Chapter 18: Training and Finals
The summer sun glistened down on Konoha as it rose high above the Hokage Mountains. It's boiling hot rays penetrating through each and every window throughout the village, signaling all of the villagers to wake up and start the day afresh.
These were the same rays that awoke me out of my slumber. I moaned in annoyance as I realized that I wouldn't be able to sleep anymore as the bright light prevented me from closing my eyes.
Exhaling a huge sigh, I sluggishly unraveled myself from the bed sheets and headed into the bathroom. I shrugged at the light snoring noise that was coming from Sasuke and continued on brushing my teeth. I went to the closet and stole his long white shirt that came down to my knees and just wore that. After being more refreshed, I walked downstairs and into the kitchen. If you haven't already guessed—yup I was at Sasuke's home.
Preparing simple eggs, toast, and juice, I laid everything on the table. Grabbing some strawberries in my hand, I climbed upstairs to wake up Sasuke, while eating them. I mentally moaned as the juicy strawberry flavor traveled down my throat. Surprisingly, they were in season! So lucky me!
Munching on the snack quietly, I silently stood next to Sasuke deciding on evil ways to wake him up. After all, what kind of girlfriend would I be if I'm not even able to do that? (Teehee, Black butler moment-ish^^)I smirked as I went to the kitchen and brought out a small can of whipping cream that was stocked in the fridge. I was surprised, since he hated sweets! But guess he kept it more for me, since I liked all types of food.
I gently took his hand and laid it by his side. I put a whole lot of it on his palms and took out a feather that we ninjas apparently just have lying around. I took the feather and carefully swung it back and forth right by nose.
He wrinkled his nose in annoyance, but then went back to sleep peacefully. I lowly chuckled and swished the feather again. He brought his hand to scratch his itchy nose, and then SPLASH!!
I fell into a fit of giggles as I noticed the whipping cream smothered all over his face. "HAHAHAHA!" I laughed out loud as I noticed him shoot up with a surprised look on his face.
His face quickly turned into the most murderous glare ever. My eyes widened as I realized that I messed with the wrong ninja, who hated waking up early.
"NAOMI!!" I heard him yell. I bolted out the door with a squeal. His heavy footsteps followed me like a stampede.
"Shit!" I yelped as I heard him getting closer and closer to my tail. Finally arriving at the living room, he tackled me onto the sofa, pinning my arms by my face and using a taijutsu technique to bind my legs.
I pursed my lips as I tried to not laugh again looking at his face. The cream had made his bed head hair even worse, literally covering the roots and the ends. His face had now become sticky with all of the cream that was smeared all around.
I bit my lip to hold my laugh, but a few giggles escaped causing me to laugh loudly from underneath him. "Hahaha! Y-you should s-see the l-look on your f-face!" I stuttered while wiping a tear.
Sasuke's eyes twitched in annoyance as a tick mark appeared on his forehead. Suddenly he smirked mischievously that slowed down my laugh into a nervous smile. "You think it's funny, huh? Let's see how you feel when you're covered in cream." He bent his head down and abruptly started rubbing his cheeks against mine, and then also on my other cheeks.
"H-hey! Hahaha s-stop!" I giggled as it tickled when he rubbed his face all over mine. I heard him slightly chuckle under his breath. He smiled slightly as he slowly bent toward me, his lips grazing mine ever so softly. It was almost as if he was testing my boundary line. My hand instinctively met the side of his cheek, slowly urging his lips harder against mine.
It was as if every ounce of me wanted his lips on mine, to feel his hands as they traced the contour of my body. I pulled away ever so slightly to breathe, trying not to show just how vulnerable I seemed to be. My gaze moved from his eyes to his lips and once more his soft lips were against mine, one hand slowly but surely tangling into my hair. Each intake of breath was another reminder of what was really happening, his cologne, the way his hands entangled in my hair, pressing my lips against his with a more urgent pace.
"AHEM!" My eyes snapped open, as I shrieked falling off the sofa, with Sasuke tumbling on top of me. We both groaned as the bit of pain tingled through our spines. Rubbing my head, I sat up and stared at the intruder.
"Kakashi! What the hell! What are you doing here?" I exclaimed. Sasuke stood up and brushed the dirt of his pants, before pulling me up from my elbows. I could see the scowl settled on his face.
"Hn." He said as he walked back up the stairs. I heard him close the door and turn water on. I'm guessing he went to shower. Kakashi raised his eyebrows at us and pulled out his Icha Icha book.
Glaring at him again, I went into the kitchen to make some tea for us. "So, aren't you two young to be making out on the sofa?" he teased with amusement laced in his voice.
"Gee, I don't know, aren't you too much of a pervert to be reading that shit in front your squad?" I teased back with a slight smirk. His eyes widened and sputtered nonsense.
"I'm not a pervert, neither is this book! It's quite entertaining." He said with his nose raised in the air. I rolled my eyes and scoffed.
"Yeah right. Why don't you read the first page..."
"Sure..." he said.
"Out loud." I added on. A blush quickly rose to his cheeks, but was covered with his mask.
"Uh, umm, hehe..." he rubbed his neck nervously. Silently laughing at his zombie embarrassed face, I drank the hot jasmine tea.
"So Kakashi, why exactly are you here?" I asked. He looked over at me and tucked away his book.
"I'm training Sasuke for this month. We should quickly get started with it since the jutsu I'm about to teach him is difficult and requires a lot of stamina." He explained. I nodded in understanding.
"Let me guess, the Chidori?" I asked with curiosity.
"H-how'd you know?" he asked with a surprised tone. I shrugged nonchalantly.
"It's kind of obvious, but that's a good jutsu: especially for him. His Uchiha blood will help him out a lot and also the Sharingan."
"Why don't you join us?" he asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Ehh, maybe towards the end. First I want to train with Jii-san about something." And maybe learn some Kinjutsu. I added in my head.
Sasuke finally came down, drying his wet hair with a towel. "Hn." He muttered as he saw Kakashi standing there chatting with me. He sat down at the table and quickly ate his breakfast that I made for him earlier.
"Alright. Let's go." He said in a monotone voice. I rolled my eyes as I realized that he was back to his emotionless self around others. Kakashi nodded.
"Bye, Naomi, see you soon." He poofed out of the kitchen. I simply waved. Sasuke took a quick stride, pecked me on the lips, and poofed out of the kitchen also, following Kakashi.
A blush crawled onto my face as I had noticed him kissing me so casually. Chuckling, I cleaned up the table and washed the dishes. I went back up, stole his blue Uchiha shirt, and wore my shorts. I slipped on my black boots and kunai pouch, and ran out the house.
As I was running down the streets, I felt the other chakra signatures in about a 2 mile radius. I finally was able to scan the large chakra I was looking for, so I followed it.
I arrived at the small junction town right outside of Konoha, where the hot springs were. I could feel the humid air stick onto my skin making it itch a bit. I raised an eyebrow when I heard a huge a commotion.
"That's right! It is I, the Toad Mountain Sage!" the voice said. I turned the corner to see Jii-san standing on one of his summonings doing a weird pose, in front of Naruto who was standing by an unconscious Ebisu.
"W-what? Toad Sage? Well listen here you pervy sage!" Naruto exclaimed "What are you going to do about this? This guy is supposed to be training me and you laid him out flatter than a bath mat!" I silently chuckled at the scene.
"Well... he shouldn't have interfered with my research. You see, I'm a novelist: a writer of great books. Like this!" Jii-san replied taking out an Icha Icha book.
"Huh?" Naruto stared at the orange book with wide, innocent eyes. He let his mind wander off to where he had seen that book before. An image of Kakashi reading it with a blush and laughing pervertedly came up.
"Whaa? YOU WROTE THAT!" he exclaimed. Jii-san giggled with over confidence. Hehe my book is SO famous and it's not even out in paperback yet! He thought.
"YOU CALL THAT PERVY TRASH A NOVEL? Research. Yeah, right! It's just an excuse for you to peek at girls at the bath house!" Naruto yelled. The high pitch screams of the girls inside the hot spring echoed out all the way out here.
"Ahhhh, look at what you've done! You ruined my peaking! I need my research~!" Jii-san cried an anime tear fall.
"Dirty old man..." Naruto spoke with a bored straight eyed face. Jii-san growled at him with clenched fists. "Why you..."
I clutched my stomach as I laughed out loud. "Hahaha!"
"Huh?" the two of them muttered and looked over towards where I was standing. "Naomi! What are you doing here?" they both asked in unison.
"Hey! Pervy old man, how do you know Naomi!" A fit of giggles escaped and I smirked. Walking over to the two of them, I took my fist and bonked it on top of Jii-san's head.
"How dare you! After I've told you so many times, you're still peeping at hot springs!!" I scolded. Jii-san groaned as he held his head in pain. He pouted before replying back.
"Aw come on, Naomi! You know I must do my research, how will I start my other book if I don't??" he pleaded. I rolled my eyes and tsked.
"Unbelievable. You know that I became co-author so you don't have to peep around! Why don't you just admit that you actually like to peep!" I replied with a glare.
"H-huh... I-I don't k-know what you're talking about." He 'hmmped' with his arms crossed.
"Ugh, I can't believe I'm related to him." I muttered. "Hey Naruto! I see you already met Jii-san."
"J-jii-san?! This pervy old man is your grandfather??" he exclaimed as he pointed at him. I smirked and nodded. "Yes, unfortunately."
"Hey," Jii-san protested "I'm not that bad!!"
....
....
Naruto and I just stared at him with a dead panned look. "Yeah, right." We both muttered.
"Psst, hey Naruto." I whispered to him as I stepped closer. Jii-san was thinking of his fantasies. "Why don't you use sexy jutsu? You know how he's a pervert, right? Try it out. I'm sure it will work." I winked and gave him a thumbs up.
He grinned widely and his eyes held a speck of mischievousness. Bringing his hands together, he created the hand signs. "SEXY JUTSU!" he yelled. A sudden poof appeared and transformed Naruto into his sexy girl self.
His long blonde hair was tied into two pig tails, and his full lips became covered with light lip gloss. A mist of clouds covered his chest and bottom.
Jii-san's eyes became wide and drool came out of his mouth. His hands moved in a weird motion. "Hubba hubba hubba..." he muttered.
"If you keep staring like that..." Naruto's girl voice said "I'm gonna blush." Jii-san's hands went towards Naruto in slow motion. I could very well feel the twitch in my eye as I stared at the scene, while shaking my head in shame.
"S-so lovely... WE GOT A WINNER! A PERFECT TEN!" Jii-san exclaimed while holding random wood signs that said '10' on it from nowhere.
I scoffed and dragged them to the nearest river while they kept bickering. We stopped hearing the stream's noise and sat by the rocky banks.
**Time Skip**
"Alright, now go ahead and show me that technique you were working on before." Jii-san said as he sat with his legs crossed in a meditation position. I laid down on my stomach and rested my chin on top my hand and swung my legs back and forth.
"Okay." Naruto said determinedly. He stood up and brought his hands together. Closing his eyes, he concentrated on his chakra. He took a couple of steps on the water and then quickly fell in.
"Ahh!" he gasped as the cold water soaked him. Jii-san and I giggled as he came out stripping all of his clothes. He just stood there with his green boxers. My eyes widened as I quickly averted my eyes. I'm not usually like this, but it's kinda awkward. Oh well, he's like my brother, so it didn't matter.
"I should know by now to take my clothes off!" the blondie muttered.
"Hey. Go off and build up your chakra one more time." Jii-san instructed.
"Can't I dry off first----"
"Now." Naruto pouted and brought his hands together again. I noticed Jii-san staring at his stomach in anticipation. Raising my eyebrows, I followed his gaze and noticed a black sealing symbol appearing on Naruto's stomach. My eyes widened in shock as I quickly stood up, quietly, and crouched down in front of him to inspect it.
So this is the formula used to imprison the Nine-tailed fox. A double tetragram seal, with an eight signed seal. I thought as I read the sealings. My eyebrows furrowed as I saw a new set of seals come in, right outside the original one. A five pronged seal?! An odd numbered seal on top of an even numbered? Huh, no wonder Naruto couldn't control his chakra. I looked back at jii-san and he nodded at me.
He came up and rubbed Naruto's stomach. The knucklehead giggled. "H-hey stop that! Haha." Jii-san stood back up and cracked his knuckles. Taking his right hand behind his back, light blue flames appeared on each of his finger tips.
"Okay, raise your arms high above your head." Jii-san said. Naruto stretched them high, so his ab muscles tightened.
"Five Prong Seal: Release!" he exclaimed and smack his hand into Naruto's stomach, hard. Very hard. Naruto's eyes bulged out as he yelled in pain, and fell onto his butt.
I could see the five prong seal on top the tetragram disappear, as a bit of smoke evaporated from the jutsu. "What the heck was that for!" Naruto coughed and shakily stood up.
I smirked. "Calm down, Naruto. Why don't you try and do the jutsu again. Let's see if it works." Jii-san gave me a knowing smile, and nodded.
"Hmph!" Naruto exclaimed, but formed the hand signs anyways. He walked on the water, but nothing happened. "Woah, that's weird!" he cried out with joy. He laughed and kept jumping on the water hopping on one foot and back to the other. "Look at that, I'm doing it! Just don't ask me how! Hahaha"
**Time Skip**
Naruto was sleeping in a motel room, while Jii-san and I were standing on the rooftop floor. Turning around, I saw Ebisu coming towards us. He placed his hands on the railings and stared at the moon.
"Sorry, but it wasn't my plan to steal your student from you, Ebisu." Jii-san stated while casually crossing his arms.
"Ohh, that's of little importance," he waved it off "Lord Hokage has had his ninja searching for you everywhere. We were just beginning to think that you'd never be found. Then you turn up here, of all places. Right in front of me, he will be pleased." He stated calmly.
Jii-san switched his gaze to him. "Have you told the Hokage you've found me yet?"
"No, not yet." He replied. Jii-san nodded.
"Hmm, very good. It's better that way." Ebisu snapped his head to him and released his arms from the railing.
"You're after Orochimaru, aren't you?"
When I was watching this episode, I figured out that Ebisu's English voice is the same as Itachi's! Eep! Sexxaaay ;) Kay I'm gonna stop.
Jii-san sighed. "No, unfortunately say that I am. Sorry."
"Huh?"
"The only thing that brought me here was the chance of doing some research for a book. I have no intention or desire to get involved with any of that other business."
Ebisu's eyes widened and held his hand out. "W-what do you mean? You can't be serious! You know better than anyone! There's one way to deal with Orochimaru. He's one of the sannin, and he can only be stopped by the power of another sannin: your power Master Jiraiya!"
"Alright," I interrupted "I think that's enough for tonight. Let's get going." I grabbed Jii-san's hand and quickly pulled us away from the rooftop and by the local ramen shop.
"Can I help you?" the waiter asked, as we sat down on the high stools. "I'll have a beef ramen, while she'll have a miso one." Jii-san ordered, already knowing my favorite.
I immediately dug into the hot noodles as soon as they came out. Jii-san just chuckled at my antics and dug into his. After swallowing the first bite, I finally asked him.
"You came here will all of your intention on training Naruto, didn't you?" I asked him with a raised eyebrow. He paused eating, glancing at me, and went back to slurping.
"Actually, I came here because of the news of you being hospitalized due to Orochimaru. Training Naruto was a mere coincidence." He spoke. I rolled my eyes.
"It's not a mere coincidence, you were going to train him either way sooner or later. I mean he is Minato-san's, your students, son. Besides, you wouldn't refuse your godson, would you?" I asked the rhetorical question, already knowing the answer.
He sighed. "I suppose not. He must be trained to control the fox's chakra. If it ever leaks out, it won't be a good situation. But that's why we have the seal the Fourth Hokage placed on him."
I shrugged. "I guess. Speaking of the seal, that extra five prong... it was Orochimaru wasn't it?" I asked with narrowed eyes.
Jii-san frowned. "Yes. I believe it might have happened when they encountered in the forest, while he was giving the curse mark to Sasuke." I clenched my fists in anger.
I knew I should have come earlier! This seal problem wouldn't have happened if I just came earlier!
"Don't even think about it Naomi. I know what you're thinking. It's not your fault; I've already told you this before. What's done is done, now just focus on training." He replied as he ruffled my hair.
"Oh, speaking of training, could you help me with finding my own Summoning?" I asked him as I sipped all of the ramen broth.
"Hmmm..." he thought for a moment. I could see a calculating look on his face as if he was thinking about something, but like usual when he was serious, I didn't know what was going on in his mind.
"Very well. Early tomorrow, I will train you before Naruto wakes up. For this I will need you to reveal your true self, that is why." He explained. I nodded with a smile and ordered another bowl.
**Time Skip to next morning**
Jii-san and I were once again at the same spot by the river in the forest. The morning sun was beaming down on us once it rose into the sky. The slight breeze in this hot weather made my shiver slightly, but it felt good.
I sat down criss cross in front of jii-san, as he sat across from me. He pulled out one of the huge scrolls that were hanging on his back, and placed it on the grass.
"Alright, Naomi, I will be teaching you the Summoning Jutsu, like how you wanted to learn. This summoning scroll is special; it has been passed down to a certain line in the Uchiha Clan. But first, before I explain anything, why don't you release your jutsu. Don't worry, I put up a barrier around this area." He said.
I nodded and closed my eyes in concentration. "Release." I muttered and my genjutsu immediately disappeared, leaving with my natural black hair and onyx eyes.
He nodded approvingly. He untied the string that was binding the scroll, and slowly, but carefully, rolled it out completely. It was a beige colored papyrus scroll with many columns on it, but a lot of names were already filled on it in Japanese.
"Naomi, this summoning... is the same summoning that your mother had." He said hesitantly. My heartbeat increased as I read the final name that was written in blood before the empty slot.
Sora Uchiha.
"Sora..." I muttered. "The sky... how beautiful." I spoke as I traced her name. I felt a warm feeling fluttering through me as I had finally learned something about my parents. I didn't notice the heartwarming expression Jii-san looked at me with, as I was too busy being happy.
I scanned the other names on the scroll, when my eyes gazed to the very first name. I felt my body stiff in shock. I-impossible?!
"Jii-san... t-the first name.... is it real?" I stuttered. He smirked a proud one and nodded.
"Indeed it is, Naomi. This scroll, is the very scroll that Izuna Uchiha used for his summoning."
"Wow..." I breathed as my eyes sparkled with knowledge. "I-izuna Uchiha! Oh my kami! This is amazing!" I expressed with a light grin. "I-I'm signing the same scroll as THE Izuna Uchiha! One of the most powerful ninjas that ever lived!"
If you don't know Izuna Uchiha... you better Google him up!^^
Jii-san just chuckled at me. "Alright, let's see if the scroll accepts you as its master. Prick your finger and sign your name on the empty slot after your mother's name."
I brought my thumb to one of my canine teeth and pricked it. A bead of blood oozed out and I immediately started writing my name in kanji.
I stood back up and brought my hands together. "Inu-I- Tori- Saru-Hitsuji, Ninja Art: Summoning jutsu!" As I finished, I slammed my hand down on the ground, and the contract seal appeared for a moment then disappeared.
I sweat dropped at what I saw when the poof disappeared. It was a... actually I didn't know. It looked like a hairless bird?? It was so damn small, maybe the size of my palm. "W-what is this?!" I exclaimed.
Hairless_Summoning
Jii-san's eye twitched as he tried not to laugh, but obviously that didn't work. "Pfft... Hahaha! L-look at that thing... not even a b-baby..." he laughed and wiped a tear.
"What is it supposed to be??" I asked with an annoyed tone. He just smirked and shook his head. "No way, I'm not telling you. Until you don't figure it out for yourself, you won't be able to see it. The only thing I will tell you is that it's a type of an Avian tengu."
I growled under my breath, and sent the 'bird' back. I sighed as I remade the hand signs again and slammed my hand down. Another poof appeared, and this time it was only one step higher.
Just a small, itty bitty, baby bird. Well... which was still the size of my hand. I groaned in frustration and my shoulders slumped forward. "Why is this soo hard!" I complained.
"It's not that hard Naomi, you just have way too much on your mind. Clear your head of everything, and concentrate your chakra. You know that better than anyone. If you can do the Rasengan, which is to a level which a jounin or ANBU cannot reach, I mean it even took the Fourth Hokage many years to master...I'm pretty sure you can do the summoning." Jii-san encouraged.
I huffed but nodded anyway. "Your right. Who says I'm going to give up? Never."
"That's the spirit." He cheered.
**Time Skip**
"I got it!" I yelled. "I got it! Now, I know!! Yes! Now I know...."
"Really??" Jii-san laughed.
I nodded eagerly. "YEAH! Now I know.... That I can never do it." I replied with my head hung. I may be an ANBU ranked ninja and have great chakra control, but that doesn't mean I know every single technique. :(
Jii-san anime fell to the ground and face palmed. After contemplating for a few moments, he spoke. "There's one more technique that might help you."
My head shot up as I gave him all ears. "Really?" He nodded then gave me an apologetic grin.
"Huh..?" I tilted my head in confusion. "Wha—OOF!" I groaned as he punched me in the stomach all of a sudden, and the last thing I noticed was falling to ground, unconscious.
Third POV
Jiraiya picked up his granddaughter and hung her over his shoulders. I'm sorry I had to resort to this, but this is the only way. Please forgive me, Sora.
He walked towards the forest path, the elevation getting higher and higher. Finally arriving at the destination, he laid Naomi on the ground. She slightly groaned as her muscles twitched. Opening her eyes, she groggily scanned the area and noticed that they were on a cliff.
Quickly jumping up, she let the harsh wind run through her hair. "W-what are we doing here?" she asked.
"You'll have to face death on your own, Naomi. This is the only way you'll be able to successfully summon." Jiraiya said in a serious tone.
What the hell is he talking about? She thought. Suddenly, Jiraiya pointed his index finger towards her forehead and pushed on it gently.
But that gentle push, held chakra in it, so it made her fly through a bunch of bushes and finally appearing on the other side. Her body hung in the air for a couple of seconds, and she finally managed to look below her.
Her eyes widened and sweat ran down her cheeks. "Ah, ah... AHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!" her vicious scream echoed through the deep cliffs, as her body was falling to the ground in high speed.
I have to grab onto something! Naomi thought. Putting chakra into her hands she tried to get a hold of one of the pointy rocks, but they immediately slipped.
It's impossible to grab onto to something. Jiraiya thought. These rocks are too slippery, and falling at that speed, it would be unlikely.
Naomi remembered the words that Jiraiya told her earlier. "You must face death to summon." She muttered. "Well if he wants me to summon while I'm technically dying, then so be it." Pricking her thumb, she quickly wrote a seal on her arm.
"Ninja Art: Summoning Jutsu!" A gigantic puff of smoke appeared and Naomi's body smacked onto the summoning with a thud. Surprisingly, it didn't hurt that much. The fall was actually sort of... soft. She thought.
Naomi's POV
Shaking my head from the dizziness, I stumbled while standing up. I blinked my eyes as the smoke finally disappeared.
"WHO DARES TO SUMMON ME?" A gruff, but booming voice yelled out. My eyes widened at the very animal that was standing in front of me. It was MASSIVE! It was taller than Jii-san's summoning Chief Toad.
"A-a G-griffin???" I asked with shock laced in my voice. Holy... I'm standing on a Griffin. A fucking Griffin. For Kami's sake, I thought they were just mythological creatures!
"WHO THE HELL ARE YOU TO SUMMON ME!" it asked again as its pure emerald eyes stared back at me. They were like gems with specks of gold that shined when the little bit of sunlight hit it.
The white feathers that made the top part of his Eagle body were soft and white, with patches of brown in them. His wings were gigantic as they spread out like a pair of angels. His face held a stern expression with guarded eyes. The Eagle claws on his front two feet were long and talon sharp.
The Lion part of his body was a golden honey brown with tight muscles, indicating that he was strong. Very strong. His muscles flexed as his hind Lion legs moved. And to top off his looks, he had a long tail that flipped sometimes.
Strongest_Griffin_Summoning Don't own the pic!^^
His beady eyes stared into mine as if he were inspecting my soul. Finally I saw an emotion flash through them, which I could not indicate. "Tell me girl, are you the one who has summoned me?" he loud voice asked.
No author has used a Griffin idea yet for a summoning, so please don't take this idea from me either. Thanks. © sgirl, 2014
I merely nodded, but definitely had a strong and confidence look on my face. After all, if I showed any sort of weakness, I could become Griffin food, which I did NOT want.
"Those eyes, nose, and facial structure: you look exactly like your parents..." he muttered instantly knowing who I am. My fists unconsciously clenched. Why is it that all of the others know about me and my parents, but I don't know myself! I'm just like Naruto!
"Hn. Very well, what is your name, girl." Well he didn't ask, more like demanded with a glare.
"My name is Naomi Uchiha, granddaughter of Jiraiya, the Toad Sage. What about you?" I spoke my title. His eyes widened before narrowing in annoyance.
"The name is Chief Masayoshi. Let me guess... that damn sage is here isn't he?" he gruffly asked. I nodded and pointed to the top of the cliffs.
"Well get on brat, I've got to give him a piece of my mind." I instantly grabbed onto his back and he spread his wings to take off for flight. With a quick flap, we were rising higher and higher, until he literally shot out of the cliff valley like a bullet and he loudly squawked before letting his eyes scan the clearing, until the narrowed to the figure that was peeking from behind a tree.
"JIRRAIIIYAAAAA!" Masayoshi bellowed and zoomed down. The wind burst past me as we shot down with amazing speed. I was about to scream that we are crashing, but his wings quickly flapped and used their momentum to stop our flying immediately as we gently landed on the ground.
I sighed with relief resting my hand on my chest to calm down my heart beat in any way I could. "O-oh hey... Masayoshi. It has certainly been a w-while, h-hasn't it?" Jii-san stuttered as he nervously rubbed the back of his neck.
The chief merely glared at him with slits in his eyes. I was too exhausted to even bother going in between them. My chakra had been used up to summon the biggest Griffin chief. I could feel my eyes roll to the back of my head, and my body falling forward, overtaken with darkness.
Third POV
Masayoshi gave a quick glance to Naomi as he felt her fall out cold on his back. "Is she really the child of those two?" he asked.
"Hmmm, indeed. You can tell by her appearance. Naomi has definitely gotten the looks from both her mother and father." Jii-san explained. "It's too bad. Poor child will never be able to have a parents touch." He sighed.
"Tell me, Jiraiya, what exactly happened to cause the death of Sora?" the Chief asked. "It is quite unusual for her to die in child labor. She was a strong one."
"I believe that too. What's unusual is that Tsuande confirmed, after Naomi was born, that Sora's death was not due to child labor, but in fact, she was poisoned. But that poison had been in Sora's body for a while, so that meant that someone was trying to kill Sora for reasons." Jiraiya narrowed his eyes as he rubbed his hand on his chin.
"Sora didn't have many enemies, though. As her summon, I know who were her battle enemies, but they weren't capable of doing this to her, since they were all killed. So who could it be..." the chief thought. "Unless someone was killing her due to other reasons, maybe not herself, but to get rid of something... evidence."
"It is a possibility. Sora had pre-written letters to Naomi before her death so we could give them to her on each birthday. However, I cannot open them, only an Uchiha is able to. It's once again possible that Sora could have written in those letters what would have happened. But we will just have to wait..." Jiraiya spoke again rubbing his temples.
"Very well. Now get this brat off me so I can return back." The chief replied as he tried to shake his feathers to get Naomi off. Jiraiya chuckled, eventually lifting Naomi and holding her in his arms.
Chief Masayoshi nodded towards him. "Keep me updated about what goes on. Till then, when that brat wakes up, tell her not to summon me unless it's absolute. Have one of my children come."
"Of course." Jiraiya spoke, as the chief disappeared in a poof. "Alrighty, let's get you to the hospital." He hauled up Naomi's unconscious body and transported right outside of Konoha Hospital.
***
Naomi's POV
I came to when I heard a slight beeping machine to the left of me. Crinkling my eyes, I finally managed to open them. I moaned as the bright light irritated my sight.
"Finally, you're awake." A voice said. My eyes snapped open and I quickly sat up to see Ren and Kazuya sitting on either side of my bed playing a game of Shogi that was hovering on a table right above my legs.
"What happened?" I hissed as I could feel a mild headache coming.
"You idiot used up too much chakra during training. Master Jiraiya brought you here and left afterwards, leaving you in our care." Ren said with a roll of his eyes.
"You jerk didn't do anything to me, right? Pshh, leaving me in your care. You're not able to take care of anything..." I teased Ren.
"Hey! That's not true!" he protested "A-and wh-why would I want to do anything to you! Id rather go jump off a cliff!" he said with an irritated look. I chuckled. Ohh, the irony of jumping off of cliffs.
"Don't start you two. Naomi just woke up, Ren, quit it." Kazuya spoke up rubbing his temples. The sliding door opened to reveal a nurse.
"Oh, Ms Suzuki. You're free to go. You just had slight chakra exhaustion, but your fine now." She said as she wrote something on the papers. I nodded and immediately got out of the bed, ripped out my IV, and went to the bathroom.
"Where are my clothes??" I yelled from the bathroom.
"Stop your whining, woman! Here!" Ren yelled back as he knocked on my door. I heard a ruffle of a bag, and opening the door, I took it and closed it in his face again.
Inside were a pair of plain black shorts and a pure white long sleeve muscle shirt that came right above my belly button. I tied some bandages around my wrists and my right thigh and hung up my kunai pouch.
After putting my hair in a high ponytail and putting my genjutsu back on, I left the bathroom. "Come on, let's go. The atmosphere in the hospital always wants to make me gag."
"Hn. I don't think you should be gagging. I feel bad for the patients since they would have to gag even more after getting a glimpse of your face." Ren scoffed and walked ahead of me.
My eyes twitched with anger. "Why you---" I didn't even have to yell as Kazuya smacked him upside the head. I giggled was he whined in pain.
"Who's the one whining now..." I teased, running out the main doors.
"Why that bi--" Ren muttered profanities under his breath. Kazuya rolled his eyes.
"For the last time, Ren. Get used to it. It's like an everyday drama." The blonde exasperated.
"Just you wait, I'm going to get back at her!" Ren exclaimed, running a hand through his spiked hair.
Kazuya gave him a dead panned look. "Admit it already, that you'll never be able to get her back. She's disappeared somewhere, but let her go; I've got an idea where she probably went to. He spoke and stuffed his hands in his pocket, walking down the street admiring the day.
**
Naomi's POV
I followed the familiar chakra signature up towards the Hokage Mountains. I surged chakra to the soles of my feet and began climbing up right.
Finally arriving at the top, I heard a bunch of boulders crashing into pieces and the piercing of kunai's here and there. Walking over to the noise, I saw Kakashi training Sasuke, who currently held a streaming Chidori in his hand. Did I mention he was shirtless?? I guess I didn't.
Sasuke attacked Kakashi bounding to the left, but the gray haired ninja quickly avoided the attack. What the funny thing was that, Kakashi was still reading Icha Icha while deflecting Sasuke.
I rolled my eyes as I saw Kakashi blush a bit while reading. This guy... is unbelievable. And while Sasuke literally has death on his hands with the Chidori, he's reading.
"And I thought you would be a lot more serious when you were teaching him that technique." I made my appearance known, as I crossed my arms in front of my chest. The both of them paused, and looked over to me.
"Yo, Naomi. I see you finally finished training with Master Jiraiya. I'm guessing that your taking up on my offer?" he asked. Sasuke panted on his knees as exhaustion took over him. He looked over at me seeing my glance towards him and his abs, and smirked. See something you like?? He mouthed as he stood up again, making his muscles flex.
I swallowed a bit so I don't have to show the drool that would come out of my mouth. But I answered anyways. Not in a million years! I mouthed back and stuck my tongue out.
"When you two stop flirting, I'll go on ahead with the training..." Kakashi said not looking away from his book.
I smirked at the amusement laced in his tone. "Don't be jealous that you have no one to flirt with Kakashi. Although, I'm pretty sure girls fawn over you like how they did to Sasuke, didn't they?" I teased.
Kakashi's head snapped up and lightly glared at me. I heard Sasuke chuckle a bit, but covered it with a cough. "Alright, that's it. Let's begin now." The gray haired nin said while still reading the book.
So he doesn't expect us to attack him strongly. He thinks we're weak at the moment. I mentally scoffed. If it's a surprise he wants, it's a surprise he'll get.
I shook my right hand in front of me and cracked my neck to loosen the muscles. Creating fast handsigns: Ushi—U—Saru, I made my left hand support my right by holding onto the wrist. I concentrated a large amount of chakra to my palms and merged it with my Lightening Release at a high concentration. The high pitch sounds of the 1000 birds reverberated throughout the mountain top.
Without even waiting a sec, I immediately flashed behind Kakashi and thrust my hand forward to attack him. Everything happened so fast, that he hadn't even realized that I was coming to him. But with his Sharingan, he was able to dodge, but barely.
He jumped back a good amount and stared at my Chidori with wide eyes. Sasuke stared at me in shock to see that I had gotten the jutsu already.
W-where did she learn it already? I hadn't even taught it to her! Kakashi thought. He felt my body coming behind him. I leaned closer to his ear and whispered, "Remember, my Sharingan can copy anything," so that only the both of us are able to hear.
I see. She must have been watching us when Sasuke made the hand signs earlier. Very sneaky. He thought.
**Time Skip**
I panted as the last of my body held the strain from the intense training. Beads of sweat rolled down my face on this particular hot summer day.
"Good work, you two. Now get going, and Sasuke I'll meet you again here in the morning for one final training before the match." Kakashi instructed as he disappeared in a poof.
Sasuke just crashed on the ground and laid down with his hands behind his head on the cool green grass. The cold touch of it made him less sweaty. I dragged my feet by him and collapsed beside him and laid my head on his stomach.
He immediately took one of his hands and let them gently massage through my hair. His touch sent tingles down my spine, actually I loved it when someone played with my hair; it makes me sleepy easily.
"Are you excited for tomorrow?" I asked him as I tilted my head to glance at him. The sun was shining on his face at a perfect angle defining his jaw line and flawless skin. Hearing my question, he smirked.
"This year's genins are definitely interesting. Gaara of the Desert... he is strong." He narrowed his eyes at the thought of his opponent for the finals.
Gaara... he's the jinchuriki, and from what I've noticed the beast has much control over him. He'll kill in an instant. I thought. I remembered Kakashi filling me in on Lee's match with him. Gaara had crushed Lee so much to the point where there's a fifty percent chance that he'll ever continue on becoming a ninja. I didn't want that for Sasuke, I wouldn't want that for anyone.
I frowned as I could see the excitement and anticipation swimming in Sasuke's eyes. I was definitely worried, I mean who wouldn't if your boyfriend was fighting one dangerous ninja. I sighed. "Just be careful." I said as I bent up to peck his cheek.
He glanced at me and nodded. "Don't worry about me. I'll be fine." He brought his arm around my waist and pulled me to his chest. I laid my head down right above his heart, his calm and slow beat keeping me calm. Closing my eyes, I mentally prayed for Sasuke, Naruto, and the rest of the rookies to do their best.
**Time Skip to Tomorrow**
I yawned, my mouth wide, as I walked down the streets of the village to the Final Chunin Exam Stadium. I wasn't really surprised that most of the streets were empty, but I did hear some older men giving bets here and there about who would win the exam. Personally, I didn't really care who won, as long as everyone was okay at the end; I guess I would say that I'd probably be happy if my teammates succeeded.
"Move! Move! Look out!! I'm in a hurry!" A booming voice yelled a couple of meters from behind me. "H-hey! Lady! WATCH OUT!" The next thing I knew I was tumbling on the ground forward with a heavy weight on top of me.
I groaned as pain tingled through my nerves in that sharp second, but then disappeared. "Naruto?" I questioned as I sat up and rubbed my head.
"M-Mi-chan?? AH gomen, gomen! I didn't mean to run into you, it's that I'm running late! I'll be disqualified!" he babbled on and on as a slow tick mark formed on my head.
"Shut up, Naruto! What the hell were you doing earlier? Kami..." I muttered under my breath. How would I get him on time...And for some reason, the Hokage asked me to come to the exam, well I was going to anyways, but he said he wanted to do something special.. which I have no idea. Wait a sec... that's it!
"Alright Naruto, I'll help you get there, since I also have to go, but this entrance will be flashy. You ready for some awesome attention?" I asked with an excited grin. His eyes gleamed with happiness.
"Absolutely, Naomi-chan, believe it!" I nodded. Biting my thumb with my canine teeth, I drew some blood. Drawing some symbols on my lower arm, I made swift hand signs and slapped my palm on the ground.
"Summoning Jutsu!" POOF! An enormous amount of smoke appeared and I could slightly make out the outline of my summoning. This time I didn't put all of my chakra in it, so I know I definitely didn't summon Chief Masayoshi.
Naruto stared in awe as he saw the smoke evaporate. "Y-you can do summoning? A-and what is that? It's so COOL!" he exclaimed with curiosity.
The smoke finally revealed my Griffin summoning. It was absolutely breathtaking; it had a regular lion's colored body: a deep brownish beige color, however, his feathered wings and head were a different story. Its feathers were a deep Maroon red that gleamed in the sunlight with patches of dark coloring, almost as if he had high-lights.
Black_and_White_Griffin_Pic Don't own the pic! (: However, I do own the character of it in my story. ©
"W-what the? Hey! Where the hell am I? I was just about to kill my prey!" it yelled. From it's deep voice I'm guessing it was a boy. Of course he wasn't as big as the Chief, but honestly he was still huge! His height probably came around to be Kakashi's height. So he wasn't that big.
"Naruto, this summoning is a Griffin. I just made the contract about after the Preliminaries." I explained to him.
"You must be Naomi. Otou-san did tell me who the new summoner was, but damn he didn't tell me that my so called 'master' was hot for a human!" he exclaimed and wiggled his furry eyebrows. I gave him a dead panned look that literally said 'Creep.'
From that sentence, I could immediately tell he was the cocky flirt. But the funny thing was that he was flirting as a bird... a bird!
"Anyways, let me introduce myself. My name's Ryo, and I'm the son of the head of the Griffins. In Griffin years, I'd guess I'd say I was 200 years old, but in humans I would be about 20." He introduced.
"So you're the son of Chief Masayoshi... huh and in human years your 8 years older than me and like a lot in Griffin. By flirting with me, you're basically a pedophile." I bluntly insulted. He anime fell, if that was possible for a Griffin.
"I'm not a pedo," he squawked "It's what I do when I'm bored. Now what the hell did you summon me for?" he asked as he pouted.
I rolled my eyes. "Could you give us a lift to the Exam arena? The exams will start in about 10 minutes, and there's no way we can reach that far... well he can't." I pointed at Naruto as he admirably stared at Ryo.
Ryo raised an eyebrow at him and then they suddenly narrowed. Jinchuriki, if I'm correct, he has the Nine-Tails, Kurama, sealed. He thought. How interesting indeed.
"Very well. Get in my back. We will fly there." Naruto and I wasted no time and immediately hopped on grabbed his feathers lightly. "3...2...1... Lift off!" Ryo laughed and flapped his wings. The movement caused dirt from the ground to create a dust storm.
Naruto hooted as he spread his arms out and pretend he was flying with Ryo. I chuckled and shook my head at his childish antics. Everything looked so small from this point of view; all of the buildings and people looked like small ants crawling on the ground.
I squinted my eyes as I saw the Exam arena coming closer and closer. Not even that, I could also hear the cheering of the crowd becoming louder.
"Alright!" Ryo yelled loudly due to the wind noise "I'm going to drop you two from above here!"
Mine and Naruto's eyes widened. "WHAT?" we shrieked.
"What do you mean you're gonna drop us! At least swoop us down!" Naruto exclaimed. Ryo squawked and shook his head.
"Are you outta of your minds? It takes way to much of an effort to do that... besides it would be a drag!" he exclaimed. He would be great friends with Shikamaru. I thought with a sweat drop. Ryo took one of his hind legs and kicked us a bit to stand up.
Oh man, it was never my plan to die from jumping from like 1000 feet from the air! I bit my lip as sweat formed on my forehead. Naruto was equally shaking, but then determination crossed his face.
"Okay! Let's do this!" he fist pumped and grabbed one of my hands. My head snapped towards him in shock. "W-what are you doing?!" screeched "L-let go!" I tried to pull from him.
He shook his head and pulled harder. He didn't notice of his ninja sandal straps had become loose. He tripped over his foot and literally fell off of Ryo's back.
"AHHH!!" He yelled, but the worst thing was that he was pulling me down with him. "NARUTOOOOOOO, YOU FUCKING IDIOT!!" I let out a blood curling scream that could compete with nothing.
My eyes frantically roamed back and forth as I scanned everything upside down. My heart beat hysterically under my chest as if it would burst into flames when I fell—was pulled down—from Ryo's back.
My back instantly fell on top of Naruto's body as we both smacked onto the ground. I once again grunted in pain as my sore body took a toll on quite a few hits today. I could literally feel the swirly eyes forming on top of my own eyes.
The surrounding genin's stared us in amusement and an 'are you serious?' look. Shikamaru shook his head and sighed. These two sure know how to make an entrance... idiots. He thought.
Sakura and Ino stood up from their seats and smiled as we had 'entered' the stadium. "Naruto! Naomi!" she exclaimed with a small smile.
Shikamaru came and helped Naruto and I up by supporting our arms around his shoulders. "Oh man, what a drag." He muttered. We both blinked and came back to our senses.
I pulled Naruto's ear, pinching it tightly. "Agh! Itai, Naomi-chan!" I growled at him as my eyes turned to slits in anger.
"If you ever DO that again, I will personally pulverize you. Understand?" I sweetly smiled; of course, it was fake.
T-that smile! So scarrryyyy. Naruto thought as sweat rolled down his cheek, but nodded his head immediately. "Of course, Naomi-chan, believe it!"
"Hehe, good!" I chirped.
"Kami, how bipolar." Naruto muttered. "Hey, wait a sec... where's Sasuke?" Naruto asked as he looked around. I smirked. "He's with Kakashi, Naruto, so what time do you think he's going to be here?"
"Oh yeah," he sheepishly grinned "Kakashi-sensei better not make him late!"
I chuckled and turned around to scan the 'important' people in the crowd, until they landed on the Hokage's. He gave me a smile and motioned from his head movement that he wanted me to come up there.
I did what I was told, and immediately transported behind him. "Hello Hokage-sama, what did you call me here for?"
"No need to get formal, Naomi just because we are up here. Let me introduce you to the current Kazekage of Suna." He said and gestured to the man sitting next to him in similar attire, but in blue.
I bowed at him "Of course, it's nice to meet you Kazekage-sama."
"Indeed it is Naomi-san. I've heard many things about you." His gruff voice spoke in a suspicious tone. My eyes seemingly narrowed at him as he turned around be gave me a chilling glance.
There's something off about him, too off. I thought as I bit my thumb. His staring had sent chills down my spine. My whole body was screaming 'danger,' but yet I couldn't place him. I'm keeping a close eye on him.
The old man noticed my suspicious gaze towards the Kazekage. He nodded at me too, showing that he also believed my accusations towards him were valid. "So what did you need me for?" I asked.
"Keep a cautious eye around here, Naomi" he muttered in my ear, only quiet enough for both of us "Although, this is an exam, you can never be too sure of what will go on. But do also enjoy the battles here, I believe that they are quite interesting indeed."
I smiled. "Will do, Hokage-sama, and thank you for both your concerns." I bowed again since other ninjas were here and transported to waiting area where the rest of the genins, who weren't currently fighting, were standing.
The new proctor, Genma Shiranui, was currently explaining the rules of the final exams. Frankly, there weren't any rules, whoever is standing last with each match won.
"The first pair to begin the match are Naruto Uzumaki vs Neji Hyuga." Genma announced, chewing on the senbon needle in his mouth. I could hear murmurs around the crowed saying that Naruto had no chance, he was weak, and it was just luck that brought him here.
My fists unconsciously clenched together in anger. I held my tongue as to not release a colorful vocabulary towards the gossip men. But I did turn around and gave them a chilling glare. They gulped and immediately shut their traps.
Naruto and Neji stood in front of each other by the proctor. Neji smirked. "You got anything you wanna say to me?"
Naruto punched out his arm in front of it and gritted his teeth, narrowing his eyes at Neji. "Only what I told you last time... I vow to win!"
Neji didn't waste time and veins appeared around his pupil less eyes, activating the Byakugan. He got into a stance and bent his knees standing in a classic Hyuga fighting position.
Genma smirked a little. "Alright, let the first match begin!"
I also realized that Genma's English voice is Ichigo's from Bleach! Eep! ♥
The crowd cheered wildly as the matches were finally beginning, stopping their impatience from getting out of control. Then it suddenly became dead silent as they waited for the first ninja to make a move.
You know that moment when it became so quiet that it also becomes annoying? Well that's what was happening right now. Those two were just staring at each other angrily without making a move. I could feel myself shifting my weight on my other foot as I sighed waiting for anyone just to make a move!
However, Neji is not someone to take lightly of. His stamina and Byakugan are one of the most powerful, stronger than Hinata's. I thought as I looked at the scowl on Neji's face. Naruto must be careful.
Naruto immediately took out a bunch of kunai's and shurikens and thrust them towards Neji. While doing so, he leaped from his position and went towards him for a head on attack.
"That idiot!" I muttered "A frontal attack won't work on him!" Naruto sent out multiple punches one by one, but of course, those were easily blocked by Neji.
"Naruto, watch out!" I heard Sakura yell from her seat. Neji had flashed behind him, and shoved his fist smack middle on Naruto's chest, and then quickly took two of his fingers and tried to jab his shoulder chakra points.
Naruto rolled onto the ground and sighed with a little relief. "Hn. I missed." Neji mocked. "Do you see now, you cannot beat me."
Naruto just smirked. "Oh yeah? Shadow Clone Jutsu!" he exclaimed. Many poofs appeared around him, and revealed about 4 clones.
I grinned as I noticed the technique. Yes!
Neji smirked. Shadow clone, huh? Interesting, to see him distribute his chakra evenly. Not even my Byakugan can detect the real one. "No matter, those clones cannot last for long."
"Ha! We'll just see about that!" The Naruto clones echoed. It happened so fast, that Neji literally annihilated the clones in seconds! My eyes widened at the strength of Guy's student. My glance went towards the rookies. I could see Hinata's and Kiba's worried eyes.
I wasn't surprised at Hinata's look. Even I knew that her cousin could be merciless. He was definitely a formidable opponent. Naruto created a couple dozen more clones and made them attack Neji again.
Neji just smirked and ran through all of them hitting the one Naruto that was standing the very farthest. "Hiding behind your clones since you couldn't face my chakra power, huh?" Naruto grunted in pain. Hinata gasped because Neji had hit the same place he had hit her: the heart.
I just smirked. I mean who wouldn't...
...
after all, it was just a clone. The poof made Neji realize his mistake and his eyes widened as he saw the real Naruto incoming towards him from the top. Naruto brought his arm back to punch him. "Heh. Got you!"
Neji smirked and a small shield of blue chakra appeared in front of him, blocking Naruto's attack. He suddenly spun at an amazing speed, allowing blue chakra to appear as a coat around his skin and push back Naruto to the ground, in pain. The immense spin caused a crater to form around Neji.
From the corner of my eyes, I saw Hiashi Hyuga's eyes widen as he noticed the technique. Impossible! He thought.
"W-what the hell was that?!" Naruto exclaimed. Neji scoffed. "Did you really think you had won?"
"The rotation." Hiashi-san spoke. Naruto summoned more clones and surrounded Neji in a 360 degree circle.
The match has gotten more fascinating. I thought. Especially if the Eight Trigram Palm is involved now.
In a moments noticed, Neji spun and incapacitated the Naruto clones.
An impeccable defense. Actually, the Ultimate Defense, I'd say it was more stronger than Gaara's sand. TenTen thought back to Lee's fight, and she smirked proudly at her teammate.
He took a specific stance which caused Hiashi-san to come to the edge of his seat. I inwardly chuckled, never seeing the Hyuga Clan leader being this moved. That stance! He thought.
"Gentle Fist Art: Eight Trigram 64 Palm!" Neji exclaimed and shot towards Naruto. He jabbed multiple points in a matter of seconds.
"2 Palm!"
"4 Palm!"
"8 Palm!"
32...
64...
Naruto fell back to the ground with a thud. Motionless. My eyes narrowed as I looked at Neji turning off his Byakugan. Genma took a couple of steps to the knucklehead.
"I've struck all 64 of your chakra points. You're lucky to still be breathing." Neji explained. I clenched my fists as I noticed Naruto struggling.
C-come on! Naruto encouraged himself. Just a little bit!
"What a fool! I thought he could win!" someone yelled.
"Shut up!" I yelled at him. He immediately sat down after taking one look at my glare. I snapped my head towards Naruto in anger.
"Is that the best you can do, Naruto?!" I yelled at him from my spot. His tired eyes moved to me with strain.
"N-naomi-chan?" he rasped with a cough. I gritted my teeth in frustration.
"What the hell are you doing? Get your fucking ass up and fight him! Are you just going to give up now? Are you just going to waste the precious time that everyone put in to train you? HUH? Think about Team 7! How about Hinata?! You promised her, right? Are you letting go of that?! If you are, that makes you A WIMP!" I screamed.
Everyone in stadium stared at me with wide eyes as I basically insulted my teammate and yelled at him. "Naomi!" Shikamaru exclaimed trying to calm me down.
"No! He needs to hear this! Is this how you want your life to be as a ninja? A mere genin? WHAT HAPPENED TO YOUR NINJA WAY? WASN'T THAT GOING TO MAKE YOU REACH YOUR DREAMS OF BECOMING HOKAGE?!" I screeched at him. I panted as that took more air than necessary.
Nothing happened for a moment. The crowed had instantly shut up as they gazed at Naruto's form on the ground. "N-no way..." Naruto growled. "I-I'm never giving up! Never in a million years! Because that's my Nindo, my ninja way! I will be Hokage!" he exclaimed and stood up.
"You're destiny shall never allow you at his rate."
"Destiny! Destiny! Why is it that you always speak of it!?!" Naruto exclaimed. Neji looked at him with narrowed eyes. "It is because destiny is planned out for us in the beginning."
Neji had started explaining to Naruto about his destiny to protect Hinata. His fate had already been decided for him since he was born to serve the main family. He was branded with the mark on his forehead, forever indicating him as a 'servant' to the main household. The main suspense came when Neji informed of his father's murder. Revenge. That's what he felt. Deep within from inside me, I could feel a speck of hate towards the murderer of my own parents. And I knew, god damn it, that I will find him, and eliminate him to pieces.
Even though, I'm not usually interested in other clan businesses, this however, unconsciously made me angry. How could they do that?! I know I have no right to question the culture of their clan, but this... I couldn't tolerate it.
Naruto completely disagreed on Neji's view of destiny. He was determined to fight against him, and prove that fate was not predetermined. He could convince Neji in any way possible.
There's one thing I haven't tried. Naruto thought. He clasped his hands together and concentrated firmly. I can do this... I CAN DO IT!
"Why bother, you have no chakra left!" Neji scoffed. Now this is where I started giggling crazily. Gaara and his siblings stared at me as if I had grown another head. Shikamaru sighed. She's finally gone nuts. What a drag... he thought.
The wind started picking up, blowing my hair wildly. A steam of smoke surrounded Naruto on the ground and a stream of orange chakra erupted from within, slowly circling him.
Neji flashed his Byakugan and stared at him in surprise. What?! It can't be! Where's this new chakra coming from?
I suddenly smirked and clapped happily. "Yup she's definitely gone nuts." Shikamaru muttered loudly. I turned around and glared at him. "Shut up, just watch! The best parts coming!" I grinned.
That chakra! Most of the jounins and ninjas watched. The Hokage stared wide eyed at Naruto's immense chakra. His gaze flashed to me, and I gave him a smirk. He chuckled and nodded in understanding. It seems that Jiraiya has taught this boy how to start controlling the Nine Tails.
At his point, the fight had begun so fast that behind my genjutsu, I had to turn on my Sharingan to actually watch it in slow motion. Towards the end, Naruto sprang out of a tunnel he had dung into the ground, and delivered an uupercut to Neji in the jaw, causing him to crash into the ground, motionless.
The audience watched with gaped mouths, as they just noticed a blonde knucklehead defeat the number one genin ninja from last year. I laughed and immediately began clapping, internally cheering for Naruto. The crowd suddenly erupted in cheers and clapped for Naruto in excitement.
I scanned as I noticed that Naruto had finally received some recognition from the villagers. "HAHA YEAH! Woohooo!" Naruto exclaimed and ran around the arena giving heart kisses to the audience.
I sweat dropped at his energy. He was so drained before and now he seems as if he won't ever stop running around. Naruto climbed the side of the stairs and laughed as the rookie genins congratulated him. I could see the happiness gleam off of him in waves.
I crossed my arms and stood at the sideline, softly smiling to see how happy Naruto finally was. I wish that this joyful moment for him would last forever. His eyes met with mine and he grinned his famous smile.
"Naomi-chan!!" he yelled and burst through to give me a tight hug. "Oof!" I groaned as Naruto's weight crashed into mine. "Arigatou, Mi-chan. If it wasn't for you, I wouldn't have done that." He gently said. I just smiled and ruffled his hair.
"I might have just said a few things here and there, Naruto, but it was your determination and ninja way that has made you successful. Never change that about you, okay?" I asked him. He just chuckled and nodded.
I started hearing the crowd protest as they awaited for Sasuke's match. It seemed that they hadn't arrived yet. I rubbed my temples praying that he wouldn't be disqualified. I noticed the Kazekage explaining to the Hokage that he especially came to these finals to watch the battle between Sasuke, one of the last Uchiha Clan members, vs Gaara of the Desert.
I still didn't trust that guy. His way of words sort of reminded me of someone, but I couldn't place it just yet. I shrugged it off at the moment and listened to Genma announce that Sasuke's match had been postponed.
Genma called for the next match. I noticed Kankuro's frustration on his face. "Hey Proctor!" he yelled "I withdraw from the match."
My eyes suddenly narrowed in suspicion as did the Hokage's and the Leaf jounins. It was strange how he suddenly declined the fight like that. What are they planning?
The crowd protested in anger before Temari took out her fan and appeared on the ground. "Hn. You're sure eager aren't you..." Genma muttered.
"Aw come one!" Shikamaru complained "Moving up these matches like this... why does it have to be my stupid match to be pushed up! Oh man, what a drag!" Maybe I should withdraw too! He thought.
"Yeah! Come on Shikamaru!" Naruto gave him a closed eye smile and gave him a 'friendly' back slam so hard that caused him to tumble to the ground in pain.
Their match begun immediately. Both of them were excellent strategists as they canceled each others plans out. But I knew that Shikamaru was better. At first he was making pointless attacks, which confused all of us, but then I noticed that he was planning ahead to set up traps. He used his Shadow Possession Technique to gain control of Temari's body, and forced her to imitate Shikamaru's moves. At this point, Shikamaru just sighed and let go of the jutsu.
He raised his one of his hands and sheepishly rubbed the back of his neck, with the other. "Eh... I give up." He muttered and yawned. "Ugh, man I'm beat."
The rest of us just gaped at him in shock as we noticed he had given up so easily! Although I was surprised, I also knew that he didn't have enough chakra left, but the main reason was because he was incredibly lazy and saw no point in winning, but hurting a girl.
I scoffed. "Sexist." I muttered, crossing my arms. Naruto immediately jumped down the railings and went off at Shikamaru. I just rolled my eyes.
"Aren't you forgetting, there's another match..." Shikamaru said as he lazily cocked his head towards Naruto. The blonde knucklehead just blinked then suddenly grinned as Sasuke's cocky face popped into his head.
Once again the crowd began to protest. Uchiha this, mysterious Sand boy that. Kami, it was so annoying. When that Kakashi gets here, he's so going to get it. I angrily thought as I popped my knuckles.
Genma looked at the doors and sighed. A ninja came down and muttered into his ears. "Lord Hokage wants to wait 10 minutes." I see...
I growled in annoyance as the nerves started eating me alive. Well... literally. Temari jumped onto the railings.
"Temari, what's going on? Is he not going to show up?" I heard Kankuro ask his sister. Gaara interrupted. "He'll be here." His low, gruff voice replied.
I smirked. "You're right," their head snapped towards me in question "It's just as Gaara said. He will be here. Trust me, he won't miss the chance fighting the oh so famous Gaara of the Sand." I chuckled.
Gaara gave me his regular cold look like he gives to everyone else and turned to stare away. Kankuro raised his eyebrows at me. "How do you know?"
I rolled my eyes. "Oh please, I know my teammate very well. Besides, if he wouldn't I guess I'd just fight Gaara. I'm itching to fight you, you know..." I told Gaara with a grin.
His eyes slightly widened but then quickly morphed back to his scowl. A slight tug of win pulled everyone out of their thoughts and snap their heads towards the ground. Genma smirked as he FINALLY noticing the familiar gray- haired ninja.
Leaves tumbled to the ground as the wind disappeared and revealed Kakashi and Sasuke standing back to back. I smirked as I noticed Sasuke's new attire. A black shirt with a Uchiha clan fan embedded into the back. Black shorts that reached to his knees. His shins and arms were bandanged, and protective pads on his elbows. His hair had definitely grown longer, especially his bangs. Heh, looks like someone needs a haircut.
Kakashi gave Genma a closed eye smile. "Sorry we're late. You wouldn't believe the traffic." He reasoned with his despicable excuse. The crowd erupted in applaud as they finally noticed the golden boy had arrived.
Shikamaru groaned. Jeez, what a show off. Making us wait around as if he were the emperor of the universe.
"Sorry if we kept you waiting," Kakashi sheepishly rubbed the back of his neck "But umm, how late are we? I mean hehe, i-it's not like Sasuke's d-disqualified, right?" he nervously asked.
Genma smirked. "Like master like pupil, even down to the lousy sense of time"
"Well... what about it?" Kakashi asked.
"You were so late that we extended the deadline for you... twice, you're lucky that you came right on time for this one."
Kakashi chuckled with relief. "O-oh! Good! That's a relief, you had me worried there for an instant." I rolled my eyes. I grabbed a kunai and flicked it towards Kakashi with accurate aim, which skimmed his cheek drawing a line of blood, and penetrating a feet deep into the ground.
Everyone looked at me as they noticed I was the one who did that. With narrowed eyes, I full on glared at Kakashi. "You idiot of a sensei. You almost made Sasuke disqualified ! What the hell is wrong with you! Couldn't you even have come early today, or was that even too much of a drag for you?" I asked stealing Shika's line.
"Hehe Naomi! Good to see you again, well I couldn't do anything about it, I mean there was a black cat crossing our path, followed by a family of ducks, so we couldn't just pass through them, right?" he replied.
I raised my hand to make shut up. "Don't give me your idiotic excuses, I'll make sure to clearly show you why not to make him late after..." I seethed calmly. He nervously chuckled, and gulped.
Sasuke's eyes met with mine and he smirked. I raised an eyebrow. What the hell is he smirking at? He suddenly flashed in front of me, and gave me a kiss, not caring that more than a thousand people were staring at us. Some with awe expressions, some girls with hate, and the others with a sweet smile. The gennins just stared at us with jaw dropped expressions. Apparenlty to them, Sasuke didn't seem like the type who shows his affections publically. Well, he actually doesn't.
I kissed him back softly, and then pulled away. I lightly pulled on his new long bangs and smiled. "Don't be late again." I whispered. He just chuckled and nodded. He flipped off the railings and arrived next to Kakashi again.
"Was that necessary?" Kakashi asked with a sweat drop. Sasuke gave him is monotone look.
"Is reading your novel also necessary? I don't think so, but do I question it? No." he responded back with a smirk. Kakashi's shoulders slumped.
"You and Naomi are the same," he muttered "Comparing your actions with my Icha Icha..." he pouted. However, Sasuke was currently having a glaring contest with Gaara. I rolled my eyes. How dramatic...
The match started a few minutes later. Gaara and Sasuke stood in front of each other with heated glares. Gaara's sand moved from out of his gourd and hovered above him. Sasuke took a couple of steps back and watched him carefully.
Gaara halted and clutched his head in pain. "P-please! S-stop... mother." He said with a crazed smile on his face. Sasuke's eyes widened. What the hell is he talking about?!
"His conversation has started already, this is dangerous!" Kankuro hissed. Temari nodded. "I know, this is the first time I've seen Gaara get like that before a fight."
"Hey you two," I called out to them. They turned their heads towards me as I walked closer. "Gaara is currently talking to Shukaku, the One-Tails, isn't he?" I asked.
Their eyes widened as they let what I said sink into their minds. "H-how'd you know?"
"It isn't hard to figure out he's a jinchuriki. But heed my words, I know Suna is planning something, and if it's something that will cause turmoil in this village, I will not hesitate to slaughter each and everyone one of your Sand Ninja till there's nothing left. Remember that." I warned and transported away to where Kakashi was. I didn't see the frightened looks on the two of them as I left.
I'm not going to go into detail for Sasuke's match, sorry readers! :) If you want you can watch it on the side^^
Sasuke had clearly shown that his speed had increased due to Kakashi's intense training, almost to the point that Gaara's send could barely could not keep up. What surprised the jounins, but not me since I had already seen it, was him using the Chidori to injure Gaara.
A scream pulled me out of my thoughts. "BLOOD!! It's my BLOOD!" Gaara screamed from his sand encasing. Sasuke's hand was stuck inside from using the chidori, but managed to pull it away from the sand but also making some sort of arm come out.
"W-what the hell is that?" Guy muttered as he stared at the weird thing. It crawled back inside in a slithering way. You could hear a faint growl coming from inside the small hole that the arm went back inside from.
Sasuke stared at with wide eyes, his Sharingan blazing wildly. He noticed a glowing eye inside until a terrifying shriek pulled us out in shock.
"S-somethings not right." I muttered. The sand encasing cracked bit by bit until it melted, revealing Gaara's body.
He was clutching his shoulders in pain as blood dripped from it. He was panting hair as his topaz pupil decreased to an incredibly small size.
I suddenly started getting a faint feeling and noticed feathers dropping from above. I brought my hands together. "Release!" I made the hand signs. I noticed Kakashi and Guy doing the same thing. I looked around to see the crowd falling asleep unexpectedly. A genjutsu?
A sudden explosion made our heads snap towards where the Hokage's were sitting. "What the hell is going on??" Guy exclaimed. Chakra, I can feel immense chakra towards the outside of the village. W-wha.. That's it! The Sand!
"Kakashi!" I yelled "Suna is attack the Leaf Village! We have to make everybody evacuate!"
I squinted my eyes towards the roof where the Kage's where. I knew there was something wrong with the Kazekage! He took the old man in hostage and placed him inside a barrier, with four Sound Ninja surrounding them.
Sound? The Kazekage took off his hate and grabbed the skin of his neck. He pulled it off in an instant revealing his disguise. My eyes widened as my body stiffened with realization. N-no...
"OROCHIMARU!!"
End of Chapter 18! Hope you liked it!^^ Sorry about the wait, it was quite a long chapter! :)