Chapter 19
Disclaimer: Ownership of nothing
Foreword:
Summons are a weird thing because it is a contract, but you can also break something into becoming a summon. That was a throw away line, but not all summons are a clan or whatever. They seem to be validated by the summoner being alive, but you have cases of Edo Tensei Zombies summoning animals and what not. Those giant ass gates that Hashirama and Orochimaru also confuse me, but whatever, Kishimoto didn't think about it too much.
Madara breaks like fifty rules whenever he shows up. Like summoning the Gedo when it's inside Obito, using Dojutsu techniques without eyes, and using Kamui when Obito couldn't as Ten Tails Jinchuriki. Rules help create stakes, breaking them willy nilly pisses me off, like when a solider in a movie has only two bullets left in the gun and the movie tells you this, but the next scene he fires off three rounds and still has one bullet left. It takes me out of it.
This is still really rough because fall back is almost twenty chapters and this is the first writing project I've had in a very long time. I hate going on the rails and this is where part of the story leans off more and more. Please for the love of whatever you hold in high regard try to do better, because this is pretty fun to write, you want to write something similar go for it. I had like three different ideas for stories before settling on writing this one.
One was Obito from another timeline pops into the canon one, his has Kakashi, Rin, and Kushina die and he's being trained by Minato to takeover has Hokage eventually. Other one was female Naruto sees Sasuke doing the Great Fireball technique and tries to copy it and used wind release by accident, big boom by accident, Naruto wants to make Sasuke Hokage because he sees her and how everyone compares him to Itachi, Mikoto feels like shit because something like Naruto's hair is made fun of like Kushina. The third was Sakura stops Sasuke's attempt to feed Naruto, and Kakashi takes Sasuke as an apprentice while Naruto apprentices under Yamato while Sakura gets sent back to the academy and basically makes Naruto's life a living hell by spreading rumors, basically maximum bitchmode.
Alright let's go!
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"Our mission isn't done yet. We still have to take Tazuna-san home." Kakashi ordered changing his tone back to the familiar semi-bored tone. Naruto was still grinding his teeth, Kakashi didn't know if he got the entirety of what he'd said, but he'd let him swallow the bitter pill of what it meant to be a shinobi. 'It's going to be a long month regardless…' Sasuke had found out he had the Sharingan and remembered Kakashi's meeting with Fugaku and Naruto would likely ask about Rin.
"Ah sorry about that. Feel free to relax once we get to my place. Ahahaha!" Tazuna tried to break the air with forced laughter.
"Alright cheer up, we have to get going. Naruto don't forget the…" Kakashi didn't finish his sentence as he stumbled and was caught by the blond student.
"Kakashi-sensei! Are you alright? Is it poison? Kakashi-sensei?" Naruto frantically and fervently aided him as Kakashi steadied himself.
"Uhhh…" Kakashi groaned in pain. "I used too much chakra." He winced as he found his legs again. The Sharingan pulled chakra from his system like a child pulls petals from a flower.
"W-What's wrong?" Sakura asked running up to them.
"Kakashi-sensei used up to much chakra." Naruto barked as he spun to face her, causing Kakashi to suffer whiplash as he was dragged around like a doll by an overeager puppy. "I have soldier pills, should I give him one of those?"
"Those are only supposed to be used in combat. It might make it worse." Sasuke offered some advice before Sakura could who simply nodded.
"Naruto use Kage Bunshin…" Kakashi ordered. Naruto looked to realize that Kakashi nearly on his knees. "Don't let the rabbit go to waste, either…" A puff of smoke had two clones pop into existence.
"You should have them use Henge." Sasuke added to Naruto who was about to start another fight and Kakashi had neither the energy nor the patience to put up with it. "So you don't drag him, dobe."
"I would have thought of that, dattebayo!" Naruto and one of the clones barked back while the other just ruminated on something before transforming into Kakashi. "See this is the perfect size to carry Kakashi-sensei." The original pointed out.
"So two out of three would have dragged him." Sasuke scoffed at him while Naruto just huffed and got the rabbit.
Kakashi was in and out as they walked, conscious enough to hear the sounds of dirt roads turn to stone to the creaking of wood and the opening of doors. He felt three sets of hands on him when he was finally laid down. He could hear gulls calling and his students talking downstairs by the time he recovered enough to get out of the bedding. He clutched his head and looked for his pack.
'Eyedrops and pills…' Kakashi brought the thought to his mind. 'Then eye exercises and recovery.' He forced himself out of the bed and searched for the pack as a dark-haired woman entered the room.
"Oh, Sensei you're up!" The woman was slightly startled unsure if his lazy appearance was fatigue or something worse as he opened a closet.
"Pardon me." Kakashi stopped his search. "Do you happen to know what happened to my pack?" Kakashi said as politely as he could. Konoha Shinobi were known for their manners and efficiency even if he was exhausted he had to present himself in a manner befitting his current role to his students.
"Oh, I believe one of your students relieved you of that when…" The woman paused to try to explain the sight of seeing two versions of himself carrying him into her home. "I believe Naruto has it."
"Thank you, Tsunami-san." Kakashi thanked the woman as he heard his students bound up the steps.
"Sensei you're alright." Sakura gave a sigh of relief. 'Shouldn't that jackass be in bed?' Her inner thought.
"We have some water and stuff for you sensei. Do you want the rabbit's liver? It's supposed to be good for you, dattebayo." Naruto hoisted the platter he was holding into view as Sasuke did the same.
"I appreciate the sentiment and accept, but I need something from my pack." Kakashi informed them. A slight deliberation among the Genin and Naruto charged down the stairs to retrieve it while Kakashi dined on the refreshments.
"How is it sensei? Naruto butchered it while you were sleeping. Tsunami-san prepared it, it's not bad is it?" Sakura asked distrustful of Naruto's skill at gutting and skinning.
"It's good." It was quick as he ate although Sakura seemed disappointed in his answer for some reason. He didn't hate it, but he was in the Land of Waves, he would have preferred to catch Saury and cook them himself, but the mission had changed and he wouldn't let it go to waste.
"Should be considering it nearly gave me a heart attack when he killed the damn furball. Hahaha!" Tazuna laughed as he rounded the corner. "Should have seen the kid when he talked about how easy it was to clean them, kept comparing it to ramen. Surprised he's not a midget considering if all he eats is rabbit and ramen." Sakura's face soured as she remembered Naruto's butchering in greater detail.
"Are you really alright, sensei?" Sakura asked once again.
"I'll be fine, in another day or so. I'll be good as new." He sat up a little straighter to reassure her.
"Really, is that because of the Sharingan? I've heard of Jutsu putting stress on the body, but it seems like something you can't use in haste, sensei." Sakura postulated to his mild annoyance.
"Kakashi-sensei! I have everything right here!" Naruto yelled as he ascended the stairs and delivered the backpack. Kakashi fished inside for the medkits. He kept the first one fairly well stocked, but the newer one would likely have something for unseen moments like this.
His students sat in front of him as he worked. Pills to help his chakra replenish, pills to take the edge off his overuse of the Sharingan, and the eyedrops that Rin had once made for Obito. He lifted his hitai-ate and applied them followed by a short series of turning the eye on and off again. Sasuke seemed intrigued by it the most as Naruto peppered Sasuke with questions about the eye.
The second medkit had more of the same, but to put credit where credit was due specialized solider pills and other rare and hard to make concoctions to hasten his recovery. He didn't really know what he would do without Rin, her knowledge on the Sharingan had grown after the other transplant patient. He opened a scroll labeled special medicine and unsealed the storage component labeled 'For Kakashi'. A small envelope popped out.
"Oh." He was surprised and unfurled the scroll further, 'For Kakashi's enjoyment'. It explained the rather pornographic images and a letter that he held as Tazuna gaped slightly as he leaned over to see what Kakashi had. He resealed it quickly enough, but the bridge builder grinned at him.
"Kakashi-sensei what was in that? Secret messages or something?" Naruto clambered to know.
"In a way. It's something personal." Kakashi killed the conversation acting like he didn't just have photos of Rin posing suggestively in his hands moments ago.
"Yeah, something only for your sensei, kid." Tazuna said through a blush as his daughter raised her eyebrow. "Probably something he'll have a lot of time to study with that Ninja dead and all." Tazuna nudged him.
"By the way, Sensei. Who was that masked kid? I've never heard of tracker-nins who look like him." Sakura asked.
"He was an ANBU from Kirigakure. His mask was part of their Hunter-Nin division. They're also known as the Corpse Disposal Unit. The sub-divisions duty is to completely eradicate any trace of a body…" He went on at length about the purposes for why. "In short, they protect the village secrets leaving no trace." He chewed a small pellet as he finished Naruto nudging Sasuke about how he got it in his mouth.
"So that Zabuza's been cut into pieces and disposed of…" Sakura shivered at the thought while Kakashi stopped chewing. Konoha didn't have as many problems with rogue shinobi besides a few cases, he'd served as a tracker on those operations. "It's kinda creepy." Sakura confided to Naruto who shook his head in agreement.
'They usually dispose of it on sight.' He bit his thumb, but stopped half way through the seals. 'The scent is probably gone by now… The Suiton would have washed it away and the 'ANBU' wouldn't be so stupid.'
"Sensei, what's up?" Naruto asked as he saw the slowed hand seals.
"I was thinking about the Hunter-nin. What did he do with Zabuza's body?" Kakashi presented the question getting up.
"Uhhh…. You said he was gonna destroy it right?" Naruto shifted nervously confused at the idea of a trick question like he had often faced in the Academy.
"Well, we can't know because he took the body." Sakura answered confidently as Naruto sat back irritated that it was a trick question.
"Correct, but why? If he needed proof the head would suffice." Kakashi lead them as he pulled out a spare set of clothing. He could smell the stale water on his mask. "Another factor is the weapon used to kill Zabuza." He turned to his students as he started emptying the contents of his flak jacket. Weapon scrolls, a wet copy of Icha Icha that he could still salvage, and a few lesson plans.
"He used ordinary Senbon needles." Sasuke frowned and thought.
"The acupuncture things? How would you kill anybody with those?" Naruto held his hands behind his head as he thought. "Did he poison them?"
"No way." Sasuke realized what Kakashi had been telling them as Sakura swiveled her head back and forth between Sasuke and Kakashi. Naruto seemed to start to understand.
"What are you all on about?" Tazuna joined the conversation. Nervous as he half heard what had occurred.
"Zabuza is most likely alive and the Hunter-Nin was a collaborator." He said changing out his sandals, which Tsunami focused on more a failure of etiquette than the revelation of an assassin being at large as Tazuna and Sakura balked in terror and shock. Naruto seemed more astonished at the revelation.
"Kakashi-sensei what do you mean?! You checked if he was dead!" Sakura gave a concerned complaint as her Inner raged calling him various expletives and beating a mental image of Kakashi.
"I did, but you can fake deaths in this profession." Kakashi saw a living ghost nearly daily. A ghost that haunted him for six years and haunted his bed for three. "Likely the hunter-nin just put him in a near death state. Unless the Senbon hits a vital organ or is poisoned." He gave credit to Naruto for that. "It's unlikely to be lethal. He used a low-lethality weapon and carried a much heavier man away. He likely was trying to save Zabuza. We can't ignore this possibility."
"Are you sure you're not just being paranoid? You said that these Hunter-nin kill missing-nin." Tazuna replied.
"No, there's too large of a chance. The iron rule of a shinobi is preparedness and even if Zabuza is dead, who's to say Gato hasn't hired more shinobi." Kakashi brought out his spares and some sealing equipment. "It looks like we'll have to accelerate your training, if Zabuza is alive then likely we have maybe a week at least, you can't almost kill someone without consequences." He gave a glance at his students Naruto buzzed with anticipation to prove himself. Sasuke was stoic as ever, but the twitch in one of his fingers gave him away. Two of the three wanted a fight, to have their victory unmolested.
"Training?" Sakura gave a bewildered. "Sensei how is a small amount of training going to help us? You struggled with Zabuza!" She cried out at him.
"Sakura, who rescued me when I was in the water prison?" Kakashi asked her point blank. He had one or two tricks to get out of it, but they surprised him and saved him from a likely maiming or death. "You've all grown in the past month and quickly. Especially you, Naruto. You've been improving the most." He didn't hand out compliments for no reason and the boy blushed as hard as Tenzo when Kakashi complimented his abilities on their third mission together. "Next time, you'll be able to assist me in a more meaningful way."
"So we train until he attacks." Naruto grinned at the idea.
"I have something I need your help with as well. Get your sealing equipment." Kakashi gave a small motion for privacy as he changed. "We'll begin the training tomorrow, for now Sakura, Sasuke guard Tazuna and Tsunami. Naruto and I shouldn't be long."
"Alright! This is gonna be fun." The Jinchuriki ran to grab it and bumped into what Kakashi and the rest of team 7 assumed was Tazuna's grandson.
"That doesn't sound fun, you're just gonna die." The small boy said both calmly and surely from beneath his fisherman's hat.
"Says who? Kakashi-sensei is pretty strong, Sakura's smart, and Sasuke isn't bad either. And to top it off I'm the hero who's going to surpass all the other Hokage! Uzumaki Naruto!" He puffed out his chest struck a pose show off his muscles to the brief amusement of Sakura.
"Inari! Don't be so rude to our guests." Tazuna patted the ground for his grandson to sit down near him. "These four saved my life twice!" Tazuna exclaimed with good cheer in his voice as Tsunami told her son to introduce himself.
"It doesn't matter. Gato will kill them like everybody else." The boy said as he hugged his grandfather. "They should leave if they don't want to die."
"WHAT DID YOU SAY!" Naruto's façade of maturity melted away at the dismissal of Team 7. "YOU LITTLE BRAT!" Sakura held him back from actually striking him.
"You're going to hit a kid! Some hero, idiot!" She pulled him back into a seated position as he stared daggers.
"You're both really stupid if you think heroes exist." The boy said so sure of what he was saying. "If you don't want to die go back from where you came from." He got up to leave angry at the guests. His mother disheartened by his behavior made no attempt to chide him.
It confused Sakura most of all. She had been befuddled by the idea of children saving her father, but the Kage Bunshin had convinced her. Usually children took their parents words at face value up until a few years ago she really admired her father until she could perform Bunshin better than he could and quote the shinobi handbook to page and passage. It made her wonder how bad it could be in the Wave. She barely noticed Naruto go after Inari when they left the room for Kakashi to change into a clean set of clothes.
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"So what do you need me to do, Kakashi-sensei?" Naruto asked with clear excitement.
"I need to you paint these four symbols on four corners of the bridge." He gave him a scroll. "We'll do it again at Tazuna-san's home as well." He leaned on the railing of the bridge; body still sore.
"Is this a barrier technique?" Naruto gazed at the matrices and lines of the seal. "Is it an inward or outward barrier?" The boy remarked intrigued.
"Outward." He informed his student.
"Sensei are you trying to leave us out of the fight, gain?" Naruto clicked his tongue in distaste.
"I'd like to avoid endangering you if I can. Think of it as a way to ensure Tazuna-san's safety, our job isn't to defeat enemy shinobi." Kakashi reminded his student.
"Yeah, yeah, it's to protect Tazuna-ossan…" Naruto grunted as he unsealed a few candles and ink jars. "Where is the center going to be?" Naruto mind set itself on the task in front of him.
"Use those flags as a marker." Kakashi pointed out a space between four flags not far from the end of the bridge. He watched the boy work. He didn't know if it was innate ability inherited from his parents or maybe it was diligent daily effort to master Fuinjutsu, but it was impressive. Besides a few coughs to go over his work once or twice, relighting a candle, or helping him start he didn't need much guidance.
"Hey Sensei. Sakura-chan mentioned something before…" Naruto's voice trailed as he worked on the second portion of the seal. "Were you really the Yondaime's student?"
"I was placed on a Genin cell with him as the Jonin Sensei when I was nine. What do you like to know?" Kakashi tried to sound as open as possible.
"Well the Yondaime was really good at Fuinjutsu, dattebayo?" The blond boy asked.
"They Yondaime was one of a kind, the stories don't do him justice." Kakashi replied as he looked at Naruto back as he worked. The boy worked on his knees and the brush strokes slowed.
"So then why aren't you helping, dattebayo." Naruto hissed in annoyance. "He must have taught you something?" Naruto rolled his eyes as he got a finer brush for the interior seal.
"To be honest, I'd need your help getting up if I bent down right now, and… Naruto can you keep a secret?" Kakashi said as he gave a look out over the ocean as the mist rolled away. They were likely equal distance from the mainland and the Wave now. The expanse of the bridge was the only thing visible for a good distance and gulls could barely be heard over the waves below.
"Yeah, of course?" The boy turned his head eager to hear what his teacher was going to tell him.
"So can I." Kakashi smiled back to the boy's annoyance as he tried to go back to work before he realized what Kakashi meant.
"…Hey sensei. Uhh…" Naruto stopped his scribing as he struggled to say something. "You know a lot of things about us, right? You're our Jonin sensei for a reason, dattebayo."
"The Hokage hand picks us. In general, we're chosen for the task because our skill sets or our personalities will help our students reach their potential. They usually have their reasons, although sometimes a stroke of bad luck happens and you get someone placed on a team where they clash." Kakashi didn't let his nervousness into his voice. "I used have fights with one of my teammates like you and Sasuke do." Kakashi chuckled at the memories of his first C-Rank with Obito and Rin.
"Sensei do you know about the… my problem? And about Ringo?" The boy asked in a quiet uncharacteristic voice.
"I know a lot of things, and I can't really blame you for problems outside your control. You can measure someone by how they respond to things they have no control over, and the most important moments of our lives rarely come by choice, Naruto." As far as they were Kakashi still had a healthy level of paranoia, and he hoped Naruto got the idea. "We all have problems and it's best to try to deal with them positively."
"Really?" The boy turned his head while still on his knees before thinking for a second." I mean I get it. Konohamaru has a whole clan, but that doesn't mean people pay attention to him. Everyone has their problems, I guess. But… I'm a little annoyed about Neechan…" He returned to work slowly. "It's nice knowing there's someone else like me, but it's a little unfair." He said quietly thinking of the glares he got that she never received unless accompanying him.
"She has her own issues. To be so familiar, yet so foreign. Shinobi have to keep up appearances, she has to appear to what people expect to be of a Senju just like Sasuke has to be an Uchiha." Kakashi just hoped Naruto didn't learn that being a Senju woman meant large brains, large breasts, and bad luck as many assumed. "You should relight the candles, otherwise the ink won't set."
"Yeah…" He relit the candle and continued in silence until the fourth seal then it was back to usual. Complaining about how much ink and equipment he used, how a bird pooped on him, and how in the world a bird pooping on you could be considered good luck. Kakashi gave a good natured awkward laugh when he complained about it. Naruto connected them in the center of the flags with a spiral, a signature of sorts.
"Hey Sensei." Naruto asked as they made their way back to Tazuna's from the bridge. The sun had yet to go down, but the light pollution was low enough for Kakashi to stargaze as they walked. "Are you gonna teach us the water walking thing you and Zabuza did? It was cool, dattebayo!"
"Hmmm… I don't think you're ready for it, yet. But you are all advancing fast, I have something in mind that even some of last year's graduates and the year before that haven't mastered." Kakashi tempted him.
"C'mon! It looks cool, dattebayo!" Naruto kept the pace with him and tried to look at what Kakashi was looking at.
"Eventually I will." Kakashi replied. "I can't rush things too much, Naruto." He glanced from his student to the ever more visible spiraling galaxy. "Otherwise you won't see things like that." He nudged his student thinking he'd get some enjoyment out of the celestial body.
"You're kinda like Shikamaru, Sensei. You're just kinda lazy, but you stargaze instead of cloud watching, dattebayo." He student huffed as he strode forth with his hands over his head.
"Who?" Kakashi tilted his to let his student talk his ear off about the Nara heir. He would try to be like Minato-sensei, if he could. He listened to Naruto talk the entire way back. Interjecting lazily only to ask questions or correct him on small matters of clans and shinobi families. Naruto talked at length about how Sakura and Ino, the girl who Sakura called Pig, had often fought over Sasuke.
'Well, it might be a motivator…' He took mental note of how Naruto describe the fights of the two Uchiha fangirls like cats and dogs, and unfortunately Sakura was his dog in the race.
The application of the seal at Tazuna's house went about as well, Kakashi would apply the verification seal to his students and Tazuna's family in the morning. He let his students enjoy their meal and relax before the training would start.
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"It's been almost four years now and he just doesn't commit to it. I don't know if he has low sex drive, but he's always reading Jiraiya's books so it can't be it. I bring up how Asuma and Kurenai are obviously dating and he says nothing!" Rin complained on a small sand bar to her student who had steadily lost her patience.
"The Sandaime's son and the Yuhi woman?" Izumi asked in a tired, perplexed tone. The entire day had been everything and anything. Who she really was, how much of her personality had been a lie, her relationships, how shitty it felt to play dumb around people you grew up with, and how her relationship with Kakashi seemed stagnant. Izumi rubbed her eyes at the revelation. One after the other S-Rank and A-Rank secrets that Rin was allowed to tell her, then it was personal issues, it was exhausting. 'I told you I forgive you…'
"Well, I think. I don't know if it's guilt because of this." Rin pointed at her ample chest to Izumi's annoyance. "Or if he feels like it's a betrayal of Obito, but we're both nearly thirty! I get daily marriage offers! From Shinobi I've never heard of!" She vented into her very accepting student.
"Sensei… I really don't know and can't contribute to this conversation. I get everything, but I didn't really need to know about dating your former teammate." Izumi resigned herself. "I'm going to go help Tomoe or Tenzo with… whatever." She abandoned the box of issues that was her teacher to the small island and water walked back to shore as she avoided the jellyfish sticking out of the water.
"Well… she doesn't hate me." Rin sat back into the sand her nerves slightly abated, but also aggravated by the days dealings. Kushina stressed that a Jinchuriki should avoid…well… stress. 'I wonder how the hell Mito handled it…' Kushina had talked at length about the admiration she felt for the Shodai's wife. 'Jiraiya would have some joke for it…' She laughed briefly about the disrespectful jokes he probably would have made. She closed her eyes and let a veil of chakra wash over her and one ringed eye opened followed by a wave that swallowed her and the sand bar.
The Sanbi no Isobu, the Kyodaigame, the Umi no Kappa, the Ugoku Shima swam freely in a body not his own, but he swam. He disliked the buoyancy of his current host, but Rin kept her part of the bargain. He ignored the stupid voice and pushed more of his chakra into his host's body. He liked Uzushio, the whirlpool's could only be forded by good prey and he rotated his hunting grounds.
The barrier went far enough to satisfy him. He delved deep enough into the abyss the spy hagfish working on the carcass of an older catch. The twinkle of Kirigakure hitai-ate caught the reflected light of his eye. He wondered what his father would have thought of the current state of the Biju, of humans. Isobu wanted very little in the world, his domain as strongest of the depth meant little to him. Sitting in a human or sitting in at the bottom of an ocean like an alligator snapping turtle was no different really, but he disliked the self-indulgent ones, the killers. Rin killed, but she at least didn't like it, she even fixed up other humans.
'Some fish will eat their own young after it comes out of the womb after they've eaten each other. Orcas other whales for fun… Humans aren't really too different…' It was a simple thought from a Biju who didn't worry himself on matters like Kurama did. He stopped his philosophical wondering as he spied the twinkle of an obvious trap as the red light of his eye passed through the darkness. He had his quarry for the evening.
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A coughing sound resounded in Gato's cone shaped hideout in the Land of Wave's. Haku sat at attention for any need he might have, but as the coughing grew louder, it weighed on his nerves. Zabuza needed rest and the clicking of the shoes that accompanied the coughing fit meant Gato.
"So this is what I'm paying for? Bah! Some Demon…" Gato sneered behind his protection. "All the bluster about you Kirigakure Shinobi and you can't deliver an old drunk."
Silence was the answer from the infirm Demon, who sat snuggly in his bed counting the cracks on the ceiling as their host prattled.
"Your little Demon Brother's cost me an informant in the Land of Fire! Do you know how much that's going to cost me? What the fuck kind of devils do they make in Kirigakure?!" The man brow beat them as his samurai guard sabre rattled, and the third figure hacked something up.
"Well? You aren't going to defend yourself?" Gato approached the bed. "What am I paying you for?" He sent his hand to grab the shinobi, a glee hidden by his sunglasses. He relished the moment to hold both financial and physical dominance over the man. The small man's hand was promptly caught by Haku before he could touch Zabuza's breath.
"Do not dare touch Zabuza-san with your filthy hands." Haku spat with clear contempt as the samurai attempted to draw their swords and the third figure tried to stop coughing to try to say something as Haku appeared behind the all to ready guards. Their blades turned against them as they felt the sweat travel along their spines as their honed blades touched up their shave jobs.
"I'm sorry to intrude. Cough" The third figure interjected. "Coughcough Shinobi are paranoid by nature of our work; I apologize for my presence putting them on edge Gato-sama." Neither Haku or Zabuza could see his face under his long messy hair, a dirty white from travel. He was thin, taller than Gato by at least a head, and the utterance of his occupation being the same did indeed put them on edge.
"These two have been a pain in my ass for a long time, if they didn't get results I would have thrown them to the dogs years ago." Gato made a statement of his charity. "This is Shiro, a new hire." Gato talked down to Zabuza and Haku as Haku buried his anger and Zabuza paid no heed to the interruption. "He's here to ensure that the job gets done and he gets a cut of your pay because of it."
"My current condition does not incline me much to fighting, but my master was a former shinobi of Yugakure. CoughHackcough." Shiro introduced himself bowing low his traveling robes as grey as his hair. "If I can be of any assistance please inform of anything I can do to help." The fellow shinobi's hair parted enough for Haku to see the bags under his eyes.
"There are four of them. Konohagakure Shinobi, one of their Genin Cells. Killing the Genin are low priority and would cause retaliation by their Hokage." Zabuza spoke up. "Try not to get over eager, the Jonin is someone I've met before… Toriichi Kumade. Just track their movements, don't engage." Zabuza stated with disinterest.
"Alright, sort it out yourselves. One more screw up and you're out!" Gato marched out rubbing his hand. "Ungrateful eyebrow-less freak and his twink…" He grumbled to himself as his guards still stood next to him shocked. Gato had litigation to deal with and some starlet to attempt to woo, the bridge builder would die and he'd have an A-Rank Bounty to help pay his legal team.
"Haku give him a bingo book and let him out." Zabuza said without any weary or irritation. He hid his contempt for fat foreigner, but he did need rest and having Haku worry over him about a possible threat was distressing.
"We don't currently have an up to date edition, I'm sorry for that so he might look slightly different." Haku apologized as he found the correct edition. As Shiro took his leave with a bow and a wheeze.
"You shouldn't have threatened Gato, we're already in poor standing." Zabuza chided his protégé as he watched the door.
"I know, but I feel as though letting him touch you would undo any treatment I've given you. Besides that it's too early to kill him. The Hunter-Nin will be after us again." Haku said taking the kunai out of his mentors hands. "Who is Toriichi Kumade?" Haku asked as he brought readied a cup of an herbal medicine.
"A dead man." Zabuza said simply. "If 'Shiro' is actually sick, he'll get the idea to leave and return to his 'master'." Zabuza growled as he relaxed.
"What would you do once... you're in charge of Kirigakure?" Haku asked to distract his master.
"Strip the hierarchy of their positions, make sure the traitors get their reward, and reestablish the swordsmen…" Zabuza stated like quoting his shopping list. "Maybe you would get Kubikiribocho." Zabuza stated as he closed his eyes and dreamt of a massacre he would enjoy.
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Kakashi watched his students charge the trees. Naruto as he anticipated would need the most work, he made it one or two steps before his arrogance was his undoing and he rolled on the forest floor clutching his head. Sasuke did as expected, Kakashi read his body language enough to understand that he grasped the fundamentals. It was the most boring part of the job, the waiting, and likely it would stop his students sense of foreboding.
"This is pretty easy!" Sakura yelled with confidence. The rest of the team gave her their attention. She sat kicking her legs from the top of a tree. Letting a giddy laugh erupt as she stuck her tongue out at them.
Kakashi was slightly surprised. "Well it looks like right now Sakura has the best chakra control." Kakashi gave a small congratulations for her before giving a few thoughts on where he could go in the regards training as he had no excuse for her besides helping guard Tazuna while he planned.
"Great job, Sakura-chan!" Naruto yelled in earnest praise despite his jealously.
"Not only is she knowledgeable on chakra. She has great control and is probably the closet to being Hokage unlike someone." He gave said in cheery tone. "And it looks like the Uchiha really aren't all that much…" He teased them with intentions of returning their focus.
He watched them return to their struggle as Sakura walked down slightly frightened by the height, but she returned unscathed as she watched Sasuke. Kakashi watched slightingly stretching his sore muscles every once in a while, but he enjoyed watching their struggles. He'd leave to guard Tazuna before long, but he'd stay long enough to correct them if needed.
Sakura exhausted herself on the fifth lap, but it gave Kakashi his idea. 'Genjutsu is what I can do for her now…' He pondered over what he had copied in his career and the idea came to him as his eye wandered to Naruto. 'Well, a more advanced clone technique couldn't hurt.' Kakashi had one in mind that would help if Zabuza was still alive.
The sound of a body hitting the floor noted that Naruto had fallen off the tree, yet again. He was making some progress, if slow. He formed a Ram seal and molded what he could. It made Kakashi wondered how much Naruto had, if Kakashi was a hose then Naruto was a river delta if Rin was any indication. 'He'll struggle with control for a while, but if he can get past that hurdle then maybe he could be considered in the realm of a Kage…' Kakashi thought as the boy made it roughly ten steps past his furthest mark before his control faltered and he blasted off.
"Shit!" The Uzumaki tried to adjust mid-air in order not to land on his head before hitting another branch and grabbing it to slow his acceleration. 'Alright so gathering chakra and going slow worked, but Sasuke is running up.' He thought to himself as he dropped from branch to branch with a frustrated look on his face. He looked at Sasuke's progress and his own before shaking his head.
He took a second to gather himself before trying again, but he kept shifting his eyes to check Sasuke's progress and his concentration faltered. He was at least fifteen steps behind and growing, it burned his pride. Kakashi waited until either Sasuke or Naruto asked for assistance to go back to his position as guard, he needed them to view him as a source of information and trust him. He doubted a month of basic sparring and chakra moulding interspliced with missions. 'Partially quoting Icha Icha will not win much trust either…' Kakashi thought as he saw his blond student's frustration grow as he walked away from his tree.
Kakashi expected him to ask him for help, but instead, Naruto went to Sakura for help. Either way was a win for Kakashi, his team was trusting each other and that was all that mattered. He watched as Naruto raced up a bit farther before losing his control. "Sakura, I have a task for you." Kakashi called walking back to Tazuna's homestead as the kunoichi shakily caught up.
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"Sakura what would you say Naruto and Sasuke excel at?" Kakashi asked his student as they waited for Tazuna to get ready for the work day. He looked over an old bingo books entry for Zabuza. Efficient, deadly and more of an assassin than one would think of a member of the Seven Swordsmen.
"Sasuke-kun is really great at everything and Naruto… can do clones and is too dumb to give up." She reported as expected.
"And what would you say their roles are on the team?"
"Sasuke is in charge after you and Naruto…" Sakura stopped puzzled. She wasn't quite sure what this was about, but it made her wonder about her own place in the team.
"To be blunt: Naruto is the brute force and Sasuke is the precision force." Kakashi enlightened her. "Your role is to be an intermediate and support them. You excel at chakra control Sakura, while Naruto boasts a large amount of Chakra and Sasuke is above average in terms of reserves and control. Kage Bunshin is a B-Rank technique that even I struggle with, the amount of clones Naruto can make pushes it to A-Rank." Kakashi revealed to the Sakura who was stunned. "Sasuke's elemental release is usually something seen in veteran Genin or Chunin, not fresh Genin." Sakura's inner deflated at how little she could claim to be in her arsenal.
"Wow! I never would have known." She said in a cheery voice while her inner cussed at Kakashi and his thousand Jutsu. 'SHARINGAN NO BAKASHI!'
"And since you did so well on the tree climbing exercise, I have a few Jutsu for you to practice while Naruto and Sasuke finish." He said nonchalantly. "It's something I think you'll do well at." He gave her an eye smile. "Good chakra control will mean you'll excel in two areas." He said adjusting his hitai-ate as he started a vision test.
"What two areas?" Sakura asked curiously her hand behind her back as she studied her sensei's lazy demeanor.
"Genjutsu and Iryo-Ninjutsu… I have some experience in both, but I have a tutor in mind for Iryo-Ninjutsu." Kakashi said as he stared at the small whirlpool of water as he pushed chakra into the Sharingan. It strained him slightly, but he needed a trump card and he needed to know how effectively he could use it, but the fish darted before he could gage it.
"I'm grateful, but I don't really know about Iryo-Ninjutsu…" Sakura tried to reject the offer. 'Why don't you ask, you one-eyed bastard!'
"Well, the tutor is one of the best in Konoha at the moment. She's a little bored due to her apprentice reaching Jonin and is looking for another student. Usually the Yamanka or the Nara have good enough control, but I know her better than most so I volunteered your name in advance." Kakashi said in an apologetic voice. He turned his face to briefly catch a fire start in Sakura's eyes to his surprise at how effective it was.
'JUST YOU WAIT PIG, I'LL GET TO BE HIS NURSE!' Sakura's inner bleed out into her as a smug look of victory as images of Sakura taking care of a tired Sasuke flashed through her mind.
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"So you just get put to work as soon as you get here, huh?" Izumi asked Tenzo who was busily using his wood release to build a dock. She sat next to him on the stable part, she wore a purple high collar and shorts. Her Sharingan active as she watched the man blend his chakra to create life.
"It's my duty." Tenzo tried to keep his exterior composure as he huffed at the exertion. The poles went deep into the sand as a few giant sea snails tried to consume them as they felt the movement. A few surfed over as the tide touched them to his frustration. A hand on his back and a flush of chakra startled him.
"Should have given you a warning, sorry." Izumi stood behind him. "So she told me a little about you. You're a chimera of the Shodai and Kakashi's underling for a while right?" She said with a catlike smile.
"Ah…" Tenzo once again let his composure slip. "That's a way of putting it yes." He performed an Earth release Jutsu to protect the supports quickly enough. "So you've acclimated to the mission."
"That's a way of putting it." Izumi sighed. "My sensei is a student of the Yondaime and Sanbi Jinchuriki masquerading as a student of Jiraiya of the Sannin and descendent of the Nidaime." She dropped her hands. "And I haven't seen her in two days…" She said slightly worried.
"That's happens. The first trip here she was gone for weeks and we thought we were trapped." Tenzo relaxed. "You are aware of your role, correct? The Sanbi generally doesn't fight to much, if she loses control." Tenzo informed her. "Also be a little discreet about her identity, even here."
"Good to know." Izumi replied. "What is she doing out there?" Izumi asked Tenzo noticing the Aburame of the party walking on the beach that was forbidden.
"Her job. The enzymes the snails use to digest their prey were once used for medicines before the Second War, it made a Hiden of Kumogakure useless." Tenzo answered as a snail devoured the Aburame. The pale flesh wrapped around her as it broke the surface of the beach. Followed by a larger cousin eating it the snail that had consumed the ecological researcher. "Well, one of her duties. She helps Tomoe spy on the Land of Water.
"Ti- Tenzo. She got eaten…" Izumi said in a shocked manner at how quickly it happened. She watched as more and more of the carnivores attacked their feeding cousins.
"Oh, that happens. Fortunately kikaichu will prevent her from being eaten." Tenzo started on another section of the dock as a glow erupted from the pile. "They used to be a lot more controlled when the island was populated, they were hunted for food according to a cook book Imo found."
"It's a bit surreal being here." Izumi said collecting herself. "An entire nation destroyed, almost no survivors, and most of the world didn't even blink." She gave a look to the sea and saw a messy horizon line. "Are those the eddies out there?"
"A few of them. The biggest one is on the Northwest tip of the island. That's what the current Kyubi Jinchuriki is named after supposedly. Imo can tell you the rest of their names." Tenzo took a break as he surveyed his work.
Izumi just gave a thought to everything. She didn't hate Naruto, but the fact that he held the Kyubi had always been unsettling. She could remember it's teeth, as sharp as any sword she'd ever seen as a white as bone. How it's tails had demolished buildings she thought were invincible as a child. And now she knew that the little boy who contained it lost his mother that night, the mother who was traded away to another nation to be a weapon because of her ancestor. The mother he wasn't allowed to know or how much the woman wanted him. The woman who mentored her teacher and the events surrounding her death were a mystery.
She felt some regret as she looked over the ocean. She had glared at the boy in the past, saw the Biju instead of the boy. 'No wonder she's so protective…' She thought angrily at her own stupidity. It wasn't just that he was a fellow Jinchuriki, part of the Yondaime's legacy, and the son of a mentor. 'He's Konoha's Jinchuriki… he receives the general treatment they get while she gets to be a Senju. She said she couldn't stand it. Could I watch Sasuke get ridiculed and sabotaged while being told I couldn't do anymore than correct his academy papers?' She gave a look out at the Aburame researcher erupting from a pile of snail corpses and only to be once again devoured.
"This is some vacation…" Izumi said to no one as Tenzo grunted a response as he continued his work.
'She could offer to help…' Tenzo gave an aggravated thought as he once again gathered chakra to extend the dock as ordered.
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Sakura went through hand seals and gathered Chakra as she watched the work go on. 'Come on! He said it was like the regular Bunshin.' It was only two hand seals, but so far nothing. She gave a defeated sigh and looked around the bridge to see another meter of extension completed.
"You trying to do some fancy Ninjutsu or something?" Tazuna asked her as she rubbed some tiredness out of her eyes.
"Mmhmm…" She said as she stretched. She quickly found guard duty to be boring and wondered if Kakashi read his novels for the same reason when they were on missions.
"Where's the blond kid and the other one? And your Sensei for that matter." Tazuna said as he hefted a girder.
"They are training." She answered rather proudly of that fact that she didn't have to continue with tree climbing. "Sensei is checking for possible weaknesses and scouting for threats."
"Why aren't you training with them." Tazuna stopped to adjust the burden and wipe some sweat from his brow.
"Well, since I'm superior then those two he charged me with guarding you while I master a new technique." Sakura boasted as he held her hip with confidence.
"Really?" He asked in surprise.
"Yes! I was top kunoichi of my class and I play a vital role on this team." Sakura rebuffed his lack of confidence. 'I'll have this technique down before Naruto and Sasuke-kun finish tree climbing, you geezer.'
"Well, good to hear." Tazuna gave her a thumbs up and winning smile as he carried on. It was a sunny day and the workers seemed exhausted as they worked. Most of them were older, it was funny to Sakura how many old people seemed to pour their labor into the bridge.
"Hey, Tazuna!" One older worker called out.
"Huh? What is it Giichi?" Tazuna asked whipping the sweat from his brow.
"I've been thinking about this for a while and I want to quit." Giichi said without hesitation.
"What! Why so sudden? Not you, too!" Tazuna cried out. "We are so close!"
"Tazuna, we've been friends for years now… I want to help, but Gato knows we're here. You think a bunch of foreigners will lay down their lives for us? What's the point of this if you get killed?" He said it surely, but their was a touch of defeat in his tone. It unnerved Sakura to hear it, but she just watched. "We can just quit."
"I can't. This bridge isn't just my bridge. It's ours, the Waves. We've put our hope into it, the hope of our children and grandchildren. We believed that we could turn our country's fortunes around with it, Giichi. And with the Konoha Ninja behind us, I know we can." Tazuna reminded his worker calmly, a simple strength in his words that reminded Sakura a little bit of Naruto. The optimism was bitter as Sakura realized why the workers were all old.
"And if we all die!" Giichi broke from his calm exterior.
"Let's call it a day." Tazuna said decidedly as he patted himself and left the other man frustrated. "Giichii, you don't have to come tomorrow." Tazuna said walking back to the main island as Sakura followed trying her best to hide her embarrassment.
The walk through the village was both educational and depressing for Sakura. She'd never seen poverty, children barely clothed running around begging. She saw a woman with an infant bound to her back begging, who Tazuna sneered at for the briefest of seconds as he saw her scarred arms. 'What's wrong with this village.' She thought as Kakashi shared the thought.
The docks that Hatake Kakashi scoured were rife with Gato's influence. Women selling their bodies to rough, foreign men as contraband flowed off a ship. The locals were beaten, they watched with hollow eyes as men took advantage of them. Kakashi scowled as he saw them pay a pittance for any service or good provided.
"Are you trying to cheat me?" A skinny foreigner yelled at a woman in her fifties. "I paid you good money and this is how I get treated?" The man said with a mad zeal as his eyes twitched. "Don't think I won't tell Gato about this!" He barked like a mad dog at a woman who cowered at the mention of Gato.
"I-it's on the house, sir." She said with a tired bow. Kakashi noticed that despite her young age, grey hairs and crow's feet quickly formed eroding any youth left. He'd seen worse behavior with the whores, a small Genjutsu let the women slip away.
Kakashi had been to sea ports before. Usually sailors and the like were treated to a microcosm of the town, prostitutes kept the rougher men from the townsfolk, but these women had a dead look in their eyes. A woman begged with a drugged child on her back, 'Beggar gangs…' He thought bitterly. 'I could petition the Sandaime for an S-Rank assassination. We don't need this close to our borders after the bridge is finished.' He thought scanning the crowd. Gato was a poison, ambition without pause.
Kakashi could spy his enforcers tracking him even with a Henge masking his true identity, probably saw him as an easy mark. It would be easy to be gone for an evening to cut the head off of the Gato Corporation and watch the body die, but it would likely mean the people would suffer from the parasites Gato employed running wild in the decaying corpse. He had his students as well, if he made a move and Zabuza or another hired hand decided to strike then it was all for nothing.
He turned a corner and with a puff of smoke raced through the island. He felt back to his usual self as he hopped over mangrove, some small anger simmered into him, but a deep breath cleared that. 'For now it's waiting…' He'd grown accustomed to it in ANBU, waiting for weeks to kill a merchant or politician so another more agreeable one would fill their role, but he didn't have Tenzo or Yugo as his backup now. 'At least the cooking is good…' He found the silver lining.
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Jutsu: Nothing new
Author's note: Yeah, here is where stuff will start to diverge more and more. I wanted to keep the waves arc intro mostly the same because stuff will change, but I wanted the contrast to occur more within the events.
Begging gangs are a real thing. They'll even mutilate their children to get sympathy money.
You could say I'm using the canon as scaffolding and I am. The biggest issue is where I want to go. I have an idea for an original arc and it's more or less in my mind as I write these. Climax and anticlimax of things, where they take place, and what role does it play in the grand scheme of things. I don't want to do, Naruto kicks someone's ass and learns nothing and doesn't empathize with his enemy slightly. Although at the same time, I want a boring C-Rank where they just paddle some bandits.
Character writing is a hard thing because characters have goals. What the hell is Kakashi's goal in the series? He ends up the male equivalent of a cat lady reading romance novels, but it's likely because up until Team 7 he's basically working til he's put out to pasture. Grown men and women in Naruto seemingly don't have goals besides Orochimaru wanting immortality, like no minor village joins Obito because Lotus Eater Paradise sounds good.
Always wanted to know, what happens if someone just cuts their eyes out with Infinite Tsuyokomi or whatever? You'd think they'd just be blind? I feel bad that Yamato and Sai didn't get to do anything cool.
Have a Blessed Day everyone!