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 Six
"Sasuke!!" Naruto's bright and loud voice disrupted the painful silence in the hospital room, where Sasuke and Sakura were. Both visitor and patient perked up slightly at the disturbance, just in time to see the whirlwind of blond burst into the room. "Sasuke!" Naruto repeated, this time much louder. In one hand he cradled a few cans of drinks, whereas in the other hand he was waving a hospital folder around desperately. "I got something to tell you, and maybe Kakashi-sensei. Are you... oh wait," he calmed down, when he saw Sakura looking at him strangely. Sheepishly, he rubbed the back of his head with the folder. "Oh, sorry, Sakura-chan. I know I'm a bit loud and everything so please don't mind--"
Not yet done with his apology, Naruto found the folder in his hand snatched away by Sasuke, who then used it to whap him on the head. "Let's head back. I don't think we can learn anything new here for today." He stalked darkly towards the the door and hovered at the doorway, waiting for Naruto to join him.
"Yeah yeah, jerk!" The blond stuck his tongue out at Sasuke. He looked away and rolled his eyes. Quickly turning to Sakura, Naruto handed her the cold can of drink, beaming widely. "Sakura-chan! Here's your drink! Get well soon! Don't worry, you can count on us coming to visit you again! That's what friends are for!!"
"Hurry up, you idiot!" Sasuke called out impatiently from the doorway. Waving one last time at Sakura, Naruto took off, exiting the room by throwing a glare at his partner. Sasuke ignored him and simply allowed him to go ahead first.
Just as Sasuke moved to follow Naruto, Sakura found her voice again. "Sasuke-kun..."
The Uchiha paused. He turned his head slightly.
"Are we..." Sakura continued, twisting knobs in her bedsheet. "... are we friends now?"
There was a long silence.
"You don't want to be my friend," Sasuke's soft, almost pained whisper drifted to Sakura's ears - so quiet that she almost missed it. "You don't want to be my friend..."
Stepping quietly out, the door swung silently shut. A confused Sakura was left behind with nothing but a can of cold drink and fleeting memories of her two strange, peculiar visitors.
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"Here," Naruto haughtily stuffed one of the cans he had in his hand to Sasuke, before turning away. Surprised, Sasuke paused in his step.
"What's this?" The raven-haired teen eyed the can suspiciously, then glared at Naruto.
"It's a can drink, stupid," Naruto found himself half frustrated and half amused. "There's no poison inside either, if you /must/ know," he sarcastically added, after turning around and catching a glance of Sasuke's dubious expression. When the Uchiha still refused to react, Naruto sighed noisily. "You know better than me what happens to a Younin who harms his partner! Just take the drink and say thank you or something, why don't you?!"
Sasuke had blinked when Naruto brought the word 'Younin' up. He quickly scowled at the brash blond and brushed by him in a flurry. "Why're you still standing there? Don't you have something to say to Kakashi?" There was a sound of a can drink cap being twisted open, and Naruto's eyes widened, surprised to see Sasuke opening the can to drink from it. Sasuke caught him in that expression and smirked. "You're not being very useful standing in the middle of the road and gaping like a goldfish, dead-last. You gonna come or do I have to go back to the hospital and rent a wheelchair?"
Instantly snapping out of his stupor, Naruto took back whatever flattering adjective he had been showering Sasuke with previously in his mind. "I don't need a wheelchair, you asshole! Maybe you should get your eyes /checked/ before you say something stupid next time!"
Sasuke's reply was to gurgle coffee and look at the clouds.
There were some shouting, protests and choking sounds. The boys proceeded to engage in a massive chakra street brawl.
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Kakashi put a hand to his forehead.
"So," the silver-haired Jounin Inspector shook his head, "who of you wants to start first?"
The two dirty-looking boys in front of him simply scowled and glanced away from each other, neither saying a single word.
Kakashi sighed.
"Kakashi-san, I've borrowed some related books and documents from the lib-... !!" The caretaker ended his statement with a shocked expression. "What the-... Naruto! Sasuke! Oh my goodness! Were you pushing each other into mud mires? How did you get so dirty?!"
The accusation snapped something in both boys' heads. They pointed a finger at each other with alarming synonymy and cried out, "It was all /his/ fault!" at the same time. They glared at each other again, before snorting and jerking their heads in opposite directions.
Kakashi sighed, very loudly.
Raising an eyebrow at his superior, Iruka asked, "Do you have any idea, sir?"
"Alas, no," Kakashi replied with great drama, "I am as much in the unknowing as you may be, Iruka-sensei." In a more serious tone, he added, "Actually they've just stepped inside. I was about to interrogate them. If you don't want to miss this chance of listening to what must be the greatest event ever to happen to Uchiha Sasuke since I was ordered to take over the Taiyoubu, then you're most welcomed to, Iruka-sensei," the silver-haired Jounin grinned beneath his mask, at the two squirming boys before him. "Sasuke," he said lightly. "You start."
"Nothing exciting happened, /sir/," Sasuke made double sure to emphasis the title. "We just got into a minor fight, that's all."
"Minor my foot!!" Naruto immediately yelled back, waving his arms around. He pointed to his bloodied left arm and continued ranting, "You shoved your kunai into my arm and nearly ripped it into two! I was bleeding a whole damned river!! How can you call something like that /minor/?!"
"It was an accident!" Sasuke hissed at the blond, then pointed to the three parallel gashes across his right cheek. "You clawed me here too, in case you forgot! Ripped the skin off like shredder on paper! That hurt like bloody hell too!"
"Boys, boys," Kakashi held them both by their heads and sighed for what he hoped would be the last time that afternoon. "All right, I get it. You both have accounts to settle with each other. But let me take a look at your wounds first, okay?" He gestured them to a long bench near the table where Iruka was leaning on.
Glumly, both boys heeded the instructions. They made doubly sure to sit as far near the edge of opposite sides of the bench as they could.
"Naruto," Kakashi started, going down on one knee to examine the blond's left arm, "all of the Taiyoubu's weapons are coated with very strong anti-Youma substances - designed to numb them into inacitivity. Are you feeling dizzy? Does your head feel light? Or are you feeling uncomfortable anywhere?"
Naruto thought long and hard, complete with rumbling throat noises. "No," he finally replied. "Although I'm a little hungry..."
Kakashi ignored that last sentence and concentrated on staring at the bloodied left arm, which was exactly what it was - nothing but a bloodied left arm. He did not see the massive, scathing wound with a free flowing outpour of blood Naruto had claimed was there, and was understandably disturbed.
"He heals very quickly," Iruka commented from where he stood, as if he could read the questions in Kakashi's mind. Kakashi glanced upwards at Iruka. Not long after, a knowing look quickly dawned on his face.
"I see," the Jounin stood, releasing Naruto's arm. "That's all good. Naruto, you're fine. There's no need to squeal like a pig lined up for butchering. Just wash the blood away from your hand and it'll be as good as new."
"Really?" Naruto's eyes were wide with amazement. "I don't have to go through any major life-threatening operation to saw my arm off before it starts to rot because of the poison?"
"No, don't worry," Kakashi pat the boy on his head. "Whatever Sasuke's been threatening you with, don't believe him. His bark is always worse than his bite."
Sasuke growled at his guardian.
"Iruka-sensei, can I leave Naruto to you for the time being then?" Kakashi nodded at the Chuunin, who stood at attention immediately.
"Of course, sir," Iruka was already by Naruto's side. "It is my duty to begin with."
As Iruka led Naruto out of the office, the blond sneaked one last look back, caught Sasuke's eye, and stuck his tongue out at him.
The door quietly closed, and Sasuke's vein throbbed on his forehead. "I'm gonna kill that little twerp!" He declared with a strangled cry. He then fell back into himself and clutched his ribs, his formerly calm facade contorting with what looked like unbearable pain.
Shaking his head, Kakashi grabbed the first aid kit and stood in front of Sasuke, hands on his hips. "I know being calm and everything is an Uchiha trademark, but for once in your life, you should just shout if it hurts so much. Then again I'm quite amused that a Youma-Ningen who hasn't seen action in so many years managed to do you in. Finally met your match?"
"Shut up!" Sasuke growled, choking back on some dried blood. "I'll be all right after a while. Give that to me!" He snatched the first aid box from Kakashi and glowered at the man. "Thanks for nothing. You can leave me alone now."
"Sasuke," Kakashi frowned, "you know very well that I'm not going to do that until I beat some answers out from you." As he said his words, he dragged a stool, placed it in front of Sasuke and sat on it. "Now that there's only you and me, you can tell me what happened."
"Nothing! Nothing happened! We just got into a fight, okay?" Sasuke yelled, surprising Kakashi. "Look," he glared at his guardian, "I don't care how much trouble it's going to be - but get. Him. Out. Of. My. Team! Get him out and far away from me!" There was a look of desperate pleading in Sasuke's eyes. "I don't need him for this mission! I don't need anybody!" Like a trapped wild animal lashing out, Sasuke continued, "You don't understand, do you?! He's going to die! He's going to die and it'll be all my fault again! I don't need that anymore! I've had enough of watching people around me die!" He choked, gritted his teeth, but calmed down. "I almost killed him... like I killed him so many years ago..."
Kakashi's eye never left from the rambling boy, and he never interrupted. He waited for a while, until the time was right, then calmly spoke up.
"Explain."
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"I don't know whatever possessed you into getting into a fight with your signatory," Iruka shook his head, while spraying Naruto's left hand with a small hose. They sat in the quiet, almost abandoned changing room of the Taiyoubu - Naruto sulking and Iruka nagging. "I thought you knew the rules of the contract better than that."
"It's not my fault he's the world's greatest bastard and asshole!" Naruto mumbled unhappily, but clearly regretting his foolish move.
For a while, there was nothing but the sounds of water spraying on Naruto's hand.
"Iruka-sensei..." The blond broke the silence with an uncharacteristically quiet voice.
"Hm?" Iruka randomly responded. His attention was mostly on a particularly stubborn stain that was refusing to come out no matter how hard he rubbed.
"Do you think... Sasuke hates me?"
Although taken aback at the question, Iruka nevertheless continued trying to scrub the blood off Naruto's arm. He wondered how he should respond, eventually grinning and saying, "Since when did you worry about people hating you, Naruto?" - obviously hoping to distract the blond. Upon hearing that, however, Naruto's scowl intensified. He lowered his head and sulked at the tiled floor.
"I went through that cabinet of mission reports you asked me to, Iruka-sensei," Naruto spoke up again, after an awkward silence. "And I don't see why Sasuke needs a partner for any of his missions. He's... well, he's very good," the blond admitted with a sigh. "Genjutsu, Ninjutsu, Taijutsu - and he has an advanced bloodline. I don't understand, sensei. I think he signed me out just so he can pick on me," Naruto grumbled. "We're not allowed to fight back after all. But damned if I let him get away with calling me dead-last!" The blond suddenly rose to full height, knocking the hose back such that now Iruka was completely drenched by it. "When I become Hokage, I'll kick his ass so hard, he'll be crying into next week! Hahah!!" He struck a pose.
Iruka, of course, was anything but listening. "Naruto..." He growled in a deep, dangerous voice.
"Yes?" The boy was still in his ecstatic mood. "You want to treat me to ramen coz you're so sure I'm gonna be the next Hokage, yes?"
Iruka grinned evilly, after having brought the askew hose under control, but not having been fast enough to escape from its mighty jet of water. He held the hose firmly in his hand, and proceeded to blast Naruto completely with water.
"Wagh!" Naruto screeched, feeling the strong jet of liquid pummel into him. "Ow ow ow, stop that! Argh, I'm getting wet!" He grated out unhappily, stepped on a bar of soap, and slipped, yelping loudly.
"Next time, watch where you are before going into your Hokage dramatics again, Naruto," Iruka simply stated to the bewildered Naruto on the ground, while turning the water hose off. "Get up and let me check your arm," the caretaker instructed, and Naruto quickly scrambled to his feet. He held his left arm out for Iruka to inspect. The pony-tailed man stared at it for a while, then nodded. "Okay. It's all cleaned up now." Patting Naruto on his shoulder, he smiled warmly. "Thank goodness you're all right, Naruto."
Naruto blinked in surprise.
"Now," Iruka's face quickly dissolved into a stern frown. He gestured towards the bench they were sitting on previously. "Sit down and explain to me just what in the world happened on your way back."
Immediately, the blond frowned. Although he did sit down, he folded his arms and pouted angrily, refusing to say anything.
"Come on," Iruka shook his head, sitting down beside his the boy. "It can't be a long story, anyway I see it. Why don't you start from the hospital? I hear you were assigned to go visit one of the victims of the Mizu-Youma in the hospital, right?"
"Yeah," Naruto muttered unhappily. Then he perked up. "Sakura-chan is so pretty, sensei! Like the cherry blossoms in spring! I think I'm in love! I must try to ask her out!" He blabbered with a lewd grin. Iruka smiled along.
"That's nice," the Chuunin nodded. "What else about her did you find out besides the fact that she was pretty, hm?"
Quickly, Naruto mellowed down. "Nothing much..." he mumbled. "... Sakura-chan is suffering from some accrued... astute... memory... err, anyway she can't remember what happened to her that night," Naruto pouted. "She says she doesn't even remember who her friends are! She's so pitiful!" He glanced up at Iruka with bright, concerned eyes.
"Memory loss, huh," Iruka simply slapped a hand on Naruto's puffy blond head, being immune to all sorts of puppy eyes in the world. "That's... interesting, to say the least. But go on. What happened after you left the hospital?"
"Bleh, nothing much," Naruto grumbled, obviously unhappy that Iruka had shifted the topic such that he wouldn't be able to gush about Sakura anymore. "Sasuke insulted me again, so I got angry. Then we fought and tackled each other to the ground. When I tried to bite him, his whole body seized up and his eyes turned this really awesome shade of red!" Naruto's voice trailed faintly.
In a short while, Naruto's voice picked up again in a slightly angrier tone. "Then all of a sudden he has this kunai in his hand, coming straight for my heart!! Sheesh, I really thought I was done for this time! Though at the last moment, his eyes kind of suddenly snapped back into black and he twisted the kunai so that it hit my left arm instead. But still!" He pointed dramatically at his now completely healed left arm. "It hurt like mad!" So I swiped at his face and clawed away a bit of flesh. Ehehe..." There was a sheepish pause. "... Okay, I clawed away a /lot/ of flesh but... but he started it, Iruka-sensei!" The whining tone was back in full force. "Please believe me!"
Iruka stared first. Then shook his head. "You make a very lousy storyteller, Naruto." He held a hand up to stop any protests from the blond. Grinning widely, Iruka continued, "Well, but I'd still give you full marks on honesty! And I guess that means ramen for dinner tonight, then!"
A short silence later, the jubilant outcry of "YEAH!!" could be heard echoing through the empty corridors of the entire department.
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"So you pulled a kunai out, and barely managed to avoid stabbing Naruto in the heart," Kakashi summarised what Sasuke had been blabbering about for the past few minutes. "Did I get that right?"
After mumbling something unintelligible for a while, Sasuke sighed and nodded his head. "Yes."
In response, Kakashi clapped. "Well, you know what?" He chirped to a surprised looking Sasuke. "Congratulations! Congratulations for having your first temper tantrum for all sixteen years of your suppressed, frustrated life!" He wagged a finger at the by-now utterly shocked Sasuke. "Don't deny it. I've watched over you from since you were a little brat. You've never thrown a temper tantrum or had a hissy catfight with any of the boys before. I was beginning to wonder if you're abnormal! Congratulations, Sasuke! Welcome back to the land of normal boyhood. Where have you been all your life?"
"You..." Sasuke, however, found nothing in the situation that was as funny as Kakashi portrayed it to be. "You... you asshole! I... I almost killed him and you call it a temper tantrum?! He could've died and... and the stupid curse would have-"
"Ah, but you see, Sasuke," Kakashi shook his head. "Naruto is still alive and kicking. And relatively unharmed, too, if I may add."
"But he could have-"
"-died, yes." The Jounin's turned poker-faced. "But he didn't. And he won't. That, Sasuke, is the only difference we care about in our line of profession. Do you understand?"
With eyes wide and jaw slack, Sasuke stared at his guardian with a stunned silence. Eventually he growled, and leaned backwards into the backrest of the bench. "... So you're not going to take him out of the department."
Kakashi's single eye became an inverted U. "Nope!"
Knowing that he had no more say in the matter, Sasuke closed his eyes and meant to stand up, hopefully walking away from the idiocy that was his superior. He was stopped, however, by a firm hand on his shoulder - that of Kakashi's. Glancing first at the hand, then at Kakashi, he demanded, "What the hell is your problem now?"
Quietly, Kakashi sneaked a book out from behind him. Sasuke's eyes widened. Instead of staring into the usual orange cover of the pornographic novel series Kakashi was always reading, he found himself staring at the serious, sombre thick cover of the book he had been reading the night before.
The book about Youma, Younin, and of course - the Kyuubi.
"You were reading this last night," Kakashi stated matter-of-factly.
"Keh," Sasuke looked away, finding his cheeks growing slightly hot. Kakashi had never questioned him about his choice of reading material before. "It's not like I'm reading something I shouldn't be."
"I think it is," Kakashi's tone remained serious. He tossed the book to a far end of the room and stood upright, straight as a ruler. "If you had any questions about Youma research and, or the Kyuubi, why didn't you ask me? These books are too dry and state only the personal opinion of the author, sprinkled periodically with some facts to back them up. Is that why you developed such a bad opinion of Naruto?"
"I wasn't reading it for Naruto," Sasuke muttered softly, perhaps hoping by some sheer chance that Kakashi would believe him. The Jounin simply sighed and shook his head.
"Nevermind who you picked the book up for, Sasuke," Kakashi said. "Now I want you to tell me what you learned about Youma and the Kyuubi from that book. Pronto. You have 2 minutes."
Glaring at his superior, Sasuke knew he had no way out. "Nothing new that I don't already know from the other books about the Youma or Youma-Ningen," he tilted his head in the direction where he last saw Kakashi throw the book in. "It was the only book which talked a bit about the nine-tailed demon fox, though, so I thought..." he stole a glance at Kakashi, who smiled and nodded for him to continue. "... I thought maybe... I can find out... a bit more... about the demon that's in the idiot..." he trailed off.
"So did you find anything?" Kakashi prompted, not about to let the silence stretch.
Shifting his eyes to the ground, Sasuke allowed a few seconds to collect his thoughts. "The Kyuubi no Youko was one of the most powerful demons in history... it was bloodthirsty and destructive - tearing up anything that stood in its way. Thousands of elite have fallen to its attacks, and none have ever managed to get it to submit," he glanced at Kakashi questioningly at this stage. "The book never said anything about the demon's attack on the village, though."
The Jounin nodded. "Understandable. The book was written prior to the attack, after all." He ignored the suspicious look on Sasuke's face. "So?" He raised an eyebrow at the boy. "Whatever made you go grab a book on a long-gone demon and read up about it?"
"I don't know," Sasuke quickly looked away again, a slight blush evident on his pale face. "Boredom, maybe."
"I hope you weren't trying to find out a glimpse of why Naruto behaves the way he does with that book--"
"I already said it's not because of Naruto!"
"--Well, good. Because Naruto is NOT the Kyuubi. And thus you're not going to find anything in any book out there that can help you understand him any better."
A pause.
"He's not?" Sasuke was miffed. "Doesn't Youma-Ningen experiments combine a demon with a human to better certain parts of their anatomy?"
"Maybe he'll tell you more about it whenever," Kakashi shrugged. "You could ask him, you know. The contract doesn't forbid you guys from talking about Younin experiments."
Sasuke scoffed, as if the mere thought of having a proper conversation with Naruto was beyond him.
"Do you really hate Naruto so much?"
The nature of the question alone made Sasuke wary. Yet if he denied the charge it would mean that he /liked/ the foolish blond, which he most certainly did not. "Yeah," he grunted. "He's stupid, idiotic, moronic, a hindrance, loud, bright, blundering and ugly to boot. I sure as anything do not need something like that in my life."
"So you hate him," Kakashi grated. Sasuke frowned. Hate was too strong a word even for his opinion on Naruto. He had barely known the blond for two days - hardly enough to develop such intense feelings.
"I can't stand him," Sasuke replied monotonously, not entirely sure where this conversation was headed.
"Enough to want to kill him?"
Sasuke's head snapped upright at that. "I do NOT want to kill him!"
"Really?" The Jounin cocked his head to a side. "Didn't you just say you were going to 'kill that little twerp'?"
Sasuke bared some teeth. "That was just a random threat, you stupid Jounin."
Shrugging, Kakashi continued, "Random threats aside, have you done anything to him to make him feel even slightly welcomed to the department since meeting him?"
Sasuke blinked, and remained silent.
"Isn't that right," Kakashi simply took the silence to be an admission. "Naruto, being the bearer of the Kyuubi," he looked pointedly at Sasuke, "has had to face the persecution of everybody in the village who has been through that particular war. Anywhere he turns, everywhere he goes - somebody's out there, glaring at him with every intent to kill him, skin him alive if it helps eases their sense of justice. Sasuke," Kakashi called his protege's name, and made sure that Sasuke was staring at him in the eye before he continued, "Naruto doesn't need one more person hating him - anymore than you need one more person dying on you." The Uchiha was sure he could hear himself gulp. The glint in Kakashi's eye turned even more serious. "Do you understand?"
Quickly looking away, Sasuke frowned. He tried hard to think of a proper, honest response.
"The world doesn't revolve around you alone, Sasuke,"
After uttering those words that would be his last for the day, Kakashi smiled, and disappeared in a puff of teleportation smoke.
Before he could hear Sasuke snap back.
"I do NOT act as if the world revolves around me!!" Sasuke shouted into thin air, subsequently cursing his superior in his head with every swear word he had learnt from since times past to now.
After a while, though, he calmed down, fists clenched and head lowered.
He knew there was a ring of truth behind the words that Kakashi had just spoken.
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30/8/2004
Part 7 of 16
(email XD!) XD (at) tougenkyou (dot) net
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Against the Tide
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Chapter Six
"Sasuke!!" Naruto's bright and loud voice disrupted the painful silence in the hospital room, where Sasuke and Sakura were. Both visitor and patient perked up slightly at the disturbance, just in time to see the whirlwind of blond burst into the room. "Sasuke!" Naruto repeated, this time much louder. In one hand he cradled a few cans of drinks, whereas in the other hand he was waving a hospital folder around desperately. "I got something to tell you, and maybe Kakashi-sensei. Are you... oh wait," he calmed down, when he saw Sakura looking at him strangely. Sheepishly, he rubbed the back of his head with the folder. "Oh, sorry, Sakura-chan. I know I'm a bit loud and everything so please don't mind--"
Not yet done with his apology, Naruto found the folder in his hand snatched away by Sasuke, who then used it to whap him on the head. "Let's head back. I don't think we can learn anything new here for today." He stalked darkly towards the the door and hovered at the doorway, waiting for Naruto to join him.
"Yeah yeah, jerk!" The blond stuck his tongue out at Sasuke. He looked away and rolled his eyes. Quickly turning to Sakura, Naruto handed her the cold can of drink, beaming widely. "Sakura-chan! Here's your drink! Get well soon! Don't worry, you can count on us coming to visit you again! That's what friends are for!!"
"Hurry up, you idiot!" Sasuke called out impatiently from the doorway. Waving one last time at Sakura, Naruto took off, exiting the room by throwing a glare at his partner. Sasuke ignored him and simply allowed him to go ahead first.
Just as Sasuke moved to follow Naruto, Sakura found her voice again. "Sasuke-kun..."
The Uchiha paused. He turned his head slightly.
"Are we..." Sakura continued, twisting knobs in her bedsheet. "... are we friends now?"
There was a long silence.
"You don't want to be my friend," Sasuke's soft, almost pained whisper drifted to Sakura's ears - so quiet that she almost missed it. "You don't want to be my friend..."
Stepping quietly out, the door swung silently shut. A confused Sakura was left behind with nothing but a can of cold drink and fleeting memories of her two strange, peculiar visitors.
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"Here," Naruto haughtily stuffed one of the cans he had in his hand to Sasuke, before turning away. Surprised, Sasuke paused in his step.
"What's this?" The raven-haired teen eyed the can suspiciously, then glared at Naruto.
"It's a can drink, stupid," Naruto found himself half frustrated and half amused. "There's no poison inside either, if you /must/ know," he sarcastically added, after turning around and catching a glance of Sasuke's dubious expression. When the Uchiha still refused to react, Naruto sighed noisily. "You know better than me what happens to a Younin who harms his partner! Just take the drink and say thank you or something, why don't you?!"
Sasuke had blinked when Naruto brought the word 'Younin' up. He quickly scowled at the brash blond and brushed by him in a flurry. "Why're you still standing there? Don't you have something to say to Kakashi?" There was a sound of a can drink cap being twisted open, and Naruto's eyes widened, surprised to see Sasuke opening the can to drink from it. Sasuke caught him in that expression and smirked. "You're not being very useful standing in the middle of the road and gaping like a goldfish, dead-last. You gonna come or do I have to go back to the hospital and rent a wheelchair?"
Instantly snapping out of his stupor, Naruto took back whatever flattering adjective he had been showering Sasuke with previously in his mind. "I don't need a wheelchair, you asshole! Maybe you should get your eyes /checked/ before you say something stupid next time!"
Sasuke's reply was to gurgle coffee and look at the clouds.
There were some shouting, protests and choking sounds. The boys proceeded to engage in a massive chakra street brawl.
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Kakashi put a hand to his forehead.
"So," the silver-haired Jounin Inspector shook his head, "who of you wants to start first?"
The two dirty-looking boys in front of him simply scowled and glanced away from each other, neither saying a single word.
Kakashi sighed.
"Kakashi-san, I've borrowed some related books and documents from the lib-... !!" The caretaker ended his statement with a shocked expression. "What the-... Naruto! Sasuke! Oh my goodness! Were you pushing each other into mud mires? How did you get so dirty?!"
The accusation snapped something in both boys' heads. They pointed a finger at each other with alarming synonymy and cried out, "It was all /his/ fault!" at the same time. They glared at each other again, before snorting and jerking their heads in opposite directions.
Kakashi sighed, very loudly.
Raising an eyebrow at his superior, Iruka asked, "Do you have any idea, sir?"
"Alas, no," Kakashi replied with great drama, "I am as much in the unknowing as you may be, Iruka-sensei." In a more serious tone, he added, "Actually they've just stepped inside. I was about to interrogate them. If you don't want to miss this chance of listening to what must be the greatest event ever to happen to Uchiha Sasuke since I was ordered to take over the Taiyoubu, then you're most welcomed to, Iruka-sensei," the silver-haired Jounin grinned beneath his mask, at the two squirming boys before him. "Sasuke," he said lightly. "You start."
"Nothing exciting happened, /sir/," Sasuke made double sure to emphasis the title. "We just got into a minor fight, that's all."
"Minor my foot!!" Naruto immediately yelled back, waving his arms around. He pointed to his bloodied left arm and continued ranting, "You shoved your kunai into my arm and nearly ripped it into two! I was bleeding a whole damned river!! How can you call something like that /minor/?!"
"It was an accident!" Sasuke hissed at the blond, then pointed to the three parallel gashes across his right cheek. "You clawed me here too, in case you forgot! Ripped the skin off like shredder on paper! That hurt like bloody hell too!"
"Boys, boys," Kakashi held them both by their heads and sighed for what he hoped would be the last time that afternoon. "All right, I get it. You both have accounts to settle with each other. But let me take a look at your wounds first, okay?" He gestured them to a long bench near the table where Iruka was leaning on.
Glumly, both boys heeded the instructions. They made doubly sure to sit as far near the edge of opposite sides of the bench as they could.
"Naruto," Kakashi started, going down on one knee to examine the blond's left arm, "all of the Taiyoubu's weapons are coated with very strong anti-Youma substances - designed to numb them into inacitivity. Are you feeling dizzy? Does your head feel light? Or are you feeling uncomfortable anywhere?"
Naruto thought long and hard, complete with rumbling throat noises. "No," he finally replied. "Although I'm a little hungry..."
Kakashi ignored that last sentence and concentrated on staring at the bloodied left arm, which was exactly what it was - nothing but a bloodied left arm. He did not see the massive, scathing wound with a free flowing outpour of blood Naruto had claimed was there, and was understandably disturbed.
"He heals very quickly," Iruka commented from where he stood, as if he could read the questions in Kakashi's mind. Kakashi glanced upwards at Iruka. Not long after, a knowing look quickly dawned on his face.
"I see," the Jounin stood, releasing Naruto's arm. "That's all good. Naruto, you're fine. There's no need to squeal like a pig lined up for butchering. Just wash the blood away from your hand and it'll be as good as new."
"Really?" Naruto's eyes were wide with amazement. "I don't have to go through any major life-threatening operation to saw my arm off before it starts to rot because of the poison?"
"No, don't worry," Kakashi pat the boy on his head. "Whatever Sasuke's been threatening you with, don't believe him. His bark is always worse than his bite."
Sasuke growled at his guardian.
"Iruka-sensei, can I leave Naruto to you for the time being then?" Kakashi nodded at the Chuunin, who stood at attention immediately.
"Of course, sir," Iruka was already by Naruto's side. "It is my duty to begin with."
As Iruka led Naruto out of the office, the blond sneaked one last look back, caught Sasuke's eye, and stuck his tongue out at him.
The door quietly closed, and Sasuke's vein throbbed on his forehead. "I'm gonna kill that little twerp!" He declared with a strangled cry. He then fell back into himself and clutched his ribs, his formerly calm facade contorting with what looked like unbearable pain.
Shaking his head, Kakashi grabbed the first aid kit and stood in front of Sasuke, hands on his hips. "I know being calm and everything is an Uchiha trademark, but for once in your life, you should just shout if it hurts so much. Then again I'm quite amused that a Youma-Ningen who hasn't seen action in so many years managed to do you in. Finally met your match?"
"Shut up!" Sasuke growled, choking back on some dried blood. "I'll be all right after a while. Give that to me!" He snatched the first aid box from Kakashi and glowered at the man. "Thanks for nothing. You can leave me alone now."
"Sasuke," Kakashi frowned, "you know very well that I'm not going to do that until I beat some answers out from you." As he said his words, he dragged a stool, placed it in front of Sasuke and sat on it. "Now that there's only you and me, you can tell me what happened."
"Nothing! Nothing happened! We just got into a fight, okay?" Sasuke yelled, surprising Kakashi. "Look," he glared at his guardian, "I don't care how much trouble it's going to be - but get. Him. Out. Of. My. Team! Get him out and far away from me!" There was a look of desperate pleading in Sasuke's eyes. "I don't need him for this mission! I don't need anybody!" Like a trapped wild animal lashing out, Sasuke continued, "You don't understand, do you?! He's going to die! He's going to die and it'll be all my fault again! I don't need that anymore! I've had enough of watching people around me die!" He choked, gritted his teeth, but calmed down. "I almost killed him... like I killed him so many years ago..."
Kakashi's eye never left from the rambling boy, and he never interrupted. He waited for a while, until the time was right, then calmly spoke up.
"Explain."
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"I don't know whatever possessed you into getting into a fight with your signatory," Iruka shook his head, while spraying Naruto's left hand with a small hose. They sat in the quiet, almost abandoned changing room of the Taiyoubu - Naruto sulking and Iruka nagging. "I thought you knew the rules of the contract better than that."
"It's not my fault he's the world's greatest bastard and asshole!" Naruto mumbled unhappily, but clearly regretting his foolish move.
For a while, there was nothing but the sounds of water spraying on Naruto's hand.
"Iruka-sensei..." The blond broke the silence with an uncharacteristically quiet voice.
"Hm?" Iruka randomly responded. His attention was mostly on a particularly stubborn stain that was refusing to come out no matter how hard he rubbed.
"Do you think... Sasuke hates me?"
Although taken aback at the question, Iruka nevertheless continued trying to scrub the blood off Naruto's arm. He wondered how he should respond, eventually grinning and saying, "Since when did you worry about people hating you, Naruto?" - obviously hoping to distract the blond. Upon hearing that, however, Naruto's scowl intensified. He lowered his head and sulked at the tiled floor.
"I went through that cabinet of mission reports you asked me to, Iruka-sensei," Naruto spoke up again, after an awkward silence. "And I don't see why Sasuke needs a partner for any of his missions. He's... well, he's very good," the blond admitted with a sigh. "Genjutsu, Ninjutsu, Taijutsu - and he has an advanced bloodline. I don't understand, sensei. I think he signed me out just so he can pick on me," Naruto grumbled. "We're not allowed to fight back after all. But damned if I let him get away with calling me dead-last!" The blond suddenly rose to full height, knocking the hose back such that now Iruka was completely drenched by it. "When I become Hokage, I'll kick his ass so hard, he'll be crying into next week! Hahah!!" He struck a pose.
Iruka, of course, was anything but listening. "Naruto..." He growled in a deep, dangerous voice.
"Yes?" The boy was still in his ecstatic mood. "You want to treat me to ramen coz you're so sure I'm gonna be the next Hokage, yes?"
Iruka grinned evilly, after having brought the askew hose under control, but not having been fast enough to escape from its mighty jet of water. He held the hose firmly in his hand, and proceeded to blast Naruto completely with water.
"Wagh!" Naruto screeched, feeling the strong jet of liquid pummel into him. "Ow ow ow, stop that! Argh, I'm getting wet!" He grated out unhappily, stepped on a bar of soap, and slipped, yelping loudly.
"Next time, watch where you are before going into your Hokage dramatics again, Naruto," Iruka simply stated to the bewildered Naruto on the ground, while turning the water hose off. "Get up and let me check your arm," the caretaker instructed, and Naruto quickly scrambled to his feet. He held his left arm out for Iruka to inspect. The pony-tailed man stared at it for a while, then nodded. "Okay. It's all cleaned up now." Patting Naruto on his shoulder, he smiled warmly. "Thank goodness you're all right, Naruto."
Naruto blinked in surprise.
"Now," Iruka's face quickly dissolved into a stern frown. He gestured towards the bench they were sitting on previously. "Sit down and explain to me just what in the world happened on your way back."
Immediately, the blond frowned. Although he did sit down, he folded his arms and pouted angrily, refusing to say anything.
"Come on," Iruka shook his head, sitting down beside his the boy. "It can't be a long story, anyway I see it. Why don't you start from the hospital? I hear you were assigned to go visit one of the victims of the Mizu-Youma in the hospital, right?"
"Yeah," Naruto muttered unhappily. Then he perked up. "Sakura-chan is so pretty, sensei! Like the cherry blossoms in spring! I think I'm in love! I must try to ask her out!" He blabbered with a lewd grin. Iruka smiled along.
"That's nice," the Chuunin nodded. "What else about her did you find out besides the fact that she was pretty, hm?"
Quickly, Naruto mellowed down. "Nothing much..." he mumbled. "... Sakura-chan is suffering from some accrued... astute... memory... err, anyway she can't remember what happened to her that night," Naruto pouted. "She says she doesn't even remember who her friends are! She's so pitiful!" He glanced up at Iruka with bright, concerned eyes.
"Memory loss, huh," Iruka simply slapped a hand on Naruto's puffy blond head, being immune to all sorts of puppy eyes in the world. "That's... interesting, to say the least. But go on. What happened after you left the hospital?"
"Bleh, nothing much," Naruto grumbled, obviously unhappy that Iruka had shifted the topic such that he wouldn't be able to gush about Sakura anymore. "Sasuke insulted me again, so I got angry. Then we fought and tackled each other to the ground. When I tried to bite him, his whole body seized up and his eyes turned this really awesome shade of red!" Naruto's voice trailed faintly.
In a short while, Naruto's voice picked up again in a slightly angrier tone. "Then all of a sudden he has this kunai in his hand, coming straight for my heart!! Sheesh, I really thought I was done for this time! Though at the last moment, his eyes kind of suddenly snapped back into black and he twisted the kunai so that it hit my left arm instead. But still!" He pointed dramatically at his now completely healed left arm. "It hurt like mad!" So I swiped at his face and clawed away a bit of flesh. Ehehe..." There was a sheepish pause. "... Okay, I clawed away a /lot/ of flesh but... but he started it, Iruka-sensei!" The whining tone was back in full force. "Please believe me!"
Iruka stared first. Then shook his head. "You make a very lousy storyteller, Naruto." He held a hand up to stop any protests from the blond. Grinning widely, Iruka continued, "Well, but I'd still give you full marks on honesty! And I guess that means ramen for dinner tonight, then!"
A short silence later, the jubilant outcry of "YEAH!!" could be heard echoing through the empty corridors of the entire department.
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"So you pulled a kunai out, and barely managed to avoid stabbing Naruto in the heart," Kakashi summarised what Sasuke had been blabbering about for the past few minutes. "Did I get that right?"
After mumbling something unintelligible for a while, Sasuke sighed and nodded his head. "Yes."
In response, Kakashi clapped. "Well, you know what?" He chirped to a surprised looking Sasuke. "Congratulations! Congratulations for having your first temper tantrum for all sixteen years of your suppressed, frustrated life!" He wagged a finger at the by-now utterly shocked Sasuke. "Don't deny it. I've watched over you from since you were a little brat. You've never thrown a temper tantrum or had a hissy catfight with any of the boys before. I was beginning to wonder if you're abnormal! Congratulations, Sasuke! Welcome back to the land of normal boyhood. Where have you been all your life?"
"You..." Sasuke, however, found nothing in the situation that was as funny as Kakashi portrayed it to be. "You... you asshole! I... I almost killed him and you call it a temper tantrum?! He could've died and... and the stupid curse would have-"
"Ah, but you see, Sasuke," Kakashi shook his head. "Naruto is still alive and kicking. And relatively unharmed, too, if I may add."
"But he could have-"
"-died, yes." The Jounin's turned poker-faced. "But he didn't. And he won't. That, Sasuke, is the only difference we care about in our line of profession. Do you understand?"
With eyes wide and jaw slack, Sasuke stared at his guardian with a stunned silence. Eventually he growled, and leaned backwards into the backrest of the bench. "... So you're not going to take him out of the department."
Kakashi's single eye became an inverted U. "Nope!"
Knowing that he had no more say in the matter, Sasuke closed his eyes and meant to stand up, hopefully walking away from the idiocy that was his superior. He was stopped, however, by a firm hand on his shoulder - that of Kakashi's. Glancing first at the hand, then at Kakashi, he demanded, "What the hell is your problem now?"
Quietly, Kakashi sneaked a book out from behind him. Sasuke's eyes widened. Instead of staring into the usual orange cover of the pornographic novel series Kakashi was always reading, he found himself staring at the serious, sombre thick cover of the book he had been reading the night before.
The book about Youma, Younin, and of course - the Kyuubi.
"You were reading this last night," Kakashi stated matter-of-factly.
"Keh," Sasuke looked away, finding his cheeks growing slightly hot. Kakashi had never questioned him about his choice of reading material before. "It's not like I'm reading something I shouldn't be."
"I think it is," Kakashi's tone remained serious. He tossed the book to a far end of the room and stood upright, straight as a ruler. "If you had any questions about Youma research and, or the Kyuubi, why didn't you ask me? These books are too dry and state only the personal opinion of the author, sprinkled periodically with some facts to back them up. Is that why you developed such a bad opinion of Naruto?"
"I wasn't reading it for Naruto," Sasuke muttered softly, perhaps hoping by some sheer chance that Kakashi would believe him. The Jounin simply sighed and shook his head.
"Nevermind who you picked the book up for, Sasuke," Kakashi said. "Now I want you to tell me what you learned about Youma and the Kyuubi from that book. Pronto. You have 2 minutes."
Glaring at his superior, Sasuke knew he had no way out. "Nothing new that I don't already know from the other books about the Youma or Youma-Ningen," he tilted his head in the direction where he last saw Kakashi throw the book in. "It was the only book which talked a bit about the nine-tailed demon fox, though, so I thought..." he stole a glance at Kakashi, who smiled and nodded for him to continue. "... I thought maybe... I can find out... a bit more... about the demon that's in the idiot..." he trailed off.
"So did you find anything?" Kakashi prompted, not about to let the silence stretch.
Shifting his eyes to the ground, Sasuke allowed a few seconds to collect his thoughts. "The Kyuubi no Youko was one of the most powerful demons in history... it was bloodthirsty and destructive - tearing up anything that stood in its way. Thousands of elite have fallen to its attacks, and none have ever managed to get it to submit," he glanced at Kakashi questioningly at this stage. "The book never said anything about the demon's attack on the village, though."
The Jounin nodded. "Understandable. The book was written prior to the attack, after all." He ignored the suspicious look on Sasuke's face. "So?" He raised an eyebrow at the boy. "Whatever made you go grab a book on a long-gone demon and read up about it?"
"I don't know," Sasuke quickly looked away again, a slight blush evident on his pale face. "Boredom, maybe."
"I hope you weren't trying to find out a glimpse of why Naruto behaves the way he does with that book--"
"I already said it's not because of Naruto!"
"--Well, good. Because Naruto is NOT the Kyuubi. And thus you're not going to find anything in any book out there that can help you understand him any better."
A pause.
"He's not?" Sasuke was miffed. "Doesn't Youma-Ningen experiments combine a demon with a human to better certain parts of their anatomy?"
"Maybe he'll tell you more about it whenever," Kakashi shrugged. "You could ask him, you know. The contract doesn't forbid you guys from talking about Younin experiments."
Sasuke scoffed, as if the mere thought of having a proper conversation with Naruto was beyond him.
"Do you really hate Naruto so much?"
The nature of the question alone made Sasuke wary. Yet if he denied the charge it would mean that he /liked/ the foolish blond, which he most certainly did not. "Yeah," he grunted. "He's stupid, idiotic, moronic, a hindrance, loud, bright, blundering and ugly to boot. I sure as anything do not need something like that in my life."
"So you hate him," Kakashi grated. Sasuke frowned. Hate was too strong a word even for his opinion on Naruto. He had barely known the blond for two days - hardly enough to develop such intense feelings.
"I can't stand him," Sasuke replied monotonously, not entirely sure where this conversation was headed.
"Enough to want to kill him?"
Sasuke's head snapped upright at that. "I do NOT want to kill him!"
"Really?" The Jounin cocked his head to a side. "Didn't you just say you were going to 'kill that little twerp'?"
Sasuke bared some teeth. "That was just a random threat, you stupid Jounin."
Shrugging, Kakashi continued, "Random threats aside, have you done anything to him to make him feel even slightly welcomed to the department since meeting him?"
Sasuke blinked, and remained silent.
"Isn't that right," Kakashi simply took the silence to be an admission. "Naruto, being the bearer of the Kyuubi," he looked pointedly at Sasuke, "has had to face the persecution of everybody in the village who has been through that particular war. Anywhere he turns, everywhere he goes - somebody's out there, glaring at him with every intent to kill him, skin him alive if it helps eases their sense of justice. Sasuke," Kakashi called his protege's name, and made sure that Sasuke was staring at him in the eye before he continued, "Naruto doesn't need one more person hating him - anymore than you need one more person dying on you." The Uchiha was sure he could hear himself gulp. The glint in Kakashi's eye turned even more serious. "Do you understand?"
Quickly looking away, Sasuke frowned. He tried hard to think of a proper, honest response.
"The world doesn't revolve around you alone, Sasuke,"
After uttering those words that would be his last for the day, Kakashi smiled, and disappeared in a puff of teleportation smoke.
Before he could hear Sasuke snap back.
"I do NOT act as if the world revolves around me!!" Sasuke shouted into thin air, subsequently cursing his superior in his head with every swear word he had learnt from since times past to now.
After a while, though, he calmed down, fists clenched and head lowered.
He knew there was a ring of truth behind the words that Kakashi had just spoken.
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30/8/2004
Part 7 of 16
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