Crossover With Non-anime Series Fan Fiction ❯ Seeking Peace ❯ Of Seals And Blood Lines ( Chapter 5 )

[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]

Akad? Yoroi. Just like I thought. It wasn't coincidence. He could suck the chakra right out of an opponent's system. For Sasuke and I, it was just about the worst possible match up...Plus, the fact that Yoroi was a totaldickhelp matters much...I was dead tired, and then when Sasuke's seal broke out, that just made it ten times worse. I struggled, but despite my efforts, I blacked out as my own mark mimicked his. My dream was familiar...after the fire and bloody nightmare, it moved on to my little sister...It was the last thing I needed at the moment and I woke up with a distressed yell."Nika!" I panted, ripping a breathing mask off my face and looking around me wildly, not recognizing my surroundings. The walls were the same blah grey, and curtains divided the room. There were a couple of cork boards detailing medical information that I couldn't ever hope to understand up on the walls as well, but I wasn't paying attention to those."Nika..." I murmured. Where was she now...? Where was I, even? It was obviously some sort of hospital...but really, what was this world that I had stumbled into? I had hardly gotten a moment to actuallythinkit since I arrived. I had been constantly gambling for either my life or well being, but now...I was confused...and scared...delayed reaction much...? I'd say, yeah. Big time.Someone ripped the curtains open, and I jumped, startled, until I recognized Sasuke's fair featured face that was always marred by one of his scowls. Right now though, it was arranged in one of his arched eyebrow, cynical expressions that seemed to be mocking yet serious at the same time."Who's Nika?" He asked in a slightly suspicious tone...or maybe he just always sounded like that...I was so dumbfounded by his sudden appearance, I answered without thinking, "Nika's myimouto...I haven't seen her in years."He had a mild curiosity about him, "...Why?"Not quite knowing the reason, I went on to tell him the story."...I'm not sure how things work here, but... when my parents died and the towers collapsed...the government deemed me unfit to care for Nika...They took her away, and I couldn't do a thing about it..." It was short and sweet...well, not exactly sweet...kind of miserable actually...but for some odd reason I felt better when he looked at me funny and sat down on the foot of my bed, all sense of urgency forgotten.I felt dampness on my face and when I touched my cheek, I was surprised to find a tear there. Funny, I had thought my tears on the subject had reached their quota...obviously not yet. I wiped it away roughly, sick of crying about something that would never get better."They won't tell me where she is." I tried to smile awkwardly, but failed miserably and let my face fade into something like a blank mask, "I've tried to track her down and get her back before...but they moved her out of the city eventually, and I almost got arrested..."I laughed a short manic laugh then, "Can you believe her foster parents actually filed a restraining order against me? The bastards called the cops on me twice..."I didn't expect him to say anything on the subject, but he murmured quietly, "You weren't unfit...you obviously care that much for her. If they haven't realized how far you'd go to protect your sister by now...They're complete idiots..."I let my head hang in shame, remembering Yureha's words to me, "Caring for someone isn't the same astaking caresomeone...I can barely help myself...much less anyone else...""Funny..." He replied, arching his dark eyebrow at me again, "I got the impression you helped yourself to a lot of things...""Illegally, I might add." I mirrored his face perfectly, "Stealing things is easy for me. It's earning my keep and being responsible for my actions that kicks my ass...I know my own faults, even if I don't like to admit them all the time...So don't make it your job to try and make me feel better about it...""I wasn't trying to..." he crossed his arms defiantly, "But if you're done whining about something you can't fix, let's go and move on to something we can. Agreed?"I allowed him the ghost of a smile before ripping out my IV roughly, "You've got good logic most of the time, Uchiha. I'll give you that much...So...you won your match I presume?""Of course." He scoffed arrogantly, making me laugh. He grabbed my wrist then, pulling the bandages aside and revealing the mark. It had changed since the last time I looked at it, startling me at first, until he pulled on his over sized, stretched out collar, presenting his own identical one, "Kakashi sealed the them, but he told me to tell you..."He trailed off, seeming to be thinking on how exactly to explain."What is it now...?" I questioned suspiciously. Anything having to do with these marks was never good...He ran a hand through his spiky jet hair with unconscious frustration, "...During both our fights, the mark started to get out of control at one point...but each time it happened, it effectedbothus..."I tilted my head, and narrowed my eyes in confusion, "So...wait...are you telling me they're, like...connected or something...?"He sighed and looked out the window across the room, where his hospital bed lay abandoned, it was night out, "...Nothing's certain, but it would make sense...think about what happened when we got attacked..."A flash of memory. Me jumping in front of Orochimaru as he extended his head with some fucked up jutsu to get to Sasuke. I hadn't thought, I'd just reacted.I told him as much, "...I don't know why I did it...my body just sort of...moved..."He sat still, seeming to look at something beyond what was out the window now, "The same thing happened to me in a place calledNami no Kuni...There was this annoying guy with an even more annoying secret jutsu, and being thedobeis, he managed to get caught in it with me...I jumped in front of a barrage ofsenbonto save his neck...almost got myself killed for that idiot..."I grinned, "...That was noble of you, Uchiha."He sent me one of his trademark scowls, "Like I said, my body just moved on it's own...It's not like I actually..."He trailed off again as I gave him a knowing look and a smirk, "Yeah, I get it... You love the guy."His face went out of proportion and I had to laugh at the odd expression it created, "Not likethat, you moron! I've seen the two of you; you act just like brothers... It's kind of cute, actually."He glowered at me, "...I have a brother...and he's sure as hell not Naruto..."I looked away dubiously and rubbed the back of my neck in an earnest manner, "Yeah...I guess you're right at that...You'd be a hell of a lot luckier otherwise..."I looked up thoughtfully afterwords though, giving him a serious look, "I'm not sure Naruto's as realistic as you are about the subject, though...You might want to look into that...could cause problems down the road...but we were talking about something else weren't we?""You have the attention span of a gnat, Heiwa..." He shook his head exasperatedly."Don't call me that." I shot at him.He looked at me funny, "...Why?""It's a contradiction...My name is the complete opposite of what I really am (•½˜a:Heiwapeace)..." I said calmly, remembering my nightmares.He rolled his eyes, "You're already a walking contradiction in the first place...Would you rather me call youChigauˆá‚¤: Meaning todifferfrom the norm, beincorrect, and is also the root word forinsane\ in other words he's insulting her.) instead?"I narrowed my eyes at him, then smirked sardonically, "You know what? Go right ahead and do that. It'll be our little inside joke that makes everyone else feel awkward...but we were talking about something else weren't we?"He gave me a look, "How do you get so off topic?""Because you go along with it." I smiled sweetly.He shook his head dubiously, pushing himself up off the bed and sauntering over to a two door closet. He rummaged around in it for a few seconds before throwing me a pair of stretchy black shorts, some of those long ninja boots I had seen people wearing, a shirt like Anko's, and a huge sleeved, white kimono top with a folded up black sash."Kakashi got them." He told me before I could argue, "Those clothes you were wearing when you got here were pretty much ruined anyway...Get dressed, we're leaving before anyone can try to stop us..."I arched a thin eyebrow at him before swinging the curtains shut around my bed and complying. The attire was pretty standard and plain. Not what I would've chosen as aninja outfit, but I supposed that beggars couldn't really be choosers in a situation like this...The combat boots I had originally been so proud ofacquiringa few days ago had been fraying at the the soles during my match with Kabuto. I was afraid to see what they looked like now...where ever they were...At the same time, I felt a bit of regret...my clothes were some of the only things I had from my old life..."Can you help me with this?" I swung the curtains aside to reveal an impatient looking Sasuke."You expect me to know how to tie it? Aren't girls supposed to know this stuff?" He griped, motioning to the obi. (Anobia sash that women use to tie a kimono around them. It's a fairly complicated process to tie the bow, and nearly impossible to do yourself.)"I don't know!" I sighed, thrusting the two ends towards him in frustration, "Just make something up! Isn't a shinobi supposed to know how to improvise?""I hardly think something likethisas improvising..." He grumbled but pulled me forward with the sash, wrapping it around multiple times, muttering something under his breath that sounded like, 'ridiculous' and at least twice, 'stupid girls'."Ouch!" I yelped, as he pulled on the obi tautly in his irritation, "Sure you got it tight enough??""Quit complaining, it's annoying..." he told me grouchily, and if I didn't know better, I'd think he was purposely making it suffocating...He tied it carelessly in a simple double knot, leaving the excess length to hang loosely down my back. I looked at it distastefully over my shoulder, and was about to open my big mouth when he gave me a stony glare. I refrained from commenting, knowing I would never hear the end of it..."Grab your stuff, lets go." He ordered finitely, and I glared at him stubbornly but went to the closet and grabbed my olive green, threadbare, shoulder bag compliantly, if not a bit reluctantly."Wherearegoing?" I presented the question to him doubtfully, the loose ends of his artfully tied obi swinging behind me as I walked toward him exaggeratedly, crossing my arms."Where ever Kakashi is..." He told me.I raised my eyebrows at him, "So in other words...you have no idea..."His eye twitched, and he glared at me, which was pretty much an automatic confirmation. I sighed and walked past him, making my way to the window, "Well, let's crash at your place for the night at least, then go on a quest for Kakashi tomorrow, ok?""Who said you could stay with me?" He griped noncommittally, moving to help me with the window."Whoever decided to leave me stranded in this jacked up universe withyou." I answered rhetorical question irritably, hopping up on the sill.I then proceeded to say conversationally, holding out a helping hand, "I don't think I ever told you the specifics about how that actually happened, did I?"He eyed me wearily before excepting the hand up and then jumping out of the window together."Enlighten me." He told me, steadying me as we hit the ground."Well," I went on, "It all started when my best friend turned into a hooker, and I ran into this crazy taxi cab driver when I was trying to get away from her..."I went on to tell him how we had flown through what I now considered to be the space time continuum, and how the dread-locked, dimension hopping, cab driver had left me here to punish me for mouthing off and not paying the taxi fare..."...I can believe that last part," He said, as we walked down a dirt road lined by dilapidated wood fences, "but the rest of it sounds like you were on drugs or something when it happened...""Well gee, thanks," I told him sarcastically, "I didn't really expect you to believe me in the first place, but I'm glad you think so highly of me to think that I'm into that sort of thing..."He rolled his eyes at me, "Cool it already...you don't have a reason to lie, and the place you say you're from...where was it again?""New York City, United states of America." I supplied."Right...Never heard of it." He said again, "The way you speak of your home...it sounds like there could be a whole other world out there..."I sighed, "You sure are helpful. So you're saying you don't believe me, but you're also saying that you do?"He shrugged, "Something along those lines, I guess...""Ugh!" I pulled at my feathery hair, "You make no sense!"I heard a strange sound to the left of me and I stopped in mid step, looking around Sasuke for the source of the noise. Finding none, I looked at him skeptically, "Did you just laugh?"He favored me with a superior look, "What of it?"I snorted, "Nothing. I just don't really think I've ever heard youdobefore...""Don't be ridiculous, you just don't pay attention." He rolled his eyes at me."No really!" I insisted, "I don't think I've ever heard yougenuinelylike that! And the thing that actually did it was the act of driving me insane! You really are a sadist, you know that?""Thanks..." He grumbled sarcastically, shouldering open a big wrought iron gate.I looked around us at what seemed to be several houses clustered together in some sort of compound...Everywhere seemed to be abandoned, and a single repetitive symbol was plastered all over the place. You couldn't look anywhere without seeing the red and white uchiwa fan, especially since one was also sewed onto the back of Sasuke's shirt. A severe bit of unease came over me and I stuck close to his side nervously. He glanced at me momentarily, noticing the look on my face and not saying anything when our arms touched with my proximity.The shadows seemed to jut out oddly at every corner we turned, and my apprehension turned to fear as I saw a splatter of long dried blood down one of the ally walls. Sounds of past screams and agony seemed to echo around in my head, and the long forgotten shadows of parents trying desperately to shield their children from some beast weren't hard to imagine...I gripped Sasuke's wrist anxiously, halting our silent trek through the ruins abruptly."...What happened in this place, Sasuke...?" I whispered tremulously, "...This...I can almostfeelnegative energy seeping from the walls...There are ghosts here...""I told you before, remember..." He said without looking at me, "My brother slaughtered my entire family...my clan...they're all dead."I let his wrist fall from where I had held it as a safety net, and wrapped my arms around myself, slowly walking ahead of him. I had seen and done a lot of things on the streets that I wasn't proud of in the least. Homeless people lying dead in the allies, unnoticed by the daily passerby. A girl got raped in front of me once and I couldn't do a thing about it because I wasn't strong enough. This was different. There was a feeling of inherentwrongness.feeling of dread resided in this place, causing me to see nightmares before my very eyes.I turned back around to see the soul inhabitant of this place staring at me, observing my reaction closely. I rushed back to my safety net as quickly as I dared, and gripped his wrist tightly. I murmured truthfully, "I'm scared. Can we go now?"After a moment's hesitation, he nodded, "Yeah..."Sasuke's house was probably one of the biggest and nicest in the compound. The foundations were paved out front with several large, flat stones leading to the entryway which was lined by what I imagined was once prim cut greenery and a slate roof over the door. Everything was now overgrown, and weeds grew between the stones on the ground."My father was the head of the clan..." He explained briefly as I stood staring up at the huge estate in apprehension. I didn't even make a snarky comment on that one, even though the opening was present. It wouldn't have been tasteful at the moment...Immediately after walking through the front door was a courtyard, split by a stone walkway to the main house. It seemed that it used to be a decorative place, but after the flowers died with no one to tend them, Sasuke must've transformed it into a training area...There was a long wood paneled veranda with a waist high railing before a series of rice paper sliding doors. Sasuke left his shoes on it, so I mimicked him, remembering my mother telling me something about Japanese etiquette. It was kind of hilarious when you looked into the logistics of it, but wearing shoes inside was just something youdidn'tif you wanted to keep your host happy. There were also special shoes to wear in the bathroom, and if you wore them anywhere else...yeah, just don't. The Japanese idealism of it was basically,'those shoes live where the poop lives', so to them, you'd basically be walking around with shit on you.I'd need to take a note of that. Even though I was half Japanese, I was born and raised in the USA. This place was a huge culture crash for me...but hey, at least I was informed...There was a cabinet in the foyer with a dead potted plant and multiple framed pictures arranged on it that sparked a morbid curiosity in me, causing me to gravitate toward it as Sasuke threw his bag in a closet.I picked up a cracked picture in the center, depicting from left to right, a tall dark haired man with a severe look on his face, next, an adorable looking boy held close by his mother. I knew the boy was Sasuke immediately, although in the picture, his face was round with childishness and featured a winning smile. I'd never witnessed it before in the short time I'd known him, and it was amazing the amount of contrast between the boy in the picture and the one who stood beside me."What are you doing?" He asked without emotion, and I jumped as I realized the proximity between us for the first time and put the picture back abruptly"...Sorry...I..." I tried to make up apologies, but ended up with, "...You look just like your mom..."He picked up the picture in turn, staring down at it with an indecipherable mask, saying nothing."That one on the end..." I continued awkwardly, meaning the last person in the picture, an older boy, with a gentle, peaceful looking face, "...Is that\""Uchiha Itachi." Sasuke interrupted sharply, dropping the picture distastefully back on the table with a bang, "My aniki, the prodigy. This was taken about three months before it happened."I looked at the gentle figure in the picture with wide eyes. The boy looked to be hardly thirteen at the time. It was hard to imagine that the one displayed in the portrait could be capable of such a horrible thing. Perturbed, I reached out and flipped the picture face down."My parents were scientists." I changed the subject abruptly, stiffly turning my back on a table full of family memories, "They traveled all over the world, so they were always coming and going and bringing back odd things...""The world is huge." I went on, and he listened intently, eager to think about something else, even if that something was my delusions about another universe "Like, seriously huge. We needed large units of transportation. We had machines that transported families across land at a hundreds of miles per hour, and flying machines, called airplanes that could ship hundreds of people across an entire ocean in a matter of hours...""But sometimes that created a problem..." I continued distantly, "When you're in the air, sometimes plains got hijacked and no one can do anything about it because no one can reach you up there if you cut the communications...Hijackers crashed the plain my parents were on into the two tallest buildings in our nation and started a war...thousands of people died, including my parents...and I watched it happen."I could see the billowing smoke towers and fire of the collapsing buildings from behind my eyes and even felt the familiar reflection of flickering flames in my eyes, "The war's been going on for ten years already...but the country's pretty apathetic, because it's kind of hard to care about a war that's taking place an ocean away...even harder to care about it if it didn't effect you...""My country consists of fifty states, and covers a huge expanse of land...some people didn't even hear about the towers collapsing until a day after it actually happened..." I finished morosely, "Too much goes on in that place for anyone to keep track of...but they try anyway and that just makes it worse...Me and Nika were just collateral damage...""...Good thing you're here, then," He told me, "and not there."I clenched my fist, "But I need to find the son ovva bitch who dropped me here in the middle of the exams and get Nika back. I don't care what it takes, I'm getting her out of there, even if it costs me my life.""You really care that much, huh?" He murmured darkly."Isn't it always that way between siblings?" I looked at him strangely, "Even you and your brother...I can tell. You'd do anything to find him. To bring him down. It's always the same intense feeling of devotion...even if it's felt in different ways..."I looked back towards the face down picture that contained the image of Uchiha Itachi, frozen forever in innocence, "I bet even he feels that way...even if it's sick and twisted and insane like he is...the two of you will always be connected...just like me and Nika...even if you don't want it like that..."He gritted his teeth and clenched his fist, "What does a stupid girl like you know about it...?"I brushed off his insult, knowing the pain and turmoil my comments probably stirred up within him, and smiled down modestly at my laced fingers, "...Just a few things..."I looked up then, cheerfully, "Are you hungry?""What?" He looked at me funny."I can cook." I smiled, "Food's a lot different from where I come from. You'll like it."Dumbfounded, He pointed me toward what must've been a spacious kitchen at one point. I could tell some areas of it hadn't been touched in years. I also saw what looked like a trail in the dust, which Sasuke must use to get to the areas hedidHe wandered in after me, seeming out of place in his own house and sat down at the table, peering at me from over his entwined fingers he leaned on. I spotted a dusty apron hanging on the side of the refrigerator and removed it gingerly. With a jolt, I realized it was the one his mother wore in the family portrait."Sorry, but...could I borrow this for a couple minutes?" I asked Sasuke apologetically to which he nodded slowly.I walked brusquely over to the cabinets after tying the apron it around my waist quickly, "Let's see what you've got in there..."I screamed as soon as I opened the first door and slammed it shut immediately taking several steps back. Sasuke was half way out of his seat and asked quickly, "What is it?"Appalled, I pointed a shaky finger at the offending cabinet, "There's like, a whole nest of spiderslivingthere!""...so?" He sat back down, "That's not so bad...The way you reacted, there could've been a severed head in there..."I looked at him like he was crazy, "It'sjust as bad!if you're so confident,youthe flour!"He walked promptly over to the cabinet, reached in and dragged out a busted bag of white dust and plopped it down in front of me, eyebrows raised and I blinked at him in surprise. Eventually I frowned defiantly and grabbed the old bag of flour to place it on the counter, grumbling, "You're not so special..."I heard snickering over at the table, but when I shot a glare over my shoulder I found him mearly fingering a long dead flower in a vase. Most of the food at Sasuke's house was long past it's prime, however, he seemed to have an abundance of tomatoes for some reason. Good thing too, because I was making pizza. I had been agonizing over it the entire time I had been at the tower eating the drab rations they provided. Japanese food got old after a while, especially if it was crappy.The cheese hidden in the back of the refrigerator had multiple blue spots on it, but those were easily taken care of. Besides, cheese was essentially mold to begin with. Also, the oven needed a few good kicks to get it to finally start, but start it did...eventually. By the time I was finished, I was so aggravated with Sasuke's kitchen I just wanted to go to bed. It didn't help that Sasuke's reaction at my beautiful creation was less than satisfactory."What is that?" He questioned, tilting his head to see if it would look any more appetizing at a different angle."Just eat it." I glared at him."...how?" he wondered.I sighed and detached a piece happily, "Watch and learn."I demonstrated exaggeratedly like a flight attendant how to fold it New York style and eat it like a sandwich, but of course, they didn't have sandwiches here either...Sasuke stared at it suspiciously for a moment, removed the cheese, and then copied me. I stared at him skeptically and snatched it off his plate stacking it upon my own slice with a 'more for me' attitude. In the weeks that followed, it became a routine for us to have pizza night together in this manner. Amazingly, Sasuke actually became a closet pizza fan. I made no comment.The next morning, I found myself alone in Sasuke's creepy house. A note was attached to my forehead and I ripped it off irritably.\Aneka,You wouldn't wake up even when I poured water on you\I felt around the futon I had slept on frantically, letting out a shout of indignation when I found it damp.\so I left to go train. See you later.Sasuke\I balled the note up angrily and threw it across the spare bedroom Sasuke let me stay in. Going through my morning routine, Iaccidentallyhis toothbrush in the toilet..."Stupid Uchiha..." I grumbled murderously under my breath as I walked through the abandoned compound. It was ten times less scary in the day time, so I was glad about that.I was two steps out the gate when I realized I had no idea what I was going to do. With said Uchiha gone, I had no clue where to begin searching for our spiky haired sensei."Ane-chan?" came a surprised voice from behind me and I jumped at the nickname my sister called me.I grinned broadly when I saw my shockingly colorful friend Naruto, "Naruto! It's you! Thank god! You always show up at the opportune moment.""What are you doing out of the hospital, dattebayo??" He glomped me with a hug."Oh, that?" I held him back by the shoulders after returning the squeeze happily, "Me and Sasuke escaped during the night, but he left me here to go look for Kakashi-sensei! Now I have no idea where to start!"At that moment a guy with round dark glasses that seemed to be falling off his face constantly panted up to lean on his knees beside Naruto, "You know, Naruto \pant pant\ you can't just run off whenever you see someone you know in the street!""Who are you?" I murmured suspiciously."Oh, that's closet pervert Ebisu-sensei..." Naruto said for him dismissively, "He's supposed to be teaching me in place of Kakashi-sensei...""Oi! I thought I told you not to call me that!" Ebisu shouted at him angrily.I burst out laughing, "Is it true?""Hell yeah, it's true, dattebayo!" Naruto insisted, "Watch!"Not two seconds later, Naruto somehow turned into a naked girl. That would've been enough to double me over with laughter in itself, but what really knocked me down was Ebisu's reaction. He was thrown back by a splattering nose bleed and seemed to be unable to move.I fell over onto my backside howling with laughter with Naruto who was now miraculously back to normal. I was so surprised and I laughed so hard, I almost couldn't breathe."How the hell did you come up with something like that??" I gasped after I had calmed down slightly.He rubbed the back of his head modestly, "Creativity, I guess.""You're a menace!!" Ebisu, now revived, clobbered Naruto violently.I started laughing again as they bickered with each other bitterly."Hey, Hey," Naruto pushed Ebisu's face away from him exaggeratedly, "Ane-chan, come train with me! You don't have to go on a wild goose chase looking for that teme Sasuke, dattebayo!"I blinked, surprised at first, then grinned, "That sounds like a great idea! That is...if it's ok with closet pervert-sensei.""Cut it out!!" the flustered sensei grated out in frustration.Eventually, Naruto managed to convince Ebisu on the account that Kakashi-sensei would owe him one if he took me on as well. We ended up at a bath house somehow..."Whoa...!!" Naruto gasped as he caught a glimpse of the womens' bathing area. I bopped him on the head rolling my eyes at his stupidity."No, no, Naruto-kun! I don't allow any shameless acts on my watch!" Ebisu shouted at him hypocritically in my opinion."Shut up, you're the closet pervert..." Naruto grumbled, rubbing the bump on his head."Why'd we come to this place any way?" He asked obnoxiously, "Are we going to take a bath or something?""No," Ebisu pushed his glasses up with his middle finger in a manner to which somebody who didn't know better might be insulted, "We'll be training here at the hot springs.""We're going to train here?" Naruto asked, confused, "What are we gunna to do?"Ebisu laughed, "Walk atop the hot spring water!""Eh?" I uttered, taken aback, not sure I heard him right."It's a variation of the tree climbing kakashi-sensei told me he taught you." Ebisu explained to Naruto, who looked as confused as I felt."Oh no," I cursed, "Please no, notthatEbisu eyed me from over his glasses, "You trained briefly under Anko-sensei, is that right?"I nodded hollowly in confirmation, and Ebisu bowed his head humbly, "...My condolences to you. And congratulations on not being dead.""Yeah...thanks..." I remarked sarcastically."I assure you, my methods are much less severe." He told me with a nod."I can take anything you throw at me." I crossed my arms defiantly, "So bring it on.""That's the spirit!" He cheered cordially."Anyway, what do you mean by 'variation' of tree climbing, dattebayo??" Naruto, "I don't remember things that far back anyway.""What'd you have for breakfast this morning?" I asked him suddenly."Oh, that's an easy one! Umm..um..umm.." He thought hard, "Oh yeah! Cup ramen and a glass of milk!""There, see? His motivation is food." I explained to Ebisu bluntly."Good to know..." He replied sarcastically, then, "In tree climbing, you only have to continually create the same amount of necessary chakra and gather it to the necessary place. But with water walking, you need to match the amount of chakra to your body weight in order to make yourself float on the surface..."I blinked, "Oh, so chakra somehow alters your buoyancy in water walking like it alters your gravity with the tree climbing?""Exactly. Let's go with that." Ebisu smiled at me approvingly."Hmmm..." Naruto hummed thoughtfully, "I don't get it!""Well," Ebisu regarded him carefully, "in your case, it's probably better to show you how to do it."He gave Naruto a set of instructions and then walked out onto the water effortlessly. I had seen a lot of incredible things during my stay in this odd place, but this, by far, took the cake.Naruto and I both made sounds and expressions of amazement."Alright! I'm going to try it too!" Naruto exclaimed, repeating Ebisu's instructions to himself repetitively. As soon as he stepped out onto the water, he fell straight in."Pfft!" I fell over laughing again as Naruto surfaced in agony, red as a lobster from the spring water."I forgot to tell you, the water is sixty degrees, so if you continue to fail, you'll end up a boiled egg." Ebisu told him.I watched for a bit as Naruto rushed into the water over and over again, failing each time. I was a little bit more tentative as I began, holding onto the railing of a bridge, testing the water with my left foot, and applying different levels of chakra as I began to put my weight on it. eventually I got it right, and channeled the same amount of chakra to my right foot, stepping all the way out onto the water."You've got it!" Ebisu cheered, delighted, "Now all you need to do is let go of the bridge.""Ohhhh no." I laughed nervously, "I have a bit of an aversion to water. There's no way I'm getting wet\"I was interrupted by Naruto tackling me into the water with a roar, and I screamed like a little girl when I broke the surface, clinging to him like a baby, "God dammit, Naruto! I hate the water!! Get me out of here!"He laughed loudly, and tried the water walking technique to float us up to the surface holding onto my flailing arms, and it was working at first, until he spotted a certain perverted old man peeping into the womens' bathing area."Gyah!" He pointed exaggeratedly, loosing his concentration and dragging both of us down again."I don't know who you are..." Ebisu tried to act cool, sliding his dorky sunglasses up again, "But I will not forgive such shameless behavior!!"He lunged at the giggling guy who looked over his shoulder, with a confused, "Huh?"Without warning, a giant frog appeared out of no where, literally, and shot its tongue out to clobber Ebisu. Naruto and I both stared at the seen with expressions of both horror and fascination."Man...Keep it quiet, will you? What happens if I get caught?" The old guy, who didn't actually look that old, told the unconscious Ebisu from atop his froggy friend.Naruto hopped out of the water dragging the miserable me along with him and ran over to Ebisu, poking him in the head to check for responsiveness. None was received."Dammit, I knew this guy was a weakling..." Naruto growled under his breath. I stood, regarding the grinning idiot on the frog crossly."What's with the huge frog??" Naruto stood as well, pointing a finger accusingly at the guy, "Who the the hell are you, anyway??"The man struck an exaggerated pose from atop the posing frog, his big, fluffy, white ponytail swinging around wildly behind him, "Sooooo glad you asked! I'm Mt. Myobokugama's holy master sennin! Also known as the toad sennin! Remember it!"(ål:Senninan otherworldly wise man)"Se-sennin?" Naruto repeated, giving him a bizarre look."..I don't care who you are, you just knocked out the only guy willing to teach us crap..." I griped, crossing my arms.The toad sennin, or who ever he was, hopped down off the frog, who disappeared in a cloud of smoke, "Well, he got in the way of my work."I blinked, "You call peeping into the womens' bathwork...?""I'm a writer, working on a novel." He pulled out a book from his olive green kimono top, "This!""Ehhh??" Naruto pointed, obviously recognizing it, "That thing Kakashi-sensei reads all the time???""Oh? you know about it?" The guy asked enthusiastically."Yeah, I know about it! That nasty book!!" Naruto shouted accusingly, his face going out of proportion.I went think I went blue, and my own eyes widened exponentially as I questioned faintly, "Kakashi-sensei reads porn...??"The toad guy made a stony face and stuck the book back into his shirt."Anyway, what the hell do you mean by work??!" Naruto shouted crazily at him, "All you were doing was looking at naked chicks, you pervert! If you were my age, it might be just a prank, but an old man doing that is totally a crime, dattebayo!!""Isnot!!" The old guy protested, "And I'm not a pervert! Peeping gives me inspiration to write better!""Pfft, please..." I rolled my eyes, "That's honestly the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard.""Yeah, you liar!" Naruto flipped him off abrasively, "What a lame excuse! And what the hell are you going to do about our training now, huh??""Training?" He questioned, "You mean that water walking thing?""You know about it??" Naruto pointed accusingly at him again and the toad sage looked alarmed this time at the boy's seriousness, "Then take responsibility and help us!!""No way! I hate disrespectful and rude brats like you! Besides, hanging around other men annoys me!" The guy shouted violently.I could feel a vein pulsing in my forehead and I stomped up to him with my hands on my hips, "ExcuseYou wanna die old man?!?""Andyou!" He pointed at me dramatically, "Don't even get me started onyou!kind of guy likes a yankee girl??"(ƒ„ƒ“ƒL[:Yankeeto refer to a type of delinquent youth)I scowled at him furiously, and countered with, "Yeah?? And what kind of girl likes a perverted old man, huh??""Geez what a couple of annoying brats!" The pervert made a face at us and started to walk away when Naruto flipped out his Ninja centerfold move. Instead of laughing like last time though, I just rolled my eyes and walked over to Ebisu, trying to revive him unsuccessfully."I LIKE YOU!!" the pervert gave Naruto's appearance two thumbs up."Just my type of girl!! What is this jutsu??" He demanded hopping all around 'Naruko' taking in every view he could."This is so wrong!" I whined loudly, and shook our unconscious sensei urgently, his head lolling back and forth, "Ebisu-sensei, okite!! (Wake up!)""Oh...I call itSexy no jutsu, demo...(but...)" 'Naruko' rubbed the back of 'her' pony tailed head exasperatedly."So much creativity! You're a genius!!" the pervert gushed, still drooling over the image Naruto had taken."Then...You'll help us with training...?" 'Naruko' simpered in a sexy girl voice. By this point, I was so creeped out, I had to cover my eyes with both hands, just to get the image out of my sight."YES!" The toad guy shouted, making me peek between my fingers in surprise, "But there's a condition.""...Condition?...Nani?" The Naruto monstrosity uttered, biting down on 'her' thumbnail sexily.The perv swung around tapping his fingers together nervously, a trail of blood running from his nose, then looked over his shoulder with a blushing, perverted face, "...In my presence you must always look like that..."My eyes went wide, and that's when my protective motherly instincts kicked in, "That's it!we're leaving! It's just not worth it!""No wait! Bring her back! That was just a joke! I'll look over your training!" The giant perv chased after us as I dragged Naruto with me."Alright!" Naruto was then the one draggingmeand I groaned in protest.He dragged me back out onto the water and I had to rush to pull my chakra out, and help him so he didn't sink, "Naruto! Think about what you're doing for a second!!"I looked back over my shoulder at the toad guy, whose face had completely transformed into something serious as he watched us both carefully. I gave him a questioning look with suspiciously narrowed eyes and let go of Naruto, causing him to fall into the water anyway."Awww crap!" he cursed as he climbed back out and stripped down to his trunks, "I don't even need these clothes, dammit!"I watched from the water with crossed arms and Naruto pointed at me accusingly, "How come you've already got it so easily??""That's because she's gotextremelychakra..." The toad guy told us seriously, "How it got so potent, I'm not sure...but at a guess, I'd say ten percent of her chakra would count for at least fifty percent of a normal person's...""Huh?" I blinked, "Say what...?""If I heard correctly, I think that guy said you trained under Anko, Orochimaru's old kid, yeah?" The old guy waited for my confirmation and I nodded.I narrowed my eyes then, "What do you know about Orochimaru...?""Enough not to get involved with him..." The old guy narrowed his own eyes as well, as if recalling painful memories."Well you're too late on that count." I pulled up the bandages on my left arm, revealing the sealed curse mark, "We had a run in with him during the exams...As for me, I'm going to give him a real taste hell the next time he decides to show his ugly face...""Yeah! I hate that creep!" Naruto crowed angrily.The toad sage smiled wryly, "I think I'm starting to like you kids..."After stabilizing a strange seal on Naruto's stomach in order to get his chakra under control and taking a look at the curse mark on my arm, he grudgingly admitted there was nothing he could do for me. I sighed, "Yeah, I've already tried pretty much every thing short of chopping off my arm...even scratching the skin off doesn't work...It just grows right back...""Things like that go deeper than the skin, I'm afraid..." The sannin shook his head.He looked over at Naruto then, who was now skipping on the water like a pro, "Alright, kid, get over here! I'm going to teach you two a special technique!""Oh!" Naruto jumped up on the bank excitedly, "What? What?""First, there's something the two of you need to understand..." He pointed at Naruto, "Youtwo types of chakra," then he pointed at me, "andyourslike a bomb.""Eh?" I uttered, "What's that mean?""It means," He continued, "that you need to learn how to tap into the explosive part of your chakra, in order to perform this jutsu. It shouldn't be too hard for you to figure out...""But you're a different story all together..." He pointed to Naruto, "Have you ever felt aspecialbefore?""Hmmmm," Naruto hummed, thinking carefully, "Now that you mention it, there was a time when my chakra appeared and I suddenly got really strong...I don't remember it very well..."I blinked, remembering the time when I blacked out during the exams and woke up to the information that I had gone berserk on the snake freak."Yeah, the same thing happened to me too actually..." I proceeded to tell him exactly what had happened, and he gave me an odd look."It's not the same." He told me immediately, "I've heard of some people like that, a certain clan...It's a type of bloodline limit, a kekki genkai...but instead of helping a shinobi's jutsu, like most kekki genkai, this one is more of a dangerous liability...""What...? What do you mean?" I asked worriedly.(–{Ž¿:HonshitsuMeaning true nature, temperment, essence.)"It's called the Honshitsu...and it's uncontrollable..." He said firmly, "It's only brought to the surface when the user is in extreme distress...Like a defense mechanism. It's extremely risky, and you may be more likely to attack your comrades than your enemy, so listen to me when I tell you, don't ever try to induce it...do you understand?"I stared at him, wide eyed, and nodded quickly."It's strange though...The Heiwa clan was eradicated from this world before the formation of the village..." The old man looked at me searchingly and seemed to be talking to himself, more so than me, "So how can you havethatI looked at Naruto, then back at the old sennin apprehensively, "...My name is Heiwa Aneka..."
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