Disclaimer: I do not own any rights or claims to Naruto, this is purely for fan enjoyment.
Warnings: PG-13 Rating might rise later on in the book. Graphic Violence later on, Mental and emotional abuse. So far more warnings might be added. Also, slow updates.
CANON DIVERGENCE: This book is a large rewrite of the original and Shippuden Naruto verses, but I will be adding my own plot twists and such as we go along. Naruto will be more vigilant to himself and the villagers, while not smart he is trusted and can put things together when it comes to emotional and tactical standpoints.
Chapter 3: The Demon of the Mist
Naruto was in a sort of inner retaliation against Kakashi-sensei's idea of teamwork, especially in such a screwed up circumstance. That wasn't to say he didn't understand the thought and intention that had gone into the simple order of 'don't fight', it was well intended, but it wasn't well thought out. There had been no plan of attack, at least made aware of too team seven, not that that was unusual when the enemy was right in front of you, and didn't seem particularly sane.
Still Kakashi, regardless of his Jouin rank shouldn't have just thrown himself into a fight without a cautionary thought of what would happen to them should he lose, especially without a plan. So Naruto turned to Sasuke, his voice quiet as he could make it, which was to say quite silent after days of hiding from angry or drunk villagers blaming him for something or another. It didn't matter to him the cause, it had given him the hindsight to keep your breathing regulated even when you were sure not to be caught.
Sakura didn't so much as twitch in their direction, which made it obvious she couldn't hear. Sasuke and him had been working on the technique for some time now on the training fields before Sakura showed up, hopefully should push-come-to-shove they'd be able to use it to trick even Zabuza Momochi.
Hopefully he would have never seen anything like it before, and be unable to predict its movements. Regardless it was both a distraction and a Ninjutsu so it Kakashi got in over his head, which they both silently prayed didn't happen, it would work as a distraction long enough to get him away from 'the demon of the mist.' the name made Naruto laugh silently. He himself was a demon, he wondered if Zabuza got ridiculed just because of his nickname, he had, in a sense anyway. Currently they were at a disadvantage, thick fog, flanked them on all sides, Naruto had no guesses that this, should Zabuza not be fighting Kakashi, be a method used in his 'silent killing' as Kakashi had so called it, the name, Naruto noted, was suitable enough.
The sound of a pained grunt, briefly held all of their attention, but their eyes had flickered only a moment in the direction of the sound, before their eyes fixated themselves straight in front of them once more. They all acknowledged it had been Kakashi, but with their vision so impaired it was risky to do anything. The fog, they noted disappeared as if it was just simple morning mist, their guard went up at the strange occurrence.
The sight of their sensei, trapped inside a ball of water however, drew their attention, and all three of them stood stock still, from what they'd gathered Kakashi was near unbeatable. Although, Naruto knew that was more childish idolization then anything substantial. Sakura looked terrified, inwardly Naruto groaned at her, Sasuke at least had realized what he was doing and put up a mask of indifference.
Both of them knew what was at stake if they failed, so quickly Naruto dug out the large Shuriken which he'd discovered while digging around his bag on the boat, he made a mental note to both thank the man and glare at him when they got back to Konoha. Both for packing the large thing, and for being overprotective, which was nice actually, but Naruto wasn't going to let the brown haired chunin know that.
"Sasuke!" They had no choice, they had to act, even if this plan had several flaws they had no chance. Zabuza, Naruto noticed, was staring at them with a look of curiosity, and amusement at their attempt, hopefully this would work. Carefully, and quickly he hinged the clone standing behind him, and threw both to his teammate. Hopefully. Sasuke gave him a quick look, in approval, and surprise, the shadow clone hadn't been in their original plan afterall. But he threw the Shuriken expertly, along with his clone.
The original was blocked easily, but the clone wasn't seen until it was in Zabuza's peripheral vision. as it circled round behind him. He dodged. Which broke the jutsu placed on Kakashi, and his concentration, which gave Kakashi the opportunity to fight once more.
Naruto however felt the drawback in his chakra, the threat of an ICD building up, his seal burned on his skin, and the compression of chakra into one place. Iruka had taught all of them in the academy to be careful with suppressing their chakra, Naruto was regretting not listening as much as he probably should have, now that it was affecting him.
Carefully he let his chakra expand, but felt weariness creep up on him from the action, there was an organization after his skin, and he'd risked himself with a medical chakra mistake that only academy students let themselves be blinded by. He felt like he'd cheated himself by doing so. He opened his eyes once more, that is after he had a near panic attack from not noticing he'd closed them, and the blackness with red tinges were his blood and death.
He was slightly numb from forcing his chakra every which way after all. so it wasn't that big of a shock that this occurred, considering the eyelids barely had any chakra in them -unless you had a bloodline limit unanimous with the eyes that is- any part of the body that didn't have constant chakra flow felt numb after long term suppression, to Naruto not being able to feel his genitals was a very foreign feeling, and he could easily imagine any ninja getting slightly distracted at the lack of sensation down there.
Senbon, was the first thing he noticed, he couldn't count how many, but they flew through the air, and Naruto was surprised to see that they hit Zabuza immediately.
The large man was no slouch, of that he was sure, he could have seen them coming from the reflection the light made off of them, then again he was distracted by Kakashi-sensei, it was possible that he was unable to douge, still, that was unlikely, and Naruto knew this.
His suspicions would have to wait he concluded, a hunter-nin had appeared on the seen. Naruto inherently, didn't trust any form of hunting-nin, many had come after him before, being almost always deflected by ANBU, while he made a quick retreat to the Hokage tower. This one, he noted mentally was from either the Hidden Frost, which was slightly disconcerting.
Of course Naruto was only basing this on the mask, and a picture he'd seen of Hidden Frost hunter-nin, he'd never encountered someone from the Hidden Frost before, they weren't to far from Konoha, but they were pretty far from the Land of Rivers. Add that too the suspicions rising within him, and you had yourself a relatively concerned Uzumaki Naruto.
"A hunter-nin?" Kakashi it seemed, was rather oblivious to the fact that most hunter-nin weren't hired from a small village like Shimogakure to capture a mercenary like Zabuza, but the man had been using the Sharingan for awhile now, and the drawbacks must be astronomical to a person not possessing the Kekkei Genkai of the Uchiha clan.
The blond decided to keep this to himself for the time being, no need to jump to conclusions quite yet. Sakura he noticed seemed rather out of the loop, Sasuke he noticed, was not, which drove a spike of sadness in him, Sasuke he knew, would probably know of hunter-nin the same way he did, kidnapping attempts, of course if Sasuke were to be kidnapped it would be for ransom. Naruto knew his were with killing intent behind them.
Still that didn't stop the blond's grief for his comrade, with the desolation of the Uchiha clan, Sasuke became invaluable to Konoha, something which many other countries knew, and tried to exploit. The elders would have killed innocent men and women to get the Uchiha heir back if they had to, such a powerful burden placed on his shoulders, at the tender age of eight, and Naruto knew all too well what that felt like. At least there was contentment to be found in the fact that Sasuke, unlike him, didn't have to worry about money, but his own safety was probably a constant issue.
"Hai, I'm here to take Momochi Zabuza." The voice was soft, feminine, still there was a rumble from the chest, and a purr in the voice which suggested the hunter wasn't actually a female. Hunter-nin were tricky like ANBU, and Naruto would never really trust them, again like ANBU. There was a hidden motive behind that rigid posture and Naruto knew it. Still as the man picked up Zabuza, with an ease Naruto wouldn't have affiliated with such a small frame, Naruto felt an aura of light intention, and strangely he let himself be eased by it, something he would normally never do around a stranger in the village, let alone a hunter-nin from another village.
Still there was an unexpected amount of light air too this man's chakra, something which Naruto labeled as the will of pacifism, yet there was so much more to it.
The hunter-nin disappeared in a burred space of chakra, and as soon as he did Kakashi collapsed, something not even Naruto had expected from the man, nor any other member's of team seven, although Naruto could tell Sasuke was less fazed by it then he or Sakura. The kunoichi however was the first to attempt to actually help the Jounin however, she like him it seemed was feeling the pressure of not doing much of anything to aid in the fight, her lips were drawn, but her eyes were cold emeralds, set, and hard, a note of determination and irritation in them.
Tazuna was the one to help her lift and carry the man, Naruto and Sasuke were to be guards until they got to Tazuna's house. Which the man mentioned before the attack, was not far from there, as he lived on the outskirts of the village with his grandson and daughter.
Naruto worried about his relatives briefly, the grandson was most likely not a ninja, and his daughter in most likely cases was not a kunoichi, it wasn't impossible for her to have been one, or still be one, but as there was no mention of a son-in-law she had most likely quit being a ninja to care for her son, or had never been one because of teen-pregnancy. Tazuna had mentioned very briefly that she was in her mid-twenties, although it had been a slip of the tongue.
The house was neat and small, with the exception of a small childs toy lying somewhere on the hardwood, it was a nice place, and Naruto found himself appreciating it's simplicity, yet dreading the confrontation with the man's family. He wasn't very good with families, no matter how nice he was, manners and courtesy never really went far for him in Konoha where women and children were concerned.
"Tou-san?" There was a light voice from the kitchen, and quickly enough a head popped out from the corner, with long black hair, pale skin, and large black eyes. The women was not someone who Naruto expected to be related to Tazuna, but nonetheless she smiled warmly at her as she rushed over to help Tazuna and Sakura with the heavy and unconscious Kakashi.
She fussed around them, and while Sasuke and Sakura seemed rather relaxed, Naruto felt his body stiffen, it was unnerving to watch a grown woman spout questions in the time of a single heartbeat, and zip in and out of the room to get a medical kit, and a futon, and then a pillow, and some blankets. Why she was fussing over all of them was really a mystery to Naruto, Kakashi was obviously the only one hurt, but maybe it was simply an overly-kind gesture customary of the woman. He certainly wasn't about to intrude if it was, that would be rude.
But it was strange that Sakura and Sasuke seemed accustomed to it. Kakashi was laid on the futon, and the woman with black hair didn't stop, she saw the bandage on his hand, and her whole posture changed, in relation so did Naruto's, he wasn't unaccustomed to that type of posture from women in particular, His fight or flight instincts were kicking in, and the frown on her features made him uneasy. It seemed like she was going to attack him. He didn't know why though.
Had he done something wrong? Did she know about the kyuubi and hate him for it? That was a long shot and Naruto knew it, it was a closely held Konoha secret, known only by top-ranking officials in other nations and large villagers.
She didn't seem like the high-ranking official type, so no it wasn't about the Kyuubi then. Which put him at more unease, there wasn't much of a reason to hate him, he didn't think anyway, he hadn't been rude had he?
As these thoughts pondered his mind, when she stepped forward he immediately stepped backwards. He looked to Sasuke and Sakura for a sign, but both of them just seemed confused by his actions. She wouldn't hurt him in front of his teammates would she? He concluded, that no, she wouldn't, and forced his muscles still, as she approached him. Her hand reached out, his instincts kicked up, and he brutally pushed them down. He grabbed his bandaged hand, and just looked at it.
Naruto felt both confusion and uncertainty well up, she was looking at his hand like Iruka would have, her eyes were kind, and her mouth was pulled. When she let go, her demeanor seemed to slump, Naruto was at a loss.
"If I'd known children would be hired in the place of experienced Shinobi...Damn, Gato." She whispered, and Naruto felt his shoulders slump themselves, she was worried of their injuries because they were young, she had a son, it was only natural. And Naruto was the only one injured, or rather fake injured the bandage was only there for show. She was being motherly, that's why Sasuke and Sakura had been so at ease.
Sasuke may not have a mother anymore, but he knew a mother's embrace once, and Sakura went home to her family everyday. He didn't. There burned a powerful tension in his throat at this revelation. It wasn't jealousy, after all, how could he be jealous of something he'd never before experienced? But no, it was grief, while he didn't mourn over his own childhood or lack of one thereof, he was near constantly irritated of having to worry about every little thing by himself, constantly, he could do it well, but he didn't like it.
He would be a good Hokage from his talent of self-management alone, but he was hoping to gain some more wisdom and tactics before that happened. The Hokage is supposed to be the most powerful ninja in the village after all, and no matter how much he liked to joke to himself about it, a Hokage with the ability to do everything involving physical sustainment and nothing else did not a good Hokage make.
Dinner had come and gone in the impression that it had been hours long. Naruto felt more then drained after the entevor, never before had he felt so uncomfortable. Most of his movements were jerky, reaching for the chopsticks again and again before actually lifting them up, and even then sometimes he simply put them down again, He was unsure of what to do the entire time, he'd never eaten with anyone but Iruka before, but with Iruka he was well aware he had no manners.
This was a circumstance that he'd never been placed in before, and although he himself knew he was no coward, he seemed to develop some sort of unrealized cowardice in the company of people when eating. Even he knew how strange that sounded to the common ear. He had gotten a whole manner of stares from the others for his actions, and eventually tried to copy Sasuke as inconspicuously as he could.
Luckily the whole thing had finally wrapped up with everyone but Kakashi saying a respectful thank you.
The fresh air, if nothing else, gave him space from the frightening prospect of facing that woman again, let alone her energetic child. He felt the creaking of the porch, before he saw the pink uniform.
He smiled at her, some good company of someone he knew wasn't such a daunting prospect at the moment. As he opened his eyes to look into hers, his stomach turned, and he found himself fighting with a sudden bout of nausea. Her eyes, they were 'those' eyes, cold, judging, anger, and disgust, and when she spoke, his eyes closed themselves in self shame, his smile pinched itself, and every single muscle on him fought back the emotion of betrayal.
"Naruto! I know you don't have parents, but the orphanage would have had you long enough to be able to teach you something on basic human decency, but I guess that's why they kicked you out isn't it! You were so rude to poor Tsunami-san, in her own home! The home she welcomed all of us in with open arms! What, was her food not good enough for you or something! No, no, that's not it at all. You just wanted the attention, didn't you! I don't know why I'm surprised, you've always loved being the center of attention haven't you? But I guess I was hoping you wouldn't stoop so low as to be completely rude just to get it! Ugh, you disgust me!" Naruto bit down on the retort rising in his chest, eyes and throat. His tongue bleeding as he did so.
She walked away with a small huff, and her shoulders held square, Naruto followed her retreating back with his eyes, as they leaked bitter tears.
He knew he should have expected that, but he had hoped beyond hope that no one had known about him being kicked out of the orphanage, but of course they had, the whole of Rookie Nine probably knew.
How pathetic, at least he knew he would inevitably be yelled at for being rude, it stung less when he acknowledged it's justification. Still he longed for the day to be over already. From the attacks, to Kakashi collapsing, to dinner and being rude, and now Sakura's disgust, he just wanted to start the fresh new day.
The morning came with a sudden jolt of awareness for Naruto, most likely due to the Kyuubi chakra making him aware of a predator nearby. Irritatingly enough the damned fox still had a lot of chakra regardless of the restraining seal on his abdomen.
The predator in question, was someone Naruto had genuinely been expecting to see as he woke up, but the small amount of surprise he had that the man was actually up, was still there to some extent.
Chakra exhaustion was a horrifying thing, no matter who you were.
Kakashi seemed to be staring into his very being as he sat up, lazily tracking his movements with the dull grey eye of his. He was unarmed, and Naruto found himself grateful for the relaxed posture the man held. Their eyes caught, and really, he knew he shouldn't have been, he'd known it all along after all, but the pure grief and guilt hidden in that man's eye, seemed to measure up to an amount of despair he didn't know someone who read porn on a daily basis could achieve.
Then again it was highly possible that was his way of dealing with his anguish. Hevins knew that Naruto didnèt deal with it too healthily in the past. He just wondered who it was that had said those words of companionship to Kakashi.
They sat in their comfortable silence, Naruto staring out the window of the living room, -as that was where they had slept the previous night, they only had one guest room, and Sakura had used it due to her gender- Naruto watched Inari laugh in the sunlight, slightly envious, but not portraying that. Kakashi watching the blond from his grey eye, searching for the obvious lie that lay hidden beneath his eyes. For their was such a sadness deep in their blue depths that Kakashi saw only a fraction of, and he knew that what he saw wasn't quite the truth, everyone had sadness in their eyes, but with Naruto it was different.
There was a sort of pale truth hidden, open and scared deep in his eyes, that the Jounin was sure he didn't actually want to see. Naruto knew of the gaze, but he also knew he himself was to closed off to allow the Jounin to see beneath the pale truth of his iris.
He wasn't that much a fool.
Kakashi was probably aware of this, as his dissect was obvious to the silver haired nin, so would his hidden intelligence of a man be obvious to him. No one could truly hide who they are, it all mirrored through at some point, perhaps another would see it, perhaps not.
Regardless, you could only hide so much of yourself. Naruto could hide his pain, his loneliness, but his maturity both mentally and emotionally would never truly be hidden. It couldn't be. Kakashi's glazed eye was not unlike his own, but it, unlike his, didn't hide the frozen grief there. Genin like Sakura, and even Sasuke.
Naruto knew, wouldn't see the frozen pain in his eye, they were still Genin, Sakura lived an idealistic life, and Sasuke himself may have seen many deaths, many battles for life, but in many ways he had the mentality of a child. Not that Naruto could fault him for that, it sounded far better than the alternative, the life he lived. Not in complete seclusion, but in a state of awareness and emotional dysfunction.
Sasuke was much the same, but his emotions were only turned off to the rest of the world, in his eyes Naruto could see the inner battle for peace. His emotions ran rampant and free, powerful and nearly uncontrollable emotional turmoil. That Naruto had once faced himself. Naruto had managed to make his emotions work for him, yet Sasuke wasn't there yet. Not yet.
Kakashi wasn't so much an enigma in this field of reasoning, to most, maybe, but to Naruto, there was an obvious defiance of his emotions. He didn't let them affect him too much, but even he had his triggers, much like a dam, if you pulled on those points in his life, his emotions would slip, and he would become a slave to them once more. Just like Naruto knew he would be as well.
"Sakura and Sasuke have gone with Tazuna-san to explore the village, and Tsunami-san is outside watching little Inari." Naruto turned to his teacher, observing him through instinct. "Naruto, if it's any consolation, you really weren't supposed to know. At least not until you were older." The man's voice was bland, and through that it was made obvious to Naruto, that had Mizuki-sensei not been a factor, Kakashi had been the one put to the task of informing him that the Kyuubi no Kitsune was sealed away within him, were it to be necessary at such a young age. Strangely that was comforting to the blue-eyed blond.
"I know Kakashi-sensei, but it helps knowing. Really, it does."
"How could it be helpful? It simply sounds like a burden." Naruto sighed lightly, more of a sign of acknowledgement then wariness or irritation.
"It is. But that doesn't change anything. Now that I know, things aren't going to meracurussly change. It just means I understand their behavior.. It has justification now."
"Their? Naruto?" The door opened with a soft click, and their conversation interrupted by the small child that was Inari.
Still even as the small child smiled brightly at both of them, neither of them smiled back, sharing a sort of mutual agreement of silence and grief. Inari, left the house with a ball in his hands, his smile lit up in childhood exuberance. For a moment, Naruto stared down at his hands, and felt free to mourn for himself, for the first time in a long time, but still he closed his eyes to the pain. Understanding and unease filling his baser instincts.
He pushed them away with the solemn smile forced onto his face. They sat in that silence, for hours. Not, moving, not speaking. Kakashi staring lazily out the window as Naruto had been, and Naruto, curled up cheek to his knees, staring at the dusty corner of the room. Sunlight streamed in through the window, and neither of them paid any attention to it, wrapped in the comfortable darkness.
It wasn't until the sun was gone from view, and the world was filtered in through the green of the leafs did they ster. Kakashi looked over to Naruto, who was in the same position, his head however facing Kakashi, and warm mist covered, blue eyes looked toward the sliver haired man.
"We'll be starting a new type of training tomorrow morning, at dawn, be ready." And with that, the man laid back down on his futon and tried to sleep. There was nothing else to be said. Naruto quickly followed suit, he didn't want to face Sakura, or Tsunami again so soon, even if his stomach told him otherwise.
As soon as Naruto realized he was up before Kakashi, he knew the day was bringing him bad omens, what exactly that entailed was unclear, but as he looked to the risen sun, and Sasuke and Sakura's figures in the forest sparing, he felt not only unease, but uncertainty in his actions. Not something, an orphan like him was allowed to have.
You had to be sure of whatever you did, in order to survive, it was a simple rule carved into him as he spent two weeks on the street after being kicked out of the orphanage.
He hadn't gone to Sarutobi for help, and he had regretted it as soon as he had entered the Hokage's office at five years old, blood and tears running down his cheeks. Caution was something Naruto had hated but found assurance in, like the Kyuubi now.
That wasn't to say he was cautious all the time, but around the village he had to maintain a certain amount of steel in his blood so he wouldn't back down at the slightest inclination of his position in the citizen's minds. The fact that they hadn't wanted him to be a ninja was also unsettling.
Carefully he dressed, and walked outside, for once his feet dragged on the ground, he still didn't want to face Sakura. He was sure at the moment that their was still venom in her veins, because of his rude behavior. He could only hope Sasuke didn't begrudge him for it, and that at least they could be civil during training.
He locked eyes with Sakura's as he came into the small break in the forest. Her gaze was harsh, burning in a cold stone set of irritation at his arrival.
Sasuke, he noted was looking to the side in uninterest, the girl beside him not even getting a grain of attention. Their relationship was really strange to Naruto, Sakura seemed to be the only one actually close to Sasuke, yet he kept her further than arm's reach, from what Naruto could gather. If he didn't know any better, he'd say that they had been fighting.
He knew however this wasn't the case, While Sakura seemed to have a cold disposition as Sasuke some days, he knew that she would rather go the other way in the face of a violent confrontation, Sasuke would hit it head on, and take thrill out of the battle.
Briefly Naruto could only wonder that if Sakura did chose to fight, would they compliment each other in battle, they had very different styles. Sasuke stuck to simplistic fighting if the opponent wasn't a large of a threat, and dragged the battle out for his own thrill. Sakura was rather good with traps and certain ninja weapons, but she seemed the type to finish off the opponent and then leave. Moreover she probably wouldn't have enjoyment from the task like Sasuke.
No, Naruto concluded, in battle, they wouldn't work well together. Naruto knew that he himself did find a certain thrill in confrontation, but at the same time, he didn't like fighting. Perhaps to suss the opponent out, but otherwise he would much rather wage peace then war. It was from this that he understood himself to be somewhat of a pacifist, yet to that same extent, if a fight were to be presented to him, he wouldn't back down for the sake of peace, he would fight for peace, and show whoever fought him, through his actions that there was an alternative. Never going for the killing blow, unless absolutely necessary, which to Naruto, should never be the case, it should never be necessary to kill someone.
"Ohayo, Sakura-chan, Sasuke!" Still this team as a whole would probably work well together, their styles put together did compliment each other's well, their morals even.
They would just have to figure each other out over time, in order to do that.
Sasuke to his credit looked in his direction, his eyes showing something more warm than the irradiation in Sakura's eyes, which the blond was grateful for.
Maybe he could spend the time before Kakashi-sensei showed up to talk to Sasuke a little, he'd have to adjust his demeanor slightly, but that wasn't exactly hard to do when you had the years of experience in doing so, like Naruto did.
Straightening himself ever so slightly, he smiled at Sakura and stood next to Sasuke, who was standing just behind her.
"Yo, Sasuke!" He smiled wide as the boy in question actually turned to look at him, masking the sort of soft surprise hidden on his features.
"Idiot." Nice way of greeting people, Naruto nodded to himself, it wasn't an unexpected response after all.
"Bastard." He felt himself smile, even as he muttered the word, nothing was better than playful banter in his mind. It was a good way to acknowledge each other, at least on some level. They had always been like that to each other. Though no one could say that they had been friends back at the academy, and even now, their relationship was based mostly on competitive nature, still Naruto believed that one day they could be if not best friends, then at least, extremely close friends.
They complimented each other, he wasn't blind to this, he just wouldn't admit such a thing out loud. "Oi, Sasuke, what do you think this training is for?"
"How would I know idiot?"
"Hey! I was just asking!"
"Tch." Sasuke turned his head once more, looking to the water, and Naruto followed suit, his expression morphing in on itself. Dying to ask his distant companion what he thought of the hunter-nin that had tracked Zabuza, but he knew that would only cause more problems than it was worth.
It was irritating to him, there had been something strange, not only about the hunter-nin himself, but of the village which he hailed from, something about Shimogakure that was bugging him. There had been rumors about Shimo for a long time in Konoha, but that had been a long time ago, and Naruto for the life of him, could not remember the conversations that had taken place.
He remembered the discussions that had taken place hadn't been good, so he'd mostly tried to ignore it at the time, he had liked to sustain positivity in his life, and bad news, even about another village, had no place in his life. But now he couldn't remember what had occurred, even what sort of thing they had addressed in accordance with Shimogakure, he wanted to hit his past self for not paying closer attention.
"Sasuke, have you heard of Shimogakure?" A glare of curiousity set itself into his companion's eyes, as Naruto stared at him, it was unusual for him to be so serious around his teammates, but he had a feeling that Shimo was important to this mission. Even Sakura looked at him, in a strange mixture of curiosity and frustration.
"Yes, but I don't know anything about it." Sasuke, seemed strangely out of place when he didn't know something, and Naruto took that into account, the jerky movements of his teammates eyes, were all the indication he needed in order to understand the raven's discomfort.
"Why are you asking Naruto?" Sakura butted in, she seemed genuinely curious at his question, and Naruto backtracked.
"Eh, it's probably nothing Sakura-san!" Once more, his eyes adjusted themselves to being used for lying, and Sakura, seemed put out by his cheerful attitude, as once more he found himself being the idiot, he loved to be.
Sasuke however, didn't seem all that convinced at his sudden shift, his eyes examining the tan-boy next to him, not that Naruto didn't notice, to be fair, he probably would have done the same thing, had it been the Uchiha asking the question.
The icey glare sent in his direction, a clear indicator for him to realize that Sasuke truely didn't believe him, which was to say a nuisance in and out of itself. Sasuke was an extremely smart guy, Naruto knew that his quick intuition was far better than his own.
Sakura herself was far smarter than Naruto as well, and really Naruto knew this from the moment he met her, she made connections, and estimations that were nearly always right, at least in the academy she had. Still she did tend to overlook things if she deemed them unimportant, or useless, not a good trait in a ninja. Something Naruto understood firsthand. Unfortunately by experience. Hopefully it wouldn't take too much a push for Sakura to realize this herself.
Kakashi choose that exact moment to appear before them, a smile obvious under his mask at their surprise. Even Naruto found himself jumping back slightly, even though he had been expecting the man to appear before them for quite some time. Still he hadn't been expecting the man to be 'poofing' in upside down on a tree branch. But seriously maybe he should have been, the man was just as unpredictable as him sometimes, and yet it had been him that had gotten stuck with the nickname? Now that was actually kind of insulting, even to him.
Still there was no denying that he wanted to learn that skill. In fact there was an unparalleled feeling of anticipation rising in his gut, and he found himself jumping up and down with his exuberance, something he hadn't felt in himself for a long time now. He knew that such things for Shinobi and kunoichi were common practise, that is walking on water and up trees, or in Sunagakure, rock climbing as he had read. He was eager to try both, walking on water especially, sounded amazing, but assuming it was based on Chakra control, he knew that wouldn't be for awhile yet.
His Chakra control was severely lacking, sure he could restrain the foxes Chakra, but that had taken months to master, and simply being forward, that was restraining Chakra, which was much easier than controlling Chakra, though the two coincided. They were undeniably different things, as they required different skill sets with Chakra.
"Ohayo you three. Today, as some of you might have guessed, we are going to be tree climbing." The fact that he said 'some of you' was as much indication that Naruto needed that he wasn't expected to understand it right away, regardless of how obvious it was. Which frustrated him slightly, he was only glad he was anticipating the training, otherwise that spark of irritation would have turned into something far more rancorous eventually, considering how well he knew himself.
Which was to say, very well.
Regardless of how often it occurred, he really didn't like being called an idiot in a concomitant way. It actually made him quite mad. Usually it came up in pernicious time, but still the anger was undeniable, even as he'd tried for years to retain it. Unfortunately he could only assume it was because of his association with the fox that his anger tended to spike as it did.
"Now, this training, focuses on your Chakra control, you will pour Chakra into your feet to try and climb it, without the use of your hands." Beside him, he saw Sakura nod, and Sasuke give a twitch, the only indication he was listening really. "Apply too little Chakra and your feet won't stick, and you will fall, apply too much, and you will be repelled from the tree." Here he jumped down, and Naruto marveled at the fact that his headband hadn't slipped from it's position over his eye. It was like it was glued there, really an unnerving thought.
The blond didn't want to think on it too closely, he was sure it would give him a headache. The flip of an orange book began their training, and in ernest, Naruto ran at the tree, applying as much Chakra as he dared, which wasn't much, he could only hope it would be enough to complete his task, he still had to focus most of his Chakra in order to retain the Kyuubi's Chakra.
Coming in contact with tree brought a brush of fear to his nerves, still he stared it head on and ran, the Chakra in his feet making him stick.
Then of course he found himself falling, and flipped as fast as he could in order to land on his feet. Wobbling a little at the sensation of being on flat ground once more. He tried again, putting more Chakra into his feet this time, and found himself quickly nearing a tree branch. Turning he stepped over onto the underside of it, and hung, his pride taking a leap into his throat.
Then the seal activated, once more, trying to suck in his Chakra, pain blossomed in his abdomen, and as he struggled to control it, he felt himself lose grip on the tree and fall. The tug on his ankle brought him straight into reality, instead of hazily floating in between, his pain making it hard to concentrate before. Now however, he looked to see who had grabbed him, and was actually surprised to see Sasuke there, obviously straining to keep his hold on the tree and his grip on Naruto.
Hopefully that wasn't to much a struggle, he knew he wasn't a heavy individual, how could he be? He barely ate. Of course that wasn't of his own design, but really when his weight came into play, it hardly cared if he starved himself. He knew the moment Sasuke's control began to slip, and he rocked his torco forward, for propulsion, as he felt the grip on his ankle leave. He landed on the ground once more this time on his rear, but at least it hadn't been on his skull. The tud on the Earth next to him, telling him that Sasuke had landed on his feet. He stood up shakily, pain dissipating finally.
"Hey, this is easier then I thought!" The yell from his teammate above him, brought yet another spark of irritation to his mind, as he, and Sasuke.
Saw the pink-haired girl sitting comfortably on top of the highest tree branch of the tree, right next to the one he had been climbing. He looked over to Sasuke unwittingly, and wasn't surprised to find a certain mixture of anger on his features, Sasuke was a perfectionist through-and-through, Sakura beating him at something, was most likely a major blow to his ego.
Not because it was Sakura, but because he was Sasuke, he would take offence to anyone beating him at anything. He had graduated with the highest marks in the academy after all, and that wasn't nothing, it took a lot of training to get marks that high.
Really Naruto had been shocked that he hadn't graduated sooner, than he had. Their was a rumor at the time that it was actually because the blond had failed that no one had graduated on time. Which he knew was pure nonsense, one person didn't couldn't affect the outcome of an entire class. It was really just the justification that the villagers used to comfort themselves that their children hadn't graduated early.
"Well, it seems that Sakura is a step closer to becoming Hokage, then a certain blond I know." Naruto felt rather then saw, his own knuckles whitening, Kakashi was making this training a lot less fun then it could be, and his anger was not going to go unnoticed if he wasn't careful. "It also seems that the Uchiha name, has really fallen out of grace, huh?" A gasp of air left his lungs inaudibly, that was low, Naruto knew not even he would use that one against Sasuke, it was just cruel.
Why was Kakashi egging them on in such a way? Some positive reinforcement. He didn't need to look at his companion to see the enraged glare sent their sensei's way. There was nothing funny about insulting one's family name, dead or alive. He was sort of surprised Sakura hadn't called out Kakashi for being rude, as she had to him, then again, he supposed Kakashi was a much harder character to harass than himself, She was a only thirteen years old at the end of the day. She was probably to scared to even try. "Well then Sakura, let's go eat lunch, and leave these two, too it shall we?" Sakura jumped down gracefully, her tongue sticking out towards Naruto as she followed their sensei down too the house. Naruto felt his competitive spark once more, as he raced towards the tree.
Chakra gathering, this time however, he focused on the Kyuubi Chakra blocked by the seal, and concentrated on the separation of his own Chakra from the seal. He found himself passing the tree branch he had been saved on, and moved as quickly as he could, further up, which unfortunately wasn't far. He marked the spot he felt himself lose control with his unsheathed kunai, and dropped down onto the sun-warmed grass.
Briefly he watched Sasuke, as he got slightly higher than he had, and smiled, at least he could make this a bit fun. If he and Sasuke had anything in common it would be their competitive spirit. He ran at the tree again, using the same tactic as last time, focusing on his Chakra separate from both seals on his abdomen. To his satisfaction he managed to get higher then Sasuke. The Uchiha glared slightly at the mark on his own tree, and then ran again, much like Naruto had.
"Naruto." They were breaking, Naruto sitting on the grass, and watching Sasuke come towards him, a serious expression on his features. Naruto felt his curiosity spike. "Why did you ask about Shimo?" The Uchiha now stood above him, a towering figure no doubt, Sasuke was tall for his age, and Naruto was short for his. Sasuke stood at a proud and towering "4'9", while Naruto, last time he measured himself, was only "4'7".
Naruto of course found his height useful, but still, as Sasuke towered over him, he couldn't help but want to be at least a little taller, at least he'd be more intimidating then.
"Well, it's just, that hunter-nin, his mask was from Shimogakure, don't you think that's a bit strange. I mean Shimogakure is in the Land of Frost, the Land of Frost, is far from the Land of Fire. It goes without saying that it's far from the Land of Rivers." Sasuke looked at him in a quizzical way, but even as he did, his features seemed to set into something harder, more serious.
"I hadn't noticed the mask in particular, but I had noticed the symbol of the Land of Water carved onto the top. It looked to be crudely done, as if from a curved kunai. I'm surprised you noticed. How do you know the mask is of Shimogakure?" The raven, sat next to him, and Naruto felt some of the stress on his shoulders decrease, at least Sasuke wasn't making fun of him. He knew something was wrong about the situation, just as he did.
"The red waves on the side, they were a special choice for Shimo. They wanted it to look as if they came from the Land of Water in order to make the enemy think they had the advantage of knowing their opponent, and their affiliations. The Land of Water choose a similar design for their hunter-nin, but the waves on the mask are smaller, and pink." Sasuke looked to him in thought. His lips thin. But Naruto found himself continuing, voicing his thoughts."But then why carve on the symbol of Kirigakure? The Land of Water is even further then Shimo from the Land of Rivers."
"That man, is from Kirigakure. He must be, confusion-over-confusion. Really a smart move on his part. Anyone from Kirigakure would think he's from Shimo, and anyone from Shimo would think he's from Kirigakure, he must travel back and forth, between nations in order to keep from being caught. I've seen the same type of trick used by people in the Bingo book before. He's a mercenary ninja, has to be. They steal a hunter-nin mask from one nation, then carve the symbol of a small village onto the top, in order to avoid detection, sometimes from the same land, sometimes from another. It doesn't matter, they get away with it, because most people, ninja or otherwise, can't tell the difference between each nation or a village's hunter-nin uniform from each other. It's not something that is needed for exams or rank, so it usually gets overlooked." Naruto found himself nodding in grim satisfaction, he hadn't wanted to be right.
Unfortunately Sasuke's logic made sense. A mercenary made sense, and the system setup made sense. Confusion-over-confusion indeed. "Naruto, why do you know the hunter-nin masks apart? I couldn't imagine you would even know what a hunter-nin was." He looked over to Sasuke with hooded eyes, he couldn't tell him anything and he knew it. Lying was the only option, even if he knew his counterpart would see straight through it.
"I read a lot of information scrolls, I came across one about the classification of hunter-nin and I got curious." Not a complete lie, he had only learned about Shimogakures' mask through a scroll afterall.
He almost asked 'what about you?' But he knew the answer to that. So he didn't bother. Sasuke's eyes hardened once more, no doubt sensing the lie, but unable to pinpoint it, for he had said a pale truth, and those were hard to pick through. Suddenly Sasuke got up, using his knee to propel himself that slight bit.
"Let's get back to work, I'm not sure if Kakashi needs to know about this, it might not change anything, they'll still come after Tazuna, besides, I have a feeling Kakashi already knows that the hunter-nin isn't who he says he is. Or at least, suspects he's working for Zabuza. Regardless, of that, if we go back without completing this training, there's a sure chance we'll be in trouble later on." Their was a stern edge to Sasuke's tone, one of self assurance, and confidence, that made him get up as well, and follow his comrade's lead.
He was right, Kakashi probably didn't need to know all the variables, and it was more then likely the man had somehow figured out that the mercenary ninja was working for Zabuza, unconfirmed or not. Kakashi was definitely the type that could make connections in everything, not to mention the fact that Naruto was near positive the man had also seen the way Zabuza had let himself be hit by the Senbon. There was no longer any doubt in Naruto's mind that the Mercenary was working for Zabuza. Which made his job just that slight bit harder, he still had to go too the Hidden Valley's Village to meet the informant.
That would be harder to do with two Mercenary Ninja hanging around, waiting to strike. Hopefully the attacks that Kakashi had dished out during his and Zabuza's battle had wounded the man long enough for him to need sufficient recovery time, at least long enough for him to complete this training, and travel to the Hidden Valley's Village.
