Naruto frowned at Sasuke. The three had left the others to plan when it was apparent they weren't going to accept their input. They were just outside the room, waiting for Kakashi to finish and debrief them. But, unfortunately, it seemed Sasuke was unable to calm himself and was now restlessly pacing. Naruto had understood and even accepted it originally, but after ten minutes, it began to lose its appeal.
It was even starting to annoy Sakura.
"Sasuke, is it possible that he just got it as a gift?" she asked, exasperated.
Sasuke sharply turned to her with a scowl. "People don't give their eyes as a gift. Especially Uchiha."
Sakura sighed. "He could've just been close to his teammate and they decided to give him their eyes before they died. Maybe he got it as an award. Who knows, Sasuke? We just can't jump to conclusions before asking Kakashi, so let's just wait for him to finish, okay?" she said quietly.
Sasuke was getting increasingly frustrated as Sakura attempted to console him. Before he was about to explode on her, Naruto decided to interrupt. "It could also be possible that he stole it from his teammate before they died." Sasuke and Sakura looked at him in surprise. Sasuke seemed grateful that he was defending him. "You're absolutely right, that is a possibility, but like Sakura said, we can't jump to conclusions yet. We've been with Kakashi-sensei for a month now; do you really think he would be the type of person to do that?"
Sasuke grimaced. "I don't know him that well to say…"
Naruto placed a hand on his friend's shoulder. "Exactly. So let's just wait until he tells us what happened before we start exploding. You know if Kakashi-sensei stole that Sharingan of his, I'd be right there with you to take it away from him, but let's calm down, alright?"
Sasuke looked away. "Hn. Fine. I'll wait to pass judgment," he grunted.
Naruto smiled. He was about to give a clever quib before they were interrupted. "It's quite delightful to see a team so close." They all turned to a corner in the room that didn't house anyone earlier. But now, the boy from before was situated there, smiling softly at them.
"How did you get there? We didn't hear the door being opened," Sakura confusedly said.
The boy chuckled. "You three were too engaged in soothing your friend's ire to notice me. Raiga-sama doesn't have any need for my input, so I wanted to introduce myself to you." He walked up to them with a hand raised. "My name is Ranmaru Kurosuki. It's a pleasure to meet you. I hope this becomes a most favorable alliance." he said, shaking each of their hands.
"Sakura Haruno. It's nice to meet you, too, Ranmaru-san," she said with a smile, no doubt grateful that at least he was friendly, very much unlike his sensei.
Sasuke didn't bother much with pleasantries. "Sasuke Uchiha."
"Naruto Uzumaki," he said, taking the time to carefully examine the boy. He had on a light purple shirt with a sash covering his midsection, and he wore black pants and similar-colored sandals. What interested him the most, however, was that Ranmaru had the most beautiful sword sheathed on his hip. "Can I ask, what type of sword is that?"
Ranmaru's eyes gleamed, happy at his interest. Unsheathing his blade, he held it out for Naruto. The sword shined brilliantly. "This, my friend, is an Odachi. It's one I made myself. Raiga-sama always says that if a sword isn't either made by Kiri or yourself, it could not be trusted," he said, his ever-present smile turning fonder. "He made me learn the craft of weapon making. It was a horrible experience, truth be told, but it was worth it to create a blade such as this."
Naruto couldn't help but agree. Not only was the sword beautiful but its sharpness was apparent. It felt like if he even touched it, he would get cut.
Sasuke snorted. "Is it because Kiri considers you a missing-nin that you were forced to learn?"
Ranmaru's eye imperceptibly twitched, but his smile remained. He sheathed his sword and turned to him. "Raiga-sama was once a missing-nin, yes, before we came to Amegakure. And even if Kiri was not hostile to our presence, he would've still made me learn, Sasuke-san. It's good practice to be able to craft your own weaponry. Difficult to have any confidence in it otherwise, personally."
The two stared at each other before Sakura interrupted. "Ranmaru-san, um, can you tell me why your sensei is–I mean was–a missing-nin? I've never heard of villages allowing rogue ninjas to become citizens," she said, trying her best not to offend the friendly boy.
"Yes, well, I won't go into specifics–it's not my story–but just know Amegakure is accepting of anyone who wishes to begin a new life. We heard rumors of it, never really believing any of them before I convinced Raiga-sama that we should take the plunge on the off chance that they were. I was… growing weary of life on the run," he said, not taking his eyes off Sasuke, before turning to Sakura. "Needless to say, they were. Raiga-sama was able to become a full-fledged shinobi of Amegakure, and I'm his apprentice."
"That's strange. Do you know why–" Naruto began before being interrupted by a shout and the door to Shinto's office being opened.
"Ranmaru! I've had enough of this useless posturing. It's time to sharpen our swords and prepare to pound those cowardly dogs to the ground!" he said with a sneer.
Ranmaru didn't take his eyes off them. "Yes, Raiga-sama, I'll be with you in a second. Naruto-san, Sakura-san, and Sasuke-san, it was a pleasure to meet you. May your blades be sharp for tomorrow," he said with a bow, before leaving with his partner.
As they watched the two leave, Kakashi spoke up. "Quite a duo, I must say. Very strange, however. No doubt Hokage-sama will be interested in them, so make sure you catalog any details you learn about them."
Sasuke scoffed. "No more waiting, Kakashi. Where did you get that Sharingan?"
Naruto couldn't but sigh that he was choosing to confront their sensei here of all places instead of somewhere more private.
"Well, if you really must know, my capricious genin, it was a birthday present."
"Birthday present?" Sasuke repeated, incredulous. "Uchiha do not give away our eyes as mere presents."
Kakashi shrugged. "He never cared much for proper decorum, especially those of the Uchiha." Seeing Sasuke's look, he elaborated. "He was the black sheep of the clan. None liked him due to his lack of talent, and he didn't like them because of their pompous attitudes. Suffice it to say, when the time came, he felt compelled to give me his Sharingan. If it was between my teammate and this eye, Sasuke, I'd rather not have it." he nonchalantly said.
Sasuke frowned, his brows furrowed, before sighing, "That's fine then. Do you… know how to use it?" he mumbled.
Kakashi was amused, Naruto could tell. "Yes, I'm very much experienced with it. It's why you were placed on a team with me, but we can have this conversation later. Right now, we need to go find an inn to rest at."
It was a couple of hours later that Naruto was able to rest. They were able to find an inn, and Kakashi had planned on them all getting separate rooms until it was revealed how much that would cost. Far higher than any of them were comfortable with, but, unfortunately, this was the only inn the village had, citing the low tourism as the cause. Kakashi sheepishly asked if Naruto and Sasuke could share a room. They had rolled their eyes but agreed.
Sasuke was currently downstairs taking a bath, so Naruto had the room to himself. He used the time to stare at a book.
A bingo book, Kakashi had called it. He gave Sakura one and had Naruto and Sasuke share another due to only possessing two. They were asked to search up Raiga Kurosuki in case things went hairy tomorrow.
He was an interesting man, Naruto had to admit. A-rank, master of Lightning Release thanks Kiba–his sword–and he had a particular fondness for burying his enemies alive.
Learning that, Naruto couldn't help but be grateful he forced his body to adapt to Earth Release, as well as be thankful to the old man for teaching him how. Well, he had a lot to thank the old man for. Not only did he show him and Sasuke how to learn a Release their body wasn't attuned to–his Earth and Sasuke's Lightning–but he gave them so many useful jutsu. It truly boggled his mind how one man could learn so much.
Naruto shook his head and refocused. The bingo book. Yes, as fascinating as Raiga was, there was a certain entry in the bingo book that held his interest more.
Kakashi's.
How truly powerful was the man? He was chosen as the sensei for the last Uchiha and the jinchuriki of the Nine-Tails. Not even counting the fact that Naruto was the son of the Fourth Hokage, and Kakashi was the student of that esteemed individual. Such large assets of the village were given to his care. Why was he trusted above all others?
Naruto opened the book and flipped to Kakashi's section. It took him a minute, but he finally found it.
Kakashi of the Sharingan or The Copy Ninja–interestingly, he was even called Cold Blooded Kakashi in some circles. He was considered a dangerous individual that one should be wary of, citing his ability to copy any ninjutsu used against him. Naruto had to whistle at the amount it was estimated he knew. Over a thousand. He'd have to pick his sensei's brain once they got home. There wasn't a chance he knew more than the old man, but there have to have been a few secret jutsu from other villages he stole.
Reading further, it was said Kakashi's strengths lay on the battlefield, but he also dabbled in assassinations. It warned that if you ever heard the sound of a thousand birds chirping, someone vital to your nation had died.
Naruto spent the next–thoroughly entertaining–half an hour reading, and rereading, more of Kakashi's exploits. Truly, the bingo books spared no expense in making bounty hunters aware of his capabilities. He even had a whooping hundred million bounty on him.
It was just as he was done reading the entry for the third time that Sasuke entered, not even bothering to warn him with a knock. Naruto was startled and unconsciously reached for a kunai to throw. Thankfully, there was none on hand or he'd be responsible for ending the Uchiha bloodline.
Sasuke snorted when he saw Naruto's maneuvering, but didn't acknowledge him further. He was far more interested in replacing his towel with actual clothes.
It was a few minutes later that he asked Naruto what he was doing.
Naruto shrugged. "I was just going through the bingo book. Like Kakashi asked, I went through Raiga's entry. Once I was done, though, I went through his own. Really impressive stuff, I have to say."
Sasuke hummed. "Recap a little of it for me." When Naruto was finished, Sasuke looked impressed. "I didn't think he would be that powerful. A thousand jutsu, huh? We should ask him for some, considering we've been running out of any our level from both the Uchiha Archives and the Hokage."
Naruto excitedly nodded. "I was thinking the same thing. It'd have to be after we finish this mission, but imagine the amount of jutsu from other villages he must know!"
"I guess I should apologize to him sometime. That Sharingan of his will be a boon to both him and us." Sasuke chuckled.
They spent the next hour like they always did–discussing jutsu, what they had planned for their next training session, and even the best flavor of ramen. Well, Naruto discussed it while Sasuke only paid half of his attention to him.
Until a thought came to Naruto. He had many questions he knew he was going to have to answer eventually, and many of them held blocks that he couldn't pass no matter how much he pondered. Right now was the perfect time to bring up one of them to ask for Sasuke's opinion.
He pursed his lips and took the plunge. "Sasuke, what do you think the point of being a shinobi is? Tools, soldiers, or assets? All the above? It's something that's been bothering me. I… don't know how to answer it. Every time I have a solution, I think about it some more and another pops up. I catch myself in an endless loop until my head hurts."
Sasuke raised an eyebrow. "The point of being a shinobi, huh…" It was over before Naruto could glean what it was, but something flashed in his friend's eyes. "Itachi is my reason. Avenging my clan–bringing a genocidal maniac to justice before he hurts anyone else. That's my reason, Naruto. That is why I wake up every day, why I train until just breathing hurts. I don't care about whatever happens after that. Whether or not my village considers me a tool is a non-issue to me." he said with conviction.
"I… hope that was helpful in some way." When Naruto reassured him with a smile, Sasuke posed his own question. "My turn now. Why does Naruto Uzumaki wake up in the morning? What gives you the motivation to continue moving forward day by day?"
That's when it hit Naruto like a ton of bricks, hard. He didn't have a reason for waking up. He didn't have any motivation that he used to continue moving forward.
He woke up because. What else could he do? He trained day and night because he enjoyed it, but there wasn't an underlying goal behind it. Not like Sasuke's ambition to avenge his family, and certainly not like his father's hope of uniting the world.
Naruto risked his life being a shinobi because the profession seemed cool to him at the time. Now he was stuck as one. You couldn't resign unless there were medical problems or you were at retirement age. Even then, you could still be drafted if there was a war.
He loved Konoha, with every bit of his heart, but he just realized he may have been indoctrinated into loving it. The stories the old man would tell, the books that enthusiastically spouted how amazing the village was compared to all the others, and the enthused gushing he heard from the other kids that fell to propaganda.
Naruto couldn't help but be amused. He smiled an ear-to-ear grin and started giggling. Giggling turned to chuckling, and chuckling turned into laughing that left him unable to breathe after a few minutes. He ignored the worried look Sasuke was giving him and continued his relishing in the hilarity. How could he have not realized this sooner?
He was an idiot, but there wasn't anything he could do to change this fact or him being a shinobi. He had already signed all his rights away. No chance of being a civilian, and why would he even want to? At least, by being a shinobi, he had more opportunities available to him.
But Naruto vowed that he would someday answer this question, too. He'd find a reason to wake up in the morning. He'd find a motivation that justified him breaking every bone in his body and continuing past that for the sake of becoming stronger.
Naruto threw the bingo book to Sasuke. His friend caught it, still wearing that worried expression on his face. "We have a long day tomorrow. You should check Raiga's entry before we sleep," he said with a grin. "And thanks, Sasuke. As much as I hate having more questions, this made me realize some things."
"Questions?" Sasuke muttered, but Naruto ignored him to go to sleep.
His life was truly complicated, but hey–it made it more interesting.
Kurotsuchi was very much not happy. She was shivering terribly in a frozen wasteland with the only protection being a flimsy jacket.
And they were in a bloody cave, for goodness sakes! It was a hundred times worse when they were exposed to the elements. She oftentimes fantasized about just… not continuing, of begging her comrades to abandon her to finally allow her to rest.
But that would make her weak, and Kurotsuchi, granddaughter of the Tsuchikage, was anything but weak.
Suddenly a ration pill was shoved into her face. She followed the arm until she met the worried face of Akatsuchi. "Take it. It's my last one, but it'll help with the cold for now."
She wanted to snap at him, pronounce how wrong he was to think she needed it, but she just silently took the pill. She swallowed the pill and a rush of warmth flooded throughout her body. She gave Akatsuchi a grateful look.
He just nodded in reply. As much as she wanted to complain about how lucky he was because of all the fat he had heating him, it was obvious that even he was affected by the cold. She glanced over to her other teammate, Ishikoro, freezing his tits off, trying his best to cover himself with his blank. It didn't work. Kurotsuchi knew that from experience. The blanket was more of a hindrance than a benefit from how frozen it was.
She hated this mission. A genin team like theirs shouldn't have been allowed to join. She hated her grandfather sometimes and how much he insisted on testing her. I refuse to coddle you, that oaf had told her when she begged him to go on an easier mission. Now she and her teammates were stuck in a group of five jonin–including her father–and they were supposed to stay here for a month–a month!–to oversee the mining of unique crystals in the Land of Frost.
Kurotsuchi didn't know too much about the specifics, but they migrated large amounts of bandits to work as miners. They were even planning on invading the nation to get more labor.
She honestly couldn't care less. I just want to go home, she whined in her head.
It was an hour later that the jonin finally returned–from deeper into the cave–to the sight of a furiously pouting Kurotsuchi, a miserable Akatsuchi, and a half-dead Ishikoro.
Kitsuchi–her father and sensei–spoke up. "Alright, pack up, kids. The bandits were able to find a large deposit, so most of them will stay here to mine it. With the manpower they have at their disposal, they should be more than able to handle anything the village sends, so we're going to be taking a few of them to a new mining site we were able to find. It's at risk of a landslide, so we're going to need everyone to help shore it up and keep an eye out."
When none of them responded, he clapped to get their attention. "I'm serious. We need to go now. Get up, Kurotsuchi. You're better than this."
She growled at the barb, but slowly picked herself up. It took them a few minutes, to the annoyance of all the jonin.
They could screw themselves for all she cared.
It was the next day, and Naruto and his team waited for their allies near the village gates. For once, Kakashi had actually arrived on time–though that may be because they knew where he was sleeping and kept knocking on his door until he answered. He got ready soon after once he realized they'd keep bothering him.
While they were waiting, Kakashi decided to debrief them again. "Just to recap, Naruto and Raiga's apprentice are the only ones with sensory capabilities, so they'll be the ones doing most of the tracking. Once they find them, we'll move in quietly until we have a clear bead on them. We'll attack them all nonlethally until they're all apprehended. Then we can say goodbye to The Land Snow."
"What, you Konoha-nin aren't able to handle a bit of snow? Aren't you supposed to be one of the Great Five?" As boisterous as ever, Raiga appeared with Ranmaru in tow.
Kakashi rolled his singular eye. "You'd be insulting yourself, Kurosuki, since you used to be one of the Great Five yourself."
Raiga grinned. "'Used to be' is the keyword. I haven't been a part of them in years, so don't associate me with them, but as much as I love exchanging barbs, Hatake, I love beating sissies even more. Our swords have been sharpened, and Ranmaru and I are ready to make some dogs bleed. How are those children of yours doing?"
"Quite well, thank you for asking. Now, I've already explained to you how Naruto can sense others. Can you explain to me what your genin can do?"
Before Raiga could retort sarcastically, Ranmaru spoke up, "I possess a unique dojutsu. Suffice it to say, one of its abilities is an enhanced version of the Byakugan–called the Shinkugan. Based on how you explained Naruto-san's jutsu, I'm assuming it's something he's inexperienced with?" He continued when he received a nod. "Then I'm willing to take a back seat and defer to Naruto until I see him making an egregious mistake."
Raiga looked outraged. "Ranmar–"
Ranmaru grabbed his master's arm to interrupt him. "It's fine, Raiga-sama. This is their first mission, and allowing them to gain experience would be a good way to ingratiate ourselves to them, leading to a more beneficial partnership," he stated, looking him in the eye. "We did assure our client that we would be civil with Konoha, and we haven't been achieving that. This would be a good start towards keeping that promise, would it not?"
Raiga held eye contact before snorting. "They're your eyes, kid. Very well. We're in your capable hands, Konoha-nin. Do take good care of us, would you?" he said mockingly.
"I'm sure we'll try our very best," Kakashi quipped, before turning to address his team. "Alright. Shinto gave us a general area they're most likely congregated in, so we'll start from there. Let's head out."
And so they did, with Raiga and Ranmaru following just behind. It was an hour later that they finally stopped. They were in a part of the frozen wasteland that contained vast mountains, far off into the distance. Pockets of trees were strewn around, as if some deity was too lazy to do anything more than haphazardly insert them, with no care of having any type of rhyme or reason.
Naruto focused for a minute, gathering his chakra. He needed as much range as possible, so he slowly went through the hand seals required, and shouted as loud as his lungs could handle, "Earth Release: Earth Tremor Sense!"
As his chakra blitzed through the landscape, he could feel brief pockets of life either sprinting or standing still, but they felt more like small animals living their meandering lives. What he was looking for was a group of humans that were either underground or inside one of the mountains, so he directed his chakra to burrow instead of focusing above the ground.
That was when he felt something weird at the very edge of his range. It wasn't what he was looking for exactly–he barely even knew what it was–but it was a lead.
Naruto nodded to Kakashi, and they set off.
A/N:
What did you think about the dialogue this chapter? After fighting, it's the thing I struggle with most.
What are your feelings on the story so far? Have you seen any issues? Things that don't make sense? Things you don't enjoy? I'm trying to improve as a writer, and feedback is the best way to help me with that.
Happy holidays, guys. I wanted to get this out on Christmas, but oh well. The day after is fine, too.