Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto
Archangel – Chapter 2: Blessing and Curse…
The sound of an alarm clock ringing could be heard in the blond boy's room. Naruto groaned as he slammed his fist on the clock shattering yet another one. He raised his head from his pillow, his eyes hurt. He got out of bed and walked into the bathroom, it took a lot of effort from him to do that. As he got in the bathroom he looked up at the mirror, his eyes had black rims around them. He could barely get any sleep last night; those nightmares still appeared in his mind no matter how hard he tried to get rid of them.
He splashed some water on his face as he raised his head and looked in the mirror. He shouted in fright as a pair of red eyes looked back at him. He shook his head and looked at the mirror again. He could see his reflection. A sigh escaped his lips; he just couldn't understand what was happening to him all of a sudden. Before today he didn't have any problems like this, heck yesterday when he had those wings nothing bad happened and he didn't hallucinate or anything like that.
The blond lowered his head and grabbed the sink as he looked down at the water. He stood in silence for a few minutes, not even thinking about anything, he just watched the water in the sink. Naruto closed his eyes and sighed heavily as he stood up straight and looked in the mirror, nothing changed, it was his own reflection. Smiling, the blond closed the water and walked out of the bathroom towards his kitchen.
As he got there the first thing he did was walk to his refrigerator. He grabbed the handle and opened it, looking through the food he tried to think what he could use. Grabbing some milk he looked at the expiration date, he frowned seeing it expired a month ago. His face turned into a disgusted look as he threw the carbon box in the trash can without a second thought. He then looked back in the refrigerator but he couldn't find anything edible. He frowned as he shut the door to the refrigerator and looked through his cupboards.
A few minutes later the blond decided on making himself some instant ramen. Ten minutes later his food was done, he took the cup and sat down at the table when he remembered Kakashi said not to eat. He shrugged deciding to eat anyway as he already prepared his food. Looking down in his cup his eyes widened in horror as he felt like puking. He screamed and threw the cup out the window and grabbed his head, his eyes were wide. What the hell was happening to him? What in blazes was going on?
Naruto shook his head several times trying to dismiss his thoughts. He stood up and threw his chopsticks in the trashcan. Sighing he walked back into his room to get ready for the team meeting, his first meeting. He smiled at that, he would get to be in the same team with Sakura and he will work hard to prove that he wasn't a loser and that he was worth the time. He would make her fall in love with him and all will be good. As he finished getting dressed, the blond walked out of his apartment and closed the door behind him. He then jumped down on the street from his floor and started running towards the training grounds.
Up on the rooftops two ANBU looked at the retreating form of the boy, they had witnessed his reactions. One of them jumped down from the roof and walked under the boy's kitchen window, he looked at the cup of ramen that was lying on the ground. The contents were spilled on the ground but nothing seemed out of place with it. The ninja turned towards his partner who shrugged not knowing what to say.
"Let's report to the Hokage." His partner suggested as the man looked down at the cup in his hand and nodded before letting it drop on the ground once more. Something was wrong with the young boy and the Hokage had to know about this.
As Naruto reached the training grounds he saw that he was the last one to arrive. Sakura and Sasuke were already there. The Uchiha was sitting under a tree and brooding while the girl still seemed to be asleep as she wasn't trying to get the boy's attention and was falling asleep from what it seemed. Naruto smiled as he saw the girl looking at him, he raised his hand and waved towards his teammates as a smile appeared on his face.
"Morning guys!" he shouted happily as Sasuke turned towards Naruto and raised an eyebrow seeing the bangs under the blond's eyes. He wondered if the boy slept last night or if he was so excited about today that he couldn't get any sleep. He shook his head and looked away; the idiot was not worth the time and definitely not worth worrying about. He could handle himself up until now; he could handle his fatigue for now.
"Naruto?" asked Sakura also noticing the bangs under his eyes. She also noticed the fact that the blond was shaking a little and that he wasn't running normally, he seemed very tired for some strange reason.
"Hey Sakura-chan." Naruto greeted with a big smile as he closed his eyes, the girl blinked before frowning at him.
"Baka, did you sleep last night?" she asked as she crossed her hands on her chest. The blond looked down as he laughed nervously.
"I … I was too excited about today and barely slept." He replied to them as they blinked towards him. Sasuke shook his head and muttered 'dobe' while Sakura frowned before glaring hard at the blond and making him flinch slightly.
"Baka! If we fail because of you I will make sure you suffer!" she scolded angrily as the blond raised his hand up in defense.
"We won't." he swore as the girl nodded and said that it better be that way. The blond sighed as he dropped on the ground and looked at his teammates, seeing as Sakura was fully awake she was now starting to try and get Sasuke's attention. Naruto blinked as he felt his eyes dropping, he started wobbling around even though he was sitting on the ground.
"Damn…I'm so tired." The blond thought as he felt his eyes dropping "Kakashi-sensei isn't here, I think I can get a shut eye…just…a minute." He thought as he fell on the ground on his back. A few light snores indicated he had fallen asleep. His teammates looked at him and blinked, the pink haired girl grinded her teeth in anger, if their sensei suddenly shows up and fails them because Naruto is asleep then she will kill him.
She stood up and walked towards the blond with the intent to wake him up, seeing this Sasuke decided to intervene. "Sakura." He said as the girl stopped and looked at the raven haired boy. "Leave him…he's no use tired." He said as the girl thought about it and nodded dumbly. Her mind then clicked as she realized that the raven haired boy had just talked to her. She squealed in her mind as she hopped back to her spot near the Uchiha who was twitching madly, he just had to open his damn mouth.
As Sasuke was focusing on ignoring the pinkette and said pinkette was focusing on drawing his attention neither of them saw the blond twitching on the ground and mumbling incoherent words. The blond turned in his sleep and started to thrash around, movements that went unnoticed by his teammates as each one of them was focused on something else.
A few hours later, two hours to be more exact the blond woke up sweating heavily and panting. He raised his hand to his face as he wiped the sweat. He then placed his hand on his chest and closed his eyes trying to calm himself down. He had the nightmares again; he dreamt the same thing once more. Konoha burning, the large gates, the demons, the people running around screaming in fright…the only thing he couldn't see clearly was the man impaled on the top of the gate. He still couldn't see his face clearly or what he was wearing and it made him curious as to whom he was.
Standing up, the blond looked around trying to see where his teammates are and hoping that he didn't miss the training. He didn't want to miss out on a chance to prove himself to the girl he loves. His eyes then rested on his teammates that were sitting under a tree sleeping lightly. He shook his head and sighed in relief, their sensei had yet to come. That was a good thing. Seeing as his teammates were sleeping they didn't see him thrashing in his sleep. He didn't want to look weak or anything like that. It was the last thing he needed.
A puff of smoke alerted the blond of their sensei's arrival, it also woke up his teammates. Sakura rubbed her eyes and then looked around. "Yo" their sensei said as her eyes rested on him. The girl fumed as she pointed towards the jounin and shouted angrily. "You're late!"
"Mah, mah…A black cat crossed my path so I had to walk around the village to get here." He said with an eye smile as Sasuke looked at him skeptical, wondering what kind of sensei he was thinking that they would buy such a lame excuse for his tardiness.
"Liar!" both Naruto and Sakura shouted at the same time as the jounin just kept smiling at them. He then moved his hand in his pocket and took out a watch. He placed it on a tree stump next to him and looked towards his genin with an eye smile as they waited for him to tell them what they were going to do.
"This is what we will do, I have here two bells." He said as he raised his left hand up showing them the bells. "Your task is to get one, the one that doesn't…will be tied to that stump." he pointed towards the stump in question. "You have until noon."
"Sensei?" asked Sakura as the jounin turned towards her. "Why do we have to take them?" she asked wondering what kind of training this was.
"This is your final test; if you fail it…you will be sent back to the academy." He told them with an eye smile as the three genin paled hearing what he just said. They thought that the test they took in the academy was the last one, which they assumed meant they didn't have to take any other tests.
Before anyone could complain, Kakashi hit the watch and looked at them. "Time's ticking." He said in a sing-song voice as Sasuke's eyes narrowed and jumped away in a place to hide shortly followed by Sakura. The jounin looked with pride as his students knew what they were doing, well…almost all. Turning towards the blond boy he saw him looking at him sternly with his hands crossed over his chest confidently.
"You're a strange one." The jounin said with a deadpanned look as the blond's eyebrows twitched.
"The only thing strange is your hair!" he shouted towards the jounin who merely eye smiled at him making the blond angrier. Without a second thought the genin dashed forward towards his sensei with the intent on getting one of the bells, or both of them. He could give one to Sakura and show his affection for the girl. He mentally grinned at that.
Kakashi shook his head at the direct approach the blond was using; it was never going to work against him. The kid was still too young to be able to take him on in hand to hand combat…or by himself for that matter. He moved his hand inside his pouch and the blond stopped waiting for the jounin to take out his weapon or whatever he was aiming for. To his and his teammate's surprise, the jounin took out the same orange book they saw him reading yesterday.
The boy's eyebrows twitched at the smiling sensei, it seemed like the man was mocking him. Naruto took a deep breath and locked eyes with his sensei, he charged forward once more. The man would be easier to take down now that his hands are occupied with that book. Just as the blond reached the jounin he began throwing barrages of fists and kicks towards the man. Said man was dodging all of them with ease while reading his book, acting as if he wasn't even being attacked, this made the blond angrier.
"Lesson number 1: Taijutsu." The jounin declared as he grabbed the boy's hands and jumped behind him in a crouching position. "Never leave your back unguarded." He said with a grin as he placed his fingers in the tiger seal and poked the blond in the ass. Naruto's mouth dropped in shock as he was sent flying away, a few moments later he fell in the nearby lake.
Kakashi chuckled to himself as he saw the blond fall in the lake. He shook his head and waited for the blond to come out and try again or start raging and call him a pervert or whatever. To his shock however, as the blond emerged from the lake, he could see him holding a strange sword. It was fascinating, the weapon, it seemed like it was drawing him towards it. He shook his head as he realized the blond was close to him and ready to strike with his weapon.
With a quick substitution, the jounin disappeared and instead of him a log appeared. The blond cut the log in two with his sword and grit his teeth in anger. First he was humiliated with that technique and now with this. Sure he had a humiliating jutsu, the Sexy no jutsu but that was something different, he didn't go around poking his fingers in others men's asses. He looked around trying to spot his sensei until he felt his presence behind him.
With a swift turn the blond swiped the air behind him, his sensei had ducked under the attack. From the look in his eyes it seemed like he was really impressed with the blond's reflexes. "Still to slow." The man stated as he moved behind the blond once more and grabbed his arms and pulled him towards him. It was at that moment that he felt something blocking him; he could even see that he couldn't move the blond's body closer to use his attack; it was like an invisible barrier was blocking him.
"Gah!" the blond screamed in pain making Kakashi wonder what the hell was going on. He saw the murderous look in the blond's eyes and immediately let him go as the blond raised his sword and cut his headband making it fall on the ground. With his Sharingan revealed, the man could only stare at what he was seeing. The boy in front of him, he was covered in a genjutsu and underneath that genjutsu…it was like he was looking at an angel.
There was no blond boy, yes, the person in front of him was as tall as Naruto but he was wearing a white robe, a white hood over his head that covered his entire face, he couldn't see his eyes or his mouth. He had gauntlets on his hands and on his back…two angel like wings, a few inches bigger then he was. The jounin was shaken out of his stupor when he saw the angel charge towards him with his sword, a sloppy stance he noted, but dangerous it seemed.
Kakashi now realized that he wasn't dealing with an ordinary kid anymore; this was something he had never dealt with before. Placing his book back in his pouch he took out his kunai and looked at the attacker seriously. He would draw blood if needed. A few moments later and their weapons connected with each other, Kakashi noticed that he was faster than the angel and swifter. Using this to his advantage, the man grabbed the boy's arm and threw him over his shoulder into a tree.
As Naruto hit the tree the jounin vanished from sight and appeared above the angel with his kunai ready to strike. However, he couldn't bring himself to strike, if he did kill the person before him then that would mean he would kill an actual angel. But…that would also mean that he would kill Naruto. He then noticed the boy moving towards his sword as silently as he could. Without wasting any time, the man grabbed the boy and with a few movements he managed to tie him upside down to a tree. He sighed as he walked towards his headband and picked it up. He closed his Sharingan eye and replaced the headband cloth; he then tied the piece of metal back around his forehead and lowered it over his special eye.
Finally, the jounin turned towards the angel and was surprised to see Naruto there hanging upside down. He shook his head remembering that he first saw a genjutsu, but that would mean that underneath this Naruto was an angel. Or that the Naruto he was seeing now was actually the illusion and underneath was the real deal. He definitely had to talk to the Hokage about this; he just had to know more about his student. Yes he knew that he harbored the Kyuubi and he expected for him to look like a human-fox later in his life but…an angel? That was way too much and he definitely had not expected that.
He couldn't continue his train of thoughts as he felt something behind him. With another quick substitution he replaced himself with a log as three shuriken hit the log. From his hiding spot, Sasuke jumped away and started dashing through the forest cursing himself for thinking that he could take down the jounin that easily. His mind suddenly drifted towards the blond, he wondered where he got that sword from and why Kakashi suddenly went so serious when he fought Naruto. Another thing that bothered him was why the jounin had a Sharingan eye.
As he kept running he suddenly heard Sakura scream, surely the jounin had gotten her and maybe with something easy. As he kept running he came to the end of the forest and appeared in a clearing. He stopped as he felt like he was being watched. Taking out a shuriken he threw it towards the nearby tree, a few leafs fell to the ground as Kakashi landed behind him with an eye smile.
"Mah…you felt me Satsuki-chan." He said with a chuckle as Sasuke narrowed his eyes and looked at the silver haired jounin.
"Don't call me that." She growled out in a feminine voice as the man chuckled slightly and got in a fighting stance.
"Very well…Sasuke-chan." He mused as the boy fumed and charged forward. Kakashi as well as a handful of the ANBU and the Hokage knew the real gender of the prodigy Uchiha Sasuke. It was saddening that her father treated her like that. He didn't like the idea that a girl had been born in their family and since she was little she had a genjutsu placed on her to keep her real gender hidden.
But, she found out by herself her true gender when she started finding herself attracted to boys or when she started having those strange feelings like most girls her age. It was then that her mother told her the truth, the bad part was that her father had heard as well and he sternly declared that if she would ever show her true gender and disgrace him then she would be terminated.
Satsuki had been devastated when her family had been massacred by her older brother, who also knew her secret but treated her like an older brother treats his younger sister. She was at the same time happy that her father died, though she would not say this to anyone. She was happy because now, after she had gained the power she needed, she could reveal her true self and live happily. Like she had always wanted when she was little, Kakashi chuckled as they were fighting remembering that she used to have a crush on Naruto when they were little. It was mostly due to the fact that Naruto was so carefree and that he could do anything he wanted without any parents berating him. She longed for that kind of life when her father used to be alive, now she longed for the family she lost…or her mother and somewhere deep down for her brother as well, even though she would never openly say so.
A few minutes passed, Sasuke had been defeated and he now lay buried under the ground. Their sensei was crouching a few feet away from him and smiling happily. He grit his teeth in anger as he tried to free himself. But he couldn't, he was trapped and only someone from outside could help him. The jounin disappeared in a plum of smoke leaving him alone in the ground. He sighed in annoyance, why the hell did this have to happen to him? He was this close to grabbing that damn bell. He felt like screaming to the heavens in anger.
As the alarm could be heard throughout the training field, Team 7 knew that they had failed their task and they were going to be sent back to the academy. Slowly they walked towards the training posts where Kakashi was waiting for them; he seemed rather unpleased with the outcome of the entire ordeal.
Without a warning, the jounin grabbed Naruto by the collar and tied him to a post. The blond was stunned, he got tied to the post, he did more then the others did! His eyes flashed red for a second as the designs on his left gauntlet became more pronounced and the foxes eyes shined for a second. It also seemed like the fox grinned for a second. Before the blond could ask why he was tied to the post, the jounin decided to speak.
"Well…you failed." He said as they all looked down in shame, indeed they had failed to get those damn bells. So now they were first going to get berated and then sent back to the academy. It angered both Sasuke and Naruto, they had worked so hard and now they were going to be sent back just because of some damn bells.
"I have decided not to send you back to the academy." The jounin said as everyone looked up in surprise, a smile appeared on the blond's face and on the pink haired girl. A small grin appeared on Sasuke's face as well as he realized that the jounin would not dare send them back to the academy, he was relieved though that he didn't have to spend another damn year in that place.
"You should all quit being ninja's!" the jounin shouted in anger as they all looked mortified at the news. "You Sasuke did nothing to help your teammates, you Sakura did nothing to help Naruto when he was hanging upside down in that tree and you Naruto didn't even try to get help from your teammates!" he shouted furiously as everyone looked down in shame.
Just as he was about to give them the second test he felt the presence of another ninja in the area. It wasn't well hidden as it seemed like the ninja wanted to be spotted. Looking towards a tree with the corner of his eyes Kakashi could see an ANBU there, the ninja made a few hand signs towards the jounin whose eyes widened for a second. Apparently the Hokage wished an audience with him and his team meaning that he had to pass them. He saw the ANBU saying that it's urgent and that they need to get there fast.
Sighing, the jounin turned towards his students and looked at them. He decided to cut things short and pass this team for now, hopefully the Hokage knew what he was doing. "You were placed in a team so you can work together." he said sternly as their eyes widened, they finally understood what they had to do from the start. "Working together to achieve your goals, that's what teams are for," The jounin said as he crossed his hands over his chest.
"We're sorry sensei." Naruto said with a downcast voice as the other two nodded, though Sasuke a bit slower then the others. The jounin smiled as he untied the blond. "Come on, we got to meet the Hokage now. We are officially a team." He said as the three genin cheered.
Kakashi looked towards the trees once more, the ANBU wasn't there anymore. He silently sighed as he hoped that the Hokage knew what he was doing. He knew that Sarutobi was wise and all that and the fact that he knew a lot, but he was hoping he wouldn't go senile and just pass students like this and send them to their deaths. He shook those thoughts away; there was no way that the old man would go senile now, or any time soon. It didn't look that why at least and hopefully it will never happen.
Kakashi blinked in surprise, he didn't know what to say at what he just heard. Somehow he had a feeling that the Hokage had finally gone insane because of the paperwork. Or did he have a motive for what he was doing? He wasn't sure about that, what he was sure about was the fact that the Hokage just wanted them to take a mission. Now! His team just passed the exam and they had to do some training first, they had to do some team building…heck they had to do some D-ranks before taking on a C-rank.
"Excuse me Hokage-sama?" Kakashi asked shaking himself out of his stupor. His students were rooted in place, with their mouths open in shock at what they just heard.
"You heard me right Kakashi, I want your team to go on a C-rank, but don't worry, it's not that much of a C-rank, it's more like a D-rank." The Hokage said with a smile trying to reassure the jounin who looked deathly pale. Maybe the man was envious that his team was taking a C-rank right off the bat when he had to wait several weeks or months until he and the team he was working with could take their very first.
"Then why label it as a C-rank?" asked Kakashi crossing his hands over his chest and looking angry and curious at the same time.
"You might encounter some traps here and there…no action like fighting bandits or ninja will occur." The old man said with a reassuring tone as the jounin seemed to relax. "Besides, a team of ANBU will be there as well to help." He said with a smile as Kakashi visibly relaxed.
"What do we have to do?" asked the silver haired jounin.
"That's simple, you have to retrieve an item, and you will see it when you get there." He told them as they raised an eyebrow in confusion. "Go to the market and go down in the canals…" the team's eyebrows twitched as they heard that, they were starting to doubt this is C-rank or some bullshit like that. "…turn to your right and keep going down until you see the team of ANBU, from there you will know what you have to do." The old man said making Kakashi suspicious.
"Very well…" the jounin said as he motioned to his team to turn and leave. Just as he was about to leave he heard the Hokage say something, only he heard it as his team never stopped moving or looked back.
"What you saw about Naruto, its S-rank secret, talk and the punishment will be capital." He said as the jounin gulped and nodded before walking out of the room. He didn't want to lose his head because he wanted to tell someone that one of his students was an angel in disguise.
That alone was frightening, for years he thought that Naruto is just an ordinary kid. Or as ordinary as one can get with a bijuu sealed inside of you. He had never used the sharingan on him up until now since he didn't see a reason why he should. But now he wished that he had used it faster, maybe if he would have known faster about the boy's status then it wouldn't be so shocking now and maybe he would have find out why he was an angel…or something like that.
As he stepped out of the Hokage tower he saw his team walking in front of him heading towards the market place. He picked up the pace and started walking behind them in silence. He looked at his team, a blond mystery, a pink haired fan-girl and an avenger that didn't want to show her real gender. He shook his head and then looked at Satsuki and Naruto. He chuckled, just thinking of how it would be if they ended up together. He could still remember when he heard from Itachi what she said about the blond, a year before the massacre. She was young back then and naïve, but now, she wasn't like that anymore.
He looked at the blond and frowned, he wondered how long he had been what he is. Not a Jinchuuriki, but an angel. He wondered if he had always been one, if Minato's son was actually dead and something else took his place to harbor the Kyuubi and keep it at bay. He shook that train of thoughts away; he didn't want to think that his sensei's son was dead. Even though he had rarely helped Naruto, he didn't want to lose the only connection he had with the Yondaime.
The jounin then looked towards Sakura and sighed, she really needed some real training and she had to realize that the ninja world was not a fantasy world filled with success for ninja. It was a deadly place with heartbreaking events, people died more then they lived. He almost laughed as a thought occurred to him, when Satsuki will reveal herself the girl would be shocked, incredibly shocked just like all the other fan-girls in the village.
Looking back at Naruto he nodded to himself as he knew that he had to straighten the boy out, so he would stop following Sakura blindly. The jounin's eyes narrowed as he saw the bangs under the blond's eyes, he didn't notice them until now. He wondered if Naruto slept last night, he also seemed pretty shaken up.
The boy in question suddenly raised his head and looked back at Kakashi who just raised an eyebrow. The blond blinked before looking in front of him once more. Kakashi was amazed; the boy was able to feel him staring at him. Or maybe the boy was just so paranoid that he could feel anyone looking at him. He sighed sadly, the village had made the poor boy so paranoid, and if only they had tried to look underneath the underneath then they would have realized that Naruto wasn't what they portrayed him to be, in fact, he was a great guy…when he wanted to be.
Kakashi looked up as they found themselves in the market place. A few more steps and they arrived at the manhole leading down into the sewers. He sighed; this was not the type of mission he would have wanted to take. However, the Hokage had been in the sewers as well when he banished Orochimaru for his experiments. Kakashi involuntary shivered thinking of what the snake was doing down in that laboratory.
"Eww…" Sakura protested as Naruto moved the lid away and jumped inside without saying anything. "I don't want to go in there, it stinks, it has rats and it's not for a lady like me!" she shouted her disapproval as Sasuke rolled his eyes and jumped down.
"Yea…lady…whatever you say…" Sasuke thought.
"Sakura, your teammates already went, do you want to disappoint them?" the jounin asked as the girl gulped and looked down at the manhole. She shook her head thinking that Sasuke will be disappointed in her, she didn't want that to happen, she had to prove to her love that she can do anything. Without a second thought she started climbing down in the manhole as Kakashi chuckled while looking at her face.
A few moments later the jounin dropped down and an ANBU appeared near the manhole. He grabbed the lid and placed it back in its spot. The people looked at what happened in surprise wondering what the Uchiha was doing down there. The ninja vanished in a puff of smoke before someone came to ask him anything.
Down in the sewers, Team 7 was battling with the foul scent. Sakura felt like puking as the scent moved into her nostrils, this was beyond disgusting for her. Kakashi looked at Sasuke and saw he was shaken as well, he silently chuckled, poor girl. She was trying to keep her façade up and at the same time not to puke. Looking at Naruto he was surprised to see that he wasn't all that affected by the stench.
"Well…lets go!" the blond said looking back "I really don't want to spend my entire day here."
"For once, I agree with the dope." Sasuke said as Sakura nodded in agreement, she really wanted to go home now and wash, take a shower, then a long bath, then another shower and then another bath. She also had to send her mother to buy lots and lots of soap and shampoo.
"Alright, let's go then." Kakashi said as the team started walking slowly on the bricks towards their destination. The last thing they needed now was to fall in that sewer water. It made their stomachs turn only thinking about it.
"Next time, I will throw the shampoos and soaps in here, that way it will smell nicer." The blond silently mumbled to himself not wanting anyone to hear. They were still pissed about that 'minor' incident and since they couldn't blame him seeing as he was 'in the hospital' they were still fuming when thinking about it.
It didn't take long and the team reached the ANBU stationed in the sewers. Kakashi was surprised to see the leader there with two teammates. The ninja nodded towards Team 7 as they made several hand seals and the wall near them shimmered. Team 7 was surprised when a hole appeared in the wall; the ANBU walked inside and motioned for them to follow. They did as they were told.
Kakashi however was thinking why would the Hokage send his team to retrieve whatever object there is to retrieve if he had already sent the ANBU down here? He could have told them to retrieve that object. Why were they really down here? He stopped thinking as he passed through the hole and looked in wonder at what he was seeing. They were currently in a strange cave, very big. They were like ants inside the cave.
His eyes then moved towards a strange temple from what it seemed, it was located at the end of the cavern. It had a large door which was opened and big stairs leading towards the door in question. Two statues that resembled warriors from ancient times holding pikes could be seen near the door. The statues were facing each other and the pikes were intertwined. Columns sustained the ceiling of the building and there seemed to be no other door.
"Cool…." The blond said with awe in his voice as he gazed upon the massive structure. This was something you don't see every day.
"This is where we stop." They heard the ANBU say as they took a few steps back. "We will wait here." They said as the blond grinned and started running towards the stairs.
"Wait Naruto!" Kakashi shouted as he extended his hand towards the blond who was now walking up the stairs. The boy turned towards the jounin and grinned.
"Come on sensei, old man Hokage said we need to retrieve some item inside." He said as he kept on walking, soon Sasuke and Sakura started walking towards the stairs.
"But what about traps?" he asked.
"Ouch!" he heard Sakura exclaim as she was lying on her butt rubbing her head and Sasuke was touching the air from what it seemed.
Puzzled, Kakashi walked towards his students and touched the air in front of him like Sasuke was doing. He was shocked to feel a wall of some sorts there. He hit the air with his fist and grit his teeth in pain; there was definitely a wall there. It was invisible. But still, how did Naruto pass through the wall? He looked up to tell the blond to turn back and ask him how he got inside when he heard the doors to the building slam shut. He frantically looked up to see where Naruto was, but the boy was nowhere in sight.
His heart skipped a beat as he started calling out his name, fearing for his well-being. But, no answer came. The blond was nowhere in sight, he turned towards the ANBU that had appeared near him in a second. They touched the wall as well, the captain looked at one of his members and told him to report to the Hokage, as the man vanished he looked back at the wall.
"Step back please." He declared as Team 7 took a few steps back. The captain started flashing through hand signs and then touched the wall. A few moments later seals appeared in the air, he looked at the seals and frowned. "Not good."
Kakashi who knew a little bit about seals frowned as well. "Your right…"
"What's going on sensei?" Sakura asked with worry evident in her voice. "Is Naruto alright? What are those?"
"I don't know about Naruto." The jounin answered truthfully "All I know is that we can't break these seals, they are too complex, only the Yondaime or the Sannin Jiraiya could break them."
"Then how did the dobe walk through this wall?" asked Sasuke in anger though the jounin could detect worry in her voice.
"I…don't know…" the jounin replied as he looked towards the building.
"Crap." The blond said as he was kneeling on the floor, his sword next to him. He was panting and sweating. Just as the door slammed shut behind him he tried and tried to break it with clones and his sword. But nothing worked. He was stuck inside.
"I guess I have to do this on my own." He said to himself as he turned around, in front of him was a long hallway with no left or right turns. He slowly started walking through the hallway, there was no going back, he couldn't open the door by himself but there might be something at the end of the hallway, he might be able to find another exit.
As he kept on walking he looked left and right at the walls, numerous drawings were present on the wall. He recognized some of the drawings as they were portraying people, men and women alike but he did not understand what meaning they had. It showed them fighting against each other, and then it showed them fighting against some strange creatures. He thought he recognized some of the creatures there but he couldn't be sure. The drawing was very old and in some places it could hardly be recognized as a drawing.
The hallway seemed like it would never end, he had lost all interest in looking at the walls a few minutes ago. How long has he been walking for? Fifteen minutes? Thirty? Or was he already walking for an hour? He didn't know it seemed like the hallway would never end. Or so it seemed. Just as he was about to give up and stop walking, he saw a light not far away. He grinned happily as he started running towards the source of the light. A few moments later he entered in a large oval room with many statues holding the ceiling in place, a lot of drawings on the walls and on the ceiling as well.
The blond slowly walked into the middle of the room, walking up three steps. He found himself standing on something like a podium, only that it was round and very close to the ground. He scratched his head wondering what he was looking for here. There was no other way to go, just to turn around and go back the way he came.
He then heard footsteps coming from behind him; he turned around wondering if his sensei managed to open the door and followed him. However, what he saw shocked him; he took a step back in shock. Behind him stood a monster, its skin was red, it had two large horns on top of its head, the body resembled a human, but it had claw like feet instead of normal feet, claws instead of hands and it was holding a large broadsword. The creature snarled at the blond as it started walking towards him.
It was dragging the large sword with it, the sound of its metal resonated throughout the chamber. The blond was frozen in place, he didn't know what to do, his body was not responding. With each step the creature took his breathing became more ragged. As the creature was just a few feet away from him it raised its sword. He knew that the creature was going to kill him; it was going to try and kill him. He had to do something, he had to defend himself.
As the creature raised its sword the blond reacted, his hand moved to his own sword and with a swift motion he unsheathed his weapon and parried the enemies attack. He grit his teeth as he felt the monster giving more power towards the attack adding pressure. The blond jumped backwards and moved his body to the side as the monsters large sword crashed on the ground. He then delivered a kick to the creatures chin making it fall on its back.
As the creature dropped on the ground the blond jumped on top of it with his sword, he impaled the creature in the chest. The monster roared in pain, but before the blond could cut the creature in two it grabbed him by the throat and slammed him on the ground. The boy gasped in pain as the creature continued to slam him on the cold floor. Gritting his teeth, the boy grabbed the creatures arm and started struggling. He kicked it in the chest making it lose its grip on him.
Naruto jumped away as the creature stumbled backwards. His sword vanished from the creature and reappeared in his hand, he would have been shocked if he wasn't busy with parrying the monsters constant attacks. His eyes glowed white for a second as a light shot from the ceiling, from what it seemed, on the creature making it howl in pain. Naruto watched as the creature was being burned by white fire. Raising his sword, the blond dashed towards the creature, he moved his sword back behind him and then plunged it in the creature. The entire weapon went through its skin and the boy found his left hand inside the creature's chest. The monster's eyes unfocused as it dropped on its knees, the sword dropped from its hand.
Naruto pulled his hand and weapon out of the creature and took a few steps back in shock. He had just killed, even if it wasn't a human being, he had just killed something. A living creature, despite the fact that it was an abomination it still was a living creature! His hand started shaking as he heard another set of footsteps. Not wanting to be taken by surprise again, the blond raised his sword and turned towards the hallway. He was shocked however when he saw who was there. It was an angel.
"Excellently done." The angel said in a male voice. He was wearing a white robe with a hood over his head; he had plate armor over the robe and flat shoulder guards. Two swords were strapped to his waist, two white plate gloves and large wings, larger then his.
"I assume you are wondering…who I am…" the angel said as the blond nodded dumbly, not trusting his voice. "We have a lot to talk about…and you won't like it." The angel said.
Hours passed and team Kakashi was starting to get more and more worried over the blond boy. The ANBU that left to report to the Hokage hadn't come back and only the captain remained who looked equally nervous. Kakashi was looking more and more pale with each passing minute, memories of his old teammates started appearing through his mind, the thought of losing a student on just the first day was starting to plague and kill him on the inside.
The captain was doing his best in calming the jounin and telling him that everything was alright and that the blond will come out unharmed, but the jounin was starting to doubt all that. Sasuke and Sakura didn't know what to do in helping their sensei, they were also worried about Naruto and they were also mad at him for recklessly going in the temple without waiting for them. If only they kept a closer eye on him, after all, Naruto has always been a trouble maker, that wouldn't have changed so soon with him becoming a genin.
They were broken out of their thoughts as the doors to the temple suddenly opened. Kakashi's head snapped up so fast that the captain thought he heard his neck break. Not wasting any time, the jounin jumped on his feet and ran towards the invisible wall waiting to see if it's Naruto coming out of the temple and if he was unharmed. To his relief it was the blond boy, he was slowly walking down the steps with his head down, and the jounin sighed in relief as he thanked Kami for the boy's wellbeing.
He was about to open his mouth and berate the boy for his stunt when he saw something strange regarding said boy. First was the fact that he was empty handed, he didn't have the object that the Sandaime wanted retrieved, which was no major problem in Kakashi's mind, the boy's safety was more important than some item. But the second problem was Naruto himself. He could clearly see the boy shaking, fright, anxiety? Or maybe he caught a cold? He didn't know the answer to any of those.
"Naruto?" he asked as the boy just passed by him not even bothering to answer him or stop.
Sasuke and Sakura blinked as they saw the blond move past their sensei and not even stopping to answer him. "Baka! What were you thinking?" Sakura shouted angrily as she stormed over to the blond and grabbed his hand. She gasped and let go of his hand and then screamed in fright. Her hand was covered in blood, the jounin and her teammate watched with wide eyes as the blond's hand dropped next to his body, his hand was all bloody.
"Naruto!" Kakashi shouted in fright as he ran to his student to check his condition "What happened to you?" he asked with fright evident in his voice.
The blond stopped for a second as he turned towards his sensei. "I…I need to be … alone…" he said with a frightened voice, his face pale.
Before Kakashi could say anything the boy continued. "I learned…something…I … need to understand what my purpose is now…" he said as he turned around and started walking away once more.
The jounin stood rooted in place not understanding what the boy said, he looked at Sakura who was looking at the blood on her hand with fright, he then looked back towards the blond only to see him exit through the hole in the wall and into the sewer. He frowned as he decided he will have to demand some explanations from the Sandaime regarding all of this.
It was dark and quiet outside. The stars were sparkling on the clear sky, no clouds could be seen, the moon was fully visible on the night sky and its light was shinning in the blond boy's room. The boy was currently sitting on his bed, facing the window, with his head down, looking at the ground. He wasn't moving or blinking for that matter.
"The first sign will be the clear sky and the full moon."
The light of the moon moved over the boy as he became tense, his hand moved towards the hilt of his sword ready to pull it out any moment and cut down anything or anyone that wanted to take him down. He was on full alert, but he was calm on the outside. On the inside, he was scared, he was confused, angry, happy…but those emotions did not surface to the exterior.
"It's a path paved in blood and horrors."
He felt a presence in the house, someone or something was inside. His grip on the sword tightened. If what he had learned was true then that meant he will no longer have any peace, that indeed he had been cursed further more then he already was. But, for them coming so fast, appearing only after the first sign, it wasn't right. But he had told him, they never respect the rules, they always surprise you and always come when you least expect them.
"Naruto." a voice was heard, he could detect worry in the person's voice, he was still on high alert. He told him, they love to trick the mind. They love to bend reality to their own needs.
He could feel the person, or the thing, coming closer towards him. He was ready to lift his weapon and cut whoever was near him in half. He didn't do that however, he felt the person, or thing, sitting down on the bed, not far from him. He could her, him, or it, sigh sadly. So many emotions he could feel radiating from the person, he was starting to doubt it was his enemy.
"Naruto…I wanted to talk to you about today." the man said, he could recognize his voice. It was his sensei, Kakashi.
He did not answer however, nor did he give a sign that he was aware of his presence. Kakashi knew however that the blond was listening to him. He looked at the blond and many questions raced through his head, his meeting with the Hokage had not been what he had hoped for, he didn't receive the answers he was looking for and he still didn't know what happened to his blond pupil. So his only option was to talk to Naruto and find out from him what exactly happened in that temple.
"I want you to know, that whatever you did…I'm proud of your choice." Kakashi said as he remembered when the Yondaime told him the same thing, it was when he made his first kill, his sensei had not been there to see it and he didn't tell his sensei that he had killed. The Yondaime had figured it out by himself and tried to calm him with a few words, to let him know that it was alright. But surely Naruto didn't kill anyone in the temple; the Sandaime said that there was no way any living being could be there. But then again…the Sandaime had been wrong about some traps…
"Whatever you did in that temple, whatever choice you made…" he said as he took a deep breath "…know that I am proud of that choice." He said as he looked towards the blond who still hadn't moved from his spot. "I don't care that you didn't retrieve what we had to, I don't care about that…" he told the blond as he looked out the window. "Even if you had to, Kami forbid, kill someone in that temple…" at this the blond tensed, it went unnoticed by the jounin who was too lost in his memories and thoughts "…I know that you had no other choice and that you had to do it…this is the life of a ninja, it has its ups and it has its downs, whatever path you chose I will always be there to help guide you."
"There is no other path to take, this path has been sealed."
Kakashi stood up as he walked towards the window and placed his hands behind his back, he sighed lightly. "Someday, you will have to kill a lot of people to save others. Someday, you will have to kill people you thought close to you when they betray you. Someday…you will have to kill…just so you can survive." The jounin turned around and started walking towards the door. "It's the life of a ninja, there is nothing we can do, death will eventually make its way towards everyone…" he said with a soft voice. "If you ever want to talk to someone…I will listen and I will help as much as I can." He told the blond as he left, his mind still drifting towards what might have happened in the temple. He didn't know if the blood was Naruto's or not…he could only guess.
As the jounin left the room, the blond slowly turned his head towards the door and sighed. "If only you knew what I need to do…" he thought as he looked towards the window and a sad smile appeared on his face "At least I know you care…"
Closing comments: Once more I thank my beta Silhouette of a Life for beta-ing the story. Hope you guys enjoyed this chapter and hope you will enjoy the next ones that will come (Damn it all, I didn't reach the 10k mark with this chapter).
Also, I hope the chapter didn't seem rushed, I mean, someone said that last chapter was a bit rushed so I tried to correct that. Hopefully I managed to do so.