Disclaimer – Kishimoto owns Naruto and the characters therein.
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Memories Of Others
Chapter 15
Discussions Of A New Genin
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Inari sulked his way down the stairs to where the new guests were having breakfast. As he heard their laughter and flowing conversations, his anger at their carefree outlook welled up inside him.
Taking a deep breath, Inari lunged forwards to slam open the door and make a dramatic entrance that would force everyone to look at him, but just as he reached the door, it was pulled open from the other side and Inari, deprived of the support of the handle, staggered forwards before landing on his stomach.
"Oh! Hey, this yours?"
Inari felt himself being grabbed by his shirt and lifted into the air.
"Gerroff me!"
As soon as his feet touched the ground, Inari spun round and glowered at the person who had picked him up. The whiskered teen simply grinned down at him.
"He's trying to be emo. That's so cute! He's nowhere near what Sasuke can do, he hasn't even got the brooding look down yet, it just looks like depressed pouting. Although I'll give him points for not having hair that looks like a duck's ass."
Inari froze as his plan to show them just how bad his life was shattered.
"Huh?"
"So, Naruto." Another voice said and Inari turned to see that the speaker was a bearded man. "You got the tag to put on the bridge?"
"One for the bridge and already got one on the porch." Naruto nodded. "I can move the old man between the two without having to worry about an ambush. In fact, I may pop back to Konoha and pick up some more tags, put them in strategic places, you know?"
"Not too many more." The man replied, leaving Inari totally confused. "I don't know how many tags are left, but we don't want them to become common knowledge. Despite Zabuza having seen you do that technique, that is."
"What are you talking about?" Inari burst out.
"Ninja stuff." A rough-looking boy with red markings on his cheeks grinned.
"Stuff like heroes?" Inari scoffed, trying to turn the situation into one where he could use the 'No such things as heroes' speech he'd been saving up.
"Heroes are those who stand up for what they truly believe in." The bearded man said. "Often, they die in the process, but their sacrifice can inspire others to take up the burden and continue on the path that they opened. Others die against impossible odds because no-one stood with them, but even then, they leave a legacy which may one day inspire those who saw what they did.
"Being a Hero is not something that one should aspire to and being one is a heavy burden indeed, but becoming a Hero is often the result of doing what is needed… of doing what is right."
Inari stared at the man in shock.
"Who are you?"
"Ah, yes, we haven't introduced ourselves, have we?" The man smiled. "My name is Sarutobi Asuma, one of the last two survivors of the Twelve Guardian Ninja of the Fire Daimyo before it was re-formed. This beautiful lady is none other that Yuhi Kurenai, the Genjutsu Mistress of Konoha…"
Inari let the introductions flow over him as he fought to understand Asuma's comments about Heroes.
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"Okay, I think we should sort out rotas." Asuma said after everyone had finished breakfast. "Kurenai?"
"Asuma and I discussed this last night and we both believe that Gato will not give up his attempts to destroy the bridge or kill Tazuna." Kurenai stated. "As such, we need to consider what steps he will take.
"The most likely option is a strike aimed at Tazuna, which is why three clones of Naruto will always be by his side. Should any threat appear, Tazuna can be removed to safety at once, thus freeing us from the need to protect him.
"Similarly, it is likely that Gato will seek to use Tsunami and Inari as hostages. Therefore, Naruto will provide another six clones to watch over them, but we will need extra guards to buy the handful of seconds needed. Therefore, teams will alternate between bridge duty and guarding Tsunami and Inari with us swapping at lunchtime, when Tazuna returns to the house."
"You will all wear these under your clothes." Asuma stated, passing metal tags to all the genin except for Naruto and Hinata. "If you go down, as long as you are wearing these, Naruto can get you. You will return them after the mission is over."
"Why isn't Hinata getting one?" Ino asked as she pulled out a piece of string and used the two holes at the top of the tag to thread the string through, making it into a necklace.
"I… already have one." Hinata said quietly, throwing a smile across to Naruto, who returned it. "Naruto-kun gave it to me…"
"Naruto-kun?" Ino pounced. "Ooooooh, you've been holding out on me, Hinata! We are so going to have some gossip tonight! How can I keep my position of gossip-queen of Konoha if you try to hide things from me?"
Hinata gave Naruto a pleading look and Shikamaru sighed.
"Ino, please stop being so troublesome. Your inquisition can wait until we finish this mission and are heading back to Konoha."
Hinata's look of imminent panic abated slightly as Ino nodded slowly.
"Fine." She sighed.
"So, Kurenai, do you want your team to do the bridge or the house first?"
"Ooh! I want the house!" Ino shouted. "I've been reading up on traps and I really want to set some up this morning!"
"I'll leave a couple more clones to help you, if you want." Naruto offered and Ino nodded, then grinned wickedly.
"Hinata, if you let him slip through your fingers, I'll gladly take him."
Naruto oofed as Hinata seemed to teleport across the room and into his lap.
"Wow." Ino gaped. "That is one heck of a protective instinct you have there."
Hinata hid her blush against Naruto's shoulder.
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"Whoah." Kiba breathed as the scale of the bridge became obvious. "That is one hell of a big bridge."
"That it is." Kurenai agreed as she hefted the tri-blade kunai that Naruto had given her, then threw it at the point where the bridge met the island. The blade penetrated into the road and quivered for a few seconds, then Tazuna appeared in a golden flash, surrounded by three Narutos, two of whom promptly vanished in clouds of chakra smoke.
"Whoah," Naruto managed. "That's a big bridge."
"You got that right." Kiba smirked.
"It's going to be the most super bridge ever once it's completed!" Tazuna stated with pride.
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The thin disk of stone sliced through the air over a kilometer above the ground scrolling past far below. Sat at the center was the one responsible for its ability to defy gravity while around the technique user, eight masked ninja sat, carefully spaced as to not unbalance the disc.
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"Someone pass me up the end of the wire!" Ino called.
"Here!" Inari replied as he picked up the small stone that the wire in question was tied to and hurled it up so that Ino could grab it. A moment later, the now-detached stone dropped down, then Ino landed on the ground.
"And done!" She proclaimed, looking up at the kunai launcher nestled in the branches. "If someone triggers that, they'll not only have to deal with a dozen blades slicing towards them, it'll also sound an alarm."
Inari squinted at the device, then his eyes widened as he saw the four metal discs balanced against the back where the recoil from the launching kunai would dislodge them, causing them to fall to the ground.
"Those discs?"
"Make very loud clangs when they land." Ino smirked. "I introduced Yoshino to it and she helped me set some up in Shikamaru's bedroom to wake him up early."
"And it was troublesome." Shikamaru grumped from behind them. "It took me almost a week to learn wall-walking just so I could deactivate that damned device."
"We put it in the rafters of his room." Ino explained in a loud whisper and Shikamaru frowned as Inari giggled.
"I've got the warning stakes!" Choji called as he lumbered up and Shikamaru took the first of the painted markers before hammering it into the ground so that only a handspan showed above the grass.
"Remember to stay on this side of the markers." Ino noted and Inari nodded, glancing round at the now-heavily-trapped trees, traps which Ino had decided that he should help set up so that he didn't have a chance to sulk.
"What about the path?" Inari asked.
"Sensei's placed several alarm tags along it." Choji supplied as he handed Shikamaru another stake. "He'll key Kurenai-san into them when she returns so that they'll both know if anyone's trying to get to the house."
"Wow." Inari breathed.
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"Fish!" Naruto called as he led a parade of clones up the pillars of the bridge, the clones holding several nets bulging with still-flapping fish. "Get your fish here!"
"How?" One of the workers asked. "Gato has boats all over the place to sink anyone trying to fish so that only he can provide food."
"About that…" Naruto grinned as he pointed down. "Do you want some new boats?"
The workers dashed en-masse to the railing and stared down at the two-dozen small boats being tethered to the bridge pillars, boats which had their original crews tied and gagged on the deck.
"Odd thing." Naruto grinned. "Those guys weren't prepared for a dozen clones to appear on their ships using shunshin and were easily subdued. I only lost fifteen clones all told."
"You took out Gato's blockade?" Tazuna gasped as he joined the workers.
"Well, the blockade on this side, yep." Naruto laughed. You know, if you have anyone who knows where Gato's ships are kept, I could probaby sneak aboard and take them from him."
"We'll keep that in mind, but I'd insist that you have either myself or Asuma-ku… san along with you." Kurenai said as she leaned over the balcony to look at the captives below.
"So, what do we do with them?" Naruto said with a shrug. "I mean, we could always kill them, but that'd be such a Gato thing to do…"
Several of the workers closed their mouths, their suggestions left unspoken.
"We have an old quarry that hasn't been used in over a decade." Tazuna mused. "It has steep sides and only one way out… I think it'll suffice as a prison if we build a wall around the top of the ramp."
A rumble of agreement met his idea.
"I can help with that." Naruto grinned. "Kakashi-sempai helped me to learn a technique to raise walls after I helped him test his team."
"Search and bring our new prisoners!" Tazuna shouted. "Kid, you're with me, I'll show you where the quarry is."
"You know," A voice from the crowd gloated, "If this kid keeps grabbing Gato's men, he won't have any left to protect him when we decide to after him for what he's done!"
"Keep grabbing his men, kid!" Another voice cheered.
"Kid?" Naruto mock-huffed. "The name's Uzumaki Naruto!"
"Let's hear it for Naruto!" The first voice shouted. "Na-Ru-To! Na-Ru-To!"
"Na-Ru-To! Na-Ru-To! Na-Ru-To! Na-Ru-To!"
As the chant grew, Naruto blushed slightly, then felt Hinata place her hand on his shoulder.
"I always knew that you were a hero." She whispered to him and Naruto smiled.
"Okay, folks!" He shouted and the crowd quietened down. "Some of you take the fish back to the village and make sure everyone gets some, the rest of you, let's put these creeps away!"
The cheering was so loud that Kurenai momentarily wondered if Gato had heard it from his mansion.
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The stone disc descended in the gathering dusk, coming to a gentle touchdown as Gato stepped out of the front door of his mansion.
"That was fast." He said as eight of the figures unfolded themselves from their seated poses and straightened up while the ninth one sagged.
"Gato-san." One of the masked Shinobi said. "We request overnight quarters so that our leader can recover from the energy she expended to allow us to travel here."
Gato looked at Kage.
"I believe that one of the barracks is still empty, sir." The former Post-nin said, correctly predicting his command. "I shall escort these honored shinobi there and see about providing sustenance for them as well so that they are in top form tomorrow."
Gato smirked.
"Excellent."
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A quintet of flashes lit the porch briefly, and Tazuna blinked.
"Hey." He said, pointing to Hinata and the three Naruto's surrounding her. "How come the kid's clones came with her when the others just sent us?"
"It's more complicated than that." Kurenai said as she knocked on the door. "Naruto?"
Naruto dispelled his two remaining clones and grinned.
"My clones dispel on arrival, unless I'm part of the ring." He said. "My teachers and I still don't know why, but I hear that they're using the same technique now as well."
"This is not very reassuring..." Tazuna mumbled.
"It works." Naruto shrugged as the door was opened by Choji.
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Authors Afternote - To the person who complained that I'm not following the path blazed by canon, I reply with the words Butterfly Effect.
Naruto getting educated properly means that the differences will pile up. The last few chapters showed that the differences were having a serious effect and the effects will grow larger yet.
Et sic discussione desinit.