A/N: Now for some filler. (Can someone explain to me why Itachi and Kisame went after Naruto in Part 1, when the Akatsuki needed the tailed beasts, in numerical order, for their plans in Shippuden? Maybe I missed something, or was it because Kishimoto just didn't have the story planned that far ahead?)
XXX
Three days had passed since the Battle for Konoha.
The Leaf citizens hadn't had time to completely put their village back together; the walls were still breached, some buildings were still in ruins, and the streets were still a mess.
Today though, nobody bothered to work.
Every single citizen; shinobi or civilian, present in the village was to attend the funeral of the Third Hokage.
As if the heavens themselves weeped the loss of a great man, it rained.
All attending the funeral were outfitted in black attire, and held a white flower in hand. The youngest of the village were closest to the shrine made out to Sarutobi; the youngest including the Konoha Thirteen. Trunks and the rest of Team 7 met up to attend the funeral together; even standing side by side to mourn. Tavi and Bulma stood behind the saiyan during the service.
Moving at once, the Konoha Thirteen walked up to place a flower upon the shrine that had dozens of other flowers placed in front of a picture of Hiruzen; all thinking back to the fond memories they'd had with the old man when they were children; Shikamaru and Choji running from him when they were caught skipping class, Ino and Sakura collecting flowers with him when they were little girls, Sasuke having him be there for him after Itachi murdered his entire family, Naruto having him be there when he had no family, and, while Trunks didn't share those same childhood memories, he acknowledged that the old man had been nothing but kind to him when he and his mother wound up in this village. Hiruzen could have easily sent Bulma and Trunks out on their asses but he didn't, he made them family within' the village. He couldn't be more grateful.
He laid his flower down next to Naruto's.
As he moved to stand back in his row, he noticed Yugao and Hayate standing side-by-side amidst the other jonin. He felt relieved that they survived the invasion.
A thought lingered in the saiyans mind for the rest of the service; he fought Orochimaru during the exams. If he'd managed to defeat Orochimaru during their battle in the forest of death, the fight between the Sannin and Sarutobi wouldn't have happened, and the old man would still be alive.
Or maybe, had he not been involved in this world at all things would be no different.
Maybe some things he just couldn't change.
XXX
While the Leaf continued with the funeral service, on the other side of the world, outside of the usual system of hidden villages, a meeting was being held. This meeting was held within' a dark and dank underground cave. Those attending the meeting wore identical black cloaks with blood red clouds designed and patterned around on the material. Overlooking the gathering, was a grotesque looking statue that the Akatsuki used for ripping the Bijuu from its host; where the beast would be kept until the time was right to unleash it. Out of the nine eyes on the statue, one for each of the demons, only a couple were open right at that moment.
Ironically, none of the members attended the gathering in person, only making themselves present through projected holograms they cast from all corners of the world they occupied for that time.
"The Leaf has been weakened," The leader said, purple ringed eyes scanning the seven other members present, before they stopped at a certain sharingan wielding member.
Unlike Kakashi Hatake or Sasuke Uchiha, who would only activate their sharingan during battle, this individual kept his sharingan active almost all the time.
The leader continued, "Itachi, this would be a perfect opportunity to capture the Nine Tails, would you agree?"
A response was a long time coming, but the other members knew that Itachi was a thinking man who would give a reasonable answer, "No. Not yet."
"Your reasons?" The leader asked.
Itachi continued, "Over the past six or seven months Kisame and I have heard tales about a boy, a boy that appeared in the Leaf and took refuge. A boy named Trunks Briefs."
"Weird name." A nin with long blond hair drawn into a ponytail said. If one looked at his hands, they would see a tongue in the palm of them. "And why do we care?"
"Let me continue," Itachi said, "this boy... has been said to use Ki."
That got everyone interested.
"Nonsense." Kakuzu said dismissively, "Ki as a source of energy hasn't been used in a millennia. Humans as a species have practically evolved to the use of Chakra. Ki users would have to be extinct at this point in time."
"I couldn't care less for how things are supposed to be." Kisame said, "If dozens of people from around the world are saying the exact same thing I'll believe it."
"Fine then," Deidara started, "even if he uses ki he's still a damn kid." Itachi spoke up before Deidara even finished.
"A kid who toyed with Zabuza Momochi, the One-tail, and fought Orochimaru evenly."
"Orochimaru, Zabuza, seriously?" Deidara shook his head, "You're wasting our time Itachi."
The leader raised his hand, "No. Itachi may have reason to be concerned. I want to hear why."
So Itachi continued, "He also possesses a kekkei-genkai that makes him stronger. By how much, we don't know, but he's been described as toying with Jonin just as easily as we can, without it. And as far as I'm concerned, his use of Ki could make him immune to Genjutsu, which gives him an advantage over me, and it could make him immune to Kisame's chakra absorption, which could give the boy a significant advantage over him."
"That sounds like a problem for you, maybe," Kakuzu said, "If you fear the boy that much, I'll go after the Nine Tails myself."
"Same." Hidan said, "He sounds like an annoyance to me."
"Perhaps he is," Itachi said, "all I insist is that I take time to dig-up more information on the kid before I risk confrontation in his own home."
"That's fair." The leader said, "Fortunately, none of us are in any rush as of yet. Take time to find any information needed."
Itachi and Kisame nodded.
Then, everyone vanished, the members returning to whatever their duties were at the time.
XXX
*3 days Later*
When the son of Vegeta woke up early that morning, the last thing he expected was to be summoned to a meeting with the village elders. He walked to the building that once belonged to the Hokage, intercepting Shikamaru on the way to the front entrance door.
As the two walked down the hallway, the saiyan turned to the slacker beside him, "You know what this meeting's about?"
Shikamaru rubbed the back of his neck in annoyance, "Hell if I know, it's too damn early for a meeting anyways." He slouched and mumbled, "Such a drag."
The sound of approaching footsteps made the two teens turn behind them,
"Naruto?" Trunks said once he noticed his whiskered teammate.
Naruto, rubbing the sleep from his eyes, smiled when he saw his friend and Shikamaru, "Hey guys! They called you too?"
Trunks nodded, "Guess you don't know what's going on either?" he assumed.
Shaking his head, Naruto walked passed him, "Beats me." He grabbed the doorknob and grinned, "But it's time to find out." he flung the door open to see Homura, Koharu, and Danzo sitting in a set of chairs facing the three Genin. Kakashi, Asuma, Anko, Ibiki, and Genma were present for said meeting as well.
The leader for Team 7 gave his two Genin an eye smile, "Nice of you to join us Trunks, Naruto. You too Shikamaru."
Nara looked to his Jonin who gave him an approving nod, taking notice that this was one of the few times he saw the man without a cigarette in his mouth.
Homura was the first elder to speak to the two, "Thank you for joining us; Trunks-kun, Shikamaru-kun, Naruto-kun. Due to your performance in the Chunin exams, and in your case Trunks-kun, Naruto-kun, the invasion, we would be honored to grant you three the promotion to Chunin."
The three teens eyes widened in surprise.
Naruto's blue eyes teared up. He was one more step closer to his dream. The promotion didn't mean much to Trunks and Shikamaru, but for different reasons. Trunks passion wasn't in being a shinobi. His only purpose for being one was to have a form of income, and Shikamaru, well, for those who knew the Nara, it was obvious why.
As the three walked out of the building, Chunin vests in hand, Naruto leaped up and shouted, "HELL YEAH!"
"Language Naruto." Kakashi said playfully as he and Asuma approached the promotees.
"Congratulations you three." Kakashi said as he patted Naruto and Trunks' shoulder.
"Thanks," Shikamaru said as he turned to Asuma, "lemme guess, we're celebrating?"
Naruto and Trunks looked to Kakashi, wondering the same question.
Asuma spoke up for the silver haired jonin, "Well, my team's definitely going out for barbeque later. You Kakashi?"
"Yeah," Naruto agreed, "we should go out for ramen!"
"No." Kakashi said simply, "But we'll definitely celebrate." The silver-haired jonin told his chunin, "But first, me and Asuma have business to take care of."
"That's right." Asuma said as he and Kakashi turned to leave their genin turned Chunin.
Shikamaru sighed and rubbed the back of his neck, "See ya 'round guys. I'm getting back to my bed." He said as he turned and walked away from the saiyan and the jinchuuriki.
"How ya' feel?" Trunks asked his friend. He knew the promotion meant more to Naruto than it did to him.
"This is one of the greatest things to ever happen to me!" Uzumaki said, eyes glued to the light green vest in his hands, "Thanks man," he said to Trunks, making the saiyan raise an eyebrow in question, "if you weren't there to tell everyone about what I did during the invasion, I might not have gotten promoted." he put the vest around his shoulders.
Trunks smirked when he saw the mismatched colors Naruto sported, "You gonna change your wardrobe?" he asked.
"Nah, well, maybe." Naruto admitted, "The days I'm not wearing this, I'll stick to my signature." he jabbed to the orange on his normal jacket. He turned from Trunks, "I'll catch you later Trunks!"
The demi-saiyan, being left alone, turned to head back home, intent on telling Tavi and Bulma the good news first. He'd let Kakashi be the one to surprise the rest of Team 7 with the news. It was actually a good thing they'd be meeting up later, the prince had actually had a surprise in store for them, completely unrelated to his promotion.
As he began walking, a voice called out to him, "Trunks Briefs."
The saiyan turned to the person who sang out to him, quirking an eyebrow as he did,
"Danzo?"
The bandaged elder approached the teen, who, for good reason, was bewildered that one of the village heads would have something to say to him in private.
"Can I… help you with something?" The saiyan said awkwardly.
Danzo spoke to the saiyan with an expected tone of superiority in his voice, "I simply wanted to give my congrats to you personally, and to thank you for your services to this village."
"Oh… well thanks." Trunks said, still awkwardly.
"And,"
'Oh boy,' the saiyan thought, not liking where this was going.
"I would like to give you an offer that transcends your Chunin promotion." the one eyed elder said
'I'm going to make you an offer you can't refuse.' The saiyan mocked Danzo in his head. How cliche.
"I want you to join my organization of special ninja, Root." The old man said, going straight to the point. Expecting confusion from the young teen, Danzo continued, "You would be carrying out missions that will strictly benefit the village, going beyond what some random dignitary or insignificant civilian would hire you for." He left it at that in case Trunks turned him down.
"Sounds nice." Trunks said, a hint of interest in his tone, "But what's the catch? Would I still be on Team 7?"
The bandaged man shook his head, "Unfortunately not, to be a member of Root you would have to show a complete and total devotion to the organization, but the reward is-" Trunks cut him off by shaking his head.
"Sorry, but no. Team 7 is family to me. I'm flattered you want me to join your 'special group' or whatever, but I'm not leaving my family behind for it."
Danzo lowered his head and closed his only remaining eye, "That is unfortunate, but understandable. If you ever wish to reconsider, the option is open to you Trunks-kun."
The saiyan nodded, and although on the surface Danzo seemed content and accepting of his choice, Trunks could feel a wave of malice radiating from the older man.
He turned and flew off.
XXX
Kakashi and Asuma wordlessly walked down the halls of the Konoha intelligence division, intent on meeting Anko and Ibiki within' the room assigned to the Konoha Torture and Interrogation Force, of which the latter two belonged.
Upon reaching said room, the two elite jonin entered to see that it was darkened, with Anko and Ibiki standing side by side with a shadowed individual sitting at a desk in the center of the room.
"Kakashi, Asuma, it's about time you slowpokes made it." Anko said upon seeing the other jonin.
"Do you...not know me by now?" Kakashi genuinely asked, making Anko sweatdrop.
Asuma turned to Ibiki, "So, who're we playing 20 questions with?"
The interrogator held his hand out to the shadowed individual, "I think you can recognize this rat from the Chunin Exams,"
"Dosu Kinuta, of the Sound Village." Kakashi finished for him.
Dosu wordlessly glared at the silver haired jonin.
Anko stepped up beside Kakashi, all four of the jonin staring down Dosu, who's sound speaker was removed from his right arm and his wrists cuffed. "Surprisingly, this bastard never fought during the invasion. He surrendered himself over the second the attack started." Orochimaru's failed student shrugged, "He says he's turned against Orochi-bastard, and he can prove it." She walked up behind Dosu and smacked him on the back of the head, "Tell the nice men what you told me and Ibiki, mummy boy."
The ex-Sound shinobi's one eye continued to glare icily at the leaf-jonin in front of him, "I know the location of Orochimaru's hideouts. All of them. I can give them to you in exchange for asylum in the village."
Asuma gave him an unconvinced look, "One of Orochi-bastards dogs turning against him...not unusual," his eyes flickered to Anko for a second, "but why so sudden?"
"Yeah," Kakashi agreed, "seems a little convenient for you to turncoat during a Suna-oto invasion." He got up closer to Dosu, the three foot metal desk being the only thing separating the two, "Cut the crap, you couldn't give a damn about this village, you just wanna save your own ass. What did Orochimaru do to wrong you?"
The sound-nin closed his eye for a few long seconds before speaking, "That bastard sent me and my team on a suicide mission; a fight with Sasuke after he'd been marked. Then during the invasion, he used them as sacrifices for the reincarnation jutsu." His glared right into Kakashi's eye as he said, "I could've gone anywhere. I could've left during the attack, gone to the sand and told them it was Orochimaru who killed the Kazekage, but I didn't. I stood down and came to you."
The four jonin took a second to think about what they'd heard, and just how genuine Dosu could've been. Kakashi decided to test him.
At a wall in the room hung a map of the elemental nations. The Jonin of Team 7 ripped it down before roughly setting it down on the desk. He cut the bonds from Dosu's wrists with a kunai, before using that same kunai to draw blood from his palm, coating the tip of the blade with his blood.
"You said you know Orochimaru's bases, how many are there?" Kakashi asked as he set the bloodied kunai in front of Dosu.
"Five." The ex-Oto-nin said.
"Then mark them." Kakashi said, nodding down to the kunai.
Dosu did as he was told, using the red liquid as a form of ink to spot out several areas across the world.
Kakashi took the map and handed it to Anko, keeping his eye trained on Dosu, "And Anko-chan here better confirm at least one."
It was a complete bluff. The odds that Orochimaru would keep any of the same bases he had when Anko was his student were laughably bad. Especially since she could have and would have told the Hokage about them a long time ago.
But Anko acted like she was studying the map, while Kakashi, Asuma, and Ibiki studied Dosu for even the slightest inkling of deception.
"Yup." Anko started after about three minutes of 'scanning', catching the attention of the other jonin's, "It's legit."
Asuma turned to Dosu, "Alright then, you managed to save your ass."
"And since we're lacking a Kage at the moment, we'll make the call of keeping you in the village. For now." Kakashi said, "You will be under 24/7 Anbu surveillance. You will not leave the village for any reason. At night you will sleep in this building, in a cell. Understood?"
"Yeah." Dosu said.
Kakashi ripped the Sound Headband from the bandaged teens forehead.
Asuma nodded to Anko and Ibiki, "You'll go with them to report to the elders."
Ibiki roughly grabbed the ex-sound nin by his shoulders, he and Anko forcing him out of the room.
Kakashi looked to Asuma, "Your thoughts?"
"I don't trust him, you don't trust him." Sarutobi sat on the desktop, "Regardless, it shouldn't be our call what happens to him, and it shouldn't be the elders call either."
Kakashi sighed, "Yeah. But if those hideouts are real, we know where Orochimaru may be resting his head. Him having dead arms means he's about as damaged as this village is right now."
The jonin of team 10 nodded, before changing the subject, "That machine," Asuma started, Kakashi instantly knowing he meant #16, "You saw what that thing was capable of during the invasion." The jonin got a faraway look in his eye, a sign he was remembering events much too recent, "That thing managed to wipe out at least 3 dozen enemy nin in less than four minutes. It took the time it would have took to push back the invaders and cut it in half, maybe more than that. Imagine what it could do if we put it in the battlefield."
Kakashi shook his head, "The android only really takes orders from Tavi-chan. Unless we had her pal around with it on missions all the time,"
"She's pretty much on Gai's team now, right? We can figure something out." Asuma said, "There's no way in hell we can have something like that just sitting around the village without putting it to use."
Kakashi nodded, "That's the truth. Anyways, it's time I gather my team." He gave Asuma an eye-smile, "It's time for us to celebrate."
XXX
Team 7 gathered at a local park, Kakashi being the one to round up all of his students. They sat at a picnic table, happily celebrating the saiyan of their team's promotion.
"You guys aren't gonna be, you know, leaving us are you?" Sakura asked nervously.
Trunks shrugged, "Maybe every once in awhile. But Team 7's where I belong. I'm not going anywhere." He wore his gray Chunin vest.
Naruto shook his head, "Yeah, screw that. I'm stayin right here!'
Sasuke wasn't gonna make a scene, but the fact that Naruto and Trunks made it to Chunin rank before he did made him feel some kind of way. Perhaps his facial expressions showed his displeasure, because he felt Kakashi place a hand on his shoulder and give it a slight shake; a gesture that was supposed to cheer him up.
Trunks spoke up again, "I do wanna thank you guys for being there for me, all this time." Everyone went quiet to listen to him, "Throughout my whole life, I haven't had a whole lot of people I could call family. I had my mother, Shinhan, and Gohan. Now, since coming here, I have you guys, who I consider my family as well. Naruto and Sasuke, who I look at as brothers, Sakura, who is like a sister to me,"
Sakura screamed in her head, 'Sister? SISTER!? ONLY A SISTER?! SON OF A BIT-'
"And Kakashi," Trunks continued, "who actually reminds me of Gohan."
"You mention Gohan a lot," Naruto said, "I know he was your master, but what was he like exactly?"
"Yeah," Sakura agreed, "I'd like to know about him too."
They didn't voice it, but Kakashi and Sasuke were also curious to know what the man who trained Trunks had to have been like.
Trunks looked up as memories, both good and bad filled his mind, "He was serious, stern, aggressive, and he had a good heart above all else. He took me under his wing when I was scared and weak and he saved my life more times than I could count. When it came to protecting innocents, he wouldn't give up, even after he'd lost his arm to the androids." The saiyans face became downcast, "His need to save people is what did him in."
Kakashi nodded, "He sounds like a true hero. He'd make for a fine shinobi if he were still alive."
An uncomfortable silence settled over the group.
A smile crossed Trunks mouth, "I'm really glad we all got to meet up like this though. Because there's something else I need to tell you about."
"What is it?" Naruto asked.
"Well," Trunks started, "I think there's a way I can teach you all how to fly."
"How?!" Sasuke exclaimed, surprisingly beating Naruto to the punch.
Naruto got excited, "No way, are you for real?!"
"But, I thought you couldn't fly with chakra." Sakura said.
"Not exactly," Kakashi corrected, "The Tsuchikage can fly."
"Yeah, with gravity manipulation. Which only he can use." Sasuke said dismissively, his eyes focused on Trunks, "I'm assuming Trunks learned something about Chakra that even we don't know."
Trunks nodded, "The thing is, you won't be using chakra exactly. You'll be using a kind of variant of ki."
Que baffled looks from the rest of Team 7, which the half-saiyan expected.
"Let me explain." Trunks started, "See, my mom did a lot of research regarding chakra, and she learned that, regardless of a shinobi's body having adapted to use chakra, you all still possess ki within' your bodies; you just can't wield it due to ki being a natural energy. You'd need to be a Sage, someone who knows how to wield natural energy, in order to wield raw ki." He explained, still receiving confused looks from his team, "I think Iruka mentioned that back in the Academy."
He continued when he saw a look of remembrance on Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura's faces, "But, people here still possess a sliver of ki that's left separate from the chakra your body's are used to..."
"The catch?" Kakashi asked. He knew there had to be one.
"The ki's watered down." he scratched his cheek as he thought, "Think of it like soapy dishwater. There's the soap and water that's well mixed together, that being chakra, but at the surface, you have the bubbles formed from the soap. You can call it… surface ki?" still unsure about the term name.
Naruto got giddy, "So with surface ki we could-"
"You won't be firing any ki blasts," Trunks interrupted, "But you may be able to fly, move at higher speeds, augment your muscles and chakra attacks, make yourself more durable, and even use the ki blast cannon."
Sasuke's eyes brightened. This was definitely something he could use against Itachi. "How do we get it?!" He asked, borderline desperately.
"You train for it." Trunks said, "Like anyone who wants to use ki." He grinned, "You just gotta want it. And I'm more than ready to train you guys if so."
While his genin looked like they had ants in their pants, Kakashi kept his cool exterior. But on the inside, he was excited. 'Guess the student becomes the master.' The silver haired jonin thought.
He looked to Trunks,
"When do we start?"
XXX
A/N: Chapter end. Now, Trunks and Naruto are Chunin, Dosu is still alive, and Team 7 (with the inclusion of some other shinobi) will be learning about surface ki, something that me and SparkinClark came up with as a way of teaching the Naruto characters ki...to an extent.
Anywayssss, that's it for now!
Until next time!