Prologue: The Three Children from the End of Days.
Konoha
Walking through the compound of the Sarutobi clan the son of the Sandaime Hokage, Asuma Sarutobi was making his way to one of the buildings closer to the outer edge of the compound. Who was he looking for you may ask? He was looking for his adopted little brother of course.
Thinking back to when he found him several months back he wondered if his brother, and the two others he was found with were meant for great things?
Considering those three were around the same age as the youngest children of many of Konoha's clans and the Jinchuriki of the Kyubi he came to a conclusion, it will be interesting when they all grow old enough to attend the academy.
'I wonder if I should try to be a Jonin-sensei for their year?' he mused.
HHHHHHH
*Flashback to 6 Months Ago*
"Hokage-sama!" a man shouted as he burst into the office of the Sandaime Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi.
Who was also having a heated argument with his son at the time, and was now shooting all his irritation at the poor shinobi that came bursting in. Needless to say the man was scared stiff but after several seconds his training kicked in when he remembered why he burst into the office in the first place.
"I have urgent news hokage-sama," he said.
"Report," replied the hokage, having now calmed down. His son, Asuma, decided to stick around as this seemed important.
"Some merchants that just arrived reported a loud sound and a bright flash of light around a 15 minute horse ride away from the village, they said it sounded like an explosion," he quickly reported.
"Hm," Hiruzen grunted in response as he contemplated the issue. While it had been around four years since the attack of the Kyubi, the damage was extensive and while the business and residential areas have been fully repaired the village's defenses and military buildings were still not fully repaired.
'Is this an attack? But why would they wait so long after the Kyubi's attack? Why let us build strength? No, this isn't an attack but it should be investigated,' he decided.
After motioning for the intruding shinobi to leave he motioned for the four men and women he knew were hiding in the shadows of his office. They were from Konoha's ANBU corps and they were not just any ANBU operatives either; they were Team Ro, his own personal team and the best of the best.
"Orders, Hokage-sama?" asked Dog, that wasn't his real name of course, all ANBU operatives' identities are classified secrets and are never referred to by their real names while wearing their iconic and feared porcelain animal masks that matches their codename. Dog is the current leader of Team Ro, he wore the standard Konoha ANBU uniform of black shinobi pants, sleeveless black shirt, grey flak jacket with a ninjato strapped to the back, black elbow length gloves with grey forearm guards and black sandals. Dog also has white spiky hair, differentiating him from the rest of the team.
"Dog take Cat and get the location of the presumed explosion from the merchant and scout the area immediately. Act in whatever way you deem appropriate once you arrive there, I will send reinforcements," ordered the Hokage and Dog and Cat, a female with long violet hair wearing a cat mask in standard ANBU uniform and a katana instead of a ninjato, body flickered out of the office.
"Asuma," said the Hokage as he turned to his son, "we will continue this discussion later, take your team and get them prepared, and briefed. I want you following after them ASAP."
"Of course, Hokage-sama," his son replied as he too body flickered out of the office. The room empty, aside from the rest of Team Ro who have already blended back into the shadows. The Hokage let out a weary sigh, sometime he really felt like he was getting too old for his job.
*Flashback End*
HHHHHHH
Thinking back to what he found he couldn't help but wonder how those three children ended up in the middle of a crater in the middle of the forest.
'Well at least they were safe,' he thought to himself.
As he reached the building he was walking to he gave the pair of ANBU guards a quick nod and they opened the door for him. The building he entered was a medium sized house in the Sarutobi clan's compound; it had two floors with the bedrooms on the second floor and a relatively large yard. As he stepped inside he decided to announce his entry, his little brother was a polite kid and he was always sure to return the favor.
"Excuse the intrusion, it's Asuma!" He called out. He knew everyone inside knew that someone entered the moment he stepped foot into the entry way, the kids inside are surprisingly sharp and their ANBU security are obviously no slouches.
Walking into the living room he couldn't help but smile at the site of the three four year old kids inside.
He could see why the female ANBU operatives tended to volunteer for positions in their security detail, the three kids tended to end up in adorable positions when relaxing together.
The first was sitting on the floor and leaning against the sofa was his brown haired blue eyed adopted little brother, Shinji Ikari Sarutobi, wearing a purple shirt and green pajamas with a pair of earphones on his head as he enjoyed his music with his eyes closed. On his right and leaning on him with her head on his shoulder was a girl with pale skin, bright red eyes and light blue shoulder length hair and wearing a white shirt and blue pajamas while reading a book, the quiet Rei Ayanimi. The last one was on Shinji's left and also leaning on him with her head on his shoulder, she had flawless light skin with long fiery orange hair that reached halfway down her back and sporting a bright red dress while lazily watching TV, the usually loud Asuka Langley Soryu.
As he walked in the two girls noticed him as Asuka gave him a smile and a wave while Rei, her usual stoic self, looked up from her book to look at him and went back to reading. He gave couldn't help shaking his head in amusement at the blue haired girl's behavior as he waved at the kids, he knew she wasn't being rude. He wasn't offended by Shinji seemingly ignoring him either, the kid loved his music and he tended to tune everyone but his two female companions out when he really got into it.
He'd really gotten to know the three in the several months they've lived together (well in the same compound, not house) ever since his father decided to adopt Shinji after they were recovered from the wilderness all those months ago. For one he knew they were extremely close, when Dog and Cat found them Rei was exhausted for some reason and when confronted by two ANBU the other two children stepped in front to defend her.
That impressed Dog and Cat a lot, the only fear they said they saw in those children's eyes were out of concern for their companion. Hell they've been inseparable ever since, it was joked that they only needed one ANBU bodyguard to follow them because of that.
Of course that wasn't the case, the kids were young and obviously of interest to the Hokage and with Konoha still rebuilding from the Kyubi they were vulnerable. As a result each had an ANBU bodyguard whenever they left the house.
Second they didn't know how they got there exactly, or so they said.
Third they did not like talking about their past. All they got was that all three were orphans and from the look of abject horror on their faces, well Shinji and Asuka's faces, as they were recalling their past...well nobody decided to press the kids.
Fourth, and most amusing to the females who've met the three, was that the two girls obviously had feelings for the boy. He couldn't help but chuckle when he remembered after his old man had offered to adopt the three Shinji had happily jumped at the chance while Asuka, as red as her current dress, declined as she pointed out she wouldn't be able to do 'certain things' in the future while steeling glances at Shinji, Rei just nodded at her statement.
Fifth was that they were independent kids, case-in-point the fact that they live in their own house in the clan compound.
As he walked in and laid down on the empty couch, gently as to not disturb the kid's in their comfortable position, he decided to just waste some hours and enjoy some TV with the kids. As he relaxed he looked around the room and frowned.
The living room was a mess.
His mom is gonna kill him.
He really wished he hadn't agreed to check up on the kids whenever his mom or old man are too busy, Asuka seemed to really enjoy seeing him get a verbal lashing whenever his mother blamed any negative behavior the kids showed on him. As he looked around the room he noticed something.
'It's all shinobi related,' he thought to himself. And it was true, the reason the room was messy was because of all the shinobi related things lying around. Scrolls and books on the basics of ninjutsu, taijutsu, kenjutsu and general training manuals were the majority of it all. He also noticed what Rei was reading was a book on traps. The rest was a small pile of Shinji's scrolls on the basics of fuinjutsu, bottles of ink and paper (some were blank while some had already been used for practice) and…a lot of origami for some reason.
'They'll be great Konoha shinobi, I know it…although I have no clue why Shinji loves origami so much,' he thought as he drifted to sleep.
HHHHHHH
"Good night Sarutobi-san"
"G'night Asuma-san!"
"Good night nii-san"
The three children said as the elder Sarutobi left.
As Rei closed the door Shinji went back to go finish cooking their dinner while Asuka set the table. Fifteen minutes later their meal was sprawled on the table and the three children were enjoying their dinner.
"Always improving Baka," Asuka commented as she ate her food. Shinji just rolled his eyes at her weird way of complimenting him.
'How could I have never realized it in our old world? Asuka is a tsundere,' he mused to himself with a smile.
"I agree with Asuka, this is delicious Shinji-kun," Rei commented.
"Thank you, Rei-chan," he replied with a smile.
The atmosphere was warm and relaxed, a far cry from the tension and stress they all knew too well in the closing months of the Angel War from their old world. They were all just glad to be together, while they all agreed come to this new world once Rei mentioned she could take them to another world with the power she gained when she became whole as Lilith during Impact. Although they did wait until Rei had said the first humans would be returning from the ocean of LCL soon before they left, as being partly responsible for it Shinji had felt he had to watch over the Earth until then.
But in the end they just wanted to be away from their old world, from the nightmares of their traumas and the pain of piloting Eva. They weren't stupid either, they knew they would be wanted as either criminals partly responsible for Impact or because they have experience piloting Eva once humanity had rebuilt itself. No they did not want that.
So Rei/Lilith transported them to this new world.
Once they woke up and saw each other they were happy. While they fought and hurt each other, they were the only ones who could understand each other. They fought alongside each other, bled together and hurt together.
Hell they've seen all of each other during Third Impact. They saw each other's memories and pain and they understood each other on a level most humans would think impossible. And once you understood something on that fundamental level how could you hate it?
With that their bond was stronger than ever.
Together they could do anything, together they could slay even the Angels themselves.
Granted Asuka is still the spitfire she always was but they knew better than to take all of what she says at face value.
But now they were not fighting Angels, now their objective was desert.
"Mmmm!" Asuka squealed as she tried the cake Shinji had made. 'Gott im Himmel! His cooking wasn't this good before! Must have gotten some chefs' memories during Impact...oh yeah, good cake Baka!'
Shinji on his part just enjoyed the bliss on Asuka's face before turning to Rei and asking what she thought about his experiment.
"I think this is a problem Shinji-kun," she said in her monotone voice.
"What?" he asked, this also got Asuka's attention.
"I believe I may gain weight in the future, stopping myself is proving…difficult," she said as she wolfed down cake.
"Have some self-control Wondergirl!" Asuka chided. And people said she had no self-control.
HHHHHHH
Currently the kids were out in the yard and enjoying the good weather.
*Thunk!* *Thunk!* *Thunk!*
And the third and last kunai embeds itself into the target the children have finished their competition.
"NOOooooo!" Screamed a young red head while Shinji just let out a sigh of relief that he wasn't the one to lose their little contest this time, Asuka didn't hold back when that happened.
Now some people may be wondering what they were doing? It was a game of Asuka's creation, it was simple really. They would compete in a kunai throwing contest, each would get one throw and the one furthest from the bull's-eye would be the, in Asuka's words the lackey of the other two, hence her frustration and Shinji's relief.
Rei just gave a small nod, she got the bull's-eye, not surprising to anyone, the girl was surprisingly good at ranged combat…well surprising for everyone but Shinji and Asuka. Rei had been the unofficial sniper amongst the Eva pilots, out of the other two only Shinji had used a sniper weapon once and that was the positron canon during the battle with Ramiel.
"Alright Asuka, you know what to do, chop chop!" Ordered Shinji as he sat down at the picnic table, it was covered in blank scrolls and ink bottles so he could practice writing fuinjutsu while enjoying the weather, granted he knew without knowing how to use chakra he was just doing fancy calligraphy but his calligraphy was crap and needed improvement anyway.
"I know Baka-Shinji," grumbled Asuka. While she didn't like losing she was happy that Shinji only really asked for a few things when he won and none of them were particularly difficult. And when he was sitting up practicing fuinjutsu, currently he was practicing making storage scrolls, that only meant one thing.
Shoulder massage.
And with an obvious blush the redhead made her way behind her friend and went to work. And even though she was behind him she could practically see his smug grin, he had really come to enjoy teasing her from time to time in recent months.
Rei couldn't help but give a small smile at the sight of her two fellow former pilots, Shinji had come to be more willing to stand up for himself ever since coming to this new world and even though Asuka often voices her feelings on his teasing both girls knew it was a good sign. Granted he was still quiet and fairly shy outside of their little group but it was a start.
Yugao Uzuki, also known as Cat when on duty as an ANBU, couldn't help but shake her head in amusement as she watched the children. She had made it a point to check up on them ever since Dog and her found them. She had grown fond of all three of them and they of her, with the children viewing her as an older sister figure.
And she viewed them the same way.
Rei was the quiet baby sister. She seemed to be always curious, quietly observing the people around her. She was shy, quiet and stoic all the time. She was also proving to be really good at projectile weapons, as her constant victories show.
Asuka was the undeniable spitfire of the trio. She was almost Rei's opposite, she was loud and opinionated and did not shy away from letting her opinion be heard. She had also taken a great interest in taijutsu and she had become very good for her age, she doubted she needed to worry about bullies when she starts going to the Academy.
Shinji she had jokingly labeled the Casanova, obviously capturing the heart of his two housemates. He was also the trio's heart, always making an effort to support the quiet Rei and calm the fiery Asuka. He was also the one she had spent the most time with by far as he had great talent and interest in kenjutsu.
What she loved about them the most though was their group dynamic, they were protective of each other in the extreme; that includes Asuka and Rei over each other which surprised her as she would have thought they would be more competitive over Shinji's attention, which she had rarely seen them do. They seemed to have a sixth sense in knowing what the others want to do in the few group practice fights she had had with them as well, and as a result she looked forward to teaching them how to mold and use chakra. Shinji had started practicing fuinjutsu and she was greatly interested how good he would be once he could use his chakra and practice the art proper. The ANBU who had met the three also had a betting pool going if Asuka would have an affinity for fire or not, and needless to say most people bet 'yes.'
They were also prone to being adorable when together but that was just a side benefit and not the main reason she liked to be around them…really.
That would be silly.
HHHHHHH
Now the children were resting on the roof of their home, it had been a year now since they had come to this world and had finally started basic ninjutsu and genjutsu training from Yugao, granted she could only teach them on some of her rare off duty days. And even then she had her own life to live, she had her family and friends and boyfriend, so most of their training tended to be with each other.
Although sometimes Asuma would drop to help them. Kakashi Hatake, also known as Dog when working as an ANBU also dropped by sometimes but all he would do was say hello and then leave. Curiously a woman, a chunin named Kurenai Yuhi also came by, usually to help with Rei's genjutsu training but...they had the distinct feeling that while she enjoyed their company her main reason was to impress Asuma, she only came when he was around.
Not that they minded mind you, all three children knew how hard it could be to try and get your crush's attention.
Today though Yugao had been particularly hard on them but they didn't mind, they had to become strong to take control of their lives, to make sure they wouldn't become pawns like in their previous lives and to be able to protect their new loved ones and each other.
But now the three children were just lying down and gazing at the stars and enjoying some peace, something they no longer took for granted.
"I love how little light pollution there is compared to Tokyo-3," commented Shinji with a sigh as he stretched his tired arms a little bit. Yugao had started to help him develop his own sword style, it was an interesting challenge but he would have appreciated it if she wasn't so…zealous in literally beating the kinks out. He was happy to get a ninjato though, a sword similar in appearance to a katana but with a straight and shorter blade, as a present. It's his first sword, and while he would have preferred a katana he knew his new body is still growing and currently too small for a full length katana.
"I agree with your assessment Shinji-kun," agreed Rei.
Asuka for once was quiet, just enjoying the moment with a smile on her face. A smile of pride, proud of herself and also proud of her team, they had been making great progress. Yugao had even said they would be able to outdo some of the clan kids by the time they enter the academy, not bad for people completely new to the shinobi lifestyle.
She even said they were already good enough to protect themselves against most vanilla genin.
'Well what else should I expect? We're the great Eva pilots! Slayer of Angels! We have Rei, NERV's Wondergirl. I have my Baka-Shinji! And I'm THE great Asuka Langley Soryu!' she triumphantly thought to herself.
Of course that was in her head so to everyone it was silence.
"Hey Asuka something wrong?" Asked Shinji with some concern, even after mellowing after Impact, at least in her behavior with Rei and him, she was almost never quiet for long.
"Yes I am Shinji, stop worrying so much," she couldn't help but roll her eyes. He was still too nervous sometimes for her liking, always assuming something was wrong.
And after some idle talk about why Yugao' boyfriend seemed to have a perpetual cough that even though he didn't seem to have any symptoms of a serious illness, the three fell into a comfortable silence and just enjoyed the cool night air under the stars.
"Anybody else feel a sense of deja-vu?" Asked Shinji after half an hour.
"Hm? What do you mean?" Asked Asuka.
"Think back Asuka, when was the other time we were able to watch the stars?"
"What are you talking about? Tokyo-3 had way too much light pollution."
"Ah, I agree with Shinji-kun," Rei chimed in, "do you recall Iruel?"
"Remember? When the power went out when we were having a sync test and Dr. Akagi and her people were trying to counter it with the one remaining clean MAGI computer?" Shinji said.
Asuka thought for a few seconds "…Ugh don't remind me, we sat NAKED in the plug for HOURS." Then she started talking in a quiet tone, "although I don't m-mind being like that again when we're ol-"
"Wait," interrupted Rei in a stern voice. That got the two's attention, Rei was never one to interrupt and combined with her tone of voice meant this was something serious. They had recently discovered Rei's talent as a sensor during one of their unofficial lessons with Yugao and they had come to learn to trust the bluenette's warnings and interruptions.
'Is someone trying to come after us?' thought the former Second and Third Children. While they had every confidence in their home's and the compound's ANBU security they also knew that other villages have similar forces, they weren't naïve enough to believe that other villages wouldn't use children as bargaining tools against the Hokage.
"I'm sensing…unfamiliar chakra signature…fast mover, seems to being chased by…a group of civilians?"
'Wait why is someone with chakra being chased? That would usually mean their shinobi,' pondered Shinji, '…wait didn't father tell me about that kid…Naruto right?'
Shinji's eyes widened and he shot up on to his feet, and the girls soon did the same. They had discovered very soon after coming to this new world that they had some kind of link. They couldn't read each other's minds but they could feel what the other two were feeling and could sense the general intentions of the others. They hypothesized that it was due to the brief moment of oneness that they experienced during Impact.
And right now they could sense two things from Shinji, anxiety and anger.
"Rei can you tell me anything about our fast mover?" Asked Shinji with a strained voice, he really hoped he was being paranoid, hoping that this was the pessimistic old Shinji rearing its head.
"One moment," said Rei as she was still learning and sharpening her sensor abilities, "it is…a child."
"Damn," muttered Shinji as he went to pick up his ninjato which was lying on the roof as well and gripped the scabbard tight with his left hand.
"What is wrong Shinji-kun?"
"Remember the kid that my father told us about? Naruto?"
"Ah yes, Naruto Uzumaki the Jinchuriki of the Kyuubi, also known as the Nine Tailed Demon Fox but…I see, this is not good."
"Damnit!…well time to be heroes Baka-Shinji and Wondergirl!" shouted Asuka.
And the three children took off, they were told by the Hokage about the Kyuubi's Jinchuriki and they were livid once they heard about it. They reminded him of themselves to an extent, they were all forced into a situation that brought pain against their own will, even Asuka knew she didn't really have a say in being an Evangelion pilot or not. But this kid, the villagers hated and detested him, at least with them in their old world most people either didn't know about them or respected them for what they did.
They slipped into the formation that they had come up with if they needed to operate by themselves, while they were years away from the Academy and even farther still from doing missions they decided it was best to start preparations early. And so they traversed the roof tops in a triangle formation. Asuka was at the front, she was the tip of their spear and acted as the point-man and was also in charge of navigating and leading the group through their environment. Shinji was to her right and was in charge of defense of the group in case of an ambush so kept his head on a constant swivel. His other jobs were making any tactical decisions therefore letting Asuka focus on navigation and keeping her attention forward. Rei was to her left but slightly closer to the middle of their triangle than the other two, as the sensor of the team she needed to be close to the other two in order to relay any information.
Following Rei's directions they arrived at a roof of a store and looked down to the alley and what they saw set them on edge. The alley was a dead end and at the end was a small blond boy their age cowering in fear as the angry mob came around the bend and cut him off from escaping. While they knew Naruto had ANBU guards of his own, Konoha was still vulnerable and they needed to protect their Jinchuriki, they also knew they probably wouldn't act unless the villagers were just about to cause physical damage.
But they knew all too well how much mental pain can scar you so much more.
So they went into action and descended landed in between the mob and Naruto, being slightly closer to Naruto so they could speak with him.
"Hey you okay Blondie?" Asked Asuka as she turned around to tried to reassure him. The blond boy couldn't help but just nod dumbly in surprise, nobody had tried to stand up to him before and now three kids his own age had come to help!
"Good, Rei check up on him will you?" Asked Shinji as he too turned to face the boy, "Asuka and I will keep the crowed at bay."
Rei shot a glare at the crowed that caused the angry mob to hesitate, she was raging inside, she had seen how abusive her old commander had been when he had abandoned his son and what that did to her precious Shinji-kun and while she would prefer to let her anger out on them she understood what Shinji had meant. She could feel it through their connection, so she walked over to the blond and checked him over.
'Good, light injuries only, minor bruises and cuts,'she observed and reached into the small first-aid kit she had strapped to her left thigh, her present from Yugao, and started to treat his wounds.
Shinji turned to face the mob again and could feel the tension and hostile intent. If this was the old him he knew he would have panicked and ran but the new him? No, he would not abandon someone he could help again like he did Asuka when she fought the MP Evas. He will not run away anymore, besides he had Rei and Asuka by his side.
'Angels fell before us,' he thought to himself as he noticed a few Konoha shinobi in the crowd. They were pushing forward but he wasn't all the scared of them, they seemed to be just older genin (around 16 years old he guessed) as they lacked the chunin flak jacket.
To be a Genin that long probably meant they weren't anything special.
Asuka could sense Shinji's resolve and smiled as she saw him grip his ninjato's hilt with his right hand, ready to defend himself.
'I got your back Baka-Shinji,' she thought with a smile as she put on the fingerless gloves she was given by Yugao, they were specially made for her with a metal plate over the knuckles so she could have protection from bladed weapons. She didn't lie to herself, she had been itching for real action, and what better way for the great Asuka Langley Soryu to debut than being a hero?
The four genin smirked to themselves, they didn't feel the need to fear two kids who were so young they were obviously were too young for even Academy training. If they wanted to play hero for the demon child then so be it.
Two genin charged each of the two armed children, a boy and girl attacking Shinji and a similar pair attacking Asuka. All this was happening as two ANBU security details, one a team of four watching over Naruto and a three man team consisting of each of the former pilots' bodyguards watched but for different reasons. Naruto's team watched because Naruto was not in any form of immediate physical danger, they would have stepped in if one of the villagers tried something but Naruto's minor injuries were caused by him falling and tripping during his run; and they had been ordered to keep their presence secret unless necessary.
The bodyguards of Asuka, Rei and Shinji though were not acting for very different reasons. At the moment they consisted of Cat, Mouse and Dragon and they were watching because they wanted to see how far the children's training had come. Rei's still ongoing treatment of the boy had impressed them, now they wanted to see how far Rei and Shinji's combat training had come. While they would step in if they were needed they felt they probably wouldn't have to act, the four genin had repeatedly failed the chunin exam so they should represent a relatively safe test for the two kids.
Shinji was the first to act by advancing on his pair as Asuka took a few steps back and slipped into a defensive stance with both fists forward, ready to react if her pair decided to go for Rei and Naruto and not her.
The boy came first to Shinji with his left hand out stretched ready to grab Shinji, obviously thinking he wasn't a valid threat as he wore a smug grin on his face.
Big mistake.
Shinji responded by slashing off his hand with a quick upward cut of his ninjato as he unsheathed it in one fluid motion severing the wrist with a quick cut, needless to say the genin's grin fell as he screamed in pain, and he reached for his kunai pouch. Seeing this Shinji, with his ninjato now above his head came down with a vertical strike and cutting into the genin's upper arm and while he didn't have the strength to cut through the bone with his small body the pain the sword's deep wound caused him to drop his kunai. Pressing his advantage Shinji continued his charge and dive rolled under and between the genin's legs and with a quick spin he cut both of his opponents Achilles tendons with the razor sharp blade causing the older boy down and out of the fight as he screamed in pain as his momentum carried him forward and he landed and skidded face first into the pavement.
Seeing her partner go down and Shinji stand from his crouching position and advance on her the female genin reached behind and threw three shuriken which Shinji deflected by swinging the scabbard in his left hand. Then using the momentum already built up Shinji continued into a left spin and seeing this the female genin brought out a kunai to block.
*Clang!*
And sparks flew as the blades met and the kunoichi, to her surprise, had the hand that held her kunai recoil back with the force behind the ninjato. Seeing as she had been underestimating the young swordsman she put both hands on her kunai and swung down in a two handed vertical strike. Shinji of course noticed this and dropped his scabbard so he could use the ninjato with both arms and he brought the ninjato up to a horizontal block.
*Clang!*
The kunoichi couldn't help but smile as the two blades met again, she thought the boy was a fool, his kenjutsu was impressive but it was because of its speed and precision; she would win this contest of strength.
What she didn't know was Shinji's still work-in-progress sword style assumed his opponents may be faster and most likely stronger. He wasn't in his Unit-01 anymore, he did not have the brute strength of a 40 metre tall biomechanical man-made god anymore and he was also young and would likely face stronger and older enemies. So the style Yugao is helping him create focuses on speed, precision, mobility, and using the enemies strengths against them.
So as the two blades met with a clang and sparks flew he started to turn the sword vertical so the tip pointed down to deflect and guide the genin's kunai down and to the right. This meant that he didn't really have to put any strength into blocking the kunai and instead redirected it and because of the strength behind it his foe could not help but fall for his trap. She had now become dangerously overextended and with a side step to the left with his blade in the same vertical tip down position he swung up and down to make a left and down to the right diagonal swing aiming for the older girl's neck but mid swing he shifted his grip so his strike landed with the blunt edge of his sword. And with the force of the strike to such a sensitive area she was knocked out cold.
He didn't want to kill anyone unless it was necessary.
But still he had to suppress his body from quivering as what he just did finally entered his mind. The feeling of blades meeting, the feeling of cutting flesh and while he had felt similar sensations in his Eva and while he had resolved himself after Impact he was still Shinji Ikari. Even his new self had elements of his old self in him and a slight fear of danger remained in him.
But he had to be strong, he had to be scary to keep the mob at bay, to protect Naruto and most importantly to protect Rei and Asuka.
'I WILL not run away, I will not abandon them!' he thought as he steeled himself.
Flicking the blood off his sword and shot the meanest look he could at the mob he could muster as he picked up his scabbard with his left hand. After that he took a deep breath as he stood with his blade pointed towards the crowed in an obvious warning.
Asuka of course couldn't watch all of her Baka-Shinji's fight as her own foes came at her with the boy in front and the girl a few paces behind him. She did at least get to see Shinji cut off one of his opponent's hands before she had to put all focus on her enemies.
The male genin came at her with both hands outstretched as he lunged at her attempting to tackle her. Asuka cursed internally as she would have wanted to back up for more space but she noticed that Shinji had defeated his first opponent now and that Rei had moved to start stopping the bleeding from Shinji's cuts.
'Oh we will SO have a talk about WHEN you can and cannot heal the enemies Wondergirl!' she screamed in her head.
So she was forced to do the opposite, to advance into her opponent as she reinforced and strengthen her limbs with chakra, a trick she learned from Yugao. As she closed in she used her smaller stature to her advantage by ducking down to dodge the older boy's hands as she brought her arms back.
Her own taijutsu style, also a young work-in-progress, focused on mobility, speed and precision strikes like Shinji but instead of using her enemy's strength against them by guiding it away or deflecting it to leave them vulnerable she used it to fuel her strikes. So as she came up, now between her opponents arms, she slammed both arms into a double palm strike into the genin's solar plexus.
*GUH!*
As her trike hit the genin felt like he was hit by a battering ram as Asuka's chakra reinforced arms hit home and combined with his own forward momentum knocked the wind out of him as he was sent flying backwards. He was still in mid-air and could not support himself.
Asuka knew he wouldn't be out yet. She was smaller, much smaller than him and her chakra reinforcement was still something she was new at. Plus while she wouldn't like to admit it, Rei was better at it than her, although she could still beat Rei in taijutsu spars almost all the time because while Rei was stronger she was much more skilled. So to finish him off she jumped up to come down on the genin with the help of gravity.
As the genin landed on his back he looked up to see a smiling red head coming down with an axe kick.
"RAAAH!" Asuka cried out as she came down like a fiery red meteor, a small one granted, but to her older foe it was enough to make him wet himself.
She seriously hoped not all Konoha genin were so wimpy, seriously he was sixteen, she was four.
"GAH!" The genin cried out from another but much harder hit to his solar plexus, causing him to loose his breath and cough out some blood.
"Fuck," said Asuka's second enemy in disbelief. Seeing her other opponent Asuka gave a kick to the side of her first opponent's head to knock him out. Looking at the older girl Asuka saw she was still a little shocked and decided to take the initiative rushed the older girl.
Said older girl came out of her shock too late as a she too was hit by Asuka's chakra reinforced double palm strike to the solar plexus.
"Grk!" she grunted as the wind was knocked out of her but unlike her partner she had both feet on the ground and instead of being sent flying she stumbled a few steps back but quickly recovered somewhat. She then tried to send a roundhouse kick to the side of Asuka's head but the redhead just, again, used her small size to her advantage by ducking down. Seeing an opportunity she rolled forward to end up behind her foe. Quickly she stood up and delivered her own roundhouse kick to the side her enemy's head and knocking the older girl out as she hit the alley wall with an audible thud.
As she turned around she smiled as she saw Shinji safe and sound as he faced the mob, his own foes defeated and soon stood at his side.
As the two looked into the crowed they saw another genin leap out from the back with shurikens in between the fingers of both his hands ready to throw them. They did not panic however, they could sense Rei already moving into action, apparently finishing her treatment of Naruto and the badly cut genin.
And before the fifth and final genin could throw his weapons two kunai whistled past Asuka and Shinji through the space between their heads and hit the genin in hands causing him to scream in pain and drop his skurikens. As he landed in front of the crowed he cradled his wounded hands as he sobbed in pain.
"Oh woman up," commented Asuka.
Needless to say the mob was stunned. Three little genins took on and defeated five genin, sure they were just genin but they had shinobi training! They were scared.
Naruto was speechless, he was surprised that they helped him but he was even more surprised at how good the three kids in front of him were and how well they worked together. They had obviously had shinobi training that, he knew, and if he didn't want to be a shinobi already then he would now.
'Could I learn to defend myself like that? Could I save others too? So nobody would have to be scared like I am? Will people respect and acknowledge me then?' the young blond pondered.
The ANBU present were surprised as well, especially Naruto's security detail, at the skill of the three children. The brown haired boy's sword skill was of a new style most haven't seen before. And while to their trained eyes they could see his movements were still a little rough and unpolished his skill was easy to be seen. His sword moved with precision and no hesitation and didn't cringe when he saw blood, like he'd seen combat before.
But how could that be?
The redhead had struck with more strength than her small frame should have let her. More impressively was her speed, quick thinking and sheer aggression and ferocity in her movements. She was in charge of the fight from the moment she first struck the older boy. And, like her male companion, her movements were still rough but she appeared to have seen combat as well.
The bluenetter, while not participating in combat, had acted calmly and efficiently in her treatment of Naruto. She had quickly cleaned his cuts and scrapes and applied band-aids on the small wounds. But what was really impressive was her treatment of the male genin the boy had defeated, she did not hesitate at the sight of the sword wounds as she applied bandages. Then as icing on the cake she had thrown her kunais with precision and zero hesitation. Who were these kids?
Yugao just smiled behind her Cat mask. While obviously tired, she doubted Shinji and Asuka could take even one more genin of the same skill level they had faced without passing out after, they had performed very well for their age.
'I guess we should act now and scare away the rest of the mob, Asuka and Shin-kun are on almost at their limits,' she decided.
But before she could signal her two fellow ANBU bodyguards to act she felt the presence and then the voice of someone who she knew would handle the situation.
"CEASE AND DESIST!"
The Sandaime Hokage had arrived.
NEXT ON THE THREE CHILDREN FROM THE END OF DAYS: CHAPTER 1: SCHOOL DAYS START!
A/N
Poll: Check out my profile to let me know what eva crossover I should try out next!
So yeah ANOTHER story hehe. What can I say, I AM a scatter brain, it says so on my profile.
SO yeah a Naruto x Eva story, had this one drift into my mind after reading some naruto and eva stories. This one will focus on the adventures of Shinji, Rei and Asuka as they try to live their new lives in the Naruto verse.
That's all I can say really. So expect to see more familiar Naruto characters in the next chapter, such as the Rookie 9!