pointed at Menma, who flipped her off in response.
"I don't know why you two are having this discussion anyways, Naruto is a perfect name," Inoichi said.
"That's what we said," Naruko and Menma said in unison.
The newly christened Team Eleven walked along the dirt road of Konoha with Inoichi in front, Naruto and Anko in the middle and Naruko and Menma taking up the rear. The team of five were currently heading to their assigned training ground.
"Well, I just don't think I should have this name, that's all," Naruto said. "I mean Menma and Naruko got to choose their names. I didn't have that luxury. Just seems unfair really."
"I know but like I said, it's just easy to keep your name the same," Menma said.
"Bleh," Naruto replied.
"And we are here are. Team Eleven's training ground!" Inoichi said proudly.
"Oh, right!" Inoichi said. "So normally there would be a test for teamwork but considering who you three are, we don't have to worry about that. Instead, we're going to go to do something a little different."
And without warning, the world went black for the trio.
Water splashed against Naruto's face, jolting him awake from his slumber. "W-Wha? Where am I?" Naruto quickly realized that he was tied to a chair with a blindfold over his eyes.
'Naruko? Menma?' Naruto asked within his head.
But shockingly, there was nothing.
"Do not bother looking for your comrades, they are not here," A rough male's voice said. Naruto turned his head at the location of the voice. "Not at the moment anyway."
"Where am I? Who are you?" Naruto asked.
Suddenly, his head whipped to the side as a fist collided with it. "You don't ask the questions, we do!" a high pitched male's voice exclaimed.
"Fuck off. Where am I?" Naruto asked.
Naruto then hunched over as a fist collided with his stomach. "This little shit doesn't follow the rules," the high pitched male said again, with an obvious sneer in his voice.
"What we want is real simple kid. We heard you did the impossible and stole the Forbidden Scroll," The first voice said. "Would fetch a high price in the black market-"
"-Something we are very interested in," the high pitched male voice said as Naruko scowled darkly, also tied up in a chair with a blindfold on her eyes.
"We want you to steal the Forbidden Scroll again," The rough voiced male finished.
"Wow…And why do you want it?" Naruko asked.
"We have a buyer in Kumogakure no Sato that wants it. If you agree, we'll make it worth your while," the rough voiced male said.
Naruko tilted her head in thought before she said "How about eat a dick because I'm not betraying Konoha for money. Besides after last time-"
"-I'm not going anywhere near that thing again," Menma said with a frown on his face.
A punch collided with the left side of his head, which caused him to bow his head and shake it briefly before he smirked. "Come on? That all you got? I think Old woman Keiko has a stronger right hook than you."
"Oh-hohoho…We got a little bad-ass on our hands," the rough voiced male said with a mocking tone. "We do love breaking your kind. Kakarot…If you please."
Menma grunted as a fist slammed into his stomach and fist repeatedly, each blow causing stars to flutter behind the blindfold that covered his eyes. "Steal the scroll for us and the pain stops, real simple."
"Gonna have to do worse to me," Naruto said as he spat out blood.
"Interesting…Oi! Vegeta? Can I try the Senbon thing?" The high pitch voiced male asked.
There was silence before Vegeta replied "By all means."
"Hehehe, you're gonna regret your answer boy," Kakarot said as he began to laugh.
"Do your worst…It's not like the village hasn't," Naruto said as blood dripped down his bottom lip.
Naruto then felt a thin metal slide through his skin and between the joint in his wrist and scoffed. "Is that it? I would have expected m-" Naruto then let out a scream of pain as a small he felt another metal hit its side, causing the senbon to vibrate against the bones.
"Steal the scroll kid," Kakarot said.
Naruto could feel the breath of the man in his face and scowled. "Fuck you! I'm not doing shit!" Naruto shouted.
"Then another senbon goes in," Vegeta said.
Naruko wailed in pain as Kakarot hit both senbon with a kunai in the side, causing the painful vibrating to go up both of her arms. "Steal the scroll," Vegeta's voice said.
"Fuck you!" Naruko scowled through gritted teeth.
"Still going strong…We'll break you yet," Kakarot said with glee before Naruko felt two senbon slide between her shoulder blades and then the vibrating began, causing her to scream out.
"N-Not doing it!" Naruko hissed out.
"You are really durable aren't you cutie pie? Well, I suppose we'll have to up the ante," Kakarot said before Naruko felt two senbon slide into the joints of her knees and soon, the agony of the senbon overcame her, causing her to scream louder.
"Go suck a dick," Menma hissed through gritted teeth as blood flowed from his wrists, knees, shoulders and now his ankles, his body trembling from the agony he was going through but despite it, he would not bend or break.
"Impressive…He's not breaking. That means we can amp it up…" Vegeta stated. Suddenly, the blindfold was removed and Menma found himself in a dark room but in front of a mirror, where he could see Naruto slumped off, suffering from the same wounds he was.
"Now since you're big and bad on your own, let's see what happens when you watch someone get tortured…" the voice of Kakarot said before a hooded figure walked into the room with two senbon but he noticed that the senbon had some sort of purple liquid on it.
The figure then stabbed Naruto in both of his elbows before tapping the kunai, which caused Naruto to wail.
"Come on tough guy-"
"-will you steal the scroll for us?" The voice of Vegeta asked as Naruto watched Naruko squirm in scream in agony, tears falling from beneath the blindfold.
Naruto shut his eyes and shook his head with gritted teeth. Naruko's screams echoed within his mind as he felt sweat pour down his face. "Come on kid," The voice of Kakarot said. "All you have to do is steal one scroll. Is that-"
"-worth the life of your comrade?" The voice of Kakarot said as Naruko watched Menma scream in agony as another senbon was placed between his ankles. Naruko had tears streaming down her eyes at the sight of Menma's squirming, trying to escape the pain he was in but she couldn't
She couldn't let him go through this pain.
But then she realized something.
If she was in this position, she wouldn't want him to betray the village because even through this village hated her and wished she was dead for something she, nor Naruto and Menma, could control, she would protect it.
she wouldn't no matter what price she had to pay.
"I won't-"
"-do it," Naruto finally said. "Konoha is my home and even if they despise me, hurt me…Even want to kill me. I can't betray them-"
"-so you'll have to kill them," Menma finished. "And me because I won't do it no matter what so-"
"-you two can go fuck yourselves," Naruto said. "Long, deep and hard with-"
"-a rusty, nail covered kunai!" Naruko shouted angrily before she panted. "Boy did that feel good to say…"
"So...You won't do it? Well, there is only one thing left to do…" Vegeta's rough voice said from all around her. All was silent for a moment before the hooded figure appeared before her. "Well then kid…You pass!"
And with a burst of light, Naruko found herself sitting in the middle of Menma and Naruto, where both of them quickly opened their eyes and looked around to see a smiling Inoichi and Anko in front of them.
All of them sitting in the middle of Team Eleven's training ground.
"Congratulations Team Eleven. You passed the test," Inoichi said with a proud tone.
"What the hell was that?!" The three shouted with a mixture of anger, betrayal, confusion, and a lot of pain..
"That was a genjutsu," Inoichi said. "A strong one as well. What you three experienced in that genjutsu is one of our strongest torture techniques. We placed a chemical in your system that causes the body to vibrate and when it does, we insert senbon into the pockets between your joints and with a tap of the kunai, the chemical begins to make the body part involuntary vibrate which causes the senbon to grind into the joints."
"It's our favorite down in T&I," Anko interrupted with a bloodthirsty smile, which made Menma and Naruko shuddered but Naruto looked enraptured by the look.
'Um Naruto? You alright there?' Naruko asked curiously.
'I think I'm in love,' A dark voice grumbled, which caused the trio to look around in confusion.
What was that?
"You would not believe the amount of spies that break down for that," Inoichi said with a wistful smile on his face. He then blinked when he saw the fierce scowls on the trios' faces. "Anyway, Most Jōnin when they do their team tests tend to focus on teamwork and trickery. Considering who you three are, you passed in aces. However, we needed to test you on something more and that is the mental aspect of being a shinobi."
"There will be times when you are captured and held at the mercy of enemy shinobi, who will torture you to the extreme. So we decided that the test would be how long you can remain loyal," Anko explained, picking up where Inoichi left off.
"When you passed that, we then wanted to see how far we can push that and to our excitement, despite this village not being loyal to you three for your burdens, you remained loyal to it, even though it would cost you three your lives and that is more than enough to say you three passed," Anko finished, also with a proud smile on her face.
"You three are officially shinobi of Konohagakure no Sato," Inoichi said with a grin.
"Well, it was nice for Inoichi-sensei and Anko-sensei to give us the rest of the day off," Naruto said as he walked in the middle of Naruko and Menma, his hands behind his head.
"Despite the torture," Menma sourly muttered.
"Yeah, I didn't really appreciate the mental attack but at least it was that and not anything else," Naruko offered, trying to find a bright side to the torture they endured.
"Yeah, it could have been worse," Naruto said. "They could have had us read Fate Stay Night while doing that torture."
The three shuddered.
"So I wonder what missions we'll do tomorrow," Naruto pondered. "Think it will be anything worthwhile?"
"Here's hoping," Naruko said.
"I agree. Besides…Oh great," Menma sighed.
Naruto and Naruko glanced at Menma in confusion only to flinch as Sasuke, Sakura and Sai came into view, their clothes torn in several places and their body mostly covered in dirt and grime.
"Hey guys, rough day?" Naruto joked.
"Get bent," Sasuke angrily muttered.
"Kakashi-sensei was brutal but we passed," Sakura said with an exhausted smile.
"No thanks to dickless-chan," Sai said as he motioned to Sasuke, who scowled in reply while the Uzumaki trio snorted in reply.
"Stop calling him that!" Sakura exclaimed as she swung to hit Sai, who stepped back swiftly, which caused Sakura to stumble and fall behind Sai to the ground.
"I don't think he's going to allow that, Sakura-san," Menma said with a cool tone as Sakura scowled and rose to her feet to try and hit Sai again but he moved forward to avoid it, which made Sakura stumble and fall behind the tall, pale boy.
"Forehead-chan can never touch me. You should have avoided her blows as well, spineless-kun," Sai said to Naruto, who shrugged in response while Sakura stood up and angrily pouted.
"You gotta point," Naruto agreed. "But we kinda have to get somewhere so we gotta jet."
"Very well," Sai said. "Come along Forehead-chan. Dickless-chan."
"I'm going to burn you…" Sasuke muttered.
"You guys go ahead, I want to ask Naruko something and then take a shower," Sakura said.
The two boys nodded and walked out while Sakura turned to Naruko and said, "Hey Naruko-chan! Piggy-chan and Hinata-chan are having a girls night to celebrate us becoming Kunoichi. I felt bad for hitting you earlier so I wanted to know if you wanted to come."
"Um…sure," Naruko replied with a small smile.
"Awesome. It's this Saturday!" Sakura exclaimed before she reached into her pouch and pulled out her notepad and pen to quickly write her address, tore the paper from the notebook and handed it to Naruko, who took it.
"I'll see you then," Sakura said with a bright smile and before she looked to Naruto and Menma said, "Bye Naruto-san. Menma-san."
"Bye Sakura-chan," Naruto happily said while Menma stared at her for a moment before he looked away.
Sakura stared at Menma for a moment with a frown on her face. Naruto and Naruko could tell she wanted to say something to but she shook her head instead and she smiled at Naruto and Naruko and ran off to join her team.
"Memna, would it hurt you to be polite to her?" Naruko asked once Sakura was out of sight.
Menma rolled his eyes and began to walk again, which caused the other two to walk alongside him. "I don't have to explain anything. Remember, we were one person. There was always some resentment to how she treated us. I can just show it more openly now," Menma said.
"We didn't make it quite easy for her either," Naruko remarked. "We were like a pesky mosquito to her. Always buzzing around her, not giving her any space of anything. We're much to blame for her treatment of us."
"Were we always so forgiving?" Menma asked with a frown.
"Not always but we are known for our brutal honesty. Even to ourselves," Naruto replied. "Not to mention, we shouldn't blame it all on her. She could have learned to hate us from her folks, like almost every other civilian and their child in this place."
"But keep in mind Menma, I don't blame you for feeling that way. She hits really fucking hard and did treat us pretty badly," Naruto continued. "A part of me doesn't like it either but I just want to put it behind me."
"Same here," Naruko said. "Besides, we'll always have a soft spot for Sakura-chan. Just who we are."
"Soft spot huh?" Menma murmured. "It seems I took more of the negative aspects of our original self."
"I could see that," Naruto agreed as he put his hands behind his head. "I wish we could have shared that between us."
"Weirdly enough, I kind of like it," Menma revealed with a small smile. "It feels more like…Me than us."
"You like being a sour strawberry?" Naruko asked with a scrunched up face.
Both Menma and Naruto exploded with laughter at the comparison.
"You think I'm cute?"
Ino scrunched up her face in annoyance as Naruto's words echoed in her head.
Stupid, stupid, stupid!
Why did she say that out loud?!
And that baka heard her say it too!
That motherfucking, goddamn Baka!
"I'm such a blabber mouth," Ino whined to herself as she placed white roses in a vase at her family's flower shop.
Ino always thought that Naruto was cute. Most of the girls at the Academy did but his personality was the problem. He was so hyper 24/7 that it turned everyone off from him but in her case, it was because she saw something more in him.
There were times where his hype was genuine and those days, it made her smile at him but on most days, it seemed forced or even outright faked. Ino didn't know why he hid himself sometimes and she didn't want to know. Anyone that could fake their emotions she didn't care for.
She preferred someone that showed who they truly were, which is why she was into Sasuke. He didn't have to fake his aloofness or that bad-boy aura, he just had it naturally and it made her want him.
But there was something about Naruto today that was different. He seemed more at peace than he did before and admittedly, he did look handsome, despite not changing. He was still the cute, short blond boy with the whiskers but there was a certain…confidence in him that wasn't in his movements before.
He had caught her off guard.
It only became worse with the wink.
It gave her a feeling she hadn't gotten before.
It felt like butterflies were fluttering in her stomach.
"Damn baka…" Ino muttered. "I should have never looked back…"
She then heard the bell attached to the flower shop's door ring and without looking, she dryly greeted, "Welcome to the Yamanaka Flower Shop. I will be with you in just a second."
"No worries Piggy-chan. I can wait," Sakura's voice said from behind her.
Ino turned around and narrowed her eyes and asked, "What are you doing here Forehead-chan?"
"I came to invite you to my place on Saturday as a little celebration," Sakura explained as she hopped onto the counter.
"Sure, I think we can have a truce to celebrate becoming Kunoichi," Ino said with a smile. "Who else is coming? I swear if you Invited Asuka and Rei, I'm so gonna kill you."
"Nope, just you, me, Hinata and Naruko," Sakura replied.
"Naruko? Naruto's sister?" Ino asked.
"Yeah, I kinda…hit her thinking she was Naruto-baka," Sakura said. "It's kind of my way of apologizing. Besides, she's kind of nice…Different from Naruto."
"I can't wait to talk to her then," Ino said.
"But while Naruto is still the same, his brother…Menma…I don't think he likes me very much," Sakura pouted. "There's something in his eyes that made me feel…I don't know. It's hard to explain."
"Hmm…He seems more aloof than Naruto and maybe Naruko," Ino said. "But you like Sasuke-kun and he's super aloof and dark."
"I know but something in his eyes…It makes me feel…I don't know…" Sakura said. "Maybe I'm reading too much into it."
"You may be right," Ino teased then added "Don't worry too much about it. Since you guys are on different teams, you probably won't be seeing any of the Uzumaki Triplets all that often."
"Y-Yeah. You're right," Sakura said.
"Of course I am," Ino bragged.
"Yeah, yeah. Come on, let's go to the Hyūga compound to invite Hinata-chan," Sakura said.
"Alright, alright," Ino said.
"By the way, I'm not Naruto."
"O-Oh?"
"You called me "Naruto" twice now…I'm not him…My name is Menma."
Hinata opened her eyes and let out a sigh of confusion and stood up on her meditation mat.
She couldn't stop replaying the conversation she had between herself and Menma.
When they spoke, he never let on that he was Menma at all. He spoke as if he was Naruto but then he revealed himself as Menma and the real Naruto and his sister were siblings.
And while she could see hints of Naruto in Naruko and "Naruto's" eyes at the brief moment she looked at them, Menma felt as if she was speaking to the true Uzumaki Naruto.
But then there was that platinum silver strand between the three of them. Where did that come from?
Hinata found herself frustrated for the first time in a long, long time.
Finally, she muttered, "I-I need t-to know m-more…"
So Hinata quickly left the meditation chamber located from beside her home and walked down the road towards the main road of Konoha and almost if fate dictated it, Hinata saw the Uzumaki Trio walking down the road talking.
She quickly darted into the green bushes nearby and listened to them as they talked.
"So Hinata-chan saw a platinum-silver strand between us?" Naruko's voice asked.
"Yeah…That could be our life-force…She did say it was very faint though," Menma said. "Do you think we should talk to her about it?"
"Why do you ask?" Naruto asked.
"Well…We spoke earlier today and I…kind of told her what was on my mind about a few things," Menma admitted. "She kinda thought I was you and I didn't exactly correct her until the end."
"I mean technically, you're not wrong," Naruko shrugged. "But that wasn't wise at all. I don't think we want our secret to be exposed. I kind of like it this way."
"I know…" Menma groaned.
Hinata watched them pass her position and quickly darted from bush to bush as swiftly as possible, making sure to keep up with their conversation.
"But she kind of caught me off guard…" Menma said.
"It should be fine. I mean, you're not wrong for thinking about how Konoha treated us back then but maybe it'll get better," Naruko offered.
"There's that optimism again," Menma noted.
"There's that negativity again," Naruko teased.
"So what should we do now? We have the rest of the day to do whatever we want?" Naruto asked."I was hoping maybe we can do more training."
"Fuck yes!" Menma and Naruko chorused in unison.
"I was hoping you two would say that!" Naruto exclaimed before the three ran off.
Hinata finally stepped out of the bushes and narrowed her eyes curiously.
Secret…What secret could that be?
'Just w-when I think I f-figured you out…' Hinata thought with a smile on her face.
"Yo Hinata-chan!" Ino and Sakura's voice screamed from behind her.