"Booorrrrinnng..." Naruto gave an exaggerated yawn, "Is anything interesting going to happen?"
"Shut-up, fool," Sakura took a swipe at the blonde, who ducked it, "Tou-san says that boring is best on missions."
While the actual actions of the two hadn't changed much, the reasons behind them had. Naruto often bothered Sakura to get a rise out of her, and while her temper did flare, she controlled herself much better. Kakashi was pleased with their progress.
"Haruno-san is a wise man," Kakashi commented from behind his orange book, "His wife is a better shinobi, though."
"Your parents are shinobi?" Sasuke of all people asked; though, it was still in a bored unintersted tone.
He had made some progress, too, after Kakashi's chat with him. He was still sullen and guarded, but he no longer treated the other two as if they didn't exist.
"Tou-san still is," Sakura answered, "Kaa-san retired when she found out she was pregnant with me. She's been talking about rejoining now that I'm in the Corps."
The banter continued, but Kakashi's focus was suddenly gripped by the out of place puddle off the trail. It hadn't rained in days, and the Land of Fire was know to have warm days well into December. It was still November. He didn't give any indication of his thoughts and passed it by. A few moments later, his guess was proven right.
"One in ten my ass," Kakashi muttered as the chain circled him.
A quick jaunt via Kawarimi pulled him out of harms way. He even left an illusion of himself getting diced up to really throw them off. He didn't do it to see the looks on his team's faces. That definitely had nothing to do with it.
"One little piggy," the shinobi with the linked clawed gauntlets said as the chain cinched around the log that had taken his place. Could they be anymore cheesy?
They went for the next one in line: Naruto. Kakashi knew for a fact that the boy had some of the best taijutsu training available. Mayu may have been crippled, but she was still so much of a badass Kakashi would still stay out of her reach. Of course no amount of training could account for Naruto freezing up.
Sasuke was just the opposite. He reacted as soon as he knew there was a threat. He leapt towards his foes, drawing and throwing a shuriken then a kunai in rapid succession. Neither struck the enemy, but they still hit their target spot on. The chain was now pinned to a nearby tree. It stopped the two ninja just long enough for Sasuke to land with a foot on either of their shoulders, reach down, and twist the chain's release mechanism. He flipped back and away before they could retaliate.
Far from dissuaded from their attack, one continued on towards Naruto, intent on destroying the opposition. His companion skirted around the fear-stricken teen and raced towards Tazuna. Sakura was set and ready to meet his charge, but Kakashi doubted she would stand a real chance. He made his move, but the enemy was a tad faster than he thought. The first one was already striking out at Naruto. Finally the blonde, death staring him in the face, snapped from his stupor and raised his arm to parry the incoming strike. He took a nasty cut from the claws of the gauntlet, but had saved his face from a good mauling.
Kakashi managed to disable and grab Naruto's assailant before he could land another blow. He dashed by the blonde and gripped a hand full of the others hair, making his feet shoot out in front of him. Kakashi was surprised to see Sasuke had move in front of Sakura.
"Sensei!" the kunoichi cried happily, "You're alive."
"Yep," he replied simply. He looked back at Naruto who was now cradling his hurt hand, "Sorry I didn't react sooner. I didn't think you would freeze up like that, Naruto."
He looked back over at Tazuna, "So... What might two Kiri nukenin be doing lying in wait for a team of genin and their somewhat tipsy client, hmm?"
"I...uh..." Tazuna rubbed the back of his head nervously, "You see..."
"You think they were after Tazuna-san?" Sakura asked.
"Well, no offense, Sakura, but you and Naruto aren't all that important," Kakashi told them, "Sasuke could be sold on the black market for a pretty good price thanks to his heritage, but human trafficking is extremely risky business. I'm a prime target for enemy villages, but these guys are rogue. That leaves just one person."
"An extremely dangerous man wants me dead," Tazuna admitted in defeat.
"Falsifying mission information is a very dangerous gamble, Tazuna-san," Kakashi narrowed his visible eye at the architect.
"There's no way I could have afforded more than this," Tazuna protested, "Gato has wrung my country dry, and my bridge is our last hope!"
"That's too bad," Kakashi shook his head, "This mission is over."
"What?" Sasuke asked sharply. He was obviously itching for more of this.
"This mission just got a whole lot more dangerous than you three can handle," Kakashi explained to the dark-eyed boy, "Plus, Naruto is injured."
"I'm fine," Naruto protested. He had apparently recovered from his scare, "It's just a scratch."
Kakashi dropped his new prisoners and began to disarm and secure them, "Naruto, these gauntlets are poisoned. You need to have that cut drained so the poison doesn't reach your heart."
"Maybe if you hadn't frozen like a scared cat," Sasuke muttered just loud enough for the blonde to hear.
Naruto's face screwed up in anger, and he pulled a kunai from his pouch with his uninjured hand. For a moment, Kakashi was worried he might attack Sasuke, but then Naruto jabbed the blade into his poisoned injury, widening the cut and causing the blood to flow more freely.
"I swear on this pain," he ground out as he dug the blade deeper, "That I won't freeze up again. I say we go on."
Even Sasuke was looking at Naruto with a some surprise. Kakashi was about to reprimand the fool for causing his blood to flow like that, but Sakura beat him to it.
"You IDIOT!" she screamed. She stalked towards him angrily, causing him to back up a step. She grabbed his injured hand before he could try to escape, though, "Sensei meant for a professional to do that. You could bleed out."
"Hold still, dolt," she ordered as she looked at the damage, "This will certainly drain the poison... The muscles are damaged, but it looks like you didn't do anything to the tendons or ligaments."
"When did you start studying first aid?" Kakashi asked her with a small amount of surprise.
"A while ago," she answered absently as she poked at Naruto's hand, causing him to make some unusual noises in pain, "Hiroto-sensei gave me a scroll on it, and I got interested and dug further. It had some instructions for a jutsu, too."
"Aww man," Naruto whined, "Nii-san won't teach me any jutsu, and he just gives you one?"
"Yep," Sakura smirked at him as her hand began to glow green , "Sit still. I've only used this on bruises and pulled muscles so far."
Kakashi watched in wonder as Sakura performed a technique that still gave him trouble. Basic or not, Naosu no Jutsu required a level of control from its user that he had yet to achieve despite being a jonin. Even Hiroto, the only non-medic to use it, couldn't do it perfectly. Apparently, neither could Sakura. The wound wouldn't close for her. It did still begin to heal, though.
Kakashi saw a tiny spark of red-orange at the ragged edge of the wound, and then it began to heal rapidly, as if the Naosu was having the intended affect.
"There we go," Sakura pulled some bandaged from her pack and wrapped Naruto's hand, "Leave that on to protect the new skin for a while."
"That was really cool, Sakura!" Naruto gushed after she was done, "Can you teach me to do that?"
"It kinda requires really good chakra control," she told him, "And yours... isn't all that great."
Naruto hung his head dejectedly, "Yea..."
"So..." Tazuna grabbed everyone's attention again, "Are we going on?"
Kakashi looked at his three students and saw he was outnumbered. Each looked ready to go on, and he doubted Naruto would ever forgive him if he wasn't given a chance to prove himself after both of his teammates had shown him up.
"Set up camp," he ordered, "We need to discuss how you're going to pay for this."
XxXxXxX
"What is it, Kakashi-san," Hiroto spoke into his radio, "Kinda tired here."
"Three days to Bikou will do that," Kakashi's voice crackled a bit, "Had a run-in with a couple of nukenin from Kiri. They were after Tazuna-san."
"Everyone alright?" he couldn't disguise the concern in his voice.
"Naruto took a cut from a poisoned gauntlet on his hand," Kakashi answered, "It's been drained and healed. Speaking of which, what made you think Sakura would be able to pull off that technique?"
"She already got it down?" Hiroto asked in surprise, "That was fast. Took me years to develop the control for Naosu."
"She isn't fully proficient yet," Kakashi replied, "I think Naruto's tenant was responsible for his hand sealing up."
"That's likely," Hiroto agreed, "He never gets sore no matter how much exercise he does. Are you going to go through with the plan? We weren't counting on shinobi."
"I would have a mutiny on my hands if I didn't," Kakashi told him, "I just hope this won't bite me in the ass."
"How much worse could it get?" Hiroto asked amicably.
"I'm probably going to run into some crazed swordsman willing to decapitate anyone in his way, now," Kakashi replied sarcastically.
"You said it, not me," Hiroto replied with a laugh, "Seeya, Kakashi-san."
"Yep," was the only answer he got.
Shaking his head, Hiroto leapt from the tall building he'd used to overcome interference on his high-powered radio. He used a small application of chakra in his hand to slide down the facade, then flipped to the ground to make his way to his small, out-of-the-way inn.
Bouki city only covered about half again as much ground space as Konoha, but it held nearly six times the population. For that reason, the buildings were mostly twenty stories tall or higher. Kakashi had directed him to a little inn near the docks that would give him good service with very few questions.
He hadn't seen any reason why questions would be asked until Osamu had started to glow after entering the city that evening. It was subtle at first, but as the sun set and the sky darkened, it became more prominent. By the time they got their room, people were openly staring in mixed wonder and fear. Hiroto couldn't blame them, the halo of light around the kid had been a scintillating rainbow that pulsed in time with his breathing.
He'd had the good sense not to make a fuss over it in front of other people. He was obviously the leader of the team, and if he had shown open worry about another shinobi glowing like a neon sign there would have been panic. Masaru and Hotaka seemed to either follow his lead or think it was normal. His radio had come to life just as he was about to question Osamu in their room.
He opened the door to their inn, a large house not unlike the Sakibou home. The old man running the place, a bent and shriveled thing that looked older than the dirt he was sweeping gave him a toothy grin.
"Might be needin' to charge ya extra for the two rooms," his voice was still strong despite his advanced age.
"What for?" Hiroto asked worriedly, "Did they do something? Was there an explosion?"
"Nothin' like that," the innkeeper waved his hand dismissively, "That boy, the glowy one, is attractin every damn sprite in the city. Friendly enough creatures, but mischievous as all get-out. Broke all me eggs, and poured out me saki."
"I... uh..." Hiroto was unsure how to respond to that.
"Think I'm crazy, doncha?" the old man pointed at him with a big smile, "That's alright. Rare that someone doesn't. The boy told you why he's doin' what he is yet?"
"No," the jonin answered carefully.
"I'm bettin' he's a reader," the old coot chuckled, "They get it the roughest. Worst I've ever dealt with was an ornery river spirit. He's gotta hear everyone in tha city, though."
"What do you know old man?" Hiroto asked curiously.
"Ahh! Got yer interest now!" the innkeeper let out a coughing laugh, "Nii-san was a reader."
"Was?" he echoed questioningly, "What happened to him?"
"Couldn't take all the noise," the old man became solemn, "Did imself in with a rope. It musta been rough knowing what everyone was feelin'. Maybe if he'd known your boy's trick he'd still be kickin'."
"I'm sorry to hear that," the younger man felt remarkably uncomfortable now.
"You look out fer that boy," the old man poked him in the chest with a knobby finger, "He's got a view no one else does, and that could drive 'em mad. You have a good night now."
The old innkeeper went back to his sweeping, and Hiroto climbed the stairs to his room. All was quiet when he passed the room Hotaka and Masaru were sharing, but there was a soft glow coming from his. Opening the door, he found all the lights out, and Osamu giving off a full blown light show while seated on his bed in the lotus position. He didn't react at all to Hiroto's presence.
"If I were looking to abduct some young shinobi with odd powers," the jonin commented while shutting the door, "You'd make an easy target."
Osamu just pointed up to some shelving above the empty bed. Following the line, Hiroto found Yancha's mismatched eyes regarding him intently.
"She heard you coming," Osamu explained without opening his eyes.
"Convenient that feline of yours," Hiroto walked over to the cat and began to stroke her long golden fur, "Where can I get one."
"Our familiars are only given to members of the clan," Osamu explained with a smirk, "Easiest way to get one is to marry in."
"Cute," his Sensei shot back sarcastically, "Why aren't you passed out like the other two stooges?"
"Can't keep this up while sleeping," he replied with a frown, "Can't sleep with it down."
"What is it you're doing exactly?" the jonin asked, "And why?"
"I'm using my chakra to reinforce my aura," the teen explained as if it were common practice, "It keeps all the... noise out."
"You really sense everyone around us now?" Hiroto continued to prod.
Osamu gave him a nod in response, "Not individuals. Past a certain point they just blend together. Like how you can't hear specific conversations in a crowd, but you still hear all the noise."
"That's problematic," Hiroto sat down on his bed and ran a hand through his hair, "I can't have you doing this anytime we go into a city."
"Masaru suggested I quit the Corps." Osamu told him in a subdued tone.
"Ouch," Hiroto replied with a wince, "That's a little harsh."
"He's just looking out for me," the boy immediately jumped to his friend's defense, "Hotaka and him have always had it in their heads that I need protecting cause I'm the smallest."
"What exactly would happen to you if you dropped your defense?"
"I already have a headache from what's getting through," Osamu explained, "I can still sense everybody within twenty meters. You, for instance, are extremely worried."
"That didn't really answer my question," Hiroto shot back wryly.
"I would develop a migraine," Osamu sighed, "The pain would probably grow until I passed out or went crazy."
"Konoha's got plenty of people," Hiroto commented almost to himself, "Why don't you do this there?"
"I do," the boy admitted, "In fact, the only time I haven't been burning chakra in the past four years has been when I was sleeping and for the past three days in the wild."
"Hmm..." was the only response he got.
Hiroto settled into a comfortable position on his bed and pulled his sketchbook from his equipment pouch. He flipped past all the disturbing images he'd put down in this particular volume to a blank sheet and began to draw something new.
XxXxXxX
"Well yall get up bright an' early," a leathery, middle-aged man with salt-and-pepper hair and deep brown eyes greeted them as they approached the docks, "Good mornin' to ya."
The sun was just beginning to peek over the horizon out on the ocean.
"You're Captain Kyoha?" Hiroto questioned. When he got a nod, he gave a shallow bow, "We thank you for the use of your ship."
The captian let a guffaw, "Easy there, ninja man. I ain't no fancy politician ya can grease up with pretty words. Let's get down to business. We got a problem."
"What sort of problem?" Hiroto raised a brow, "I was told payment had already been arranged."
Captain Kyoha waved his hand, "Forget the money. My damn crane crew is full o' idiots and burnt out the crane motor. We got the backup installed, but it can't handle the last crate... Are ya aware that the little one is glowing?"
"It's not a concern," Hiroto said immediately, "Show me to your ship. Maybe I can help with the crate."
The captain shrugged and led them down a long pier with many large warehouses blocking their view on either side. They finally turned a corner, and a massive ship filled their vision. It was at least two hundred meters long and sitting as tall in the water as the two story warehouses on the dock. The ship was painted a plain gunmetal gray that would cause it to blend in with the horizon, day or night.
"There she is," the captain said proudly, "The Kujira."
"That big thing?" Hotaka asked in wonder.
"No," Kyoha replied dryly, "The dinghy behind it."
"No sails," Masaru observed. Instead it had two large cylinders coming out of the top deck, "This thing is steam powered."
"Know a bit about ships, eh boy?" the captain mussed his hair, "She has two 20,000 horsepower steam engines and sixteen boilers. Luckily Fire has plenty o' coal to feed her."
"Where's the crate," Hiroto asked him. He had a mission to complete.
"Over there," the captain pointed to a giant box that must have weighed close to a ton on its own, "Don't see what ya can do when the crane can't even lift it."
"Set the crane up to get it on the ship," Hiroto told the man, "And find me some heavy duty work gloves."
The captain shrugged and walked off yelling orders to his crew. Hiroto began to strip off his flak vest and shirt.
"What are you going to do, Sensei?" Hotaka asked.
"I'm going to get us under way," the jonin answered after stripping off his shirt.
When he received no response, he turned to find all three teens gaping at him. Even Yancha was looking at him with interest. He looked down and realized they were staring at all of his scars.
"Inuzuka Hana," he pointed at one that cut straight across his abdomen. He then pointed out multiple smaller scars on his sides, "Mitarashi Anko."
"What?" Masaru managed to get out.
"Yamanaka Daichi," he pointed to a puckered scar on his shoulder, "Almost every scar is a person I've saved. A reminder that pain is a small price to pay for a life."
"You saved Anko-neesan's life?" Hotaka asked after a moment of wonder.
"I've saved a lot of people," their Sensei smiled, "It eases the guilt a little."
"Who's that ragged one on your chest?" Osamu asked curiously, pointing to a jagged scar that started just under his left nipple and ran to his side, "That one looks rough."
Hiroto rubbed his hand over the scar in question, and a sad look crossed his face, "This isn't from protecting anyone but myself."
"We got the crane ready ta go," Kyoha walked back up, "Got yer gloves, too."
Hiroto put the gloves on and leapt up onto the ship. He then proceeded towards the crane built onto the top deck. He spent a moment with the crew there, who were giving him looks ranging from incredulous to completely dumbfounded. After that, he climbed to the top of the crane boom where the lift cable dropped down. The jonin positioned himself so that he was hanging upside down next to the cable. He grabbed hold of it and closed his eyes in focus.
"Alright," he shouted down to the crane operator, "UP!"
The cranes motor kicked in, and the cable snapped taught. The crate didn't rise, however, until Hiroto began to tug the cable up hand over hand. Everyone looked on in amazement as the muscles in his arms bulged but didn't tear under the strain. Working with the crane, he managed to get the crate up over the railing of the upper deck. Luckily the crane operator had the presence of mind to actually do his job and swing the boom over the yawning opening to the hold. Soon, Hiroto was lowering the crate, and they heard it thud down in the cavernous hold. After the job was done, Hiroto just hung there, his entire upper body red and lathered in sweat from the extreme effort.
"You okay, Sensei?" Masaru called up to him.
"Yea..." the jonin panted out, "Just need a minute. How soon can we leave captain?"
"We'll shove off in less than ten minutes," the captain shouted, and his crew went scrambling.
XxXxXxX
"I talked to the crane operator," Masaru whispered to Hotaka in the small cabin their team had been given for the three day journey to Wave, "He said that crate was a little over five tons, and the motor was rated for four."
"You mean Sensei was lifting almost a ton?" Hotaka whispered back, disbelief evident on his face.
Both Osamu and Hiroto had passed out as soon as they had made it to the cabin. Masaru and Hotaka were trying to keep it down so they could sleep.
"Well... those ratings aren't exactly maximum capacity," Masaru explained, "But he was still lifting way past what anyone should be able to do."
"It's called chakra saturation," Hiroto said suddenly from his cot, making them jump, "As you use chakra, it permeates your system and causes changes."
"Like what?" Hotaka asked. He couldn't help but look towards the still sleeping Osamu.
"Nothing like that," their Sensei replied, catching the true meaning behind his question, "You'll find your natural strength increasing, blood clots faster, pain is easier to ignore... stuff like that."
"We never learned about that..." Masaru commented.
"That's cause we don't want washouts knowing about it," Hiroto turned over on his cot, "If you ever make it as far as I have, you'll be able to do things not possible for you now... even with boosting."
"Mmm... quiet," Osamu grumbled sleepily.
"I could use some more sleep, too," Hiroto agreed with the boy, "Why don't you two go bother the crew."
XxXxXxX
"You aren't tryin' ta weave some sorta hoodoo that'll blast a hole in tha ship, are ya?" a voice above Hotaka asked.
The teen looked up to see a black toothed, wrinkly, squint-eyed old salt with a blue bandana covering what was likely a bald head peeking over the lip of the crate he was sitting against in the hold. He sighed, not in frustration at the interruption, but with relief that someone had given him a reason to take a break from his hand seal practice.
"No," he replied with a smile, "Just practicing for when I do need to blow a hole in something."
"Well dat's good," the old man smiled back. A sight far more disturbing than any grin Osamu had given him, "though... from tha swearin' I heard, it ain't goin' so well."
"No..." Hotaka let loose another sigh, "I start out alright, but I mess up before I can finish anything."
"Maybe Furui can help ya," the old man hopped down from his perch and settled into a squat in front of Hotaka.
"Know anything about shinobi hand seals?" the boy asked a little sarcastically.
"Not a damn thing," Furui answered amicably, "But I do know about workin' with me hands. What could it hurt?"
Hotaka shrugged at the simple logic. He started the string of six seals again, naming them as he went.
"Tiger, Dragon, Hare, DAMNIT!" he shouted as his hands got tangled on Hare.
"Not sure what ya did wrong," the old sailor scratched his crotch, "But, looks to me yer goin' too fast."
"Their supposed to be fast," Hotaka said in exasperation, "A split second in combat can mean death."
"The same's true in a storm," Furui told him, "This big ole hunk a metal can weather some roughuns, but on a small two-master, like what I started on, ya gotta be able to tie off ropes with a quickness."
"I can imagine," Hotaka replied, not exactly sure where the old salt was going.
Furui pulled out a meter long piece of rope and began to tie and untie it in several different knots with blinding speed, "Learnt 'em all on me first ship when I was about yer age."
"That's pretty awesome," the teen told him with sincere awe.
"Back then, I was as likely ta hang myself from the riggin' as secure it," Furui laughed, "I fumbled me hands about like you did. Den the first mate, biggest ass I ever met, told me 'Slow is smooth. Smooth is fast.'"
"That's what Kaa-san said about my hand seals!" Hotaka said excitedly, "I didn't get it, though."
"That's cause yer stuck on the end," the old man replied, "When you oughta be focusin' on the start."
"What do you mean?" Hotaka leaned back against the crate.
"Yer thinkin' ya need ta practice where ya need ta be," Furui answered, "Yer fergettin' that ya gotta start somewhere. Slow down an' get yer stuff right."
He highlighted his advice by slowly making a fairly simple knot, "Can't move fast iffin' ya don't got the moves down right. Like yer big friend up top. He's been twirlin' that stick o' his about all slow like for hours cause he ain't got the moves all down yet."
Hotaka suddenly felt very dumb. He had never thought to treat hand seals like kata. He'd been practicing the axiom his mother had told him for years. She must have been laughing at him for weeks as he continued to struggle with the answer just in front of him.
"Thanks, Furui," Hotaka smiled at the old man, "I think you just helped me out."
"Glad I could," the geezer hopped up and wandered off whistling a jaunty tune.
Hotaka soon got up himself. He'd been at this for hours and felt the need for some food. Had he stayed for just a few minutes more, he would have heard his new friend yelp in surprise.
XxXxXxX
Masaru stared out into the foggy night lost in thought. He wasn't seeing the fog, but the blood and gore from his first kill. He and Hotaka had taken a meal together, and the lanky teen had asked him how he felt about the possibility of combat on this mission. Masaru hadn't been able to formulate an answer.
"Don't shy away from killing," his mother's words echoed in his mind, "Sparing an enemy could mean your life."
"Somethin' interestin' out there I don't know about?" the voice of the captain made him jump, "Thought ya ninja types were suppose ta be alert."
"Just remembering something," Masaru hedged.
"Aye," Kyoha matched his somber tone, "I know that look. Took me first bout yer age. A pirate tryin' ta gut me with a gaff hook if my memory serves."
"You were just defending yourself," Masaru looked back out into the fog as the captain worked to light a pipe, "Shinobi are payed to kill people they don't even know."
"What if I told you I had signed ta a pirate hunter," the captain smirked at him, "I signed up just ta kill the dirty bastards. Got paid good, too."
"Well..." Masaru considered that, "You already knew they weren't good people."
"Killin' is killin', boy," Kyoha told him sternly, "You can dress it how ya want, but at tha end o' tha day, ya still got blood on yer hands. The question is: Can ya deal with that?"
Before Masaru could formulate an answer, one of the crew came running up. A large shirtless man with long black dreads.
"Cap'n!" he said urgently, "We got a serious problem."
"They back?" the captain asked in response.
"Aye, sir," his man answered, "We found Furui's body in da hold."
Captain Kyoha's face tightened in anger, "That's tha first time they dared take one o' me men. They mean ta take the ship."
"Captain?" Masaru caught his attention, "What's going on?"
"Go find yer team, boy," he replied, "Bring 'em up ta tha bridge. I'll explain there."
This was hell to write for a while. You have just finished the third iteration of this chapter. I hated the other two. I might cite personal issues for delaying this one, but I just had the block again. Seems to have gone back into its lair for the time being, though. Updates will most likely be irregular and come as soon as I finish chapters until I can catch up... if I ever do.
EDIT: Totally forgot something, and now I'm feeling a bit like an ass. One of my reviewers gave me a great idea (chakra saturation), and I forgot to give him credit here. Lunar-Chakra was kind enough to not only discuss with me his own ideas, but allow me to make use of one of them. Thank you, sir. You are a gentleman and a scholar.