A/N: And here we go for a hundred time. Chap 2 is here, if only because I had so many Story Alerts ^^ Where are the good times when I could get 15-20 reviews per chapter? Well, I guess such things happen only during summer time eh? :P
Disclaimer: I had forgotten to place a disclaimer on the previous chapter I think, as well as in Towards The Heaven's last chappie -.- I tend to forget such things at times
Real Disclaimer: I believe that, if I owned either Assassin's Creed or Naruto in the least, then I wouldn't be here writing Fanfiction ne? I would be there working things out for NaruHina to happen ^^ Plus I would be rich =D
Assassin's Creed
Chapter2: The Life We Follow
Part 1
Stay your blade, from the flesh of the innocent…
Never compromise the brotherhood…
Always strike from the shadows…
These where the rules of the creed… are you to disobey, then execution awaits. Yet it was not just a way for crowd control, it was not a way to keep the soldiers under order…
It was the way of the assassin. And that's why there is a difference between an assassin, and a cold blooded killer. The assassin is calculative, accurate and deadly. He never kills those that don't deserve it. He never kills an innocent. Are you to brake the rules, you brake your life, you brake what you are. And Altair had learned what that meant… the hard way.
He had to be careful… they where back in that village now, walking along the dark streets, illuminated by these… lighting things. What was this place really? Another syndicate of assassins? None of them had attacked him yet… he had noticed a few of them dressed in black robes jumping around the rooftops, wearing strange masks that represented animals…
Was it the right move to attack these kids back there? He didn't know if that blonde was really hostile. Amidst the confusion, he had done a mistake… he had assumed. Yet again, he could as well be dead right now, had he waited for the teen to show his intentions...
Sahana halted her movements and so did he, his fingers restless as he was prepared to defend himself at any moment. He threw a glance at her, who was smiling and pointing at an enormous building before them. He looked up…
It was… strange… the building was red, with a double door in the middle and stairs leading probably to the roof at its right. There was also a kanji at the front of the building, etched in a circle. The building itself seemed round…
She motioned him to follow and follow he did. They entered the building and took the stairs, heading towards the Hokage's office…
Two men appeared at the other end of the hallway… both with these green jackets and that bandana. They where talking about something in Japanese…
"Hokage-sama wants us to catch a white-dressed man that carries weapons around?" one of them said as he checked a scroll he held in hand. The other one only nodded, munching on something.
"Yeah, I've heard he's very dangerous. He managed to defeat four Jounin on his own…" he tuned them off as they passed right beside them… he glanced at the scroll, only for a moment…
And there was his picture. An exact copy of him, but in white. He was glad he had changed the attire… white could be easily spotted out there. He averted his gaze quickly, looking forward once more to wherever Sahana was leading him.
They stopped before a double door. She opened it and motioned him inside. He entered and she followed swiftly along. She closed the door and he looked forward…
The room was quite plain. All there was before him was a desk, a chair, a woman sitting in the chair, and a row of windows behind her, allowing a clear view of quite a large part of the village. Stacks of papers where spread around the desk, and the woman behind it was sleeping soundly…
Using one of the smaller stacks as a pillow…
Sahana seemed nervous as to what to do. He had little to no idea as to whom this woman was, but it seemed they had to wake her up, didn't they? He slowly approached the sleeping woman, who's blonde hair where caught up in two pigtails. She also wore a green jacket, with a kanji at its back and her body seemed to be wrapped up in clothing that looked like… loose bandages?
Now how do you wake up a sleeping woman… that smelled of alcohol… badly…
His lips where a straight line as he grabbed a bottle that resided next to her hand. He smelled the liquid inside… yep, this was alcohol, even though he had seen non like it before. He turned to Sahana, pointing a finger at the bottle he held.
The nervous look was still there as she unwillingly pointed the bottle herself
"Sake" she said and he only nodded. So either this alcohol was named 'Sake', or the word 'bottle' was 'Sake' in Japanese.
He searched his mind… how was the word… 'free' again? Ah, there it is…
He approached the sleeping woman, going around the desk and leaned over her ear…
"Free… Sake" he whispered in Japanese. It seemed to work as the woman's ears perked up. In a matter of seconds, she was awake, had taken the bottle out of his hand and was now jugging it down in amazing speed. He had seen people addicted to drinking before… but what the hell.
She easily through the bottle outside the window and it was lost in the horizon…
"That… hic! Wash… a goodsh… gottle… hic! Cheersh" and she fell asleep once more, her head resting on the stack of papers as she snored loudly.
"Hokage-sama…" Sahana whispered to herself in disbelief. Well, no one was perfect. For example, the legendary sannin, Jiraya, was a pervert to no end. The other sannin, Orochimaru, was an evil traitor. Indeed, everyone had their ups and downs. She looked up from the ground as her thoughts flied away. Altair was now sitting…
On the window? He was on a crouching position right on the windowsill, looking out at Konoha. She wished they could communicate more, she wished she would know more about the stranger, who had she not met tonight, she would be most likely dead.
"Tsunade-obaa-chan!!" the yell was so strong, that she nearly fell to the ground. Altair himself fell from the window, catching the windowsill with one hand in the last moment. He grabbed it with both hands and pushed himself up, looking back into the room. Now, the lady behind the desk was chocking a blond teen to death… wait, blond teen?
He knew this spiky hair… and these whisker marks. It was the guy from before… damn it, he could give him away!
He fell back down the windowsill, hiding on the perch that lied under the window. Hopefully, they would not notice…
"Altair?" he heard a feminine voice from above. Rising his head, Sahana was looking curiously at him from above. He brought one finger to his lips, motioning for her to silence. She hesitantly nodded before entering back in the office, where the Hokage kept trying to kill the blond.
"Naruto no baka!" he could hear the blonde lady yelling from inside. A shadow past by him… he had to be careful, and completely still. He was sure that that shadow was not a cat…
XxxxX
"Why the hell did you leave the hospital?!" she shouted in anger when she finally managed to control herself and leave the teen alive. He still rubbed his neck… it was painful, after all.
"I'm okay now baa-chan! You know I'm a quick healer anyway!" he shouted back. Sahana sat on a couch at the left side of the room, closing her ears. These two really where the something else when it came to yelling… and to think that the Hokage was drunk a few minutes ago...
"Uhh who's she?" Naruto pointed at the long brown haired woman. Tsunade blinked twice, then noticed Sahana herself, who kept waving at them, a nervous smile on her lips.
Tsunade cleared her throat before addressing the woman normally
"Please state your business here, citizen" she said, her expression neutral now. Sahana sighed, letting a glance fall at the window behind the Hokage…
She started telling her own little story. How she had met a strange guy in the streets and how he had managed to save her life when a group of ninjas attacked her house.
"Can you describe those ninjas?" Tsunade asked, now sitting in her chair with fingers interlaced and hands left on the desk. Sahana nodded and described them as… normal ninjas. A black attire with fishnet shirts and pants accompanying the picture, katanas adding to it. Tsunade only nodded…
"I see… any idea why they would be after you?" she asked once more, this time writing something down in a few papers in front of her. Sahana seemed to think about it for a moment…
"Well, I think I know…" the clash of blades drew their attention… it came from the window…
Both women hurried there and looking outside, there was a man in black attire and leather weapon holsters along with a leather belt, a red sash accompanying it. A silver dagger was in his hand as he fought for dominance over his opponents kunai…
The other man had long spiky silver hair, his lower face was covered by a mask while his left eye was hidden behind that leaf bandana. He had the regular attire the other… 'soldiers' he had seen around the village wore, expect that he instead wore a long sleeved dark blue shirt.
And the most… awkward thing of all, was that they fought to overpower each other right under the window, on a perch…
"Kakashi" the blonde woman said. He couldn't lose his concentration here though… this guy was strong.
"Hai, Hokage-sama?" what was this Hokage-sama anyway? Her name?
"What is this?" she calmly asked. Kakashi though didn't even flinch from his position as he made sure Altair wouldn't even move, without letting himself open, that is.
"I found him hiding on this perch, under the window…" his voice was harsh as he seemed to struggle to keep it balanced. The daggers moved, switching potitions…
Wrong move…
Altair's left hand moved straight for the jounins neck, the hand-blade poised to strike…
Kakashi caught his hand though, before it could reach its target. Now though, it was harder to stand on the perch…
The Jounin used his chakra to stick to it… but Altair knew not how to use such things…
He fell…
"Altair!!" yelled a feminine voice…
Kakashi's hand caught his left gloved one, before he could fall out of his grasp. He incredulously looked at the woman "You know him?" his tone was similar to his expression. She only nodded "He saved my life…" she whispered. Tsunade, though, was frowning…
Reinforcing his strength with chakra, he brought Altair back on the perch with one hand, said man sheathing his dagger at his back…
"Who are you?" The Hokage asked, yet Altair didn't take his eyes off the Jounin. She felt someone tugging on her sleeve "Ano, Hokage-sama… he doesn't speak Japanese" the Hokage looked incredulously at her…
"Doesn't, speak, Japanese? Do you at least know his name?" she asked the emerald eyed woman. She nodded before throwing a glance at the black dressed man, who kept his eyes glued on Kakashi under the black hood, said Jounin boringly looking back.
"Altair" she said, and this time, he titled his head slightly towards them, acknowledging the sound of his name. The Hokage sighed…
"You know, this guy previously today, wounded and nearly killed four of our Jounin" she said, pointing a thumb at said man, her expression frowned and eyes closed. Sahana gasped before worriedly looking back at Altair, said man once again having his eyes glued on Kakashi. He had saved him, he had to admit that much, but if he tried the slightest move, he wouldn't hesitate to retaliate.
"Well he surely is no ninja, if can't stand on a simple perch" Kakashi said before taking out an orange novel… "Icha Icha Paradise" it read. Sahana sighed… another pervert, it seemed.
"One of these four Jounin was Naruto" the Hokage simply said and Kakashi's visible eye went wide. He frowned before putting his book back in place. This time, he started returning the glare Altair gave him, slowly releasing killer intent…
'Showoff…' Tsunade thought with a sigh. Both men where now looking at each other, Kakashi probably trying to intimidate him with his killer intent. Which so much happened to be high. Yet the hooded man didn't even flinch.
'What is this… feeling? It's like… bloodlust… no, it's more refined, more targeted, concentrated.' It seemed that the only reason Altair wasn't intimidated, was that he had no idea how the killing intent felt like, what it meant. He was a 'killer' himself though, so how can you intimidate him with that? It's like trying to scare a dog using a bone…
"Demo Hokage-sama, he saved my life!" Sahana insisted. "He killed the ninjas that attacked us…" she said more calmly now. Tsunade sighed "Kakashi, stand down" The Jounin slowly nodded, then leaped away, blending in the shadows. Altair's posture eased too as he looked back at the Hokage and Sahana. He nodded
"Arigato" He seemed to prepare to leave himself, was it not for Tsunade's iron grip getting to him before he could even flinch.
Altair wasn't really sure of what happened next. Something grabbed him, which that something happened to be the lady's hand, and then he found himself flying towards the wall…
Thankfully, the wall was thick enough to withstand the damage…
"That, was for hurting the gaki" Tsunade said as she dangerously approached the fallen man…
Of course, the noise generated woke our favorite blonde up… wait, when did he fall asleep again?
He stretched as a loud yawn escaped his lips. Rubbing the back of his head, he looked at Tsunade
"Baa-chan, can I go home now?" he asked, though his tone made it sound more like a statement, rather than a question. Sleepy as he was, he missed the evil glint her eye had for a second…
"Of course you can go home" she said with a sweet smile. Naruto grinned back at her. "Cool, so I'm off…" before he could finish his sentence, the Hokage had grabbed him and threw him outside her window in the direction she guessed that his house was…
"Have a nice trip Naruto!" she yelled to the flying teen who just kept screaming before getting lost in the darkness of the night…
"Now back to that Altair guy" Tsunade said to herself as she went over to the assassin with a wide smile. Sahana in the meantime, was a little worried… Altair wasn't a ninja, he couldn't use chakra to ease the fall. The idea of closing the window passed her mind… but the Hokage could easily break it as well anyway.
Said man though still tried to get up. Man, was this woman strong…
He felt someone grabbing him, then he lost the earth under his feet…
"Now you will have to spend a quality night Ibiki" she said while holding him in the air with one hand, an enormous smile on her face. He glanced at Sahana… her face was paler than normal. Whatever this woman here had said, it wasn't good.
He couldn't kill her… even if she had attacked him, killing her or at least attempting to would greatly compromise him. And she seemed to be an important person around here too…
"But, Hokage-sama, how is Ibiki going to interrogate him, when he can't speak Japanese?" Sahana pointed out hesitantly. She knew what happened when people dared to face Tsunade's wrath… she had seen many flying outside the towers' windows… screaming and all.
It seemed that realization decided to dawn upon the Hokage "Um… your right" she said with a wide smile as she let Altair drop, who managed to keep his balance and stay on his feet at least.
She gave a glance to Altair before opening the office's door and popping her head outside
"Bring me Inoichi! Now!!" she screamed, and god he really had to close his ears…
XxxxX
Wow, he could see Ichiraku's from up here! Cool! But wait… how could he land?
He looked forward once more and his eyes widened when he realized that he had started falling, the ground becoming more and more clear with each passing second. He had little time to think…
"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" he said with crossed fingers. As the last letter of the phrase was said, he extended one hand and grabbed the clone before he would fly away.
Normal physics take place here. But to place it simply, he was moving and the clone, couldn't have a speed when he was 'born', so he would rather fall to the ground right after the summoning, having no speed. Yet he grabbed the clone in order to ease his own fall.
And it worked, as with a swinging motion from the clone's side he found himself falling on his feet now, rather than his head.
Adding some chakra to them, he managed to land without breaking anything…
He thought he heard a voice screaming from Tsunade's office… nah, it must have been the flight, it gave give him delusions.
Well, it was time to sleep anyway. He would have a nice steaming bowl of ramen for starters, then a hot bath, and finally, the jump-high-and-fall-on-the-bed, his own way of tucking himself in. He nearly shivered at the thought, for it was his best way of ending a tiring day…
XxxxX
The room stood in silence as the blond haired man, the head of the Yamanaka clan, had placed his hand on Altair's head, searching his memories, his knowledge, his past. Sahana and Tsunade stood aside, watching as everything seemed to go smoothly. Inoichi didn't seem to have any trouble, his expression serious yet not even a sweat forming. Altair just lied kneeled before the blonde, waiting as the feeling of water washing his mind kept repeating itself over and over again.
Inoichi's expression though, suddenly turned to a troubled one…
'You, have failed the Creed Altair!' said a bearded man, and most strangely, Inoichi could understand him…
'I'm sorry my child…' a new imaged popped, the same bearded man now holding a knife…
Altair strived to release himself, yet in vain as two other men held him in place, restrained.
The knife found itself embedded in his side…
More images kept flashing… that bearded man… Al Mualim, ordering him to undertake assassinations around the cities…
Another image… Altair jumping on someone, left hand extended with a blade standing out of his glove. The blade found itself in the man's neck, and no longer that it did, he was dead…
Bells rang the alarm and Altair fled, climbing walls and jumping over rooftops as the guards of the city tried to chase after him…
Another city… this time it was darker… it looked like a hospital… no, hospitals aren't like this… they 'where' like this. Then that meant that Altair…
This time it was an old man… he was speaking with a patient… Altair approached slowly, the same blade standing out once more. This time, his right hand found itself over the old man's… the crusader's mouth so he couldn't scream as the blade was embedded in his kidney…
Altair started running once more, guards chasing behind as the bells of the city rang the alarm
Inoichi retracted his hand. He could see no more of this…
"What's going on, Inoichi?" he heard the Hokage's voice calling, taking him out of his trance. He gave a look at Altair who was still kneeling before him, his expression emotionless under the black hood.
"I'm not sure, Hokage-sama" he responded, seeking time to put his own mind in order, trying to find the suitable words. He turned his gaze towards Tsunade…
"He" he motioned to Altair with his head "Is an assassin" and the Hokage frowned as her eyes turned darker. Inoichi had to act fast, before she could pound the poor man to the ground…
"He's not here for you, or any of us, Hokage-sama" he said and that seemed to ease the Hokage for a moment, before she looked incredulously at him once more.
"And what's he here for?! Vacation?!" she yelled, quite disbelieving that an Arab from lands beyond would come to Japan, in the elemental countries, for vacation. Dressed in black with a variety of weapons accompanying behind, not the most common tourist, she had to admit.
Inoichi shook his head "Iie" she noticed this word making Altair title his head towards them for a moment. She dismissed it as she looked back at the blonde "Then what Inoichi?" she asked again, this time more calmly.
Said man brought his hand under his chin, rubbing it slowly "Well, from what I saw, first of all, this guy over here" he showed Altair with one hand
"Is not from our time"
A few moments passed, before realization of what Inoichi's words meant dawned upon the two women.
"NANI?!" Altair really didn't know Sahana could yell like that…
XxxxX
Time for the jump. Three… two… one…
GO!!
A loud thud crossed the small apartment. Naruto groaned as he sat up, seeing himself not on his bed, but on the wooden, and rather hard, floor of his home.
"Sakura-chan, why did you do that?" he asked, titling his head to the left where his small balcony was, a pink-haired kunoichi laughing so hard that he wandered if she would suffocate…
"Sorry, Naruto, sorry, it's just that…" she broke in another wave of laughter. He sighed… this was most likely the tenth time he had fallen for this genjutsu trick. Sitting up, he finally noticed that Sakura was watching the scene unfold once more on her camera… great, now she would go around and show everyone…
He felt someone tapping his shoulder. Sakura had extended the camera towards him, the silver metallic color of the machine glittering in the slight light of the moon
"Happy birthday, Naruto!" she said cheerfully. She fathomed the idea of leaning in and giving him a kiss on the cheek, but this would give him too much courage… and if she knew Naruto, this was the last thing she wanted for his 'Naruto and Sakura' fantasies.
Wait… birthday? God damn, he had forgotten it himself. He titled his head towards the wall, looking at the diary.
"October… tenth…" he whispered to himself. He turned to Sakura once more, realizing that she had put the camera right in his hand.
"Oh, and here's a basket of my special soldier pills. You might need them" she said, handing him a basket out of nowhere. Where the heck had she hidden it anyway?
"Uhh thanks" he said with a nervous grin, his stomach groaning even at the thought of these dark-brown mud balls that she called 'Nutritious enhancements'.
"And something else" this time she leaned closer, to his ear. "Go check the front door… make sure you don't make any noise" she whispered silently. His expression grew curious
"Nani? Why?" he whispered back. She took a few steps away, heading for the small balcony once more. She looked at the blonde over her shoulder. "Just do it, Naruto" and with that, she jumped away in the night…
Said teen shrugged as he put the camera on the desk next to his bed and the basket of 'pills' on the kitchen table at the other end of his apartment.
He then slowly approached the door, so slow, that even he couldn't hear his footsteps. His hand reached for the door knob…
And he flung it open. Darkness met his eyes as he peered outside, checking for any thing suspicious…
XxxxX
"You are a bigger baka than he is, you know" she whispered to the blue haired girl hiding in the shadows. She let out a yelp of surprise before looking behind her, realizing it was Sakura the one that startled her. She sighed as her heartbeat calmed and dropped her head in shame, in shame for what she was, in shame for what she was doing.
She was a coward. She just couldn't go out there and claim what she wanted, she couldn't let herself be happy, or at least move on.
As for what she was doing, well… what do girls usually do when they are outside the love of their life's house and spy on him? Quite simple.
They stalk him. Or spy him. Or whatever the individual human that's reading this wants to call it.
"Ahh, come on Hinata" the pink haired girl said, trying to focus the kunoichi's attention out of the little self depressing world it had entered.
"It may not be me, it may not be the woman next door" Hinata looked behind her, at the apartment next to Naruto's…
From the window of her love's neighbor, she could see an old woman, sitting before a mirror, taking out her red long haired wig and giggling… or at least, trying to giggle, like a school girl.
She felt as if her dinner was about to come out…
Sakura's eyes twitched in annoyance after an observation of her own. "Ok scratch that"
Hinata's attention seemed to return to her friend, for now. "But point is" this time, Sakura sighed as she placed a hand on the girl's shoulder. "He won't always be there, waiting, Hinata. He won't always be that buffoon that all he cares for is ramen and jutsus" she was looking the girl right in the eye. She wanted her to understand the situation, to see a bit more into the future, to know that life could be cruel…
She knew how cruel life could be. That night, when Sasuke had left… it was cruel. Maybe too much for a young teenager… way too much.
She didn't want her friend to feel like this, she didn't want her to have to live through this. She could see that both of them could be happy, she could see that both of them, really had a chance here. Plus, Naruto could finally stop bugging her on dates. Which… he had stopped asking for after the battle in the woods. Good god, there was mercy left in this world after all.
"One day, it may not be me, it may not be her" Hinata didn't dare to look at 'her' again, but by Sakura's frown and shook of head, she figured out that she had looked…
"But he will be gone, Hinata" she looked at the girl once more, trying to focus on her. Hinata was far prettier than that woman… don't look! It's bad for the health of your eyesight.
"He will go away, either by another woman" she might regret saying this, but truth had to be told "Or by death." She knew what Naruto meant to her, or at least part of it. A woman's mind, and in Hinata's case who was a human always closed to herself, is a really complicated thing.
"So go get your chance" she finished with a smile. Hinata smiled, at least a little encouraged by her friend's words.
"Arigato, Sakura-san" she said softly, that soft kind voice she always had, ringing in the darkness surrounding them, as they sat atop the tree overlooking Naruto's apartment, hidden between the leafs.
Hinata turned to face her fears, turned to face the sight of Naruto's house, to push herself out of her hiding place and talk to him, at least talk to him…
But as she saw him opening the door, she froze. That blonde hair… how she wished her hand could fly between them, just for once. Where they soft? Where they crude? That tanned skin… she was sure he was warm…
Sakura's eyebrow twitched in annoyance once more. Alright girl, if you're not going to do it on your own…
Hinata didn't even have time to yell…
XxxxX
Inoichi had his hand on Altair's head once more, this time, not retrieving information, but rather…
Giving them in.
The blonde was frowning as he struggled to put everything in the right order. It wasn't easy to teach Japanese this way…
He retracted his hand, as if Altair's hood was burning. He groaned as he placed a palm over his forehead.
Altair in the meantime, was trying to fight back an enormous headache…
"What happened, Inoichi?" the Hokage asked as curiosity took over her face, her posture, her voice. Inoichi was the head of the Yamanaka clan, a master of the mind. What could possible go wrong here?
"I don't know, Hokage-sama. I haven't done anything like this before" this time, he wiped his forehead before continuing "A language is a delicate and complicated matter, taught to each of us differently, cause simply the human mind can't absorb everything. None of us knows the whole dictionary backwards, and neither do we all have the same level of speech and education." He sighed as he looked at the two women, Altair kneeling in front of him.
"So, you mean that he can't learn Japanese this way?" the Yamanaka only shook his head in response. Damn it… she hoped that with such a fast way, they could extract delicate information more easily, rather than having Inoichi scan his mind for endless hours. For from what he had said, Altair's mind was complicated, locked. It was the mind of an assassin, locking away things was some kind of physical defense for his mind, in order to keep his sanity in place.
It would take weeks of endless and tiring scanning for him to get everything. There was only one way to do this…
"Someone has to teach him Japanese" he said, looking at the two women before him. Then his eyes focused on Sahana…
The Hokage didn't seem to have a different course of mind either.
Said girl looked at both with wide eyes "Nani?" she asked curiously. The Hokage smirked…
"Well, Sahana, here is a chance for you to serve your Hokage" she said cheerfully while crossing an arm around said woman's shoulders.
"You are the only one Altair knows and possibly even trusts" Inoichi said
"Thus, you are the only one that can have direct and probably fruitful contact with him" Tsunade added
"It is well known that people tend to learn more from people they like" the blonde continued
"And because I and Inoichi are too busy, you my girl" This time, the Hokage pointed a finger at Sahana
"Are going to teach him" Sahana only looked at them wide eyed. They had her… to teach an assassin… Japanese?
"See it as charity work. When he will be able to properly speak Japanese, he'll be out of your feet and we can properly interrogate him." The word, 'interrogate' didn't really sound good…
She sighed. She had heard rumors about how persuasive Tsunade could be… she had heard rumors about how far she could go… she didn't want to reach that limit.
"Fine, I'll do it" she said with a forced smile, though both the Hokage and Inoichi gave her an enormous grin. She then looked down at Altair, confusion running over the visible lower part of his face. He probably knew little of what they talked about…
"But, Hokage-sama" this time she looked at Tsunade "My house was run down by ninjas… where will I live?" she didn't want to go to her brother's house… he already had two children and a wife to care about, and the idea of two more people sure wasn't a welcoming one. She considered her parents, yet again, they where old people. They deserved tranquility.
Tsunade's grin though, didn't seem to leave her face anytime soon. "Don't worry about that, we have a small mansion to the western side of the village. You can live there for now, but when this… 'mission', is over, you'll have to find your own house unless you somehow manage to own the property" her grin was reduced to a smile as uncertainty seemed to radiate out of the girl. Well, you didn't teach a stranger who happened to be an assassin Japanese every day, now, did you?
The girl nodded as she approached Altair, he still kneeling, uncertain of what to do. She stood before the two men "But, Yamanaka-sama, how are we going to tell him the plan? He might think badly of it if I just get him to a mansion all of a sudden." She said, her hands united as she searched her mind for possibilities.
"Don't worry, at least I can do that much…" he motioned Altair to keep still again, and the man obeyed. He placed his hand on his head once more…
It wasn't easy… he had to search his mind, search it delicately, as he looked for certain things…
He had to somehow translate the plan in Altair's mind, in the simplest way he could.
"Sahana… Teach you…" that was all he managed to speak in Altair's mind as he was straining himself too far. Mind translations weren't something he did every day…
Altair titled his head, not quite understanding. He only knew that Sahana would teach him something.
He looked up at Inoichi, who started talking. Just, talking. He was saying something about the weather, and as he did so, he pointed to his lips.
Altair was no idiot, thankfully. So, the complete message should be like…
'Sahana is going to teach you Japanese' well… this would be unlike any adventure he had before.
He looked at the brown haired girl, her green eyes looking at him as she waved with a nervous smile.
He smiled slightly himself… this would be interesting… one of the few times that he had to do something else than kill, at least.
XxxxX
Ok, he expected many things. A hostile ninja aiming a katana at him, Sakura prying to kiss him out of nowhere, hell he even expected that old lady next door to appear. He had seen her plenty of times eyeing him strangely… and hell he really wanted Ino to take these images and lock them somewhere.
But he really did not expect this. And by 'this', he meant a flying Hinata heading towards him out of nowhere, then crushing on him and then both rolling back inside his apartment. He thought he heard Sakura's laughter for a moment…
They hit, or rather he hit, the wall at the other end of the apartment, Hinata on top of him. He sat up with a groan, sifting Hinata away from atop him, if only so that he could get up and check out the damage.
Great, the wall had a small crack now. His back ached… really ached, and Hinata seemed to be unconscious, her face flushed, as always.
He rubbed the back of his head… what was he supposed to do now? At least, he was still conscious, he could take care of her. He walked back to the entrance of his home, closing the door and then looking back at the girl that seemed to sleep on his floor.
He sighed as he neared. What do you do with an unconscious, or sleeping girl in the middle of the night? He glanced at his clock… it was eleven o'clock, five minutes before midnight, before this day would be over and everyone, except Sakura, forget that it was his birthday. She seemed to be the only one to remember it whatsoever… well, she was his teammate, she was supposed to remember, after all.
Her face was still flushed… no wonder, this lavender jacket looked really heavy for such a warm night. He checked her pulse… it was thumping rhythmically and slowly, indicating that she was asleep. Good…
He unzipped her jacket slowly, checking if she wore something inside. He sighed in relief as he noticed a pink shirt underneath. When he managed to relieve her of the jacket, he picked her up with both hands, heading for his bed.
There where times like this that he wished he had a quest room. Lying her down on his bed, she didn't seem uncomfortable with his smell or with the bed whatsoever at all. She rather hugged his pillow… tight.
He let a chuckle escape him. She looked like a little child when she was like this. Truth be told, it was the first time that she was… like this. Peaceful…
The flush seemed to have retreated as a small smile had crept on her face. He placed the covers over her and she seemed to be even more comfortable.
He turned around, heading for the kitchen. He really needed some ramen…
"Naruto-kun…" he heard her mumbling. He quickly turned his head to look at the still sleeping girl. Was she talking in her sleep or something…?
He dismissed it. It was probably his smell that was all over the place and made her dream of him. It was his house, how was it supposed to smell like? Pink flowers? He turned to walk to the kitchen once more
"Happy birthday" he froze. Then a grin found its place on his face, a wide grin, accompanied by happiness. So, someone else remembered too…
The clock on his wall rang softly as its arrows pointed midnight…
XxxxX
It must have been… midnight? He looked up at the sky… it was dark, pitch black with tiny dots that people came to call stars spread everywhere, illuminating the darkness with an amazing variety of shapes and colors. The contrasting light of each star seemed to contradict with the other, allowing different colors of blue and purple to dominate the sky.
His attention returned to the earth as he noticed Sahana no longer next to him. Where had she gone…?
He remembered her whispering something to him in Japanese, then heading into a store… he titled his head to the left. From the looks of it, it was most likely a wine store. He could smell the wine from here anyway. He took a step forward…
People started running outside as screams filled the air. They tumbled against each other as they struggled to get outside. He could hear some louder screams as well… someone in there was yelling something like 'Yosh!' at the top of his lungs, and by the way he did it, he surely seemed to enjoy it.
He pushed through the crowd as his eyes darted from face to face, seeking these dark emerald eyes. If she died in the commotion, who would teach him how to speak?
Looking inside, he noticed that the store was pretty big itself, probably one of the main wine vendors around this village. He could see a man clad in green running around, yelling, punching and kicking endlessly as two others tried to restrain him, one a long brown haired man and the other a girl with her own brown hair tied in two buns. Wait… these where the… people, who had taken him with their caravan, who had led him here. And the bowl-haired one seemed flushed as his, friends, struggled to stop him. He saw Sahana in one corner, trapped under a table and in between some barrels, unable to move. Someone must have had thrown her between these two barrels, and then in the commotion, the table had fallen over her, restraining her movement.
He had to reach her, before the green menace could brake the table like all the other things he found in his way and probably smash her with it…
He started running, jumping over debris and ruined chairs and tables as he struggled to be faster than the green-clad man, who kept smashing tables and chairs in front of him, fluidly escaping any attempts his teammates did to catch him and heading rapidly towards the table Sahana was under, which so ironically, was the last one in the row.
It was much unlikely, that in this state he would notice her at all. So he had to move… move faster…
He threw one of his knifes at the green-clad man, yet he dodged easily and restarted his rampage. Good, he had won a few seconds at least. Though the drunk teen was not more than a few meters away from Sahana now…
"Yosh!!" He yelled as he prepared his leg to strike, ready to reduce the table Sahana was trapped under to dust, and along with it, probably take her life. He wasn't fast enough… damn him, he just wasn't fast enough. He reached out, only a split second away from the table…
The teen's leg went downwards, the strike unstoppable now…
XxxxX
Who the hell, was the smart guy, the brilliant genius, that allowed Lee… who? Lee! To drink Sake! God damn Sake! He thought he could stop it before it was too late… but he was only a second away before the liquid touched Lee's lips. It was only a sip… only a small sip… yet now this had happened. The easiest thing in the world, by his opinion, is to get Lee drunk. And when you did, you had a ninja on a rampart right between your feet, taking down everything in his way.
He tried to catch him, tried again and again, yet Lee's Drunken Fist evasive moves where too fluid and fast for him to even touch. He and Tenten could hardly keep up with his speed. If Lee was a menace when he got drunk at his pre-teen, now he was most likely unstoppable. But 'unstoppable' is a relative term, isn't it?
He saw a man dressed in a black attire running towards the last table of the row, he saw him throwing a knife at Lee, who simply dodged it and return to his antics. The man seemed far more interested for the table though…
His eyes went wide when he saw a hand under the table, in between the barrels. Someone was down there, and if Lee kicked, he would kill him…
He had to act fast… damn it, Lee was preparing to strike! He had to stop this, but how…? No one ever blocked Lee's senpu kick, not without breaking something, at least.
His eyes went wide as the leg went down…
XxxxX
Lee's drunker eyes looked down in curiosity, as something, or rather, someone, seemed to have stopped his leg…
"What are you doing there? I wannash smash something" he yelled the first part while whispering the last. Though the attention was not caught by Lee's leg… it was rather, the one that had stopped it.
A blue whirlwind of power reigned around Altair as he held said man's foot with both hands right above his head. The whirlwind soared around him as he clenched his teeth. He didn't know what was going on, but he suddenly felt really… strong…
Neji activated his bloodline and his eyes nearly jumped out of his head.
"He… he has… activated… his chakra…" he said in amazement, as when he checked the man when he entered running, his chakra was inactive. Few were those that could manage that without deep concentration, especially if it was their first time.
But the strain of the moment, the adrenaline and the situation all in all must have had somehow forced his chakra to activate, boosting him in order to stop Lee's kick. And from what he could see, he was currently using his chakra at full force, probably unbeknownst to him…
"Tenten, get Lee, now!" chains flew to the beast of Konoha junior as the weapon mistress restrained him with her chains as he was too busy trying to process what had happened in his drunken mind. She forced him away, letting him fall in back. Strangely, Lee found the floor the perfect place for a nap. He started snoring energetically, as Gai would put it.
The whirlwind around Altair resided back inside him as the man fell to his knees. This… was… exhausting…
Neji could see it… using his chakra for the first time and putting so much strain into it, was really tiring for the man. He walked over and took the table away then pushed one of the barrels at the side, letting Sahana free. She quickly sat up and neared Altair, whose consciousness probably hang off a string as he fought to keep his balance.
He felt slender hands reaching for his shoulders. He titled his head to meet sad dark emerald eyes…
"Arigatou…" he heard that now familiar feminine voice whispering as his mind drifted off, to the lands of darkness, and dreams.
"He will be okay. He just exhausted himself." Neji said as he neared the two of them, Tenten a few meters away, smacking Lee on the face, trying to wake him up.
This man… he was so oddly familiar. Like that Altair guy… his attire was seemingly the same, if only a different and cleaner color. His weapons where the same and his chakra was inactive too. Could it be…?
"Mam, may I know this man's name?" he asked. Sahana looked at him, unsure if it was alright to speak of him.
Neji could see it. Of course he could see it. She was reluctant to tell him. That was enough for him…
"Very well, I have no right to press the matter." She only nodded as she returned at staring at Altair's sleeping form. She seemed troubled for something else…
"Ano… can you help me carry him? Our house isn't far from here" the last sentence didn't seem to come out right, as if she was nervous to say it. Well, he was not one to poke his nose in other people's personal matters… well, except Hinata-sama's. But she was different, she was his cousin! Dare someone to hurt her, and he would have to deal with him… and his two little friends.
Back to the present, he nearly smacked his forehead. Of course she would need help, she wasn't a ninja and neither did she seem that well build in order to carry such a man. He calculated a difference of around 50 pounds on weight and… he should be a head or so taller than her.
He nodded as he picked up Altair's unconscious body, dropping him on his back. He turned to his teammates…
"Tenten, wake up Lee and if he's not drunk, help fix up the place. I'm going to give a hand here" he pointed with his eyes to Sahana, who smiled at the questioning kunoichi nervously. Tenten smiled brightly back.
"Okay!" and then she began smacking Lee again… this time harder.
XxxxX
"Here we are!" Sahana said cheerfully for maybe the first time this day as she pointed a hand at the house. It wasn't big… rather a regular house among others. Now, why Hokage-sama had called it a 'mansion', she didn't really want to know.
Neji stared at it… compared to the Hyuuga compound, this place looked tiny. He would shrug was it not for Altair's weight on his shoulders. This was a home for two or a few more people after all.
Getting inside, he could easily notice the smell of renewal in this house. It seemed to have been boarded up for some time, only cleaned recently.
Sahana only stared. When the hell had the Hokage managed to clean it? It was obvious that the house had been cleaned only recently, if not a few hours prior. Oh well…
Looking at the paper she held in hand, she asked Neji to let Altair on the couch, as she kept rolling over the small map for the bedrooms, the kitchen, and every practical room a house was obliged to have.
She folded the paper up "Thank you Neji-san. I appreciate your help" she said with a smile as said man put Altair down. "It's my duty and pleasure to help, Sahana-san. Anytime…" he said as he waved, his lips forming a small smile before exiting the house. Now he had to run… if Lee was still drunk when he woke up, he doubted Tenten's chains would be enough…
Sahana sighed as she went to the kitchen. It was a rather normal kitchen, filled with all the accommodations and furniture a room like this would need. Checking the shelves, she found enough materials for cooking… she smiled to herself.
XxxxX
Perfect… just perfect… it was the first time that he had managed to run himself down that much. This… 'blue thing' though, was somehow, really powerful. Even now, he felt different. He felt as if something was swimming inside him, like a calm sea, waiting for something to bring her waves up, to bring up destruction.
What was it, he could learn later on. Was it though, a gift or a curse? Was it abnormal? He would have to check it out later on…
As for now, a wonderful smell came to his nose. It smelt like…
Food!
XxxxX
Her eyes slowly opened, the blurry images in front of her clearing quickly as she focused… and focused… and realized.
She nearly screamed when she took notice of where she was. This smell, this colors, this man sleeping in the couch next to her…
She was in Naruto's apartment! She quickly sat up, only to discover that somehow, she had gotten tucked in his bed… Wait, where's her jacket?
She blushed, but was glad to look down and find all clothes in place. She held herself as to not grab a pillow and stuck her nose in it… the whole place smelt like Naruto… and said man was sleeping on the couch next to the bed…
Naruto really wasn't one for a calm sleep. He was upside down, legs hanging from the couch's back as his head was ready to drop to the floor, the covers barely covering him.
Smiling, she moved to reach out for him. With a little strain, she managed to move his body to the right position and placed the covers over him… his expression was… calm.
It was one of the few times… that see had seen this boy… calm. He would always be energetic and bounce around, yet now, he slept so peacefully. He didn't even snore… much. She giggled as she took notice of the 'hat' that occupied his head, the rest of his body clad in pajamas. She felt sorry for having to put him through this, for having him sleep on the couch. Just because Sakura had launched her on him… and she had fainted.
All this, because she was still weak… too weak to even stay awake in his presence. Too weak to even… even…
"Hinata…" she heard a whisper. She quickly turned to its source as her heart jumped, only to realize that it was Naruto who had said her name… wait, Naruto?
Her heart was full of joy for a moment…
"Ramen…" well, it was a good moment. Too bad good things don't last much. His dream had probably turned in one filled with ramen…
She glanced at the clock… it was 3 o'clock in the morning, no way she would go back to her own house now. She did the only thing possible at the moment…
She fell back on his bed and closed her eyes, allowing sleep to slowly take over her, Naruto's smell keeping her company as her mind drifted off, her face bearing a smile…
Unbeknownst to her, the dream Naruto had was not at all concentrated on ramen, for it was rather focused on who ate said food…
XxxxX
He didn't know she could also cook, but he guessed it was regular around here for a woman that lived on her own. It took him a few minutes to understand how to hold these… sticks, in order to eat.
Sahana helped him of course, showing him the right way of how to hold a chopstick, and how to eat. Unfortunately, the only food that they had plenty of supplies on was…
Ramen…
Altair managed to bring some noodles to his mouth… she watched as she braced herself. Would he like it? He was not from Japan, so such foods would most likely be uncommon to him…
He took the noodles in and munched. Slowly. Really slow. He then gulped them down…
Time seemed to stop for a moment…
Then Altair started eating again, this time more quickly as he ate the food with all he had. It had been years, no, it was the first time that he tasted something so… flavorful!
He even picked up the bowl to drink the whole soup down…
Sahana stared in amazement. She knew only one other man who would eat ramen like that, and she had met him one day when she had went down to Ichiraku's Ramen shop for a meal. He had blonde hair, if she remembered correct, and he ate ramen as if it was the nectar of the gods…
Altair didn't seem to have a different opinion. He pointed to his bowl with a smile. She sighed as she got up to fill it up again. She heard him saying 'Thanks' as she took the bowl away and put some more noodles and soup to it. This time, it didn't take Altair more than a minute to gulp it down. He had still some way to go, since he didn't really know how to handle chopsticks.
Tomorrow, she would have to teach him how to say 'Please'…
She slowly ate her own bowl…
Altair didn't really believe that food could taste this good. The…'diet' he had back there wasn't at all appealing for someone who liked to eat, and from now on…
He liked to eat too. Sahana's expression seemed thoughtful as he noticed when he put his bowl down. He hesitate to ask for more… she already had the strain of having to teach him a language, he didn't want to make her his servitor… err, cook too! He smiled as she looked up at him, saying thanks once more before leaving the table. He could see plenty of strange devices around…
A tall box that was cold to the touch, the insides even colder even if it was food. Some other metallic things decorated the room as well as one of this 'Light-Givers' hang above his head. He decided that sooner all later, he would know. For now…
He really felt tired.
Going back to the other room, he laid down on that bed like thing. It was soft and sturdy, if only a little small. But he managed to get comfortable nonetheless. Closing his eyes, he let sleep take over his body… take over it and help time pass, in order for another day to come.
Sahana sighed from the kitchen. Japanese was only one thing she had to teach him… what about the modern world? The man was from the past damn it! Tsunade had given her more than she thought…
One thing was for sure…
Tomorrow was going to be a long day…
XxxxX
Tsunade sighed as she took one more sip of her sake, Inoichi sitting in a chair across her desk.
"Well, I'm not really sure that we can trust her…" the blonde said as he looked at the Godaime. Tsunade only stared at him
"Hokage-sama, she's not a ninja and this man is an assassin! Even if he is from another time, how do we know that she will be safe?" Inoichi was a little twitched. He had rethought about the matter, and right now, this really didn't seem like a good idea.
Tsunade smiled widely at him. "Don't worry, Yamanaka" she said, that smile not faltering.
"Sahana is just…" she started examining the bottle of Sake she held in her hand
"Too cute to kill" she grinned widely at the blonde, who sighed as he hang his head in defeat. What kind of conversation can you hold with a drunken Hokage anyway…?
XxxxX
A/N: Gomenasai for any mistakes you might find. I was bored to proofread it :P I would like you guys to drop a review this time and if you read any of my other stories, don't hesitate to review them, be sure that I will always see a review, no matter when I had written the story or chapter.
I'm a review junkie, I really like them =D
Btw, why the hell do we have to write disclaimers? As if any person in his right mind would come here to write Fanfiction if he owned an Anime or Video Game etc. :P Stupid rules xD
ANOTHER POINT: Those that know Altair may think that he is a little OOC. Well, that's good. I want him to have a human side here, rather than only being an assassin. Plus, a dark mysterious and closed to himself guy wouldn't fit here ^^
This story is not ought to go too far. I'm already writing Towards The Heaven, plus a story of my own, plus a School comedy Act :P And PLUS, I have so many freaking ideas and so many stories that I want to write here! If I get each story to have... 20 chapters with an average of 10k words in each chapter, then it might take me years to get over with it!
The only reason this story might be around 10 chaps, is that I already have one on the roll and I don't have the... mood, to write two long stories at the same time ^^
SO! please drop a review, as I said, I'm a sucker for reviews, for in the end, they let me know what kind of people and who really read the story and had something to say about it. Plus, I love looking the review numbers when I look at 'My Stories' on my account =D
This is all for now. Been some time since I wrote such a long A/N... lol
Till we meet again
HoNdeR All Mighty