And I return! Somehow…
Hehe anyway Chapter 2 is here, and I have a message:
If anything confused you in chapter 1 ask me about it so I can incorporate my answer into the story. Because more often than not, your question will be reflected in others as well, ya get me?
Thank you Kame for pointing all this out for me! I really over looked that…and I hope the information you see in this chapter and others will clear this up.
Info you need to know:
Yes, this is a major AU; the timeline has been twisted severely.
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto and the characters from Naruto, therefore I get no money from this… only Hikaru is mine.
Last time:
"Hikaru was also best friends with Sasuke's older brother, Itachi."
Chapter 2: Memories of the Past
The Godaime Hokage, Lady Tsunade, gazed out the window of the Hokage Tower; her brown gaze focused on times long past. One hand lay resting on the wall to her side; the other curled over her chest. On her desk were papers stuffed halfway in a single folder and a closed scroll, the rest of he area bare, but for a single bottle of Sake. On the top paper were Naruto's pictures, the first a release of childish delight, his face covered in red paint, and then the retake, cold stoic, his Hitai-ate in place on his forehead. That face…so like the one who rested beside three others on the wall above her. Her own words were haunting her.
"I'm sorry, she ordered an emergency operation…and did not survive it."
The look of those dead blue eyes still sent shivers up her spine as he took his newborn into his arms, and now those same blue eyes were part of the reason she stood here, in Konoha once more.
Do you rest at all, Minato? Or do you watch over your last remaining link to this place?
Little Naruto, prankster, orphan, …liar, and so very distant. Even his happy go lucky smiles and brash attitude could not hide that from her, so much he was like his mother he was.
How could this village let a five-year-old live alone, let alone be a Genin with no guidance?
And how could she have left this place knowing the child could be alone? She had wallowed in her own grief and forgotten her past.
"Owl." An Anbu appeared behind her bowing, mask of an owl in place on their face, a cloak hiding the body
"Lady Hokage?" A male voice called out smoothly.
"Call for Team 7. They have a mission briefing."
"As you wish."
Kakashi's explanation was met with silence, the name instantly raising the memories Naruto had of the stoic nuke-nin. The sight of him incapacitating his own brother, red eyes glowing from an emotionless face, then the dream he had of a younger youth, smiling and carefree.
Naruto let out a soft "Oh" nodding. What Sasuke said as he left made all the more sense now, and his dream…his not-so-dream, maybe a memory? But then…why would he be dreaming the memories of a dead man with a link to a kin-killer? Was that man even the 'Hikaru' they spoke of?
"What did he look like?" Naruto blurted out. Kakashi shot him a glance, then laughed softly. Naruto raised an eyebrow and Sakura crossed her arms.
"What's so funny, Sensei?" Kakashi shook his head in response
"What did he look like he asks me." Kakashi chuckled again "He…looked like an older version of you, Naruto." Naruto blinked, leaning back. Sakura looked at Naruto grimacing
"Right, so…if I imagine a smarter, stronger, faster, taller, and more mature version of Naruto-I'll get this Namikaze kid?" She asked skeptically. Naruto had to consciously stop himself from glaring at the bint as Kakashi nodded hesitantly
"Basically. He was about average height for an adult, ridiculously long blond hair, blue eyes."
Well…that confirmed it.
"You speak as if he is dead." Kakashi caught the question and sighed, resting his chin in the palm of his hand to tap his cheek with his pointer finger.
"Yes, he had been deceased for five years now." Sakura didn't respond, but Naruto felt the breath in his lungs freeze.
"During the Kyuubi attack, right?" Kakashi sent Naruto a look that spoke volumes before answering
"Yes. He remained on the battle field until his death, moments before the Yondaime was able to seal the Kyuubi away." His face darkened slightly, "He was the ANBU captain that commanded the troops that day-" a snort escaped the man "-of his birthday." Naruto blinked, then held his tongue.
We have-had the same birthday. The thought made him numb. What kind of coincidence is that?
Something deep inside said nothing was a coincidence.
Kakashi stood, unaware of Naruto's mental confusion, then turned back to them
"We really don't have anything important to do besides training so…If you want to learn more about Lord Hikaru's strength, follow me." He vanished in a swirl of leaves and Sakura rolled her eyes
"No thanks. I have a belated birthday party to plan!" she skipped off and Naruto watched her leave a frown on his face. What had gotten into her so happy she had to skip?
But he could not stop his curiosity over this dead man… one whom Hatake Kakashi, one of the strongest Jônin in the five Hidden Villages, just called 'Lord'. With a shake of his head, he was after his sensei.
A dark haired man reclined gracefully in a large chair. He had a leg over the side, one hand cradling his chin as he thought the other hand over the back of the chair, toying with a kunai. He was barely dressed decently, only a pair of low-ridding trousers on showing a hint of pale skin at the waist, the ankles tied down with his feet bare. Long black hair lay on his shoulders unbound, covering his neck and half his face.
A door behind him opened and the man raised his free hand as something was thrown. The kunai hit the door jam as the now freed hand caught the object, a thick scroll, and the newcomer jerked towards the door, the kunai quivering about an inch from his face.
"Fuck." He cursed softly, eyes wide. The figure on the chair righted himself as he absentmindedly opened the scroll
"Did you have to do that?" The other breathed out faintly. The first man snorted, eyes darting along the paper.
"If I wanted to hit you I would have, and better the kunai be in the wall then on the floor." The other couldn't fault that logic. He sighed and stumbled through the large area, throwing his large coat off to his side of the room. He wore pants similar to the other in the room, with a golden and dark blue shirt, a large bandaged sword at his back.
"He's making three of us go off to find this thing?" The first stated incredulously.
"Actually, I'm just supposed to watch you." A voice stated from the doorway. The man stood, uncaring of the looks he got from the woman at the doorway at his barely clad self while he shot her a half hearted glare.
"Watch me? Only me?" The woman nodded
"Yep." She chirped. The man rolled his eyes, then pulled his hair back into a simple ponytail, reveling a necklace around his neck, small silver-blue stones embedded in silver and gold. After fixing his pants, he pulled a fish net shirt on and turned back to them, a wakizashi strapped to his back
"So, both of you ready?" They nodded. He pulled the large coat they all shared around him, and left the door, the other two trailing after him.
Kakashi turned as Naruto landed beside him, the blonde's face a mask of boredom and curiosity. Kakashi pointed to the stand in front of him, and Naruto glanced at it.
It was a simple podium made of ebony, and displayed on the top encased in glass was a beautiful paper and metal fan a strange shade violet, opened to revel it was made into four sections, the first and third decorated with dark blue stars, the others black spots. On the sides the paper was incased in smooth silver metal, the handle made of simple black leather.
"This is a Tessen, a chakra enhanced paper fan made as a weapon."
"It's a…weapon?" Kakashi raised an eyebrow "But…it's so…pretty." Kakashi laughed softly, and Naruto blushed slightly.
"Well that is true. It's name is Kushi-"
"Wait, name?" Kakashi laughed again
"When a weapon is created by the owner they usually name it, as it is tied to them. Hikaru made his own Tessen, they were created of his chakra."
"They?"
"He had two Tessen, this one Kushi its 2 feet by 1 foot-one foot tall, and opens to two feet in length- and another, 5 by 3, called KazeNiba. We were never able to find that one, the weapon he used when he was fighting as Captain of the Anbu during the attack. Kushi was laying on the ground were he died."
"It's pretty!"
"…What was that?"
"My tessen! It's pretty!"
"And…?"
"The weapon I am to depend on, that I will risk my life on is girly!!" The last word was nearly screamed. A sigh
"Again, and?"
"It looks like it deserves to be in a museum, not on the battlefield!"
"All you have to do is be strong enough so people notice you, not your weapon."
Naruto snapped out of the daze the words echoing in his head caused, blinking as he turned back the beautiful weapon before him
"Why is it just sitting here?" Kakashi smirked, then put a hand down. The glass incasing it didn't have a top, so his hand went down…through the Tessen. Naruto couldn't help it, he gapped, mouth wide open.
"But-what the-how?" He finally got out. Kakashi smiled softly pulling his hand out of the weapon
"This Tessen is made of his chakra, his essence, they are tied. Only he could give permission to someone to touch it." Kakashi stepped back so Naruto could examine the fan as he added bitterly "This is where it fell after Uchiha found it."
"So Uchiha Itachi could touch it, even after Namikaze Hikaru died?" Kakashi put his hands on his hips
"Yes…if I remember correctly, Itachi helped Hikaru make it, so he could move it without Hikaru's permission."
"So, I take it they were close?"
"Inseparable." A sad forlorn smile crossed Kakashi's face. Naruto nodded.
"Then…he probably didn't take Namikaze's death well."
"He killed the Uchiha Clan less than six months later." Naruto frowned. People knew that the teen's best friend had just died…and they didn't watch him to make sure he didn't crack? From what Sasuke told him…Itachi got colder and colder until that day, the death probably did throw him over the edge.
Suddenly his heart shuddered and Naruto flinched, turning his head away to hid his grimace of pain.
What was that just now? Shaking the feeling of forbidding away, He spoke
"If you all knew he had just lost a childhood friend why weren't people watching him? If someone had, then the whole problem could have been avoided." Kakashi nodded, black eye narrowed
"I did think of that at first, the I realized that if Itachi wanted to hide something from me…he could do so easily. He was under me in the Anbu for a time, so he knew me very well. No one else would have been able to tell something was wrong, the only difference in him was that he spent a lot of time on A and S class missions. At first I thought he wanted to die, then I found out his father had ordered him to do so." A flash of anger grew on the man's face, then he calmed, "But the past is the past." Naruto nodded, then turned away, gazing at the fan again.
"One last thing, how old was he?"
"He had just turned Thirteen." Suddenly Kakashi snorted and Naruto looked at him "Remember I said that he was the Captain of us all during the attack? The position of Co-Commander was held from him for half a year so his father could give it to him as a present."
"His birthday is on October 10th?" Kakashi nodded Naruto studied him for a moment then confessed quietly "That's…the same as me." Kakashi blinked
"The irony." He whispered "He lost his life, as you gained one." It took a second to hide his sudden revulsion
Life? This existence bestowed onto me, he calls a life?
Suddenly a presence flashed green in Naruto's sight and Kakashi turned
"Jônin Kakashi, you and your squad are to see the Hokage." An Anbu with the mask of owl over his face told them quietly. Kakashi nodded
"I see. Thank you Owl, we will be there shortly." The Anbu vanished as Kakashi turned to Naruto
"You go to the tower, I'll get the others."
Fifteen minutes later found Team 7 in the Hokage tower, standing in a line as Tsunade turned to them from the window. Naruto was closest to her, Sakura about a foot away to his left with Sasuke beside her, with Kakashi behind them all nearest to the closed door.
"This is a stealth mission. You have been on a C class mission turned A so I know you can handle yourselves, but this will be dangerous." She walked closer to them, holding up a folder.
"This mission is on the Iwa Land for one," Kakashi winced "Two, to the public it is simply a carrier mission, less than D rank, I want you to give this message to the Tsuchikage for me, she will be awaiting you. As you go or when you leave, which ever seems best, I want you to search for the Abalask Orb." Kakashi stiffened.
"It was destroyed." He stated, voice blank. Tsunade glanced at him, raising an eyebrow. Numbly Kakashi elaborated.
"Seven years ago, Anbu team Fox/Wolf destroyed it on an SS-rank mission." Tsunade's eyes softened as Sasuke flinched.
"Yes, they destroyed the major orb and all the others they could find around it. I have found that a lesser orb escaped them. It is your job now to find it." Sakura snorted
"Why not make this Fox and Wolf find it? They didn't finish the job, let them waste their time!" Sasuke stiffened turning to her angrily, his hands clenched into fists as he shouted out
"Wolf was my brother, ok?!" Sakura flinched.
"And Fox was Namikaze Hikaru." Tsunade continued "Obviously both are unable to finish their job, so it falls to you. Now I will stress that this is stealth. I do not need the Tsuchikage knowing that such an artifact is on her lands."
"What is it?" Naruto asked softly. Tsunade glanced at him, then shook her head
"No time, Kakashi can explain it on the way there, I want you gone in two hours, understood?"
"Yes, Lady Hokage." Kakashi answered for them
"Good. You are dismissed!"
The Kyuubi no Kitsune always looked bigger than he actually was.
And he massive jaws he sported, large fangs gleaming from a background of blood red fur and giant golden red eyes really did help the fear factor. Adrenaline shot threw his body as he tried to raise himself back on his feet, then suddenly the newfound strength ebbed away leaving him drained as he fell back against the wall behind him, entire body weary.
Kyuubi simply watched amused as the man succumbed to his exhaustion and sighed wearily
"So the Jutsu didn't kill you?" The man asked sarcastically, kicking is legs out so he could become the picture perfect image of a weary soldier, minus any blood. Kyuubi snorted
Apparently not. He shot back, deep voice rumbling threw his cage For I doubt if we both died that we would end up in the same exact place, even though it seems to have taken a lot out of you. And I know I killed you. Weakling. The man opened his eyes to glare weakly, milky white eyes slightly unnerving from the large curtain of nearly white blond hair draped over his head and shoulders limply falling to the ground. His skin was a pale gray shade, the man's body obviously sickly and frail, as his left hand seemed to have a slight tick, his fist clenching but unable to make a fist, falling back halfway, then starting all over again. Kyuubi sniggered.
"Well, sorry to disappoint." The man groaned, letting his head fall back he looked about himself
"So…this is how the seal ended up." He mused loftily, "And if I am dead, how did I get inside it?" Kyuubi laughed, the sound shaking the entire cavern
Maybe you messed up before I chomped you up. He chuckled And now you're trapped with me. The man's white eyes narrowed
"I am a Seal Master." He hissed, eyes flashing with anger, abruptly leaning away from the wall "I do not mess up Rituals! Besides, I helped with the Rune Structure, if I messed up, I would have died painfully as the Chakra back fired, not get eaten and then sucked in here with you." Kyuubi rolled his eyes
I'm surprised you remember that much. He commented dryly, then strangely enough his tone turned completely serious. I have watched for the past five years as you laid there while your memories slowly trickled from your mind. His eyes narrowed Do you even know who you are? The question obviously startled the other as he raised a shaking hand to his head, clenching the strands of hair there
"I-who I am?" he questioned shakily, eyes going wide "I remember things here and there…but I can't find a name…" He looked up, then his eyes narrowed
"Wait a minute why the hell would you even care?!" He shouted, then put a hand to his throat, wincing.
You've been asleep for five years. Kyuubi reminded the human, watching him stiffen
"Five…years!!" The man ended the shout with a hacking cough and a wheeze
Yes, five years. If you wander around a bit I'm sure you'll find our tenant's memory bank. The man struggled to his feet, then quickly opened door to the side of the room.
No thank you? The man turned, one eyebrow raised.
"Why should I? If it weren't for you I'd still be on the outside with my family. Now they are all dead, and I have no clue if I remain among the living as well! I must owe you all the gratitude in the five Hidden Villages!" Kyuubi simply shrugged as the man let out a self cutting smile at the only memory he had, a fight during the Attack but not against the great fox. Flashes of extreme pain, someone else echoing the white-hot fire in his mind, and then screams of others around him in heart wrenching pain.
"Yes I owe you a great big hug too."
He wanted a Tessen.
Ever since he heard about Namikaze Hikaru, the Anbu Captain who used the very winds to fight, the feeling of Temari of the Sand and the power she welded with her large weapon returned to him.
He had always loved the wind.
Without another thought on the matter, he gathered all his money and quickly left for the weapons shop on the outskirts of the Village, the one place that allowed him to buy kunai and other supplies.
"Ah, young Naruto." The old keeper of the shop greeted as Naruto opened the door. Kind blind eyes locked on him as he closed the door gently.
"Sabaru." He nodded in welcome, then turned to the walls were weapons of every kind lined the shop. Sabaru was a very old war veteran of the Third Shinobi war, already retired when it started, but he had jumped back in the force when those younger than him died. His price was his left leg and his sight, lost to a light bomb created to incapacitate. He was over eighty now; long white hair pinned up in a high ponytail, his balding head leaving nothing for bangs.
"Same shipment as usual?" Sabaru asked calmly, setting down a large twisted lump of metal onto his work area.
"Double it, if you will." A large familiar looking scythe had caught his eye, and he missed the strange light that appeared in the old man's eyes
"A new mission then?" Naruto nodded absentmindedly, then turned to look at the old man, spinning on his heel
"Hey, Sabaru, to you have any Tessen in stock?" The old man froze
"Tessen, Naruto?" He asked calmly, Naruto turned to him, raising an eyebrow
"Yes…I've been interested in that way of fighting for a while now." Sabaru nodded
"You do have the perfect build for it…" That made the other eyebrow raise, how did the blind man know his stature? Shuffling slightly the blind man left his counter and ambled into his back room, and Naruto turned back to the wall, blinking when a beautiful sash caught his eye. It was pinned delicately to the wall in the very back, hanging on display alone. The three-foot long sash was a strange shade of violet blue, with silver markings along the seams and in the middle, it's very tip jet black.
"So you can see it?" Naruto spun around. Sabaru was back, five Tessen in his hands.
"Ah, yes…I assume others can't?" the old man nodded, leading Naruto back to his counter top.
"That is the Sash of Ren'Bukan." Automatically Naruto noticed the reverence the man held in that name. "The Blade of Blue Silver Steel and Bone, created by Kaguya Kimimaro using his Family Kekkei Genkai Shikotsumyuku or the Dead Bone Pulse, and Namikaze Hikaru with his very own bone, blood, and Chakra." Naruto blinked
"Why is it," He started slowly, picking up one Tessen set before him. "That the more I dig around Konoha's past, I find out more about this Namikaze?" The Tessen was set back down a foot from the others as unusable, he was barely able to lift it with a single hand.
"Because Lord Hikaru was truly changing this place before he died. He achieved many things in his thirteen Autumns." The next Tessen was slightly lighter than he'd want, but would have to do, he set it in a place on its own.
Lord. Again, another highly respected Shinobi calls Namikaze 'Lord' was this because of his power… or something else?
"Achieved?" He questioned. Sabaru smiled
"Let me see…he was the youngest Genin until you graduated last year." Naruto dropped the Tessen he held, face going white. "Youngest Chûnin by three months, he also shares the title of strongest Anbu Captain Konoha has ever seen with Uchiha Itachi, those two were also much stronger together anyway…" The small blonde finally composed himself, moving the dropped Tessen to his 'buy' pile. The next one also went into 'buy' while the last did not. It was torn slightly.
"I'll take these three and the packets, Subaru." Naruto broke the old man's thoughts and Sabaru made a soft noise, before nodding. The total came to him, and he stared.
"This can not be the proper amount Sabaru!" He cried out "Stop playing around with me I don't need pity." The last words were hissed. Sabaru laughed.
"Yes, very true but you get a special discount." Naruto frowned, eyes narrowing.
"Why me?" He demanded "I won't take charity, you know that!" Sabaru laughed again.
"Oh I know that." He chuckled "I still haven't recovered from that lecture you gave me when I tried to give you free access to my shop after I found out you graduated at four years old, and yes I know your real age, anyone with a brain would." Naruto closed his mouth.
"And just so you know, the discount is on the Kunai-Scroll package. Tessen rarely sell anymore, no one really has the discipline or talent to use them, and some don't want to use the weapon Lord Hikaru used, but I think you'll do just fine." Naruto studied him, then let out a rare smile.
"Thank you." He handed over the money then quickly attached the weapons to his belt, placing everything where they need to be. A single Tessen went into his pants belt, right over his lower abdomen, the rest would be packed away.
"Also…Naruto, if you really feel that I've lost some money then do me a favor, get some new clothes." Naruto gapped at the blind man's grin, then raised his hands looking down at his clothes.
Maybe…it was time to stop playing the fool.
It didn't take long to find the memory banks. What felt like five long torturous hours of mindless and painful walking-correction limping-down the wet and dank corridors, probably only took six or seven minutes.
But it left the gray/blue skinned man breathless as he pushed the door open by using his body weight, and then fell to the floor panting harshly.
Why did I choose to even move again? It took another agonizing minute to get himself upright and he nearly didn't even accomplish that.
How did orange become my main color of clothing again?
The man froze, spinning about himself as the childish voice echoed all around him, the sound reverberating throughout the room.
Oh…it was the old man…I never did have the heart to tell him I hated orange…
Old man…That has to mean Great-Grandpa Sarutobi…but "never did"…is he dead? Finally he got a look around him. Just like the room where he had awoken orbs of blue flouted throughout the room, which ended up being another corridor, with doors lining the sides.
And at the end of the hall was what appeared to be a vast pool of water, flouting an inch from the wall, vertically. And reflected in the water was the image of two hands holding out a plain white shirt, a black jacket hanging over the left arm.
Should I wear these for the mission…yes, stealth is key, but do I want to have those two nagging me the entire way? Hell no.
Isn't that a simple answer, Gen-Jutsu. The hands pulled the shirt and five others like it onto the left arm, then the picture swerved to the pants section.
So I'm seeing what my host sees. The visual room…? He shrugged Might as well.
He continued to watch lazily, until the hands picked up a pair of simple gray shinobi pants and held them up.
"No." The word slipped out before he could think of what he was doing "You have a black jacket, go for the black pants." Then what happened next made a hand go to his throat. The voice answered back.
True… But-
"No buts. And Gen-Jutsu to hide the clothing, at least until you need to use the chakra." The picture didn't move, but he got the since of a head bobbing, then the golden hands went to collect more of those, and other simple wear. The man decided to get up and explore more.
As he got closer to the doors he saw words inscribed on them.
Sandaime Hokage/old man…Hatake Kakashi/Sensei…Uchiha Sasuke/asshole/rival…Horano Sakura/crush (that word was crossed out and replaced with) freakishly annoying banshee thing… each door had a name then a nickname on the left side, and on the right were blank.
With a shrug, he put his hand on one of the doorknobs on the right side of the room then froze as intense waves of pure unadulterated fear seeped into his body, chilling him to the bone. It took a second for him to regain control and he released his white-knuckled grip from the handle, shakily backing a step.
The memories from when he was young, when no names, no people could be recalled from the scenes…only the emotion that came with it. During his time as a Seal Apprentice he had to go into his mind to be able to organize it, and had found his own memory banks in a similar state such as this…but never in his years had simply touching the doorknob made the fears of the memories stored there echo through him.
He is the Jinchuuriki of the Kyubbi no Kitsune. He mused glancing at his palm. The hand was still shaking, more so than when he left the cage of the Kyuubi, the flesh bright red with the center of his palm pale pasty white. People must hate him for the fox inside him.
How dare that idiotic man be so damn late for a fucking stealth/recovery mission?? Did Tsunade not give him enough time to download the importance of this!?
The seethed words echoed all around him, and nearly made no sense what so ever.
Wait… quickly searching about himself, he made a satisfied sound when he found the door he was looking for, and stepped inside.
If this is still like my own…He glanced around at the multitude of orbs flouting in the room in a single like starting in the center of the room and spiraling outward. Then this room holds the memories of the last four hours. And as he knew it would, a new orb appeared at the center, and as he watched, all the orbs shifted, the one at the very end disappearing into the wall in his far right to go were it was sorted.
Glancing around, he shrugged to himself, and randomly grabbed one near him.
Then light, sound, smell, and auras burst into his senses, sending him reeling
I didn't realize how quiet it is in someone's mind. He thought weakly, curling over barely able to remain standing as he placed his hands over tearing eyes. Or dark.
"His birthday is on October 10th?" Kakashi man blinked rapidly as he reoriented himself, balance and perceptions returning. He was in a field, bare of much but grass and a few trees. Then he turned about and his eyes widened.
Kakashi…looked old! And wise! The elder man was gazing at a black podium sadly...wearing Jônin issued clothing.
His host studied the man for a moment thenthat voice from earlier spoke. "That's…the same as me." Kakashi blinked, and the man shook his head. Birthday. October 10th…why did that date seem important…somehow?
"The irony." Kakashi whispered "He lost his life, as you gained one." Suddenly a wave of anger and bitter sorrow crashed into him and he winced, arms curling up to hug himself.
Life? This existence bestowed onto me, he calls a life?
The chakra of another flashed into existence close by, Shunshin, and the picture swerved.
"Jônin Kakashi, you and your squad are to see the Hokage." An Anbu with the mask of owl over his face told them quietly. Kakashi nodded.
And all the pieces finally shifted into the puzzle he could solve. Kakashi was a Jônin instructor, oh the irony. The man was a genius yet he could hardly express himself and was barely able to string to civil words together, how did he teach his students?
"I see. Thank you Owl, we will be there shortly." The Anbu vanished as Kakashi turned his host.
"You go to the tower, I'll get the others."
That date was…the day of the attack! My…my…
Then the details of the mission became known, and the man quickly left the room, only to see one of the funniest things he would never forget.
And hour and forty-five minutes later found Naruto standing at Konoha's gates, his medium sized backpack sitting on the ground leaning against his leg. The others had close to five minutes to get here and leave on time, and Naruto had the sinking feeling all three wouldn't make it.
How right he was.
It was ten minutes later when Sasuke arrived, Sakura in tow, both with large packs, completely unnecessary for a stealth mission such as this.
And they were late.
He was tempted to tell them that they would lose most that they brought with them, obviously unable to keep track of all of that, and then opted not to. They can lose some of that extra shit when they need to move quickly and learn a lesson in the process.
And finally, nearly an hour and a half after the two-hour period Tsunade had given them, Kakashi appeared a nonchalant expression on his face, caring an extra pack attached to his hip and a simple sling with the scroll for the Tsuchikage. The Jônin opened his mouth to explain, then froze, a hand reaching to scratch the back of his neck.
Steely blue eyes were glaring at him from a curtain of golden blond bangs.
Naruto was pissed and visibly seething, Sakura and Sasuke unconsciously backing away as the blonde shoved a bottle of something in a compartment of his jacket, crossing his arms.
He was still in the same place as an hour and thirty-five minutes passed, but his posture had slowly changed. When Kakashi arrived he had taken to leaning back against the tree behind him, idly playing with a kunai with his right hand, the left once holding a bottle, now both hands were flipping the deadly weapon around.
"Hatake Kakashi," He started slowly "Did you not hear a word the Hokage said?" Kakashi opened his mouth but Naruto cut him off "Apparently not, seeing as it's been three and a half hours since we left her office and she only gave us two hours to get ready." Kakashi turned red, and Naruto rolled his eyes "Obviously, punctuality is not a key player with you." The embarrassment turned to anger, but Sakura opened her mouth first.
"How dare you talk down to him like that!" She berated. Naruto stood tall slowly, picking up his back to pull it over one shoulder
"How dare you try to reprimand me?" He shot back "This mission is a carrier, we need to get there quickly and leave." The reminder made Sakura flounder "Also you can't say much either you were late as well. What if this was a timed mission, where we had to capture someone before whomever got off of Konoha lands? Down the drain." Kakashi flinched, watching as Naruto made for the gates, heading northeast. When none followed, he turned to them, a sneer forming.
"What are you waiting for? An invitation? We have a job to do!"
I…believe this is the fastest I have ever updated. Really how long has it been? About a month, maybe a little more? Holy shitface that is fast and 20 pages!!
I might actually turn out to be a good author…now to get in gear for Salis Slytherin…
Thank you Kame, Sempai18, Dark Inu Fan (hm…are you trying to read my mind??) living laughing dead (I like your name lol) autumn-annette-19, Taliath and any others I've missed, for reviewing!
Edited 11/29/08
Edited again on December 8th 2008