Of course the next D- rank has to be catching Tora. Oh god.
"Sasuke at point B"
"Im Sakura at point C"
"Naruto here at point A!"
A black shadow suddenly bolted, jumping over bushes and stumps. "The target has moved" Kakashi voices over the comms.
"On it!"
"How far away is the target?"
Naruto peaked behind the tree. "Still not close enough!"
"I am." Sasuke whispers. "Target is six metres away."
"Alright Sasuke, go!" Kakashi verbalises, still giving emphasis even with his bored tone, and Sasuke jumps at Tora silently, arms reaching out to grab her. However Tora slips straight out of Sasuke's grasp, running back into the forest.
"Oh, seriously? We've been chasing her for the past twenty minutes, only for you to fail to grab her!" Naruto appears from behind the tree, an extremely frustrated look marring his face.
"Naruto" Kakashi chimes in, "Tora is getting away. You can get angry all you want later, because you still have to catch that cat. "
"Oh, come on! couldn't have there been A MISSION WITH A GREATER SENSE OF URGENCY?! " Naruto shouts through the comms, effectively wrecking Kakashi's ear, and causing Kozima to immediately clasp his hands over his sensitive ears, easily able to hear it from Kakashi's com.
When the ringing in Kakashi's ear subsides, he glances over to Kozima... Who looks like he's about to punch whatever's closest to him. Kakashi doesn't want to be the unlucky target, so he stands up, making sure he's at least a few metres away.
"I'm getting the cat this time. I'm closest, only 5 metres away. I can go any second. " Naruto hisses into the comms.
"then.. go!"
With a shout, Naruto jumps at the cat, Sakura and Sasuke hot on his heels. He grabs Tora, holding her firmly so that she doesn't escape a second time.
"Target acquired, finally. " Sakura informs Kakashi.
"Does the target have a ribbon on her ear?"
"yup."
Kakashi and Kozima enter the clearing a split second before Tora decides to claw Naruto's face, trying to escape. All that Tora succeeds is causing Naruto to fall to the ground yelping and Kozima grabbing her away from the boy.
'Not today, and not any other day Tora. ' Kozima thinks as he holds Tora at arms length, the cat hissing and howling without a break. Sasuke helps Naruto up from the ground, Naruto groans.
"I'm never taking this mission ever again. Not with that devil cat. "
"I wonder what caused her to run away?" Sakura wonders as Kozima decides to pass the howling cat over to Kakashi who refuses somewhat politely.
He still gets the cat.
Well, Sakura's question is answered when they headed back to the tower, Madam Shijimi ready to accept her lost cat. They managed to complete their mission with minor inconveniences; sure, Kakashi looks more scratched up than Naruto, but other than that everything was great.
"Serves her right. " Naruto says as he watches Tora try and scramble for her life as her owner practically smothers her.
"Poor cat, no wonder she ran away" Sakura sympathises while she also watches the struggling feline.
"You know, I know next to nothing about you. Well, apart from the fact that you're Naruto's cousin, of course." Sakura observes as they walk to a neighbouring country. Sakura had never thought that baby- sitting would be a ninja mission but, here she is.
Sasuke, who's walking on the other side of Kozima also turns his head up to Kozima, and after a few seconds Kozima realises he has all Naruto, Sakura, Sasuke and Kakashi's attention.
"..Well, uh.. My name's Kozima as you already know and.. my fav-"
"Favourite colour is orange. " Kakashi finishes off for him, giving an eye smile. "You still need to work on that. "
Naruto seems to light up when he hears the fact. "You also love orange? Is it, like, an Uzumaki thing? " He asks in wonder.
"I... don't think so, though my mother was a fan of rather bright colours, unlike my father. She's where my Uzumaki genes came from. " Kozima responds, giving a half- grin.
Naruto is silent for a second before asking "Did you know my mother? She's your aunt, right? "
Kozima, suddenly uncomfortable, glances over to Kakashi, catching his eye. Kakashi simply shakes his head.
"Sorry, Naruto. I've never met your mother, but I've seen pictures. She's beautiful, looks a lot like you. " She does- well, he grows into the look more when he ages, and grows out if looking like a mini- Minato, as some people say. The red hair he gained really removed something that he represented from his father, though his bright blue eyes still remain.
Naruto grins, imagining his mother. "She's obviously as cool as me, Uzumaki's are the best, y'know! Which is why i'm going to become Hokage. Believe it! "
Sasuke huffs, evidently disagreeing at the statement 'Uzumaki's are the best'. "Uchiha's founded Konoha. " He remarks, turning his head towards Naruto.
"Uzumaki's did too" Kozima responds with a hesitant smile, and Sasuke turns his gaze back on the red- head. "I think Uchiha's are rather a great clan, even with their dark history. Although, I guess I don't really regard clans differently. A clan is a clan, A family. History and Dojutsu's be damned. "
Sasuke's gaze hardens to something steely. "Dojutsu's aren't something to overlook, specifically the sharingan, and I'll prove it when I get mine. "
Kozima just sighs and gives Sasuke a semi- weary look. It originally took Naruto over five years, along with a series of events to happen for him to manage to get through the Teme. Now he has to do that somehow in months.
Sasuke's always been the more subdued one out of him and his boyfriend. He doesn't love social interaction, prefers to travel (that much is obvious) and allows Kozima to do the friendly talking. He feels like he's done a small switcheroo with Sasuke, gaining his social awkwardness and lack of ability to uphold a friendly social interaction. What's next? He dyes his hair a jet black, puts dark eye contacts in? Maybe get the sasunoo and chidori while he's at it. (not really, of course. He doesn't have the sharingan to either of those. Well, he's not sure about chidori...)
"Sorry, Sakura. The subject got rather side tracked. Though, I have no idea how to answer your question." Kozima turns back to Sakura, a slight apologetic look on his face.
Sakura thinks for a second, placing her hand under her chin as he walks. "Well, why hasn't anyone heard of you? I mean, you're Naruto's cousin. Even he hasn't heard of you before. "
The question has no ill intent, innocent as Kozima once was, but Kozima's eyes widen a smidge, his shoulders tense and all he could hear is Madara's great speech of how the world will forget about Naruto Uzumaki, forget about everyone who fights him.
"Naruto Uzumaki. How long will people to look up to you as their hope, as their inspiration? I've tried so many times to smother the fire in you and others, but it never seems to work, because of you. You're their main source of fire, they relight their sticks from your own heat source. They don't realise that you're starting to lose your own in the process. You will lose your flame, and you will die- and because of that, everyone else will perish along with you, because their main source is gone. Then there will be nobody to remember you. Nobody but me. You'll be with history, and nobody will know of it. There will be nobody to remember you! "
But... he's not wrong. Everyone has forgotten about Naruto. His Naruto.
Is he even Naruto anymore?
".. well Sakura," he begins carefully when he feels Kakashi's eyes bore into him. "I lived in a small cottage with my parents until I was sixteen. I hadn't heard about Naruto at all."
They were all intently listening now.
"How old are you now, Kozima? " Sakura asks.
"twenty three, Sakura. "
"Then.. Naruto was five years old at that time. "
Kozima simply smiles and nods. "Five year olds aren't talked about much, unless they're some kind of God that fell from the sky. "
"Woah! Do you think you think that's happened before? "
"Hold your ramen there, Naruto. " Kakashi says, glancing up from his book. "Sounds like something from a book, not reality. "
"Definitely not from your book. " Kozima pipes up quietly and Sakura wrinkles her nose. "Surely not. I doubt the topic of God babies comes up in a book called 'make out tactics'" She huffs.
You'd be surprised, Kakashi thinks.
"Anyways" she shakes her head to clear it from any thoughts about the last conversation. "What happened after, Kozima? "
Kozima smiles tightly. "Well.. Rouge Kumo nin 'visited' my house while I was away. I guess I came back to dead parents. "
Sakura doesn't seem so enthusiastic to hear about Kozima's past anymore, and she looks like she regrets asking, since Kozima has to go through the experience again by explaining it.
Naruto just looks up to Kozima, an unreadable expression on his face. Well, unreadable for everyone except for Kozima.
Sasuke simply carries on staring at the ground. Right, he's been through the same experience.
"They took me, I guess. Though I obviously made it hard for them. "
"Took you?"
"Put me in chains, all that jazz. "
"Doesn't sound very 'Jazzy' to me" Naruto asservates.
"It wasn't."
Sakura noticeably opens her mouth to ask another question, one that changes the subject, but closes it, afraid it's in the uncomfortable region.
"Yes, Sakura? " Kozima says, not letting her curiosity simply pass by. "You can ask me anything you know."
"Well.. what about the tattoos on your arms? " Sakura asks unsure, giving a pointed look to Kozima's arms.
In turn, Kozima lifts his right arm up. "They're not tattoos, they're seals. They let me to quite a lot of things, such as allow me to seal and unseal items without trouble, everything appearing in my hand. "
"Woah!" responds Naruto, previous feelings shoved away and now stars are practically appearing in his eyes. "What else can they do? "
"Well, I do have particular seals that block my chakra signal. It's extremely helpful against enemies, but not so much when I accidently scare the living crap out of my friends. " The last statement is said with the hand he was previously holding up now rubbing the back of his neck.
"We're here" Kakashi points out. They all sigh. Hopefully baby- sitting won't be terrible.
Terrible was an understatement.
"Lord Hokage. "
Hiruzen inwardly sighs. He's been hoping to delay or, even better, never have this conversation. "Danzo, " He smiles tightly. "How are you? "
Danzo stands in front of him, tall and imposing for most, the cane he uses not disrupting that. "You should know better than anyone why I'm here, Sarutobi. Who is Kozima Uzumaki. "
"He's someone new to the village. He's a civilian, helping out. " Sarutobi vocalises neuterally.
"Civilian? Helping out? You've gotten soft, Hiruzen, you gave him his own house and allowed him to live in Konoha, even as a foreign shinobi. You don't think of consequences. His loyalties lie with the broken village Uzushiogakure. Just having him take off his hitai- ate won't make him loyal to Konoha. " Danzo says, his voice graduate gaining a hint of forcefulness and control as he carries on.
"His loyalties lie with the Uzumaki's, not Uzushio, and as long as Naruto is a Genin, Chunin or Jōnin of Konoha, I doubt Kozima will do harm."
"Yet you still have two Anbu on him at all time. "
"You know it's a precaution Danzo. It was decided by both me and the council for any newcomers that aren't traders. "
"You plan to call them Anbu off soon. "
"In a few weeks time, maybe. "
"You plan on making him a ninja of the leaf."
Sarutobi sighs wearily at the argument they are having. Danzo, his old friend, has grown up to have different views to him, of how the village should be run and the people be treated. He's had to shut down root, something Danzo created that should never have been. He fears that one day, Danzo may take over the hat.
"Danzo, he's only been in the village for two days. I'm not making my decisions so soon and irrationally." Sarutobi mutters, loud enough for Danzo to hear.
"But you are being irrational, Hiruzen. You trust Jiraiya's word too much. He brings in an Uzumaki who we barely have any information on, and suddenly he's a Konoha citizen. He has a house in Konoha, and even though you assigned Kakashi to be another one of Kozima's watchers, he doesn't watch him 24/7. Even if the Uzumaki was watched 24/7, he would easily slip away under your eyes, along with Kakashi and the other Anbu. Hiruzen, his chakra is untraceable. "
Danzo pauses in his rant, his usual frown still in place on his face.
"Danzo I know what you're thinking" Hiruzen starts, "there's no way we can-"
"With all do respect, Lord Hokage, sending him to TI is the best and safest option for the Village and especially your Naruto. Ibiki would be more than happy to interrogate a suspect."
"Danzo that's too far to go for someone we need to trust us."
"Will you say the same thing, when Kozima harms Naruto? Kakashi is assigned to him out of all people, a Jōnin who has a Genin team consisting of the Jinchjuriki and an Uchiha."
"Danzo.."
Danzo wrinkles his nose. "Well, if you aren't going to do anything, so be it. But I won't let a stranger roam around Konoha."
The baby-sitting didn't go too well, long story short. For most of the time, Kozima simply sat, working over a particular seal in his notebook, often having to catch anything that falls off shelves and tables, including Naruto.
He has a plan.
For the Chunin exams.
The Chunin exams were a life changer- they made Naruto's, Sasuke's and Sakura's life turn a whole 180. Some good changes and.. some bad. The attack from Suna and Orochimaru getting into the Village is an event for Kozima to stop.
He's sure he won't be allowed with team 7 to Wave when the time comes. That's fine. He can work with that.
He steps into his small home, and instead of staring down at a seal, he's staring down at a cook book. The Naruto Uzumaki is about to attempt to cook. He usually has Ramen or already prepared food- he's never actually created a dish.
So, he gets to work: wrapping a green apron around his waist and getting out all he needs from the cabinets.
He starts to boil the rice in a pot, while working on Udon noodles in another. He's attempting to make Udon curry with rice.
There's a problem- sure, Kozima's never really cooked much before, but there's meat in this curry. He's never had experience with it apart from the fish he would cook over a fire. He doesn't want to under cook the meat, that'd be nasty.
He sighs, and sets out a chopping board, an onion being placed on top which was being shredded speedily by a clean kunai. Not a Kitchen knife- Kozima doesn't know how to use one. He heats up a pot with oil, adding the onions in not too long later. For two minutes, he stirs it around before adding the meat into the pot. He carries on cooking, waiting for the meat to be barely pink- as it says in the cook book- while also keeping an eye on the rice and noodles. The cook book never said he couldn't do stages at the same time. He just needs more people. At the que, two shadow clones appear with a silent puff of smoke on either side of him.
The meat's no longer pink, and a clone adds sake and dashi, covering the pot with a lid a second later.
Naruto stares down at his homemade Curry Udon with a side of rice, and grins. He actually did it- Which means he can now eat it. He takes the chopsticks apart, digging in. she raises the first mouth full to his mouth and.. It actually tastes good. He didn't make anything poisonous (he hopes not).
Ha, take that Sasuke- and you said you'd have to be the one to do all the cooking because I can't.
And Sage, does the idea of Sasuke cooking along side him make Kozima's chest twinge painfully.
Of course, a result of cooking is washing up. Another reason why he would simply get Ramen. The taste was the main reason though. He places all the dishes into the sink before turning to his two still present shadow clones, that are currently moping over not getting any food.
"You got the dishes, right? "
A cone sighs. "Yep, got it boss. " and pulls on rubber gloves. The other clone disperses, and Kozima unravles the knot of the apron behind his back, taking off the apron and hanging it on a hook.
Sorry for all the slow updating ;-; I'm trying to post more often!