Chapter 27 Old bonds exploited
Kakashi released a relaxing sigh, as he flicked through the next page of his new book, 'The depth in this story is so compelling!'
Were some of his thoughts as he shifted on his surprisingly comfortable seat, that is until his seat screamed out in protest, "GET OFF ME KAKASHI SENSEI!" Naruto cried.
During their spar, Kakashi had gotten the better of him yet again, and resulted in him now being a couch after he failed in his 'revenge'.
'This is so humiliating!' Kakashi suddenly detecting incoming danger from his side and he dived to the other side before Sakura's foot could connect, freeing Naruto from his dilemma.
Naruto was about to say 'thanks', until he saw just how much disappointment was in his teammates glare.
Suddenly the idea of being Kakashi's couch felt quite nice and a lot safer right now.
"You stupid baka!" She growled out through gritted teeth while reeling her hand back in a motion Naruto was used to seeing.
'Uh oh!' he prepared for the fist, but felt no pain and instead heard an angered huff.
"Get up you idiot!" Sakura ordered, when he opened his eyes to see in surprise her hand being offered.
Naruto was a little stunned at first but accepted her help, "Sorry Sakura-chan I will stop fool-" He was interrupted when he was pulled up to her level, to receive a scolding hit on the back of his head.
"Stop embarrassing your teammate with your incompetence, I know you are better than that!" she scolded the blond, who rubbed the lump forming at the back of his head.
"I just wanted to get him back..."
Sakura rolled her eyes at his excuse, "And the result was you then turning into his cushion...great work Naruto!"
"Ok ok my bad, I'll take him more seriously now." He said with his fox grin and then turned to the still reading Kakashi, who didn't seem to pay attention to their little argument. Sensing a presence still at his side, he turned in question to see Sakura.
"Sakura-chan? What are you doing?"
Sakura grinned, "Since you are incompetent to even hit Kakashi-sensei, I guess I have to lend a hand...unless you want to keep making me feel ashamed to call you a teammate."
Naruto however had little joke in him, "But Sakura-chan your cha-" The glare he received made him pale, but he continued since his worry was worth any impending danger. "-c-chakra is low, you c-could get really hurt if you aren't careful." He voiced regaining his strength with his gaze fixed with concern.
Sakura dropped the glare and sighed, then finally smiling softly. "Naruto...I know my limits, I will be fine, thanks for the concern though."
The blond relaxed with a grin, "Alright Sakura-chan." He replied. Meanwhile Jiraiya was furiously at his notes on the other side of the field while dodging Lee's attacks.
'He shows his concern, he is rewarded with her smile. OHHH!' Jiraiya seemed to have forgotten who he was fighting though, and was met with a nun-chuck to the face, knocking him off his feet.
Back with team 7, Kakashi became aware of the new addition in the spar and felt a rush of nostalgia, "Ah, this is starting to bring back memories now. It is almost like team 7 is all back together again." Both Naruto and Sakura bowed their heads in deep thought in result of his statement. Kakashi inwardly cursed himself for his reckless choice of words until he was met by two smiles.
"You are right, it really is. We will soon be all back together again though." Sakura said while shifting her gaze to Naruto.
"Yosha! Team 7 will be all be back again soon when we rescue Sasuke together!" He near shouted, while beaming at his teammate.
Kakashi's one eye blinked in surprise until forming a smile, "Indeed, we will be back together again."
Satisfied with the outcome, he changed the topic, "Since its going to be both of you now, I think I'm going to have to stop fooling around as well." He reached for his forehead protector and lifted it up revealing his sharingan to the world. The clap of a book was heard as Kakashi closed his new book and put it in his pouch.
"Sakura, while I am not going to question your limits, you can pull out at any time."
Sakura nodded but smirked, "Right back at you, Kakashi-sensei."
Kakashi jumped a few feet back and fell into his stance, "Let's start off with some taijutsu." He instructed, as his two students shared a nod at understanding their task. Naruto took charge first, with Sakura suddenly trailing behind him with a surprised look on her face.
'Mistake one.' Kakashi mused, as he easily blocked the incoming Naruto's punch and countered with a swift kick sending him flying back several meters. He turned his gaze to Sakura, and casually dodged each of her incoming strikes, because of his sharingan, it was like viewing slow motion from Sakura's strikes. Kakashi then made his move and with the next evasion dashed past her missed attack, and a held kunai against a wide eyed and shocked Sakura's throat. Kakashi then took two steps back and Sakura resumed her attack after emitting a loud annoyed groan.
Naruto had recovered and circled around Kakashi, who noted that Sakura was not aware 'Mistake two.' he mused, as he deliberately ducked the next punch form Sakura, who instead almost hit Naruto before stopping wide eyed and gasped again in union with Naruto as both felt a sharp poke at their guts.
Kakashi stood from his spot, loosely pressing a kunai into each of their stomachs, "Well...this would have ended quite badly now wouldn't it." Kakashi said scoldingly to the two, as he lowered his kunai's, then quickly retreated back, as Naruto threw shuriken which he deflected easily. Both were upon him again, but Kakashi noted they didn't seem to cover one another very effectively.
'Mistake three.' he mused, as he landed a hard punch into Sakura gut, as she fell over in pain, coughing through gritted teeth. Naruto looked down in worry, but was greeted by a punch across the face, which caused him to stumble, but he didn't fall.
Kakashi sighed as he backed away and looked at both his recovering students, "Sorry Sakura...I didn't intend to hit you that hard." he said apologetically.
Sakura nodded while standing, "That's ok Sensei." she said, while falling into her stance again. Naruto stopped rubbing his bruised cheek and fell into his stance again. Kakashi noted that Sakura seemed to be thinking, but Naruto once again acted by starting to charge, until Sakura then acted by slamming the ground in front of her, unintentionally catching Naruto in the tremor and fell with a yelp of surprise.
'Mistake four.' Kakashi mused, as he suddenly appeared behind the fallen Naruto and held him in a headlock with a kunai held away from his face. Sakura went wide eyed at her mistake that would have costed Naruto's life.
Kakashi sighed and released Naruto, "You two are not used to working together are you?" Kakashi said flatly, almost rhetorically.
Naruto crossed his arms after he walked back to Sakura's side, "Neh? Kakashi-sensei we are on the same team, of course I am used to working together with Sakura-cha-"
"In training yes, you and Sakura worked together along with Sasuke...but in real life or death situations you always worked together only with Sasuke." Kakashi countered softly, as his words caused both teens to go wide eyed, along with Sakura's gasp, followed by her averting her gaze as if the fact hurt.
Kakashi sighed, "I am sorry to sound cold Sakura, but during our times on missions, you usually were the support of the group backing Naruto and Sasuke up." Sakura nodded her head in understanding, wincing again at past reality.
Kakashi decided to cheer her up, "However that has completely changed now, and that was never your fault for that happening."
Kakashi paused and then added after a moment, "...It was my fault." he said void of emotions. Sakura snapped her gaze up and along with Naruto, and looked at their sensei in shock.
"Kakashi-sensei! Don't blame yourself for something that wa-"Sakura paused when Kakashi shook his head and he looked at both of his students.
"I have made some mistakes in the past, that I regret making to this day." he said void of emotions. Naruto and Sakura said nothing, although they did share a worried glance for their sensei. Kakashi continued sincerely.
"For those mistakes, I wish to apologise to you both, and if you are willing to give me a second chance, I will try and be the sensei I should have been back then."
Naruto and Sakura shared a look, and then turned back and gave Kakashi a genuine smile, "Kakashi-sensei, we never held a grudge in the first place...nor do either of us even know what you're talking about." Naruto beamed, with Sakura nodding her head in agreement. Kakashi formed his U shaped smile in thanks to his two students, then focused.
"Ok...so now, let's discuss the mistakes you both made." Naruto and Sakura shared a confused gaze but waited eagerly for Kakashi's explanation.
"First mistake was when you both came at me without even sharing a glance at each other. One of you had a plan of action, while the other was still considering their actions. This is what lead to the rest of your mistakes, but left the first opening of me being able to counter Naruto's attack, and could have killed Sakura." Kakashi paused then continued.
"The second mistake you both made was not keeping awareness of each other's presence during the fight. This is what lead to you almost sending Naruto across the field if you did not stop in time Sakura, then both of you possibly dying from my counter attack if I was a real enemy." Sakura rubbed the back of her neck and shot an apologetic gaze at Naruto before nodding at Kakashi.
"The third mistake was your coordination in the fight when you both came at me together. You both were not covering each other's openings. This is what lead to me exploiting Sakura's opening, then attacking you when your concern was on Sakura, Naruto." Naruto nodded, while unconsciously rubbing his bruised face again with a wince. Sakura walked over and placed her hand over the bruise and started healing it, while taking a guess at the last error.
"There was also the fourth mistake, when I slammed the ground, causing Naruto to lose balance as he wasn't aware of what I was going to do...which resulted in you taking him captive." Kakashi nodded.
"Hai that is correct."
Sakura removed her hand and Naruto felt the now painless cheek 'thank you Sakura-chan' he said softly, as he then turned and nodded in understanding to Kakashi.
"How do we improve our teamwork then sensei?" he said in interest, along with Sakura turning her head holding the same interest.
'I think I am going to use what you did to help us back in those days, Sensei.' Kakashi mused as he placed his index finger up as if to make a point, then voicing the solution.
"First you must understand each other's strengths and weaknesses." Naruto and Sakura shook their heads in confusion, while the later decided to voice their bafflement.
"But sensei, we did that already in our spars against Naruto."
Kakashi nodded, "Yes, but go further than that." Naruto blinked, while Sakura averted her gaze in thought.
Kakashi waited, and was not disappointed when Sakura suddenly widened her eyes in understanding and turned to Naruto, "You think more on your feet Naruto, while I prefer to think my actions through." She said neutrally.
Naruto met her gaze in confusion though, and Sakura continued, "You have a lot more chakra than me, but I have better control." Sakura waited patiently, and Naruto widened his eyes in understanding too.
"I move faster than you Sakura-chan, but you have your brute like-I MEAN!" He paled when he saw Sakura's eyes narrow, but reflexively calmed.
"...You have great strength."
Kakashi nodded and gave his U shaped smile, "Very good...keep going." Kakashi instructed.
Naruto and Sakura continued taking it in turns, "You cannot cast a genjutsu, but I can identify a genjutsu easily, as well as cast them."
"I can break out of genjutsu's eventually, but not as quick as you can." This exchange continued while Kakashi grinned.
'These two are getting the idea very well indeed.'
Kakashi nodded in approval when they exchanged weapon pouches and explained each other's inventory, although Sakura was giving the more lengthened explanation due to her sealed scrolls. Kakashi decided to speak when he was convinced the two had explained enough.
"You both understand each other very well now?" he questioned.
Both turned to each other and shared a satisfied grin, "Hai!" they beamed.
Kakashi took enough steps back to be ten meters away from them, then dropped into his stance.
"Ok, let's try that again. This time I will only attack when you come at me, once again its taijutsu only...this time I want you to use the information you shared between yourselves to understand what the other is thinking."
He then waited in anticipation, eyeing both of his students and decided to bait the more hyperactive one of the two, "Now!"
Naruto had twitched on impulse, but he waited by Sakura's side. He soon felt a hand rest on his shoulder and met Sakura eye to eye.
"Neither of us are fast enough to land a hit on him Naruto, without your kage bunshin's we will have to stay on the defensive." she whispered to his ear.
Naruto nodded and responded in the same volume, "He won't try and block your hits Sakura-chan, he will evade."
Kakashi waited patiently as his sharingan read their lip talk, 'Very good, it's nice to know Naruto is thinking more thorough now.' He mused, as the pair continued their planning. After a few moments the pair exchanged one nod, and Sakura ran at Kakashi, with Naruto tailing close behind. Sakura aimed her clench fist at Kakashi's head, but he casually shifted to the side to avoid the incoming chakra filled fist. Sakura attempted again, but this time Kakashi grabbed her arm after he evaded again and went to kick Sakura in the stomach. He was forced to pull back before connecting though, when Naruto tried to dig a kunai into Kakashi's arm, freeing Sakura, who was reaching at her kunai holster.
Naruto took the offense on Kakashi, but then stepped to the side when several shuriken were thrown by Sakura, taking Kakashi by surprise. The sharingan made the attack unsurprising to Kakashi however, and he already deflected the incoming projectiles. Naruto by this time, had closed the distance from Kakashi's side, and took a swipe at Kakashi with a kunai, which Kakashi blocked with his own, as both blades emitted a small spark on connection. There was no struggle for dominance though, as Naruto pulled back and blocked Kakashi's retaliated attacks. Naruto was soon getting overwhelmed, and jumped back before Kakashi could land a blow. Unfortunately for Naruto, Kakashi already lunged at him and kicked Naruto in the chest, sending Naruto dragging several meters on the ground.
Kakashi wasn't given a moment to spare when Sakura from above slammed her fist into the ground where he was standing, sending small pieces of cracked ground into the air from the violent impact. Kakashi evaded by jumping to the side and threw a handful of Kunai at the downed Naruto, although he smirked in pride when he noticed Sakura already was back peddling to Naruto the moment her attack missed.
'She is acting on impulse now.' Kakashi concluded in silent praise for his students. Using the kunai sheathed behind her back, Sakura deflected the incoming kunai while crouched in front of Naruto. Once the danger had passed, Sakura tilted her head to the side and shared a grin with Naruto, which he gladly returned when he stood back up.
"Great work both of you!" Kakashi said proudly with his smiling eyes to his students. Sakura slid her kunai back in her sheath while still grinning.
"Can we try again Kakashi-sensei?" She asked, eager to continue, with a furiously nodding Naruto now at her side. Kakashi chuckled at their antics, but before agreeing, his head turned to Jiraiya's group and his eyes narrowed. He had to control himself from laughing when he saw his student's shoulders slump in dissatisfaction as he lowered his forehead protector.
"I would really be more than happy to, but as you can see-" He said going into a voice dripping with sarcasm as he pointed towards a cloud gazing Shikamaru.
"Somebody isn't pulling their weight around." he stated.
'The weather around Wave is quite nice this time of year.' Shikamaru mused as he continued watching the large odd shaped clouds passing by overhead. Shikamaru noted, putting aside the spars he was hearing happening not far from him, that unlike Konoha, Wave was very peaceful and quiet. That didn't mean Konoha wasn't peaceful, the amount of time Shikamaru spent casually watching clouds with Asuma proved that wasn't the case. To him though, Wave just held a strange sort of peace that he couldn't quite put his finger on.
Shikamaru was soon pulled out of his deep musing when he heard a voice that made his whole body scream 'DANGER!', the hyperactive and mischievous voice of Naruto.
"OI SHIKAMARU, HOW A-" Naruto was silenced from his yelling when he was frozen on the spot by Shikamaru's shadow. Shikamaru bolted up in preparation, and darted to look behind him, just in case. When he determined this wasn't another attack, he released Naruto, who raised an eyebrow in confusion to his actions.
Naruto shook it off though and continued at a lower half shout, "How about you do some training too Shikamaru?" Naruto suggested with his fox like grin.
Shikamaru sighed as he lowered himself into a crossed legged sitting over his warm spot, "It is just too troublesome." Shikamaru said through a yawn. Detecting a rebuttal from the blond stirring, he smoothly asked his own question.
"Don't YOU have training to do?"
Naruto pointed his thumb over his shoulder and replied back, "Sakura-chan is taking a break by reading her book, while Kakashi-sensei is doing the same." Shikamaru tilted his head to the side to confirm Naruto was right, as Sakura was sitting against a tree reading her book, while Kakashi funnily enough was leaning against the same tree from a branch above with his new book out.
Shikamaru shrugged as he met Naruto's gaze, "So?" He said simply, as he resumed his cloud watching.
His eyes narrowed though when he sensed a presence now beside him and turned and blinked in surprise to see Naruto mimicking his posture with a smirk. "Well in that case, I might just join you and see what is so great about watching some stupid clouds." He beamed.
Shikamaru groaned, 'Oh no...' But he only voiced out 'troublesome knucklehead' as he resumed his lazed watching.
The silence was no longer there though, as Naruto was yawning impossibly loudly, and announced his problem, "This is BORING!" He emphasised, but Shikamaru used his highly attune talents of ignoring people to zone him out...
...only even they could go so far with such a hyperactive person.
'Honestly is it that hard for him to just sit still for not even a minute?!' Shikamaru mused in annoyance as his eye twitched when Naruto kept making a ruckus as he tried to get comfy.
To Shikamaru's shock and disbelief, Naruto finally settled, and the peace was restored. Only a few minutes later his view of the sky was partially blocked by an orange sleeved hand that was pointing at the sky, "That looks like a bowl of ramen!" Naruto said in amazement, while Shikamaru groaned again.
'Why me?!'
The next outburst followed shortly after, then again soon after that. A vein was getting dangerously close to snapping on Shikamaru's forehead once the fifth interruption happened, which was a rare sight to behold on the otherwise lazy Nara. Just when Naruto was about to comment on a cloud he suspected looked like Gamabunta, Shikamaru felt that vein snap.
"Alright! Let's do some troublesome training then!"
Shikamaru widened his eyes in surprise when Naruto said without missing a heartbeat, "Yosha! That is more like it!"
Shikamaru's eye twitched as he sat up, 'He was TRYING to annoy me?!' Shikamaru's eyes narrowed further in suspicion when Naruto shouted over the field.
"OI! SAKURA-CHAN, KAKASHI-SENSEI!" Naruto waved when he saw both eyes were on him from across the field.
"SHIKAMARU IS GOING TO DO SOME TRAINING NOW!" He announced. Shikamaru heard the distant voice of Sakura announce over the distance.
"Good work Naruto! Let's get back to our training then!"
"WILL DO!"
Shikamaru sighed at the implications, 'So...this was all just to get ME to do some work...how annoying.' Shikamaru's eyes widened in interest though when he heard Sakura continue.
"Bring Shikamaru along with you, Kakashi-sensei would like his help next!"
'This is turning into such a drag.'
Naruto had no idea when the sun had set over the field, but exhaustion was the last thing on his mind, "Let's go again Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto shouted enthusiastically, rubbing the sweat off his forehead with a wide smirk. Kakashi was about to respond, but he stopped when Naruto noticed what he was about to point out.
Sakura was down on one knee breathing heavily, "Sakura-chan! are you alright!?" Naruto half shouted in concern as he was crouched in front of her with a supportive hand on her damp back.
Sakura gave a half attempt to smirk, but it was more of a pant, "Sorry...I have, to call it there." Sakura was barely able to say through her gasps for air, as she released her weights strain. Naruto nodded in understanding, although he was still concerned.
"Can you move Sakura-chan?" he asked softly. Sakura stumbled herself up on her two feet, but Naruto was there for support.
Sakura couldn't resist the tease, "Damn you, and your ridiculous stamina." Kakashi lowered his sharingan and approached the pair with his eye closed as if he was voicing out his thoughts.
"You both have done a great job today. While we still have more work to do, your teamwork and coordination is very commenda...ble..." Kakashi stopped talking when he realised his students were having a conversion instead of listening, and he sweat dropped.
'They used to listen to me and respect me...' he mused in sorrow.
Meanwhile the two oblivious team mates were still talking, "We were awesome Sakura-chan dattebayo!"
"Shannaro!"
Naruto blinked at Sakura's strange outburst and Sakura shrugged sheepishly, "What? Am I not allowed to say my own sayings like you do once and a while?" She said with a grin and she drank from her bottle.
Naruto scratched his head, "What do you mean Sakura-chan?" he asked puzzled. Sakura giggled but cleared her throat.
"I am going to become Hokage, just you watch DATTEBAYO!" She said in an attempt to imitate Naruto's voice, emphasising his most used word.
Naruto scratched his head, "...I don't get it datteba-"
"Never mind" Sakura said with a snicker.
Naruto then had an idea and smiled, "This calls for a victory celebration, want to go get some tea Sakura-chan?"
Sakura gave it a moment's thought and nodded, "Sure Naruto." Naruto then held a pink hue across his face while pressing his two fingers together in nervousness.
"Maybe it could be like a date." he beamed with a wide smile.
Sakura said automatically and cheerfully, "Fine, but you have to pay for it!" Sakura gasped though when realisation just smacked her in the face....Tazuna has a tab for them that payed for ALL expenses.
Naruto was ecstatic, "Really Sakura-chan!!!" he almost screamed, while Sakura was opening and closing her mouth like a fish with a now full blown pink hue of her own and waving her arms.
"W-Wa-Wait just a minute..." Naruto laughed softly and waved a dismissive hand causing Sakura to stop.
"It's alright Sakura-chan, I know you were just kidding." he said surprisingly calm to show he realised her mistake.
Sakura had no idea why she suddenly lost her appetite, '...Why did he give up? He normally would have pursued his chance to the end...and why do I feel so bad that he gave up so quick?' she thought in confusion but shook the thought out of her head for another time.
"Well, would you like to go anyway Sakura-chan?" Naruto asked with his soft smile, seemingly unaffected by any feeling of rejection.
Sakura rubbed the back of her neck, "Of course. Let's go Naruto." she responded softly with a soft smile of her own.
Kakashi shook his head at the retreating pair's antics and turned his head to the other group. To him it seemed Jiraiya and Shikamaru were trying to explain something to Lee. He couldn't quite work it out and made his way over, although he glanced briefly once more at Naruto and Sakura, then resumed his walking.
'The scent is getting stronger.' Pakkun mused, as he lunged to the next tree branch in the forest.
'Interesting... their base is this far out, it's almost like a perfect middle between Wave in Konoha, yet it is not far from entering Sound...Maybe it was only set up for this one mission of theirs...I honesty wonder.' Pakkun was pulled out his musing when he felt the scent become very strong, along with several other scents.
Pakkun using the tree bushes as cover looked through a clearing in the leaves to see the area. The place itself was nothing out of the ordinary, but his eyes narrowed on a tree that seemed to have the Konoha insignia clearly engraved in the branch. The insignia was glowing a bright yet not overwhelming shade of yellow. Just at the base of the tree was what looked like an entrance to a cavern of some kind below.
'The insignia is probably used as a locking mechanism...no way would ex ANBU just have that out in the open. In saying that why-' His thoughts were killed when he saw a lone figure walking out of the entrance of the cavern. Although it had been a long time since Pakkun last saw him, it was clear as day who the familiar person was.
'Sasuke!'
Sasuke was a fair bit taller than when Pakkun last saw him, he was now slightly taller than Naruto, his hair seemed to have grown a bit, but still wasn't very long, there were only a few seemingly different features on him that Pakkun could determine straight away. Firstly was his outfitting was something akin to the typical sound uniform, but he wore a loose shirt that had the Uchiha insignia on the back. Sasuke also had a type of sword in its sheath diagonally across his back, the sword was roughly an arm's length, and seemed no thicker than a stick. One feature though that disturbed Pakkun deeply was the face the Uchiha wore, it was dead. Not literally dead, but more so dead of emotions. Even back in his short glimpses of Sasuke in the chuunin exams the boy had more life in him than what he was seeing now.
'Has his need in revenge driven him this far?' Pakkun decided he had seen enough and as quietly as he could began his journey back to the others.
"The mutt is gone." Announced Araiki walking out of the cavern with his byakugan activated.
"Hn" was Sasuke's only response, as Ronan made himself present with Araiki.
"Your incompetence might just pay off Araiki." Araiki said nothing but inwardly fumed.
Ronan turned to Sasuke, "Now let's see just how severed those bonds you claim are gone, really are." Ronan stated.
"I told you, they are no longer a concern to me. I only care about killing Itachi, nothing more, nothing less." Sasuke said in deep annoyance.
"Then you won't mind if it is your job then to kill the jinkuriki, since he was your best friend after all." Ronan said as if issuing an order to a minor. Sasuke laughed disturbingly similar to Orochimaru's, "I see. So you do know about the mangekyou sharingan after all." Sasuke said in deep amusement.
Ronan chuckled after a moment of staring blankly in puzzlement at Sasuke's strange outburst, "Of course I know about the mangekyou sharingan, your brother was kind enough to give me a...demonstration of its power!" He spat at the end as he unrolled his brown long sleeved shirt to show very deep scars for burns that seemed impossible.
"This." He hissed, shaking his arm for emphasis.
"Is what Itachi did to me with the power of the mangekyou sharingan. He assumed I was dead when he hit me with this 'Amaterasu' and left me to burn in ashes...fortunately Thomas and his summon were able to put out the fire, but the wounds never could be healed." Ronan tugged tightly on his sleeve to cover the burns.
"While I have become strong, my best friend died a long time ago in the Kyuubi attack. As you know, the requirement is you need to be involved in cause of the death of that friend, so I never achieved it."
Sasuke decided to ask a question he always had wondered since that night at the Uchiha massacre, "Do you at all know why that is the requirement?" Ronan shook his head.
"Even I don't know why. But never the less, you have the opportunity to gain a power that will help us kill Itachi." he said conclusively.
"You would take the death of Itachi over having your revenge on the Kyuubi?"
Ronan narrowed his flaring sharingan, "Don't question my loyalty on my dead comrades ever again! As long as the jinkuriki is dead with the Kyuubi along with him I will be satisfied. This is simply killing two birds in one stone." Ronan released his anger through a sigh.
"So, what is your answer to your task?" Ronan said in expectation. Sasuke at first was silent, as if he was depicting what to say to Ronan.
The older Uchiha's eyebrow perked when Sasuke just out of the blue began laughing yet again, with his curse seal marks creeping over his skin like a plague, "I don't even remember the reason why I didn't kill him the first time. This time I will kill Uzumaki Naruto, and then our path to revenge will become clear!"
Naruto cringed at his plate, "Honestly Naruto, your satays chicken is NOT poisoned." Sakura huffed, as she dipped a loose piece in her rice with her chopsticks before eating it. Naruto looked quizzical though.
"But what is that strange coating on top Sakura-chan?" he asked. Sakura groaned and then she resulted to 'that' voice.
"Naruto." Said blond haired ninja paled at the familiar demonic tone, bundled with a glare.
"Try it!" She hissed.
Naruto reached for his chopsticks on impulse. "H-Hai." He whimpered, and Sakura rolled her eyes and spoke normally in response.
"Naruto, just give it a try. If you don't like it then that is fine."
Sakura's eyes narrowed in memory, "You NEVER were anywhere near this bad with your foods before...at least you ATE other foods." Sakura said, almost as if she was demanding an answer. Naruto was too busy though, as he held the chopsticks away from his mouth.
Sakura face palmed, 'Seriously, this is ridiculous!'
Naruto placed the chicken piece in his mouth and chewed. Sakura crossed her arms and watched in anticipation. She grew a smirk though when she noticed he had frozen completely as if he had made a massive discovery. She tilted her head with a raised eyebrow, and picked up her chopsticks again.
"....I told you it was good."
Almost on cue, Naruto beamed, causing a few heads in the bar to turn, "This is awesome Sakura-chan! Why didn't you ever tell me about this before?!" A vein almost popped on Sakura's head, as she ignored Naruto's stupid question.
Naruto soon had eaten through his entire serving, then they waited for a dessert which Sakura chose without his opinion. The waitress came and delivered two small bowls that contained jelly, some fruit, and other things Naruto didn't know. The waitress presented them with two spoons, and a cup that contained some syrup. Sakura thanked the waitress and poured the syrup over the top, and then almost like a completely different person, dug in at a speed Naruto went agape at.
'H-holy crap!' Naruto mused in shock the stranger sitting opposite to him. Sakura felt a pair of blue eyes on her and looked up from her bowl and innocently said "What?"
Naruto shook himself out of his state and grinned, "You must really like that type of food Sakura-chan."
Sakura smiled and replied as if in a trance, "This is Anmitsu, an amazing dessert that contains vast selections of different fruits such as peaches, cherries and many more. It is also served with agar jelly..." Sakura couldn't finish her words as she dug into it again. Within moments Sakura placed the bowl down and gave a satisfactory sigh and announced to a waitress, "Another serving of Anmitsu please!"
Naruto was still dumbfounded, was this really the usually polite and elegant Sakura he knew, who was defying those words and eating like a hungry wolf.
"A-Amazing!" He stuttered out, and Sakura turned and said again.
"What?"
Naruto grinned again, "You treat that stuff like I treat my ramen!" Naruto beamed.
Sakura's brows furrowed now in annoyance to what she considered a 'bold' claim. "I do not!" she denied. Unfortunately Sakura ate her own words after her fourth serving. Naruto chuckled and looked at his own bowl.
"Try it Naruto, it is a great dessert." Sakura said cheerfully.
Naruto didn't even hesitate as he gave it a go, and soon dug in at Sakura's pace.
"This- good- bayo!" Naruto mumbled out through his eating. Sakura shook her head but smiled.
"Glad you like it." she said in amusement, while she ordered another round, this time for two people instead of one.
'They practically went on a date and I didn't know?! Such an opportunity for solid research gone!' Jiraiya mused as he was writing down on his note pad, while Shikamaru sweat dropped.
'What ever happened to respecting people's privacy...so troublesome.'
Kakashi didn't seem to notice Jiraiya, as he was still reading his book. Lee meanwhile held a blank expression on his face and wondered about Jiraiya's notes, "Do you take notes of things too Jiraiya-sama?"
Jiraiya snapped his head up to meet Lee's gaze with a smirk, 'Well what do you know!"
"O-h, so you are a young 'researcher' as well? May I see what notes you have taken then?"
Lee happily presented Jiraiya with his note pad that seemed to appear out of nowhere. Jiraiya looked hungrily at the notes, but soon his eye twitched after a moments silence.
"These...are TRAINING notes?!" Jiraiya blurted out in confusion.
Lee gave his nice guy pose, "Of course Jiraiya-sama, what else did you think they were?"
Jiraiya's sweat dropped at the miniature Gai's innocence.
"Never mind." He said dismissively, as he continued walking with the others back into town.
Jiraiya soon eyed his apprentice and teammate making their way back to the hotel. The pair seemed to be talking about something with an exchange of chuckles and grins. 'Oh-h! I must find out what happened!' Jiraiya concluded as he then announced some 'other' intentions to the others.
"Umm I am going to head back and do some other things before getting a bite to eat." He said in a shifty voice.
Shikamaru read him like a book, but couldn't be bothered arguing, "Sure, we will meet you back at the hotel then." he said lazily.
Jiraiya took his cue and 'casually' ran back to the hotel.
Naruto and Sakura already were back at the hotel, and Sakura had excused herself to go clean up and would be back later. Naruto decided to sit and wait in the lounge, unfortunately for him though, he soon discovered he had a stalker.
Jiraiya bolted in, "So...how was your date eh?"
Naruto blushed and shook his head with a glare, "It was not a date Ero-sennin! Me and Sakura-chan just went and had tea that is all." Naruto growled at Jiraiya. Jiraiya chuckled and nodded his head, although his disbelief was as clear as day written across his face.
Jiraiya settled down next to Naruto and decided to discuss something he was thankful for, "So gaki, looks like I was right in the end eh?" Jiraiya smirked at his student.
Naruto blinked in confusion, and Jiraiya prompted, "About your friends..." Naruto's eyes widened in understanding but soon relaxed.
"Umm-Yeah about that...I guess you were right Ero-sennin." Naruto said surprisingly quiet and calm.
Jiraiya wasn't finished though, "You should thank your girl gaki, if it wasn't for her I don't know where you would have ended up."
Naruto flushed in result to the 'your girl' comment, "Not this again Ero-sennin, me and Sakura-chan are just friends!"
Jiraiya burst out laughing, "Whatever you say gaki!"
"I already did say thank you to Sakura-chan anyway." Naruto then widened his eyes at his mistake.
Even though he didn't understand this 'twisted' way innocent words were interpreted, he did know when he said something that triggered the sannin's 'perverted' bells...it was so easy to know with that weird smirk that was formed, "Oh? So you didn't change sides after all!"
"Ero-sennin it's not like that you idiot!"
"Ah, you're growing up at long last gaki. But I suggest you hide your books Eromaki Naruto, don't want 'Sakura-chan' to see through your facade now."
Naruto was now bright red in the face at the mention of 'that' name, "I AM NOT LIKE THAT ANYMORE!"
Jiraiya then began stating aloud all the 'deeds' this Eromaki did for him. Naruto hid his face in shame in his crossed out arms, "I said I am not like that anymore!" he muffled through his sleeves, wondering just how many times he would have to repeat himself to make it sink into the old perverts brain.
Jiraiya continued his laughing, "As always, you never cease to amuse me gaki. Alright I will play your game...you like Lee don't you?"
Naruto choked at the topic changing back again, "W-W-What?!"
Jiraiya smirked but Naruto continued his stumbling, "I...AM NOT GAY DATTEBAYO!"
Jiraiya knew he wasn't, but this was all too satisfying, so he took his opening to continue his jest, "Then what's this I hear your first kiss was with a boy? Hmm?!"
Naruto paled under the sannin's mischievous stare, 'HOW DID HE KNOW THAT?!'
"T-Tha-That"
"That was an accident." announced a very familiar feminine voice from the door which caused both occupants to turn and see Sakura. She was wearing her traditional attire with the change being a black skirt instead of her shorts and pink medic skirt.
Naruto paled, 'Oh dear lord, how much did she hear?!'
Sakura sighed, "Naruto...how the hell did you not kill Ero-sennin for the two years you were stuck with him?"
Jiraiya was suddenly detecting danger but Sakura didn't finish yet, glaring daggers at Jiraiya, "Naruto has asked me out on dates for years, and still does...unless I don't know something, I am pretty sure I am classified as a 'woman' Ero-sennin!" She stated, oblivious to Naruto looking away with a blush.
Jiraiya found himself another target to tease without even thinking through of just how dangerous this one was, 'Well you are lacking in the chest department like flat chest Tsunade used to be if you want to get technical.'
Sakura grew an extremely dark glare at the sannin as if she read his observation. "What did you just say about Tsunade-sama...AND ME?!" Jiraiya's alarm bells were suddenly ringing, as he could have sworn he did not just say his thoughts aloud...even if reality just proved him very wrong.
"Err-u-"
'Oh god! It will be the hot spring incident all over again!'
Shaking her head violently as if suppressing murderous intent, she chose to ignore it and got back to her main argument, "If you ever question his 'side' he barracks for as you put it again...mark it down in that stupid notebook of yours...I will personally ensure that you will be CHANGING 'sides'!" She growled in her demonic tone that made Jiraiya sweat and all the hairs on his back stick up.
'Tsunade like qualities, she is pissed off, and I have teased the gaki she suddenly is protective of...I am going to get killed if I don't escape!'
Jiraiya thought up an excuse as quick as he could to bail, "W-ell I best get back to my research-"
Jiraiya suddenly felt sick, very sick, 'I did not just-'
"ERO-SENNIN!" Sakura roared, her anger finally winning as she punched Jiraiya straight through the window, causing it to shatter into pieces as Jiraiya went for a course to the other side of the street.
'Of all the excuses to come up with, that was all I could think of?!...she is sticking up for him. OHHH!' and Jiraiya made a note to himself to write that down...once he had regained consciousness.
Naruto suddenly felt the cool breeze from the window and unconsciously shivered in terror, 'Thank you whoever is up there from stopping that fist of fury from hitting me!' Sakura huffed and walked up to Naruto and sat down crossing her arms.
"Really Naruto...how have you not killed him yet?" Sakura said in sarcasm.
Naruto scratched his head as he chuckled nervously, "Hehehe, Ero-sennin may be annoying Sakura-chan...And a bit of a pervert-"
"HMMPH!"
"-But he is a good man once you get to know him...I swear he really is." Naruto admitted surprisingly composed and calm at the end. Sakura blinked in surprise, but nodded her head in understanding with a soft grin.
"I guess you know him more than I do...but that doesn't mean I am going to apologise for that." She waved dismissively at the once window.
Naruto chuckled again nervously, 'Please tell me she didn't hear anything earlier.' He mused in fear.
"Thanks for telling the truth by the way, Naruto." She said with a thankful smile.
Naruto gasped at what that meant, 'She heard it from the beginning?!'
Sakura then narrowed her eyes and sighed, "Would you like to tell me about this 'Eromaki' Ero-sennin seemed to very openly express out to the world about...or would you like me to just forget about it?" She said flatly, with a neutral expression across her features.
Naruto gasped again while having that look that resembled 'OH NO!', he may be joining Jiraiya outside after all.
"So, what are both of your opinions on Naruto?" Kakashi asked straight out to Shikamaru and Lee. The three had settled for dining in Thai food, and were in a restaurant with very few people.
Shikamaru and Lee exchanged a look and Shikamaru sighed, growing tired with this constant question, "Troublesome, like I told Naruto himself, he never ceases to surprise me, but never the less he is my friend Kakashi." Shikamaru said conclusively as if he was giving a mission report.
Lee gave his response with no ounce of annoyance like the Nara had present, "Naruto-kun is my official eternal rival Kakashi-sensei, like you and Gai-sensei. I will never hold a grudge for something that wasn't his choice to begin with."
Kakashi chuckled at Lee's 'rival' part and sighed in exaggerated relief, "You have no idea just how good that is to hear."
Shikamaru grunted at the older shinobi's ways, "Is the imbecile really that scared of what we will think of him? That is not like him at all, even if there is the chance that one of us does not show him respect, then in my eyes, that person is not worth ever knowing...and I was given the impression he didn't care what other people thought about him." Shikamaru said dryly, with Lee nodding his head in agreement.
"Unfortunately Naruto never had any real acquaintances during the early years of his life. Most of the kids back then followed the way the adults treated him...an outcast. He holds onto any friendship he has dearly, and is willing to put his life on the line to keep it...the difference between why he didn't care before, is that unlike now, he has many people that are important to him."
Shikamaru and Lee's brows furrowed in understanding, as Kakashi added, "Sasuke believe it or not was the first person to acknowledge Naruto."
Both Shikamaru and Lee went agape, "R-Really, Sasuke and Naruto were friends during the academy?" Shikamaru staggered, remembering the constant exchange of glares between them, and the insults back and forth...how was it even possible?!
Kakashi nodded, "As unbelievable as it is, yes, the two shared a bond during the early lives of their child hood. This was around the same time after the Uchiha massacre, and both shared the same dilemma. Both were alone. However as the years went by this soon became a rivalry, that continued all the way through till Sasuke left the village."
Lee had to ask, "Why would Sasuke-kun leave? Hokage-sama and Shikamaru-kun mentioned Orochimaru, but I still don't understand."
Kakashi cursed having to retell this story, but answered Lee's question, "Unfortunately Sasuke was dramatised during the Uchiha massacre, which is not hard to believe considering what happened. The problem was he clung to wanted to avenge the death of his clan, even during our time as genin, his 'ambition' as he put it was to 'kill a certain man'...his older brother Uchiha Itachi."
Both Shikamaru and Lee's eye widened. Kakashi looked out the window at the streets as he continued the tale, "I thought Sasuke was coming out of his avenger phase after the first mission in Wave...until Orochimaru had something to say about it during the chuunin exams." Kakashi's fist unconsciously clenched, but relaxed soon after and returned eye contact to the expecting teens.
"Orochimaru marked Sasuke with a seal known as the cursed seal. The seal itself grants the user tremendous amounts of power in both strength and chakra, it even has the ability to 'transform' the user into another being."
Both Lee and Shikamaru's eyes widened, as if a memory had flickered over their heads, "This is like those sound ninja that we fought to try and bring Sasuke back. They had some weird markings across their body, then they change into...something else...even Sasuke back in the chuunin exams he...he had the same markings!"
Shikamaru said over his shock, "Kimimaru-kun had the same thing, he changed into some creature that...I honestly don't know what it was." Lee added in his confusion. Shikamaru looked at Kakashi with new found horror.
"Y-Your telling me...Orochimaru placed the same thing...on Sasuke during the chuunin exams?!" he stuttered out.
Kakashi nodded firmly, "The side effect to the cursed seal is it essentially takes the darkness of a person's heart, and makes it drive the persons mind to practically going insane. This seal was what drove Sasuke's soon insatiable lust for power and revenge...even to the point where he attempted to kill Naruto to gain a forbidden power exclusive to the Uchiha's...the Mangekyou Sharingan. Fortunately the old Sasuke was still partly himself at that time, and didn't kill Naruto."
Both Lee and Shikamaru were very silent, Shikamaru finally spoke in a firm voice which didn't fit his nature at all, "Is there any hope of bringing Sasuke back?"
Kakashi to both the boys surprise nodded, "While I myself do not know, but I know my number one ninja at surprising people better than most. Naruto will bring Sasuke back, and free him from his lust for revenge." Kakashi said with his eye smile.
The other two teens smirked in agreement, then all eyes turned when they saw Pakkun suddenly appear out the window, "Kakashi, Shikamaru I have some very important news!"