Grey
Chapter 6
As we walked down the streets of Konoha, I clung to Hayato-sensei's hand, with Blue trotting at our feet. After turning yet another corner, Hayato-sensei said, "Ne, Kakashi, we are going to have dinner at Jiraiya-sensei's house. I think Orochimaru-sensei and Tsunade-sensei will be there too."
I looked up at his smiling face, and muttered, "The food had better be good. I'm pretty sick of eating cup ramen already."
Hayato-sensei rolled his eyes and grinned at me, his teeth flashing in the twilight. "The food will be good, I promise."
*****
I could already smell the aroma of delicious cooking even before I entered Jiraiya's house. Hayato-sensei knocked on the door, and then stuck his head into the room. "Hey, look at who I've brought!"
Leading me into the relatively scruffy room, with Blue in tow, Hayato-sensei introduced me to the trio seated before a round table set for five. Better known collectively as the sannin, or The Three Ninjas, they were said to be among the best in the village.
I sat nervously next to Hayato-sensei when invited to take a seat. To my right was Orochimaru-sensei. I stared at him rather curiously, if not in awe. This was the first time I'd met him, and the stately solemnity he exuded impressed me greatly.
Although I had heard several disturbing schoolyard rumours about him, I did not feel any fear when I saw him, even though he did look rather scary up close.
Orochimaru wore his jet black hair long, and his pale, almost sickly skin contrasted greatly with it. The irises of his eyes were gold in colour, and his pupils were slightly elongated, rather like a cat's. The dark lines around his eyes appeared to be a tattoo.
Unfolding his arms, he turned to look at me. "You must be Hatake Kakashi, Hayato's student. I've heard quite a good deal about you." He grinned, exposing his extraordinarily long canines, and thoughtfully placed a slice of fish in my bowl.
In the meantime, Hayato-sensei had accepted Jiraiya's challenge to eat a whole plate of tempura for dinner. Tsunade-sensei betted that Hayato-sensei couldn't do it, while Jiraiya insisted that his student would do anything for him.
I rolled my eyes and smiled. I rarely saw the goofy side of Hayato-sensei, even though I was supposedly very close to him. He was usually very serious with me, and frequently gave me pep talks for not being sufficiently sociable. Although he cracked the occasional joke with our team, he usually told it with a deadpan expression, and we were the ones rolling on the floor with laughter. I stifled a giggle as Hayato-sensei's face scrunched up like a ball of crushed paper after tasting Jiraya-sensei's homemade tempura. Evidently, it tasted a lot worse than the cup ramen we usually ate.
Amid the the grey-haired man's cries of foul play, and Tsunade-sensei's glee at winning the bet, Orochimaru remained calm and dignified even as he stuffed half-cooked meat into his mouth.
I studied Orochimaru out of the corner of my eye as I tried to keep a straight face while downing barely edible food. Apparently, I was caught looking, and he asked, smiling as he spoke, "Kakashi-kun, is there something you'd like to ask?"
Without thinking, I let the words shoot out of my mouth, "I'd like to become a first-rate shinobi."
I didn't even answer his question directly, and besides, I'd never seen him in action before. Although I knew he was one of the sannin, I actually was tempted to ask him to show his mettle to prove his strength, being the sceptical kid I was.
In his low and rough voice, he replied after a short pause, "I've been watching you, Kakashi-kun. You have great potential. But there are some things that just cannot be taught. A first-rate shinobi must have talent, and he must work hard in order to fulfill his maximum potential. I cannot teach you how to reach that goal. You must find the path yourself."
Nodding gratefully at him, I turned to poke at the unfinished food in my bowl, as I digested Orochimaru-sensei's words of wisdom.
Meanwhile, raucous laughter and the strong smell of sake filled the air. Glancing over at the trio on the other side of the table, I shook my head, as they continued entertaining one another with their antics and boasts.
*****
Thanks to Orochimaru's advice, I made the decision to take part in the chuunin examination, which I passed, of course. I was one of three who passed the exam, and at the tender age of six, the youngest of the lot. I felt really bad about having to leave my wonderful teammates Asuma and Tsukika, as well as Hayato-sensei, but I knew that if I wanted to fulfill my goals the only way was up. I had already made plans for the future: chuunin, jounin, then perhaps Anbu; it was only through this that I would be able to fulfill my duty to my village as a spy.
I was assigned to a four-man chuunin team, and was to undertake the more challenging and dangerous B and C ranked missions. My three other teammates were Kyojiro, Rei and Shou. Like me, Kyojiro had just passed the chuunin exam. However, unlike me, he wasn't a rookie, and was also five whole years older than me.
As expected, I was the youngest in my whole team, and Rei, the oldest, was thrice my age. As a result, I was often the one being protected during missions, for my teammates treated me like a younger brother. Although I appreciated their concern for me, the last thing I wanted was to keep living in the shadow of others, a useless piece of baggage.
I did try my best to explain to the others that I wasn't as weak as I looked, but Rei would hear nothing of that sort. He told me sternly that although I did have the skills required of a chuunin, I would surely lose out in hand-to-hand combat, especially when dealing with older and bigger enemy ninja who had no qualms about killing. Only six, I had yet to acquire battlefield experience, and did not have the physical strength to overcome my older opponents in Taijutsu.
I stubbornly refused to listen to Rei's explanation, and was determined to show my teammates that I wasn't a silly little tot who kept getting in their way.
My chance to prove myself finally came when we were hired to protect an unpopular politician from his potential assassins. As expected, a band of jounins from Hidden Sand Village attacked us.
Since protecting our client was our top priority, my teammates were unable to take care of me. When spotted by two of the enemy ninjas, they rushed to attack me, wielding Swords of the Wind, expecting that I would be taken care of easily.
I moved my hands frantically through a series of seals, I gathered chakra around my hands, a technique I had adapted from what I had seen when I was still in Hidden Cloud Village.
As I smashed my hands through the attacking ninjas, I felt infused with a power never felt before. I watched coolly as their blood spattered onto my face. I relished the feel of their insides squelching against my hands, the sound of their last, half-choked groans, the smell of death. And for a fleeting moment, a small smile crossed my face.
A/n: All righty. Chapter 6 is up ^^;; after a whole horrendous barrage of tests ^^;; Somehow FanFiction.Net has gotten the number of reviews for this fic, and my other Naruto ones, wrong ^^;; Ah well. Doesn't really matter, does it? XD
Once again, thanks for the reviews, and I'm glad to see that there are people who do appreciate serious fics XP When I first posted, the response wasn't that great, so I surmised that most people in the Naruto fandom didn't like serious fics-- they only go for SasuNaru ones XP So I guess you reviewers out there have proven me wrong, and I'm glad to know that. ^^;; Keep the reviews coming and, enjoy the story ^^