Ahhh...that was refreshing, nothing like a nice long rest after so much frakking work.
Kakashi: (mutters) all you did was laze around doing nothing, I had to do the work!
Kugan: Hey, there's a perfectly good reason for that!
Kakashi: (Suspicious) Which is?
Kyugan: I don't like you, (cracks whip) now get back to work, or do I need to call in a favor from Hiruma?
Kakashi: (Turns pale with horror) NOOOOOO! Anything but HIM!
Kyugan: Then roll the tape already!
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A deceitful ploy; Kakashi's training!
Kakashi used shunshin to teleport down to Zabuza's limp form and checked the vitals, frowning at what he discovered.
'…WAY dead…' the jounin muttered, eying the youth in the trees warily. The masked teen bowed, voice muffled by the mask, disguising whatever the wearer's gender was.
"I thank you for your assistance," it greeted, "I hope you don't mind my interfering in your battle, but I wanted the satisfaction of putting Zabuza out of his misery myself."
Kakashi gazed at the teen cautiously, a calculating expression on his face. "The mask looks familiar," he noted, "correct me if I'm wrong…but aren't you a hunter Nin from kirigakure no Sato?"
The figure paused with its head tilted slightly, almost approvingly, "Aren't you a smart one?"
"Hunter nin?" Domon repeated with a frown, bracing himself for an attack as the figure nodded.
"I am indeed a Hunter nin, of Kirigakure's elite tracking unit." The figure paused, no doubt for effect, "It is our responsibility…and our art…to hunt down and deal with Rogues and Outlaws."
Recca flinched at this, before raising an eyebrow critically. "So you're basically the reason people don't betray heir villages?" he prodded, prompting the figure to chuckle lightly.
"You could say that…" the figure admitted.
Kakashi paused, eyeing the figure carefully as his students caught his, (he ASSUMED it was male) gaze.
'Judging by size and voice timbre…he couldn't be much older than Naruto…or any of my students,' he narrowed his eyes at the figure, 'yet he's already a full-fledged hunter-nin!'
The jounin leveled a watchful look at the masked teen, shivering slightly at the soulless gaze of the mask. 'He's no ordinary kid, that's for sure!'
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Naruto gazed from Zabuza's corpse to the shinobi hunter before glaring at the latter, who seemed interested at the attention.
"What's going on here?!" the blonde yelled, pointing at their apparent ally suspiciously, "Who are you?!"
Domon and Recca flinched, before Recca placed a hand on the blonde's shoulder.
"He's not our enemy Naruto, relax would ya?" he frowned, gazing up at the masked teen in interest. "Though it is weird…were you following Zabuza all this time, or did you only show up when we started fighting?"
Domon snorted, steam leaving his left nostril as a sign of the giant's irritation. "Letting us do all the work…I oughta smash ya one!" he growled, twitching his fingers, making the joints pop.
The hunter-nin's head tilted, holding his palms up defensively at the larger teen's anger. "I do apologize," he assured them, "but a true shinobi takes advantage of any and all situations, Zabuza was distracted, so I took the shot."
"That's not it!" Naruto growled, pointing at the teen, "You can't be much older than us! Yet you took out Zabuza, who ain't no pushover Y'know!"
The blonde stamped a foot and glared at the ground, obviously put out. "Do we just suck or something?!"
Kakashi sighed as he walked up to the blonde and patted him on the head calmingly.
"Calm down," he soothed, "there will always be someone stronger or better at something than you…that's life."
He eyed his students carefully, making sure they were giving him their full attention before continuing. "This probably won't be the first time we bump into someone younger than you…and stronger than ME."
The genin scowled, each to his own thoughts, as the hunter-nin scooped up Zabuza's corpse. "The battle is over," he stated calmly, "Zabuza's remains must be disposed of, lest it reveal our villages secrets."
The masked Nin made a seal and nodded, sending a parting look towards a still mumbling Naruto.
"Farewell."
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They vanished in a plume of smoke, leaving a disarrayed team seven and Tazuna behind as the bridge builder started laughing to lighten the mood.
"You brats gotta feel humiliated after that!" he taunted, eyes closed and cheerful, "No matter, you can lick your wounds at my place! It's not like any of you are dead right?"
At that moment, Kakashi keeled over limply, with all the grace of a sack of potatoes.
"Sensei!" the group, sans Sasuke, called out, dashing towards him in concern, only to find him twitching slightly, an pained expression on his face.
'Damn…' Kakashi muttered, eye half shut with exhaustion, 'I used the sharingan too much…'
Domon grunted and hefted the jounin over his shoulders as easily as if he weighed nothing at all, causing Tazuna to sweatdrop at the feat of strength.
'Aren't the roles kinda reversed here?' the old man muttered, only to be ignored because the multi-verse really couldn't give a shit.
"Man, old age must really be getting to you sensei," Domon mocked, "WE haven't even broken a sweat!"
Kakashi twitched, glaring at the back of the giant's head as he carried him down the path. 'Like you did anything remotely as strenuous against Zabuza…' he began; only to trail off with a sigh as the group headed off towards the bridge builders house.
'Ah well,' he conceded, 'they managed to work as a team anyway.'
He winced as Domon shook him as they passed over a slight dip in the path, earning a feeble grunt of protest from the jounin as his body flared in protest.
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At Tazuna's house, Tsunami made sure that Kakashi was comfortable, wondering how he'd managed to develop saddle sores across his abdomen, to which Kakashi refused to elaborate, though he did mutter something about insensitive giants and rural paths. As the woman went about ministering to the jounin, team 7 went about tending to their own wounds.
"Good idea bringing that medical kit Domon." Recca muttered as he disinfected a cut from the bunshin's Zanbato, the giant rolling the cap back on the bottle.
"What about my hand?" Naruto asked, only for Recca to tell him to keep it down with a look, sighing in relief that neither Kakashi nor Sasuke had noticed. The former receiving a massage from Tsunami and Tazuna to ease the swelling, and the latter too busy glaring out the window.
(Not here, later) Recca signed to the blonde, who nodded in understanding, making a fuss as Domon checked him over for injuries.
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With Kakashi safely tucked away, still a little stiff about the abdomen, the group turned their attention to other matters, namely the masked Nin that took out Zabuza.
"That mask is worn by the elite amongst the Kirigakure hunter-nins, codenamed the 'Undertaker Squad'." Kakashi explained, from his prone position on the futon. "They're called that because they dispose of corpses so thoroughly it's as if they never existed."
Recca shivered, looking disturbed at the thought. "I knew a shinobi's life wasn't glamorous," the teen muttered, shaking his head, "but that just doesn't sound right…I mean, we serve our villages loyally, just to be carved open later?"
Kakashi sighed, silently agreeing with the teen, but lacking the energy to correct him on the importance of the teams and the essential need for secrecy.
"In any case," he continued, "Hunter-nins specialize in hunting down missing-nins, and obliterating their remains, in order to ensure their villages respective secrets remain just that."
He gazed at his team, a somber mood in his eye. "Silently and without a trace, that is how Shinobi leave this world."
The occupant's of the room lowered their heads reverently, except for Domon, who shivered at an image of Zabuza's corpse lying in several pieces like building blocks.
'I hope Fuko doesn't become a hunter Nin…' he muttered, shivering at the image of his beloved chasing after him with a bloody chainsaw.
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Zabuza sat up, ripping a senbon out of his neck and glaring at his masked accomplice accusingly. "You have all the finesse of a butcher." He growled, prompting a smile from the teen.
"I learned from the best." Was the reply, before the figure looked round warily, "regardless, without us noticing, the mist has lifted."
Zabuza said nothing, prompting the masked teen to look at him. "Will you be alright, next time?" Haku queried, causing Zabuza to nod tiredly, a glare in his eyes as he re-arranged his wrappings.
"Next time," the jounin muttered, "I'll defeat the sharingan."
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Kakashi jerked awake suddenly, startling Recca and Naruto, who were sitting near the bed, the two promptly hiding their hands from view and completely failing to look innocent.
'It can't be that simple,' the jounin muttered, missing the expressions due to his current state, 'I THOUGHT I missed something!
"Sensei, you alright?" Recca asked, leaning over to help the jounin sit up, suppressing a chuckle at the fake lips that had been drawn on the man's mask.
"…Of course," Kakashi muttered, having not been paying attention, "hunter-nin usually dispose of their kills at once, right on the spot."
"So?" Naruto muttered, looking confused, snickering on the inside as he eyed the pile of mascara he'd put on the masked man's face.
"Think about it," the jounin replied tiredly, "how did the masked kid dispose of Zabuza's corpse?"
Domon blinked, "Dunno…didn't he take it with him?"
"Exactly, though all he needed as proof of a kill was the head." Kakashi muttered, "And then there's the weapon's he used."
Recca blinked, trying to recall what the teen had used and frowning in confusion. "Senbon needles?" he prompted, earning a nod from Kakashi.
Sasuke flinched in realization, eyes widening in shock. "No way…"
Kakashi frowned, nodding his head in a serious manner that completely belied his appearance. "…WAY."
Tazuna looked between the ninja's in confusion, scratching his head. "What's the problem Kakashi-san?" he asked, though he couldn't help but let out a small chuckle at the jounin's new appearance.
Kakashi leveled a serious glare at them all, internally wondering what the hell they found so damn funny.
"Its likely," he explained, "that Zabuza is still alive!"
Recca, Domon, Naruto and Tazuna's faces went completely bug eyed and block toothed, while Tsunami looked confused, having not been told everything for her own peace of mind, let alone the fact she hadn't taken the grey haired jounin to be into THAT.
"What the heck are you talking about?!" Naruto yelled as he recovered, whilst Domon had a panic attack, running around the room screaming like a schoolgirl, complete with arm flapping.
"You checked his vitals didn't you?!" Recca asked, gripping the startled jounin by the flak-jacket, "He was dead right?!"
Kakashi nodded, looking solemn as he pried his pupil's hands off him. "I checked," he admitted, "but a skilled user of acupuncture needles could make it only APPEAR like Zabuza was dead, a temporary death if you will…"
As the jounin finished explaining the basics, the group shivered, Tazuna thought it was from fear but Kakashi knew otherwise.
'Recca, Domon and Naruto…seem excited at the possibility Zabuza survived.' He snorted, shaking his head. 'Weird kids.'
"So what're we gonna do?" Domon asked, having calmed down in mid-lecture, "We can't just sit around all day!"
Kakashi grinned behind his mask, eye resembling an inverted U. "Do?" he asked playfully, "Simple, I'm going to increase your training!"
The yells of glee deafened the adults and Sasuke as the trio grouped together to dance a merry jig.
"More training! Sweet!" Recca yelled.
"And from a jounin too!" Naruto added.
"The Brow-less wonder won't have nothing on us!" Domon finished, the three high-fiving each other.
"It won't do you any good." A child's voice muttered, the group spinning round to spy a young boy standing in the doorway.
"Inari, welcome home!" Tazuna yelled, opening his arms to embrace the boy. Inari looked at the ninjas, letting his gaze hover over the trio in particular, then pointed at them, a deadpan look on his face.
"Mama, they're all gonna die." He muttered, before eyeing Kakashi and nodding, "Especially the gay one."
"WHAT DID YOU SAY YOU BRAT?!?!" the trio roared in symmetry, deafening everyone else in the immediate area. Kakashi merely blinked at the child's comment, before casting a look towards an annoyed Sasuke.
'I had my suspicions,' he admitted, 'but how'd this kid come to that conclusion?'
Inari, non-plussed, walked off towards his room, glaring at them over his shoulder. "If you don't wanna die, leave now." He muttered, closing the door to the room as he left
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as the child departed, Recca, Domon and Naruto were left trembling in rage, causing Kakashi to wince at the collective killing intent they were giving off, so thick it was like a black cloud hovering behind them.
"Tsunami-san?" the jounin prompted, gaining the woman's attention, "Could you make sure you keep Inari away from my students?"
He nodded at the dark aura they were giving off, laughing weakly as a tendril slithered past, causing his hair to shiver. "It would be to his benefit."
Tsunami sweatdropped at the sight of the trio's aura; shivering slightly as the occasional tendril wafted past her. "H-hai…" she stuttered, watching as the teens trudged off to let off some steam via beating the shit out of each other. When the left, she eyed the jounin carefully for a few minutes, before coughing, catching his attention.
"I have a friend in town…" she muttered offhandedly, a flush on his cheeks, "Do you want me to introduce you?"
Kakashi blinked and raised an eyebrow at her, "Pardon?"
Tsunami flushed and looked away, mortally embarrassed. "A-ano, forgive me," she muttered, "it's just…with that makeup…"
The jounin blinked again before patting his face, looking over at a nearby, crack-ridden mirror.
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The trio blinked and looked up as they heard a rather high-pitched squawk shatter the air, before each felt their faces settle into an appreciative sigh.
"Priceless." Domon muttered, as he listened to the echoes die down, Recca nodding his head in agreement, before slugging the giant in the teeth.
"Don't let your guard down Franken-dick!" the enjutsu-shi taunted, skipping out of the enraged teens reach.
"I'LL FLOSS MY TEETH WITH YOUR SPINE FOR THAT HANABISHI!"
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"For this exercise we will be climbing trees." Kakashi said, smiling at the genin cheerfully, despite the vein bulging in his hair. The jounin didn't know how, he didn't know when, but he was damn well going to make the trio suffer for the makeup gag, and a nice embarrassing session of tree climbing seemed like a good way to start.
Sasuke raised an eyebrow as the 'buffoons', as he commonly referred to the trio, began to shake with badly suppressed laughter. 'What's so funny about this?' he muttered, before turning back to blink at Kakashi as the jounin walked up the tree and smiled down at them all, upside down.
"That's it in a nutshell." The jounin explained, "Theoretically, mastery of this jutsu means there shouldn't be ANY jutsu beyond your capabilities."
Recca snorted, waving a hand dismissively as Kakashi leveled off. "Yeah right Sensei," he boasted, "there's nothing difficult about walking up a tree."
Domon grinned, crossing his arms and nodding. "Yeah," he agreed, "I bet we could manage it on our first try!"
"That so?" Kakashi asked, raising an eyebrow, "Care for a little wager?"
The trio grinned, nodding their heads rapidly. "Name it." Naruto said, confidently, causing the jounin to pause in thought, before snapping his fingers.
"Okay," he called out, "If you can't make it up the tree on your first try, you don't get dinner and can't come back to the house till you can."
Recca grinned, pointing at the jounin confidently. "And if we do," he countered, "you gotta teach us a cool jutsu each!"
Kakashi paused for a moment, weighing the odds mentally before deciding it was worth a shot.
"Alright, fine." He muttered tossing kunai at the genins' feet, "Use those to mark your progress."
The trio grinned at each other in victory, prompting a look of interest from the jounin, before getting into running poses, like marathon runners.
"On your marks," Recca called out, "Get set…GO!"
And to the shock of the Uchiha and Jounin, all three virtually sprinted up the sides of their respective trees, disappearing into the canopy.
"Ha!" Recca's voice called out, "Domon! Naruto! Race ya to the top!"
"No fair Hanabishi!" Domon bellowed, "You got a head start!"
"Nii-san you cheater!" Naruto's whine cut through the leaves like an air-raid siren, humor echoing in his tones as much as the anger.
Kakashi stared gob-smacked as the trio disappeared into the canopy, wondering if he'd fallen and hit his head for a moment, before all three stuck their heads down and grinned at him cheekily, like a pack of monkeys that had nailed a daimyo with their spoor.
"Don't forget, you promised sensei!" they reminded him, far too sweetly for the jounin's liking, before disappearing into the leaves again to resume their race.
'I'm really not being paid enough for this' Kakashi muttered, making a mental note to demand a larger salary the moment he laid eyes on the Hokage again, that is if he didn't strangle the old man first for getting him into this mess.
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Sasuke shook with rage, eyes twitching uncontrollably as the leaves fell about him.
'How do those…those REJECTS…manage to upstage me every time?!' he snarled, before clenching his fists and glaring up into the canopy, where the trio's voices were still audible. 'I'll show them!'
The avenger gathered as much of his chakra as he could to the soles of his feet and ran up the side of his designated tree, but his anger caused him to channel too much, and he was sent blasting off the tree like a rocket, landing on his back on the ground a good five feet away, cursing out loud as he cradled his head.
Recca winced, shaking his head in sympathy as he watched the Uchiha thrash around in pain. "Looks like Uchiha isn't getting any lunch." He muttered, to which Domon and Naruto whooped.
"More for me!" the giant roared, raising his fists in the air, Naruto agreeing with him wholeheartedly, before they began to argue over who got the avenger's portion of the meal.
Kakashi sighed, as he watched leaves and twigs rain down from the bottom of the trees as the argument moved towards more physical methods.
'This is definitely not how I expected things to happen.'
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After taking Sasuke back to the house to recover from knocking himself out, the trio lined up before their sensei and grinned innocently, like a trio of choirboys before a ST. Peter.
Kakashi wasn't buying it for a second.
"Before I begin," the jounin muttered, a curious look on his face, "where did you learn tree climbing?"
"Konoha." They replied sweetly, halos hovering over their heads as they refused to go into more detail, causing the jounin to sigh heavily.
"And why wasn't I informed?" he asked, hoping to find a toehold in this conversation before it turned against him.
"You never asked, sensei." Recca replied cheekily, to which Domon clapped his shoulder, grinning at the jest, causing Kakashi to shake his head in surrender.
"Right," the Jounin sighed, "so what do you want to learn?"
Recca smiled, and raised his hand. "Anything involving Ninjutsu!" he called out, the other two nodding enthusiastically.
Kakashi shrugged, not seeing the harm in that little request, "Fine, what type?"
"Well," Recca paused, looking confused "do you know any good fire jutsu?"
Kakashi paused to think for a moment, before shrugging. "Not really," he replied honestly, "just the standard fire techniques, you might want to ask Sasuke?" he asked, hoping to get the Uchiha involved somehow, possibly even bolstering the avengers confidence and teamwork skills in the process.
The look of annoyance of Recca's face shot those thoughts down in flames.
"I'd sooner deep-kiss Franken-dick here." The enjutsu-shi muttered in disgust, earning a look of revulsion from the giant.
"Forget it!" Domon bellowed, "My lips are reserved for Fuko!"
Kakashi sighed, shaking his head at the youth's stubbornness.
"Well, sorry, not much help with fire jutsu."
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Recca grumbled as Domon stepped forward, looking hopeful. "Got any decent Taijutsu training tips?" he asked, prompting the jounin to look thoughtful for a moment.
"A little," Kakashi admitted, "what type you looking for?"
"Speed training." The giant said, looking hopeful, since the jounin hadn't exactly denounced anything yet.
'I can see why.' The jounin muttered, running a critical gaze over Domon's massive frame. Out of his entire cell, Domon was the slowest, and the giant was constantly trying to improve on this weakness, but as of yet had failed to make much progress.
"I know a weight jutsu that a friend of mine uses for training," Kakashi stated, wincing at the thought of his spandex loving rival, "give me your bracers."
The giant nodded and handed the bracers over eagerly, watching carefully as Kakashi wrote the kanji for '500' on them before handing them back.
"Make the Boar seal and channel your chakra into them." The jounin instructed, eyeing the giant carefully as he put them back on. Domon did as he was told and felt the bracers grow heavier with slight alarm.
"Each bracer weighs at least 500 pounds," Kakashi explained, "So that's 2000 in total."
He watched as the giant lifted each limb experimentally, before nodding in satisfaction. "I suggest sticking to light exercises until you're ready."
The giant nodded and walked back to his teammates, stiffly trying to maintain upright as Naruto moved forward with an eager smile.
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"Any jutsu's cool!" the blonde stated happily, "How about some water jutsu, like the one's you stole form Zabuza!"
"No," Kakashi muttered with a small frown, "those jutsu are way beyond the levels of any genin, using them could drain you dry."
Naruto frowned, stamping his foot stubbornly. "I don't care!" he yelled, pointing at the jounin stubbornly, "I bet you I can do them in one night!"
Kakashi sighed, shaking his head slightly. He just KNEW the blonde would react like this, but he'd be damned if he was going to teach one of his students something that could wind up killing them.
Now he just had to find a way to phrase it right, lest the patented team 7 'foot-in-mouth disease' reared its ugly head.
"Naruto," he coaxed, "not everyone can do a particular jutsu."
He mentally patted himself on the back as the blonde looked up at him in confusion. "You have to be in tune with the element you're using." The jounin explained, reaching into his flak jacket.
As the blonde looked up in shock, the jounin pulled out a pack of paper from his flak-jacket pocket.
"These cards are made form a special type of tree that has been nurtured using chakra for long periods, and the best are only available in Konoha." Kakashi explained holding up one and focused some chakra into it, causing the paper to crinkle.
"As you all no doubt know, there are only five base elements in ninjutsu," he instructed, "and each of the five shinobi nations is named after them, Fire, water, earth, wind and lightning."
He gazed at the trio, making sure they were paying strict attention.
"People whose chakra nature is inclined towards a specific type, can perform that type of jutsu easier than someone who isn't." he shrugged, putting the paper away. "For example, people like the Uchiha had an affinity towards fire, which is why the Goukakyuu is considered a standard jutsu for them."
The trio frowned in thought, obviously irked at the thought of being unable to use certain jutsu types. "So how do those paper thingies work?" Domon muttered, scratching his head awkwardly due to the weights, Kakashi merely shrugged.
"Lightning element: the paper gets wrinkled, like mine. Wind: it gets cut in half. Fire: it burns…"
"Well DUH!" Recca muttered, rolling his eyes.
"Water: it gets wet," Kakashi continued, ignoring the genin's outburst, "and Earth: it crumbles to dust."
Naruto blinked, raising a hand again. "Wait! If you're a lightning element, how could you use water element?"
Kakashi shrugged, having been expecting that question and was well prepared for it.
"Jounin ranked shinobi usually have more than one element," he replied honestly, "the average is at least two."
He tossed a card each at the genin and nodded.
"Take a look for yourselves."
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Each genin grabbed a card and focused on their chakra slightly, before gathering it into their respective cards. Recca's, obviously, was set ablaze, whilst Domon's crumbled to dust. The two glanced at Naruto, who was looking at his as if scared.
"Go on squirt;" Domon muttered, encouraging him, "give it a try."
Naruto nodded, took a deep breath and closed his eyes, focusing on the chakra flowing into the paper feeling a rush of energy, followed by a brief movement from the paper. When the blonde opened his eyes, he was holding two pieces of paper instead of one.
Recca raised an eyebrow, almost amused. "Wind element?" he muttered, "Fuko's gonna love this."
Domon whistled, "Pretty cool, eh Squirt?"
Naruto only frowned and looked at his paper sullenly. 'I can't use water element…' he muttered, letting the wind carry the scraps out of his grip, prompting a sigh from Kakashi.
"Regretfully," the Jounin muttered truthfully, "I can't use wind element, so there isn't much I can do for you…"
He smiled, hoping to cheer the blonde up with a consolation prize. "I suppose water walking wouldn't satisfy you?" he asked, knowing it was a feeble gesture, but it was all he could think to offer in the circumstances, plus it WOULD help with the genin's chakra control.
The blonde nodded sullenly and said nothing, prompting a look of annoyance from his teammates as Kakashi went through the one handed seal to perform the technique.
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"Lazy good for nothing sensei!" Recca cursed, kicking a pinecone into the forest, "He can't teach worth beans!"
Domon grunted, clearly annoyed despite having gotten something out of the jounin. "We'd have had better luck asking Yanagi how to draw…" he muttered, knowing the poor girl couldn't draw to save her life.
"The hell do you mean by that?!" Recca yelled, slugging the giant in the kisser, starting a fistfight with his rival.
Naruto smiled, shaking his head slightly at their antics. The two had been trying to cheer him up by ranting at the uselessness of their sensei and how they'd simply develop their own 'kick-ass jutsu' to show him up.
It was working, somewhat, but he still felt down.
The blonde let out a startled squawk as the dust-cloud rolled towards him, getting caught up in the fight and promptly forgetting his previous grievances as he tried to keep Domon from devouring his head.
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"Anyway," Recca muttered, stepping away from the others and sitting on a rock, the fight having cheered them all up somewhat, "There's something I noticed earlier."
The other two nodded, Domon leaning against a tree, and Naruto sitting Indian style on the ground, all three looking a little haggard but with no permanent damage outside of ripped clothes.
"When I was wrapping Naruto's hand," Recca continued, "it had already healed, despite what he did to it." He nodded at the blonde and frowned, "I bet you there isn't even a mark on him."
Naruto blinked and checked the limb, gasping at the unmarked skin underneath.
"You think it's the fox?" Domon muttered cautiously as he looked at Recca, concern for the blonde in his eyes.
"Makes sense," Recca replied with a nod, "it is a demon right? So maybe he's subconsciously lending Naruto some of his power, kinda like the Karyuu and me."
Naruto blinked, this being the first he'd ever heard of the dragons. "Karyuu?" he asked, prompting a snort from Domon.
"You know how Recca can control fire?" the giant asked, "Well the reason for that is there are eight Karyuu inside him."
The giant shivered, remembering his first encounter with the flame of Yamata at Kurei's mansion. "Trust me," he assured the blonde, "they're SCARY when they're angry."
Recca smirked, shaking his head at his rival's antics. "They offered to help me if I'm ever in trouble," he reassured the blonde, "so there's nothing to worry about."
"Except for Setsuna." An old voice chuckled from the shadow, "THAT one's still got it out for you."
The trio spun round, kunai drawn, only to gawk at an old man with a Hawaiian shirt, sunglasses and a scar over one eye smiling at them.
"Koku-Oyaji!" Recca yelped, falling on his rear in surprise, "What are you doing here?"
"Don't let him fool ya," Domon whispered into Naruto's ear, as Recca conversed with the aged figure, "he's the oldest of the Karyuu…and a major perv."
The giant realized FAR too late he shouldn't have said the last part as Naruto grinned sinisterly.
"Oiroke no jutsu!" the blonde called out, disappearing in a puff of smoke, to be replaced by Naru-chan in all her curvaceous glory. Koku's eyes bulged out of their sockets at the sight of the busty blonde, before leaping forward and latching onto her chest in a manner reminiscent of a depraved anything-goes master.
"SWEETO!" he cried, rubbing his head into the blonde's ample chest, causing Naru-chan to shriek and run around waving her arms.
"ACK! GETITOFF!"
Recca and Domon moaned at the old man's antics, Recca with a slight nosebleed running down his face. "He never changes." The flame wielder muttered, "Though I suppose that IS a good thing."
Domon nodded sagely, "And he doesn't mean any harm," he admitted, before scowling, "but if I ever find him molesting Fuko…!"
"GET THIS FREAKY THING OFFA ME!"
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Kakashi blinked as he looked up at the sky. 'Did I just hear a woman scream?' he muttered, before shrugging, 'probably my imagination.'
"And where do you think you're going?" he muttered aloud, smirking at the startled look on Sasuke's face as the teen leapt to the floor from the window, "Shouldn't you be resting?"
"Hn. Training." The Uchiha replied, before walking off to the woods to resume the tree walking exercise. Kakashi merely sighed and hobbled after him.
'This kid is WAY too much like the old me for my liking.'
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And yet another player has been introduced to the board! Why has Koku revealed himself now? Could this be a portent of things to come? Or did the old sod just get lonely and came looking for Kagero and Fuko to torment...i mean CONSOLE?
Koku: Hmph, respect your elders sonny.
Kyugan: I don't respect people that are perverts.
Kakashi: Trust me, I KNOW (Whipcrack, followed by girlish scream) WHYYYY?!
Kyugan: Who said you could talk?! Get back to work you waste of oxygen! Hiruma!
Hiruma: (Fires machine gun at Kakashi's heels) DANCE BITCH! YA-HA!
Koku: (Shiver) Akuma-da...