Naruto Fan Fiction!

Adventure! SI-OC!

(Title)

"A Song for Them"

A/N: I'M BACK! IT'S A SATURDAY! HAPPY NEW YEAR! ...I'm a bit late on that, eh? Oh well, I've been sick for the last week so I barely was able to finish this chapter, sorry if it's a bit on the short side. Lemme know if anything feels a bit... off—OHMIGOSH! WHAT'S THIS?! Over 300 followers and 200 faves! And guys... we hit over 100 reviews! I. Am. Beaming. You guys are incredible! Enjoy the 'Breaking Waves' Arc.

(EDIT) 1/20/2019: Cleaned and fixed the issues with distinguishing the POV switches.

DISCLAIMER: I do not own 'Naruto' or any of the canon characters! WHAT IS THE POINT OF THIS!?

WARNING! RATED M! There will be blood and gore. Kakashi's fault. Yup.

Breaking Waves Arc,

Chapter Eleven: "Whats-his-face"

"The biggest lie ever: 'I have read and agree to the terms of use.'" -Internet

Perspective:

空 (Sky)

"What is the distance to the target?"

"Five meters. I'm ready to go."

Two short whistles came over the comms, signaling that I was in position.

Silence. Then...

"Yeah! I'm ready, too 'ttebayo!"

I heard Kakashi-sensei sigh over the radio, "Okay... GO!"

At the signal, we leapt from our positions behind the trees towards the shadowy figure in the clearing. The Hero was on top of her first. "GOT'CHA!"

"NYYAAAAA!"

The cat hissed fiercely as Naruto tried to hold her down. I made sure to keep a safe distance away from any claws or teeth to come my way. Confident in my Hero's ability to subdue the poor thing.

Kakashi's voice crackled over the comms, "Ribbon on the left ear... are you sure this is the target, Tora?"

"Yeah, we're sure." Sasuke answered coolly.

"Good! Lost pet 'Tora' search mission is a complete!"

We met back up with our sensei at the edge of the eastern park and headed back towards the village proper. Another funny thing about this world I've noticed, a Leaf ninja's version of a 'park' is actually the equivalent to a very large forest in Before. We were taking the Shopping District's Main Road back to the Mission's Desk, Naruto was our designated cat handler and I was as far as I could politely be from my friend. All the way on the other side of Duckie and Scarecrow. My silver-haired sensei noticed my unusual behavior, and raised his only visible eyebrow at me. "Something wrong Sora?"

I averted my eyes from warily watching the cat and looked up at my teacher. I gave him what I hope was a reassuring smile and waved my hand dismissively. I don't think he bought it.

"Animals hate Sora-chan, 'ttebayo—Stop moving, damn it!" Naruto blurted distractedly as Tora tried to escape again.

"Really?" Kakashi looked to me for confirmation and I frowned. It was true. I have no idea why animals have such a problem with me, just that every animal I've ever met has been either skittish or aggressive towards me.

"Yeah! Akamaru, he's Kiba's dog, used to bark and snarl at her whenever she'd get too close when we were in the Academy."

"An Inuzuka dog?" to his credit, Kakashi only sounded a little incredulous. I nodded solemnly. He scratched his head, no doubt very befuddled, "That's... unusual." he allowed.

'But I won him over!' I interjected, 'Akamaru and I are friends now!' It had taken a long while, and many, many treats and other bribes, but we're good now. He's adorable.

The rest of the way to the Mission's Desk was pretty quiet, excluding the occasional hiss from Tora and curse from Naruto. We went up to the third floor of the Academy and waited to be called in. After ten or so minutes another team I didn't recognize exited and we were allowed in. The first thing I noticed was a robust woman with a fancy hairstyle in expensive looking robes and jewelry was waiting for us with a worried frown on her powdered face. Our client. Madame Shijimi, the Fire Daimyo's wife and extreme, bordering on fanatical lover of Tora the cat. She looked at us the moment we entered and rushed over as dignified as possible and scooped up the house—er, palace cat into her embrace. I took pity on Tora as she was smothered in-between the woman's... endowment. I elbowed Naruto when he was grinning a bit too widely at the poor animal's suffering. He made a pouty face at me in return.

"Oh, my cute little Tora-chan! I was so worried!" the woman gushed. Finished 'loving' her treasured pet, she moved to the table on the side and the Sandaime read over the scrolls in front of him and addressed us.

"Now... Team Seven, your next duty shall be... Hmm... babysitting an elder's grandson, grocery shopping in the next village over or helping with the potato harvest."

The Hero's chakra spiked in frustration and I figured what was going to happen next, he crossed his arms into an X and stood boldly in front of us, "No! No! No! No, thank you! Another mission please! I want to do something, y'know... more incredible dattebayo!" he exclaimed.

Scarecrow sighed almost inaudibly and Duckie's chakra was in reluctant agreement with Naruto. Though I wouldn't be adverse to a change in pace, I'm not too excited for an B-Ranked adventure with rouge Kiri ninja and a minor criminal overlord. Hiruzen sighed and a vein popped out of Iruka-sensei's forehead, "You idiot!" he chastised, "You are just a rookie! Everyone starts off with simple duties and works their way up!"

"But—But! We keep getting the crappiest duties possible!" Naruto defended.

Terra snorted a laugh.

'Hush.' I told her. Really, she can be so childish sometimes.

"Be quiet, you!" Scarecrow scolded, then he bonked the Hero on the head.

"Naruto, it seems I have to explain to you what these duties are all about." the old Hokage rumbled, "Listen, everyday the village receives numerous requests, from babysitting... to assassination. Each of these requests..." he continued to explain how the shinobi system, but I got kind of distracted.

"Hey Sora-chan..." Naruto whispered. I blinked and glanced at the blonde sitting on the floor, "What do 'ya wanna do for dinner tonight?" My eyes widened and I looked back towards the Sandaime who everyone else was paying rapt attention to as he spoke. I bit the inside of my cheek to stop from smiling at my best friend's utter gall. From the twinkle in his blue eyes, he knew I was trying not to smile too. "We had that Razania stuff you made last night, so I was thinking we could have pork ramen tonight 'ttebayo."

I pressed my lips firmly together. I was not going to smile while Naruto was blatantly ignoring our military leader, who was trying to impart to us crucial information about how the Shinobi system works.

"Razania?" Oh good, Kakashi's not listening either. Way to set an example, sensei.

"Yeah, Sora-chan came up with it! It's this cake thing made of flat noodles, tomato sauce and cheese and then she bakes it in the oven. It's yummy 'ttebayo!"

He said tomatoes. Now Sasuke's interest has been peaked.

"HEY! LISTEN!" Hiruzen yelled. We all snapped our attention back to the man in the hat. I looked at him apologetically and Scarecrow mumbled out a sheepish apology himself.

"Geez... all you do is give lectures like that!" Naruto complained, "But you know what!? I'm not the troublemaking brat you still think I am!"

Kakashi muttered something about getting yelled at later and I watched as the annoyance drained out of Iruka and Hiruzen's expressions. Now they were both smiling slightly at the Hero. He had a point. I've been watching him these past few weeks, though he can still be noisy and loud, something I think he'll always be, the Hero has been... well, I want to say more responsible but, let's just call it less eager to cause mischief.

"Okay."

All the attention was pulled back to the Hokage's words. He looked highly amused for some reason. "If you want it that much, I'll give you a C-Rank mission. It's a protection mission of a certain individual."

I held in a sigh.

"YAY!" the Hero cried, then he leaned forward excitedly. "Who? Who?! Is it a Daimyo? A princess!?"

The Hokage bore Naruto's shouting with his own secret amusement, "Calm down, I'm about to introduce him. Hey, will you come in here?"

The door on the left side of the room opened. And out came stumbling a tall man holding onto a bottle of alcohol. He had messy grey hair and tanned skin from years of working under then sun. His clothes weren't fine but they were well taken care of, I could hardly see the mending in the places where it was torn. But I recognized the man as the bridge-builder from Wave country. "What's this?" he was already drunk, his cheeks were flushed slightly, "They're all a bunch'cha super brats. Especially... the shortest one with super stupid lookin' face. Are you really a ninja? Ey!?"

So this was really happening.

The Hero snickered, "Hehehe, he said you've got a stupid looking face, bastard."

Duckie took a step closer, the corner of his lips were twitching up, "He's not talking about me, loser."

Naruto looked slightly up at Sasuke then turned back to me just to make sure. I gave him a half-smile and shrugged.

"..."

"I'LL KILL YOU!"

The sun was absent she noted. The skies were dark with night and the unrealistically large and bright moon was hidden behind foreboding clouds, no doubt a representation of her mindset at the moment. Sora could already anticipate the fight that was about to happen as well as the storm that followed. Earlier that day, Kakashi had told them all to pack for their trip and that their departure time was for the next day, to give the client, Tazuna the Girl learned his name was, a chance to sober up for the travel to Wave country. Now with time to herself, something the Girl suspects that she wouldn't be getting in the coming days, she had decided to meditate and enter her inner consciousness. She needed to speak with Terra about their plans once they entered Wave. Terra was not immediately within sight upon her entrance. Sora held in a sigh, the Girl knew that this meant her other half did not want to speak to her. The relevant question now was, where did Terra hide herself away this time?

The beach was clear as far as her eyes could see. The water was churning and dark but held no light within. Terra hated the dark, she would always have a light source nearby. So the Girl set her eyes towards the inland. Her steps were light as she made a path through the tall grass that sits in between the beach and the hills on the other side. Sora had never appreciated that Terra had made the grass almost as tall as the girl herself, granted, she acknowledges that she's not very tall to begin with. Small hands pushed the last strands of grass from view and the orange-haired girl was met with a field, the grass was soft and easily traversable, the overcast sky had disappeared while under the boughs of the incredible red-leaved oak trees that surround the edges of her mind.

In the center of the field Sora saw fireflies. Hundreds of the light bugs filled the air, dancing to some unheard music.

"You would not believe your eyes... if ten million fireflies, lit up the world as I fell asleep..." the Woman whispered. Her voice was quiet, subdued. Sora could feel the melancholy roll off her other half in waves. Lost in old memories, then. It did not happen often, but there were times when Terra was wont to look into their past and remorse on all that they have lost in their lives.

The Girl approached quietly and took a seat next to the woman. Gone were her usual revealing outfits, now she was dressed in pink pajamas with small cartoonish smiling fruits.

"What are you seeing?" she asked with that small voice she once remembers.

Sapphire glanced to briefly meet violet before returning to watch the light bugs.

"Her fourth birthday." she answered. "We'd just gotten the cake from out of the fridge in the garage, He's turned down the lights and is recording her every expression on Grandpa's old camera, we're coming down the hallway now."

The Girl could see the memory appearing in front of her. The light bugs are floating gently around the memory of a clothed table as a little girl with blonde ponytails and a too-big grin watch them walking closer. Her baby blues are lit up with awe and glee at the sight of the large pink cake. Sora remembers the lament she felt choosing such a big cake, knowing what kind of sugar induced fallout that was to follow. But He just had to talk her into to it. Sora could hear His voice mixing perfectly along with the one she used to own as they sang the words to Happy Birthday.

A hand engulfed her own small one. Sora looked to Terra and saw the brunette mouthing the final words to the song. Her eyes softened and she rested her head against the woman's arm.

Their conversation could wait a little longer, she decided.

The man from Wave -Tazuna, his name was Tazuna- had still shown up the next morning with a bottle of alcohol in hand. We were all gathered at the Front Gate, waiting for our jonin's 'OK' before we head off. Well, everyone else was waiting outside the gate. I was still inside the walls.

You have to go at some point. Terra prodded.

'I know, I'm just... y'know... taking a moment to admire the day.'

I call bull-wiki. You're scared. I didn't flinch at the accusation, but it was close. It's been seven years since you've stepped outside these walls and you're scared of what happened the last time.

It's not going to happen again. I know that, so...

Why can't I move?

"Wow! This is so awesome 'ttebayo!" I look up and see my best friend smiling so wide. Naruto's eyes were darting all around, trying to take everything in at once. "Sora-chan! C'mere! Look, look!" he was pointing fervently at something to the far left. Something I couldn't see from where I was standing.

...right.

I close my eyes and take a deep, deep breath. It's not going to happen again. I've got my Hero with me this time. It's not going to happen again. I open my eyes again and glance towards the Duckie who was glowering at the blonde for his loudness, and then at Scarecrow, who was watching with aired indifference as he was writing us out at the chuunin guard station. Right. Kaa-chan might not be here, but I'm far from being alone.

I inhaled deeply and held it in. Then I took a step.

Two.

Before I realized it I was standing next to Naruto, looking at the miles upon miles of trees and in the farthest distance I could see mountains I didn't know the names of. I felt butterflies in the pit of my stomach. My blonde friend's enthusiasm was infectious and soon enough I was bouncing on my heels with a smile on my face, taking in everything outside the walls I haven't stepped outside of in years. Why had I been so nervous?

Kakashi-sensei finished with the paperwork and looked over each of us, he paused as his gaze passed over me. "Sora, where's your pack?"

I pulled out my black storage book, and signed, 'Everything I'll need is sealed away safely in my book!'

"Oh? And can that be ruined or damaged in any way?" he asked with a cock of his head. Which sounded terribly suspicious if I might add. I paused in my excitement, bubble bursting. Then I warily nodded my head.

He nodded just as slow and held out his hand toward me, "Can I see that for a moment?"

I was immediately on guard.

Scarecrow was suppressing his chakra.

I narrowed my eyes at the ex-ANBU and held my storage book protectively closer to my chest. He quirked his only visible brow in challenge to me. I frowned at the man. I knew what he really wanted. I flipped open my storage to my apparel page and pulsed my chakra into it, in a 'poof!' a medium-sized canvas bag popped out. I then did the same to the clothes and camping supplies I sealed away last night. I packed it all away into the bag and slung it over my body. I grimaced at all the new weight. When I was done I looked back to my teacher, he was eye-smiling at me.

"Better."

"Hey, c'mon! LET'S GO!" the Hero shouted.

"What're you so excited about?" Tazuna asked.

Naruto turned around with a grin on his face, "Cause... I've never left the village before 'ttebayo!"

The bridge-builder frowned as he turned towards Kakashi, "Hey, am I really going to safe with this brat?" As Scarecrow chuckled and waived Tazuna of his worries I felt something enter my sensory range. My spine went stiff as I remembered this moment from Before.

I felt them. They were in the trees, not twenty meters from us. Two wisps of watery chakra were observing from the treetops. Their chakra size was about chuunin-level, not even high-chuunin. Do not look. Do not look. Do not look at them. My eyes went to Kakashi. At first glance he was seemingly at ease. But after spending over a month around the man I noticed that his shoulders were straighter and his hands were in his pockets instead of around his favorite book, like they'd usually be if he was really at ease. Relief soothed my nerves. My sensei was one of the best-of-the-best, after all. Of course he noticed our stalkers. I was soon distracted from my observations as my best friend was tugging on my sleeve.

He seemed to have already finished being angry with Tazuna's unacknowledgement and Scarecrow's scolding for threating to kill the client again and was back to being excited about going outside. Huh. Had I tuned that whole conversation out? "Hey, hey! You used to live outside the village, right Sora-chan?" he asked, I nodded. I've told the Hero that before. "What was it like 'ttebayo?"

The smile froze on my face.

Well.

Interesting! Terra piped up, Should you talk about our over-protective Mother that lied to us all our life? Or the self-isolation she imposed on us? Ooh! Tell him about murderers that were sent after us by a mysterious Bad Man that ended up costing us, our voice, and our Mother, her life! came the not-helpful-whatsoever response from my other half.

My smile was getting stiff but thankfully my friend hadn't noticed how I took a moment to respond. 'It was different than Konoha. Not as many people.' There. That was... diplomatic. I then turned to Terra, we've never been able to come to an agreement when it concerns our Kaa-chan, 'You shouldn't judge Kaa-chan so harshly, Terra. We don't know her reasons but I'm sure they were good and she only ever wanted the best for us.'

The facts remain Sky-girl. Doesn't help that she died oh-so conveniently before she could explain anything to us.

I didn't rise to that comment. I knew that she loved Kaa-chan as much as I do, she was just hurting still. The brunette didn't respond further, we both knew this conversation wasn't going to be settled today. My Hero though, wasn't satisfied with my answer. But just as he was just about to pursue his line of questioning, thankfully, Kakashi saved me.

"I think it's finally time to set off." he said.

The Uzumaki perked up and almost immediately forgot what we were talking about and dashed forward. I shot the silver-haired man a grateful smile as the boys started off before us. He made no indication, but I knew he saw it.

There was a puddle.

There was a puddle in the middle of March, in Fire country.

It hasn't even rained in days!

The trip to the coast had been fairly quiet except for every time Naruto had asked 'what that was?' or 'where that road went?' and whenever Duckie had told him to shut up and the resulting bickering that ensued. And then an hour before we were to arrive at the little village that had our transportation to Wave country we came across a puddle. It honestly would've been suspicious even if it wasn't teeming with chakra.

Well, that's just stupid obvious.

'Agreed. What do they teach them in Kirigakure? That's just bad camouflage. But, I suppose puddles are more commonplace there.'

Don't excuse the enemy ninja! she chastised, 'Sides, it fooled Lord Duckie and Whiskers.

I tried not to grimace. They had been fooled, it was a good thing Kakashi was here. Speaking of... I slowed my pace to fall into step with the ex-ANBU who had fallen to the back of our little troupe. I looked up at him.

He caught me staring.

I raised one brow at him and glanced pointedly backwards, towards the direction of the puddle.

He tilted his head at me, much like a questioning puppy. Then eye-smiled.

He didn't say anything and neither did I. I pursed my lips and faced forward again. If he wasn't going to act preemptively then I'd just have to trust him. It wasn't like I didn't understand the logic behind not doing anything. He wanted to see who the ninja were after, was it a village-on-village affair? Were they specifically targeting the infamous 'Kakashi no Sharingan' or was this related to the mission? It was just a bonus to see how we genin would preform under duress, if we'd freeze up or if our training would kick in and take over. The three of us haven't actually participated in a real combat situation before. Sasuke and I were only witnesses to brutality, and Naruto had soundly kicked Mizuki's butt.

My sensei was quite the opportunist, I realized.

Hm. That's probably a job requirement now that I think about it.

Kakashi chuckled quietly and reached out his hand. Most likely to pat my head, I assume. I, however, flinched away reflexively when he entered my personal space. I instantly regretted it though. Gripping the strap of my bag a little tighter, I didn't meet his eye or read how his chakra reacted as I picked up my pace to walk beside Naruto. He was talking and didn't notice as I slipped into step next to him.

"Hey Kakashi-sensei! What kinda bad guys are we gonna be fighting when we get there 'ttebayo? Bandits? Enemy ninja!?" he paused as something amazing occurred to him, "A DRAGON!?" Everyone but me looked at the blonde oddly. I did spare an idle thought for how exactly his mind went from fighting bandits to slaying dragons.

"Eh... no. No dragons, Naruto." the Hero made a disappointed noise, "We were hired to protect Tazuna-san from gangs or any thieves that we might come across. As for other ninja... well, this is only a C-Ranked mission, there shouldn't be any ninja contact!" the masked man said with a laugh and an eye-smile. Naruto made another sound of disappointment and looked crestfallen at the idea of no fighting with enemy ninja. Oh, how very surprised he's going to be. I saw Tazuna flinch out of the corner of my eye when Kakashi finished speaking.

...it was about now that our sensei had fallen far enough behind us that the Kiri ninja felt confident enough to attack. Their chakra lit up like flares and if that wasn't enough warning they were making enough noise with that chain for anyone, not to mention an elite jonin, to react in time. I tracked them with my eyes as they encircled Kakashi-sensei in their chain and as he 'panicked'.

"WHAT!?" the elite jonin shouted.

"One down." they chorused. wrapping their chain around his body. I didn't see so much as felt as Scarecrow substituted himself, leaving a henge'd log behind. I grimaced as the chains tightened and the Kakashi-dummy exploded into meaty chunks. The ex-ANBU had also cast a minor area-of-effect Genjutsu on the log. Purely for dramatic effect.

"Ka... KAKASHI-SENSEI!"

The two Kiri-nin moved quickly and now they were rushing towards Naruto.

"Two down."

Oh, fudge no.

I felt the adrenaline start to pump though my veins, causing the world to slow down before my eyes. It felt surreal. Out-of-body. Like it was somebody else's hand that went into my kunai pouch and pulled out a knife with a white piece of cloth tied to it. I measured the distance and threw. The kunai sailed straight over Naruto's head and the enemy ninja watched as it passed harmlessly in-between them. Amusement filled their chakra at the sight of the seemingly failed projectile.

Suckers.

The writing on the leather handle of the knife glowed with chakra and there was a muted 'pop!' as a flash of light burst forth. They both staggered in their blinded state. Sasuke had thrown his shuriken in tandem, wedging their chain to the tree. The Uchiha had been unaffected by my tag. Here, I was grateful for Kakashi-sensei's suggestion that I have different color fabrics tied to the loops of my special kunai so that my allies could tell what I was about to do. I only have two kinds at the moment. White, is my night light tag with a chakra activated timer fuse that I'd pulled from a Konoha standard paper bomb. And Black, my storage kunai that holds... whatever I fancy at the moment.

Sasuke threw his kunai to reinforce his shuriken and went to aid Naruto. Just like during our training, I rushed to stand in front of Tazuna and reached into my new holster, pulling out my Barrier scroll. I opened and splayed it across the ground, ignoring the 'SNAP!' of chains I heard in the background I formed the Snake, Horse and Boar hand seals in order to focus my chakra, mixing just the right amount of mental and physical energies that the barrier formula calls for. With the chakra dancing on my fingertips I slammed my hand onto the ground and the ink came alive under my palm. Pale blue writing constructed of my chakra sprung up from the paper and encircled us, just in time for the two Kiri-nin to break away from the soles of Duckie's sandals to separate. One very pissed looking ninja charging directly towards Tazuna and I. He made it to us and I ignored Tazuna's shout and watched in cautious -morbid- curiosity as the ninja's heavy and dangerous looking metal claw swung, aimed directly towards my head. It connected against the barrier with not a 'THUNK!' like I was half-expecting, but with a 'FWEESHZZ', like something straight out of a Star Wars movie. A -probably crazy- wide grin spread across my face as the crack he had made in the blue wall repaired itself before my very eyes. Albeit, slowly. But it repaired completely without any extra chakra or prompting from me! It was enough for Kakashi to appear, quite dramatically, directly afterwards and knock the guy out.

Aw, how sweet. He waited until after the attack so I could try out my barrier. Which meant that he had enough confidence in it, and consequently me, to hold it up in the first place. With Kakashi back, I took the chance to survey the field as my barrier discharged and powered down. It felt like it'd taken ten minutes but in reality the encounter hadn't even lasted three. The Hero was on the ground and looked stunned that our teacher was still alive, Duckie had a look of exasperation on his face with our teacher's dramatic nature and Tazuna just looked immensely relieved. The latter probably because he thought he'd gotten Kakashi killed.

Scarecrow turned to our blonde, "Naruto, sorry for not helping right away. I got you injured. I didn't think you wouldn't be able to move. Anyway, nice job Sasuke, Sora too."

Naruto looked at his hand like he'd only just realized that—Wow, yeah, yeah that looks really bad. I should clean that out ASAP, knowing Naruto, he'll probably just ignore it and it'll infected and-

"Hey... you alright, Mr. Scaredy cat?" Sasuke taunted as he stuffed his hands into his pockets, a smirk on his face. My friend looked both furious and humiliated, he grit his teeth and was about to start shouting but Kakashi cut him off.

"Naruto, save it for later. Their claws are soaked in poison. We have to remove it quickly." the Hero lifted his hand and, yeah, I really have to clean that out. About now was preferable. "We have to open up the wound and release the poisoned blood from your body. Don't move much or the poison will spread." he warned. Then he turned his lone eye to our client. "Tazuna-san... I need to speak with you."

The two ninja were tied up to the tree now. Kakashi-sensei explained that they were chuunin-level ninja from Kirigakure, that 'they are ninja known to keep fighting no matter what' he told us. The silly Kiri ninja asked how they'd been found out and Kakashi told them that they were disguised as a puddle on a sunny day when it hadn't rained in days. Though it was subtle, their chakra held embarrassment. Not long after that, our sensei turned to Tazuna and began interrogating him. He casually explained why he didn't just kill them the second they attacked and instead let us fight so he could see who the ninja's real target was. Concluded that Tazuna knew before hand that we would encounter other ninja and that if Tazuna had been honest from the get-go then this mission would've been an expensive B-Rank instead of a cheap C.

Kakashi told us, quite bluntly, that this was well beyond our mission parameters now. Then the silver-haired man was quiet, obviously waiting for one of us to speak up. I didn't want to go back but I'll ask it because somebody has to.

'Naruto's been injured. Do you want to go back?' I point out. Just because I have to ask the question doesn't mean that I'm about to say let's go back and forget about this. We're basically there already, just an hour out from the water, another two or three from Wave country. And if we leave then the bridge will never get built and Gatō will continue to oppress the country.

When did it become our lives that we have to worry about the responsibility of over-throwing a criminal overlord? my other half drawled, voice as dry as Suna itself. I gave her a helpless shrug.

The ex-ANBU put a hand on his chin and looked thoughtful, "Maa... this might be too much for us." he sighed. "I suppose we should go back to the village and treat Naruto."

My best friend moved fast, I wouldn't of been able to stop him if I'd wanted to. And... I wanted to. He'd pulled out a kunai and jammed it into the back of his hand before I could even turn around. I cringed and stopped myself from running over and pulling out the kunai and smacking him over his blonde head for injuring himself so recklessly like that. Instead I settled for gripping the front of my shirt and waiting for him to come to his own resolution.

Naruto was facing away from us now, his shoulders were shaking and I noticed that he hadn't made a sound when he hurt himself. I could practically hear the thoughts running throughout his head. I still do remember them.

'Why is it always me?'

'Why am I always so far behind?'

I wish I could hold him and tell him that before he knows it, he'll have caught up with Sasuke, that he'll outgrow Sasuke and still grow to be even more powerful. That he'll be the Hero. But, right now is not the time. His shoulders were shaking with suppressed pain and I could see the sweat running down his face. I really needed to get that poison off of his hand and bandage that wound soon.

He faced us again.

"With this kunai..." my eyes were met with a determined blue gaze with a straining grin and was I frozen still in my place. "I'll protect the old man. We're continuing the mission!"

I... was blown away.

Unexpectedly and completely stunned by the sight of the grinning boy in front of me. I... I had always known that Naruto would grow to be the young man I'd read stories about, the one that would save the world but, seeing this... This is the same little boy that used to reach out and hold my hand whenever he had the chance? Who would drag me along behind him on whatever adventure he was on that day? The same one that would sneak into my bed after everyone else was long asleep so the both of us knew we weren't alone anymore...?

It's one thing to think that Naruto, Hero of the Leaf would one day save everyone and stop the plot to end the world but... my Naruto?

I... hadn't quite reconciled the two before.

Strange.

And a bit scary.

His hand was still bleeding profusely.

"Naruto, it's good you're releasing the poison but..." Kakashi walked over the Uzumaki, then he eye-smiled cheerily. "...anymore and you'll die from blood loss. Seriously."

The Hero turned an unhealthy pale under his tan, "NO! THAT'S BAD! I CAN'T DIE FROM SOMETHING LIKE THIS, DATTEBAYOOO!" he started yelling and waving his hand around like a doofus. That was my cue. I was by his side in a moment and was holding his hand in my own, bandage and disinfectant already out and at the ready. My Hero relaxed in my presence almost instantly. I smiled at him affectionately.

He's not going to save the world yet, but until he is... well, I'll be right here whenever he needs me.

Breaking Waves Arc,

Chapter Eleven: "Whats-his-face"

END

A/N: I feel like this was really short. Sorry. So! I've spent the last week sick and trapped in my bed, unable to write or do anything but feel miserable. But at least I recovered just in time to finish this little chapter up and start on the next one!

Your guys' lovely reviews got me through the last week! So a heartfelt Thank You to xenocanaan, Angelicsailor, Girl-luvs-manga, 4everfictional -I adored all your lovely reviews!- Outcast001, Blackenflames, justacatthatprocrastinatesalot, purplefeather9 and Naomipy! You guys are awesome and deserve a cookie.

I will also try and resume my usual post-a-chapter-every-weekend habit, SO! Unless my computer dies -a scarily real threat, yesterday the hard-drive almost died, I panicked- I will be posting next Friday-Sunday! Whenever I finish the chapter...

Author Question!

"You're being stalked. Who would your stalker of choice be?"

This is such a weird question and I have no idea how I came up with it. Haa... why would I want to be stalked!? Geez, um, Maito Gai. I'd want Gai as a stalker. Don't ask me why in the hell I'd want Gai, I think it'd just be funny. Him, being all sneaky and stuff and as a side-effect Lee would be stalking me as well!

'Till next time! Wuv yew all!

-Nanami