"Forsooth, the contract wast signed, between your kin and her. Multiples of her, spread as a guidance to all."
- The Book of Log
C17: Wave After Wave (Pt.4)
Cloudy grey skies stretched over the bridge as far as the eyes could see. The sun barely able to peep through its vast thickness. When it did though, its lukewarm rays hit Sasuke right in his eyes irritating him more and more with every passing second. Kakashi found his cute little Uchiha's eye-twitching absolutely hilarious as far as he was concerned. His three students were huddled close together in the cold morning talking between themselves with the occasional peep towards the construction workers who were in the final stages of their work. The Hatake of course, was nowhere to be seen, yet watching. Always watching.
"Sensei gave us a direct order. 'I'm having a good feeling about tomorrow, Sasuke and Naruto should be Tazuna-san's security detail' he said at 10:32pm last night," declared Naruto to his fellow Uchiha, quoting his sensei with the hopes of ending this conversation.
He'd been hearing the boys on his team go back and forth for ages, a little bit like how Obito and him used to do so back in the day. He really loved the way Naruto imitated him while quoting his lines. It was scarily accurate, in fact, if he didn't know any better, he'd think that the blond deliberately practiced it in his mirror every day. With a well-cast henge, the boy could probably pretend to be him in front of anyone considering how much time he'd spent with him when he was younger.
Kakashi could see the blond's concerned glance as he continued speaking, "He used the command word 'should' which is why we are here."
This was the comedic gold he'd signed up for when Hokage-sama had cajoled him into actually passing his team this year. The only reason the Hokage let him keep the blond on his team, despite the fact that they'd had a close relationship prior, was precisely because of that. He knew that the Hatake wouldn't have failed this team like he'd done for many others. Truth be told, the other two were also quite funny. Having just Naruto was comedy, but Sakura and Sasuke, both of whom were also equally as special?
Sakura clearly looked irritated, having heard the two go back and forth like clockwork for the past ten minutes. "Sasuke," She gave him a cold hard look, "Our work's almost done, Tazuna-san's bridge is almost finished and we haven't met Zabuza yet."
The man chuckled. It wasn't his fault she was here when he'd told her specifically not to come. However, he did respect zeal and the comedy that was playing out. He knew his humour was so shot, but he didn't care. It wasn't his fault that when he was twenty-two, an Iwa-nin may or may not have damaged a teeny-tiny part of his brain that handled his ability to find things funny. Or maybe that was just the excuse he told Anko when he laughed at her inability to get rid of her cursemark when all she had to do was ask him to help. It totally wasn't like he was the only person in the village with even a little bit of sealing talent since sensei passed away and Jiraya-sama had left for his eternal mission of information gathering.
Sasuke hmphed. After the frenetic battles which marked the start of the mission, the Uchiha felt that babysitting a fifty-nine-year-old was quite the let-down. That much was obvious even to their white-haired sensei. Their reactions and expressions were priceless. Ninja normally lost the ability to display much emotion in casual interactions by the time they were past chunin, having it beaten out of them during missions and training where even one uncontrolled emotional expression could mean the difference between life and death. These kids though, way over-compensated for what felt like a lifetime of almost no example of healthy emotional interactions between people. Gai didn't count.
"At least you two managed to get out of watching this stupid bridge yesterday," Sasuke muttered unhappily.
"We went because Tazuna-san had to go into town," muttered Sakura, "It isn't my fault that someone decided to start feeding everybody."
She looked accusatorily at the only blond in the vicinity.
"People were hungry and I had enough food." Naruto said, declaring each sentence like as if he was enumerating a list, "Ergo, as a responsible person I should provide." He looked at them with a smile, "'Sharing is caring' is a widely known ethos, so it's not that strange of an action. I only gave everyone free ramen and three ration bars. It was all pretty light actually and I still have plenty left."
"Why were you carrying around so much ramen anyway? Normal people don't have enough food to feed an entire village with them." Sasuke looked at the blond exasperatedly as he spoke.
Naruto considered what the Uchiha said. Their sensei knew his charge's tells. Especially this blond one's. He really took everything to heart, especially from those he cared about. Constantly trying to improve himself and willing to take onboard criticism. It was a good trait maybe, but one that meant that he needed to be extra careful when speaking to him.
"You bring up a good point. I should carry a balanced diet, in addition to ramen. I assumed that everyone else on the team would be carrying enough, but it is better to be safe than sorry."
Sakura tried sarcasm, "You're right. Who knows what could happen on a mission? For all we know, a freak blizzard could occur and we'd be stuck for months as people try their best to find us."
The blond nodded and Kakashi could just see him making a mental note to carry emergency packs.
Sasuke looked at Sakura and just shook his head without saying a word.
"We're in the Land of Fire, blizzards aren't-" Sakura stopped when Sasuke put a hand on her shoulder and gave her a pleading look, "For Izanagi's sake, don't encourage him, please."
Kakashi was pretty sure that Naruto was going to make sure to have everything he'd need to survive anywhere they could go. He was always overprepared, which as a ninja can only be a good thing.
Speaking of which, he was pretty sure that he saw some leaves fall unintentionally a distance away from the trees. By his estimates, it wouldn't be too long till the biggest challenge they were going to face on this mission would arrive. Until then though, there was a very very cheeky scene he needed to finish re-reading in Icha Icha Violence.
Team Seven stood quietly watching the men at work. It looked like Sasuke had given up on complaining and turned to sulked. As time passed, the weather thickened into a nice warm fog. Naruto felt quite content for his part, soaking in the sombre grey clouds up above with sunshine barely peaking from behind. It was meaningfully different from the sunshine he'd always experienced in Konoha and so, it made the experience quite novel. The air smelt comfortingly salty and the visibility was good enough to almost not notice Sensei materialise behind them.
"We've got company," their sensei said with a wave and a hand in pocket.
"Company?" Sakura ran to join him. The two boys made to follow suit, until a voice stopped them.
"Where do you think you're going?"
They turned around to find themselves face to face with the masked hunter-nin from before.
Naruto took a good look at it. The ninja wore a standard issue Kirigakure uniform from what the blond could tell, having learnt about them in a wonderful book on shinobi uniforms. The light-brown colour scheme was supposed to improve their camouflage reportedly. However, it was clear that the person in front of him had little interest in hiding. He wore an eye-catching tightfitting forest green haori over the uniform which was secured with an over-sized light brown sash. The blond presumed it was to balance out the otherwise monotone colour scheme of their uniform.
"We want the bridge-builder, not you."
Name: Hunter-nin
Level: 86
Health: 100%
Chakra: 100%
Its mask prevented the blond from learning anything more about the figure through his HUD. This irked him. The mask looked at him coldly, where a mouth should have been was instead a wave pattern while on its forehead was emblazoned the symbol of Kirigakure. Three slashes in a row.
"If you back down, we won't hurt you," It declared crisp and clearly. Its voice was like clear glass.
"We can't do that," Naruto responded almost immediately without thinking.
"Naruto's right, we can't fail our first actual mission!" Sasuke yelled before pulling out a kunai and attacking the hunter-nin. The blond followed suit.
Kunai in hand, he slashed at the knee of their assailant. Sasuke going for the other side. Their foe jumped and kicked the kunai out of their hands. The blond could feel the pressure, but not the pain of the attack as his ability helped spread out any damage. The Uchiha had no such luck, feeling his fingers cry out for mercy, but he steeled his resolve and reached into his holster for another kunai.
The figure observed them as Naruto took out another kunai and went into the appropriate taijutsu stance. With one nod from his teammate, they changed their footing and leapt. This was a technique they'd practiced since the academy. A bait and switch type move. He feinted attacking the left hand which was forming a seal to go for the torso, while Sasuke went for the groin.
In one deft motion, the masked ninja deflected the Uchiha first and then the Uzumaki mid-feint with the practiced ease of a ninja who had been fighting for most of their life.
They went back into the fight and slashed with their kunai. Up and to the right. Left and downwards. Down and up. Naruto used the Konoha style, while Sasuke used the Uchiha interceptor style. Whenever the figure tried to deflect the blond's attack, Sasuke intervened to block his lone kunai. The first time the figure managed to both deflect the Uchiha's kunai and block the blond's felt like a fluke. The tenth time in a row this happened meant only one thing.
We can't win this unless-
"You're making a mistake, especially since I have the upper hand on two counts." the figure spoke.
Naruto tried channelling wind chakra through his kunai hoping to make it sharper as described in one of the scrolls Sensei gave him. If he could only cut through the enemy's kunai, he may have had a chance. The kunai blunted and softened as it came into contact with the opposing kunai, making it little more better than a newspaper roll.
My level is too low for this
"For someone so young, it's impressive that you managed to channel your chakra through a normal weapon without hurting yourself." the masked ninja channelled wind chakra through its own kunai and cut through their weapons like butter.
Sasuke didn't look dismayed. He immediately began to form handsigns with a determined look on his face.
"I can do this without killing anyone," the figure muttered to itself. The blond probably would have missed it over the sound of the jutsu it was also preparing if his ears weren't as sensitive as they were.
If he doesn't want to kill us then maybe-
The masked ninja grabbed Sasuke's wrist just as he was about to bring his hands together to form his own hand-sign and used his hands to finish off its own jutsu.
-maybe we have a chance?
"[Suiton: Hundred Needles of Death]"
The blond watched with a sense of... something. He wasn't too sure about the emotions he was feeling. He'd never felt negative emotions before, so this was a strange experience. He tried swallowing this sensation away and focused his eyes on what was going on in the battlefield.
A flock of ice needles descended from the sky, looking almost like Tenten's jutsu. If that was all there was to this jutsu, he quickly charted out a battleplan with only one goal.
I need to take these away from Sasuke
He used his kawarimi jutsu to teleport fifty metres away from the suiton jutsu and noted how 97% of them diverted their course away from the Uchiha and towards them.
This will have to do
He then tried sixty-five metres. They continued following him, all 100% were on his tail which helped him confirm his hypothesis.
They are proximity-triggered
He experimented with multiple distances rapidly, using trial and error, he deduced that 94.5m was the absolute limit at which they would continue following him. Any more and they would just return to their caster by default. Having teleported in front of every single obstacle he could find in the copse of trees near the bridge, he also now had exactly 27% of the flock left to deal with.
They were fast. Very fast. And powerful. They pierced through tree bark and stone like a red hot iron through butter. The needles were slowing down though. It was clear that their chakra reserves weren't built for this much abuse and distance.
As the flock attempted to stick into him like piñata, he kawarimi'd away.
They were fast, yes.
But he was faster.
Rapidly substituting within the copse of trees back towards the bridge, two steps forward, one step backward, was quickly draining their strength. The final needles embedded into a tree and instead of the viciousness they normally used to pierce through non-organic matter, melted. With a sigh of relief, they trickled down the bark.
The blond quickly kawarimi'd back to the fight.
Sasuke had taken advantage of the distraction to feign a kick, causing the masked ninja to let go of his hand. He finished his hand-signs. Gritting through the stabbing sensation of a few wayward needles, he breathed out a massive fireball.
Naruto couldn't feel its heat from 500m away which was unusual as he knew that the fireball jutsu was a terribly inefficient jutsu where most of the chakra was dispersed as thermal energy in the air. His calculations told him that he should most definitely be able to feel it.
This is different
The ninja let out a scream and formed ice out of nothing to coat its hand.
"How did you manage to cook the insides of my hand without hurting my skin?" it said with great curiosity as it examined its hand from different angles. There were a few singe marks, but beyond that, nothing betrayed the mass destruction that had taken place underneath. The figure's wrists were the only functional part of its left-hand.
Sasuke looked quite proud, "Kakashi-sensei told me to practice hunting and preparing meals with only my katon jutsu, so I had to figure out some way of cooking it because it was getting kinda repetitive skinning it and then cooking it. So this jutsu makes it easier. Now, all I had to do was peel the skin off and presto! Perfectly cooked meat. In fact, I've dubbed mu jutsu [Katon: Reverse Fireball Jutsu]"
Even though the figure's face was covered, Naruto could tell that it wasn't happy.
"You've been cooking animals from the inside out?" it questioned in the same monotone voice. His mugshot told a different story to the indifference it seemed to wear.
The Uchiha paused, considering what the masked ninja had said, "I guess I have." He shrugged nonchalantly, "It was going to die anyway."
"So you believe that it is fine to needlessly cause pain and suffering to others since you intend on killing them anyway?" further questioned the shinobi.
Naruto felt the temperature drop. A sick feeling in his stomach told him that this was wrong. Even if according to Konoha legislation, none of this was an issue, there was something wrong about cooking something while it was alive. Something which grated his insides.
Disgust?
Even if he did cook the meat quite exquisitely, there was something patently wrong about this situation to the blond. He couldn't quite explain the feelings that were coursing through him, but he could use logical reasoning to dissuade his friend from this path. These callous actions sounded like it could lead Sasuke to behaviours some consider... unnatural. A slippery slope indeed he felt.
"It's right," The Uchiha turned his head towards Naruto in shock, "If your moral compass permits this, it won't take too much to push you into becoming a sadist."
Sasuke looked horrified at what the blond had said, "I'd never become a sadist. How can you even-?" He was cut off by the hunter-nin.
"I'm a man. There's no need to refer to me as an it. I also agree with you Naruto, I've seen many people who go down this path."
The masked figure looked at Sasuke and nodded, "You need to keep your morals always in mind, especially in our field. There is a very thin line that separates the heroes from the villains, you need to watch yourself."
Sasuke looked at Naruto and then back at the ninja, aghast.
"Why am I not surprised that I'm getting lectured by someone who wants to kill me and my best friend at the same time? Aren't we supposed to be enemies?" He turned to look at the blond, "Why are you agreeing with the enemy?"
Naruto made to speak, but Sasuke interrupted him, "Before you say anything, you both are probably right. But we're in the middle of a battle and he's just distracting us. Kakashi-sensei and Sakura might be killed by Zabuza and we're here having a 'roast Sasuke' session."
Naruto looked over at the other members of team. They were locked in combat: Sakura protecting Tazuna and helping the other workers escape while Kakashi valiantly fought Zabuza, parrying his attacks, weaving hand signs to counter his. The fluidity and rhythm with which they dipped in and out of active combat made them more akin to two dancers than the enemies they actually were.
The masked ninja looked at the two boys as they observed the fight playing out in the distance and nodded to himself.
"It is clear that the both of you are good people… heroes maybe," He formed a handsign and within moments, they were surrounded by a maze of mirrors in all directions, a structure that seemed even larger than Tazuna's house. His voice reverberated throughout the cage magnifying itself with each reflection, "Villains and heroes are simply a matter of perspective, you do not know why we fight."
He appeared in front of them, "Be careful and true to yourself. Never forget why you do what you do, otherwise you will regret it."
Naruto tried grabbing the ninja, only for him to shimmer away like light which added to the growing concerns that the blond had about this whole encounter. The ninja could travel fast enough to leave afterimages. He also easily held off the both of them with only a single kunai. This wasn't a good situation to be in by any metric he could think of.
"I fight because Zabuza-sama gave me purpose in my life… when I had none."
Sasuke was torn between paying attention to him and formulating a plan.
Naruto had no such qualms, fully engrossed in the masked ninja's monologue. He'd calculated that his time would be better spent listening than trying to figure out what to do... at least this way, he'd learn something new and perhaps he'd be able to distract himself from the strange feelings swirling in his head which were threatening to ensnare him.
"I would die to defend him because I owe him everything." The man jumped from mirror to mirror, almost like as if he was warming up for the battle ahead, "It's why I have to eliminate the two of you from this fight despite my feelings."
Sasuke tried attacking the mirages left behind by the ninja as he flitted from mirror to mirror. He wielded his kunai deftly, slashing at every masked figure that passed him to no avail. He tried using his fire snapping ability, a skill the blond recalled his friend had been trying to master all those weeks ago, however it too was ineffective. The flames weren't fast enough nor strong enough to hurt him. Looking at his friend solidified the swirling feelings from earlier into a thump that slapped his brain the more he watched his friend struggle to even touch the man.
Naruto knew that neither of them possessed the skills required to defeat their foe. He couldn't even see the man as he jumped. He was too fast.
The blond looked at his level.
86? Unless we get some divine intervention, the probability of success is... pretty low
The Uchiha was now trying to damage the mirrors, but this too was in vain. Not even a scuff mark lay where his kunai touched. The thump began to slam into his brain as he watched his friend hack and slash at the mirror, making him feel really uneasy.
Is this... dread? despair? fear? Nausea?
"I'm sorry," The man readied some actual senbon this time. This really wasn't looking good. He hadn't even noticed that their foe was until now simply trying to tire them out.
I feel like vomiting, I really really-
Naruto looked at Sasuke, only to see him look straight back at him. He had a worried expression. Not the one he usually wore when he did something facetious and against his recommendations, but something... something else. This was the kind of expression which betrayed his desperation; his obsidian orbs were trying to search for hope in the blond's visage. He was aware that the Uchiha had fully transformed into the happy-go-lucky type of person he was now, in the period between his second and third visit to the Uchiha estates, but this was a side of him that reminded him of a time before that. The time when they'd first met all those years ago when he'd saved him from the garbage bin.
Looking into his friend's eyes reminded him of something, a promise he made some time ago now.
He couldn't let him down.
Focus
Naruto gave the Uchiha a grin and a nod. It was important that he didn't panic. The blond was barely able to think as it was since the clarity from a few milliseconds ago was already long departed. His gesture seemed to have been enough though. Sasuke returned his smirk and rolled his eyes like he always did when he'd acknowledged that the blond was right in an argument. This was an expression Naruto was quite familiar with. His friend turned determinedly towards the masked figure, waiting for their next move.
Naruto had no plans in his head. This wasn't like the previous times they'd argued.
Think
The thumping made thought extremely difficult. It was like his brain was trying its level best to escape and be spared from the impending doom that was approaching them. He could feel his vision start to swim.
It was obvious that he needed to figure something out and quick. There wasn't enough time to plan anything complicated and anything that was easy had a high chance of failure.
Something else joined the thumping noise inside the blond which gave him the helpful sensation of wanting to curl up and die. It would be so much easier, it whispered, to throw in the towel.
No…no….
He tried running simulations of how this battle could go, but every run made that strange sensation in his gut twist and clench like a towel being wrung dry. It was not only highly distracting, but the feeling made him feel less and less hopeful.
Stop
He could see the shinobi getting ready to throw his senbon. His brain was panicking. Banging against his skull to be let out.
Focus, focus-
The senbon was just about to be released from his hand.
[Gamer's Mind]
Everything seemed to go still. He couldn't even hear his own breath.
All was silent.
Until, suddenly he heard a loud and clear sound. Clear as the icy mirrors surrounding him.
SQUACK
"Excuse me?" said the masked ninja, trying to look for the source of the sound. After the distraction and invocation of his ability, he felt normal. No strange feelings. No thumping. No weakness.
Near Naruto and Sasuke, a little duck waddled in seemingly from out of nowhere.
Not just any duck though. This was Sensei's duck, Naruto realised.
The one Sakura asked to keep.
SQUACK
The entire ice cage exploded with smoke.
He tried substituting out of the cage, but it didn't work. The cage must have incorporated a barrier seal, he surmised. To his side, he could hear Sasuke inhale deeply.
I'm surprised he isn't coughing
Naruto realised what the Uchiha was doing a second before it happened and threw some wind chakra into the super-powered fireball as it formed while trying to coat himself with water chakra to protect himself.
All it did was drench himself even more. It was quite foggy anyway now, so it seemed to have been a more or less meaningless endeavour.
My water level isn't high enough for something that delicate
The blond could see his own HP drop steadily as the fireball's size increased. Although the masked ninja couldn't see them, courtesy of Sakura's puppet's smoke bomb, he could probably feel the heat building up.
If this doesn't work, we're definitely going to die
Naruto quickly opened up his inventory, trying to find something useful. He saw a cute little icon of a plastic bottle with golden liquid swirling inside.
Oil!
He took out the 2L bottle of vegetable oil he had handy.
Oil and fire go together, Sasuke should probably be able to handle the extra heat. Although…
He noticed that Sasuke's fireball was almost ready.
With all the skill of his max levelled projectile throwing skill, he threw the bottle not at the fireball, but far enough away towards the ice mirrors, that the extremely dangerous blast radius should hopefully not encompass them.
The duck bellowed deeper and darker smoke. It seemed almost never ending, both the inky darkness which suffused the area and the incessant noise.
SQUACK-SQUACK-SQUACK
I wouldn't be too surprised if even the hunter-nin couldn't see the fireball through this.
Sasuke squinted, trying to see what the blond had thrown at his flame and after noticing it, immediately took off in the opposite direction. Naruto was slightly confused, but trusted the Uchiha on fiery matters.
BOOM!
The explosion took almost half of the ice cage out. The holes in the icy prison let out all the smoke, clearing the area. Naruto was tempted to kawarimi out, until he noticed Sasuke's bloodshot eyes.
"We need to get out of here!" the Uchiha yelled before pushing the blond towards the gaping hole.
Both of them turned to look at the cage which had already reformed in the short time they had looked away and then at the masked ninja who reappeared in the mirror right in front of them with his sleeves slightly burnt off.
"I never expected any of this…" The ninja ripped off his smouldering sleeves and flexed his right wrist, "You have forced my hand."
The masked man readied the senbon in his hand and in a flash, the entire cage rained.
"I thought I could deal with the two of you without anyone getting hurt."
Naruto remembered his training with Tenten and visualised exactly how he'd deal with this.
Now this is like her kunai storm.
He substituted between senbon, not stopping at any, making it look like as if he was teleporting between them. He felt one sink into his shoulder, but otherwise he was unharmed.
He could feel the blood gushing in his ears as he dodged between each senbon. The intensity of the fight awoke something in him. He'd never fought like this before. This was exhilarating. This was fun. This. This. This made him feel alive.
He turned towards the Uchiha and was blinded by the light.
His vision was flashing red.
Warning
The HP of Party Member [Sasuke] has dropped below 10%
The pop-up disappeared as he looked at his friend.
Senbon pierced his entire body, no area was left untouched. He was curled up and looked almost dead. He couldn't even hear his breath even though he was close enough to see the ghost of surprise etched in his face.
"Is this the first time you've seen a friend die?" The ninja asked with childlike curiosity.
Naruto saw red.
Jinchuriki Mode [Kyuubi] activated
The blond felt chakra flow into him, healing him completely. It wasn't his, that much even he knew. But. It felt good. Instinctively, he knew that it was bad. This chakra felt like power. Pure unadulterated power. Burning. Limitless. Larger than the seemingly eternal deserts of Sunagakure. As far and wide as the great world ocean. Burning. The kind of power which he'd always assumed Jiji had during his prime when he was known as the strongest shinobi, enough to defeat the great sage of the Way of the Wood, the Mokuton user Hashirama Senju.
Power to reshape the landscape, bring down mountains, create tidal waves. This was power beyond any reasonable human's capacity. Power like this didn't feel like it belonged to this world. There was something, something alien about it.
It was intoxicating.
He should have felt invincible.
But it couldn't have been further from the truth.
The last thing I did was criticise Sasuke-
He leapt towards the mirror which housed the masked ninja and with a wind-chakra charged kunai blew it apart.
Dead
With his other hand, he formed spikes of water and tried to jam it through the ninja's skull.
I fail and fail and fail and fail and fail and fail and fail-
The masked figure jumped from that mirror to another and threw a volley of senbon at him.
With a thought, he felt red hot chakra surge out from his hands and deflect the senbon.
Everyone dies
He roared and jumped towards the source and destroyed the mirror.
I kill
As soon as he landed, he dodged. He grinned.
Rip. Kill. Murder.
Senbon rained down at the very spot he left.
He didn't know why, but he could feel everything
And see
He saw him, who before moved too fast for his eyes, and grabbed his right arm.
Emotions are suffering. Hate. Hate. Hate.
Naruto manipulated the water around him. Without even a thought, it swirled around him like a vortex and shimmered into shards of ice.
The boy growled at the masked-nin. His mind turning into jelly.
Just before they hit the ninja, the spikes turned into water and he began to speak.
Naruto interrupted by headbutting him, destroying his mask.
Name: Yuki Haku
Level: 86
Health: 93%
Chakra: 80%
Rank: Nukenin (Access to the [Grand Bazaar]; -60 REP to [Ninja Villages]; Max Scroll Ranking: S-Rank; +15% Stealth)
Affiliation: Zabuza (Strong)
Traits: Water Nature (First); Wind Nature (Second); Ice Nature
"Kill?"
Naruto looked at him, his face flush with anger. Rage. Misery.
Innocent?
He felt the burning chakra ease as he stared into Haku's eyes. Their faces almost touching.
He couldn't do this. This wasn't right. He was careless again. Like in the exams. Like when he died.
"Why have you stopped?"
Naruto couldn't speak, the red chakra and his anger fighting very hard to resurface.
"I am a blunted tool now with no purpose. Zabuza doesn't need me anymore. Avenge your friend." Haku looked at him despondently and whispered in his ear, "I want to die."
The last traces of the chakra vanished. His carelessness almost killed someone. Again.
Naruto didn't want to be a murderer. It went against every fibre of his being. Everyone had something to live for, he strongly believed. This wasn't okay. It wasn't logical that he would want to die because Zabuza didn't need him anymore.
"Why do you hesitate? You were quite interested in being a hero."
The blond looked at Haku's empty eyes, "Go on then, kill the villain."
His brain was running at 500mph trying to figure out how to respond appropriately, he knew there must be something he could say, "There are more... solutions to a problem than just mur-killing the enemy." The blond paused before continuing, "There are more ways to show your strength and be a hero than beating someone in battle like-"
Haku interrupted, looking at him with such an intensity that his brain wanted to go and retire in the Land of Cats, "You need to be willing to kill for your dreams, there are things in life worth killing for. Worth dying for."
Naruto looked at him, feeling even his anger ebb away.
Village protocols dictate that I should kill this ninja
"However," Haku let the water shards drip onto the ground, "My time to die has not come yet."
He is a threat and killed…
Naruto looked ahead and noticed that the fog had cleared to reveal Sensei whose hand was thrust straight through Haku's heart. He seemed to have leapt between the two to defend Zabuza who was immobilised by sensei's summon dogs.
"I knew I found a treasure when I found you, boy," The dogs had disappeared. The wielder of the Kubikiribocho raised his weapon up, ready to slice through sensei who was held in place by Haku's body, "Not only have you given me my life, but Kakashi's as well!"
The Hatake jumped out of the way.
"Not bad," He chuckled, "For having a corpse in your arms."
Kakashi laid Haku on the ground and closed his eyes. After a moment, he looked up with steely determination.
Naruto went through the windows which had popped up and realised that Sasuke's health had only dropped below 10%, it didn't mean that he was dead. By the time he returned his gaze to the fight, Zabuza had already swung his sword at Kakashi who had jumped up at just the right time to kick him in the face sending him back.
He ran at their sensei again and with his sword attempted to cut him in half, but Kakashi stepped into his attack and delivered a punch straight to his face.
The man looked angrier and angrier with each blow Kakashi dodged with his hands in his pocket.
The moment Zabuza stopped to catch his breath, Sensei shunshin'd behind him and had his hand around his neck.
"You're falling apart, I knew that you didn't have what it takes for the long haul."
The man growled, "What did you say?"
"You have no idea what real strength is."
Naruto watched the battle in awe, amazed at how the ex-Anbu captain completely outclassed Zabuza despite only a few levels of difference. It clearly meant that the levelling scale was logarithmic. The differences between levels as you go up must be astronomical.
As the blond paid attention to the fight in front of him, he failed to notice the water clone sneaking up behind him.
"Stupid boy," The clone grabbed his neck. "Kakashi, I've found your weak point." He yelled over the bridge.
Sensei stopped and looked at the blond with genuine fear in his eyes.
Naruto saw the blade, the massive sword of legend, the Kubikirinobocho at his neck. Just the sight of it so close to him destroyed his train of thought.
I died-died-diedededdeded
His brain felt like mush and he started hyperventilating. He felt detached from his body, at once both in it and observing it as it fell into a mess.
No Naruto, you died. Yes. You died died died died died
His breathing slowed just as he started feeling light headed.
But not now. Dying is fine. This is your mind playing tricks on you. Focus. [Gamer's Mind]
The blond focused and took a deep breath to clear his brain. He opened his eyes to see his foe in a complete headlock.
"Don't you ever touch my students you snot-nosed brat," Kakashi said with anger. Zabuza was sputtering unable to breathe, "I was killing Jounin before you were even born."
Naruto looked at his sensei in awe, his head feeling better already.
"Well, well, so this is how it turns out, huh?"
In an instant, the Kubikirinobocho went flying to the other side of the bridge while Kakashi jammed a few kunai in Zabuza's arm before letting him go in one smooth motion.
"Now both of your arms are useless, you can't even make hand signs"
"I don't need handsigns to kill you…Hatake." Momochi barely managed to cough out his words, trying to catch his breath. He looked at the ninja in front of him with fear and respect.
Naruto looked around the battlefield and saw a veritable army come out of the fog blocking the exit out of Wave. They were a rag-tag group of men perhaps fifty strong from what the blond could tell. They wore muted colours, almost blending into the background of the fog which seemed to have decided to avoid the area of battle, instead skulking at its borders. Their weapons were the usual bandit fare, some machetes, swords, spears and even a couple of pikes jutting out from the throng. No ranged weapons gave the blond a sense of relief. At their head was a short and stout man wearing a suit twirling his spindle thin mustache with all the confidence of someone who knew that he was superior to everyone else in the room. Arrogance manifest. The blond could just about see a fat wallet peeking out from underneath his jacket.
"I normally bring less men to kill off the ninja I hire, but…" The man pushed up his circular glasses and with a very punchable face declared, "This time I had people volunteer for free which was a nice surprise."
That's rude Naruto, you can't call his face punchable
He scolded himself. He didn't know where these thoughts were coming from. All these stupid thoughts.
"Oh, what's this?" The man pretended to not have noticed Haku's corpse as he stepped on it, "That's what you get for crossing Gato"
He began to kick him.
Naruto could see Haku as if he was right in front of him. He seemed like a nice guy, they could perhaps have been friends in another life. He gave them life advice, even though he was their enemy. Haku held back the entire time which told him everything he needed to know about what kind of person he was. He had values. His dedication to Zabuza was immense. Loyalty should be rewarded.
Why doesn't he defend him?
Naruto felt something inside him bristle. Something was wrong. There was something wrong with this whole situation. Everything was messed up today. These emotions, these feelings.
"How can you take such insult?" Naruto strode towards Zabuza with purpose, "Haku trusted you, he believed in you and died for you. There was nothing else in the world that mattered to him more than you."
The man said nothing.
"He was willing to die when he felt that he was useless as a tool for you. Is that loyalty not worth something? Was it so one sided? He said you were his hero. You were there for him when no one else was."
Naruto was getting more and more indignant as he spoke.
Why is he not getting how unjust this is?
"He WAS-" Naruto made to continue, but was cut off by the man.
"You are a fool, child." He looked at Naruto straight in the eye which the blond returned with as much intensity as he could muster, "A naïve idealistic idiot. Ninjas don't care about each other. We are tools to be used."
"We are human beings first and foremost," declared Naruto. He realised a second later that what he said could potentially be considered treasonous as the laws do state that their duty is towards the village first and foremost. Their duty towards each other is secondary.
What on earth am I doing? This is almost treason. Stop… Stop talking to the enemy.
Zabuza looked at him with shock. He then closed his eyes and took a shallow breath before speaking again, "You remind me of Haku. He too was naïve, he really believed that people were good at their core. Just ignorance and fear of the unknown stop us from caring about one another."
Why am I going against the rules? This is wrong-
Naruto almost started talking, but then realised that no. This was a pause in the conversation.
"Heroes don't exist, child. Even if I was a hero to Haku, I couldn't save him. All I know is to kill and that is all he knew too. That's the only thing I could give him."
But maybe, maybe…
"That was enough," Naruto didn't know where his surety was coming from, but something told him that this was right. Another part of him also told him to shut up.
The man closed his eyes once again.
Why is he telling me all this? Even if I'm going against village laws, it doesn't mean that he should stop trying to kill me
Naruto looked at Zabuza's mugshot and saw an image which he'd never seen before. The man was broken. Taking care of Haku was probably the only thing keeping him going.
"I killed my whole class because in Kirigakure, the only thing they value is strength. Might is right in Kiri, more so than anywhere else. They call us the Bloody Mist because every ninja from our village has the blood of their own on their hands. Teammates, comrades… they mean nothing when everyone has killed their best friends. To graduate, you have to kill your whole class."
"You can't abandon your comrades," Naruto started, "Haku wasn't one of them. He may have died, but don't let him die in vain."
Shut up Naruto. What are you saying? Please stop.
He felt something inside of him, a burning feeling which made him feel lightheaded but also gave him a sense of clarity in his thoughts, "Every novel has a hero experience loss. What is important is that they learn from it and improve. Haku would have wanted you to live."
Zabuza's eyes narrowed with such precision that the blond genuinely felt scared for his life, but then he smirked, "Haku would definitely have liked you. Two idealists in a pod. Remember kid, you need strength."
Naruto heard Gato declare in the background that all the stragglers had caught up. They had a complete bridge-sized army. Zabuza ignored him and continued.
"The weak only listen to the strong, kid. Not the weak of body, but of mind. You need to have conviction. You need to back it with strength." The man began to stare off into the distance. Naruto wasn't sure if he was even talking to him anymore.
"Never waver or falter from caring about others. I did. Haku showed me that life could be better. He was like a son to me and I was more content with him than I ever was as part of the Swordsmen of the Mist."
He looked at the blond again, his gaze piercing him, "Power like blood, only attracts the carnivores. Herbivores may not like you, but still they will come for protection. Avoid those people. You want people to like you for you, not your power, not for your wealth or anything that can be lost. I left Mist and no one cared about me. The rebels came to me, not because I cared about the village, but because I have power. Have morals, have convictions. They are what separate you from people like them-"
He pointed at Gato who looked absolutely livid, "If I wanted a sermon, I'd go to a temple. Kill him."
Zabuza continued ignoring him, "I want to die doing the right thing. I will kill these people, these treacherous roaches who are the reason we all suffer."
The man muttered something which Naruto barely caught, "Haku forgive me for wasting your sacrifice" He turned towards the blond and in a swift motion too fast for the blond to react to, he grabbed his kunai and wielded it with his teeth.
What followed was a bloodbath.
Zabuza went into the small army and murdered an entire flank. Beheading Gato first.
Naruto heard the cries of people.
"Kill him!"
"For Jashin!"
The blond's eyes narrowed.
Jashin? I thought the Anbu eradicated them? Maybe these are just some stragglers or pretenders…
Kakashi joined Zabuza and helped him cut the army short. Naruto joined too, throwing precisely aimed kunai through people's skulls. After using his disguise technique to hide himself of course, taking a bed sheet from his inventory to cloak himself.
His body felt like it was on autopilot. His skill was maxed out which meant that any projectile he wielded would go exactly where he wanted it. Hours upon hours, days upon days of continuous practice had honed his senses which all culminated into a simple yet succinct visual display of his ability.
Projectile Weaponry [Active] {N/A}:
LVMAX — Shurikenjutsu:
You can throw light projectiles like paper balls really well. Great work. 100% Accuracy
The first shot was unnerving. He could see the light leave the man's eyes. His expression still as he dropped to the floor, his body limp as his compatriots jumped over him. He could hear the yelling. The rush of battle. The smell of death, the iron stench of Zabuza's victims. There was now red intermixed with the dull colours. People wearing a crimson colour scheme were part of the fight but their skills differed little from their grey-toned companions.
These must be the Jashinists
They all seemed to have red eyes. Normal ones. Not like the Uchiha's sharingan, brilliant and full of life. These were dull, barely redder than the dark brown eyes which was the dominant phenotypical eye-colouring of the human population according to the brilliant 'Know your Jeans? What about your Genes?' by Charlotte Bronte. Whoever she was, he was grateful that she wrote books that were easy to read, clear and succinct. He knew that red eyes were a recessive trait which begged the question as to how so many managed to find each other. It didn't make any sense. At least it didn't seem to give them super human abilities. Sure, they could dodge and fight much better. But that didn't stop Sensei from killing them with ease. They seemed to have good eye sight since they tried dodging his kunai even when it should have been in their blindspot, but it was all within his calculations and so, their movement adjustments made no meaningful difference to their life expectancy.
The blond readied some exploding kunai and exactly on point, saw a group facing him turn into a red puddle. Only leaving behind necklaces with a symbol dangling at its end, a circle inside which lay a three point triangle. Just the usual equilateral triangle. The symbol itself was not one he was familiar with, but considering that they kept on yelling about Jashin, he felt that it would be safe assumption to assume that it represented Jashinism. By this point, it looked like their foes seemed to have realised that there was someone hiding in his general direction but Sensei killed anyone who'd get too close to him using jutsu. It also helped that he tried being inventive with his throws, bouncing kunai off each other to kill in different angles. Sasuke had shown him that trick.
It was mentally hard to do the first few throws, but after reasoning that these people were the aggressors, his conscious eased and by this point, he even felt confident. His body went into a rhythm, leaving his mind to wander.
I need to protect this village. Wait a second, I'm not the only one on this team. Sasuke is too injured, but Sakura?
Naruto noticed Sakura just standing in a corner watching the fight. He didn't know why, but something inside of him seemed unhappy. Why was she relaxing when everyone else was fighting or dying. Wasn't she the team medic? Why wasn't she helping Sasuke?
He knew that he needed to focus, these thoughts were stupid and distracting. He needed to help in the fight. He was slow enough as is, his dexterity too slow to kill the Jashinists faster than they could run up to him. Sensei's jutsu was the only thing protecting him. Enough was enough.
Or is it?
"Shut up." He said to himself.
"I need to stop thinking," the blond muttered. He somehow managed to pass the entire fight, just thinking. Sure, he'd been participating, his kunai throws almost automatic, but surely, he should have noticed Inari and the villagers when they'd arrived and chased off the remainder of Gato's army, he wondered to himself. Gato and those that hadn't escaped were strewn across the bridge: the dull red clothing of the Jashinists dominated the landscape, pools of blood dripped across the bridge. This much blood shouldn't have leaked out from their bodies, it wasn't like they'd gutted everyone or brutally mauled them. Just quick and clean deaths.
He noted the guy who tried leaping at him earlier whose upper and lower body had a divorce courtesy of Sensei's water jutsu.
Well, mostly
He shook his head, intending not to dwell too much on this conundrum. Taking off his disguise, he approached Inari, intent on confirming his hypothesis, "What are you doing all the way out here? Did you rally the entire village and scare them off?" Naruto asked.
The boy approached him, crossbow in arm with tears threatening to spill.
"You were right Naruto. Heroes do exist," Inari looked at him, "We all have to be heroes, otherwise we'll always wait for someone else to come along."
He looked like he was about to burst into tears, "Like tou-san, it isn't fair that we all put our faith into him… We should have helped him."
Naruto smiled at the boy and ruffled his hair like he did with Konohamaru. This was something he felt more confident with. Younger children were always so perceptive, even if they could be a bit difficult to handle.
"You're right Inari. I'm sorry I spoke so carelessly to you the other day."
The boy shook his head, "No, you're right. Sasuke and Sakura and sensei told me all about it."
Wait what
"Thank you so much."
Everyone else spoke to Inari afterwards? I'm such an idiot, why did that thought not even cross my mind?
Naruto smiled at him, trying to hide his feeling of inadequacy.
"I need to check out my team."
Don't ask her why she didn't contribute. Don't ask why she's just standing there-
He walked towards Sakura.
"Hi Sakura! Are you-"
As he walked towards her, she looked at him. Her eyes were wide-open as she looked into his eyes with shock and even... was it anger? Their green pigmentation looked drained. She opened her mouth to say something, but instead of saying anything, she just collapsed right into his arms.
Realisation sank in as he noted her chakra levels. He felt his feelings tighten into a painful knot as he held her.
This is my fault
Sensei appeared almost instantly.
"I told her not to push herself. She shouldn't have even come here," muttered his Sensei, the sharingan which wasn't exposed during his fight with Zabuza was now revealed. He hadn't even noticed it being used against the mob.
"Why?" Naruto wasn't sure why he asked the question when he already knew the answer. He never did that before. He never asked stupid questions.
"She hasn't rested nor eaten properly since the incident. She's pushing herself too hard. She doesn't have the same chakra levels as you two do."
Naruto felt terrible about the thoughts he was having earlier. He could punch himself right now for even doubting her. She wasn't relaxing, she was catching her breath because she was fatigued, an insomniac and low on chakra. She made the right decision to not take part in the fight as that was the safest course. He needed to be more observant.
This is pathetic
"You can't push her the way you do Sasuke," Kakashi looked at him pointedly, "I basically raised you Naruto and I know you like overdoing things. Your face a few moments ago gave it away. She can actually die. Like I can actually die. Chakra exhaustion is a real thing and you need to accommodate everyone's differences when deciding how far you can encourage them. Pushing them, yes. Breaking them, no."
"Please stop," Naruto said. He hated emotions. He was pathetic. The guilt for feeling terrible for thinking ill of others. They defended him. Stood up for him. In front of Inari. Ino. This was not okay. He didn't even think about Inari, only about himself. Sakura had completely contributed. Her puppet was the only reason they're alive. She'd saved the workers and Tazuna.
"You also need to move, don't stand there like a sitting duck. I expended a lot of chakra trying to keep you safe, so keep that in mind for next time."
He was again doing the exact same things which led up to his previous death.
Sitting duck...
"Why is it that I can't do anything right."
He looked at his hands. He had no idea why but he was getting more and more emotional by the second and that was scaring him. He didn't know what on earth these feelings were. Dirty. New. His gut wrenching. His breathing. His light-headedness.
He was losing it.
The blond tried doing something which normally helped distract him when he was bored or in this case, feeling things. His mind starting running through simulations.
"I could have been friends with Haku. If things were different… if things were."
Naruto felt something warm and slimy fall down his face. And he hated it.
But it kept on coming.
"If things were different, we could have been friends. If we hadn't met like this. Something else. Better."
He felt his mouth starting to clam up as more emotions assaulted his brain, making it hard to think but easy to speak.
"Why do we suffer? Why did he have to suffer? Why? Why?" He had no idea what to say. But his mouth had different plans.
"Why am I thinking. Why can't I be nice. Bad thoughts. Evil thoughts."
He wanted to talk to his dad again. He'd know what to do. The last time he'd had all these emotions, his hug helped.
He cried and cried until he felt someone embrace him.
Nothing seem to come out from him anymore, no sound or tears or anything really. He couldn't even speak or think anymore.
Until suddenly he could.
It had started raining and he felt miserable.
He separated from sensei and sat down on the bridge. Sakura only a few paces away. He didn't even realise that he'd placed her down. Kakashi, Sakura and him were the only souls on the bridge. His sensei too had sat down on the bridge, back against the railing.
"Why can't I do anything right? Why do I always hurt others? Inari, Sasuke, Sakura. You, nii-san."
He looked at him for a response. He hadn't called him that for a long time out loud but it felt right at this moment. The man just nodded.
"My emotions just came to me when I unlocked the Jinchuriki ability. I've never felt negative emotions before. Sadness-"
He started crying again, barely able to say the word hate. It reminded him of the ability now.
"I was about to kill him, honest to Izanagi-sama I was."
I'm starting to sound like Sasuke
He cried even more at the thought of his friend. At this point, he didn't even care how bad he sounded. He just needed it all out. Something in his mind supplied that it was a healthy way of dealing with emotions. It made him cry even more.
"I couldn't even protect him. He trusts me. I know he does. He always has. And I let him down."
He managed to calm himself a little bit.
"I promised Mikoto-oba-san that I would protect him. I never ever break my prom-"
He started crying again, although this time it was more of a hacking cough.
My promise to not do stupid things
"This is stupid." He sniffled. "This is all stupid and I hate it."
I need to practice being a decent human being
Kakashi put a hand on his shoulder.
"You're still just a kid, Naruto. It's perfectly normal to make mistakes when interacting with others, don't beat yourself up because of it. I still make mistakes. Everyone does. We aren't perfect."
"I was more perfect, before," Naruto said without thinking.
What
"I can't imagine what it is like to have no emotions and then gain them suddenly, it must be overbearing, but Naruto, it is fine to feel conflicted and confused. This is just part and parcel of being human."
Naruto looked at his hands, he could still feel the phantom burns from the sub-zero ice.
"I sometimes forget you are only twelve. Basically a baby."
Naruto felt stung by that, he wasn't sure why.
"You are way too mature for your age. You were 6 months old when you started crawling, 11 months when you walked properly and talked in three-to-four-word sentences. By 18 months, you could read simple books and write. By four years, you were essentially an adult."
Naruto just stared at him.
"The normal developmental milestones for a child are 8 months for crawling, 15 months walking, three-to-four-word sentences in 2.5 years. I want you to really think about these milestones carefully and how quickly you developed."
"Why did you memorise the developmental milestones for children?"
"Well…" Nii-san looked slightly embarrassed, "I always make sure to do my best for any mission."
The blond looked at him and without missing a beat said, "It's because I was a cute baby. I know. I've seen the annual pictures we used to take as a group in the Sarutobi household."
Sensei scratched his head, deciding against telling him what his actual thoughts were at the time. In hindsight though, he was a cute baby, the Hatake admitted to himself.
Naruto felt much better, but something still really worried him. If there was anyone he trusted enough to ask such a treasonous question, it would be the man in front of him.
"I realised while fighting that I felt that I care about other people. My teammates. These guys. I said that people matter," The blond paused, "But isn't the village supposed to take priority?"
His grey-haired sensei looked up into the sky, looking like he was carefully assessing his response. The water fell harder and harder around them as they talked.
"In the ninja world, those who break the rules are scum, that's true." He brought his head down and looked at the blond, his lone eye piercing through the rain, "But those who abandon their comrades are worse than scum."
Naruto looked at him curiously.
"Rules are important, yes." He looked defensive, knowing that the blond was probably judging and ascertaining if he was a good shinobi or not, "Abandoning your comrades isn't the point of the rule. There are very few instances where saving your comrades will destroy the village. In those circumstances, you'd be sacrificing yourself for others. That is the point of the rule."
"So you're saying that the rule needs to be interpreted within the context?"
"Yes"
"You know that what you're saying is false right? We've had multiple court cases which prove that the definition of the rule is that you sacrifice shinobis to complete the mission."
Sensei looked at him. From his mugshot, it seemed like he was getting concerned.
"Look Naruto. The village says one thing, but the reality is another. You tell me yourself, what if it gave us leeway legally?"
"People would exploit it."
"Exactly."
"But you're not following it anyway"
"I don't think you're getting it," He looked at him, getting slightly annoyed, "You think you get it, which is not the same as actually getting it. Get it?"
The blond looked at him stone-faced.
"Legally this is not right, however if you let your comrades die, do you think your life will be any better?"
"This isn't about me."
"It is though," He looked at him seriously, "If Sasuke, Sakura and I died, but you survived and went back to Konoha. Would you be happy?"
Naruto immediately started running simulations in his brain on how these scenarios would play out and barely managed to not cry.
"I thought not." Nii-san looked him square in the eye, "The village just wouldn't be the same, would it?"
"No, no it wouldn't." He managed to just about say.
"Konoha would be dead for you and you know this."
The blond thought about it. His closest people were actually his squad. The only others he could think of on the same level were Jiji and Konohamaru. And he hadn't talked to them in ages, especially Konohamaru.
"Yes."
"Now tell me, would you be hating yourself if this happened today. Especially since it was you who encouraged us all to go on this mission in the first place. It wouldn't have mattered if we didn't take this mission to the village, right?"
Naruto felt tears drop thinking about his previous life where he had died.
"So, do you understand what I mean? Not every mission has the same importance, so the rules should be interpreted within their context. I recognise the law has a specific definition, but given that it's a stupid decision, I've elected to ignore it."
The blond just sat there. Feeling like his world was falling apart. The rules were inviolable. But, sensei was right. Legislation were not sacrosanct or perfect, he obviously knew this from his debates with Itachi, but these high ranking rules were suspect too?
"I know your gears are turning now, just know that I do believe that the rules are important. They just don't always work and that is an issue with anything in life. We make things as perfect as we are, which we aren't so they're imperfect too. This structure of hidden villages helped stop the warring era. It has been effective, so I don't disagree with it. War is… not ideal."
They sat in silence. Only the pitter patter of rain punctuating the lull in conversation. Naruto was pretty sure he'd heard a frog or two sing. He felt better. The dull ache in his gut and head subsided. It made sense. It was like an unspoken rule what Nii-san was saying and it made sense. However, this just brought another question to his head.
"You know, I've read enough books. Why do people want war? It only brings pain, suffering and a lot of money to a lot of the wrong sorts of people."
The blond looked at his de facto brother figure, "The most effective and efficient way would be for everyone to live together in peace and do their part to make the world a better place. Altruism helps everyone in the long term."
Nii-san gave him a look that was both exasperated and happy, "Not everyone agrees on what any of that looks like which is one of the key issues. Your idea of peace, may not be someone else's. In fact, some people may not want peace at all."
Naruto looked somewhat scandalised, "Why would people want pain and suffering?"
His sensei paused. He knew he needed to word what he said very carefully.
"Well… some people. They don't want it as such, but understand that it is a necessary part of the human experience to develop us. Our entire society and economy is built on conflict. If there was no conflict, we'd be out of jobs. The world wouldn't need ninja."
Naruto looked thoughtful at this, "I remember reading a book talking about how we'd all be forced to be like civilians. We'd be discriminated against for having chakra. That it's better to live like this, in a society where we are either the majority or dominant."
Niisan's posture changed as he straightened his back, "You really should stop reading conspiracy theory books, I'm sure Konoha banned that so I have no idea how you got it."
The blond looked at him meaningfully, "It was in my library when I was younger."
The Hatake had half mind to wring the neck of whichever Anbu thought it would be a bright idea to give his kid something this controversial.
"This would be an essay and a half to discuss in sufficient depth, but I understand what makes you say that. It is a tempting route to go down, but you have to be very very careful. Not every book is true."
The blond looked insulted, "Obviously."
"This is one of those situations."
"It makes sense though."
"It makes sense only because you lack context and need a more holistic information base from which to develop a strong understanding of what is right and wrong."
"What do you mean?" Naruto was getting quite interested in this conversation. As he was going over the old books he'd read mentally, he'd found this gem and had been meaning to discuss it with someone. The topic change seemed to have made him almost forget the issues he had earlier. He loved books a lot, more than pocky and almost as much as ramen.
"The author of the book is from Kirigakure where the civilians eagerly joined in to kill all the kekkai genkai users. He has a vendetta against them. Not everywhere is like that, and they were also egged on and fed constant propaganda by the state."
The blond's brain was churning.
"Wouldn't the best solution be to give chakra to everybody?"
Niisan felt his heart skip a beat.
"What?"
"Like, if we figured out a way to give everyone chakra and use that as a way to bring us closer together than to separate us, maybe we'd be better off and avoid such a thing."
His sensei had never ever even heard of that as a potential solution. And he'd talked about war a lot to a huge variety of people from all across the world.
"You always surprise me kid."
"I'm being serious. I think something like natural chakra exists." He thought for a few seconds, "It's like a subliminal message in most of the novels I've read. If we could just tap into that and perhaps use that as a form of communication, it would make it easier for us to build bridges instead of walls between each other."
He paused, "Or something like that."
His Nii-san looked at him curiously, "There are also a couple of other factors too that needed to be considered with regards to this conspiracy theory, but I'll give you just one."
Naruto looked at him, giving him his complete attention.
"Whatever blesses people with the ability to use chakra is still unknown. You can get it in families who have only ever had civilians. No one has been able to pin it down precisely on a specific gene. There are too many. We'd never be able to get rid of ninjas or chakra. It's a part of us as humans, even some animals can manipulate it."
The blond thought about this carefully.
"You also need to think about who benefits from these theories."
There was a lull in the conversation as the blond's gears turned. The pitter-pattering of the rain seemed to slow down as time passed.
Naruto gave his opinion, "I think this is too much conjecture, there aren't enough facts to create such a theory. The only people who benefit are the exact people I dislike, those who cause war. This is just a way to breed fear and hate. Kirigakure is a case study of what not to do, after all, the two ninjas we fought today are proof of that. Perhaps there's a simpler way?" He tilted his head in thought, "If everyone just took care of their own world, we wouldn't have these problems."
"What exactly do you mean by that?" Sensei looked curiously at him. He was proud that the blond managed to reason his way out of a conspiracy theory black hole, but he also really wanted to know what on earth he was going on about.
"I don't know exactly, I need to think about it but I think if we encouraged everyone to think about the responsibilities they have to others and themselves, we might have more peace."
The rain had stopped now leaving a brilliant sunshine in its place.
"Responsibilities?" Sensei had no idea where the blond was going with this.
"Yeah. It's important to keep things positive. We have to appeal to greater things to get anything done. Larger than life stuff. Like our country for example. So, a shared sense of responsibility could be that."
Nii-san didn't look convinced, but just nodded.
"Or maybe I shouldn't care anymore and just be more detached from everything, it was easier that way."
Sensei looked at him with understanding, "I've been down that road kid. It leads to nowhere." He got up and stretched, "We humans aren't built to be completely devoid of human interaction."
"Maybe being human isn't all it's cracked up to be," Naruto muttered.
There was a peaceable silence. An unconscious teammate with him and Nii-san. The villagers had already dispersed ages ago when it was clear that no bandits were going to return and had taken Sasuke with them for treating.
"You're right about that," Kakashi said, "But we make do. I learned that from you, kid."
Naruto looked surprised, "You learned something from me?"
"Despite appearances, I am indeed fallible," said Kakashi, "I admit it. I actually hated being assigned to you at first, but it helped me become a better person. I came to terms with my own issues, frustrations and anger. It takes time, but it'll happen. Don't be too hard on yourself,"
Kakashi eye-smiled at him, "I say this as your Nii-san."
The blond gave a small smile and made a promise to himself to apologise to his teammates for acting like an idiot.
"What happened guys?" asked Sakura waking up from her sleep. She yawned as she got up, her pink hair dishevelled, but her eyes looking a lot more lively.
Naruto made to respond, but was interrupted by Nii-san.
"Oh, look, it's two rainbows."
All three of them looked at it. The reds seamlessly blending across the brilliant blue sky to become a vibrant purple; the dual arches, one over the other like a gateway waiting to be opened. He'd loved looking outside through the windows in his childhood, but they hid its splendour and muted its colours. Now that he had nothing separating himself from the world, he could see it all.
He closed his eyes and breathed.
In
Out
He felt better. Better than he had in a long time.
R&R (Suggestions and advice are always welcome!)