"Blah": Talking
'Blah': Demon speaking/ Inner Sakura
'Blah': Naruto's Thoughts/other people's thoughts
'Blah': Harry talking to Naruto
Hello everyone, I'm back again with a new chapter! I hope you guys enjoy this one.
Naruto will soon get his life back together and find some peace and stability with the help of the people who wish to help him. But he needs the help of one particular person, but he needs to let that person back in. But it isn't Iruka, or Harry, or even Jiraiya or Sarutobi . . . Then who is it?
Read and find out, kay? Enjoy it everybody! This chapter and all the others are re-written! :)
Remember: Reviews are welcome and wanted!
Disclaimer: Naruto is the property of Masashi Kishimoto,
Harry Potter is property of JK Rowling,
Chapter 6: The Student-Teacher Bond
Several Months after the Skirmish at the Hospital...
Naruto woke up groggily to the irritating alarm clock he had next to his bed, as he did every morning for over a month. He slammed his alarm clock and reset it to ring the same time for the next morning.
'G'morning Konoha! C'mon Naru-chan! One, two! One, two! Let's-get-up!' Harry mentally awoke Naruto, like an obnoxious radio show speaker.
Naruto couldn't sleep at all last night. The bags in his much sharper looking eyes showed just how much sleep he had really been lacking. For he would wake up constantly, from dreams of aggressive villagers, people with cameras flashing in his face, and monstrous versions of Sasuke chasing after him with bloody fangs and vicious claws trying to slice him into pieces. Naruto could barely bring himself to fall asleep, knowing what he would inevitably scream awake to. Naruto, often times, asked Iruka if he could stay at his house on many nights lately, not that Iruka minded it at all. At least, while he slept at his house, Naruto could often sleep and dream peacefully, because Iruka slept in the same room as him. But the nights were still very difficult to endure, and the life in the day-time was no better for him.
Naruto looked around his tiny bedroom; the worn out walls and dull paint job gave off a bad vibe, just as the rest of his apartment always had. He got up and out of bed sluggishly, and went to his kitchen to get his breakfast ready. All he found in his kitchen was a bag of slightly stale, half-finished bread and some ramen cups.
Toast it would be.
He checked his fridge for anything to drink, and for some butter or jam to go with his toast. All he had was an expired milk carton, and no butter or jam to be found.
Just perfect.
He set his toaster for one minute, putting the bread in place to be cooked. And he walked back to his tiny bathroom to shower. Naruto relaxed for five blissful minutes, as the hot water ran through his messy hair and he washed himself with whatever soap he had left. He took a mental note to go shopping soon. He usually didn't spend anything unless he really needed it. And now it was about time to restock on everything he needed once more.
Once done with his shower, he got out, the small room completely filled with steam, he rubbed his towel over him to dry and wrapped said towel around his waist. Naruto padded out of his bathroom, steam escaping everywhere once the door was opened. And he walked down to his kitchen, smelling his toast. He popped it out of the toaster and grabbed a bite of it while it was still a little warm. He then walked back to his bedroom to get dressed. Opening his clothes drawer, he picked out a dark red t-shirt with a black Deathly Hallows symbol emblazoned on the front, green boxers, and a pair of baggy, olive-colored pants and belt. He also reached next to his bed and put on some sneakers. Tsunade had him start wearing them, after his feet were lined with cuts, scrapes, and thorns lodged into them, after he fled from the meeting over a month ago. Naruto decided to keep wearing them and a pair of socks, until he could afford new zori sandals, which he lost over a month ago.
Once dressed, he tied white bandages around the right thigh of his olive pants and strapped a kunai holster on top. He clipped his weapons pouch on the back of his pants. And then tied his Konoha leaf headband, instead of around his forehead, he tied it around his neck. He admitted to Harry recently that his headband felt much more comfortable around his neck as opposed to having it around his forehead all day, making his forehead sweaty and extremely irritated at the end of the day.
(A/N: Those headbands from Hot Topic are just irritating on the forehead, aren't they?)
He left his bedroom and pocketed his wand, now fully satisfied that he was ready to go. He ate the rest of his now cold and unsatisfying toast and exited his apartment grabbing his new dark, navy blue sports-jacket which replaced his old orange clothes. He then locked the door on his way out with a tap of his wand, instead of using his keys (Which he lost a while back).
(A/N: Try to imagine Naruto wearing the same outfit Harry wore during the scenes of him at the Quidditch World Cup in the Goblet of Fire movie, only he's wearing some ninja weapons.)
Naruto walked down the open hall, and walked into the day light. Normally he would have done his morning stretches and run as fast as he could and begin hopping from rooftop to rooftop. The sky was grayish today, and small bits of blue sky could be seen through the thick clouds.
Naruto began to wonder if the weather probably reflected how he felt today; dull with diminished hope.
Looking at his watch, Naruto imagined that he would be a few minutes early if he ran to the meeting bridge. But instead, he decided to walk down the streets and stop by a few of his favorite shops before going to the bridge. Not seeing any reason to be early to a mission he knew would be a D-Rank. He would also get to spend less time with his team that way.
Sakura arrived on time, at the bridge where Team 7 had always met everyday, ever since it's formation over a year ago.
She looked slightly different now, Sakura decided to re-grow her hair long again. And it now she had grown four inches longer in one month. Her leaf headband held her hair in place and out of her eyes. She also wore a slightly different qipao dress, that was still the same in color, only it showed off her navel in a wide, diamond shaped hole on the stomach part of her dress, and went around her relatively slim waistline. Sakura had bragged about it ever since she bought it. Insisting that it made her seem more grown up and sophisticated, and would appease her 'Sasuke-kun'. While anyone else with any sliver of common sense would instead call it more... slutty for her.
At least that's what Harry thought in his chambers, sticking his finger into his mouth, making fake gagging noises everytime she would open her mouth. Other than that bit, everything about her appearance was about the same.
Sakura leaned against the rail on the side of the bridge, waiting impatiently for Naruto and Kakashi to show up.
About ten minutes later, Naruto suddenly, or rather, magically appeared down the street with a loud crack. Clearly, he had Disapparated from wherever he was last located. Sakura hadn't heard the loud and distinct crack, and even more so the impressive-looking multi-colored blob which then spat Naruto out into existence before slamming down hard upon the ground. Once recovered, Naruto walked over to the bridge with a very tired and detached look in his eyes.
Sakura saw him approaching the bridge, and appeared to be listening to his new iPod. Which was a gift from Jiraiya, for his belated thirteenth birthday.
Seeing an opportunity to belittle her teammate, Sakura smirked and called out, "Hey, Naruto-baka! You're late!"
Naruto clearly didn't hear her, being more interested and attentive to the song he was humming subtly.
Drink up baby doll,
Are you in or are you out?
Leave your things behind,
'Cause it's all going off without you,
Sakura was not pleased with being ignored by the likes of him.
"Hey! BAKA! I'M TALKING TO YOU!"
Now Sakura was yelling at him, and yet, he still continued to ignore her and listen to his song on his iPod.
Excuse me, too busy, you're writing your tragedy,
These mishaps,You bubble-wrap,
When you've no idea what you're like,
Sakura got pissed off now, and sauntered over to her messy-haired teammate.
So, let go, so let go,
Jump in,
Oh well, what you waitin-
Sakura interrupted Naruto's lyrical appreciation by punching him in the head, very hard.
"OUCH!" he yelled.
His headphones flew right out of his ears with a pinch of pain, and Naruto rubbed the large lump that instantly swelled on top of his head. He then snapped towards Sakura with a livid expression stained on his face.
"What is your problem?" Naruto yelled at Sakura.
She retorted coldly, "Listen to me when I talk to you, Baka!"
Naruto's eyes darkened from her sight, as he slowly put his jet-black iPod and headphones back into his deep pocket. He began to slightly shake in anger. He fairly managed to control his magic from going out of control, thanks to his Occlumency training. Though, that's not to say it didn't help him totally control his emotions so much as it helped keep his magic in control.
"...That's not my name..." Naruto growled ever so quietly.
"What was that, Baka?" Sakura dared to provoke him. Insistently calling him Baka, instead of his actual name.
Naruto then exploded in anger, "I said, that's not my name, you bloody cun-"
"Yo!" Interrupted the familiar outspoken voice of Kakashi-sensei, from atop the bridges north archway. Preventing Naruto from uttering one of the worst swear words anyone could ever dare to speak.
Sakura's attention was drawn towards their sensei, and she yelled solely, "YOU'RE LATE, AGAIN!"
Kakashi swept down to the bridge swiftly, and walked up to his two students with an eye-smile.
"Sorry that I'm a little late. These two little kids had their cat stuck on top of a telephone pole. And I had to help them get their Mr. Porkins down safe."
Sakura smirked at her sensei, "You seem to be a little unscratched to have helped a stressful cat." she challenged his excuse.
Kakashi sweat-dropped comically, rubbing the back of his head in joking nervousness.
"Well-I just helped the little kitty at a distance, so he wouldn't scratch me."
Sakura made a scoff of strong disbelief, "YOU LIAR!"
Kakashi then popped the question to both of them jokingly, "So were you two love-birds getting along?"
Immediately, Sakura looked disgusted and insulted, while Naruto just looked irritated that he was being referred in question by his sensei. And he looked away and tried channeling out his hearing for the next several minutes, knowing full well what Sakura would say about him. He had been taking this continuous crap from her ever since they started doing missions again the last month and a half.
"PFT! Yeah right! Naruto-baka barely categorizes as a man! Let alone a human being!" she reacted, pointing at Naruto rudely.
Kakashi immediately regretted adding in that single adjective, seeing Naruto's frame darkened just behind her. Clearly he had failed to ignore her loud and obnoxious tween voice.
"Now Sakura, play nice this time around, okay?" Kakashi asked with a scolding tone in his voice and a sigh of exasperation.
He turned over to Naruto to help him forget what he heard her just say, knowing how heart broken Naruto has been since that day in the hospital. He could remember standing in the crowd of on-lookers in disguise as he and the others watched and observed Naruto's monthly evaluation examinations, testing the limits of his magical powers. He could remember seeing the expression on Naruto's face throughout all of those days being just as blank and dark then as it was now. His student was so good at concealing most of his emotions, that he could have passed the ANBU Recruitment Exam just as easily as Kakashi himself did many years ago. But seeing the dead-look in Naruto's face only dampened Kakashi. It just didn't feel in the least bit right to see Naruto look and act in a way that was scarily similar to his old self.
To break that frown on his student's face, Kakashi asked him with half-hearted enthusiasm."Well, Naruto? Are you excited for a new mission today?"
Naruto stared at Kakashi with dull blue eyes and didn't say a thing, and then looked back towards the waters of the creek.
'There he goes, acting as if nothing had even happened since the events of the Chunin Exams...' Naruto thought.
Naruto noticed how the flowing water lacked the reflecting shine it usually held when he came down here to meet his team. The sun was blocked by the dark grey clouds up above them, looming like shadow over the once light world of his.
Kakashi frowned beneath his mask, but then said with the same level of enthusiasm as before, "We might get lucky, and get a C-Rank mission this time. How about that?" he asked his student.
Naruto answered stoically, "I don't care."
Kakashi sighed noiselessly. Naruto hadn't change a bit in the time after Team 7 was almost completely reunited. Naruto was still dark and unfriendly and didn't show any signs of returning back to normal anytime soon.
"Well, of course you should care, Naruto. I thought you would be ecstatic about taking on a challenging mission." Kakashi calmly reasoned.
Sakura scoffed yet again, refusing to let the mood brighten anymore, "Yeah right! Like a wimp like him could do anything worth a challenge!"
Kakashi turned a little angry and irritated at Sakura's cruelty, and snapped his head at her with an angry and furrowed eye.
"Sakura, that's enough." he said sternly.
Naruto continued to brood darkly, and Kakashi sighed when looking in between his two remaining students, "Well, we better get going then. To the mission desk, team."
"Whatever." Naruto replied, as he and Sakura followed Kakashi to the mission desk. With Kakashi occasionally looking back and hoping to see a glimpse of Naruto's former self return to the surface.
Team 7 was not given a C-Rank mission, Kakashi had been hoping to get Naruto excited for. In fact, they haven't had a single mission above D-Rank with the absence of one of their members.
Instead of something exciting, Team 7 was given the assignment of tending the garden of an elderly villager a little bit outside of the city, near the forests. She was the creator of several very rare crossbred flowers, and she needed careful assistance with her garden for she was slightly ill and lacked the strength to do it herself.
Sakura was excited, for she was well experienced in floral arts. So the mission wouldn't be a problem for her, so long as Naruto and Kakashi didn't mess up or slow her down. Meanwhile, Naruto didn't care either way. In fact, he hardly cared about any D-Rank mission they've had in the past month. Each of their missions were all relatively successful, only Naruto held very little faith in fulfilling their assignments correctly. Whether it was catching the Daimyo's cat again, or weeding out a villagers lawn, Naruto just did what he was told, and did it as soon as he could. Completely uncaring of the quality of his performance. Often times, he would hide his wand under the sleeve of his new jacket and make his job faster.
Magic, fortunately, could help him this time around. After all, he was already well-practiced in plant-related spells and Herbology. But ever since he had been through the months of evaluation exams, the Council deemed that Naruto should only use it whenever it was truly necessary and should not use it excessively in the risk of becoming overly-dependent of it. Having no other choice, Naruto had to obey and would only use his wand in cases whenever it was needed. Should one of his supervisors (Kakashi) see him using his magic throughout all of any of his missions, was to report him. And if Naruto received anymore than three total warnings, then his wand would have to be confiscated. Basically putting him below the levels of a typical house elf.
'Tending to flowers is not a mission. It's a household chore!' Naruto thought with irritance.
The only bright side of this mission was probably their client, Harumi Aimi. She was a very kind, elderly woman, and Naruto liked her almost at once. Because never a single time did she look or say anything to Naruto with any hatred or contempt. Harumi showed Naruto nothing more than unconditional kindness. She even pinched his cheek gently, calling him the most darn-right handsome gentleman she had seen in her years.
Kakashi giggled silently at this gesture while Sakura scoffed in response.
Harumi-san, who was rather short due to old age, had a full head of long snow-white hair, tan pruned skin, and violet-colored eyes. She did seem like she should be in bed resting. But she was well enough to personally greet the ninja she had hired. All she needed was some of her heavy potted plants to be arranged so that they could absorb more sunlight for the summer season. And her famous crossbred flowers (that were also potted) had to be moved for the same reasons. She also said that she needed them to go out and lightly water all of her plants, seeing as she wasn't well enough the previous day to water them.
When they got straight to work, Sakura and Naruto immediately worked on separate ends of the garden. They both moved their individual pots across the garden, Sakura having more difficulty moving them due to her lack of physical training, but she endured. Naruto effortlessly moved his share of the pots, but glared at Kakashi angrily for not helping. Instead, he was up one of the trees nearby, reading his Icha-Icha Paradise while giggling to himself perversely. When he said earlier that he would be supervising as well as helping them when needed.
Naruto and Sakura soon worked on moving the smaller pots of flowers into the sunlight path. After that, Naruto started to water all of Harumi-sans' flowers carefully on his side of the garden, while Sakura rearranged the flowers on her side. Naruto was about half-way done with sparing the water with his given spray bottle. When he noticed a particular flower that was still rooted to the earth below him;
It was a lily, the most beautiful lily Naruto had ever seen. At least, out of the very few he care to pay attention to. It was very unique breed for a lily. Instead of looking like a simple pattern of two linear colors, it had a swirl design of lavender and deep purple. And had two very peculiar buds in the open center, that looked like two pale, lavender pearls. Naruto had never seen a flower like this before. He couldn't help but feel mesmerized by it's beauty and unique shape and colour.
The flower, oddly enough, reminded him of Hinata. He remembered how she found him in the utility closet, and reached out to comfort him in his humiliation. Naruto soon closed his eyes in remembrance and thought back to all the times he had known Hinata for. She was always so kind to him. How she would offer healing ointments everytime he would hurt himself, or simply say hello to him when they passed by or just happened to come across each other for what ever reasons they had. Hell, she was one of the few people in the whole village who had remembered his birthday last year.
Thinking it over, there was something about her that made Naruto want to better himself. She was always so kind to everyone who deserved the kind treatment, and since when did Naruto ever perform random acts of kindness like her?
The only thing he remembered doing for her was cheering her on in her fight against her cousin Neji. Other than that, he couldn't think of anything else apart from that and actually fighting Neji in the Chunin Exams for her.
He wanted to see her again soon. He never properly thanked her for the hug she gave him or the flower she gifted to him, or even the encouragement she gave him before he faced off with Neji. Naruto thought that maybe he could pluck this flower from the ground and gift it to her as an offering. Excited with his unclear plan, he reached out to pluck it. But then Sakura's hurtful fist kissed his head once again.
"YOUCH!"
She had hit the same place as before this morning, making the swell on Naruto's head hurt even worse. Naruto noticed, to his disappointed shock, that Sakura had squashed the flower, he had planned to take, with her sandaled foot.
"What the hell is wrong with you!" he yelled at Sakura fiercely, whilst getting up on his feet.
"Pay attention, you moron!" she yelled back, "I'm doing all the work here! Arranging the flowers and bringing finesse to Harumi-san's garden! And all you're doing is drooling over a single flower! Are you high? Because, I wouldn't be surprised if you were. Now get to work, you lazy freak!"
"Screw you, Haruno!" Naruto rebuked at Sakura, he whipped out his wand and pointed his wand at her throat.
Sakura screamed, "DON'T YOU POINT THAT THING AT ME!"
Seeing this coming a mile ahead, Harry tried to hold Naruto back with words and a mild amount of control with magic (showing that he really wouldn't mind seeing Sakura getting cursed), 'EASY! Naruto, she's not worth it...'
Kakashi sensed the disturbance from the distance away and saw Naruto whip out his weapon and point at Sakura. He then felt a burst of killing-intent erupt out from Naruto, all of it aimed solely on Sakura. Kakashi discarded his book immediately and jumped down from the tree he was sitting on top of and stepped in between the two fighting teens, stopping whatever was about to break out.
"Hey-hey-hey! What's going on here you two?" Kakashi scolded sternly,
"This baka was just staring at a flower instead of doing his work! I'm almost finished, and he's not even half-way done yet!" Sakura argued, while pointing her bossy finger at Naruto, who regrettably pocketed back his wand.
Kakashi sighed again, pointing his index finger in a matter-of-fact gesture, "First of all, Sakura; stop hitting Naruto all the time. Violence never solves anything for anybody. Having the top grades upon your graduation from the Academy you of all people should know that... And Naruto; don't you ever point that thing at a comrade from your own village like that again. You're being no better than Sasuke from when he..."
Kakashi paused for a second, at seeing the look on Naruto's face. For a second Naruto had a look of sheer horror on his face and his hand clenched at the scar that remained on his chest from the Chidori that Sasuke had stabbed him with.
Kakashi continued, "...Well, you're aware of that already, I don't have to repeat it."
Both genin stiffened and slightly trembled at Kakashi domineering growl of command and stood away from each other (Sakura taking more steps away from Naruto more so than Naruto himself). Sakura kept eying the place where Naruto hid his wand securely, afraid to ever have it pointed at her person again. From what her parents told her about the magic they saw him perform in his evaluations, Sakura quickly grew to be fearful and highly resentful of magic all together.
"Now Naruto..." Kakashi started, "Try to pay attention to your assignment. I know it's boring, but you have to give it all your effort for it to succeed. Kay?"
Naruto's previous terror at being reminded of the incident at the Valley of the End quickly turned into hatred aimed at his sensei. Naruto grunted at his teacher, and looked away in aggressive frustration. He then rushed away to finish watering the rest of the plants he had yet to water. Sakura, upon recovering from Naruto's physical threat, 'humphed' in satisfaction and walked back briskly to her blissful flower arranging.
Once both his genin students turned away from him to do their job, Kakashi sighed again at seeing Naruto's expression of darkness become all the more dark, fearing that Naruto's resentment of him only further deepened.
Team 7 finished their jobs with Harumi-san's garden by the time it reached to the late afternoon, and bursts of orange and golden light managed to break through the clouds of western horizon. Team 7 had then gathered in front of Harumi-san's front door to collect their pay, and receive her personal gratitude.
"There you go you three; forty-five thousand ryo. As I had promised you." Harumi-san smiled, giving them their pay.
Sakura fake-smiled back to her, probably unsatisfied with the pay she got after she had arranged her flowers in the greatest and most pain-staking way she could imagine possible.
"Thank you. Your garden is really lovely." she lied in a sweet tone that made Naruto and Harry want to puke.
Kakashi bowed slightly, in respect, "It was no problem helping you, Harumi-san."
Team 7 turned around to leave and started walking away steadily, but Naruto pretended to walk along with them before discreetly lagging behind on purpose. He wanted to ask Harumi-san something in private. He walked back to the old florist woman and coughed to let his presence be known to her. Harumi turned around to see the adorable young man return to her and patiently awaited him to speak with a warm smile on her wrinkled face.
Naruto asked nervously, "... Um-Harumi-san?"
"Hmm?" she responded.
Naruto asked as kindly as he could, aiming to get that flower for Hinata, "D-do you think I could have one of your crossbreed purple flowers, please?"
Harumi-san smiled warmly at the teen again, like a grandmother would to a favored grandchild.
"Of course, dear." she said offering Naruto another of the same exact flower he saw get squished by Sakura earlier, only it was already wrapped beautifully with a transparent bag of it's seeds in a hand-woven mini flower bouquet wrap.
Naruto was surprised and taken aback that she knew which one he wanted, "How did you-"
"I saw you starring at one of them earlier, dear. My Aika-Aimi lilies are my favorite as well. They're a symbol for new beginnings, kindness, and true love." she smiled kindly again, giving Naruto the wrapped flower.
"T-thank you so much, Harumi-san!" he thanked genuinely and fully bowed to her. Earning a warm smile from the kindly old woman. She retreated her old arms within the confines of the sleeves of her robes and sighed pleasantly.
"The way you stared at the flower so intently, no doubt you must be planning on gifting it to someone you admire very much, aren't you?"
Naruto's droopy eyes widened briefly, and then he blushed lightly, "Yeah... I think a friend of mine would like it..." he said with hope in his voice.
Harumi-san looked a little concerned, and lowered her voice to him, "Pray it be not that 'banshee-girl' your partners with. She is not a keeper, if you ask me, dear. She looks and acts like a she-devil hag, and I'm an old woman!"
Naruto's eyes went comically white and saucer-round for a brief second in reaction to what she said about Sakura.
"Y-yeah... Definitely not her..." he assured offhandedly.
Harumi-san smiled again, "A boy like you deserves a girl who would treat you kindness, not hostility and."
She pinched Naruto's cheek like before and said, "You'd better catch up with your team, young man. Before you are missed. Go on, now." she shooed him away kindly.
Naruto panicked at how further away the rest of Team 7 had walked without noticing his absence. They were already about to several football fields away from him and were almost going to make the turn back down the road to the village.
"Oh, man! Thank you, again, Harumi-san!" he called to her as he started running back to his team.
The kind old woman waved him goodbye and watched him conceal his free flowers within the confines of his jacket, Harumi sighed sadly when he disappeared down the dirt-road path and out of site.
'That poor boy... He's suffered for far too long... Kami bless him...'
Claire de Lune by Debussy (It's really great music! :J)
The garden tending mission actually took up a majority of Team 7's day to accomplish. By the time they got back to the village, the sun had already begun to set and turn to twilight. Casting a glow of bright orange over the entire village, although it was still a little bit cloudy like this earlier dreary morning. The rush of citizens began by now, where villagers, ninja, and children alike were finishing work for the day or getting out of school and playing down the streets. The streets themselves were filled with people, rushing to get home while others that were holding cameras and hiding notepads in their clothes kept darting their gazes and looking for the local village celebrity Naruto. Kakashi waited for the local ANBU authorities to find the get rid of the paparazzi once he signaled for them and tried to lead his students to a more discrete location to bid farewell for the day. Nearby the park, on the cobblestone path was a good enough location.
"Okay team," Kakashi turned to Naruto and Sakura, still reading his Icha-Icha Paradise, "That just about wraps things up for the day, wouldn't you think?"
He didn't wait for either one of them to answer and went on ahead with his speech.
"Then I guess that's it! We will meet tomorrow, same time and place as usual. So long and keep out of trouble." he ended with his eye-smile.
Sakura turned and leave and tried to get as much distance away from her partner as possible. Naruto also turned around to leave and was starting to walk away when Kakashi unexpectedly stopped him.
"Naruto..." Kakashi's voice beckoned to him.
He turned back around to Kakashi with an uninterested and irritated look on his face, "Hmm?"
Kakashi continued to eye-smile at him, "Are you a little hungry after working on a garden all day? The two of us can go down to Ichiraku Ramen right now, if you like." he offered to his clearly depressed student.
But what the Copy-Ninja heard next, was not the answer he would normally expect from a passionate ramen addict like Naruto Uzumaki.
"No." he said flatly.
Kakashi felt a painful churn in his stomach at the tone in Naruto's voice, and to his refusal to be invited to his favorite place on the planet to eat.
"Are you sure? I promise to pay for what you get. No strings attached, Naruto." he tried offering again.
Naruto looked very stoic and yet calculating, in a way that was very similar to Sasuke's normal behavior back in the old days. For a second, Kakashi could have sworn he saw a ghostly image cloak over Naruto as he said the following words.
"I'm not hungry. No thank you." he said coldly.
Feeling sad, defeated, and rejected by his own student, Kakashi closed his eyes sadly and said, "Alright, if that's what you want. Are you sure?"
He hoped that maybe, just maybe that Naruto would change his mind and take on his earlier offer, so he could have the chance to talk to him again. But instead, Naruto just looked irritated that his teacher was filibustering his clear answer.
"I have to get home. I'm tired. 'Night."
With that, Naruto blended into the crowds of people walking by and disappeared into the streets of the village, leaving Kakashi standing all alone. Kakashi sighed and pocketed his Icha-Icha Paradise and walked to the mission desk office to turn in his mission report.
The starry sky was not visible to the human eye in the heart of Konoha. All due to the thriving city's bright lights and brightly lit and colorful billboard advertisements. Kakashi walked down the streets, having finally finished his mission report for the day, leaving out the details of Naruto drawing his wand out on Sakura. He was now looking down at the ground, not even bothering to pull out his pervy book and entertain himself out into a temporary bliss. He was too concerned over his remaining male student and depressed over the fact that he hated him so much.
He just didn't know how Naruto could still hate him after all the time that has passed since Sasuke was sent away from the village and to the islands of the Eastern Ocean. He doubted that Naruto missed the Uchiha, seeing as he tried to kill him, had already betrayed him to save his own skin, and mocked him about shortly after. He managed to conclude that he must still be mad at him for training Sasuke, and leaving him behind without a single word. Sure, what he did was harsh and stupid, leaving Naruto behind. But he didn't expect Naruto to hate him this much for so long, it was so long ago.
Kakashi couldn't figure out why Naruto was still so mad at him, even when he was now giving him his attention and trying to make up for what he denied him. Kakashi stopped to look up at the night's sky, unhappy that he couldn't see the stars with all these irritating city lights. He sighed and his stomach growled slightly. It would've been nice if he and Naruto could've gone for ramen. Ichiraku's made good ramen.
He decided, since the restaurant was close by, to get a quick bite to eat before he would wrap up the night. Even if eating alone does look pretty pathetic.
The familiar smell of delicious ramen filled Kakashi's masked nostrils once he approached the restaurant a few minutes later. From outside, he could hear Teuchi playing the newly purchased radio he bought for the restaurant playing the song Move Away by The Killers. Not his favorite song in the world, but it sounded pretty good to listen to while he ate in a few minutes. But just as Kakashi was about to pull back one of the curtains and enter, he heard two familiar voices inside.
"... So you just told him you weren't hungry, blew him off, and then came here to talk to me instead, Naruto?" asked the disappointed voice of Iruka Umino.
"... I just didn't want to talk to him..." answered Naruto's voice. He sounded like he had a lot more emotions coming out in his voice than what he staged these past few months.
Kakashi decided to keep out of view from Teuchi and his daughter Ayame, so the conversation between Iruka and Naruto wouldn't be interrupted by the Copy-Ninja. He then listened intently to what the two of them were saying. Hoping to get some inside information on what Naruto thought of him and the reasons as to why it were so. Being a shinobi, this was practically considered this to be a high-importance reconnaissance mission he was determined to accomplish.
"And how does that make you the better person, now? Even if Kakashi did all that effing crap to you before, two wrongs never make a right." Iruka said sternly to his old student.
Naruto grieved, "... He wouldn't understand... You know how he is... He doesn't care as much as you, Hayate, or Harry do... He just... doesn't..."
Iruka paused for a few seconds before talking, "I won't deny that he tends to be a little... Detached and stupidly insensitive, but it does sounds like he was really trying to move past everything that's happened and try to start over."
Naruto sighed, starring at his almost empty ramen bowl. He took his chopsticks and twirled around with the three remaining two-inch long noodles swimming in his broth and swirled them in his bowl. At one point, he took his one chopstick and removed one of the noodle in the bundle of three and moved it away and to the other side of the bowl and started thinking.
Iruka then said, placing his hand on top Naruto's messy mop, "I wouldn't have said this a few months ago, but I'm saying it now, because it feels right; Can't you try to give Kakashi a second chance?"
Naruto paused before saying, "How do you give someone another chance, if they don't deserve it. He never wanted to talk to me before, so why should I let him in now, Iruka-aniki?"
"You know everyone deserves a second chance, Naruto... Even Kakashi..."
"... He and his prodigy have been given enough chances by the likes of me... Remember when I asked my sensei what day it was on October tenth last year? I asked him so many times until he told me, 'Naruto, stop pestering me. It's Tuesday, alright?" Naruto accurately imitated Kakashi with a perfect vocal imitation.
"That insensitive clod didn't even know it was my birthday, and where does he go? To go train Sasuke again for the whole day..." Naruto said with an furious and hurt tone.
Just outside the curtains, Kakashi's eye widened and he smacked himself in the face for his stupidity once he realized the date on that particular day.
'I forgot his birthday, too? What is wrong with me?' Kakashi grieved.
"And let us not forget the last time I gave Sasuke Uchiha a second chance. And what came out of it? The court hearing of the century! That's what came out of that blind trust." he growled out, "There were a lot of times I gave both of them more than a few chances. I don't see why I should give Kakashi-sensei any more of my time. If he didn't bother giving me some of his when I needed him." he ended more quietly.
Kakashi outside, hung his head down in shame.
Iruka sighed, and Naruto looked back down into his bowl and separated the one noodle apart from the remaining group of three that were left swimming, just like before and spoke his mind over what to do, "Sometimes, I just want to quit Team 7. And stop getting up in the morning to be tormented with the reminder of the trust I gave to the wrong people..."
Kakashi looked horrified to hear this and was tempted to jump in and try to change Naruto's mind. But then Iruka said, "That's a load of crap, Naruto."
"Excuse me?" Naruto asked, surprised that Iruka would say that to him.
"That's just being cowardly, thinking about that! Since when have you ever quit on anything, Naruto?" he said with a bit of thunder in his voice.
"You can't just run away from your problems! You have to face this and overcome whatever it is that is causing you to be like this. You can runaway, but you can never escape from the problem at all! I'm shocked that you would even consider running from this!" he told Naruto in his old scolding voice.
Naruto shook beneath Iruka's words, as if he were trembling under the weight of them. Iruka noticed Naruto's retreated and vulnerable expression and then reached out to him to show him no fear in facing a truth. He hugged his little brother closely and patted the top of his messy-haired head, noting the design Anko had cut up for Naruto all those months ago was still there, as strong as ever.
"I'm trying to help you, Naruto... If you want my advise, then here it is... If you want to free yourself from whatever painful turmoil you feel inside, then you have to let go whatever it is that your still holding onto, that is making you feel and act this way... No one else can make this decision for you... It's all up to you now..."
Naruto buried his face into Iruka's strong arms, and said after a few quieted down minutes, "I think... I get what your telling me, aniki..."
He pulled away slowly from Iruka's warmth, and they both went back to their ramen, wishing to avoid their awkward conversation and enjoy a few blissful ramen and broth slurping breaks of silence. After their shared meal, Naruto got up from his stool and hugged Iruka goodbye. Iruka was assigned a B-Rank mission for tomorrow, and Naruto wouldn't see him for a few days or even weeks.
Iruka rubbed Naruto's mop affectionately again and said, "Be sure you see me before I head out tomorrow. Okay buddy?"
He nudged Naruto's chin, making him break a tiny smile, "Okay, Iruka-aniki..."
Naruto walked out and away of Ichiraku's with his hands in his pockets and his hoodie up and over his face, and Iruka sighed.
He turned his stool toward the counter lazily and called to Teuchi, "One apple-sake for me, Teuchi. I'm gonna need it."
"Make that two, please." Kakashi revealed himself, pulling back the restaurant's curtain and sitting down next to the chunin.
Iruka looked a pretty unsettled and a little insulted that Kakashi would barge in on his drink time, even though it was a public restaurant and Kakashi was openly welcome by the Ichiraku's.
"What the hell are you doing here?" Iruka asked irritably.
Kakashi wavered his hand in a 'chill out' sort of gesture, and said coolly, "Relax, Relax. I just came in for a drink."
Iruka looked at him with irritated eyes, "So you chose Ichiraku Ramen over any numerous ordinary bars in town?"
Kakashi gave Iruka one of his eye-smiles and answered innocently, "I have a very peculiar taste."
Iruka scoffed and looked toward the kitchen where Teuchi was beginning to pull out his private store of fruit flavored alcohols. And then said as Teuchi started to pour his portion, "Rah-Rah. Teuchi, I'll just sip and go tonight, okay?"
Kakashi suddenly turned serious, and beckoned to Iruka, not wishing him to leave, "Alright, look. I need to talk to you. Will you please listen to me?"
Iruka growled at Kakashi, at remembering how much of a royal prick he had been to him ever since the beginning of the Chunin Exams, "Last time I did that for you, you put me out in front of an entire mob of our fellow peers. F**k you."
Kakashi lowered his gaze and said remorsefully, "Okay... you're right. I was a dick to you back then, and I am sorry... I'm trying to reach out to Naruto. But I keep failing... I need your help..."
Iruka looked a little curious but still remained planted to his chair and asked with the similar pitch of irritance, "What do you want?"
"You seem to know his best interests at heart... So I came to you for guidance..." he informed as if he were admitting to him.
Iruka said in a matter-of-fact voice, "Then you should be talking to Naruto. Instead of going to someone else for things you should know about by now."
"Will you please help me?" he beckoned.
Iruka paused for a few moments, just when Teuchi filled his container of sake and poured his first sip of the strong flavored liquid.
He took a sip of the apple tasting sake, and said sarcastically, "He's your student now, you said it yourself before. Shouldn't you know everything about him by now? I mean you are his sensei."
Kakashi hung his head slightly, satisfied that he got Iruka to stay, "You know I'm not acquainted with every detail, Iruka."
"... You were at the meeting of the century and during the evaluation exams, you heard and seen everything you need to know about him." said Iruka
Kakashi said back calmly, "That's not what I'm talking about. What I mean is... What is wrong with him, now...? Why is he so different than before? What led him to become so... so-"
"Devoid of life?" Iruka asked,
"Exactly!" Kakashi paused for a few seconds, "What happened to him?"
Iruka hesitated, not sure if he should even divulge anything to his senpai. But then the thought came to him; that if he helped Kakashi, then maybe it would help Naruto in turn.
"How do I start this out...? Have you ever had a secret, that you couldn't tell anyone out of fear?" he asked Kakashi.
The jounin said nothing.
"... Naruto has had to hide his true self underneath an idiot joker's mask for seven years. He never opened up to anyone about this truth for years, afraid to death of the possible ramifications of that secret getting out... Can you even imagine what it must have been like for his worst fear imaginable to come true before his eyes, and be put out in front of the whole village like he was on display...?" Iruka inquired.
Kakashi felt a slight and very cold drop in his stomach, from just thinking about being in Naruto's shoes.
"The entire village now knows almost everything about him... These months were too much for him to handle, having so much shit happen to him all at once... He's become so overwhelmed, and bottled up all this unnecessary stress under his new mask of indifference and contempt. I can feel he's pretty close to just exploding under all this pressure and turning into something ugly, that I or anyone else can recognize anymore... He's facing all the stress a kid his age should not have to endure..." Iruka told the Copy-Nin calmly.
Kakashi then said, "... You should know that I was his age, I had learned from my own experiences, that you are to endure and accept the pain the world had to throw at you. I-"
Iruka slammed his fist to the counter, "I told you before; Naruto isn't like you!"
Kakashi paled slightly at seeing Iruka's brotherly rage come out again.
"You have no idea how severe this all is to him!"
Kakashi tried putting up his hands in a gesture to cool off and calm down.
"Haven't you forgotten that this isn't about you, it's about him! And you wonder why he is so furious with you!"
Iruka soon subsided his aggression slightly and allowed Kakashi to speak again, "What I was just about to say, was that I have no idea what I should be doing to help him from my experience alone."
Iruka sweat-dropped embarrassingly, and adopted a more apologetic look, "Oh... Uh, sorry."
Kakashi nodded in understanding, "What I really want to know is what is it that I'm doing wrong with Naruto?" he asked, "How can I fix my relation with him? How do you always do it? It's like you're not even trying sometimes..."
Iruka paused again, "... You don't listen, Kakashi... That's what has been your problem this whole time..." Kakashi reasonably looked a little insulted, "You've once said that a ninja must look underneath what is underneath, but when it came to your own students, you didn't look past the surface that much..."
Kakashi question Iruka's reasoning, "Can you elaborate for me on that one, please?"
Iruka examined his sake cup playfully, and took a small swig of his apple-tasting beverage and began with, "Starting with Haruno and Uchiha: both kids, you must have thought you wouldn't have any difficulty. Seeing as they were both very semi-simple people to do a simple background check on to understand them..."
Iruka cleared his throat and went into lecture-mode: "Sasuke. He's a vengeful, unhappy, unlikable, egotistical, and power-hungry person through and through. Sakura. She's a psychotic Sasuke-fan-girl, with an intolerance for nice-guys, and an all-around book-intellect. Also through and through. But when you do a layout of Naruto, how do you describe him, Kakashi? Or rather, how did you used to describe him as?"
The older man hesitated and thought back to when Naruto acted more happy and lively before those disastrous Chunin Exams.
"When I saw Naruto... He was the unpredictable, hyperactive, knuckle-headed ninja..."
Iruka looked at him with that matter-of-fact look to him again.
Kakashi looked at him differently and asked, "So there's more to him, than that?"
Iruka nodded, "Not very many differences, really..." He passed the bottle to Kakashi, and poured himself a sip with his own tiny cup of the sweet-tasting alcohol.
"He's not as knuckle-headed as he tricked us into believing he was... Deep down, he can be pretty insecure and fearful to a lot of things like any normal kid his age plus much more..."
After pulling off his mask to take a sip of sake in the span of a microsecond, Kakashi stared at Iruka, intently learning the inner workings of his Obito-like student.
"He managed to successfully hide these insecure feelings under his cocky attitude and fake smiles. He does this by a means of self-defense... When Naruto would be intimidated in a fight or overwhelmed by a tough a task, he would just smile and say no-problem... Have you ever realized how many times he must have felt so overpowered or intimidated by something so much more skilled, bigger, and greater than himself, with all of the smiles he kept forcefully out...? Kakashi, have you ever even seen him truly smile before...?" Iruka asked.
Kakashi stared at Iruka, still. And after some hesitation he answered, "No..."
Iruka looked across from him. He stared at the rising steam coming out of the many pots and pans in Teuchi's kitchen sadly, "Deep down, Naruto is a scared kid with a lot of sensitive feelings and emotional needs... Like back when his friend Hayate Gekko was murdered... I remember how absolutely miserable he was after he found him dead. The experience crushed his spirits for a while and a small hole is still there in his heart from it... Although he's told me that it's gotten a bit smaller with time..."
Kakashi sighed and hung his head into his open hands and moaned once he realized what a complete douchebag he was back when he denied Naruto's connection with Hayate. He also recognized that he had failed at yet another one of Minato-sensei's teachings of looking beneath the surface, and realizing just how much of a jerk he must have been to Naruto this whole time since after the Chunin Exams. He even punched himself in the head for telling Naruto to shut up so harshly back during the fight between Gaara and Sasuke when Naruto was trying to warn him about the threat of the Shukaku. He felt even worse when he failed to see that Naruto was both capable and responsible enough for handling the Rasengan, despite his young age and experience as a shinobi.
But something still puzzled Kakashi. Recovering from his self-loathing, he quickly asked Iruka, "How do you do this so easily?"
"Huh? Do what?" he questioned almost drunkenly after taking another swig.
"How do you relate to Naruto so easily? I mean, why is it so easy for you to talk to him and understand him like you do, Iruka?"
The brunette shinobi smiled, looking down at the counter and blushed due to the alcohol, "He's just like me... Almost..." he answered,
"... I remember... when I was a little kid, I'd always ask my parents if I could have a little brother. They'd laugh and say that it takes a lot of work, but I always wanted to be the responsible one. To have an important responsibility and have fun at the same time, and take care of someone. Someone who would look up to me with love and respect... But then, my parents died, and I lost hope in ever having a little brother... But when Naruto came into the picture... Being there for him, pointing him in the right direction... In no time at all, I was hooked to him... We had the same sense of humor, same likes and dislikes, we had... so much in common. Even our pranking careers were identical...!"
Iruka chuckled at the end of his tender-emotional speech.
Kakashi looked at him with a little warm admiration and subtle hint of respect, "...You really care for him, don't you?"
Iruka's face turned a little sad, "... I've had a lot of students in my years as an Academy sensei. And to be honest, it's a pretty sad job... Because if you get attached to any student, what are the chances that any one of them will give a damn to say hello to you after they graduate? Would they keep in touch with you, or even so much as remember you?"
Kakashi looked a little sad now, listening to him.
But then Iruka smiled again, "Naruto-chan would be the only exception to that tragic truth... He still held strong to me, even after I graduated him. He came to me whenever he was lonely, upset, or if he just wanted to spend time with me... And I gotta say... Everytime he would spend his time with me, I felt that I got my wish from my parents after all. I've come to care for Naruto far more than I have for anyone else in such a long time. Hell, I-I love the kid. I love him like the baby brother I always wanted... I even tried to adopt him once... But stupid council wouldn't let me..."
Iruka smiled with a few tears beginning to prick at his eyes. Some of them having been brought on by all the alcohol he drank.
Kakashi looked a little happy for him, but then his expression turned a little bit more serious, "But you couldn't be there for him all the time. Or while he was growing up before the Academy, huh?"
Iruka turned more earnest and said slowly and calmly, "I try not to think about it... I was always more focused on sharpening Naruto wit and increasing his academic knowledge. When I should've been more focused on the fact that he needed emotional help, not so much educational... He was so similar to how I would fake myself in school and act like a moron, and I didn't recognize the similarities' between us sooner... Even if he did have Harry Potter was telling him to do half of the idiotic stuff he did... The point is, that I could have been there for him more... And I failed him as a sensei, when I should have succeeded so effing easily..."
Kakashi looked at Iruka, a little fortunate that they both had a little something in common, when it came to educating Naruto.
"At least I'm there for him now, instead of never there at all... I found it a little strange as to why he never disdained me or anything... He never did..." Iruka mused out loud.
"He forgave you for your mistakes, then?" Kakashi asked.
Iruka side-glanced away, "I think so. He can forgive someone, if they didn't know what they did before was wrong to begin with and admit to their faults willingly."
Kakashi seemed a little bit agitated now, "He can forgive you just like that, and yet he won't forgive me."
Iruka looked towards the kitchens again, "That's because you've done more damage to him. Or at least you caused him to be the way he is now. You were the cause of it."
Kakashi looked more agitated now. And he said, "How is what I did any worse than you fail to do for him?"
Iruka snapped his head towards Kakashi, and gave him a look that asked, WTF?
"You idiot. I had a lot of responsibilities as an Academy sensei. I had to look over twenty students at once, you have to watch over three!" he reasoned angrily, "I didn't know Naruto was that lonely at all because I was so busy. You intentionally ignored him, so you could train Sasuke (asshole-face) Uchiha instead! So in case it hasn't gotten through that insensitive-brain of yours, that hurt Naruto worse than a knife to the heart!" he ended wrathfully.
Kakashi tried to explain his reasoning, "But I-"
"-Before you go ahead and defend yourself, let us make a list of the things you've done, shall we?" Iruka interrupted, and he counted a new finger with everything he pointed out, "First, you ignored him repeatedly, and didn't bother getting to actually know him past his theatrics and fake smiles. Next, you entered him and the rest of your squad into an exam that risked both their stable states of mind and their life's as well. Then, you f**king abandoned Naruto and ran off to train Sasuke outside of the village. You taught an unstable nut-job an extremely dangerous jutsu, causing the already contemptuous and heartbroken Naruto to feel jealousy and envy towards his teammate Uchiha... And the real kicker, is that led to a domino effect that almost led to his death, and then later; his exposure to the entire village as a wizard... The only good thing you've done for him since then, was have him avoid the villagers during your f**king missions... Now, did I do anything that bad, compared to you?"
Kakashi was speechless again. He had absolutely nothing to say in his defense and no excuse for what he did when he thought about it enough.
"And now Naruto's life has been turned to shit because of you and Sasuke... Although admittedly it was Sasuke that sold him out like a weasel and ruined his life..."
'He's right... I think... Now, I get it...' Kakashi thought in realization. Suddenly, Naruto's behavior towards him and Sakura became abundantly clear.
"I understand, now..." Kakashi sighed sadly, "I realize now, that I screwed up, bad. worse than what I thought before... I failed them all... And to think, I felt confidant what Jiraiya advised me to do was the right decision to make, forgetting how harsh it seemed at the time. If I knew what would happen out of it... I never would have..."
Iruka looked a little confused by what Kakashi said. Then again, it might have been the booze he was drinking for the past half-hour.
"What are you talking about, Kakashi?" Iruka asked.
Kakashi hesitated for a moment and asked, "I take it that by now, you and many others have been informed of the existence of the Akatsuki, right?"
"Yeah." Iruka nodded.
Kakashi went on to explain, "Itachi Uchiha is one of Akatsuki's most valuable members, and because his primary target is Naruto, Jiraiya thought it best to drive Sasuke's ambition to kill Itachi in a more positive light. Instead of vengeance, he would eliminate his brother in order to defend his 'friend'... So Jiraiya insisted onto me, before the Chunin Exams even started, that he would takeover Naruto's training from me temporarily in order to prepare him to fight the Akatsuki. Jiraiya also told me to focus on Sasuke's training primarily and persuade him to re-aim the purpose of his goal to kill his older brother... Although, Jiraiya insisted that I leave Naruto behind without a trace, that way he would be more willing to go to him for training instead and gravitate towards him easier..."
Iruka stared at Kakashi, slack-jawed, "... That's a really stupid idea. You are aware of that, right?"
Kakashi hung his head in shame at his stupidity, "I know that now."
"Clearly, Jiraiya-sama never took sociology when he was younger, huh?" Iruka looked humorously smart when saying that.
Kakashi still looked depressed, "Now I'm facing the repercussions of my stupid ignorance, huh?" Kakashi sighed and then asked desperately, "What do I do, now? How can I possible fix this with Naruto, Iruka...?"
Iruka looked at Kakashi reaching out to him for help and just satred at him to decide either or not if he should help this guy. But at seeing the hopeless and desperate look in his silvery-grey eye, Iruka gave in and let go of his past resentment of Kakashi to help him shifted in his seat, feeling his butt falling asleep and sat up straighter before snapping back into focus.
Iruka asked, "Do you really want my advise?"
Kakashi nodded slowly.
Iruka breathed, "You have to talk to him, Kakashi. Don't just squeeze in an empty kind word to him during or after a mission. Or try to make a simple conversation that will go nowhere like some slippery suck-up. He won't ever go for that. It shows weakness... You have to seek him out wherever and whenever you can, and have him talk to you... Let him know how sorry you truly are, open up to him, and give him a hug if you must...! If you want to get back whatever you lost from Naruto, you must be willing to do anything to get back into his heart, now that you know most of the background and understand him better... If you don't do this soon, you might lose him forever, Kakashi..."
The jounin looked at Iruka and asked, "Is that all it will really take?"
"In your case, Kakashi; all of that alone might not be close to enough..." he answered with sympathy.
Kakashi sighed mentally, hanging his head once more, 'Fantastic...'
Iruka got up from his warm seat and yawned while he stretched his stiff muscles from sitting for so long and lecturing, "I'd hate to leave you here, Kakashi. But I have a mission in the morning and I need to sleep. Besides, if I stay here any longer, I'll probably end up having a hangover in the morning." Iruka laughed paying his ryo for the ramen and sake.
Kakashi watched as Iruka began to leave, but stopped as he held up the curtain to leave, "Maybe my absence from town tomorrow will provide you ample time with Naruto... He'll be pretty much alone without me here, so he might actually be more willing to fall into your arms without much of a choice at hand... Just remember what I told you, Kakashi..."
And with that Iruka walked away from Kakashi with a slight trip in his step and disappeared into the streets of the city and into village background.
To Be Continued
Next time: Reconciliation
That was pretty good, I think. I hope you guys found this entertaining; an irritable and emo Naruto.
One thing I would like to point out, which I know some of you might have had a problem with: Naruto having an iPod.
I know that they live in a ninja society, but wouldn't you think, since they have movie theaters, refrigerators, and color cameras. Wouldn't you think that Konoha would have access to various recreational technologies? I sure do think so. So I thought, what the hell, and threw it in there.
The song he was listening to was Let Go by Frou Frou
Aika-Aimi means "love song, love beauty"
Harumi means "spring beauty"
I also have a rant here: Kakashi bashing. This is one thing I have come to really hate recently. There have been. . . Some horrible Kakashi bashes in fan fiction out there, that depict Kakashi as some self-ambitious, hate-mongering, asshole. This, I suppose, was brought on by fans everywhere, when Kakashi totally blew Naruto off with the training for the Chunin Exam Finals and gave him an incompetent and hateful teacher (Ebisu) and then Jiraiya. And the fact that Kakashi both taught Sasuke the Chidori and appeared to be playing favorites with the bastard afterwards. Since then, fans, including myself, have been angry at Kakashi for this.
What many of us fail to realize is that Kakashi WASN'T playing favorites at all. If you guys watch Episode 82 of the Part 1 anime, Kakashi has a flashback after he loses to Itachi. It shows him and Jiraiya talking before the Chunin Exams even started, he tells Kakashi that HE would take Naruto from him to train, and that he(Kakashi) would have to focus on Sasuke, in order to prepare them both for the threat of the Akatsuki that was approaching. Not to mention that Kakashi looked pretty sad, leaving Naruto behind like he did. He looked and sounded pretty regretful of it. So there you have it: There was no favoritism being played at all. Granted that Kakashi could've been more sensitive and should have TALKED to his team about it, in order to prevent their inevitable collapse. And that is his only true character fault.
My bash is actually founded, unlike a majority of bashes out there.
Anyway:
Here is a deleted scene I wanted to put in, and a tiny Omake I felt like writing. I just did these for fun. The first one is meant to be taken more seriously, while the short Omake was my attempt at writing something a little humorous I wrote with my friend Tom. Unfortunately, I couldn't find a place where they both would fit in, or it would just filibuster the chapter, so that's why they were deleted
Here you go:
Kakashi sat down on his stool at Ichiraku Ramen for a few more minutes before getting up to walk around town for a bit. Kakashi walked through town for awhile, debating on what way he would try to confront Naruto,
'Perhaps tomorrow would be a good time... Iruka's right, without him around, Naruto won't have much of a choice in who to confide in... I should let him know the truth, even if he'll hate me for it... EH?'
Kakashi stopped walking at once, Naruto was just down the street right now. He hadn't noticed Kakashi for he looked too preoccupied trying to avoid being seen by the many crowding villagers, thankfully, they hadn't noticed him without his familiar orange outfit and with a hood hanging over his head. Naruto turned around and he entered straight into a peculiar store.
Hiroki's Music Emporium.
Kakashi was little bemused at this, 'Why would Naruto go into a music store?'
Curiosity getting the best of him, Kakashi disguised himself as an unrecognizable teenager and walked in as well in order to observe his student better.
Naruto walked up to the front counter of the large instrumental emporium, where the owner greeted Naruto in an enthusiastic greeting, "Hello there, Uzumaki-san! Thinking about actually buying something this time?"
"Don't you worry, Hiroki-san. The first thing I plan to get is that electronic piano. Once I have enough money to pay for it, that is." Naruto said with a slight smile,
"Aw hell, you can still play a few of these instruments if ya want. I love it when you play, kid!" the man named Hiroki complimented.
Kakashi quickly assumed that this man was well acquainted with his student. He held no hostility towards him at all, and what confused Kakashi was his compliment on Naruto plays instruments.
'Since when has Naruto ever been into music at all?' thought the Copy-Ninja.
He hid himself behind a long and tall shelve of CD's and peeked through to observe Naruto without being detected.
Naruto walked over to a center display of a massive and playable-demo electronic piano. Naruto sat down in the pianist's seat and turned on the device. It lit up with various colored lights and gears Kakashi couldn't understand from the distance he was at. Naruto seemed to know what he was doing, pushing many different buttons and switches on the piano's base.
Once finished, Naruto pressed a few keys to test the sound, which sounded like a truly authentic grand piano. Naruto didn't have any sheet music with him, which put the question as to what he would play. Mary Had A Little Lamb?
Naruto then started a few short paced breaths and relax his hands on the keyboard and sat up straight.
And he played a very soothing melody. Kakashi stared, absolutely mesmerized at the song Naruto was playing. It started out quite slow at first, and then the melody quickened progressively, the pitch and tone changing so very often but flowed very well.
Kakashi couldn't believe what he was hearing and watching. He had no idea that Naruto was so talented with something so complex to him. Kakashi used to play the flute once, but he quit after the first six weeks of lessons, finding playing an instrument to be pointless. He was nothing compared to how well Naruto played this grand instrument.
Naruto played a few high notes and then settled down with lower pitches and slowed down the song in all. Soon, he started the song again, very similar to how it began. As he was playing, he smiled. Kakashi saw him actually smile while he played. He never smiled while he was on mission these days. Playing the piano must bring him some kind of a bliss to all the stress he's been enduring.
Kakashi found the music so soothing, he relaxed and foolishly leaned against a stack of old CD's, knocking them to the ground with a very loud clatter. This alerted both Naruto and the clergyman, and stopped the beautiful music. Kakashi, frightened that Naruto could find out he was watching him, he fled the music store as fast as he could. Sad that he wouldn't get to hear the end of that beautiful melody.
If Kakashi were to manage to fix his problem with Naruto, then maybe he could ask to hear the end of the song.
Now here is the Omake my friend Azeroth44 wrote while we were sugar-high.
Kakashi entered the Jounin's lounge completely depressed that he failed to bond with Naruto yet again. He walked over to the fellow jounin, including Asuma, Kurenai, and Guy.
Kakashi: How the hell am I going to resolve this? I didn't think Naruto would hate me this much….
Kakashi slumps into a chair, completely depressed.
Asuma: Well what the hell did you think it was going to be like to win him back?
Kakashi tilted his head slightly to the left and looked up. A thought cloud appeared above Kakashi's head; and a chibi of himself walked up to a chibi Emo Naruto.
"Hiya, Naruto!" shouted the chibi Kakashi.
"Hello, sensei." replied the chibi Emo Naruto.
"Let's go train together!" Chibi Kakashi exclaimed, magically turning chibi Naruto back to a normal chibi Naruto.
"Oh, Frabjous Day!" Chibi Naruto cheered, throwing himself into Kakashi's arms,
"Callooh! Callay!" Kakashi cheered.
Both chibi Naruto and chibi Kakashi then merrily skipped away, chortling in their joy.
"Look out! An army of Giant Robot Ninja Pirate Bears! Save me, Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto cried
Giant Robot Ninja Pirate Bears: RAWR!
Kakashi roared bravely, "I will protect you, Naruto! EXCELSIOR!"
Kakashi launched himself at the giant army and kicked all of their robot asses! He punched every pirate bear and ninja bear impressively, while he sung with harmony, "Everybody was kung-fu fighting!"
While Naruto gazed in awe and wonder at his amazing and super cool sensei!
Suddenly Kakashi flashed back to tragic reality when Asuma snapped his fingers in front of his face, to wake him up.
Kakashi: Life would be so much simpler.
Lol! I don't really know what me and Azeroth44 were thinking when we wrote that! Lol!
Read and review, please! Keep it nice! Thank you!