Chapter 7
Chapter Seven:
"So," Sasuke says, his onyx coloured eyes boring into Naruto with heavy curiosity. "You're the Yondaime's son."
It's not a question. Far from it. Sasuke's words are a statement. A fact.
Sakura fiddles with the hem of her red dress, flickering her gaze between Sasuke and Naruto nervously. The bell test has already begun and half an hour has passed. Sakura sighs, soft and quiet and crouches a little more to the ground, afraid that her pink hair and Naruto's blonde locks will give away their hiding spot.
"How long have you known?" Sasuke questions Naruto quietly, tilting his head.
There's a gentle summer breeze that ruffles their hair and makes the bushes and trees around them shift softly, the sound of leaves rustling filling in the space of Naruto's silence.
"A while," Naruto eventually settles on saying, copying the motion of Sasuke's head tilt, almost as if he's sizing him up. "Is this really the time to be asking me questions?"
"Yes," Sasuke nods, serious and quiet, his dark eyes narrowing, "you went easy on me at the academy, didn't you?"
"Sasuke," Sakura frowns, inching closer to her teammates, her soft voice filled with warning.
Sasuke ignores her, the set of his mouth turning into a scowl as Naruto shrugs a single shoulder, pulling back the underside of the bush near him to peer through it. Kakashi is still in place, standing in the middle of the training ground, his nose passed in-between the pages of his book.
Sasuke and Sakura lean in closer for a better look, their shoulders brushing softly against Naruto's.
"He's really attached to that book," Sakura whispers, "I wonder what it's about."
"Hn," Sasuke agrees, his scowl deepening. He takes a deep breath, willing to calm his nerves as Naruto ignores his probing glare. Sasuke's nose fills with the scent of sea salt and plums and the earthy musk of the training grounds around them. He catches the scent of lightning, hot and prickly and his nose twitches.
He's still getting used to scents and the bombardment of them is annoying, if not somewhat helpful at times.
"You're fast," Sasuke grudgingly admits, his hands forming fists against the ground as Naruto pulls the underside of the thick bush back into place, covering the three of them in their hiding place.
"You think you can steal that book of his?" He asks, biting the inside of his cheek. Sasuke is used to being quiet, but he's talking more than Sakura and Naruto combined today.
Sakura gives him a worried look, her thin pink brows furrowing. "Do you have a fever?" She asks.
"No,'' Sasuke grits his teeth, inching away before Sakura does something stupid and annoying, like check his temperature. He takes another calming breath, scowling as he gets assaulted by sea salt and sweet plums again.
"......Thanks," Naruto surprises Sasuke by accepting his━
Sasuke isn't going to call it a compliment. It's simply a mere observation.
Nothing more.
Nothing less.
His lips curl back into a sneer, but before he can make a scathing remark, something sharp and silver slips out from beneath Naruto's jacket sleeve and lands in his hand.
"It used to belong to my father," Naruto explains, hooking his pointer finger into the silver hoop at the hilt and holding it out for Sasuke and Sakura to see. There's a seal wrapped around the handle and Sasuke struggles to read it, finding the symbols unrecognisable.
He also struggles to find the connection between Naruto's speed and the three tipped kunai.
Sakura seems to be having the same issue, her green eyes squinting as she looks at Naruto's kunai in curiosity. "Looks fancy," she says. "Can't really read the seal, though."
"Oh, don't bother with that," Naruto grins, his canines pressing into the soft flesh of his bottom lip. He grips the handle of his kunai, covering the unreadable seal from sight. "So, you want me to steal Kakashi's dumb book, right? Cause a distraction for you and Sakura to slip in close?"
Sasuke's scowl returns. His curiosity about Naruto's power level makes his pale skin itch. Still, he needs to pass this stupid test with his━
Sasuke internally shudders.
He will not be calling them teammates.
Fellow genin will do just fine.
"Here's the plan," Sasuke says, wrinkling his nose when Sakura leans in over Naruto's shoulder to better hear him. "I'm not going to repeat myself. Don't get in my way."
Naruto rolls his blue eyes and Sakura mutters something about Sasuke's fever getting better. Ignoring both of their reactions, Sasuke wills himself to go over their battle strategy.
Another ten minutes pass, their allotted time to steal Kakashi's bells ticking by. With their strategy in place, the three Genin stare at each other with determination.
"Remember," Sakura says, "I get the last hit." There's a deadly spark in her green eyes and Sasuke finds himself approving of her anger towards their useless sensei.
"Alright," Naruto flashes an easy going grin, dimples appearing on each side of his whisker-marked cheeks. "Let's take that loser sensei of ours down."
"Hn," Sasuke nods in agreement. He watches in fascination as Naruto throws his kunai through the air with precise movement, the three tipped kunai heading straight for Kakashi.
Immediately, hearing the sound of a kunai splicing through the air, Kakashi takes a step back, avoiding the kunai. He raises his gaze from his book, utterly disappointed at his pup's attempt at trying to take him down. Kakashi glances at the kunai as it whizzes past his head and then resumes reading.
Hm, that kunai looks oddly familiar, Kakashi ponders internally. For a second, he's deathly still, his shoulders tense. No, it couldn't be….?
He whips his head to the side, watching as the familiar three tipped kunai stops in mid air just beside him. Shit.
There's barely any time to react as Naruto suddenly appears in a blur of orange movement, his blue eyes narrowed as he grabs the kunai, aiming a swift, precise kick to Kakashi's hand. His beloved book tumbles from between his fingers and Kakashi very nearly sobs as Naruto catches it, skidding back several metres to create a large space between them.
"My book!" Kakashi yells, upset beyond words. He places his hand over his heart, deflating like a balloon and dropping to the ground in shock. "My book," Kakashi repeats, sniffling now as he dramatically clutches at his chest, his other hand curling into a fist against the ground. "Why would you do that, Nauru-kun? Give it back!"
"He's pathetic,'' Sakura mutters from where she's still hidden underneath the bush with Sasuke. She rubs the pad of her thumb over her eyebrow, easing the growing annoyance down. "I can't believe he's our sensei."
"Hn," is Sasuke's reply. He and Sakura share a flat look and then return their gazes to the 'fight.'
Naruto throws Kakashi's book into the air, mocking him as he catches it and then repeats the process. There's a furrow between his brows. "How the hell did you become a Jounin?" He mutters to himself, expression full of disdain.
Something underneath the ground beneath his feet moves. Naruto drops his gaze as Kakashi's hands rise from the earth, wrapping around his ankles. Must be a clone, Naruto muses, idly sniffing the air. Across the open space of the training ground, Kakashi's despair riddled form rises from the ground like a phoenix, his steps light and calm as he walks over to Naruto.
"Nice try," he says, impressed, his steely grey eye boring into Naruto with scrutiny. He wraps his fingers around the top of his very precious and very sacred book, intent on taking it back from Naruto. "You're not as fast as your father, but I admit, you did momentarily catch me off guard."
Kakashi pauses, his grip on the edge of his book tightening. "Naruto-kun, where did you get that kunai?"
Naruto smiles, ducking his head to hide his gaze from Kakashi's. "I don't know what you're talking about, sensei." His grip tightens on the other end of the book. He's trapped like this, held in place by Kakashi's clone. The hands wrapped around his ankles are firm and strong, like shackles, bounding him to the ground.
Naruto's right hand twitches beside his thigh. His father's kunai rests inside the sleeve of his orange jacket, pressed safely into the inside of his wrist. He peers up at Kakashi with wide, innocent blue eyes.
"You wouldn't,'' Kakashi says, tensing in preparation for another Flying Raijin.
"Sensei, I already told you. I have no idea what you're talking about," Naruto huffs. With a guiltless bat of his blonde eyelashes, he activates the seal and the book in his hand switches out with a small, shiny red apple.
Kakashi's fingers grasp at thin air. "Naruto-kun," his voice is surprisingly calm, his one eye staring at the shiny, red apple with murderous intent. "Where is my book?"
Naruto takes a bite out of the apple, chewing slowly and loudly, watching in pure innocence as Kakashi's one grey eye twitches. "It's with Sakura," he says.
"Oh, no," The terror in Kakashi's voice is palpable. His hands clutch at Naruto's shoulders, searching for support. His clone in the ground disperses and Naruto shifts his stance, now free. His shoulders rise up to his cheeks as Kakashi's gaze turns suddenly pleading. "You can't let her kill me."
Naruto blinks, slow and confused, glancing quickly down at the bells attached to Kakashi's weapon pouch. "I'm not promising you anything."
Across the training ground, still in their hiding spot, Sasuke and Sakura trade a look as Kakashi's book lands on the pink haired girls awaiting hands. "You have to admit," Sakura says, "he's useful where it counts."
Sasuke wrinkles his nose. He already called Naruto fast today, he's not admitting anything else. "We have our leverage, let's go."
"Aren't you curious, though?" Sakura asks, already opening up the book and thumbing through the pages. "I mean, he's always reading it."
Sasuke opens his mouth to speak, to tell his fellowgenin that they have a plan they desperately need to finish by noon if they want to pass━
Sakura suddenly turns very still beside him. Sasuke doesn't even think she's breathing. He smartly decides to keep his mouth shut. He's seen her headbut Kakashi too many times to be at the end of her wrath.
Sakura's green eyes move over the words in the book. She releases a breath and snaps it closed. Slowly, the girl rises to her feet and Sasuke face palms as she crawls out from beneath the underbush, giving away their hiding spot.
"I'm surrounded by idiots,'' Sasuke hisses, "how is it that I of all people━"
"YOU'RE READING PORN?" Sakura's wrath filled voice booms across the training field, startling not only Sasuke, but also all the wildlife around him. Birds screech, quickly flying away from their posts and squirrels scurry away, hiding themselves from plain sight.
Sasuke fights with himself internally. Should he stay hidden or should he also join the fight? Either way, Sakura will be angered beyond comparison. Sighing, Sasuke rolls out from beneath the thick bush and joins his fellow genin and loser sensei out on the training field.
"S-sakura-chan!" Kakashi stutters, hiding behind Naruto and using him as a human shield. "It's not what it looks like! I swear!"
"Should you even be using me as a human shield?" Naruto scowls, aiming to elbow Kakashi in the stomach and missing. "My mother's going to rise from her grave and eat you alive."
Kakashi immediately steps away from Naruto, holding his hands out in peace and acting like he'd just been burned. His face pales even further as Sakura clutches his precious book between her hands, wringing the cover and wrinkling the pages inside.
"Sakura-chan, let's talk about it—"
"Shut your fucking mouth,'' Sakura curses, making Sasuke's eyebrows raise in surprise. Naruto steps beside him, eating the rest of his apple. The core disappears from his hands to who knows where and Sasuke should really get used to that.
"Oh, she's mad mad," Naruto mutters, rubbing the back of his neck. "There's no way we can carry out your plan with her in this state."
Sasuke places his hands into his pockets, not bothering to converse with Naruto about Sakura's… issues. He watches as Sakura ignores Kakashi's cries, throwing his porn book to the ground. She stomps her foot onto the cover, grinding her heel into it.
There's a sadistic gleam in Sakura's soft, green eyes as she speaks. "I will cut off your dick and shove it so far up your ass you'll puke it out—"
"S-Sakura-chan!"
Sasuke has to physically stop himself from shuddering at the mental image Sakura has so generously gifted to him.
"Eh, we shouldn't worry about messing up the plan too much," Naruto says, cringing as Kakashi starts to plead for his life and his dick. "I mean, Shikamaru once told me that plans don't always hold out during missions and fights. There's always something wrong bound to happen."
Turning his gaze away from the murder scene about to happen in front of him, Sasuke regards Naruto with a scowl. He mulls over the blonde's words, taking a moment to himself before he reluctantly asks. "Does the Nara know who you are?"
"He's the smartest kid from our class," Naruto answers, shrugging his shoulders nonchalantly. He doesn't elaborate further, glancing at Sasuke with amusement in his blue eyes.
Sasuke returns his gaze to Sakura's murderous rage. She's currently ripping Kakashi's book in half, using both hardcover ends to smack their sensei harshly over the head.
Naruto is grudgingly right. While Shikamaru's skills in combat are quite subpar, his intelligence is off the charts. Lazy he may be, but he is nowhere near stupid. "Hn," Sasuke settles on his usual remark whenever he's presented with information that he doesn't know what to do with. So what if the Nara figured out Naruto's birthright and power before him?
It doesn't matter.
"Is that a hint of jealousy I detect?" Naruto's grin is smug, his dimples making Sasuke very, very annoyed.
"Why would I be jealous━"
Sakura smacks Kakashi with his ripped book one last time, the sound ringing across the training field and cutting Sasuke off.
With a sweet, sugary smile, Sakura throws Kakashi's porn book into the air, sending it flying. She points her index finger at the destroyed item. "Sasuke, burn it."
With Kakashi's wails and Naruto's quiet snickering, Sasuke knows better than to go up against her when she's riddled with ungodly wrath. He goes through the hand signs of his family's jutsu, easy and practised, familiar. Sasuke takes a deep, deep breath and blows out a large fireball that inhales the two pieces of Kakashi's porn book.
The pages and hardcover immediately turn to dust.
On the ground, Kakashi faints, his cries and pleading finally coming to a stop.
Naruto leans over his form and steals the two bells from his weapons pouch, pocketing them for later. The timer for their test starts beeping from the other side of the field and Naruto throws his arms behind his head, beaming brightly. "Looks like we passed. Wanna celebrate with the food Kakashi bought us?"
Sakura kicks their sensei in the side. He doesn't react. "Sure, let's go."
With Sasuke's fireball dying out behind them, the trio walk over Kakashi's almost deceased body and head for the three tree stumps where their food awaits them.