Title: Failing Twilight
Author: Shadow Rebirth
Beta Reader: Rukia23
Rating: T
Warnings: Death, blood and gore, coarse language, adult themes, spoilers
Chapter WC: 4,367
Total WC: 59,898
First Written: January 29, 2009
Last Edited: February 19, 2009
Posted: February 19, 2009
Summary: Naruto had learnt from a young age that life could get hectic, but all this chaos with Biju, daimyos, and psychotic missing-nin was going a bit too far. Now just throw in a fourth Great Shinobi War and you've got one pissed off seal master. AU story. No pairings.
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Failing Twilight
Chapter 11
The Hermit
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Naruto scribbled away furiously, muttering to himself every few seconds. He paused only once or twice as his thoughts began to run away with him, but every time, he quickly dove back into his work. He was so close to a breakthrough, he could taste it. It wouldn't be long now before he completed his reverse summon seal.
After hours of work, Naruto finally set his pen down for a moment. He stretched his arms above his head to work some of the kinks out of his back and yawned a greeting to Naeko as she passed by. Feeling a bit more relaxed, he moved to pick his pen back up, only to find it missing.
He halted for a second, staring at the spot on his desk where it'd been just seconds before.
"...Dammit, Naeko!" he suddenly burst out.
The blond whirled around to face her, an annoyed snarl on his face. The kunoichi froze before slowly looking back, a sheepish smile on her face. Naruto thrust his hand out, wordlessly demanding the return of his pen.
"Sorry, Naruto-sempai," Naeko murmured while grinning. She handed him back his pen and then zipped out of the room faster than he could blink.
Naruto groaned and slumped back into his chair. It had only taken him a few days after first meeting Naeko to figure out that she was a kleptomaniac: She had the irrational urge to steal anything and everything within her sight. As a shinobi, this was both a good and a bad thing for her. It was good because it allowed her to steal things without anyone, even seasoned shinobi, being the wiser. It could be disastrous, however, because it could draw undue attention to her on an important mission.
Which was probably why she'd been assigned to his team, tucked safely away in the ID base.
Suddenly, Naruto realized he could hear snickering originating from the other side of the room. Scowling, he shot a glare in the direction of Kotetsu, who was struggling—and failing—to hide his amusement. Once he saw that he'd been caught, the Chuunin burst out into laughter.
"Oh, come on, Naruto-kun," Kotetsu said through his laughter. "You've had to have gotten used to her...oddities by now."
"Just because I've gotten used to them doesn't mean I have to like them," Naruto grumbled, which only sent Kotetsu into another peal of laughter.
Naruto had been shocked all those weeks ago when Ibiki had first added Kotetsu to his team. He'd known that the Chuunin was working in the Intelligence Headquarters, of course, but he'd never expected to end up being his boss, of all things. It was decidedly odd to be able to order around one of the people who had helped to train him as he grew up.
Now if only he could order Ibiki around, his life would be complete. The very thought of it made a wide grin spread over Naruto's face.
"I don't think I want to know what's got you two in such a good mood," a dry voice spoke.
Naruto glanced up and saw a man with long brown hair walking toward them. "Good morning, Hitoshi," he greeted. "Back from your last mission?"
The third member of Naruto's team nodded with a smile. "Yes, I got back last night. I probably won't get another one for a while now, Naruto-sempai," he replied. "Oh, by the way, Ibiki-sempai is waiting at the chute; he wants to speak to you. It sounded rather...urgent."
"Everything is urgent to him," the Genin responded with a snort. Despite his words, he instantly stood up and began to put his papers away. "I'll see you two later, ne?"
"But we'll see you for the rest of the day," Kotetsu threw in, "Because you've always got these damn clones running around!"
Laughing, even as Hitoshi rolled his eyes and sighed exasperatedly, Naruto waved over his shoulder and strode out of the command center. Just as Hitoshi had said, Ibiki was standing near the elevator chute. The older man cut off the conversation he'd been having with another shinobi as the boy approached.
"Che, took you long enough to get here, brat."
Naruto twitched. "What is it, Ibiki-sempai? Why the hell do you need to see me personally? There are a few of my clones upstairs in my office."
Ibiki waved off the question but didn't bother to reply. Instead he stepped into the elevator chute, wordlessly instructing Naruto to do the same. Even once the Genin had, he didn't speak up and every question directed at him was met with stony silence. Naruto got the hint quickly enough and spent the rest of the trip to Ibiki's office glaring at the floor.
Almost as soon as they stepped into Ibiki's office, the Jounin plopped into his chair, leaving Naruto standing before the desk. Ibiki leaned back in his office chair and smirked at the blonde's stony expression. He picked a scroll up off his desk and tossed it to Naruto.
"I need you to take that to one of Konoha's guard outposts once you're out of the village," the Jounin told him.
"Uh, Ibiki?" Naruto began, his previous annoyance forgotten. "I'm not going out of the village. I'm a Genin now, remember? If I just left like that—or even just sent a clone—it could be considered a traitorous action. And I can't ask for leave or anything because I'm training with my team."
Ibiki casually waved off Naruto's words. "You'll be leaving the village today," he said confidently. "Your team is getting a C-rank mission out of the village."
"Eh?!" That certainly hadn't been what Naruto was expecting. "What the fuck do you mean?! Please don't tell me you're making the Hokage give my team a C-rank just because you want me to do errands!"
"I can't make the Hokage do anything," Ibiki replied with a roll of his eyes. "I may be the Head of Intelligence, but I'm most certainly still his subordinate. And besides, it was your sensei who requested that you guys get a C-rank. I'm just milking the situation as much as I can."
Naruto sighed and slipped the scroll away in one of his pockets. Ibiki had had him do this so many times before that it was almost routine by now.
"Fine," he muttered. "Anything else?"
"No," Ibiki said smugly. "Get out of here brat; go pack for your mission."
The Genin did so, without a word of protest for once. His mind was too preoccupied on the upcoming mission and the prospect of getting out of the village once more. After a moment, he created a Kage Bunshin to go home and pack before using Shunshin to leave the Intelligence Headquarters.
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"Today we've got another C-rank mission."
And, naturally, Ibiki had been right.
Naruto sighed as he stood in the middle of a training ground with Team 7. It wasn't that he wasn't looking forward to getting out of the village—far from it—but he'd been feeling worn down recently. Perhaps Sakura was right; maybe he was working too hard. But...It didn't matter. He was still just a Genin. He couldn't slack off yet.
"This will be our first mission out of the village," Kakashi continued, unaware of Naruto's mood.
"Finally," Sasuke grunted with a smirk. Next to him, Sakura shifted uncomfortably. She looked torn between delight and unease.
Kakashi only smiled. "The mission is a simple one and is only ranked as it is because of the distances involved," he said, cheerfully bringing down everyone's excitement. "We are to bring a letter to an old hermit who lives on Mt. Takatsuma, which is south of Konohagakure. His daughter, our client, is a civilian here in Konoha."
"That's all?" Sasuke demanded. "We're just acting as messengers?"
"I gotta agree, that this is pretty lame, sensei," Naruto agreed. "There's not even a threat of bandits!"
Still smiling, Kakashi waved the Genin away. "Go pack," he told them dismissively. "Meet me at the gates in a half an hour and we'll get going. The mission should only take around two or three days, tops."
Sasuke and Sakura left almost immediately to get ready for the mission. Naruto and Kakashi were left standing in silence in the middle of the clearing.
"...Naruto, aren't you forgetting something?"
The blond shrugged. "No. I'm already packed," he replied casually.
Kakashi stuffed his hands in his pockets and leaned back, looking aloof. "Ah, Morino mentioned something, I assume?"
Naruto gave his sensei a sharp look. "You knew?"
Kakashi's smile, hidden though it was, was more than enough of a reply. "I used to be in ANBU," the Jounin commented casually. "I still keep in contact with some of my old comrades."
"Ah." Well that explained a lot—including why so much of Kakashi's records were off-limits, even to Naruto. "So, shall we head to gates then?"
"Eh," Kakashi shrugged, "Why not. We've got nothing better to do at this point."
"Yeah...Hey, sensei, you don't think there's going to be anything...off...about this mission, do you?"
"What, like bandits attacking out of no where?" Kakashi asked with a chuckle. "No, I'm sure we'll be just fine. It's only a C-rank mission after all. What could go wrong?"
Naruto rolled his eyes. "Don't jinx us, Kakashi-sensei."
Within the next half an hour, Team 7 had gathered before the gates of Konoha. Sasuke and Sakura were both sporting packs, but Naruto had everything he could need sealed away in scrolls. Kakashi looked the same as ever, which meant that he most likely was using sealing scrolls as well. After checking in with the Chuunin guarding the gates—Naruto used his real village pass for this first time, which was both an amusing and novel experience—they set out.
For the first hour of the journey, everyone was silent. Sasuke and Sakura were unused to leaping from tree branch to tree branch at the pace that they were moving at and, as such, had most of their concentration on their feet. Naruto was abnormally quiet because he wasn't used to traveling with other people. Or at least not with shinobi—civilians, merchants and samurai alike, he traveled with all the time. Plus, the knowledge that this was his first mission out of the village made him unusually serious.
Kakashi was just reading a book that Naruto was pretty sure was porn.
Sakura eventually tried to strike a conversation up with Sasuke. He ignored her though and before long she fell silent. The pink haired girl moved on to Naruto, but the conversation was awkward and didn't take very long to fall flat.
As an awkward, tense atmosphere fell over the Genin, Naruto suddenly realized that he had almost next to nothing in common with his teammates. Or at least nothing that he knew about, and, admittedly, he knew barely anything about either of them. Hell, he didn't even know if Sakura came from a civilian or shinobi family! His instincts told him civilian, but he could very well be wrong.
When the silence got a little too uncomfortable, Naruto fell in step with Kakashi and began to softly ask the man about his days in ANBU, since that was at least something that he understood a little bit about. Fortunately, Kakashi was more than willing to share anything that wasn't classified and they quickly fell into a casual discussion.
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Sasuke would be the first person to admit that he wasn't very social, but even to him Team 7's dynamics were awkward. The tense atmosphere surrounding them as they made their way towards their destination was more than proof of this.
Or at least it had been until Naruto and Kakashi had started a conversation about Kakashi's old missions. Sasuke was admittedly intrigued, not just by the topic, but by how easily the two interacted, despite the wide gap in their ages.
When he really thought about it, Sasuke realized that he knew nothing about Naruto, even though they'd been on the same team for two months now. He knew that he was an orphan and that he traveled around a lot. He also knew that Naruto had received advanced shinobi training, but the blond never explained how, from whom, or—most importantly—why.
Sasuke's hands clenched tightly at his sides. It just wasn't fair, in his mind. He'd been training for years and years in order to catch up with his brother, but no matter what he did it felt like it just wasn't enough. Every step he took fell short, every jutsu he learned wasn't powerful enough, and every person he fought turned out to be stronger than him. He'd worked so hard, but it just wasn't enough.
And then along came Naruto, a slacker who rarely even attended school, who never seemed to try. And he surpassed Sasuke so casually, like it was the easiest thing in the world. It was enough to make Sasuke's blood boil.
At this rate, he'd never be able to kill Itachi.
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By sunset, Team 7 had reached a large town called Hajime. It was mostly a farming town, though a minor lord lived in the area so there were quite a few shops and hotels.
"We'll stay here for the night," Kakashi told his team. "If we leave first thing in the morning we should be able to reach our target by noon tomorrow. So, we need to find a hotel—"
"No need, Kakashi-sensei," Naruto interrupted cheerily. "I have a friend who lives here who should be able to give us board for the night, no problem."
Kakashi gave Naruto a calculating look for a moment before shrugging nonchalantly. "That's fine, Naruto-kun. It'll save us money at the very least," he said. "Please, lead the way."
With a nod, Naruto did so. He wound his way into the village, recalling the times he'd been here before. The man that he knew owned a large store, which was how Naruto had met him in the first place: They'd been introduced by a merchant. Naruto had spent the night at his house several times before and had no doubt that the man would help them.
Eventually, Naruto came to a stop in front of a two story store. He raised a hand to knock on the closed door, only to abruptly freeze as he realized something: His friend had never met him as Uzumaki Naruto, but rather as brown haired, golden eyed Nanashi Yuurei.
Slowly, Naruto turned around to face his team. "Er, there's just one thing before we go in," he said sheepishly. At their puzzled expression he quickly formed a Kage Bunshin and layered a Henge over it, to give it the appearance of Yuurei. "This is...Our forth teammate."
"Any particular reason why we've just gained another Genin?" Kakashi asked dryly.
"Well this is sort of how Daisuke, my friend, knows me. It's a long story..."
"One of which you'll have to share sometime, hmm?" Kakashi sighed. "Well, lead the way, Naruto. I'm hungry."
Naruto rolled his eyes and turned back to the door. While "Yuurei" knocked, the blonde surreptitiously created another couple of Kage Bunshin, which were also under Henge. If Yuurei ever got dispelled, one of these clones would instantly switch with him. After all, it wouldn't do to have their "teammate" suddenly disappear.
Almost as soon as Yuurei had knocked on the store's door a shout came from within. "We're closed! Come back tomorrow morning!" Yuurei continued to knock. More grumbling came from within the shop before the door finally opened, revealing a middle-aged man with dark hair and a bead. "Didn't you hear me? We're— ...Yuurei-kun?"
The clone smiled. "Hey Daisuke," he said cheerfully. "Long time no see?"
For a moment Daisuke just gaped at him. Then, suddenly, he began laughing. "Yuurei-kun!" he repeated. "Well I'll be damned, it is you! Long time is right; it's been almost two years since you last stopped by. How've you been? How's Haru, for that matter?"
"Fine, fine," Yuurei replied, chuckling at the mention of the bartender. "I'm a Genin now; an official shinobi. This is my team."
Daisuke lifted his eyes to the rest of the group and smiled warmly. "Any friend of Yuurei's is a friend of mine. Please, come in!"
Daisuke took them all to the stairs at the back of the store and up to the second story, which was where his home was located. It was bright and cheery upstairs and the group could hear the sounds of conversation coming from the kitchen.
"So," Daisuke said once he'd seated them all in the living room, "What brings you and your team here, Yuurei-kun?"
"We're on a mission; heading over to Mt. Takatsuma, actually," Yuurei replied. "I don't mean to impose, but we need board for the night and I was wondering—"
"Of course you can stay here for the night!" Daisuke instantly said, smiling broadly. "I don't mind helping out in the slightest and my wife and daughter will be delighted to entertain guests. Plus, I owe you for getting my merchandise back after the incident that you helped me out with when I last saw you." He hesitated suddenly. "...You're going to Mt. Takatsuma, you say? Be careful up there, Yuurei-kun; there have been rumors of bandits in the area recently."
Yuurei frowned and Naruto swiftly exchanged glances with Kakashi. "Bandits?" the clone questioned. "Really? Thanks for the warning, Daisuke."
The older man smiled again, though this time it was tempered. "No problem," he said and then his eyes strayed back to the rest of the shinobi. "In the mean time, let me introduce you to my family!"
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That night, once everyone was asleep, Naruto created another Kage Bunshin and sent it out of the town. Tucked safely away in the clone's pocket was the scroll that Ibiki had given Naruto that morning.
It took Naruto over three hours to reach the guard outpost near the border between Fire Country and River Country. It was a rather unassuming wooden building built right alongside a major road. There was a shinobi stationed outside, leaning against the wall and flipping through Icha Icha Paradise.
Naruto twitched at the sight. What was it with shinobi and being openly perverted? At least Kakashi usually put the book away when he was training them.
"Hey," Naruto greeted, causing the shinobi to look up sharply. The blond flashed his scroll briefly. "I've got a delivery."
The older man nodded seriously and led the way into the building. Naruto took a seat on the nearest bench immediately, knowing that he would have to wait while the guard went to get his superior; it was standard procedure. Only a few minutes later the guard returned with a Jounin.
"Well?" the older shinobi grunted.
Wordlessly, Naruto pulled out the scroll and channeled a small amount of chakra into the seal on it; a chakra seal that would only respond to his chakra. It was placed there so that if something happened to Naruto, no one else would be able to open it. A simple but effective security measure.
The Jounin took the scroll and read it with narrowed eyes. When he'd finished, he nodded sharply and Naruto couldn't help but wonder what the scroll could have said to make him look so solemn.
"Thank you, Uzumaki-san. You're dismissed."
The blond bowed politely and then disappeared in a puff of smoke. Many miles away, back in Hajime, Naruto stared up at the ceiling with thoughts of the scroll swirling around in his mind.
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Team 7 left the town of Hajime first thing the next morning. They were given a warm sending off by Daisuke's family, during which "Yuurei" promised to stop by again sometime soon. Sasuke was silent throughout the whole ordeal, but Sakura and Kakashi had both been surprisingly friendly.
The team made their way quickly along the road that led to the south. Mt. Takatsuma was already in view, rising up on the horizon. Just as Kakashi had said, they'd probably reach it around noon.
"So who are we delivering the letter to anyway, Kakashi-sensei?" Sakura asked curiously.
"A hermit who lives in the mountains," the silver haired Jounin replied. "Apparently his daughter usually visits him once a year, but she broke her leg recently and is unable to make the trip. Thus, we're bringing a letter from her instead."
"I still say that there are courier-nin who could do this instead," Sasuke muttered.
"But the courier-nin have more important jobs to do, Sasuke-kun," Kakashi pointed out. "They're usually carrying messages between the Villages."
The group lapsed back into silence after that and only a few words were spoken as the path began to wind its way up the mountain. They'd long since left the trees to travel by foot because, as none of them were familiar with the area, they had to follow the road. By the time the sun was high in the sky a hut appeared in the distance, partially hidden by the trees.
"That's probably it," Naruto said. Without hesitated he strode up to the door and knocked. "Hello? Is anyone—"
The door pushed open under his first. Surprised, Naruto stood blinking in the doorway for a moment. He pushed the door all the way open and glanced inside. The wooden hut consisted of only one room and was empty but for a few simple pieces of furniture.
Frowning, Naruto turned back to his team. "No one's here." The hairs on the back of Naruto's neck were standing up and his every instinct was screaming that something was wrong.
Kakashi's expression reflected Naruto's internal unease. He opened his mouth to say something, but was interrupted by the sound of something whistling through the air. Naruto turned instantly and grabbed a metal staff inches before it hit his head. No sooner had he done so, however, than a fist collided with the underside of his chin and he found himself flying through the air.
Naruto righted himself as he landed and immediately created a dozen Kage Bunshin. While they distracted the attacker, he tossed in a couple of kunai wrapped in shrapnel-carrying explosion seals. A few of the Kage Bunshin stood in front of his team, blocking them the following explosion.
The blond waited tensely for the dust to clear, looking for any sign of the attacker. Only moments later he froze however, feeling cold metal against his throat. Behind him a rough voice chuckled.
"Not bad, boy," the person rasped. "But not quite good enough."
The corner of Naruto's mouth quirked up. That might have been true—had Naruto not had a Kawarimi seal tattooed onto his body. He'd already switched with the nearest Kage Bunshin. An instant later the Kage Bunshin lunged forward, causing the blade to tear through its throat and subsequently destroy the clone. At the same time the real Naruto slapped a seal onto the attacker's back and the man froze in place.
Stepping back with a smug smile, Naruto relaxed and took a moment to really look at the attacker. To his surprise it was an elderly man with tufts of white hairs, wrinkly skin dotted with age spots, and gnarled limbs. The knuckles on his hands, which still tightly held a kunai, were twisted and bony, like knots on a tree.
"That's enough, Naruto-kun," Kakashi said calmly from a few feet away. Next to him Sasuke and Sakura were gaping in shock. "Please stop attacking our client's father."
Naruto couldn't help but do a double take. "Wait, what?!"
"Satoru Tadao, right?" Kakashi asked the old man. When he received no answer—not even a twitch—the Jounin directed a raised eyebrow at Naruto.
"Er, sorry, sensei," Naruto said while rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly. "The seal I used disrupts the electrical signals passing between nerves. He won't be able to move for another minute or so." At Kakashi reproachful look, the boy gave an indignant glare. "What? I di'n' know that 'e was our target! 'e attacked me for fuck's sake!"
"Your language is slipping."
Infuriated, Naruto's glare upped a notch. He knew that an accent started to slip into his tone whenever he got pissed off. He didn't need his sensei to point it out.
Naruto opened his mouth to give an angry retort, but before he could he was distracted by a groan from in front of him. His eyes snapped back to Satoru, the old man, just in time to see him overcome the effects of the seal with a shudder. The next thing the blonde knew he was lying on his back, staring up at the sky.
"...What the hell?" Naruto wondered allowed.
Completely unconcerned, Satoru peeled Naruto's seal off his back and studied it curiously. "Interesting," he muttered. "I've never seen one like this before."
Naruto groaned and pulled himself onto his feet. "Old man, why the hell did you attack me?"
"You expected to just waltz into my home without any retaliation?" Satoru scoffed. "Are you stupid, boy?"
The Genin bristled angrily, but Kakashi quickly stepped in before another fight could break out. "We apologize, Satoru-san," he said. "We hadn't known that you were a shinobi. We were sent by your daughter to deliver a message." As he spoke, he pulled a thick envelope from his vest and held it out.
Satoru looked Kakashi up and down suspiciously before snatching up the proffered letter. He took a few minutes to glance it over before finally nodded and looking back up.
"She always has been clumsy," he said grudgingly. "Thank you..."
"Hatake Kakashi."
The elderly man quirked an eyebrow in recognition of the name and then nodded solemnly. "Thank you, Hatake-san. And you, boy?"
Naruto shot the man another glare. "Uzumaki Naruto," he bit out after a moment.
Satoru nodded sharply. "Well then, Uzumaki Naruto: Fix my house."
"Excuse me?"
Wordlessly, Satoru pointed back at his hut. Or rather, where what had once been his hut was burning, thanks to Naruto's explosive seal. The blond groaned again and dropped his head into his hands.
Why couldn't things ever go smoothly?
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A/N: No, no bandits, despite the many hints that there might be some. The first mission out of Konoha always goes wrong in every fanfic, so I decided to do something a bit different. This mission was important for other reasons though, which will soon become clear. Also, the vote for more screen time for Ibiki was unanimous, so that will be happening. Also, someone requested that I write more interaction between Naruto and his subordinates, so there will be such scenes coming up as well.
A reviewer commented that chakra signals (for chakra headsets, tracking seals, etc) would get disrupted every time someone preformed a jutsu. This isn't the case though: It was mentioned in chapter 420 of Naruto that there are different frequencies of chakra waves and that particular devices can be used as chakra receivers. The chakra headsets and seals used in this story do work because they use different frequencies like this. It's a lot like how Pein controls his other bodies.
I keep forgetting to mention this, but a few chapters back, when the concept about the emperor was introduced, one or two people said that it couldn't work because the countries are in constant warfare. It actually does work, however, because the same thing happened in Feudal era Japan. There was an emperor whom all the daimyo served under, but those daimyo still often fought amongst themselves, trying to gain more power and land. I'll go more detail into how this works in the shinobi countries when it comes to the part in the story where such information is important
...I've also got a new Naruto story out. I couldn't help myself, really. This story will still be my main focus though. For those of you who are interested, it's called Reality's Illusion. Check it out if you'd like!
And, finally, there's one last thing that I need to say: Because, apparently, some people can't check my profile to find out, I am female not male. With breasts and everything—shocking, I know. Sorry if I sound a little harsh right now, but I've gotten just one too many reviews referring to me as a guy. It's no biggie, but now you know.
Thanks for all your reviews! More info on this story can be found at www(DOT)groups(DOT)yahoo(DOT)com/group/ShadowRebirthFanfiction.
--S.R.
"It is doubtless impossible to approach any human problem with a mind free from bias." – Simone de Beauvoir