Wow, finally back. Sorry for the delay in updating folks. I'm going to be starting a new job in the near future and had to move back home, so time to write has been sketchy at best. Then when I was about to post this update, last sunday or so, I found myself distinctly unsatisfied with how it had come out. This forced a massive re-write of this installment, and I'm still not sure if I like this version better or not. I couldn't really find a satisfying cut-off point either so be prepared for a decently long read for this chapter. I also went back and replaced all references to the name for the Yondaime I had been using (Kazama Arashi) with the Yondaime's actual name (Namikaze Minato).
One of my readers (and I thank SeikoTuNeR for bringing this up) has mentioned that I haven't cleared defined what Nanashi's strength is, comparatively. His distinct issue, and one that I find myself agreeing with the more I think about it, is that after Nanashi all but trounces Kakashi, he goes on to barely defeat Anko, who is significantly weaker than the Copy-nin. And before, he was able to match Orochimaru with a sharingan (granted this was with Kyubi). I am going to be trying to be nailing down Nanashi's strength level into something more stable in the future.
Once again, thanks for all the feedback. I am looking for a beta-reader for this story as well. I'm not sure when I'm going to get the chance to work on this again, but if anyone is willing, drop me a pm or leave a review saying so.
And I'll drop a plug. Don't do this very often but recently came across a story by MockV called A Twist of Chance that has been very entertaining. Typically not a fan of the whole Naruto finding his long lost family thing, but the author has done a very good job with this one.
October tenth was an auspicious event in the village hidden in the leaves. The anniversary of the defeat of the demon fox was celebrated on this day, and had been every year since its defeat. The village seemed to forget that this was also the day that it lost its greatest shinobi to date, caught up in the festivities. Then again, according to those who actually knew the Yondaime Hokage on a personal level, the man would have rather have his people celebrating his victory rather than mourn his passing.
The village turned it into a full day event. Before the sun even rose, shop vendors would begin setting up in preparation for the day's rush of potential customers. Rolling out once a year merchandise such as Kyubi miniatures that would later be destroyed, or mocked up ANBU masks for children to wear as they played ninja. Entertainers began scoping out the best places to stake their claim for later in the day when the crowds were out, so they would have the best chance to rake in the money from the onlookers. Food stands would begin opening up, and most praying they would be able to keep up with the crowds.
It was a festival of sorts during the day. It also had its night-only events, such as a fireworks display and a giant bonfire that people would often stoke by throwing in objects depicting the fox, including the miniatures that many would buy during the day solely for that purpose. The bars would stay open all night, and prices would be slashed for one-night only, leading it to becoming the biggest drinking night of the year.
Uzumaki Naruto, now eleven years old, only glared out at the crowds he could see from his window. He understood the importance of today to the village, but it was somewhat disheartening that his birthday had to be on the same day. He wanted to be able to enjoy the festival like everyone else, but the old man had told him that it wasn't safe for him outside today. Naruto didn't understand why though. Well, he understood why. It had to do with the incident a few years back when he got caught by one of the mobs and had the stuffing beat out of him. What he didn't understand was why the villagers did that.
He shook his head, as if trying to dispel the horrible thoughts. He turned his attention back to the scroll the Hokage had given him as a gift. It wasn't a jutsu scroll, which was disappointing to the technique-hungry academy student. He was tempted to just put it with the rest of his scrolls from the academy but apparently the old man had expected this reaction out of him and forced him to read at least a little of it before doing so. The blonde was glad he listened to the old man for once, as while it wasn't a jutsu scroll, it did talk in general terms about different elemental jutsus. He had a little trouble reading it and understanding it, but it was interesting nonetheless.
He cast another glance outside and finally decided that if he couldn't go to the festival, he might as well work on his kunai throwing in the woods like usual. He packed up his gear quickly and shoved the scroll into his jacket as well before heading out.
He never expected that by doing so, he would making his life far more interesting than it had to be. In more ways than one.
-/-/-/
Nanashi only sighed as he watched the sun begin to set as he and Kakashi finally reached the gates of Konoha. The mission had taken longer than expected, mostly due to Kakashi's overly meticulous plan. Though incredibly effective, actually allowing the small team to take out the missing nins one by one without being noticed for a long time, it did take a horrendously long amount of time. Dealing with the aftermath with the Suna-nins had been, in the words of a genius he once knew, troublesome. "Finally."
He hadn't expected Kakashi to hear him, but the man responded none the less. "Indeed." Nanashi looked over his shoulder to see the man's book of choice once again in his hands, his visible eye scanning it as usual. "I'll report in to the Hokage. You're free to go."
Nanashi only raised an eyebrow before letting a sarcastic remark fly. "Gee, thanks Captain." He only shook his head as Kakashi nodded and vanished with the shunshin no jutsu. "Whatever. I'll just go get some ramen and head home."
It didn't take long for the masked blonde to realize what was going on. Although he had never taken part in the Kyubi festival when he was younger, Nanashi had seen enough of the signs to realize that it was October tenth. Well, happy birthday to me... He thought to himself sarcastically, his plan for the evening now including a stop to buy some sake for himself so he could toast to his dead comrades, like he usually did on this day since the beginning of the war that destroyed Konoha. Though, with him being here in the past now, perhaps that was a bit hasty.
Hell, the people I knew are dead. These may be the same people, but I sure as hell don't know them... He shook the thought away and continued on his trek towards the one and only Ichiraku Ramen stand. He found himself eating there almost as often as his younger self, who he took great care to avoid eating near when they did happen to be there together. In a way, he was glad that he was so unobservant as a child, otherwise the child could have made his life... interesting. As if cheating death and warping to the past isn't interesting enough...
He was broken out his musings by the sound of an incoming shuriken. He reacted instinctively, bringing out a kunai with his right hand as he sidestepped the spinning missile. He reacted just in time, bringing his kunai up to block a strike from another knife, the steel grinding against each other enough to create small sparks. Nanashi only frowned at his attacker before deciding that retaliation was in order. So in turn, he powered his way through the kunai deadlock and closed in on his opponent, left hand already trailing into a bastardization of a classic counter-strike from the horse-style of taijutsu. He ignored the smirk that was on his attacker's face as the fist impacted into their jaw. The body poofed out of existence, just as Nanashi had expected. He began looking around, wondering when the next attack would come, tightening up his stance.
What he did not take into account was that the match was already over. It was brought to his attention very quickly when a familiar voice whispered into his ear. "My win this time, nameless wonder."
Nanashi remained silent at first, but did drop his stance into a more relaxed position. He was somewhat annoyed that he had let himself fall for a move that he himself had used against the demon of the mist as a child, but it was kind of hard to argue with the woman when a kunai was placed against his throat. "Seems so. I must be more tired than I thought, if you were able to get the drop on me like that."
Anko only pressed the kunai a little tighter to his neck, almost enough to draw blood. "Or you just suck."
"I do recall kicking your ass quite thoroughly not too long ago." He shot back, though there was no irritation in his voice from her movement. He had suffered worse before at the hands of women. If anything, his voice showed his amusement with the situation. He then paused for a moment before rubbing salt into the wound, "While I was recovering from serious wounds no less..."
Anko only grinned sadistically, most of which was lost on her captive but judging from the reactions from the other people in the square, Nanashi could picture it. "That reminds me, I believe I did promise something about castration..."
He only raised an eyebrow, seeing yet another opening. "Ah yes; your strange fascination with my testicles. You know Anko-san, if you want to ask me out on a date, there are better ways to do so. Talking about a man's nut-sack is far from the most elegant way of doing so."
"It's not so much as wanting to ask you out as I enjoy causing immense amounts of pain to irritating men. Even Ibiki says I enjoy my job far too much at headquarters."
"Oi, you'd go that far? You are a devil, aren't you? Crotch injuries are supposed to be a last resort."
She only rolled her eyes, ignoring the looks of amusement from her companions as she continued to bicker with the blonde. This is fun. 'Nai-chan never lets me go on for too long, and he's actually keeping up. "Oh you men and your silly dick sympathy..."
Nanashi was about to let another sarcastic remark slip out but someone beat him to it. "Man, you two fight like you're already married. It's just plain freaky." Came the amused voice of the senbon-chewing shinobi. Nanashi looked towards Genma's voice to see a small group gathered. He recognized Kurenai, Genma, Hayate and Yugao waiting there.
He only raised an eyebrow at the odd selection of shinobi before smirking beneath his mask. "Don't you know flirting when you see it man-whore?"
Yugao couldn't hide her amused smile at the blonde, or perhaps it was twitch that was forming in the serpentine kunoichi's eye. "Odd way of flirting."
"I call this whipping a little punk's ass." Anko shot back, her grin not leaving her face.
"Please, as if you could beat me."
"What do you call this then?"
"A temporary restraint if you will."
"Tch, you don't even know what true restraints are nameless wonder."
"Somehow I always figured you were a handcuffs and bondage kind of woman. Kinky."
The group merely watched as the two continued bickering like children and pretending that Anko wasn't holding an instrument of death to the masked shinobi's throat. Kurenai only watched the scene in growing horror before speaking out loud enough to send chuckles through the group. "By kami, there's two of them..."
She almost shrieked when she felt a hand drape itself around her shoulder and she turned to see Nanashi standing there, his eyes crinkled into slits. When did he get behind me? She had the impression he was smiling beneath that mask of his as he said, "Oh, far more than that Kurenai-san."
The group stared at the sudden appearance of another blonde when Anko scoffed and slit the clone's throat. She merely glared at the blonde with a small pout on her face as the one she had been holding collapsed into a puddle of water. "Oi, shitstain! How paranoid are you?"
Nanashi merely raised an eyebrow as he released Kurenai and placed his hands behind his head. "Considering you seem to be picking up the habit of attacking me without warning, I'd say its a pretty damn good thing I am."
Anko's eyebrow twitched as the blonde she was looking at poofed away, revealing that it was yet another clone. She almost lashed out when she felt a hand on her shoulder from behind. "Now, now, now. No need for that woman." Anko had to fight at that point to keep her eye from twitching violently. When did he...? Nanashi only chuckled to himself before releasing the viper in the guise of a purple-haired female. He took a few steps back, a cautionary measure of course, to look back at the gathered group. "Well, this is an odd little group here. What's up?"
Ironically it was the one he had interacted with the least that spoke up first. The crimson-eyed illusonist that had acted like a surrogate mother to his deceased girlfriend, stop it, she's not dead, spoke up. "We were just heading to get some to eat and drink. Would you care to join us, Nanashi-san?"
He grinned beneath his mask before casting a look towards the woman who was all but twitching in anger at him. "That depends. Is she gonna try to kill me again?"
"That's sounding better and better each passing second..." Anko angrily muttered, looking away from the blonde and crossing her arms.
Kurenai only chuckled at her friend's anger before placing a hand on the woman's shoulder while looking at Nanashi. "I'm sure it'll be fine."
Nanashi gazed at the setting sun, trying to guess the time before shrugging. "Sure. I was just going to get some ramen from Ichiraku's anyway. And drop the honorifics, its just Nanashi Kurenai-san." She woman seemed amused at his request, while using the same honorific with her name.
Genma shifted the senbon in his mouth and asked with a raised eyebrow, his voice dripping in disbelief. "You actually eat that salty garbage."
Nanashi all but glared at the man in response. "You dare speak such blasphemy?" He then shook his head, as if trying to impart a life-changing lesson to an uncultured youth. "You obviously have never had Ichiraku ramen then. A gift from the culinary gods, it is. I will forgive your sin of ignorance in this matter one time, my son."
Genma only rolled his eyes. "Whatever blondie."
Yugao spoke up again, "We were thinking more along the lines of the bar, and getting some grub there."
Nanashi thought for a moment before shrugging. "Was planning on getting some sake tonight anyway. Lead the way."
As the group walked towards their destination, Nanashi hung back a little to watch their interactions. It appeared that Anko had decided to just ignore him completely, and she focused on talking to Kurenai-sensei. He actually raised an eyebrow at that, somewhat surprised. Judging from the signals being sent... they're very close friends. Odd how Kurenai-sensei never talked about Anko during the war... He turned his attention of the kunoichi duo to see Genma, Hayate, and Yugao talking comfortably. For a moment he wondered if they had been on a genin team together and if that was why they were so familiar with each other. Hayate's arm was loosely wrapped around Yugao's waist, and the off-duty ANBU was recipricating the gesture. Nanashi couldn't help but smile slightly at that, remembering the calm and collected second in command he had during the final days of the remnant period. Things will be different this time senpai. I owe you that much. I can't say much for the health of Hayate in general, but he won't die so soon this time around.
He was broken out of his nostalgic thoughts when the voice of Kurenai breached his consciousness. "Nanashi, are you okay?" He gave her a quick glance to see an odd look on her face, and judging from the narrowed eyes that her associate was throwing him, he imagined that he had blanked out for a short while. Her red eyes were as penetrating as he remembered, and nothing short of mind-jarring if one was unused to them.
"It's nothing Kurenai-san. Just... lost in the past, so to speak." He said softly, though a trace of amusement was in his voice as he said the last part. More than anyone will ever know. Kurenai continued giving him that odd look before nodding and turning back to Anko. Nanashi only shook his head slightly, idly wondering if those eyes will ever change. Eyes the color of bloodshed don't suit Kurenai-sensei's true nature. He shook his head again as the group reached their destination, and he couldn't help but sigh.
Casual conversation was made as they ate but Nanashi didn't really pay attention to most of it. He contributed when he could, but he knew that he was the odd man out of this group, a feeling he had been familiar with since he was a kid. It had gone away as he grew older, but being thrown into the past again had been reintroducing him to sides of himself he had long since forgotten about. He told a few jokes, took a few shots at Genma (using the cute waitress to his advantage of course), as well as having a few witty verbal matches with Anko, most of which he won to his amusement and Anko's displeasure. His coat had been removed when they say down and he tried to ignore the curious glances from those who hadn't seen his arms before. He really wasn't in the mood to explain them again.
He did notice everyone trying to sneak glimpses at his unmasked face when he ate his food, or when he was trying to drink some of his tea that he had ordered with his meal. Well, almost anyone. If anything, Anko didn't care at all, and only shook her head in exasperation when he took measures that his old mentor Kakashi had taught him about hiding one's face. He had to fight from laughing at their annoyed expressions when they wouldn't see his mouth and idly wondered if Kakashi enjoyed this as much as he was now. He didn't actually care if they saw his face, but them not seeing it meant less questions which was always a plus.
Their food had come and gone, and the drinks were starting to flow a little more freely. Nanashi finally let out a sigh before flagging down a waitress. He pulled out some large ryo notes and placed them in her hand. "A bottle of the finest sake you have ojo-chan. Keep the rest."
The girl scampered off excitedly, drawing the attention of his companions. Anko only raised an eyebrow, a saucer of sake already in her hand. "The hell was that about nameless wonder?"
"Just placing an order Anko." The girl returned shortly afterwards, carrying a very fancy bottle in her hands as if terrified of breaking it. Nanashi took it from her and thanked her once again. He opened the bottle carefully and after placing the top on the table, he looked up to the others and gestured for them to hold out their saucers. If any of them were surprised, they hid it admirably but anyone could tell something was up.
When they all had a saucer filled with the special order, Nanashi paused a moment while holding his saucer up. "A toast then."
Genma smirked and gave a nod before raising his own saucer. "To good food and better drink."
Kurenai followed up with her own, "The future." It was obvious to those present that she was thinking about her upcoming Jounin examination.
Hayate and Yugao exchanged glances before smiling together. They clasped hands together, and Yugao spoke for the two of them. Someone had to cover for Hayate's coughing anyway. "To love."
Anko only rolled her eyes at that one. "Sappy bastards..." A moment of silence before she raised her saucer with her left hand, her right fingering the bottom of the purple scarf that was wrapped around her neck. "To... a new life..." The others besides Nanashi and Kurenai looked at the snake mistress at this odd comment but she ignored it. She then tossed a look at her red-eyed friend and added as an afterthought, "And to 'Nai-chan here actually asking that future lung cancer statistic Asuma out." The group laughed at that, with the exception of Kurenai who was blushing at her energetic friend's words. She then slapped Anko on the arm with enough force to cause the woman to wince but she didn't lose her grin as she looked at her embarrassed friend.
Nanashi closed his eyes and said nothing at first, despite continuing to hold out his saucer. After a few moments of silence, he opened his eyes and pulled down his mask, revealing his faded whisker marks. He ignored the sudden intake of breath from a few of his companions and merely said softly, "To fallen friends..."
"Here here." Came the agreement from those gathered, taking their drinks as one. A comfortable silence followed (or at least one could get in a bar) before a second round went around. No one really felt inclined to start up a conversation, each lost within their own thoughts. Finally, Genma turned to Nanashi. "What brought this on blondie?"
Nanashi placed his saucer down and pulled his mask back up. "... Long story short, this day has special meaning to me and I use it to honor friends long gone." He shook his head, as if stopping himself from saying else. He placed some ryo on the table, enough to cover his meal and a little extra, before rising to his feet. "It's been fun, but there's some place I need to go before I sleep tonight."
The blonde gave them a slight bow of the head before he left. The gathered shinobi said nothing at first, each coming terms to what the mysterious blonde let slip. Finally, it was Hayate who spoke up, albeit through a few sickly sounding coughs. "Is it just me, or did he look disturbingly like the Yondaime?"
Anko merely slugged down another shot of the fine sake without a care for savoring its rich taste. "He says thats why he wears the damn mask. I think it'd be fun to freak the villagers out and pretend to be the Yellow Flash for a bit."
Kurenai rolled her eyes at her friend's comments. "Of course you would." Her eyes drifted back to where the mysterious special jounin had been sitting before noticing that he had left his coat behind. "He left his coat."
The serpentine kunoichi merely scoffed. "Figures. Friggin' idiot." She quickly reached over and grabbed the coat and threw it over her shoulder before grabbing the sake saucer out of Genma's hand and slugging it back, much to the irritation of the senbon chewing shinobi and the amusement to the rest of those gathered. "Hold my seat, I'll be right back."
-/-/-/
He only let out a heavy sigh as he made his way towards the the Hokage mountain. He had spent more time nestled in the spikes of the head of his father's visage than he could really know, even before he actually knew that the man was his father. He always spent this day there, even before losing so many of his friends and loved ones. Maybe it was to remind himself of what he was shooting for or something like that. He never really understood it, but had always felt like he was welcome when he took his place.
He was broken out of his musings when something hit him in the head. He wasn't too worried about the fact that he hadn't sensed it; there was no lingering killing intent in the surrounding area and he was still in Konoha proper. He smirked as he realized what it was and shifted, allowing the leather trench coat to fall into his arms before he put it on. He looked over his shoulder at the person who had thrown the coat. "Thanks."
Anko merely shrugged, obviously not caring for any thanks. "Whatever." She seemed to want to add something but said nothing. Her face betrayed her though.
Nanashi raised an eyebrow at this as he placed his hands in his pockets, waiting for her to continue. When it seemed she wasn't going to be forthcoming, he merely gave her a nod before turning away. "Later Anko."
He only took two steps before her voice cut into his mental processes like a knife through hot butter. "So who are you really?" He slowly turned his head to look at her over his shoulder. Well, well, well. Someone is actually confronting me on my 'story'. Who would've thought from all places it would come from her?
Nanashi had been expecting something like this to happen eventually. Not this quick though. His back story was put together hastily with old man Hokage after rejoining Konoha's ninja service. It would never fly under intense scrutiny, hence why he had done his best to stay out of the limelight as much as possible. Considering the few he did interact with an a regular basis understood that he wouldn't talk about his past, it didn't seem like it would be that difficult to slip by since so few knew of his existence anyway. Oh he knew that he had caused a stir at the Jounin Tournament when he won that, but he had no doubts in his mind that his existence had slipped out most of Konoha's mind shortly thereafter.
Reviewing it now in his mind, he cursed mentally as he recalled that evening with Anko the night before she decided to undergo the curse seal removal ritual, and more importantly the first night he had actually spoken to someone about Hinata's death since it actually happened. He was actually pleased with himself as he responded with a confused tone that was as fake as his 'name'. "What are you talking about?"
Anko only stared at him with a blank face. Well that's odd. She usually either has that shit-eating grin, a scowl, or a glare. "I was just going to give that back to you, but since we're alone I might as well do what I've been thinking about for a while."
Unable to resist giving the woman a quick shot, Nanashi smirked beneath his mask as he turned around to face her. "So, finally giving into my boyish charm Anko-san?" He lost the grin when she narrowed her eyes on him. She was no longer giving him any slack it seemed. This wasn't her usual glare, that was reserved for messing with someone's head or mild irritation. No, it was on a different level and he finally realized what it was for. Oh... so she's considering me a possible threat now...
She continued staring at him in silence for a few minutes, forcing him to wonder what was going through the woman's mind. Finally she scoffed before breaking eye contact with him. "Tch." Nanashi didn't bother to avert his gaze from the woman, knowing full well that more was coming. She seemed to be measuring her words again, as if trying to figure out what to say. Finally, she let out a sigh. "You and the old man need to lock up your fake history better."
Nanashi didn't let the sudden accusation ruffle him. He had known that someone would call him on it eventually, but he had expected it to be closer to the day where change needed to occur than almost a year and a half in advance. "I'm afraid I don't understand."
She only gave him a smirk at his fake confusion. He idly cursed within his mind, wondering if his body language had let something slip about his 'confusion.' "Of course you don't." After a few moments she added, "You weren't part of any special group under the old man. You simply just didn't exist until you were pulled into the hospital with those wounds." The words were spoken plainly, as fact that could not be disputed. Her absolute confidence in her words unsettled him more than he could describe.
Anko had been hoping for some sort of reaction when she said that to the masked blonde, but the one she got worried her. She didn't let it show but when she had stated her claim, the entire demeanor of the blonde shifted. Nothing in his expression or eyes changed, but his whole being seemed to radiate with warning at her, as if informing her on a telepathic level to watch her words. "That's a bold claim."
She only rolled her eyes, not at all intimidated. "You removed that shithead's taint over me. Did you really think that I wouldn't look you up after that?"
Nanashi thought about it for a moment and mentally relaxed. She's just looking for some answers. She's not trying to break your cover. If she wanted to, she would've called you out on this publicly. "That still doesn't explain what you're accusing me of."
"I checked the records they have on you at the hospital. You had never been treated before, not even as a kid. Even that old prick Danzo's pawns' records are kept by Konoha General. That leads me to believe that either you're fucking untouchable, which I know isn't true, or that something else is at work here."
Fuck... Nanashi thought the curse in his mind over and over again as he tried to figure out how to respond to this. He would later look back upon the incident and be impressed in how little emotion he showed as he listened to her words. Yet he would also kick himself later for not having a better response ready for the situation. "Knowing too much isn't always healthy Mitarashi Anko."
Anko only scoffed at that. "Ain't it the truth." She paused for a moment before adding "Don't worry nameless wonder. I don't give a shit and I won't say nothing either. I owe you too much anyway. Just letting you know that you and the old man need to cover your tracks better."
Nanashi frowned beneath his mask before giving a short nod, aquisiting to the fact that the woman had indeed discovered one of his secrets. "The real question is, if you were able to determine this who else could?"
"I burned the file they had on you after I read it and replaced it with gibberish. Figured if the old man and you were actually going through the hassle of building a fake history, then there's a damn good reason for it."
He raised an eyebrow in honest bafflement. "You trust me that much? Anko, for all you know I could be a spy working for Orochimaru. It would explain how I know so much about the curse seal."
She closed the distance between them quickly and lashed out quickly. He felt his head jerk suddenly from the punch to his temple but only minor pain. His experience with forceful women in the past deciphered this quickly. It was not meant to hurt him, but rather punish him for saying something stupid. "Hokage-sama trusts you; that's enough for me."
Nanashi's eyes dropped at that but he nodded in understanding. "I see..." He met her eyes again and was met by that grin that he was growing far too used to when dealing with the woman. "Well, I will neither confirm nor deny anything you've said tonight. Keep it under your coat though."
She only rolled her eyes at his request. "I'm not stupid you retard." Then once again, she showed off her ability to change moods at the drop of a kunai as her face lit up with a big grin and she pointed in one direction. "Enough of this talk. It's time for better things, like drinking! The bars are calling us nameless wonder! That way!" For a moment, and only a moment, the blonde was stunned beyond words. Then slowly, he chuckled which grew until it was a full laugh. She really is like my old self. I hesitate to even wonder about the shit we would've pulled if I had befriended this insane woman as a child.
He was broken out of his musings when he heard the movements of a large crowd. He exchanged a quick look with the snake woman who also had a puzzled expression on her face. Nanashi shrugged before saying, "Lead on oh beautiful snake goddess." Sarcasm practically dripped from his voice and he grinned as he knew it would start another verbal battle with the woman. He didn't know why he enjoyed antagonizing Anko so much, but it was entertaining as all hell. The fact that she could keep up with him more often than not amused him on so many levels. Not even Kiba had been able to keep a good round of verbal tag going with the Uzumaki, let alone most of his other associates who would eventually resort to physical violence to end the 'childish bickering' as one Hyuga Neji referred to it.
Anko smiled at that and began walking. "Oooh, say that again. It's good to hear that you've finally found your place." Nanashi took the barb and was about to shoot back with one of his own when he heard a cry of pain.
A very familiar cry.
He snapped his head towards the direction he had heard it from and was already moving, leaving a confused Anko behind. He didn't know if she had heard what he had, but he didn't care either. He made his way down the alley until he exited it and paused in front of a large crowd. He didn't even register Anko's hand on his shoulder and the question she must've been asking before he heard another cry of pain. He shook her hand off of his shoulder and began forcing himself through the crowd. When he reached the front, he froze at the sight that greeted him. Standing in the center were two figures, one carrying a small knife, not a kunai but rather something more along the lines of a butcher knife, the other holding a metal rod. The crowd had surrounded them, creating a full circle that held the two and one other. Nanashi only stared in complete shock at the fallen child that was clearly hurt and only barely holding onto consciousness. A mop of unruly and spiky blonde hair, cuts and bruises all over his face. His legs were cut up in several places, blood flowing freely from the wounds. One arm cradled the other as the boy glared up at his attackers with cerulean eyes full of defiance, despite barely being able to keep his eyes open.
Nanashi felt a very cold chill go down his spine as the man with the knife sent a brutal kick across the face of his younger self. He just watched as the boy dropped like a rock, consciousness finally leaving him. It was only when the man with the rod raised his arm to deliver the final blow that he moved .Those around him jumped back in shock when he vanished from sight, only to appear in front of the man who was already bringing the rod down to strike. Nanashi reacted instantly, without taking his eyes off of his younger self. He raised his right arm and blocked the blow with his forearm, not even wincing when the steel rod impacted against the bone.
Only when that happened did Nanashi allow himself to take his eyes off of the child. The look of surprise on his attacker's face was priceless but Nanashi was in no mood to enjoy it. Without even saying a single word, the masked blonde lashed out with his leg, driving a brutal kick to the man's gut, sending him flying backwards into the crowd, knocking several people over. He then turned his gaze to the knife wielder with a ruthless glare before, for the first time since reawakening in 'this' Konoha, unleashing the full of his killer instinct.
The impact was immediate. The villager who no doubt had never been exposed to such intensity in his pathetic life dropped the knife in an instant and if Nanashi had cared to notice, the man wet his pants when he met the blonde's gaze that promised death and destruction. The blonde was also too enraged to notice that the killing intent was not focused solely on the man before him and the whole crowd seemed to be trembling in the presence of the blonde.
Even the Special Jounin who had followed him to this incident was stunned by the sheer amount of killing urge the blonde was was somewhat stunned at the change. She knew that the man was a good shinobi, but she had never really imagined he could go from joker to enraged killer so quickly. He just didn't seem the type. She wasn't a shinobi for nothing however and pushed through the miasma that was terrifying even to her, moving to check on the boy the blonde had been so damned concerned about. She let out a sigh of relief as she realized the kid was still alive. Good, if he was dead I have the feeling that nameless killer over here would go Itachi on these idiots. Not that I can blame him... It was only after that thought that she recognized the brat and her eyes widened in shock. The vessel! No wonder he's so pissed...
When he finally spoke, his voice was considerably calmer than one would expect considering the size of the un-targeted killing intent that was all but paralyzing the crowd. "There better be a damn good reason why you all were assaulting a citizen of Konohagakure, a child no less. Somebody better start talking now, or I'm going to start slaughtering people." Anko looked up at the blonde in open alarm, fully believing the threat.
Dead silence followed the blonde's proclamation but his attention had already shifted from the crowd of idiots towards his fallen former self. The boy was clearly unconscious, and the wounds were anything but minor. Seeing Anko attending to his younger self for the first time snapped Nanashi out of his rage temporarily. "How is he?" He whispered, kneeling down to examine his younger self more closely.
Anko let out a small sigh of relief; that killing intent had been suffocating. "Alive. Not in good shape though."
Nanashi once again thanked whatever gods were out there for his freakish healing ability, which had only been enhanced by the kyubi's presence. In fact, Nanashi was quite surprised that the ability had transfered over to him, after his little time jump. He had always assumed it was the fox healing him but since he could still recover from wounds far faster than normal, he drew the conclusion that he probably had some sort of bloodline limit that no one knew of, and people before had simply blamed it on the fox.
He snapped out of his musings when he heard a few of the villagers speak up, evidently able to regain enough of their motor functions now that he had taken his attention off of them. "Damn... demon... lovers..."
Nanashi only looked at the one who spoke and narrowed his eyes. "I said a good reason prick. Choose your next words carefully, for they may be your last." The man shrunk back at that statement, as Nanashi's rage seem to climb a little higher. All these pathetic maggots... is this the Konoha that everyone died for? Is this the Konoha I really want to save? "Anko, take the kid to the old man. He'll take care of him." The blonde stated, his voice a deception of calmness. His gaze had not been removed from the idiot who had dared utter something so idiotic in his presence.
Anko actually shivered from his words before snapping her fingers in front of his eyes. "Oi!" When he turned to face her, she held a serious expression on her face that calmed him down slightly. "There's no way I'm leaving these idiots alone with you with the amount of killing intent you're letting out. You take the brat, I'll deal with the morons."
The two special jounin glared at each other for quite some time before finally the blonde broke the gaze, suddenly feeling quite ashamed of his actions. She's right... I was about to kill these people... Fuck. "Right. I'd better get going then." He quickly scooped his younger self into his arms and had to conceal a shudder as he thought about what might have happened if he remained in the area. He distracted himself by looking over his younger self and couldn't help but sigh. Was I always this scrawny? This light? Damn, why does life go out of its way to make things far more interesting than they have to be? He turned to leave but halted first before saying, "Anko."
"What?"
"...Thanks." And with that final word of gratitude for stopping him from doing something he'd regret later, the blonde vanishing with the speed of shinobi. Anko only shook her head at the resultant spinning leaves before turning her own gaze on the crowd before her and grinning a sadistic smile and shining eyes that held an undercurrent of insanity. She would never know it, but the combined effect would later plague the nightmares of all present.
Serves the bastards right.
-/-/-/
Sarutobi only closed his eyes and let out a weary sigh as the ANBU commander finally left his office. He didn't bother to look at the irritated form of Minato's grown-up son; he had nothing to say that could justify what had happened. "So many things were done with the best intentions..."
The man merely scoffed. His younger self had already been taken to the hospital by one of Sarutobi's aides, one he obviously trusted a great deal if he entrusted the boy's care to him. Then again, they all probably know what he would do to them if 'I' don't make it through. Nanashi didn't voice his thoughts however, and instead let out a flippent comment. "You'd think that the maggots you and my father protected would respect his final wishes a little more."
The old man merely toyed with his pipe as he stared out his window into the night sky of Konoha. He could see the lights from the winding down of the festival from his perch and idly wondered the same thing. Out loud he simply asked, "Were you always this bitter about your... position?"
Nanashi paused at that before shaking his head. "I think it pisses me off more to see it happening to someone else actually. Even if that someone else, well, is me."
The old man nodded in understanding. "Very much like your father. He was the same way. I imagine that was the reason he used his own child as the vessel rather than simply grab an orphan."
Nanashi only shrugged at that, not really willing to think too deeply on his father's motives. He never knew the man, and only knew what the history books and Ero-sannin told him. He liked to think he would've liked the guy though. "What now?"
The elder ninja merely sighed, no longer fighting the urge to light up his pipe. He took a few puffs before refocusing on the outside world. "I have received Anko's report as well as your own. I will deal with those who attacked... you accordingly." He turned back to the blonde and lowered his pipe, "Fortunately, you didn't kill the man you attacked so I doubt there will be any serious repercussions." The Sandaime raised an eyebrow as something occurred to him, "But I'd never thought I'd see Anko-chan in the role of a peace-keeper."
"Me neither, but then again you've never seen me truly and utterly pissed off old man." The blonde only paused for a moment before his mood seemed to sour. "The council will try to make something of this. You know it." Nanashi commented calmly, the events of the night finally catching up to him.
The Sandaime merely chuckled. "It would not be the first time. They have no power to affect what occurs now. You have acted in accordance to my wishes. Even if they wanted to make something of this, they can not without outright challenging my authority, and the shinobi portion of the council would never do such a thing."
The blonde shrugged. "If you say so. Are we done here?"
"Yes. You're free to go." The blonde merely nodded as he began to head towards the window. He was interrupted by a cough and looked up to see the old man glaring at him and pointing towards the office door. He only rubbed his head sheepishly before leaving via the door, making Sarutobi's night.
-/-/-/
News of the attack on the 'demon-brat' and his rescue spread through Konoha like wildfire for the next week and a half. It had not been the first time an attempt had been thwarted, but it was the first time that a shinboi had caused a crowd to all but shit themselves from it. In the past incidents involving the blonde haired jinchureki, the crowd had simply been dispersed and those who had actual led the attack taken in. For civilians, to be hit with a killing intent for the first time, the likes of which would stun many jounins, was a wake-up call. After all, it was rare that a shinobi acted on behalf of the demon without direct orders from the Sandaime.
But most eventually shrugged the overblown stories off, either not believing it or simply not caring. Though many did begin to treat the masked blonde with a little more wariness than they had before.
Or it could be because by leaving the scene when he did, he effectively sic-ed a member of the torture and interrogation squad on a crowd of civilians. One who very much enjoyed her work. Several days later even Morino Ibiki, of all people, came to personally thank the blonde for the entertainment. Nanashi had said nothing, for once making sure to kill his curious brain cells with extreme prejudice before his mouth could say anything. He was absolutely sure that he was better off NOT knowing what went on in the Torture and Interrogation cells beneath the tower.
This wary treatment from the villagers didn't bother him too much though; he was used to far more extremes of fear and hatred after all. He went on as he did before, spending most of his time training in one of Konoha's numerous training grounds. He was actually somewhat surprised at the lack of more fallout from the incident but apparently the old man had his back. He only shook his head at that thought as he began forming seals quickly. Eh, whatever.
His mind snapped back into focus as he finished the last set of handseals before focusing his chakra and creating the necessary visualization. "Raiton: Kaminari Ryu no jutsu." He felt his internal reserves spike for a split second before dropping like a rock as the technique absorbed the necessary chakra and manifested as a roaring dragon from his fingertips. The dragon was a fairly large size and he watched with a smug grin of accomplishment as the technique lashed out towards his target, a small group of trees on the other side of the training grounds. The dragon impacted against them with an impressive display of light before the trees essentially exploded. He actually had to duck his head to avoid a piece of flying tree bark that flew past him. He raised his head to look at the technique's aftermath with a feeling of satisfaction. Another kinjutsu down. He winced slightly from the headache that came as a resultant of using the technique so many times. It drained chakra like a bitch and he was already beginning the effects of low-level chakra depletion. Another interesting side effect was that he could practically 'feel' the static electricity he was storing up each time he used it. He made an idle note to experiment with that at a later date, perhaps even channeling it into one of his pre-existing raiton techniques. I should be able to reproduce that without the seals now, since I known how the chakra is supposed to be manipulated. Well, I guess I'll test it. I should have enough chakra in me to handle one more go without passing out.
Ninjutsu and genjutsu skills were made up of three components: focus, chakra manipulation, and visualization. When using a technique, one usually uses all three components. Leaving one out usually made the technique fail, but there are cases where it doesn't matter much. Usually low-level techinuqes such as the kawarmini could be done without visualizing exactly where to move to, and even most low-level chunnin could perform the technique without the handseals that correspond to it. Even more could perform jutsus without speaking their names; not unusual in itself but speaking the name of the jutsu does usually help one with the visualization and focusing aspect.
The truth of the matter is that for most shinobi, the chakra manipulation is the hardest aspect of any jutsu. No one truly understands the nature of chakra, or why it exists. Even the 'theory' taught at the shinobi academy couldn't really be proven. Hand seals as a whole were only used to help form and mold the chakra as the shinobi wished; some gut instinct was required as well. The 'theory' of chakra was really just a compilation of gut instincts from some of the best shinobi in the past.
Nanashi had studied this relationship between the three aspects of jutsu during his time traveling with Jiraiya before the war. He was by no means the sharpest kunai in the target board, but even at that age he had realized that if he could somehow cut out one of the steps and still perform jutsu that it would become a massive advantage. Thus began his secret work on what would eventually evolve into his Elemental Binding Matrix. The beauty of the seals was that they 'remembered', for the lack of a better word, the chakra manipulation needed. He remembered when Jiraiya had discovered his research after they returned to Konoha and the man's jaw had hit the floor at what his 'idiot apprentice' was in the process of developing.
The problem was that differing elements handled chakra in different ways. Fire was explosive, requiring large and uncontrolled bursts that were sustainable. Water was more of a calm manipulation, as if allowing one's chakra to expand naturally, as it water would take the shape of a container it was poured into. Lightning was sharp and explosive like fire, but meant to be used quickly then released rather than sustained. Earth was a steady flow, strong and overpowering but subtle as if one would forget it was even there at times. Wind was chaotic at best, always thrashing around as if it had its own will and cared not for the will of the one who would command it.
Nanashi's notes and research had intrigued the Toad-Hermit. He listened patiently as the blonde had excitedly explained the initial concepts of the binding matrix and how it would react when grafted onto someone. The man had eyed the boy quietly as the blonde had explained the flaws in the theory he had already found, mostly having to due with the differing natures of elemental jutsu. It had actually been the old pervert who had given him the way to fix the problem. It was brutally simple: a separate binding matrix for each element. Such a overly simple solution, yet it had taken the blonde off on a tangent of his original plan.
In the end though, the old pervert had the right idea. He thought to himself as he stared at his right arm. He couldn't see the seal there but he didn't need to. He knew each mark and line of the seals by heart and had been his own first guinia pig. Tsunade had almost torn his head off when he awoke from the four month coma from the ritual that branded his left arm with the suiton matrix. Jiraiya had been the one to stop her from doing so when he awoke from the three month coma that had occurred when he branded his right arm with the raiton matrix. For some reason the two had explicitly forbidden him from ever grafting another matrix to himself and one that the blonde had kept, even after their deaths.
Though to be fair, during the remnant period he didn't really have the time to be laid up for months. Survival was a moment to moment thing in those days, and too many people had been relying on him. How he became the leader of the resistance was something he never figured out, but it was something he took seriously.
The blonde shook his head at the memories before focusing on his original task. He felt the chakra within his body shift slightly to his right arm, as he expected. He was already visualizing what he expected to happen as he spoke the words that were becoming familiar to him as he practiced the jutsu for the final time today. "Raiton: Kaminari Ryu no jutsu." Unlike before when the dragon formed from the fingertips of both his hands, this time the dragon's head and body formed from the blonde's outstretched right arm. Unlike before where the dragon had shot straight ahead to impact upon the target, this time the dragon seemed to swirl in the air, travelling in a tight spiral and wrapping itself around one of Konoha's large trees before exploding.
Nanashi only raised an eyebrow at the unusual reaction. That was... unexpected. He then remembered when the Kumo Elite had used the technique against him and felt like an idiot. Of course. It's electricity bound by chakra, and chakra can be controlled. Odds are if I continue to improve my control then I'll be able to control it like that guy did. Overall a success though. He checked his internal reserves and frowned beneath his mask before uttering a soft curse to himself. Damn it sucks having such a small chakra store. I never thought I'd miss that damn fox. The lack of that bastard's chakra limits my whole combat style...
He snapped out his musings when he felt a pair of familiar chakra sources encroach on his training area. He heard a familiar voice speak up from the edge of the field, awe evident in the man's voice. "Holy shit on a stick."
He only chuckled before turning to face his guests. "Now, now. No need for such language toothpick. You are with a lady after all." He watched in amusement as the woman beside him smirked at the senbon-chewing shinboi, while Genma merely raised an eyebrow. Feeling better than to leave it that, if only to have a little fun with her, he decided to add to his comment. "She may not seem like one but she still counts."
Insert righteous womanly rage here. "Fuck you prick." Anko's voice was casual, as if she didn't even notice the insult that had been directed towards her. Her eyes were locked upon the destroyed training posts with a gleam of... something. "And you are so teaching me that, whatever it was."
The blonde was amused by her reaction to the raiton kinjutsu that he had recently learned. He grinned beneath his mask and said in a tone that would match one speaking to a child. "Maybe if you're a good girl Anko-chan." The blonde still didn't understand why he enjoyed baiting the woman so much, but it was fun and he was never one to question the things he enjoyed.
Genma only rolled his eyes at their byplay before looking to Nanashi with a smirk. "You know one day she's going to kill you in your sleep."
"Nah, she seems more of the type to knock me out, tie me up then wait until I regain consciousness before doing it."
The woman idly wondered if Ibiki owed her any favors as she watched the two men casually insult her. "You bastards keep talking I may take you up on that."
Genma raised his hands in defeat and took a step back from the somewhat irritated kunoichi. Nanashi knew better than to give into the woman; she liked a fight, and she wasn't afraid to show it. "Like I said before; handcuffs and bondage kind of woman."
Genma didn't bother to stop the woman this time as Anko charged him. He only shook his head and laughed lightly as the two began to go at it, though anyone could tell that neither was seriously trying to hurt the other. He honestly didn't know what to think of the strange irritating relationship between his two comrades. He wasn't particularly close to either of them, but had worked with them enough in the past to somewhat understand their personalities.
He knew that the woman had her own share of secrets and pain that she would never discuss openly. He idly wondered if Kurenai, the only other shinobi besides the masked blonde who openly sought out Anko's company from time to time, knew more about the woman than she was willing to tell. And from what he could tell, she also seemed to have a connection to the masked blonde as well. He knew that she worked for that sadist Ibiki when not on missions, though sometimes he honestly wondered who the bigger sadist of the two really was. Though, he knew that he was glad he was never put in a position where he had the chance to find out.
He had sensed that she had been changing recently, although he couldn't really put his finger on it. She went out more often as opposed to confining herself to her apartment or her favorite bar like she always did before. She still wore her scandalous outfit with little care for what others thought, not that the womanizer really minded. He rather liked seeing the woman in that outfit after all, and on more than one occasion had 'suggested' that it become the mandatory kunoichi dress code. (His old teammate Yugao had beaten him senseless after that.) She also seemed far more willing to engage in casual conversation with her associates, whereas before she had almost never spoken unless it was she was insulting someone or being asked a direct question.
The blonde however was still pretty much a mystery. He had seen the man's face, but it seemed like the blonde didn't particularly care. He had asked him about it once after that Kyubi celebration. Nanashi had simply shrugged and said that his appearance tends to unsettle people. "After all," he had said as the bandana wearing shinobi watched another of the man's bizarre training sessions, "I kinda look like you know who. I'd rather people didn't start thinking that he survived or I was his long lost brother or anything like that. I'm not him, so why waste time trying to tell people that."
Despite the man's attempt to appear average, Genma could sense the man was hiding something and he didn't just mean his skill. Oh Genma knew that Nanashi was stronger than he let out, though for what purpose the blonde hid his strength, he would probably never figure out. He had to be; the training sessions that Genma and Hayate, among others, had seen the man do in his 'off' time was simply amazing. Intense didn't even begin to describe the strange and bizarre things the blonde came up with. Even that... eccentric jounin Maito Gai thought that the man's training was far too intense for a daily session. But the blonde kept at it regardless.
He rarely spoke of his past, claiming that he couldn't but it didn't take a shinobi to see that half the time he said this he was lying. More often than that though, the blonde had a tendency to space out around certain people. He hadn't really noticed it before, but apparently Kurenai's presence did that, as well as Kakashi's. As if he was seeing something in the two that caused the man to blank out temporarily. He also noticed that it happened around some of the academy students, though for what reason Genma had never been able to discern. He had only asked about it once, and had been met with a stare so cold Genma felt his breath freezing in his lungs. He never asked again.
He couldn't honestly say that he 'knew' the two shinobi tussling in front of him well. He wasn't a shinobi for nothing though and somehow knew that the two were dependable, if not trustworthy. He picked up numerous other minor things about their behavior, either around each other or around others.
Both shinobi seemed to take great joy in fighting each other, although it seemed that had more to do with Anko wanting to beat the shit out of the blonde than anything else. The two bickered like children whenever they met, and if someone didn't stop them, he bet they could go on for practically hours. It was usually pretty funny, and on more than one occasion he had let them go for a while for laughs before stopping them. He knew they had hit the bars more than once together, but considering how Anko was practically an alcoholic anyway, it wasn't a surprise.
One of those things that he did notice over the course of dealing with the two since he met Nanashi was that the blonde never bothered to check out the woman who often searched him out for a fight. That was an impressive accomplishment in itself, as he would be the first to admit that Anko was a damn fine piece of ass, and didn't do anything to conceal that fact. Genma knew that if he had a little less self-preservation instinct, he would've tried something with the serpentine kunoichi by now.
There were times as he watched the two bicker and fight that he honestly thought the two MUST be married or at least dating; it was just too frequent to otherwise happen. That or that they were really going to drive each other nuts one day and one of them would be found speared to the Hokage Tower's walls. I must be hanging around Anko too much, because that seems like an amusing image in itself.
He tended to think more along the lines of the first scenario, as it was far more amusing and even his old friend Hayate's girlfriend thought it was, in her words, 'cute'. The day she said that it sent a shiver down the man's spine and honestly hoped that civilian women didn't think like kunoichi or the fate of his gender in general wouldn't be too promising. Not that he would ever say that to the ANBU kenjutsu specialist; she was all too willing to use him as a training dummy after all.
He only smirked as the blonde casually sidestepped another of Anko's frantic attacks in order to trip her up and pin her to the ground.
Anko only growled before saying, "I swear I'm going to beat the shit out of you one day."
The two men only chuckled. "If you really wanted to, you would've gone all out. Even then... Well, its good to have goals." Nanashi said with a smirk beneath his mask. He did have her pinned to the ground, hands above her head, face driven into the ground. Not bad for being almost out of usable chakra, but then again neither of us were really trying.
"Do you lovebirds want to be left alone? Because I can leave, you know..." Genma mentioned casually, a smirk on his face. He laughed as the blonde shot him a confused glance before realizing their positioning. Never before had the senbon-chewing shinobi wished he could see the man's face more than that, for it must have been a deep red as the man practically shot to his feet faster than any teleportation jutsu would ever allow. The woman, for the first time that Genma had ever seen her do so, matched the blonde's unseen flush, though she was desperately trying to hide it.
"Yeah, yeah, yeah. Whatever." The woman said, tossing a glare towards the man. It was obvious that she was trying to change the subject when she spoke up again. "What the hell was that by the way?" She asked, pointing towards the destroyed training stumps that had been hit early by Nanashi's technique.
The blonde merely rolled his neck, cracking it audibly. "Eh, something I've been working on for a while. Drains chakra like a sponge though. I've pretty much just got enough chakra in me to stay coherent."
Genma raised an eyebrow at that. The blonde never acted as if it was a big deal, but the man did have an impressive chakra pool. "That bad?"
"Yeah. I friggin' hate how my chakra reserves are so small..." The last part of the statement was said far more quietly, as if thinking to himself out loud. Anko and Genma exchanged looks but both shrugged. They weren't about to tell the blonde that his chakra well was as huge as it was. Nanashi was about to add something when he sensed someone behind him and turned. A chunnin was there and seemed to be waiting to be acknowledged. Nanashi frowned before asking, "Yes, can we help you?" And when the hell did you get here? Am I that tired that I didn't even sense one of the old man's errand boys?
The man looked nervous, at least when noticing the kunoichi there. Nanashi couldn't help but chuckle to himself at that. It seems that Anko's reputation precedes her. "Nanashi-san, Anko-san. Your presence is requested at the tower. There's a mission for you." Nanashi nodded to the man who in turn shot the woman a guarded look as if afraid to turn his back on her, before turning and leaving.
Nanashi let out a sigh before looking back at the woman. He then smiled beneath his mask as he realized exactly why the man looked so nervous. She held a kunai in her hand and apparently had been tracing the blade with her tongue in a manner that would disturb anyone. She halted in mid-action as she noticed that the blonde and their other associate staring at her. Thus leading to an amusing sight, even as she embarrassedly pulled the kunai away and frowned at them. "What?" She all but demanded in an annoyed tone, as if she hadn't been doing anything wrong.
Genma only chuckled at her antics. "Absolutely nothing at all."
Nanashi only shook his head in amusement at that. No wonder he looked ready to shit himself. "Do you normally scare the old man's errand boys like that?"
"Only when they start undressing me with their eyes like that prick was."
Nanashi gave her a blank stare as he briefly looked over the fishnet clad kunoichi's body. He remained silent for a while before saying, "There's not much to undress." His voice was flat, as if trying to put across a very basic concept a child. Genma bit the inside of his cheek to keep from laughing, but he couldn't fight the grin that was threatening to cover his face. Oh, that's a good one.
"... You better not have just been checking me out shitstain."
"..." There is no correct answer to that. Thus, remain silent if you wish to live. Dealing with irate kunoichi 101 as taught by Professor Jiraiya.
The masked blonde shot a look to Genma; an open plea for assistence but the senbon-chewing bastard was simply looking at him with amusement on his face, and obviously trying very hard not to burst out laughing.
"Wipe the drool from your mouth shitstain and let's get going." She said, gesturing with a nod towards the tall tower that could be seen in the distance.
"Right..." Nanashi said uneasily. He then smirked before nodding with his head in a similar manner. "If the old man is calling on the two of us, it's going to be an interesting mission. Excited?"
"Over having to deal with you? Don't make me laugh."
"You know that you dream about me every night." He said with amusement.
"Yeah, they're nightmares. Good thing my psyche is already scarred beyond repair or I'd be traumatized." The blonde looked at her and paused while trying to think up of a good retort. When he failed to come up with anything fast enough, the kunoichi merely smirked as she thought, my win this time!
Genma only chuckled, finding it amusing to see the blonde finally lose of of the two's verbal scuffles. "She's got you there blondie."
"Shut up toothpick."
"Let's just get going idiot. Afterwards we're so going to that gambling den and cleaning the place out again; I need a new set of weapons."
"Don't you mean that I'm going to clean them out again? If I recall correctly, you did lose your skirt to them." That was a very interesting night. If it had been anyone other than Anko it would be prime blackmail material. Shame she wouldn't give a shit about it.
Anko only blinked at his comment. He was expecting some sort of sarcastic reply but instead was met with a simple comment that was spoken in a tone where something long unknown finally made sense. "Oh, so that's where it went." He could help but laugh at that, ignoring the murderous look from the woman.
Even as she reached for a kunai to stab him with.
Genma only watched the two walk away with an odd expression before he shook his head. I don't want to know. I don't want to know...
-/-/-/
"Fucking hell. How long is the old man going to be keeping us waiting?" Nanashi tried to ignore the mutterings of the woman sitting next to him in the Hokage's waiting room. The two, after being summoned earlier, had been waiting for two hours to get whatever mission the Sandaime had for them. It was unusual to be kept waiting this long for a mission after being summoned, unless there was some emergency going on. And if that were the case, the ANBU would be giving off a much different feeling than their usual, 'I will slap you around like a child if you do anything suspicious'.
Nanashi decided to let his feelings on the matter be heard. "It's odd... to be kept waiting this long."
Anko glared at him before saying, "Well, it talks. No shit idiot." He only shrugged at her insult, knowing better to speak any more. As much as he enjoyed riling up the woman, he did have a degree of self-preservation instinct and knew that if he started their usual quips at this moment that he would once again be fighting this woman. As he didn't really feel like having to fight for his life in the tower itself, he remained silent.
He went back to ignoring her, and was wrestling with the idea of taking a short nap on the bench the two were sitting on before she spoke up again. Her voice was much quieter, but there were no traces of anger in it either. "Been meaning to ask... why'd you freak out that night. I haven't felt that level of killing intent in years."
He actually turned his head to look at her with a raised eyebrow. "You can't be seriously asking me that?" At her confused look he simply grit his teeth. "A child was being publicly beaten. How the fuck did you think I should react?" He didn't mean to raise his voice at her, and he felt an undercurrent of anger that he hadn't felt since his last battle with Orochimaru.
He began calming down when the sadistic, psychotic, and overall mentally unstable Mitarashi Anko, of all people, visibly flinched from his tone. She held up a hand to halt him from saying anything else. "Sorry, that came out wrong." She gave a quick glance around and her voice dropped in its amplitude. "It's just, well I've never seen anyone go nuts over that kid before other than the old man. Didn't even recognize you Nanashi."
A strange part of his mind picked up on her calling him by his 'name' for the first time, instead of one of her usual 'pet-insult' names. He wondered if she did that unconsciously or if it was meant to be some sort of odd form of apology. He turned his head to look at the ceiling before closing his eyes and taking a deep breath. He began counting down his ninjutsu, from the strongest to the weakest, then tacking on the non-battle techniques to length the count. Not a normal countdown, but hey he was a shinobi after all. No shinobi can claim to be 'normal.' Surprisingly it took longer than he expected before he opened his eyes and spoke to the woman sitting beside him, his voice rather subdued. "That was my primary reason for acting like that. I dislike seeing children abused." That bit was true. There had been many times during the remnant period when their pursuers had thought to use civilian children against him.
The ones who tried? Well, they were met with a rage-driven machine of destruction that even made the Kyubi proud. Not that the conceited bastard would even admit it. Nanashi never liked to admit it, even to his subordinates and friends during that time, but he took great pleasure in snuffing out the lives of those particular bastards.
He took another breath before speaking again, another reason beginning to form in his mind. Well, there is that too. Though our original theory about it seems to have been broken by my time-jump side-effect. That and well, I can't really prove it since I'm here now and the Kyubi's still 'alive'. "You know exactly 'who' he was, don't you?"
"Yeah."
"Well, I've studied the seal enough to know that it's stable. That boy is not 'it'." Nanashi spoke quietly, but it was better to err on the side of caution. Thus deciding that he was going to choose his words very carefully for the next conversation. "Those fools attacking the boy had no idea of the repercussions of their actions, and if they did they would probably be shitting themselves."
He could practically feel the curiosity of the woman next to him spike drastically after those words. "You gonna explain?"
He only shrugged. "It'll kill time, but prepare yourself for a lot of pretty useless information." He paused for a moment before speaking up again, his voice a little louder, more conversational. "I don't talk about it much, but one of my lesser known talents is that I have a great deal of knowledge in spiritual and demonic lore. Hence I am one of the lucky few that knows that 'it' from eleven years ago was far more dangerous than anyone else in the world does." He didn't feel like mentioning that he had learned most of this information from his former prisoner. The Kyubi had been surprisingly talkative after the fall of Konoha, and Nanashi had found out that, during the times when he was supposed to be resting, it 'was' rather interesting to learn more about what had been dubbed the living incarnation of rage and bloodshed.
It was somewhat scary that the ones who had given it that name had no idea how close to the truth they really were.
"What do you mean? I mean, the fox was the strongest of the tailed beasts, right? What could be more important than that?" While Nanashi had decided to measure his words in the case of eavesdropping, Anko apparently felt no such need. He honestly didn't know whether to be annoyed by this or amused by it.
"Well, there is something actually." He paused for a moment, trying to think of what to add before nodding to himself. "What most people don't know is that 'it' was unique from the others like it for one reason, and one reason only. Care to guess?"
She frowned before saying, "You're sounding way too much like an academy sensei. Cut it out."
He blinked at her sudden rebuttal and soon after let out a small chuckle. "Perhaps. What most people don't know is that 'it' was not simply a demon; it was one of the world's locus points of dead emotions." He held up a hand, forestalling the imminent question. "Hold up, I'll get to that. According to what I've learned, the world is made up of undetectable energy pathways called 'leylines'. Think of it as a chakra system for the whole planet. When someone dies, their chakra is returned to these leylines and likewise when someone is born, chakra is taken from these pathways. Great circle of life, ya know. Anyway, much like how a human body has the Celestial Gates, the planet has several key points that regulate its energy known as locus points."
Anko frowned at that. From the look in her eyes he could tell that she was following him but something seeming to be bugging her. "Wait, doesn't that mean that the fox would have had to been stationary? I mean, the celestial gates don't move around."
He shrugged. "I was just using them as an example. Here's the important part though. Locus points aren't just energy points; they also store what I dub 'emotions of the dead' or 'dead emotions.' Not exactly sure how it works but according to some religious scholars I know, when you kick the bucket, your remaining chakra gets cycled back into the planet's energy. What apparently also happens is that a part of the person's very being, part of their soul I guess, also gets cycled back in. This includes the emotions the person was feeling when they died."
Anko only looked at him as if he was nuts. "I ain't one much for religious crap, but even to me that seems out there."
He shrugged. "I probably wouldn't believe it myself if I wasn't who I was." He blinked and frowned mentally at the slip but fortunately Anko didn't seem to catch it. "Anyway, so 'it' was essentially the storing ground for all the hatred and rage that anyone who has ever died felt at their death. Probably why the thing was so damn powerful. Locus points also can't be simply destroyed by conventional means. They contain too much energy but then again most are never even thought of as being 'alive'. Most take the forms of mountains and rivers and such. Not often that someone tries to kill a river, or vice versa. Hence why Konoha couldn't kill 'it'."
"But the Yondaime..."
"The Yondaime sealed something that was all but immortal into something mortal. Part of that seal's function is to terminate 'it' if the vessel dies." He shot her a glance to gauge her reaction. She actually seemed quite interested in his little story and he wasn't sure what to think of that. "Care to wager a guess as to what will happen if the boy is killed?"
"Extreme devastation and destruction?" She guessed, although there was a hopeful gleam in her tone. That worried the blonde more than anything else. Maybe I should track down my younger self and warn him about Anko...
"Eh, think killing intent times a million. The pent up emotion would overwhelm anyone around it and would force a majority of living humans into a berserker rage. So, in a sense yes. Eventually the boy himself will become the locus point itself, provided he lives long enough, at least those who understand this stuff think so." Beneath his mask, he frowned. Maybe we'll get a chance to see this time. Say what you want about those religious monks but they had some pretty interesting theories about my former life.
There was a long pause before her tone went flat. "And you never thought to mention this to the old goat?"
He blinked at that before looking back towards the ceiling. In reality, the Kyubi being a locus point, and by association, his younger self being a future one, had never factored into his decision to save himself. He still wasn't sure why he even bothered to tell her about it, as only a very rare number of people would actually care. Hell, prior to learning it from the Kyubi, a lot of people thought my death would release him. Though, it was a good enough reason as any, and odds are he should mention it to Sarutobi at some point. "No, not really." His instincts caused him to bend forward at the waste immediately, avoiding the kunai slash that looped over his head and slammed into the wall behind him. "That was uncalled for."
In any other situation he would found the twitching eyebrow of the kunoichi before him amusing. But considering that she had just driven a kunai deep enough into the wall behind him so that it was almost entirely unseen, he wondered if he would die before they got their mission. The thought was idle and he resisted beyond all measure to grin behind his mask. Somehow she would know, as all pissed off females were able to know when you did something stupid, and the result of that would be... painful.
He had never been so grateful in his life when the secretary that had been sitting at the desk nearby this whole time spoke up. "You two can go in now." Nanashi shot the woman an appreciative glance, which she totally ignored, not even looking at the duo. As the two stood and walked past her desk, she spoke again. "And that damage is coming out of your pay."
Raiton: Kaminari Ryu no jutsu - This is the Thunder Dragon Technique that was used against Nanashi in his team's battle against the Elites that were sent to retrieve their scroll a few chapters back. He learned it by reading Kumo's Kinjutsu scroll. Forms a semi-autonomous dragon made of pure electricty that soars and attacks the target. High Level users can control the lightning beast at will but Nanashi is not at that level as he is still teaching himself the technique. High A-Rank technique, bordering on S-Rank.
The whole 'locus' concept just gives a little more insight into the Kyubi and on the possibility of exactly 'why' Naruto/Nanashi was sent back. I'll be revisting this concept later in the future as well, but if you look back tot he prologue, Naruto/Nanashi makes mention of this to his comrades as he is 'dying'.