A/N So here is the next chap...yeah (longest one yet)... So thank you to every one who reviewed, you all rock! Oh and I wasn't saying this story was original, I was lamenting the fact it wasn't. The original ideas are buried under the fan girl who likes the same old thing. I try to tell her to get lost, but she demands to be annoying. n-e-ways on with the show --er- story! woohoo...
Can You Keep a Secret?
Warmth. Incredible warmth surrounded Sasuke. He cracked an eye open and tried to get a good look at his teammate. It had been four nights they had spent sleeping on the deck of this ship as it ambled it was north to Snow Country. Four freezing nights of sub zero temperatures spent on the wet deck of a ship with little protection from the elements. And he was warm. Every morning, Sasuke woke refreshed dry and toasty warm. Naruto was like some sort of human space heater wrapped around him all night long. He questioned the blonde about it after the first night, but Naruto just brushed it off. Sasuke didn't press the issue seeing as he had several more nights to endure on the ship before they arrived at their destination. And it wasn't all that unpleasant to tell the truth. In fact, Sasuke was just a little disturbed at how pleasurable he found it to have his fair-haired teammate keep him warm throughout the night. Not that he planned on confronting his own feelings on the matter anytime soon. Instead, Sasuke had made sure to wake up early enough so they were already up when Sakura and Kakashi came around. He was sure he wasn't fooling Kakashi, but the jounin knew how to be discrete, unlike Sakura. And so this morning was the same as the previous. He looked down at Naruto, whose head was resting on his chest this morning. He grabbed Naruto's shoulder and shook it gently until the blonde woke up.
"Hey, Naruto," he whispered in his teammates ear. "We need to be getting up now."
"Five more minutes Sasuke," Naruto pleaded sleepily.
"Two," the dark haired boy countered. Naruto smiled, still not opening his eyes and snuggled tighter around Sasuke.
"Thanks," he mumbled as he fell back asleep. Sasuke sighed as he looked around their meager shelter. The sail cover had served them well that last few nights, and this would be the last time they would have to seek its protection. While it was toasty warm on the inside, it had frosted over on the outside from the spray on deck. They even had to break out of it the last two mornings as the ice layer had gotten rather thick as they moved further north. Today they would finally be off this ship and be able to begin their mission. Sasuke felt a little disappointed for some reason. It wasn't because he enjoyed the sleeping arrangements he told himself. Things will be much better when we each have our own proper beds, he argued. Besides, we still have to come back on the ship in another week. Sasuke smiled as a strange sense of anticipation took hold in his chest. The feeling was crushed however when he heard the last thing a man in his current position would ever want to hear. Sakura.
"Kakashi, where are they?" she asked as she and the jounin came up from below deck. "I thought they were staying in the cargo hold."
Crap! Sasuke shook Naruto's arm roughly and placed his hand over the blondes mouth to prevent him from giving them away. Naruto's eyes shot open and he nodded that he understood to be quiet when he saw the panicked look in Sasuke's eyes. The dark haired boy let go and pointed to his ear, telling Naruto to listen.
"Perhaps they are already getting breakfast, Sakura," Kakashi offered.
"I didn't see them but I'll go look again I guess," she replied tiredly. Sasuke and Naruto shared matching sighs of relief as they heard the hatch click shut.
"That was too close," Naruto whispered to Sasuke. "She'd have definitely gone berserk on me." Sasuke just nodded as something blunt suddenly struck him in the side.
"You guys owe me one for that," Kakashi told them from outside the sail cover. "But I wouldn't waste anymore time, she'll be back shortly. Naruto and Sasuke pushed the cover down from over their heads as chunks of ice broke off.
"You didn't have to kick me," Sasuke objected.
"We sail into port in less than 2 hours," Kakashi continued as if Sasuke hadn't said anything. "You guys should make sure your things are together and maybe help out the crew where ever they need it." With that, the silver haired jounin walked off leaving his students to break out of the four inches of ice that enclosed the sail cover. All the members of team seven had taken to helping out the crew after the first day. In such an isolated environment, they had become bored rather quickly. They soon discovered that one ninja was about as efficient as at least three sailors, being able to dash up the mast if necessary and haul around heavy ropes with ease. In no time, the entire crew became big fans of their passengers and even the captain was sad to see them go after they docked in Snow Country.
---oo0O0oo---
"So where to?" Naruto asked excitedly as they walked down the main street of the port town.
"Well, our client lives about one days' journey to the north on the west slope of Mount Yakitou," Kakashi explained.
"So what's the deal with this mission anyway?" Sakura inquired. "We aren't just baby sitting some guys pets, are we?"
"Yeah! And why did we have to come all this way? Wasn't there anyone closer?" Naruto added.
"Yes, Sakura, we are just baby sitting some pets and no, Naruto, there was no one else. We were requested specially."
"Requested?" Sasuke asked. That's odd. Our team is never requested he thought as he looked over at Naruto. His reputation is such a hindrance sometimes, though I'm not so sure it's his fault anymore.
"Yes. Requested. It was hoped that our team had some unique abilities to make handling these pets a little more…possible."
"Heh! Sounds like something they should have called Kiba's group for!" Naruto exclaimed.
"Ah, team 10 actually were the ones called for this last time. Unfortunately, the client had to be called back early as they were unable to complete the mission satisfactorily," Kakashi told them. The three chunnin looked at each other warily. Pets that Kiba couldn't handle? They were all thinking the same thing. The Inuzuka dogs are terrifying, what could be worse?
"Well, let's get moving team!" Kakashi called out cheekily ignoring the dread that was written all over his students faces.
---oo0O0oo---
Before long, the four ninja arrived at their destination. The sun was just dipping behind the ridge of the mountain when they drew near their clients house on a small dirt path. Snow banks lined either side of the path making single file travel necessary. As the last rays of sun slipped down behind the cliffs, a gush of cold wind assaulted the four travelers, making them thankful for the warm beds they would soon find inside the house they were approaching. Seconds later, Kakashi was politely knocking on the front door of the old house. Lights were flipped on and shuffling could be heard before the door was thrown open, narrowly missing the silver haired jounin.
"Ah! You're already here!" exclaimed the old man who opened the door. "Wasn't expecting to see ya'll till the morning, but can't say as I'm surprised you're early either. I'm Kishorui. Come on in!" He scooted back allowing room for the four to enter. "The wife just finished dinner, so you just in time." The old man turned and led them into the living room where he motioned for them all to have a seat. As soon as they were all settled a woman came in through another door. She was plump, much like the old man, and very welcoming. She had a tray of snacks with her, which she quickly dispersed, making a life long friend in the process.
"Uwahh! These are incredible!" exclaimed Naruto as he stuffed the little meat pockets in his mouth two at a time.
"Naruto!" Sakura scolded him with a whap to the back of the head. "Manners!"
"It's ok," the woman smiled. "It's always nice to receive compliments. And I have plenty more back in the kitchen"
"Oh hell yeah!" yelled Naruto.
"He's certainly enthusiastic," chuckled Kishorui. "Nothing like I would have expected though to tell ya truly."
"Expected?" queried Kakashi.
"Of course, why do you think I requested ya'll specifically?" he gestured towards Naruto. "When I heard from the last team that Uzumaki was on active duty as a ninja I know we had to bring him out here. Being who he is, I figured he'd have more luck with the pack than that last kid. What was his name…Inuzuka…that's right. After all, there must be some side effects or benefits from being the container for-"
"Excuse me, Kishorui," Kakashi interrupted quickly. "If you know about that, you must have been from Konoha originally?
"Well of course! I only moved here maybe a dozen years ago. I know all about the events of that evening. It's a damn shame it came to that. The Yondaime was a good man."
"Then you must also know the rule of silence surrounding those events as well," Kakashi gave the man a hard look.
"You mean the law is obeyed even among teammates? He asked incredulously. Kakashi nodded. "Oh…I assumed-
"You assumed wrong," Kakashi corrected. Sasuke and Sakura exchanged a glance, both were completely confused at the entire conversation that just took place. However, as Sasuke looked towards Naruto, he got a completely different reaction. The normally bright eyed boy was staring blankly at nothing. His face was pale as all the blood had drawn from his cheeks and his hands were shaking slightly. He obviously understood everything that had just transpired. Kakashi wasn't blind to Naruto's reaction either.
"If you would just show us where we will we be staying this evening, I believe we'd all like to retire. It's been a long cold day."
"Of course, but Maika was just about to serve dinner," the old man offered. Kakashi turned towards his students.
"Are you guys hungry?" he asked them. Sakura shrugged her shoulders and nodded her head. Sasuke too affirmed that he was also hungry. After all, they'd had nothing but trail bars the entire day. Naruto gave no indication he'd heard anything at all. "Well then, you two follow Maika and Naruto and I will head off to bed," Kakashi replied as he motioned Kishorui to lead the way. The silver haired jounin lightly grasped Naruto's arm, because he still wasn't responding, and led him away. Sasuke watched as they moved back into another door while Maika was happily describing the different items she cooked up for dinner. He felt bad about letting Naruto leave in such a state, he was clearly troubled by what the old man had said. Or almost said. That guys knows something about Naruto that has been kept secret from us. Sasuke was feeling guilt for not trying to comfort his friend, but he was faced with a difficult choice. Help Naruto feel better or get the old man to spill whatever it was he knows. In the end, Sasuke's curiosity won out. He had a feeling whatever this was about was a key to breaking down the few remaining walls Naruto stubbornly kept around himself. Like the real reason the villagers all seem to hate him or why he seems to have such a low opinion of self worth. Whatever the reason, Sasuke was determined to uncover it. After dinner, he would try to corner the old man and trick him into slipping up. All he needed was ten minutes alone with him.
---oo0O0oo---
Kishorui showed the two following him to a hall way with three doors branching off it.
"We only have two extra rooms, so you're going to have to split them tonight. After we leave you're more than welcome to our room too," he explained. "These two doors here are the rooms and that one at the end it a bathroom. Our room is one the other side of the house, I'll show you that in the morning."
"Thank you, Kishorui," Kakashi replied as he opened one of the doors and nudged Naruto into it. "I'll be back out to ask you about some details."
"O-okay…." the old man looked uncomfortable, "...and I'm sorry about what I said earlier. I didn't mean to cause any trouble."
"It's fine," Kakashi responded dryly and followed Naruto into the room, closing the door behind him. Once he was inside, he flicked on the light and walked Naruto over to one of the beds. The boy was responding about as much as a rock would and Kakashi sighed as he sat the blonde down and looked him in the eye.
"Naruto," he began, "The man didn't give anything away. There is no reason to be reacting like this." The boy looked up at him finally. "It's okay, Naruto. Just relax."
"They all hate me, sensei," he spoke quietly, sounded years younger than he really was.
"What are you talking about, Naruto? No one hates you," Kakashi reasoned. "They may hate the fox, but not you. Some people are just confused." For some reason, this only made Naruto look more depressed. He sat down beside the blonde and put his arm over the boys shoulders. "Look, you know I don't hate you, and neither does Iruka. There are plenty of people who know about the seal and don't hate you for it. Hell, even our client requested you specifically because of it. He surely wouldn't ask you to watch his precious pets if he hated you."
"If you all knew the real truth, you would hate me even more," Naruto said wearily, now sounding much older than his 17 years. He laid back and rolled away from Kakashi, leaving the jounin very confused. The real truth? What does he know that I don't? He wondered.
"No matter whet the truth is, I wouldn't hate the boy I've trained the last five years. I judge you on your actions. Not on what happened the night you were born," Kakashi told him sincerely. "Your actions have proven you character to me many times over. I see nothing to hate." With that, Kakashi walked out of the room to leave Naruto time to compose himself. The blondes' eyes were shut tight, holding back the tears that were summoned by Kakashi's words. He can easily say these things when he doesn't know, Naruto told himself. It would be different if he knew.
---oo0O0oo---
Kakashi returned to the living room and followed his nose to find the kitchen. Sakura and Sasuke were seated beside each other on one side of the table with their clients on either end. Kakashi took his place on the remaining side and waved off Maika when she offered to get him a plate.
"So, when are you two leaving in the morning?" Kakashi asked.
"Well, we like to get an early start, so we'll most likely be wanting to leave about an hour or so before sunrise," answered Kishorui. "I can show you the particulars of caring for the pack this evening if you'd like."
"Take Sasuke and Sakura when you've finished eating. Sakura, you and I are sharing a room for this evening. Tomorrow you can have their room," he gestured to the couple who had hired them. "And you'll be gone for one week, is that correct?"
"Yeah, we're just visiting our daughter in the capitol. She just had her second baby a few days ago."
"Congratulations," Sakura spoke politely.
"Thank you, We're just so happy you all were able to come and watch our pets so we're able to go," replied Maika replied with genuine gratefulness.
"Of course," Sakura smiled. Kakashi stood back up and reached to the center of the table grasping a biscuit.
"I'm going to turn in now," he declared. "You two make sure you get all the particulars of handling these pets and I'll see you in the morning." With that he walked off leaving Sasuke and Sakura alone with the clients once more. Maika noticed that both the young ninjas had finished their plates and officered them seconds.
"I'm fine, but thank you," Sasuke said standing up as well. "It is getting late though, if you would show us what you want us to do while you gone, I'd like to get to bed myself soon."
"Of course," Kishorui agreed. "Just follow me." The old man went towards the front door. "They prefer to stay outside so we have an enclosure on the side of our house for them to take shelter at night," he explained. "You might want to take you coats with you." Sakura stood up to follow the old man with Sasuke, but her teammate turned to her before she had a chance to take a step.
"Sakura, I can get the instructions from this guy, there is no reason for us to both go back outside in this cold weather." Sasuke turned his back to her not allowing any complaint.
"Okay, I'll help Maika here clean up these dishes," she agreed. It was really cold out after all, and if Sasuke was offering to let her stay toasty and warm she wasn't about to complain. Sasuke found his coat by the door and followed the old man out into the freezing night.
"I've noticed everyone has been reluctant to say exactly what kind of pets we'll be watching," Sasuke commented as they walked down off the porch. "Is there any reason why?"
"People fear what they don't understand, lad," the man said cryptically. "You'll see them soon enough, just have patience." Sasuke was tempted to roll his eyes at Kishorui's attempt at being mysterious. What kind of patience did he need if he was about to see them in less then a minute anyway? However, Sasuke saw the perfect opportunity to execute his ulterior mission and nodded as if he bought the mans' wisdom.
"That's true, sir," he said, "I'll bet that's why so many people fear and hate Naruto"
"You're sensei said I wasn't to speak about that," the old man remarked blandly.
"What's there to talk about?" Sasuke said in an off handed way. "Naruto told me all about it a few years ago. He's just afraid to let Sakura know because she can be rather…judgmental at times. I tend to agree with him."
"Well, I did think it was strange to keep such important secrets from teammates, but I can see how he'd like to avoid that," the man agreed wholeheartedly. "Women can be tiresome on occasion!" He had totally bought Sasuke's ruse. Now I have to just get him to say what 'we both already know' Sasuke thought.
"Do you really think it will help having him on this mission?" the dark haired ninja asked. "I haven't really noticed anything make that much difference in the past."
"Well, I thought the Inuzuka clan would do last time, but dogs just aren't wild enough I guess," the man stated as they arrived at a large gate. "Foxes are simply too tricky for one who is used to dealing with faithful mutts." Foxes? Sasuke imagined little fluffy creatures with cute ears and big tails. "My family has been breeding these guys for several generations," the man continued, "so you can imagine why we had to leave Konoha after the Nine-tails attacked. There was obviously too much hatred for their kind after that sort of event." How does this have anything to do with Naruto?
"Do you really think Naruto will be able to make that much of a difference if they gave Kiba such a hard time?"
"Of course, you would think when dealing with foxes that the carrier of the greatest of all fox demons, Kyuubi, would have some influence, wouldn't you?" the man said casually, as if he hadn't just blown the best kept secret of the last decade and a half.
"Naturally," Sasuke agreed, barely retaining his composure. Naruto carries the nine tails? Is that even possible? The blood fled from Sasuke's face giving him a chill. A demon. Naruto houses a demon.
---oo0O0oo---
A/N So? Good? Bad? Huh Huh? I really wanted to avoid that whole "you remember how everyone says Kyuubi is dead, he's not and he was sealed in me" scene. It aways sounds too akward for my taste...And I know this still fairly typical, but I -p r o m i s e- I'm building to some good things. (and more sasu.naru loving...I know this chapter was painfully void of the boy love) I will make up for it...coming next time...LOTS of that stuff...buckets of it even...hehe (I hope i can deliver)
BTW! My deviantArt page is updated...I relized alot of things on my computer hadn't made their way there yet. They have arrived, along with some brand new goodies...thanks so much for every single one of you who headed over there! One dozen cookies each! no joke! (its still my homepage on my bio if you still want to check it out :) bye bye!