The Wanderers
Chapter 13 – Recuperation
A/N: I'm putting in a summary of the past twelve chapters, so that if you are new to the story you can catch up and read on. But I definitely recommend reading the previous chapters beforehand, as there will be lots of things that you will miss. After this, there will a 'previously on' summary at the start of each chapter.
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. If I did, the Konoha 11 would act their ages.
***Summary***
Upon their return from the Chuunin Exams in Suna, the Konoha Genin and their teachers discover that there has been an attack on their village of Konoha. There was no trace of the village, or its villagers, with only a large crater remaining. Devastated by the destruction of their village, the group fled the ruins whilst claiming a hidden cache of their family techniques. Naruto learns of his father, and works on perfecting the Hiraishin, though he cannot fully complete the technique.
The group stops at a small village with Tenten's father, and Naruto learns of Hinata's love for him accidently. Tenten decides to stay with her father, and Asuma and Kurenai made the decision to stop fighting and settle down together. The group then travelled to an Uchiha hideout to get Sasuke his family's techniques, and they learnt of the Uchiha's planned coup. However as they do so, they are confronted by Uchiha Itachi, who traps Sasuke in Tsukuyomi and explains what happened on that night, since Sasuke found out about the coup. The group accepts that Itachi is not their enemy, and he asks Naruto to find his contact, Jiraiya. Naruto returns with Tsunade's assistant and Jiraiya's body, the group learning that the two Sannin had confronted their ex-companion and, enraged by Tsunade's death at Orochimaru's hand, Jiraiya sacrificed himself to kill the Snake Sannin.
Itachi then lays out a plan to take out his organisation from the inside, and the plan involved extracting the Kyuubi from Naruto early. The plan succeeds and Naruto survives the process, though the two of them are followed by four Akatsuki members. The Konoha shinobi won the battle, though at the expense of their friend Maito Gai's life. The group was forced to reconsider their motivations, until Naruto suggested they visit the ruins of his mother's village, in the hope of perhaps starting up a new village.
However, on the road, Kakashi and Itachi work together in an attempt to unlock Kakashi's Mangekyou Sharingan by delving into his blocked memories. The two of them discover Kakashi's adventures in the Third Shinobi War, commanding his unit with Itachi and Sasuke's mother, the son of the Second Hokage, and a quiet shadowy female Inuzuka shinobi. Kakashi fought with a strange unknown organisation that had kidnapped and brainwashed Konoha's medical corps, forcing Kakashi to kill his childhood friend Rin. With that, the two Jounin have woken up from their technique, but things are not as they were.
***End Summary***
The two Konoha Jounin opened their eyes at the same time, and for a few seconds were able to perceive their surroundings before both of their eyes rolled into the back of their heads and they fell to the ground unconscious.
Several hours later, Kakashi felt himself stir from the seemingly endless dream, coughing violently into the ground beneath him. He noticed a bottle of water being placed in front of him, taking it without response, taking a long draught before opening his eyes again.
"Good to have you back amongst the living" said a female voice.
Kakashi struggled to find the source of the voice, his vision blurring slightly before returning to its normal state. A few feet away knelt his two Jounin companions, Shizune smiling tiredly at him as Itachi was struggling to stand up from the ground. He turned his gaze to his Uchiha companion, Itachi widening his eyes to try and get his bearings before staring into Kakashi's Sharingan. The look only lasted a moment, but with the slightest nod he got the sense that they had been successful, though only time would tell. He frowned as he noticed the dark sky, seeing that Itachi was disturbed by the same thing. It had been midday when Itachi had activated the technique, yet they could tell that it was closer to the dead of night.
"I guess it took longer than an hour, Itachi."
He heard Shizune snort at his comment, but paid no heed as he thought about what they had seen. He knew that Rin had been killed at the same time as the penultimate battle of the Third Shinobi War, but everything after Obito's funeral had been a blur until now.
Rin…damnit…would that I could forget that once more.
He understood why Jito had wiped his memories, though he questioned his motives for leaving the village. It was irrelevant now, but it was something he would have to look into if he got the time in the future. Oddly while he felt horrendous about what had happened to his childhood friend, he didn't feel the seething hatred that Itachi had described he felt when he activated his Mangekyou Sharingan. It had also never occurred to him that Uchiha Mikoto had been so close to him or that she had the Mangekyou herself. They had barely interacted in his normal memories, though as he recalled it whenever he saw her at important Jounin meetings with Fugaku she had a distant look in her eyes. Across from him Itachi thanked Shizune for her help, feeling a strange weak feeling in his legs as he took in a better account of his surroundings. His red eyes were drawn towards the night sky, as he frowned at the image he saw.
"This doesn't make sense…" he said idly.
"What is it?" asked Kakashi.
The Uchiha survivor pointed a robed hand at the small moon image off in the distance.
"The moon has gotten smaller. If my estimation is correct, we were in the technique for several weeks."
Shizune snorted again, this time it drew their attention properly, the two of them taking a serious look at their fellow Jounin. Her black hair was tied into two loose ponytails that hung at her back, and she was wearing Tsunade's crystal necklace that she taken as a memento of her master around her neck.
"You grew out your hair" said Kakashi with a smile.
He hadn't said anything about it, but he had been worried about the medic for a while. She had been acting quieter and quieter since they had met, and he knew from personal experience that grief never leaves you. The scars never heal fully; they simply ache less at times. Shizune tried to hide a slight blush and failed, embarrassed at the attention they were paying her, she was never one to be the centre of attention.
"How long were we out?' asked Itachi, noticing immediately that he was starving and his throat was dry.
Shizune placed her hands on her hips, trying to put on an angry Tsunade face and failing, she just wasn't a particularly angry person. Kakashi frowned as he saw her face.
"Was it bad?" he asked.
She sighed loudly as behind the two of them she noticed a small squirrel stare at her for several seconds before disappearing in a small cloud of white smoke.
Good. He'll tell the others.
She turned and faced the two tired Jounin with a frustrated look on her face, asking the question that had plagued the group since they had found the two of them suspending in the strange trance.
"What were the two of you doing?" she asked, wanting to know that answer before she told them how long they had been out.
The two male Jounin shared a look, before Kakashi gave Itachi an indicator that she had a right to know. The elder Uchiha took a long breath; there was a lot to tell.
"You must be joking. That cannot be right."
Itachi was silent as Kakashi was trying to convince Shizune that she was lying to them. The technique was clearly incomplete, in Itachi's mind. He had experienced everything as Kakashi had, but it had taken them from the very beginning to do so. They had expected to simply experience the traumatic event and go from there, showing Itachi that he would need to refine the technique before using it again, if he ever did. But if Shizune was correct…their timeline was thrown completely out of wack.
"I'm sorry Kakashi, but that's the truth of it" said Shizune, creating a Kage Bunshin to help her assist them back to the town, which was several miles away.
The silver-haired Jounin shook his head in amazement as he pulled down the cloth headband he wore around his forehead to cover Obito's gift. Before they went under, Itachi had told him that having the ability to activate the Mangekyou Sharingan and actually activating it were two very different things.
"So how are the others then? Are they still around?"
"Yes, though they are at their wits end. Any more time and I think they may have considering moving on, on their own" replied the original Shizune.
Itachi looked at the mountainside in the dark for a few moments before turning to his companions, "We should depart. Kakashi and I need to recover, and we need to get moving. We shouldn't have been in one place for so long; we still have enemies out there."
Shizune placed his arm around her shoulder as it was clear that neither of them could walk easily, as her clone did the same with Kakashi. He was still struggling to contain his disbelief at their situation.
"It's so hard to believe. Six months…"
"She was smiling…"
Both Shizunes and Kakashi turned to face their companion with curious looks on their faces at Itachi's muttering. The Sharingan user immediately waved his hands to tell them it was nothing to worry about, but couldn't keep a distance look from his face.
I don't understand at all. The person my mother was in Kakashi's memories, along with my own memories of her would never have plotted with Fugaku to overthrow Konoha. By rights, she hated Fugaku, but was forced to play the dutiful wife. Why did she let me…
He shook himself out of it, bringing back his stoic mask as Shizune attempted to catch them up to speed on what they had missed. They hadn't been willing to risk moving the two of them for fear it might harm them, so the group had been stuck in a nearby town for the six months they were preoccupied, with each of them rotating through watching the two of them for any changes. Kakashi asked Shizune whether she had heard anything about the other villages, but none of them had heard anything about the villages. Without a spy network or shinobi to run interference, the group was running virtually blind.
The Konoha shinobi had stayed within a small distance around the town, though after four months of inactivity Shizune had sent Neji and Shino to survey the outer regions of the countryside. They turned a corner on the mountain road and the two male Jounin looked over the town for the first time. It was a small affair, and their keen eyes were able to tell that it had been partially rebuilt recently.
"Seems kind of, quant" said Kakashi.
His female companion shrugged, "It's a decent place, of sorts. If I wasn't a shinobi, this would be the sort of place I might stay at. But after six months of waiting, I'll be glad to see the back of it."
"We should keep moving" said a tired Itachi.
Shizune and her clone helped the two Jounin into the main room of their hotel, frowning as she saw the empty room covered in messy clothes and rubbish.
"Did we miss something?" commented an amused Itachi.
The Shizune clone that was holding him up sighed and helped him down into a seat. The original Shizune helped a tired Kakashi onto a cushion and dismissed her shadow clone before standing against the door.
"Don't blame me for this. You two left me with eleven teenagers and nothing to occupy them with. What did you expect?"
Kakashi smiled weakly at her as he tested the strength in his arms. It would take the two of them a few days before they were able to travel again, or at least when Shizune would be willing to let them travel. Fresh from his old memories, she reminded the two of them of Kushina, at least when the red-haired shinobi was in a good mood. The door swung open again, and even without seeing who was about to enter, Itachi allowed himself a slight smile.
"Nii-san!"
Across from the elder Uchiha, Kakashi's single eye widened as he watched Sasuke enter the room with a relieved smile on his face. The younger Uchiha had his red Sharingan activated, though Kakashi could barely read the chakra he was giving off. Sasuke hadn't changed much since they had been frozen in place, though the Jounin noted that he had gotten taller and his arms were covered in bandages. He moved over and sat down next to his brother, checking to make sure that Itachi wasn't injured before asking the two of them what had happened.
Itachi shook his head, telling his younger brother that he should wait for the whole group before they explain what had happened to them. On the road to the village, the two of them had decided not to tell any of them about Kakashi's memories, though Itachi expressed an interest in talking to his brother about what their mother was like before she was a housewife. They could tell Naruto what his parents were like, but they remembered that he had met them when the Kyuubi had been extracted, so that wasn't a high priority.
"I'll go look for the others" said Shizune before she left the room.
She would never admit it to the two of them, but she had been days away from attempting to move them, which could have ended badly for the both of them. The technique had suspended them in such a way that they hadn't required sustenance, though they had some slight muscle atrophy. Itachi began telling Sasuke about their mother's adventures as a shinobi, the younger Uchiha immediately enthralled by the tale, not even questioning why Itachi was telling him.
Kakashi sensed two figures approaching the room, relaxing as he recognised two of their companions as they entered the room. Chouji seemed surprised at their recovery, though his companion Ino didn't register too much of a reaction. The Akimichi heir had gotten both taller and wider, and his outfit was complimented by shoulder plates and wrist guards that he hadn't had before. Ino, on the other hand, hadn't grown much taller, though her outfit had gotten more revealing as she developed physically. Her blonde hair reached past her backside and still covered one of her eyes, though she had tied it into two long ponytails behind her, Itachi noticing with interest that she had several weapons hidden within the yellow hair.
"You took your time getting here" she said as she took a seat near the end of the table.
Chouji reached into his pack and pulled out a pack of chips before plopping down next to his female companion.
"That's not fair, Ino. You sensed them over an hour ago, but you still decided to go into that clothes store."
She glared at him with cold blue eyes, "They were having a sale, Chouji. I didn't see you complaining, you seemed quite happy to talk to the girl at the counter."
The Akimichi heir had the grace to blush as he thought of the young dimple-faced girl who shared his love of quality food. The Jounin felt themselves grin as the teenagers chatted away as if nothing had changed, although as Itachi finished his story about his mother to Sasuke he could tell that they were bored out of their minds.
Half an hour later, the group was joined by their lazy companion, Shikamaru sighing as he entered the room.
"I guess that means our break is over. How troublesome."
He sat down next to his large teammate, reaching down into Chouji's bag of chips before shovelling the barbeque flavoured snack into his mouth. His ponytail had grown slightly and there was a slight darkening under his chin. Kakashi smiled at he began to see the Nara heir's father in his young face, though he didn't have the scars that Shikaku did.
He turned to Kakashi with a tired look, "Did you find what you needed?"
The silver-haired Jounin frowned slowly at the question, knowing that Shikamaru had likely figured out what they were doing but they knew he hadn't disclosed it to the others, since they had no idea what had happened between Kakashi and Itachi. The elder Uchiha gave him the slightest of nods in acknowledgement, watching in fascination as Shikamaru took a glance at Kakashi's covered eye before turning to talk to his teammates. Itachi shook his head slightly; he knew that Shikamaru was intelligent, but he hadn't expected that level of perception from the shadow-user.
"Where are the others?" asked Kakashi, anxious to get his recovery started so they could get moving.
As if they had anticipated his question, three more of their group entered the room, all of them looking like they had just gone through a dozen trials of hell.
"Kakashi-sensei!" said Sakura, wiping a sweaty hand on her new outfit as she stood over her teacher.
She gave him a quick overlook before deducing that he wasn't injured, taking a long draught from a glass of water on the table. On his query, she explained that she had been forced to throw away her qigong dress that had been destroyed during her training, and had replaced it with a dark red sleeveless shirt and skin tight black pants, with a crème white skirt over the top. She immediately began blitzing him with questions about what they were doing and why it had taken so long.
"Give the man a break, Sakura-san" said a strict voice.
She turned back to the doorway, "I just want to know if it was worth six months, Lee."
The green-clad teenager shrugged and walked next to his female training partner before leaning an arm on her shoulder. She used to balk at his habit of doing that, but he had tastefully reminded her it was her price for being short. The group had found out quickly that the only person immune to Sakura's instant fiery temper was the taijutsu user, Sasuke and Naruto still bore scars from her rage-induced attacks. The convenient fact about Lee's jumpsuit was that it stretched to fit his growing frame, though they noticed that in the time they were preoccupied Lee had taken to wearing Gai's old flak jacket. His staff had been upgraded with red spiked armour, and he wore a pair of nunchaku on his belt.
Kakashi's eyes widened as he saw the third member of their group enter the room, though it was less about the Inuzuka and more about how large his white companion had become. Kiba barked out a short laugh as Akamaru went over to Itachi and sniffed him, taking a moment before reaching up and licking him flush on the face and trotting over to Kakashi before doing the same. Itachi grimaced and wiped the slobber off his face as Kakashi tried to push away the large white dog and failed, to the amusement of the rest of the group. Kiba moved his tail upwards and sat on a cushion next between Sasuke and Ino, his dog companion trotting around the table before leaning his white head on Kiba's lap.
"What on earth have you been feeding him, Kiba?" asked Sasuke as Akamaru growled softly while Ino rubbed his head affectionately.
The Inuzuka heir laughed loudly and patted his companion on the side of his dense fur. He had been out of the town frequently, enjoying the countryside with his canine companion, and hadn't spent much time with the rest of the group. Akamaru had tripled in size over the past months, but Kiba had found that he didn't have to feed the white dog at all; Akamaru had a penchant for hunting small animals in the forests outside the town.
"Where are the others?" asked Kiba, mirroring Kakashi's earlier question, whilst also ignoring Sasuke's question.
Sakura looked at the setting sun outside the room, "Neji and Shino are out of town and won't be back for two days. But the other two…"
"They should be finishing up about now, right?" said Lee next to her.
The teenagers around the room nodded in unison, but Kakashi and Itachi had no idea what they were talking about. They were happy that the group didn't hate them for the delay, though they knew the biggest obstacle was to come.
They heard Naruto long before they saw him, though not in his usual capacity. The group was chatting amongst themselves but went quiet as they heard a loud thump at the entrance to the building. The Konoha shinobi were treated to a colourful display of thumping sounds and loud swearing as the sounds came closer and closer to the room.
"Ah…no…that's not…come on I was nearly…just one more…"
The doors to the main room slammed open and Naruto was unceremoniously thrown onto the floor in front of the large table. Shizune stood at the entrance with a triumphant look on her face as the blonde shinobi clutched at his sore head.
"You didn't have to drag me here, Nee-chan. I was on my way…"
The medic scoffed at his statement with her hands on her hips, "Naruto, you were sitting in the ramen shop, eating your ninth bowl!"
The orange-clad shinobi turned around to face her with a solemn look on his face, "But I have to eat there all time! I'm their only client in this village, so they have to make money somehow."
"I'm sure it's more because of how is working there, than what they are serving" commented Sasuke, earning him a harsh look from his teammate.
"And who has been rebuilding the town since you nearly destroyed it five months ago?" said Naruto as he picked himself up from the ground.
He had grown taller as well, but it wasn't his height that drew his teacher's attention. The Uzumaki shinobi hadn't needed to change his pants, but was wearing a bright orange headband that went all the way down his back. His hair had grown out slightly, and the two of them were struck by how much he resembled his father with his yellow bangs near his cheeks. The days had gotten hotter over the months, and Naruto hated the heat, so he wasn't wearing a shirt or a singlet. Kakashi was impressed as he saw how hard Naruto had been working, though the number of scars on his chest was frightening.
"Nice to see you haven't changed, Naruto" observed an amused Kakashi.
His student turned around and grinned at the tired-looking Jounin.
"You guys took your time getting here from the mountain. Hope it was worth it, six months is a damn long time."
A slow smile grew on his face as he leaned against the wall next to the door, his eyes looking over at the doorway as Shizune sat down next to Kakashi with a tired sigh. He asked her why she seemed so tired, to which the medic simply rubbed her eyes and told him he had no idea what she been dealing with. The door opened slowly as the last of the group entered the room, closing the wooden door behind her, as one of the few of the group who tried to keep things tidy. She gave the two Jounin a slight respectful bow with a slight smile. Hinata had changed from her small hooded jacket to a long lavender purple jacket with dark shorts, though to the Jounin's confusion she was wearing a long white apron.
The Hyuuga heir stepped to the side and leaned her head on Naruto's shoulder, letting her waist-length dark blue hair fall around his arm. The blonde shinobi leaned down and kissed her on the top of her hair before smiling at the two surprised Jounin.
"It would seem that we have missed out on a fair amount" observed Itachi, causing some of the group to smile whilst others simply rolled their eyes.
Hinata blushed at the attention, though Naruto didn't seem to mind it. He asked Itachi why they had taken so long, to which the two Jounin shared a look before glancing at Shizune, the medic indicating that everyone was now there. The elder Itachi took a long breath; it was going to be a difficult sell.
The next day, Naruto grimaced as he lay face down onto his bed, having thrown the rags of his working shirt onto the floor next to him. He heard a sound behind him, but was too tired and sore to glance that way. He felt a slight weight on his bed, but wasn't alarmed as a fragrant scent filled his nose. He smiled into his pillow as he felt a soft touch on his bare shoulder, running itself across his shoulder blades. A small shiver ran up his back as he felt several strands of hair against a few of his scars. He squirmed slightly,
"That tickles…"
Behind him he heard a soft giggle as Hinata lay down next to him, her face barely a few inches from Naruto's. He turned his head slightly so that he was facing her, smiling slowly at her slightly blushing face.
"Hey you."
Hinata smiled warmly as she ran a finger along his shoulder, "Hey. You okay? You seem to be more tired than normal."
Naruto sighed, "I'm fine…"
"…but you are in a hurry to leave?"
He laughed softly, she could always tell how he was feeling, even when he didn't say anything. Closing his eyes, Naruto gave her a short sigh.
"I'm tired of sitting around. But it was so much work getting that bridge finished…my body can barely move."
She smiled as she saw him slowly drifting off to sleep, but kept trying to stay awake and struggling to keep his eyes open. Hinata knew that Naruto was notorious for pushing himself harder than what could be considered reasonable, but she understood how frustrated he had been in his training. Using Shadow Clones, he had been training like crazy trying to improve his Hiraishin, though to no avail. An idea popped into her head, causing her to slowly get up from the bed. Naruto muttered softly about where she was going, until she swung a leg over his body and sat on top of his lower back, placing both of her hands on his shoulder blades.
"What are you…"
He didn't finish his sentence as she placed a small amount of pressure from her fingers onto his back muscles, causing him to sigh and relax into the bed. They had become more comfortable in each other's presence since that strange night five months ago. She moved her hands up and down his back, expertly picking up all the knots in his muscles and skilfully working her fingers through the muscles. She was grateful that Naruto couldn't see her face, as not only was her face bright red as she ran her fingers over his course skin, but she couldn't keep a large smile off her face either.
Naruto grimaced as she put a small amount of pressure on a part of his lower back. Hinata apologised immediately, and took of her hands, asking if he wanted her to stop. He shook his head slightly, muttering into the pillow as he shifted his legs underneath her. Hinata smiled and ran a small amount of chakra into her fingers before placing her warm hands onto the spot she had just touched. The young Hyuuga pushed her chakra into Naruto's sore back, healing the injured muscle whilst also rubbing his shoulder blade with her other hand. Unable to control himself, Naruto let out a small moan as she moved her hands across his back.
"You…should do this…more often…"
Hinata smiled at the praise, glad that she was able to give him some comfort.
"I'd be happy to do this for you, Naruto-kun."
She couldn't see his face, but she felt his skin warm up underneath her hands.
"Do you think we'll have to fight again?" asked Hinata.
Underneath her Naruto turned his head slightly so that he could speak clearly.
"It wouldn't surprise me. With Konoha out of action, the other villages are probably vying for more power."
Hinata stopped massaging as her hands reached the base of his neck, "Will it ever stop?"
"I want to say yes, but probably not. People will always fight each other so long as they have power. But don't worry, I'll keep you safe."
That caused her blush to deepen as she leant her head down so that it rested on the top of his back. Her long hair fell across his skin and onto the bed as she placed her hands around his neck, hugging him tightly from behind.
"I know, Naruto-kun. I trust you completely."
She felt him tense as she said that, feeling him move his hands up towards his head before intertwining his fingers with hers. She let out a tiny gasp as he tensed his arm muscles and with one smooth motion flipped her on her back onto the bed and threw a leg over so that he was leaning over her with their faces barely an inch apart, their eyes interlocked. Hinata could feel his breathing on her face and the intensity of the hungry look in his eyes, but she wasn't frightened at all. She slowly smiled and squeezed his hands with hers gently. Her white eyes stared into his intense blue eyes and they sat there for several moments without a word passed between them. Naruto went to lower his head, but his arms tensed and he picked himself up from on top of her, sitting on the side of the bed.
"I…I'm sorry about that, Hina-chan. I don't know what came over me."
Hinata slowly picked herself up from the bed, readjusting her shirt before collecting her feet underneath her dress. She shifted slightly down the bed and placed her chin over his shoulder before placing her hands around his waist.
"It's okay. There's no rush. We have all the time in the world."
He reached up an arm and cupped her head with his hand before leaning over and kissing her lightly on her bob of hair.
Naruto leaned his forehead on Hinata's head, "If only that were true."
Kakashi had never really had to train very hard to get to the level he was currently at, he was considered one of the brightest in his generation after all, but as Itachi drove a fist into his chest and he slammed into a nearby tree, he admitted he was not at a level he was happy with. Across from him Itachi leant up slowly before regarding Kakashi with his red Sharingan eyes. He knew that the Jounin would be fine, but as he looked at the small group observing them he had to wonder how far the rest of them had come whilst they were occupied. Kakashi picked himself up from the ground before rubbing his arm sorely.
"I was considered a genius of my time, yet you put me to shame Itachi-san."
The elder Uchiha didn't respond, but instead he walked up to Kakashi and stared straight into his single Sharingan. The silver-haired Jounin had attempted to activate his Mangekyou Sharingan throughout the spar, but that only served in distracting him from Itachi's attack. The Uchiha shinobi was known for his ability to hold back in a fight, but he also knew what it took to activate the next level of the Sharingan. He deactivated his Sharingan as he examined Obito's gift, trying to discern a way to activate the ability faster than he had.
"Are we wasting our time?" asked a tired Kakashi.
Itachi frowned at the question, "What do you mean?"
Kakashi stared at his hands with a solemn look on his face. He had been thinking about the memories Itachi had dredged up, and something didn't sit right with him.
"To have the Mangekyou Sharingan, you have to have seen the death of a significant other, right? But…I didn't love Rin. Not that way at least. I fear we wasted our time."
Itachi considered the point, it was something that he had been forced to admit whilst observing the memories that had been a concern. However, he had figured it out, and was surprised that Kakashi had not. He reached out and pointed at Kakashi's chest.
"You may not have loved her…" He moved his finger so that it pointed at Kakashi's three-tomoed Sharingan. "…but he did."
"You rely on your Sharingan too much, Kakashi-san. Your body is not an Uchiha body, so the Sharingan draws on more chakra than it normally needs, and as such you have very little stamina in which to fight with."
The elder Jounin nodded as he took several long breaths, thankful that Itachi hadn't broken his ribs with the blow, something he could easily have done. As he thought about the last battle, and the last couple of intense battles, he was always exhausted after the battles and had struggled to stay in the fight for prolonged periods of time. Even in the fight with Deidara, he had been on his last legs as he drove his Raikiri into the artist's chest.
"My Sharingan is my advantage though, Itachi-san."
"Kakashi, you are known for two things around the globe. Your Sharingan, which pales in comparison to both mine and Sasuke's, and your supposed 1000 techniques. You want to know why I am stronger than you, despite my youth? It's because I create my own techniques when I train."
Kakashi frowned as he looked down at his hands, seeing one hand as its blue chakra outline and the other as a normal black glove. The nickname of 1000 technique Kakashi wasn't completely untrue, though Kakashi had no idea how many techniques he had copied since his time in the ANBU. What he did know was that the last technique he had personally created, was the Chidori, and that was two decades ago. It was a strange feeling to be instructed on combat by a shinobi a decade younger than him, but Itachi was his elder when it came to the Sharingan.
They spared for most of the day, Kakashi forcing himself to fight Itachi at full strength without his Sharingan, but after being beaten back for the ninth time he was slowly understanding how he could fight without relying on Obito's gift.
Itachi placed up a hand as his opponent stood up from the ground slowly, "Let's stop for today, Kakashi-san."
The silver-haired Jounin breathed out a sigh of relief. Despite being renowned for his ability to hold back, Itachi had been brutal and uncompromising, though to Kakashi's relief he had stopped himself from using genjutsu.
"You seem quite rusty, Nii-san."
Itachi frowned as his brother slowly walked up to him with a smug grin on his face and his hands in his pockets. Kakashi stretched out his back painfully before slowly walking back to town.
"You here for something, Sasuke?" asked Itachi, still wearing his repaired Akatsuki robe with his slashed forehead protector still around his forehead.
He was the only one that could viably wear the metal plate, considering he was well known in the shinobi world. The younger Uchiha stared at his brother with his Sharingan.
"It has been a long time since we last sparred, Nii-san."
"Perhaps for you. It is difficult to grasp the idea that we were gone for six months."
He saw a spike in Sasuke's chakra, instinctively ducking as a foot barely missed his head, Itachi reaching up and grabbing his assailant by the throat. He found himself confronted by his brother's stoic face, though in the corner of his vision he could tell that Sasuke was still standing several feet away, having not moved.
"Bunshin no Jutsu?" he asked, before finding his own question answered as his brother moved to strike his back with a large fireball.
Itachi dropped the clone and dissipated into a murder of crows as the fire attack consumed his position, reassembling a short distance away with a small smile on his face.
"Kage Bunshin? I'm surprised, Otouto. I would not have thought you willing to learn such a technique from Naruto."
His brother didn't say anything, Itachi was impressed that he hadn't risen to the bait. He put a hand to his lips, having already completed the handseals faster than most shinobi could perceive, gathering his chakra at his stomach. His brother completed the handseals for the same technique as they both sprouted large fireballs towards each other. Itachi frowned as his Sharingan observed a fluctuation in his brother's chakra as the two fireballs struck each other, noticing with a small bit of pride that Sasuke's was slightly larger, though his own was more refined. The air sweltered as the fire techniques wrestled with each other, Itachi's ears perking as he heard a strange sound coming from Sasuke's end, moving his body slightly to the side as four shuriken came spinning through the wall of flames, charged with lightning chakra.
Not good enough, Sasuke he thought as the shuriken passed harmlessly behind him.
His red eyes widened as the setting sun glanced off of a seemingly empty bit of air, Itachi realising too late what his brother had done as the four shuriken began to sweep around him with razor sharp wires attached to them through the fire. The wires wrapped around his body as he was forced to cancel his fire technique, Sasuke's flames quickly overwhelming his position. After half a minute Sasuke cut off his technique, looking over the charred ground with a smug smile.
He turned to the side slowly, "You'll have to fight harder than that, Nii-san."
Itachi leant against a nearby tree with a frown; he hadn't expected his brother to contend so well with a Mizu-Bunshin, even if it was only 10 percent of his total strength. He knew that Sasuke still struggled to rid himself of his prior motives; his brother was always going to be driven by a need to surpass him, even if he didn't want to kill Itachi anymore. Sasuke's Sharingan stared into Itachi's and for a moment the elder Uchiha thought his younger brother would attempt to attack him with a genjutsu, a foolish notion to be sure. While Itachi had been humbled by the Senju shinobi in Kakashi's memories' abilities, only his childhood friend Shisui came remotely close to his illusion techniques, and he had been dead for years. Sasuke placed his hands across his chest, and Itachi's eyes widened as his red eyes saw how much chakra Sasuke was moulding.
This is more than his normal chakra…what the…
He noticed a glint in Sasuke's eyes as the air around him began to fluctuate and heat up. Sasuke slammed his hands together as his arm muscles tensed and fluctuated.
He grinned at his brother, "Kaimon: Kai!" (Gate of Opening: Release).
His hands began to crackle with lightning as Itachi swore under his breath and began rapidly forming seals. The younger brother placed both hands to his sides as he activated his teacher's technique before pushing off the balls of his feet towards Itachi at an impossibly high speed. Even with his Sharingan, Itachi could only barely make out the movements, but already he had several ways he knew to counter his brother's technique, though he sparred with the younger Uchiha to teach Sasuke how to fight properly.
He clapped his hands together, "Katon: Kihei" (Fire Element: Flame Wall).
A large pillar of flame surrounded Itachi as Sasuke dived directly through the flames, confident that his high speed would minimise the damage. He thrust his palms into where Itachi's body was, feeling his strikes connect as the flame wall slowly came down, his skin only slightly singed. He stared into the cold eyes of Itachi as both of his hands protruded out the back of Itachi's body, Sasuke's face wide with triumph. He went to pull out his hands, but found them unwilling as Itachi's body began to fluctuate slightly.
"Suiton: Suirou no Jutsu" (Water Element: Water Sphere)
The Itachi that Sasuke had attacked collapsed into a form of water that surrounded Sasuke's arms and body, trapping him in a tight sphere as Itachi appeared next to the floating form of his younger brother. He smiled at the frustration on Sasuke's face, though he was quite proud that Sasuke had been able to unlock the first chakra gate. He was still a reckless fighter, and Itachi planned to fix that.
"You still fight blindly, Otouto. If you cannot see your opponent's counterattack, then you only put yourself at risk."
He could tell that Sasuke was annoyed that he was still so far behind his brother, but he still nodding his understanding.
"Just gotten up and already beating up Sasuke? I like you more and more, Uchiha Itachi."
The elder Uchiha turned as he saw a figure coming through the forest towards the two of them. Itachi untensed his muscles as he recognised the white eyed figure, though Neji had changed into white and black robes with a yin-yang on the back that were of a similar make to his Akatsuki robes. It reminded him of the Hyuuga shinobi in Konoha at Jounin meetings, though it was distinct enough to be original. Neji had taken to wearing a cloth headband akin to Kakashi's to hide his seal. He looked more like a proper ninja than the other Genin, though he was a year older than them.
"We've been expecting you, Neji-san."
The Hyuuga looked at the Uchiha brothers with barely contained amusements, he had little love for Sasuke, yet Itachi never seemed to bother him.
"No doubt. How long have you been back?"
"No more than a few days. We were waiting for you and Shino-san to return before we depart."
"Shino and I went in different directions. I was surveying the rubble at Konoha, whilst he went to scout the village that Naruto spoke about. He'll likely be back in another day or so."
Itachi nodded in acknowledgement, his ears straining as he could hear a muffled voice next to him. He turned to look, and watched with amusement as his brother struggled against the water prison, having tried and failed to release himself with a lightning technique. Neji walked up slowly to the water sphere and activated his Byakugan, taking a few moments before turning to the older Uchiha.
"Do you mind if I?" he asked.
Itachi shrugged, wondering if Neji would be able to undo the technique, although he doubted it. The water prison technique was one he had learnt from Kisame, and had few weaknesses. It was to his surprise when Neji brought up two fingers, moved slightly to the side and drove them into the water sphere, causing the water prison to collapse instantly and Sasuke fell to the ground, his face hitting the ground. Being the most stoic of the group, neither of his companions laughed at his fall, though both of them had slight grins on their faces as he picked himself up from the ground. Itachi nearly cracked when he saw the stain on Sasuke's shirt, but what killed him was that Sasuke hadn't noticed that he had slightly fallen into animal droppings. He shared a look with Neji, both of them silently decided not to tell him, waiting to see how long it would take him to figure it out.
The next day passed quickly and quietly in the town as they awaited Shino's return. Kakashi and Itachi had volunteered to wait at the town's gates for the insect user, while the rest of the Konoha group rested up for an immediate departure once he arrived. Naruto had finished the dam for the village before stumbling into the main room, collapsed onto the floor with a sigh.
"Rough day?" queried Lee from across the table, having taken a moment to relax after a hard day's training in the mountainside.
Naruto picked himself up from the ground and slumped onto the table as Chouji passed him a glass of water. The blonde shinobi accepted it with thanks, but couldn't keep a solemn look from his face. On one side of the table sat Neji, Sasuke and Shikamaru in an intense game of cards, the three of them barely acknowledging his entrance as they stared at the growing pile of chips between them.
Leaning on a wall to the side of the room, Kiba picked up a piece of meat and bit a chunk out of it, "Naruto tired? Yes, and I'm going to get married to a wolf and have lots of little cubs."
Sasuke stole a glance away from the cards in his hands at Kiba, "Considering that tail, I don't think anyone would be surprised, Inuzuka."
He smiled slowly as Kiba barked back a retort, but he dragged his eyes back to the game as Shikamaru threw in a small stack of chips into the pot, calling for Sasuke to call or fold his bet. Naruto waved a hand at the comments, drinking a long draught from the glass before staring at the cloth on top of the table.
"No, it's…I dunno…"
"Come on, Naruto-kun. We are a family here" said Lee.
"You guys wouldn't understand."
Shikamaru scoffed as Sasuke threw in his hand, leaving Neji to stare at the lazy Genin to check whether he was bluffing or not.
"You are hardly a closed book, Naruto. Ah, Neji that was a mistake."
He showed the elder Hyuuga his hand with a slow grin, reaching out his hands to collect the chip pile. Neji reached out a hand quickly and grasped the Nara heir's wrists with a sly grin on his face. He placed his cards face down on the table, before flipping them over slowly to his great amusement and Shikamaru's frustration.
"That's…bah. All this intelligence and beaten by damn luck."
He shook his head as his opponent collected his winnings, turning his head to Naruto's slumped form. Eventually after being pestered enough, Naruto threw up his hands in defeat.
He stared at the empty glass in his hands, "It was something last night…with Hinata."
Across the table, Neji groaned as he stacked his chips in neat piles.
"Can we not talk about my cousin, please?"
The taijutsu user had made his peace with the blonde's relationship with his cousin, yet he hardly relished the situation. Next to him Sasuke was shuffling the cards, not paying much attention to his teammate's chatting, preferring to try and win his money back from the Hyuuga and Nara he was playing against. The others ignored Neji's complaint and continued to pester Naruto for information. With very little happening in the small town, their budding relationship was the source of great amusement to the group.
"I noticed her going into your room last night" said Kiba.
"Seriously guys…bumming me out here."
Naruto shook his head, "No, no, it wasn't like that. Well, a little. It was just…kind of awkward…"
"Didn't know where to put it?" commented an amused Kiba.
"Bumming hard guys, bumming hard."
"I know where to put it!" spat back Naruto.
Throwing down his cards, Neji gave up trying to talk to them, resolving to slam his forehead into the table to try and drown out the conversation. The others ignored his display, though Sasuke did make a point of slowly reaching between the two of them and slowly placing several of the Hyuuga's chip into his sleeve as Neji continued to slam his head on the table. Naruto shook his head again and tried his best to think of how to explain it.
"How do I put this…she was really keen, but I didn't…want to spoil the moment."
Using a napkin, Neji wiped off the blood from his forehead before scooping up his suspiciously small chip pile and putting them in front of him like an offering.
"I'll give all my money to anyone who kills him, right now."
There was a silent lull in the room before five bodies leapt onto the table, causing the wooden furniture to splinter and collapse.
"It didn't work? That's a shame."
"It was a stupid plan, Ino. He's too dense to pick up on stuff like that."
Hinata tried to get the two girls to stop arguing but next to her Shizune simply put up a hand and told her not to bother. The four of them had decided to take one last dip in the hot springs since it was unlikely that they would get the opportunity to do so again once on the road. Sakura and Ino had eventually gotten over their jealousy of Hinata's relationship, and had made it their mission to involve themselves in the relationship as much as possible. Being the respectful person that she was, Hinata was willing to let them give her advice, though she didn't do half the things they had suggested.
"So what ended up happened?" asked Sakura.
Hinata shifted uncomfortably in the hot water, reaching up to make sure that her long hair was still tied up properly. Next to the pink-haired shinobi, Ino splashed her childhood friend in the face.
"What kind of question is that?"
The Yamanaka heir turned her head to the slightly embarrassed Hinata, "So did it work?"
"That's the same question I asked!"
Shizune sighed as the two girls continued to bicker, wishing that her master was still with her, not for the first time. She was grateful that Naruto had brought her into the group, but she felt out of place most of the time. Luckily she and Hinata had avoided being splashed by the others so far, but the young Hyuuga felt like a cornered mouse as they both turned to her with serious looks on their faces, asking the same question they had for the past ten minutes. She sighed, wishing that she hadn't brought it up in the first place.
"You may as well just tell them, Hinata. They aren't gonna leave it alone."
"Well…there isn't much to tell. We were about to…but…I don't think either of us is ready for that kind of thing yet."
Shizune was impressed with the level of maturity that she was showing, though after five months even she was surprised by their slow progress considering how close the two of them were. It made her jealous to see the two of them, though she was happy for them. Sakura and Ino simply shook their heads in response.
"Come on, that's so boring" said Sakura.
"Why don't you just jump him?" asked Ino, swearing as a section of her ponytail fell into the water.
Sakura turned to her friend, "Like you did to Kiba? Because that worked out well."
The three of them had expected a loud and violent reaction from the blonde kunoichi, with possibly a high velocity punch to Sakura's face, but they were to be disappointed. Ino merely looked away from the group with a sad expression on her face. Sakura knew that she had touched a nerve, but wasn't sure what she was meant to say now. Making her way across the springs, Hinata moved up next to Ino, with a gentle smile on her face.
"What happened between the two of you?" she asked innocently, none of the group knowing what had happened between the two of them, but everyone knew that it hadn't ended well.
Ino sighed as she rested her head on a nearby rock, clearly uncomfortable with the question, but she also knew that Hinata had the best intentions, unlike Sakura some of the time. She loved Sakura like a sister, but the pink-haired shinobi drove her to madness most of the time.
"It was just something stupid, that's all."
"You can talk to us, Ino" said Hinata quietly.
"I…I guess you are right. Okay, a few months ago I was helping him brush that stupid tail of his. Even after over six months, he still has no damn clue about grooming. Anyway…"
"…she all of a sudden comes onto me, telling me how she was really lonely and that since we were there, we should go for it."
Neji frowned as Kiba told the tale, trying to remember how the conversation had turned to the Inuzuka's personal life. Lee and Chouji sat opposite the wild shinobi with wide eyes, taking in every little detail as if Kiba was sprouting holy words instead of the teenage drivel that it was.
"So what did you do?" inquired Sasuke, slightly offended that now Ino wasn't interested in him either, though it did allow him to concentrate fully on his training.
Akamaru had left the room earlier, and several seconds after he left the Konoha shinobi were struggling to breathe, coughing and splattering heavily.
Kiba shrugged at Sasuke's question, "Well, it's Ino. Ino! I meant come on, the girl is psychotic."
He turned at a quiet scoff, cocking his head curiously at Shikamaru's seemingly involuntary action. The Nara heir shook his head with a lazy look on his face, leaning his feet on the broken table.
"If you had turned down Ino, we would still be picking up the body scrapings off the floor" he said with an amused yet indifferent smile on his face.
The other shinobi thought about it for a moment before nodding in agreement and turning back to Kiba. He suddenly wished that Shikamaru hadn't been in the room, as his fake story wouldn't hold up if the genius Genin was in the room, though Kiba knew that both Neji and Sasuke likely cared very little about the situation. Their card game had been abandoned with the destruction of the table, yet only one of them had changed their seat since.
The Hyuuga elder looked rather content and comfortable on his perch, unable to keep a grin from his face. Lying beneath his white uniform was the broken body of Naruto, having been beaten to within an inch of his life. They had made sure he was still breathing, but that hadn't stopped Neji from jabbing him several times with Jyuuken strikes. Only he knew what would happen when the ex-Kyuubi container woke up, but it was enough to break even his stoic visage into a long grin.
"You what?" exclaimed Lee, unsure on whether he had heard him correctly.
Kiba repeated the statement, and for a few seconds there was an odd silence in the large room. The silence was broken almost immediately afterwards as the five shinobi in the room burst out laughing, none of them able to keep their seats as Kiba felt more embarrassed than he ever been before.
"…he bit you?" asked a surprised Sakura, having thought it would have been something much more…perverse, considering the parties involved.
Ino put up her hands, "It isn't what you are thinking. We had…procured a bottle of sake…"
"Drinking is bad for you" interjected Shizune, though she knew she was wasting her time.
Even though the four women were medics, though only Sakura had decided to become a proper medical ninja, and they all knew what damage alcohol did to the brain, they were a group of young girls spending large amounts of time with a group of young boys. She knew when she was beating her head against a brick wall.
"…we were kissing on my bed and…"
"And you were giving Naruto grief? Gods, Kiba, you are such a sissy."
"Shut your trap, Shikamaru! She was going too far, and…she was really scary…"
The group kept laughing at the Inuzuka's expense, though Chouji asked the one question that had been bothering him since they had begun talking about it.
"Have the two of you resolved your problems?" he asked carefully.
Kiba shrugged in response, "I dunno. I have no idea what she was thinking, or why she thought I might be like that. It was too much. I've told her that I'm not interested, and I think she got the message."
He turned his head towards one of the group, eager to get the attention off of himself, "So, Lee. How are you and Sakura going?"
The bob-haired shinobi shrugged, not entirely understanding what Kiba was getting at.
"Sakura-san is fine, as am I. Even though her taijutsu is adequate now, she still trains with me every other day."
"I don't think that's what he was getting at, Lee" said Sasuke.
"What else could he be talking about? That is the extent of our interactions."
Across from him, Shikamaru shook his head, wary of the relationship talk, but figured it was too troublesome to try and change the subject. He asked if anyone wanted to explain it to Lee, but none of them besides Kiba seemed interested. Underneath Neji's legs, Naruto let out a soft groan, causing the elder Hyuuga to put up two glowing blue fingers before driving them into his neck. The blonde struggled for a split second before slumping underneath his white uniform, forcing Neji to adjust himself so that he was more comfortable.
He frowned as he felt a strange spike in residual chakra, his eyes drawn to the open window. The others seemed to notice it as well, Kiba standing up quickly as a small cluster of bugs flew through the window, hovering between the small group. Neji turned to the fastest one in the group, as the others were on the other side of town.
"Lee, go tell Kakashi and Itachi that Shino is reporting in. Then find the girls and tell them the same."
"Roger" replied Lee, jumping out of the window as the bugs began to form characters in front of the group.
The group had departed as soon as they had gathered together. Shino had sent them an encrypted message, but the bulk of it was that he had taken a position outside of the Uzu village and that there was a need for haste. The trip would have taken two weeks if they had walked, yet at a full pace it took them barely four days. They passed over a great river before finding several destroyed towns; ones that they knew had been destroyed at the same time as their target. The others had become concerned that Naruto would react badly to the destruction of his mother's homeland, but the blonde shinobi reminded them that he didn't dwell in the past.
As they reached the ruins of a townhouse a few miles from the Uzu village, they stopped for a short breather to recover their strength before investigating the ruined village. Even after six months their resolve had not faltered, though Naruto was more concerned over what he might find rather than setting up a new shinobi village. Such a thing required the support of the country's daimyo, who had been dead for two decades.
"Is there any indication on where Shino is? We should seek him out before we enter" asked Kakashi, wary of the fact that the Aburame had chosen to observe as opposed to returning to the group.
"That won't be necessary" came a voice from outside the group.
To their credit, every single one of them had their weapons and techniques prepared, which only caused the speaker amusement, though you could never tell from his covered face. Shino appeared from beneath the group, slowly pulling himself out from the ground before regarding the group behind dark sunglasses. He had covered up his face even more, and his coat had gotten larger to accompany a growing frame. They sighed at his entrance, putting away their weaponry as Shino began to give his report.
"At present, the village is unsecure. There is a large force of shinobi currently occupying the ruins of the village."
"Who are they?" asked Naruto, suddenly angry that someone was desecrating his mother's home.
Shino reached into his jacket and pulled out a forehead protector, showing the musical note on its metal plate to the group. At the edge of the group Shizune tensed up immediately, but Shino indicated he wasn't done yet.
"There is one more thing. My insects overheard some of the Sound shinobi talking. They have some shinobi from Konoha as their prisoners in their home village."
Author's Note:
Things in the story will be moving on quicker now, as there are things later in the story that I am dying to write. Yes, Naruto and Hinata's relationship has progressed somewhat quickly in the months between chapters, but when two people are that close for so long, things develop. Just a forewarning, there are no sex scenes in this story. I'm not saying there won't be the action, or who it will be with, it just won't be written down in detail. The best things are left up to the imagination after all.
Please review and tell me what you think. I try to reply to each review, and believe me I read them all. Tell me what can be improved, what you liked, what you didn't, everything. I'm a writer so I'm always open to criticism.
Anime Spotlight: Full Metal Alchemist. Easily my second favourite story, of all time. The action scenes are fantastic, the characters of Ed and Al are fascinating, and the story itself is so intriguing. I recommend watching both Full Metal Alchemist and Full Metal Alchemist Brotherhood. I liked the deviated story in the original; even if it didn't follow the manga it held its own. I'm probably preaching to the crowd, but if you haven't seen this, you simply must.