Chapter 2: Stupid Kakashi
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Tsunade had sent Kakashi and Gai to retrieve Naruto after some of the villagers had attacked him. He has not been seen in three days. The seal, which keeps the kyuubi locked away, is fading. She is worried about him and does not truly know what to do, but only be there for him.
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Kakashi was getting worried when he could not find Naruto. Gai was unusually quiet since their meeting with the Hokage.
"Kakashi is it true that…"
"Yes Gai, it is true. If the seal is broken and Jiraiya and Tsunade-sama are unable to fix it, Naruto may have to be…"
"You do not have to say it, I know. From how the Hokage looked, she does not want it to go down that path."
"That is true. Naruto is the reason that she is our Hokage. It will devastate her and Jiraiya if it has to be done."
They moved on for another hour before Kakashi was feed up, from not finding a trail made by Naruto.
"Gai, lets take a break, I am going to summon my nin-dogs to search for Naruto."
Gai nods at this ideal and came with an angered retort to the Copy Ninja.
"Why did you not do that earlier?"
Kakashi just smiled under his facemask and starched at the back of his head.
"I did not think of it till now." he said sheepishly
Gai just rolled his eyes. He walked over to a tree and sat down against it. Kakashi chuckled at himself. He bit his thumb and went through the hand seals he needed to summon his nin-dogs. When he was finished, six appeared before him. Pakkun, the little pug nin-dog looked at him and gave out a sigh.
"What do you want Kakashi."
Kakashi smiled at the little dog.
"I need you and the others to help me find Naruto. We have been searching all day for him."
"Fine, we will call once we find him."
"Thank you."
The nin-dogs took off in different directions and Kakashi joined Gai next to the tree.
"Do you think that Jiraiya and Tsunade-sama will be able to fix the seal?"
"I don't know Gai; I do hope they are able to. He has gone through life with many hardships that no one else could imagine, or willing to go through.
-FOXED-
In part of the forest, Naruto was in; three people were moving at a fast rate. On their forehead protectors was the symbol of Hidden Stone.
"Damn, why did we have to be called back now? We were almost able to figure out their security detail." Stone Nin one said
"We won't be able to. Their security is tight right now even after the attack from Sound and Sand. They are not taking any chances. We will have to wait until sometime in the future. Once they fell safe that no attack will come, they will let their guard down. Then we can come back and figure out a plan." Stone Nin two said
They all agreed to this. They kept on moving through the trees. They stopped once they heard a howl from a dog. They all stopped and went into defense stances. They waited for something to happen, but was not prepared as three dogs rushed past them on the ground. They saw that they wore forehead protectors with the symbol of the Leaf. Each was wearing some type of shirt with a drawing on the back.
"What was that all about?" Stone Nin Three asked
"I do not know, but I seen those nin-dogs before. They are summoned by the Leafs' Copy Kakashi." Stone Nin one said
"Should we follow them to find out what is going on?" Stone Nin three said
"Yah, we might be able to kill the son of Konoha's White Fang." Stone Nin one said
They followed the nin-dogs to a small clearing. There they saw three more nin-dogs taking up a defensive around a tree.
"What are they up to?" Stone Nin three asked
"I do not know, but I see something up in the canopy of the tree, but I can not make it out." Stone Nin one said
"Do we go up or do we wait?" Stone Nin two asked
"I say we wait and surprise the Copy Nin with his death." Stone Nin one said
They all agreed to this plan, getting ready to attack. It did not take long for Kakashi and Gai to appear. They both came walking in. Kakashi had a smile under his mask and his visible eye showed amusement. He approached the pug nin-dog.
"Thank you for finding Naruto for me Pakkun."
Pakkun rolled his eyes to his left.
"That makes three favors you owe me."
"I know, I know. Gai, why don't you get Naruto for me, I will make something for us to eat before we head back to the village. Knowing Naruto, he has not eaten."
Gai just shrug, and made his way up the tree. He got half way up, when one of the Stone Nins attacked him. The other two attacked Kakashi. All three threw various sharp instruments at them. What surprise them was that their attacks hit their mark. Both Kakashi and Gai disappeared in a puff of smoke.
The Stone Nins got into a defense stances to prepare for their attack. The nin-dogs quickly made their way up the tree to protect Naruto, just incase one moved to take him. The Stone Nin on the tree, jumped down before the largest, the large bulldog, bit him. They made their way to the top and surround Naruto.
The Stone Nins came together, back to back to protect each other. They waited for the attack and felt like it was not going to come. All of a sudden, the earth started to shake from underneath them and three pairs of hands grabbed their ankles, pulling them down through the ground. Once the attack was finished, all that was seen was their heads.
Gai and Kakashi came walking up to the three, from the forest. Kakashi crouched down in front of the three men. He placed his right elbow on his right knee and placed his palm on the side of his face. His uncovered eye was closed and he had a smiled under his mask.
"Now what are three Stone Nins doing in Konoha forest. I do hope it was a stroll and not information gathering to find any weakness in our defenses."
The three Stone Nins looked at him with anger. They struggled to get themselves free from their restraint.
"Oh well, I guess we just have to turn them over to Ibiki to find out what they were doing here. I think he will be happy; he has not had any fun in the past few months. I think giving these three to him will cheer him up."
The three Stone Nins paled at hearing Ibiki's name.
"How did you know we were here?" Stone Nin two asked
"Humph, my friend Pakkun told me where you were when we arrived, but I knew you were around for we had come on the same trail you made and I could detect you chakra signatures. You were not very good at masking them. Plus, you all stink. I mean, talking about PU! Have you ever heard of getting a bath?"
Kakashi waved a hand in front of him and pinched his nose to add effort on the body odor coming from the ninjas. He looked up as his nin-dogs came down the tree. The bulldog was carrying Naruto by the waistband of his pants. Kakashi got up and took Naruto from the nin-dog. He felt how warm Naruto was and shook his head.
"Pakkun if you can, return back the village and get some ANBU to come and retrieve these three. Tell the Hokage that Gai and I have Naruto. We will come back with the ANBU."
"Fine Kakashi, but you now owe me a total of 32 favors."
"I know, I know, I will make it up to you."
Pakkun took off, while the other five disappeared. Kakashi looked down at Naruto and smiled to himself. He laid him by the tree and let him sleep.
"I amazed Naruto sleep through all that. You are just going to let him sleep?" Gai asked
"Yes, I will wake him up when we make dinner. He has a bit of a fever. We will make camp for the night. I doubt the ANBU will come until mid morning, but if Ibiki hears he has three visitors, he may make it here by midnight. Help me tie them to the trees."
They spent the next few minutes pulling each Stone Nin out from the ground and tying them to a different tree. They knocked each one out and went through their belongings.
Gai went to fetch some firewood while Kakashi prepared their camp. Gai came back with a large armload of wood and went back out to refill their water bottles. Kakashi got the fire started as Gai came back from his chore.
"So Kakashi, what are we going to eat? We do not have much for the three of us to eat. All I have is some jerky."
"Oh that is simple, I brought something for us. Now where did I put that scroll?"
Kakashi rummaged through his vest and in his utility pouch for a small scroll. He did not find it in those places. He brought a hand up to his chin and started to tap it, thinking where he put it. Gai was looking at him, thinking he lost it.
"Now I remember!"
Gai looked at him while he reached in one of his shoes to pull out a small green scroll. Kakashi unrolled it and it puffed away, leaving a pile of instant ramen packages, five bowls, a pot, and a couple chopsticks. A teardrop appeared on the back of Gai's head.
"Kakashi, this is not food."
"Don't let Naruto hear that."
Kakashi laugh at what he said. Gai started to laugh and helped to make a quick meal. Kakashi got up and went over to Naruto. He looked down at him sleeping away. He hoped that Tsunade and Jiraiya were able to help Naruto and not let the fox escape. He knelt down, placing an elbow on his knee again, and rested his head on his hand.
"Kakashi wake him all ready." Gai said
"I know."
Kakashi placed a hand on Naruto's shoulder and gently shook him awake. Naruto opened his eyes to see grass in front of him. He shot up, remembering he was in tree when he fell asleep. He looked around and saw Kakashi, Gai, and three people tied up to trees with the Stone symbol on their head protectors. He looked at Kakashi to explain.
"Tsunade-sama sent Gai and me to find you. On our way, we found those three. You must be hungry, come I made some ramen."
He got up and lowered his hand to help Naruto up from the ground. Naruto looked away from him and tried to tell him he was not hungry, but he found he had no voice. He looked back at Kakashi with his eyebrows furled. Kakashi just chuckled.
"It seems you have laryngitis. That is what you get for staying out in the forest and not wearing the right clothes for this time of the year. Come, get by the fire and at least drink some tea."
Naruto got up and walked over to the campfire. Gai handed him a cup and he drunk it down. He sat there quietly watching the two eat their meal. He drew his knees to his chest, resting his head on his knees. He soon felt drowsy. He tried to keep his eyes open, but they refused to obey. He finally gave in to sleep and started to fall towards his right. Gai grabbed him by his shirt and let him fall down slowly to the ground.
"That is the first, him being quiet and not wanting ramen." Kakashi said
"Yah and he look like hell."
"He will be fine once we get back to the village and his punishment from Tsunade-sama for worrying her."
The two got up and cleared away their mess. Gai went to get some more water and to rinse out the dishes they used. Kakashi checked on the three Stone Nins to make sure they were not able to get lose. He finished as Gai came walking back to their camp with a smiling Ibiki and six-masked ANBU. The light was now fading into dusk.
"Kakashi, Gai, I see none of you are hurt from your encounter with these three. So where did you find them exactly?" Ibiki asked
"We found them here, waiting for us to arrive. I believe they had followed one of my nin-dogs to Naruto's location, which was up in a tree. I guess they thought to get us with a surprise attack. We happen on their trail as we made our way to Naruto. I use two shadow clones to form our own surprise attack. As you see, we have them captured. They are yours now."
"I see. How is Naruto?"
"Slight fever and he has not eaten in the past few days."
"We move out fist thing in the morning. You six will be handling watch detail, pair up with someone." Ibiki told his subordinates
Each ANBU gave their reply and grouped together to figure what times they would do their watch. Ibiki walked over to the campfire and sat down next Gai and Kakashi.
"Sasuke awakened three hours after you left. Tsunade-sama was examining him before he woke. She had found where the curse seal was. It is gone and in its place was a third degree burn, about the size of Naruto's hand."
Gai and Kakashi blinked at this news.
"How was he when he woke up?" Kakashi asked
"Shocked. He was asking where he was and what happen to Naruto. Tsunade-sama questioned him about his actions and found he only remembered bits and pieces. He explained to her that it was as if he was in a fog. The last thing he remembered was seeing Naruto in front of him with red chakra surrounding around him that he looked like a fox. Also, that Naruto's eyes were not blue, but red and that they were slit. His canine teeth were elongated and his nails looked like claws. The whisker marks on his face were thicker. He saw that he was crying, but really, what shocked him was that he was using the chidori against him and his arm was impaled through his right shoulder. After that, he only remembers being thrown back by Naruto's attack and watching Naruto fly into the lake, which Sasuke blacked out. Tsunade-sama believes it was the seal that was affecting Sasuke's mind. The seal was trying to take him over, so Orochimaru had better chances of having him. From what I know, it was more powerful than Anko's."
"So the seal has been affecting him this whole time." Kakashi asked
"Yes, but where does that leave us with fox boy?" Ibiki asked
"In the hands to two of the three legendary sennin, the possibilities are endless or it will be a dead end." Gai said
"I wish you did not put it that way Gai." Kakashi said
"Sorry Kakashi. Ibiki why are you worried about Naruto?"
"Easy, I see him as Naruto, the son of our hero, and not as the demon. I just do not see why we can not tell him who his father was."
"For his father made many enemies, which would do anything to get revenge on the son. It is the same way with me. We both are the sons of two of the greatest heroes of Konoha. The Third also thought it was a good ideal he did not know, for he may have blurted it out during a fight to throw off his enemies. I say we get some sleep. It will be a long walk back to Konoha." Kakashi said
They all agreed and found places to sleep. Kakashi could not find sleep right away. He was too worried about Naruto.
"Naruto, I am sorry for just placing all of my attention on Sasuke. I only thought it would make him more open, to see that there were people who cared for him. I missed up. I should have been teaching all of you at the same time to keep you as a group. Hell I should have taken care of you when you were little, but with the recent death of your father on my mind and the death of my friend Obito coming back to the surface, I look to another outlet of my anger and sadness. I took mission after mission to escape the pain. I only became your teacher when the Third forced it upon me. I was blind to see that you were truly alone with only few people who saw you as you. I will make it up to you. I will ask or even demand that Tsunade and Jiraiya to allow the truth to be told, and I will teach you from now on, the why I should have."
Kakashi looked to Naruto, across the campfire. He saw him sleeping away with a peaceful expression. Kakashi smiled, knowing Naruto will be happy to be taught. He closed his eye and found sleep.