Chapter 3. My Way of the Ninja
Naruto walked through the fimiliar streets that led to her rundown apartment in the lower section of the village. Many people had questioned the Sandaime's sanity when he had put a six year old girl in the most dangerous section of the village. It was where all the bars and brothels where and where any illegal activities usually occurred.
The reason the Third had put her here was because the people around here usually didn't give a crap who or what you are. You pay for your stuff and stay out of other peoples way and for the most part they left you alone. The people around there also weren't the most law abiding citizens . Which was how Naruto was sitting in the bar right now , drinking sake without any word from the bartender.
Naruto had come to an agreement with the bartenders around these parks. She paid for her drinks and they didn't bother her about underage drinking.
" What ya been up to , Naruto ?" the bartender asked his youngest customer , washing a glass with a rag.
"Being chased around the village by one of Icha Icha Paradise's most devoted fans." was Naruto's terse reply as she took another sip from her sake. It burned her throat and filled her stomach. Alcohol may not affect but she was going to be taking bathroom breaks all day.
The bartender let out a bellowing laugh. " I've been hearin about someone who went and burned the copy nin Kakashi's Icha Icha Paradise and got chased all the way to the Hokages office. I should've figured no one would do something like that but you. Bet you regret it now."
Naruto's eye didn't even twitch as it would've under normal circumstances. That was because the liquor instead of making her tipsy had a surprising side effect. It made her patient to the point that she could be mistaken for a saint. That fact didn't settle the Shodaime and Nidaime though. They had told her if they ever found her drinking again they would have her running laps till her legs fall off. Being threatened by two of the most powerful men in ninja history hadn't scared Naruto at all because here she was on her sixth drink.
"I don't regret a thing. That idiot got what he deserved." Kakashi had chased her all the way to the Sandaime's office. Naruto had to hide behind the Sandaime to keep herself from being strangled by the scarecrow. The Third called three squads of Anbu to stop Kakashi. Then Kakashi had preceded with telling the Sandaime of what Naruto had done.After that every male in the room had turned to Naruto with blood lust shining in their eyes. Lucky ,for Naruto there had been female Anbu who had slapped their male teammates when they had seen the glares they were directing at Naruto. It had provided a distraction giving Naruto a chance to escape.
That had been a week ago. Now Naruto and her precious teammates had been doing chores for Konohas clients. Weeding gardens, finding cats, painting fences and washing laundry. Naruto had gone from being a world renown legend who made millions to a maid who made less than pocket change. A fact that Akio threw in her face every chance he got. There was also the glare that had been boring holes in her back on every mission, courtesy of Kakashi. He had stopped reading books in public, probably afraid Naruto would destroy them, and taken the job of making Narutos missions as tedious as possible.
"Hell hath no fury like a pervert scorned." said the bartender sagely.
"You just made that up." Naruto took another swig of her drink. " Anyway what do you know about the copy nin anyway?"
The bartender stroked his beard looking thoughtful. " Well I know that his father was called the White Fang and was once as respected as the The Sannin."
"What happened to him ?"Naruto asked curious inspite of herself.
" When he was on a mission he had to choose between his teammates lives and the success of the mission. He chose the life of his teammates over the success of the mission and it caused Konoha a heavy loss." The bartenders lips curled in disgust suddenly. " Then the filth of this village treated the man like scum, never mind that the man was one of the strongest in this hellhole and had saved the village countless times . Soon even his own teammates abandoned him. With the entire village against him he went in insane. Later on he committed suicide."
Naruto swirled her glass, watching the liquid go back and forth. Was that how the shinobi life was like?
You could become when of the strongest in the village and then with just a turn, one wrong decision, and everyone was against you?
"Then all that talk about teamwork and crap is just bull?" Naruto asked .
"Ninjas say to look underneath the underneath. That applies to everythin they do. They may say the most important thing is teamwork but what they really want is for you to complete the mission successfully. If thats done they don't really care if you live or die."he responded scornfully.
The bartender was a burly looking guy with huge muscles. He had a short curly beard and black curly hair. He had a slash through one of his brown eyes. Naruto had never heard the bartender,(she could never remember his name because it was too freakin long),mention anything about being a shinobi but she was pretty sure he had been one at one point in his life. People usually worshipped them as gods rather but the bartender had never once hesitated in telling Naruto about how much he hated shinobis.
"Anyway, It's you I am worried about." Naruto looked up puzzled at this.
"I heard that you had just became a genin." he elaborated at her perplexed look.
"Don't worry about it." Naruto flashed him a smile. " Its only temporary . Its not like I'd ever have a really big problem with my superiors if they told me to go slaughter a whole village."
The bartender let out another bellowing laugh. " When you'd be done with the poor fool he'd be wishin that he had asked you to kill him instead."
Naruto looked at the clock on the wall and pulled out a few bills on the counter. " I've got to go. I'll see ya later."
"Don't forget tonight. Its Karaoke night."the former shinobi reminded her.
Naruto laughed. " Wouldn't miss it for the world."
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Naruto was walking through the halls of a hospital. The smells of medicine and alcohol filled her nostrils. It was a good thing the alcohol she had was still keeping her from feeling too much otherwise she would have been recalling all the times she had visited the emergency room at Konohas hospital. But this wasn't Konohas general hospital. It was a special infirmary.
She turned down a fimiliar hallway not even needing to count the door numbers. She could always tell which room she was in. The smell of jasmine always lingered in the room for some reason. Even though Naruto was sure the person in that room hadn't probably bathed with scented jasmine anything for years.
Naruto stopped in front of a huge room. Naruto didn't bother to open the door, she wasn't allowed in. There was a one way glass in the side of the room. It allowed you to see inside but the women inside couldn't see out. The women inside didn't appear any older than seventeen. She had long silky black hair that cascaded down her back. The black haired women was staring at a wall in front of her obstructing Narutos view of her face.
Naruto didn't need to see her face directly. Her face was forever engraved in Narutos mind. The long black hair, the emerald eyes that had once crinkled with life and laughter ,the strong jawbones ,the full lips and the slightly long but firm nose. If you had met the women thirteen years ago and looked at her you could say she hadn't really changed. That was until you saw her eyes. The eyes that used to hold so much life had now transformed into an emptiness abyss of nothingness.
Naruto clenched her fists that were deep in her jacket pockets, her ocean blue eyes becoming vacant, as if seeing something else.. ' I destroyed that spirit. I destroyed her life. My stupid face broke her heart. All because of that stupid man. That bastard.
"Uzumaki-san." Naruto turned to face the doctor that had come to perform a check up for the woman.
"How is she?" Naruto asked her voice betraying none of the inner turmoil she was feeling on the inside. ' Should've had more to drink.'she thought wryly.
"Well she has been eating her meals regularly since your last visit"the doctor began but something about the doctors demeanor unnerved her. He was very nervous , he kept shifting uncomfortably and leafing through his notes. Not very impressive behavior for an Anbu doctor to possess.
"She has yet to show any response to anything said to her, though."the doctor continued nervously.
"I wasn't talking about mental health. "Naruto cut in impatient. "I was talking about physical health."
The doctor seemed even more nervous than before and started to readjust his glasses. "Well you see that is-"
"Theres no need to scare the doctor Naruto."A male voice said behind from behind her. The man nodded at the doctor. A dismissal the doctor gladly received.
Naruto ignored the man behind her and placed her gloved hand on the glass window. She pushed her chakra web through her palm trying to get some data from the women. She wasn't surprised by the data she got. The doctors actions before had told her that there was something wrong.
"Its not your fault."the Anbu told her as gently as he could.
Naruto turned and regarded the Anbu shrewdly. "What are you doing here Ibiki?"she asked finally.
"I heard you were here and decided to come say hello." the number one torture specialist replied.
Naruto fixed him with a blank stare, not believing him for a minute.
"You always come visit her on the tenth of every month. I heard the news from the other doctor and I thought it was better I told you the news, rather than having you kill the poor doctor." Ibiki said after seeing Narutos disbelieving gaze.
"Well you can go then. I can feel it. Shes dying." Naruto turned back to the glass to watch the unmoving women.
"Your mother has been like this for twelve years Naruto. Isn't it better that she just move on?" when Naruto didn't answer him he continued " You've brought medicine from all over the world by doing god knows what. You brought the best doctors here to help her but it didn't work. The problem isn't her body. Its her mind. That events that took place that night shattered her mind . Theres nothing you can do to help someone who won't help themselves."
"I know that."Naruto answered after a moment of silence.
"Congratulations."Ibiki said grinning down at her so suddenly that if some alcohol hadn't still been in her system she would've fallen over. He was clearly trying to change the topic.
Naruto slowly processed what Ibiki had said puzzled. What was he congratulating her for?
"One of Konohas newest genins. I couldn't believe it until I heard some of the jounins talking with Kakashi."Ibiki patted Narutos head.
Naruto glared at him. She was not a dog you could go up and pet. "Don't congratulate me on something so stupid."
"You know its really quite strange."
"Whats strange?"
"On the same day you become a genin when you have always said you are never going to be a ninja Mizuki betrays the village by taking the scroll of Sealing. Umino Iruka finds Mizuki and just as hes about to kill him someone fills the clearing with sleeping gas. Then they put Mizuki in a genjutu and incapacitate him."Ibiki explained to her eyeing Naruto through his explanation.
Naruto looked up at Ibiki with wide innocent eyes. "Wow. So which Anbu did that?"
"It wasn't an Anbu or any ninja from Konoha. Actually when we took Mizuki for questioning he couldn't even speak because he was so dramatized by what the genjutsu had caused him to experience."
"What did he see?"
"When we were finally able to get some words out of him he said that he saw himself as the slave for the Kyuubi brat. He was clipping her toenails , making her meals, doing her laundry and providing entertainment After that he went back in to the fiddle position and wouldn't say anymore."
Naruto put her hand under her chin,in what she thought was an innocent expression. " Wow. This person must be a fan of mine."
"People have be gone to say that Konoha has a guardian angel watching over us."
"A guardian angel!?" Naruto laughed. She was anything but an angel. "As interesting as this conversation has become I have to go. Later Ibiki."
"Naruto don't blame yourself." Ibiki said to her as she left the Anbus infirmary.
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Naruto was drinking some apple juice and munching on a bagel on the bridge that team seven usually met on before missions. Naruto wasn't worried about that though. She had sent a reinforced kage bunshin in her place. They were probably off to find that stupid cat again.
Naruto took the last piece of bagel in her mouth and washed it down with the rest of her juice. It was such a peaceful day out. Why the hell would she waste it doing chores for Konoha?
The blond sat down on the bridge swinging her legs between the poles. She gazed down at the flowing water longingly. Before she had become restricted to Konoha ,Naruto would travel everywhere. Her favorite places were where the oceans were as blue as the sky and would stretch on for so many miles you couldn't see the end.
"NARUTO!" Someone yelled so loud that if Naruto hadn't been sitting on the bridge she would have fallen off.
She turned her head to the left slightly to be met with a pissed off Obito. "What?"
"What?" he repeated angrily. "What do you mean 'what?' Your supposed to be with your team."
"Oh. That." Naruto leaned back on the bridge . "I already sent a kage bunshin for that."
"I know that."
"Huh. How'd you know it wasn't me?"
"It was obvious. Your clone kept ignoring me." 'I usually ignore half the things you say.' " Your clone was really polite." Naruto's eye twitched. " When Sakura said something to her she didn't get up and try to kill her like a homicidal psycho." The twitch in her eyebrow went down to her eye. " She also weeded the weeds instead of ripping out all the flowers like an idiot, the way you did last time." Narutos hand began to shake violently. " Oh yeah . What really gave it away was when everyone was taking a break, the clone didn't wolf down her food like a wild animal."
"So let me get this straight so I can beat you accordingly. I'm rude , a violent bitch and a pig!" she yelled grabbing Obito by scruff of his shirt.
"I meant in a good way." Obito said , helplessly flailing his arms trying to escape from Narutos grip.
"Well, he really didn't call you any of those things Naruto-san." said an amused feminine voice from behind them.
"Rin!" Obito exclaimed happily freeing himself from Naruto's slightly lessened hold.
Rin was Obitos teammate. She had been a medical kunoichi. She had died shortly after Obito and had remained on as a ghost for the same reasons as Obito. She was a relatively plain girl in Narutos eyes. She had plain short brown hair and round brown eyes. Two strange markings adorned her cheeks.Her outfit was similar to Sakuras except it was a separate shirt and skirt and a different color.
Naruto didn't see what was so special about her. She hadn't been a strong fighter.If her performance on Obito's last mission was any indication. But Naruto knew Obito had a crush on her. He still did but sadly his feelings weren't returned. Rin loved Kakashi. It was a very depressing love triangle.
"So what are you doing here Rin?"Obito asked curiously, smiling at Rin.
"Well its about Kakashi."Rin revealed not noticing the slight dim in Obito's eyes. Naruto however did notice and stuffed her hands in her pockets to keep herself from strangling the dead girl. 'Really. Of all the insensitive stupid things to come to him with. And she knows he loves her' she thought indignantly, cursing the girl inwardly with words that would have put a sailor to shame.
"Whats wrong?" Obito asked trying to mask his disappointment.
Rin glanced at Naruto and Obito followed her gaze. " Naruto , could you give us a minute?"
"No problem. I was just leaving to find my team anyway. Later." Naruto walked away being careful to keep her hands away from anything she could tear apart.
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Naruto walked in angry strides toward the direction in which her age bunshin had informed her , the team would be at.
'The nerve of that jerk. He says all those foul things and doesn't even give me a chance to beat the ghost shit out of him. Then that girl pops up and suddenly I'm second class.' Naruto thought angrily.
'Green isn't your color.' the demon kings amused voice did not help her foul mood.
'I am not jealous. I have never been jealous in my entire life. Why would I be jealous of Rin?'
'...You really are dense, aren't you?'
'Dense? How am I dense?'
'Figure it out yourself, baka.'
'Who are you calling a baka, you baka?'
'Your a baka , so I called you a baka.'
'How am I a baka?'
'You can't even see what's right in front of your face.'
Naruto looked in front of her and saw a bunch of streets with villagers turning to glare at her as she walked by.
'What does that have to do with anything? The villagers are always glaring at me.'
If the Kyuubi had enough room in his cage to fall over he would've. But he didn't so he settled for slapping his forehead with his claw.
'YOU HALF-WITTED PRIME APE. DO YOU HAVE ROCKS FOR BRAINS? I DIDN'T MEAN LOOK IN FRONT OF YOUR FACE LITERALLY! THE YONDAIME STUCK ME IN THE DENSEST HUMAN TO EVER WALK THE REALM.'
'Am not.'
'Are too.'
'Am not'
'Are too.Hey watch out for the -'
Naruto too caught up with her argument with the fox slammed right into the thing in front of her and fell backward with the little person on top of her.
"Wow. Naruto-nee-chan you really are a girl."said the perverted brat as he snuggled into Naruto's chest.
WHAM. "Itai!"Konohamaru cried as he nursed the bruise on his head.
Naruto took her foot and slammed into the brats head . Konohamaru had a reunion with the floor.
"Remove your foot from the Honorable grandsons head."Ebisu shouted at her as he arrived on the scene.
Naruto smirked at Ebisu , who took a step back remembering their last meeting. It had been the first time Naruto had met Konohamaru. The runt had taken to following her . Ebisu had tried to pry Konohamaru from Konoha's favorite pariah. Then Naruto had used the closet perverts weakness against him. She had grabbed a copy of Icha Icha Paradise from the bookstore and had Konohamaru read a piece from the book.
The pervert had spurted blood from his nose and fainted. Naruto had fallen into a hysterical fit of laughter that immediately ended when Konohamaru had asked her what the book was talking about. Naruto at that point had decided , like now it was time for her to leave.
Naruto removed her foot from the Thirds grandson and flicked his forehead. Then she took her leave before she could receive a lecture from Ebisu.
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"Maybe I'll send you guys to do the groceries in another city." the Hokage suggested.
"NO." was the loud objection from the only person brave (or rude) enough to go against a Hokage.
Naruto glared at the person who was responsible for putting her in this stupid mess. "There is no freakin way I am going on another one of these stupid baby missions."
"Naruto,you are still a novice ninja. All ninjas have to start out with simple missions to gain experience." Iruka yelled at her.
Naruto glared at Iruka.'Traitor.Maybe I should've just let Mizuki kill him.'
"Naruto, it seems that I am going to have to explain to you how missions work." The Third then started to explain how the missions were ranked and distributed.
"Yesterday I had miso ramen, so today maybe I should order barbecue teriyaki ."Naruto said talking to herself and completely ignoring the Third.
"Oi , Naruto are you listening to me?" Sarutobi shouted.
Kakashi rubbed his head in embarrassment while Sakura and Sasuke looked at Naruto disapprovingly even though they inwardly agreed with her.
Naruto walked up to the Hokage and cupped her mouth. " Listen , old geezer if you don't us a decent mission then I will be forced to tell every female in this village that their respected Hokage is a closet pervert with every copy of Icha Icha Paradise. Also the one who let the poster boards and advertisements for that book to be allowed in the village."
"You wouldn't dare." The third hissed back.
"I have pictures and I have the official documents." Naruto winked at the flustered old man who was coughing nervously. He wasn't delusional or naïve enough to believe to Naruto wouldn't carry out her threat . The third shivered in his robes , he would have the entire female population after his blood.
"Alright, then team seven I have the perfect mission for you." The hokage looked in the direction of the door. " Please come in."
An old man wearing commoner clothes with a straw hat entered. He had a beer bottle and appeared slightly drunk.
"Team seven your mission is to escort Tazuna-san to the land of Waves. When you reach the Land of Waves you are to stay and protect the bridge builder until the bridge he is in the middle of constructing is completed." The Hokage stated.
"These guys are supposed to protect me. They don't look like a bunch of brats especially the shortest one with the dumb look on his face." the bridge builder commented.
A kunai whizzed passed the drunk old man awaking him from his drunken stupor. The kunai had missed his genitals by centimeters.
"I'm a her , dumbass and i am not short. I know alcohol has fried what little brain cells in your head that haven't been overcome by old age but do try to contain your joy at having such wonderful, kind , generous and great people like me to escort you." Naruto said smiling up at the frightened old man.
Kakashi was at the moment wondering something. ' ...Wonderful?'
Sakura was looking at the blond with disbelief. ' ..Generous?'
Sasuke's face hadn't changed.'...Great?'
The Sandaime and Iruka just sweat dropped thinking '..Kind?'
The poor bridge builder looked like he was about to pee in his pants from the fright Naruto gave him. So Kakashi decided that the team was to be dismissed and they would meet up again at gates at seven in the morning which meant that Kakashi wouldn't be there until nine .
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(Dream Mode)
Naruto opened her eyes slowly. She saw a village surrounded by water. But she was being drawn to the center of the village where people were gathering.
"Daddy!"Naruto heard the cry from a young boy who looked no older than 7 or 8.His gaze was directed before him to look at a man who was tied to a pole with armed men surrounding him.The man looked young with an x-shaped scar on his chin. Other than that he appeared to be just a regular fisher men,Naruto deduced by his clothes.
Upon closer inspection Naruto noticed with revulsion that those men had cut the injured mans arms off. The man looked up at what Naruto guessed was his son and grinned. That surprised Naruto more than anything it looked he men around him were getting ready to burn the guy and he was still fighting from the inside. He was trying to send his courage to the townspeople around the fence.He wasn't giving up.
Naruo wanted to help the man. She tried to move forward but her body wouldn't move. She tried again but it was as if someone had glued her to the spot.She opened her mouth to let out a scream of frustration but it seemed that her vocal cords had been muted as well.
A short, fat man came behind the armless man. He was wearing an expensive tux .He appeared to be of the higher class , judging from his clothes.
"This will be the punishment of anyone who opposes me , Gatou."the fat man declared. He took a torch and lit it and threw it under the mans feet.
Naruto could only look in horror as the flames slowly consumed the poor man with his son watching.
"DADDY!" the boys cry for his father was the last thing she heard as she was swept out of her dream phase.
(End Dream)
Naruto shot up in her bed so fast she could've swore she hit someone.She touched her face and noticed there were beads of sweat rolling down her face. Her chest was heaving like she had run from Konoha to Suna and back.
"Naruto, are you alright?" a worried voice asked her from her right.
Naruto looked up and screamed and fell from the bed. "What are you guys doing here?"
"Watching you scream , moan and thrash. That must have been some dream?"The Nidaime's eyes were filled with wicked amusement.
It took a while for Naruto to grasp the meaning of that sentence. "You pervert."she muttered blushing.Now, she saw where the Sandaime got it from.
The Nidaime laughed. His laughter was cut short though as his big brother smacked him upside the head for his pervertedness.
Naruto looked around trying to find something. "Where's Obito?" Naruto asked , not seeing him any where.
The two Hokages pointed to something underneath Naruto that was struggling to move. Naruto yelped and got off the floor and Obito and sat on the bed.
"How much do you weigh?"Obito groaned as he got up.He took a step back though as he saw the glare Naruto was sending him and the tightening of her fist.
"Now, now children."The Shodaime sighed and turned to Naruto. " What happened to you?"
Quickly Naruto told them of her weird dream and how she had been unable to move or speak.
"That's weird." The Nidaime said finally. " Do you think it was a premonition?"
"I don't know but I've never had a premonition of people I don't know or a premonition when i was a sleep." she answered.
"That man said his name was Gatou, correct?"the Shodaime asked. At Naruto's nod he continued. "Ask your friend Akio if he has any information regarding the man."
Naruto pressed on her first earring on her left ear. A visor appeared across Naruto's eyes and a communicator near her mouth. "Oi, Akio are you there?"
There was the sound of shuffling and then "Naruto, hey whats up?"
"I was wondering if you knew anything about a guy named Gatou."
"Hold on and let me check my database."Akio said . He sounded happy . Naruto guessed it was because he wasn't going to be doing much anytime soon and was probably bored out of his wits.
"Well this Gatou guy is a business man in your area." Akio infirmed her.
"Then if he is from this region, you don't have any info on him." Naruto tried to contain her disappointment. She had wanted to pay a visit to the man and show him why burnings at the stake are outdated.
"Hmph. I never said that."Akio said smugly.
"But I thought research or information on anything to do with shinobi countries was only allowed by the council members." Naruto said her brows knitted in a frown
"It is but since when has either one of us ever paid attention to any rules." Naruto grinned at that. That was true.They had broken every rule in the academy and even had a bunch of rules added because of them. " Besides both my parents are in the council, remember?If anyone where to find out I knew the information I could just say I heard my parents talking."
"So what do you have on this creep?"
"Well this guy owns one of the biggest shipping companies in the shinobi countries. He is a multibillionare, one of the richest guys in the world.Of course, on the black market he deals with company and country takeovers drugs, fraud, robbery, blackmail, murder and you know the kinds of things people let rich snobs get away with everyday."
"Has he been doing anything of recent?"
"Well, it says here that he has been trying to secure the shipping lane in Wave Country.He has initiated a hostile take over there."
. " Did anyone try to go against him?"
"There was this one guy that did. He was called the Hero of the country but he was killed by the scumbags henchmen.His name was Kaiza. He was a fisherman who had come to Wave three years back. But why so curious about this stuff anyway?"
"I got a mission to Wave today. We are supposed to escort this guy named Tazuna to Wave."
"Tazuna? Thats Kaiza's father-in-law. He is in the process of constructing a bridge that will free the country from Gatou's control. So is the Vixen going to make an appearance in the Land of Waves?"
Naruto bit her lip in thought. The Vixen was a legend all over the world except in the Shinobi countries. She kept away from the Shinobi countries for many reasons. The Wave country was right in the middle of the countries. Revealing herself to the Shinobi countries would mean that all the countries would be on the look out for her. It would make her job a lot harder. It would especially be bad if her identity was revealed.
"I don't know yet. Sorry, Akio I have to go."Naruto pressed her earring again and the visor and communicator disappeared.
"The guy in my vision is connected with my new mission ." Naruto told them of the mission to Waves and of what Akio had just said.
"This isn't good."the Shodaime said after she had explained.
"Duh."Naruto responded deadpanned.
"No, I mean this mission is beyond C-rank."the Shodaime told her frowning.
"How do you know that?"Naruto asked cocking her head to the side.
"People with access to lots of money usually hire ninjas to do their dirty work. This Gatou person probably already knows that Tazuna went to get ninja help, but because the Wave country is in such turmoil the man didn't have enough money to pay for a mission higher than C. Tazuna probably knows he is going to have ninja after him . That puts your team in a bad position ." The Nidaime explained to her.
"But I-"
"We know that you can take care of yourself." The Shodaime interrupted. "But its not you were worried about. Picture if your opponents are a group of jounin ninja . How do you think Sakura and Sasuke are going to fare? How do you think Kakashi is going to fight when he has to worry about his students?"
Naruto grimaced. As much as she didn't like her new team, she didn't want them to be killed on their first mission outside the village. People would blame her for it.
"There is also the problem of your powers."the First continued. "Your visions have never happened when you are a sleep and you have never seen what has happened but what is going to happen. It means your powers are growing again."
"Its a good thing that visions aren't really a dangerous active power."Obito piped up."Remember when she was learning how to use ice?" Both Hokages flinched at the last power development.
"I-I didn't mean to freeze you guys. I didn't think it would work on ghosts."Naruto spluttered.
"It didn't look like you were so cracked up about when you thawed us out half a day later."Obito muttered. Naruto's hand tightened and she swung her fist in Obito's direction but it never made contact because the Nidaime had caught her fist while Obito went to hide behind the Shodaime.
"Punch him later ,Naruto."the Nidaime offered to Obitos outrage. " Right now we have to find out whats up with you? It wouldn't be good if you get a flash in the middle of a battle.So, look it up in that book of yours."
Naruto scowled darkly at Obito who was using the Shodaime as a human shield.She'd get him later. Naruto withdrew the book from her cabinet and set it in front of her on the bed. Just as she was about to open it, it opened itself and flipped through hundreds of pages in seconds to land on the page that would explain Narutos dilemma.
"The books haunted."Obito whispered.
"Its a magical book thats connected with my ancestors. They were just giving a hand." Naruto said it casually but inside she was relieved. She had always feared that her ancestors would reject her because of the way her mother had betrayed the clan but it seemed that was not the case.
The Power of Premonitions
This power is neither rare nor common. Many magical beings are sent future warnings of dangers to prepare themselves .That is the extent to mosts powers.However there are those who become adept at this field and their powers will expand. They will be able to see in to peoples pasts. As the power of premonitions grows so do the visions which the users see. For example if the user were to see someone being stabbed in the heart the person experiencing the vision would also feel as if their hearts are being stabbed. This could later turn into the power of empathy. The users of this gift are deeply connected with the spiritual realm. Especially when asleep. They may experience visions if someone from a different plane is trying to contact them or if they are expected to come in contact with this person soon.
Naruto looked up after finishing reading and swallowed the lump that had formed in her throat. The feeling of having your heart ripped out was not a pleasant she was sure. As for it maybe turning into empathy, she had heard tales of people going insane because of that power.Why her?
"Uh ,Naruto, I don't like the look on you face." Obito stated, clearly excepting bad news. Naruto sighed and told them what the book had said. It was written in English, so it was like looking at chicken scratch for them.
"But its really no worry . I mean you guys will be right there."Naruto said .
"Well actually no."the Shodaime corrected. His younger brother and Obito looked at him in surprise.
"You need to get used to your team Naruto. You guys are going to be together for the next three years. If we're there you won't pay them a second glance."he said as gently as possible
Naruto's chin trembled and she put her head in her hands and began to cry to the Shodaime's disbelief."You just want to get rid of me."Naruto muttered between sobs.
"Way to go Aniki. You went and made her cry. What kind of sick twisted man are you to make a sweet little girl cry?"the Nidaime shook his head in disgust while his brother shot him a glare.
"Naruto, come on. Please don't cry."the Shodaime said as soothingly as he could. When it didn't work he just settled for the only thing that would make her stop. "We'll go with you on your mission ."
Naruto looked up at him with tear rimmed puppy dog eyes. "You promise?"
He promised. Naruto launched herself at him and hugged the life outta him. "Thanks Sho-ni-chan. Your the best."she told him as he patted her gold locks.
Naruto shot the Nidaime a victory sign while the Shodaimes back was turned.The Nidaime gave her a thumbs up in return.
Obito just stared at them in disbelief, not believing the First Hokage, the creator of Konoha, one of the strongest shinobis to have ever lived, had been conned by fake tears. No one had ever given in to him when he cried. Not even his own mother. Figures its a girl thing.
Naruto smirked to herself. Crying on command is something they should teach in the academy. It comes in damn handy.
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Naruto and her team walked with the bridge builder through the path that would lead them to Wave. As they crossed a bridge , Naruto noticed a puddle on the ground. She saw Kakashi's gaze briefly turn to the puddle before returning to the path. So he had noticed it to.
As they traveled a little further away from the puddle, Narutos senses spiked. The two ninjas had emerged from their puddle. They quickly surged forward and wrapped their chains around Kakashi. They pulled the chains and tore Kakashi to pieces. Sakura screamed in horror , thinking that Kakashi had been killed.
The two black cloaked ninjas went after Naruto next . Naruto jumped out of the way. Sasuke shot a shuriken at the Mist shinobis chains, then he sent a kunai flying into the hole of the shuriken effectively pinning the chains to the tree. Sasuke jumped up on top of the two surprised chunnins metal hands and kicked out severing their tie with the chains.
The demon brothers then launched themselves at Tazuna. Sakura who had regained some wits stood ready in front of Tazuna with a kunai. Sasuke inserted himself in front of Sakura and in the demon brothers path. The brothers never had a chance to get a crack at Tazuna because two Narutos sent them flying into the air. Then the two Narutos leaped up after the brothers and kicked them in the abdomen and sending them into the ground. The impact in which they landed created a small crater showing just how powerful Naruto's kicks had been. Naruto stood on top of one of the demon brothers and her kage bunshin stood on the other one. Both of them unconscious.
"Ma,Ma. That was excellent work you three." Kakashi emerged from the bushes.Kakashi's one visible eye crinkled at Naruto. "Naruto, I didn't know you could perform the Kage Bunshin no Jutsu."
Naruto's bunshin disappeared with a poof. Naruto slung both of the brothers on her shoulders and threw them,with no amount of gentleness at the tree. Where she proceeded to tie them up ignoring Kakashis comment and the stares of her teammates and the bridge builder. Naruto mentally cursed herself for her carelessness. She had completely forgotten that the Kage bunshin no jutsu was a jounin level kinjutsu.
"These guys are chunnin level ninjas from the Hidden Mist village.They are ninjas known to keep fighting no matter what the cost."Kakashi announced after Naruto was through tying them up.
"How were you able to detect our actions?" One of the mist ninjas asked Kakashi. They had apparently regained conciousness.
"It hasn't rained for the past few days and its sunny outside, a puddle shouldn't exist."Kakashi explained.
Tazuna inclined his head toward Kakashi from under his straw hat. "Why did you let the kids fight when you knew that?"
"If I was up to it , I could of killed these two in the blink of an eye."Kakashi said. " But I needed to know who the real target for these two were."
Tazuna looked up at this. " What do you mean by that?"
Kakashi turned to face Tazuna " In other words were you the one being targeted or was someone from our ninja group being targeted. We have not heard anything about you being targeted by ninjas.Your request was to protect you from armed groups, like gangs and robbers.This is a mission that is above B-rank.Our job was to support and guard you until the bridge was complete.If ninja are our enemy then this would have been an expensive B rank mission."Tazuna glanced guiltily at the floor, knowing he had been caught in his lie. "It looks like you have your reasons but it only troubles us if you lie in your request details.This wasn't part of the mission."
"This mission is out of our league." Sakura entered. "Let's quit." She said it so pathetically Naruto wanted to slap her. Did she think that just because she felt like it she could throw in the towel just like that? Someone needed to teach her the world she had chosen to live in wasn't like that. It wasn't a game you could quit anytime you feel like.
"Yes,lets quit and run back with our tails between our legs like cowards." Naruto sneered at her.
"Baka, this mission is way out of our league. Weren't you listening to the Hokage before? This mission is a jounin level mission." Sakura argued.
"So?"Naruto drawled. " Your such a brat. Do you think just because you feel like it, you can just throw in the towel? We accepted this mission. We will complete this mission. You chose to be a ninja so I'll warn you now. There are lots of times when clients leave out mission details or all together lie about it. But real shinobi can't just quit in a battle where their teammates lives and the lives of innocent people hang by a thread. The ones that do quit will never get anywhere as a shinobi and will probably get killed on a real simple C rank mission. The ones that don't quit may end up getting killed but at least they died with honor and not like a coward. We said we'd take the old man and help him finish his bridge and that's what I'll do because I won't go back on my word. That will be my way of the ninja."
By the end of Naruto's speech everyone was looking at her speechless. Who knew she had guts to back up that insolent tongue of hers?
Sasuke smirked. " The dobe is right. We agreed to take on this mission so we should finish what we started."
"Sasuke-kun..." Sakura mumbled in shock, not believing he had agreed with Naruto about something.
Suddenly Naruto whacked Sasuke on the head. " Don't call me dobe, parakeet head."
Sasuke glared at Naruto but stopped as he noticed Naruto's eyes begin to glaze over. " Oi, dobe."
Naruto was on a bridge that was enshrouded with mist. She saw her and Sasuke trapped by someone wearing an Anbu maske. He was using ice mirrors to teleport himself and shoot needles at them. Sasuke and Naruto were covered in needles. Naruto saw the Anbu person take aim at her and launch those needles. Sasuke pushed her out of the way and took the needles. He slumped backwards , dead into Naruto's arms.
As fast as the vision had come it was gone and Naruto was experiencing the after affects. Which consisted of nausea , a headache and a loss of balance. Which was why she was sitting on her bum with everyone looking at her as if she had just announced she was in love Sasuke.
"Take a picture dobe, it will last longer." Naruto hadn't realized it before but she was staring at the parakeet headed Uchiha. This was the guy that was going to save her life at the cost of his life.
Oh yeah. Hell had definitely frozen over.
AN: Thanks to all my reviewers. Now I am taking a poll here to decide whether or not to kill Haku. You better vote now or it will be too late by next chapter. So review people. Tell me what you think and send me some suggestions for the story. I promise that if you review you won't end up contracting a deadly disease or dying from cardiac arrest. On another note, Happy Holidays people.
Preview for next time:
"Ghost can really possess people?"
"SASUKE,YOU PERVERT."
"Your the man from my vision"