Hello all, it's been quite a while, sorry. Just life and school, and I want to give out good chapters but when I'm unhappy with one or I don't know if the story is going in the right direction it's hard to find motivation to write. (Nothing different from other writers, I'm sure lol) But I'm glad today I could type out the ideas I've had for this for so long into a coherent mess!
Plus, with being quarantined, school was paused for a bit, things have slowed down. I hope everyone is doing okay. Maybe this'll provide some distraction? But it's a dark story, so if you're not in the mood for that then don't read please!
I really, truly appreciate your reviews! Even if I haven't posted a chapter, I'll still sometimes log on and re-read them, and it'll give me some enthusiasm to work on the chapters-so thank you! Not sure how to reply to each review, since you can't just comment back...but thanks to each of you. Anyway, I feel like my author's note is now too long, so I'll just say thanks for reading!
13th Year of Danzo's rule
Sasuke let out a huff as he heard Naruto shift in his bedroll for the thirty-eighth time. It was obvious the other boy wasn't comfortable sleeping in the upstairs room of Tazuna's house, but with all his tossing and turning, he was keeping Kakashi, Sakura, and Sasuke awake into the early morning hours.
Tilting his head, Sasuke eyed Kakashi. The man was on his back, hands folded under his head, and the even rise and fall of his chest made him appear to be deep in sleep. Sasuke highly doubted the act.
Sakura was in the far corner of the room, moonlight from the window cutting across her bedroll and highlighting the pillow she had stuffed over her head in effort to block out the light and Naruto's rustling.
Naruto rolled over yet again, letting his wrist thunk against the wooden floor as he tossed his arm out, and Sasuke wanted to kick him. But when the blond slowly shuffled out from under his covers and made to head for the door, Sasuke sat up quickly and grabbed the bottom of his shirt.
"Dobe," he hissed. "Where do you think you're going."
"Just for a walk. It's too stuffy in here."
Sasuke could barely make out the pout on his face in the dimly lit room. When they stayed in the safe house back in Konoha, Naruto had slept under the bed because the room was too open. Now, in this much larger loft, it was too stuffy? He gave a quiet grunt and watched the younger boy shuffle into the hallway before lying back down and trying to finally get some sleep.
A sharp jab in his side made him jerk around to glare at the masked nin beside him. Kakashi's foot was flat on his spine and was pushing him toward the door.
"Follow him. We're sticking with the buddy-system, right?"
Sasuke scowled. "And you're going to just get to sleep here? With Sakura?"
"Maa, I'm not going to do anything untoward. We both need our beauty sleep." Another jab of the man's toe in Sasuke's side prompted him to get to his feet. "Stay close, but if he wants to be left alone, don't irritate him."
Sasuke sighed and nodded. If he didn't irritate the dobe, then the dobe wouldn't irritate him. Things would work out perfectly.
Except, things never worked out perfectly. When Sasuke found Naruto, not far from the old bridge-builder's house, the blond was deep in conversation with some strangely pretty girl in the middle of a flowered meadow. Sasuke hid himself behind a bush and buried his face in his hands. He didn't pull his hair out yet…he just listened.
The dark-haired girl let out a tingling laugh at something Naruto said. "Ah, Naruto-kun, that's silly. If you're only fighting for yourself, you'll surely lose. Life isn't just about survival."
"Well you can't live life if you're not alive!"
Another laugh. "Don't think of it like that. If you're always on both defense and offense, you'll exhaust yourself. Try…to find something to fight for. Something to protect."
Naruto grumbled and twisted his hands in the grass, but Sasuke found the stranger's words sinking into his heart. The ideas behind them sounded like something Itachi would say. He quietly shifted from his crouched position to sitting more comfortably on his bottom.
"Naruto-kun," the girl started speaking again. "When a person has something important to protect, that's when they can become truly strong. For me, that's my precious people—precious person."
Thankfully, Naruto wasn't as dumb as he usually seemed—he had his own brand of paranoia that kept him on his toes. Sasuke held his breath as Naruto's blond head tilted to the side in question.
"You're a ninja?"
A small smile crept onto the stranger's face. "Yes, Naruto-kun. I fight to protect my master. Also, so you know, I'm a boy. You can call me Haku-kun."
Sasuke had already stood and was marching out of the bushes and trees toward Naruto. Once he was side-by-side with the blond he inclined his head and looked down at the other nin.
"What do you want with us then?"
Dark eyes studied Sasuke before Haku replied. "My master, Zabuza, wants Kakashi to stay out of his way. Akatsuki doesn't need whatever money that old man is paying him."
With that, Haku rose elegantly to his feet and bounded across the meadow into the forest. He was too fast, and a sense of anticipation ran down Sasuke's spine at the show of strength. He roughly grabbed Naruto's arm just above his elbow and yanked the blond around, marching them back to Tazuna's house.
"I don't know what you were thinking, Dobe, talking to a suspicious person in a forest in the middle of the night. Didn't Shisui-nii ever teach you about stranger danger?"
Naruto pulled his arm from Sasuke's hand. "I thought he was a pretty girl who was…lost. I don't know. And no, Shisui was too busy trying to keep either of us from being punished or killed."
Sasuke didn't really have anything to say to that.
Kakashi didn't really seem all that surprised when they passed on Haku's message. His half-lidded eye seemed to droop even more, and his shoulders fell for a brief second before he straightened them.
"Okay. You two get some sleep, Sakura and I will start with an early watch and some strategizing."
Sasuke watched as Sakura raised her head from her pillow to stare at the three of them. Her pink hair was sticking up oddly on the left side and her eyes still gleamed with weariness, but she got up and moved to the bathroom down the hall without a grumble.
It felt like three seconds later that Sasuke was awoken again. Gold sunlight was now pouring through the window, brightening the room. Naruto had also been awoken, and he stared confusedly at Sasuke before they both heard loud yelling from downstairs. It was Sakura.
Fear made Sasuke's heart start to race, and he yanked the covers off him, grabbing his tanto and rolling to his feet. Naruto was right behind him with a kunai and the pouch that had some pre-made seals in it. They didn't bother to be quiet as they thundered down the stairs and into the kitchen where they pulled up short at the sight of the girl yelling at a little boy.
She was towering over Tazuna's grandson, Inari. Tazuna's daughter was standing by the stove, gripping a wooden spoon to her chest as she watched Sakura shriek at her son. Kakashi was just sitting at the table, reading his orange book, unbothered.
"How dare you tell me I'll die! We're here, wanting to help you, risking our lives to help you, and you have the gall to tell me we'll fail?! All the sweat I put into training just to be able to mold an ounce of chakra, just to be able to say I can make a difference, I can help someone. You think you're the only one who's parents died? Do you know how selfish—"
Sasuke cut her off, he leapt forward, crossing his arm over her chest and dragging her away from the boy. "Sakura, you're scaring him. He's only a kid."
She was trembling under his arm, and looked like she was about to protest, but instead when she turned to look at Inari, she just stilled. Inari's face was pale, with big tears streaming silently from his eyes and his lips pouting and quivering. He was gripping his hat with both hands, his small, bony knuckles white from the tight hold. Sakura sucked in a breath and slowly pulled away from Sasuke.
"I—" She started, but Inari just turned and dashed out the door.
Sakura turned tearful eyes on Tsunami, but after staring at each other for a moment, Tsunami waved her hand.
"He was rude to you, Sakura-san. Perhaps…he needed such a wake-up call, his attitude since Kaiza's death has been terrible."
Sakura sniffed loudly, and Sasuke almost wanted to tell her don't you start crying now too but he just stepped back and sat next to Kakashi at the table. The man didn't even look up from his book, but the discomfort was practically wafting from his shoulders. When Naruto and Sakura eventually joined them on the bench, it was a quiet and tense breakfast.
Things were tense for Team Eight. Kiba, Shino, and Hinata got along well, having been friends in the Academy. They already had exceptional teamwork, and their dedication to learning was (compared to Team Ten) stellar. But Kurenai-sensei didn't seem to have much interest in teaching them any new strategies, skills, or jutsus. When Kiba brought this up to his teammates, Hinata had quietly agreed, pressing her fingertips together in contemplation. Shino had replied with his usual logic.
"It is strange," Long fingers pushed his glasses up his nose. "Why? Because even Team Ten is improving in a manner way faster than us. Usually the three of them have more difficulty working together than us."
"They're both more volatile and lazier than we are." Hinata hummed.
Kiba sat opposite his two refined teammates and eyed them. He sat straighter and set his shoulders, ignoring Akamaru as the dog put his paws on Kiba's shoulders from behind him and playfully nipped at his neck. Right. Team Eight were precious, quiet, and eager to learn students, while Asuma-sensei always seemed to be chasing Team Ten around Konoha, begging for their trust in his lessons.
Kurenai-sensei, however, seemed to want as little to do with them as possible. It can't just be me Kiba told himself. Akamaru and I are rambunctious, sure, but we still want to learn. If they wanted to honor the promise they had made to their classmates before graduation, Team Eight couldn't afford to fall too far behind. They had to be there for the others when they needed them. They needed Kurenai's attention and instruction.
"We should follow her somehow," Kiba suggested. "See what she's so busy with all the time. Do you think you can bug her, Shino?"
Shino seemed to shrink behind his collar, and his mouth turned down. "I don't know. I am doubting my abilities and discreteness. How terrible of a genin must I be if even my sensei doesn't want to teach me?"
Hinata gave a little whine. "It's not just you, Shino-kun. She didn't give any of us a test before agreeing to be our sensei. But don't think that your skills have gotten worse."
"Yeah! You're still our Number One Bug Guy." Kiba reached out to lightly punch Shino in the arm. The other boy had long since ceased looking affronted at Kiba's friendly punches, or the nickname their class had given him.
"I suppose I can place one on her after training tomorrow. We can follow its chakra trail then."
"Excellent!" Kiba jumped up. "Do either of you want to come over for dinner tonight?"
They both shook their heads. Hinata looked at him with some sadness, but thankfully not pity.
"I'm sorry, Kiba-kun, my father wants to meet with Neji-kun and me soon."
Shino awkwardly tried to give Kiba a shoulder punch of his own. "My parents will expect me back, and curfew is in two hours."
A slight pang made Kiba's heart throb, but he just gave the two a smile and reached back to lift Akamaru over his head and cuddle the quickly growing dog to his chest. "Sure, sure. I'll see you tomorrow!"
Despite the ache in his arms, Kiba refused to put Akamaru down until they reached the gates to the Inuzuka compound. Akamaru gently licked his hand before puffing up his chest and padding silently on his left. Kiba made himself walk tall, and raised his head, placing a small, confident smile on his face as they entered.
The guard just inside the gate gave him a nod. "Kiba-kun, how was training?"
"Great, Hideo-san! Kurenai-sensei has us working hard!" He made a show of flexing his arm and wiping sweat from his brow.
Hideo laughed and gave him a fond smile, but as Kiba continued on his path he couldn't help but overhear the two old ladies shuffling past him. It was always the same whispers, rumors, accusations.
Bah, that boy hasn't learned anything since before his sister was arrested.
His teammates and sensei are too meek.
He's too skinny and immature, can he really make it as the clan leader?
His mom's never home to teach him either. Must've already deemed him the useless runt of the family.
Sure enough, his house was dark and empty when he arrived home. Sighing, Kiba kicked off his shoes and flipped all the lights on the first floor on before making his way to the kitchen.
"Akamaru, should we have fish or beef tonight?"
The dog yipped twice, and Kiba took that as the latter option.
So far, Kurenai-sensei didn't seem to notice Shino's bug on the back of her bandaged dress. Nor did she notice the three genin following her from far back. Because of Shino's connection to his beetle, and Hinata's ability to see the chakra path it left behind, they were able to follow at a much further distance than most. But that shouldn't have made up for the fact that Kurenai was a jounin.
"Where do you think she's leading us?" Hinata worried at her lip with her teeth, veins around her eyes slightly bulging.
Shino hunched his face in his collar like a turtle and sniffed. "I haven't been to this section of Konoha before. It is…slightly dirty. Compared to most ninja sections."
The frown between Shino's brows indicated his uneasiness and guilt for his disdain of the area. But he was right. This was obviously a poor civilian sector of Konoha, with tightly packed people living in small, grey apartments that rested above small, grey, seedy businesses. The civilians openly stared at the three genin, none too bashful in their whispers.
In his head, Kiba could place the sector on the Konohagakure map. What was once a decent place to live in the fourth ring of seven that surrounded the Hokage Tower, had become deteriorated and overcrowded with lower class civilians after Danzo's reign started pouring more money into the Shinobi operations.
Kiba zipped up his jacket and buried his nose in the fur trim, the smell of the urban area was almost too much, and he sympathized with Akamaru, who didn't have a jacket to help block the stench. He had to jerk his head up though at the sudden commotion in the crowd in front of them.
An old woman was on the ground, using her hands to try and scrape some type of beans and porridge back into the small black pot she'd been carrying. She was squawking and roaring terribly at a barefoot little boy and girl who could only stand petrified and watch as her large hands slopped up the meal from the filthy street.
"My only food!" The old lady wailed. "Do you know how hard it was to get this much? For my husband and I this would have been enough, and you've ruined it!"
The little girl was sobbing and clutching what looked like a kitten in her arms, and her knobby knees were trembling. "You would have trampled him!"
The woman stumbled to her feet with a growl. "I don't care about that damn cat! We're all starving here, how do you think you'd have fed the nasty animal."
Kiba felt himself creep closer to the haggard old woman and terrified children, Hinata and Shino pressed close to his sides and Akamaru between his and Hinata's legs. They watched as the civilian crowd was startled by the appearance of a chuunin, one that worked for Root, as signified by the white bandana tied around his left bicep. It was almost unanimous, the way the crowd turned their heads and looked away.
"Is there trouble here?" The chuunin's voice was rough as he addressed the woman.
She nodded her grey head, lips twisting in a snarl as she pointed at the little boy and girl. "They were running around, causing a ruckus. I get one pot, every three days, and they made me trip and drop it. I bet they wanted to steal it for themselves too!"
At that, the little boy stepped in front of the girl, his eyes impossibly large. "We didn't! We just wanted to save Koko! She was going to step on him."
The chuunin sighed and narrowed his eyes at the children. "She says you caused undue disturbance and tried to steal the food. Tell the truth or you'll get an extra day in detention."
The boy's hands started shaking as he stared for a moment at the chuunin. "I—I tripped her. To save Koko and steal her food! We're just hungry, and we're sorry. It was just me though! Not my sister. Please."
The woman shrieked, "It was both of them! Get them both off the streets, two less mouths for the soup kitchens to feed."
Shino brushed past Kiba, stalking toward the chuunin and civilians. Kiba made a grab for his arm but was too late. Hinata sucked in a breath between her teeth and they both followed.
"Chuunin-san, I believe that you're quite nearly forcing the children to confess to this woman's accusations. I believe they really were just trying to save the kitten."
The chuunin eyed Shino, his gaze lingering on the high collar of his coat and his dark glasses. When he turned his eyes to Hinata and Kiba, taking in Hinata's pale eyes and Kiba's triangular clan tattoos, his nose wrinkled in disgust. Kiba gripped Shino's shoulder and pulled him back firmly, wondering what have we gotten ourselves in to? I'm supposed to be the reckless one.
"Regardless," the chuunin sniffed. "I must send someone to detention—got to keep order, you know?"
But Shino was adamant. "It is unfair. They're young and it was an accident."
"Did you see it happen, genin?"
Shino was tall, taller than Kiba and was quite intimidating, but that didn't seem to matter to the chuunin or the civilians. Someone in the crowd sneered and yelled, "Stay out of it, ninja!"
Hinata made a small sound in the back of her throat. She cautiously stepped forward and gave the chuunin a light bow. "Chuunin-san, we are sorry to intrude on your job. My teammate just believes that more investigation should have been done."
The chuunin scowled and the crowd grumbled. Kiba wanted to pinch himself. What are my idiot teammates doing? He too stepped forward. "We'll be on our way, Chuunin-san."
He was practically dragging Hinata and Shino past the old woman and two children when he heard the little boy cry out as the chuunin grabbed his arm. Guilt flooded him as he noticed the disappointed and horrified looks he was receiving from his teammates and Akamaru. He turned back to the boy and girl, both pairs of dark eyes in too thin faces stared pleadingly at him. Courage and pride and pack. How would he ever become a good clan leader if he couldn't stand up for what was right, right now? Kiba swallowed around the lump in his throat. Hana-nee would've done something incredibly brave and rash but would've gotten her way in the end if she were in this situation.
"Actually, Chuunin-san, we'll be on our way after you give them a fair investigation."
The chuunin rolled his eyes. "Life is unfair, clan kid, but you wouldn't know that, would you? Look, someone causes a ruckus, someone gets punished. If they don't the civilians might think more mayhem is allowed and then this place will really turn into a cesspool. Don't get involved here."
For the first time since Shino interrupted, the old woman spoke. "Honestly, I think you filthy ninja are the ones causing a ruckus right now. Shouldn't have wandered down here and gotten your sandals dirty."
The other civilians in the crowd laughed and jeered. A man with stringy brown hair near them smiled. "You caused a ruckus, you get punished. I think one of you should see how detention is anyway, live like us for a while."
More jeers were heard. Kiba turned around, Hinata and Shino were standing back by the children, and when he met their eyes' they shared the same overwhelmed look. The chuunin let out another sigh.
"Kid, where's your sensei?"
"No!" The brown-haired civilian shouted. "Don't just let their sensei take care of it—they have to follow the same rules we do!"
Shouts and chants started in the crowd, which was quickly becoming a mob. Frantically, Kiba turned to his teammates again, but there were already dirty civilians separating them. He could hear Akamaru barking from somewhere in the crowd but couldn't find him. The chuunin stepped closer, and his rank breath brushed passed Kiba's face as he whispered.
"It's a fine line between keeping order with the pretense of punishment and pleasing the masses. I'm taking you to detention. Stay near the front and you'll be fine."
The chuunin dragged Kiba on top of an awning above one of the shops and made a show of placing seals on the backs of his hands before shunshin-ing them away. Kiba could have sworn that in that split second before he was twisted away, he saw a flash of familiar red eyes on a roof across from him.
Then he was being marched up to a cavernous stone building, two heavy metal doors opening to show nothing but darkness beyond, and he was tossed in.
