Kumogakure Ninja
Posted: 19-08-10
Updated 12-03-11
CH11: Secrets Revealed
Naruto woke up with a loud groan.
His muscles ached, his throat was dry and he literally felt as if his head was cracked open. "Bastard," Naruto remembered how many times Takezo had driven his head into the ground face first. No wonder he could practically taste the concussion. Naruto doubted the Kyūbi would heal him. The bastard refused to heal him unless it was absolutely necessary.
Naruto crawled out of his sleeping bag and looked around the tent. Hari snored loudly and mumbled incoherently under his breath. Naruto shook his head, his best friend deserved to sleep in after what he put himself through yesterday. Tell tale signs of chakra exhaustion were easily spotted on his friend's sleeping figure; perspiration, crusted lips from dehydration, cold sweat and if he opened his eyes Naruto bet he would have blood shot eyes to boot.
Naruto spread the curtains and left the tent to join Kirabi, Yugito, Darui and Shi while they were discussing what to do next. They all sat on opposite tree logs they had cut down when they enlarged their campsite last night. In a neat row beside them were the bound, seemingly asleep, forms of Shinji, Saturo and Takezo.
"I put them under a heavy genjutsu so they won't be able to wake up for a day or two. We might have to recast it on that Shinji guy each day," Shi nudged his boot against said captive's head. "He's suffering from severe chakra exhaustion but according to the book he's notoriously known for his genjutsu. His mind may break out of it earlier than we expect him to." By 'the book' Shi was referring to the famous bingo book.
Darui said in his usually low voice, "These two should be fine. The fat one isn't even resisting and this guy here, Saturo, had a little breakdown before he went down. I doubt he'll be able to break out within two days."
Kirabi nodded, "I see. Well, I'll leave you in charge of that, yo!" Kirabi offered Shi a fist bump who eagerly bumped fists with him albeit a little awkwardly with lack of experience. "Yo, it's tha midget!" Kirabi announced as Naruto sat down next to Darui.
"Fuck you," Naruto shot back, not missing a beat as he reached over a grabbed a water bottle from his sensei's bag. Naruto met Yugito's gaze, "How's your arm?" he asked her.
"It's fine." Yugito's arm was in a sling due to it being broken and pulled out of its socket by Shinji's demonic summon.
"Good." was all Naruto had to offer before he downed his water bottle in one go.
Darui turned to Naruto with an appreciating smile, "I heard you took out one of them on your own. That's impressive, very impressive."
Naruto grinned with pride at the compliment. "Of course! What did you expect, I'm next in line to be the Raikage!"
Darui and Shi shot Kirabi a questioning look.
The jōnin merely waved it off, "Don't flex it, yo, the midget's concussion must be worse than we thought it would be. Check it, I-"
"We understand," Shi said hastily. Kirabi's inexplicable noises, which he called beat boxing, were notoriously feared in Kumo. Shi turned to Naruto with a grin, "Well, keep it up and one day you might be signing our pay checks, kiddo."
Naruto beamed with pride. "The first thing I'm gonna do is fire his ass!" Naruto shouted as he pointed at Kirabi. "No, wait! I'll make him do my paperwork all day while I slack off!"
They all shared a good laugh, except for Yugito who got back to the topic at hand.
"Sensei, the village is free now, correct?" Yugito received a curt nod. "Then what are we going to do about the absence of the villagers?"
"We're going back to Kumo. On the way, we can drop by their sister village and seek out the village leader. Once we get back, I'm sure my bro will send some aid workers here," Kirabi told her as he turned to Naruto. "Kage Bunshins aren't going to cut it, Naruto. They'll need real workers to help them rebuild this dump."
Naruto closed his mouth, his question already answered. "What about Hari?" Naruto asked a moment later. "He's exhausted, so how are we going to transport him as well?"
"I'll carry him," Kirabi replied. "You'll have to help Yugito out while Darui and Shi transport the prisoners."
Naruto shot Yugito a look and nodded to the surprise of Yugito and Kirabi. Apparently all it took for him to be considerate towards her was to receive an injury.
"I don't need his help, sensei," Yugito looked at her sensei. "I don't need both my arms to walk."
Kirabi looked at her with a grin and said, "Fine, then you can carry your own stuff."
"On second thought..." Yugito said with a thoughtful look as she looked at Naruto. "My arm is hurting."
They all shared a laugh at Naruto's expense; even Yugito had a little smile on her face.
…
It was an hour later when they were all packed up and getting ready to leave Hari woke up. He and Naruto exchanged few quick words about their fights before Hari went back to sleep on his sensei's back. Chakra exhaustion had really taken it out of him. They had to stop quite a few times for breaks so that Hari could have a drink of water. Dehydration was one of the main symptoms when it came to chakra exhaustion and it was imperative Hari drank a lot of fluids for a fast recovery. Begrudgingly, Shinji received the same treatment.
"Could you go any slower?" Yugito said sarcastically as she and Naruto were straggling behind the rest. The cat jinchūriki was nimble on her feet despite her injury, but was forced to stay next to Naruto in case they were ambushed.
"Well, forgive me for having to carry your bag as well as mine!" Naruto shot back, making more of an effort and jumping the trees to Yugito's right. "I don't see why Kirabi didn't seal our bags in his frickin' scroll!" Naruto complained.
"Stop your petulant whining, you're a shinobi, Uzumaki," Yugito told him, enjoying the situation Naruto was in. "If you can't even carry a bag, then what are you doing here? A shinobi has to be strong."
"Shut up!"
Yugito continued, "Darui-senpai and Shi-senpai are carrying actual people and they're ahead of us, weakling."
"Fuck you!"
"Not even in your wildest dreams, Uzumaki."
Naruto grimaced at what Yugito was insinuating, "You're sick!"
The genin continued to bicker until Kirabi called them to a halt nearly an hour later. The day had drifted into the afternoon.
"I see the villagers up ahead, yo! Looks like Naruto's clones disappeared yesterday," Kirabi said as they all stopped behind him on tree branches. "Probably happened when he got knocked the fuck out by Takezo."
"Fuck you!" Naruto replied heatedly. "He didn't knock me out. He just... gave me a concussion, that's all."
"Great, like you needed to be anymore brain damaged," Yugito replied without missing a beat.
Darui looked at Shi and chuckled as Yugito and Kirabi attacked Naruto about his intelligence and height. "Shi, how are you holding up?" Darui asked his partner.
Shi was carrying Shinji while Darui carried the bound forms of Saturo and Takezo. "I'm good, you?"
Darui merely nodded and turned to Kirabi. "So, are we gonna go down there, senpai?"
Kirabi nodded and led them down to the villager's camp.
…
As they approach the camp site they met up with village's leader, Hattori, and his militia commander Kenji.
"Uzumaki-san's clones disappeared a few hours after we left the village," Kenji explained to them. "After Seido-san (Hari) left us, we were defenseless so we decided to make camp and wait. What's left of the militia kept guard during the night."
Once Kirabi explained to them what happened, they decided to travel to their sister village instead of returning. Kirabi made no objection seeing as the village had been ransacked and they still had injured and sick people to take care of.
Kirabi's clones transformed into oxen and began tugging the carriages while Darui and Shi emptied one for their captives, whom they reinforced the genjutsu on and bound with metal chains Kenji provided. Shi attached a water IV to Shinji's arm now that there was space for it. This all meant the sick were a slightly cramped in other carriages, but it was necessary. Hari was tucked into a carriage with the children whom protectively laid a blanket on him and slept close to him. While Shi kept guard on the prisoners, Darui reared the convoy and Kirabi lead it with Kenji. Yugito and Naruto took the left and right flanks respectively.
Upon entering the camp site Naruto was thrilled to see Emiko who immediately pulled him into a hug. "Naruto!" Emiko gushed as Naruto returned the hug. "You guys actually won! You defeated the Akumu Shokō!"
Naruto grinning and rubbing his nose had told her, "All thanks to me! I told you I could do it!"
Guarding the left flank, Yugito could hear Naruto say it to Emiko. "Yeah, right," the young kunoichi snorted and turned her attention the carriage between herself and her idiotic teammate.
"Nee-san," a young girl maybe three years old smiled Yugito, stretching her chubby arms through the fences to touch Yugito's hair. "Nee-san, I like your hair!"
Yugito couldn't help but smile at the pig tailed girl. "Thank you," Yugito walked closer to the carriage so that the child could touch her pony tail.
"It's so soft!" the child squealed. "Nee-san, what happened to your arm? Did you get hurt?"
"Oh, this?" Yugito looked at her arm, "I hurt myself a little but I'll be okay. It doesn't hurt so much."
Meanwhile Hari had opened his eyes and looked at his female teammate talking to the girl. It wasn't what Hari had expected to see when he woke up. Hari had always thought Yugito was a bitch, plain and simple. In their academy days, she kept to herself and ignored everyone but the teachers, who absolutely loved her since she always had the highest scores.
Hari looked intently at Yugito, "It was probably hard for to make friends seeing as she was so much better than most girls her age and she sure as hell beat them in the looks department." Hari knew it was pointless to deny it, Yugito was a babe. A bitch she may be, but a babe nonetheless.
Yugito caught Hari's eye. "You're up." It was statement not a question. "Go back to sleep, you're suffering from chakra exhaustion," she commanded.
Hari shook his head, "It's all right. I'm just a little thirsty." To his surprise Yugito immediately passed him a bottle of water. When she spotted his questioning look she told him, "Kirabi-sensei told me to keep an eye on you."
"What happened to your arm?" Hari asked while accepting the bottle of water. By now the children had stopped their attempts at being quiet and began to play in the large carriage.
"Broken, dislocated," Yugito said dismissively. "One of the Akumu Shokō, the younger brother Shinji, caught me in a genjutsu."
"A genjutsu did that to you?"
"Of course not. His ogre summon did while I was in trapped in his genjutsu."
"Sounds like some battle," Hari admitted. "I'm glad you're okay." By the look Yugito gave him, Hari mentally kicked himself. Maybe he was trying too hard to be nice to her.
"What are you trying at, Seido?" Yugito demanded looking suspiciously at him.
"Great, back to last names," Hari thought bitterly. "Nothing. I just think we shouldn't be fighting all the time."
"Why the sudden change of mind?" Yugito continued to eye him with suspicion.
"Could you just stop being so paranoid?"
"No."
Hari sighed and put down his water bottle. "On the two occasions I fought Saturo by myself, I was completely overwhelmed. I had no chance of winning and if it weren't for Kirabi sensei and those other guys I would have been dead by now."
"What's your point?" Yugito asked not seeing where this was going. "You foolishly faced a superior opponent twice. That was because of your incompetence and foolishness. It has nothing to do with me."
"Listen!" Hari said ignoring her harsh comment. "When I was about to die for the second time, Darui and Shi came to my rescue. In the end, we defeated him together. Don't you see?" When Yugito shook her head, Hari continued, "I learned from that battle there are going to be times we will be facing enemies far stronger than any of us. And in those times we're going to have to rely on each other and we can't do that if we're constantly fighting amongst ourselves."
Yugito said nothing for a full minute, instead looking into Hari's eyes. She knew he was sincere and this wasn't some joke to him. "Fine," Yugito conceded eventually. "I'll work with you."
"No, not just me," Hari told her, "Naruto's a part of our team too."
"He's an insufferable shinobi wannabe," Yugito spat. "I'd rather take my chances than fight along him."
"Yeah, well guess what! We're stuck together till Kirabi-sensei says otherwise, so like it or not, we're going to have to rely on each other to have our backs!" Hari's raised voice scared the children in the carriage with him and instantly calmed down. "Look," Hari tried again, "I know you don't hate Naruto as much as you say you do."
"What are you implying, Hari?" Yugito asked, kicking herself for using his first name. She never called her teammates by their first names.
"Don't play dumb with me, Nii. I know you're not as much of a bitch as you make yourself out to be."
Yugito glared at the 'bitch' remark. "You don't know me. Stop deluding yourself into thinking you do."
"Let me ask you something, what are your aspirations in life?" Hari seemed genuinely curious in what she had to say. "Aside from becoming a powerful shinobi that is."
That was an easy question. "Not that it's any of your business but I plan on joining the ANBU once I reach the rank of jōnin." Yugito glanced over to Naruto and his new girlfriend and then back to Hari. "Why does that have to do with anything?"
"You're strong, Nii. Stronger that most people would give you credit for," Hari said but quickly continued when he saw Yugito's look, not wanting to give her the impression he was coming on to her, "But you're not invincible. You're going to have to team up with me, Kirabi-sensei and Naruto. Hell, how do you even expect to be let into the ANBU if you can't work in a team?"
This left Yugito speechless. How was she going to cope if she were unable to work with anyone? "Shut up and go back to sleep, Seido."
"Fine, just think about what I said, Yugito," Hari used her first name on purpose. They both knew he didn't use her first name unless it was followed by a negative comment. But that would change, he vowed to himself.
Hari laid back into hay and pulled his blanket over himself and he quickly fell asleep.
-ooo-
It was night time when they stopped to make camp. It took a while for the villagers to settle. Kenji and Darui left for the woods leading a team of militia men to go hunting as the fish had spoiled under the hot sun.
"Want to go for a walk, Naruto?" Emiko asked the blond who sat by the fire shortly after he finished delivering an exaggerated version of how he had defeated Takezo to the children with the assistance of Hari who provided the special effects.
"What?" Naruto asked as he got up, ignoring Hari's lecherous leer and thumbs up.
"Let's go for a walk," Emiko repeated. "The night's beautiful."
Naruto looked at Hari who said, "It's cool, I got this," before turning to the kids and say, "Okay, kids, who wants to hear how I defeated the Ice Demon Saturo?"
Naruto smiled nervously and walked next to Emiko towards the forest. Soon enough, Emiko began leaning against him as they walked under the beautiful night sky. Naruto gulped nervously. Emiko was far more mature than he was and very beautiful, not to mention at least two or three years old than he was.
"Naruto-kun," Emiko called his attention and halting to a stop after ten minutes of walking in silence. "Remember that day you were training and you promised me you would defeat the Akumu Shokō?"
Naruto felt his cheeks redden, she was so close and her kimono was ever so slightly parted. He was having an excruciatingly hard time looking at her face. "Y- yeah?" Naruto stammered as he noticed how full her lips were.
"I owe you a thank you," Emiko said before she drew him into a mind blowing kiss.
Naruto closed his eyes and clumsily leaned into it. This was his first kiss and he was far too inexperienced to know whether he was doing it right. But damn it was he eager to learn!
Emiko encouraged him by licking his lips. Naruto followed her lead, opening his mouth and a fierce battle of tongues ensued. Emiko's moan got a rise out of Naruto. His boxers suddenly felt too tight.
Eventually, after two more minutes of tongue tying, Emiko broke away and breathed heavily. "How was that for sincere?" she asked playfully.
Naruto was red in the face but answered anyway, "That's the best 'thank you' I've ever gotten!"
From his look Emiko knew he had thoroughly enjoyed it. "Let's go on that walk," she said with a cheeky grin.
An hour later, Naruto returned to camp with a goofy smile on his face. That was the most memorable walk he ever had.
"So how was it?" Hari asked him with a grin, putting down the small book on Hunter Nin. "From the look on your face I assume it was rather good?"
"You have no idea!" Naruto sat down on the log across his best friend. "It was amazing."
"Tongue?" Hari asked him like a typical boy would do after his best friend had his first kiss. When Naruto dumbly nodded his grin widened. "Alright!"
"Have you ever kissed a girl?" Naruto asked his best friend. This wasn't usually a subject they would discuss. It was mostly typical guy stuff such as sports, ninjutsu and anime. Nothing related to this subject ever came up.
"Of course I have," Hari told him. "Remember Mayabi from our class?" When Naruto nodded Hari grinned again, "We made out once behind the sparring hall."
"No way, she was frickin' hot!"
"I know!"
"Didn't she have a boyfriend though?"
This discussion continued until Yugito approached them with a disgusted look.
"You do know you're shinobi and on a mission, right?" she said to them. "What you're talking about is completely inappropriate."
Naruto looked at her and had a stupid, knowing smile plastered on his face.
"What are you smirking about, Uzumaki?" Yugito hissed.
"You've never kissed a boy, have you?" Naruto said with a laugh.
"That's none of your business, Uzumaki," Yugito hissed at him. "Why are we even talking about this?"
"Just admit it, Nii-"
"Naruto, do I have to remind you, you only got your first kiss like an hour ago and you couldn't stop grinning about it?" Hari interjected to both of his teammates' surprise. "It doesn't give you much space to brag."
Yugito shot him a thankful glance before rounding on Naruto, "From what I also can recall the most action you got before that was peeping on a girl." She knew it was a low blow but he had it coming.
Naruto opened his mouth instantly but closed it just a quick. "Low blow," he eventually managed.
"Indeed," Yugito said with toothy smile.
Eventually, the topic shifted to something they could talk about eagerly; ninjutsu. Naruto was practically begging Hari for his Karyūdan but the brown haired sensory type ninja utterly refused him but offered him either his Endan or Hōsenka instead for his Akkai Genshuku. Begrudgingly, Naruto traded his Akkai Genshuku for Hari's Hōsenka but absolutely denied him his Shippū Shūren when he was asked for it. Yugito was pestered by both her teammates for her Banrai, despite the fact Hari hadn't even seen it he was still absolutely certain he wanted it after Naruto told him powerful it was. She flatly refused but traded her Raikyū with Hari for his Endan and Naruto's Daitoppa for her Shūrai. The next thirty minutes, they genin spent huddled up writing detailed instructions for the techniques.
"You're calligraphy is awful, Uzumaki. It's like a drunken infant wrote this."
"Shut up! You don't hear me complaining about you using big words. What the hell does 'aggregate' even mean?"
"It means to accumulate, moron."
"What?"
"You guys, come on!"
Kirabi watched the scene with a proud smile on his face. His team had finally begun to form an understanding with one another.
-ooo-
The following day, they reached one of Ritoru Haaku's sister villages, Kawasumi. As they said their goodbyes, Naruto had disappeared only to reappear an half hour later with a stupid grin while eying Emiko and his right hand constantly.
While her teammates assembled their bags Yugito quickly sought out Emiko. Yugito lead her away from the rest of the villagers and took a deep breath before asking her question. "What do you see in him?"
"Who, Naruto?" Emiko asked to which Yugito simply nodded. "Well, I kinda thought he was-" then it dawned on her and she gave Yugito a knowing look. "He's so headstrong and willful and I don't know but he's kinda cute."
"More like an idiot…," Yugito grumbled under breath before she looked Emiko in the eye. "Thanks."
Emiko took a thoughtful posture and then said with a grin, "You'd make a nice couple. He's a great kisser."
"What?" Yugito stammered blushing furiously at the insinuation. "Me and that little, obnoxious-" Yugito stopped herself when she saw Emiko's grin. "It's never going to happen."
"If that's what you really think, then why did you take me aside and ask me in private?"
"No reason," Yugito said and quickly spun on her heels and headed over to her team.
Emiko grinned and shook her head. "At least he'll be in good hands," she said to herself before following Yugito.
…
"So, how do you feel, huh?" Kirabi asked jumping from tree to tree alongside his students with Hari riding his back and awake. "I'd say you completed your first A rank mission, yo!"
The genin beamed with pride at the compliment.
"All thanks to me!" Naruto was quick to declare with a huge grin on his face as he jumped the trees backwards to face his team.
"Yeah, right, Uzumaki," Yugito said with a hint of amusement. "You were the only one moaning about your headache."
Naruto flustered in embarrassment as everyone laughed at his expense. Kirabi quickly claimed the only thing smaller than Naruto was his brain which was nonexistent. In response, Naruto hurled a string of profanities with shocking expertise to which they all shared a laugh.
-ooo-
(Days Later)
Four days passed before they reached the foot of Kumogakure's mountain. Naruto's mouth opened in awe as he looked up, attempting to look past the clouds. It was a beautiful sight and even Darui and Shi, who revealed they were always out on missions and saw this sight on return, took a moment to appreciate it.
"It looks nothing like when you're going down, baldy," Naruto offhandedly remarked to his teacher. "I mean, it was looked neat when we went down but this is frickin' awesome!"
"Yeah, you're right, midget," Kirabi insulted just as absentmindedly in response as he took of his shades to admire the view fully. "Alright, we're going through the shinobi transport service. We'll take a private cart up to the village."
Fifteen minutes later after they had provided the officials with necessary identification they sat in the cart. Even Yugito couldn't stop herself from showing some interest in the beautiful sight. For the duration of the cart ride they spoke about their mission, eventually the subject changed to the captives.
"What will happen to the captives, Kirabi-sensei?" Yugito asked as she sat to a bench on his left. "They attacked Kumo's allies. Doesn't that make them enemy combatants?"
Kirabi briefly looked to the benches on the right at Darui who nodded and then to Shi who did the same and turned to Yugito. "Since they claim they had the backing of rogue operatives in the council, we'll have to speak about this to my bro. He'll do what's necessary to hand out consequences."
"You don't sound very sure about that, sensei," Hari observed. "You think they'll get away with it? Killing all those people..."
"What? That can't be possible!" Naruto interjected hotly. "You're telling me they're going to get away with everything?"
Darui looked towards his fellow jōnin who were busying themselves with checking the genjutsu on the captives. "I don't know yet. If their actions were backed by a councilor with enough rep... Even so, I doubt they'll be let off easily but it's a delicate situation when it comes to handling with councilors."
"Why's that?" Naruto demanded, not understanding where this was going.
"Because, idiot," Yugito explained, "Politics aren't as simple as white and black. It's not that simple to take a man down if he's got not only his whole clan to back him up but favours with others as well. Not to mention if he happens to have the backing of our Daimyo. If he does, then there's no way we can do anything against him."
Hari frowned, "That's not right, sensei. Aren't there any laws against sanctioning missions done by outsiders? I mean, there's a council for a reason, right? What would be the point if one or two of them could hire third parties to do something in Kumo's name without discussing it first?"
"Yeah, what he said," Naruto said, not really understanding the meaning of 'sanctioning' or the concept of 'third parties' but it sounded intelligent so he went with it.
Kirabi looked at his male students on the opposite bench and then to bench on his left where Yugito sat and said, "I don't know what's going to happen either. We're still going to have to interrogate those guys over there before any action can be taken against the councilors behind this." The answer didn't suffice but fortunately his students dropped the argument. "When we get off the cart, I want you guys to go home relax and meet with me at our usual training ground three days from now. I've got a big surprise for you."
This, of course, piqued his team's interest. Kirabi's 'surprises' were usually pranks or something stupid like a D rank mission or even worse like one of Kirabi's 'rap concerts' at the local karaoke bar. However, Kirabi seemed genuinely excited this time.
"Surprise?" Yugito repeated as she eyed her sensei carefully, "This isn't one of your karaoke nights we're talking about... is it?"
"Yeah, sensei," Hari said nervously, "Last time you took us there we, ah, got kicked out, remember?"
"Cause you sucked," Naruto said without mercy. "You got drunk and you started shouting at people."
Kirabi chuckled, letting the last comment slide. "Just meet me at the training ground at ten, don't be late."
His students finally nodded and the rest of the thirty minute cart ride went by quickly. Once they got out they split up walking into separate directions; Kirabi went along with Darui and Shi to deliver the captives and the students went to their respective homes.
-ooo-
Hari dug his hands deep into his pockets as he walked through the market square towards the apartment complex he was facing. Hari sighed heavily and jumped the last steps of the stairs as he reached the third floor.
The genin could already smell the booze from the door and cursed under his breath, "Fuck!" Hari quickly unlocked the door and shouted, "I'm home! Ka-chan? Nami? Daisuke!"
Sure enough he heard a squeal coming from the living room causing him to sigh and smile in relief shortly before being tackled by a little bundle of energy.
"Nii-chan, you're home!" Nami was a six year old girl and younger sister of Hari. Like her brother, Nami had brown hair and brown eyes. She was of average height for a girl her age but skinny due to her love for running. Nami wore a cute little green dress and slippers. "Where have you been?"
Hari smiled at the pouting child as he easily lifted her up. "I've been away on a mission. Didn't Ka-chan tell you?" When the little girl shook her head, Hari sighed. "Well, that doesn't matter anymore. I'm home now! Where's Daisuke?"
Daisuke was Hari younger brother and Nami's older fraternal twin name after his grandfather, Seido Daisuke. Daisuke, unlike most in his family, had black hair and brown eyes. He was, like his older brother, quite tall for his age and intelligent. He was very close to his twin and shared the same dream with his older brother to become a Hunter Nin one day. Daisuke and Nami had recently begun their junior academy years.
"He's out with Obaa-chan! They went shopping and told me to stay home and look after Ka-chan."
Hari frowned, "Where's Ka-chan now, Nami?"
His sister pointed down the hall to their mother's bedroom. The stench of alcohol was stronger by her door than anywhere else in the house. Hari looked into the living room and saw what a mess it was. Mentally making a note to ask Naruto to teach him the Kage Bunshin, Hari placed Nami in front of their small TV and went into his mother's room.
Sure enough, he found her sleeping on her bed, still in her day clothes and a bottle of alcohol on the nightstand. Seido Takumi snored softly in her sleep. Her long brown hair strewn over her shoulders and eyes were swollen with crying herself to sleep. Hari walked over to his mother's sleeping form and pulled a blanket over her. As he did this she woke up and stared at him with glazed, red eyes still swollen from crying all night.
"Where have you been?" Hari's mother demanded in a raspy voice. "Where have you fucking been?"
"On a mission, Kaa-chan." Hari didn't want to fight with her. "I told you that, don't you remember?"
"No, I don't," Takumi hissed at her son. "Leave it!" Takumi hissed as Hari grabbed the bottle.
Hari glared at her and said firmly, "No."
"You're just like your father. Selfish little bastard." Takumi instantly regretted it as she saw the look on Hari's face. "I'm sorry, son... It's just that you look just like him."
"Get some sleep. I'll have the payment tomorrow so don't worry about the rent."
Takumi didn't hear him, already dozing off to sleep.
Hari shook his head. That bastard had done this to their family and even as he rotted in prison he continued to tear their family apart.
-ooo-
Three days passed in a blur for Naruto. After a full day of resting, he had met up with Hari and other genin from their old class. After a little reunion at the local restaurant, Hari and Naruto begged off to go train.
Naruto had shown to be quite proficient with the Hōsenka, being able to blow eight fireballs the sixth time. Yugito's Shūrai, however, turned out to be difficult. It took him a full day to generate sparks and another full day to actually form a lightning ball around his hands. Hari on the other hand had difficulty with the Akkai Gunshuku. He was already able to make a small Raikyū in his right hand.
To their immense surprise, Yugito joined them on the second day of training, despite her still very much injured arm. She had encountered a little difficulty with the Endan but eventually managed to produce a fireball half the size of Hari's. It was the Daitoppa she had a real problem with, though she was able to make a gust which was nowhere near powerful enough to be useful for anything other than knocking projectiles of their course.
Three days after they had arrived at Kumo the team met up at their usual training ground at ten in the morning. Kirabi was nowhere to be seen, which was odd as he was usually on time.
"Where's sensei?" Naruto grumbled loudly. "He's fifteen minutes late."
As if on cue, Kirabi appeared in front of them with a puff of smoke. "Yo, sorry I'm late!"
"I really need to learn how to do that," Naruto said and Hari nodded in agreement.
"Why are you late, sensei?" Yugito queried, "You're never late."
Kirabi merely grinned, "I had to see the boss man about something. Anyway, I've got great news for you brats so cut me some slack yo!" When Yugito shot him a dangerous look Kirabi held his arms wide, "What, you trippin' now? Why you frontin' fool?"
Yugito slapped her forehead. For the life of her, she could not understand what her sensei was saying. Not that many could for that matter.
"Just get on with it! Ouch!" Naruto held his head, "Stop hitting me in the head already! You're going to give me brain damage."
"Too late for that," Yugito interjected.
Hari chuckled at the scene and then asked, "Sensei, what's the big news?"
"Alright, settle down and have a seat," Kirabi instructed and as his students sat down in front of him, Kirabi reached into his pouch and retrieved three envelopes. "These are your payments for an A rank mission on top of a C ranked mission."
"No way!" Naruto shouted with a grin as he caught his envelope. "That's awesome!" The genin quickly opened his envelope and read the check out loud, "Two hundred fifty thousand Ryo!"
Hari quickly opened his envelope too, "You serious? Hey, mine too!"
Yugito didn't bother opening her envelope now and looked at her sensei. "Sensei, you look like you've still got something to say."
Kirabi roared in inexplicable laughter. "Damn right I do," the jōnin exclaimed. "We got the bounty on the Akumu Shokō and their two lieutenants."
By the look on Yugito's face, Naruto knew it had to be big. "Seriously? How much are we gonna get of their heads?"
"I forgot about their bounties completely."
Hari looked at his teammates, just as excited. "Come on, sensei, tell us!" If the bounty was substantial enough, he could finally have his sword repaired and they wouldn't have to worry about the rent for a while.
Kirabi looked at Yugito with a grin and nodded. It took her only a second to see what he meant and her hand divided into her pouch from she retrieved the bingo book.
"'For the heads of Okata Seiichi and Okata Shinji, dead or alive, Takigakure offers a bounty of twenty million Ryo'," Yugito recited and continued when her teammates gasped as she turned the page, "'For the Akumu Shokō's lieutenant Takeshi Takezo, dead or alive, Takigaru offers two million Ryo. For the other lieutenant Saturo no Shiroi, dead or alive, Takigare offers three million Ryo.'"
"That's fucking awesome!" Naruto shouted, pumping his fist in the air, "I can't wait to spend some cash!"
Kirabi chuckled; even Yugito seemed to be happy with the results. "We'll split the bounty on the Akumu Shokō between the four of us, so each of you gets five for that. Naruto, you took out Takezo on your own so you can keep the two million, try and spend it on some growth serum or something."
"Hey!"
Kirabi continued and said, "Hari, you'll have to split the bounty on Saturo by three. So you'll have an extra million for yourself."
The genin on team Kirabi grinned, even Yugito cracked a small, satisfied smile. Hari positively beamed with the notion. His ninja-to (A/N: mentioned in first chapter) was broken in a sparring match with Naruto weeks before their C, turned A, ranked mission. Now he could finally spare the money to repair it.
"Alright, one more announcement!" Kirabi said with a large grin on his face. He seemed very excited. "You're going to the Chūnin Exam!"
"What?" the genin on his team said simultaneously.
It took Kirabi a full five minutes to get their attention after they began talking and discussing the Chūnin Exam. Naruto, Yugito and Hari were understandably excited, but Kirabi had to make sure they understood what it was really about.
"There's something you need to know about this year's Chūnin Exam..." Kirabi said calling their attention, his voice slightly raised. "It's going to be held in Konoha."
Naruto's eyes widened considerably and his mouth closed. Kirabi saw the look of fright in his eyes. Yugito looked at Naruto, catching on to his reaction and sighed. Unbeknownst to them, even Hari looked surprised, as if he had just had a bucket of ice water dumped over him.
Kirabi audibly sighed as his teammates reacted; only Yugito didn't seem bothered by the aspect of it being hosted in Konoha.
"W- what's going on, guys?" Hari observantly caught the looks going between Kirabi, Yugito and Naruto. It made him feel uncomfortable and left out. "Is there something I should know about?"
Naruto opened his mouth and closed it instantly. He had no idea what to tell Hari and Kirabi made no move to help him, probably thinking he should tell Hari himself. Naruto frowned in frustration and took a deep breath before looking Hari in the eye. "Hari, I'm originally from Konoha."
Hari's eyes bulged, "What?" Hari asked shakily, "You're from Konoha? What do you mean- how's that possible?"
"You know how Kirabi-sensei is respected because of the Hachibi and all that, right?" Naruto asked him.
Hari gulped, it was no secret his sensei was a jinchūriki. It was pretty hard not hear a word or two about it since the Hachibi attacked Kumo on more than one occasion. Hari felt weird about it, deciding not to actually approach his teacher about it and rather wait for Kirabi to bring it up. In all honesty, Hari had forgotten all about it during their mission. "Yeah," Hari eventually answered, glancing at Kirabi. "I knew."
"Well, I'm a jinchūriki too," Naruto looked uncomfortable telling him this. "I'm sorry I never told you."
Hari said nothing for a couple of minutes, processing the information he had just received. His best friend, whom he trusted more than anyone, was a jinchūriki and had never told him. "Why?"
Naruto noted the angry tone in Hari's voice and feared the worst. "Because the Kyūbi attacked-!" Naruto found himself on receiving end of Hari's punch. Naruto held his cheek as he locked eyes with his friend.
Yugito and Kirabi shot each other worried glances.
"Why didn't you tell me?" Hari shouted at Naruto. "I find it odd you say I'm your best friend when you don't even trust me!"
Naruto's eyes bulged as he understood the angry look in Hari's eyes. He felt betrayed because Naruto never told him about his secret, not because of what he was. "I'm sorry."
"Fuck your sorry," Hari said fiercely. "I thought we were best friends."
"We are!" Naruto shouted.
"Then why didn't you tell me?" Hari's tone was awfully cold.
"Because... I didn't want you to get freaked out about it. Not everyone feels comfortable around a jinchūriki."
"You know me better than that," Hari said with a glare under which Naruto seemed to shrink. After another minute of silence, Hari spoke again. "So you ran away from Konoha because they didn't accept you for who you are?"
"Accept me? They didn't even tolerate me being alive."
For the next few hours, Hari would be indulged into the team's secret. They told him everything. They told him about the Biju, their training and Naruto went into a little bit of detail about his past. In the end, Hari felt relieved but at the same time felt a pitch of sympathy – which he wouldn't voice, knowing Naruto's reaction already – as well of a sense of being left out.
"So, we're not going then?" Hari asked eventually. "I mean, Naruto's a runaway jinchūriki." The word felt foreign to his mouth and he didn't like it. 'Power of Human Sacrifice' sounded so wrong.
"Not exactly," Kirabi said looking at Naruto. "The Hokage knows of Naruto's whereabouts. My brother sent him a messenger hawk a few weeks ago when we left for our mission."
Yugito looked at her teammate and then at her teacher, "So, what did he say, sensei?"
"He wants to speak to Naruto the minute he arrives in Konoha," Kirabi said, eying Naruto for his response.
To everyone but Kirabi's surprise, Naruto smiled. "Sure, I'd love to see Jiji again."
"Good, now that all the secrets are out of the way," Kirabi said clapping his hand with a grin. "It's time I tell you about the Chūnin Exam."
Author's Notes
OK, that was chapter eleven. I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it. Drop me a line or two... or three - whichever takes your fancy.