Chapter One: Fight or Flight
All was quiet in the forest, save of course the blur dashing through the trees. From branch to branch the blur leapt, covering as much land as possible with each jump. Finally, upon coming to a stream, the blur landed and took human form. Calmly, the blonde ninja took a drink, then stared at the reflection looking back at him. How did this happen? A week ago he became chunin. Then Sasuke had returned, with Orochimaru’s head, no less. And where was he now? Being chased through the woods, that’s where. “But hey, at least I’m not wearing bright orange anymore.” The shinobi snorted as he stood by the water, admiring his new outfit, a gift from Kakashi-sensei for passing the chunin exam.
White, custom-tailored pants, covered in various pockets. A stunning hi-collard black vest, similarly pocketed, with the kanji for fox sewn on the back in white thread. A snappy red sash around his waist, both ends stamped with the same kanji. Definitely the type of outfit for the next Hokage. A lecherous grin grew on the blond ninja’s face as he remembered the last place he had seen the red shirt that went with it. Or that is, the last general area he saw the shirt. He hadn’t really bothered to see where it landed . . .
A deep growl cut off his train off thought. Instinctively, the shinobi reached for his kunai, before he realized the growl came from his stomach. “Something tells me there’s not going to be a ramen stand around here.” With a sigh, the ninja put the kunai away and bulldozing his way through the woods, looking for something, anything, to eat. But what he found was not to his liking. As he parted the next bush, a familiar tension against his ankle caught his attention. “Trapwire. Damn.” Someone else was here, and had been here long enough to set traps. For a brief second, the ninja considered running, then tossed that idea away. He was tired of running, and besides, ANBU usually carried field rations at the least. “Well, here goes nothing . . . ” The ninja lifted his foot, pulling the wire . . . Two dozen kunai flew at him from various directions . . .
*******
Three ninja quickly appeared by the place the trap had been. Two leapt down to the ground, and studied the piece of wood which lay on the ground, covered in kunai. One, a kunoichi clad in a black silk kimono with red trim and obi, covered her mouth to hid her grin.
“What, Yuri?” Her partner, a male nin likewise in black, asked, his eyes half closed in anger.
“Oh nothing, Tatsuo, nothing at all.” Finally Yuri could hold it no longer. “It’s just, if you wanted to stab a log to death, you could have done it back at camp!”
“Don’t laugh too hard, baka.” The third ninja, another kunoichi, called from up in a tree. “He’s still here, somewhere.”
“You sure, Katsumi?” Tatsuo asked, already knowing the answer. He had learned that if the girl said someone was there, someone was there.
“And he’s good to.” The blind ninja added as she landed next to her teammates. “He’s hiding his chakra signature, well, trying to at least. This one will be fun.” The female slapped her hand on Tatsuo’s shoulder in a very boyish fashion, feeling his tight fishnet tanktop under her hand and trying not to blush as she did. ‘Its times like this I wish I could see.’
“So, is everyone ready?” The male nin asked, pulling his black fingerless gloves tight.
“That depends,” Katsumi grinned as she tightened the knot that held her headband over her eyes. “Do we have enough time for Yuri to go and change?”
“Well, I’m sorry if I prefer to dress like a woman.” Yuri shot back as she pulled two fans from her obi. “Unlike some people I know.”
“Please. Sometimes I wished my eyes worked so I could see how ridiculous you looked.”
“Hey, I’m not the one who tapes her breast down every morning. Her very large breast, I might add.”
Katsumi, being the tomboy she was, was tempted to cut Yuri’s tongue at the last remark. But something caught her attention. A smell; a sweet, familiar smell. Slowly the ninja turned her head to a nearby tree. “Yuri,” she whispered. “Our periods are at the same time right?” Her companion softly nodded. “Thought so.”
Katsumi’s right hand gripped the hilt of the sword strapped to her back, her left already preforming one-handed seals. “Tokkan Kiritateru!” The swordswoman clamped her left around the sword hilt and drew, slashing a straight vertical line in front of her. A bolt of electricity flew from the sword’s arc, smashing straight into the tree. As the tree crashed to the ground, six identical blond ninjas, all recovering from nosebleeds, landed, kunai drawn. “Look mommy, a ninja tree!” She cracked.
“Kage Bunshin . . . ” Tatsuo let out a low whistle. “You were right, he is good.” Skillfully, he flicked his wrist, and the shimmer of sunlight on ninja-wire filled the space between the ninja and his opponents. All six jumped in different directions, but two were too slow and were caught in the web. Jerking his hands back, Tatsuo grabbed the wires in his teeth and pulled up, turning his body into a pulley. The two clones were cut to pieces by the wires, before dissipating into smoke. “Well, that’s two . . . ”
“I’ve got the rest.” Yuri grinned as she slammed one of her closed fans into the ground, putting the second one away, “Doton, Doryuu Taiga!” A rushing river of mud slammed the next two backwards, both having landed next to each other. But by then the Earth-nin was already halfway through her second set of hand seals. “Kami, I love stupid clones. Doton, Doryuudan!” A great dragon arose from the mud and spat mudballs at the two remaining, who had wisely taken to the trees. One was hit and dissipated.
“Mikazuki no mai!” Two Katsumi’s rushed the remaining ninja, swords drawn . . .
“Hold it!”
Everyone looked at the newcomer who spoke. Clad in a long black robe decorated in a flame motif, the man held about him an air of quiet confidence and respect. “You three do know that last one’s a clone to, right?”
“If that’s true, sensei, then why did you stop us?” Yuri asked, confused.
“Well, I figure if I can get him to drop it on his own, then that would mean we could talk things out without killing each other.” Calmly, the man leaned his back against a tree and stared up into it. “So will you?” The final clone disappeared, just as the true ninja leapt down from the tree. The man only shook his head. “Konoha. I should have guessed. So, what’s your name, kid?”
“Uzumaki Naruto.”
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Ok, sorry about the large amount of Japanese, but the jutsus sound much cooler in their native tongue. For credit’s sake, I “borrowed” them from www.naruto-kun.com, except for Katsumi’s Tokkan Kiritateru (Lightning Slash), which I made up and translated into Japanese here: http://www.freedict.com/onldict/jap.html
So enjoy and please review!
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Chapter notes: NO, I DO NOT OWN NARUTO, THE CHARACTERS, THE JUTSUS, ETC. (Except for everything I made up, thats all mine.)