Tazuna introduced team seven to his daughter, Tsunami, who had been perturbed by the appearance of the Muse and worried about the still breathless young blonde. The woman allowed them to bring Kakashi into their house without complaint though, grateful to the shinobi who had protected her father so he could come home.
"Are you alright, sensei?" Tsunami asked the jonin commander of the shinobi politely once the silver haired man was lying down in bed, herself standing over him with her hands on her hips. Naruto was lying down as well, looking exhausted as he came down from the high of the combat drugs Maemi made for him.
"No," Kakashi answered truthfully, "but I will be in a week." he assured.
"That Sharingan was amazing," Sakura mused, kneeling near Kakashi, "but is it worth it if you put so much strain on your body?" she asked, being out of commission for a week was a long time.
"Well you took down the strongest foe yet," Tazuna spoke up, wiping nervous sweat from his brow with a grin, "so we can relax for a little bit right?" he asked, not noticing the way Maemi frowned at his words.
"I can't stop thinking about that kid in the mask though..." Sakura pointed out, putting a finger to her chin as she thought.
"That mask is worn by Oinin of Kirigakure, specialists who hunt down and eliminate nukenin of their village to dispose of the body so thoroughly it's like it never existed." Kakashi lectured, "Even in death the body of a shinobi may contain great secrets of their village that many would kill for." he continued with a passing glance at Sasuke and Naruto, "Even the ingredients of combat drugs a shinobi has taken could be revealed. In the same way my body could reveal secrets of the Sharingan." he explained calmly, disturbing the pink haired genin, "Dead men may not tell tales, but their corpses do. So Oinin are tasked with hunting down and disposing of such things."
Sakura shivered, "So that Zabuza guy is going to get dismembered and disposed of? That's so creepy!" she decided, freaked out by that aspect of shinobi life. Maemi wondered how long the kunoichi was going to last as a ninja, the girl clearly didn't have the constitution for it.
Elsewhere the masked 'Oinin' kneeled over the 'corpse' of Zabuza, reaching for the senbon in his neck, "Enough!" the supposedly dead man interrupted, grabbing the arm of the one who had supposedly killed him, "I can do it myself."
The masked shinobi was unperturbed and pulled away to allow the nukenin to sit up, "Awake already?"
Zabuza yanked out the senbon, "Gah, you have the finesse of a butcher." he scolded, hiding his pain with annoyance.
"Careful, Zabuza-san, if you just yank them out carelessly you could actually die!"
Zabuza ignored the warning, "How long are you going to keep that ghoulish mask on? Take it off!" he ordered
The younger ninja pulled it off to reveal a very pretty face, "Old habits die hard," the youthful beauty said, "and it was useful for fooling those Konoha ninja. They'd have killed you if I hadn't intervened."
Zabuza hacked some bloody phlegm up from his throat into his mouth, pulling his bandages aside to spit it out before he answered, "You didn't need to hit me in the neck though, there are plenty of other places." he pointed out as he readjusted his bandages, "You are a sadistic brat." he scolded.
The young shinobi giggled, "Exactly." they agreed, sounding as if they'd been complimented instead of scolded, "I didn't want to mar your perfect body, Zabuza-san."
Zabuza frowned, "That blonde brat..." he mumbled, surprising his accomplice.
"He admired your body too, didn't he?" It was a rhetorical question, they'd both heard the strange young genin with purple eyes.
Zabuza frowned, "Hm, no matter. Next time, I'll break the spell of that Sharingan."
Maemi decided she had to speak up, "That Oinin was lying," she said once Tsunami had left the room, "about disposing of Zabuza at least, probably more." she clarified at the startled looks from the genin.
Kakashi sighed, "I was worried about that." he confessed, "Oinin are supposed to dispose of the bodies on the spot, I was too tired to take real notice in the moment, but after everything calmed down I couldn't shake the feeling I was missing something."
"Wait, what are you guys talking about?" Tazuna asked for further clarification as horrified realization dawned on Sasuke's face.
"Zabuza may be alive." Kakashi answered, prompting shocked and terrified looks from Tazuna and Sakura.
"Sweet!" Naruto exclaimed and his team looked at him with exasperation, "Wait, but you said he wasn't breathing." he pointed out, growing confused.
"That's right!" Sakura added, "You checked his vitals to confirm it yourself." the kunoichi reminded her sensei.
"I did," Kakashi agreed, "but a death like trance can fool even a professional like myself in the heat of the moment. With that senbon placement and Maemi-tan confirming it I have no doubt that whoever that Oinin was is an accomplice of Zabuza." he explained calmly, "Why else would they go to all that trouble to lift a corpse much larger than themselves? They only need the head as proof of their kill and an Oinin isn't going to shy away from disposing of a corpse in front of us."
Tazuna frowned, "Aren't you guys overthinking this? I thought you said Oinin hunted down runaways like Zabuza?" he asked, confused and terrified.
"Usually," Kakashi agreed, drawing out the word as he considered how best to put it, "but overlooking something fishy is the first step to being caught unprepared." he continued, "Preparation is the most important skill of a shinobi." he explained.
"Kakashi-sensei," Sakura spoke up, "you said preparation is our most important skill, but you're bedridden at the moment with chakra exhaustion." she pointed out rationally, "How are you going to prepare?" she questioned with concern.
"I'll be increasing your training schedules of course." Kakashi responded, startling the girl who asked the question and catching the attention of his other two genin.
"What!?" Sakura didn't sound pleased with that plan, "Kakashi-sensei what is a little bit of training going to do!? Even with that Sharingan, Zabuza still almost beat you!" she pointed out, wondering if the jonin was trying to get them all killed.
"Correct," Kakashi agreed calmly, "however when I was captured, Sakura-chan, think about who was it that rescued me." he pointed out, causing her and Sasuke to glance at Naruto in surprise, "While Naruto-kun may have access to those strange Daemons of his, and he was hyped up on combat drugs at the time," the jonin continued, glancing at Maemi to notice she didn't even look slightly sorry, "he's still just a genin and managed to pull it off." he pointed out.
Naruto blushed under the praise with a proud grin as Sakura considered that, "I guess, but that sword..." the kunoichi trailed off, "It was killing him, wasn't it?" she asked, looking to the Muse for an answer.
Maemi simply stared back as the attention in the room was on her, "It was trying to, swords like that aren't meant for novices." she confessed, knowing that lying about it was pointless at this stage.
"That being said," Kakashi interrupted, "this training is to get you up to the level you can keep whatever accomplices Zabuza has out of the fight." he explained, "A death like trance is harmful to the body, Zabuza probably needs as much time to recover as myself."
"So we'll be training while we wait?" Naruto asked with a wide grin, "Sounds fun!" he decided cheerfully.
"It won't be fun for you."
Naruto rounded on the newcomer with surprise, "Inari!" Tazuna sounded pleased to see the newcomer, a small child, still a foot taller than Maemi with short spiky black hair. The young boy had a green jumpsuit over a yellow shirt and a bucket hat on his head, Tsunami following the boy into the room.
"Welcome home, Ojiji." Inari greeted, going over to hug Tazuna.
"Greet our guests properly," Tsunami instructed the child, "they're the esteemed ninja who brought Tazuna-jiji home safely." she informed him.
Inari looked at them for a moment, "But, Kaachan, they're all gonna die." he said with a straight face that alarmed Sakura and exasperated Sasuke, "No one can beat Gato and his men."
Naruto stared at the child for a moment, "Set aside your despair, twerp." he said bluntly as he crossed his arms, "I'm Naruto Uzumaki, future Hokage y'know." he continued with a grin, "I'm not scared of some weakling like Gato who hides behind thugs, I'm a champion!" he declared proudly.
Inari hadn't been expecting that, "Champion? Champion of what?" he asked, suspicious of the cheerful blonde.
Naruto suddenly stood up and pointed towards the ceiling, "Kajo!" he declared, "Slaanesh-kaasama!" he continued and the others took a bit of a step back as Maemi grinned proudly, "Kajo no Kami! Yorokobi no Megami! Yokubo-hime!" the blonde listed the titles of the subject of his absolute adoration shamelessly as Kakashi raised an eyebrow, "I am Her perfect shinobi champion! Some loser like Gato who rules through despair is nothing to a hero like me!" he bragged arrogantly as he struck kabuki poses.
Sakura was confused, wondering what any of those words had to do with being ninja. The kunoichi was also pretty sure she'd never heard of the god her teammate was talking about but she thought she'd heard the name before, although just thinking the name made a chill run down her spine for some reason.
"That's dumb." Inari shot back, "There's no such thing as heroes, and the rest of that sounds made up." he mocked only to suddenly shiver with fear at the look in Naruto's eye, the blonde genin giving the small child a cold glare filled with malicious intent.
"You-" Naruto began coldly but the small child, whether realizing it consciously or not, knew he'd overstepped in some way with the blonde and ran away. Kakashi frowned, noticing Naruto had leveled genuine killing intent at a civilian child. The jonin worried what the blonde might have done if Inari hadn't run away, from his current position he wasn't certain he could have stopped Naruto if the blonde became violent and the look in his purple eyes was only a step from violence.
Tazuna swallowed a lump in his throat, he'd seen the blonde be passionate before but his response to having his god insulted was unnerving, "Please, forgive him." he pleaded sadly, "That boy has had a bit of a rough life with Gato around." he explained.
Naruto didn't look sympathetic but didn't go after the boy, Maemi similarly simply looked annoyed that the boy hadn't been swayed by the preaching blonde. The Muse did realize that this place they were in, Nami no Kuni, was the perfect place for Slaanesh to become worshiped, all that needed to happen was for a champion of Slaanesh like Naruto to liberate them.
The next day the genin of team seven were taken into the woods by their sensei, who was using crutches to help him move around, to begin training, "Alright my adorable students," Kakashi began, ignoring Maemi who sat on a tree stump nearby watching, "before we officially begin your new training regiment I think we should discuss your chakra." he continued, receiving no interruptions, "Manipulation of chakra refers to the summoning of physical and mental energies and combining them within your body, but none of you are using them effectively yet."
"Eh!?" Naruto interrupted, "But, Maemi-chan said she was making my chakra control way better, I had too much physical and she's been balancing me out!"
Kakashi was surprised at that and glanced at the Muse who grinned proudly, "Really now?" the jonin wondered, "Well then, this training should be easy for you." he continued, placating the blonde for the moment so he could continue.
"What kind of training?" Naruto asked impatiently, not even slightly placated.
Kakashi was starting to miss when the boy was drugged, "Climbing trees." he answered simply, ready for the interruption this time.
"How is that training?" Sakura asked, all three of the genin staring at their sensei suspiciously.
Kakashi grinned under his mask, "This isn't ordinary tree climbing, you aren't allowed to use your hands." he explained, prompting surprised looks from Sasuke and Sakura but an excited look from the blonde, "Behold." the jonin continued, making the ram seal before walking up a tree trunk.
Even Sasuke looked interested now, "That's amazing, but how is that going to make us stronger?" Sakura asked.
Maemi sighed, "The more control you have over your chakra, the more control over your jutsu." the Muse explained, surprising the genin and even Kakashi, "If you master this all your other jutsu will be much better, not just in strength but in efficiency." she lectured.
"Maemi-chan! You knew about this and didn't teach me!?" Naruto accused, clearly upset as he pointed at the Muse.
"No, I just understood the point after seeing it once." Maemi answered honestly, she'd been given a rough idea of how this world worked but she didn't know every jutsu and training method out there, "Anyway hurry up, once you master this I should actually be able to teach you something special."
"What!? Teach me now!" Naruto demanded impatiently.
"Not yet, and not in front of your team." Maemi refused, surprising the blonde, "This is a Hijutsu, only for you because of your contract with Slaanesh-sama." she explained. Kakashi frowned under his mask, but decided not to press the issue. A contract for Kuchiyose including the sharing of Hijutsu wasn't exactly unheard of.
"Maemi-tan was telling the truth," Kakashi spoke up, pulling attention away from the Daemon, "but there is a secondary purpose to this training. In battle you won't have the luxury of taking a moment to gather your energy, this training will help train you to better focus your energy in the moment. Effectively you'll be building skills that may save your lives." he lectured as he pulled out three kunai, "But we've prattled on long enough, you learn by doing." he declared as he tossed the kunai down to land in the ground at the feet of his genin, "Use those kunai to mark your progress."
The three genin picked up the kunai, "All right! I'll get this down in no time flat!" Naruto bragged as they focused their chakra. Kakashi watched as the three ran at the tree, Sasuke starting to go up but when Naruto's foot touched the tree the bark and wood splintered under him and sent him head first to the ground.
Maemi looked blankly at her blonde master writhing in pain, "I may be improving your chakra control, but you still need to focus, Naruto-sama." she lectured as Sasuke's foot also caused the tree to splinter, although the Uchiha got much further up and he managed to actually mark his spot on the tree.
"This is a lot easier than I thought." Sakura said, having made it to the top on her first try. The pink haired girl was smiling proudly, a giggle escaping her lips.
"Well now," Kakashi spoke up, "it seems we see who has the best chakra control of you three." he praised the young kunoichi.
Sasuke sighed as he got ready to try again, "Great job, Sakura-chan!" Naruto praised cheerfully, giving a thumbs up. Now it was Sakura's turn to sigh, she'd wanted to impress Sasuke but only Naruto paid any attention.
Kakashi decided his other two students needed motivation, "Well now, understanding and effectively using ones own chakra is quite the achievement." he continued the praise, "Sakura-chan is probably closest to becoming a perfect shinobi and overtaking Hokage-sama," he added and Naruto snapped to attention suddenly, "and the elite Uchiha clan doesn't seem too impressive either." the jonin finished and Sasuke glared at the man.
"Kakashi-sensei how could you!?" Sakura exclaimed to the silver haired man, convinced that Sasuke would hate her now.
Naruto and Sasuke glanced at each other before beginning the training in earnest.
Over the next few days the genin trained, although Maemi noticed Sakura had become complacent with simply succeeding at the assigned task she had no concern for the kunoichi. The Daemon was Naruto's Familiar, the blonde boy was marked by Slaanesh as a champion.
On that note, Sasuke was still ahead of the blonde, but Naruto was slowly catching up. Neither of the two were happy with this, Sasuke because he was convinced that he should be getting better fast enough that the other couldn't keep up and Naruto because he hadn't caught up yet.
Over time it became clear that Naruto had the most stamina of them all even without drugs in his system, training even while Sasuke took breaks. Maemi was confident that with her assistance Naruto would likely finish the training next, although she was baffled that Sakura had simply been set to guard Tazuna while the other two trained. The Muse wondered if Kakashi knew what he was doing, but figured that the growth of the pink haired kunoichi wasn't her problem.
One night after dinner, Sakura approached a picture on the wall curiously as she noticed it was torn, "Excuse me, what's with this picture?" she questioned the family living there, "I noticed Inari-kun staring at it, but it seems torn. Is that deliberate?" she asked and all three residents flinched.
"...It was a picture of Inari's father." Tsunami responded hesitantly.
Tazuna picked up from there, "Once upon a time, you could say this land called him a hero." he said with sorrow in his voice. Without excusing himself or looking up, Inari left the table and the room, slamming the door.
Tsunami rounded on Tazuna, "Tousan! I've asked you not to mention that in front of him! You know how he gets!" she scolded the old man before leaving after her son.
Sakura felt uncomfortable to be present for a family dispute but she was curious, "So, you're talking about what makes him act so strangely?" she asked nervously.
"It sounds like there's a story there." Kakashi prompted, slightly curious himself.
"The man in the picture was not Inari's birth father," Tazuna began sadly, "but they were as close as any other biological father and son. He was such a happy, laughing child back then." he explained, Sakura could see the smile on the small child in the photo, "But, everything changed," the old bridge builder continued, barely suppressing his own sob of grief as his eyes watered, "after what happened on that day."
"What happened?" Kakashi asked curiously, already feeling that the man wasn't fishing for sympathy this time.
"Well," Tazuna began, taking off his glasses to dry his eyes, "to start with, the man was called Kaiza. He saved Inari from drowning one day, and since then the boy stuck to Kaiza like white on rice. It probably had something to do with the fact Inari's biological father died before he knew him, but the two bonded like a true father and son should. In no time at all the man was like part of the family. Not just that, Kaiza was exactly what this place needed, during a flood the man selflessly dove into raging flood waters to close a flood gate, saving an entire sector of the town. People called Kaiza a champion and a hero, with a father like that Inari could hold his head proud. If not for Gato."
Kakashi noticed the man paused, not wanting to continue, "Then what you alluded to happened," he prompted, he and his students were invested in the story now, no point stopping it there, "what happened?" he asked.
Tazuna frowned, "In front of the entire city, Gato had Kaiza put to death. Executed on made up charges." he answered, clenching his fists, "Cut off his arms and tied him to a pole in front of everyone, then his thugs just killed him." the old bridge builder explained, "Ever since then Inari, Tsunami, and everyone, they all changed for the worse."
"Despair." Maemi said flatly, recognizing the domain of a rival chaos god with a scowl on her lips. Her solid black eyes were hard to read but even she didn't seem to like this Gato after that story, something Kakashi found at least a little comforting since he was worried the Daemon was in fact being a poor influence on Naruto.
Naruto remembered his first interaction with Inari, frowning as he realized why the boy had reacted negatively to words like champion and hero. The blonde stood up so suddenly he tripped over his own feet, letting out a grunt of pain as he hit the ground.
"That's enough training for today," Kakashi spoke up, "if you train your chakra too much without rest you could end up like I was after the fight with Zabuza, or worse." he scolded.
Naruto stood up, "I need to prove him wrong." he responded, continuing towards the door regardless of warning.
"Who?" Sakura asked, unable to read the mind or emotions of her teammate. Naruto didn't answer, he simply left.
Maemi smirked, "Who else?" she answered for her master, "I believe Inari and Naruto-sama had a disagreement over heroes and champions when we first arrived, pick up on context cues better." she told the kunoichi who blushed at the reprimand.
Maemi followed silently after Naruto, keeping hidden to keep an eye on his training from a distance. She couldn't be too far from him anyway, so it didn't bother her. The Muse watched him pass out from exhaustion, but due to their connection she could tell he would be fine. Naruto's clothes would keep him warm enough to not die, and there were no predatory animals nearby large enough to be a threat.
Come morning Maemi was watching small birds flock around the sleeping blonde, the avian animals curious about the strange thing within their territory. The Muse was surprised by this, they were prey animals and something as big as a human, even a child like Naruto, should scare them off. The Daemon pondered the situation, realizing that despite his nature as a champion of chaos he wasn't giving off an aura of malice.
As Maemi wondered about this she saw someone approaching and kept hidden, watching an androgynous person with a very pretty face, dark hair, brown eyes, and full lips, approaching dressed in a pink flowery kimono carrying a basket of local herbs. The Muse noticed that whoever it was was actually surprised to see someone sleeping in the woods, so she knew they weren't looking for Naruto. Then she saw the look they gave his hitai-ate and took in their body language as they approached, the Daemon tensed and got ready to wake up her master as the stranger loomed over the blonde genin.
Maemi fluttered Naruto's chakra through their connection as the person reached for his neck, he'd fallen asleep with a kunai in his right hand so he should have the edge. However Naruto was exhausted, the actions of his Familiar barely stirred him.
Just as the Muse was about to take more overt actions the person simply placed their hand on his shoulder, "You'll catch your death of cold, sleeping on the ground like this." they said kindly, although in a voice that Maemi found familiar. The Daemon frowned in confusion, from what she could tell the concern was genuine but that would mean she'd misread this person. Daemons of Slaanesh did not misread people.
Naruto groaned as he woke up, stretching and looking at the new person in confusion, "Oh," he said, waking up a bit more at the sight of them, "I'm Naruto Uzumaki, what's your name, beautiful?" he asked earnestly.
The person blushed in surprise, "My name is Haku," they answered, about to continue before the blonde bundle of energy continued.
"Nice to meet you Haku-chan!" Naruto greeted cheerfully, "What's a pretty girl like you doing out here?" he asked, confused but not suspicious. Maemi decided she needed to drill a little bit more paranoia into the blonde, but let him enjoy the company alone for now.
"I could ask you something similar." Haku responded with a giggle, "I'm out here gathering herbs, and yourself?"
"Training!" Naruto answered seriously, his expression turning hard and surprising his new conversational partner.
"Oh?" Haku questioned, "That hitai-ate, are you a ninja?"
"Yeah!" Naruto responded eagerly, "Do you think I look like one? Because I really am!" he insisted cheerfully, Maemi managed to avoid sighing out loud.
"That's incredible." Haku praised earnestly, earning a bashful chuckle from the blonde genin, "What are you training for?"
"To get stronger, of course!" Naruto answered easily with a grin.
"Oh? But you look so strong and manly already." Haku flattered with a smile, Maemi got the feeling they were buttering the blonde up.
"Nope!" Naruto put himself down without dropping his grin, "I need to be way stronger than this!" he insisted.
Haku paused for a moment, their own smile dropping, "Why?"
Naruto looked surprised at the question, "Why?" he repeated, scratching the back of his head, "I have to become the top dog in my home village for one," he began, "but I guess for right now I just need to prove a point to someone." he finished.
"Are you doing this for that person? Or your own satisfaction?" Haku queried.
Naruto was surprised, he hadn't expected the pretty girl who woke him up to make him consider his motives, "Eh? Uh, both I guess." he answered, "This person, they definitely need to be proven wrong. Otherwise they'll just continue to despair for their whole lives, stagnating as they are now." he finished sadly.
Now it was Haku's turn to be surprised, "I see, well I believe when a person is protecting something precious to them, then they can be as strong as they need to be."
Naruto was surprised again but nodded in agreement as he grinned, "Yeah, I definitely know what you mean!" he exclaimed, remembering Kakashi protecting them from Zabuza, the story about Kaiza saving a sector of the town, and even himself saving Iruka. For some reason that last one was a bit fuzzy.
Haku stood up, "Well, I'm sure we'll meet again, and I'm sure you'll get stronger. You should probably know that I'm a boy though." he finished as he turned to begin walking away.
"What!?" Naruto exclaimed, "I didn't know boys could be that pretty!" he said loudly, his eyes drifting over the form of the leaving Haku, "Damn, hate to watch him go, but the view of him leaving is alright."
Soon enough, Naruto finished the tree climbing exercise and was eager to see what his Muse had to teach him. Maemi decided not to mention Haku, she wasn't sure what the deal was with the girly boy but he'd held no ill intent towards Naruto which was enough for the Familiar.
"Okay, Naruto-sama, what I'm about to teach you are Hiden Ninjutsu fit only for a champion of Slaanesh." Maemi informed, deciding not to mention that technically the blonde genin would only be considered an aspiring champion in most worlds, the explanation would only confuse and annoy him.
"I'm ready!" Naruto declared boisterously, eager to begin learning.
"Broadly, you could call the jutsu I'll be teaching you Kajojutsu." Maemi began the explanation, "They don't require hand seals that anyone will recognize, and not even that Sharingan will be able to copy them." she boasted proudly, "There are six in total, and this first one shouldn't be too difficult for you. It's called," she paused, considering what name to use, "Shifuku no Kurushimi!" she decided.
Naruto thought the name was amazing and began training in earnest, eager to get the jutsu ready to use for when Zabuza showed up.
It had been almost a full week since the fight with Zabuza, and Naruto returned to their lodgings looking exhausted but pleased with himself, Maemi following behind.
"Naruto-kun," Kakashi greeted, "I heard you made it to the top of the tree, along with Sasuke-kun. So starting tomorrow you two can join Sakura-chan with protecting Tazuna-san." he said, he himself was almost fully recovered so no doubt Zabuza was close to being ready to strike again too.
"Yes sir!" Naruto responded, still energetic despite how exhausted he looked.
"Whew!" Tazuna sighed loudly, "Well, I'm dirty and sweaty myself, but the construction of the bridge is almost complete." he said proudly.
"Tousan," Tsunami began sternly, "you and Naruto-kun are two of a kind, please don't work yourselves to death." she requested with concern in her voice. Naruto blushed a bit at the concern being shown for him as he slumped against the table.
Inari stared at Naruto, knowing the boy wasn't that much older than him but working so hard, and his eyes started to water. Naruto noticed the beginnings of tears only because his own head was slumped down to rest on the table, "What's wrong?" he asked, raising a confused eyebrow.
"Why!?" Inari shouted in response, standing up and slamming his palms onto the table angrily, "Why do you keep trying so hard to get stronger!? No matter how hard you train you'll never be a match for Gato's thugs! You talk all big and act all tough, but big strong guys like that are always too much for people weaker than they are. They'll destroy you!"
Naruto stared the boy down for a moment, "Shut up. I'm not like you, I won't lose." he said bluntly.
Inari continued to cry openly, "Just watching you ticks me off!" he snapped, "You go running your mouth when you don't know a thing! This isn't your home!" he cried, "You don't know a thing about me either!" the boy insisted angrily, "You're always clowning around or having fun. You don't know a thing about suffering or loneliness or what my life is like!"
"Poor choice of words." Maemi muttered as Naruto lifted his gaze to give the child a cold glare.
For a moment Kakashi thought he would need to interfere to save Inari's life from Naruto, "You're lucky Slaanesh-kaasama also told me to throw away my wrath." the blonde said as his glare rooted the boy to the spot, "You think it's noble to act like your life is a drama and treat everyone around you as guests to your pity party?" he asked before his face broke out in a sneer, "You make me sick, you baby." he spat with disgust before standing to leave, Inari choking out an additional sob at the words.
"Naruto that was way too far!" Sakura protested but the blonde ignored her and went to bed.
"You don't even know, do you?" Maemi asked the pink haired girl, only a little surprised when the girl looked at her in confusion, "Well now, Kakashi-san do you want to explain or should I?" she asked.
Kakashi wasn't sure if it should be discussed at all, although he was considering approaching Inari privately, "He's your master." the jonin said, wondering just how much the Muse actually knew.
"Alright," Maemi said, "well then, as far as I'm aware Naruto-sama grew up without a father," she began and Inari jolted in surprise, "or a mother for that matter." she continued.
"I knew that much." Sakura interrupted, confirming it but also a bit contrite.
"Not just that, but not a single friend in the whole village." Maemi continued, ignoring the interruption, "Before he performed the Kuchiyose no Jutsu and signed a contract with my clan, there wasn't a single person who acknowledged him." she explained bluntly, "Until he called me to be his partner with that same Kuchiyose no Jutsu he lived on stale bread, expired milk, and instant ramen. The only people who ever cooked for him are the owners of a ramen stand, and while they aren't cruel to him they're still paid for it because it's their job. To someone like Naruto-sama, someone like you is just a spoiled brat." she finished harshly.
Sakura looked stunned by the speech, and even Sasuke looked uncomfortable. Kakashi knew it had been bad but the personal and in depth knowledge the Familiar had was beyond his own. Tazuna frowned in sympathy for the blonde, impressed by his strength. Tsunami wanted to defend her son, but was shell shocked by the story.
"Oh right," Maemi continued, "don't go pitying him. It'll just annoy him." she pointed out, "He wants to be acknowledged as the perfect shinobi, not acknowledged as some poor unfortunate orphan."
Tazuna and Tsunami looked to Kakashi to confirm the words of the small Daemon, he didn't verbally respond but the look in his eye was confirmation enough.
The next morning Naruto was fast asleep after everyone else was awake, "Let him sleep," Kakashi insisted, "he's exhausted himself training so just let him take today off." he decided, although the Muse in his bed was kind of cute it was also a bit disturbing.
Maemi shrugged, "Naruto-sama is built different and will wake up in a bit anyway, we'll catch up soon enough." she informed the jonin, not needing to sleep herself and with an intimate connection to the blonde she could feel that much for certain.
Kakashi didn't like being contradicted, but he nodded anyway. He hoped the words of the Muse actually did mean that Naruto would wake up on his own and not that the little Daemon intended on waking the genin up as soon as they were gone.
True to Maemi's prediction it wasn't long after the rest of team seven left to escort Tazuna to the bridge that Naruto woke up, "Wha-? What!?" he started out groggily before jolting awake. Maemi was glad she was used to this by now, or she'd likely have been launched indignantly from the boy instead of slipping off him as he awoke, "I slept in!" the blonde genin realized with annoyance.
Tsunami overheard the commotion, "Naruto-kun? What are you doing up?" she asked as she peaked into the room, "Kakashi-san wanted you to take the day off." she informed and Maemi smirked, knowing that wasn't going to fly.
"I knew it!" Naruto snapped, stripping off his pink pajamas with no care for the older woman still at the door and pulling on his new purple outfit, with mesh undershirt and forearm guards, "First chance they get they leave me behind!" he complained loudly as he swiftly strapped his shuriken holster to his right knee, his tool pouch to the back left of his hip, and his tanto to his left hip.
Tsunami gave the boy his privacy, although a bit later than intended as the boy had just started stripping without regard for her being there. Soon enough the blonde had his sandals on and was rushing out the door while tying his hitai-ate to his head. The boy was gone so fast and with so much energy that Tsunami wondered just how much Kakashi underestimated the energy of the blonde, Maemi following swiftly behind.
As Naruto rushed towards the bridge he noticed something and stopped, finding a boar cut up as if by swords. He also noticed cut marks in the trees leading back to Tazuna's home, "Wow," Maemi said, "looks like someone real bloodthirsty is going that way." she pointed out needlessly.
Naruto turned and rushed back the way he came in time to see Inari charging two thugs with katana holding Tsunami hostage. One of the thugs was shirtless, a kimono hanging around his waist, with an eyepatch, his brown hair pulled up in a topknot, a scar on his head, and intricate tattoos. The other having lighter skin, long blue-ish hair, lined markings tattooed under his eyes, wearing a dark purple hat, dark shorts, and a blue hoodie with lots of pockets.
They were clearly aiming to kill Inari, unfortunately for them Naruto showed up. The blonde genin got the grandson of the bridge builder out of harms way with a simple kawarimi, letting their two swords cut up a log with their iaijutsu strikes as he landed next to Tsunami and set the boy down.
"Ah man," Naruto said as he stood up, getting the attention of the two thugs, "lucky for these two one of you can't keep it in your pants." he said with a cheeky grin, "I knew to come back because one of you morons cut everything leading back here."
"A real waste of boar meat." Maemi piped up from behind Tsunami with a smirk of her own. Tsunami and Inari were stunned.
The thug with a hat glared at the shirtless thug, giving away exactly which one of them had let Naruto know they were here even if by accident, "Doesn't matter, you think you can beat us?" the shirtless thug asked as he took in how short the genin was, "Even your sword is a brat compared to mine." he mocked with a smirk, gesturing to Naruto's tanto.
Naruto glanced down at his tanto, then lifted his gaze back up to the two katana his opponents had, "Huh," he muttered, "I didn't think of that." he admit, making what looked like the seal of confrontation with his right hand except that he lifted said hand up and over his head as purple chakra flared around him, "I've been wanting a new sword, thanks!"
The two thugs tensed up, reaching for their swords, "You think those ninja magic tricks are enough to-" the shirtless one began.
"Shifuku no Kurushimi!" Naruto interrupted and flung his arm forward, whipping his wrist towards the two thugs. From his finger tips his purple chakra burst out in a long sinuous cable, slashing into the two thugs and causing them to scream in pain, dropping their weapons as blood burst from the thin but deep cuts that appeared where the line of purple chakra touched.
Naruto approached the two and inspected their swords as they writhed on the ground in pain, both of them slowly bleeding out. Inari and Tsunami were stunned, they knew ninja were supposed to deal in death but Naruto had been such a cheerful boy that neither had expected such a brutal attack from the young blonde.
The aspiring perfect shinobi knelt down and took the one from the thug in the hat, "This one looks way better, and so do you." he complimented with a grin, "Ah, not enough to enshrine you though, sorry." he finished as he stood up to take the sword with him, "Hey, Tsunami-chan, you should find somewhere better to hide with your son." he told her as he left the two thugs to bleed out, "I'm going to go help at the bridge, if Gato sent these guys to get you something is definitely going on there."
Tsunami nodded numbly, unsure of what to say in light of what she just witnessed.
Translations:
Kajo - Excess
Shifuku no Kurushimi - Blissful Throes/Suffering