1Author note: I'm realizing, it's kind of mixed yeah? Less than half of the people on seem to be perverts, is it really so uncommon? Or is it simply the repressive society into which we are indoctrinated? Well it should go without saying that if killing people isn't wrong, then being a pervert isn't wrong. So long as you can get away with it.
At Any Cost
Chapter Five
Love is a four-letter word.
I don't own Naruto. Usually.
Kakashi glanced at Naruto, it was roughly six A.M., both were sitting at the bridge, both had their noses buried in Icha Icha Paradise. Well Kakashi had his nose buried in the book, and Naruto was reading his copy, but he kept looking up with glazed over eyes and a small, happy smile on his face. In a way it frightened Kakashi, he'd never seen Naruto look like that before. In fact he'd never seen anyone look like that before. It might've been food poisoning, he hoped it wasn't because Naruto had given him one of the steamed buns from his morning run.
Finally the jounin broached the subject, after the silence got awkward for him. "Hey, Naruto, what's up?" at the blonde's inquisitive grunt, he elaborated. "You keep spacing out. Why's that?"
Naruto paused for some length of time before looking up at his sensei and smiling. "Met a girl," was all he said.
Kakashi inclined his head slightly, Naruto never struck him as the type to be infatuated, but apparently he'd been wrong. "Is she strong?" Kakashi, knowing Naruto for a year already, understood the boy's values. The only response was Naruto indicating the wild slashes that ruined his jumpsuit even more. Kakashi gave a slightly worried nod. "You really ought to get some new clothes, those are torn and burnt to hell." Naruto shrugged dismissively.
"No one sells orange," he said.
Kakashi had no response for such a statement.
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When Haruno Sakura and Uchiha Sasuke met up with them at seven thirty, the two continued reading, as they had the previous day. Once again this seemed to infuriate Sasuke, and confuse Sakura. The pink-haired genin, to her credit was quickly able to deduce the source of the problem, it explained why Kakashi and Naruto had been so late so frequently and now why they continued reading in spite of their teammates being present and ready to go. It was a matter that clearly reached into the deep undermind of both individuals, it was probably a subconscious behavior even.
To sum it up, they were jerks. Of course, in Naruto's case, she didn't mean it as a bad thing, just a simple fact, and probably due in large part to Kakashi's influence. She just prayed that Sasuke wouldn't pick up the jinchuuriki and jounin's habit. And on the subject of Sasuke, she couldn't quite figure out why he was being so antagonistic towards the blonde. It wasn't like Naruto had done much to them, just threatened to kill them if they got in his way… and inferred that they were so weak that it wouldn't even be worth it to fight them… Okay so maybe there was a slight justification for Sasuke's irritation, but he seemed to be almost obsessing over the matter and-
Oh wait. She gave an internal sigh, this would be extraordinarily troublesome.
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Sasuke had the grace to wait all of fifteen minutes while the two others on the team ignored him. Uchiha Sasuke was not used to being ignored, and in truth it grated on his nerves, no one ignored him damnit! He led a hard, lonely life, there was no one around ever to show him love or supportiveness like he needed, he'd always been compared to Itachi, always. Well… alright, after Itachi killed the clan he wasn't compared to him anymore, and while his father never gave him praise from that point, he never had the chance either. Conversely the villagers did give him much praise, and much support, many had offered to take him into their homes after the massacre, but he had declined them all.
Now that he thought about it, he obviously wasn't as strong as Kakashi, but neither was Naruto. He'd always been top of the class in the academy, didn't that mean that he was the strongest, the best? He couldn't figure it out, and now he was becoming even more confused as things went on, why were people so nice to him anyway? Obviously he had a tragic past, he knew that better than anyone, but he always acted like such an ass…
I do NOT act like an ass! I simply know my worth in this village! Stupid Naruto, stupid Kakashi, trying to mess with my mind while they're "just reading their goddamn perverted books…" Sasuke didn't know when he started to think out loud, but Sakura was giving him a slightly strange look, only mostly laden with the fangirl devotion a part of him secretly craved. Anger flared up in him again, damn Naruto, getting him so riled up! Sasuke stood up and glared down at Naruto.
"Hey dobe, if we're not going to be doing anything for another hour again, then fight me."
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Naruto, who was enjoying his book and his thoughts of Hinata, looked up suddenly at Sasuke, he recognized something in his eyes and a part of him bristled at it, he sensed the back of his mind becoming engulfed in red as Kyuubi whispered for him to kill. Naruto didn't silence the demon yet and glanced over to Kakashi, who gave him a shrug without looking up from his book. Standing swiftly, the blonde pointed to a nearby field that he felt would be perfect for a slight workout, a cursory glance at Sakura had him reconsider what he had been about to say to her.
He pushed the book into her hands with a dark, serious look in his eyes. "If any harm comes to that book, I will destroy you and your family, and resurrect your ancestors so I can kill them too." His expression lightened immeasurably. "Of course you can feel free to read it while I handle the walking ego!" He quickly turned away from her and headed towards the field, Sasuke was already waiting there for him.
Naruto inclined his head at Sasuke, gauging him mentally, and then shrugged slightly, getting into a loose combat stance. Sasuke settled himself into the traditional Uchiha style, much neater, much cleaner, fewer openings, but less chance for attack. Sasuke considered the differences, Naruto was just waiting, mind settling into a sort of zen rage.
It appeared to Naruto, that Sasuke believed there was some sort of chance that he should win, for no obvious reason, the Uchiha thought that he was entitled to strength, perhaps by his bloodline? Whatever the case, Naruto couldn't stand the thought of entitlement, it flew in the face of strength and evolution, and neither aspect of the dual-natured blonde would accept such a thought. Sasuke burst from his position, lunging forward with a fist, Naruto's fist met the arm at the bicep, drawing a wince from the Uchiha who hadn't initially taken Naruto seriously. Naruto's foot slid along the ground as his other arm reached forward and impacted Sasuke in the stomach.
Sasuke let his feet leave the ground and hopped back with the punch, leaping forward again with a savage round kick towards Naruto's head, fully expecting the blonde to evade the maneuver. Seeing no opening should Sasuke connect, Naruto ducked beneath the kick, exactly as Sasuke anticipated and opening himself to the continuing round kick from his other leg, bringing the Uchiha to face his opponent again. This time however Naruto accepted the kick, and stepped forward inside the Uchiha's defense, farther arm cocked back even while Sasuke's shin dug into his exposed side, and Naruto's fist (with the blonde's total body mass and muscle force behind it) landed in the center of Sasuke's ribcage.
As Sasuke flew back from the force of the punch, Naruto's fist began to glow an angry red, drawing a fox-grin from the blonde. "Smote." He stated confidently, and turned away to retrieve his book. Naruto made absolutely no note of his bruised and internally bleeding abdomen, it healed up soon enough anyway. He had a slight grin on his face while Sakura went to check on her teammate and he settled down to read again. No matter how awkward Sasuke and Sakura made the situation, he could live with it, he had an equal now.
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Hyuuga Hinata woke, smiling in a slow and dopey manner. After a brief wake-up shower she dressed herself in her traditional clothes, they hid most of her injuries from sight, save for the few cuts on her hands and the now-pink lines that went across her face. She rather liked the lines, they had a certain similarity to Naruto's. Hinata paused at that thought, let a blush creep over her and twidled her fingers nervously, letting her mask slide into place.
Hinata didn't actually know what to think of the blonde ninja. He wasn't much of a ninja per se, but then again he was so strong that when he was of age, none would be able to stand against him, and with the Kyuubi (a slight tremor went through her at the thought of the omnipotent beast) sealed in him, he'd only become stronger. Of course, she'd have to keep working too, that fight last night had drained her so much she was still exhausted today, but at least she'd managed to hold him at bay, and he seemed to have been going all out against her.
So Hinata was feeling rather good as she exited her home, body hunched forward, eyes downcast, she once again felt like eating somewhere in town, where she didn't have to put up with her father's bullshit. With no one any the wiser, she slipped out the front gate and headed into town, body running on masked autopilot while her thoughts drifted around in her head. Hinata knew that the class rankings reflected not a bit of the actual skill of students, after all she'd been only in the upper half of the class, Shino had been dead-middle and Kiba had been near the lower end of the spectrum.
Of course she knew now that despite his perversion, Shino was almost as strong as her, he could probably beat her in a fight simply because of his destruction bugs, the style was excellent against her primary combat form. Kiba, conversely, was an excellently skilled tracker, could hold his own in combat and had a remarkable grasp of how to use his own talents best without making the fight harder for the others of his team. After a fashion, Kiba was the ideal teammate, if you ignored his loud and brash behavior.
Hinata's reflection over her team went on through her mind as she settled into the ramen shop she frequented, a glance up at the wizened old man, and both lit up with smiles, the girl's somewhat muted by the presence of her nervous mask. It was fascinating, this time of her day, she always felt detached, separate, while her mask did things. She heard herself nervously squeak out a request for miso ramen, but she hadn't willed herself to speak, perhaps she had multiple personalities? Or was the mask just so deeply engrained that it was autonomous in her? She didn't know and didn't care, and a few moments later she had ramen sitting in front of her.
Naruto used to always eat ramen, she remembered, later she found out how deeply he hated the noodle-soup, but it was already too late for her to change her views on it. As Naruto's primary weakness was his novels, Hinata reveled in her own Achilles' heel, which was ramen. Not many knew of her ramen-love, those that did were mildly disturbed by it, she didn't eat it rapaciously like Naruto had, nor in vast quantity, but when anybody threatened a bowl that she had, even her mask exuded killing intent rarely seen outside of charging armies.
She finished her bowl and bowed politely to the shopkeeper, paid for her meal and departed to meet with her team. As usual she was there before her teammates, a glance with her Byakugan told her that her sensei wasn't there yet either, so she sat down against a tree and let her mask pull away just a little bit, smiling as she rubbed the pink flesh on her cheek, eyes dark despite their pallor. She plucked kunai from her holster and twirled them idly on one hand, noticing the dry blood, she watched in fascination as the crusty red swirled in a pattern, making it look like the air was bleeding.
Her mind turned to the owner of the blood, and her own plans for the future, obviously Konoha was worthless, it tried to hold down the weapon Kyuubi, and it had done nothing to extend a hand of friendship to the Hyuugas, notably Hyuuga Hinata. Having received no dedication, or places to fit into society, Hinata had made a person who fit the bill for the places made available to her. Naruto had never done that, he had continued on, with the same thought that the people of Konoha and anyone but the people who actually did something unnecessary, something kind, were worthwhile. Currently both only knew that from the Hokage, it was for him that Hinata stayed in the village, the day he died, she would either stay for her next precious person, or she would leave and go somewhere where she could be the real Hyuuga Hinata.
If she could secure Naruto's interest in her, ensure he developed no further ties to the village, he would come with her, probably with little enough resistance to the idea. The pale-eyed girl let out a sadistic giggle, surprising and frightening Shino who'd just arrived, she thought of it was a wonderful and malicious way to get what she wanted while harming the leaf. She did not see it as a perversion of a girlish dream to be whisked away from a horrible life by her knight in shining armor.
After all, she wasn't some wussy, overly feminine, stuttering fool. She was Hyuuga Hinata, hardened killer, a firm believer in the 'might-makes-right' philosophy, and she had set her eyes on something that se was determined to make hers. She sensed Kurenai approaching and quickly slipped her mask back over herself and slipped her kunai into their holster. Her eyes flashed a warning at Shino, who was already reading from a small orange novel, she might just have imagined the slight glint in his glasses after the threat.
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Yuuhi Kurenai dropped into training field thirteen and took stock of her team, well what was present of it at least. Shino and Hinata already here, Kiba not yet. This was normal, and probably to be expected.
Shino was in fact reading a little orange novel that she had spent half an hour screaming at him for the day prior. For her efforts she received a brief but amazingly well thought-out explanation of why in fact the book was perverted, but why that wasn't bad and why it objectified women far less than it insulted the mental capacities of men. Kurenai had been so shocked by the answer, thought most of it she knew was bullshit, that she had had almost nothing to say in response.
True, the book was proclaimed as fiction, and having a ready source of fiction helped one to separate truth from fantasy, and as fiction it harmed nor insulted any real women, and in fact preached a philosophy that overall held women as superior to men. Perhaps also true that the process and methods of sexual intercourse were so well documented in so many sources already, that it was insulting to print and expect people (mostly men) to purchase what is essentially plagiarism plus. Despite that, Kurenai didn't have to like it.
And on the subject of things she disliked, there was Hinata. Kurenai liked Hinata, the concept, but hated Hinata in practice. She wanted to help the girl, but it was hard, and she reminded her so much of her own self at the age, it was in fact a painful reminder of her less pleasant times in life. Not that it mattered, she noticed the three lines on her cheek and instantly felt her rage stoked, had that bastard father of hers hurt her?
"Hinata, where did you get those cuts?" Kurenai stood over her in her most intimidating pose, finding it was effective for getting the truth out of the girl who normally wanted to protect everyone else. The real Hinata was not at all impressed with her sensei.
She cowered slightly under the fierce presence of their teacher before stuttering slightly. "I-i-I g-got them, s-sparring yesterday… sensei," Kurenai's eyes narrowed slightly.
"Kiba actually cut you in sparring?" Hinata quickly and fiercely shook here head, reflecting internally that Kiba didn't have the power to even come close to her. "Then who?"
"N-na-naruto-kun… He's r-really strong… once he gets going." This made Kurenai falter slightly. Unlike most she had never thought of him as the Kyuubi brat, well not until she met him, then she saw the most alien creature that passed itself off for human. Of course, being Kurenai, she scolded herself for judging him so quickly, he'd never known any sort of kindness, and almost everyone treated him the same way, he was just spoiled (Aidis 1 and 1). That was what she decided, but to have actually hurt one of her students, perhaps she needed to talk to Kakashi about training his students not to hurt other Konoha shinobi? Hinata seemed to catch her train of thought and felt her ire rise at it. "Don't even think to have him hold back against me, EVER!"
The suddenness and severity of Hinata's shout shocked her sensei, and the cold rage buried in her ivory eyes was a thing that Kurenai almost couldn't reconcile with her image of the timid blue-haired girl. Who was this? Did she even know her? The rage was gone and the momentary boldness fell away as well. "H-Hinata…"
The girl cleared her throat and didn't look up at her teacher. "N-naruto-kun… he has no one, s-s-someone has to… to take him seriously. How could anyone think l-like that if… if they couldn't be seen like that themselves!" This seemed to be Hinata's cooling stage between breaking point and normal. Kurenai thought about it and realized that the two were actually perfect for one another, and decided very quickly that she shouldn't butt in. If only to prevent Hinata from blowing up again, the killer intent she had given off at that point had been even more overpowering than if you threatened her ramen.
With a shaky breath, Kurenai forced herself into composure. "I guess you're right Hinata, and it is your life to do with as you please, but if he seriously injures you I want you to tell me about it alright?" Hinata gave a slight nod. She decided it wasn't worth mentioning the six kneecaps she'd ruined or the seven internal organs she'd crushed through sheer effort of power and chakra.
Kiba chose that moment to arrive and gave everyone a sheepish wave. "Yo! Sorry I'm late, sis' was worried about Akamaru and I sure as hell wasn't gonna piss her off…" He looked around at them. "Uhm… I miss something?" He looked to Hinata, usually the one who enlightened him as to what was actually going on, and saw the lines on her cheek. Being Kiba, he misunderstood with great enthusiasm. "New tattoo, Hinata? Looks nice, feral kinda, a lot like Uzumaki's actually! Though it actually looks good on you." He couldn't tell why but she blushed fiercely at the praise and mumbled a thank you, Kurenai sighed and decided to outline the day for her students.
They weren't getting any farther with this issue today.
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End Chapter Five At Any Cost
Aidis 1: Spoiled? With his treatment?
1: It's widely agreed that Kurenai's really smart. At the same time, she'd probably know that being spoiled isn't expecting things to always go your way, its expecting to be treated the same way no matter what your actions are. In this regard, Naruto is spoiled without the benefit of affection. If you have a different view on the subject, please make note of it in a review or a pm, I'd love to discuss it.
Author note: Didn't get to the point I planned to, but this seemed to be a good place to end it. Roughly 3300 words seems… adequate. I guess. I don't much feel like describing D-rank missions, but if people ask for them I guess I will… Next chapter's another filler thing, sorta, mostly some flashbacks in dreams. Probably another date (read: fight) with Hinata, and Sakura catching onto Naruto's 'infidelity'. Next time, At Any Cost, Masks are too troublesome. Go ahead, punk, blink.
Aidis: I was gonna say something but I can't remember for the life of me what. I guess I'll just give a spiel about how I want you to review and if you don't I'll eat your liver while you sleep, errr, looks like I've already done it. Whatever.
Islagatt: Yeah… Folks don't mind him, Aidis is my beta and a friend, so he's gotten suddenly over-defensive about reviews. If you want the spiel though, by all means go read my other story A Demon's Dream, its in chapter thirteen's ending notes.