Disclaimer– "Unprovided with original learning, unformed in the habits of thinking, unskilled in the arts of composition, I resolved to write a book." – Edward Bulwer-Lytton
The Maelstrom of Konoha-1.21
The Tale of a Young Boy's Ascent into the Legends
I offer my sincerest apologies to everyone who has read my writing and has been waiting for an update. It was not my intention to abandon this. Life caught up however and I have to admit I even still I am very busy. Recently, when I remembered this fanfiction and organized the determination to get back to it, I reread over my past work. I must admit my emotions are a little mixed about how I feel about my story. Some scenes I feel I wrote well, while other things, given the chance, I would change completely.
However, in my best effort to remedy it, I can only offer to write better future chapters. I may make small tweaks here and there to earlier chapters, but nothing that will change the overall story. I'll be trimming the fat, so to speak. If anyone who was interested in this work still wishes for me to continue this story, please let me know with a PM, a review, or whatever way you are most comfortable with contacting me.
When and if I do update, it will hopefully be within the next two weeks or so. I will want to read over my story and refresh myself with what I was doing, so that the previous chapters will flow into this new one seamlessly. Please bear with me only a little bit longer – C.
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'This village never changes.' Shinobi mingled with villagers, enjoying their days oblivious to the dangers that lurk just around the corner. Children played in the streets and ran in the woods completely unaware to the danger in their midst. You could walk down the street in a henge, and nobody would think twice. For all they knew, the henge was just an academy student fooling around. No reason to stop them and question.
Kabuto smiled to himself, pushing his glasses up. His henge smiled along with him, which a young civilian woman walking by confused as a greeting. "Beautiful day isn't it?" she asked in passing.
'A beautiful day it is indeed.' Just weeks ago this village had been brought to its knees by Orochimaru-sama. The once strong bulwark of the land of fire, the monument to Senju and Uchiha strength, had been nearly destroyed. Even now, work was still being done to repair damages, and doubtless the new Hokage, that bitch Tsunade, was still adapting to her duties. While the fact that Konoha was still around was a disappointment, the very fact that they had come so close strengthened Kabuto's faith in Orochimaru, and brought a bounce to his step.
The bustle of the town was, in a way, a source of security of Kabuto. In the constant activity of people walking the streets, the houses freshly painted in bright hues, one man walking hardly stood out. The difficulty had been earlier, when he was trying to get into Konoha itself. Had it not been for his extensive studies of Konoha security patrols, he would never have been able to make it this far.
Kabuto recognized many of the people he saw while walking through the dusty streets. He had spent so long in Konoha, posing as a simple genin, it was almost like returning home, and yet at the same time this was not his home, but the enemy.
The crowds thinned as he got closer to the designated training grounds. Bright wooden houses gradually gave way into luscious wooded fields, providing privacy for teams to train and to practice dangerous techniques away from highly populated areas. Kabuto knew that he'd find Sasuke in one of these training grounds. But oddly, when he went to what was once used as team 7's usual haunt, he didn't find the team. He wandered the grounds for some time, passing various teams training, before he finally found Sasuke in field with a different team. 'Interesting. Did he get reassigned?' Kabuto smiled. If Sasuke had been reassigned to a new genin team, this made his job even easier.
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For all of his easy going mannerisms, Aoba was a tough instructor. The team had met in the afternoon for training, starting with several laps around Konoha.
"Breathe in and out deeply," Aoba sad, running beside them. "If you breathe wrong, you'll start to run wrong. Keep pace!"
Sasuke tried to keep his breathing even. He was getting tired. His legs were burning and his feet felt numb as he and the rest of his team ran lap upon lap around Konoha. Three laps and they would get a 10 minute break before starting again. Apparently, Aoba was a big fan of Gai's training methods. For that, at least Sasuke was grateful. He had, of course originally wanted to join Gai's team.
His side began to cramp, and to his side Sasuke could see Daichi just barely keeping up, and Yuriya struggling behind them. Briefly Sasuke wondered if they were ever going to do any other training today. It had already been over an hour.
"Break time." Aoba announced, stopping and watching them all as they slowed down and finally stopped as well. Sasuke hunched over, his hands on his knees, gasping for air. Daichi flopped unceremoniously onto the ground and rolled onto his back. Yuriya did as well, pulling out her water and drinking deeply. They were all covered in sweat.
Sasuke wiped the sweat from his face with his shirt, and sat down on the ground to rub his legs, trying to get some sort of blood circulating back into them and get rid of the numbness.
"Alright, we're heading back to our training grounds," Aoba announced. "And then we will spar a bit. I want to see what we're working with as far as our abilities go. Move it!"
Sasuke grunted as he pushed himself up off the ground and followed Aoba at a jog. The final bit of running was quick, and compared to the previous running, not that bad. It didn't change the fact that he was still exhausted though. When they reached the training grounds, Aoba turned and pointed to Yuriya and Sasuke.
"You two. I want you both to spar first."
Sasuke snorted. Something that wasn't missed by the new genin.
"What's wrong with fighting me? You think you're that much better?" she asked, her eyes narrowing.
Sasuke didn't bother answering. He didn't need to. He was better than her, and was going to show it. To the side, Daichi sat near Aoba and cheered Yuriya on as she walked out with a short bo staff.
"Come on Yuriya! Beat his ass!"
Yuriya charged forward, swinging her staff. Sasuke smirked, planting his feet. She was way too straight forward. She went in forward, stabbing with the butt of her bo staff, but Sasuke was quicker. His hands flashed out, grabbing her arm and yanked as his other foot planted near hers. With a startled gasp Yuriya dropped the staff as Sasuke threw her down to the ground. She grunted on the impact, but managed to dodge and roll away as Sasuke kicked down, nearly hitting her in the chest.
She got up and immediately went in for close fighting, using just taijutsu to try and wear Sasuke down.
For his part, Sasuke wasn't sure why she did this. She was too slow, even without his Sharingan. Her fist came close and he stepped in to the side, so her fist flew past him, and kneed her in the stomach. She doubled over, and he brought his elbow down on the back of her head, sending her back down to the ground again. He pulled out a kunai, pinned her down on the ground, and held the kunai up to her. She couldn't move.
Yuriya tapped the ground, giving up, and Sasuke climbed back off of her. "You're too slow."
Yuriya glared at him, but otherwise said nothing, and walked back over to Aoba, who tapped Daichi on the back. "Alright, you're up."
Daichi smirked and stretched a bit before walking over to Sasuke. "Let's use ninjutsu too," he said.
Sasuke nodded, grinning, and used his Sharingan. Best to at least see if he could glean any techniques from the other genin before he thoroughly beat him too.
This time, Sasuke was the one to attack first. He darted forward, going through the hand seals quickly to use his fire technique. "Gokakyu no jutsu!"
Daichi dived and rolled to the side to dodge the fireball, and had to quickly bring up his blade to block several shuriken that Sasuke had thrown. Off to the side, they both were aware of Aoba telling them to take things easy.
Daichi raised a kunai to block Sasuke's stab and they each gritted their teeth as they struggled to overpower the other. Daichi brought out a second blade, almost like a short sword, with his other hand and quickly stabbed up towards Sasuke, who had to jump up and away to avoid being hit.
Both opponents stared at each other, neither moving, when Daichi suddenly threw a kunai with an explosive tag. Sasuke jumped back away, and as the explosion went off, Daichi quickly hid himself in the ground with an earth technique.
As the smoke cleared, Sasuke looked around Daichi. He'd lost sight of him. Suddenly, he felt the earth beneath him move, and Daichi's hand shot out to grab his leg. "Doton, Shinjuu Zanshuu no jutsu!"
But Sasuke was too quick, his Sharingan allowed him to react in time, and he quickly kicked Daichi's hand off of him and leapt back. Daichi followed him out of the ground, charging him even as Sasuke inhaled deeply for another fireball attack.
Daichi's eyes widened, and he barely had time to dodge the fireball. Even as he did, Sasuke was there, raining blows down on him. Daichi barely managed to block as Sasuke's fist kept finding their way past his arms and hitting him in the ribs, and then the back.
As Daichi fell to the ground and the fight seemed to be over, Sasuke felt the peculiar feeling of eyes on his back, and turned around to see who was watching him. Only, when he looked, no one was there. He scanned the tree line, positive someone had been staring at him, only to be rudely awoken by getting hit in the ribs.
Daichi had fallen and grabbed onto Yuriya's staff, and thrust it backwards behind him under his arm. The wood hit, and Daichi was rewarded with a loud grunt from Sasuke. In that moment of pause, Daichi stood and with his full force swung around and struck Sasuke in the side, and then again in his leg.
Sasuke fell, and just managed to roll away from Daichi stabbing him with the end of the staff, before Aoba cut in.
"Okay, okay, this is way too much. I think we will call this one for now. Sasuke, I expect better of you. Pay attention during a fight. I think we should probably call this a day, and pick up where we left off tomorrow."
Daichi looked over at Sasuke with a smug look in his face. Clearly, he thought he'd won.
Sasuke knew better. Daichi was panting, tired, and very nearly out of chakra. His few lucky hits had been just that, lucky. He fumed as he walked through the dimly lit streets back to his apartment. Daichi's attitude infuriated him. He gingerly pressed his side where Daichi had hit him, and had to stifle the groan that came from pressing the tender flesh. He'd be so bruised and stiff in the morning he'd have trouble moving around comfortably, much less doing any training.
As he hobbled through the Uchiha compound, stewing on Daichi's arrogance, Sasuke didn't even notice that the window next to his door was ajar. He fumbled for his keys, and after a few more moments, managed to fit the key into the lock and open the door.
He might not have noticed the window, but the light on in the other room certainly caught his attention. All thoughts of Daichi were roughly shoved aside as Sasuke slipped into focusing on finding an intruder. He slowed his step, pulled out his kunai, and began to creep towards the lit room.
Behind him, the front door slammed shut, and Sasuke turned, hurling the blade at the intruder, only to hear the dull thunk of metal meeting wood. Kabuto stood, his eyes fixed on Sasuke. Not once did he glance at the kunai quivering in the door next to his head.
"Careful now, Sasuke-kun. Surely this isn't how you treat all of your guests?"
"What are you doing here?"
"What a curious question! Surely you didn't think you'd seen the last of me on that day of the attack?" Kabuto locked the front door and casually, but slowly, approached Sasuke; as though he didn't have a care in the world.
For every step Kabuto took, Sasuke shuffled backwards, keeping his eyes steady on the Oto-nin. But because of his leg injury, he could only hobble, one leg gripping his throbbing leg, while the other continued to shuffle. Despite being exhausted from training all day, he activated his Sharingan. He knew he was out of his depth. He was tired, hurt, and facing an enemy with much more experience. And then, Sasuke felt his back hit the wall. The wood paneled walls, normally something that seemed to provide such safety, sounded so hollow to his ears now.
"It looks like you were injured in your training earlier, Sasuke-kun. Is this what you've come to expect now in Konoha? To be tossed around from team to team that doesn't want you, treated like a dangerous person, and teammates who've only just gotten out of the academy?" Kabuto paused right in front of Sasuke, leaving inches between them. "How you're parents would be proud."
All the fear that had been welling up in him evaporated at that. "Shut up!" Sasuke yelled, slashing at Kabuto with his kunai. In his rage, he'd accidentally put his weight on his injured leg, and faltered. Kabuto calmly sidestepped the knife and snatched it out of Sasuke's hands like a child, before backhanding him, knocking his head back into the wall, and pinning him there with his own kunai against his neck. He was faster than he could keep up with his Sharingan.
"Now now, Sasuke-kun. I'm just here to talk. After all, I could barely come talk to you while you were training, could I?"
"That was you?"
"Of course. Orochimaru-sama is so very curious as to why you haven't come to see him yet. So he sent me here to check in on you. Surely you don't think that jounin idiot here is stronger than a Sannin? The very man who killed the third Hokage, and fought toe to toe against both Jiraiya and Tsunade?"
Sasuke glared at Kabuto, not saying anything.
"Orochimaru-sama knows about Itachi, Sasuke. He knows where to find him, even."
At this, Sasuke gave Kabuto his attention. Kabuto smiled, fixing his glasses with his free hand. Orochimaru had been right, Sasuke would be easy to manipulate. Sasuke simply needed to be convinced that there wasn't anyone as strong as Orochimaru in Konoha to train him. Add in the fact that Orochimaru knew where to find Itachi, and would quite possibly have no qualms about teaching him deadly techniques like the Chidori… well, Kabuto hardly had to do any work. A few well spoken words and he could leave.
Kabuto removed the kunai from Sasuke's neck, and turned the hilt towards the leaf-genin, handing it back to him. "If you truly wish to become stronger, Sasuke, and stop wasting your time here with the leaf nin, you need only leave the village out of the northern gates in two weeks. Orochimaru-sama's men will be there waiting to take you to Oto."
With that, Kabuto shunshinned out of the house, leaving Sasuke to slump down against the wall, overwhelmed with fear, shock, and relief at still being safe. He hardly felt the dull throb of his leg anymore.
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Naruto felt like they had been running for hours before Jiraiya finally landed on a tree branch and held his hand up to halt. Beneath him was an open clearing with a stream nearby. It had only been minutes. They set Kurenai down, while Naruto and Shino both pinned down Anko, who had been screaming in pain and struggling most of the way. Jiraiya pulled back her jacket to see the base of the curse seal near her neck.
He quickly reached behind him and grabbed a storage scroll, opening it up and summoning the items from it, revealing a set of ink and brushes. Another scroll he unrolled and handed to Gai, who used to it to summon bandages for Kurenai and Hinata.
Naruto stared in fear at Anko, who was writhing on the ground in pain. She was hoarse from screaming, and while Shino and Naruto struggled to hold her down, Kakashi and Gai guard the area while Jiraiya studied her, his calm expression attesting to the experience he had on the battlefield. Jiraiya showed no sign of his usual perverse antics. His brows were furrowed as he quickly picked out a brush and began to write signs over Anko's cursed seal.
Naruto had no idea that Anko had a curse seal. He had noticed the marks before, but somehow had not equated them to Sasuke's. He berated himself for not knowing something so important, but then questioned what would have change if he had known.
Despite the situation, Naruto couldn't help but be curious about the markings Jiraiya was drawing with such care. "What are those, sensei?"
Jiraiya spared him a glance while he wrote. If he noticed, or cared that Naruto had finally called him sensei seriously, he didn't show it. "Seals. This is a type of fuinjutsu that will contain the curse seal. The last thing we want is to let it overtake her. Orochimaru's seal isn't a joke."
Naruto wanted to ask more, but realized it wasn't the best time, given the situation. Out of a group of nine, four were injured. Naruto and Shino were, struggling to hold Anko down while Jiraiya painstakingly took care of her. Kurenai and the mayor's daughter lay unconscious on the ground, while Hinata nursed horribly broken arm. That left Kakashi and Gai to guard against an attack that might come at any moment. If Itachi or Kisame were to return, there was no telling how much damage they could cause.
This must have been on Jiraiya's mind, because he glanced over at Shino. "Boy. You're an Aburame, are you not?"
At Shino's nod, he grunted. "Good. I want you to spread out as many of your bugs as you can right now. If you get any sign of those two returning, any sign at all. You tell me. Got it?"
Shino nodded again, and moments later, a swarm of insects went out to the surrounding trees. Kakashi followed suit, summoning his dogs and sending them out as sentries. "If any of them bark," he said, uncovering his sharingan, "get ready for trouble." Once he was sure the dogs would give some warning, he started a fire and brought water from the stream over to boil. They would have to wash Kurenai's wounds before dressing them properly.
The day had passed, and the sun was going to set soon, making Jiraiya's work that much more difficult. He leaned in to inspect his writing before nodding affirmatively. He seemed pleased. Doing sealwork by the light of a fire created plenty of opportunity for mistakes in writing seals, but so far so good. He put his hand on his seal and poured some chakra into it. "Seal!"
The intricate script grew red before narrowing down and enclosing Orochimaru's curse seal. The markings over Anko's body finally stopped spreading, and Naruto and Shino began to relax.
"Don't move!" Jiraiya snapped irritably. "Hold onto her. I'm not finished."
Naruto and Shino held onto her again making sure she stayed still while Jiraiya dipped his brush into another ink and began writing over his previous seal. "All we've done is stop the seal from spreading, but we need to make sure that it recedes before we can rest at all," he explained.
The moments dragged on, and Naruto could hear Gai working on Hinata's arm. As a taijutsu trainer, he did have some experience with setting bones and splinting the arms, but it wasn't the best compared to a medic. It was all they had though. For Kurenai, all he could do was wrap some quick bandages around her wounds and cover up what he could to keep dirt out. For her leg, he quickly tied a bandage around her thigh to make a tourniquet. They would have to wait for the water before they could truly treat her. Naruto tried to ignore the shade of red slowly seeping through the bandage. She was losing a lot of blood.
It was a full half-hour before Jiraiya finished his second seal. He sat back with a sigh, wiping his forehead. "Seals always exhaust me," he announced. Then the sun had fully set, leaving their makeshift camp dark save for the small circle of light around the fire. While he had been working, Gai and Kakashi had gently moved Kurenai near the fire and Hinata sat nearby, watching worriedly. Kakashi set to making food, while Gai had taken the water off to cool before cleaning Kurenai's wounds.
Even though so much time had passed since seeing Kisame and Itachi, they did not let their guard down. Every rustle of the leaves, every branch that swayed and every bird that took flight in the distance was a potential sign of a threat. The trees loomed ominously as their shadows stretched their trendily fingers towards them. A rabbit leapt out of a bush, probably scared into flight from the dogs, and Kakashi's head whipped around to stare back down the tree line where the rabbit had come from. Everyone stayed still, ready for the slightest sign of danger.
Naruto drew a deep breath he hadn't realized he was holding when Kakashi finally turned back from the trees and walked over to the fire. Across from him, Naruto could feel more than see Shino relax as well. While Kakashi took a break from using his Sharingan and set aside rations, Hinata took her eyes off Kurenai and used her Byakuugan occasionally to check their surroundings.
In the hazy firelight Naruto could hardly see what Gai was doing, but what he make out of Kurenai's wounds left him feeling sick. Her back was shredded, her flawless creamy skin torn and raw from Samehada's rough edges. Caked on blood and dirt loosened and began to run down her sides as Gai tried to be gentle about washing the wound.
Free from his duty of holding Anko, Naruto gently laid a blanket over her and went over to kneel beside Gai, laying his hand on Kurenai's. The wound on her back was raw; her skin was hot to the touch. She was burning up. He grabbed a cloth and soaked it in the water before laying it on Kurenai's head. Jiraiya, finished with taking care of Anko, came over and inspected her. "She already has a fever. This isn't good. The longer we're stuck here taking care of them, the more likely we'll be sitting ducks for an ambush. Gai, you've done enough. Let Naruto finish bandaging her, I need you and Kakashi to be ready in case we are attacked tonight. You both will also have first watch while we sleep. I will take second, and then the genin.
Gai nodded; his face serious. He, like Jiraiya, lost all of his usual boisterous antics when in the face of this crisis. He glanced over at Kakashi, who handed him food he had just warmed in the fire. "Thank you, Kakashi."
Kakashi looked up, surprised. This was the first time Gai had spoken to him since he had apologized back in Konoha. Gai had already turned away though and went to sit by the trees to eat. Kakashi nodded to himself. It would be too assuming to think Gai had forgiven him so suddenly. This was a mission; ninja had to put aside their differences. Still, he could hardly believe how glad he was that Gai had at least spoken to him. He was surprised how much he missed Gai's friendship.
Still, he was determined to fix his friendship with Gai if he could. Out here on a mission, perhaps Kakashi could speak to him privately. Kakashi never meant for Sasuke to use such a devastating attack on Lee, whom Gai saw like a son. Earning Gai's forgiveness wasn't going to be easy, but Kakashi was ready to beg for it if that's what it took. Still, he would have to wait until they kept watch before pressing anything. Right now, it was more important to make sure camp was set and secure, everyone ate to get some energy, and that the injured were taken care of.
Off to the side he heard a groan. Everyone turned to see the mayor's daughter's eyes begin to flutter open. She sat up slowly, and opened her eyes fully, taking time to look at her hands which were unbound. So were her feet. Finally, she turned her eyes from herself to the others, taking in the group of ninja around her. Her eyes widened in shock, before settling on fear. Her mouth widened into a scream.
Jiraiya was there in a second, faster than Naruto could blink. He clamped his hand over her mouth and with his free hand gestured soothingly, shushing her. The girl reflexively pulled back, fighting to create some space between Jiraiya. The older man let her go as she scrambled backwards, still gesturing with outward palms to calm her down. At least she wasn't screaming.
"You're safe. We're not going to hurt you girl."
She still stayed back just beyond the firelight. Naruto didn't blame her. Last she probably remembered she was with Naruto's clones, which had been killed by Itachi and Kisame, and before that, she was in that camp, being held captive.
Jiraiya eyed her, pausing midstep. He didn't want to scare the girl by approaching her too quickly. He turned to point at Kurenai and the genin. "Kurenai-san over there, by the fire with the bandages, leads team 8, consisting of the girl, and the two boys. The blonde one's name is Naruto. Their team rescued you from the bandits that were ransoming you."
The girl looked at each of them in turn, her eyes lingering on Naruto for moments longer than the others. "Where am I? Where are my parents?"
"We had to make camp for the night. After rescuing you, Kurenai-san's team was attacked by other ninja. My team came in and helped out their team, but in the process Anko, the other woman over there," Jiraiya pointed behind him as he spoke, "was injured as well. We only just made camp and managed to tend to everyone's…injuries. We will take you to your parents tomorrow."
The girl was quiet, and held her arms in front of herself, as if to guard herself from Jiraiya. Kakashi set some food aside and calmly walked up to the girl, offering her the food. "You should eat," he said quietly. "I doubt you've eat at all today."
The girl eyed it warily before grabbing it and taking a tiny, experimental bite. Kakashi handed her some water, which she grabbed and drank deeply. Her next bite was much larger.
"Don't eat too fast girl," Jiraiya said. "Take your time so you don't get sick. When you're done we can talk some more if you'd like. He walked to his bag and pulled out a scroll, unsummoning his sleeping supplies. The girl gave a small jump at the items appearing so suddenly, but other than that, gave no sign of shock. Jiraiya picked out his blanket, and handed it to the girl. "Here. Take it."
The evening passed slowly. They sat in a circle around the fire, the girl joining them later as her trust in them grew, and the blanket wasn't enough to keep the evening chill off of her. She scooted up to Naruto.
"The man said your name is Naruto?" she asked.
Naruto nodded. He'd been taking care of Kurenai and keeping a careful watch over Anko as well. It was painful to see the two women in pain and in such a mess. Kurenai's bandages were stained red, but otherwise most of the bleeding seemed to have stopped. In his hands he held a sedative tea that Jiraiya had made from some herbs nearby, which he carefully poured into her mouth. Even unconscious, she drank thirstily.
"I remember you taking me out of the tent," she said, watching him take care of Kurenai. "Thank you."
Naruto smiled. "Of course! Although it is thanks to everyone here that you're safe. Shino, Hinata, and Kurenai-sensei here all got you away from the bandits."
The girl looked at each of them in turn as Naruto named them. "Thank you," she said.
Shino nodded, and Hinata, sitting next to him, smiled.
The girl looked back at Naruto. "I thought I saw you die afterwards."
Naruto frowned. "What?" He thought for a moment, confused. "Oh, you mean my clones," he chuckled. "They are copies of me that I can use to fight and get other things done. After they were killed though, we just managed to get you away from the other two ninja. And then Jiraiya, Kakashi, Gai and Anko saved our team."
At this, Naruto looked at Jiraiya. "How did you know we needed help, anyway? And why did they want me? They specifically wanted me to go with them."
Jiraiya snorted. "I have an extensive list of sources that tipped me off to their location. The fact that you were there was just a coincidence. Next time don't pick fights with S-class criminals."
Naruto narrowed his eyes. He knew Jiraiya was hiding something, coincidences like that just didn't happen. He caught Jiraiya's eyes, and the older man gave him a look that he'd talk later.
Not much more was said, and Naruto prepared for sleep. He made sure Kurenai and Anko were both covered, and eagerly climbed into his sleeping roll. The stress of the day had exhausted him and the others, and it wasn't long before sleep came to him.
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Kakashi stared out into the forest. Usually late night watches were quiet. That was to be expected. But the quiet in the camp right now was unnerving. Gai stood feet away, watching in the other direction. Normally he would talk; challenge Kakashi to some silly game, or something. But Gai was stone faced and silent, ignoring Kakashi.
Kakashi sighed. How had things gotten like this? To think that Sasuke's decisions could affect him so much. 'No, not just Sasuke's decisions. You decided to teach him Chidori in the first place after all.'
Kakashi grimaced beneath his mask. He had done wrong. But now that he realized it, it was too late. He had ruined his friendship with Gai it seemed, and to be truthful, Gai was his only 'friend'. Obito was gone, Rin was gone, and now all Kakashi had was his Icha Icha and Gai. How many people would Kakashi fail?
He turned around, giving up on that portion of the watch, and stared at Gai's back. He had to make Gai at least acknowledge him somehow.
The other man, feeling Kakashi's stare, looked over his shoulder. "You should be keeping watch Kakashi," he said gruffly.
'So serious. So unlike Gai.' Kakashi thought. He had to break through somehow.
"I am sorry, Gai." He would have to listen to him. "I know you do not want to talk to me, or probably even keep watch with me. But I miss your friendship. I made a mistake. I put blind faith in a genin to handle my own technique."
"An assassination technique." Gai added.
Kakashi's shoulder slumped. "Yes. It is one of my bigger mistakes."
"A monumental mistake, Kakashi." Gai snapped.
"I hope that someday you will be able to forgive me Gai." Kakashi grunted. "It's time we wake up Jiraiya and head to sleep."
Kakashi turned and went to wake the older man, who nodded dumbly and stretched before going to check on Anko and Kurenai. Kakashi went and laid down, depressed as ever at his loss of his friend. Minato-sensei, Rin, Obito….Gai. Surrounded by people in the small makeshift camp, Kakashi was alone.
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Sakura smiled as team 10 found themselves back in the land of the waves. It had not been that long ago that she'd been here, fighting Zabuza and Haku alongside Kakashi, Sasuke, Naruto and Anko. Whatever difficulties she'd experienced back then had faded, leaving behind the fond memories of overcoming the struggle, of training, and finally, the smiles of the villagers as they waved goodbye.
Asuma led the way, surprisingly seeming to know exactly where he was headed. He passed many doors, walking the streets with team 10 until he finally stopped at one particular house, which Sakura recognized as Tazuna's.
Asuma went up to knock, but stopped when a voice shouted behind them. "Sakura!"
They turned to see an older man waving to them with a huge smile. It was Tazuna. Sakura smiled and waved back as he hurried to catch up to them. "I had no idea they'd send you back! It has been awhile, how are you? And where are the others?" The questions flowed out of him like water, and Sakura could only smile, not even able to get a word in edgewise. Tazuna finished and turned towards Asuma. "I don't believe we've met. I am Tazuna."
Asuma nodded. "My name is Asuma, and this is my team, Shikamaru, Ino, Choji, and of course you've already met, but Sakura as well."
"So Naruto and the others aren't here?" Tazuna asked with a frown.
They all shook their head. "No, the teams have been rearranged since we last saw each other, Tazuna-san." Sakura explained.
"Hmph. Well I hope not because anyone was injured or anything like that." At their head shakes, he nodded. "Good. Well, come inside then and I'll explain the situation to you."
He opened the door to his house and beckoned them in, shutting the door behind them and leading them into the kitchen. Tsunami walked in shortly after. "Father? Is that you?" she stopped short when she saw everyone in the kitchen, until her eyes found Sakura. "Sakura!" she exclaimed. To the side, Shikamaru muttered, "sheesh. Does everyone know her?"
Ino elbowed him and gave him a look, which he grumpily returned. He kept quiet though. The trip to the land of the waves had been rough, and fast. And Shikamaru just wanted to sleep, not live through reunions.
Tsunami hugged Sakura, and then pulled back. Tazuna introduced all of them in turn, and she smiled graciously at all of them. "Well! It has been awhile since we've had company! Let me make all of you some tea and fix some food."
They thanked her, and sat around the table. Asuma was the first one to speak. "Tazuna-san. I was wondering if you had the blueprints to the bridge? I would like to go over them if possible to familiarize my team with it and plan."
It was long before Asuma had the papers in front of him and poured over them carefully with Tazuna standing behind him, explaining the layout of the land on either side of the bridge. Asuma nodded occasionally and lit a cigarette. The evening passed much that way, with team 10 finally getting to relax and eat. When they all went to sleep, Asuma was still pouring over the blueprints and gleaning all he could from Tazuna.
The next morning, Asuma was the one to shake them all awake. "Come on, get ready, I'll explain the plan over breakfast."
At the table, Asuma laid the papers down in front of all of them, letting them circle around to get a look. He pointed at a small building on the bridge. "this building is actually built in the middle of the bridge as both a guard station and as a place to collect tolls. It's where the majority of their forces are camped out."
His finger moved to far side of the bridge. "The problem is the length of the bridge from either side. Even with the tree line that is over here, we won't be able to approach unseen." He looked at Ino. "Ino, this is where you come in. When we have the opportunity, I want you to perform a mind body switch on one of them so that we can see what we're dealing with inside that building. Make sure there are no ninja," He stressed.
He looked over at Sakura and Shikamaru. "I want you two to approach from below on the water, and walk up one of the supports to get as close as possible. Make sure you aren't seen. Shikamaru, you will use your shadow bind. Sakura, you cover him and use any technique you can think of to create confusion. Choji and I will be approaching from the front and doing most of the direct fighting. Simple enough, right?" The genin all nodded, and his grunted. "Good. Then let's get ready and go."
It was one thing to discuss the plan, but another to actually be at the bridge, confronted with the idea of fighting. Sakura nervously stared at the bridge as she walked on the water with Shikamaru. The bridge was still a while off; they had wanted to do get in the water far enough that they wouldn't be seen. Thankfully Asuma knew how to create a fog with a Kirigakure jutsu he had learned in the past, and managed to give them some cover from being seen.
Asuma and Choji and Ino all went to the bridge itself, and wait up in the trees for Ino to take control of someone. It was a long distance shot, so they had to make sure the person was still before Ino took her shot. They watched as Shikamaru and Sakura walked up the stone side support of the bridge, just below one of the guards. Shikamaru assumed his normal stance for his jutsu, and Ino watched as his shadow stretched out, trapping the man where he was standing. He looked down, startled, and opened his mouth to shout. That's where Ino came in. Asuma caught her as her body slumped and she assumed control of the guard on the bridge. She coughed loudly, a sign letting Shikamaru know he could release his jutsu. Sakura tossed up a small satchel, full of kunai. Ino would need these.
Once she could move again, she strapped on the satchel, making sure no one noticed her, and turned around to the building. It was large; larger than it looked in the distance. It could easily fit several rooms, but Tazuna had explained it was mainly one large room with a restroom in the back. She walked in, nodding to one of the other guys near the door, and scanned the room. The room was full; at least twenty men were in here. Several were playing cards, there were burnt cigarettes and empty bottles littering the floor. In all this mess though, she only had one thing to be concerned with. All she needed was to see one kunai, a scroll, or any sort of ninja tool.
Nothing.
She walked out of the building, and scratched her head. Another sign, this one meaning that there were no ninja.
"Hey, aren't you supposed to be keeping watch right now?" one man said, leaving the building. "I don't think you should be—" a kunai in his throat cut him off, leaving him to stare at Ino, gurgling on his own blood.
Asuma and Choji were running down the bridge, already starting the attack. The men in the building heard the gurgle and came rushing out.
"What happened?" one shouted. Another turned and pointed to Asuma and Choji. "There!"
The first man turned back to Ino. "Weren't you supposed to be keeping guard?"
His eyes widened as a kunai stabbed in his stomach. It wasn't enough to kill him, but definitely would keep him out of the fighting. Ino yanked the kunai out of his stomach, and turned to another man, who stared at her in shock.
"What are you doing?" he shouted, pulling out a knife to attack her. Several other men followed suit. They froze in there steps.
"Kagemane, success," came Shikamaru's voice. Off to the side, several men began fighting amongst themselves, slashing knives at the empty air, sometimes hitting each other.
"Genjutsu, success." Sakura echoed. She watched the men with a smug smile on her face as they stumbled around, fighting off imaginary foes.
Choji and Asuma came then, with Choji enlarging his hands and grabbing hold of many of the men, throwing some to the side and smashing others with his large fists. Men screamed as they were manhandled and bones broke.
Asuma, for his part, flickered through the crowd, the smell of smoke the only sign he was there and he darted in, striking men down, knocking many out in one blow, and when he had to, using just a kunai to disable the men. One man swung his first high at Asuma, who grabbed his arm and twisted the man around so that his arm was behind his back. With a grim look in his eyes, Asuma jerked the arm upwards, ripping the arm out of its socket. The bandit screamed, and fell to the ground, rolling over and gripping his arm.
Behind him, another man swung a sword down at Asuma. "Behind you Asuma-sensei!" Sakura shouted, throwing her kunai.
She needn't have worried. Asuma spun around, and in one fluid motion cut the man' throat with his kunai, kicking him away in the process. Blood spurted out and sprayed wildly as Sakura's own kunai hit the man in the back. The man fell down, dead.
Sakura stared in shock. It had been a reflex, but she had killed a man. She watched in dim fascination as the spray of blood abated into a steady pulse as the man's heart grew weaker. It happened fast, but seemed so slow.
She was woken out of her daze as Choji blocked another bandit from hitting Sakura. "Wake up!" he said, crushing the man's arm in his enlarged state.
Sakura jolted back to reality, and stared around her. The bridge was theirs. Shikamaru had many men frozen in place in front of him, their hands still in the air, weapons razed, unable to do anything as their comrades were killed and beaten in front of them.
Ino stood with a blood kunai, having had to defend herself in the bandit's body. Around her, several kunais had hit men. She had been aiming for non-lethal areas it seemed….but many men would still die. Ino seemed strangely calm. Sakura briefly wondered what she looked like.
Asuma, for his part, had blood sprayed n his close. He had easily done the most damage, and his cigarette was still burning, a testament to how fast the whole attack had happened. He looked at them, nodding. "That," he began, "was excellently carried out. Quick, nearly silent, and effective. Good job, team 10."
They all smiled in spite of themselves.
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End of CHAPTER 21
Well, how did you all like it? Hopefully it's okay, I have to admit I feel a bit uncertain about my writing right now. I'm out of practice! But I'm going to try and keep up a schedule of a chapter everyone two weeks or so. Hopefully I'll get into the rhythm of things again and maybe improve my writing. We'll see how that goes and then adjust if needed.
Also, I'm doing some revisions on previous chapters. Nothing too big, but here's a brief bit.
*Removing the Ino/Sakura kiss thing in the first chapter.
*Second chapter Ino/Sakura thing removed, Kakashi scene removed. First meets Naruto on team assignment
*Adding more detail to certain fights when I can. (Orochimaru, Gaara, several others) – Still working on this bullet point.
*Fixing spelling/grammatical errors when I see them.
So far that's it. I'll keep you updated if I'm going to revise anything else. You DO NOT have to go back and reread the story. No major plot points have been changed.