~*~
Bonds of Blood
By: Animeroxsmyworld
Chapter 25: Meetings
~*~
The Genins for team 7 starred up at the trees before them. Tree climbing? Honestly? Naruto's face scrunched up as he assessed the tree, not quite sure what to make of the exercise while Sasuke only frowned, shaking his head.
What a waste of time.
"This is stupid." Sasuke muttered, looking over to where Kakashi sat in the grass, leaning against a tree trunk with his orange book opened in front of his face. The silver haired Jounin just set them in front of a bunch of trees, told them to climb without using their hands, and then sat down.
"No it isn't Sasuke." Kakashi replied, sighing. "Just do as I said."
"What do you want us to do? Use our teeth?" Naruto complained.
Kakashi waited to hear Sakura's voice of complaint as well but it never came. The pinkette was starring up at the tree, her brow furrowed and her teeth digging into her bottom lip.
She needed to figure out how to do this. She didn't want to hold the team back. Not like with the Iwa Nins. She would do any exercise Kakashi gave her…no matter how stupid it seemed. He was a Jounin, surely there was a reason behind why he made them do these things.
'Think. How do you climb a tree without using your hands? How?' She thought to herself, tapping her bottom foot against the ground in thought. She stood like that, thinking for several minutes while the males grew restless around her, taking up the activity to actually torment Kakashi until he told them how to do the exercise.
Her eyes lit up in realization. "Chakra!"
"Hmm?" Kakashi inquired as he effectively pushed Naruto away, Kakashi looking up at his female student lazily. She turned to him, gaining the attention of the other two as well.
"It has to do with chakra doesn't it? Or else it would be impossible." She stated, placing her hands on her hips. She knew she was right. She had to be right. How else would you climb a tree without using your hands?
"You figured it out. You gather chakra at your feet and climb the tree that way." Kakashi smiled, eye crinkling up. Then he turned a page in his book, attention diverting back to it. "Now get to it."
Sakura scowled at him, Sasuke kicking Kakashi's shin absently before he and Naruto joined the Haruno at the trees once more.
~*~
Anko eyed the kids in front of her, scrutinizing them before a smirk spread across her features, hands falling to her hips. "So you're the brats that I got assigned to." She said, a dark chuckle creeping into her voice.
She had the perfect torture for them. She knew what would set them straight and break them out of any stupid softness the Academy had given them. They would not be coddled. The ninja world was tough and they needed to know!
Kyoko and Roku thought she looked slightly crazy…in a scary way. Heaven only knew what Itsuya thought of her. But it was a vibe that just seemed to radiate off of her. She was dressed in a tan overcoat, a body fitted chain link outfit with a dark orange skirt, shin guards over her legs. She was chuckling in a way that said 'I will kill you slowly and enjoy it'.
'She's probably going to torture me one day and laugh.' Kyoko thought nervously.
"Well that should be obvious. I mean, we are the ones in the room. If we aren't the ones assigned to you then you must be stupid or something because that means that you were waiting in the wrong room." Itsuya pointed out, folding his arms over his chest. For a 10-year-old, he looked like he was 8. His innocent, sweet face deceived all as he scowled at the purple haired Jounin.
"Honestly, what a dumb thing to say." Itsuya sighed, rolling his big emerald eyes before looking out the window as if he was bored.
Deathly silence fell over the room.
Roku looked between Jounin and 10-year-old in awe and frightened disbelief, unsure of whom he should be focused on.
Anko's eyes glinted maliciously while the corner of her mouth twitched.
Her hand reached out and fisted in his curly black hair, yanking the mocha child forward, twirling him around so his back was to her and lifting him up so he had to stand on his tip toes to keep balance.
"Well. It seems I have a smart-aleck." She grinned, pulling him close so his back was against her stomach. Her smile fell off her face, killer intent filtering from her body as she lent down and whispered in his ear, his eyes going huge as he paled.
"I. Hate. Smart-alecks."
A shudder passed through all the Genins in the room as her killer intent ran down their spines, Kyoko shrinking back.
"Uh, sensei…" Kyoko interrupted quietly, catching the Jounin's attention before she could do any harm to the child. "We don't know your name." She pointed out, Anko thrusting Itsuya away from her. He fumbled for balance momentarily before regaining himself and positioning himself closer to where Kyoko and Roku stood.
Probably thinking that if they were in a big group she wouldn't come after him again. Oh if only that were true.
'I think Iruka's a little crazy. Dependency issue my ass. He almost got himself killed…all on his own.' Roku thought as he glanced at Itsuya before glancing back at their instructor. She wasn't helping his still frayed nerves from the graduation obstacle course.
If she came at him there was no guarantee he wouldn't book it.
"Before I say anything, let me make one thing clear." She started, her tone switching to dangerously sweet as she smiled, eyes closing as she leaned forward.
It was almost as if she had not just threatened a child moments ago.
"I do not want to be here. I am forced to be here. So if you do anything to anger me, I have no problem punishing you how I see fit… It won't be pretty. You are all Genins which means you are all adults in the ninja world. You will deal with whatever I give you…got it?"
Itsuya, having regained himself, made to say something but Roku cut him off, yanking on the scruff of the younger boys shirt to stop his flow of words.
"We got it."
"Good!" Anko nodded, straightening up before opening her eyes, smile disappearing as she folded her arms across her chest. It had felt good to scare the little tiny brat. Her frustration was draining.
"I'm Mitarashi Anko. Introduce yourselves because I didn't bother to look at the sheet the stupid Sandaime gave me." She instructed, sighing and running a hand through her bangs.
"Yoshida Roku."
"Samada Itsuya."
"Namikaze Kyoko."
Anko blinked, eyes fixing on Kyoko before she waggled her index finger, indicating for Kyoko to come forward. Kyoko hesitated in doing so, but stepped forward, flinching as Anko grabbed her chin.
She began turning her face in multiple directions, grey eyes bright with curiosity and amusement.
"So this is Minato's kid." She mused out loud, pulling Kyoko's head suddenly to the right. "Hmm, you look a hell of a lot like him. That should be a bonus for you. You're father was hot." Anko said, grinning cheekily.
"Uh…can we not talk about that?" Kyoko mumbled, her face heating up, making her cheeks burn.
"Ugh fine." Anko huffed, spinning Kyoko back towards the others. Her grey eyes narrowed, her face turning into a scowl as she saw Itsuya. "And you have annoyed me so you've added another day to your trial." She added, jerking her head towards him.
"Trial? Don't you think that's a little unfair? You hardly know me. You can't just go a--" Itsuya started before Roku clamped a hand over his mouth, earning angry muffled words from the short boy.
"I think he means to say, 'what trial'?" Roku asked, oressing his other hand down roughly on Itsuya's head, a not so gentle warning to shut up.
"You have to prove that you're worthy to serve under me." Anko started, the evil gleam returning to her eyes once again. "So starting tomorrow, you're all going to have a little trial at one of my favourite training grounds. The only advice I can give you is to eat a big meal before you come and only bring your weapons and the clothes on your backs."
"What happens if we fail?"
"Then I ship your sorry asses back here for more training." She said simply, shrugging while Kyoko and Roku hung their heads. Not again. They couldn't take more of this place. They would go insane!
"And if we pass?"
A truly sadistic look crept onto her features then.
"Well that's when the fun starts."
~*~
"You're being weird again." Zabuza pointed out absently as he walked through the streets of the town, the sword on his back dripping drops of blood as he walked. Two heads were clutched in his hands, his hands fisted in their hair. At his side a small boy dressed in blue, white, and grey trudged next to him.
"I'm just…displeased. I have not been able to help you much recently." The small boy walking next to him remarked, brown eyes glancing at the towering frame next to him before falling to the ground he walked on.
"When you were fighting those Konoha shinobi a couple weeks ago--"
"That was because I didn't need your help Haku." Zabuza stated, a small bit of irritation starting to crawl into his voice. He did not need a sentimental tool.
"If I was in any real danger, then that's when you step in. But I had it under control. Like I do with most of these pathetic missions Gatou gives us. So stop your stupid 'displeased' nonsense and snap out of it." He barked, scowling now.
Haku nodded obediently. "Yes Zabuza-sama."
Silence fell over them as they walked, Haku still silently stewing in his thoughts while Zabuza now scowled at the air in front of him.
"Why the hell am I putting up with Gatou and all these missions?" He growled out of the blue as they left the town boundaries, heading towards Gatou's place. "That filthy rich bastard! I should just kill him and be done with all of his lies, the grease bag, always promising me more money and delaying the time he has to give it to me."
"I could always kill him while he sleeps." Haku offered, holding a senbon up in his pale hands. Zabuza pondered the idea seriously for a minute or two. Haku might just have enough skill to pull something like that off and with that bastard dead, he would be free to get his money.
But then he would have to scrounge around for work again.
"No. Leave him for now Haku. I'll kill him when the time comes." He commanded. Haku's shoulders slumped slightly before he stowed the senbon away. Gatou's place soon loomed over them and they walked inside, Zabuza glaring with oure hatred at the bodyguards who stirred as he drew close.
Since Zabuza brought Gatou the head of that damn bridge builder, Wave seemed to have lost their hope and will to fight against Gatou. The man didn't hesitate to take advantage and sweep into the country, taking control of practically everything he could get his hands on. He ran the stores and increased the taxes to an almost unbearable amount, buying people out of stores and homes. He was the unofficial ruler of Wave…in only a couple of weeks.
All because they had lost the hope and will to fight back.
He was extending his power and wealth and was starting to become a force all on his own.
Many people steered clear of Haku and Zabuza as they walked through the halls, walking towards his room. They opened the door and paused for a second, taking in the scene.
"--I can count on you." A black haired man was finishing as he handed a rather large bag to Gatou, the stout little man having a body guard on either side of him. He accepted the bag, sunglasses glinting as he drew it close to his chest and opened it. His small eyes lit up as he saw the mounds of money in the bag.
"I believe I can assist you." Gatou nodded calmly, collecting himself as he closed the bag once again, eyeing the man in front of him. A smirk lit the man's face, stretching the corner's of his mouth.
"I'm glad. The plan is already in motion." Was all the man was able to say before one of Gatou's guards noticed Zabuza and Haku standing in the doorway, Zabuza frowning as he watched the exhange going on and trying to puzzle together what he had just missed. Obviously something large.
Gatou didn't give his assistance to just anyone.
Something about this guy was off. He had a weird air about him.
The body guard nudged Gatou and gestured to Zabuza, Gatou frowning while the man, whose back had been presented to Zabuza this whole time, turned around to regard this newcomer.
Zabuza inwardly flinched. His hands tightened their hold on the severed heads in his grasp.
The eyes of a pure madman were starring at him, regarding him with interest. It made his skin crawl for a mere fraction of a moment. They were set in a cruel, pale face that seemed to be leering down at the world.
At his side, Zabuza could feel Haku tensing. This man was dangerous. Anyone with an ounce of shinobi training could feel that. But Gatou and his civilian thug men that he surrounded himself with had no clue at all.
"Back already are you?" Gatou grunted, puffing out his chest. Showing his authority. That brought Zabuza back around and made the missing Nin relax, even under the strangers watchful eyes.
Swinging his arms back, he hurled the two decapitated heads at Gatou, the guards tensing and making to move as Gatou flinched, the heads landing centimeters short of hitting his feet. Dead eyes and gaping mouths starred up at him, the heads of people who had whispered about rebelling against Gatou and fighting against him.
"I'm getting sick of not being paid Gatou." Zabuza growled from across the room. No matter how much authority Gatou seemed to posses, he had no hold over him. He hadn't made Zabuza hesitate even a second like this stranger had. He was just a pompous civilian with cash to throw around.
The only thing keeping him there was the money.
The wealthy man's face screwed up and a vein in his throat bulged. He opened his mouth to yell when the man with the black hair cut him off, speaking before him.
"You would be Momochi Zabuza yes? The Demon of the Mist?" He asked. Now that the man's voice was directed at him, Zabuza felt unease claw at him. He didn't like this man.
"Yes." He replied gruffly, hiding his inward state well. The man made an interested sound in his throat as he looked Zabuza over, like he was some sort of experiment and the man was a mad professor.
"If you wouldn't mind, we have some business to attend to with Gatou." Haku spoke up suddenly, stepping forward in front of Zabuza. His voice was as chilly as the ice mirrors he could produce.
"You insolent brat! He was here first! I will get around to you once we are finished! You are lucky that I even keep you're ass around!" Gatou yelled furiously, the killer glare Haku sent him only making his voice falter for a second, the bodyguards around him tensing and tightening their guard. From the money that the man had given him, it was no wonder that he was the priority client. Add that to the fact that Zabuza and Haku were demanding money from him.
He then turned to the man. "I'm sorry about this Orochimaru-sama."
Orochimaru paid him no attention at all. His yellow eyes lit up before he reached into his robe. "How much are you making with Gatou?" He asked Zabuza, his eyes flickering between both Zabuza and Haku.
Despite knowing Zabuza would punish him later for speaking before him, Haku answered first. He couldn't help himself. Something about this guy was intimidating and set him on a dangerous edge. "Nothing. He hasn't paid us for weeks."
A bag was withdrawn from the robes of the snake Sannin, though it was considerably smaller than the one he had handed over to Gatou. He threw it towards them and with excellent reflexes that made their ninja status obvious, Zabuza snatched it without even looking at it.
From just the weight of the bag he could tell that there was money in it.
Payment. Their first hint of money in weeks! And it was quite a bit, not as much as Gatou had promised, but a hefty amount.
"How about I make an investment." He started, his eyes glinting with an almost evil light, ignoring the outraged Gatou in the background. Gatou pounded a fist on the armrest of the chair he was sitting on, all three ninjas snapping their gaze back to him.
He recoiled for an instant before blundering forward. "These two are working for me! You can't just take them out from under me like that! I--" He would've continued to rant until his face turned from red to purple, but Orochimaru started walking towards him, a glare settling into his face and chilling the very air in the room.
"This agreement that we have goes both ways. You'll get what you want, and I'll get what I want. But…" He said venomously, the guards for once frozen in place as Orochimaru slammed a hand an inch away from Gatou's face. A snake the size of his arm slithered from his sleeve and twisted around Gatou's shoulders leisurely.
Gatou's face paled, eyes dilating as he kept his eyes locked with Orochimaru's slitted yellow ones. It dawned on him for the first time, that he was not the one in control of their deal.
He was not the one with the power.
"Disagree with me at all and I will kill you."
~*~
"How are you doing that?" Naruto demanded, pointing his finger at Sakura from the bottom of the tree where he had fallen, the female significantly further up on the tree then he was. Riled up, Naruto reverted to his former self from the Academy days and Sakura rolled her eyes at his behaviour.
She was surprisingly the best one of the three of them, Sasuke a few inches below her and hating that fact with every fibre in his being.
"I already told you, not too much chakra and not too little. Clear your mind and aim for the perfect amount." She called down to him as she came to a branch, stopping to take a break and watch the two males for a while.
Naruto growled before looking at his tree in front of him. It was blank for quite awhile until a crack in the bark signified what happened when you used too much chakra. Then after awhile it dawned on all of them to use kunais to mark their progress.
A helpful hint Kakashi should've told them but decided to blatantly ignore. But hey they had to learn this stuff you know.
Naruto got to his feet, grumbling to himself before following her advice. He closed his eyes, inhaling slowly as he tried to focus on just the right amount of chakra.
'Focus. Not too much or too little. In between. Ju--'
His thoughts were lost to him as a room suddenly flickered to life around him, water around his ankles and dank winding hallways on either side of him.
He flinched and they were gone, his eyes flying open and the trunk of the tree starring at him. Sakura sat in her branch, watching as Sasuke began gaining on her location, on his tree. She got to her feet the moment Sasuke lost his balance and fell, his kunai digging into the bark, marking his height, before he flipped and landed only a few inches away from the blond.
'The hell?' Naruto thought as he looked over at Kakashi, still immersed in his book. That had never happened when he had tried to focus on chakra before. He looked over at Sasuke but the Uchiha had already attained the amount of chakra he needed, and wasted no time in going back up the tree.
He would be damned if he would let Sakura beat him at something.
Hesitantly, Naruto closed his eyes once more. He inhaled slowly and began focusing, only for the dank halls to appear once more. They grew more solid as Naruto scowled, the scene taking more form as he turned in the ankle deep water and trudged through a faintly remembered path.
He would get angry at the thing and then leave. It was obviously the Kyuubi's fault that he was interrupting him gathering chakra so he would yell at him to knock it off.
The hall suddenly opened into a wide room and Naruto felt his primitive part of his brain that thrived on staying alive tell him to turn around but he took a breath and stormed into the room, Kyuubi's bars standing tall in his frame of mind.
Red eyes opened at the sloshing of the water, glaring at the sight of the blond child.
"What the hell are you doing here again? Are you dead you pathetic worm?" The Kyuubi asked hatefully, sneering at him. He had already helped him once, he wasn't about to go do it again.
It was a one time exception.
Naruto scowled up at him, planting his feet firmly on the ground. "I'm here to tell you to knock it off!" He accused, voice still shy of booming through the place like Kyuubi's could. Yet despite that flaw, his words made the fox blink.
"Knock it off?" He repeated before his lips pulled back, revealing his teeth. "Knock off what? Saving your life you ungrateful little brat? You should be worshipping me for what I did for you!" He roared, the bars rattling as Naruto's hair ruffled.
Confusion showed on Naruto's face. "I don't know what you're talking about."
"I used my chakra to save your life and heal your wounds when you got yourself blown to bits and fell off a cliff! It's because of my that you always heal so damn fast and don't die like a fucking asshole!"
Naruto's eyes rounded slowly in silent realization.
No normal person should heal from severe injuries that quickly. He was almost out of the hospital before Sasuke was.
Inwardly shaking himself, Naruto regained his scowl, jutting his chin out at the growling demon.
"I meant stop distracting me while I gather my chakra. Every time I do this place appears. That means it has to have something to do with you so I'm telling you to stop it." Naruto clarified.
Kyuubi barked out a hateful laugh, stopping only to scrutunize Naruto coldly, teeth showing in a sharp sneer.
"And why would I ever want to see you? I would rather you die if I could have it that way."
"Why the hell would I know why you do stuff?!" Naruto exclaimed, throwing his hands into the air in frustration. "You stupid fox." He muttered to himself.
Kyuubi's ears still caught the insult.
He snarled and rammed another paw against the bars of the cage. "Insolent…! I would crush your bones in my jaw and rip your flesh off with my teeth! But I would clone myself first so that when I killed you, I could witness every angle of it!" He roared.
Naruto took a single step back and everything flickered.
He exhaled quickly, eyes opening and wincing as the sunlight bombarded his eyesight. He blinked a few times, looking up at the trees in front of him. Sakura must've decided that she didn't want to be in her tree anymore and was lounging around casually at the base of her tree though the mark of her kunai was incredibly high.
Sasuke was still maddeningly below her mark, sweat beginning to roll down his face and the trunk of his tree looking like someone had hacked away at it.
"Oh yeah." Naruto mumbled to himself. He was in the middle of training. And he was now very far behind because he spent his time talking to that damn fox!
Grumbling, and not caring whether the scenery around him changed or not, Naruto began gathering chakra to his feet. Yet something Kyuubi had said was nagging at him.
'But I would clone myself first so that when I killed you, I could witness every angle of it!'
Could something like that really be achieved with Bunshins? For training purposes, not something as gruesome as Kyuubi had wanted. But if that was possible…how different could training be? What would it be like?
Curious, Naruto used the chakra he had gathered to disperse into two shadow clones, the smoke from the production making Kakashi look up from his book. All three Naruto's gathered chakra and in unison, shot off towards different trees.
~*~
Sasuke was pissed.
Sakura had been better then him in controlling her chakra and walking up the tree. She was always just ahead of him until she decided to stop because she had the gist of it down and didn't see the need of continuing it anymore.
That wasn't good enough for Sasuke. He wanted to get to the top of the tree. He needed to prove that he was better than her. He was the sole survivor of the Uchiha clan and he was not going to let some girl with pink hair beat him.
He was three fourths of the way up the tree when he heard the sound of bark breaking just an inch below him, someone swearing before a figure went flipping back to Earth. Pausing, Sasuke looked to his side and he glared at the sight he was greeted with.
Naruto had made clones so there were three of him in total, and they were all climbing a tree. That wasn't what was unsettling. What was unsettling was the fact that one of them was only an inch away from being at the same height as him.
And Sasuke had been at this longer then him!
Naruto had taken some weird six minute break where he just stood in the grass. Now he was using clones and scaling up the trees, swearing like it was no one's business.
Sasuke's blood boiled.
He would be better than the Dobe. He had to be.
Sasuke continued up the tree when the echoing sounds of footsteps grated on his ears and Sasuke decided to cheat. When the blond came into view, a shurinken whizzed into the tree, making Naruto yelp and screech to a halt.
"Hey! What the hell Teme!" He hollered as he glared at Sasuke. He was the real Naruto so if the hit him, he wouldn't just poof away.
Two more shurinkens embedded into the wood, Naruto forced to dance around to the other side of the trunk to avoid them.
"Why you…" Naruto growled before he plucked the shurinkens out of the tree and hurled them right back, Sasuke running up the tree as the weapons flew at his heels. Before long a full fledged fight was involved as the two boys threw weapons at each other through the trees, the weapons either egging them upwards or forcing them down, either way it was to avoid getting hit.
"Kakashi-sensei!" Sakura called as she ran over to the silver haired Jounin, tugging on his sleeve. "They're fighting. Actually fighting!" She pointed out in concern.
Kakashi looked up, watching them for a second. Several kunais and shurinkens were embedded in the trees and Naruto's clones had been dispelled, most likely due to stray weapons or misfire.
What caught Kakashi's eyes were the boy's retreating forms in the highest branches of the trees as Naruto leapt towards Sasuke in a tackle, Sasuke grunting and kicking him aside before bounding to a different branch, Naruto skidding to a stop on a tree trunk before hurling some kunais at him.
They were both higher than Sakura's mark…any higher and they would be at the very tip at the tree. They had motivated each other without knowing it.
"Good." He nodded, ignoring Sakura's baffled look before going back to his book.
~*~
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Chapter notes: Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto
Authoress Note: So dear readers, did I make you wait? Well if I did, I apologize. Anyways, I actually had a lot of trouble thinking of how I wanted to portray Itsuya, and add that to the fact that I wanted about three things to be going on in this chapter…I had some trouble writing this sucker.
I tried to get it out as fast as I could though. Enjoy!