Title: Failing Twilight
Author: Shadow Rebirth
Beta Reader: Rukia23
Rating: T/PG-13
Warnings: Death, blood and gore, coarse language, adult themes, spoilers
Chapter WC: 3,643
Total WC: 63,541
First Written: February 22, 2009
Last Edited: June 30, 2009
Posted: June 30, 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.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Failing Twilight

Chapter 12
The Mission

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Naruto sulked the whole way back to Konoha.

There was no other way to put it. He hung at the back of the group as they walked and refused to talk to either of his teammates. Finally, Kakashi sighed and turned the boy.

"What, Naruto?"

The blond glared at him. "I can't believe you made me fix that bastard's house!" he snarled.

Kakashi rolled his eyes. "Grow up, Naruto," he said shortly. "You burnt down his house, so you have to take responsibility."

"He attacked me first!" Naruto cried. "I was just defending myself."

"The circumstances don't change the fact that you burnt the house down," Kakashi replied. "You have to understand that, as a shinobi, you're a representative of Konoha. We are liable for everything that happens during a mission and even if Satoru-san wasn't our client, he was still directly related to the mission."

Naruto clenched his jaw stubbornly, but his gaze dropped down to the ground. "Still..." he muttered.

The Jounin sighed exasperatedly. "Tell me, what would have happened had you not rebuilt Satoru-san's house?" he asked. At Naruto's blank stare, he continued, "Satoru-san would've been upset and most likely would have complained to his daughter, who in turn would have been upset and would most likely turn to a different village if she ever needed help again. And what would happen if there were a hundred different missions with results similar to this? Konoha would lose business and its reputation would lower, which would, in turn, cause it to lose even more business...But, of course, that's just the worst case scenario. The point is that you must always be courteous and honorable in public because your actions reflect back on Konoha."

"But in the shadows it's an entirely different story, right?" Naruto asked dryly.

At Kakashi's cheerful nod Naruto chuckled while shaking his head. Though he still didn't agree with it, he grudgingly understood his sensei's words. He finally relaxed for the rest of the trip.

Unfortunately, Sasuke, who'd been brooding as well, didn't have such a mood lift. If anything he started sulking even more, glaring darkly at everything they passed. Even Sakura had long since begun to edge away from him.

Kakashi sighed again and decided to ignore all of his Genin for the rest of the trip. He giggled; Icha Icha was calling.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Upon returning to Konohagakure and completing his mission report, Naruto decided to head over to the training grounds. He hadn't gotten to do any training at all within the past few days and he figured that it would be a good way to blow off some steam. Or at least he thought so until he walked into the nearest training ground and found Sasuke already there. Remembering his teammate's earlier nasty mood, he immediately turned to leave, to give the boy some space.

"Naruto."

The blond sighed. Of course. Things could never be easy.

"Yeah, Sasuke?" he asked wearily.

With a sudden burst of speed, the Uchiha was across the field and standing in front of him. Naruto noticed now that he had a fierce scowl on his face and a glint of rage in his eyes. Unconsciously, he took a step back, surprised.

"Fight me."

Now that was not what he'd been expecting. "...What?"

"You heard me. Fight me."

"...No."

Sasuke snarled viciously and he clenched his fists tight enough to turn his knuckles white. "Why not?" he demanded.

"Why the hell do you think, Uchiha?" Naruto snapped. "You just come up and demand to fight me? No way in hell!"

Without another word Naruto activated his Shunshin seal and disappeared in a swirl of leaves. Once his feet were on solid ground again, he immediately headed over to his office in the Intel Headquarters. He proceeded to stomp ungracefully down the hallway, all the while ranting in his head about his teammate.

"What's got your panties in a twist?"

Naruto twitched and turned to glare at Ibiki. "Nothing!" he snapped immediately.

Ibiki's raised eyebrow spoke volumes about what he thought of the response. The Genin gave a sigh of frustration and ran an agitated hand through his hair.

"Sorry, Ibiki-sempai. It's— It's my teammate," he muttered. "He's a complete and utter jackass. Today 'e randomly came up to me and demanded that we fight. Demanded!"

"I would have thought that you'd accept."

"Normally I would," Naruto admitted. "But it fuckin' pissed me off! It was like 'e expected me ta say yes jus' because he wanted ta fight! I don't even know why 'e was put on our team; just 'cause he's a 'genius Uchiha' doesn't mean 'e can't fight worth a damn—"

"Oh, grow up, brat," Ibiki suddenly growled. Naruto reeled back, shocked. "It's attitudes like that that get shinobi killed out in the field."

"But he—"

"I don't give a damn about what he does; I'm talking about you. Stop acting so damn self-righteous and take a moment to think about why your teammate might have accosted you. People never do anything without some kind of motivation behind it."

"Never say never," Naruto retorted, just to be combative.

Ibiki gave him a withering glare. His lips thinned and for a moment it looked as though he wanted to say something else, but in the end he just shook his head.

"Go take care of your paperwork, brat," he grunted. Then he turned around and walked away, leaving Naruto feeling strangely like a child who'd been scolded. The Genin scowled at the very thought and stomped the rest of the way to his office.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The following days were very tense for Team 7. Sasuke seemed to be attempting to get a rise out of Naruto every second that he could and the blond was in turn coldly ignoring him, except for the occasional scathing comment. Sakura had no idea what to do about the situation, so she stayed out of it as best as she could. Meanwhile, Kakashi was growing more and more annoyed.

It got so bad that one day Naruto literally walked out on a mission. Ignoring Kakashi's demands for him to return, he used Shunshin to get away and decided to make his way over to one of the few places that he could relax, other than his home and Haru's tavern. A bare second later, Naruto appeared in front of a relatively large house surrounded by vegetation. He casually strode up to the door and rang the doorbell. Moments later it was opened by a middle-aged woman with dark hair.

"Ah, Naruto-kun!" the woman exclaimed. "I haven't seen you since before you became a Genin! Come in, come in. How are you? You're here to see Shikamaru, yes?"

Chuckling, the blond stepped inside. "I'm doing fine, Yoshino-san. And yeah, I'd like to talk to Shika, if you don't mind."

"Of course it's fine," the woman all but beamed. "He's probably out back, lazing around."

Not for the first time Naruto wondered how someone as apathetic as Shikamaru could be related to someone like Nara Yoshino. He nodded and thanked her politely for her hospitality before heading outside.

The Nara estate was set on acres and acres of wild land on the very borders of Konohagakure. They were responsible for raising deer whose antlers were used to make a special antidote for pills that the Akimichi clan used. That was the main reason why the two clans were so close, history aside. Directly behind the Nara's house however, was a large field that was usually used for training. Just as Yoshino had expected, Shikamaru was lying in the grass, staring up at the clouds.

Naruto dropped heavily onto the ground next to him and proceeded to make himself comfortable. Only then did he turn to Shikamaru, who'd been boring a whole in his side with his gaze.

"...I thought you had a mission today?"

Naruto shrugged. "I did," he said shortly.

Shikamaru snorted. "Trouble again?" he asked. When Naruto nodded but made no move to reply, he sighed. "Alright, come on."

"Huh?" Confused, Naruto watched as Shikamaru pushed himself up off the ground. "What're you—?"

"We're going out. You're a drag when you're like this."

The blond scoffed, but grudgingly got up as well. "Fine," he said. "Where are we going then?"

A grin leapt onto Shikamaru's face. "Where do you think?"

Naturally, a few minutes later the two Genin found themselves in the Black Wolf Tavern. Haru greeted them cheerfully and, with a wave, Shikamaru pulled Naruto over to the nearest poker game.

"You know, your mother would kill me if she knew I taught you to gamble," Naruto said.

Shikamaru rolled his eyes. "Just sit down, would you?"

It was the middle of the day and thus few people were there. Even the air itself had a lazy, sluggish feel to it. Naruto and Shikamaru had a fun regardless, especially since it'd been weeks since they'd last seen each other.

"So why do you have today off anyway?" Naruto asked eventually.

"Eh," the dark haired boy shrugged. "Asuma-sensei has a mission today. He said we could have the day off, so--"

A loud voice suddenly jarred the two. They jerked around, surprised, and found that a purple haired woman and a dark haired man had just entered the tavern, laughing capriciously.

"You got any sake, old man?" the woman asked Haru while grinning widely.

Haru rolled his eyes. "Yeah, yeah," he retorted. "Take a seat and you'll be served in a minute."

The woman nodded happily and began to wander inside when her eyes landed on the two Genin. She let out a bark of laughter and instantly headed over to them.

"Well I'll be damned!" she exclaimed. "What kind of a place is this if kids hang out here?"

"They are shinobi," her companion pointed out while glancing at their hitai-ate.

"Bah!" the woman instantly waved his comment off. "Children are children, no matter their profession."

Immediately, the woman's words struck a chord in Naruto. His shoulders tensed and a snarl leapt onto his face. Twice already this week he'd been told to grow up by adults that he trusted, so what this woman—who he didn't even know—was essentially saying the same thing caused his temper to flare.

"Don't judge people you've never met before!" he snapped angrily.

Shikamaru shot him a strange look. He placed a hand on Naruto's shoulder, pushing him back into his seat from his partially risen position.

"What my friend means to say is that we've been coming here for a long time," Shikamaru said calmly. "Our age has little influence on the matter."

The woman waved off Shikamaru's reply while grinning broadly at Naruto. "Well someone's a little firecracker, eh?" she said to him.

Haru rolled his eyes as he set down two cups of sake in front of the newcomers. "Don't mind him," he said, jerking his head in Naruto's direction. "He's been in a foul mood all week."

Naruto glared harder at the table and gritted his teeth together to make sure that he'd didn't blurt anything out. So what if he'd been in a bad mood? It felt like the entire world had been conspiring against him, so he had every right to be pissed off.

Abruptly, Naruto pushed his chair back and stood up. "I'm out of here," he muttered.

"Naruto—" Shikamaru called out, but the blond was already gone, leaving only a swirl of leaves in his wake.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"We've got another C-rank mission," Kakashi announced roughly. He'd been short-tempered the whole week; but then, all of Team 7 had been out of sorts. "Normally I wouldn't request one when you're all acting like the brats that you are, but since a mission out of the Village started all of this, perhaps another one will end it. While we're gone the three of you will behave like the shinobi that you are, regardless of your personal feelings. You will work together, like it or not."

"What's the mission, sensei?" Sakura asked quietly.

"We have to collect some special medical herbs that can only be found in a valley west of here—"

"That's just a D-rank mission," Sasuke immediately protested.

"It is," Kakashi agreed. "Just like our last mission, the only reason this one is a C-rank is because of its distance from the village and the possibility of dangerous wild animals in the area. Do you honestly believe that you three deserve anything else right now?"

None of them replied. Naruto quietly scuffed his feet on the ground, grinding his teeth and refusing to look. This wasn't his fault. He wasn't the one constantly demanding a spar, again and again and again. He was the one who—

"Right," the silver haired Jounin said sharply. "Let's move out then, yes?"

The trip out of Konoha was just as silent as the trip down from Mt. Takatsuma had been a week before. The trees seemed to rustle unusually loudly as they swiftly passed by and yet they heard no wildlife sounds. It was as though even the birds were avoiding the strange tension that had a hold on their team.

Sunset was just starting to fall when they finally arrived at the designated location: A wide valley that was dotted with trees. Plants of every type and size covered the ground, making for an interesting array of colors. It was a pretty view Naruto had to admit, although his mind was hardly on the plants.

"We'll camp here for the night," Kakashi announced. "That way we can start looking in the morning when we have full sunlight to aid our search. Well? Get going!"

Silently the three children began to move about. After a brief squabble they decided on a location for their camp—in the middle of a treeless expanse, so that nothing could sneak up on them, and on top of a hill, so that they wouldn't get flooded if it rained—gathered firewood, and laid everything out.

When Naruto began to light the pile of firewood they'd set up, Sasuke immediately slapped his hand away and started the hand seals for a fire jutsu himself. The blond snarled in annoyance, but wasn't petty enough to put out the fire so that he could do it himself. Instead he stalked away, intent on staying as far from the Uchiha as possible.

"Naruto!" Kakashi barked. "Where are you going?"

The whiskered boy thought quickly. "To patrol the area for any potential dangers—"

The Jounin paused. "Fine," he said grudgingly. "But just do a quick sweep."

Naruto's nails dug into his palms, but he didn't dare disobey a direct order from a superior—not again. He turned on his heel and stormed into the encroaching darkness. He hardly paid attention to his surroundings as he walked, caught up in his anger and frustration as he was.

When Naruto returned to camp, Kakashi set him to cooking their rations while Sasuke and Sakura set out sleeping rolls. He was stirring a little harder than was strictly necessary, not that he cared.

"Careful there," Sasuke sneered. "If you act like the thug that you are, you'll end up breaking the pot."

A twitch had formed in Naruto's left eye. "Well at least I have the strength to stir it, girly-boy," he snapped back.

Sasuke positively bristled at the insult to his masculinity. "I could beat you in a fight any day, asshole!" he growled. "That's why you keep avoiding me, right? You know you could never beat me."

"Sorry, but I just don't waste my time with cockroaches—"

"Boys!" Kakashi roared, causing the Genin to jump. "Stop figh—" Abruptly his head snapped to the side and his eyes widened in surprise. "Get down!"

Naruto heard what his sensei did in the same moment. Instantly, he leapt away from the fire, pulling Sasuke with him, just in time to avoid a hail of arrows that rained down on the camp. Moments later armed men began to pour from the surrounding clusters trees.

Bandits, Naruto quickly realized. He immediately started cursing himself; he should have noticed men like these miles and miles away! And he was the one to patrol the area too. If they were close enough to attack like this, then they had to have left signs behind. If only he'd actually been paying attention...!

"Repressed chakra," Kakashi said quickly. "They've got a small amount of chakra training—not much, but enough to make a difference."

Naruto nodded grimly and, enraged by his own slipup, he surged forward towards the oncoming men. In an instant he'd created a handful of Kage Bunshin and in another instant they were all over the bandits. Jutsu and shuriken flew around him and Naruto ducked under the blade of one bandit and in a single lightning fast motion shoved a kunai into his gut. He twisted the blade as he pulled it free and the large man fell to his knees with gasp. A quick slice at his throat and he would never get back up.

Without pausing to think, Naruto moved onto the next opponent and then the next. An exploding tag went off nearby, courtesy of one of his clones, forcing him to use his Kawarimi seal to escape the blast. Despite this, his movements never halted, his blade never stopped swinging.

Barely thirty seconds had gone by and already the bandits were nearly finished. Naruto cast a quick glance over at Kakashi and Sakura before using Shunshin to land next Sasuke.

"How's it goin'!" he called gleefully. "Still alive, I see?"

Sasuke sent him a withering glare. The dark haired boy was breathing heavily and his blood-covered hands were shaking slightly. "Fuck you, Naruto!" he snapped.

Naruto's grin just widened. "Oh come on, come on; lighten up, would you?"

Sasuke snarled silently and slashed out at the blond. Surprised, Naruto leapt back, just barely avoiding the blow.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" he yelped. "Easy there! We're in the middle of a fight, in case you hadn't noticed!"

"Exactly," Sasuke retorted. "What better time than to finally fight you?"

Naruto turned fully from the bandits. "Alright, that's it," he said seriously. "This is starting to get ridiculous. Would you at least tell me why you're so goddamned determined to make me fight you?"

Again, Sasuke snarled viciously. "Why? You're asking me why?! What the hell does it matter to you?!"

"It damn well does matter to me! I'm the one you're trying ta fight, so why wouldn't it!"

"Because you're a moron!"

"Excus—!"

"You were just some goddamn slacker in the back of the class who never showed up and only caused trouble when you did!" Sasuke ranted, oblivious to Naruto's flabbergasted expression. "You were just some kid. And then all of the sudden you're this fucking super ninja with all this knowledge and training that you shouldn't have! I've worked so damn hard to get where I am! I get up at three every fucking morning to train! And then I'm on my way to Training Ground #7 and you know what I see? You out at some restaurant, eating and laughing and having a fucking ball, without a care in the world! It's just not fair! I work twice as hard as you do and yet—"

"Don't you dare," Naruto said dangerously. Sasuke pulled up short, surprised by the dark edge in Naruto's voice. "Don't you fucking dare tell me that you've got it so 'ard! You want to know 'ow I've gotten where I 'ave? I 'ave dozens of Kage Bunshin out all the time, literally killing themselves ta get some training done. I don't sleep; I work on new projects and new techniques. I started workin' at a blacksmith's shop when I was six years old in order ta earn a living. What were you doin' back then? Playing with toy kunai?

"I've done more than you can ever begin to guess, Sasuke. I 'aven't coasted ta where I am, I've 'auled myself 'ere through sweat, blood, and fuckin' tears. I'm 'sorry' if ya think you're not getting what ya deserve, but this ain't about getting what ya deserve—no one gets that. If ya want ta become strong, you've got ta keep on getting' up at three in the mornin' every day an' keep goin' at it again an' again an' again, without complaining 'bout other people."

"Would the two of you stop acting like this is some sort of fucking pissing contest?!"

Naruto and Sasuke both jumped at the sound of their sensei's voice. Immediately they realized that they'd gotten so caught up in their argument that they'd lost sight of the fight around them. Fortunately, most of the bandits had already been taken care of by the time their own "fight" had started and now there was nothing but corpses littering the ground, staining the grass with their blood. One of the men groaned and stretched a hand upward. Kakashi offhandedly tossed a kunai. It pierced the bandit's chest with pinpoint accuracy and he fell silent, his eyes misting over with death.

The two young Genin shifted guiltily under Kakashi's scorching glare. "Do you really think that now's the time for this?" he asked, sounding both soft and harsh at the same time. Naruto shivered; he'd heard that tone once before from Ibiki right before he'd killed a prisoner. "This is why you haven't been out of Konoha; you're both acting like three year olds. You—" He pulled up short abruptly, glancing around. "Where's Sakura?"

Naruto's head snapped around, alarmed. But Kakashi's observation had been accurate: The pink haired girl was nowhere in sight and even her chakra signature was beyond Naruto's senses.

"Oh shit."

High above, the light of the failing twilight began to fade away.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Shunshin – Body Flicker technique
Hitai-ate – Forehead protector
Kage Bunshin – Shadow Clone technique
Kawarimi – Replacement technique

A/N: Geh, I really don't like the crap that went on in this chapter with Naruto and Sasuke, but it's very necessary. As such, I wanted to get it all over with in one chapter. And before anyone asks, yes, both Sasuke and Sakura will be a major character in this story—just not for a while yet. And more about the bandits and their motives will be explained in the next chapter, so don't ask about them just yet.

A few reviewers keep mentioning that by now Orochimaru would have left the Akatsuki (from back in chapter 9). As I mentioned in the AN for that chapter, having Orochimaru still with the Akatsuki is not a timeline mistake on my part. This story is AU; alternate universe. Orochimaru's past is different because he never left Akatsuki. From this point onward never assume that events are going to be the same as canon.

Also—although I don't normally do this—go read In the Breaking by eminyet. Seriously. It's potentially one of the most unique stories I've read to date and is very intriguing so far. The author also has a distinctive disjointed style that I've never come across before, which helps to make the story all the more interesting. And yet, despite this, it's virtually unknown. Eminyet's Bleach story, Soulborn, is fantastic as well if you like that fandom.

And finally, for those of you who don't know, I now have website up for info on all of my stories (and it also archives the stories themselves). If you'd like to take a look, here's the link: shadowrebirth(DOT)webs(DOT)com.

Thanks for all you reviews!

--S.R.