Disclaimer: I don't own Narutoooooooooooooooo. But what I do own is some form of potent sickness that prevented me from sleeping for two days straight. Maybe if I run up on Kishimoto with it, he'll give me ownership rights just to keep me at bay...
Broken Tools
Chapter 11: Young Thug Speaks His Own English
X.X.X
(Nasty Looking Bar, Konoha)
"How many shots has he taken by now?" Choza pondered as he and Shikaku watched Inoichi down yet another glass of some strong liquor. He had a healthy amount of shot glasses surrounding his side of the table, with about twenty of them completely empty.
Downing a shot of his own, the Nara clan head cocked a glance at his long time friend, noticing the empty shot glasses, "I'd say around twenty, maybe."
"Try thirty, there's cups on the floor that you didn't see..." Inoichi slurred, furrowing his eyebrows at the lack of alcohol he was consuming, "Oi, bartender! Another bottle over here!"
The shady looking man behind the counter was preparing to bring another bottle over to the table, but two concentrated blasts of killing intent from the clearly less inebriated folks at the table made him reconsider his train of thought. Instead of giving the drunken man another dosing of alcohol poisoning, he decided to clean a nearby glass and whistle innocently to avoid the ire of the other two patrons.
Shikaku cut his eyes back to Inoichi, who wasn't in the highest spirits at the moment due to the lack of more alcoholic beverages being brought to him. Eventually the blond went from frowning like a child to looking in two different directions with each eye, a little bit of drool escaping from the corner of his lips.
"Aww shit, he's so drunk he's cock eyed now! His wife is gonna kill us if we leave him like this. Troublesome." Shikaku groaned as he palmed his forehead, not noticing a nondescript figure leaving the bar.
"I'm not drunk, I'm just extremely on a different level than you guys. I'm still perfectly capable of defending the threats from any village should they present themselves." The cock eyed Yamanaka reassured, raising one finger up in the air confidently. His dangerous swaying wasn't helping his case at all.
"I think he got that backwards..."
"... You sure about that?"
"Posolutely."
"You mean positively."
"I said absolutely."
"Yeah, he's drunk off of his ass. Maybe I got something back at the compound to deal with this..." Choza mused.
"Same. Thinking what I'm thinking?" Shikaku asked, a mischievous glint in his eyes.
"Carry him back to one of our compounds and let him crash there until he sobers up?"
"Neither one of y'all are crashing shiiiiiit." Inoichi said, brandishing his signature hand seals for a mind fuck jutsu.
Choza spared an apologetic glance to the bartender before reaching across the table to drive the drunken Yamanaka's head directly through the table they were sitting at, effectively rendering him unconscious, "I'll pay for that." At least half of the table fell victim to the aggressive force known as Inoichi's fast traveling face.
"Don't worry about it man, we got plenty of spares in the back!" The shady looking man waved off, still polishing that already spotless glass. They kept a bunch of spare tables in the back due to the numerous amounts of fights that broke out in the bar on a daily basis.
Placing some money down on the remains of the table, Shikaku pinched the bridge of his nose as he got up and walked over to the sleeping blond in the bar. He hoisted him up and slung him across his shoulder, sparing a glance towards Choza, "So... my compound or yours?" He asked as he made his way towards the door.
After Choza left some money on the remains of the table too, he scratched his chin in a small amount of contemplation as he made his way to the door as well, "Eh, it all depends. How's your wife feeling?" A well warranted question. There was no need to try to spring another one of their infamous drunk dunks from back in the day if the main lady of the household wasn't in the best mood for any tomfoolery.
It wouldn't do anything good for the male denizens of the Nara household. Her wrath was legendary...
She'd probably snitch to Choza's wife to and open up a fresh can of hell for him as well.
Shikaku stopped in his tracks, his expression paling rapidly, "You know... I did not think of that. This just got even more troublesome."
Opening the door so Shikaku could carry Inoichi out without too much hassle, Choza grimaced at his friend's expression. Well it was obvious who's house Inoichi was crashing at for the night, "My house it is then. I'm pretty sure my wife wouldn't mind."
"Your wife is a godsend then." Shikaku chuckled in relief as they made their way towards the Akimichi clan compound. Despite the alcoholic drinks in everyone's system, Shikaku nor Choza didn't miss the the feeling of being watched as they left the bar. Sure they were in a ninja village, so everyone gets that feeling at least three times a day, but they've been experienced shinobi long enough to know when they were purposely watched.
They could worry about it later though, it's not like there were any major threats in the village to them at the moment. Right now their main concern helping their friend get through this rough patch in his life.
Kami knows having a dead child could take a toll on a man, after all.
X.X.X.
(The Next Day, Naruto's Apartment)
"Shithead, I'm gonna ask you again."
"And I'm gonna give you the same answer again."
"Stop being such a dickhead and tell me why you woke up last night all pissed off!"
"Let me think about it... yeah, nope. I'll keep it to myself."
Tayuya had to try her hardest from jumping over to strangle her best friend. Ever since Naruto and Sakura's team got back from their mission, things have been going out of whack.
Sakura damn near became an unresponsive shut in. Next to her own teammates and family, Sakura was clearly the one most devastated by Ino's premature death, and it showed with a passion.
She refused to come outside.
Her mother repeatedly tried to get through to her, but she rarely spoke for more than a minute.
She was already skipping meals in order to preserve what little bit of figure she had as a thirteen years old before the fatal encounter, but now it was a rare occurrence for her to eat anything bigger than an apple.
The only one who could even produce a response out of her was, surprise surprise, Sasuke. Progress was painfully slow though, mainly because Sasuke was the last person that anyone would go to for therapy or any form of comfort and support.
Tayuya cringed at the painful, awkward memory of Sasuke's first attempt to bring Sakura to the light.
Despite the sadness that hung around the rookies, laughter, mainly from Naruto, Kiba, and to a lesser extent Shikamaru, found its way to remind them that it wasn't all gloomy in life.
X.X.X.
(Flashback)
Rubbing a consoling hand on Naruto's back, Tayuya kept a steel facade up as she, the remains of Team Ten, and the male members of Team Seven made their way down the road. The mood was completely somber as the group travelled towards Sakura's home, with no jokes or merry making taking place.
Out of all of the rookies, Sakura, Shikamaru, and Naruto were the ones affected the most by Ino's passing, with Sakura clearly taking it the worst.
Shikamaru did cry a bit on the way back, but quickly sucked it up once he had a conversation with Naruto.
Tayuya glanced to the side to look at her friend's facial expression. Despite the closeness that he and Ino had, every time the topic of conversation was Ino, Naruto went from being probably the most expressive person in their age group to being a completely blank slate.
No emotion was shown whatsoever.
To everyone else, they found it completely strange and slightly unnerving. Naruto was the number one person to be around if you wanted some kind of chaos and excitement in your life.
To Tayuya, it brought up unwanted memories, reminding her of their lives before Jiraiya came and brought them to Konoha. That was exactly how Naruto became every time he just couldn't take every horrible ordeal they went through with a smile.
It was even worse once he found out what happened to Tayuya. He stayed like that for almost a month.
Eventually, the group came across Sakura's house, stopping to look at each other. The unspoken question of who was going to knock was surprisingly answered by Sasuke as he walked up to the door, eliciting a myriad of surprised gasps from everyone present.
Just before he brought his hand up to knock on the door, Kiba's loud, yet somewhat calmer voice captured everyone's attention, "Yo, guys! What's going on?" The Inuzuka asked as he and Akamaru approached the original party.
Naruto answered him, his eerily blank facade unnerving Kiba, "We're checking up on Sakura. She's been holed up too long so we're dragging her out today whether she wants us to or not." Despite the odd wording of how he said it, it was still pretty much the truth.
Kiba cringed, instantly picking up on the depressing mood that hung around everyone there easily now, "Sheesh... it's still crazy, you know? Who would've guessed that one of us could die so young?" It was a nasty reminder of the life that they were born into.
A life that Naruto knew just how messed up it could get, "None of us are gauranteed to live healthy lives, in case any of you haven't noticed. This ain't a walk in the park full of sunshine, this is real life." He suddenly spoke up in an irritated fashion. Everyone there, with the exception of Shikamaru, looked absolutely flabbergasted by the blunt, yet true statement.
"Dude, how could you say something like that?! Somebody just died!" Kiba exclaimed, walking up to Naruto to grab a handful of his shirt. Even though Ino wasn't exactly close to Kiba, she was still a Konoha kunoichi. A fellow ninja from the same village might as well have been a family member to Kiba.
Naruto didn't move to stop Kiba from jacking him up, instead choosing to simply stare at him, "It wasn't meant to disrespect her death. It was meant to get you all to face reality. What happened to Ino could happen to any of us at any time. Sheesh, our academy sucks if all of you are really getting bent out of shape over what I'm saying."
"What do you mean, Naruto?" Choji asked as he watched Kiba relinquish his hold on Naruto, his trademark bag of chips surprisingly not present at the moment.
Shaking his head, Naruto moved to take Sasuke's position as the door knocker while answering Choji's question, "You'd think a system where children get taught how to kill other people would teach them how to accept death on our side as well, but noooooo." He gruffly answered as he banged on the door a couple of times, ignoring the glances and shocked gazes that bored into the back of his head.
Sasuke and Shikamaru shared a glance at each other, having a silent conversation amongst themselves by mouthing out the words silently.
"Did Orochimaru mess the dobe up this bad? I've never seen him like this."
"No idea... I guess there's more than what we've seen from him. Troublesome."
Eventually somebody came to the door to answer the banging, which got Naruto to cease and desist. Cracking the door open slightly, Sakura poked her head out of the door meekly, taking note of everyone outside of her house, "What do you guys want?"
Tayuya stepped forward, "We came to get you to come out. You've been a shut in for far too long, Sakura." She said with a tone of concern in her voice. This really wasn't healthy for Sakura.
Said shut in simply looked down dejectedly in response, not really wanting to come out at the moment, "No... I'd rather not. I'll just stay inside today guys, I'll see you later." With that being said, Sakura attempted to close the door on everyone. Coming outside was not on her to do list for the day.
A foot finding it's way into the path of the closing door gave Sakura pause. Wondering why they didn't want to get the message that she wanted to be left alone, she opened the door all the way to try and hammer her point home. Surprise was evident on her face when she noticed that the bold foot belonged to everyone's favorite asshole, Sasuke, "Sasuke, what are you doing?"
Everyone there, surprisingly Sasuke too, mentally winced at the lack of the usual "kun" suffix that regularly followed Sakura's vocalizations of his name.
They knew that Ino's death was taking its toll on her, but damn. Never in a million years would any of them had expected to not hear Sakura refer to Sasuke-kun.
Hiding his shock, Sasuke continued forward with their original intention, "I'm trying to get you out of your house, duh. Now come on, you've done enough moping." He ordered, expecting her to just go along with it.
"No. Now go away." Was the expectation shattering refusal which was followed by a shutting door.
Kiba blinked owlishly at the now closed door for several seconds, weakly pointing a finger, "Did that really just happen? Did she really say no to Sasuke? The hell?" Akamaru yipped in agreement, and with good reasoning. Sakura was probably the one person they could count on to be at the beck and call of Sasuke the minute he decided that he wanted a personal slave or something along those lines. Her dedication to a unrequited crush was that crazy.
This completely unexpected switch up caught everyone off guard.
Naruto actually gained a small amount of emotion as he snickered to himself. He had a foolish plan in his head that he didn't expect to work, but it was worth a shot. Sliding up to Sasuke's side with squinted eyes, he mischievously nudged the Uchiha in the side, "Real smooth Sasuke. Smoothest man of the century right here."
Sasuke frowned, "Shut it, dobe. Instead of making fun of me, you could be thinking of a way to get Sakura out of the house."
Sasuke's statement got everyone there to take a second and seriously ponder on how to accomplish such a task.
Eventually Naruto raised his hand in the air as though he were in a classroom waiting to be acknowledged. Shikamaru took up the mantle as the proverbial teacher that acknowledged the proverbial student, "You got something Naruto?"
"Less of a suggestion at the moment, more of a question."
"Go ahead. Shoot."
"We're trying to get her to come out only by her free will, right?"
Facepalming so hard that he almost gave himself a concussion, Shikamaru dragged the now stinging hand down his face, "... Please don't tell me you weren't going to suggest that we go in there and kidnap her."
"I will not tell you then."
Sweet Kami.
"God damn it Naruto."
"Does anybody have any less radical ideas?"
"I say we get Sasuke to take her out on a date or something." A date with Sasuke?
Everyone there turned to face Kiba almost robotically. Actually backing up due to the sudden attention, Kiba threw up his hands in a placating manner, "Hey, don't kill me for a suggestion."
Naruto glared at Kiba heatedly for several seconds, eventually relenting in his glaring in order to pinch the bridge of his nose, "Damn it! Why didn't I think of that? It's absolutely genius!" He then cut his eyes towards Sasuke expectantly...
"W-Why me?" Sasuke stammered, thrown off enough by the lack of adoration that he usually received from his supposed number one fan and the ludicrous idea that Kiba proposed. Dating? The hell?
Sasuke Uchiha was a man of action, an avenger. There was no time for dating and whatnot.
Tayuya shrugged, "C'mon, mister 'genius'. You're probably the only person she'd really listen to."
"We just tried to get her to listen to me and she slammed the door in my face." Sasuke didn't know why, but it really irked him. Maybe it was due to him not really being told no all of his life, so he wasn't used to getting rejected.
He was irked.
And... intrigued?
"She said no to me... she said no, and shedded her fangirl tendencies..."
He didn't know why, but something about the idea of trying to get Sakura out of her funk sounded like something he could get into now. Nobody refused an Uchiha, it just wasn't going to sit right with him.
"My unspoken suggestion that Shikamaru didn't want me to tell him about is still an option."
"Shut it, dobe. I got this." Sasuke stated as he knocked on the door again.
Sakura came back to the door with a slight scowl on her face, "I thought I told you guys to get lost."
Raising an intrigued eyebrow, Sasuke quickly went through his mind in order to determine the best way to get her to come outside without employing the Uzumaki method. Maybe he could woo her with his Uchiha charms. It had to work, all of the girls at the academy fell head over heels for it when he didn't even want to be bothered by them.
He flashed what he perceived to be his most dashing grin, "Sakura, I want you to come outside and talk with me for a minute or two." Had her hook, line, and sinker.
Kiba looked like a fish out of water. It was that easy?
"Note to self: ask Sasuke for tips on how to improve my game in the future."
Sakura looked the object of her admiration up and down for a second or two. On one hand, this was an opportunity that most girls in the academy would sell their souls and their families for.
But on the other hand, Sakura was getting an idea. Before all of this terrible shit happened and she lost her best friend, she was the one chasing, the one trying to get the other's attention. Now the shoe was on the other foot, and apparently Sasuke was actually doing it by his own free will, not with a kunai held to the base of his back.
She really didn't want to go out at the moment, but there was something that she wanted to find out.
Plus she wanted him to stop with that uncomfortable smile he was doing. She guessed that to him, it was probably the sexiest thing on earth. Sasuke was probably the pinnacle of human perfection, but that smile made him look like he shitted himself or something.
Hmm... for now, she could test this sudden interest he had in her.
"Nope, I'm not coming out."
She slammed the door in his face yet again.
Naruto, who was leaning to the side of the attempted wooing so he could have a complete view of all the action, pointed up towards the second story where a window sat there.
"No damn it, what the hell is wrong with you?"
"I've heard that question my whole life and I still can't answer it. Real smooth technique, by the way."
Shikamaru tapped Sasuke on the shoulder, "Maybe a different approach is in order..."
Another set of knocking took place.
The door opened again, "Go away, Sasuke. You're annoying me." What in the actual hell? Sasuke annoying her?
The shoe was on the wrong foot and he didn't like this at all.
Shaking his head clear, Sasuke quickly recovered and produced another attempt to get her to leave, "We have a team meeting today, right Choji?"
"Re rav a deam meeeing?" Choji asked as he stuffed a honey bun into his mouth.
"Bye Sasuke." The sound of the door slamming yet again preceded Sasuke turning around to glare at Choji, "Damn it, Choji!"
The honey bun enthusiast's hands went up in a disarming manner as he swallowed the remains of his quick snack, "I wasn't expecting to be put on the spot like that, I'm sorry!" Guess they'd have to work on improvised teamwork in the future.
Meanwhile Naruto and Kiba were quietly conversing amongst one another, before Kiba addressed Sasuke, "Dude, you're going about this the wrong way. Come over here, we got some material that you can use."
"I don't think I need 'material' from dog breath and the poster boy for mental instability." Says the potentially mentally unstable one.
Tayuya pushed him towards their direction, "But the 'tried and true' method of demanding her to come outside because you're the almighty Uchiha isn't doing you any favors, so give it a go."
Glaring at the red head, he eventually shrugged and gave the two idiots a shot. He leaned in so they could tell him what to say, and recoiled away once he registered what they wanted him to throw at Sakura, "The hell is wrong with you two?"
"Hey, we can always just slide in there."
"You don't have as much skill with the ladies as I originally thought you had, so I'm willing to give Naruto a shot."
"... I'll just try this out. If I look stupid while I do this, I'm roasting you both alive with a decently sized fireball."
"Didn't need our help to look stupid, right Akamaru?"
"Exactly. That smile gave off an, 'I eat babies' vibe. Really gotta work on not being creepy, Sasuke."
"I hate all of you." He growled as he knocked yet again.
"Remember to say it with some gusto, girls love gusto Sasuke."
"Tch, whatever." Sasuke dismissed the Inuzuka as the door opened again, this time completely.
In the doorway stood a really skinny Sakura. Clearly she hasn't been eating at all, and it bothered everyone there.
"Good thing we didn't go with my method, we probably would have broken her in half on accident." Naruto idly mused as he took her appearance in. Tayuya slapped him across the head quickly in order to prevent him from saying anything else.
Sasuke stuffed his hands back into his pockets, walked towards Sakura, and looked her up and down, "You haven't been eating." There was an unspoken question in that statement, one that wasn't lost on Sakura at all.
"Haven't been in the mood lately."
"Understatement of the century." Naruto dryly commented from the back, eliciting glares from everyone except Sakura, "What? Its true."
Ignoring the dobe, Sasuke sighed before turning back to Sakura, "Sakura... do you want to go on a date with me?"
Shock was evident on the pinkette's face as she processed what just came out of his mouth, "A date?"
"A date." The Uchiha confirmed, hoping she'd go for it.
"What kind of date?"
An elbow from Kiba made Sasuke remember his lines and how to go about this situation, "A food date, my treat." Judging from her body, she really needed a good meal in her, "So how does that sound? Me, you, some good food... and a bottle of lotion?"
Hearing the strain in his voice from that last statement, Sakura tilted her head, "A bottle of lotion?"
"Yeah, once the food is gone I could... get in those guts?" Sasuke actually had the decency to look slightly flustered, which was really a light hearted scowl for him, as Kiba and Naruto collectively fell down to burst out in uproarious laughter.
Even Shikamaru and Tayuya couldn't help but snicker at the awkward date proposal.
"Um, I'll go on one condition."
All laughter stopped since everyone recognized the potentially positive outcome that could come from these key moments.
Naruto looked at Sakura and asked the million dollar question that everyone was thinking, "What's the condition?"
She pointed at everyone there that wasn't Sasuke, "All of you have to stay away from our date. And for the love of Kami, never get Sasuke to say something that uncomfortable to me again." It was obvious to Sakura that Sasuke was completely out of his element when attempting to actually go after a girl, and it was hilariously adorable to her.
Sasuke Uchiha, bona fide badass genin of the Rookie Nine, genius prodigy, is absolutely abysmal when it comes to pursuing a member of the fairer sex. You'd think he'd be a prodigy at that too, until you hear him talk.
"Deal! Now if you'll excuse me and these dickheads, we'll leave you two alone." Tayuya happily exclaimed as she picked Kiba and Naruto up off of the ground before leaving, Shikamaru and Choji following behind them.
As they travelled further down the road, Shikamaru scratched the back of his head before glaring at the two idiots with them, "Which one of you came up with those awful lines?" He asked causing Naruto to burst out in laughter again.
Kiba stuck a thumb in his chest, a triumphant grin letting everyone know just how proud he was of getting Sasuke to embarrass himself, "I take full credit for everything that transpired."
"...What does 'get in those guts' even mean?"
"No idea, I just heard some of the older guys in my clan talking about their dates with girls. I heard that one time and everyone seemed excited when they heard it too, so I guess that's part of the dating scene." Kiba informed with a shrug of the shoulders.
"Troublesome."
Sasuke and Sakura watched the group walk away before facing each other. Taking it upon himself to break the ice, he shoved his hands back into his pockets before turning away, trying to save face from his earlier embarrassment, "I'll be out here waiting. Hurry up and get dressed."
"I don't think she needs to get dressed if lotion and guts are involved!" Naruto yelled, somehow still able to hear their conversation.
"Shut up!"
X.X.X.
(End Flashback)
Tayuya shook her head at that memory, before glaring at Naruto more. Out of anyone that he knew, she was the one that he could always talk to anything about.
So for him to just refuse to talk to her about whatever caused him to wake up angry and put holes in his walls was really upsetting.
Naruto however wasn't backing down from the heated stare that he was receiving, choosing to keep his eyes squinted and frown pronounced. He knew that it was probably frustrating her to no end, but he had to deal with this on his own. This was an internal issue.
How would she be able to help if he himself didn't know how the relationship between a jinchuuriki and his biju was supposed to go?
He knew one thing, though. He needed to get stronger. He needed to improve. Using the Kyuubi's chakra every time he came across a ninja he couldn't handle with his base skills wasn't something he wanted to do.
Even with all of the short term benefits that the powerful chakra provided, the long term detrimental effects were slowly becoming more and more noticeable to the blond.
That battle with Zabuza brought him to the brink of death, just like his first encounter with Jinpachi. So every time the Kyuubi got a free pass to hand out chakra, Naruto was mortally wounded. He frowned in deep thought.
"Its not that easy brat, you need me. As your previous battles went, you're clearly not as big and bad as you thought you were."
"Shut the fuck up!" Naruto internally snarled, frowning even more once he realized that the leftover chakra was influencing him. Part of the downfalls of the chakra was that his temper was on a shorter fuse than usual.
"Try and deny it all you want, but at this rate you'll never kill that snake. Hell, I don't think you can even kill the explosive human either..."
"I can!"
"Yeah... no. Without me, you're still weak. Just because none of your little peers can contest with you at the moment, that doesn't mean that you're unstoppable. The swordsmen had to teach you that lesson the hard way."
He didn't want to hear any of that, his pride wouldn't let him.
So without all of the Kyuubi's annoying belittling, one thing was certain for Naruto.
He needed to get stronger with his own power, his own techniques, not with the Kyuubi. A fool he was not, as he knew the benefits of being a jinchuuriki were something that he begrudgingly admitted he needed. But at the same time, he couldn't become the badass he was destined to be if he just relied on the Kyuubi to win all of his major battles.
Hmm, who could he fight in the village?
All of the genin were out, since none of them were on equal footing with him right now.
Maybe Asuma-sensei could give him a good work out. He was his teacher, after all. That settles it, he was going to fight his teacher as many times as necessary until he saw some improvement.
All he had to do was find the man in the first place, that shouldn't be too hard.
Should it?
"Shithead, if you space out on me again like that I'll trap you in a genjutsu for a couple of hours again. Now tell me what the fuck was wrong with you or I'll do it regardless."
Well, the road to greatness was always a bumpy road full of hardships and strife.
X.X.X.
(Later that Day, Hokage Tower)
"Yeah dad, you wanted to see me?" Asuma asked as he stood alongside Anko. The two shinobi waited patiently to be addressed by the older Sarutobi, who was perusing over some rather important looking documents.
With a heavy sigh and a drag of his pipe, Hiruzen set the paperwork down, allowing it to be visible for everyone else, "Anko, Asuma, I've been going over some paperwork lately and I need you two here because it involves you. Well, it involves anyone with genin under their employ, but due to recent unfortunate circumstances, I decided to address the both of you before everyone else receives the news."
Anko looked at Asuma quickly before putting the pieces together.
Whatever this was involved genin.
Asuma was down a genin.
She had a genin under her wing.
Asuma however, beat her to the punch in vocalizing their assumptions, "I'm assuming that the Chunin Exams are coming up." A nod from Hiruzen confirmed his statement, "And you're gonna put Tayuya on my team so that they can compete, right?"
"If Anko-chan here agrees to it." He informed, wanting to give Anko a day in the matter of things. Snatching Tayuya away from her wasn't something he would do unnecessarily.
All eyes turned to Anko, who appeared to be in deep thought over the recent developments. It made perfect sense to her to let her go.
From what she knew, Naruto was taking Ino's death pretty hard, and having Tayuya as a teammate would probably help to alleviate some of the pain he was going through. Plus they already had experience working together when they were with Orochimaru, so they were probably a shoe in for promotions if placed together on the team.
Then again, there was one more person who needed to voice their opinions over the subject.
"I'd say go for it, but you do need to ask Tayuya if she wants this since this is a major decision for her."
Asuma and Hiruzen nodded at that before Hiruzen stood up from his chair, crossing his arms behind his back in a sage like manner, "Very well. If any of you happen to come across her, inform her of the decision. Send her to me once she decides whether she wants to or not."
Once his two charges nodded in affirmation and left, he sat back down into his chair, lit his pipe, and glanced down at another stack of papers. The Chunin Exams were coming up soon, and there's been talk about trying to find a neutral site for hosting.
Originally Konoha had the honor of hosting this year, but the Tsuchikage wanted to opt for a host without a clear advantage. It was common knowledge by this point in history that whenever the Exams took place, the village hosting the important event created the tests with a clear advantage for their own shinobi. The terrain was terrain that the home team was familiar with, and that's just one of the major biases.
Usually everyone just took any attempts made by Iwa to undermine or get one over on Konoha with a grain of salt, but surprisingly the Raikage, Kazekage, and several of the minor villages participating all wanted the same thing. With everyone striving for a neutral site, official correspondences went back and forth between the villages discussing potential sites.
At first, many opted for Tetsu no Kuni due to the complete neutral nature of the samurai dominated land, but some disagreed due to not wanting to get a non shinobi related land involved in shinobi affairs. It was an option that needed more mulling over.
Yugakure was an option at first due to it not really having any involvement with any of the other villages, both minor and major, but some believed that there could be foul play before the Exams.
What was stopping someone from sending one of their own to the village ahead of time to bribe the hosts? Underhanded tactics were a daily occurrence in the shinobi lifestyle, after all.
Surprisingly, a proposal came from Yukigakure, a ninja village from Yuki no Kuni. Apparently the leader of the land, Doto Kazahana, reached out to the Big Five, offering the village of Yukigakure for testing.
He even proposed several different types of tests for each section, with a certain test for the second portion sounding vastly intriguing.
All he asked for was that each participating village send their best fuuinjutsu users ahead of time in order to prepare certain aspects.
If only all of the villages would come together to unanimously decide on a village...
X.X.X.
(Gato's Mansion, Nami no Kuni)
Gato sat his desk with understandable fear evident in his body posture. Due to the bridge builder getting to build the bridge, there was anger present as well, but his survival instincts were screaming at him to ignore his damaged pride and hope that the threat in front of him wasn't in a murderous mood.
"You sure you don't want me to go after the bridge builder?" Jinpachi casually asked as he propped a foot up onto Gato's desk, not an ounce of respect being shown.
In addition to the fear that he was feeling, an unbridled amount of annoyance was there as well. Why wouldn't this fucker just leave? There wasn't anymore that he needed his services for.
The job that he was hired for originally went to shit. Surprisingly he didn't just muscle his way into getting paid, instead just deciding to follow Gato around everywhere he went. Everywhere.
Down the street for something to eat? Jinpachi was there.
A stroll through the village to remind everyone that he was still in charge? Jinpachi was there.
In the restroom to take a shit? Jinpachi was there too. He even brought magazines to occupy his time while waiting.
It infuriated and terrified Gato simply because he couldn't do anything about it. Last time he foolishly ordered some of his boys to get Jinpachi out of his hair, he gained a new set of decorations in the form of three of his henchmen gutted, decapitated, and somehow sewn to his office wall.
The bodies were still there too, because anyone who tried to remove them ended up eating an explosive tag, courtesy of Chef Jinpachi.
It didn't make sense. He was so adamant about harassing Gato, but there was no transparent reason for it.
Why?
"Jinpachi, can I ask you something?"
Tilting his head to the side in curiosity, Jinpachi shrugged his shoulders, "Shoot, boss man."
"Why are you so adamant on bothering me?"
"I just want a job, that's all."
"Feh, and what makes you so worthy to be on the payroll? The 'I'm an elite ninja' status got you in the door the first time, and you went and failed that. Hell, my civilian minions get their jobs done better than you."
"So all of them are more valuable than me?" The swordsman asked with an edge to his voice. Clearly that pushed a wrong button.
Swallowing down a heavy gulp of trepidation and refusing to back down, Gato nodded.
Jinpachi frowned before he began to stroke his beard in deep thought. After several nerve wracking seconds, well nerve wracking seconds for Gato, Jinpachi jumped out of his seat, scaring the hell out of the diminutive businessman, "I'll be back before the end of the night."
With that, Jinpachi made his way towards the door. He stopped before fully leaving, yet he didn't turn around to face Gato, "Oh, and by the way. If you leave this room at any time before I get back, I'll sew your mouth and nostrils shut with a ryo, this oversized needle of mine, and some rubbing alcohol. Don't take my threat lightly." Flaring enough killing intent to get his point across, Jinpachi promptly left the room.
X.X.X.
(Bordering Forests Beside Konoha)
Two different sets of feet landed on a branch.
"Do you think he's gonna show anytime soon?" Jirobo mused as he eyed the afternoon sun, noticing the clouds looming in the distance. Rain was coming, which was needed in his opinion.
Crouching down onto the branch, Sakon ran a hand through his silver hair, "He should. If he doesn't then that just goes to show that Konoha trash aren't worth a damn." He looked down towards the ground, noticing a regular Konoha patrol sweeping the forest floor.
And just as the two Oto shinobi were there, they disappeared, leaving behind no trace of their presence.
Well, the sounds of pain and agony from the patrol squad could have been evidence that something was going down in the Leaf soon enough, but luckily nobody was around other than them.
Once the two disposed of the evidence through the subtle usage of doton techniques, the teens situated themselves on another tree branch.
"I swear, Konoha only has like five people worth a damn. Everyone else is so... expendable." Sakon sighed as he wiped some excess blood off of his pale visage.
"Did you guys really have to kill them?" An unfamiliar voice asked cockily, causing Sakon and Jirobo to hop into battle ready stances. Both of them turned to face a white haired man in the standard chunin outfit for Konoha approaching them, the metal on his bandana reflecting light from the sun.
Still wary about the potential combatant, Jirobo held his stance as he questioned the newcomer, "Are you our contact?"
"That's right, Mizuki at your service." He said with a dramatic bow. Coming back up from his bow, he flashed a grin at the two, "You're here for the brat with the flute, right? She's in the village."
They nodded before turning to look at the massive walls, with Sakon spitting to the side in disgust, "So... how are we going about this? Are you gonna lure her out here for us, or are we gonna go in there ourselves?" Either way was fine with him, as long as he got to maim another piece of leaf trash.
Mizuki cupped his chin, appearing to be in deep thought, "As of now, you'll probably get your best shot if you wait for her to come outside of the village. I heard through the grapevine that there's been talks of her getting put onto an official team, so more than likely they'll give her team a mission to get her used to it..."
Jirobo nodded, finding some logic in that plan of action.
However...
"Do you know when this is going to happen, though?"
Mizuki actually paused once he processed the question before nonchalantly shrugging his shoulders, "No idea. Do you two have a certain time limit that you have to adhere to?" If so, he could easily find a way to speed up the process. Either way, they needed to grab her once she was out of the village.
Running into one of the major shinobi villages guns blazing wasn't really a smart idea to have, especially Konoha. The amount of heavy hitters that they have on standby ensured that straightforward charges would lead to their capture or death.
"What was your name again?" Sakon asked, still eyeing Mizuki with a well warranted amount of suspicion. He missed the first introduction due to him not really caring for the man's theatrics.
"Mizuki, remember it kid. I'll be coming back with you after this is all over, so you might as well get used to me." He informed, noticing the rolling clouds approach the village with unusual speed. Must be a storm coming or something.
Sakon glared at the trash before him. Contact or not, he still displayed and represented Konoha, and it rubbed him the wrong way. He idly wondered if this guy had any bite to him.
Maybe he could goad him into a fight after this mission to see what he's made of.
Mizuki noticed the clear hostility being thrown his way, but he frankly didn't care at all. Shoving his hands into his pockets, he turned to face the village again, "Here's how this is gonna work. You two just circle around the village perimeter, and meet back here with me around this time every day until the girl comes out of the village. It goes without saying, but avoid the patrols if you can, and try not to kill them every time you come across them."
Jirobo nodded, but Sakon crossed his arms in a clear show of contempt, "Why should we? Are you upset that your fellow comrades can't stand before the might of two of Otogakure's finest?" The silver haired teen spat, visibly miffed at taking orders from some weakling.
Mizuki chuckled, "Oh no, it's for a different reason. If too many patrols keep going missing, they might investigate the woods around here with twice as much scrutiny. You don't want to blow your cover, do you?" The air of superiority and condescending tone that he gave off was really pissing Sakon off.
With his piece spoken, he hopped off of the branch, leaving the two younger shinobi there. Jirobo looked towards his partner, who was glaring daggers at the departing Konoha chunin.
"I don't like him. At all."
"You don't like anyone Konoha affiliated." Jirobo smoothly shot back.
X.X.X.
(Yamanaka Clan Compound)
He stared at the picture of his little girl, fighting back yet another round of tears.
It was still hard to grasp that his little girl was gone. Caught in the wrong place at the wrong time, they say.
Being caught in the middle of two people with a vendetta against each other wasn't a favorable position to be in apparently, who knew?
Taking a swig of another bottle of some potent liquor, he frowned as he thought of the Uzumaki boy. Ever since he came to the village, there's been talks of trouble brewing simply because of who the child was. On paper he had all of the attributes of being somebody to watch as he grew.
Being an Uzumaki, a remanant of a powerful clan? Check.
Being a jinchuuriki? Check.
Being raised by a S rank traitor whose name alone struck fear into the hearts of many? Double check.
The list could go on and on, but that wasn't important right now. What was important was the fact that his precious baby was gone.
He spent hours upon hours pondering how things would've went differently if the circumstances were different. What if he was on the mission with her?
What if she didn't go on the mission at all?
What if she was never placed on the Uzumaki's team to begin with?
...What if he never came to Konoha?
Sure death was the only guarantee that shinobi had in their perilous lifetimes. Sure, the good die young and the bad live long enough to spread their evil. But damn it, he wasn't expecting reality to rear it's ugly, unforgiving head at this point in life.
His child didn't even get to turn thirteen before she died. She didn't even get a dignified death! Why get killed with an intact body when you can just get bisected and blown to smithereens?
They couldn't even give her a funeral.
It tore him up inside, and it wasn't good for him or his work. Well, namely the people he worked on, because they got to be subjected to all of the most horrific torture methods possible once they were sent to him. Before the tragedy, he left all of the sadistic methods to Anko and Ibiki, who were more than happy to allow their subjects to experience the joys of psychological torture and poisonous snakes sliding up into places they shouldn't slide.
But now, Inoichi joined in the sadistic fun, and boy was it unpleasant.
Ibiki thought he held the record for making a grown man cry without even touching him, but Inoichi took that record and stomped it into the ground.
He tried to be cruel in order to relieve some of his stress and sadness, but it wasn't enough. Even his wife tried to help with the stress through methods that any man would appreciate.
But it wasn't enough.
The bottle kissed his lips again, allowing him to drown out his sorrows with a chest burning elixir. Sighing, he wiped some of the excess liquor from his mouth. Seems that the only time that he wasn't a bundle of depression was when he was getting drunk.
It wasn't healthy at all, but he needed something to cope for now.
Another sigh escaped his lips. Sometimes he wished that things had a chance to be redone. If he had a say, Ino would've never went on that mission. She would've been here with him, not dead with her remains scattered in some bride builder's yard in Nami no Kuni. She wouldn't have died over some grievance between the jinchuuriki and some rogue swordsman.
The jinchuuriki... this was all his fault!
If it wasn't for him, maybe the swordsman wouldn't have been inclined to kill her like that.
The blame game wasn't a healthy game to play for a shinobi, but it sure did help.
Who was he kidding, blaming that boy for his daughter's passing wasn't fair to him. Honestly, it was a weak cop out if anything.
But the need of a scapegoat for his negative feelings outweighed his rational thought patterns.
Maybe the alcohol had a hand in that too, but that was neither here nor there.
"Yamanaka-san, I would like an audience with you." A weathered voice called out from behind him.
That voice... it was familiar.
It carried authority and seniority, as well as an edge that could only be there as the result of seeing one too many horrors of the ninja world.
"Danzo-sama, to what do I owe the pleasure?"
"Simple. It has come to my attention that the Kyuubi jinchuuriki's exploits have caused a rather unfortunate casualty to occur."
So he wasn't the only one that thought Naruto was a problem.
"...You have my interest."
X.X.X.
(With Naruto, Somewhere in Konoha)
"WHERE IS ASUMA-SENSEI?!" Naruto yelled out in frustration as he wondered around aimlessly in some training ground. The fact that he'd have a better chance of finding Asuma if he was towards the more residential side of the village was being selectively ignored so that he could be justified in his frustration. All he wanted was a good fight, a chance to kick someone's head in, and a good training session.
Was that too much to ask for? Apparently so since fate decided to not have Asuma be positioned anywhere near here.
Stupid fate.
As he continued to wonder around and lash out at any tree he passed by, Naruto growled lowly to himself. He was really beginning to debate on whether he should just keep looking, or should he just go to the Forest of Death and go as hard as possible on an army of clones.
Maybe he could hold off on the fighting and go practice some Uzumaki stuff. Sealing and those chakra chains really sounded appealing at the moment.
Or he could work on some mid to long range techniques. The possiblities were mind boggling.
Too bad that fate had other plans for him today.
"Hey you, get out of the way! I was gonna use that tree right there for practice!" A girl's voice shouted from his side, interrupting his angry search. He turned to see a girl standing about five meters away from him, a hand on her hip and the other hand brandishing several sharp kunai.
She had a sleeveless pink Chinese styled shirt, dark green pants, and brown hair that was put into two buns. All in all, she was rather cute.
Naruto thumbed towards the tree behind him, "What if I wanted this tree for target practice?" He asked dryly, suddenly developing a hankering for some good old fashioned pestering. He hasn't the chance to bother anybody recently, so why not harass this girl?
She wasn't having any of it though, "No. It's my tree." She stated with finality, subtly gearing up to scare this kid away. He was cute and pulled off all black nicely, but he was getting on her nerves. Maybe an outline of his body with some kunai would scare him...
Naruto noticed her body posture shift, going from one that displayed a bit of exasperation and annoyance to one of preparation. Was she getting ready to fight him?
Huh, she didn't know just how much of a mistake she made.
He flashed an eager grin, "You wanna fight or something?" He really wanted to fight.
Feeling that she was being challenged, the girl knew that she couldn't back down at this point. So she did what any other trained child soldier would do in the face of an oncoming battle...
She popped it off immediately by tossing several kunai directly at him.
Eyes widening at the sudden ranged attack, Naruto hopped directly up and backwards, sticking to the tree that she originally wanted for target practice. With practiced explosiveness, Naruto shot directly towards the girl, alarming her due to his speed.
"Fast! I gotta get back!" She frantically thought as she leapt back, her heart racing once she realized that he was right in front of her. She hadn't seen anyone her age close the distance that quickly other than her teammates.
She didn't even count her sensei. That man was a completely different freak of nature in his own regards.
His arm cocking back for a punch, Naruto grinned at the prospect of laying her out. She started it with him, and he was completely glad to solve this problem with a bit of finesse.
There wasn't much finesse in knocking someone out with a straight up punch, but he had his own brand of finesse.
Time seemed to slow down as the punch advanced towards the girl.
Their gazes met, Naruto's slightly sadistic smile not helping in calming the girl's shocked expression relax.
It was almost right there, threatening her jaw...
It stopped abruptly, hovering in front of her face. The sudden halt of the attack gave her even more shock than before.
"Huh?" Was the intelligent, yet well warranted thought that went through her mind as she stared the still smiling boy.
"I never got your name. I'm Naruto by the way, future traitor hunter." He stated calmly as if he wasn't about to put a knuckle in her temple. Dropping his fist yet keeping his body primed to fight, he backed away a bit in order to give her some breathing room.
What in the hell just happened? Was he taking her lightly or something? He had her dead to rights, and just gave up that quick? All just to learn her name?
Who does shit like that?
Oh who was she kidding, her spandex loving teammate would probably pull something like that in the middle of a fight.
Still though...
"My name is Tenten..." She stated cautiously, still completely thrown off by the sudden change of the atmosphere. Before it was a slight amount of tension brewing between the two over the tree.
Then it went to full blown aggression since she tried to use him for target practice instead. In all honesty, she was just going to throw the knives around the kid instead of directly at him, but he picked up on the hostile intent that she subconsciously leaked due to her annoyance.
Now it's like they're just now bumping into each other at the grocery store or something, trying to exchange names in an awkward atmosphere.
She still wanted to fight though, even though she knew that this Naruto boy was a threat. So with that in mind, she subtly reached for another weapon to chuck at him...
Too bad that another Naruto was directly behind her, grabbing the arm that was going for a weapon and putting her in a painful arm lock.
"Shit!" She cried out in pain as the Naruto who was originally in front of her turned into a cloud of smoke.
"Was that... a clone?" She asked in disbelief. It had to be a solid clone to boot, since she could feel the presence of the clone when he was right there. She even felt his breath!
"Man, I am awesome. Thank you, Uzumaki style jutsus!" Naruto proudly exclaimed as he kicked Tenten in the back of her knee, sending her to the ground on her knees. With one arm still held in his unrelenting grip, he cockily smiled down at the bun haired girl.
Tenten gritted her teeth. How did all of that even happen?! When did he have time to create a clone? She didn't see him call out any jutsu, no hand seals, no nothing! She didn't turn to face him in fear of dislocating her shoulder, but she did address him, "Where did the clone come from?" She questioned through the pain. There was a silver lining in this precarious situation she found herself in.
He forgot her other arm...
Naruto looked down at the girl before shrugging, inadvertently applying just a bit more pressure onto her arm, "Right when I jumped up onto the tree, I created him above me on that branch. He kept low and stayed in stealth mode to sneak up on you. You weren't close enough to hear me whisper the name of the jutsu either." That was something that plagued Naruto's thoughts day in and day out.
Why did ninjas yell their techniques out every time they used them? In the middle of a battle where both combatants were in direct sight of each other, he could understand that unspoken tradition. But when one was hiding from the other, why shout to give away your position when you held the clear advantage?
It didn't make any sense.
Tenten internally kicked herself for not paying attention to her surroundings completely. As a long range, marksman styled fighter, she was supposed to have the best eyes on the field. This little slip up was completely embarrassing.
It was okay though. She had her way out of this.
With her other hand hidden from his view, she grabbed a handful of dirt and flung it backwards, hitting him directly in the eyes. Her gamble was successful since he let her go to clean out his eyes, and she capitalized immediately by mule kicking him in the stomach before rolling away. Once she got up off of the ground, she put twice as much distance between them as before, idly noticing that one of her buns came undone during her impromptu roll.
"Fuck, my eyes!" The Uzumaki roared as he cleared a majority of it away. For the remaining portion that he couldn't get, he pulsed his chakra out from his face, subconsciously putting a bit of wind chakra in there as well. Once his vision wasn't completely obstructed, he ran towards his target, intent on putting her down for real this time.
There she was, checking her arm for any major damage. He lunged forward, ready to wrap his hands around her throat and deprive this cutie of the necessary oxygen she needed. This'll teach her to use something that he'd probably use on somebody too on him.
Too bad that once again fate had other plans for our favorite jinchuuriki today.
A green blur phased into view, standing directly in front of Tenten.
A foot reached out and made contact with his face, before another one bounced off of his chest to send him flying backwards towards a tree.
The last thing Naruto registered before his vision faded to black was some of the most horrifying eyebrows he'd ever seen in his life, soulless eyes that came from some disturbing corner in hell, and a skin tight green spandex body suit that almost scarred him more than his upbringing with Orochimaru.
X.X.X.
(With Gato and Pals, Later That Night)
The door to Gato's office burst openz startling the money grubbing midget and waking him up , "Wha-Who, what the fuck?!" He yelled as two of his most loyal henchmen ran into his room, one after the other.
"Boss! Everybody's dead! They're all dead!" The shorter one with a purple skull cap screamed.
"Its a fucking bloodbath out there boss, we gotta get out of here!" The taller, muscular one stated as he tried to shut the door behind them.
A giant needle flew right through the flimsy piece of wood through, piercing right through the poor guy's forehead, going downwards in it's trajectory to travel unimpeded through the shorter one's throat, before impaling itself directly into Gato's desk, scarring the midget shirtless. Literally.
Once Gato realized that he emptied his bowels in fear and his two most important lackeys were somehow floating in his office, a voice that sent even more chills down his spine caught his attention, "I'm baaack!"
The light from the moon came into the moon due the large window behind Gato, allowing him to catch a glimpse of what appeared to be a super thin wire attached to the end of the needle sword. At least he had his answer on how his two dead workers weren't laying on the ground now.
The door was kicked open, revealing a bloodsoaked Jinpachi standing there with more of the wire wrapped around his hand, "Did you miss me?"
Visibly sweating and shaking, Gato pushed his chair away from his desk, wanting as much distance between him and this demon as possible, "Please don't tell me that you killed all of the people working for me..."
"Yeah, about that... I've noticed that you're down a couple of workers. Tis a shame, really. Who's gonna protect you now? Who's gonna be able to keep you in charge?" He asked with a shit eating grin.
Realization struck Gato at that moment. This man was a complete fucking psycho, hands down, "Y-you murdered all of my employees... just to get me to hire you?! What the hell is wrong with you?!"
"A lot of things. Oh yeah, I might have tipped off the oppressed little town nearby that you're completely vulnerable. No dangerous thugs to protect you... nobody at all." He then looked out the window behind the terrified man, "Oh would you look at that, they're on their way to come get you. Pitchforks and torches and all." He darkly chuckled.
"You did this! It's your fault!"
"I take full credit for the potential maiming that you're about to receive. If only you could hire somebody to keep that from happening..." He sighed whimsically as he removed Nuibari from Gato's desk. This plot of his served two purposes. The main purpose would reveal itself soon enough, but the secondary purpose was for practice with the Kubikirihocho and Nuibari.
Once he gathered the sword and sealed it away into a storage scroll, he promptly turned and made his way back to the door, intent on leaving Gato to his own devices.
"Wait! I'll pay you whatever you want, just keep them from getting me!" The now defenseless man desperately pleaded.
"... You wouldn't happen to be hiring me as your full-time bodyguard, now would you?" Jinpachi asked, a devious smirk on his face. Sometimes it was just too easy.
"That's exactly what I'm hiring you for, now go scare them off or something!"
Jinpachi laughed as he left the room, "Whatever you say, boss man!"
X.X.X.
Here I am with more fan fiction for the masses! Dealing with the fall out chapters always take me a while to write, man. I don't know why either.
It's something I need to work on. I'll get better at it as time progresses.
But back to the story, time for more plot! Trouble looms over the horizon! A storm is approaching! Green spandex body suits are terrifying!
Danzo is still scheming as always, Mizuki and Pals are up to no good, Naruto just got kicked to sleep by Lee, and Jinpachi is really adamant on staying beside somebody with a lot of connections in the Naruto world.
Huh, I wonder why.
But read and review! Don't vote for Donald Trump! Enjoy your Christmas!
Until next time, SPVNK out.