Chapter 2! Woohoo!
As always, I appreciate the review/favorites/follows.
Thanks to my reviewers from the first chapter: Gravenimage, dbzgtfan2004, Serenity Namikaze, Echo Uchiha, saveme57, Kelxcon, internduncan, Mr. Horrible, DrendeSalkash,TheRealLifeAlucard, panda-kun, Demonkid, Ventidus
Gravenimage: I'm glad you like it so far! Hopefully you enjoy this chapter!
dbzgtfan2004: Thanks! /e salutes. Will do :D
Serenity Namikaze: I'm honored that you would give this a try when AU's aren't normally your cup of tea =) I'm glad you enjoyed the first chapter, and hope you enjoy this one as well! /e perks head up. Reward? :D
Echo Uchiha: :D
saveme57: Thanks! I hope this chapter doesn't dissapoint =)
Kelxcon: Thanks! The idea just randomly popped into my head, and I decided to see what I could do with it =P Minor spoiler alert- Naruto isn't going to spill his secret without a fight :D
internduncan: Hehe, thanks! Hope you enjoy this chapter =)
Mr. Horrible: I'm glad you enjoy it! And don't worry, even though Naruto is ridiculously strong doesn't mean he's just going to wtfpwn everyone he fights. He IS just a 16 year old kid out in the world for the first time after all!
DrendeSalkash: Thanks! If you happen to remember the name of the book let me know. Sounds like it would be worth a read!
TheRealLifeAlucard: DODO BIRDS! HOOOOOOO! (think Thundercats... don't ask me why I decided to turn Lionel's thundercats battle cry into a dodo bird battle cry... because I honestly don't know...) Glad you enjoyed the first chapter, and here's one of those "updates" you requested =P
panda-kun: Thanks! Ask and you shall receive. Here's more! =)
Demonkid: Glad you enjoyed the first chapter! Now that the challenge has been laid, I'm making it a goal to surprise you... somehow... =P (Dodo birds ftw)
Ventidus: AU stands for Alternate Universe. Meaning this story is going to take place outside of the regular Naruto-verse. And thanks! I'm glad you enjoyed the first chapter, and hope you enjoy this one =)
Standard disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or else I would be filthy stinking rich and use some of my money to build a legitimate moat around my house and fill aforementioned moat with swordfish
Ok, I'll stop my prattling now. Please do enjoy "Guardian"-Chapter 2: Burden
Sakura was stargazing in the beautiful night sky while she waited for her guardian to finish cooking their dinner over the campfire he started. Her feet felt like they were going to fall off at any minute. They had walked at a fairly brisk pace without a single break since they left Konoha five hours ago.
She didn't want to be any more of a burden on Naruto than she already was, so she didn't say anything. The whiskered boy didn't seem to realize how tired she was, and to be honest, the celesti was happy for that. Besides, her endurance could use a little work. With more stamina, she wouldn't need Naruto to protect her as much.
She took a break from her stargazing to examine her dreamy guardian. A warm feeling spread through her body as she watched him cook. He was tossing something about in a pan, sniffing it, and randomly adding dashes of herbs.
He seems to really know what he's doing. Strong, caring, handsome, sweet, AND he appears to know how to cook. You just keep getting better and better Naruto… Sakura thought with a soft smile on her face.
She took her eyes off her guardian for a moment to gaze at the tent he, well rather his "shadow clone" as he called it, set up earlier. Sakura had been so happy when he only set up one tent, but she hid her excitement. He didn't seem to be very receptive to her advances, so she needed to be a little sneakier now.
I can't wait to sleep in the same small tent with my gorgeous guardian tonight! 10 year old me would be SO jealous!
"Food's done Sakura." Naruto called, bringing the now blushing girl out of her thoughts.
"Ooh, that smells wonderful Naruto." Sakura exclaimed as she sat done directly next to him, just close enough to where her shoulders brushed against his. Naruto gave her a weird look when she sat so close to him, and began to open his mouth, but Sakura interrupted before he could say anything.
"Don't give me that. It's cold out here, you're warm. As my guardian you need to make sure I don't get sick right?"
"Fine." The blonde replied gruffly. "But don't go thinking this means anything."
"Oh I wouldn't dream of it!" Sakura replied sweetly, while batting an eyelash at her guardian.
Just great… Naruto thought.
"Oh my god! This is so good!" Sakura cooed. "Is there anything you can't do Naruto? I'm seriously starting to doubt it."
Naruto looked at her in surprise. He had just made a simple dish… White rice with rabbit, and a random assortment of vegetables. He hadn't done anything special in his opinion.
"Erm… this is nothing special Sakura. But I'm glad you enjoy it. And there's plenty I can't do. My instructors at the academy would always call me a disgrace to my parents' legacy because of how awful I was at genjutsu…" Naruto replied with a fake grin on his face.
Sakura hadn't been around Naruto for too long, but still recognized the grin as a fake one. "That's terrible! You're so strong! Who cares if you're not good at…ginjutsu?"
"Genjutsu…"
"Genjutsu! I'm sure your parents would be proud of you!" Sakura announced. The smile on Naruto's face softened into a genuine one, which in turn caused Sakura to smile with the knowledge that she had comforted him.
"Thanks Sakura…" he softly replied, his eyes staring off into the distance.
"So, I noticed you said that your instructors would say you're a disgrace to your parents' legacy, and not a particular parent. So that must mean they were both guardians. But according to you, guardians aren't allowed to fall in love and have a family. Yet it appears you come from a family of guardians…" Sakura deduced in a soft tone.
Naruto's smile fell from his face and was replaced with a sad frown; his eyes were cast down to the ground. She's very observant… "My parents… I… I've never been part of a family Sakura." The blonde guardian tried and failed to hide the sadness in his voice.
Sakura looked at him in confusion, before a sad realization set in on her face. "So your parents abandoned you when you were born?"
"Hmm… I guess you could say that. They really didn't have much of a choice though…" Came the guardian's quiet reply.
"You guess? What happened?"
"Sakura… don't worry about it. I really don't like talking about it. So just drop it ok?"
I can't tell her what happened. It might clue her in on the reality of this life she's now involved in. It could snap her out of her dream world.
"I'm not dropping it Naruto. I want to know more about you." Sakura replied in the same soft tone, her caring emerald eyes attempting to capture his sad sapphire ones.
"Sakura please… drop it. It's not a very good story anyways…" Naruto pleaded.
"Why won't you tell me? You can trust me Naruto, if it's a painful memory then it might do you some good to talk about it instead of hiding it away."
"It won't do me any good. It's a memory that belongs in the very back of my mind. PLEASE drop it."
"Just ignoring something can cause mental instability Naruto. As my guardian, aren't you supposed to make sure you're as strong as you can be, both physically and mentally? Therefore, you should tell me the truth, to help clear your head more so you can better protect me." Sakura reasoned, hoping the logical approach would work.
The guardian sighed as he looked into her emerald eyes. "You're not going to drop this no matter how much I beg are you?"
The pink-haired celesti beamed at him. "Nope!"
"Fine…" Naruto groaned. "My parents… my parents' names were Minato and Kushina. They were close during their training in the Guardian Academy, and they eventually fell in love. When the day came that they both had to leave the academy to get their first charges, they were very sad." Naruto's voice was so soft and quiet, that it was almost a whisper.
"Because they would have to ignore their own feelings?"
"Ya. But they were lucky. Their charges happened to fall in love with each other, and as a result my mom and dad protected their charges together. Life was good for them for a year… but then my dad got my mom pregnant… with me."
The guardian stopped talking, and clenched his fists together tightly. His charge grabbed both of his fists, and gave them a squeeze while smiling softly at him, urging him to continue.
"My mom was much weaker than normal when she was pregnant, so my dad had to take over guardian duties for both of their charges by himself, while protecting my mom. Then, on the night I was born, a powerful man attacked my parents' charges. My mom was weak, but joined my dad in his fight, and both of my parents had to sacrifice their lives to protect their charges… and me." A single tear slid down Naruto's cheek.
"My parents died because they fell in love. My parents died because they had me…" Hopefully this will be enough to deter her from trying to pursue me any further… the sad blonde thought.
"That's terrible!" Sakura wrapped him into a tight hug. "I'm so sorry Naruto… Thank you for telling me." So that's why he's afraid of being with me. His parents died when they fell in love, so he must just assume that whenever a guardian falls in love they die…
Naruto didn't really know how to react to the tight embrace his charge currently had him wrapped in… He needed to be careful not to send any wrong messages.
"Eh… Sakura… It's all right. It's all in the past now, so there's no use worrying about it now." The whiskered guardian said awkwardly.
Sakura pulled back from her embrace, a little disappointed that her guardian did not return the embrace, but she now understood why. I'll just have to break down his defenses. I'll show him that just because he falls in love doesn't mean he's going to die… SHANAROO!
"So… what happened next? If you don't mind me asking that is. Who took care of you, your parents' charges?"
"No… It's rare enough to have a child with a parent who was a guardian, and BOTH of my parents were guardians. Not just guardians, but some of the more powerful guardians in the order at that. The Guardian Council could see the potential in such an offspring, and immediately took me." Naruto explained in a now surprisingly lifeless tone.
"I see… so did they raise you then?"
"I guess you could say that. I was a prodigy, a powerful weapon… Well… a powerful shield in this case. But as soon as I started walking, the council began shaping me into the perfect guardian. I celebrated my 3rd birthday with a spar against an 8 year old guardian in training, who just so happened to be a prodigy himself. I was beaten badly, and when I started to cry, they told me I should stop crying and start training because I was so weak." The guardian's voice was still lifeless, as his eyes gazed off into the distance.
"That's… that's terrible! How could they do that to a little kid? It's…"
"It was a good idea Sakura." Naruto interrupted. "Thanks to them pushing me so hard all my life, I'm now extremely powerful. I'm easily one of the most powerful guardians in our order. There aren't many people in this world who can defeat me."
"Maybe so… but still! They took your childhood…"
"Guardians don't need a childhood." Naruto again interrupted. "Guardians only need power to protect their charge. And power is something I have."
Sakura again wrapped the blonde-haired guardian into a tight hug. "I still don't like it. Now that you're with me, things are going to be different. I'm going to make sure you're happy too." She whispered softly.
"I'm happy as long as you're safe Sakura." Naruto blandly replied, trying to think of a way to get out of the embrace his charge currently had him trapped in. This feels so nice… but I can't let myself stay like this. If I acquire feelings for her, then I will only hurt her that much more in the end…
"You're going to have more reasons to be happy than just me being safe now that you're my guardian." The pink-haired celesti said stubbornly, tightening her hold on her guardian.
"Hehe… alright Sakura. Thanks. But you can let go of me now, I'm really all right."
"I could… or I could just keep holding you like this. From the sounds of it, you missed out on a lot of physical attention like this as a child. So I could let you go, or I could help get you caught up…"
Naruto sighed. Why can't you be less stubborn…
"Now, since you're not used to this sort of thing…" Sakura softly started as she rested her head on his shoulder. "I'll tell you what you're supposed to do when someone holds you like this. Now notice where your arms are right now, they're at your side. That is wrong. Your arms should be around me, just like mine are around you." She lectured. "Go on, give it a try."
Naruto let out another exasperated sigh, and kept his arms where they were.
"I said give it a try…" Sakura growled.
"Damnit Sakura… I already told you that a guardian and his charge could not be together like this…" Naruto grumbled.
"Just because you let me hold you, and you hold me, doesn't mean we're together. This is simply a guardian and his charge comforting one another." Sakura said matter of factly.
"Seems like something a boyfriend and girlfriend would do to me."
"Well… a boyfriend and girlfriend WOULD hold each other. But two friends can hold each other too. So stop arguing and just do it." The pinkette commanded.
Naruto sighed as he finally gave in to his pink-haired charge and wrapped his arms around her. He instantly felt Sakura nuzzle into him further, and could feel the smile on her face. A blush crept up his face, and the guardian had to use all of his willpower to keep a small smile from his face.
"There, see? Now that's a lot better."
"I guess…" Naruto mumbled, a now large blush present on his face.
They just sat in each other's embrace for another 15 minutes until Sakura let out a yawn.
"Oh man, I'm starting to get tired. Why don't we go to bed Naruto?" Sakura suggested. I can't believe it! He just held me for a good 15 minutes, and I held him for even longer! And NOW I'm about to cuddle up with him for the night. I'm already wearing down his defenses, SHANAROO!
Naruto breathed a sigh of relief. "That sounds like a good idea Sakura." He was extremely relieved when the girl let go of him, and they broke their embrace.
Sakura walked to the tent, with Naruto close behind. Crawling into the tent, she noticed a single bedroll and smirked. Looks like Naruto wasn't as opposed to being close to me as he said he was. She looked behind her, ready to poke fun at her guardian, but was surprised to see he wasn't there.
"Naruto? Aren't you coming to bed?"
"The tent is for you Sakura. I'm going to sit outside and take watch."
"NANI? But you need to sleep too. Why don't you just summon a clone to keep watch and come in here so you can get some rest?" Sakura asked in a slightly bossy tone.
"Sorry Sakura, but my shadow clones don't work that way. If I slip out of consciousness, then my clones will instantly disappear." Naruto lied. A little white lie never hurt anyone.
"Then don't keep watch, you need your rest. Come in here." The pinkette pleaded.
"I'm fine. I've been trained to be able to operate on little sleep. Go to sleep now Sakura, I'll see you in the morning."
Pink-hair plopped down onto a pillow, as Sakura huffed. Damn him. Oh well… I made good progress today. I'll eventually get through to him. So far this is exactly like my fantasies after all, so it's only a matter of time. Sakura thought with a dreamy smile on her face as she let sleep overtake her.
A cloaked man watched Naruto from a distance, not daring to venture any closer lest he provoke the powerful blonde.
Hmmm, looks like they're travelling north. I love guardians who are fresh out of the academy, they always take the main roads.
The cloaked man took off, and came to a spot further north on the path than Naruto and his charge currently were camped at.
This should be a perfect place to set up an ambush ya!
A gust of wind blew the man's cloak off his head to reveal blonde hair, ending in a ponytail.
"Hopefully I don't accidentally kill Naruto with this little set up un!"
Naruto waited until Sakura's breathing slowed to a sleeping pace, before forming a cross seal.
"Kage bunshin no jutsu." He whispered softly, as four clones appeared in a puff of smoke. Not a single word was said as the clones set up watch around the perimeter of the camp. They knew to dispel the second they saw anything, which would instantly awaken the blonde.
The guardian summoned another shadow clone, and tossed it a scroll on water manipulation. The clone simply took the scroll and began reading.
Naruto closed his eyes, and drew in nature chakra to enter sage mode. He scanned the immediate area for any sort of foreign chakra, but found none. Satisfied, the whiskered boy allowed himself to drift to sleep.
"What did you call me here for Itachi? I'm a busy man!" complained a somewhat tall man, with white hair, and a double bladed scythe on his back.
"Hidan, Naruto has been released from the academy and given a charge. I've already sent Deidara to kill the girl and capture Naruto, but Deidara isn't strong enough..."
"So you want me to go and help him?" The man named Hidan rudely interrupted.
"No. You are going to pose as a concerned guardian. You will approach his charge while Naruto is distracted with Deidara and convince her to activate that seal." Itachi ordered, in a slightly annoyed tone.
"What? Enemy or not, I feel bad using that seal on a fellow guardian Itachi…" Hidan complained.
"I don't care. You remember what happened to the last person who disobeyed me don't you?" Itachi coldly replied.
Hidan shivered at the memory. One of Itachi's newest recruits flat out refused to use his relationship with a former comrade to exploit them. Itachi trapped the boy in his Tsukuyomi. Hidan would never know what the boy saw, but whatever it was must've been bad as the boy dropped to the ground and began frothing from his mouth while his dead eyes stared blankly ahead. Itachi finished him off by decapitating him with his katana.
"Of course Itachi-sama. When will I be needed?" Hidan replied nervously.
"Tomorrow. Go find Deidara immediately." The raven-haired man ordered.
"Hai… Itachi-sama."
Naruto awoke to a pair of slender arms wrapping themselves around him. Cursing his clones for not alerting him of danger, the guardian's muscles began to tense as he prepared to fight off his attacker.
"So… your clones dispel as soon as you lose consciousness eh?" a familiar voice observed in his ear. "It looks like they were just fine when you were sleeping before."
"Hehe… Well you see…" Naruto nervously stammered. "I eh… I just figured out how to do it last night, ya! Quite the breakthrough in my shadow clo…"
"Mmhmm, of course you did Naruto. Well, now you can sleep in the tent tomorrow night." Sakura said in an overly sweet tone.
"It's safer if I sleep in front of the entrance to the tent Sakura. That way if anyone comes after you, they have to go through me to reach you." The guardian replied.
Sakura sighed and let go of him. "You're too stubborn baka. You'll get sick if you keep sleeping outside."
"Sakura it's spring. I doubt I'll get sick." Naruto shot back, as he stood up to start preparing breakfast.
"What's that clone doing?" the pink-haired celesti asked, pointing at Naruto's shadow clone who was studying the water manipulation scroll.
"He's working on understanding water manipulation, so I can start using water chakra."
"Water chakra? There's different kinds of chakra?"
"Yep. There's elemental chakra, which is used to strengthen elemental jutsus. Most guardians have an affinity for one element, and can also produce another element." Naruto explained.
"Let me guess, you being the amazing guardian that you are, have an affinity for all the elements." Sakura said with a sarcastic smile.
"Well… not exactly. My affinity is wind, but I've still managed to master fire manipulation as well. I hope to be the first guardian to master each of the elements." The guardian replied. "In addition to elemental chakra, I've mastered nature chakra as well."
Sakura quirked an eyebrow at him, motioning for him to continue.
"I can gather the natural energy around me and mix it with my own chakra to enter sage mode. You've already seen my sage mode once before. But I can do a lot more than just track in it. In sage mode, I can utilize powerful senjutsus. Techniques on a whole new level of power."
"That sounds awesome!" Sakura beamed.
"Hehe… yea. Not very many people can use sage mode." Naruto bragged while scratching the back of his head.
"Naruto…" The blonde-haired guardian was surprised at the serious look his charge had on her face. "I want you to train me. I know I'm going to be a burden to you…"
"You're not a burden to me Sakura. My job is to protect you. Never let yourself think that you're a burden." Naruto said in a serious tone.
"I… thanks Naruto. But I still want to be able to fight better. That guy in Konoha would've easily killed me if you hadn't arrived when you did. I know that I'm not supposed to be on the front lines fighting, but I want to be able to defend myself better." Sakura declared.
"Hmm… I've never heard about a guardian training their charge before. But it would make sense… Ok Sakura. I'll train you, but don't think you're going to be able to do the things that I can do. You don't have access to your chakra. We'll improve your taijutsu for now, and eventually I'll train you to use some sort of weapon."
Sakura smiled and wrapped her arms around her blonde-haired guardian. "Thanks Naruto! You're the best!"
The whiskered boy chuckled. "You say that now Sakura… Let's see what you think after I've been training you for a bit."
"Whatever." Sakura scoffed. "You won't hurt me. Let's get started!"
"We're not going to start yet. I want to reach a little village about eight hours north of here by tonight, so you can sleep in an actual bed tonight. We'll start your training once we're there. Eat your breakfast while I seal everything up."
Naruto stood and walked into the tent, leaving Sakura to enjoy the rice and egg stir fry he quickly made her.
With Naruto's training I'm going to be strong! I'll be so strong I won't need my hidden powers, SHANAROO! Naruto and I will the strongest guardian and celesti duo ever!
Sakura really is something else. Naruto mused as he sealed a bedroll. From what I've been taught, most celesti don't bother with training because they know their hidden power will be all they need when the time comes. Yet Sakura wants to be stronger so she's less of a burden on me. I'm pretty lucky to get such a unique charge…
The blonde exited the tent, and proceeded to seal that up as well. He glanced over at his charge.
She really is beautiful…Wait… what? The guardian shook his head. I can't allow myself to think like that. If I start acknowledging those thoughts I'll just end up hurting her in the end.
"Ready to go Sakura?"
"Ya, let's get going!"
The whiskered boy flashed her a smile as he dispelled his clones. Hmm, my clone didn't make too much headway in this water manipulation scroll… Oh well.
Sakura looped her arm around his.
"Sakura…" Naruto warned.
The pink-haired celesti simply stuck her tongue out at him and began dragging him northwards along the path.
The guardian sighed and gave in, subconsciously tightening the loop between him and his charge.
"I still don't see why you're here un. I remember Naruto from back in the academy, he was strong, but I can take him. Especially with this trap." Deidara grumbled.
"You last saw Naruto when he was 10. He's 16 now and a lot more powerful. Of course, I could beat him, but I'm blessed by Jashin." Hidan boasted.
"Whatever, I'm just looking forward to killing another celesti and freeing a fellow guardian, ya!"
"Jashin is also looking forward to her sacrifice…" Hidan said with a sadistic smile on his face.
"Hey let's take a break. You're starting to look tired." Naruto said to the pink-haired girl currently attached to his arm. He started slowing to a stop, but Sakura stubbornly dragged him forward.
"I'm fine, we've only been walking for 5 hours." She huffed.
"Sakura… it's not a big deal if you need a break. We probably should've rested during our walk from Konoha yesterday. I'm still used to life in the academy where everyone's stamina is a little closer to mine. Sorry about that…" the whiskered boy apologized as he scratched the back of his head with his free hand.
"I'm perfectly fine Naruto, stop worrying. Let's just keep going. The sooner we get there the sooner we start my training!" Sakura crowedwith a fist pump.
Naruto chuckled at his charge's antics. "All right, we'll keep going. But just promise me you'll tell me if you need a break ok?"
Sakura smiled softly up at her guardian. "I will."
The two continued walking in a pleasant silence, arm in arm. To any random person, they would look like a young, carefree happy couple. But anyone with a trained eye could see how alert the spiky-haired blonde was.
"SHIT!" Naruto suddenly swore. "SAKURA GET DOWN!"
Sakura looked up at her guardian in confusion, as he suddenly threw her down to the ground and covered her with his body. Just as Naruto's body blocked off her vision she heard what sounded like a series of explosion, and she saw flames headed towards the duo.
Naruto completely shielded Sakura from the blast, hissing in pain. The guardian attempted to mold his chakra as a sort of protective shield, but his chakra control was simply not good enough.
"NARUTO!" Sakura yelled as tears fell from her eyes.
The flames finally died down, and Naruto pulled himself off his charge, his warm sapphire eyes peering into her terrified and worried emerald ones.
"Everything's alright now Sakura. Don't worry." He soothed, trying to hide the pain he was currently feeling.
"Are you ok?" Sakura asked in a voice filled with worry and a face to match.
"I'm fine."
"My my my! That was pretty impressive ya!" a voice called out. A voice Naruto instantly recognized.
"Deidara?" the startled guardian gasped, whirling around.
It was Sakura's turn to gasp as she looked at the state of her guardian. The explosion had completely burned the skin off Naruto's back, his kimono shirt was gone, and some of the chainmail mesh had melted into his bloodied back. If his back hadn't been such a gruesome sight, Sakura might have marveled at how miraculously his back was the only thing hurt. His legs, and the back of his head looked perfectly fine.
"Naruto! You're…"
"It's fine Sakura." The guardian quickly interrupted.
"No it's not! We need to…"
"We don't need to do anything. You're ok, that's all that matters."
"But…"
"Drop it for now at least Sakura."
"…Fine." Sakura grunted, with concerned eyes.
"Oh my, such a worried charge you have their Naruto un!" Deidara taunted.
"Deidara what the hell are you doing? Where's your charge?"
"My charge? I was freed from my charge. Now then Naruto, let's see how much you've grown since you were a 10 year old little boy!"
Crap… Deidara fights with explosives. If I fight him with Sakura close by I'm putting her in danger… But if I go too far away I'm leaving her open to attack… And to make things worse I'm loosing blood fast, I'm on a time limit before I pass out. I might have to use that technique to get out of this…
Deidara turned around and started walking away.
"Huh… Hey where are you going?" A startled Naruto asked.
"I can see it in your eyes, you don't want to fight me so close to your charge, but you don't want to leave her completely defenseless. So we can start our fight further away. I want to see what you can do Naruto, and I don't want you holding back hmmm!"
The whiskered guardian nodded, and turned back to his concerned charge.
"Here, take this." Naruto said, placing a strange three-pronged kunai into Sakura's hand. "This kunai was used by my father for his hirashin. When I actually use this, my hirashin is faster than it is when I use it without the seal. So with this, I can get to you as quickly as possible."
"Please be careful Naruto… I don't want to lose you." Sakura whispered.
"I'll see what I can do." The guardian replied with a toothy grin, before following his opponent. Deidara had already taken to the air on a clay bird.
This isn't like Deidara. I don't know him that well, but he was never an overly honorable fighter. If he's so willing to let me fight away from Sakura like this then he's probably laced that area with mines. I can't just hirashin in blindly… I need to buy some time to think.
Naruto come to a complete stop, his body didn't move a single inch. "What did you mean earlier when you said you were freed from your charge?"
"Hmm? Well it's exactly what it sounds like! With a little bit of help, I was able to kill my charge, and now my life is my own! You wouldn't believe how great it feels ya!"
"You… what? How could you kill your charge… That's UNFORGIVABLE!" Naruto yelled as his eyes took on a familiar toad-like appearance.
"Hahaha. Unforgiveable Naruto-kun? No… what's unforgiveable is those bastards forcing us to give up our lives for them. What makes them so great un? Why don't we deserve to have a life of our own? Why can't we chase after our own dreams?" Deidara yelled back.
Tears began forming in Sakura's eyes. I never really thought about that… A guardian really does give up everything don't they? Naruto… I'm such a burden to you, yet you protect me without a single complaint… Thank you…
"Because… we're GUARDIANS! We protect the world by guarding the world's saviors! The celesti don't force us into giving up our lives for them. We do it because we choose to!"
"Hahahaha. Oh Naruto-kun, you're still such a child. Now then, are you fully in sage mode yet? I'm getting sick of this talking."
Naruto's toad-like eyes widened in surprise. He knew I was just stalling for time to enter sage mode? What the hell? Why would he let me do that? Surely he's not that cocky. Does he not…
"You look surprised. You're wondering why I would let you enter sage mode aren't you? What sense would it make for me to let you enter a mode where you could sense where each of my mines are?"
"What the…" Naruto stammered. This doesn't make sense, he's purposefully giving up one of his biggest advantages in this fight. What am I missing… Ok… calm down. Naruto used his sage-amplified sensing abilities to find all the mines.
"You really outdid yourself Deidara…" he said with what he hoped was a cocky smirk. "If my foot touches down anywhere over there, I'll be blown sky high."
"Oh so you figured that out un? That sage mode sure is impressive. So tell me Naruto-kun… what will you do?"
I can throw four futon rasenshurikens at him… but I don't want to use that much of my chakra… I have a feeling I'm in for another fight after Deidara… And when he's that high in the air, he'll have plenty of time to dodge my rasenshurikens…
"Ugh, enough standing around. I'm getting bored! Let's get started, ya?" Deidara yelled as he sent a flurry of clay birds at Naruto.
Naruto's hands flashed through a few quick seals as he took in a deep breath. "Futon: Renkudan!"
The spiky-haired blonde's air bullet tore through the clay birds.
Sakura watched the battle filled with worry. This was the first time pink-haired celesti saw her guardian enter a true fight.
Please be safe Naruto…
Erk! Cliffhanger! My apologies. In case you can't tell, the action in this story is about to pick up =P Anywho, thanks for reading and please do review =)
Jutsu list:
Futon: Renkudan- Wind Release: Drilling Air Bullet
Stay tuned for next time! Deidara vs. Naruto!
