Chapter 15: Grief
"The Akatsuki?"
A had a feeling that he had heard the name at some point before but he wasn't sure exactly where. Probably in some report that he had skimmed over at some stage, which would have been seemingly unimportant at the time.
"Like I said, they are an independent mercenary organisation" Onoki repeated. "Very reliable, I have entrusted them with dangerous assignments in the past."
"There's a difference between carrying out a few missions and helping to turn the tide in a war, Onoki" A grunted. "The fact that I know very little about them means that they must be small. So how the hell are they supposed to make a big difference here?"
Onoki smirked, a clear signal that he knew something that A didn't.
"They are a rather small organisation, as far as I know they have only twelve members," Onoki said. "However, you're forgetting what I said before about their strength. If you need proof of that I'll tell you something interesting. Every single one of them will be near the top of your bingo book."
It took A a second to realise what Onoki meant, but once he did he felt anger suddenly swell up inside him.
"S class Rogue Shinobi? You expect me to take help from international criminals?" A roared. "Just because you have no class Onoki doesn't mean that I should sink to such levels as well."
Onoki made a move to respond to that but he was stopped in his tracks by a soft laugh that echoed across the room. The sound was both delicate and menacing at the same time and it sent a cold shiver down A's spine. The sound of footsteps that came after indicated that the person responsible was just about to enter the room and he wasted no time introducing himself.
"Given the situation you're in, I don't think you have a choice."
A didn't quite recognise the voice but he knew who the man was when he walked in. That sickly pale skin combined with those horrible yellow eyes were famous the world over, as were the stories of the horrendous crimes against nature he had performed. Just seeing the man pushed A over the edge.
Without thinking, he jumped from the table and ran towards him. He regretted this movement just a second later when he was restricted from moving by a snake, which he realised was coming from the mans sleeve.
"That was a rather disappointing display, I'd have expected more from the Raikage" he chuckled. "Although, I suppose those wounds of yours are making things a little more difficult. I dare say they make you rather vulnerable right now, don't they?"
A could feel the snake squeeze him a little tighter at that point, making it difficult to breathe.
"Orochimaru, cut it out" Onoki barked from his seat. "We're here for a meeting, not to try to kill each other."
Orochimaru complied by slowly released A from his grip and allowing him to fall to the floor. A could hear him laughing under his breath at this, before going to take his seat. The whole situation made him suddenly feel incredibly uneasy, so much so that he regretted not allowing Darui or C to join him in the meeting.
"So, you're the one behind this Akatsuki group then?" A grunted, as he made his way back to his seat.
"No and don't bother asking who really is because I don't know" Orochimaru replied slyly.
A wasn't sure how he felt about that. On the one hand, he was glad that he wasn't an associated with an organisation ran by such a depraved being. On the other, it was very unsettling to know that the Akatsuki had ten others on Orochimaru's level and another commanding them all who was likely stronger.
"Fine, if that's the way you want to play it" A said. "Just so you know, I don't trust you. You Akatsuki are not to set foot in my village. Any communication we have is to be conducted here in Iwa."
"That's okay, you're the one paying us after all" Orochimaru grinned wickedly.
"If you're both finished, I'd like to start discussing tactics" Onoki interrupted, obviously getting irritated.
"Ah yes, I can confirm that the operation we discussed will begin within the next 24 hours" Orochimaru said.
"What operation would this be?" A demanded to know.
"Oh, just a little plan we discussed" Orochimaru chuckled, as he played with the ring on his finger. "One that will have an even more devastating effect now that you've weakened the Hokage's mental state."
The mood in the camp had shifted; Itachi could feel it straight away. All the positivity that had been going around recently had been completely destroyed in one fell swoop and it wasn't just because of the light rain that had been consistently falling over the past month, including that day.
News of the death of Kakashi Hatake, one of the Commanders of the war and legendary hero of Konoha, had reached the outpost. Itachi had noticed that there had been several reactions to this but they all had one thing to unite them: negativity.
For some, the realisation that a man as powerful as Kakashi could die was a very unwelcoming reminder of their own vulnerability and mortality. For others, Kakashi was a man they looked up to and admired. He was a famous and celebrated Shinobi, but he was still someone you'd see around the village everyday. Everybody knew Kakashi and everyone considered themselves his friend. This sense of mourning was written on everyone's face. For Itachi, the first thing he fought when he heard the news after returning from his early morning mission was:
"Sasuke."
He walked towards Sasuke's tent, giving a polite nod to the gloomy faces he passed on the way. Other than knowledge of his reputation and the time they briefly clashed a few years before, Itachi didn't know Kakashi very well. He had already left the ANBU by the time Itachi had joined, although his legend remained. All of his teammates had stories about him. About how he had once taken out an entire platoon by himself or a frankly ludicrous story of when he cult a bolt of lightning. It's no surprise that his death brought such a reaction.
"That's just from people who barely knew him," Itachi thought, as he reached the entrance to Sasuke's lodgings. "I can't begin to imagine what Sasuke is feeling right now."
Itachi paused at the entrance, unsure if he should enter. He was acutely aware that he hadn't seen as much of his brother as he wanted to over the last year and it had been even longer since they'd had a deep conversation like this. He found it ironic that out of all the horrors he had faced in the past year, he was more scared of talking to the person he cared about most in the world.
After settling his nerves, he entered. The tent contained 8 or 9 different bunks, all of which were very basic. Even though Itachi was one of the few with private quarters, he preferred this set up. It helped to encourage camaraderie between soldiers, to fight off those feelings of intense loneliness.
He turned the corner and found that Sasuke's bunk was empty. It wasn't too surprising really. Assuming that Sasuke had already learned the news, it was likely that he went to get some air. As Itachi turned to leave, he was drawn to the piles of paper that were strewn on the ground. The haphazard manner with which they had been left there was rather unlike Sasuke, who had always been very neat and orderly with his possessions. He knew it was wrong of him to pry, but his curiosity got the better of him.
Itachi knew what the letter on top of the pile just by giving it a quick glance. The letters sent to inform friends and relatives of a soldier's death were always set out the same way and Itachi had seen more of them than he cared to remember. Surprisingly, he noticed that Sasuke had been given the option to attend the funeral. Given the relatively small numbers of Konoha's military, it was imperative that as many Shinobi as possible were deployed to defend the outposts. So allowing more than just close family to return for a funeral was definitely a bold move.
Although, this wasn't the most noticeable thing that Itachi had noticed on the page. Instead, it was the big wet blotches that were dotted around the paper. In fact, Itachi noticed that the same was true for many of the other documents that were spread across the floor.
"He always was much more willing to show his emotions than I am" Itachi thought, as he reached down for another letter.
It turned out that the reams of paper on the ground were letters, all of which had been sent by the same person. Itachi was aware that Sasuke had been in communication with Kakashi, but he didn't realise the frequency with which they wrote to one another.
"This many in just a year? I'm surprised that Kakashi would have the time to write so much given his other responsibilities."
He scanned a few of the letters over the next few minutes and was surprised at what he found.
"Hang in there Sasuke… What you need to do is…. I'll talk to the Hokage about it and see if I can help…. Wow, these are very in depth and personal. At least one of us was acting like an older brother for him."
Itachi dropped the letter on the floor and sighed, adjusting his headband as he did so. He noticed that the cloth of the headband was badly worn, probably due to the amount of times he adjusted it per day, due to the stress he was under. He made a mental note to repair it later before standing up from Sasuke's bunk and heading outside.
"Have you seen Sasuke?" Itachi asked one of the Shinobi walking nearby.
"No sir" the middle aged man responded, adding a hint of disdain to the last word. "It's not my job to keep track of little kids."
Itachi frowned but decided that it was best not to take it any further than that. Many of the more experience Shinobi were unhappy that he was second in command given his age and relative inexperience, he didn't need to give them another reason to dislike him. Not that he cared on a personal level of course, but disharmony in a camp spelled trouble, which he wanted to avoid.
"Itachi, there you are."
Itachi turned to see Hizashi Hyuga walking towards him. He didn't know him very well, but from what Itachi had seen he was a friendly and approachable man, which was more than could be said for his brother.
"Your father has requested your presence at a meeting."
Meeting was a rather polite way of putting it, Itachi usually thought of them as scheduled arguments. They rarely agreed on anything and by the end of it, his father would usually just do what he wants. His presence at the meetings was rather unnecessary in his view, but then again not turning up would just lead to a bigger argument later. He had to make a call.
"Sorry, I have other matters to attend to right now, send my father my apologies" Itachi said, and walked off before Hizashi could give a response.
After rejecting his father, Itachi knew that he had to make this count. As luck would have it, he saw Neji, Hizashi's son, walking past him at that moment. He knew that he and Sasuke had become rather close over the time spent at the outpost, if anyone knew where he had gone it would be him.
"Neji" Itachi called out, and the young Hyuga came to an immediate halt.
"Sir?"
"Have you seen Sasuke today?" he asked.
"Yeah, early this morning" Neji sighed, his eyes softening. "Poor guy, he was a wreck, wouldn't even say a word to me."
"So you don't know where he went?"
"No, I was a little worried so I tracked him" Neji responded. "He headed towards the training area and that's where he's stayed the last couple of hours."
"Thanks."
Itachi headed towards what was generously called the training area. In reality it was little more than an open area between the sides of two mountains, complete with a slippy gravel floor. It was used rather sparingly due to this impracticality, although Sasuke had spent a large amount of time there. It was common to hear the familiar sound of Chidori coming from area early in the morning, as Sasuke tried to iron out the imperfections in his variants of the technique.
No such sounds could be heard at that time, as Itachi made his way over there. The rain had picked up by the time Itachi reached the clearing, so much so that he had to activate his Sharingan in order to spot Sasuke at first. He saw that familiar chakra colour stood perfectly still in the middle of the area, his head pointing towards the ground.
As Itachi walked closer the rain died down a little more and he could see Sasuke more clearly. He was wearing the same outfit he wore when he participated in the final of the Chunin Exams, although it was a little small now. He also noticed that there were several scrapes on his body and he was breathing heavily.
"So you actually have been training then?" Itachi asked, deciding to say something more casual to break the tension.
Sasuke didn't speak for a few agonizing moments, as his shoulders rose and fell in synch with his breathing.
"He told me to keep training, it's the only way I'll master this change in chakra form" Sasuke replied. "He'd be disappointed in me if I slacked on this now."
Itachi gave a weak smile in response, although he realised the pointlessness of this a second later as Sasuke wasn't facing him.
"Are you all right?" Itachi said lamely.
"What do you think?" Sasuke shot back harshly. "The only person who showed that he give a shit about me during this war is now gone."
Even though Itachi knew that Sasuke probably didn't mean it, the words still stung, probably because there was also a layer of truth to them as well. He didn't try to apologise though; it wasn't the right time.
"Are you going to go back? For his funeral?"
Sasuke didn't seem like he was going to reply until he gave a quick nod.
"Do you want me to come with you?"
After another pause, Sasuke surprisingly gave another nod.
"I'd rather not go alone," Sasuke muttered. "Besides, Mom would be annoyed if she knew that I'd denied her the chance to see you."
Itachi would be lying if he'd said that he wasn't relieved by what Sasuke had said.
"All right, well there's a company heading back to Konoha in a couple of hours, you should probably head back and get ready to leave with them" Itachi said.
"Just give me a few minutes, I'm really close to getting this" Sasuke responded.
Itachi nodded and turned around to leave but Sasuke asked one more thing before he could move.
"Do you know who did it? Do you know who killed him?"
Itachi hesitated before answering. He had heard something but didn't know whether it was best for Sasuke not to know. Then again, he supposed that it was only a matter of time before he found out and it was better for him to learn now.
"I believe it was Kumogakure's Raikage."
Sasuke clenched his fist tight and grimaced.
"The Raikage?" Sasuke repeated before he turned his head towards Itachi, revealing the red six-pointed star shape that now resided in his eyes. "Good, now I know who I have to kill."
Shikamaru suppressed a yawn as he walked down the main street of the village, heading towards the entrance. It seemed he was constantly tired nowadays, both physically and mentally. Before, he had thought that his father had been laid back like him. However, the outbreak of war had brought out a more enthusiastic side and he'd worked Shikamaru like a dog. Whenever he complained, his father would merely tell him how he had to take responsibility now and grow up and continued to give Shikamaru a large amount of work to do each day.
Except, he had no work to do that day. Half the village wasn't working that day in fact. The usual fatigues were replaced with black shirts and pants, which Shikamaru was also wearing. Most people had quite a solemn expression, as if all of the hope that had previously been infectious in the village had been drained away. Shikamaru still couldn't get his head around it.
"All of this in reaction to the death of one man?"
Shikamaru had only known Kakashi as the Sensei of Ino's team and that's about it. But he'd come to appreciate just how revered he truly was in the village; even his father had shown visible shock and sorrow when he had heard the news.
However, Shikamaru secretly saw himself an optimist, despite what he displayed on the outside. If there was one good thing about all this, it was that Asuma Sensei was coming back to the village for the funeral. Of course, he'd have preferred it to be in more enjoyable circumstances but he was happy to see him nevertheless. That was the reason he was going to the gate, to greet him as he arrived.
When he got there, he saw that he wasn't alone. Ino was sat on a bench off to the right and judging by the tissue in her hand and the redness around her eyes, she had been crying again. Shikamaru wasn't usually one to deal with emotions, but it felt cruel to leave her sat on her own.
"Hey Ino" Shikamaru said, trying to sound as casual as possible.
"Oh Shikamaru, what are you doing here?" Ino replied, as she wiped her eyes.
Shikamaru knew that Ino could be quite proud when she wanted to be, so Shikamaru didn't respond to her obvious sadness and continued on the conversation as if everything was normal.
"I'm waiting for Asuma Sensei to get back, you?"
"Oh right, of course he'd be coming back" Ino said quietly. "I'm waiting for Sasuke, he should be getting here any second now."
The conversation fell a little flat and awkward after that. Just what was he supposed to say?
Fortunately, he didn't have to think of anything as a group of Shinobi walked through the gate. Shikamaru just about recognised the boy at the front, although he was quite a bit taller than he was last time they had met.
"Sasuke!" Ino wailed, as she ran over to him.
She embraced him in a tight hug but Shikamaru noticed that Sasuke didn't react at all. Usually he would try to shrug off such attempts but he did nothing. He caught sight of his classmate's eyes but he saw nothing in the way of emotion in them either.
"Is that because of his Sensei's death or the war in general?" Shikamaru wondered.
Whatever the reason, seeing Sasuke's transformation was very unsettling.
"I'm sorry for not returning your letters" Sasuke said.
"Don't worry about it, Sensei was" Ino began, but her voice tailed off before she could finish.
"Where's Shino?" Sasuke wondered, as he lazily looked around.
"He has a clan thing, apparently it's a tradition before attending a funeral" Ino replied. "I said we'd meet him when we get there."
"Sounds okay to me" Sasuke nodded. "Is it all right if I meet you there as well? I just wanted to get home and see my mother first."
Ino seemed a little disappointed but agreed nonetheless. After Sasuke and his brother had left, Ino bade farewell and left Shikamaru waiting alone. Although, he wasn't waiting long until another familiar face walked in.
"Asuma Sensei" Shikamaru called out, as he walked over to greet him.
"Hey Shikamaru" Asuma replied, with an unconvincing grin. "How've you been? Your Dad still working you hard?"
"Like you wouldn't believe" Shikamaru groaned. "I swear, I'd give anything to just go back to our training sessions again, they were at least tolerable."
Shikamaru was expecting a response such as "Oh well that could be arranged" or maybe something to do with him making his training sessions harder in the future. Yet, he remained silent, merely giving another of those horrible fake smiles. It wasn't quite the reunion Shikamaru was hoping for but he supposed that he should have expected this. Asuma had just lost one of his childhood friends.
"Asuma!"
Shikamaru heard the cries of a female voice behind him and turned to see a teary Kurenai running towards them. Shikamaru dutifully moved and the pair of them embraced. In contrast to the earlier display from Sasuke and Ino, this hug was full of raw emotion, as Kurenai openly sobbed into Asuma's chest, who also appeared to be tearing up. That was when Shikamaru decided to leave and waved to Asuma as he did so.
As he walked back down the main street, Shikamaru reflected on his change in mood since he last walked down it, not ten minutes before. He had a small sense of excitement then but that was replaced by numbness. Before then, he hadn't really gotten a sense of the war. Apart from some extra work, his life hadn't changed so much so why would he? But witnessing the grief, experiencing loss first hand like that had brought it all home for him. He had a sickening feeling that it wouldn't be the last time he'd experience this either.
The house was quiet, as it had been for the past few days. Naruto sat in the dining room, playing with the cereal in front of him, deep in thought. He'd realised that the Kyuubi hadn't spoke to him at all since it had happened and couldn't help wondering why? Did it feel pity for him? No, Naruto doubted that it could feel human emotions. Maybe it was just quietly enjoying his pain, waiting until he truly hit rock bottom to pounce.
His Mom then walked in to the room, holding a bowl of cereal for herself, though Naruto doubted that she'd eat it. He hadn't seen her eat much of anything for days. He could also tell that she'd been crying again, although she was determined not to do it in front of him. Whether it was to spare his feelings of guilt or to hide her shame of it he wasn't sure.
"I left your funeral clothes in your room, make sure to change before we leave" she said to him, as she too began to play around with the food.
Naruto merely nodded his head to reply. The last thing in the world he wanted to do was put on those clothes and go to that funeral. He could think of nothing more horrible than the idea of a funeral. People sitting around and crying, the immense focus on death, the guilt. Word must have gotten around by now, everyone must have known what he'd done. They'd all give him that look, the look that says a thousand words. The only look he'd received from his father for days.
And then he cried. He couldn't help it; he hadn't been able to help it since it happened. Images of Kakashi diving in front of the Raikage's attack, of his body lying lifeless on the ground and of his fathers tears were all circulating in his mind and he couldn't escape them no matter what he did. He couldn't forget, the memories were burned in to his mind forever.
"Shhh" came his mother's comforting voice, as she pulled him in close. "It's all right to cry, lets you know you can still feel."
He didn't see why that's a good thing, he'd rather not feel anything. He'd given up any future happiness in his life in order to eradicate his pain. In order to rid himself of the guilt he felt about killing the closest thing he had to an older brother.
"Okay, I'll clean this up you go get changed" Kushina stammered, pointing towards the still full bowls. "Your father will be back soon and then we have to go."
As Naruto headed towards the stairs, the front door creaked open. Minato slowly walked in, his eyes heavy and with a solemn expression. It took a second for him to notice Naruto and when he did he gave him a forced smile.
"You should get changed, we have to leave soon," he said softly, as he walked away before waiting for Naruto to answer.
Naruto listened as he heard Minato walk in to the kitchen and start talking with Kushina. Their conversation seemed relatively normal and lacked the awkwardness that he had just experienced.
"So, it really is just me" Naruto realised, as he walked slowly up the stairs. "Maybe I lost more than just Kakashi that day."
He took his time changing, trying to delay the inevitable, as if that were possible. Eventually though, his mom called down for him and he knew that he couldn't put it off any longer. By the time he reappeared, his parents were already stood at the door and waiting to leave. Without another word, they did just that.
The funeral sight was much larger than Naruto was expecting. The rows of seats stretched back very far and at the front were a simple black coffin, with several pictures of Kakashi on top. Naruto walked over and looked through them and one caught his eye in particular.
"Hey Dad, what's this?" Naruto nervously called out to his father.
Minato walked cautiously walked over and took the photo in his hands. His face turned to a warm grin for the briefest of moments.
"The picture we took when we first started our Genin team," he said. "I remember everything like it was yesterday. They were all so happy, so eager to become real Shinobi. I never would have thought…"
Minato's face reverted to its previous icy stare and he put the photo down.
"Anyway, maybe you should go sit down. We have to wait for everyone else to get here."
Deflated, Naruto did as he was told. His mother soon joined him, as Minato continued to pace around nervously and greeted mourners as they arrived. Even though he had already seen the seats, Naruto was still surprised by the sheer number that arrived. Amongst the crowd, Naruto spotted a few familiar faces. Kushina saw the same people and waved them over.
"Asuma, Shikamaru you can sit up here" she said.
The two both walked over and gave solemn nods as a greeting. Asuma took the seat directly next to Naruto, with Shikamaru one space over. Naruto gave a half-hearted smile to Asuma as a way to say hello, but he wasn't in the mood to make more of an effort. Next to Asuma, Shikamaru glanced miserably at the ground, something that Kushina didn't miss.
"Are you ok Shikamaru?" she asked sympathetically.
"Huh? Me?" Shikamaru replied, confused. "I could be better I guess, a lot better."
"Shikamaru's going to be sent out to my outpost in a couple of days" Asuma explained. "As you can tell, he's not very enthusiastic about it. He should count himself lucky, our outpost is far out and we don't see too much combat. He could have had it a lot worse."
Naruto sank further in to his chair as he listened to the news. Another one of his friends was being sent away, one of the last ones he had in the village. This realisation lead to a crazy thought. Was his father doing this on purpose as some kind of twisted punishment? It sounded ridiculous, but part of him couldn't shake off his suspicions.
"Naruto, how are you holding up?" Asuma asked, concern etched across his face. "I've been a little worried about you since I heard, sorry for not coming to find you as soon as I got back."
"It's fine" Naruto replied quietly. "I'm okay really, just have to adjust to everything I guess."
Naruto was never a great liar and he could practically feel Asuma's sceptical stare bearing in to him. Fortunately, at this time Minato stood up and began to address the audience.
"First of all, I'd like to thank everyone for attending today" he said, his voice surprisingly firm. "It means a lot to me personally and I'm sure it would mean a lot to Kakashi as well."
Minato set the tone for the rest of the funeral. There were anecdotes shared by many of Kakashi's former classmates, Kurenai's impassioned speech ended in tears and even Asuma, who was always the epitome of stoicism, was on the verge of tears. Each and every one of them was like a dagger in Naruto's heart, which uncovered new layers of guilt with each stab. He couldn't take it anymore; he had to get away from it all.
"I'll now invite everyone to come up and pay their last respects" Minato said.
As the audience stood and formed an orderly queue, Naruto took his chance to slip away unnoticed. He ran a short distance, not really sure where he was going exactly. He eventually found his way to a deserted alley, where he collapsed against the wall in tears.
"I'm so sorry" he whispered. "Kakashi, Mom, Dad, everyone. I, I…"
"Naruto?"
He looked up and saw the outline of Asuma looking towards him. Slightly embarrassed, Naruto quickly wiped his tears away and tried his best to change his expression.
"Sorry Sensei, I'm just, erm-"
"Naruto, I'm not interested in hearing any more excuses," Asuma barked. "Everyone can tell when you're trying to hide something like you are right now. I don't understand why someone like you, whose normally very outgoing, would want to hide his emotions at a time like this. You saw it out there; everyone is upset. It's okay to cry in public."
"Never said it wasn't" Naruto shot back. "What's not okay is being the cause of those tears, of that agony. Kakashi died because of me and I just… just… don't know what to do now."
Asuma sighed heavily and shook his head.
"You really believe that?" Asuma said forcefully. "I can understand that your feeling some survivors guilt, it's natural. But don't try to burden yourself with this; it isn't healthy in the long run. No one blames you for what happened, it's just an unfortunate turn of events."
"Tell that to my Dad" Naruto snorted.
"Naruto, your Dad's just upset. He and Kakashi were very close as you very well know" Asuma explained. "He doesn't blame-"
"How would you know?" Naruto shrieked, losing his temper. "You haven't been here, have you? You haven't seen the way he looks at me, the way he tries to avoid speaking to me. He might not have said it out loud, but you can bet that he blames me for what happened."
Naruto expected another retort from his Sensei, to be told that it was all in his head. It was why he hadn't told anyone else about his suspicions, not even his mother. Yet, that wasn't the reaction he got. Instead, Asuma bent down so he was on Naruto's level and placed his hand firmly on his shoulder.
"Look, grief is a horrible emotion" Asuma sighed. "It plays on your mind like nothing else and I've seen it destroy many Shinobi in the past. It makes people think irrationally at times. The thing you need to remember is to not let that happen to you. Don't let such a negative emotion enslave you, even if it has taken others. You must be strong in the face of these adversities; it's the only way you'll make it through. And always remember, you have people around you that do care for you."
Naruto wasn't too sure what to say to that so he gave a strong nod of affirmation.
"All right, lets get back there then, I think we both want to say our final goodbye."
"Hey Sensei, come here I think I got it!"
Minato glanced up from the report he was reading, and saw an excited young boy looking over at him. Despite his doubts over his claims, Minato stood up and walked out from under the tree he had been using for shade and walked across the training field.
"Are you sure you have it Obito? Even Jiraiya Sensei didn't learn the first stage this quickly," he said.
"Well, I haven't got it exactly as you showed us" Obito admitted. "But, well just look."
Obito stretched out his hand and concentrated on the water balloon he was holding. Minato did the same and waited for something to happen. A few seconds went by before Obito spoke up.
"You see that?" he asked excitedly.
"See what?"
"The rotation!" Obito said, as if it was obvious all along. "I know it's only slight, but if you look really closely you can see it moving a little."
Minato could see no such thing but he also understood how frustrating it was to feel like you were making no progress. He'd been at it for hours; it was no surprise that his mind might start playing tricks on him.
"Oh right I see" Minato said with as much enthusiasm as he could. "Well, as impressive as that may be, you're still quite a way off from mastering it. I suggest that you keep going."
"Yes Sensei!"
Minato smiled and decided he'd check on how his other two students were doing. Rin was putting in a lot of concentration but was clearly struggling. Kakashi had stopped trying altogether, and was simply stood with his arms folded and eyes closed.
"It's not like you to give up Kakashi" Minato commented.
"Who said I gave up?" Kakashi replied. "I just didn't want to embarrass the other two by showing that I've already got this down."
"What? No way, I don't believe you!" Obito yelled. "You couldn't have possibly learned it that quick."
"Oh yeah? Watch this then."
Kakashi extended his right arm out and focused on the balloon. It immediately started to shake a little and the water inside could be heard moving around. Then, a few seconds later, it burst with a loud bang, sending the contents inside flying around.
"Wow Kakashi, that's amazing!" Rin swooned.
"Ah whatever, who cares about this anyway" Obito moaned, as he threw his water balloon down in annoyance. "Once I unlock my Sharingan I'll be way stronger than you."
"You know, you keep saying that but it's been a couple of years now and no Sharingan is anywhere to be found" Kakashi replied. "Guess you're destined to remain a loser forever."
The two continued bickering for another few minutes, before Minato cleared his throat so he could step in.
"I don't know what you're on your high horse for, this is all your fault Sensei!" Obito accused.
"What? How did I cause this?"
"Well, putting us up against each other is just asking for trouble" Kakashi pointed out. "You probably should have done this separately, then Obito wouldn't get so jealous."
Minato laughed and shook his head at the suggestion.
"Alright, maybe it wasn't my brightest idea" Minato admitted. "What do you suggest I do to correct it?"
"Buy us all lunch?" Rin suggested cheekily.
"Yeah, lunch at Ichiraku's on Sensei!" Obito declared, punching his fist in to the air.
"Wait-"
"Oh come on Sensei, don't be so cheap" Obito chuckled, as he cut off Minato before he could object. He then started a chant between him and Rin of "Sensei…Sensei…. Sensei…"
A cold gust of wind brought Minato back from his nostalgia-induced coma. That warm summer afternoon was replaced with a harsh winter night. He was still in the same place though, albeit he was no longer in the middle of the field. Instead, he had taken up residence in front of the memorial stone, where he stared at the name that had been freshly carved towards the bottom.
" E."
He wasn't sure how long he had been standing there, simply lost in his own thoughts. It made him realise just how Kakashi could spend so long there each morning. Maybe he would be the one to take up the daily vigil, ensure that Obito and Rin wouldn't be lonely now that Kakashi had joined them, thanks to the Raikage.
Just the thought of his name made Minato's blood boil. Over the few days since it had happened, he'd questioned his decision to let him live. At the end of the day, they were at war. Killing the Raikage would have weakened the enemy significantly and may have prevented any future deaths. He also couldn't deny that he would have taken some pleasure in slamming a Rasengan in to his face, such suffering was only a fraction of what he deserved. But that would have been hypocritical of him. How could he preach that this cycle of hatred should end when he was a part of that cycle to begin with?
Before he could ponder this any further, he sensed a presence walking towards him. He recognised the chakra, so he didn't reach for the kunai in his pouch.
"Asuma, this is a surprise," he said, as the man came in to view.
"I just thought I'd take a look now, I'm heading out in the morning" Asuma replied. "Do you mind?"
Minato shook his head to confirm that he didn't. They both stood in silence for a while, simply staring.
"It's so hard to believe that he's gone" Asuma sighed. "I still half expect him to come walking over here with his nose in another one of those books."
Minato wasn't really in the mood for talking about that kind of thing but he could tell Asuma was, so he gave a simple nod.
"It's been hard on everyone," Asuma continued. "Especially Naruto, I've never seen him so upset."
"Yeah" Minato agreed. "Kakashi was a big part of his life since he was a child."
"Oh, so you know how much he's struggling?" Asuma said, his tone suddenly taking on a much more accusatory nature. "You have a funny way of showing it."
"What are you trying to say?" Minato asked, taken aback by the swift change in conversation.
"Cold looks, lack of conversation, it's all he's getting from you" Asuma said. "He thinks that you blame him for Kakashi's death. But I know you wouldn't do something so ridiculous, would you?"
Minato prepared to respond, but the words were caught in his mouth. He hadn't thought too much about it, but did he blame Naruto for this? He was certainly still holding some anger at him for disobeying him like that. The more he thought about it, the more stupid the idea became. Kakashi was weakened and was completely outclassed; the Raikage would have killed him regardless. Yet, all he could see was Kakashi jumping in front of Naruto, protecting him from an attack he wouldn't have experienced had he not gone to the battlefield.
"Unbelievable" Asuma spat. "You do, don't you? You blame that poor boy for something that's not really his fault. Do you have any idea how that makes him feel? Can you grasp what's going through his head right now? Not only does he have to get over the death of a loved one, he has to come to terms with his own father hating him."
"It's not like that-"
"Well he doesn't know that!" Asuma roared, his eyes wide in anger.
He took a few seconds to calm himself down before carrying on.
"I once told you of the difficulties of being a child that comes second to a village full of people, hoping that you wouldn't make the same mistake as my father. Well, you didn't because at the very least I always knew that my father cared for me despite his absence. Right now, Naruto probably can't say the same."
Minato had no response; he had been floored by Asuma's verbal beat down. But he wasn't done and the younger Sarutobi had one last thing to say before he left.
"I never thought there'd be a day where I didn't respect you as a man. The fact that today is that day is probably the thing that disappoints me most."
He then walked away in to the night, once again leaving Minato with so much to think about.
A snap of a twig. Such a small and innocuous noise, something that a normal person wouldn't pay too much attention to. Yet, to a Shinobi it may as well be an alarm bell such is the sense of danger that it emits. Kabuto Yakushi knew this all too well, which is why he suddenly stopped in his tracks when such a noise broke the silence of the night.
"What is it?" the man behind him grumbled. "Is there someone coming?"
"No, seems we got lucky" Kabuto replied. "There isn't anyone patrolling this particular area right now. Still, we can't afford that again."
"Which means we can't afford for you to do that again, Hidan" the man said, as he glared at his partner behind him.
"Fuck you Kakazu, it was-"
"Be quiet, this arguing will see us exposed" Kabuto warned.
After making extra sure that the coast was clear, Kabuto continued to lead the two men through the forest. It was a difficult journey that required a lot of concentration. He had only been able to discover the safe path through the forest a few hours before, meaning that he had little time to memorise it. One wrong step would set off the alarms and expose them, which would be nothing short of a disaster.
Finally, they reached the solid wall that ran around the outside of Konoha. He then turned to the figures behind him.
"I only have time to say this once, so listen carefully" he began. "In about 30 seconds or so, the light above us will go out, meaning that this small section of the wall will be completely dark. As soon as this happens, you have to run straight up the wall, be careful not to stray from the direct straight path as that will set off the alarm. Once that's done, drop to the ground below where you'll be met by the original, I'll end my clone jutsu the second the light disappears."
Just a second or so after that, the light did indeed disappear and Hidan and Kakazu made their move. Everything went well and they reached the ground within seconds.
"Infiltration successful" Hidan smirked. "Now then, we just wait for Kabuto and we can go grab the Kyuubi."
"It won't be that simple, idiot" Kakazu warned. "There are many obstacles still in our way, we need to be on guard. Remember, taking the Kyuubi now is merely preferential so we can get an upper hand in the war; it is not necessary. If we have to, we will retreat. "
Kakazu quickly scanned the area. Nothing seemed too suspicious to him, which was a relief. They were only on the outskirts of the village, behind a row of shops and houses. If they were detected in such an innocuous spot, it would make the rest of the mission much more difficult.
"Whatever" Hidan said dismissively. "We have an inside man, he's got everything covered I'm sure so it won't come to that. Speaking of which, this should be him coming now."
Hidan prepared to wave down the figure that was approaching them, but Kakazu quickly grabbed his hand.
"That's not him," Kakazu said quietly. "It seems that our man wasn't as prepared as we thought."
As the man landed in front of the duo slightly to their right, Kabuto did eventually arrive and landed slightly to the left. He turned in horror to see another Shinobi stood there, one he did not expect.
"Asuma?"
"Kabuto? What are you doing here?" Asuma asked aggressively.
"I was treating a patient and as I left their home I noticed the light on the wall go out. I thought it was suspicious so I came to check it out" Kabuto lied, saying whatever came to his head.
"I did a similar thing as I left the training field. Seems we were both lucky" Asuma smirked confidently.
"The training field? What the hell was he doing there at this hour?" Kabuto wondered. "Never mind that, I have to focus. I need to know if anyone else saw this."
"Who are you guys? And what are you doing in our village?" Asuma demanded of Kakazu and Hidan.
"Nothing that will concern you once you're dead!" Hidan cackled, as he connected his scythe. He was clearly trying to buy time though for Kabuto to come up with a plan.
"You sure we can take on these guys?" Kabuto asked, keeping up his act.
"We just need to hold them, I contacted the ANBU so they should be here any minute" Asuma explained.
"I see" Kabuto responded, as he drew a kunai. "Well in that case, it shouldn't be too difficult to proceed."
"Right, I'll take the one on the-"
Kabuto wasted little time and attacked Asuma as soon as he saw an opening. Moving with speed, he slammed the kunai in to the top of Asuma's back, just between his shoulder blades. It was admittedly a cowardly move, but Kabuto didn't have time to waste.
"Don't worry Asuma, the poison is fast acting so you'll be dead in a minute or so" Kabuto hissed in to his comrades ear, before turning to Kakazu. "You two need to leave now, if the ANBU have been notified then it won't be long until the Hokage finds out. We can't do this if he's on alert."
"What about you? Won't this look suspicious?" Kakazu asked.
"You underestimate my acting skills" Kabuto grinned wickedly. "Now go, I can hear them coming and take this kunai with you, I might be found out if they get a hold of that."
After Kabuto had thrown them the weapon, the two Akatsuki disappeared in to the blackness of the night. Changing tact, Kabuto placed Asuma on the ground and began performing medical ninjutsu.
"Sorry Asuma, but this won't help you at all," Kabuto whispered. "But I need to look convincing right?"
Asuma's face was covered in sweat and his breathing became heavy. As his consciousness appeared to fade, he looked in to Kabuto's eyes. Tears rolled down his cheeks, as he tried to splutter out his final words.
"Kurenai… Shikamaru… Hinata…. Naruto. Kabuto, if you have any kindness left in your heart, please-"
"Sure, I'll tell them. Who am I to deny a dying wish?" Kabuto said. "Besides, it will help with my cover, make me look more believable."
Asuma's eyes faded as the ANBU finally arrived. Without missing a beat, Kabuto turned on the tears and raised his voice to a high-pitched scream.
"Come on Asuma, don't give out on me!" he yelled.
"What happened?" the ANBU captain demanded to know.
"They went that way, two men in black cloaks!" Kabuto said, pointing towards the opposite direction from where the two had left. "Hurry, you might be able to reach them!"
Kabuto continued his attempted revival for another minute or so, just waiting for one of the ANBU to play his part. Finally, one of them obliged and bent down over Asuma's head.
"Kabuto, you need to stop," he said sympathetically.
Kabuto, pretending to be distressed, continued his medical ninjutsu until the ANBU made a more forceful announcement.
"It's no use!" he yelled, physically grabbing Kabuto to make him stop. "He's gone."
A/N: Sorry about the wait again, I've been really busy.
As I expected, the reaction to the last chapter was quite mixed. Kakashi is one of my favourite characters so killing him off was tough but people die in war and I wanted to kill a character who would make an impact. I was also reluctant to kill Asuma this chapter, but his death is too important to the story (even though it might not seem like it right now) that I couldn't put it off.
Anyway, updates should be once every ten days or so for the next couple of months (hopefully).
Next Chapter: Attack of the Akatsuki