Naruto Uzumaki. Older, wiser, and a lot more talented. Also a bit fragile. I'll have to tone it down a LOT until he's more stable. Still, the Old Man is giving me this shot and HE has faith in me. I'm sure as Zandru's Hell Of Boiling Blood not going to let him down after all he's done for me. Ramen-boy also detected me damn close to instantly when I arrived.
Ah. The 'Rookie Of The Year' figured something out. Maybe because Ramen-boy did, but maybe not. So now he's looking around, knowing something is off or out-of-place. Good though, he's shifted so that he can instantly respond to the threat but looks mainly bored.
Meanwhile, the kunoichi hasn't noticed and is still chattering about how 'awesome' the Uchiha was during the test. And she's missing entirely that the boy she's talking to is mildly annoyed and otherwise not paying attention. Okay, it's decided. SHE gets the majority of my personal attention to bring her up to speed.
A quick shunshin brought her the rest of the way into the meeting spot. "Hello, dirtbags. I'm your acting temporary sensei. Anko Mitarashi. I will accept the terms 'Anko-sensei', 'Sensei', or if you are very very good - 'Oneechan.' Now, we are going to start with a light workout before we go after some mind-numbingly boring and pointless D-Rank Mission. During that time I may throw the occasional kunai or shuriken at you - nothing personal but I find pain is a great motivator and that you all probably need to work on your 'avoiding sudden attacks' skills."
The three genin blinked at her for a moment.
"Now, moving right along," said Anko. "You are doing a lap around Konoha, not including Training Ground 44 or 49. Whoever gets last place gets extra endurance training. You may begin NOW."
"B-bu-but," began Sakura as all sorts of questions clamored within her.
"Well, it looks like ONE of you needs to learn how to listen," mused Anko aloud.
"Eh?" asked Sakura, looking around quickly and realizing that Naruto and Sasuke were already gone. And that there was a kunai quivereing at her feet. "EH?!"
"Wow, you're braver than I thought with that highly venomous snake at your feet," said Anko.
"Snake? Why'd you call it a..." Sakura looked down to find the kunai was no longer there. Some sort of snake rearing back and spreading its hood WAS. "YAHH!"
THUD!
The python sighed and dropped his henge. "I don't think ssshe wasss quite ready for thisss missstress."
"No joke," said Anko. "Man, have I got my work cut out for me."
"Well, if you want, we can always play good sssnake/bad sssnake?" asked the python.
"I prefer bad snake/bad snake," said Anko. "You know that by now, Monty."
Sakura slowly opened her eyes. Blue skies, white clouds. An odd weight on her chest.
"Waking at last? The ressst of your team hass already made two lapsss."
Sakura slowly looked down. There was a snake on her chest. "Uhm." Sakura carefully moved her head, tracing the length of the serpent. Apparently the serpent in question was coiled up to completely surround her and just a small portion of it was on her chest. "Uhm."
"Anko-sensei is training the boysss," said the serpent, apparently trying not to hiss. "Are you feeling okay now?"
"Other than having a big snake on me, okay," said Sakura, trying to go through her checklist of what to do when a giant talking snake had you in its coils.
"Oh good, good," said the snake. "My name is Monty, by the way. My main job isss jokesss, puns, riddles, cyphers. Unfortunately, nobody ever sssummons me for that sort of thing."
"Oh, so what are you normally summoned for?" asked Sakura, trying to reach for a kunai.
"You're lucky, Sssakura-chan," said the snake. "You get genjutsu-resistance lesssons."
"What do you -" began Sakura as the snake reared up and then looked her in the eye. At which point everything went black.
"And now you get to run while carrying me," said Monty. "Why can't anyone sssummon me for a ssskit or comedy routine?"
"Ungh," said Sakura. "Wha?" Why can't I move and why does everything HURT?!
"Hang on," said Naruto's voice.
"Ssshe should be fine, sss."
"If there's a muscle group that hasn't been strained to its limit, it's in the minority," said Naruto's voice. "Kuregata."
[Visfarank, Healing type.]
Sakura found the sensation of calloused hands on her body to be very unpleasant at first, then the warmth and massaging began penetrating the locked muscles and felt GOOD. "What?"
"Monty here was left in charge of your training while Anko-sensei chased us around Konoha, chucking kunai and senbon at us to test our speed and avoidance skills," said Naruto's voice.
"Crazy snake lady," opined Sasuke, sounding incredibly tired.
Naruto didn't dispute that. He didn't reply at all, in fact, merely concentrated on working muscle groups in Sakura's arms and legs. Then back and neck.
"Ungh," said Sasuke. "What exactly are you doing?"
"Visfarank is a jutsu that charges your hands with chakra," explained Naruto. "Kuragata picked it up somewhere over the centuries and taught it to me. It's mainly used to charge your fists with energy so that you can hit creatures that are at least partially intangible. You can also charge it with healing chakra to do what I'm doing now."
"Hmmm," hmmmed Sasuke, sounding intrigued.
"Generally I prefer attacking from a distance, but that's not always possible," said Naruto conversationally.
"Can you teach othersss thisss? It soundsss potentially useful and a possible choice for a team'sss signature jutsu," came the voice of that snake from earlier.
"Maybe," said Naruto thoughtfully. "Kuregata? Elemental affinities for my team?"
[Primary. Sasuke - Fire. Sakura - Earth. Monty - Earth.]
"I'm a sssummonss and a trainer, not a member of the team," protested Monty.
"I..." Sakura felt that a few minutes more of this massage would reduce her to a puddle of goo. As she shrugged off Naruto and struggled to get up, something else penetrated though. "WHAT THE HELL AM I WEARING?!"
"I rarely get the chance to play dressss up," said Monty. "All part of your training, ssss."
"So part of the genjutsu resistance training is so that she can avoid being dressed and made up like some life-size doll?" asked Sasuke.
"Yesss, precisely," said Monty, the snake sounding pleased. "The public singing and dancing and comedy skitsss are extra incentive."
"I did what?!" asked Sakura, wondering if she could find a paper bag and put it over her head. Or spontaneously master some earth-jutsu that allowed her to sink into the ground without trace.
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(Posted Tue, 03 Apr 2012 17:14)
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