NARUTO © Kishimoto Masashi • Shueisha • Studio Pierrot • TV Tokyo. All rights reserved. Non-profit fun ahead!
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Against the Tide
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Chapter One
Without the muted brown tint of laboratory glass, Sasuke realised something.
Uzumaki Naruto had a head of wild, offendingly bright blond hair.
And a pair of calm, unbelievably azure eyes.
Sasuke also realised something else.
He realised he wished the person was as calm as his eyes looked.
They met in front of the station main gate, where Sasuke was leaning against the wall looking decidedly bored. Naruto came trodding down from a random path a few minutes later, and for a brief moment their glances locked. Sasuke was aware that Youma-Ningen were powerful, volatile creatures, so he noted to himself to be extra quiet and well-behaved that day. He turned around, and was about to beckon at the blond, when something Naruto did froze his blood very very quickly.
Naruto grinned, wide and large, at him.
With a sinking feeling in his stomach, Sasuke managed to utter a raspy, "Follow me," to the boy, who nodded and /bounced/ towards him. He took quick steps towards the police station building, feeling dread crawl over his every cell when he could hear /humming/ coming from behind him. Sneaking a small glance over his shoulder, he could see that it was indeed Naruto who was humming that silly little tune. He restrained the gasp that was threatening to escape from his throat and concentrated on reaching the station building. Slowly... slowly... one step at a time...
"Hey, your name's Sasuke, right?"
...crap. Sasuke thought to himself. He turned slightly to nod at the Youma-Ningen, still not too sure what to think about him.
"My name's Uzumaki Naruto, and I'm gonna be the next Hokage of the Hidden Leaf!!"
Sasuke knew, from that sentence on, that his day was as good as over.
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"Sasuke" The voice behind him whined, and shook him on a shoulder like they were old buddies. "Come on, tell me already! What's this mission going to be all about?"
For the umpteenth time during the short journey from the police post entrance to the offices within, Sasuke groaned with great displeasure. And it wasn't that the corridor was /that/ long, either. It was just that the insufferable fool walking beside him was making the walk seem much longer than usual. And they had only barely met for fifteen minutes.
"Is it going to be something super cool? Like we gonna hunt down some big, massive Youkai and become heroes? Or is it some top secret, super classified spying mission that we have to do outside the village? Come on, Sasuke, the suspense is killing me!"
Sasuke stopped abruptly, unable to bear the whining any longer. He turned around and frowned into Naruto's eyes.
"Listen," he tried to sound as calm as his nerves permitted him to, "can you just shut up for a minute or two? I already told you I don't know anything about the next mission. Once we actually reach the office, we'll get briefed, okay? So stop bothering me about it!"
In reply, Naruto blinked his large, unflinching eyes. He immediately frowned back at Sasuke and retorted, "Has anyone ever told you what an ass you are? I wasn't asking to know /everything/! We're supposed to be partners, putting our lives on the stake for each other, and I barely know anything about you but your name. You haven't even told me what your job scope is at all. Don't you at least know about that?" The boy stuck his tongue out at Sasuke, much to the Uchiha's horror and chagrin. "Why did Iruka-sensei ever allow you to sign me out at all? Asshole!"
Sasuke felt the urge to murder suddenly arising from within.
Oblivious to the dangerous tension, Naruto glanced once across Sasuke's shoulders and brightened up considerably. "Shikamaru!" The blond waved, smiling so radiantly his eyes could barely be seen anymore. "Hey there! Long time no see!" His grin stretched.
Sasuke turned cautiously after Naruto's attention broke. He could recognise the familiar name, but he did not understand why Naruto would be calling it - or how he even knew it. He thought Naruto was just a fear-inspiring Youma-Ningen who had been bound up in chains for years in the laboratory. His frighteningly happy attitude aside, the fact that he seemed to know somebody in the police department merited some degree of caution and attention.
From a short distance away, Shikamaru was just strolling casually out from around the corner. He had a cup of coffee in his right hand and his left hand covered his mouth as he yawned. He jumped slightly when he heard his name and looked randomly in the direction of the voice. When his eyes fell upon Naruto, he blinked in surprise. "Naruto!" He managed to gasp in that lethargic way of his. The surprise then melted away into slight dismay. "Sheesh, what trouble are you gonna cook up this time, Naruto? Tell me early so I can stay away from it, mmkay?"
Despite what his statement had suggested, however, Shikamaru sauntered closer and closer to the duo. The ponytailed teen gave Sasuke a nod of acknowledgement. He then eyed Naruto expectantly, bringing his cup of coffee to his lips.
"I don't know," Naruto was saying, hovering about behind Sasuke and peering over one of the dark-haired teen's shoulder. He shot a glare at the back of Sasuke's head. "Meanie here won't tell me a single thing about anything. Only keeps telling me to hurry up and get to the office or something."
Shikamaru sputtered dramatically into his coffee.
"Woah, you all right?" Naruto blinked in surprise and concern, although he remained warily behind Sasuke. Sasuke frowned slightly at Naruto, then at Shikamaru, knowing he was powerless to rebuke his pony-tailed colleague's reaction. Both Naruto and Sasuke waited for an answer to come from the other boy.
Once Shikamaru's coughing spurts stopped, he raised his eyes to look at Sasuke with a questioning glance. Sasuke found himself quickly looking away from Shikamaru. It had been so long since someone had voluntarily came up to him to talk, that he did not know how to respond.
Shikamaru closed his eyes and started drawling, "I really pity--," while Sasuke winced further into himself. He already knew Shikamaru was going to tell Naruto about the curse, like any normal, sensible person would. And although it would be for the better - so that Naruto would stop bothering him and trying to 'make friends' with him, he still could not help but cringe everytime someone mentioned the curse and its effects. He braced himself.
"-- you, Sasuke." Shikamaru finished - much to Sasuke's surprise, by putting a hand on his shoulder and shaking his head. "I really pity you. Whatever you have done to make you get Naruto as your partner, I don't wanna know." He paused to pat Sasuke's shoulder consolingly. "Nevermind that. I hope you survive," Shikamaru flashed the stunned Uchiha a thumbs up and a genuine though lazy smile - one of the few he had ever seen in these past couple of years. "I haven't seen anyone strong enough to resist Naruto's idiocy for even one day yet."
"What the hell is that supposed to mean?!" Naruto's reaction was immediate, as he screeched directly into Sasuke's ear. Before he could continue, Sasuke backhanded him, forcing all the other words to tumble back into his throat. He then placed a hand over his sore ear and winced. Nobody screams into Uchiha Sasuke's ear and gets away with it, rawr!
"Shikamaru is right," Sasuke growled, shooting a glare at Naruto. "Idiocy is contagious. How many other people have you infected with inanity so far, dead-last?" The Uchiha found himself unable to stop from smirking at the increasingly infuriated blond. Shikamaru took this moment to quickly excuse himself wordlessly from the scene. After all, Naruto's bright blue orbs had slowly narrowed into dangerous slits. And just like every other intelligent ninja, Shikamaru knew when it was a good time to flee.
"If Iruka-sensei didn't warn me to behave or else," Naruto announced, just as Shikamaru turned the corner, "I would so be eating your brains out right now, Uchiha Sasuke!"
Sasuke shrugged. "My brains are so much better than yours, after all."
"Why you!!" Naruto leapt, grabbing onto Sasuke's shoulders and baring a set of fangs in a low grumble. Sasuke noted with fascination that he had never seen those fangs before. Just as Naruto was about to sink his nasty looking teeth into Sasuke's shoulder, a hand shot out from behind him and tugged him forcefully away by the scruff of his shirt. Naruto yelped and struggled, but the grip on him was strong. And it was no wonder.
For it was Kakashi.
The silver-haired man sighed dramatically. "If you boys must murder each other, can you please not do it in public? It's bad for the name of my department." He observed the duo glaring at each other and sighed again. "Now if we're all calmed down, may I ask - why in the world is the most elite team on my squadron... well, the /only/ team on my squadron, but anyway - why are you making a fool of yourselves, fighting each other on the common corridor of the police headquarters?"
"HE STARTED IT!!" Both boys pointed angrily at each other. When they realised that they had just demonstrated a feat of amazing telepathy, they glared each other down again, until they both spun around with a loud harrumph, refusing to look anymore at each other in the eye.
Again, Kakashi sighed. He placed Naruto back on the ground while saying, "All right, that's enough. Get out of the way before the others start coming in." He made waving motions and herded both boys quickly towards the door at the far end of the corridor. Once there, he spun around and waved with a single hand. "I need to go somewhere for a while. Why don't you boys get in first? Just make yourselves comfortable and try not to kill each other!" With a happy skip, Kakashi vanished in a puff of smoke.
The two boys gaped after him.
"What the-" Naruto spoke up first. "That was your sensei, wasn't it!" He blinked in confusion at the now empty corridor. "Isn't /he/ supposed to be giving the briefing? Why is he running away?" The blond turned to Sasuke for an answer.
In turn, the Uchiha just snorted, sliding the door they were in front of open. "I'm still trying to figure out how and why he's even my superior in the first place, dumb-ass."
Naruto's face twisted into a scowl. "Stop calling me names, asshole!"
"I wasn't calling you names, idiot. I was stating facts."
"WHY YOU!!"
Naruto leapt onto Sasuke from behind, forcing him to release the grip he had on the door handle. The door springs quickly slid it back to its original position, sending both boys tumbling into the room. Sasuke could only give a muffled yelp of surprise when he felt fingernails dig into his flesh. He rolled over and was about to jab Naruto in his eyes in retaliation when a foot stamped itself beside his head on the floor, effectively pausing all and any further action.
"What," the voice that next could be heard was lined with promise of doom and destruction, "in the world, is going on here?"
"Iruka-sensei!" Naruto instantly whined. He got off the floor and scrambled towards Iruka, coming to a stop just before the man. "Iruka-sensei! That Sasuke is such a bastard! He wouldn't tell me a single thing about the mission! And he wouldn't say anything else but shut-up-naruto or be-quiet-you-idiot and things like that! I don't think he really wants me to partner him for the mission..." The last sentence was soft and mumbled, but Sasuke heard it anyway. He jerked slightly at the accusation, but then realised that it was true that he had not wanted a partner at all. He glared at the still complaining Naruto and looked away, strangely angry. Without saying anything in reply, he took a seat around the meeting table.
Naruto's droning soon came to an abrupt stop, when Iruka whacked him soundly across the head. "That's enough, Naruto," the warning was stern. "Sit down beside Sasuke and we'll go through the mission together."
Amazingly, the command worked. Naruto, though unwilling, took a seat beside Sasuke as instructed, staying perfectly still and quiet.
Sasuke sighed in relief. He sure could do with some peace and quiet.
"Iruka-sensei, Iruka-sensei?" The subdued query of Naruto came out as slight as a whisper. Iruka stopped adjusting the board and turned to regard Naruto. "You know," the blond was saying, still trying to keep his volume as low as possible. "I'm just wondering... How come you're the one giving the briefing? You're not from here..."
Taken aback by the sudden perception in his protege, Iruka was tongue-tied.
"He's a Chuunin," Sasuke spoke up eventually, when it seemed like nobody else was going to, "he has platoon leader status, so technically speaking he /is/ qualified to lead us." Sasuke shrugged nonchalantly.
Turning wide-eyed to look at Sasuke, Naruto gaped. "Iruka-sensei is a Chuunin??" He almost yelled, the former care in keeping his volume down all but forgotten. "Isn't that the rank you achieve after you go through some test by dying in a forest 44 times and then taking a paper test with no questions?!" The boy had stood up by now and curled his fists up in excitement. "Wow!! And I thought you were just a boring, good-for-nothing bark-all-day-long laboratory caretaker who only knew how to nag and complain! Iruka-sensei, you're great!" There were sparkles around Naruto. He had just discovered something new and exciting.
Iruka's evil grin, however, grew wider and wider with each word that came out from Naruto's mouth. "Naruto," he said in a tone that was calm but eerie, "if you have nothing better to add to the briefing, why don't you sit down and zip up before I send you back to the laboratory and chain you to the toilet bowl this time?" It was amazing how he could sound so sweet yet so frightening at the same time, but Naruto knew better than to negotiate when Iruka sounded like this. He instantly snapped his mouth shut and shook his head desperately. "That's a good boy," Iruka smiled nicely this time, instead of grinning. He turned back to the board behind him. "Now are we all ready for the briefing? We will start with or without Kakashi; for obvious reasons."
The boys nodded.
"Very good," Iruka nodded as well. "First of all, Naruto - welcome to the Taikou Youma Butai - or Taiyoubu for short." He walked towards the board and scratched with chalk the kanji for the Anti-Youma Brigade out in full. "Despite what the name otherwise suggests, the Taiyoubu is actually a faction of the Konoha police responsible for assisting Youma supportive of the village, and for weeding out antagonistic Youma that have either escaped from any one of the laboratories, or are natural Youma that proves to be of harm to the village."
Already feeling bored, Sasuke leaned back into his seat. Although it had been a long time since he heard someone outline the Taiyoubu's point and purpose, it still left a bad aftertaste on his tongue whenever the story was mentioned. He had intended to just let Iruka's voice go on.
Until Naruto's quiet question brought him to full attention.
"Sensei," the blond had asked, tone unreadable, "why did old pops Hokage permit research and experiment on Youma in the first place? Isn't it a cruel thing to do?"
Sasuke cast a semi-worried glance in Naruto's direction. Of all the Youma-Ningen he had met, this one certainly had the most surprises up his sleeve. None had dared to question the experiments before - the experiments that had preserved the village during the war and in effect, their lives. Naruto was either clearly crazy, or there was something really different about him.
After a pause, Iruka smiled wistfully. "Konoha was in the middle of a war, Naruto. It was an intense, swift, and unforgiving war. At the pivotal point of the war, many ninjas came forward to suggest strategies for success. In the end, a young and talented shinobi by the name of Orochimaru was the one who submitted the winning lot."
Naruto's mouth was wide open in an 'O'. "Is that the same Orochimaru who introduced the Hebi-Youma, snake-demons into the village?"
Sasuke immediately flinched, and while Iruka chose to ignore it, Naruto glanced at his counterpart with curiosity.
"Yes, Naruto, that's the one," Iruka waved slightly to get their attentions back. He did not elaborate more about the man in question, choosing to focus on his deeds instead. "... He pushed for a more offensive strategy - and he got it. He then introduced Youma-Ningen Jutsu; the art of giving a human demonic strength by selective infusion. Although brutal, his strategy tided us smoothly over the war," the Chuunin paused with a sigh. "Over time it was discovered that his techniques were all derived from very secluded forbidden Jutsus. That was not reason enough for the ultimate punishment, though. The last straw came when he attempted to assasinate the Third Hokage some years back. As it is, now he is no longer part of Konoha."
"Then why are the experiments still being carried out?" Naruto immediately asked, showing that he had understood the situation, and that he had understood it /quite/ well. There was still, however, no indication in his voice or expression that betrayed the reason behind his strange enquiries. Of course, this either meant that he was very good at hiding himself, or that he was really, just very very curious.
"Well," Iruka walked over the desk near the board he had been writing on. He did not seem offended, or even vaguely suspicious of Naruto's questions. "Konoha made a mistake when accepting Orochimaru's deal. We focused all our energy into the offensive, and it will take a long time before we can adjust it back. In the meantime, licensed scientists were ordered to continue to see how Youma research can aid the village. Too much time and effort, as well as lives, had been put into this for Konoha to withdraw completely," the man smiled ambiguously.
"Not that it's stopped them from trying," Sasuke curtly interjected.
"Huh?" Naruto turned immediately to blink at Sasuke. "Stopped who from trying what?" The blond leaned slightly closer when it appeared as if the other boy in the room was deliberately ignoring him. "Hey, bastard, I'm talking to you! Where'd all your manners fly to?!"
"Naruto! Cut it out!" It was Iruka to the rescue again, and this time he threw a thick, black file into Naruto's face. "Take that back, and read it if you want. It should cover the history of the Taiyoubu and a bit about other related things. Now then," he tapped the board with the chalk in his hand impatiently. "Are you both ready to learn of your new mission?"
Sasuke raised a hand. "Sir," he addressed Iruka politely. "For that part of the briefing, shouldn't we at least wait for Kakashi to come? He's the squad leader no matter what, after all."
It was like there was a lightning struck Iruka all of a sudden. He froze in a picture-perfect frame of an icy smile. "Of course," and when he spoke, Naruto and Sasuke could hear icicles literally clinking onto the ground. "I would gladly listen to that suggestion, Sasuke. If it wasn't that he is /already/ four hours late. He was supposed to be here /four hours ago/ to brief /me/ on my current responsibilities. /He/ is supposed to be standing here and welcoming Naruto and me," the smile slowly vanished into a venomous scowl, "and not the other way round. Do you think I like this any better than you do?" He directed his smile again at Sasuke, who blinked in shock and meekly shook his head. "Good. Now be quiet and we'll finish the briefing."
Taking the resulting silence to be consent, Iruka turned around to start to write something else on the board. As soon as he did, however, the door snapped open loudly and, leaning against the frame was the nonchalant figure of Kakashi, porn in one hand and a careless wave in the other.
"Hello there everybody," the silver-haired man mumbled through his mask. "On my way here I saw two monkeys fighting in the corridor, so I had to break them up. After that I was so badly injured I had to rush to the first aid--"
"LIAR!!" Naruto leapt to his feet and pointed rudely at the Jounin, who widened one eye in slight surprise. Soon, however, he was back to grinning idiotically. He dignified Naruto with no reply, choosing to make his way to where Iruka was.
Iruka saluted him unhappily. "You're late, Kakashi-san." Again, the silver-haired man chose silence as a reply. He smiled and tilted his head to a side.
When Iruka respectfully stepped aside and relinquished the podium, Kakashi took over. He turned around, leaned against the chalkboard and folded his arms across his chest. "All right you both," he gazed lazily at the two younger ninja - one of whom was wide-eyed with anticipation, the other of which was making his disinterest blatantly obvious. Kakashi sighed. His soldiers always, ALWAYS had to be the strangest of the lot. "The mission this time is rank A. We are to locate and capture a low-ranking Mizu-Youma, a water-demon, who has evidently escaped after a botched lab experiment in the Hidden Mist. Of course, the Daimyou of Mist refuses to acknowledge the existence of the escaped Youma, although he has given us expressed permission to do as we please with the being. Whatsmore, ever since his appearance, the Mizu-Youma has struck at or otherwise injured seven of the Konoha villagers - most of whom have not yet recovered from their coma. No doctor has been able to tell what has happened to them, except that their minds are under some sort of hypnotic control... Therefore, before the Mizu-Youma claims anymore victims, we are to capture him. Alive if possible - dead if necessary."
Kakashi paused from the mission introduction to see that Naruto's eyes now sparkled brighter than ever before, if it was even possible. Sasuke had perked up slightly at the thought of a challenging mission. "Any questions so far?" He prompted, before he lost their interest.
"Yes, sir!" Naruto quickly raised a hand. As soon as Kakashi acknowledged him with a raising of his only visible brow, the blond sputtered on, "Where do we find this Mizu-Youma thing, sensei? Do we need anything special to defeat him? How come nobody's managed to capture him yet, if he's a low-ranking Youma like you said? And why is the mission Rank A if that demon is low-ranking? This is all so strange!"
While Iruka shot Naruto a stern, disapproving glare, Kakashi glowed with a smile. "Don't chide him, Iruka-sensei," he said plainly, and the pony-tailed Chuunin blinked in surprise. "I'd rather prefer my subordinates ask me questions than sit and glower at nothing," he was still smiling at nobody in particular, but Sasuke caught on. The boy snapped about and narrowed his eyes at his superior in indignance.
"I'm sorry if Naruto sounded rude, still," Iruka patiently explained. "His manners are lacking, atrocious and infamously well known in the research faculties."
"But Iruka-sensei! Those idiots in the Lab deserved every single word of insult I hurled at them!" Naruto protested loudly, slamming his palms on the table. Iruka looked like he was about to rebut, but Kakashi stopped them both before things escalated further.
"Hang in there now, buddies," the silver-haired Jounin Inspector held his hands out and shook his head. "I will /not/ tolerate internal strife in my department, between my subordinates. None whatsoever." The provoked atmosphere instantly simmered, as both Naruto and Iruka reclined. "The most important thing to being Shinobi - the key to staying alive in our messed up world," the Jounin continued, "is teamwork." There was a dramatic pause. "Remember that, all of you."
"... Well?" Sasuke quickly followed up, slightly frustrated that the meeting was dragging far too long for his liking. "Are you going to tell us anything else about the mission yet?"
"Ah, my dearest little Sasuke," Kakashi smiled again. "Never grew out of being a pissy, impatient little brat, that he never did." Ignoring Sasuke's Glare of Doom, he turned to the Chuunin standing beside him and asked, "Iruka-sensei, have you got the files ready?"
Startled at the sudden attention, Iruka gaped. Then a look of remembrance flashed across his face. "Oh!" He quickly dove to the desk nearby and searched its drawers. "Yes, sir. I have them right here." A little while more of digging produced two wads of documents in clear folders, ready to be perused. He handed them over to Kakashi.
"In these files," Kakashi said, while taking the files from Iruka, "are all the currently available information about the Mizu-Youma - his known stats, his known characteristics, his known modus operandi, things like that. As you can see," Kakashi shuffled with the few pieces of paper in the folder, "there is /not/ a lot of information available. Those who are able to tell us anything at all are either unconscious or in Hidden Mist. The main reason why this is a rank-A mission is because of the severe lack of information, and also because of its potentially disrupting nature. The Mizu-Youma strikes randomly, stealthily and effectively. Exercise great care and caution in this mission as usual. The Taiyoubu has no hard and fast rules for you to keep when going about your investigations, as long as it doesn't involve bodily mutilations and, or, brinks of death. But there is one thing that you must bear in mind for this mission."
The air in the room seemed to dip, as Kakashi's expression turned serious.
"You are not to operate individually. At any time. For any reason whatsoever."
Both Naruto and Sasuke looked at Kakashi, their expressions hard or impossible to read.
"Is that understood?"
It was Sasuke who moved first, after an agonizing silence. He rose from his seat, reaching over to grab a folder from the table. "Yes, yes, I understand," he turned to leave the room. "But that doesn't apply to toilet breaks or lunch sessions, does it?"
Without waiting for a reply, he exited the room.
The trio still in the room looked at his retreating form with varying degrees of interest.
"Aah" Kakashi scratched the back of his head. He threw the other folder down on the table before Naruto and sighed. "Sometimes I really feel like strangling him. With a nice, thick and long piano wire."
Iruka could only smile consolingly at the exasperated guardian. The sound of a chair being dragged across the floor alerted him that Naruto had stood up as well. He turned to look at the blond youth, noticing with slight concern that his head was bowed.
"I..." Naruto's voice was strangely quiet. "... I'm going to get some lunch too." Picking the clear folder up from the table, he spun around and exited the room, footsteps suddenly louder and clearer than any of his former outbursts.
"Na-" Iruka tried to call out, but was stopped by Kakashi. As he turned to glance questioningly at the Jounin, the last of Naruto slipped out of the room quietly. "Yes... ?"
"Let him be," Kakashi muttered, eye still affixed on the door in deep ponder. "He doesn't want your help all the time."
Immediately, Iruka flushed an angry red at the implications. Quickly composing himself, however, he looked away at a random spot on the floor and held his tongue. After what seemed like a long time, he sighed in defeat.
"I understand."
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23/8/2004
Part 2 of 16
(email XD!) XD (at) tougenkyou (dot) net
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Against the Tide
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Chapter One
Without the muted brown tint of laboratory glass, Sasuke realised something.
Uzumaki Naruto had a head of wild, offendingly bright blond hair.
And a pair of calm, unbelievably azure eyes.
Sasuke also realised something else.
He realised he wished the person was as calm as his eyes looked.
They met in front of the station main gate, where Sasuke was leaning against the wall looking decidedly bored. Naruto came trodding down from a random path a few minutes later, and for a brief moment their glances locked. Sasuke was aware that Youma-Ningen were powerful, volatile creatures, so he noted to himself to be extra quiet and well-behaved that day. He turned around, and was about to beckon at the blond, when something Naruto did froze his blood very very quickly.
Naruto grinned, wide and large, at him.
With a sinking feeling in his stomach, Sasuke managed to utter a raspy, "Follow me," to the boy, who nodded and /bounced/ towards him. He took quick steps towards the police station building, feeling dread crawl over his every cell when he could hear /humming/ coming from behind him. Sneaking a small glance over his shoulder, he could see that it was indeed Naruto who was humming that silly little tune. He restrained the gasp that was threatening to escape from his throat and concentrated on reaching the station building. Slowly... slowly... one step at a time...
"Hey, your name's Sasuke, right?"
...crap. Sasuke thought to himself. He turned slightly to nod at the Youma-Ningen, still not too sure what to think about him.
"My name's Uzumaki Naruto, and I'm gonna be the next Hokage of the Hidden Leaf!!"
Sasuke knew, from that sentence on, that his day was as good as over.
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"Sasuke" The voice behind him whined, and shook him on a shoulder like they were old buddies. "Come on, tell me already! What's this mission going to be all about?"
For the umpteenth time during the short journey from the police post entrance to the offices within, Sasuke groaned with great displeasure. And it wasn't that the corridor was /that/ long, either. It was just that the insufferable fool walking beside him was making the walk seem much longer than usual. And they had only barely met for fifteen minutes.
"Is it going to be something super cool? Like we gonna hunt down some big, massive Youkai and become heroes? Or is it some top secret, super classified spying mission that we have to do outside the village? Come on, Sasuke, the suspense is killing me!"
Sasuke stopped abruptly, unable to bear the whining any longer. He turned around and frowned into Naruto's eyes.
"Listen," he tried to sound as calm as his nerves permitted him to, "can you just shut up for a minute or two? I already told you I don't know anything about the next mission. Once we actually reach the office, we'll get briefed, okay? So stop bothering me about it!"
In reply, Naruto blinked his large, unflinching eyes. He immediately frowned back at Sasuke and retorted, "Has anyone ever told you what an ass you are? I wasn't asking to know /everything/! We're supposed to be partners, putting our lives on the stake for each other, and I barely know anything about you but your name. You haven't even told me what your job scope is at all. Don't you at least know about that?" The boy stuck his tongue out at Sasuke, much to the Uchiha's horror and chagrin. "Why did Iruka-sensei ever allow you to sign me out at all? Asshole!"
Sasuke felt the urge to murder suddenly arising from within.
Oblivious to the dangerous tension, Naruto glanced once across Sasuke's shoulders and brightened up considerably. "Shikamaru!" The blond waved, smiling so radiantly his eyes could barely be seen anymore. "Hey there! Long time no see!" His grin stretched.
Sasuke turned cautiously after Naruto's attention broke. He could recognise the familiar name, but he did not understand why Naruto would be calling it - or how he even knew it. He thought Naruto was just a fear-inspiring Youma-Ningen who had been bound up in chains for years in the laboratory. His frighteningly happy attitude aside, the fact that he seemed to know somebody in the police department merited some degree of caution and attention.
From a short distance away, Shikamaru was just strolling casually out from around the corner. He had a cup of coffee in his right hand and his left hand covered his mouth as he yawned. He jumped slightly when he heard his name and looked randomly in the direction of the voice. When his eyes fell upon Naruto, he blinked in surprise. "Naruto!" He managed to gasp in that lethargic way of his. The surprise then melted away into slight dismay. "Sheesh, what trouble are you gonna cook up this time, Naruto? Tell me early so I can stay away from it, mmkay?"
Despite what his statement had suggested, however, Shikamaru sauntered closer and closer to the duo. The ponytailed teen gave Sasuke a nod of acknowledgement. He then eyed Naruto expectantly, bringing his cup of coffee to his lips.
"I don't know," Naruto was saying, hovering about behind Sasuke and peering over one of the dark-haired teen's shoulder. He shot a glare at the back of Sasuke's head. "Meanie here won't tell me a single thing about anything. Only keeps telling me to hurry up and get to the office or something."
Shikamaru sputtered dramatically into his coffee.
"Woah, you all right?" Naruto blinked in surprise and concern, although he remained warily behind Sasuke. Sasuke frowned slightly at Naruto, then at Shikamaru, knowing he was powerless to rebuke his pony-tailed colleague's reaction. Both Naruto and Sasuke waited for an answer to come from the other boy.
Once Shikamaru's coughing spurts stopped, he raised his eyes to look at Sasuke with a questioning glance. Sasuke found himself quickly looking away from Shikamaru. It had been so long since someone had voluntarily came up to him to talk, that he did not know how to respond.
Shikamaru closed his eyes and started drawling, "I really pity--," while Sasuke winced further into himself. He already knew Shikamaru was going to tell Naruto about the curse, like any normal, sensible person would. And although it would be for the better - so that Naruto would stop bothering him and trying to 'make friends' with him, he still could not help but cringe everytime someone mentioned the curse and its effects. He braced himself.
"-- you, Sasuke." Shikamaru finished - much to Sasuke's surprise, by putting a hand on his shoulder and shaking his head. "I really pity you. Whatever you have done to make you get Naruto as your partner, I don't wanna know." He paused to pat Sasuke's shoulder consolingly. "Nevermind that. I hope you survive," Shikamaru flashed the stunned Uchiha a thumbs up and a genuine though lazy smile - one of the few he had ever seen in these past couple of years. "I haven't seen anyone strong enough to resist Naruto's idiocy for even one day yet."
"What the hell is that supposed to mean?!" Naruto's reaction was immediate, as he screeched directly into Sasuke's ear. Before he could continue, Sasuke backhanded him, forcing all the other words to tumble back into his throat. He then placed a hand over his sore ear and winced. Nobody screams into Uchiha Sasuke's ear and gets away with it, rawr!
"Shikamaru is right," Sasuke growled, shooting a glare at Naruto. "Idiocy is contagious. How many other people have you infected with inanity so far, dead-last?" The Uchiha found himself unable to stop from smirking at the increasingly infuriated blond. Shikamaru took this moment to quickly excuse himself wordlessly from the scene. After all, Naruto's bright blue orbs had slowly narrowed into dangerous slits. And just like every other intelligent ninja, Shikamaru knew when it was a good time to flee.
"If Iruka-sensei didn't warn me to behave or else," Naruto announced, just as Shikamaru turned the corner, "I would so be eating your brains out right now, Uchiha Sasuke!"
Sasuke shrugged. "My brains are so much better than yours, after all."
"Why you!!" Naruto leapt, grabbing onto Sasuke's shoulders and baring a set of fangs in a low grumble. Sasuke noted with fascination that he had never seen those fangs before. Just as Naruto was about to sink his nasty looking teeth into Sasuke's shoulder, a hand shot out from behind him and tugged him forcefully away by the scruff of his shirt. Naruto yelped and struggled, but the grip on him was strong. And it was no wonder.
For it was Kakashi.
The silver-haired man sighed dramatically. "If you boys must murder each other, can you please not do it in public? It's bad for the name of my department." He observed the duo glaring at each other and sighed again. "Now if we're all calmed down, may I ask - why in the world is the most elite team on my squadron... well, the /only/ team on my squadron, but anyway - why are you making a fool of yourselves, fighting each other on the common corridor of the police headquarters?"
"HE STARTED IT!!" Both boys pointed angrily at each other. When they realised that they had just demonstrated a feat of amazing telepathy, they glared each other down again, until they both spun around with a loud harrumph, refusing to look anymore at each other in the eye.
Again, Kakashi sighed. He placed Naruto back on the ground while saying, "All right, that's enough. Get out of the way before the others start coming in." He made waving motions and herded both boys quickly towards the door at the far end of the corridor. Once there, he spun around and waved with a single hand. "I need to go somewhere for a while. Why don't you boys get in first? Just make yourselves comfortable and try not to kill each other!" With a happy skip, Kakashi vanished in a puff of smoke.
The two boys gaped after him.
"What the-" Naruto spoke up first. "That was your sensei, wasn't it!" He blinked in confusion at the now empty corridor. "Isn't /he/ supposed to be giving the briefing? Why is he running away?" The blond turned to Sasuke for an answer.
In turn, the Uchiha just snorted, sliding the door they were in front of open. "I'm still trying to figure out how and why he's even my superior in the first place, dumb-ass."
Naruto's face twisted into a scowl. "Stop calling me names, asshole!"
"I wasn't calling you names, idiot. I was stating facts."
"WHY YOU!!"
Naruto leapt onto Sasuke from behind, forcing him to release the grip he had on the door handle. The door springs quickly slid it back to its original position, sending both boys tumbling into the room. Sasuke could only give a muffled yelp of surprise when he felt fingernails dig into his flesh. He rolled over and was about to jab Naruto in his eyes in retaliation when a foot stamped itself beside his head on the floor, effectively pausing all and any further action.
"What," the voice that next could be heard was lined with promise of doom and destruction, "in the world, is going on here?"
"Iruka-sensei!" Naruto instantly whined. He got off the floor and scrambled towards Iruka, coming to a stop just before the man. "Iruka-sensei! That Sasuke is such a bastard! He wouldn't tell me a single thing about the mission! And he wouldn't say anything else but shut-up-naruto or be-quiet-you-idiot and things like that! I don't think he really wants me to partner him for the mission..." The last sentence was soft and mumbled, but Sasuke heard it anyway. He jerked slightly at the accusation, but then realised that it was true that he had not wanted a partner at all. He glared at the still complaining Naruto and looked away, strangely angry. Without saying anything in reply, he took a seat around the meeting table.
Naruto's droning soon came to an abrupt stop, when Iruka whacked him soundly across the head. "That's enough, Naruto," the warning was stern. "Sit down beside Sasuke and we'll go through the mission together."
Amazingly, the command worked. Naruto, though unwilling, took a seat beside Sasuke as instructed, staying perfectly still and quiet.
Sasuke sighed in relief. He sure could do with some peace and quiet.
"Iruka-sensei, Iruka-sensei?" The subdued query of Naruto came out as slight as a whisper. Iruka stopped adjusting the board and turned to regard Naruto. "You know," the blond was saying, still trying to keep his volume as low as possible. "I'm just wondering... How come you're the one giving the briefing? You're not from here..."
Taken aback by the sudden perception in his protege, Iruka was tongue-tied.
"He's a Chuunin," Sasuke spoke up eventually, when it seemed like nobody else was going to, "he has platoon leader status, so technically speaking he /is/ qualified to lead us." Sasuke shrugged nonchalantly.
Turning wide-eyed to look at Sasuke, Naruto gaped. "Iruka-sensei is a Chuunin??" He almost yelled, the former care in keeping his volume down all but forgotten. "Isn't that the rank you achieve after you go through some test by dying in a forest 44 times and then taking a paper test with no questions?!" The boy had stood up by now and curled his fists up in excitement. "Wow!! And I thought you were just a boring, good-for-nothing bark-all-day-long laboratory caretaker who only knew how to nag and complain! Iruka-sensei, you're great!" There were sparkles around Naruto. He had just discovered something new and exciting.
Iruka's evil grin, however, grew wider and wider with each word that came out from Naruto's mouth. "Naruto," he said in a tone that was calm but eerie, "if you have nothing better to add to the briefing, why don't you sit down and zip up before I send you back to the laboratory and chain you to the toilet bowl this time?" It was amazing how he could sound so sweet yet so frightening at the same time, but Naruto knew better than to negotiate when Iruka sounded like this. He instantly snapped his mouth shut and shook his head desperately. "That's a good boy," Iruka smiled nicely this time, instead of grinning. He turned back to the board behind him. "Now are we all ready for the briefing? We will start with or without Kakashi; for obvious reasons."
The boys nodded.
"Very good," Iruka nodded as well. "First of all, Naruto - welcome to the Taikou Youma Butai - or Taiyoubu for short." He walked towards the board and scratched with chalk the kanji for the Anti-Youma Brigade out in full. "Despite what the name otherwise suggests, the Taiyoubu is actually a faction of the Konoha police responsible for assisting Youma supportive of the village, and for weeding out antagonistic Youma that have either escaped from any one of the laboratories, or are natural Youma that proves to be of harm to the village."
Already feeling bored, Sasuke leaned back into his seat. Although it had been a long time since he heard someone outline the Taiyoubu's point and purpose, it still left a bad aftertaste on his tongue whenever the story was mentioned. He had intended to just let Iruka's voice go on.
Until Naruto's quiet question brought him to full attention.
"Sensei," the blond had asked, tone unreadable, "why did old pops Hokage permit research and experiment on Youma in the first place? Isn't it a cruel thing to do?"
Sasuke cast a semi-worried glance in Naruto's direction. Of all the Youma-Ningen he had met, this one certainly had the most surprises up his sleeve. None had dared to question the experiments before - the experiments that had preserved the village during the war and in effect, their lives. Naruto was either clearly crazy, or there was something really different about him.
After a pause, Iruka smiled wistfully. "Konoha was in the middle of a war, Naruto. It was an intense, swift, and unforgiving war. At the pivotal point of the war, many ninjas came forward to suggest strategies for success. In the end, a young and talented shinobi by the name of Orochimaru was the one who submitted the winning lot."
Naruto's mouth was wide open in an 'O'. "Is that the same Orochimaru who introduced the Hebi-Youma, snake-demons into the village?"
Sasuke immediately flinched, and while Iruka chose to ignore it, Naruto glanced at his counterpart with curiosity.
"Yes, Naruto, that's the one," Iruka waved slightly to get their attentions back. He did not elaborate more about the man in question, choosing to focus on his deeds instead. "... He pushed for a more offensive strategy - and he got it. He then introduced Youma-Ningen Jutsu; the art of giving a human demonic strength by selective infusion. Although brutal, his strategy tided us smoothly over the war," the Chuunin paused with a sigh. "Over time it was discovered that his techniques were all derived from very secluded forbidden Jutsus. That was not reason enough for the ultimate punishment, though. The last straw came when he attempted to assasinate the Third Hokage some years back. As it is, now he is no longer part of Konoha."
"Then why are the experiments still being carried out?" Naruto immediately asked, showing that he had understood the situation, and that he had understood it /quite/ well. There was still, however, no indication in his voice or expression that betrayed the reason behind his strange enquiries. Of course, this either meant that he was very good at hiding himself, or that he was really, just very very curious.
"Well," Iruka walked over the desk near the board he had been writing on. He did not seem offended, or even vaguely suspicious of Naruto's questions. "Konoha made a mistake when accepting Orochimaru's deal. We focused all our energy into the offensive, and it will take a long time before we can adjust it back. In the meantime, licensed scientists were ordered to continue to see how Youma research can aid the village. Too much time and effort, as well as lives, had been put into this for Konoha to withdraw completely," the man smiled ambiguously.
"Not that it's stopped them from trying," Sasuke curtly interjected.
"Huh?" Naruto turned immediately to blink at Sasuke. "Stopped who from trying what?" The blond leaned slightly closer when it appeared as if the other boy in the room was deliberately ignoring him. "Hey, bastard, I'm talking to you! Where'd all your manners fly to?!"
"Naruto! Cut it out!" It was Iruka to the rescue again, and this time he threw a thick, black file into Naruto's face. "Take that back, and read it if you want. It should cover the history of the Taiyoubu and a bit about other related things. Now then," he tapped the board with the chalk in his hand impatiently. "Are you both ready to learn of your new mission?"
Sasuke raised a hand. "Sir," he addressed Iruka politely. "For that part of the briefing, shouldn't we at least wait for Kakashi to come? He's the squad leader no matter what, after all."
It was like there was a lightning struck Iruka all of a sudden. He froze in a picture-perfect frame of an icy smile. "Of course," and when he spoke, Naruto and Sasuke could hear icicles literally clinking onto the ground. "I would gladly listen to that suggestion, Sasuke. If it wasn't that he is /already/ four hours late. He was supposed to be here /four hours ago/ to brief /me/ on my current responsibilities. /He/ is supposed to be standing here and welcoming Naruto and me," the smile slowly vanished into a venomous scowl, "and not the other way round. Do you think I like this any better than you do?" He directed his smile again at Sasuke, who blinked in shock and meekly shook his head. "Good. Now be quiet and we'll finish the briefing."
Taking the resulting silence to be consent, Iruka turned around to start to write something else on the board. As soon as he did, however, the door snapped open loudly and, leaning against the frame was the nonchalant figure of Kakashi, porn in one hand and a careless wave in the other.
"Hello there everybody," the silver-haired man mumbled through his mask. "On my way here I saw two monkeys fighting in the corridor, so I had to break them up. After that I was so badly injured I had to rush to the first aid--"
"LIAR!!" Naruto leapt to his feet and pointed rudely at the Jounin, who widened one eye in slight surprise. Soon, however, he was back to grinning idiotically. He dignified Naruto with no reply, choosing to make his way to where Iruka was.
Iruka saluted him unhappily. "You're late, Kakashi-san." Again, the silver-haired man chose silence as a reply. He smiled and tilted his head to a side.
When Iruka respectfully stepped aside and relinquished the podium, Kakashi took over. He turned around, leaned against the chalkboard and folded his arms across his chest. "All right you both," he gazed lazily at the two younger ninja - one of whom was wide-eyed with anticipation, the other of which was making his disinterest blatantly obvious. Kakashi sighed. His soldiers always, ALWAYS had to be the strangest of the lot. "The mission this time is rank A. We are to locate and capture a low-ranking Mizu-Youma, a water-demon, who has evidently escaped after a botched lab experiment in the Hidden Mist. Of course, the Daimyou of Mist refuses to acknowledge the existence of the escaped Youma, although he has given us expressed permission to do as we please with the being. Whatsmore, ever since his appearance, the Mizu-Youma has struck at or otherwise injured seven of the Konoha villagers - most of whom have not yet recovered from their coma. No doctor has been able to tell what has happened to them, except that their minds are under some sort of hypnotic control... Therefore, before the Mizu-Youma claims anymore victims, we are to capture him. Alive if possible - dead if necessary."
Kakashi paused from the mission introduction to see that Naruto's eyes now sparkled brighter than ever before, if it was even possible. Sasuke had perked up slightly at the thought of a challenging mission. "Any questions so far?" He prompted, before he lost their interest.
"Yes, sir!" Naruto quickly raised a hand. As soon as Kakashi acknowledged him with a raising of his only visible brow, the blond sputtered on, "Where do we find this Mizu-Youma thing, sensei? Do we need anything special to defeat him? How come nobody's managed to capture him yet, if he's a low-ranking Youma like you said? And why is the mission Rank A if that demon is low-ranking? This is all so strange!"
While Iruka shot Naruto a stern, disapproving glare, Kakashi glowed with a smile. "Don't chide him, Iruka-sensei," he said plainly, and the pony-tailed Chuunin blinked in surprise. "I'd rather prefer my subordinates ask me questions than sit and glower at nothing," he was still smiling at nobody in particular, but Sasuke caught on. The boy snapped about and narrowed his eyes at his superior in indignance.
"I'm sorry if Naruto sounded rude, still," Iruka patiently explained. "His manners are lacking, atrocious and infamously well known in the research faculties."
"But Iruka-sensei! Those idiots in the Lab deserved every single word of insult I hurled at them!" Naruto protested loudly, slamming his palms on the table. Iruka looked like he was about to rebut, but Kakashi stopped them both before things escalated further.
"Hang in there now, buddies," the silver-haired Jounin Inspector held his hands out and shook his head. "I will /not/ tolerate internal strife in my department, between my subordinates. None whatsoever." The provoked atmosphere instantly simmered, as both Naruto and Iruka reclined. "The most important thing to being Shinobi - the key to staying alive in our messed up world," the Jounin continued, "is teamwork." There was a dramatic pause. "Remember that, all of you."
"... Well?" Sasuke quickly followed up, slightly frustrated that the meeting was dragging far too long for his liking. "Are you going to tell us anything else about the mission yet?"
"Ah, my dearest little Sasuke," Kakashi smiled again. "Never grew out of being a pissy, impatient little brat, that he never did." Ignoring Sasuke's Glare of Doom, he turned to the Chuunin standing beside him and asked, "Iruka-sensei, have you got the files ready?"
Startled at the sudden attention, Iruka gaped. Then a look of remembrance flashed across his face. "Oh!" He quickly dove to the desk nearby and searched its drawers. "Yes, sir. I have them right here." A little while more of digging produced two wads of documents in clear folders, ready to be perused. He handed them over to Kakashi.
"In these files," Kakashi said, while taking the files from Iruka, "are all the currently available information about the Mizu-Youma - his known stats, his known characteristics, his known modus operandi, things like that. As you can see," Kakashi shuffled with the few pieces of paper in the folder, "there is /not/ a lot of information available. Those who are able to tell us anything at all are either unconscious or in Hidden Mist. The main reason why this is a rank-A mission is because of the severe lack of information, and also because of its potentially disrupting nature. The Mizu-Youma strikes randomly, stealthily and effectively. Exercise great care and caution in this mission as usual. The Taiyoubu has no hard and fast rules for you to keep when going about your investigations, as long as it doesn't involve bodily mutilations and, or, brinks of death. But there is one thing that you must bear in mind for this mission."
The air in the room seemed to dip, as Kakashi's expression turned serious.
"You are not to operate individually. At any time. For any reason whatsoever."
Both Naruto and Sasuke looked at Kakashi, their expressions hard or impossible to read.
"Is that understood?"
It was Sasuke who moved first, after an agonizing silence. He rose from his seat, reaching over to grab a folder from the table. "Yes, yes, I understand," he turned to leave the room. "But that doesn't apply to toilet breaks or lunch sessions, does it?"
Without waiting for a reply, he exited the room.
The trio still in the room looked at his retreating form with varying degrees of interest.
"Aah" Kakashi scratched the back of his head. He threw the other folder down on the table before Naruto and sighed. "Sometimes I really feel like strangling him. With a nice, thick and long piano wire."
Iruka could only smile consolingly at the exasperated guardian. The sound of a chair being dragged across the floor alerted him that Naruto had stood up as well. He turned to look at the blond youth, noticing with slight concern that his head was bowed.
"I..." Naruto's voice was strangely quiet. "... I'm going to get some lunch too." Picking the clear folder up from the table, he spun around and exited the room, footsteps suddenly louder and clearer than any of his former outbursts.
"Na-" Iruka tried to call out, but was stopped by Kakashi. As he turned to glance questioningly at the Jounin, the last of Naruto slipped out of the room quietly. "Yes... ?"
"Let him be," Kakashi muttered, eye still affixed on the door in deep ponder. "He doesn't want your help all the time."
Immediately, Iruka flushed an angry red at the implications. Quickly composing himself, however, he looked away at a random spot on the floor and held his tongue. After what seemed like a long time, he sighed in defeat.
"I understand."
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23/8/2004
Part 2 of 16
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