Last Week in Konoha: Day 2, Part 1

[mggrubb85]

He was floating. Darkness surrounded him. Suffocating, all consuming darkness. He tried to scream, but that just let the darkness flood into him. He began choking, drowning in the darkness, and nothing could save him. Suddenly, from what seemed like miles away, a faint light could be seen, barely more than a glimmer. He reached for it desperately, but the darkness wouldn’t let him go, it coiled around his legs and arms, and began pulling him down. From the direction of the light, something came whirring through the darkness, severing the tendrils of darkness with a “splat!” His arms and legs free, he struggled to reach the light, which had grown larger. Then, a monstrous tentacle of darkness wrapped around his entire body, pulling him down once again. Once again, things came whirring from the light, connecting with a “splat!”, but with no effect. It started to pull faster, and he knew he was doomed. Suddenly, he heard a voice, “Yahoo!” and some huge force flew past him, and destroyed the dark tentacle. Free once again, he reached desperately, trying to escape the darkness, he was almost there, he could see something…something waiting for him in the light. He reached out his hand and…..

Bleet-Bleet-Bleet-Blee…

Naruto snapped awake, his heart pounding. Not from the dream, but because he had mistakenly set his alarm for it’s loudest and most obnoxious ring. In fact, with the alarm scaring him half to death, the dream was all but forgotten. He reached out and shut it off, grateful of the sudden silence. Stretching, he got up and began his morning routine. Scratching his side and yawning, he went to a cabinet and got out a teakettle, filled it in the sink, and put it down on the stove. He left it to heat, and made his way to the toilet.

“Oh man that’s better.” Naruto moaned as he left the closet with the toilet and walked to the bathroom next door. He walked to the sink, and washed his hands. He took out his toothbrush, toothpaste, and some mouth wash. As he brushed, he couldn’t help but think of last night. He was really looking forward to seeing Kiba and Hinata today. As he was gargling with the mouthwash, he heard the kettle go off, whistling loudly. He spit, and returned to the main room. He took the kettle and set it on a burner that wasn’t on. He turned to his food cabinet and pulled out some instant ramen cups. He opened one, and poured the boiling water in, then set his chopsticks on top to keep the lid closed. While he waited for it to cook, he walked to the counter and grabbed a banana (he’d promised Kakashi sensei he would have at least one fruit with breakfast) and glanced at the clock. It was only 9:13, so he still had of plenty of time. He went to the fridge and grabbed a carton of milk, checking the expiration date and giving it an experimental shake. Satisfied that it was good, he poured a glass, and began eating. The ramen was a simple beef flavor, and he finished the cup quickly, then opened the next one, and while it cooked, peeled and ate the banana. Despite having a huge bruise, it was good. When the noodles had finished, he wolfed them down quickly. He grabbed the milk and chugged, giving an “ahh” of satisfaction when he finished the glass. Leaving the banana peel, empty ramen cups and the dirty glass, Naruto pushed himself away from the table and began to change. He threw on the clothes he’d worn last night and turned to run out the door. He needed to make a quick stop to pick up some supplies for Konohamaru’s training. After securing the items, he started running for Training Field 3. He reached it after a few minutes, and found it deserted. “Konohamaru! Are you here?!” Naruto set the bag down by a tree and looked around, trying to find the squirt. “Man, where is he? He should have been here by now.”

“Hey, Naruto!”

“Wha….”

“Sexy Jutsu!” Konohamaru appeared in front of Naruto as a sexy young woman, totally nude and swaying her hips seductively. “What do you think, I have it down perfect, don’t you think?” Konohamaru transformed back to himself, looking at Naruto for his opinion.

“Its pretty good, but you still need to work on the boing-fwhht-boing part.” Naruto said, stroking his chin between his right thumb and index finger.

“Will you show me how, big bro?”

“Sorry, that’s something you’ll have to work on all by yourself. I’ve only got a few days left in the village, and I want to teach you as much of this jutsu as I can before I go.”

“Alright, but it had better be pretty amazing.” Konohamaru said, pouting.

“Don’t worry, it’s the coolest jutsu I’ve learned. Now, show me what you‘ve learned.”

“Sure thing, boss.” Konohamaru walked to the pond, and put his hands together. After gathering his chakra, he stepped out onto the water. “See, I don’t even wobble anymore.” his feet were steady on the waters surface, and he even hopped to emphasize his control.

“Alright, great work. Ok, come back on solid land, this technique requires all of your chakra and concentration.” Konohamaru hurried to Naruto’s side, eager to learn.

“So, how’s it done?”

“Here, take this.” Naruto tossed Konohamaru a water balloon, then grabbed a new one from the bag.

“Wow, are we gonna turn these into some kind of Super Water Bullet!?” Konohamaru’s eyes sparkled and some drool ran from the corner of his mouth.

“No, nothing like that. Ok, I want you to build up chakra in your hand, and use it to spin the water in the balloon, like this.” the balloon in Naruto’s hand began to expand outward, going almost flat in his hand.

“Oh, this is just like the tree climbing technique Ebisu sensei taught me.”

“Exactly, you need to know how to build chakra in one part of your body to master the first part of this jutsu.”

“Ok, I’ll give it a try” Konohamaru held the balloon in the palm of his right hand, and began focusing his chakra. Konohamaru began to sweat and breath heavily from the effort. The balloon gave a wobble, then stopped moving. “Wow, building up the chakra is a synch, but getting it to spin the water is hard.” Konohamaru sat down, panting.

“If you think this part is tough, just wait until step two.”

“Don’t worry, I’m not giving up.” Konohamaru hopped to his feet, and once again began focusing his chakra into the palm of his right hand. The balloon gave another wobble, and stopped again.

“You keep working on that, I need to do some training myself.” Naruto stepped away from Konohamaru, intent on beginning his training. “Ok, first, two hundred push-ups, followed by a hundred sit-ups, some target practice, and then I’ll create shadow clones and spar.” Naruto began his push-ups, facing Konohamaru so that he could track his progress. After his 70th, he noted that Konohamaru was getting better. The balloon gave a couple of wobbles to the left and right before stopping. When he reached number 138, he saw that Konohamaru could keep it wobbling for about a minute, but it wasn’t becoming smooth like Naruto had shown him. When he finally reached 200, he walked over to Konohamaru to see how he was progressing close up. Konohamaru was covered in sweat, and panting heavily. “If you keep going like that, you’ll pass out. How about a quick break?” Naruto pulled out some drinks from the sack, and gave one to Konohamaru before taking a swig of his own

“Yeah, I could use one.” Konohamaru fell back on his butt, sighing heavily, “So how long did it take you to get this part done?” Konohamaru asked, looking down and running his fingers over the top of the can.

“I got the water to spin after a few hours, but the next part took me 2 days to figure out.”

“Really, two whole days?!” Konohamaru nearly choked on his drink when he heard that.

“Don’t worry, if you can’t do it the way it was shown to me, then I’ll teach you the trick I came up with.”

“Is it really hard?”

“The next two steps are, but you should have the first part done by tomorrow, so don’t worry.” Naruto finished his drink and stood up. “I know you can do it Konohamaru.”

“Thanks Naruto.” Konohamaru gulped down the last of his drink and jumped up, “Alright, I’ll have this part done within the hour!” He picked the water balloon from where he’d set it down, and began building his chakra again. Naruto walked a few feet away and began doing his sit-ups. He finished and sat there, watching Konohamaru, who was progressing quickly. The balloon was wobbling much less and was becoming smooth.

“You’re almost there Konohamaru, good work.”

“Thanks, heh heh.”

“Time for some target practice.” Naruto made a hand sign, and created 20 clones, “Ok guys, don’t make it too easy for me.” All 20 clones pulled out kunai and began to run, hiding in bushes and in trees. Naruto pulled out several shuriken and began throwing, aiming for his clones. He managed to hit two with his opening barrage, but the rest were too quick. He ran after them, hurling shuriken and kunai, but only managed to get either glancing blows or tree limbs. He leapt into a tree, and waited, watching for any sign of movement. Suddenly, one of his clones leapt to the limb right above him. Naruto threw a kunai and caught him in the back of neck, causing him to disappear in a poof. Unfortunately, throwing the kunai revealed his location, and he barely managed to dodge a swarm of shuriken. As he ran among the tree branches, two more clones appeared in either side of him, hurling kunai and shuriken alike. Naruto leapt over them and the clones took each other out. “Heh, five down, fifteen to go.” Naruto thought as he checked out his surroundings for more clones. Naruto pulled out some shuriken and threw them in some random directions, hoping to flush put more clones. His gambit paid off, and three clones leapt from hiding places to avoid the shuriken. Naruto leapt after them, hurling a kunai from both hands.. He managed to catch one clone in the back, and another in the head, they both disappeared with a “poof!”

“Now” the third turned in the air and cried out. Suddenly shuriken and kunai were coming at him from all directions. Naruto landed on the ground and began a series of…..less than graceful dodges. Leaping high, ducking low, and sometimes dancing out of the way, he barely managed to avoid them all. Naruto picked up some kunai from the ground around him and began hurling them into the trees, hoping to catch some of his clones. After throwing five kunai and not hearing a single “poof”, he gave up, and returned to the branches, and began searching again. He leapt from branch to branch, hoping to catch a glimpse of movement. Seeing a patch of leaves shake, he hurled a handful of shuriken at it. He heard not one but two “poof!” noises, so now there were only eleven more clones. He stopped and took cover in a clump of leaves, trying to catch his breath. He loved training like this, it was always such a rush trying to hunt himself down. He heard something from the left, so he leapt right and barely avoided the kunai that hit the tree where his head was a second ago. Unfortunately this was another trap set by his clones. Shuriken came flying from the branches on his right and above him. He pulled two kunai from his holster, and did his best to block them. He managed to deflect most of them, but he received shallow cuts on his arms, left leg, and his right cheek. Now that the shuriken had stopped, he hurled his kunai into the branches in front of him, and was rewarded with a “poof!” He kept moving for a few seconds, trying to put some distance between him and the ten remaining clones. He took cover in another clump of leaves and checked his cuts.

“Heh, guess they aren’t gonna go easy.” Naruto muttered, wiping the blood from his cheek. None of wounds were serious, and most of them had already started to close, thanks to the power of Nine-Tails. He caught his breath and waited, trying to figure out the best way for him to hunt down the ten remaining clones. “Ok, got it. Here we go!” as he started to leap from the tree.

“Hey, Naruto!” Konohamaru shouted from where he was training.

“Wha…!” Naruto fell from his hiding spot and crashed into the ground. “Ow, damnit that hurt.” He flexed his shoulder and felt a small twinge of pain. “Better see what Konohamaru wants.” He put up a hand sign, and dispelled the remaining clones, then made his way over to Konohamaru. “What’s up?” Naruto asked looking over Konohamaru’s shoulder.

“Heh-heh, I did it.” Konohamaru said, breathing heavily and sweating a lot. He held out his right hand, which contained the now smooth, nearly flat water balloon.

“Alright, great work Konohamaru.” Naruto clapped him on the shoulder. Unfortunately, with Konohamaru in such a weakened state, the clap slammed him face first into the ground. With a cry of surprise, Konohamaru brought his hands up to protect his face. When he hit the ground, the water balloon burst all over his face. Naruto couldn’t help it, it was one of the funniest things he’d ever seen.

“Ha ha ha ha ha ha! Oh man Konohamaru, I’m sorry, are you…(snicker)….are you ok?”

“Yeah, I’m fine. That cold splash of water was kinda refreshing.” Konohamaru pushed himself into a sitting position. His face and the front of his shirt with were soaked. He was still panting a little, but he did seem better than he had a minute ago.

“Let’s take another break, then I’ll explain the next part to you, ok?” Naruto walked over to where he had left the sack with the water balloons and drinks, and took out another water balloon and some energy drinks. He walked back to Konohamaru and handed him a drink before he sat down.

“You’re more cut up than usual, boss. What happened?” Konohamaru took a sip.

“My clones got in some good throws this time. Maybe I shouldn’t have made so many.”

“ How many did you take on?”

“Twenty”

“You took out twenty clones?! Wow Naruto, you’re so awesome.”

“Heh, it was nothing.” Naruto rubbed the back of his head, and averted his gaze. It wouldn’t hurt to lie this once, would it?

“I hope I can be as great as you someday.”

“I know you will be. Now, let’s get to the next part of the training. Get the balloon spinning again.”

“Sure thing Naruto.” Konohamaru stood up and put the balloon into his right hand and got it spinning again. It wobbled for a second, then turned smooth.

“Ok, since you definitely have that part down, let me explain the next part. I want you to try and get the water moving in different directions all at once.”

“What‘s the point of getting it to move in different directions? Getting it to spin in just one direction was hard enough, now this!” Konohamaru’s looked horrified at just the thought.

“The point is to get the balloon to burst using only your chakra. Give it a try.”

“Um….here goes.” Konohamaru kept his eyes trained on the balloon, focusing on the water inside. Try as he might, he couldn’t get the water spinning in multiple directions. After a minute of trying he fell to his knees, panting heavily.

“Whoa, how about we stop for now.” Naruto went to Konohamaru and moved him to the shade under a tree, “You can keep trying more after you’ve rested.”

“(huf)Ok…(huf)…boss. Think maybe (huf) I’ll take a nap.” Totally exhausted, Konohamaru closed his eyes and fell asleep.

“I’ll check on you in a little while, but for now it’s back to work for me.” Naruto smiled down at Konohamaru as he slept, then he turned and walked to a small clearing. “Time for a little sparring.” he threw up his hand sign and created 13 clones, “Ok guys, come at me one on one!”

“You got it!” the first clone came running at his, and threw a fist at Naruto’s face. Naruto dodged it and gave his clone a knee to the gut, causing him to disappear. The next one roared and rushed him from behind, trying to land a flying kick. Naruto spun on his heel, and caught the kick, and hurled his clone into a tree, and he disappeared with a “poof!”. Naruto was unbalanced after throwing his second clone, and the third took advantage of this, rushing in and slugging Naruto in the face, then delivering a kick to his side. Naruto rolled with the hit to the side, and jumped back to his feet, turning to face his clone. His clone came running at him again, but Naruto was ready this time. Faking a left kick, he delivered a vicious right hook to the clones face, and he disappeared.

“Ok, now two at a time!” Naruto shouted, and struck a fighting pose. The next two clones pulled kunai from there holsters and leapt at Naruto. While ducking under there attack, he pulled his last kunai from his holster and used it to deflect their attacks. While he managed to fend one off, the other circled behind him and tried to stab him in the back. Naruto grabbed the clone in front of him and fell back, and used the momentum to hurl the clone in front of him into the clone behind, causing both to disappear. He jumped up as the next two entered the fray, yelling loudly. These two obviously hadn’t thought up any kind of strategy, and Naruto easily dispatched them both with a spin kick. “Three!” They rushed in from different directions, hoping to catch him off guard and take him down. The first to reach him tried a right punch to the face, but Naruto dodged left. While dodging the first, the second tried a punch to Naruto’s forehead, and he barely managed to avoid it by leaning back. That was the opening the third had been waiting for, and he slid in, knocking Naruto’s feet out from under him.

“Gotcha!” the first two clones shouted, and lifted there legs up, and brought there heels down on Naruto’s gut, causing the air to rush out of him. Gasping for breath, Naruto rolled out of the way of the next assault, barely avoiding the fists aimed for his head. He kept rolling until he had put some distance between him and his clones, breathing heavily the whole time. Having gotten some air back into his lungs, he jumped up, and prepared to attack. He rushed at his clones, aiming for the middle one, and went into a flying kick. His cloned just ducked under it, and Naruto’s foot hit the tree behind him, just as he had planned. He planted his foot and flipped, bringing his other foot down in a stomp on his clones head, and with a “poof!” he was gone. Naruto looked back and forth at the other two clones and made a “c’mon” gesture, egging them on. With a roar of rage they came at him from either side. Naruto merely jumped straight up, and his clones crashed into each other, disappearing with the usual “poof!” Naruto turned, looking for the last three clones. The instant he turned around, one of the remaining clones leapt onto his back, and locked Naruto’s arms and legs into place.

“Heh-heh, it’s over pal.” his clone said.

“Wha….” Naruto started to ask when he heard it. The swirling of the wind, and the sound of chakra building. He looked in horror as his two remaining clones were preparing the rasengan, looks of malicious glee on there faces. Then they ran at him, giving a shout. His clone with the rasengan brought his hand black to deliver the final blow, and brought it down fiercely….only to stop an inch from Naruto’s chest. The clone holding Naruto released him, and he fell to his knees.

“Yes, we win!” his clone shouted, and high-fived the remaining clones.

“Damnit, I really thought I would win this time.” Naruto grumbled, crossing his arms in front of him and pouting.

“Don’t worry, I’m sure you’ll get us next time.” one of the clones said.

“Yeah, it was pretty close, wasn’t it” another clone chimed in

“I think that was enough training for one day. I’ll see you guys later.” Naruto ended the jutsu, looking sullen, and the three clones disappeared. “Better go check on Konohamaru.” Naruto got up, and made his way back over to Konohamaru, who was still sleeping. It was so cute, he was sleeping on his back, with head slightly tilted to the left, and drool cascaded down his cheek.

“Hey, Konohamaru, time to get up buddy.” Naruto gently shook him.

“Don’t warn the tadpoles!” Konohamaru snapped awake, kicking his legs and thrashing his arms. Naruto jumped back and barely avoided getting hit.

“You ok?” Naruto asked, a concerned look on his face.

“Hm…wha…yeah, I’m fine. Why?” Konohamaru rubbed his eyes.

“You seemed like you were having a pretty bad dream.”

“Really? If I was I don’t remember it.”

“Ok…” Naruto gave Konohamaru a strange look, then checked the position of the sun. “It’s getting late, and I’m supposed to meet some people for lunch. Keep trying it tonight, and if you haven’t figured it out , then I’ll teach you the secret tomorrow, ok?”

“Ok. I’m gonna stay here and try for just a little longer. Same time tomorrow?”

“Yeah, I’ll see you here tomorrow at ten o’clock. See ya later.” Naruto began a leisurely walk back to the village, relaxing after the harsh training he’d put himself through. He’d have to change and take a quick shower when he got home, and he’d have to talk Sakura into patching up his clothes….again. He sighed, it was always a chore asking her for a favor, especially when he already owed her so much. He needed to think of some way to pay her back, and soon. He felt bad for Lee and Sakura. Unlike him, neither one of them had a private place where they could go to be with someone. Suddenly, inspiration hit Naruto. If they didn’t have a place themselves, he could let them use his place, especially since he wasn’t going to be there for a while. With this thought in his mind, he began jogging back to Konoha, eager to put his plan into action. He reached the gate and waved to the chunin guards, who casually waved him through. Glancing at a clock on his way through the village, he knew he wouldn’t have time to make the stop before he was supposed to meet Hinata and Kiba. He ran the rest of the way to his apartment, and dashed inside, throwing off his clothes on the way to the bathroom. He jumped into the tub and gave himself a quick wash (without the “help” of his clones) Then, with a towel around his waist, he walked into the main room and rummaged through the piles of dirty clothes, searching for whatever smelled the least fowl. After finding some that didn’t smell that bad, he hung them on the rail outside of his apartment to air out. He glanced up at the clock. 12:25, still plenty of time.

**********************************Meanwhile******************************************

“C’mon Hinata, you’ve gotta come.” Kiba sighed, standing with Hinata in the courtyard of the Hyuga mansion. Akamaru gave a whine.

“No….that’s fine Kiba….I really can’t go.” Hinata said, eyes down.

“Why not?” Kiba asked, a harsh look on his face.

“I need…..to make the tea for Father and Neji…..they drink it when the take a break…from training” Hinata mumbled, eyes still focused the ground.

“In a house filled with servants, you’re the only one who can make tea?” Kiba clearly wasn’t going to buy this excuse.

“Um….it’s not…..I make it special….I guess….Father always compliments it.”

“Oh, I see.” Kiba withdrew some of his anger, knowing how hard Hinata worked for any approval from Lord Hiashi. Akamaru walked over to Hinata, and jumped on her leg, giving a bark to let her know to lean down. When she did, Akamaru gave her face a quick lick, causing her to laugh. She smiled and rubbed Akamaru’s ear, before straightening. Kiba watched this, a smile tugging at the corner of his lips, then his face became stern when he said, “Well, they’ll have to skip it today. This is really important to Naruto, he wants us to be there.”

“Please, just tell him….I couldn’t make it.” she walked over to a bench and picked up a wrapped box from where she had set it earlier, “Give him this, please.” She held out the box for Kiba to take. Kiba took the box in one hand and grabbed her hands and threw her over his shoulder with the other.

“You’re coming and that‘s final.” Kiba began to walk towards the gate that surrounded the mansion.

“No…Kiba….please.” Hinata struggled against Kiba, but it was no use, she couldn’t hope to match his physical strength.

“Hinata, I promise you’re going to enjoy yourself, trust me.” Kiba was almost to the gate.

“Ah-hem. Just what do you think you are doing with Lady Hinata, Kiba Inuzuka?” Neji stepped around the corner of the gate, and went into a fighting stance, “I’ll only give you one chance to explain your rude behavior.”

“Whoa, calm down Neji.” Kiba backed up a few steps, having seen what Neji was capable of at close range, “I’m taking Hinata to lunch with me and Naruto, she’s just nervous about going, so I had to drag her along.”

“I see. Heh, she would be nervous about lunch with Naruto. Very well, carry on.” Neji stepped aside, and allowed Kiba to pass. “Please enjoy yourself, Lady Hinata.”

“Um…Kiba…please wait one moment.”

“Do you want to walk?”

“Yes” hearing this, Kiba set her on the ground, “Um…Neji?”

“Yes, Lady Hinata?”

“I would….feel less….nervous….if you went too…would you…like to join us?” Hinata asked, rubbing her hands together.

“If Kiba has no objection.” Neji glanced Kiba.

“No problem, the more the merrier, I always say.” Damn it, I wanted it just to be Naruto and Hinata! “We’re going to Shushuya, is that ok?”

“Shushuya sounds fine.” He didn’t show it, but Neji had noticed a slight tick, a sign that Kiba was annoyed for some reason.

“Ok, let’s go.” Kiba shoved his hands into his jacket pockets and walked through the gate entrance, muttering, Akamaru trotting beside him. Neji turned to Hinata.

“After you, Lady Hinata.” Neji gestured for her to proceed before him.

“Uh...Thank you…Neji.” Hinata bowed her head, and turned to walk after Kiba.

“This should be an interesting lunch.” Neji said with a smile.

************************************************************************************************************

Sorry this chapter took so long, this is only about half of what I currently have written for Day 2, but I though I would go ahead and post the first half.

Comments are always appreciated.

Last Week in Konoha:  Day 2, Part 2-  http://mggrubb85.livejournal.com/2433.html