Guess who's back?
It's good to update again, folks. Culinary school is taking a lot out of me, and I'm working a lot on top of that, but trust me-- I think about this fic almost every single day. Actually, every other hour or so I'm mentally planning something out one thing or another. Four or five complete fights are choreographed inside my head, and I can't wait to get to them.
I'm jacked up on Mountain Dew Game Fuel (the red one) and I'm ready to rumble!
I'm gonna keep this quick. Got some reviews to respond to!
Anthurak The Chaos Lord: Sorry, still no citrus. But I'm dedicated to a full-blown lemon next chapter, which will definetly be a crowd-pleaser! Next chapter in three or four weeks. Deal?
ThirdParty: You're completely right, I should update more. But I wanna do it right, and I want to make it a labor of love. Thanks for the semi-critical review; that stuff keeps me in line.
Dragon Man 180: Man, you're always good to me! You're my most consistent reviewer. Appreciate the attention, man. But like I said, there will be a lemon next chapter. Been thinkin about it for a while, and it's about damn time.
TimeShifter: Don't worry, everything you're wondering about will be shown later on. Yeah, it could take a while (maybe eight or nine chapters at this point) but it'll come out eventually.
Aikori Shukrai: Haven't yet, but I'm gonna check out your work. Sounds interesting! Thanks for reading!
Silver Warrior: Right on all counts. I'll explain more later.
Dameus: Sorry, I've gotten some people asking for me to put the lemons in, and that's what's goin on. Hey, I'm not telling anybody to read this-- Only begging really, really hard.
djz3r0310: Thanks, man. Glad you approve, and can overlook the little stuff.
blackwolf0925: It's on, man. And I took your advice to heart--pay attention further on down the line.
Dusk Ado: The chuunin exam will be unlike anything you've ever thought of or seen on this site before. Please, please be patient with me. I've got a plan. I think.
Ren Mizuki: Thank bro! You're a good one!
Ok, that's enough of that. I gots things to do. Places to be. Enjoy, read, and review!
Chapter 11
Sometimes, no matter how beautiful one's surroundings can be, it will not affect one's general attitude. When someone is hell-bent on anger, or has so much stress on their psyche, not even the most awe-inspiring visage can even flex their dark, grim mood.
This was certainly so with the trio of young shinobi traveling the long, dusty road that gently followed the curve of a mountain that hugged the edge of the short range that separated the group from the provincial town that their destination lay.
The nerves of the Sanseirei were already visibly frayed around the edges; Naruto and Sasuke showed obvious signs of irritation at the slightest thing, and Hinata was even more quiet and withdrawn than usual—as compared to her personality before she was recruited into the elite squad that she was now a part of.
No wonder, Kakashi thought to himself as he walked behind the children several paces back. This is a big day for each one of them. This is their test. This is their… "make it or break it", so to speak. A small smile slipped past his lips. This mission will succeed, one way or another. But I have Sarutobi's orders—let them do as much as possible by themselves without interfering too much. It's important that we know what they're capable of.
Sasuke must slip past that famous temper of his. We need him to be able to let go of his vengeance. He's calmed down…slightly…but he still cannot forget about his brother.
Hinata is still much too meek. Whether or not she has what it takes to complete her end of the mission… has yet to be determined quite yet. She has so much skill, so much potential…It would be a real shame if she fell off here, after she had gained the trust of the mask she now wears. Her timidity could be the death of her—and her compatriots. We don't need her to be a rabbit. But how long can we wait for her to turn into a tiger?
And Naruto… Kakashi paused as he considered the true purpose of his end of the mission. Much as it pained him to admit, he and Sarutobi hadn't been entirely honest with the young man. In fact—
Naruto's been one hundred percent completely duped by now.
Kakashi scowled as he thought about the charade that he had been coerced into by his Hokage. In total truth, they had been very unfair to the boy. They had gently—but surely—manipulated Naruto down the path he and his friends had taken.
Kakashi disliked what he had been asked to do. He didn't always appreciate the Hokage's orders, but he always followed through on them. This, though, was too much, even for him.
From the start, it had never been about Sasuke, or Hinata, or the resurrection of the Sanseirei. Sarutobi could care less about the legacy of the famous shadowy trio. As always, it was all about Naruto.
Naruto, Naruto, Naruto.
Hinata had been brought in to cement his loyalty. Sarutobi knew of its history—how it contained the originator of the Byakugan. For years, top scientists had begged the Konoha hierarchy to let some experimentation be done on it, as well as the other masks. But the masks were too valuable—much too valuable to allow something disastrous befall them. Any single experiment could damage them somehow, or destroy them altogether. Thus, they were kept in the vault, under heavy lock and key, until they were needed.
Hinata was being used as a tool, just as any other shinobi would be used if Sarutobi saw reason and opportunity. Naruto, with the mask, but without a secure anchor, was a wild card at best. He didn't have any great love for the village, or the people. For him, patriotism was a vague concept, best described from the mind, not from the heart.
It was with the heart that he had to be bound. Habitually, Naruto's emotions dictated his actions. Yes, he was often cool and logical, with enough common sense to get him through, but he was known far and wide in the village as hot-headed. Thus, Sarutobi and Kakashi manipulated the team rosters to pair the two young shinobi, Naruto and Hinata, together. Iruka and, to a lesser extent, Mizuki, and noted some of Hinata's strange actions when she was around Naruto while in the academy. That she was habitually nervous, withdrawn, and depressed was no great secret. But whenever Naruto was around at all, her performance, as a whole, rose.
They needed Sasuke for a different reason altogether. The youth had been extremely closely monitored from the moment his family had been slaughtered. Semiannually he had had psychological examinations performed by trained psychologists—including the famed interrogator Yamanaka Inoichi. Each review proved time and again one thing: the boy was getting increasingly unstable, and unless he was emotionally directed somewhere, anywhere, he would waste his life away trying to kill his brother.
The village was full of avengers as it was. Murder and payback was the shinobi way of life. But the Sharingan was a tool, a weapon, that the leaders of the village was not willing or ready to let go of. If he went rogue one day, or disappeared, or was captured, one of their greatest aces in the hole would be gone forever. Konoha had a reputation to maintain—as the permanent home of two of the three greatest doujitsu in the world. This fact gave them enormous political and militaristic clout among the shinobi nations that they could not have otherwise.
The loss of the Uchiha was a blow to the pride of the village, and their military ability was cut by a significant percentage. Other villages became more bold in missions where their shinobi had to go against Konoha—without the threat of the Sharingan, they just didn't seem as imposing anymore.
Putting Sasuke and Naruto on the same team served a dual purpose: it somewhat grounded the young Uchiha while giving him a sense of direction with the Sanseirei, and it gave him some competition with Naruto. History proved that two shinobi of similar strength levels paired together were more likely to compete for strength. If that was the case with them, Naruto and Sasuke would constantly be working to outdo each other.
Sasuke would finally, after four long years of solitude and pain… have a brother, once again.
At least, Kakashi though with a grimace, that's the plan.
The Jounin sighed as he kept pace with the children. Rule 52: A shinobi is a tool. A tool never questions what its use is for. A tool never says no to a task. A tool only completes the task at hand and is always ready for the next.
I hate that rule, he thought to himself as he eyed something small on the horizon. I like the unspoken rule better— "Sometimes, break some rules." A small smile crossed his lips at the whim. That one really is my favorite.
His mood suddenly grew serious as he sped up slightly to catch up with the three shinobi under his command. Although he was only a few feet behind them, he seemed to catch Naruto by surprise.
"Wha—oh, Nagano-sensei!" Naruto said, seemingly breaking his funk.
Kakashi smiled at his pupil. "Calm down, Seijuro-kun," he said. "It's nothing big." He then stopped dead in the middle of the road. His hand inched slightly closer to the hilt of his sword, and the Sanseirei's hackles were raised. The three stepped closer to their master; something was up.
"What's wrong?" Hinata asked Kakashi.
The man knelt on one knee, the better to talk quietly to his students. "'Tanaka'," he said softly, "take a look at the grass about three hundred yards ahead of us, and tell me what you see. Don't let it be obvious that you're scouting out ahead; just a quick glance should do."
Sasuke nodded. With the keenest eyes out of the three without an activated doujutsu, he was the obvious lookout. He glanced over at where Kakashi had indicated, and immediately saw what his master saw. Instead of quickly reporting, though, he took a long look at the mountain itself that they were traveling around, as if searching for something on its craggy face.
"I saw it," he said quietly and quickly. "The grass and ferns—they're disturbed. Looks as if a small group of men, maybe five or six, are somewhere over there. An ambush, maybe? Who could it be?"
Kakashi's eyes furrowed in thought. "I…don't know. There are plenty of people who'd want to kill any one of us—"
"Thanks for the thought," mumbled Naruto.
"—But nobody knows where we are," Kakashi finished, with a slight scowl aimed at the blonde. "Any decent ninja would be adept at covering their tracks, and wouldn't leave such obvious signs of a trap. So…"
"Could it be bandits?" Hinata asked. "Just random criminals hiding on the road, waiting for easy pickings?"
Kakashi thought for a moment. "It's a strong possibility," he said. "Very strong, matter of fact." Hinata beamed at the implied praise.
"However," he said, "it could be another kind of trap—one that would lull us into a false sense of security. If it was bandits, we wouldn't need to try too hard to beat them down. But if they're enemy shinobi, they could be hiding somewhere we cannot see."
"So what do we do?" asked Naruto.
Kakashi's eyes were set. "We'll keep going," he said. "Whatever the game is, we won't know until we play it. Be cautious, but don't make it obvious that you're looking for or expecting trouble. If we can get by without trouble, all the better for us."
"But what about the next people who pass?" Naruto asked. "This is a trade route! Someone could get hurt by them!"
Kakashi's expression was cold as ice. "That is none of our concern," he said. "We have a job to do. We can't afford to get side-tracked by idle fantasies of playing hero."
Naruto bit his tongue; it wouldn't do to get into a verbal spat with someone like Kakashi, especially when they were as exposed as they were. "Fine," he said. "It doesn't matter."
"Good," Kakashi said. "Now that I have your consent, let's get going." He stood up and made his way down the path around the mountain, toward the next village, his students in tow.
Silence followed the next few minutes as they traveled together, without saying a word. Despite Kakashi's instructions to remain calm, Naruto's sword arm felt twitchy. It felt as if his unnamed sword was begging to be drawn from its scabbard. He was itching for a fight, yearning for the rush of combat and adrenalin.
He wanted blood.
The realization shocked him. Hadn't the Kyuubi been locked away from any influence of him? Shouldn't the bloodlust have been waned?
It's my own lust, he grasped suddenly. I, myself, want to fight. This thought disturbed him slightly—but also, amazingly, excited him. New aspects of his personality were making themselves known constantly, and it could still be a while before he knew everything about himself—if ever.
The more complicated a plan is, the more things can go wrong with it. Simple is always best. But sometimes, one little thing can go wrong and disturb the best-planned strategies. A whisper, a clue, a tiniest hint can destroy the foundations of a mission. Assassinations are inherently complex at the best of times, nearly impossible at the worst. Assassination/infiltration/espionage missions are horribly convoluted.
Especially when you meet the target on an early afternoon's walk.
About fifty from the curve of the road where the path turned around the mountain, where the grasses were disturbed, Naruto and company got the most unpleasant shock of their lives: seemingly from out of nowhere, a small band of men appeared from around the bend, walking the opposite way of them, coming directly toward the quartet.
In the lead was a face that they had all become familiar with: Nagasaki Bunpei, the lord of Kawachi province of Fire country. Behind him were four men, two of whom were in kimonos and sandals, one in a suit, and one in a torn tan vest with denim shorts. The first two carried swords at their waists, the third at his back over his right shoulder, but the fourth had no obvious weapons on his person. He walked with his hands in his pockets, and whistled a directionless tune through dirty blond bangs.
For a split second, Hinata froze a step. A streak of terror flashed across her face as she beheld the man she had been sent to kill.
Sasuke and Naruto immediately recognized that she was in trouble, and maneuvered to cover up the situation. Sasuke stepped in front of her to block the incoming group from seeing her expression, and Naruto went to her side. He placed a hand at the small of her back and whispered into her ear, "Be calm, ok? Something's not right, but we have to see this through. Kakashi will figure it out… I hope."
Hinata looked at him with less fear in her eyes, and nodded shortly. She set her resolve, so quickly that Naruto was quite taken aback. She was showing much more spit and fire lately than ever before; was she even the same person he had fallen in love with anymore?
Really?
Hinata, collected, stepped from behind Sasuke as the two groups encountered each other, roughly twenty-five feet from the place where the supposed bandits were hiding.
Strange, Kakashi thought just as they closed in on each other. Maybe they aren't there at all? I can't risk activating the Sharingan… Maybe I was wrong?
Kakashi indicated with a hand gesture to his three students to move to the side of the road to allow the party to pass by without incident. They obeyed, though Naruto's eyes never left the other group as a whole.
The group in question, however, seemed to have other plans. The men with swords moved to block the path, while the unarmed man stood close by Nagasaki. The man in question had a frown on his face as he watched his men move into formation to intercept the newcomers.
"Good morning," Kakashi said to Nagasaki, showing proper respect to the man. Even though he supposedly didn't know the man, he held an air of importance, and carried himself like someone of nobility. Obviously, with men like that, he had to be someone of consequence. "May we pass? I do not know who you are, but we wish you no ill will. We merely want to be on our way, and if we are to make it to our destination by sundown we cannot afford to slow down."
The man scowled. "I am Nagasaki Bunpei," he said dryly, "and I am the lord of the land that you now stand on. State your names and business in my realm. Only employees of the state are permitted to carry weapons on my domain."
Kakashi scowled back at the man. "My name is Nagano Yahiko. This is my son, Tanaka, and my pupils, Tsukioka Seijuro and Shinomori Misao. I'm a samurai-turned-ronin from the Land of Rice. I do odd jobs, and I take bodyguard work when I can. I am just trying to provide for my kids here… I was run out of my home last year, and it's been tough lately. Please, let me pass, and I'll be off of your land as soon as possible."
The weaponless man asked, "You were a samurai? From which school of combat?"
Kakashi shifted his weight slightly. "I am the last student of the Denkou Tosshin no Kami," he said after a moment's pause. "Why do you ask?"
"Oh…Just curious." One of the samurai in kimono caught his eye with a slight smile on his face. The man who seemed to be the main bodyguard nodded at him—
In the blink of an eye, the duel was over and done with. The samurai stepped quickly toward Kakashi, drew his sword when he was no more than a few feet away in expert battōjutsu and drew in for the kill.
Kakashi was faster. He drew his own blade, but set it in a defensive position and placed the flat of his hand just one inch from the tip, fingers rigidly extended. The up-to-down position looked awkward, especially with the waist bend Kakashi had to do to make the block—
But when the swords struck each other, something practically insane occurred: the samurai's sword shattered into dozens, if not hundreds, of pieces and flew with angry shrieks into the forest grove by the path.
Naruto was stunned—there was no way in hell that either of them had held back. Somehow, though, the samurai had managed to dodge the shrapnel that had been his weapon.
"What the hell?!" he shouted as he stared at his broken stump of a blade. "How the hell did you do that?"
Kakashi calmly sheathed his sword. He looked at the samurai and smiled. "I told you," he said. "Denkou Tosshin no Kami. It's one of the strongest defensive schools in the known world, and I am its last inheritor. The point is to hold ground and turn energy back to my enemies. What I did is very simple if you just know how to…stand still.
"Now, why did you attack me?" he asked the weaponless shinobi. "Acts of aggression on weary travelers aren't very kind."
The bodyguard in the vest laughed, loudly and energetically. "Why not?" he said. "You just said you were the inheritor of the Denkou Tosshin, a style I have never even heard of. I wanted to see what it was all about."
Kakashi eyed the man levelly. "You…had your man attack me, risk both of our lives… because you were curious?"
He laughed. "Yep, that pretty much covers it."
Kakashi sighed. "I don't believe this," he said. "Come one, kids," he directed his charges. "Misao-chan, hand me the map we got in the last town. I'll figure out the fastest way out of this insane place." He looked at the lord, who was himself smirking. "We—and our swords—will be out of here soon, don't worry about that."
Nagasaki held up a hand to halt the Jounin. "Wait, wait please," he said, in a voice meant to pacify. "My bodyguards just got a little bit overexcited. There's not much opportunity to test their skills these days, and they get restless. Please accept my apologies, on behalf of them."
Kakashi's posture became more relaxed. "I can understand their situation," he said, "having been there myself once or twice. But that's still no excuse for their actions. What if they had killed me? Would you excuse the murder?"
For the first time, the samurai in the suit spoke up. "You know the way of the sword," he said in a calm, dispassionate tone. "A duel can happen anytime, anywhere, with anyone. You wear your blade proudly—why are you ashamed of displaying your skill?"
"I am ashamed of nothing," Kakashi said. "But I have these children to think of. Without me, they'd have nothing to direct them, and I swore I'd protect them until they could take care of themselves. Now, please, get out of my way so I can get out of here."
The man in the vest began to say something, but Nagasaki cut him off with a curt wave of his hand, much to his apparent annoyance. "That's enough, Ishin," he barked at his bodyguard. "We've unconvinced—Nagano, wasn't it? Yes, Nagano Yahiko enough as it is."
He drew to the side of the path, and his guard—if somewhat reluctantly—followed suit. The three young shinobi gathered close by him as they passed by the group, each one eying closely the other. Hushed conversation followed them as they got out of normal speaking range of each other; the guards were examining the stump of a sword in the samurai's hand, while the shinobi moved in strict silence.
Naruto pulled up even with Kakashi. "What the hell?" he said in a whisper. "What the fuck just happened?"
"Quiet," Kakashi replied. "This isn't over. Not by a long shot."
"What do you mean?" Naruto said.
"My Sharingan says there are seven men in the grass over there," Kakashi replied with forced calmness. "In ten seconds they're going to jump us. Do me a favor, please."
Naruto's pulse quickened as adrenalin kicked in. "What would that be?" he asked his sensei.
Kakashi smiled slightly. "Just don't die, ok?"
Naruto didn't have time to respond; his first real battle as a shinobi for the Leaf had just begun.
As one, the bandits leapt out of the coverage of grasses and other greenery. Four carried swords, one a trident, and the other two large clubs, one spiked with nails.
They attacked with surprising speed and skill. The trident-wielding outlaw, the man with the spiked club, and two of the sword-wielding men converged directly on Kakashi. The other three attacked the young shinobi individually.
The trident targeted directly at Kakashi's chest. Almost casually, he jumped into the air in a tight somersault and landed with his hands on the shaft of the weapon. Using the man's own considerable mass against him, he used the weapon as an anchor to twist his body in a sharp and violent kick at the side of the man's head. He grunted, and fell to the ground in a limp heap.
The two men with swords took the opportunity to strike straight on at Kakashi in midair before he had a chance to hit the ground and gain leverage to defend himself. To their dismay, however, Kakashi was faster in any situation than either of them. With a roll in midair, he drew his sword almost quicker than the human eye could see and decapitated the swordsman on the left. The sword carried momentum through the spray of blood as the man's head flew off to the side, and made its way toward the second bandit.
He managed to pull his head back in time to avoid complete decapitation, but his throat was almost fully and cleanly sliced from chin to chin. By the time Kakashi had touched the ground to focus on the last man, the headless body had fallen to a muddy, bloody pile on the path and the second man was clutching his throat in deadly desperation to survive.
One dead, one dying, one unconscious. Three down, one to go.
The man with the spiked club had managed to stay out of the initial confrontation. While Kakashi's back was turned, he swung down at his head with incredible force and speed.
Kakashi side-stepped easily as the club slammed into the dirt and gravel, sending soil and blood scattering in a fine spray into the air all around. A cloud of dust rose up, momentarily obscuring the ground around him.
"Wha—Where'd he go?" he said stupidly as he yanked the spiked weapon out of the dirt. He looked over his left shoulder, then the right one.
"Right here," Kakashi said. He had been hiding in the man's largest blind spot—right behind him. He was abnormally large and tall; it was child's play to stay back-to-back with him without his noticing.
Before he could react, Kakashi twisted his blade into a reverse grip in his fist. Blood splattered in the air as he dispassionately plunged the sword into his back, through his lung, and out of his chest. He held himself there for a second… then fell face-first into the ground in a pool of his own blood. A gurgle exited his lips as he died, and with a final wheeze, he, whoever he was, was no more.
Kakashi looked toward his pupils, and was satisfied with what he saw.
The Sanseirei had reacted almost as quickly as Kakashi in their own individual fights. As soon as the apparent trap was sprung, they had divided to give each other room to maneuver.
Two of the swordsmen attacked Hinata and Naruto, while the man with the unspiked club went for Sasuke.
An instant before Naruto and Hinata drew their swords, they locked eyes with each other. Hinata mouthed a single word—"press"—and Naruto quickly nodded his head. In their time together while training with Gekko, they had practiced a few maneuvers that could work in fights with the two of them against multiple opponents. They'd been given single-word code names for on-the-fly reactions in intense situations.
"Press" was one of the tactics they had put together with Gekko. It was simple, yet deadly.
Just the way Naruto liked it.
Naruto's attacker already had his sword in hand when he was upon him. He jumped into the air to deliver a downward slash at Naruto's head. Naruto dodged to the side to press up close to Hinata.
Hinata's bandit preferred to remain low and fast, and aimed the tip of his sword at Hinata's heart. She, likewise, moved toward Naruto. They linked their left hands, and hooked their left feet together to act as a fulcrum. They kicked off with their right legs and spun in an extremely low, extremely fast spin of angry child and deadly metal.
The bandits never knew what hit them. Hinata and Naruto slashed at their ankles, their calves, and their knees. As they fell to the ground in screams of pain and splashes of blood, the continued momentum allowed them to continue the cyclone.
Sasuke's fight was over nearly as soon as it began. His outlaw swung his club horizontally at his head, while Sasuke simply ducked a few inches and let his momentum work for his advantage. The bandit obviously wasn't trained; he relied on brute force.
Sasuke, however, had skill enough for a dozen of him. In a simple technique that he had practiced hundreds of times, he drew his sword while taking a quick step forward. With his textbook battōjutsu, the man was dead from a huge slash across his chest that must have gone through at least two ribs to reach his heart. With a spray of blood, some of which stained Sasuke's clothing, the man fell to the floor, dead.
All four fights ended at nearly the same instant, and took roughly four seconds from start to finish. But as quickly as they had begun and concluded, the aftereffects came even more quickly.
Suddenly, Naruto couldn't breathe. His breath seemed to catch in his throat. The sudden combination of excitement and endorphins and adrenalin crashed at him like a shock to his body. Although the fight had lasted only a few scant seconds, and his victory had been clear and decisive, he was still worn out, mind, body, and soul.
The tip of his upright blade wavered inches around, left to right, up to down. He just couldn't hold his sword still, not for anything.
Hinata, Naruto knew, would be much, much worse than he. With one quick look over her shoulder, his worse fears were instantly confirmed.
Hinata had gotten the worse of the blood spatter from their fight. Due to the multiple lightning-quick slashes they had bestowed on the men they had killed, several thin, tight lines of crimson streaked her clothing at odd angles.
Her sword had dropped to the ground at he feet, and was covered in blood. It had landed right next to the corpse of the man who had initially faced off with Naruto, and the hilt itself was lying just beside an oozing wound on his stomach.
Naruto saw her in profile; her hair hung over her face in a ragged pile across her face in limp strands, and her arms swayed gently at her side, seemingly without her moving them.
Naruto flung aside his sword and just barely managed to catch her as she fell limply to the ground. "Hinata!" he whispered fiercely to her as she hung like dead weight in his arms. He was forced to kneel on the ground to hold her without contorting her torso. "Hinata, come on! Snap out of it!"
"Seijuro?" Sasuke said as he quickly found his way to Naruto's side. "What's wrong with Misao-chan?"
Worry filled Naruto's eyes as the worst possible scenerio he could think of came to mind. "I-I don't know!" he said. "It was only four or five seconds-- The fight-- I don't know what happened!"
Kakashi was suddenly by their side, kneeling on the ground with Naruto and Hinata. "She's gone into shock," he said solemly. "She's never killed before, or seen so much blood. Seijuro, quick! Get out your blanket, now! Wrap her tight, and keep her warm. Do you see her face? She's flushing and sweating. Those are common symptoms of shock. I've never seen a case this extreme, this quickly. We need to get her someplace safe, and now."
Naruto complied with Kakashi's directives at once; within seconds, Hinata was cocooned tightly with the thick woolen blanket from his pack. Kakashi held her as he attended her, but Naruto physically insisted on holding her as she began shivering, only slightly, but steadily.
Just one second later, it seemed, the entorage of Nagasaki's was at the side of Naruto's group. The lord was out of breath; apparently, he had sprinted toward the site of the battle as soon as it had concluded. His guard, none the worse for the run, were beside and behind him. Just moments before, he had seemed cold, distantf. But obvious concern was plastered on his face as he recovered his breathing. "Ha... ha..." he huffed as he visually examined Hinata. "Is... is she ok?" he asked as he straightened up.
Kakahi scowled at Nagasaki. "No, she's not ok," he said with venom in his voice. "I've been training these three for two years now, but this was the first serious fight she's ever been in. She's never killed before, and she's slipped into shock. I have no idea where the nearest clinic is, or even a doctor. Please, leave us. We need to get her to someone. Anyone! It doesn't matter who!"
Nagasaki looked to one of his samurai--the man in the suit. "Shinji-san," he said with surprising respect, "as far as you know, is there anyone close to here who can help this girl?"
The samurai--Shinji--closed his eyes in quick thought. "No," he said after a minute. "Not at all. We're ten miles from your manor, eleven from the rest of the town. From the way they came from, we're over twenty miles gone. The fastest way to get her medical attention is for Yamamoto-san to carry her to your personal physician to stabilize her condition. She won't die without treatment… but if someone doesn't help her now, it could take days, or weeks, for her to recover."
"Yamamoto?" Kakashi said as he looked up at the speaker. "Which one's that?"
Shinji pointed one long finger toward the weaponless bodyguard. "Him," he said listlessly. "He's the fastest of us all. Used to be a ninja. Could be there in twenty minutes if he wanted, maybe."
"Hm?" Yamamoto said. "Me, carry her? Man, that's a lot of work for someone I just met."
Kakashi had to hold up an arm to stop Naruto from flying at the man. "Don't worry about carrying her!" Kakashi said as she scooped Hinata into his arms. "I'm no ninja, but I'm plenty good to keep up with anyone. Just lead the way, ok? Think you can do that?"
Yamamoto began slowly stretching his arms. "Think you can keep up?" he said, slightly mockingly.
Kakashi narrowed his eyes. "Try me," he said flatly.
Yamamoto glanced over at his employer. "Is this ok with you, Nagasaki-sama?" he asked.
Nagasaki was beginning to look a little queasy; apparently, he was not at all used to the sight of so much blood and gore. After all, seven bodies were not a sight for the weak. "Yes, yes, that's fine," he said faintly. "Hurry, please, the rest of us will come after you. Expect us in a few hours…"
Naruto gathered up his and Hinata's swords and quickly wiped the blood off of them with a cloth from his pocket for that exact purpose. "I'm coming too," he said to nobody in particular. "Don't try to stop me."
A strained smile crossed Nagasaki's lips. "I wouldn't dream of it," he said. "I saw you two move together; you're obviously very close."
"I'll stay with these guys," Sasuke said. "You hurry along. I just don't feel like running all that way."
Naruto nodded. He knew that Sasuke probably just wanted to get a better read on Nagasaki Bunpei. "Whatever," he said dismissively.
Kakashi looked at Yamamoto. "Let's go," he said with authority in his voice.
Yamamoto shrugged and pulled his hands out of his pockets for the first time. "You're the boss," he said evenly. He turned down the road in the general direction of the manor, and the doctor. "Like I said," he said over his shoulder, "can you keep up?" He started running down the path without waiting for an answer at what appeared to be top speed. A dust cloud appeared a split second later where he had just stood.
Naruto looked at Kakashi in shock. "He's fast," the young man said.
Kakashi looked back at his student. "He is," Kakashi replied. "Let's be faster." Without waiting for a reply, Kakashi sped after the former shinobi, taking extreme care to not hurt Hinata in the process. Naruto fell into pace just behind him, running as quick as possible to keep up with his sensei and his precious cargo. Within moments, the running crew was out of sight of the lord and his guard, plus Sasuke.
"…Well," said Shinji after an awkward moment of silence. "This day has just gotten a bit more interesting… Those kids your friends?"
Sasuke started walking after the crew. "No," he said over his shoulder. "They're the last of my family." And with that, he focused on learning as much about the samurai and Nagasaki Bunpei as possible in the few short hours he had.
Naruto's lungs were burning by the sixth mile. Even though he'd easily be able to travel several times the distance by hopping across tree-tops, the road wasn't the tree-tops. He had to pump his legs a thousand times a second, it seemed, just to keep up with the two grown warriors ahead of him.
It wasn't as if Naruto was out of shape—even for a shinobi, he was exceptionally fit. But he was chasing two mature men who had a long history of controlling their chakra sufficiently to move at blinding speeds. Despite his couldn't-care-less attitude, Yamamoto wasn't cutting Kakashi any slack. He was fast; he hadn't just been boasting when he asked Kakashi if he could keep up.
Although they were moving at top speed, they didn't seem to be over-exerting themselves in the least. Naruto, on the other hand, was struggling to keep up. If only they were moving just a little bit slower, he could keep up—
NO! his subconscious screamed at him. The faster you move, the more quickly Hinata can be treated! There is no room for error, not a minute of it!
The thought of Hinata's condition worsening spurred Naruto's spirit. With a burst, he closed the distance between himself and Kakashi in one or two seconds and managed to stay alongside him for the remainder of the run.
At the pace they set for themselves, in almost no time at all they had exited the mountain range, had passed the scattered farms alongside the roads, and reached the main gates of the household that was the home of Nagasaki.
Naruto didn't have time to admire the beauty of the estate—for it truly was beautiful—as Yamamoto, quickly followed by Kakashi and Naruto, leapt over the iron gate at the entrance and into the main courtyard. Yamamoto ran around to the right side of the quarters and across a small pond in the middle of the yard to a small building set apart from the main house. As Kakashi and Naruto caught up, he had already knocked on the door.
As soon as he stopped moving, Naruto seemed to have lost all energy. He fell to one knee, inhaling and exhaling enormous breaths as he struggled to regain himself. Blood rushed to his face as oxygen began flowing more normally through his body. His heart rate was slowing, slowly but surely. Sweat beaded on his forehead as his internal temperature rose from his sudden exertion.
The door opened in the smaller but still sizable building. A man appeared in the threshold in surgical scrubs and a lab coat. In his hand he held a clipboard with a thick stack of papers attached. He was tall and thin, almost appearing emaciated. He was of middle age with iron-gray hair and similarly-colored eyes.
"Yamamoto-san," he barked at the samurai as his eyes roved over Hinata bundled in Kakashi's arms. "What's the situation at hand?"
Yamamoto stepped to the side and quickly and concisely explained what had happened just shortly before. The physician nodded curtly. "Follow me," he said. Kakashi rushed after him into the building, closely followed by Naruto. Yamamoto took up the rear, closing the door behind them with a soft click.
The clinic was brightly lit, extremely white, and sterile-looking. There were a few chairs and a table in the first room, but they didn't stop there. The doctor opened the second door on the left with a heavily-veined hand and guided the small party through.
"Set her down, there," he said. "Gently now! You, what is your name?" he said, pointing at Naruto.
"Uh—Seijuro," Naruto said. "Tsukioka Seijuro."
"Hold her up, keep her upright," the doctor said. "I need her ready to respond to me, if she can." Under his breath, he muttered, "Damn idiots. All these swords and killers and such, no wonder if some of them get messed up." Naruto didn't know if he was talking about Hinata in particular, or all swordsmen in general, but he instantly felt some apprehension towards the man.
The doctor got down on one knee and peered into Hinata's eyes. He shined a penlight in one, then another. He hummed to himself, then put his finger on her neck to check for a pulse. "How long has she been like this?" he asked nobody in particular.
"About twenty-five minutes," answered Kakashi.
"Hmm…" the doctor said. He snapped a finger in front of Hinata's face; no reaction. "Does she have any history of disease that you know of?" he asked Kakashi.
"No."
"Abuse?"
"Somewhat"
"Emotional stress?"
"…She came from an abusive family. When I left my home, I took her along with my son and his friend. There wasn't much there for either of them. Today was her first time in actual combat, though." Kakashi was privately amazed that he hadn't told a lie yet.
"Hmm…" He patted her on the cheek, then pinched it. "People with histories of emotional abuse--especially young people--are susceptible to shock like this." He looked at the Jounin. "I might have to do something you'll disagree with," he said to Kakashi.
Kakashi paused for a moment. "Ok," he said finally. "Do it."
Without preamble he did something that scared the hell out of Naruto—he cocked his arm back and slapped Hinata across the face with a resounding smack!
"HEY!" Naruto said as the echoes died in the small room.
Naruto didn't have time to get too angry at the doctor; Hinata leapt out of his arms and launched herself at him. "YOU ASSHOLE!" she screamed as she flew at him.
Naruto wrapped his arms around her mid-section and pulled her back amidst a flurry of flailing arms and legs. "Let me go, Seijuro!" she shrieked. "Let me get him!"
The doctor had moved away from the girl with surprising agility. A crooked smile was plastered across his face as he crossed his arms across his chest. "My methods may be drastic, sometimes," he said evenly, "but they usually do work."
"Calm down, Misao!" Naruto said as he struggled to keep a grip on her. She was much stronger than she looked, for sure. "He's a doctor! He helped you out of shock!"
Hinata elbowed him in the ribs. With a whoosh of expelled air, he let go of her. "I don't care!" she screamed. "I want his ass!"
In a blur Kakashi stepped in her path. "That's enough," he said calmly. "Misao…Sit down. Now."
Hinata blanched and did as she was told. She sat next to Naruto with an apologetic look on her face. Naruto grinned at her and held her hand. "It's ok," he whispered to her. "There's nothing to worry about. You're fine, and that's all that matters to me." Hinata squeezed his hand reassuringly, and leaned a little bit of her weight on him.
"We haven't been properly introduced," Kakashi said. "I am Nagano Yahiko, ronin. These two are my students, Tsukioka Seijuro and Shinomori Misao. My son opted to stay with your employer and the rest of his guard."
The doctor nodded. "Museshi Yuri, at your service," he said. "Private physician for that over-worried Nagasaki. I swear, he's so paranoid about getting sick he had me design the most advanced private clinic in the country." He shook his head in exasperation as he washed his hands. "Sorry for the slap, my dear," he said to Hinata. "I needed you to come to your senses, and sometimes the direct way is the best."
"She appreciates your efforts, I'm sure," Kakashi said dryly. "But could you have done it without making her want to kill you?"
Museshi dried his hands and casually tossed the paper towel into the trash over his shoulder. "Maybe I could have," he said, "If you were willing to wait a few days, or weeks, perhaps. It may seem barbaric, but the old ways can be the most effective. I gave her two focuses to bring her out of shock—the physical pain of the slap, and anger at me. I didn't think she'd quite so drastically—but, there you go." He smiled more warmly, and Naruto found himself liking the man. "Again, my apologies, my dear."
"It's ok," Hinata said with a blush. "I didn't mean to jump at you l-like that…"
Naruto smirked. "Tell that to my rib cage," he said, making Hinata blush even more.
"Enough," said Kakashi wearily. "Yamamoto, if it's all the same to you, we will wait here until my son arrives with your master. We'll show our gratitude for allowing you to treat Misao, then we'll take our leave."
With a start, Naruto realized that the swordless samurai was still with them. "Hey, it's your call," he said with a careless shrug. "But I'd stick around if I were you."
Kakashi cocked an eye. "Why's that?" he asked.
"Nagasaki's always looking for top-class help," Yamamoto said, "and you seem like you fit the bill. You're no ordinary samurai, are you?"
"...Not really," Kakashi said. "My master was a samurai from the Land of Iron. He passed on his teachings to me. I share some skills with shinobi, but am not. You are an odd one yourself..."
Yamamoto smiled. "I suppose," he said lightly. "I used to be a ninja, a long time ago. One of the Mist Seven Swordsmen, matter of fact."
Kakashi paused for a moment. "I seem to recall hearing something about them," he said cautiously. "Not much, but enough to know not to cross swords with them if I could help it."
The samurai laughed. "You've been given good advice," he said. "The Mist aren't easy shinobi to beat, especially that squad."
"And you just... Left?" Kakashi asked. "Why?"
Yamamoto shrugged as he pulled open the door and exited. "A conflict of interests," he said as he walked away and out the door. "I didn't like my boss."
Kakashi sighed as he picked up his satchel. "He's not very friendly, is he?" he asked the doctor.
Museshi shook his head. "Not really, no," he said. "He's had a hard life, and I've seen his scars. Some of the stories he's told me still keep me up at night on occasion. I'm nervous just being around him. Friendly? I'd be petrified if he was a nice guy."
"Eh...Yeah," Naruto said. "I get it, he's scary. But he's a samurai, right? Where's his sword?"
The doctor's eyes grew flinty. "I don't know," he said. "I've never seen it. Nobody here has. As far as I know, nobody alive ever has."
Naruto looked at Hinata. "Weird," he said.
Museshi snorted. "You have no idea."
"Is there anyplace we can rest for the time being?" Kakashi asked, interrupting the conversation. "It's already been a long day, and we'd like to be rested when Nagasaki arrives, if it's all the same to you."
The doctor nodded. "Of course," he said. He walked out of the exam room, but headed further into the building. "This way, please," he said. "There are a couple rooms back here for recovering patients, but they can easily be used for simple bed rest."
Museshi opened the door to a room just down the hall, and when Naruto looked inside, he gasped. There were two twin-sized beds on opposite sides of the room, each with a thick red comforter, a patterned quilt at its foot, and two plump pillows. Never had he seen anything so comfortable looking. "This is you recovery room?" he asked the doctor. "I'd get used to this if it meant getting sick every day!"
The older man smiled. "Like I said, no expense was spared in this place. Comfort and practicality, that's my motto."
"We appreciate the effort," said Kakashi. "These two can take this room; Seijuro snores, and I want some decent sleep for once."
Museshi laughed. "I understand completely," he said with a grin. "My own wife snores loud enough to wake the dead. I'd swear I was going deaf in my left ear, with all the years we've slept together."
Kakashi nodded. "Thank you," he said, "for everything. I don't think we'll be staying around here much longer, but we really do appreciate your help."
"Not a problem," Museshi said with a smile. "Just doing my job." He then left the room with a wave of his hand at Kakashi. "Your room is right across the hall, Nagano-san. I'll have someone sent for you when Nagasaki arrives. Until then, rest, please." With that, he left the room and delved even deeper into the building.
"Get some sleep, you two," Kakashi said as he walked into his room. "Especially you, Misao. We have a long day ahead of us, and we can all use what rest we can get."
"Yes, Sensei," the chorused. Kakashi closed his door, leaving Naruto and Hinata together, alone.
Naruto guided Hinata into the room and closed the door behind him. "Well... Listen, we need to get some rest, so--"
Hinata interrupted him. "No," she said. "Naruto, I'm not tired. We need to talk, ok?"
"Shh!" Naruto said, spasmatically looking over his shoulder. "Not so loud!"
Hinata smiled. "It's ok, Naruto," she said. "I've been practicing, and I can see with my Byakugan without activating it fully. There aren't any listening devices or anything like that in here, and besides Kakashi-sensei, there aren't any other people around here who can hear us. We're as safe as if we were back home."
Naruto arched a brow. "Is that supposed to reassure me?" he asked the girl.
Hinata sighed. "I guess you're right," she said. "No place is safe, really. But we do need to talk."
"About... what happened earlier?"
She nodded. "Yes, of course. Naruto--" Up untill now, she had held her composure, but she just suddenly broke down. "N-Naruto," she said as tears began to stream down her face, "I-I can't do this anymore! I c-can't kill like that! T-those outlaws, they didn't have a c-chance against us, they couldn't have fought back!"
She collapsed on the bed, looking like nothing so much as a pathetic huddle of sorrow. "I just don't k-know what the Hokage was t-thinking, putting me here with you t-two," she sobbed. She put her hands on her face and just let the flood-gates open; a wave of tears escaped her eyes and her body convulsed in spasms.
Naruto sat down next to her and wrapped his arms around her; he had such great empathy with her, he could almost feel her sorrow in his own heart. "Shh, shh, Hinata, calm down," he said. "It's going to be all right. Please trust me, it'll be all right. I love you, please, please calm down."
"It's not going to be all right!" she exclaimed through her tears. "I b-broke after my first fight! Do you think Kakashi's not going to tell Sarutobi? He has to! He'll take the mask away from me, Aoiryu from me, and I'll go b-back to my f-father..." The thought of this just seemed to break her even more. Naruto had to hold onto her to keep her from slipping to the floor in a heap. "I don't want to go back," she whimpered. "I can't g-go back. P-please, don't let me go b-back..."
Naruto leaned her back so that he was supporting her across his lap. He held her there, holding on tightly, murmering softly to her. "That'll never happen," he said quietly in her ear. "They'll never take you away from me, not now, not ever. I love you too much to ever, ever let go. They'll never take Aoiryu from you, either; by now, she's as much a part of you as your very own soul. You're her spiritual descendent, and you'll have her near forever, I promise."
He held her closer than ever. "And... I swear to whatever god is out there, on my life, that you'll never go back to your father. You're stronger than him, you know it in your mind--" He broke off and placed his hand on her chest. "But you need to learn it in your heart."
Hinata put her hand on top of his. "Do you p-promise?" she whispered to Naruto. "Will you really always be there for me?"
Naruto leaned down and kissed her softly, compassionately. He tasted tears on her lips. "I swear it," he said.
With those simple words, all of the tension and stress and fear seemed to leave her body. She became soft in his arms and relaxed as the taste of his lips lingered on hers. She laughed, softly. "I'm sorry for being so insecure," she said as she buried her face in his warm, yielding chest. "I'm just so worried, so worried about everything."
Naruto kissed her forehead. "It's ok to be insecure every now and then." He smiled warmly at her. "I'm insecure almost every minute of the day, so you really don't have much to worry about."
"Hmm? What do you have to be insecure about?" she asked him.
Naruto sighed. "How many people do you know who have demons living inside of them?"
Hinata chuckled. "Just you and Sasuke," she said with a smile. "I, however, have an angel. Beat that, if you can."
Naruto smiled again. "You win!" he said as he squeezed her in a hug. "You always do, anyway."
She yawned. "Naruto... I think I really am tired after all. Really, really t..." She fell asleep in his arms, and within moments was snoring lightly.
"I guess you were, my love," he said to her sleeping form. He lifted her softly and set her down gently on the bed more comfortably. He lay down next to her and put the quilt at the foot of the bed over them. He wanted her to stay warm, and her well-being was the most important thing in the world to him. He loved her beyond life and death. He would do anything to keep her safe.
Hinata unconsciously snuggled more closely to Naruto, her gentle curves fitting to his body. Love exploded inside of his heart.
The next few hours were the best sleep he had ever had.
A/N: Ok! There you go! The latest chapter in my saga! I hope this meets everyone's expectations, but for the lemon. This is honestly more like the first part of chapter 11, and the next will be 11.5. I just didn't want to do the whole damn thing in one go like that.
Please forgive any grammatical errors; I didn't run this by any beta, so it's all on me. I like it like that, you know? If someone points out something major, I'll go back and fix it.
I have two Naruto stories that I'm planning on doing, maybe at the same time as this, or maybe later on. The first is a story that's been running through my skull for a while: Basically, it's a "what if" story, as in "what if Orochimaru had never turned into an evil bastard and betrayed the village" kind of deals.
The other one is another idea that I got about two months ago. It takes place a few years into the future, and Konoha is under attack and is destroyed. Naruto attempts to travel back in time to prevent it from happening, but accidentally sends his soul to his eight-year-old self... The day before the Uchiha slaughter. He prevents it, and changes the course of history as we know it.
Which should I do? It's up to you people! Make me proud!
As usual, please review. They make me happy.