DISCLAIMER: I do not own Naruto, Kishimoto does. I don't own Hikari Aino.
A/C: Constructive criticism is warmly welcomed and appreciated, as well as readers' suggestions/ideas. (Particularly when it comes to Lemons – I really suck at those! :S) Flames and mean comments are not welcome – saying 'no offence' means squat. If you don't like what you're reading don't leave a comment!
TYPES OF HEROES
It's time to forget about the past.
To wash away what happened last.
Hide behind an empty face.
Don't ask too much, just say.
'Cause this is just a game.
"What you're going to do next?" Kakashi said to Zabuza whose eyes widened in shock and his gaze flicked over Kakashi's sharingan eye apprehensively. Kakashi smirked at Zabuza's obvious discomfort and frustration.
"Makes you furious, doesn't it?" Kakashi teased.
Zabuza huffed and put his hands together, trying hard to compose himself.
"All you're doing is copying me, like a monkey!"
"You can't beat me with cheap tricks. I'll crush you!" They both said at the same time. Naruto and Sakura, who were the only ones not currently injured in any way, both howled with laughter - even Tazuna got a little bolder and sniggered a little at the rogue ninja's misfortune.
Zabuza shook a little this time.
"Ugh. When I finish with you, you'll never open that monkey mouth again!"
Suddenly, a shadow grew behind Kakashi.
"What is that?"
It seemed to be taking on the appearance of...Zabuza. That was very confusing.
"Water style: Water Vortex Jutsu!"
Kakashi's sharingan eye swirled around, making the dark shapes in them immediately transform into one single black ring. Zabuza went even crazier.
"What!?"
The water underneath their feet, swirled and formed an arch over Kakashi. The arch then promptly turned into a huge ball of water and was hurled towards Zabuza. I looked up weakly from where I was slumped uncomfortably on the ground and watched in awe as Zabuza was thrown underwater.
I shuddered.
"Wow. I hope I NEVER get on Kakashi-sensei's bad side."
I smiled triumphantly at my teacher's technique - enjoying the look of sheer disbelief on Zabuza's face. The water was destructive and even managed to knock down several trees in its path. The water came precariously close to where we were standing observing our teacher's fight. But because I was still on the ground, I was in immediate danger and I tried to hoist myself into a nearby tree.
I felt myself being swept away with the strong current.
"Whoa!" I screamed, frightened and desperately tried to grab onto something to stop being washed away.
"Hikari-chan!"
I heard Naruto calling my name, then heard him swear colourfully as he was also swallowed up by the water. Both of us travelled a distance before managing to grab onto some branches, much to Sasuke, Sakura and Kakashi's relief. We watched morosely as Zabuza tried to save himself. When he managed to get to safety, his limbs were immediately pinned to a tree with some of Kakashi's kunai.
"You're finished," Kakashi said from his spot in the branches.
The water receded back into the lake just as Zabuza looked up, with a defeated look in his eyes..
"How? Can you see into the future?" He asked in a pathetic voice.
"Yes. This is your last battle." Kakashi picked up a kunai and held it threateningly over Zabuza who eyed the weapon warily.
"Ever."
Two needles came from out of nowhere and flew out directly into Zabuza's neck. He immediately went limp. Instantly, we looked around for the Ninja who threw the needles. Suddenly we heard someone laughing and we looked up to see someone perched high up in the trees.
"You were right. It was his last battle." A feminine voice rang out.
Naruto growled angrily and looked away. Kakashi jumped forward to check Zabuza's pulse.
"No vital signs," he muttered darkly.
"Thank you. I've been tracking Zabuza for a long time now, waiting for the chance to finally take him down." The boy with the girly voice bowed forward in respect. I scowled.
"By your mask, I can tell you're a tracker ninja from the mist." Kakashi observed carefully.
The boy straightened up.
"Impressive. You're well informed." He confirmed pleasantly.
Naruto slid sideways, in a fighting stance. He didn't trust him - and neither did I to be honest.
"Argh, a tracker!"
"Naruto, you don't even know what that is," Sakura scolded.
"You missed the lesson on it as usual." Sakura when went on to explain to Naruto a really long lecture about the special roles of trackers and how they are specially trained to eliminate rouge ninjas with secrets.
I rolled my eyes and tuned out completely, having already heard this lesson from Iruka-sensei already. I was extremely grateful when I felt Sasuke come up behind me and allowed me to lean against him. I smiled sweetly at him while he listened to Sakura drone on.
"That's correct. I am an elite tracker from the Village Hidden in the Mist." Kakashi narrowed his eyes as the wind suddenly picked up and Naruto growled, rushing forward to glare at this boy who had to be at least the same age as him, give or take a few months.
"What is this! Who do you think you are?"
We all focused on Naruto, who was now pointing at the boy who was 'looking' at Naruto in astonishment..
"Did you hear me?" Naruto demanded impatiently.
"Easy, Naruto. He's not our enemy." Kakashi stated calmly, though his face told a different story altogether.
"Huh? That's not the point! Did you see what he did? Zabuza was so big and powerful, but this kid who's no bigger than me brought him down with one move, like it was nothing."
Well spotted, Naruto. Your observational skills have improved.
"What does that make us? We're just fumbling around. We don't know anything. How can I accept that!" He yelled in exasperation.
Well, we have to accept it whether we like it or not, so just deal with it, Naruto, please… I thought uselessly.
My friend was too stubborn for his own good.
"Even if you can't accept it, it happened. In this world, there are kids who are younger than you, and stronger than me." Kakashi explained tiredly.
Sasuke and Naruto frowned. We all watched reluctantly as the boy immediately jumped down to collect Zabuza's body and then after apologising to us, he left. Naruto growled.
"He's gone, Naruto."
Naruto started to punch the ground to ease his obvious frustrations. I didn't entirely blame him.
"What are we doing here!" Sakura sighed.
"Naruto..." Kakashi turned.
Naruto, who was now sulking, looked up at Kakashi with an angry expression on his scarred, tan face.
"We haven't completed our mission yet. We still have to get Tazuna back to his bridge." He pointed towards Tazuna who chuckled, nervously.
"Well, sorry for causing all this trouble! When we get back to the village, you can all rest at my place." We nodded gratefully.
"Well then, let's get a move on," Kakashi announced, taking a step forwards and almost instantly collapsing.
"W-what happened?" Sakura asked worriedly.
"Kakashi-sensei...Kakashi-sensei! Can you hear me? It's Hikari!" I called, shaking him to wake him up before Tazuna came over to inspect his body.
He didn't move. Tazuna rubbed the back of his head with concern.
"No, I don't think it's that severe. We need to get him back to my house though so he can get proper treatment. Let's carry him, it's not so far from here." He instructed.
Each one of us grabbed one of Kakashi's limbs and we half carried, half-dragged him along the road, slightly stumbling under his dead weight. We all made it back to Tazuna's house without any trouble. His daughter, whose name was Tsunami, made up a bed for Kakashi and we set him down gently.
"Phew! Let's never do that again!" Naruto announced. Sakura hit him over the head for his insolence.
"Shut up, that's our sensei!" she snapped. I was too tired to care.
Within the hour, the sun appeared from behind the clouds and the thick blanket of mist disappeared. Kakashi finally woke up with a groan. Tsunami walked in to check on him.
"Waking up, huh?" She said with a kind of annoyed tone in her voice.
"You all right?" She asked kindly.
"I've been better. It'll be a week before I can move normally." Kakashi tried to sit up, but failed miserably. Tsunami smirked.
"See? It's better if you don't move, so just lie down."
Kakashi nodded and laid back down. When were allowed to, we came in with Tazuna in tow to see if our teacher was alright.
"Hey, the sensei's coming around," Naruto said.
I grinned at him in greeting and Kakashi nodded back, but looked like he wanted to say more to be chose not to just as Sakura rolled her eyes and stepped forward with a disapproving look on her face.
"Listen, sensei. Your sharingan is really cool, but if it puts that much strain on you it's probably best that you don't use it."
Kakashi scratched his head sheepishly, obviously not meaning to scare us.
"Yeah, sorry about that kids." Kakashi apologized and Tazuna laughed.
"You did manage to take down one of the most powerful ninja assassins, so we'll be safe for a while."
Sakura frowned thoughtfully and suddenly spoke what was on all of our minds at that point in time.
"Right. You know that boy with the mask, what about him?" She asked curiously.
"Yeah, he did kinda come out of nowhere." I concurred.
Kakashi thought for a moment before explaining to us with a serious expression on his face that the boy we encountered back there was part the ANBU. An elite Ninja squad who worked directly under the Kage. In other words, some bad ass ninja not to be screwed around with. Not unless you valued your life. Suddenly Kakashi grew silent as an all too familiar frown settled on his face.
"Hey? You okay Kakashi-sensei?" asked Naruto, concernedly.
Kakashi broke out of his self-induced trance at Naruto's words.
"Hm? Yeah, I'm fine. But to finish what I had been saying, Tracker Ninja deal with their victim's bodies immediately. Literally, on the spot, so there's no room for error." He explained.
"Is that really important," Sakura asked.
Kakashi nodded seriously.
"Think about it, guys. Do you remember what that Tracker Ninja did with Zabuza's body?"
There was silence for a few minutes as we though back to what happened hours ago. The strange boy had picked up Zabuza and whooshed away. What was so strange about that?
"We don't know what he did. I mean, I guess he took it away somewhere." Kakashi supplied, trying to kick start our memories.
"Yeah, that's all that really happened. So?" I added, albeit with some confusion.
"Exactly. But why did he? He should've just worked on Zabuza right there, as quickly as possible."
We frowned, still not getting what Kakashi was trying to put across to us.
"Think of the weapons he used for the take down. Do you remember what they were?" He urged.
Sasuke face screwed up as he thought back to what happened.
"He shot needles into Zabuza's neck…"
Suddenly his face lit up in realisation as he obviously saw what Kakashi was getting at.
"Throwing needles...no way!"
"Exactly! None of this adds up." Kakashi said triumphantly, obviously happy that one of his students managed to get it.
Naruto sighed from where he was standing beside me, trying to let the confusing information sink in as he frowned.
"What are you all yammering about? You totally demolished that assassin." He insisted.
"Okay, let me explain. Zabuza's still alive."
Sakura, Naruto and I gasped and Tazuna had an outburst.
"But Kakashi-sensei, you checked him yourself! You said his heart stopped!" He cried.
"It did stop, but that was just a temporary state to simulate death."
Everyone except Sasuke blinked in confusion. Kakashi sighed before continuing his explanation.
"The weapons that he had used are called senbon. They can pierce very deeply but they don't kill if they hit a vital organ. Not in the neck."
We nodded, understanding so far.
"They're modified for uses such as medical acupuncture. Tracker Ninja are trained to know every detail of the body for their missions such as causing the heart to stop temporarily while keeping the body alive, this would be an easy task for them to do."
Sakura appeared fascinated by this, much to my surprise. I didn't realised she liked such morbid things.
"He carried Zabuza's body away despite the obvious fact that it would be much too heavy for him to carry. Second, he used the senbon needles, which are used for precise effects, but are rarely fatal when used." Kakashi ticked off the evidence on his fingers.
"From these facts we have accumulated, we can immediately conclude that his original objective was that he wasn't trying to destroy Zabuza, he was trying to save him." Kakashi concluded. Tazuna looked sceptical, whereas everything he had just said to us made perfect sense… sort of.
"C'mon, you're over thinking this, aren't you?" Tazuna grumbled, pessimistically
"When encountering any suspicion, a ninja needs to prepare quickly. Hesitation will lead to disaster. Every shinobi knows this saying." Naruto said wisely.
Sasuke and I looked at each other then at Naruto in shock - he had just said something spot on for once.
Who are you and what have you done with Naruto?
Naruto shook from excitement.
"Sensei, you said prepare quickly, but how can we do that when you can't move?"
I sighed in relief and giggled.
Ah, there he is…
Kakashi laughed, confusing Naruto. "Huh?"
"I can still train you." Kakashi assured him.
"Hold on! Last minute training will not make us stronger to fight Zabuza in time." scoffs Sakura.
"You were barely able to defeat him with your sharingan. We have to be practical about this!"
Sakura's face was red from obvious anger and frustration. But Kakashi wouldn't have any of that.
"Sakura, why do you think I was able to beat Zabuza? It was because you all helped me by working together like I taught you. You've all grown up. I'm so proud of you four." I saw Naruto smile at the thought, just as Kakashi turned his beaming smile on him.
"Naruto. You've grown the most." Kakashi grinned, but you couldn't tell from his mask.
I joined him with the praise and hooked an arm over Naruto's shoulder, then planted a friendly kiss on his cheek. Naruto's face immediately reddened from embarrassment and I saw Sasuke bristle the moment my lips made contact with Naruto's cheek. I ignored him - my heart will always belong to him, even if I haven't made my feelings known to Sasuke just yet.
I wasn't sure that Sasuke really did like me or not.
"So you noticed, Kakashi-sensei! Things are gonna get better, believe it!" Naruto said slightly obnoxiously and I signed in defeat. Some things never change. We all froze when a small voice suddenly piped up from behind everyone.
"I don't believe it, and nothing's gonna be good."
The voice sounded cold and bitter. Worse - if possible - than Sasuke. We all turned and saw a small boy, probably around seven years old, standing there glaring heatedly at Naruto. I had to bite back a gasp when I realised that the little boy actually looked a little bit like Sasuke. If Sasuke decided that he'd start wearing a large hat.
"Who are you!" Naruto accused, pointing a finger rudely in the boy's direction.
I smacked Naruto's hand down and glowered at him.
"It's not polite to point, Naruto." I scolded him.
Tazuna sat up and held out his arms to the little boy, smiling warmly at him.
"Ah, Inari! Where have you been?"
Inari ran up to him, ignoring us. I take it back. The little boy was ruder than Naruto was being at this precise moment.
"Welcome back, Grandpa!"
Tsunami frowned and stepped forward.
"Inari that was very rude! These brave ninjas had just saved your grandfather's life."
Tazuna laughed.
"It's ok, Inari, I was rude to them too."
The little boy went back to glaring at us.
What's your problem? I thought.
"Mom, don't you see? These 'people' are gonna die, Gato and his men will come back and wipe them out!" Inari protested, jabbing a finger in our general direction.
This only got Naruto riled up and as a result caused my hyperactive best friend to get up, pissed as all hell.
"What did you say brat?" Naruto growled.
"Calm down, Naruto." I soothed him.
"Good luck…" Sasuke muttered.
I jabbed him in the arm, thanking my lucky stars that Sakura hadn't noticed.
"You listen up, you little brat! You know what a super ninja is? A super ninja is someone like me, only better. I'm gonna be the Hokage someday! And this Gato or Blato or whatever the heck his name is, is gonna be no match for a real hero like me!" Naruto declared.
Inari blinked at him unimpressed and snorted.
"Ha! There's no such thing as a hero."
Inari turned and walked for the door.
"You're just full of stupid, useless ideas!" He spat with his back to us all.
The room suddenly got really quiet and the anger suddenly boiled over in Naruto like a pot of hot water on a very high level setting.
"What'd you say!" He snapped, charging at him as Sakura held him back and I grabbed firmly onto his wrists.
"Naruto calm down!" We both exclaimed at the same time.
Inari opened the door and turned back to say one final thing.
"If you wanna stay alive then you'd better leave this place and go back to where you came from."
Sasuke frowned and looked at both Naruto and I with deep confusion, trying to figure out why the hell this kid was so angry. Naruto and I knew why Sasuke was mad. He had a perfectly good reason why, which was excusable - somebody he thought had loved him and cared enough for his childhood and wellbeing had done something horrible to him. But what the hell had happened to this kid to make him so…bitter?
"Inari, where are you going?" Tazuna asked worriedly.
"To look out at the ocean, I wanna be alone." Inari replied, slamming the door behind him.
Naruto growled - it was obvious that he wanted to kill Inari for his insolence. Tazuna immediately apologized for his grandson's behaviour. I sighed, shaking my head. Sasuke, Sakura, Naruto and I decided to leave to let Kakashi rest.
"Hikari-chan…"
We froze and looked back to see Kakashi struggling to sit up. Sakura and I rushed over to our weakened teacher's side and helped him sit up in the bed.
"Yes, sensei?" I replied.
"May I talk to you for a moment, in private?" Kakashi requested.
My eyes widened in surprise, but I nodded.
"We'll wait for you outside, Hikari-chan." said Naruto. Then he, Sasuke, Sakura and Tazuna left the room. Kakashi sighed tiredly and leaned back against the wall as I sat down on the floor in front of him, waiting patiently for him to say what he needed to say to me.
"Hikari… while I'm touched and flattered that you were willing to defend my honour against Zabuza's…words. I must ask you to never do that again." He stated, kindly but also with a stern tone in his voice.
I frowned at him.
"But sensei, he was taunting you and taking pleasure in your loss. You were vulnerable and he was exploiting it and I cannot abide by people for such offensive behaviour." I argued.
But before Kakashi could say anything else, I stood up and walked over to him, wrapping my arms around his neck and hugging him. I felt him freeze under my touch, obviously not expecting it.
"I count you as one of my friends, Kakashi-sensei, and I will do everything within my power to protect my friends. However, because you are my teacher and I am your student, I will abide by your wishes. I'm sorry, if my actions embarrassed you." I said formally and moved to step back from him. But I felt Kakashi's arms wrap around me and return the hug.
"Thank you, Hikari-chan. I'm honoured to be counted as one of your friends." He replied. I stepped back from him and fixed him with one of my smiles before helping him off the bed.
"So are we training now, sensei?" I asked cheerfully.
About an hour later, while Tsunami and Tazuna left to run errands, while Team 7 was herded outside to train for the upcoming battle against Zabuza. Naruto looked a little upset about something.
"Naruto, what's with the long face?" I asked frowning slightly.
"I just saw Inari, and he was crying his eyes out." He said, with obvious guilt in his voice.
"What? Why?" I was shocked. But Naruto shrugged, unable to elaborate.
"He did say something about his dad, though."
I flushed a little and looked away. I was regretting the thoughts I had had about him before when he practically shamed us for promising to protect their village. It was possible that he maybe he acted the way he did because of some traumatic experience or something. And if that were the case, I should really know better than having those sorts of thoughts - when I clearly went through a similar experience with my father and grandfather.
Kakashi showed up and we composed ourselves.
"All right, training starts now." He announced, balancing on his crutches.
"Right!" We said in unison.
"First, we'll begin with a review of chakra, the ninja's basic source of power. Understanding chakra is essential." Kakashi said. Sakura and I groaned in annoyance while Sasuke grumbled.
"We know that already."
Naruto tried to act like he did too.
"Y-yeah! Sasuke's right! We learnt that a long time ago. We learned about, uh, cachra!" Kakashi shook his head just as Sasuke and I face palmed and asked ourselves why Naruto had to be absent when we learnt this in class.
"It's pronounced 'chakra', Naruto." Kakashi sighed and then waved a hand at Sakura who gaped like a fish.
"Go ahead Sakura." He said tiredly.
She put her hands on her hips, mad that she was given the task of refreshing Naruto's memory on chakra. I could practically read the thought bubble floating over her head: How dumb could he get?
During the explanation, I yawned in boredom and leaned casually against a nearby tree. The lecture was so boring, I could literally feel my eyes glazing over, and I almost missed it when Sasuke joined me with leaning against the same tree and had an equally as bored expression on his face. Unconsciously, I leaned into his personal space (A.K.A his well-toned chest) and smiled when I felt him leaning forward too and wrapped both arms around my waist.
Presumably because he could and because if Sakura happened to notice, it would be extremely entertaining (although, I'm not sure for who exactly), I felt Sasuke leaned forward and surprised the hell out of me by chastely kissing my temple and nuzzling the side of my head with his forehead. I shivered from the chill of his metal forehead protector.
"Isn't that right, Sasuke-kun?" asks Sakura sweetly like Sasuke actually gave a damn, causing Sasuke and I to leap away from each other very quickly and turn pink.
"Hn." He replied.
Sakura shrugged, accepting his answer - mainly because it was how he usually answered if he just didn't give a damn or it happened to be one of Sakura's irrelevant questions such as 'what's your favourite food' etc.
"Yeah, well, anyways...Kakashi-sensei, what is the whole point of these complicated explanations? The whole point is to learn the jutsu, isn't it?" Naruto stated with some irritation.
"Naruto's right for once," Sasuke agreed - causing Naruto's draw to drop open before realising that Sasuke had once again insulted him. At which point, he immediately growled.
"We're already using chakra energy in our jutsu." Sasuke stated the fact, but Kakashi shook his head.
"No! You have not 'mastered' this power, you four have barely even scratched the surface of chakra control."
We looked at each other incredulously.
"What do you mean!" Naruto demanded. Kakashi raised a hand to silence him.
"Calm down and listen. It's just like Sakura said: 'You have to draw on spiritual and physical energies, and then combine them within yourself'. But how do you do that?" He said, pulling a mock-quizzical expression.
"You must select and combine the proportions of chakra in jutsus or else they won't work."
We nodded, so far understanding.
"Until now you've only guessed and unless you can balance and control it, it's worthless. The jutsu won't work and you'll waste so much energy, then you can't fight at all."
"Uh, so how do we change that?" Naruto asked sheepishly.
"Train so hard it becomes second nature. To achieve this, you must be ready to put your life on the line." Kakashi said, smiling.
"So…What...do we have to do?" Sakura asked uneasily, obviously mentally preparing herself for the worst. I shrugged - bring it on.
Kakashi chuckled at our mixed reactions.
"Climb a tree."
We stared at him in disbelief.
"Come again?" I muttered, loud enough for both Sasuke and Naruto to hear and snort with obvious laughter.
I elbowed Sasuke in the ribs and stepped down hard on Naruto's foot.
Perverts…
But apparently, Kakashi hadn't finished his instructions yet.
"There's just one catch. No hands."
We paled instantly.
"What? You're kidding," Sakura said. Kakashi raised an amused eyebrow.
"Am I? Let's see."
He used his crutches to get to a tree. Then amazingly, he was able to get up without using his hands.
"Hn…" muttered Sasuke, but you could tell that he was slightly impressed.
"He's climbing..." Naruto said in awe.
"Straight up..." Sakura said just as impressed.
"And he's only using his feet!" I exclaimed. "How is that possible?"
Kakashi walked back down the tree trunk and then walked upside down underneath a branch, holding on with just his feet. I gasped, hoping his feet didn't suddenly give out and we'd have to watch him plummet to the ground head first.
"Well, you get the idea." Kakashi said, in a bored voice.
"Focus the chakra towards the soles of your feet and use it to connect to the tree. This is one way of applying chakra."
Kakashi then righted himself and carefully hopped back down from the tree branch and then sat down underneath a nearby tree.
"Wait a minute! It's a nice trick, but how exactly does it help us fight Zabuza?" Sakura demanded.
"It's the only way to fight him. That's the entire goal of your chakra training." Kakashi then went on to explain more, and after the long explanation later, we finally finally understood what tree climbing had to do with fighting Zabuza.
"You need to apply the power of chakra, through training." He tossed us a kunai each. Our task was to run up the tree using only our feet, but we had to mark the tree at the highest point we could climb before we fell off. After that, we had to try to get past that mark each time, and repeat the process for every mark after.
"Ready?" asked Kakashi, pleasantly.
"I'm more than ready! This is gonna be no sweat all the way, believe it!" Naruto exclaimed, snatching up his kunai and twirling it around his index finger via the metal ring.
We stood at the base of the tree Kakashi-sensei had effortlessly climbed up and started focusing our chakra to the soles of our feet, imagining we had put a coat of glue on them - or at least, that was what I was imagining. All at once, we ran forward and ran up the trunk. Naruto only got up the tree a foot tall before he suddenly slipped and fell back down to the ground with an 'ooof' and a muttered curse.
Sasuke managed to make it up halfway, but lost his momentum and jumped off. He also cursed with frustration and we saw that there was now a dent that resembled the bottom of his shoe embedded in the trunk. I didn't get very high either, but managed to get higher than both Naruto and Sasuke - much to their embarrassment. I squealed when I suddenly lost my edge and slid down the trunk and landed into a slump.
Oh shit… that hurt. But I'm not giving up… I thought with determination.
I looked over to see how Sakura fared, but didn't see her bitching like the rest of us.
"Hey! This is fun!" a familiar voice called out from above us and Sasuke, Naruto and I looked up to see Sakura at the very top of the tree, sitting on a branch and grinning down at us.
"That's crazy…" I said sort of resentfully, placing my hands on my hips. How the hell did she get this on her first try?
"Well well well, look's a female of this squad has the most chakra control. Well done, Sakura," Kakashi taunted.
I felt my face flush in anger and I looked away, just as I heard Naruto also compliment her.
Clenching my fists, I glared daggers at Sakura, who was acting overly superior and smug about this as she had the cheek to poke her tongue out at the three of us. I took a deep breath to calm myself down - despite how sexist Kakashi's comment had been and I glanced over at Sasuke and wasn't at all surprised when I saw the obvious frustration and anger in his face as well.
But he wasn't glaring at the ground like I was, he was glaring up at Sakura with resentment.
Okay, Hikari. Calm down, girl. Don't let that bitch get to you, it was just your first try. You might do better next attempt…
I closed my eyes again and exhaled slowly focusing my chakra to my feet and then shakily, placed one foot on the tree trunk, then the other and then proceeded to run as fast as I could up the tree trunk.
Don't lose it. Don't lose it. Don't lose it. Don't lose it. I chanted to myself.
Then eventually stopped to mark my spot on the tree with my kunai when I felt tired. Then suddenly,
"Hey Hikari-chan…"
I paused and looked up seeing Sakura's obviously surprised and slightly impressed face. I frowned and looked down seeing that I had very obviously passed my previous mark and for a split second I got momentarily afraid of falling.
"Oh…Whoa!" I gasped and instantly bear hugged the tree trunk before I could plummet to the ground.
I inched myself around the tree trunk and carefully stepped on the branch just underneath where Sakura was perched and sat down, still clutching the tree trunk for dear life.
"Well, it looks like both females of team seven can manage and control their chakra." reported Kakashi, praisingly. I smiled slightly - pleased with my achievement, even if it was unintentional.
"Didn't we talk about a certain ninja becoming a Hokage? I think both have a chance at that position." continued Kakashi, causing Naruto to flush from both anger and embarrassment.
"And maybe the Uchiha clan isn't so great."
I looked down and felt my heart stop when I noticed the scowl Sasuke made. I glowered in Kakashi's general direction.
"OI! Is that really necessary?" I growled, cupping my mouth with my hands.
"Yeah! Shut up sensei! You talk too much!" Sakura yelled, frowning also, while I looked at Sakura like she had suddenly two heads. I glanced back down and groaned when I saw the look he and Naruto gave each other that began an unspoken challenge between them.
Oh, that's just great. More rivalry…
I sighed and jumped my way down the tree trunk, before landing gracefully on the ground below. I straightened up just in time to hear Naruto suddenly declare…
"All right! First I'll match Sasuke, then I'll go all the way to the top, believe it!"
I rolled my eyes and looked at Kakashi for permission to be excused for a moment, since I had unexpectedly finished the task the second time 'round and needed to heed nature's call. He nodded, smirking - clearly not fazed by Sakura's scolding or mine. I sauntered back over to the bottom of the tree trunk and looked up feeling unimpressed with my best friend and my crush's competitive attitudes.
"Let me know when you guys have stopped being pathetic." I admonished and took a step back when Naruto suddenly sailed out from up above me and landed hard on the ground. He looked up at me with a martyred expression on his face, just as Sasuke landed softly beside us and cursed to himself.
"Aw c'mon, Hikari-chan. Don't be like that…" Naruto whined pleadingly.
Sasuke didn't really say anything. He just looked up at me from underneath his eyelashes - a technique he sometimes used to get a positive rise out of me, knowing that I couldn't resist. He was glaring, clearly not happy with my tone. I rolled my eyes and turned away, headed for Tazuna's house.
Deal with it. I love you both, but your competitive streak really pisses me off…
I didn't notice Inari standing behind a tree not too far away, watching our training session. "Huh, what a waste of time," he said, before also walking away.
"They don't know what they're up against."
Kakashi instructed us all to keep doing the exercise and get as high we could go.
So far, Sakura had still gone the highest, and I was a begrudging close second. I felt sympathetic towards Naruto who wasn't not doing so great height wise. Eventually, he turned to Sakura or I for help, and was surprised when Sakura immediately agreed and showed him how it was done. I grinned - realising that Sakura probably realised that Naruto wasn't always such an idiot, and that he had his moments.
Kakashi also thought it was good that Naruto was finally actually catching on with the whole 'sometimes-needing-help' thing. Sasuke? Well, Sasuke didn't want help and was surprisingly cold towards me - even when I gave him a small smile every now and then, despite the competition between him and Naruto still burning bright.
The next day, Sakura watched the construction workers build the bridge and I slept in. Naruto and Sasuke were at it again to reach a high point on the tree. Which meant that because Sakura and I were now able to master our chakra control without even thinking about it (as Kakashi promised we would), basically our day was wasted. When I eventually did get up, I came face to face with Inari who was sitting at the end of my futon, just watching me.
It was kinda creepy…
"Um...hi?"
Inari just nodded, still staring at me deep in thought.
"Uh? What are you doing here? Didn't your mom say this room was only for Sakura and I?" I asked, stretching.
"I know that. I'm just looking." Inari replied, frowning in offence.
"Uh, right." I said, warily.
I pulled my blanket aside and stood up, yawning and walked towards the window, staring outside.
"Do you really think you can beat Gato and his men?"
His question threw me off.
"I really don't think you guys have a chance-" He paused, watching my reaction.
"-But that orange suited boy keeps talking about it, and how it'll make him the next Hokage."
I froze, biting my lip.
"Well, what do you think, being his teammate and all?" Inari said, giving me his full attention and sitting back on his knees. I paused, thinking over what I wanted to say - I really didn't want to piss Inari off. He seemed like a nice, harmless kid.
Okay…
"Honestly, I don't think it's possible." I agreed with Inari's opinion, causing the kid to smirk slightly in triumph.
"It will be a case of four against one or two, but even we're only just kids who've just started down the dangerous road in the life of a Shinobi." I paused, feeling like I'm betraying my Shinobi heritage.
"But if one has their mind set on a specific goal and truly believe in that goal, then I believe you can do anything, I guess." Inari's grin dropped slightly.
"So by Naruto claiming about it all the time, it's kinda like he's sorta encouraging himself...in an obviously loud way, of course." I explained, hoping Inari would somehow understand. But judging by what I was now seeing on his face, I had serious doubts.
"But believing and doing are different." He protested.
"Yeah, I know." I stretched my arms and grinned awkwardly. Giving out advice isn't exactly something I like doing, or am particularly good at.
"Hey, speaking of, where is the team?" I asked alertly, rearranging my hair from its slept in mess.
"The pink hair one is off with grandpa and the others are still training." Inari answered disinterestedly.
"Really? Oh no, I shouldn't have slept in!" I cursed myself and immediately dashed from the room, after hastily saying 'see ya' to a bewildered Inari.
In the afternoon, just as the sun was setting, I was feeling a little bored so decided to see how Naruto and Sasuke were going and offer to help them if they needed help. I just hoped that offering to help them wouldn't make myself out to be better than them. As I approached the tree, I saw that Naruto had hit the bottom again and was standing and charging up the trunk again.
Sasuke sailed out from out of nowhere and landed heavily on his feet. An indication that he was getting tired.
"Hey guys! How's it going?" I yelled. Naruto fell again and landed in a heap in front of me, looking like he was seeing stars. I came over to him and helped him to his feet.
"Are you okay?" I asked gently. Naruto looked at me tiredly and grinned, scratching the back of his head.
"Yeah. I almost made it that time." He announced, pointing up the tree trunk. Shielding my eyes from the sun's glare and I looked up and saw one of Naruto's marks which was almost to where I had stopped at on my second try. I turned and grinned back at him.
"Wow! That's impressive, Naruto." I complimented him and hooked my arm around his neck, giving him a noogie.
He laughed and tried to fight his way free from my grasp. I relented after I ground my knuckles into his scalp a couple of times. Then turned my beaming smile at Sasuke who only seconds after I released Naruto, landed beside us with an ugly, frustrated scowl on his beautiful face. I walked over to him.
"Are you guys hungry? Tsunami's almost finished making dinner and it smells great!" I reported, trying to lighten the mood.
"There's no use continuing on an empty stomach. Let's take a break."
Naruto looked like he was about to agree, judging by the huge grin that appeared on his face the moment I mentioned food, but was cut off when Sasuke suddenly turned on me and glared. I stepped back instinctively, wondering what his problem was.
"Sorry we don't have it easy like you, Aino!" He spat.
I flinched and felt overwhelming hurt burning in my heart, while Naruto's eyes grew as wide as dinner plates - clearly he hadn't expected to hear that directed towards me, one of his best friends. I grew angry and it mingled with the hurt.
So you're taking out your frustrations on me, huh?
I narrowed my eyes at Sasuke and walked over to him, getting really close to his face as I tried to give him a piece of my mind. I heard Sasuke gulp, but the angry glare that was on his face didn't falter.
"I wouldn't have blinked an eye if you were yelling at Sakura about this, because sometimes she deserves it. But I never thought that you would stoop so low as to do that to me." I whispered, hoping I wouldn't suddenly burst into tears.
"It's not my fault that you still haven't mastered this technique yet, Sasuke. So don't you dare take your petty frustrations out on me, I don't deserve it!" I said, my voice icy with rage.
I stood back and turned to walk away - leaving them to their training.
"I'll let Tsunami know that you're aware of dinner…" I promised them and left without another word. I heard Naruto's angry voice behind me as I went.
"Shit… You really are a teme, Teme!"
"Whatever, dobe…" I heard Sasuke mutter, and felt a sense of satisfaction when I heard guilt and regret hidden underneath the anger in his voice.
Naruto told me later on that Sasuke seemed to regret yelling at me for no reason, because Naruto had refused to explain to Sasuke how to climb high on the tree.
About five minutes later, Kakashi came out to fetch us for dinner. He went to the boys first, and then came to find me. I was sitting on the same cliff Inari like to sit on sometimes and Kakashi found me sitting there with my chin resting on my knees, while I cried angry, hurt tears down my cheeks.
"Hikari-chan? Dinner's ready." He said. I nodded and hastily wiped away the tears, before getting to my feet and walked to his side so he could escort me inside.
"Are you alright?" He asked, concerned and placed a hand on my shoulder.
"Yeah, never better." I lied and opened the front door of Tazuna's home, stepping back to let the still injured Kakashi through first.
He frowned, obviously guessing that I was lying to him, but nevertheless shrugged and hobbled inside to take a seat. I came in and sank down onto a pillow next to a confused, concerned Sakura who also asked me what was wrong. I lied again, and like Kakashi, Sakura frowned sensing a lie in my words. Their questions seemed to be answered when both Naruto and Sasuke came into the room after cleaning up, and I deliberately looked away from Sasuke, who flushed guiltily when he saw that I had been crying.
To dig the knife in deeper, Naruto deliberately chose a pillow next to Sakura, who glared at him for taking it - intending it for Sasuke, who was forced to take the only other pillow at the table, which happened to be right next to me. I glowered at Naruto, who shrugged and chose to ignore me and instead focused on Tsunami who was serving the dinner: Bean Soup and Sweet Potatoes.
Instantly, both Naruto and Sasuke looked at each other. A familiar challenge glittered wickedly in their eyes and both Sakura and I groaned when both started eating their meal at top speed, despite both Tsunami and us sternly telling them to slow down before they either choked or threw up.
I wrinkled my nose at their bad table manners and focused on calmly tasting and savouring the warm, rich soup. Unfortunately, both boys suddenly threw up, most of Sasuke's orange coloured vomit landing on my leg in a warm, goopy mess.
"Oh yuck!" I shrieked, getting to my feet and backing away from the table, glaring daggers at Sasuke who stared back at me with some shame on his face.
I shuddered when the vomit started dripping down my leg and I fought down the bile that crept up my throat. Sakura sighed and got to her feet as well, also glaring at both the object of her affections and the hyperactive blonde who was also looking shamefaced at what had just happened.
"Don't eat so much if you're just gonna throw it up!" Sakura scolded and coming over to me to lead me away to the bathroom to clean up.
"I have to eat…" mumbled Sasuke, who was shooting me an apologetic look.
"And I have to eat more than him! It's the only possible way I'll get strong enough to beat him," Naruto said. I sighed in disapproval, before allowing Sakura to lead me away.
"What you both really need to do… is grow up." I stated quietly.
After changing out of my light blue dress (which Tsunami promised to have cleaned and ready to go by tomorrow afternoon) and getting dressed in some of Tsunami's borrowed clothes, Tsunami made everyone some tea - which seemed to help soothe Sasuke and Naruto's stomaches. I accepted my cup from Tsunami and wondered over to perch at the window ceil and stared up at the night sky, watching the twinkling stars. I could sense Sasuke staring at me and I tried hard to ignore him.
"Excuse me, but this picture's torn. Is there some reason for that?"
I looked over to see Sakura pointing to a large picture where, true to Sakura's words, was a not so subtle rip in the picture. Sakura frowned slightly at Inari, who flinched back from the studying gaze.
"Inari, you kept staring at it all through dinner but there's a tear in it. That's a little strange, don't you think?" Sakura stated matter-of-factly.
My eyes widened as I watched Tazuna, Tsunami and Inari freeze. It wasn't mentioned, but one could definitely tell something was definitely wrong. And it was clear that Sakura was opening some tender wounds.
"It's my husband," Tsunami finally answered. Tazuna picked up the explanation - even though I suddenly wished he wouldn't. I could feel the mounting tension creeping up on us.
"They use to call him a hero in this land."
That confirmed my darkest suspicions.
Oh no, that's horrible. Poor Inari… I thought as I suddenly realised the reason behind Inari's cold and bitter exterior. Inari suddenly jumped up and left the room, Tsunami following. She briefly scolded Tazuna before she left.
"Inari's so...I mean, what happened to him?" Sakura asked, clearly oblivious to what was really going on.
"Do you even know the meaning of tact, Sakura?" I spat, disgusted by her lack of tact.
"Is there a story behind this?" Kakashi asked Tazuna quietly.
"He wasn't his real father, he came into our family later." Tazuna answered solemnly.
"He brought us so much happiness. He and Inari were extremely close." I smiled sympathetically.
"In those days, Inari use to laugh all the time."
By this point, Tazuna was shaking from grief and immediately, I put down my teacup and went over to his side, wrapping my arms around him for support. Tazuna clenched his hands together.
"But then...all that ended." His tears hit the table.
"Inari never laughs or smiles anymore. Ever since the day where everything changed." He paused, trying to pull himself together.
"The word courage was stolen from this island and we were left feeling powerless and hopeless. Inari has suffered the most, ever since that day, and ever since IT happened." He blew his nose on a handkerchief.
"Tell us, what happened to Inari?" Kakashi asked.
Tazuna sighed.
"First you need to know about the man, his father. The man who taught us the word courage, the hero in this land."
Naruto's eyes widened.
"A hero, really?" He asked. Tazuna shrugged.
"You can decide that for yourself. But he came here 3 years ago."
Tazuna explained to us that Inari had been bullied over his dog and as a consequence, he was thrown into the sea to die. His dog had paddled away and left Inari. The man who eventually became Inari's step dad, saved him and nursed him back to health afterwards. The man had given Inari kind words about being brave and standing up for what he believed in.
"His name was Kaiza." Tazuna explained. "He was a simple fisherman that came here from another land to pursue his dreams. After, they were inseparable."
We grinned at the happy memory.
"Inari never knew his real father, so you can imagine what it meant to him to have Kaiza."
Naruto, Sasuke and I looked at each other and just as quickly looked away again. We knew exactly what Inari had been feeling. I felt the tears prickling in my eyes again as I remembered my father - and how much I wished he could hold me and rock me in his arms again.
"He looked up to Kaiza, and strived to follow in his footsteps. Kaiza spent more and more time with us until he became a part of the family." Tazuna grinned happily at the memory.
"And then when this town needed him, he became something more."
Apparently, Kaiza risked his life the stop the village from being flooded.
"It wasn't long after that Gato showed up. He started to terrorize the village and the only one brave enough to stand up to him was Kaiza."
I gulped, fearing what I was about to hear next. Naruto put a reassuring hand over mine and I grabbed onto it, squeezing gratefully.
"Clearly, Gato couldn't have a local hero getting in his way and it took his whole gang to stop one man."
Naruto and I growled with unbelievable anger as we learnt that Kaiza had been brutally beaten up and tied to a stake in front of the townspeople. He was then wrongfully accused of disrupting the village and interfering with Gato's company (and his plans). Kaiza was then killed in front of everyone, including Inari.
I felt sick at the thought.
Tazuna then gravely told us that the event had deeply scarred Inari and turned him into a bitter kid.
I don't blame him…
"We lost our will." Tazuna said sadly, in an almost defeated way.
Naruto suddenly hopped out of his chair and instantly face planted on the ground.
"What are you doing, Naruto?" Sakura asked, not amused. I helped Naruto to his feet - and glared at Sakura. It appeared that two out of three of my teammates had no hearts.
"You'd better take the day off. You've spent the day training and wasted chakra. If you push any harder, it could kill you." Sakura stated without feeling.
"I'm going to prove it," Naruto said, assertive - obviously missing what Sakura had just said to him. We all frowned at his weird declaration.
"Prove what?" Sakura asked.
Naruto took on the nice guy pose.
"I'll prove that it's true, that in this world there are real heroes!"
A/C: The next chapter might be a little while coming out. So please, bare with me :)