Disclaimer: Kishimoto-sensei owns Naruto, not me. #Sadlife
A/N: Welcome back to Konoha's fire. I give to u, the chapter four! There is and will be a slight difference from the actual Canon's story during the Wave country arc in my story. That's all I can tell you. Enjoy!
(Previously on Konoha's fire)
-"I don't care about who my client is, as long as I get my money. Now you should just give the bridge builder to me if you want to avoid confrontation. Wouldn't want your brats to experienced such thing this early in their-" Zabuza stopped his speech to look closer at a certain blonde. He frowned as he now realized that his job was gonna be even harder if the blonde was whom he assumed was. "Hoho, I see you brought back-up as well. Ne, Kakashi? It's my honor to meet two powerful Shinobi in one day at the same place. How are you doing, Konoha no Higitsune?"
Chapter four
Early in the morning, the Sandaime Hokage just arrived at his office to start his daily routine. He opened the door to see a big pile of paperwork, the nemesis to every Kage of all the ninja villages in the Elemental nations. He sighed as he knew today was gonna be another long day. Taking his seat, he took a paper and read its content. Not a minute later, a figure appeared at the office window's sill. Hiruzen knew too well of this person as he himself was the person's former Jounin sensei. "Good that you're here. Did you find something interesting to report?"
"Yes, it's about a certain ran-away snake. My spy network informed me that Orochimaru's been seen moving around in Rice country. That means the suspicion we have about him founding the new hidden village, Otogakure, is confirmed now. And this leads to how Naruto's identity was listed in the Bingo book. It obviously can't be good. What will you do now, sensei?" said the figure. He had a large strong build and long white mane-like hair, and wore a forehead protector with an 'Oil' symbol. He was none other than Jiraiya of the Sannin or the Toad Sage.
Orochimaru's defection had caused a great deal of damage to Konoha, including the loss of one of the famous and powerful Sannin (The legendary three ninjas) and many top secrets of the village that the snake sage knew of. This also left a grievous wound to the Sandaime's heart. The old Hokage saw the potential in him the most among the three students and even once considered Orochimaru as his successor before the true motive of those experiments were discovered.
Hiruzen sighed once again after hearing the news. A past event crept into his mind to remind him of his action on that day. The day that he regretted his decision and would never forgive himself. He's still berating himself for losing to his sentimentality and let his favored student got away from his crime. "The incident with his involvement two years ago had caused enough havoc among the nations. Now this just made it worst. For now, we cannot do anything rashly yet. I want you to continue keeping an eye on him for a bit longer to see what he's planning or we might risk severing our relation with the Rice country if we make any advancement on them. Can you do that, Jiraiya?"
"You are right, sensei. After all, things have gone this bad because of me too. I'm guilty as much as you are, old man. I thought he was redeemable, but it was just a foolish hope I had at that time. I will do what I can." replied Jiraiya while clenching his hands tightly. Orochimaru was his best friend and their rivalry was quite well-known at that time. The toad sage didn't want to believe what his sensei told him until he saw it himself.
"Anyway, how's the brat doing? I heard he had spent a year in the academy." the toad sage tried to lighten up the mood a little bit. Jiraiya was one of those that taught Naruto ninja arts. Even though he had to leave frequently to manage his spy network, he still made some time to visit his blonde godson as much as he could. After all, he wouldn't want his prized apprentice's legacy to fall victim to the fate of an orphan and Jinchuuriki.
"Naruto has been having fun and has just got assigned in a Genin team led by Kakashi. He looks happier, I must say. His dull blue eyes is now slowly being replaced by brighter and full of life ones." Hiruzen spoke with a smile when thinking about the boy.
"Glad to hear that. We all know we don't want another Itachi here. I'm gonna go and see what he's doing."
He's about to leave before Hiruzen spoke. "He's away on a mission with his team currently. They just left yesterday, and they won't be here for another few weeks if it goes smoothly." Sandaime replied.
"Hmm. I'll go and do my research then." Jiraiya giggled perversely while doing some crazy wiggling fingers thing. His sensei just shook his head at the toad sage's old habit. Bad habits die hard.
"It seems you still haven't dropped your habit, Jiraiya. I'm surprised Tsunade's tortures weren't enough for you to stop." said Hiruzen while chuckling, remembering how his students still acted in a childish manner no matter what age they were.
"Oh spare me, old man. You know you like my books too. By the way, the next volume will be out by next week. It's called 'Icha Icha gold edition: A princess and her masked savior" grinned Jiraiya after whispering the last part. "Note to myself to thank the gaki for the inspiration. He really is the gold mine for my research!"
The Sandaime's eyebrows twitched as a slight blush crept up on his cheeks after hearing this. Oh he would have the first order of the book.
"Who would believe the God of Shinobi also read my Icha Icha series. Oh you closet perverted old man" the white haired sage thought after seeing the reaction from his sensei and Hokage. He then took off at the direction of the place where he would be conducting his research, the hotsprings. A sound of perversely giggle echoed throughout the village, alerting all the woman population of a certain white haired man. Another horrible beat down was waiting for him, that's for sure.
[Meanwhile yesterday in Wave country]
The growing tension between the Konoha ninja and the Kiri missing-nin could be felt after the small conversation. Naruto and Kakashi knew that this wasn't going the way they had expected.
"What does he mean Kakashi of the Sharingan? And who is that Konoha no Higitsune are you talking about?" Sasuke was very confused at the statement by now. He didn't know that his sensei had the fame Sharingan, as he thought he was the only Uchiha left in the village. So how did Kakashi get the eyes? He looked at Naruto to see the stiffened figure of the blonde after hearing the latter name called out.
"I don't know what you are talking about." Naruto tried to deny his foe's claim of his identity.
"Don't play dumb with me. Your name got listed in the Bingo books by the leader of Otogakure. I don't know what you did there, but they have quite a big bounty on your head, kid. Thus, you are the popular target for the missing-nin like me." said Zabuza. Psychological warfare was the ony choice to counter when you were outnumbered during battle. He had to cause instability within the Konoha team, so that he could get an advantage.
Kakashi had to step in to stop the rising controversy, "Enough with the chit-chat. Let's start what we are here for. Team, get in formation!" Luckily, they did as he told as they decided to push the questions to the back of their mind for a later time, but they would demand an explanation.
"Just so you know, I'm specialized in the 'Silenced Killing'. Don't worry though. I will make it quick for you all." said Zabuza before making a set of hand seals, a thick mist began to float in the area. "Ninpou: Kirigakure no Jutsu (Ninja Arts: Hiding in the mist technique)". Then six water clones were created and started to camouflage themselves in the mist, ready for action. Yes, he's that arrogant to think he could take on two high level Shinobi and win. He's the demon of the Mist after all.
Kakashi suddenly flickered in front of the real Zabuza and used his Kunai to attack the Kiri-nin. Zabuza blocked it with his Zanbatou, the Kubikiriboucho, then tried to push back and kicked Kakashi on the side. Kakashi skidded back a bit before rolling to the right to evade a slash at his head from above. The clash between metals began, as both sides countered each attack with their own choice of weapon. However, the former member of the Seven swordsmen of the mist proved that he was more powerful at the sword fight as he landed a successful hit on Kakashi's chest. The Jounin evaded the blade just in time, but not unharmed as he could see his blood sipped out slowly. It wasn't severe though with his flak jacket lessened the impact. Kakashi received an uppercut at his jaw, sending him flying into the nearby lake. Before he could assess his situation, the water around him started to feel dense. "Oh shit" was his thought as he eventually got caught in a water prison, courtesy of Zabuza.
"Suiton: Suirou no Jutsu (Water release: Water Prison technique). You're in my environment now, Kakashi. This is over." The Kiri-nin boasted at his work, but he forgot about his surroundings.
As the chakra enhanced mist blocking the sight of all ninja in the area, Naruto used his heightened senses, besides his sight, to find the enemies. Soon, he found four clones and charged at them. He dealt with the water clones rather easily as it each only had a small portion of the strength and chakra of its creator. Naruto pulled out two Kunai and hold them in a reverse grip. He maneuvered in between his adversaries fluidly, blocking, evading and deflecting them with incredible footwork. He ducked under a slash of the giant sword from the first clone and blocked another slash from the second clone. He then swiped the legs of a third clone before his head could get chopped off by a swing of the Kubikiriboucho.
Rising from crouching position, he slid in to elbow the first clone in the gut before slicing the throat of the second clone with his Kunai when it's about to swung its weapon, destroying it immediately. Naruto then pulled an arm of the clone that got knocked the air out off to take the damage for him from a chopping attack, courtesy of the just arriving fourth Zabuza clone. Now with only two foes to dispose, Naruto quickly spun around the fourth clone and kicked it forward, and then parried the attack from the third with one Kunai and impaled it in its gut with another Kunai. He turned back to throw his other Kunai at the fallen clone. All the Zabuza's water clones dispersed back into water one by one by Naruto's assault. Sighing in relief, he then looked up only to see his comrades were struggling against their opponents respectively.
Sasuke was having a hard time though. He could only see a few feet around him because of the heavy mist. A sound of something cutting through air was heard. His gut told his body to move, forcing Sasuke to duck under a sword just seconds before the attack could land. He then was kicked in the back, sending him fall forward. He had to roll to his side to barely avoid a chop on the ground where he used to lay on a second ago. Getting back on his feet to back flip from another assault of his foe again, he couldn't think of a way to counter it yet.
This was getting frustrating for him as he could not see where the two clones were. This time though he didn't evade in time, receiving a big gash on his left arm. He winced at the pain and fell on one knee. "No, I cannot die now. I still have many things to accomplish. No! I won't die!" Unbeknownst to him, his onyx eyes morphed into crimson red with two tomoes on each one. Then everything happening around him seemed to slow down; he could now see clearly where another attack came from. "What the- My Sharingan!" With his confidence boosted, he began to make use of his new development and fought his enemies. Even if he still didn't see the others' position, Sasuke could still predict the sword's movement at the last moment as he was able to evade the slashes easily with everything in slow motion in his eyes.
Sakura didn't cope so well either. She was trembling with Tazuna at the pressure and chilling feeling in this mist. They could not know how her team was doing. Sakura could not see, but only heard the sound of clashing metals and water splashing, which did not relieve her one bit.
Naruto tried to sense his teammates' chakra signatures, and then found Sasuke's. The first thing he saw was the beaten and bloodied form of the Uchiha. The boy was panting heavily and barely stood on his feet. His eyes turned back to black now after the fight. Naruto landed next to him before pulling first aid to clean up and cover Sasuke's wound. Then the two of them looked up to see their sensei was caught in a water prison with Zabuza holding the jutsu.
Naruto immediately did six hand seals that ended with Tiger seal and molded his chakra in his stomach before calling out, "Katon: Goukakyuu no Jutsu (Fire release: Great Fireball Technique)." A huge fireball flew towards the missing nin, forcing him to either cancel his water prison or get burned into ashes. It was dodged, and got canceled out by the water on the lake.
This, however, helped Kakashi to escape before the said man recovered from his stiff body. He breathed in loudly for oxygen. His blonde comrade flickered on the water surface next to him.
"How are the others?"
"They are fine. Sasuke got cut on his arm, but nothing too serious. I patched it up and let him rest." Naruto explained the outcome of the confrontations.
"Good, help me finish this then." Looking at each other and nodding, both ninja was ready for the final battle.
Zabuza grunted after knowing that his clones were all decimated by the blonde and the other Genin. He thought the clones would give him enough time to deal with Kakashi. "Let's see you stop this!" The swordsman yelled out, going through a long set of hand seals. When he finished, the lake surface shook violently as a giant water dragon rose up from the water and roar loudly. "Suiton: Suiryuudan no Jutsu! (Water release: Water Dragon Bullet technique)" The dragon flew towards its target with its yellow eyes glinting brightly.
"I have a plan. Give me fire, Naruto!" commanded Kakashi as he saw the jutsu created.
"Got it!" answered Naruto before he made a Tiger seal and prepared his jutsu. "Katon: Karyuudan no Jutsu (Fire release: Fire Dragon Bullet technique)"He thought out his fire technique as his mouth was puffed and let out a flame breath.
Kakashi was also preparing his part of the plan as he pulled up his headband and used his Sharingan to revive a jutsu that he had copied. He did the necessary hand seals for it before pushing his palms out and called, "Fuuton: Kami Oroshi (Wind release: Godly Wind from the mountain)".
A vortex of wind blasting out and increasing the intensity of the fire stream, met the water dragon and caused a booming explosion in the middle of the lake. Steam and water splashed out, blocking the scene within the perimeter. Those outside had to raise their hands to block the side effect of both jutsu clashing together. A sound of a thud was heard, and then the mist died down, indicating that its creator had received heavy damage and was forced to end the jutsu. The implication was indeed correct as Zabuza was unconscious, lying face first on the bank of the river with Kakashi and Naruto stood in front of him. He had bruises and second degree burns all over his body, especially his right side. His Kubikiriboucho was on the ground near a tree a few feet away from him.
Underestimating his opponents was his downfall. This was the end of Momochi Zabuza, the demon of the Mist.
However, before any of the two went to check the man's pulse, a masked figure jumped down from the nearby tree and threw multiple senbons at them, forcing them to leap away from the projectiles. The figure then picked up the defeated Zabuza's body with his sword and escaped into the forest.
Naruto was about to follow the ninja, but he was stopped by his sensei's hand holding onto his shoulders. "He's most likely dead anyway. Just let that guy take him. It doesn't concern our mission anymore." said Kakashi before returning back to his two other students and his client, followed by the blonde next to him.
When they got back on the ground, they saw Sakura was tending to Sasuke's wounds, but she didn't have to do much though as Naruto already patched up most of them. She could only let the Uchiha rested his head on her lap. Tazuna was still shaking slightly even after the battle was over.
Seeing this, Kakashi reassured them, "He got away, but we won't be seeing him soon anyway. We should get some rest because we still have to guard the old man until he finished his project. Let's get to your house first, Tazuna-san."
"Yes, my house is only a mile away. This way!" The bridge builder said hurriedly, leading the way. He wanted to go home and see if his daughter and grandson were okay. He was worried that there were any more ninja attacking his family. The Konoha team followed closely after him, with one Naruto's clone piggybacking Sasuke.
About an hour later, they arrived at the house. It wasn't a big one, just decent for a small family, built on water with a small bridge leading to the front door. The bridge builder knocked the door thrice, hearing footsteps on the floor indicating that the person inside was coming to welcome them. The door was opened up by a woman who had long blue-coloured hair. She wore a short-sleeved pink shirt with the end of the sleeves and the collar being red in colour. She also wore a long blue skirt. The moment she saw who were outside the door, she hugged her father, relieved that he arrived safely and was not hurt in anyway.
"Father! You are safe. I'm so glad. I was so worried that there would be mercenaries or ninja trying to harm you." said the daughter, smiling at her father brightly. She looked at those standing behind Tazuna and asked, "Are these guys the ones you to hire to protect you, father?"
"Yes, my dear Tsunami. These guys saved my life. I tell ya, they are super strong. They defeated Momochi Zabuza who was sent by that bastard Gatou." replied Tazuna. Then he started introducing the ninja, "This is Kakashi, the team leader. The blonde boy is Naruto and the one whom he is carrying is Sasuke. And that girl with pink hair, her name is Sakura, I assume."
Tsunami frowned after hearing that powerful shinobi were after her father's head, but her mood was lightened up that these guys here were able to protect her father perfectly. "You have my gratitude, Shinobi-san. I'm sure you guys must be tired. Let's get you some rest. Come in!" she gestured the team to enter her house and settled down.
"Make yourself at home. Dinner will be ready soon." she continued. Team 7 nodded and smiled at her generosity. Naruto's clone put Sasuke down on a sofa in the small living room before dispelling itself. Kakashi, Naruto and Sakura also sat down on their own seat.
After a few minutes of silence in the room, Naruto then noticed that his teammates were eyeing him curiously. Sakura was the first to break the ice.
"Alright spill it! What's with the name that Zabuza guy called you, Naruto. What were you hiding us the whole time?" asked Sakura, backing by Sasuke's nod as both of them heard the conversation back then and were confused at the exchange.
Naruto just sighed at that. "This is gonna be a long night." thought the blonde as he felt the seriousness of the question. "First of all, I'm sorry that I've been hiding you guys my real self. However, I have my reason to do so." he paused a bit to see their reaction. Kakashi just sat idly reading his orange book while also listening to what the youngsters were saying.
"Well?" asked the pink hair.
"I was originally an ANBU. I'd been working as one for three years, doing several dangerous missions with my squads. How I end up in this situation is because of Hokage-sama. The old man wanted me to have a normal shinobi's life like you guys, starting from the bottom and enjoy my childhood as much as I can." said Naruto in a low voice tone.
"He said I was being too serious about my career and neglected my social life. At first, I questioned his intention, but as I came to think of it, I really didn't have any friends of my age. That's when he suggested that I joined the academy and started to get along with you guys. So I decided to retire as an ANBU agent and followed his advice." he paused again to let the information sank in.
"I didn't tell you guys and our friends of my past because I thought I might make you scared and stayed away from me if I let out the truth. I couldn't understand how friendship works at the time." continued the blond ninja sincerely. He looked at the two in front of him and saw the contemplating expression on their faces.
Both Sakura and Sasuke were shocked after hearing Naruto revealed his secret. They were surprised to know that he was in fact a former Anbu agent, let alone being close to the Hokage. Their blond teammate was in fact a powerful shinobi and they had no idea at all. He had been holding back all this time, meaning Sasuke and Sakura and their friends at the academy had only seen a tip of an iceberg of what Naruto was capable to do.
Sasuke was to the first to speak. "So that explained how you managed to pull out those pranks on the monument and other places, especially the one incident involving the ANBU headquarter." stated the Uchiha.
Naruto just nodded at the statement.
Sakura was the next to speak, "So that means you must be really strong, right?!"
"Uh… well I'm not that strong." Naruto just chuckled slightly while rubbing the back of his head.
"So you know how to do all those cool jutsu? Can you teach us those?" asked the pink hair kuniochi with awe and a new light on her teammate.
"Wh-what?" the blond boy was shocked at the question. He wasn't expecting that it would turn out like this. He initially thought that his friends would be angry at him for this. But they just said that he was awesome and wanted him to teach them also. "For real?!"
"Well, I wouldn't mind to spar with a powerful ninja. In order for me to beat that 'guy', I have to get strong, so having a strong training buddy will help a lot." Sasuke said, shrugging his shoulders and seeing nothing too bad about this revelation.
"Even duck-ass boy too?! That was so out of character!" Naruto was dumbstruck at this and happy at the same time that his friends were not bothered with his past whatsoever. He grinned at hearing this, "Thanks guys! For not being mad at me."
Before they could continue on their conversation, Tsunami came back into the living room delivering dinner for tonight. Sakura stood up and helped her setting the table. All of them then slid in their seat at the table and began digging in their meal. A few minute later, a young boy wearing an oversized blue and white stripped hat came down the stairs and joined in the gathering. He stayed silent for a while, listening to the brief conversing between the occupants. They sounded so happy, talking and laughing about their funny experiences. He couldn't take it anymore. "How can these guys be so happy when they are about to die?!" thought the boy.
A slam on the dinner table ceased the conversation silenced the room. That boy stood up and yelled at the ninja. "What are you so happy about?! You all are gonna die soon. No one can defeat Gatou!"
"Inari!" said Tsunami, surprised at her son's outburst. "Why are you saying that to them? They saved your grandpa's life."
"I don't care! They should just leave if they value their lives." yelled back at his mom. Tear began to fall lightly on his cheeks.
Then another slam was heard by all. "Oh my table." sweatdropped Tazuna.
Throughout his career as an ANBU, he had gone through various situations during missions. He had seen bloodshed, had experienced his first kill and had come across life and death situation multiple times. However, there was one thing that he could not tolerate, which was cowardice. A person who easily gave up just because he/she faces obstacles was a coward in his book. Thus, after hearing these words from the young boy, Naruto shook his head and glared sternly at Inari. "You are such a coward."
"What did you say?!" Inari asked shockingly.
"You heard me! You are a coward! Your grandpa is risking his life to save yours and all the people's lives in this country. He wants you to have a better future; yet you are here, yelling at us who are guarding him to leave and let him die by Gatou's hands. I've never seen someone as pessimistic as you." scolded Naruto at Inari.
The boy was fuming and tearing up even more. He ran back upstairs and into his room. Tsunami saw this and sobbed at her son's behavior. She looked back at the ninja team with an apologizing expression, and then followed after her son to console him.
"With all due respect Tazuna-san, but that boy is being ungrateful to you." Naruto said before walking out the house as well. He stopped at the door and spoke at his team. "I'm getting some fresh air. Have a lot of things going on in my mind."
The old man just sighed at this and looked down at his cup of water. He was sad that his grandson had changed so much after that incident three years ago. The boy used to be so bright and energetic. Now he was always brooding and never laughed like before. That tragedy really did a number on the poor boy.
Kakashi nodded at his blond brother before turning to the bridge builder beside him. "So … can you tell us about what has made him that way?"
Tazuna sighed again. He then began to retell a certain event, centered around a hero who once lived in Wave country. "There was a man named Kaiza. He was a travelling fisherman, coming to the land of Waves to seek new opportunity. One day, he came across Inari drowning and was able to save him…"
Back to our favorite blond, Naruto walked into a nearby forest while sighing at himself that he let slip his emotion during Inari's outburst. A mission that was transitioned from a normal C-rank to high B-rank, added with the confirmation of his revealed identity clouded his mind. He wasn't sure whether to continue hiding or just break the wall of truth.
He sat down on a small clearing, with a full sight of the moonlight at night. A peaceful silence with constant chirping sound of crickets and cool breeze brushing on his face somehow eased up his stress. The full moon, shining brightly high up in the night sky, reminded him of a girl he met two years ago. A round face, short black hair and alluring pupil-less pink eyes. He didn't know why the image of her always popped up in his mind, he just could never forget that. Not before long, he eventually succumbed to his exhaustion and a comfort provided by the place he was currently occupying, he then fell asleep after a long day of journey and combat.
To be continued…