Annnnnd we're back. This is my 4th time rewriting this chapter, that's why it took so long.
Naruto gripped the necklace as he walked aimlessly down the street. He might have just finished his ramen, but it hadn't calmed his anxiety. His mind was on the turquoise gem in his hand.
"You said you didn't deserve it until you could protect the village, right?" Tsunade asked him, lifting the necklace off her chest. She'd entered in a huge commotion of bustling people, issuing orders and signing papers. Between then and now, he'd been caught up on the relative safety of his team, Orochimaru's retreat, and Hiruzen Sarutobi stepping down from the position of Hokage. Talk about a wake up call.
"You stopped a tailed beast." She continued, holding it out to him. "You saved your Hokage and countless others. Most importantly, you impressed the necklace's original owner."
At that, Naruto's eyes widened. "You mean… the first Hokage?"
Tsunade nodded minutely. "He may not have had control, but he was still able to see and sense what was going on. The last thing he said to me was 'The village is in good hands.'" She sported a nostalgic smile. "He wasn't speaking of me or Jiraiya or sensei. He was talking about you, Naruto." She reached out, taking his hand, and bringing it to meet hers. She placed the necklace in his palm. Leaning forward, she pressed a gentle kiss on his forehead. "I know you won't let him down." She whispered. Just like that, she snapped around, issuing orders and receiving responses of "Hai, Hokage-sama!"
That left Naruto on his own, having already been examined by Shizune, he looked at the necklace, and then it hit him.
"Wait!? Did they just call you Hokage? Granny!" He shouted, but she was already gone.
As he continued his walk down the street, Naruto squeezed the necklace tightly in his fist. She'd entrusted him with it. The first Hokage had done similarly, if she was to be believed. The third had similar thoughts. Jiraiya too. Even his father, who had only barely even met him, trusted him with the Kyuubi. So many people thought so highly of him. Could he really live up to it? After several minutes wandering the packed dirt streets, he decided it didn't matter if he could. He would try regardless. He wouldn't be following his ninja way if he didn't.
His thoughts strayed to the Third Hokage. The old man had survived the fight, but he hadn't come out in one piece. After Tsunade had left, Hinata filled him in on what happened. Hiruzen Sarutobi had been struck through his left forearm with the blade. Certainly not something that would ever stop a Kage level shinobi. The poison on the blade, however, definitely could. The Sandaime apparently elected to perform a field amputation on himself, chopping it off just above the elbow with his own bare hand. The big story around the village was how the third hokage and his two remaining students had joined together once more to fight off their old teammate. Orochimaru never stood a chance, and he knew it. The snake managed to escape before they could put him down for good.
There was worse news than even that. Worse than the third Hokage being forced to retire because Naruto hadn't been fast enough. Worse than getting stabbed in the chest. Sasuke was not doing well. The curse mark was doing something wicked to his mind. He wouldn't listen to Hinata, or Yamato, or even Kakashi. He was lashing out at the slightest of things. There was so much anger in him, it hurt for Naruto to even look at him. He'd tried to talk to him. He couldn't get through. Sasuke insisted time and time again that he needed more power. Then he'd go back to training until he dropped. It wasn't healthy.
Naruto didn't know what to do. The curse mark had ingrained itself too deeply to be sealed off. At this point, they just had to trust that Sasuke could resist it. He didn't like the idea of that though. He couldn't talk to him. Fighting with him would just make things worse. How could he make him see?
Naruto's thoughts were interrupted by Hinata body flickering to a stop in front of him. He quickly assessed that while she was a little out of breath, there wasn't any immediate danger.
"Hey Hinata, what's up?" He tried to muster some sort of positivity at seeing his teammate. He wasn't sure it showed.
"Hello, Naruto-kun." She smiled at him shyly, "Team 7 has been summoned to Lady Tsunade's office. Would you like to walk with me?"
Knowing her, she would have already informed Sasuke, or made sure his missive was otherwise taken care of. Yamato-sensei was probably already at the Hokage's office. The weird and invasive thought that Tsunade, the old lady with anger, gambling, and drinking issues, was the new Hokage didn't stop him from agreeing with her. He gave her a genuine smile and nod, swiveling directions to head for the tower.
—
—-
Team 7 exited the tower with mixed reactions. Naruto was extremely confused. He hadn't been promoted. He understood that he hadn't advanced to the final round, but he thought between his mission record and his help during the invasion that it would be enough. The most confusing part was the lack of explanation. Tsunade had shuffled them in and out clippedly, refusing to answer questions.
Sasuke hadn't been promoted either, though that seemed a little more understandable. He really had not been exhibiting the necessary amount of control. The young Uchiha was taking it considerably worse than his blond counterpart. He was certain if they didn't get to a training ground soon, his raven hair would catch fire.
Despite their confusion and anger, they both felt another emotion. Pride. It was the third member of their team that received a promotion to Chunin. Hinata was holding her vest out in front of her in shock. It wasn't that she didn't think that she deserved it. She had worked incredibly hard and had come a very long way for it, and she knew that. She just couldn't believe that she would be promoted when her teammates weren't. As far as she had come, she was very aware she was still the weakest link.
"Hey, Hinata-chan." Naruto said, snapping her out of her daze. She looked at him expectantly. "Wipe that look off your face. You know you earned it. Sasuke and I will just have to advance next time." He smiled at her, "why don't you go home and tell your family, and I'll take Grumpy here to work off some steam."
She looked as if she wanted to protest, but a sideways glance at Sasuke kept her from it. She smiled back, and quickly exited to go tell her father and sister.
Naruto turned to Sasuke. His best friend seemed to be fighting an internal battle with himself.
"C'mon, we'll go to 45 and let loose." He said. Sasuke only grunted. The Uchiha shunshin'd away without a word. Naruto rolled his eyes, but followed suit.
They arrived at the training ground within seconds of each other. One of the reasons they liked this particular patch of earth was because it was away from most prying eyes. It was so close to the forest of death that not a lot of people bothered coming out here. The moment Sasuke came out of his movement, he began raging.
Naruto came to a stop to find his teammate yelling. It was a primal sort of scream, as if he couldn't put his feelings into words. That was nothing new for Sasuke. Losing his handle on his temper was though. The Uchiha clan as a whole liked to maintain a look of being unbothered by anything, as if they were above it all. Sasuke had taken those lessons as close to his heart as he could, even after his family's death. Especially after their deaths.
Despite this, he'd always been more emotional than the rest of his bloodline, at least from what he could remember. It had always been more difficult for him to keep it all under control. He wasn't like Itachi, perfectly cold and calculating.
Naruto had shown him that it was okay to feel things and to express them. That it could make him stronger despite the fact that it could cloud judgment. Now though, he was overwhelmed. The anger that burned in his heart was exploding through his body. He tried to breathe, but when he exhaled a choked roar came out of his throat. His fists curled so tight his knuckles lost their light coloring and went completely white.
Naruto looked on at his teammate and best friend. There was a quiet crackle around him, accompanied by a slight smell of ozone. Sasuke had never lost control of his chakra before. He stepped towards him, holding up a hand.
"Sasuke, it's gonna be—"
"Don't!" He yelled. "Don't tell me it's going to be okay! You don't know that!"
"We can take the exam next rotation. It sucks but it'll be alright."
"Don't tell me that!" Sasuke reeled on him, finally facing his friend. "He was a chunin at 10! He was a jonin and anbu captain before we had even graduated! How can I ever stand up to that if I can't even get promoted!" Sasuke said. There was a plea in his voice mixed in with the anger. He was truly distraught.
"Calm down. You don't have to match him-"
"Shut up! SHUT UP!" Sasuke yelled. It was unclear to Naruto if he was even talking to him, as the boy put both hands on his head, as if he was trying to relieve pressure.
Naruto took another step towards him, intent on putting his hand on his shoulder. Sasuke reacted, grabbing Naruto's wrist and pulling him forward. He used the lack of balance to grab Naruto's upper arm, and flip him over, slamming him into the dirt.
Naruto let out a grunt in pain. "Oi you Bastard. We haven't even started yet!" His arguing was cut off by a punch aimed at his face. He leaned out of the way, letting Sasuke's fist crush the ground. There was a wild look in his Sharingan.
Naruto formed a hand seal, a shadow clone coming to life and kicking at the Uchiha in nearly the same instant. Sasuke dodged, well used to Naruto's more habitual tricks. It gave Naruto time to get to his feet though. The shadow clone disappeared, having served its purpose.
"You wanna fight?" Naruto said, rolling the shoulder Sasuke used to toss him, and cracking his neck. He looked Sasuke right in his eyes, challenging him. "Fine. Come get your ass kicked." He lowered into his favored stance. A defensive one that took away as much of the sharingan's predictability as possible. It wouldn't matter though, Sasuke was going on the offensive, no matter what Naruto did.
The Uchiha charged, drawing his sword from its horizontal holster. He whipped it around in a reverse grip, slashing at Naruto. There was a loud clang as steel met steel. Naruto looked at his friend from over the kunai he'd pulled from a storage seal. There was none of the usual mirth in his eyes. They were sharp, with an intensity that somehow seemed to fit the normally easy going genin.
The two fought often, sparring both to sharpen their skills and work off frustration. There was always restraint though. It wouldn't be obvious to even most ninja watching. They knew each other so well though, that they knew exactly when to hold back. What the other was capable of taking. Naruto didn't see any of that restraint in Sasuke today. He was certain the Uchiha wouldn't pull back if he wouldn't be able to block.
"You're not thinking clearly, Sasuke." He pushed back hard with the kunai, strafing back to gain distance. He summoned his own swords, the twin curved handles fitting perfectly into his hands.
"I don't need to think. I need to get stronger." Sasuke said. He rushed the blond, sword cutting precisely through the air. There were several more clashes as they traded off attacking and defending. Sasuke's anger built until he over-extended, charging his blade with lightning-natured chakra. He brought the blade overhead for a powerful two handed blow.
After Naruto had been tossed, he released the tight hold over his sensory ability that he kept up these days. Ever since the five prong seal had been released, it was like he was hyper aware of chakra. The sensory overload was just too much going about daily life in a ninja village. It was, however, a huge boon in a fight when he let feeling rush in. He felt the instant that Sasuke summoned the lightning. He reacted by wrapping his swords in wind, a trick Asuma-sensei had shown him.
He brought his blades up in a cross guard, catching Sasuke's blade where his met. His wind chakra instantly snuffed out the lightning, lessening its cutting power. The moment Sasuke's momentum was slowed, Naruto brought the back blade out, leaving only his left to hold Sasuke's sword. He thrust out with the right. The Uchiha slipped to the side, dodging the blade. He didn't move fast enough to avoid the wind whirring around it though, and received a slice across the ribs for it, a small amount of blood splashing out. He recovered quickly, leaping back.
As he gave himself space, Sasuke flung several shuriken in an arc. He was well aware they wouldn't hit Naruto. They never had before, but they were strategically placed in a way long since figured out. They forced the blond to dodge to his right, or leap up into the air. It wasn't enough to win the fight, but if he could tip enough interactions in his favor like this, he could eventually win.
Of course, the red eyed genin wasn't thinking this. It was so programmed in him from his countless fights, that he did it as a matter of reflex. Naruto on the other hand, was thinking much clearer. Typically, he would avoid any projectiles. It was the smartest way to go about fighting. It took out any error that could happen in blocking, and allowed you to keep your attention on your opponent, rather than splitting your focus. It was one of the reasons that kunai and shuriken were standard carry's for every shinobi of every village, despite their fatality rate being so low. Naruto, though, was unpredictable enough to not do the technically sound move.
The blond elected to step forward into the path of the shuriken, using his swords to cut them down. He knew Sasuke well enough to know this would throw him off minutely, keeping the advantage in Naruto's favor.
Sasuke knew his teammate well. He couldn't predict his behavior, not even with the sharingan. He could, however, predict his unpredictability. Despite his rage, when he threw the shuriken, he was well aware that Naruto would probably act in a way he wouldn't expect. He'd thus kept his options open for the type of ninjutsu he would use. It delayed him, getting rid of most of the advantage that his shuriken could have created, but it allowed him to react much more efficiently. His sharingan whirled, watching Naruto cut the shuriken out of the air and beginning to rush him. Closing the distance had been a mistake for the blond. Sasuke smirked as he finished his hand signs.
Naruto took a hard step after Sasuke, intent on closing the gap quickly. His eyes widened when he saw the hand signs Sasuke used. The clever bastard had gone with Thunderclap Arrow. By far his fastest ranged technique. Naruto's swords disappeared from his hands, somehow finding their way into storage seals on his body. Without missing a beat, he was forming shadow clones. Three of them to be exact. A fairly standard amount for him, he didn't have to think or even feel to make them. It was almost automatic at this point. They appeared in a rough semi circle around him, already forming a single hand seal of their own. It wouldn't be very powerful since it wasn't a full jutsu, but it should do the job. All three clones spat a rough shaped wall of water out, insulating him from the attack. The lightning crashed into the water.
Sasuke had put a little more chakra into the jutsu than was strictly necessary. Naruto had a fairly wide array of techniques, and typically tried to cancel ninjutsu out rather than dodge. He was right of course, and his lighting collided with the water, nearly exploding. His main issue was that he lost sight of Naruto, and his teammate was as sly as a fox when it came to switching out with clones.
A brief flash through the steam and water to his left was caught by his sharingan. He whipped around to see Naruto rushing at him from a separate angle. He slipped through the big hook Naruto threw at him, punching the blond in the gut. Unsurprisingly, it was a clone that puffed into smoke upon contact. He felt mild irritation that he hadn't even bothered to send an exploding one after him. Was he not worth going all out?
Sasuke snapped back to where the two jutsu had collided. Two more clones stood there, guarding the original. Both of the fakes rushed him. He'd had enough. He was sick of the childish games.
'You lack the power. He'll never take you seriously as you are.' The voice whispered to him.
That was enough to set him off. He raced through his newest hand signs. He grabbed his left wrist, channeling as much chakra as he could into his hand, packing it in denser and denser. In a second, there was the chirping of a thousand birds as the chidori roared to life in his palm. He cut through the clones like a hot knife through butter.
His sharingan picked up on the original Naruto frowning, but he didn't care. He would show him just how strong he was. Naruto seemed to understand his determination, and held out his right palm. A rasengan swirled to life, and Sasuke felt jealousy build up in his gut. Sure, Kakashi had taught him an original technique, but Naruto had been gifted a jutsu created by the Yondaime. It didn't matter to him that he was his father.
'They will continue giving him more power, as they watch him surpass you. They wish to put you on a leash. I will set you free.'
Sasuke screamed, and charged. The chidori ripped apart the ground as he rushed at Naruto. The blond silently began his own charge. Sasuke's sharingan slowed everything down. He saw Naruto's muscles contract. Saw where his eyes looked and his balance leaned. He meant to crash his technique into Sasuke's. He still wasn't taking him seriously.
The chidori was a technique of speed. That was the reason a matured sharingan was required for it. Sasuke's visual prowess was far above the average Uchiha's had even been, even before he got his third tomoe. He feinted to match Naruto's movement, and shifted once the blond had fully committed. Sasuke's lightning sheathed hand slipped by Naruto's rasengan, inside of his teammate's guard. The chidori slammed into his chest, punching a hole through his right side. His hand hit clean air as it punched all the way through. Naruto's blue eyes seared into his sharingan in a way that hurt far more than the rasengan would have. Then he popped.
There was a moment of confusion, before he felt chains wrap around him faster than he could leap away. His chakra was suppressed, along with most of his rage as Naruto's warm chakra wrapped him up. His sharingan was shut down without a constant chakra flow.
Naruto rose up out of the ground, the chains connecting to his back and palms. The look on his face was deadly serious.
"I can't believe you'd use the chidori on me." He said. "Didn't Kakashi tell you that it was only to protect your comrades?"
Sasuke was still angry, but no longer out of control. He frowned at Naruto. "As if you would have let it hit you."
"That's not the point, Sasuke. You're out of control. You're not acting like yourself." Naruto stared him down. Sasuke stared back. The tension between them crescendoing past palpable.
Suddenly Naruto's chains dissolved. His head snapped up. In a split second, his features shifted. Whiskers darkened, fangs sharpened. His nails grew, and he looked a little more feral. His eyes stayed blue, but his pupils slitted.
"What is it?" Sasuke asked, not really caring, but curious at the same time.
Naruto had a look of focus on his face. He'd sensed a massive chakra signature, and it wasn't familiar. The last one he'd felt that big had been Gaara's, but it wasn't the dry sandy hot feeling either. A massive unfamiliar chakra signature, and with it…
"Kakashi's in trouble. We have to go." And he took off as if he was charging in battle. Sasuke followed without hesitating.
This chapter sucked so bad to write, goodness gracious. I wanted to fit in more stuff about the promotions and what not and make it longer but it just wouldn't flow naturally in either of my other two attempts. Please keep the reviews encouraging for this one.
On a happier note, I'm pretty excited for the rest of the story, specifically the shippuden portion, but getting out the details and setup stuff like this is more difficult, especially the more knowledgeable I become about writing. Next chapter should be pretty exciting. Actually I know it is because I went nuts and wrote through chapter 30, which is the end of part 1. Those chapters just need editing so they should be out fairly soon. Thanks for sticking with it :)