So, I know what you're thinking: "You scoundrel, how the hell have you not updated this story in four years? You left it off as a cliffie and a terrible one at that! How. Could. You?"
And you know what, I deserve every line of that. I went back to school for my senior year in highschool, and from then I left my home on a two year journey to find myself in serving others.
So, yeah, this story is a bit dated, there are probably a few revisions I'll be making to the beginning to match it a little better with the canon. My writing style may have changed a bit in the past few years, but hopefully I can still keep the tone of the story. Please let me know you're thoughts, I'm always looking for ways to improve.
Disclaimer: as nice as it would be, I don't own Naruto; Masashi kishimoto owns that honor.
Now, where did we leave off . . . ah yes . . .
"I'M GOING TO KILL YOU!" Naruto bellowed, his eyes glowing red, pupils constricting into slits. His hands glowed with the jutsu he had been desperately preparing earlier; the wispy blue tendrils of energy bleeding out into a malicious crimson. If the bridge had been dripping with killing intent before, it was flooded with it now. Sasuke fell to his knees, arms numb with the volley of senbon that he had just tanked for his teammate; he felt the pressure that Naruto was exuding and for once in his relationship with the boy, he felt fear of him.
Haku froze, partially from chakra depletion, but mostly from the hellish aura that the blond boy was exuding. Zabuza, this tool is about to fail you . . . He thought as he braced himself, to tired to zip out of the way. He looked at the angry genin with sympathetic eyes, I don't blame you.
"Kami . . . Kaze!" Naruto whipped his hands forward at the nearest reflection of Haku he could see, tears partially blinding him as he glared, and grunted as he released the pent up chakra that he had molded. The air pressure in the prison of frozen mirrors dropped suddenly, and everyone conscious' ears popped as chakra from Naruto exploded outward in front of him, slamming into Haku's mirror. Everything sounded distorted as a huge crack resonated through the air and the pressure came whooshing back as the mirror shattered and came crashing down to the ground in front of the three genin.
Haku was launched flying out of the mess of ice, bordering unconsciousness from the impact, landing limply on his back; his mask broken off of his face. He rolled over to see Naruto standing over him, eyes trained on him in rage, a kunai gripped tightly in his fist. Haku's chest fluttered as the harsh reality crept into him, he was about to die. A broken tool was about to be disposed of. Where would that leave his master? He limply craned his neck to view Zabuza locked in combat with Kakashi. His eyes widened as he saw Kakashi complete a summoning scroll and a litter of dogs popped into existence to chomp down on Zabuza, holding him in place.
Haku had to stop him! He rolled into a leaping stance, poised to position himself to save his master. Just as he was about to dash he was bowled to the side.
Naruto was on top of the young brunette, knees on his shoulders, Kunai in hand. He decked the boy in the face, fist clenched on his blade. He punched him again and again, tears flowing down his cheeks. This bastard had killed Ikotsu! He couldn't just die, he needed to suffer!
Haku's vision was blurring with the blows, his eyes locked on Zabuza as the other jounin prepared a lightning technique to end him. I'm sorry master . . . I can't even sacrifice myself for you . . .
Sakura watched the whole scene unfolding in terror, the demonic chakra had forced her to her knees, the bridge builder behind her cowering as well. Her eyes widened as she saw the beginnings of death take stage.
Naruto grimaced, his sharp teeth clenched as he made his decision to end his enemy, he raised his kunai above the boy's chest . . .
Kakashi dashed forward, chidori chirping in his outstretched hand, poised to strike the nuke-nin down. Meters, centimeters, millimeters-
"STOP!"
It was dark for a while, then Ikotsu felt like he hit the floor. He grimaced, still feeling the senbon lodged in his body, but remarkably, he still had feeling in his extremities. He pushed himself up from the floor and looked around. Then the confusion set in.
He was standing on the carpet of the Konoha Library; scrolls and books littered the old building's shelves, but were surprisingly sparse compared to Ikotsu's memory of the place. Yet the place felt exactly like it did when Ikotsu had come before; the same portraits, even a picture of his father hung on the wall. What in the world was going on? Was he back in his own time? Just like that? His injuries were gone too, the pain already fading to the back of his mind.
His had reached for one of the books on the shelves. "Genjutsu for Beginners" it read; Ikotsu smiled absentmindedly as he leafed through the pages, noticing the dog ears that he had placed when he read the book as a younger nin.
"I'm back," he sighed, not sure if he was relieved or depressed.
"What do you mean?" a deep voice echoed through the library, the forgotten silence now erie. Ikotsu slowly turned to the voice's source. There, sitting at the front desk . . . was the old librarian. Ikotsu narrowed his eyes as he took up a wary pace towards the old man. The librarian watched him with an amused smile. Upon closer inspection Ikotsu could see that his eyes were empty, clouded over, only constricted pupils visible through the misty orbs.
"Who are you . . . ?" The aged librarian's smile widened predatorially.
"Oh? Haven't we met?"
"I'm pretty sure I'd remember someone like you . . . " Ikotsu replied uneasily. The strange librarian chucked slowly.
"I suppose you would . . . " If Ikotsu wasn't creeped out before, he was now, he slowly turned towards the exit.
"Well, on that note I think I'll take my leav-"
"There's nothing outside of those doors, you know. Just emptiness."
"What are you talking about?" Ikotsu strode to the door, reaching to open it, only to blink and find the old librarian standing there in his way.
"You still haven't realised it yet. You might want to stop your teammates from doing something they'll regret by the way."
Ikotsu clasped his hands in the bird seal, trying to dispel the genjutsu he was obviously trapped in. The librarian cackled once again.
"You're not back."
"Then WHERE am I?"
"This is an interesting mindscape, wouldn't you agree?" Ikotsu froze "I suppose you spent so much time in the library, reading and studying to make up for your disability that it eventually became ingrained in you."
"So, you're saying that this is my mind?"
"Correct! Bingo! Ja! Affirmative!" The librarian mocked.
"And what does that make you, some sort of sarcastic subconscious of mine? Because I have enough of that on my own." The librarian's lips tightened.
"Oh, but I'm nothing like you. It would take you a thousand years to catch up to me, not that you really even have that much time to practice."
"Ok," Ikotsu was rapidly losing his patience with this unknown apparition "Who are you? And what do you want?"
Again, the wrinkled old librarian's lips stretched wide in a grin. The library began to rumble in an unnatural quake.
"You're a long time from home, Ikotsu Uzumaki. I was hoping for a longer conversation, but you really ought to get going, you know?"
Confusion beat at Ikotsu's mind as books began to fly off the shelves, flashing pictures and thoughts about what was happening outside his mind.
"Oh, and you might want to yell 'stop'. I highly recommend it."
The world exploded into white . . .
"STOP!"
And lo, and behold, they stopped. Confused. Everyone turned to the source of the cry. There stood Ikotsu in the rubble of the mirrors, arms clutched to his sides in pain. What the heck am I supposed to say now? Oh screw it-
"Gato is almost here! He means to kill us all, even Zabuza!"
"Ikotsu-" Kakashi began, confused and borderline irked that he had been stopped mid chidori.
"Ikotsu! You're alive!?" Naruto interrupted, leaping off of Haku's frame and running over to his friend, the last traces of demonic chakra wisping away as he went. Haku rolled over, coughing for breath. Sasuke watched his comrade closely from his spot on the ground, borderline perplexed; the boy literally stood up yelling from his assumed mortality. It was quite the sight.
"-Ikotsu!" Kakashi interrupted the genins' moment, his aura flared in a cold professional tone, Chidori still fizzling in his hand. "How do you know that about, Gato?"
Oh crap! How am I going to explain . . . ugh! "I-eh! I-I put up warding seals at the entrance of town, and in the past twenty minutes theyve been going crazy! Tons more than any group of villagers!"
Kakashi stared him down. This was NOT the time for speculation. "Ikotsu, if you know something, you have to spill it NOW, or this whole mission might come falling apart! We have Zabuza trapped. Now, do you KNOW that Gato's coming?"
"I swear it's true!"
There was a flash of activity in Kakashi's peripherals, and he pivoted himself to find the young hunter nin standing between him and Zabuza. The boy's arms were stretched wide as if to cover the captured nin.
"Our fight is with Zabuza, not you, don't waste your-" Kakashi opened his mouth to reason with the boy, but was interrupted.
"Move, Haku." Zabuza groaned under the biting weight of the dogs.
"No! I won't move! I am yours, master! I can't just let you-"
"MOVE, TOOL! THIS ISN'T YOUR FIGHT, IT'S YOUR MASTER'S," Beneath his bandages, Zabuza's face was contorted in desperation and sorrow, his eyes wide as tears flowed out. The words did not match the message that was conveyed. He didn't want Haku to die for him. He wanted the boy to live as he wished.
"No! This tool is disobeying! It's throwing itself away to save it's master!" Haku turned to face Zabuza, eyebrows knit with desperation.
"YOU FOOL, YOU HAVE TO LI-"
*CLAP CLAP Clap clap . . . clap*
All eyes turned to the new source of noise. A short, bulbous man dressed in a fancy business suit stood at the gate of the bridge, a weaselly smirk donning his sunglassed face. Behind him stood a small army of motley thugs bearing all assortments of clubs and blades.
"And here I wasn't going to pay you because you'd be dead after my boys were through with you, but you didn't even manage to complete the job!" Gato addressed Zabuza in his nasally voice, smirking throughout the whole sentence.
"Looks like the deal's off, Missing Nin-kun! Alright Boys! The first to bring me a ninja's head get's his bounty! I'll even pay something for the kids!" He cackled whipping his cane forward like a commander at battle. The grinning thugs charged forward, roaring out a battle cry as they sprung.
"Team Seven! Get into formation around Tazuna!" Kakashi yelled out, eyes wide at the sudden change in the battle. He felt a pang of pride as he saw his students jump to attention and rush into a protective ring around the bridge builder. He turned to Zabuza, calculating what to do next.
"Jounin Hatake Kakashi," Zabuza rumbled out, his tears dried as he made eye contact with the silver haired instructor.
"I am not one to take an insult such as this lying down. If we could continue our battle another time, I would be happy to rid us all of this trash." He spat. The mass of thugs began to close in around the group of genin. Kakashi narrowed his eyes . . . then nodded to his dog summons, who poofed away, setting the Nuke-nin free. Zabuza smiled, and hefted his blade, favoring his damaged shoulder; and then he was gone.
Kakashi turned to aid his students and was amazed at what he saw. In a blaze of activity the mass of degenerates was swiftly becoming extinct as Zabuza weaved through the bodies, with each movement another man dropping. The little band of genin were holding out splendidly for their condition, parrying strike after strike with their kunai. By the time Kakashi trotted over to his team the bloodbath was wrapping up, with Gato being hefted by the lapels of his suit staring in terror into the crazed eyes of the Headsman of Kiri.
"I take it back! You're getting paid! Gech! . . . Double! Hrrgk, TRIPLE! PLEAse," *crack* and even the most powerful man in the land of waves fell to the bridge dead.
Then all was quiet. The genin stared on uneasily as Zabuza stood amidst the bodies, clothes dyed red in blood. Kakashi took a stance between his team and the missing nin, ready for anything.
"Are we ready, Master?" a smooth young voice cooed as Haku took his place next to the Mist Swordsman, another mask replaced on his face. Zabuza smiled beneath his bandages and then turned to Kakashi.
"Copy-cat Kakashi, I'll remember this day . . ." He said coolly and then turned to leave. Haku turned to face the genin and bowed low, before addressing Naruto, pointing.
"You. Don't forget to protect your precious people." There was emotion behind that statement. If things were different, we could have been friends. Haku thought as he turned to follow his master.
As the two missing nin disappeared the invisible pressure that had flooded the bridge seemed to melt away like hot rain, and exhaustion came crashing down on the survivors. Relief flooded the bowels of each member of Team Seven as they sunk to the ground, barely conscious. But Ikotsu felt a very real weight pushing on his insides.
What does this mean for the future?
When the village militia that Inari had gathered showed up at the bridge they were shocked to say the least, seeing piles of dead thugs, some of whom they had even recognised as thieves and henchmen that had antagonised their settlement before. However, after the initial surprise died down, the mood definitely lightened. The chains that had held land of waves down were now release and it was like a weight had been lifted off of everyone's shoulders.
The Genin didn't want to remember helping bury the bodies, but at the end of the day Kakashi gave the team a pep talk about the life that ninja lead, and also commented on their teamwork. Kakashi felt like it helped; after the talk he returned to reading his orange book, but he had trouble focusing, something bothered him to think about.
The next day was a lot brighter, and when the genin awoke for breakfast the meal tasted hardier than usual. Kakashi didn't send them to training, but rather gave them a "break" and sent them to help Tazuna again with the bridge. Several dozen workers arrived for the shift.
"Don't strain yourselves younguns!" Tazuna shouted over to the Genin, who just the night before had looked like death warmed over. Naruto had made a shocking recovery overnight while Sasuke and Ikotsu were still quite tender from all the senbon punctures they had experienced during their encounter the day before. Sakura had been virtually unharmed from the fight before, and so, much to her resentment, she and Naruto were put to work on the heavier lifting. Ikotsu and Sasuke seemed a little less usefull, carrying around water buckets for the workers to drink.
"That's the last time I take a flurry of senbon for the Dobe," Sasuke growled to Ikotsu as they passed each other. Ikotsu couldn't do much but grimace as he hefted his water bucket; he didn't really want to agree, but the pain he was feeling today was hard to ignore.
The work progressed at an unworldly pace throughout the day, wooden pillars driven harder and with more strength than usual, boards nailed with charismatic precision, and lashings tied to the tunes of fisherman songs. And finally, just before supper that evening, the last nail was driven. The bridge was complete.
Then the festivities started. For a poor country with little to no commerce or revenue, the locals put on a pretty good party. All sorts of fish and seafood were served to the crowds; pretty girls sang, people danced. Ikotsu laughed as he watched the older men try to coerce Naruto into a drink of Sake, only for the blond to spit it out, coughing and sputtering "IT BURNS!"
Speaking of Naruto, ever since the bridge, he seemed almost glued to Ikotsu. If Ikotsu went somewhere, Naruto was probably there too. It was almost unnerving for the bluenette to be given this much attention from his father to be, but he didn't question it. The boy was probably just glad that he had survived; Ikotsu had heard about what happened at the bridge while he was out, and he almost cringed when he heard the story.
Okay, he did cringe . . . just a little. Naruto had almost killed someone. Ikotsu knew it was his fault: if Naruto had learned tree walking on his own and therefore practiced all night, he would have fallen asleep in the woods and have met Haku and have learned about choosing his precious people. Because that event never endeared him to Haku, when the boy's mask fell off, it meant absolutely nothing to Naruto; he was just the bastard that killed his friend. Imagine what would have happened if Naruto had gone through with it? What kind of scars would that leave on the future.
Though Ikotsu hated to think about the evil Librarian in his head, the man had given him sound advice. Would he ever see the librarian again? How would he even get to his mindscape, the thought of a near death experience getting him there wasn't the most appealing. Maybe through meditation . . .
That night Ikotsu slept so light that even a butterfly's wing beat would have woken him, in fact a lot of louder noises did. He never took Sasuke as much of a snorer.
*Sniffle*
"It's alright to cry Inari, you can cry when you're sad!"
"I'm not going to cry! But Naruto, you can cry too!"
*sniffle*
"I don't know what you're talking about Inari!"
"Geeze, you two are the same!"
"But, *Sniffle* Sakura-chan~!"
"Dobe,"
"Well I'll tell you what guys, I thought we were going to die there for a while, but things really turned out! Good job team! I bet they'll write stories about this for years to come!"
Such were Team Seven's antics for the whole trek home, they even got to leave in style, walking on the newly minted bridge rather than the rickety fishing boat they were smuggled in on last time. The bridge builder had yet to come up with a name for the bridge, but Ikotsu was sure it would turn out the same as it had previously; after all, the interactions that Naruto had with Inari were pretty much the same. Right?
"Hey Naruto, what exactly did you tell Inari that got him to come around?"
"Oh, easy! I told him exactly what you told me!"
Ikotsu was pretty sure his heart stopped for a second there.
"Like what parts?"
"Eheheh, I forget, but it was good!" Naruto gave Ikotsu the thumbs up, "Yosh let's keep moving, Konoha here we come!"
This stress is not good for my health . . .
"And that concludes Team Seven's mission report, sir." Kakashi saluted lazily. He didn't have his book out, out of respect to the hokage, but he looked like he wished he was somewhere else.
"Impressive, and the two Missing Nin are still at large?"
"Unfortunately, yes. But under the circumstances I don't believe they'll become a problem."
"Yeah! That guy looked really grateful as he was leaving!" Naruto chimed in innocently.
"Naruto . . . he just said he'd remember that day, he didn't say he was grateful." Kakashi replied evenly.
"But, what else could he be? We practically saved his ass!"
The sandaime's lips twitched as he listened to Naruto's antics.
"That's one way to look at it . . . at any rate, that is our report Hokage-sama." Kakashi sighed.
"Accepted, you are dismissed."
"Yeaha! Ichirakus!" Naruto burst out, turning to leave.
Ikotsu, Sasuke, and Sakura bowed in turn and then went to follow Naruto. Ikotsu broke into a run once he was past the doors.
"Race ya! Betcha I'll win!"
"In your dreams!"
"Good grief."
"...hn."
Kakashi stood in the room with the Hokage, having closed the doors when the four genin left. The Hokage narrowed his eyes and gestured for the anbu hidden in the room to leave.
"I take it that there was an extra occurrence during the mission that I should know about?"
"Yes, Hokage-sama, two in fact. During the fight with the ice user, Naruto awakened the beast sealed inside of him."
The Sandaime's eyes widened.
"And, I'm afraid Renga Ikotsu may be a spy."
Dun Dun DUN . . .
But seriously, if you see an error, please feel free to shoot me a message or a review. I'm happy to hear just about any feedback sans flames. I literally wrote this in less than 24 hours, so don't think I'll treat it like my life's work.
Like I said before, I'm picking this story back up and I hope to see where it goes. If you have any thoughts let me know.
Ikotsu: Oh, look! Another Cliffie! You seem to enjoy those!
Ragna: How else am I supposed to end a chapter and keep my readers interested?
Ikotsu: Oh, I don't know, maybe you could UPDATE!
Ragna: You need a time out!
*Ikotsu Renga has been temporarily removed from the universe as an original character*
Omake
" . . . Now WHERE am I?"
"Who knows, OK? This could be a dream from too much alcohol, or maybe you've stumbled into a parallel universe! You might be some God's plaything, or the Bijuu's reality tv show!"
"Oh no! You don't actually meant that do you!? It's impossible right?"
"Or worse! You could be some character in a poorly written fanfiction!"
"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"