A/N: Hey, my loyal readers (all three of you... lol, j/k people) sorry about the inexcusable lack of updates... let's just say that bigass research papers are definitely NOT fun to have... not to mention big essays and writer's block... anyway, here's the chapter... standard disclaimers apply (and from here on out, I'm assuming that you know I don't own Naruto (after all, if I was Kishimoto-sama, why would I be writing fanfics instead of riding in my swanky limo?), so I'm not gonna say it anymore)
The Tale Of Three Outcasts
Chapter III: Bad Opinions/ New Faces, Old Friends
By: Del'Cera Osirin
The next morning, Akira awoke with a start. Trying to capture anything from the dream he just had, he felt it slip away like water through his cupped fingers. But, however much slipped away, some images remained within his grasp, like the droplets of water on grass just after it rains. The images that he had weren't clear, not by a long shot, but they weren't so fuzzy that they couldn't be made out. They flashed before his eyes, showing him a girl (who looked remarkably like his sister) riding a big, black motorcycle, picking him up; a dead Konoha shinobi, strangled with his own hitai-ate; citizens running in terror as the stone face of the Nidaime fell from the Hokage monument; and, finally, crimson eyes and a long tongue. All of this flashed before Akira in the space of a few seconds, his mind remembering all of the hurried images. Running through them backward, forward, in a different order, every possible combination Akira tried resulted in one thought. Something was going to happen. Something big. But, realizing the situation he was in, Akira shunted the pictures to the side for the moment. He decided to make a good impression on his team by making them breakfast. Finding the berries, nuts, and other foods that he needed, Akira neared the campsite, looking for one final ingredient, where he heard snippets of a conversation being held by Kakashi and the genin of Cell Seven.
"... I don't trust him. There's something about his eyes that just..." came Sasuke's voice.
"... what you mean. I sense it too. Something..." Sakura agreed.
"... how many times do I have to tell you? He's not gonna..." Naruto argued.
"Naruto, I understand you need to look at the good side of people, but there's..." Kakashi said.
"And Naruto, don't forget about his bloodline..." Sasuke piped up.
"Yeah, what the hell kind of bloodline controls paper?" Sakura continued.
"Like you're one to talk, Uchiha. After all, did you forget that you have a bloodline too?" Naruto yelled.
"Naruto! Calm down! He'll hear us!" was Sakura's hushed answer.
"Ya know, It's really rude to talk bad about people behind their backs. Oh, well. When you get back, tell the Hokage that, while I appreciate the offer, I would rather not be a ninja of a village as prejudiced as back home. See you guys later." was all Akira said to them before turning around and dropping his headband to the dirt, revealing a long strip of black leather tied around the top of his head, and a missing chunk of the top of his left ear.
"Assholes," Naruto muttered to the rest of Cell Seven before running toward Akira's retreating back, grabbing the redhead's headband on the way.
"Akira, wait!" He called.
"Yes, Naruto? Thanks for defending me, but if you want me to go back, I won't."
"Look, I'm not asking you to come back permanently. But I know you're not a bad guy. Please, just help us on this mission. If you want to leave after that, I'll let you. Hell, I might even join you. It's not like I have it easy here either. What do you say? Hmmm?"
"Well, since you put it that way, I'll help you out on this mission. But only because you're asking. If it were anybody else from your team, I'd have left long before now."
"Thanks, Akira."
"Anytime. Always happy to help a friend... that is, if you don't mind a friend with a bloodline..."
"Why would I mind?"
"Forget it. Come on, I'll make breakfast." Akira said, tying his forehead protector back on.
After a small breakfast of bite-sized pancakes, Cell Seven and Tazuna set off down the road.
"Wow, Akira! Where'd you learn to cook like that?" Naruto exclaimed as he finished the last of his pancakes. (A/N: The pancakes are finger-food in this situation, okay? Hence the words 'bite-sized'!)
"Just around. You've got to learn things pretty fast where I'm from."
"Speaking of which," Sakura queried, "where are you from? You haven't really talked about it."
"And there's a reason for that." Akira snapped. "If you really want to know about me and my past, gain my trust. Then, maybe, I'll tell you. But not a minute before. And I'll tell you right now, you won't gain my trust having little conversations like this morning. That goes for you too, Kakashi."
Everybody was stunned. Not only was the sweet, good-natured boy from the previous morning gone, but he had been replaced with somebody who was willing to speak harshly to both his teammates, and his superiors. Sakura was in shock, Sasuke was as speechless as he normally was, and Naruto was silently cheering Akira on. But, as they neared a small lake, everything fell apart. The first warning they had was when Kakashi screamed "GET DOWN!". Akira's gut hammered out a warning as they dropped, and a massive sword spun over them, right about where their stomachs would have been. As they arose, they saw a man standing on the sword, which was now buried in a tree. The man was bare-chested, with bandages wrapped around his mouth, and a strange, belt-like thing wrapped around his neck and slung across his chest. He had camouflaged arm guards that extended to his elbow,and had long pants and shinobi sandals on.
'This is my chance!' Naruto thought, 'My chance to finally show up Sasuke!'
Naruto charged forward at the strange man, but Kakashi held him back.
"Hold on, Naruto. This guy is on a whole other plane than those two we fought yesterday. Let me handle this." With that, Kakashi pulled up his hitai-ate revealing a fully developed Sharingan eye. Sasuke was stunned, Sakura was confused, Naruto was confused as well, and Akira was amazed.
'To only have the Sharingan in one eye,' Sasuke and Akira thought, 'He must've gotten it from someone. The question is, who?'
"You are not my opponent, Kakashi. Give up the old man now, and I will let you get away."
"Did you honestly think it would be that easy, Zabuza?"
"Nope. I just figured I'd ask." With that, a heavy mist rolled in. The members of Cell Seven gathered in a circle around Tazuna, when a chilling version of Zabuza's voice came through the mist, giving his "Eight Targets" monologue. Sasuke began to shiver with fright.
"Sasuke," Kakashi said, a smile on his face, "don't worry. Even if he gets me, I'll never let my teammates die!"
"Such a touching speech. Too bad it was a waste!" Said Zabuza, appearing behind Kakashi, completely prepared to cut the copy-nin in half. As Zabuza swung his massive sword, Kakashi dropped to his knees and rammed a kunai into the swordsman's abdomen. As soon as Kakashi noticed the water pouring out of the wound, he knew that 'Zabuza' was only a mizu-bunshin. Another Zabuza popped up behind Kakashi, who disappeared into a puff of smoke when Zabuza sliced him. Kakashi suddenly put a kunai around Zabuza's neck.
"Game over, Zabuza."
"Oh, really?" Zabuza replied, "then check again, Kakashi."
Suddenly, there was another Zabuza behind Kakashi. As Kakashi drew his kunai along his captive's neck, the clone exploded into water and Zabuza tried to go for the kill. Zabuza swung his mighty sword, which Kakashi ducked. Zabuza drove the blade into the ground, and, using the end of the hilt as a pivot, he swung around and kicked Kakashi square in the stomach. Kakashi went flying into a nearby lake, and tried to regroup. He was cut off, however, by the appearance of Zabuza, who promptly trapped him in a Water Prison Jutsu.
"You running around free makes my job too hard. I'll finish you after I get your brats and the old man." With that, Zabuza summoned a mizu-bunshin, which took up a position on the shore, a little ways away from where Kakashi was held up.
"Go on! Get out of here!" Kakashi said to the genin of Cell Seven, "His clone will break up after it gets a certain distance from his body! Get out of here while you can!"
As Kakashi said this, Naruto charged the mizu-bunshin, only to get kicked in the face. He went flying back, and, as he did, his headband came off, and Zabuza's clone stepped on it. Naruto noticed this, and charged the clone again, only to have the same result. This time, Sakura yelled at him for overestimating himself, before she noticed Naruto tying his hitai-ate back on his forehead. Noticing this, Sakura stopped short.
"Go ahead. Get out of here, if you want. I'm staying here. I'm going to free Kakashi-sensei."
With that, Naruto took up a stance in front of the remaining members of Cell Seven and Tazuna.
"Well? Go on!" He said, impatiently.
"If you're staying here, then so am I. I can't let my friend run off to certain death, no matter how stupid he is, eh?" Akira quipped, while taking up a loose taijutsu stance.
"I am not stupid!" Naruto retorted, "I'm just hard-headed! There's a difference!"
"Will you two bakas just shut up and concentrate?" Sasuke said, joining them.
"Yay, Sasuke-teme decided to grace us with his presence! What about you, Sakura? Gonna help us get Kakashi-sensei out? Or are you gonna take Tazuna back home?"
"We're staying." Was all the pink-haired kunoichi said.
As soon as Sakura voiced her opinion, Sasuke flipped open a demon windmill shuriken. Catching his idea, Naruto created many Kage-bunshins, all of them confusing Zabuza and his clone. Meanwhile, one Naruto threw another windmill shuriken to Sasuke, who stacked it on top of his previous one. With a mighty throw, Sasuke heaved the shuriken at Zabuza.(A/N:You know what happens here, and it's too long for me to type and get this chapter out within a reasonable timeframe. So the rest of this happens just like it does in the manga.)
As soon as the masked ninja collected Zabuza's "corpse", Kakashi collapsed on the ground, due to chakra exhaustion. This, of course, left Sasuke, Sakura, Naruto, and Akira to drag Kakashi's half-dead body to Tazuna's house. After a very uneventful journey, Cell Seven was lead to Tazuna's small home. Since Akira didn't really do much in the fight, he said he wanted to burn off some excess energy caused by his adrenalin rush by training. After making sure that Kakashi was alright, Naruto and Sasuke decided to go spar in the woods. Sakura wanted to stay behind, and help Tazuna's daughter, Tsunami, with that night's dinner. A while later, Akira came back, his excess energy gone, and Naruto and Sasuke came back, battered, bloody, and bruised, a while later. After a small dinner, everyone went to bed. The next morning, Kakashi awoke to Naruto attempting to remove his mask. As Naruto fell off, Kakashi began laughing. Soon after, Kakashi took them into the forest to show them the tree-climbing exercise. After showing them the proper form, Kakshi walked off, presumably to go back to Tazuna's house. Sakura completed the exercise first, followed by Sasuke, then Akira, and, finally, Naruto. However, because they took so long to do it, and since they used so much chakra trying to scale the tree, Naruto and Akira fell asleep on the higher branches. The next morning, Akira and Naruto found themselves lying in the clearing they had been practicing in. However, as they looked around, they spied a young girl picking herbs in the clearing. Akira felt a strange sense of nostalgia around the new girl, but quickly burshed it away, asking of she needed help. Once the two boys agreed to help her, Akira noticed what kind of herbs she had them picking.
"I hope that he is able to move around freely soon." Akira said to the girl.
She looked stunned for a moment before asking, "What makes you think that?"
"Well, I noticed that you have us picking herbs that help cure temporary paralysis, and there are better herbs for helping women, since these utilize testosterone more than estrogen, so I assume you're doing this for a guy."
The girl suddenly looked relieved, before saying, "Thanks. I'll tell him you wish for him to get well soon."
"Tell him I said the same thing!" Naruto said, traditional foxy grin in place.
"I'll make sure to do so."
After a while, all of the herbs had been picked, and the boys said goodbye to Haku (They had just learned of her name), and made their way back to Tazuna's house. After coming inside, Sakura was all over them, screaming about how they 'Could have gotten seriously hurt, or worse'. Kakashi quickly pulled her out of their face, and asked them if they would go into town and shop for some groceries. After agreeing, they were out the door again.
Once in town, Akira saw a few familiar faces, even though he had never been there before.
"Hey! Akira! Is that you?" Shouted a deep voice.
"Yuu-san! How are you! How's Mina-chan doing!" Akira said, running over to a man with black hair and brown eyes, and a small girl, no older than five, perched on his shoulders, while Naruto just watched confusedly.
"We're both fine, Akira. When did you get here?"
"Not long, only about two or three days ago. Hey, guess what! I think I finally found a place to live!"
"You're kidding! That's great, man! Where is it? I gotta come by sometime."
"Well, if I play my cards right, I think I can get a place in Konoha."
"Wow! I'm impressed, man! Well, look, I gotta go. I promised Minako I'd take her fishing. Isn't that right, Mina-chan?"
"That's wight, daddy! You pwomised!"
"Hey, it's great to see you again, Akira. Come visit if you can, alright?"
"No problem, Yuu. Hey, tell Eri-san that I said 'Hi', okay?"
"Sure thing. Say bye to Akira, Mina-chan!"
"Bye-bye, Akiwa!"
"Bye, Mina-chan!"
Walking back over to Naruto, Akira said, "If you have questions, let's get something to eat first. We'll talk then. Besides, I'm starving!" As if to punctuate his sentence, Akira's stomach chose then to let out a nice, loud growl.
Once inside the restaurant (and Naruto had a fit over the menu not having ramen), the 'interrogation' began.
"So, Naruto," Akira began, "What do you want to know?"
"First of all, how did you know what kind of herbs we were picking? They weren't covered in any of the Konoha survival guides."
"One of my first friends was an herbalist. She knew pretty much every plant I've ever seen, and what to do with it. Anything else?"
"How long did it take you to learn all of that?"
"Hmmmm… good question. My rough guesstimate would be… somewhere around… I dunno, four, maybe five years?"
"….Wow." Was all Naruto could say. How could anybody be that patient? It must've taken forever to learn how to use them right, let alone actually identify all of the useful herbs that he dealt with. "So, you got any other aces up your sleeve? Like, say, an ultra-powerful jutsu or something like that?"
"Haha, no, nothing like that. Anyway, here's our food."
Their waitress came up and deposited their orders, and Akira gave her a good tip, for he noticed that she saw them talking and she waited until they were done. Thanking him, the girl went back to the kitchen, leaving Naruto alone with Akira, and more questions than answers.
A/N: Ooohhh… mysterious! Just kidding, but anyway, a few things to cover. 1: I only have three reviews (to my knowledge), and I would really like some more. It helps me know that people want me to continue (even if they don't want me to, I will, just to spite them! HA!) and it helps give me feedback on what I do right and wrong. So please, leave a review! Okay, enough with that. I don't want people to think I'm desperate. Anyway, down to the important stuff. Should I keep Zabuza alive? Haku will definitely stick around (you'll see why soon), and I'm wondering if I should save Zabuza too. Lemme know what you think, okay? Oh, and also, I'm gonna be coming out with revised versions of my previous chapters, so…. Yeah. Anyway, talk to you next chapter!