Monday morning, the start of a new week. I swing out of bed and pad to the kitchen for my morning cup of instant ramen. It's nowhere near as good as what Ichiraku makes, but it'll serve to wake me up. As the water boils, I move to the kitchen sink and wash my face, rubbing grime out of my eyes. I'll probably take a shower after I finish my morning training, and then I'll head over to see Itachi.
The whistle of the kettle distracts me from my plans, and I turn off the stove, pouring the steaming water into an opened cup of ramen. I cover it with a cloth and let it sit for a while as I return to my bedroom and reach under the bed for my equipment. Like any good ninja, I sleep in my combat uniform, eliminating the need to change out of nightclothes. Black canvas pants, with dozens of pockets, a dull orange jacket with hidden pockets sewn inside and out, and my headband slung around my neck. I fill my pockets with my supplies and strap on my weapon pouches.
I had made some serious modifications to my wardrobe yesterday, after reading through the book I received as a reward from the mission to Kiri. There were a number of simple seals scattered around my person, and there were several nasty surprises prepared for the next time I run into an opponent above my level.
Ah, that's three minutes passed - time to eat.
Uchiha Itachi was troubled. His face was blank, showing none of his internal turmoil, but his mind was racing, straining for a solution to the horrible choice he was faced with. Either he betrayed his village, breaking all the vows he had made as a ninja, or he betrayed his family and killed those of his own blood.
He fought the urge to laugh wildly - no matter what he did, there would be no coming back from his choice. He leaned against the rough bark of the tree behind him and looked into the sky. This was his own little haven; a small clearing set in the midst of a dense forest, bisected gently by a shallow river that gleamed in the sunlight. He had found it over a decade ago, and it remained his alone, unknown to all the world save one other.
Crackling noises reached his ears, and he tensed slightly before relaxing again, closing his eyes and looking down.
"Shisui. What brings you here?" The footsteps paused, then accelerated, the sound dropping down to near absolute silence.
"Ah, I was thinking that you could use someone to talk to - you seemed unsettled when I caught a glimpse of your face earlier." Short, spiky black hair, and a rather uncouth appearance - he could not be any more different from refined Itachi. Yet, though the two had their differences, they trusted each other above all the world.
"I - no, I cannot say this, but I must." Itachi slid down the tree and cradled his face in his hands. He looked up at his best friend, and spoke in a monotone. "I have been ordered to prevent internal strife in the village by removing the leaders of the suspected coup."
Shisui slumped down next to his friend and rested against his side. "Well, we better get started, then."
I hand in my report for the d-ranked mission I had taken earlier that morning, grimacing slightly. With a liberal use of water clones, it had taken me just under an hour to weed a public park, and the resulting exp reflected the lack of effort required.
I shake my head; one exp, was probably more that that mission even warranted anyways. Regardless, I need to get access to higher level missions, or find another way to increase my level. Yagura wasn't much of a threat as a ninja - outside of his overwhelming levels of chakra, he seemed relatively mediocre, actually. I snort - mediocre or not, it was a moot point, since the old man reduced him to a smear on the ground.
Speaking of which, there isn't much for me to do right now. D-rank missions won't really get me anywhere, and anything higher than that has to be authorized by the Hokage, since I'm a genin without a team. While this is somewhat annoying, it does free up time for me to advance some of my other plans. I wonder how many of my guinea pigs are in the village right now.
Fourteen year old Inuzuka Hana and her two idiot teammates, Hagane Kotetsu and Kamizuki Izumo, were reporting to the mission hall after the successful completion of their most recent mission, a c-rank escort to the Land of Tea, when a blond blur rushed past her. A light touch at her hip caused her to look down, seeing her pouch - which had the mission report - in the hands of a little kid who was waving up at her. With a jaunty salute and a playful grin, the kid dashed off into the main streets of Konoha.
"Kotetsu, Izumo, that kid - get him!"
Her chunin teammates obeyed her without question, used to following her orders in the field. They split up and flanked the kid, grabbing an arm each. Hana closed in and forced his chin up, looking him in the eyes.
"Alright, you've had your fun. Now, who are you and why did you do this?" Hana was irritated, and while she may have been able to control the tone of her voice, her three dogs were pacing behind her, hackles raised.
"Hey, who're you talking to? I'm over here!" A cheerful voice called out behind them, and leaning against the side of a building was a copy of the same blond the three of them held captive. The clone dissolved into a puddle of water, and the original ran up the wall and over the roof, cackling madly.
"Catch me if you can!"
Well, I guess they can't. Those three have the potential to become an excellent tracking and capture team, but I'd place their levels at fresh chunin - the ability is there, but a great deal of polishing is going to be necessary. I did, however, leave their mission report in a place to find.
Now, hopefully that would get those three to work harder, which means I should be able to leave them to their own devices for a while. The children of my generation are nowhere near ready to begin intensive training, so I'll have to dip into the older ninja.
Hana, Izumo, and Kotetsu form an effective group, as do Anko and Kurenai. Kakashi and Guy work best alone, but Asuma fits in with pretty much everyone - it's something that's probably inherited from his father. There are a good number of others who have the potential to become great, and I'm afraid that Konoha is going to need every last one of them.
Looks like I have my work cut out for me.
There was a note lying by the foot of the tree. It was slightly crumpled, but had been straightened out and pinned in place by a pair of smooth stones. River stones, most likely - that kind of natural polish was hard to find anywhere else.
Calloused hands lifted the letter, shaking as eyes swept over the words, once, then twice. With a single gesture and a sharp exhalation, the cheap paper burst into flames and drifted away as tiny motes of ash.
Feet turned and walked away, never to return to this place again. Their owner, having killed his heart once more, left to find the bank of a river and receive his best friend's last gift.
For the most part, there is little I can do to encourage my chosen ninja to improve, besides presenting them with goals to work towards. That, or embarrassing them. On the other hand, there are a few who I can influence with direct interference. On of those is idling away his time below me, reading a book in the shade of a tree. The area is secluded, and it took quite a bit of searching to locate him, but the results will be more than worth it. I can't see his face, as his gray hair curves over his forehead, but I know how intent he is on his reading. It's a trait that will stay with him his entire life. I steel myself for the coming conversation, then drop down next to him. His head jerks up and the sunlight glints off of his glasses.
"Hello, Kabuto."
Yakushi Kabuto was a complicated person. If you asked him who he was, he could give you a hundred different stories, all of which would be true, but none of them answering the question. As a matter of fact, he himself wasn't really sure who he was anymore. Honestly, he's not even sure if he ever knew who he was. All his life, he had been defined by those around him - first, the doctor who took him in, and more recently, the man who gave him missions.
As a ninja, however, he was quite sure of his skills. Though officially listed as a genin, he was easily at the level of an experienced chunin, and in some fields, such as infiltration and healing, he was far above even the average jonin. As such, it was quite a shock when the Kyuubi's container landed at his side. There had been no warning, and the jinchuuriki hadn't triggered Kabuto's not insignificant senses. He scrambled up, letting his book tumble to the ground, and discreetly palmed a kunai.
"Yes? Can I help you?" With his free hand, Kabuto reached up and straightened his glasses.
The blonde sat down and lay on his back, utterly relaxed. "You can actually. There're a couple things I'd like to talk to you about, so why don't you sit back down and relax."
Gingerly, Kabuto stepped back from the reclined jinchuuriki and knelt on the grass, hiding the kunai in the shadow cast by his legs. "I am afraid you have me at a disadvantage - you clearly know who I am, but I do not know even your name."
The container blew out a stream of air and reached over for a blade of grass to chew on. "Aww, don't give me that. You know who I am." He lifted a hand and beckoned, patting the ground next to him. "Seriously, put the blade away and unwind. I'm just here to talk for a bit."
Slowly, the kunai was tucked into a pouch and Kabuto let his tensed muscles release, just slightly. "Very well. Talk - I am listening."
"Well, I was wandering around one day, and this little birdie came up to me and told me a story about a boy who was an orphan, like me." He crosses his hands under his head, and looks into the sky. "See, this kid had no idea who his family was, had no memory of anything, actually. Well, he was taken in by a kind lady, who gave him both a name and a place to call home, and he loved it there. Still, there were moments where he was unsure of who he was, moments where he felt like he was just playing a part."
Kabuto's jaw clenched, but he let the narration continue uninterrupted. "Things probably would have been fine, if it wasn't for an overheard conversation between the woman who cared for him and the man he would come to know as a cruel taskmaster." The jinchuuriki sat up and stared at him, with a gaze that was far too old for his body. "That was where the problems started, wasn't it. So many missions, each giving you a new identity. You were one of the best, because you didn't have any attachments to a primary ego. Problem is, you can only play so many parts before you lose the ability to tell the difference between reality and a lie. So why don't you tell me - who are you?"
A near invisible flinch in followed by a friendly smile. "Well, you seem to know who I am. My name is -"
The blond shoots to his feet, towering over the older ninja. "Don't give me that crap. You know exactly what I mean. Answer the damn question!"
"I -" He stopped. It's true, he didn't know who he was anymore. "Fine! I don't know who I am - why is any of this of concern to you?"
The jinchuuriki - no, Uzumaki Naruto - walked over and extended a hand, smiling warmly. "You know, orphans may not have a family, but we damn well stick together. I don't want the soft spoken medical student, or the thousand identities from Root - I want the real you, even if you don't know him yet. Join me, Kabuto, and find yourself."
With a shaking hand, Yakushi Kabuto reached up towards the child six years his junior physically, but so much older mentally.
"Thank you."
A/N: Alright, we don't really have any excuses for how late this is, besides real life being ...very annoying... and emotional scenes of any kind being difficult for us to write. Also, the plot will pick up as of next chapter, and certain complaints (quite justified, actually) about the lack of video game mechanics will be answered.
Hope you like the chapter! Drop a note if you have any thoughts to share.