Chapter 16 - Heartless
The sky was a strange colour; it was puce. That wasn't right. That was definitely not right. It had to be the eyes that were wrong, not the sky.
Some strange smell suffused the air, vaguely reminiscent of what one would find in a hospital, perhaps. Not a clean smell, really, more like something is rotting a little, only barely kept at bay by the Medical professionals.
Legs and arms refuse to serve, lungs breathe steadily, but very shallowly. Something was most definitely very wrong. What happened?
'Keep an eye out for enemies, all of you.' Kurenai warned. 'This could be bad.'
'Of course.' Shino answered shortly, his eyes straight ahead as he adjusted his glasses.
'Sensei, why are you so worried? You're a Jōnin, right? You can kick ass!' Kiba added.
'Just... do it.'
'...I can't see anything, though,' Hinata volunteered carefully.
Memories refuse to coalesce beyond that; he only knew bits and pieces. A recollection of something sharp and quick worked its way to the surface. An object, slicing through the air, slicing through skin. A brief moment of fear, confusion, and pain. Then, only darkness.
"Where am I?"
He did not know if that was audible, or only in his head. His mouth felt numb, his whole body felt numb. He couldn't feel his insects, his companions. Something had hit him, and then this happened. Poison. It had to be.
How long had he been here? He could last far longer than anyone with a normal metabolism, but even he would suffer the consequences of exposure and lack of fluids. That had to be why his eyes stung: The fluids were conserved to keep his heart going, to keep his brain going. He would need outside help.
His chakra was useless; he could not even sense it, or his companions. He could probably not call out, either. There was nothing he could do but wait, and hope, and worry about the others.
Kurenai-sensei, Kiba, Hinata. They had not come for him. They knew where he had fallen, but they had not returned. There were few explanations for this, and none of them were good. They had been captured, they had been driven away from this location - or they were dead, as he would soon be. The very first mission, this far outside the village, and it ended in disaster.
Konoha needed to know what happened.
Concentrating once more, he focused on gaining access to his chakra. He did not care that it might shorten his life; he was already dying, after all, and he did not hold out much hope that anyone would find him here. If he could access even a trickle, he could contact his family. He could send one of his insects to the Aburame clan, with his last words. Perhaps the surge of chakra would serve as a beacon, so that his body might be found after it had expired, so that his clan's secrets could be preserved.
He prayed that his warning would arrive in time.
Travelling to Team 8's position turned out to be a lot more work than Naruto had counted on, but he trudged on without complaint. He had quickly realized that it was a small blessing he had stuffed his pack with storage scrolls of every description, seeing as this mission was even further away than the one to Wave, his original C-rank. Granted, they weren't going outside the Land of Fire this time, but the monotony of walking was getting to him.
They'd been on the road for nearly a week; a whole week of a Kakashi who seemed to think that his every movement needed to be monitored, a Sakura who was uncertain how to even address him, and a Sasuke who was quiet, even for him. Naruto just spent his time thinking about all the things he could be doing in this time, all the preparations for the Chūnin Exams he could be working on. Kabuto was still in the village, still a traitor, even if the ANBU were probably onto him thanks to the hints he had dropped. Tobi was somewhere, probably up to no good, and the rest of Akatsuki must not be far behind. Zetsu, or whoever else had nearly caused his death, was still out there somewhere, and could strike again at any moment. And then there was still Orochimaru.
That snake's plans, at least, were thoroughly derailed. Kakashi had informed him that Suna had ended up in a conflict, and it wasn't hard to figure out which that was. His little agreement with the Kazekage, even if it was in Jiraiya's skin, had paid off. Orochimaru's forces were not so strong that they could take on Suna on their own. This was, after all, the reason that Orochimaru took the Kazekage's place in the first place, and organized a united attack on Konoha. Hopefully it would prevent the man's interference with the Exams, and spare Sasuke the cursed seal.
He had decided, though, to concentrate on the work at hand, and leave all that back in Konoha for a while. If things were still vaguely on track, it would still be a month or two before anything of significance happened, and the war in Suna would not spill over so readily. They would be home with time to spare, and there were always a few clones keeping an eye out for anything ugly.
"You seem pretty deep in thought," Kakashi said lightly, glancing over. "What's up?"
"I've been thinking about all the rumours," Naruto admitted. "You know, about Suna. Gaara talked to me about it, and he believes that after he is done with the Sand village, he'll come for Konoha next. It's been a long time since there was a war…"
"Orochimaru of the Sannin is a powerful foe," Kakashi agreed. "You have to remember, though, that Konoha is strong."
"Only because of its protectors," Naruto muttered, and the corner of his mouth turned up. "Like us, right, sensei?"
"Right. Hopefully, it won't come to that, though."
Sasuke looked over with a bored expression, though Naruto wasn't fooled. Sasuke had been keeping a closer eye on him ever since he helped activate the Sharingan; probably the Uchiha figured something out about Kurama, about his status as a jinchūriki. He would deal with that if the boy ever brought it up.
"We are an awfully long way from Konoha now, though." Naruto glanced over his shoulder. "We've been going pretty fast, too. If anything happens back in town, what do we do?"
"Trust in the people back home," Kakashi answered, ruffling Naruto's hair. "You know they'll take care of things, don't you? They care about the place too, you know. You don't have to take everything personally."
Naruto supposed Kakashi was right. The flow of time had changed already, so if Orochimaru attacked now, would things go the same? Without Suna, there would be far fewer attackers, which meant a lot fewer casualties. With Jiraiya in the village, Orochimaru probably would not assault the Hokage directly either, given the risk. Things could go very differently, and he couldn't be everywhere. He had to trust the shinobi of the village to protect it, just as they always had.
"I see that you understand," Kakashi said. "Tonight's your first night. Are you ready for that responsibility?"
Naruto nodded sharply.
"I have a small announcement," Kakashi suddenly said, straightening. Sakura glanced over with a confused expression, and Sasuke just stared. "As of today, this mission's leader will no longer be me. For now, Naruto here will be your commander."
"What?" Sakura asked. "Why? Why him?"
Sasuke's eyes narrowed as he gazed at Naruto with an expression somewhere between suspicious and thoughtful. As he turned away, he spoke. "Don't screw it up."
"I don't get it," Sakura opined. "Why is Naruto the leader now? This is our first C-rank, shouldn't you be the leader, sensei? In the academy, they told us that Chūnin were the lowest rank that actually led teams of their own…"
"The why is irrelevant," Sasuke said, eyes again fixed on Naruto, then sliding over to Kakashi.
"I'll do my best," Naruto said, suddenly a little nervous. He had not really been on a team for years before this one, mostly doing solo missions. Technically, this would be the first time he led this particular team, given what happened with Sasuke.
Still, he could think like a team leader, if he needed to. Kakashi already knew about the Rasengan, and many of his other skills, there was no reason to be particularly secretive with him. Sasuke knew enough to be suspicious, and clearly figured out he was better than he admitted to. Sakura, perhaps, was still caught up in her view of him in the academy, but that could change easily enough. They had a week or two away from the village, too: If he was ever going to show his true qualities, now would be a good time.
"Right," Naruto said after a long moment. "Kakashi, give me the mission details."
Kakashi blinked, and smiled slightly. "Yes, commander. A request for assistance came through from Team 8's sensei, Yūhi Kurenai, exactly eight days ago from today. It was transferred via the insects of the Aburame family, which have a high speed of flight, which means it was likely sent away only a day or two before we received it. There have been several quick messages since then, simple status reports to indicate that there is no immediate threat, but that the team is too small to handle the threat. Team 8 was engaged in border patrol along a fairly safe stretch, rooting out bandits for the most part rather than facing any shinobi."
Naruto didn't remember this mission; likely another team was assigned to it, and it wasn't exciting enough to actually be talked about much. Besides, he had barely known most of his fellow Genin at this point in time, back when these missions first happened. "Estimated time to arrival?"
"Seven hours at present speed."
Naruto frowned. "That would make our arrival at the worst possible time. None of us, except probably for you, can work at any kind of efficiency when it's three at night and we've just been travelling for a full day. If our arrival disturbs anyone, we would be screwed."
Sasuke and Sakura looked on with some confusion as Naruto stopped briefly.
"Something wrong?" Kakashi inquired. "Commander?"
"There is a clearing about three hours from here, alongside the jagged mountains to the west," he said, trying to remember when he had passed by here in the past, or future. "We will set up camp for the night there, since it's pretty secluded. Then we can reach Team 8 after a good meal and rest. They didn't seem to be in a particular hurry, so they'll probably not be too upset if we are a few hours late."
Kakashi shrugged. "If you're sure... But how would you know where to find a clearing out here?"
Naruto just smiled. "Trust me, I know." He knew because he had camped there before: It was the location of a battle that had occurred in the Third Shinobi World War, where someone had used a massive explosion technique and cleared the area. Indeed, that was one of the battles in which the Yellow Flash had first made his name known.
"I'm curious, sensei…" Sakura piped up. "Was there nobody any closer to Team 8 to help out, instead of sending another Genin team? Wouldn't it be a bit pointless to have people sitting around for so long just to wait?"
"Kurenai-sensei probably used the time to train her team," Naruto volunteered before Kakashi could comment. That had pretty much been what happened in Wave, after all: Kakashi had taught them chakra-control exercises in the week that they had simply been waiting around for Zabuza's inevitable return. "The last time I saw Shino and Kiba, I'm pretty sure they couldn't do the tree-walking yet, or stuff like that. Hinata probably can, since the Hyūga are all about chakra control. I figure if they want to have a shot at the Chūnin Exam, Kurenai will want to teach them some."
"Naruto is correct," Kakashi said, glancing up momentarily from his book, which he'd been reading for several days now. "C-rank missions don't tend to last for very long, but there are times when they extend to months. Usually they're paid like B-ranks to make up for the lost time. As for the Chūnin Exams: Those are a while off yet, and I don't know if there will be any rookies this time around."
Naruto didn't respond. Really, the Chūnin Exams were the last thing on his mind right now. Promotion was great, of course, but he would rather be promoted for his displayed skill, rather than because he won a contest that was mostly about advertising a village's shinobi to clients. With Orochimaru unlikely to interfere, it seemed of even less importance.
Travel to the clearing that Naruto remembered turned out to be a little trickier than he remembered; the forest was thicker now, since they weren't in the heart of winter, and the ground was slightly mushy. The clearing looked perfect, though; it was covered on one side by a steep hill, and on the other side was the forest, far too dense to easily walk through without getting heard. They were far away from villages, which should allow them to avoid Missing-Nin for the most part, who tended to wait around for easy ways to make money. Naruto still send out a few dozen Shadow Clones to blanket the area, just to make sure that they wouldn't be disturbed.
Kakashi had set up a few crude tents and put down his own sleep mat, a thin and uncomfortable-looking thing that would barely serve as a buffer against the rocky soil. Naruto looked at it with a frown.
"Is that really what you brought?"
Kakashi shrugged. "I packed light. Comfort's a luxury."
Naruto rolled his eyes, and put down his bag. It was stuffed from top to bottom with scrolls, lots of scrolls. Granted, he'd pretty much stuffed all the seals he had lying around in here, and a few were rather questionable. There was one that contained a vast collection of alcoholic drinks, for one, that he intended to use with Gamabunta, when he got around to the Summoning contract again. There was another, painted bright red, which contained a pheromone that... well, he didn't even want to think about it. He had bought it from the trader in town just to make sure that Jiraiya would never get his hands on it. Rummaging through his scrolls, he retrieved a few that would actually be useful.
"Honestly, if you're going camping, bring supplies," Naruto muttered. "Storage scrolls exist, you know." He quickly activated the one he held, and threw it on the ground. With an explosion of smoke and a brief pop, there was an entire bed, with mattress, blanket, and pillow, each of them marked with a spiral. "I packed four."
"...Where did you get all this stuff?"
Naruto raised an eyebrow. "I live in an apartment that's mostly unused. I found most of the supplies in the basement, and a lot of it was still good, plus some of it is my own. I figured that I might as well make it count for something."
"At least tell me how you came to possess such a vast array of storage scrolls?" He peered into the bag curiously. "There have to be a hundred in here..."
"Eighty-nine," Naruto agreed.
"That would cost a fortune,"Sakura exclaimed. "I have one, and it cost more than a whole D-rank mission!"
"Did you all forget I make seals, all of a sudden?" Naruto asked in exasperation. "I made them all myself, of course. People throw away burned-out seals all the time, but they don't seem to realize that you can reuse the paper. There's a few Chūnin that are assigned specifically to filter them out of the trash so they can be reused, you know. I just… stepped in a little earlier."
"You picked them out of the trash," Kakashi said lazily, sniffing. "You cleaned them well. Can't smell it."
"How can you even smell through that mask?" Naruto questioned. "Anyway, I've got tents too, and I'm pretty sure there's about fifty meals worth of meat and veggies too. Is anyone up for something tasty?" He held up the scroll that was labelled 'All you can eat Ramen!' and smiled.
"...Idiot," Sasuke muttered.
"You didn't bring us any soup, did you?" Kakashi inquired mirthfully as he positioned a log next to the fire and lowering himself onto it. "You seem to have pretty much everything packed up. Did you leave anything in your home at all?"
"Gaara's taking care of the stuff I left behind, so that's all fine, I'm sure." He smiled at Kakashi, who nodded in understanding. "He has discovered sleeping, it seems, which basically means he will be catching up on about a decade of it. ANBU will be keeping an eye on him and my home while I'm away, since they're usually in the same place."
"Wait, Gaara? That Suna guy you mentioned?" Sakura inquired, blinking. "Why would he live in your house?"
Naruto smiled nervously. "Ah, that's an interesting story, actually. We're similar in many ways, so we kind of got acquainted, though it wasn't in the best of circumstances." He glanced at Kakashi and smiled wryly. "We sort of share a history and an occupation, if you will. So, the Hokage was fine with my request to house him at my place. Though I'll probably need to put one of these sealed beds somewhere. One is just too tiny for two people."
Sakura grimaced. "You sleep in one bed with that guy?!"
"N-No!" Naruto raised his hands, eyes wide. "I swear, I spent the whole last night deciphering seals for Pervy Sage, and napping on the couch. Took me hours to actually figure them out. Gaara was using my bed, so I didn't want to disturb him."
"...You let him sleep in your bed," deadpanned Sakura. "Freak!"
Naruto groaned. "I'm just making this worse, aren't I?"
Kakashi finally had mercy on him. "Gaara-san is an emissary for the Sand, Sakura. Due to certain agreements and previous meetings, Naruto is more familiar with the new arrival than anyone else. As a consequence, he is partially responsible for the boy's actions. Though I haven't seen any directly dangerous activity as of yet, so I doubt it'll be a problem."
Gaara, being seen as peaceful? Naruto smirked at the very idea. The moment that seal came off, or someone went too far, those claws would come out again. That could be a good thing; Gaara's power had let him become the Kazekage after all, and it wouldn't do to have it locked up forever. Hopefully his clones would have figured something out about the fixed seal when he got back.
"Ah, there's something I forgot!" Naruto said suddenly, as a thought occurred to him. With all this talk of seals, it had almost slipped his mind.
"You packed your entire bag with scrolls, and you still forgot something?" Kakashi questioned.
"No, no, I meant... " He quickly tossed a few scrolls aside as he dug in. "They're somewhere near the bottom. There!" He pulled out two long scrolls. "I finished them!"
"Finished?" Kakashi blinked. "Really?"
Naruto smiled. "I did tell you I'd work on these, right?" He tossed one of the scrolls to Kakashi. "There's about two-hundred in there, so that should tide you over. Works the same as the one you tested for me, but I worked out some of the bugs. Of course, you're still limited by your chakra levels."
Kakashi opened the scroll slightly. One end was attached to a wooden rod to keep it stable, the other was free. Bright symbols were inscribed on the white paper, jagged and sharp in the corners. In between the first and second was a thin line, like the paper was discoloured. With a quick tug, the first seal effortlessly detached from the roll. "Naruto, this way of detaching the seals..."
"I sort of got the idea from..."
"Toilet paper," Sasuke said with a grimace. "Wonderful."
"Hey, don't knock it 'till you tried it!" He tossed the second scroll over to his teammate, who blinked in surprise. "You asked, I delivered. Adoration of the creator is mandatory."
Sasuke didn't reply to that, but he did rip open his own scroll. Naruto didn't miss the split-second of glee as the Uchiha considered the seals, before he grabbed one curiously. "How does this one work?"
"You put it on the arm that you do your whole blowy thing with," Naruto said, miming the Great Fireball technique. "The position's not strictly necessary, but it's got the best efficiency if it's at least in the vicinity of the tenketsu points that you use. You bring your hand to your mouth, so that counts."
Sasuke went to place the seal, but Naruto stopped him before he could try it out. The Uchiha frowned. "What?"
"Do you want to attract every shinobi in a dozen miles?" Naruto asked dryly. "Skip the usual steps of hand seals, since the seal does the shaping for you. Doing it twice would just slow the technique down, it wouldn't make it any stronger. Don't try and use it with other techniques, either. I'm not sure what that would do, since this one's basically designed for one jutsu, like Kakashi's."
"Alright." Sasuke grabbed the seal and hung it on his belt. It was a little unwieldy, but Naruto figured that it was nowhere near as bad as the gargantuan scroll that Jiraiya carried around on his back. "Thanks, Dead Last."
"I thought I told you not to call me that," Naruto replied playfully. He glanced up to the trees. "Sakura? When you figure out the whole element business, I can make some for you, too. Maybe even for medical techniques, though I'd have to read up on that. There's this chakra scalpel technique that's supposed to be hard, maybe I could figure that out?"
Sakura voiced her agreement as she briefly slipped below the leaves, before she went back to scouting. She was seemingly more interested in Sasuke's new addition to his weapons than what he said. Figured. She would probably need a reality check like last time, when she had realized quite abruptly that she was a little more than a fan girl. Perhaps it would take another upset like Orochimaru's attack in the Chūnin Exams to get her out of this slightly subservient mentality.
"Please take care not to rely on these seals," Kakashi warned. "Though I'm sure that Naruto knows what he's doing, everyone makes mistakes. Use them when you have an alternative means of taking out the enemy first. That way you don't risk your life if one of these fails on you."
"Pervy Sage did check them for me, you know," Naruto complained. "He said they were fine, and he even made them a little more resilient for me, with this special paper."
Kakashi raised an eyebrow. "Presumably that's a good sign. Still, experimental techniques are just that. Be careful."
"When have I ever been careful?" Naruto muttered to himself. There was a third long scroll in his bag, stuffed somewhere to the side. Hopefully, he wouldn't have to test it; he had no safe way of doing so. Still, if things ever went south, he at least had it as a backup.
Naruto slumped down on his bed, leaving the tents for a bit to just stare at the stars that were coming out. The moon was blood red in the sky - even more so than he remembered. Legend had it that blood must have been spilt that night. Naruto wondered why, if that was the case, it wasn't red every time he saw it.
He was still pondering that an hour later, when he finally drifted off to sleep in his rickety second-hand bed, his tent forgotten.
Jiraiya dropped into the chair across from the Third Hokage with a contemplative expression. He was staring at something in his hands, a seal; he had been studying it for the past few days, in fact. Hiruzen just waited.
"You have news?" Hiruzen finally asked, to break the silence. "Already?"
"Sort of. There are... some things that I wanted to research, before I came to you. It's about this seal, the one that Naruto claimed to have created for himself." He put it down on the desk. "It's a remarkable piece of work; given the subject matter, I think that any nation would kill to get their hands on it. Kumo certainly would. They have had problems with Jinchūriki before."
"You said 'claimed'. Do you believe he got it from someone else?"
"Not... exactly." He leaned back with narrowed eyes. "I know that the boy took scrolls from the tower, which is a bit of a tradition, it seems, and that included a lot of his parents' materials. I thought that they would be far beyond any novice, given that I can barely make sense of the stuff, but this puts some question marks on that." He tapped the paper. "This is partly based on some original style, presumably Naruto's, but there are definitely elements of his father's know-how in here. I would almost think he had access to his seal's key, but that's still safely with the toads. It seems that he reconstructed a little part of it; essentially to tighten the seal instead of unlocking it."
"I am not a seal master like you, Jiraiya," Hiruzen said. "What are you implying?"
"He's been taught by someone who knew Minato's sealing techniques, or he's a genius." Jiraiya shook his head. "Well, I suppose he's near enough to a genius if he can pull this off at eleven, but that's beside the point. He doesn't know it yet, but I've been testing him. When he's back from his trip, I'm going to have him sign a summoning contract. I'm still considering whether or not I should do the Toads or find some other one that fits. "
"There are some that lie unused in the tower. May I ask why you suddenly decided on this?"
"Not yet." He turned away. "Not until I speak to him. He will be back before the Exams begin; I will do so then. Trust me."
"I do trust you, Jiraiya. "
"He will need my help," Jiraiya said seriously. "I know a few things that I rather I didn't, but there's no changing it. I owe it to Minato to put some faith in his son, at the very least." He smiled. "The boy's his legacy, after all."
Hiruzen nodded. "There have been cases like him, before. Genin who are far more capable than they ought to be. Kakashi. Itachi. You."
"I wasn't that good."
"You were the Sannin for a reason, you know. From the very beginning." He smiled warmly. "Orochimaru did terrible things, later in life, but he too belonged in that group. I just dearly hope that Naruto will not head in the same direction."
Jiraiya frowned. "He's Naruto. Even with as little as I spoke to him, I know he's not malevolent. Secretive, sure. Even manipulative, but I don't think he would be malicious."
"Really?" Hiruzen wondered. "I thought the same, until quite recently. Naruto was the quirky weirdo, a boy with a love of the colour orange and lots of ramen, who called me by nicknames for fun and liked to mess up the neighbourhood. Then, quite suddenly, the façade crumbled. He dropped his mask, and I'm not sure I like what was hidden underneath. There are already too many shinobi who fail to connect with the world, people turned into weapons. I certainly do not want Naruto to head into that direction. He seems to believe that he should."
"He understands the history of the jinchūriki," Jiraiya said. "He also knows what a shinobi does, and it's natural to draw conclusions from that. You know that he means to be Hokage. If he's serious about that, then protecting the village would be his top priority, before anything else. Remember your own youth? I've heard the stories."
Hiruzen smiled grimly. "I'd like to think I have gained some restraint in my years."
"Then consider Minato," Jiraiya said. "You know that he hid his serious side below smiles and confident steps. They were genuine smiles, and I wouldn't dismiss the possibility that Naruto's are real, too. When things got nasty, though, you know what Minato did. He single-handedly slew an entire contingent of Iwa shinobi. He did so more than once, even. He was a genius with a core of steel, and he was the Hokage that Konoha needed, though he died far before his time."
"And what if Naruto does the same?" Hiruzen asked. "What if he dies early, like his parents, because I was not there to protect him? Konoha failed Minato before; I can't let that happen again."
"He is a ninja."
"And Minato's son, as you said," Hiruzen countered. "Would I forgive him, if he let my children die under his watch?"
Jiraiya snorted. "Now you are stretching the truth, old man. I don't believe for a second that's your true motivation here. I know you too well. You, too, are a shinobi with a core of steel. Tell me, what is your true reason?"
Hiruzen was silent for a long time, considering his answer. "Jiraiya, what do you know of the organization known as Root?"
"Take point, Sasuke," Naruto said as he packed his last supplies and hoisted the bag onto his bag. "You can keep your Sharingan on for longer periods than sensei can, and that thing should allow you to warn us if anything too nasty is headed our way."
Sasuke frowned. "What of the trick you use? The chakra pulse?"
"Can't do it too often," Naruto said. "If I overdo it, I get some side-effects. Most of them aren't pleasant. Nature of the technique, I'm afraid. Your eyes are way more reliable over a longer period." He didn't add, of course, that he wanted everyone on the team to have a role. He had learned well enough in the past that having some team members tag along, they wouldn't do much in the mission. That wouldhelp nobody.
It was true enough, though, that he couldn't use the natural chakra too much. Yes, it allowed him to sense other people nearby, essentially turning him into a Sensor type ninja for a second. Still, even a whiff of it had a tendency to stick around in his chakra circulatory system, and he had no idea what would happen if he tried to go Sage Mode without his proper training. Not only was he not in balance with this body, even if that was improving, but he didn't even have the Toad contract, and he had no idea if he actually needed that as well.
"Sakura, you're a scout. Use your chakra control to pass over the tops of the trees, and try not to get spotted." He smiled. "Use Henge to blend in."
She saluted mockingly and immediately sprinted up the nearest tree.
"My, you sure have the presence," Kakashi muttered, smiling. "So, what is my job, oh great commander?"
"You're our enforcer, if we need that," Naruto said seriously. "You're easily the fastest, and with those seals I gave you, you could probably impale about half a dozen people with that technique of yours, and all in quick succession. Just take care not to exhaust yourself too quickly. Keep the eye for emergencies."
Kakashi hummed in agreement. "Have you done this before?"
Naruto didn't answer, staring ahead. "Do you sense anything odd, by the way? I've been a bit uneasy for the last half hour. I figured it was just the fox, but there's nothing leaking through." He tapped his stomach softly. "Basically, I've got a bad feeling about this."
"Or you just at too much ramen again."
"I'm serious. I think I'll send some clones ahead." He crossed his fingers, and a dozen clones popped into existence with barely a sound. "Report on any suspicious activity," he said immediately, and they leapt away. They were all gone within seconds, hidden.
"Nifty," Kakashi said. "They hide well."
"What's the point of having scout clones if they can't hide themselves?" Naruto asked rhetorically. "Anyway, we're only about half an hour away from..." He stopped, and sniffed. "Do you smell that?"
Kakashi took a deep breath. "It's pungent, but barely detectable even by me. How did you smell it?"
Naruto just looked at him askance, tapping his stomach dryly. Sasuke noticed the movement, and Naruto wondered how much the boy had figured out. It would be time to tell them something, sooner rather than later. "My clones will have picked it up too, so we'll just have to wait for a bit." He paused. "It would have been really dramatic if one popped right then."
Sasuke looked over his shoulder curiously as he noticed that Kakashi and Naruto had stopped moving. Even Sakura peeked out from the leaves, balanced easily on the side of a tree.
"I think it's coming from the south-east, but I can't be sure," Naruto opined. He recognized the smell, but he wasn't sure from where. It was slightly sweet, but with a nasty edge to it.
Then, the memories came.
"Oh, shit." Naruto was off in an instant, the ground blurring by as he stormed off as quickly as he could, and directing chakra to his legs as he went. It took him less than two minutes to reach his target, two minutes for the septic smell to become unbearable. He ignored Kakashi and the others catching up. There, pale and breathing in short bursts, was a body; one arm was missing entirely, the other pressed against his side, undoubtedly broken.
"Shino!"
The body was breathing, but only slightly. Shino's eyes rolled up, and for a split second it looked as if he smiled. Then, with a lengthy sigh, he stopped breathing.
Jiraiya slumped back in his seat, raising a hand to his forehead. "I know enough about that organization. What about them?"
"Root still exists."
Jiraiya blinked, and sat up. "What did you say?"
"It is true. Root still exists. I suspected it before, but now I know it for certain. Even to this day, a small contingent of shinobi belonging to this forbidden organization, and remains under Danzō's direct command."
"And the traitor's still alive? Why?"
"Danzō was, and still is, a friend," Hiruzen said after a moment. "You said that I am a shinobi with a core of steel. If that is so, Danzō has a core of adamant. It is true that he and I differ on a number of positions, but there are also many things that we share in common. We both care deeply about the survival of the village, and about maintaining its security and prosperity. We have different methods, different ideas, but they tend to coincide when it comes to ultimate goals. Most importantly, we know well when to look beyond the obvious."
"You can't tell me you're allowing an illegal organization to flourish, independent of your control?" Jiraiya asked, appalled. "If you know that Danzō's actively betraying you, how can you not remove him?"
"I know all about Root, Jiraiya," Hiruzen said sharply. "I have spent the past week using my considerable resources to study the problem. I kept you out, because I know that you would have interceded."
Jiraiya grumbled, but didn't disagree.
"I am well aware, now, of what remains of that organization. I know, and I understand why Danzō maintained them, why he leads them to this day, even against my express orders. I do not agree with his methods, nor do I appreciate his subterfuge, but I understand his reasoning. In several hours, I have arranged for a meeting between the two of us, and I will discuss the future of him, and his organization. He will be punished, but he will not be killed."
"…Why not?"
"Disturbed as I am to say it, I still need his presence, and I don't want to upset the village, not when we have enemies practically on our doorstep. Danzō has trained many children to be expert operatives in the field, to be as good as most ANBU." Hiruzen's age suddenly seeming to overtake him. "These people cannot be removed from their current lives without damaging them further, without destroying the constants they use to survive. Recently, I spoke to one of them; a boy that misspoke in my presence. I would not have thought twice about it, if not for other events. It was heart-breaking to see what has been done, but it is not irreparable. Besides that, they remain Konoha shinobi."
Jiraiya shook his head tiredly. "So, what? You're going to keep them like they are?"
"Yes." Hiruzen looked away. "Though I don't care to maintain the emotional regime that has been forced upon them, these Root shinobi cannot be easily brought into the normal shinobi force. The most promising cases will be allowed to adapt over time by working with daylight teams, but the rest will remain as they are, until we have an alternative. They will be our silent operatives."
Jiraiya grimaced, and then paled as realization hit him. "Oh, no, you're not saying..."
"You will be responsible for them," Hiruzen said it with finality. "You know where they could do the most good, and your extensive experience with spying should give you some understanding of their mind-set. You may even be able to remove the seals upon their tongues that prevent them from speaking to Danzō, or modify them to refer to myself instead, in case you can't."
Jiraiya slumped. "Do I have to do this?"
Hiruzen walked to the window and stared out over the darkened streets. "There is something more going on than you know, Jiraiya. Danzō tipped his hand too easily. He used a Root member to test Uchiha Sasuke's loyalty; the fact that none of my own reported delivering anything to the boy made it very clear to me. It is an aberration. It does not fit."
"You think he's setting us up?" Jiraiya shook his head. "Why would he implicate himself, expose his own organization?"
"Exactly. I believed that Root was disbanded, and I was honest in that belief. I trusted Danzō with enough autonomy that he was able to hide his actions from me. Alerting me to Root's continued existence was sloppy and hurtful to his cause. Danzō is not sloppy." He steepled his fingers together. "I have to consider the possibility that Danzō's hand was forced, or that someone else manipulated events to dishonour him, to expose him. It's possible that someone meant for me to discover this organization."
"...Isn't that a good thing?"
Hiruzen frowned. "I doubt it. Though I am loath to admit it, Danzō and his Root operatives could be a powerful force when applied in the right circumstances. Their sheer power was one reason why the group was disbanded in the first place, considering they could be a threat to the village, autonomous as they were. They form an invisible line of defence for the village, one that could be removed without declaring war."
Jiraiya groaned. "Someone's trying to weaken Konoha. To what end?"
Hiruzen was silent for a long time, as he puffed on his pipe. "I'm afraid we have to consider the possibility that Orochimaru is already moving. By sabotaging Danzō's control over his hidden troops, they cannot be relied upon to counter an assault on the village, or to eliminate enemy forces. He would presume that I would be too kind-hearted to maintain Root as it is."
"It sounds like him," Jiraiya muttered darkly. "Does Danzō know about all this, or not?"
"I suspect that he does," Hiruzen allowed. "He agreed to meet me, though, on equal terms. Whatever else Danzō might have done, he has never attacked me. I believe we can come to an arrangement." He frowned. "The reason that I discovered the subterfuge was a blatant mistake he evidetly made regarding Uchiha Sasuke's black scroll. That is where the sabotage happened. It is where Danzō must have been double-crossed. Despite having access to normal shinobi, he used a Root operative. He exposed his actions, and that seems improbable."
"What do you mean?"
"The scroll was a test; Uchiha Sasuke was requested to spy on Naruto in exchange for advanced training. It was an offer that seemed appropriate, considering the boy's reputation. There will be similar tests for the other members of the team, in due time. I chose someone impartial who had not previously interacted with the Genin in question to do this task. Danzō."
"And thus we return to Naruto," Jiraiya murmured. "You distrust him enough to do something like that? To try and trick his team members into betraying him?"
Hiruzen sat down again, putting away his pipe. "Tell me, did you think that the story about meeting this sand jinchūriki is plausible? I suspect it was a lie. I always thought Naruto was very bad liar, but I know for a fact now that I was mistaken about that. He lies well, and frequently, and about important things. That is a worrying conclusion, and it calls into question many of the assumptions I made about him."
"Your trust in him is really gone, isn't it?" Jiraiya shivered.
Hiruzen looked aside, but didn't dispute it. "This brings me to another possibility, one that I have considered for a time now. What are the chances, do you think, that Naruto was trained in Root?"
"What?"
"He does not have the seal, but I am doubtful it would work very well on someone like him," Hiruzen explained. "There have been observations from ANBU forces that indicate that Naruto has been a shinobi for years, at the very least long enough to pick up numerous habits of experience, and that his stealth abilities seem particularly well-developed. Exactly the type of skill that Danzō prizes."
Jiraiya had gone pale. "I'm pretty sure he's never been in Root."
"What then, Jiraiya? ANBU? He can't have picked it up on his own."
"There are other possibilities," Jiraiya said. "You are awfully quick in assuming the worst."
"I am the Hokage, Jiraiya. I can't afford to be optimistic when it comes to threats to the village. I give people the benefit of the doubt, but when things just keep piling up…" He looked down tiredly. "I have already waited too long in the past, and it caught up with me. Orochimaru is one example. The Uchiha massacre is another. What will happen this time, if I am too lax again?"
"You said you trust me," Jiraiya said slowly. "Do you take that back?"
"No…"
"Then trust me," Jiraiya said. "You are assuming the worst. You know that Minato's son wouldn't be a traitor. He wants to be Hokage, for crying out loud. You know that he didn't grow up as an emotionally stunted person, either. You know that he has been training with his father's seals."
"And techniques," Hiruzen mumbled.
"Why then do you so easily discount that maybe Minato's still looking out for his kid? Or that he is genuinely that good? Neither of those possibilities are any more absurd than the idea of Naruto as a heartless subordinate of Danzō."
"You seem certain of that."
Jiraiya smiled. "I am. Trust me, and trust Naruto. He's got a big heart, I swear."
"No, damn it," Naruto snarled as he slapped Kakashi's hand away. "I'm not stopping now. He's alive. He's still warm."
Kakashi looked down at Shino. "That wound, it's been infected for days. The toxins spread all around him. Even if you could get him back from the brink, he would never reach a village in time…"
Naruto stared at him darkly, then looked to his teammates. "Sakura, you know first aid. Help."
"Naruto…"
"I order you to help me," Naruto said. "Now. Check his heart rate."
Sakura's face was bone-white as she felt for a pulse. "I don't think… His heart's not beating anymore. I don't feel anything, anyway..."
"Damn." Naruto shook his head. "Fine, I'll have to figure something else out." He closed his eyes momentarily. "Think, think..."
His eyes snapped open and locked onto Kakashi's. "Give me one of those seals I gave you," he barked. He waited for a long moment. "If I'm the leader of this team, then you will follow my orders without second-guessing them." Kakashi finally handed over the seal, and Naruto smiled in satisfaction. "This should work, with a little adjustment..." He grabbed a brush from his pocket, and bit his finger. "Blood should be enough to modify this, especially mine. Keep him steady, would you?"
Kakashi held Shino as Naruto pressed his seal onto the boy's chest, adding a small part to the bottom of it, a spiral-like shape. "Naruto, are you sure…?"
"He's dead otherwise, isn't he?" Naruto said. "Trust me, sensei."
"Improper seals can explode. Two deaths aren't what I want on my conscience here," Kakashi said. "Naruto-"
Naruto grimaced. "Get back, all of you. If you're going to take any order, then follow that one." He looked at Kakashi. "I am running out of time, here. His heart might be dead, and then this won't help. But if it isn't, not all the way, then there's a chance."
Kakashi doubted for a moment, and then gave in. He launched himself away from Shino and his student, dragging Sakura and Sasuke along.
Good.
Naruto pressed his hand down on his seal, hoping dearly that he had remembered the inversion seal properly. He didn't have a lightning nature, but the limited amount of chakra that was converted by the seal should be enough. It was a crude version of the technique that Medical-Nin used, but in the field, it would have to do. Before he could rethink his decision, he channelled his chakra into the seal.
The world lighted up for a long moment, and his arm seemed connected to Shino's chest for that duration. He couldn't have moved even if he wanted to. The electrical shock travelled through him and into the soil through his knees, and he grit his teeth against the pain.
Shino whimpered for a moment, but he breathed in slightly. Under his hand, Naruto could feel a feeble heartbeat. He had been in time.
"That was the easy part," Naruto muttered. "Hold on."
He crossed his legs, and closed his eyes. Healing techniques wouldn't cut it here, and he didn't know any. Shino was going to die again, and more permanently, if he didn't get a lot of healing, quickly. There was only one being that he knew could deliver that kind of power, and it was locked inside him.
The shock tore through the air for a long moment, and Kakashi feared the worst as he looked down towards the little alcove where he had left Naruto. It was crazy, but he had obeyed Naruto's order. A Genin's order.
For a second there, he had been back in his own team, Team Minato, and it had been Naruto's father that gave him an order, that told him to back off. He had obeyed.
"Kakashi-sensei?"
"Stay here," Kakashi said, looking at Sakura. "Don't go anywhere. Whoever did that might still be out here. Don't go anywhere I can't see you, not even if you see other members of Team 8, alright? There might be traps out here, or Genjutsu. There could be enemy shinobi."
Sakura shivered. "What did Naruto do just now?"
"Shock the heart," Sasuke answered. "It's an emergency medical technique to get the heart out of a bad rhythm, even one that can't be felt." He frowned when Sakura gaped at him. "I thought you learned first aid?"
"I'm pretty sure it didn't include seals!"
Kakashi shrugged. "I will go see if it was successful," he said. "Stay. Here."
Kakashi wasn't sure if he was terrified or relieved about what he found. Although it was plain that Shino was breathing again, that he lived, Naruto was slumped over him with his hand still on the boy's chest, an angry scar running all across his exposed arm. Lightning has seared through him as well as Shino's body, probably releasing from both side of the seal at once and trying to find two separate ways to reach the soil and discharge. Naruto was alive, but he was unconscious.
When Kakashi tried to remove the boy's hand, though, he realized with a start that he couldn't. Naruto was keeping himself still with chakra, as if he was climbing a tree. In fact, his whole body seemed to be stuck in a lotus position. As if for... meditation?
"What are you doing now, you silly boy?"
"Saving a life," Naruto muttered, and Kakashi twitched. Naruto's eyes were still closed, his muscles still slack. "Don't disturb me."
Kakashi ran a hand through his hair. "Alright. I don't think things can get any weirder..."
The sewer was as disgusting as it ever was, and Naruto waded towards the huge cage before him without taking any note of it; the scent of rotten flesh still dominated the sewer's anyway. That had to be bleed-through from reality.
"I need your help," Naruto said seriously as he stepped up to the darkness. "Kurama?"
"Who gave you permission to use that name?" Kurama replied, though it didn't sound as angry as he recalled it. It didn't even lash out.
"You did, actually."
The fox grumbled. "This boy never died in your time, did he?" he inquired as it stepped into view, his teeth gleaming. "This event is an anomaly. You changed something, and now you are responsible for killing those who should have many years left. Did I not tell you that there would be consequences?"
Naruto scoffed. "Don't presume to tell me what I can and can't do."
"You see, now, why going back is abominable?" The fox shook his head. "It will not be better than before, you know. It can't. There is a balance to be kept. You are a force for order, you form events to your will. There must be an equal force for disorder. The world will only be worse in the end."
Naruto shook his head. "We can discuss that later. Right now, Shino is dying. I don't know what got him, and I don't care right now. I'll deal with the ones responsible after I'm done here. I need your assistance."
"And you think I'll give it?"
"You're not stupid, Kurama." Naruto grabbed a bar of the fox's prison. "I wish I could give you the experiences that I shared with the other you, but it would only be third person for you, not really believable. It wouldn't be real. Perhaps, if we trusted each other as we did once before, all this bickering wouldn't be necessary."
"The world will only become worse," Kurama repeated.
"Will it?" Naruto grabbed another bar and peered into the darkness, barely making out the beast's huge form. "In the other world, seven out of the nine tailed beasts were sealed away in an attempt to recreate the Jūbi. Gaara lost Shukaku to Akatsuki, because he was unprepared for their assault. In case you haven't been paying attention, Gaara's in Konoha now, and soon he will have a seal that will give him the ability to channel the Ichibi at will, like I can channel your chakra. Akatsuki won't have such an easy time."
"How is that better? Then he too will be chained up, like me?"
"Because you were unchained, in my time," Naruto said. "There was no seal at all, like I told you before. You and I fought together, even shared our body, so that you could interact with the outside world again. You spoke through me, you acted through me. Without you, I would have been dead long ago. If we can have that, the Kyūbi and its jinchūriki, then the same can be true for others. Gaara could conquer the Ichibi's hate, and so could the other hosts. We could be allies, like the Sage intended."
Kurama stared with narrowed eyes. "Why did you not just take my chakra, if such power is what you so desire?"
Naruto shook his head. "You know why. Your chakra is corrosive in my hands. I cannot truly control it. It reflects your intent, and your intent is to destroy. When I had control of it, for a while, it was calm and steady, and protected me like a shroud. My body is capable of handling even your most hateful intent, as it has coped with it for years. Shino, though…"
"He would be burned up utterly."
"Right. I don't have the key to your cage, and I don't think that we trust each other enough to go that far, not yet. If you betrayed me in that moment, you know that I would drag us both into death, to protect all the other people for a decade or more. On the other hand, you don't know if giving me your chakra would allow me to subjugate you, turn you into even less than you are."
Kurama growled. "True."
"You know dad made this seal, right?" Naruto raised up off the ground, reaching for the little paper. "He's here, now, sort of. He's listening in, probably panicking about the concept of me ripping off the seal and opening your cage." He smiled. "He's a bit overprotective like that. It's what fathers do, I guess."
He sat down in mid-air, floating in front of the seal. It was his mind; he could do what he wanted. "What you don't know, not yet, Kurama, is that it's not a seal that requires our antagonism. That's how it has worked for all these years, because that's how we interact, but it doesn't have to be. If I allowed it, and you had no malicious intent, then it would allow more than just your chakra to flow through. Not for very long and not much more than a tail's worth, but it would be enough. Chakra, as well as your mind. Your intent, capable of manipulating your chakra, outside my body."
"…I could kill the boy, then. And everyone else."
"As many as you could reach in a minute or two," Naruto agreed. "Only a single tail, though; Kakashi could hold you off. Shino would be defenceless, I admit." He paused for a long moment. "I am willing to allow you this access."
"What?" The fox reared back.
"Shino is dying, and your chakra alone won't work," Naruto said. "I know that a tail's worth of chakra is enough to heal grievous wounds in minutes; it grew back a large portion of my chest in the wake of Sasuke's attack, when he skewered me with Chidori. It might not be enough to give Shino his arm back, but it should destroy the infection, repair the damage it has already caused. He would survive." He looked up to Kurama and spread his arms. "I promised myself that I would not keep lying to people, manipulating them only because I can. I'm still not sure if it's a good way to go, but I have to believe it is. I need to trust - that's why I'm giving you a chance, too."
Kurama stared down on his host with fire in his eyes. "…You are more like him than I expected."
"I take that as a great compliment. If I give you this chance, will you promise to heal Shino? I know your taste of freedom would only be for a moment, but it would be a start. A step on the road back to trust between us."
Kurama didn't answer in words. Streams of chakra erupted from between the bars, and everything turned white.
The transition was instantaneous. One moment, Naruto was sitting there with his head bent, breathing slowly. Then chakra flashed around him like fire, scorching the air around it so quickly that Kakashi could only just avoid the blaze.
"Naruto!"
"Not quite," the boy said under his breath, his eyes blazing red.
Author's Note: Well, here you go with the first part of the C-rank. Yeah, C-ranks are pretty much cursed, aren't they? Also, more Jiraiya and some Kakashi moments for those who requested them. :)
Be sure to check out Shezza's 'Life in Konoha's ANBU' - it's good!