My Ninja Way | Naruto | DISCONTINUED

Chapter 3

My Ninja Way

"Nindo"

        Nori let out a small squeal in surprise when she was suddenly lifted from the ground, a rope wrapped around her ankle. She stared ahead at everything upside down, swinging side to side. They were doing a survival exercise to see if they would actually become genin. She felt her Konoha head band slip from her kunai pouch that was connected to her waist.

        Her eyes widened seeing the black fabric and a flash of metal as the material fluttered past her. She reached out to grab it but it slipped through her fingers and hit the ground shortly after. She stared at it blankly. "How come you don't wear it?"

        Startled, she looked up and found Kakashi crouching on the branch she was hanging from. She quickly glanced across the clearing seeing another Kakashi talking to Naruto who was also hanging from a rope tied around a branch. Oh, replacement jutsu. She silently looked back up at Kakashi before answering. "It's not my place to wear it." She said.

        Before Kakashi could answer Nori heard the sound of a small puff and instantly knew that his replacement was hit with some sort of weapon. By the time she turned her head back to Kakashi from watching Sasuke run from his place in the bushes, her sensei was gone.

        She stared at the rope around her ankle. Now, what to do about this...

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        Nori followed Sakura, knowing that if she called out her name then Kakashi would hear them. She blinked when Sakura suddenly stopped not to far in front of her, before she passed out. Nori's eyes widened and she flew forward bursting out from the brushes into a clearing.

        She stumbled forward, crashing into the dirt when she tripped over Sakura's foot. "Ow..." She sighed quietly.

        "Nori."

        Nori turned and gulped when she saw Sasuke buried in the ground so that only his head showed. Is this why Sakura fainted? Then Nori realized that it was just her and the Uchiha. "Y-Yes?" She asked nervously.

        "Help me out of here." He said. After a few seconds Nori crawled over to him nervously, averting her eyes when she started to slowly take away the dirt from around his neck. Suddenly, he hissed. "Hurry up, why are you going so slow?!"

        Nori flinched and she heard Sasuke gasp in surprise. She stumbled backwards when she found that the ground around Sasuke was frozen, her being the cause once again. "I-I'm so sorry." She stuttered out.

        Sasuke closed his eyes and sighed lightly. "What ever, I'll do it myself. Just go." He said.

        Nori stood on her feet shakily. "S-Sorry." She mumbled before running in the direction she came from. After a minute she came back to the clearing and saw a flash of orange. Naruto! Relief flowed through her she started running towards him, not wanting to be alone.

        Her vision become disoriented and she let out a small squeak. Her head spun wildly when she found herself hanging upside down, again.

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        Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura all sat side by side. Well, Naruto was tied to the stump. Sakura glanced to the side, "uh, sensei. What about Nori?" She asked lightly. All four heads turned to the side, staring at Nori who was hanging upside down by the rope tied around her ankle. Her face turning light pink when their attention was suddenly on her.

        "Oh, yeah." Kakashi said and started walking towards her. Once he was in front of her he pulled out a kunai and quickly slashed the rope. Nori flew towards the ground, easily landing on her feet. But her world started spinning once more as she felt light headed and her legs gave out. Kakashi's hands hooked under her armpits and he pulled her to stand up. "Up you go." He said, placing a hand on her head.

        Sakura's eye twitched. "Is it just me, or does Kakashi-sensei favor Nori?" She asked.

        Naruto sweat dropped. "Well, he did say he hated us. Not her."

        Sasuke closed his eyes. Idiots, they're all idiots.

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        Nori leaned forward slightly, her eyes reading as many names as she could on the KIA stone. They all had just been lectured about the real reason behind this exercise and they were now staring at the stone. Noboru. Nori's eyes widened slightly and she leaned forward even more, her hand reaching out to let her fingers trace over the name.

        Noboru Yukiji

        That wasn't the only one. Confusion set in her as she trailed her finger over all the names that were all placed in a line. Noboru Keiyuki. Noboru Sayuki. Noboru Miyuki. Noboru Shiroyuki. Noboru Sakayuki. Her eyes grew wide. "S-Sensei..." She called out in disbelief. The others all stared at her, going silent as they watched her fingers trail over the names on stone. Finally, she turned around looking like she was on the verge of tears. "My... my clan members..." She started slowly.

        Kakashi frowned. "Did you know them?" He asked and Nori shook her head lightly, turning back to read the names of her clan members. Suddenly feeling sad, these were people she could have possibly known. People she could have bonded with. She pushed aside that problem before finally asking.

        "...what are they doing on here?" She asked lightly. "My clan... it's not apart of Konoha. So why..." She said.

        "Actually, Nori. The Noboru clan is a part of Konoha." Nori turned to look at him in surprise.

        "B-But Naruyuki-sama said..."

        Kakashi sighed. "So that's how the Noboru clan sees it now." He said. "Your clan was part of Konoha years ago, this Naruyuki you speak of, his father was one of higher ups in the village and when he caught whiff that the Uchiha clan was massacred he was afraid a large fight would break out in Konoha, so he picked up his clan and left."

        Nori's body went stiff. Uchiha clan was massacred? Sasuke had also went still. Nori sighed. "So we ran away." Nori said, voicing Sasuke's exact thoughts causing him to look up in slight surprise. Her hand fell from the stone slowly. "... and to think my clan mentions nothing of this shameful decision now."

        So Nori wasn't as close with her clan as everyone had thought.

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        "Nori, if you don't mind me asking, what's the deal with you and your clan?" Sakura asked.

       The others also seemed to pipe up in interest as Nori put down her ramen bowl softly. "It's nothing too serious. It's just... my clan doesn't believe in such things as goals and dreams in life. Something we learned when we were young was that we fought because it was our duty, if someone had power then it should be used." She said. "I... don't like that way of thinking. So I left." She said.

        Naruto stared at her.  A clan where their dreams didn't matter. Yet, here his dreams were the only thing he had. How can people in the world be so different?

        Naruto grinned, throwing an arm around Nori causing her to let out a small yelp. "Well! You're not with your clan anymore, so you can dream as much as you want!" He laughed as Nori blinked in shock. "We just became official genin, you have lots of time to find your ninja way!"

        Thank you, she wanted to say but the words wouldn't come out as she was tossed around lightly when Naruto started arguing with Sasuke, his arm still hooked around her neck.

        She smiled softly. Her ninja way, huh?