For all you who are wondering, yes I have a new beta. He is currently calling himself the Shinanigan Kid.
The latest manga was an eye opener in more ways than one. The history of Madara and the final secrets of the Sharingan revealed. Also, Itachi needs to be in a white room with padded walls. But, there is something that has been bothering me. What did he talk to Naruto about in that genjutsu awhile back? He missed his chance to get Naruto. So, maybe he's not completely insane. I wonder what would happen if the rest of the village found out about this. I wonder how they would take to a clan that kills their best friend and then pulls the eyes out of their brother for power. Ah, they're idiots. Most likely their feeling wouldn't change a bit.
To all the people who want Kakashi dead, I am sorry but not now. I need him for much later. Since we never saw how Kakashi trained them in the manga or the anime I decided to show you how I thought it was like. Some of you agree do to the evidence. Sasuke becomes faster and having better taijutsu in the wave arc and the increased jutsus in the chunin arc. I doubt that he did it all on his own. Kakashi had to have had a hand in it. Personally, I wouldn't be so pissed if he had taught Naruto and Sakura at least one jutsu.
Let's rock!
---
Kakashi slowly opened his eye and stared up at Tsunami.
"About time you woke up," she said. She then turned her head towards a flight of stairs. "Hey, he's awake!" she said in a slightly louder voice. A moment later Kakashi heard the sounds of several footsteps. Soon, he was greeted by the faces of his students and Tazuna.
Slowly, Kakashi moved into a sitting position and looked around. If his guess was right, he was in the living room of house that Tazuna lived in. There was a flight of stairs that told him this was a two story building. He could see the kitchen that was empty except for a table, some cabinets, and a few modern connivances. The furniture looked old and patched up. It looked like Tazuna wasn't kidding about being poor.
"Good to see you up," said Tazuna. "Don't worry; you're safe here in my daughter's home. I doubt that Gato will send anyone else after you defeated that jonin."
"Maybe," said Kakashi with an air of uncertainty. He then looked at his students. "You all have done well. But Naruto, you shouldn't harm your allies or argue with your sensei in those kinds of situations."
"Don't you think your being a bit hard on him?" asked Tazuna. "He did get you out of that mess after all. And besides, you won."
"He could have gotten us all killed," said Kakashi. Naruto was about to say something when a new person entered the room.
"Ah Inari," said Tazuna as he looked over at the boy. He was wearing green overalls and a blue shirt. On his head was hat. "Everyone, I would like you to met my super grandson Inari. Inari, these are the people who risked their lives to save me."
"There's no point," said Inari.
"To what?" asked Anko with a raised eyebrow.
"What you are doing," answered Inari. "No matter what you do, Gato will kill you." And with that he turned around and headed out the door.
"Inari wait," cried the boy's mother as she raced out the door after him
"Humph," said Sasuke.
"Took the words right out of my mouth," said Anko as she crossed her arms. Naruto said nothing but gritted his teeth.
"Never mind him," said Kakashi as everyone turned their attention back at him. "Right now we have more important things to worry about. The more I think about it the more I believe that Zabuza is alive."
"But we saw him die," said Sasuke.
"Think about it," said Kakashi. "An oinin is in charge of disposing of the nuke-nins body. But instead of doing it right then and there, he moved the body. Also, consider the weapon that he used. Senbon needles don't do that much damage. But an oinin has knowledge of the human body so that he would know where all the weak points are. He could easily hit a nerve that could put someone in a dead like state. That said, I believe that they are working together."
"Don't you think that you are over thinking this?" asked Tazuna. Kakashi shrugged.
"I'd rather train them from something that won't happen than to not train them for something that will happen," replied the Cyclops. "Besides, I want my book back!" Everyone sweat dropped as he ruined the moment.
---
Over in an open field, Haku examined the body of Zabuza. After a few minutes she then unwrapped some tools and selected something that looked like tweezers. Slowly she moved the tool near the man's neck in an attempt to remove the needles. However, Zabuza woke up and pulled them out himself.
"You really shouldn't do things like that," said Haku as she took off her mask. "Those needles were in deep. You could have seriously put yourself in danger. Also," reached into the large man's pants pocket and pulled out an orange book. "If you have time to grab something like this then you have time to kill your opponent."
"Sh-Shut up," stammered Zabuza as he tried to get the book back. It was bad enough that the girl was scolding him like a child, but finding out he had porn was even worse. She just didn't understand that he was a man with needs. And since they were on the run he couldn't stay in one stop long enough to meet a woman. So that book would have to do. Unfortunately for him, Haku wouldn't let him get his hands back on the book. "I would have had him if it wasn't for that gaki with the Raijin!"
"Oh," said Haku with interest. "So that was the Raijin. I always wondered what it looked like."
"The Raijin," said Zabuza as he continued to try and grab the book. "One of the five great elemental weapons. Each one, like the kages, represents one of the five great shinobi nations. I had heard that that sword had been returned home. But I never thought that a kid would have it. A flying kid at that. Now I have one more reason to go after the bridge builder. With that weapon I will be one step closer to reaching my goals."
"The Raijin or the blonde?" asked Haku.
"Maybe both," said Zabuza with a grin. He could see it now. The blond could fly into the village and drop exploding tags all over the place while he snuck in. then with the Raijin he could kill the Mizukage and take his place.
"Well you're not doing it anytime soon," said Haku in her serious voice. "It will take at least a week for these wounds to heal." She then smiled sweetly at Zabuza. "But don't worry, my cooking will speed things up a bit."
Zabuza began to sweat bullets when Haku said that. She was an amazing shinobi but was useless in the kitchen. The last time she had made him anything he could have sworn that it blinked at him. And now, in his weakened condition, he couldn't escape. Personally, he was wishing that Kakashi had gotten to him first.
---
Elsewhere, Team 7 made their way into the woods with Kakashi on crutches. The jonin's three students walked ahead of him while he talked to Tazuna who had come along just in case.
"Hey Kakashi, do you have a problem with the super midget?" asked Tazuna.
"No," answered Kakashi. "Why do you ask?"
"Well I've seen you put him down several times," said Tazuna as he took a swig of sake. "You just seem harder on the boy."
"I see," said Kakashi. "I wouldn't expect you to understand, but Naruto doesn't interest me that much. He's a dreamer with a few good jutsus with nothing else really going for him. He says he'll become Hokage, but that will never happen. I doubt he will ever make it past chunin.
"Sasuke is a different matter. He is a genius among the shinobi of his age group. He belongs to a clan with a great doujutsu. Once he awakens it he will become stronger than any of the other genins and most of the chunins. The council also knows this. That is why they are planning on making Sasuke our future Hokage."
"I don't know everything about the shinobi world," said Tazuna as he scratched his head. "But, doesn't the Hokage choose who will succeed him? That's what I heard at least."
"Hai," said Kakashi. "The council plans on making a strong case for Sasuke's selection. Sarutobi-sama will see the light sooner or later."
I don't think I'll ever understand the shinobi world, thought Tazuna.
"Alright, let's stop here," said Kakashi as them came into a clearing. His three students turned around and waited for their sensei to tell them what they were going to be doing. "To get you all ready in case Zabuza really is alive, I will be teaching you a technique that some jonins can't even do."
"And what is that?" asked Sasuke.
"To climb trees," said Kakashi with an eye smile. His students seemed less than impressed.
"We already know how to climb a tree," said Sasuke as he crossed his arms. Kakashi didn't say anything as he walked slowly over to a nearby tree and walked up it without using his hands. The ease in which he did it made it look more like he was walking on the ground. When he reached the first branch that looked like it would hold him he walked under it so he was upside down. He walked a little bit more before he stopped and looked down at his students.
"Did I forget to mention that you couldn't use your hands?" said Kakashi. He then began to walk back down to his students and employer. "As you know, chakra flows through the entire body. In some areas, like the hands, it is easier to focus and to mold. The feet, on the other hand, are much harder. This exercise is going to help you work on your control so that even in the heat of battle you don't waste any chakra." He was now in front of his students. He reached into his kunai pouch and then pulled out three which he then tossed to his students. "Use these to record your progress. Oh, and I suggest that you get a running start."
Sasuke smirked as he gripped his kunai. He then ran towards the nearest tree as quickly as he could. While he ran, he focused chakra into his feet right before he took his first step onto the tree. When his foot touched the bark there was a small explosion and Sasuke was thrown back. But not before he was able to mark where he stopped.
"This isn't as easy as I thought it would be," said Sasuke as he began to understand what had happened. "If I use too much then the wood explodes."
"Hai," said Kakashi. "And if you use too little then you slip right off. In order to do this you need a precise amount." He then looked over to where Naruto and Anko where and found them walking slowly up their tree with their hands in the pockets. A look of shock came on Kakashi's face while Sasuke's became distorted in anger. Kakashi had a feeling that Naruto already knew how to do this, but not Anko. As Naruto walked down he saw the look on their faces and smirked.
"What?" asked the blonde. "I've known how to do this for years. I showed Anko-chan how to do it in our second year."
"I see," said Kakashi as he ignored Sasuke's growl. "Alright then, we are going to have to make some changes. I had planned on having all three of you do this for the week, but seeing this means that two of you need other things to do. Sasuke, I want you to keep working on this until you have mastered it. Naruto, when Sasuke is done I want you to teach him one of your jutsus."
"Like hell I will!" yelled Naruto. Kakashi just gave the boy a lazy look like he didn't care.
"Naruto," he said firmly. "This is not a request, it's an order. I would do it myself but I'm in no condition. And I don't want you to teach him anything useless like the Oiroke no Jutsu that I have heard about." Naruto balled up his fists so tightly that they began to bleed. Kakashi saw this but said nothing as he turned to Anko. "You will be on guard duty starting tomorrow."
"But what about my training?" she demanded.
"Train while you guard him then," said Kakashi as he turned around and began to walk away with Tazuna. As he walked with Tazuna, Anko gave him the one figured salute.
"So," said Tazuna once they were out of range. "Explain to me how that super brooder is the best when he needs the help of the hopeless dreamer." Kakashi groaned.
"Just show me where I can get a new book," he said. Tazuna sighed.
"I'm sorry to say this," said the old bridge builder. "But Gato hogs all of those books. There's not a single one in this country." At that, Kakashi screamed.
---
Team 8 stood before the Hokage as they finished their debriefing. Since Team 7 left there had been an increase of available mission. D-ranked mission were few since most people figured that they would just save some money and do them themselves. However, the ones that were given out were the ones that no one really wanted to do. That was just how it was.
"Good job Team 8," said the Hokage as he smiled at them. "The Daimyo's wife is very pleased to have her cat back. Again. Now, I have several other missions that I could give you…" He paused there simply for the effect.
"What do you mean by could give?" asked Kurenai.
"Today Team 8 will be going on its first C-ranked mission," said Sarutobi. "The Nami Shipping Group has been hit by a number of pirates lately and has lost their last several shipments. To correct this they have put out posters looking for people to act as guards and have asked us for additional assistance. We will be paid the usual and you will be getting a tip of a thousand ryo for each pirate that you kill or capture."
"Where is the ship heading?" asked Kurenai.
"The ship is heading to a small island near the former Uzu no Kuni," replied the Hokage. In reality he had wanted Team 7 to go with them, but his concern for the reaction of Naruto's tenet caused him to reconsider. After all, Kyuubi was the one who was responsible for that lands destruction. "The pirates don't usual attack ships in that area since few venture to that area so it should be safe. Once you get to the island you will begin your next mission."
"We get two C-ranked missions?" exclaimed Kiba. "What's the other one?"
"Yoruichi-san will inform you of the details when you reach the island," said Sarutobi. He then looked at Hinata. "Yes, she will be joining you on that mission. You leave in one hour."
"You heard him," said Kurenai as she turned to her students. "Be at the north gate in one hour." The genins bowed before the Hokage and then rushed out the door to get ready. Once they had left, Kurenai turned to the old man and stared at him. "I want to know what this second mission is about before I send my team into it. And why are we meeting up with Yoruichi?"
The Hokage seemed to ignore her as he pulled out his pipe. He lit it and then took a long grab. He studied the woman before him for a while before taking one last drag.
"Very well," he said. "You can't tell anyone about this mission. You and your team are to protect Hinata while Yoruichi attends her clan's meeting." Kurenai blinked in confusion. That had not been what she was expecting.
"Ah, wouldn't she be safer in the village?" she asked.
"I had better explain," said Sarutobi. "As you know, Yoruichi is the niece of the current Daimyo. For most of her early life, she was pampered and brought up to be one of the nobles. Then, one day when she was nine, she was nearly killed in an assignation attempt. She was saved, luckily, by one of our shinobi. After that, a spark was lit that couldn't be extinguished. She wanted to become a shinobi despite her family's objections. However, they eventually gave in seeing that she would never be able to become Daimyo.
"But things are different now. The current Daimyo has no children of his own. Unless this changes his brother will remain next in line with Yoruichi in third. However, it is most likely that her father will be too old to take the thrown if that happens. To decide the best course of action the clan is having a meeting on the island that you are heading to so that it will remain a secret."
"I see," said Kurenai as she nodded. "But what does this have to do with Hinata?"
"There is also another thing that they will be talking about," said the Hokage. "The Daimyo told me before he left with Yoruichi that they want her to formally adopt Hinata as her daughter."
"What?!" Kurenai practically screamed.
"You seem surprised," observed the Hokage.
"To say the least," breathed Kurenai. "Don't get me wrong, I'm happy for Hinata. I'm just surprised that they want her now after all this time." The Hokage took another drag before continuing.
"If Yoruichi is moved to second in line for the thrown, she will need a successor," said the Hokage. "The life that that woman leads is a dangerous one. Not to mention her personality. She has never been married nor has she had children of her own. Maybe they are hoping that adding some Hyuga blood will help their family."
"So why is her life in danger?" repeated the red eyed woman.
"Hiashi," said Sarutobi simply. "Since Hinata was thrown out, he has been worried that the Byakugan will fall into another clan. If that happens, some of the Branch members of his clan might try to get their children into the other one to save them from the bird cage seal. But now he has something far worse. If Hinata were to make her voice heard, she would have the power to help pass laws. She could help create a law that would banish the bird cage seal once and for all. If that happened, I would be forced to enforce it and Hiashi would be forced to obey. If he finds out where and when the meeting is taking place, I am sure that he will try his best to have her killed before hand."
"Does he know about this meeting?" asked Kurenai.
"Unfortunately the council was informed," said the Hokage. "And that man is on the council. He only knows about the meeting but not the time and place. The first mission is a cover. I had worked it out with the shipping company so that you will be on the right boat." He stopped to have another drag. "Have I explained everything?"
"Hai," she said as she turned to leave. After all, she had to get ready to.
---
Naruto was lying on his back on a thick tree branch on the other edge of the clearing where Sasuke was training. His hands were behind his head acting like a pillow. Anko had gone on her own to work on some snake jutsus while muttering something about lazy senseis. At least things were quiet. So quiet in fact that Naruto decided to take a nap right before he began his own training. Slowly he drifted into dreamland until…
"Get down here dobe!" yelled Sasuke from the ground. Naruto groaned as he opened his eyes while wishing that his teammate came with a snooze button. He then got up into a sitting position with his legs dangling over the edge as he looked down at his teammate.
"What do you want teme?" asked Naruto.
"You're going to start teaching me that jutsu now," demanded Sasuke. Naruto smiled as he shook his head.
"Sorry, but sensei said I only had to when you finished mastering this exercise," said Naruto who wasn't sorry at all. "And since you're down there and I'm up here, you haven't finished it."
"It's pointless," said Sasuke as he crossed his arms. "This isn't making me stronger. I need to get stronger so I can kill him. So get down here."
"Taking the easy way I see," said Naruto with a sigh. "Let me guess, you actually have to work hard at it and now you want to give up. It takes time and hard work to gain power that is worth having." Then, Sasuke did something that Naruto never expected him to do. The Uchiha reached back and pulled out six kunai. Without saying a word he threw them at Naruto. The wind user leaned back and rolled off the branch to avoid being hit. Now he was hovering in the air while looking at Sasuke. "What was that about?"
"I don't want a lecture," said Sasuke. "I don't have time for it. Every second I waste with people who are only playing shinobi 'he' gets stronger."
"So I'm just playing shinobi? So I'm just supposed to hand everything to you on a silver platter?!" yelled Naruto. "I worked my ass off for this power. If you want to get stronger then why don't you try making your own jutsu instead of waiting for others to hand you everything?!"
"I…" began Sasuke, but Naruto wasn't finished.
"Besides, you're not getting stronger while Kakashi-sensei is holding me and Anko-chan back. So if you think you're better than we are based on our practices then you are wrong!"
"You want to put that to the test?" asked Sasuke as he cracked his knuckles.
"Love to teme," said Naruto as he landed on the ground.
Not wasting any time, Sasuke ran right for the blond and punched him in the face. As Naruto took a couple of steps backwards due to the force of the attack, Sasuke managed to kick him in the chest. Sasuke then leapt toward him and continued to punch him over and over again without stop.
"Is (punch in the face) this the best (punch in the gut) you (another punch in the gut) got?" taunted Sasuke. He was about to punch him in the face again when Naruto's hand grabbed the other boy's fist. Naruto stared at Sasuke. A small trickle of blood came from his mouth. His left eye seemed to be half open. In a single motion he pushed Sasuke away.
"Hardly," said Naruto before he shot straight up into the air. Sasuke watched him as he became nothing but a small dot.
"What is that dobe thinking?" asked Sasuke aloud.
Naruto stopped shortly before he hit the cloud line. Once there he began his prefight ritual. After all, you had to get into the right mood when you do things like this. Naruto closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He then opened his eyes and a feral smile appeared on his face.
Sasuke stared at the dot that was his teammate. For a while it remained stationary. The Uchiha then began to wonder what was going on. Was his teammate going to run away? Did he have a plan? Was he going to use a long range attack? His thoughts were then cut short when the dot began to get bigger as Naruto fell to the ground at amazing speeds. He then veered left and Sasuke lost sight of him due to the canopy that the forest created.
Then, from Sasuke's right, Naruto came flying towards him like a human bullet, veering around so he didn't hit the tress. Sasuke grabbed his last kunai and threw it at Naruto. Sasuke watched it as it hit Naruto in the forehead. However, a moment later Naruto went poof.
"Kage bunshin," said Sasuke with gritted teeth. Sasuke's eyes then widened right before he did a back flip to avoid another kage bunshin that would have hit him from behind. When he landed, he saw another clone coming from straight towards him and another coming from the left. Sasuke dodged at the last moment so that the two hit each other. Sadly, this time there was no poof but a boom instead. The force of the explosion threw Sasuke like he was a rag doll as he landed on his chest. Slowly he got up and noticed Naruto was leaning against a tree with his arms crossed.
"You done yet?" he asked with a grin.
"Hardly," replied Sasuke as he charged at Naruto. Naruto got off the tree and began to do some hand signs. Then he yelled, "Fūton: Daitoppa!" and a great explosion of wind came and swept Sasuke into the air. He landed hard on a tree with enough force to hear a bone or two break. Then next thing he saw was Naruto flying towards him feet first, aimed for his chest. When it hit, Sasuke face was the picture of pain right before he went poof and was replaced with a log. Naruto turned around and saw Sasuke on a knee, panting hard. Then he saw Sasuke pull out some shuriken and then he threw them at him. Naruto smirked as he began to do several seals before shouting, "Fūton: Kazetate!" A twister appeared around Naruto and deflected the attacks that Sasuke threw at him. "How?" asked Sasuke as Naruto's jutsu faded.
"These were the first jutsus that I ever learned," replied Naruto. "I know one other, but I don't think I'll need it. You're done."
"Not yet," snarled Sasuke as he got up. He then began to perform his own hand signs and then yelled, "Katon: Gokakyu no Jutsu!" Naruto saw this and yelled, "Fūton: Daitoppa!" Sadly, as soon as Naruto did that he remembered what happens when you use wind to fight fire. The two jutsus hit each other and caused an explosion as the fire ignited the wind. When the smoke cleared, the clearing had suddenly become a lot bigger. Sasuke was knocked out and Naruto was about to lose it as well.
"Somehow I know I'm going to get in trouble for this," said Naruto as he closed his eyes.
