Disclaimer – Don't own Naruto. Don't own his world. All I own is hangin' on my back.
Chapter 6 – Rank
Six months are not a long time, especially to someone who is living for as long as I am. They're just a little, tiny drop in the big jar on which is labeled in clear letters the word 'PAST'. Everyone has their own personal 'PAST' jar. Everyone but me. I don't have a jar. I have a fucking cistern! Which is about to explode by the way, I tell you.
Anyway, a lot can happen in six months. In six months a team of Genins can learn and master the water-walking exercise, an ANBU squad can slip twenty-eight times during its continuous shadowing of a twelve-year-old boy, and a shy girl can slowly get out of her shell in front of her crush. In six months, also, a young Uchiha can manage to dispel one of my Kage Bunshins.
Finally.
I let a small grin make its way through my face as my clone puffs away in a cloud of smoke. His stunned expression is almost as amusing as Sasuke's, which doesn't even disappear when the boy is tossed away by a flying kick from another Naruto. The Uchiha slams into a tree, hard, amidst the cheers of the Kage Bunshins, who compliment him. When he starts to wobblingly stand up, I notice the pleased smile plastered on his face and can't help but chuckle.
"Very good, Sasuke," I say from my usual branch. "You're getting better with your Sharingan, though you still have a long way to go to master your single-tomoe. But considering you first activated it only two months ago, you're doing well." I set my knife aside, while inspecting the wooden dog I'm carving into a thick dark piece of bark. It's almost done. A few details on the paws and fur and little Akamaru will be perfect. "That punch of yours had great speed and good power, but you know what made it so effective against that clone, right?"
The dark-haired boy wipes some sweat off his forehead. "Timing," he says breathing heavily and eying the other four Bunshins spread about the clearing. "I predicted... his movement."
"True enough," I say happily before blowing away some sawdust from my statuette. "He was careless and now he's dead. Don't you like it when the lesson is so straight-forward?"
He grunts something affirmative before charging the nearest clone. I just shake my head as he's sent flying against the same tree as before.
"What did I just say?" I murmur under my breath with a tired sigh.
The match goes on for a little longer and nothing good comes out of it for Sasuke. Heartened by the unexpected victory against that Kage Bunshin, the young Uchiha is now attacking way too hastily and way too soon.
"If your opponent is stalling, giving you the time to recover, the last thing you have to do is restart the fight," I say in a reprimanding tone as the boy stands up again, checking up his abdomen and wincing in pain. "Either you run, if you think he's waiting for allies, or you just rest. Fancy things like surprise attacks are rarely useful in those instances."
I dispel my Kage Bunshins with barely a thought and jump down from the branch I was sitting on, landing right in front of Sasuke. Except for a cracked rib and a bloody lip, the young Uchiha doesn't show any sign of having just suffered a beating. That's an incredibly big improvement compared to how he used to look like after our matches some time ago.
Like six months, for example.
Since that first time he had tried - awkwardly, I might add - to gut me with his kunai, I kicked the living crap out of him almost every single night. It soon became a common thing to see him walking down the streets of Konoha with a bruised and often blistered face. Rumors of every absurd kind started circling about him, rumors involving special missions, ANBU training and - by far my favorite - masochism. The higher-up ninjas in Konoha had to know the truth, of course, since the real ANBU stalking me assisted at our nocturnal fights, but I never caught anyone mentioning my name during the frequent conversations about 'the situation of the last Uchiha', which is still one of the hottest gossip topics in the Village. If Sasuke is bothered by it, he never shows it when parading through Konoha, his head held high.
At night though... at night all the frustration, all the anger, pent up during the day, is liberated in an as much vicious as ineffective attack against a batch of my clones. Soon it became routine seeing him assaulting me so fiercely. Maybe it's just an outlet, maybe it's because of the feeling of helplessness, of desperation, almost, born from his repeated confrontations with opponents far stronger than him, namely me and Kakashi; I don't know... but he's been so fierce these nights... I can't remember him ever being so... animalistic, I'd dare say. He doesn't exactly go berserk, but he seems to attack almost without restraints, his instincts, fueled by burning anger, sharpening his thoughts and decision-making processes, and helping him fight in very unconventional ways. It's been fascinating to watch Sasuke like this. There is no 'last Uchiha' in what now became 'our' clearing, and there also isn't that cumbersome mountain of pride that comes with the name. Or at least, there's less of it.
Sometime along the way, the beating turned into teaching without him even realizing it. Now he understands it, of course - though he probably wouldn't admit it, not even under torture - and he's trying to squeeze everything he can out of me without being too obvious. Not that I would care if he just asked... Anyway, it's an indisputable fact that the boy is improving. A lot. Confronting five ninjas fighting more or less at high-Chuunin level is very hard, and beyond impossible for a Genin. It isn't surprising that this was the first time he ever managed to hit one of my Kage Bunshins… on the contrary. That's a really great accomplishment. By the time Konoha hosts the Chuunin exam, he will be more than ready for it. What still has to be seen is how and if he will cooperate with his teammates, but considering Kakashi is his Sensei, I don't think it will be a problem.
"So," I start, tilting my head to the side. "How is the new jutsu going?"
The young Uchiha closes his eyes for a long moment, and when he opens them again, his pupils are black again, the Sharingan deactivated. He smirks at me.
"Good," he says, while performing the necessary seals. When the boulder of rock is hurled in my direction, I just raise a hand - more to make an impression than anything else - and stop it completely. Setting it aside with a dismissive gesture, I smile at Sasuke.
"Not bad. Good control, decent power," I say before pausing for a moment. "The speed, though... Keep on practicing your hand seals. You're still far too slow in passing from the serpent to the bird. Do you want to see the jutsu again?"
He growls at me, but nods his head nonetheless. I almost laugh at his annoyed and at the same time eager expression, while I have no problem with staring at him reprimandingly a second later. We stay still and in silence for something like ten seconds. As the wind blows between us and the crickets sing from all around, I observe his slightly panicked look and keep glaring at his figure lit up by the moonlight.
"What?" he finally says.
I wait for a long moment before answering.
"Who do you think I am?" I say very quietly. "I could sense it before you even molded the chakra."
Sasuke clenches his jaw tightly, stiffening visibly, before finally releasing the genjutsu. His swirling Sharingan, not disguised under the illusion anymore, looks at me with disappointment and annoyance. "How?"
"We've been training together since October," I say rolling my eyes. "You saw me creating an illusion as large as a house. Hell, you saw me henge into a house! How could you think you could fool me with that childish genjutsu?" He starts to say something, but I don't let him. "If you had time to learn how to use that stupid thing, and seal-less to boot, why didn't you waste it on the Earth ninjutsu?"
"If you would just-" the dark-haired boy snaps at me, but I interrupt him once more.
"I'm not going to start that conversation again," I say exasperatedly. "I'm not teaching you any ninjutsu with the Sharingan activated."
"Why not?"
"I already told you, for crying out loud!" I shout back at him.
A child, I swear it. When he acts like this, he seems like a petulant child. And it... it annoys me. Annoys me! Stupid, irritable, teenager body!
I take a deep breath as he growls something incomprehensible. I sigh resignedly. I wanted to wait some more before giving him this demonstration, but he's really insufferable right now. I hope he's ready to understand and accept what I'm about to show him, because I'm tired of this whole Sharingan argument.
"Okay, Sasuke. You know what? Activate that damn thing and let's see what good will it do for you."
His eyes bulge out disbelievingly at first, but when my 'concession' finally sinks in, he hurries to comply, excitement evident in his young features. I wait for him to be ready before flashing through the seals swiftly, but not nearly as quickly as I could. That's still way faster than what Sasuke is capable of doing, so I can picture his happy face when the massive boulder rises from the ground and flies through the clearing. I stop it before it could smash the poor tree on its path, and turn expectantly towards the young Uchiha, crossing my arms and waiting.
"So, why don't you give it a try now? Come on!" I add when I see him hesitate.
The boy looks at me with uncertainty for another second before quickly going over the seals. When the jutsu is done and the new boulder is lying harmlessly on the ground, Sasuke doesn't seem to be able to utter a single word. He works his mouth for quite some time, and I let him enjoy his disbelief with great pleasure. I'm surprised he didn't try the jutsu again just to be sure.
"Did it seem faster to you, Sasuke-kun?" I eventually say in a sweet voice. "I can't be sure, seeing as I don't have your precious Sharingan, but you seemed about as fast as the last time."
He's too shocked to get angry at the moment as he whispers under his breath. "I can't believe it. I was sure-"
"You were sure your Sharingan would have copied exactly what I did and how," I say recovering little Akamaru from the ground. I put it in my pocket before looking at the still wide-eyed Sasuke again. "And it did. It's your body that isn't ready for what your eyes saw yet. Take the Tajuu Kage Bunshin no Jutsu for example. You could learn that easily, even without the Sharingan. But could you perform it?" I shake my head. "Trying to do it would probably kill you, because you don't have the necessary amount of chakra."
"What does that have to do with this?" he snaps at me, a shadow of his annoyance at my direct refusal of teaching him that jutsu surfacing again. He always growls at me when I perform it seal-lessly without giving him the slightest chance to learn it.
"It's simple," I say calmly. "In this case, it's just that your fingers can't move faster than that at the moment. It doesn't matter that your eyes picked up on what to do and informed your brain, which consequently informed the rest of your body. If your fingers have some problems when passing from the serpent to the bird seal and in dozen other tiny parts of the ninjutsu, because those movements aren't ingrained in your cells, then there's nothing your fancy eyes can do! But there's something you can do," I say grinning and raising my hands in front of my face. "You can train your fingers."
He rolls his eyes at me, some of his annoyance apparently gone, but he seems to understand the point. I refrain from telling him I too have the same problem at the start of every one of my lives, though I have lots of ways to go around it, Tajuu Kage Bunshins being the predominant one. When he lowers his eyes to his hands as if he's wondering where the hell did they come from, I speak up again.
"And another thing," I say attracting his attention. "Deactivate the Sharingan."
He complies almost immediately, and I turn completely to face him with a serious expression. When I start slowly making seals with my hands, he seems curious and maybe ready to ask something, until he just blinks and jumps away from me. Right as his feet touch the ground again, a sharp spear of rock seems to come out of nowhere, piercing the spot where he had stood a moment ago. I turn towards him again.
"Do you see?" I ask him, a smile playing on my lips in seeing his wary stance. "You jumped away because you recognized - either consciously or unconsciously - the last string of seals from the ninjutsu from before. Because you trained with it yesterday and probably the night before as well, you knew that those seals were meant to create something out of rock and hurl it forward. So you recognized them and evaded the spear. That wouldn't have happened if I had let you copy the jutsu with the Sharingan from the start. If you had learnt it that way, that group of seals wouldn't have meant anything to you. You would have just known the whole product without being able to understand its every component." I walk to a nearby tree and pick up the orange jacket on the ground. "This is why, even if it is not the fastest way, learning a new jutsu step by step is certainly the best solution."
I pull on the zipper and put my hands in the pockets, immediately enjoying the warmth of the fabric on my skin. It's true that it's already spring, but tonight is a little too windy for my tastes. Plus, I didn't have the chance to personally stretch my muscles, having delegated the task of beating Sasuke exclusively to my clones tonight. Usually I play at least a little part in the ass-kickery. Oh well, tomorrow perhaps...
"That doesn't mean the Sharingan is useless," I resume smirking at the pensive Uchiha. "Its predicting ability is incredibly useful and it's not like you can ask your enemy to 'please teach you his cool techniques', so copying them in battle is a great bonus." Sasuke perks up visibly at that, and I can't help but chuckle a little at him. "But," I add stressing the word, "nothing stops you from going over those techniques later, and from trying to truly understand them."
I chuckle some more at his annoyed expression. He really doesn't like it when I, the idiot and dead last, am right about something. But considering that during the first month we trained together he always snapped a scathing comment when that was the case, you could say he improved from that point of view as well.
"Just one more thing," I say turning serious again. "There's another reason why I suggest you learn everything you can through training, though you're free to ignore this one completely, if you want to."
I wait for him to stop poking his cracked rib like an idiot and to finally look at me.
"Ninjas don't like the copying ability of the Sharingan."
The young Uchiha scowls at that. "So what? They're just jealous."
I refrain from rolling my eyes.
"Yes, yes, some of them maybe are indeed jealous," I concede. "But it's more than that. It mostly has to do with everyone's pride. What the Sharingan does in essence is stealing." I block Sasuke's predictable protest by raising a placating hand. "It is, Sasuke, or at least it's something very similar. There's no denying it. But it's not as bad as it sounds." I think about the best way to explain myself without hurting his Uchiha pride. "We as ninjas are thieves. Thieves, kidnappers, assassins... we have to be lots of bad things when our Village requires it. But that's the point. When our Village requires it." I let him mull it over for a couple of seconds before continuing quietly. "And we're not talking about stealing goods here. Or at least, not material ones. We're talking about knowledge and practice, time and experience. Sweat and blood too. There's a mocking aspect in seeing something you had to make an effort to learn being copied right as you perform it that you just can't deny. In an instant. Like this." I snap my fingers to make more of an impression. "That makes the whole thing even harder to accept. And it's even worse when it's something you didn't just learn, but created."
Sasuke starts to say something but then closes his mouth, frowning. I decide to make my point clear before he can elaborate what he wants to say.
"But that doesn't matter much anyway. You could argue that it's their problem, not yours. You don't take anything away from them. What they know remains within them, and if it's just their pride that doesn't allow them to accept that there can be someone faster than them in learning a jutsu, then it has nothing to do with you." I shrug my shoulders before covering my head with the orange hood of my jacket. "I think it's your call, Sasuke. I just wanted to explain the situation as I see it to you."
I turn on my heel and jump on a high branch nearby, ready to go home. I gave the young Uchiha a lot to think about for tonight, and I really don't know what will come out of it. I guess I'll see the results soon.
"Well, all this babbling made me tired. There's a man of action under all this orange," I say grinning down at him. "See you tomorrow, Sasuke."
"Yeah. Tomorrow."
His quiet words reach me muffled through the hood, but I easily catch the distracted tone in them. Heh... I think someone will sleep very few hours tonight.
I leave the clearing with an amused smile, wondering if he arrives later than his Sensei at tomorrow's team meeting.
OoOoOoOoOoOoO
"Come on! Hurry up, you lazy idiots! I don't want to be late because of you!"
Ino's screeching voice pierces my ears like a sharp needle as we reach the front doors of the Hokage tower and step inside. We find Asuma there, waiting for us with his back against a marble column of the white entrance hall. When he flanks us and starts climbing the stairs for the upper floors, we greet him and follow his lead.
"Maybe Yusuda-sama asked for help today. The Hokage said it would have been sometime this week," Ino wonders cheerily. "I can't wait to finally go back to the Heart! Aren't you excited?"
Shikamaru just shrugs, seemingly bored as always. "It was just another D-rank."
"How can you say that?!" Ino says shocked. "That was the best mission to date! And to think we barely missed it, last month..." She grits her teeth annoyed. "Damn Team 8..."
I refrained from sighing relieved then, and I refrain from doing it now, but it's a close call. Again. I really can't say I'm saddened that Kurenai and her students took what would have been our second Heart mission... under the current conditions, one is more than enough for my tastes, thank you very much. I don't know if I could have endured another one under Yusuda's hateful gaze.
"Weren't we supposed to train first, today, anyway?" I change the topic with a yawn, stretching my arms above my head. "Didn't you say you were tired of all these D-rank missions, Sensei?"
The bearded Jounin smirks at us, the ever-present cigarette dangling from the corner of his mouth. "I changed my mind," he says simply. "I didn't particularly care to see the umpteenth spar where you grin at everything, Ino growls annoyed and Shikamaru holds back."
As the only response, I grin at him, and I know Ino is barely suppressing her growl at Asuma's chuckles.
"Admit it, Sensei," I nudge him with my elbow. "You couldn't think of anything suitable to teach us."
The Hokage's son just shrugs, looking appropriately guilty.
"And they say I'm the lazy one," Shikamaru comments with a bored expression.
"You are," Ino scoffs at him.
The young Nara mumbles something under his breath, but the girl must have heard it, because she immediately rounds on him.
"What did you just say?" she shrills in her high-pitched voice.
"No business of yours. Keep moving," he replies gesturing for her to start walking up the stairs again. "And try not to screech like a banshee while you're at it."
There was no doubt she would have done exactly the opposite if Asuma hadn't stepped between the two with a finger held up.
"No bickering, please," he says seriously. "I just woke up."
I snort at him right as we enter the antechamber leading to the mission-assignment room, fortunately in silence if not for Ino's sputtering. As we approach the Hokage's assistant seated at a desk next to the door, I see him hesitate a little before waving us in. I frown at the man as Asuma opens the door and walks in, taking another long drag from his cigarette.
Once inside, I distractedly join the others in greeting the Hokage. I say distractedly because there's another thing in the room that attracts my immediate attention. That's the team standing in front of his long desk, or more precisely, it's the team members' expressions. This is the first time I see Team Gai in this life, and it wouldn't make for a great first impression if I burst out laughing in their faces. Still, I'm as much curious as amused as I try to control my features in observing them. I wonder why they all have these hilariously disappointed expressions on their faces. Lee's is particularly funny. The boy seems literally heartbroken.
"Asuma," Gai says nodding to his fellow Jounin, his usually blinding smile nowhere to be seen. "I'm sorry for the lack of youthfulness in our welcoming faces. We were just hoping it was someone else."
The Hokage's son shrugs his shoulders. "Don't worry. I don't think my students are all that youthful themselves, anyway."
"Yoshi, don't say that!" the man shouts, while looking at us. "Maybe you just didn't fuel their fire hard enough!"
"Yeah, maybe," Asuma says with... let's say with less enthusiasm than the spandex-clad ninja. "Anyway, who were you expecting exactly? Our Naruto here has the useful ability to be whoever you want him to be. Precisely."
I roll my eyes at his smirk, but decide to indulge him by turning a second later into a barely dressed Mitarashi Anko. Not that she usually wears anything but see-through fishnet, but whatever. I elicit a slight nose-bleeding from both Sarutobis and a long series of choked coughs from the youthful Green Beast of Konoha. Lee's eyes are as wide as they can get, while Neji's eyebrows do the opposite of Tenten's and lower slightly above his activated Byakugan. Shikamaru just shakes his head, but I catch him looking at my well-endowed chest for a brief moment.
Ah, puberty. Finally.
The only one to speak is, predictably, Ino.
"Naruto," she growls dangerously. "I'm giving you three seconds. One-"
I'm already back to normal before she can say two. I don't want to dodge her punches all day. I wink at her, while maintaining an innocent smile at the same time.
"Well," Gai manages to say once his coughing fit ends. "That's a really useful ability, if not exactly youthful." He clears his throat uncomfortably. "But it's not what we need either. We were just waiting for any experienced Genin or at the most Chuunin team to act as support for my students on their very first B-rank mission. The Hokage had finally agreed to let my youthful pupils prove themselves with a harder challenge, at the condition that the next appropriate team to enter the room would be assigned as support."
Lee nods his head sadly, and I'm already picturing him holding his head in his hands if no one comes in in the next thirty seconds.
"We'll be your supporting team."
It's Ino's turn to start coughing now at Asuma's words. We all turn to him with surprised expressions, but the Jounin has eyes only for the Hokage. I too turn towards the Sandaime with a hopeful and expectant face.
"Asuma!" the old Sarutobi exclaims shocked. "What are you saying? You didn't even try a C-rank mission, yet!"
"This one won't be a problem for my team. Don't worry, Hokage-sama," the young Sarutobi says shrugging.
"But you don't even know what kind of mission it is!"
"We'll just be the supporting team, and if you're assigning it to be the first B-rank of Gai's students, then it means it's just a C-rank with a little twist," Asuma says waving dismissively with his hand. "I know how it works, old man."
The lack of gasp from Shikamaru tells me he finally knows our Sensei is the Hokage's son. Ino, though, is completely frozen on her spot. She's probably scared the team will get in trouble for this disrespectful behavior. I glance at the other ninjas present in the room and notice that only Lee and Neji seem surprised as they look up at their Sensei, uncertain. Tenten already knew about the father and son, probably, considering she's just looking curiously at the Hokage, hoping he will accept the request.
"How can you expect me to give you this mission?" the Professor asks his son, ignoring the 'commotion' in the room.
Asuma is absolutely calm as his eyes shift briefly to me. "We're ready, Hokage-sama."
The old Sarutobi too glances at one Uzumaki Naruto, disbelief written all over his face, before shaking his head. A second later, he lowers his eyes as he lets out something suspiciously snort-like. When he looks up again, a negative answer is evidently about to leave his mouth.
That is until he meets Lee's almost desperate eyes.
They are shining so brightly with unshed tears that they're painful just to watch, and so big they practically take up most of his face. The bowl-like cut of his black hair serves only to highlight the effect, not to mention the thick eyebrows. Shikamaru must probably be thinking the guy is constipated or something. I refrain from laughing as the Sandaime shakes his head again.
"Very well," he eventually says, staring hard at his son. A delighted expression makes its way through Lee's face at these words, and I too can't help the cheer that escapes my lips. The Hokage ignores it all as he continues. "Team Gai will act as the primary team during this mission, so you and your Genins will have to report to them for every direction." He produces a sealed scroll from behind his desk and hands it to Gai, who takes it almost reverently with both hands. He shows it to his students, and Lee practically starts to worship it.
"I can't believe it," I say chuckling at the Hokage and pointing at Lee. "You just fell for his Puppy-Dog Eyes no Jutsu!"
I grin at the Sandaime, who sighs resignedly in answer.
"Maybe I did," he concedes lighting up his pipe.
"Really, Ojiisan... I would never have fallen for that," I say amused. "Maybe you should just give me the position already and be done with it."
A small smile appears on his lips.
"From what I hear," he says quietly, "it wouldn't be so far-fetched."
My pleased grin widens a little more as I scratch the back of my head. "Eh-eh... where do I find an application?"
The Sandaime looks at me with amusement for another second, before turning his attention to the two Jounin Senseis in the room. "Go now. This mission is not exactly high priority, but time is of the essence nonetheless."
"Yes, Hokage-sama."
We depart the room quickly and a minute later we are standing outside the tower. Asuma and Gai open the scroll and scan it intently. They both start to say something at the same time and immediately interrupt themselves awkwardly. Then the Hokage's son gestures for the other Jounin to speak, and the official leader of the Mission takes the stage.
"Okay then. You all should know how to prepare for a long mission," he says looking inquisitively at us of Team 10. After our nods, he resumes seriously. "We'll be out of Konoha for at least a week, two if something doesn't go exactly as planned. Prepare yourselves for the trip with slightly heavier clothes. We're not going to Snow country here, but the little town we're headed to stands at a high altitude." He briefly scans the scroll again, before saving it in his vest. "The meeting point is at the western gate. Be there in an hour. We'll discuss the details of the mission during the trip. Go!"
We all jump away immediately, almost every one of us in different directions. I follow Lee's lead for a few miles and can't help but chuckle at the curious looks the boy tosses me as we run forward. He speeds up slightly towards the end and we share a grin as he tries to shake me off without succeeding. He even seems disappointed when I take a different street, and I'm tempted to create a clone and make him continue the game, but in the end, I decide not to. He'll have enough occasions to test me - or more probably himself - during the mission.
I can't help but be excited about it as I jump on my building's roof and enter my apartment. Yes, it's probably a C-rank mission disguised as a B-rank, but it always means we will probably have to fight someone for real. As much as I have fun training and sparring with my teammates, I miss life-or-death situations and the thrill that comes with them. And judging by the Kyuubi's cackles, I think he misses them too.
OoOoOoOoOoO
"Kunai?"
"Check."
"Shuriken?"
"Check."
"Explosive tags?"
"Check."
"Katana?"
"I never had one!"
"Tsukiyoshi?"
"I don't even know what that is!"
"Yurizashiri?"
"Stop making them up, Naruto!"
This is the scene greeting the perplexed members of Team Gai as they swiftly walk up to the western gate of Konoha. Shikamaru is busy doing what he likes the most - looking up at the clouds - while I enjoy teasing Ino who is smiling despite herself. I managed to relax her a little. When I arrived here, she was already in front of the gate, shifting from one foot to the other nervously. Upon seeing me, she immediately asked to be questioned about the right procedure about long missions and mixed ones. I tried to tell her that this wasn't an exam and that no one was going to grade her performance, but my soothing approach didn't seem to produce any effect. So I changed it to jokes. That seemed to calm her a little. Plus, seeing her eyes bulge when I mentioned a fancy procedure regarding what to do with dirty underwear was fun for me as well. Anyway, Shikamaru arrived grumbling some minutes later, and he immediately sat down on the grass, eyes pointed up at the sky. I tried to ask him what was up, and he just mumbled something about troublesome B-rank missions. I left him alone at that point, but saw him grinning at some of my idiotic jokes for Ino.
I gesture for him to stand up when our fellow Genins join us, and he complies lazily, a hand in his pocket and the other holding his bag.
"So, Team Gai," I say clapping my hands. "It sounds awful calling you that. I'm Uzumaki Naruto, nice to meet you. These are Yamanaka Ino and Nara Shikamaru." As the girl greets our temporary teammates, I frown at the boy. "Say 'hi', Shika."
The young Nara grumbles something that sounds nothing like 'hi', but at least waves his hand at the others.
"Uhm... Nice to meet you too. I'm Tenten, and I hope we will be able to cooperate on this mission," the girl says with a small smile. I show her one of my own as she shrugs her bag off her shoulders and on the ground. Knowing her - and I really do know her - she has packed everything pointed and sharp she had at home, and she probably went to her father's shop as well to take one or two fancier weapons to try during the mission.
Lee bows his head deeply at us. "Hello, I'm Rock Lee. Nice to meet you!" he shouts jovially, pumping a fist in the air. "I'll work hard to make myself useful during this week, and if I can't, then I'll run thirty laps around Konoha on my hands!"
I grin amused, while my two teammates look at him with wary eyes. "Ah, I see that the great taijutsu master Maito Gai has found a worthy student with whom to share his youthful enthusiasm," I say amused.
Lee's pupils widen like black dishes inside his bulged eyes. "You know of Gai-sensei?"
"If I know of Gai?" I repeat incredulously. "Of course! Who doesn't know the Green Beast of Konoha, rumored to be able to open five of the eight celestial gates! Though I suspect he can open even more…" I glance briefly towards an impressed Gai, hidden with Asuma under a strong genjutsu. What's with Senseis spying on their Genins, anyway?
I see Tenten's interested look, while Lee cringes a little when I mention the gates, his eyes shifting for a moment to Neji. I ignore it all as I turn expectantly towards the young Hyuuga. He just looks back at me without a trace of emotion on his face and body, until the littlest crease forms between his pale eyes.
"Hyuuga Neji," he says simply, and I try to turn my following chuckle into a harmless cough.
"Okay," I say eventually. "So we have a taijutsu expert, a weapon expert and a Jyuuken user here." I gesture towards Team Gai. "And we have a lazy bastard, a pretty girl and an idiot, here." I gesture at myself before grinning. "Well, that's bound to be good."
"Why are we letting Naruto speak for us again?" Shikamaru asks Ino, rolling his eyes.
The girl has a faint blush on her cheeks as she answers. "Well, he was rather accurate, right?" She searches for approval from a surprised Tenten, and the girl slowly nods her head in agreement.
The young Nara only shakes his head.
"Come on, Shika," I say thumping his arm with my fist lightly. "You know that if it wasn't for me, we would have to endure thirty seconds of uncomfortable silence before finally settling to talk about the weather. You're this boring." I smirk at him as he traps me with his clan jutsu, scowling. "Oh, you know I'm just kidding. Don't be touchy."
His shadow retreats a second later under Neji's impassive gaze.
"So, this is your first B-rank mission," I say smiling at Tenten. "How do you feel about it? Are you nervous?"
"Are you?" the young Hyuuga asks back. "Maybe this is why you're talking this much."
"Neji," Tenten says in a warning tone.
"Hmmm," I murmur looking pensively. "Aren't you a member of the clan which prides itself in being able to read everyone's emotions? What do you see?"
He actually activates his eyes after hesitating an instant and looks at me for a long moment. The slightest sign of tension on his shoulders tells me my chakra coils impress him - or maybe it has something to do with my version of the Henge from before - and when the Byakugan disappears again, he finally speaks up. He didn't notice the little lines of chakra betraying the presence of a genjutsu nearby, so his eyes aren't fully developed yet. But in his defense, Gai's genjutsu is really top-notch.
"Not being nervous doesn't mean anything," he says lamely. "You're probably fool enough to not understand what risks going on a B-rank mission represents."
"Neji, this is very unyouthful of you!" Lee says grimly, raising a finger towards his teammate.
"Oh no, Lee. He's right. I've never even been to a C-rank mission, so I really don't know what to expect here," I say smiling, while Ino and Shikamaru frown in my direction. "It means I'll just follow your lead from now on. We're the supporting team, after all, right Sensei?"
I chuckle lightly as everyone but me startles badly when Asuma pops up apparently out of nowhere, followed by Gai barely a second later.
"You're correct, Naruto," the bearded Jounin says cheerily. "Our role during this mission will be marginal at best. Gai will explain everything as we go, for there's little time to waste. Are you ready?"
A chorus of yes answers his question, and in a couple of minutes we're past the Chuunins on guard and outside the gate. It will be good to not be watched over by my ever-present shadows. I glace back at the three hidden ANBU still at the gate before turning towards my enlarged team again. As we start walking through Konoha's forest, the Green Beast starts laying out the details of the mission.
"The mission requires our presence in a little town at five days of marching from here. We should be there in one, 'cause once I finish explaining the mission, I'll pick up the pace," Gai says from behind the group, flanked by his most youthful student. Lee is armed with notebook and pen as he listens intently, jotting down whatever he deems important coming out of his Sensei's mouth. That is to say everything. "The client is a certain Shintei Takeru who is one of the most important merchants of the area, dealing in pottery and furniture."
I tilt my head to the side at that. "I know the name," is my quiet comment. "I think he's famous." Or maybe I met him, I add to myself. There's a high probability of that as well.
"I've never heard of him, but I'm not much into pottery and furniture," Asuma says shrugging. "That reminds me..." he then murmurs as an afterthought."I have to change my armchair. The thing is falling to pieces."
I hold my snort like I'm sure someone else is doing as well, while Gai resumes his explanation as if no one had interrupted him.
"A message arrived earlier this morning requesting for Konoha to send someone to protect Takeru-sama's only daughter from one of his business rivals until next Sunday. So the mission is essentially a guarding task."
"...guarding task," Lee murmurs, his pen skipping on the notepad.
"Right," Gai says beaming down at him. "Yesterday morning, a group of bandits attacked her carriage and almost managed to kidnap the little girl. Immediately after that, he sent us a falcon with the help request and pretty much half the payment for a B-rank mission."
I whistle at that, and seeing Lee's and Ino's questioning gaze, Tenten speaks up.
"It's pretty rare for someone to use something different than a pigeon, let alone a falcon, to send a message. And to pay half the price in advance..." the brunette says impressed. "The guy must be rather rich."
"Or desperate," I add seriously.
The girl nods her head at me in agreement, while Lee jots the entire thing down.
"Anyway," Gai starts again. "The facts are these. Next Sunday, Takeru-sama will conclude a big business contract with a notorious nobleman of the Land of Fire's capital, which will give him a lot of prestige. His rival wants to block that, but the client is protected at all times by a large group of bodyguards, so no harm can be done to him... or so he says." The tone of his last words makes it clear how much the Jounin trusts the civilian's opinion on this matter. "Anyway, the first attack seems to reflect this, considering it targeted the daughter when he and his guards were not there, probably to force him to back away from the contract under threat of her death. However, the girl somehow managed to escape and take refuge at home, while his three guards fought and died for her, but Takeru-sama is sure his rival won't stop here and will send more bandits. Many more."
Here the Green Beast of Konoha stops, turning to Asuma with a small indulging smile. The Hokage's son has an eerie glint in his eyes as he speaks up, the cigarette dangling from his mouth.
"But we'll be there for them."
I can't help it. While Lee shouts his approval, I crack up, laughing wildly. I shake my head towards the two Jounins.
"You rehearsed that?" I ask them amused.
"Of course," Asuma says rolling his eyes. "Did you see how they reacted?" he asks gesturing towards the other Genins. "Even Shikamaru looked excited when I said that!"
"Neji too," Gai adds much to the Hyuuga's displeasure. "For a moment, I saw the Will of Fire burning brightly in his cold eyes."
"Why was I given the most atypical Genin that ever existed, anyway?" Asuma groans softly with a sigh. "I swear it, Naruto... sometimes you act like an old man. You know... the kind you meet at the park, feeding the pigeons and smiling at the world as if they knew something the others don't?" I chuckle at the image as the Hokage's son goes on. "You seem one of them, but disguised as a dumb kid."
"Hey!" I shout in protest, but then smile slyly at him. "But except for the dumb part, you may be right. Hell, I could be an immortal creature trapped inside this young body, for all you know."
Gai's shocked eyes bulge outwards for a moment, before a strange gulping sound resonates from his throat. I'm strongly reminded of all the lives I spent as his student, teammate or simply friend, as the taijutsu master booms out in laughter. I knew what was coming, thanks to the unforgettable gulp which always comes before Gai's amused explosion, and I had the time and reflexes to cover my ears with my hands to avoid being deafened. The others aren't that lucky though, and everyone now is experiencing a bad case of ringing ears. Except for Lee, of course. Spending all that time with his idol trained him to recognize the danger and react accordingly. The boy's pinkies leave his ears with equal soft pops as he chuckles lightly with his Sensei.
When Gai's laughter finally subsides, he looks at me through eyes shining with tears.
"An immortal creature..." he repeats breathlessly before laughing again, genuinely amused."Want me to name you the Orange Beast of Konoha?"
"Oh, I don't know..." I say looking thoughtful. "Would I have to switch to spandex?"
OoOoOoOoOoOoO
"Hmmm," is the sound of pleasure escaping my lips. "I have to say it, Gai-sensei. Jokes aside, the rabbit is absolutely delicious!"
The Jounin smiles pleased at me from above the big pot where the marvelous little animal is still brewing. A small cloud of water vapor is hovering there, mixed with mouth-watering aromas of onions, carrots and celery, and slightly blurring the hilarious image of the Green Beast of Konoha wearing an apron. When he suddenly appeared dressed like that after we had set up camp, we of Team 10 couldn't help but burst out laughing, though Ino managed to contain her giggles a little. Lee didn't seem to understand what was wrong and turned his head around a few times to try and see what was so funny. From their part, Neji and Tenten didn't comment.
Gai didn't seem bothered by our amusement, though, and accepted with a smirking face every joke Asuma tossed his way. Now that my Sensei has practically licked his own plate clean, the smirk on the taijutsu master's face is even wider. As we finish our meal, he finally sits down with us, a steaming serving of rabbit in his hands, and jumps on it with gusto.
"Gai-sensei is a fantastic cook," Lee says at one point, eyes shining with something akin to worship. "We were out in the desert for a mission once," he whispers to us of Team 10 in a confidential tone, "and there were just rocks, sand and small lizards. I can't tell you in words how yummy they were!"
Ino makes a disgusted face at that, but Gai just smiles amusedly, patting the big pot behind. "You'd be surprised by what can be done with just a big pot, a little salt and a lot of effort!" he says with enthusiasm. Needless to say, Lee's eyes start shining even more.
"Is the apron necessary too?" Asuma asks with a small grin, standing up to take another helping.
"Of course it is!" is the other's immediate answer, and the Hokage's son shakes his head.
"I never even imagined I could have told you this, but... Gai, I like you better in just spandex. Why don't you put that thing away?"
The Green Beast of Konoha frowns, slightly annoyed at him. "Asuma, either you shut it or put the rabbit back. You can't enjoy my food and complain about my apron at the same time."
Asuma's eyes shift from Gai to his steaming plate and back. "I'll keep quiet," he says seriously before adding as an afterthought. "Please."
I laugh out loud at that with Ino and Tenten, while Shikamaru just snorts as the taijutsu expert nods his head apparently satisfied, mirrored by Lee a second later.
I turn towards Neji and see him staring at me with intent eyes. Not activated, fortunately... I would have worried if that had been the case.
"What?" I ask him, bringing a napkin up to my lips. "Is there something on my face?"
I get no answer from him as he continues to watch me. It isn't a glare, not really. It's a detached look, exactly the one you usually give a painting you say you don't like, while you in reality don't understand but don't want your friends to know. I guess I appear as something abstract in his eyes.
"Neji," Tenten says in a reprimanding tone, without even raising her eyes from the kitchen knife she's examining. "Don't stare at Naruto. It's rude."
"Heh," he huffs, turning away from me. "All that orange was hurting my eyes, anyway." He shakes his head, apparently disgusted. "A ninja dressed in orange..."
I chuckle a little in remembering something I often teased him about in some of my past lives and which always made him angry. I ponder whether to say it or not while sipping water from my flask. I speak up, eventually. "Says the one dressed as a girl."
His head snaps immediately in my direction and his pale eyes narrow while looking at me, but before he can say anything, Ino steps in.
"You're the last one who can talk about someone else's choice of clothes, Naruto," she says wrinkling her nose at me before pausing with a small smile. "With the exception of Gai-sensei's apron, maybe."
We laugh amused at that, and the little moment of awkwardness passes over. I don't know if that was Ino's intention, but I guess it was. The nice stunt also gets her a pleased smile from Asuma, although that could have something to do with the joke about Gai.
"What are you doing, Tenten-san?" the young Yamanaka asks politely after a minute of silence, looking at the dark-haired girl curiously.
"Oh, this?" the weapon expert asks, showing the knife in her hands. At Ino's nod, she balances it on her finger, the pointed end harmlessly pressing her index's tip, while she tilts her head to the side. "I was just wondering about what would be the best way to use it in battle. I think a reversed grip could be useful against numerous opponents, where you'd need to put an end to the fight quickly and you couldn't spare much time for precision. Otherwise," she says taking the blade between her fingers, "its best use would definitely be in throwing."
She demonstrates this by piercing a tree trunk nearby, exactly in the middle of a peculiar black spot on its clear brown bark. The light of our fire glimmers slightly over the blade until Shikamaru's hand wraps around the knife's handle and pulls it out. The young Nara looks at me for a moment before passing the knife back to Tenten who is grinning from ear to ear.
"So you really are a weapon expert," Ino says thoughtfully, looking in my direction and finding me smiling.
"Oh, that reminds me," Tenten says snapping her fingers. "How did you know that, Naruto?"
"You mean your skills?" I ask, and my smile turns into a grin in seeing Lee nodding his head forcefully. "Well that was quite easy actually. You have more holsters hidden in your clothes than what's normal, and you have to admit that the long tsuka sticking out of your bag isn't really hidden." I snort lightly. "It's not like I could think it was a tennis racket or something similar either. As for Lee..." I say shifting my eyes to him. "Well, I already knew Gai-sensei, and if their... similar appearances weren't proof enough, the way Lee moves would have surely been a give-away of his taijutsu expert status. Neji, of course, was the easiest to understand, all with his pale eyes, clan dress and angry stance of a Hyuuga branch member." His eyes narrow a little, but I just shrug his glare off. "Am I wrong?"
It takes a little while for him to decide, but he answers me eventually. "No," he says without showing any emotion. "You're not wrong."
I wait to see if something else is coming before speaking up again. "It's horrible what they do to the branch members," I say quietly. "The cage seal is a barbaric tradition that should be forbidden immediately. When I'll become Hokage, that will be one of the first things I'll do."
The sentence is greeted with a stunned silence from the members of Team Gai, while Ino and Shikamaru just keep on looking curiously, not knowing exactly what I'm talking about. I catch Ino mouthing 'Cage Seal?' to me, but I just shake my head at her once.
Neji doesn't really know what to say. Poor boy... he thought he had somewhat understood me, or maybe even that my joking self-introduction as 'an idiot' was true, but now he's not so sure anymore. I better give him a hand out of this uncomfortable situation and topic.
"Well," I say cheerily, clapping my hands. "Ino, didn't you have a question to ask?"
The girl slowly nods her head. "What's the Cage Seal?"
I close my eyes, though I can't help but chuckle a little. "Sorry. Not that one," I sigh. So much for changing the topic. "I meant the one you wanted to ask Sensei, earlier this afternoon."
"Oh, that one. Be clearer next time!" she snaps at me, reddening slightly. I just grin at her as she turns to Asuma. "Sensei, why is this mission considered a B-rank and not a C-rank? We're just going to guard a little girl from some bandits." She conceals her nervousness about it rather well for a Genin, though considering who's present here in this clearing, there are maybe two ninjas who didn't notice. "I mean, that seems exactly like a textbook C-rank mission to me."
Asuma smiles a little as he slurps down the broth. "You're right. This would be a normal C-rank mission if it wasn't for two little particularities." He sets down the plate. "Care to try and guess what they are?" he asks grinning. "Anyone?"
Shikamaru rolls his eyes. "Do we answer by a show of hands?"
"No, I don't think that's necessary," the bearded Jounin says chuckling. "But, please; do share your thoughts with the class, Shikamaru."
The young Nara sighs softly before answering. "First, a C-rank mission usually presents the possibility of fighting against weak opponents," he says lolling his head lazily towards Ino. "For this mission, a battle seems pretty much a certainty for us."
The boy's emphasis on the last words isn't lost to anyone, but Asuma and I are the only ones to understand its exact purpose. Even Shikamaru himself doesn't. I catch the Jounin's eyes and two identical smiles appear on our faces. No matter how many insults and scathing comments they exchange every day, Shikamaru and Ino really care for each other. That's crystal clear to us. What the young Nara is doing here - without even realizing it, but totally meaning it - is preparing her for what is about to come and reassuring her by saying he'll be there too.
As Ino's expression turns from worried to relieved and finally to determined, Asuma takes a small sip from his flask. "And what's the second reason why this is classified as a B-rank mission?"
Shikamaru turns his head slowly back towards the Hokage's son. Then he shrugs. "Because it's paid as one."
"What?" Lee shouts, failing to contain his disbelief. "What does that mean?"
"Just that," Tenten explains, still toying distractedly with that same knife. "The client sent enough money for a B-rank mission. It means he wants the services that such a rank entails. It doesn't matter that we think it's a task that could require the same effort and ability as a C-rank. If a client wants something, the Hokage has to give it to him."
"Correct," Gai says smiling blindingly at the girl.
"Though in this case, it's a little different," Asuma adds, "because, for this mission, the Hokage did not send the usual experienced team including at least a Chuunin together with some Genins and a Jounin Sensei, but he allowed a double team of simple Genins to 'prove themselves with a harder challenge'. Though this is compensated for by the presence of two Jounins."
Asuma's grin is soon mirrored by Gai's first and Lee's then.
"That's because he fell for my Puppy-Dog Eyes no Jutsu!" the boy shouts pumping a victorious fist in the air. When our laughter subsides, though, his eyes are definitely less bright and amused than before. "Still," he says quietly, "I'm disappointed."
"Yoshi, Lee!" the Green Beast of Konoha exclaims in horror. "Why is that?"
"It's just…" he starts in a sullen voice, avoiding his Sensei's eyes. "It's just that I thought this would really be a harder challenge! I wanted to test myself in a real B-rank mission and not just in a fake one!"
Gai seems shocked at first, before finally smiling knowingly. I wait for him to say something but he doesn't seem intent on doing it, so I pipe up.
"Don't worry too much about that, Lee," I say grinning. "Didn't anyone ever tell you Ryuugi's Law about ninjas' first times? No?"
He shakes his head, furrowing his quite impressive eyebrows, and I notice that every Genin except Tenten is looking at me curiously. The girl is just chuckling softly, while sharpening the kitchen knife with a long kunai.
"It's an unavoidable truth of the shinobi world. All the legendary ninja Ryuugi did was put it in words, and he wasn't even all that inspired when he did that. Tenten," I tell the girl with a nod of my head, "you know it needs two to recite it, right?"
She snorts lightly. "Right."
"Okay, here it is," I say before clearing my voice. "Think it's best accepting fast," I chant wisely, and the girl follows me a second later.
"First is rash, ends in dash!" she finishes dissolving into laughter amidst the perplexed looks of the other Genins.
"Everyone reacts like this when first hearing it," Asuma says chuckling in seeing the dubious kids surrounding him.
"But everyone finds out it's true eventually nonetheless," Gai adds amused.
"Errr…" Ino mutters circumspectly, shifting her eyes from me to Shikamaru. "What does that mean?"
"It means," I say looking at her and at Lee, grinning, "that every first experience a shinobi has is destined to get complicated, often in a bad way. And this mission won't be an exception."
"Someone calls it 'rookie luck' and I honestly don't know whether to believe it or not," Tenten admits shaking her head. "My father, grandfather and uncle swore it's true, but they were laughing when they said that." She frowns at this point. "Though that could have been because of Ryuugi's Law which they told me later…" she murmurs before brightening visibly, resuming her work on the knife. "Oh well, I guess I'll know it soon!"
"Probably tomorrow already," I say grinning excitedly. "And considering it's everyone's first B-rank and we of Team 10 even skipped the 'C stage', then things are bound to get interesting."
It takes another second for Lee to process everything, as his eyes widen and his mouth opens up. Then he lets out a loud whoop, standing up quickly and doing a back flip.
"Ah, Lee, my youthful student," Gai says relieved. "I never doubted the brightness of your Will of Fire!"
"Gai-sensei!" the boy in spandex shouts immediately.
"Lee!" the Green Beast of Konoha shouts back.
"Gai-sensei!"
"Lee!"
"Gai-sensei!"
"Lee!"
I can't help but laugh as I witness for the first time in this existence one of Gai and Lee's infamous shouting matches. And I can't help but smile sadly as I remember those few lives in which my name was part of the rotation as well. Noticing the disturbed look on Shikamaru's face, my smile turns again into full blown laughter as Tenten shakes her head. Sipping from my cup of tea, I meet Neji's unreadable gaze, and am reminded again of my status of abstract picture in his eyes.
"Yes," I murmur amused. "Things are bound to get interesting."
OoOoOoOoOoOoO
It's late afternoon of the next day when we finally reach the little town that is our destination, after roughly ten hours of running non-stop. Gai had set a very fast pace at first, but soon understood that Ino and Shikamaru wouldn't have lasted much longer like that, because of their low chakra reserves. Team Gai has a year of training in addition compared to them, after all. He settled for a more sedated run, eventually, which made us arrive here slightly later than what had been his original estimation, but with everyone in good physical conditions and ready for our first B-rank mission.
"Here we are," the Green Beast of Konoha says excitedly. "This is Lore town, where our client, Shintei Takeru, lives. His house should be on the other side, beyond those trees over there." He points towards a group of large white ashes a little isolated from the town itself, and we immediately start moving in its direction, amidst Lee's cheers. I just smile at him before giving my complete attention to Lore.
I look around at the few little houses of the periphery and have to refrain from frowning too evidently.
'I know this place,' I tell the Kyuubi, blinking at a strange and at the same time familiar shop built like a rook. 'Why do I know this place?'
'Hmmm… Shintei… Shintei…' The Fox utters the name as if trying to remember something about it. 'I think he's famous,' he says parroting what I had said the previous day, before starting to howl in gleeful laughter.
'Hey! Who is he?' I snap in reply, a little irritated at being mocked by the bastard. 'Not every one of us has a demon-like memory. Why don't you answer me instead of laughing like an idiot?'
The Kyuubi seems very happy to ignore my request, seeing as he just keeps on cackling in my head. I don't sever our mental connection in the probably vain hope he'll decide to enlighten me, but I carefully cache his reaction in a corner of my mind to use to my advantage in the future. People say I can't hold a grudge, but the bastard inside of me knows better. Or should at least.
I grit my teeth in annoyance, following Gai-sensei and the others diligently through the very familiar-looking town, and as we take a large street leading to a big manor visible behind those ashes in the distance, I'm finally struck by an epiphany.
I've been to lots of places during my countless lives, some too boring to remember, others just too distant in the past, and the same goes for people and names. But I should have immediately remembered who Shintei was, though in my defense I could say I am used to another name following that one, not 'Takeru'.
I can't help a large grin from making its way to my face as I realize that the little girl I'm assigned to protect during this mission is Shintei Heiki, host of the five-tailed demon sparrow-hawk.
I chuckle lightly. "That's funny," I murmur under my breath.
"What is?" Ino asks curiously, a step behind me. Her face is a little flushed, but more because of the cold than because of fatigue. The area we travelled to stands at a rather high altitude, and the temperature has lowered significantly today. And now that I think about it, I remember spending a couple of winters here in Lore and how fascinating it was to see the little creek behind Heiki's house freeze over practically under my eyes. That was a great sight.
"Nothing. Just lost in memories, you know?" I tell Ino honestly, glancing briefly at her.
"Good ones?" she asks.
"Oh, definitely." I answer her smile with one of my own.
"Maybe you'll tell me someday, when we have time," she says almost eagerly, reddening a little, and my smile widens even more at that.
"Time, huh?" I repeat chuckling. "That's one thing I'm not short of."
We fall into silence as we continue to walk up the hill towards Shintei Manor, but internally I restart my previous conversation with the Fox.
'Thank you for nothing, bastard,' I huff, internally clicking my tongue. 'I remembered it on my own.'
'It was about time,' the Kyuubi says haughtily, amusement still lacing his deep voice.
'Hey, you can't blame me,' I defend myself.'It's not like I spent that much time with little Heiki. After all, she often dies early in my lives, all with the extraction of her bijuu by either Akatsuki, Iwa or whoever finds out about her first.' I pause thoughtfully for an instant. 'I wonder if this mission has something to do with that and not with her father's business like Gai said.'
The Fox barks out a sudden laugh. 'Let's hope it's like that,' he says excitedly. 'It would be more fun than slaughtering some harmless bandits.'
I scoff at him, shaking my head, but immediately focus on the surroundings, my senses in alert for potential dangers. If this mission involves Akatsuki or ninjas from other Villages interested in the five-tailed beast, then things could get really ugly. I spare my fellow Genins a worried glance as we finally enter the ashes and reach the huge iron fence of Shintei Manor. We all understand at once that something significant has happened.
Part of the high wall on the left side of us has crumbled down - possibly under a jutsu or some kind of explosive – leaving a fairly large hole through which to enter the property itself. Visible beyond the iron gate and the opening is a large number of what appear as bodyguards, muscular man in black clothes and glasses, all running around in the bewildering way of organized chaos. Some shouted words reach us despite the quite obvious silencing seals on the walls - probably damaged by whatever happened here – and the distressed tone in them isn't promising at all.
When one of the four men distractedly guarding the opening in the wall notices us, he startles badly, almost jumping in place, before drawing his blade and shouting to attract the others' attention.
Anyway, before anyone can do anything, Maito Gai is already presenting the Hokage scroll and what is presumably the letter sent to Konoha by Shintei Takeru to the alarmed men, showing both papers in the least threatening way possible. When he speaks up, it's in a clear and firm voice.
"We're the team from Konoha sent here under Takeru-sama's request," the spandex-clad Jounin says taking a step forward and gesturing for us to stay where we are. "From the look of things, I think it's of the utmost priority that we see the person in charge immediately. Please, let us in."
What follows is a moment of uncertainty as more bodyguards crowd around the wall and the crumbled portion of the fence. Then a very large man shoulders his way to the front of the gate and is soon followed by two more figures. I recognize the third one immediately as Shintei Takeru, a stout, almost bald man with kind eyes, at the moment widened in extreme anxiety. Now that I see him, I remember him as Heiki's beloved father, and it doesn't take me much to understand that something bad has happened to his daughter.
"Open the fence!" Takeru-sama orders in a breathless and frantic voice.
"But sir-" the large man - probably the security head - starts before being interrupted.
"Open it!" he shouts again, and from what I can remember, this is an incredibly impressive demonstration of firmness for him.
When the fence slowly parts to let us in, we're immediately surrounded by roughly half a hundred bodyguards, a black sea of heavily built men. The short and plump Takeru is easily noticed though, standing inside the circle of bodyguards, together with the security head and the third figure from before, who is almost an eye-sore in his scarlet vest against all that black.
"Here are the papers," Gai says at once, offering them to Takeru with a serious expression. "Takeru-sama, I presume."
The man nods his head, quickly taking the two documents and glancing briefly at the first before scanning intently the second for a long minute. Once finished, he saves them in a pocket of his expensive-looking suit, and every one of us notices the slight tremble in his hands. When he finally looks up again, his desperate eyes have already told me what I needed to know.
"Please, help me," he whispers in a feeble voice. "They took my daughter."
Gai's expression steels in a ruthless mask as he nods his head. "We will bring her back to you soon, Takeru-sama," he says with certainty.
As the frightened father lets out a relieved breath he didn't even know he was holding, I can't help but think that things could be a little more difficult than what Gai hopes.
OoOoOoOoOoO
Author's notes – The situation about the five-tailed beast will be explained in the next chapter. Try to not freak out for the time being. Same thing goes for Sasuke learning a genjutsu seal-lessly (if that's even a word). Keep in mind that the technique is absolutely childish and useless against any ninja. He was rather stupid to try that against Naruto.
Anyway, many reviewers wondered which villain could challenge the superpowerful Naruto of this story. Will Pein be a worthy foe? Or Orochimaru? Maybe… I just want to tell you to remember who is my Naruto's real opponent…
As for the blond being attracted to twelve-year-old girls… why shouldn't he? Should he stay chaste and pure forever, seeing as even an eighty-year-old hag would be like a baby for him? He has and will always have the urges of a boy and then a man, because that's what he is and will be. It's as simple as that.
And will this one be Naruto's last life? Some of you asked that. All I can say is that in this life, Naruto will come closer than ever before to achieve death. But will he die? Heh… I guess you'll just have to keep on reading to find it out…
As usual, a huge 'thank you' goes to Big Pája for correcting this chapter, but I'd also like to thank the anonymous reviewer Cen who signaled to me lots of mistakes in the first one.
Oh, just one more thing… I apologize for Ryuugi's Law! It's not my fault!
Bye.
Uncle Stojil