Just to Survive
By: Xzotic
Chapter 4:
Rock Meets a Hard Place
When Friday finally came around, Naruto jumped awake with a sudden awareness that today was the day. He had debated most of the week whether or not he should go into school and risk being chewed out for skipping. He had finally decided that it would be too detrimental to his 'good behavior' plan so he'd just had to make up a reason for not being there.
Thinking about the possibility of Iruka visiting his foster home, Naruto had gone through the trouble of sneaking in and leaving a note posted on the Mizukis' bedroom door that succinctly said:
'Not going to school Friday. Cover story: out sick.'
The blond smirked at the thought of how pissed off the Mizukis would be about him sneaking into their home undetected twice in less than a week. The husband was probably foaming at the mouth over his morning coffee, he thought with glee.
Deciding that he had nothing better to do that day until noon, Naruto made his way over to Teuchi's restaurant with his duffel bag swung over his shoulder. Old man Teuchi looked up and frowned when he saw the blond walk in.
"Why aren't you in school, brat?" he growled out.
Naruto put on a smile and nervously scratched the back of his head. "Well I, um, have some important things to do today so I'm taking leave."
"I have half a mind to call the police and tell them there's a delinquent here skipping classes!"
Naruto's eyes widened in shock and horror. Maybe he shouldn't have come to Teuchi's on a school day!
Teuchi glared at him for a tense moment before pointing his butcher knife at one of the bar stools. "Sit. What do you want for breakfast?"
A wide grin spread over Naruto's face at the prospect of free food and he quickly dropped his bag and jumped into one of the seats. "Miso ramen please!"
"Ramen for breakfast?" Teuchi asked dubiously. He rarely ever got a customer that asked for ramen so early. He smiled slightly and turned to shout over his shoulder. "Ayame! A special bowl for our favorite customer! Put eggs, ham, and lots of vegetables!"
Naruto's eyes sparkled happily. "Ayame's home from school?"
Teuchi grinned with fatherly pride. "She's home for the weekend. No classes on Friday."
"Hmm… the more I hear about this college stuff the more I wish I could be there rather than here." Naruto's gaze looked dreamy and faraway. No class on Fridays, he thought happily.
"Well if you keep your grades and your attendance up then maybe you can be there in a couple years," Teuchi lectured sternly.
Naruto snapped to attention and wilted slightly at the disappointment he saw in the old man's gaze again. "C'mon, old man. Take it easy on me already. I'm trying the best I can over here," he groused defensively.
"No you're not, boy." Teuchi narrowed his eyes shrewdly at the blond. "Naruto, what do you want to be when you grow up?"
Naruto scrunched up his face in confusion. "Hmm, well I've never really thought about that, old man. I'm usually too worried about what's happening in the present to think about the future."
"Well you need to think about that future soon!" Teuchi angrily pointed his knife at the boy as he jumped back in his seat from shock. "You're almost an adult, kid! If you don't make plans for yourself now then what do you think you'll end up doing for the rest of your life?"
"Daddy! Stop pointing that knife at Naruto!"
Naruto looked over to see Ayame coming out from the kitchen with a steaming bowl and a reprimanding look cast at her father. She looked just as pretty as he remembered and he felt his face heating up with a familiar blush. "A-Ayame!" he shouted happily.
Ayame turned to him with a wide smile and set the bowl in front of him. "On the house, Naruto! How have you been?" she asked excitedly.
Naruto glanced nervously at Teuchi who'd gone back to chopping up ingredients with a bit more force than usual. "Um, alright I guess," he answered quietly.
Ayame glanced at her father as well and rolled her eyes as she leaned forward to talk conspiratorially. "He's just worried about you, Naruto. We both are. That's how Daddy gets when he's worried," she whispered.
If he hadn't been so down about the old man's anger towards him, Naruto may have been a bit more embarrassed by Ayame's closeness. As it was, he was just a little more warm than usual as he slurped up his meal.
"Ah! A new customer!" Ayame exclaimed happily. "Welcome to Ichiraku!"
Naruto glanced over curiously and nearly choked on his food when he realized who was standing in the entrance.
"Yo," Kakashi greeted lazily. He took a seat in the barstool right beside Naruto's and pretended to gaze at the menu in interest. "Hmm… ramen for breakfast? Sounds interesting. I'll have what he's having," the strange man declared, jabbing his thumb at Naruto without glancing at him even once.
"Coming right up!" Ayame beamed with slightly more enthusiasm than usual. She disappeared back into the kitchen.
Old man Teuchi had paused in chopping up some herbs and was openly glaring at the odd man with the mismatched eyes. Kakashi waved jovially at the restaurant owner with his eyes closed in bliss.
Teuchi scoffed and turned to follow his daughter back into the kitchen. "I'll let you two talk," he spat with disgust.
"Hmm? He doesn't seem to like me much," Kakashi observed blithely.
Naruto finally snapped out of his frozen state of shock. "What are you doing here, scarecrow!" he shouted with an accusing finger pointed.
Kakashi slowly turned to stare at the blond. "Scarecrow?" he asked dubiously.
"Never mind that! Why are you following me?"
Kakashi stared at him neutrally before turning away. "Why aren't you in school, Naruto?" he asked instead.
Naruto once again found himself stunned speechless by the mysterious man.
After a long moment of silence, Kakashi finally glanced over at him again with an eyebrow raised in question.
"What do you mean why aren't I in school? You know what Itachi ordered!" Naruto finally snapped. Why was this guy always asking such stupid questions?
Kakashi let out a sort of sighing 'hmm' sound and looked up as Ayame came back out with another hot bowl of special ramen. Teuchi came out behind her, apparently still in a bad temper.
"Here you are, sir! Will that be all?" Ayame asked with a sunny smile.
"Thanks," Kakashi mumbled as he idly picked up his utensils.
Naruto watched intently from the corner of his eye as the silver haired man raised the bowl closer to his face. He was more than a little curious about what the man looked like underneath that mask.
At that precise moment, unfortunately, Teuchi launched another knife- just a hair's breath away from slicing Naruto's nose- and the youth snapped to attention in fright as the knife imbedded itself into the wall beside him with a loud 'thunk'. The old man had never thrown a knife that close before! "What the heck was that for, old man!" he cried out, his young voice cracking slightly in fear.
"Dad!" Ayame exclaimed. "What did I tell you about throwing knives? Especially now that you have arthritis!"
Teuchi ignored his fuming daughter and kept his gaze pierced on Naruto's bright blue eyes. "If I ever catch you skipping classes again to hang out with men like him," here Teuchi gesticulated in Kakashi's direction with another knife, "you can forget about getting another free meal from me. Understood, Naruto?"
Naruto stared at the angry chef with very wide eyes. Teuchi was well liked throughout the city but everyone knew that the old man had had one hell of a dark past (as evidenced by his tendency to lob knives when he got into a temper). Somewhere along the line, Teuchi had gotten married to one saint of a woman, raised one of the sweetest daughters in the world, became a chef and his own boss, and led a clean life from then on. The look in his eyes as he stared a hole through Naruto's head suggested that he was on the verge of snapping that chain and murdering the teenaged boy if he stepped one toe out of line. Naruto gulped and smiled nervously, scratching the back of his head. "Y-yes sir!" he managed to answer.
Teuchi nodded resolutely and went back to chopping up his herbs and vegetables. Ayame let out an exasperated noise and shook her head as she returned to the kitchen.
Kakashi closed his eyes pleasantly as he placed an empty bowl back on the bar and Naruto felt resentment towards both adults in the room as he realized that on top of everything, he'd missed his opportunity to catch the sneaky scarecrow unmasked.
"Looks like you have some very concerned people looking out for you, Naruto," Kakashi commented blithely.
Naruto was too sullen to respond.
"I spoke with someone at your high school earlier this week. He seemed fairly concerned about you as well."
Naruto's head whipped around so fast, Kakashi was surprised he didn't sprain his neck. "What the heck were you doing at my high school? How do you even know which high school I go to?" he demanded suspiciously.
"Well," Kakashi answered dryly, "let's see. Itachi had one of his underlings tail you one day. And on a whim he asked me to do some investigating. See whether or not you were in good standing at school, if you missed a lot of days… that sort of thing."
Naruto's face couldn't have been anymore horrified. Why the heck would Itachi want to know all that?
"So I met this really nice guidance counselor there. Apparently he mistook me to be your foster father due to the similar hair tones because it was fairly easy to get information out of him. Poor attendance, weak grades in Language and History but surprisingly good grades in math…. also, the teachers apparently complain a lot about your negative interactions with other students and your apparently short fuse…"
Naruto watched in a sort of dazed fascination as the man he'd only met a few days ago listed off things about his life that not even he knew. He could feel the cold hands of terror creeping up his spine and latching on to all of his vital organs. A quick, fearful glance at the closest exit was as far as he got before Kakashi's expressionless face was menacingly close to his, cutting off all possibilities of escape.
"Now I've seen brats much younger than you get killed for making the same stupid mistake you're about to make," Kakashi suddenly growled, low and predatorily, "but unlike you, those kids had no one to tell them better. Skipping school to go prancing around in someone like Itachi's backyard is the same as spitting in the faces of all the people that concern themselves with you, kid."
The terror slowly ebbed away from Naruto's body to be replaced by utter confusion. Who the heck was this Kakashi guy? He didn't sound like someone who was simply following orders from Itachi. Was he missing something here?
Naruto's brow furrowed from the stress he felt. "Even if you say all that," he groused, "it wouldn't be very smart to disobey Itachi without expecting punishment. I don't know if I'm prepared to face Itachi Uchiha's form of punishment."
Kakashi straightened in his seat and gave Naruto the chance to distance himself. "I guess I pegged you as being a little more stubborn than that. I had your cover story all worked out in case you decided not to show up."
Naruto was once again shocked but he tried not to show it this time. "Thanks, but that really wasn't necessary," he replied with feigned indifference. "I need the money so either way I would have come anyway."
Kakashi said nothing more on the subject. Instead, he pulled out a small wad of cash and placed it beside his empty bowl. "Keep the change, sir," he called out to Teuchi's angry form as he stood and turned to leave. "Let's go kid," he mumbled dispassionately.
Checking the clock that hung above the bar, Naruto realized that it was already 11:30. He quickly grabbed his duffel bag and jumped out of his seat to catch up with the weird man with the freakishly long legs. "See ya, old man!" he shouted before the door slammed close behind him.
***
Kakashi didn't say a single word or even look at him until they reached Sound Street, the worse block in the entire city. Naruto grumbled and challengingly met the eyes of every single person that looked at his duffel bag for too long. After passing an intersection, Kakashi suddenly slowed his pace and gestured towards a parked vehicle. "That's the car we're going to. Keep your head low and your eyes open."
Naruto nodded and surreptitiously glanced at the vehicle as they slowly approached. It was heavily tinted but was in dire need of a paint job. What the heck were they supposed to do with that thing?
Kakashi opened the backseat door and glanced around intently as he waited for Naruto to slip inside first.
Stamping down on a sudden burst of nerves, Naruto quickly jumped inside. He almost turned right back around when he realized who was waiting for him.
"Hiya, brat. Long time no see," Kisame greeted with a feral grin.
Naruto turned to Kakashi as he slid in and closed the door behind him. "What the hell is fish-face doing here?" he demanded irritably.
"Did you bring the package," Kakashi demanded of Kisame, ignoring the youth's outburst.
"No, I'm just sitting on this curb watching the transvestite prostitutes walk by," Kisame mumbled sarcastically. When Kakashi just eyed him blankly he rolled his eyes. "Of course I brought the bloody package!"
Naruto watched as Kisame produced two box-shaped packages wrapped in brown paper and five smaller, brick-shaped packages. "Here, brat, put these in your bag," Kisame ordered as he handed the items to him.
Kakashi eyed his wristwatch impatiently and sighed. "Is that it? It's almost noon."
"Just a sec," Kisame grumbled groping around in his long trench coat for something else.
Naruto had carefully packed the surprisingly lightweight items into his duffel bag and was just zipping it up when something cold and metal nudged his wrist. His eyes focused on the object slowly and he felt his pulse jump when he realized that Kisame was handing him a small handgun.
"There you go, brat. A gift from Itachi in case things get messy. And, oh yeah!" He took out his wallet and withdrew a crisp, one hundred dollar bill. "There's your payment. Half now and half when the job's complete. That's how the professionals do it." Kisame's grin was full of dark humor.
Naruto stared at the bill in amazement but his eyes eventually drifted back to the gun in his other hand and he quietly stuffed the money into his pants pocket. Best not to let the only money he had get mixed up with whatever packages he would be delivering, he thought with grim resolve. He was trying his best not to think about what carrying a gun meant to him.
"Let's go," Kakashi suddenly growled.
Naruto nodded and quickly stuffed the gun inside his orange and black jacket before grabbing his duffel bag.
"Have fun, gentlemen," Kisame chuckled.
Neither Naruto nor Kakashi said a word in response as they left the car.
***
"Give me the gun."
Naruto almost walked straight into Kakashi's back when he stopped suddenly. He looked up to see that they were standing in front of a tall chain link fence in the back of an empty alley. He noticed that Kakashi's hand was outstretched and he stared at it dubiously. "Huh?"
Kakashi sighed at his slow response. "The gun. Give it to me," he reiterated.
"B-But why?"
"Just hand it over. A 16 year-old kid has no business toting a firearm."
Naruto narrowed his eyes at the silver-haired man. "If I'm going to do whatever this is, I'm taking whatever form of protection I can get," he declared stubbornly.
Kakashi eyed him critically and seemed to resign himself to something. "Fine," he grumbled, still holding out his hand, "but let me see it anyway."
Naruto recognized that it wasn't a request. The scarecrow was not planning to budge until the gun was handed over. A little wary of the man's intentions, Naruto carefully reached into his jacket and pulled out the small gun.
Kakashi quickly snatched it up and turned to the side as surprisingly nimble fingers uncocked the barrel and worked the magazine loose. He quickly dumped all of the bullets into one hand and slammed the empty magazine back into place before flipping on the safety and tossing the weapon back at a slightly awed teen.
"At 16 you don't decide who lives or dies. No matter what the circumstances you leave those types of decisions up to the people that understand what it is to take a life. Got that?" Kakashi drawled as he placed the extra bullets in a side pocket.
Naruto nodded dumbly.
"Good." With that, Kakashi opened the gate and walked purposefully through with both hands stuffed in his pants pockets.
Naruto slowly followed, stuffing the unloaded gun back into his jacket and carefully hefting his duffel bag. The two of them walked past two men standing watch at the end of a dark passageway and one of them grinned at Kakashi who nodded in return. They entered a wide open clearing behind the tall brick wall of an apparently abandoned building and there Naruto saw two men standing in the middle with at least a dozen guys positioned further back, two guarding an entrance on that side.
The men standing in the middle both had their arms crossed and wore similar long black trench coats. One was taller with dark red hair and a mask covering the lower portion of his face. From the wrinkles around his eyes, Naruto estimated that he was at least in his late thirties. The other man was much younger, early twenties maybe, with dull blond hair and an eye patch over one eye.
"Hey, look boss, they finally showed up," the blond chirped happily.
"I hate being kept waiting," the masked figure growled out ominously.
Kakashi said nothing as he approached a point that was at least thirty feet away from the two. With his hands still stuffed in his pockets and his lazy posture slightly hunched, the silver haired man looked down at Naruto, careful to keep the other two men in his line of sight as well.
"Listen carefully, kid. You're going to meet the man with the missing eye at exactly the halfway mark between me and the red head. Wait until the other guy unzips his bag and slides it over, then you unzip yours and complete the trade. Understood?"
Naruto nodded solemnly and started to move forward but stopped when Kakashi suddenly grabbed his arm in a vice-like grip. He looked up at the mysterious man in question.
Kakashi turned his entire focus on Naruto's face for a quick second and lowered his voice even further. "Whatever you do," he warned, "move away from them as soon as the exchange is complete." With that said, Kakashi pushed him forward slightly and focused his attention back onto their strange clients.
Naruto could feel his hands starting to shake slightly. The way Kakashi was acting was making him ten times more nervous than he'd thought he would be. These sorts of trades were always risky thanks to the pure cynicism and lack of trust on both sides but there was usually only a slim chance that there would be any bloodshed. Why was Kakashi behaving as though he expected there to be bloodshed?
Resolving to ignore his apprehension so he could hurry up and put this whole incident behind him, Naruto moved forward. He watched as the other blond matched his stride so that they met in the middle at exactly the same time.
"Lovely day, isn't it?" the one-eyed man grinned disarmingly.
"Right," Naruto replied absently.
"It's days like this that I wish I could be blowing something up…" the other blond continued with a dreamy expression on his face.
Naruto cocked his head and narrowed his eyes at the weird man. "Riiiigght…." He mumbled carefully. "Um, how about we get this over with?"
"Oh! Sure, sure!" the man unzipped his own duffel bag and Naruto's eyes almost bugged out when he realized that the entire thing was full of huge bundles of cash. "You know, Mr. Sasori told me that he thinks he's seen your partner before… very interesting story. I doubt Mr. Kakashi even realizes how popular he is."
Naruto tried not to roll his eyes. Why did this guy insist on talking so much when all he wanted to do was get this whole experience over with? "That's great. I'll be sure to point that out for him," he answered noncommittally. He deftly unzipped his own bag, taking Kakashi's warnings to heart as he kept both eyes trained on the strange man.
As soon as the guy tossed the duffel bag of money at Naruto, Naruto slid the paper-wrapped packages over to him and prepared to move away. The sudden sounds of two loud clicks had him looking over the other blond's shoulder with wide eyes. The red haired man had a large handgun aimed at Kakashi and Naruto whipped his head around in fear to see that Kakashi had an equally dead aim at the man named Sasori. A third click broke his gaze and he turned back in horror to see the man he'd just traded with leveling his own gun at him within point-blank range.
"Naruto," Kakashi growled out in a low, steady voice. "Back away slowly from him. Make no sudden moves and leave the duffel bag. Deidara won't do anything stupid if he wants to keep his brains from splattering all over this clearing."
Naruto could feel the sweat breaking out all over his body as he shakily did as he was told and moved back. His frightened eyes saw nothing but the wide barrel of the gun that was pointed at him. The man, Deidara, didn't move an inch but continued to smile disarmingly.
"Naruto was it?" he called out jovially as Naruto backed further and further away. "Itachi must really be losing it if he's got little boys working for him. But thank you for being here, Naruto, because without you I doubt we'd be able to get away." Deidara glanced at Kakashi from the corners of his eyes and smirked. "Right, Mr. Kakashi?"
Naruto realized what was about to happen almost too late. He only saw a slight twitch of Deidara's steady hand before he dived to the side as a loud 'bang!' echoed all around the clearing followed by a free-for-all open fire.
A/N: Happy Thanksgiving All!!! I decided to upload before the holiday since I know I'll be far too busy with the festivities to remember later.
As you can see, this is my longest chapter so far for this story and it was really about to be even longer since I couldn't decide where to stop! lol. Very bleak times are ahead, though, so you're all forewarned! What will happen to Naruto? Who is Kakashi? Um... why is Teuchi constantly throwing knives at poor Naruto? ...Okay, so I've altered ramen master Teuchi's character quite a bit but please don't hate me for it. He serves a much better purpose to the story this way, don't you think?
Anywho, let me know how you think it's shaping up so far! Oh! And to one of my reviewers who requested a nice Naruto/Hinata pairing, you'll have to forgive me because while I would love to grant your wish for this story, Hinata unfortunately doesn't make an appearance in Naruto's junior year for reasons that will be later explained. Also, Naruto's going to be dealing with too much drama to be able to start up a proper romance right now. However, don't discount your hopes on at least a little romance occurring in this story.
And with that all said... please review!!! ^_^