~Chapter 7~
I looked up as the door opened, revealing a beaten-looking Sasuke and Naruto. Naruto being held up by Sasuke mostly. We were all at the dinner table.
"So, you're finally back! Looking like something the cat dragged in!" Tazuna said as I sipped some of the sake he let me borrow.
"Heh….both of us…." Naruto started.
"We made it to the top of the tree." Sasuke finished.
"Good!" Kakashi praised while I sent a thumbs up their way.
"Naruto, Sasuke, starting tomorrow….you two can help Sakura protect Mr. Tazuna." Kakashi continued.
"Yes, sir!"
"Whew! Well, I'm dirty, sweaty, and real worn out from all of the work on the bridge today….but construction is almost complete!" Tazuna said, scratching the back of his head. It's been a week since I came back here. And trust me, protecting someone during a bridge-building time is really boring. I mostly kept busy making some poisons which scared the shit out of Kakashi and Sakura. Well, I had nothing to do. Chi had stayed at home in Konoha.
"Father, you and Naruto are two of a kind. Please, don't work yourselves to death!" Tsunami stated as Naruto slumped on the table, him and Sasuke sitting across from each other.
I saw Inari staring at Naruto and after awhile tears started forming. I scowled, going for a cigarette but a look from Tsunami told me it wouldn't be best in the house and I put it back with a sigh as Inari slammed his hands down on the table after Naruto asked what was wrong.
"Why do you wear yourself out trying? No matter how hard you train, you'll never be a match for Gatô's thugs!" Inari shouted and I held back a snort as my eyes narrowed, "You act all cool, and you talk all tough….but big, strong guys like that are always too much for people weaker than they are. They'll destroy you!" Everyone had shocked looks and my hand tightened on the glass sake bottle in my hand.
"Shut up! I'm not you, and I'm not gonna lose!" Naruto retorted.
"Just watching you ticks me off! You go running your mouth when you don't know a thing this isn't your town! And you don't know a thing about me. You're always clowning around and having fun. You don't know a thing about suffering of loneliness or what my life is like!" Both Naruto and I flinched and Kakashi looked at me warily as I looked down, my eyes hidden.
"So….you figure it's noble to star in a melodrama and treat everyone around you like guests at your pity party?" Naruto questioned, looking up with a feral look in his eye, "It takes a really big man to sit around and cry….you brat! You big baby!"
Naruto got up and I cut Sakura off as he went to scold him. "Naruto." He glanced over at me, catching the bag I threw at him without looking up.
"Eat that." He nodded, stalking off.
"Hokori-sensei?" Sakura questioned warily.
"I wouldn't talk to me right now," I glanced up with my eyes burning. I knew red was probably swirled in them, "I'm really pissed off."
I sent a look at Inari and he flinched before I disappeared in a puff of smoke.
-Kakashi's POV-
"May I join you….?" I questioned Inari as he sat on the boardwalk surrounding Tazuna's house. He nodded and I sat beside him.
"You know Naruto's kind of a brat, but he wasn't trying to be mean or hateful….he just….lacks finesse…." I said after a moment and Inari was silent so I carried on.
"Mr. Tazuna told us about what happened to your father. Naruto grew up without a father, same as you," Inari twitched, "….actually, without any parents. He doesn't remember either one of them. Or have a single friend. His whole life is one big, painful memory."
"R-really?"
"And in all the time I've known him, I've never seen him cry. Or use his troubles as an excuse to sulk or be a coward. Not once. He always….tries his hardest, hoping someone will notice and give him a kind word or a pat on the back. That's his dream, and he's risked his life for it.
"I think one day he must have just gotten fed up with crying. He understands what it means to be strong. He knows what it costs and what it's worth….just as your father did. Naruto probably understands you and knows how you feel better than any of the rest of us."
"What?"
"He can't leave you alone….because you've gotten under his skin." I gave him a close-eyed smile and he stared at me. Then, a question was asked that surprise me. Making me flash back to dinner.
"What….about the white-haired girl?" He asked, probably flashing back to the glare sent to him with her gold and red flecked eye. Red that wasn't previously there.
"Hokori….well….she knows what it's like to lose everything. I was there after she did. She didn't even cry. And I think she got just as fed up as Naruto…." I mumbled.
"You're wrong, Kakashi." We both looked behind us. Hokori was smoking a cigarette, leaning against the house in the shadows. She looked up at us with a smirk.
"I was crying in the shower while you guys checked out the massacre." She put the cigarette out against her shoe and went back inside in silence as both Inari and I stared at her.
~Hokori's POV~
I sighed, smoking another cigarette as the bridge approached. Another boring-
Uh oh.
"What happened?!" Tazuna cried. Five people were laying on the ground and there was blood around.
"What happened?!" He repeated, holding one of the men up, "What….could have….?!"
"M-monsters." The man muttered and I scowled, glancing around. Mist was gathering.
"They're coming!" Kakashi announced as mist appeared. I bite my thumb, frowning a bit.
I sighed, pulling the sword out from where he was strapped under my shirt on my back. Sasuke and Sakura pulled out a kunai as Kakashi reached for his bag, his other hand up in a hand sign.
"Master Kakashi, is this….? That man we met...his 'Hiding in the Mist' technique….isn't it?" Sakura asked. I glanced at Sasuke. He was shaking.
"Been a while, Kakashi….and I see you've got those brats tagging along, just like last time. Even another one. Oh, and the little boy is trembling again, poor thing…." Zabuza's voice floated in my ears, like I remembered.
Suddenly five of him was surrounding us and I blinked. Still has that big ass sword, too….
"I'm shaking with eagerness for a rematch!" Sasuke informed, making Zabuza scoff.
"Go ahead….Sasuke." Kakashi told him.
"Well! My water doppelgangers were obviously no match for you! It seems the brats have matured quite a bit….into worthy rivals….eh, Haku?" I kept my back to Zabuza and Haku, not wanting the former to realize who I was yet.
"Indeed!" Haku replied.
"Looks like I was right. Our mysterious masked friend….is playing on Zabuza's team." Kakashi stated.
"He has nerve, showing up like this!" Tazuna grumbled as Sakura looked shocked. Sasuke just had the usual glare on his face.
"This one's mine," Sasuke said, looking at Haku. Then he called over to the ninja, "That was quite a show you put on before, but we're on to you now….and I hate ham actors!"
"Sasuke's so cool!" I sweat-dropped, turning to them with a sigh.
"What don't you hate, Duck-butt?" I muttered but was ignored. I huffed, lighting a cig.
Zabuza and Haku talked to each other then Zabuza glanced up, meeting my eye. His own widened.
"Holy shit! Another one?! Kakashi, the copycat and Hokori, the fire eye?!" He growled. My students looked at me with confusion as I smirked, waving.
"Yo, Zabuza. How's it hanging? I should've killed you back then."
"You almost did." He growled.
"Oh….oh well!" I said cheerily, smiling.
"Great….I know I'll die if Hokori fights." I heard him mutter after sending chakra towards my ears. I glanced over at Kakashi and he was giving me a 'my battle' look. I shrugged, stepping back.
"Don't worry Zaza, Kakashi will handle this. He calls dibs. I won't butt in. You know, unless you almost kill one." I sent a demon-like smirk his way, making Sakura and Sasuke flinch.
"Well, that's good with me. You know, that one brat was amazing to beat my doppelgangers. But, we're still on the offensive. Go!" He ordered Haku.
"Yes, sir." The boy replied, disappearing in a swirl and I zoned out. Even as Haku summoned some ice mirrors and Sakura ran off and Naruto appeared. I kinda was just smoking in a daze. Tazuna eyed me with a sweat-drop and I winked at him.
"Don't worry, old man. Nobody can even get five feet near you before I kill them." He nodded with a sigh.
I dazed out again until I heard Kakashi talking about something. "It's a kekkei genkai-a skill that can be passed from one generation to the next! A genetic trait ….running through the bloodlines of those of the purest shinobi pedigree….some of the most extraordinary techniques are handed down from generation to generation solely on that basis…." He was saying and my eye twitched under my eye patch.
"You mean…." Sakura trailed off.
"Precisely….it's of the same order of skill as my Sharingan Mirror Eye….but even my Sharingan can't copy, mimic or break this boy's kekkei genkai! What about you Hokori?" Kakashi, Zabuza, Sakura and Tazuna looked at me and I scowled.
"You know mine is purely for attack purposes."
"Well, can you destroy his ice mirrors?" Kakashi asked with a sigh and I looked towards where Naruto and Sasuke was. I sighed, shaking my head.
"I rather not. You pretty much told me to back off with that look you sent me earlier. Plus….I think the boy's need this."
"They could die." He deadpanned.
"I'll interfere before then." I shrugged and he sighed as I zoned out again.
The smell of blood hit my nose and I looked up just as Kakashi was revealing his Sharingan eye. Alright….I may hate that eye and the family it originated from but….Kakashi looks pretty hot right now.
I zoned out again, noticing Sakura standing next to me. Suddenly I disappeared, my arm lifted up as his sword swung down, cutting into it. Instead of chopping my arm off though, it barely scratched my skin, leaving a thin trail of blood to sweep onto the blade.
"What?" Zabuza muttered then looked at my face and flinched. There was red light sweeping through my eye patch and flame tattoos were on my arm that he had attacked.
"M-master Hokori?" Sakura stuttered. I shut my eye that was under the eye patch. It was only squinted open but that was enough for the power to leak where I wanted it.
I zoned out as Kakashi appeared in front of me, talking, and pulled out a cookie from my weapons bag, eating it. Tazuna's eye twitched as he glanced at me then back towards the shinobi.
Sakura's voice suddenly squealed into my ear. "Sasuke won't be easy for someone like that masked kid to defeat! Neither will Naruto!"
"You're right…." Kakashi told her, subtly letting my sword slide against his skin as everyone focused on his words and he dropped the blood onto Zabuza's blade.
"I have faith in them and their strengths-Naruto's unpredictability….and Sasuke is one of the most worthy heirs of the second most superior bloodline of Konohagakure Village! You know, after Hokori here." Sakura eyed me as Zabuza looked surprised.
"You don't mean-"
"That's right….his full name is Uchiha Sasuke. He's a ninja genius….who carries in his genes the kekkei genkai of the clan Uchiha!"
"So you have two sole surviving members of tragic clans on your team, eh…." Zabuza glanced at me then put his hands in a hand sign.
"So he may indeed be Haku's equal….no one has ever penetrated the secret of Haku's techniques….until now….no one…." He disappeared and I let my eye twitch open some, getting full range of both Naruto and Sasuke's battle along where Zabuza was hiding in the mist as Kakashi rushed forward, saying something like this is his battle and he'll end it quickly.
"Did you hear that, Zabuza? Do you truly believe, after all of the hardships, I've survived in this world armed only with the Sharingan?" Kakashi questioned, pulling a scroll out of his flak jacket.
"I too was once a member of a Ninja Assassin Corps. I'll show you what kind of shinobi I once was….this isn't something I learned with the Sharingan. Let me show you my own true art!" I blinked as I suddenly focused on Sasuke's and Naruto's fight. Sasuke's on the ground….
I smelt blood and froze. Naruto was next to him. And….
"Oh fuck me." I muttered, my eye widening in shock.
I felt the chakra burst from Naruto along with him speaking: "I'M GONNA KILL YOU!" In a very scary voice. Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit.
