The Hunt For Hidden Answers
Disclaimers: I do not own Naruto and the contents of the show or manga. I however do own my OC (original character) that will be in the story. There is a slight AU here in the story, I did make the 4th Hokage the father for Naruto to fit the story line I have created, due to this not being a fact in the actual storyline I am labeling this story AU.
This also takes place before the second season begins, so the characters are the ages of the second season. The teens will be roughly 15, Kakashi is 28 or 29. So sit back and enjoy!
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Chapter Two
"So it would seem, fate has decided for him to know," Izayoi said softly. "It's not the way I had imagined telling him but it will due."
"Excuse me, what are you talking about," Kakashi asked as he walked towards the trio that were now standing in a close circle. He knew what she might be referring to but not quite knowing what to expect.
"Naruto is my baby brother," Izayoi said softly. "My full name is Ayane Izayoi Uzumaki, Naruto's only living family."
"Please tell me you're joking," Kakashi stated. "You…you Ayane…"
"Yes I am Ayane the one you are thinking about, and no I am not joking," Ayane stated simply. "I was asked by the fourth to keep my mouth shut about my identity almost since the day I could speak, I don't know why you are so surprised you knew my name is Ayane…but then again you didn't know my surname. However I followed my orders, never did I imagine I would have another sibling so young and what had happened to him. I watched him from afar and I wanted nothing more to protect him but he was told all of his family was dead."
"You two will have a lot to catch up on," Jiraiya said with a smirk. "I think it's time for me to head back up to my place or maybe more scouting around if you know what I mean. It's getting crowded her with an old hag!"
"WHAT DID YOU SAY!?!?!"
"Gotta go!" With that said he was gone in a flash. Ayane and Kakashi shook their heads, it would seem that Jiraiya decided to make his exit before apologizing for his dumb comment; they knew it was on purpose.
"Dirty old man," Ayane muttered under her breath and sighed, "When did you want to go?"
Kakashi looked at her, "We'll prepare everything we need tonight and leave in the morning."
Ayane nodded, "Understood."
"Kakashi, I need to speak with you for a moment," the fifth said and Ayane took her leave. Kakashi was approached by the fifth, "Don't hold her leaving against her. She had no choice but to go."
"I don't know…"
"Yes you do," the fifth said. "The whole village at one point thought you would be one of the first to get married but then she was ripped away from you. I can see it in your eyes; you hold a grudge against her for leaving. You'll play it as if you never missed her but you have." Kakashi made no move to show he heard what she was saying but she knew better, "She will explain in all due time what was in that letter to make her leave. Part of what is written in that letter was for her to stay away from you."
"What?"
Good that caught his attention, The fifth smirked. "When Ayane is ready she'll tell you. But I do warn you," She grabbed the book from his pocket. "If she catches you reading this, you might be eating dirt for a few weeks. You saw what happened to Jiraiya earlier."
"Are you implying that will happen to me," Kakashi took his book back and placed it in his pocket.
"If I remember correctly, she used to beat you up quite frequently for saying something stupid," the fifth said bluntly. "When you were with her you felt complete, you made yourself let her go but did you ever really let her go?"
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Kakashi had left the tower with nothing but questions in his head and heart. He was calm and collected guy all of the time, which he was now at least on the outside. But inside there were numerous questions filling his every being. He would however be interrupted by…
"KAKASHI! My eternal RIVIAL!"
Ugh, not now. Might Guy placed his arm around his shoulders and Kakashi just sighed, "What is it Guy?"
"Damn it Kakashi! Can't you loosen up for once," Guy said as he removed his arm.
"Alright then, what is it you want," Kakashi asked as the two were walking side by side.
"Was that Izayoi I saw earlier?" Guy said with a big grin, "I heard she's single now?"
"What of it?" Kakashi said coolly.
"That means one of us cool guys have a chance with her," Guy said with a huge grin.
"Whatever, like you'll ever have a chance with her."
"Aw Kakashi, why do you have to be so cold?"
"What? You think I'm lying?"
"Aw come on! Can't you cut us a little slack here! You already had your chance with her!"
"What is that suppose to mean?"
"Kakashi, get real! She left the village for eight years and now she's back. Well granted she really didn't end things with you but it should mean she is single!"
"Uh huh…"
"SHOW SOME DAMN EMOTION!"
"What? Like you do?"
"Curse you! I'm going to talk to her, last time I saw her she was spending some time with your little students."
"Huh?"
Before Might Guy would begin making a wager or some kind of battle between the two, they heard laughter from not too far away. They two quickly made their way to the stream to remain hidden from view. Sure enough there was Ayane playing in the stream with Sakura and Naruto. Her laughter was something that everyone missed; it brought a smile to Guy's face.
Izayoi sure hadn't changed that much it would seem. "She sure is beautiful," Guy said softly as he admired her from afar. Kakashi however agreed but not out loud, he would rather be dead than caught agreeing with Might Guy.
"Sakura, if you want to beat Naruto you need to be wittier than that!" Ayane cheered as she splashed Naruto and Sakura nearly rolled over laughing at the drenched blonde male.
"HEY! No fair! It's two against one!" Naruto whined as he got back up to splash Sakura.
Ayane laughed, "We could even the odds for you if Kakashi and Guy would get out of hiding from behind those trees."
"Huh?" Guy was stunned and Kakashi just shook his head.
"Come on! Have a little fun with us!" Ayane waved and of course Guy took the chance he could get at least until Kakashi caught him by the collar. Ayane laughed as used her chakra to splash water on the two men. The two men were now soaked from head to two as Sakura and Naruto began laughing.
"Ok, that's it!" Guy got out of Kakashi's grip to chase after Ayane. Kakashi just leaned against a tree, Guy you're an idiot. Ayane is just putting up a brave face for those two. She's been through a lot, I can feel it. Maybe Lord Hokage is right…maybe I…
"Hey gloomy pants!" Ayane called for him while waving, "You sure are no fun! You haven't changed a bit!"
Ayane noticed a change in Naruto; he was preparing a jutsu behind her. She smirked as she silently prepared herself for what was coming her way. Kakashi was smirking and Ayane knew it, she was the only one who could read his emotions even when he tries to hide behind his mask…maybe it was because she KNEW what he looked out with his mask. Naruto used the shadow clone to surround Ayane.
"Oh, I don't think so!" Ayane said as she prepared herself but she got drenched. "UGH! That's it!"
"Uh oh," all the Naruto's said as they all took off running.
Ayane made her own minions of shadow clones and quickly ran after the young blonde's. Sakura laughed as she made it to shore all wet herself. "Who ever thought training could be so FUN!"
"Excuse me," Kakashi said as he crouched next to Sakura.
"Izayoi Sensei is GREAT! She was teaching us some new techniques!"
"WHAT!?!?" Guy said confused. "How can you call that training? And sense when do you call her sensei?"
Sakura looked up at him, "She is technically even though she wasn't here all the time, besides she was teaching us to use our chakra to manipulate water and make it a powerful attack even though it was more fun to drench Naruto."
"Looked more like playing games to me," Kakashi said with an arched brow.
"Well, it kind of was…"
"There you go again with your lack of emotions!" Guy said as he threw his hands up in the air. "For some rival you sure are as boring as hell."
"That does remind Guy, where is your team?"
"Oh, about that! So you noticed! Well…"
"Well…"
"I wanted to check up on Izayoi and see how she was doing. I mean we haven't seen her in eight years and all."
Yeah right, he wanted to check her out like all the other guys were doing earlier. Sakura shook her head. Geesh, Izayoi sensei was right. No matter what their age they all act dumb!
"HEY HEY! Let me GO! GEESH! WILL YEA!"
"That must be Naruto," Kakashi said as he saw Ayane pulling him by the ear. He almost broke out into laughter when he saw Ayane's hair was all green. "Oh dear…"
Sakura stood up and asked, "Izayoi sensei what happened to your hair?"
"Apparently our young ninja here picked up a few new tricks from the old man!"
"Hey hey! I didn't mean it! Honest!"
"What do you mean, you didn't mean it!?!?!"
"This is going to be a very LONG journey," Kakashi sighed to himself. "Heaven help us if we survive in the first place."
"Where are you going Kakashi?" Guy asked and Ayane finally let go of Naruto's ear. She was glaring at him.
"You better fix this!?!"
"What do you mean!?!?"
"You did it?"
"Aren't you like some super ninja, can't you do it yourself?"
"What were you asking Guy," Kakashi asked trying to ignore the arguing two.
"Where are you going?"
"Did not!"
"Did too!"
"DID NOT!"
"DID TOO!!!!"
"We're going after some stone," Sakura responded also trying to ignore the squabble.
"The hokage stone to be exact," Kakashi said rubbing it in Guy's face.
"That old relic, that useless piece of junk," Guy smirked. "At least my team is out doing a real mission instead of chasing after something that is no longer any use to us!"
"NARUTO GET BACK HERE!!!!"
"GOT TO CATCH ME FISRT OLD LADY!"
"OLD!?!?!?!?!?!?!!?"
"Oh no," Kakashi pushed Sakura's head down. "Duck!"
"Huh," Guy got hit in the head and nearly fell over. Naruto was now running away after Ayane, who was throwing several objects at him but of course Ayane did intend to miss and knew Guy could take the pain or at least dodge it.
"Yup, going to be a long mission," Kakashi muttered to himself.
"What Kakashi sensei." Sakura asked.
"Oh nothing!"
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The Next morning….
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"Do you think they will be fine, just the four of them?"
"Why do you ask me that?"
"Lord Hokage, sure Kakashi and the returned Ayane will be fine but the children?"
"They will be fine; it's time Naruto got out for a bit. We can't hide him forever…"
"And Ayane?"
"She knows what to do; however I am not sure if she will return back safely."
"What do you mean Lord Hokage?"
"The stone is also a judgment stone in a way, we knew of her birth coming and of her brother but we also knew a possible outcome for the girl and of Naruto, don't you remember."
"You mean…"
"Yes, we did use the stone to predict who the next possible stone barrier would be and the future Hokage or in this Hokages, the stone is made from one pure sacrifice…and it will need another to remain active."
"Then why are we bringing that dreaded stone back? Sounds more like a curse than a blessing."
"It is part of our history, and besides…it may not even make it back it is full form but we can make it into more stones like the one Naruto wears around his neck with some of choosing light."
"Again, what do you mean?"
"Don't you see…if the stone is destroyed the power will harness in the gem I gave Naruto making him the barrier of our history and the making of the next hokage, we could almost make many more stones like I said earlier. But even though I know this as well as Ayane it will be her decision what she will do with the stone itself when they are found face to face with it, in a way the stone has looked at her as kind of a guardian from afar."
"What was written in that letter, OLD HAG?"
"For once I'm going to ignore that comment," the fifth said. "The fourth asked her if she would be willing to give up her life for the stone, in order for it to hold true power it would need a willing sacrifice but…"
"We don't even know how the stone works!??!?! The first and second are no longer here."
"But Ayane does…"
"You're not making any SENSE!"
"Ayane was always an ace when it came to history; the third took her under his wing to teach her more about the stone that was one a proud part of our history. The third knew better than I did about how the stone actually worked and how it maintains its power…it's written somewhere in a book in the library just haven't had time to look much into it."
"So, what do you want to do with the stone if they do bring it back wholly?"
"I don't know, we'll just have to see how the story unfolds, time will tell us what the stone will be to us if it returns to us or not. And if Kakashi returns with his heart still intact."
"That boy still loves her?"
"This is coming from a perverted old man who is supposed to know these things?"
"Hey what can I say?"
"Don't even go there. My worry is about Ayane, she has lost a huge part of herself many years ago…I wonder what has changed her so she may still try to hide it behind her rough around the edges personality but there is something different about her now."
"If there is anyone who can find out, it will be Kakashi. If what you say is true…"
"She still loves him, from the look so of it. She never stopped…"
"Hmmmm, maybe I should follow them…"
THUD
"Dirty old man! You just never quit do you?"
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"Did you hear that?" Naruto asked looking back towards the tower.
"Probably the fifth setting someone straight," Ayane said casually. Probably that Old Man Jiraiya. "Anyway, off we go!"
"Izayoi sensei," Sakura called and Ayane looked at her. "I know I shouldn't be asking this but what's going to happen after we find the stone?"
"Well, that all depends on the condition the stone is in," Izayoi responded. "We can't plan anything until we see how much power is actually left in the stone. Once someone uses their chakra on it, it tends to lose some of its power and be passed on to the person."
"Then so why don't we just let it run out of power," Naruto suggested.
"It's not that simple," Kakashi responded. "As long as there is a hokage in power, the stone will never completely die, it somehow knows when there is a hokage. It would have to be destroyed by a pure soul or given a worthy sacrifice to refuel its power."
"Or a large amount of Chakra."
"Like we have to kill someone or let someone just loose everything that is being a ninja almost?"
"No Naruto, a person must surrender their soul," Ayane responded. "Or surrender their lifestyle."
"WHAT!?!?! What kind of crazy sick plan is that? I swear that sounds crazier than the pervy sage! And he can be REALLY crazy!"
Ayane chuckled, "You thought by now Naruto you had seen enough to know that everything is far from simple, especially the way of the ninja."
Naruto let out a heavy sigh, "Geesh, why can't some things come easy?"
"Then you wouldn't be where you are today," Sakura said walking side by side her team mate. "When you really think about it, if everything was handed to us we would have not gotten stronger, right?"
Naruto shrugged, "I guess. But still, Izayoi sensei…"
"Hmmmm?"
"How come none us really knew who you were till now," Naruto asked and saw the discomfort in the older blonde woman.
"I really don't know, just know that I was ordered to keep myself hidden from some of you younger kiddos," Ayane said simply. "Just doing my job, besides I always was off on a mission or two."
"Causing trouble," Kakashi said low enough only for Ayane to hear. Sure enough it was true; she did cause a lot of trouble in her days at the village. She smirked and Kakashi wanted to get to the bottom of her leaving, she at least owed him that much…right?
"So…what are some of your specialties," Naruto asked and Ayane smirked.
"Why do you want to know," Ayane asked.
Naruto smirked back, "Well I mean you had to be good in order to be almost part of the ANBU at one point right? Why did you go on a special mission?"
Ayane nodded, "At one point I almost did but of course I was given another mission. I chose the mission instead of joining the ANBU. I thought it was more important than being put on the squad…at least that's what I thought at the time."
"So Izayoi sensei," Sakura began… "Going back to Naruto's question, what is your specialty? You can't blame us for being curious…"
"I could give you guys a little demonstration if you want….So Naruto, wanna have a little sparring match," Ayane asked with a smirk.
"Sure!"
"Now, now…" Kakashi interrupted. "There will be time for that later. So why don't just keep moving along, shall we? We do have a lot of ground to cover."
"You sure are no fun," Ayane pouted followed by her sticking out her tongue and walked along side of the two teens.
Kind of hard to be fun around, it always has been unless it was in certain areas and behind closed doors. Kakashi remained some distance away from them however taking note of all of Ayane actions. She still appeared to be the same woman he once knew and yet of course there were obvious changes…she had become an even more of a vision, maybe not the prettiest in the world but enough to catch attention of many men. When are you going to tell me what caused you to not even say good bye? Ayane stopped and looked over her shoulder. She smiled as sped off as Kakashi sighed. What are you up to?
"Hey where did she go," Naruto asked.
"Hyper speed," Kakashi answered. "You wanted to know some of her specialties, there's one."
"Oh," Naruto's mouth was gaping open. "What else can she do?"
"Oh a lot more," Ayane reappeared as if it was nothing. "I promise to teach you what Kakashi can't. It's always good to have a wide variety of teachers."
"COOL!"
Ayane winked, "Kakashi does have a few tricks up his sleeve too, but I have a few more."
"That's only because you studied under a few more than I," Kakashi interjected. "I'm just grateful you didn't completely inherit the fifth's monstrous strength, just a portion of it."
"WHAT?!?!?!" Naruto nearly fell over, "You mean she got a mean punch like granny?"
Sakura smiled, "Will I able to…."
Ayane smiled and nodded, "I think you'll be a good medic ninja like the fifth and even be better than Kakashi and I, if you really wanted to be."
"Hey, what about me," Naruto asked walking up to the blonde woman.
"If the fifth predicted correctly, you'll be a hokage," Ayane simply stated as she began to walk in front of the group. "Only a few people have that dream Naruto, hold it close to your heart for always and never change…"
"Huh…" Naruto watched the woman walk in front of him. He had heard those words before in some far distant part of his memory and even in that voice. He couldn't place his finger on it but something was different about Ayane and he was going to find out. The moment he looked at her in the far back corner of his mind there was something oddly familiar about her…
"Naruto, geesh what are you waiting for?" Sakura waved in front of his face.
"Huh?"
"Let's go!" Sakura pushed him to start walking again; he hadn't noticed that he had stopped in the first place. "We don't want to be left behind."
Ayane had stopped and held out her arm, "We're being watched…"
"This is going to get ugly…"
"For you maybe, who did you piss off this time," Ayane looked over at him as she pulled off a note attached to a tree. "It's addressed to you and states that they want revenge."
"I didn't do anything!"
"Uh huh, Kakashi when are you going to ever learn stealing other people's women is not a good thing!" Ayane pushed a finger on his nose. "It would seem that every time even when we were younger men only wanted revenge on you if you stole their woman! So fess up, who are you fooling around with?"
"wh…wh…why do you say that?" Kakashi asked as she pulled out his favorite book and held it away from him.
"Maybe because you read this junk," Ayane's eyebrows were twitching. "What have you been doing that you are supposed to NOT be doing???"
Whispers were being exchanged… "Maybe we should take our revenge another day?"
"I agree…that woman is incredibly scary?!?!"
"What are you men or mice?"
"Mice…did you see the look on her face…"
"Wait…isn't that…"
"It couldn't be…"
"There is that possibility that she is the one and the same…"
"She was rather young when she was last seen by us. It could very well be her…"
"Then we should observe her more, though we are low ranked…"
"Low ranked what?"
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Onward to the next chapter! Thanks for reading so far!!!