The
Dokushinsha
by eixirt
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Chapter 4
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Joint Team
D-Ranked missions, the easiest mission a ninja could have. Despite from being the easiest it is also the lamest. But for Uzumaki Naruto's opinion it is another step forward in becoming Hokage. Or at least in his mind… He had been contemplating whether these missions are good to the fact that all you have to do is do simple chores like buy the groceries, weed the garden, paint fences, fix the roof, deliver some things, or even find someone's cat. This is even way out of his league much to Kyuubi's dismay.
It has been a week since the rookie nine has started doing their missions. Having no luck to their missions, well what luck can you get in a D-Ranked mission?
Outskirts of Konoha…
"Is the target visible?" A man's voice asked.
"The target is visible." A girl's voice responded.
"The target is visible." A boy's voice said.
"…" The third person in the team replied err… didn't reply.
Slowly, they walked away from the bushes to catch Kuro-chan, the said feline who's been missing from Konohamaru's arms. When the feline detected her spectators, she ran away only to be caught by team 8's member Uzumaki Naruto. Kuro-chan knew her master's friends that included Naruto in the list.
"Hey, we were here first!" Sakura yelled.
"But we got the cat first!" Kiba shot back.
"Arrggrrr…" Sakura was beyond mad.
"Hn" replied the said avenger.
"…" Shino didn't reply… once again.
Kakashi was back to his beloved 'orange' book with a red slashed circle at the back telling that it's for 'adults only'. After 5 seconds, the group consists of Kakashi's team and Kurenai's team were hearing some sound of… giggling?
"SENSEI" Sakura yelled making everybody wince at the pitch of her yell.
"Huh? Did you say something?" Kakashi said which made Sakura more furious; Sasuke, stoic as ever, just crossed his arms; Hinata and Kiba just stared at team 7; Kurenai and Naruto just sighed; Kuro-chan just 'meowed'; while Shino just stood there quiet…
"I think she likes you, Naruto." Hinata said pointing at the cat.
"I've petted her before whenever I visit Konohamaru at the Sarutobi compound." Naruto replied while Kuro-chan was playing one of Naruto's locks near his neck making him flinch a little.
'Ticklish?' Inner Kurenai thought. "Kurenai-sensei, Kuro-chan wants your 'beloved' attention." Naruto said teasingly while Kuro-chan was reaching for Kurenai's red sleeve like a baby. Naruto gave the feline to his sensei. As it reached Kurenai's arms, it was playing one of Kurenai's locks near her shoulder. When this was happening, everybody was watching in every detail not giving a damn about what were they seeing since it's in the nature of the felines to play around as always. But in Kakashi's perverted mind, it had a different aspect.
"Oi Naruto, it's early you to/two to have babies." Kakashi said.
Naruto raise an eyebrow. "…Babies?" He said and took a glance on Kurenai who had a flushed pink cheeks while Kuro-chan 'meowed'. "Nii-san..!"
Kakashi laughed at his Otouto. "Maa… maa…, let's just go to the Hokage's office to report back our mission." Kakashi said.
"Wait did you just say 'our' mission, does it include them as well?" Sakura pointed out.
Kakashi simply nodded and said: "This is a joint team mission."
"…A joint team mission?" Sasuke repeated.
"And now, he tells us." Sakura said.
Hokage Tower, one of the most peaceful places in Konoha, especially, during noon time. Most workers were doing their respective duties. Some were chatting about where they could hang-out after work hours. Others were bushed out due to stress, wanting to get away from all the strain. Let's take for example, our beloved Hokage, who already finished a tower of paperwork in a record time.
'Ah, finally, no paperwork today… I can get to enjoy this peace and quiet for once…' Sandaime thought, lighting his pipe as he turned to the window revealing the Hokage Monument.
Much to his dismay, his so-called peace and quiet was taken away easily. The office's door banged open showing team 7 and team 8.
'So much to my peace and quiet…' Sandaime thought.
"Hey Sandaime-jiji, we already finished the mission you gave us." Naruto said, while the other genins were rather surprised at Naruto's forwardness to the Hokage.
"Good, I have another job for you." Sandaime said as he looked for the scroll.
"Give us at least a C-Ranked mission, Sandaime-jiji." Naruto said.
"Yea us too!" Sakura said. For once, Sasuke agreed with the pink-haired kunoichi.
Sandaime was thinking whether to pick the C-Ranked one or the usual D-Ranked one. "Don't even think about giving us a D-Ranked mission, old man." Naruto added giving stress on Sandaime's nickname.
Sandaime was in panic. He remembered when Naruto used that nickname, the memory already giving him 'the nosebleed'. But by mere chance, he accidentally picked up the D-Ranked mission scroll.
"BIG mistake, old man..." Naruto added.
Everyone was starting to feel that something was seeping out of the blonde. They all saw Naruto form a hand seal and said: "Harem no Jutsu"
Soon there were 8 naked women saying "Sarutobi-sama". As fast as the speed of sound, the nosebleeds occurred, coming from the raging-hormone teenagers, perverted men, and from the perverted old geezer as well. Not long enough, there were medics everywhere helping out. Some were confused like how in Kami's name did these shinobis suffered with so much blood loss and it managed to injure the Hokage and even Kakashi, Konoha's Copy Nin?
After the chaos brought by the newly formed jutsu, the jutsu has been declared as a Kinjutsu, making it forbidden to use. It took the men for almost twenty minutes to revive to their feet. That left the three genins who were still unconscious courtesy of Naruto's jutsu. Sakura was helping her dearest Sasuke-kun while Shino was being helped by a medic. Hinata, on the other hand, was looking out for Kiba.
"Fine, this will be a joint team mission. Team 7 with team 8, both jounins will be in charge. Your mission is to protect a bridge builder named Tazuna, as well as his family." Sandaime gave the mission scroll to Kakashi.
"Where is this man we're supposed to protect?" Kurenai asked.
At the same moment, the said man entered the room, looking at his protectors. "Are they the ones who are going to protect me?" He said pointing at the ninjas with his index finger.
"Yes they are, please don't underestimate them, they are more reliable than you think." Sandaime said.
"I was talking about the brats." Tazuna said.
"Why you…?-!" Naruto was about to attack Tazuna with his fist but then he was stopped by his sensei, Kurenai.
"We're not here to kill Tazuna-san. We're here to protect him." Kurenai said then she turned around to Tazuna. "I suggest you take the Hokage's advice, if I were you." Kurenai added.
The moment Tazuna saw Kurenai's eyes; he could feel his feet being buried to the floor, either from fear or anxiousness. Tazuna got even more nervous when he got suddenly crept up by a half-masked man and told him something about 'you haven't seen the scariest part'.
Sandaime coughed a little bit to make known his presence once again. "During you're trip to Wave Country you will meet someone named, Momochi Zabuza." Sandaime said.
"Isn't he the renowned demon of the mist?" Kurenai asked.
On Sandaime's face, there formed a smile. "Yes to everyone's knowledge he is the famous demon of the mist but he is also one of my so-called contacts at the outside world. It is one of his ways to survive, be one with the hunter as what he had said to me all those years." Sandaime smiled. "Zabuza will lead you on the way there about this." Sandaime said as he pulled another scroll and gave to Kakashi who eyed the contents of the said scroll.
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Nami no Zaisho: Day One
Noon, near the west gate of Konoha, stood an old man. Probably, in his late forty's. The said old man was with a group of young ninjas who were also waiting as well just like him, the old man. He noticed something about the group. (1) There was a pink-haired girl who was fawning over this raven-haired boy who was crossing his arms ignoring the pink-haired girl. (2) There was this weird looking boy playing with his dog. (3) There were two silent kids. The first one was looking down while the other one was different. Tazuna couldn't even tell where he was looking because of his deep-shaded sunglasses. (4) Lastly, Tazuna noticed that he was being watched, he turned around to see who was staring at him, only to find the same blonde-haired boy who was about to attack him earlier.
After ten minutes, they all heard a 'poof'. When the smoke dissipated, it showed Team 8's jounin instructor, Yuuhi Kurenai. She asked if Kakashi had showed up but when Kiba said that he saw the copy nin entering a bookstore on his way to the gate. Everybody swear they saw an imaginary vein popping out on Kurenai's forehead. The vein popping only stopped when Kakashi showed up with a new edition of Icha Icha Paradise.
"Yo, let's go." Kakashi said behind his new 'orange' book.
The next thing they new, they were walking away from the west gate. Kakashi with Shino on the front; Sakura ogling over Sasuke at the back of Kakashi and Shino; Hinata with Kiba at Tazuna's side both left and right, respectively; while at the back were Naruto and Kurenai.
As they all walked, none gave a damn about the puddles on the ground but Naruto did.
Kurenai saw the ones at the front stopped walking, especially Kakashi. She too stopped and saw Naruto standing in front of numerous abnormal puddles. The next thing they saw was a blur. Everybody was caught up with the blur that turned into a group of ninjas and samurais. There were four ninjas particularly from the hidden village of the mist, and four samurais that came from the hidden village of the rock. They were so caught up that no one realized that one member of their group was captured quite easily much to her dismay.
"Give us the old man and this won't get messy." The leader said, pointing at Tazuna with his katana.
"What if we don't?" Kakashi replied.
"She dies…" The leader said, pointing to the captured Kurenai.
"SENSEI..!" Team 8 cried. They were in a battle position ready to rescue their sensei.
"Nobody moves, if one of you moved will kill you instead, leaving the old man and this exotic woman of yours to us." The leader said as he grinned manically. With this said, all the enemies were moving near team 7 and team 8.
Naruto loosened up and he moved! The enemy leader's eyes shot at the blonde who was doing something with his hands. It didn't register to the leader's eyes. It was like a fast blur. The fool what the heck was he thinking forming hand seals when someone is ready to stab him at the back. The leader thought. They could all see Naruto, stabbed at the back by the enemy, being thrown at the side of the near by forest.
"NARUTO..!"
/Beat/
Kurenai witnessed everything; she was still shaking from the fact that Naruto was stabbed in front of her! She could feel some beatings inside of her that she couldn't even comprehend.
/Beat/
'It can't be…'
/Beat/
'Naruto-kun's dead?'
/Beat/
'Impossible!'
/Beat/
'It must be a genjutsu!'
/Beat/
'But how come I didn't detect it?'
/Beat/
'I should have stopped it from happening!'
/Beat/
'…'
The sound of beatings didn't stop. It only took its pace even further and soon it became more ragged.
"What's the matter, scared ojou-chan?" The leader asked behind Kurenai's ear.
"If I get loose from you, I swear I'm going to kill you." Kurenai said with gritted teeth.
"Let's see you try." The leader mocked the now freed Jounin.
Currently, both Jounins, Kakashi and Kurenai, were fighting against the enemy ninjas. While the five genins were defending Tazuna's life against four samurais. Sakura and Hinata were both at Tazuna's side. Kiba and Akamaru already formed the Juujin Bushin. Shino was calling out his Kikkai bugs. At the same time, Sasuke formed a set of hand seals and called out: "Katon: Goukakyuu no Jutsu"
Once the flames were off, there was only one samurai left. Kiba used his Gatsuuga to their last enemy, wanting to make his opponent to feel the lost he received.
Meanwhile both Kakashi and Kurenai were trying to fend off the flying shurikens heading their way. "This is beginning to be child's play." The enemy ninja said as he formed a series of hand seals and said. "Suiton: Suikoudan no Jutsu"
Kakashi was about to cast a jutsu the moment he saw the upcoming barrage of water until he heard a familiar voice shout out. "Suiton: Suijinheki"
Soon, both jounins were seeing a wall of water in front of them. They both turn and saw the caster, Naruto, with somebody in tow.
When the water dissipated, it revealed five ninjas, three leaf ninjas and two mist ninjas. The enemy ninjas stepped back when they saw the new additions namely, Momochi Zabuza and Haku (A/N: it's female Haku).
"What's the matter? You all looked like you've seen a ghost." Zabuza said as he picked up his sword, Kubikiri Houcho, from his back bringing it forth. "Haku" Zabuza called out.
Haku slowly walked up to the enemy ninjas while in her right hand held four needles for each enemy ninjas. 'Perfect number' Haku thought. With one shot, Haku managed to slay a single ninja with her keen shot at its neck.
"One down three to go." Haku said behind her mask.
Three needles were left in her hands but this time she fired them altogether, making the enemy ninjas lifeless before her.
Zabuza noticed the blonde kid next to him as if the blonde was flinching or something. "What's the matter, kid?" Zabuza asked.
"…N-nothing…" Naruto managed to stutter before he fell unconscious.
"Oi Kid, you okay?" Zabuza said.
Everybody's attention flew to them. Both Kurenai and Kakashi ran up to them to see if Naruto was okay, while the genins walked to them but Kakashi told them not look.
Meanwhile, Kurenai, Haku, and Zabuza were beside Naruto. They saw the stab near Naruto's left shoulder. Kurenai didn't imagine that the stab passed through his body. Slowly, they all saw a small tint of red chakra coming out of his body, healing his wounds perfectly. But something was off; Naruto had not yet awakened from his unconsciousness.
Kakashi walked up to them and carried Naruto at his back. He looked at Tazuna with both of his eyes, revealing his spinning Sharingan to the man before him.
"Explain you're self! You only ordered protection from rogue bandits, animals, but you never spoken of enemy ninjas. This mission is clearly a high-level C-Ranked mission. Not only that, this mission managed to hurt my little brother."
At the mention of 'little brother' Tazuna looked at the kid Kakashi was carrying and looked down.
"Now I tell you again, explain you're self, Tazuna-san!" Kakashi said.
Tazuna started to tell the whole group about what has been happening in wave country, including Gatou who wants Tazuna dead for making this bridge that will corrupt his (Gatou) business.
"Tazuna, eh..?" Zabuza said as if tasting the name. Tazuna looked at the famous demon of the mist with bullets forming at the side of his face. "Kakashi, if that kid wakes up he'll probably tell us to continue this mission." Zabuza said as he looked at Kakashi and turned to look at Kurenai. "Right..?" Zabuza asked looking at Kurenai who only nodded and looked worried to her student. "Besides, I'm sure Tazuna-san here will have to pay the full amount for you mission. Right, Tazuna-san..?" Zabuza said with earn him a nod from the bridge builder.
Zabuza walked forward with Haku leading the way while Kakashi followed behind. Kurenai and the others walked next to them.
"Wait! You're going to help us?" Kakashi asked bringing down his hitai-ate to hide his left eye.
"Right you are, I believe 'monkey' told you about this, am I right?" Zabuza said.
Kakashi pondered for awhile when Zabuza said 'monkey' Zabuza actually meant Sarutobi. 'Saru' means monkey. Kakashi thought. "Yes he did." Kakashi said.
"Just our luck, everything seems to take its place, don't you think?" Zabuza said as he walked to the near boat with a man in it.
'It's rather peaceful yet disturbing in here.' Kurenai thought while Naruto was sound asleep at her lap. Both of them were at the back while the ones at the front where Kakashi and Zabuza followed by Haku, Tazuna and Shino. Next to them were Sasuke and Sakura followed by Hinata and Kiba and the ones at the back as well, including the driver of the boat. Some were thinking about what had happened earlier. Lets take for example:
'That was the Sharingan! Kakashi-sensei had the Sharingan!' (Sasuke)
'This boy is a demon vessel, just like Haku.' (Zabuza)
'He's just like me.' (Haku)
'What was that feeling awhile ago? It felt like my heart was beating hard and fast.' (Kurenai)
It took them twenty minutes to arrive at the shoreline of the wave country. The first thing they saw was the fair treatment the villagers had. Some were poor. Some were lucky to have homes as they call it. Soon, they were in front of Tazuna's house. It wasn't small or big. It was perfect for the old man and his family. "Welcome to my humble home." Tazuna said.
Once they entered, Tazuna was greeted by her daughter, Tsunami. "Father, what took you so long?" She asked, bringing her hand to her hip as she waited for her father to reply.
"Oh… well… you see, I have to ask for some help." Tazuna said as he pointed at the ninjas behind him.
After a couple of minutes, the genins were at the living room, resting or talking.
"How do you think Naruto's doing?" Hinata asked her team mate.
"He'll be fine. Plus, Kurenai-sensei is with him, remember?" Kiba said as he made sure that Hinata won't get worried too much.
"I guess you're right, arigato, Kiba-kun." Hinata said letting the 'kun' slip from her mouth. She noticed Kiba looked away as he waved his hand saying 'it's nothing' with flushed pink cheeks.
Meanwhile at the front porch of Tazuna's house, Kakashi and Zabuza with Haku were there talking. Mostly about shinobi stuff and their mission but their topic suddenly changed by Zabuza.
"Your brother, what's his name?" Zabuza said.
"Naruto… Uzumaki Naruto." Kakashi said.
"He's quite interesting, if you ask me." Zabuza said. Kakashi cocked an eyebrow and left the porch. Kakashi was soon followed by Zabuza with Haku in tow.
At the same moment in the guest room, Kurenai was watching Naruto sleep on his futon. Naruto hadn't showed any interest in waking up for quite some time now in his watcher's opinion. A minute had passed, Kurenai noticed Naruto's breathing was becoming ragged and his chest was rising rather high.
"Naruto" Kurenai said in panic. She suddenly noticed Naruto's eyes were opening slowly.
Naruto slowly sat up and saw his sensei with an expression he hadn't seen before. It was a mix of sadness, hurt, happiness, and shock. The next thing he knew, he was caught off guard as Kurenai pulled him in to a hug.
"What were you thinking? You had me worried so much!" Naruto heard Kurenai say.
"I… I-I'm sorry." Naruto said as he returned the hug back. 'Is she crying? She is! Oh God what did I do?' "Kurenai-chan, please don't cry." Naruto said. Unknown to him he let out the 'chan' in Kurenai's name.
At the same time, Kakashi, Zabuza and Haku, were watching the 'couple's lovely session' as to what Kakashi had named it.
"This is quite interesting. Don't you think Zabuza-san?" Kakashi said with a smirk under his facemask, letting Naruto and Kurenai know their presence. The moment they heard Kakashi's voice, they let go of each other. Kurenai sat up and looked down at the floor, wishing to get sucked by the earth. She hated when Kakashi gets to his teasing mode.
Zabuza grinned at the event he had witnessed. He looked at Kakashi and said. "Yea 'very'… interesting indeed" Zabuza said, putting a stress mark on every word.
"How are you feeling, Naruto-kun?" Haku asked behind her mask.
"I feel fine. Who are you anyway?" Naruto asked.
"My name is Haku. I'm Zabuza's sister." Haku said as she revealed her smiling face to the young blonde.
"WHAT?" Naruto said almost shouted. "You don't even look close to him. I don't see any family resemblance between the both of you!" Naruto said rather loudly that made the man called, Zabuza, twitch his eyebrow rather at a fast speed.
"BAKA! I adopted Haku back when she was still a child." Zabuza said.
"Oh… that's probably the reason why she wouldn't look close to you… she's too pretty to be your sister." Naruto said as she tried to stand up with success. By the time he was on his feet, Naruto noticed Zabuza's twitching eyebrow but he didn't notice Haku's flushed cheeks.
After a couple of hours, Naruto found himself in front of the dining table with everybody else. Naruto sighed not really knowing why.
"What are you sighing about, Kit?" Kyuubi asked to his jailor.
'It's nothing, Fur ball. I just miss the ramen back at Konoha.' Naruto replied.
"The ramen or the ramen girl, what was her name Aye…" Kyuubi said with a grin on his face.
'Ayame? It's not her it's the ramen okay! That I assure you!' Naruto replied.
"Ooh… looks whose acting guilty?" Kyuubi said with a chuckle.
'You Fur ball, I am NOT acting guilty!' Naruto said in defense.
"Ooh… maybe it's those purple-haired kunoichis. I can't blame you; they're quite beautiful if you ask me." Kyuubi stopped and took a look at his jailor who had a blank look on his face.
'It's not them! It's the ramen okay! RAMEN as in R-A-M-E-N ramen!' Naruto said.
"Right… blame it all to the cup of noodles." Kyuubi stopped while his jailor sighed in his mind and in the real world as well. "Okay, so what about you and your Kurenai-chan?" Kyuubi added, making the real Naruto to become red if not redder.
'…'
"HA! It is her! I knew it – I knew it." Kyuubi singed inside Naruto's mind. Singing something with the only lyrics is I knew it – I knew it.
Unknown to Naruto some people in the dining area where starting to get worried to the young blonde. Naruto hadn't touched his food for quite awhile now.
"Naruto..?" Kurenai patted his shoulder. She could see him red, flush red. In her mind she was wondering what was happening to him. After five seconds Naruto looked up and saw his sensei looking at him.
"Yes Sensei?" Naruto asked with innocent eyes.
Kurenai sighed. "Otouto, are you feeling well? You haven't touched your food." Kakashi said in behind.
"I'm fine. I was just thinking about something, Nii-chan." Naruto said as he picked up his spoon and started to eat his porridge.
After an hour or so, Tazuna decided to go to the market to buy some groceries since they were running short in their stocks. Tazuna told Kakashi that he will be out for some groceries with Naruto to stretch his muscles as what the old man suggested.
Currently with Naruto and Tazuna, Tazuna stopped and looked at the ninja before him. Naruto had this questioning look on his face that said – What are you thinking, Old Man? – Kind of look.
Tazuna held out his grocery list and a few bills from his wallet and gave it to Naruto. "Buy them, I'll just watch you." Tazuna said.
"What?" Naruto said but reluctantly he just took both items from Tazuna. Naruto looked at the list that contained:
3 PCS of Radish
5 PCS of Eggs
2 Kilos of Meat, Pork, and Fish
1 Kilo of Tofu
1 Kilo of Shrimp
2 Packs of Nori
"Um Tazuna-san, I don't think these 1,500.00 ryou is enough for all of these." Naruto said as he was pushed and semi-dragged to their first stop, the vegetable shop.
Naruto looked at the person guarding the store. He noticed that it was a girl, probably Haku's age, was looking at him as well. The girl wasn't glaring at him just like the villagers do when he was going buy stuff for his apartment. This was different it has something in it that Naruto couldn't put his finger in it.
Naruto was about to ask the price for the radish when someone interfered. Two samurais that had similar clothing with the ones, who had attacked yesterday, came. The sound of sword clashing with the air brought Naruto's polite face down to something else. Naruto told Tazuna to stay beside the girl behind her shop.
Naruto loosened his stance. Everybody saw both Naruto's feet bouncing and his face was neutral not giving any emotions to his opponent. "What are you trying to do, mock us to death?" The bald samurai said.
The said bald samurai was readying himself as well. He ordered his comrade to do it as well but he was too dumbfounded when his comrade's katana was gone.
"This is quite a beautiful sword, if you ask me." The bald samurai looked at the owner of the voice which belonged to the blonde boy who took a kenjutsu stance as well. "Um… uh… can we do this fast, I have to buy these groceries, ne?" Naruto said in his natural tone.
Silence filled the market place. Everybody was looking at them and to the blonde boy who had managed to snag the opponent's katana. They all had the same thoughts running in their minds like the bald samurai. 'How the heck did he do that?'
"Take him out!" The other enemy samurai said.
It rang to the bald samurai's mind like a BIG boom. He attacked Naruto fast but he noticed that he just slashed the air as if the said blonde boy wasn't there.
"On top of you..!" The bald samurai's comrade shouted.
But before the bald samurai could look he already felt the earth on his face and a slight lump on the back of his head. "What the?" He managed to say before passing out. As for the other enemy samurai, Naruto threw back his sword, making the samurai fall backwards. He immediately got up and carried his comrade away from the blonde 'dangerous' boy as he had commented in his mind.
Once Naruto saw that the enemies were gone, he turned back to his polite façade to Tazuna and to the storekeeper who had, by the way, hearts on her eyes just like the other storekeepers.
After a couple of minutes, both Tazuna and Naruto went back to Tazuna's house with two fully loaded grocery bags in each arm. By the time they entered the house they were greeted with questioning looks on their faces.
"Where's the feast, Tazuna-san?" Kakashi asked.
"You didn't spend all the money didn't you, Father?" Tsunami said as she looked at the grocery bags.
"Oh these, it's um… how shall I say this? I got a lot of discounts today… he-he…" Tazuna said.
"Discount..? Since when do those ladies ever give you a discount?" Tsunami asked eyeing her father. At this point everybody was in the kitchen, hearing their conversation.
"Oh Naruto did it, actually." Tazuna said making Naruto scratched the back of his head. "Your brother is quite lucky with the females if I may add." Tazuna said to Kakashi rather loudly that made everyone in the room look at the blonde who fighting not to blush at the moment.
"How did you do it?" Kiba asked.
"Do what?" Naruto said still not getting what was the main topic.
"You've managed to get really rare high discounts, how did you do it?" Tsunami asked.
"I guess I just walked up to the storekeeper and asked how much does it cost." Naruto said.
"Right…" Kiba said.
"Did they ask you something?" Tsunami asked.
"Actually, they did. They asked me if I was a relative of yours but then Tazuna-san said I was a visiting relative of yours, do you believe that? But then some were asking for my name, age, where I live, but they got disappointed with the age, though. But then again, they asked me if I was interested in older women." Naruto said.
"So what was your answer?" Haku asked.
"Uh…" Naruto said as he was in a thinking position. "… my answer was: I don't know. Since I really don't know what they were talking about he-he… hey, what's wrong with you guys? You all had the same expression with the ones at the market." Naruto said.
Kakashi laughed and caught Naruto by the neck, brushing his hair in the process. "Come on, you and you're team mates will train with us today." Kakashi said.
Outside Tazuna's house, there stood team 7 and 8 along with Zabuza and Haku. All of the genins sat at the ground while the others were different. Kakashi was explaining to the genins something about tree climbing and chakra control until someone was… yawning?
Kakashi looked who was disturbing his class only to find Naruto yawning and covering his mouth as he yawned.
"Naruto..!" Kakashi yelled and took out a kunai and threw it to the said blonde who managed to catch it attentively. "Go and climb that tree without using your hands, now!" Sasuke smirked at this.
'You're not so great now, are you Dobe?' Sasuke thought.
Naruto got to his feet and went to the said tree. He crouched a little, bringing both of his feet apart. He formed a tiger seal and started to store enough chakra to his feet. Once he had enough chakra, he started to run up to the tree and then he began to walk up to reach to the top. He could see everybody from the top. He back flipped and caught a branch and another branch until he reached the lower part of the tree, the ground. Most of the genins were telling him 'how did you do that' and 'that was amazing' something like that. Naruto threw back the kunai to Kakashi who caught it easily.
Meanwhile, Sakura could swear her crush was glaring at Naruto. 'He's been acting weird since yesterday.' Sakura thought. Her reverie was cut off when Kakashi patted her at the back; behind him was Hinata and Haku. "You're going with them; practice your tree climbing at that side." Kakashi said as he pointed at the other side of the clearing, namely, the right side of the training ground.
On the left side were the boys while at the right were the girls. At the girls' side, Haku was the first one to finish the exercise followed by Hinata and Sakura at the same time. At the boys' side, Naruto was the first since he had done it in front of their eyes, Kiba and Shino was next to finish. Naruto had offered Sasuke help but the Uchiha sole survivor refused it quite arrogantly instead Sasuke challenged Naruto to a fight.
"Fight me!" Sasuke said.
Naruto looked at Sasuke as if he'd gone crazy. "Huh?" He said.
"I said fight me, Uzumaki Naruto!" Sasuke said as he pulled out his fuuma shuriken.
Kakashi and Kurenai were about to stop the upcoming fight between their students but Zabuza stopped them and said: "Don't, I want to see what Naruto-kun will do about this mess." Zabuza said. Reluctantly, both Jounins stood their ground and watched at their students.
"No, I won't fight you. You're not my enemy, Sasuke." Naruto said in a calm tone.
Sasuke could see Naruto's calm features but to him it has a different story in it. 'How dare he act all calm on me? Is he making fun of me? I, an Uchiha!' Sasuke thought. Sasuke didn't replied any further; he just attacked at Naruto with his fuuma shuriken in hand. Naruto quickly sidestepped away from Sasuke who already gained his posture from his recent attack.
'What did I do now?' Naruto thought as he blocked the upcoming projectile that was targeted at his head.
"Sasuke, stop it this instant!" Naruto raised his voice but it only fell to deaf ears. Soon, Naruto saw a familiar set of hand seals. Naruto quickly formed his own set. When Sasuke shouted "Katon: Goukakyuu no Jutsu" and let out a large ball like flames through his mouth, Naruto did the same, only, he called out was: "Katon: Ryuuka no Jutsu". It totally covered the Grand Fireball by a Large Flame Dragon.
Once the flames were out, Naruto stopped to observe Sasuke. The said Uchiha prodigy was forming another set of hand seals but Kakashi was already there stopping the fight much to Zabuza's dismay.
"That's enough, Sasuke." Kakashi said as he held Sasuke's arm. Sasuke glared at his sensei with his newly formed "Sharingan" that had two commas on each eye. Then he walked back to Tazuna's house followed by Sakura behind.
Naruto looked at Sasuke's retreating back. 'His eyes tell everything but what was it trying to tell?' Naruto thought. His train of thoughts was suddenly cut off when Kiba was shaking the hell out of him.
"That was amazing, Naruto! You beat the hell out of that bastard!" Kiba said as he continued to shake his blonde friend.
"Kiba-san, I think Naruto-san had enough with your shakes." Shino said, making Kiba stop with wide eyes as well as Naruto who had gotten away from Kiba's grip, he too stared at the young Aburame with wide eyes. Shino, one the other hand, raised his eye brow.
"Have you realized that you let out a couple of words with numerous syllables in it?" Naruto said, still disbelieving.
"Thank you for the observation, Naruto-san." Shino said.
"There it goes again." Naruto said.
"Honestly Shino, why not talk a lot?" Kiba asked. This caused everybody's attention to them since they know that Shino doesn't talk much.
"I simply talk when it's needed." Shino said.
"Right…" (Naruto and Kiba)
Everybody's attention altered when they heard someone was calling out for them. "Dinner's ready!" Tsunami shouted. Once they entered the dining area they saw Tazuna seated at the middle while the one next to him was new to the group's eyes. They all saw Sasuke and Sakura entered the room. The one next to Tazuna glared at the ninjas. It matches with Hyuuga Hiashi's glare in Hinata's opinion.
"Why bother helping us? You all will end up dead anyway!" The boy said.
Naruto had too much of arrogance in one day. Let's just say, Naruto snapped. The one who was seated next to Tazuna was no longer seated in his chair but rather he was raised against the wall through the collar by Naruto.
"We ending up dead, yea sure but at least we died with a fight! Unlike you, who would probably cry and do nothing!" Naruto said. Before him was a boy trying not to cry. Once Naruto let go the boy, the said boy cried away running back to his own room.
"I uh… lost my appetite… I-I'm… sorry about the commotion." Naruto said walking away.
"I'm sorry about, Inari." Tsunami said.
"Is he always like that?" Kurenai asked.
Tsunami shook her head. "No, he was a cheerful boy but when his Father died…" Tsunami looked down, not wanting to remember some unwanted memories.
Tazuna looked at his daughter with remorse in his eyes. He knew her husband's death hadn't stop plaguing her and her son's memories.
Dinner went with an eerie silence. The only thing that can be heard was the steam being produced by the rice cooker. After dinner, Tsunami decided to take Inari's meal to his room.
Meanwhile, Kakashi separated the group once again the girls at the right and the boys at the left. He told them to sleep early since in the next day Tazuna will have to go to the construction site where the bridge is being built. Later that evening, Kakashi, Kurenai, and Zabuza with Haku planned to take the night's watch seeing as it wasn't safe for Tazuna's family to be left unprotected even at their sleep.
Kakashi and Zabuza were at the backyard while Kurenai was at the front porch. Haku, on the other hand, was at the roof surveying the ones below.
Kurenai was leaning at the wall at the front porch. She had been guarding there for almost 15 minutes now. She thought that she had heard some footsteps from the inside until the sound became more define. 'Did somebody come in unnoticed?' Kurenai thought. She formed a series of hand seals and whispered a jutsu that made her invisible. Once Kurenai managed to come inside, she concealed her chakra as low as possible. By the time she saw the source of the noise, she stopped walking. She noticed a familiar voice talking with itself. Kurenai walked closely to see who was there at this mere moment.
"/sighs/ she always tells me to seek the underneath of the underneath. His eyes tell everything but I can't still see it. What would you do if you were at my place, huh Sensei?" A voice said to no one in particular.
Kurenai took this moment to enter the scene. "Have you tried harder?" Kurenai asked. This caused the owner of the voice to turn to see who was there behind him.
"Kurenai-sensei..?" Naruto said.
"Can't sleep?" Kurenai asked.
Naruto only shook his head in response. He saw her walk outside the front door. Soon, he followed her. It was 2 o'clock in the early morning at that time. Cold air was present. It made the night chilly. Naruto tucked out his jacket and placed it on Kurenai who was seating at the stairway of the front porch.
Kurenai, on the other hand, was caught off guard when Naruto placed his jacket on her. She looked at him with a tint of pink on her face. When she remembered what she had done back at the guest room, she was now trying not to blush furiously. She was thankful that Naruto's jacket served as a cover from her blush. It took her at least 20 minutes to gather or to complete her speech but when she was about to speak, she saw Naruto asleep leaning at the wooden rails, faced down. Kurenai smiled at this. She gently placed Naruto's jacket on him as he continue with his slumber beside Kurenai.
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Nami no Zaisho: Day Two
Morning breeze, calm, cool and gentle, it flowed softly making the leaves swirl in various directions. At the same moment, the sun chose to rise up and to make known its presence. Slowly, the cool breeze and the warmth coming from the sun, coupled together, harmonizing, making a new feeling.
The morning rays slowly crept its way to the residents' eyes, making them awake. Some grunted, sighed, while some shrugged. Meanwhile outside Tazuna's door, a certain blonde gradually open his eyes. He noticed that he had fallen asleep outside Tazuna's door. He saw his jacket on him as if someone had placed it while he was sleeping. He remembered he had placed it on Kurenai, he can even smell a hint of her scent in his jacket.
"Oi Naruto, did you sleep here outside Tazuna's house?" Kiba said as he walked to his blonde friend with Hinata behind.
"Of course not, I just woke up early, that's all." Naruto said not really wanting to tell the truth.
"Right… Tsunami-san said that breakfast will be ready soon." When Naruto heard the word breakfast there was an audible grumble, audible enough for team 8 to hear. Naruto just scratched the back of his head while on his face was a sheepish grin on it.
"You shouldn't have skipped dinner last night, Naruto." Hinata said while Akamaru barked in agreement.
"Come on let's go in, I can already smell Tsunami-san's cooking." Kiba said as he placed his young pup on the floor.
Soon, the dining area was filled with people and dog for Akamaru's case. Tazuna announced that he will be at the construction site after breakfast. Both leaf jounins agreed to take Tazuna at the construction site with Zabuza but this time Haku won't be with Zabuza. Haku was ordered to stay here with the other genins to guard and protect Tazuna's family just in case Gatou decided to take them as hostages.
Haku interrupted their plan and said: "Why not put Tazuna's family and the villagers in a secluded place. I'm sure once Gatou decided to attack he won't care about the casualties. The workers and the villagers will be at stake as well." Haku said.
Once Haku was finished with her speech, a loud gong was heard. Tazuna knew what was that gong for. The ninjas looked at the bridge builder and asked what that was about. Tazuna looked at them with beads of sweat forming on his forehead. He had the same look back when he saw Kurenai's eyes. "It's Gatou… he's at the construction site." Tazuna said.
Meanwhile at the said bridge site, Gatou's men, ranging from bandits, swordsmen, and nukenins, were at the site. It caused the workers to flee out of fear. Once the workers were about to reach the end of the bridge, they all saw a group of ninjas with Tazuna and his family in tow. Both leaf jounins and mist ninjas stayed to protect the bridge while the genins were ordered to place the villagers and the workers as well as Tazuna's family in a safe clearing.
When Zabuza formed a familiar set of hand seals in Kakashi's opinion, Kakashi turned to Sasuke and Kiba. "Sasuke, Kiba, both of you will be in charge of the villagers' safety." Kakashi said and turned to Hinata. "You will lead them to a safe place." Three genins nodded their heads. The genins ran with Hinata leading the way. It only took them at least three minutes to find a safe spot. They were contemplating whether if some of them will have to go back to help their senseis. Shino and Kiba decided to stay to protect the others while Naruto and Sasuke agreed to go back and help. Sakura was about to say that she wants to go with Naruto and Sasuke but Naruto beat her up to it.
"Hinata should come with us. Her Byakugan can see through the mist Zabuza-san had made." Naruto said.
Sakura was about to complain but when she saw Sasuke's eyes turn into something different, she just nodded in response. Naruto saw Sasuke's eyes. There, he saw the Sharingan. Sasuke had two commas on each eye.
"A-ano… we should hurry up to help back our senseis." Hinata whispered loud enough for them to hear. Without thinking, they all run fast to the bridge were the fight had already begun.
At the bridge, Kakashi with his Chidori was attacking one of the nukenins. Zabuza with his Kubikiri Houcho was currently blocking the attacks of three swordsmen. Haku managed to kill most of the bandits with her "Makyou Hyoushou". Kurenai with her "Kokuangyo no Jutsu", she managed to slay at least two nukenins with her genjutsu. Zabuza was about to say to Gatou 'give up" until… they all heard a vaguely loud thump that made the bridge quake. Now, behind Gatou was a giant which everyone thought.
The genin group that consists of Hyuuga Hinata, Uchiha Sasuke, and Uzumaki Naruto, came. They managed to see who their superiors' opponent was. From their point of view, that being was beyond enormous!
'He's taller than Gai-san!' (Naruto)
'What the heck!' (Sasuke)
'…' (Hinata)
"I like you all to meet Ohkubo, your doom." Gatou smiled and left with his attendant. He waved a farewell to the ninjas at the bridge as he escaped in his boat.
Kakashi surveyed the one in front of him and his comrades. From what he can tell this match will be different.
'Why left a single man to fight with us. Gatou only used those men awhile ago to make us exhausted for this major fight. How could I not see it! Darn it!' Kakashi thought. He looked at Zabuza who was looking at him as well. Haku was looking at her Aniki, from what she could see, Zabuza and Kakashi had a plan under their sleeves.
Zabuza tighten his grip on his Kubikiri Houcho while Kakashi formed a set of hand seals and held his right wrist. After a couple of seconds, a sound of creaking can be heard all over the place. Zabuza looked at Kakashi who nodded in response. With a fast blur, Kakashi and Zabuza attacked at the man before them. Kakashi on the top with his Chidori while Zabuza below with his Kubikiri Houcho. Everybody would have thought that their attack would be a success but on the contrary it failed miserably.
Ohkubo caught Kakashi by the arm while Zabuza's attack was block only by Ohkubo's arm shield. 'What the? He should be cut in half not like this!' Zabuza thought. His reverie was cut off when he and Kakashi got thrown to the wooden railings of the bridge, making them unconscious in the process. Haku ran for Zabuza while Naruto ran for Kakashi. Kurenai was about to stop Naruto but Ohkubo moved in, giving Kurenai a knee kick on her stomach. The force and pressure made her cough blood and flew back but Ohkubo managed to catch her by the hair, making Kurenai wince in pain. Hinata managed to shout out Kurenai's name out of fear. Haku, Hinata, Sasuke were about to attack but something was off. They couldn't move. Ohkubo looked at them with a sly smile on his face.
"Can't move? This technique is called "Kanashibari no Jutsu" surprised? I see." Ohkubo said.
Ohkubo saw the blonde boy glaring at him as if the said blonde was trying to pierce Ohkubo's eyes.
"You care for this pitiful woman?" Ohkubo smirked and looked at Kurenai's features with malice in his eyes as he licked the trickle of blood from her chin. This caused Naruto to get even more enraged. "Why won't you try and catch her then." Naruto watched as Ohkubo raised Kurenai once again. Ohkubo clenched his fist and did something unforgivable in Naruto's opinion. Ohkubo punched Kurenai at the stomach making her fall off the bridge.
Naruto didn't have to think any other things, he ran after Kurenai who was on the process of falling. He jumped down to race forward to her body. Once he had held her safe, he changed their position so that he could break her fall since he knew that Kyuubi could heal him.
"Naruto..?" Kurenai managed to stutter. She could see her surroundings were upside down. It was until now that she remembered what that, that 'bastard' Ohkubo did to her. She noticed the position they were in.
'Oh no..! If we reach the bottom, Naruto-kun will receive the blow!' Kurenai thought as she tried to change it, but to no avail, Naruto was holding her tight; his eyes were closed as if waiting for the blow to occur.
Back with Kakashi and Zabuza, they managed to recover back in time and saw Naruto jumped down the bridge to catch Kurenai. Kakashi noticed Haku, Hinata, and Sasuke immobilized from where they stood. He immediately countered the said jutsu, freeing the three of them. Zabuza took his chance to challenge Ohkubo in an all-out kenjutsu match while Kakashi made sure that the others were okay.
With Shino, Kiba, and Sakura, they took notice that Inari was on top of a table, shouting for attention. Tsunami was telling Inari to go down from there but Inari was still shouting until he got everyone's fair attention.
"What's the matter with you?" A villager asked.
Inari just glared at the villager and said. "Listen up! Our friends are out there risking their lives just to save us. We should go there and help them!" Inari shouted.
"But what can we possibly do?" Another villager asked.
"We fight will all we've got!" Inari said. He could some villagers murmuring about something. Tazuna was about to say something when a villager yelled "let's show them what we've got!" Soon, there were people walking to the bridge. They could see Zabuza fighting with an enormous enemy even bigger than Zabuza.
In the meantime, Kurenai was in panic. Panic for her life and panic for Naruto. He hadn't responded in all of her callings. Kurenai could see the water below them clearly but something was off… they stopped just before they could hit the water. She could hear Naruto panting and above all she could see a pair of black wings at Naruto's back.
"Kurenai-sensei, how are you feeling?" Naruto asked as he shifted their position. They were floating above the water.
Kurenai hadn't answered yet she was still looking at his black wings.
"I take it that you're alright." She heard him say.
Soon, they were flying up to the bridge. Once they got there, they both saw Zabuza being thrown to the wooden railings again. Kakashi noticed Naruto's and Kurenai's presence but his line of sight was focused to Naruto who had a pair of black wings on his back.
Ohkubo noticed the blonde boy and the woman he abused awhile ago. He took this opportunity to charge at them. He tightened his grip on both of his axe. Kakashi noticed this. He was about to warn Naruto and Kurenai until…
"What the..?" Ohkubo said. In front of him was the said blonde and the woman, only, they were covered by the blonde boy's wings. Ohkubo moved back and saw the wings were slowly revealing Naruto with Kurenai. Naruto walked to Ohkubo who stepped back for every step Naruto did. "You…" Ohkubo heard Naruto say. Naruto took another step by the time his ankle reached the ground he vanished in thin air. Ohkubo was frankly looking everywhere. The only thing that he did see was a flash of yellow and black. Everybody saw Naruto spun vertically. Naruto managed to kick Ohkubo at the jaw two times as he spun.
Ohkubo immediately collected himself. He saw Naruto forming a set of hand seals and shouted "Raiton: Shuurai no Jutsu (Lightning Release: Lightning Strike Technique)!" The moment the technique was released, Ohkubo could see a dragon shaped lightning coming his way. Unfortunately for Ohkubo, the technique closes its target for a sure kill. As a result, Ohkubo lay lifeless on the floor while Naruto fell to his knees, unconscious, as his wings dissipated as well. At the very same moment, the villagers and other leaf ninjas came. They managed to witness how Naruto defeated the man before him, Ohkubo. After the bridge incident, the villagers decided to name the bridge as The Naruto Great Bridge much to Inari's perseverance.
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Nibankari: Aftermath
Noon, outside Konoha Hospital stood three people. The first one carried flowers in her arms. The second one carried plastic bags with bento boxes in it. The third one carried an orange book in his hand. Once they walked inside the said hospital, they went straight to the nurses' counter to ask for their friend/brother's room number. After a couple of minutes, they were at the third floor corridor. Of all the strange things that they had seen in their entire life was different from this one. Before them was Konohagakure no Sato's Sandaime Hokage, Sarutobi, listening/eavesdropping intently behind Uzumaki Naruto's Door.
"Hokage-sama, what are you doing?" Sandaime heard a woman's voice say.
By the time Sandaime turned, he saw Hatake Kakashi, Uzuki Yuugao, and Mitarashi Anko, looking at him with a questioning look on their faces. But before he could answer, Naruto's door swung open revealing Yuuhi Kurenai. She looked at the newcomers with a surprised/shocked expression on her face.
"Um… uh… Naruto-kun's awake now." Kurenai said.
With her statement, both purple-haired kunoichis and the Sandaime Hokage walked inside the room, leaving Kurenai with Kakashi and the closed door. Kakashi looked at Kurenai as if the said Copy Nin was trying to read Kurenai's eyes. From his opinion, there was something evident in those wine-red eyes maybe that was the reason why the Hokage was listening behind Naruto's door.
"Were you've been crying?" Kakashi asked.
Kurenai looked shocked as she faced the floor. "Of course NOT, what are you trying to say?" Kurenai asked.
"Nothing…" Kakashi paused. "Tell me, do you like my Otouto?" Kakashi asked as he stared at the ceiling.
"Huh… What?"
"I was thinking of the possible answers as why were you crying. I had three answers: First, Naruto's health became critical. Second, you were so worried for Naruto-kun's life just like back at Tazuna's house. While the third one was, you're afraid that Naruto will never come back to you ever again because you like him. But I doubt the first one, as we can see awhile ago that Naruto is okay. So now I am drop to my second and third answer. So where back to my original question again. Do you like my Otouto?" Kakashi said like it was a daily basis.
Kurenai was shrinking fast whether it was by embarrassment or something else. She looked at the floor once again.
'How come I can't answer this lame question?'
'Is it really lame? You did cry awhile ago.' Inner Kurenai said.
One Hour Before
In room 308, white sheets were slowly shifting. The person beside the one on the bed had a worried look on her face. Her wine-red eyes had a sore look in it making it puffy. The one on the bed was slowly turning and shifting on his bed. The one beside him could hear some murmuring sounds that she couldn't comprehend. On her seat, she saw the one she was watching slowly sat up looking at her as she looked at him as well. The next thing this watcher knew her eyes started to water up as she pulled the one on the bed into a hug.
"Kurenai-sensei, what's wrong?" The one on the bed asked as he returned the hug.
While this watcher was crying, she too was asking herself why she was crying. She gently pulled apart and said. "I-I'm sorry… I think I'll go outside for awhile." Kurenai said quickly as she moved to the door. It only revealed Anko, Yuugao, Kakashi, and the Hokage.
Present Time
Kurenai sighed. Of all the times her inner self had to show up, why her? "What are you saying, Kakashi?" Kurenai whispered still looking at the floor.
Kakashi smiled. "Piece of advice, try to sort out your feelings before moving in to action." Kurenai looked at Kakashi as he open Naruto's door, leaving her behind.
"Nii-san! Did you bring any of my clothes?" Naruto asked.
"Why bother? Have you looked at yourself on the mirror?" Kakashi said.
"What? Are you stating that I became fat?" Naruto asked which caused Sandaime to chuckle.
"No, from what I can remember you were just around four feet high but now you're almost as tall as Shino, if not, maybe even taller than him." Kakashi said.
"You're kidding me right, how can I become that ta…" Naruto stopped as he saw himself on the mirror with wide eyes. "I think I'll go to the bathroom." Naruto said.
Meanwhile inside the bathroom, Naruto was mentally talking with Kyuubi.
"Hey Kit, what's up?" Kyuubi asked as his jailor was practically racing inside the bathroom.
'What do you mean "what's up" what did you do to me?' Naruto asked.
"Oh that! I just messed with your height and etc that's all. I have to admit that Ayeka lady did pull a lot of strings around you." Kyuubi said like it was a normal thing to say.
Unfortunately for Naruto, he had the urge to faint or to scream. Now fainting would not be a good idea same with screaming as well. After a couple of minutes, he walked back to his room, were a nurse came in with a paper bag in hand and a bouquet of flowers on the other hand.
"You must be Uzumaki Naruto. A package from the counter was delivered awhile ago and here's the note." The nurse said as she was um… checking up on the said patient's well-toned body in Anko's opinion. "It came with the clothes and flowers as well." The nurse added. Soon she left the patient's room for another duty.
The moment the word 'clothes' came out from the nurse's lips, all of the visitors were looking at each other that meant 'that was strange'. They all took noticed that Naruto was smiling as he saw the note. Both Kakashi and Anko got curious who could possibly give Naruto a new set of clothes and a bouquet of 'red' flowers. At the same time, they both took the card from Naruto but when they were about to read it they were thinking the same thing.
'A blank note..?'
"What?" Naruto asked with a smirk on his face.
"Is this some kind of a trick, eh Naruto?" Anko asked.
"Give me that." Kakashi said as he activated his Sharingan to see if there was any genjutsu place on the note but he didn't found one.
"There's a genjutsu placed on that note." Naruto said.
"How did you know? I didn't even detect it with my Sharingan!" Kakashi said.
Naruto chuckled while Anko raised an eyebrow, waiting for an answer. "How shall I say this… it's a complicated genjutsu all you have to do is to drop a part of the original receiver's blood of that note." Naruto said in a matter-of-fact kind of way.
Yuugao was watching this, obviously intrigued while Sandaime was left sitting on his chair. Naruto was at the front. Anko was about to sliced a part of Naruto's skin but Kakashi and Yuugao stopped the Tokubetsu Jounin before her kunai was about to scratch the blonde's skin.
"What? Naruto-kun said in order to dispel that genjutsu it need Naruto-kun's blood." Anko said.
"It needs a droplet not a cup of blood." Yuugao said but before everyone started to rumble again. Sandaime made his presence known again.
"/AHEM/ Naruto, I'm sure they won't mind if you show them that note later." Sarutobi said but then continued. "There's something I want to see that is if you want Anko-chan and Yuugao-chan to see it as well."
Kakashi knew what was the Hokage was talking about. Probably, that was his main reason why Sandaime was here aside from visiting Naruto. Naruto looked at Kakashi who nodded in response. Naruto sighed and then he took off his shirt. Unknown to him, he got the women's attention through the way Naruto's body moved making his newly formed six packs, courtesy of Ayeka's training, move slowly. He turned his back, revealing his black wings to everybody else. Naruto turned around again to face everyone this time. Nobody had noticed his progress because of his baggy jumpsuit so the ones before him were either speechless or surprised.
"Tell me something that I don't know, Sandaime-jiji. How did I get these wings?" Naruto asked.
"/sighs/ Naruto, those wings came from your Mother's Bloodline. It is in their only lineage to have wings. Unfortunately, her family and clan were slowly vanishing from existence even before the Kyuubi attacked. For now, you are the only one who has that unique bloodline limit. I'm sorry to tell, but I don't know any way to develop your "Kurotenshi Tsubasa (Wings of the Dark Angel)" it's what your Mother's family calls it BUT there's someone that I know who can… hopefully." Sarutobi said which earn him a smile from Naruto.
"A-ano… Sandaime-jiji, do you know who are my parents?" Naruto said.
"Your Mother's name is Yakumo Mizuho; she died giving birth to you. I'm sorry, I can't tell you everything for now I hope you can understand, Naruto-kun." Sarutobi said looking at the blonde.
Naruto gave a small smile and said. "It's better than nothing, right? Besides, I'm sure you'll tell me everything that I need to know when the time comes."
"One more thing, am I allowed to use these wings in the public's eyes?" Naruto asked.
"Seeing that you've activated it in front of your fellow leaf nins, why not? Besides, rumors fly faster than hawks do." Sandaime said with a grin.
Naruto, on the other hand, gave the old man one of his famous fox grins.
"Can we please read that note?" Anko said breaking the moment.
Sarutobi had a visible sweat drop at the back of his head; he just sighed and muttered something about a childish woman. The moment Naruto let a droplet of his blood sink in to the paper; the red stain became the note's ink. Before them was the note's message for them it was kind of written in a different language but Naruto said it was a form of secret messaging and all you have to do was to place the note in front of a mirror. The reflection in the mirror revealed the note's message that said:
Hey there Gaki,
Sorry I can't deliver the clothes my self. But rests assure that I'll be back in the village just like what I've promised you before. Your clothes should fit you well and thank the Kamis that you won't be wearing those horrid-flashy-orange jumpsuits of yours. The color is making me want to burn them with a Katon jutsu, seriously. You'll see me when you'll see me.
Your sensei,
Ayeka
Naruto smiled as he read the note. 'Ayeka-sensei hadn't forgotten her humor.' He thought. He let the note beside the flowers and picked up the new set of clothes Ayeka had given him. After a couple of minutes, everybody saw a new Naruto, who was clad in beige pants and red long sleeved shirt that was hugging his broad shoulders fairly while his hitai-ate was tied at his forehead. This new Naruto now look more advance than the ones in his age group, he no longer had his puppy fats, he grew some of his hair, and most of all he looked like a spitting image of his father.
"Is there something on my face?" Naruto asked.
"Ladies, please stop drooling over my little brother." Kakashi said.
Sarutobi chuckled. "I think I'll go sign your discharge papers. Would you rather come with me, Naruto-kun?" Sandaime said.
"Hai, Oji-san..!" Naruto said as he quickly took the bouquet of red flowers in his arms. He was the one who was practically close to the door. By the time he opened the said door, it revealed Kurenai leaning on the said door. Due to the law of physics, what comes up must come down, right? In a swift moment, Naruto caught Kurenai, one arm at the neck and the other was at her waist, hugging her with the bouquet of 'red' flowers in the process. Kurenai was only supported by Naruto's arms and both of her legs. Unfortunately/fortunately, Kurenai slipped, making Naruto's lips fall down to Kurenai's.
(I told you what comes up must come down!)
"Wow Naruto, I didn't know you had it in you." Anko said. With her statement Naruto and Kurenai pulled away fast, both blushing. Naruto was looking at the ceiling then to the window with flushed cheeks by the way, while Kurenai was looking at her trusty floor with red cheeks.
'Like how many times had I looked at the floor?' She asked herself.
Sarutobi chuckled again but this time it was louder than before. "Ha-ha… what would Gai-san say if he saw this?" Sandaime said.
"He'll burst out talking something about the flames of youth is burning within you!" Anko said as she made a good guy pose.
After the good five minutes of laughter, they started walking to the lobby of the hospital. In the front were Sandaime and Naruto who was carrying a bouquet of red flowers which gave him looks from the nurses in the hallways. At the back were, Kakashi who was back to reading his orange book and Kurenai who was back looking at the floor. In front of them were, Anko and Yuugao who were looking at the blonde in front of them.
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Author's Note/s: Yosh! (Raises fist at the air) Another chapter done! Hope you all like it… This is my longest chapter ever and I would never try to exceed this far. It beat my chapter 2 which was close to 5,000 words. I would like to thank antiassansinguy for helping me out with the idea for naming Naruto-kun's first bloodline for this chapter.
Next Chapter Feature/s: It will feature the Chuunin arc and something else or vice versa. Well, since I really don't want to spoil almost everything I'll just shut my mouth now ('x') Oh before I do shut my self please do send me a review or two. Your reviews are widely appreciated!
Disclaimer: Naruto is not mine.