Title: Loss
A/N: Move on. Nothing to see here…
XxxxX
Genin Exams Arc, Chapter 6: Just One More Day
Noontime - Ninja Academy Building
Sasuke, Naruto, and Tama walked down the stairs on their way to exit the Ninja Academy building. The three of them were side by side, Naruto in the middle of Sasuke and Tama.
None of them walked with a pep in their step though, in fact, they were all extremely disappointed for some reason.
The reason being?
Maybe you should read for yourself.
"I still can't believe we can't take our test today!" Naruto yelled, smacking one of his fusts on the wall in annoyance, "That stupid mask guy Kakashi-sensei. He's off gallivanting around with that stupid make out tactics book and here we are doing the walk of shame while everyone else is becoming Genin right now! Why'd we have to get the short stick of all the Jonin sensei, huh?! I'm so aggravated!"
Sasuke scoffed, "Stop complaining like a kid cause that won't help anything. Just go train or something and we'll take the test tomorrow morning like he said."
"Shut up, Sasuke. I'm gonna laugh at you forever if I pass and you fail tomorrow, by the way. You better believe it."
"Keep talking, loser." Replied Sasuke wearily, wondering why he even bothered trying to calm Naruto down. "The hole you're digging for yourself is getting bigger and bigger with every boast you make."
"I said it once and I'll say it again, just because you're a genius doesn't mean anything. I'll wipe the floor with you any day of the week, Sasuke!"
A tick mark appeared on Sasuke's forehead when Naruto said that but before Sasuke or Naruto could keep arguing Tama said, not as disappointed as Naruto, but still complaining a bit, "I really thought I'd get to become a ninja. I might have to go to work again tonight even though I told my boss yesterday was my last shift."
"Yo, just screw that job and take a day off, man." Suggested Naruto, walking in front of Tama and Sasuke and looking back at the former while sticking his tongue out at the ladder. "Why do you even go to work anyway? You could use that time to train or do something actually fun and worth your time, y'know. Like going fishing for example. Fishing is so fun. And eating the fish you catch tastes the best. Not as good as ramen though."
"Well how else am I going to pay my rent otherwise? Fishing doesn't pay the bills."
"Not unless you're a professional fisherman. Wait." A particular word stood out to Naruto, "You have to pay rent? Seriously?"
Tama's brow furrowed at Naruto's innocent question. "Yeah. I live on my own. Moved out at a young age."
Sasuke glanced at Naruto and Tama out the corner of his eye. Huh. He thought, interested.
"What, why?" Naruto wondered to his friend. "Why would you move out of your parents place? You don't like your family or something?"
"Those people… aren't my family." Tama said, looking down bitterly and looking at his calloused palm that couldn't protect anything he tried to hold in it, "They just adopted me at a young age. We ended up having a few disagreements - this and that happened - and then I moved out. There wasn't any way around our differences and to keep a long story short, there was no way I could stay there any longer."
"Oh… I see…" Naruto wanted to ask more questions about Tama's family because he couldn't understand for the life of him why anyone would just up and leave their own family and choose to go live alone instead, but he didn't ask anymore questions because he could tell Tama didn't really want to answer anymore.
Sasuke, though, who listened to their conversation idly, thought. I don't have to pay rent - or worry about money at all - because I have access to the entire Uchiha clan treasury. Sometimes I forget that other people aren't like me sometimes… Well, Sasuke's thoughts weren't completely true. Of course he wasn't allowed to spend all of the Clan's treasures all at once because there were limits to how much he could withdraw because of his age, but when he was 16 he'd be able to utilize everything his clan owned. 16 was the age where one was capable of making their own legal decisions, after all.
But Tama, on the other hand, didn't hail from a great Ninja Clan. If he was paying rent on his own it was probably because it was true that he lived on his own.
"Hey? What about you, loser?" Sasuke wondered as they exited the Ninja Academy and they all stood in a triangle. "Pay rent yourself?"
"Of course I pay rent, Sasuke, haha. It's not like I grew up under a rock, you know. It's just that…" I get an allowance from that stupid old man… Naruto thought, but for some reason that didn't apply to everyone else. Naruto didn't want to just up and say he didn't have to work because he got money handed to him every month by Lord Third… It wasnt even that much money anyway. just barely enough to pay rent and get ranen.
Before now Naruto thought for sure that everyone else without parents got an allowance too but if Tama didn't get anything from Lord Third while Naruto did then what made Naruto special? Guess I'll have to ask that stupid old man next time I see him, believe it. Grumbling, Naruto changed the subject and said to his two future teammates, "66% fail rate, blah blah blah. I'm gonna show that guy Kakashi-sensei tomorrow who's boss."
"Why wouldn't we be allowed to eat before the test tomorrow though?" Tama wondered curiously, a finger on his cheek.
Sasuke sighed, "He's a jonin. He knows what he's talking about. Not worth questioning, really."
"I guess your right…" Replied Tama, thinking about it a bit further and coming to an agreement.
Naruto just grumbled and crossed his arms, not wanting to agree with Sasuke verbally but still agreeing mentally.
"Well, see you guys tomorrow at the training field." Tama said, turning around and heading away, waving goodbye to the two. "I don't know about you guys, but I'm passing that test no matter what. If there really is a 66% fail rate I'll make sure I'm that 33%!"
"No, that'll be me dude!" Naruto yelled back with a smile, adjusting his forehead protector, "I'm passing tomorrow not you buddy, believe it!" And then Naruto did the same thing Tama did, walking away in the opposite direction and not even saying bye to Sasuke.
Sasuke stood there, a shadow falling over his face. There was a small frown visible though as he whispered, "Damn losers."
If anyone was gonna pass tomorrow it would be him, he'd make sure of it.
XxxxX
Some time Later: Konohagakure Training Fields
Naruto Uzumaki didn't go straight home that evening, instead he ventured to the leaf village training fields and loaded up shuriken into his hands. 30 paces away from him a target somewhat reminiscent of a dart board was oainted onto a tree.
Yesterday when I failed the exam at the academy, Naruto thought, disappointed in himself and biting his lips, It wasn't just the transformation Jutsu I failed at. I also failed at the shurikenjutsu throwing portion too. My taijutsu is pretty decent but I gotta work on my ninjutsu and shuriken throwing skills too! Or else I'll never become Hokage, you know!
Naruto threw the 5 shuriken in his hand with renewed vigor!
Tick!
Tick!
Tick! Tick! Tick!
They all hit the target thankfully.
But none of them were accurate at all. They just hit the target in random places. While it was an accomplishment for sure, it was still the bare minimum.
Naruto remembered Iruka and Mizuki's fight. Mizuki was able to throw a bunch of shuriken at once with deadly accuracy. If it hadn't been for Iruka-sensei Naruto would've been screwed. Anyhow, the fact remained that right now the only way Naruto could beat Sasuke was if he relied on his Shadow Clones.
But the only times me and Sasuke ever fought was when we weren't allowed to use ninjutsu! What if it's a fight where I can't use ninjutsu! And what if Sasuke has ninjutsu I don't know about too?! He dudn't seem even a little impressed earlier when i fought Asuma-sensei, y'know!
Naruto and Sasuke had fought plenty of times before, yes, but they had never had a no holds barred fight where anything could go. If Sasuke knew any ninJutsu, Naruto had no idea what it was.
Annoyed and angry at his own weakness, Naruto pulled out some more shuriken and threw it for hours upon hours. His aim getting more precise by the second.
Naruto wasn't a genius by any means, but even an idiot could get better slowly but surely if they just trained hard enough, and Naruto was no slouch when it came to training.
There was no shortcut to becoming Hokage after all!
XxxxxX
Meanwhile, Elsewhere in the Konoha Training Fields
Hinata Hyuga, with blood vessels flaring and the byakugan activated, barely dodged a punch from her Jonin sensei, Kurenai Yuhi.
Lightning fast, Hinata countered with the gentle fist full of hundreds of small chakra blades, aiming to disable the Jonin's chakra pressure points and end this fight right here and now!
Kurenai-sensei merely ducked under her attack and planted a foot right into Hinata's chest, kicking the girl and sending her flying several yards away, right into a swarm of bugs that caught Hinata before she crashed into a tree.
"You okay, Hinata?" Shino asked, holding out his hand for all of his bugs to start going back into his clothes and skin.
"Y-yeah…" Hinata said weakly, trying to recover her stamina. "She's just so quick. If I could just land a single blow things would be way easier, Shino-kun."
"You can drop the honorifics, we're teammates, ok!" Kiba shouted, annoyed at Hinata's respectful attitude.
"Yeah!" Added Sakura, smiling. "It makes you seem weaker then you really are."
"S-sorry everyone…" Hinata whispered, looking down timidly.
Damn it! Kiba thought in his head though, Hinata's the only one here who can even get close to Kurenai-sensei! I'm so fucking weak compared to her it isn't funny! It's just sad… It was embarrassing that a damn shy girl was the strongest person on their team.
In this case Kiba was right. Hinata's byakugan made her the strongest person in their team right now. She was immune to genjutsu - which Kurenai was a master of - she could dodge and react to Taijutsu much better then the three of them could, and she could tell what jutsu Kurenai was going to perform by observing the Jonin's chakra flow before she even performed.
Reading chakra was a skill only those with visual dojutsu could perform or highly skilled sensory ninja. Hinata held both of those rare attributes along with a deadly taijutsu to go along with it. Back in their Academy Days, not even Sasuke could beat Hinata Hyuga in a fist fight.
A girl as shy as Hinata was so… so much stronger than Sakura, Kiba, and Shino right now.
?!
Hinata activated her byakugan once more, glaring at Kurenai and trying to steel her nerves, "D-don't worry guys, I'll do my best to help you out. We can take Kurenai-sensei down together!"
"Sakura and Kiba should rush in with you." Shino suggested, "If Kurenai-sensei lands a genjutsu on them just release them from it as quick as you can."
"Ok." Hinata said in agreement.
"Ruff ruff!" Barked Akamaru from atop Kiba's head, cheering Hinata on.
"We're counting on you, Hinata." Said Kiba, tightening his headband and getting on all fours, ready to pounce along with Akamaru who hopped off of his head and got ready.
"Yeah!" Agreed Sakura, pulling out a kunai. "She doesn't stand a chance against the 4 of us."
Hinata nodded to everyone. One hit. She thought, taking a deep breath as the veins around her eyes started bulging as blood rushed to them, All I have to do is land one hit! Just one! If Sakura-chan, Kiba-kun and Shino-kun can't become shinobi it'll be all my fault!
The three rushed forward!
Kurenai watched as the three got closer with a small smile. As soon as they realized they couldn't take me on alone they immediately started to work together. Very good, you 4, very good job. You will all be a formidable team in the future.
Kiba + Akamaru were the fastest of everyone so they reached Kurenai first. On all fours, Kiba shouted, "Human Beast Clone Jutsu!" Mid gallop, the Inazuka clan member weaved a hand sign and then with a poof of smoke there were two Kibas running on all fours at Kurenai now!
Both Kiba's put a kunai in their mouth, and held a kunai in each hand too. When they got to Kurenai the Jonin sensei found herself having to block not one or two blades strikes, but SIX in total and all at once! Kiba and Akamaru were both very proficient in using the three kunai dagger style. The fact there were two of them meant that their opponent - Kurenai in this case - would have to parry 6 blades at once!
Shing!
Shing!
Shing! Shing!
As metal on metal rang out, Sakura joined in with a kunai of her own, Kurenai-sensei was forced to creat distance by backflipping away, but even that wasn't enough because Kiba, Akamaru transformed as Kiba, and Sakura just ran to where she landed and continued their barrage.
Metal on metal impacts rang out over and over again as Sakura, Kiba and Akamaru laid on the pressure, distracting Kurenai-sensei just long enough for Hinata to get behind the Jonin and whisper, "Gentle Fist."
Chakra blades appeared on Hinata's fingertips, signifying that she was both a wind release and byakugan user. Hinata then shoved those gentle fists into Kurenai-sensei's pressure points-
-Kurenai-sensei parried several of Sakura, Kiba and Akamaru's slashes, weaved past Hinata's gentle fist, and jumped into the air weaving hand signs, "Earth Style: Earth Blades Jutsu!" She yelled, casting a jutsu they've never even heard of before.
"I've never heard of that Jutsu!" Sakura shouted, which was strange because she had near photographic memory of all the basic nature release Jutsu.
"Doesn't matter, get ready to dodge it." Kiba yelled, his nerves on edge.
Sakura, Hinata, Kiba, and Akamaru froze as the earth around them started to emerge out of the ground and transform into blades!
Those blades shot out at them quicker than the 4 of them could react.
Hinata simply used her byakugan and realized. It's just a genjutsu! Her teammates were not lucky enough to realize that though.
Sakura, Kiba and Akamaru were impaled in a split second by the earth blades, blood flying everywhere!
"AHHHHHHH!" Sakura, Kiba and Akamaru screamed in unison as they were pierced, punctured, and impaled, their organs being destroyed in seconds as blood began leaving their bodies in the next. A puff of smoke appeared and then Akamaru was on the ground in his puppy form instead of his human clone form, his fur soaked red all the way through.
Kiba's eyes closed as his life left him and he fell to the ground, passing out from the pain and blood loss. Akamaru and Sakura also passed out from the pain dropped.
"Sakura-chan! Kiba-kun! Akamaru-kun!" Hinata shouted, running to her two injured friends. She touched Kiba and Akamaru, a hand on each one, and then she yelled while pulsing chakra through their systems, "Release!"
She quickly did the same thing to Sakura who was impaled right now.
CRACK!
The illusion shattered in it's entirety, revealing the three of Hinata's friends to be perfectly fine, but Kiba and his puppy still wouldn't wake up even though Hinata released them. Sakura wouldn't wake up either no matter how much Hinata shook the pink haired girl. "Sakura-chan! Kiba-kun! Akamaru-kun! Are you guys okay?! Please wake up!" The shy girl tried shaking the three awake even more but they just wouldn't wake up no matter what she did. They were perfectly alive, she could see their chakras flowing through their bodies perfectly fine. But they just wouldn't wake up-
-"Don't you know what happens when you die in a genjutsu?" A voice said from behind Hinata all of the sudden.
On instinct, Hinata moved!
In the span of a second she shoved Akamaru into Kiba's coat and grabbed Kiba along with Sakura, using Chakra to enhance her muscles in order to jump away from their enemy, getting everyone to safety in one smooth move.
Kurenai looked impressed, and she couldn't help but say, "When your teammates, quote on quote, died, Hinata. Their brains ceased to function. It's a survival mechanism all humans have in order to survive fatal wounds. Your blood pressure and heart rate are regulated by your autonomic nervous system. It's an autonomic nervous system response. When sudden pain occurs, your blood pressure and heart rate can dramatically decrease, affecting the amount of blood flow to the brain. Fainting is the result of this stress on the body, chiefly the abrupt decrease of blood flow. This enables us to survive fatal wounds and blows for a lot longer than we normally by decreasing the amount of blood loss. My genjutsu is so powerful that if I can make someone believe they've died because of it they'll pass out."
"Who cares about the science of it. That's just cruel!" Hinata shouted, her blood starting to boil as she got angry at her sensei. She stood up with her fists bared, "They really believed they died! You can't just go and hurt Sakura-chan, Kiba-kun, and Akamaru-kun like that even if this is just a test. That's just plain mean, Kurenai-sensei!"
"Cruel? Mean?" Laughed Kurenai, amused, "You three are the ones who want to be ninja. If you want to be ninja you should be prepared to die at any moment!"
Hinata activated her byakugan again as Kurenai suddenly sprung forward toward her for round 2, a kunai in her hand. Hinata took her taijutsu fighting stance and activated the gentle fist as Kurenai closed the distance-
-only to be swarmed by a storm of bugs that covered her body entirely. Where there was a human named Kurenai Yuhi there was now a humanoid blob of insects instead.
"Shino!" Hinata yelped, happy. "You got her!"
"Of course I did." Replied Shino a fair distance away, on his knees. One of his palms was on the ground, funneling insects deep into the earth. "I'm no good at taijutsu, but you 3 were more than a good enough distraction. Now we just have to wait for my family to drain her chakra to zilch. Nada."
"Your… family…?" Wondered Hinata, sweatdropping. Does Shino-kun really think of the bugs as his family members? Being scared of bugs, Hinata couldn't help but feel a shiver go down her spine.
"Yes. They're my family. We grew up together. In exchange for sharing my chakra and providing them with a home, they stay by my side and protect me just as I protect them. A symbiotic relationship is what we all have, one in which we-"
"Yang Release: Body Phasing Jutsu!"
Both Hinata and Shino shook in shock when Kurenai-sensei just… vanished!
"Where'd she go, Shino?!" Hinata shouted, using all her strength to drag Kiba and Sakura closer to Shino so they could all regroup in the middle of the training field.
"I… don't know." Replied Shino, a bead of sweat falling down his face as his bugs dispersed and started coming back to him. He adjusted his glasses and said while returning all of his bugs, "One second she was there, and the next she sank into the ground."
The ground?! Hinata thought, activating her byakugan and looking deep into the earth with her X-Ray vision! And then she her, she saw Kurenai-sensei traveling through the ground to-
"-Shino! Get out of the way!"
"Huh? Why? Where is-"
Kurenai-sensei popped out of the ground, uppercutting Shino straight in the face!
Before Shino could fall, hit the ground, and recollect himself, though, Kurenai-sensei grabbed him and put the Aburame clan member in a chokehold. "I meant to go after you, Hinata, because you're the biggest threat. You're immune to genjutsu and specialize in Taijutsu, which isn't exactly my cup of tea. But when you realized where I was I figured you would've just moved out of the way if I went after you and got your friends to safety. In battle though, a shinobi has to realize that there are often more then one win conditions. Against softies like you there are even more for me to exploit."
Kurenai held a kunai to Shino's neck, threatening to kill the boy.
"What'll it be? His life or giving up your dream of becoming genin?"
"Don't… do it…" Rasped Shino, but Kurenai just tightened her chokehold, making Shino grunt in pain.
Seeing all of this made tears come to Hinata's eyes. She fell to her knees and sobbed, "I-I give up, Kurenai-sensei. I give up. Just please let Shino-kun go."
Which Kurenai-sensei did.
Shino fell to his knees when he was released and he found himself breathing harshly. Damn! He yelled internally, punching the ground, If only I'd listened to Hinata right away! I should've just listened to her and just moved. We had a real fighting chance there-
-"Your biggest weakness, Shino, is how sure you are of yourself. Not everything will go right and you have to prepare for everything in battle. It's when you think you've won that you have to be the most vigilant."
"O-ok, sensei." Shino accepted, taking the criticism in stride and absorbing those words into his mind.
Never again. He thought, Never again will I make that same mistake.
"Your biggest weakness, Hinata." Kurenai-sensei suddenly said, a huge smile on her face as she bent down and ruffled Hinata's hair, "You're way too soft for this Shinobi world. I don't know why you want to be a ninja, but even though you have the skills, you just don't have the heart for a job like this-"
"-But I have to be a ninja!" Hinata shouted, a blond haired boy's smile appearing in her mind, "I have to be a ninja. There's no way around it!"
"Ok-ok. I won't say otherwise, then." Kurenai-sensei shrugged at Hinata's outburst and kept ruffling the crying girl's head, "But still. Your heart is way too big. Even after Kiba and Sakura were knocked out by my Genjutsu you didn't hesitate to put your own life on the line to protect them when they were defenseless, and you instantly gave up when Shino's life was in danger too. In a real battle you can't be so soft. You have to know when to cut losses and you have to know when giving up isn't an option. In a real battle that would've been a real jutsu that killed Kiba and Sakura and you would've been jumping around hauling dead weight. And in a real battle I would've made you give up, killed Shino, and then killed you afterward. Sometimes, a shinobi has to block off their heart in order to accomplish the mission. However…" Kurenai-sensei then stood up, and what she said next made Hinata's eyes widen in shock, "I don't think valuing your own teammates lives over a mission is particularly a bad thing. It's for that reason I'm making you team leader when I'm not around."
"But wait!" Hinata shouted, "That was all Shino's strategy. Make him team leader! Not me! I'm way to shy! I'll freeze up in the worst possible moment!"
"I don't think so," Said Kurenai-sensei, flicking Hinata's nose and making the girl blanch, "But Shino is your teammate after all. Don't hesitate to listen to him if he has some advice for you. But merely having good strategies in battle doesn't make you a good team captain. If that was the case we'd have a military juggernaut as the hokage instead of Lord Third. A good leader is someone people can rally behind, someone that holds a group of people together. It's obvious where the crux, heart, and soul of this team is located." Kurenai-sensei then pointed at Hinata's chest. No other words needed to be said.
Hinata gulped and blinked quickly to make her tears stop coming and she stood up, a weight now settling on her shoulders. From here on out I have to be strong. Way stronger!
"All four of you pass. Here are your forehead protectors. Wear them with pride."
Shino stood up soon after Hinata did and accepted his forehead protector at the same time Hinata did, but he was still disappointed at his own weakness but happy because now he was aware of it. Just moments later, though, loud snoring noises were heard.
They came from Kiba and Sakura…
"So… what's their weaknesses?" Wondered Shino as Hinata laughed.
Kurenai-sensei facepalmed. "There are way too many to count."
XxxxxX
Outside Konohagakure, near the Konoha Waterfalls.
It wasn't exactly customary for people to go beyond the village walls and past the village gates. Because of increased rogue shinobi in the area and the fact the world was still in warring times, going outside the village was a huge risk and detriment to the general public. For that reason, Lord Third enacted a decree. One that required civilians to have a specific license or passport of sorts if they wanted to leave the village for any reason. That way it was easy to track who was and who wasn't beyond the village walls. That rule didn't apply to Chunin and Jonin however.
Even if Chunin and Jonin weren't allowed to come and go from the village as they pleased Asuma Sarutobi was never a man who followed the rules. In fact, there was a specific reason he brought these kids to the waterfall just outside the village walls.
"Yomendoksai!" Shikamaru shouted.
"Is this really supposed to be a test!?" Ino shouted. "What is this even testing anyway?!"
Choji just grumbled deeply, "I'm so… hungry!"
Currently, Shikamaru, Choji, and Ino had a huge waterfall boring down on top of their heads. They were soaked to the bone and not only that, all three of them were forced to hold a rectangular one hundred pound weight atop their heads, forcing them to augment their body with chakra flow in order to be strong enough to carry it. Not only was standing under a waterfall an immensely difficult task on its own, but they had to do it holding a hundred pounds of lead. According to Asuma-sensei, in order to become Genin that's all they had to do. Just stand under a waterfall holding a heavy weight.
For 2 Hours.
…
…
…
In case that didn't sink in let me say it again.
The trio had to stand under a 10 story waterfall. Holding a one hundred pound weight.
FOR TWO HOURS.
Shikamaru groaned in misery and for once it was actually justified, "It'll be fun, he said. It'll be easy, he said. You'll come out a better person for it, he said. SCREW YOU ASUMA-SENSEI! That's what I say! This is such a drag!"
"If I get too muscular because of this stupid strength training and Sasuke doesn't look my way anymore I'll never forgive him!" Ino yelled. "You heard me Asuma-sensei!? I'll never forgive you! When I'm a full fledged Jonin I'll find you and beat you up for these transgressions on me!" She screamed to the man taking a nap under a nearby tree on the shoreline. "If I put on muscles I'll hate you forever!"
"Give it a rest, hot head, he can't even hear you." Shikamaru said, straining his breath. "We just have to focus and keep using our chakra on our bodies so this weight doesn't get too heavy."
"I know." Replied Ino, annoyed, "Dang it I know. I just really hate that guy."
"You and me both." Agreed Shikamaru, looking down sadly as he felt a fish or something smack off of his arm. Ew! Whatever kind of fish that was felt slimy and disgusting. Yomendoksai.
Choji, however, wasn't particularly bothered by the waterfall and one hundred pound weight. In all honesty, he was just peeved because he wouldn't be able to eat for a whole two hours. "I just want food!" He cried gluttonously, "I'm so hungry I can pass out!"
"Don't pass out, Choji! We have to become Genin together!" Shikamaru said, uncharacteristically motivated.
A fire was lit behind Choji's eyes. "Yeah! I'll do it! For the GENIN PAYCHECKS! That way I can buy more food!"
Shikamaru and Ino blanched.
Was that really… the only thing on Choji's mind?
"At this rate I won't be surprised if he asks for food to be buried with him on his funeral day…" Ino commented.
"Don't think I'd be surprised either." Sweatdropped Shikamaru.
A fair distance away Asuma Sarutobi stirred awake when he heard the three of them yelling so loudly. The Ino-Shika-Cho. Pig, dear, butterfly. They all hail from three of the strongest Ninja clans so I have no doubt they'll become great Genin. But… physically speaking… Shikamaru and Ino are lacking. In a real battle it would be too much work for Choji to have to protect them all at the time, and that's discounting the fact that both Ino and Shikamaru have to be immobile to use their strongest jutsu. If they can't hold their own in a fist fight it won't just hold Choji back, it'll hold the entire team back.
Lighting a new cigarette and taking a deep puff, Asuma looked at his stopwatch. He smiled and whispered, "Oh, ok. Only thirty minutes left. I guess I can squeeze in one more quick nap." He looked at his 3 future students, "Maybe I'll take them out to eat afterward or something and give them their forehead protectors there. Yeah, sounds good…"
Asuma leaned back and closed his eyes, a small smile playing on his lips. I'm guessing Kakashi's probably gonna fail all of his students again. His standards are way too damn high for just 12 year old kids. That perfectionist is looking for chunin level ninja in mere Genin which'll never happen. Meh, who cares. Asuma stopped thinking started sleeping instead.
He sure did love sleeping.
XxxxxX
The Great Uchiha Clan Forest, Konohagakure
In the middle of a forest privately owned by the Uchiha Clan, Sasuke Uchiha - sharingan flaring - kicked up some leaves and did a backflip, throwing 10 shuriken all at once when he was at the apex of his flip.
The first shuriken flew and sliced a log hanging from a wire in half.
The second, third, and fourth flew and hit their targets in various places in the forest.
The fifth and sixth shuriken flew and bended in mid air, hitting targets that couldn't be reached otherwise.
The seventh, eighth, and ninth shuriken were tossed straight into the sky for an unknown reason.
The tenth shuriken was thrown out deep into the forest.
When Sasuke landed from his backflip he keened his focus and threw the eleventh shuriken.
The 11th shuriken soared through the air as fast as a bullet, catching up the tenth shuriken and crashing into it!
The 10th shuriken, its trajectory altered, flew and hit a target that not even a bending shuriken could hit!
Sasuke fell to his knees and started sweating and breathing confused, his sharingan deactivating. Something that took me weeks to do, He thought, 3 shuriken falling around him and slicing three leaves in half, Itachi was able to do when he was years younger then me. At this rate I'll never catch up to him… Sasuke punched the ground hard. Damn it, why did it take me so long to finally do this? I need to find a quicker way to get stronger.
Unluckily for Sasuke, however, there were certain caps on his strength and he knew it. Now that he was done with his technical training for the day he moved onto strength training.
Chakra was synonymous with strength in this universe, so Sasuke devised an easy way to increase his maximum chakra reserves slowly over time. Just like muscles, the only way to increase one's maximum amount of Chakra reserve in this world was to destroy yourself.
Sasuke ventured to the lake by his house and yelled, "Fire Style: Fire Ball Jutsu!"
A massive ball of flames shot out of Sasuke's mouth after he wove a few handsigns and the massive attack flew out towards the lake.
BOOOM!
Water expanded at the speed of sound and shot into the air, still boiling as steam as the water rained down back into the lake.
"I can still do more!" Sasuke yelled, fatigued from his use of the sharingan earlier but pushing through, preparing another fire ball jutsu and performing it as soon as possible.
In order to increase his chakra reserves everyday, he would deplete it to its absolute limit, and the next day Sasuke would wake up with slightly more maximum chakra than before. This, along with working out your body physically were some of the most surefire ways to increase the amount of chakra one could wield.
"Fire Style: Fire Ball Jutsu!"
Once again, another ball of fire was sent into the Great Uchiha Clan Lake!
The fact Uchiha Sasuke would acquire strength was inevitable. The only question was a matter of when.
XxxxxxxX
Evening Time - Konohagakure Mid Class Residential District Forest
Tama laid on his back in the middle of the forest next to the residential area closest to the center of Konoha, breathing heavily and deeply from chakra fatigue.
I have to get stronger. He thought, Strong enough so that I don't have to use that horrible power again.
Finding a leaf nearby, Tama held it up above his head and activated his nameless ability on it. He watched as the leaf wilted and rotted away the longer it was in contact with him, all of the life in it being sucked out.
Even a mere leaf has chakra, a soul. He thought sadly as he let the dead leaf go.
His power would be a menacing one if Tama was evil and didn't value life, but he did. So that ability was off limits.
If he didn't have his kekkei genkai to rely on then what did he have?
He had no signature jutsu to speak of. He did however have great chakra control and chakra sensing abilities since birth. This was because Tama was aware of the shape of his own soul, his Chakra control increasing by leaps and bounds as a result.
Thanks to being taught by the Yamanaka clan Tama got even better at Chakra sensing as well. During that stage of his life Inoichi Yamanaka had thought he was a prodigy in the Yamanaka clan back when he was 5 but after leaving that clan so abruptly he lost access to learning their Jutsu.
Not that Tama even wanted the Yamanaka clan branch of jutsu anyway.
All of those Jutsu that affect the mind… scare me. To put it bluntly, one had to be deeply intune with themself to know and learn technical Jutsu like the Mind Transfer Technique. But transferring my mind into someone… what would even happen if I tried to do that? Would it even work? Damn, it doesn't matter because that's something I'll never do!
So with no signature Jutsu to speak of, what did Tama practice instead? What was he doing in the middle of the forest right now? The answer was simple. He was practicing a different type of jutsu.
Chakra Flow.
It wasn't exactly a jutsu, pre se. It was more of an ability. The ability to control the flow of chakra through an object or executed Jutsu, thus increasing the potency of that jutsu or weapon. Tama heard that lots of Samurai were very skilled in the art of Chakra flow. They used it to make weak swords be able to cut through steel.
Utilizing Chakra Flow was the basis of an idea Tama thought of.
He had already mastered the transformation jutsu, the basic clone jutsu, and all the other basic jutsu they taught at the Academy. But… what if he took everything a step further?
Smiling with more energy now that he had the chance to catch his breath back, Tama stood back up. Even if it took him all night, he wouldn't go to sleep until he found out if his idea could be made into a real jutsu or not.
If he succeeded, he would be creating a brand new jutsu never before seen.
The idea made him grin mischievously. Maybe he'd win a peace prize or something?
XxxxX
Night - A Few Hours Later
In completely different places in Konoha, Naruto, Sasuke, and Tama all threw themselves into bed, sleepy, chakra deprived, and tired.
Naruto looked toward the table in the middle of his room and grinned. Maybe I can go for just one more cup of ramen? He thought, getting up.
In Tama's room he looked at his guitar hanging on the wall. It won't hurt to play at least one more song before I hit the hay. He thought.
All the way in the Uchiha Clan residential area, Sasuke, chakra deprived and alone in the biggest house of the whole compound, spied the dart board in the corner of his room that had 3 darts all sticking out of the bullseye. Bet I can nail one more triple bullseye real quick.
The night didn't end. Not just yet. But 20 minutes later, when everyone got their hobbies out of the way and everyone felt truly fulfilled for the day, like they had done everything they possibly could, they finally went back to lay down in their bed for some real rest this time.
All three members of team 7 stared at the ceiling in their respective beds, thinking, A 33% pass rate, huh?
"It'll be me who passes tomorrow…" They all whispered in unison, closing their eyes and getting ready to go to sleep,
Tomorrow would be a taxing day. They needed every wink of shut eye they could get.
Chapter End:
XxxxxxX
A/N: Are you guys excited? I sure am. Till next time folks. Peace!
-Kerith