Yep, I'm finally back peoples. I'm sorry it took so long, my computer imploded. I'm not kidding, it seriously blew up. I'm really glad it was the one I paid for, my dad likes to bbq, and would have slow roasted my ass if it was the he bought for me. Okay, so, chapter 3 of Protecting From the Shadows. On we go!
Title: Protecting From the Shadows
Pairing: You choose, just GO VOTE on my profile
Warnings: Written while high off coffee. Prepare for severe randomness
Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters from Naruto, but I do have Train Heartnet from Black Cat tied up in my closet. ^^
Chapter 3
Recap:
Naruto rubbed the back of his neck and smiled sheepishly. "Well, officially, Naruto Uzumaki is out of town on a solo mission, so I can't be seen walking around town, now can I?" Gaara was going to answer when he was interrupted by knocking on the door.
"Kitsune-taicho, may I come in?" the voice was strangely familiar to the Kazekage, and Naruto jumped off the bed.
"Kuso." He cursed, and Gaara asked who it was. "Right now he's known as Inu, he's on my team. But you know him as Kakashi.
~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~
Inu heard the occupant of the room curse loudly, then talk lowly to someone else.
"Are you all right, taicho?" he called worriedly
He stepped back when the door was opened by none other than the Kazekage.
"He's in the bathroom." was all the redhead said before stepping back and allowing the ANBU into the large room.
~~~~Naruto: In The Bathroom~~~~
Naruto groaned when he realized that he had only grabbed his mask, forgetting his uniform. The only clothes he had with him was the orange monstrosity,
"Kuso!" he muttered, and contemplated just going out there dressed like this, but knew that it would be recognized instantly. What to do, what to do?
He caught sight of a spotless white towel hanging on the towel rack. That would do nicely.
~~~~Kakashi: In the Room~~~~
Both men sat in silence, Inu feeling awkward, Gaara feeling bored. He didn't like the silver haired ninja. Even though the Uchiha had defected, choosing the power the snake pedophile could give him over his friends and village, the copy-nin still paid more attention to him than to Naruto.
Though the blond forgave the man, Gaara couldn't, and decided he could be angry enough for the both of them.
Kakashi shifted nervously when the redhead suddenly started pouring out killing intent, and was about to ask him about it when suddenly the bathroom door opened, and Kitsune walked out, nothing on but his mask and a towel tied around his waist.
Gaara's lips twitched when he realized why the ANBU had done that, and watched with secret amusement as the teenager walked to the closet and rummaged around for a minute before taking out a pile of black clothes. Still not even glancing in the direction of the other two nin, Kitsune made his way back to the bathroom.
It took a minute for Kakashi to snap out of his shock, but when he did he turned to the Kazekage with wide eyes... well... eye.
"What exactly were you guys doing before I got here?" he demanded.
If Gaara were anyone else, he would have laughed. Instead he settled for raising a non-existent eyebrow and murmuring, "We were talking. He was wearing civilian clothe he knew you would recognize, and went to change. He obviously forgot fresh clothes."
Kakashi took a moment to process that, and when he did, he picked up on something, and growled. "You know who taicho really is?"
"Well, I walked into a meeting between him and Hokage-sama, and he recognized my chakra signature. Hokage-sama also ordered me to reveal myself. Who am I to disobey a direct order?" asked a wry voice from the bathroom doorway, and both other men turned to see Kitsune, fully dressed, leaning against the door frame.
"You're you! You disobey direct orders all the time. Every mission the Hokage tells you to come back, and you ignore it! It's expected of you!" Kakashi explained frantically. Kitsune waited a moment, until Inu figured out he had just scolded his superior. "Oh... ah... crap." Was all the dog said to amend it.
Kitsune chuckled, and strode into the room with graceful confidence, bending down in his subordinates face, until Kakashi was looking straight into his eyes, which were turned red using only the slightest bit of Kyuubi's chakra.
"Inu, if you tell Neko about what you just saw, I will take your precious porn and hide it so you'll never find it. Or better yet, burn it to cinders." He told the man in a low, deadly voice.
The silver haired ANBU gasped in horror. "You wouldn't." He murmured, aghast. (AN: Still a great word! XD)
"I would. All you have have to do is tell that gossip, and you could consider it done." The younger ANBU captain told his subordinate, and Gaara could practically hear the sadistic grin that he knew was splitting across his friend's face.
Kakashi grumbled, but finally agreed that their teammate wouldn't hear about this from him.
Kitsune suddenly swung away from the older man, turning towards his closest friend. "Kazekage-sama, it looks like out discussion ends here. If it is all right with you, I would appreciate the chance to continue later." Addressing him formally for Kakashi's sake, a whole different conversation was being exchanged by their eyes. Gaara's lightly teasing, Naruto's exasperated.
Gaara smirked at the oblivious Inu, who was still pouting on the chaise lounge, and stood, motioning for Kitsune to follow him out the door and into the hallway.
"I'll meet you at our usual place Tomorrow at noon. If you can't make it, send Inu to tell me. I've been needing a new dummy for target practice." Gaara whispered to Naruto, who grinned at the rare burst of humor from the redhead that only he ever got to hear.
"No problem." He responded, and watched as his friend swept off, his formal Kage robes fluttering over the carpeted floor.
Inu walked out of the room moments later, eager to finally relay his message.
"Okay, Inu, what was so important that you had to intterupt my meeting with the Kazekage?" the blond sighed, already knowing what was coming.
"Kitsune-taicho, I was chosen to ask if you would be willing to participate in a spar with Neko, Ookami, Mizuhebi and I. The usual four-on-one. The price for losing is still the same on both sides." The dog announced formally, and Kitsune snorted.
It was a game his team had come up with, and they had been playing since he had been assigned to them. He knew who they were behind the simply painted animal masks, but none of them knew who he was, and thus, the game was born. If Kitsune won, the team had to do all of the mission reports for the following two months, and if they ever won, he would be forced to take off his mask, and finally reveal who he was.
Needless to say, Kitsune had yet to loose.
"Fine. Fine. The usual place, right? When do you guys want to do this? I need to know so I can reserve beds in the intensive care wing of the hospital for you." The ANBU captain sighed.
Inu had to stop himself from growling at Kitsune's obvious assurance that he would win. "Four hours from now." He stopped and thought for a moment before continuing, "Gives you plenty of time to run as far away as possible."
"Oh, don't you mean it gives you guys time to run, I have no intentions to run from a fight that I am sure to win." came Kitsune's quick reply, and Kakashi scowled, and waited for a snappy comeback to pop into his mind.
When nothing was forthcoming, he did the next best thing, and the same thing any grown ANBU would do in this situation, he flipped Kitsune off before storming back to his own room with a huff.
Kitsune stared at the place Kakashi had occupied only moments ago before bursting into boisterous laughter.
"F-flipped me the bird! Exceptionally mature, Inu!" He managed to gasp between his laughs.
Still laughing, he walked back into his room, pretending not to notice the familiar chakra signature coming from in front of Neko's door, in he hallway that branched from his
~~~~Sakura: ANBU HQ Hall~~~~
Sakura froze as an explosive, and familiar laugh filled the hallways. Her hand hovered inches from an ANBU operative's door. Another that forgot to turn in their missions report.
As the loud voice faded away, Sakura decided to get this done quickly so that she could report her findings to Ino.
Knocking briskly on the door, she waited impatiently. A few moments later, the door was thrown open with a growl by a tall, slender, raven haired woman wearing a cat mask.
"I was having a good dream, gaki. Whatever you have to say better be good." The woman warned, and Sakura shivered at the intense KI that rolled off the woman in waves.
"U-um... Hokage-sama asked me to tell you that the team captain evalutions are coming up, and that you and your teammates need to file your evaluations this time." Sakura stuttered, slightly frightened by this woman.
The woman scratched the back of her head. "Oh, yeah! We forgot to last time, didn't we...? Thanks, kid, though that could have waited." She closed the door in Sakura's face without so much as a good bye, and the pinkette sighed in relief before running off to go tell Ino what she just heard.
Naruto, who was supposed to be gone, was laughing in ANBU HQ.
~~~~Four Hours Later: Training Ground 7~~~~
Kitsune was the first to arrive, and looked around at the place he was supposed to have met his Chuunin team at only three hours before, if he wasn't undercover. Thinking about it, he sighed.
He hoped Sakura and Yamato confessed to each other soon. It was painful to watch them dance around each other, leaving hints as subtle as the Hokage Monument. How could Yamato not notice how close Sakura always stood to him, and How could Sakura not realize Yamato-taicho's obvious protectiveness of her was beyond him. Oblivious idiots.
Kitsune was snapped out of his thoughts when Ookami's and Neko's chakra signatures resounded through the area around him, announcing their arrival long before he could see them. They stood away from him, chatting about different things while he lost himself in thought again. They knew when their Taicho wanted to be left alone.
So the team captain evaluations were coming up? Interesting...
Mizuhebi arrived next, and went to join her teammates, and they waited impatiently for Inu, who, unlike his personality when he wasn't undercover, was not usually late. They couldn't talk strategy without him.
Finally Inu dashed into the clearing, giving an excuse that was far more believable than the ones Naruto had heard before.
Apparently Ishigame (turtle), whose civilian name was Mighto Gai, had cornered him in the training room, and demanded another rematch from his 'eternal rival'. Inu seemed too embarrassed to tell them exactly what the challenge was, but the others knew if it was that bad, they would know it in a few hours, thanks to the grapevine, so they spared him the mortification... for now.
Kitsune's team grouped together, getting further away from their captain, though they didn't know they were still well within his excellent hearing range, and began to discuss tactics that would possibly defeat the powerful teen.
Finally deciding on one, they broke apart, not knowing that Kitsune had already heard the plan and had puzzled out counter tactics.
Ookami made a quick Kage Bunshin to be referee, though its only real job was to shout start. The clone took its place between the two sides, and nodded.
All five ANBU slid gracefully into fighting stances that was unique to their styles.
"... 3... 2... 1! Hajime!" The clone shouted, and immediately all of them blurred out of sight, going too fast for the human eye to follow.
Kitsune shielded his chakra signature, and made three clones to even the field. Each clone was assigned a member to take care of, and dashed off to do their jobs, while the original did the same.
Meanwhile, Ookami settled down easily on a branch a few hundred feet away, and began to set up the traps that the others were going to box taicho into. He was the trap-master of the team, often the one that set the traps their prey was lured into, whether it be fatal or not. He smirked behind his mask as he set the last note down.
It was a trap similar to the one that was used in their last mission, though the webs would now only trap the victim, not kill him.
Ookami was too busy gloating over his own ingenuity to notice the small chakra signature that did not belong to the flora and fauna of the forest, and the clone closed in on his quarry.
"One down." The clone said simply, and Ookami spun to look at him. He was barely in time to dodge the senbon that would heve knocked him cold, and sent a flurry of his own, which the clone avoided easily.
"Good, this wouldn't be as fun if you didn't fight back, even though it's pointless." The clone taunted, knowing that the big man was easily angered, and got sloppy while angry.
"What? Why you little-" Ookami roared, not even bothering to aim the wave of kunai he threw. The clone managed to get away from most of them, but one skimmed his arm, shallowly cutting through his flesh. With a hiss of pain, the bunshin launched himself straight up into a tree, followed closely by Ookami.
The man did not stop to realize Kitsune was luring him into his home territory, where the fox had the advantage. The bigger man blundered slightly while the small teen flipped easily from branch to branch, not bothering to take the openings that were presenting themselves to him. It wouldn't be as fun if Ookami was taken care of too early.
"Get back here, gaki!" Ookami didn't realize he was insulting his captain left and right, and if he did that to anyone else, he would be punished severely. Kitsune's clone let it go, though. Ookami got careless when he was angry.
A loud humming echoed through the forest, followed by a flash of pure light, and both ANBU cursed and turned back towards the trap, the fight forgotten for a moment. None of the Kitsunes had stumbled into the trap, which meant either a very frightened animal or a very ticked shinobi was stuck inside the dome of glowing strands of light.
The latter was true. Standing in the middle of the dome, all with varying levels of anger on their faces, stood Chuunin team 7, probably coming back from training.
Yamato and Sai spotted the two men, and both bowed to the teen on the other side of the webs.
Sai straightened and said, "Kitsune-taicho, I should have realized you were behind this. After all, it is your team's most famous method."
Kitsune nodded, and Ookami dispelled the jutsu. He groaned, knowing that the notes used to make up the trap were useless now, as they could only be used once before combusting.
Kitsune's clone dispelled in a puff of chakra smoke as the real one stepped into the clearing, followed by the rest of the team.
Sasuke and Sakura were both focused on the young captain, Sakura with amazement, Sasuke with recognition, and gratitude that he would never admit to, under pains of torture.
"I apologize for the inconvenience my team has caused you." Kitsune said formally, bowing to the shinobi that were imprisoned moments before.
"Actually you helped us. It looks like this damn cat is too scared to scratch me anymore." Sasuke muttered, holding up the cat Daimyo's wife's cat, that huddled into his chest in fear.
Kitsune grinned behind his mask, glad that he had gotten out of that particular mission. Turning towards his team, he announced, "This spar ends in a tie, so neither side lost. You won't be able to challenge me for a month, as we agreed to. You are dismissed."
The ANBU's voice sounded familiar to Sasuke, but he couldn't for the, life of him, remember why. Sure, this was the operative that dragged him back, but his voice was familiar for a different reason than that.
The four other ANBU all sighed and nodded, before their hands all flashed in the hand seals for a shunshin, and they disappeared. Kitsune faced the two Chuunin and two undercover ANBU operatives again.
"I will escort you to the tower, I need to tell the Hokage something anyway." He told them, and both Sai and Yamato were surprised. Kitsune was infamous in the ANBU grapevine for his desire to remain a ghost within the organization, and could easily just have left with his team. Yamato agreed, though, and they set off through the trees.
Sasuke watched Kitsune out of the corner of his eye, still unable to figure out his dilemma.
Sakura also watched the young captain, unable to dismiss her suspicion. It was impossible, yet everything between them was so similar. The way they jumped as they navigated through trees, the easy way he kept pace with Sasuke, and the lock of golden hair that slipped from the hood. Not to mention the facts that just as one leaves, the other appears, and that when she was at ANBU HQ, his laughter echoed through the halls. Impossible unless...
Kitsune was Naruto.
(spastic giggling) Do y'all think Kitsune can convince her otherwise? Maybe, maybe not. I know y'all want to kill me for stopping there, but you can't. Why? Because I'm the only one who knows what happens next! X3 Kakashi just doesn't realize who it is because he refuses to believe the guy who was subjected to '1000 Years of Pain' could beat his albino hiney into the ground. Oh, that brings me to my announcement. Kakashi is an albino. I mean, he's paler than I am, and I'm the color of a sheet, he has white hair, and a red eye (though it wasn't originally his, but humor me here, people). Well, I'm gonna go work on the next chapter of my other story! Hasta la bye bye!