Ain't Never Had A Friend Like Me
Ginny Weasley POV
Arabia
Ginny Wealsey was not a happy camper. She did not want to go to a place that was as illogically minded as Arabia. She did not want to miss the summer training camp that the Harpies held every year for previous members of the team, she did not want to lose the edge over her competition that she had. She was a fair flyer, but that didn't mean there wouldn't be fresh new talent that might bowl her over. She did not want to spend her free time with Draco Bloody Malfoy.
Has it happened though, she did want to find one of her closest friends, and practical sister, really, Willow Potter. If this in any way helped her find the red haired Witch then… It'd be worth it. Ginny had originally believed that Will had actually died in America. That was until the lack of a body was presented to her. Why the hell would the American Ministry refuse to hand over the body of someone as politically important as Willow Potter? That's when the grief she was feeling was thrown to the side momentarily – she loved Willow, they all did.
She didn't want to bear the thought of leaving her sister stranded, and alone. Not if she could help it.
The ginger was going to get to the bottom of this. Even if it meant sitting next to the twitching blonde boy. Dear Merlin, who could actually stand this guy? He was way to quiet! She guessed she got lucky with his silence though. She didn't need to curse him. "This way," Malfoy grabbed her arm. She couldn't stand this place. It was deemed improper for a single women to travel alone, so they had to be 'married'.
It was wearing her down. Also, she had to be covered head to foot, and Merlin Damn. It was hot and the damn clothes were heavy, and she felt nearly suffocated. "You have to be careful with this guy, Malfoy. Hermione said he was a muggle."
Malfoy's defined features twisted into an ugly scowl. Ginny resisted the urge to smack him across the face. She would never understand the Pure Blood bias against Muggles. Maybe it had been the way she'd been raised, with Arthur Weasley as her dad – Muggle lover extreme. But she'd never seen a difference between them. All they had was magic, as wonderful as that was – essentially, they were the same. "Call me Draco," he hissed under his breath, giving her a warning look. "It's not right for a wife to call a husband by his last name! Do you want us to be caught?"
"It is if he's a douche," Ginny muttered under her breath, and Malfoy-…Draco. If she was going to call him that, she'd have to start calling him that in her mind, rolled his grey eyes. "Is this the house?"
It was… a majestic house. It was small, but it was built like a miniature castle. Ginny would've liked to come here if it was for any other reason than the one that she was actually here for. "Yes, it fits the description, let's go."
Ginny didn't need urging, she grabbed the Slytherin's arm and tugged him along the pathway leading to the house. Almost impatiently, she knocked on the door. "Don't forget, women aren't meant to question-," Malfo-…Draco stared to say, only to get cut off by the door swinging open.
Ginny stared at the man that opened the door. He was bald, and at least a head shorter than she was. He had wrinkly skin and dark, beady eyes. It was like they could see right past her and see into the depths of her very soul. The airy clothes he wore were reminded her slightly on the ones that she wore, except, he didn't cover his head like she was meant to. He bowed at the two Hogwarts Alumni standing in his doorway, a knowing smile gracing his features.
Shifting uneasily at the man's presence. She let Mal-…Draco! Take the lead in his questioning. She did – even if he thought she was too stupid to, realise the customs of this place. "Mr. Busiono? My name is Draco Malfoy, and this is my …wife, Ginevra. We wanted to come and ask you a few questions."
Hazel eyes twitched slightly. She absolutely loathed her full name, why he had chosen to use that horrid name was beyond her. Why he actually knew the nauseating word shocked her even further. At the warning look he shot her, Ginny tried to calm herself. Something about it not being right for her to agitated in public? Who even knew? "Of course. Come into my humble home. I'll prepare some tea," he opened the door, and led them into his house with his hand, closing the door behind them.
Hadn't he welcomed them in too… easily?
Mal-Draco's hand was on her lower back, and if was any other time – he'd be on the receiving end of the bat-boogie hex. The two followed Mr Busiono further into his house, only to be lead to a table, which sat low, almost touching the floor. Instead of seats sat brightly coloured pillows for them to seat themselves on.
Ginny followed Ma-Draco's lead and sat down next to him. The Witch watched as the Muggle moved around preparing a pot of tea, before placing it down on the middle of the table, providing three oddly small cups with no handles. Draco didn't move or make any noise, and she was starting to feel a little bit restless. Where was the questioning already!?
The man slowly began to pour the tea, which Draco again, didn't touch. Was this some sort of culture that she'd missed out on? Ginny resisted the urge to sigh and didn't touch the tea either. Even if she was dying of thirst in this heat. Honestly, she'd never known it to ever be this hot, ever.
"My friends, what is it that you require of me?" He took a deep sip of his own tea cup, cupping his hands around the base of the cup. So that's how you were meant to use that oddly shaped cup. Draco followed his lead, and Ginny followed his.
She didn't want to be the reason that this man didn't give them information.
"I'm very interested in certain artefacts," Draco said after a brief pause. "It has been rumoured that you had done extensive research on this one object that I'm particularly curious about."
"What is that artefact, young man?"
"A lamp, that holds a person within it. A person that contains great power," Draco said, a curious glint in his eyes. Placing the cup back down on the dark table. Ginny followed suit.
"I haven't thought much on that object in many years," the man admitted. "There is a story I would like to share with you. A tale about the lamp if you must – a tale about the magic lamp, and its origins. If you'd like to hear of it?"
Very much so! Ginny wanted to say, but instead she remained silent, and Draco hardly even nodded. He certainly didn't look very interested in the story!
"There was once a time, a very long time ago," the man started, his voice was rough and sounded like your foot crunching with gravel, but it captivated her even so. "There was a kind King, who ruled over all those in his Kingdom with a just fairness. It might come as a surprise that he was never attacked by outside forces, never invaded. The King had a prised position. His treasured lamp, it contained a force that no one could ever begin to understand. This force though, could only be used by one that has a pure heart, and pure intentions. The King who had no interest in misusing this power, was allowed to freely access the legendary forces from within."
"Legendary forces?" Ginny blurted out before she could stop herself. Quickly she turned bright red and slapped a hand over her mouth. Please don't be offended.
"I apologise for my wife," Draco said hastily. "She is very interested in anything of a mystical beginning. She sometimes losses her manners."
"It is fine. Young Lady, there is said to be a person that lives in the lamp, a person that holds the power to make anything you wish for to come true. Those in the lamp live a cursed life. They can be in the moral world, as you or I, if the owner of the lamp wishes it to be. They were to be bound in a way that connects their very souls," the man whispered, and Ginny refrained from interrupting again. "The King was good friends with this being, there was hardly a day that they could ever be seen apart, alas, one day they got into a terrible argument. The kind old King ordered his friend away, and away he went, right back into the lamp, never to be set free by the same human twice. It was a rule that the lamp lorded. Eventually the King lost all hope of setting the being from the lamp free again, and passed it on down the line of his successors. Not one, had ever been able to set the powerful being free since the aged King, however. They were not of his kindness, not of his goodness."
"That was quite an entrancing tale," Draco said slowly. "Did anyone know why they were never apart?"
"It was said that it pained the being to be too far away from the King. He never wished to leave his side. Ever."
"Is there a way to free the being in the lamp?" Ginny pressed, once again, forgetting that she was meant to be silent. The man gave her a sharp look, his dark glaze making her extremely uncomfortable. It was like he saw right through her.
"You must understand. The impossibility of being free of the lamp to begin with. When was the last time you met someone pure in mind, body and soul?" the old man questioned, before Draco could make another hasty apology.
It didn't stop him from pinching the skin on her back. She winced, and tried to stop the glare from forming. She tried, really. "I dare say. Neither of you would qualify to be the Masters' of this astounding object."
"Why not?" Draco asked, pretending that he hadn't just pinched her. Douche.
"Why… It's obvious isn't it? You two aren't even married."
How?!
Willow POV
Konoha's Front Gate
"I can't come with you, brat," Willow rolled her eyes for the tenth time that morning. Nothing the little boy could say would sway her mind on the matter. His cheeks were adorably puffed out in frustration with her lack of care over the matter. Sure, she wanted to keep him safe on this journey, but this was his career, his choice. He would get nowhere if she was there to hold his hand. Granted, she would have loved someone to be there when she was eleven, facing off against a Dark Wizard – in the end, she was better off for it.
It had taught her something. To be tough in the face of adversity, to never back down. Honestly, if she went with him, she'd intervene to keep him safe, she knew that. Plus, it was meant to be a relatively safe mission.
"But Nee-Chan!" the blonde boy said his tone getting suspiciously near a whine. Willow rolled her eyes at him. He was acting like her not coming with him was the end of the world. She was not going to be a cat for a few weeks. She remembered the stories that Sirius would tell her about how his form started to affect him when he was in it for any prolong amount of time.
She didn't want to catch himself trying to de-flea herself later.
"No buts," the red-head reprimanded, attempting to be firm in some way. "Honestly. How do you expect to become a big-bad Ninja if you have me tagging along everywhere?"
Whiskered cheeks puffed full of air for the second time in the last few minutes, and the kid kicked the gravel path they were traveling down. Did he honestly think that was going to work on her? Granted his glum expression was starting to make her feel pretty guilty. "I'll miss you though!" he admitted a sour look gracing his normally cheerful features.
A bright grin spread across her face, and a rather loud chuckle emitted from her. "Course you will. That's why you have to come back home afterwards." It was almost adorable how stubborn this kid was being. "Hurry up brat, we're going to get there late!"
"But Nee-Chan, what are you going to do all by yourself?" The boy was stubborn as hell. He refused to take her words with any sort of seriousness.
"I'll find something to keep myself entertained," she joked, trying not to go into depth of what she was going to be experimenting with when the boy left and she had no supervision. The kid didn't need to know the exact details of what she was. "Don't worry about me, this is your first big mission!"
"I know," Naruto grumbled, still looking sullen with her choice. As these words left his mouth, the gate leading from the Village grew closer and now Willow could see three figures leaning somewhere near the wall. The distance between Hinata and Sasuke was quite startling to her. Then again, she guessed you couldn't force kids to be friends, could you?
"Hey Hinata-Chan! Bastard! Old-Man Tazuna! Where's Sensei!?" Naruto crowed loudly, forgetting his previously bad mood – almost like it had never been there. She shook her head in amazement, honestly, how the heck did he manage to bounce out of his bad mood so quickly? "Is he late again!?"
"I'm offended," a voice called out. The green-eyed girl looked up to see the older Ninja sitting on top of the wall separating Konoha from the outside world. How the heck did he get up there? Looking so comfortable too… "Considering you're the one twenty minutes late."
"Oops… It was Nee-Chan's fault!" Naruto suddenly yelled, after a brief flash of sheepishness pointing at her like if would remove any blame for him being late. Willow snickered at the boy.
"Hey," Willow protested in good humour. It had been the kid trying to persuade her to use her 'Genie-Powers' to come along with them on their mission. Hatake jumped down from the top of the wall with his hands tucked easily in his pockets, he didn't even flinch or look at all ruffled landing on the ground. How did he make that look so easy?
"That sounds perfectly reasonable, you're excused."
"Bullshit," Sasuke grumbled shooting his teacher a dark look, almost like he couldn't believe a word that was coming out of the man's mouth.
"Ah ah, Sasuke-Kun. No swearing," Kakashi tusked, wagging his finger in front of the fuming Genin.
"If we," Sasuke gestured to Hinata with narrowed eyes. "Came to you with an excuse like that, we'd have to run at least twenty laps of Konoha! Its double standards!" he hissed the last few words, with quite a scary look in his eyes.
He looked deadly. Kakashi shrugged his shoulders. "Neither you or Hinata have an annoying sister."
"Hey!" Willow protested for real this time. Before she could continue to argue her case of why the silver-haired man was an idiot, Naruto fixed her with a scary stare and started to shake his head slowly. She blinked at the younger boy, slowly, not sure she was understanding what he was asking her to do. "At least I'm not in the process of a mid-life crisis." She finished ignoring Naruto's violent head shakes. Was he going to explain that?
"I'm not old enough to be having a mid-life crisis!" He protested. "See Sasuke? This is what I mean! Poor Naruto."
Sasuke rolled his eyes, muttering about 'double standards'. Double standards right Sasuke. Willow frowned at Naruto's teacher unhappily. "Your right… Poor Naruto, have you seen his teacher?" she made a show of sarcastically throwing the comment out.
"Nee-Chan," Naruto whined. "Please, stop."
Right. Now wasn't the time to be acting like she was three. "Have fun on the mission Naruto, good luck. Make sure to wash your hands before you eat anything. Stay safe."
"Nee-Chan!" Naruto started to complain again, going slightly red. The Witch ignored him in favour of giving him a hug. She clutched him closely to her, carefully ruffling his hair. "Be careful," she whispered.
"I'm always careful!" Naruto boasted with a huge smile as she let him go. The sight of the boy and his Team double checking everything together to make sure they had everything made her feel slightly uneasy. Maybe she should have said she'd go with him, to make sure that he would be alright. But when else would she have that apartment other people free for more than a few hours at a time? She needed to figure things out.
"Yeah! To Wave!" Naruto yelled happily, taking a huge step over the town line. "Ah huh! This will be so fun! Bye Nee-Chan!" he called back, flashing her a massive grin. He wasn't too torn up by her forcing him to go on his own. Still… she bit her lip, quietly worrying about the boy. He'd be fine, she assured herself.
"Am I safe with this kid?" The man – Naruto's very first real client. And a raging drunk, as Naruto had called him, asked doubtfully.
"Most likely not," Sasuke responded dryly, eyeing the other boy with mild distain. The three Genin, their teacher, and client began to walk out of the gate. This was it. He was leaving, and he'd be fine. She had to remind herself of that. This was her choice to send him off. She'd been the one adamant that he should go alone. Willow sighed.
Almost like he heard her, Naruto turned around, and faintly, she could see the boy eagerly waving at her. He wasn't too beat up by the fact that she wanted him to go alone. He was still excited to be leaving Konoha for the very first time.
Oh Merlin. "He'll be fine. It's only a standard easy-to-do mission. The only enemy he's going to face is not being able to pitch a tent properly," the same voice that had been tormenting her a few moments previously uttered from beside her. Wait… Hadn't he just walked off, she'd seen his slit house in the distance!
"Shouldn't you be up there?" Willow asked doubtfully.
He shrugged his shoulders casually. "I'm surprised they haven't noticed actually," his lone eye was looking down at her, with none of the mindless humour that his face had held moments previously. The personality change almost had her spinning. "Don't worry about Naruto. He will be fine. There is no real risk in a C Rank mission, at least, not in one like this one."
Willow nodded her head, deciding to trust this more serious – less mocking, version of Kakashi. An easy to do mission. Naruto had said it was mean to be 'all standard stuff', it shouldn't be too bad. "Thank you," Willow muttered, watching the man disappear into thin air.
She didn't need to worry. Really. It was his job, and Naruto didn't need to become dependent on her always being there. Because she couldn't always be there. She assured herself that he'd be fine. Back to her plans. She had some things to set up. Now that there wasn't any chance that someone was going to walk in on her.
She had Death to try and summon.
Naruto POV
On the path to Wave
Naruto was pretty bummed that Willoo-Chan wouldn't come with him on his first big mission outside of Konoha. But he guessed that it was okay. He really did want her to come, but he didn't know how she could come. In the eyes of his team she was just his big sister – they had no idea that she was a kick-arse Genie.
He could do this without Nee-Chan here anyway. Plus, it just meant that he was allowed to have Ramen when he came home and Nee-Chan would listen to all his tales about this epic mission! It would be great! Caught up in his thoughts, he didn't realise Sensei was calling his name. "What. Huh? Did you say something?"
Kakashi-Sensei laughed, his shoulders relaxing slightly. Sensei had been so uptight the past few weeks, it made Naruto wonder what was going to happen to him now that Sensei seemed to be actually relaxing. "If you say that, then you can't wear the jumpsuit."
"That doesn't even make sense," Naruto disagreed, really confused about what Sensei was talking about.
Sensei just waved his hand about for a few moments, apparently unconcerned about the confusion that his words had cause the young boy. Sensei was always so frustrating. "I was asking you to tell us what a Hokage is."
"Oh, the Hokage is the leader of the village," Naruto responded, realising that it was another one of Sensei's pop-quizzes. He was really beginning to hate those. Sensei would just spring them on his Team at random points. Naruto was sure the only reason he'd asked him was because he wasn't paying attention. Normally it was on rules that a Ninja always had to follow, but sometimes Sensei would deviate. Those were the hard questions to answer!
"And?"
"Uhh, he makes all the big choices?" Naruto hesitated. There was more that Sensei wanted him to explain? He was going to be the Hokage eventually, he was pretty sure that's what the Hokage was.
"Sasuke?"
"The Hokage is the strongest Ninja in the village charged with keeping peace, and is normally elected by the previous Hokage," Sasuke responded, his boredom leaking out of his tone.
"Yes," Sensei agreed. "What else, Hinata?"
"U-um, Sensei… I uh… I just, it's… that puddle…" she trailed off slightly, looking like she was fighting with herself. Hinata-Chan was really shy all the time, and Naruto really wasn't sure why. But she had been talking to him a lot more after she'd come over for dinner that one time – plus all the training they did together. Honestly! She hardly even stuttered around him anymore!
"Oh? What about it? Looks like a normal puddle, I think," Sensei responded, waving his hand like it was nothing to be concerned about. Naruto eyes drew towards the innocent puddle slightly off centre on the path. The bright light from the sun reflecting off the water… Wait, the bright light reflecting? Naruto looked up at the bright cloudless sky.
"It's sunny," Naruto said, feeling almost silly. Almost as if the words the blonde had muttered had broken a curse, twin figures rose from the water, chains escaping from the water so fast that Naruto could hardly keep up with them. The chains wrapped themselves around Sensei, crushing him to death. Had Naruto's mindless words caused Sensei's death!?
Had he just killed his teacher!? Even if he was a sadist he didn't mean to! Naruto's eyes widened with horror. Then he got slightly annoyed. This couldn't take out his Sensei. How can someone so annoying be taken out so easily!?
Okay, probably not. Both of his other teammates both didn't seem to believe something that simple could take out Sensei either. Even if he had disappeared, leaving nothing but dust behind. Which was what had Naruto questioning the disappearance of his Sensei. There was no proof! Plus, it'd be so uncool. Where was all the blood anyway? Naruto thought, becoming a bit more rational with both of his team mates remaining calm.
"Naruto, left. Hinata, client," Sasuke commanded a serious look entering his eye. Naruto nodded his head and lunged right. The guy on the right, a slightly shorter guy seemed slightly surprised that he'd gone after him. Naruto knew that Sasuke, the Bastard, had meant for him to go for this one. The man rearranged his chains quickly to cut Naruto in half. Naruto though, was quite used to dogging quick strikes – plus, these chains were slow compared to some of Buns-Chans weapons.
Buns-Chan was a demon with sharp, pointy objects. He was slightly terrified of the older girl.
Naruto ducked under the chains, rolling behind the short one. The chains kept on going though, even though Naruto wasn't there anymore and he quickly realised that the man couldn't control the chains as fast as he initially thought he could. With a shrug, Naruto threw one of his really pointy kunai (he still wondered how Nee-Chan got them so pointy!) at the man.
Sadly, his partner guy had thrown his chains out to block Naruto's kunai. They were going to work together even though Sasuke had originally wanted to divide the two a fight separately. That and those chains were coming dangerously close to him. With a yelp, Naruto pushed himself up and over the chains, landing next to Sasuke. He locked eyes with him, wondering what the plan was now.
Sasuke sighed. "Damn Naruto. I thought I saw two of those guys before."
An idea hit Naruto like a tidal wave. Quickly, the boy summoned four Kage Bunsion, sharing a cocky smirk with the Uchica. Naruto, and his clones threw themselves into the fight once again. Sasuke engaged the attention of the shorter one this time, and when both figures appeared equally distracted, his clones started to Henge as one of the two men.
Transformed, his clones turned on him. They wouldn't do any real damage. But now the other ninja were kind of confused about which one was their partner, and Naruto watched as their flawless teamwork fell apart – Naruto was sure that he could take them out now!
"The one on the end Sasuke!" Hinata suddenly yelled, most likely realising that they couldn't tell which one was which. She was using her cool eyes-Jutsu. "Second one in, Naruto-Kun!"
With a flying roundhouse kick, Naruto's foot connected with the head of the taller ninja. The force knocking him into the tree on the far end of the clearing. Naruto dropped to the floor, realising that the enemy ninja had been knocked out. Blue eyes turned to his teammates opposite, to see a similar result.
The two boys shared what had to be one of their first smiles exchanged with the other. "Not bad idiot."
Naruto shrugged, willing to take the compliment as he could. "Eh, not a bad plan for a bastard."
Slow clapping rung out through the clearing, and Naruto looked over to see their Sensei re-entering the area, a cheerful look of his scratch less body. Huh, so he'd been right. Sensei hadn't really died. His mind stayed back to a few months previous to when he'd been talking to Nee-Chan about Sensei about him being an idiot; 'I bet you his not, not really. He just wants you to think that.'
"Good teamwork you three. Sasuke, you finally realised that you can't take out all your opponents alone. Naruto that was some pretty formidable fighting you did in there, but, honestly, you need to be more careful with what you say. If I was any less cool, I'd most likely have been killed." Naruto hung his head slightly, a feeling of… shame? Entering his body. He should've known it was silly to say it out loud. "Hinata, good job on protecting the client, and helping out your teammates when you realised the flaw in their plan," Sensei spoke, his words open and honest. Naruto almost groaned, Sensei wasn't turning this into some sort of learning curve, was he?
"Although," a scary look entered his teacher eye as he turned to face the Old Man Tazuna. "I think someone has some explaining to do. These two were way out of the league of my cute little Genin. They might have been after me of course, but then, they wouldn't left after I died."
"So that's why you faked your death!" Naruto exclaimed, realising this made much more sense than he'd originally thought. Honestly, Kakashi-Sensei was so hard to figure out sometimes.
Naruto was on the receiving end of one of Sensei's terrifying 'eye-smiles'. "Of course, that and I wanted to test how far you three have come."
"Okay, so I haven't been completely honest-,"
"Completely honest?" The bastard questioned him with a simply raised eyebrow and an incredulous face. Sasuke could do that too!? It wasn't fair! Nee-Chan could do that, so why couldn't he!? She made it look so cool, and he grudgingly admitted that it looked cool even with Sasuke doing it. "Those were trained Ninja. We aren't meant to come across trained ninja during a C-Rank. That's only B-Rank, or higher."
"Very good Sasuke," Kakashi-Sensei praised and Naruto scowled at the black haired know-it-all. "Now this is turning into something out of our league, after all, it just become a B-Rank. We're hardly even qualified for a C-Rank."
"Hey!" he protested loudly, puffing out his whiskered cheeks in an attempt to show how offended this made him. "I am so qualified for a C-Rank!"
"No you really aren't," Sensei replied, not bothering to even look at him.
"Me and Sasuke just beat those freaking puddle guys!" Naruto yelled right back to his Sensei's calm tones. Why did he always have to insult them!? He'd show Sensei! He'd become so strong that one day, he'd beat Sensei! He'd like to see Sensei remain calm then! Ha!
'Freaking puddle guys?' Old Man Tazuna mouthed looking ashen.
"It's 'Sasuke and I'," was all the silver haired man responded with for a good few moments. Naruto's eye started to twitch, who did Sensei think he was!? "Plus, I still think squirrels could beat you. Actually, we can test this thought once we're back in Konoha. Training ground 44, I think. Yes, that could help."
Naruto scratched the side of his neck, never having heard of 'training ground 44' before. He looked over at Sasuke and Hinata, both of whom shrugged their shoulders. They had no idea what he was talking about either. "We should probably get on that actually. It's going to be all booked up in a few months. Have fun, Tazuna-San."
"H-hey! You can't just leave me here! What if these guys had backup and they come after me!?" The old man protested, slightly upset by the whole idea. He clutched his vest protectively, like it would convince the Ninja to stay and protect him.
Sensei shrugged his shoulders. "Not my problem. You lied about the mission rank. I'm not obliged to do much of anything at this point. I'm already in enough trouble as it is, I don't need to be in even more trouble. To be honest, I don't think you're worth it."
"Please! I'll be killed if you quit the mission now! These kids of yours are obviously very skilled!" Naruto puffed up with some measure of importance. At least this guy realised how amazing of a ninja he was now! He could so protect this old guy!
"I don't particularly care," Kakashi responded dryly. Jeez, Sensei was really cold sometimes…
"My poor, cute ten year old grandson will surely cry over this for months, years even! My poor beautiful daughter will have to swear revenge on Konoha. But it's okay! I understand," the man lamented. Naruto was starting to feel really bad. His grandson was only a few years younger than him, would they really be damning a ten year old to a life without his grandfather? Naruto scratched the back of his head slowly.
What would Nee-Chan say? Naruto really wished that she'd come with him… Then maybe she would be able to tell him what to do. He was not looking forward to telling her that he'd been in a tad more danger than he'd initially let on. Naruto shuddered, Willoo-Chan could be pretty scary when she wanted to be. "Eh, Sensei… We could still help him out… y'know…"
"Naruto," the voice come out slightly reproachful. Naruto frowned, he was sure Nee-Chan would say something about helping this old man being the ethical thing to do.
"No! You see, the truth. Wave has been in a bit of trouble lately with a Tycoon named Gato. He's been controlling all export and import onto Wave – he is making it a very economically unstable place to live in! If I could just finish this bridge, then maybe, Wave wouldn't be so cut off and we could start creating the funds that we need to keep functioning as a proper society." He hesitated slightly. "Then maybe, we could pay you back for the more expensive mission! Wave could afford to pay for more than a C Rank mission!"
"Class," Kakashi-Sensei said rapidly, turning on his feet to face his students. "Pease, someone, tell me what would normally happen in this situation? With the money problems?"
Naruto scratched the top of his head, sheepishly looking at his two team mates – not having a clue what Sensei was on about. Sasuke looked just as blank on the topic as he felt. "P-payment plans and a-a-alliances can be o-offered in place o-of paying upfront. It's what earned Konoha the t-title of being the 'g-gentle nation'." Hinata stumbled, going bright red at the clients disbelieving look.
"Wave is a very poor country," Tazuna attempted to reason.
"Correct, Hinata-Chan. Now, why would we accept to go on a mission that we are grossly unqualified for, if he could have had more protection than us?"
Naruto scratched his head slowly. "…Trade?"
"Correct! Good job Naruto! If Wave would agree to a Trade agreement, then we may possibly consider continuing on this mission," Sensei said with one of his really creepy eye smiles.
"Anything! Anything you want!" The old man yelled, obviously despite to get them to come along.
Willow POV
Naruto's Apartment
Willow rubbed her chest with a frown on her face. Ever since the morning when she bid Naruto goodbye, she had this 'pulling' feeling in her chest. It wasn't painful at first, but slowly, she was growing more uncomfortable. What the heck was going on?
It hurt. Like, it really pained her. What could it be? Why did this horrible feeling suddenly well up inside her? Was there some sort of cause? It was making it harder for her to think. She felt like she was becoming erratic, slightly. Her concentration was also getting worse. The worst part as that she had no idea what could be causing this kind of pain. It was like nothing she'd ever felt before.
If there needed to be a comparison, it was like a flame was lit inside her. Not in a good way, in a way that felt like she was slowly being burnt from inside out. Like she was fading from existence. Willow shook herself, being with Naruto was making her overdramatic. It wasn't that bad. She had to power through it. She would get through it, she would figure out what it was causing her this pain – and there was one person who might know what was happening to her.
Death.
He had said that she' be able to call on him at any given point. Well, she wanted answers. With this in mind, she tried to shove the dull throb of burning in her chest to the back of her mind. It wasn't easy, but it had to be done. Quietly, she set to work – blocking anyway that could be used to see into the little apartment and locking the doors.
She was not going to be interrupted. After all, if she didn't take all the necessary precautions. What was the point in waiting till Naruto wouldn't stumble upon her? Willow sighed, feeling he fire burn brighter with thoughts of the sunny boy. She hoped he was having fun struggling to put a tent up. Honestly, he was adorable.
The burning began to spread, further out than just her chest, it was spreading to her shoulders. Ignore. Focus. Willow, focus, she reminded herself – pushing any pain she might have been feeling to the back of her mind, again.
Focus, she reminded herself. Focus. Now, she just needed to figure out how to…summon death. Death, come! She thought. Maybe, it was something that needed to be said out loud, she mused after nothing happened. "Death?" She called out, but again, nothing happened.
"I summon you, Death!" She tried again.
"Death, I summon thee!"
"I Willow Potter, Master of Death, summon you!"
"I command you to show yourself to me, Death!"
Maybe, this wasn't going to work. What else could she try to get the apparation to come before her? What had he said to her? Something about coming to her whenever she called? Maybe it had to be a specific phrase that she had yet to think of?
Willow groaned and sunk back into the tiny couch they had. Her head was swimming, her chest hurt like hell, and she couldn't think of what to do next! Shaking herself from her mild bout of pessimism, she sat up again. She was positive that Death had meant that she had to summon him, to call him to her, but she simply wasn't sure how…
"I am Willow Potter, the Mistress of Death..." she paused, thinking what else she might have to add. Willing the man to just appear. "Wielder of the Deathly Hollows, I command you, Death. Show yourself to me."
It happened quite suddenly, the air around her grew colder. The fly that had been buzzing around the kitchen sink (thank god that issue was fixed) just froze in mid-air – the annoying sound it was making ceasing to exist. The best part to Willow, was the dull ache in her chest lessened and it was a relief, to be free from the pain, for just a few moments.
"You called me, Mistress," the cold, emotionless voice rasped. Willow looked up to see the shiny black shoes, and long dark cape that covered the entirety Death. It was amazing to think, she had actually, just summoned Death. She summoned the Grim Reaper!
"Yes, I want to ask you a few things. And you're going to answer me," Willow said, sitting up tall when she realised that the pain she'd been experiencing was no longer an issue. She was in control, she wasn't half distracted – and she was going stuff done.
"Of course, Mistress," Death responded in the same dreary tone.
She twitched, she really should have planned out her questions before she summoned Death. She honestly hadn't expected any of her words combinations to draw out the Omen. But, as her Potter luck always did – it somehow worked for her. Think Potter. "First, what does being the 'Mistress of Death' mean, exactly?"
Death said nothing, he did not move – for a moment, Willow was scared that he didn't hear her, or she was just dreaming. "It is a job, upon which you discover in time."
"I think now's the time," Willow pressed, forgetting how much she hated how Death seemed to only talk in riddles, and answering what she didn't want to know. "Just, how it will affect me, is there anything that is required that I do?"
"There will be a time, where souls are unrightfully taken," Death said after a brief pause. "You will return them to their domain."
"Like, I'll be able to send Ghosts away?"
"There are no ghosts in this universe, Mistress," Death intoned, and Willow blinked. There wasn't any ghosts!? How can there not be any? How would that even work!? "You can summon the spirit of any soul born from within this realm. No matter the place. No matter the time. Just say the words, and they will appear."
"Only from this universe, right?" Willow asked, slowly, considering all these other possibilities that she could see from this. She could summon Dumbledore! He would know how to get her out of this predicament! He might have arranged things for his own benefit, but he would help her if he could!
Death nodded his head, not that she could see his head – but she understood the general movement. Willow felt her heart sink. She didn't know any dead from this universe. How could they help? Maybe with Naruto's training, she could summon someone that would help but, how would she know who to summon? How did you summon souls? "How do I summon a soul?"
"It is innate. Like summoning myself, we are all here simply to do your bidding, Mistress."
That… Didn't make any sense! She should have brought a notebook out so she could have written down all the answers he was giving her so that she could analyse them later. Why didn't she do that? Oh yeah, she was reckless. "Alright. Does being your Mistress give me anything else? Any other sort of responsibility, or… power?"
"Soul power," Death responded promptly.
"What does that entitle?" Willow asked, but Death didn't answer the question. She scowled. "How will I find out what it is, then?"
"In time."
Willow groaned in frustration. After all, when Death answered just one of her questions, about another dozen seemed to pop up in its wake. "Have you ever heard of a lamp that you inside of it, until someone lets you out?" she hesitated about asking that one, she hadn't intended to even ask about it, but, she figured that it couldn't hurt.
"It forged your bond, of life and soul," Death answered. Willow raised an eyebrow at that one. What the hell? Could he just speak like a normal person?!
"What do you mean?"
"It ties your life to his. He gains my protection – neither will die, whilst the other one lives." Willow shuddered, that reminded her all too much of the prophesy between herself and Voldemort. She cringed.
"Thank you, Death," Willow whispered, he had given her quite a bit to think about. When she'd sifted through all the information that he gave her (and figured out what the hell he'd actually said), then she'd summon him again to answer more questions.
"I do as you command, my Mistress. I give warning, with the knowledge of the element of Soul, the power will come in all due time. Today, tomorrow, next year. In due time," he repeated before disappearing.
Slowly the fly came back to life, buzzing around the water left in the sink again – not aware that it even stopped, for the briefest moment. The element of soul? Soul bond? Summoning Souls? Her head was swimming!
Slowly, as slowly as a snail crawled its way across the floor. The fire started to burn within her body again. Was it because of the Lamp? Was it the Soul Bond that Death had spoken of? Was the reason of this slowly torturous burn, because she wasn't by Naruto's side? What other powers did that Lamp hold?
To Willow, the object was no longer one of her mild hatred, and night-time fears. It was no longer just a prison. It was something that held the power of something so much more. With that in mind, she went to find the thing. It was about time she started to study the damned object. Stopping to grab the pen – which Naruto had been using to learn how to write reports with, a few sheets of paper and a towel.
She wasn't going to touch the silly lamp! Ignoring whatever pain she was in, she gingerly wrapped the towel around the object hidden in one of Naruto's long forgotten cupboards. Setting the old thing out on the table, she used the towel to move it around so she could see the full expanse of the object.
It was gold, but old and nowhere near shiny. It looked somewhat Middle Eastern. It did look like something that a Genie would be trapped in, or chose to live in. She could see where Naruto got confused – it wasn't like the stories went; There was once a witch that lived in a lamp…
It quite honestly, didn't look that terrifying. So why did it make her heart beat just that little bit faster, and Adaline pump just slightly through her veins? She was not scared of a tiny, tin object! With another unnecessarily deep breath in. Focus, she needed to focus right now.
There were little markings all over it, squinting, she would've said they were tiny runes. Willow did not study runes at Hogwarts. Opting instead to take Care of Magical Creatures and Divination. She cursed her need to have an 'easy O', now. Willow bit her lip. Perhaps Ninja had something like this in their world. It wouldn't be runes, but perhaps, they used etchings to create some sort of power.
If they did, she'd find it, and she would Master it. She honestly prayed to Merlin that they had something like this around. Maybe it was time to take another trip to the library. She'd go tomorrow, she decided, copying down a few of the odd symbols decorating the surface.
After she'd completed that task, she wrapped the lamp up and tucked it back away in the most unused cupboard that Naruto would ever have. She then barrowed herself into a ball, on the sofa, clutching a woollen, red blanket around her frame.
Maybe she could sleep some of the pain off, some of it. Willow clenched her eyes shut, letting the pain take over momentarily – dear Merlin, she needed to stop feeling sorry for herself.
Naruto POV
On the way to Wave!
Naruto groaned for what felt like the tenth time. It was so boring! Just walking along this road! They got into a boat, and they had to be quiet (ha! Sensei couldn't quiz them then!) then they got off the boat and resumed walking – much to Naruto's relief, Sensei was happy to remain silent, and not quiz them.
For now! Naruto alternating to sighing this time, it was only much too soon for Sensei to start up again. But the blonde boy knew he would, his teacher was a sadist. He enjoyed making his students miserable. He knew it. "Will you stop?" The Bastard growled, shooting him a dark look.
Naruto stuck his tongue out at Sasuke in a very mature move. "Make me."
This time, Sensei and Tazuna sighed in unison. Naruto glared at them. "Now-," Sensei stopped talking suddenly, and Naruto stopped listening as well, not interested in hearing the reprimand for annoying his teammate. It wasn't his fault that Sasuke was a bastard. Before Naruto could even figure out what was going on, Sasuke was holding on to his arm and pulled him towards the ground.
Naruto stumbled a bit before fully dropping to the ground. Thank Kami he did, after all not two seconds after he moved, a massive sharp sword was whiling through the air above the two teens heads, before embedding itself in a tree.
A man, a really big man, covered in bandages fell down from the tree and landed on the big sword that he'd embedded in the tree. Naruto looked at it curiously, even though he was sure that there was dirt stains in his cool orange jumpsuit. How did it manage to hold all of his weight? This guy was bigger than Sensei was! Who was this guy!?
Sensei slowly stood up, carefully placing his hands in his pockets. Old man Tazuna was sitting beside him – Sensei must have dragged him down with him. "…Momochi Zabuza."
"The famous Copycat Ninja; Hatake Kakashi. I'm honoured you've heard about me," the dark haired guy replied. He had a rough sort of voice, like, he'd accidently swallowed sandpaper. Wait, Sensei, famous? Yeah right!
"My adorable students, you might want to step back. It's my turn now," he turned to them, but only slightly – he never really stopped looking from the guy on the sword… Zabuza? His creepy eye smile still going strong. Was Naruto the only one that noticed the way that Sensei seemed to tense? Almost like he was…nervous? "This Missing Nin from Kiri. You have quite a bounty on your head."
"Not as much as that one on yours, Copycat," Zabuza sounded amused. "I do wonder though. If I'm special enough for a peek at your most valued weapon. Sharigan Kakashi?"
"Sharigan?" Naruto and Sasuke whispered at the same time, for some reason, both of them portrayed the same amount of confusion.
"If that's what you want," Kakashi-Sensei replied cheerfully. "I'm nothing if not helpful!" Kakashi-Sensei then proceeded to live up his oddly slanted forehead protector – Naruto did wonder why he always wore it like that. All that he could see though was that Sensei's eye was closed and a wicked scar slashed right through the entire thing.
Then Sensei opened his eye to reveal the bright red iris, which really did freak him out. There were little black dots dancing in the red eye and Naruto was really confused as to why Sensei's eye was like that. Did Sensei, like Hinata, have a really cool eyes-Jutsu? What did it allow him to do? Was It like Hinata's and allow him to see Chakra paths, and a really long way away from him, or… or what?! And why was the Bastard looking so horrified at it?
"It's a real honour," Zabuza said with… was that sarcasm? That was the thing that Nee-Chan was trying to teach him. It was like, saying something when you didn't really mean it, but meant the opposite thing, right? Bah! Naruto would never understand the point of sarcasm.
Coming to their senses, the three Genin moved into one of their formations – the Triangle Formation, to be exact, around old man Tazuna. As the three moved, so did the missing-nin. He rapidly began to go through hand seals, so fast that not even he – the future Hokage, could keep up with what he was doing.
"Kirigakure no Jutsu," the man intoned, and as these words left his bandaged mouth a thick mist began swirling around his feet. Too soon, much too soon, that mist began to permit the air. SO much so that Naruto couldn't see a speck of dust in front of his eyes. He was blind! How could they protect the old man if they couldn't see him?
"Byakugan!" A quiet, somewhat timid void mumbled from next to Naruto, and it allowed him to relax. Hinata would be his eyes if he needed them. They would be fine.
"So many parts to cut! What will it be? Kidneys? Heart? Maybe the lungs?" a demented chuckle arose from their self-proclaimed enemy. Naruto shuddered, the feeling of panic suddenly erupted from within him. He was glad that Willoo-Chan didn't come with them, he was glad that she wasn't facing this! This guy was so… scary!
Naruto took a deep breath and tried to centre himself. He'd be fine. He had Hinata-Chan to be his eyes, he had his sadistic Sensei there to kick butt. He was sure that with the bastard, they could protect themselves, and Tazuna. They'd be fine. Fine, he assured himself.
"It's going to be fine guys. I'll protect you all with my life," Sensei assured them. That was all Naruto needed to get rid of that last pit of tension. He relaxed slightly, but not too much. "Don't make promises you can't keep, Copycat!"
Naruto heard Hinata squeak slightly and before he could do anything but turn his head, he could make out Zabuza standing right next to him, with his sword about to cut their client in half! Like she had known what was about to happen though – Hinata-Chan stuck quite a few Kunai into the man's side. Before Naruto knew what was going on, the mist lessened by a degree – by that, he could see minutely better, and this Zabuza disappeared into a puddle of water.
Hinata had killed this guy's clone! She was so cool!
The lessoned mist allowed Naruto's eyes to refocus on his Sensei who hadn't moved an inch. Naruto smiled slightly, Sensei knew that Hinata would react and protect them. Because she was a great Ninja! Plus really good at predicting fights! Even if the bulging veins around her eyes were slightly off putting. Suddenly Kakashi swing around and slashed another Zabuza from behind him in half!
That one too disappeared into a puddle of water… Another clone? Sensei lunged forward to avoid the attack that was coming from above him, wow! That was so fast! Before Naruto could even register what was happening, Sensei had cut that Zabuza in half as well! Although, it had the same effect. He became another pile of water!
Sensei suddenly froze. Oh no! Zabuza had a kunai positioned at Kakashi's throat, both of them stopped moving – just standing there. Naruto bit his lip, he really wanted to help Sensei… but he'd said not too… "Very impressive, but, not quite good enough, Copycat." He pulled the kunai across his throat in a quick motion and Naruto stilled…
Sensei turned into a puddle of water! Ha! Kakashi-Sensei was too cool to go out like that! Mirroring the previous actions, but with the opposite people, they found themselves with Kakashii holding a kunai to Zabuza's throat.
"You call me Copycat, and yet, you don't expect me to copy you," Kakashi said amused. "I'm a little disappointed."
Sensei was so cool. "You shouldn't be. You forget what we're standing on… Suiro no Jutsu!"
Sensei was encased by columns of water that formed a circular prison. Kakashi Sensei's eyes both widened. Oh crap. They needed to get Sensei free, Naruto realised, and it was up to them. Because Sensei needed to be the one to finish this fight… but… how!? "Disrupt the chakra flow," Hinata-Chan said so quietly, that he wasn't even sure he heard what she said.
Hinata knew what he and Sasuke we're most likely both thinking. Disrupt the chakra flow? How would they do that? "We can finish this later right? No hard feelings but, I have some kids and an old man to hack up."
Another clone appeared out of the corner of the lake that the two Jonin were standing on. They needed to disrupt the real Zabuza, they couldn't do that if there was a clone in the way! What did they do? Naruto looked at Hinata out of the corner of his eye. She could cut off people's chakra, he'd seen her do it before, plus, she'd 'killed' one of his clones before. If they could get her near enough…
But wouldn't that be really dangerous? She surely couldn't even compare to Zabuza! She had to touch him for that to work. Could she even get that close?
"You brats, parading around like you know the true meaning of a ninja… A Ninja is someone who baths in blood," The Clone said cheerfully and Naruto shuddered, this guy was creepy. The clone disappeared.
Naruto hardly had any time to move before this guy reappeared in front of him. Only the intensive training that he'd had with Gai and Lee was the reason that he managed to flip over the kick aimed as his gut. Naruto flipped over, Kunai in hand ready to throw at him. Only for it to get met with one of his own.
"Lucky shot," Zabuza growled. Naruto's eyes narrowed. If he… if he distracted the clone. Sasuke or Hinata could break Zabuza's concentration on the prison that Sensei was in. Could Naruto take him out when he wasn't trapped with nowhere else to go, though?
He had to try.
"I don't get lucky!" Naruto yelled back, mind spinning. What could he do? He caught Sasuke's eyes, and the boy seemed to realise what he was thinking. For a bastard, he seemed to understand what he was thinking without any flaws. "Kage Bunsion no Jutsu!"
Three Naruto's appeared, blocking the clone in a box of Naruto. The blonde imagined his teacher to be groaning right now… wait no… his teacher was actually groaning. Naruto ginned, he could be a great distraction!
His clone that was facing towards the real him started the party off with his newly perfect earth spikes! Thanks Hinata-Chan, he thought with a grin. She was going to help majorly! The clone dodged this attack by going over the spikes to take out his first clone with his fist only to be met with a rock wall. Still, the punch pretty much cause the whole thing to crack and break.
Naruto took this distraction to levy a spinning high kick towards his face. Clone Zabuza caught his foot, but he wasn't to be deterred and he used the momentum to twist into another kick towards the head. Naruto 2 as he dubbed him, started off with the spikes again. He knew his cones could only use one Jutsu before they couldn't really perform another one, but, Zabuza didn't need to know that.
He dropped the blonde so he could narrowly avoid the oncoming spikes and Naruto grinned happily. Standing right behind him was yet another Naruto, with a sharp pointy knife. Zabuza exploded into a puddle of water.
"Impressive, I guess with the Copycat as your teacher…." Zabuza complimented Naruto when he turned to him. "But I can just keep making more of those… Wait, where's the girl with the bight white eyes?"
"My family is very talented in Genjutsu," Sasuke replied blandly. Naruto ginned, they'd had the same idea.
"What does – shit!" Zabuza cursed, clutching the arm that had previously been holding Kakashi Sensei prisoner, that'd gone limp. No chakra flow emitting from the arm. "God freaking damn it!"
Naruto watched as Hinata-Chan jumped away, a pink flush to her cheeks as she steadied herself on the now still water.
Sensei grinned. "I'll make Ninja out of you three yet. Just to let you know, I don't fall for the same Jutsu twice. Hinata-Chan, you might want to get off the lake while you still can."
Zabuza's eye twitched, he looked pretty pissed off. Naruto guessed he'd be pretty pissed off if he got bested by three twelve year olds' as well. In an instant, the missing-nin began to make rapid handseals, and Sensei copied each and every one – just a fraction faster than Zabuza was doing them. "Suiton: Suiryudan!" the yelled in unison.
Two large water dragons grew from the lake before crashing into the other, falling into mere torrents of water power by each individual Ninja. It was going to come down to which one had more power, Naruto realised. Both torrents dissipated, the Ninja left gasping for air.
Kakashi actually grinned, and not the creepy eye smile grin either. It made Naruto uncomfortable. "…The hell am I copying your move?" Sensei asked. Naruto wondered if Sensei realised that he forgot to say the first half of the question.
Both Ninja jumped back at the same time, the Kiri-Nins eye was twitching madly, but he still couldn't seem to catch his breath. "..Goddamn freaky eye! It's pissing me off! Right?" Kakashi-Sensei laughed.
"Your just… copying me," he growled, pulling out a kunai – was it back to hand to hand? Maybe, Naruto realised when Sensei did the same thing. "It's what you do. Copycat! You can't-."
"Beat me, you cheap excuse for a bastard?" Sensei guessed, widening his stance the same time that Zabuza did.
"Goddamn it, when I'm finished with you ba-,"
"-Bastard, you won't ever be able to open that Copycat mouth again," Sensei finished, cutting him off. Sensei was really kind of epic! Naruto could see what Nee-Chan had said now! He wasn't terrible! He was amazing!
Before either knew what was going on, Naruto saw the flash of another clone behind Zabuza! The clone housed a roundhouse kick across the man's head sending him flying into a tree. When he landed he groaned, not bothering to move. Sensei walked forward, not bothering to keep it calm like he normally did. "It's over. I win."
"...But…How? You can't copy the future…?"
"Nothing's impossible," Sensei grinned. The words resounded deep within Naruto. Nothing's impossible – it sounded like something Nee-Chan had told him when he first met her and now look at where he was? If he kept working towards it, truly, nothing was impossible! He'd beat the clone of a really strong Ninja. Granted, it didn't have an eighth of the power that Zabuza had but – he had gotten so much better!
Imagine how far he could go?
Before Sensei had the chance to finish the problem, sharp looking senbon needles flew through the air and pierced right through Zabuza's neck. His eyes widened before closing. Naruto's jaw dropped and his gaze went towards the trees, where a kid about his age with a strange mask on stood.
"It is indeed, thanks to you, Leaf Team. I have finally managed to track down my target."
Who was this guy!?
A/N – I realise that you guys might be a bit confused as to why Willow would leave Naruto alone on a really dangerous mission, that normal Genin would never be able to even see the sight of – remember this though. It was meant to be an easy mission. No one had any idea it was going to be even remotely dangerous. Naruto himself told her it was a standard easy-to-do mission, Kakashi said the hardest thing that would happen would be him putting up a tent. She didn't see the point in accompanying him on what she thought was basically a glorified camping trip – not when there were other things she could be doing without Naruto around to see it happening.
Also, it looks like I have a Plot Hole when I say she didn't want Naruto walking in when she was with Death. Time freezes when Willow meets him. What she was trying to avoid was Naruto walking into the aftermath of what she would be like after seeing him, she had no idea what he'd say to her, or if she'd be able to hide it from Naruto. She's trying to shield him from any dangerous knowledge about her.
Now that that's all sorted. Thank you guys! You all rock! Did I mention that I have 276 reviews? 1,164 Favourites? 1,634 Followers and this story is in 44 Communities? This actually blows me away. You guys bloody rock! I want to thank each and every one of you. Every Follow/Favourite just makes my day. Reviews make my life, but that's beside the point. I know my grammar, and spelling can get pretty bad at points – but I'm working on it, really, I am. But thank you for sticking by this story. This is an exercise for me to get better, and better. Which in all honesty, is all I want to do – become a better writer.
I hope you all enjoyed it!
Love, Akari-Chaan!