The Harem Jutsu
Disclaimer: I don't own the Naruto series at all.
Chapter 13: unexpected
A long silence fell. Naruto didn't know what to think. Should he be happy, or mad?
He stood up. He didn't have any facial expression. He looked at his feet and thought for a while. Kakashi and Mizuki looked at each other. They didn't know what to say either.
Finally, Naruto said something.
"Kakashi-sensei," he said emotionless. Kakashi looked at him.
"Why didn't you tell me?" Naruto asked.
"Naruto…" Kakashi said, but Naruto interrupted him.
"All those times you said I'm like Yondaime… And that I'm probably the only one who could surpass him… You couldn't even mention that he was my father?!"
Now he looked at him. "Why?!" he yelled.
"Calm down, Naruto," Kakashi said. "I never intended to keep it a secret…"
"Then why?!" Naruto yelled again.
"Naruto-kun!" Mizuki said. "Please, don't yell."
Naruto looked at her. "Stay out of this," he said.
Kakashi stood up. "Naruto," he said strictly. "You're angry with me, not her."
Naruto turned around, trying to keep his temper. Then he just took off.
"Naruto!" Kakashi yelled.
"Let him go," Mizuki said calmly. "If he's really like our father, he'll just need some time alone to think."
Kakashi looked at her. "Yeah, you're right," he said. The four year old girl was no more, indeed. She had grown into a kind, wise young woman.
He smiled. "You just said I haven't changed at all," he said. "But you have."
Mizuki smiled and slowly stood up. As Kakashi watched her standing up, he said: "And look at you. I'd never thought I'd see you like this."
Mizuki looked at him with innocent looking eyes. She blushed. 'It's strange, isn't it?" she said. "For us to see each other again."
Kakashi didn't answer, but Mizuki knew he agreed.
"A-anyway," Mizuki stuttered, "let's continue the training."
Kakashi looked at the direction Naruto went. So did Mizuki.
Then Kakashi sighed and looked back at her. "Alright," he said. "Let's try again."
Naruto was lost in thoughts as he walked through Konoha. So Yondaime was his father. The one he always looked up to was actually his own father. He didn't know what to think or what to do now that he knew.
Sakura saw him coming. "Naruto," she said as they almost passed each other. But Naruto was too lost in thought to notice her, and passed her. Sakura looked at him.
"Naruto?" she asked. She went after him. "Hey!" she said loudly. Naruto woke up from his thoughts and looked at her.
"Sakura-chan?" he asked.
"What's the matter with you?" Sakura asked a little angrily. "You just walked straight past me!"
"Oh… sorry," Naruto said. He looked back down. Sakura look at him.
"What happened?" she asked. "Is it the training?"
Naruto shook his head. "It's nothing," he mumbled. He didn't want to talk about it.
"Naruto…" Sakura whispered to herself.
Naruto looked up at the faces of all the Hokages in the mountain. He looked at Yondaime's face. The face he had looked up to for years. The face of the great man he wanted to surpass. But now, in the knowledge of that face being the face of his own father, Naruto just felt strange.
"You'll surpass him," Sakura said. Naruto looked at her. "I believe in you," Sakura said with a smile. "Kakashi-sensei believes in you. Even Sai – even though he doesn't really seem like it – believes in you."
Naruto smiled. "Thank you, Sakura-chan," he said. He looked at his father's face on the mountain again. He was determined to surpass him and become Hokage himself. He raised his fist and yelled "I'm gonna surpass you!" at the mountain. Sakura smiled at him first, but then looked around her. People were staring at Naruto. She forced a smile and apologized, while Naruto kept looking at the mountain as they walked on, still confused about how he should feel about this.
As the evening fell, Kakashi and Mizuki called it a day. They walked back to the village.
"Let's go get something to eat," Kakashi said. Mizuki hesitated for a while, but she agreed. Kakashi could feel the hesitation.
"Can I ask you something?" he asked.
"S-sure," Mizuki said.
Kakashi tried to walk a little closer to her. They were walking about 2 metres away from each other and he wanted to test her. But Mizuki flinched at a certain point and stood still. Her eyes were closed and she was shaking.
"That's what I wanted to ask," Kakashi said. "Are you scared of me?"
Mizuki opened her eyes and looked at him. She didn't even know that herself. Kakashi felt another hesitation.
"N-no," Mizuki answered, "why… why would I be…"
Kakashi took another few steps towards her. Mizuki quickly took a few steps back.
"You won't even let me come closer than…" – he looked at the distance between them – "… one and a half metres."
Mizuki opened her mouth, but she didn't know what to say.
"I… I'm not doing it on purpose," she said finally. "I do it automatically…"
"Why?" Kakashi asked. "There's nothing to be afraid of here."
"I just… don't feel comfortable around men, ok?" Mizuki said while looking away.
Kakashi took a better look at Mizuki. She still had bruises and scratches all over her arms and face.
He sighed. "I understand, but…"
"No," Mizuki said calmly. "You don't." She tried her best to suppress that fear. She tried not to think about it.
"I see," Kakashi sighed. He saw her shaking. "Let's go," he said. "I'll keep my distance."
Mizuki looked at him. She nodded. They went on their way.
After they separated, Mizuki went on her way to look for Naruto. She wasn't sure if that was wise to do, but she felt like she had to.
She found him pretty quickly. He was sitting on the roof of a building. She didn't know how to get up there, since she couldn't jump like shinobi could do.
"Naruto-kun?" she tried. But he didn't hear her. She decided to wait down here for Naruto to come down.
She waited for about half an hour before Naruto finally came down.
"Naruto-kun?" she asked carefully. Naruto turned around. "Nee-chan?" he asked surprised. "What do you want?"
"To talk to you," Mizuki answered. "And to apologize. I thought you knew."
Naruto looked down. "It's not you fault," he mumbled. "I just don't know what to do with this."
A long silence fell.
"I guess we're both a little lost, huh?" Mizuki said with a vague smile. Naruto looked like he didn't understand.
"What do you mean?" Naruto asked. But Mizuki shook her head. "Nothing," she said.
"You're a little weird, aren't you, nee-chan?" Naruto said with a big smirk.
"Maybe a little… otōto*," Mizuki said, also with a smirk. They were both laughing in that abandoned street. They had the same kind of laugh.
(*Otōto = younger brother)
"You should be proud, you know," Mizuki said after a while of laughing. "You're the son of one of the greatest men this village – no – perhaps even the world has ever known." She was full of pride while saying that.
Naruto thought for a while, but then smiled again. "You're right," he said.
"And please, don't be mad at Kakashi," she said. "He's your friend too, right? He'd never want to keep things from you."
Naruto's smile disappeared. "He should've told me," he mumbled. "Or Iruka-sensei, Granny Tsunade, anyone."
"Naruto…" Mizuki sighed. "Please forgive them."
"Why are you asking that from me?" Naruto asked, a little annoyed. "Who exactly are you, anyway? Kakashi-sensei's new girlfriend?"
"What? Hell no," Mizuki said. "I used to live here before you were born." Saying that felt strange.
"Well, we're in the current time now," Naruto said. "We're different people than the ones you've known. So just stay out of this, ok?"
"But… I just want you to be happy," Mizuki said disappointed.
"Why?" Naruto asked. "You don't even know me."
"It's a long story," Mizuki said. "I'll explain it all later. But I beg of you, please make up with Kakashi. Fighting doesn't solve anything."
Naruto gave an annoyed sigh. "I don't even know why I'm listening to you," he mumbled. Really, he didn't know. He did realize he recognized someone in Mizuki. Perhaps someone he knew a long time ago.
A smile appeared on Mizuki's face. "Thank you," she said. But Naruto just turned around and walked away, giving a little wave without looking at her.
"He's got Mother's personality," Mizuki whispered to herself while still smiling. Feeling kind of happy, she returned to her apartment.
The next morning, a weird sound woke her up. Was someone knocking on the door? No… No, that was not it. It was… the window? Was someone tapping on the window?
She opened her eyes and quickly sat straight up. She stepped out of bed, put on her pyjamas (she didn't like wearing them in bed) and opened the curtains. The first thing she saw was Kakashi, saying: "Morning!"
At first, she reacted by screaming and falling backwards.
"You ok?!" Kakashi asked behind the glass.
"What the heck is wrong with you?!" Mizuki yelled. "You almost scared me to death!" Her face was turning extremely red. Kakashi seeing her in pyjamas and with messy hair was embarrassing.
She quickly stood up and with a fire red face, she opened the window. She avoided eye contact with him.
"So… what are you doing here?" she asked.
"I'm just here to tell you the training will have to wait," Kakashi said. Now Mizuki looked at him. "Why? What's wrong?" she asked.
"Got a mission," Kakashi answered. "Kind of sudden, I know."
"What's wrong then?" Mizuki asked.
Kakashi just smiled underneath his mask. "Nothing for you to worry about," he said. "I'm going with Naruto, Hinata and Kiba. I don't know how long it's going to take. So… Will you be ok here?"
"Hey, you can't babysit me forever," Mizuki said with a big smirk.
Kakashi looked at her. Then he laughed. "Alright then," he said. "Well, I'm off."
"Come back safely," Mizuki said. Kakashi smiled one last time before he disappeared.
"'Come back safely'," Mizuki mumbled to herself. "Like we're a married couple." She gave a big, annoyed sigh and dropped herself back on the bed.
"There's a brutal murderer probably coming our way," Tsunade had told Kakashi. "This has been going on for years and now he's headed more and more towards Konoha. We need more teams to figure out where he is."
"Didn't they get any clues of whoever it could be?" Kakashi had asked her.
"No," Tsunade had answered. "The victims were killed in a way no one's ever seen before."
"What do you mean?"
"They were slaughtered into pieces… and no signs of weapons or physical violence were found. So how the culprit did it, is a big riddle to us all."
"And you want us to find out who it is?"
"Yes. Take Naruto, Hinata and Kiba with you. Hinata's scouting abilities are amazing and Kiba could track the scent of the culprit. However, no one has ever found any traces at all. But I faithfully believe in you."
"Yes, Hokage-sama. But… why Naruto, too?"
"Because a mission will keep him sharp. And most of all: distracted from his Rasen Shuuriken training. He refuses to stop trying to master it, so I'll have to keep him busy."
"Yes, ma'am."
"Hurry!"
Naruto was a little grumpy after leaving the village. "Tsunade-obaachan… I'll master that technique anyway…" he mumbled. Hinata walked after him. She wished there was something she could do to cheer him up.
"Stay alert," Kakashi said. "Hinata, do you see anything?"
Hinata used her Byakugan technique.
"All is clear," she said.
After 2 hours of running, they reached the spot where the last murder took place.
"Be prepared for what you're about to see," Kakashi said.
A terrible sight it was indeed. The body parts were still there. Hinata closed her eyes.
"The man who was killed here, has still not been identified yet," one of the research men told Kakashi. "This killer had left him with no face."
"T-this is…" Kiba stuttered. He felt sick, just like Hinata. Even Naruto didn't feel well, seeing this.
"You're Konoha shinobi, right?" the research man asked.
"Yeah," Kakashi answered.
"We've had other Konoha shinobi here and on the other sites where murders like this happened," the research man said. "They're probably guarding the areas around your village, right?"
Kakashi nodded. "Kiba, did you pick up a scent already?" he asked.
Kiba kept his eyes firmly closed while trying to pick up any other scents. Akamaru was also sniffing around.
"No," Kiba said. "No track of scent at all."
"And no signs of weapon usage, right?" Kakashi asked the research man.
"Right," he answered. "These murders are the strangest cases we've ever had."
"Could you tell me when the first one was?" Kakashi asked.
"First one of this guy? Let's see… first one was about… 10… no, 15 years ago, I heard. But it moved away from here, but now it's coming back our way."
"15… years?" Kakashi repeated. "Do you know where?"
"Near that old orphanage, not so far from here," an elder research man said. "I investigated that spot myself. Quite a blood bath."
He knew it. It was the same spot where Kakashi was brought after Mizuki had disappeared all those years ago. But that would mean… Could Mizuki by any chance know anything about the killer?
"Thank you," he said to the men. "That's the information I needed." He turned around and looked at his team. "Let's go," he said.
"What?!" Naruto yelled. "But we just got here!"
"I may know a way to find out more about the killer," Kakashi said. "Let's check that first, then come back."
Naruto gave a big sigh.
That's it for now. More chapters coming up soon ^^ Hope you enjoyed reading XD Seeya!