Warning: Depression, Suicidal Thoughts, Self Harm, Abuse, Depictions of Blood and Violence, Suicide.
CHAPTER 3: I'm Broken
Kakashi was leaning on a wall a few feet from the door that led into the Jonin lounge. His shoulders were slumped and breath shaky. Never once has anyone spoken out about Naruto before in front of him, never once has anyone made those accusations either.
Everything the Jonin had said to him plus bringing up his sensei brought forth new and old memories back to life. Memories that the seasoned Jonin had fought to suppress.
Kakashi was jolted out of his thoughts upon hearing someone exit the room he just left. The man looked up to see Iromen staring at him, the younger Jonin's face held a nervousness that Kakashi took pleasure in seeing.
Iromen's hand left the doorknob as he began to walk past Kakashi quickly with his head bowed down.
As the younger Jonin passed him, he caught something strange. A faint scent rushed through Kakashi's nose, it was hard to detect but it was definitely there.
"Wait." Kakashi called out.
Iromen immediately froze in his tracks, his arms slowly moving to his sides as he straightened up.
"Yes sir?" he responded nervously.
Kakashi pushed himself off the wall and stood straight, "Walk back here, I need to check something."
I seriously hope I didn't just smell what I think I did or else we are going to be one Jonin short in our roster.
Naruto had been blindly running for almost twenty minutes by the time he noticed that trees surrounded him. The patter of rain on the trees and ground was faint, but it was still there. Everything around him was soaked with water, just like how he was.
Naruto's eyes were puffy from crying and his cheeks were stained from tears. He walked over to a large tree with a hole in the center and sat inside, cradling his legs to get out of the rain as much as possible.
His blood had already soaked through all the bandages and his orange jacket, the wound felt like a constant stinging from the stitches reopening and being agitated. The boy was miserable, both physically and emotionally.
Why, why do they all hate me. Why can't I find someone that cares, all I have is jiji and Iruka sensei. B-but do they really care?
More and more tears began flowing down the boy's face as his thoughts travelled deeper and darker, the being within him aiding the horrible thoughts.
I-I used to think Kakashi sensei cared, b-but he just said he hated me. Despised me, h-how do I know if jiji and Iruka sensei actually care?
Naruto slowly began to move his hands from his legs to the sides of his head, his entire frame shaking.
I-I don't know what to do, if I don't have anyone then what's the point. No one will acknowledge me as Hokage, no one would care. I-I feel so lost.
The voices began to return, this time it was worse than it was in the morning. The demon within him began forcing images through his eyes, events where team seven constantly berated him, where the Hokage would call him a disgrace, images of Iruka dying because of him. Him being the cause of his parents death, everything just going wrong. All of these, his nightmares, flashing through his mind as the voices of the people he cared about screamed at him, voices of villagers dying because of him.
Naruto began whimpering as the voices grew in intensity, his hands clutching his head tighter and tighter.
Please, someone. Help me.
You'll never be better than me! You're just the dead last, got that!
Naruto is just a fool, he doesn't care about me. All he cares about is getting in my way with Sasuke.
Naruto! Why do you have to be so stupid!
You worthless brat!
You're nothing but a burden on Kakashi.
There's no way the Hokage care's about you, you're just staining his great image!
Naruto's whimpering grew louder as the voices continued until he screamed out, "AHH! Please, somebody. HELP ME!"
The boy's nose began bleeding from the pressure and blood vessels popped in his eyes as he screamed. All he wanted was someone to say they cared, all he wanted was someone to help him. But unfortunately, there wasn't anyone close by to hear the boys screams.
Naruto's hand slowly crept towards his kunai pouch as he screamed, reaching for the only thing he knew might help him. His shaky hand fumbled on the clip, after a few tries he finally opened the pouch and pulled out a kunai as his screaming gradually softened to wheezing.
His hands gripped the handle of the blade tight to the point where his knuckles were as white as snow. The boy's vision was blurred from the images and tears streaming down, but he could clearly make out the dark grey color of the kunai in his hand, even if it was shaking.
Naruto's mouth began salivating at the sight of the sharp edge, he desperately wanted to feel the release the blade gave him. His own mental and emotional pain was just too much to handle for the young boy, hardly anything ever gave him the emotional relief that his actions did.
More blood began dripping out of his nose and blood vessels popped in the boy's eyes, it seemed that the demon from within was getting angry with the boy.
That didn't matter to him, for once he will take control.
Naruto removed his right hand from his ear and slowly slipped his arm out of the jacket. The front of his shirt was stained heavily with blood and his skinny arm was as pale as Sasuke was.
The boy was taking shallow breaths as the blade neared closer and closer to his skin until finally, the blade cut into the arm.
I-I'm so sorry, please…. Please forgive me. All I wanted was for someone to love me. I just need someone, anyone.
Naruto pushed harder on the blade, willing it to cause more pain than before. Wanting it to give him the emotional release he needed as there wasn't anyone that he thought could, no, would help him.
Sky blue eyes winced as the blade continued making its mark on the boy's skin, blood once more flowing along his body.
Some of the voices began to fade away, but others took their place. More visions, darker visions began to swarm his mind making the boy whimper. Visions of Sasuke stabbing him repeatedly, screaming at him because of what he held, who he was. Visions of Sakura bleeding out because he wasn't strong enough. Visions of Kakashi being stabbed because Naruto was too slow to move away from an enemy.
"Why, why am I still seeing this! Please just stop! I can't take any more of this! Just stop!" he screamed out.
Naruto, once more, cut into his arm. This time going deeper than previously.
All the while, the beast within was raging. It would continue to torment its host for as long as it could to prevent his actions from continuing.
The boy began crying once more, his audible cries reached no one. Not a soul could help his weeping one.
11:25a.m. - Hokage Tower
Kakashi was fuming, no, he was livid from recent events.
First, he learned of the animosity some of his fellow Jonin felt towards his student. The man had thought at least the higher ranks wouldn't be as blind as the rest of the populace. Then he learned that someone he once called a comrade had put his hands on his student for little to no reason.
That was past redemption.
So the man did what any sensei should have done, he fought for his kid.
There wasn't that much of a fight really, it was more one sided than anything. But the maintenance team would begin to dislike Kakashi due to the hole that was created from a male body.
Kakashi was on his way to the Hokage to give his report, he wanted to hear what the wizened man would think about the situation. Unfortunately, Kakashi wasn't masking his anger, so as soon as he barged into the room, every Anbu agent made their presence known.
One particular Anbu wore a mask resembling a blue jay, held its blade at Kakashi's throat.
"Sta-"
In an instant, the agent was interrupted by Kakashi slamming his fist into its stomach and hitting it hard on the back of its neck. Effectively knocking the agent out.
Every agent within the room got ready to charge the masked ninja until the Third Hokage raised his hand. They all paused at the Hokage's signal.
The two people that were meeting the Hokage turned around, shocked to see who interrupted them.
"H-Hatake? What is the meaning of this, explain yourself!" Homura demanded.
Kakashi glared coldly at the two elders, he never did like their policies nor their personalities.
Silence enveloped the room, neither Kakashi nor Hiruzen speaking. After a few seconds, Koharu spoke up.
"Well Hatake, explain just why you decided to attack a fellow Anbu Agent and why you felt it just to interrupt this meeting."
Kakashi was just about to speak up when Hiruzen spoke first.
"This was a training exercise for my Anbu guard. I wanted to test to see how they would react to an intruder and how efficient they would be." The old man coughed into his hand, "It seems that they need some more training in that respect. If you could," he motioned to the duo, "Let's pick this up some other time that is more… appropriate. I need to handle some business with Kakashi san."
The two elders turned back to face Hiruzen and bowed their heads, quickly making their way out of the room. Both took care to go around Kakashi, lest they get in his path. The man was clearly angry at something and they didn't want to find out.
Hiruzen leaned to the left where one of the Anbu took their position, the agent bent down as the man whispered something into his ear.
After a few seconds, the agent nodded their head and stood straight once again. He looked to his left where the other agent stood, a smaller person that looked to be a female, and tilted his head to where the fallen Anbu lay.
All three Anbu Agents quickly disappeared from the room, leaving Kakashi and Hiruzen alone.
Hiruzen narrowed his eyes, the rain behind him making the man look deadly. "Explain yourself Kakashi, you're not one to just barge in like that with no reason."
Kakashi bowed his head, "I apologize, Lord Hokage," he raised his head to look at the elder in the eyes, "but I have some very disturbing information regarding Naruto."
If the mood in a room could cripple, many average Chunin would have fallen at how sudden it changed.
At first it was just annoyance from the Kage, now…. now it was anger from two of the strongest ninjas within the walls.
"Speak."
Kakashi sighed, "Ever since the mission to the wave I've been monitoring my team for any…. abnormalities. Due to the events that transpired I was worried some of them would, in a manner of speaking, fall off the wagon."
Kakashi walked forward and sat himself in one of the chairs and rolled his shoulders, the cracking echoing along the room. "Sakura was as expected, she was down for a bit. Less chipper than she was before but she rebounded fairly easily. Sasuke… Sasuke reacted rather oddly. He didn't seem depressed or saddened about the events, instead, he seemed more motivated because of Naruto. Having almost touched with death did give him a little more perspective, but increased the drive to get stronger and compete with Naruto."
Kakashi paused for a moment, thinking about how best to describe Naruto.
Hiruzen noticed the pause, or rather hesitance, within Kakashi. His worry increased the longer the man was silent, "And Naruto kun? What about him?"
Kakashi shook his head and sighed, "Well, Naruto reacted harsher than the two. Perhaps because of the bond he created with the fake hunter ninja or with Zabuza, who knows which. Only Naruto does. He's been a lot more closed off and silent for the past week. The past two days were the worst I've seen from him. He's been more… jumpy and tired, not making eye contact with either me or his team as much as possible. With what little time I've had with him, I haven't noticed anything too similar to this behavior."
Kakashi raised his head and looked in the eyes of the aging Kage, "But I do recognize the behavior. He seems to be secluding himself more and more as the days go by, if it continues…"
"Then he will eventually break." Sarutobi finished.
The old man sighed and rested his chin in his hands, keeping his gaze in his most trusted Jonin. "This is not good. Being alone for most his life and making a new bond, just for that bond to break the same day.." he shook his head. "That must have really hurt him."
Kakashi nodded his head, "There's another thing, at the time I didn't think much of it because of what happened but now that I look back it may be because of what happened on the bridge, or something before. Long before."
The Hokage steeled his eyes, "What is it?"
Kakashi sighed and ran his hand through his hair, "Well, as you know we stayed there for five days to rest. Three of those days, Naruto never once slept nor did he eat very much."
"And what do you think of this?"
"Well," Kakashi took a deep breath, "it could just have been shock from the events, at least part of it was. Sasuke and Sakura had similar problems on the first day so I talked to them about it. After that, they were fine. Naruto was the only one that showed a harsher reaction."
Kakashi cracked his neck and his knuckles, relieving the stress and tension inside of him. "Throughout those three nights, Naruto would sit in a corner of the room and just stay there. Barely saying a word, barely making any movement. I caught him multiple times just staring at Sasuke in horror, likely due to the kid almost dying, but that's not the strangest thing."
Kakashi shook his head, "I'm not too sure what it was, but after the third night when we all woke up and was just about to eat breakfast, Naruto asked if he could be excused from the meal. When it was granted, he walked out of the house and was gone for four hours. You could see the bags under his eyes and it looked like the boy was shivering. I don't know if he was cold or what, but it was definitely strange."
Sarutobi looked confused, "That is strange."
A few seconds passed, both men thinking until Sarutobi broke the silence.
"Do you know what he was doing or where he went?" the man asked.
Kakashi shook his head, "No, I didn't think much of it. Just thought he needed to go somewhere it was quiet."
Sarutobi sighed, "And when he returned, how was the boy?"
"Well, he looked a bit more rested but there was something else off. Something smelled… off about him."
"What do you mean?"
Kakashi scrunched up his face trying to remember what he smelled on Naruto. "I-I'm not sure. I remember he looked really pale, but there was something else. What was it? It was… damn it, I'm so close. It smelled…" Kakashi's eyes widened when he realized it, "metallic."
How could I have not noticed it, it was so obvious! It was… it was a cry for help and I just ignored it.
Sarutobi saw the battle within Kakashi's mind, he had not just yet put together what Kakashi did but the old man knew something was up. He steeled his voice, "What is it Kakashi, what is going on with Naruto?"
Kakashi looked back at the old man, his eyes still wide with shock. "I-I need to find Naruto, I think he's in trouble."
Kakashi quickly stood up and turned to exit the room but Sarutobi stopped him.
"Kakashi, stop! Tell me what's going on, that's an order!"
The Hokage was standing at his desk, his gaze drilling into the masked ninja.
Kakashi turned his head to the left slightly, "Send out team ten and Gai's team." He turned forward and sighed, "And pray I'm wrong about this."
With that, Kakashi left the room to find one of his students.
11:39a.m.
The rain had picked up from earlier, before it was a good constant drizzle. Now, it was a downpour. Streets had small rivers of water flowing through, training grounds held large gatherings of water where small craters were formed from training exercises. The natural rivers and lakes within the village were almost overflowing with the water.
Many of the villagers retreated indoors where it was warm and dry, none of them wishing to catch a cold or be wet for hours. The ninja that were off duty for the day decided to call off any training scheduled to make sure no incidents occurred, but a few continued in the weather. This was a perfect time to be practicing in undesirable situations.
Sakura decided to stay indoors rather than bug, no, attempt to get Sasuke to hang out or love her. The poor girl was just obsessed with the raven haired Uchiha. She stayed home in her room, lest her mother make the young ninja do chores, and watched the rain run down her window.
Sasuke was glumly walking through the streets of Konoha with a black hoodie that held the Uchiha fan on the back and matching black sweats. The hood was pulled over his jet black hair to lessen how much he got wet, although with the downpour it wouldn't help that much. The boy was pretty upset with Naruto and himself, but mostly himself.
*sigh* I didn't mean to shove Naruto like that this morning, I was just…. Just so annoyed with everything going on. I just… I just want to get stronger. I can't let myself become a burden, I can't let myself die before I kill Itachi. I must avenge the clan, Sasuke looked forward and steeled his eyes, whatever it takes.
As Sasuke was walking down the street he saw something familiar looking around on the top of a food store. He squinted his eyes and used his left hand to block the rain from getting into his eyes, "Hey! What are you doing up there?"
The figure turned to look at Sasuke and after a few seconds of the duo staring at each other it jumped down next to the raven haired boy.
"I'm looking for your troublesome teammate, you know where he could be?" Shikimaru asked. A light shiver went through his body since the boy didn't dress for this kind of weather.
Sasuke shrugged, "I don't know, last time we saw each other was for the stupid team meeting this morning. Why, what did he get himself into this time?"
Shikimaru threw his hands up in the air, clearly exasperated. "I don't know man, Asuma sensei wouldn't tell us. Just something about a Flicker Situation. Came from Kakashi, that was the only message we received. That, and it was regarding Naruto."
Sasuke snorted, "Well, knowing Naruto he probably just got into some trouble again. I wouldn't waste your time searching, he's more than likely just goofing off somewhere."
Sasuke turned his back to Shikamaru and began walking away.
Shikamaru narrowed his eyes as he watched Sasuke leaving. Before the boy could leave earshot distance he spoke out, "That's pretty cold, even for you, Sasuke. Even with the possibility of something wrong with your own teammate you'd turn your back on them?"
Sasuke paused and turned his head to the left, "None of my concern, Nara." After that, he promptly left.
Shikamaru shook his head and continued running along the rooftops of the buildings in search of Naruto. Man, I feel bad for Naruto for having to put up with such a troublesome teammate. Hopefully Sasuke is right though, Naruto could just be goofing off.
A group of four ninja stood in a circle, all of them looking inwards and all of them dressed properly for the weather.
"Sensei, what does a Flicker Situation mean and why is Naruto involved in it?"
The taller man dressed in a complete green rain suit sighed, "Neji, that is classified information but it is not good. We need to find Naruto kun as fast as we can, but be warned, whatever we see or whatever he is doing, do not judge and do not yell unless told to. Understand."
A girl with two buns resting on the top of her head grew a worried expression, "What exactly would we see sensei?"
Gai's expression darkened, "Something only few ninja ever go through in their career. Do not ask again."
The girl gulped and nodded along with the two other ninja.
Gai nodded, "Good, now let's get going."
All four ninja quickly dispersed and began their search for the lost Jinchuriki.
Shikamaru had just joined back up with Asuma to report his findings, or lack thereof.
Asuma sighed, "Keep looking, Shikamaru. I'm sure he'll show up somewhere."
Shikamaru shook his head, "Man this is troublesome, what even does a Flicker Situation even mean? Makes no sense." he huffed.
Asuma narrowed his eyes at Shikamaru, the action made the small boy nervous. Asuma only ever did that when he was upset or when he was going to explain something very important to him. Either way, it meant trouble for the lazy boy.
"This is an A-Class secret, understood. You are to not tell anyone under the level of Chunin, got it." Asuma said with a stern voice.
Shikamaru gulped nervously and nodded.
"Good, now what do you know of the Uchiha clan?"
Shikamaru was taken aback by the question, "Uchiha clan? What do they have anything to do with this?"
Asuma knocked Shikamaru on the head, "That doesn't matter, now what do you know of the Uchiha clan?"
Shikamaru rubbed the top of his head in frustration and grumbled, "They were all wiped out by one dude, Itachi Uchiha. Sasuke's older brother. The co-founder of the village was Madara Uchiha; they also founded the Uchiha Police Force." When the boy hit a particularly sore spot he winced, "Man, why'd ya gotta hit me. Just get to the point old man."
Asuma sighed, "Well that makes sense, no one else is going to know anything more."
The brute of a man crossed his arms and leaned back on a wooden post. The man began speaking again, "There was this one amazing ninja, Shisui of the Body Flicker. He had mastered the shunishin technique and was almost untouchable. The only other person to be faster than him was the Fourth Hokage."
Shikamaru narrowed his eyes at the title, "So what happened to this supposed great ninja? If he was so great, how come we never heard of this guy?"
"Because of who he was and what he did, the Uchiha kept their lips sealed tight with what happened. For good reason too." Asuma said, still being mysterious.
Shikamaru rolled his eyes, his attitude already fried from his conversation with Sasuke and now Asuma was jumping in circles with his answers. "Just spit it out already, if it's as serious as you're making it out to be then we're just wasting our time. So troublesome."
"Fine, have it your way."
Asuma pushed himself off the post, the man's figure suddenly becoming intimidating to the young Genin. "Shisui of the Body Flicker killed himself, no one truly knows why, very few knew how. Only Itachi Uchia knows the whole story."
Shikamaru's eyes widened, "So you mean to tell me that Naruto, the knucklehead Naruto, is in that kind of trouble right now? The same Naruto that used to preach about becoming the Hokage?"
Asuma nodded, the man didn't know very much about the boy other than that Kakashi really cared about him.
"That is correct, now you see why we're out here?"
Shikamaru dumbly nodded his head.
Asuma nodded his as well, "Good, now don't come back unless you have some information. Go."
Shikamaru quickly turned around and ran back into the rain, his silhouette quickly disappearing into the rain.
"Ugh, this is soo annoying. Why are we stuck out here in the rain while billboard brow gets to stay inside?!"
"Well, Sakura could be busy right now. We were on call so of course" the large boy belched, "we were called first. Don't worry too much about it, Ino, we should focus on finding Naruto like Asuma sensei told us."
Ino crossed her arms in the rain, "Humph, fine. I just don't understand why we're looking for the idiot anyway. He's probably just goofing off somewhere or pulling a prank on us."
Choji's eyes scrunched up, "I don't know about that, did you see the look Asuma had when Kakashi told him about the Flicker Situation? I think something more is going on here."
Ino rolled her eyes, "Whatever, let's just get out of this rain already. It's ruining my hair." The girl jumped to the next roof and continued the search.
Choji sighed and followed his teammate, unfortunately he didn't have any of his snacks because of how hard the rain was coming down.
11:58a.m.
The rain was pounding on everything that dared to venture outside, nothing could escape its wrath. Anything fortunate to find themselves within the storm would either be swept away by the wind, or would quickly lose its way from the low visibility.
Every sensible ninja would retreat indoors with this kind of weather. Tracking was near impossible, only the elite would barely be able to keep a grip on their weapons, and visibility was so low the average civilian would only be able to see a few dozen feet in front of them.
For one young ninja, it was a perfect cover to be alone. Be away from possible danger within his own home, be away from all the noise, be away from anyone that would see what he was doing.
The boy begged for forgiveness, begged for someone to care, begged for help. But his cries fell on deaf ears, for no one was around to help him. No one ever heard his cries of pain, cries for help.
Naruto's legs were splayed out in front of him, his feet exposed to the rain while the rest of his body was under the protection of the tree trunk. His eyes held a weariness that many aged ninja wore when they've seen too much.
The boy was extremely pale, his hair used to shine a bright golden light was now dimmed to a dull yellow. His energy all but gone, his will all but gone, his hope... barely existent.
Blood soaked the wood surrounding the boy, the entire front of his shirt was stained in the crimson red color. The boy's arm held many lacerations as well as his chest, each breath was shallow and his right arm was held limply to his side as blood continued to run down it.
The voices within his mind still raged and visions still swarmed him, a light whimper would escape the boy's mouth and tears would frequently fall from his face. He heard the voices of his friends, all of them talked down upon him. All of them exposed his own insecurities, everything the villagers said to him, everything he thought badly of himself. He continued to see visions of his friends, his comrades, die in front of him. Because of him. All of them said the same thing, "Why couldn't you save me Naruto."
The boy was suffering, and there was no one around to help him.
Naruto slowly looked down at the red stained blade in his left hand and slowly blinked. He desperately wished for the voices to go away, desperately wished for the visions to go away. All he wanted was peace.
Water had intruded itself within the hole many moments ago making Naruto shiver from the coldness of the liquid. Hypothermia was going to take over the boy soon if he didn't move himself or get out of the terrible rain.
That didn't matter to the boy, nothing mattered to him. His entire world was falling apart around him. Sasuke, someone who he considered his friend, hated him and expressed that feeling every time they were together. Sakura always belittled him, never even caring to talk or look at the boy. He thought Kakashi was different, he thought his mentor actually cared about him but the words that escaped the man's mouth spoke a different story.
Naruto felt all alone in a sea of demons, all chipping away at him with nothing to pull himself out of. All he needed was for someone to grab onto him, to pull him out of his own demons and care for him. Because the boy was drowning.
Naruto slowly raised the blade, his eyes following the edge of the blade as it rose. The sound of rain hitting the ground and trees outside not even registering to the boy. He has never gone this far before, but the pain, the mental anguish, has never been this bad before. A constant stream of blood ran down from his nose, his brain hemorrhaging from the stress.
The blade was held up and pointing at the bottom of his chest and top of his stomach, right where his sternum ended. He's never directly stabbed himself before, only cut, but he was desperate to get relief.
I-I'm sorry Jiji, I wasn't able to be strong for you. I'm not as brave as you think I am, pl-please forgive me.
Naruto slowly pushed the tip of the blade past his undershirt and into his skin, the sharp blade gliding through the cloth and flesh.
Naruto gasped as the physical pain rippled through his body and new blood flowed down his stomach, the sharpness making it easy for it to embed itself into the boy's body. New tears began streaming down his cheeks as his lips contorted in pain, the blade digging deeper and deeper into his flesh.
The blade's edge sliced through the soft flesh and penetrated his internal organs. Blood spewed from the wound as the boy's hand shook. A sharp burning sensation grew within the boy, almost as if a million burning needles were piercing his insides.
Naruto only felt slight relief from the pain, it wasn't what he wanted though. The voices, the visions, the mental pain continued throughout the young child. The boy whimpered and cried as the pain continued, hopelessness swarmed him.
Naruto screamed out, his voice echoing through the forest and startling all nearby wildlife. It wasn't any sort of primal scream or anger induced scream. Just a scream from a boy that has lost hope and is in pain. A scream from a hurting child that is begging for help.
Naruto's consciousness suddenly left him, the hand that held the blade fell to the side and his head slumped forward as blood continued to flow out of the wound.
Kakashi was sprinting with everything he had, the surrounding environment was basically a blur as he ran by.
The constant rain had made it difficult to hear or smell anything but he picked up the faintest of noises coming from the opposite side of the village from where he was. The feeling within his gut immediately worsened when he heard it.
As Kakashi was sprinting on the rooftops, Gai joined him. The energetic man kept pace with him quite easily and the duo were silent at first until the green clad Jonin spoke up.
"What do you think it was Kakashi?" Gai's expression was serious and the tone he held would make anyone that knew the exuberant man to do a double-take. He was rarely ever this serious.
Kakashi stayed silent for a moment, he didn't know for sure but he had a good hunch. The man prayed that he was wrong.
"I don't know. It sounded like it was in the forest so it could have just been an animal. Either way, I'm checking"
Gai nodded and reached into his jacket pocket, the man pulled out a chakra flare and shot it in the direction where the duo was headed.
A couple of seconds passed and the duo were soon joined by teams Gai and Seven, all of them panting from trying to reach the sensei's quickly.
Neji spoke up first, "Have you located him?" He was the least worn out of the group other than Lee.
Kakashi didn't say anything so Gai replied, "We believe so, Neji." The man turned his head to Shikamaru, "Shikamaru right? Do you know where Asuma is?"
Shikamaru was panting the most out of the group, surprisingly Choji was doing better than him. "Dunno, he went somewhere else. Most likely in the direction where you shot the flare."
Gai nodded, it made sense. Have the initial group get together and have one or two go to the target and scope it out. "You are probably correct young Shikamaru, good for you. We will meet up with him at the edge of the forest, keep up with us and remember, anything we see does not escape your lips. We are here to aid a fellow Leaf Ninja."
All Genin nodded their heads at the man's words, none of them really understanding the situation but knew the seriousness of it.
12:17p.m
Asuma has seen many things in his life, a Tailed Beast rampaging through his village, the after-effects of a war in his comrades. He has seen death and murdered his fair share of people, but never before has he ever witnessed something as terrible as he had now.
His eyes were wide with horror as he looked upon the young boy.
Naruto laid, barely breathing, in a puddle of rainwater and blood from within a tree truck. A kunai was lodged within the top of his stomach and blood continued to stream down the blade and his body.
That wasn't even the worst of what Asuma saw. The man tore his gaze from the kunai, to the boy's arm. It was a bloody mess, many lacerations covered the sides of his bicep and forearm. The entire right arm was extremely pale and almost completely stained with blood.
Asuma was torn from his shock when Naruto's breath hitched. The man flinched and immediately kneeled down next to the boy and checked his body for any more wounds.
Shit kid, what the hell is the matter with you. Fuck, I need to get Kakashi over here.
Asuma quickly formed the required hand seals and created two shadow clones, neither one of them a physical manifestation since it wasn't required. The man stood up and faced the two clones, "I need you two to stand at the tree line, when the group gets there only allow Kakashi and Gai through. Watch the kids, make sure none of them go into the forest. They don't need to see this, go."
The two clones nodded and quickly ran off in the direction where Asuma came from.
Asuma sighed and turned back to the injured boy, "He better get here quick."
12:21p.m.
The group of ninja finally made it to the forest where Kakashi and Gai had heard the noise from. Upon getting closer to the tree line they were barely able to make out two silhouettes, both of them looking similar to each other.
They all stopped after approaching the two figures, after close inspection they realized the two figures were clones of Asuma. It was difficult to tell since they held no physical manifestation and the rain just went through them. The clone on the right stood forward and began to address the group.
"We have been given instructions to take Gai sensei and Kakashi sensei through, the rest will wait until further notice." the clone explained.
Kakashi nodded his head, "Take us there."
The second clone nodded and turned to lead them to where Naruto was when one of the Genin spoke up.
"What are we supposed to do, just wait here? We were sent out here to search for Naruto, now that we found his location we aren't allowed further. That's not right." Shikamaru said calmly, his eyes were narrowed and looked at the back of Kakashi's head.
Kakashi paused at his words, it seemed as if he was going to allow them through but he quickly threw away that thought. If Asuma thought best the kids stayed behind then it was probably for good reason.
The three Jonin quickly left at Kakashi's signal leaving a frustrated and confused Shikamaru.
Clone Asuma sighed and leaned on a tree, "Listen here and listen carefully. You brats are all still fresh ninja, even you guys." He pointed to team Gai and crossed his arms. "There are some things that you see in this line of work that are inevitable, but there are some things that can be avoided. You all aren't ready for this, it's up to Kakashi whether or not you see what happened."
Kakashi's heart was beating like a mad horse within his chest, he didn't know whether to feel relieved that Asuma kept the kids away or to feel terrified that he felt as if they needed to keep the kids away.
Kakashi was surprised when the clone spoke to him. The trio of ninja have been travelling at a set pace and none of them spoke a word until they left the kids' sight.
"Kakashi, when we get there you're going to need to brace yourself for what you are going to see."
Kakashi's blood ran cold, those were the exact words he didn't want to hear at the moment. His body was on autopilot while his mind was going into shambles.
What have I done, how could I have let this happen.
Against his wishes, a lone tear trickled out of the corner of Kakashi's eye although it was difficult to differentiate due to the rain. But Gai knew, he knew almost everything about his rival. The way he talked, acted, held himself. All of it. The man even knew the way Kakashi felt, he knew that his long-term rival and friend was in pain.
"Kakashi, I-"
"Don't Gai, not now."
Gai nodded solemnly, with Kakashi you had to be careful when it came to things like these. If you push too hard he will shut out, if you don't push enough then nothing will get achieved and he will skate around the subject.
This was an extremely delicate situation.
As the group continued down the path, the rain continued its onslaught. They had to take care to apply chakra to the soles of their sandals to stay upright as most of the ground was covered with water. It would be extremely difficult to run at their speed without using the chakra, so none of them held any complaints.
A powerful odor hit Kakashi's and Gai's noses out of nowhere. Kakashi was able to pick up faint wisps of it earlier due to the rain, but it was almost like they passed a barrier when the smell hit the duo.
The air hung with blood.
Kakashi has only experienced this one or two times, both during the war. The first time was during a skirmish between the Village Hidden in the Leaf and the Village Hidden in the Rock. The second was after he had woken up after the death of Rin.
Gai has never experienced this before. Sure, he was a Jonin, but that was only because of his amazing skill and ability to lead a Genin team. Never before has he experienced a blood bath.
Even in all this rain the scent is still this strong! Gai turned his head to Kakashi, his face filled with worry for his rival. Kakashi, I will be here if you need me to be. You won't have to suffer alone this time.
Kakashi's thoughts were blank, if he so much as whispered a thought about the scent then he would crumble. The retired Anbu was forced to adopt the greatest tool he ever used, a robotic rhythm. No thoughts, no fear, no emotion. Just the mission.
Many times during his Anbu days, there would be missions where they would either see or do atrocious acts. Most men and women would either emotionally shut down or be filled with grief and anger, but as Anbu, you had a job to do. You were the best of the best for the village, mistakes due to emotions were not acceptable within the ranks.
The two Jonin quickly made it to the location after smelling the blood, the rain had put a damper on it to the point where you would only be able to smell it if you were close by.
Gai was the first to land next to Asuma, next was Kakashi. Gai had positioned himself in a way to make it where Kakashi wouldn't be able to see his student immediately. The green-clad ninja knew his friend would need the precious few seconds to steel his nerves.
The clone dissipated, its job now completed and no longer needing to be present.
An audible gasp erupted from Gai's mouth, "Oh my god."
Kakashi pushed Gai out of the way to see his student, his comrade, his only tie to his beloved sensei.
All the training the man went through could have never prepared him for what he saw, and his precious tool slipped from his grasp.
"N-Naruto." the man let out in a broken whisper.
BREAK: CHAPTER 4 NEXT
A/N:
Thank you so much for the reviews. Hope everyone enjoy's the story!
Anyway,
Ja Ne