Sum of our Parts

Rendezvous

Thank you everyone who has read, reviewed, favorite, or followed

***I wish I made $ off of Naruto, cause then I would be rich as crap. ***

"Le gasp!" normal talking

'das fuken?' normal thinking

set-you-on-fire-no-jutsu: Jutsu and other techniques

"I will murder you!" Tailed beast/demonic voice

***SooP***

Kurenai thanked Kami that Kakashi's team had been smart enough to inform the Hokage of their location, if her team was forced to wander around Wave searching for him it would have been a major pain, and another distraction that she did not need at the time.

Rather the current focus of her attention was her, still silent, red haired Genin.

The Jonin Sensei was beginning to believe that all of her lessons with Yugao and Hayate. Despite the incredible progress she had made Kurenai was thinking that it wasn't worth the cost of the poor girl's mental health.

She was still trying to figure out how to help the Uzumaki when they spotted the house of Team seven's client, a man named Tazuna.

After knocking in a distinctive pattern, the door opened to reveal the Inuzuka standing behind it.

"Oh uh hey there…."

"Kurenai"

"Ah right sorry, Kurenai-Sama. I heard we were getting some reinforcements so I guess it's your team eh? Well we can use all the help we can get, even if it is all Kunoichi."

"What does that mean Kiba? The red-eyed woman glared as she growled out the question.

"Heh nothing, nothing sorry. You probably want to talk with Kakashi-Sensei correct? He's upstairs first door on the right. Sakura and Sasuke are in the living room."

Upon entering the team leader immediately went upstairs while the other three Kunoichi went to join their former classmates.

***SooP***

"Kakashi,"

"Yo" the cyclopean man barely managed to mutter out, being otherwise unable to move from massive Chakra and physical exhaustion.

"Looks like you went ten rounds with a Kage, what the hell happened?"

"The mission was going okay until we were ambushed by Zabuza Momochi. I was forced to use the Sharingan against him and well… you can probably guess the rest. It originally looked like he had been killed by a Hunter-Nin but now I am not so sure. Either way it looks as though our client lied about the mission parameters, he knew he was being hunted by a man named Gato."

"The famous shipping magnate? He's one of the richest men in the world right now, why would he be interested in Tazuna?"

"He is dominating the village by controlling all imports and exports Tazuna wants to build a bridge so that they do not have to rely on the water ways.

"You aren't considering continuing this mission are you Kakashi? I know you are a famous Shinobi but the man lied about the circumstances, if we let things like this go then we will…"

"I am well aware of the consequences Kurenai. Are you really just going to let this bastard starve and kill innocent people because they cannot afford a higher ranking mission though?"

"And if it hadn't been you who was assigned? What if it had been a group of Chunin who were killed on this mission?"

"We cannot control the 'what if's' Kurenai-San and you know it. My team has already voted unanimously to stay so we will be in this for the long haul. I understand if you wish to return to Konoha, I won't blame you for not risking your student's lives for another's decision."

"Those who abandon their friends are worse than scum. Isn't that what you always say?" The Kunoichi let out a sigh of frustration before looking back towards the bed ridden man. "I wouldn't be able to sleep at night if we deserted you and one of your team was killed so I guess we are in this with you though you seriously owe me after this one Hatake."

***SooP***

"So uh you are here to help us out right? Well it will be nice to have a few more Kunoichi on the mission it has been such a pain being stuck with all boys except Sasuke-kun of course."

"O-of course Sakura-san. So what happened that you needed help? I thought K-Kakashi-Sama was very powerful?"

"Kakashi-Sensei is awesome! A bit lazy but who cares the guy kicks ass! We ran into this missing Nin guy named Zabuza who had a huge sword but Kakashi was all like whoosh wham bam and kicked him all over the place and then some masked guy shows up and throws some needles into his neck and takes him away, something about him being a criminal and all." Kiba excitedly explained, while Akamaru yelped in agreement.

"Oh man that sounds sooo cool! I wish we could've seen that fight." Natsuko happily chimed in, while Sasuke just stared at the remaining Kunoichi in silence.

"What's wrong with her?" Sasuke asked, nodding in the direction of Akane, who was seated by herself in the corner.

"Um well A-Akane-chan…"

"We had some problems on the last mission and onee-chan is just not feeling well."

"She looks sick. Has your Sensei checked to see if she is ill?" Sakura helpfully chimed in.

"Yeah she used some medical Jutsu on her, I think she is just having some trouble being away from Konoha for the first time, you know homesick kind of stuff." The blonde replied, trying to divert attention away from her sister.

A minute later the Kunoichi Jonin came down the stairs and gathered the Genin together.

"Alright the situation is that both Kakashi and I agree that our teams will stay here in wave, despite being blatantly lied to by the client." At this she sent a glare towards the old man who looked away in shame and embarrassment, while his daughter glared at him as well. "We both believe that Zabuza is most likely still alive, the technique that was described as bringing him down does not sound like a normal one that Hunter-Nin use, they also dispose of the bodies immediately rather than transporting them to a different location."

"Y-you mean Zabuza i-is still a-alive?" Sakura stuttered out as memories of their confrontation came rushing back into her mind.

"Yes but now we know what to expect, have the home field advantage, and we have twice the power as before. Both Zabuza and Kakashi should be recovered at roughly the same time and so there is no concern about a surprise attack on that part. For now the plan is that Kakashi and I will take turns training you six in the week to come while the other watches over Tazuna's family."

The various Genin instantly perked up at the thought of training, minus Akane who seemed to barely react at all.

"For now though I want you all to get used to the area surrounding us and the bridge. Most likely the final confrontation will be at one of these two places and we need as much help as we can get for when everything comes to pass. You will be going out in groups of two and be gone no longer than an hour at a time, if something happens spike your Chakra and the rest of us will come to assist you."

***SooP***

Kakashi had been in bed all day, having needed food brought up to him when it was time for their meals. Now that the sun was setting the normal comfort that the former ANBU found in the darkness was beginning to wash over him, when he heard the door to his room almost silently open, and a figure enter before closing it behind them.

Opening his lone visible eye the Jonin's blood immediately froze in his veins as he saw the redhead Uzumaki standing above his bed, staring down at him emotionlessly before she slowly pulled a Kunai out of her pocket.

'So this is how it ends? It is fitting I suppose, if anyone deserves to end my life it would be one of the two girls that I abandoned. I am so sorry Minato and Kushina. I tried to be there but I failed again.'

Closing his eyes in a resignation to his fate the man barely felt the small incision directly above his mouth, before his upper back, head, and neck were gently propped up with another pillow.

Opening his eyes he noticed the girl bringing a glass of murky liquid to his lips.

"Drink slowly" she commanded softly.

The Shinobi did as he was told and instantly realized what it was. It had been created back during the Third Shinobi War as a long term replacement for food pills. It rejuvenated the body, restored Chakra, and helped heal wounds but at a slower pace, and without the harmful exhaustion that came with the alternative. It came as a powder and would be added to water, which it also purified as another helpful side effect.

As the man consumed the enriched liquid he glanced up at the teenage girl standing next to him. She bore no ill will, but rather the same empty gaze as when she entered the room.

After he had finished she draped another blanket over his prone form before turning to leave.

"Wait…"

She froze mid step before turning back.

"Why?"

"Because Inu-Sama, you were kind to Natsuko and I growing up."

Kakashi's eye widened even larger, how the girl had figured out his identity was mind boggling.

"You knew"

"Of course, you smell the same after all. Don't worry, Natsuko doesn't know. It always took her longer to connect a scent with its source."

"If you knew then why are you doing this? You should hate me."

"Because you always showed remorse for your failure, and I knew it wasn't necessarily your fault that you had to leave. You were ANBU it isn't your job to follow around two orphan girls their entire lives to make sure that everything is perfect."

"I should have though. I should have been there more for you and your sister protected you, made sure you were living good lives. Instead I watched as you were mistreated, starved, attacked…."

"You stopped most of them that is what matters. No one can succeed all the time, what matters, is that you tried to."

With that the young girl left, leaving a thoroughly stunned Jonin.

***SooP***

"Alright Team seven what was Kakashi working on with you before your mission?" Kurenai asked the assembled Genin as they gathered in the nearby woods.

"Kakashi-Sensei teaches us a lot of teamwork and missions and stuff" Kiba answered with a grin.

"Okay but individually what do all of you know, so I can gauge what to work on with each of you."

"I was going to start them on tree walking today." Kakashi answered as he managed to enter the clearing on crutches.

"You haven't even started them on that yet!? Damnit Kakashi!"

"Heh? You worry too much Kurenai-san they will be fiiiiiiiine"

"Ugh… fine tree walking first, okay Team seven here is what you will be working on today."

After a brief explanation and example the three Genin went to work on the exercise, with Sakura quickly getting the hang of it while the two boys struggled.

"Hey what gives why don't the other three have to do this!?" Kiba whined out as he noticed Hinata and Natsuko sparring with each other.

"Because I already taught Hinata and Natsuko how to do that and the water walking exercise." Kurenai explained.

"Oh? Not leaving out one of your Genin from training are you Kurenai-san?" Kakashi inquired with an eye smile.

"Of course not Kakashi-san Akane already knew both exercises and is more than proficient in them."

When she said this a loud crash was heard as Kiba fell down the tree, stunned.

"S-she already knew how to do it?" Sakura sputtered out, having convinced herself that despite being scary Akane was the worst in the class.

"Apparently she was self taught, quite impressive for a dead last I must say." Kurenai mused, before gesturing the other Jonin over to her.

"Something you wish to speak about Kurenai-san?"

The two began walking away from their students as Kurenai began.

"Kakashi-san, I know I am going to regret this later but… could you speak with Akane? During our last mission she was forced to kill over a dozen bandits in close combat. She was practically drenched in blood afterwards and hasn't spoken more than a sentence to us since then. Normally I would help her myself but my experience with this type of thing is outshined by yours, no disrespect."

"None taken, how did she manage it if I might ask?"

"She has been training with Yugao and Hayate with the katana lately."

"Ah sounds like a miniature Kushina."

Suddenly Kurenai froze mid-step and glared over towards the man, who realized his error instantly.

"You knew!"

"Kurenai-san it isn't…."

"Damnit Kakashi what the hell were you and the Third thinking!? What was going to happen if we were sent on a diplomatic mission and ran into someone from Iwa who recognized them?"

"It wasn't my choice! I wanted to tell them when they made Genin, hell even earlier!" The man shot back in anger, earning a sigh from the Kunoichi.

"I'm sorry Kakashi-san, I have been really stressed lately with Akane's depression and having to keep this from them. You know how important it is to them I feel as though I am betraying them and their trust."

"I know what you mean. I'll talk to Akane now see if I can figure out what exactly is bothering her, why don't you and your team join us? This needs to be something that you all will address."

***SooP***

Akane sat in front of the silver haired Jonin, with her Sensei and sister sitting off to the side staring at her worriedly. Hinata had stayed to help Team seven with their training. Kakashi merely stared into her eyes, his expression one of concern.

"Tell me what happened Akane." He commanded in a soft, yet firm voice.

For a few minutes the other Kunoichi believed that she hadn't heard the question before she whispered out, "I killed them, all of them. I didn't feel remorse or sadness when I did I just took their lives away."

"Okay, who did you kill?"

"Those men…"

"The bandits?"

"Yes"

"But they were bad men correct? They were going to hurt you, hurt your team. They were going to hurt those innocent girls."

On the way to the meeting Kurenai had informed Kakashi of enough details for him to know what to address.

"They were people..."

"They gave up the right to being called human when they stopped acting like one. But it's not just about that is it?"

Kurenai looked towards the male Jonin strangely for a moment, trying to figure out what he meant before the young girl finally whispered out an answer that nearly stopped her heart.

"They were right…"

"Who was right?" The silver haired man prodded.

"All of them, they were right, I am a monster."

"Akane, who called you that?"

In response the redhead finally broke down and shouted back.

"ALL OF THEM, THE VILLAGERS, THE SHINOBI, THE SHOP KEEPERS, THE HOSPITAL WORKERS, THE PEOPLE AT THE ORPHANAGE!"

"They are wrong Akane, you are not a monst…"

"I enjoyed killing them! I ripped them apart, their blood covered me and all I felt was adrenaline and excitement. How can you call me anything but a demon!? I am nothing more than a…"

The slap that sounded afterwards seemed to silence the entire forest.

"Natsuko…" Kurenai muttered out in a shocked tone at the blonde's action.

"You are not a demon, you are not a monster, you are the strongest, most protective person I know. If it wasn't for you I wouldn't be alive at this point, even if I was who knows what I would be. You protected me when no one else would, when no one else could. You are the furthest thing from a monster possible. Those men you killed were the monsters Akane, because they had a choice in what they would do and they chose to hurt innocent people, you chose to save the innocent, to protect them. You weren't killing the villagers in fact you made sure they were safe before anything else."

The shorter Uzumaki just held her sister in a tight hug, trying to comfort her while Kakashi motioned for Kurenai to the side.

"We need to talk to the Hokage when we get back. I am sure nothing is wrong but they will need to be informed about… their burden before they accidently tap into it and it gets even worse."

The red eyed Kunoichi merely nodded sadly, watching the emotional hug that was taking place.

***SooP***

Sasuke glared at the newest challenge in his life, the tree that seemed to taunt him and his failures. Growling in a very Inuzuka-like manner he ran at the object of his current hatred once more, and made it a few steps up before being forced backwards.

"Damnit!" The young boy swore, as he glanced over at a passed out Sakura and Kiba who was panting from the effort.

"You are using too much Chakra."

Spinning around Sasuke noticed the only member of Team eight to have stuck around, Hinata.

"What the hell do you know about it?"

"Considering I actually can perform the exercise, more than you do obviously. You are having the same problem that Natsuko-chan had when she started. You are trying to force more Chakra into your feet to force the Jutsu to work. Tree climbing isn't like of your Uchiha fire techniques though. You can't push it out with just raw power."

"Then how in the hell are Kiba and Sakura surpassing me?"

"They have less Chakra than you do. It's far easier for them to do the small scale techniques that will naturally be more difficult for you."

Again the boy growled in annoyance before running at the tree again, this time putting a little less Chakra into his technique.

***SooP***

When the group of tired Genin returned they were met with a comfortable, albeit small, home cooked meal from Tsunami.

"Sorry there isn't much here, we have been going through tough times and food is a bit scarce." The woman mentioned, a bit downtrodden at their situation.

"No need to apologize Tsunami-san we are more than grateful to have a warm meal that does not consist of ramen." The Kunoichi Jonin thanked, while her blonde Genin muttered about the joys of the "food of the Gods".

Sasuke merely grunted while the rest of the Ninja offered their thanks as well.

"Why do you even bother?"

The Konoha Ninja turned to see a young boy standing in the doorway, offering a glare towards those assembled.

"You are just going to die like everyone else no one can stop Gato so you should just leave now!"

"Don't you worry about us kid we will take care of this Gato guy and everyone else he can throw at us. Konoha Shinobi do not back down!" Kiba proudly proclaimed.

"You don't know anything about us! How can you sit there and act like you know what will happen. All of you just live in your perfect city in your perfect lives while the rest of us suffer!" The boy continued.

Akane stood up immediately, her chair quickly sliding back as the two Jonin tensed, ready to intercept her should she choose to try and hurt the boy.

"You are the one who seems to not understand suffering. You live in a large house with a mother and grandfather who love you. You have food to eat every night. You are not forced to steal just to provide for yourself and what little family you have. You do not know how the world truly works instead you sit around and mope and complain everyday about how life should be and how terrible life is without doing anything to try and better yourself. If you truly do not like how things are then make a change and if that doesn't work then change something else. Giving up will not solve your problems."

With that the red haired girl left, muttering about doing some late night training.

Inari ran from the room soon afterwards, leaving a tense silence behind.

"What was she talking about Kakashi-Sensei? There isn't anyone who has to live like that in Konoha… right?"

"I'm afraid your wrong Sakura, life is not always fair and more often than not it seems to target certain individuals just to throw obstacles in their way."

Glancing towards her fellow teammate Hinata immediately noticed the depressed look on the blonde's face. Once more the Hyuga wondered what she truly knew about the two Uzumaki sisters, and just how strong they were for having to survive a life like they had described.

***SooP***

Early the next morning Haku was wandering through the forest, searching for herbs and flowers to help his Sensei recover from the near-death state he was forced to put the man in to save his life.

Upon reaching a nearby clearing the boy caught sight of a young red haired Kunoichi sleeping on the ground. As he wandered over he began examining her, she had a Konoha headband on and thus was obviously with the other team that Zabuza had faced, but he did not recognize her from their previous encounter.

Still she was to be considered an enemy and a potential threat, since there was no one else around he could eliminate her now and remove her from the future battle.

Reaching down towards her neck the girl snapped awake and leaped away from him, immediately drawing a kunai.

"Ah Kunoichi-san are you alright? I saw you lying on the ground and thought that you might need help."

"I am quite alright, who are you?" The girl replied, relaxing slightly but keeping her weapon drawn.

"My name is Haku I am here to gather herbs for a friend of mine that is quite ill."

"I see, I apologize for my reaction, do you need any help?"

"I would be happy to accept your assistance thank you…"

"Akane"

"Akane-san it is then."

For the next half hour the two busied themselves. They conversed lightly about the surrounding areas and their hobbies while picking the various plants the boy required.

"Tell me something Akane-san, why are you a Ninja? Surely there are easier paths you could have chosen for yourself."

"I suppose I always wanted to be one while I was growing up. Then things changed and it became more of a necessity to protect my sister."

"I see, so you fight for her then? Is she a Kunoichi as well?"

"Yes she is. What about you Haku-san? Do you have any important people in your life?"

"I do, the man I am healing is the most important thing in the world to me. He saved my life and gave me purpose. Without him I would be dead, or worse."

"I know how you feel I would have succumbed to darkness or loneliness a hundred times by now if it wasn't for Natsuko. She is the light in my world."

"It sounds like she is quite special. Do be sure to protect her then Akane-san. It is the desire to protect someone that makes a person truly strong."

With that the young boy left, hurrying back to his Sensei to speed his recovery.

Meanwhile Akane just watched the boy leave, and then took her hand off of the Kunai she had been hiding in her sleeve the entire time.

***SooP***

"Why do I have to keep doing this exercise when I already have it mastered?" Sakura whined as her Sensei pointed the three members of Team seven to the trees again.

"Because Sakura your Chakra reserves are the smallest here by far, which makes it easier for you to do the exercise but it exhausts you after a few minutes. This will build up your stamina for when you learn the more powerful techniques later." Kurenai answered, assuming that Kakashi was just going to ignore the poor girl anyway.

"Man this is crap, Sasuke and I weren't born with ridiculous Chakra control like you were."

"It has nothing to do with that Kiba, it took Hinata a day or two to full master this technique and Natsuko was thrown back about ten feet the first time she tried it, she spent an entire week to fully master it." The Kunoichi Jonin replied while the two girls just nodded.

"So only Akane has the control for it then?" Sakura chimed in, wondering if she shared something in common with a fellow Kunoichi.

"It would seem that way Sakura, Akane's Chakra control is close to your level despite her huge reserves, I suppose she was just born lucky in that regard." Kurenai replied with a slight tinge of jealousy in her voice.

The blonde Uzumaki just chuckled from nearby.

"Onee-chan's Chakra control was worse than mine when she started this stuff."

"Wh-what but then how?"

"Three months."

The non-Uzumaki Ninja all froze at the new voice.

"Hey onee-chan!"

"Hello Natsuko, like I said it took me three months to perfect this exercise. The first week was spent just being able to stick my foot to a tree without burning a hole through it."

"B-burning?"

"Yeah, my Chakra is so dense that it doesn't push me back like all of yours do when you use too much. Instead mine superheats the surface and melts through it luckily I picked isolated trees so that I didn't start a forest fire."

"It almost sounds like you have an extreme fire affinity with your Chakra." Kakashi mused, much to the bewilderment of his students.

"Affinity?" Kiba muttered, as if trying to recall what the word meant.

"Yes, all Shinobi have one or more Chakra affinities, they tell you what type of elemental Jutsu are the easiest for you to perform. For instance the Uchiha Clan was well known for its fire affinity. I already had them tested though."

"Oh and what was Akane's affinity then Kurenai?" The silver haired man inquired, even though he was acting like he wasn't paying attention to the conversation.

"Whatever affinity correlates to the paper exploding." Akane deadpanned.

Kakashi's lone eye widened to epic proportions

***SooP***

"So today's the big day right?" Kiba asked out loud to no one in particular.

"I-it would seem so Kiba-san, Kurenai-Sensei and Kakashi-Sensei said that Z-Zabuza should be recovered by today and would most likely a-attack." Hinata clarified as the eight Ninja made their way with Tazuna down towards the bridge.

Kurenai had already sent Inari, Tsunami, and Tazuna to a nearby house that was discreet enough so that they wouldn't be targeted by Gato.

"So what is the plan Ero-Sensei?" The adorable blonde inquired with an innocent tilt of her head.

"You don't have to call me that you know… in fact I would prefer you just call me Kakashi instead…"

"Aww come on Ero-Sensei I think it sounds rather catchy."

"You know Kiba I might not be able to do anything to Natsuko but I can have you do some solo Tora missions when we get back to Konoha…"

"Wait why can Natsuko get away with it but Kiba can't?"

"A very good question Sakura."

The pinkette stared at her teacher for a minute before realizing the man had gone back to reading his orange book.

"And?"

"Hm did you say something Sakura?"

"Why is Natsuko allowed to but Kiba and the rest of us can't?" the girl gritted her teeth in annoyance.

"Oh that's not true Akane can get away with it too."

Hinata giggled at the two Ninja's antics as they continued their journey.

Sakura just growled, before looking towards the other Jonin.

"Kurenai-Sensei, could you give me a straight answer?"

"Of course Sakura, it is because Kakashi-san knows that if he is mean to Natsuko then Akane will cut off the part of him that makes him a man, and if he is mean to Akane herself, then Natsuko will set his porn stash on fire."

The two male Genin winced at the implications, and discreetly moved their hands closer to protect their most important areas, while their Sensei gave a sage nod in agreement.

Moments later they came to the bridge, just as a dense mist began rolling in.

***A/N***

I wasn't intending on spending this much time on wave but I wanted to include a bit more of Team seven's training.

Sorry for anyone who has reviewed and not received a reply yet, normally I PM back but the review system on FF is broken.

Don't forget I am still taking suggestions on potential pairings for later on in the story.

Hope everyone enjoyed reading as much as I enjoyed writing this chapter.