(for those of you who had already read most of what i have) i am restarting this fan fiction, from chapter one. i hope you enjoy. if you dont like fan fiction stories, then go away. enjoy!!
Chapter One: The new beginning
Her heart pounded non stop in her ears as she ran, and her fear felt like and ever growing pit at the bottom of her stomach. Her breath came out in ragged gasps as her feet pounded at the dry ground beneath her. Suddenly a kunai came out of nowhere and flew right at her, aimed right for her heart. She screamed and spun out of the way. It stuck harmlessly in the trunk of the tree that was behind her with a dull THUNK! Unfortunately, when she spun to get out of the way, she had tripped over her feet and crashed painfully to the ground. She lay there for a second, dazed and then yelped as three shuriken flew out of nowhere and landed near her head. She scrambled to her feet and started to run again. As she ran, she realized that HE was leading her back towards the village, where she would have less places to hide and less places to run. She had no choice. He had boxed her in. It would have to be there. She had to stop running SOMEDAY. She had to make a stand. As she drew nearer to the village, she started to see the charred places that the fire had left. She knew she had to be getting close. She could feel the heat from the fires. She could faintly feel the vibrations in the ground. HE was close at her heels. She saw a wall of fire ahead, threatening her with its flames.
It’s now or never… she thought, and she braced her legs, and jumped through the flames. She had thrown her arms up over her face when she jumped, singeing them and her legs. She crashed to the ground painfully, landing on her burned limbs. She moaned in pain and rolled to her feet. Her eye’s blurred with tears momentarily as she took in the charred remains of her village. Everything and everyone in it… gone… nothing remained… her mother… her father… even her cat. All gone. She was completely and utterly alone. The fires still burned, with the scent of death was heavy in the air. She stumbled forward, passing the places she used to know until she stopped at her house. She ran inside, knowing that she didn’t have much time, and threw open her parents door. She grabbed the only weapons that remained: five kunai and her mother’s shuriken holster.
I’m sorry mother… she thought, but I need these…
She strapped them on and hunkered down behind a pile of rubble with the heat of the flames against her back, waiting. She didn’t have to wait long. The ground began to shake, and the sound of heavy foot steps drowned out the sounds of the roaring flames. She dared to peak over her shield and saw HIM. He sat astride a huge beast of legend, and she could see him searching the area around him. As he did so, the beast threw back its proud black head and roared, scorching the sky with a massive tongue of flame from deep within its belly. Even the proud earth seemed to tremble at the sound of its cry as it echoed through out the valley. She snatched her head back under her shield and covered her ears. Suddenly, her shield exploded, and fire and remains from her shield rained down on her. Her head snapped up, her blue eyes meeting HIS brown eyes, and her fear seemed to get the best of her for the moment as she scrambled quickly to her feet and tried to run again. However, the beast that he sat on vaulted its sleek body into the air, landing in front of her with a thud that shook the ground, and made her lose her footing. She gazed at him in fear as he slowly drew out a kunai knife.
“I’m sorry it has to be this way, little sister, but I can’t let anyone remain alive,” he said in a pained voice, “There has been too much pain here, to much pride. It’s sinful to live this way…”
“Is that why you killed Momma, Daddy, and Takito? Is that why you let even your best friend die? Or little Morya? Is that why you did it??” she cried out, her little voice a weak challenge, “or is it what that man said to you when he gave you that mark on your neck? TELL ME!!!”
He looked at her with pity in his eyes, making her anger start to boil in her chest and push away her fear.
“I wouldn’t expect you to understand, sister, since you are too small to grasp the concept of the true meaning of good and evil. Our town was evil in the way that it was prideful. It had to be stopped.”
He looked at her again, raising the kunai over his head.
“Before you die, I just wanted you to know that I loved you very much before all this happened. Good bye, Sazaki.”
He threw it at her at such speed that she couldn’t dodge it. She couldn’t get out of the way.
“No… no…. Takashi, NO!! TAKASHI!!!”
Twelve—year—old Sazaki Otushima’s eyes snapped open as she screamed. She scrambled out of bed, tripping on the sheets as she tried to run. She scrambled to her knees and pressed herself against the bed, holding her head in her hands, her mind still in the dream. Slowly, her breathing retuned to normal, and her heartbeat began to slow.
It’s okay…. She thought to herself…. J—just a dream… just a bad dream…
She slowly pushed herself to her feet, finding her pajamas damp with cold sweat, and sat on the bed. She closed her eyes, forcing herself to think about the dream. It already began to slip from her mind, like trying to keep a handful of water in her hands. She swore softly and opened her eyes. The sky outside was still dark, and everything was covered in a sleepy silence except for the occasional scuttle of a person going to work.
It looks like it’s still dark… she thought… I wonder what time it is…
Her eyes wandered over to her alarm clock on the bedside table. It read 3:00 am. She groaned inwardly, lifting her head up and pushing a strand of her long, dark hair out of her face at the same time.
“Aaahhhh…” Sazaki growled. And I’m pretty sure I won’t be able to get anymore sleep after THAT… might as well get some training in before I go to the academy…
She got up and stumbled around, trying to find her stuff. She found her fishnet shirt and her ninja armor thrown on her dresser, and her violet tank top hanging up in her closet, along with her yellow-green shirt. She fished a pair of white shorts from a drawer in her dresser, and found her shuriken holster on her kitchen table.
It’s a good thing I don’t have any parents or siblings… with all the noise I’m making at three in the morning, ANYBODY would have strangled me by now for waking them up… she thought.
She opened the door to her hall closet, trying to find her hip bag, when everything came crashing painfully down on top of her very loudly.
“OOOOWWWW!!!” she yelled, swearing angrily.
Point proven. she thought, rubbing her head ruefully.
Sazaki rooted around the pile until she finally found her hip bag, pulling it up with some difficulty due to the fact that it was tangled with a lot of other stuff.
“Garr….” She growled in frustration, working the knots loose with her fingers.
She got up, finally getting it lose, to get dressed. She struggled out of her pajamas, putting on the armor, then the fishnet mesh shirt, then her violet tank top. After that, she put on the yellow green shirt that Iruka-sensi had given her for her birthday a few days earlier. The neck of it settled down just a little bit below her shoulders, showing the tops of them and the violet straps to her under shirt. Then she struggled into her shorts and strapped on the shuriken holster, then laced her belt and clipped her hip bag to it.
I feel like I’m missing something… she thought, looking around.
Let’s see… I need my shoes, and they’re by the door…ummm… OH!! Right! I almost forgot to put my hair up.
She grabbed a hair thing off her dresser and tied her hair back. Normally, her hair would fall down to around the middle of her back, and that would be okay, for formal wear. She liked putting it up out of her way, especially when she was training. She looked at the clock again. It read 3:40.
Let’s see… school starts around six, that’ll give me at least three hours or so to train.
She grabbed a piece of toast, and then ran out the door, grabbing her shoes on the way out.
I’ll put them on at the training fields. Sazaki thought, still running.
It was still dark out, and only a few people were up, like the smith. She waved at him as she passed. He glanced up and raised a hand in greeting before returning to his work. As she neared the training fields, the roads started to get rocky, biting into her feet as she ran. She winced as she chewed her breakfast.
She thought, Now would be a good time to put them on.
She hopped as she tried to put on her shoes, still trying to get to the fields before people really started to wake up. Normally, she would train about an hour before heading to the academy, and she liked it better when no one was really around.
Just as Sazaki got the other shoe on, she tripped over a sizeable rock in the middle of the road. She tumbled head over heals, coming to a dizzying stop smack dab in the middle of the fields on her back.
“Uuuggghh…..” she moaned.
Her vision swirled in front of her eyes, making her even dizzier than before, and she shut her eyes again. She tried to sit up, but fell back again.
Great. Just great. Grrrr…. Now I gotta wait for my dizzy spell to break.
As she lay on the ground, she heard a laugh.
“What’s wrong with you, Otushima? Did you hit your head or something?”
She opened her eyes. After they adjusted, she saw a raven haired boy, whose hair stood up funny in the back, standing over her with a small grin on his face.
“Sasuke!!”
He offered her a hand and pulled her up.
“Aaahhh… I tripped over something when I was coming over the hill.” she muttered, feeling a slight flush in her cheeks.
He laughed again.
“That sounds just like you, Otushima.”
“Oh, come on, Sasuke. We’ve known each other for nine years at the least. You should know by now to call me by my first name.”
“Fine. What are you doing out here, Sazaki?”
They started to walk to the posts off to the side of the fields.
“Training.”
He glanced at her in surprise.
“This early in the morning?”
She rolled her eyes in exasperation.
“Didn’t really have a choice this morning, “she said with a rueful laugh, “I woke up earlier than I expected to and couldn’t get back to sleep. Thought I’d at least get some extra training in before school.”
He nodded at that.
“I know how that feels. I’m not usually up at this hour either. Normally I wake up at four thirty or so.”
A silence settled between them, until Sazaki said,
“Hey, aren’t the graduation tests tomorrow? Or is that the next day?”
“No, it’s tomorrow.”
Another awkward silence stretched out.
“Uhh….,” Sasuke said slowly, breaking the silence, “… since we’re both here, do…do you want to train together?”
Sazaki glanced at him and said, “Uh, sure! What did you have in mind?”
He raised an eye brow.
“Well… Now that you mention it….”
Well… Sazaki thought, he’s more creative than he lets on, I’ll give him that.
He had had blindfolded her, not telling her what they were doing, and ran off in to the trees. She was starting to get nervous as she heard rustling coming from a bush near by. She started to turn to it when a twig snapped very close to her on her right, along with a soft, soft curse. She immediately struck out in that direction with her fist, only to feel her blow being blocked. She quickly followed it up with kenshikai karate strike, and put as much force as she could into it. She was rewarded with a grunt of surprise. She heard the air whistle almost as she felt Sasuke attack from behind. Sazaki understood now what he was trying to do, and rolled out of the way, but not fast enough. The blow grazed her shoulder as she rolled to the defensive. He hammered blows on her from every direction, and some of them managed to break through her defenses. Then she jumped away from him and flipped over his head. When she landed, she felt vibrations run throughout her feet and around her. She stopped a moment, confused, until she realized that a almost picture—like image was coming into her mind’s eye of Sasuke running at her, raising his fist in a stance for a right hook. She pivoted to the side just as his fist came down, countering with kick to the back of his knees. He fell to the ground, his knees collapsing on impact. She stepped back and took off her blindfold, a bead of sweat trickling down her face as she waited for him to get up. When he did, he looked at her suspiciously, slightly gasping for breath.
“How—how did you do that?”
She sat down, breathing faster than normal.
“I…” she said with a grin after regaining her breath, “I have no idea. But whatever that was that I just did, it was cool.”
Sasuke rolled his eyes.
“Typical,” he sighed, “that’s just like you, Sazaki.”
“Yeah, yeah,” she said, “What ever. Hey what time is it?”
“Uh…”
He looked around.
“I have no idea. I didn’t bring a watch.”
Suddenly, voices cut through the air.
“What is he doing?”
“YOU LITTLE BRAT!!”
“You’ll never get away with this!”
“Wait till the Third finds him.”
Both Sazaki and Sasuke glanced at each other.
“How much you wanna bet that class already started?” Sasuke asked.
“How much do YOU wanna bet that that’s Naruto they’re talking about?” Sazaki countered.
“NARUTO!! WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU’RE DOING?? GET BACK TO CLASS!!”
He glanced back at her.
“Uh huh.”
She glanced back at him and said, “We might want to get to class. Chances are that Iruka will be in a bad mood when he gets back with Naruto. And I’m in enough trouble as it is. I can’t be getting into anymore trouble.”
“What did you do?”
“I uh…. I kinda dropped a huge bucket of ice water on his head the other morning to wake him up…” she said, blushing.
He smiled that small smile that rarely came to his face.
“Uh, yeah,” he said.
Sazaki started to slide toward the direction of the academy building.
“So…. RACE YA!!” she yelled, breaking into a flat run.
“Hey! I had no heads up!!” he called to her as he raced after her, “That’s not fair!!”
I haven’t felt this way since…. Well… since THAT happened. Sasuke thought after they had got to class.
He glanced at Sazaki to find her eyes on him. She smiled a small smile and winked, then walked to the back to where Naruto normally sat and took her seat. He sighed and shook his head, proceeding to the front and sat down. He interlaced his fingers in front of his face with his elbows on the desk, resting his chin on them.
It’s hard to believe that someone like Sazaki would be able to actually BEAT me…
He allowed himself a small smile, thinking, I guess I shouldn’t judge her by what I see her do… after all; she is someone who looks like she’s full of surprises…
What he didn’t know was that when he smiled, he accidentally smiled in the direction of two girls, one blonde haired, and one pink haired. In an instant, the blonde attached herself to his neck.
“Oh, Sasuke—Kun, you flirt I knew you liked me!! You just smiled at me, you sly dog you!!”
Oh great… not again…
The pink haired one pushed the blonde off of him, grabbing his right arm, getting right in the blonde’s face.
“GET OFF OF HIM, INO PIG!!! He smiled at ME, not your fat self!! UGLY!!”
Ino grabbed Sasuke’s left arm, and tugged him away from the pink haired girl, yelling, “YOU GET OFF HIM SAKURA!! BUILDBOARD BROW!! HE SMILED AT ME!!”
They started playing a furious game of tug—a—war, with him as the rope.
“Get OFF of me, you idiots!!” he growled, trying to struggle loose.
Ino pulled him closer, her grip like unbreakable iron.
“Oooohhh, playing hard to get, huh? You’re making it very interesting, Sasuke—Kun, you player you. LET GO, BUILDBOARD BROW!!”
These last words were directed at Sakura.
“NO!!” she shouted back, “YOU LET GO!!”
They pulled more ferociously than before, making his arms hurt like crazy. He was being pulled around like some defenseless rag doll, and it was starting to get old… and very painful.
You need help?
He nearly jumped out of his skin, which was hard due to the fact that he had two crazed fan girls pulling on his arms, when he felt a slight pressure brush his consciousness.
“Whaa—?!”
Not out loud, you idiot! Say it in your head and I’ll hear you. Good lord…Kinda slow on the uptake, aren’t you?
His eyes went wide when the voice sounded in his head again.
What the… am I imagining this?
OH COME ON!!! The voice shouted in annoyance, making him wince, Are all boy’s really this stupid?
Who the HECK are you??
The voice sighed.
That sounds JUST like you, Uchiha…
Once again, his eyes widened.
Sazaki???
Who else, you dunce? Do you need help or not??
That would be very much appreciated, but how…?
Sazaki sighed again.
I’m a reader, okay?
You’re a… what?
A reader!! It means I’m telepathic, moron.
Oh…
Yeah… just try to stay as still as you can.
THAT will be kinda hard…
JUST SHUT UP AND DO AS I SAY!!
….ow…
He stopped struggling, his captors oblivious to what was going through his head. Suddenly, he felt a light touch of someone’s hand on his back. He snuck a peek over his shoulder, seeing Sazaki under the desk. She had a frown of concentration on her face as her hand tried to find purchase on his shirt, and the two girls above her tugging him back and forth, still arguing, was making it harder to try to do that and not be seen by them at the same time. Her hand finally snatched the fabric of his shirt, and suddenly, he was in the back of the room were Naruto and Sazaki usually sat, crouching behind the desk. Ino and Sakura’s bickering died away, and Sasuke dared to peek over the desk. Both girls were staring dumb folded at their hands, each holding a straw arm of a stuffed dummy.
Then, gradually, they started to get ticked off.
“INO PIG!!” Sakura shouted, “NOW LOOK WHAT YOU DID!! YOU MADE ME LOSE HIM!!”
“NO, BUILDBOARD BROW,” Ino hollered back, “YOU MADE ME LOSE HIM!!”
Sazaki sat up and gave a low whistle.
“Good lord, these girls have a one track mind…”
Sasuke sat up as well.
“You have NO idea…”
He gazed at her for a minute, thinking, Like I said before…. Full of surprises…
“I heard that.”
“GAH!! Get out of my head, Sazaki!!”
She gave him that crooked smile of hers, the one that made the color rise a little to his cheeks, and sat back in her seat. She leaned the chair back, lifting the two front legs off the ground.
“You used a substitution jutsu?”
“Yup yup!” she winked at him, “How long do you think this’ll last?”
“Until they see me again.”
She whistled.
“Tough life, huh?” she teased.
He just glared at her. At that moment, Iruka came through the door, dragging a tied up Naruto Uzimaki.
“HEY!! LET ME GO!!”
“WHAT THE HECK MADE YOU THINK THAT YOU COULD DO THAT???”
Sasuke watched as the blonde haired boy stuck his nose in the air, which made Iruka VERY mad.
“Fine!! As punishment, all the class has to show me they’re transformation skills as a review of yesterday’s lesson!”
The class groaned in frustration. Sasuke sighed.
It’s not like this wasn’t coming. He does this everyday.
Sazaki gave a snort.
You got that right.
GAH!! I TOLD YOU TO GET OUT OF MY HEAD!!!
She flashed him a huge grin.
“Well it’s true.”
“Come on everyone. All you have to do is transform into me. Starting with….” He started to call down the line of kids that had gotten out of their seats to stand in front of him. Sasuke took his place in line, and Sazaki stood a few places back with Naruto. She looked like she was talking to him quietly, either giving him a lecture, or trying to see what he did and scolding him for not bringing her along. The blonde laughed bitterly at whatever she said. She turned away from him with a smile to watch as the other students came up to Iruka and displayed their transforming abilities. It came to be Sakura’s turn, and she stepped up. She pressed her hands together to focus her charka.
“Transform!!”
A smoke exploded around her, obscuring her from view. When it disappeared, a perfect replica for Iruka stood in front of them.
“Very good, Sakura!” Iruka said, scribbling on his clip board, “Full marks.”
She released it, her face bright with happiness. To his frustration, she immediately turned to him.
“Did you see that, Sasuke?”
He glared at her and brushed her away, saying, “Yeah, whatever…”
She looked away, down cast.
He stepped up to Iruka, pressing his hands together.
“Transform!”
After the smoke cleared, he also looked like Iruka.
“Very good, Sasuke…” Iruka said, scribbling on his clip board again.
“Feh…”
He stood to the side, watching the others. It was Naruto’s turn now.
“Transform!!”
When the smoke cleared, instead of looking like Iruka, he looked like a beautiful girl without any clothes on (smoke covering her), winking at Iruka.
He paled, his eye’s wide and his mouth wide open.
“GAH!!” his nose started bleeding heavily.
“Hahaha!!” Naruto laughed as he turned back to himself, pointing his fingers at Iruka, “You fell for my Sexy Jutsu!! Believe it!”
“HOW BIG OF A FOOL ARE YOU?? CUT THE STUPID TRICKS!!!”
Sasuke glanced over at Sazaki. She was cutting up in silent laughter, hugging her sides and trying not to fall over.
“Ehem…” Iruka cleared his throat, looking back at his list.
“Sazaki, it’s your turn.”
Still chuckling, she stepped up.
“Transform!!”
The smoke cleared, and she looked just like Iruka.
“Very good, Sa—“
He stopped as suddenly, Sazaki yelped in pain and grasped her head. Her Iruka form wavered for just a second, before smoke exploded around her again. When it cleared, a huge white tiger with pale green eyes stood in front of them. It was hunched over; it’s back arched in pain.
“GrraaaAAAOOORRRR!!!!”
Everyone scrambled away as it reared back and roared. Then it dropped back to all fours, pulling its feet in toward it, its body shaking like a leaf.
“Sa…. Sazaki?”
Iruka crept toward it, reaching out with his hand. Frightened, it snapped at him, backing up. Sasuke started to it.
“Sazaki! Release the jutsu!!”
It turned its green eye’s toward him, still shaking. Then, its eyes turned back to blue; back to Sazaki’s eyes. It fell over on its side, and smoke enveloped it. When it cleared, Sazaki’s unconscious form lay in the middle of the floor. He walked over to her as Iruka picked up her head.
What the heck was that all about?
Sazaki’s eyes fluttered open, blinking in the light, taking in her surroundings. She saw the faces of her fellow classmates above her.
“Look, she’s coming around!” she heard someone whisper.
She sat up, swaying as sharp pain forced its way into her head.
“Ooww….. My head….” She moaned as she felt Naruto’s hand on her arm, steadying her, “What happened…?”
“You passed out.”
She looked around to see Iruka behind her.
“How…? How did I…?”
“Not sure. You must have used a lot of charka. You looked like you were in pain. What did you feel before you lost control?”
Sazaki shuddered as she thought back.
“I… I felt like I was on fire…” she said softly, “… It hurt so bad… I got scared, then I remember the smoke… but that’s it… I don’t remember anything after that…”
Her eyes went wide with sudden horror as a thought struck her.
“I—I didn’t hurt anyone, did I? It felt like I lost control.”
“No, you didn’t hurt anyone.”
She sighed in relief.
“Oh, good.”
Suddenly, a ringing filled the classroom.
“That’s the lunch bell, everyone! Go to lunch!” Iruka called out.
Everyone filed out of the classroom, a buzz with chatter. Sazaki pushed herself up and started to walk out.
“Wait, Sazaki. I want to see you for a minute.”
She stopped, looking over her shoulder curiously.
“Yes, Sensei?”
He looked kind of uncomfortable as he spoke.
“I’m… I’m, uh… I’ll buy you lunch, ok?”
Sazaki stared at him in confusion. He never extended this kind of offer to any other student before.
“Uh, Sensei? Is that wise? I mean…” she stuttered, fumbling for the right words.
“I’m not supposed to choose favorites, I know. I want to ask you some things in private.”
So that’s what he wants… she thought, intrigued.
“Uh… sure, Sensei.”
After a while, they were sitting in the best ramen shop in the village, waiting for their food.
“Sazaki,” Iruka started, glancing at his young student, “As your mentor, you know I’m concerned about your health. It’s very important to me, because I want to see all my students succeed. However, I’m especially concerned about you right now. Ever since I took you out of that last class, I watched you recover and grow form the… abuse you took from it. “
Sazaki winced, unwillingly thinking back to her darker days in the first few years at the academy. Then, she had not been studying under Iruka, but another teacher, a man by the name of Zima Sukiyaki. He was cruel to her, picking on her in front of the whole class. The kids in the class would corner her and throw things at her like huge rocks, and they would gang up on her and beat her up, making her terrified of everyone she ever met. She became shyer than Hinata, rarely speaking to anyone unless she had to, and running away in fear form anyone who tried to talk to her. Not only that, but he had… done things to her that left her bleeding and bruised. In fact, she still had the scars from the time he beat her relentlessly on her upper back with a whip. Iruka had seen her when one of his students found her passed out in the hallway from trying to crawl to the bathroom, with blood pouring freely down her back. She had only been three or four years old at the time.
“And I know that you don’t remember anything from your past, either. You do, from what you told me, have nightmares that you can never remember that you think could be some of your memories trying to push through. You can see why I worry.”
Sazaki picked at her ramen when they set it down in front of her.
“The only problem is that I’m to busy with the other students to help, and that makes me guilty…”
“It’s not a problem, Sensei. You took this job because you wanted to teach us what you know.”
“I know, but it still makes me uneasy. Not to mention the fact that you keep having those nightmares.”
Sazaki opened her mouth and shut it again. She didn’t want to worry Iruka about the nightmares again. The last time she did that, he wouldn’t leave her alone about it for a week, which got pretty annoying.
“I can’t always be around to help you, so I’m assigning someone to you that can.”
She stared at him in shock.
“But Sensei!! I—I want to train under you…!”
“I know, but I already told you, I’m to busy, especially in dealing with Naruto. You know I have to keep a constant eye on your friend.”
She laughed in spite of her misery. She didn’t want anyone else to train her, especially if it was someone she didn’t know. Some of her old fear flickered in the pit of her stomach at the thought. Iruka looked sadly at his pupil, seeing the fear in her eyes.
“Don’t worry,” he said, putting a hand on her shoulder, “I made sure he wasn’t like Zima Sensei. He’s more than willing to help you if you let him. However, he will test you to see what you can do, but he’s nothing to be scared of.”
Sazaki picked at her ramen again, to nervous to respond.
“You are to meet him after class today at the training fields, ok? Please don’t be late, and don’t worry,” he said, tilting her chin towards him, looking her in the eyes, “I’m sure you’ll like him. He’s had a bad history like you, so he’ll understand.”
Sazaki nodded determination in her eyes.
Well, we’ll just have to see about that.
