I don't own Naruto.
End of story.
"Lord Hokage, forgive me for being blunt but are you trying to be funny with the team placements?" Fugaku asked.
Inochi and Shikaku gave him a questioning look.
"I see you picked up on that." Sarutobi smiled.
"I planned on placing Shikamaru and Sasuke with Naruto, but I did not want to break up the Ino-shika-cho group, and splitting up the Hyuuga or Inuzuka children from Shino would have caused a riot. Sakura has excellent chakra control and a good head on her, much like her father once did, before he… She will be a good partner for him." Sarutobi informed the worried looking Uchiha.
Inochi, and surprisingly Shikaku still looked confused.
"Why are you so concerned about this Sakura girl being on the same squad as Naruto and Sasuke? From what I've seen she got potential, if she stops stalking your son that is…" Shikaku commented, earning a snort of laughter from Inochi and a frown from Fugaku.
"Inochi, you remember Minato's brother don't you?"
Fugaku asked, in his ever-serious tone of voice.
"Sure I do" Inochi asked after reigning in his laughter.
"He was Minato's partner before Kushina came along. Married some civvie woman. Dissapeared after the Kyuubi attack though… why?"
"Do you remember his wife's name?"
"Sure I do, it was Moriko Harun… oh."
"I think I see why this is going." Shikaku said, rubbing his temples to try to delay the inevitable headache. "Lord Hokage, if people are targeting Naruto wouldn't forming a Namikaze-Uchiha squad be like holding a red flag in front of a bull?" he asked.
"Whatever you decide, Naruto already has a partner."
All three Jonin turned to the window to see a grey haired masked ninja sitting on the windowsill.
"What are you talking about Kakashi?" Fugaku asked. "There aren't any members of the support branch left other than Sakura. How can he have another partner?"
"Because there are other members of the support branch still alive, those who left after the Kyuubi attack. I'm sure you can guess why, Fugaku."
Fugaku looked away almost guiltily.
"Alright, who's this mysterious partner?" Shikaku asked. Kakashi jumped into the room and sat down in a free chair.
"When Kushina married Minato, she joined the support branch. Her sister, Rin, did the same. Not long before Naruto was born, her sister had a baby girl, remember? It was decided that they would be partners when they became ninja." Kakashi informed them, slightly robotically.
"How do you know so much?" Shikaku asked suspiciously. Kakashi seemed to stiffen slightly at the question. Inochi and Sarutobi snickered, their memory jogged by Kakashi's tale.
"I know you were close to Minato, he was your teacher, but his extended family? That's a bit odd…" Fugaku stated.
"Kakashi, maybe you should just tell them how you know Rin so well…" Inochi said with a grin.
"I hate you, you know that?"
"Don't blame me for your lack of self control."
"That was not it. We just-"
"I hate to break up this discussion but this was not the reason I called you all here."
All eyes flicked to the wizened yet friendly and amused face of the Hokage.
"I am aware that Naruto was partnered to Rin's daughter at birth, Sakura is a temporary placement until they meet. I believe Sakura would have decided to join the support branch anyway, if she were told of the situation" the Hokage told the three squabbling Jonin.
"But we are still getting off track. The reason I called you all here because Inochi has something to inform us of." he turned to Inochi expectantly.
The man nodded and looked at his companions.
"Firstly, whoever Mizuki was working for is very skilled. Even with Ibiki, Anko, and several of my fellow clansmen working together, all we managed to get out of Mizuki was that Katahara and Karuko, two academy teachers, were also conspiring with whomever Mizuki was working. We suspect they were connected to the attack in the Uchiha compound but we aren't certain."
"Tch. Why are these things never easy?" Shikaku complained.
Fugaku gave him a withering look.
"Second thing; Naruto asked me about his mother."
"Why didn't you tell us that first?" Fugaku grumbled. Shikaku nodded, equally disgruntled by the news.
"He wanted to know if she left because of the Kyuubi; I told him it was complicated, politics and all that, and he seemed to loose interest."
"What did you tell him that for?!" Fugaku raged.
"Because if I didn't he would have let the subject be dropped. I did not want that. When Naruto is interested in something, he goes after it and fights tooth and nail to get it. And Naruto is very interested in what happened to Kushina." Inochi informed him.
"He isn't stupid, he's known for a while that the reason for Kushina's disappearance isn't normal. I told him what I did to keep him satisfied, for now at any rate."
There was a pause as they considered his words.
Neither piece of news was good.
"You say for now…" the leader of the deer-herders noted. "How long before you think Naruto starts looking for answers on his own?" Shikaku asked in all seriousness.
Inochi frowned.
"I'd say… 3 months tops. After the Chunin exams finish, he will start searching for information. Moreover, the others will do whatever they can to help. Especially Ino and Sasuke."
Shikaku slapped his palm to his forehead.
"I was afraid you'd say that…"
"By then there a possibility they'll be Chunin. That will not be a high enough rank to find out anything too involved, but it will be enough for them to realise there is something going on behind the scenes, hidden behind the Jonin rank. If Sasuke, Shikamaru, or Ino use their heads - which they probably will - they'll use their influence as clan heirs to get the information." Fugaku grumbled.
"We can't not let them participate in the exams if they earn it either." Kakashi added.
"Exactly; in a nutshell, we are running out of time" Inochi finalised.
Sarutobi listened intently. He could not deny what his subordinates were saying, he had feared this would happen should Naruto learn about the Kyuubi early, and he had been right. He had not found a solution either. Maybe they were being too cautious; Naruto had only asked about his mother five times since he stopped asking regularly, including this most recent one. They were probably getting worried over nothing. Still, it had never hurt to be cautious.
The only problem was Sarutobi did not know how to be cautious in this case. He did not know everything, despite what some people believed. Nor had he been directly involved with the Kyuubi incident. He had been responsible for protecting the villagers hidden in the mountain shelters from the beast, not directly confronting it. He had no idea what had really happened, besides what little information Kushina had told him and what his students had seen.
An idea formed in his mind and after several moments, he decided to share it.
"Gentlemen, I believe I have an idea" he said, interrupting the four grown men who had been arguing like children once again. "I suggest we send for Jiraiya, Tsunade, and Orochimaru."
"What?!" Inochi spluttered.
"Lord Hokage, forgive me for my rudeness but are you insane?" Kakashi asked.
"We don't even know where they are, we'll have to find them first…" Shikaku complained.
Fugaku said nothing, but the look in his eyes spoke volumes; 'please tell me you're joking'
The Hokage held up his hand for silence, and upon receiving it explained his reasons for calling back his students. It was not that they would be unwelcome, far from it (despite what Orochimaru thought). They just tended to be a bit loud. Moreover, they were very destructive.
"I know what you're all thinking but those three are the only ones who know what truly happened hat night. We only have a general outline. They were right at the front line with Minato and Kushina. They will be able to sink of a better solution than we ever could. To both problems."
"This is a good idea and all, but there still the key fact that we don't know where we are to consider" Shikaku added.
Sarutobi thought about this for a moment before coming to another decision.
"Inochi, how good would you say Spike is at tracking?" he asked the mind reader.
"Only slightly less competent than Kakashi's dogs, why?"
"I'm giving you the job of locating Jiraiya. He will be easiest to locate, easiest to talk to, and will be able to tell the others himself. He'll probably be waiting for you with his spy network."
Inochi looked surprised at the order.
"I'll accept the mission lord Hokage, but wouldn't Kakashi or an Inuzuka be more reliable than me and my hedgehogs?" he asked.
"Kakashi is Naruto's squad leader you dolt." Shikaku told him.
"I know that, but he'd be more reliable than I would. An Inuzuka would be even better."
"Naruto, and possibly Sasuke, are being targeted. It is too dangerous to leave them by themselves for too long. My black operatives cannot watch them all the time. If they're busy doing missions with Kakashi, people will think twice before going after either of them." Inochi nodded in understanding, he was about to voice his second argument again but Sarutobi explained before he could open his mouth.
"As for the Inuzuka's, I've already sent their best trackers on a mission. I do not want to send anyone I do not know I can trust. Its entirely possible members of other clans could be working with those we believe to be plotting from inside the Uchiha clan. I'm not taking chances here. I know that I can trust you, and your clan summons are just as reliable as the Inuzuka hounds. What they lack in ability they make up for in determination."
"Then, I will fulfil this mission to the best of ability lord Hokage"
"Thank you Inochi. Leave as soon as you can."
3 DAYS LATER.
Naruto flopped onto his bed almost as soon as he had entered his little apartment. If his calculations were correct, for the 12th time since becoming a Genin that his team had been give the dreaded 'Tora-the-cat' mission. The next time he saw the cat he would succeed in strangling it behind Kakashi's back. Unlike Sasuke, he would not be stupid enough to try it right in front of the Jonin's nose. Sakura had reprimanded them for 'trying to hurt such a poor kitty' but he had a feeling she was just trying not to let her own murderous thoughts show.
He had felt pity for the animal when he first saw the rather plump wife of the feudal lord crushing the animal to her bosom, but he stopped feeling sorry for the animal after the sixth time. He was sick to death of all the scratching. Not to mention it took almost a whole day just to find the damn animal. He was exhausted.
He, the freak of stamina, was exhausted.
Because of a scrawny little cat.
That he did not like.
Naruto would have lain awake plotting the scrawny little animal's downfall, but he really was exhausted and soon fell asleep instead.
When Naruto awoke, he was aware of something heavy next to him.
Something that smelled somewhat flowery. He rolled over to a face full of long blonde hair.
"What the…" the figure rolled over, and Naruto almost fell out of his open window when he backed away in shock. He grabbed onto the wall to avoid falling out of the window again, and took a closer, bug-eyed look at the girl who had taken up residence in his bed at some point during the night.
"Ino! What the fresh hell are you doing in my bed?!" he yelled as the blonde girl roused from her slumber.
"Naruto, shut up. I'm trying to sleep!" she sat up, rubbing the sleep from her eyes with one hand and pushing the duvet of her body with the other. Naruto breathed a sigh of relief when he saw she was wearing a tank top and her underwear.
Part of him had been terrified shed been naked. Another part of his mind had been excited at the possibility, but he made sure to ignore that part, though he could not help but blush at the thought. Ino was right; he was a prude.
"I-I can see that piggy! But why are you in my bed when you have you own?!" he demanded loudly, his face tinged a light pink (which, thankfully, Ino did not notice). Ino looked at him puzzled for a moment, before comprehension emerged.
"Oh yeah! My dad has a long-term mission and he didn't want me to stay all by myself so he told me to stay with you. He said he left you a note…" Naruto looked across the room to the new Formica table. On it sat a small envelope with his name on it. He had obviously failed to notice it after the blasted 'Tora' mission.
"Oh. That's fine then." Naruto said complacently, now that he had a reason for the girl's sudden appearance it was no longer a problem. He' could just sleep on his bean-bag-sofa until she left. It was comfortable enough.
"You're letting it go just like that?" Ino asked, slightly surprised. He had gotten used to the idea quicker than normal.
"It's not like you haven't stayed the night before. I just didn't expect to wake up with you next to me. It surprised me, that's all. Don't barge into the bathroom, do your share of the chores and I don't care how long you stay."
Ino snorted.
"Like you can do chores without help. Who brings you leftovers?"
"You don't bring them everyday. I have to survive somehow don't I?"
Ino grunted reluctantly in reply. He had a fair point there. After several moments, however, the smirk as back on her face.
"Alright, but I call first shower!" she said dashing from the bed. Naruto chased her, knowing she would take forever and a day, but Ino was too quick for him and slipped into the shower room locking the bathroom door behind her.
Naruto was banging on the door, still in his pyjama trousers, screaming curses and raining threats when Kakashi arrived.
"Ino! I swear to god and in the name of all that is fucking holy, I'll pin you to the floor and cut off your hair if you've used up all the hot water again!" He yelled through the door.
"You're being very loud this early in the morning." Naruto yelled and toppled over one of his chairs in was a loud crash as he toppled to the floor, somehow banging his head on the chair in the process.
"Naruto! What's going on?!" Ino yelled bursting from the shower. She was wrapped in a towel, and she was dripping wet. Her long blonde hair hung all over the place, dripping water on the floor, and she had a kunai in hand. Kakashi raised his visible eyebrow. Naruto gawped for several moments before turning bright red, and turning his eyes from her.
"I-Ino! Go put something on!" he yelled. Ino was not listening. Instead, she was flicking her eyes around the room looking for some kind of enemy.
Eventually her gaze landed on Kakashi. She shrieked and fled to the bathroom locking the door behind her.
"Why didn't you say it was just him?!" she yelled from behind the door.
"Why did you run out half naked?!" he yelled in return.
"Is there something going on here?" Kakashi asked, smirking a bit behind his mask. "Because, you know, you two aren't old enough to be-"
"NO! SHUT UP YOU PERVERT!!"
"NO! SHUT UP YOU PERVERT!!"
Eventually, after several threats of grievous bodily harm and castration (from Naruto and Ino respectively) if he ever mentioned 'the incident' to anyone, Kakashi was permitted to reveal the real reason he had come visiting.
"we have a mission. Make sure you're ready."
"if were chasing after that cat again I promise you, I'll castrate you and bribe Sasuke to burn you testicles in front of you. Then I'll get Sakura to feed you the remains" Naruto said in all seriousness.
Kakashi shifted in his seat a bit, knowing his gremlins they would be more than happy to happy to help out in this torture. Ino wondered what they were talking about, if it was anything like the mission her team kept receiving to search for a kleptomaniac little dog named Tori belonging to one the Feudal Lords wife however, then she completely sympathised with Naruto.
"I get it, I get it. No more Tora. Just make sure you turn up on time. Twelve 'o' clock
"You mean three 'o' clock, hypocrite." Naruto corrected.
"Same thing, different wording" he retorted before disappearing in a swirl of leaves, surprising Ino. She had never seen the technique before. All her dad had shown her were clan techniques. Naruto, however, was less impressed with the technique.
He glared at the space the Jonin had just been standing in, eyebrow twitching.
"It is not the same thing you pathetic perv of a Jonin! And I said not to do that in my house! You're not the one who has to clean up the damn leaves!"
'Come on just this once, one row of sevens' the blonde woman prayed as she pulled the lever. The icons of the fruit machine spun for a few moments that seemed like hours to the pig-tailed woman. Eventually the spinning stopped and the woman's jaw dropped. A small light atop the machine as the alarm blared, letting the staff know she had just won the jackpot. She did not hear or notice the frenzied activity, instead focusing on the three red seven's in front of her.
'Why doesn't this feel right? I should be glad I won…'
"Lady Tsunade, you won? How?!" Shizune asked clearly as flabbergasted by the numbers as she was. Tsunade paid the young woman and the pig she was carrying no attention. Instead, she grabbed their bags.
"We're leaving." she said, tossing one of the bags to Shizune, forcing her to drop her pig.
"What? But we haven't collected your winnings!" she complained, thinking ahead to when they would need the money.
Who knew when such a miracle would occur again?
"Fine, we'll go get the money! But then were leaving!" Tsunade snapped, cursing her old student to jump back in fright.
"W-why so soon?" Shizune asked hesitantly. Tsunade said nothing for several moments.
"I'm not sure. I just have a bad feeling."
Team seven was, to say the least, looking worse for wear when they dragged the deranged little animal back to the Hokage's office. Before entering however, they stuffed it into a travelling cage they had taken along for the purpose. They could have shoved the thing in earlier, but they had wanted the thing to suffer and Kakashi had not deemed it wise to order otherwise.
Lady Shijimi instantly freed her 'darling little Tora' from the 'monstrous prison' and proceeded to suffocate the creature.
"I can't help but feel a tiny bit sorry for it when she does that…" Sakura whispered to Naruto. He gave her a withering look. Unbeknownst to him, she was thinking something completely different.
'Ha! Severs you right you little psychotic little fur ball! Serves you right for clawing at my face like that you little rat!' she stuck out her tongue and pulled down her lower eyelid at the little cat in her mind. Sasuke and Naruto both gave her a suspicious glance when she chuckled to herself for no reason.
After the woman and her 'pet' left, the Hokage began rifling through the available missions.
He was about to announce their options when Naruto spoke:
"old man, with all due respect, if you give us another fucking D-Rank I will make sure you never find that set of Icha Icha Paradise books hidden under the third floorboard form the fifth filing cabinet again." Kakashi looked amused, his team-mates looked shocked, and the Hokage looked panicky.
"Naruto what have I told you about your language?!" Iruka yelled. Naruto chose to ignore him.
"What are you talking about Naruto? Lord Hokage isn't a pervert like Kakashi-Sensei!" Sakura said, obviously not believing him.
"Pish. He's worse than Kakashi, and I can prove it." Naruto said with an evil gleam in his eyes.
He was about to form the sign for a transformation when the Hokage interrupted him.
"Actually, I think I have a C-Rank going spare! You'll be escorting someone to land of wave and serving as protection for a short while, how does that sound?" Sarutobi said quickly. Sakura narrowed her eyes suspiciously.
"We'll take it." Kakashi said. Naruto jumped up and down before forcing Sasuke into a high five (which he knew Sasuke secretly enjoyed) and glomped Sakura. She let him hug her for a few seconds before thumping him on the head and telling him to stop jumping around like an idiot.
"What the hell? They're a just a bunch of midgets! I asked for an escort, not a gang of snot nosed brats!" team seven turned to see a scruffy-looking man wearing a rice farmer's hat, and carrying an open sake bottle, standing in the doorway. They glared at him for the comment but he ignored them.
"That one…" he pointed to Naruto. "Looks like he cannot even read. Not to mention he's barley taller than my grandson." Naruto's eyebrow twitched.
"Pinky over here is a girl! With pink hair! How much use is she going to be?" Sakura put on a face that Sasuke and Naruto had learned to avoid the hard way, cracking her knuckles.
The man stared at Sasuke for a moment.
"And you, you're either a hermaphrodite, or you're batting for the home team."
Kakashi barley managed to grab Sasuke by his collar, and a clone held Naruto and Sakura under an arm each. Unfortunately they had somewhat succeeded in their attack in the time it took to make the clone. Naruto had succeeded in throwing his kunai into the wall besides the man's head, and Sakura had thrown several shuriken into the space on the wall between the man's legs. Sasuke had thrown a shuriken into the sake bottle, its contents now spilled across the wooden floor.
"I am not fucking gay! Why does everyone think I am gay? I am straight you morons! Oi, Naruto are you hearing this? I am straight! Just because I do not chase after fan girls does not mean I do not like girls in general! Oi! Naruto!" unfortunately for Sasuke, Naruto was not listening.
"That was just a warning you drunk! And my reading difficulties are none of your business!" Naruto yelled at the man, struggling to free himself from clone-Kakashi's arms.
"You sexist pig! Just you wait! I'll turn you into a girl the first chance I get!" she screeched, also trying to free her body from clone-Kakashi's grasp. Tazuna looked at the kunai, then down at the shuriken and swallowed nervously.
'I didn't even see them take them out, let alone throw them. Maybe these kids aren't so useless after all…'
"Lesson 1; no attacking the client" Kakashi said exasperatedly, keeping a firm hold of Sasuke's collar. Thankfully, it had not occurred to the boy that he could escape by taking his t-shirt off.
He sighed in resignation. He may have gotten the ones with the most potential, but why did they all have such short tempers? Sakura could keep Naruto and Sasuke in line, but keep herself in line? Not so much. In addition, Naruto was exactly like Kushina - cause mayhem now, ask questions much later.
And Sasuke? Normally, he was the calm one but if you pushed the right buttons... he could be as bad as the other two. He smiled through his mask at the now petrified looking-man. It was supposed to reassure him but the old man gave him a look that said 'you're insane too!'
He suddenly felt like sympathising with his little gremlins.
"Now now, Mr Tazuna, Team seven is our best Genin team to graduate from the academy this year, they all graduated in the top ten students list. They have been training since they were seven years old, six in Naruto's case. I can assure you they know what they are doing, despite their short tempers." Sarutobi told the man reassuringly.
"Besides, Kakashi is one of our best Jonin, if anything does go wrong he will also be there to help."
"Oi, old man, you're not suggesting we escort this geezer are you?" Naruto asked incredulously, still held beneath Kakashi's arm.
Sakura sent the village leader a threatening look from underneath the opposite arm. Sasuke gave him a baby Uchiha-glare, trying to remove Kakashi's grip from his shirt collar with one hand, the other fishing around for a shuriken. Kakashi noticed this and twisted his arm behind his back before he had the chance to grasp one however.
"What did I say about killing the client?" he asked exasperatedly.
"I wasn't planning on killing him; I was just going to maim him a little"
"I'm not babysitting this sexist drunk." Sakura said in a voice that was not to be argued with, also still dangling from Kakashi's arm.
"We want a different mission." Naruto informed him.
"I'm sorry but there are no other C-Ranks available, only D-Ranks." Sarutobi informed them apologetically.
"Fine, well come back later. That damn cat looks friendly next to that guy." Naruto said firmly.
Sasuke and Sakura nodded in agreement.
"Now now gremlins, you know the rules. You carry out any mission given to you by the Hokage unless you can provide a substantial reason otherwise."
"We have a good reason." Sakura told him through gritted teeth.
"Really? And what is that?" clone-Kakashi looked down at her, smiling.
"If we spend more than five minuets with him, we won't have a client. Or one that can walk at any rate." Sasuke told him, as if it was obvious.
"Do you have any proof?" Kakashi asked.
"Cyclops, did you not see us throwing those weapons? I'm not dangling under your arm for the good of my health you know." Naruto told him.
Kakashi tried to think of a comeback as Sarutobi tried to ignore his growing headache.
Team Seven and Tazuna were waiting by the gate for Kakashi to turn up.
"I can't believe this." Sakura grumbled to herself. "Why does he always do this?!"
Naruto and Sasuke ignored her, and continued to talk quietly between themselves. Sakura did not even bother to ask what they were talking about; they were plotting a way to take revenge. They looked more serious than usual this time. She could hardly blame them for that, though. Shed like to get her revenge on their teacher herself.
"Sakura! Come over her for a minuet! We need your help for this one!
Sakura contemplated this.
"But… What if Kakashi-Sensei gets really mad this time?"
'Hell yeah! This is going to be great! Severs that perverted Cyclops right for leaving us with this drunk! I cannot wait! Revenge!'
"Who cares? All I have to do is use my sexy technique on him and he'll pass out like the old man!"
"Actually, he'll probably stalk you." Sakura clarified.
Naruto's face paled as Sasuke snickered.
"See? This is why we need your brain cells! Come on, we all know you really want to. Besides, it involves the permanent removal of that porn book!"Sakura did not need any more convincing after Naruto disclosed that particular shred of information.
Thirty minuets later Kakashi arrived to find three smirking gremlins instead of three glaring ones and one had reached into his kunai pouch and covered his beloved orange book protectively.
"Kakashi-Sensei, do they have ninjas in land of wave?" Sakura asked. The Jonin answered but Naruto was too busy admiring the scenery to listen. He had never been out of the village before, so this was a new experience for him. He had already seen three different birds that he had never even heard of. The stones, the plants, the trees, everything was completely new to him.
Sasuke was equally distracted. He had been outside the village before but never to this particular area; and soon the two boys were engaged in a contest to see who cold spot the most of the new animals. Sakura was listening intently to Kakashi's explanation of country size and power in relation to ninja villages.
Had they been paying more attention they would have noticed the puddle, but they was too absorbed in the new information and surroundings.
Sakura screamed when the spiked chain that suddenly surrounded their teacher tore through him, and the Jonin was ripped into pieces. Sasuke and Naruto whirled to see two mist ninjas standing where there had previously been an innocent-looking puddle
- - - - - - - - - -
The three Genin stared at the sliced lump of wood laying where they had seen their teacher being ripped to shreds, and back to the smiling Jonin.
"If you're going to die stay that way!" Sakura yelled, obviously irritated.
"And here I thought you would be glad to see me." Kakashi pretended to sound wounded.
"We could have died! I bet you were in a tree reading that damn porn book somewhere!"
"Maybe I was, maybe I wasn't, but I would have intervened if the situation deemed it necessary. I didn't need to though, did I? You handled the situation better than I expected. However, I did not expect Naruto to freeze up like- Oi! Stop that!"
"I'm bleeding the poison out Cyclops!" Naruto replied, forcing the kunai further into the back of his hand.
There was a nauseating crack as the kunai hit bone.
"Naruto! You're going to bleed to death if you keep digging your kunai in like that!" Sasuke yelled, lunging forward and ripping the kunai from his friend's hand. His eyes widened when he saw the size of the wound and the blood spurting from it. He had been joking originally, but maybe his friend really would bleed to death...
Sakura arrived at the same time holding onto her med-kit. She pulled some liquid for cleaning wounds antiseptic cream cotton wool and a bandage from the small pouch and grabbed the blondes hand from Sasuke to examine it. She did not know any medical techniques but her mother had insisted she learn basic first aid.
Seeing his two slightly sane students had things under control, Kakashi turned on their client with a much less friendly expression than before.
"Now then Mr Tazuna, why don't you tell me what's really going on?"
- - - - - - - - - -
"If you hadn't rammed a kunai into your hand it would have been this bad!" she scolded the blonde, who rubbed the back of his head with his free hand sheepishly.
"This is going to need stitch-" Sakura's eyes widened. A thin steam was rising from her team-mate's hand, and the muscle and flesh below the broken skin was beginning to knit it back together. She and Sasuke watched incredulously as the top layer of flesh glued together before the top layer of skin reformed itself.
"Kakashi-Sensei! There's something weird happening to Naruto!" Sakura yelled to the Jonin, who had been talking to their client. He came over and looked down at Naruto's hand. It looked as good as new.
"I don't see anything wrong with it..." he informed her.
"Look!" Sasuke yelled. He grabbed the kunai Naruto had been using and lightly sliced open the skin that had just healed. Within seconds, the cut had healed amongst the strange steam that had appeared before.
"Ah..."
Sakura and Sasuke had their eyes glued to him waiting for an explanation.
"That is a bit odd."
'If you're not going to say anything useful don't say anything at all' Sakura screed at the man, inside her head of course.
Sasuke glared at him.
Naruto stared at his hand, and Sasuke noticed he had not spoken a word since the first wound had closed.
He had that strange serious aura on; the one that he usually wore for a few hours if someone mentioned his mother unnecessarily. He was also being unnaturally calm in a situation that had caused even him to freak out a little bit.
"Kakashi-Sensei" his two team-mates and heir teacher perked up at the sound of his voice. "Is this because of… well… that… thing?" he asked, placing a certain amount of disgust and hatred on the word 'thing'.
Sasuke gave Naruto a suspicious look.
'What 'thing'? What is he talking about? Is this what Ino was talking about with Mizuki?'There was silence as Naruto waited for an answer. Sakura looked between Sasuke and Naruto worriedly.
Sasuke was giving the blonde an unusually analytical look, which Naruto was ignoring.
"…There are also a lot of things Naruto doesn't tell us, and were his friends…"Sakura realised that this was one of those things.
'Sasuke doesn't know, and Naruto doesn't want to tell…Why do I get a bad feeling about this whole thing? That healing wasn't normal…'
"That's… probably the correct assumption Naruto." Kakashi said, unusually solemnly. Naruto growled then. A low, animalistic growl that scared Sakura a little bit. Sasuke flinched, but the lack of surprise told her that he had heard this noise before. The flinch told her he liked it just as much as she did.
"I wouldn't worry Naruto; it's not a threat to anyone. It's actually quite beneficial if you think about it!" Kakashi said jovially 'for the moment at any rate…'
Naruto noticeably perked up at that.
"I guess you have a point there Kakashi-Sensei! So? What's happening? Are we still going to wave?" he asked, jumping up and down in excitement. Sakura was about to let out a sigh of relief until she saw Sasuke's face. It was a mixture of worry and anger.
"What is that idiot hiding now?" he mumbled to himself.
'I never realised Naruto was such a good actor…' Sakura though to herself despondently. Had she not seen the look on Sasuke's face, she really would have though everything was going to be fine. Sakura realised she had a long way to go before she still had a long way to go before she could say she understood her blonde team-mate.
Sasuke moved up to Naruto as they walked along the dirt road. They were heading for a boat that would take them across the mangrove swamps to Tazuna's village, and had been walking for five hours. Since the incident in the forest earlier, Naruto had been uncharacteristically subdued.
"what's wrong with you?" he asked quietly. He got that feeling that Kakashi would try to separate them if he overheard him questioning his friend over the events earlier. He noticed a slight pause in Naruto step - barley half a second - before he continued to plod down the dirt road.
"Nothings wrong bastard, I'm fine" Naruto grinned at him. Sasuke clenched his fist in an effort to control himself. He was beginning to get angry. Naruto had been hiding too many things from him lately. He only knew that Mizuki was behind this because Shikamaru had repeated what Ino had told him. When was the blonde going to learn that he could rely on other people to help him?!
"That's a lie. You think I didn't hear you talking to Kakashi earlier? I am not stupid Naruto! You are hiding something! Again!" Sasuke did not realise his voice had been growing steadily louder until he was shouting at the blonde.
"So what? I'm allowed to have my secrets aren't I?" Naruto asked, slightly waspishly. Sasuke glared at him.
"Naruto, that wasn't normal! That sort of healing is not possible even with a bloodline limit! Ino would clobber you into the dirt if she found out about this; and believe me, she will find out!" he yelled, loud enough to catch Sakura's attention. If Kakashi had noticed, he was waiting either until they calmed down, or until he needed to intervene.
"Don't bring Ino into this Sasuke! And you have no right to tell her or Shikamaru anything! It's none of your business!" Naruto yelled back. They had stopped ahead of their companions and were now arguing in the middle of the road.
"None of my business? Idiot! You are my best friend, even if I never say it! You know that! Of course it's my business if something weird is going on with you! This is because of Mizuki isn't it? This is to do with what he told you isn't it?!"
"I already told you, it is none of your business Sasuke! So drop it, I am not going to tell you! How the fuck do you know Mizuki said anything to me anyway? Because I sure as hell didn't tell you anything!"
"Hey, stop it you two! This is no time for arguing!" Sakura, who had been watching their exchange from a distance worriedly, ran up to both boys, standing between them with a hand on each boy's chest. "We have a job to do! Besides, arguing isn't going to sol-" she let out a small yelp as both boys pushed her out of the way, landing on the ground with an unceremonious thud. Kakashi looked up and narrowed his visible eye.
"Ino told Shikamaru, he knew you were leaving things out and that she'd know more than you'd tell us. So tell me, what the fuck did he tell you to make you stop trusting your friends?!"
"For fucks sake! How many times do I have to say it Sasuke? IT IS NONE OF YOUR BUSINESS!"
Sasuke snapped.
He lunged towards the boy, bringing his fist towards the boys face. There was a crack as Naruto's nose broke from the impact. Naruto stared at him for a moment before attacking himself. He aimed, as Sasuke had, for the face with his own fist. Sasuke blocked the fist easily, and began to prepare his own attack before Naruto's foot collided with his chin. He was sent flying backwards into the bushes, rousing a small white rabbit from it hiding place.
Sasuke glared at Naruto and rushed towards him after regaining his footing. Naruto followed suit, running towards Sasuke from his standing place. They were about to exchange blows when Kakashi appeared between them, grabbing handfuls of black and blonde hair.
"Cut it out! This is not time for your squabbles! We are on a mission! You two are giving our client a bad impression of Konoha ninja. You even attacked your own team-mate when she tried to intervene! I was under the impression you knew better than that!" Kakashi spoke angrily. He was not yelling, but he was louder than he normally was so it qualified as Kakashi's version of yelling. It made both Naruto and Sasuke feel a little bit afraid of him - for the first time since becoming Genin - and they made the wise decision to stop struggling against his handhold on their heads.
"Naruto, I know this is a delicate subject for you, but you can't hide it forever. No matter how much you don't want to, you will have to tell Sasuke and your other friends about this effectually." Kakashi said, looking the boy squarely in the eye.
He then turned to his black-haired student.
"Sasuke, I know you're worried and you have every right to be but you can't force Naruto to tell you something he isn't ready to tell you yet."
He released his hold on the now sheepish-looking boys.
"I don't care what you say to each other as long as it doesn't interfere with the mission, but go apologize to Sakura."
The two boys nodded. Naruto ran over to the girl and bowed low several times frantically apologizing, asking if she had been hurt.
She gave him a weak little laugh, and said she was fine - her butt was a little sore though. Naruto yelled with joy when he heard her swear for the first time. Sakura pummelled him before fishing her med-kit out to help fix his nose.
Sasuke walked over and watched as she replaced the bone in, very roughly, its original position. There was a crackling noise as the bone began to knit itself together. All other bruises and scratches had long since disappeared, but even with his warped healing bone would take longer too fix. Sakura did her best to make a sort of cast to keep the bone in place with some sticks, cotton wool, and a bandage holing the whole thing in place.
When she was finished, Sasuke also gave her a mall mumbled apology. It was not quite as exuberant as Naruto's had been but it was just as sincere. He knew Sakura had only wanted them to stop fighting like that. Normally their fights were challenges, spars, or just for having a bit of fun in general. They had been having a very rare, full-blown argument.
Sasuke felt a bit sick at the thought. He should not have let his temper get the better of him like that. Yes, he was frustrated with the blonde - and worried, no matter how much he would deny such a thing openly - but that was no excuse. Kakashi was right; he should not have forced Naruto to tell him. Much less broken his nose.
He wondered if he should go apologize to the boy now walking next to Sakura when the faint sound of weapon being thrown reached his ears. His eyes widened when Kakashi pulled Sakura and Mr Tazuna to the ground.
A giant sword was spinning in their direction.
In Naruto's direction.
Sasuke lunged at the blonde and pulled him to the ground just in time to avoid the giant sword, which spun in the air and returned like a boomerang to the hand of a tall figure standing on a tree branch.
Naruto stared at the man, then at Sasuke who still had one arm on his back, forcing him onto the ground.
There was silence for what seemed like a long time to both boys until Naruto broke it whit a whisper:
"Thanks, bastard." he muttered, not meeting Sasuke's gaze.
"Your welcome, idiot"
Yaay. New chapter up.
Updates are going to be slightly buggered again since im back in college, and i wrote most of these chapters during my holidays, but i'll do my best to update now and then. im still several chappies ahead so it should work out. Should. Probably. Maybe. With any luck...
Reveiw and i'll give yaoi/cookies to those who want it.
Natarii.
xxx
