Chapter Four: Social Lessons

"I still can't believe you killed three children when you were eight! Why didn't the Hokage stop your training when he realized how unstable you were?"

I sigh at him, shaking my head as I shuffle the report down the pile. I would show him, but doing that would ruin the surprise.

"Answering that question would spoil a lot of the interesting stuff. I'll answer, all in due time, but take a look at this." I sign, handing him a different file.

Classification Level: S

Report: 182-XND-L57

Subjects: Shingi Huang

Crime: The kidnapping, imprisonment, and systematic torture of Naruto Uzumaki in hopes to drive him towards mental instability.

Motivation: Several personal documents the team has located suggest that he was torturing Uzumaki for revenge; not revenge against the boy himself, but revenge against current Hokage Hiruzen Sarutobi. A few mention an extreme mix of anger, regret, and sorrow over -. Other documents relate how he had to -, and how he - to -. A few other documents mention how he was going to locate and join Orochimaru after he finished with Uzumaki, because -.

Status of Criminal: Died in the explosion of his residence, remains recovered. The investigation team discovered that- (The rest of the document is obscured in black ink.)

"An incidence report."

"One supplied by the Councils of Konoha."

"I thought you were on good terms. Why did they cover this file in black ink?"

"They didn't, I did." I answer, the Chronicler looking at me.

"Why?"

"Because I wanted to show you early on that they investigated my torture and kidnapping extensively, but didn't want the report to spoil my story."

That provokes a smile from the man, "Are you some sort of master storyteller now?"

"Why remain mediocre when you can become one of the best? I have little else to do since I retired. Although, this story in particular... I don't really like telling it."

"Why?"

"Because it reminds me that I was a young tool. Whenever I reflect on my childhood or think of my rise through Konoha my mood sours. I can't help but think of a thousand different ways I could have done something differently, from dealing with Koyuka to simple things like picking up a rock."

"That seems a little self critical."

"I killed three teens before I realized girls weren't just men with boobs." I pointed out, earning a weird combination of a grin and cringe, "If I could rewrite my life I wouldn't be here now."

"What would your wife say to that?"

"That she understands but is glad things turned out the way they did. We've had this conversation before."

The Chronicler nods then retrieves his pad and pencil, ready to continue.

"If it wouldn't be to much of a problem, could every once and a while I switch to a different story? I already want to go back in time and smack some sense into myself."

"How about at the end of every interview?"

"That will work."

0o0o0o0o0o

Three punches; two to the chest, one to the gut. Duck under his sword as he swings it, counter with a strong punch to the kidney. Jump over another sword and bludgeon him in the head with the heel of a foot, breaking his neck on impact.

I landed in a crouch, my blonde bangs framing my face and hiding it in shadow.

A lull in the battle, they watched me tentatively as they wait for me to make the next move.

Silence.

"Why did you stop moving?" a lazy voice abruptly asked, "There won't be any 'dramatic pauses' in a real fight, giving you time to come up with a new plan. If you tried this outside of a cheap action movie someone would come up behind you and chop your little head off."

I felt a tingling sensation go through my neck, the tell-tale sign of an illusionary sword cutting through me.

"Just like that!"

I sighed.

It had been a few weeks since Kakashi ordered me to take a few days off. Time had passed rather slowly that week without any training, so when the day finally came that I could continue I threw myself back into the regime.

The genjutsu reset itself. A field previously draped with countless unconscious and motionless bodies vanished, replaced by a horde of grinning bandits. All brandished various weapons of many shapes and sizes, all surrounding me.

"Again," Kakashi grunted, "and this time let's see if you don't kill anyone."

I rolled out of the way as a bandit behind me swung, similar to a man chopping wood, a huge claymore. Without looking at him I kicked out and heard the realistic sound of a knee snapping, feeling bone and sinew cave in under-foot.

I launched myself at another bandit before the injured one had a chance to cry out. I buried my fist into the man's imaginary gut to drive the breath from his false lungs, swiftly following it up with a chop to the neck. As that one crumpled, I felt one bandit swing a crudely cut club at my head. I hopped back to avoid it, only to parry an incoming sword with the knife hidden within my sleeve.

The club wielding one swung again, forcing me to duck. It sailed over my head, hearing it solidly connect something with a crack and a body hit the ground.

"And that's the first death, but you didn't do it so it doesn't really count."

A kick here, duck there, deflect, parry, flourish, duck again, a kick in gut. I came face to face with a giant wearing some shiny steel armor and swinging around an ax the size of a small man.

"If you ask me this guy is compensating for something." Kakashi cheerfully supplied from thin air.

I nearly rolled my eyes, dodging a horizontal swipe and taking the giant down with a single punch to his exposed face.

"You're having no trouble, are you? Maybe I should move you onto something tougher but I have other plans for today. Speaking of which..."

The illusion dissolved, all bloodthirsty societal lowlifes vanishing to reveal the my training clearing. A babbling brook, a series of somehow indestructible training logs, a small lake and a couple of weapons targets off to the side- all surrounded by a thick ring of trees- seemed innocuous to the untrained eye. However something new appeared while I practiced under the genjutsu, namely a boy around my age whom felt familiar somehow. He wore a blue shirt with matching pants, an expression of forced indifference, and a mop of black hair that stuck up in the back.

The boy shifted from foot to foot, "So..." he drawled, looking around, "When are you going to teach me?"

A great first impression.

Kakashi slowly closed his book, "It's not good manners to just ignore people." he droned, sounding completely and utterly bored, "First, I want you to introduce yourself to the blonde midget you just saw jumping around the clearing like a toddler who drank a whole gallon of soda."

The boy frowned slightly, before forcing his face to indifference once more. Without taking his eyes off the older man he addressed me, "My name is Sasuke Uchiha." and left it at that.

Kakashi grunted, "It's rude not to look at people when you talk to them."

Sasuke, apparently, scowled lightly before turning to me and once again saying, "My name is Sasuke Uchiha."

"I'm Naruto Uzumaki." I swiftly replied, making the other boy's eyebrows shoot up in surprise.

"Is he deaf?" Sasuke asked tactfully, looking back to Kakashi.

Kakashi seemed to frown behind his mask, "It's also rude to talk about people as if they're not there."

Sasuke lowered his head a bit, then turned back to me, "Are you deaf?"

I shook my head, watching him closely.

"...Anyway." Kakashi cheerfully began, making Sasuke turn back, "You asked me when I was going to teach you. However, in order to teach you, I need to know what you currently know, so I want you and my apprentice to fight to the death."

Kakashi delivered that line with such seriousness, such a blank expression, that a look of horror crossed Sasuke's face.

"Or until one of you gets knocked senseless, or injured, or forfeits..." the older man added almost as an afterthought, waving vaguely in one direction, "Really, as much as I'd love to have two pre-pubescent boys kill each other for my amusement, the lawsuits would be a real pain."

Sasuke blinked as he absorbed this... information of sorts, "Just how," he suddenly demanded, "did you become my sensei?!"

"Too many sexual favors than I can count," Kakashi happily retorted without skipping a beat, "and let me tell you, I'm still tired."

Sasuke blinked, and I looked between them indifferently. Being the children we were we had no idea what he meant. Once puberty hit though...

"Naruto," Kakashi continued casually, "if you lose this- you know what? I'm just going to leave it up to your imagination."

I imagined that another week off would be my prize if I lost. So I settled into a loose versatile stance and waited for the fight to start.

"Begin."

I didn't waste any time, beginning with a swift spring kick aimed at his head. He dodged, showing more skill than I thought him capable of. Not discouraged in the slightest, I twirled around and jabbed at him several times; some connected, but the rest he dodged, deflected or blocked competently. I imagine he thought he wouldn't last much longer in close quarters, as Sasuke tried to put some distance between us.

Hopping around several times to do just that he scowled when I didn't let up, following him without hesitation and continuing to deliver calculated blow after blow. We did this several times, making me quickly grow tired of this game. I deliberately let a weakness creep into my form and I saw a flash in his eyes as he took the bait.

He swung, breaking through my guard and hitting me in the stomach. I remember thinking that he hit pathetically, with barely enough force to drive a breath from my lungs. I pretended to double over and he predictably went in for the kill, with what he probably imagined to be a devastating uppercut to my chin.

I switched out with a log to disorient him, sending his eyes wide in shock since I didn't use any seals. Before Sasuke could blink I swept him off his feet from behind. He landed on the ground on his side, and I flicked my knife into my hand and pressed it against his throat to discourage any resistance.

Back then he was just another kid from the ninja academy; weak, stupid, arrogant, and so sure of his superiority. The best of the bunch, but that didn't mean much after I humbled him so easily.

A year earlier he would have destroyed me. Six months into my apprenticeship we would have tied. A whole year in, he didn't stand a chance, such was the intensity of my-our- instruction.

"Decently done, both of you." Kakashi commented lazily, watching us both, "Naruto, get that knife away from his neck."

I pulled the cold steel from his neck, leaping off the ground and onto my feet. Sasuke got up moments later, Kakashi motioning him over.

"Now, I have a lot of questions for you before I start teaching you." he grunted, "First off..."

The next few hours Kakashi asked Sasuke questions of all sorts. He answered some confidently, others hesitantly, while a few confused him and left he fumbling weak answers. I listened at first and silently answered the questions myself then went off by to work on whatever came to mind, namely sharpening my blade.

The day went by quickly and at the end Kakashi gave him a set of weights to wear day and night until he got used to them. For a few minutes after I did chakra exercises in silence, trying to come up with how to broach the subject.

I stopped suddenly, turning to my master and signing, "Are you sure this is a good idea?"

Kakashi answered without looking up from his book, "Are you concerned that me teaching another will slow down your training?"

"Yes."

"You don't need to worry, I can juggle a few things at once."

"But he's so weak, why are you wasting time on him?"

"He's stronger than you when I first trained you," he commented, turning a page, "and I get the feeling he'll catch up quickly. Besides, as you are now you'd be a decent challenge to any new genin, did you expect an academy student to pose much of a threat to you?"

"...No, not really."

"Then you fail."

0o0o0o0o0o

"Alright." Kakashi droned the next day. Taking a blocky timer and winding it he dismissively tossed it somewhere in the grass, "That is set to go off at three in the afternoon; when we finish today's training."

"Why are we ending it so soon?" Sasuke challenged, eyes narrowing, "Yesterday you said we'd be training all day! I can't get stronger if we slack off all the time!"

Though I silently agreed- unwilling to air my annoyance in such a loud way- I felt irritated at what I perceived as whining.

The older man eyed him evenly, intoning, "I'm going to let that narcissistic comment slide since you don't have any idea what my training is like."

Kakashi took off the backpack resting on his shoulders. Flipping off the lid, he grabbed one of many small, orange balls and tossed it up and down in one hand. "This," he informed, "is your first day of training. With your weights on, I'm going to throw these at you while you dodge."

He threw the ball with a weak underhand throw; which Sasuke step-sided easily, "This is the advanced training you told me about?!" he demanded, "I can do this at home! What about jutsu? I need something that will completely destroy people!"

"Typical, you children are always on about learning flashy and wasteful jutsu." Kakashi retorted, throwing another ball, "What you kids don't understand is that you can't build a house without a foundation. What good will knowing a jutsu that can level a city when a single kunai thrown by some canon fodder ninja can and will kill you? Balance, boy, that's what all ninjas should work on first."

"Can't we do something else?" Sasuke asked.

"We're working on your speed, evasion, and a whole slew of other valuable skills." the man insisted, tossing another ball.

"Can't we do that someway else?" Sasuke repeated, louder..

Kakashi paused in his ball throwing, fixing Sasuke with a lazy look, "It seems you appear unconvinced." he droned, "So, to prove you wrong; I heard that the Uchiha's rite of passage is learning the Grand Fireball Jutsu, do you know it?"

I heard Sasuke answer a little unhappily, "Kinda."

"Is that a yes, or no?"

"I know it, it's just... weak."

'Like you.' I thought unhelpfully, practicing taijutsu on a log.

"So you need to work on it," I heard Kakashi counter, "big deal, it'll serve the lesson's purpose. Now, what I want you to do is use it on me."

"What?"

"Did I stutter? I told you to use it on me."

"But, I don't want to hurt you."

I scoffed silently, cracking my fists against the log.

"Who said I'd let it hurt me?" Kakashi pointed out, "Now this time I'm ordering you; use it on me."

I looked over and saw the Uchiha shuffle from foot to foot uneasily, before raising his hands in preparation to cast a jutsu. He hesitated, then made the first sign.

Kakashi threw another ball almost lazily, but somehow fast enough that Sasuke didn't notice until it weakly bounced off his forehead. "That," he droned, "was a kunai and now you're dead. When you commit to a course of action, no matter how much time it takes you to decide what, follow it through with confidence; for the slightest of hesitation can cost you your life. Now try again."

Sasuke scowled, speeding through hand-seals as fast as he could. However, before he could finish even the first, Kakashi threw another ball; much faster than I had ever seen him throw anything before. It slammed into Sasuke's belly and violently cracked out, forcing the breath from his body. He collapsed, clutching his stomach.

It took a while for him to recover, being as 'weak' as he was. Once he finally did Sasuke saw Kakashi waiting patiently. Eying him with the same, inscrutable expression, he walked over to him and helped him up.

"Do you now see why I still want you to work on your dodging speed?" Kakashi asked, walking back to his pack, "You're rather well trained for your age, but a real ninja would have been more than capable of dodging that child's toy. Now, if you're ready to start training."

Sasuke nodded, rubbing his belly. Kakashi eye-smiled, throwing another ball with one hand and making an odd sign behind his back with his other. Sasuke dodged this one easily as well, only to frantically jump out of the way when something only he could see shot at him with breakneck speed.

Kakashi stood up, walking over me, "You're practically waiting with bated breath to see what I have for you to do today, aren't ya?" he dully declared, "Well, I got just the thing for you. Did you know that every single hand-sign has a one-handed variant?"

I shook my head, wondering why such a thing would matter until I connected a few things; namely what Kakashi just did with the genjutsu. I smirked at the possibilities.

You're not all that familiar with chakra theory are you? I suppose I can spare a moment to explain; hand-signs are necessary to cast jutsu and focus the body's chakra in certain ways, that's why thousands of them exist. For example, to cast a decent fireball you need to use the sign for fire, a sign for shape, another to send it through the air, another to keep it together as it flies, one that determines where the fireball comes from, and the last one to make it explode on impact, burn through your target, dissipate, or whatever you want to make it do.

Of course with enough practice you would get used to molding chakra enough to shorten the chain of signs from six to five, five to four and so on. That's why many ninja clans that rely on secret techniques rather than bloodlines train their children so extensively in jutsu. If their ninja need only one or two hand-signs to cast their clan jutsu, they can use them freely without anybody stealing them.

What Kakashi taught me revolutionized my use of jutsu for my entire life. Instead of using two hands for a single sign I could form two signs at a time, cutting the casting time in half. This gave me, and later Sasuke, an incredible edge over the many who used the regular variant- as single handed signing wasn't that common.

"Glad to see that you're excited! Now, just let me show you them in the same order I first taught you... Got that?" he asked, smiling, "Good! Now, you need to practice these extensively because they aren't as potent at casting jutsu as the two-handed ones, at first. Once you master them they'll be just as good at channeling chakra as two-handed. Once you master this first set, I'll teach you the next, and the next, and the next until you know them all. With what I have in mind for your future lessons, mastering them is essential."

"Why does he get to go through the dodging genjutsu on the first day?" I asked, looking over at Sasuke. It wasn't that I was jealous, I couldn't care less about him then, it's just that I had to go through quite a bit of training before I went through it.

I also wondered why he didn't cast a genjutsu on me rather than beat my testicles with a wooden sword for a few months.

"Simple, my young apprentice." Kakashi drawled, "He has years of clan and academy training while you started off as some random civilian boy. So while you work on you work on one handed jutsu, I'm going to sit under that big shady tree over there and read my favorite book."

I walked up to one of the multiple enhanced training logs, ducking slightly when Sasuke flew over my head- chased by some illusionary weapon. I quickly made a couple seals using both hands and blew a long, thin tongue of flame at the log. I held it for a few seconds, warming my face and blowing my hair around lightly, then released it.

I took a moment to examine the training log and noted that, where the flames connected, it left a small, smoldering gouge- one already fading before my eyes. Not a moment after I stopped the damage vanished without a trace, myself casting the same jutsu using only one hand.

It materialized once more, thinner and shorter; the log out of reach by more than an arm's length. I released it again, frowning.

Looks like I had yet another thing to work on every day.

The day passed swiftly for me, as they always did. I steadily grew more proficient with one-handed seals in the nine hours of training I had. The tongue of flame grew thicker and longer the more I trained, but even by the end of the day it didn't touch the log. I only paused training to eat and drink and as a consequence sweated buckets, my clothes reeking with the smell of success.

Even with my simple task my advanced weights made me work for every movement.

Sasuke on the other hand collapsed a mere two hours into his new training regime and fell asleep. What Kakashi saw in him I couldn't hazard a guess, it was beyond me.

The kid was lazy, that much I thought I saw. A simple dodging exercise with three weights tired him out of all things. I didn't like to brag, but I had half again my own weight on me at the start of the day. Then my master tripled it after I whined about Sasuke again.

As the timer ringed I took a clumsy step and fell face first when my ankle popped to the side.

'Oh... can't breathe...'

Having two-hundred and seventy pounds strapped to your body had a few drawbacks until you got used to it. Until then you felt like your entire body slowly killed itself.

Despite how quickly I grew in strength there were times when I wanted to rip that giggling shit's head off and just leave that damn village. The only thing that stopped me was the knowledge that they'd have ANBU on my ass within minutes, and the fact I wouldn't betray my grandfather. Oh yeah, and Kakashi would have destroyed me with his little finger.

The source of my ire helped me up, "No time to relax, Naruto, we've got to get somewhere and get a job to do something."

"Think you can lighten my weights a little?"

He shrugged casually, "I think I can; but no, I won't."

I frowned, "What about the Uchiha?"

Kakashi raised his arm, showing off the pail of water he'd been carrying, "What do you think this bucket of ice cold water is for?" he asked, dumping it all over Sasuke.

Sasuke sputtered and flailed around before freezing and moaning painfully, "Ohhhh... I hurt in places I didn't know could hurt."

Kakashi rolled his eye, bending over and putting a small capsule in his Sasuke's mouth, "Chew."

Sasuke readily obliged, too tired to refuse. I waited, knowing what would happen. His muscles would remain cramped for a moment, aching worse than he thought possible; then a gentle warmth would seep through his limbs, swiftly reinvigorating him to the point where he could easily pick himself off the ground- which he did.

"What did you give me?" Sasuke asked.

"I'll tell you on the way to the Hokage tower." Kakashi droned, walking away without a care.

0o0o0o0o0o

"What do you have-" Kakashi paused, looking the missions clerk right in the eye, "I don't remember your face, you new here?"

The man nodded almost timidly, his long brown hair waving a greeting, "My name is-"

"Hiruzonu?"

"...no, it's Kara."

Kakashi rubbed his chin, "Hmmm... why does that name fill me with dread?" a moment passed, then he shrugged to himself. "Well, I hope your first day working here has been fun so far. What sort of missions do you have on hand?"

Kara fidgeted behind his desk, "Um... if you're a jonin sensei, why do you have only two," he eyed us, "very young students?"

Kakashi responded cheerfully "That, my boy, is where you're wrong. I'm not a jonin sensei, but a master, and these," he gestured to us, "are my apprentices."

He turned his head, smiling, and ordered, "Show him your cards, my cute little soldiers."

We reached into our respective pockets and produced two nearly identical pieces of plastic. Both had information of dubious importance including: name, birth-date, apprenticeship rank, blood type, and other tidbits. Both came with photographs that made the missions clerk shift uneasily. In each a young boy stared impassively at the camera, eyes completely devoid of the childish glee that should have glinted like a beacon.

If not for the obvious differences one would easily assume us brothers.

We had apprenticeship cards; cards we could show at any Ninja store to get access to items reserved for academy students and genin ranked ninja, and at a substantial discount too. Had some sort of special material in them that made the cards impossible to counterfeit, helps keep a few greedy and corrupt merchant families from buying real "Ninja Toys" for their children.

After all, it wouldn't do to have irresponsible children- with even more irresponsible parents- run around with various stabbing, slashing, or exploding implements. Those childishly serious arguments about who poked whom first would become... problematic.

Kakashi happily declared, "My name's Kakashi Hatake, I should be on the Master's List."

The clerk looked down and flipped through his pile of papers, "Ah, yes, here you are. So," he nervously looked back at him, "you want a D rank mission, right?"

"If I can't get a higher ranked one," Kakashi smiled, "then yes."

Kara flipped through a few papers, "Um... there's one here about babysi-"

"Nope."

"...There's another one here." Kara lifted a paper timidly, "It's a simple retrieval mission."

Kakashi took the paper, reading the description, then grunted neutrally, "I suppose this will do." Turning on his heel he marched out the front door, the two of us trailing after.

"What are we supposed to go after?" Sasuke asked, trying to sound bored, "It better not be anything stupid, like some civilian cat stuck up a tree."

I scoffed, silently agreeing but unwilling to admit it to the weakling, "It's still a mission and we still need to do it."

Sasuke grunted, seeming to have little trouble reading my rapid signing. I wondered how for a moment then dismissed it as unimportant.

"It may seem like something simple," Kakashi stated, suddenly grave as we exited the city through the main gates, "but things are not always what they seem. Keep cool, use your brains, and you may get out of this mission alive."

Sasuke cocked an eyebrow, while I simply asked, "What's the mission?"

"You are to retrieve a potentially dangerous animal alive." my master answered, scanning the forest and ignoring the crowd bustling past us.

"What sort of animal?"

Kakashi handed me the mission paper, two sheets stapled together. I read the instructions quickly, Sasuke trying to do so over my shoulder, then flipped the page to show a picture of our target.

Sasuke snorted incredulously, "A rabbit?" he demanded, voice rising in pitch, "Our mission to retrieve a 'potentially dangerous animal' is chasing after a rabbit?"

"Bunny." Kakashi corrected gravely, "You two are retrieving a bunny."

"What's the difference?"

Kakashi waved vaguely, "The mission file called it that, of course." he countered dispassionately, as if it was obvious, "Need to follow the mission file. Just don't let its fluffiness fool you, for all you know, it can breath fire."

Sasuke grunted, taking a few steps away from me and massaging his forehead.

"Now, get to it boys."

0o0o0o0o0o

"Is that our target?" Sasuke demanded, trying not to let his irritation show and failing miserably. That soldier pill Kakashi gave him worked for a little while. It revitalized him, yes- in fact he still brimmed with energy. The chemicals relaxing his screaming muscles faded away awhile ago. He needed a hot bath to help with that and the stink seeping through his clothes judging from what wafted my way.

I silently examined the bunny from our bushes- it had fluffy white fur, a black spot over one eye, and a small, furry tail. I looked back at the picture again and nodded, they looked exactly alike.

Sasuke grunted, "Good." stood up and stumbled out of the bushes, irritably approaching the bunny.

I grabbed onto his arm and swung him around, "The report said it could be dangerous. Don't just walk up to it like an idiot."

Sasuke tore himself away, "It's just a stupid bunny!" he growled, "Maybe if you actually used that head of yours, like your stupid master told you to, you'd realize that its not dangerous."

I kept my face neutral.

"I wasted an hour looking for this thing, and I'm not spending another minute chasing after this retarded, ugly, rabbit!" Sasuke growled, red-faced and furious.

That was the last straw.

The bunny (because rabbits are a completely different, thank you) launched itself at Sasuke's unprotected backside. The only thing I saw that warned me was a white blur and a shrill war cry.

Sasuke screamed, hands flailing as he whirled around and almost hit me in the face. The sudden movement made the bunny lose it's grip and fly at a tree. As he fell to the ground, hands clutching his shredded pants and bleeding rump, the bunny righted itself in midair and landed on the tree- feet first. Not even sparing a glance at Sasuke or I it plopped back onto the ground and hopped off into the forest, innocent and carefree.

I critically eyed Sasuke's moaning form on the ground, looked at the retreating bunny, and back at Sasuke. I sighed, fumbling through my pockets with a tinge of annoyance crossing my face.

'Now, where did I put those bandages...'

0o0o0o0o0o

'Maybe I should have left him and caught the thing on my own?' I thought, watching Sasuke at work.

He hunched over a particularly fascinating looking broken twig. In the thirty minutes since the bunny vanished he had refused to so much as look at me. It wasn't that the trail left by the bunny was difficult to follow, in fact my eyes could follow the trail for a good twenty yards before I lost sight of it, but an entirely different, fluffy reason.

Sasuke confirmed it himself when he stood back up and continued following the trail, saying over his shoulder, "Don't say anything."

I almost responded out of instinct, but stopped when I reminded myself Sasuke wasn't Kakashi. So, I sped up and tapped him on his shoulder

Sasuke snarled, whirling around, "What do you want to say?" he demanded heatedly.

Ignoring my 'friend's' anger, I simply responded, "How can a mute man say anything?"

"What's the point of correcting me about a stupid figure of speech?"

I sighed mentally. It had become a habit of sorts, Kakashi often purposely misinterpreted things I said in odd ways; so I needed to spell out things in clear language to get my point across. It developed to the point where I started correcting others, even the old man during his sparse visits, in conversations.

To answer I simply quoted my master, "Unclear communication can result in very undesirable outcomes." and left it at that.

Sasuke snorted, "That one of your stupid master's sayings?"

I retorted casually, "Yes but its not stupid. We're off topic, though, this time- when we catch up to the bunny, how about you put it in a genjutsu a-"

"It's just a stupid bunny! I don't see why we need to do anything more than grab it." Sasuke growled, kicking at a rock, "Besides, I don't know any genjutsu."

"You underestimated it before, you got bit in the ass. I might not be nice enough to give you my bandages next time. How about this, w-"

Sasuke snarled through grit teeth, "I said. Don't. Say. Anything." spun around, and stomped after the trail the bunny left behind. I sighed silently, air hissing out my throat as I exhaled, then followed.

As young as I was I hadn't developed my infamous silver tongue- so we traveled without a word after that.

It took another hour to catch up to the bunny again. This time when we found it Sasuke didn't bother with overrated stealth (even though he was supposed to be a ninja apprentice). He simply walked up to it and glared at it hatefully. It mockingly twitched, scrunched, twiddled -whatever the hell bunnies do with their nose- at him, eliciting a deep growl.

"I'm going to make you pay for the embarrassment you caused me!" he shouted, roughly closing his hands in around it.

I rolled my eyes, accompanied by a silent snort after the bunny danced through my 'friend's' fingers.

Sasuke growled again, diving after the bunny as it tried hopping away. For a brief moment it looked like he would actually catch it, but then it jumped into the air -over Sasuke's outstretched hands as he slid over the grass and dirt- and landed on his head. It shook its cotton tail, amused, and hopped off into the forest again.

However I was ready this time. Instead of crudely jumping after it like Sasuke insisted on doing I whipped out a large black bundle with small weights hanging from it. Just as the bunny jumped from Sasuke's head I tossed the bundle, it unfurling into a net.

For a moment it seemed that the net would work. It enclosed around the bunny, but then it vanished. One moment it had been there hopping away, the next no trace of it remained. I quickly scanned the woods around me but saw nothing other than trees.

Sasuke slowly got up, spitting out dirt and bits of grass, a fire in his eyes, "I. Hate. That. Rabbit."

"Bunny."

0o0o0o0o0o

"Where is this bunny supposed to be?" demanded Sasuke, growling, as we scoured the forest, "We haven't seen it in hours!"

True.

"The trail we've been following is gone now!"

Also true, I had to admit.

"We should just go back and tell him we failed the mission."

I frowned, while I admitted that the situation looked hopeless the thought of returning after eight hours of tracking- empty handed- left a bad taste in my mouth.

If either of us bothered to look up through the forest canopy we would have seen the moon looming over us, shining light in a starry sky. It stabbed light through the canopy and into the ground, eerily illuminating the forest as crickets and frogs sang their respective music.

Sasuke grunted as if agreeing with himself on his last statement, "All this noise!" he grunted, "How are we supposed to hear that bunny while we're tracking it?"

I doubted his ears were as good as that, but kept that thought to myself as I ignored the swift drop in temperature.

A moment of silence, "Well? Aren't you going to say anything?"

I turned to him, raising an eyebrow and making Sasuke snort and wave me off, "Yeah, yeah- mute man can't talk and all that."

I frowned "You've got quite the short fuse, if I may say that."

Let it be known that oftentimes even the most extraordinary of children are completely tactless. After all, no matter how skilled or gifted a child is, chances are he or she is going to have a problem with a little something called patience.

Sasuke paused, narrowing his eyes at me before continuing walking, "How would like having to jump around for two hours straight, wearing twenty pounds in weights?"

"I wouldn't mind," I answered honestly, "in fact I'd consider it a break. Right now I'm wearing two-hundred and seventy pounds of weights."

"I don't believe you." he challenged.

"I don't care. In the end I'm stronger than you, our fight yesterday proved it."

Sasuke snarled, whirling around and stopping our precession, "Then I'm just going to have to become stronger than you if I'm going to kill him, aren't I?" he demanded furiously.

"I advise you to work on controlling your anger," I coolly retorted, a little surprised, "its a weakness that someone could easily take advantage of."

"I advise you to shut up and stay out business that doesn't concern you!" Sasuke shouted back.

"It does concern me, we're apprenticed under the same master and I don't want you dragging me down."

Shouting wordlessly, Sasuke whirled around and punched the bark of a tree. It vibrated, loose leaves falling from its branches. It wasn't what he really wanted to hit (my face), but his bloodied knuckles and the pain of the day caught up to him. He slumped to the ground and bowed his head, body tense and rigid as he shivered.

I watched him tremble, face betraying nothing. After a few minutes Sasuke looked up, glaring in a way that made me pause.

It was more than a dangerous glare, much more. Some gleam in Sasuke's eyes- something I couldn't identify then- set me on edge. Today it reminds me of a dog, one that had been kept confined, starved, beaten, and scarred, rage burning and seething behind its eyes as it lost more and more of itself to the pain its life ran on.

Then it vanished.

Sasuke averted his gaze, looking skyward and chuckling to himself, "If my mom was here she'd chew me out for being so disrespectful." he shook his head, then refocused on me, "Didn't your parents teach you anything?" he demanded.

I felt something in the back of my mind when Sasuke mentioned his mother, but ignored it, "I never knew my parents, both died the day I was born."

Sasuke looked away for a momentarily, scowling, then looked back. I thought I saw an emotion flicker across his eyes, regret.

Sasuke later told me it was more than regret. His life up until then had been dominated by his family. All his life he had family to look after him, family to take care of him. Because of his immense family- his immense clan -he never had go far to find some willing kids to play with. He always had someone willing to teach him, and he always had someone to talk to when things got rough. He always had family, until the person he had looked up to the most took it all away.

That person became the one he wanted to kill the most.

Sasuke couldn't imagine living without his family, even though he needed to face the reality that he was now alone. Unlike him I had grown up with just my caretaker, without family, and from what little Sasuke knew, without friends.

He couldn't imagine going through the same as me- he told me years later.

Blinking when a pebble bounced off his forehead, Sasuke narrowed his eyes at me, growling, "What?"

"Your mother," I signed,asking on gut instinct, "was her name Mikoto?"

"How did y-"

"You look a lot like her."

Neither of us said anything for a while, then I added, "If it wasn't for your mother I wouldn't be here today; she saved my life."

A grin tugged at Sasuke's mouth, "Sounds like something she'd do."

More silence, "I'm sorry for what I said earlier." I painfully said.

Sasuke rubbed his eyes, the freezing night, his screaming muscles, and exhaustion finally catching up to him made him desperate for a good night's rest. Nonetheless he managed to inject a tone of amusement as he grunted, "How can a mute man say anything?"

I felt a ghost of smile tug on my face as Sasuke stood up, "Come on, it's late and I'm tired. Let's find your- our- master."

"Someone mention me?"

We both jumped, Sasuke glaring at the newly arrived Kakashi, "Are we done yet?"

Kakashi considered for a moment, fingering his chin, "Nope!" he smiled after a moment, "You didn't catch the bunny yet. You need to catch the bunny."

Sasuke grunted, scowling and pointing at him, "The furry rat is on your shoulder!"

Indeed, it was; perched precariously on the veteran ninja's right shoulder, and munching on a chocolate bar at that.

Kakashi blinked innocently, staring at it as if he just noticed the small mammal, "Huh, I suppose you're right..."

"Why is it eating chocolate?"

"Because it asked for some, of course."

"Rabbits can't talk." Sasuke mumbled, rubbing his eyes.

A tiny square of chocolate impacted him on the cheek, bouncing off ineffectually. The bunny glared evilly at him, before going back to its meal.

"Our bunny friend doesn't appreciate being called a lesser species, Sasuke."

0o0o0o0o0o

-H

They took the test we talked about today; both passed with flying colors.

However, I noticed something disturbing with Two. I'll give you a full report later, and inform I. that his mental barrier may be weakening far faster than he predicted.

-K

P.S. Why don't we have I. re-examine One's as well? After all, One went through worse than Two, arguably. Plus, there was the bleeding effect I. Mentioned.

And before I get asked, there will be no Yaoi or Slash pairings.

Thanks to all those that reviewed so far. Your answers have been read and, among other things, the dream sequence has been rewritten a little. If you were to review this chapter, could you please answer one or more of the following questions.

1: Do you notice a difference in personality between past and present Naruto?

2: From what you've seen so far, could you give me some feedback on the fight scenes?

3: What scene stuck out to you the most and why?

4: Did anything in this chapter provoke a reaction out of you? Like a smile, laugh, or frown?

5: Did you see any errors of some sort?

6: What do you think of the five main characters so far? (Chronicler, Present Naruto, Past Naruto, Sasuke, Kakashi)

If all goes well expect the next upload Friday of this week.