Naruto: Ashes to Gold
Author's notes: Well, another chapter done. Here's a peek at something that'll happen in the future.
Screaming bolts of 105mm feathers slammed into the great monster's side, blasting away at its very essence. The fury of the Harbinger Albatross could be felt by the remaining united armies of the shinobi nation as the great birds made of a huge amount of self-sustaining chakra continued to fly circles around the great beast, a half-resurrected Junbi that continued to smash away at its surroundings, enraged that it couldn't reach its tormentors.
Flitting amongst the flattened trees of the battlefield, Vindicator Sparrowhawks flitted by the massive energy lances that the Junbi used to defend itself, firing bolts of chakra into it before wheeling away.
Suddenly, eight beams of white energy fired down onto the Junbi, spiraling in concentric spirals into one large dome of concentrated energy. A bolt of chakra fired down and set off a powerful chain reaction that blinded everyone watching as the roar of rushing shockwaves drowned out every other sound...
Chapter 2: Four Years Later...
Retrieving Database Files...
Uzumaki Narine... Shinobi ID. 00833813...
Database Password...
Processing...
Password Accepted...
Name: Uzumaki Narine
Age: 17
Birthdate: October 10, XXXX
Height: 168 cm
Weight: 61 kilograms
Hair Color: Blonde
Eye Color: Blue
Breast Size: Classified...
Waist Size: Classified...
Hip Size: Classified...
Profession: Shinobi, Jounin of Konohagakure no Sato...
Status: Retired. Available for recall under Protocol White Rebirth.
Notes:
Sealed records on file. Available only to the Hokage of Konohagakure no Sato.
One of the orphans of the Kyuubi attack. Grew up independently after graduating the academy at seven, made Chunnin at eleven and was recently honorably discharged from ANBU after three years of service. Currently in service as a Jounin at sixteen.
Extremely effective close quarter combat specialist, utilizing Aikido Taijutsu and kenjutsu. She has an advanced mastery of stealth and detection as well as great familiarity with traps and quick-rigging. Since a particular incident four years ago, she had operated more as a hyper-lethal vector rather than a team player, which had made her suitable for lone wolf missions such as international assassinations and other missions with sensitive objectives requiring stealth and speed. She is still able to go loud in any situation but her tendency to work alone has made her unable to place in a full team. Still effective as a temporary team member until reassignment.
Notable missions also included the recent capture and/or termination of over a hundred B-rank or higher missing-nin and criminals at large throughout the nation, raising Konoha's prestige level.
...
ANBU records on file. Sealed. Access level bravo-4 required...
Mission Record...
D-rank: 54, C-Rank: 413, B-Rank: 163, A-Rank: 278, S-Rank: 21
In the aftermath of the Uchiha Massacre, she had woken up in the hospital ICU. She was unable to remember exactly what had transpired after she had been kicked out of the door by Itachi but there was a huge weight that seemed to drag on her heart . It didn't help that when she saw Sasuke, she had broken out in a mass of tears and cried for days on end, unable to understand exactly why she had felt so heartbroken at seeing the young Uchiha. Before she had awaken from the coma induced by the Mangekyou Sharingan, Sasuke had been a complete blank, unmoving and uncaring. He refused to eat and even ignored the Sandaime Hokage when he had come to check on the last Uchiha himself. He had asked to see Narine more than once and when he had been denied at each request, he simply went back to staring into space again.
Upon being able to see her, he had gained some form of life back, as if he still had a place of solace to return to. When he burst in on her, she was sitting up in her bed, a tired look crossing her face with her hair in a mess from being inactive for a week. All her senses were fuzzy to the point where she could barely see in front of her and it stung to open her eyes. Every part of her body ached and tingled unpleasantly as she tried to gather her surroundings. It was a bit of a shock to have Sasuke thrown onto her so suddenly, almost passing out from the amount of pain that felt like thousands of needles stabbing her. As the nurses tried to drag the screaming Uchiha off Narine, his wild struggling had caused even more pain to the point where she had screamed. After begging the nurses not to irritate Sasuke so that she could rest, Narine had simply passed out from exhaustion again.
She hadn't understood everything Itachi had shown her with his genjutsu. Apparently, the Mangekyou Sharingan was capable of using a skill called Tsukuyomi which would allow the user to manipulate time and space to force the victim to observe whatever illusion the user wanted over and over again, even going so far as to condense an entire duration of an hour to a mere a second, extending the skill over and over again. For Narine, she couldn't bear the strong guilt that seemed to weigh her down whenever she looked or thought about Sasuke. It was as if it was a niggling sense for her to worry about him every chance she got. It almost drove her insane, feeling responsible for Sasuke but never quite understanding why.
ANBU had their chance and finally managed to recruit Narine, one of their prime prospects for several years. She worked like a seasoned operative with several decades worth of experience, pushing herself to move faster, fighter harder and hide stealthily, as if always hiding from old memories that might come and consume their mind. She wanted to get away from the feeling of responsibility that she always felt whenever she was near Sasuke. Whenever she was home from a mission, he would sneak away from his designators and spend the night at her apartment. No matter what the situation was, she always found herself taking care of Sasuke, helping him train or hiding him from other people.
But it was okay. At least every time she helped him, the guilt always eased itself a bit.
Shunpo... A rather complicated jutsu that Narine had managed to perfect during her three year tenure as an ANBU operative. Although she had trained a great deal physically, she had also spent a lot of time in the books, researching on how to warp the time-space continuum to reduce travel distance. Kakashi pondered the effects of the Shunpo. Unlike the Shunshin, which created an instantaneous acceleration upon use, the Shunpo actually distorted time and space to allow the user to actually step between two points in a plane.
Simply put, you could say that a given distance between you and a destination could be plotted on a plane, which is the ground you walk on. You could change your speed or direction you walk to arrive at given point, which was what Shunshin did. Shunpo was the actually manipulation of the plane to bend and contract to fold the two points of the user and destination together and allow for instantaneous travel.
Given the conservation of momentum and other laws of physics, this actually meant one could instantly change direction while maintaining the current velocity and speed. Although there was a time she was drunk and when she used Shunpo, she ended up knocking herself out cold by running into a bar. Ouch. Other than that, Shunpo no Jutsu was an short-range version of the Yondaime Hokage's Hiraishin no Jutsu and with the ability to move nearly instantaneously where she wanted gave Narine an overwhelming advantage in positioning herself at the proper places, something all Taijutsu experts tried to attain.
Shinobi who tended to rely on long-range skills to defeat their opponent found themselves unable to do much of anything once she had tied them down in melee and even close-quarter combat experts such as Gai found themselves unable to press for extended duration of times when she could retreat and jump back into a fight whenever she wanted. However, with the Sharingan, he was able to spot clues as to where she would literally teleport to next. Each time she used Shunpo, he was able to spot three direct areas that would "crease" or seem to fold out of shape momentarily with her appearing at the third point that warped.
Yet, despite her own growth, she was a bit stunted socially. As Kakashi knew, she was more of a hyper-lethal vector rather than a team player mostly because she couldn't connect with any of the team members even after a while and eventually, she would be transferred to act as a temporary team member for another cell group. Because of her outstanding record and 100% mission completion rate and zero casualty rate, she was given Jounin status right after she was honorably discharged from ANBU special ops. Most of her missions as a Jounin tended to be forward overwatch for escorts of officials and other important persons in Fire Country as well as police action in certain hot spots concerning Fire Country's prospects.
Having made enough of a fortune hunting down criminals, she had then chosen to take a year off active service after she had returned from busting several prostitution rings and underground crime movements, lending critical assistance to many of the city defence forces in making their streets safer and cleaner.
Her discharge from ANBU had been a relatively rocky affair. With three of her commanders having used her particular skill set to exact vengeance in the form of S-Rank missions, such as dealing with an unwilling daimyo or hunting down a dangerous group of missing-nin who had destroyed an ANBU team. The commanders weren't happy about her leaving but the fact that she had left her ninjatou on her current commander's desk, stabbed through her mask and a letter of resignation.
"You know you look a lot better now that you're off ANBU," Kakashi spoke from behind his book, 'thought you still look older than you should,'
Narine only gave him a sidelong glance, "Were you thinking I was under duress during my tenure at ANBU?"
Kakashi simply glanced out of the corner of his eye, wondering if the woman next to him had really been a shinobi. Hair tied in a low ponytail and wearing an blue apron over an orange dress, Narine almost looked the part of a civilian. Although she was technically a retired Shinobi, it was surprisingly easy for her assume the look of a harmless woman.
'Harmless my ass,' Kakashi snorted, thinking about how often he came to losing his head during a 'sparring session'.
"I hear you're getting Sasuke for one of your cell members," the Uzumaki spoke as she walked alongside Kakashi.
"Hnnn, apparently, I'm the only one who can train him," Kakashi flipped a page in his book, "you're not thinking about asking me to pass him just because?"
"No, no, nothing of the sort," Narine gave an uneasy grin, "I guess I just worry too much about him,"
The Copy Ninja gave Narine his own sidelong glance, "You thinking I'm going to leave him maimed for life?"
Narine gave an uneasy chuckle, "Well, no, these days, he seems to be more withdrawn than usual. Ever since he started living with me, he's been drawn off to that dark road. He doesn't even seemed scared of it. You might not think of it but it's scary how he jumps at almost any chance that will give him more power, more strength..."
"If you do really train him, Kakashi, please, promise me you'll try to talk to him. Recently, he's been shutting me out whenever I try to speak to him about... him," Narine glanced off to the side.
Kakashi put away his book and stared down at the Shinobi Memorial before him, his eyes winding over the many names of heroes and sacrifices etched onto its stone face. He had seen many comrades die, sometimes in vain, sometimes for gain, but never had any of his dead comrades come back from the dead.
"I can try but you know I don't like preaching," Kakashi sighed as he ruffled Narine's hair, earning a slight yelp from her.
"Kakashi-san!" the blonde whined as she pulled away, a blush on her face, "don't do things that'll cause misunderstandings!"
Hatake Kakashi chuckled, "The whole village is already gossiping about us anyways. I've heard rumors about how you're using me as a rebound for Itachi,"
"That's horrible!" the blonde snapped indignantly, "I was never involved with... him..."
"Well, calm down. The rumors will go away eventually. They always do," Kakashi held up his hands in a placating gesture.
Shaking her head, Narine pointed at Kakashi, "Not unless you count that rumor about you, Anko, and bondage,"
The Copy Ninja visibly blanched, "I'm definitely not into that,"
Narine giggled softly and looked off at the setting sun, "Guess I should go home and prepare dinner. Want to come along?"
"Beats instant noodles and a beer," Kakashi's lone eye creased into that familiar upside-down "u" as they trailed off.
Lavish.
That was the only way he could describe what Narine was cooking. Literally speaking, the woman was the perfect housewife. She could cook, she could clean, and she could be... Kakashi pushed away the lascivious thoughts and looked down at the bowl of rice in front of him. It had felt strange the first time Narine had invited him to have dinner. He had become accustomed to living alone, making instant noodles or having a quick microwavable meal. It never dawned on him how much he had missed something cooked at home with fresh ingredients and by a cute lady to boot. It brought back faint memories of a smiling woman and a faint scent of perfume but they were always fleeting.
He stared at the pair of eyes that wouldn't stop looking at him. The little critter tilted its head before smiling and uttering a happy "Ryaa!" before floating up in front of him and wiggling his shell.
"Kiku-chin! Settle down," Narine called out as the flying turtle settled itself onto Kakashi's head and waved a flipper at its owner, chirping happily.
The little turtle was only about a foot long and weighed almost nothing at all but Kakashi could still feel it nesting in his hair. He didn't mind too much as long as the turtle didn't turn his hair into a toilet. The turtle, Kiku-chin, was an exotic animal Narine had found while on a mission to one of Kiri's many islands to investigate a missing ANBU team sent there for unknown reasons. Two weeks of searching the general area had turned up nothing except a happy little turtle that followed her everywhere she went.
Sasuke was also more or less interested in why Kakashi showed up frequently at Narine's apartment but rarely spoke to Kakashi directly because he felt there was no real need to know anyways. Although he was more than willing to ask Narine to help him train, he still had this pride in him. Whenever he was trying to convince Narine that vengeance by any means was necessary, he had been rebuffed with how blind vengeance would kill who he was. Sasuke knew why he couldn't go after Itachi. That was why he trained so hard everyday. One day, Itachi would get what was coming to him.
His sister had seem more distant recently. He never knew what she did while she was on duty and every time he had asked, he had been rebuffed by a quiet smile and a "Classified" response. Maybe she didn't understand him as much as he thought but she was still the only person who he could sympathize with.
Narine was willing to help him train whenever he asked but he always found it lacking. She always worked him with physical exercises and taijutsu but never any grand ninjutsu. He wasn't stupid though. The village was right in the fact that he was a genius and he had quickly noticed that Narine's style was basic but full of raw power. She never had to use any flashy moves or skills to disable or kill her opponent ass she had shown him. Although one could theoretically use it as a distraction to hide a more simply but also more deadly maneuver.
"Strength isn't defined as having greater strength or power. It is once you cover all your weaknesses that you become stronger. A basic foundation upon which all advanced skills are based upon. If you were to specialize in a particular field, that's fine if you have allies to cover for you but you can't always be together. I'd go into more detail but just remember that being a well-rounded shinobi with an emphasis on some shinobi field allows for a much more diverse team play,"
He would be strong. He would go after Itachi sooner or later, alone if he needed to. He would prove to Itachi that he would be able to live in his own way.
"You can't go at stuff alone forever. Sooner or later, you're going to fall off the dark side and you're going to lose yourself. Why do you think I quit ANBU? The things I did and the things I saw all required me to throw away my soul so I didn't go crazy. I almost became the very thing I sought to stop,"
"I'm seventeen, Sasuke. Do you think a normal girl my age has killed more than hundreds of men already? Do you think a normal girl my age knows how to kill a man thirty-six different ways? I'm not normal, Sasuke. I stopped being normal after the Massacre and I almost lost my way by trying to drown out who I was by trying to slowly kill myself over the years,"
"I quit being a shinobi so I could watch over you better. Every time I came home from a mission, you always ran away from your caretakers and slept in my bed, curled up right next to me. Even when I was tired or injured, I gave you my free time whenever you wanted it,"
Excusing himself from the table with a quick "Gochisousama", he left the kitchen and hurried off to his room. As he sat on the windowsill, staring out into the night sky, he stared at the forehead protector that Iruka had given him for passing the graduation exam. It was the first step of many in his life's quest for vengeance. Vengeance...
"Itachi's not my primary concern. I'm more worried about you. If I leave you alone here and Itachi kills me, what do you think you're going to do? Go off and get yourself killed as well?"
"You don't need to baby me!"
"I'm not coddling you, Sasuke! I'm telling you that I'm worried about you,"
"You don't need to worry about me! I'm fine as I am,"
"You still cry at night sometimes. You honestly think I don't notice you when you sneak into my room and use me as a pillow? I woke up with a huge wet spot on my shirt,"
"..."
"It's great that you still cry, Sasuke. It means you're still human. Once you lose that... you'll lose all chance of a meaningful victory over Itachi,"
To be human... Sasuke sighed as he clutched the headband.
"If you are strong, learn from this. Live like the wretched creature you are, feeding off your despair, your anger, and your hatred. Always remember my face at every waking moment and come find me when you are ready,"
"If you let someone define who you are, then it can't be helped. Wouldn't you rather be who you want to be? If vengeance is what you seek, fine, i won't stop you. But... don't let it consume you,"
Sasuke stared out over the cityscape of Konohagakure no Sato. What exactly was he looking for anyways?
"If I didn't know you, I honestly would believe you were never a shinobi," Kakashi chuckled as Narine refilled his cup of tea.
Narine chuckled, "Might want to check your tea for poison then,"
The Copy Ninja simply gave Narine a look as he pulled down his mask to take a drink.
"I wonder how many people besides me know how you look like underneath that mask," Narine blushed slightly as she looked away.
Kakashi simply shrugged, "No idea," he flipped a page in his book, "so, it's been two months since you've retired from active mission duty. Ever think about going back?"
"Only if protocol White Rebirth gets initiated. I've had enough of the ANBU SOCOM for a while. Old Shirosaki and Kamiyaki keep asking me to come back to ANBU while I was on Jounin duty," Narine sighed as seh rubbed her temple, "I still have one of their damn tag-alongs following me everyday. It's like they're interested in my entire life now,"
The blonde leaned back into her seat and let out a loud sigh, stretching out the kinks in her body, "I'm tired of being used to clean up their damn messes. First, there was that incident in Kiri when Shirosaki sent a black ops team to recover an artifact and I had to bail them out when the Mizukage almost found and killed them. Then, you have him sending me off to Suna to clean up after another one of his teams botched an assassination. I don't even want to think about it. All the damn S-rank missions I got sent on were either clean-ups or fast assassination types,"
Kiku-chin chose this moment to lift off his perch on Kakashi's head and float off to find the dark and broody boy, wanting to spread a little happiness.
"Back then, you always had an angry look on your face. You hardly ever spoke to anyone and you were always harsh," Kakashi chuckled as he flipped another page in his book, "besides, you were trying to recover from something and wearing your mental strength out from overexertion is never a good thing. Speaking from experience,"
"..." Narine pulled out the ribbon holding her hair in the ponytail, letting the long strands flow freely over her back, "sometimes I feel like I need to set something on fire and kick it off a bridge,"
"Don't be so tsun-tsun, Na-chan," Kakashi giggled as he read a particularly interesting passage.
Narine gave him a glare, "Na-chan is forbidden and don't call me tsun-tsun, damnit,"
Kakashi was fine with her glaring. Back when she had been in ANBU, she had been cold and unyielding, regarding people with an unnerving apathy. At least now, she had some of her old fire.
"But you're so tough on the outside and squishy on the inside," Kakashi laughed as he closed the book and put it away.
He only got a deadpan look as Narine glared at him, "I am not... a tsundere..."
'Right, that's like saying I'm not a pervert,' Kakashi thought as he smirked, enjoying the perplexed look on the blonde's face, "late as it is, I should be going. Thanks for the meal, Narine,"
"Anytime, Kakashi-san," Narine stood up to accompany him out.
"See ya," Kakashi gave a mock salute as he let himself out, sauntering down the stairs and down the street towards his own apartment.
Narine watched until Kakashi finally disappeared around the and let out a sigh. She quickly gathered herself and slapped her cheeks lightly as if she was trying to wake up from a nap, 'I'm sighing like a girl in love. Wake up. Wake up.'
The next day, Sasuke left for the Academy, intent on making the best start he could for his ninja career. He wasn't going to wait for anyone who might weigh him down. He was intent on forging the path ahead, alone if need be. The Academy hadn't changed much over the years, having only received several jobs of repainting and support refurnishings. Outwardly, it was still the same Academy. It was here that he would start as a shinobi. Technically, he wouldn't become a shinobi if his cell leader didn't accept him. He didn't want to think too much about the consequences if he failed. He didn't want to be delayed in getting his revenge on Itachi.
He wasn't the first to arrive. Nara Shikamaru was already sitting in the seat as far back as he could with Akimichi Chouji. There were Hyuuga Hinata sitting off towards the middle of classroom near the wall so that she wouldn't draw too much attention and next to her sat Inuzuka Kiba who was arguing with his pup, Akamaru, about something. There were a few other Academy students who had graduated as well. He nodded in return to those who greeted him and took a seat by himself near the window.
"Ryaa!"
Sasuke looked up and found Kiku-chin waving a flipper at him.
"Good morning to you, too, little guy," Sasuke laughed softly as the turtle landed on the desk in front of him.
Kiku-chin usually followed his sister around but had decided on following him around today. The turtle was a strange companion but was always a constant. It floated off towards the shy Hyuuga, intent on making someone else smile. At first, the Hyuuga heiress was shocked by the arrival of said turtle but its soft cooing and smile made her feel at ease as she stroked its head, noticing how its shell seemed to wiggle with pleasure. She gave a slight yelp as it hopped onto her head, her hands instinctively reaching up to hold it as it cooed. She was distracted when she heard the familiar tussling between Yamanaka Ino and Haruno Sakura as they fought for who'd get to be the first into the classroom and the first to sit next to Sasuke.
"Move it, Ino-pig! Your fat ass is blocking the door," Sakura yelled as she tried to push Ino's face back.
"My fat ass? Excuse me and your giant forehead for taking up all the space," Ino countered as she grabbed onto Sakura's hair and pulled back.
It was a comedic sight to see the two bickering over who'd get to sit next to the vaunted Uchiha. As they tripped and stumbled over each other, the whole class watched in anticipation as they fought their way over to Sasuke. Eventually, Sakura pulled a fast one and tripped Ino as she tried to ascend the stairs before sprinting up into the seat next to Sasuke, making a face at Ino before trying to butter Sasuke up, only to be completely ignored as Sasuke just stared out the window. Sakura merely put off the fact he ignored her again and settled for staring at his face while bathing in the "cool" vibe he gave off.
Ino had shaken her fist at Sakura before stomping off but the turtle on Hinata's head had caught her eye. As she approached, the turtle lifted off Hinata's head and floated towards her, surprising Ino.
"It can fly?" she gasped in wonder as it stopped in front of her, "oh, wow, that's so cool!"
"Kiku-chin?" Sasuke turned to see Ino hugging the little turtle.
"Is that turtle yours, Sasuke-kun?" Sakura asked, a little hopeful at how Sasuke didn't seem to be ignoring everything around him now.
"No, he belongs to my aneki," Sasuke answered as the turtle waved a flipper at Ino before floating onto her head and nesting there.
"Aneki?" Sakura ventured slowly.
"Uzumaki Narine," Ino answered, poking at the turtle on her head, "they're not blood related but she's the one who Sasuke lives with. She used to be a kunoichi before she retired from service. Rumor has it she was at least a jounin,"
"Is that true, Sasuke?" Sakura asked.
Sasuke simply shrugged as he looked out the window again. He didn't understand these girls. As Sakura kept trying to pry more words out of his mouth, Ino was more fascinated by the flying turtle that just seemed so adorable. As she and Hinata went about poking it and teasing it, the rest of the Academy students filed in one by one. Iruka arrived at nine o' clock and coughed for the classes attention.
"Congratulations all of you on graduating from the Academy. I hope all of you have bright futures ahead of you," Iruka held up his clipboard as he rustled through the sheets looking for a particular list, "I will now be announcing the teams you will be split into. After I announce your names and teams, you are to remain here until your respective jounin-sensei arrive to pick you up. Team one will consist of..."
Kiku-chin squealed in delight as Ino stroked the turtle's head, "This little guy is so adorable. I wish I had one of my own!"
"But... I-Ino-san, t-t-his bel-l-longs to someone e-else," Hinata stuttered softly.
"Nothing wrong with a girl wishing she could have something," Ino gave a thumbs up to Hinata.
"Team seven will consist of Uchiha Sasuke..."
Ino and pretty much every girl except for Hinata all perked up instantly to hear the other two team members' names, wanting to be part of his team.
"Kikuchi Tobio and... Haruno Sakura," Iruka finished.
"Ha, take that, Ino-pig!" Sakura triumphantly shouted.
"Hey, wait a minute! Why does that idiot Tobio get to be on Sasuke's team! I should be with Sasuke-kun!" Ino objected, standing up instantly.
The boy pointed a finger at Ino, "Who you calling an idiot!"
Iruka simply sighed, "Sorry, Ino, but it's necessary to balance out the teams. Sasuke is the Rookie of the Year and Tobio was this year's lowest ranking graduate, so to speak,"
"That isn't fair!" Tobio almost cried, "just because I graduated with the lowest scores doesn't mean I failed!"
"Easy, now, Tobio," Iruka waved a hand at Tobio, "you'll do fine. Just keep your cool, alright?"
Tobio simply grunted and crossed his arms, slouching in his chair.
Ino grimaced and then turned back to the turtle, "Aww, I didn't get to be with Sasuke-kun. Comfort me,"
Kiku-chin merely chirped and put a flipper on Ino's finger, "Ryaa!"
"You're such a lady-killer, haha," Ino laughed as she lifted the little critter up and gave it a kiss on the cheek.
The turtle squealed happily as Ino babied it.
"Team eight will consist of Yamanaka Ino, Nara Shikamaru and Akimichi Chouji," Iruka announced.
"I get stuck with a lazy ass and a..." Ino couldn't say anymore as Kiku-chin covered her mouth with both his front flippers, shaking its head with a perpetual smile on his face, 'oh, right. Don't want to offend Chouji,'
"Team ten will consist of Hinata Hyuuga, Aburame Shino, and Inuzuka Kiba," Iruka finished, letting his hand with the clipboard fall to his side, "once again, congratulations on graduating and good luck with your futures,"
With that, Iruka prepared to leave the classroom and stopped as he noticed someone standing outside the classroom, "Eh, Narine-san?"
"Hi, Iruka-san," Narine waved as she stepped into the classroom, all the students focusing immediately on her.
"What a surprise. I don't remember your being listed as one of the team leaders," Iruka blinked.
Narine tilted a head off to the side, "Don't be silly. I just brought a bento for Sasuke. I figured he might have be here for a while,"
"Hahaha, right," Iruka rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly as he walked past Narine, "well, got to run. I got more students waiting for me,"
"Take care, Iruka-san," Narine called out after Iruka as she watched her colleague run down the hallway.
Turning back to the newly graduated students, she noticed Sasuke staring at her as she strolled up to his seat. He didn't really know but the reason most of the girls had long hair was partly because Narine had long hair. They seemed to think that emulating the outward appearance of Uzumaki Narine would give them Sasuke's attention but he wasn't interested in fakes and pretenders. He was more impressed by the strength and integrity of women rather than their looks and Narine had almost all of the good points except that no matter how much she smiled, it was almost never real. Even that smile on her face as she walked up to him was fake. He could tell from the way her mouth was too taut and the fact that there was no shine to her eyes. The few times he had seen her smile had always been when he had achieved a milestone in his training or something had made him extremely happy but that was when he could see how much she was suffering in reality.
"It's your usual favorite," Narine set the bento down in front of Sasuke, "onigiri with okaka and tomatoes,"
"Ah, thanks," Sasuke nodded as he stared at Narine.
"I would have made something better but I'm currently looking for someone," Narine turned to leave, "good luck later today. No lone wolf stuff alright?"
Sasuke nodded in return as he watched Narine leave. No lone wolf... Was teamwork really that necessary? He head Kiku-chin mew as the turtle followed after his sister. There wasn't any way he would be slowed down by his teammates...
As Narine left the Academy and began strolling through the quiet streets of the back city towards the more busy commercial districts of Konoha, she noticed a familiar presence following her. She stopped and looked around, enjoying how her old commander was attempting to disappear from her senses.
"You can't fool me, Kuro-Tori Six Actual," Narine smirked, "I know you're up there. You and your whole team,"
Slowly, an full four-man ANBU team slid out of the shadows of the buildings as if they had been a part of the construction and assembled in front of her.
"Good to see you still haven't lost your skills," Kuro-Tori smirked behind his mask, "how's civilian life treating you?"
"Decent. I think I might have gained a few pounds though," Narine smiled softly.
"Captain, who exactly is she?" one of the ANBU members asked.
"Four's one of the newer recruits so I guess he wouldn't know who you were," Kuro-Tori shrugged as he pointed at Four, "eh, Phoenix Two-Six?"
"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Four put up his hands, palms facing outwards, "you mean to tell me this harmless looking blonde is the Phoenix Two-Six? We're standing next to a damn legend,"
"You flatter me. I'm no legend. I was just another kunoichi doing her job," Narine shrugged uncomfortably, "what exactly are you guys doing following me anyways?"
"SOCOM HQ wants you back like usual. Tagged me to do the usual watchdog duty," Kuro-Tori sighed as he scratched his head, "frigging HQ's got a stick up their ass and won't send me on any suicide runs like old times,"
"You mean when I had to pull your ass out of the fire a few times?" Narine arched an eyebrow, smirking a bit.
Kuro-Tori sighed, "Come on, captain. Cut me some slack,"
"Captain, sir?" another ANBU asked, her voice hinting a bit of question.
"I ran in her squad for a two months on a few S-rank missions. Was an honor to serve with her. Always made sure mission was completed and always made sure we came home in one piece, more or less," Kuro-Tori grinned under his own mask, "it was like serving with Inu-Shiro Two Actual,"
'Pffft, Kakashi,' Narine thought, shaking the slight blush off her cheeks, "I'd love to stick around and chat but I've got someone to find. And tell that old haggard Shirosaki to quit bothering me already,"
With that, Narine waved goodbye and set off towards the hot springs. She hadn't used the hot springs for a long time now but she knew for a fact that the one she was looking for would there. After she had entered the bathhouse and stripped, she wrapped a towel around herself and sat into the hot springs, waiting for a sign. The women around her were probably oblivious to the fact that there was probably a pervert eying them and Narine occasionally heard the faint giggle of the man she was after.
Meanwhile... on the other side of the fence, the great Jiraiya, Toad Sage and holder of the summoning contract with the toads of Mt. Myouboku, was enjoying himself immensely. Today, he was getting a lot of his research done and it wouldn't be long before Icha Icha Springtime would be done. He giggled a bit more and then felt a finger tap him on the back.
"Excuse me, I'm kind of busy right now," Jiraiya chuckled throatily, "yes, my dear, arch your back more, ahahaha,"
Narine frowned at the Sannin and stared at him for a few seconds before taking a deep breath.
Using a sweet and innocent voice that felt foreign to her, she spoke, "Jiraiya-sama, I was hoping you could give me a lesson in fellatio. I heard you were the master of the art,"
Instantly hearing the voice, Jiraiya turned around and yelled, "Come to daddy, baby. I'll tea-"
He froze. In front of his face was a giant penis about twenty inches long with pulsing veins and foreskin to boot, covered in strange liquids... and it was right in his face.
"Nooooooooo!"
Narine dispelled the ninjutsu, 'Ninpou: Futanari no Jutsu... success. Can't believe he fell for it again,'
She prodded Jiraiya with her foot a few times, wondering if he was still alive. Maybe she had defeated him once and for all... The hand that grabbed her foot said otherwise as Jiraiya sat up with a vein on his head.
"Damnit, gaki... Don't you ever... ever... wave that thing in front of my face again!" Jiraiya roared, toppling the blonde over.
"Ara!" Narine fell into the hot spring behind her.
She cleared the water and coughed a bit before staring up at her old sensei.
"Now I'm going to have to go on a binge for a week to get that thing out of my head," Jiraiya muttered, rubbing his face, "and what do you want, gaki? Last I recall, you left my tutelage years ago when you joined ANBU,"
The blonde simply blew a few bubbles with her mouth under the water before rising out so her mouth was above her the water, "Can't a girl say hi to her sensei?"
'She certainly is no damn gaki,' Jiraiya sighed, looking away, '86C, 76, 92... Holy crap, she's really grown,'
Narine stared up at Jiraiya, "Are you into teacher-student fetishes?"
"Don't you remember who I am, you little twerp. I am the super-pervert Jiraiya," the Sannin announced, doing his little jig before posing.
"You always were a pervert," Narine chuckled, crossing her arms to hide her breasts as she sank back under the water.
Kiku-chin floated across the fence, bringing Narine her usual change of clothes. It cooed in delight as it landed on his owner's head after leaving the change of clothes in a high and dry location. It hopped off her head and floated across the surface, enjoying the hot water.
"Careful, Kiku-chin. If you stay there too long, you'll end up becoming turtle soup," Narine poked the turtle's shells, causing it to squeal slightly as it wiggled in the water.
Pulling herself out of the water, she dried herself and changed into her usual orange dress.
"Usually, you'd try a peak or something," Narine muttered as she kneeled next to Jiraiya.
The Toad sage grimaced as he looked at his old apprentice, "You really think I enjoy having a twenty-inch penis shoved in my face? And I'm pretty sure you didn't just come here to do just that. What are you really here for?"
Narine paused for a second before taking a second glance at Jiraiya, "To say I'm sorry,"
Sasuke was really glad Narine had the foresight to bring him a bento. It was already eleven o' clock and their jounin-sensei still hadn't shown up. All the other teams had already had their leaders come and take them aleady but Team Seven was left to waste away in the classroom. Tobio had been lounging around on the desks and Sakura had taken to pacing the floor in irritation.
"Our damn sensei better have a good reason for making us wait. For making Sasuke wait," Sakura huffed as she bit at a nail unconsciously.
'There's only one man who's late to everything except for dinner with aneki,' Sasuke thought, sighing a bit as he tossed the last bit of rice into his mouth, 'but he should be here soon,'
"Hey, Sasuke, don't you have any more of those onigiri?" Tobio asked, hoping for something to satisfy the slight pang of hunger.
Sasuke answered by folding the handkerchief the onigiri had been wrapped in and stuffing it into his pocket.
Said graduate sighed as he leaned back into his chair, sighing. As if on cue, a familiar shock of silver hair suddenly appeared as Hatake Kakashi opened the door.
"Team Seven?" he asked with a smile on his face.
"You're late!" Sakura screamed.
"What took you so long?" Tobio yelled.
Kakashi deadpanned, "My first impression of you guys is... I hate you. Meet me on the roof,"