Introverted
Chapter Ten
Shimura-san's house was somber. It looked new, as if it had been bought recently. The stone grey walls and the slanted dark brown rooftop gave it an earthly feel of lusterless that made her perfectly intoned with Naruto's sensei's usual talk. The garden was trimmed and cared for, a cobblestone path paving the way from the fence to the door. The wooden door held a brass circle as a knocker, while the windows were all of the secured type —meaning they couldn't be completely opened.
The only interesting thing was a statue in the backyard, depicting a sort of mix between an anteater and a tusk-less boar, if Naruto had to guess. He didn't want to pry what the creature was meant to represent, and since he was already intruding in the house of another shinobi, he didn't want to be a bother.
Still, being literally home-trained in Kenjutsu by the old shinobi was already yielding some results, if he could say so. He was now able to unsheathe his blade 'fast enough to be worth the Genin rank' or something like that. It was high praise, at least for his knowledge on Shimura's handling of compliments.
That morning, his eyes rested on the Hokage's crinkled face as the old man bit on his pipe, while scurrying through the missions assigned. The window of the room was open, and a cool breeze was settling in, showing the beginning of the month of September.
"Hokage-sama?" Aoba-sensei began, "my team is ready for a C-rank."
All three of them blinked, their eyes moving for a second to their sensei, before turning back to the Hokage who just huffed and nodded.
"Iruka?" he turned to the Chuunin-sensei, who nodded back and scurried through the pile.
"We have two, Hokage-sama. Escort mission to Wave or guarding a merchant caravan to Tanzaku town?"
"The escort mission would be preferable," Aoba remarked calmly. "Tanzaku is further away and it's hot bandit season, with the cold months coming around they're all preparing themselves to stash supplies. My Genin need experience, but there is a difference between challenging them and trying to murder them. Who placed that mission on a C-rank roster during this time of the year?"
"I think it was Mizuki," Iruka muttered, actually widening his eyes at the Jounin's words. The three Genin all simply waited in silence, Sakura barely containing her excitement on going on a C-rank mission.
"Warn him to recheck his submitted scrolls for rank registration once more next time," the Hokage pointed out, before acknowledging Team Thirteen for the escort mission.
"Your client will be notified and in wait of you in front of the gates of Konoha within two hours. The mission should barely have more than the occasional encounter if at all. The client is transporting through sealed scrolls wood and construction equipment bought in Konoha's stores, so you will help him unpack once arrived at destination. The mission is not classified as urgent: as such it can be annulled in case of wounded, maimed or otherwise killed shinobi within your team. Should such thing happen you will of course not be paid. Should you encounter enemy missing-nin you are not to engage unless provoked: you are Genin, not specialized Anbu. Should you encounter foreign shinobi, Aoba Yamashiro is authorized to report back following procedure and nothing more. Should any of you go against the above mentioned words you will be placed on probation and face an inquiry to determine the reasons for your actions. You are to maintain a cool but respectable façade with the client at all time. There will be no talking of Konoha's techniques, no training in Konoha-only styles or mention of Konoha's defenses while outside the village and within earshot of the client or foreign individuals unless permission is granted from your commanding officer."
Iruka breathed deeply after that long winded sentence. "This is the general guideline all shinobi leaving Konoha for the first time are asked to acknowledge and understand. The scroll contains all the information that has been asked by the Shinobi Office Bureau to the client. You are authorized to inquire on the mission's specific details with your sensei, or ask your client. It is left to your discretion whether to bend the mission's demands by providing more services than demanded or considerably less, but a happy client is one who leaves a bonus."
Then the chuunin sat down wheezing, pulling out a bottle of water and drinking avidly from it.
"With all due respect Hokage-sama, the next rookie team is yours to brief."
"Youngsters these days," the Hokage scoffed as he dismissed Aoba's team. The moment Naruto was outside, he let out a tired sigh and murmured. "We can have it done while Naruto is out of the village."
"He will find out, Hokage-sama," Iruka grimaced, his eyes looking out to the window.
"She has confessed trying to poison Naruto with muriatic acid and various cocktails of cyanide, peach seeds and arsenic, even going as far as using rattlesnake poison once. There is simply no other choice, Iruka. We can keep the information away from Naruto however, as long as he doesn't ask…and he isn't going to, if I understand him."
"Yeah, about that Hokage-sama…" Iruka murmured —his eyes downcast. "Is it the right thing to do, sending him out of Konoha so soon with that emotional baggage?"
"A shinobi must learn to kill his emotions in time of need," the Hokage replied. "It is a lesson we must all learn by ourselves unfortunately."
Naruto's back was tightly secured and ready within mere minutes, and so as always he found himself sitting in front of the meditation garden that Shimura-san had built within the house's internal garden. He didn't know if having stones and smaller stones in strange patterns actually meant something, but he had to admit it was nice.
"It is an ensemble of rocks," the Kyuubi growled. "I have seen mountains of these things. I probably could make a pretty one with a marble cave too."
Naruto internally rolled his eyes. Kurama spoke to him when he had something to tell that would probably shatter his entire view on something usually…other times, he supposed the fox was simply bored of being in a sewer paw-deep in water with nobody to talk to.
"They should calm the spirit and all, but I think it's just the human who believes in it that makes it work. If you don't believe, then they're only rocks. If you believe, then they can be rotten fishes for all you'll care: you'll still feel relaxed."
Naruto's nose twitched as the smell of brown leaf tea floated near him. He had come to associate that smell to Shimura's presence, and as such he didn't even tense as he felt someone sit down next to him.
"Trying to meditate before your first C-rank?"
Naruto didn't even bother to ask how he knew. He just answered back.
"Yeah, we'll be going to the Land of Waves," he opened his eyes, staring at the bandaged face of his teacher next to him. "It shouldn't be difficult, but I can't help but be nervous."
"To be nervous is to be attentive of one's surroundings," Shimura replied calmly. "But do not let nervousness become paranoia. To see enemies in the shadows requires a keen eye, but to see smoke all that one need is to be filled with distress. "
"So I should be careful, but not overly so?"
"A good shinobi knows the correct amount of suspicion to use, no matter where or with whom."
Naruto bit his lip, before asking in a meek voice.
"What if something goes wrong?"
"Then it will," Danzo replied smoothly. "No mission is guaranteed to be as easy as written, but foolish is the shinobi who does not expect the worse, prepare for the worst possible thing and has a plan for a suicidal situation."
"You're speaking like Aoba-sensei, Shimura-sensei," Naruto replied, his lips quirking upward in a slight grin. "I better go, or I'll be late."
"I will not tell you not to worry, or that the mission will be simple. I will not tell you good luck or something similar," Danzo spoke gravely. "All that I have to say is this, Naruto: you have your training. Remember it."
"Yes, Shimura-sensei!"
Konoha's gates held a small office box right next to them, where usually a pair of chuunin stood more for bureaucratic purposes than outright guard-duty. The honor of protecting the gate was reserved to Anbu, hidden either in plain sight as civilians taking a stroll, or in the shadows ready to strike at a moment's notice.
Aoba-sensei was already signing off the documents that would tell at what hour and with which members his team departed from the village, and just as he turned around he was pleasantly surprised to find Naruto. The boy had arrived just in time, now all they were missing was the client.
"Naruto! You nearly got here late," Sakura hissed at him. The boy just gave a nervous smile back, before answering.
"I'm sorry: Shimura-sensei was home. I think he heard I was leaving and went away from the shop to see me off…" Naruto mumbled, his eyes softening at the thought. He might buy a souvenir from Wave for the old shinobi…maybe he'd like some tea leaves?
He dropped his bag on the floor and began to check its contents. He had two kunai, a band of ninja wire, a dozen of shuriken and a pocket knife within. Wrapped in thick plastic wraps was a change of clothes, so that even if he did end up in a blizzard or ended up wet from a sudden rain he'd have a dry change. He also lifted slightly the two flasks of water, both heavy and thus filled, and secured the third to his belt.
Leaving Konoha didn't only mean a more dangerous mission —it also meant more things to check for. He had tasteless protein bars, a small pouch filled with coffee sweets in case a mixture of caffeine and sugar was needed to stave off sleep —that had been Shimura-sensei's suggestion. Naruto hated coffee: it was bitter.
He also had a flask of alcohol and two pints of oil. 'In case the wood wasn't dry and the fire needed something to start with' he also had been given a few sticks of coal from Shimura-sensei. He actually wondered if the man hadn't been fretting too much with him: it was as if he expected this mission to suddenly last years within enemy territory, with no-one able to help.
They were going with their Jounin sensei —the man was meant to know his stuff!
Sai's and Sakura's bag contained pretty much the same things, albeit Sai also brought out three soldier pills. Naruto's eyebrows rose exponentially —those were pretty costly— and seeing them reminded him of the Yondaime's secret stash. He had yet to even go near it: first off, he wasn't sure he'd manage to get it without alerting someone, and if there really was the Hiraishin technique, he no doubt would have to 'part with it' so that Konoha could add it to its library.
It might be a bit of a spoiled kid act, but that was his father's technique, which meant it was his too…not of Konoha.
"Cherry, Dickless…are you prepared?" Sai asked with a hint of… Was that actually a worried tone? Naruto's ears twitched, as he looked at Sai's face which had a light frown.
"I hope so," Sakura mumbled biting her lower lip. She double-checked her stuff again, before finally putting her bag back on her shoulders. "Aoba-sensei, what's our client like?"
"He should be a grey-haired man in his sixties, dark eyes and a worker's build." Aoba's reply was curt and to the point. "Remember you are not actually forced to engage and terminate the hostiles. Defend the target and if bandits attack I will take care of them. Your priority is the target's life, not bounties on missing-nins heads or the likes."
"Yes sensei," they chorused, as their eyes soon scanned through the crowd.
A half-drunk man stammered towards them, taking a swig of sake before bringing up his left arm.
"I'm the awesome super-bridge builder Tazuna!" he exclaimed cheerfully. "Have you seen the super-ninja team assigned to me for the mission?"
"We are, Tazuna-san," Aoba remarked calmly without an inflexion in his voice.
The man gave a curious glance at them, as if scrutinizing his escorts, before huffing. "I hope pinky there pulls her weight: she's a bit scrawny to be a ninja."
The look of hurt on Sakura's face was soon met with a light snarl from Naruto's own. Sai's subtler attempt at intimidation was missed, albeit the boy had brought his right hand to the Tanto's handle, slightly narrowing his eyes.
Sure, Cherry was annoying, and she clearly wasn't meant to be a kunoichi in the first place, but he —a trained shinobi— was the one who could insult her, not a civilian.
"I would kindly advise not to insult your escorts," Aoba softly spoke, his gaze freezing Naruto on the spot. It was that sort of cold and deadly gaze that hinted all sorts of pain to be given if he as much as tried to make a single move to wring the neck of the client. "They have decided to lay their lives in defense of the village since the moment they donned their forehead protectors, all of them are adequately prepared and ready for this mission. I trust them implicitly to do the right thing."
Sakura puffed her chest out at those words, while Sai seemingly relaxed. Aoba said nothing, but his right eye did twitch when Naruto stared from him to the client again, his eyes cold and his gaze transfixed on Tazuna's neck. He had no doubt Danzo Shimura had told the boy where to strike in case he wanted to make a kill, and Naruto was starting to move off the charts he had built on him.
He had expected an introverted to gently bring out of his shell, hoping to smother the hatred and anger he might feel. He hadn't expected the 'egg' to start cracking already. Unless he acted, he had no doubt the boy would do something stupid, like charging at an enemy to show his emotions. Repressing them like that was never healthy, but he knew he couldn't do a miracle like with Sakura.
He didn't know what strings to pull with Naruto, because the boy had literally none. He took offered food with distaste but also with disgust towards himself for being weak. He refused to be the one to initiate a conversation with a stranger and he seemed to be double checking the distance between Tazuna and Sakura repeatedly.
He was even slightly tensing every time the civilian brought up his sake bottle to take a swig, as apparently his elbow moved too close to 'Sakura's side' for his ease. The fact he did the very same motions for Sai just told him what he believed the man to be: an enemy.
"They gave me kids, how am I going to get them to help me with Gato? The man is going to drown Wave if this keeps up!" the Kyuubi whispered in Naruto's ears, revealing to him the horrible truth of the matter. The man had lied on the mission rank, and he was guiding his team to death! "He hired missing-nin! I hope their sensei can protect me," Kurama chuckled as he added that last part.
He normally wouldn't trust all the fox said at face value, but did he really have a reason to lie? He was keeping his eyes on the man's back, and if what the fox said was true…
He'd stab the bastard himself to get the missing-nins off his team.
Sure, maybe Sai called him dickless rather than Naruto, but there wasn't malice in his words. He could have called him 'Blue-eyes' or 'Thing' and it would still come out with the same tone. He knew some boys called each other 'nicknames' that held offensive words, like Kiba was 'dog-breath' to Hibachi.
Sakura had told him she was his friend. That was the first time anyone had actually said that out loud —didn't matter he was actually without a clue on what to do with a friend. He wasn't going to let a friend down, no matter what.
"As much as these sickening sweet thoughts are entertaining," the Kyuubi drawled out as their march proceeded smoothly. "I have a proposition."
Naruto rolled his eyes, but still made a silent throat verse, as if to hum a tune.
"I will heal you —if you survive your battles with your enemy— in exchange for freedom to be given just a few seconds before your death."
Naruto frowned. The fox wasn't going to help him in battle, but he was going to heal him afterwards if he didn't die? And if he knew there was no hope, then all he'd have to do would be to rip apart the seal and go 'out' after bringing back the Kyuubi.
Still, would the Kyuubi attack Konoha?
"I can swear I won't attack Konoha at my freedom," Naruto actually imagined Kurama rolling its eyes. "And even if I did I suppose you would still be there to stop me, considering you're an Uzumaki."
The raven haired boy just snorted silently.
"We'll set an ambush further down the road," a male guttural voice reached his ears. "Having shinobi won't protect the man."
"Shouldn't we tell Zabuza-san?" the other voice whispered. He knew they weren't actually 'whispering' near him. It was the fox. The malice that condensed into chakra whispered to his ears the evil thoughts of people…and he knew the fox was doing this to rile him up. He was wondering how Kurama intended to make him respect his own side of the deal, if he accepted it. It wasn't as if he could do something now, could—
A sickening flare of pain nearly made him buckle over as his stomach seemed to have been torn apart by a thousand of scorching steel needles.
"I can make you feel the worst kind of pain for quite a while," the Kyuubi whispered softly. "The seal will contain me, and I will not kill you, but my chakra is corrosive by nature…and I can give it to you in its highest form. I can deliver through your chakra pathways such levels of corruptions that would make you hope for the sweet release of death. I don't, because I am frankly not all that eager to go through the effort…but do not think that me being imprisoned means me being powerless to have my revenge, should you break our deal."
"All right," he whispered softly. "All right."
"You said something, dickless?" Sai asked, having probably picked up his words.
"Uh? No, nothing Sai." Naruto replied.
"I say we aim for the girl first," one of the missing-nins hissed. "She looks fresh."
"Brother, you are disgusting," the other retorted angrily. "We get the man, and that's all. We already have Kiri, you really want to add the Konoha nins to our equation?"
"Doesn't Tazuna have a daughter?"
"He does have one—"
The Kyuubi's whispers lowered themselves to nothing more than meek murmurs, leaving Naruto's blood to boil slowly.
Aoba Yamashiro was quietly eying his Genins, seeing how they worked their way through their first escort mission. The sun was high and warm, and there probably wasn't going to be a cloud for the entire trip —at least until they reached the Land of Waves. It spoke well of the mission.
That lasted until he heard the rustling of branches coming from the trees to his left. His eyes narrowed and his gaze went to the tree-tops. There, hidden behind a few leaves of foliage, were two shinobi with slashed Kirigakure forehead protectors.
He tensed slightly as he kept his gaze on the two of them, subtly telling them he had seen them.
The two looked back at him pointedly, before pointing to his client.
This was actually common courtesy. Missing-Nins rarely wished to fight shinobis of other villages, as many times 'underground work' was provided by them. Many shinobi took up missions that went directly against their home village, or that were to be done in their village's lands, so that they would not risk making more enemies.
No use increasing one's own bounty more than necessary after all.
Generally the low ranked shinobi would then disappear, to prepare an eventual ambush or assassination attempt for the client, taking care not to damage or harm the shinobi of the actual village unless —of course— they were sporting the same non-slashed forehead protector.
The other village shinobi also turned a blind eye to the Missing-Nins, rather than seek confrontation. Why waste time, effort and equipment on collateral, when one had a more important mission?
The two chuunins actually didn't expect the Jounin to still, and then turn on the man he was supposed to be escorting.
Meizu and Gozu stood in the trees quietly, already planning their retreat since the Jounin had seen them, when they watched a surprising scene. They both brought their eyebrows up at the sight of the Konoha Jounin gesture for them to come down.
That surprised them.
Of course they weren't stupid enough to do it, but it didn't mean they weren't curious. It was Meizu who suddenly muttered a surprised 'of course' before actually jumping down of the tree and moving closer to the group. Gozu cursed his brother, but followed.
"He lied about the mission parameter," Meizu spoke gruffly, actually addressing the Konoha shinobi who had tensed at their arrival. "The little stain did it, didn't he? You lot ain't Chuunins, right?"
"No, they aren't. I am a Jounin however, so don't get any strange ideas about my Genins." Aoba remarked curtly, before gazing at the now shivering in fright Tazuna.
"Tazuna-san, did you know you were being targeted by enemy shinobi or not? It is a simple question to answer."
"I-I didn't know!"
"Ah! He knows Gato has us on the payroll," Meizu snarled back. "We intimidated him plenty, he's daughter's such a nice girl too."
"You leave Tsunami out of this!" the old man yelled back. "Gato won't stop the people of Wave from rising back against him!" Tazuna then turned to the Jounin. "Please, you have to help us! If you don't we'll—"
"Tazuna-san," Aoba spoke calmly. "Did you know shinobi would be out for you?"
Tazuna looked torn, before he made a quick nod. "If I had told they would have increased the cost of the mission! There just wasn't enough money!"
"You lied on the mission parameters."
"But we're super-poor! We barely could scrap by the materials and the cost for this mission! Gato's killing us! You can't—"
"Zabuza of the Hidden Mist is our chief," Meizu supplied smoothly. "If that isn't enough…"
"That boosts the mission to A-rank immediately," Aoba snarled. Now his eyes were angrily set on Tazuna. "Did you know of one of the swordsmen of the mist being our enemy, Tazuna-san?"
Tazuna's hands clenched and distended, as the man's eyes snapped shut before giving one curt nod.
"Please, we'll pay you back anything you wish. We'll pay you hundreds or thousands, as long as the bridge is built Wave can—"
"Law Nine is clear in the shinobi code," Aoba spoke. "Should the client infringe upon his side of the deal by lying concerning the parameters of the mission, in such a way that would put at risk a shinobi unprepared… he is to be dealt with upon discovery for acts of treason against the Hidden Village of Konoha."
Naruto's eyes widened as he saw Tazuna take a step back.
"Please! I have a nephew, and a daughter, and they'll hate Konoha for life if I die! And the people of Wave, they'll—"
"You have lied and admitted doing so on the mission parameters. A Yamanaka will extract this memory from my brain and confirm it. The Shinobi Code is clear."
The kunai flew faster than Naruto could see, and in an instant Tazuna's head rolled on the ground as the blood sprayed around them.
"I take it there is no need for confrontation," Aoba replied smoothly.
"There isn't." The two chuunins were quick to nod. "We'll take our leave then… always a pleasure doing business with Konoha. Need anything in Wave area —we'll be there for a while— you just need to ask."
"I'll tell the higher ups."
And then the two Chuunins ran back on the trees, disappearing from sight.
Aoba turned to look at his Genin, finding two of them pale beyond their wits and covered in smudges of blood and one emotionless looking even bored about the entire ordeal. Somehow, he had no doubt Sai would be unfazed by this. Sakura and Naruto on the other hand…
The girl just stared. She stared at the now headless body with tremors running through her body. She gulped down anxiously, before falling on her knees to the side and retching on the grass, her hands clawing at the ground as she began to sob.
Naruto instead just looked. He looked at the body with a mixture of disgust and self-loathing, something that actually made Aoba think. What did the boy have to give himself the fault of? It wasn't him who had written the shinobi code, and unless he had known about Tazuna's lie…which he doubted, since he too couldn't actually 'read' the mind of people, there was little he could have done. Maybe it was just some sort of 'saving people' thing he had?
No, everything went against that theory. The boy was introverted and didn't trust quickly. He probably was disgusted that the man had lied, and was accusing himself of not having seen it sooner to prevent Sakura from seeing it. He doubted there was anything romantic in that 'knight in shining armor' feel, but if there was he'd curb it out with time. Sakura was a Kunoichi and he was a Shinobi. Sure —they were teammates, but that meant they had to complement and support one another, not 'protect the weak link'.
"Sakura, can you stand?" he asked calmly.
"Oh god… god, oh god… you killed him," Sakura whispered trembling. "You just…you just killed him."
"Protocol Nine, Haruno Sakura, isn't taught in school. Someone most certainly had to have asked why it isn't even written on the school book in your class —there's always a book smart who asks. What did your Chuunin-sensei say when queried?"
Sakura knew the answer —always the smart girl, she had been the one to actually ask that question— and she couldn't help but feel a sting of anger at her naïve self who wished for praise. Really, she didn't want to know in that way!
"We would learn it on the field," she whispered hoarsely. "He also said we shouldn't hope to know it soon…"
"Exactly," Aoba nodded, taking out a scroll and unrolling it. Tazuna's corpse was soon placed within the seal, and as it was closed and snapped shut with a red ribbon, Naruto looked positively sick.
"Every Jounin is assigned three of these scrolls when taking on a Genin team," he spoke calmly. "And every Jounin generally wishes he will never have to use them for his students. This mission is over —we will be paid for a day's duty, while the Village takes care of warning the family of what has transpired."
"Was there no other way?" Naruto asked softly, as his arms went to help Sakura back up, to stand on her feet.
"Protocol Nine was always given leeway, since it is sometime hard to discern between willingly hiding facts or happenchance: sometimes a group of people you define as 'bandits' might be A-rank Jounins hiding themselves as such. A civilian would know no better of course, but since this was a pretty clear-cut case, there was only one possible end. Since the war with Iwagakure and the Kyuubi's rampage on Konoha," here Naruto winced hard, "Protocol Nine has become stricter: we can't lose shinobi to high-ranked mission they are unprepared for."
"I see," Naruto mumbled. "But what about his country?"
"It doesn't matter," Aoba replied. "If the problem will trouble the Land of Fire, the Daimyo will send a request to the Village. If it doesn't, then it is not our business unless the Daimyo of Wave pays us. We are not tasked with meddling with other countries' inner turmoil —especially if shinobi are hired for it— and I will not risk your lives for this. Do you understand me?"
There was silence for a moment, before Naruto meekly nodded.
"Good, then let's get back. We will reach Konoha by nightfall…in the meantime…" Aoba's right thumb went up as the Jounin bit onto it, making a strange set of hand-signs before slamming his right hand on the ground. There was a small puff of smoke mixed with black feathers, and the next instant a crow appeared on the ground. The crow held a strange mailbag strapped to his shoulders, empty but probably able to safely carry small packages.
"Tengu? Tengu!" the crow cawed, flapping its wings. "Tengu!"
"Yes, you're Tengu," Aoba sighed as he took the scroll with Tazuna's body. He grasped a brush, before writing a black nine upon the surface of the scroll. "Deliver this back to Konoha, Torture and Interrogation department."
The crow cawed, before turning its glinting black eyes around, as the scroll was hoisted in his backpack. Flapping its wings fast, the beast took to the skies in a moment, flying away.
"We can start going back then."
The puddle of blood that belonged to Tazuna remained behind, drying beneath the rays of the sun. Sakura gave hesitant glances back at the pool, before biting her lip and proceeding together with her team. She couldn't help but keep on hearing the old man's words, and really…was a lie worth a life? The man had lied, but did they really have to execute him on the spot? Couldn't they come to a deal of sorts, like sending another team?
Sai remained unfazed. The Hokage would probably be told of the event and then look into the matter. Should there be a risk or a potential benefit for Konoha, the leader of the village would send a small group of Anbu to oversee what needed to be done. If the swordsman of the mist proved to be valuable, he would be taken in and then used as an exchange token with Kiri for some of the 'forgotten behind enemy lines' shinobi.
That was the reason the 'liars' were executed. It sent a clear message that Konoha wouldn't deal with such a thing, while secretly it might or might not do it all the same.
Of course, only the Daimyo would be notified, and only once Konoha's reward was already secured in some form or the other.
Naruto remained quiet, so quiet that Aoba was starting to think he had shocked the boy out of his wits. It took a moment for him to understand that the boy was actually mumbling something, and that the something was a question for him.
"Am I a horrible person, sensei?"
"Naruto?"
"I…I wished him dead, for how he acted. Am I a horrible person, if I'm not sad he died? If I don't care about his nephew or daughter? Am I evil?"
"No," Aoba answered, shaking his head. "You're just human."
"Ah," Naruto grimaced. "I'm not just human though."
"Naruto, you want to tell your teammates?" Aoba inquired, giving a gaze over to Sakura and Sai, who both seemed unfazed by the boy's words…but Sakura's facial expressions were giving off the wrong vibes. It wasn't curiosity, but fear. Fear as if…as if she already knew.
Sai on the other hand was as emotionless as a brick wall. Sometimes he wondered if the boy had been given emotion-training…maybe his private teacher?
"Sakura already knows," Naruto said. "Sai…Sai, I'm the Jinchuuriki of the Kyuubi."
"Oh," the dark haired boy replied. "That doesn't change the fact you're without a dick."
Naruto snorted at that, barely repressing a slight twitch of his lips that would have turned into a grin, had he let it go.
"Sensei, I think mine has to be one of the worst secrets to ever been held as such in the history of Konoha," the boy retorted.
It was in a surprisingly awkward silence that the rest of the trip reached its end and as they neared the gates of Konoha, a small group had already formed. A small group of civilians to be more precise.
"Sensei?" Sakura whispered in surprise. They seemed to be waiting for someone, and as their group neared the civilians who saw them stirred and called the others pointing at them. Naruto stopped. He stopped even before they passed through the gates, a few meters away from the wide wooden doors.
"You monster!" a voice screeched as soon as they stepped within the village. Sakura stilled and turned back, to where Naruto had stopped and then back to where the civilian in question —an old woman in her eighties— had screamed pointing at the boy. "You hadn't taken enough, did you!?"
"Madam, what is going on?" Aoba-sensei asked as he neared the old woman, who was frantically trying to claw her way to where Naruto was.
The Chuunin guards were holding her back, as one of the two —Kotetsu if she wasn't wrong— was at the same time gesturing something from above.
"Ayame was the sweetest girl ever!" a loud voice, coming from a young teenager, screamed in the small crowd. "And now she's dead because of him!"
Sakura frowned. Ayame…the name was familiar, why?
She turned to gaze at Naruto, only to find him frozen in shock. His eyes were like those of a frightened rabbit, one who he is just about to take flight.
"I didn't…" he stammered out.
"You fucking demon!" a woman in her fifties spat out, spitting in Naruto's direction. "The third was kind not to smother you in your crib, that's what! You did this!"
"No, I—"
"Just go and die!"
"Die!"
"You haven't taken enough of us, have you!?"
"We'll have our revenge!"
"I hope you die!"
"Sakura! Sai! Take Naruto back to Shimura-san's home!"
When her sensei barked the order, Sakura finally snapped out of her shocked stillness. So she went right back out to where Naruto had stopped, grabbed him by the hand and yanked him to follow her. She tightened the grip on his hand as the boy seemed to be looking down in silence.
She pressed her lips thinly one against the other as she passed by the screams and the curses sent their way, with Sai in tow. One of the civilians actually flung a rotten tomato in their way, but Sai was fast and cut it in mid-air.
"It's all right," she tried to sound cheerful. "Everything's going to be fine."
"Ayame's…dead," he whispered hoarse. "I'm…I'm the one who—"
"No, you didn't," Sakura snapped back at him. "I'm sure it's a misunderstanding."
"No, no. I…I told them. She was…poisoning me, I confessed. She…she was imprisoned but—"
"Naruto…" Sakura's eyes softened, as she looked at the downcast and trembling form of the once-blond boy. He had even begun to sniffle a bit. Then, she blinked. "Wait. She poisoned you?"
"I…Yes but…"
"And you knew and said nothing?"
Sakura's cheeks filled with air, before she grasped Naruto by both sides of his jacket and began to throttle him. "You BAKA! You don't keep quiet about this! She got what she deserved, that's what!"
"No!" Naruto snapped back. "Sakura, really…no." His tone was soft as Sakura stopped holding him, looking into his eyes for some sort of reason. "I…I mean, I killed her father. She had the right to do it."
"What bullshit is this now? You didn't kill anyone! You can't become a shinobi if you're a murderer, you know?" which was ironic, considering what a shinobi did, and especially since they started the academy at the young age of six. Still, that was in the law.
Naruto just swallowed thickly, keeping his gaze low. "Naruto?"
"It's my fault," he said. "There's nothing else to add. They're right. I just destroyed a family, happy me, huh? Killed them both. Killed. Them. Both. I'm sure Shimura-san is going to be proud of me, yeah, really proud." He sarcastically whispered. "I'll end up killing him too; I suppose that's all I'm good at."
Sakura closed her eyes and took a deep breath, before slamming her right hand in a punch straight against Naruto's face. "YOU BAKA!"
She grasped him again, before slamming the boy on the ground and starting to hit him on the chest with her fists. "You stupid, stupid idiot! That's not true! That's not true at all!"
"Cherry," Sai whispered as his right hand stopped the girl's fist. "We need to go. We're attracting attention."
The girl stifled a sob as she stood back up. Naruto frowned: had the girl been tearing up for him now?
"You're not at fault —not for this, not for anything like this— understood?" she whispered narrowing her watery eyes at him. "And if you," she sniffled, "if you think something like this again, then I'll hit you like I hit Sai again. Got it?"
"Why?" Naruto whispered the question out as if it weighed like lead, his throat parched.
"Because I care, stupid. I'm the team leader after all!" she pushed her chest upwards.
"Cherry: who voted you team leader?"
"Well, you're horrible with people and Naruto is a bit shy: so I'm the leader, Shannaro!" the girl huffed.
"You're ugly: I should be team leader. I am the—"
"Shannaro!" another fist flew, and a crater with Sai formed on the street.
Naruto stared at his female teammate huffing and sporting a twitchy grin on her face, as she looked awfully amused at hitting Sai again. The boy just stared at the scene for a moment more, with Sakura ranting at Sai and the other boy replying in such a way that the pink-haired Kunoichi slammed him back in the crater more often than not.
Eventually, he cracked a grin.
The grin turned into a smile.
And then he chuckled, even as the salty tears tasted awfully bitter on his tongue, he couldn't help but laugh at his teammates' antiques.
The two actually looked flustered at hearing him laugh —even Sai had his eyes wide. Sakura was the second one to giggle, probably because the scene hit her in its entirety. Sai was the last, and more than laughing he just moved his head to the side and brought up an eyebrow, but just for an instant the twitch of his lips moved to a small smile, so quick it had seemed nothing more than an illusion…
But it had been there.
Naruto sighed that night, as he was in his bed. He kept his eyes closed, as a memory surfaced from the depths of his mind.
He had been six. He had been hungry, and he had money. People didn't like him, but he didn't let that pull him down. He'd smile and laugh and look around: he was going to become a shinobi at the academy, so he wasn't going to be afraid!
He was a very brave boy for going around the village, even more so when people just didn't look at him. Some were very rude and knocked him down without saying they were sorry, but he ignored those bastards. He had just decided to go back home, when a nice and enticing smell had caught his nose.
That had been the moment he had walked into Ichiraku's ramen stall. That had been the first day he had eaten ramen, the first day he had met people who had smiled at him, rather than glare. That had been…really a wonderful…day.
And so Naruto fell asleep, while just one floor below Shimura Danzo finished penning the latest orders for his Root operatives to smuggle the cargo out of Konoha.
Beneath the bandage, his right eye bled as usual. It would do so for a week, as it was the norm when he used it. The girl had confessed without fault, no lie or deceit had been seen by the Hyuga, and nothing could be said to disprove it. The stall vendor hadn't really poisoned the Jinchuuriki, no. Mizuki had —not alone, he couldn't have done that alone— and the girl had been the scapegoat. The poison had been applied to the chopsticks the boy used to eat, not the broth. The tip of the chopsticks had been repeatedly coated and soaked into poisons of ever increasing variety. Merely looking at the dead cats in the back alley would have told the truth weeks earlier, just around the time Mizuki had left his girlfriend to start dating the stall vendor.
Root operatives had of course disposed of both cats and poisoned chopsticks…
Just like they would now dispose of certain dead weight. Mizuki had run its course.
It was time to change his objective…
The Haruno girl had civilian parents: prone to accidents.
If he cut that off…he could get the girl to stick to her teammates. Emotions and bonds were weak things. His mind suddenly gave him an insightful idea. One that would make the boy under his care 'graduate' from Root training all the same.
If he brought the boy under his fold, and then revealed to the girl that he had killed her parents…
And if he managed to get Orochimaru to play along…
A small smile formed on the lips of the Yami of Shinobi.
Konoha would get his deadly and emotionless operative soon, of that…he'd make sure personally.
The malice that filtered through the shinobi's chakra condensed into spirals, as it slowly merged with the Kyuubi like a thousand of others did at the same time. The giant nine-tailed fox simply grinned. One might say that knowing the opponent's deals beforehand was cheating, but in life 'cheating' didn't exist. And it was his job after all…to destroy, to cleanse and to purify.
The sage of the six paths had been many things, but unfortunately he had believed too much in the world itself. Humanity was not made of saints and heroes. Chakra was not used to help other people, but learned as a mean to kill more. Shinobi were not saviors, but angels of death. Ah, the irony…his grandfather would surely destroy the shinobi world himself, had he still been alive.
Since he wasn't…
That work fell to him.
And his brothers and sisters, if he got them to cooperate.
Author's notes
Chapter's done.
Angst-Angst-Angst!
Ayame's dead, or is she not? What 'cargo' was smuggled out? Land of Wave mission…done.
(Who saw that ending coming?)
Now, on to the probable Q&A:
'Protocol Nine' has both the 'Nine' which Japanese thing is unfortunate and the fact that I never understood why they kept going.
I mean, if we consider missions of the shinobi like military ones, and the 'info' is wrong, you go back straight away. You don't stay there or 'complete' the mission. It's treason, nice and simple. If the info is purposefully given wrong, it's treason once more. Since Konoha has the Yamanakas who can 'mind-rape' there is no need to bring the man back for interrogation.
(And his corpse probably can be used to get more infos, maybe a Yamanaka 'only on the dead' mind-use)
That said, Ayame's 'execution' is 'faded out' for a reason. You will know more of it eventually, but not right now. Be content with the 'doubt' of whether I killed her or not.
AND when I said there was no-one safe, I meant it. If plot pulls in the direction of Sai and Sakura dying…
Hell, somebody save me a place in hell.
(Bit of a 'sidenote' now for my followers through all 'types of fanfics I write') Concerning Harry Dursley and Chronicles of the King: I just want to wing out as fast as I can 'Sometimes' of the Bioshock fanfic, once that's done, I'll work back on the others. Since Sometimes is pretty easy plot-related and has far less 'weight' to carry on, it's relatively easier to write through it.