Caught in the Middle
Chapter 13
Rivals Meet Again
Hello all! Sorry about the long wait...again. I've been doin' my own thing for a while and I guess I just got too caught up in it to write here. I'm taking the plunge into an original fiction story of my own that I actually intend on writing seriously. I've just been working on it a lot lately so it's taken up a lot of my time. Still, at least chapter 13's here now.
Anyway, on a semi-related note, I'd like to once again point out some more helpful constructive criticism last chapter. One reviewer in particular; Omi, who unfortunately wrote his/her review anonymously. (everybody, please avoid that if possible.) Now, first of all, I'll say that Omi was the one who gave me the most heat for chapter 11, heat I unfortunately deserved. Unlike chapter 11 though, I'm going to have to disagree with your review of chapter 12.
You make the argument that Jiraiya's excuse for not seeing Naruto was weak. Okay, I'll admit it wasn't very imaginative, but I didn't see anything wrong with it. As for Naruto being more angry about the situation; I already admitted, yes, I butchered chapter 11, but that argument doesn't carry the same weight here.
For one, Naruto was NOT alone his entire life, he had Sarutobi to care for him, and unlike the canon series, he had good friends and was well liked at school for his pranks. Also, Jiraiya bailed on Naruto in the canon series for almost the same reason as in this fic if I'm not mistaken (I might be, but hell, who knows.)
I'm not chewing you out for your opinions or anything, and I'm glad you can poke at the story without being a douche-bag like some people would be, but this is just one instance where I feel I need to disagree with you because I think I have a legit defense. Also, I AM working on the anger thing, I've been off my game lately, but I'm trying my best here, so just be patient while I get my groove back.
Anyway, I've probably kept everyone long enough, so here's Chapter 13.
With a yawn, Naruto rose and stretched in the light of the early morning sun. His back was killing him; of course, laying on the hard wood surface of an old Japanese style porch would do that. He looked over at the other end and saw Kakashi still fast asleep.
Naruto, being Naruto, wasn't one to just sit around and do nothing, so he hopped up, taking the time to bend back and crack his back a few times to try an alleviate some of the tension, then walked out into the clearing their temporary home resided in. He figured he might as well get some exercise in while he could, and began stretching before his workout sets.
After his limbs were sufficiently limber, he dropped down and began doing push ups. He quietly counted to himself under his breath, and tried to focus on his surroundings to distract himself from the work. After reaching one hundred-fifty, he did fifty more for each individual arm, then eighty or so crunches.
With his warm-ups completed, he approached a tree near the edge of the clearing and began running through his hand-to-hand drills. He landed three lighting fast jabs, then a high kick, then one final direct punch. He went on, kicking and punching and jabbing the damp bark until his muscles began to burn. Panting, he walked back over to the porch and rested, wiping away the sticky sweat that clung to his forehead.
It was then that he realized he'd been wearing the same clothes he was yesterday. Luckily Karen, in her fit of anger the previous day, had thrown almost all their belongings outside with them. He'd been frustrated then, but now he was sort of glad because he really wanted to change clothes, but definitely didn't want to risk entering the house while Karen may or may not still be mad. That was a challenge he didn't think any man could face without first exporting the contents of his bladder.
After digging out the scroll with his clothes sealed inside, he put on the orange shirt with the FBPS emblem on it that he had gotten on the first day of him being at HQ as well as some regular blue-jeans. (A/N: In case none of you remember, the FBPS emblem is the Konoha emblem they normally have on the headbands.) It may not have been the normal clothes that an FBPS agent would wear, but they didn't really have his suit ready yet, so until they got back he was stuck with street clothes which at this point would probably be better suited for the mission anyway.
Once he was properly changed, he shuffled through his scrolls again until he found the one he was looking for. With a pulse of energy, he unsealed it and out popped his mothers katana. He grabbed it by the scabbard right beneath the guard, never getting tired of seeing the precious memento from the mother he'd never had the chance of meeting. Even so, this sword was enough he supposed; it was as if his mothers spirit carried on within the blade, still protecting him and fighting along side him. As long as he had that katana, his mother was always with him.
With the razor sharp blade in hand, he returned to the middle of the clearing and unsheathed the sword, going through the stances and techniques that Kakashi had taught him. His mothers style, while seemingly simplistic, actually had quite a few impressive and flashy techniques of her own design that Naruto had been able to pick up from Kakashi, though the full extent of moves was still lost to both of them. Apparently dear Mrs. Uzumaki was not much for documenting her own techniques.
As the blond was running through his moves, he caught sight of his red headed fox demon friend, and immediately stopped. At first he wasn't sure what she wanted, but she was just standing there, so he figured she was just watching.
"Uh, hey Karen, how long have you been there?" he asked, not sure if she was still mad or not.
She shrugged.
"Not long, I just got out here actually," she replied casually.
There was a silence after that. Naruto wasn't sure what to say, or if he should even say anything at all, but figured if she wasn't going to talk, he might as well.
"You know, what happened yesterday, it wasn't my idea to include you," he said, going back to his exercises.
"Ya, I know, but the plan was yours, so I figured you still needed to be taught a lesson," she said in a joking tone, which Naruto took as the signal that she'd gotten over it.
"Kakashi though," she continued, "I'm not quite done with him yet. Freakin' pervert."
"I'm not a pervert, I just know how to appreciate a woman's body," said Kakashi suddenly, surprising the two.
"Hey, how long have you been up Kakashi, we could have used this time to go try and find Jiraiya!?" scolded Naruto.
The gray haired FBPS agent slowly sat up and scratched the back of his head tiredly as he yawned.
"Don't worry Naruto," he said, cracking his back to release some tension, "we have plenty of time, no need to rush things. I doubt Jiraiya will leave the area."
Naruto was still grumbling in impatience, but kept quiet. Karen meanwhile, was being a bit more mature about things, and decided to discuss what their plan would be rather than complaining about not moving.
"So Kakashi, how are we going to go about finding Jiraiya, because I'll tell you right now, I'm not going along with that sick plan of yours."
Kakashi put up his hands in innocence and had a nervous look on what little of his face was visible.
"Well if that's the case, then I guess we should split up to cover more ground. You two will obviously have to go with each other, seeing as you can't be separated without causing each other physical pain, so I'll just go alone."
He reached into his back left pocket, rummaged around for a second, then pulled his hand out again, holding two small hand-held devices that looked similar to a PDA. Naruto was standing with Karen on the porch at this point, and grabbed the device when Kakashi handed it to him. It was a bit smaller than his hand, had a screen that displayed a topographical map of the area like the one on the living room, a short antenna on the right side with a tiny light that was currently unlit, and a cursor right beneath the screen.
"So...what is this thing Kakashi?" asked Naruto.
"This Naruto, is an MFM, a Magic Frequency Minicomputer. See, everyone's magical energy has its own unique frequency that their body emits whether they can actually use magic or not. Every agent of the FBPS has their frequency on file, including Jiraiya, and with this, it can scan for a short distance for that very same frequency. Basically, the MFM reads the frequency of residue of magical energy emitted by the body and checks to see if it matches, if it does, the closer you get to the source, the faster that light on the antenna will blink. When it becomes solid, then you're within fifty feet of whoever is emitting the frequency, in this case, Jiraiya."
Naruto let out an impressed whistle and looked down at the small machine.
"Well this thing should definitely make things easier," commented Karen.
Kakashi then dug into a hidden pocket inside his jacket and pulled out two wireless earpiece communicators. He handed them to Karen and Naruto, as he already had one in his ear.
"If you catch his signal, call me, and I'll do the same. We'll be out for a while, so I want hourly reports whether you've found anything or not."
The two nodded in acknowledgment as they fitted the communicators into their ears.
"Well, let's head out. I'll take the east, you two head west. Remember, hourly reports and if you get a positive reading, wait for me."
Naruto quickly grabbed two weapons scroll that housed some firearms, slipped on a belt around his waist so he could wear his mothers katana instead of carrying it, and flipped on his wireless earpiece. Once he and Karen, who had a weapons scroll of her own, they headed west into the forest.
Meanwhile, Sasuke had been a distance away, listening in with some sound amplification equipment. Zaku, Dosu, and Kin were spaced out around the FBPS hideout as well, and they had all heard their course of action. Not wanting to waste anytime, Sasuke recalled the three man squad back to the cliff-side about a half mile away. He sat atop a rock, sharpening his chokuto when the three finally made it back, and stood waiting for orders.
"Alright you three, this is what we'll do. Since they've split up to cover more ground, I want you three to go and trail Kakashi while I chase after Uzumaki and the fox bitch. They'll have hourly radio contact, so right after their first check in is when I'll engage them. You three don't fight Kakashi unless Uzumaki can get a call out on his radio for help. If Kakashi figures out they're in trouble, I want you to keep him busy until I can capture the two of them. Got it?"
The three nodded and Sasuke stood up from his seat, sheathing his blade. He could honestly care less what happened to the three of them, all he wanted was to fight Naruto again with no interruptions. If he'd been able to use his curse sea last time, the fight would have been over before it started, and this time, he intended to use it. No loser FBPS agent would make a fool of him twice, he'd make sure of it.
Without any further conversation, Kin, Dosu, and Zaku headed off to the Northeast, while Sasuke ran off to the Northwest.
Naruto and Karen trekked through the thick forest of the Northern mountains of Japan. It had been about ten or fifteen minutes since their departure from the house, and things were calm and quiet. Naruto kept his eyes fixed on the MFM, swinging it in different directions every now and then to make sure he didn't miss anything.
"Hey Naruto," said Karen, "do you mind if I ask you something?"
"Well you just did, but shoot anyway," he said over his shoulder with a grin.
She rolled her eyes but continued anyway.
"I was just wondering if you've gotten homesick at all? I mean, you've been away from Konoha for three months now, and your friends are probably worried about you."
Naruto thought about it for a moment. Sure, he hadn't seen home in a while, and that kinda sucked, but working for the FBPS was an exciting and unique experience that he hadn't regretted so far. As for his friends, well he missed them of course; he missed goofing off and playing pranks with Kiba, or having lunch with Sakura and Haku. He had Karen with him though, so he wasn't completely lonely, plus he'd met Chouji, Shikimaru, Lee, and Neji, so he had new friends at the FBPS to. The heart of the question however, was if he got homesick, and the truth was, yes, he was homesick.
"Well, I guess so, yeah. I mean, it would be nice to go home and see everyone again, but I've made some new friends, and I have you to, so I think I can live with it until the next time I can go back," he said, his grin never leaving his face.
"That's good, I wouldn't want you getting all mopey all of a sudden."
"Plus," continued Naruto, "I've learned some interesting facts about some of my friends families when I was looking through the FBPS database."
Karen looked at him with a curious expression.
"Like what?"
"Well, like all their families were or are involved with the FBPS. Kiba's mom apparently used to be the head of the K-9 division before she settled down and had him. Also, Haku's adoptive dad Zabuza used to be a world famous mercenary that worked with the FBPS a few times in the past. Plus, Hinata's family has had a long line of FBPS operatives. Her dad used to be pretty high up on the chain, and a lot of her uncles, aunts, and cousins are either working for or have worked for the FBPS as a special defense force. I think Sakura's family is the only one that's completely normal."
"Huh, who'd have thought," said Karen, "Seems like all of you were born for this FBPS thing, I mean think about it. Your mom and dad were the two most bad-ass member of the FBPS ever, Kiba's mom was the head of the K-9 division, Haku's dad was a famous mercenary, and Hinata's family is practically its own army."
Naruto had a thoughtful look on his face after she said that, then laughed.
"What are you laughing at?" asked Karen.
"I was just thinking that if we follow that logic, then I guess that means we were born to be friends then. The way I see it, my parents and your mom worked together to make the world safer for humans and the kitsune, so it only makes sense that we do the same thing. You and me working together to make things better for everyone, whether their human or not."
Karen smiled, mostly just because that was a unique ability Naruto had. He seemed to be able to make anyone smile, no matter how hardhearted they seemed. She could remember back when she first met him and how annoying she thought he was. Well, she still thought he was annoying sometimes, but she'd learned to appreciate his goofiness as his way of keeping everyone in a good mood. She shuttered to think about where she'd be right now if they hadn't met each other...probably dead.
"Well, you'd go on with it even if I said no, so I guess I'll have to stick around and make sure you don't do anything stupid and suicidal," she said sarcastically.
They both got a kick out of it and laughed; both of them determined to watch each others backs.
It had been roughly fifty-five minutes since the duo had left their camp now, and they still hadn't found a thing. Naruto was already getting impatient, but Karen -to her credit- was keeping her cool, at least on the outside. Naruto just wanted to squeeze the thing until it broke, but he knew that wouldn't do any good, so he just kept walking, praying that they would come across something soon.
"Man, well its been about an hour, might as well check in with Kakashi, see if he's found anything," Naruto said to himself.
He reached up to his right ear where the communication was and pressed in the button that allowed him to talk on Kakashi's channel.
"Kakashi, you there?"
He waited for a moment before Kakashi's voice crackled to life on the other end.
"I'm here Naruto, anything?"
Naruto sighed.
"Nope, nothing so far," he reported.
There was another silence on the line before Kakashi spoke up again.
"In that case, head north for another two hours, after that, start walking east towards me, I'll be heading west by then. We should meet up again and then we'll head back to the camp and try again tomorrow if we haven't found anything."
"Alright, got it, talk to you soon."
With that, Naruto removed his hand from the communicator and turned to Karen.
"You got all that right?"
She didn't respond, in fact, she wasn't even looking in his direction. He raised a confused eyebrow and walked over to her, placing a hand on her shoulder. She jumped a little, and looked back at him.
"What's wrong, you just spaced out?" he asked, concern evident in his voice.
"It's just...I could have sworn I smelled someone here."
Naruto looked down at the MFM; nothing. Naruto knew better than to just disregard Karen when she said she smelled something, her sense of smell was extremely acute, and she could pick out individual scents in the middle of dozens. Apparently Jiraiya was good at hiding his scent to because she couldn't pick anything up, but whoever she was smelling now definitely wasn't Jiraiya. For one, the MFM would have picked it up.
The blond was suddenly getting a very bad feeling about this, and his right hand moved to the katana strapped to his belt. He closed his eyes, using a focusing technique that Kakashi had taught him. He blocked out all distractions, all sights, sounds, smells, every sensation that cluttered the senses. He stood completely still, not wanting to miss any minute detail that could mean the difference between a surprise attack and an effective defense.
For a few seconds, there was nothing except the occasional breeze. He began to think that it might have just been a coincidence, but then he heard something, a rustle of the leaves from behind him. It would have been nothing, but he couldn't feel the slightest breeze coming from any direction.
In an instant his eyes shot open, he knew what was happening now. His katana was out in a second, and he twisted around like a tornado, deflecting the enemy blade that would have otherwise impaled the back of his head. The blond rolled back after the deflection to gain some distance, then slid onto his feet and quickly slipped into his defensive stance.
Roughly fifteen feet away stood the bane of his recent life, Sasuke Uchiha. The raven haired demon hunter was on his feet as well, and was wielding a blade of his own, though his was straight while Naruto's had a smooth curve. The two teens stared each other down, crystal blue eyes meeting onyx black ones.
"Karen, call Kakashi for help, I'll keep him busy," Naruto whispered.
She nodded and moved her hand to her ear.
Sasuke didn't miss the movement, and quickly activated his Sharingan nanites, increasing his speed, reaction time, and eyesight. Everything moved in slow motion as his legs propelled him like an wild animal right past Naruto's vain attempts to stop him. In a swift motion, he ducked under Naruto's katana, jumped into the air, and delivered a devastating drop-kick to Karen's chest, sending her flying back through the truck of a tree.
Sasuke slid to a stop after his attack and jumped back to his feet. He didn't have time to guard himself though, and Naruto took his momentary weakness as a chance to deal a direct and painful blow with the hilt of his katana to Sasuke's face, causing him to stumble and fall backward, a slight amount of blood flying out of his mouth.
He was back on his feet again in an instant, wiping the blood from his lips and chin.
"Heh, you've gotten better. Last time we fought your normal attacks didn't hurt nearly that much. I'm expecting a lot from this fight Naruto, don't disappoint me."
Naruto snarled, his katana's tip pointing towards his opponent.
"Don't worry, I aim to please. Bring it on ya bastard!"
There we go, chapter 13 done!
Before I go though, I have a question. Does anyone here happen to read the Twilight series? I don't personally, I'm just asking because I've been hearing some stuff lately that have been having me look over my shoulder every time a girl with a book in her hand walks by. Seriously, I've been hearing some scary ass stories; assault, harassment, death threats, ATTEMPTED DROWNING, all because of a book. One that, in my opinion, doesn't even seem all that great in the first place.
Some of the stories I call bullshit on, but there are others with some pretty hard evidence, so I'm inclined to believe that there are psycho fan-girls out there who really want to kill me.
I will state though, that there are NO vegetarian vampires ladies, and if a guys skin sparkles in the sun, he ain't a vampire, he's a fairy. (and yes, I meant that as a double entendre.)
Review please...unless you're just going to get all over my back about how I just bashed Twilight, cuz I don't wanna hear it Twitards!
