Chapter 7
They called him the Professor, yet Hiruzen found himself stretched to the absolute limit as he faced Sakumo's youngest child. Gojo Hatake had always been famous for being a prodigy but his newfound powers went beyond anything he had ever seen.
Itachi had told him about the boy, and why he had spared him but even in his bruised and battered state the Hatake child forced him to use nearly all of his power just to put him down.
"GUGH!" still, his exhaustion caught up with him finally, and the blue eyed boy stood there covered in blood, leaning against the wall while his arm lay limp.
"It's over," Hiruzen declared as he spun Enma in his hands, and he could kill him now and end this, but in that moment he hesitated.
"What are you doing?" Danzo noticed his hesitation.
"Kill him," his old friend roared back, as the boy huffed.
"Killing them wasn't enough for you was it?" the boy questioned, and Hiruzen's lips thinned.
"I had no choice," and he took no joy from killing the Uchiha.
"You did. We all did," and then raised his bloodied finger and pointed it at Danzo.
"But that bastard took that away when he stole Shisui's eye. He made the war inevitable, and yet you did nothing!" and he began to cough up blood, as Hiruzen was forced to face his failure.
"But killing them wasn't enough! No! He had to desecrate their bodies," and his eyes widened as he heard those words, while his head snapped towards Danzo.
"He tried to steal their eyes. He tried to rob them of what little dignity they had," and Danzo did not deny it.
"What have you done?" he gasped.
"What you don't have the heart to do," Danzo countered, as he rubbed his throat.
"I did not order any of this," Hiruzen countered as his head snapped towards Sakumo's youngest child.
"Yet you did nothing to stop it," and then he saw the boy bring together his hands, as chakra pushed off of him in waves.
"And now I will offer your beloved village the same justice you offered Hana and her clan," and suddenly a blue orb formed to one of his side.
"Blue," and that was his newfound technique.
"Red," and then another orb formed to his left, and then they began to move towards one another.
"Imaginary technique," he whispered.
"If you won't kill him, then I will!" and with that Danzo rushed past him.
"Wait!" he tried to stop him, but it was too late, yet another voice did what he could not.
"Ninpo:..." and suddenly the walls and the ground all shifted.
"...Toad Mouth Trap!"
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0000
SAKURA HARUNO
Sakura found herself having trouble sleeping as her newfound sensei's words kept her rolling in her bed. She had never truly scoured the statistics on shinobi death, and it was hard to locate them but she could not get the numbers out of her mind.
They could not be true. They just could not be.
So, she found herself slipping out of the bed to scour the books she had recently taken out of the academy to help her prepare for the exams and after an hour of searching she finally had the numbers. And he was right.
But she knew well that the life of a shinobi was full of risk, but for hear her life get reduced to a mere statistic made her feel bad. She could already feel Naruto and Sasuke pushing on ahead, and had hoped that her new sensei would help her fill that gap up yet he had only filled her with more questions and doubt.
So, after an uneasy night she found herself at the training ground waiting for him. Unlike Kakashi-sensei, his brother appeared right on time even though he carried his brother's penchant for unsual entrances.
"Hello," someone whispered in her ear, and Sakura found herself screaming out.
"AHHHH!" and she jumped up, as the blindfold wearing man laughed at her misery.
"What the hell?" she roared, as she saw him laughing at her.
"You really should be more mindful of your surroundings as a shinobi," he warned her, but she was not expecting to be attacked here.
"I am not expecting to be attacked here," she countered, and he raised a brow.
"Why not?" he asked, and she frowned at that.
"Because I am inside my own village," she argued back, and he simply rubbed his chin.
"Pretty naive," he whispered as if she could not hear that.
"Well, I will forgive you given your age," he added with a smile as he cracked his fingers.
"Let's get started then," and it seemed like he was actually going to train her.
"Are you really going to train me?" she asked, for he had spent the entire time asking her weird questions yesterday.
"Yes," he answered, as if taking offence to her insinuation.
"I don't know how much I can help you, but my aim is to make you capable enough to hold your own during the exams," and that was her aim as well.
"Honestly, there is not much time to teach you. Given your skill set, and intelligence genjutsu would serve you rather well but that is pretty difficult to master. Let alone my own skills in genjutsu are just passable at best," and he was rubbing his hair now, making her wonder what he was going to teach her.
"Then what are we going to work on?" she asked.
"Control," he answered, as a smile appeared on his lips.
"And one of its very unique applications," and her enthusiasm ended at those words.
"I am pretty good at chakra control already. I have already learned tree walking," she countered, and he began to laugh for some reason.
"I could do that when I was five," he countered, and Sakura's frowned at the insult.
"I am pretty good at water walking as well," she continued, and he smiled more widely.
"Six," he countered, and she could take it no more.
"You are a jerk," she screamed, as her face heated up in humiliation.
"Maybe, but the thing is your reserves are rather small. So, you must be very cautious with how you use them. Chakra control will be the most integral thing to you and your life as a kunoichi, and while it may all seem rudimentary with good enough control you can do some pretty great things," and she raised a brow.
"Like?" she asked, and she had come here expecting to learn some powerful secret techniques. Not to master chakra control.
"Well, why don't I show you?" and suddenly he jumped back, making her frown.
"You see, with near perfect control if you release your chakra at just the right moment," and he spun in the air, and then punched the ground as he landed.
BOOOOOM!
And her eyes widened as she saw it crack up, and crater with that single punch.
"You can do this, and a lot more...."
0000
SAKURA HARUNO
Sakura had been wrong. Very wrong.
She had not expected much when she had accepted Kakashi sensei's offer of getting tutored by his brother. His brother was strange, and over the days he had only gotten stranger to her.
He was strong, fast and as capable a shinobi she had ever seen. That was why she found it rather strange that he had retired from active duty.
Still, she was thankful that she had taken up Kakashi sensei's offer to train under him and by the end of their days, she was saddened by the fact that she did not have more time to train under him.
For months now she had been feeling stuck in her path as a kunoichi, wondering what she should master but in their five days together she had grown by leaps and bounds, even though that growth had come at a great cost.
"AGHH!" she winced in pain, as her white haired sensei wrapped bandages around her arm, while she was forced to gulp down on a bowl of meat with her other hand.
"Your control is still not perfect, but you have come a long way in the days we had together," but their time together was over, and she was much saddened by that.
"It would have been best if you had a few genjutsu or ninjutsu to rely on to augment your newfound abilities, but we do not have the time for that," and what a shame that was.
"But thankfully, the initial portions of the chunin exams are often a team event. So, you should take advantage of that," and she made notes in her head, as he gently wrapped the bandage around her arm.
"Use those two dunderheads on your team, and strike only when it is necessary. A true shinobi never flaunts their power unless it serves a purpose," and she nodded.
"Thank you, Gojo-sensei," and he finished wrapping up the bandage, just as she finished her bowl, and then he placed his hand on her arm, as a green hue appeared over it and she felt all of the pain vanish as her torn muscles were healed, and the little cuts and scraps all began to vanish in the blink of an eye.
This was iryo-ninjutsu, and she had learned that it was one of the most difficult disciplines to master as a shinobi, yet Kakashi sensei's brother was one of the finest iryo-nin not just in the village but in the entire world.
It was one of the reasons she had been able to push herself as much as she had, for any injury she would sustain over their training would be healed by him instantly. Torn muscles, scraps and cuts would be healed up in a few minutes allowing her to train until she was out of energy.
And this was what made it all even more strange, and she eyed him curiously as the question in her head refused to die down.
"I can see you staring at me," and his words startled her, and for a man who wore a blindfold, he sure could see very well. It was as if he had eyes on the back of his head.
"May I ask you a question, sensei?" she gathered the courage to ask.
"Sure," he answered in a non-chalant manner as he continued to heal her.
"Why did you retire?" and she could not figure it out, and he did not answer her.
"You are strong, and healthy. It just doesn't make sense why you would retire at all?" she continued to push, and he pulled away his hand.
"All done," and with that she had recovered from her training fully, as Gojo-sensei stood tall once more.
"Please, you have to tell me something," she insisted as she stood up and faced him, and she could feel him looking into her eyes, before he gave a sigh.
"Let's make a deal then," and she should have expected nothing less.
"You remember the question I asked you on the first day?" and of course she did.
"I will give you the answer when you give me a satisfactory answer to that question," and her shoulders sagged.
"But I already told you the reason I became a kunoichi?" she protested, and he shook her.
"You told me the reason you became one, not why you still remain one," he clarified, and she could not see a distinction in that.
"Still, you have not told me what you would do if you were forced to choose one between the village, your team and your family?" and that was such a heavy question.
"You could have just said no," she argued and he gave her a wide smile.
"Where is the fun in that?" and then he reached into his pocket, and took out a small belt pocket bag.
"What is that?" she asked.
"Open it," he said, and she opened the pocket and there was a glove pair inside it.
"What are these?" she asked.
"This my gift to you," and her head snapped up at that.
"These gloves have some seals inside them that should help you with your chakra control. You should use them during the exam," and she was surprised as she heard of that.
"Fuinjutsu?" she gasped, and she knew how rare that was.
"Yes," and then he yawned, and stretched his arms.
"I should get going now. You have really tired me out," and she knew that was not true.
"Good luck for the exam kid," he added finally, as she put the gloves back in the small box, and lowered her head.
"Thank you for all that you have done for me, Gojo sensei," and he waved it away.
"There is no need for that. I will milk Kakashi enough for this favor. Goodbye, Sakura," and then in the blink of an eye he vanished, as Sakura stood tall once more now filled with more confidence than she had been in months.
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