Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto! Do not sue me!
Chapter 2 – Impending Fight
"Self sacrifice? But it is precisely the self that cannot and must not be sacrificed."
– Avn Rand, The Fountainhead
The team peered through the bushes, waiting to pounce on the unknown visitors. There were even people going missing and it was causing doubt within the community of Konoha. Why would they need innocent children? What use could they be to them?
Naruto gasped slightly as he felt one of his shadow clones get 'killed'. He had never been this glad that he summoned some shadow clones to scout around the area as a precaution.
"Kakashi." He said in a low hush tone. "The enemies aren't here. They're approaching from the West. One of my shadow clones were killed around that area. We've been misled."
The captain nodded in alarm, signalling for everyone to follow him. They darted into village, jumping from building to building before reaching the hidden Westgate. They'd surely meet halfway through, for their familiarity with their home plate gave them a distinct advantage.
"What do you think could be their motive?" Naruto wondered out loud.
The other team members sighed. One of them replied. "Beats me. If we knew, it would have made our lives simpler at knowing their end point and ambush. No need to look for a needle in a haystack."
Naruto nodded in agreement. Kakashi suddenly stopped, perching upon a tree. "Get to higher grounds." He ordered. "They're approaching fast."
They nodded, each going into separate trees, spacing themselves out evenly to not give the enemies breathing space when they enter the zones.
"Hyuga, Byakugan." Kakashi spoke.
"Already on it before you asked, captain." He chuckled slightly. Seventy feet, five incoming."
"Looks like we'll be calling this an early day, and we'll be free of missions." One of them laughed softly.
Naruto focused intently on Hyuga, waiting for his signal to go. The moment his fingers flicked, every one pounced into action. Sword drawn, he let out a breath as he easily landed on of them, stabbing them before jerking right and throwing a kunai, smiling slightly when he heard a pained yell.
Pulling his tanto from the dead body, he went to finish off the other victim that had fallen to his kunai. His eyes glinted with excitement. 'Ah, the thrill of a kill, the crimson blood that stains the very ground we walk on.' He thought.
"Anyone willing to the honours of burning them, or shall I?" Kakashi raising his eyebrows, asking as they piled the dead bodies together.
The other members scowled. "You're the only one with techniques that deal with fire, Copy Ninja Kakashi and I seriously doubt Menma has an aptitude for fire."
Naruto eyes widened, clearly impressed. He had totally forgotten about the famous ninjas of ANBU as it was a really chance he would meet one. The Copy Ninja was famed - having believed to have copy hundreds of techniques of all kinds.
As the captain was about to deal the finishing blow to the dead bodies, a kunai with explosives was shot onto the ground, making them dart away.
The Byakugan wielder hissed at his own incompetence of not keeping a look out, because the presence of their enemies was clearly hidden well and they had expected them to ambush them.
'First the misleading directions and now back-up? They were clearly let on by someone on the information.' Naruto thought, being pretty sure that everyone was on the same page as he. One was enough; two was too much for a coincidence.
Now, they were surrounded.
"Let's get this show down the road shall we? Chidori!" Kakashi muttered, before suddenly sprinting off with the loud crackling of electricity.
Like the lightning, he stroke fast and mercilessly in seconds.
'His name sake is befitting. Reiketsu no Kakashi, cold-blooded Kakashi.' He thought as he watched as the grey-haired man dart back and forth with lightning speed, finishing off people in record time.
"Kage Bushin No Jutsu!" Multiple clones showed up to do his bidding, as he rushed into the battle. He slashed opponents and somersaulted to another tree when they tried to counter him, before he sent explosive kunais to their feet.
He knew this part of the forest all too well, darting to a tree and activating a trap. A tree log popped out from the canopy of leaves, effectively knocking over a few enemies like it was a bowling ball heading towards a lane of pins.
When it oscillated back, he jumped upon it, sending shurikens which found its mark easily. A burst of flames shot upwards and he pushed himself upwards in alarm, feeling bits of his skin get charred before severing the strings that tied the tree trunk, falling onto the fire wielder.
He heard a pained yell from one of his temporary comrades and sprinted towards him, not caring for the pain that was shooting through the soles of his feet. Tending to his wounds came later, saving people and killing enemies came first. He saw red, seeing a bunch of people descending upon his comrade.
Quickly summoning a clone to make a Rasengan in his hands, he came barraging down, sending his enemies into a world of pain from the wrath of his chakra. He lent a helping hand towards his fallen acquaintance, who accepted it gladly.
What he failed to notice was a shuriken heading towards his direction before it was too late. The shuriken pierced painfully into his skin where his previous wounds were, making his face white from the blade making the wound worse.
'Naruto, detach yourself from it. They are unneeded emotions. Toss it away.' He chanted as he glared vehemently. People who attacked from the back were the lowest of the low and he sent a dozen of blades to the source of harm.
He winced slightly as he pulled the weapon that was protruding out from his back, laughing slightly as he saw his own blood etched upon it. Nevertheless, he helped his teammate up, tossing the blade aside. He saw many more left and with the forest floors littered with bodies and soil tainted with blood, it could be mistaken as an army clashing.
Except none of the blood was Konoha's. Well, maybe his now. He stared at the end of the forest horrified, seeing more back-up coming.
'Don't do anything vigorous she said. Well, that promise is going down the drain.' He thought, ignoring the pain. He signed for them to get back and that they should run. He was already wounded and bleeding, just to stop his heart beating and him breathing wasn't much of a difference.
'Well at least it's honourable, isn't it.' His mind taunted. He had always imagined his death - and in his imagination, it was never pretty.
He dashed in with a battle cry along with his clones, wanting to get his death over and done with. Suddenly, something wet passed by him.
"Suiton: Suiryudan no Jutsu!" (Water Release: Water Dragon Bullet Technique)
Naruto just glanced at whoever did that in appreciation, before he felt a shuriken etch in his stomach. 'Oh well, whatever.'
"Doton: Doryuheki!" An Earth Wall appeared before him, defending him from all sorts of attack.
A flash of grey caught him as he fell onto his knees. "Let get you out of here." The voice muttered, before rushing towards the opposite direction.
"I should have tended to the wounds before I went in again, like Minyana said." Naruto said weakly. "Well, it's too bad that I can't heed that advice now, ya know?" After saying that, he passed out.
内に宿る闇- The Darkness That Dwells Within
Naruto had forgotten the last time he had woken up in so much pain. It was horrible really, with his back and abdomen screaming in pain. As per usual, he ignored it.
"I see that you're awake, Menma." Kakashi said casually, leaning against the hospital room door.
"How in the world am I even alive?" He muttered, staring at his fingers.
"Well, for one, you were on the brink of death. A few minutes behind, I'd be arranging your funeral casket. It was a really stupid move for you to resign yourself to death for your team, no matter the cause. Your life means something to." Kakashi said coldly, walking forward and flicking his forehead.
Naruto held onto his forehead, asking. "Why would you even care? It's just another death….." He muttered, quoting the words of the Root.
"Namikaze Menma. I don't know what the Root had been teaching you, but if there's something I've learnt, in the ninja world, those who break the rules are scum, but those who abandon their friends are worse than scum." He finished, giving Naruto a penetrating gaze.
"Worse than scum, huh. What if they choose to abandon themselves then? For the sake of increasing the chances of survival for them?" Naruto challenged.
"Well, the other friends shouldn't let the other be so foolish. It will cause them more hurt to see their friend die and them not doing anything than trying and dying." Kakashi replied, his eyes crinkling along with his invisible smile.
Naruto was speechless. Who was this grey-haired man, to change the way he thought of things? In the Root, it was okay for sacrifices to be made, everyone merely an acquaintance, or bonded by a mission. That was all they had to live with.
'He risked his life for you, within hours of knowing you. You know who's serious when you see one.' He thought, knowing that the son of White Fang was to be trusted.
Placing a fake smile on his face, he cocked his head. "Thank you for the insight and for saving me. I'll always remember that line."
Forever.
"All part of the job." He ruffled Naruto's hair. He then leaned in, touching his abdomen where the seal lied. "Don't let the hate you previously felt because of what you had in you control your aspect of life. There's much more to it than hate, Uzumaki Naruto." He said in a low voice.
"Recover fast alright? I'll hopefully do a mission with you again." Kakashi said, before bouncing on his bed and jumping out from the hospital room window, leaving Naruto wondering.
How does he know about the Kyuubi? How did he know my name?
It left the Jinchuuriki confused, with too many questions in mind.
Another chapter done! And yes, Kakashi will play a very huge role in this story too. Did you guys notice the I savored Naruto's recklessness? It's subtle, but its still there as I'm trying to make him like the old ways but the 'bad' overpowering more.
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Till next time! (12 May 2014)