"Hello" - Person Talking
'Hello' - Person Thinking
"Hello" - Summons/Bijū talking
"Hello" - Summons/Bijū thinking
"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu" - Jutsu
Chapter 13
(Time skip - 1 hour later)
After they had all settled into Tsunami, Tazuna, and Inari's home and backyard; Team 12 had one thing on their minds, that being Naruto. After Anko had finished treating him and Tsunami directed her as to where he was going to be sleeping, she had called Yakumo and Satsuki together for a team meeting.
"Anko-sensei... Just, just what is Naruto?" Yakumo asked timidly, after being shouted at by her teammate to not interfere with the battle he had with Zabuza and seeing him somehow hold his own against him, hundreds of questions swam through her mind. Who really was their blonde teammate? The blank faced but funny person they always saw? The angry and scary person who promised to kill Gato? The strong and confident person who fought against Zabuza? Just who was Naruto Uzumaki-Namikaze?
"Yeah sensei, how was he able to fight one on one with Zabuza? He's never shown that kind of power, not ever." Satsuki also questioned, part of her felt afraid that there was someone strong like him so close to her. Unlike Anko who Satsuki knew was loyal to and loved the village, she knew that Naruto didn't really have any friends at all in the entire village. He didn't have a reason to save or even care about her other then the obligation of being on the same team. But another part of her was relieved that her teammate was so strong, maybe he could help her become stronger too.
Seeing the looks on her genin's faces, Anko made a muddled face as she admitted that she didn't know much about the blonde either. "You guess is as good as mine you two. From what I've noticed in the past month, he doesn't really have any friends in the village. I guess we can count since we kind of hang out and stuff, but other then that, nada. He also doesn't seem to really try during training sessions, we've all seen that. But today, I don't know why, but he was really fired up to fight against Zabuza. It's even more surprising that he managed to actually fight him one on one for a little bit." Anko said, explaining what she's noticed so far. But she got confused looks from the students near the last part of her explanation.
"'For a little bit', Anko-sensei? But didn't it end in a draw?" Yakumo asked, confused as she saw both of them look like they were about to drop, Naruto actually doing that. Satsuki shared her teammate's inquiry, she thought it ended in a draw too.
"Trust me you two, if that battle had dragged on, Naruto would've lost. And I do mean he managed to match him for a little bit. At the start of the battle, he was being underestimated by Zabuza, which is understandable coming from his position. But as soon as they started clashing, Zabuza started to get sharper in his movements, completely different from how he fought against me or Naruto earlier. That means that during the fight, he was removing the rust that had probably built up over the past few years living as a nuke-nin. Naruto on the other hand started to react a little bit faster each time, but Zabuza was recovering more of his old skills as a swordsman much quicker then Naruto was polishing his. That's why I said he managed to match him for a little bit." Anko explained to her students, seeing the looks of fear on their faces she couldn't help but put her hands on the top of their heads and ruffle their hair.
"Don't worry you two, next time I'll take him on. I underestimated him like a rookie the first time because I thought his skills diminished over the years, which they didn't. Next time, I'll go all out." Anko reassured her students, which worked seeing the relieved looks and smiles on their faces.
"Now enough questions about him, he saved us didn't he! Why don't we go check on our favorite Blondie!" She said, standing up and heading to his room with Satsuki and Yakumo in tow. As they opened the door, they were met with a shirtless Naruto in the process of taking off his pants. They all froze, staring at each other.
Satsuki's mind overloaded at the scene, she started stuttering and pointed at him as her mind tried to process the situation at hand. Her eyes turned into swirls as her faced turned a vibrant red that put a tomato to shame. Her mind furiously imprinting the image of her teammate to her memory against her will.
Yakumo didn't fare any better, her eyes were as wide as saucers as she stared at the scene. She tried to speak, opening and closing her mouth in an attempt to say anything. Her face a similar vibrant red to Satsuki's. Her mind shut down at the image of her half naked teammate, which unknown to her, was being burned to her memory.
Anko just stared, being the oldest of the bunch and having seen the male anatomy she didn't really react at all, though there was a very slight tinge of pink on her cheeks.
The slightly erotic moment was immediately broken when Naruto removed his hands from his pants and walked to the door his face blank. As he reached it, his face was still blank but his cheeks gained a light dusting of pink as he said one word before slamming the door in their faces.
"Perverts."
Dinner that night was a silent and awkward affair.
(Time skip - 1 week later)
The days following Team 12 and Tazuna's return to his home were relatively tranquil minus the incident the first night back. During that period, Naruto managed to recover enough from his injury to do some very light training thanks to Anko's medical knowledge which him and his team found out about a few days ago when she was tending to him.
(Flashback 2 days ago - Start)
"There, that should take care of any of the lasting pain. Anything else ache or feel tight?" Anko asked, scanning Naruto with her Shōsen Jutsu to check for any injuries that she missed.
"Ah, no. I'm fine now, thank you Anko-sensei." Naruto replied, slowly rotating his shoulder to see if there was any pain in it.
Seeing her student start moving something she just finished healing, Anko's eyebrow twitched before she hit him on the head. "You idiot! Don't just start moving right away, let your injuries settle down for at least an hour!" Her fist and the bump on Naruto's head smoking while Yakumo and Satsuki laughed wryly.
After the whole ordeal, Yakumo turned to and asked her how she knew Iryō Ninjutsu. "Anko-sensei, how do you know iryō ninjutsu? I've never heard of anyone outside of the hospital and medical team that know it." As Satsuki and Naruto also looked at her with curious gazes.
Seeing the looks of her students, she gave them a small smile and told them the reason. "Well, Tsunade-sama has always pushed for a regime that made medical ninja a permanent addition to squads, to reduce the rate of casualties by having support in the event a member gets injured. Of course, Minato-sama also agreed, but was overruled by the council, saying that they couldn't afford to risk medical ninja being casualties themselves since they're such a valuable resource to the village. But after that time, Tsunade-sama herself, offered to teach those who were willing to learn. At first, being an Anbu-captain at that time I wasn't interested at all, but then Orochimaru-sama told me that a captain wasn't just the strongest, fastest, or most knowledgeable; they were the ones who were responsible for making sure that their team made it out in one piece. At first, I was skeptical, so I didn't take it completely to heart. The next mission after that, I lost my entire squad to an ambush set up by the same nuke-nin we were hunting down. If I had taken up Tsunade-sama's training, I would've been able to save at least one of them but in the end, I failed them and they all died. After I retired from the Anbu and asked Tsunade-sama for her training which she said I mastered to the level of a head medic, which really surprised me and her since it only took a year. And well, that's where I am now! I learned it so that I don't lose anyone to my own powerlessness ever again, and I'm glad that I did." After finishing her story, she was met with the teary eyes of her genin, which unnerved her greatly as they threw praises at her the rest of the night, to her embarrassment.
(Flashback - End)
After that, Naruto was peppered with questions about the skills he showcased when he faced Zabuza a week ago. However, they all got the same response when they asked him, including Anko.
"The situation was serious."
After a trying to get a different answer, they all eventually gave up. Naruto wasn't going to tell them and they didn't want to pry anymore then they already have. After things settled down, they learned of the situation of the Wave from Tazuna and Tsunami, that after Gato had taken control of it, its people had begun living in fear and poverty because of the tyrant. Things weren't that kind to the family either as they learned that Tsunami's husband, Kaiza, was tortured before they publicly executed him in the view of the entire village. That was what led to Inari's stark personality change from a optimistic and smiling boy to the pessimistic and perpetually frowning boy that they've seen.
Things seemed tense for a while when Inari snapped at the Konoha ninja and his family yesterday, saying that they had no chance against Gato. Naruto had scared the boy when he became angry before he left the house, returning in a slightly better mood the next day to the surprise of the group.
"The situation was serious."
After a trying to get a different answer, they all eventually gave up. Naruto wasn't going to tell them and they didn't want to pry anymore then they already have. After things settled down, they learned of the situation of the Wave from Tazuna and Tsunami, that after Gato had taken control of it, its people had begun living in fear and poverty because of the tyrant. Things weren't that kind to the family either as they learned that Tsunami's husband, Kaiza, was tortured before they publicly executed him in the view of the entire village. That was what led to Inari's stark personality change from a optimistic and smiling boy to the pessimistic and perpetually frowning boy that they've seen.
Things seemed tense for a while when Inari snapped at the Konoha ninja and his family yesterday, saying that they had no chance against Gato. Naruto had scared the boy when he became angry before he left the house, returning in a slightly better mood the next day to the surprise of the group.
(Flashback - Yesterday)
"Why do you guys bother to try so hard?! No matter how hard you train, you're still no match for Gato's men! No matter what glorious claims you make or how hard you work, the weak will only end up getting killed!" Inari shouted at the group during dinner, his eyes burning with hatred looking at the Konoha ninja gathered around the dinner table.
Hearing Inari's words, Anko quickly lost the grin on her face, Satsuki stared intently at him, Yakumo's mouth thinned into a small line, but immediately the atmosphere turned tense when Naruto slowly stood up and looked at the boy, matching his glare with an icy gaze.
"Why do we bother trying so hard? No matter what we do, we're gonna get killed by Gato's men? Are you an idiot?" Naruto whispered in a cold tone, his icy gaze intensifying with every second passing.
Everyone was unable to speak, never had any of them seen the blonde act like this. Inari was able to find his voice to retort, though it was in a shaky tone.
The situation remained tense, and increased even more when Naruto pulled out his Sword of Justice and held it next to him.
"You see this? This isn't just a sword; this is a symbol of my dreams and my honor, passed down to me from someone I held close to my heart. So, what if it seems hopeless? No matter what happens, you should never give up. You say that dreams and heroes don't exist, then embrace your dreams and become one. If you want to be a hero, you need to have dreams." Naruto said, his icy gaze warming up slightly as he finished his monologue.
"Frankly, as I recall the memories of my three brothers who shared the same fate as yours, my first brother saw his uncle and his best friend died before his very own eyes in a horrbile death while facing the 'demons', my second brother saw his grandmother and his first lover died before his eyes in different accidents before he met his second lover suddenly married her, lastly my third brother saw his friends, mentors, his brothers and sisters in service died in his own eyes while waging war with same 'demons' as my first brother fought tooth and nail". Naruto added then Inari shouted in rage " AND THAT IS WHY HEROES ARE NUISANCE, NO MATTER HOW MUCH THEY STRUGGLE THEY ALWAYS BE DEAD, YOUR BROTHERS DIED BECASE OF THEIR IDIOCITY". This make Naruto unleashed his killer Intent, where Kyuubi, Orochimaru, Madara, or someone who have a most powerful and strongest they are, that unleashed their killer intent? It was so pale in comparison to Naruto and his three brothers.
Anko was shaking in fear, she felt his sensei got angry for the first time, but she gets used to it, when Naruto unleashed it. She was sweating bullets and she cannot keep her breath properly then she wanna hide or run, Satsuki wanted to cry so loud that she finally met her fate, she wanted to hug her family until her last days. While Yakumo wrapped knees that she wanted to hide and cry so loud, she wanted as well her family. In cry form Tsunami and Tazuna was sweating bullets were hugged themselves in the very corner of the house, while Inari was shocked and he felt a gravity pull him down as he saw Naruto slowly approach him and shouted
"IDIOT? DID YOU CALL 'THEM' IDIOTS, BOY YOU REALLY HAVE A DEATH WISH, I'VE NEVER BEEN SO PISSED IN MY WHOLE LIFE! MY BROTHERS BELIEVED THAT ONE DAY THAT TRYANTS, EVILS AND CORRUPTIONS ARE CEASED TO EXIST, YOU KNOW WHAT IS THE WORST THAN DEATH? FEAR AND COWARD: YES! THOSE TWO ARE SPREADING LIKE WILDFIRE NO MATTER HOW MUCH THE PERSON WANTED TO CHANGE BOTH NATION, LAND AND THE SYSTEM BECAUSE OF THEIR BELIEFS AND FOR THE GOOD OF THE PEOPLE, BUT FEAR STOPPED THEM AND THEY LEFT THEIR 'SAVIOURS' MET THEIR HORRIBLE FATE. WHEN MY BROTHERS TELL ME THEIR STORIES, I THOUGHT IT WAS A JOKE WHEN I ENCOUNTERED THEIR TRAINING REGIME? THEY ACT THEMSELVES TO A 'REAL' EVIL, AND TRYANT? IT WAS AN ACT BUT I FELT SO REAL THAT I REALLY WANTED TO BREAK THEIR BONES, TEARING THEIR FLESH LITTLE BY LITTLE, CRUSHED THEIR SOULS BEFORE I SEND THEM INTO THE DEEPEST PART OF HELL!" As Naruto inhaled then bow his head in apology, his icy gaze warming up slightly as he finished his monologue.
Taking his sword, he made his way to the door, stopping before he addressed Inari once more before he left.
"I'm no hero nor will I ever be one, but I've embraced my dreams. If someone like me did it, then you can do it too."
"Embrace your dreams. If you want to be a hero, you need to have dreams. Embrace my dreams...?"
While Inari looked at his hands, the others, namely his team looked at the door where he left having the same thought running through their heads.
"Naruto..."