A Shadow's Touch

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D/C: I own nothing. Ryou Yuuki owns Akira Kurotsuki.

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A/N: Characters may be Out of Character. Take note that characters are younger and have different upbringings.

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"Remind me again why we accepted this mission?"

"For the last time…Zabuza-sama… We need the money."

"You know he's right, Zabuza-sama!"

"They are right, Zabuza-sama."

Zabuza Momochi glared at the three shinobi that were put under his charge for their current mission. He was wearing a sleeveless black shirt and matching black pants, stripped wrist and leg-warmers. Bandages wrapped around the bottom half of his face and it's loosely tied around his neck similar to a scarf. Forehead protector tied sideways and has one a giant belt across his chest that holds Kubikiribocho onto it. Typical apparel for Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist, and at times even Anbu, and the three Shinobi in front of him did not even look remotely like Anbu. Then again, they are not even ranked as such, so that wasn't much of an issue. The main issue is that, Zabuza has to play babysitter not only to them but also to that tyrant business man.

"Zabuza-sama?"

Zabuza glanced over at the one that called his name. It was Haku, his star pupil. If only he could get the teen to kill people and not paralyze or charm his way out from killing them. Haku is only fifteen years old and he already made a name for himself, Haku of the Ice Release. The teen was sitting on a wooden bench; he is wearing the standard Kiri pinstriped outfit that ended over his knees. Over that he has on a green haori with white trimmings and around his waist is a brown sash with a fringed trail wrapped round his waist twice. Instead of the standard Shinobi sandals, he has on a pair of light brown platoon sandals. He has long dark brown hair gathered in a white bun holder and two locks fell loose framing his face. Even if Haku is a male, Zabuza sometimes wonders otherwise. Especially since Haku has a very androgynous appearance. "What?"

"Do you believe we will face difficulty in this mission?"

"Hah! This is Zabuza-sama we are talking about! He will chop up anyone that stands in his way."

Zabuza eyes shifted over towards the youngest of the three brats, the most annoying one of them all. Suigetsu Hozuki. Twelve years of age and already is considered a prodigy in the art of murder. The kid was jumping around grinning at the prospect of killing something. The fact how he was grinning, showed his pointed teeth added to the intimidation factor. He has straight white hair with a light blue tint that is pulled back in a loose pony-tail wearing a long loose purple shirt, a pair of light gray shorts and dark blue sandals. The sleeves of his shirt were long enough to entirely cover his hands, a belt strapped around his chest that is used to carry a long butcher like sword. "Shut up Suigetsu."

"Ah come on, Zabuza-sama… We have to kill something; this is my first mission out of the village in like forever!" Suigetsu whined, he has stopped jumping around to now stand in front of Zabuza. His eyes widen when a half bitten apple hit him in the back of his head. He turned his attention towards the culprit that threw said half bitten apple at him. It was his and Haku's teammate, Chojuro, the odd ball of the group.

"You killed a bunch of bandits while coming over here, Suigetsu." Chojuro whispered he was sitting in the corner of the room; he kept fiddling with a small blade. He has unkempt, shoulder length pointy blue hair. Wearing a long loose blue pinstripe t-shirt, a pair of dark blue shorts and black sandals. He has his forehead protector tied around his head, using it to push his hair away from his face. On his chest is thick leather holster, which is used to hold one of the famous swords of the Seven Swordsmen of the Mist, Hiramekarei. The sword was propped up next to the wall next to the teen.

The fourteen year old is the only one in the room that has Zabuza scratching his head in confusion. One moment Chojuro is completely shy and has no confidence whatsoever. One would wonder how the kid even made it into the Seven Swordsmen of the Mist. However there is a side to the teen that even makes Zabuza, Haku, Suigetsu and the vast majority of the village be extremely wary of him. When he gets serious… Zabuza shivered at the memory of the last time he provoked Chojuro in a previous training match. "And you were under probation because of your last mission."

"Not my fault the client was an idiot…" Suigetsu muttered under his breath, glaring at Chojuro at the corner of his eye. Chojuro entire being stiffened at the glare and pushed himself deeper into the corner of the room.

"Why did I get stuck with your three again?" Zabuza moaned, rubbing his forehead with his left hand in an attempt to ward off an upcoming headache.

"You are my legal guardian and you dragged me with you on this mission, you promised Mangetsu-san to babysit Suigetsu," "Oi! I do not need to be babysat!" "As for Chojuro…" Haku glanced over towards the corner of the room to see Chojuro looking at him curiously. "Lord Mizukage believes he will benefit being around others his age."

"I thought it was because Chojuro kil…" Suigetsu began to say but saw a glint in Chojuro's eye that made him stop talking and gulp in freight. "Never mind… Forget whatever I said in the first place."

"Whimp."

"We all know you are also terrified of him, Zabuza-sama."

"Shut up, Haku!"

-.-

"Hey…Hey….HEY!"

Naruto slowly opened his eyes, the whites of his eyes appeared to be bloodshot due to not having enough sleep and his pupils were dilated making the blue of his eyes disappear completely. It didn't help that someone is flashing a flashlight into his eyes. With a groan, Naruto buried his head into his pillow. He muffled out a protest at being woken up, but once his mind processed the fact someone is in his room caused his head to shot up. "WHAT THE HELL!"

From there it was a complete domino effect and it was not going to end well for the intruder. Naruto's family were immediately went into action, they quickly went to check on Naruto. Shikaku slammed opened the door with Shikamaru by his side and Yoshino behind them. All three ready for whatever was in the room. What they saw is Naruto pushing a pillow onto the face of the intruder, screaming about being awoken up at an ungodly hour. Shikaku reached over and flicked on the night and they could fully see who the intruder was. It was Shisui Uchiha. Judging from the fact his arm and leg movement became sluggish that he is losing consciousness.

"Naruto…Stop." Shikaku stated his voice was gruff and scratchy. It sounded like he just came from a night of drinking with his friends. "It's Shisui."

If anything, that caused Naruto to press harder onto the pillow, putting his entire weight into it.

"Naruto!" Yoshino called out sternly, giving him a demanding look. Naruto let out a defeated sigh and relented. He pushed himself away from Shisui, lifting the pillow from his face.

Shisui took in a deep breath once he finally had an opportunity to do so. He blinked multiple times trying to regain his sense. "I saw a light…It was so pretty…"

"Why are you here…at this time of night." Shikamaru asked, making his way into the room. He stood over Shisui, who was still lying on Naruto's bed.

"Training." Shisui replied weakly.

"Who trains at FOUR A.M.?"

-.-

Someone else in the village, two green clad Shinobi just woke up for another day of training…

-.-

"They don't count. They are not what we consider…normal…" Naruto huffed out, hitting the back of Shisui's leg. He raised his hand and gave a short salute towards the roofs tops as he watched Guy and Lee pass by them. In turn they flashed them a gleaming smile. "They have a strict training routine, which even makes veteran Shinobi cringe in pain."

Shisui thought about it for a moment and then cringed in agreement.

"You already woke up Sasuke and Choji right?" Naruto asked, looking up at Shisui expectantly. Since he lived farthest away from the others and it would make sense of Shisui to get Sasuke first as they live in the same place. Pick up Choji while they headed towards the Nara's main household. Judging from Shisui's expression, that wasn't the issue. "You woke me up first."

"I was in the area…"

"Run."

"What?"

"Run. Now."

"Wouldn't it be too troublesome though?"

"RUN!"

-.-

"Ni-san…"

"Yes, Lee?"

"Should we help Shisui-sensei?"

"What are you talking about? Can't you see how bright their flames of youth are burning!"

As much Lee would normally agree with his adoptive older brother, he could sense the killer intent that spilled out of Naruto at an alarming rate. Then again, from what Naruto had told him about Shisui… this is rather normal. Eh, as long as it does not interrupt his training, then anything goes.

-.-

Hiruzen pinched the bridge of his nose in complete dismay. Sitting in front of him are Shisui and Naruto, they were both covered with cuts, bruises, and the occasional burn mark. His daughter and son-in-law had woken up telling him of several reports of public distances. That it was all centered round one Shisui Uchiha. Not much of a surprise there, people always complain about him about him popping in and out of sight. Then there is Naruto, the Hokage wasn't so much surprised Naruto was a part of this. It just that the reason behind it that has him wondering what exactly Shisui did to provoke him. Since his adoption, Naruto had toned down his pranks. Albeit, he still does a prank here and there, but not enough to be brought here to his office by Anbu. Yoshino does a great job by dragging Naruto into his office by his ear to get a formal reprimand.

"He attacked me, Hokage-sama…" Shisui sniffled, pointing at Naruto miserably.

Naruto's eyes shifted over at Shisui before he snorted. "He thought it was a good idea to sneak into my room, woke me up…"

"You then proceeded to suffocate me with a pillow."

"I then proceeded to suffocate him with a pillow, my parents and brother woke up and checked on me."

Hiruzen sank into his chair as he watched Shisui and Naruto explain the events that lead to their current predicament. He started to wonder if it was a good idea to have Shisui be Naruto's teacher, wondering what would have happened if Kakashi was the blonde's teacher. Shaking his head at the thought, that is something he rather not think of about it. It was little less than a miracle that Kakashi actually has an interest in training his team. But that is another story, for another time. "I would have assumed since Team Six have a C-rank mission in a few short hours that you would allow them to rest up. I assumed wrong…"

Naruto slowly lifted his head up towards Shisui's direction, his entire expression typical of a bored Nara. This only caused Shisui to lean away from him with a nervous chuckle. "All in the name of training…"

"I'm going back home now…" Naruto stated, not bothering to wait for a response, he turned around and left the office. No one stopped him as he walked out of the office, slamming the door behind himself. Several moments later, there was a curt knock came from the door.

"Come in."

The door opened to reveal a yawning Shikamaru Nara. "Was there a reason why you sneaked into my brother's room? At this time of night?"

"I needed to get in contact with you." Shisui stated simply. "And I wanted to see if I could sneak into your home. It was a success!"

"My dad was in a drunken state of mind and didn't bother since it was you." Shikamaru explained as he held back another yawn. "I was resting to for my mission today, and like my dad…I didn't bother since it was you. We did react once we heard Naruto screaming, then we had to react. Next time… use the front door."

"Curse you damn Nara's…" Shisui cursed at Shikamaru.

"What exactly you needed to tell me again?" Shikamaru asked him, changing the subject.

"We receive new information that could change everything for your and Team Six Mission." Hiruzen coughed out, getting Shikamaru's attention. He pulled out a file from a drawer from his desk and put it on his desk for Shikamaru to pick up.

Shikamaru picked up the file from the desk with an eyebrow raised. He scanned through the file and this only caused his eyebrow to go higher and higher. "Haven't seen him in a long time… This changes everything again."

-.-

"What happened to you?" Sasuke asked Naruto, who looked completely frazzled, a look that he had never seen on his friend. The Uchiha opened the gate that lead into his home for his friend while raising an eyebrow at the dark orange and forest green rucksack Naruto has slung over him. "Going somewhere?"

"We are going on a C-rank that has us out of the village for utmost a month." Naruto explained while he was taking sandals before entering Sasuke's home. Seeing Sasuke's blank expression, Naruto let out an irritated sigh. "Shisui-sensei received a mission yesterday for us. It involves Team Six guarding a master bridge builder back to his home village."

"How come you know about this? I live with the guy." Sasuke asked taken aback from the information, he took off his own sandals and followed Naruto into his home.

"Don't get me started…" Naruto muttered, he was going to say something else when he heard feminine giggle. This caused him to glance back at Sasuke. "Your brother's girlfriend?"

"If you ask me, it's his girlfriend. If you ask Itachi, it's his friend." Sasuke shot Naruto a knowing grin. He signaled for Naruto to follow him to his room. "They are in the kitchen, she is making him breakfast."

Naruto grinned back at him, following Sasuke towards his room. His expression then turned into his neutral one. "Pack up your things; we have to meet with the client at the main gate by noon."

"Choji?"

"We are going to go pick him up once you finish packing your things."

"Shisui is picking up the client."

-.-

Shikamaru jumped from tree branch to tree branch, mentally cursing Shisui for waking him up so early. Typically back when he was still fully part of the Twelve Guardian Ninja, he would wake up at earlier hours depending on what is occurring. One of the main things he looked forward to returning home is sleeping. Sleeping longer hours and now here he was, halfway to the Land of Waves. It had been several hours and he had been on the move since he visited the Hokage's office earlier that morning.

The reason Shikamaru is running non stop is that Team Six is scheduled to leave Konoha that same day, but what came up has him to hurry with his plans. After changing said plans several times, the Nara made the decision of leaving at such an early time and going at such a fast pace. Making several notes of how he saw several puddles of water. Odd considering it hasn't rain in weeks. And….

Shikamaru shortly stopped on a branch and launched himself upward towards the highest tree he could get up to. Hanging on the highest point of the tree, he looked around the area looking for a place he could take a break. "Ugh… Can't I ever get a breath?"

-.-

"Where is he?"

"Five meters to our left."

"Let's get him then!"

"Kiba-kun, patience…"

Team Nine watched their teacher stand in front of the Memorial Stone for the past hour. No one said or did anything; they simple hid themselves leaving their teacher in his own world. One by one, the genin left to head off towards the meeting point to wait for Kakashi. None of them said a single word; well it was more like forcing the loud mouth to not say anything. The meeting spot is a bamboo gazebo, that overlooked a grassy field.

"Who do you think he's mourning?" Kiba asked he was sitting on the steps of the gazebo, watching Akamaru ran around the field chasing a butterfly.

"We do not ask such questions, Kiba." Shino stated standing next to the railing watching his bugs crawl all over it.

Hinata lightly swayed on the wooden bench swing, she only shook her head at the lack of tact Kiba had. One does not ask such questions; it is after all one of the silent rules of being a shinobi. She kept her gaze out on the grassy field, counting down the time she knew Kakashi will appear to start another day of training. He should be appearing within the next thirty minutes. After having him as a teacher, it did not take long to figure out the pattern of his tardiness. "Thirty-one minutes."

-.-

Kurenai shook her head as she watched her team chased after Tora for the past three hours with little to no luck. It would have been easier but somehow Tora had got itself into a patch of catnip and hell broke loose for the girls. Things would have sailed far more smoothly if they work better together. One would say one thing and someone else would do something else. Now they are covered in scratches and bruises, and nowhere close to finishing the mission.

"Ah, the wonders of having a genin team."

Kurenai glanced back to see Asuma walking up to her and gave him a smile. "Jealous?"

"I previously took on genin teams before I left and after that I took on two more students. One of them is Shikamaru." Asuma replied with a sly grin, he reached over to take out a cigarette but did not. Especially after Kurenai shot him a warning glance, she didn't like it when he smokes around her. "No smoking?"

"No smoking."

"How come you didn't take a team? You were asked, weren't you?" Kurenai asked Asuma, raising an eyebrow at him.

"I was supposed to take on a team…" Asuma scratched his chin in thoughts, he gave her a sly grin and a wink. Kurenai lightly blushed but quickly regained her composure. "My old man asked me to step down to give the position to Shisui. Something about punishing him, you know how he is."

Kurenai snorted in agreement, she crossed her arms over her chest. Then her expression turned into one filled with thoughtfulness. "He does appear to be in a better mood as of late."

"He now focuses all his attention on his students; let it be good or bad." Both Jonin chuckled in agreement.

-.-

Choji softly closed the door to his home and quickly ran up to his teammates, carrying a canvas backpack with him. His entire expression brightened when he saw his friend, once he stood in front of his friends and swung his backpack on. "At what time are we supposed to meet with Shisui-sensei again?"

"An hour from now."

"C-rank right?"

"Yeah, our first C-rank mission…"

"You never told me what happened to you?" Choji asked Naruto once they all started to head over towards the Main Gate. Naruto let out a sigh, he explained to Choji what had occurred earlier that morning and the reason why he looked like a dead man walking. The Akimichi cringed every now and then at what he was being told. "That's just horrible."

"I know…" Naruto sighed in agreement.

"He's been clingy with us lately…" Sasuke muttered thoughtfully, his brows furrowed in thought. Thinking what had occurred to his relative to have him act as such. As far as he knew, Shisui should not be acting like this for another four months. He should ask Itachi about it later, once he returns back to the village.

"Why didn't he wake you up first?" Choji asked Sasuke, looking at him for some sort of answer.

"Shisui didn't stay with us last night; we thought he stayed in his place last night." Sasuke shrugged. "Now that I think about it… He hasn't been around sin-"

Naruto raised his hands to stop Sasuke and Choji from walking any further. A serious expression etched onto his face. "I feel a disturbance."

"Please don't let it be bullies…" Choji pleaded up to the sky.

"Please don't let it be fangirls…" Sasuke also pleaded up to the sky.

"No… worse… Tora…"

To Be Continued…

R/R.