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New Life, Old Darkness
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Naruto greatly enjoyed the time he got to spend with his new team. It made him excited to get up in the morning, and even if he complained about their missions being too boring, he was secretly still glad he got to do them with team 7. For the first time, he felt like he was part of something. He belonged.
But maybe that was why returning to an empty flat each evening felt worse than it ever had. There were higher highs in his life, but also lower lows again. Ever since Iruka had taught him the Shadow Clone jutsu, and ever since he had become a Genin, something had changed again.
In the evenings, Naruto was left alone with his thoughts, and the room was awfully quiet. The nights were the worst. He felt like there was a monster hiding under his bed each time he tried to go to sleep. Its presence felt so real. In the middle of the night he would wake up, convinced he had just met the monster. But every time, his memories were cloudy.
All that was left was a hunch of darkness that surrounded him whenever he lay in bed.
But whenever rays of sunlight touched his face, he brushed all that away and jumped out of bed to get dressed and ready for the day.
Today too, he was working on leaving the house as quickly as possible, so he grabbed a slice of bread to eat on the way. Halfway to the main gate of Konoha, he remembered he forgot to bring the copy of the mission details. Or to read through it at all.
His three teammates were already waiting at the gate.
"What are we doing today, guys?" he asked them, excited.
Sakura had a disgusted look on her face. "Did you skip reading the mission details again? We are destroying a hornet nest."
"Hornet nest?" That didn't exactly sound like the prestigious mission he had imagined, again. He'd wanted to save a princess or protect a royal lady from bandits.
Sakura handed him her copy. "Giant hornets. Yikes."
Naruto didn't bother to read it. "Man, sucks. How am I supposed to prove I'm a great shinobi when these are the missions we get? First we sit around on Konoha's wall all day long, then we have to take weapon inventory and now we are smashing insects?"
"At least you kids get to leave the village." Kakashi slowly approached them. "You know, broaden your horizon a bit."
He was tired and lacked the motivation to spend yet another day with his Genin. Naruto made it his goal in life to surpass Sasuke, so instead of working with him, he worked against him. Sasuke never cared about anything, but wouldn't allow himself to get surpassed either, so he rose to whatever challenge Naruto threw his way, making sure to rub it into Naruto's face that he was better at everything they did. Sakura continued her behaviour from the aptitude test and only had eyes for Sasuke. And Naho barely let anyone know she was even present. It was all such a bother to Kakashi.
"Everyone ready to leave?" he asked before his students could complain he was late.
"When do we get to fight real shinobi?" Naruto asked.
"When you've proven to me and the Hokage that you are more than just a naive brat." Kakashi walked past them and left Konoha. He could already hear his students behind him fight again.
Sakura didn't want to walk next to Naruto. Apparently he was breathing too much of her air.
He started to jog, mostly to exhaust them so they would eventually shut up. A few times he glanced back at them. One time, Naho tripped over some branch and Sasuke caught her arm before she could even fall.
"Be more careful," Sasuke complained.
Sakura's face darkened. A few moments later, she stumbled over her own feet. Naruto reached out to catch her, but was too slow. Sakura hit the ground.
Kakashi chose to ignore the subsequent tension between his teammates, and the glances of death Sakura threw at Naho.
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When they reached the farm, they learned that there was a giant hornet nest in one of the old barns. They looked at it. The hornets had built it in one of the corners. It was so big it covered most of the floor and walls. Kakashi asked his students how to proceed.
"Can't we burn down the whole barn?" Sakura asked. "I hate insects."
"Our client still wants to use the barn. So unless you will build them a new one for free…"
"Okay, so no fire… any other ideas?" She looked at her teammates, but they were all awfully quiet. None of them really knew anything about insects.
Naruto at least was visibly thinking hard. "What if we only set the nest on fire?"
"It's literally glued to the wooden planks of the barn walls. I'd say that's too risky," Sakura said, and expectantly looked at Sasuke.
"We could try smoking them out," he suggested.
Naruto couldn't see how that idea was somehow better than his own. Yet Sakura seemed to love it, so they went with it.
They collected straw, tied it onto balls, lit it up, extinguished the flames again, and threw them next to the nest from a safe distance.
There was barely any smoke, and while some hornets went to investigate, most weren't bothered.
They tried a smoke bomb next. The animals were visibly bothered by that, and circled their nest in confusion. But it didn't exactly get them to leave their home.
Kakashi observed them. He wasn't exactly impressed.
"We should have brought a pesticide." Sakura shrugged. She couldn't think of anything else.
Kakashi nodded. "You should have. Why didn't you?"
"Well, because… You didn't tell us to."
"I'm not your parent. You are Genin going on a mission. You are supposed to use your own brain and judgement."
"But you also didn't bring pesticides. Does that mean you also don't use your brain, Kakashi-sensei?" Naruto asked, narrowing his eyes at his teacher.
"I know plenty of ways to erase this nest myself. But a Jounin completing D-rank missions is not the point here. You four are supposed to figure this out." He pulled out his book and started reading. "So go figure it out. We need to get back to Konoha before it gets dark."
His three students kept standing in front of the barn, all stumped for an answer.
Kakashi sighed. "Well, if you guys can't come up with an idea, then let me propose an exercise." He took out a scroll, activated the seal on it, and five swords appeared. He threw one each to his students. "Show me your sword skills."
His students weren't really sure yet what he expected of them, but Kakashi ignored them and entered the barn to approach the hornet nest. He started poking around in it with his sword. Immediately a loud buzzing filled the air as one hornet after the other left the nest, angered that someone was destroying it.
Then, Kakashi simply vanished. The hornets eagerly searched for the intruders and found the four Genin standing in front of the entrance.
"They are huge!" Naruto gasped. He was both appalled and fascinated at the same time.
"And they are coming at us!" Sakura shrieked. She dropped the sword and hid behind Sasuke.
Naho and Naruto only stared at the hornets coming at them sting first.
Sasuke smirked at their cluelessness. He took the sword, and engaged in a fight with the insects. He whirled around left and right. Each slash killed a flying hornet.
Naruto now realised too what he was supposed to do. He grabbed the sword tighter and swung it around in the air. Most of the time he missed, but he was at least eager to keep going.
The two girls stayed back. Sakura waved about with the sword, hoping the insects wouldn't come close to her in the first place. Naho swung the blade at the few hornets that made it past Sasuke and Naruto. But eventually, there were simply too many. It was like the dead ones attracted more that came to revenge their mates. And soon a whole swarm attacked them.
Naruto used the one jutsu he knew how to use. A Shadow Clone appeared, but one more fighter barely helped. He engaged the swarm, was in the middle of it, and while he did draw their attention for a moment, he also got stung left and right and dispelled.
Naruto jumped up at the sudden pain he felt on his arms and face. It irritated him that there were no hornets nearby.
Sasuke formed signs, then blew fire at the whole swarm. Burned chitin dropped to the ground.
Kakashi halfheartedly clapped his hands.
"Why do I feel like I got stung by hornets? Because I didn't," Naruto complained.
"Did no one tell you?" Kakashi asked. "When your Shadow Clone feels pain, so do you once it dispels. Memories and feelings return."
"Iruka-sensei never mentioned that. Man, it still stings. This is stupid!"
"It'll go away once your brain realises that nothing actually happened. But you should use it carefully." Kakashi didn't exactly agree with Jiraiya's decision to teach Naruto the Shadow Clone jutsu. It was a complex one. And Naruto didn't exactly seem like someone who had the experience to properly use it. Yet what was done was done. He looked inside the barn. "Seems like Sasuke got most of them. You guys should go inside to get the rest and then scratch out the nest."
Kakashi stayed outside, leaning against the wall of the barn. He kept reading. Inside, he could hear Naruto yell again. Apparently this time he was stung for real. Shortly after, he heard Sakura screeching and complaining of giant larvae.
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Motivation seemed to be at an all time low after his students were done. Sakura was white-faced. Sasuke was making fun of Naruto for being useless during their mission. Naruto had red dots in his face and was fighting Sasuke. Naho quietly watched them.
"Hey, Kakashi-sensei. These hornets weren't dangerous or anything, were they? Because, you know, I might have gotten stung once or twice." Naruto pointed at the red dots in his face.
"Of course they are venomous."
"What? Wait, does that mean I'm dying?"
"Yes," Kakashi said without showing much emotion. "If you don't take an antidote right away, you likely won't survive the next hour."
Naruto started to panic.
His teacher shook his head. "I was just kidding. Relax. It'll hurt for a few days, that's all. Really, you guys, did any of you bother to read up on this mission? You need to actually prepare. Inform yourself. We completed the mission. But in my head, I'll mark it as a failure."
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Back in Konoha, Iruka was the one to greet them at the Hokage building. He was a teacher at the Academy, but often overlooked missions to help the Hokage.
"Good job, Naruto," he said, handing out their part of the pay. "And of course, good job Sasuke, Sakura and Naho," he added, rubbing his neck.
"You know of my talent, right Iruka-sensei? Can't you go to the old Grandpa Hokage again and tell him to give us better missions? We had to fight insects today. That's not work for a shinobi." Naruto complained to Iruka, but his old teacher simply smiled at him.
"How about I treat you and your team for dinner today? You have to tell me everything about your experiences as a Genin so far." Iruka felt an irrational interest in the boy's life, mixed with the guilt of not believing in him enough. Obviously, Naruto was doing just fine in his new team.
Naruto's thoughts about missions all vanished in an instant as his head filled with ramen.
"I'll pass. I gotta do some training or I'll never get stronger at this rate." Sasuke left them before Naruto could protest.
"I still have things to do myself," Sakura said, leaving as well.
Naruto's eyes narrowed as he stared at Naho, waiting for her excuse.
"Do you still want me to come along? Because it's fine if you'd rather spend time alone now that Sasuke and Sakura left," Naho said in a shy voice. Her teammates still felt more like strangers to her than actual teammates.
"What? Of course we want you to come with us. Right Iruka-sensei?"
"Right. You are actually Naruto's teammate I'm most curious about since you weren't in my class. I'm Iruka, nice to meet you." He held his hand out to her.
A smile formed on Naho's lips. "I'm Naho Kanazawa, nice to meet you too."
"Alright, let's go. I'm starving! Have you been to Ichiraku's ramen shop yet, Naho-chan? I'm telling you, those are the best ramen you will ever eat." Naruto kept talking all the way to the ramen shop. He was happy that he could finally share his favourite dish with another person.
Teuchi Ichiraku gave the three of them an especially big serving. They ate, and talked, and Iruka looked at Naruto with proud eyes when he told him of the bell test and the missions they completed so far. Ayame, Teuchi's daughter, would join in on the conversation every now and then.
Naruto's cheeks were glowing red from excitement. Those were the happiest days of his life.
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"Thank you so much for the meal, Iruka-sensei." Naruto stroked his round belly. Naho thanked the teacher as well, and they said goodbye.
Iruka watched the two genin walk off, a smile on his face. Naruto seemed like a different person to him. He didn't play pranks or yell around Konoha like he used to anymore.
Ayame took the empty bowls away.
"Oh wait. Here, I'll pay for all of them." Iruka opened his wallet and started to count coins.
Teuchi laughed at him. "Put that money away. We are family after all."
"But… I brought Naruto and Naho here to eat. I want to pay for it. I caused you more work after all."
Teuchi washed his hand and sat down on a chair as his daughter started doing the dishes. It was the first break he took all day. "I like that boy, and I'm happy you invited him to some ramen. So keep your money. Actually, you should work less and bring some more friends over." The man pointed a spoon at Iruka.
"Now that I think of it… You two always seemed to like Naruto. Why?"
Ayame immediately whirled around. Water and soap splashed on the floor. "Are you serious? Have you seen the cute little whiskers on his cheeks? And he always calls me nee-chan and is so thankful for serving him." She scrubbed the next plate more energetically. "I always wanted a cute little brother, but instead I got a stiff old cousin," she said in a suddenly darker tone.
Iruka only smiled at her, choosing to ignore the criticism she threw his way.
"Naruto is a good child," Teuchi added. "People forget that it's not his fault that monster got sealed in him. You too, Iruka, only ever mentioned the kyuubi when you were talking about Naruto. It blinded you."
Iruka lowered his head. He knew his uncle was right. But he was determined to change his ways. He wanted to see Naruto, not the demon sealed inside of him. It had been successfully locked away for many years now, without an incident.
"Sometimes I thought you'd blame Naruto for what happened to my sister and your father," Teuchi continued. "I'm glad that's not the case. You know, I'm pretty sure my sister would be all over Naruto too. She used to have that one student she told me about a lot. What was his name again?" He scratched his head. "He was also one of those little brats with a big mouth. Obito? Yes, I think it was Obito. Every time she got home, she would complain about him. But there was always this little smile on her lips that gave her true feelings away. Naruto reminds me a lot of that student and all the stories Kohari told me." A smile formed on Teuchi's lips. A smile that soon found its way to Iruka.
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"Your Academy teacher seems really nice," Naho said, walking next to Naruto. "And the ramen was really delicious too." She smiled.
"I know, right? That's both so true. Hey, how about I accompany you home?"
Her smile vanished. "You don't have to, really."
"But I want to. Where do you live?" Naruto asked her, unaware of the big frown that hid under her headband.
"I'd… rather not talk about my home," she eventually said. She knew Naruto would ask about her family if she told him she lived at the orphanage, and it was no topic she wanted to discuss with him. "How about I walk you home instead?" she added when she saw the disappointment in Naruto's eyes.
"Eh? You, me?"
"Sure, or would you rather walk home on your own?"
Naruto shook his head. He'd been alone for most of his life already, so he would never pass on an opportunity to spend time with someone.
They walked down the busy dining street as the sun was just about to hide itself behind the mountains, and soon arrived in a calmer living area.
Naho couldn't help but think back to Tenten's words as she found herself all alone with Naruto for the first time. Tenten had warned her. Doubts spread in her, and she wondered if she really was supposed to be there with him. They walked down a street with houses left and right, but Naho couldn't see anyone outside.
But all Naruto did was to happily talk about ramen and missions, both arms crossed behind his head. He didn't look like someone with a demon inside of him at all. It confused her.
"Huh, are you okay?" Naruto realised she was staring at him.
"Ah, yes. Sorry. I was just thinking about something." She blushed. It was wrong of her to have such thoughts, she knew. Naruto had never done anything to hurt her or make her feel uncomfortable. Those last few days, he truly had been the nicest of his teammates.
"What were you thinking about?"
Naho started stumbling. This was nothing she could outright ask Naruto about. Her eyes moved around as her head tried desperately to come up with an excuse. Suddenly, she spotted a girl. She was hiding behind a tree, watching them. "Naruto, is that girl over there watching us?" she asked as subtle as possible, happy to change the subject.
"Huh, where?" Naruto said, staring into the direction Naho had pointed at.
"Don't be this obvious!" she whispered, pulling at his sleeve.
"Oh, Hinata, is that you?" He continued to yell into the girl's direction.
Naho could see the girl cringe as Naruto continued to yell at her to come over. She was clearly ringing with herself whether to run away or not. Eventually, she slowly stepped away from the tree and walked to them.
"N-naruto, I was just… I just returned from a mission and was on my way home." Her cheeks were glowing red, which they could clearly see even in the dark.
"Eh? Why were you hiding behind that tree then?"
Hinata's face grew even redder. "I just… I uh, I dropped something."
"Oh really? Have you found it yet? I can help searching." Naruto was already on his way to the tree when Hinata stumbled after him, telling him he didn't have to.
They all stood in a circle. Naruto and Naho watched as Hinata was nervously playing with her fingers, unable to look either of them in the eyes. She clearly wanted to ask them something, but nothing left her mouth.
"I um… I'm Naho by the way," Naho eventually broke the awkward silence and offered the girl her hand.
"I'm Hinata Hyuga." The girl bowed, completely overlooking the handshake that was waiting for her.
Naho awkwardly pulled her hand back. The blush on her face looked almost non-existent compared to Hinata's face. "Well, maybe I should be going home now. Thank you for the dinner, Naruto." She smiled at Naruto, who just looked back at her in confusion.
"I thought you were accompanying me home?"
Hinata suddenly looked like a kunai directly hit her heart. "D-dinner? A-accompanying him home?"
"Lady Hinata." Another person stepped out from the shadows, interrupting their little chat. He was some years older than the three Genin and had the same eyes as Hinata. "Step away from Naruto. Immediately." He wore a frown on his forehead, as well as a weird symbol.
Hinata shrieked, and her muscles froze for a moment as her mind couldn't quite decide on what to do. The little girl was no one to defy her elders. But she also couldn't stand the way her older cousin Kou looked at Naruto.
"What's up with you, idiot?" Naruto started rambling. "Hinata can stand wherever she wants to stand." He grabbed her hand, which sent a shiver down the girl's spine.
Almost immediately, Kou appeared behind Naruto, grabbing his wrist. "Let go of her or I will break your wrist."
Naruto did as he said, not because he wanted to, but because of the immense pain he felt as the Hyuga started squeezing his wrist. "What is your problem?" Naruto was about to charge at the young man, when Hinata put herself between the two.
"I'm sorry, I know we're late for dinner. We should go," she quickly said.
"Someone like you should know their place. Don't dare touch a princess of the Hyuga clan ever again."
Those words were enough to make Naruto snap. He ran after the Hyuga, ready to punch him until he would stop looking at him with contempt. But Kou simply sent him flying backwards with a precise kick on the chest. Naho watched as Naruto dropped down on the ground. He instantly got back up, ready to try again. It didn't matter that this was no fight he could win. Naho and Hinata both felt the urge to stop the two. Yet neither of them did.
"Stop it, Kou-san. Please." Hinata's voice never reached Kou. He instead threw punch after punch at Naruto. The fight only stopped when Naruto had taken so many hits, he wasn't quite able to get up anymore. Kou and Hinata walked away. Hinata's eyes stayed on the hurt Naruto for a while. She wanted to stay with him. She wanted to apologise. But she quietly followed Kou instead.
"Are you alright?" Naho looked at Naruto with big eyes herself. Something inside of her blamed herself for not stepping in and helping. But she wasn't someone to get involved in brawls. And even now that this other guy was gone, Naho somehow couldn't get herself to offer Naruto her hand. The blood running down his chin scared her. "Who was that?" she asked instead, watching Naruto get up from the ground himself.
"Hell, if I know. That guy always creeps around Hinata. I guess he's her guard or something." He swiped the blood away from his split lip. "I hate him. It's like he thinks he's something better."
"A guard? Why does she need a guard?"
They kept walking down the road, but Naruto's bubbly attitude was gone. Instead, he angrily sucked the blood from his lips, his eyes locked on the ground. "She's some sort of princess. The heiress to the Hyuga clan. Whatever that means. All people ever told me was to stay away from her."
Naho considered dropping the subject. A look at Naruto told her that he was close to exploding, his muscles tense with anger.
"She looks like a nice girl though," Naho eventually said, after they'd walked next to each other in silence for a while. She could instantly see Naruto's body loosen up. A soft smile even came back to his face.
"She is. We were in the same class at the Academy and she'd sometimes give me some chocolate or other sweets. But we never really talked much. She always ran away when I tried to thank her." He scratched his cheek, thinking. "I guess she might be a bit of a weirdo." Naruto stopped and looked up a building. "Well, here we are. Thanks for walking with me."
"Are you going to be fine? Your face is… I'm sure your parents will scold you for getting into a fight. Maybe you shouldn't have…"
Naruto rubbed the back of his head, putting on a bright smile. "I don't have parents, so there is no one to scold me."
"Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't know." Naho wanted to hit herself. She did know that Naruto was the Fourth Hokage's son. She'd heard people mention it here and there, and Naruto himself liked to point it out. History lessons taught her that the Fourth Hokage died over ten years ago. It should have been obvious, yet the fact that Naruto had no parents still surprised Naho. So much she didn't quite know how to react. It was a mystery to her how he could straight out talk about it with a smile on his face.
"Is there something wrong? You look like something's bothering you."
"What? No. I just… I'm sorry, I really didn't know about your parents."
"Huh? Don't worry. I never got to know them, so it's not like I could miss them."
Naho stared at him with big eyes. Pictures of her own parents flashed into her mind. Pictures of the parents she missed. And she suddenly had to blink back tears. "Thanks for the dinner." She didn't wait for Naruto to say anything, but turned away from him and ran off.
Naruto stared after her a while, confused if he'd said anything wrong. Then he entered the dark room that was his home. Clothes lay scattered on the floor, bowls with leftover milk were left on his only table, and a plethora of instant ramen cups filled the trash bin in the corner.
Naruto took off his shoes and slumped onto bed. He had lied to Naho, he realised. He never knew his parents. He couldn't possibly miss something he never knew. Or could he? Because in that moment, he did miss his parents. Not his parents, but the idea of parents. Anyone who would be home to greet him. Who would look at the bruises on his face and show a sign of worry. He didn't know what he was missing. But he sure was missing something.
The doorbell rang.
"Naruto, you left your wallet at Ichiruka's. This is yours, right?" Iruka stood in front of his door, holding a green wallet looking like a toad. His familiar brown eyes changed into an expression Naruto had never seen on his face as he looked at the wounds on Naruto's face. "What happened? Did someone beat you up?" It was a weird expression. Not many people had looked at Naruto that way before.
"Oh, this? Just a small bruise. You should see the other guy." Naruto put on a smile as he bragged about things that never happened.
"Why do you always get into fights, Naruto? You really got a black eye there." Iruka walked past him. "Oh dear, what is this? When was the last time you tidied your room?"
Naruto observed him as he started picking up clothes from the floor and threw them onto one huge pile. He then went on to search Naruto's room for the health kit all Academy students were given during their basic wound care lessons. Naruto himself had no idea where he'd put it, but Iruka soon found it lying under the bed. He patched Naruto up, carefully disinfecting his wounds.
There was a warm feeling inside of Naruto. It was so warm Naruto didn't even mind that Iruka kept scolding his untidiness while softly putting a bandage on his cheek.
Naruto was left to wonder if having parents had to feel similar to this.
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A/N
Changed the D-rank mission for this chapter from catching a lost cat to fighting giant insects. 10/10 rewrite of this chapter, I'd say.
Jokes aside, I just wasn't happy with boring weeding and cat catching missions anymore.
Mh, but yeah, what else is there to say about this chapter? I have no idea. If you have any questions or feedback about this fic, feel free to ask or review! I'm a person who doesn't like to spoil too much in author notes and tags, but I do know some people rather know what they are getting into.
Other than that… Thank you very much for reading! :)