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Episode Three
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"Team Naruto"
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In which an adolescent Naruto is a sensei to three prepubescent ninjas— one who thinks himself as his eternal rival, another who worships him and the last being the girl who might just break what is left of his heart.
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He would learn that the statue that Hinata stood on during their fight was Otsutsuki Hamura's, the then bloodied girl poised to spring at any second, blood oozing from where she fell when the Kyuubi released its first surge of chakra. Her eyes blazed that unfamiliar shade of blue, the corners itself streaming tears of blood. Naruto stood on what he would discover later as the replica of the late Sage of Six Paths, overwhelmed by fury and unaware that they are repeating an ancient history of war and bloodshed.
All he could remember was blood but he could not recall whose. He might have confronted her when her robes are soaked with the Hyuga's extinction. He might have inflicted it himself. She might have shed her own red tears. He might have almost killed her in his uncontrollable anger.
All he knew is that their fight ended as a draw. And Hinata's lips on his, whispering goodbye.
With a swoosh, his Rasengan had met her Soshiken for the second time of the day and this time it did more than just provoke waves from the once still waters. The lightning shrieked. His chakra twirled. And it was as if he could hear the purple lion roar its own hatred. Their fists met and it exploded in his eyes into emptiness where gone was the sound of the waterfall and the destruction that they paved, and all that remained was him and her. And the question that he wanted to ask her.
"Why?"
And he knew as he saw what her heart really said and for whom her heart was still beating for, that her answer would not, never be a lie.
"I just want to protect you. All of you."
And everything went black.
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Hanabi's tone is cold, collected and controlled.
Always a bad sign, anyone belonging to their class would think.
"You don't know how it feels like so shut up."
Konohamaru stares at her, wide-eyed and stunned. He never expected to hear those words from her. He never expected to feel so dumb, so insensitive, so much unlike the Hokage that he wants to be. Oji-san would not have said those words. Oji-san wouldn't have been that careless. Oji-san would not have this girl glaring at him like this.
He never expected that the almighty prodigy Hanabi could be so hurt, damaged like this…
He never expected her to be this sad.
And he did not mean to say those awful, awful things.
"That is why I hate your guts." She states, huffing in unconcealed disgust and walks away.
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Whether they are a supposed to be a reconnaissance, a tracking or an apprehending team, Naruto couldn't tell... yet. As Tsunade did present, Team Naruto is purely an experimental bunch— something that has never been done before or even thought about. Certainly not any of her predecessors because they didn't have enough time. "Most clan heirs of this generation already graduated the year after you did." was another one of her points made when she had been relatively sober to answer Naruto's question during the weekly report. "Yamanaka, Nara, Akimichi, Aburame..."
Naruto knows that all too well.
"And even the second sons of the Uchiha and Inuzuka who weren't the official inheritors of their clan but are promising enough. Amazing how they all could be in the same age but anyway, you get my point."
That you didn't even dare mention the Hyuuga Heir among those names, one of the most infamous ninjas Konoha has ever produced? Naruto bit his tongue.
"Most of this year's graduates are merely the children of civilians who have shown enough prowess to make a name for themselves. Not that I discount their skills nor do I not prioritize the focus for their tutelage in any way but you must understand that we only have two shinobi hopefuls this year who already have their name enshrouded by glory—tried and tested so to speak- and we wanted them to have the best sensei. And you are just the man for the job."
Flattery as a jounin did the same thing as when he was patted in the head as genin. Naruto grins bashfully, his chest one inch puffed proudly. He had something to rub to Kiba's team of mediocre genins during their meeting of the senseis later. Get that, dog-breath! "So Konohamaru of the Sarutobi and Hanabi of the Hyuga were put on my team?"
Tsunade nodded. "If you think about it, they are not as experimental as the other teams like, say Kiba's whose students probably don't have any idea that we can walk on water until Akamaru shows them."
"But shouldn't Hanabi be on a tracking team?" was his inquiry, wondering whether they are in fact the, tracking team after all. But he did hear Kiba mention that they have that specialization nailed already, tasked as he was to train the kids in the art of reconnaissance and information gathering. "The Byakugan has to be utilized in its best benefit, right?"
He did not dare mention that the last Hyuuga who graduated had been part of the tracking team too.
Or that most of the Hyuuga who perished that night were.
The Godaime Hokage shook her head gravely, her sigh long-suffering. "And while I am aware that Hanabi's is the only Byakugan left, it has its other uses too. A tracking team is a specialized team. They require a specific skill set which this current batch lacked. They were young and mostly untrained. Hanabi too. I am even surprised that considering the circumstances, the girl is already well-versed with the Jyuuken. Do you think she was trained rigorously by Hiashi before things... happened?"
"I know that for a fact." Naruto said but chose not to elaborate further. The Hyuuga clan had elaborate training rituals.
"What do you think of sensei's grandson?"
Naruto cocked his head sideways, taking the time to think. "Konohamaru? He has potential, I guess."
"Sort of reminds you of you?"
Naruto grinned smugly and chuckled good-humouredly "You got it."
Tsunade shook her head in mild amusement. "But I assume Udon is fine?"
"Ah. More than good enough actually. He knocks some sense to his teammates most of the time. I can commend you about that. At least you did something right for once."
The glare that the Hokage sent his way might have frozen even the most seasoned of Kage-level shinobi. Naruto, being far from the sharpest tool in the chest, is of course, no exception.
"I assembled you for a reason." She spat out, eye twitching. And Naruto mused with amusement that finally, they were getting somewhere. There was a reason why they were all banded together and he kind of had a feeling on what it was.
Then she got serious. "The Byakugan has to be trained. And you are the only one who knows it the way as a user would."
Tsunade's amber-colored eyes were measuring his own widened gaze. "You know the Hyuuga's power more than anyone in this village."
Because he did fight one, he knows. Probably the strongest of them all.
And he was the only one who came close into killing her.
The staggering memory made the bile rise to Naruto's throat for a moment. The Valley of End looming before him, purple chakra emanating from a distance away. Blue, pulsing eyes staring back at him. Hyuuga Hinata standing on her ancestor's head, her hands glowing the oppressive power of blazing lions.
This is the power of the Byakugan.
This is the power of the Tenseigan.
Hinata sealing away the beast inside him after their fight, something that he would be forever be grateful for.
He's never supposed to come out.
The Kyuubi growling fiercely, eagerly inside its cage, that time they met once again.
Well, if it isn't Hamura's spawn.
"Do you think I am qualified enough to train her in her Byakugan?" he asked, confused and Tsunade's certainty as she replied astounded him. "Someone with a sharingan would have been good enough. Sasuke—"
"I think you are qualified enough to train your team to beat nukenins someday." She drummed her fingers, breathing deeply. "One specific nukenin, in fact."
They are meant to hunt down Hinata.
Naruto's tongue is tied.
"I take it that this is the perfect time no eh." She propped up one arm to show him a piece of document. A familiar green stamp said enough. He knew his team would be doing such soon— sooner than the usual drill, in fact. Konohagakure lost a lot of manpower in the last world war.
"So I have a C-rank mission for you…"
As Tsunade began to narrate the specifics, Naruto realized that things are once again happening a little too fast.
And he might have no choice but to watch it unfold
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Remembering that particular conversation from two days ago, Naruto cringes inwardly.
And here they are on their first C-rank mission, just after a week of being genin. When he was one, it took a month and a multitude of times being eluded by Tora, the Daimyo's cat for them to even get their passport out of the village. They had been assigned as escorts to a group of merchants, with some threats of petty bandits here and there. It was, all in all honesty a boring, harmless mission which was expected because it had been a relatively peaceful time back then.
His old teammates died in a C-rank mission.
But this time it was the age of the warring villages, the nations barely recovering from the remnants of the Fourth Shinobi World War. In this mission, there is no valid reason to slack off like they did when they were just accompanying a bunch of peddlers. A C-rank mission nowadays, is always guaranteed to go south.
And even before when they were under the illusion that everything was fine, it did.
And they took it too early.
I take it you're ready?
Heaving a huge sigh, Naruto knows well that they are not.
The three barely have gone to training, armed with nothing but what they have learned in the academy about the shinobi way of life which is in all manners of speaking, next to useless. Udon could only walk timidly beside him and Naruto could not imagine how he would fare on trying to scale up a tree with chakra. And oddly enough, Konohamaru and Hanabi are not even engaged in their usual banter which could have helped momentarily on fooling everyone that everything is fine.
Which is, in all danger standpoint, it should be. Naruto is probably the best jonin of the village, all humility aside. The man who can be everywhere at once. There is a reason why he was given that title and he is not willing to show that to these kids just yet. Or is he? Naruto always liked the challenge and he has not been in a mission for quite a while.
In every place that he reached, there will always be blood…
And he reaches a lot, far and wide.
And he remembers that Hinata can see a lot, far and wide too.
Naruto sighs.
Udon looks up sharply, his spectacles glinting and uncannily perceptive as ever. "Anything the matter, sensei?" he asks, concerned. He looks worried, biting his lip anxiously but he does not pause from walking, always afraid to delay anyone in their steps. He sneezes, rubbing his nose. "I heard you sigh."
Uncomfortable by his student's close scrutiny, Naruto chuckles. This one is the astute, he thinks. But most times, that does not really help in battle. These types end up overthinking. There is Shikamaru but he is an exception. Whatever. "I just thought of something really weird: don't you guys miss Tora?"
One week. These kids only had one week before reality began.
"Well, we don't." Udon says, responding for the entirety of their three-man squad. The two remain impassive as ever and Naruto wonders why despite the cue for the usual derogative that he expects from these two, Hanabi and Konohamaru are yet to open their mouths. With such silent treatment since they left the village gates, Udon suddenly seems to be the talkative one now. Those two survived two days without insulting one another which means that pigs must have learned how to fly.
What had happened?
"But I sure do wonder, sensei: who would take care of him now that we are out here."
"Kiba's team is still back in the village." Apparently, this proves that they are not skilled enough yet. Whatever it is that made Tsunade think that Team Naruto is ready only eludes the blonde jonin. They certainly are nowhere close to how Team Gai had been very impressive back then before Neji… "So they are left to feed on our carcass."
Udon chuckles. The other two stay silent.
Tamaki, a blonde-haired, pleasant-looking young man points ahead of them. "The village is just yonder." And indeed as they come closer to the base of the hill where the nice-looking row of trade settlements stood, Naruto realizes that in the two days they have been travelling with the young heir, he has been expecting for the worse.
But not a single bandit even showed up.
And he feels the wind blows ominously around the forest so he does not let that mislead him.
He is not sure, as he ponders sheepishly, whether this really is not just disappointment that he could not show off.
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The C-rank mission went well.
Well besides that ninja who made the ill-advised surprise attack on their way home, there really was nothing worthy to note. Eager for some action, Naruto singlehandedly incapacitated the man, not realizing that like his sensei before, he should have waited until his students would man up and do the easy job for him.
Konohamaru complained. Hanabi rolled her eyes. "Show off." Udon sighed in relief.
"You're amazing sensei!" Which is to be expected from the bespectacled boy. Both Konohamaru and Hanabi look unimpressed.
"Just got carried away." He says, laughing uncomfortably. "I'll give you the next one. I promise."
But that was the last one.
All they have to do is to just drop the man by to barrier patrol and they are done. Mission accomplished. So in other words, no post-mission dramas such as rushing to the nearest medic nin, lengthy incident reports to write or those dreaded debriefings about the what-could-have-beens, wasteful thoughts that would not help anyway. All of those are merely theoretical. Being shinobi is purely instinct. And whatever went wrong should not be blamed to anything but the unfortunate situation itself.
Why did you save me?
Stupid. It's not because I love you or anything.
Naruto likes to think that everyone is just a victim of circumstances, that there is no such thing as inherent evil. That Hinata did not just wake up with Tenseigan and decided to kill everyone who has ever mocked her. That every missing nin and every name in the Bingo book has their own stories, has their own reasons and they can still turn their back from the dark path they decided to take if there is just a light on another one. There is white in black. There is black in white. What is important is the gray that lies in between, the equilibrium between the impossible perfection and the chaotic anarchy.
"This is what we are, Team" he preaches later as if all else is out of the question after their unusually okay mission, there is still Ichiraku's and its heavenly ramen. "This is an answer to your questions. Yes, we are a team to track down missing nins. Yes, we are to kill them if it comes to that. But this is the difference between us and the assassination squad. We won't kill them in their sleep. We will give them a chance to repent."
"But ano… sensei, wouldn't that be more dangerous?" Udon mumbles amidst a mouthful of his namesake condiment. Tacitly, the three boys of the team have agreed to an eating contest. Unsurprisingly, Naruto is gaining but much to his pleasant surprise, Konohamaru is just following a little behind. "I like ramen too." The boy admits, gesturing for his third helping which somehow, Naruto is more than willing to pay. Finally, something they could bond about! He slurps the noodles as noisily as he can, to express his amazement to the flavours. "That was amazing!" he happily chirped.
"For C-rank missions, we would only be apprehending ninjas of the same rank. Genin-level ones or those who are not sufficiently trained." Naruto assures the timid boy, patting his head. "But I promise you that as we go up higher, you would not even notice the difference."
"But why do we have to capture them alive?" Konohamaru ventures, pausing momentarily from his pigging to glance up at the tall man. "I mean nothing morbid or sadistic, but wouldn't they be of little use to Konoha if so? C-rank criminals are not really sources of intelligence you know…"
"But most of them can still repent. You know Gaara? The Kazekage?"
"He was not a missing nin, wasn't he?"
"No. But he was worse than any criminal back then. Imagine, if he did die and was killed by any of the hunters that were dispatched to dispose of him, the world would be in a pretty bad shape. Give people a chance and they would be a hero."
"What about S rank criminals?" It was Hanabi who spoke, the only member of the squad with enough reservations to still be around quarter of her own bowl that Naruto has to keep restraining himself from staring at the still steaming broth longingly and tracing his eyes to the hand that are holding the chopsticks, only to realize that though they have the same eyes, this is not Hinata.
She drums her chop sticks at the edge of the bowl, her eyes unfocused. "Those who have done unforgivable things, what does the village do about them?"
"They usually are handled by high-ranking jonins." He replies, knowing which specific S rank nukenin she is referring to. Naruto leans his chin on his palm, regarding the young Hyuga with pensive blue eyes. She really looks like her, he thinks. Those same eyes of the bereaved. The eyes of a person who lost everything. "Or Kage-level shinobi."
Is this what Hinata wanted her sister to be?
"Tch. No wonder they are still walking around alive and well. That is not enough." Hanabi grumbles, pushing her meal forward and leaping off her stool. The look in her eyes does not startle Naruto—he has seen many such before. The misplaced determination, the drive of vengeance. The blonde-haired jonin stands as well as the other two boys watched, waiting for a confrontation. Hanabi plows on, her voice coarse with suppressed emotion. "What those filthy criminals need is an avenger, not a second chance. A punisher. A judge. That is what they need."
And Naruto knows that Hanabi could be more than just a high-ranking jonin, a Kage-level shinobi, a god if that means she could kill Hinata with her own bare hands. The Hyuga clan is the mightiest in Konoha, they all used to say.
Hanabi is an avenger, first and foremost.
You're not the one…
…who will erase my existence from this world.
He remembers that last encounter, both of their blazing fists in each other's hearts. Hinata spitting blood, telling him that though they were undeniably equals, he never could kill her.
I am not planning too, he wants to tell her but he knows that she would never listen.
She never did. She was the only who never did.
"Let's go to Training Grounds Three." He says and this catches Hanabi's attention. She whirls to face him, wide eyed. Naruto smiles and this lets her know that he knows, he knows, he knows and he will help. "I'll teach you guys a new technique for a mission tomorrow. We will apprehend a missing nin and I will show you how it is done."
He directs his gaze at Hanabi and for a moment, he marvels on how much they look like and that strong desire to protect her when he could not save Hinata from being corrupted. "And by the way, you don't need to be a Kage-level shinobi to kill her."
"What?" he vaguely hears Konohamaru exclaim in shock, spies Udon sweat in bullets. But right now, it is only him and Hanabi, with the latter questioning his soul with narrowed eyes. They were in that wilderness once again, only the two of them. What do you know?
"And you don't have to kill her too, you know." He says, closing his eyes as he smiles once more and so he feels Hanabi's blow rather than sees it.
And... everything went black?
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Nine of spades.
"Well, well, well. It seems like Hinata-san got the jackpot."
Hinata cranes her neck upwards, warily glancing at Kisame's own brandished card and the feral, predatory grin he is sporting from behind it. He brings the his own Four of Spades drawn card closer for her inspection as if she could not see as well enough from fifty kilometres away.
"I did not know that Leader-sama could be so poetic." remarks Sasori, showing his own Three of Spades, his face as impassive as one of his puppets as ever. Which is in turn, an accurate simile. He made himself one after all. "Spades for death. And those numbers. Except that it still does not work well as a reference. We are under strict orders not to kill them."
Ace of spades for Deidara and he nods zealously on what the Suna nukenin, who he has somehow immediately taken a liking to and now respectfully calls by Sasori-dana, has grumpily noted. "Don't you think that Diamonds would have been more fitting, un!"
"Diamonds are for riches." It is Kakuzu who speaks, showing all of them his own seven of spades. "We won't get bounty for any of our targets."
"Clover for life then!" Hidan suggests. From the corner of her eye, Hinata notices that he is eyeing her while licking his lips. She has eyes at the back of her head and Hidan knows because the lip-biting is replaced by a condescending smirk. Two of Spades for him. She hopes he would die but she knows that is impossible. "Or hearts for love."
They would learn later that Leader-sama and Konan would take three of the tailed beasts as Orochimaru has long since defected and Zetsu is not much good for combat. Five, Six, Eight. All of which are jailed by Jinchurikis who have some semblance of control over those demons.
But Naruto, the man who can be everywhere at once was assigned to her.
"But it seems like Hinata-san would have the toughest time among all of us." Kisame continues, his fangs glinting on the unnatural lighting in the hideout. There is an unspoken concurrence amongst the rest as the shark shinobi waits for her reaction, to which even Hinata struggled to stay impassive. "I heard that he is the only man who could match you. Would you prove us otherwise?"
Deidara huffs in disdain. Sasori sighs. Kakuzu and Hidan, who at another time would have been uninterested with kills that are not theirs are strangely fixated on what she's got to say.
Leader-sama too, unseen and lurking. Hinata has been in the Akatsuki long enough to know that he is listening as well.
And she realizes that this mission is a test, a trial, an obstacle to pass to prove her unwavering loyalty to their aim. She knows she can never kill Naruto, not like she has relented to kill Neji and her clansmen and her father for the better good and just like how she can never kill Hanabi. But Leader-sama is testing her, to see whether she is strong enough to stay till the end and be deserving to rule over the world without pain that he promised to create. Fate is testing her, to see how much she would go to protect the village that has long since denounced her as one of their own. And Naruto would test her once again, to see whether she really could kill him as she swore in every promise of a next time.
"Well, I don't have to kill him, don't I?" she murmurs and this causes everyone to raise their own versions of eyebrows. Hinata forces herself to shrug. "And even if I want to, I am not allowed. I just have to capture him and squeeze that beast out of his body. It would be easy enough. My chakra is already inside him."
I would never kill him.
I just can't.
"It should be easy." She said, smiling thinly and with varying ways of expressing it, the others could do nothing but agree with her assertion.
And unbeknownst to her, the same container that she is supposed to hunt down is thinking of the same thing.
The plot thickens and it is doing it fast.
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(TBC)
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This is an attempt to overcome my writer's block that I cannot seem to escape. Life has been harsh in the past months and I am not even sure whether I will totally be back after this. But I will do my best especially since I am still getting favorites and follows even though I have not updated in ages.
Thanks to those who reviewed and read. If you have any questions about the plot, feel free to ask. But yes, the Valley of End has Hagoromo and Hamura instead of Madara and Hashirama. That sort of canon-divergence would clue US in on what is about to happen. Naruto on the other hand would be more forward and outspoken with Hanabi's avenger issues and more involved with Hinata's story and downward spiral.
Tell me what you think. Personally, I don't like the writing style I used here. But it seems like short snippets is all that I can do these days. See ya, readers! More will be revealed about this universe on the next chapter.
Next Chapter: The Avenger