Team 7
A cacophony of sounds echoed and resounded through his head, loud and overwhelming to his ears as sheets of rain knocked against the window harshly. The howl of the wind rustling the trees and the very earth outside made for an omnipresent sense of chaos. As if the weather itself was a physical manifestation of the turmoil unfolding within his turbulent mind.
The Hokage was still speaking and yet, his words seemed far away, as if Naruto was suddenly plunged underwater, lost to the torrent, and unable to register any actual meaning behind his speech.
He didn’t think he wanted to, either.
He felt, peculiarly disassociated, a spectator watching from the outside as his world came crashing down. As the metaphorical rug was once more pulled from right beneath his feet.
Rising from his seated position, legs steady despite the uneasiness he felt from within, he turned his back to the Third. Calls for him to wait, to sit back down, or to listen went unheard, and ignored as he calmly made his way out of the man’s office and into the open streets outside.
The cold, unforgiving wind, coupled with the unrelenting rain, made for a miserable trek home. His thin, worn-out clothes clung to his skin with dampness, his nose red and his hair dripping as he finally stepped into his lonesome apartment.
Not bothering to remove his water-logged shoes, he walked straight into the bathroom, stripping out of his muddy clothes methodically, as if on autopilot. No active thought went through his cool, dazed eyes as he watched the water gather at his feet the longer he stood in place.
Barely aware of his actions, he stepped under his shower, fingers twisting the rusty knob numbly. He waited one moment, and another. Still, no water deigned to come out of the showerhead above him. Pathetic drops of brown, murky leftovers fall onto the cracked tiles beneath his feet.
He felt something inside of him break then. A crack in his barriers, opened up the floodgates to an overwhelming feeling of despair as he dropped into a crouch. Conscious of the cool, icy air making the hairs on his arms stand on end, as he crumbled in on himself. No tears escaped his eyes, however, despite the devastating need he felt to let them out. To let it all out.
His harsh breathing was the only sound in the room as he tried to get his tattered, broken mind to rearrange itself. As he tried to put himself back together.
His fingers dug into the skin of his stomach, as if to physically claw out the creature he now knew, resided within him.
Red, speckles of blood followed in the wake of his nails as he continued to scrape at his irritated flesh.
Every dark, scathing stare he'd ever had directed at him played out in his mind. Memories and incomprehensible instances of his childhood suddenly light up with morbid clarity.
Whispers of the words that have been haunting him for his entire life, every sneer, taunt, and jeer he'd ever gotten thrown at him felt somehow justified now, as he finally understood why he'd been hated, why he’d been reviled for all these years.
Or maybe ‘Understood’ wasn’t the right word for it. Because he didn’t really. He didn’t understand why.
Why had he, out of all people, been chosen to bear this burden? Why was he the one being punished for the crimes and horrors of another? Why was he being forced to act like- like some kind of human jailer to this creature, this monster living within him? A Jinchuriki, the Hokage had called him. A human sacrifice. His mind whispered bitterly.
And wasn't that ironic? To be once more subjected to this kind of horror. To once again be nothing more than a vessel, unwillingly sharing his body with another soul. One who had killed hundreds, and was referred to as a monster. The kyubi, the nine-tails.
At least, he thought with no small amount of resentment, this one wasn’t a dark lord, hell-bent on killing him. Or, that is to say, he hoped it wasn’t.
He could feel the lights flickering above him, the mirror hanging on for dear life as the walls shook with the force of his magic. For a moment, he wanted to let go, to let himself feel all the anger and the hatred, and yet, he knew, even as he fought the overwhelming urge to give in, that he couldn’t.
And so, with deep, slow breaths, he steadied himself, shutting out his emotions and stuffing his anger back where it belonged. Buried deep within him.
Getting up, his knees wobble, and he gets out of the shower with lethargic, unhurried movements. His energy sapped completely.
Feeling exhaustion and an overpowering sense of gloom looming over him, he went through the motions of dressing himself in his pajamas, falling asleep as soon as his head hit the mattress.
His dreams that night were filled with darkness, Voldemort’s fragmented, dying soul, haunting his thoughts unrepentantly. Nine, swaying tails were also a prominent feature in his nightmares.
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Waking up the next morning was like paddling through thick layers of consciousness. Fighting to get his brain to activate and to get his body to cooperate.
His eyes felt heavy, eyelids drooping with the effort to stay open. He doesn’t know how much time he spends looking up at the ceiling above. But eventually, he does manage to drag himself out of bed and into the bathroom.
He steps in, gaze immediately catching onto the pile of clothes he’d left the night before. Laying haphazardly on the still damp tiles. And so with tired, sluggish movements, he picks them up and drops them into the clothes hamper. Sighing so deeply he can physically feel his energy seep out of him.
Trying his luck one more time with the shower, he's once again disappointed as no water comes out. A frustrated huff escapes his lips as he turns and heads out into the kitchen. In the cabinet beneath the sink, he finds the reserve bucket of water he keeps for instances such as these.
For, it is not the first time, and he doubts it will be the last, so he tries to always be prepared. He heats the water little by little on the stove, and after a small eternity, he finally makes his way back to the bathroom. His arms holding onto his acquired water almost protectively.
He scrubs at his skin until his flesh feels as raw as his emotions. Keeping clear of the shallow gashes marring his stomach.
He puts special efforts into avoiding looking at them in the mirror as he's getting dressed. Although he does manage to catch a glimpse of the dark shadows framing his eyes. His face sunken with bone-deep exhaustion, his whisker marks especially prominent in the morning light.
Looking at the clock hanging to his left, he doesn’t waste any more time before heading out, conscious of the empty void gnawing at his stomach and the similar state of his fridge as he does so.
He’d have to go out shopping soon. At least now, he could manage a henge, or maybe he could even send a clone to be safe.
He realizes now, as he marches through the early morning wanderers of the village, that his chakra problem probably wasn’t affected just because of his magic.
His own chakra reserves were immense, and add to that the Kyubi’s energy and it's no wonder he never managed any low-level jutsus.
He wasn’t going to catch any breaks any time soon that was for sure.
He finds that he is relatively early, as he walks through the gates and into the academy. The absence of laughter and energetic kids is his first hint.
Thankfully, he spots the object of his search almost immediately.
Iruka is standing in the middle of the hall leading up to the classroom, face twisted with a strange kind of expression, one Naruto wasn't used to seeing on the man. His eyes were serious and sharper than usual as he spoke to another Ninja. One he hadn't seen before.
However, the moment his gaze seems to catch onto Naruto’s approaching form, he straightens and nods at the man in front of him, dismissing him almost instantly. His attention now fully turned towards his student.
"Naruto." He greets tentatively. Eyes scanning over him with something akin to concern. Eying his face and his tired posture with a displeased frown. "I heard about what happened yesterday. Are you alright?" Subduing his surprise, he tries to evade the question.
“I’m fine,” He huffs distractedly, stuffing his hands into his pockets. “You should worry more about getting yourself a new headband, though.” He swings his body forward and back, wanting to dispel the sudden nervousness he was experiencing with those worried eyes directed at him so earnestly.
Iruka takes a moment to answer, the silence stretching almost uncomfortably between the two. His eyes bore into Naruto's as if looking for answers within them. Answers that Naruto himself wouldn't know how to give.
“You’re right.” He says, managing to surprise Naruto for the second time this morning. "A deal is a deal and I am a man of my word." He intones, hands coming up to untie the headband on his forehead. The strangeness of seeing without it almost makes him want to take back his words. "Now, the Hokage already told me about your little escapade yesterday, so I know you can do it, but I still would like to see it for myself.”
“Fair enough.” He amends, a hint of amusement flickering over his features. “How many do you want?”
“How about you surprise me?”
Naruto thinks that the teacher will regret his words sooner than expected.
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When Naruto steps into the classroom a few minutes later, he is one headband heavier. The dark fabric rests comfortably on his forehead. Finger absentmindedly raking over the carved symbol on the plaque sewed into the center of the band. He was officially a leaf village Genin.
The dread he'd felt when the Hokage had explained why it was so important for him to join the academy suddenly reared its ugly head once more.
His notions of freedom were successfully stifled as he walked up to his desk, at the back of the class. He wouldn't let it take away from his sense of accomplishment though. He'd said he'd learn the Bunshin in a day, and he did, more or less.
A harder, higher level of the jutsu surely got him extra points, he argued internally. Looking at the clock hanging on the wall at the front of the class, he decided that he could maybe rest his eyes for a few minutes. He'd surely earned it.
It’s not long, however, before he’s disturbed.
“Naruto!" A whiny voice draws him out of the haze he'd let himself fall into. Cursing inwardly, he lifts his head out from the safety of his folded arms, not bothering to straighten up, he lets his eyes trail up to look at the intruder with a detached gaze. “You shouldn’t be here! Only people who passed get to attend the ceremony.” When a minute passes, and he doesn’t respond, she shifts nervously on her feet, as if physically trying to dispel the awkwardness. “Whose headband did you steal, anyway?”
Sighing heavily, he finally straightens out of his huddle, back cracking as he slumps against his chair, eyeing the girl berating him. He never really bothered to pay much attention to Sakura. She always reminded him of the fangirls that used to trail after him throughout his life back at Hogwarts. The awed-filled gazes, that followed after him almost desperately, with an eerie sort of longing. He shuddered at the mere thought, thankful that, at least, such looks weren't directed at him in this lifetime. Mentally saluting Sasuke for his struggles, Naruto let his eyes meet mint green, urging himself to stay calm and not let out all his frustration onto the girl.
“I passed, Sakura, I wouldn’t be here otherwise.” He could feel several people pay closer attention as he spoke, as they too were wondering the same thing as the soon-to-be-kunoichi. One particular set of dark eyes seemed to bore into him more than the others.
“Are you lying? How can someone like you pass? You can’t even use any jutsus!”
“Yeah, you caught me.” He says sarcastically, a smile stretching his features despite the coldness in his eyes. “I’m just here to mess with you people.”
“How can you-“
“Alright, everyone get to your seats!” Iruka chose that moment to finally make his entrance. Thankfully ending Sakura's quest to get him into trouble, her dumbfounded gaze, strangely satisfying to witness. "First of all, I'd like to congratulate everyone in this room for passing you're exams. You are now officially Ninjas, or more accurately, aspiring Ninjas." His words held a double meaning to them and Naruto narrowed his eyes in contemplation. "Although you still have much to learn, you will be embarking on your first steps in the journey of becoming respected members of the village's workforce." He lectured, his voice filled with soft pride. "You will do so, in teams of three, led by an experienced Jonin." That started a new round of whispers as everyone speculated on their respective teams. Knowing his luck, Naruto didn’t hold out hope for anything good.
He zones out most of the man’s next words as he lists out the teams and their corresponding Jonin. Only tuning in as he finally gets to Naruto himself.
“-team seven will consist of Sakura Haruno, Sasuke Uchiha, and Naruto Uzumaki.” He bloody well knew it.
He hears the tell-tale squeal of excitement and already feels his headache taking form as Sakura rushes to sit next to Sasuke, bumping multiple students on her way there.
Sasuke for his part looked just as displeased as he felt, eyes looking ahead with irritation. Naruto can practically see the vein bulging on his forehead. It almost makes him want to laugh at his clear annoyance.
Without meaning to, his eyes meet Shikamaru’s as he gets up to join the two, the Nara looks deep in thought, staring at him with intensity as they cross paths. Naruto doesn't linger long enough to give him the chance to say something.
Instead, counting to ten in his mind, he takes a seat next to his new teammates, wondering how this won’t get him killed in the very near future.
Iruka dismisses himself after that, instructing them to sit there and wait for their new Jonin-Sensei to come get them. And so starts the longest four hours of his life.
After the first hour, Naruto had given up on waiting patiently and had forgone decorum in place of sitting cross-legged on his desk and meditating.
Sakura hadn’t gotten the memo to leave him alone right away, it took her ten minutes of badgering before she realized that he was just going to ignore her.
And so he let himself fall into the now familiar sense of peace, following along the wisps of power and thoughts into his mindscape. He'd always felt as if one part of it had been closed off from him, having always assumed it was related to the magical and chakra-related block he could feel. He knew better now. Knew his own body well enough to know that behind that mental barrier, stood something far more sinister.
With the renewed knowledge, he could feel himself finally surpassing the blocks in place. However, just as he was beginning to get a clearer image, he felt himself being pushed right out of his concentration-induced haze.
A sting at the back of his head, was the only indication of what had happened, as he opened his eyes and glared at the girl, tempted to hex her for touching him, let alone hitting him like she had.
"We've been calling for your attention for the past ten minutes, Naruto!" She had zero self-preservation, didn't she?
Looking past her, he could see that Sasuke too, was glaring at him, as if silently cursing him for leaving him to deal with her alone. And standing there, next to the two, was an unfamiliar man.
His hair was tinged a greyish white, defying the laws of physics in their composition as they stood up, in sharp, spiked strands. However, despite their oddness, they weren’t the Ninja’s most peculiar aspect. The man had a face mask covering the entire lower half of his face. His Hitai-ate fell diagonally across his face, covering one of his eyes. All in all, he looked weirdly mysterious.
His gaze bore into Naruto with an unnerving intensity. Looking at him, as if seeing something else entirely.
“Maa, barely you’re first day and you’re already wasting my time.” The man spoke with a bored, drawn-out tone, staring at them blankly.
“I’m not the one who was late.” He said before he could stop himself, never one to hold his tongue.
“Naruto!” Sakura admonished just as Sasuke hummed, for once agreeing with Naruto on something.
“Well, if you’re done daydreaming, meet me on the roof.” And just like that, he shunshined on the spot.
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“Alright, why don’t you guys introduce yourselves, start with things like you’re names, your likes and dislikes, dreams, and hobbies…”
“Why don’t you go first, Sensei?” Sakura intoned when none of her new teammates looked ready to take the lead.
“Fine.” The man muttered, leaning against the roof’s railing. “My name is Kakashi Hatake. I don't really feel like telling you what I like or dislike, as for my dreams, don't have any." He shrugged, before continuing. "And let's see, I have a lot of hobbies." His words were met with three almost identical deadpan stares he seemed entirely unbothered by. "Now, it's your turn." He intoned, amused.
“Uhm,” Sakura started nervously, having looked a couple of times back at them to make sure neither was going to speak first. “My name is Sakura Haruno. The things I like… I mean who I like… well, umm, my dreams…" She shot not-so-subtle glances at the raven-haired boy sitting on Naruto's left. "Well, you know…" She hunched in, her face beat red, making Naruto want to roll his eyes. Kakashi-Sensei wasn’t faring too much better as he prompted her to continue. “I hate annoying rivals and lazy boys.” She finally finished, giving the first real bit of information in her entire sentence.
Was he meant to be one of the lazy boys she was referencing?
“Good, go on.” He gestured at Sasuke.
“The name’s Sasuke Uchiha. I hate a lot of things, and I don’t particularly like anything. My goals are not a dream, because I will accomplish them. I will restore my family’s honor and avenge my clan, by eliminating a certain someone." Immediately, Naruto knew just who was the boy referring to. Making his chest constrict with an unnamed emotion. He could already feel himself shut down.
“Okay…” The Jonin enunciated as if choosing to open that particular can of worms another day. "Now, you, blondie.” Kakashi urged, seemingly glad for a change of subject.
“My name is Naruto Uzumaki." He started, clearing his throat to get his voice, dispelling the unease that had gathered in his guts. "Since you didn't bother to actually give us any information on yourself, I'll be brief." He eyed the man as he said so, wanting to see his reaction to being tested like so. A blank, patient stare was his only response. "I like meditating, training, and cooking. My dislikes are irrelevant and my dream…" He hesitated, unsure whether to be genuine or to deflect like the man himself had done. "My dream is to be free."
A charged kind of silence fell over them after that. His words felt heavy and meaningful, even as he immediately regretted saying them out loud.
“Well, I think that’s enough for today. You all seem to be interesting and unique people.” Kakashi finally broke the stillness. “Meet me tomorrow in the Genin’s training field. There, you will go through your final exam."
"Final exam?!" Sakura exclaimed, voicing all their surprise. It seems that Naruto's hunch was right. Iruka did mention something about it, after all. “Didn’t we already pass that?”
Kakashi proceeded to inform them of the real test they had yet to pass. One that was entirely up to his own decision. “Oh, and before I forget.” He said just as he was about to turn and leave. “Don’t eat any breakfast tomorrow. Wouldn’t want you to puke it all up, now, would we?” He shot them a close-eyed smile, amusement radiating in his body language.
At least that was one thing, Naruto wouldn’t have any problem with. He was going to go there hungry anyway.
Chapter 15 already posted here