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:
This is half of the original 5th chapter, thus aptly named Fox05a. But it's still long enough to warrant a hot cocoa. Trust me.
Fox Identity
by Arkhe
Chapter Five Alpha: Shattered Ocean
Drift Wood
It was cloudy today.
The gray tufts were trekking across the sky and the celestial ceiling grew darker by the hour. The golden orb will eventually plunge into the earth and signal the evening.
It was foreboding.
It mirrored the feelings that Team 7 and their client felt, though it was probably more disturbing that their loudest member; the Uzumaki boy, was silent.
Silent and neutral.
Both features of which, were foreign to the usually loud and exuberant child.
And this worried everyone.
---
After carefully calculating the risks, Kakashi held a hand up and halted the journey.
"Nightfall will be just around the corner. We'll camp off the road and start again before dawn." The cycloptic team commander sortied.
And so duties were handed and completed and soon everyone had gathered around an open flame, eating quietly. The tense silence hung precariously until Sakura grew sick and tired of it and she went on to broach the subject of their current concern -Uzumaki Naruto's behaviour.
"You've been pretty gloomy, Naruto." She openly noted. "Is something the matter?"
Naruto kept eating without missing a beat, so it was easy to assume he missed the question directed at him. Sakura went on to repeat herself when he'd interrupted.
"It's nothing." He answered, finishing the last of his small meal and leaned back on the tree, looking to the stars.
"It's probably because he froze at the first action we see." The Uchiha snidely remarks, though he and the others know it's not true. Naruto had been like this since they'd met up at the gate. He'd only briefly showed anger during the skirmish, when he'd stabbed his hand to drain the poison and pushed to continue the mission. But the expression was fleeting.
All the same, Sasuke's bait hadn't worked.
The dark-haired boy grimaced at how he failed to get under Naruto's skin. Usually, he'd be able to rile his teammate up but it seems the blond had lost his luster. Surely whatever it is, the obnoxious boy would bounce back in no time, the avenger thinks.
Kakashi had considered that whatever could have set off this change in Naruto had caught the boy completely unaware. Perhaps something happened the night before...? His instinct is adamant about the subject, so he files it away and vows to follow it up when he can.
Sakura was the most confused about it than the others. She knows that she's possibly the only person who knows Naruto more than nearly anyone else (with possibly the exception of Iruka) and that incident a few hours back down the road shouldn't have gotten to him. Perhaps when they're alone, he'll confide his troubles with her, she reasons, but she'll let it go for now.
Tazuna's main concern lies with his family. However, with the tense atmosphere, his thoughts also flit to the orange-clad ninja. If his memory is accurate, he had observed the boy last night when he'd drunkenly stumbled from place to place. The boy had been gleefully loud back then. Damn, he'd been too drunk to remember if he said something to upset the boy. Then before he can fully think on this, he thinks back to his own daughter and grandson and hopes they are still in good health.
Naruto himself stays quiet. He'd gone about this morning on autopilot. Waking, eating, cleaning and readying himself for the mission. But he found no will to do more so like he'd normally do.
No will to learn how he'd severed the bone or nerves or whatever of his right arm last night.
No will to plaster his generic grin to his face.
No will even to fight when they'd been attacked.
The only will he had, was to push the mission to continue.
Because he hadn't the will to go back.
---
Kakashi set up watch duty and had volunteered the first shift. He'd taken a vantage point into a nearby tree, letting his group ease in for the night.
Only one person did not do so.
The Hatake jounin had observed the boy from time to time as he surveyed the forest. Though when his charge created a shadow replication to merely sit opposite himself and just watch the former, the silver-haired jounin was more than curious as to what Naruto was up to.
Kakashi noted the boy seemingly examine his clone's facial features and then, oddly enough, the hand on which he'd drained the blood. It was only some few minutes later, Naruto appeared placid and dismissed the clone, before settling in a calm and seated posture.
Kakashi recognised it as an act of meditation. But why would the boy meditate...?
---
Eventually everyone had their turn to be sentry. Morning came with no complications and all set out again, heading towards the coastline.
This time, Naruto seemed to be in a better mood. Though he didn't wear his normal grin, he was more responsive in his actions -even going as far as giving decent small talk or occasionally throw Sasuke's insults back at him. The tension had eased a little, as everyone was thankful for the change.
Though Naruto's not so quiet demeanor hadn't quelled his peace of mind, he'd still found a sort of solace just a few scant hours ago.
Last night, he'd created a replication to question himself. He'd quietly examined his physical aspects of how everyone saw him. The cut he'd inflicted earlier was gone. It also happened to be the same hand he'd damaged the night before. A brief twinge of curiousity rose as to how he could dissect and replicate the ability but he'd pushed the feeling down in favour of more important matters. Like pursuing the thought of his odd healing habits and how exactly it ties in with his... change in situation.
The 'whiskers' incident popped up vividly.
He tried to peel the skin off a long time ago. A non-descript scar to remove the 'whiskers' seemed like a good trade. But the skin healed perfectly and the 'whiskers' were back again the following day.
It wasn't normal. Other people injured themselves and are always reminded of what happened with their telltale scars.
The 'whiskers' still manage to fit that description. His only sole reminder of a mistake he'd made...
...or rather a mistake he hadn't made (?).
At least that was ironically certain. He wasn't sure where he stood now. Seeing him sit opposite himself to sort out those questions had not been very enlightening. But he knew he was on the right steps to finding something. He was just going about it wrong.
That's when he'd decided to meditate and return to a place he'd found on heightened emotions. This time, he'd find it with the use of none. It was the emptiness that found him.
And though he'd found his world changed...
The cage had not altered, nor did the sole inhabitant's corpse move.
He knew there may have been a truth in words.
But there was a truth here also.
A single picture tells a thousand words.
And so Naruto spent the remainder of the time staring into the abyss.
---
After the confrontation with Zabuza, Team 7 fell back and took their wounded teacher to Tazuna's dwelling. Introductions were made, beddings arranged and each member had eased between taking temporary rests or looking over their comatose teacher.
Kakashi had lay unconscious in a temporary bedding set on the floor.
Sakura was currently replacing the damp cloth resting on Kakashi's forehead.
Sasuke had situated himself with his back against a wall and generally kept watched over all entrances in sight.
Tazuna alternated between checking his building plans and drinking.
Tsunami had entered the room and exited randomly, doing all sorts of household duties, most of the time scolding her father for drinking on the job. ("Just choose one and stick to it! No! You're not drinking!")
Inari was hardly ever around. The boy had mostly stuck to his room or generally being mopey at the pier area around his home. However, when he was in the area, he would scowl at the ninjas and proceeded to snob them off at any opportunity.
Naruto had been quietly observing everyone indirectly. Then he'd randomly chosen to bring up something he'd remembered off-handedly.
"Tazuna."
Though meant for the aging architect, it came from the previously mostly quiet Naruto and thus caught everyone's attention.
"Yes, Naruto?"
The genin had furrowed his brows and eyed the overhead clouds out of the nearest window.
"I heard there was an old Hidden Village near here somewhere."
At the mention of the village, both Tazuna and his granddaughter had reacted stiffly. Sakura and Sasuke's attention latched on the subject quickly, their curiousity piqued.
"No... There's no Hidden Villages around here, Naruto." Tazuna wiped a little sweat from his forehead with his sleeve. "At least not anymore..."
"The Hidden Ocean." Sakura gasped, recognising the subject.
"...Yes, the Hidden Ocean." Tazuna reluctantly forced the words through clenched teeth.
"From what I know, the Hidden Ocean was located around these parts, and though newly built, their affinity to water was par to none." Tsunami had inputted her piece, though she was being a little uncomfortable with the subject and avoided eye contact as she said so.
"But something happened...?" Sasuke interjected, now interested in the idea of another Hidden Village.
"The Hidden Ocean came under attack by the Kyuubi." Tazuna tiredly explained after hesitating.
The mention of the Nine-tails had crisply derailed the genin's curious advances and they winced, dropping the subject. The Demon Fox was considered taboo in the Leaf and they knew when to avoid such unwanted discussions.
Noticing the grim faces, Tsunami brought out a plate of snacks, handing it the trainee ninjas before seating herself and fully joining and restarting the conversation.
"The legend was that the demon Fox, the Nine-tails, had come across the newly formed Hidden Ocean..." She started the topic again, at least until she caught Tazuna glaring at her. Shooting him a defiant look, she reverted back to a smile for her guests and continued (though the silent exchanged had not gone unnoticed).
"At the time, it had been revered as the avatar of the village and there was prosperity. However, somehow they had angered the Fox. The insult had it bring its hell-bound wrath onto the ocean and tore the water asunder, raising land where there wasn't, sinking whatever was already there and finally scattering the Hidden Ocean to the ends of the world." She conversationally weaved the tale through, despite a little unwavering here and there. The thought of the Fox inspired that in everyone though.
"I wonder if that's why Wave looks cut up in the maps." Naruto openly pondered.
"I've read books that say the creations of the Hidden Mist and the Hidden Rain stem from the destruction of the Hidden Ocean. Most of which were evacuated genins and had lost most of their more valuable expertise, though many still tried to resurrect many of the dead arts." Sakura recalled from her many history books.
"I bet that anything important has already been lost or looted." Sasuke inputted his piece.
"You're all correct there." Tazuna nodded at the genin's comments. "Few of the inhabitants of the Wave Country were either the remnants of the Hidden Ocean -civilian or ninja, and the rest have been treasure hunters or wanderers. We are rather out of the way."
Momentarily pausing to take a sip of his sake, Tazuna let his audience digest that before continuing.
"But there are still some Ocean ruins if you look for them. Some of them are said to be directly from the village itself."
"Like the village centre-piece." Tsunami offered, a sly smile playing on her lips.
"Yes!" Tazuna pointed forwards abruptly at the memory and then faced the genin excitedly.
"You see, this village is built around a broken but super-built tower that looks to have fallen from the sky!" The aging architect gestured wildly and went into how the tower had been his inspiration for his career choice when he was a lad.
But no sooner had he finished, that same energy was as fleeting as it was in coming. It slipped out of him as his eyes clouded and he took another sip of his sake.
"But despite all it's lavishes, it has still fallen out of the sky..." He stated solemnly. "Such is the power of the Fox."
There was a moment of silence between everyone.
"Lucky for us, the Fourth Hokage defeated the Nine-tails." Sakura reassured them. This quickly had Tazuna's attention as he'd only heard third-hand of the Fox's defeat and was quite excitable at the confirmation.
Naruto stopped paying attention at this point.
"Yeah... Lucky for us." Naruto mumbled under his breath.
---
It was some time later that Naruto found himself outside, breathing in the fresh ocean air. The water looked enticing, but he didn't dare step down on it.
For one thing, he knew there was a current underfoot as little waves lapped at the pier legs. Truth was, he never practised walking on a current, just on calm water. He'd never planned on walking over a current as he never found a need to. Planning to lay siege to a city devoid of great expanses of water crossed out the need to expand on that kind of knowledge.
And for another... Submitting to his yearnings would undoubtedly bring up unwanted attention. If he gives someone a chance to see his abilities, there is a huge likelihood that it will hap--
"Naruto."
--pen. As is expected.
"Sakura."
The pink-haired ninja stepped up next to her teammate and took in the view and the ocean smells, savouring the feeling. The sun was in the horizon, casting both sea and sky in warm colours. A smile flitted across her face as she absorbed the surroundings. She turned to the only thing that seemed out of place of the moment.
"What's wrong?" She asked.
"It's something I got to figure out myself." He sighed aloud.
She sank back a little, eyes falling downcast to her feet. She kept from replying for a time.
"Everyone's been worried about you." Her tone was low.
"The sooner I figure this out, the better." He replied. "I'm gonna head into the woods."
Without anything else to add to their conversation, Sakura watched him go.
Unknownst to her, someone else was watching her.
---
For the past hour or so, including the duration of the discussion about a destroyed Hidden Village, Sasuke had been leaning against the wall. He'd managed to keep a tight focus from his position as it had clear views of all possible entrances into the room, thus allowing him to react on a moments notice should there be trouble. One such entrance happened to be a window -which the view may not have been particularly interesting if it weren't for what was happening at the moment.
When Sakura stepped into it's line of sight, he paid attention. There was a chance she'd engaged contact with an enemy. However, Sakura seemed to start a conversation with someone just out of his view, having Sasuke conclude that whoever she was speaking to should be an ally. Knowing everyone else was accounted for except one, he'd predicted it was Naruto and he'd been correct -the blond stepped into his field of vision and out again. Then he'd looked over at the remaining person he could still see, noting her worried expression over assumably watching the other boy go.
Something about that irked him.
---
"Naruto."
He'd watched on as Naruto lifted his head and opened his eyes to give him his undivided attention.
"Kakashi-sensei."
It was a few hours into the evening that heralded Kakashi's awakening. However, it was far from pleasant as the jounin had gone on to hastily explain his realisation that Zabuza is likely to return and that the genin will need training exercises starting tomorrow morning.
It was only just before he finished their briefing that he'd realised his orange-clad student wasn't among them. Sakura directed her teacher in the right direction and that's what led the jounin to be outside limping through a forest.
"What are you doing here all by yourself, Naruto?" The question was basic but there was something underlying. He'd caught the loud boy meditating again.
"Just thinking." The blond boy tiredly replied.
Kakashi tilted his head and eyed Naruto's sitting stance inquisitively.
"One of the monks at the shrine told me to sit like this, cause it helps you think." Naruto explained whilst unfolding his legs and stretching.
"I think that monk was telling me a crock of shit to make me go away."
Kakashi hadn't bothered to say anything to let Naruto flex his leg muscles to get the blood flowing. It was only when Naruto gave an experimental jump when he was standing, that the student decided on furthering the conversation.
"So, you okay now?" Naruto pointed to the homemade crutches.
"I should be asking you that." Came the suggestive reply.
Naruto looked Kakashi in the eye, but the older male didn't back down. The blond boy had considered lying to his teacher, but the action would likely be seen through, then he'd be under even more suspicion. Naruto shifted uneasily on his feet and gave the most honest answer he knew.
"I don't know." He said in a resigned tone.
Naruto slumped against a tree before continuing.
"It's about that rule."
Kakashi nodded slowly, his mind reviewing every possible scenario this could lead to. Unable to see deceit in his charge's eyes, Kakashi decided to prop himself up on a nearby tree, as to be able to ready for the coming confrontation -whether physical or psychological. Anything involving that damn rule, especially when it's coming from the boy directly connected to the rule, was a very bad sign.
"Can you start from the start?"
Much to Kakashi's relief, the fox-vessel started a long-winded story from the whole Mizuki affair and explained how both Iruka and Mizuki had titled him the Nine-tails. He'd gone on to about how he'd avoided Iruka from then on because of how uncomfortable he'd been about his involvement with Iruka's parents. Then Naruto finished it with how the night before, Iruka had treated him to dinner.
In a stroke of on-the-spot brilliance, Naruto purposely failed to mention the talk involved afterwards.
Thus Kakashi was led to assume that Naruto did not know of his vessel status and proceeded to impart that knowledge on his distraught student. The silver-haired jounin recalled the events of the night. From the village's defense, to the Fourth's last stand, to the Third's re-ascension and his subsequent explanations of happenings and the implementation of the rules now in place; Kakashi told at length, Naruto's story.
"You are only the vessel Naruto. Don't let anyone judge you otherwise." He finished.
Naruto gave a small smile and thanked his teacher for his talk. Kakashi had been quite glad that there wasn't any sort of unknown territory he'd have to cross and just merely gave Naruto the heads up about being up at dawn tomorrow for training, before bidding a farewell.
Though to Kakashi, a little nagging feeling in the pit of his stomach had been screaming that it was all too easy. But he'd pushed it down. He'd assumed it was the same sort of prejudice the civilian populace pinned on Naruto, instead of seeing the boy as he truly is.
---
Naruto watched his teacher head off into the budding darkness and back to their base of operations. Then he'd settled back to seating and looked deep into himself.
He'd soon found himself on the outside of a large set of bars again -a place he found himself possibly regularly visiting to contemplate on things.
Closing his eyes, he focused on drawing red chakra from behind the gate. The telltale signs began with his pupils tinting red and becoming slitted underneath his closed eyelids.
He knew the chakra was coming to him... He could feel it.
And so he stopped, opening his eyes to inspect what was occurring.
When he did so, the seal wavered to a personal breeze and the writings on it began to glow. From there, the glow started to spread as more and more runes surrounding the seal had begun to 'infect' the surrounding bars, ceilings, walls and even the floor! It wasn't long before the whole area (aside from the hallways of where he'd started) was covered in runes. Then the ankle deep water drifted to a current, drawing itself into the cage. It was only a light tug, but he'd felt it.
The conclusion was simple.
When he drew on the Fox, the Fox would also draw on him afterwards to compensate.
It was confusing.
For one thing, it was clear the Fox was dead. Yet it drew energy to it like it was alive.
And for another... He wasn't sure what the Fox drew on. He hadn't felt weakened afterwards. A little mentally tired, but physically he was in top form!
Both Kakashi and Iruka's story had collaborated rather well. But both still left much to be confirmed...
So the question was: "Why would a body be sealed if it wasn't alive?" By everyone's account, the Fox was alive and bloodthirsty and attempted to destroy the Leaf. And when the Fourth had appeared and went on to seal the beast... something else happened.
Something wasn't adding up.
Naruto focused on his reflection in the ankle deep water. Red eyes stared back at him.
"What am I?" Naruto half-growled as his emotions simmered.
The runes grew brighter and there was a shift in the air.
---
The Calm Seas
The coming dawn had Team 7 gather and Kakashi dispatched his team to the wooded area near the house. He then dictated and demonstrated the tree-walking exercise.
Sakura had did well, providing she already knew the skill, but had not said so. Truth be told, she had picked up the skill on her first try as well. This was probably due to the fact that she hadn't come from a ninja family (technically a family out of the ninja business for generations), so it was easier for her to channel chakra since she didn't have anyone influence her on how it should be done.
Both Naruto and Sasuke had some difficulty. But for entirely different reasons than the other... Which soon became the same reason altogether.
Sasuke had never touched on using chakra without the aid of handseals, and thus had the challenge of trying to walk up the tree on pure chakra definition alone. Not such a difficult ability since he had been trained in the use of chakra when he was young, but the difficulty had been to keep up the use of chakra, whereas all his fire techniques only needed an explosive burst.
Naruto's difficulty came about that he was holding back and kept appearances by pretending to fail. But in the middle of pretending, Naruto eventually had to stop the facade. He'd painfully realised that when he'd first self-taught himself to walk on vertical surfaces, he'd pushed himself far enough to know how to do it successfully...
...And therein lay the problem. He never practised it enough to need to be able to travel a long distance -he'd only trained to go the distance of a regular wall's height. Couple this with only practising to not get out of practise and the fact that he'd overlooked this part of training in favour for stamina and a deeper chakra well, Naruto concluded he'd still be classified as a beginner at the technique. It really pissed him off.
At this time, all three genins coincidently met each other's eyes. Then each grit their teeth and resumed to where they left off, all striving to correct what each lacked.
Kakashi watched over his students until it was time for Tazuna to over-see how his bridge was getting built. At the last second, the injured jounin chose to stand guard himself instead of assigning it to Sakura. It was for the reason that he'd seen a fiery determination in Sakura's eyes, which she just didn't have in normal training sessions and thus believed her to be better off training here and now rather than accompany Tazuna. And so he left, leaving the trainees to their work.
With their teacher gone and seemingly only in the vicinity of his teammates, Naruto went to plotting how to further their own training. He would act in an hour after Team 7's teacher had departed.
---
"Psst! Can you give me advice on tree-walking?" Naruto cupped a hand over his mouth and whispered towards his pink-haired teammate.Sakura looked oddly at him and leaned in.
"So, what is it that you really want?" She whispered back in a lower tone, a smirk dancing on her features as she was unable to contain her Inner excitement of what the Naruto she knew was up to.
There was a gleam in his eye as he replied.
"Go back to the house and sit on the pier, out of sight. Then gather chakra to your feet and make sure you keep your feet above water. You'll need to apply a constant surge of chakra to keep afloat though, since you'll need to not only neutralise your body weight, but also to match the current and flow of water."
"Water-walking?" Sakura gasped, while Inner Sakura spun around dizzily ecstatic on the subject.
"Don't actually walk on water though." He added. "Come back when you think you've got it down and are rested enough. I'll signal you."
"How will I know what your signal is?" Sakura wanted clarification.
"You'll know." He replied vaguely, brushing at his pants to ready to stand up.
"Good to know you're feeling better." She genuinely smiled.
He returned her a gracious grin before standing up, thanking her loudly for her time and hurried away to begin practising again. Sakura took her leave and headed for the house to begin her instruction.
-
Naruto internally rejoiced. Honestly, he'd preferred walking on water than on vertical surfaces for various reasons.
The first had been because unlike tree climbing, water-walking was easier because it gave more leeway in chakra control. Decent control would keep you above water. Precise control just didn't make ripples.
The second reason was the pressure of gravity. When standing horizontally, gravity adds quite alot of weight on the head. In short, it gives hell to the ankles unless standing upside down. The equivalent of this for water-walking, would be whilst performing with a current underway.
Finally, the last reason was that water-walking was very taxing on chakra and he was grateful that it helped him build quite the reservoir so he was very familiar with it.
It was for all these reasons that Naruto had managed to pick up water-walking before tree-walking a few years back and he was looking forward to being back on familiar 'ground' in due time.
-
Some time later, Sakura had returned and sat by her own tree, recuperating from the amount of chakra she'd spent. Whilst Sasuke had progressed far, Naruto seemed to not have made much progress at all and seemingly had given up and now lay on the grass.
That was up until...
"I'm BORED." He whined aloud.
"Geeze Naruto, what did you want to do then?" Sakura rolled her eyes.
Naruto jogged over to her and playfully tapped her shoulder.
"Tag! You're it!"
Sakura gave him an incredulous look before it slowly dawned on her. Naruto was about to start grinning, when she'd tagged him back. He attempted to tag her again but she'd leaped out of his way and ran up into a nearby tree -effectively stopping Naruto's ability to tag her back.
So he turned to their remaining teammate.
Sasuke raised an eyebrow.
A grin washed over the blond boy's face and he'd began sprinting towards the dark-haired boy.
Though Sasuke knew the game was beneath him...
...he scrambled up a tree because there was no way in hell he'd let dead-last beat him in anyway possible.
He'd managed to get to a branch just out of Naruto's reach and smirked at seeing the blond boy failing at his attempt to climb the tree and pass the 'tag' along. A few more failed attempts had Naruto stop and stamp his foot in disappointment, ranting and raving at the Uchiha. Meanwhile, Sakura had left her perch and attempted to sneak away when she'd accidentally stepped on a dried twig.
-crack-
It immediately caught Naruto and Sasuke's attention. Caught in the act, Sakura made a break for it and Naruto had ran after her in hot pursuit. Her dash to the house was cut short as an orange-clad genin fell from the sky and landed in a crouch near the door -effectively cutting off the direct route to get inside the house.
Skidding to a halt, the pink-haired girl briefly looked over her shoulder to see shadow replications converging on her. Her only route left, had been the pier the house was built on, circle the residence and exit the other side.
So that's where she ran.
Sasuke shook his head. He'd surmised that his female teammate was possibly duller than the dead-last to head in that direction. And just like Sasuke predicted, other replications went to cover the other exit.
Seeing that her exit was taken, Sakura halted at the corner edge of the pier, mentally preparing herself for the only exit planned. The various Naruto's had stopped at the entrance points and a few scrambled on top of the roof. Seemingly, only a single Naruto (likely the original) stepped out to approach Sakura.
"Looks like I got you now!" He laughed.
He stalked nearer and nearer and Sakura hurriedly glanced between Naruto and the water.
"Just focus." She hissed to herself. "Don't think about it, just do it."
Naruto made a mad dash forwards and Sakura took a deep breath and stepped off.
Sasuke's eyes widened.
Naruto allowed himself a brief prideful smile.
Inner Sakura whooped up a storm.
Sakura stood on water!
Seeing herself perched on the water, Sakura gasped excitedly but cut it short, as Naruto lunged on her position, thus she forced a few experimental steps away.
The orange-clad boy seemed to suddenly realise where exactly Sakura was standing and vainly tried to stop. Unfortunately, he skidded and the momentum had still caused him to careen over the edge.
"Aaaaargh-"
-splash-
Sasuke jumped off his perch and ran over disbelievingly.
There were dual mumbles of "Sakura", one had been delivered sputtering through the amount of water that was nearly inhaled, though both were teemed with astonishment.
"C'mon on guys! It's not that hard!" She giggled, motioning them to join her.
---
It was some hours later that Kakashi returned back to Tazuna's home for lunch when he was stunned to find his genin team playing tag on top of the water. In fact, they were so involved with the game, they hadn't noticed their teacher at the pier.
"Ahem."
Both Sakura and Sasuke looked up, their concentration had wavered at the surprise and so sunk a little, but not past their knees. Naruto, however, hadn't been quite so lucky.
-splash-
When he came up again for air, Kakashi had already pandered over to where Naruto was flailing and pulled him up by the scruff of the shirt. A curious eye was cast over his team.
"Did I miss something?"
---
Sakura gave out the (slightly altered) explanations and Kakashi had congratulated everyone, especially Sakura for managing to figure it out and even having turned his lesson into a simpler learning curve!
Tazuna even had to speculate about how Sakura could possibly be a previous citizen from Hidden Ocean and had Ocean bloodlimits! Sakura joked that since Naruto spent more time in the water then herself, maybe he was more inclined to Ocean bloodlines!
Everyone had a good laugh.
That was until Inari entered and threw a distasteful look their way.
"Why're you all laughing?-! Gatou's going to kill all of you!" He cried out, instantly ruining the mood.
Angered by the outburst, Naruto stood up, immediately cutting off Tsunami's scolding.
"Yeah? Just you watch! Gatou's gonna wish he'd never come here!" Naruto challenged back.
"Feh! Gatou will show you! He'll kill everyone! No one can stand up to him!" Inari sniveled and ran out of the room.
Naruto raised a fist.
"I'll show that brat something alright!" The blond boy intended on storming after the runt to give him a piece of his mind when someone had grabbed his hand, holding him back from going any further.
"Naruto..."
Sakura's pleading voice reached him.
"He'll see when it's all over." She said sternly.
Naruto pulled his hand away sharply, still intent on giving that brat what for.
"Please don't, Naruto." This time it was Tsunami pleading.
"And why shouldn't I?-!" He lashed out, turning to the older woman but calmed at seeing her downcast-look.
Tsunami hadn't even been facing him, but instead, positioned herself in front of a torn photograph hanging on the wall. A shaky hand had traced the torn area, her eyes were not-quite staring at the damaged object, but instead staring at something that was once there.
"There was a man in this picture once, just as there was once a man in our lives." She began. "He was Kaiza, a wanderer from place to place and had saved Inari from some bullies once."
Her hand reached into her pocket.
"It was only a visit to the Wave, but weeks became months and he came to call the Wave his home and was loved by all. Especially by my son. The time they'd spent together, nearly had Kaiza become Inari's father in all but blood."
Out of the pocket came a torn and crumpled piece of paper.
"He was so dedicated to our country, he'd even went as far as swimming through a flood to save some of the inhabited areas. He was held as a hero of our simple community and brought hope to a failing country."
The paper was smoothed and it filled the torn area of the photo perfectly. Another man filled the missing part of the photograph.
"You'd always hear him say 'as long as you have these two arms'," she gestured to her own arms, "'you can protect your home'."
She barked a pained laugh.
"I was to be wed again, with him one day." She sighed wistfully. But then her eyes hardened.
"But it wasn't meant to be... Because... Because Gatou came..." She faltered at this point.
Further attempts to continue had failed -her words were torn away before she could even form them. Unable to stop the tears, she excused herself and exited the room, taking the rumpled piece of photograph with her.
Tazuna sighed and went to wipe his eyes, continuing where his daughter had left off. The memory had brought back terrible memories.
"When Gatou muscled in on the Wave Country. Our hero, Kaiza, had stood up to him. And Kaiza protected our country as hard as he could, with his two arms."
Then the aging architect tensed and grimaced fiercely.
"That bastard, Gatou, had Kaiza's arms cut off in front of everyone."
His audience reacted to that. Sakura had flinched, Naruto swore under his breath and Sasuke gave narrow eyed looks. It disgusted Kakashi, but the jounin did not outwardly express it.
"Then he had Kaiza hung up at the town-square and was publicly executed, to be an example to everyone."
Tazuna took a swig of sake to rid himself of the taste in his mouth.
"Ever since then, the people of Wave had let Gatou do as he wished, fearful for what Gatou would do to them. But there was still some of us who resisted."
Tazuna derisively took another sip.
"Without our bridge, the Wave will lose all hope." He finished gravely.
Naruto immediately headed towards the door to exit the house.
"Where are you going, Naruto?" Sakura asked loudly.
"I've got to go out and train to prove something..." He turned and gave a toothy grin to his audience.
"I've got to prove that there's always hope." He finished proudly.
"And you call me the show-off..." Sasuke snorted under his breath.
---
The second day had Naruto and Sasuke train by themselves. Both boys pushed themselves at the other's expense, and when one upped the other, the other would try even harder until they were on top and the game would loop again. This ranged from tree-climbing to water-walking to a combination of the two or the introduction of their ninja techniques and sparring.
Sakura volunteered to take place watching the bridge for Kakashi, so he could recover faster and she'd quickly realised the task to be extremely long and tedious. She'd found herself distracted several times throughout the course, but was quick to correct her objective and focused on her task.
However, something unnerved her. At first she thought she was getting weird looks from the builders, but as time went on, one of the builders approached Tazuna. It was at this time that Sakura got her chance to see what these people saw in her.
"Boss, I want to go home early. I've got a family to think about and..." The man trailed off.
"Are you asking to quit?" Tazuna asked evenly.
The man had briefly glanced over Tazuna's shoulder to Sakura, meeting her eyes.
"I can't do this anymore, boss."
Tazuna looked down at his clipboard and there was a silence so thick, that you could cut it with a knife.
"Goodbye, Giichi." He finally said.
And the exchange was over. Giichi left and that was that.
But in that simple glance, Sakura saw an emotion that spoke in volumes.
Fear.
The same look the rest of builders gave her.
And even when she and Tazuna entered the town to purchase food stuff, it became more pronounced as each new face looked her over once and recoiled.
After more or less receiving the same treatment from everyone, she turned to Tazuna for the answer.
"It's nothing." He brushed the subject off.
But he'd failed to meet her eyes.
---
When she'd returned, Sakura found Kakashi up and about again, taking experimental steps here and there as well as some light stretching.
Once Tazuna and the rest of the household weren't in the vicinity, Sakura poised her question to her teacher.
"Kakashi-sensei."
"Yes, Sakura?"
"About yesterday... Were you getting odd looks too?"
Kakashi's lazy eye trained on Sakura's anxious green orbs. He knew exactly what she was talking about.
"Yes."
"Do you know why?"
"The country isn't very open to ninjas."
He used the tone to drop the subject.
He didn't know much more than her after all.
---
It wasn't long before the week had passed that was completely in tandem with the second day. The boys trained, the girl guarded and the teacher rehabilitated.
However, the fractions of what each person had been assigned to, all had took to their work with more zeal than the day before. Everyone knew the stakes and with each passing day the tension grew to higher levels.
Kakashi had taken to slower but more deliberate forms of practise; mostly stretching all his muscles carefully and accordingly as to be in top form whenever the need would require of it. He silently admitted to himself the time he'd spent training his team had dulled his senses and responses. And though he would not regret taking a team, he also couldn't let his team down like he did in the previous confrontation with the missing ninja...
...or rather, ever let his new team succumb to the horrors of his old.
Sakura guarded Tazuna during the day and when she wasn't, she'd designate to train her stamina and her skills in hand-to-hand combat. She knew she was lacking when it comes to full contact defensive procedures, but she was hoping she could use chakra to buffer her initial weakness and gradually work it out. This required absolute focus to achieve.
Sasuke had pushed himself to greater heights. Eventually, he would find himself doing Fireballs whilst perched on top of the water as the competition between himself and his blond teammate staggered to new levels as each attempted to out-do the other.
Naruto had strained his control. When he was alone, he'd switch between techniques and chakra control, as to put his reflexes into peak condition. He honed his tree-climbing and water-walking so that in battle situations, he could call on the skill without a thought.
Everyone agreed on one thing: there was no margin for error.
And so, it wasn't long before the week had passed as each successive day proved to be on the same line of route for the last, only more difficult. The boys trained, the girl guarded and the teacher rehabilitated.
However, on the seventh day, there was something different.
"Zabuza-sama. I'm going out."
---
With Haku's form getting further away, Naruto went over the conversation they'd just had. The visitor had given him much to think about in so limited amount of time, but interestingly enough, Naruto found something worth while from their talk.
Haku's inquiry about strength had Naruto seriously review his old foundations. He'd nearly felt like he'd found an answer, but Haku had chosen to interrupt with his own opinion on the subject, which had confused the younger boy to no end.
At this point, Naruto began to fully suspect that the person he was speaking to was a reconnaissance spy due to the other's cryptic dialogue. Somehow, said suspect possibly read Naruto's judgment and promptly ended their conversation, leaving the younger unable to think about the answer he nearly had.
With Haku getting further away and Sasuke now in speaking distance, suddenly Haku's invitation to 'meet up again somewhere' had seemed very enticing. Morning was nearly in full swing and if he stalled for too long, he wouldn't get another chance.
A quick glance from one dark haired boy to the other, Naruto made his choice.
"What's up, Sasuke?"
---
Uchiha Sasuke was a person who rather hated surprises. It is no coincidence that his main source of anguish and hatred had been involved in the biggest surprise of all.
So when Naruto surprised his team, this unfortunately included Sasuke as well.
Oh, how he hated surprises.
One moment, Naruto had been messing around and then the next, Sasuke had been forced to catch the dead last by the ankle because the idiot lost his footing.
"You know, you didn't have to bother, Sasuke." Hanging upside down, Naruto pulled his arms behind his head and grinned.
"Hn?" The dark-haired lad craned his neck to peer at his teammate. Just what was the idiot going on about now?
"I went to see the town a while back!"
And with that, Naruto exploded in a puff of smoke.
To Sasuke, this opened up to the realisation that Naruto had been a clone long before they'd spoken at the clearing.
The dark-haired boy experimentally closed his hand again, feeling how the other boy suddenly slipped out of his grasp...
...Or rather never was there to begin with.
Sasuke hated surprises with a passion.
---
"So why in the world would you dress like a girl then?"
"What?" Haku whirled around to face the voice, completely shocked. He adopted a casual stance; lightly bent at the limbs to ready into any sort of defending role should he need it, but not look like a stance to the untrained eye.
He was even more taken aback when he noticed it was the same boy from an hour or so prior, now sitting on a tree branch.
"What I mean is..." Naruto scratched his head in embarrassment. "You're wearing a collar that covers the bump on all guy's throats."
"Ah..." Haku really didn't want to admit it, but he had taken advantage of his feminine attributes to be able to spy on his adversaries for his master. He only admitted his gender when he thought the conversation was over...
...but now he was forcibly backed into a corner he created.
"Oh... That was rude of me." Naruto awkwardly laughed whilst jumping down to land next to the feminine boy. "You must have a personal reason to do it. I'm really sorry." He lowered his head.
"O-oh... Yes." Haku didn't want to push his luck.
Naruto held out his hand for a handshake and introduced himself. Haku followed the blonde's lead a little nervously.
"You lived here long?" Naruto asked.
"Not too long." Haku admitted. "I'm always traveling."
"But your traveling with someone, right? And they got sick?" Naruto made some connections he'd remembered from their prior conversation.
"...Yes." Though he forced himself not to show it, Haku was starting to become agitated. He knew his cover had to have been blown.
"Can he wait a bit?" The blond boy asked.
"...Why?" Haku was terribly uncomfortable. His instincts were telling him to run, but that would definitely alert his captors. He couldn't panic now.
"Cause like you said, you're collecting more herbs so you don't run out. So he's got herbs with him! He'll be fine for a bit without you, right?" Naruto pestered.
"...I don't know." The missing ninja accomplice started on a plan to escape and he'd hurriedly glanced to his surroundings to try to spot the boy's team so he could avoid them.
"That's okay! You can show me the town then!"
"...No, I- huh?" Then things just got downright confusing for Haku.
"I've only just got here, but I always eat at Tazuna's place, you know? I still want to travel around and go everywhere I can! So can you show me a place to eat at least?" Naruto had just about exploded, fully getting into old habits. For some reason, he'd looked forward to the thought of speaking with the other boy and he couldn't halt the growing excitement.
Seeing Haku unsure, Naruto force his hand into pleading.
"I mean, you did say you wanted to meet up later!"
Haku examined the ninja in front of him and found the boy to be very odd. Just from all of their meetings, Haku could formally conclude that though the boy claimed to be a ninja, he was possibly the loudest and the most enthusiastic person he'd ever had the chance of meeting.
Those feelings happened to be contagious.
"Okay..." Haku accepted hesitatingly.
Whether he was caught or not, Haku reasoned that they had no idea of what he was capable of. He could escape at any opportunity so he really didn't mind at this point.
So the duo had walked into town and Haku explained each place that he had learned of whilst he had been in the area. Though the atmosphere was depressing, what with the current economic state, Naruto was undeterred about keeping a smile.
"Hey, hey! Let's stop there!"
Haku felt himself dragged over to an open shop. Once he stood on his own legs again, he'd quickly gone over his surroundings, recognising himself to be in a blacksmith's weapon shop, what with the weapons on the shelves and the forge. Then he'd taken a second look and noted the unlit forge, shelves lined with dust and what few weapons there were, were worn and fading. It was understandable that all of them were the over-sized sort -no civilian would buy such overtly large weapons or least of all; even afford any of these!
"Wow! A giant throwing star! Is that a war hammer? Oh, look at that! It's a huge axe!" Naruto 'ooh'ed and 'aah'ed, bouncing from display to display, though stopping to try to pick up the last one.
"You shouldn't over do yourself..." Haku warned. He was kind of worried at how the younger boy's attention span kept wandering and was now reaching for an axe that was a sizeable portion bigger than himself.
Naruto had managed to bring the axe above his waist and was carefully testing its weight with little to no difficulty. Then something else caught his eye and he let go.
Haku jumped over and grabbed the weapon before it would create a dint (or rather a messy crater) in the establishment.
"Oof!" He exhaled sharply trying to stop the axe from crashing.
Then he tested his strength by hefting it with both hands, and was thoroughly surprised at just how heavy it was. Naruto'd had lifted it showing little strain and yet he found himself struggling. Was the boy really lifting it with more ease than himself...?
"Oh, now this I gotta get!"
Haku turned his attention over to Naruto and gaped.
The boy was now marveling at a worn lance that was bigger in every respect than himself! Haku could see that it was made on a sort of reverse-principles of a lance, wherein the serrated blades were longer than the handle. Having Naruto stand side-to-side by the propped up weapon, Haku could see that one edge had stood from the floor, going all the way up to Naruto's shoulders before the handle began -going for another 2 or 3 feet, before reaching the other blade and it's apex. Damn, you could cut it at the handle and it would resemble two rough overtly large swords than a broken lance! And from this angle, if he wasn't mistaken, Haku could swear the blades was wider than Naruto's shoulder length!
...then why the hell was the boy reaching to pick it up!-?
A loud laugh echoed off the walls and a terribly unshaven but well-built, middle-aged man stepped out -assumably the smithy of the establishment. The man had praised Naruto's interest and introductions were given before small talk resumed. When Naruto introduced himself as a ninja, the man's heavily bristled face had laughed and then he'd admitted to trying out to be a ninja but had failed the genin exam -though that hadn't stopped him from a having a passionate stance on weapons and going into his trade!
"Times were good for a while, you know? People need a smithy to make or repair their old pots and stuff." He owner reminisced.
Haku and Naruto nodded understandingly.
"Times change though." The moustache twitched.
Then he gave his full professional attention on the boys and gave them a hearty smile.
"So... You guys wanna buy something and help an old academy student out?" He grinned at his audience, though it was clear he wasn't too excited. The company was nice, but he had no allusions about expecting a bunch of genin (let alone children) to be able to afford his wares.
Haku winced. He couldn't afford anything here, nor did he even have a desire for weapons. He had his needles. That was enough for him.
Naruto squinted at the handful of weapons. To him, this was his chance to stock up on things. If he went about shopping back at the Hidden Leaf, things would be suspicious and really expensive, or he'd have to transform and then things would still be mutually expensive, but if he was caught in disguise, the shit would hit the fan.
Here in the Wave though...
Things were a little expensive, but not over-priced...
And the giant weapons weren't a Hidden Leaf thing...
And Naruto came to the best conclusion he had;
Indulge, indulge, indulge.
"How much for that and that?" Naruto pointed to several pieces.
The burly man tallies the total up. It was a hefty sum. The blacksmith still thought how highly improbable it is for a little shortie like him to afford such stuff.
"Hmm... Can you touch them up and ready them in a few days?"
"I think I can, that's if you can pay upfront though." The man's hopes began to rise a little more, hoping it wasn't a cruel joke. You just can't joke about money in the Wave.
Naruto nodded excitedly. He'd been in the middle of opening his pouch to retrieve the frog-purse when he'd stopped. He didn't have a way to take this stuff home.
"Have you got any storage scrolls for these?"
"I do, but they'll cost extra..." The older man's rising hopes stalled.
Naruto pouted. Damn, storage scrolls were pretty expensive.
Then something seemed to occur to the shopkeeper and he snapped his fingers at the realisation.
"Hey, wait a second! Are you the guys that're helping Tazuna out?" His voice filled with anticipation.
"Yeah! That's right!" Naruto proclaimed, jabbing at his chest. "Me and my team's gonna stop any of Gatou's goons from getting too close! Uzumaki Naruto's on the case!"
The smithy grinned hugely, his hopes now soaring. All of Wave's future rested on these guys!
"Well, I'll tell you what, Uzumaki Naruto! When that bridge is done, we'll be getting good business again, so I can't give you these scrolls but..." And he reached behind the counter. "I can give you this scroll. It's a little beat up, but this was the scroll I used when I was in the academy! I'll give this to you free, as long as that bridge is fixed!"
"No problem!" Naruto laughed. "Hey thanks, old man!"
"I'm not that old, kid." The smithy corrected, a little annoyed. "I'll be getting to sharpening them, so you can pick these up in a day or two."
"Hey hey, have you got any of those colouring crystals? You know, to give colors to the weapons?"
"I think I got a few left, yeah..." The smithy considered it, sparing a glance at the backdoor and scratching his chin.
"Can you bring out their colours then?"
The man decided on doing so. The thought of getting the forge all fired up again after far too long had him elated.
"Well as long as I'm doing that, any particular design on it?" He asked cheerfully.
Naruto grinned.
---
It was nearing the end of morning and Sakura sat perched on Kakashi's legs, whilst Tazuna sat cross-legged on the jounin's back. All three rose and lowered in a slow, but concentrated rhythm as Kakashi worked on doing one-finger push-ups with one hand, making sure to exercise and test all of his muscles and chakra circulation.
On the other hand, he'd been giving his mind a thorough work out as he was using his other hand to hold up a certain perverted novel to his face.
His musings had been interrupted as Tazuna spoke.
"I wanted to ask you earlier but..." Tazuna started off. "Why are you still here when I lied to you about this mission?"
"To abandon your duty is not courageous." Kakashi said effortlessly as he did another push up, almost as if rehearsed.
"Below the courageous, there is nothing."
"Those were the previous Hokage's words."
"That is the way of th-"
He paused in mid-sentence as he'd felt a shift in weight on his legs. Looking over his shoulder, Kakashi found Sakura leaning over and craning her neck as if she was examining something that was being blocked from her point of view.
"Are you..." Kakashi squinted an accusing and slightly worried eye at his pink-haired student.
"Are you trying to see over my shoulder to read my book?"
Sakura gave a stammered denial and a fierce blush before reseating her position to hide her face behind Tazuna.
The older architect would then curiously look over Kakashi's shoulder before shrinking back and blushing terribly too.
---
After their side-trip to the smithy, both jumpsuit-clad and kimono-clad boys had also stopped by a few other places, like that of a plant nursery (for Haku's own curiousity about looking into certain herbs), a second-hand book store (where Naruto purchased a particularly small but worn book that Haku considered to look akin to Fairy Tales) and now; a small food stand. They'd already seated and ordered their expensively cheap food for breakfast (technically brunch) and was just waiting for the person behind the counter to serve them.
"You keep smiling often. Is there something you should be happy about?" Haku asked. "It seems so out of place with everyone looking not so well."
Naruto's personal thoughts to that, would be somewhere along the lines that Haku might provide the sort of companionship he'd needed to be able to sort out what his goals were. It was perfect too... Haku was merely a stranger. And likely the enemy. Any situation of which, he'll never see the other boy again afterwards.
"What's happening right now isn't as important as what lies ahead!" Naruto's half-lie gleamed. "You just gotta keep your head high and nothing will bother you!"
Haku even had to smile at that kind of optimism.
"Besides," Naruto continued in a low, conspiratory whisper but grinning all the way through it. "people who don't like you would think you're up to something, even when you're not!"
Haku swallowed nervously and offered a half-hearted chuckle, but his eyes unconsciously drifted to the side.
"How about you?" Naruto quickly switched the subject. "You've been collecting herbs and stuff. Are you going to be some sort of doctor?"
Haku smiled curtly, without betraying his alarm and decided on winging it.
"Sort of. I've only studied a bit of medicine so that I can help my friend. It's difficult but it's rewarding."
"Oh. You must really respect this person then."
"Yes, he is my precious person. He acknowledges me." Haku sighed.
This had Naruto glaze up for a second. Something about that sentence had him immediately confused...
"Acknowledges you?"
"Yes." Haku paused. His enemy was sitting across from him and they were sharing meals. He was hesitant at admitting his past but... With the boy in front of him sounding so sincere, he felt like he could admit to anything.
"My father..." Haku began, the memory had him turn solemn. "My father had killed my mother. And when I found out, I had killed him. Because of relevant... circumstances, I was hated by everyone and I ran from place to place, begging on the streets."
Then Haku's eyes shifted and became warm.
"Then I met my friend and he accepted me. Because of him, I owe a debt to him that I can never truly repay. So my dream is to help him accomplish his goals." He made sure not to give away too obvious details and the truth wasn't too far off, so it had sounded especially real.
"It must sound silly, doesn't it?" Haku tried to laugh it off so that the moment won't seem so depressing.
"Not at all."
Haku looked up, taken aback.
At the story, Naruto had also become very serious. Inwardly, Haku's story had affected him in a way he'd never had, as it nearly mirrored his. To have never been given a chance to redeem, even if it was their fault or not.
Only, Naruto had been redeemed by his own doing. He didn't need anyone.
"It's not silly at all." Naruto repeated. "Back home, everyone hates me because of something that had happened a long time ago that involved my heritage. For what had happened, I'd grown up without blood ties or friends and even the Hokage had to step in and make a rule about it."
This had caused Haku's eyes to widen. For the strongest ninja in the village to make a rule in favour of a family... Whatever it was, must have had huge implications.
In a moment of clarity, Naruto recalled the scorn adorned in all the villager's faces and it suddenly didn't matter to him that he was a vessel or not. He'd realised something anew...
Whatever the hell he was, he still suffered for it.
"That is the reason I want to become strong. So that I can stand on my own two feet without anyone's help... And be the strongest in all of Leaf!" Naruto intensely stated.
Though outwardly, it was a sort of fiery promise made on the moment, but within, it was the return of faith and a renewal of an old promise, swearing retribution several years back.
Haku quickly came to an assumption from what he knew so far.
"The strongest ninja in all of Leaf? So you're goal is Hokage, huh?" He smirked. "A leader and a protector of the Leaf, right?"
Naruto slowly nodded, his grin becoming more and more pronounced at the thought. He'd vowed he'd be Hokage at some point or another as a cover for his want for strength -just like now... But the way Haku said it, it made him actually want the title.
He would drag that village into hell with him.
Realising he still had company, Naruto halted his plans and shook himself out of his thoughts. Then he grabbed his tea, holding it high and urged Haku to do the same.
"You and I, we're the same! People hate and fear us. But here's to our dreams and ambitions so that later we may have something to look forward to instead of looking back to our terrible pasts!"
Haku laughed softly and brought his cup to clip Naruto's.
"Kampai!" "Cheers!"
And the meal had returned to ample conversation about interesting journeys and light-hearted humorous recanted tales.
---
"Well, I need to be off now. My friend would be worried about me" Haku said, dusting off his clothes and getting ready to head back.
"Aaaw! Just one more thing I still want to do! It won't take long" Naruto latched onto Haku's arm and playfully tugged on it.
"Only if it's quick! My friend is recuperating but he's still rather impatient!" Haku laughed. He really had to get back, but he couldn't deny that he had a fun time. He would regret the day he will face this boy who has such a zest for life.
Naruto dragged Haku to a shop they'd passed before eating. The older boy was made to stand whilst Naruto had handed the man some money. Naruto took his place next to Haku and the man started fiddling with a device on a stand.
A camera.
Haku quickly came to the conclusion that Naruto had wanted a goodbye souvenir of his trip.
"It feels kind of sad." Naruto mumbled. He draped a hand around the older boy's shoulder in a show of camaraderie whilst still staring forward.
Haku raised an eyebrow and glanced over.
"What does?" Haku returned the gesture by draping his arm on Naruto's shoulder.
"Under different circumstances..." Naruto began.
The photographer signaled them that he was ready and only awaited them to smile. They both began to smile and the photographer started his countdown.
"Under different circumstances, we could have been the best of friends." Naruto whispered.
The photographer captured a moment of hesitant smiles. Naruto motioned holding two fingers up and the photographer went to set up a second shot.
Haku took that time to glance at the boy he stood next to. He recognised the implication that he had been found out. But the boy had seemed completely sincere and had never made any sort of signal or threatening gesture for the whole time they were in each other's company. And they were either not being followed, or his friend's were just that good.
So he didn't attempt to leave.
The photographer then called out the count down for the second shot.
"It does feel kind of sad then." Haku whispered back.
This time, the photo had captured a moment of honest smiles and only a hint of clouded eyes of the tranquility before the storm.
It was a short time later that the photographer handed Naruto the prints.
"Here, you take one and I'll take one." Naruto held a picture for Haku to take.
"Oh? Are you sure?" Haku hesitantly reached out to receive his. He'd wanted it but had politely asked all the same.
"Yep! We'll have something to remember our time by." Naruto insisted.
Haku accepted and gave it a once over. Naruto had purposely given him the picture with bright smiles and it brought a smile to Haku's lips at the generousity.
"Thank you Naruto-kun. But even without the picture, you are an unforgettable person nonetheless." Haku smiled, tracing the edge of the photo with his free hand.
"My friend will be worried about me, as is your friends about you." He continued, slipping the photo into the folds of his kimono. "I suppose they would want to see what you were up to."
"But it doesn't really concern them." Naruto shrugged. "I might show it to them if they ask about it."
Simultaneously they bowed, with Haku bowing more deeply and respectedly than Naruto's more general head and upper body tip that he'd reserved for everyone.
"It has been a memorable time, Naruto-kun."
"Likewise Haku. Catch you later."
"Yes, see you soon."
And so they both parted ways, their goodbyes hung ominously. For it wasn't really a parting, but a promise of a bloody reunion that they both knew would come to pass.
---
"Haku." A deep voice rang out.
"Zabuza-sama." Haku returned the salutation.
"You've been gone long." It wasn't a statement.
"Yes." Haku said. "It was a long observation."
He held the photo out to Zabuza who took it and raised an eyebrow at what it contained.
"What is your thoughts on them?" He asked.
"Their teacher will be ready for you." Haku merely nodded.
"I didn't ask just about the teacher." The elder of the two handed the photo back.
"They won't be a problem..." The boy reclaimed the picture but kept it in hand instead of pocketing it.
"You're hesitating." Zabuza didn't miss what was gone unsaid.
"That boy..." Haku started but couldn't grasp how to continue. Instead, he busied himself with retrieving one item that was kept between them.
"Is he strong?" Zabuza had made a mental link at seeing the item that Haku had pulled out.
"Look out for him." Haku merely murmured, his thoughts more pre-occupied with flicking through the pages of the book he held.
"That strong?" The older missing ninja's eyes widened a little.
"His strength doesn't have anything to do with the way he fights." Haku said, still going through the pages.
Zabuza had let the words stagnate. There were so many ways to interpret the sentence.
"He made quite an impression on you." The Demon of the Mist's eyes narrowed.
"When you speak with him, you'll feel it too." Haku finally found a page he was looking for.
With the conversation over, Zabuza watched silently. His thoughts contemplating on what Haku could mean, when the young man had slipped the photo into an empty page of the ninja bingo book.
---
"Hey guys! I'm back!"
"Naruto! Where have you been?-!" Sakura was quick to shout.
It was lunch-time and Tazuna, Sakura and Kakashi had briefly returned to the house so Tazuna could bring items he'd forgotten to take to the site. Sasuke had also appeared after popping in after training.
"I went out for breakfast!" He said.
"What's that in your hand?" The pink-haired genin tilted her head at the piece of paper in his hand.
"This?" He hesitated at first, but held it for Sakura to take a close look. "It's a souvenir!"
"You made a friend here already, huh?" Sakura's brows knitted at what she was seeing. For some reason, she blushed at how this pretty person seemed to be so familiar with Naruto in the picture.
Sasuke and Kakashi looked over her shoulder.
"She was that girl who approached you this morning." Sasuke said as-a-matter-of-factly. He still disliked the thought of what happened earlier, and now liked it even less... His teammate skipped out on training to go out on the town! And possibly on a date no less! They had a fight coming and the idiot was goofing off!
"She's kind of cute." Kakashi admitted. He had made other observations from the photo connecting with Sasuke's comment but didn't voice them as not to bring panic to his students. His comment still had his students' give him weird looks though. Kakashi went to putting his regular reading material away, but the damage was done.
"She'll definitely be a looker when she grows up." Tazuna had glanced over and then followed it with a swig of beer.
"He." Naruto corrected.
"...what?" It didn't really matter who said that at this point.
"I said, 'he'. That's," Naruto pointed to Haku in the picture. "a guy."
Tazuna was choking on his beer and Sasuke and Sakura were quick to recoil. Even Kakashi's visible eye widened a little.
"What?-!" The cry was unanimous.
"I'm drunk!" Tazuna cried out. "My excuse is that everything looks decent to me!" He wailed embarrassingly, though everyone ignored him for the most part.
Both Kakashi and Sasuke sat down at their places to await the meal, ready to forget about the 'cute girl' that had been in the photo. Sakura was blushing heavily but held the photo closer to scrutinize it.
"He sure looks feminine enough." She said. Then a wry smile appeared on her lips as she turned to face Naruto.
"Did you know he was a guy before or after the photo?"
The males with the exception of Naruto had chuckled (smirked in Sasuke's case) at her suggestion.
"I knew when he woke me up in the forest collecting herbs!" Naruto huffed, but he gave her a veiled look.
Something in Naruto's expression had Sakura's attention. It was a lilt that was usually reserved for when he trained her. Turning his sentence over in her head, she looked back at the photo instead of giving it back. 'Picking herbs' had crossed her mind. Then they crossed eyes for the barest of seconds. Her tutor had given her a challenge to look underneath the underneath.
"It's kind of odd though..." She muttered, comprehending what the photo didn't say. "He's obviously dressed to look like a girl. He's even wearing a collar to hide the bump of the larynx."
She received a round of blank stares.
"The Adam's apple. You know, all guys get the bumps on the front of their necks."
Kakashi mentally applauded her for her attention to detail whilst Sasuke and Tazuna were starting to come to the same conclusion that Kakashi, Sakura and Naruto had already come to.
"I've been on the town myself. The kimono looks too clean and too preserved." She added, handing the photo over to Naruto who took it and smiled obligingly.
"Well, he's a really nice guy." Naruto said with no small amount of agenda. "And he travels alot."
There was a silence as the meal begun. The comment on traveling was the final nail in the coffin.
"A spy?" Tazuna then was first to voice what they suspected between bites of rice.
"Pretty likely." Kakashi nodded, his food left untouched. "Did he happen to say anything that might be important, Naruto?" He asked, although he already knew that the Haku wouldn't have done so.
Naruto stopped inhaling his food for a second to 'hem' and 'haw', holding his chin under one hand.
"I don't remember!"
His teammates were quick to shake their heads before continuing to eat. It was rather expected though.
"Can you remember a little of what you were talking to him about?" Sakura pleaded.
Naruto did his best to recount what had happened from the beginning. Of course, since he was reacquainted with his 'idiot mode', he left out quite a lot of details but incidentally added things that were necessary whilst embellishing his role.
"Okay, can anyone tell me what you discerned from that?" Kakashi said, looking over to his students. He chose Sakura to go first.
"The herbs that grow around here are a relaxing sort. They're a mild sedatives brewed into tea that can mute pain, instill quicker recovery for shocked muscles and additionally contain a mild amount of anti-oxidants. So Zabuza is also injured but is healing well." Sakura was quick to reply.
Kakashi nodded, impressed. He only knew that the herbs were used for healing muscle structure. Then he motioned Sasuke.
"Zabuza is nearly back on his feet. We will be confronted soon and that boy will also join the fight." Sasuke said clearly and concisely.
Kakashi nodded again happy with answer. And now Naruto.
Naruto crossed his arms.
Kakashi shook his head. He knew that this would be a difficult fight for Naruto. He knew all too well what would be coming. Sighing, he motioned Sakura to go again.
"He accepted Naruto's invitation. This means he likely has some skills and maybe a bloodlimit. Especially a missing-nin like Zabuza would only choose someone that would be very useful to him."
"Good, good." With the exception of Naruto, he'd been very impressed with his team.
Through out their scrutiny, Naruto couldn't even pin down the welling feeling within him. How dare they scrutinise Haku's position in all of this! The boy who'd endured through so much, like he had! Only this boy had sadly became what Naruto made sure not to become; a simple weapon for someone else. The thought sickened him.
Naruto stood abruptly, pushing away the remaining of his food. His head was bowed and he faced away from his team, shaking. Everyone looked on, a little saddened at the prospect of Naruto facing someone he possibly called 'friend', but said nothing. What could they say?
"Haku... Because he had been acknowledged by a single person..." He started coarsely. "His precious person... He is ready to die to fulfill his precious person's dreams."
When he left, nobody tried to stop him.
To be concluded in Chapter 05b.
Feedback, constructive criticism and flames welcomed.
I'll take it the moon and let it play among the stars. -hums-
READER NOTE:
Fox Identity now has a separate entry for Lost Segments. This is basically a graveyard for things that do happen in the Fox Identity continuum, however they;
a) do not fit anywhere else, or
b) cannot fit because of spoilers or it breaks the chapter's rythm.
The first segment has been released and deals with events occuring in Fox05b.
Concerning Emailing Me:
Apologees in advanced if you have emailed me and I had not replied. You see, it had come to my attention that my filter may have blocked your email. If you are not Missq or A.Dong and have not received a reply, I am afraid I have not received your mail. Once again, I apologise and will try to change that.
Author's Notes:
Okay, quick skim over Fox05a. I think I screwed up several scenes... Mainly the Haku and Naruto interaction ones. They'll get a once-over when I upload Fox05b (which will be released in under 2 weeks) when I've had sufficient time to think them over.
About the water-walking... For the 'how', given the proper motivation (a competitive game, and the fact they're still children), I'd think they'd pick it up rather quickly. That and the first time Naruto tried it in canon, he'd pretty much got it down. He'd only have trouble when he was practising in the stream.
Now for the 'why'. Team 7's going to need all the training they can get...
Oh, and I pushed Tsunami into a spotlight. I figured she'd need a bigger role other than just being a relation between Tazuna and Inari.
And I just realised I'd missed including Inner Sakura. I am a dolt. Feel free to pelt me with squeegee balls.
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Once again, thank you all for your support! I've taken all of your advice into consideration, but I've already plotted most of the fic already. ;)
Stats
'Classic WITH CHE word counter'
Vers. 03.5 (9/11/05)
Fic: 12,338
Notes: 430
(Does not include stats)
Have a Great and Happy day!