Chapitre 21: Naruto : Monsters: Chapter 21
The hard part was making sure to only draw out the precise amount needed and nothing more. Too little and nothing will happen, too much and I'll end up wasting chakra.
Most people didn't really care if they wasted a little bit of chakra but to me the very thought was sacrilegious. It may have been to my experiences as a toddler but I couldn't imagine letting a single drop go to waste.
...
I had first managed to access my chakra when I was little more than a babe, and I couldn't begin to describe how little of it I had back then. At times it felt that I had barely begun to draw on my meagre supplies before it emptied out.
I had been forced to learn to ration my chakra, to use as little as possible without wasting so much as a single drop. For every drop of chakra was precious, something that I couldn't afford to waste.
Those lessons that I learned long ago, at a time where I could neither talk nor walk, serve me well now.
You only needed a minuscule amount of chakra to activate the paper, less than a thimble full, and I used exactly that.
Pulling on my chakra supply I drew out a tiny amount, so little that even I could barely sense, before shaping it into a thin thread and weaving it up my arm, thorough my hand and out of my fingers to pierce the chakra paper with all the precision of threading a needle.
Not a drop was wasted. Chakra control on a level that it had been described as near perfect more than once. Even among Hyuugas, who were famed for their control, mine was remarkable.
The paper crumpled between my fingers, confirming what I had already known.
"It crinkled," Naruto looked fascinated by the paper's transformation, "That means lightning, right?"
"Right." I nodded and knocked my knuckles on the medical textbook I had been studying. "Every element has its own set of advantages, it's up to you to figure out what they are and how to use them. That's why I've been studying medicine, to work with my affinity."
"Hmm, so that's why you've been reading those books so much." She frowned down at the textbook in question, "So you want to become a medical-nin?"
I smiled and shook my head, "No, I don't." Before she had the chance to ask me anything I nodded towards the remaining strip of chakra paper in her hand. "Are you ever going to use that thing or not?"
"Ah! Right, it's my turn." Straightening up in her seat, Naruto held the paper in both of her hands before shutting her eyes to concentrate. Her chest expanded as she took a long deep breath then as she slowly exhaled the air out called upon her chakra.
A wave of blue light erupted out of her, so dense that it was visible to the naked eye even without the Byakugan. It swirled around, burning in the air like liquid fire, fighting her every step of the way as she tried to guide it towards the paper in her hands.
If calling on chakra was like drawing water from a well to me, then for Naruto it was like opening the gates of a damn. She never needed to coax it out, her chakra was all too willing to come gushing out on its own.
Where normal people needed to pull on their chakra, Naruto needed to push it back or else she would be overwhelmed by it.
So instead of using just the minimum amount of chakra she needed, nothing more than a drop, she had called forth flood instead.
To be entirely fair, chakra control of that level wasn't an easy feat for anyone let alone for someone with Naruto's unique set of circumstances. As far as I knew I was the only one in our age group that could manage chakra control anywhere near that precise.
Naruto visibly struggled for several seconds, literally fighting to hold back her own power, and barely managed to succeed. With a force of will, she reigned in her chakra and forced it up her hands. The paper she held was filled with chakra, surrounded by it, flooded by it, before it-
"It split?" Naruto blinked owlishly at the strip of paper that was cut cleanly in two before turning to me, "That means its wind right?"
"Yup," I nodded, feeling a sense of satisfaction build up in me at the sight of it, "it's wind alright." This only helped to confirm that my theory was right. That Naruto had the same element as the manga was proof that this really was the same universe.
Then the chakra paper burst into flames.
"Wha-Ouch!" Naruto yelped and dropped the flaming paper before sticking her singed fingers in her mouth. She glared down at the chakra paper, which had already burned itself out so that nothing but ash and cinder remained. "What was that?"
I just stared dumbly at what remained of the paper, which had suffered the same fate as all the theories I had about this world, namely, burst into flames and burned down to ashes.
No, no this was wrong. This wasn't supposed to happen. Naruto only had a wind affinity in the manga, not fire. If she had more than one then that meant…did, did this mean my theories were wrong?
"Wait," Naruto blinked as the same realization of her chakra hit her as well, "It burst into flame after it was cut in two. But that means…" I watched as a large shit-eating grin slowly made its way up to her face. "That means I have not one but two chakra affinities. Fire and wind."
Naruto jumped off her seat and stomped one foot on her desk. "Ha! You hear that Sasuke-teme? I got two affinities!" She yelled out, "Beat that Teme!"
A piece of white chalk sailed through the air and slammed into Naruto's forehead with so much force that it immediately crumbled into dust on impact, knocking her off the table and onto the ground.
"Naruto! Quiet down!" Iruka ordered from the front of the class, bouncing a second piece of chalk up and down in his hand. "First of all Sasuke isn't even here today so he can't hear you. Second, you don't have two affinities."
What! My eyes shot toward Iruka as a flicker of hope reignited in me.
"What!" Naruto, equally as surprised as I was, leapt back up onto her feet, "But-but Iruka-sensei, I saw the paper get cut in two before it caught on fire, I swear! I'm not lying."
"I'm not accusing you of lying Naruto, just misinterpreting the results," Iruka replied soothingly. "You're right that your affinity is wind, but you're wrong about having a fire affinity. If you'd been paying attention during class, you'd know that chakra paper is highly sensitive to chakra.
So much so that it has the tendency to ignite when too much chakra is poured through it." He pointed to the pile of ash on her desk. "Just like what happened to you. Which was why I warned everyone when I handed the strips out to use only a little bit of chakra."
Oh, thank god for Iruka-sensei, the greatest teacher in this universe. Damn it Naruto, don't scare me like that! You almost gave me a heart attack.
"A-ahaha," Naruto let out an awkward laugh as she realized her mistake, "Oops?"
Iruka just sighed and pointed at her desk, "Just sit down and try to pay better attention from now on."
"You betcha Iruka-sensei." Naruto quickly agreed and dropped back on into her seat. The moment Iruka looked away however, Naruto quickly dropped her smile and glared at an empty seat near the front of the class. "That Sasuke-teme, it's not fair. Why does he get to ditch class today?"
I turned my eyes to the girl, "You mean you haven't heard?"
Naruto just looked perplexed and cocked her head at me. "Heard what?"
It took me just a second to tell that she was being honest. Naruto never could lie to me. It was her eyes; they always showed what she was thinking.
"Nothing," picking up my book, I flipped it open and began reading, more for an excuse to drop the topic than anything. "If you don't know then it's fine. You'll hear out about it sooner or later anyway."
"Eh, that only makes me want to know even more now. Hikaru don't be like that. Come on, please, I really want to know. Hikaru? Hey, Hikaru-" Naruto was blasted backwards off her seat as another piece of chalk slammed into her head with all the precision of a sniper's bullet.
"Naruto! What did I just say about paying attention in class?"
"Sorry, Iruka-sensei." Naruto shot back into her seat almost as fast as she had fallen off, sitting up straight and facing ahead as she paid rapt attention to class, a white streak on her forehead.
It was at moments like this that I truly appreciated Iruka. He was probably the only person other than my mother and me that could reign Naruto in.
With the lesson resuming and Naruto's focus off me, I allowed myself to relax a bit and turned my thoughts back on the missing Uchiha.
Of course, Sasuke wasn't here. There was no way he could be, not after what happened. I don't think there was anyone in the village that hasn't heard by now. Well, except for Naruto.
I really shouldn't have been surprised by that. Other than my family, Iruka and a couple of classmates, Naruto didn't really have anyone to talk to besides me. And since I didn't tell her, odds were no one else had.
And I wasn't about to tell her why Sasuke was missing. She was only eight years old, there were some things she was better off not knowing. This was one of them.
The Uchiha Clan Massacre had happened last night.
Right now Sasuke was probably lying in some hospitable bed, trying to sleep off the effects of Tsukuyomi where he had been forced to watch his brother murder his entire family over and over again.
No, Naruto didn't need to know anything about that.
The news had just started to trickle in when I woke up this morning and by the time I left the entire compound had been in an uproar over it. No one knew exactly what had happened, just bits and pieces of conflicting information that usually brought up more questions than it answered. But it was enough for me to puzzle out the truth. By sundown, no doubt the entire village will know too.
Which was why I had to act, now, before I let this chance slip me by.
With every passing hour, more news would spread further and further, driving every ninja in the village to arms. The Hokage would have no choice but to mobilize his forces and send every man he had available to either hunt Itachi down or to scour the ruins of the Uchiha compound for information.
And with the Uchiha Clan being no more, he was even more shorthanded than he had already been.
This meant that he had to pull ninjas away from less critical duties to help aid in the hunt. Ninja on guard duty would be among those called upon, ninjas like the ones that are supposed to be protecting Naruto.
There wasn't a single Anbu guarding Naruto this morning. I checked. For the last couple of years, there had always been one guard shadowing Naruto wherever she went but not today. Today, they were all gone.
It made sense. As important as Naruto was she wasn't in any real danger while she remained in the village. I've been with Naruto for two years now and I don't think there has been a single occasion where the guards needed to act.
With the village going into total lockdown, if it hasn't already, there was even less of a chance of that happening. No, the only danger that anyone was afraid of was the one outside the walls, where Uchiha Itachi was currently roaming free.
This presented me with a chance. A once in a lifetime opportunity.
Right now there were less shinobi in the village than there has ever been. Not in my lifetime at least. With the vast majority of them on the manhunt, it meant that there were fewer eyes in the village watching. Less chance of anyone catching me.
It was time.
I had been planning for this day, literally since the day I was born. I had never once forgotten my goal, my ambition. All of my hard work and planning had been for that one single purpose. And tonight, I will be taking my very step towards achieving my goal.
All of the pieces were in place. For better or for worse, the time has come.
It was time to act.
Once the morning lessons had ended and recess started I nudged Naruto. "Hey, Naruto."
"Hmm?"
"Change of plans. Looks like I'm not going to be able to make it for the sleepover at your place tonight. I'm going to need you to cover for me."
...
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