Apathy
Section 2
(The Fugaku Arc)
A/N: You know I wasn't going to bother with an author's note. A guest review changed my mind. I hope that everyone is still enjoying the story. This chapter as you can see, is the beginning of the Fugaku Arc. I will try to keep the chapters coming every month. Instead having a mis-step and skipping a month here and there. Sheesh. I try. I really do. Hope you enjoy this one.
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. Naruto, is the work of Mr. Kishimoto. I own nothing but, the plot of this fan fiction.
When Expendable Meets Purpose
Preparing to meet Team Seven
It is now Friday, May six of the calendar year. Two days ago, Sasuke and his friends all graduated the Ninja Academy and today they were all going to meet their new sensei. It was Iruka who had informed the graduated class that they would all be meeting their Jounin senseis on Friday May sixth in his classroom. Each of the Jounin would come in and call for his set of Genin. All the students were told to arrive in Iruka's classroom by a quarter to nine. At which time attendance would be taken just prior to the senseis coming in for their students.
For Sasuke, he was both surprised and happy to learn that both he and his two closest friends were all going to be on the same team together. What made it even more special was that, Kakashi was their Jounin sensei. After all that had been said about Kakashi not even being asked to participate in the mentoring program. The young man was going to be their sensei and Sasuke and Naruto were relieved and pleased with this result. Both young men had feared that they would end up with a jerk for a sensei and be on different teams to boot. Now they could rest assured that this wasn't going to be the case.
When they learned that Takara would also be on their team it made everything seem as if, the world was right. Naruto was the most ecstatic about getting his little Oddball on their team. He was excited for two reasons. One was the fact that he liked her from the beginning. She was the glue that held Sauske and him together. Sasuke and Naruto didn't fight often, but when they did it was Takara who, always got them calmed down and speaking civilly again. Sasuke was the first person that made any effort at wanting to be friends with Naruto. Until then, Naruto was always alone, if he wasn't with his family or his 'big brother', Kakashi. Takara was able to keep the peace between the two whenever friction would try to start between them. The other reason was that Naruto didn't trust the other boys with his sister.
Both Sasuke and Naruto were protective of Takara. Naruto right from the very beginning and Sasuke not long after. It came about mainly because of Sakura and her fan club at first, but not long after, some of the boys in the class were starting to get an edge on themselves for being beaten in a spar by an outsider. Takara wasn't the top fighter in taijutsu in their class. That title belonged to Sasuke, but she was good and everyone had to acknowledge it. Still, some of the boys resented being defeated by her. They did not like the fact that she was from another village.
A village that was just starting to speak of peace talks with Konoha. The animosity between the two villages has been dying down ever since the time when a Kumo unit tried to steal Hinata from the Leaf. There had been some bad blood over the incident but since then Kumo and Konoha have been trying to move towards a better understanding of each other and both sides were hopeful for a peaceful alliance. This was partially due to rumors drifting over the borders of each village that the Land of Earth and the Land of Waves are already discussing an alliance of their own. Both villages are formidable in their own right and if they band together it will spell trouble for the other three.
Thus the boys of Sasuke's class took a disliking to Takara. Sauske couldn't understand this since he remembered Takara telling the class on her first day, that she wasn't from the Village hidden in the clouds. She had come from a small village thirty miles south called Little Falls, if he remembered right. He also remembered her saying that she was here to stay. What made that part stick so firmly in his mind was that, Takara said that she wanted to be a medic ninja for the Leaf. She also said that she would stand by her adopted shinobi village. Takara had no intentions of returning to her homeland. This had impressed Sasuke and when she showed herself to be true to her word. A girl who actually wanted to be a ninja and worked hard for it. Sasuke found that he could truly accept her. So when the other boys started to harass the little girl. Sasuke found himself standing up for her along with Naruto.
This said, Sasuke was a little leery of Takara at first. He had to be. Some of the girls in his class didn't start out as club members at first. It happened gradually as he had spoken to them a few times or had made the mistake of being friendly at all. It soon became apparent that the girls would start to respond and start thinking that they too could become the next Mrs. Uchiha. So he wasn't sure if, Takara would turn into another fan club member over time or not and so he kept his distance. As time went on, he found that his first impression of her was spot on and that he didn't need to worry about another clinger to his arm. It was at this point that Sasuke began to pay attention to Takara and soon accepted her into his inner circle. The thing he liked most about her at the time was her ability to deal with Sakura. Anytime, Sauske began to feel even a little worn of the pinkette. Takara would immediately move to send the girl on her way. A big plus in Sasuke's book.
He also found that he liked her determination. She would stick with something until she got it right. She wasn't obsessed with her weight or her looks. She was focused on her studies and last but not least she really was a good friend. Somewhere along the line, Sasuke began to see her as his own sister and like Naruto felt the need to slam any guy that tried to pull a fast one on the white haired girl.
Right now, Sasuke was lying in his comfortable bed just thinking of these things while staring at the ceiling. He felt good about the day ahead. He had only been awake now for the past five minutes as he came to realize as he looked at his clock once again. It was seven thirty now. Time to get up.
"I wonder what Kakashi will think of her. He has never really met Takara. Then again, Takara hasn't really had the opportunity to meet Kakashi either. This meeting of our team should be interesting."
Realizing he was now talking to himself, Sasuke let out a soft snort and began getting out of bed when he heard a knock on his bedroom door. He immediately cursed himself internally for not paying attention to his surroundings. He may be at home, but Sauske was always honing his sensory skills. This partially came because he needed to always be aware of where his father was at all times when the man was home. He shuddered for a moment and pulled himself together before saying.
"It's open." He replied neutrally not knowing who was on the other side of his door. Whoever it was the person was hiding their knew it wasn't Itachi. That much Sasuke was sure of.
The door opened wide and it was his father. Sasuke felt the hair extend on the back of his neck and his eyes widen ever so slightly. He quickly got out of bed. He didn't like it when Fugaku came into his room. He reminded himself that, Itachi had to put up with this intrusion of his personal space a lot of the time himself. Unless he was angry, the man would always knock; but he would come in willfully like he had no regards for a person's personal space and only knocked as a pretense. So no one could say that he was deliberately violating their space. This behavior of their father's annoyed Itachi to no end. For Sasuke, it made him feel like he was property and he didn't like it.
Sasuke stood on guard. His father hasn't hit him in months now. Still, Sasuke could not change his habit of being weary so easily. What had been forcefully put there by his father so long ago would not go away so quickly by sweet gestures in word and deed. If Fugaku was offended or amused by his son's action it didn't show as he spoke in a matter- of -fact tone to his youngest.
"Sasuke, I understand that you will be working with the White Fang's son, Kakashi. Is this correct?"
"Yes, sir. I found out right after the ceremonies when the Hokage called me and Naruto over."
"I see. Well I want you to do your best. You hear?"
"Yes, sir. I will."
Fugaku stared Sasuke down intently for a moment, as if trying to gauge how truthful those words spoken by his youngest were. Sasuke stared back evenly. He would not show any fear from intimidation. Fugaku seemed satisfied and thus began his typical pacing whenever he was about to lecture someone.
"Good." He began to say as he moved slowly back and forth in front of Sasuke. Turning himself once he walked five steps in either direction.
"Make sure you remember that son. You are of the Uchiha clan and I don't want to hear that you have done anything to upset and embarrass this clan. We are an elite clan and every member of this clan excels to the best of their ability. I don't want you to fall short of Kakashi's expectations of you. Because if you do then this will get back to the clan and if it gets back to the clan then you know that it will get back to me. Understood?"
Sauske internally laughed at this statement while keeping his facial expression neutral.
'Father, do you really need to tell me this crap? Of course, I'm going to do my best. Who the hell sets out to be the worst they can be at anything?' Is this what Itachi has to listen too every time you go see him?'
However, outwardly, Sasuke spoke differently.
"Yes, sir."
Fugaku had now stopped pacing and was once again standing in front of his youngest.
"Good. Now I shall leave you to prepare for meeting with your team."
Fugaku turns and heads for the door. Once there however, he stops and looks back at Sasuke with what Sasuke to this day believes was a slight disappointed expression, but he wasn't sure of.
"Oh, and one more thing, Sasuke."
"Yes, sir?"
"Please remember this conversation, Sasuke. You are now an official ninja of this village. I'm sure that you will do your best. However, maybe it is about time for you to consider the value of your friendship with Namikaze's son. I don't want to be the one to tell you so, but I believe that that boy is going to fail in the long run. He lacks discipline and if you walk with him. You may find yourself failing as well."
"Yes, sir."
"Good luck. I look forward to seeing you develop and grow into a true warrior of this clan."
"Thank you, sir."
Fugaku gave a slight nod of the head and turned leaving the room and closing the door behind him softly. Sasuke was left feeling upset.
'Naruto will fail? Sasuke thought. He dropped forcefully back down onto the bed as he continued his internal dialogue.
'Why do I feel conflicted? Of course, Naruto and I are going to compete. We both want to be the best ninja we can be. You don't know, Naruto, at all father. He is more disciplined than you believe. His father works with him a lot and so does his mother. Minato is the Hokage and that alone means that Naruto has to be disciplined. What kind of Hokage would Minato be if Naruto wasn't? There is so much pressure on Naruto to succeed or fail. It isn't fair.'
Sasuke found himself falling back onto the bed. His brow furrowed at the intensity of emotion he was feeling.
'As for our friendship that has nothing to do with you, father. I understand that you don't like Naruto but Naruto is a great friend. So why the conflict inside?'
He closed his eyes as his search for answers became deeper.
'I want for you to accept me. I want the clan to accept me. It's hard to be the only one in this clan that is set apart as different and an outsider. A part of me wants that acceptance I guess. Still part of me also believes that even if I did what you asked of me. There is no guarantee that this clan or even you included will ever accept me. Still it is something that I want. I can admit that.'
This was when his thoughts provided him with criticism and honesty. This self-observation and analysis of one's self was something that was a blessing and a curse to Sauske.
The clan will accept you? Ha, if they haven't in all these years because of the shit between you and your father. What makes you pretend to think that they will show acceptance now? Because you threw away the best friendship and the only friendship you ever had for the longest time? Don't make me laugh. We all know that unless by some miracle you can beat Itachi, no one in this clan is ever going to accept you as anything other than a damn loser. Let me ask you this then. Who was it that was responsible for their attitudes and believes of you now? Sometimes, you are an ass Sasuke Uchiha.'
Sasuke let out a deep sigh and rubbed his face with both hands. He lay still for a few minutes before finally getting up and heading for the shower. He hoped that the water washing over him would somehow erase the bad feelings that had elevated themselves from within him due to his father's little speech. While he headed for his bathroom another person was seated outside his bedroom window mulling over what he had just learned.
Itachi was crouched under his brother's window. The conversation he has just over heard annoyed him just like everything else their father did. He had promised to keep an eye on the Head of Clan for his Elders. He was glad that they weren't just interested in what Fugaku was doing that could possibly harm the village and more specific to the Uchiha clan, but they were also interested in what was going on in the man's home.
The information that he has received isn't something that he will share with the Elders just yet. He won't share it with the Hokage just yet either. He wants to see if Fugaku will bring up the issue about Minato's and Kushina's son again or not. Somewhere inside, Itachi was pretty sure he could bet his entire month of pay and wouldn't lose the bet that his father will do it again. He also felt that it will be a topic that will start becoming more and more persistent as time goes on.
'Stay strong, Sasuke. You may not know this yet, but father is testing you. He wants to see if you will give in and do as he pleases because he has thrown essentially crumbs of kindness to you. Don't take them. Stay strong. Your friendship with Naruto is worth much more than another man's malicious ambitions.'
Itachi didn't hang around any longer. With a few swift hand signs, he was gone in a flash. Only a large white cloud of smoke was all that was let of where the young shinobi stood.
At the Namikaze Home at 7:30
Naruto woke up this morning feeling so pumped and ready to roar. Kushina expected as much, as she was already up and making him breakfast.
"NARUTO, MAKE SURE YOU RUN THROUGH THE SHOWER BEFORE COMING TO THE TABLE."
"YEAH, MOMMA, I'M GOING RIGHT NOW."
"THAT'S GOOD TO HEAR HONEY. I DON'T WANT TO HAVE, SASUKE TELLING ME THAT YOU STUNK THIS MORNING AND IT WASN'T BECAUSE OF YOUR PERFROMANCE IN TRAINING."
"HA, HA MOMMA VERY FUNNY. I'M IN THE SHOWER NOW."
This morning's short banter between mother and son had come to an end. Unfortunately it hadn't done so soon enough. Down the hall, unknown to either of them, the man of the house had just grabbed his kunai under his pillow and was about to spring into action. Until, he recognized the voices of the supposed attackers. He released his grip on the kunai and pulled his hand back out from under the pillow with a sigh.
Minato was wide awake and lying on his back in bed now. He had been asleep until just a minute ago. He found himself wondering if there would ever come a day when he would get used to his family's sometimes noisy mornings.
'I guess Naruto and Kushina are both excited about Naruto making Squad Seven.' He thought with a chuckle. 'Well….I guess I better get up now. There's no way that I'm going to fall back to sleep now.'
With that thought in mind, Minato sat up. He yawned and stretched. Rubbing his face with both hands he could feel the beginnings of a need for a shave as, he felt his face was feeling like light sand paper to him. Another yawn escaped him and Minato then grabbed the sheet and pulled it away while moving his legs out and over the side of the bed all in one clean motion. He started to stand up and move towards his bathroom when he heard his wife yell.
"NARUTO, BREAKFAST IS NOW READY. DON'T TAKE TOO LONG NOW OR IT WILL GET COLD."
Which was followed with their son's reply.
OKAY, MOMMA I'M ALMOST DONE. I JUST NEED TO WASH MY BUTT!
"OH MY GOD, NARUTO! THAT'S TOO MUCH INFORMATION!
Minato just shook his head in amusement.
'Only in my house do you get a play by play call of the action taking place here.' Minato let another chuckle leave his mouth. The fact that the neighbors next door on either side of them could hear Kushina and Naruto as well never entered Minato's mind. Yet on both sides of his house the neighbors were laughing at, not only what they had just heard, but at the absurdity of the sheer volume either Namikaze could reach.
At Iruka's Apartment at 7 am
Iruka got up at the first sound of his alarm going off. He slapped the button on top of the device swiftly but gently. He didn't want to end up buying yet another alarm clock this month due to hitting the damn thing to hard. He lie back down and stared at the ceiling for a few minutes trying to wake up. After rubbing his eyes and letting out a rather large yawn, Iruka got out of bed. It was now five minutes past seven O'clock. He stood in silence for a few minutes while his mind prepared him a list of things to do this morning. The first thought was an obvious first choice.
'I should wake Takara before I get into the shower.'
Iruka mulled the thought over for a few seconds.
'Nah, I think I'll wake her up after I shower. This way I can be making us breakfast while she is getting herself ready.'
Once he had a plan, Iruka was full steam ahead. He swiftly grabbed a towel from his linen closet and headed for the bathroom. The shower was swift as well but efficiently done. No one was going to be talking about any odor coming from him this morning or any other. Within five minutes the shower was done and so was toweling off. Wrapping the towel around himself, Iruka got ready to shave next and once he was finished he left the bathroom. Brushing his teeth could wait until after he had eaten his breakfast. No one was going to say that his breath stunk either.
Iruka dressed as quickly as he had showered and was soon out of his room and down the hall to Takara's room. He knocked twice before calling out to the little girl. On the second call, Takara had answered him and satisfied that she was now awake, Iruka made his way to the end of the hall and headed for the kitchen.
Takara listened to her guardian's footsteps meander down the hall until she heard him in the kitchen opening and closing cabinet doors.
'Well….this is it, isn't it? Today is the day that my big brother's and I meet up with our team leader. I believe that Naruto and even big brother Sasuke are probably very excited. After all, they both know this man that we are going to meet. I have never met Kakashi sensei, but Naruto and Sasuke have known him for a long time now, especially Naruto.'
Takara had a smile on her face that began to disappear as her thoughts turned to Jackal and the fiasco that the man had presented that day in class. Takara felt that she would never be able to forget the look on Naruto's face or how he had felt that day. She remembered also how vehemently Naruto had stood and defended his big brother's honor.
'You always have had nothing but the utmost respect and love for your big brother, Naruto. He must be as great as you say he is, because I know you well enough now to know that if Kakashi sensei wasn't. You would not have been so furious with that Anbu. Back then I thought that you were going to take him on for saying the stuff he said.'
A sigh left her and Takara felt suddenly sad.
'I had people like that once. It was a good while ago now. When I came here I never thought that I would feel that way about anyone again. I wasn't from the hidden village but I had had heard of the trouble that was caused between the Land of Lightning and the Land of Fire. You had to be living under a rock not to have learned about it. I didn't understand much of it back then as it happened, but I knew enough to know that it was bad.' Takara sighed again and sat up.
Back then there were a number of things that were happening after the incident, that I can't say that I understood. My mother going and meeting with the Raikage was one of them. It wasn't long after that that the people in Little Falls began to look at me differently. I wanted to know why but, I was too afraid to ask. Once it was decided that I would come here. I was a little afraid. I didn't think I would have any real friends if any friends at all, but then I met you, Naruto and big brother Sasuke. I love our friends dearly, but you two have always had a special place in my heart ever since the two of you decided to join, Hinata and me at our lunch table.
Takara looked out her window. Three little birds were seated on the cherry blossom tree just outside her window. One of the birds was chirping away at the other two who were listening intently. Takara found herself chuckling at the sight of it.
'We are like those birds. Naruto is the chatty one and Sasuke and I are always listening to him.'
The chatty bird stopped as one of the other birds voiced something and then all three took flight. Takara smiled as she thought. Yea, we are just like those birds. Sasuke would have been the one to say something and we three would take off. Now here we are about to take flight. Look out world here we come!'
Takara's feet slid out of the bed and touched the floor. She was standing in the next second and on the move for the shower in the next. No more thoughts of a secretive and depressing past clouded her mind. Today was going to be a big day for her and her brothers and she could hardly wait and get out there.
Apartment 523 at the Jounin Apartments
Kakashi woke up earlier than usual this morning. He couldn't sleep at all the night before. His mind kept taking him back to the meeting with the Fourth that happened only a couple of days ago. He still can't believe that he had been taken from Anbu to, now become the Jounin sensei to a young squad of kids. He still couldn't believe that it was to Naruto and Sasuke either. If the Hokage had asked him to do this for anyone else the answer would have been a resounding no. He never wanted to go back to being a member of the regular corps let alone a Jounin sensei. There was never a thought in his mind that ever contemplated the idea. For Kakashi, being in Anbu was the only way he thought he would have ever lived his life.
He didn't like surprises in general and being asked to train the next generation wasn't something that, Kakashi felt that he had neither the patience nor the skill to handle. There was also the fact that some of his peers didn't feel that he should be in charge of training young children. Classified as adults once they become Genin or not, new recruits were still technically kids. Kids that were better off not being trained by Kakashi.
Despite the clearing of his name after the Jackal trial. People continued to believe that Kakashi wasn't suitable for certain things. They have come a long way though in their thinking. Before the trial, people pretty much all thought that Kakashi was a traitor and worthless. Now however, their thinking has improved somewhat. They no longer see him as a traitor but, they still don't believe that he should be around the young recruits. Kakashi would have to agree with them on this point. He had doubts about this and he wasn't sure why. Maybe it was the age factor involved. Most people Kakashi worked with were older than him. That was, until, Itachi came onto the scene. Itachi, like Kakashi was very young to be in Anbu and like always and probably with good reason. The adults were skeptical and even weary of working with such you prodigies as Kakashi and Itachi were. There was also the new wood style user that was now going by the name of Yamato who had come onto the scene. He was around the same age as Itachi and was currently working within Anbu. He was being treated much better than either Kakashi or Itachi when they first came on the scene of Anbu. Kakashi was glad for this however right now he needed to be thinking of his current situation.
This was about Naruto, his little brother. It was also about Sasuke, the little brother of his best friend, Itachi. Kakashi knew that he couldn't refuse them. No matter how unsure he was about the whole thing. His sensei believed in him and had assured him that he would do fine. Kakashi was told that if he had any questions to speak with either the Hokage or Kushina. They were both willing to help Kakashi and the young shinobi had no doubts that they knew exactly what they were asking of him.
The kitchen clock chimed the five O'clock hour and Kakashi winced a little when he looked up and saw the time. He should have been in the shower by now. The memorial stone would be waiting with Obito and Rin and Kakashi couldn't break this ritual that, he had begun ever since both of his team mates died. His guilt demanded it of him to, visit them at the only place he could find them now. He sighed deeply while closing his eyes and rubbed his hands over his face. Pushing the chair back he got up from the table and stepped away from it. Kakashi's thoughts moved right along with him as his body moved on autopilot.
'Today is supposed to be a simple meeting session.' He thought redirecting his thoughts back to his team. 'A session to get to know my team better.'
Placing the tea cup in the sink, Kakashi headed to his bathroom. As he walked, his mind began to run over the day's agenda or rather more importantly his team and what he knew of them.
'Naruto, is going to be a bit of a handful. There's no doubt in my mind about that. He is eager to learn and eager to please and sometimes that gets him into trouble unintentionally.' Kakashi mused as, he walked into the bathroom. The bed clothes hit the floor as he prepared to get into the shower. He was barely aware of his actions, as his mind continued the internal monologue.
'I'm glad that Naruto has learned what his affinity is. This will help us a lot. I know that both he and Sasuke have excellent skill in taijutsu and both seem to have a firm grasp on tactics, though if I were to guess. I'd say that Sasuke has an even better grasp of the two and speaking of Sasuke. He hasn't yet learned Sharigan. I can't force it to appear any more than Sasuke, himself. From what I know, Sharigan is activated when an Uchiha is placed under extreme emotional trauma that results in the Sharigan to activate. It comes from the person's desire to protect the ones they love. If either his brother or even his mother would be in serious danger. There is no doubt that Sasuke's Sharigan would activate, but if it has to do with his father….that I'm not so sure about. From what I hear from, Itachi, is that Sasuke and their father don't see eye to eye on much of anything.
This made Kakashi pause in the middle of washing his hair. Fugaku came to mind at that moment in all his smug glory. Kakashi really couldn't say that he liked the man. The memories of the tribunal had not faded over the years and he knew for damn sure that it was Fugaku, who more than anyone else of the Uchiha clan wanted to grill him at that meeting. Kakashi thought of other people telling him or overhearing them say that they had also had bad experiences with the man. They also had said that they didn't like the man because of it. All of this reaffirmed to Kakashi that Fugaku was arrogant and felt entitled. Kakashi couldn't help but grimace.
'Fugaku….now there's a man that most people could do without. I can understand why the other Jounin don't want anything to do with Sasuke. It isn't really about Sasuke. It's about Fugaku. The man has made a lot of enemies among the military. I don't understand what would cause him to act the way he does when he has to know that it can affect his sons. I guess this is why he used Sensei the way he did. Sensei would never say it, but I could see it. You would have to have been blind not too.'
Kakashi was finishing up his shower by now. He realized as he turned off the faucet and stepped out that he would be the one that would be facing Fugaku's wrath if anything went wrong. The man hated him and never bothered to hide that he did. The Uchiha leader would have Kakashi's head, if anything happens to Sasuke. Kakashi pulled the towel from its place and began to dry himself when an answering thought made him pause again.
'Do you really believe that? What is it that, Itachi is forever saying?
An image of Kakashi and Itachi sitting on the Fourth Hokage head at the Hokage faces came to mind. Itachi was looking out over the vastness of Konoha as he spoke in a somber tone. Kakashi remembered staring at Itachi in almost disbelief as he said.
'My brother is an unwanted child…. Father, believes that Sasuke is useless and will never be able to bring honor to the clan. He has as good as said that he would love to disown him and believes that the day will come when he will be able to do just that.'
Kakashi thought on that statement.
'Sasuke will never bring honor to the clan? I sincerely doubt you on that one Fugaku. Sasuke is much stronger than you give him credit for.'
Now leaving the bathroom, Kakashi headed into his room. He got a pair of boxers and began the routine of dressing.
'I don't know why any parent would want to throw away their child. It makes no sense to me. My father tried to love me. He tried to provide and care for me. He also tried to teach me good values such as right from wrong and to care about other people. He tried, but when things got so hard with the people of this village, Father gave up and he didn't just give up on himself, but he gave up on me. The day I found him dead on the floor of his study is something that can't be erased. The message he sent in the end spoke louder than anything he had said prior to it. This is why I have kept a wall up between me and most people. Only a few have managed to get further in than most.
Kakashi pulled his uniform shirt over his shoulders. On this style of shirt, the mask part was attached thus, sliding down and staying comfortably in place over most of his face. He adjusted it as he moved towards the bathroom again to find a new roll of medical tape. His internal monologue continued on.
'Still, Sasuke's situation is in some ways much worse than my own. My father did try and I believe that somewhere deep down inside of him. He really did love me. Who knows what would have happened had it not been for that fateful mission that destroyed his life and nearly mine. As for Sasuke though, his father has never wanted a son that wasn't going to be another prodigy. When it became clear that Sasuke wasn't the prodigy that Fugaku expected. He wasted no time in treating Sasuke as an outsider. I couldn't even begin to image how confused and hurt Sasuke must have left and probably still feels.'
Kakashi left the bathroom with tape in hand and walked to his bed and sat down. He was almost dressed. He just needed to wrap his calves with the white tape that all ninja adorned themselves with to keep their muscles warm and ready for the running and leaping that would be demanded of them. Kakashi applied tape to his right leg first.
'I will do my very best to help Sasuke achieve his goals. This much I can do and am willing to do. It helps to know that I have the support of both Sensei and Kushina and also from Itachi and Mikoto. I'm sure that I will need to ask them things from time to time.'
A few minutes passes with Kakashi now only concentrating on what he is doing. One leg is now done and is expertly wrapped. He now proceeds with the other and with the change of leg comes a change in thought.
The image of a little girl with white hair comes forth. A girl that Kakashi has seen running around with his little brother and his friends often but had never truly met himself. He was always busy either heading off to a mission or was on his way to some meeting or other thing that demanded his attention. Then there were the other times that he just didn't see the girl. Today however, that was about to change.
"Takara Yoshida." Kakashi said the name out loud. The tape was still being applied starting from the top of the calf with the ninja pants expertly tucked in as he worked the tape slowly downward.
'Her profile says that she is from the Land of Lightning.' It has been some time since I've been over there. 'The last time I was there was due to the Hyuuga family having to give the Cloud Village, a ridiculous offer of amends by sacrificing the Hyuuga heir's father in return for killing a Cloud ninja. Man….that whole thing was messed up to me. They were the ones that came without permission into the Leaf and tried to abduct Hinata and then when the Hyuuga take up a defense and protect her they are found in the wrong? I hated having to take Hiashi's twin brother over to them knowing all of what happened.'
The memory made Kakashi bristle for a moment before the image of the little konoichi came back to mind once more. The profile picture showed a girl that didn't have a look of someone that had intimate knowledge of the Hyuuga incident. The little girl couldn't have had either given that, Takara didn't even live in the Cloud village. Besides, this girl was given to Konoha for keeps. They didn't want her back. According to the profile, Takara was being given to Konoha as a "peace offering". The Raikage was willingly to give up the child in return for a peaceful alliance between the two nations.
This in itself didn't sit right with Kakashi. The Land of Lightning wasn't known for giving up any of their citizens for any reason to anybody. Whenever the chunin exams take place in other nations, it is always the land of Lightning that has to be difficult about sending their genin over for the exams. They are also known to never back down from any action that they have taken whether it be good or bad in the eyes of others. They are a bold and proud people. Which is why Kakashi found this sudden change of heart with Takara strange.
'It is highly unlikely that the girl knows that she has been sent over here as a peace offering.' Kakashi grimaced at the term. 'When I meet up with the team today and I ask her of what she expects to accomplish. I can't see her saying it is to be a peon from my village to yours to be used however you wish.' The grimace turned into an angry scowl on the young man's face.
'I believe that she is going to say exactly what she has believed all along, that she was sent here to become a medic ninja. I'm not sure of just how much a five year old girl could have understood at that time about adult subtlety. I would have to believe from my own experience none. I believe that the idea to become a medic wasn't entirely her own idea. They had to tell the girl something or rather get her to believe in something that was more noble than what she was really being sent for. It didn't matter what it was as long as it convinced, Takara to willingly leave her native land. I'm also not sure of what would have happened if Sensei hadn't been named Hokage. If someone else was Hokage instead of Sensei right now. The chances that Takara would have served here under much darker intentions could have occurred.'
Another sigh had managed to escape Kakashi.
In any event, you are in about as much trouble as Naruto and Sasuke, my little konoichi.'
Kakashi couldn't help but snort at that thought. He was right. All three Genin were magnets for ostracism by not only their peers, but everyone else as well. All three had something that made the public not like them and all three of them couldn't be hidden. Their physical characteristics alone made them stand out in the crowd saying who they were.
'Now I understand what Sensei was saying when he said that I had a special group. I can also understand why no one else wanted these kids. Well….good luck to me.' He thought amused.
Kakashi didn't know why he thought the situation funny. Maybe it was because he himself has been a poster child of sorts for being a pariah within the village. Fate must thought it amusing as well to place them all together and call it Squad Seven. How funny indeed. Most squads build their reputations over time with acts of bravery or cunning that has everyone talking about them. Kakashi's squad already has one and without even pulling off a single mission yet. Another round of amusement escapes Kakashi, this time as full blown laughter.
He allows the laughter to die down as, he finished the tape and placed the remainder onto his nightstand. His thoughts once again turned to a more serious nature. Unconsciously he started to move his body while still seated in a forward position allowing his forearms to rest on his thighs while his hands dangled over his knees. His eyes staring unseeing straight ahead of him as his thoughts continued their own move forward.
'I can only imagine just how hard it had to have been in the academy for you, Takara. I haven't read up on your entire time there; but I do understand that the boys were giving you trouble. There was also a girl named Sakura Haruno with her band of friends that gave you a hard time as well. I can imagine it, but it isn't like I can truly know it. My time at the academy was a lot like Sasuke's.'
A snort left unawares from Kakashi. He and Sasuke truly were similar in their academy experiences.
'Naruto, being my little brother, made it easy for me to learn of everything that was going on. Mostly because he told me a lot of things. Things that he never told his parents. He even told me a lot about Sasuke. Once Sensei gave me your profile I quickly realized that you were meant to be in this Squad. I will have to be careful in how we present ourselves to the rest of the squads. We don't need their criticism and I don't need to hear every day about what an ass of a sensei I am.'
Kakashi again found himself snorting at that last thought. Looking over at his clock, he saw that it was time to get going. He needed to tell Obito and Rin about his new job of being sensei to part of the Rogue Pack.
A Snake in the Grass
There were times when Ryota wondered what the hell he was doing. He felt like Orochimaru was making a fool of him. He was racing back and forth from the Land of Rice Patties, to the Land of Waves every time he got a peep from anyone about the elusive snake. He was still at it. Five years later, Ryota was still pursuing every lead and gathering every bit of information he could. He understood why the Hokage gave him this mission. He also understood that his leader was counting on him to be his eyes and ears in both suspicious lands. Ryota worked hard but; there were times when he wasn't sure that he would ever get anywhere with this mission. A mission that kept sending him back and forth between two countries. Still, he continued onward making his way through the Land of Waves this time. He had been given a tip that Sound Ninja were in the Water Country and more specifically in the Land of Waves. So once again he and his team were headed for Water Country. It seemed that fate was smiling down on him this time. For as soon as he had gotten to the land of Waves, Ryota and his team got another tip. A silver haired man with large glasses was seen leading a band of strange ninja. They had a prisoner with them. The young man was bound in chakra restraining bonds and the best part of the tip was that, they were all heading back towards the Land of Rice Patties.
Ryota was relieved and thrilled at this new info and quickly gathered his team and headed in the direction that they had been told. It wasn't long before another person was able to positively identify Kabuto and his band and that they were still heading towards the Land of Rice Patties. This person was able to also positively identify that the prisoner was in fact, a Jinchurriki. He said that the restraints that were being used on the prisoner were of the old kind that were once used to restrain a Jinchurriki. This was the fuel that gave Ryota's entire team the burst of energy they needed as their morale had started to fade over the endless dead-ends and lost opportunities.
The thought that the man might be a Jinchurriki had come to the team's mind. They had all thought that it was highly likely since they were in Water Country. It had to be the Jinchurriki of the Hidden Mist village. The question that baffled the team was how the hell could Kabuto managed to extract a Jinchurriki from this village? It was possible that the Mist no longer wanted their tailed beast. Some of the villages were beginning to believe that they were better off without a tailed beast. It was so much trouble to maintain a host for the damn thing. Still, whatever the reason, Ryota was glad that this has happened.
For some time now it was rumored that Orochimaru was seeking a tailed beast. It was hard to confirm whether or not this was true or not. Ryota had two different countries to cover in his search for Orochimaru and his cronies. There were other teams that were being dispatched to help but, with the Land of Rice Patties declaring that war would be made if, any Leaf Ninja were still found within its borders. It made the job that much harder for all Leaf ninja involved. Fortunately, the Leaf had one thing in its favor. The Land of Rice Patties didn't have a military of shinobi to speak of.
This would work in the Leaf's favor as long as they took precautions. Orochimaru had been identified as being in the rice country at least some of the time. He may not be there all the time with his Sound shinobi, but it was a safe bet that he did move through the land often. Therefore the Leaf used henge to help them cross over as often as they needed. This would easily fool the masses of civilian populace. Making it easy for the teams to get around undetected as long as they didn't run into Orochimaru or his men.
Orochimaru couldn't afford to allow anyone to know that he now possessed a military might of his own at least not now. His military strength were in its fledgling stage and weren't capable of taking on the likes of Konoha or Suna. Even with his puppet government in place, Orochimaru couldn't risk it. If his government would speak out against the Leaf for infiltrating their lands. They ran the risk of being attacked by at least two of the Hidden villages. Konoha and Suna for certain and possibly by a third. The Land of Lightning is trying to establish an alliance with Konoha.
The Hokage had made it very clear that he would attack along with his allies should it be learned that, Orochimaru was indeed living in the land of Rice Patties. Therefore it would do Orochimaru no good to have his puppet government cry foul and declare war. He is a known S-ranked criminal and anyone harboring an S-ranked criminal would face retribution and even war if, they did not comply with the Hidden Village's demand.
In the meantime Orochimaru was trying to establish negotiations with the Land of Earth. Which was another reason that he could not risk a war now. The negotiations weren't even started yet with the Earth Country. The fact that the Leaf shinobi were putting pressure on Orochimaru was making it difficult for him to move forward with his plan. Ryota knew this and he had been working hard with his team to get anything they could and as much as they could to bring that monster down before any alliance could be made.
So here, Ryota was in pursuit of Kabuto and his men as they rushed across the border of the Land of waves and back into the Land of Rice Patties. The best part was that, sure enough they had with them the chakra restrained Jinchurriki with them. The garments that the young man wore showed that he was indeed from the Hidden Mist village. Somehow, Kabuto and his team have managed to secure the village's Jinchurriki and was heading back to the Land of Rice Patties with him.
This confirmed two things. One. It placed validity to the rumors circulating that Orochimaru is indeed after a tailed beast. Two. It confirms that Orochimaru is indeed in the land of Rice Patties. After five years of searching, Ryota was sure that they would be heading to the main base of the snake man himself. The Leaf ninja kept a nice distance away from Kabuto and his team. They moved silently through the trees as, they didn't want to spook them or alert them of their presence. So he held back, but not so far back that he would lose them. Ryota kept a decent pace behind his target. His team falling comfortably in behind him.
Every once in a while, Kabuto would rest his team and then continue after giving them a short thirty minute break. Ryota followed suit. He rested when Kabuto did and then picked up the silent hunt once more once Kabuto began to move again. They went like this for the entire time until, Ryota sensed that they were nearing their destination. Kabuto had been going at a fast pace for some time, but now he was slowing down and his team did likewise. They had finally come to the place that they were heading for. Ryota raised his hand to signal his own team to stop and conceal themselves.
The place that Kabuto had brought them to was deep in a wooded area. There was a large clearing of trees that gave way to a cliff face of the large hill before him. More trees covered the top of the hill that ran a great way in either direction and beyond. In the side of the hill was a hidden opening. Ryota watched as the hidden passage opened up in the side of the stone and dirt hillside. He wasn't surprised when Orochimaru appeared from the opening. The snake man stepped out into the light of day as it was high noon.
"Kabuto, I see that you have brought me the specimen I asked for."
"Yes, my lord. It took some time as, he put up one hell of a fight, but we were successful in the end."
"Indeed." Orochimaru purred out. "Excellent work, Kabuto."
"Thank you, my lord." Kabuto beamed.
Orochimaru walked up to the bound Jinchurriki and looked him over quickly. The Jinchurriki kept silent while giving a defiant gaze at him. Orochimaru laughed as, he walked around the back of the man. Once he was done with his inspection, Orochimaru returned to the front of the group.
"I didn't expect to get the Jinchurriki of the slug Biju, Rokubi." He said pleased. "Especially since this particular specimen hails from the Hidden Mist village. He will do nicely. We will begin to extract the Biju immediately. Take him to the lower facilities and prepare him for the extraction process."
"Yes, My lord at once."
Ryota knew that it was now or never. Giving his signal to attack. The team leaped out into the clearing and after Orochimaru. The band of Sound shinobi were taken by surprise but, responded swiftly by placing themselves between their leader, his prize and the Leaf ninja.
Ryota began his attack by using earth-style and forcing the ground on which the enemy stood on, to become a quagmire of mud that was knee deep. He hoped to trap the Sound in it along with Orochimaru. As Ryota did this two members of the team along with their ninken marked everyone with urine that was laced with chakra. This brought several disgusted yells from the Sound ninja and Kabuto. Orochimaru stayed calm and countered Ryota's attack with a living writhing wave of snakes that launched themselves at the enemy spewing venous poison as they came.
Team member Narumi of the Leaf, moved swiftly to counter the writhing mass and its venom by launching a large mud wall. The snakes and their venom hit the wall and the snakes immediately began slithering up the wall's surface to reach the top. They weren't fast enough however, as the Leaf were on top of the wall and as one, shot a stream of fire down the other side and burned the snakes alive. Still on the offensive two members of the Inuzuka clan with their ninken made the third strike against the Sound.
They moved to counter quickly as the Sound were extricating themselves from the muddy mess of ground they were in. Ryota, watched as the Inuzuka and their ninken made their move against the enemy by creating the technique fang over fang. They swiftly hit and injured three of the six ninja of the Sound. The other Leaf members including, Ryota leaped clear of the wall and rapidly propelled a combination of kunai and fireballs at the enemy as they continued to dodge and scatter. These fireballs used by Ryota and his team weren't of the same intensity as, the Uchiha clan could create but, they worked effectively enough.
The Sound were beginning to counter their attackers now. They were firing off shuriken laced with poison tips at the Leaf. Both sides were moving all around at a fast pace. Soon enough they would all be seeking to attack an individual instead of going for everyone at once. Analyzing the situation quickly, Kabuto decided to get in close at the enemy leader and cut his Achilles tendon at the back of both ankles. Once the man was unable to stand. Killing him would be a breeze.
'In this case, if you want to destroy the body. You must begin with its head.' He theorized.
He prepared his scalpel in his right hand by infusing his chakra into it. He watched as the desired effect of the chakra fused with his blade. Kabuto also theorized that he would need assistance in order to get this job done. Someone was going to have to distract the Jounin leader. These cuts needed to be sharp, fast and above all else accurate. Of which, Kabuto knew all three were impossible to do without some sort assistance against such an opponent as a Jounin.
Unknown to the Sound medic, Orochimaru, was also deducing the situation while deflecting attacks.
'There is no point in carrying on this fight any longer than necessary. The longer this fight goes on the greater the chance that more of my men will get injured and the more of them get injured. The less likely I will be able to take this Jinchurriki back to my lair. Ryota is a formidable opponent and I can see Kabuto is thinking of taking him on with his scalpel no less.' This caused an amused smirk to appear from Orochimaru unexpectedly.
'-And as much as I am enjoying myself right now and I would like to allow myself the enjoyment of watching a desperate battle ensue. I have need to get this Jinchurriki back to the main base immediately. Those restraints he is wearing can't hold him forever. The constant push of his Biju chakra will erode away the bindings over time. Therefore I had better give my right hand man a better option to this scenario.'
Without thinking it over twice, Orochimaru called out to his second in command.
"KABUTO, TAKE THE SOUND AND THE SPECIMEN TO ANOTHER OF OUR BASES. I WILL DEAL WITH THESE SCUM PERSONALLY."
For once Kabuto looked up at his lord in shock. He was certain that they were better off sticking together and besides, Kabuto felt much more comfortable that things would work out well whenever his lord was there to oversee things. By saying that he wanted Kabuto to leave. Showed Kabuto, that Orochimaru, didn't feel that he could handle what he was about to do in defense of his lord. Hurt beyond words but never endingly obedient, Kabuto responded to his master.
"AT ONCE, MY LORD."
Kabuto Reached for the Jinchurriki and once he had the struggling man secured in his grip. He swiftly threw him up onto his shoulder. The young man was folded over Kabuto's shoulder like a sack of potatoes. Now with the Jinchurriki secured. Kabuto gave the command for the rest of the Sound.
"COME, FOLLOW ME!"
He didn't wait to see if they obeyed or not. Kabuto turned and rushed for the cliff face and without looking back started running up its surface swiftly. The awkward angle he was at and with the Jinchurriki's added weight forced Kabuto to quickly adjust the amount of chakra he needed in his feet in order to continue his climb. Once at the top, the cliff gave way to a sprawling forest beyond it. The others swiftly made to follow their leader's order and broke off their engagement with the enemy. Orochimaru was already getting himself into position to make an attack to cover their retreat.
Ryota couldn't afford to lose this Jinchurriki, but he needed to apprehend Orochimaru. A decision had to be made swiftly. Running swiftly over his options, Ryota made a decision. Looking over at his second in command, he spoke as they were close side by side at the moment.
"Aida take Masuyo, Narumi, and Hachiro, and get after Kabuto. The rest of us will stay behind and deal with Orochimaru."
"Yes, sir."
Aida immediately got his team together and headed after Kabuto. Ryota and the others left behind covered their escape by launching a full out offensive against Orochimaru. The snake was amused at their desperate gamble.
"So you want to play do you?" He asked with still an amused air about him. "That's fine. I need the exercise anyway."
Ryota wasn't impressed and addressed his team.
"Asami, Shigeru, Toshid, Be on your guard. He's stronger than us, but, if we work together we can bring him down."
Orochimaru laughed and said.
"Is that so? We will have to see about that."
Orochimaru dropped to the ground and began slithering swiftly towards Ryota.
'Let's hope that we can hold out long enough for Aida and his team to get that Jinchurriki away from Kabuto. I will be satisfied if, we can at least do that much.'
Ryota swiftly dodged away from Orochimaru, while Asami and Shigeru both threw kunai at the snake to change the man's course of direction. Toshid, was preparing an earth style attack by stomping his right foot against the ground once. The ground before him broke away from the rest and began to rise. Using a rapid session of hand signs, Toshid forced this patch of ground to break apart into jagged daggers and by forcing even more of his chakra into the now split pieces of ground he was able to change their form into sold rock. He launched the daggers of stone quickly. Orochimaru countered by throwing up his own wall of stone to block. The Leaf regrouped and the battle was on.
Prelude to battle
Aida and his team made use of earth-style to escape Orochimaru by going underground and quickly getting out of his field of vision. Once they were out of sight. The team emerged above ground once more and continued the pursuit. Kabuto and some of the other Sound ninja were able to hide their chakra but fortunately not all. Three were wounded well enough that hiding their chakra was nearly impossible. The man and two women was leaking a very faint stream of their chakra into the air and Aida and his team immediately picked up on it. Along with the urine laced chakra compliments of the ninken. The team moved swiftly and without sound themselves as, they gave chase.
Kabuto hadn't expected the enemy to be able to follow them. He couldn't see them yet but, he could feel their chakra surging and telling him that they weren't that far behind. He grimaced at this new information
'Orochimaru is obviously in a playful mood. Otherwise these Leaf scum wouldn't be chasing us right now. I hate it when he gets like this and if I don't deliver with the goods. There will be hell to pay once he returns from his recess with the Leaf. To make matters worse Leiko, Yoichi, and Mai are pissing chakra into the wind.' Kabuto thought angrily and felt his anger steadily rising.
He took a deep calming breath and made the decision.
"Leiko…. Yoichi…. Mai…. would you be so kind as to stop and hold the enemy here please?" The tone suggested sarcasm mixed with annoyance.
The three mentioned shinobi felt dread but complied.
"Yes, sir." The three stopped and leaped down from the trees they were traveling through and turned to face the oncoming team.
Aida sensed Kabuto had ordered the wounded shinobi to stay and stall them.
'Good plan, Kabuto, but it's not going to work." He said aloud.
"Masuyo, I want you and Hachiro to stay behind and take on the three idiots that were dumped by their team. Narumi and I will continue the hunt."
"I understand. Good hunting."
"Thanks. Same to you as well. "
Aida saw Masuyo smirk and wave him on. Aida didn't need to be told twice. With his ninken named, Havoc at his side, he orders his clanswomen to join him.
"Narumi let's go."
"We're right behind you, Aida."
Masuyo allowed for his leader and team mate to push further on ahead with their ninken. He and Hachiro slowed down and prepared to meet up with the three unfortunate ninja awaiting them.
Meanwhile….
The three dumped Sound ninja were waiting nervously for the arrival of the Leaf. They stood quietly as their senses picked up a group of six individuals. Two of these chakras weren't human which meant that the members of the Inuzuka clan with their ninken were coming. All three Sound shinobi shuddered. They all sensed that four of them had just picked up speed and the Sound ninja's hearts also picked up speed at sensing it. Surely these four were going to shoot right past them and continue to give chase to the others. It would be the other two Leaf shinobi that would be coming to face-off against the three of them. The three that were left behind to face fate on their own.
Yoichi was feeling angry while the two women felt betrayed and yet all of them knew that the moment they became injured. They had also become expendable. Every Sound shinobi understands this. Working with Orochimaru and particularly with Kabuto, could prove hazardous to your health. However, Orochimaru had made them all many promises. Promises of having great power, of great riches. For those that weren't interested in those things, Orochimaru promised them a unified hidden village that had ideals worth these particular individuals were looking for. One way or another they had all chosen to follow them. They each had their own reasons for doing so, but right now the three left behind to face an uncertain future. Were all sorely regretting their decision to ever have become a part of Sound.
It was Leiko that first heard before seeing the first wave coming. She recognized them as the members of the Inuzuka clan. They and their ninken passed on both side of Leiko, and her team mates from high in the trees on either side of them. The Sound ninja were standing firmly on the ground and began to prepare themselves for the second wave. It wouldn't be long now they could sense it.
"Get your asses ready, ladies. Cause the shit is going down for us right now!" Yoichi said just above a whisper.
Why he was speaking so softly he wasn't sure. There really wasn't any point to it, but he didn't dwell on it because the two Leaf ninja that were now in sight were preparing to go at it.
'I have to hand it to the Leaf Nins, they don't piss around. When they aim to do something they damn well mean to get it done. If we survive this fight. Mai, Leiko and myself won't be working as ninja for anybody after this is over.'
Expendable
Yoichi couldn't help but give a soft laugh. Mai and Leiko thought he was beginning to lose it before the fight even had started; but there was no time for either woman to ask him if he were okay. The first attack was incoming. Time to move. All three scattered away from the incoming ice daggers that Hachiro shot at them. They countered even as they were backing out of the line of fire. Leiko went for her trusted weapon the katana. Infusing her chakra into it. She swung it in a cross-wise broad stroke. The result was a wind style searing force of wind that if it had connected with the Leaf ninja, had cut them in half. Instead they dodged it and the blast from the sword hit the nearby trees behind them causing the force of the strike to slice through the trees. The trees began to topple against other standing trees before hitting the ground. Their stumps were all that remained of them.
Masuyo looked back for a second at the destruction and gave a sharp whistle before turning his attention back to the fight. He wanted to be sure that those trees weren't going to be coming down on either him or his team mate. Hachiro continued to press his attack in the meantime. He switched from ice style to pure wind style. He made to move closer to Yoichi as he needed to be at least mid-range to make this next attack work. Yoichi, on the other hand, was steadily moving around while using his modified arms that had a metal attachment in each of them. When chakra was sent through the arm it vibrated within the metal and escaped out a metal ring inserted into the palm of the hand. Once the chakra left the hand. It could become a concussion blast of sound that can tear the ear drums of an opponent to shreds and destroy the opponent's equilibrium. They would fall to the ground helpless and in agony. Then Yoichi could simply and quickly dispatch them and move to the next one.
The blasts were fired rapidly from each arm as Yoichi continued to move around and away from Hachiro. For his part, Hachiro was as cool as his affinity type of ice as, he persistently pursued his opponent around in the clearing. He never forgot about the two women that were moving around him and his team mate trying to get an opening for their next attack. Yoichi was preparing to fire another round when Masuyo managed to distract him momentarily with a fireball. Hachiro grinned as he took his aim and shot off from to clenched fists four senbon shaped wind chakra needles. The wind senbon hit their target's vitals swiftly going all the way through the Sound ninja.
Yoichi's eyes went wide as blood shot out of his mouth showing that internal damage had been done.
"YOICHI!" Shouted Mai alarmed.
Yoichi looked over and gave his team mate a small smile as he began to drop to the ground. He knew that he never had a chance in this fight. He was far too damaged from earlier. Landing on his knees, he grabbed at his stomach before his eyes closed and he dropped the rest of the way dead to the ground. Mai was now beside herself with anger.
"YOU BASTARDS. YOU BOTH ARE GOING TO PAY FOR THIS!"
"MAI, CALM DOWN AND FOCUS OR, YOU WILL BE NEXT." Leiko says as she takes aim for Masuyo with another concussion blast from her sword.
The trees surrounding them were falling making the fight even more perilous. It was at this point that Masuyo came up with an idea. He began to chase after Leiko preferring to stick with fireballs and fire infused techniques with weapons.
'If I time this just right I can get her to do herself in with one of these trees. They are so close together and must topple against each other before hitting the ground. If I can maneuver her so that when one of the trees has already hit its neighbor. She will be right under it, when it then starts to finally fall to the ground. Let's just hope that she is worn down enough from her injuries from earlier to fall for this trick.'
With that thought in mind, Masuyo began to move in and around the remaining trees that were standing. Sure enough, Leiko took the bait and followed him trying to cut him with the actual sword itself.
'I need to start conserving chakra now. I yelled at Mai to stay focused. It's time I did the same. I need to wait for the right opportunity to present itself. I need to make an injury on this idiot. If it's deep enough it will slow him down and then I can use another concussion blast and destroy the bastard.'
Thus, Leiko put her own strategy into play. Trying to get close and swing her sword with timed strikes. They were perfectly executed but, Masuyo wasn't wounded yet and as she chased him around and continued to swing her sword. The injuries were beginning to take their toll along with the expenditure of her patience and energy which both were rapidly declining.
'She's tiring it won't be long now.' Masuyo observed in anticipation.
Meanwhile Hachiro was busy with Mai. Despite Leiko's warning, Mai wasn't focused at all. The only reason she hadn't fallen yet was due to the rage of her attacks and the rapid speed at which she was using to execute them. Hachiro knew that she couldn't keep this up much longer. He didn't understand why she wasn't taking her team mates advice not that it would have mattered in the end. Still, he couldn't help but wonder as, he began to prepare what would be the final blow.
Mai's own thoughts raged along with the fight she was in.
'I can't believe that we all followed those bastards. We should have told them to go screw off and left that Orochimaru and his playmate, Kabuto behind us. Now look at us. Yoichi is dead and Leiko and I will soon be, but if I can take this bastard with me. I will be able to rest in peace.'
Mai realized that she could no longer use ninjutsu as her chakra was low and going any further with it would cause her death. Switching to taijutsu without thinking twice, Mai went for Hachiro. He saw it coming and seeing that she had used up her chakra. He disengaged using his ice daggers and went in for a hand to hand combat.
Leiko never noticed that she was getting dangerously close to being crushed by the trees. Masuyo kept distracting her while continuing to maneuver her ever closer to her demise. It came about only a minute later when she had just saw another opportunity and went for it only to have Masuyo dodge her attack. He moved back to where he was standing just long enough for Leiko to think she could still cut him with her sword. Then timing it right, he moved away again and Leiko was now standing where he had been. The toppled tree came down not a few seconds later having already started to fall towards the ground. Leiko never saw it coming. She was looking very pissed off at Masuyo instead. When the tree came down cut side first on top of her head. The size and weight of the tree crushed Leiko like an accordion being squeezed together. Her blood splashed in all directions and Masuyo was covered in it from head to toe on the front side of him.
Curiously the tree didn't fall over onto the ground. Instead it leaned against the tree it had hit before coming down. Masuyo just stared at the sight for a few moments in a bit of a daze. It was sort of surreal to see someone giving you the most hateful glare possible one second and then the next their gone. The remains crushed to oblivion by an indifferent tree. Then he heard a woman's angry scream and turned to look.
Hachiro and Mai were going at each other fiercely. They blocked and countered each other's moves until, Hachiro managed to hit one of her previously made wounds. She had been hit earlier by the Inuzuka's fang over fang technique along with Leiko and Yoichi, but her wound was deeper and ran longer down her right side. How she managed to fight at all amazed, Hachiro. It had to have been pure adrenaline alone that kept her going.
Now Mai was doubled over. She was tired and wanted to sleep. Her body ached so much and she couldn't think beyond the loss of her team mates' dreams and her own. She just wanted it all to end. This was the moment when her opponent struck her in the back of the neck with enough chakra laced force to snap her neck instantly. Her body dropped to the ground hard and on her face.
Seeing the battle was now over, Masuyo walked over to his team mate.
"We knew that they weren't going to be much of a fight since they were already pretty badly injured. Still, I'm surprised that they lasted as long as they did."
"Yeah, I think they knew that they were going to die the moment they were told to stay behind. The worst part is that this act will not save Kabuto and the others nor buy them time. Aida and Narumi hit all of them with that dynamic marking or, whatever the hell they called it. It's just dogs pissing on people to me." Hachiro shrugged his shoulders.
Masuyo laughed and said.
"Yeah, I hear you but it works extremely well. Anyone hit with that type of piss might as well be lit up like a roman candle. Because there is nowhere they can hide from the Inuzuka and their ninken."
He then gazed off into the distance where the ninja and their ninken were headed. He still had not realized he practically covered in blood.
"Come on. We better get going. I don't think that Aida and Narumi will need our help but, we better get after them anyway. I don't like be separated from the others for too long."
"Yes, but first my friend. You need to wash. You stink with that woman's blood and I don't want to be giving any scent away to anyone else either.
Masuyo looked at himself for the first time since he watched the tree come down on Leiko. He hadn't even noticed the blood on him even though it was warm and sticky. Now that he had he unceremoniously vomited in front of his team mate. Hachiro was quick to rub his friend's back until it subsided.
"You okay there buddy?"
"No, but I will be soon. Let's head for the water and then after the others."
"You got it."
The two Leaf shinobi then took off for the nearby lake and hoped that their team mates were having equal success. From the amount of chakra that they were both sensing right now. They knew that Aida had managed to stop Kabuto and the Sound from advancing any further. The battle had begun in earnest now.
Battle for a Jinchurriki
Aida and Havoc took to the right. Narumi and her ninken, named, Blu took the left, as they raced through the trees.
"I can smell them. We will be reaching them in about five minutes." Havoc divulged.
Havoc was a Husky wolf cross, but he looked more wolf than dog. His silver and black coat was dense and the pride of his partner. He wasn't just a pretty face. He was a powerful ninken large enough to take down a full grown ox on his own. Aida looked over at his partner and gave a nod of acknowledgement.
"We better get ready then." He said calmly. "Kabuto probably knows we're coming by now. No matter how well you try and hide it. Chakra can be detected by the stronger shinobi."
Aida, look." Interjected Narumi.
Aida looked over first at his clanswoman, who was pointing ahead of her. He then looked ahead and saw what they were looking for. Kabuto was just ahead and had stopped his team. Beside him was the Jinchurriki. The Sound ninja had formed a semi-circle in front of them.
"Well, apparently you were right." Havoc said in a matter of fact way. "They did sense us coming."
The Inuzuka leaped down from the trees with their ninken beside them. Kabuto looked pissed and this strangely gave Aida satisfaction to see it.
"You think that the two of you will be able to stop us?"
"What do you mean? We already have." Aida countered with a grin.
"-Plus we aim to make sure that you don't leave again either." Narumi chimed in.
This annoyed Kabuto further and he gave the command.
"KILL THEM NOW!"
From the very start, Aida and Narumi both knew that Kabuto would try and bolt with the Jinchurriki as soon as either of them got caught up in the fight with the Sound. So, before even arriving they had already agreed that Narumi along with Blu, would make a break for the Jinchurriki. The plan was discussed quickly as they made their way after the Sound.
When Kabuto gave the order. The Sound found out sure enough that they were left on their own. While Kabuto tried to run with the Jinchurriki. As planned Narumi and Blu took off after Kabuto. Narumi and Blu were masters at the relentless pursuit. They would stay on their target until it was apprehended or destroyed. Aida and Havoc were more suited for the brutalizing close combat, which they liked to refer to as the 'Fang and Claw release'. They could release a massive amount of chakra that fused together between them fusing them into one being. A huge black dragon wolf hybrid that was savage and brutal in battle and almost impossible to stop.
This was the form the two were beginning to take now. Narumi and Blu use fang over fang to distract and scatter the Sound before taking off after Kabuto. This lasted only a mere twelve seconds, but it was long enough for Aida and Havoc to work their magic. The two merged their chakras together and the huge black and silver monster with two heads was born.
With their team mates safely out of the way now, the Aida slash Havoc dragon begin its terrible assault on the Sound ninja. With a huge swing of a clawed paw, the dragon wolf named Zenrei, slams into his enemies killing two of them instantly. Another is lying on the ground dying. The three remaining Sound try to use one unified attack in the form of a tremendous concussion blast of sound. They aim and fire it. Zenrei retaliates by roaring powerfully. The power in that one roar smashes through the concussion blast both being neutralized. The roar can be heard for miles. If the Sound ninja didn't have a technique to protect them from sound. They would have lost their hearing permanently after that attack by the dragon wolf.
They decide to try using poison daggers as a distraction while one of them prepares to use water style ninjutsu from his native village. They never get the chance. Zenrei lets loose a large and powerful stream of fire that roasts the three ninja were they stand and with that the battle is over. Zenrei disappears as the two that created him began to separate and fall to the ground. The two beings can create the beast but, they have yet to maintain the even flow of chakra required to keep Zenrei intact. The technique is newly acquired only having learned it two months ago. Still it was worth it. They can't afford to waste time here. Narumi and Blu will get Kabuto but it isn't Narumi, that Aida is now worried about. It's their mission leader, Ryota and the others that willingly stayed behind to fight against a legendary Sannin. The Sannin known as Orochimaru.
Pride and struggle
Ryota and those that remained with him have been fighting against the Sannin for over ten minutes now. It was apparent to all of them that Orochimaru was getting the upper hand. What had Ryota and his team annoyed was why was he taking his damn sweet time with them? The volley of shots fired of stone daggers missed for the twelfth time now and Toshid was beginning to become frustrated with his wasted efforts. Ryota felt for him. He too wasn't fairing any better. For all the Jutsu he knew nothing was having an effect on their target. Whenever it did however, the Sannin would simply shed his 'skin' and appear wound free to go another round. Whether they worked together as one or separately it was all for naught.
For his part, Orochimaru was enjoying himself.
'It certainly has been awhile since I've allowed myself some free time like this. I guess I should honor these Leaf ninja by at least giving them all quick deaths to show how much I appreciate this time we spent together.' An amused laugh escaped him.
It was then that Asami and Shigeru teamed up to try and distract Orochimaru while Toshid and Ryota prepared for yet another earth style attack. Asami and Shirgeru let loose a wave of water at the Sannin as, Ryota and Toshid created the earth style move simultaneously. The water and the broken up ground under Orochimaru's feet became quicksand. Orochimaru was able to leap up and back flip out of harm's way so, astonishing fast and just seconds before the Leaf shinobi's combined attack could touch him. The Leaf ninja were shocked. No one has ever been able to dodge that combination so quickly and easily before. They knew that they were dealing with a legend, but it was still shocking to witness first-hand the man's abilities. Orochimaru stood a good three feet away now from the quicksand. Watching the shocked looks on the Leaf, Orochimaru allowed himself a moment to gloat to himself.
"I see that you liked that eh? Would you like to try that move again? Maybe I will even be a good sport about it and allow you to catch me in your little sand box."
"It's not a sand box, you asshole its- ah never mind." Shigeru caught himself mid-sentence and stopped himself. His frustration was making him say stupid things now.
Orochimaru let out his merriment with a hearty laugh. Ryota decided to try something else but before he could begin he stopped and so did Orochimaru's laughter. Something is happening some five miles away from them. They all recognized the chakra's that were now freely expressed in violent explosions of energy. Both of their teams were fighting and one side was losing. No one moved a muscle as they were all intrigued of a battle that they couldn't even see but could feel taking place.
When the last one fell it made Ryota and Orochimaru react differently.
'Great job, Masuyo and Hachiro!' Ryota shouted internally. 'Now if only I could sense Aida and Narumi. They must have went on ahead of the others to continue to chase after Kabuto. I hope they get the bastard soon. I don't think we can hold Orochimaru here anymore. He is aware of what's happening as well and probably knows even better than me what is happening with my team and Kabuto.'
The thoughts were merely made aware to Ryota when he saw the change in Orochimaru and knew that they were in trouble.
'Damn it Kabuto! I give you one job and you fuck it up. There's no more time to waste. The restraints on the Jinchurriki are about to break and once that happens, Kabuto and the others won't be able to recapture the host of Rokubi. Especially now that they have an Inuzuka with them. She may be the only one there but, they won't be able to keep her away from my Jinchurriki. I NEED TO GET THERE NOW!'
Even as he roared this internally, Orochimaru's face clearly showed that he was no longer amused nor entertained by the Leaf. Ryota and his team prepared for what they knew was coming. A severe beating or maybe a death or two as well. Maybe they would all die but one thing was certain. They had to hold on to him here as long as they could. Ryota gave the command and they rushed at their target weaving hand-signs as they went. Orochimaru was also weaving signs. However, the Leaf for the first time since the fight with him had started got the upper hand. They were able to encase his body in a large mud wall that was over seven feet high and three feet thick. This mass of harden mud covered him completely. The wall was once again made as strong as steel.
Enraged at being confined and delayed, Orochimaru let his chakra surge tremendously and the force of it shattered the wall. The pieces flew in every direction with such force that, they were like earthen projectiles. There was no way any of the Leaf shinobi could dodge or block in time. One of the pieces of earth lodged into Toshid's left side while another embedded itself into Asami's forehead killing her instantly. Shigeru's right arm was broken in two places and dangled helpless at his side. Ryota, fared no better. He was heavily wounded in the right thigh and left shoulder. He hit the ground hard. It was over. The rest of the team were now on their own against an enraged snake. Ryota groaned as he watched Orochimaru teleport away with a killer's rage covering his face.
Breaking Even
Utakata, the Mist Jinchurriki watched the fight begin with the woman and Kabuto. He had been patient and calm ever since his Biju told him that the enemy of their enemy was on the way. All Utakata needed was for this people of the Leaf Village to come and distract his enemy long enough and he and his Biju would be free and high tailing out of there. Then only a minute ago Rokubi told Utakata that two more members of the Leaf team were coming to their present location as well. Now Utakata was happy and sure that they would escape, but then he was told that Orochimaru had just broken free from the first group of Leaf shinobi and was teleporting himself there.
Utakata decided that it was time to make a break for it now while the woman and ninken had Kabuto busy. He surged his own chakra with his Biju to aid in breaking the bindings. He hadn't done it earlier because he could lose himself to Rokubi's rage and destroy a lot more than just the Sound and Orochimaru. All Jinchurriki knew that this was a danger that had to be avoided at all costs. If you lost yourself to your Biju. You could be wiped away and the Biju would now regain its physical form once more at your expense.
This time however, Utakata had little choice. He had to try. He began to pulse his chakra and the two began to work in tandem to break the bonds. All the while a reddish chakra was beginning to leak out of not only the restraints but also from Utakata's body.
Kabuto didn't sense the chakra because of his senses being held by Narumi and Blu. The two were working together. One would distract him while the other attacked. When the attack was blocked they would switch and the now the person who just attacked is now acting as a distraction while the other makes an attack. Kabuto knew that he couldn't last long against the pair. They were cunning as well as swift and he had all he could do to just keep them at bay. He wasn't making any progress at all against getting rid of them and somewhere in the back of his mind he knew that the bindings on the Jinchurriki would be breaking. He was frustrated beyond words which wasn't helping him to fight.
Narumi kept pressing her attacks. She could see that the Jinchurriki was about to bust loose from the bonds that held him. She had to admit to herself that, she was glad for him. The decision to let him go was made while she was fighting. Narumi wouldn't try to take him back to the Leaf. It just didn't seem right to her and it may turn out to be more trouble than it's worth.
She could sense that two of her team mates were coming. Then she sensed Orochimaru and as she and Blu hit Kabuto with another fang over fang attack. This time actually hitting him with it instead of grazing him. The force of the blow knocking him out. Orochimaru suddenly appeared before them all.
"Oh, shit." She said as she and Blu came out of the spin and landed facing him. Blu right by her side.
Utakata and his Biju broke the bonds holding them at that precise moment and let out a roar as the shattered metal flew in all directions. Two of the six tails were now visible to the onlookers. Orochimaru was pissed. The Biju had been let loose. Kabuto was injured and unconscious and now he could sense the presence of two more Leaf shinobi right behind him and preparing to attack. His words were lividly expressed aloud.
"FUCK ALL OF YOU TO HELL!" He bellowed.
The Biju attacked at the same time as the Leaf shinobi. A small Biju bomb along with Ice daggers and one huge fireball went hurtling towards him. Orochimaru leaped high and wide twisting in mid-air and then back flipping once as he went. This maneuver caused him to go hard right and out of the line of the incoming attack. The combined attack went on beyond and missing him completely, as it torn through a group of trees. Before he even hit the ground a series of paper bombs left his rapidly rotating arms as the projectiles flew towards his targets. Everyone scattered every direction to escape the incoming missiles. This gave Orochimaru a few seconds to think.
'Kabuto is out and from the looks of him. He is badly wounded. I cannot waste time here with the Leaf and the Jinchurriki, if I want to keep him. On one hand, I would like to leave him here to die for failing to get back to the liar. Still, he is invaluable to me. My research would be set severely back if, I lose him here now. As much as I want the Jinchurriki. I have to let it go.'
The thought angered him because it was admitting defeat. A word that didn't sit well with him ever. The words that came from his mouth now weren't given in a roaring rage. Instead, they came out in a calm cold bone chilling way.
"Leaf scum, hear me well. I don't intend to forget this insult. You will pay me back for the losses I have incurred today, of both my men and the Jinchurriki. I won't let this go. I promise you."
Without another word, Orochimaru swiftly snatched up Kabuto and teleported away to wherever their base was hidden. The people left behind all stood for a few moments wondering what to do next.
Utakata had managed not to be swallowed up by the rage of his tailed beast and returned to human form. All traces of the Biju were now once more hidden deep within him. He couldn't help but let out a sigh of relief. Masuyo, was the first to speak up as, he carefully approached the Jinchurriki.
"Are you alright?"
This kind of surprised Utakata, who didn't try to hide it as he replied.
"No…Why do you ask?"
"Good. Then you should return back to the Leaf with us."
Again Utakata was surprised. Masuyo's phrasing and tone didn't have the inflection of a command but more of a suggestion.
"I can't. It will bring the Mist Village down on your heads."
"True enough."
It was Narumi that spoke up next as she also approached towards, Utakata.
"Yes, I think he's right. I also think that it would be best, also Blu has informed me that our commander is badly injured from that explosion she felt coming from there."
"Havoc, told me the same thing."
"-Yes, we need to go now people. They are dying as we speak." Havoc interjected a bit impatiently.
"I will come with you and heal them as best I can. It will go a long way to helping all of you getting the injured back home."
"Thanks. We accept your help and in return we will allow you to go where you wish."
Utakata extended his hand to Masuyo. He was truly surprised by these Leaf shinobi. Masuyo looked at him a bit curiously while he too extended his hand in a friendly hand shake. The puzzled look made Utakata feel the need to explain himself.
"I'm sorry. It's just that this is the first time that I have ever encountered Leaf shinobi before. You aren't what I expected at all."
Masuyo and the others laughed as he said.
"Yeah, we're a little weird compared to everyone else."
"This isn't a bad thing." Utakata said.
"Come. let's go. We need to hurry NOW." Havoc said with more force behind it.
The group left by teleporting back the whole five miles thanks to Utakata. Once they arrived they were greeted with a miserable scene. Asami lie dead on the ground her eyes staring lifelessly at the sky above her. A large pool of blood had spread very far from her head. Toshid succumb to his injuries only a few minutes later and Shirgeru was trying his best to keep Ryota and himself alive. He had managed to prop his commander up against him as he sat on the ground. He looked up at the arriving team with a mixture of grief and a sense of finality.
The arriving team members swiftly went to try and aid the two fallen men.
"He doesn't have long. I don't think he will make it." Shigeru whispered.
"Let me try." Utakata said as he moved near and knelt down next to them. "I can use my bubble technique. It can work to defend or attack, but it can also work to heal. I might be able to stop the blood loss and heal up some of the more severe wounds that can turn fatal. Thus providing you time to get him home again."
"Thank you. Do whatever you can to help." Aida replied.
"Wait! Can we trust him?" Shigeru shouted in alarm.
"Yes, we can."
"Don't' worry. I won't harm any of you. I came here to help."
"Really" Is this right, Masuyo?" Shirgeru was still having doubts.
"Yes, it is and in return for helping us. We are letting him go. "
"Well that sounds fair I guess."
Ryota let out another groan. He wasn't conscious right now and he was growing pale. Utakata didn't waste any more time and immediately got up and stepped back one step and pulling his musical instrument that he uses in battle and in relaxation or now in a time of healing. He begins to play the instrument and the clear water bubbles began to appear. They soon surround both Shigeru and Ryota and as they land on them. The bubbles dissolve into their bodies. The effect is almost immediate for Shigeru, as his arm slowly jerks back into place.
Shigeru was first alarmed at seeing his arm move on its own and then surprised that, he didn't feel any pain at all, as the arm went back together and mended. For Ryota, the broken skin that showed the gaping wound in his shoulder began to go back together. The flesh slowly moving back where it belonged before becoming impaled by flying earth and debris. The torn right thigh that looked so mangled that no one thought Ryota would ever walk again also, began to move back in place as it had been broken as well as, the flesh and tendons torn.
Utakata kept his concentration and his chakra flowing evenly on both accounts. The others stood by and watched silently. They were sure to keep their senses sharp for any signs that their enemy would return with reinforcements. Soon Ryota was sleeping peacefully and Shigeru while still seated with his commander propped up against him. He moved his right arm that had been fully recovered. He moved it several times and flexed his hand moving the fingers. Everything worked just fine. He looked up at the Jinchurriki.
"Thank you for your help. This means more than I can put into words."
"You are welcome. You're commander is stable enough for transport. Do you need me to help get you back into the Land of Fire? I can't go in, but I can at least get you back into your own border."
Aida thought it over for a moment and then.
"If you can take us to the border of the Land of Rice Patties, we will be able to go from there. On the border we have many hidden posts. We just need to get to one of those and our people there will help us get him home."
"Then let us be going then. The longer we remain here the more likely that Orochimaru will return with reinforcements. I don't believe that he will miss an opportunity if we give him one by remaining here." Utakata agreed while looking around.
"I agree. Let's go."
The team quickly got their dead prepared for burial by placing them in body bags and then using a transportation scroll sealed the dead in it. Once this part had been done. They gathered around Utakata once more and he teleported them all to within five miles of the nearest post. He had told them that Orochimaru may be able to detect his movement since he was expending a large amount of chakra to teleport so many people at once. Utakata was afraid that Orochimaru would learn the exact location of the hidden post and more trouble with the snake could possibly ensue.
He stayed with the team all the way to the post before he waved them a farewell and left for an unknown destination. The men and women at the post came rushing down to meet up with the wounded team and soon Ryota's team was heading home.
Meanwhile several miles away….
"My God, Kakashi, how long are you going to make us wait here?!" Asked Naruto bewildered.
"Pipe down, idiot. He will be here when he gets here. Have some patience." Sasuke answers with amusement.
"Hey, Bastard, Don't start with me, Okay? I'm so mad at big brother right now."
"Maybe something has come up?" Takara suggests with a shrug that said she wasn't sure.
Naruto grumbled something unintelligible and Sasuke found himself chuckling softly.
Naruto sighs.
"Does anyone want to play Go Fish?"
"I'm' not that desperate yet, idiot.
"Ah, shut up, Bastard."
Takara braves looking up at the classroom wall clock. It is now one O'clock and they were supposed to have met up with their sensei at nine.
"This first day may turn out to be more memorable than any us will even want, if Kakashi sensei keeps away much longer. I can see big brother Naruto doing something that; big brother Sasuke says is typical idiot….we really don't need that to happen right now.'
Takara sighs as she moves to sit next to Naruto and Sasuke. The three Genin continue to wait and wait and wait and….
