Hindsight's 20/20
Lines or Survival Training
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Disclaimer:
Naruto most certainly is not mine but this story is as are the original ideas
in it so no thieving of it please.
A/N:
Chapter 3, finally finished! And 26 pages in Microsoft word, my longest chapter
ever! Yay *happy dances* ^_^
To answer a
few questions:
About
Haruno, it will be explained why she’s called Haruno instead of Sakura,
probably in the next chapter or at the very least, it will be heavily hinted
at.
About the
updates: Yes, I realize I’m slower with this fic that I was with “The Butterfly”
My reasons are that this story has chapters that are about 3 times the length
of the chapters in “The Butterfly” and are much more detailed and have a lot
more subtle hints worked into them and so they take a lot longer for me to
write. Also, I don’t have as much time to write seeing as my brother moved home
and so I have to share the computer a lot more, the house is a lot noisier and
so its much more difficult to concentrate on writing and I’m currently job
hunting so I’m not even home all that often to write. I’m sorry its taking
longer but please just bear with me, I’m doing my best.
If you’re
feeling particularly impatient, I do post several teasers for future chapters
in my livejournal (www. livejournal. com/ users/ anotherstraycat) so check
there.
Anyways,
thank you to everyone who reviewed chapter 2, I hope you enjoy chapter 3 and I
look forward to your reactions ^_^
Oh, and
also, there has been a slight modification to chapter two, Kakashi now tells
team 7 not to eat breakfast before he leaves after their intro session.
~~~
Hindsight’s
20/20: Chapter 3
By: Tea
Leaf/Banana Soap
~~~
Lunch passed
easily, math passed in a blur and now finally Haruno found herself in her
favorite class: visual arts with Shiranui Genma.
The room
was located on the first floor of the school and the back wall was completely
lined with windows so that the art students had lots of light to work with.
There were four large, long tables made of thick, polished wood that were
placed more or less centered in the room and had several chairs and benches
around them.
Haruno sat
at the end facing the window of the table closest to the door. Naruto sat
beside her, Shikamaru opposite her and Chouji beside Shikamaru.
Yesterday
they had been given free reign to check out the class supplies and experiment a
little and today Genma-sensei was supposed to explain the year’s projects.
Said
teacher was standing in front of the blackboards that ran along the wall
opposite the windows and was waiting for the second bell to ring as he chewed
on a long toothpick.
Haruno
liked Genma; he was very laid back and surprisingly creative and so allowed the
students had complete creative freedom. He was also a really good teacher, he
could explain anything to anyone and passed on his knowledge with ease.
Eventually
the second bell rang and a few late students scrambled in. Genma left the door
open, he didn’t really care about punctuality and noise wasn’t a bother seeing
as the hall in from of the art room was usually deserted.
“Alright…so,
last year, if you recall, we concentrated on objects and landscapes.” The
teacher began as he leaned casually against the blackboard behind him.
Several
students nodded in response and he continued.
“So this
year, we’re going to work on people. You should all already have a strong base
when it comes to color, technique and forms so portraits and anatomy are the
logical step.”
He now
walked over to his desk and picked up a pile of papers and handed the pack to
the first student so that it could be handed around.
“As
described on the sheet you’ll receive, this semester’s overall project will be
3 pieces. They can be portraits, they can be bodies, they can be realistic,
they can be cartoon, they can be abstract. Whatever you want really, but they
have to be three people. More specifically, three people that have had an
impact on your life.” He explained.
“What do
you mean by impact?studstudent on the other side of the class asked.
“I mean
people that changed you in some way, that influenced you. They can be parents,
friends, idols, random people you’ve only seen once in your life, anyone as long
as they struck some kind of cord in you.”
“So what do
you want us to do with these people?” another student asked.
“The goal
of this is to try and recreate how you see this person or how they influenced
you. To create something that relays how you see them. So, for example, lets
say you were to pick your mother as a person who’s influenced you. How has she
influenced you? Lets say she’s helped you become a confidant person, to look on
the bright side of life, etc. etc. So here you have all these positive emotions
that you associate to this person. So theoretically, when you see this person,
you feel those emotions. Now your goal is to create something using the image
of your mother that will inspire the same emotions you feel towards your mother
in someone else.” He explained.
“Or it
could be something totally different, it could be that you saw someone save
someone who was chocking or something like that and that event marked you. So
now you want to draw the event that made this person important to you.” He
continued.
“So, the
details. I want three pieces, one for each person. You can do them however you
like, with whatever medium you like, but there does have to be some image of
the person in the actual artwork. I don’t care how you do it, but when I look
at it, I need to see a person in it. Sound good?” he asked then.
Several
students nodded and no one asked any more questions.
“Great. Ok,
so any questions about anything, don’t hesitate to ask. For today, start
thinking about the people you want to use. If you figure that out, then start
planning your first piece.” He finished and headed over to his desk.
Haruno
watched him for a moment, considering the project.
“Hmm…I
wonder who I should pick…” Naruto muttered as he stared at the project sheet in
front of him.
“I have no
idea who to pick, no one really springs to mind.” Shikamaru responded.
“I know I
definitely want Chairman Kaga Takeshi from Iron Chef!” Chouji said.
Haruno
smiled slightly.
“Why him
Chouji?” she asked.
“Because he
has influenced the way I look at cooking. Everything should be savored and only
the best should be served at someone’s table. And because I also admire his
charisma when it comes to eating.” Chouji informed them.
“That
sounds great Chouji. Very good choice.” Genma said from behind him as he did
the rounds of the class.
“You think
so sensei?” Chouji asked, surprised by the teacher’s presence and unexpected
praise.
“Definitely,
I look forward to seeing how you put it into art.” The sensei responded before moving
on.
“Good idea
Chouji. I should find something like that.” Shikamaru told him.
“Any ideas
yet, Naruto?” Haruno asked the blonde beside her, snapping him out of his
distant air.
“Yeah…I’ve
got this one idea…I think I’ll do Yondaime for one of them.” He answered.
“Yondaime?”
Shikamaru questioned.
“Yeah…He’s
this guy I knew when I was little…I don’t really remember much about him other
than his name and a fuzzy image of what he looks like but I’m pretty sure he
became my conscience. So that’s how he influences me.” Naruto answered.
“A
personification of your conscience…brilliant concept.” Shikamaru told him.
“Man…why
didn’t I think of that…” he muttered to himself.
Naruto
grinned proudly.
“How about
you Haruno-chan? Know who you’ll do yet?” Naruto asked the pink-haired girl.
“Yeah…I’ve
got some pretty good ideas…” she answered vaguely, looking out the window.
Naruto
opened his mouth to pry but Haruno changed the subject before he could.
“So Shikamaru,
got anything yet?” she asked the boy in front of her.
He sighed
heavily.
“Nothing
really good…”he muttered.
“…how about
you use the person who got you to start cloud watching, if there is one. I’d
say they’ve influenced you a great deal.” Haruno told him.
Shikamaru
stroked his chin as he thought over the idea.
“That could
work…” he muttered.
Chouji and
Naruto jumped in then and started giving him more ideas and Haruno took the
opportunity to slip away from the table and head for the supply room.
“Haruno,
decided already?” Genma asked her as she approached his desk that was beside
the supply closet.
“Yes…on all
three actually.” She responded.
Genma
frowned slightly as he stopped chewing on his toothpick momentarily.
“Really?
All three? Have you thought them through?” he asked.
She nodded.
“I even
know how I want to portray them.” She added with a slight smirk.
Genma
blinked in surprise then smirked slightly as well.
“To be expected
I guess. Help yourself to the supply room.” He told her.
She nodded
and walked past his desk and into the side room.
She looked
around for a moment before finding what she’d been looking for. A large set of
pens with various nibs and a large bottle of black ink. She also selected a few
paintbrushes. Finally she grabbed a large sheet of thick white paper that was
designed for water color but would be perfect for what she intended to do with
the ink.
She stepped
back out of the room and Genma eyed her supplies curiously but said nothing as
she stepped past him and made her way to the empty half of the table she was
sharing with Shikamaru, Naruto and Chouji. The three were still in deep debate
and didn’t notice her setting up her supplies slightly further down the table.
She set the
sheet down in front of her and opened the pen set, setting it on her right
side. Then she looked pensively at the blank page, trying to decide where to
start.
She didn’t
want to sketch first because it would be impossible to get rid of the pencil
afterwards and she wanted it to be completely black. She could start with ink
but she wasn’t that confident in her drawing skills and so would rather not.
She frowned
slightly. Maybe charcoal…and then she could smudge it too…she nodded to herself
then stood up again and went back to the supply room, returning with several
sticks of charcoal of various sizes as well as a moldable eraser and set to
work, sketching the face that was forever burned into her mind. She started
with his eyes…those cold, cruel, twisted eyes…
~~~
Kakashi
slouched in his chair at his desk in his classroom. He was feeling lazy today
and so had given the class “study group time” or as he liked to call it “slack
off time”. Slack off for him at any rate. He was always kind enough to make
sure that the students had plenty of work to do that was to be handed in to be
graded by him for the next day.
Then he
collected them…and slacked off in his correcting. Then he’d tell them all it
was a formative exercise as opposed to a summative one and they would bitch and
he would laugh at them for falling into his trap yet again.
For some
reason, he really enjoyed playing with the minds of his students.
But seeing
as it was the beginning of the year, he’d probably go easy on them and correct
the work in class with them tomorrow.
He grimaced
behind his mask at the thought; he hated correcting.
He turned
to gaze around the class, the students all seemed to be, if not working, at
least sufficiently distracted for them to not be paying attention to him.
He smirked
ever so slightly as he slipped his hand surreptitiously into the file drawer of
his desk and carefully pulled out a semi-thick, softer cover, bright orange
novel. He swiveled his chair slowly,
still watching the class until he had his back almost completely to them. He
slouched a little more in the chair lifting one of his legs so that the ankle
rested on the other leg’s knee then flipped open the well worn book to the
bookmark and started reading contentedly, a lazy smile spreading behind his
mask.
Neji
frowned at him from the back of the class then curled his lip in disgust.
“That perv of
a teacher is reading his porn book in class again.” Neji informed her.
“Really?”
Tenten asked incredulously as she turned quickly to stare at their teacher. He
was almost turned completely from the class, but not turned enough; she could
still see the telltale orange corner of the book. She blushed slightly and
giggled. They had the best teacher.
twitched at the sound of giggles but chose to ignore it, his book was reaching
a really good spot and he didn’t feel like stopping yet.
So he continued
reading and more and more students spotted him reading and so took it as their
cue to goof off behind his back. Finally, the last bell rang and the students
practically ran out the door, relishing their freedom.
Kakashi
sighed and replaced his bookmark before snapping the book closed, just as happy
as his students that he could finally leave.
~~~
Haruno made
her way slowly through the halls, unable to push her way as easily through the
crowd due to the awkward portfolio case she was carrying that housed the
beginning of her drawing.
Now that
she had started it, she wanted to keep working on it until it was done. She was
always like that, she liked to finish what she started and would work
single-mindedly on anything until it was complete. She was just glad she didn’t
have to work tonight so that she could keep working on it.
Finally she
managed to get outside and could break away from the stumbling heard of
students that were heading for the city bus stop. She turned and walked around
the school, heading towards the track field.
“Haruno,
wait up” came a deep voice behind her.
She frowned
slightly and turned to see who was addressing her.
“Uchiha?
What do you want?” she asked him bluntly as the tall dark haired boy caught up
to her.
“I was
wondering if you could show me around town a bit. Yesterday you said you
would.” He reminded her as she started walking again and he fell into step
beside her.
She frowned
slightly.
“I only
said that to save you from the hordes of slavering gold diggers.” She admitted
honestly.
“I figured
that, and thank you by the way. But could you do it anyway? I am new to the
area, and we do have some classes together and have that competition thing
where we have to work together. And Hatake-sensei did say that getting to know
each other was the first step to working as a team…” he said charmingly.
Haruno
continued to frown, she couldn’t explain it, but something felt off about this.
“Today’s
bad for me, I’ve got a lot of work to do. Besides, if you want to work on
teamwork, we should get Uzumaki to come too.” She responded as she continued to
walk.
Sasuke
frowned inwardly; she was being a lot less co-operative than he’d expected.
Normal girls would be falling all over themselves right now.
“But I want
to work on my teamwork with you.” He said in a slightly seductive tone as he
stepped in front of her and lowered his face closer to hers, giving her a
practiced smile.
Haruno
blinked, taken aback for a second as she saw someone else in his features but
she quickly recovered and raised her eyebrow.
“Tough.”
She responded as she stepped to the side and walked around him.
Sasuke
glared darkly at the spot where she had been. This was not going as planned.
“Are you
going home? I’ll walk you.” He said as he forced the anger from his face,
returning to his practiced “make girls melt” expression.
Haruno
rolled her eyes slightly before he quite caught up to her.
“That’s
really not necessary.” She muttered, ignoring him.
“I know, I
want to though.” He said in an engaging tone.
She sighed
and stopped walking.
“Look
Uchiha---“ she started.
“Call me
Sasuke.” He interrupted.
“Uchiha,
listen to me. This is a bad idea.” She told him, her tone serious.
“What’s a bad
idea?” he asked her, keeping up his charming act and moving closer to her.
“I have a
boyfriend, one I’ve been with for a good number of years now. So Back. Off!”
she exclaimed as she raised her free hand to push him out of her personal
space, ignoring the familiar jolt that jumped up her arm as she touched him.
She’d analyze it later.
“I just
want to walk you home Sakura.” He told her, slightly condescendingly.
Her eyes
narrowed dangerously.
“I am going
to tell you this once, and only once. Do. Not. Call. Me. Sakura.” She
enunciated carefully. “Or you will regret it.” She threatened.
“Now, I do
not want you to walk me home so take the hint and leave me alone. I’ll see you
in class tomorrow.” She said as she turned away from him and kept walking, slipping
easily through the rip in the chain link fence.
Sasuke
watched her go with a calculating look as his mental gears turned. Getting her
under his thumb would be more difficult than anticipated.
No matter,
he would simply move on to Plan B.
Haruno
moved quickly through the streets, vaguely glad for her red coat that made her
passage that much smoother. She soon found herself in front of her apartment
building and made her way up to her designated cell, letting herself in and
locking the door behind her.
She set
down her portfolio and bag beside the door and slipped off her coat,tingting it
on a hook in the wall then brought her bag and portfolio to the kitchen table.
The table was
bare and already clean seeing as it was rarely used, so she set her large piece
of paper on the wood and took out her ink set and char.
She stared
at the image for a moment. In the center was a large face made of sketchy lines
that accentuated the harshness of the character. She picked up her charcoal and
added a few more lines to his thick neck, his sadistic smirk. She set the stick
aside.
She opened
her pen set and picked a finely tipped pen and dipped it in the ink then
proceeded to scratch in the real face, the details, over the charcoal shadow.
She loved
the paper she was using; it was so thick that the ink was instantly absorbed,
leaving thin sharp scratch like lines.
She drew
for hours, sometimes changing pens, sometimes picking up the charcoal or
smudging what was already there.
The man was
clear now though the image still maintained its menace and shadow-like
appearance.
This was
how she saw him now. A vague phantom that tormented her nightmares and coated
her past in blood.
He was
heavily shadowue tue to the smoky smudged charcoal. He was dark…the whole image
was dark. She could only ever remember seeing him in the dark.
His eyes
were cold and cruel, his smirk was mocking her…he was still mocking her after
all these years. His hand was raised, his fingers taping his chin in that
calculating way he always had before he’d moved into action.
She was
almost still afraid of the image.
She was
drawing around him now, drawing the events he had inspired. Showing the world
what he had done to her, how he had ruined her, humiliated her.
She could
see it now in the far corner, the hideous scar that ran along her abdomen, the
physical manifestation of the thousands of scars he had left in her mind. And
there in the other corner, the chains…those burning chains that had chaffed her
skin…that had bruised her so badly…those hated chains that he had heated and
burned her with, though the scars from the event were somewhere where no one
would see them.
And now,
the drugs down in this corner…the ones that had filled his eyes with blood. The
ones that had given him a bloodlust that not even his employ could cure him off
and that had been so often needed to be finally quenched on her.
And
there…the blood…the satisfying blood…The beautiful blood that had signaled her
triumph…she hadn’t needed his drugs to bring it out in her…she had done it of
her own volition.
A small,
twisted smile mutilated her lips as she stared at him, her pen scratching away.
It was the only sound in the apartment for hours. Her persistent slicing at
him, slowly carving him…
The door The overhead “What are She turned He was “I was His frown “What are “Just a something She now He moved “Its just She turned “Yes…its just He wasn’t “Is it “I don’t “Its She He bit his She stared He brought “I’m She stared
opened behind her and she snapped her head up from the drawing, the scratching
ceased. The frenzy within her subsided as her concentration broke.
light switched on and only then did not notice that the room had turned pitch
black.
you doing in the dark?” his voice, dark as the night, questioned her.
to look at him.
frowning slightly at her.
working…I didn’t notice the light.” She answered him.
deepened as he slipped off his black coat, hanging it beside her red one and
moved towards her.
you working on?” he asked her, no hint of actual concern or curiosity in his
voice.
for my art class…” she said, her eyes following him as he moved closer.
found herself log upg up at him as he stood in front of her.
closer, leaning over her shoulder to see the project that had so entranced her.
She relished the waves of heat his body generated and that smell that was
uniquely his that alwayselopeloped her when he was close.
lines.” He told her as he stared at it.
to look at it as well.
lines.” She repeated a small smile curving her lips.
there. It was just lines.
finished?” he asked her then.
know…I guess so…I can’t think of anything else to add.” She answered, stg
ag
at the once white page that had been mutilated with black ink and marred by
black charcoal.
missing something.” He told her.
frowned.
thumb, breaking the skin and held it over the drawing. The crimson dripped down
and splashed on it.
in fascination at the splatter.
his thumb to his mouth, sucking on itil til the bleeding stopped.
tired.” He said simply then as he turned and walked away from her, heading
towards her bedroom.
at the drawing, her eyes roaming over its surface. In her perusal, her
peripheral vision spotted the paintbrushes she’d brought.
~~~
Sasuke
stared at his computer screen. He had her file spread out before him
Haruno
Sakura.
Born: March
28th
Age: 17
Mother: deceased,
suicide
Father:
deceased, murder, beaten to death with a steel pipe, believed to be gang
related
Medical
Records: was in the hospital for treatment of a severe wound to her abdomen
when she was 13. Was brought in by a member of the ANBU gang.
Sasuke was
willing to bet that the last time anyone had seen her was right before she’d
sustained that injury.
What
intrigued him were her seemingly long-standing relations with gangs. ANBU then,
Akatsuki now. The odd thing was that she herself had no criminal record. She
was however on the Police Blacklist and apparently was on the infamous Zabuza’s
recruit listing.
What was it
about her that interested these people?
That’s what
he intended to find out.
~~~
Haruno
slumped on her desk in the back of hirstirst class the next morning. She was
exhausted…She’d worked non-stop until Itachi had returned home which had been
at 2am. And then she had stayed up later to finish her project.
She sighed
softly to herself; her inner self was muttering vague obscenities to her now.
It'>It wasn’t
even like the project was due today; she technically had until the end of the
semester to complete it. But she just couldn’t bring herself to stop once she’d
started. She had just been so into it.
>
But she was
paying for it now.
She’d
deliberately chosen a seat in the back today, hoping to avoid any kind of
confrontation with Kakashi and maybe catch up on some sleep before training
next period. She propped up a book in front of her, obscuring her even more to the
front of the class and rested her head on her folded arms, her eyes closing
almost instantly.
Kakashi
frowned slightly at the sight of Sakura asleep in his classroom. He had half a
mind to go over there and wake her up. But then he remembered that she had
training with him afterwards and a slightly sadistic smirk spread across his
lips.
Let her
sleep now, he’d get his retribution soon enough.
Naruto yawned widely before setting his chin in his hand as his elbow rested on
his desk. Early morning classes sucked…hell, anything that had him waking up
before noon sucked.
He looked
to his side and saw that Haruno was fast asleep. He looked to the front of his
class at his sensei; Hatake was ignoring the fact that she was asleep.
He smiled
slightly to himself and set about following Haruno’s example. He set up his
book and crossed his arms over his desk, snuggling into them gratefully as his
eyes dropped contentedly shut.
Kakashi
scanned the class again as he continued in his lecture about Shakespearian sonnets
only to pause in shock as he spotted Naruto sleeping in the back of the class.
“NARUTO!”
he said loudly.
The blonde
jumped suddenly having been shocked awake.
“Seeing as
you were obviously following along in your book…” he told the student pointedly,
Naruto flushed slightly. “Continue with the reading.” He told him in his
trademark nonchalant voice.
The color
drained from Naruto’s face as he grabbed his book and scanned the page
desperately.
“Sure…Hatake-sensei…”
He said, trying to hide his distress and trying to buy time.
Kakashi
smirked slightly behind his mask as he watched the blonde squirm.
“page 218,
line 12” came a whispered voice beside him.
“Thanks”
Naruto quickly whispered back as he flipped to the correct page quickly and
found the line and started to read.
Hinata
flushed brightly beside him as she buried her nose back in her book. Naruto had
just spoken to her! Her heart was beating madly.
side of Hinata. He just wanted this class to be over.
~~~
Eventually
the class bell rang loudly, waking Haruno up, and signaling the class change.
Haruno,
Naruto and Sasuke all stayed in their seats as the rest of the students filled
gratefully out of the room.
Finally,
only the members of team 7 and their “trainer” remained.
Kakashi
scanned their bored faces briefly the sighed inaudibly. Next time he was going
to ask Gai what he wanted before volunteering. He did not enjoy spending his
prep time teaching gym because Gai was too lazy to teach his classes himself.
But then he
smirked evilly behind his mask. Seeing as he couldn’t take it out on Gai, he
would make sure these students regretted ever deciding to take gym.
“So today…I
said we’d train right?” he asked vaguely, more speaking to himself than the
other three occupants of the room.
Haruno
rolled her eyes.
“Yup!
Training starts today!” Naruto answered him energetically, excited at the
prospect of physical activity.
Sasuke
slouched slightly in his chair.
“Ok…well,
seeing as everyone else will be training here, we’re going to train somewhere
else.” Their sensei told them.
“Follow
me.” He ordered as he stopped leaning against his desk and headed out the door.
The three
other members of the team frowned slightly then scrambled to get their things
and followed the older man through the halls then out to the staff parking lot.
He stopped
in front of a black jeep and unlocked the front door then reached back to unlock
the door behind his then leaned across the seats to get the locks on the other
side of the vehicle.
“Get in.”
he said finally as he settled himself in the driver’s seat.
“Shotgun!”
Haruno spoke suddenly before rushing around to the other side of the car.
“Hey!”
Naruto exclaimed indigna as as her rushed after her only to reach that side of
the car as she slammed the front passenger door closed his face and then stuck
her tongue out at him from the front seat.
Naruto
glared good-naturedly before grudgingly climbing into the seat behind her.
Sasuke had already settled into the seat behind Kakashi.
“So Sensei,
where are we going?” Naruto asked as Kakashi started the car and backed out of
his parking space.
“You’ll
see” Kakashi answered vaguely.
Naruto
frowned slightly as he sat back and started to speculate out loud on where they
could possibly be going to train.
Haruno shot
a wary glance at their sensei; she wasn’t a big fan of getting into a car when
their destination was kept secret.
“Don’t worry,
you know the place well.” Kakashi muttered in a low voice so that only she
could hear.
Her frown
deepened slightly but then it cliqued in her mind where he meant so she relaxed
and enjoyed the front seat, settling in for the long drive.
Sasuke
watched the exchange in the front seat but seeing as he couldn’t hear what had
been said over Naruto’s chattering he followed Haruno’s example and settled as
comfortably as possible in the rather cramped back seat and set his sunglasses
over his eyes to hide their calculating look as he decided to take advantage of
the drive to scheme about his quest.
The drive
passed uneventfully, the silence broken only by the low radio playing classic
rock music and Naruto’s chatter that alternated between guessing possible locations
and asking for hints about the location. Kakashi’s responses remained
non-committal and vague.
Haruno
watched calmly out the window as the familiar city flew by, the intensity of
its constructs steadily diminishing as they drove further and further from the
downtown core where the school was located.
Sasuke
watched through his smoky lenses, enjoying how the shadows became intensified
and the colors became muted. He frowned slightly when they found themselves
driving out of the city completely and where now traveling through the
surrounding countryside.
Finally, as
the roads turned from paved to dirt, Naruto snapped.
“Alright! I
give up; I have no idea where we’re going. But are we at least almost there yet?
We’ve been driving for 40 minutes now! How are we going to manage to get any
training done and still make it back in time for the afternoon classes?” the
blonde exclaimed, exasperation lacing his energetic tone.
“Don’t
worry about your classes, I already got you guys excused from them. And yes, as
a matter of fact, we are just about there.” Kakashi answered him as he turned
up a half overgrown side road from the dirt road they’d been driving on.
A few
moments later he slowed the car to a stop on the edges of a largish field
surrounded by several large trees.
“No one’s
been here in a while.” Haruno noticed out loud as she unbuckled her seat belt
and got out of the car, taking her small gym bag with her.
The other
three followed suit and followed her towards a small wooden building that was a
few paces from the parked car.
A few
moments later, the four of them were all sitting in a circle in the center of
the clearing wearing variations of track pants and t-shirts. Kakashi was still
wearing his headband that covered one of his eyes and had changed his
turtleneck shirt for a sleeveless shirt and an independent mask that covered
his face. However, the tattoos on his arms were clear.
Naruto
frowned slightly, the markings were vaguely familiar to him but he couldn’t
quite place them so he shrugged it off.
“So
sensei…what are we going to do for training?” Naruto asked their teacher.
Kakashi
snapped out of the daze he’s slipped into as he’d looked over the familiar
surroundings.
“Easy.” He
began as he reached into his pocket and pulled out two small bells tied to red
strings.
“Today, I’m
going to test you. Your goal is going to be to get one of these bells from me.”
He told the three of them.
Haruno
smiled slightly to herself as she remembered the last time she’d gone through
this exercise.
Naruto
frowned and cocked his head to the side. “We need to get a bell from you? How?”
he asked, confused by the vague task.
“You need
taketake one from me.” He answered. “By fighting with me.”
“One at a time?”
Naruto asked then.
“No, all
three of you will be trying to get one at the same time.” Kakashi continued.
“But there
are only two bells.” Sasuke noticed with a slight frown.
“Indeed.
That means one of you will definitely fail.” Kakashi responded.
“What
happens if you get a bell?” Naruto asked.
“You get
lunch.” Kakashi answered.
Sasuke
glared slightly from behind his sunglasses. So that was why he had wanted them
to skip breakfast…
“What
happens if you fail?” Naruto asked then.
“See those
posts over there…” Kakashi began pointing to three large posts beside the cabin
where they had changed.
Naruto
frowned. “Yeah…” he said cautiously.
“If you
lose, you get tied to one of those for the rest of the day and get to watch the
others eat lunch.” Kakashi said, smiling behind his mask.
Naruto
gulped.
“Why are
there three posts…?” Naruto asked almost reluctantly.
“Because
it’s quite possible that none of you will get a bell and then you’ll all get
tied up and get to watch me eat lunch.” Kakashi answered. Sasuke would have bet
good money he heard a sadistic lilt to their sensei’s voice.
“So, to get
food, we need to get a bell.” Naruto stated.
Kakashi
nodded.
“You’re
pretty confident thinking you can take on all three of us.” Sasuke pointed out.
Kakashi
arched and eyebrow at him.
Haruno
laughed.
“Oh, I
would be sorely disappointed in him if he couldn’t.” She told Sasuke before
Kakashi got the chance to respond.
“So, lets
get started.” Haruno continued as she jumped to her feet and stretched a bit
and bounced around a little to warm up.
The other
three followed suit.
“Its about
11 o’clock now. You guys have until noon to get a bell. And allow me to assure
you, come at me with everything you’ve got because there is no way you will get
a bell without a killer intent.” Kakashi said, vaguely ominous as he tied the
bells to one of the belt loops of his calf length shorts.
“I also
recommend trying to take me by surprise. Start.” He finished.
Instantly
the three vanished.
{Well,
this is a good start…} Kakashi mused to himself as he turned to inspect the field around him
to see if any where in clear sight.
And there
was Naruto, standing five feet in front of him with his large arms crossed
across his broad chest.
Haruno
smothered her laugh at Kakashi’s stunned expression from her observation spot
under a particularly leafy bush.
“Naruto,
what are you doing?” Kakashi asked, vaguely wondering if the blonde kid had
somehow misunderstood his explanations.
“I’m not big
on the sneakiness thing. I prefer to tackle things head on.” He said with his
trademark foxy grin.
Kakashi
felt a small smile tug at his lips; he liked the kid’s frankness.
“Alright
then, come on.” The silver haired man said in his typical nonchalant tone as
his stance remained aloof and slightly slouched.
Naruto
narrowed his electric blue eyes slightly; Hatake-sensei wasn’t taking him
seriously.
Naruto
crouched, ready to charge.
Kakashi
ignored him and reached into his pocket.
Naruto
tensed.
Kakashi
pulled out a book with a bright orange cover and flipped it open.
Sasuke
caught himself before he face vaulted due to the title of the book, preventing
what would have been a sorely embarrassing fall from the tree he was crouched
in.
Haruno
rolled her eyes. {Some things just never change…}
Naruto’s
face flushed in anger as fire-like rage burned through his veins and he
pounced, springing from his crouched position and charging at the older man.
Kakashi
dodged him easily, eyes never leaving his book.
Naruto
landed in another crouch, turned and sprung again, raising his leg in a high
kick, that Kakashi blocked, followed by a low kick from the other side, using
his spin to add force to it, again Kakashi blocked. Naruto moved in with his
fist, aiming his powerful punch to his sensei’s jaw. Kakashi blocked and took
advantage of Naruto’s now exposed midsection, landing a hard kick that sent the
blonde boy flying into the foliage at the edge of the clearing.
Naruto
landed roughly but quy juy jumped to his feet about to charge forward again but
something caught his ankle and pulled him down to the ground.
Haruno
winked at him as she held him in the underbrush beside her.
“Watch.” She
whispered and the pair turned their eyes back to the clearing in time to see
Kakashi dodge a volley of kunai.
~~~
Sasuke
smirked at the opening. It was so basic. He mercilessly exploited it, throwing
half a dozen kunai at their sensei.
They all
hit their target but unfortunately the target had been switched and instead of
being embedded in Kakashi’s body, they were embedded in a stray log.
Sasuke’s
eyes went wide; it had been a trap. His position was now exposed. He ran
swiftly swinging through the trees, jumping from branch to branch, finally he
descended to the ground and crouched, searching the area.
“Found
you.” Came a voice from behind him. He spun quickly, moving in time to dodge
the kunai being thrown back at him. Kakashi stood a few feet away from him,
leaning against a tree, spinning a kunai on the index finger of his right hand
as he held his book open with his left.
The bells
were on his right side.
The dark
haired boy reached into the pouch strapped to his leg and pulled out two kunai.
Holding one in each hand so that the blade followed along his arm, he charged
forward. Kakashi blocked one blade with his own, the other with his book.
Sasuke pushed against him trying to break his sensei’s hold on the blade and
book. Kakashi smacked his forehead against Sasuke’s, dazing the boy slightly
and forcing him back.
~~~
Haruno
crouched with Naruto, both well hidden on the outskirts of the small clearing
that was acting as an arena for Sasuke and Kakashi’s knife fight.
“Wait for
it, when Kakashi has his back to us, you’re going to charge in at him. Be loud,
we want him to know you’re there and turn towards you to block. I recommend a
kunai stab from above. Now, Sasuke will react by being annoyed at first and so
might tell you to stay out of it or might attack you or might just be stunned
for a minute before taking advantage of the situation. So, watch yourself,
it’ll be hard for you to take on both Kakashi-kun and the Uchiha kid. If Sasuke
attacks you though, Kakashi will go after him so you don’t need to worry about
that.” Haruno whispered quickly to him.
“What about
you?” Naruto whispered back.
“Don’t
worry about me, it’ll be over before you know it.” She whispered back, a half
smile curving her lips and a mischievous gleam in her eyes. This new move of
hers was going to throw Kakashi through a total loop.
“Alright,
they’re moving this way, get ready!” she whispered. Naruto nodded. She patted
his shoulder briefly and disappeared.
~~~
Sasuke blinked
quickly, attempting to get the sweat out of his eyes as he continued fighting
with Kakashi. The book had long been discarded and both were now using only
kunai.
Both had a
few minor lacerations and were breathing slightly heavier.
They were
both moving intensely, and Sasuke was hard pressed to remember that his goal
was to take a bell and not defeat this man.
Kakashi was
on the defensive, slowly being forced backwards.
All of a
sudden a loud yell came from behind him and Kakashi spun fast enough to block
the kunai Naruto had been stabbing downwards but seeing as Naruto was
descending from a jump, his entire body weight was being pushed against
Kakashi’s kunai.
Sasuke
blinked slightly then narrowed his eyes in annoyance; this was his fight and
that loud blonde had no right to interfere.
He’d been
about to attack him when he remembered that this wasn’t a fight, this was just
to get the bells, and with Kakashi twisted to defend against Naruto, his right
side was vulnerable.
Sasuke
smirked slightly and lunged in, ignoring the fluttering of leaves in his
peripheral vision. Kunai outstretched, he sliced at the cords of the bells. His
kunai passed right through but the rope didn’t cut. Surprised, he didn’t catch
his lunge in time and tumbled to the ground, he caught himself in a summersault
and looked up only to see that he was alone in the clearing.
“What the…”
he muttered out loud, his eyes narrowing as blood filled his vision, activating
his sharingan.
limit pierced through the genjutsu that had been used on him in time to see
himself still fighting with Kakashi and Naruto.
Only,
obviously, thasn’tsn’t him. He stared at it more intensely, the black teardrop
deposits in his eyes beginning to spin as his sharingan detangled the illusions
that had been cast. The him fighting Kakashi with Naruto was a shadow clone
that had been trormeormed. Haruno’s shadow clone.
He scanned
the surrounding area, looking for the girl with the pink hair and found her
still crouched and well hidden beneath the underbrush on the other side of the
small clearing, she was waiting for the right opportunity to rush Kakashi,
probably by running through her shadow clone, and grab the bells.
He frowned;
this strategy was familiar to him. When had he seen it before?
His eyes
narrowed as a foggy image began to overlap with the one before him. They had
been training with their father…the clone that looked like him had looked like…
His lip
curled into a snarl.
Itachi.
~~~
Suddenly Haruno
found the opening she’d been looking for and sprang forward, bursting right
through the shadow clone, causing it to explode into smoke that obscured both
Kakashi and Naruto’s vision seeing as it was in such close proximity.
Kakashi
felt a slight tug at his waist and turned from Naruto, following the strength
of the pull, in time to see Haruno skid to a halt with a large grin on her face
and both bells dangling from her right fingers.
Naruto
cheered loudly.
“Alright
Haruno-chan! That was awesome!”
Kakashi
stared at her, stupefaction clear in his only visible eye.
ndifndif]>
She batted
her eyes innocently but the smirk on her lips ruined the attempt at an innocent
expression.
“Thanks for
the help Naruto.” She said as she tossed a bell at him.
The blonde
grinned.
“You too
Uchiha, couldn’t have done it without you.” She said, turning to him and
tossing the other bell to him.
She froze
when she made eye contact, taken aback by not only his shocking Sharingan eyes
but also at the raw anger and maybe even hatred within them.
That’s when
Sasuke realized he still had his sharingan activated. He blinked quickly and
looked away as his vision quickly returning to normal.
When his
eyes were completely cleared he looked at the bell he’d caught then looked back
at her.
“You
realize you’ve no bell for yourself now.” He said casually.
“I figured
I didn’t really earn one seeing as I used the pair of you to get them. Besides,
I got them and that’s enough bragging rights.” She responded, turning her smirk
back to Kakashi.
The older
man laughed slightly to himself and shook his head lightly.
“Good job.”
He told her. “You even made the time limit.” He told her.
She
grinned.
“Oy sensei,
about that lunch…” Naruto said pointedly.
“Heh…right.
They’re in the car.” He answered and the four made their way back through the
trees and across the clearing.
Lunch was
peaceful and as it turned out, Haruno had brought her own lunch and so she
cheated and ate that.
They
finished eating and lounged around for a while.
Sasuke was
internally seething over the fact that Itachi had obviously taught one of his
personalized strategies to Haruno but had refused to teach it to him.
Kakashi was
feeling a bit melancholic, still taken aback by the fact that he didn’t know
the extent of his little Sakura-chan’s abilities anymore. And that she had
progressed without his help.
Haruno was
half relishing having defeated Kakashi while half making a list of questions to
ask Itachi in regards to the sharingan and more specifically about Uchiha
Sasuke.
Naruto was
enjoying the sunshine and the fact that he wasn’t sitting in his boring old
history class, as he normally would be at this point in the day.
Expectedly
though, Naruto was the first to lose interest in his inthouthoughts.
“So what now
Hatake-sensei?” the energetic blonde asked as he sat up from his reclining
position.
“Next?
Well, I figured that since the point of this competition is to defeat the other
teams, we’d train by holding sparring matches with the other teams.” He answered.
“Sparring?”
Haruno asked, her interest picked at the idea of being allowed to kick the
asses of the people who pissed her off.
Kakashi
nodded. “Today was to test the level of your abilities and judge whether or not
you were ready to fight the other teams. I think you are and so there’s really
no need for any one-on-one training with me. So, on monday, you spar with team
10.” He answered.
“Team
10…isn’t that Shikamaru and Chouji’s teamarutaruto asked Haruno.
A sadistic
smile spread across her lips. “Ino’s team.” She stated with relish. Finally she
could beat that girl down a few pegs.
“Yes, those
would be the members…” Kakashi said, a little wary of Haruno’s smile.
Sasuke
didn’t react.
“What will
we be doing until Monday?” the dark haired boy asked, eyes hidden behind his
sunglasses again.
“Researching
the opponent and working on teamwork seeing as you’ll be taking on all three
members of the other team together. And according to their sensei Asuma, their
parents all go way back in the police force and so have a bunch of group
formations that now also work between their kids seeing as their parents passed
on the same techniques they’d used together. So as a team, their tight.”
Kakashi told them.
Naruto and
Haruno nodded.
“Well,
Shikamaru’s ability is that he can trap people with his shadow…” Naruto said.
“And Chouji
has his super-size jutsu that make him quite large and iculicult to deal with.”
Haruno added.
Kakashi
nodded. “So that’s two abilities we know and can train for, anyone know anything
about Ino?” he asked.
“Yeah, she
can do a mind-body-switch jutsu that allow her to take over the body of her
opponent. It’s got a huge weakness though, her body becomes totally
vulnerable.” Sasuke told them, still
lying on his back and staring at the sky.
“How do you
know that?” Naruto asked him.
“On the
first day she cornered me into eating lunch with her and she bragged about it.”
He answered.
Haruno
laughed at him.
“The Barbie
table? That sucks.” She said between laughs.
Sasuke
tched. “Its your fault I had to. You disappeared after gym.”
“Oh that’s
right, sorry. I’d forgotten I’d volunteered to be your babysitter. Oh well,
worked out for the best, you got us some inside information on her.” Haruno
said nonchalantly.
“So now we
have a general idea of ability, let’s work on countering.” Kakashi said,
redirecting the conversation to a productive one.
“Well,
Shika’s shadow has a limit of how far it can stretch but he can use surrounding
shadows to elongate it. To counter, it would be best to fight him in an open
fiel noo noon when his shadow is at its shortest.” Haruno said.
“For
ji, ji, when he’s in his “meat tank” thing, he only really moves in straight
line so dodging is easy enough.” Naruto added.
“For Ino’s
technique to work, the target has to be stationary. So as long as you can move
out of the way, it won’t hit you. Also, if it misses, she can’t return to her
own body right away so she’s incredibly vulnerable.” Sasuke finished.
“So their
strategy is probably to distract the opponent by using Chouji’s technique first
and forcing the opponent to move within range for Shikamaru. Shikamaru would
then trap them and Ino would take one hostage with her technique, forcing the
opponent to surrender.” Kakashi stated.
The other
three nodded, that sounded plausible.
“So how
would we counter that?” Kakashi asked them.
And the
next hour was spend in a strategy session before finally they headed back to
the school, arriving in time for the last ten minutes of class. Naruto, Sasuke and
Kakashi blew the classes off all together but Haruno headed to the art room.
~~~<
“Ah Haruno,
nice of you to join us.” Genma said sarcastically as she entered the classroom.
“Sorry I’m
late sensei, I was under the impression that Hatake-sensei had explained to my
afternoon classes that I would be absent.” She responded as she headed to his
desk, still lugging her portfolio.
“He did.”
Genma answered her around his long toothpick.
o:p>
Haruno
decided to just drop it.
“So, what
have you got for me?” Genma asked her then, changing the subject as he eyed her
portfolio.
“I’ve got
supplies to return and my first work to hand in.” She answered.
“Done
already? Well, let’s see it then.” He said, only briefly surprised that she had
already completed it. She was always fast with assignments.
She
unzipped the edges of the portfolio and pulled out the large sheet of thick
paper, placing it on his neat desk.
Genma
studied it for a long moment, appreciating her technique. The lines were sharp
and broken. The image was distorted from this close up; it would only achieve
clarity from distance. The ink was pure black and the smudged charcoal
underneath added to the distortion of the image but also to its depth. But what
intrigued him where the dark, dark red splatters that marred its surface,
looking almost like lacerations across it.
“Is this
blood?” he asked her tilting his head slightly as he looked at a particularly
long spattering that stretched across what would be the eye of the image.
She shoved
her hand deeper into her pocket, hiding the thick band-aid that encircled her
left thumb, and didn’t answer.
He looked
at her hard for a moment then sighed and let it go.
“May I ask
who it is?” he asked her then, moving his eyes back to the drawing.
“Its…someone
who was too close to me for comfort.” She answered ambiguously.
Genma
nodded.
“Alright.
Hang it on the board in the hall.” He told her.
She
hesitated.
“I’d rather
not it… it…” she told him honestly.
He sighed.
“I
understand that Haruno, but I would really appreciate it if you would. You
don’t have to put your name on it, or explain it at all. But please hang it.”
Genma half pleaded with her.
She was one
of his most talented students and when the school board saw talent, they
invested money in the program and so his stud got got new materials and better
supplies.
She bit her
lip then nodded.
“But I’m
not signing it.” She said.
“Do you
want to frame it before you hang it?” he asked her then.
She
considered for a moment.
“No, I
prefer it raw and open.” She answered.
Her sensei
nodded again and handed her a box of thumbtacks.
She took
them and took the drawing and headed into the hall to post it on the art room’s
designated bulletin board.
She hung it
in the center, not caring that the tacks would ruin the corners of the paper.
It was suiting.
The board
around it was still bare. It was suiting as well.
She stared
at it for a long time. Then she stared at the characters of her name that had
been discreetly scratched into the lower right corner last night when she had
finished it. They blended into the scratches that made up the pile of blood…no
one would find it.
She heard
steps at the other end of the hall but ignored them as she continued to study
the drawing.
Itachi had
been right; the blood spatters had perfected it. It was odd but he always
seemed to know what her artwork was missing.
The steps
at the other end of the hall paused and something dropped to the floor.
She turned
and stared back at the stunned Kakashi.
“Haruno-sama…”
he muttered low, staring past her, eyes glued to the image of his former boss.
Haruno
walked towards him and grasped his hand.
“Look
closer.” She said, pulling him towards the drawing until they were standing
directly in front of it.
“Its not
him. Its just lines. Lines have no power.” She told him, still holding onto his
hand as she explained it to him.
He looked
at it impassively for a long moment.
“Someone
might recognize him.” He told her.
“If they do,
they won’t say anything. No one would admit to knowing his face.” She
responded.
The last
bell rang before he could say anything more and she quickly dropped her hold on
his hand, breaking their connection.
“I’ll see
you in class tomorrow.” She said lightly as she left him in the hall and
returned to the art class to return her supplies and gather her things to
leave.
Kakashi
watched her disappear behind the door, lost in the flood of students that were
flowing out of the room.
He shook
his head slightly, clearing it, and walked back down the hall to pick up his
briefcase and the papers he had dropped.
He looked
back at the image from this distance. It was just lines, he knew, but from here
it looked eerily real. He suppressed his shudder and walked away.