I'm back! MUH HAHAHA! *cough* HAHAHA!!!
Sorry for the long and over due chapter but I've been really busy this time. Started a new job, went to Japan, etc. etc. So I'll shut up and let you read. I proudly present Shuratenmei chapter 14!
I don't own Naruto, its characters, or anything else for that matter....
Kakashi was lost in thought, as he gazed upon the memorial stone. He had gotten there sometime in the early morning after eating his breakfast and some warm up exercises. He spent the majority of his mornings looking at the engraved stone, burning the names of his friends into his memory. He recalled the time he spent with them, the good and the bad, and the times that fell in between.
How Obito gave him his Sharingan eye, speaking his last words, and leaving the world with a smile on his face.
Reading his first copy of Ichi Ichi Paradise.
Rin, dying in his arms some years later, during an ANBU mission. She too smiling at him as she slowly faded away.
His sensei Minato sacrificing his life to seal the Kyuubi away in Naruto in order to save Konoha. Finding out Kushima Uzumaki died giving birth to her only son, not being able to hold him when he was brought into the world.
Training his first genin team and taking them on missions.
Watching helpless along with Gai and ANBU, as the Sandaime sealed Orochimaru's arms with the same Jutsu that his sensei used on the Kyuubi.
Helping Naruto with his progress with his elemental training.
Learning that Asuma was killed by Akatsuki, leaving his secret wife and unborn child alone to fend for them selves.
All of them containing the Will of Fire. All of them putting their life on the line for what they believed in. All of them loved and to be remembered.
Being the good ninja he was, he knew what time it was from the shadow casted on the ground from the stone, or lack their of, telling him it was noon. Silently saying his goodbyes, he turned to make his way to the Hokage's office, when Yamato appeared by Shunshin.
"Yo," Kakashi greeted pulling out his book.
"Sempia," Yamato nodded. "I thought I'd find you here."
"Oh?"
"Yes, I have some... information for you," Yamato looked around the area.
"Information?" Kakashi tilted his head in confusion. "On what?"
"Whom is a more accurate term," the younger man shrugged. "I'd be best if we talked about this else ware. We don't want to have this leaked."
"Being a bit paranoid aren't you?" Kakashi smiled, turning a page in his book.
"You would be too in my position."
"Okay, okay. Lead the way then."
Kyuusuke and Temari spent two days in Iwa before orders came back form Gaara, informing them to proceed to Yuki. Gathering their gear, they gave the Tsuchikage their fair-wells and made there was to the Hidden Village exit.
The two days they spent in wait they were mostly toured around Iwa by Taya. It was obvious to the both of them that Taya was trying to get a rematch from Kyuusuke, seeing that half the time the place shown to them was a training ground or something Shinobi related. Their only peace was found during meals, sleeping and the trips to the Onsen. Much to Temari's annoyance, what the manager told them from the first bath house was true, almost all we're now co-ed till further notice. Kyuusuke wasn't helping matters, wearing his mask and a towel covering his hair.
Fascinated by the secret identity and Chuunin Champion, most of the woman spent their time trying to coax Kyuusuke to remove his mask, in one way or another. Temari had to give to him though for not passing out from all the free shows he was given.
"Come on bright eyes!" Taya begged. "Please! Just one more fight!
"No."
"Please!"
"No."
"Pretty please!"
"Just fight her all ready..." Temari growled.
"Hmmm...." Kyuusuke rubbed his chin. "I will..if."
"If what?" Taya grabbed his shoulders.
"If you master these three jutsu by the time you see me next" he grinned, presenting a scroll to her.
"uh?" the brunette blinked stupidly looking between the scroll and him. "What kind of jutsu?"
"Yes, Kyuusuke." Temari frowned, looking at the scroll. "What jutsu."
"Nothing that will compromise us Temari," He sent her a knowing look, then smiled at Taya. "Just some things I picked up in my travels. I'm sure a skilled ninja like yourself won't have a problem with it? Or will you?"
"As if," she grabbed the scroll. "Fine! I accept!"
"Come on Kyuusuke!" Temari grabbed him by the back of his jacket. "You can play with your girlfriend next time we stop by."
"See what it took to take me from your arms," He said being pulled away. "Later Taya."
"Get going bright eyes," she waved him off.
"So what was in that scroll?" Temari asked as they jumped away at breaking speed. "Some Futon jutsu?"
"Nope," He grinned quickening his pace.
"Then what-."
"BRIGHT EYES!!! GET YOUR ASS BACK HERE NOW!!!"
Even though they were over a mile from the village, Taya's raging voice was still as clear as ever. Kyuusuke laughed, quickening his pace again, as Temari struggled to keep up.
"What the hell did you do Naruto," Temari growled out.
"Copied the jutsu she gave me last time onto the scroll I gave her." He laughed louder, this time, Temari joined in as they flipped over a boulder and ran across a stream.
"Kids..." Hitomi sighed with a grin, watching Taya taking the mother of all fits in front of the main gate. "Were we ever that young?"
"I was," the scarred man shrugged. "Don't know about you though."
"Oh ha ha," she crossed her arms. "But still, I can believe who the kid is."
"Indeed. It'll make things interesting for us."
"It will." She nodded, removing her helmet, reveling a small scar on the side of her temple. "I can almost see the resemblance with just the eyes alone."
The man grunted in agreement, running a finger across his worst scar. Hitomi noticed his eyes glaze over, looking into the distance. Allowing her eyes to soften, she shook her head and put the miners helmet back on.
"Lets go lazy bones. We still have work that needs to be done."
"Yea," he sighed. "We need to get all the information we can about these Akatsuki punks."
"Okay we're here," Yamato said.
Kakashi looked up from his book and examined the area around him. They had been walking for an hour all around the village, taking back alleys and doubling back every few minutes. Finally, they found themselves in one of the lower slums of Konoha, in front of a four story red building with graffiti all over it.
"Took me all over the city to just end up at Naruto's old apartment," he went back to his book. "We could have just used Shunshin you know."
"True," Yamato nodded. "But I figured I'd give the others time to get here and you got to read that book of yours."
Kakashi smiled under his mask and followed his friend up the stairs till they got to Naurto's apartment. They entered without a problem, seeing the door was unlocked and entered the shabby apartment.
"About time you got here..."
Kakashi looked up lazily from his book to see a few of Naruto's old friends around a table scattered with reports and a bulletin board behind them covered in pictures and maps. Shikamaru, Kurenai, Lee, Neji, Hinata, Shino, and Gai all were standing around the table looking at them. Shikamaru was the one who addressed him and in turn, he replied by turning a page in his book.
"My Eternal Rival and his hip attituied," Gai shrugged.
"Hmm? You say something Gai?"
"Kakashi..." Gai frowed.
"Put the book away Hatake," a woman growled. "or else."
Looking behind him in surprise, he noticed Tsunade walking into the room behind him, with surprisingly Teuchi Ichiraku, and an ANBU. Tsunade was wearing serious expression on her face, one that told him this was serious. Complying with the order, he put the book in his breast pocket and looked on.
"Good," she said then looked at Shikamaru and Yamato. "Now care to tell us why you two wanted to talk to all of us?"
"Allow me," Yamato said walking to the front to address everyone.
"As you all know a few months ago Naruto was declared as a missing nin. At that time, it was reported that after a confrontation with his teammate Sakura, he ran away, leaving behind the village."
"The behavior of Naruto in the report doesn't fit with his psych profile," Shikimaru added in. "Normally he would have mopped around a bit then would head to Ichiraku's or the Hokage monument. Instead he opted to leave his friends and people he considers family, and abandon his dream of becoming Hokage."
"People have breaking points," Kurenai noted. "For all you know this could of been the crack that broke the dam."
"YOSH! NARUTO-KUN WOULD NOT BREAK SO EASILY!!!" Lee shouted. "HIS FLAMES OF YOUTH BURN BRIGHT, EVEN IN THE DARKEST NIGHT!!!"
"NICE LEE!!!" Gai saluted his student with a thumbs up.
"True," Yamato picked up, stopping the two men before they went on a rant. "If it wasn't for two people who told me something odd, I would have almost bought it."
"Oh?" Kakashi blinked.
"The day the boy left he stopped by my shop," Teuchi frowned. "He didn't order anything."
"Please tell me there's more then that..."Neji asked.
"He also had a two person ANBU escort with him," Teuchi continued. "Practically dragged him out as he was saying goodbye. Mentioned something about a mission."
"One I can assure you I didn't assign," Tsunade growled crossing her arms.
"And t-the ANBU?" Hinata asked.
"That's where I come in," the ANBU stepped forward and took off their mask, revealing a woman with long purple hair.
"Yugao?" Kakashi blinked.
"I was asked by the council to escort Uzumaki from the chambers and out of the village," she said noticing Tsunade growl.
"Those bastards..."
"I don't believe it was them though," she said.
"What do you mean?" Neji asked.
"What I mean is that I don't think it was really the council," she elaborated. "I checked with several other ANBU and during the time of the trial, only four people were at the event while the others were at other locations."
"It's our belief that someone orchestrated this whole event," Shikamaru sighed. "Someone wanted Naruto out of the village."
"Why?" Hinata asked.
"So he would lose the protection of Konoha..." Tsunade widened her eyes. "That would make him a prime target for-."
"Akatsuki." Shino finished.
"How do you-?"
"We all know Tsunade-sama," Shikamaru sighed. "Its not hard to figure out. I'm not one of the smartest people in the village for nothing."
"Lady Hinata and I's Byakugan could see the seal and different chakra in his body," Neji said as Hinata nodded.
"My bugs told me of the different chakra in him and made several observations in prior missions that helped me come to the conclusion."
"And you Lee?"
"You learn the truth about people when locked in battle!" He cheered. "I knew Naruto-kun was hated for reasons beyond his control, and it was confirmed when a drunk man told me about it a few weeks ago."
"....anyhow..." Shikamaru began. "We know the reason, now we need to find the person."
"Do you have a list of people that were actually there?"
"On the wall," Yamato pointed. "We've been observing them for the past two weeks with nothing odd."
Tsunade walked over to the bulletin board and read the list. "These people have nothing to gain from doing this. Hell, this person is a representative from the civilian council and this person is the owner of Konoha's largest bank.
"They might have been paid to do this?" Gai added. "Akatsuki had a large amount of funds at their disposal with that bounty hunter in the group."
"Luckily he's gone now." Kakashi scratched his head.
"Now w-what do we do? Hinata asked.
"We wait for them to make a move," Neji looked at a surveillance picture from the gate showing Naruto with a slashed headband. "When they do, we strike."
"and then," Yamato smiled.
"Checkmate." Shikamaru grinned.
To Be Continued...
I know, I'm a cruel bastard, leaving you hanging like this. I promise though, in the coming chapters, the action really picks up.
As for Rin... nothing was ever mentioned about her in the anime or manga after Obito's death. So i figured what the hell.