Konoha’s
Guardians : Book I : Awaken
Chapter 11 – Training with Guardians
Anko found herself relaxing as she wandered through the forests while following the near invisible trails that lead to the various public training grounds. It was now late afternoon and she had spent the better part of the day trying to locate her new student. Well, scratch that—the first part of the day had been just simple information gathering; finding out what she could about the supposed book-genius of Team Seven. Her information gathering had been rather intriguing, for she had found Haruno Sakura to be an interesting character.
Throughout her search she had found evidence of a bright cheerful girl who excelled in book smarts, but was average in other areas. Her greatest weak point, however, was her obvious obsession with Uchiha Sasuke—not that most of the girl’s female peers weren’t as obsessed with the boy; Even so, none of them were also on his team. If Anko had much to say, she would do her best to see to it that Sakura saw Sasuke not in romantic terms, but rather as her teammate. That, however, would greatly depend on just how much time they would spend together in the coming month before the Final Matches.
She had first gone to the girl’s home only to be told that Sakura had gone out earlier that morning to visit her teammate at the hospital. So Anko had made the trip to Konoha’s hospital only to discover that Sasuke had flown the coop with no sign of where or when he left. Anko already knew that his disappearance would be a hard blow to the girl, but just how deeply she’d react to it Anko wasn’t sure. She managed to find out from another rookie Genin that Sakura was last seen heading off towards the training areas, and so now that was where she found herself searching for the girl.
She paused as a series of ‘thunks’ reached her ears. Anko smirked, If that isn’t the sound of kunai being embedded into wood then I’m not a shinobi. She changed her course and slipped down the barely identifiable trail to come out into a clearing full of logs and targets. Anko watched as the pink-haired girl took aim with several kunai at once, and then let them fly. There was a series of thunks as the kunai found targets. Anko raised an eyebrow, not bad considering her record showed only average skill in projectile weaponry. “Not bad, but not good enough.”
Instantly the girl whirled and sent a kunai at her intruder.
Anko remained still, catching the kunai before it hit her shoulder. “Good reaction, but you should have been able to notice me sooner. Kuso!” She cursed as the kunai suddenly seemed to burn and she dropped it to the ground, shaking her fingers in reaction. She turned to look at her new student who stood staring. Apparently shocked at what she had just done. “Now that’s a trick I haven’t seen before. Something Kakashi teach you?”
Sakura shook her head, obviously wary.
“Interesting. I’m Mitarashi Anko. Sandaime-sama has assigned me to take over as your sensei until after the final matches. It seems Kakashi has his hands full with other business.”
Sakura hung her head. “With Sasuke….”
Anko blinked. Sakura hadn’t said it but she knew what else was being
dealt with in the girl’s mind. So it
wasn’t just Sasuke that had a run in with Orochimaru…yet all three members
of the team survived. Just what was he really up to?
Unconsciously Anko raised one hand to cover the location of the curse seal
on her neck.
Sakura’s eye’s widened.
“You know!”
Anko met her student’s
emerald gaze head on and nodded. “I know.” Anko sighed and glanced around.
“Here, why don’t we take a seat and I’ll tell you about it…and then you can
tell me what’s on your mind. Fair enough?”
Sakura paused for a moment
but then nodded and found a seat on a nearby log that had been knocked over.
Anko sat down beside her and took a deep breath before beginning.
“Orochimaru is a class
S Missing-nin, and has been since before you were born. He was also my sensei—and
I ended up being one of his guinea pigs. I was the first he used the curse
seal on, but I definitely was not the last…”
*********
Naruto concentrated as
he carefully signed his name in blood on the
toad-summoning contract scroll, listening as Ero Sennin explained the
seals that were needed to activate the ninjutsu. He grinned as he finished
with his fingerprints and stood—now it was time to try it out.
“Tell me again what you want to do with my
power?” Kyuubi asked dryly.
It’s a toad summoning, haven’t you been paying
attention? Naruto responded.
“YOU want to use the strength of a Guardian
Kitsune to summon TOADS!? Forget it you’re on your own kid.”
What!? But!!!
“No way…If you want to summon toads
do it on your own.” And with
that Kyuubi’s obvious presence faded from Naruto’s mind.
Naruto frowned, then mentally scoffed. Who
needed the grumpy old fox anyways? Spreading a bit of blood on his palm as
instructed he then performed the series of seals; boar, dog, bird, monkey,
sheep, and slapped his palm flat on the ground. There was a tiny puff of ninjutsu
smoke as a result. Naruto’s eyebrow twitched as he eyed the tiny tadpole and
attempted to ignore Ero Sennin laughing at him. Damn Kyuubi… This was going to take awhile.
**********
Sasuke breathed heavily
as he finished his training routine, the midday sun shining down brightly.
He scanned the edge of the rocky plateau as he stretched out his muscles slowly
to keep them from cramping up. Kakashi hadn’t arrived yet—not that it surprised
him. The Jounin had never been on time for anything, so it really didn’t surprise
him that he was late to arrive. It gave him time to meditate and work with
Ryukai on getting rid of the damn curse seal anyways. The seal had already
begun to fade, and Ryukai had said that it would likely only take one more
big push to get rid of it completely, although it would not be an easy task
as of yet.
He turned towards a rocky formation near one
end of the plateau and settled down in the lotus position in the shade. Almost
immediately he felt Ryukai’s presence all around him.
“Are you ready? This will not be easy.” Ryukai stated.
Hai. I want to get rid of this thing.
And then it began.
To all outward appearance Sasuke was sitting
calmly and meditating, but as one watched they would note the occasional scrunching
of his eyebrows, twitches of his cheek muscles, the clenching of his jaw,
or the beads of perspiration that occasionally dripped down the side of his
face. Inwardly, however, it was a far different scene.
Once again Sasuke found himself in the featureless
place that was his mind. Immediately his attention turned to the form of a
large snake trapped under a black net. He studied the serpent as it hissed
at him from where it lay immobile. He had already faced this opponent several
times, and save for the very first, he had been winning. The snake showed
signs of these fights in its sliced and occasionally flattened body. It currently
lay motionless under the net that was its prison—a combination of the seal
Kakashi had used and his work with Ryukai since then. But this time—this time
they wouldn’t be just pinning it under a net. No, this time they would be
killing it.
He felt Ryukai’s presence behind him, the dragon’s
strength a constant. Sasuke opened himself up to the dragon’s power, and then
released the seal that was holding the net in place. Instantly the snake struck,
but Sasuke was ready for him as he dodged and threw a series of kunai that
vanished, as they hit nothing. The snake coiled and hissed weaving its head
back and forth, tongue flickering in and out as it looked for Sasuke’s weakness.
Sasuke remained still, waiting for the curse-snake to make its move. It seemed
to draw in on itself, pulling back as if to retreat. Oh no you don’t… Sasuke thought as he charged forward and attacked with vigor, kunai
flashing as the darted back and forth in strike and block.
The snake hissed and then launched forward
coiling around Sasuke’s waist and chest before he could move away. Sasuke
let he snake think it had the upper hand, focusing his attention on the head
and keeping it from biting and gaining dominance. Overhead and all around
him, Sasuke could feel Ryukai’s strength growing—and then the dragon was there.
With a snap of jaws the snake’s head fell to the ground, its body falling
away from Sasuke as it writhed.
“Quickly—run
your kunai through its head.”
The dragon urged as it caught the snake’s body in his claws and began to rip
it to shreds. Sasuke struck quickly and watched silently as the snake’s tongue
flickered one last time—its eyes glazing over.
Sasuke’s eyes snapped open as a burning pain
where the curse seal had formed spread throughout his body, he briefly noted
the black scrawls of the seal spreading over his skin, constantly shifting,
moving, flashing red, and then withdrawing, leaving his skin and muscles feeling
raw in their wake. Then the burning was gone, the pain nothing but an echo.
He slowly climbed to his feet, breathing heavily. Did we do it? Is it gone?
At first there was no answer and Sasuke suddenly
feared that something my have happened to Ryukai, but then he felt the dragon’s
presence once more.
“It
is done. The curse seal is gone. Well done, the snake has no further hold
on you.”
Sasuke smirked, his body fully relaxing for
the first time since the start of the second Chuunin exam. It was then he
heard the crumbling and clatter of rocks falling down a cliff side. Frowning,
he approached the cliff edge, and then smirked. “So you’re finally here…Kakashi-sensei.”
**********
The Third smiled softly as he watched Iruka
instruct a class of Academy students—the same class he’d talked with just
the other day, but now was not the time to chat with them. He had to visit
a couple Genin in the hospital as a result of the preliminary matches—Genin
who had been reported to be healing much faster then they should have. Hyuga
Hinata and Rock Lee both had received very serious injuries during their matches
as they tried to prove against opponents that outmatched them that they were
strong and would not give up. In his eyes they had both succeeded—but that
wasn’t what brought him to visit them today.
After hearing the reports about their remarkably
fast healing, he’s been reminded of Naruto and what he now knew to not be
a demon fox, but a Guardian sealed within him. He was almost positive that
that these two had bonded with Guardians as well. He had heard back from Anko
that Sakura had confided in her, the girl now carried a bond with a Guardian
phoenix—Hitori. Naruto’s he knew was Kyuubi, which made two of the legendary
Guardians bonded to Konoha Genins. The Yondaime had been right when he said
there was something much bigger going on at the time Kyuubi attacked Konoha.
Sandaime nodded to the receptionist as he headed
down the hallway, stopping in front of the first door that he knew concealed
one of the Genin he was seeking. He knocked softly and then opened the door
and smiled as he spotted a rather alert looking Hinata on the other side.
The reports hadn’t done the reality justice. Hinata was not only physically
better, but the Third could see that she was stronger in spirit as well. “Hello
Hinata-chan. You appear to be healing remarkably well—your Guardian has been
helping correct?”
Hinata’s eyes opened wide. “You know… You know
about Kilin?”
The Sandaime smiled. “Kilin—lets see…Unicorn
right?”
Hinata nodded surprised. The Third smiled.
“Don’t worry, everything is fine and you are not the only Genin to have gained
a new partner. What would you say to visiting Rock Lee with me?”
Hinata nodded. She’d overheard some of the
hospital staff discussing the boy’s serious injuries, and already knew she
could help. “Hai. I’d like that.”
“Well then, let’s go see him and find out just which other Guardian has arrived.”