Chapter 3: Despair to Determination.
It was an overcast day, the sky a deep dark grey, with thick clouds that choked the sunlight, threatening rain and leaving the world in afternoon twilight. But it was only a threat, for now it wasn't raining. It was a good day though... a good day for a funeral.
The assembled mourners wore all black, simple outfits with no frills and no decorations and most of all no colour, no colour save black. Everyone was uniform, indistinct and blank faced, beneath those blanks expressions the mood was a black as the clothes they wore.
Team 7, Naruto, Sakura, and Kakashi, stood at the forefront of the crowd, near the grave, the first of the mourners. Naruto's golden blonde spikes seemed less colourful today, more sedate, darker even. The same could be said of Kakashi's gravity defying silver hair which today seemed a little less gravity defying. Even Sakura's own bright pink locks looked duller. Maybe it was the weather, the lack of sun failing to bright out their natural colours. That seemed most likely.
Briefly Sakura turned her eyes to the large, red, flame like statue at the far end of the cemetery. Kakashi told her it represented the 'Will of Fire'. The 'Will of Fire' was no a foreign concept, she'd heard about it before, but she hadn't really understood what it meant or why it meant anything. She still didn't, she just knew that many people considered it important.
Sakura glanced behind her.
Most of the graduating Genin teams were here. Ino, Shikamaru, Choji and their Jonin sensei, a man named Asuma, as well as Hinata, Kiba and Shino, whose sensei was Kurenai. Even the Third Hokage himself had come, dressed not in his hat and robes but in plain black like all the rest, looking more like the old man he was in truth than she had ever seen before. There were a few others who had been, or at least considered themselves, close to Sasuke, some she didn't know at all, but most she knew in some way from the academy.
Sakura couldn't, for the life of her, remember any of their names, the names of the people in her class, the girls who praised his every move, the boys who were jealous of his popularity and skill, the teachers who proudly boasted him the best ninja they'd seen, she couldn't recall even one, and Sakura prided herself on her exceptional memory.
Maybe it was just that right now, in the present situation, she couldn't remember. Maybe it was that she left that part of her life behind when she truly became a ninja. Maybe… maybe, it was that that part of her life, her innocent childhood, had been cruelly ripped away when Sasuke died in front of her.
Or maybe it was all of them, or maybe it was none. She didn't care.
She glanced to her left, at Naruto stood by her side. He wore the black sunglasses Kakashi had given him before they entered the village, hiding the eyes that now burned in his sockets, hiding Sasuke's Sharingan. Through the tinted lens she could almost make it out, almost, but if she hadn't known what she was looking for, and if she wasn't this close, she would've seen nothing.
What was going on inside Naruto's head? Sakura didn't know, his face was inscrutable to her, and given that the Naruto she knew wore his heart on his sleeve, practically waltzing around with a big sign stating his present mood, it was an odd sight. But she didn't care much about that either.
'Just let it end…' she didn't want to be here, stood here before the grave of her teammate, stood before Sasuke's grave. Sakura just wanted to go home and curl up under her covers and cry. She wanted to lose herself in a book. She wanted to be anywhere, anywhere but here.
No words were spoken, no speech was given, everyone was given an opportunity to approach the grave, make their peace, lay a flower, then return to the assembled mourners, that was all. Sakura had spent only a few moments knelt at his grave, laying his flower and leaving shortly after, unable to bear drawing out this final goodbye.
Kakashi's hand on her shoulder made her truly feel better, her emotions were no less prevalent or powerful, but it was like his strength was flowing through his hand into her, as if the simple act of touching her shoulder was a promise of eternal support, should she need it. She was grateful, that he was here, that he was her sensei, that he cared.
But Sasuke was dead.
Sakura bit back her tears, literally biting her lip to hold them back. She spared Naruto another glance, but his face was still just a blank mask, but she noticed his fists were clenched, his knuckles white, and a shiver would pass through them every so often. Sakura doubted that shiver was from the cold.
Time seemed to crawl along as everyone took their turn. Ino burst into tears at his grave and had to be carried away to be comforted by her sensei and team. Sakura felt a momentary burst of pride that she had at least managed to make it back on her own, then felt disgusted for feeling pride at such a thing.
Some people spent only moments, whether they had little to say or think, were only here as a courtesy, or, like her, couldn't bare it, Sakura honestly didn't care. She just wanted there to be no one left so that she could run away and go home.
Finally it drew to an end and people left, no in droves, but not particularly slowly either. Sakura didn't leave. Kakashi and Naruto didn't leave, so she waited, alone with her team.
Sakura glanced to the side again as Naruto moved, taking off the sunglasses and moving to stand before Sasuke's grave again. Kakashi gave her a gentle push and she followed after the blonde, standing next to him, with Kakashi stood behind them both just as they had been the entire funeral.
The Sharingan looked upon the grave with a soft and sombre gaze, the burning red eyes seemed to only glow like embers instead of blaze like a fire. Naruto's shivers got worse, his hands shaking, then he gulped and they stopped "Sasuke" he spoke out loud, for their benefit or for his own Sakura wasn't certain "You know I… I always admired you."
Sakura blinked, shocked at such words coming out of Naruto's mouth.
"I wanted to be your friend, I always wanted to be your friend, because you were like me, you were all alone too. It made me… happy. Happy that there was someone else like me" he laughed bitterly, his laughter sounding somehow like sobs "Happy that there was someone else as alone as me. But I... I was jealous of you. You were good at everything, skilled, strong, smart, popular, everything I wanted to be… so, I made you my rival. You were my goal, I wanted to be like you" he sniffed "I… always wanted that… to catch up to you, to make you recognise me, to…" his breathing had grown ragged and Naruto took a pause to calm it down "Sasuke… I'll make you proud" he didn't say anything more.
"You can either become a kunoichi that Sasuke would've been proud to work beside, or you can waste away and do nothing with your life" Sakura felt like someone had punched her in the stomach as those words hit her, she tried to do as Naruto had done and gulp back her feelings. It didn't work.
Several moments passed in silence, finally broken by Kakashi "Come on" he tapped them both gently on the shoulder, easily getting the Genin to follow him, wherever he was leading them.
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Sakura looked around the small dingy bar, uncertain as to why they were here. They were sat at a closed off table that afforded them some privacy, the bar's name was Uisuki-Kawa, and it was located down a dead end back alley off of one of Konoha's main streets, she knew that, but why was a question she had no answer to.
"It's a tradition" Kakashi said after ordering something, she hadn't been paying attention to that, instead looking at their surroundings, and then staring intently at the table's surface "from back in the days when losing a comrade was commonplace. Not something I always do… but I feel like it today."
She still didn't know what it was, and was about to voice that question when a pale white ceramic bottle and a small bowl like saucer were placed in front of her, and in front of Naruto, and in front of Kakashi.
"We drink" he told them, gently tipping the bottle so that its content poured in a steady stream into the cup "And we remember all the good times, and we can remember the bad too if you want, but we remember, and…"
"That's it" Kakashi stopped and looked up at Sakura, whose face was shadowed by her hair "Your big plan is for us to get drunk, and think about Sasuke, is that it?" her tone was low and angry. Why, why was their sensei such an insensitive jerk?!
"Yeah" Kakashi said softly, sipping at his drink without taking off his mask and somehow not getting his mask wet.
Sakura stood and made to leave. She didn't want this, she just wanted to be alone, let them have their little memorial party without her.
"Sakura" but Kakashi voice stopped her "Sit" she obeyed, despite not wanting to, and despite it not sounding much like an order, more like a plea "Drink" he told her. She didn't instantly obey and he continued "Cry if you need to, hit if you want to, laugh if you feel like it, smile if you can't help it, because tomorrow Sasuke will still be dead. Tonight we remember him, so that we might never forget."
Sakura looked down at her cup and saucer and, with hesitant hands, poured herself a small dose of clear drink. Beside her Naruto did the same, and they both drank their first alcoholic drink in their lives together "Blergh!" and they both had pretty much the same reaction to the taste.
Kakashi smiled at their reaction, but even he didn't feel like laughing, not today, while normally he might even be falling out of his seat in laughter, depending on how much he wanted to annoy them. Not today.
They took a second sip, their faces contorting in disgust, but they both drank.
And Kakashi started it off, once they were all a little tipsy. He spoke of the bell test, how much Sasuke impressed him then, but also about Sasuke's flaws, his arrogance, his overconfidence, and his unwillingness to rely on others. Naruto spoke of his first ever spar against Sasuke back in the Academy, and what he had seen then, the hatred in his eyes, that overwhelming hatred, but not hatred directed at Naruto. Sakura spoke of how she had first gained her long standing crush, the childish reasons for it, and how she broke her friendship with Ino because of it.
Together they laughed, and they cried, and they reminisced, and they got drunk, and they laughed some more, drank some more, reminisced some more, and cried some more.
Together.
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Sakura woke, only just having the time to wonder how she had ended up in her own bed in her own room when the last thing she remembered was passing out moments before her forehead slammed into the table, before she was hit with the pounding. It was like someone was hitting her head repeatedly with a sledgehammer.
She could hear the blood throbbing in her ears and found herself wishing she didn't have a heartbeat so that the throbbing would stop.
Trying to stand turned out to be a bad idea when she tried, as the simple movement made her stomach turn and she had to rush to the bathroom to empty its contacts, which was mainly liquid the vast majority of which felt like bile with the way it burned her throat and mouth, down the toilet.
'I am never drinking again' she decided as she hurled again.
After puking out her guts her stomach felt a lot more settled, it wasn't a happy tummy by any measure, but was a bit better. She coughed, hacked and spat up whatever else she could before flushing the loo and proceeding to wash the taste out of her mouth. First she swilled it with water, then she cleaned her teeth, then again she had some water which she drank this time, to try and ease the stinging in her throat.
Every sight and sound was agony for her mind, the continual pounding was both painful, irritating bordering on infuriating and made her feel ill. Even smells and textures hurt, when her hands grazed across the smooth sink her mind hurt, when her nose picked up the lemony freshness of the bathroom cleaner head mind hurt.
It wasn't a pleasant situation.
She wanted to eat something, because she was hungry and because it might help her stomach calm down even further, but she also wanted nothing to do with food whatsoever until the end of days.
In the end Sakura returned to her room, a quick glance at the clock revealed it was nine, a glance at the crack in the curtains where warm sunlight peeked through told her all she needed to know as stabbing pain jolted through her cranium,. She pulled the curtains properly shut and buried herself under her covers, pulling a pillow and a blanket over her head to try and kill off any sights and sounds and lessen the pain.
Today was not a good day.
Briefly her thoughts turned to her teammate and sensei, both of whom had consumed at least as much as she had, and she wondered how she was doing.
And like that the discomfort seemed to become immaterial. It didn't go away, not at all, but it now felt negligible and Sakura sat up and glanced again at her clock. Nine o'clock, that meant that… She bit her lip, then stood.
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Kakashi took a moment to rub at his forehead. After last night's booze fest, with his still underage students he might add, even he felt a little bad. Thankfully he had long experience of feeling bad and still getting on with it. If you could operate with a kunai shard stabbed into your trachea then a little headache was nothing and Kakashi could… and had.
Naruto seemed entirely unaffected by the prior festivities, he was up and at em at six this morning, a full hour before his usual arrival time of seven, another hour and a half to two hours before Kakashi usually showed up. Showed up in front of Naruto at least, after all how else would he know when Naruto had gotten here.
The blonde was running laps around the Third Training Ground while wearing set of forearm and foreleg weight weighing in a nice even kilo altogether. They had only started training three days ago and Kakashi was finally starting with some sort of routine, physical training in the morning, Sharingan training in the afternoon and ninjutsu training after that, if there was time.
The first day they had begun consisted of a very long and very boring lecture about the Sharingan and its abilities and limitations which he and Naruto then proceeded to explore. Kakashi's version of exploring was quite first hand, for instance to teach Naruto of one of the Sharingan's major limitations he punched the blonde in the face, fast enough that he was unable to dodge it, but slow enough that he could actually see it.
Experience was the best trainer or so Kakashi Hatake believed, experience had certainly taught him a lot. It hadn't taught him how to teach, but it taught him other stuff.
On the second day Kakashi also tested Naruto's physical limits, speed, strength and stamina to find out what needed work. Naruto's strength was decent, his speed was okay, and his stamina was excellent, good news or so it would seem. However Kakashi knew that Naruto needed them all excellent if he wanted to survive.
Day three, or yesterday, consisted of just one morning and it was a morning that Kakashi used to teach Naruto a jutsu. Thanks to the Sharingan Naruto managed to pick it up very quickly and from then it was just a case of honing his use and actually putting it to use in combat situations. They had stopped midway through that for the event of the afternoon, Sasuke Uchiha's funeral.
He had taught the blonde a jutsu out of the hope that it would distract him for a while from the event that afternoon, and it had worked… for a while.
Kakashi wouldn't let the blonde off for the entire day, but he doubted Naruto would've thanked him for that, so instead he forged ahead and contented himself with the knowledge that should Naruto ask Kakashi would give him the day off.
Naruto didn't ask.
He had decided, after careful consideration and evaluation, to work on Naruto's speed and reaction time first, given that a faster opponent was the bane of any Sharingan user. It was doubly galling to both be hit by an enemy and see the attack coming, try to dodge it, fail and get hit.
A physical conditioning program wouldn't produce instant results however, and Kakashi was more than certain that it was instant results that Naruto wanted, so Kakashi had decided he'd teach Naruto a jutsu every day or so to keep the blonde content. That gave him a thousand day to instil into Naruto the importance of physical conditioning.
Kakashi chuckled to himself. He had no chance.
Once they'd gotten into the theme of things he'd begin working on others things. Stealth, tactics, observation, tracking, things shinobi needed for their line of work, things Naruto would need if he wanted to survive as a shinobi, doubly so with Sasuke's eyes drawing people, most of them enemies or at the very least threats, towards him.
But for now he'd wait and stick to this, at this point all of that would overwhelm the kid and he'd end up learning nothing, a bit of focus would be necessary right now and later Kakashi might shift that focus to something else over a period of several days and like that Naruto would, hopefully, learn.
But right now Kakashi's head wasn't filled with thoughts of Naruto's training, nor was it filled with thoughts of his previous drunkenness. No, right now, at this moment, Kakashi was thinking on the 'threats' to Naruto, and one 'threat' in particular.
Itachi Uchiha.
How would the man who had slaughtered the entire Uchiha clan, save for his younger brother, leaving only him alive with traumatic memories and the only thing to live for being a thirst for vengeance, react to the fact that Sasuke was now dead and Naruto was in possession of his eyes?
It wouldn't be long before the Hokage had to announce it, before people learned through gossip and had their opinions tainted. Even now rumours were going around that Sasuke's eyes weren't on his corpse, that the Sharingan had been removed. Few connected it with Naruto though and that particular rumour was spoken mostly in jest, or to making disparaging remarks about the blonde, when it was spoken at all.
Once the announcement was made all hell would break loose and it would be Kakashi's job to make sure no one, and he meant no one, tried to harm his students. Either of them. But one of them was more likely to face harm than the other.
'Maybe it's time I take Guy up on that offer of early morning training' it wasn't the first time in the past few days he had thought that. In fact he'd thought that back in the Land of Waves, when he realised just how out of shape he was. Lacking a war and the constant danger it brought Kakashi had lost his razor sharp edge, and while he was still sharper than most he was not good enough to keep Naruto protected from the kinds of people who would want those eyes.
Not all of them anyway, most he could easily dispose of, but some…
Resolving to speak to Guy in the next few days, he'd have to make sure it didn't interfere with his currently roughly planned training schedule with Naruto, Kakashi refocused on his student and pondered what jutsu to teach him today. Maybe he should work a little more on the previous one or… Kakashi smiled.
He had taught Naruto the Lightning Release: Shocking Palm yesterday, a simple but useful jutsu that covered the user hand in electricity that could be used to either zap or thoroughly electrocute anyone that hand touched. But more than that it could also be used to electrify water and while the zap through water wasn't lethal it was an effective stunner.
So a water jutsu would be a nice companion to go with the lightning jutsu, and Kakashi had numerous. One in particular came to mind, for its versatility and its simplicity, the Wild Water Wave.
Naruto ran past him again, on lap thirteen of his fifty lap run, once he was a short distance away Kakashi turned to look into the trees "Sakura" he said calmly, the pink haired girl who had been 'hidden' there emerging as her name was called "How are you?"
"Not too well" Sakura responded, which made Kakashi rather sad "Me and alcohol don't get along too well" his sadness didn't go, just as the fact that she really wasn't well in more than one sense of the word wouldn't go, but he did chuckle "You're a really bad example sensei, making your underage students drink."
He didn't respond to that, as the only response he had was the clichéd 'Old enough to kill old enough to drink' instead he turned back to watch Naruto's fading back.
"He sure does have a lot of energy" Sakura mused, standing beside him. Naruto was drunk as a skunk last night, probably woke up with a worse headache than she, he certainly drank more than she, and yet was still up and ready to go at an even earlier time than this.
"That he does" he agreed.
"Sensei?" Kakashi gave Sakura his full undivided attention, trying to make her feel like he was listening. He was always listening of course, but he wanted her to think that he was as well "I… I've been doing some reading" she said "You already know that though" they had met in the library with her surrounded by books after all "Um…" Sakura fiddled with her hands for a while "I…" but she overcame her hesitance and faced him with determination and guts "I want to learn medical ninjutsu."
Kakashi's eye widened, then he nodded. That was understandable. She had seen a comrade die in front of her, not wanting that to happen again was normal, and for a smart girl like Sakura learning about medical ninjutsu wouldn't be too hard. Actually learning medical ninjutsu however was a lot harder.
"That's a fine ambition, Sakura" he told her "Unfortunately I don't know much about medical ninjutsu."
Sakura's blinked "But… that jutsu you used…"
"I learned that because of… personal circumstance" his hand being placed upon the forehead protector covered eye gave Sakura a hint as to his 'personal circumstance', that wasn't Kakashi intention he just placed his hand there for… comfort, he supposed, but it informed her whether he intended to or not.
"I… I see" she looked down, disheartened.
"The hospital sometimes does courses on medical ninjutsu" she perked up "But they're not usually open to Genin" and back down again "rookie Genin especially" and even further down "But…" Sakura looked up at him with hopeless eyes "But I'll get you onto the course, whether it's currently running or not. I'll find someone there who will train you, I promise" and if he had to threaten someone with death, castration, or mutilation to get what he wanted, then he would bloody well would.
"I… thank you" she said, tears in her eyes which she hurried to wipe away.
"It won't be easy Sakura" he warned, hoping she understood the seriousness of this, of all of this, she should do with what she's seen, but the girl who was more focused on boys than ninja training was not who he wanted to be teaching, or obtaining teaching for "training rarely is, and there's a reason so few ninja become medics. It's a difficult path, and a long one too. There might not be any instant results, you'll have to work hard and keep working and you might never realise that you're getting better because your progress is so slow. Can you accept that?"
She nodded, her expression serious, her green eyes determined.
"Good" he saw no falsity in her eyes, and gained a warm feeling of pride for Sakura, marred by the cold feeling of why she was trying so hard "Don't think that I will ignore your training either. I'll speak to someone at the hospital and arrange a schedule, and on your free days you'll be training with me and Naruto. We'll start with physical conditioning" Naruto ran past, noticing Sakura but not stopping in his run or giving her more than a glance "I also know some genjutsu that could be useful for you, and a variety of other things" from asthmatics and asexual reproduction, to zoos and zealotry, Kakashi's experiences as a ninja were exceptionally varied, and he resolved to pass on some of that experience to his two Genin "For now, get running after Naruto. You can stop after twenty laps, not before."
"Yes sir!"
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Kakashi left the hospital with a skip in his step, whistling a jaunty tune. It was always fun to threaten someone, and the challenge of threatening them without actually threatening them so that you could claim innocence later just made it all the more so… for Kakashi at least.
Doctor Mikado likely found it less fun, but who cared what she thought, the only thing Kakashi cared about was the fact that she had agreed to train Sakura in medical jutsu.
There were a few conditions of course. If Sakura couldn't keep up with the training she'd be kicked out and Kakashi wouldn't throw up a fuss, or disembowel 'someone' or do anything else to physical or emotionally harm her, directly or indirectly. Sakura would work at the hospital so that the good Doctor wouldn't have to waste vast amounts of her time and could instead train Sakura while working. And Kakashi would make an anonymous donation of one million Ryo to the Tsuga Orphanage.
He didn't quite understand the last one, to be honest he was expecting something more along the lines of 'Give a million Ryo', but it probably meant something to the woman. Her personal affairs didn't concern him however, they had done a bit ago when he would've used anything he had to 'coerce', which was a nicer way of saying threaten, her into teaching Sakura, but now he simply didn't care.
"So…" Kakashi drawled, pulling out his book "… how long are you going to hide in the shadows, Tenzo?"
A cat masked ANBU landed on the empty street, hidden in the thick shadow of a building if one looked they likely wouldn't spot him immediately, but from where Kakashi was it wasn't at all difficult to see him. A good spot certainly, though it left him vulnerable to attacks from above from the building behind him, and also the back alleys a few yards to the ANBU's left was too close for Kakashi to comfortably put his back to it.
But he wasn't in the ANBU anymore, and he wasn't constantly expecting a knife in the back even in his own village. Nowadays he was only expecting a knife in the back sometimes, and when he left the village.
"Captain" the ANBU greeted evenly, before sighing "Is there a reason you just threatened one of Hokage-sama's valued medics?" part of him didn't want to know, it would be troublesome, but the responsible part knew that he needed to know.
Kakashi's single eye expressed his amusement in the form of an innocent eye smile "'Threatened'? Whatever are you talking about? I wasn't threatening anyone. I was just having a pleasant conversation with a certain doctor about a student of mine, trying to arrange some training for her, and though initially unreceptive to the idea I managed to convince the good Doctor. But I assure you there was no threatening."
"Captain" Tenzo said, a stern edge entering his voice.
"I'm not you're captain anymore" Kakashi reminded him, closing his book "I wanted my student trained. She was uncooperative, so I made her cooperative. Standard procedure."
"Standard procedure" Tenzo repeated, though his sounded a lot more mocking than Kakashi's which had sounded vaguely serious "You know I'll have to report this, right?"
Kakashi shrugged "Do what you have to. But I wasn't threatening anyone, Tenzo" Kakashi eye smiled at the man who had once been his junior and was probably his friend "You of all people should know that."
"I do" there was no solid case, even if Mikado confessed to feeling threatened there was little to no evidence, the conversation contained hints but hints weren't a guilty verdict. Without a direct threat there was little to work with. Mikado had been 'convinced', not threatened or coerced. Tenzo sighed again "Hokage-sama sent me to inform you that the meeting will take place tomorrow, eleven o'clock. He wanted you to be informed ahead of time and notified that he can no longer put it off."
"Hmm" was Kakashi's response "Thanks, Tenzo. I'll buy you a drink at some point."
"You buy me a drink? Will that be before or after you get me some vacation time" Tenzo said in response.
"You're still bitter about that? Come on, the reason I never got around to getting you some time off is because you're one of the few people I trusted to be in my team. I don't trust just anyone with my back you know."
"I know" thought it wasn't visible Tenzo rolled his eyes. Kakashi genuinely didn't trust 'just anyone' with his back, but he did trust most of the ANBU so it wasn't that much of a compliment. Then again Tenzo would and did trust most of the ANBU with his own back, and with the Hokage's safety, and with the village's safety, so maybe it was a compliment. He was still bitter about that vacation time though, the free trip he'd won to Yugakure's award winning hot springs had expired before he had the time to use it "Captain" he said by way of farewell and vanished.
Kakashi chuckled as the cat masked ANBU disappeared "Now then…" he said, opening his book again and finding the place where he had left off "…should I check on Naruto, make sure he hasn't collapsed?" the blonde had remained at the training grounds after he and Sakura left, he had done the same things for the two days Kakashi had trained him before as well and while the blonde had managed to get home on his own it was usually well after his bedtime. It was only a matter of time before Naruto pushed too far and ended up unconscious.
And besides lounging about in a tree reading his book while the blonde trained wasn't a bad deal, he got to observe Naruto's progress and get caught up with his reading, thus killing two birds with one stone. He hadn't had much time for his beloved book lately.
'But before I do that' Kakashi decided, changing his direction away from the training ground, to a different training ground 'I think I'll go have that chat I've been meaning to have with Guy. It's time I stepped up my own training.'
He wasn't going to lose another students, he wouldn't let either of those two idiotic little Genin die before he did, preferably they'd both with children to carry on their legacy, having achieved great things with their lives, and pass on in old age surrounded by their families.
But not before him they wouldn't.
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Naruto huffed, his throat felt raw, his chest hurt, and his tongue was finding its own continued existence painful, but…
"I did it!" he cheered, leaping into the air and punching upwards "Alright, one more time" just to make sure. He stood on the edge of the river, his hands flew through the seals and "Fire Release: Great Fireball Jutsu!" he breathed out a fireball, perfectly formed, perfectly powerful, perfectly stable.
He maintained it for several moments before letting it die away, the water hissing where the flames had boiled it, steam rising from the surface for a few moments before the flow of the river washed away the heat, mixing it with the cold.
Naruto grinned. He had finally done it, he had been trying ever since the first day of training with Kakashi, and not that he would admit it but he'd tried before that as well, sod the doctors' orders, but now he'd finally done it, twice in fact.
His smile fell as he thought of Sasuke breathing out a fireball and his jealously at the awesomeness of the jutsu. Back then he'd wanted to learn it so bad, now… now he had learned it, and…
He shook his head "Time to head home" Naruto decided, yawning "I need to read up on the next fire jutsu" he stretched his back "Maybe I'll stop for some ramen on the way" he shook his head "No, no, fire jutsu" he nodded "I'll read up, and then maybe go for some ramen. Long as it's not too late" he yawned again "Fire jutsu then ramen. Good plan."
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They gathered in the meeting hall used for more formal occasions such as this, the one big enough to contain every Jonin presently in the village. Those out on assignment, and those who were unable to attend due to other duties or personal circumstances, would be officially informed when they returned or where available They'd probably hear it on the grapevine long before that though.
All the information passed to the Jonin would inevitably trickle down to the Chunin as well as those Genin who had Jonin sensei, who in turn would spread it to the rest of the Genin who would in turn would inform any Chunin left out of the loop, all of whom would likely inform civilians, be they family, friends or other, or be overheard by civilians and thus the entire village would know.
Unless the Hokage didn't want them to, in which case everyone would keep their mouths tightly shut, or else.
As it was, Kakashi expected that this particular news wouldn't be deemed that secret and so would naturally filter through to the rest of the village, which in turn would likely cause problems for Naruto. Thinking that made the Jonin sigh, his book firmly placed in front of his face, his eyes scanning along the page. Usually it was a source of extreme comfort, now it was simply a distraction.
Kakashi would deal with what problems he could, but he couldn't make people think and feel what he wanted them too, not legally anyway, he could torture them until they agreed but that was frowned upon, frowned upon as someone was executing you that is, so Naruto would face perhaps even more discrimination and hatred than he already did and there was nothing Kakashi could do.
"What's this meeting about?" he heard a Jonin a few feet away ask as he entered into a small group.
"Sasuke Uchiha, probably. You hear he died?"
"Fighting Zabuza Momochi, right? That Seven Swordsman guy."
"That's just a rumour. His funeral was yesterday, but no one knows exactly what happened."
"He's was on a team with that boy wasn't he?" another voice piped in.
"Yeah, Naruto Uzumaki" the name was spat more than said.
"You think he had anything to do with this?"
"I wouldn't be surprised if he was responsible for the whole event. Probably wanted the Uchiha dead, damn fo…"
"Shhh!" he was immediately shushed before he could say 'that', if he had said that Kakashi would've had reason to punish him for technically breaking the law. He hadn't, unfortunately, so ripping out his tongue would be frowned upon. Kakashi's eye trained upon one word of his book, one word he'd quite like to call everyone one of them who had participated in that conversation, to their faces.
Cunt.
"Ahem" the elderly man clearing his throat silenced them all, even Kakashi stood up a little straight and lowered his book ever so slightly, to show that he was paying attention. It looked like he wasn't, but in reality he was "Eleven days ago Sasuke Uchiha was killed in combat against the Missing Ninja Zabuza Momochi" the Hokage stated, though everyone already knew or at least had heard of that, this was just confirmation "He died defending his teammates and is a hero who should be remembered as such."
There was a small stirring at that, that particular fact had not been spread around it seemed.
"Furthermore" but the Hokage's voice shut them all up "before his death Sasuke Uchiha passed on his Sharingan to his teammate… Naruto Uzumaki."
Outrage. That was the only word that could describe the reaction, following a brief stunned silence.
"That thing has the Sharingan?"
"Unacceptable!"
"He probably killed Sasuke to obtain them!"
Muttering's like this and shouts of anger continued for a longer while and it took Kakashi a moment to figure out why the words of his book weren't staying still. His hand was shaking rather violently, shaking in an anger that he hadn't even noticed until now, but now that he did his teeth clenched, his grip tightened, and…
"SILENCE!" the Hokage quieted the room before he could lash out, and he was going to "Sasuke Uchiha asked for this, in his final moments he made this request, it was his dying wish. We have no right to overturn his decision any more than we had when it was Kakashi Hatake and Obito Uchiha's eye" all eyes were turned to Kakashi, who casually flipped over a page, wanting to rip out more than a few throats "I will treat this event no differently than a weapon being passed from one shinobi to the next" and neither should you, was left unsaid, and unheard by most.
Kakashi felt his teeth grit again.
"That is all, you are dismissed" the Hokage said, his voice losing it power and strength and sounding weary as he dismissed them. Jonin broke off into groups and filed out, some using the Body Flicker to leave, others using the door, a few using the window. Kakashi remained where he was, standing with his book in his hand.
"Kakashi" he looked up at Guy who was stood directly in front of him, the 'youthful' man's voice lacking its usual enthusiasm. He had understood the severity of the situation when Kakashi had visited him yesterday, but he hadn't been informed of this. It was almost touching that he was worried, but Kakashi wasn't interested in it.
"Guy" he greeted his longstanding rival calmly, giving him just one glance before returning to his book "I'll talk to you later Guy" he told the Beautiful Green Beast, stepping past "Tomorrow morning should do. We're meeting at five, right?"
"Yes, we are" Guy declared with all his usual vigour returned "Don't be later my eternal rival!"
"I got it" Kakashi walked forwards towards the Hokage, ignoring Asuma and Kurenai who looked like they wanted to talk, but left seeing that he didn't "Hokage-sama."
"Kakashi" the aging Hokage greeted him, age shining through "It makes a general sad to see hatred and bigotry run so deep in the hearts of his own men, it makes a father sad to see his children treating one of their own like they are nothing more than scum, and it makes me sad that I cannot change their minds."
Kakashi nodded silently. He personally, as a comrade, not as a general or a father, wanted to painfully torture the vast majority of them until they understood just what Naruto had gone through. But sadly that was a crime, and he couldn't exactly help his students from prison, or the afterlife, so he would have to restrain himself.
"Look after him Kakashi" the Hokage continued after a moment "Naruto is strong, he has withstood so much hatred for so many years and strives for acceptance, never giving in to the urge to return that hatred, never surrendering. But Sasuke's death will have hit him hard, he always did look up to the boy, even if he never admitted it" the Hokage's eyes grew distant, lost in a memory from long ago, of a boy telling him of his exploits and of his chosen rival. He shook his head "He will face hate, discrimination, foul looks and insults from his own comrades. Keep him focused on his goal and don't let him look around at the people staring at him with cold heartless eyes."
Kakashi nodded "I will…" there was a gap in the conversation "He did admit it" one that Kakashi broke "That he admired Sasuke. He said so yesterday, after Sasuke's funeral."
The Hokage's eyes widened, then he smiled a soft and sad but also pleased and proud "He did, did he? I see…" he chuckled quietly and sombrely "Good… very good" 'Naruto… you've grown haven't you? Even so… I wish it were not like this.'
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"Yo, guys" Kakashi greeted his team with cheer, unlike the both of them who looked miserable and uncomfortable. Well Sakura did at least, Naruto was already training, using his Shadow Clones as targets he was perfecting his skills with shuriken and kunai. Kakashi felt like praising him for that, they hadn't touched upon weapons at all but Naruto started working independently, which showed good initiative. He really should praise Naruto for that.
He didn't, however.
"Sakura, here's your timetable" he tossed her a slip of paper that had been hurriedly written yesterday. Sakura would be working nine to five on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, and would be working half of Saturday, which left Kakashi three and a half days to work with. He quickly listed Sunday as a free day, for both of them. If they wanted to train independently he wouldn't stop them but he wouldn't train them either.
They needed some down time after all.
"You start tomorrow" to give Mikado enough time to get ready for a student Kakashi guessed "Don't be late" and yes he did say that purely to receive that slightly annoyed looked from her as if she really wanted to say 'You are telling me not to be late? Seriously?' "Today you can either train with me and Naruto, or take the day off."
"I'll train" she said quickly.
"Alright then" Naruto had stopped and walked over to join them, standing a few feet from Sakura and facing Kakashi "Sakura, on Mondays and Tuesdays I'll be working with you, through a Shadow Clone, on things like physical conditioning, genjutsu, and anything else relevant" the list of relevant things was too long to go into "I'll also give you some homework, books I want you to read, that sort of thing. On Saturday morning's we'll do some light training, so that you're not conked out in the afternoon. And you have Sunday off" he continued before she could complain "The same applies to you Naruto, Sunday off."
"Through a Shadow Clone?" Sakura frowned, feeling slightly put out "I see."
"Sakura, a Shadow Clone is practically like being trained by me. I mean the number of times I've left Naruto alone with one so that I can read some of my book…" could be counted on one hand, but he didn't mention that, instead shaking his head "Anyway, the Shadow Clone technique is good for training as I can keep up to date with what's going on. You see when a Shadow Clone dispels all the information it has gained is transferred back to the original, as well as to any other clones created, that way I can learn how you've been doing, observe your training in depth, but still train both of you at once."
"Wait" Naruto spoke up, drawing both Kakashi and Sakura's attention "The Shadow Clone Jutsu can do all of that?"
Kakashi blinked "You…" he tilted his head "…didn't…" his single eye frowned confusedly "…know?"
"No, not at all! I didn't know it could do any of that!" he cried, looking amazed and annoyed "Wow, it's a really amazing jutsu, huh? I mean you could use it for scouting without risking yourself, or for feeling out an opponent. Damn" Naruto punched himself in the leg "If only I'd known about that sooner!"
Kakashi laughed and patted Naruto on the head "And that's what you get for not reading the full description of a jutsu" 'And a forbidden technique that you can use to a level that no one else in the village can is what you get for stealing the Scroll of Seals, the penalty for which would've been death in just about any other scenario. Naruto you have the best and worst luck' he paused… his thoughts grinding to a halt.
Shadow Clones… training… memory transfer…
"Give me a minute" he said to his two student, walking over to one of the three posts. He then proceeded to hit his head against the post until he was bleeding and possibly concussed and only then walked back, or rather stumbled back "Sorry about that. Where were we?" 'WHY? Why didn't I think of that sooner dammit!' he shouted at himself mentally, keeping a calm façade on the surface, despite the blood trickling down his face 'If Naruto used the Shadow Clones to train himself… combine that with the Sharingan… he'll become fucking awesome!' he desperately wanted to fist pump 'Calm down Kakashi' he shouted at himself, mentally of course 'A Genin suddenly obtaining that much power might not be a good thing. But Naruto needs strength anyway…' he sighed 'Ah well, I guess I'll wait for him to figure it out for himself. If he can then that's how we roll, until then we'll stick to what we're doing.'
Naruto and Sakura shared a confused, bemused and worried look as Kakashi stood there looking blankly into the distance, but they were quickly interrupted by Kakashi finding the plot of the conversation again.
"Right so that's that. Naruto we'll be training the full week, all days except Sunday. I expect you here by nine..." he paused "No actually make that eight" that way he could show up at nine and still be late, it was perfect "and we'll be training until at least six" Naruto nodded "Okay, so, are you two happy with that? No complaints, worries, anything like that?" they shook their heads, they were lying, he knew they were lying, but whatever "Good, then we can get started. Sakura I want you to make twenty laps of the training grounds. Stop only when you're done."
"Yes sir" Sakura said before setting off.
Kakashi then turned to his other student "Naruto…" Naruto stood waiting for his assignment. When Kakashi sighed the blonde's face became confused but Kakashi waved off his questions "There's something we need to talk about" he explained "It shouldn't take long."
Naruto nodded unsurely.
Kakashi rubbed at his forehead, how to start this? Bluntly, he guessed would be best "The fact that you possess the Sharingan has been revealed to the Jonin of the village, it'll likely be known by the entire village before tomorrow. While on the one hand this means you won't have to wear those sunglasses all the time anymore" he said cheerfully "Wearing sunglasses indoors makes you look like an idiot anyway" not that Naruto had ever struggled with looking like an idiot. Well, recently he had, even while wearing sunglass indoors "But it…" he grew sombre "it also means that you might face…"
"Sensei" Naruto's voice cut through his hesitant words "I don't care."
Kakashi blinked.
"They don't matter to me. I don't care what they think, their thoughts don't matter, what they say doesn't matter, I… I don't care about anyone of them" Kakashi flinched at the harsh words, but Naruto didn't notice, preoccupied as he was with the ground. He looked up a moment later, meeting his sensei neutral stare "I just have to get stronger" Naruto told him, touching his cheek, just below one of his red Sharingan eyes "For Sasuke… Sasuke, who acknowledge me, for him I have to get stronger… so that I can kill Itachi Uchiha and fulfil his ambition! That is all that matters!"
Naruto's expression was dark, rage and hate forged into determination and when he looked into Naruto's eyes Kakashi saw the hate burning there, in the red Sharingan that had been Sasuke's, hate burning as strong as the summer sun.
He ignored the shiver that ran down his spine, the fear that Naruto would become what he feared Sasuke would've become, this was Naruto, after all, even if he had the Sharingan this was still Naruto, and Kakashi eye smiled "Just warning you" and then his expression was all business, or training rather "Naruto I your fifty laps finished a damn sight quicker yesterday, got it? Then hop to it!
"Yes sir!"
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Ryoko Mikado was a medical ninja so it went without saying that she had seen some serious shit in her was a crude way of saying she had watched many men and women die, some of them friends, others rivals, others enemies.
She hadn't watched a teammate die as a Genin or had a friend or loved one lose their life when she was young, or anything like that that might make her want to save lives. No Mikado had been drawn to medical ninjutsu due to a borderline fanatic fascination with the human body. It had toned down over the years, fanatic fascination became a keen interest, but it hadn't disappeared, not at all.
Mikado did her best to save every patient, of course, that was what was expected of a medic ninja, and more to the point that was her duty as a medic ninja. So whether they were friend, enemy, rival, teammate, sensei or lover, she would do whatever she could to heal them and keep them alive.
Ryoko Mikado had seen all of them die on the operating table.
A small part of Mikado was curious as to whether or not this little, scared looking, pink haired girl in front of her would be the next addition to that list. She hadn't yet seen a student die after all. The vast majority of her however was evaluating what was this girl worth, and more to the point was she worth anything?
Her sensei talked up a storm about her, underneath his apparent disinterest, lazy persona and subtle threats. Excellent charka control and a mind sharp as a razor where this girls claim to fame, or rather her notable skills and Mikado hoped both were true, if it was the girl just might be worth her time. A bit of time at least.
The girl in question was evaluating Mikado in turn. The older woman had olive green eyes and short red-brown hair, with long bangs framing her face, and partially covering her forehead protector, and a shorter cut around the back. She wore a white doctor's coat with four different colour pens in the breast pocket and beneath that simple pink hospital scrubs. She wore no makeup and wasn't wearing any jewellery, but she had quite a nice figure, and her face seemed rather cute and childlike considering her age, which must've been at least twice Sakura's and was almost certainly more, but right now her 'rather cute' face bore a coldness that didn't suit it.
"Listen up" she said sternly, but not too sternly. Mikado wanted obedience not resentment "My name is Ryoko Mikado, and from now on you'll be working at the hospital under me" she explained, hoping she was just reiterating what the girl already knew.
Said girls nod, lacking uncertainty and doubt, did something to assuage her doubts.
"On duty you will call me Mikado-sensei, or Doctor Mikado" she continued "And while I will train you as best as time allows time in my profession is rather limited" between getting some sleep and her duties as a medic ninja, which could be anything from bandaging a wound to a nightlong attempt to synthesize an antidote, Mikado was certain she didn't have the time to train a student, but she'd have to find some. Sleepless nights were ahead she guessed "So you will have to do much learning in your own time and I will not tolerate you slacking off in your studies, whether I am there or not."
Another nod.
"And finally" the most important part and the final test in many ways, if she passed this then Sakura was one step closer… to being worth a single minute of her precious time "When I tell you to do something I expect it done, without hesitation. So if I ask you to hand me a scalpel, fetch a box, or cut a man's arm off, you will do it. Is that understood?"
"I…" this time Sakura looked hesitant to agree, her face showed her doubt, the last of the list causing said doubt. But then she gulped, her expression turning serious, and nodded "Yes, Mikado-sensei, I understand."
"Good girl" was all the praise she got because, wasting little time, Mikado handed the girl a diagram of a human body, complete with labels and bullet points "Now we'll be going over the common points of injury, and remember all of this well, there'll be a quiz later" 'if we have time' hopefully the threat would help keep it in her head, whether it was made good on or not "Soon enough I'll be on call and you'll get to see what medical ninja do up close and personal… Its dirty work" she warned glancing at the Genin's fancy dress "So I hope you're not wearing anything you mind getting blood stained."
Sakura also looked down at her striking red dress. Her mother had bought it for her birthday, saying it complimented her long pink hair and made her look like an 'elegant and beautiful kunoichi'. It was very important to her, because of that memory in particular and for the pride she had felt in that moment, truly believing herself to be an 'elegant and beautiful kunoichi'.
Keyword, 'was'.
"I'm not."
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Naruto liked training, it felt good. The burn in his muscles as they worked and strained, he liked that feeling, it was a good satisfying feeling, even the aches and pains that came after had a certain sweetness to them. More than that, it focused him, kept his mind ordered and uncluttered. As his muscles worked his mind was focused only on the next action, not on anything else. He probably liked that part the most. When he was training he didn't have to think about… things.
But he couldn't escape forever. When he slept he dreamt, and when he dreamt… and when he dreamt… When he dreamt many things happened. Sometimes he was in the moment, watching Sasuke bleed out on the bridge. Sometimes Sasuke was shouting at him, blaming Naruto for his death. Sometimes he was simply failing, failing Sasuke, failing his ambition, failing the eyes implanted into his skull.
That was why he was working himself into unconsciousness more and more, because then he only very rarely dreamt, his body and mind so tired that they couldn't be bothered making him dream. It also meant that he didn't have to walk through the village, past all the stares and the glares, the muttered words and the not so muttered curses.
And those eyes, those cold eyes that looked at him like he wasn't worthy of existence, like they didn't want him to exist, like they tried their hardest to deny his existence. They had always looked at him that way, but those eyes had gotten all the colder with Naruto's new eyes, with the Sharingan he now possessed.
What gave them the right to judge?
Sasuke had given his eyes to Naruto, his eyes and his ambition, he had entrusted them to Naruto, he hadn't taken them and yet that was what everyone wanted to believe, did believe, and it infuriated him.
No, that was wrong, not everyone… not everyone, but enough of them.
Before learning about the Nine Tails Naruto had sought many reasons as to why everyone hated him.
Was it because of something his parents had done? But that didn't make sense, no one knew who his parents were, even the old man stated that Naruto was an orphan of unknown heritage, whatever that meant.
Was it something he had done? But that didn't make sense either, he was a kid, and sure he pulled a lot of pranks but the reason he had started pulling pranks was because everyone ignored him, looked at him like he had no right to be alive, so any attention, even bad, was welcomed because it confirmed that he existed.
Then he learned about the fox and he kinda understood. The Nine Tails had killed a lot of people, and while Iruka-sensei and the old man both told him that he wasn't the Nine Tails not everyone could make that distinction. He wasn't happy about it, it was unfair and it wasn't right, but he could understand.
Recently though he was finding it harder and harder to understand. So he trained, because then he didn't have to think, didn't have to reason, didn't have to understand, didn't have to put up with it all. When he trained there was only him, the strain, and the training, nothing more.
Of course even when he did work himself until he fainted he still woke up at home, laid on his bed, still wearing his worn out clothes and mucky as hell, but home at least. Naruto suspected he had Kakashi-sensei to thank for that, but he wasn't about to bring it up since the silver haired Jonin seemed uninclined to do so.
Naruto didn't want to talk about his reasons for training so hard so if Kakashi-sensei was prepared to just ignore it then so would he.
"Naruto, is there a reason you've stopped?" Kakashi asked, lounging on the riverbank with his book.
Naruto blinked and only now realised that he had stopped midway through his half a hundred sit ups. He shook his head and started again, the burn of his muscles that had already been working for several hours killing his thoughts.
Kakashi glanced over as Naruto started his exercise again without speaking a word, then looked away. He saw no reason to mention it, but he had seen it. He had seen Naruto punching the ground just as he stopped, and seen the anger, the rage, the raw hatred, burning on his face and in his red Sharingan eyes.
His grip on his book tightened.
Rewritten this cause I felt it got too long. Posting it with chapter 4 and a warning on chapter 4 about the edits. Hope you enjoy.
Toodlesc
