*Chapter 3*: Chapter Two: Peripeteia
Naruto: Rogue Fox
Axenome
Chapter 2: Peripeteia
It was a bright morning. Sunlight shone around the small group, barely distinguishable from the other groups leaving Konoha for the countryside. As they reached the entrance to the city, Naruto stopped and reverently laid a hand on the wooden planks of the massive gate.
"Well? Are you coming or what?" demanded Tazuna after a moment. "You can pet the gate when you get back, but right now you're on my time."
Naruto did something he rarely did anymore; he gave Tazuna a small smile. "Just reminding myself that these will be my gates someday."
Tazuna snorted. "Well, maybe you're right. You might be a very good gatekeeper. You certainly have the attitude, and I'm sure that, in time, with enough drinking, the potbelly will grow."
Naruto's smile vanished and he fumed momentarily. He seemed to be ready to vent another outburst, when suddenly he cocked his head to the side, as though listening to something. After a few seconds, he shrugged and said, "As the future Hokage, I'll look back at this and laugh. When you're looking at my face up there on the mountain, remember this."
"Hokage? You?" Tazuna tossed back a swig from his ever present jug with a disdainful sniff. "The Kage of a village needs the support of his village. From what I can see, I don't even think anybody here even likes you." As though to emphasize his point, an approaching villager favored Naruto with a look, before giving him a wide berth and a glare of disgust. Tazuna snorted again. "Hokage? Try getting a friend first."
An uncomfortable silence hung in the air. Sasuke looked over at Naruto, walking along as though he hadn't been bothered, but Sasuke could see quite clearly just how badly Tazuna's words had hurt. Is this what it's been like? Sasuke wondered. I always thought he was lucky to never have parents, that at least he didn't have the pain of losing them, but nobody even... Sasuke didn't finish the thought, instead trying to change the subject. "Are there ninja in your homeland?" Sasuke winced inside. That had been a pretty weak change of topic.
"Not in the Land of Waves, no." Something in his tone raised Shikamaru's eyebrow, who slanted a look over at Sasuke. Sasuke nodded slightly, then the both of them looked over at Naruto, who walked on obliviously.
As they walked past a small puddle, Kakashi gave it a cursory glance, then seemed to pay it no mind. They continued on their way without pausing.
Behind them, two masked figures rose silently from the puddle. A spiked razor chain stretched between them, and they wore headbands marked with the symbol of the Village Hidden in Mist. As one, they leaped to the attack. In an instant the chain was lashed in several tight loops around Kakashi, binding his arms to his sides.
"One little piggy..." one of them murmured, a cold look of satisfaction in his barely visible eyes.
Kakashi's one visible eyebrow registered surprise. "What—"
There was a wet ripping noise as the chain was pulled tight. Blood sprayed in all directions as Kakashi was torn to pieces.
The three genin stared in shock as the bloody mess that had been Kakashi fell to the ground. The chain whipped out towards Naruto, still dripping its gory mess. "Two little piggies..."
All three genin sprang into action. Sasuke was the fastest, leaping up in the air, and with a deft motion pinned the chain to a nearby tree trunk with a shuriken, followed instantly by a kunai knife to anchor it tight.
Naruto made a flurry of hands signs, and electricity sparked from his hands as he grabbed the spiked chain. The two Mist ninja convulsed, flying backwards, before releasing the chain. With barely a stumble in their step, they rushed towards Tazuna.
But Shikamaru was already a step ahead of them, and as they darted in, his shadow leaped out and grabbed... Tazuna?
Mirroring each other's actions, Tazuna and Shikamaru back-flipped away from each other, just as the two Mist ninja crossed the thin line of shadow between them.
And just like that, it was over.
The two Mist ninja stood paralyzed, caught by Shikamaru's shadow, while Tazuna gingerly examined his abraded palms.
"Sorry, Tazuna-san," said Shikamaru, "but I had to get you out of the way."
"Well done, you three," congratulated Kakashi. "Naruto, you're injured."
"Huh?" Naruto responded, looking at the palms of his hands. Blood seeped from where he'd grabbed the chain.
"We'll need to clean that; their claws and the chain were poisoned," Kakashi instructed. Then, turning to Tazuna, he continued, "We need to talk."
Sasuke looked over at Naruto. "Hey, are you okay?"
Naruto's face held a strange expression, before he nodded. "Y-yeah, I'm fine."
Sasuke realized with a moment of shock that this must have been the first time anyone had shown any concern for him. Ever.
The second shock Sasuke felt was the discovery that his concern for Naruto had been genuine.
Kakashi made a mental note as Naruto took off his headband and tossed it to the ground, then vanished in a puff of smoke. The headband turned into Naruto.
Clever, Kakashi thought to himself. By being his own hitai-ate he was able to stay right in the thick of the fight while his clone took the brunt of the fighting. The headband protects the forehead, and as such, it is the last thing an enemy would think to aim for.
"Tazuna-san," Kakashi's voice was gentle but firm. "Our attackers appear to be chunin from Kirigakure. They are shinobi renowned for their willingness to fight on until their goal is attained, even at the cost of their own lives." Kakashi gauged Tazuna's face and found no real surprise.
"They were clearly watching and waiting for us." Kakashi shot a look over at the two enemy ninja, still tied to their tree. "The sun was out and it hasn't rained in several days. So there shouldn't have been any puddles on the ground."
"If you knew all that, why did you let those creeps attack you?" demanded Tazuna.
"Information," Shikamaru said from the side.
Naruto looked confused. "Huh?"
"Baka!" said Sasuke with irritation. "He wanted to know who the Mist ninja were really after."
"Exactly," said Kakashi. "There has been no word of shinobi seeking to take your life. The request relayed to Lord Hokage was to give you an escort back to your homeland to guard against roving bands of thieves and brigands." Kakashi crossed his arms thoughtfully. "It is clear that this is more than a 'C' rank mission as it was originally detailed, at least a 'B' rank, if not 'A'. To protect you from ordinary dangers until you finish the bridge you are currently working on would be simple. But... if you expected to be the target of a ninja assassination, then it is beyond question that this would have been classified — and priced — as a mission for jounin."
Tazuna hung his head silently. After a moment, Kakashi continued. "You may have had your reasons, Tazuna-san, but it is never a good idea to conceal the facts when seeking help. As it currently stands this task is far beyond the parameters of the mission we were assigned. And it is certainly beyond the ability of any genin, even..." He trailed off.
"So we can go home then?" Shikamaru said hopefully.
Naruto and Sasuke caught each other's eye.
"Failed? What the hell do you mean, 'Failed?'" roared the short man in the business suit. "If you weren't supposed to be the best, I wouldn't have paid top dollar for your skills!"
"Gato..." said the camouflage-wearing ninja lounging on the couch, before whipping the massive blade from across his back in a deadly arc, forward...
"NO!" said Naruto and Sasuke in unison.
Shikamaru growled in exasperation. "Why not?" he demanded. "We're not cut out for this. We're just genin! We've got no business—"
"You caught those two!" said Naruto. "You did just fine against them. You caught them before they could even make a move against you!"
Shikamaru's scowl grew deeper, but he didn't protest further.
"If you wanna go back, then go! Be a coward; I don't care!" Naruto shouted, tears at the corners of his eyes. "But I'm staying! Even if Kakashi-sensei leaves, I'm gonna finish this mission because that's what I was hired to do!"
"Do stop whining, if you please. There's nothing to worry about."
Gato stood stock still, the point of the monstrous sword hovering motionless less than an inch from his nose.
"I, with my killing blade, will take the hit myself."
Gato's manservant trembled convulsively, frightened. "Are you certain? The enemy has hired ninja of tremendous skill! And besides... now that the Demon Brothers have tried and failed, they'll be on their guard against further attempts!"
"Remember who you are talking to," said the ninja, the sword still not wavering. "I am Mamochi Zabuza, the Demon of
Kirigakure!"
"The fog is pretty thick," commented Naruto.
They all sat in the bow of the small boat, as the boatman pushed them along through the mist with a long pole. One could barely see the water through all the fog. "We'll be able to see the bridge in a minute," said the boatman in a hushed voice. "On the other side is Nami no Kuni." Nami no Kuni; the land of the waves… Where Tazuna was from.
They looked expectantly forward, eyes straining. Slowly, up high, shapes began to form in the fog. As they drew nearer, the shapes took on more distinct form, until they saw themselves passing the first of the massive stone supports of the still incomplete bridge.
"Whoa! It's huge!" exclaimed Naruto.
"Keep it down!" hissed the boatman. "The fog hides us from sight, but we can't afford to be heard. That's why we shut off the engines. If Gato catches us..."
Kakashi shot Tazuna an unpleasant, if brief, look, remembering the conversation of the previous day...
(Flashback)
"Ahh... Sensei-san, sir?"
Kakashi's one visible eyebrow rose momentarily.
"There's... uh... something you should know. About the request for help I made to your village."
The resignation in Kakashi's eye indicated for him to continue.
"As you guessed, this job is more dangerous than I led you to believe. There's a real scary man who wants to see me dead."
Beyond them, Naruto was goofing around with Shikamaru and Sasuke, juggling clones transformed into kunai. The clones would change back into their normal selves while in the air, before changing back into kunai for Naruto to catch and throw into the air again. It was a fairly impressive feat of concentration, at least until one of the clones mistimed a transformation and landed on top of the juggler, arms akimbo, with the rest of the clones to follow. Shikamaru started laughing uproariously, and even Sasuke cracked a grin.
Kakashi looked back at Tazuna. "Who is he?"
Tazuna hesitated for a second longer, then let out a sigh. "You've probably heard of him." He paused. Kakashi waited for him to continue, and finally, he did. "He's a billionaire in the field of marine transportation. His name is Gato."
Kakashi gasped, and broke out into a cold sweat. "You mean... Gato, of Gato Shipping and Transportation? The Gato?
They say he's the richest man in the world!"
Tazuna nodded. "Yes; but that's just the surface. The reality of Gato runs deeper. He's a ruthless, murdering crime-boss, trafficking in the lowest and most contemptible practices known to man. He starts out by taking over local companies, one by one, and ends up running entire countries. And a year ago he set his sights on the Land of Waves."
Tazuna took a deep breath before going on. "He started out innocuously enough; a simple business venture, set up competition with our local ferries. But then the violence and sabotage began. In a few months, he'd bought out the last of the ferries, then our marine transports, even our fishing boats, until finally he had control over our entire maritime resources. The only thing that can get us out from under his thumb is something that makes us no longer need his ships to get to the mainland."
"The bridge," said Kakashi.
"Exactly so," Tazuna confirmed with a sigh.
"So then, if you knew all this... why didn't you tell us when you asked for help?" inquired Kakashi.
"The Land of Waves really isn't much more than a bunch of islands. Even our local lords are poor, and only more so with
Gato's stranglehold over our lifeline to the mainland. I have no money at all. Hire a B-ranked bodyguard? I might as well try to buy Gato's company out from under him."
Kakashi's eye narrowed in annoyance, in transition to anger.
"If you turn away from me now, I'm as good as dead," Tazuna said.
"Who's giving up?" asked Naruto from next to them. "I already told you, even if everybody else leaves, I'm still gonna stay." Kakashi scowled under his mask. He hadn't realized the boy had been listening. "Quit making promises for us!"
"He has a family!" retorted Naruto, pointing at Tazuna. "Family who love him and need him. Would you just... abandon him and leave them lost and alone?"
Sasuke was standing a short distance away; still in earshot, apparently. "Hey, dobe, whose side are you on, his or the village?"
Sasuke tensed slightly as Naruto whirled on him. "Whose side has the village been on? Whose?" the blond genin snarled, a dark anger showing on his face. "Should I hold out for the money the village thinks it should get, or defend someone who can't defend themself?" Naruto's fists were clenched, white knuckled. Slowly, with an obvious effort, Naruto relaxed them before continuing. "Kids without parents..."
Sasuke flinched, as Naruto trailed off. "They end up like you, sometimes. Isn't that what you were about to say?" Sasuke asked softly.
Kakashi watched the exchange with some interest. As bad a situation as this is, Kakashi mused, Somehow I get the feeling that this could mean the most to Naruto, maybe restore some of his lost faith in the world around him. And in spite of his potential, something has been lacking from Naruto since his return to the village. If this could restore his spirit, in the long run, that could be a better payment than any sum of gold.
And it was true the three of them acquitted themselves well in the first attack; they all responded quickly and effectively, in an attack by higher ranked ninja. Kakashi thought furiously for a moment. His brain said to go back, but his instincts said to let it ride.
Instincts it is, he thought. Aloud, he said, "Well, I suppose we can accompany you, at least until you get home."
Tazuna's look — a look of only slightly better than indifferent satisfaction — was anything but comforting. This, Kakashi thought darkly, has GOT to be the worst assignment ever.
(End flashback)
"We'll be there soon," said Tazuna, snapping Kakashi out of his reverie. The fog was lifting; buildings were visible as faint outlines perhaps twenty or thirty yards away.
The boatman looked over at Tazuna. "We've been overlooked so far... but to be on the safe side, we're taking an inland waterway through town until we can make landfall under the cover of the mangroves further upriver."
"Thank you," said Tazuna.
The boat drifted quietly through a tunnel. Naruto's eyes grew wide as the emerged from the far side. "Cool..!" he breathed reverently.
Admittedly, it was a beautiful sight. The tide was high, and the mangroves twined with one another high out of the water, looking for all the world as though they'd grown out of it. Buildings rose on stilts over the waterway, and it appeared that half the town was suspended over water.
A few minutes later, the boatman poled the boat alongside a wooden landing leading up to an old, weather-beaten house. "This is as far as I go," he said. "Take care of yourself, Tazuna."
"Thanks," Tazuna replied. "You took a big risk, taking me this far. I shouldn't have asked it of you." Tazuna remained oblivious to the slightly resentful looks that Kakashi and Shikamaru were giving him when he said this. "Okay!" said Tazuna. "Now, if I can just make it home in one piece..."
"When," corrected Naruto.
"Hmm?" came from Tazuna. He apparently didn't quite follow the short reply.
"When, not 'if'," Naruto clarified. "I'll get you home."
Tazuna smiled a little at this.
Kakashi was not nearly so certain. There's bound to be another attack, he thought to himself. And the next time, they won't send chunin. We'll be up against jounin. How much worse can this get?
Something rustled in the bushes to the left. Naruto had a shuriken out and flying, whipping through the foliage and into something behind with a resounding 'THOCK'.
"What is it?" asked Shikamaru, eyes narrowed and hands poised to form seals.
"I heard something in the bushes," Naruto said.
Kakashi walked forward, Naruto in tow.
Behind the foliage there was a small, white rabbit, shuriken embedded in the tree trunk just above its head, pinning it in place by the fur on its crown. Naruto grabbed the shaking, shocked animal and started petting it, trying to comfort it. "I'mSorryI'mSorryI'mSorry!" he chanted, rocking it.
"Baka-mono!" Tazuna exploded. "Protecting me from rabbits!"
"Smooth, moron," added Sasuke. "You didn't even aim for the sound."
Shikamaru narrowed his eyes at the white rabbit in Naruto's arms, as did Kakashi.
Above them, in the trees, Mamochi Zabuza watched as they stopped moving, all of them paying attention to the Hare.
Just a bunch of kids, thought Zabuza to himself. They couldn't have stopped the Demon Brothers. Their leader, though… That's a Konoha jounin; and not just any jounin, but Kakashi the Mirror Ninja, himself. On the one hand, this might be a difficult fight... but on the other hand, I only have one opponent of any real caliber.
Zabuza allowed himself a thin, bloodthirsty smile as he gripped his massive cleaving sword.
"Kakashi!" shouted Shikamaru. "The rabbit, it's—"
"Everybody down!" Kakashi barked the order. Shikamaru tackled Naruto while Sasuke covered Tazuna. Over their heads a sickeningly deep VUNNNNN sound ended in a SHUCNK as a monstrous single-edged sword buried itself in the tree they'd been standing next to, fully halfway through the trunk. Before it could properly start vibrating from the impact, a sandled foot landed lightly on the handle.
"Well, well. If it isn't Mamochi Zabuza, prodigal son of Kirigakure," drawled Kakashi, standing up from his crouch.
Naruto began to lunge forward, but Kakashi grabbed his shoulder. "Don't interfere. I need room." Naruto looked up at Kakashi, about to protest, but Kakashi shook his head. "This is on a completely different level from the first attack."
So saying, Kakashi lifted his headband, revealing his left eye.
Zabuza looked down at them. "Kakashi of the Sharingan Eye, I presume?" he asked. "If it wouldn't be too much trouble, could you surrender the old man?"
Naruto and Sasuke gasped, while Shikamaru looked puzzled.
"Manji Formation; protect Tazuna. All of you stay out of this fight. That's what I need you to do to help." Kakashi's left eye swirled. "Shall we?" he directed at Zabuza.
"So quickly... I'm flattered! This truly is an honor!" smirked Zabuza. "Back when I was still Kirigakure, I had the usual bingo book of who's who amongst our enemies. And on you, there was quite the file: Kakashi, the Mirror Ninja, who had penetrated and copied over a thousand techniques."
"But the Sharingan is supposed to be unique to a small number of the Uchiha Clan!" Sasuke protested softly.
"Not anymore," Naruto replied gently. Sasuke looked over at Naruto to ask him to clarify, and the words stopped dead in his throat.
Naruto's eyes were Sharingan. And not just any Sharingan, but Mangekyou Sharingan, in the form of a nine pointed, jagged star. And he wasn't watching Zabuza, he was watching Kakashi.
Author's Note:
I know the six week skip is frustrating for a number of readers, but I left this deliberately vague for a reason. Not only do I want the readers to be kept guessing as to what is on the scroll (I have a rather large list of jutsu from both the series and the movies) but also I don't want to bore the readers with 6 weeks of training ala space ship to Namek in Dragon Ball Z (One hundred times gravity! Now, five thousand pushups! 50 laps around the space ship!). Actually, rather than write that crap, I'd cut out my left eye. I refuse to have my first 300k word fic start out with 250k of intro for the training.
As to the village council, I envision the position of Hokage as being less than absolute rule. Much as in many modern political systems, there is a series of checks and balances in place. The ability of a unanimous Ccouncil to override the Hokage is an example of this. Naruto's return to the village has created a bit of an uproar because he turned himself in, has been a good little shinobi since he returned, and shows no sign of wishing harm on the village. Even so, the Council is just looking for an excuse. Expect more trouble from them on this in the future.
I got a mention in the reviews section saying it was far fetched to believe the forbidden scroll held all the Kekkei Genkei
(However you spell it) of the village. I wanted to give a different take on why the scroll was forbidden and why every ANBU in the village would go after Naruto while he had it, while the supposedly most valuable bloodline in the village going missing barely warranted a footnote as Nuke-nin when Sasuke leaves the village. So long as there is a chance for Konoha to regain Sasuke, they aren't going to utilize the knowledge on the Forbidden Scroll. Although, with the death of the Third Hokage before he could properly brief Tsunade on the information the scroll contains, the possibility exists that Tsunade has no clue about the importance of the Forbidden Scroll.
My idea is that the Forbidden Scroll doesn't just detail powerful and possibly dangerous jutsu, but also maintains a record of all these bloodlines. After all, it must be possible to implant these abilities into people's bloodlines because the abilities came from SOMEWHERE. But Konoha remains these strongest of the hidden villages because, even though they can lose an entire bloodline, they retain the techniques for implanting it in a scroll accessible only to the Hokage. And except when the implantation of a lost bloodline is needed, the only person in the village aware of this is the Hokage himself. My idea is that, should one of the bloodlines die out, a child is selected, likely from the orphanage, if not a child of... dubious heritage... to be given the bloodline in a secret rite enacted by ANBU and the Hokage. The child, when he or she grows up, will later be "revealed" to be a lost bastard (In the sense of a child born out of wedlock) of the clan, so that by sacrificing a little bit of the legitimacy of the child and its parents, the power isn't lost from the village. And yes, I think they would do that. It isn't NEARLY as morally or ethically questionable as implanting an incarnate demon into an infant. The main reason that the Hokage would impart this information to Kakashi is that Naruto is obviously not an Uchiha, so the Sharingan had to come from somewhere, and as the Jounin who would be in place to terminate the boy should it become necessary, he needed to know all the details he could to complete his mission. And Kakashi is already known to be Ex-ANBU anyhow, but even to ANBU, knowledge of the true purpose of the Forbidden Scroll is a purely need to know basis. Orochimaru never tried for the scroll because until the time of the second reign of the Third Hokage (who also went by the title "the Professor") the knowledge had never been gathered in one place before. Hopefully this clears up that question as to my take on the forbidden scroll.
Mangekyou Sharingan- Why is Naruto using it this early? Because while he has it, he doesn't know enough about Sharingan to know what level of it he should be using. Naruto has never been a great one for finesse or efficiency, he's simply channeling as much chakra to his eyes as he can. All he knows right now about the Sharingan is that it can help him memorize actions being taken around him. And he's watching Kakashi so that he can learn how to use Sharingan more effectively. He has no clue about the use of the higher techniques associated with the Mangekyou such as Tsukiyomi and Amaterasu. I'm not merely going to stick to the ones mentioned in the Manga. Kakashi, through his development of his Mangekyou, created a technique unique to his Sharingan eye, likely one that complimented his outlook on life. Naruto, when he advances far enough, will do the same. Although not for quite some time yet. He has the gift... but he doesn't yet have the knowledge to make the most efficient use of it yet. Oh, and the title of this chapter? Look it up in an online dictionary :)
Til next time.
-AXENOME