Disappear With the Wind
A Naruto/Bleach crossover fic by Kalashnikov2092
Living 1: Winning in the Face of Defeat
"If you take no risks, you will suffer no defeats. But if you take no risks, you win no victories."
Richard M. Nixon
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Sasuke's arm was buried deep into him. It hurt, he realized. It hurt more than the first time it had happened, that was for sure. Perhaps it was a side-effect of using the Kyuubi's chakra for so long. Any pain he felt was a thousand times worse than usual. The exhaustion of this battle with the boy he had come to consider his brother had taken everything out of him.
Blood painted the inside of his throat as it rose up the airway. His sight was becoming blurry...far too blurry for him to stay conscious much longer. As the sense of sight began to leave him, the other four were magnified a bit.
He could feel Sasuke's fingers twitching inside his chest cavity and the sensation of his Kyuubi cloak painfully burning his skin, though the latter was fading do to his coming loss of consciousness. The only thing he could hear was the massive roar of their clash, it being so loud that it was drowning out any other sounds. The foul scent that emitted from Sasuke was a mixture of snakes, blood, something akin to pure evil, and most of all, death. The taste of his own blood was sharper and more acrid as it finally came up out of his throat and flooded the inside of his mouth.
For some reason, Naruto's mind quickly wandered to the promise. Yes, that promise. A promise he had given to Haruno Sakura. He promised the girl that he'd bring Uchiha Sasuke back to Konoha, and that he'd bring the bastard home alive. He knew that he was failing miserably as he thought of that promise. Sasuke had basically won the battle the moment they both decided to go for the final strike. Naruto had to bring back his metaphorical brother alive, so hitting him anywhere in the chest would have negated that. So, he had went for a scratch across the metal plate on Sasuke's headband. That had ultimately been his downfall.
Why had he gone for the stupid headband? Was he so unwilling to cause major harm to Sasuke that he'd settle for proving that he could scratch the boy's headband? Realizing now, he could have easily delivered his last strike to Sasuke's arms or legs, disabling him enough that help from Konoha could have gotten to the two of them. He would have stopped his brother and kept his promise at the same time.
Sure, he probably would have gotten chewed out by Sakura for hurting her precious Sasuke, and the villagers would have shared her sentiments. However, the shinobi community had begun to change. He'd been paying attention to his senior ninjas' conversations while walking through the streets. They'd been praising him for his match against Neji and his help in bringing Tsunade back. While he may not have been getting better in the eyes of civilians, his shinobi brethren thought otherwise.
But no, he had to be same fucking idiot he always was. He had to try and disprove some stupid boast from Sasuke, all the way back from the time they had fought on the hospital roof. He was a Konoha ninja, dammit! He shouldn't have let his past relationship with Sasuke cloud his mind and keep him from succeeding in his mission. Now he had let his home, Sakura, and most of all, himself, down.
"No!"
Fire exploded in Naruto's heart as his vision began to return to him. The fire was obviously determination. He'd become all too familiar with the feeling, looking back at his short but action-packed ninja career. However, the fire was incredible this time, dwarfing any other instance he had felt it. It ran throughout his entire being, dulling the pain in his muscles and chest. It was truly an incredible sensation, because he felt more powerful on this energy than the largest supply of the Kyuubi's chakra could ever produce.
His vision now completely restored, Naruto raised his head a bit. He was lying on the rocky shore of the lake, looking directly at the back of Uchiha Sasuke. The Uchiha boy was silently walking away, most likely going to Orochimaru. Too bad Naruto had other plans.
His hand slowly reached to his kunai pouch, producing two of the throwing knives. He passed one of them to his free hand. He took in a slow breath, and then the next few moments were an incredible blur.
Naruto suddenly sat up, though the act reminded him of how bad his muscles ached. However, the fire of determination burned away any of that pain in an instant. It simply forced him to focus. And focus he fuckin' did. He focused right on the back of Sasuke's legs, where the knee joints were. Those joints were his targets, and this time, he would not miss like in the academy. If he did, then he would fail, and failure was not an option.
His arms flung the two steel weapons, their speed and power surprising to even him. He expected Sasuke to turn around and dodge the kunai like nothing. To show him just how much of a failure Uzumaki Naruto is, was, and always will be.
However, this did not happen at all. Not in the slightest. Whether it was due to that constant arrogance of his, or just simple fatigue, Sasuke never even realized that his opponent had regained his consciousness. The two kunai pierced the back of Sasuke's knees at the exact same time. The strike buckled Sasuke's legs, driving him to the ground in a yell of shock and pain. The two kunai had buried themselves so deeply into the Uchiha's flesh that the tips of the weapons poked out of his kneecaps.
Truly a painful way for Uchiha Sasuke to realize that Uzumaki Naruto wasn't finished yet.
Sasuke turned to look at Naruto, finding the blond giving him a vicious grin of victory. The boy, much to Sasuke's shock, began to rise to his feet. Naruto grimaced as his tired muscles were forced to get him to his feet. However, as soon as he was up, he felt loads better. Perhaps it was because the sense of accomplishment he felt from being able to pull this win out of his ass was just that good.
"So, Sasuke. I guess I win, huh?" Naruto cockily asked with a very tired smile. It was not his usual face-splitting grins. It was smile, almost adult-like. For a moment, Sasuke thought Naruto looked much older than he actually was. It was very strange.
After wondering that, Sasuke felt that old rage begin to creep back into his mind. The rage that had forced him to join the Sound Four and nearly kill Naruto in the first place.
"Dammit Naruto!" the Uchiha roared. Naruto's smile turned upside down immediately.
"Shut the hell up. I don't care what the fuck you have to say, alright? You're damn lucky I didn't decide to throw those kunai into the back of your skull," Naruto growled, surprising himself with his own words. Since when did he feel...loathing? When did he start to despise Sasuke?
Glaring daggers at his teammate, Sasuke returned with, "You should have, dobe. Now I'm going to take back my mercy and kill you."
Naruto sneered back at his opponent, growling back with, "You sure you wanna do that Sasuke? I'm in a pretty rotten mood right now. I just might force this tired body of mine to fight you all out again. And even if I die, I swear I'll destroy one of your beloved Sharingan eyes before I'm done. You willing to risk that?"
Apparently, Sasuke did. Naruto's eyes narrowed as the curse mark began to spread over Sasuke's skin. The kunai lodged in the back of Sasuke's knees begin to slowly be pushed back out. This definitely wasn't good. He hardly had the power to stand, let alone go toe-to-toe with Sasuke on that fucking curse seal. However, there was no way he could back down now. By looking in Sasuke's eyes, he could tell that the boy planned to kill him. If that was the way it was going to be, he'd kill Sasuke if he had to. The promise he made to Sakura was the last thing on his mind at the moment.
Naruto slowly pulled out another kunai, getting in a defensive stance. He began to draw on the Kyuubi's chakra again, fully prepared to bring this battle to an end once and for all.
Then Sasuke had a kunai against his throat. It did not belong to Naruto. No, its owner was none other than Hatake Kakashi.
"That's quite enough, Sasuke," the lazy Jonin stated, though he looked quite serious at the moment. Naruto wanted to fall over in relief. He had never been so happy to see his sensei.
Sasuke didn't think it was "quite enough", however. The curse seal began to morph, turning into its much deadlier second stage. Kakashi's lone eye narrowed at the act, and Naruto growled in anger. Kakashi watched as his two pupils stared each other down. Kakashi then cursed as Naruto finally did begin channeling his prisoner's volatile chakra.
So before the two could go at it, Kakashi promptly sent a very powerful electric shock into the back of Sasuke's neck, using some nifty lightning manipulation.
The charge traveled through the boy's body at a ridiculous rate. Sasuke's curse seal receded due to him falling unconscious. The Uchiha toppled backwards, an act that drove the two kunai in his legs back into to their original position.
Seeing that his opponent was finally unconscious, Naruto sighed and stopped drawing the fox's energy. After doing so, Naruto collapsed backwards. Alarmed, Kakashi quickly ran over to his student's position. Kakashi was relieved to see that Naruto was still awake, albeit looking like he had been fighting for forever. His exhaustion was clear, but he still was able to keep consciousness.
"How are you feeling?" Kakashi asked.
Giving his sensei a tired glare, the boy responded, "Like shit, Kakashi-sensei. No lie. I've never felt this exhausted in my entire life. Though, I have to admit..."
"Admit what?" Kakashi asked, grinning at his blond pupil from behind his mask.
"I'm feeling pretty good, too."
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He had been able to muster up enough strength to walk back to Konoha. Well, almost.
Naruto collapsed three-fourths of the way back. Kakashi was happy to let one of his dog summons carry the boy for the remainder of the trip. The Jonin would have done it himself, but he was presently carrying a fully-bound Uchiha Sasuke. Having felt the sort of power the curse seal gave his student, Kakashi needed to handle it personally.
He was beginning to worry about Naruto as well. The boy had been unusually quiet during their trip. The only words he had spoken to his sensei had been a request for a break once he had collapsed. Every once and a while he'd look back at the blond, surprised to find the boy deep in thought. Naruto's face was completely serious, unlike anything he had seen from his student. For a second, Kakashi thought that Naruto looked like a ninja that had been active for many years; seeing things that no man should see, doing things no man should ever do.
Just what on earth did Naruto go through during the retrieval of his teammate?
Such thoughts would have to be discarded at the moment. The gates of Konoha were fast approaching, and he could clearly see a crowd of people waiting eagerly at them. He easily distinguished Haruno Sakura, the third and final member of Team 7. Her bubblegum-pink hair was owned by no others in Konoha.
They stopped running right in front of the girl, and she was in tears to see both Naruto and Sasuke back in one piece. Well, that was until she saw the tips of two kunai poking out of each of Sasuke's kneecaps. Kakashi never bothered to remove them. While he knew some basic medical jutsu, he had no idea how to patch up wounds like that.
Seeing the terrible wounds, Sakura turned her attention to Naruto. The slight rest he got from riding one of Kakashi's summons gave him just enough strength to stand up on his own again. He turned to look at her gaze, then visibly frowned.
Sakura was glaring at him.
Though he had expected this, it definitely didn't sit well with him. Not one goddamn bit. He had just risked his life numerous times on this mission to satisfy the girl. Now she had the gall to be angry at him? Just for bringing her Sasuke back looking a bit worse for wear, she was pissed at him? Not today, sister.
"Don't give me that look. I'm in no mood for it, Sakura," Naruto spoke, his tone very serious.
"Look what you did to Sasuke! He looks terrible!" the girl yelled at him, not taking his advice at all.
This led to a scowl from Naruto. "And apparently I don't...okay, believe me Sakura, he dished out a lot more pain to me than I did to him. You're lucky I was able to get him back at all." That remark awakened phantom pain in his chest. Looking down, he saw that it originated from where a large hole in his jacket had been created by Sasuke's chidori. Man, did that thing hurt like a bitch...
"I don't see you walking around with kunai in your knee joints!" Sakura yelled. "I told you to bring him back, not cripple him for life!"
Naruto's eyes hardened considerably at her words. So, he responded, "I did my duty as a shinobi, Sakura. If I had been going by the book, I would have had to kill Sasuke for trying to defect to a known enemy of Konoha. Lucky for him, I was able to score with those kunai. If not, either me or him would have died, if not both of us."
"So! At least Sasuke would have been alive!" Sakura blurted, immediately regretting she had ever said such words. The look in Naruto's eyes held more sorrow than she thought was possible for a human to endure.
Then, he slapped her. He slapped her with deafening force, a blow that sent Sakura to her knees in shock.
"I thought we were friends, Sakura. I did all this for you. Thanks for showing me your thankfulness. Next time, you can risk your own life in a fight with Sasuke," Naruto spoke lightly. He then walked past her, where he was then looked at by a team of medical ninja. Sakura looked at his back, tears running down her face. She knew that she had gone too far with her anger. Actually looking at the boy, she could tell he was extremely tired and hurting. Whatever he had done to get Sasuke back, it had put him through hell and back.
The medical ninja, after giving the blond a once over, decided that he needed to spend some time in the hospital. So, they grabbed Naruto and began to help him towards their workplace. The entire time, Naruto never turned to look back at Sakura and Sasuke.
They were behind him now.
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That night, Naruto found no sleep. He laid in bed all night with his eyes wide open, staring at the hospital room's ceiling. He mulled over so much that sleep was an impossibility.
He had discovered just how badly injured the rest of the retrieval mission's squad had gotten. If it wasn't for the Sand Siblings, three of his friends would be dead right now. He was definitely going to thank them for their assistance.
Besides that, Naruto kept remembering the events of his fight with Sasuke and his falling out with Sakura. It had hurt at first, but Naruto was good a numbing emotional pains. He'd done it his entire life, hiding the desperate loneliness behind a massive smile and an energetic demeanor.
It was easier to kill the pain now, though, because he wasn't really alone anymore. Sure, Sasuke and Sakura were likely out of the picture, but he had made so many other friends over the past months. All he had to do was think of the faces of Hinata, Neji, Lee, Shikamaru, Choji, Kiba (and Akamaru), Iruka, Gaara, and even that old pervert Jiraiya. This group was what would keep him striving for his dream now more than ever.
However, eventually Naruto's mind traveled to darker places. Namely, the Kyuubi. Without that fox's help, Sasuke would have killed him with ease. That was something that Naruto didn't like one bit. He didn't want to have to be like Sasuke and rely on a secondary source of power to accomplish anything noteworthy. He wanted to be a skilled shinobi, not a skilled demon container.
He then began to realize that any of his key victories as of late, with the exception of Kiba, had required the use of the fox's chakra. Neji, Gaara, and Sasuke would have disposed of him in a moment's notice without that damn chakra.
He needed to become more skilled in other areas. If he had better ninjutsu and taijutsu, he would be able to beat anyone. Well, maybe not anyone, but a lot more people than he could right now. Perhaps these past couple of months were a wakeup call for him to start improving on the shinobi arts. He already showed that he could do it, because he had learned the Rasengan faster than anyone else.
Even it's creator, the Yondaime Hokage.
The Yondaime was his idol, because he was the perfect example of what Naruto should be as a ninja. The Yondaime was the Hokage because he had incredible ninjutsu and a formidable taijutsu to go along with it. The Yondaime had pretty much single handedly won the last Great Shinobi War by himself. Naruto always forgot the name of that awesome technique the Hokage had used, but the Yondaime had cleared whole fields of enemy ninja with it. Naruto would one day develop his own technique that would outdo that jutsu.
And he wouldn't need the Kyuubi in any way to perform it.
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The next day was pretty nice. Shikamaru stopped by to check on him. The following conversations revealed that the lazy ninja had been very guilty that so many of his squad mates had been gravely injured under his leadership. Naruto understood where he was coming from, and reassured Shikamaru that it wasn't the Nara's fault. The mission was technically a success, and everyone who had been on that mission knew that they would be risking their lives. It seemed to calm Shikamaru down somewhat. Well, until Ino decided to barge in, looking for him apparently.
She had chewed Shikamaru out for not bothering to come see her after he got bat. apparently she had been worried sick for him and Choji. Naruto had smiled at the scene. Shikamaru's team really were a lot more close-knit than they let on. If only Team 7 had been anywhere as functional. He had cast that dark thought away pretty quickly.
Then Ino had taken notice of Naruto, and had proceeded to open her big mouth.
"Naruto! Oh thank you so much for bringing back my Sasuke-kun! I was pretty shocked to hear you actually beat him!"
Well, he had pretty much glared her right out of the room. He didn't want to hear one person mention Sasuke in a positive light at all. After seeing what that bastard really was, Naruto was not going to be putting in a good word for his former teammate any time soon. He only hoped that Tsunade would take control of that situation quickly, and put Sasuke away for a long time. The ninja side of the council would mostly agree with her due to knowing how grave of a crime treason was, but he had a feeling the civilians would be fighting tooth and nail to keep Sasuke out of harm's way.
A little while after Shikamaru departed, he got a visit from a blushing Hyuuga Hinata and her Jonin sensei Kurenai. The girl had come in red as a tomato and shaking like a tree. Still, she had brought him some Ichiraku's ramen, and after that (with the constant urging of Kurenai) a Get Well Card. He had accepted both heartily and then Naruto gave Hinata a quick hug. Well, quick in the sense that the moment he made contact with the Hyuuga heiress, she had collapsed thanks to one of her famous fainting spells. He had worried over her quite a bit, but Kurenai had reassured him extensively that Hinata was fine. When the girl came to, she had hurriedly left, causing Kurenai to chase after her following an apology to the blond.
Iruka was the last person to visit him before the hours to do so were over. He brought with him more ramen, and Naruto happily devoured his share. After that it was pretty awkward. Naruto suspected that his old Academy teacher had no idea what to say to him about the retrieval mission. So Naruto decided to promise Iruka that they'd have a proper conversation when he was out of the hospital. The scarred chunin left reluctantly, but not before giving Naruto a hug and telling him he was proud of his former student.
Coming from one of his most precious people, that meant a lot to Naruto.
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"I've come to talk to you about a very serious matter," Jiraiya spoke. He sat on window ledge of Naruto's hospital room. The blond ninja was presently lying in his bed, wrapped in bandages from the wounds he received. As soon as Jiraiya spoke, he had Naruto's undivided attention.
"Yes? What is it that you wanna talk about?" Naruto asked, a single eyebrow raised under the bandages on his face.
Still with his back to Naruto, Jiraiya responded, "From this day onward, you are my apprentice. I will train you one-on-one for the next three years. You see, as I was investigating Orochimaru's movements, I picked up on some information about Akatsuki. They won't be gunning for you for another three years, it seems. So, we need to leave Konoha for a while. In that time, I intend to make you formidable enough to deal with these bastards when the time comes."
Naruto was very quiet after that. Jiraiya took it as hesitance. That was no good. He needed to get that training trip going quickly. This boy needed to become very strong to fight the people that were after him now.
"You know," Naruto began, gaining Jiraiya's attention. "It's weird. If you would have brought this up and I would have failed this last mission, I probably would have turned it down. I would have worried about Sasuke and Sakura. I would have been a real brat about this. But now...it's as though I simply do not care. Not one bit. Sasuke, Sakura, they've shown that they are not my real teammates. It feels like they have betrayed me.
"However, I have other friends. Friends that Akatsuki will no doubt go after to get to me. I need to get stronger for my precious people, like I always have. So, Jiraiya, I'll take you up on this deal. Let's get the hell on the road. Uzumaki Naruto will defeat Akatsuki, no matter what."
Jiraiya didn't know how to react to his student's musings. He never expected Naruto to simply come along without protest. As Naruto said, Jiraiya expected him to go on about Sasuke or Sakura. Now it looked like the blond had removed himself from the two. However, he still wanted to get strong to protect those important to him. Just what sort of ninja would this boy be now?
Seeing the determination in Naruto's eyes, Jiraiya answered his own question.
"Kid, you could very well become my favorite student..." Jiraiya thought with a smile and a shake of his head.
"Alright! As soon as you're all healed up, we'll head on out! I promise you this: when I'm done with you, you'll be a master ninja!" Jiraiya proclaimed with a huge grin and a thumbs up.
Grinning a real grin, Naruto said, "You better live up to your words. 'Cuz I'm going to make you have to keep up with me! I'll learn everything you got, old man!"
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THREE YEARS LATER
The wind whipped a bit harder on this day. That was what Tsunade realized as she stood on the top of her tower, looking over Konoha. The wind was blowing her long, honey-blond hair into her face. It was annoying, really. However, she couldn't deny that the wind didn't feel good. After an entire week of paperwork in her dark office, fresh air felt fantastic on her aged skin.
There was a sort of patting sound behind her. Her curiosity piqued, Tsunade turned to discover a small yellow toad jumping over her way. She immediately recognized the amphibian as one of Jiraiya's messenger toads. Kneeling a bit, Tsunade held out her hand to let the toad jump into it. The small animal did so, giving her a grin.
"Hey Tsunade-chan! Looking as beautiful as ever, Lady Hokage," the little toad croaked following a bow, drawing a small smile from the woman.
"Always the charmer, eh Gamawasuke? While I appreciate the flattery, may you please give me Jiraiya's message? I'm eager to see what that pervert and his apprentice are up to these days." she spoke to the little yellow toad.
Nodding, Gamawasuke spoke, "Alright, it goes a little like this. 'Dear Tsunade. I'm very pleased to inform you that Naruto and myself will be coming back to Konoha today. Wait until you see this kid, Tsunade. You'll hardly recognize him! Oh well, I'll talk to you when we get back. Love, Jiraiya. P.S. You wanna go on a date when I get back?' That's about it, Tsunade-chan. If I have your approval, I'll head back to that old lecher."
Pinching her nose, Tsunade nodded. "That's fine, Gamawasuke. If you see that pervert, tell him I ain't dating him in a million years."
Grinning widely, the toad responded, "Sure thing, Lady Hokage. You're too good for that reprobate anyway. I hope to see you again soon, milady!" The toad then exploded into smoke, leaving Tsunade by herself. She had to admit, she was a bit excited to see how Naruto turned out after training with Jiraiya.
That pervert better hope that he didn't corrupt Naruto in these past three years.
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"Awww! Not in a million years? How could you be so cruel, Tsunade-chan? You know I only have the best intentions when I ask you out! You're too much of a prude to do anything like that."
Scowling, Gamawasuke yelled, "Watch what you say about lady Hokage! She is simply too high-class to date a vagabond like you, Jiraiya! If only you could be as well-mannered as your student, you lech."
"What? What did you call your master?" the Toad Sannin roared as he began to chase his tiny summon.
Sighing, a person looked down on the old man. "So immature. At least I grew up, Jiraiya." The person was presently sitting on the side of Konoha's Hokage Monument. He sat cross legged on the nose of the Fifth Hokage's face, a calm look plastered on his own. He found himself looking down on the ninja village that had raised him, wondering what else had changed while he was gone.
"Jiraiya!" the person yelled lightly.
The old pervert stopped chasing Gamawasuke and looked up at the person. Grinning, Jiraiya called, "How's the sight up there, Naruto? I can't believe you're sitting on Tsunade's face! She'd be giving you a hell of a beating at that kind of disrespect." Though I wouldn't mind if she'd sit on my face...
Uzumaki Naruto gave his sensei a brief glance before replying, "I've already sat on the four others. I wanted to see if this one would be any more comfortable."
"And?"
"Not too bad, Jiraiya. Not too bad."
END OF LIVING 1
From here on out there really won't be any gigantic time skips for a long, long time. The plot will follow the major events in Shippuden, but with twists at each event. Naruto will be considerably skilled thanks to Jiraiya, instead of what he was in the manga after the training trip. It always kinda steamed me that Jiraiya only taught him Oodama Rasengan and Kyuubi chakra manipulation. He had to have known the Kage Bunshin's secret, he's a Sannin for Christ's sake! He could have taught Naruto a buttload more in those three years. So now Naruto will actually be a formidable fighter.
