Naruto : Monsters

Her final skill lay in trap-making and it was here that her pranking experience came in handy, for what was a prank but a harmless trap? She took to it like a fish takes to water, and when she went to work on her traps it was like watching an entirely different person. 

The usual Naruto, the loudmouth with nigh endless energy was gone, replaced by someone with all the stillness and patience of stone. I had seen the girl remain perfectly still for hours as she watched over her traps, waiting for someone to spring it. She didn't move the entire time, didn't so much as twitch. It was almost scary to watch.

...

Once, a few years back when I was still a child – well, an even younger child - I had caught a cold, a bad one. I couldn't remember much of that time, just jumbled up fevered dreams and disjointed memories, but what I do clearly remember was waking up when my fever broke to find a half-exhausted, half-terrified Naruto standing vigil by my bedside.

She was standing so unnaturally still that I thought I was still dreaming. Later my mum told me she stayed by my side for the entire two days I was sick, refusing to budge no matter what, and didn't make so much as make a peep because she was afraid of disturbing me. 

But I only found out about that later, and at the time I was confused as hell when I found myself cradled by a crying Naruto who held me as if I was made from fragile glass.

And yet that very same girl would hop from foot to foot in impatience when waiting for a pizza to finish baking or would be driven up the walls whenever Kakashi was late as if she was a six-year-old on sugar high.

"That's because setting up a trap is different. This is this and that is that you can't compare the two."

"Why is it, Naruto, that I always seem to end up even more confused after your explanations than I ever was before? I swear it's like you're doing this on-", my head shot up as a chakra signature flared up not too far from here, moving towards us at an incredibly fast pace. 

"Well, guess who finally decided to show up." I pushed myself off the training post and landed softly on my feet. "Get ready, the test is about to begin."

Before Naruto had the chance to form a reply Kakashi appeared in the middle of the field with a flicker of Shunshin. He gave us a cheerful smile and waved when he caught sight of us. "Hey, kids." He began as he started walking towards us, "Good morning!"

"YOU'RE LATE!" Naruto yelled out while levelling her best glare at the man but it didn't seem to bother Kakashi much and he shrugged it off.

"Well, it seems that I am." Kakashi reached into his jacket and pulled out an alarm clock "But now that we're all here we can finally begin unless you guys need more time?" Naruto just snorted at the question while I shook my head. He glanced towards the silent Shikamaru who also shook his head.

"Good," Kakashi walked up to one of the training logs and placed the clock on top of it, "The alarm is set to ring precisely at noon, at which point the exam will end. Your objective is to retrieve this bell off me," Kakashi held up a bell by its string and jingled it.

"if none of you succeed in obtaining the bell within the time limit, you all fail and will be sent back to the Academy for another year. Succeed, then you all pass and we become a team. It is as simple as that."

Kakashi had been walking away from us while he spoke so when he finally stopped and turned to face us, there were over a dozen yards of space separating us. He brought the bell to his waist and tied it on his belt, giving it a light tug to make sure it was securely fastened. 

He gave each of us one final look, first to Naruto and me who were standing side by side before him, then to the oddly silent Shikamaru who hasn't risen from his seat by the post.

"There will be no retries; this will be your first and only chance. The range of the examination is this entire forest. I already cleared it with the other teams and the Hokage and had the place evacuated. So there is no need to worry about anyone getting caught up in the crossfire, you can fight to your heart's content. 

And one final thing," The air grew thick and heavy as Kakashi began leaking out killing intent, "fight to kill. All and any lethal attacks are permitted in this examination. I suggest you don't hesitate in using them."

"Trust me Sensei," Naruto cracked her knuckles and gave him a hungry grin, "you don't need to worry about me hesitating over hurting you."

Kakashi gave her one of his eye-smiles and the killing intent disappeared. "Good," He raised his hand up to the air. "The exam will officially begin-" He dropped his hand down, "-Now!"

..

..

"…Umm," Kakashi scratched his chin and looked around at the three of us who haven't moved a single step, "You know, this is the part where you're supposed to hide."

"But Sensei," Naruto purred out the words with relish, "we are hiding. You simply haven't realized it yet."

Kakashi narrowed his single eye at her as he pondered her words before it widened with comprehension. In a single fluent motion, Kakashi pulled out and threw a barrage of shuriken at us.

With a leap to my left, I avoided the attack, the others, however, didn't. Naruto just smirked as the missiles approached her, arms crossed confidently over her chest. 

Shikamaru too was grinning, and it was such a perfect mirror image of Naruto's that it looked unnatural on his face. The barrage of shuriken tore through them, digging into their flesh-

Then they both burst into puffs of smoke.

"…Shadow clones?" Kakashi muttered, "I see, so that's why Shikamaru wasn't moving."

"That's right. While Naruto is talented in the henge, she still hasn't quite gotten the knack of mimicking other people's body language pat down." I began to explain the set up in an attempt to stall for more time. 

Ninjas as a whole were a curious bunch, odds are if you began explaining the mechanics behind your plan or attack they would be willing to stop and listen, even if you were in a middle of a fight. 

"Or at least not well enough to fool you anyway. And it's not like Shikamaru could make a shadow clone himself so we had to make do. Luckily the guy had always been a rather lazy bastard so him being a layabout wasn't too much out of character."

Kakashi glanced around, "Hmm, so where are they?"

"Where else?" I shrugged, "They're somewhere in the forest setting up a trap of course." I didn't bother hiding the plan, it was obvious enough that he would have figured it out anyway. Besides, with this guy's personality, Kakashi would probably be all too happy to walk into the trap just so that he could rub it into our faces when he breaks out of it to prove how ineffective it was on him.

His single eye seemed to dance with amusement, "And you're here to stall me?"

"Well, that's the plan anyway. But personally, after all the shit you've been giving me over the years, I have no intention of following through with it," I dropped into the opening stance of the Gentle Fist, leading with my left foot. 

Both of my palms were open and facing Kakashi, my left hand straight before me while my right was pulled back to my waist. Flashing my Byakugan open, I smirked at the man.

"I mean, why should I just settle for stalling you when I have the much better option of kicking your ass and taking the bell off you myself?"

In contrast to me, Kakashi didn't bother taking a stance, he just stood there in his usual relaxed pose. "Maa~ and you think that you, Mr Rookie of the year," His voice took on a mocking tone as he said the title, "have what it takes to pull it off? Well then, please, go ahead and give it your best shot."

"With pleasure."

Taking a deep breath, I slowly exhaled and shut my eyes to help me focus. My awareness of the world around me disappeared as I turned my entire attention inward.

From the very first day I had been reincarnated into this world, I had been struggling with a problem. A question that haunted me during the entirety of my early years.

How was I supposed to win?

I knew that to accomplish my goals I needed to grow strong. Strong enough to defeat the greatest ninjas in history, the ones who stood at the top of the Shinobi world, the monsters known as S-Class.

But how was I supposed to do that?

...

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