UPDATE: MegaB made a good suggestion (actually a few) and I'm going to follow it, so I'm looking for a BETA reader for this story, and figured I'd offer it out to the current readers before I started looking through 's Beta services. I'm mostly looking for someone to double check word-use, as I do have a spell check, but I don't always catch mis-used words, and also to keep an eye on the overall pacing and plot. Knowledge of the Naruto-verse is rather essential, knowledge of English is preferred… So if anyone is interested, send me a message and we'll chit-chat.
Author's Note: I have been alternately exasperated and pleased with the manga over the past few dozen chapters (near 450 ish and backwards). Sasuke has now become the number one most manipulatable idiot of the entire series and I think I very much dislike him. And good grief – DANZO?! The Daimyo is an idiot. On the other hand, Naruto's Sage Arts are pretty sweet, and chapter 440 was extremely long sought (without any expectations of receiving such a scene in the manga) and terribly satisfying. Grin.
Anyways, rants aside… I have mixed feelings about this chapter. On one hand I don't think it's nearly as polished as it should be or even very good and I'm still debating on some of the content and what it'll mean for the plot and story later on. On the other hand, I'm just darn sick of looking at it; it isn't the most important or interesting chunk of the story in the greater scheme of things, and I want to move on. So I'm posting it, crossing my fingers, and moving on.
Reaper-Nanashi – Kiiroi-gaki, LoL! That's hilarious. I might just have to use that one…
Disclaimer: Naruto and etc. aren't mine, but there is a growing collection of original characters that will undoubtedly make their appearances.
oooOoooOoooOooo
Namikaze Brothers Arc One : Magirekomu Bettenchi(to be lost in another world)
By Renatus
Chapter 06 – Tasukebune (friend in need)
oooOoooOoooOooo
six weeks (and a day) after arrival…
Naruto trucked just behind the older man, shifting his pack on his back as they walked away from Konoha, his shoulders feeling a little stiff still from the Trials, which was a novel sensation for him. His healing rate had never left him feeling sore for so long before. He was getting flashbacks to the first time he had left with Jiraiya on a training trip, and smiled at the memory.
"Ne, ero-sennin!" Naruto called, jogging a bit to catch up to him and walk beside the other man. Jiraiya grunted in response, scowling at him before turning back to the road. Naruto took that as permission to continue, not that he would have remained silent either way. "What are you going to teach me, huh?"
"Teach you?"
"Yeah! You're a sensei, aren't you. So teach me something while we're running about and spying on missing-nins and all."
"Gah. What do you already know, gaki?"
"Hey! I'm not a brat!"
Jiraiya didn't look convinced, but Naruto didn't push the issue.
"So?" the older man prompted.
Naruto shrugged. "Hmm. I dunno."
Jiraiya let out a guffaw and looked over at him. Naruto grinned in return at the taller man. "What did I teach you before?"
"Lots of things I guess," Naruto said. "Like… how to escape mobs of righteously angry, half naked women after they caught you peeping." Jiraiya scowled darkly at him and Naruto ignored it to continue. "Or how to completely piss off a woman by leering alone and then avoid – or at least try to avoid – the subsequent beating."
"Gaki –"
"Or, oh! I know!" Naruto continued brightly, "How to escape murderous husbands after – Ow!"
Naruto scowled at the man, rubbing the newly formed lump on the back of his head. Jiraiya put his nose in the air and sniffed, pretending that he hadn't just wacked him over the head with the metal plate on his gloves.
"I see my other, future self clearly didn't see you worthy enough to teach you properly," Jiraiya said stiffly. Naruto recognized the man's expression as the one he used when trying to act superior. Naruto just thought it looked stuffy and lame.
"No, you were just too damned lazy to bother," Naruto grumbled. "Spent more time peeping at the bath houses than training me."
"Exactly!" Jiraiya exclaimed. "I had my priorities straight!"
Naruto rolled his eyes and crossed his arms over his chest. "Bah. Stupid pervert."
They walked in silence for a while; Jiraiya grumbling darkly under his breath while Naruto smiled and ignored him. He had missed the other man immensely and was extremely happy to be going off on a training trip with him again – missions on the side or not. It was something that was distinctly familiar for all its differences that it settled Naruto's sometimes fluctuating emotions about his situation.
"Well," Jiraiya said, "Minato asked me to try to round you out a bit. He thought you were a little one-sided after the Trials a week ago."
"One-sided? Hey, I didn't want to hurt them," Naruto said, indignant. "Most of my attacks are A-class ninjutsu. Or S-class. They aren't exactly easy to use against someone I'm not trying to make into a dead, bloody pulp."
"Hmm, yes."
"I won, didn't I?"
"And passed out before you could walk off the field."
"So? They passed out first!"
"Hmph! And if you did that in enemy territory their backup would have taken you for themselves before you even woke up."
"But I wasn't."
Jiraiya glared at him from the corner of his eyes. "Getting caught by the enemy is not something you want to let happen, gaki."
Naruto returned the glare. "I know that!"
"Fine," Jiraiya turned his gaze back to the road and dropped the caught-by-the-enemy issue. "You seem to be a bit of a heavy-hitter type."
Naruto refrained the urge to growl in return. "I've got a lot of chakra, and my stamina is a little crazy. Coupled with my healing rate, it makes a lot of sense."
Jiraiya nodded. "Yes. But do you still have all the chakra that you are used to having? Or your healing ability for that matter? You no longer have the Kyubi. Do you know what that has changed in you yet?"
Naruto blinked and thought about that. He no longer had the Kyubi in him to augment his chakra reserves, so if he ran out of chakra in a fight, he couldn't rely on the Kyubi's seemingly endless supply of power to get him out of trouble anymore. Jiraiya was right. Naruto didn't know, even after the Trials. He could no longer rely on any of the things he was used to; not the chakra amount, not the healing, not even the strength or power that he was once able to call upon. He had lived his entire life with the Kyubi and its side-effects – for good or bad, and he no longer had that anymore. He no longer really knew what he was capable of even, though he had a pretty good idea after competing in the Trials.
"I can still make over a hundred shadow clones without tiring out," Naruto said, searching for something that he did know that he could still do. "Though I don't know how many times I can do that anymore. Used to be about endless, really. My chakra stamina is still high, but I can now actually run out. A few of my high-powered jutsus take more out of me than they used to. I can't execute them as often as I could have."
Jiraiya stopped walking to stare at him before shaking his head and continuing on. "Heh. Alright. Not too many people can do something like that unless as a last resort."
"I use the shadow clones all the time," Naruto said. "It's kind of a common staple, I guess."
"Can you fight without them?"
Naruto shrugged. "I guess so. Never really tried."
"How's your taijutsu?"
"Sloppy to nonexistent," Naruto said honestly. "I rely more on strength, numbers and stamina than accuracy and finesse. I picked stuff up from different places."
Jiraiya nodded. "While that's all well and good, you need to learn or develop your taijutsu."
Naruto curled his nose up at the idea but didn't bother to argue. He knew the kind of damage a decent taijutsu could do. Lee and Neji were really good examples of that. He had never had the time or patience to learn one himself. He had gotten along just fine with hodg-podging whatever pieces worked for him together. No one had ever really taken the time to teach him a style either.
"And I'm going to start putting you through the ANBU training," Jiraiya said.
"What? What for?"
"To teach you subtlety for one. And so you get the hang of watching your mouth for another. And because the ANBU have some of the best training techniques for chakra control."
Naruto made a face and Jiraiya scowled at him.
"Look, gaki, you obviously got the whole combat weapon and mass destruction deal down pat. And Minato told me that you know seals, so I know you can do precision work if you put your mind to it."
Naruto nodded. "Ok, sure. But why is that so important?"
"You're a ninja! You're supposed to know how to be sneaky!"
"I can be!" Naruto responded a bit hotly, "I've been able to ditch the Konoha police forces since I was five, and avoid the stupid, lurking ANBU since I was seven. Wearing an almost solid block of bright orange, I'll add!"
Jiraiya blinked at him, obviously a bit stunned. Naruto glowered back at him and stuffed his hands into his pants pockets. The wind shifted behind them and blew the ends of his coat and scarf in front of his face. Naruto scowled slightly and pushed them back over his shoulder, resisting the urge to pull it off of his face as well. He was only partially used to wearing it and covering his face with a mask. It almost made him feel like he was hiding, and he wasn't sure that he liked it.
"Look, I'm already walking around under a codename," Naruto said, still not completely calm from his outburst. "So I don't understand why I need to get ANBU training as well. They're kinda cool and all, but it's not my style."
"Adaptability," Jiraiya said, his voice even and a little low. Naruto looked at him out of the corner of his eyes, not quite sure of the man's mood. "And because Konoha's undercover forces are strained thin after the war and Minato is about as large a target as someone could be. That's not even counting how much you look like him. The two of you look like you're brothers, which helps your story, but you'll be a huge target, just because of your looks. You'll never be able to enter Earth Country without a disguise the way you look now. They'd kill you on sight, just because."
Naruto sighed, "I've been a target for someone or other all my life. You think the villagers didn't know that I was a Jinchuriki?"
Jiraiya didn't voice a response to that. Instead Naruto felt a heavy hand fall on his shoulder. Naruto just watched the path in front of them, only half trying to ignore the variety of memories that had surfaced with his statement.
"Stealth, Taijutsu and Chakra control," Jiraiya said, continuing their conversation, "are some of your weaker fields and each can be trained."
"Genjutsu is my weakest," Naruto said evenly.
"Ah, but that one is harder to teach someone that doesn't have an affinity for it. Like medical techniques, illusions require high chakra control, which you don't have."
Naruto remained silent, absorbing what the other man was telling him. In most ways, Naruto was already aware of what he was being told. He knew his own weaknesses well enough, but had rarely given more thought to them than a brief acknowledgement before moving on to further his strengths. He had almost never had much need for precision chakra control, as his high-powered jutsus didn't need it, and he was good enough at control to be able to walk around on most surfaces and hang upside down on most them. He had similar positions on both stealth skills and martial arts. He knew enough of them to where the use of a shadow clone army made them a bit of a moot point to improve much further. Having one martial arts specialist did little to combat one hundred brute force clones with just a basic hodge-podge of any sort of effective taijutsu. He could overwhelm most specialists with sheer numbers.
"Minato left me with a scroll," Jiraiya said, "It has his notes on a seal technique that he hasn't finished yet. Seems to think you might be able to."
"Really?" Naruto asked, happy for the distraction and wondering what sort of technique the Fourth had begun. He was excited at the prospect of looking at the man's notes.
"Yup," Jiraiya said, pulling the scroll from a pocket, and waving it in front of him.
"Alright, fine," Naruto said, frowning at the not-so-subtle bribe. "Exactly what sort of training is it going to be, anyways?"
Jiraiya smirked at him and Naruto told himself that the old man wouldn't really take too much advantage of him. Naruto narrowed his eyes and snatched the scroll out of the man's hand.
"Careful, you pervert," Naruto said with a small growl, "Don't say anything I'll have to make you regret."
Jiraiya just laughed, throwing his head back and letting out a loud rumbling laugh that made Naruto glare darkly at him. He studiously ignored the lurking feeling of dread bubbling up in his gut. He had a feeling he wasn't going to exactly like whatever sort of ANBU training that Jiraiya had cooked up for him. It was going to be a long trip. Naruto was looking forward to it.
oooOoooOoooOooo
Three months after arrival…a village near River Country's border…
Nartuo was in their hotel room alternately stuffing his face with riceballs, and trying to untangle the lengths of his wet hair when Jiraiya barged through the door. Naruto paused long enough to identify the man before shoving another riceball in his mouth and returning his fingers to his hair. He scowled as a particularly nasty knot caught his fingers and yanked on his scalp. 'Having long hair is a pain,' he thought. Jiraiya waved a small scroll around as he crossed the small living area to him.
"I got a message from Konoha."
Naruto swallowed his food quickly, cutting off a near choke to respond. "Really?"
"Minato has an emergency mission for us if we can do it."
"What do you mean if we can do it?" Naruto said. "Of course we can do it. What's the mission?"
Jiariya tossed the scroll at him and Naruto snatched it out of the air before it hit him in the face. He unrolled it and scanned its contents once, before returning his eyes to the beginning and reading it more slowly. He finished it quickly, it didn't say much, and looked up at the older man standing over him.
"Damn," Naruto said, looking back at the scroll, "This team is like the who's-who of Konoha."
Jiraiya hummed in response. "Likely why they were targeted and taken alive."
"You sure, alive?"
The older man shrugged.
"Wonder what they're after," Naruto said, "This team doesn't have much in the way of bloodline limits, just well known names."
"Who knows?"
"Do you know where they are?"
"I have an idea," Jiraiya said, grabbing one of the riceballs on the table for himself. Naruto didn't put up a fuss about it, which was a testament to how serious he took the contents of the scroll. Naruto laid the scroll on the table and gathered the locks of his hair in order to pull it back into his usual low ponytail. He felt its ends brush against his shoulder blades and he looked up at Jiraiya.
"We should hurry," Naruto said.
Jiraiya nodded. "I shouldn't be seen. And neither should you. Any Iwa (1) ninja would kill you on site."
"I'll be fine, I've got my scarf."
"You think that'll be good enough, gaki? Your hair color alone will make anyone who's faced the Yellow Flash have flash-backs. You look like him."
"I know."
Naruto finished dressing quickly, zipping up his collarless flak vest and slipping his red coat on over that. His tool pouches and weapons followed.
"It's likely that they were taken by Iwa ninjas," Jiraiya said, watching as Naruto wrapped his orange scarf around his face and neck. "No matter that we just recently signed a peace treaty with them. If they can get a hold of our people without it being obvious that it was them, they would."
"Yea, yea, it shouldn't be too difficult," Naruto said.
"They captured an entire Konoha team, gaki. And it's not a Genin team. Three of them are Chunin."
Naruto glanced at other man, pausing in the process of arming himself to consider his words. The old pervert had a point. It was an impressive feat to actually capture a team of Chunin. It meant that their captors were either considerably more skilled, or the Konoha team had been severely caught by surprise. It was a somewhat unusual situation, and didn't bode well for the captured team, nor those going in to aid them.
Jiraiya didn't press the issue any more, having recognized that Naruto had finally taken the time to actually think about the situation.
"Think this has anything to do with the dopes in robes?" Naruto asked.
"No," Jiraiya said, "there's no reason for Akatsuki to be interested in any of them." The sennin narrowed his eyes at Naruto shrewdly. "Unless you know some reason that I don't."
Naruto shook his head. "No, though you're old friend might be interested in a couple of them."
Jiraiya was quiet for a minute. "Point."
"If the snake-bastard is involved, this could get dicey," Naruto admitted.
"There was no immediate tell that he was. A short emergency message was sent to Konoha via the Yamanaka clan, and they didn't mention anything about any Konoha missing-nin, and that kind of information would have been important enough to make sure it was known."
"Aa, so if he is involved, than he's got someone doing his dirty work," Naruto said.
"It's possible," Jiraiya conceded. "Then again it could just be a group of Iwa-nin looking for a bit of revenge after the war."
Naruto shrugged. It didn't make much of a difference to him. He was going to go and help the captive Konoha team either way. If Orochimaru was orchestrating events in order to get his hands on some of Konoha's shinobi, than things would undoubtedly be difficult, but as Jiraiya had said, the short report into Konoha didn't mention any suspicions about Orochimaru. Just Iwa ninja. And if it was all a result of Orochimaru's plans, than Naruto would find great joy in wrecking them.
"They were ambushed near the eastern border of River Country," Jiraiya broke into his thoughts. "Head that way and I'll send you a toad to let you know more specifics."
"How are you gonna figure that out," Naruto asked, eyeing the man suspiciously.
"The Yamanaka," Jiraiya said. "The team's Jonin is Inoichi's brother, they can communicate through some mind technique." Jiraiya waggled his fingers near his temple, "As soon as more information is delivered through the link, Minato will let me know, and then I'll let you know. In the meantime, you've got to go meet the backup team coming from Konoha."
"Wait, what are you going to do?"
Jiraiya waved one hand in the air, looking out the window to the small town they were in. "Research."
"What!?"
oooOoooOoooOooo
One hour later found Naruto crouched in a tree, having slunk out of the village he and Jiraiya had their hotel in. Below him was a main trade route that stretched from Fire Country to Wind Country and crossed through River Country on the way. It was considerably further south than the civilian village where he had left the Sennin, outside of River Country's northern border. He was waiting for both the backup team and Jiraiya's messenger to let him know where the captured Konoha-nin were being held.
He sensed the Konoha team coming just before he caught their familiar scents. A moment later he saw two traveling at a fast pace on the road. He recognized the two immediately, and knew the other two of the standard four-man team were close by, though he couldn't actually see them. They were running quickly, though not at the sprinting pace that ninjas were capable of. He jumped from his tree right in front of the two on the road, bringing them to a swift stop, and ready fighting stances.
Naruto stood easily, smirking at them as they identified him. Naruto figured they had been told to expect a meet, but they couldn't have known who they were meeting.
"Kinatsu!" Tetsu shot out, glaring at him.
"Hiya, Tetsu-chan!" Naruto greeted, waving at the two brightly, and grinning behind his scarf. The girl growled at him, but didn't start attacking him, or insulting him. Naruto wasn't sure if he was relieved at the reprieve or disappointed.
"Kinatsu," Genma said, slipping a senbon needle into his mouth as he eyed him.
Further conversation was stopped as their teammates emerged from the trees above them. Naruto knew to expect the kid – Uchiha Shisui, but he hadn't met nor did he know their Jonin leader. The man was generally nondescript, and of average build, though he carried a ninjaken (2) along his spine like most of Konoha's ANBU, and also still wore the armguards. There were two purple marks on his cheek that reminded him of the girl he had met at the Namikaze's, Rin.
"Team…" Naruto drifted off, inviting them to introduce themselves.
"Satou," The Jonin said. The man pointed to Genma and gave each of the Chunin's names, despite Naruto already knowing them, then pointed at himself. "I'm Adachi Satou."
"Kinatsu," Naruto said for the man's benefit.
"What're you doing out here, anyways?" Tetsu asked.
Naruto shrugged, "Training."
"In River Country?"
Naruto glanced at her but before he could respond a soft pop and a small cloud of smoke heralded the arrival of Jiraiya's messenger. Naruto suddenly found himself with a small toad perched atop his head. He couldn't see it, but he knew what he would find if he could have – a yellow toad decorated with pink and orange splotches.
"Gamahade," Naruto greeted, rolling his eyes upward. A yellow webbed foot waved in front of his face before retreating to wrap around his head again.
"Morning," The toad replied, its voice soft and indistinct.
"Evening, actually," Naruto replied.
"Ah. Who are they?"
"Team Satou," Naruto said. "Backup."
"Ah. You got any candy?" the toad asked, shifting on his head.
"Hey! I'm not feeding you!" Naruto frowned. "Did he find where they are?"
"Um-huh." Naruto felt the toad move again and one of her feet left his head in order to point. "Thata way."
Naruto looked back at the team and Satou motioned for him to lead the way. Naruto nodded again and jumped up into the trees, heading in the direction that Gamahade had indicated. The four-man team followed him into the branches.
They traveled quickly and silently, Naruto leading with Gamahade perched on his head, digging her webbed feet through his hair. He could see Tetsu just behind his right shoulder and he sensed Genma further behind and to his left. The other two followed behind. Tetsu kept glancing at him, watching him closely, and Naruto resisted the urge to turn and stick his tongue out at her.
oooOoooOoooOooo
Below and before him was a narrow ravine, half hidden by wide trees and low brush cover. Naruto studied the area, taking in the barely-there signs of ninja occupation – a tag not perfectly concealed on the branch to his left, a trap wire stretching over the ground between two trees, a shallow mark carved into the tree ahead of him. He didn't know the level of skill of the ninja they were up against, but there was at least one who wasn't very good at covering his tracks.
"The toad said they were here?" Tetsu asked, her eyes narrowed as she looked at the ravine.
Naruto nodded. "Yea. Jiraiya sent one of his toads to let me know where they were."
"Jiraiya?" Tetsu said, staring at him. "Then why isn't he here to help?"
"He's busy," Naruto said, frowning. Gamahade had dissipated after they arrived at the ravine, not being a combat toad and having delivered her message, leaving Naruto to deal with the over-curious Team Satou.
"Figures," Genma grumbled. "He's a sennin, he could have done this with less trouble."
"Quit complaining, Genma," Tetsu said, making Genma scowl at her, which she ignored. "At least we have something to do besides pick on the Academy students."
"You could train instead of making the student's lives' harder than need be," Genma countered.
"Let's move in," Satou cut in. Genma and Tetsu fell silent, listening to their leader's commands as he laid out the plan. Naruto listened silently as well, appreciating the other man's subtle flair for dramatics. He felt a small smile curl on his lips.
"Kinatsu," Satou said, "if you would go with Shisui around to the North, you two are the fastest of us here. You will be able to circle around and get to the further positions quicker."
Naruto nodded and glanced at the Uchiha boy-wonder. Shisui gave a quick, short nod and Naruto smirked as he raised one hand before his chin. Shisui echoed the motion and a moment later they both flickered away from the team. Naruto didn't often use the Body Flicker technique, preferring the use of his Hakinkage speed more than the somewhat disorienting transportation jutsu. It had taken him far longer than normal to learn the Body Flicker technique to begin with, and like the Henge, he didn't use it unless he had to out of some sort of payback to the technique that had given him so much trouble and grief. Besides, as soon as he figured out the Fourth's Hiraishin, Naruto wouldn't need the Body Flicker.
Naruto and Shisui didn't speak to each other past the simple hand signs they used to communicate for the mission. As soon as they heard the explosion from Tetsu's position where they left the team, they moved into the ravine, trusting their teammates to uphold their end of the plan. Naruto was a bit surprised at Shisui's effectiveness in a skirmish. The kid dispatched two of the low-ranked Iwa-nins they came across with barely a sound, flickering around and behind the two before anyone could hardly blink. Naruto trailed the boy to one side, covering his side of the narrow ravine and keeping one eye on the Uchiha and one on his surroundings as they moved down its length.
Naruto came across the Konoha team first. They were bound tightly and effectively, each to a separate tree, and far enough apart that they couldn't easily communicate. They were gagged and blindfolded, and they all looked a bit worse for wear. They were guarded by two remaining Iwa ninjas. Utilizing another distant explosion as distraction, Naruto activated his Hakinkage and used his enhanced speed to place shock tags onto them both. They tags activated before they could react to his presence among them, leaving the two unconscious on the ground and Naruto glancing around the small clearing.
"That was efficient," Shisui commented, landing in a crouch next to him. Naruto glanced at the kid, but didn't verbally respond. Shisui's eyes were red, with two tomoes in one eye and three in the other, twirling lazily. Naruto turned away from the sight, reminded heavily of Sasuke and their year as Genin in Team Seven before the Chunin Exams and Orochimaru. Shisui moved over to one of the bound Konoha ninjas and untied the cloth from the man's eyes. Naruto watched dispassionately, keeping most of his attention on the surrounding area in case any Iwa ninjas came back around, or some trap was set off that they hadn't caught.
"Tetsu has the other Iwa ninja effectively distracted," Shisui commented, his voice quiet, but laced with a trace of humor that surprised Naruto. Another, closer explosion echoed through the trees, letting them both know that the girl was likely enjoying herself. Naruto had played around with fighting Tetsu enough to know that the girl favored loud bangs and flashy jutsu. Explosions were only a natural addition to her collection, though Naruto hadn't yet faced much of them from her personally.
"Aa," Naruto said, nodding in greeting as the man Shisui untied looked up at him. Naruto recognized him, would have even if he didn't know who to expect in the captive team. The long, blonde hair pulled into the high ponytail made identifying most Yamanakas easy, though Naruto would be hard pressed to figure out which brother was which and which one was the father of Ino. As it was, Naruto only knew that the man before him was Yamanaka Inoske, Ino's uncle, because the mission scroll from Konoha stated as such.
Shisui stood back as Inoske got to his feet, supporting himself on the tree behind him.
"You got our message?" Inoske asked, looking between the two.
"Konoha did," Naruto said.
"How many of them have you gotten?" Inoske asked. "There were three teams of four."
Naruto started slightly. They had only been told that there were two teams of Iwa ninja, not three. Naruto crossed his fingers in front of him, making the seal for his shadow clones, and made five copies of himself. The clones jumped up into the trees without a word, and sprinted off down the length of the ravine towards the rest of their team.
"We should go," Naruto said, turning to one of the Chunin tied to another tree.
"You didn't know their numbers," Inoske said, not bothering to phrase it as a question. Neither Naruto or Shisui bothered to answer him. It was obvious with the way that Naruto had reacted. There was still unaccounted for enemies in the vicinity, and gauging the ease with which they had so far dealt with the ones they had encountered, the missing Iwa team was of a much higher caliber than the others.
Naruto knelt in front of the boy and hesitated as he reached for the cloth bound around his head. It was soaked through with blood and he was breathing deeply, as though forcefully controlling his breathing. It was Ibiki, Naruto knew, and he was almost afraid to remove the cloth binding the other boy's eyes. He untied it carefully, peeling it away from his head and face. Ibiki blinked and peered at him, his eyes barely focusing. One was bloodied and nearly swollen shut from a gash that traveled from his temple and over his eyebrow. It looked worse than it likely was. He was relieved not to find the screw holes and cuts that the man had as an adult.
"Eh, Kinatsu?" Ibiki said, his voice slurring a bit.
"Heya, Morino man," Naruto greeted, grinning. Ibiki blinked blearily at him and scowled.
"Turn it down will ya, my head is throbbing."
"No doubt," Naruto said, "Looks like they knocked you a good one."
"Bastards," Ibiki grumbled, still looking at him a bit cross-eyed. Naruto was beginning to wonder if he should be concerned that the man had gotten a concussion.
"They were just afraid of me," Ibiki continued, growling through the words.
"You were just too slow, Ibiki," one of the girls quipped. Naruto glanced behind him to see Kurenai freed from her bonds, rubbing her wrists carefully. Shisui was already untying the last member of the captive team.
"Bastards aimed for my head," Ibiki growled, "Now I can't concentrate enough for my illusions. My head is still swimming."
'Yes,' Naruto thought, 'definitely should be worried about a concussion if he can't even cast his genjutsu.'
"Are you going to untie me or just sit there and laugh at me, you little twerp?"
"Yea, yea, don't get all prissy on me, Morino." Naruto chuckled and untied him quickly, ignoring the other boy's barely muffled threats, and helped him to stand. Ibiki wobbled but then waved him away, gritting his teeth and forcing his body to find its sense of balance again. Naruto stood to the side and let him have his way, understanding the stubbornness intimately.
"I'm fine," Ibiki ground out. Naruto nodded, seeing that the boy's eyes were focusing clearly, and he wasn't weaving about like he was about to topple over any more.
Naruto glanced around the small clearing, taking in the injuries of the team. The two girls, Kurenai and Nanami were relatively unharmed, though Kurenai's right arm was darkly bruised, and the ropes had cut into her wrists harshly, and Nanami's short kimono was tattered in places. A pattern of small wounds across the back of her arm and shoulder told him that one of the Iwa-nin used senbon needles, though her injuries didn't keep her from having drawn her sword, holding it expertly in one hand. Nanami crossed to Inoske, concern flickering across her features as she reached his side.
"Sensei," she started, but stopped when he waved her off.
"I'll be fine."
"You're leg is broken," She stated plainly.
"I know that."
Nanami didn't push the issue, nor did she move to help him again, but she didn't back away either, remaining within arms reach of him and giving him an exasperated look. Inoske half leaned against the tree for support, alternately scowling at his leg and his stubborn student.
Naruto crossed the distance to the other man, and forced his arm over his shoulders. When the blonde man made to move away, Naruto gripped his wrist tightly and took a step to the side, forcing the man away from the support of the tree. Nanami shifted out of the way, clearly seeing what Naruto was doing and letting him do it.
"We need to move," Naruto said, glaring at him pointedly. Inoske gritted his teeth and nodded, letting some of his weight settle across Naruto's shoulders. It was awkward with their height difference, Inoske being of a tall, lean build next to Naruto's stockier one, but Naruto took the man's weight easily enough, though it made Inoske stoop over a bit.
"Tetsu's explosions have stopped," Shisui commented.
"Aa," Naruto said, "Let's go. We need to get out of this area."
The team didn't argue with him, knowing very well that the Iwa ninjas had likely laid enough traps over the area that the Konoha teams were largely at a disadvantage. They needed to get to a location that was at least neutral ground, though Naruto already had plans for drawing the Iwa-nins into a field of his choosing.
They moved through the forest without too much difficultly, though the climb out of the ravine was made challenging with Inoske's broken leg and need for support. By the time they met up with the rest of their team – Tetsu looking a bit smoke-tinged and grinning like a madwoman – most of the rescued team were moving easily, except for Inoske, who was still half-draped over Naruto's shoulders, and Ibiki who looked like he had a bit of a concussion. The other boy was looking a little cross-eyed and dizzy, though was able to move on his own – though barely.
"I got your message," Satou commented, coming alongside Naruto as they moved from branch to branch. The other man stared at his eyes for a minute before continuing. "I haven't caught any sign of them yet. Have you?"
"No."
Satou glanced at the blond half draped over his shoulder. "Inoske," he greeted.
"Satou," Inoske said through a grimace, nodding once.
"I'm not sure I want to know how they caught you guys," Satou said with a small smirk.
"And I'm not sure I want to admit to it," Inoske grumbled.
"Should be a good story," Tetsu said, grinning at them and ignoring the team's scowls at her comment.
Naruto stopped suddenly on a wide branch of a tree, hefting Inoske's weight as the man leaned against him. The others stopped with him, looking at him curiously. Shisui moved near him, the Uchiha Sharingan bright as the boy searched the forest ahead of them.
Naruto slouched under Inoske's weight and the man pulled himself up to brace himself on his one good leg. Naruto let him, not stopping the man as he slipped his hand out of his grip.
"Genma," Satou called, "take over for him."
Naruto got out of the taller boy's way, letting Genma take the blonde's arm and drape it over his own shoulder. Naruto turned and crouched low on the branch, letting his arms fall loosely beside him as if resting. He glanced back the way they had come carefully. The subtle signs of his tags stretched in a line behind him, circling around to form a circle that the group stood on the outside edge of. Tetsu, who had stopped the furthest behind him, stood just outside of the line. None of them had seen it, or at least, had shown no signs of having seen it as they passed straight through the center of the circle his tags made.
"You might as well show yourselves," Naruto said, his voice quiet, but carried well through the trees. The Chunin around him looked at him in surprise, while the two Jonin and the Uchiha all looked in the same direction he was facing, trying to see or sense what he did.
A rustling of leaves preceded the emergence of a single Iwa-nin, the man's clothing grey and plain, and his face and hair covered with white strips of cloth. His steps on the branch he stood on were silent, giving away some of his skill.
"Where are your friends?" Satou asked, his hand poised over his weapons pouch.
"In the trees behind him," Naruto answered, a corner of his mouth turning up in a small smirk. "They've been trailing us since the ravine."
"And you just now decided to tell us that?" Tetsu growled at him. Naruto moved from his position to land on the branch beside her, crouching low again and not actually answering her question.
"We expected backup from Konoha," the Iwa-nin said, "But I didn't expect them to send such a young team."
"You shouldn't underestimate Konoha!" Tetsu countered.
"It appears that I overestimated Konoha."
"Tetsu," Satou said sternly, stopping her from saying whatever retort she had on the tip of her tongue. She growled lowly in her throat, clutching her kunai to the point that her knuckles were white. Naruto glanced at her then back to the Iwa-nin in front of him.
"Move on ahead," Naruto said, "I'll take care of this."
"By yourself?" Tetsu exclaimed, turning to him, "Are you nuts? These guys caught a four-man team, and you want to take them on by yourself?"
"Yes," Naruto said, turning his head enough so he could look her in the eye.
The Iwa-nin's laughter rang through the air, and Naruto returned to watching him. "You're brave, little blondie," he said, "Alright then, let them go. I'll take care of your pretentious ass myself."
"Kinatsu, there's no need –" Satou started, but was cut off by a strangled yell and the sound of something crashing through the branches of the trees. A thud sounded later and the voice was abruptly cut off. Silence spread through the area, and the Iwa-nin was glaring behind him at the source of the sound.
"I'll take care of this," Naruto repeated, his smirk evident in his voice.
"You!" The Iwa-nin said, glaring at him, "You brought a friend, did you? I'll get him too, don't worry."
"Actually, it's just us," Naruto said, "No on else."
The Iwa-nin didn't bother to respond, instead he let loose a volley of shuriken at them, surprising a couple of them with his suddenness and speed. Tetsu jumped to dodge out of the way, while Nanami moved in, swinging her katana in smooth arcs that deflected the projectiles away from her and her team.
Naruto pulled a kunai to block the attack, sliding down and around the branch of the tree he was on until he was clutching at it from the side, using it as a cover. The Shuriken thunked into the trees around them, one grazing close to his shoulder and another cut through the fabric on his thigh. Naruto let his momentum carry him down and around the branch, planting his feet on the other side of it and springing off it at the Iwa-nin. He threw the kunai in his hand, which was easily blocked, but forced the man to remain where he was. Naruto bowled into him harshly, digging his fist into the man's gut and sending them both flying off the branch.
"Kinatsu!" Tetsu called.
They crashed to the ground, the Iwa-nin twisting them and forcing Naruto to take the fall directly on his back with his weight on top of him. Dirt flew up around them as they hit the ground, and Naruto had time enough to plant a kunai into the man's shoulder before poofing out of existence.
The Iwa ninja stared at the small crater where they had landed, clearly shocked.
Naruto took advantage of the man's surprise to launch an attack, showering him with a barrage of shuriken that the Iwa-nin barely reacted to fast enough, dodging out of the way just before the weapons would have peppered his back.
"Hiya!" Naruto called down to him from his perch in the trees, openly grinning behind his scarf.
The Iwa-nin spun sharply at his voice, staring up at him with wide eyes. Naruto wasn't surprised at the guy's reactions. It wasn't every day that a clone survived such a fall. Regular clones could survive as they were no more than illusions, but would not have been able to inflict damage and a shadow clone, while able to cause damage, would have dissipated as soon as the two had collided so forcefully. But Naruto hadn't used either sort.
"Stubborn Clones," Naruto called down, smirking. "They're a bitch, aren't they?"
The Iwa-nin narrowed his eyes at him and reached for his weapons pouch.
oooOoooOoooOooo
"He is full of surprises, isn't he?" Inoske asked wryly, watching as the masked blonde deflected the Iwa's kunai.
"I think I'm starting to get used to it," Genma mumbled. He switched his senbon from one corner of his mouth to the other and shifted Inoske's weight over his shoulders. "After the Trials and watching him annoy Tetsu, I don't think his baiting an unknown Iwa-nin is terribly surprising."
"I was talking more about his clones," Inoske said, still watching the blonde and Iwa-nin, "But his attitude is interesting as well. Very… boisterous."
"I think that's an understatement. He's worse than Tetsu sometimes."
"Hey!" Tetsu shot a glare at the two, but a cracking explosion from Kinatsu's direction interrupted any retaliatory insult she had been about to give them. The sound of a large tree crashing down in the forest echoed around them, though they couldn't see the full damage from their position. The two Konoha teams turned their attention to the increasingly dangerous battlefield before them where the scarf-wearing blonde had multiplied and had somehow managed to explode a tree.
"Is he using exploding tags or exploding clones?" Kurenai asked, watching what they could see of the battle with open interest.
"Both," Nanami said, her eyes flicking quickly as she watched the fast-paced action in the trees.
"The little twerp." Ibiki ground out, "He's damn inconsistent."
"Didn't he get you with one of those exploding clones, Morino?" Tetsu asked, smirking at the larger boy. Ibiki leveled a dark glare at her, but most of his intimidation was lost since his eyes were still unable to fully focus on a single target without crossing. Tetsu's smirk widened into a grin.
"Pay attention," Satou said. "There are still enemies around."
"Yea, yea," Tetsu grumbled, but stopped teasing the concussed boy, "Can I go bother the Iwa-nin, now?"
Satou looked at her blankly, which Tetsu matched with a cheesy grin. Her sensei finally sighed and waved his hand towards the general direction that Kinatsu had charged off to.
"Try not to blow up our ally," he said.
Tetsu grinned, the edges of which looked noticeably devious, and jumped up into the branches above them.
"Are you sure that was wise?" Inoske asked evenly. "The two of them seem more likely to blow up the forest."
"That's entirely possible, actually," Genma said.
The blonde leaning over his shoulder gave him an unreadable look from the corner of his eyes, but didn't verbally reply.
"Kinatsu did win the tournament," Satou commented, then looked back at the other Jonin leader, "How many of the Iwa do you think were Jonin level?"
Inoske shrugged, "Two, maybe three. Most of them were closer to a mid-Chunin level."
A shape burst from the trees in front of them, preceeded by a hail of projectiles. The Konoha shinobi reacted instinctively, dodging and retaliating in smooth motions. Nanami had jumped above the man, her sword arcing down to his head, as Shisui returned a volley of shuriken. The scuffle was relatively quick. The Iwa-nin was terribly outnumbered and rash, though he had managed to stick a few senbon into Ibiki before the boy had swung wide and caught the ninja's head between his fist and a tree. The Iwa-nin crumpled, blood trickling out of his nose and ears, and impacted the ground with a sickening sound.
"Damn needles," Ibiki grumbled, pulling the slender pieces of metal out of his thigh.
"That went quick," Satou commented, jumping down to the ground near the Iwa-nin's body. He kneeled and checked for a pulse, and shook his head when he felt none.
"Next time try not to kill him, Ibiki," Inoske said, "We could have used him for questioning. We still don't know why they wanted to capture us."
Another explosion rocked the air and was closely followed by indistinct shouting in two voices. They were too far away to catch the words, but it was clearly an argument. None of the Konoha ninja had any doubts as to what it was.
"Looks like she found him," Genma said, tonguing the needle in his mouth.
"Aa," Inoske said, sounding both amused and wary as he stared in the direction of the argument.
It was abruptly cut off and a moment later Kinatsu dropped silently out of the trees above them, startling the younger members of the group into fighting stances. The blonde eyed the kunai in the Uchiha's hand for a moment before dropping his bundle on the wide branch next to him. Tetsu growled at him around the thick strip of bandages that were serving as a gag. She was trussed up quite effectively, and was glaring murder at the blonde standing over her. Kinatsu simply smirked down at the girl, his expression clear despite the scarf masking most of his face.
The Konoha ninja stared.
"Uh," Satou started, stopped and shook his head. "Kinatsu, why did you tie up my student?"
The blonde grinned, his eyes crinkling up, though there was an element of agitation in his stance as well. "Because she tried to blow me up."
Tetsu shouted out her response to his accusation, and though her words were muffled by the gag her denial was clear, as was her attempt to insult him. Kinatsu looked down at her coolly as she thrashed at his feet.
"I told you not to blow him up," Satou said, sounding put out.
Tetsu growled, her eyes darting between the blonde above her and her sensei not far away.
oooOoooOoooOooo
Naruto was enjoying himself. Once he led the Iwa-nin out of sight of the two Konoha teams, he felt like he could let loose a little. Infesting the surrounding forest with a hundred clones felt great, though the stretched pull on his chakra was a new and unnerving sensation, and when the Iwa-nin threw one of them into a nearby tree only to have the tree explode barely two meters from him Naruto was grinning. His clones flushed out one more of the Iwa ninjas just before the explosion, dispatching the youth easily and with barely any exchange.
He hadn't managed to find the fourth one yet, and he knew that he had at least been around when they crossed his field of tag seals. He also knew that the missing ninja hadn't left his field, but he hadn't been able to find him yet, though he wasn't too worried. He was enjoying the deadly spar against his one opponent quite a bit, though he was getting frustrated that the man was refusing to talk to him.
"So," Naruto said conversationally as he dodged around the man's punches, "why did you want a Konoha team again?"
The man's eyes narrowed in annoyance and sent a sharp elbow jab at Naruto's face. Naruto knocked it out the way of his nose and landed a hard kick to the inside of his knee. The man grunted at the pain and staggered backwards, Naruto moved to press his advantage but a sudden influx of memories from a dispersed clone had him dodging instead.
The explosion rocked the ground under him as he rolled, and he could feel rocks and earth raining down on him and the heat of the blast warmed his skin uncomfortably.
"Damnit Tetsu!" he yelled, pushing to his feet and glaring in the direction he knew the girl was. She had ran right past one of his clones with her hands full of already lit grenades, the round balls of gunpowder laced with chakra nearly glowing with barely suppressed firepower.
"Hey!" she called back, perched in a tree above the destruction, "don't yell at me, you little twerp! I was helping you out!"
"Helping me!?" Naruto growled, "You nearly blew me to bits!"
"You have clones, blondie!"
"I'm not a clone you idiot!" Naruto shot back at her.
"You – what?" Tetsu stopped and stared at him, slightly shocked as his words sunk in.
Naruto ground his teeth.
"How the hell am I supposed to tell the difference!?" Tetsu yelled, getting over her temporary shock.
Naruto told himself that he wasn't supposed to kill Konoha Chunin, even if they did try to kill him – albeit only because of stupidity.
"You could have asked!" Naruto said.
"Like you would have told me, you annoying little shit! You probably would have – ergh!"
Naruto glared at the girl as two of his clones trussed her up like a roast pig. She was still shouting through the gag wrapped around her mouth, and was thrashing enough that one of his clones got hit hard and dissipated. The second tightened its hold of her and pulled the bandages mixed with ninja wire tighter.
"Got her, boss!" it said, grinning a bit evilly.
"Good, take her back to her sensei," Naruto smirked, knowing that hauling the girl back to her sensei like some wayward pet would annoy the hell out of her. Possibly enough that she would try to kill him the next time she got the chance, but Naruto was annoyed enough by her exploding help to do it anyways, if just because it was a good way to get back at her. Tetsu glared at him. The clone nodded, shouldered the girl and jumped back into the trees.
Naruto inspected the blown-to-bits area of the forest he was standing on the edge of. He couldn't sense the Iwa-nin he had been fighting, and there was no strong trace of where he could have went, if he managed to escape the explosion. The smell of blood lingered in the air, but he couldn't track it well, nor determine if it was enough to account for the man. The heavy scent of burned gunpowder and smoke coated the area, making following any sort of scent trail nearly impossible. His sense of smell was good, but he wasn't an Inuzuka.
Naruto circled the area twice, than headed back towards the rest of the Konoha ninja, giving up the way-ward Iwa-nin as a bad job. Tetsu's bombs had landed very close to him. Naruto figured that the chances that he was dead were high, but he was unnerved that he hadn't found much in the way of remains.
He was greeted by the vague amusement mixed with annoyance from everyone but Tetsu, who was steadily growling at his clone who was standing over her and making faces. Naruto looked around quickly, finding the Iwa-nin crumpled on the ground at Satou's feet.
"I wondered where he went," Naruto commented absently, then turned to the girl tied at his feet.
"Damnit Tetsu," Naruto growled, crouching near her head on the branch, "If he got away because you tried to blow me apart, than I'll string you up by your toes to dangle out of the Third's nostrils."
She paused in her growling to look at him in confusion for a minute before resuming her muffled death threats, having clearly now gotten what he meant. Naruto just stared at her, knowing that it was driving her nuts and enjoying every minute of it.
"One got away?" Inoske asked.
Naruto shrugged. "I got two of them for sure. Tetsu here might have managed to explode the third into enough tiny pieces that I can't find any of them, but I'm more inclined to think that he got away, though I'm pretty sure he's still in the area." Naruto finished by pointing over his shoulder with a thumb.
"How do you figure?"
Naruto pointed to the barely visible tag seal stuck to the tree just to his right. It was hidden well enough out of direct sight, but him drawing attention to it made it easier to spot for the others.
"Tags?" Kurenai asked.
"Seal Tags," Naruto said. "I had my clones place them earlier. They circle an area directly behind me and alerts me to any chakra signature that crosses in or out of the circle."
"That's handy," Genma said, eyeing the tag.
Naruto nodded. "Four signatures followed us into the field, and so far only you guys and that one down there have left it." Naruto eyed the Iwa ninja on the ground speculatively.
"So he's still there," Inoske finished.
"Most likely," Naruto said, looking back over his shoulder.
"There's a chance he's not?" Kurenai asked.
"Sure, if he can mask his chakra well enough, than the tag field wouldn't pick him up when he crosses it," Naruto said. "It's also possible that if he travels deep enough or high enough, that he'd be too far away from the tags for them to pick up on his signature, and he'd cross it without me knowing."
"As much as I'd like to get him," Satou said, "Our priority is getting Team Inoske back to to Konoha safely. The Iwa-nins are secondary."
"We are limited on time," Nanami said quietly, drawing Naruto's attention. The dark-haired girl rarely seemed to speak. "The senbon were coated with a slow-acting poison."
"What!?" Kurenai said, crossing to the other girl, "Why didn't you tell us?"
"It would have made little difference," Nanami said, "When we could not yet escape on our own."
"That would explain the itching," Ibiki commented.
"You got hit as well?" Inoske asked, looking at the boy carefully. Ibiki nodded, motioning towards his left leg.
Naruto grit his teeth, eyeing the two teams scattered around him. He wanted to finish the confrontation with the Iwa ninja, but he knew that Satou was right. Their priority was getting the captured team safely back to Konoha. Their injuries would require help, and the poison issue severely cut down on their time to get them there.
"Damnit," Naruto ground out, making the seal for his shadow clones. The technique made him almost dizzy for a second and Naruto blinked rapidly at the feeling. He then made a second, one-handed seal and deactivated his bloodline limit, sighing as the strange wearying sensation bled out of his limbs. It felt different than if he was exhausting himself from training or fighting. It was like his chakra was being pulled thinly from his coils, and it was very much unsettling. He was reaching a limit, he realized, and he didn't like it. It was far too soon. He had fought more and used more chakra during the first half of the Trials than he had on this mission. 'Might have to talk to Jiraiya about that,' he thought.
"Keep him busy," Naruto said and the thirty odd clones spread back into the area behind him.
"Where are they going?" Satou asked.
"They'll do distractions," Naruto explained, leaning down and cutting the bindings around Tetsu. The girl glared at him, but didn't start insulting or baiting him, seeming to have accepted that the seriousness of the situation wasn't a great time for either.
Satou nodded, "Will you be able to monitor the field form a distance?"
Naruto shrugged. "I haven't tested the distance before."
The Jonin nodded again, looking over the others, his eyes lingering on Ibiki and Nanami. "Kinatsu, can you carry Nanami?"
The girl started slightly and stared at Satou, while Naruto tilted his head at her, trying to gauge her weight. "Probably."
"Why?" Nanami asked, still giving the man a hard look.
"You were poisoned," Satou said, his voice as hard as her expression, "The less you move about, the slower it'll work into your system. I'd have someone carry Ibiki as well, but he's bigger than any of the rest of us, and he was only just hit, while you gut struck with many and some time ago. You'll be carried."
Nanami didn't object further, and Naruto summoned a messenger toad. Gamahade stared around her, then looked up at him from his feet.
"Candy?" the toad asked.
Naruto scowled, "I don't have any candy."
"Oh, well," the toad sounded put out. "What's up then?"
"I need you to tell Jiraiya that I'm escorting the teams back to Konoha," Naruto said, "And then let Minato know that we're on our way and should be there by nightfall, and we'll need a medic team. Two of them have been poisoned."
The toad nodded, looked around once again, and left in a puff of smoke.
The two teams plus Naruto made good time, considering their injuries. Genma and Satou took turns assisting Inoske, while Tetsu and Shisui kept a close eye on Ibiki and the boy's increasingly labored breathing. Naruto had his hands hooked under Nanami's knees, with one of her arms wrapped around his shoulder and neck. The girl was light, though he wasn't surprised with her shorter height.
By the time they neared Konoha at dusk, his clones had all dissipated, and he knew that one of the Iwa-nin had survived – the one injured from the explosion, but he could no longer sense the field or anyone crossing its line. Naruto was tired, and his chakra was low, which was making him feel irritated and weary, but Nanami's now nonexistent hold around his neck worried him more than his low chakra levels. She had steadily weakened as they traveled, and Naruto was holding her on his back completely on his own strength. He wasn't sure she was even conscious anymore. He could hear her heartbeat through his back, beating far faster than it should be, and her body felt over-heated.
A four-man medic team met them outside of the gates, forcing Inoske and Ibiki onto stretchers, while Naruto volunteered to carry Nanami all the way to the hospital. The medics kept one eye on the two men they carried, and one on the girl as they entered the village. Kurenai followed after her team, her eyes worried as she watched Nanami. Satou and his team left to report to the Hokage, and Naruto trailed the medics into the hospital, feeling Nanami's short, labored breathing on the back of his neck.
oooOoooOoooOooo
Japanese used this chapter:
1)Iwa – means rock. Iwa-nin is in reference to the Rock Country ninjas. Iwagakure (village hidden in the rocks) is a counterpart to Konohagakure (village hidden in the leaves). Konoha and Iwa were major enemies during the Third Great Ninja War – which ended about a year prior to Naruto's appearance in the past.
2)Ninjaken – a sword (type of sword). It has a straight blade. All of Konoha's ANBU carry one along their spine.
Gamahade is an original character – er, toad. Gama means "toad" and hade means "flashy" which mostly comes from her coloration.
Adachi Satou is an original character. He's supposed to be related to Rin. In concert with the canon story, he likely would have died in the Kyubi attack, but with the fox's retreat, he survived, like many others.
Shimizu Nanami is an original character. She's 16. She was mentioned back in chapter 4 during the Trials, as a friend of Kurenai. Naruto thought she was very interesting for whatever reason, though mostly because she didn't say a word to him.
Gah, another long chapter, and it could have been a lot longer. I kept cropping chunks of scenes out of it to keep the length down to something manageable. Also, I'm iffy about the whole fight thing in this chapter, but it wasn't so important to detail completely, so again, I kept cropping chunks out of it. Right, I'm done rambling, ta then!