Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ The Monster in the Forest ❯ This is how you climb a tree ( Chapter 3 )

[ A - All Readers ]

By: Missq

<body><html>
Hello to all. It�s now 10:30 at night, the time when Missq�s latent writing abilities finally come alive. Yes instead of staring at the keyboard for hours thinking about what to write, I half slump over it out of fatigue and write down any random crap that comes to mind.

Yay I�m finally writing chapter 3. In between this and two I�ve been reading some of my Japanese Naruto books. (I have all 35 now as well as the data and fun books) Unfortunately my Japanese is not quite as speedy as my English so it takes me about a week on and off just to get through one. But they�re so worth it. (Although currently I�m only up to book five.) I�m starting to find Manga in English strange.

Kakashi: Omae no mirai wa shinda

I rewrote the part in which Sakura and Naruto meet in chapter two since I thought it was pretty weak, I�ve also been editing chapter one and two again and again. I really wanted the scene to become more powerful or something. Hopefully I can do alright for chapter three, cheer me on. Naruto and Sakura will become more like their manga selves as the story progresses. Surprisingly Naruto is colder than I intended.
-----------<hr>

Quite predictably her bedside alarm clock finally decided to strike midnight the very moment Sakura chose to roll over and check the current time. She sighed in exasperation before returning her gaze to the bedroom ceiling in which shadows caused by the outside street lamp danced merrily.

It was unlike Sakura to have trouble sleeping, but so many interesting events had occurred during the past few days that she couldn�t help but stay up and mull over them. If she was unfortunate enough to encounter Ino in the morning, the blonde would probably take much delight in pointing out her haggard appearance and how Sasuke-kun would surely prefer girls who got their beauty sleep.

Randomly the image of the village�s monster manifested itself in amongst the shadows, but no longer did Sakura think of him with a bitter taste in her mouth.�So he calls himself Naruto.� muttered her thoughts. The moment when he announced his name came clearly to mind as though it were happening once more, those aqua blue eyes that had gazed so strongly into hers for that fleeting second. It was hard to describe the feeling, but it stirred something within Sakura that she hadn�t ever felt before. Was it admiration? But after having time to think there was also a begging quality about those eyes, as though he was unintentionally screaming out to have his identity acknowledged. It was hard to explain why, but she was plagued by an explainable urge to believe in the stranger who she had only truly seen for a moment.

But the name Naruto? She�d never heard it used on a person before, and spent a good a few days pondering whether he was named after the Ramen, or what the Ramen was originally named after. Wouldn�t it be amusing if his last name were Uzumaki, after the whirlpool patten printed on Ramen Naruto?

It was two days later while searching though the largest volume of �A history of Konoha� that she discovered that someone actually had the decency to dish out such a strange name.

It was hard to find information on the mysterious boy though. Even though it was common knowledge though out the village, very few people were willing to ruin their day by discussing the fox monster, her mother included. So it was only by searching though library books that she learnt what the boy truly was.

Apparently he wasn�t even the Nine Tails who had attacked the village as she had been lead to believe. He was only the human sacrifice used to contain the demon, which didn�t make much of a difference in the village�s eyes. She�d studied the event briefly during school with Ikura-sensei, but they�d only been eight at the time, so it was impossible to remember that far back. Most books didn�t even mention Naruto�s name, and it was only after lugging the largest history book off the shelf was it finally uncovered.

It brought her attention back to the hero of the village who had destroyed the nine tails, but despite giving his life so that Konoha could continue to prosper, the poor man never seemed to gain any acknowledgement at all.
Through her history book, in a tiny paragraph which didn�t even mention his name, she discovered that no one had ever expected The Forth to become Hokage at all. Her own so called teacher Orochimaru had been one of three students chosen by Danzou, the Third, and had been trained though out his apprenticeship to become the next leader of Konoha. Danzou had been a tough leader who was also named �The Hawk� for his tough actions, and violent decisions. Many wars had been fought during The Third�s time which had crippled Konoha unnecessary, but the village always just remained standing. Eventually the time came for The Third to retire, but to everyone�s surprise he picked a man who was known for his great achievements though war instead of his own student.
Sakura could imagine her teacher throwing a little snake like tantrum at not being picked, and she was surprised that he hadn�t personally flattened the village before the Kyuubi arrived. It was impossible to imagine that Orochimaru would take well to not being given the position that he�d spent most of his life preparing for.
The Nine Tails attack came soon afterwards, but instead of returning to his job as Hokage after The Forth�s death Danzou remained in retirement and passed the roll onto Orochimaru, which was the same up until their current day. The Third had finally passed away a few years ago, but she recalled reading an artical about him taking all the resulting orphans from the Kyuubi attack into the Anbu. Her book then rolled onto many chapters about the greatness of Orochimaru which she honestly couldn�t care less about anymore, therefore the search was abandoned in favour of training

When she wasn�t studying or spending time in the library, Sakura had been on the lookout for Naruto in the woods. There had been only a brief encounter to which the boy only made another hasty exit. Some could call her actions slightly obsessive like those for Sasuke, but it was the most exciting event that she�d experienced for months. It was like a new school research project for Sakura, �find out the truth about the Kyuubi kid,� and she was just itching to find out what truly lay behind the Nine Tails image that overshadowed Naruto.

It did once occur to her the possible danger of wishing to associate with the village monster, and container to a very dangerous demon. But there were never any official cases of Naruto causing harm to anyone. Sure there were countless rumours of him attacking random civilians on a whim, but Sakura could not recall anyone she knew who had been personally killed or maimed by Naruto. From what she could tell he seemed to just avoid all people and kept to himself. A person who saved her from possible death couldn�t be entirely evil.

Sasuke was still her one true love of course; nothing in the world could change that even if he was slowly drifting further away. As much as her common sense told her she refused to believe that he would succumb fully to Orochimaru. Surely Sasuke would have rushed to her aid if he�d been in the woods that day.

And so it was with happy thoughts of Sasuke saving her from drowning streams and enemy shinobi, did Sakura finally drift off to sleep. But it was Uzumaki Naruto who was waiting in her dreams.

It was the same scene in the forest once more with the autumn leaves billowing around the blonde haired boy. Unlike before he stood tall and silent, and simply stared towards her with blank melancholy eyes.

Slowly as the night progressed the eyes of Naruto remained, but the image around them changed and warped in a swirl of colours. Suddenly there stood Tarou dressed in the black funeral clothes he was probably buried in. She �d payed very little attention to him during their time as a team, but he appeared before her vividly. Short brown hair poked out from underneath the forehead protector which he had once worn proudly around his temples. His blue eyes were dulled and looked towards her with an expression that could be taken as disappointment, or remorse. The boy opened his mouth to utter silent accusations before he unexpectedly fell to the side as though hit. Blood instantaneously began gushing from his neck before the body hit the ground, tainting everything a shade of crimson red.

It was a good thing Sakura forgot her dream the moment the bedside alarm went off, otherwise she would have been reminded of an event she�d spent the past few months forcefully trying to suppress.

------------<hr>

�And so you focus on sending the right amount of energy to your feet, then focus on your target and visualise it in your mind,� repeated Sakura for the tenth time as though reading from a school text book.

Her new student of course failed to get the message and instead stared up at her with envy as she absently sat dangling her legs on a branch 30 meters above him. Once again Naruto placed his hands together to form a seal, ran towards his target, and fell down again after only taking five steps up the trunk.

Sakura hung her head and sighed in exasperation. They had been going at this for over two hours and still he had barely improved. Sakura was a brilliant student, but that didn�t usually make brilliant teachers for children who barely knew any ninja skills.

It had first surprised her that he could even manipulate chakra at all, even if she had to spend half an hour explaining it to him. Wasn�t he banned for learning any form of Ninjitsu? She supposed that it was worth admiring the boy for his determination at sticking at this for so long, and still having energy. Her stamina was pitiful.

Sakura clasped her first together in determination to avoid feeling disheartened. �Yosh your secrets are mine Uzumaki Naruto.� Though luck she had managed to corner him in the forest and with the promise of learning Ninjitsu, lure him into a conversational situation. If her tactics were this successful with Sasuke she would have had the boy wooed and begging at her feet by now.

After falling from the tree yet again and having to withstand Sakura showing off, Naruto�s patience was coming to an end. Part of him was overjoyed that another living person was willing to be in his presence. But years of harsh treatment made him suspicious of the pink haired girl�s motive, especially if she was the student of the Hokage who he was not on good terms with. �Are you sure this is how you do it!� He bellowed upwards.

Sakura narrowed her brow in frustration. �Of course! Do you honestly think I would waste this much time for a joke!�

�Honestly,� she muttered before slowly getting to her feet and descending back down the tree trunk. Children were so impatient. Judging from his hight she guessed him to be about 11 or so. He should show more respect to a senior. �If you can manipulate Chakra you should be able to do this. It�s easy,� well that part was a slight lie, from what her textbook claimed it was difficult even for an accomplished Gennin.

Naruto stared back up at the tree, and then to the marks he had etched with the use of Sakura�s kunai. He couldn�t help but feel slightly disheartened at his progress when this girl could walk up and down at snail�s pace. He had also witnessed other ninja within the village preforming the same type of technique, he had to master it.

Sakura jumped off to allow him to try for another attempt, and took a place sitting on a near by rock to examine his progress. She gave a crestfallen sigh every time he fell to the ground, and was beginning to suspect that it was impossible for him to learn anything at all. Maybe he was banned from learning ninjitsu because he drove too many teachers insane. She had waited long enough, it was interrogate Naruto time.

After ten minutes of pondering what to say and fiddling with her hair Sakura decided to start off with something simple. �They have your name in the history book you know,� she said absently.

Naruto�s ears pricked with interest for a split second before he shrugged and turned his attention back his tree. Ever so slowly he was developing the urge to go get an axe.

Her brow twitched with his lack of reaction but Sakura refused to give up. �You should really look and see for yourself, it�s in the biggest history book in the library,� she continued. �They have lots of books on Ninja techniques that you can look up.�

�I�m not allowed in the library,� Naruto muttered bitterly without looking away from his task.

�Or the book shops,� she suggested.

�I�m not allowed there either.�

If Sakura hadn�t been so determined in her investigation she would have been outweighed by a great feeling of pity for the boy who stood before her. But after a lifetime of being taught to hate Naruto and listening to the villagers express their greatest wish being his death, it would take a while for the full realisation of such a thing to sink in. Sakura also lacked subtle interview techniques.

�Sooo�.Do you go to the village much?�

Naruto stiffened, his days where lonely and quite, he was beginning to miss the silence that accompanied him everywhere. �If I can avoid it,� he mumbled.

�What do you do in your free time?�

�Stuff,� he growled.

�How long have you been out here in the woods?

�A while.�

�Why do you hang out here?�

�They don�t exactly welcome me into the village�

�Oh,� muttered Sakura as she hung her head in understanding before suddenly brightening up. �Where do you live?�

Naruto finally decided he�d had enough and couldn�t take it anymore, the girl was most likely sent here by Orochimaru to investigate and he refused to tell her anything. He�d relocated himself to get away from the fiendish Hokage, and he refused to have the bastard come out and disrupt his life any longer, even in the form of the pretty girl that stood before him. Enough was enough, he wasn�t a stupid little child anymore and he refused to fall for any tricks.

Dramatically he though the kunai down at his feet which startled Sakura and began to storm off. Once he was a fair distance away he turned back to yell at her. �I�ve had enough of your mocking and questioning, just go back to your stupid teacher and tell him to leave me alone!� he both yelled and spat. The look on her face made him instantly feel guilty, but he refused to feel regret for a spy of Orochimaru. And with that Naruto sped off out of sight at a speed that could rival the average Gennin.

Sakura stood there shocked for a moment unable to speak, trying to figure out what she had done wrong. Maybe the boy was after all a person who was incapable of association with other people. Maybe it really was a mistake to try and investigate him. He seemed so angry with her.

�He hate me too,� she thought to herself. Memories of her encounter with Sasuke after they became a team came to mind.

�Your annoying,� echoed Sasuke�s voice within her head, followed by the image of the boy walking off with his nose high in the air.

�Yes, he hates me, just like Sasuke,� and with that thought constantly repeating itself within her mind Sakura slowly made her way back to the village despite still being midday. Shoulders hunched and face blank for the entire journey.

She arrived home only to encounter one of Orochimaru�s messengers that she usually went out of her way to avoid, telling her to report to her teacher.

She trudged all the way up to the tower as though it were engulfed in a back cloud and eventually discovered the Hokage hidden behind piles of text books, sorting through paperwork at a rapid pace. He was obviously too busy to express any ill feelings towards her for avoiding him, which gave the impression that he probably didn�t care, or simply hadn�t noticed. With a click of his fingers Kabuto was sent in lugging a pile of tomes for her to study over the upcoming days. The older boy shooed her out of the office as soon as she accepted them, claiming that Orochimaru-sama did not need distractions.

It was only after walking out of the Hokage tower feeling as though she�d had a near death experience that Sakura finally glanced over the list she had been given. Surprisingly they all covered the subject of human anatomy.

And then it suddenly hit her.

Naruto had been the first person she�d ever met to openly insult their current Hokage.

---------<hr>

In the time since her last encounter with Naruto the boy had failed to make another appearance, nor did she attempt to search for him on the assumption the he held nothing but contempt for strangers. This left Sakura to continue out her boring and equally lonely secrete forest training. Fear also led her to study the books Orochimaru had assigned. They were defiantly interesting, but for what reason was she studying them. Did Orochimaru have a purpose for her?

Sakura decided long ago that having a purpose for Orochimaru insured she was going to live, and swore to try and learn each one cover to cover for the next time they met. Maybe if she impressed him with her brains he would overlook her progress in the way of Ninja skills. Ino�s team was the weakest when they were assigned into groups, but after catching sight of their training sessions and missions, they had even progressed further than her.

�Shit,� Sakura swore as her arm hit a branch. Currently she was going through a drill of running in amongst the forest trees. Unfortunately her mind kept wandering which lead to collision with overgrown foliage and small branches. For the past week she�d been torturing herself on a new fad diet that left very little energy for training. Despite hardly ever seeing her mother, the woman was constantly forcing her to eat more, but Sakura�s mental image of bulging out of her red ninja dress refused to relent. No boy was going to go for a fat Ninja especially Sasuke, and Ino was already thinner. She couldn�t lose to her rival no matter what.

And with that Sakura�s mind went into a frenzy of thoughts about weight lose, which were immediately brought to an end when her body met with the trunk of a camouflaged tree. The force was enough to knock her out and sent her unconscious body plummeting towards the forest undergrowth, which save her from breaking any limbs. To say that Sakura would probably kill herself training before Orochimaru got to her was a fair statement.

And so the student of the great Hokage lay there unconscious long after the sun had finally set and rain was beginning to fall, laying completely unnoticed by the many returning Ninja, and prone to insects that began to slowly munch away at the ends of her dress.

That was until a certain blonde haired ninja wannabe spotted her red dress and pink hair in the moonlight on his way home.

Naruto took one look at her current state and hung his head in shame. This girl was most defiantly going to end up killing herself.


-----------<hr>

I had to write a story for my local anime contest which is just added to my profile page. Feedback on that if you have the time would be really good. It�s an Inu-Yasha plot line parody. My friend liked it, but she seemed to like all the other sarcastic crap I wrote too.

In case you don�t know Danzou he appears in Naruto a fair way into part 2. He was Sarutobi�s rival for Hokage so he dislikes anyone connected to the third especially Tsunade. He attempts to contact Orochimaru and form a plan to over throw Tsunade, but his messenger choses to instead join the Naruto cause.

~*~ Omake, caused by Missq having writers block in the middle of the second part~*~


There was a rustle of pages as Naruto began absently flipping through his scrip for today, ever few minutes or so he would glace up at Sakura who was also reading her lines, or at the tree before him which he would be constantly falling from. �Nee Sakura,� he said while scratching the back of his head nervously. �This new me, is a bit�� he trailed off.

Sakura narrowed her brow in annoyance as he broke her concentration. �Just put up with it Naruto, I�m trying to study,� she growled before returning to her script. �Why on earth would this me be interested in that idiot,� she muttered under her breath.

See you next time if it ever arises, I know I sound stupid saying this after so many chapters but I�ve given up on so many stories that I refuse to take a chance anymore.

Missq

</body>
</html>