A/N: Just a reminder, unless a miracle happens on Friday or something this week, there won't be a chapter next Sunday because I will be pokemon hunting! And also going to a Christmas party, which was an unexpected development (we didn't have one last year!).
Anyway, I reuploaded chapter 10 with some minor edits – someone messaged me volunteering to beta, and I told them honestly I wanted someone to help point out when Natsu gets OOC, so we decided to give it a try with chapter 10, and there are a couple places – lines of dialogue, or actions/body language Natsu used, that have been adjusted and changed. Nothing has been changed at all regarding the plot or the important pieces of the chapter, mostly things were just rephrased to fit his character better! So rereading it isn't critical, but hopefully it flows a bit nicer if you decide to.
Thanks for reading!
No one's there when he reaches the bridge, and Natsu hurries to set his lunch over by a series of posts that look somewhat familiar, grinning.
"Alright!" Natsu laces his fingers together and stretches his arms above his head as he walks toward the center of the clearing. "Time to see what I'm working with!"
He stops, taking a moment just to breathe, before slowly settling into a relaxed stance. He takes his time going through the stretches, ignoring the urge to jump straight to his regular routine, biting his lip 'til it bleeds as he carefully, methodically, feels out the limits of Sakura's body and conditioning.
Sakura-chan is more flexible than he expected, even if it doesn't make up for the piss-poor arm strength or even worse leg strength.
Natsu's fighting style… taijutsu, Naruto called it?-never relied on katas the way he knows most do, as Dragon Slayer forms are entirely rooted in instinct, and of course a dragon could hardly teach a human specific positions and movements they themselves would be physically incapable of performing. Igneel talked him through a set of very basic katas, more designed to teach him how to safely punch or kick, than to give him a foundation to a style, but Sakura-chan's so old - too old, really, to learn the way he did.
Instincts are as much a matter of the physical body as they are of the mind, and even as Natsu falls into the first form of those basic katas, he wonders if he'll even manage the level of instinctive awareness required to fight at his best when instincts are harder to train the older you are.
I mean, they're practically a yami guild! They teach kids to fight! But… Sakura-chan uses those knives. If she works with them a lot, then on instinct her body would want to grab for them… But I wouldn't. At all.
Natsu gets three sets through the katas before he fumbles, elbow buckling midway through the flip and sending him sprawling across the ground.
"W-wha…?" he stares blearily up at the sky as he slowly moves his arm around, feeling nothing wrong. He sits up slowly, deliberately putting his weight on it to push himself up, but it moves freely. He pokes at the bend of his elbow experimentally. "Let's… do that again." he grumbles, standing up and stretch his arms carefully for a moment.
Natsu runs through the fourth set as slowly as possible after that, paying close attention every step of the way, and smoothly finishes it without any issue.
"Huh?!" Glaring at the grass as though it personally offends him, Natsu runs it again, and finds himself standing back where he started, completely successful.
"Musta been a fluke…" he mutters, and starts back at the first set.
Midway through the flip on the fourth, his elbow buckles again, and the pinkette nearly screams in frustration.
Spitting curses under his breath, he pushes himself upright and glares at the grass again. It doesn't give him any answers, not that he expected it to, and Natsu sighs before starting back at the beginning again.
By the time the b- Sasuke arrives, Natsu has narrowed it down to something he's doing when he runs the full kata quickly but not when he slows it down, or runs just the fourth set quickly, but for the life of him the pinkette cannot figure it out. He's taking a rather reluctant break when Sasuke arrives, cursing Sakura-chan's easily-exhausted body in his mind as he leans against one of the posts and sips at the water in his hand.
The other kid spends a few moments trying not to look at him, before eventually walking over, scowl firmly in place. "You're here early," he says gruffly as he leans against one of the other posts, "what, trying to make a good impression?"
Natsu snorts, spraying water on his lap. "Please. For who? You? Not that it's any of your business, jerk, but I was stretching. You know, that thing people do when they don't want to pull all their muscles?"
"Hn." the blackette gives him a scornful look, like he can't even believe Natsu found it necessary, and it takes everything Natsu has not to just punch his face in.
He settles for ignoring the other boy, steadily drinking his water. Sasuke's scowl deepens, but he doesn't say anything and Natsu decides to take what he can get.
Naruto arrives a bare few minutes later, and bounds right up to them. "Sakura- ah, Natsu-kun! You're out of the hospital! No one told me!"
Sasuke sends him a sharp look that the pinkette ignores, putting the lid back on his water as he stands. "Yeah, I'm fine! They let me go almost as soon as I woke up. Inoichi-san just wanted to ask me some questions first. You okay? Honestly I hit you way more times than you hit me after all!"
Naruto sheepishly ducks his head. "I'm good. R-really, I only hit- Natsu-kun once, so I don't know how much of a spar it was…"
Natsu grins, throwing his hands behind his head. "It's not the number of hits, it's the quality of 'em! Even if you only manage one, as long as you make it count that's all that matters!"
Naruto laughs, still looking a little nervous, and Natsu tilts his head to the side, considering. "Do you disagree?" he asks, and the blond shakes his head rapidly, waving his hands in front of his face. "No no, you're definitely right, it's just-"
Kakashi arrives in a flurry of leaves between the three of them, cutting him off. "Good, you're all here." he says idly, hands in pockets as he slouches between them. "As I said before, I'll be taking some time this morning to test your individual skills, before we start working on teamwork exercises. Sasuke-kun, you're up first. Taijutsu only to start." the sensei immediately strides off, over toward where Natsu had been practicing before, and Sasuke follows quickly with an expression of eagerness. Natsu sits back down, turning to watch.
Naruto shuffles uncomfortably off to the side for a moment, before slowly sitting himself, just as Sasuke lunges at their instructor. Natsu props his chin in his palms, elbows resting on his knees, as Kakashi methodologically strikes through Sasuke's weak points one at a time. The other kid looks increasingly frustrated, as he fails to land even a single hit, and Natsu can all but see his forms falling apart as he gets angrier. Eventually, a hand-strike just below the base of his neck sends Sasuke sprawling into the ground, and Kakashi sighs.
"I won't say you suck," he starts slowly as Sasuke pushes himself up, glaring fiercely, "even though you do, because most genin are even worse, but letting your anger get the better of you like that is only going to get you killed later on, you know. Now, let's start again. Feel free to use your weapons this time, and make sure to use every jutsu you know at least once, ne?" the man gives a curved eye-smile, and even from this distance Natsu can see Sasuke's teeth grinding. He takes his form without saying anything though, and Kakashi once more slouches with his hands in his pockets while he waits for his student to move.
Sasuke takes two quick breaths, clearly trying to calm down, before launching himself back into the fight. Natsu leans forward a bit, curious as to what this chakra stuff looks like in action. Sasuke doesn't oblige immediately, going back in with taijutsu for a few passes before pulling out weapons that he throws as he leaps backwards and then - he twists his fingers into a series of odd forms, handsigns for channeling energy even if they're more complex than any Natsu has seen in action before, before he brings his fingers to his mouth and breathes fire.
Kakashi leaps back easily, dodging to the side and striking towards his student, but the only thing Natsu can do is stare in horror and the smouldering grass, a result of the most horribly inefficient attempt to copy his fire breath he's ever seen.
"E-eh? Sakura-chan, are you crying?!"
Natsu doesn't even attempt to react, hands laying motionless in his lap as he stares, wide-eyed at the charred grass. "T-that was so bad… please… please tell me fire chakra is better than that and that Sasuke just sucks, please tell me that's not the best I'll be able to do…"
"Huh? I mean, I don't really have much to compare it to, but the one time the teme showed that off in class all the teachers were impressed…"
Natsu lists to the side, collapsing into the dirt. "Noooooooo…"
"S-s-Natsu-kun?" Naruto crawls forward, looking down at him, but Natsu can't find the strength to move, or even go back to watching that spar.
That can't be it! T-the teachers must just… not deal with fire much, or maybe they were humoring him, how am I supposed to fight if I can't use my magic and that's the best Sakura-chan's chakra can do?! That took so long, fire's an easy element to conjure, he shouldn't need seven handsigns just to breathe such a pathetic stream!
"Natsu-kun? Are you quite well?"
Natsu blinks slowly, clearing the tears from his eyes as he looks up at Kakashi's face leaning over him. He nearly pouts and says no, because how could that be called a decent fire spell, in what universe is that a decent fire spell, but instead he grimaces and stands up.
"'S it my turn?" he asks slowly, brushing the dirt off his clothes. Kakashi hmms idly, walking back to the grass without a clear answer.
Natsu shrugs to himself and follows. "We'll do it the same as before," Kakashi says casually, "just taijutsu first."
Natsu goes straight into an attack, trying to ignore the bubbling annoyance at the knowledge that, in his current condition, there's no way he'll be able to get the older man to take him seriously. It grates, every single time he sees where Kakashi deliberately holds back, and he almost can't blame Sasuke for getting angry, but this is a spar, and even if Kakashi isn't a friend he's at least not an enemy, so Natsu bites back the emotions and just moves, one attack into another, blocking where he can, where he knows Kakashi is deliberately moving slow enough to test his blocks, and tries not to think about how much harder he could push if he had his own body.
The longer the fight goes on though, the harder it is to think about every move, the harder it is not to fall back on his instincts, and suddenly one of Natsu's punches falls widely short, not even coming close to the one-eyed sensei. Kakashi takes full advantage, slipping under his extended arm with a sharp kick that sends Natsu bouncing across the grass until the pinkette manages to recover, rolling to his feet and trying to ignore the dizzy feeling that overtakes him as he pants for air.
"Mm." Kakashi starts, walking forward as Natsu slowly gets his breathing under control. "We'll have to work on that. When Natsu-kun gets too into the fight, he forgets that his current body is smaller than he's used to. Though, I also get the feeling that the style you're trying to use isn't too well-suited to Sakura-chan." The man tilts his head at him, and Natsu sighs.
"I'm workin' on it!" he grumbles, crossing his arms.
"Maa, you might be better off just learning the forms Sakura-chan has already trained with."
Natsu shakes his head sharply. "No way! My style works just fine, and even if I gotta change some stuff here or there, it's still better! Besides, it's not like we're gonna take any dangerous jobs anytime soon anyway, so I have plenty of time to figure it out!"
Kakashi shrugs. "Suit yourself. Shall we move to the second round?"
He asks it casually, but Natsu groans, and Kakashi gives him a questioning look. "Sakura-chan's… chakra feels way too different from what I'm used to. And I've never really used kunai before. I dunno if any of my techniques'll work."
Kakashi gives him an unreadable look, lone eye placid as he stares a moment. "Well. Give it a shot anyway, so I can see how much work will be necessary, ne?"
Natsu nods, grabbing one of Sakura-chan's kunai and looking at it for a moment. It feels… odd. Both wrong and right in his hand, like something that shouldn't be there but also that he's intimately familiar with holding, and the pinkette fights off a grimace. He swings it a few times, back and forth, and Kakashi makes a choked sound.
"It's not a sword, Natsu-kun." he says, sounding mildly horrified, and Natsu laughs a bit.
"I guess not." He throws it, watching quietly as it misses Kakashi by a wide margin. "I don't think I'm gonna try anything with em this time though."
Or maybe never? He muses idly, ignoring the memory of Kizashi's voice, that first night here in this world.
He'll have to deal with that eventually, he knows. But not today.
He still walks past Kakashi, searching briefly before picking up the weapon and brushing the dirt off before he sticks it back in the pouch. He pauses then, taking a moment to feel at Sakura-chan's chakra coursing through this body, thicker and heavier than he's used to, and he finds himself wondering if the reason Sasuke needed so many handsigns for a fire breath is because the thicker energy doesn't move as easily as his light magic.
"Only one way to find out." Natsu murmurs, and Kakashi raises a curious eyebrow as the pinkette turns to face him. He shrugs the look off, taking a deep breath and stabilizing his stance.
Sakura-chan's chakra moves slower than he'd like as he pushes it, focuses it towards his arm, hand curled into claws as he tries to coat it with fire to give himself talons.
The chakra refuses to move past his skin. He can feel it, flowing just under the flesh, but it doesn't wrap around his fingers, certainly doesn't turn to flame, and Natsu stares at his arm in confusion. He distantly notices Kakashi walking closer but ignores it, turning his hand palm-up as he tries to force the energy out and properly coat his arm with it. It refuses to budge, swirling through the pathways he can feel in his arm but not leaving, just travelling back and forth, around and around.
Kakashi's hand clasps the bottom of his own, and through the point of contact, skin on skin, Natsu can feel… something, he's not sure what, and he has no chance to figure it out as the sensei slices a kunai across his palm.
Natsu barely feels it, physically, as the chakra trapped beneath the skin brushes away the pain almost instantly.
The blade only parts the topmost layer of his flesh, and he notices an odd look on Kakashi's face.
"That's an interesting technique."
"Tch." Natsu grimaces, pulling his hand away and letting go of the chakra. It quickly disperses, flowing normally, and the pinkette studies the thin mark on his hand that looks more like naturally-peeling skin than any wound, save for how straight the line is. "Not what I was going for at all."
"Useful though, wouldn't you say? Though I'm rather surprised… most people who concentrate that much chakra inside their bodies usually end up blowing off their appendage of choice. It's not really made to be used like that," he muses, studying Natsu's relaxed arm for another moment.
"It's so thick and heavy," Natsu complains, twisting his fingers through the air. "It doesn't move anything like it should, and I couldn't get it to go outside my skin at all. It only swirled around and around, and didn't even feel like it was trying to leave like I told it to."
"Hmm… well, if Inoichi-san's theory of you and Sakura-chan being related is true, I think it's safe to say that she doesn't have your kekkei genkai. I suppose I'll have to start at the basics with you, since you clearly have no idea how to use normal chakra. For now, Naruto-kun's turn!" Kakashi's voice turns chipper at the end, as he spins around back towards the other students. Natsu glowers at his back.
"I don't have a… kekkei genkai!" he grumbles, stomping forward and plopping himself back into the dirt at the posts. Sasuke gives him a particularly disgusted 'hn' that Natsu is pretty sure means 'I can't believe how pathetic you are', and the pinkette bristles. Turning around, he glares at his companion while biting back the urge to do something more physical - if Kakashi is going to make them do teamwork exercises later, he probably shouldn't…
Sasuke raises an eyebrow - is he smirking at me?! - and shifts, blatantly turning aside to watch Naruto take his turn against the silver-headed sensei, ignoring Natsu's heated anger. The pinkette snarls, more than ready to just punch him in the face, when Naruto yelps in pain, pulling his attention away from starting his own fight.
Naruto picks himself up, half way across the field and screaming a battlecry as he lunges back towards Kakashi. Watching from the outside, his lack of form is even more obvious. It's nothing like Natsu's, where the lack of form is the point of his form, and it's absolutely, blatantly clear that Naruto is just throwing out attacks without any rhyme or reason. It's brawling, not fighting, and Kakashi absolutely decimates the blond. And yet, just like the day before, Naruto gets up again and again, never staying down longer than a second, acting almost as if the blows don't even phase him.
Natsu's chest is still sore from that solid kick Kakashi landed, and a few other places ache from other blows the sensei landed, while Naruto acts as though he barely even feels them.
Natsu adds one more thing to the list of things that just don't make sense. Because, surely in a fighting-dependant place like this, Naruto's clear resilience would be a good thing, and yet they don't act like that at all.
Eventually, Kakashi clearly gives up on trying to knock his blond student down for good, and just pins the boy beneath his foot, ignoring Naruto's attempts to punch out his leg.
"I don't even know where to start with you." He says, and Naruto drops his arms, staring up at Kakashi. "You don't possess any skill whatsoever, and seem to rely entirely on stamina. If you had any degree of strength to back that up, it might be serviceable, but I'm fairly certain I've met gnats that hit me with more force than you've managed, even when my leg is a wide-open target. I know the academy teaches a standardized taijutsu form. What, did you just think that you know better than them, that you didn't need their forms? Hmm?"
"Huh? Whaddya mean, dattebayo! I learned the forms exactly how the sensei showed me to!" Kakashi scoffs, stepping back and away from the blond.
"Get up and run through a kata then."
Naruto jumps to his feet. "I'll show you!" he shouts, and goes straight into… Natsu would like to call it a kata. Even if he only knows a few basic ones himself, he still prides himself on his hand-to-hand skill, and he'd like to think he knows a thing or two about actual style katas, but…
It really kind of looks like if you took a basic kata, ran through it once, and then asked your very drunk neighbor to repeat it without any chance to practice or warm up.
Mildly, Kakashi raises a hand and gestures for Naruto to stop. The blond looks up, clearly expecting praise for something he's worked so hard towards. Silence descends over the clearing, thick and heavy as Kakashi attempts to address what they've seen, something tense lining his posture. Natsu finds himself biting back fury, though he doesn't quite realize why - until Kakashi calmly asks for the name of the teacher that taught Naruto his katas. The word sabotage flickers unspoken through the air.
Something is wrong with his temporary, blond-haired teammate, Natsu knows, something is wrong with how people treat him, and act around him, and even Sakura-chan doesn't know why she dislikes him. And Natsu thought that was the extent of it - was mostly poking the situation more for his own curiosity and the fact that Inoichi told him not to, and since when does he listen when people tell him no, but now…
Something is wrong with how people treat Naruto, and even if the kid wants to become the master of a giant yami guild, the idea that an instructor supposed to teach him sabotaged his ability to fight makes something burn in Natsu, fierce and sharp.
This team may not be his team and these people aren't his people, but there are some things you don't do, and Natsu is going to get to the bottom of this no matter what.
He doesn't pay attention to them as Kakashi runs Naruto through his jutsu and weapon skill, because he's got a mission, and somehow he doubts he'll be able to punch the answers out of someone.
His shoulders droop in resignation. He needs to plan.
People seem to like Sakura-chan, maybe if he pretended to be her while talking to this… Tachibana-sensei…
That… Kiba kid, I think Naruto said his name was… said Sakura-chan's mother doesn't like Naruto? So I'll have to wait til the next time I can talk to Sakura-chan herself, I don't think they'd help me pretend to be her for a reason like that…
But if I take too long Kakashi-san might get to that guy first… Maybe I can-
Kakashi interrupts, cheerily declaring "teamwork drills!" as he pushes both Natsu and Sasuke forward toward the treeline where Naruto is waiting.
Somehow, Natsu just knows this is going to end in disaster. Naruto looks excited, and Sasuke looks disdainfully confident, and Kakashi is smirking evilly, and right here, right now, Natsu thinks he'd almost prefer to have Erza walk in on him and Gray fighting because at least then he knows exactly how badly it's going to end.
Something about Kakashi-san's smirk is terribly unsettling.
Natsu refuses to tremble as the silver-haired man bounces into the forest, unwilling to give in to the feeling of dread that tries to take over.
Why me...