Summary: Recca, Kagero, and a SI are placed in the world of the Nine Tails
Crossover: Flame of Recca, Naruto, Hitman: Codename 47 and Contracts
Disclaimer: I don't own what other people do. I do own me, though.
Feedback: Sure thing... I like hearing how I can improve :) I also like hearing people's opinions on things.
Pre-fic Comments:
If anyone can come up with a cool sounding summary that is still fairly accurate, I'll write you in as a minor character if you give me a semi-normal name you want and I use your summary... (and no, not cannon fodder.) Simply put, I suck at summaries and names.
Hopefully, I'll bust past the 20,000 word mark. I'm pleased with myself so far - 108KB worth of text, from parts one to eight. None of my text editing programs have a word count facility, so I'm just going to have to hope, here.
Alex DarkFire: Thanks... part of the inspiration was drawn from Itachi, but a lot of it was from 'How the hoek can I bypass doujutsu!' (The shadow movement wasn't drawn from that, though - Kage Houshi using the Eikai Ball in the empty warehouse is tres cool.)
ranma hibiki: Morino Shinji is Ibiki's old man. I think I said this before. Thanks for the compliment! As for the convo bet... just talk about a western show or book series :P
Well, my goal might be worthy, but getting there sucked. (Well, I considered being able to lay down the unholy smackdown a worthwhile ability.)
I was running around the edge of the forest, while wearing a pack laden down with rocks and some lead fishing sinkers Tazuna kept for when he needed to catch his tea. Kakashi-sensei had suggested I wear the thing while running, in order to build up my endurance.
So, there I was, sweating like crazy and breathing hard while I ran relentlessly. One of the first things you learn when doing PT (Physical Training) is being stubborn, and not giving up until you either need to throw up or your muscles give out. Plus once you're running, it hurts when you stop and your muscles start to complain before you do your stretches.
Naruto appeared at the edge of the forest, waving like mad. I slowed down to a slow jog, and my blonde brother started to jog alongside me.
"What... you... after," I asked, recovering my breath somewhat.
"Oi, can I have some tips for treeclimbing," Naruto asked.
Shoulda figured.
"Keep... calm... for spiritual energy," I panted. "Physical only half the equation, think meditation as well."
"Thanks, bro," Naruto cheered, as he veered off to go back to where he and Sasuke were training. "See you at tea time!"
I nodded wordlessly, keeping running as I sped back up, lifting my feet more than normal to clear a unusually large log.
That evening I was really, really glad that I got the evening off.
"You'll need to slow down tomorrow, to give your muscles time to recover," Kakashi advised me.
Which was true, of course. You'll get more results training if you have breaks between sessions, rather than overtraining.
"I have an unfair advantage when it comes to that," I grinned widely.
"Oh, yeah," Kakashi said. "That... oh well, 'Tora, your choice."
I decided to let the nickname pass.
"How's your training going, Naruto," I asked.
"Great, especially after your advice," Naruto grinned widely, holding out his bowl for more rice.
"Sasuke ask you what I said?"
"No, I don't need advice from the bastard and Mister Dead Last," Sasuke scowled.
He was immediately reprimanded by Tsunami. "Please, don't use that kind of language in the house."
"He knows what he's talking about, a lot of the time," Kakashi informed Sasuke. "Matora, that is. Naruto earned that nickname."
That evening, I spent about an hour in my hybrid weretiger form. The regeneration I had in that form washed away all the lactic acid buildup. The reason I didn't train in that form was because the upper limits were high enough that it would be a nuisance to have to carry around all that weight when I wasn't training, and the training in one form carried over to other forms.
"Oi, Matora," Kakashi called out. "You go with Tazuna-san to the bridge, while Naruto and Sasuke train on their treeclimbing."
"Sure thing, boss," I flipped back, leaving the backpack of rocks and lead as I followed Tazuna. The shuriken and kunai pouches were picked up instead, as I also picked up the black straps I used to tie down my shuriken holster.
At the bridge, I helped while I kept an eye out for the missing hunter nin, or his older friend Zabuza. The builders had started from the Wave Country side of the water, carrying material across the portions they had built to the section they were building at the moment. If they had been building a suspension bridge, it would not have been that simple.
"Thanks, Hanabishi-san," Tazuna's foreman said, looking up to where I had put down a load of iron for his men to weld into the frame. "Get some cement on the next trip."
I nodded, turning around and going back to the land where they had a shed with the supplies, so that the cement powder didn't get wet and the iron didn't rust. I ran faster than I had the other way, since I was unladen. Once I got to the shed, I picked up a forty kilogram bag of cement and turned around to run to where the cement mixer was churning out wet cement to set around the iron framework.
"You're fast," the foreman said as I passed him. "And strong, for a kid."
"That's what I'm aiming for."
Matters continued like that for the next three mornings, until one evening Naruto failed to come in.
"Oi, Sasuke, where's my brother," I asked as the Uchiha boy came in, noticeably alone.
"Still out training," Sasuke shrugged.
"Dammit," I muttered. "Ain't you supposed to be his team mate?"
"Leave it," Kakashi said. "If he wants to keep training, let him."
I didn't miss the implied slur on Sasuke.
"Whatever," I said. "Hehehe, I heard this really good joke today, and-"
"Is it a clean one," Tsunami asked, knowing what her father's workers were like.
"Uh... would you believe me if I said yes?"
"Not really, sorry," Tsunami said with a gentle smile.
"Why do you keep working so hard," Inari screamed, frustrated. He was Tsunami's son, Tazuna's grandson. Inari was somewhat dark in disposition, and Tsunami had taken Kakashi and I aside to explain about his stepfather, Kaiza.
My eyes narrowed in his direction. "You like life like this, scraping by day to day on whatever leavings Gatou leaves your people like the dogs under his table?"
"You can't win against him!"
My inner tiger couldn't stand a little kid like that making an alpha challenge like that... weird, I know, but even the solitary tiger has it's social-predator instincts. I leapt to my feet, grabbing Inari by his shirtfront and lifting him so that we were eye to eye.
"You're pissing me off, kid," I growled. "You want to be someone's slave, feel free, but don't act like you can chain me down to be somebody else's dog! You've got a choice - die on your knees, or live on your feet."
"M-Matora-san, please put down Inari," Tsunami asked, shocked.
I complied, but didn't let him go for a moment. "You don't like life, fine, but if you don't try and change it then that's your problem, not anyone elses."
As my hand left his shirt, he stared at me. "Tora me no Matora..."
I turned, knowing that my rage had shown in my now amber, and slit-pupil eyes. "I'll come back later."
Time to go look for Naruto.
The next day found both Naruto and I sleeping in the forest. I was in full-tiger form curled up with my tail covering my nose, and Naruto was leaning against me. An ear twitched, as I heard someone approaching and woke up, somewhat. I lazily opened an eye halfway.
Oh. Some chick out ga-hang on.
The scent told a different story.
Well, well. A very feminine looking guy. Probably deliberate, judging from his hair and skin tone.
He gently grabbed Naruto's shoulder, shaking him awake. As Naruto's eyes opened, he whispered, "You'll get eaten, sleeping on a tiger."
Naruto's eyes opened completely as he woke up and stood. I remained where I was - there was this lovely, lovely ray of sunlight landing right on me...
"Nah, he's nice," Naruto said. I growled somewhat, to dispute that. "Who are you?"
"My name is Haku," the guy said. "I'm out here to gather medicinal plants."
I got up and stretched, cat-style as I arched my back. Meh, well, Naruto'd probably be just fine with the local crossdressing medic.
I decided to prowl around and have fun, today. When I was in tiger form, I tended to act like one.
My paws slowed, as I heard the sound of another big cat moving through the jungle.
Masked somewhat by the dappled sunlight, another tiger appeared from the undergrowth.
"You're only part tiger, are you not," the other tiger asked.
I sat on my hind legs as I looked at the other tiger. "You're correct. I'm also human."
"I've heard of you. Our Tiger-Boss wants to talk to you."
"I didn't know. Where is he?"
"Somewhere in what the humans call Fire Country, near some humans with steel teeth."
"Thanks. I will look for him when I'm in that area."
"You're welcome."
With that, the other cat moved away, disappearing as his coat blended in with the messy forest. I thought for a while.
Well. This probably complicated matters.
That evening, Tsunami and I went out to the market.
Going to the market wasn't quite what the big thing was; spotting the person I did was.
I gasped as a bald, lithe, middle aged man with pale grey eyes passed us. He was in a dirty, worn kimono and, oddly, had black gloves on. That cinched it.
"What is it," Tsunami asked me. We had been discussing some things.
"I thought I saw someone," I said. Mister Forty Three... what are you doing here?
I woke up the next morning, which was the eigth one since we had downed Zabuza and arrived at Tazuna's house. Naruto was exhausted from his training yesterday, so we left him to sleep in.
He'd completed the treeclimbing exercise, we all figured he deserved some kind of reward. (Well, Sasuke just hmph'd.)
A gruesome sight welcomed us at the bridge - four dead bodies, and one body that was extremely close to death.
"WHA-WHAT'S THIS," Tazuna screamed. He'd expected Gatou to go for him, rather than his men - unless Kaiza's execution was an aberration in his behaviour. He ran forwards, and cradled the head of the still alive man in his lap. "What happened?"
"A monster," the man gasped, as the mist thickened and he breathed his last.
Instinctively, we all formed an outwards circle.
"Here they come," Kakashi said.
"Kakashi-sensei, this is their Hidden Mist ability, right," I asked.
I wanted to rip their throats out, but I remembered the mission - to protect Tazuna-san, not to act like a hunter-nin with a grudge.
"Long time no see, Kakashi," a familiar voice said. "I see you're still with those brats... he's shaking, poor kid..."
With that, a dozen of Zabuza's mizu bunshin appeared around us, all holding onto their own copy of the massive Cleaver.
"I'm shaking from excitement," Sasuke retorted.
"Do it, Sasuke," Kakashi said, visible eye grinning.
So. That was how it would go - Kakashi and Sasuke attacking while I defended. I could live with that.
The blackhaired Uchiha zipped around the circle of mizu bunshin with his kunai, destroying each with a slash that destabilised the jutsu.
"Hmmm... he saw through the clones," Zabuza continued. "That brat has grown. It looks like a rival has appeared... eh, Haku?"
A Hidden Mist hunter-nin appeared beside the missing-nin. Must be the accomplice I was told about.
"It does indeed," 'Haku' said.
"It seems my thinking was right on the mark," Kakashi remarked.
A brief spat of insults and discussion flew between the two groups, before Haku dashed forwards and Sasuke engaged him. Well, that left Zabuza for Kakashi, and me to defend Tazuna from any opportunity attacks.
Haku displayed an uncanny ability to form ice as he wished, and given the amount of water on, around, and below the bridge that he could freeze to form ice, this was bad. However, Sasuke managed to pull enough speed out of his ass that he could keep ahead of the bishoujo boy.
Not that this was all good, as Haku then created a half-dome of floating ice mirrors around Sasuke, and stepped into one.
Did I ever mention how much I hate cheap Bloodline Limit abilities? I couldn't spot where Haku's body physically was, and so even though I could clearly see to where he seemed to be, I couldn't find his brain to use that jutsu on.
A blizzard of senbon shot towards Sasuke, nailing him in a few places.
"Shit," I said, scowling. I couldn't leave Tazuna, but leaving Sasuke to struggle on his own went against what I wanted to do.
Then salvation arrived. True, it was short, blonde, and had a mouth bigger than Mick Jagger, but Naruto was still a damn good ninja.