Warning list
COPYRIGHT
In Soviet Russia, you own Naruto. Here and now, Naruto owns you.
YADA YADA
You know the rest. Otherwise refer to previous chapters.
Foreword:
Sorta transitional chapter ahead. There's a bit on Hinata and Sasuke though. They finally get their heads up. Oh, also this chappie ain't as cool as the others. Be warned!
Fox Identity
by Arkhe
Chapter Four: Apprentice III / Four Days
A rising sun.
Cloudless skies.
Birds in song.
Morning was in full swing for all.
"Sorry I'm late, Naruto! I was up all night!"
He waved her off.
"It's alri-urk!"
He found himself at the receiving end of a head-slap.
"I CAN'T GET THIS TECHNIQUE TO WORK!"
For others, morning was going a bit slower than normal.
---
The first day.
"I'm starting on breakfast already. Hurry up." Naruto's voice called out over the hiss of the frying pan.
"What's the hurry?" Sakura walked over, procuring a plate and utensils from her shadow-clone that was setting the table.
"It's not like we have to meet our teacher today." She continued, seating herself at the table while her hosts 'sub-ordinates' brought about the meal.
"You're still expected at your breakfast table." He pointed out and proceeded to remove the apron he wore, before hanging it on the pantry door.
"Oh right." The pink-haired genin blanched a little, forgetting that eeny teeny detail.
"I better get ready." She quickly made her way to the bathroom as to get washed up before her meal.
Entering the bathroom, Sakura found it odd that the mirror was missing. At first, she'd been compelled to give a shout to Naruto about it but then an odd, red residue underneath the bathroom cabinet door had drawn her attention instead. Upon closer inspection, she'd found more residue, though just faintly lining within the grain of the cabinet.
"Blood...?" She murmured hesitantly.
A quick scan of the floor confirmed that there wasn't a mess. Unable to find a connection, Sakura continued with her morning routine, though her mind kept returning on this subject.
She could only reason that perhaps he'd fell into it.
Though that would be very unlike him.
Very unlike him at all.
---
"You're late."
"I don't care." Naruto had wandered over next to his teacher and, for inexplicable reasons, promptly went on to muss the bed-ridden jounin's hair. With Kakashi's eyes in his book, the silver-haired tutor had helplessly attempted to defend himself with his free arm, but Naruto succeeded in messing up his bed-hair anyway.
"Visiting hours begin long after we're supposed to meet." Sasuke deemed to correct the reason they were late.
"Well, we only got around to visiting you since you haven't bothered telling us when you will be getting out." Sakura had told her distracted teacher.
"I want status reports each morning for everything my team has accomplished the day prior, whilst I am in this predicament!" Kakashi folded his arms to appear intimidating. The effect proved impossible when his visible eye refused to distract itself off the current page of his book.
"I did a few hours of training yesterday." Sakura volunteered to lead.
"I practised on my Fire techniques once I left the hospital." Sasuke reported dryly.
"I went out for ramen for the whole day!" Naruto laughed. Then he settled on mussing his teacher's already mussed hair even further. Again the man's free arm attempted to fend the boy off, though it still proved to be a helpless defense with his attention elsewhere.
Everyone, except the blond genin, shook their heads in bemusement.
"Did you do any sort of training, Naruto?" The jounin hoped that was the case with his odd trainee... That and get him to stop with messing with his hair.
"Oh, I beat up the dummy, I guess." The orange-clad boy stopped his activities, holding a finger to his chin while he remembered.
Before Kakashi lost all hope for the boy, Naruto then also added.
"Oh! I caught up with Hinata!" He closed his eyes and grinned, tucking his arms behind his head.
"We hung out a bit too."
That sentence caused Sakura to tilt her head at the prospect.
Kakashi carefully mulled over Naruto's words, though it looked like he was carefully considering the current paragraph in his book.
Then he giggled, confirming where his focus was at that point.
"Umm... Good work all of you." Kakashi fumbled after realising that everyone was expecting an answer out of him.
"Keep it up and all of you train more."
At such a casual dismissal, Naruto lost his temper.
"How the hell do you expect to be a good instructor and a good ninja, when all you do is read that stupid perverted book?-!"
His teammates had agreed with him whole-heartedly. Kakashi merely turned his head slowly to face Naruto. There was even an eerie creaking noise that accompanied it, as if Kakashi was imperatively shocked at what he had heard. Naruto nearly felt like taking back his words.
"You may question my teaching methods..." The jounin started, his voice sounded hollow and his students found themselves a little uncomfortable.
"You may question my position..." The atmosphere darkened as Kakashi's battle aura started building, everyone took a hesitant step back.
"You may even question my skill..." His voice now deepened to a foreboding tone -an effect akin to the oblivion of the grave. The genin were now having a really bad feeling about this.
"But never..." The eye without sharingan had flashed red.
"Never question the Come Come series!"
Then there were flowers and hearts and bunnies and he hugged his book tightly and passionately.
"It's just too good!" You could practically see the little love-heart punctuating his statement.
Team 7 slumped, individual sweatdrops lined their heads. Then turned to leave in disgust, silently agreeing that the man needed a girlfriend to set him straight.
"It's a tale of loyalties, friendship, love and life! A must read for everyone!" He called out after them. "Everyone 18 and over, I mean!"
Though no one noticed, Naruto's step had briefly faltered, but he continued his exit.
---
"What're you gonna be up to Naruto?" Sakura asked. She was still a little perturbed about the thought of Naruto's visit to Hinata. Something about that thought had upset her a little, but it was his business and not hers.
Naruto carefully considered what he'd have to do today. There was that project he was still working on. And another or two also waiting... Oh and the damn mirror. In a way he was glad she didn't bring it up... But that also brought about its own suspicion too.
"I got stuff to do. Meet at our regular training spot in an hour or two."
---
The sun rose over the sky, casting shadows directly below everyone's feet. It was afternoon before Sakura had located her mentor for secret training and she found him with his back exposed, as he hunched over something just out of her view.
"Hey Naruto!" She called out.
"Hey." Came his unenthusiastic reply.
A little taken aback that he didn't even turn in her direction, she ran over to peer over his shoulder.
"What've you got the-" Her question was left hanging.
Naruto was nose-deep in reading a book.
THAT book.
Sakura had wanted to scream.
Infact, she did.
"Pervert!" She accused, recoiling backwards with her arms held up defensively.
He didn't reply, but merely turned the page.
"I can't believe you would stoop that low to read that book!" She accused again, unable to believe that he was capable of... THAT.
He did not turn his head to dispute it. He suffered that same affliction that Kakashi had earlier -namely the loss of will to tear his eyes off the page he was reading.
"I have to admit. It is pretty good." It was a shameless admission.
Before she could scream her now sky-high annoyance, he interrupted.
"Have you learned the technique yet, apprentice?" He asked casually.
Inhale. Back to business. Exhale.
"No." Sakura winced, having most of the irritation just disperse at the serious tone he employs whenever he trains her.
"Do you still want to train?" He offered.
"I'm pretty sure you spoiled the mood for that." She replied sourly.
"Well," he turned a page, "you have something to work on. Let me know how you did tomorrow."
Sakura complied and walked off, still heated at the whole situation. Do all teachers become perverts!-?
---
It was later in that afternoon that Hinata had waited at her team's usual training spot, leaning on the training dummy.
Hinata was the heiress of the Hyuuga, possibly the most prestigious family in all of the Hidden Leaf. Because of this title, there are a great deal many expectations that come with her title.
...Most of which, she can't meet.
She lacks confidence to believe in herself.
She lacks absolution to inflict pain.
She lacks conviction to look down on others.
It is because of all of those reasons that her father had just about given up on her and will likely pass on her heritage to her sibling.
But it is because of all these reasons that Hinata knows she can be strong. It is this resolve that gives her enough strength to search for her own strength.
Which leads back to the current moment...
"Hey Hinata-chan!"
She looks his way and smiles. She needs a helping hand to find that strength and prove that she can be just as strong, if not stronger, than the title expected of her...
...No matter how unconventional she would have to become.
"Hello Naruto-kun." Her returned greeting had wavered a little, but she was very enthusiastic about what was to come.
He had shown up the same time last time, as they hadn't negotiated a time to meet up again.
"Did you look the scroll over last night?"
"Yes, yes I did!"
"So, what'd you find out?"
With a flourish, Hinata carefully withdrew and opened the same blue scroll Naruto had given her yesterday, animatedly pointing at the different sections as well as explaining her findings.
"I think whoever wrote this, must have wrote it before the Hidden Villages had been created." She said.
"Over here and here," Her hand pointed to various instances on the paper, "referenced events before even Konoha had been established."
A pause, pale eyes straining all over the ancient text.
"He didn't write anything about bloodlimits, so it's pretty likely that he constructed this style to survive against fighting in general."
Then Hinata had gone on to point at a different sort of handwriting, most of which, adorned the scroll right after the initial script.
"And then the second scribe had actually been the Tsunamikage! The Tidal Shadow himself!"
She indicated to the property listing, as well as a few of the notes that did have writings based on the second scribes' own opinion, easily narrowing down the owner's identity.
"He included his own variations and notes to cover for weaknesses utilising water techniques!"
Then she paused, a finger hesitantly tapped at a writing with red ink.
"But the third scribe had been really odd."
Her mood darkened.
"His notes are very cynical as he goes on to put down most of the techniques listed."
Something hardened flashed in her eyes.
"But, he does something important... He references other techniques that he felt would have been more effective! Thanks to him, I've located the replacement techniques for the areas in the scroll that's too damaged."
A small smile had spread on her face. It didn't last long.
"But here's the thing..." She pointed to a few notes that curved along a hole in the scroll. "Most of his notes avoid alot of the damage the scroll took. This person must have gotten hold of it after the Nine-tails had destroyed the village..."
There had been a silence between the two, each pondering on their own thoughts.
Naruto had known all of that prior but willingly didn't speak. Still, he surmised that the Hyuuga must've had an elaborate information network for Hinata to be able to find this much in the course of one night -a task he had completed after years in trying to remain inconspicuous!
Hinata herself had watched Naruto from the corner of her eyes. She could see he was impressed at her feat! But she wanted something ready today, so she moved on to her finishing touch.
Hinata straightened and reached into her pack, retrieving a newer scroll. Unfolding it, Naruto recognised the handwriting as Hinata's own recordings, likely based on the scroll he had granted her.
"Here are some of the references I'd looked up and some notes I had made on the technique..." She said with no small amount of pride.
Naruto took it gingerly and scanned it. His eyes widened. She had already integrated it as much as she could with some Hyuuga techniques! Apparently she was just full of surprises today!
Seeing Naruto visibly floored by her research, Hinata smiled shyly. She had worked extensively through the whole of yesterday and most of last night to put all of this together just for this meeting today.
"You wanna try it out then?" He asked her, a smile playing on his eyes.
"Yes!" Hinata hastily agreed. Then realising that she sounded too enthusiastic, she heavily blushed and added. "If you'd like..."
Naruto grinned.
---
"Hey, I think I can see your hand glowing a bit. Is that your fighting style?"
"Yes. Yes it is... Is your arm okay?"
"Yeah. Just a little numb, I guess. Hehe."
"O-oh! I'm very sorry."
"Don't be! Hey, hey. Here, try kicking your leg higher... like this!"
"Okay."
"See?"
"Oh, I see. You did an academy counter, right?"
"Yep. See, now your counter, countered mine!"
"Hehe."
"You should smile more often!"
"Oh..."
"Hey, hey! Wait, doesn't the red-ink guy say that there was a better way to do that move?"
"W-well yes... But if I do it like this, I think I'll be able to move forwards or back... See? It'll fit better with the Gentle Fist."
"Ah! Okay! That's cool!"
(1)
---
The sun had long since departed and Sakura had started preparing for bed. Being totally bushed at trying to get her failed technique to work, she had gave up to try again in the morning.
Just as she lay her head down on the pillow, she felt her head impact on something hard.
"Huh?"
Recognising the flat surface to be underneath the pillow, she lifted it up to find...
...A neatly wrapped present.
"What the...?"
Turning the lights back on, she carefully looked it over. Expensive white wrapping paper with a pink silk bow. No card...? An admirer maybe?
It tugged at a muscle on Sakura's face, causing an amused smile.
Carefully removing the bow and opening the present the way it was wrapped, she had removed the contents and got ready for the surprise.
And what a surprise it was.
Come Come Paradise.
Volume I.
Her first intent had been to fling the damnable book into the furthest, darkest recess of her room. Or out the window. Or into the face of another pervert.
Whoever insulted her would have something coming to them and thus, she had managed a list of suspects, which had narrowed down to her silver-haired teacher.
Since she caught Naruto reading it earlier today, it goes to say that perhaps that perverted jounin could be providing smut to all his students!
Thus, it came as such a shock when she opened the cover to find a message written on the inside jacket.
-Approach with a sensible state of mind.
Naruto.
---
Five times building courage, after four glasses of water, three hours pacing, two reassuring parents and a vow of utter chastity, Sakura found herself reading. (2)
And (despite heated denial) also liking it too...
...though she did find it weird that a substantial amount of pages were blank.
The second day.
"Sorry I'm late, Naruto! I was up all night!"
He waved her off.
"It's alri-urk!"
He found himself at the recieving end of a punch sending him to the floor.
"I likely deserved that." He deadpanned.
"OF COURSE YOU DO!" She shouted.
He stood up and brushed himself off when he'd been caught in another hit that he could have avoided, but didn't.
"Can I get up now, or are you going to hit me again?" He asked politely.
"ONE MORE TIME!" Came back the shrill cry.
He sighed and proceeded to stand, only to be knocked down again.
"I assume you read the book then?" Naruto cut to the chase.
"HELL NO!"
He stared levelly at her from his fallen vantage point. She tried to return the stare but had failed when her blush became more and more evident.
"W-well... A l-little." She admitted.
"How'd you find it?" The question was asked casually.
"It's pretty well written, I suppose." Sakura could not stop blushing.
"How far along are you?" Another casual question.
"Half-way, I think." The wall looks mighty interesting.
"Ah, I've gotten only a third through, myself." A casual admittance.
Silence, though it was awkward to Sakura. Very awkward.
"Want to train now?" He offered.
"Yeah, sure." Sakura let all the pent-up energy flow out of her, as well as the embarrassment. Might as well put the time to good use.
It would be later that she spots a new mirror in his bathroom. (3)
But didn't question it.
---
It was a handful of hours later that both the Haruno girl and the Uzumaki boy had found themselves seated at their regular training spot, both content on leaning on a nearby tree for shade. The sun was in full swing today and the ninja council had issued a low level ban on all fire techniques today being as hot as it was.
"Can you believe Kakashi's still gonna be there for another day or two?" Naruto was the first to break the silence, sweat glistening his brow.
"I can believe Kurenai-sensei would over do it." Sakura nodded, wiping at her face with a handkerchief. Seriously, Kakashi really went too far, though the lesson had been aptly learned.
"Can you believe it's too hot to train for long?" Naruto had shook his head after emptying some of his water canteen into his hair.
"I can believe that it can get this hot once in a while." Sakura had actually leaned in when the boy shook his head, as to catch the cold droplets on her face.
Brief silence.
"Can you believe that Kanto and Keiko are twins?" Naruto tapped at his pouch, which had a novel-shaped bulge.
"I believed you'd never ask." Sakura also reached for her pouch.
Then both of them were caught up in reading. Though it was only a scant peaceful moment later, that Naruto followed up on their conversation.
"Can you believe that Sasuke turned you down again?" He strained to keep a straight face.
"I believe you can go fu-"
---
The day had gone and passed, night had slowly descended, bringing about a welcomed cool change to the much-heated atmosphere.
This night, Hinata had been pleased with herself. With her quick afternoon sparring session with Naruto (it was rather too heated to go too long), she'd developed more and more of the Gentle Fist in combination with Flowing Water for her style. She reasoned that in the course of time, she can prove herself to everyone -especially to her father.
This night, Naruto couldn't stop himself from grinning fiercely. In today's session, he'd subtly gotten Hinata into explaining oh so much on how she used the Gentle Fist style that he was getting a good idea how to use it. A few more sparring and he'd have enough information to try the chakra scalpel! Then of course there was Sakura. Come tomorrow, she would be able to use the technique he was teaching her and he would show her it's true capabilities.
This night, Sakura had been a little confused. She had finished the volume and had to admit that it was pretty good though pretty short. However, when she went back to reread her personally more memorable parts, she found that there were more pages of text than she remembered. Starting from the beginning again, she quickly skimmed parts until she reached something unfamiliar before she started reading in zest...
The third day.
"Sorry I'm late, Naruto! I was up all night!"
He waved her off.
"It's alri-urk!"
He found himself at the recieving end of a punch sending him to the floor. This time, he didn't try to get up.
"I hope this doesn't become a routine." He droned.
She held up a particular book, her face turning different summer hues.
"Ah." His recognition was akin to the boy who had been caught with his hand in the cookie jar.
"'Ah'!-? IS THAT ALL YOU CAN SAY!-?" Her face had long since passed the shade her hair was and now settled on a deep crimson.
"Well, you can't say the book was bad the second time around, can you?" He attempted to shrug whilst still lying down.
Red in the face, shaking and indignant, Sakura had wanted to unleash a wrath never seen before on her perverted mentor.
However...
She had to sheepishly admit the book was better with the... the... the gratuitous content.
She huffed and looked away, embarrassed with the admission, even if it was just to herself.
Naruto only dared righted his posture to a seated position.
"Well, back to training." He ordered.
"What?"
Sakura could only watch him with an astounded expression. Here he was turning her into a pervert and he had the gall to just...
He motioned her with his hand.
"Try the technique again."
"How can you just-"
"Apprentice."
She scowled but knew his tone meant business, so she went into the correct stance and pushed chakra into the right places.
And she gaped. (4)
"Well, that wasn't so hard, was it?"
---
"Wow." Sakura inhaled with more than a little difficulty.
Just moment's prior, she and Naruto had sparred and the fox-boy had been insistent on showing how to apply some of his known techniques to which he would eventually teach her.
He approached her seated posture and held his hand out. She accepted and she was pulled to her feet.
"Okay, what now?" She asked.
"Sasuke, of course." He said. "I promised you a way to get you closer to him, didn't I?"
Sakura had wanted to slap her forehead. She had anticipated this event for so long but it somehow had slipped her mind.
...slipped her mind?
She couldn't ponder on that as Naruto continued.
"At two o'clock, he'll be leaving his house and heading for that Uchiha lake -you know where that is, right?"
She rolled her eyes. Of course she knew. Just about any of Sasuke's stalkers knew.
"He'll be practising his Grand Fireball technique."
"Yeah, so?"
"Get him to teach you. Easy."
That was the most stupidest plan she'd heard. Sasuke wouldn't teach his fire techniques to ANYONE. Let alone his Fan Club.
"That's the most stupidest plan I've heard. Sasuke wouldn't teach his clan's techniques to anyone, let alone to any girl who... who..." She paused to choose how to finish the sentence since fans were just a more nice way of saying 'stalker' (which she wasn't). "Who has a passing interest in him!"
"No, no, no. You're thinking about going about it wrong." Naruto shook his head. "And here I thought you were smart."
She grimaced and began movements to giving him a head-slap.
"So you don't want to hear it then?" He baited.
Her dormant arm had caught her attacking arm in mid-swing. The want for retribution clashed with the need for information but defense was the winner in this show down today.
"Just say it already!" She spat, having pulled away her aggressive movement.
"You have to insult him first!" He said, exasperatedly.
"Watch him do it a couple of times and then walk up to him. Tell him that was pretty decent but you bet that you could do it better. That outta be it. Rinse and repeat each day for different techniques."
Naruto placed his hands in his pockets.
"That's all there is to it."
In retrospect, it was a good plan. A VERY good plan. Then she checked her watch. Ten minutes until 2 o'clock.
"Shit! It's not enough time to get ready! I've got to wash up and get changed and..." She was just about hysterical.
"No. You don't." He interrupted.
"What?-! You're crazy! I can't go see Sasuke looking like this! It looks like I've just been through a war-zone!"
"You can and you will. It will give him incentive to teach you."
She couldn't argue that logic but... A hand went up to fix her hair only to find another hand stopping the action.
She irritably glanced to the teammate halting her hand.
"Just... go..." Naruto breathed with no small amount of being tired of the conversation.
So she did.
---
After Sasuke spat a handful of fireballs, Sakura had decided it was time to cross the pier.
"Hey Sasuke-kun." She greeted.
He didn't even bother to look over his shoulder.
"I've been watching you." Sakura continued, a little put off at the possibility of another one-sided nature of a conversation between them.
He didn't turn to say anything about that either, justifying the beginning of another one-sided conversation.
She pulled on some false bravado, as it pained her to say the next bit.
"You're not half-bad." She barely said without it squeaking in her throat.
He froze. This definitely had Sasuke turn around, adopting an unbelieving face with a tinge of a sneer.
"...not half-bad?" His tone was incredulous bordering sarcasm.
She continued the facade, adopting a hands on hips stance.
"Yeah. I bet I could do it better." She said resolutely, though it sounded terribly unsure to herself.
He rolled his eyes.
"Pfft." He dismissed her claim, beginning to turn around and mind his business again.
Then she put up her challenge.
"Hell, I know I could! Show me the seals and I'll do it!"
He had turned around to scold her and force her to leave when for the first time, he noticed her state of dress since she approached him.
Ever since The Incident, Sasuke had forced to better himself and keep pushing his limits. This all boiled down to simple reason. If he could set himself at a higher level than a person his age, then he knew he was progressing well. Progressing fast enough to be able to avenge his clan.
Because of this, his way of thought had eventually developed for him to find a small amount of liberation in some things.
To be specific, he loved two simple things:
The first was the fact of him being the best.
And the second being a challenge to undeniably prove the former.
And he saw both here today, staring back at him in emerald eyes.
It interested him.
"These are the seals." His hands went through a few hand gestures. "Show me."
Sakura went to the end of pier, imitated his movement, then breathed in sharply and exhaled. From her mouth, erupted a ball of fire no bigger than her head. Then she'd fallen to her knees, gasping and wheezing to catch her breath. That attempt had her use far too much chakra than she expected. After a few gulps, she tilted her head to his stoic gaze, awaiting his evaluation.
Though Sasuke would never admit it, it was further than he'd gotten on his first try. And though he usually felt inclined to not having much to do with his pink-haired teammate, he did have a feeling that felt akin to dipping his foot and finding the water to be pleasant.
"Not half bad." He appraised with a smirk.
---
They were training again. Just like yesterday and the day before.
"Hey! I felt that!"
"I-I'm really sorry! I-"
"No, no, no! That felt really weird. Like, I got like... this kunai going into me but like... the skin doesn't feel it, you know?"
"O-oh... I'm r-rea-"
"No, I mean like... It doesn't hurt. I know if you went all out it'd really hurt! But like... feels like a knife going through and leaving some buzzing in some bits of my arm."
"O-oh?"
"Yeah! Do you push the chakra into someone like a knife edge or something?"
"S-sort of. The Gentle Fist requires chakra to be focused to be able to disrupt the coils to imbalance the opponent. I guess that's why it f-feels like that."
"Really? Wow, you're new style's gonna be awesome!"
"T-thank you."
"Okay, let's train that dodge now."
"Okay!"
---
Administration had been a buzz as various people entered and left the working building. Either ninja or client, there was a steady influx of both with the former appearing more and more often. It was a steady cacophony of information and exchange, the current Hokage; the Third, being present to overseer many of the happenings and his daily ritual of addressing this and that. At this time of the day, there were much less people arriving and more and more people leaving as reports were coming in less and less.
Then a particular person appeared. Unshaven, graying hair, stained clothes, a bottle of sake in hand. It was only the glasses he wore that gave any indication that there was a sort of professionalism present.
He'd approached the nearest man behind the desk -a chuunin admin, and explained as best he could that he required protection heading to a certain town, as the roads would certainly be treacherous with bandits and that he only had a set amount of money to work with.
The report was written, and handed to the Hokage seated next to the chuunin. The man was told he would receive his reply either tomorrow or the day after, arrangements for stay would be provided if proved the latter. The man consented to this and left.
The Hokage eyed the man who just exited, still staring after the exit where the man had left. Then he called out to the chuunin who dealt with the aging client, who gave his leader his attention.
"What do you make of that man?" The older man regarded his words with caution.
"I do not judge people, Hokage-sama." The younger replied.
"Please, make an evaluation."
The scarred chuunin thought back to the encounter.
"Questionable." He plucked a word easily. "He seems sincere, however I believe that this is a bigger mission than he lets on."
The Hokage nodded and scratched his beard.
"Yes, with the Wave Country in current... disarray, I should think someone of high calibre should accompany him."
"The mission has the requirements of a C-rank. Should we send one of our best chuunins?"
"No. I'm sure this requires a jounin effort."
"Are we to classify the mission to B or A?"
"No. I think we should send a genin team instead."
"G-genin?-!"
"A powerful team. I have a feeling that their teacher will have to be of high status. Have a message ready for Gai and..."
The Hokage paused at seeing a pug dog wearing a Leaf headband enter the room and make a beeline towards his person.
"Ah, Pakkun. To what do we owe this visit?" The Third greeted the dog as it had jumped on his desk.
"Hokage-sama." The dog bowed, touching its face to the wood formally.
"Hatake Kakashi of Team 7 requests a C-rank mission for his subordinates on his release from the hospital the day after tomorrow. He believes they are in dire need of a field lesson."
The Hokage nodded slowly.
"Thank you, there is one ready on his release."
He then immediatley signed the report he held and attached it to the dog's band. The dog bowed graciously and left.
The chuunin turned a disbelieving gaze on the Hokage.
"You.. you don't mean...?-!"
The Hokage regarded the chuunin coolly.
"Do you believe in omens, Iruka?"
---
It had been a long day for the Fox-boy. True, he had more stamina than the average ninja but it turns out that training Hinata to create a style of her own had been rather tiring as he'd proven to be a most effective punching-bag for her testing.
Though glad that she was developing the style he'd wanted for himself, he was just thankful that he'd be able to retire for the night when there came a knock on his front door.
A rather insistent knocking that just wouldn't go away. Oh yes, he knew this knock well. It dragged him out of bed before dawn a few days ago.
Upon opening the door, he found a rather jumpy-looking candy floss-haired teammate that was just about shaking with excitement.
"Are you making a habit of halting any sleep I'll ev-"
Then he found himself on the receiving end of a rib-bruising hug.
"I take it your day went well then?" He choked in between gasps.
"It was great!" She bounced.
Once he managed to pry himself out of her grasp, she grabbed his hand and pulled him to the couch, her voice spilling a torrent of her day's happenings.
"-nd then I'd just gone into chakra-exhaustion so he helped me home and I fell asleep and when I woke up now, I ran all the way here to tell you about it!"
She finished and inhaled sharply, catching her breath. That run on sentence would just about have killed her normally (and possibly a handful of academy students)if she wasn't up in the clouds.
"Ah. That's..." He fumbled for an appropriate word, having not ever considered this situation plausible. After all, shouldn't the girl be running to one of her female friends to share this with?
"Pleasant." He finished lamely.
"Yeah..." Her voice agreed dreamily and she leaned into the couch, sinking until she was just about laying.
"It nearly was a dream come true." She murmured. Her exhaustion had just caught up to dull her senses as her personal mission to inform her mentor had been complete and she let her senses slowly drift away.
Naruto looked her over warily, his eyes serious and contemplating.
"So... You were able to do a Grand Fireball huh?" Naruto asked slowly, eyeing Sakura warily.
"Mmm..." She yawned audibly and her eyes fluttered before closing.
"If you want, you can train under him again... Train under him doing the Grand Fireball or some other fire technique again..."
"That would be..." She halted in mid-sentence to yawn. "Nice." Sleep just about took her.
"Pop quiz Sakura." He said soothingly, nearly whispering in her ear. "How do you do a Grand Fireball?"
Sakura unthinkingly slurred it, also additionally reminding him to breathe as much chakra in as possible -the same reminder Sasuke gave when he'd instructed her.
"Is that so?" He whispered.
"Mmmm..." She murmured and the sentence had switched to acute snoring midway.
Naruto smirked and proceeded to go through a few hand seals, only taking a brief intake of air instead of attempting to fill his lungs.
He puffed out a burst of flame as large as a handheld rubber ball.
"That sure is interesting..." His eyes narrowed and he grinned maliciously.
The 4th day.
"What th-" A blink. "Oh my god."
He had been seated on the opposite end, reading calmly when her voice distracted him. Sakura's wide-eyed look bore through Naruto, her hair tangled, clothes disheveled and a blanket he'd draped on her earlier was held to her chest.
"Did I fall asleep in your apartment?" She asked, though she already knew the answer to that.
He waved her off.
"It's alri-urk!"
He found himself at the recieving end of a punch sending him to the floor.
"Dammit! Look! This is not going to do!" He finally got sick and tired of the ridiculous nature of their mornings, which prompted him voicing his concerns.
"No, YOU look! I didn't sleep at home and my parents are going to kill me!" She reprimanded her own injustice and kicked him while he was down for good measure.
Naruto sighed. It's going to be a long day.
---
"Oh good!" He clapped his hands in glee. "You guys are right on time!"
Kakashi then proceeded with the news.
"I've already received word from the Hokage that he has approved a C-Rank mission for you guys!"
There were simultaneous whoopings (mainly Naruto) and everyone was pleased on the matter.
"So you guys take today to get some supplies ready and meet at the Gate tomorrow morning. We'll be going on a few days travel to the Mist Country."
"What's the mission?" Sasuke inquired.
"A simple guarding. We'll be escorting a bridge-builder; Tazuna, to the Mist Country. That's all."
---
Like at certain times everyday, Naruto once again stands in a majestic clearing, housing a glorious tree whose branches stretched into the heavens.
Only it is clear the tree has seen better days.
Most leaves in its care are in many shades of brown, an accountable amount of branches are bare, the bark of the tree has turned brittle and rotten leaves cluster its base.
Normally, it would be an easy assumption that winter is fast approaching...
But at the borders of the Hidden Leaf, winter is not a possibility.
The cause is within eye's reach -the parasite that binds to the tree.
Deep varying shades of green with streaks of unnatural bright red in conjunction with razor-sharp leaves and a handful of sturdy thorns, the creeper is truly a horror among vegetation, as it drains the life out of its snared age-old victim -reducing it more akin to lumber best used for kindle with the passing day.
Naruto wiped the blood off the closing cut on his wrist and grinned, looking up and down his project, admiring the work.
Then he notices it.
A metallic hilt embedded in the creeper's base.
The grin grows larger.
Likely, the roots had dragged the weapon into itself in the leeches need for sustenance... With the integration in plain view, the amalgam was a success!
His hand reached for the steel and upon a light tug, the creeper had pulled it closer.
Ah. Not 'ripe' yet. Perhaps when the vine will willingly let it go or if there is no more progress to be made, the weapon would assumably be ready.
And with the slow down already in progress, it looked to be the project might be ready any time soon, though he hoped his vacation won't complicate things. Especially when the plant can easily draw so much attention all by itself.
---
The rest of the afternoon consisted of a meeting with Hinata about his mission, followed by shopping with Sakura for preparing for the coming day, using some of it as a part-time training exercise for his apprentice.
When all was said and done, they parted ways. Naruto was well on his way home, keeping close to some shop entrances when he'd inadvertently bumped into someone stepping outside.
Naruto apologised profusely as he picked himself up and reached for his scattered purchases.
"...Naruto?" The man he bumped into, queried.
At that voice, Naruto forced himself to look up.
"Iruka-sensei...?"
It was some minutes of an exchange of excited greetings that the blond boy's former teacher had offered to treat them out for dinner, to which Naruto accepted grandly.
---
"-nd we're going to have a mission tomorrow! A C-Rank one too!" Naruto exclaimed.
"Oh really? They usually only give chuunins those!" Iruka faked the happy reply. He was actually very unhappy with the thought.
"Yeah! It's gonna be a protection one!" Naruto made a show of punching the air. "I am so gonna kick some ninja ass!"
Iruka had to laugh, though it sounded too forced. He really hoped that would not be the case.
"Well, some C-Rank missions are pretty safe. You might not even encounter enemies, let alone other ninja." He was mostly reassuring himself at this point.
"Aaaw... That's no fun!" Naruto pouted.
Before they could continue the conversation, a man stumbled into their vicinity, a bottle of sake in hand.
"Hey kid!" He barked, facing Naruto's direction.
Both Naruto and Iruka recoiled a little at his intoxicated breath.
"You shouldn't be so happy about having to fight." He took a swig before continuing.
"It can get you killed."
Naruto slammed his palms hard on the counter.
"I'll be Hokage someday! So I have to fight!"
The man squinted at Naruto's blue eyes, his anger rising with each second. Iruka was just about ready to jump inbetween them when the man's fierce expression fell.
"Whatever kid." He sighed and headed for the exit. "Doesn't matter. Even things like building a bridge can get someone killed nowadays..."
While outwardly Naruto still looked upset, inwards, his mind was working up a storm. He had made the connections that this man must have been Tazuna; the bridge builder his team had been assigned to protect -after all, who needs a bridge in the middle of a forest? But the man's drunken demeanor and those mysterious parting words... Naruto had to wonder whether there was more to this story.
Was his team getting in over their heads?
Before Naruto could pursue the man, a hand grabbed onto his arm, stopping any sort of progress. The fox-boy tried to shake free and then looked up to the offending person to find...
"Iruka..." Naruto had the grace to blush. He'd just about forgotten the chuunin he ate with.
"Now Naruto, you shouldn't get yourself so worked up." The older young man scolded. He stopped Naruto since he also knew that was the same man for the same mission that the orange-clad boy was being assigned to, and planned on giving Naruto some last minute tips about missions. Hopefully, his instincts were wrong and Team 7 won't be seeing alot of action... Or at least Kakashi would handle it sensibly enough and call it off if it should come to that.
"Come on, I think we ought to take a walk. We haven't caught up since..." Iruka paused to try to think back to the last time he and Naruto spoke.
"The evening of that night." Naruto supplemented, frowning a little.
Iruka peered at the boy's darkened features.
"Yes. The eve of your graduation."
That conversation led things to go silent, as both people recalled the events of that faithful night as they walked...
It was on the clear evening without a person in the vicinity that Iruka decided on pursuing that conversation before they went their separate ways.
"Are you thinking about that night, Naruto?"
Naruto inwardly sighed. He put his emotions in check and proceeded.
"Yes."
"Does it bother you?"
"No. Everything makes sense now."
Iruka didn't ask, though he raised his brows. Not in a curious fashion, but an understanding one.
"Why everyone gave me those looks. I never understood until that night." Naruto continued.
"Even you looked at me like that, a long time ago." This was punctuated with a light wince.
Iruka was taken aback. He himself couldn't even remember that far. The many good memories he shared with the blond boy already paved most of those old ones.
"I-I... I'm sorry I ever did that." He apologised.
"You shouldn't be. After what I did 12 years ago..." Naruto looked away.
"12 years ago...?" Iruka was a little confused at this point, but was hoping it wasn't going in the direction he thought it was going.
"Yeah, when I was the..." The blond boy couldn't finish it. Even if he held his emotions in check, he found he could not finish that sentence. Not whilst in the company of someone by all rights should hate him, but instead, was one of his closest friends.
Iruka's eyes widened, realising the implication.
"NO! No, no, no! Don't say that! Didn't anyone tell you?-!" He cried out, shaking his head disbelievingly.
"Yeah, you and Mizuki said so." Naruto's brows furrowed in discontent and light confusion. He was already finding it pretty awkward as it was.
Iruka froze, shocked. Hadn't even the Hokage told the boy he was the vessel? Surely he would have said so...
Unless it was supposed to come from himself... The Hokage must have expected him, Naruto's most closest person, to explain things...
Oh God...
Placing a reassuring arm on Naruto's shoulders, Iruka bent lower to be able to speak to the boy at his eye level.
"No Naruto! You aren't the Fox!"
Time stood still for Naruto.
"I... I'm not...?"
The whiskered genin found his throat constricting.
"You're... You're the vessel the Fourth chose to be able to contain the demon!"
"V-vessel?"
The happenings proceeded were like that out of a dream. Iruka had gone on to explain that the Fourth required a newborn child, one whose Inner Coils did not even begin to form as to be able to control the Fox's immense malevolent chakra. The chuunin also went on to apologise time and time again for his own thinking on even blaming the boy for his parents' murder.
But Naruto was only faintly listening. His mind was far away. Very far away.
Like out of a movie, the Fox-vessel saw himself finish the walk, bid Iruka a good night as they reached his apartment and automatically begin with all his preparations for the end of the day.
Only when he caught his empty gaze within the mirror, did he regain his conscious thoughts.
His belief...
His entire life had been shattered in one night...
And for the first time in 6 years, he felt fearful and insignificant.
He looked to his hands. Human hands...
One of his hands was shaking terribly and only became more and more obvious with the passing second.
He wanted it to stop...
He needed it to stop...
He needed it to stop so badly...
How come he couldn't stop it...?
Where was his control?-!
He needed control!
His free hand went to grab the shaking forearm.
He felt something... Something jagged... Piercing...
And the shaking stopped. The arm went limp.
He could lift it at the elbow, otherwise it was of no use to him.
It was clear that he'd replicated a certain technique on the spur of the moment. But he didn't try to sort out how he did it or what the conditions were that allowed that to happen. It just didn't matter to him. He couldn't find the heart to research it.
Blue eyes met blue eyes again.
"How could things change so much in one night?" Naruto mumbled aloud to his shaking visage.
It brought a foul taste to his mouth.
He threw up into the sink and kept doing so until he was dry-heaving.
Before long, he was under the spray of his shower, still fully clothed. The cold water had wormed its way through his hair, matting it to his face, mixing with tears. His clothes darkened and stuck closer to his form, gaining weight because of the moisture. The water at the bottom turned brown with dirt as his ninja-sandals were unwittingly cleansed.
Not caring that the water was cold.
Not caring that his arm was useless.
Just not caring about anything.
"Shit."
Forcing his back to lean on the wall, he slammed the back of his head against it. And again and again and again, cracking a tile or two. Then he slowly let himself slide down, upon sitting on the floor he folded his legs to his chest.
"I hate this place."
End Chapter Four
Feedback, constructive criticism and flames welcomed.
I'll take it like a duck takes to water.
(1) I didn't add details to what Hinata's learning since you'll see that later.
(2) You can sorta read this sentence to the tune of 'The Twelve Days of Christmas' only start at the chorus of 5 golden rings.
(3) The reattaining another mirror will get its own piece in Fox Identity: Lost Segments. Coming soon.
(4) Whether or not you caught on to what the technique is, it will be revealed during the chuunin exam. Her training in it will be published as a lost chapter as well.
Author's Notes:
Hmm... What to say? This piece is mainly a transition piece. Some going ons between Sakura/Naruto, Sakura/Sasuke, Naruto/Hinata... It was pretty hard doing the whole Saku/Sasu or Naru/Hina since I really can't picture those couples together and on top of that, trying to make something between all of them. Oh, i know they could look good together but any fic I've read had them already paired, not drifting together. It's kind of disconcerting. But I'm trying as best I can.
Keep in mind this is not a romance fic. Actually, throw the whole pairings thought out your head.
Oh, and apologies if you think it's all happening too fast. I've actually tried to plot the whole of the Naruto series on a time-frame and I'm trying to fit this to that.
Not much else to say. Except... The next chapter: Enter the Devil of the Mist! (Not the title, just saying Zabuza and Haku are going to show up next one).
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Stats
'Classic WITH CHE word counter'
Vers. 01.3 (25/8/05) 01.4 (15/10/05)
Fic: 7,919
Notes: 367
(Does not include stats)
Have a Great and Happy day!