Arc II: Crimson Eyes
The Rusted Pot was a dingy bar at the very borders of Kumo and not a place normal people used to frequent. It was a gambling place, a hotspot for informants, and one of the haunts missing-nin usually could be found hanging out at.
The man was aware of that. It was one of the reasons he had changed his appearance. It would not be good to be noticed here. Unnecessary attention on himself was the last thing he needed now.
A bag of coins met the grabby counter, and the bartender looked up, drawn in by the clinking sound.
"What do ya want?" the man grinned at his customer, showing his rotten teeth.
"A message from Taka," the disguised man demanded, unfazed by the odor leaving the unkept bartender's mouth.
"Ah, yes." A dirty wet rag met the stained counter, and the bartender left into the backroom.
The customer waited until the man returned and snatched the crumbled envelope out of his hand before it could meet the unsanitary counter.
"Fancy doing business with ya." The barkeeper attempted an ingratiating smile, but it only served to put his customer off even more.
The disguised man nodded curtly at him and immediately left the establishment.
He waited until he was sure that he was not being followed before he unsealed the envelope.
Dark eyes scanned quickly over the short message.
J,
Meeting required.
Code Blue.
- S
The man narrowed his eyes. Code Blue. It was the highest emergency code he could have received. His informant had come across something important. Something that was vital to the village's security.
Something that would put his informant into grave danger.
He changed his course. His return to Konoha would be postponed once more.
Jiraiya's meeting with his godson had to be delayed just a bit longer.
Tobirama was speed. Tobirama was precision.
His movements too quick for the child's eyes.
The punch meant for Naruto's face hit the bark of the tree with a loud cracking sound. The tree swayed. Cracks appeared on the bark.
Naruto's hand tightened around his kunai and bit his lip. His eyes moving rapidly to scan his surroundings.
Suddenly, the air next to him shifted.
A spark of chakra. A flash of movement.
Metal met metal with a loud clinking sound.
Naruto hissed as the weapon grazed the back of his hand.
He stepped back, a faint scent of blood in his nose, mixing with the distinct salty smell of sweat.
Naruto's breathing went heavier as the air surrounding him dried.
He flickered away.
Water crashed down on the spot he had been standing on just a second before.
His breathing quickened.
His tongue brushed nervously over his dry lips.
Where was jiji?
He could not see him.
Could not feel him.
But he knew he had to be there.
Where was he?
"Ompf!"
Something hard impacted with his back and Naruto hit the ground with a pained groan. His sweat-covered body shuddered as it came in contact with the chilly snow.
Cool metal settled against his neck.
It was over.
Naruto had lost.
But he was not really willing to give up yet. He did not like losing.
As always, Tobirama seemed to be aware of his thoughts.
"Not every battle is worth to be fought," he told him calmly; shifting slightly to pin the child down. "Not every skirmish vital. It is crucial that you learn to differentiate between battles you cannot afford to lose and those who are not important in the long run. Do not waste your efforts on pointless fights. Do not engage unless necessary and do not be too proud to admit defeat if you can afford it. It is better to lose one battle, than to keep your pride and lose the entire war. "
Naruto stilled, mulling over the man's words.
"So," Tobirama continued, marginally increasing the strength of his hold. "Tell me, child. This battle. Is it necessary or not?"
There was a long moment of silence as Naruto struggled with himself.
"…Not," Naruto answered finally, sounding almost reluctant.
Tobirama remained silent, patiently waiting for him to continue.
"I…" Naruto began and frowned at how unsteady his voice sounded. "I," he tried again, his voice way firmer than before. "I surrender."
The restraining hand moved from his back to his head and ruffled slightly through his hair.
"Good," his teacher answered, raising to his feet.
Naruto pushed himself into an upright position and smiled almost shyly at the ghost.
The Nidaime's expression softened for a moment before the stern look returned to his eyes and he was all business again.
"You might remember, "Tobirama began slowly, his eyes clouded with memories. "That the Senju and Uchiha clans used to be enemies for a very long time. We battled and fought each other for countless times. Because of this reason the Senju became most proficient in defeating Uchiha opponents and…", he paused for a moment. "their dojutsu."
"The Sharingan," Naruto supplied, nodding in understanding.
"Yes," the Second agreed. "They were our main opponents and most of our training is geared to defeating them." Something that was really useful now, Tobirama added silently. "The orange-masked man that attacked you is mostly likely an Uchiha, too – or at least came into possession of a Sharingan."
"Came into possession?" Naruto repeated, throwing a confused look at the ghost. "How so?"
"By stealing it," the Nidaime answered grimly. "A dojutsu can be stolen…by taking out the eyes."
Naruto stared at him in undisguised disgust. "You can take out eyes?!"
"You can," Tobirama confirmed. "Of course, a stolen dojutsu will never be as effective in a thief's hands as it is in its owners, but it still poses a danger."
Naruto grimaced. "That's gross."
Tobirama's lips twitched slightly, and he returned to the matter at hand. "Obviously, the best way to defeat a Sharingan user is to avoid looking into their eyes. If they cannot meet your gaze, they cannot cast a genjutsu on you. "
That sounded logical.
"Our next exercise will train your speed, your reaction time and your ability to fight without your sight. Make two clones."
Almost immediately three children looked expectantly at him.
Seeing the look in their eyes Tobirama was once again painfully reminded of how young Naruto was. He did not allow himself to dwell on it, just like he had never allowed himself to actively remember his younger brothers' ages while he was training them.
"Blindfold your original with his headband," he ordered one of the clones sharply.
The clone obeyed.
"Good, you will attack Naruto now. Naruto, defend yourself, or at least try to dodge his attacks. Listen to your surroundings like your team has taught you and extend your senses the same way you do it before you go to sleep."
Naruto nodded. "Okay."
"Get started."
The first Naruto clone led his original a bit further away and moments later both of them were engaged in a very one-sided spar.
Tobirama looked at the remaining clone. "You will work on your water affinity. I am going to show you a simple control exercise. Watch closely because I have only enough chakra left to show it once."
This evening Naruto fell into bed completely exhausted, only to have his jiji shoo him out again for dinner and a bath.
Groaning slightly, the boy forced himself to stand up again, grumbling half-heartedly about slave drivers.
Tobirama amicably inquired if Naruto wanted to take a nice evening jog.
The child cheerfully declined and made extra sure to eat all the vegetables.
The tension hung heavily over the room. Shisui felt suffocated under the judging looks of the clan's elders and the impassive expression on his clan head's face.
There was a very long moment of silence, and Shisui detested their tendency to play mind games. They were obsessed with showing their so-called power, even though many of them were way weaker than the current Uchiha on active service.
But despite his outgoing attitude, Shisui was not an easily impressed or cowed man. He was sure of himself and trusted in his abilities. He knew what he could and couldn't do.
Therefore, he simply waited patiently (or at least outwardly patient) until one elder deigned himself to speak.
It was the second eldest in the room that finally voiced the reason for this meeting.
"Shisui. Your reports on Itachi have been rather lacking in detail lately."
The young man bowed slightly in the direction of the clan elder. "There is not much to tell," Shisui answered carefully. "I have seen little of him for the last few weeks. Now that Itachi has been promoted to ANBU captain and is leading his own team, he is obligated to spend most of his time with them, doing his best to forge them into a unit. Not to mention the additional number of missions he had been sent to complete in order to make him gain more experience."
The elder sniffed. "He is still an Uchiha. He should be there for his clan."
"Perhaps," Shisui replied. "But the Uchiha are still officially part of Konoha. Itachi cannot disobey the Hokage's orders. Open defiance will not help us now."
"Shisui is correct," an old woman agreed. "We cannot make any obvious moves now or we will risk being discovered." She turned towards Shisui. "Continue keeping your eye on him. Report everything. No matter how trivial."
Shisui inclined his head. "I will."
"You can go."
The young man bowed again and left the room, exhaling in relief when the door closed behind him.
He had managed to buy some time.
They would live to see another day.
Smiling bitterly to himself, Shisui left to find Itachi.
Naruto threw a worried look at Owl. Somehow his friend did not seem to be his usual energetic self today. In fact, he appeared to be rather distracted. Or more precisely, he looked worried.
The child used the time during their training break to flop down next to him and scooted closer to man's side until their arms were touching.
For a moment Naruto pondered about what he should say. "Are you okay?" felt wrong because Owl was apparently not okay at all.
He worried needlessly because Owl was the first to speak up. "Say Hare…What would you do when you were faced with a difficult decision? A decision that will have a very big impact on lots of people?"
A difficult decision? Naruto frowned. Well, of course he'd ask Tobirama-jiji for help. He was good at thinking things through.
"Ask jiji what he thinks about it," Naruto answered honestly.
"The Hokage, hm…" Owl hummed thoughtfully. "And if he can't help you?"
"I'd ask you," the child replied immediately, not correcting his friend's wrong assumption. He was technically correct, after all.
The Owl mask quickly turned in his direction. "Me?" he repeated incredulously. "Why?"
"Because you are my friend." It was said in such a matter of fact and certain way that Owl could not help but laugh happily.
"Indeed, I am," he agreed, sounding way more like his usual self.
"And I am yours," Naruto added, just to make things clear. "So, whatever it is, I'd help you, too."
Owl brought his hand up to ruffle his hair. "You are a good kid. Can you do me a favor?"
Naruto nodded. "What is it?"
"Can you help me with looking after Itachi?" Owl sounded like he had come to a decision. "He has way too many responsibilities for a thirteen-year-old and nobody to share them with. There is an insane amount of pressure on him and he really could to with another close friend."
There was no need to ask for something like that. Naruto was more than happy to follow his wish. "Sure!" he declared. "I'll help you look after him. Let's go and get him some dango later. He loves that, right?"
Owl laughed and pulled his mask down to meet the child's eyes. "Yes, he does. Thank you…Naruto."
Naruto pushed his own one up and grinned. "Sure, Shisui!"
"Owl, Hare! Break is over. Let's see if we can't up your speed with the shunshin a bit."
Lion really had a terrible timing.
Tobirama frowned at the short exchange between Naruto and the Uchiha. What kind of difficult decision could he be facing, and why did he think the Hokage could not help him with it?
He mentally added further investigations into the Uchiha clan to his already full to-do list, right below training Naruto and above making Danzo pay.
As much as he desired revenge, he knew his priorities. Naruto's and the village's safety always had to come first.
Danzo could wait another day. Kagami's descendant worrying about something the village's leader could not help with, however, was something to be investigated swiftly. Especially since he had used that tone.
Tobirama had heard it a few times before from his former student. It usually had been a sign that he was about to do something very selfless, albeit extremely idiotic.
He sighed quietly. Uchiha were always such trouble to deal with. Either they went mad and threatened the village, or they loved it so much they happily destroyed themselves for it.
Their passion never went well with his pragmaticism.
A/N
Thank you for all those ideas you have been sending me and for taking the time to vote. I've been reading through all your ideas and came to two conclusions:
- A: Your training ideas are harsh enough to make me want to turn tail and run very far away. In fact, I am not letting you anywhere close to my personal training plan any time soon.
- B: You really don't like Danzo. I approve completely. :D
I am also happy to note that most of your suggestions actually matched my own thoughts perfectly. It's nice to see that we are on the same page here.
Thanks for your support and your lovely comments!