What's up guys and girls! It has been a little while hasn't it? I promise that this was not intentional! My computer decided that it didn't want to work anymore and I have been working to fix it for the past few weeks. Luckily, I got it up and running and am going to start pumping chapters out once again! I appreciate the positive reviews and I hope that the time gap hasn't driven any of you away! Without any more distractions, onto the story!
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto and am not planning on making any kind of monetary profit from this story!
XXXXX
'Thoughts'
"Speech"
'Biju thoughts'
"Biju speech"
XXXXX The Sage Summoners of Konoha XXXXX
Three days had passed. Three long, stressful, irritating days. Naruto turned away from the edge of the bridge and looked over at Sasuke and Sakura and just shook his head. Ever since Naruto had run into Haku in the woods, Team Seven had been on guard duty. The bridge was almost complete and they knew that if Zabuza was going to make a move, it was going to be soon. The problem was, they hadn't made that move yet.
"Naruto! Hurry up and come here." Naruto turned and started to walk over when a mist started to appear on the bridge.
"Naruto! Get Kakashi-sensei!" Sakura sounded distressed.
Nodding to himself, Naruto focused on the clone that he had left with Kakashi and had it dispel. After dispelling the clone, Naruto ran over to Tazuna and the rest of Team Seven as they took up their basic defensive formation.
"Sasuke can you smell anything different?"
After their training exercise the other day, they had each realized that they excelled in different areas. Sasuke had a much stronger sense of smell, Naruto had a stronger sense of hearing, and Sakura had the best sense of touch. Sasuke frowned and shook his head.
"Nothing that's not normal. How about the pulse?" Naruto nodded and slowly let out a steady pulse of chakra. He closed his eyes and focused. As the pulse rippled out across the bridge, Naruto felt two presences under the bridge. "Sakura, they are under the bridge, is there any way for you to get an exact location for us?" Sakura smiled. She reached down with her hand and used a similar pulse that Naruto used, but instead of allowing hers to stretch out, she tailored hers into the general direction Naruto had said they were in.
Sakura frowned. "They are right below us. They are most likely planning an ambush."
They all looked at each other and smirked. This excited them and they knew that they were ready. Sakura looked at Naruto and smiled. "I think its time for the Charlie maneuver."
And with that, the battle for the bridge had begun!
XXXXX Zabuza and Haku, Under the Bridge
Zabuza and Haku hung under the bridge silently. As they stood there Zabuza went through the hand signs and unleashed his Kirigakure no jutsu. As the fog slowly rose to encompass the bridge, Zabuza signed to Haku. He saw Haku nod and the two of them split into different directions heading for the top of the bridge. Zabuza silently made his way towards the bridge builder when he saw the genin in their triangle formation, same as when they had first met. 'Ha, this will be too easy'
"You brats should have taken my advice when I told you to leave. One last chance, leave now and I may let you live." He saw the three Genin ready themselves and he felt himself grin. "Wouldn't have it any other way. Prepare to die fools."
Zabuza sprung high into the air and landed directly in the middle of the team. "Goodbye!" Zabuza swung with all of his might but a few things happened just as his sword hit the bridge builder. The first was that the Genin team disappeared into smoke, signaling that they were just clones, solid ones at that. The next was that as the sword went through Tazuna, he too disappeared in a cloud of smoke. The final thing to happen was that several elemental shuriken started to fly at him from inside the fog and smoke.
Zabuza dodged as best as he could but he was nicked several times by wind shuriken, due to the extended range they typically had. As he backpedaled, Haku came over to him and stood in a combat stance. He looked straight ahead and saw the Genin team approaching him without the bridge builder. 'Fooled by a bunch of Genin... How embarrassing.'
"Have to hand it to you brats, did not see the clones coming. Whose brilliant idea was that?" He watched to see who would speak up. Zabuza was in no mood to fool around. He had underestimated these children and could have paid the price if they had more lethal techniques. He was going to take out the leader of this group and destroy the morale. Then he would most likely have to torture one of them to see where the builder was.
No response from the group came and he sighed. "So much for being civil then eh?"
"We are past being civil with you Zabuza." Zabuza looked on with annoyance as Kakashi shunshined over to where his team was. "Now, Gatous thugs have been taken care of, Tazuna and his family are being guarded by my clones and Narutos. You stand no chance of winning. Back down now and we will let you walk away from this."
Zabuza started to laugh. Then it turned a bit hysteric. "Oh that is rich! Well let me tell you something Kakashi; You are all going to die. Haku, take care of the Genin. Come help me when you are done." With that Zabuza rushed Kakashi.
XXXXX Team Seven vs Haku
As Zabuza and Kakashi clashed, Haku slowly walked towards Team Seven . Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura all tensed. This was not going to be an easy fight.
"So do we have a plan at all? Or are we going in blind because I am okay with winging it." He watched Sakura sigh and Sasuke smirk.
"Naruto, just don't go off the wall alright? We need each other to beat this person. We need to see what they are capable of and we can go off of that." Naruto nodded and he and Sasuke rushed Haku. As they approached him however, ice needles suddenly shot out of the mist and hit them in the legs, tripping them both up and landing them on their faces.
"You three are foolish to interfere with Zabuzas plan. I am sorry but I am going to have to dispose of you now." Haku quickly made hand seals and unleashed a torrent of water at the three of them. Naruto and Sasuke took direct hits, pushing them further back on the bridge. Sakura had the sense to jump over it and landed a few feet from Haku.
"We fight because it is our mission to protect Tazuna! Why would you guys willingly help Gatou cripple a nation? That makes no sense to me." She watched as Haku bristled at her words.
"You know nothing about Zabuza! You know nothing of what we have had to endure! I wouldn't expect some fresh genin to understand the world. It is a cruel place out here. If you don't protect the ones you love, you will lose them. Once you are alone, this world is a hell." Haku took out senbon from his pouch and got into a fighting stance. As he did so Naruto and Sasuke ran up to Sakura. Sakura looked over at Naruto and Sasuke and nodded to each as they rushed Haku together.
XXXXX Kakashi vs Zabuza
Kakashi ducked underneath Zabuzas swing and jumped back, panting. This was not an easy fight. Zabuza was even more aggressive than he had been during their first fight. He had not resorted to any of his techniques but seemed hell bent on cleaving him in two with his sword. Kakashi dodged yet another swing and kicked Zabuza in the stomach, driving him back afterwords with some kunai swings.
"You realize that this is pointless? What does Gatou have on you that is making you do all of his dirty work?" Zabuza growled and proceeded to launch a fury of swings. Kakashi had a hard time keeping up and when the assault was close to its end, Zabuza slashed Kakashi across the chest. Kakashi backed up swiftly, holding his new wound.
"You say pointless, I say means to an end. I am using Gatou to further my own goals. I'm sure you know of my coup d'etat, how I failed. I will go back and finish what I started but I need money, man power, and political backing. Gatou has all of those and all he wants is this bridge builder dead. You are trying to tell me that one old man is worth more than a whole country of people? I am a demon Kakashi, but I love my country." Zabuza snarled and rushed Kakashi again. As he ran however, he held his hands up and the mist suddenly got thicker, hiding his movements from Kakashi.
'Not good...' As he tried to formulate a plan, Zabuza appeared in front of him. He kicked out as he jumped back, but Zabuza continued to go after him. Kakashi reached up to his hitai-ate, pushing it up. Time seemed to slow down as the Sharingan came into play. Zabuzas swing was aimed at his head, but Kakashi knew where it was. Leaning back almost to the bridge, Kakashi put his hands behind his head and leaned into it. As he did this, the blade went right past him, leaving Zabuza wide open. Kakashi lifted both his legs and delivered a double kick right into Zabuzas face, landing on his feet after he did so.
Kakashi moved swiftly towards Zabuza in an attempt to disarm him. As he got to where he should have landed however, he was gone.
"I really hate this mist..."
XXXXX Team Seven vs Haku
"Damn it!" Naruto roared as he swung at Haku once again. He was taking on all three of them at once and none of them got to hit him. To be fair, Haku wasn't hitting them either, focusing more on dodging than attacking. As they clashed briefly, Haku jumped back and stayed crouching.
"I'm afraid it is now time for me to end this. None of you have the speed necessary to escape my next technique." Team Seven prepared themselves but were utterly surprised when a huge dome of mirrors appeared around them. Even worse for them was that Haku appeared in every single mirror.
"No one has lived through the Makyo Hyosho (Demonic mirroring ice crystals). I am sorry but as I said, this is now over." They saw all of the Hakus take out senbon and start to throw them out rapidly. Team Seven did the best that they could but no matter where they tried to block, senbon found their way and hit them. They felt their movements becoming sluggish, their reaction times dropping, and they slowly started to lose consciousness.
"Start pulling the senbon out if you can! We need to melt these mirrors!" Sasuke was having a hard time standing as he yelled to his teammates. He flashed through the hand seals and unleashed a Katon: Goukakyuu no jutsu. As the fireball hit the mirrors, Sasuke was dismayed to see that it had no effect. Naruto and Sakura moved closer to Sasuke and prepared Katon: Shuriken in their hands. Sasuke could see Haku moving but he needed to slow him down somehow! As he saw Haku prepare another barrage, something happened. Time seemed to slow down! He saw Haku move to the mirror directly to their left and realized that he hadn't made clones, he was moving faster than they could normally see!
He wasted no time making his own Katon: Shuriken and throwing it to his left, right at the real Haku. To his great pleasure, the Shuriken hit Haku right in the mask as he came out of the mirror, scorching his mask and sending him back into the mirror reeling.
"I can track his movements! Prepare your Katon: Shuriken and wait for my signal." He saw Naruto and Sakura prepare them and step forward. As they did though, Sasuke saw something. Haku was aiming right for Naruto! He saw the way he was aiming and it was right for the throat! Sasuke didn't know why but his body was just automatically moving as he pushed Naruto out of the way and was hit with a barrage of senbon.
Naruto flopped forward as he was pushed but instantly got up to see if Sasuke was okay. The sight he saw made his heart drop. Sasuke stood their with his arms limp, eyes glossing over. Naruto and Sakura rushed to his side both yelling out as he fell.
"Sasuke! Why did you do that you idiot!" As he spoke to him, the mist around them got noticeably thicker. "I could have taken the hit! You know that I heal faster than you guys!" Naruto had tears forming in his eyes. Haku saw that he had demoralized them and had taken a step out of the mirror towards the fallen Genin.
Sasuke looked over to Naruto and gave him an honest smile. "I did it to protect you I don't know why I did I just moved. Make sure you and Sakura...beat...him...," as Sasuke spoke he suddenly went limp.
Naruto went white with rage. He felt something bubbling up within himself and suddenly, chakra exploded from him. Sakura was thrown backwards as the chakra pooled around Naruto like a protective coat. Naruto started to scream in rage as the chakra overloaded his senses. He looked ahead and all he saw was Haku. Naruto lunged forward at a speed that Haku could not follow and slammed his fist into the boys mask. As the mask shattered, so too did the mirrors around him. Haku was so caught off guard that he couldn't even roll as he flopped across the bridge like a rag doll. Naruto felt the power surging through him and slowly walked towards Haku. He was going to make the boy pay.
XXXXX Kakashi vs Zabuza
Kakashi and Zabuza both froze as they felt an overwhelming chakra burst forth from where the kids were fighting. Kakashi felt the chakra and started to panic. 'Oh kami no. Please tell me the seal didn't break? No not broken but activated... I need to end this now'
"Zabuza I hate to spoil your fun but I have to end this now." Kakashi pulled out a scroll, sliding his blood along it as he unrolled it. He held the scroll in his mouth as he went through the hand seals.
"Kuchiyose:Doton: Tsuiga no jutsu!(Summoning:Earth Release:Tracking fang technique)"
Zabuza had heard Kakashis claim and scoffed at it. The fight would end when he decided it would and he had decided right then and there that it was time. As he went to rush Kakashi, he heard something odd. The sound got louder and louder and before he knew it, he was begin held by several dogs that had burst out of the ground. They latched onto his legs, arms, and shoulders, holding him down. He frowned as he felt the Kirigakure no jutsu slipping.
"Its over Zabuza. Your future is death." Kakashi flashed through hand seals and held his right hand down with his left as lightning formed over his hand. Kakashi started at a light jog, but proceeded into a full sprint with full intent on killing Zabuza. The fight was over.
XXXXX Naruto vs Haku
Naruto stalked towards Haku with malice in his eyes. He didn't just want to hurt Haku, he wanted to kill him, maim him. He rushed towards Haku and slammed his fist into his gut as he lay on the ground. The boy let out a scream as Naruto continued to lay into him, ending the vicious combo with a kick to the ribs that sent him flying. Haku tried to stand but was only able to rise to a knee, coughing up blood as he did so.
"Kill me. I have failed as a tool. Zabuza doesn't need a broken tool." Naruto stopped just feet away as Haku spoke. He looked down at him and he frowned as a hint of sadness came over him.
"You are more than a tool Haku, why would you think otherwise?"
Haku sighed. "Zabuza saved me. He told me he had no use for anything but a tool that would serve him loyally. I have failed in that regard so therefore I am now useless. So please, kill me so that I do not have to face that shame" Naruto pulled out a kunai and out it to Hakus throat. He held it there for a moment, not sure what to do.
" I killed your friend! Why won't you do it? He died to protect you and you can't even avenge him?" Haku saw Naruto slowly get more and more angered. He smiled, it was working. Just as Naruto was about to slash Hakus throat, they both heard what sounded like chirping birds. They turned to see Kakashi rushing towards an immobile Zabuza. Hakus eyes went wide as he pushed his body to move. Haku rose quickly and headed for Zabuza. Naruto let out a gasp and saw her going to where Kakashi was. Naruto did not know that he was planning on sacrificing himself to save Zabuza however. He thought that Haku was attacking Kakashi. Without thinking, Naruto let loose his kunai aiming right behind Hakus knee. Narutos aim was true, just before Haku was able to intercept the Raikiri, the kunai hit Haku right behind the left knee and he collapsed just feet from where Kakashi stood, with a Raikiri through Zabuzas chest.
"NO!" Haku let out a guttural, primal yell as he started to sob hysterically. Haku rolled around on the ground as he tried to come to terms with what he just saw. Zabuzas body fell to the ground as the ninja dogs disappeared. Haku slowly dragged his body over to where Zabuza was. He climbed over his chest and looked into his eyes, despair slowly taking over his heart. They were lifeless. Haku let out a pitiful moan as he sank into Zabuzas arm and cried his heart out.
Kakashi sighed as he watched the boy, feeling a nagging sense of guilt building up within him. This boy was the last of his problems however. Turning around, he ran in his teams direction to see what had happened. As Kakashi approached Naruto he saw the boy kneeling on the ground looking down. Naruto looked up at him and he saw that he was crying.
"Kakashi-sensei, I didn't know we had to kill them. I mean I know that that is our job but," Naruto struggled with the words, not knowing what to say. Kakashi leaned down and put an arm on his shoulder.
"We are ninja Naruto. We deal in pain, misery, and death. We have our mission and they had theirs. Its not personal, but we couldn't let them kill Tazuna. You know what was at stake here. This is your first time seeing death, but just know that it gets easier to deal with over time."
Naruto nodded and looked back at Sasuke. Sakura had gotten back to his side after she had been flung away by Narutos chakra. Kakashi and Naruto walked over to where Sasuke was and knelt by his side. Naruto felt tears welling up in his eyes, feeling that it was his fault.
"Good...job..."
Naruto and Sakura both were gaping like fish as they looked down and saw Sasuke with one eye barely open smirking.
"Sasuke!" Naruto and Sakura both jumped on the poor boy as they proceeded to smother him, being a tad bit over zealous seeing how he couldn't move.
Kakashi gave them the infamous eye smile as he looked on with pride. First C rank mission and it ended up being an A rank... What a way to truly kick off their careers. This pride was short lived however, as the temperature suddenly dropped, bordering on freezing. Kakashi turned and got into a fighting stance. Kakashi was taken aback by what he saw in front of him. Haku rose silently from Zabuzas corpse, Kubikiribocho in hand, surrounded by what looked like frost. A light colored mist surrounded Haku, he was visibly struggling with the weight of Kubikiribocho. He picked up his head and looked right at Kakashi. The sight continued to shock him.\
"No more. I will be caring no more. If I had listened to Zabuza and simply killed your Teamhe would still be alive and you would all be dead. I will never make that mistake again. I only have one purpose in life now. That is to avenge Zabuza. You will die Kakashi, and it will be by my hand, with this blade."
Just as it seemed Haku was going to rush him, they heard the sound of clapping. They all turned to the far side of the bridge and saw Gatou with what looked like hundreds of men. The little man had a grin on his face, and started to laugh.
" Well, well, well. Look what we have here boys! Looks to me like a group of ninja ripe for the killing! Ha ha ha ha ha... Looks like your boy Zabuza there couldn't hold up his end of the bargain. Therefore, your contract is canceled. Oh, and we'll be killing you and taking his sword too. I need a trophy to remember you by."
Gatou proceeded to laugh and laugh and laugh, until the temperature dropped below freezing. Haku was visibly shaking as he tried to hold back what was happening. When he looked up, Gatou saw glowing frost blue eyes staring back, and he suddenly regretted what he had just said. Haku took a step forward, ignoring Team Seven , hoisting Kubikiribocho over his shoulder as he did so.
"Gatou, you miserable, insane, greedy, unfortunate fuck! You will die on this bridge, and I will personally chop you into pieces." Haku wasted no time, pulling out a handful of senbon and throwing them right at the group that had gathered. Five men fell to the ground with a needle directly through their iris. Gatou took a step back, five more men died. He turned to run and Haku appeared right in front of him.
"I am your executioner, filth."
Gatou started to speak but was cut short when Haku slammed the blade right onto his skull, and through his body. The two pieces of Gatou slid off in both directions as a mass of blood splattered onto Haku. The men around Haku looked visibly panicked as Haku licked the blood on his cheek.
Haku chuckled. "Too greasy for my taste." And with that, the Nami no Kuni massacre began.
Team Seven looked on in horror as the once soft boy proceeded to become a monster. Haku wasted no time after killing Gatou and had begun swinging his blade with gusto. Man after man fell, with no end in sight the rest of the group had tried to gang up on him. What happened was truly astounding. The mist that had surrounded Haku began to freeze any man who got too close to him. They would slow down, freeze in place, and then turn to ice. A truly fearsome ability. As the fight came to an end, Haku seemed exhausted. He finished the last man and instantly jumped over the bridge and disappeared from sight.
Kakashi sighed. That was one more enemy to add to the list. He picked up Sasuke and motioned for his team to follow him. Their mission was still active, but it was almost over. They could afford to relax. Kakashi sighed again as they walked. Life was getting interesting again.
XXXXX Nami no Kuni, Bridge of Hope
It had been one week since the fight with Haku and Zabuza, and the bridge was finally complete. Tazuna and his family, along with the rest of the village stood at the entrance to the bridge to see Team Seven off safely. Naruto and the others stood in front of Tazuna, smiles and grins on their face.
"You three, thank you so much for your dedication and effort in helping us. There is a debt here that can never be paid. Now, I've prepared a little gift for the three of you." Tazuna snapped his fingers and a box was brought up to him. He took and and turned towards the three. "We are still very poor, something we will remedy soon, but we have scrounged up some things and made you these."
Tazuna opened the box and inside were three rather mediocre kunai. They were not normal kunai however. They were made in the shape of an anchor, wrapped in a red cloth for the handle with a chain design on the cloth.
"Consider this the first thank you that we can give you. We hope that whenever you see those you will think of us." Tazuna then bowed very respectfully, as did the rest of the village.
Naruto grabbed his as Sasuke and Sakura grabbed theirs. They held it and felt how it was very well balanced. They smiled together and put it into their pouches. Then they too bowed respectfully. Naruto looked over and saw Inari crying. As they made eye contact, Inari hid himself away. Naruto walked over and pulled him out.
"You know it's actually a good thing to cry when you're happy! It means that whatever happened really made a difference in your life. Never forget that!" Inari smiled and just nodded as he wiped away some left over tears.
Kakashi looked at his team and smiled to himself. 'Time to go.'
"Alright I hate to do this but we've got a bit of trip guys." Team Seven joined their sensei and the four of them proceeded to walk away from the bridge, back towards Konoha. They waved as they walked and after a few minutes they were out of sight.
Tazuna turned to his village and grinned. "You know, I never gave the bridge a name..."
Inari lit up like a light and smiled. " I know what we can call it! We should call it the Great Naruto Bridge!"
The were murmurs behind them, nodding in agreement. Tazuna smiled. "It's settled then! The Great Naruto Bridge! Now come on! We still have a lot of work to do!" Tazuna smiled as he looked at his people. They were happy. This truly was what they needed. 'Naruto, Sasuke, Sakura, this debt will never be forgotten. I promise."
XXXXX Team Seven , Konoha three days later
Kakashi sighed as Konoha came into sight. Three terribly boring days on the road. They had kept at a rather decent pace, but his team wanted to keep training, to keep getting stronger. While he applauded their tenacity internally, the constant breaks had extended their trip another day. He hadn't taught them anything too serious, just some basic tracking and how to hide their tracks themselves. They ate the training up and had asked for more but he had to tell them no. He shook his head. He knew he was going to make them strong but at the rate they were going, they would be Jounin before they were sixteen.
They walked through the gates and saw Konoha's famous gatekeepers. Kamizuki Izumo and Hagane Kotetsu. Izumo looked like a typical Chunin, wearing the typical flak jacket and dark blue pants and shirt. His brown hair was combed down and covered his right eye, as well as having a bandanna style hitai-ate. Kotetsu was dressed similarly, but had spiky black hair and wore a normal hitai-ate. The two greeted Team Seven and smiled.
"Yo Kakashi! What's up? You have a Genin team now?" Kotetsu sounded incredulous. Izumo just smiled. "It's about time you took a team Kakashi. Hope to see them become strong defenders of Konoha."
Kakashi nodded. "Team Seven reporting back from their C-rank turned A-rank mission." Kakashi just barely hid his giddiness as the two of them both looked at his team like they were a rare issue one Icha-Icha paradise.
Izumo whistled low. "Well I'll be damned. First A-rank after only being a ninja for what, a month? Two? Man, you kids are starting out early. The Hokage was expecting you four two days ago. Hes expecting you." Kakashi nodded and ushered his kids forward.
"Kakashi sensei who was that?" Naruto looked back briefly to see the two cracking up at something.
"Those two are the eternal gate keepers of Konoha. Kamizuki Izumo, and Hagane Kotetsu. Whenever you come back from a mission you are to check in with them so that they can keep track of who is in the village. Unless something extremely dire has happened, you should never ignore them."
Naruto nodded to himself and fell quiet as they made their way to the Hokage's Tower. As they went through the doorway, he saw that things seemed busier than normal. Shrugging it off, he continued to follow until they came to the mission hall. The Hokage made it a point to assign the lower ranked missions himself at least once a week. He felt that it was an obligation.
Kakashi walked up to him and bowed as he handed over a scroll. "Team Seven reporting back from their C-rank turned A-rank mission." The Hokage's eye brows rose as he read the scroll.
"Team Seven, you have served this village admirably and will receive a bonus equivalent to the risk this mission entailed. No Genin should have to fight multiple missing nin on their first mission out of the village. As such, I will be giving you one weeks leave to do with as you please." The Hokage handed a scroll over to the Chunin to his right who went over to the vault and pulled out four envelopes. He then handed them to each member of Team Seven before bowing and going back to his paperwork.
"That is an A-rank mission pay, as well as an extra B-rank worth of pay for the circumstances. This will be recorded on your record as an A-rank mission as well as a B-rank mission. Amazing work, all of you. Oh, Naruto, why don't you take your team and go get some ramen on me. I need to speak to Kakashi for a few moments." Naruto looked up with an awestruck face and just nodded as he walked out the door, looking at his paycheck. Sasuke and Sakura just sighed and followed him out.
"Kakashi, meet me in my office." The Hokage proceeded to shunshin out of the room, Kakashi not far behind him.
XXXXX With Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura
Naruto proceeded to gulp down his fifteenth bowl of ramen as Sasuke and Sakura looked on with horror. He slammed it down and let out a sigh of delight.
"Awe man! I don't remember the last time I had ramen! Old man, let me get one more bowl, put it on the Hokage's tab!" Teuchi grinned and slammed another bowl in front of him. "Of course! Anything for my favorite customer!"
Sasuke just looked on with amusement and bewilderment. He had never seen someone eat as much as Naruto just had. Sakura however, looked on with a different feeling in her gut. She had waited long enough. She needed to ask Naruto what that chakra was on the bridge.
"Naruto, can I ask you something?" Naruto stopped mid slurp and look at her. " O...f c...ursh Sha...kura." Sakura sighed. " Finish your food first please! Hasn't anyone ever taught you any manners?"
Naruto finished his bowl and looked at Sakura. "What's up?" Sakura took a deep breath and looked him dead in the eye. "What was the chakra that you used on the bridge? After we thought that Sasuke had died?" She saw Naruto stiffen immediately.
"I, uh, can't tell you about that." Sakura let her mouth hand open in shock slightly. "We are friends Uzumaki Naruto! You don't keep secrets form your friends!" Naruto frowned but seemed to mull it over in his head. "I can't tell you here. Lets head to my apartment and I will explain it there." Sakura nodded she and Sasuke followed Naruto out of Ichiraku.
Naruto was sweating bullets. He hadn't realized that Sakura had seen his burst of anger. Now he had to think of a way to explain it without revealing that he was a Jinchuuriki. As he walked up to his apartment, Naruto noticed that his door was opened! Rushing forward, Naruto saw that his landlord was packing up all of his things!
"Oi! What the hell are you doing? I still live here!" Naruto was about to explode. He did not have much to call his own and this asshole was packing it up like it was junk!"
The man turned around and had the decency to look embarrassed. "I uh, thought you were gone. You haven't paid your rent in three months so I assumed that you were not coming back." He scratched the back of his head and chuckled.
Naruto was seeing red. "Gone? Three months? The Hokage pays my rent! And where did you put all of my clothes? My pictures? My goggles? What the hell!" Naruto took a step towards the man, malicious intent quite obvious.
The landlord put his hands up. "Hey, hey, hey! Easy now! The Hokage hasn't paid your rent since you became a ninja. Told me himself that it was time for you to take on more responsibility. Don't take it out on me! Go see him and get the details. I threw your jumpsuits away. The regular t-shirts and shorts are in the box in the corner, and the box on top of that is where all of your other belongings are. Sorry to tell you, but you don't live here anymore. You knew the policy. Two months no rent, you get evicted. I even gave you an extra month. Sorry kid, you have to take your stuff and go. I'm renovating." With that, the man proceeded to ignore Naruto and go back to cleaning the apartment.
Naruto stood there slack jawed. He was homeless. That was a first. He walked over to his boxes of stuff and grabbed the two small boxes and walked out the door, walking right past Sakura and Sasuke as he did.
"Naruto, you have to tell us!" Sakura went to grab him but he just kept walking, looking at the ground as he walked. "Naruto?" He turned briefly.
"I don't live here anymore. I've been evicted. I have to go find a place to live." Sakura looked shocked. Even Sasuke had a vague look of surprise on his face.
"Why did you get kicked out?" Sakura seemed to have forgotten about the question she had wanted to ask.
Naruto shrugged. "Old man forgot to tell me I had to pay my own rent and I haven't paid in three months. So now I have to go see if I can find a place to stay."
Sasuke snorted. Naruto rounded on him. "What? You think this is funny? I am homeless you ass! What the hell am I supposed to do? I thought you were a friend damn it."
Sasuke frowned. "You do have a place to stay. You can stay in the compound with me until you can afford your own house. Ass." He stood there, arms crossed, with a smug look on his face as Naruto floundered with something to say.
Naruto sighed, and then smiled. "Thank you." Sasuke just nodded and they started off towards the Uchiha compound, Naruto now quite happy that he wasn't homeless.
XXXXX
Kakashi stood in front of the Hokage in his office, a wave of nostalgia washed over him. This felt too much like business; like it used to feel when he was the Anbu Captain. He looked the Hokage in the eye and realized that this was business, and by the look on the Hokage's face, serious business.
"I'm sure you're wondering why you are here Kakashi. Well there is a very serious matter that I need attended to and you're one of the only people I can trust with this." Hiruzen turned slightly and snapped his fingers. Kakashi looked to the corner where there was a shimmer and out stepped Jiraiya of the Sannin. Jiraiya smiled and nodded to Kakashi as he stood next to the Sandaime.
Kakashi looked at the two of them. "Alright, whats going on? The last time Jiraiya was here was years ago. What happened?" The two men looked at each other and Hiruzen motioned for Jiraiya to explain.
Jiraiya took a deep breath and sighed. "Alright, here's the gist of it. There is a political party that has formed here in Hi no Kuni. They call themselves the True Sons of Fire, and spout nonsense of fire cleansing them and how they are going to help cleanse this country of those who are impure. The thing is, they're actually a huge hit with the civilian population. They are slowly infiltrating the smaller courts around the country, and before long, will begin to bid for some of the more powerful positions. They are being backed by some extremely wealthy and shady people. I could only trace one of their benefactors and it led me back to a now deceased Gatou. I believe you two had met no?"
Kakashi was shocked. "What does this mean for me? Why does the musings of a civilian group bother you so much? It doesn't sound like they've been trying anything lately."
Jiraiya shook his head. "No, I have found evidence, and traced it back to one of my sources, that they also have ninja. They have been recruiting from our village and whatever missing nin they can find. That means that as of right now, Konoha has moles, and we don't know how many there really are. This means that this group is not just planning on taking the Daimyos portion of Hi no Kuni, but ours as well. As I said, they have the masses support as of right now. Or they are building it up I should say. The problem we have is that there are rumors that Orochimaru is somehow involved with this group. If he is, that could very well mean that he is going to make his bid on Konoha."
"Okay, that's all well and good, but what is my role here?"
The Sandaime spoke first. "Power play. We have to let these cultists understand that we are not to be trifled with. This is typically a type of mission Danzo would have handled back during the Third Great War, but we are not graced with his Root ninja as of right now." The Sandaime took out a scroll and passed it to Kakashi, who took it with not so eager hands.
He opened it and skimmed the details. Eye going wide, he looked at the Hokage incredulously.
"Assassination? When is the last time Konoha felt the need to assassinate anyone?"
The Sandaime just sighed. "This man is the only link that we have to this group. Yoshihiro Kiro is an influential man in the south of Hi no Kuni. He has valuable information that will lead us to more of this group. You have one week to find this man, extract the vital information he has, kill him, and get back to Konoha. This is not an optional mission. On such short notice, you are one of the few people that I can trust. No flashy techniques. They are not to know who you are, but leave this on the body." The Sandaime handed Kakashi a silver leaf.
"That is used by many a mercenary group around Hi no Kuni to let those close to the deceased know that their loved one was killed by someone important. It isn't a direct link, but they will figure it out."
Kakashi sighed. "What about my team? They need to keep training or they will try something stupid."
Jiraiya grinned. "Don't worry Kakashi! I will take care of your cute little Genin while you're gone. Teach some of the basics, save their lives, you know, the good stuff." Jiraiya gave him a cheeky grin, Kakashi just shook his head.
"Kakashi, do not fail me on this. This is bigger than just Konoha right now. Go! And let the Will of Fire guide you." Kakashi nodded and shunshined out, not sure how this was going to play out.
The Sandaime sighed. "You think he will be okay? It has been quite some time since hes had a mission like this."
Jiraiya shrugged. "He has to be capable of handling it or we are all in trouble. Where are the kiddies anyway? I figured I might as well go see Naruto."
Hiruzen took out his crystal ball and pumped his chakra into it. Right away he saw Naruto unpacking a few boxes into a spare room of Uchiha Sasukes home. This caught him by surprise.
"Uchiha compound. Im sure you can find him. Oh, and Jiraiya? Nothing dangerous please. I don't need Kakashi attacking me when he gets back because you endangered his Genin."
Jiraiya laughed. "No promises!" And with that, he had jumped through the window and was off.
Hiruzen sighed, taking out his pipe and packing it perfectly. After lighting it he took a puff and sat back. He felt his years now more than ever. He really needed to find someone to replace him. He mulled Jiraiya around in his head but decided that he didn't want it. 'Oh well. I guess the hat is mine for a little while longer.'
XXXXX
Well damn I have been gone longer than I had hoped! I once again apologize for my extended absence and hope that it doesn't happen again! About this chapter, it was actually quite difficult to me to write. It had been a little while and I am trying to get down my writing style. So, sorry if it seems choppy or all over the place. If you have any advice, let me know in a review! As always, constructive criticism is the best way to grow as a writer. Until next time!
-D.K
Jutsu list
Kuchiyose:Doton: Tsuiga no jutsu (Summoning:Earth Release:Tracking fang technique)
Suiton: Kirigakure no jutsu (Hidden Mist technique)