(A/N:) Sorry for the outrageously long update time. Summer sucks in the fact that I'm going through my develop-social-life period, so I spent most of my time outdoors. I got a nice tan, and I think I've lost some weight! Anywho, here's Chapter 13, finally. Enjoy!
SUMMARY: An exciting journey has begun, particularly for Tori and Naruto, who haven't left the village in a long time; in Naruto's case, never. Unfortunately, the journeys of a ninja are never peaceful, and Team 7 is about to learn that lesson the hard way… when confronted by their two first real ninja battles. They'll soon discover it's not all that easy to fight in this world… especially when their very lives are on the line!
Konoha Kitty
Chapter 13: First Freedom
"ROAD TRIP, BABY!" yelled Naruto and Tori simultaneously as the gates to the village opened.
Kakashi grabbed Tori by the arm before she burst through the gap joyously, "Aren't we forgetting something?" he asked.
Tori paused, "…Sorry, I dunno."
Kakashi pressed a finger to the silver bracelet still clipped to her wrist, focusing a little chakra onto it. It clicked open, and he handed it to the guard.
Tori blinked, rubbing her hand. She'd forgotten about it… she hadn't made any escape attempts for about three years now, so it'd virtually become unnecessary.
Sakura glared at Naruto as he bounced around happily, "What're YOU so excited about?"
"I've never left the village before!" he chirped, looking around.
Tazuna narrowed his eyes, "I'm supposed to depend on THIS kid for my well-being?"
Kakashi sweat dropped, "Don't worry; I'm a jounin, and I'll be coming, too."
Naruto rounded on the man and began hugely protesting the comments.
Tori ignored him and stepped through the gates slowly, looking around. No walls… no electrocuting bracelet… she was free…
The ligress grew very excited, and began forcing itself into control, moving her feet towards the trees.
Thoughts and instincts began overcoming her long-docile spirit, and she was getting an uncontrollable urge to just take off.
Kakashi was distracted with Naruto and Tazuna… maybe she'd get far enough away…
Her leg muscles tensed, ready to spring.
Her first step brought near-whiplash as a hand grabbed the collar of her shirt, sending her flying backwards and smack into her captor.
"Just where d'you think YOU'RE going?" came Sasuke's voice.
Glaring, Tori smacked his hand away, "Nowhere."
"Didn't look like it to me."
"I don't think you need to be getting involved with what I do, and how I do it. Besides, aren't you supposed to be ANGRY with me?"
"You were trying to escape; as a member of Konoha, I have an obligation to stop any attempts to flee this village, lest our secrets should be discovered."
"Would you just leave me alone?"
"Silence, children." Kakashi came up behind them, "I believe it's time to go."
Huffing, Tori started walking. The ligress was bristling angrily; Sasuke had prevented their break for freedom. Thanks to him, Kakashi was back on guard to anything unusual; an escape attempt from her would definitely fall under that category.
Maybe if she fell behind him and slipped into the trees…
She plotted as Sakura and Kakashi delved into a conversation involving the five major ninja villages.
Suddenly, a rank smell caught her nostrils. It was pretty faint, but she noticed it came from a small puddle on the ground.
'Eww, that water smells like sweat and some sorta pollutant…' she noted, covering her nose.
As they walked on, she suddenly heard whipping and clanking, and whirled around to see Kakashi suddenly wrapped up in a long, barbed chain held by two black-cloaked ninja with gas masks and metal-clawed gauntlets.
Horrified, Tori watched as they tugged, and Kakashi came apart in a mess of blood and body parts.
Sakura screamed, and Naruto cried out, "KAKASHI-SENSEI!"
Tori covered her mouth. Not Kakashi… no…
Suddenly, she noticed the two ninja vanish, reappearing behind Naruto. They tossed the long chain in the air, readying to wrap it around him.
Tori snarled, her adrenaline coming in a wave across her body. Naruto was in danger, and they'd killed Kakashi. They were gonna pay!
She charged for the duo as they moved towards him, but they were suddenly frozen in their tracks.
Looking up, she saw Sasuke land on their arms, and noticed that he'd fastened the chain to a tree with a kunai and shuriken. The assassins were stuck.
He planted his hands down, lifting his legs to drive them into the faces of the two ninja. Tori couldn't help thinking, '…Whoa…'
In doing so, the chain broke, and they recovered quickly, charging ahead. One of them went for Naruto, and the other headed for Tazuna.
Sakura grabbed a kunai and leapt in front of him, "Stay behind me, Mr. Tazuna!"
Tori went for the nearest one; Naruto's.
She leapt for the arm as it drove towards the boy, and sank her teeth into it, driving her heels into the ground to stop the guy in his tracks, but not before his other hand flew forward, scratching Naruto. As soon as she did, she felt a thud on his head, and the man slumped down, supported only by her teeth in his arm, and that appendage was quickly ripped from her mouth by something moving too fast for her to see.
Suddenly, the ninja heading towards Sakura, Tazuna, and, now, Sasuke, who'd appeared to defend them, was grabbed in a headlock by none other than…
"KAKASHI-SENSEI!" Sakura cried happily.
Tori looked up, her face brightening. He was alive!
Kakashi glanced over at Naruto and Tori, "Sorry I didn't come sooner, Naruto. I didn't know you'd freeze up. Nice job, you three," he nodded at Tori, Sasuke, and Sakura.
Tori looked apologetically at Naruto, who was currently focused on Sasuke.
The object of his attention suddenly spoke, "Hey… you ok…" he turned to look at the boy, "Scaredy Cat?"
Something in Naruto seemed to snap, and he lunged forward, stopped only by Kakashi's sharp retort,
"Naruto, don't move! Their claws are poisonous; you'll only spread it faster."
Naruto looked at his hand, which was bleeding.
Tori walked over and examined it. A very light smell of something pungent caught her attention.
"Oh, and Tori… wash your face, will you? You look like a cannibal."
Tori looked up, perplexed, "Say what?"
"You've got blood all over your mouth," commented Sakura, pointing.
Tori reached up and touched her lips, looking at her fingers. Sure enough, crimson liquid coated the tips.
"Must've happened when Kakashi pulled that guy's arm out of my mouth," she muttered.
Sakura looked at her quizzically, "Since when did you get such sharp teeth?"
Tori reached up and felt her teeth. They had grown longer, and become much sharper.
'Fangs? Now? But my ligress didn't…' Tori thought, 'Wait… was it because… nah, couldn't be…'
She suddenly felt them changing. They shrunk down and dulled to become average canines again.
She looked up at the girl, hoping her secret was still safe, "I don't know what you're talking about; they feel normal."
Sakura raised an eyebrow, examining them again, "But… I could've sworn…"
Tori noticed, out of the corner of her eye, Sasuke staring at her intensely. Did he know?
Kakashi cut in after tying up the assailants, "Naruto, you should get that cleaned out. Opening the cut a bit more to increase the blood flow will wash the poison away… but first…"
He turned to look at Tazuna.
"Tell me, were those attackers after you?"
While Kakashi was detailing his accusation of Tazuna, Tori continued examining Naruto's hand. Sure enough, poison was starting to turn the color of his skin.
Naruto noticed it, too, and he wrenched his hand away from Tori, glaring at it.
Tori looked up as she heard Sakura speak, "This is too high rank of a mission for us; we're only junior ninja, genin. We really should just go back and get Naruto an antidote for his wound."
Kakashi put a finger to his chin in thought, "Well… this is a vexing problem… do we continue with the mission as planned… or go back to take care of Naruto's poisoning?"
Tori heard Naruto growling behind her, and turned to see his hand suddenly become a bloody mass as he drove a kunai knife straight into it.
"NARUTO! WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU?" yelled Sakura.
"Yeah, cut it out, dude!" said Tori, taking a step forward, suddenly frozen by Naruto's fierce glare.
"I promise you… with this very kunai knife…" he snarled, "I will protect that old fart!"
Everyone grew quiet. Tori saw Naruto in a light she'd never noticed before. He was taking this seriously…
He straightened up, ripping the knife out, "Kakashi-sensei, let's go!"
Kakashi stood there, slowly sighing.
"Well, Naruto… you've managed to get the poison out, that's for sure… but now you've overdone it… just a bit."
Naruto paled, the cool aura gone.
Kakashi smiled, "Now, you'll probably die from loss of blood, I'm serious."
All sense of duty seemed to leave the boy, and he began panicking.
Tori put a hand on her head. Just when she thought it was safe to declare Naruto cool…
"I DON'T WANNA DIE! SAVE ME!" he yelped.
She sighed.
Sakura glared at him, "What're you, a MASOCHIST? Stop getting high on pain, it's not good for you!"
Sasuke even seemed to have had a small recognition moment, but even that was gone.
Tori blinked. Kakashi had paused and was staring intently at Naruto's hand.
Then, she smelled something she hadn't in about four long years… fox.
She looked around anxiously. Was Kurama nearby? Or was it just a normal animal? No… this energy mixed with the scent… it was much more powerful… even terrifying… and too evil to be Kurama.
But where was it coming from? Was that what Kakashi noticed?
Suddenly, as soon as it had come, the smell was gone.
Kakashi finished with Naruto's bandage, his normal demeanor returning, as though nothing had happened.
Tori frowned; she'd have to question him about it later.
Kakashi stood up. "Let's head out, shall we?"
Tori nodded, but Tazuna's voice behind her caused her to turn around.
"Uhm… excuse me? I've… erm… got something to say…"
A while later…
Tori let her fingers trail in the cool water as the small boat sped along the river. Tazuna had given them a pretty complicated story explaining the attack of the two ninja from the Village Hidden in the Mist.
"So… lemme get this straight… one of the biggest black marketers in the world is after your hide… probably got millions of thugs and sacrificial pawns at his disposal… and you wanted to hire ninja on a C-rank level?" she asked incredulously.
Tazuna looked at her sharply, "I've already told you, my village is very poor. We couldn't afford anything higher. It's all his fault, too… that Gato…"
"And he wants you dead because you're trying to break this vice he's got on your country by building a bridge that'll increase the commercial income…" muttered Sakura.
"Exactly."
"WHOOOOAAAA!" cried Naruto, as something massive came at them from the fog, "IT'S GINORMOUS!"
"Keep it down!" snapped the boatman, "If Gato's men catch us, we're doomed! I've got to turn the engine off and row from here so we don't attract attention!"
Naruto clamped his mouth shut.
"Wish you'd just do that all the time, loser…" said Sasuke, who sat near the stern with Sakura, Kakashi, Tazuna, and the boatman. Tori and Naruto were up in the bow.
Growling, Tori turned around and sent a handful of water into Sasuke's face, "Quit calling him names, you jerk."
Kakashi glared at them, "Stop it, both of you. We're almost there."
Fuming, Tori snapped her head around and stared glumly at the water. She thought she saw, for one split second, a small smile appear on the corner of Naruto's mouth, but she dismissed it.
Focusing on the water, Tori dearly wished she could send a nice big wad of it straight into that pompous ass she used to like, but now hated so much.
Almost the second she thought of it, Tori's eyes widened as a basketball-sized ball of water flew out of the river and zoomed behind her, smacking into Sasuke and drenching him.
She whirled around, shocked beyond belief.
Kakashi closed his eyes in an attempt to lower his stress level.
"Tori… I thought I told you…"
"But… Kakashi-sensei… I didn't do it!" said Tori, her heart pounding. That couldn't have been her… she barely knew ANY ninjutsu, much less how to conjure the few that she DID know. The only one she'd gotten the hang of was the Shadow Clone jutsu, and she could only make those three solid clones… but of course, she always felt drained afterwards.
Kakashi gave her a stern look.
Naruto looked at him, "She's right, sensei! I didn't see her move or anything!"
Tori glanced up at the boy. He was standing up for her…
Kakashi shook his head, "Whatever…"
Sakura, on the other hand, had pulled a towel out of her backpack and was feverishly dabbing the squirming Sasuke with it.
"Oh, Sasuke, you're soaking wet! Just hold still and I'll…"
"Just cut it out, will you?" he snapped at her, "I don't care!"
Tori caught a glimpse of the look on Tazuna's face, and the expression was pretty easy to read, 'Some team…'
She couldn't agree more.
She turned back to look at the water. Had she really done that?
She focused again, trying to see if she could make a small whirlpool, but nothing happened. Confused, she closed her eyes for the rest of the boat ride.
Upon reaching the island, they began walking down the path. Tori's thoughts still remained on her unintentional dousing of Sasuke.
'I still don't see how I could've done it. I've never done any sort of water ninjutsu before, and I hear it's not the easiest to control… Maybe someone else did it… maybe Kakashi did it because he was trying to tell me he's on my side!'
She brightened up slightly at this thought, but quickly slumped, 'Yeah, as if… he doesn't really care at all. Naruto might've done it, but I have yet to see him do any techniques at all… I don't think Sakura knows water style, but even if she HAD done it, she'd never have thrown it at Sasuke. And Sasuke wouldn't have done it to himself… besides, I hear he only uses fire ninjutsu… at least, that's what I heard Kakashi say…'
She sighed, brooding. Then who did it?
Suddenly, she heard Naruto shout behind her, startling her immensely.
"A HA!"
She whirled around to see a bush get nailed with a kunai.
Naruto had a glare on his face.
'Did he see something?'
"Oh… guess it was nothing…" he said, brushing his hair with one hand in a smooth gesture.
Tori put a hand on her forehead.
"YOU IDIOT!" Sakura yelled, "STOP TRYING TO BE COOL!"
Kakashi groaned, "Naruto, your tools are very dangerous, don't mess around with them, please…"
Naruto didn't seem to hear them. He'd grabbed another shuriken and flung it at the bushes, "This time! Over there!"
Kakashi didn't reprimand him, as Tori had expected. Instead, he headed toward the spot.
Tori followed curiously, hearing a loud thud behind her and Sakura's angry rant of, "I THOUGHT I TOLD YOU TO CUT IT OUT!"
As Kakashi pulled the bushes apart, a little, white snow hare lay against the tree.
Tori gasped, thinking it was dead at first. Even she whirled around to yell at the boy, "You killed it, you asshole!"
Kakashi turned away, looking around as Naruto picked up the rabbit and cuddled it, on the verge of tears. Mutters could be heard, "I'm sorry, bunny! PLEASE wake up!"
Tori shook her head as Sakura continued to furiously berate the boy. The rabbit wasn't dead, just shocked.
Her ears twitched suddenly, and automatically tuned over to where Kakashi was looking. A great, whooshing sound had emerged, and she vaguely heard Kakashi's yell of "GET DOWN!" before a great weight had thrown itself on top of her, flattening her to the ground as the sonic boom of a giant, whirling object hit them all hard, just barely missing Naruto as Sakura tackled him to the ground.
Tori looked up to see Sasuke getting off of her, and she glared slightly at him.
"I can take care of myself, jerk…" she mumbled, before he put a hand in front of her, silencing her.
She followed his gaze to see a massive, titanic sword buried into a tree trunk, with a man standing on the hilt, sneering at them. Half of his face was covered with bandages, and his headband bore the same symbol as the two ninja from the Hidden Mist Village.
Kakashi made a scoffing noise that caused Tori to frown. This guy didn't look at all like someone who could be easily taken down. Was Kakashi really that strong?
Suddenly, Naruto charged, but Kakashi quickly grabbed him by the jacket and tossed him backwards.
"Leave this one to me, Naruto…" he said, a hand suddenly going to his headband, the part concealing his left eye.
He glared at the man on the sword, lifting a hand to his headband.
"This could get ugly…"