The Dragon Dilemma
I don't own Naruto and Zoids
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"Talking"
'Thoughts'
/-- Scene change
)-()-( Different point of view
?-? Flash back
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Chapter 5
He glances around the front gate that leads out of the village; he ignores the subtle glares he's receiving from the guards. Oddly enough, Sakura and Sasuke arrived about ten minutes after he had, though to be fair they all were early, he's thirty minutes early while his other team mates are twenty minutes early. He looks at their packs and decides that they had done some last minute packing before leaving their respective houses.
The guards now only glare at him every three minutes then every few seconds, for they didn't want to be caught by his team mates, if he were to guess the reason. Most likely, they would in turn mention it to Kakashi and then it would most likely be reported to the Hokage. He might not know too much about what's going on, but he does know that Hokage does seem to have some kind of interest in his life, he just wasn't aware of it until he was much older. It confused him slightly, but he has come to the conclusion that if the Hokage wants to inform him about why the villages hate him, that the old man will, just not before.
He leans on the door, ignoring the increased glares from the guards as well as the questioning glances from Sakura and Sasuke. He already knows that Shadow was already outside of the village and most likely still traveling ahead, to make it to the town before they did. He was kind of sad that he would miss out on Shadow's company for the next few days until they arrive at the village. He looks towards the direction they're heading towards and can't help but wish he was traveling with Shadow instead of with his team.
As the minutes pass, he hears Sakura gasps and look into the village to find Kakashi walking towards them on time. He straightens up as Kakashi draws closer. He studies his teacher, then takes a few steps away from the village gate. He looks back as he hears Sakura make an odd noise. He glances over at Sasuke and notices that Sasuke seems to be busy eyeing their instructor. He decides to say something before either delay their departure, "I believe we have a long way to go and we're beginning to waste daylight." That snaps the other two out of it and Kakashi grins and says, "Already in mission mode, ay, Naruto?" He shrugs and answers, "I'm curious what life's like outside of the village." Sasuke snorts and adds, "What's different? There are people and they live in either cities, villages, or towns." He sighs, while Kakashi seems to grin at this. "For one thing, there are other hidden villages out there as well as different kinds of buildings and fashion designs that are popular to name a few." Kakashi says. He sighs and turns away as he says, "I'm in no mood for a lessen. I'm leaving now, your welcome to join me." He doesn't look back, despite Sakura accusing him of being rude or when Sasuke agrees with his course of action. Soon he can hear the other trail behind him, in time Sasuke walks pass him, he rolls his eyes at this course of action from the brooding ninja. They walk down the path for a bit, then they head west and south, towards the closest board between Fire Country and River Country. He wonders just what they can find in River Country as they walk in silence.
/----
They have been traveling for about five days now and he doesn't know what was worst, Kakashi's cooking or Sakura complaining about there not being any toilets around for her to use. Surprisingly enough Sasuke did prove himself to be the better chief out of the team, with Kakashi being the worst, Sakura being acceptable, and him doing fair job of cooking. He figures the reason why he wasn't a better cook had to do with nobody letting him buy what he wants to buy.
Though went it comes to gathering wild plants, roots, and mushrooms, he came in a close second with Kakashi, which pleases him quite a bit, though Kakashi did seem to frown at his skills. Kakashi had looked like he wanted to ask something, but then thought better of it. He sighed at that, though confused, once back at the camp he began to set up his tent while Sasuke begins to make supper with what Kakashi and him brought in. Sakura usually gathers the firewood as well as water.
He just kind of frowns as he thinks back on how Kakashi seems to leave with Sasuke in toe to scout around, they were even gone right now, leaving him alone with Sakura once more. He began to get the feeling like he's missing something, but shrugs it off. It's not like there's any Zoids around here or he'd have meet up with Shadow. He doubts that Sasuke knows much about Zoids, even if the other boy was informed of their existence. It's not like anyone other then the Organoids and the Zoids themselves know where they come from and how to pilot a Zoid properly. Though he has never been in a seat of one, he has Shadow explain the different layouts for some of the Zoids the Organoid merged with, so he does have a rough idea on what the controls were and what they can be used for.
His musings were cut short as Sakura asks, "Do you think that… Kakashi just wants to train Sasuke?" He blinks as he considers this. He then says cautiously, "I think Kakashi sees something in Sasuke that reminds Kakashi of his past. I think Kakashi has a hard time focusing in on the present and perhaps the future too." Sakura looks at him in shocked silence. "You must have put a lot of though into that." Sakura says softly. He shrugs and says, "Kakashi is older then us and there were wars going on long before our generation was born. It's not that hard to see Kakashi watching friends and loved ones get killed during those times of war and suffering." From the startled look on Sakura's face, it looks like that hadn't even crossed her mind, which makes him wonder just how, sheltered a life she's been leading.
'Surely her parents would mourn in front of their daughter? Even take her to see their tombstones? Or is it that Sakura just doesn't think too much on what she's learnt about history? Why do I get the feeling that I might just be the more sensitive one out of the team?' He thinks as Sakura goes back to attending the campfire. He finds that kind of odd, considering he never had a family to care about or that cared about him. He doesn't really remember too much about his early years, they just held a lot of sadness and despair, he prefers that memories that came after his meeting of Shadow. 'For someone who never was given a kind word or gesture from anyone that wasn't from the old man, I seem to have a larger heart then anyone I've meet. Sure, I guess some of those people might be among the kindness people in the village, but they never show any of it to me, so does that make them good people? If you pick and choice who to be nice too, does that qualify you to be considered a kind man? If it does, then does that say about me? Or am I just fool?' He thinks as he looks up into the cloudy night sky. True he doesn't want to get close to anyone, but the reason was kind of simple, he doesn't want to leave a whole lot of people to miss him while he's gone from the village, from this world. He knows he'll not get any answers from the sky, let alone from the people around him.
)-(Sasuke)-(
They arrive back at the camp to find Naruto poking the fire with a stick. Without looking at either of them, the blond says, "You're later then usual." He sighs and wonders if Naruto has a second set of eyes in the back of his head. "Sorry, we thought we spotted something important." Kakashi says, it's not a lie, but it wasn't the truth either. Naruto just nods and says, "Sakura was getting worried. You two might want to stop for a while or you can take her with you to scout." He glares at Naruto's back, not liking what the blond is suggesting. "She can live with it." He growls out. Naruto snorts and replies, "She's beginning to feel like baggage, Sasuke. That's not good for team moral." He's about to say something, but Kakashi cuts him off. "You don't seem to be worried." Kakashi states.
Naruto finally turns his head to look at them and says simply, "I prefer to train with Shikamaru and Choji. Shikamaru helps break down jutsu I know and Choji is a fine sparring partner." His eyes narrow and he says, "You seem to forget I'm here, Dobe." Naruto looks his way once more and snorts before saying, "You just like beating the snot out of me, that's not what sparring is about." He bristles at that but once more Kakashi cuts him off by saying, "Just what kind of jutsu do you know? I haven't seen you use them." "That's because so I have an advantage if I ever face him for real." Naruto says as he looks at their instructor. "You don't seem to understand the value of team work." Kakashi says flatly. Naruto snorts and says, "I'm more worried about Sakura then I'll very be of him. Unlike her, he'll always have someone willing to teach him anything he wants to learn." He blinks, at a lost to how to react to that.
Oddly enough Kakashi slowly nods in agreement with that. "What about you?" Kakashi asks. Naruto snorts and says, "Like anyone in the village ever wants to teach me to kill anyone." That threw him for a loop as it seems that Kakashi seems a bit sad as he says, "I see. It's not like your going out of your way to be social." He is beginning to feel like he's being ignored, which was kind of a new experience for him. "So people can hurt me more then what I've experienced? I've had enough experience with fake friends and fake concerned adults to last me the rest of my life. They put up the barrier, not me. I'm tired of the fact that I'm expected to prove myself to a hate filled crowd, they'll never change their opinion of me so why bother?" Naruto asks. "I seem to remember you once proclaimed that you wanted to be Hokage." Kakashi points out. Naruto shrugs and says, "Dreams change, Kakashi. If things work out like I hope they do, I'll be leaving the village and starting a new life somewhere else. I also don't have any real plans of remaining a ninja either, not once I have the means to leave this place behind."
He's stunned at that. He blinks and notices that Kakashi also seems stunned. Naruto gets up off the ground and heads towards his tent. "Night." Naruto says before slipping into the tent. He just stares at the tent that belongs to the other boy. He doesn't know just what just was exchanged, but he knows that it was something that Kakashi didn't expect to happen. Then as what Naruto said began to move around in his mind, he does begin to remember some kind of warnings about staying away from a blond haired boy with whisker like scars on his cheeks. He hadn't thought too much about it, but now that he thought about it, Naruto is blond and does have three lines on each check that could be considered whisker like. He looks over to Kakashi, only to find that the jonin has disappeared, thus leaving him alone and confused.
To be continued …