Chapter 157

"Hey, it is quite nice of you to treat us to a meal as a way to celebrate our promotions, Kakashi-sensei." Naruto grinned, as a large bowl of his favourite dish was placed in front of him.

"Well, I'd say you guys earned it." The masked ninja sighed, knowing full well, that with Naruto's appetite for ramen, his budget would take a serious blow and that not counting Sakura or Sasuke.

"I agree, but somehow I never thought I would be celebrating my promotion with ramen." Sakura shook her head.

"Our teammate is addicted to this stuff and it is his turn to pick a place for us to eat. Did you expect anything else?" the young Uchiha as usually folded his hands in front of his face, partially hiding a smirk.

"Hey, don't speak of my food as if it some sort of a drug." The old ramen chef waved his spoon at Sasuke, who only raised an eyebrow and then glanced at Naruto, who was almost inhaling the noodles.

"You were saying?"

"Naruto just appreciates my cooking, that is all." The older man frowned, with Naruto silently nodding in agreement, but never stopping his rapid consumption of the food.

"Actually, it is a bit more complicated than that." Kakashi leaned back slightly. "At one point I was a bit worried about Naruto's eating habits, so I talked with Shizune."

"Wait, his appetite for the stuff is a medical condition?" Sakura blinked. "I've heard some people get craving for certain types of food if their body lacks certain elements, but …. ramen? The only thing this stuff has in abundance is calories."

"Precisely."

"Huh?" Naruto looked up with a noodle hanging from his mouth, earning a irritated glance from Sakura. The glare made him instantly bite off the excess noddle and even wipe his mouth with a napkin, when Sakura again narrowed her eyes when he was about to use a sleeve for that.

"You do know Naruto has more energy, chakra and stamina than all three of us combined, right? For a variety of reasons, some of which you are aware of …." Kakashi glanced down to Naruto's stomach, just where his seal should be. "… Naruto can generate a ton of energy. To put it simply he has incredibly fast metabolism and is extremely effective when it comes to converting food to energy. Perhaps you haven't noticed, but Naruto also has a slightly faster than average breathing cycle, taking in more oxygen, increased lung capacity and even a somewhat faster heartbeat."

"So, his body is more efficient." Sasuke concluded.

"Whoah, I am beyond awesome." Naruto grinned.

"Well, that is why he eats so much high calorie food. His body burns through it without trouble."

"So …. It is not by good cooking?" Teuchi actually seemed distraught over the idea.

"You can relax, there are many foods that can provide a ton of calories, even better than ramen, but he likes this place specifically."

"Oh, that is good to hear. I almost got a blow to my pride as a chef."

"So wait, wait, wait." Sakura waved her hands. "Are you trying to say Naruto is ….. like Chouji?"

"Gah!" Naruto went coughing, having chocked on a piece of pork after Sakura's comment, while Sasuke hid his face behind his folded hands completely, but the shaking of his shoulders revealed that he was laughing quietly.

"No, not exactly." Kakashi rubbed his chin. "There are similarities, but members of the Akimichi clan convert calories to chakra directly and can control the process even, rapidly loosing weight when using more complex techniques. The way Naruto's body works is not a jutsu, it is just a physical trait and he can't control it in any way. Also, his body does not convert calories directly to chakra."

"Still, sounds convenient, unless you count ramen bills." Sakura offered.

"Oh yeah, especially if I am the one paying." Kakashi turned away for a moment.

"That's right, so keep it … coming?" Naruto slowly turned around when he felt a hand placed on his shoulder.

"Uzumaki Naruto, please come with me."

"Danzo-san?" Kakashi seemed to tense up. "I have to ask what you wish with my student?"

"Nothing you yourself will disapprove of, I can assure that much."

"But ….."

"You are a chunin now, please act accordingly." Danzo narrowed his only visible eye and began to walk off. Naruto with some desperation looked at the ramen chef, but then quickly gulped down what remained in his first bowl and went after Danzo once Kakashi nodded.

"What was that about?" Sasuke turned to Kakashi.

"I am not sure, but Danzo is a respected member of the village and a veteran of many conflicts. He does not make promises lightly."

"Well, I just hope Naruto did not get into trouble the first thing he became chunin, not that I would rule it out."

"Your food." Teuchi placed bowls in front of Sakura and Sasuke, while Kakashi quietly wondered how much money did Danzo actually save him today.

…

"Hey, old guy …."

"Shimura Danzo-san."

"Right." Naruto gulped. The old man didn't even look at him, but the tone itself made Naruto close his mouth until they reached one of the smaller training fields.

"Uzumaki Naruto, I consider you an asset to this village. And your importance is quite significant considering that you are a jinchuuriki."

"What does that have to do with anything?"

"Everything." Danzo lowered his head slightly. "Like it or not, jinchuuriki were always considered when it came to evaluating the power of a ninja village. You might remember, that during the joint invasion of sound and sand, they placed high hopes on their own jinhuuriki to cause chaos."

"Gaara." Naruto nodded with a frown.

"Correct. I find Hiruzen's approach to be needlessly soft, thought I can understand his motives, even if thery are partially sentimental."

"You are speaking about my parents, right?"

"Indeed. But overall, I can't deny a certain degree of your achievements. During the recent events in the Hidden Sand you showed some considerable mastery of using the fox chakra. A measure of cooperation with a tailed beast."

"Why do you sound so surprised?"

"Because you are our first jinchuuriki to do that. Both Uzumaki Kushina and her predecessor Uzumaki Mito, showed now substantial mastery of using fox chakra. They were extremely proficient at containing it, but not using the power that came from them being jinchuuriki."

"And why on earth would he …." Naruto pointed at his stomach with his thumb "….. have any desire to cooperate?"

"He cooperates with you." Danzo pointed out.

"That is private. But we have our reasons."

"So be it."

"Huh?" Naruto was not expecting this man to not press the issue.

"I am interested in results. You provide results. Results that benefit the village. Let me make this clear. For me the village comes ahead of anything. I never shied away from spilling blood if that meant ensuring the safety of this village or doing things that would make you puke or turn away in disgust. If you were a threat or a liability, I would take action."

"Thanks for the honesty." Naruto shrugged, not turning away.

"Unexpected reaction."

"I am sure you know we often worked with Toero. And that guy at one point tried to kill Sasuke to make life harder for Orochimaru. Do I approve of that? No. Can I understand that? Yes. I want to be hokage and that means learning to cooperate with different people, even those whose opinions and methods may leave a bad taste in my mouth."

"Good, we have an understanding then." Danzo nodded.

"Yeah, yeah. But why are we here?"

"I said, I consider you an asset to the village. I would prefer if your effectiveness as a ninja continued to grow. I prefer to not get involved personally, but I have skills, that make me somewhat uniquely suitable to instruct you in some things, as Hiruzen pointed out."

"Wait, you will train me? Err, awesome, but in what?"

"Hmm. I talked with one of your instructors, Toero, who you have mentioned again."

"Oh great, pain." Naruto rolled his eyes.

"He explained that you learn best by practical application of the lesson." Danzo slowly limped over to a nearby tree, placing his hand on the bark and closing his only visible eye for a second. He then turned back to Naruto.

"I thought a small demonstration would help you understand."

"Demonstration, but you just ….. the hell!" Naruto with wide eyes saw the whole tree move and then fall, the trunk being cleanly cut through. "Wind chakra. That was wind chakra and you sliced through that tree like it was nothing. You are awesome, old man!"

"Shimura Danzo." The old man stressed again. "I am not Jiraiya nor Kakashi. I will not tolerate irresponsible behaviour and disrespect. Otherwise, we can go separate ways. I only promised Hiruzen to make you an offer, nothing more."

"Sorry." Naruto scratched his head. "I will try. Can I ask a question though?"

"Questions are a critical part of learning. If your questions is connected to your progress, I will answer."

"What about Asuma-sensei?"

"He is very proficient in using wind chakra. But not only is he busy with his own team, he will be busy with mission. Due to obvious reasons, I stay in the village most of the time. And I won't lie if I say that my own mastery of wind chakra rivals that of Sarutobi Asuma."

"Makes sense to me. So, where do we start?"

"You can already cut things with wind chakra. Even something as dense as bones."

"It ain't easy. I have to really concentrate."

"That is enough to start applying wind chakra to weapons in order to increase their effectiveness. Kunai."

"Umm, sure." Naruto with a flick of a wrist pulled a kunai from his pouch throwing it over to the old man, who snatching it out of the air almost lazily. He then took a deeper breath, before slowly exhaling, slowly blowing the air onto the kunai. And were quickly Naruto saw what looked like a long blade form, with the kunai acting as a hilt.

"This technique combines chakra nature transformation with rudimentary chakra shape manipulation. Rasengan should make you capable of shaping the chakra correctly after some practice, as you try to change it's nature to that of a wind."

"Umm, alright, I admit, cigarette addict can take a few pointers from you." Naruto shook his head before pulling out a kunai. "So how do I go about this?"

"You practice. The tree I brought down. You have until the sunset to turn it into firewood."

"Alright, a pile of firewood coming up, old man!"

"Shimura Danzo."

For the next few hours Danzo calmly watched as Naruto hacked at the fallen tree with his version of Danzo's technique. The difference in mastery was apparent, as Naruto's wind chakra blade was not that much more effective than something made from steel, not to mention his jutsu broke after several strikes, forcing him to recreate the blade.

"You have to admit, he is determined." Hiruzen appeared next to Danzo in a swirl of leaves, before releasing a puff of smoke from his mouth, holding his trademark pipe.

"Determination is not that hard to come by." Danzo shook his head. "But I find some of his thoughts ….. interesting."

"Now that is a reason for me to worry." The third hokage smiled.

"Is it really necessary for them to be around?" Danzo nodded towards one of the trees where an ANBU operative was hiding. There were also several more around.

"I trust you my friend. But you know that trust along is not always enough. Besides, I know your operatives are around also, not to mention I supported keeping Sai in team 10 for the upcoming investigation."

"No, you agreed to that in exchange for me helping Uzumaki Naruto with training."

"That is always how we reach agreements, Danzo. But we also both understand, that we both agreed to things that benefit the village. In the end, that is what matters."

"Very well. I will provide information should Sai find something that others will miss."

"I appreciate that. Akatsuki is not the enemy we can face without working together."

…

"Hmm, I wonder what Sasuke decided on for the date with Sakura?" Kakashi pondered while walking down the street, his face partially covered by his favourite book. It was quite impressive that he walked, while reading, yet was easily avoiding any obstacles without hitting anything.

Sasuke and Sakura left a while ago, agreeing on a place to meet later. Kakashi decided to not really get into these matters, though he was curious, especially considering that Sasuke showed concern over the whole matter.

"Kakashi-sensei."

"Hmm?" Kakashi lowered her book and saw members of team ten in front of him.

"Kakashi-sensei, we would like to ask you some questions about ….. well …." Ino seemed very conflicted. Kakashi also raised an eyebrow, noticing how Chouji for once wasn't munching on anything. As for their new teammates, Sai, well, Kakashi really could say very litter at the moment.

"I gather something serious." The masked man pulled away his book hiding it in his pouch.

"Very serious." Ino nodded.

"Fine. I don't fancy talking in the middle of the street, but the park is near, we are bound to find a quiet place to talk there."

The genin followed the masked man, who indeed quickly found a rather secluded spot with a bench they could sit on, though Sai remained standing, while Choiji decided to sit down on the grass.

"So, this is about your mission, right. Lady Tsunade told me you would be assigned to this mission and I figured you would come to me."

"Asuma-sensei suggest us talk to you." Ino lowered her head. "After we studied the available materials."

"Oh. So you've read about those events." Kakashi leaned back on the bench, closing his eyes. "I honestly am not a fan of bringing those things up again."

"Understandable." Sai nodded. "By all accounts ramming a hand through a teammate should be a traumatic experience for most people."

"Sai, shut up." Surprisingly the harsh words came from Chouji.

"Damn, how come a guy as cute becomes so unpleasant to look at the moment you open up your mouth?"

"Hmm, what did I say wrong?" Sai turned to Ino with blank expression.

"You ….."

"Relax, you are here and have a job to do. Ask your questions and I will answer. That is the least I can do." Kakashi placed his hand on Ino's shoulder getting her attention back.

"But he …."

"Figure it out later. As I said, you have a job."

"Alright." Ino sighed. She looked at Chouji, but instantly ruled out him as the one handling the questioning. As for Sai, right now she was not willing to let him open his mouth without extreme need.

"Umm, we have questions about the Rin Nohara incident."

"It happened years ago, Ino. But even though I wish I could forget about it at times, I can't." Kakashi admitted. "But I don't know how I can be of help, I reported all I could remember, all the details should be in the report."

"So you have no idea about what happened between ….. her death and you waking up later?"

"No."

"But it remains a bit unclear, why did you pass out?"

"Exhaustion, both physical and mental, I guess."

"You don't sound sure, Kakashi-sensei."

"It is strange. I wasn't …. exhausted by that point really. Tired yes, but to pass out. The problem is that, all I remember …. is her face."

"Our subconscious can retain memories and details we ourselves can't recall. The report state you were never examined by a member of the Yamanaka clan."

"I guess all seemed clear enough." Kakashi shrugged.

"Then I suggest we test it out. I promise nothing, but we need any details we can gather, Kakashi-sensei."

"I know how your clan techniques work, Ino. I will have to relive that …. again." Kakashi shook his head, looking down at his hand. He moved his fingers as if trying to rub something off. It came back at times, the sensation of blood on the skin that you could not wash off.

"I understand, sorry I …."

"Do it, Ino."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah, I owe her this much."

"Alright." Ino stood up, handing the folder with documents to Sai and walked around the bench.

"Relax and focus on those events." Ino instructed, placing her hands on Kakashi's temples.

"Relaxing is out of the question, I am afraid." Kakashi closed his eyes and then his body sort of went limp.

"K-Kakashi." Rin coughed out blood, her eyes wide from shock and pain.

"Please, focus on the surrounding area, not on her." Ino's voice came from every direction, with Kakashi finally realizing he was looking through the eyes of his younger self.

"What should I focus on?"

"What do you feel? Describe the basics of what you feel around you. Not your personal feelings, but all that is outside."

"I feel ….. rain. It is cold. And the drops feel almost heavy." Kakashi replied. The memory kept moving, but at a very slow pace. This sort of helped, as it no longer felt as real, while Kakashi could focus on other things.

"Good, what else?"

"The ground. Lots of mud, slippery. I am charging chakra into my feet to remain steady."

"Keep going."

"I know enemy ninjas are around. But they are not moving."

"Why?"

"I don't know, most likely surprised."

"What else?"

"I feel …. strange sensation."

"Sensation, what sort of sensation?"

"My left eye, the sharingan. It is almost …. Burning. Strange I never noticed it then."

"That is logical, you were too focused on her. But please, keep going."

"I don't know. Nothing else, but ….. yes, the burning feeling in the eye and I am losing chakra fast."

"Enemy jutsu?"

"No. I recognise this feeling. It is the chakra draining effect of the sharingan. But the speed and amount of chakra consumed, something similar happens only when I am using mangekyo."

"I don't understand." Ino's voice sounded confused.

"I think this is when I first unlocked the mangekyo." Kakashi realized. By this point he was already collapsing next to Rin. Soon enough he would lose consciousness, which would mean the memory would end. The image was already blurry, as he fell onto the soaked ground.

"You passed out." Ino sighed.

"No, I can still hear things, I think." There was nothing to see, but there were faint sounds.

"I think ….. those are sounds of fighting?" Ino listened carefully, but the sounds were getting quieter as Kakashi was slipping into unconsciousness. Even these sounds now were only registered by his subconscious."

There were screams, the distant sounds were of people, most likely mist ninjas getting slaughtered by someone or something.

"It can't be …. is this a ghost?" someone fell not far from Kakashi speaking those words, before all sound disappeared completely.

"Gahh." Kakashi snapped back into reality, bending over and coughing, while Ino slumped down behind the bench, before rolling over with a moan.

"Well, did you find out something?" Sai crouched down next to Ino, but after a moment offered his head helping her up, his face showing his usual, but still very fake smile.

"I say we did." Kakashi rubbed his face. "A ghost. Sound awfully like someone whose ability is to let objects pass right through him."

"You mean …." Chouji offered Kakashi a flask of water the man simply poured over his head.

"Yes, whoever we are looking for, whoever took Obito's eye, he was there that night."