Miru Koto nai
Chapter 7: Shinobi wa Tatakai no Naka – Shinobi Battle Within the Mist
Sakura Hanamoto
Ever since Naruto had departed on his new C-rank mission, Hinata had had a constant unsettling feeling in her body. It was as if something terrible was about to happen and there wasn't a single thing she could do about it. Hinata had been so fixated on her thoughts that she failed to notice the cat that was coming right at her.
"Hinata!" Kurenai called to the girl. Hinata snapped out of it just in time to catch the cat in her arms and hold on tightly. Kiba and Akamaru ceased their pursuit, breathing heavily. The feline calmed down in Hinata's embrace and she stroked his fur gently.
"Thank God, I thought we'd never catch that damn thing," Kiba gasped as he tried to catch his breath, Akamaru barking in agreement. The cat hissed at the pup in response, and Akamaru promptly dove into Kiba's jacket. The boy growled at the cat, and it tried to claw at him from its place in Hinata's arms. Shino approached the cat and carefully rested his hand on his back. A Kikaichuu bug crawled its way out from under his sleeve and burrowed into the cat's fur.
"Target confirmation?" Kurenai asked.
"It's Tora the cat, sensei," Shino replied.
"Good, meet back at the rendezvous point." With that said, the three genin left the forests surrounding Konoha, all the while the cat glared at Kiba and Akamaru, both glowered back with just as much disgust poured into it.
XxXxXxX
Tora began struggling in Hinata's grip as they approached the mission room. He knew what was coming and he was very aware of the evil that lay beyond that door. He also knew that it was futile to escape now—Tora would wait, bide its time, and then when that vile hag least expected it, he would run, only to be captured again. Tora seriously considered biting the hand of the girl that held him, but the girl was so much kinder than any of the other ones that captured him. She held him like a loving owner would, not too tightly, but tightly enough that he wouldn't fall from her arms unexpectedly.
The older female opened the door and the three young ones filed into the room that held Tora's greatest nemesis.
"Tora-chan, my Tora-chan!" Tora's struggling began anew as a large overzealous female grabbed him and began to choke the life from his body.
'Squeeze harder, harder!' Kiba thought, praying that the woman would do so. Hinata gave Tora a few reassuring strokes, hoping to calm the cat a bit.
"Thank you so much for finding my Tora-chan!" she cried. The woman stuffed the cat into his carrier, walked up to the desks and handed a chuunin her payment for the mission. She gave the team a smile before leaving, Tora meowing loudly from inside his carrier.
With that mission over, Team Eight was not assigned another for the day, and Kurenai quickly ushered her charges off for training. As they walked along towards the training grounds, Kurenai fell into step with her one female student.
"Is there something wrong Hinata?" Kurenai asked with concern clear in her tone.
"No sensei," Hinata replied. Kurenai knew better, she had done her own fair share of worrying when someone she cared about was away.
"Now Hinata, you know you can talk to me about it," the woman told her. "It's about Naruto's mission isn't it?" Hinata faced her.
"Y-yes," the dark haired girl replied.
"You're worried about him?" Hinata nodded.
"Since the morning he left, I feel like something really bad is going to happen to him," Hinata said softly. "No matter what I do, I just can't stop thinking about it. You don't think anything will happen do you?" Hinata wrapped her arms around her midsection in a sort of hug.
"Well, the mission is a relatively easy one. Even for the newest of genin, bandits wouldn't be a problem," Kurenai told her. "But, on a rare occasion, the rank of the mission may go up due to unforeseen circumstances." This statement made Hinata's stomach sink. "I really doubt they'll have any trouble, Kakashi has a very high reputation outside the village; they'll be fine."
Hinata really, really wished that she felt better, but now, she only felt worse.
XxXxXxX
Naruto had taken the rear guard, but upon passing the large and conspicuous puddle, he picked up his pace and walked beside Kakashi.
"Hatake, the puddle," Naruto whispered.
"I know, it's too obvious," Kakashi replied. Naruto fell back until he was rear guard again and waited. The sudden appearance of two nearly identical scents told him that the enemy had made their move. Two shinobi charged forward, Naruto watched their movements carefully, observing. They were fast, faster than an average Chuunin. None of the students had time to react before Kakashi was immobilized, and right before their eyes, he was shredded to pieces. Sakura screamed in shock as blood and bits of flesh and cloth splattered across the ground.
"One down," one of the enemies murmured as they charged at Naruto. The blonde did not hesitate a moment, Naruto leapt up to dodge the chain that tied them together. Twisting in midair, he launched a pair of kunai at them. Both kunai missed the duo, but managed to thread through the links in the chair, pinning it to a tree. The pair were about to pull it free when a shuriken pinned it further, with a kunai to hold it in place. The two glared at Sasuke, and broke from the chain, charging at the frozen Tazuna.
Sakura jumped forward with a kunai drawn to defend herself. Sasuke stepped in the way just as they prepared to strike. Naruto could smell the poison on the gauntlets and jumped between the brothers. He hooked his arms into their bent ones, gluing himself to the ground with chakra.
The brothers were stronger than Naruto and kept on moving. Suddenly, they were jerked back and Naruto fell to the ground. Kakashi stood above them, easily gripping the collars of their shirts and smashed their heads together, knocking them out.
"Hmm, I should have stepped in sooner," Kakashi mumbled. Naruto looked back at where Kakashi had been and saw several log sections lying on the ground."Well, not bad you three. You reacted well, considering this was your first real battle." His single eye smiled at them. He surveyed each student, taking in their expressions. Naruto and Sasuke looked only slightly winded, while the panic in Sakura's eyes was dying away. Kakashi noted the rather long cut on Naruto's arm. It traveled from the back of his hand and halfway up his forearm, and was bleeding a great deal. "Now, why would two chuunin level ninja from Kiri attack?" Kakashi asked. Only Naruto noted the increase in Tazuna's nervousness.
"Why don't you ask him?" Naruto jerked his head towards the old man.
"Yes, why don't we? Care to explain Tazuna-san?" Kakashi asked. Tazuna gulped audibly. "While you're, let's take a look at Naruto's injury." Kakashi said. Naruto raised an eyebrow, he hadn't noticed the fact that he was bleeding until now.
"It's poisoned," Naruto announced. Sakura and Sasuke blinked in surprise. "I can smell it." Naruto pulled a kunai and stabbed himself in the hand.
"What the hell?" Sakura gasped as more blood flowed from the open wound.
"I'm bleeding it out, duh," Naruto told her. "Got any bandages Hatake-sensei?" Kakashi nodded and began digging into his pack for the bandages. He unrolled some and carefully started wrapping them around Naruto's wounded arm. Everyone was looking towards Tazuna now, waiting for him to begin. Because of this distraction, only Kakashi noticed that Naruto's wound was healing itself slowly.
'Kyuubi must be healing his body already,' Kakashi tied off the bandages and nodded to himself. "That should do it Naruto, try not to open the cut up again." Kakashi turned to Tazuna. "Explain, now." Tazuna sighed and began his long explanation.
"Man that sucks," Naruto muttered when Tazuna explained the situation.
"That settles it, we're turning around," Kakashi said.
"What?" Tazuna looked at the jounin in shock and fear.
"This kind of mission is too much for my students. This mission has already escalated to a B-rank, we need to go back and you have to tell the Hokage that you lied to him."
"We can't! The village was barely able to put together enough money to pay for you guys," Tazuna cried. "We can't afford a higher level team!"
"There's no other option." Kakashi's tone left no room for argument.
"No!" Naruto's sudden interruption caused Kakashi and Tazuna to look at him. "We have to keep going." The blonde said.
"Naruto," Kakashi began, but Naruto cut him off.
"If we back down from this mission, how can we call ourselves shinobi?" Naruto asked him.
"This mission is too much for you, and I don't want to risk you guys getting killed."
"He has a point though. What was the purpose of leaving the Academy when we won't even be allowed to prove our skills to you?" Sasuke questioned. Sakura nodded. She didn't really want to agree but she didn't want to be a coward either. Kakashi sighed.
"Looks like I'm outvoted here." He was worried about this mission now, but he'd just have to work extra hard to make sure that his students stayed safe. "We keep moving." The two Kiri-nin had chosen that opportunity to regain consciousness. One of them let out a low moan, his head lolling about a bit.
"Sensei," Sakura called attention to the pair. Kakashi stood over them, his imposing form easily intimidating the two of them.
"How did you find us out?" one asked slowly.
"Easy, a puddle in the middle of the road when it hasn't rained in weeks is a dead giveaway," Kakashi explained, his voice holding just a small bit of humor in it. "There should be a patrol of ANBU coming by tomorrow evening, they'll pick you and make sure you're in good hands." With that said, Kakashi knocked them out again. "Right, let's get moving. We need to get into Wave Country as quickly and silently as possible." They set out once more, hoping to reach the destitute nation soon.
XxXxXxX
Naruto sat up in his sleeping bag and looked around him. It was the middle of the night, and everyone but himself and Kakashi was asleep. The jounin was currently in the middle of his shift of keeping watch.
"Naruto, go back to sleep," Kakashi whispered to him.
"Can't sleep," Naruto replied. "I don't feel comfortable."
"About what?" Kakashi moved to sit next to the blonde.
"I still can't hear him," the boy murmured. "I can't hear 'nii-san. I know he's there, but he doesn't answer me when I call him."
"I think it's time for you to tell me who he is," Kakashi told him gently. He didn't want Naruto to snap at him.
"Kyuubi 'nii-san,'" said Naruto. That single phrase caught Kakashi off guard.
"You-?"
"Kyuubi 'nii-san has always been there for me, even during the times when he remained silent, letting me live out my life without any influence from him," the boy said softly.
"What happened?"
"Last week, that Iwa-nin, that's what happened,"
"How does this affect your ability to sleep?"
"Even in my sleep, I can hear him snoring. I haven't had a good night's sleep since then. I've gotten so used to his presence, for him not to be there is difficult."
'Must be hard, having a voice in your head,' Kakashi thought. "How often do you two interact?"
"He makes fun of me sometimes, provides commentary on things people say, and cracks jokes when I'm trying to concentrate so that I start laughing. Argues with me about things, overall, he plays the role of an older brother quite well," Naruto smiled slightly, clearly remembering something. "I miss him." Naruto admitted.
"Why did he," Kakashi hesitated, "go away?"
"His chakra was damaging my body, so in order for things to be set right, he pulled out any and all influence he had on my body,"
"Now that's not true," Kakashi said.
"What?" Naruto's head came up quickly. In answer, Kakashi took Naruto's arm and unwrapped the bandages. Naruto saw that the wound had completely closed, and all it left was a faint red line that would also disappear soon enough. Kakashi watched as Naruto's eyes became slightly glazed over and he remained this way for a minute or so before finally moving again. "He still won't answer, it's like there's something blocking me from reaching. Like someone closed and locked the door and threw the key away so I couldn't get in."
"Do you feel better now that you know he's still taking care of you?" Kakashi asked. Naruto nodded.
"I think I'll get back to sleep now," Naruto shifted in his bag and lay back down. He closed his eyes and heard Kakashi move away from him. "Thanks for your help Hatake-sensei." He whispered before finally falling into Sleep's waiting arms.
XxXxXxX
Hinata knew that there was a Branch member following her, watching her every move. The Hyuuga that tracked her was skilled in stealth, but could not escape Hinata's naturally heightened sense of smell. The girl had little doubt that this was the doing of the clan council; they wanted to be certain that she wasn't sneaking around with Naruto. Maybe, if Naruto was away long enough and this Branch member reported that Hinata had not spoken to Naruto in the time he or she was watching her, maybe they'd give up on it. Hinata really hoped that that would be the case.
Hinata turned a corner and made a dash for the village boundaries. Upon reaching the tree line, she leapt up and quickly made her way through the trees to Naruto's garden. It didn't take Hinata long to find the place, and she had been successful in evading her second shadow. The blind girl sat among the flowers and breathed deeply, taking in all the wondrous scents that they all carried. Allowing herself to relax, Hinata shifted into a comfortable position and closed her eyes to meditate.
She breathed deeply, and slowly released it, doing this for some time before all distractions left her mind. She no longer worried for Naruto's safe return, or the Branch member tailing her, or even of her family trying to slowly break her down until she just chose to give up. The scent of the flowers faded into the background, as did the sound of the birds perched in the trees around the clearing. Hinata's muscles slowly relaxed and her mind became clear of all thought. Her breathing remained deep and even, one would have thought her to be asleep at first glance, but she was more than aware of her surroundings. It was just Hinata, and her breathing; only an attack could have made her move.
XxXxXxX
The only sound made by the group was the light splashing of the oar plunging into the water, propelling the boat forward.
"We'll be seeing the bridge soon enough," Tazuna announced softly. Sure enough, the huge structure loomed above the party, obscured slightly by the heavy mist that hung over the waters. Naruto stared up in awe at the bridge, it was truly enormous. The oarsman moved a little faster, afraid of being captured by any of Gatou's men.
It wasn't long before he dropped them off, and they wished him luck for his journey back across the water.
"My place is just past the village," Tazuna told them. He began to lead the way towards his home, a little glad to have made it this far with his head still attached to the rest of him.
"Remember what I told you three, if there is a sign of an attack, your objective is to protect Tazuna. If I order you to run and take him with you, you do it, is that understood?" Kakashi lectured the children. All three nodded an affirmative. Naruto sniffed the air curiously; something was making his nose itch and he wanted to know what it was. Drawing a kunai and throwing it into some bushes, he caught everyone's attention.
"What the hell are you doing you idiot?" Sakura roared, flinging a fist at him. Naruto took the hit but shook it off easily.
"I smelled something there, in the bushes," he replied, pointing. Kakashi found the spot where Naruto had thrown the kunai and all he saw was a spooked rabbit. He picked it by the ears and showed it to them.
"It's just a rabbit," he told them. Sakura began another tirade and hit Naruto on the head again. 'Its fur is still white, that's not right. It's the middle of spring, why would it still have its winter coat?' Kakashi pondered the thought before placing the rabbit back on the ground and watched it bolt off. 'That was a Kawarimi, an animal kept in a cage and indoors.' As he was coming to this conclusion, he sensed a new chakra signature that was spiking. "Get down!" He cried. A huge blade whipped through the air, coming at them quickly. Sakura and Sasuke dove to the ground while Naruto tackled Tazuna. The blade buried itself halfway into the truck of a tree.
There was a blur of movement and a tall man came to rest upon the flat of the huge sword.
"This guy is practically radiating killing intent," Naruto mumbled.
"Stay back, this is a jounin; way above your level of skill," Kakashi ordered. His students did so; Sakura and Sasuke moving a bit sluggishly due to the weight of killing intent. Naruto was no stranger to it and had an easier time moving around, wasting no time in studying the newcomer carefully. He was dressed in baggy camouflage patterned pants, and he wore no shirt. There were bandages wrapped around the lower half of his face, covering his nose and mouth, and his forehead protector was tied in a bit of lopsided way, a slash cutting through the symbol engraved upon the metal. What Naruto found strange was his apparent lack of eyebrows.
'This guy, he's killed a lot of people,' Naruto thought. The man smelled as if he bathed in blood.
"What's this? A bunch of green ninja wannabes? What a joke," he was clearly unimpressed with the three genin, but Kakashi certainly had his attention. "If it isn't the famous Sharingan Hatake Kakashi, well this isn't a wonderful surprise." Kakashi slid into a defensive stance, hand hovering near the kunai holster at his thigh.
'What the hell? The Sharingan?' Sasuke looked over at Kakashi in confusion. 'How's that possible?'
"And you are Momochi Zabuza I presume," Kakashi replied. 'This is going to be a tough fight. Looks like I'm going to need a little extra help with it.' Kakashi reached up to his forehead protector and pushed it up. "Naruto, Sakura, Sasuke, protect Tazuna, no matter what. If I tell you to run, you do it." The three genin nodded and quickly surrounded Tazuna.
"Heh, I get to see the famous Sharingan so soon. I feel honored," Zabuza commented before leaping from his place, taking the zanbatou with him. He disappeared for a moment, and a thick mist settled over the area.
"Damn, he's using Kirigakure no Jutsu," Kakashi turned back to his students to check on them.
"Wh-what is this, Sensei?" Sakura asked nervously.
"Momochi Zabuza is an expert at silent assassination. You won't notice you're dead until you are. This technique, it's just a part of his strategy."
"Liver, lungs, spine, clavicle vein, neck vein, brain, kidneys and heart. So many vital places, which shall I choose?" Zabuza's voice echoed through the mist, and a miasma of killing intentaccompanied his chilling words. Sakura's knees shook as they threatened to give out on her, and Sasuke began to tremble and sweat. Naruto felt a shiver run down his spine. Certainly he was accustomed to such a feeling, but never before had he felt it so strongly.
"Don't worry you three, I don't let my comrades die," Kakashi gave them a small smile. But the small break was short lived.
Kakashi's eyes widened as Zabuza penetrated the defenses of the genin with ease, and he was ready to swing his blade to cleave Tazuna in half. Kakashi rushed, plunging a kunai deep into Zabuza's midsection. The kids jumped back in surprise and fear. Another Zabuza crept up behind Kakashi, poised to strike. Naruto hastily cried out a warning to the man.
"I've got you."
The Zabuza that Kakashi had stabbed melted into a puddle of water and Kakashi took the blow. Sakura screamed, but to her relief, Kakashi had also been a clone. From behind the real Zabuza, Kakashi appeared, pressing a kunai to his throat."You lose Zabuza."
"I think not. After all, I'm not an easy man to kill." Zabuza kicked Kakashi, sending him flying towards the nearby lake. Kakashi bounced through the water before coming to a halting crouch on the water's surface.
'How are they doing that?' Sakura thought as Zabuza followed the silver haired jounin.
"Trying to escape to the water was a big mistake," Zabuza came to a stop in front of Kakashi.
"Shit, why's the water so damn heavy?" Kakashi muttered.
"I have you trapped in my technique," he explained. Water rose up around Kakashi and encased him in a sphere. "This technique was especially created to trap enemies, and ensure that they cannot escape."
'Damn.'
"Now to finish my job - Mizu Bunshin no Jutsu." Several water clones came together and rushed at the genin.
"Run! Run and take Tazuna-san with you! The clones can't go too far from the original!" Kakashi ordered.
"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" three of Naruto's clones appeared for every one of Zabuza's. "We don't abandon comrades, and that includes you Hatake." Naruto responded. The Kage Bunshins charged and easily took down the Mizu Bunshins. Soon all that was left was a single Mizu Bunshin, and Naruto jumped in to attack. The Mizu Bunshin drew his zanbatou and knocked away Naruto and his clones. Naruto skidded backwards and landed near Sasuke.
"Naruto, it's going to take a lot more than that to free Kakashi," Sasuke stated.
"I know, but I've got an idea," Naruto rummaged through Sasuke's supplies and found what he was looking for. "Catch." Sasuke smirked as he caught the large folded shuriken, unfolded it, and launched it. The fuuma shuriken came at the Mizu Bunshin who showed no signs of worry until the oversized weapon veered away, aiming straight for Zabuza.
"That's too easy," Zabuza reached out and easily caught the shuriken, only to realize that there was a second one hiding beneath the first. He didn't hesitate and jumped up to dodge. The shuriken flew by him and in a puff of smoke, Naruto was revealed. He drew a kunai and threw it. In response, Zabuza launched the shuriken at him. Zabuza began to move and dodge the kunai, but it managed to cut shallowly into his cheek. He went through with the movement only to realize that he'd freed Kakashi in the process.
A strangled cry sounded over the area as the fuuma shuriken cut into Naruto's side. He fell into the water with a splash, but did not resurface.
"Naruto!" Sakura screamed in shock. Sasuke's eyes widened when he saw the blonde go down and Kakashi stood frozen for a moment. Kakashi ran towards where Naruto had fallen, but was stopped by Zabuza.
"Your opponent is me Kakashi, let us end this!" Zabuza began forming seals, and Kakashi instinctively copied them, even if he was more concerned about the well being of his student.
"Suiton: Daibakufu no Jutsu!" the water gathered around them and collided in a watery explosion that knocked the ones on shore off their feet and caused Naruto's remaining clones to disperse.
XxXxXxX
Hinata gasped and took a heavy blow from Kiba in the middle of a spar. She fell to the ground but hardly noticed.
"Hinata, are you okay?" Kiba looked at her worriedly.
"N-Naruto-kun," she whispered.
"Hinata!" Kurenai and Shino approached quickly. As soon as Kurenai saw that Hinata was in distress, she dismissed the boys and knelt down beside Hinata. "Hinata, what happened?"
"I-I d-don't know. One moment I was fine and the next, it was like I got stabbed in the ribs. I think Naruto-kun is-is hurt," Hinata began to cry and leaned against Kurenai. "Is there something we can do? Is there?" she asked desperately. Kurenai rubbed circles against Hinata's back in an attempt to comfort her.
"I don't think so Hinata. We'd have to get orders from Hokage-sama to do anything," Kurenai told her. "Besides, Naruto-kun is tough, I'm sure he'll be fine." Hinata nodded, buttears continued to stream down her cheeks.
XxXxXxX
Naruto continued to sink farther and farther into the lake. It hurt, it hurt a lot, and the pain stunned him. He couldn't move.
"DAMN IT NARUTO! SNAP OUT OF IT!" an annoyed voice yelled, the voice echoing within his brain.
'K-Kyuubi 'nii-san?' Naruto slowly opened his eyes to the murky depths of the water.
"No, it's Inari-daimyojin."
'Who?'
"Never mind, pull that damn shuriken out of your side and get back to the surface."
'Oh yeah, I got hit by Uchiha's fuuma shuriken.'
"No shit!" Naruto reached for the shuriken and yanked it out. Heat rushed through his body as Kyuubi's youki set to work healing his injury. He shivered at the feeling. If he could have described it, he would have said it felt like…well, he couldn't really describe it, it just felt that good. As soon as Naruto began swimming for the surface, the water began to churn violently around him. He could feel the chakra flowing through the water and cursed, barely managing to escape the water as two great techniques clashed together. The force of the impact knocked him around and he handed on the bank of the lake. He felt a loud crack and skin tear.
'Shit! What broke now?'
"A rib and it's poking through your skin," Naruto shuddered. "I can't heal it until the bone is set."
'Damn, looks like I'm down for the count,' this was Naruto's last coherent thought before he blacked out.
XxXxXxX
Sasuke rushed to check on Naruto, and his eyes widened at the sight of one of Naruto's ribs protruding from his side. He grabbed Naruto by the arms and carefully dragged him back to where Tazuna and Sakura stood. Tazuna blanched at the side of the injured blond. They failed to notice that Naruto's previous injuries were gone.
"Give me a hand here, we need to try and set the bone," Sakura nodded and despite the queasy feeling in her stomach, she knelt down beside Sasuke to help. Sasuke took a kunai and cut Naruto's shirt open. He carefully maneuvered the torn article of clothing away from Naruto's injury. "Do you happen to know how we can do this?" Sasuke asked Sakura. She shook her head.
"We were all taught basic first aid, but this is something that can't be treated so easily," Sakura murmured as she removed her backpack and began searching for the medical supplies she had. She came out with a few things, in hopes of them being useful. "Hold him still Sasuke-kun; I'm going to try it." Sasuke nodded and held Naruto down by the shoulders. Sakura reached carefully down to where the rib was protruding from the flesh, and with a quick push, she heard it slide and crack back into place.
"Now what?"
"Let me just get some of the anti-septic on the wound," Sakura's eyebrows knitted in concentration as she spread the liquid-like cream over the gash. "Hold him up." Sakura began to tightly wind a roll of bandages around Naruto's torso. With a final tug, she tied it off and sighed. "That's the best we can do for now. I'm sure Kakashi-sensei could give us a hand." Sasuke nodded.
XxXxXxX
Kakashi charged Zabuza, knocking the man into a tree. Kakashi landed on a branch above him and drew a kunai.
"I see death in your future, Zabuza," Kakashi readied himself to leap down and deliver the final blow, when from nowhere; a pair of senbon flew through the air and struck Zabuza in the neck. His eyes widened momentarily, before they fell closed and he flopped onto the ground, lifeless.
"You were right, he did die," from the trees stood a new arrival, wearing a mask that covered the face. Kakashi looked up and watched the newcomer as he checked for a pulse on Zabuza.
"Dead."
"I thank you, I've been looking for an opportunity to kill this man for some time now," the Nin jumped down and knelt beside Zabuza's body. Kakashi moved to stand beside his students.
'Judging from the height and sound of the voice, that one's not much older than my own genin,' Kakashi was surprised. "You're a hunter-nin, from Kiri I assume."
"You assume correctly," the hunter-nin knelt down and lifted Zabuza onto one shoulder. "I thank you again, good-bye." In a blur of movement, the hunter-nin was gone. Kakashi sighed when he saw that the danger was passed. He knelt down to check on Naruto.
He wasn't surprised to see that the shuriken wound was already healed. He looked over Sakura's handiwork and was impressed.
"I must say Sakura, you didn't do a bad job, considering you've never worked with broken bones before," Sakura flushed from the compliment. "You should consider becoming a medic." Kakashi said before standing up. "Well, let's get going." He took a step forward, but collapsed.
"Sensei!" Sakura turned him over.
"Damn, I used the Sharingan too much," Kakashi muttered as he blacked out. Sakura sighed, and looking between her unconscious teacher and teammate, she let out an annoyed groan.
"Oh hell no," she muttered. Sasuke couldn't help but smirk at her antics.
"You drag Naruto, but be careful of his injury, I'll carry Kakashi," Sakura nodded and went to carefully lift Naruto off the ground. She threw one of his arms over her shoulder and grunted when his feet dragged along the ground. Meanwhile, Tazuna gave Sasuke a hand in carrying Kakashi. The old man led the two to his home, all the while chatting happily.
XxXxXxX
Naruto regained consciousness and set up. He automatically felt his side and removed the bandages Sakura had applied. The rib had healed and so hadthe tear in his flesh. He grinned and looked around for his backpack to put on a shirt. He failed to notice Sasuke and Sakura sitting in the corner. Clearly they'd been waiting for him and Kakashi to wake up, but had fallen asleep in the process. He snickered into his hand.
Sakura was resting her head on Sasuke's shoulder, while he used her head for a pillow, and they were leaning against each other slightly. Had Naruto been a girl, he'd have found the scene to be cute. But the fact of the matter was, he was a boy and just thought it was funny because Sasuke hated all of his fangirls.
'I wish I had a camera on me, this would make such great blackmail for Uchiha.' Naruto thought. His backpack was in another corner and he got up and walked silently towards it. He pulled out a black t-shirt, and walked out of the room without waking anyone up.
Naruto came downstairs to see Tazuna talking to a woman in her late twenties who was looked like she was preparing a meal.
"Oh, brat, you're awake?" Tazuna asked. Naruto nodded and sat down across the table from the old man.
"Where are we?"
"We're in my home, this is my daughter Tsunami," Tazuna gestured to the woman. She turned around and gave Naruto a kind smile. He managed a small smile in return. There was silence for a long moment when Tsunami served food for the two males. It didn't take long for Naruto to finish his meal. He continued to sit for a while longer, not really minding the silence.
Naruto quickly began to feel restless. He stood up and the two adults gave him a small look.
"If anyone one of my team wakes up and asks where I am, tell them I went into town to gather some information," he explained. They nodded. Naruto went back to the room, secured his kunai holster to his thigh and headed out. 'I'll leave the forehead protector here, no need to attract unnecessary attention.'
XxXxXxX
The first thing Naruto noticed was just how run down everything was. Many shops and restaurant doors and windows were closed and boarded up. The few shops that were open were painfully bare of anything, and any food was far passed the expiration date. Children roamed the streets, asking any older adult they came across of for money or food. Most were dressed in rags, but some ran about in nothing but their skin. A pathetically thin naked girl of about six ran into Naruto and fell to the ground. She began to cry, but quickly stopped and got up. She began to back away, and he saw bruises and cuts littering her body. Naruto frowned in disapproval before stripping off his shirt and handing it to her. She backed further away. Naruto managed the kindest smile he could before pulling the shirt over her head. Once the girl realized that he was giving it to her, she smiled and pulled her arms through the sleeves.
Naruto was by no means tall for his age—in fact, he was pretty short. Lack of sufficient food in his youngest days saw to it that his growth was slightly stunted. But the girl was so small the t-shirt fell nearly to her knees.
"Thank you, onii-chan!" the girl hugged him before running off.
Naruto continued to wander through the town, taking in everything. When he walked by, women huddled up and moved away, holding small children to their breast, as if afraid he would take them.
'This place is in worse shape than the slums back home.'
"It is considerably worse," Kyuubi added.
"Psst, hey, hey kid," Naruto halted and looked over at a young man, his clothes were ragged, and he was filthy, but he was smiling.
"What?"
"You a Konoha ninja?" the man asked. Naruto stiffened and began to subtly slip into a defensive stance.
"No need to worry, it was just a wild guess," the young man approached and extended his had. "Name's Ishida Kenji."
"U-Uzumaki Naruto," Kenji nodded.
"Well, Naruto-kun, if you would kindly follow me, there's something I have to show you," against his better judgment, Naruto followed the other.
"Careful Naruto, it could be a trap."
'I know, but he seems sincere enough. Smells like it too.' Naruto followed Kenji away from the town and into the surrounding forest.
"What is it you want to show me?" Naruto asked after a while.
"My father can explain everything," Kenji replied as they pressed on.
XxXxXxX
Kakashi's eye snapped open and he sat up. Sakura and Sasuke jumped slightly and moved away from him.
'Damn, we were so close.' Sakura thought, she was annoyed about missing out on finding out what Kakashi's face looked like.
"What's wrong Kakashi?" Sasuke asked.
"Zabuza, he might be alive," Kakashi stated.
"What!" Sakura's eyes widened so far that Sasuke wasn't surprised that they hadn't fallen out.
"What makes you think he's alive? You even checked for a pulse," Sasuke waited for a reply.
"Its standard procedure for a hunter-nin to dispose of the body of a dead criminal where he fell," Kakashi mused aloud.
"What does a hunter-nin do exactly?"
"It's their job to hunt down missing-nin from their villages and kill and dispose of said missing-nin to keep any secrets about the village from falling into enemy hands."
"You said they have to keep the villages secrets from ending up with the enemy, is it possible that the hunter-nin moved Zabuza's body to keep those secrets from us?" Sasuke questioned.
"Possible, but that happens on such rare occasions that I've never heard of that actually occurring," Kakashi paused to think. "Plus, the hunter-nin's choice of weapon is a bit unsettling."
"Senbon?" Sakura asked. Kakashi nodded.
"As a hunter-nin, he'd have intimate knowledge of the human anatomy, and using senbon to put Zabuza in a temporary death would be an easy task," Kakashi said. "That on its own will make Zabuza very weakfor at least a week or two. That'll give myself time to recover, and for you three to train. Speaking of which, where's Naruto?"
"Tazuna said he went out to gather information," Sakura said. "But, I didn't think his injuries would have healed so quickly, he should still be bedridden." She glanced at the empty futon beside Kakashi's.
"Naruto isn't one to sit around all day. He'll be jumping around regardless of his health," Kakashi lay back down and stared up at the ceiling. "He should be back before night fall. In the mean time, get something to eat and rest a little while longer." He said before closing his eye and falling back asleep.
XxXxXxX
Zabuza was lying on a bed, waiting for his partner to return and help him eat. He really hated it when Haku had to kill him for a little while. It made him feel useless, and he detested that. The door opened and an ambiguous boy entered, bearing a tray of food.
"I hope you have not tried to move Zabuza-san, that will only set you back further in your recovery," he stated. Zabuza simply grunted as the boy set the tray down on the bedside table.
"What's for dinner?"
"Soup."
"Again?"
"You can't eat solid foods until your body is back to normal, it could cause complications, and you know that," Zabuza grumbled as the boy lifted a spoonful of soup and began to feed him slowly. The boy smiled slightly at Zabuza as he fed him.
XxXxXxX
Naruto looked at the small rundown shack and watched as Kenji entered. He jogged to catch up to the man and cautiously entered the shack, ready to draw a kunai should the need arise. He was still uncertain about whether or not it was all just an elaborate trap set for him. They came through a small room and crossed it towards another door. Kenji pushed it aside and allowed Naruto to step inside.
"Naruto-kun, this is my father. Father, Naruto-kun." The first thing that Naruto noticed was that the old man was blind. He'd seen Hinata move with a small amount of uncertainty in her movements when they were alone, plus the fact that the man was staring at nothing, in the same way Hinata did.
Somehow, Naruto did not regret, nor did he think about the fact that it could be a trap anymore. If anything, he felt like it had been fate that he met the two Ishida men. It was such a strong feeling that he couldn't bring himself to question it.
Okay, first off. A big fat huge apology for taking so long with the update. When I posted the last chapter, life had been slowly creeping up on me, and when it did catch up, I got hit hard. I got depressed, really, really, depressed, like, borderline suicidal depressed. Only recently have I completely pulled myself out of it and have been able to sit down and write. After re-reading the Wave Country Arc of the Naruto manga of course, because this story arc is basically unknown territory, I couldn't remember what happened because I'd read it so long ago, and I skipped it in the anime. So, now that I've finally written it, I humbly hope you can forgive me for not updating sooner. Plus as a bonus, this chapter is just slightly longer than the others. Kinda. This is officially the longest chapter at nineteen pages! wOOt!
