DISCLAIMER: I DON'T OWN NARUTO!!!!! I wish I did; I would've converted the Akatsuki instead of killing them all off. Sucks.
I want to thank ALL these people for their input:
Sacuna
Blackraven1412BR
Animelover28
JezebelSadiablo
Ohtare
CuteLikeMomiji: Thank you for saying so; I wanted to do something different, and this is what came up! As for SasuNaru; I can't—that would defeat the purpose of writing it. HOWEVER; it did give me a good idea on how to annoy the crap out of a certain jounin sensei and chunin teacher later……*evil grin*
Kamerreon : *laughs manically* You asked for it; A THOUSAND YEARS OF PAIN!!! *watches as you go sailing* How did ya like that?!
D. Akisira R.T.M.S. : Thank you! I update as often as my imagination and life allows; doesn't help I can only type at night, does it?
Sanz0girl: Glad you liked it! I enjoyed writing that part A LOT: in my opinion, he needs more smack-downs than just the one he got at the Chunin exams, ne?
Hikari Kaiya
Jonnlynn
River of the Emerald Dawn
"Sasuke; point B."
"Sakura; point C."
………………………………………………………………….
"Naruto; point A, believe it."
"You're slow Naruto……..Target is on the move; after it!"
The three genin ran after the target, stopping in the shrubbery a short way from it.
"How close are you to the target?"
"Five meters; give me the word, I'm ready."
"As am I."
"Me too."
"Steady……………GO!"
As one the three genin jumped the target, our favorite-knuckle headed ninja managing to get a firm grip on the target, which just HAPPENED to be a………….cat. Said cat was NOT happy at being caught and promptly began to scratch the HELL out of the unfortunate boy.
"Is there a red ribbon on the right ear? Is it the target?"
Sasuke sighed, wincing as the cat managed to catch Naruto across the bridge of the nose, the boy trying to grab hold of those stupid legs so that the cat would STOP scratching him!
"Affirmative."
Naruto chose to scream into the mike at that moment, Sasuke the only one getting warning from living with the idiot as he quickly yanked it out.
"WHEN ARE WE GOING TO DO SOME COOL MISSIONS?!?!?!"
Sasuke cringed; even without his earpiece the volume had been ear shattering, scattering the birds for many miles around them—he could only imagine how loud it was with the earpiece ON. Putting the earpiece back on, Sasuke smirked when he heard the faint 'thump' as Kakashi hit the ground; apparently having that much sound hitting your eardrums would make ANYONE pass out.
'Hn; he could make a new jutsu out of that.'
Sasuke was kidding of course; he would have cursed if he knew that Orochimaru already HAD an idiot with powers like that (though he wouldn't have known who the idiotic snake man was). Sighing, Sasuke told Naruto and Sakura to take the cat back to the office, running off towards Kakashi's direction before they could argue. The raven haired boy smirked as he saw the passed out jounin; maybe he should use this for blackmail?
Sasuke immediately paled and shook his head; the jounin WOULD find out, and he really didn't want to see the man's anger directed towards him.
Naruto had tried to steal his book yesterday and had gotten blown halfway across a field when Kakashi got annoyed and used the Thousand Years of Pain Jutsu; the blonde boy had hobbled around with a sore bum for the rest of the day. If Kakashi did things like THAT when he was annoyed, just IMAGINE what he would do if he was pissed.
Sighing, Sasuke kicked the bottom of Kakashi's foot, making his kick a little more forceful when the silver-haired man remained unconscious. It was at this moment that a blonde-black blur appeared in front of him and Sasuke jumped back in surprise, uncharacteristically tripping on a tree root as said figure stretched while sighing loudly.
"Thank Kami: I was beginning to think that giving long and pointless speeches was ANOTHER kekki genkai that the Hyuuga's had!!!!! You should have HEARD—………………..Uh, duck-butt; why is Kakashi passed out on the ground?"
Sasuke rolled his eyes as he tried to control the tick above his eye; this knuckle-head was almost as clueless as the other one—but he wouldn't trade them in for anything.
"Naruto YELLED into the earpieces when Kakashi had turned the volume up a bit to hear us whispering during the mission Hiro-nii; he fell over shortly afterward and hasn't gotten up since."
Hiroto sighed as he ran a hand through his hair; he had wondered when HIS Kakashi had walked into the office exactly WHY the man looked so pale, but he never thought that the reason could be this.
"Go to the others and turn in the cat; Kakashi and I will come once I've determined that he didn't get injured from that baka screaming into his ears."
Sarcasm dripped off Hiroto's words as he finished speaking, rolling his eyes at Sasuke's knowing smirk as he left. Gathering chakra into his hands, Hiroto paused as he took in Kakashi's form.
Silver-hair was splayed across the ground like spilt moonbeams, the graceful curve of his nose and definition of his lips marred slightly by the mask that hugged a strong jaw and muscular neck, disappearing underneath standard jounin gear that hid the muscular body from view.
Hiroto shuddered; surely ONE kiss wasn't going to hurt, was it? Slowly he lowered himself so that he was kneeling above the man, only snapping out his daze as one name was murmured—almost lovingly—from hidden lips.
"Naruto."
Hiroto sucked in his breath as he quickly scooted away; what had he been THINKING?!?!
This Kakashi belonged to the YOUNGER Naruto; not him.
His 'Kashi was lost forever.
Hiroto allowed one sob to wrack his body before controlling himself; hiding his pain behind a mask of happiness as he did a basic med spec through the jounins clothes, pleased to find that he only had a slight bump on his head that was easily hidden by the silvery hair.
'Kit………..Kit.'
'…………………Yea Kyuubi?'
'I'm ………..sorry I didn't trust you sooner. If I had maybe—………….maybe he would've been here with you.'
Despite the immense sadness within his heart, Hiroto smiled; Kyuubi was actually quite nice, once you got past his gruffness.
'It isn't your fault; even at full power I doubt that we could've reached him in time.'
'I know kit; I just don't like to see you hurt.'
'…………………Thank You.'
The bitterness in Hiroto's heart deepened as he thought about exactly WHY he was so hurt.
But never in a million years could he blame Kyuubi.
After all, the big fur ball hadn't come willingly when Madara had summoned him to destroy the village; he had actually tried to kill Madara until the man did………….something to the demon lord, making him go berserk before setting him loose on the village.
Hiroto's countenance darkened; Madara.
'EVERYTHING terrible about my life happened because of that………that monster; if there could EVER be a demon in human skin, it was—is that complete asshole of a bastard.'
Hiroto snapped out of his thoughts as he felt Kakashi shift slightly, jumping up and away from the man before he awoke, nailing down the disoriented black eye with a wry smile as he held out a hand to help the man up.
"Naruto's got a set of lungs on him, doesn't he?"
Kakashi just grunted in response, grabbing the blondes hand only to wobble unsteadily once he was on his own two feet. Chuckling, Hiroto handed Kakashi his water canteen, smiling and lightly punching the man when he handed it back.
"Comon; I'm sure that Naruto is annoying the crap out of the Hokage for a better mission. Let's save the old man before Naruto can do the same attack to him, eh?"
Kakashi chuckled before body flickering to the Hokages' office, rolling his eyes as he saw a bored-looking Hiroto leaning against the door frame.
"I've REALLY got to teach you the Hiraishin; everyone's too frigging SLOW without it!!!!!"
Kakashi bopped the young man over the head as he walked pass, sighing as the idiot paused for a second—rubbing the back of his head—before sprinting to catch up. Both men winced and Hiroto cursed as they heard Naruto's ear-blowing volume coming from inside the office. Taking a bracing breath, as if he was about to burst into a room of enemy nin, Hiroto glanced at Kakashi, who nodded his head resignedly as the blonde pushed open the door.
"….NOT THE SAME KID THAT USED TO PULL PRANKS YOU KNOW!!!"
Naruto was sitting cross-legged on the floor, his cheeks puffed out as he crossed his arms, pointedly ignoring the Hokage and Iruka. Again Hiroto saw Iruka's gaze strayed to the Uchiha, and it made him wonder just HOW badly the Iruka from his time had been hurt when Sasuke left. Shaking his head, Hiroto smiled as the Hokage gave in, wincing as Naruto gave out a loud whoop as he pumped his fist into the air.
"You can come in now."
Slowly the door behind them opened, and the strong scent of sake met Hiroto's sensitive nose.
'Great; Tasuna. That means it's time to deal with THEM again too……….I wonder if they would make good allies?'
"…..just a bunch of brats."
"WHAT DID YOU SAY OLD MAN?!"
"No insulting the client Naruto."
Hiroto snorted; he hadn't liked a drunken Tasuna then and he still didn't like him now. As soon as the Hokage told them the departure time Hiroto nodded and used the Hiraishin, intent on finding a certain genin. Stopping in front of the flower shop, the blonde squared his shoulders before stepping inside, immediately going over to the sunflowers. They had been Kakashi's favorite; mostly because they reminded the jounin of him………
Hiroto shook his head and smiled sadly, also picking up a violet, Sakura blossoms, a wild rose and two moonflowers before heading to the counter. Hiroto smiled softly as the blonde girl looked up, her greeting dying on her lips as she saw who was purchasing.
"I would like to buy these please."
"………..O-of course. Would you like a vase for them?"
"I need 5 of them please; can you supply me with some ribbon if I tell you what colors I need?"
"I'll see what I can do."
As Hiroto listed off the colors, Ino scurried from drawer to drawer, intent on pleasing the man who had caused her so much trouble before; Asuma-sensei had lectured first her, then everyone on proper shinobi behavior for almost an hour before calming down enough to sheepishly apologize. As Ino handed a pair of scissors Hiroto caught her hand, smiling wanly as her pale blue eyes looked into his darker orbs.
"I'm sorry about what I did at the academy; war makes you……unnecessarily harsh when there is no need to be………Still; that is no excuse for how publicly I rebuked you,*snort* even if it was in good intention…….
I just hope that you will accept my apology."
Letting go of her hand, Hiroto proceeded to decorate the vases, only looking up when the girl cleared her throat loudly.
"You shouldn't be sorry you know; yes it was embarrassing, but you taught me a lesson I could've learned in much less………positive conditions. I should be THANKING you; Asuma-sensei described some…..vivid scenario's as to what COULD have happened if I had tried to do that to anyone less…..forgiving."
Hiroto shuddered; he had gotten a lecture from the large man once—NEVER AGAIN. He even out-classed Iruka in creepiness when he was pissed. Ino giggled, noticing the slightly frightened look on his face, raising an eyebrow as the blonde man finished decorating the vases without even looking at them.
"Their arrangement is………interesting."
"Well I'm going more for symbolism than symmetry; how much?"
"With everything that will be…………63 dollars (1)."
Pulling out the money, Hiroto kept hold of it as the other blonde looked at him again.
"Are we good?"
Ino giggled; Hiroto was as formal and informal as they come, all at the same time.
"Yea; we're good."
"Then good day to you."
"See ya!"
Hiroto chuckled as he walked out of the store, his purchases carefully balanced inside a box.
'One bridge mended; two to go.'
Making his way to a certain pinkies apartment, Hiroto made sure to set the box down carefully before summoning a pen and some paper, writing a short note and signing it before folding and placing it among three of the five, picking up the other two before knocking on the door and using the Hiraishin to disappear.
The door was opened by a young jumpsuit wearing boy; calling loudly to the pinky when he noticed the flowers.
"Oi Ayaka-chan! There are some flowers for you!"
"Really? What kind are they?"
"There are Sakura blossoms, a wild rose, and a violet!"
Lee yelped slightly as the door was wrenched from his grasp and thrown open; Ayaka staring at the arrangement with wide eyes before shaking and slowly sinking to the floor, ignoring the various questions of concern as her team gathered around her.
The Sakura and the Rose stood side-by-side; the rose vase slightly higher than the sakura vase. The rose vase was covered with black-green ribbon at the base, a solid line of black broken by a line of blue before going back to black; strands of ribbon flowing down the back of the vase like hair.
The Sakura vase was covered in red at the bottom with a line of black separating before leading to pink, curly strands that flowed down the back. The violet was in a vase considerably shorter than the other two; the bottom in red-white strands, broken by a line of silver before leading to dark purple strands that curled slightly.
All three were connected by ribbons; it looked like the taller two were giving a one handed hug as the other 'arm' reached down to the shorter, the shorters arms curling to grasp the ends of the tallers ribbons.
Ayaka stared a while longer, only coming out of it as Lee gently shook her shoulder and asked her what's wrong, frowning before placing the note in her hand as she shook her head and said nothing. Opening the note, Ayaka's eyes spilt their burden; the baka KNEW. She didn't know HOW he knew; just that he knew.
This is what the note said:
Ayaka,
These are so that they can remain with you always; even in the afterlife.
You can't return the favor with the same materials; I bought some of my own when I made
these.
Forever Your Friend;
Kitsune
Ayaka gave Lee the note, telling him that he could read it and then pass it on as she gently picked up the box, bringing it into her room as Lee followed silently before handing it over, each person falling silent as they read the note.
"I—I don't understand…….Why did you want us to read this?"
Ayaka smiled at Ten-ten before motioning for silence, the men biting their tongues in mid-sentence.
"So that you can understand why it moved me so………………………..When I turned eighteen, I married the love of my life. Together, we had one beautiful girl who's hair was the color of a violet void. Five years later, they…………………they were both killed right before my eyes, I unable to do anything even WITH my kekki genkai.
In fact; it was because of their kekki genkai's that they were executed.
Our………..captors had wanted me to suffer; after all, I was a key member of the resistance and had to be tortured accordingly. I was just about to die from blood loss when…………………..when HE came. Kobayashi Hiroto; Konoha's Kitsune. He was able to dispatch the enemies with ease, treating my wounds and making sure that they were properly buried before disappearing.
I had been searching for him for three years when I finally learned the location of Konoha, quickly making my way here and getting permission from the Hokage to earn my place in the village before seeking him out; last night was just the latest in grateful gestures I made to the man.
In a time when he was supposed to be the most ruthless ANBU, he stopped and helped a woman who had just lost EVERYTHING.
That is why I follow him; that is why he is my friend."
The room was silent as all four—well; three. Though Neji had the sense to look startled at least—hung their heads in shame; they had assumed without information, a MAJOR breach for a shinobi, no matter the reason. Noticing their gloomy moods, Ayaka laughed before punching each of them in the shoulder, grinning as they looked at her questioningly.
"Don't worry; if anything the knuckle-head will try and apologize to YOU. Especially you Neji; though personally I think you deserved the beat down. If and when he does that just brush it off and apologize yourselves; heaven knows that he needs more attention outside of that odd-ball team that he's been a sensei to."
Three heads nodded enthusiastically as the fourth remained still, an unusually contemplative look on his face. Ayaka smiled; this team might be idiots, but they were HER idiots.
0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0
Hiroto groaned as he woke up; he did NOT want to do the first part of this mission.
The second half sure; the first half no. Damn Tasuna.
Then he remembered the Demon Brothers and a sly grin appeared on his face; he planned on torturing the HELL out of the idiotic mist nins. Stretching, Hiroto got ready for the mission, remembering to grab his wet-stones and polishing kit for his swords. Walking into the kitchen and setting his pack down on the floor, Hiroto began making breakfast, knowing that the smell served as a more effective wake-up to the two boys than what yelling or loud noises ever could.
Sure enough, the two boys stumbled in 12 minutes later, Hiroto laughing as he took in their sleepy expressions as he set breakfast before them, all three eating in silence before Hiroto cleaned up and ushered them outside, locking the door before leading the way to the front gate, where Tasuna and Sakura were already waiting.
"You guys are 20 minutes late!!!"
"So? Do you see Kakashi-sensei here yet?........I wouldn't be surprised if we waited another 2 hours for him."
As it turns out, they only had to wait for an hour; it seems that when going on a mission, the jounin wasn't AS late as usual. After the customary yelling and lame excuses they started out, though Tasuna seemed intent on annoying Naruto the entire way to wave country. After a while they came to the oddity of a puddle, Hiroto changing his position slightly so that he could walk right over it.
Almost immediately after passing it, the entire team heard loud screams as the brothers burst out of the water, glaring at Hiroto while hugging themselves tightly—though that didn't stop the after-shocks that went through their system.
"Bastard!!!! You friggin ELECTROCUTED us through your damn feet!"
Hiroto smirked; he didn't know that the Demon Brothers had been such big wimps—at the moment, his younger self was too—but that's beside the point.
Infuriated that such a lowly Konoha nin dare hurt them—never mind the fact that he could've killed them by now if he wanted to—they launched a full scale attack against him, using mid-level water jutsu's to attack him.
Of course Hiroto negated them easily, not even dodging as they entangled him within their razor whips, smirking as he broke them easily before sending them into nearby trees with a small burst of chakra. At this point they were beyond enraged and charged Hiroto without thought, swinging their wasashi in a large arch at his neck. They stared in horror as the blades were snapped cleanly in half a millisecond before both of Hiroto's fist connected with their faces, sending them back into the trees were they remained, unconscious.
Sighing, Hiroto turned around before leveling a disappointed look in the genin's direction.
"Why didn't you step in?"
Shock was apparent on the genin's faces, though Sakura was the one who spoke up first.
"It looked like you could handle it."
"And? What if I had been a touch too slow in raising my chakra barriers or strength; what if I had no idea how to stop water-based jutsu and ended making it ten times worse instead? While you should be confident in your team-mates abilities—that's true—you should NEVER underestimate the enemies or OVERESTIMATE theirs…………..It doesn't help that you were frozen like a rabbit in the hawks stare either."
"What is THAT supposed to mean?"
"It means—Naruto—that fear should NEVER get in the way of duty; that is, unless you want to end up dead."
Hiroto moved toward Tasuna as the rest thought in silence, though it was broken when Sasuke yelled.
"What are you doing, you baka?!"
Hiroto turned to see that Naruto had stabbed a kunai into his hand, his grimace the only thing telling of his pain.
"I vow here and now that I will NEVER let fear keep me from doing what I must. I WILL become Hokage!"
Hiroto shook his head as Kakashi sweat-dropped.
"Naruto; as much as I applaud your enthusiasm, you'll die if you lose much more blood—seriously."
'It's official; the younger me was—and is—an idiot.'
Hiroto grimaced before turning his attention back to the bridge-builder, his icy stare silencing the man before he even began to ask his question.
"Do you want to tell us the REAL reason you hired us Tasuna? Despite what the idiots may think over there (HEY!!!), Hidden Mist Nins this far into fire country and attacking Konoha Nins this close to the village is NOT normal; they're not the type of ninja to attack without reason, no matter what others may think of them.
So spill; what's going on in Wave Country that you would need 2 jounins and 3 genin's and fake the rank of the mission?"
Tasuna deflated; he had wanted to avoid telling them at all costs in case they turned him down—but then again, he supposed it was only fair; to be asked to risk you life so suddenly—especially as far as the brats were concerned—would cause any shinobi to take a second look.
"The Land of Waves isn't a very rich country; we never have been. But lately it's gotten worse; Gato—."
"Isn't that the shipping and realistate tycoon?"
"*sigh* Yes; however, that is only a cover. His real business is hiring thugs and the making of narcotics; the shipping is just a cover so that he can transport them safely. In controlling all merchant traffic to and from Wave, he could make enough money to support his other—interests—while keeping up appearances to the lord of the Wave that what he was doing was in the best interest of the country.
The bridge I'm building to connect Wave with the mainland would shred this illusion and expose him, not to mention break his monopoly; for these reasons he wishes me dead. As for the rank of the mission; as I said earlier, Wave is a poor country and we couldn't pay you even if we tried.
You can go back if you wish; just know that I had hoped to see my daughter and grandson once more before I died……… I suppose that dying before then is my punishment for lying; to never see them again……"
'Damn manipulative old man.'
Hiroto sighed, looking to Kakashi questioningly before speaking.
"Alright alright: we'll guard you until you get home! Just stop it with the allusions to death will you; this job will be gloomy enough without you adding to the mood!"
Tasuna brightened immediately, turning to walk down the path with a spring in his step before calling back to the nin, telling them to get their asses in gear.
Hiroto grumbled; muttering something about 'psychotic old men' before shuffling off after said man, unconsciously mirroring his younger self, a sharp-eared jounin chuckling to himself before setting off after them.
1: I don't know the Yen system well enough to use it. GOMEN!
Fea: OMFG!!! My computer was being retarded and wouldn't let me type for 3 days! You might think it a lame excuse but it's TRUE! The dumb part is that there wasn't even anything wrong with the damn thing!!!............
Gomen; ranting over now.
Naruto: ………………………..Your as scary as Iruka when you're mad.
Fea: Really?...........*shudders* That's scary.
Naruto: Tell me about it.
Fea: Anyways; REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW!! Opinions are always given serious consideration!
