Thanks for all of the one review I got. Heh… anyway, the one single review I received requested that I do continue, so here I am… chapter 2. Enjoy.
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto… never will.
Chapter 2: Realization
Sasuke was right. There was something he could not see. But what or who was it?
Naruto gripped his hand around the kunai again and removed it from its place. Just then, Sasuke and Sakura heard a thump so they looked to the ground. Suddenly, a masked man with dark hair was seen lying on the ground, dead. Confused, they both looked up at Naruto.
"But… how did you see him?" Sakura asked him. Then she continued, "neither Sasuke nor I saw him… or even sensed his chakra." Naruto looked at her, and then to Sasuke. Sasuke showed almost no emotion on his face, but in his deep eyes, Naruto barely sensed something… though he wasn't sure what it was.
"Well it makes sense that you can't sense them… or see them." He said, noticing something both Sasuke and Sakura had not.
"And why is that?" Sasuke asked, hoping he was not going to make some stupid comment.
"Well… because there are five more of them. He pointed in five different places. "There, there, there, there and… there." Sakura looked in a few of the places to which Naruto had pointed. She could not see a thing. She squinted her eyes to focus better on the trees. Nothing… she still saw absolutely nothing. That wasn't good. Neither Sasuke nor Sakura could see a thing. Did that mean that they were totally dependant on Naruto? That was a first. But… Sakura thought. There's always a first time for everything.
"It's strange… they are each surrounded by a blue aura… but," he paused.
"But, what?" Sasuke asked sounding someone impatient.
"But… it isn't chakra. That's why you two couldn't sense them. It isn't chakra emitting from each of them… it's more like, they're powering up for some kind of attack." Naruto suggested, not positive of his words.
Sasuke looked over to Naruto. Wow… he actually sounds like he knows what he's talking about! He thought. He trusted Naruto in this. It didn't take much effort for him to kill the first one, so five others shouldn't be too difficult for him. Though, he did want to help.
"There's no time to lose. You've got to move get somewhere safe. I can handle this." Naruto advised them. He looked at them with determination. Sasuke gave him a look that expressed trust, and he and Sakura turned to hide behind a tree Naruto had pointed them to. Naruto's eyes barely grew wider at the look Sasuke had given him. It was probably a fake. He doesn't want to die so he thinks that if I think he trusts me, then I'll get through this easily. Once again, he felt alone. He looked around and wondered if one of them would come to him, or if he would have to go after them. He decided not to move, because if he did, then one of them would take advantage of his absence and go after his teammates.
He didn't move an inch. His eyes watched, back and forth while he waited for one to attack. Suddenly, two of them ran up to him at the exact same time. He was mostly confidant that he would beat them, but part of him was afraid that they might be stronger than the first one he took down. They ran at him with killer intent and he grabbed four shurikens from his pouch. Two in one hand and two in the other. He firmed his grip on the ground and held them out. Just as they both seemed to approach, he quickly released the shurikens from his left hand, followed by the ones from his right.
Meanwhile, his two teammates watched from afar. They both noticed that all four shurikens stopped mid-air so they immediately knew they all hit their targets. Sasuke was surprised and almost… impressed, with Naruto's actions. Although they weren't dead yet. The shurikens only slowed his targets down. Naruto then lifted his arms up into a cross-like hand position. He then recited the words, "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu," which also means, Shadow Replication Technique. Suddenly, multiple Narutos, almost clones you could say, appeared and ran at the targets with killer intent.
That same technique, again, Naruto? How un-original. Sakura thought.
Each individual Naruto found a target and fixed their eyes on them. They all grabbed their kunais and stabbed them into the hearts of the intruders. It was almost too easy. Yet, one of them actually managed to dodge and got away, without Naruto knowing it had happened. When he thought he was finally finished, each Naruto disappeared and left just one, panting, still standing on the bridge. He looked around and saw four bodies lying dead on the ground. Wait a minute… four? Naruto re-counted them. He didn't just count them wrong. Only five of them were dead, including the first one who went after Sasuke. Naruto looked up and counted one single cloud in the sky. Damn it! He thought. Where is he? I can't see or sense him anywhere. For some reason, Naruto could not spot any blue auras anywhere. He wanted to say, more than anything, that it was over and everyone was safe, but unfortunately he couldn't.
Suddenly, a tall man with long, spiky, silver hair showed up and slightly startled Naruto. He had a Konoha forehead protector on, but it covered his left eye and he also wore a mask over his mouth and nose that extended into his turtleneck ninja suit. He also wore shorts and a dark green vest. Naruto grabbed another kunai from his pouch and pointed it up at the man.
"Oh, it's only you, Kakashi-sensei." He stated, relieved that it was just his teacher, as opposed to being the sixth man.
"Ohayo, Naruto. Where are the others?" He asked.
"They're hiding. I'll explain everything in a minute but I need to finish something."
"Naruto… the reason I'm late…" he was about to tell Naruto the reason when Naruto interrupted him.
"Don't worry sensei. I don't need to hear another one of your fake excuses. Please, let me concentrate." Naruto said, half-heartedly.
"No, Naruto. There's something you should know. It's vital to your safety…" He paused to pull out his favorite adult rated novel, "Icha Icha Paradise". Then he was about to continue when instead he was cut off, but this time instead of being calm, a screaming Naruto startled him.
"Sensei! Watch out! Behind you!" He yelled, hoping his sensei would duck out of the way. Kakashi's reflexes were amazing! He pulled a kunai out from his pouch and stabbed it behind him, hoping to strike the neck area. Just before, he felt a slight burning sensation on the hand that held his novel and he dropped it to the ground, face down. He turned around, puzzled to see that… he could not see anything. He pulled the kunai away, which he could have sworn was stabbed into something. Dropping it on the ground, he heard someone say, "If you can… then you must really be him. It's a shame you couldn't have provided much more entertainment than this."
Kakashi looked back at Naruto when he heard him reply angrily, "Yeah. It's me. It's too bad I couldn't have had fun with it, you're right. But things like you just aren't worth my time." Then they both heard a loud thump and Kakashi finally saw someone, lying dead on the ground in front of them.
"I know what you were going to say, Sensei." He gave a small chuckle at his next comment. "Don't worry, I already know." He said sarcastically. Though Naruto could not see it very well, because it was covered by his mask, Kakashi gave a weak smile. Naruto looked up to the sky and saw nothing but blue… Sky blue. All of the clouds were gone which meant that they were safe. He looked to the ground, and then back up at Kakashi.
"Uh… Sensei…?" Naruto asked hesitantly as he picked up his master's favorite novel off of the ground. Or rather, as he picked up his master's favorite, yet scorched novel off of the ground. Kakashi looked at him with a tired eye. But then it grew wider when he saw what Naruto was handing him. Once again, he couldn't really notice it, but his jaw dropped a little.
While Kakashi was staring at the burnt remnants of his book, Naruto looked over to the area where Sasuke and Sakura were hiding. "You know… you guys can come out now." He assured them. Just as they started to walk back, Kakashi's expression changed and what they could see of his face lit up.
"Oh yes! I almost forgot!" he said, his visible eye curving a little. Pulling out something from a different pouch, that was strapped to his hip he added, "I always keep a spare in case something like this happens!" He gave a chuckle as he opened his book to the page he was last on. In reading it, Sasuke and Sakura finally approached next to Naruto and their sensei.
"You know… Kakashi-sensei. Sometimes it would be a better idea to come early… in case something like this happens." Sakura advised to her teacher who was currently giggling like a little girl in reading his novel. She glared at him, noticing that he hadn't heard a word she had said. She grabbed the book from Kakashi's grip and closed it.
"Hey! Sakura! You put that down, it is inappropriate for you to read it!" he shouted at her, holding his hand out as if longing to reach it once again.
"If it's inappropriate, then why are you reading it?" She asked him with a smirk.
Kakashi only returned the smirk with a smirk of his own and replied cleverly, "Because… I can."
Sakura sighed and handed the novel back to him. Naruto and Sasuke's jaws dropped a little at seeing what Sakura had just done. No body… Ever takes Kakashi's book and gets away with it. No one.
Sasuke's expression changed back to normal when he looked at Naruto, whose jaw was still open. He was staring at him. Uchiha Sasuke, of all people was staring at Naruto. He was dumbfounded by a sudden shock that ran through him and for some reason he found it difficult to look away from him. Naruto noticed his gaze and turned to see what was wrong.
"Uh, Sasuke?" he asked.
"What is it?" he was knocked out of his trance when Naruto spoke. Sasuke almost shivered at the sound of his voice. What was this? Why did he all of a sudden feel so stunned by a mere teammate? By a rival?
"Why are you staring at me like that?" he asked him.
Sasuke scavenged his brain for ideas. He had to say something that would sound like himself. He finally came up with a clever remark. "You know, if you keep your mouth open long enough, a fly just might fly in."
Naruto glared at him a little before turning around. For some reason, Sasuke was entranced by every move he made and his face slightly turned a darker shade of red. What was happening to him? Why did he feel so obligated to gaze at every inch of his comrade? He shook it off and then remembered what had happened.
Naruto, also not completely aware of what happened, himself, turned back around and faced Kakashi. "Kakashi-sensei, do you have any information about the people… or whatever they were… that just attacked us?"
Kakashi looked up from his reading and answered, "Yes, I do. Naruto, I do not know who they are or where they are from but I was just informed that there has been record of random massacres that have occurred recently and nobody ever saw who it was that attacked. They recently found out that there is only one thing that can see the culprits, and that, Naruto, is the demon fox that remains inside of you, to this day. It is said that when they are spotted, the amount of them there are, is the exact amount of clouds there are in the sky."
"Ah, yes. I remember reading of that in the newspaper… that is how, for some reason I knew to count the clouds when I saw random flashes of light." Naruto exclaimed.
"Yes, well… apparently they are after the Kyuubi inside of you and they are said to be nearly impossible to defeat. You and hopefully with the help of our team will remain safe until something is done about it."
"Nearly impossible to defeat? Then how exactly do you explain the fact that I just killed five of them?" Naruto asked sarcastically.
"Perhaps you defeated them easily because you are the one who had the Kyuubi attached to your soul." Kakashi suggested.
"So what do we all do if more show up and none of us can see them except for him?" Sasuke asked, slightly angry that he felt powerless and could not protect even himself.
"In that situation, I cannot tell you what you should do. I would say to just depend on Naruto to help you find who you are trying to defeat." Kakashi replied. Sasuke looked rather agitated and Naruto used that as yet another hint that told him that no body cared. If Sasuke did care, then he wouldn't be so upset to have to depend on Naruto. That was how Naruto thought.
Sasuke looked over at Naruto who was looking down and almost looked… depressed. For some strange reason, Sasuke felt the urge to comfort him and make him feel better, but his legs were frozen stiff and all he could do was stare. The excited Naruto was gone, and all Sasuke could see was bitterness. "Hey, Dobe. What's the problem?" he asked, trying to sound normal. Naruto looked up and smiled.
"Nothing. I was only thinking." Naruto replied, happily. Though this happiness was just another addition to his façade, none of them knew. His hopes of fooling everyone into thinking he was always happy had worked.
Sasuke faintly smiled and thought, Naruto looks so cute when he smiles like that… he interrupted his thoughts with a different one. Wait a minute… I, Uchiha Sasuke… did NOT just refer to Naruto as… cute… he faintly shivered as he thought it over again. His cheeks turned a slight color of red again when the thought ran through his mind over and over. Unfortunately he was still looking at Naruto when this occurred. Sasuke felt his face getting warmer and his eyes grew wider as he looked away from Naruto. Damn, Naruto… did you just make me… blush? He thought. No… it's only my imagination, I'm sure of it. But really, he was not so sure.
Naruto saw Sasuke staring at him. I hate it when he does that. He's been doing it a lot recently, too. Whenever he stares at me, it looks as though he is truly laughing inside. Laughing… at me. At my pathetic life. My pathetic everything. I wish he wouldn't do that and at least acted like he cared.
Sakura realized that she had mostly only been sitting and listening to their conversation and as soon as it became silent, she broke it. "Kakashi-sensei, what are we going to be doing today?"
Kakashi once again looked up from his book and rested his hand underneath his chin, thinking. "I think… due to the fact that there are invisible assassins running around, we should take the day off. Hell, if you're good, I might even let you take tomorrow off as well." The three genins' faces lit up. Though Naruto's face lit up ten times brighter when Kakashi added, "If you guys want, I can take you out to get some ramen, if you're hungry that is."
"Ramen!" Naruto shouted. Happiness flowed through his body when he heard Kakashi say the infamous word.
Sasuke said nothing, while Sakura spoke, "Sorry, but if we are really taking the day off today, there is somewhere that I really need to be."
Kakashi nodded and Sakura ran off. "I guess this means that I'm taking just the two of you out?" Naruto had a huge smile on his face while Sasuke only smirked and watched the adorable koorime jump up and down excitedly. (Sasuke: Baka! Did you just say adorable? Author: Why, yes I did. Sasuke: Well I don't think he is… Author: Too bad. Besides, if you didn't think he was then why is your face bright red? Sasuke: Grrr!) He said nothing
"Well, then let's go." Kakashi said while standing up. Naruto punched into the air with pure excitement.
On the way to Ichiraku, the local ramen shop, Kakashi lead the way while Naruto followed him with his hands resting behind his head. Sasuke walked a good distance behind the two admiring every step that the young blonde took.
I cannot be falling for that baka. He is so worthless. I, Uchiha Sasuke, do not have a weakness. Then again, all weaknesses become strength in some way. What am I thinking? I can't fall for Naruto. He's just so… annoying… and loud… and… perfect… angelic… and… Sasuke held out his hand, longing to run his fingers through his soft looking hair, and soothe his fingertips across his smooth skin. Sasuke practically kicked himself for thinking such things about his rival. He felt his face becoming faintly warmer and he attempted to snap out of it when they finally spotted the ramen shop.
Sasuke put his hand back down to his side and just after, Naruto turned around and excitedly shouted, "Sasuke, pick up the pace, will ya? Look, there's Ichiraku, the best ramen selling shop in the world!" Sasuke practically melted inside Naruto's smile. His smile made him smile. He gratefully picked up his pace and caught up with Naruto. He was now walking right beside him, but he forbade himself to stare. He looked down at Naruto's hand. It looked so soft and warm. How his fingers longed to interlock with his. But he couldn't. It would be too awkward.
Finally, the three ninjas had reached Ichiraku and had already sat down. Naruto ordered one of everything, and Kakashi and Sasuke figured they would each choose one from Naruto's bunch, leaving Naruto to finish the rest.
Kakashi and Sasuke had both finished their bowls of ramen and Naruto was already halfway done with his last bowl. Sasuke still felt a little hungry though. Sasuke watched Naruto slurp up a couple of noodles.
"Um, Naruto?" Sasuke asked somewhat shyly.
"Yeah?" Naruto replied. He was a little bit shocked however, being that Sasuke had actually called him by his name instead of Baka or Dobe.
"Uh… a- are-" oddly, he found himself stuttering. He caught himself and instantly changed back to normal. "Are you going to finish that?"
Naruto looked at the bowl of ramen and heard Sasuke's stomach growl very quietly. "You're still hungry, aren't you?" he asked rhetorically.
Sasuke barely nodded his head in response to Naruto's question. Naruto sighed, not because he was sad, but because he felt bad for eating so much while his teammate was still hungry. Naruto looked down at the bowl of ramen and then back up to Sasuke. Sasuke bit his lip at the sight of Naruto's gaze. Naruto then slid the bowl of ramen over to Sasuke and smiled cunningly. Sasuke smiled back and for the first time between the two, they both exchanged a look of happiness and trust. It was a new feeling for Naruto. He enjoyed it. Even if it was fake. Even if Sasuke didn't really mean to smile like that. He enjoyed it while it lasted. The two genins shared the bowl of ramen until it was completely gone.
Sasuke then looked over to Naruto. He smiled very faintly. "Hey Naruto?" he began.
"Yeah? What is it?" Naruto asked him.
"I was just wondering if-"
Hehe there's chapter two for you. I really hope you liked it. I sort of left a cliffie at the end just to test the reaction. Please, PLEASE review. It means a lot!