AN: Well, I guess my requests for reviews have fallen on deaf ears. Oh well, it could be worse. I mentioned this in my other story, Death God Walking, but there is actually a very small chance that sometime in the relatively near future, I will become unable to continue any of my stories. Just a heads up for anyone who reads the ANs. Umm. I can't really think of anything to say here so we'll get on with things.
Read, Enjoy, Review!
Oh and as an answer to collegeman, I'm not threatening anything. Circumstances are out of my hands at this point. It has nothing to do with not getting enough reviews. Sure I like to get lots of reviews, but if I based whether or not I continue writing on the number of reviews I receive per chapter, I would have quit with this whole ordeal a long time ago, so please don't accuse me of something without knowing the full situation...
Fevered
Two Days Later
"Quick, get away and from him before he kills you!" the child's voice shrieked. "He's a demon! Look out!"
Naruto turned around to look, hearing the frightened child crying out in terror, but saw nothing. As near as the blonde Jounin could tell he was very alone, standing in the streets of Konoha in the late evening. This in and of itself was surprising as Naruto had no memory of how he got there.
"There he is! Run away!" the voice echoed again in high-pitched terror.
Naruto turned around, looking for the source of the trouble. Confused or not, he reasoned, there was something wrong that he needed to correct. But, again all he saw was the empty street. He couldn't find a child or anyone for that matter. The wide street was deserted, aside from the stray paper bag blowing like a poltergeist in the wind.
"Who are you?" he called into the dark. "What's wrong?"
"See?" a tiny, disembodied voice said. "He wants to kill you. He was a monster then and he is now. He is a monster now and he always will be. Don't let him see you. Don't let him see you."
Naruto walked silently down the sidewalk, his mind racing with possible explanations to this mystery. The thought that this was all a dream crossed his thoughts, but it seemed far too real. The cement under his feet was too firm and the wind tossing his hair about was too real to be a dream.
Is this some kind of Genjutsu? he wondered.
Acting on instinct alone as a chill ran down his spine, Naruto reached his right hand around to his back and groped for the handle of the ever present amber sword, as a bead of sweat broke onto his brow when his fingers failed to find the blade. The familiar texture of the ancient wrappings around the hilt, and the weight of the laden sheath were always something he could expect to find in times of trouble, but without them, or more accurately, as soon as he realized that they were gone, the night seemed to deepen and darken.
Naruto took another step forward, approaching the corner of an alley he knew would be a dead end. Though there was no apparent danger, the Ninja knew that appearances are never to be trusted in the world he lived in. Trusting appearances was the fault of fools and the insane as far as he was concerned.
"Leave us alone," he heard the voice cry again, a little louder than before.
"Hush," said a second voice, this one deeper than the first, but still belonging to a child. "Be quiet and he might go away."
Another chill ran down Naruto's spine, this one seeming to pierce his limbs with tiny flecks of bitter cold. He shivered, but couldn't alleviate the cold and the numbness that was quickly seeping into his hands and feet, making him heavy. He couldn't see his breath, but Naruto knew it must have been freezing cold. Given the shivering that originated in his core and shook every part of him out to his fingers, it had to be.
Naruto set his back to the entrance of the alley and breathed a sigh, trying to steady himself. Some deep-seated and morose sense of malice hung in the air. It was stifling, and immediately Naruto knew why there was no one around. He knew that anyone aside from himself would have succumbed to the atmosphere, curled up on the spot, and waited to die. The feeling had set in so quickly. Like a tiny but infectious splinter, this one in his mind, he hadn't noticed it until it was too deep to remove, and until he was shaking nearly uncontrollably with either fear or cold or both.
This is stupid, he tried to tell himself. I'm a Jounin, no, better than a Jounin. I'm better than a damned Kage. I shouldn't be acting so childishly… but…
Even as he squinted to keep his eyes from shutting, Naruto whirled around and planted his feet firmly in the mouth of the alley. His fists were clenched into iron hard knots, white knuckled, and his eyes were wild and feral.
The alley was dark enough that any normal person would simply see a wall of black between the two tall buildings, but Naruto's icy blue eyes were focused like an animal's and sensing every detail of the lane with inhuman clarity and precision. He could see every pore on every brick of the two walls of the alley just as easily as he could pick out the details of every individual hair on the two children's heads, who cowered before him.
One was a boy, maybe ten years old, wearing scrappy cloths that served as a poor excuse for a shirt and trousers, and the other was a girl, half the age of the boy, wearing the finest tailored gown Naruto had ever seen. The boy shrunk back, pulling the girl to whom he clung defensively farther from the stranger, and both children looked at him with utter terror carved into their pallid faces. The boy's brown eyes stared widely, while the girl squinted, but failed to pull her sparkling emerald eyes away from Naruto.
"Don't let it kill us," the boy gasped, his fiery red and shaggy hair shifting as the girl buried her face in it.
"I'm not going to hurt you," Naruto growled between clenched teeth, the frigid cold clinging to every inch of him locking up his jaw.
"Not you, not yet," said the girl, her voice quavering.
"Who are you?" asked Naruto, mustering the strength to take a step forward.
The children cried out in fear as he approached. The little girl wailed and cried, locking her arms in a death grip around the boy's neck as he clutched at her tightly. "Get away, get away, before you kill us!" she cried loudly.
"Hush Sonya!" hissed the red-headed boy, "before it hears you. Immediately the crying faded to a dull whimper, muffled by tightly pursed lips and a little hand covering her mouth.
"I'm a Ninja of Konoha," Naruto said tersely, forcing every word. "Let me help you, I can keep you safe if you tell me what's going on."
"No you can't! Get away, get away, get away!" shrieked Sonya. "Rodya, he's going to kill us!"
"I'm here to help!" shouted Naruto, his feet still frozen to the ground. "But I need you to tell me what the hell is going on! I'm here to save you!"
"You killed them all!" yelped Rodya, "Every last one of them, and now you're going to kill us too!"
As the wind picked up and blew the girl's pale golden hair about Naruto felt the breeze cut right through his skin and bone, penetrating down to his madly beating heart. Any wind more chill would have instantly ended his life, but this one merely drove Naruto's frantic heart to thrum like swarm of maddened hornets. He would have clutched his chest to hold himself together if the control of his hands had been his own.
"Enough!" howled Naruto. Sweat was pouring over his face, only making it colder, and his face was red with fury and fear. "What's wrong with you! I haven't done anything wrong! Stop making jokes and tell me what's going on!" His eyes were nothing short of rabid.
"Just leave us alone!" screamed Sonya. "If you're not going to kill us then you're just going to hurt us. Please Rodya, don't let it hurt us. Make it go away. Make the bad go away! It's evil. He's evil and I want him to just go away!"
Naruto's ears nearly burst with every rush of blood in his veins. The deafening pulse was unending and incessant. Even when he closed his eyes to block out the horrid image of the children his vision flashed red as his heart drove the blood on like a river.
"Go away before you kill again!" cried the little girl. "Just go away and die!"
A peal of thunder roared through the air, sending shimmers through the alley walls, as lightning flashed through Naruto's eyes. Another layer of shadow fell over the already bleak alley, deepening the darkness that seemed to fill every crevice in the street.
"Just die!" Rodya howled. "If you're dead you can't hurt us!"
Naruto clenched his fists and closed his eyes. His blood throbbed through his veins as the wind picked up and ripped through the alley like a gale, tossing Naruto's blonde hair about and whipping through Rodya's rag clothes.
"Die!" shouted Sonya.
"Shut up!!" Naruto screamed as he charged forward. He reared back and called on the familiar demonic power that had so long been his deadliest weapon. In a flash his sizzling claws ripped downwards. Naruto had been aiming for the children though his eyes were closed so he couldn't tell who he hit. Someone however screamed so Naruto knew he'd struck one of them a mortal blow.
The Ninja opened his eyes and saw that the little boy lay dead on the ground, his skull cloven like a ripened fruit, blood and brains smeared across the concrete and beneath Naruto's black sandal. The girl had fallen away from the corpse and now huddled against the wall, crying and screaming uncontrollably. Naruto took a step towards her, intentionally stepping on the dead boy's remains and further crushing his skull. A sickening crunch echoed through the alley as bits of gore flung out from the carnage and landed as far away as on the girl's once sparkling white dress.
"I told you I was here to help!" bellowed Naruto, bending down and picking Sonya up by the throat. He held her up in the air, his glowing fist sizzling like a pan of hot grease and charring the tender flesh it wrapped around. "But you insisted on prolonging the problem!"
There was a loud crack and Sonya suddenly fell silent and stopped struggling against him. Her legs stopped kicking and her emerald eyes washed over with blood that spilled down her cheeks in a rivulet of crimson tears. Slowly her tiny mouth dropped open.
Naruto glared into her eyes furiously as her chest stopped heaving. Suddenly his own eyes burst open wide and the red chakra instantly vanished into thin air. He didn't let go of the little lifeless body he still strangled, but his mouth fell open and clear tears began to flow down his face. Slowly he loosened his grip and the body dropped unceremoniously to the ground.
"What is this?" Naruto asked, his voice shaking. "What is this!? What kind of devilry could…!? Surely I didn't actually. I'm not capable of-"
The blonde stumbled back, his balance suddenly abandoning him, and he landed hard against one of the alley walls. His head was spinning like a dervish and his stomach was retching at the sight, smell, and taste of the carnage, for he could indeed taste every texture of the metallic odor of blood.
"I told you you'd kill us," Naruto heard a little voice say. "See, I told you."
Naruto, crouched on his hands and knees to fight the revulsion, whirled to his feet and pressed up against the wall in horror. There before him, Sonya's lifeless eyes were staring at him. She'd turned her head despite her broken neck and pursed her lips into an innocent smile.
"Monster!" Naruto cried, pressing up against the wall and wishing the bricks would just swallow him. "You're a monster!"
Sonya's smile widened. "But look what you've done… monster."
Instantly Sony's and Rodya's bodies burst into flames that raced over the bricks of the alley and up to the roofs of the buildings, but left Naruto untouched. The infernal fire burned through the whole of the abandoned village in seconds, setting everything ablaze. Naruto could only watch as all of Konoha burned down around him.
"What have I done!?" Naruto screamed above the roar of the hell he found himself in, his lungs burning with the fiery air as his mouth belched out smoke with his words. "What have I done!!"
Everything blacked out, though Naruto's scream still echoed throughout the room as he bolted up in bed, his head wrapped in the thick comforter he'd taken to sleeping in. In a fit Naruto tore, grabbed and pulled at the bedding, untangling it from around his face and threw it against the wall. His breaths were coming in long, deep gasps that made his sweat-soaked body tremor. Every muscle shook with every beat of his heart.
For a long minute he sat there against the headboard, merely trying not to break down and scream again, but as time began to slip by and the tremors didn't stop he realized sitting around wasn't going to aid in the recovery from that… nightmare.
He stood up, his muscled and tan frame illuminated and brought into stark detail by the sunlight streaming in from his bedroom door (on bright days the light from the living room windows could easily reach down the stairs and into his bedroom), and Naruto staggered from his bed to the door to the house's private bathroom, and nearly fell through it. He leaned up against the corner of the shower for support and reached out to turn on the water.
After a moment the stream spraying from the chrome nozzle began to steam and sputter with heat. Naruto looked at it pensively for a moment, and then turned the control handle as far to 'cold' as it would go. He wore nothing to take off, and stepped into the shower without hesitation. In his own mind, the biting water was a nice reminder that he was still alive.
What the hell was that? he wondered, as he rested his forehead against the cold tile wall. I wonder if that's how my victims felt when I used some of Jiraiya's Genjutsu on them… brutal.
Naruto ran through his mind what a normal bathroom routine would be and quickly set to work on it, showering in the frigid water and then brushing his teeth with a towel draped over his hair, trying not to think about the nightmare.
"Maybe I'm just paranoid," he mumbled after rinsing the last of the toothpaste out of his mouth. "I just finished furnishing my house, after having just gotten back to Konoha, after having just found Orochimaru's trail near the village… After just having finalized my plans." He glanced up in the mirror and checked his face, for what he wasn't sure. "Naruto, you've had a full plate lately."
His brief monologue was interrupted as he heard someone knocking on the door upstairs.
"And it only looks to get fuller…" he groaned.
After shouting for his visitor to wait a moment, Naruto threw the towel around his waist and checked to make sure he was as decent as possible be given that he was essentially naked, then walked upstairs; doing everything he could to seem composed.
"Kakashi-Sensei, Sakura," Naruto said, minorly surprised when he opened the door and found the two Jounin standing on his small porch. "Something I can do for you?"
"Yes," said Kakashi matter of factly. "Though you may wish to get dressed first; I need to talk to you at the Hokage's office as soon as you can find time."
"You mean your office?" Naruto asked, an edge of sarcasm in his voice. "Tsunade did leave you in charge after all."
Kakashi grunted bitterly. "So the news is already getting around, but no, it's not my office. I don't want it and I pleaded for the job to fall to someone else. Now get dressed and come with us."
"Right, right," mumbled Naruto, turning around and walking through the living room and back down the stairs.
Kakashi glanced over at Sakura slyly. "You can stop staring dumbly now," said the silver haired Jounin, snapping Sakura's attention away from Naruto's less that fully clad form.
"Well this should prove interesting," Naruto mumbled, pulling the black ANBU shirt over his head and fastening the jet bracers around his forearms. He reached over to the nightstand by the bed and picked up the sheathed amber sword and fastened it to his back. As a last step of getting ready he pulled a thick, black leather belt out from under his bed and fastened it securely around his waist. The leaves embossed in the belt wound through the leather in a continuous vine.
He sprung back up the stairs, his padded boots silent on the carpet. "Ready when you are," said the blonde, finding that Kakashi and Sakura hadn't moved from their spots on the porch.
"Good," said Kakashi.
SC
Tsunade roared and lunged forward, slamming her fist square into the enemy Ninja's jaw. The air resounded with a loud snap as the bones in his face splintered like balsa under the crushing blow. The Nin flew back through the air until a tree stopped him dead in his path. Before the first opponent had even fallen to the ground, Tsunade whirled around, raised her leg over her head, and ferociously roundhouse kicked another assailant in the chest.
"No mercy!" shouted Tsunade as she leapt behind another Ninja wearing a Kiri forehead protector, wrapped her arms around his neck, and jerked her body around, breaking his larynx. "Don't let any of them get away!" The Hokage glanced around, seeing that her entire unit of ten Chuunin and a Jounin were engaged in combat with no less than thirty Kiri Nin.
In one fluid motion Tsunade both stomped the throat of the Kiri Nin on the ground at her feet, and leapt into the air. She reached out and grabbed the leg of an airborne enemy, spun around and flung him into a nearby tree. No one had time to decide whether the loud cracking was the unfortunate Ninja's bones or the tree breaking, but the tree looked unharmed.
Tsunade herd a metallic ring and felt an impact on her back. She whirled around, grabbing with her bare hands the sword that had harmlessly struck her armor. The enemy Ninja could only watch in horror as the dangerously beautiful Kunoichi ripped the blade from his hands, twirled it in her bleeding fingers, and drove the tip through his eye.
Tsunade groaned and balled her wounded hand into a fist as the last of the hostile Ninja fell backwards, his own sword protruding from the hole in his skull. The Hokage looked around to make sure the fight was indeed over, but there were only Nin with Leafs on their uniforms standing, so she didn't worry.
"How many dead?" asked the elder Kunoichi.
The ebony-haired Jounin looked around and performed a quick body count. "Thirty-two Kiri Ninja dead," he said, his voice strained but even. "But it looks like they killed Umbro and Taki."
"Bastards," mumbled Tsunade. "We're not even out of the god damned Fire Country and we're already running into units of Ninja. Kigisan, go ahead and scout the area. Make sure we won't be walking into another ambush."
One of the Chuunin bowed low and raced off into the forest. His clothes were basely dark green, but spattered with patterns of olive and even dark brown. This effective camouflage made it nearly impossible to pick him out in the underbrush as Kigisan ran, clinging to the shadows of trees and tall bushes.
"I thought all the Kiri Nin would be in the Wind Country by now," said the Jounin. "What are stragglers doing this far back?"
"I don't know," said Tsunade. "But don't you think it odd that they seemed just as surprised to run into us as we were to find them? Do you think this was an ambush at all or just a chance meeting?"
"Hard to say," muttered the Jounin. "But I can't see what they'd be doing this far from where the battle is supposed to take place unless Kiri is holding some of its forces in reserve. Or maybe they sent this team to wait until you left Hokage-Sama, with orders to stalk us."
"Maybe the Mist is waiting until the battle actually starts to move in all of its forces," said one of the Chuunin sheepishly. "If that were the case then they could catch us off guard and on all sides once we get to Suna."
"It could be any number of things. At any rate," said Tsunade, "standing around talking about it isn't going to get us any closer to where we're needed. It doesn't really matter why they were this far back, just that they're all dead now. For the present we need to keep-"
"Hokage-Sama!" Kigisan yelped, jumping through the brush and landing next to Tsunade in a huff.
"Catch your breath," said the Hokage, turning to the Chuunin. "What's the matter?"
"I ran back here as fast as I could. There's- Up ahead in the forest," said Kigisan, pausing for breath.
"An ambush?" asked the Jounin.
Kigisan shook his head. "No, I found one of our units, or what's left of it at least. There's a clearing up ahead where there was some kind of massacre."
"Massacre?" asked Tsunade.
"Just come and see," said the Chuunin. "It's not far."
"Lead on," said the Hokage.
Kigisan nodded, then turned around and bounded off into the brush, followed immediately by the eight Chuunin, the Jounin, and Tsunade.
"I apologize for Kigisan," said the Jounin quietly to Tsunade. "He's still young for his rank and he tends to get carried away."
"Don't worry," said the Hokage. "He's able-minded enough and his uncanny ability to be stealthy more than makes up for his inexperience."
The group of Ninja came to the sudden break in the forest and broke into a sunlit clearing. Everyone gasped. Scattered throughout the copse were nearly six dozen dead bodies, each one wearing some form of the Konoha insignia. Each corpse had a look of terror frozen in its face as it stared up at the sky through empty eye sockets. Their skin was stretched tight over their bony frames like fabric over wooden skeletons.
"Spread out," ordered Tsunade, "I want a body count and an explanation before we move on. Suna can wait a few minutes."
The Hokage watched cautiously as the remaining Nin slowly made their way between corpses, giving them a quick once-over and then moving on to the next. The Jounin stood at her side with his arms crossed across his chest. The shuriken in his hand was twitching as his eyes scanned the field.
This is bad, thought Tsunade, looking at the dead bodies. They look like they've had all the blood, all the moisture for that matter sucked right out of their bodies. What could have done this?
"Ryukuzu," said Tsunade, catching the Jounin's attention.
"Yes ma'am," he responded immediately.
"This is unlike anything I've ever seen," said the Hokage. "Look at their faces."
"I know," said Ryukuzu. "What do you think did this?"
Tsunade glared out at all of the dead bodies. "I have no idea, but whatever it was attacked them all at once. And it looks like the deaths were either instant or incredibly fast. Look at how they're laying… the bodies are still in their delta formations and not one of them has drawn a weapon. Also, where are the signs of a fight? There are no burn marks, no slashed up trees, no blast marks…"
"An ambush it would seem," said Ryukuzu.
"That much seems perfectly clear," said the Hokage, "But a trap that instantly killed so many Ninja… This was the largest battalion we sent out."
One of the Chuunin walked solemnly up to Tsunade and Ryukuzu. "There's not a mark on any of them," he said gravely. "None of them have any apparent wounds."
"An attack on the spirit or mind?" Ryukuzu theorized.
"My thoughts exactly," said Tsunade. "But to strike at a single mind, much less seventy minds, with an instantly mortal blow would take inhuman amounts of chakra, and to control the assault would require absolutely flawless control. To do something like this, even for a large squad of ambushers, would take years of precision training."
"So there's a team of elite Shinobi out there," said Ryukuzu, "who specialize in attacking the mind? That's comforting…"
"I don't think even Orochimaru would be capable of something like this kind of assault," said the Hokage. "Not against all of them at once as the position of the bodies suggests. They must've used a Genjutsu to hold them in place."
"A Genjutsu that large would take as much chakra as the attack itself," said the Chuunin.
"I don't know," Ryukuzu groaned, "but we can't stand around and muse about it all day. What are your orders, Hokage-Sama?"
Tsunade turned away from the Jounin and looked over massacre, and the Chuunin standing in a line off to the side of the grove. "We'll continue for Suna. We'll be needed there as much as anywhere. Dispatch a note back to Konoha warning them about a possible strike team in the area, and tell Kakashi to keep the guard vigilant at all hours of the day. We've come too far to waste time turning back to hunt these bastards only to turn around empty handed and make for Suna after the battle's already over."
SC
"So what's this about Kakashi-Sensei?" asked Naruto.
The Copy Nin walked around the large mahogany desk in the familiar office of the Hokage with measured steps, his hands clasped behind his back. To Naruto and Sakura both, their former master seemed unusually pensive and quiet, though little about his actions had changed and the perceived shift was more a feeling than a provable fact.
"Naruto I thought you should know, well, actually you have the right to know what plan Tsunade has in the works for you should something happen to her."
"Oh?" probed the blonde. "What kind of plans are we talking about?"
"Large ones," Kakashi muttered. "Tsunade suggested that I not tell you about this unless the situation arose and it became necessary, but I think that the simple fact that such a contingency exists is reason enough that you should know of it… Naruto, Tsunade left very specific instructions that if both she and Jiraiya die in the near future, that you are to be made Hokage. As such, you have my fullest backing on anything you deem necessary to do in the upcoming months…"
Naruto's eyes widened just a bit, and he failed to say anything. Sakura as well seemed stunned and glanced continually between Kakashi and Naruto for just a moment before chiming in.
Well, thought the blonde, it would seem things are a little more desperate than the old woman let on initially, meaning the war is likely to get heated on every front unless I totally misjudge Tsunade's actions.
"That's awesome," the Kunoichi said happily, a smile on her lips. "Congratulations Naruto."
"I'm not quite through yet," said Kakashi before Naruto could respond, drawing the attention of both genin back to himself. "There's a reason I brought you along for this Sakura…"
"Why's that?" asked the Kunoichi.
"That should be obvious," said Naruto quietly, a noticeable lack of enthusiasm in his voice. "If he just made me next… well, third, in line to be Hokage, he wouldn't bring you along just to watch." He turned from Sakura to Kakashi, "you're going to make her next for some kind of position of authority, right?"
Kakashi nodded, crossing his arms and closing his visible eye. "Not many people know that during times of war, the Hokage appoints a village 'steward,' someone left in charge of the village while the Hokage leads campaigns out in the field. Well, as little as I wanted the position, Tsunade appointed me steward, and as such it is my right to choose a successor should something happen to me."
Naruto glanced over at Sakura with a little smile as she stared at their former teacher. He saw exactly where this was going.
So Sakura could wind up being my boss for a while… thought Naruto. That could be useful if Kakashi were to die before something happened to Tsunade and Jiraiya. I wouldn't lose the support of the steward.
"Sakura," continued Kakashi. "It is my opinion that you should become steward if something should happen to me before Tsunade returns from Suna."
"I- me?" the girl stammered, taken back. "But…"
"I'm not going to force the decision on you," said the Copy Nin when it became apparent that Sakura was going to take a second or two to answer. "But I wouldn't offer you the position if I didn't think you were the best option."
"Why not some other Jounin," said Sakura. "Not that I'm not grateful but wouldn't Gai, Kurenai, or Naruto be a better choice?"
Kakashi uncrossed his arms and put a hand on Sakura's shoulder. "There are lots of powerful Ninja who could effectively protect the village from danger in the Hokage's stead,"
said Kakashi, "but there aren't many who show your administrative abilities and your prowess, both physically and mentally. If you'd rather I could go to someone else but I feel that you would be best for the job."
"I don't know," said Sakura.
"I think you should go for it," said Naruto, plans swirling in his mind.
Sakura glanced over at him, unsure of exactly what to say.
"Besides," Naruto grinned. "You deserve the position, you're the best for it, and it looks like Kakashi realizes that. He wouldn't say so unless it was true."
"Naruto's right," said the Copy Nin. "If I didn't honestly think you had the potential to be great I wouldn't offer it to you."
"Why do you think I should?" asked Sakura, turning to Naruto quizzically.
Naruto grinned again, doing his best to seem as genuine as possible. "I want what's best for Konoha," he said. "And that's you. Besides, odds are that we won't see any action at all and you won't have to take over as steward. As good as you'd be at it though, I'd rather it not be necessary," he glanced at Kakashi who looked at him warily but nodded in agreement.
Sakura crossed her arms and looked at Naruto cautiously, though there was some bridled happiness in her eyes. "You really think I deserve it?" she asked.
"Absolutely," said the blonde without hesitation.
As a smile crossed her lips, the Kunoichi smiled and let her hands drop to her sides. "I'll do it then," she said.
"Good," said Kakashi, "It's official then. But really you don't need to worry Sakura. Naruto's right and we probably won't see any fighting here in Konoha. I just wanted to make sure all the bases are covered."
"Understood Kakashi-Sensei," said the Kunoichi. "And I do appreciate your confidence in me."
"It's been earned," said the Copy Nin looking between his students.
Sakura smiled to her teacher, and then turned to Naruto. "So," she said. "I don't suppose you'd be interested in letting me treat you to lunch?"
"I don't know," said Naruto, taking a step back and attempting to act like he hadn't caught the flirtatious tone in Sakura's voice. "I had planned on running a few patrols, by myself, around the village."
"Not a bad idea," said Kakashi, "but why not go to the Keen and ask if one or two of them wanted to run patrols with you? It would give those overly-trained Hyuugas something to do, and Neji himself might even want to tag along."
"Well, the idea was to go alone to keep things quiet," said Naruto crossing his arms.
"Alright," said the Kunoichi, a somewhat defeated tone in her voice.
Naruto smiled inwardly to himself, then turned to Sakura after putting on a condoling face. "But if Sakura wants to go to lunch," he said, "I suppose that would work too, though I wouldn't even think of letting her pay for anything."
The joy was almost tangible as Sakura grinned and faced Naruto happily. "I'd love to," she said without any further invitation. "Where did you have in mind?"
"I hadn't thought about it," said the blonde casually, "but anywhere you wanted to go would be fine with me."
"You should probably be off then," said Kakashi smiling though his mask, "but Naruto, I should need to have a quick word with you in private if you don't mind."
"Of course Kakashi-Sensei," said Naruto. "Sakura you go on ahead and I'll meet you outside."
Sakura nodded, then left the office and closed the door behind her. Kakashi's smile instantly faded, and Naruto turned to face his teacher.
"You shouldn't encourage her if you have no plan to actually return her affection," said the Copy Nin darkly, not looking Naruto in the eye. "What are you doing?"
"Is this conversation strictly off the record Kakashi-Sensei?" Naruto asked flatly.
"Of course," said the silver-haired Jounin, looking at Naruto with one eye. "Nothing said here will be known by anyone aside from us unless you divulge it."
"Good," said the blonde. "Because what I'm about to tell you may come across as a little… odd."
"Go ahead then."
"Kakashi-Sensei, you mentioned that I would have your full backing in the upcoming conflicts correct?"
"I did say that," said the Copy Nin.
"Which means that I won't be sitting back with the garrison at home for much longer I'm guessing. You plan to implement me in the field at some point."
"I'm going to be perfectly honest and totally open with you because I trust you Naruto," said Kakashi. "It's been the plan, ever since it was evident that war was unavoidable, to have you spearhead the vast majority of our offensive maneuvers. Tsunade will be leading the army, but you will be our greatest weapon."
"Then my perceptions have been right from the beginning," said the blonde. "Which makes it all the more clear to me that desperate measures are going to become necessary to end this war in our favor, unless by some miracle Tsunade completely crushes the enemy at Suna in the next few days."
"You're probably right," said Kakashi. "No one is so naïve to think that this war will be over quickly… not with Orochimaru, the Fourth, and the Hyuuga Demon in play."
"Orochimaru isn't going to play nice," said Naruto. "He won't fight with any kind of honor or dignity because he'll be too preoccupied with trying to destroy us by any means necessary… and I think it will only be fair if someone on our side returns the courtesy."
Kakashi's eye narrowed just a bit. "And you want to be the one to fight Orochimaru using his own dirty tactics…"
"Not at all," said Naruto. "And I'm only saying this much because I have your full backing and trust. I don't want to fight dirty, but I think I'm the only one who will be willing to. Jiraiya is too set in his ways, and Tsunade is too concerned with politics to do what is necessary, which leaves me to take the fight to the enemy's people…"
"What are you saying?" asked the Copy Nin.
"I'm saying," said Naruto carefully, "that if I feel it is necessary, I won't hesitate to strike directly at the heart of the enemies war effort. I won't be afraid to sneak in behind their borders and burn their villages, civilian and Ninja alike, to the ground along with everyone inside them. Obviously that might … compromise my popularity, which is why I'm acting this way to Sakura."
"You think that if you do what you have to, to end the war that it will make you look bad and so you want someone as powerful as the steward on your side to back you up," clarified Kakashi.
"Exactly," nodded Naruto. "And you said I had your full support, which means that as long as you're here I'm in the clear, but if something should happen to you, pardon if I sound cold, but I want someone who I know likes me to take your place. Sakura has obviously infatuated herself with the notion that she and I can become romantically involved, which makes her the perfect one to take your place, though I'd rather that not become necessary. Granted, it will have to be a gradual process, but I don't doubt that with a little encouragement, her infatuation will blossom completely."
Kakashi closed his eye and chuckled to himself for a minute as Naruto leaned back against the wall and crossed his arms.
"Damn," muttered the older of the two Jounin. "Damn Naruto, what happened to that innocent little kid who left Konoha three years ago?"
Naruto shrugged nonchalantly. "He grew up and realized that the world doesn't fight fair. Three years hunting Orochimaru will teach you that real quick. It shows you that if you really want to protect anything worth protecting, you have to be willing to get dirty in the process."
Kakashi smiled beneath his mask. "I don't know whether or not I should be disgusted with your attitude Naruto," he said. "But regardless, I know exactly what you're saying. I tried to tell the Fourth during the last war exactly what you're telling me now, but because he wouldn't listen, and insisted on fighting properly, the war dragged on longer and longer and a lot of innocent people died."
"So do I still have your support?" asked the blonde levelly.
"Absolutely," said Kakashi. "I may strongly disapprove of playing with another person's emotions, but sometimes evils are necessary to accomplish greater goods. Wouldn't you agree?"
"I would," said Naruto. "But if you'll excuse me, I'm late for lunch with Sakura."
"By all means," said the Copy Nin as Naruto crossed the room and opened the door and walked out into the hallway. "However Naruto I must warn you, if I feel your endangering Konoha with your actions…"
Naruto stopped short of closing the door behind himself. "You'll stop me," he said quietly.
The Copy-Nin nodded once. "By any means necessary. But unless we reach that point, I'll support you."
"Understood," said Naruto, stepping out of the room and shutting the door.
Kakashi waited until he was sure that both his Jounin students were nowhere around, before he walked around the desk and collapsed in the chair. "Hell," he muttered, "Desperate situations do indeed call for desperate measures, but why did it have to come to measures like this? Stabbing people in the back, fighting using dirty tricks, manipulating people's emotions…" he ran his fingers over the mahogany top of the desk. "But then again… Tsunade doesn't realize just how dire things are likely to become very, very, soon, and if she did she wouldn't have the heart to do what it takes to win at all costs…
"On the other hand, Naruto has just shown me that he has the will to act, and a loyalty to Konoha above everything else. Perhaps he does know what he's doing after all.
"Naruto very well may be just the kind of person we need to lead us to victory," he continued musing to himself, "If he can lead an army half as well as he can manipulate we may still have a shot at this… we can win this and save hundreds or thousands of innocent Leaf and Sand lives if he's allowed to fight Orochimaru on his own terms."
Kakashi stood up, new energy beginning to flow back into him. "That settles it then. Naruto has to have my support. He has to have Tsunade's support, and most of all, he needs to
have the freedom to do what s necessary, no matter how underhanded it may be. No matter what he chooses to do, as long as it's for the good of the village," Kakashi was more fervent now, pacing back and forth, "Naruto has to have the freedom to act, and I need to secure him that freedom… This may be a long shot, but it might just be worth it."
Standing outside in the hall, motionless, perfectly still and not so much as daring to breath, Naruto pressed his back to the wall and listened intently to every word Kakashi was saying. A small grin crossed his face and when he heard his old Sensei set busily to work writing on a scroll, he turned and began walking down the hall.
Finally, thought Naruto, closing his eyes and letting a wide grin split his face from ear to ear, bearing his sharp teeth like a predator. Finally I can go after that fucking bastard of a snake the way I have to. Finally I can rip out his heart and make him watch as it stops beating. I can at last make him suffer so much he'll beg for the relief of Hell…
Naruto couldn't stop himself. He began to laugh, a deep and rolling chortle that grew steadily louder until he had to cover his mouth to muffle the volume for fear of someone hearing. The blonde held his lips firmly closed and pressed one hand up against his belly, trying to suppress the laughter that forced him to blush.
"Finally," he said once the laughter had calmed enough for him to speak. "It's finally time."
AN: No Note here. Just review please!!