Hi guys. Sorry about the late update. Its a big one this time, so I guess it counts as two.
Hope you haven't been getting comfortable anywhere. The real chaos starts now.
It was an interesting sight, really. One couldn't say there was often an occasion where Jonin Kakashi Hatake, the Copy Ninja himself, was adequately stumped as to what he was to do.
Before him stood his three cute little Genin. They all, with the addition of Sasuke by proxy of him always being so, stood with apt attention and obedient silence as they awaited their sensei's orders as to what they would be instructed to do.
This was, of course, a special occasion. The students wouldn't be so rapt and attentive otherwise. Shortly after Zabuza was incapacitated by the odd rogue kunai, a Hunter Ninja from the Hidden Mist appeared and swiftly made off with the missing ninja and his sword. Kakashi, who was sufficiently mystified by the spectacle that he had just borne witness to, could not appropriately gauge the situation before him. As such he was unable to pick out how odd the "Hunter Ninja" was.
It wasn't until they were halfway back to Tazuna's house that Kakashi had put two and two together.
So now the Team had what amounted to a steadily recovering borderline S-ranked ninja and his borderline A-ranked assistant running around, and only one available ninja to stand up to such a threat. Kakashi wasn't a gambling man. It never was one of his vices. However, constant bouts with Gai had taught the man that engaging in games of chance with less than complete assurance that you were going to win was a fool's errand.
Especially when the stake was your life.
So with his odds of winning a fight with a man slightly above his pay grade and a child slightly below it being ridiculously low, Kakashi decided to teach his cute little students some skills.
The better they were, the better cannon fodder they could become after all.
The problem with this was that Kakashi had not an earthly idea what to teach his students. He… never really had to teach before. He spent his few years of active ninja duty in ANBU, where most everyone had already known everything they really needed to know. The most he had to teach them were teamwork exercises to help them refine plans they already made.
Even his time under the Fourth Hokage wasn't helpful to his current predicament. Kakashi was, simply put, a genius. He highly doubted he could teach the three before him the same way he learned his necessary skills. At some point he might have seen a little bit of himself in Sasuke, but…
If Kakashi was able to get anything through to that boy, it would be a personal victory. The boy was barely alive.
So that left his two other Genin. One was basically a walking chakra battery. The kid had endurance to match senior ninjas in their prime.
Yes. Senior ninjas. As in plural. Naruto was worth several veteran ninjas by himself. He, if polished and perfected after years of brutal skill and technique being beaten into him, could possibly become the most talented and awe inspiring shinobi the world had ever known.
Kakashi had estimated they had about a week. Not optimistic thinking.
The other Genin had the exact opposite problem. Sakura was book smart like you wouldn't believe, and could pick up complicated problems and abstract or poorly explained concepts and apply them, at least in theory.
The problem with her was that while she could apply these circumstances perfectly in theory, she had difficulty pulling them off in practice. Her physical conditioning, in a single word at least, sucked. Even after all the training he forced her through, she was barely more than simply adequate as far as Genin went. Considering what she was before he got to her, he considered even that a personal achievement. This left Kakashi with a serious dilemma.
How the hell was he to train these kids to take on opponents even he was considering taking seriously?
"So… sensei? Are you going to talk or are you going to impersonate Sasuke some more?" Naruto asked. He had managed to stand still and allow his sensei to ruminate on his own for a bit, but even he had his limits.
"Its reassuring to believe that even after all those years, you're still basically the same." The Kyuubi commented from his seal. Naruto frowned.
"What do you mean?"
"Even after becoming a father, Hokage, and husband, you still have the patience of a burning log."
"Do you have any idea how long it takes a log to burn?"
"Do you?"
Naruto was unable to answer.
"I thought not. And why exactly don't you know?"
"It took FOREVER Kurama!"
"Shh. I know, child."
Back with Kakashi, the man was rubbing his chin through his mask in an attempt to come up with an idea. Finally settling on one, he looked up, slightly apprehensively, at his team.
"Do you guys know how to climb a tree?"
The man was met with a set of stares.
"Uh, yeah?" Naruto answered slowly. "Who doesn't?"
Sakura raised her hand.
"Besides Sakura?" Naruto clarified.
"Well, whether or not you know how to do it physically, the kind of tree climbing I was referring to was this." Kakashi stated, before walking off to the nearest tree. They were in a field behind Tazuna's house, and as such had access to the island's forest that was apparently situated behind it. Approaching the tree, Kakashi took a second to look it over.
The tree was tall, easily 30 feet at the minimum. Its trunk was thick, at least thick enough for all of the genin to have to stretch their arms around it to cover it. It was perfect for what he had planned. Turning around, Kakashi took a stern look at his students before turning back to the tree and planting a foot on its bark. Then, with the difficulty one would have with taking a stroll in a park, Kakashi placed his other foot as well and started walking up it. Sakura was stunned.
"Sensei? How are you doing that?" Sakura asked, her eyes alight. Running up, Sakura stood merely a couple feet from the base of the tree, her eyes glued to her teacher's feet. Kakashi turned and gave the girl an eye smile.
"This is a technique known to most in the Village as 'tree climbing'. Tell me, do you guys know about chakra?" their teacher asked. Sakura nodded vigorously.
"Do you want the long version or the short one?" Sakura asked. Naruto stared at her.
"I think we all know about chakra by now," Naruto answered, "the short version should be enough."
Sakura answered this by sticking her tongue out at him.
"Well then, since we're all experts here," Sakura started, "chakra is the manifestation of our physical energies given form through special kneading and techniques acquired by ninjas over a very long time. It is present in the bodies of every living thing, and therefore anyone with the right training can use it to interact with the world around them." Sakura finished her little speech with a bow.
"Was that good sensei?"
"It was excellent, Sakura. Thank you." Kakashi responded. He then turned his attention back to the group as a whole. "Chakra is a wonderful resource that we as shinobi utilize everyday. For all except a very select few, chakra is an indispensable weapon, tool and companion. With it, we can do many marvelous things, such as healing wounds both grave and inconsequential, create terrifying artifices of war and summon extraordinary creatures."
"Or walk on trees apparently," Naruto commented.
"Or walk on trees," Kakashi mimicked. He rubbed his temple. Naruto had a way with words.
"So here's what we're doing today. We're going to learn to walk on trees with chakra."
"How do we do that, sensei?" Sakura asked.
"Simple," Kakashi answered. He lifted a finger. "First, you concentrate chakra to the soles of your feet. When you have the right amount, you simply place your foot and start walking. Now, this isn't exactly easy, as the exact amount changes for everyone, but once you get the hang of it you'll..."
"Wow, this is easy!" Sakura called from her place atop a branch a few meters up the tree from where Kakashi stood. He stared at her.
"When did you..."
"You're right though, sensei. My stamina sucks. I'm a little tired just getting this far." Sakura continued. Her breathing was slightly labored, but she was otherwise excited. Kakashi nodded.
"Well, I should have expected as much from you, Sakura. But as for the rest of yo-"
Kakashi was cut off by Naruto falling from a branch even further up. The boy hit the ground with an "oomph." Kakashi stared.
"Okay, what?"
Naruto rubbed his head. He had fallen on it. "Yeah, sensei. That's harder than it seems!"
"Like your head," Kyuubi commented. "Good thing you landed on it. Nothing of value was threatened."
Kakashi scratched his head. "So you two either did know about it, or you're much smarter than I gave you credit for."
"I like to think its a little bit of both, sensei." Naruto shouted from his place halfway back up the tree. He had tackled the exercise again as soon as he had "failed". Kakashi gave him an accusatory look.
"Yes. Though some of you may have more in one category than the other," Kakashi muttered. When Naruto shrugged his shoulders and continued his trek up the tree, Kakashi had to settle on the fact that he just wasn't going to get to the bottom of that boy just yet. The teacher then turned to the last member of their team. As expected, he hadn't moved from his place at all, instead choosing to stand impossibly still. His eyes were completely glazed over as he stared ahead. Kakashi couldn't guess what was going through the boy's mind.
The Jonin turned back to his functional students. "Alright gang. Since you guys are obviously good enough to do the tree climbing technique, we're going to be going more in depth in your training."
Naruto, now genuinely, fell out of his tree. Since he had reached quite high in his second "attempt", he now had quite a ways to fall. As such, flipping over in midair and using a chakra coated hand to slow his technique, then balance himself, was rather easy, and before anyone could quite tell the boy was upright on the side of the tree.
Yeah, that ending made sense.
"Wait, what?" Naruto thought. His mind was racing.
"What's wrong, brat?" the Kyuubi asked, genuinely concerned. As absent-minded and simple-headed as his host may be, he rarely lost control of well practiced techniques to something as trivial as misplaced concentration.
"That… definitely didn't happen last time," Naruto responded. Kyuubi, as his portal to the outside world was through Naruto's perspective, could not actually see the boy's face from inside of him. This being the case, he could still somehow detect the quiver in his host's eyes as he stared down at his former teacher. He was suitably alarmed.
"So?" the Kyuubi asked. "What does this mean?"
"It means that things are changing Kyuubi. I thought things weren't supposed to change!"
"Huh," Kyuubi responded. "I'm pretty sure they weren't. I wonder what happened."
The Sage worked frantically, bending chakra and the very rules of reality around him as the powers that be did the same. He wasn't sure how, but this problem had escalated so far out of control that even he was being contracted to help out. The timeless wonder zone he had installed himself in fluctuated and pulsed every so often in response to the raw amount of power that was being tossed around, but somehow, in some way…
Hagoromo knew that it just wasn't enough.
"It probably doesn't matter." Naruto stated after a short pause. "I was getting bored of seeing and doing all the same things twice. It could be a nice little change."
"Your nonchalant attitude towards potentially vital information never ceases to amaze me, boy," the Kyuubi growled. This being said, the fox had just turned over and started to fall asleep in his spot inside Naruto.
"Please Kyuubi. I'm thirty six."
"Right now you're barely a man. Start complaining when you hit puberty."
"Kyuubi, we both know what happens whenever I hit something. It hits back. Usually harder than I hit it."
"Mhm." Kyuubi muttered. His eyes were already starting to droop.
"Alright then," Naruto responded. "Enjoy the teenage hormones running through both my system and yours."
Kyuubi's eyes flashed open as a dawning horror spread across his face. Naruto cut off their link right there, but before he did he could hear the screams of anguish. They calmed his nerves a bit.
Naruto looked back at Kakashi. During the boy's conversation with his tenant, the teacher had taken to gauging the reactions of his students. He looked at Sakura first, and Naruto could tell the man was satisfied with her reaction. Now however, as he looked to Naruto, he awaited a response.
"Well, Naruto? What do you think?" Kakashi asked. Naruto grinned.
"Training is always good, sensei! What are we going to do next?"
"Well, since you already know the tree climbing technique," Kakashi started, "the next course of action is the water walking technique."
"The water walking technique?" Sakura parroted. She had just made her way down from the tree, albeit on wobbly legs.
"Yes, the water walking technique. I'll give you three guesses as to what it is."
"No need to be a smartass sensei."
Five minutes was all Team Seven really needed to find a suitable body of water. A river found a little inland to the island's forest was just wide and deep enough to suit Kakashi's needs. The river, while pristine and clear, was also running with just enough speed to give a challenge to those learning to walk on it.
"Well, get to it." Kakashi said as he turned with a huff. With his hand he gestured out to the water. Both students seemed confused.
"Is that it?" Sakura asked. Kakashi tilted his head.
"Yes. That's it. Start walking."
"No instructions? No guidelines?" Naruto asked. "You're just going to send us out on the water like that?"
"Why yes. That's exactly what I'm going to do."
"But that's not what a teacher does! Is it the same principles as the tree walking exercise?" Sakura asked.
"Basically." Kakashi responded. "Get to it."
"You're a terrible teacher, sensei." Naruto commented.
"Mhm," was Kakashi's reply before he set off back the way they came. He was likely to go check on Sasuke.
Sakura turned to her remaining teammate. "So what now?"
"Beats me." Naruto shrugged. He looked back to the river. Kakashi had chosen a great place to train them. The turbulence would provide an excellent simulator, much better than what a lake or a pool would. With the added difficulty of moving water a Genin could get experience moving on troubled surfaces, something a real combat situation would provide.
That being said, as far as anyone knew, Naruto had about as much experience as Sakura.
"This is gonna suck." Naruto thought as he placed a foot on the water. Channeling absolutely no chakra whatsoever into it, Naruto took a deep breath as he plunged into the frigid waters.
"Fwagh!" Naruto spat as he resurfaced. The orange clad boy coughed as he brought up more water than he expected to swallow. Chest high in the stuff, Naruto was able to turn to Sakura while standing in the deepest part of the river.
"Come on in, Sakura! Its great!"
Sakura grimaced. She stuck a toe into the water to test it, before immediately pulling it back out.
"I highly doubt that." Sakura commented.
"So what?" Naruto asked. "You're gonna have to come in some time."
"Says who?" Sakura responded. "I don't have to do anything I don't want to."
"You don't," Naruto admitted. "But what if sensei comes back and sees you haven't even tried?"
"I'll say it was your fault," Sakura responded. "It always is, somehow."
"And how could I have possibly stopped you from getting in the water?"
"I don't know. You have your ways." Sakura answered. She had folded her arms.
"Do you really think I would prevent you from this paradise?" Naruto asked. He waved his hands through the water, causing small ripples and even smaller splashes. "That just doesn't sound like me."
Sakura had to take a pause at that info. He was right. Accepting her fate, the girl made her way back over to the riverbank.
"Fine," the pinkette huffed, "but only one foot."
"Only one foot," Naruto repeated, a smile on his face. Not fully trusting the boy, but not finding much reason not to either, Sakura hesitantly put her foot out over the water. Slowly she set her foot down then, right before it hit the surface, she closed her eyes and put her hands in a seal.
"What is that, brat?" the Kyuubi asked, one eye open inside his seal.
"She's using that handseal to help better focus her chakra." Naruto responded.
After channeling a bit of chakra, Sakura felt she had a balance just right. Opening her eyes, the girl set to succeed with a somewhat confident expression in her eyes. Letting her foot fall the last bit of distance, Sakura placed her foot on the water. It wavered, sending small ripples out over the water, but otherwise held.
"Naruto, I did it! I did the water wa-" Sakura started, before screeching as she was buried up to her head in ice cold water.
Sakura hacked as she resurfaced. "What the hell Naruto!"
Naruto chuckled, "What?"
"Why did you pull me in the water?" Sakura screamed. "I had it!"
"Haha," Naruto laughed. "You would have fell in eventually. Failing now makes it less scary!"
"But I had it!" Sakura yelled.
"Okay maybe I wanted to get you wet too." Sakura splashed him.
"I hate you, Naruto," Sakura stated, exasperated. She was annoyed, but not really mad. "Help me get out."
Naruto scratched his head. "Why? Just stand on the water."
"I would be if you didn't pull me under, you idiot!" Sakura responded with a second splash of water.
"Hey!" Naruto yelled, before splashing her back. Sakura, of course, responded with another yell. This one was more playful this time, and before long the two children…
Are they both children?
… before long the two children were in a splash fight. This continued until they were both drenched to the bone, with both of their clothing hanging off of them. Looking at their state of being, the two couldn't help but laugh.
"Look what you did, Naruto!" Sakura managed through fits of laughter. Naruto found the same difficulty talking.
"You started it!" He responded. The blonde used his hand to wipe some water out of his eyes.
"I guess," Sakura retorted, giggles escaping from her unbidden. Looking around, Sakura got a feel for the water before a look came on her face. Putting her hands together, the girl focused her chakra a bit before releasing the seal. Placing her hands on the water, Sakura slowly – and shakily – pushed herself out of the water. Once she was suitably out, she channeled chakra to her feet as well, and uneasily stood on top of the water.
Wobbling, but not to the point of instability, Sakura threw her hands in the air in a show of victory.
"I did it! I actually did it this time!" Naruto clapped for her.
"Good job Sakura!" Naruto yelled, still chest deep in water. When a wave shifted some of the substance into his mouth the boy grimaced, before jumping and landing feet first on the surface of the waves.
Sakura was shocked. "You can do the technique?"
"Of course," Naruto responded.
"But you can barely do the tree climbing technique!"
"They're two different techniques!" Naruto responded.
"No they're not!"
"To me they are!"
"That makes no sense!" Sakura screamed.
"It does to me."
Sakura gripped her hair in frustration.
"You're insufferable, Naruto." Sakura managed. This was immediately followed by the girl stumbling. Waving her arms, Sakura managed to regain her balance on the water, though her feet sank slightly under the surface.
"You okay, Sakura-chan?" Naruto asked.
"Yeah, I'm fine Naruto," the pinkette answered. With a stern glare at her feet Sakura scowled. "My chakra capacity is still not that good though. I'm near my limit for being here."
Naruto took a glance at her feet. The soles of her sandals fluctuated from being just under to just on top of the water, and the girl's legs were visibly shaking under the effort of keeping the technique alive. The boy Hokage rubbed his chin, and his experience of being a veteran shinobi kicked in.
"I think its high time I got out." Sakura stated. On wobbly steps the girl made her way over to the edge of the pond, only for her to be stopped by an orange clad arm.
"Where do you think you're going?" Naruto asked.
"Er, I'm… getting out?" Sakura answered, unsure of what the boy was getting at. Stepping to the side, Sakura tried to walk around the boy, only to be blocked again.
"Oh. Sorry then. Go ahead," Naruto responded. Sakura nodded, before stepping the other way, only to be blocked again.
"Okay, what's the big deal?"
"What are you talking about?" Naruto asked, bewildered. This being the case, the blonde still blocked Sakura on every attempt she made to cross the river, sometimes even stopping her when she tried to exit on the other side.
"Naruto, quit it! I'm running out of chakra! I'm going to fall into the river at this rate!" True enough, her legs were starting to droop, and she shook from obvious exhaustion. Still, Naruto would not relent.
"Sakura, how do you train a muscle?" Naruto asked. Sakura stared at him, and even though she was tired, she answered the best she could.
"You use it. Sometimes to its very limits so that the muscle can expand, adapt, and expand again."
"Very good," Naruto complimented. "Don't you think chakra is a lot like a muscle then?"
Sakura, eyes wide, gaped at her teammate. "What? No! Chakra is born from physical energies and-"
"And nothing Sakura. You may be the biggest scholar here, but I'm much better in practical use. Even you have to admit that."
Sakura's silence was her admittance.
"Good," Naruto continued. "So trust me. I know from a very good source..."
"Her future self," Kyuubi interjected.
"… That training with your chakra enhances your coils. If you constantly use it, you'll have a capacity for more. Even if you don't have the outright quantity, when you rest you'll replenish to a higher cap. How do you think I got this much?" Naruto ended his speech with a hook. Even if it weren't truthful, for his massive chakra capacity was genetic, Sakura didn't know that, and would most likely use it as a reference to train to get it the honest way.
Sakura stared at Naruto, a pensive look on her face. After a small moment she stood a little straighter, albeit on still wobbly legs.
"I guess I can go a little longer." Sakura stated.
It was in this pace that the two stood on top of the water, gently going through exercises that required moving, such as walking, jumping, and towards the end dancing. Though Naruto had to practically hold the girl through the motions, it was still a fun time as much as the two were concerned.
By the end Sakura was utterly spent, and Naruto finally saw fit to let her leave the river. Placing her unconscious body against a tree not too far from the river, Naruto sat at the base of another and prepared to go into meditation. Before he could really get a feel however, a sound from the bushes interrupted his concentration.
"That can't be," Naruto asked. Kyuubi could feel the boy's heartbeat accelerate, and thus let his attention spread outward.
Coming out a bush not too far from the other side of the river, a girl not too taller than Naruto emerged. With perfect, almost doll-like skin, the girl had her hair done up in a bun with the rest of it flowing down over both sides of her face. She wore a blue kimono like outfit, and sandals to compliment the look. In her hand she held a basket with several blue flowers overflowing from it, it being carried by nails painted black.
Naruto almost forgot to breathe. Kyuubi reminded him.
"Idiot. I thought we were over the whole, 'you need to breathe to live' thing."
The Kyuubi, for the first time in a long time, was ignored. Springing to his feet, Naruto exploded across the clearing, river and all, and instantly appeared in front of the girl. She flinched, not used to such speed, and almost fell on her ass as a result.
"Whoa brat! What's gotten into you?" the Kyuubi asked once more. Like before however, he was ignored. Naruto, not realizing the Hokage level of speed he just demonstrated, just stared at the person before him as if she were a ghost. Reaching forward, the boy attempted to touch her, as if to confirm she were real, then immediately brought his hand back, as if the very idea of interaction might break the person apart into many little pieces.
"H-Haku?" Naruto asked, and instantly Kyuubi knew.
"He's… he's the one we killed. Isn't he?"
Haku was just as alarmed at the whole situation, though for different reasons. Never before had he met someone so fast, bordering on faster than even him. Not even his Master had such speed, and for this reason he was suitably startled at the whole interaction.
"How do you know my name?" Haku asked, covering up his confusion for one situation with confusion for another. The boy in front of him tilted his head, before smacking himself as if he had messed up terribly. Pushing a hand forward, the blonde made to shake hands. Haku did not reciprocate.
"I don't make a habit of shaking hands with strangers I just meet." Haku responded. Naruto pulled his hand back, but the response did nothing to dull the megawatt smile on his face. Haku wondered how it was possible to have such a bright smile, hair and outfit and still be a ninja.
Sure enough Naruto was still the stealthiest in his Village, even after years of being Hokage. He still couldn't hide from his paperwork though.
"That's fine. I'm Naruto. Naruto Uzumaki: future Hokage!" Naruto yelled, adjusting his headband. Haku stared at him, before making his way around the boy to the river. Bending down and scooping up a handful, Haku turned back to the boy.
"I'm Haku, but you already knew that apparently," was all he said before taking a sip. When done, he wiped his mouth before addressing the boy again. "You still haven't told me exactly how you know that, by the way."
Naruto scratched the back of his head. "I heard it through the village?"
"I don't visit the village."
"I heard it from the ninja."
"There are no ninja here. None of which would know of me regardless."
"Did I say ninja? I meant the mercenaries," Naruto added. Feeling annoyed.
"When did you have time to speak to them? You arrived here yesterday." Naruto quirked his eyebrow.
"And how would you know we arrived here yesterday?" the blond asked. He was met with an averted gaze.
"So you heard from the villagers?" Haku asked, standing again.
"I thought you didn't go to the village?" Naruto asked.
"The mercenaries do," Haku added.
"I didn't know the mercenaries visited the village."
"They don't, but the ninja do." Haku answered.
"I thought there were no ninjas?" Naruto tilting his head. Haku bore a vein on his head.
"There are two, one of which you're pissing off."
"I knew you were a ninja, Haku-kun."
And it was here Haku had to stop to analyze exactly where the conversation had gone. Realizing what he said, the boy quickly retreated from the blonde, his senbon at the ready.
"Who are you?" Haku asked. This question was met with wide eyes and an even wider grin, before a miasma of fire and… was that malevolence? Fire and pure malevolence erupted from thin air beside Naruto.
Emerging from the apparently evil smoke came a clone of the boy, but in an orange two piece suit. His hair was kept slicked back, and two fox ears adorned the top of his head instead of the two human ears that were at the original's side. With a nonchalant attitude, the newcomer immediately made his way over to the unconscious girl near the other side of the river and sat next to her, lounging immediately.
"You have two minutes brat."
Haku didn't know what to make of the situation. Two minutes? What did that mean? And why, for some reason, did every instinct in his body demand he ignore the fox before him?
It didn't make sense. In fact, none of this did. Nothing made sense since he made the decision to interact with this boy.
Initially this seemed a simple enough task. Upon picking around the island's forests in search of some flowers whose nectar made a suitable anesthetic, Haku stumbled upon the two "baby ninja" as his master called them, playing in the water not too far from where he searched. After spying on them for a bit, Haku could see they were in fact trying to learn the Water Walking Ability, something every Kiri inhabitant learned almost as soon as they could walk. Feeling no threat from at all from those who couldn't even master a children's technique, Haku made the decision to talk to them to at least glean information about their master.
Or were they called teachers in other relationships?
It didn't matter. Push comes shove, Haku would be able to easily deal with them should the time comes he needed to. That being the case, Haku was still paranoid. Living the life of a missing ninja for so long, he was privy to only taking the best chances. That included recon. So he waited. He waited until they were tired and nearly exhausted to make his move. When they were resting, one unconscious, Haku made his way to leave the bush, rather noisily at that, into the clearing.
So it was to his surprise the not one second after the very first leave crackled that he could feel one's attention on him.
As he fully emerged, Haku daintily brushed his hair away from his face and looked up to the boy in a meditative pose on the other side of the river. Plastering a fake smile, Haku prepared to greet the boy from the safety of both a river and several yards of land on both sides of said river.
Only for the boy to be directly in front of him, as if he were there the entire time.
Haku stumbled away, almost falling upon realization. Eyes darting over each feature of the boy, Haku wasn't sure what to think of this. He wasn't physically strong enough to pull off that speed. His lanky form underneath that hideous orange jumpsuit proved that. So how? Chakra? Did he have that much?
Back to the matter at hand, Haku was forced into a conversation with the boy. Initially he had attempted to play it cool. The effeminate boy made his way over to the river to attempt to drink from it like he planned. The boy immediately shattered this attempt, derailing an offhand inquiry meant to make him squirm and turning the conversation into an annoying banter. In an attempt to alleviate the boy's rambling, Haku said the first thing that came to mind.
Now the boy knew he was ninja.
Haku clutched the senbon in his hand, before releasing it to the point where he held it loosely. Not loose enough to drop it, but not tight enough that it would hinder his throw should things get nasty. This boy had already proven that he was capable enough to move at speeds even Haku couldn't track. Was this boy really Shinobi after all?
Haku stared down his adversary, wariness in his soft, gentle eyes. "Who are you?"
And then it happened. Fire, as hot and mythic as the fires of another realm, erupted from the air beside the boy introduced as Naruto. It twisted and contorted, controlled by some demon Haku couldn't begin to imagine. After a few seconds the fire flowed into a form, its body contours similar to that of Naruto's, before the fire breathed life into itself. Its shape became more pronounced, and out of the flames stepped a more dapper version of the blonde.
It paid Haku no heed as it stepped over to the girl on the other side of the river. Well, "stepped" is a general term, as the creature more or less floated over – moving on ethereal grace alone. Haku resisted the urge to grip his head. Something about this situation was telling him this wasn't right. This whole situation wasn't right, and he should just ignore the creature altogether.
The feeling was so strong that Haku was almost tempted to believe it, but something else stopped him. Something emanating from this very boy in front of him was making the urges that seemed almost as real as instinct seem like nothing more than whispers.
"Me? I already told you who I am." Naruto answered. His smile only stretched further on his face.
The feeling from the boy only increased as he spoke, and already Haku could feel the urge lessen. Barely, just barely, could Haku spare a glance over at the fox boy as he picked his teeth. His eyes immediately reverted back to the blonde.
"I care not for your name. I care for something holding more essence than that." Haku retorted. These were not the words that were the most pressing in his mind, but they were the ones that he felt he was supposed to ask. Why was he asking this?
Apparently the boy in front of him was just as confused as he was, for he tilted his head upon hearing the question. "What do you mean?"
"What I mean to say is: what do you fight for? Obviously you are Shinobi, your speed reveals that much of you. My only question is, why do you fight?" Haku flinched upon finishing his question. He wanted to bite his tongue with how much he was frustrated. Yes, these were questions that he was concerned with, but not ones he wanted to ask. The words, they came out of his mouth as though stock phrases, and Haku could do nothing to stop them.
Why was this happening?
"What kind of a question is that?" the boy asked. The response annoyed Haku, but not as much as it should have. Every word out of the boy's mouth felt like a salve on an itch he couldn't quite pinpoint enough to scratch. Haku continued talking, slightly easier now. The words were getting more natural the more he talked.
"Just answer," was all the fake Hunter Ninja was able to get out. Those words were not what he was urged to say, and he felt somewhat of divine retribution hammering at his brain for disobeying, but these were words that he felt he needed to ask.
"Well, isn't it obvious?" the boy asked while embarrassingly scratching his head. "I fight for the only thing worth fighting for. I fight to protect what is most precious to me, because when you fight to protect something, you bring out your true power."
Haku nodded at the blonde's answer. Despite his idiotic nature and apparent strength and ability to summon demons apparently, underneath his cold exterior existed a man with motives similar to Haku's own. This being the case however, almost everyone fought to protect something. Whether it be money or fame or power, everyone fought to protect some kind of selfish agenda. This boy would be no different. As inconspicuous as possible, Haku attempted to shift his arm into a position to strike. A properly thrown senbon should be just enough surprise for Haku to slip into an ice mirror and get away before the boy could recover. He would be giving in to the urges in his head to get as far away as possible from the boy, but for once in the strange afternoon he agreed with them.
Just as Haku was about to strike however, the boy's smile disarmed him. Not taking any note of danger whatsoever, Naruto continued.
"I fight to protect my precious people, Haku. Because what use is anything else in the world if you have no one to share it with? All the money, power, fame… they mean nothing if you are all by yourself."
And then, something in Haku snapped. The urges, slowly being reduced to whispers before, were now completely gone. The boy's words, resonating so deeply with Haku's own soul managed to, if just for a moment, free Haku in a way he never thought before. Bound no more, Haku could only stare at the boy before him, his ever radiant smile never faltering.
"I-I have to go." Haku stammered. Regaining use of his feet, Haku completely forgot about his ability to use ice to teleport as he ran to the treeline. Too many thoughts and emotions were running through his head at the thought of meeting another so much like himself that he could barely keep his mind straight.
Turning, Haku thought it prudent to at least give the boy a taste of his own medicine. Deciding on the words, Haku turned to address the boy before jumping off. He would flabbergast the blonde as well.
"By the way, I'm a boy." Haku proudly stated. To his unending disbelief, the boy ninja just laughed.
"I know, Haku." He responded. "And I am the Seventh Hokage from the future."
Haku's eyes glazed over.
"Thirty seconds, brat," called Kurama as he stood from his place near Sakura. Despite the time he spent lounging on the grass, not a single blade of grass nor clump of dirt marred his suit. Naruto wondered how he did it.
"I realized, furball. I think that conversation went well."
"It did," Kyuubi stated, hopping over the river in a single bound. "Until you mentioned that you were Hokage. Time is going to reset now."
At this Naruto scratched his head. Looking around, the world was still in vibrant color. The river still even flowed, and if you listened hard enough, you could hear Sakura's soft breathing over the humming brook.
"Are… are you sure Kyuubi?" Naruto asked. "It usually resets by now."
Kyuubi also looked around. "Wow. For once you're right. Why hasn't it reset?"
"Maybe because I answered jokingly that Haku didn't take me seriously?" Naruto supplemented. He looked over to where Sakura was asleep. He had to admit that he liked her hair better when it was short. Having spent the most time around it that way, it was hard not to prefer the normal over the alternative, with short hair definitely becoming the normal.
"Perhaps." Kyuubi answered, a pensive look on his face. "There's more to this, I know there is, but for now we have no time to talk about it. Estimation of about ten seconds before your teacher returns. I will talk to you later, brat." Kyuubi finished, before disappearing in a wreath of flames. As soon as the last ember died out on the wind did Kakashi flash into the clearing, Sasuke in tow. Upon looking around, Kakashi saw Naruto on the other side of the river slightly damp from the exercise, with Sakura asleep on the side he arrived in.
"I see you're done," Kakashi drawled, dropping Sasuke like a sack of potatoes.
Naruto nodded, a vibrant smile on his face.
"Yeah sensei. We're all done here."
A full week found Naruto and the rest of his team making their way to the bridge Tazuna had hired them to help guard. Hands behind his head, Naruto was rather pleased with what they had managed to learn.
Sakura stretched her arms above her head. They had woken up early that morning to match with the carpenters' work schedule, and as such hadn't fully acclimated to the rising sun.
"I feel better than I thought I would waking up this early," Sakura commented. She finished the statement with a yawn, but a good one at that, as she smiled shortly after.
"Access to a larger pool of chakra would do that for you," Kakashi stated, his head in a book. Turning a page, he spared a glance at his sole female student. "Its nowhere near Jonin, or even Chunin level, but its effectively twice what it was before. With the physical and chakra intensive training we had you go through, the chakra boost should make you feel a lot better than you did before." Kakashi then looked away. "I should estimate you feel nowhere near as sluggish as before."
Sure enough, Sakura was feeling springy and alive. Jumping every other step, Sakura could feel a spring in her gait that wasn't there before.
"Yeah, I guess you're right," Sakura stated. She flexed her fingers as she walked along. "I think I can get used to this."
Kakashi looked over to another member of their team. Naruto was walking slightly behind the rest of the team, but not for any less energy. No, the boy seemed to be almost vibrating in anticipation.
"Brat, you're too excited." Kyuubi growled. "You're barely keeping yourself together."
"Well, can you blame me?" Naruto asked. "We're going to be charging headfirst into my first ninja battle! But this time, I'm ready!"
Kakashi started wondering exactly how fast his blonde Genin could shake. He decided to ask a question regardless. "And how are you making out Naruto? How's the jutsu coming along?"
Over the course of the week Kakashi decided to teach Naruto an expansion on the jutsu he was using. The teacher was still apprehensive around his blonde charge, but he was still dedicated to teaching. Seeing as he had nothing to teach the boy anymore after the tree and water walking technique, he decided to work on something he knew.
"Its coming along great, Kakashi. I can't wait to use it on Zabuza." And Naruto actually couldn't. With perfect manipulation of Kyuubi's – and subsequently all of the other bijuu's – chakra, he didn't really have a need to learn any other elemental manipulation. When the time came for him to try to grasp the basics and learn more versatile techniques than the Rasengan, no one in the village felt themselves appropriate enough to teach him. Just because he had multiple kekkai genkai under his command didn't mean he knew exactly how he commanded them.
So to receive any instruction, however basic, in a jutsu other than Rasengan was a goldmine to him, and he spent the time he had Kakashi to himself carefully and efficiently. The week ended with him using the last day to experiment on his own.
That day turned out to be the most dangerous of them all. A day spent allowing Naruto anything was a day best spent not happening.
With a mean grin on his face Naruto flexed his hand. He was extremely excited to see Zabuza.
Kakashi was not as excited. "You will be using no such technique on him. That jutsu was not meant for direct contact with the enemy, and being in water for any reason near Zabuza is not condoned. Understand?"
Naruto nodded his head, but Kakashi could feel he wasn't really listening. Nodding his head, Kakashi turned to the last member of his team. Sasuke followed along after his teammates with no real instruction from anyone, but he still shuffled as if he were nothing more than a zombie. Face dull and eyes blank and lifeless, he had still made progress this week, and thus Kakashi considered team training a success.
Nothing could put down Kakashi's mood right now.
At least, that's what he thought. As soon as he came into view of the bridge he could see it was covered in fog.
Kakashi immediately cursed.
"Okay. Let's go with a new plan. Team, on me." Kakashi instructed, no joking in his voice whatsoever. His team, including Sasuke, collapsed on the man. "We are going to go in the fog of war. Stay near me, stay behind me, and most importantly do not break formation until I say so. Understand?" Kakashi did not wait for an answer, for he bridged no room for dissent, and instead immediately pushed forward. The team felt ready, until a person coughed from behind them.
"Uhm, Mr. Ninja? What do I do?" Tazuna, their mission directive, asked. Kakashi groaned.
"Oh right. Just uh. Stay behind us or something." And with that the team advanced.
Zabuza was at a loss. Even massacre of the entirety of the people working on the bridge hadn't succeeded in improving his mood. Turning he watched as Haku, his all important tool, stood with a blank expression on his face as blood splattered everywhere across his frame. His normally perfectly white Hunter's Nin mask was splattered with blood from the Demon's rampage, and yet the boy still did not move.
Zabuza knew for a fact that Haku hated blood and causing other people to secrete it. This was truly troublesome.
This being the case, Zabuza couldn't exactly stop. This was his mission, and errant weapon or not he was going to complete it. With a halfhearted swing of his sword, another of the bridge builder's heads would roll, and with it the missing nin would be one step closer to achieving his pay. This time however, his swing was met with resistance. The clang sound of metal against metal could be heard ringing throughout the cloud covered bridge.
Zabuza turned his head to see Kakashi standing before him. A kunai stood between the edge of his cleaver and the scared man's throat.
"Good to see you again, Copy Ninja," Zabuza teased. Slowly, he removed the blade from almost eviscerating the man's neck before stepping over to the side of the bridge where Haku stood. The scared bridge builder ran for his life.
"Likewise, Zabuza-chan," Kakashi answered, slowly stepping over to where his team stood. Team Seven stood at attention, at least two of them ready to fight. Behind them stood Tazuna, the builder in charge of the bridge and the man Zabuza was mainly supposed to kill. Zabuza tilted his head in confusion.
"Why did you bring my target?" the Mist ninja asked. Kakashi, after a moment of consideration, quickly turned to look at the man.
"Why did we bring him?" Kakashi asked, unsure of the reason himself. "We could have left him home. I doubt there were any ninja back at the house."
Meanwhile, back at the house, a very different scene was happening.
Dangling above a pot of acid, two men cried tears of outright fear as they were slowly lowered to their deaths.
"Scream maggots. Scream." Kyuubi chanted with endless mirth.
Inari, who was the grandson of Tazuna, along with his mother, could only stand there in abject horror and watch.
"I don't think you want Tazuna back at the house." Naruto commented. From their link he could hear the Kyuubi chanting what amounted to sadistic death threats.
"Whatever your reason, I don't care," Zabuza interjected. "Its high time I killed you all here and now. Haku?"
The boy, upon hearing his name, quickly donned the Hunter's Nin mask and darted forward. Ice senbon forming in his hand, the boy was an avatar of speed as he sprinted towards his foes.
Kakashi looked to his own team. "Okay. Sakura, I need you to protect Tazuna. Naruto, since Sasuke is out of commission I need you to-" was all the Jonin was able to say before a streak of black darted past him. Whipping his head around, Kakashi could see that the previous dead weight was now out there going toe to toe with the effeminate boy.
"Okay," Kakashi stated, a bit unsure. "It seems he has this under control. Naruto?"
Naruto turned to his teacher.
"Provide backup to the Uchiha." Kakashi then removed the part of his headband which concealed his Sharingan eye. Upon opening it, the fabled Copy Wheel Eye spun to life as Kakashi stared down the A-Ranked criminal across from him.
"Zabuza is mine."
Said criminal smiled. "Wouldn't have it any other way." And with that declaration the two sped off to engage in a dance of stab related death. Sparks clashing from their impact, Kakashi led the fight further down the bridge and away from his team. Naruto turned to Sakura.
"So uh, protect Tazuna?" he asked. Sakura nodded dumbly.
"I guess?" she replied. Her eyes were still on Sasuke as he fought with a vigor and speed he hadn't possessed before. Haku too fought with seemingly no recognition of the blonde and their previous conversation, and if asked, the two seemed to be going through the motions.
"It seems you have gained some speed," Haku mumbled, no tone or essence in his voice.
"Speed isn't all I have gotten," Sasuke answered just as robotically.
Naruto tilted his head. What was going on? The smell of burning flesh came to mind and instantly Naruto thought of the Kyuubi.
"Welcome back furball," Naruto thought. Kyuubi grunted in satisfaction.
"There's nothing like lowlife scum to get you through the midnight munchies," Kyuubi responded.
"But its not midnight?" Naruto asked. Naruto could somehow feel the Kyuubi's malicious grin.
"Oh, don't worry brat. It will be by the time they really start digesting. What's going on here?"
"That's a good question," Naruto responded as he walked over to the fight currently raging on between the two boys. Sasuke currently had a kunai out and was using it to clash with Haku's senbon. "I really don't know the answer to it."
"You don't know the answer to most questions," Kyuubi huffed. "Why I even bother to ask sometimes startles me. Well, I won't be able to settle down until I know so… You know the drill."
Naruto grimaced. "Do I have to?"
Kyuubi nodded. "Such is the curse of the stupid. Until you are smart enough to answer questions both philosophical and pedantic you will be forced to run headlong into danger for both my amusement and science," Kyuubi then yawned. "Go on. On with you."
Naruto rolled his eyes. Despite the Kyuubi's urging that he was not obliged to follow, he was still more or less going to run headlong into this fight. True, it wasn't where he came in last time, but it was pretty close to it. Maybe.
Clutching a kunai, the blonde boy ran straight into the clash between two boys. In the back of his mind, the ex-Hokage noted how similar it was to Kakashi and Zabuza's. As soon as he got close enough, Naruto jumped clear over Sasuke and landed behind Haku. With a spin, the boy attempted to slash the ice user's back.
Only to be blown clear across the bridge and land outside of it.
"What." Naruto stated more than asked.
"I see." Kyuubi pondered.
"What? What do you see?" Naruto asked. "We share the same vision. How the hell did you see more of that than I did?"
Kyuubi made a "tsk" sound, "Foolish boy, you look but do not see. You try, but do not understand. Once you open your mind to the endless possibilities of the higher beings…
"'Higher beings' being you?"
"You will experience true nirvana."
Naruto rubbed his eyes. "You don't actually know what happened, do you?"
"Not really, no." Kyuubi admitted. "I'm just guessing here, but it could be the gods interfering and making sure you don't enter until you're supposed to." The Kyuubi then pondered a moment. "That could also be the reason why they're moving like they are now. This was what they were supposed to be doing, so they're being forced to do it."
Naruto walked back to the bridge and lifted his hand when he got to the edge. Sure enough, his hand touched on some sort of invisible barrier.
"They're getting really desperate with this now," Naruto commented.
"Everybody gets desperate with you," Kyuubi responded. "For instance, I got desperate trying to get you to take a shower. The result was me almost blowing up your village. Again."
Naruto chuckled. "Your realize that's going to stop working after a while?"
"Gods bless whatever village or social gathering you end up in when it does."
"Honestly I'm surprised it worked the first time."
"Honestly I'm surprised it took that much the first time."
Their banter finished for now, Naruto looked around for something else to do. His hand immediately fell through the barrier.
"Oh, I can go in now." Naruto stated unenthusiastically.
"Do you not want to?"
"Well, its not that I don't want to. Its just that I realized there are so many other things I could be doing right now. A lot of my life has been wasted on fighting just really stupid things and now that I think about it there's so much more to it than endless war and-"
"You can use that new water jutsu on Haku's ice if you overload it enough," Kyuubi stated.
"Over it. Lets go furball."
Naruto flashed onto the bridge in a show of light and theatrics as everyone on the bridge, fighting or not, turned to him.
"Worry not boys, your savior is here!" Naruto shouted. No one seemed to pay him any mind.
"About time you got back," Kakashi grumbled before being led further down the bridge again.
"Naruto? Where were you?" Sakura asked, incredulous. "You've been letting Sasuke fight that Hunter Ninja all alone! You know about his disability!"
Naruto chuckled. "Yeah, sorry Sakura-chan." Naruto then turned to notice the situation the two boys found themselves in.
"Oh. Its Haku's ice mirrors."
Realization then dawned on the boy.
"Oh shit, its Haku's ice mirrors!" And with that the blonde rushed into the fray.
"No, you idiot, don't come inside," Sasuke robotically warned. Naruto was already inside when this happened though. His reward was a senbon through the thigh. Of course, since pain tolerance was just as much mental as physical the blonde juggernaut simply soldiered through it and the ice more or less melted as the wound healed before he even really noticed. Naruto took this as a form of good tidings.
Haku took this as a reason to try harder.
Before either boy could react, they were both embedded with numerous ice senbon, neither of which could dodge them.
Naruto grimaced. "I forgot how fast Haku was in this thing," he commented, blocking a senbon from one direction only to be hit by another from an opposite one. "Unless I show off more chakra than I should, I can't really keep up." The ice senbon were melting and being healed as soon as they hit, but that only seemed to inspire the masked foe to go faster.
"You could blow up the bridge and everything on it."
"Too much work. And I think the gods really want me to stick to script for now. Next suggestion."
"New water technique?"
"Good work team," Naruto cheered mentally as he flipped through handsigns and ran towards one of the mirrors. You see, they were currently surrounded by a dome of them. Haku attempted to stop the blond by throwing senbon at him.
Pitiful idea really. At some point the needles became a game to the boy.
"You think he'll ever hit a vital by accident?" Naruto mentally asked.
"I worry about you sometimes," Kyuubi responded.
When that idea horribly failed, Haku switched to a new one. Namely kicking. He kicked Naruto back to the middle and quickly disappeared back into the ice mirrors.
Naruto coughed from his place on the ground. "Did he just kick me?"
"It would appear he did."
"That bastard!" Naruto immediately ran back to the mirrors again. His new jutsu was one which needed direct physical contact to apply, and as such Naruto held out his hand in an attempt to touch at least one of the ice mirrors. Haku wouldn't allow it. Naruto was kicked back again. This time however Haku learned his lesson and his efforts redoubled as ice senbon literally showered from the air around the two.
Sasuke, Sharingan now active in its lowest state, frantically deflected projectile after projectile. Naruto took a less graceful approach to surviving the onslaught.
"You could at least try," Kyuubi drawled.
"Its starting to feel good."
After a while both boys were veritable pincushions with neither showing any obvious distress over the situation, though for very different reasons. Haku, after taking a quick breather from the onslaught, prepared for his final attack. Ice needles at the ready, Haku attacked the easier of the two targets first, and let his attack flow towards the blonde who seemed so eager to be hit. Naruto saw the attack coming, of course, but made no move to dodge it.
This was, unfortunately, exactly what happened last time this situation happened and thus the same thing that happened last time did as well.
That sentence made sense.
Naruto's eyes widen as Sasuke's blood splattered over his face.
"W-why?" the blonde asked. Sasuke smirked… robotically. Somehow.
"I don't know, idiot." And the boy collapsed. Naruto looked down at the seemingly dead Uchiha in shock.
Before a wicked smile came over his face.
"Is it time, brat?"
"Oh its time."
And with that a miasma of dark and heavy chakra spilled over the bridge. Radiating outwards, all those present on the bridge could get a taste of what was currently going on in the mirrors.
Though only those inside of Haku's kekkai genkai could actually feel it.
Come later times you would be surprised at how much that mattered.
XxX
The first thought that came to Haku's mind was that he could feel. The second thought that came to his mind was acknowledgment of the threat before him. Twice he had felt that power in his life now, and after the first he resolved to never feel it again. This being the case, the last time he was in a combat situation he was forced into it against his will, and as such assumed the same of this case as well.
"Life just keeps finding use for me, doesn't it?" Haku mumbled, before pulling back a senbon and tossing it with all of his might. It sailed right over the chakra demon's shroud, for Haku knew it would have no effect, and instead head straight for the one other target in range. The needle covered Sasuke had his back turned to the real ice user, and as such should have been in no position to evade.
The thing about ninjas is that they never act according to how they're supposed to.
Turning on a dime, blood leaked out of Sasuke's eyes as a two tomoe Sharingan turned into a three, then mutated even more. Pinwheel like eyes stared down the senbon, then the ice user, before terrible black flames burned through them both.
XxX
Upon recognizing the familiar feeling, having been on the receiving end far more times than was comfortable, a chakra shrouded Naruto turned to his teammate in shock.
"S-Sasuke?" the boy asked.
Sasuke, upon hearing his name, turned the source of the voice. Upon both realizing the familiarity in the name and noticing he was clutching his eyes with his left hand, Sasuke's genius brain came to two very quick and accurate assumptions.
He was in the past.
Somehow, this was all Naruto's fault.
"NARUTO!"
