Disclaimer: I don't own. Naruto nor its characters!
Chapter 3: Fated to Suffer.
I wonder who those men were! Sakura pondered as she went shopping. Earlier that day, she was perplexed how her existence could attract such powerful people.
That blond man! He looked a little bit like Naru— no! No way! Naruto can't have that much anger, let alone power. Sakura conflicted within herself. Endless streams of information rushed through her head, giving her consequent headaches. She didn't know these men, but they knew her. One thing was clear though. Either one, or all of them had seen a bit of her future, if not just a bit, then all of it.
The future was something she looked forward to knowing. She wanted to see if she, mainly, got married to her crush from childhood. No matter how many things she would accomplish in the future, it'd be so little compared to this particular one.
Second of all, she wanted to see if she became strong. Stronger than her current self. She despised herself for being so weak.
Did they know about my future from a prophecy? The Cherry Blossom wondered. I need to ask them directly.
"HEY FOREHEAD!"
Ino?
"Dear Kami! I've been calling you for like ten minutes!" The blonde girl, clad in purple yelled at her nemesis. "You're chasing the customers away. You've been standing in front of the Yamanaka Flower Shop for a long while."
"Oh! Sorry about that! I was just deep in thought." Sakura finally spoke out. "I was buying some food for Naruto in the hospital. I'll leave now."
"Sakura? What's wrong?" The platinum blonde noticed the mood that her rival was in. In her normality, she would have yelled out INO PIG and then exchanged some insults for a while.
"Nothing! It's just been a bad day for me so far ."
"It has just reached afternoon and you're having a bad day? Sakura never fails to amuse. Anyway, whatever you're going to do, I'm joining you." Ino rushed towards her shop before Sakura could retort.
A short while after, Ino returned to her rival who was waiting patiently outside, ready to say what she wanted to say before the Yamanaka rushed in the house.
"Chotto! Who said that I'll allow you to come with me."
"Ah! Don't think much about it, Forehead!" Ino retorted as she lit up in remembrance. "By the way, why are you visiting Naruto?"
"What? Is it wrong to care about your teammates?"
"For you, caring for Naruto, yes! Has it finally dawned on you that there are other nice guys other than Sasuke-Kun, not that he himself is that nice."
"You're kidding, Ino! Sasuke is nice he—"
"Apapapa!" The Yamanaka shouted out in a signal for her company to stop talking. "We're talking about Naruto, not Sasuke-Kun, remember?"
Immediately, the pink haired girl looked glum. She looked down as she walked, not saying anything for a while until her friend finally broke the silence.
"What happened, Sakura? You know that you can talk to me, right?"
Sakura looked up at her friend and slowly brought herself to speak.
"Naruto was injured, kind of. It'll sound strange but today morning, a man wanted to kill me." Sakura spoke up. "He told me something about not believing how someone as strong as me was once this weak."
The two girls both kept quiet not knowing what to think of in this situation, staring at each other in puzzlement.
"What!? What does that mean?" Ino shot out with her hands on her hips.
Sakura shrugged and looked up at the sky. "They must know something about me! Something beyond me and this time actually."
"They?!" The Yamanaka yelled out at her friend. "I thought it was one person."
"The other person looked as if he was trying to protect me. In fact, he knew me, but kept on wondering why I looked younger!" Sakura told her friend in confusion that spread over to her audience like a plague. "But he gave off an evil feeling when he was fighting the other man who tried to kill me. It was so sinister that I couldn't move. I thought I was going to die. He also did something to Naruto, who had come to help. Without attacking him, Naruto cried in pain and passed out. That's why I'm going to see him in the hospital."
"Stop! I'm confused." Ino took a short pause, trying to assess the information. "The other person, he wanted to kill you too?"
Sakura looked down in partial fright and guilt. She had yelled at the man who had saved him from the homicidal maniac because she felt scared around him.
"N-no! Well, he's scary, but no!" The pink haired girl stuttered out.
"Then there's no need to worry. You have a strong man on your side who has possibly seen you in a henge of your future self, and he's saving a maiden in distress." Ino squealed at the thought of that, making Sakura feel sheepish. "You're lucky! Now you don't have to chase after Sasuke-Kun."
Something that Sakura didn't want to hear was definitely that. Oh, no! Ino, you're not getting Sasuke, not while I'm alive.
"Don't get ahead of yourself, Ino-pig."
"What? If not, introduce me to that strong hunk. You can't have two people at once. Oh, three if you count Naruto in." Ino gave her rival a smirk, eyeing her from the side of her eyes.
Oh Kami! Can I ever get enough of this girl? A certain consciousness inside Sakura yelled out, as she picked an imaginary boulder labelled Ino, threw it up and smashed it with her fists.
"Where the heck did Naruto come from Ino-pig?" A smug smile then appeared on Sakura's face as an idea popped up in her mind. "Oh, I see! I can give Naruto if you want someone."
"NO! No! Never! You take him!" Ino shouted back almost immediately, stamping her foot down in the process.
"What if I told you that your dream guy behaves a lot like Naruto?"
"Ha! Nice try. You ain't fooling me. If you say that guy's strong, then they are polar opposites."
"Naruto isn't weak!"
Unexpected! Totally unexpected! Who knew that on Kami's green earth that Sakura would once acknowledge Naruto. NARUTO! Naruto, of all people. The two girls stood in silence for a while, unsure of how to proceed after that till Ino finally broke the silence.
"Huh! I'm I hearing well? Is Sakura acknowledging Naruto?" Ino joked around, her rib-tickler not actually doing its job though.
"Do I have a choice? I've seen what he can do first hand. In the academy, he sucked at fighting, throwing shurikens and kunais, and also ninjutsu and yet he never gave up."
The mood turned gloomy. Ino finally noticed that her friend was serious and she gave her a worried call.
"Sakura?"
"After graduation, I kept on convincing myself that he was below me, yet he kept getting better and better." The Cherry Blossom spoke out in a sombre tone. "In our first C-Rank mission to the Wave that turned to A-Rank, Naruto was the one who came up with a plan to save Kakashi-Sensei from the water prison he was held in while I, who was the top kunoichi in the academy, did nothing but watch their backs, both Naruto and Sasuke-Kun."
Ino was shocked at the revelation. She had heard about that very mission from the rumours among the Shinobi and she was convinced that Kakashi-Sensei had done everything, including defeating one of the notorious seven swordsmen of the Hidden Mist. However, not all was talked about.
"You're joking, right? If not, then the enemy must've been weak." Ino said in surprise, seeing that she couldn't have possibly stood up against him, whether in a team or not.
"It was one of the seven swordsmen of the Mist, Zabuza Momochi. Anyway, if I keep telling myself that Naruto is weak, then I'll never grow."
The same words resounded inside of Ino, who was worse since up to then, she had considered herself better than Naruto. The truth hurts, but it's evident, that's why it's true and no dream. Nonetheless, she kept a cheerful face in front of her nemesis.
"My! Sakura! Look how you've grown. I've decided too, I'll not lose to you in that case." Ino, with an evident pang in her heart, still managed to toy around with her friend. "By the way, come to think of it, what if that man who protected you is Naruto from the future?"
Ino's face lit up with the desire of seeing the troublesome blonde in the future. Is he still troublesome? Is he stronger? Oh sure he was. Sakura saw it. Has he become more good—"
"Stop joking around, Ino pig!"
Ino's thoughts were interrupted by the Haruno's loud opposition, a major bomb to her fantasies.
"No, I'm not! Think about it, Sakura! He knows another version of you, so I'm guessing that he knows an older you." The blonde began the debate in strength, desperate, or rather hopeful to prove her point. "That man who wanted to kill you also hinted at that. He said that you were strong in the future."
"But that alone doesn't tell me anything."
"That's what I heard from you, forehead! Tell me the rest that happened."
"Ah! The blond spoke of a certain Baa-Chan's technique to make me like this." Sakura placed her fingers on her forehead in thought.
"Baa-Chan? Naruto's grandmother?"
"He's not Naruto! Well, not yet!" Sakura yelled out. "Come to think of it, he used an imitation of Naruto's technique, the one that he used against Kiba, that he copied from Lee."
Ino jumped on hearing more good news on her side. "Aha! See? More proof is emerging saying that my postulate is correct. Aha! More!"
The pink haired girl concentrated more, bringing forth veins on her forehead in the process.
"What else? I could barely hear anything they said from when they fought. Um… oh yeah! I heard something about a war." Sakura brought her fist to her palm. "Yes! Something about being the hero of the fourth great ninja war?"
"You're ain't serious, right? A war?" The mind reader gazed at her friend in fright. Ino was suddenly thrown into panic. A war? Something that she didn't want to deal with sooner or later. "When? Where? Who do we fight?"
"I don't know, Ino?"
Ino paced to and from where they had paused their journey to talk more in detail.
"Let's find him! We shall know more that way."
One puff of smoke. Two puffs. Three puffs. Four p— where's the fourth?
The bearer of the cloak, the impenetrable wall that separated the village from villainy. Of course, not paying any attention to his age, he still packed a load of punches.
The old man sat in his chair, looking out the window. He sequentially released puffs of smoke from his mouth. Just for fun? No! Maybe, but no! To have something way over his head is quite rare for the professor. This time round, the new arrival just confirmed his definite worries.
It's been a long time since I did this. Ever since that time when I had just become Hokage. The old man with the pipe in his hands, deeply thought before smoking again. I guess it's about time that I hand over my position. I'm getting too old for this.
(Flashback)
"Why are you similar to Naruto?"
The old man asked the blond man in his presence. The pressure Hiruzen released didn't faze the time traveller at all. Instead, he stood stoic in front of him with no reaction at all.
'This man! He reminds me of Minato, but the energy he released earlier eliminates that relationship. It rather reminds me of—'
"Hokage-sama! However much I don't want to tell you, I believe that you already know the answer." The future Naruto spoke out.
"You gave off an aura today, one that brought up panic in the village, opened up closed wounds." The Third Hokage breathed in a chunk of smoke before exhaling it all out in one long breath. "Close to thirteen years ago, Konoha was attacked by the nine tailed fox and it took many lives including the village's rock, Lord Fourth."
The Professor took a slight pause to swallow some more white fumes. Naruto stood with all the respect that he could muster, trying to resist using the nickname that he dubbed him.
"If you don't know, the energy that you released is exactly the one people felt back then. You're throwing people of Konoha into panic and anyone who threatens my village, faces me."
"I have no reason, let alone any intention, to attack the village." The blond defended himself.
"Yet your actions tell me something else!" The Hokage's voice wasn't as friendly at all.
"But Jiji, you know who I am!"
There! He said it! He damn said it! He had resisted for so long. Since that was done, there was no way he'd go back to 'Hokage-sama!'
"I know who you are, not who you'll be, Naruto." The old man took a gaze in the darkness under his own eyelids as he sat down in his seat. "And the Naruto that I know would never release his intention to kill anyone, especially if he can control it."
Uncomfortable silence filled up the room. The two looked at each other for quite some time before the aged leader broke the stillness.
"So, would you mind telling me why you came here, to our humble time." The fatherly voice came back to the old man that the aged blond in front of him couldn't help but fight back quite a few urges.
"Someone from the future is after Sakura-Chan. I'm here to take him back to my time without him harming anyone."
"I wonder why they sent you. You seem too careless to handle this big mission yourself." The formidable Third smirked at the young adult in jest.
"Huh! What are you talking about, Jiji? I'm more than enough to do this mission. I'm even a hero right now. You wait! When we meet that time breaker, I'll show you my power."
"You mean that power that you used to scare the village with?"
"Yes, that one is too. But Jiji, don't say that! That was just, well, iwantedhimtofearandrunway?" Naruto muttered his words as fast and softly as never before.
"Haha! Exactly! If you knew how to apprehend your enemies, you would never have done that." The old man laughed calmly behind his desk.
"I know!" The big boy pouted as he expressed his sincere answer.
Another stretch of silence arrived, this time showing that things were tensing up again.
"So! What happens in the future?" The old man with his pipe lifted his eyes to meet Naruto's.
Naruto was shocked at the question. A man of such great intelligence, the well known professor of the hidden leaf, dubbed as the god of shinobi by some, was asking him about the future. That was something impossible, from the get go, Naruto expected that he wouldn't ask since he found out, unless it was a test.
"Jiji, you know that I can't tell you anything!"
"Why not?" The prestigious Kage fought back.
Naruto was stunned even more than before. Lord Third was insisting, awaiting the reply.
"If I tell you some things, they might change the course of the future. That's why I should always be careful about what I say." Naruto brought his point down to the desk, not that his Jiji didn't know.
"Of course, I know of those petty rules of the time stream and the likes..." The old man got up from his seat and looked through the window, his back facing Naruto. "…but if you really are from the future then you know that…"
Immediately Naruto's thoughts went into overdrive. 'Don't tell me that he knows about that. No! He can't know about his—'
"… I won't last long on this earth, not even two months."
'No way! How does he know?' Naruto stood in shock, pain and other cocktails of emotions, but most prominently, in surprise.
"Judging from your face, I'm spot on, right?" Lord Hiruzen took a small glance back with a sad smile on his face. Naruto's heart ached as he fought back some tears.
"H-how? How d-did you know?" The stammer couldn't be missed in his sentence. Naruto anxiously waited for his old man's answer.
"I ain't the professor for no reason, Naruto. I believe I know more about myself than anybody else!" After a few puffs of smoke from his mouth, he continued, "I mean, how can I know so much about the ninja world, the ninja arsenal that is at my fingertips, all that knowledge that I acquired, and yet I can't comprehend myself fully?"
"Then why ask?"
"I want affirmation that… MY WILL OF FIRE WILL BE PASSED DOWN TO THE NEXT GENERATION."
Naruto felt happiness, pride, unbelievable ecstasy as the charisma of the old man encapsulated him. Hiruzen Sarutobi had known about his disappearance from the world weeks before, and dear Kami how he would feel at the thought that his gift wouldn't be received pained him. Naruto Uzumaki of the village hidden in the leaves, thereafter was here to deliver the good news to him.
"Hai! Hokage-Sama!" Naruto stood up straight with a bright smile. The tears flowing down his cheeks didn't bother him since they were a product of pure happiness. Oh Kami did he feel proud of the old man. That was the mantle he was yet to bear, yet he still had so much to learn.
"Your gift was received well and good." Naruto continued. "Thank you, Jiji."
"I see! Thank goodness!" The old man refused to face the blond man. Oh, no way on earth would he ever see him shedding tears. The Old Kage adamantly refused to turn back in pride. A small sincere smile appeared on his face. "Thank goodness!"
"Oh! Cry baby Jiji!" Naruto couldn't help but notice the silent sobs from the Kage.
Sarutobi tensed up a little bit before looking back at him. Oh Kami, another tear betrayed him. The stoic man had his way of not showing a reddened face.
"Oh I had forgotten, I need you to go with Mr. Yamanaka to see through some of your memories." Lord Hiruzen, in payback, thought of the perfect revenge.
"Ehh! Nande, 'ttebayo!" The loud blond shouted at the top of his voice. "I thought you had understood me. Ah wait! Is this revenge for seeing you cry?"
Poor Naruto! He really didn't know what had ticked off the man earlier yet he continued to do the same.
"Would you perhaps like me to add on Ibiki?"
"No! I'm fine!" Naruto was completely shut down. He hated people who played on his mind and understanding. He was silently led out by two ANBU with his head hanging.
Hiruzen couldn't help but release a small chuckle.
'Good to see you, Naruto. You've grown well and strong.'
(End Flashback)
That was an unusual encounter, but it was worth it. The third Hokage thought as he heard a knock at his door.
"Come in!"
"Hokage-Sama!" A man with blond hair and a ponytail entered through the door and addressed his leader with a small bow.
"Anything?"
"Quite a lot and rather confusing, perturbing and perplexing."
"Fire away!"
"Hai Hokage-Sama!" Inoichi affirmed. "First of all, he's the host of the Kyubi."
Inoichi paused as usual, expecting questions from his audience. Lord Hiruzen remained silent for a while as all this was no longer a surprise to him, only to remember that he had to act accordingly.
"Explain!"
"Hai, Hokage-Sama!" Inoichi started his explanation. "On my venture in the subject's mind…
(Flashback)
…I had initially intended to access his memories, so I expected to see long film tapes of his experiences. As a matter of fact, I did see the tapes, but I couldn't see what was on them.
I was beginning to wonder which other clan could inhibit the Yamanaka speciality when I was moved to a certain space. There were no walls but only a single floor that extended to Kami knows where. Where I stood was a single light that glowed a light shade of orange, but could not illuminate the farthest edges of the space which were covered in pitch darkness.
The light then spread out farther to the edges of the room and slowly brought it into view.
Hmm? Greetings to the Yamanaka. What an unpleasant surprise?
I couldn't move! I was very terrified. I tried to cancel the technique but nothing worked.
My jailer here doesn't want you to know much about him, Yamanaka. Regardless, I only have one thing to show you as per his request.
I didn't know what to say back then, whether to show my regards or to demand for more. Though, I kept quiet and allowed him to take the lead.
This is the only memory you can watch.
I saw a total of five people in one room. There were people I identified to be Kakashi-San, Shikamaru-Kun, Naruto-Kun, Sakura-San and…
(End Flashback)
"… Ino-Chan, though they looked to be older." The Yamanaka said as he himself tried to comprehend what he had just seen. "Kakashi-San looked older as well. He had both his eyes and he sat at the Hokage's desk. The others addressed him as the Hokage."
"Hmm! Interesting!" The third Hokage could only say so much since he already knew the gist of the story.
"Yes, surely, but there's yet one more interesting fact." Inoichi lowered his voice to sound serious.
Lord Hiruzen narrowed his eyes, fixing his attention towards the middle aged blond, notifying him that he had gotten his attention.
"As far as my knowledge goes, every human sacrifice beholds a seal into which the beasts are held." Inoichi tuned down his voice and deepened it more. "This one had no seal or cage of any sort. It was as if the seal was open or wasn't there at all."
Sarutobi was truly shocked indeed. He might have heard about some rumours of people getting familiar with these beasts of legend, but not to this degree of completely removing the seal. Sure he had heard of the Hidden Cloud's human sacrifice (jinchuriki) who had achieved that and possibly thought it was due to the nature of the beast that they achieved friendship.
Never once had the nine tails collaborated with a being called a 'human' and yet here was a wonder boy, who twisted their warped view of facts.
"What a person we have in our custody!" The old Kage exclaimed.
"What should we do about him?"
Before the Kage could lift his lips, a small toad appeared in his midst carrying a scroll on its back. It didn't speak, but simply waited by the window. Hiruzen, meanwhile, approached the summon to retrieve his message.
"Lord Jiraiya's summon?" Inoichi inquired. "Anything that might be of help in this case?"
"Not really of help, but it's related." Lord Hiruzen explained to his company. "Though I don't think that you'll like it."
The Third Hokage threw the scroll towards Inoichi and he immediately skimmed through before saying a loud…
"EHHH!"
"Why did Naruto have to leave the hospital when he wasn't feeling well? I swear, when I see him, I'm—"
"Calm down, Sakura! He can do anything he wants." Ino interrupted her companion in their current adventure. "Besides, he has a match against that Neji. He can't relax."
The two girls walked through a bunch of trees looking for a chance of finding the blond. Earlier, they had gone to the hospital and found out that Naruto had already left. One of the nurses told them that he woke up just after Sakura left and ran away from there.
"But he can use some rest, especially after what happened to him." Sakura said worriedly. "He's against—"
"Shh!" Ino silenced the Cherry Blossom as she interrupted her speech once more.
"There's Naruto!" The blonde girl whispered.
Nice INO!
•••
"What is he doing?"
The two girls looked in surprise, witnessing their target in a pair of boxers only, in deep concentration with his palms together. There was an aged man with long white spiky hair sitting down next to him. Watching him closely.
Suddenly, the blond boy ran towards the river in front of him. One step on the water called for an automatic sinking.
"He's training to beat Neji? And he's still learning how to walk on water?" Ino asked in surprise. "There's no way he's beating him."
"Hey, Ino! Don't be that direct. You'll disappoint him." Sakura retorted. "Besides! He can surprise you. He's not the number one unpredictable ninja for nothing."
"If you say so!" Ino replied as Naruto swam back to the river bank. The two girls looked on as they witnessed an inaudible argument between the two. For a moment, both of them looked like kids.
Naruto went back to his pose. He placed his palms together in front of him and concentrated. For a moment, the two girls witnessed a certain mark on his belly before being creeped out by the old man who lightly touched Naruto's belly.
"Huh! Does Naruto swing that way?" Ino asked, her lip having a certain swirl upwards.
Of course not, but how can I say that especially with what we are seeing? You better have an explanation for this, SHANNARO! Sakura thought, her face having not much less than two ticks.
Their speculations were put on hold when they witnessed the old man, who had stood up, lighting up his fingertips in blue flames from behind his back which was facing the two girls.
Oh no! Sakura remembered a similar —if not, the same— technique that had taken Naruto out of commission during the forest of death trial after a successful display of strength.
"Naru—"
She had just let out a shout when the fingertips landed with force on the blond boy's belly, where she thought that she had seen something.
The blond boy was sent down rolling in pain violently. Just moments after, the two bickered once again before going back to their initial positions, Naruto in deep concentration and the old sitting down crossed legged near him.
"He doesn't give up, does he?" It was only moments after they had seen him terribly fail at the same thing he had just tried doing.
"He'll surprise you, you know!" Sakura looked at Ino from the side of her eyes, placing a sincere smile on her face.
"No way! This time he can't surprise m—" Ino stopped in her speech, her eyes widely glued to the boy with similar hair as hers in colour. "No way!"
Sakura, looking in the same direction, kept her smile.
"Meet the number one unpredictable ninja!"
The boy Naruto triumphantly walked, ran, wiggled, marched, somersaulted, name them all. As surprised as he should have been, just like the two current stalkers, his happiness overtook control. He jumped for a long time, eventually creating clones for the purpose of sparing.
"Wow! I'm… I'm speechless." Ino looked perplexed. She peeked over at Sakura who instead of surprise, had a warm smile on her face.
Not fair! Ino thought enviously.
Before the blond girl could express a fraction of her thoughts to her companion, a whispering voice spoke up from behind both of them.
"Now, what do we have here?"
The two girls screamed and jumped in fright. They looked back only to notice the Sannin standing right behind them with his usual laid back smile, later turning into a laugh.
"Haha! Did I scare you? Of course I did! You should have seen your faces."
"When did you know that we were here?" Sakura said, trying to ignore the man's laugh.
"The whole time. Actually, I was watching you watching me." Jiraiya explained. "Look!"
Towards the direction he pointed stood another, or rather the original Jiraiya instructing Naruto who had pulled out a large number of clones fighting himself.
"I didn't sense you at all. Are you a ninja?" Ino asked, incredulously.
"Thank you for asking! I am Myouboku Mountain's Monk of the frog spirits. Also known as the frog Hermit! Ji–raaa–iyaaaa – Samaaaa."
The two girls blankly stared at the man. How embarrassing it would be if they themselves did it. Damn, even the old man started looking ridiculous in his pose. He changed the subject to save him a great deal of embarrassment.
"You were talking about something about Naruto. Care to share?"
"Why should we tell you? We don't know you!" Ino bluntly stated.
"I saw you doing the same technique as the one of Orochimaru. How did you learn it and what did it do to Naruto?" Only had Sakura finished her statement when she got a sudden realisation.
"Wait a minute! Did you say Jiraiya? That Jiraiya-Sama! One of the Sannin."
"Took you long enough to realise." The man wasn't even pumped up at their realisation.
"If so, we can tell you about the situation…" Sakura spoke up. "…but on one condition!"
•••
"Hmmm! I see." Jiraiya went into his thinking pose with his eyes closed and his fingers stroking his chin. "You think he's Naruto's future self, huh?"
That's why I felt a familiar feeling. Well, the thought is so ridiculous that I wonder how they came to it, but it's an interesting one.
Jiraiya had his own way of doing things. He looked stupid at times, but his brain was always at a full hundred percentage at work, even when he was drunk. Nonetheless, he would still put on an act.
I've got to investigate this further. I wonder the turmoil that the little one might go through if his possible 'older self' attracts unnecessary attention. The white haired man thought.
"Baka baka shi! There's no way time travel exists!"
"Not that we were expecting you to believe us, but we've told you, so uphold your end of the bargain." Sakura replied with uttermost confidence.
"Hai! Hai!" The tall white haired man lazily replied with his eyes closed as he reached out for a scroll in his pocket and wrote something for about ten seconds. On finishing his message, he made some ninja hand signs after biting the tip of his thumb and placed his palm on the ground.
"Summoning Jutsu!"
A small frog appeared after the smoke slowly died out.
"Take this to the third Hokage!" Jiraiya told his summon as he tied the small scroll onto its back just before disappearing in the same way it appeared.
"Now just wait for the old man to call you!" Jiraiya turned to the two girls while standing up, intending to go back to his current student.
"That's it?" Ino exclaimed! "How can we know that you're not deceiving us?"
Jiraiya stopped in his tracks. He turned around, having a serious face, dark shadows all over.
"Well! Of Course…"
His seriousness suddenly changed to a comical smile, looking absolutely absurd in the eyes of his audience.
"...you cannot know that! Just wait, hahaha!"
The old man disappeared in a plume of smoke, suddenly reminding the girls that he was a shadow clone.
"Urg! He's just like Naruto! Why are we meeting so many Narutos today!" Sakura exclaimed with visible signs of anger!
"I hear you! What if the Hokage does not summon us?"
"Well, that means we would have hit a roadblock! We shall have to ask–"
Sakura's speech was cut off by a masked ninja standing on a tree branch above them to her left.
"Sakura Haruno! Ino Yamanaka! Lord Third demands your presence as soon as possible." The masked black op disappeared in a swirl of leaves after that.
"Well! He didn't lie! At least he's earned a bit of trust from me." Ino told her friend.
"True! But the response was so fast that it scares me." The pink haired girl responded. "I have a feeling that Lord Third might have some conditions as well."
"Arg! I might have been able to kill that girl if it wasn't for that damned hero!"
Akira, heavily injured in his gut, walked in pain while sequentially supporting himself against tree branches. He had been able to escape his current tormentor when he got distracted by his younger self. His belly was filled with blood that dripped from the wound beneath his tattered clothes. The rope that he had wrapped around himself, the same as the one he used in combat, was very worn out as if it had been munched by a big set of iron teeth.
"I need time to rest! Next time I'll surely get her." A huge smirk grew on his lips. "I too haven't yet shown my true abilities."
Just as he had finished his small monologue, he suddenly heard and sensed something in the nearby bushes.
Injured as he was, he managed to quickly squat behind a tree after throwing a sharp piece of his rope to the bush, getting another in preparation. He knew that he hadn't got it obviously because of his injuries.
A small squeaking sound came out from the bushes eventually revealing a small mouse. The little creature leaped back into its hiding place after exchanging looks with the scary faced man.
"Just a mouse, huh? Laughable!"
Jun stood up in pain and continued his painful trek in the forest. He reached out for his pocket and removed the smooth grey rock. He took a good glance at it before grasping it tightly in his hands.
I swear on my life, I will bring your killer to justice, Miko!
(Flashback)
"Hey Jun! Why did you skip out yesterday?"
Jun Akira, having a younger face, messed up brown hair turned to look at his comrade in construction work. He had a large build including his face with a big moustache and slight wrinkles on his face. He looked older than Jun and he indeed was, except that his strength was not something that the so-called elder lacked. From that he attained his nickname, Pawa, from the word 'power,' from his fellow workmates who concluded that none would dare challenge him to a clash of strength.
"A lot came up, Pawa-San!"
The young Jun replied as he gave his comrade and friend a fist bump before heading towards his station filled with a large bundle of timber waiting to be sawed, nailed, mention them. They were on a stationary contract of building a house for the new chief of the area who had come into power after his father had died about a couple of months before. Following the tradition from old times, the chief had to rename the village according to his own name, hence the small village was called Ikinoji village by the new chief, Asa Ikinoji. It bordered the Hidden Grass but was so small that it was often considered a part of it(The Hidden Grass).
"Like what, Jun? You know, you don't like talking to others about your personal life, yet you seem happy all the time. Why not brag to us for once?" Pawa said under the loudness of the banging of his hammer against a nail, not that he couldn't compete against it.
Jun glanced at Pawa with a disinterested glare for a moment who had also momentarily looked back.
"Oh come on! I always tell you about everything going on with my honey pies back at home." Pawa said before turning back to banging another nail on the same plank. "I'm sad that one of them has gone to be independent, but it makes me proud that she has a job being a nurse in Kusagakure."
"Hehe! They are not little girls any more, Pawa-San!"
"True, but they are still my girls!" Pawa exclaimed before stopping his work, focusing his gaze behind Jun.
"What's wrong Pawa-Sa–"
"Hey, you!"
A smooth soft comforting voice resonated from behind Jun himself, who was pleasantly shocked for a while before turning back.
There stood a gorgeous young lady looking to be a lot younger than Jun, except that one can never know. She had lovely brown hair that was tied into a single low ponytail. She had deep brown eyes that trapped every gaze into them, rendering her targets still like statues.
"Miko-Chan!" Jun sheepishly and happily exclaimed on seeing her as his friend, Pawa, managed to painfully suppress a laugh as he'd never seen Jun like that.
'–Chan? Yeah –Chan! He did say –Chan!' Pawa thought, imaginarily laughing out loud at the thought of Jun, Jun of all people saying that.
"Ah! You must be Pawa-San!" Miko turned over to the big guy, greeting him with a slight bow. "Jun-Chan talks a lot about you!"
"Ah! Really?" Pawa replied as he gave a sarcastic look to his comrade. "You really do jest, because the number of times that he talks about you, I figure, can't surpass any other subject that escapes his mouth."
"Ahh! That's so sweet!" Miko excitedly replied, turning to her husband with a bright smile. "He's a very good man and he's taken care of me a lot."
'Pawa-San! I know what you're thinking. Knock it off!' Jun thought as he put all his thoughts into his glare, which Pawa responded to by placing his hands up, and slightly smiling, sarcastically of course.
"What are you doing here? You should be resting. Remember what the doctor said?"
"I know! I know, Jun-Chan, but you forgot your lunch." Miko handed him a lovely wrapped lunchbox with a flowered cloth, which he received gracefully. "Who would you think would take care of us if you got yourself severely injured because you didn't have enough strength?"
"Fair enough!" Jun couldn't help but give a warm smile to his wife. "Thank you, Miko-Chan!"
"You're welcome, Jun-Chan!" The brown haired lady replied as she turned back. "It's time to go back home."
"No way! You're not going back alone, Dear!"
"I can handle myself just fine!"
"Maybe! But I can't risk it. I'll go with you!" Jun gave his suggestion that was utterly shut down by his partner.
"No! You have to work! I can't slow you down because of me."
Jun brought his hand and rested his on her left cheek which she gracefully allowed.
"I don't care about anything else if it's for you, for us!" Jun said. "How about you rest at the resting point of the builders until lunch break? Then I'll escort you back home then, when I'm not working. It's a win-win."
"That's a great idea. My daughter, Mira, can keep you company meanwhile." Pawa, after being ignored for too long, offered his suggestion.
After some deep thought, Miko finally agreed to their proposition.
"Alright! I'll do that!"
•••
Pawa looked over at his friend Jun, who was returning from the resting point, with a sheepish smile.
"What, Pawa-San?" Jun asked him, trying to avoid his sarcastic glare.
"Well, I have a lot to ask–"
"Yes, I have a wife! That's my wife and sorry for not telling you!" Jun interrupted Pawa, by telling him everything he wanted to know in summary.
"Hhmm! Now I understand why you are always so happy, I mean, having someone to send you off every day gives you a unique energy." Pawa said with his usual smile. "I don't care about you not telling me, rather, I'm the one who shouldn't tell anyone and I promise you that I won't. You must have your own reasons."
"Yeah!"
"Although if it comes at the cost of my life, I'll happily tell!" Pawa jokingly said, following it up with a laugh.
"Haha! Very funny!"
"Not at all! I value my life!" Pawa said sarcastically and continued. "But today, you were happier than usual. May I ask what happened?"
Jun stopped driving a nail through a plank with his hammer and smiled warmly.
"Well, today I found out that…"
Jun turned his head towards Pawa with the best of smiles plastered on his face and his eyes closed.
"...I'm going to be a father!"
(End Flashback)
"Huh!"
Jun woke up with a shock only to have a starry night sky behind some tree leaves greet him. He had slept till night, since as far he could remember, it was still day. He felt a sharp pain in his heart. Tears trickled down from his eyes.
"Just a dream, huh? Or perhaps a memory?" Jun silently whispered as the tears flowing down increased. "Not that I care if it isn't reality."
How unfair fate is! I know how futile my actions might be, but I feel I'll be less sad when I bring down my partner's killer. Jun thought as he sat at the root of a large tree, where he had unconsciously fallen into temporary slumber. How unfair fate is for not allowing me to change my own past! The number of times I've tried to change my past is numerous, but not even a single chance of success I've had. My bets remain with killing this girl. If I succeed, all is well, and if I don't, then I'll have had my revenge.
He heard something within the bush next to him yet again only for another mouse to come out of it. The mouse, on noticing Jun, escaped back into the bush with a solemn silence following closely behind.
"What's with this place? Why are there so many rats around?"
The brown haired man struggled to his feet, less painfully meaning that he was getting better. On standing up, a sudden realisation came to him.
"Rats! Don't tell me…"
Taking pieces of his wire in between his fingers, he jumped up and threw each in a thicket. Mice as many as two per thicket escaped from their hideout in diversion. He ran towards one, drew his ninja short sword and slashed one, only for it to disperse into black ink.
"Ink?!" Jun exclaimed. "I was careless!"
The brown haired man, in a rush, jumped to the nearest branch and began his ninja parkour in escape. He released his large ninja wire which seemed to have repaired much after his rest to exterminate the signs of inked animals in his way, since escape from these faithful summons was difficult.
"Damn! How could I have forgotten about that one, or rather, those ones!"
Just as he was thinking, in a split second, he was surrounded by about five ANBU. These ones had a different aura, a different sensation to them compared to the first ones that he'd seen. They had a certain resolve to fulfil the mission, and death would seem not to stop them either.
"You're surrounded! Surrender yourself while you still can!" The masked shinobi who seemed like their leader, in front of him shouted out.
Damn! I'm in Bull Dung! Jun exclaimed with a sweat on his forehead. I've got to escape. I have to think of a plan, even if it kills me.
"I guess that's it. It seems that you want war." The leader said. "No matter what, we shall take you to Danzo-Sama."
I knew it. Danzo's goons.
The 5 ANBUs attacked at once from all around him, not intending to give him room for struggle. Two behind him didn't give him a chance to hear them, but he had known that they would attack him first. Two swords approached to stab his back, only for them to be broken before reaching him.
"Hmph! Try Again!"
The two ANBU suddenly got into a fight with nothingness. Both got hits on the cheek and the belly respectively. After a slight withdrawal from the branch, they managed to find out that they were facing an invisible clone of sorts from the steps on the branches that were left behind. Their time for analysis didn't last as they were attacked rapidly by the enemy once more, managing to be able to just avoid critical hits due to a special sense of bloodthirst that they are capable of.
Meanwhile, the visible Jun got involved in a racing fight. He parkoured from tree to tree in the forest with the other three ANBU on his tail. He brought out a long piece of his metal rod, sliced it up and grasped it in the middle, causing it to become rigid and straight. He turned around and threw it as hard as he could towards his immediate opponent behind.
"Have a taste of that!"
To his horror, the leader of the ANBU, on turning around the corner, immediately saw the metallic rod approaching him. A side somersault in the air was possible for him after using a ninja wire that he quickly attached to a tree, pulled himself and gave him the force to get out of its way.
"Tch.."
The second ANBU, who was following closely behind wasn't so lucky though. The rod had no choice but to go straight through his chest and later pinning him to a tree.
One Down! Though, I can't tell how many are left! Jun thought as he landed on the next branch after throwing the metal rod. There are at least five of them now.
On turning around to resume his parkour run, the leader caught up and brought a quick stab to his chest with a kunai. Jun shielded the kunai with his arm, shattering the kunai fully. The fugitive drew his short sword to slash the leader's arm, possibly off, to gain an upper hand, but Kami knows where and how he got a similar sword to parry the incoming strike.
Urgh! I knew that these guys were troublesome! Jun thought as he ducked out of the way of an overhead kick towards his cheek.
The ANBU squad leader brought a stab towards Jun's chest, only to be evaded by performing a front somersault over him, landing behind the ANBU, back to back. On turning, he was met by a horizontal slash to his belly which he evaded by jumping back to another branch behind him.
These guys are fast. I can even put money that I turned almost immediately, but he already had a knife towards my belly. Jun thought as he was just landing on the branch. Calm down, Jun! You've got th–"
Enemies do not really wait for people to finish their thoughts, or catch phrases, do they? A sinister feeling of bloodlust came to Jun and not only that…
A kunai! When–!
Jun had just felt a piece of cold metal touch his neck when he almost choked on the same bloodlust that the wielder, the other ANBU, emitted. Jun quickly brought his sword upwards and slashed off the hand wielding the kunai, causing him the groan in pain.
Huh! That's unusual, how did I manage to slash off his hand!
The fugitive couldn't last in thought as the leader also brought his sword to decapitate him, but was yet interrupted by an invisible weapon that grazed his mask with a lot of force sending him to a tree stem along the same branch.
Jun reached out and grabbed the weapon that turned visible. After performing some one hand seals, the metal rod in his hand was clad in lightning. He threw it towards the ANBU squad leader at a very fast speed that his target could not avoid a critical hit to the heart at all.
That's two!
The remaining of the three ANBU brought a kunai to Jun's back, but he had suddenly become so sloppy and was easily predictable. Jun held his wrist, twisted it making him throw his kunai, held the back of his head and brought his face strongly to his knee, shattering the mask in the process. The combination of attacks was followed by a sweep to his feet, sending him down onto the branch.
Jun finally brought the kunai to his heart to end him, but noticed the face under the mask. It was a 'her' not a 'him' for starters and most of all, she showed a face seeking vengeance.
Now that's rare to see an ANBU, especially from root, to show emotion! Jun thought, forgetting his initial intention for a brief moment.
The ANBU lady wrapped her legs around his arm, putting it in a devastating arm lock. Jun yelled in pain as he felt his shoulder almost dislocating. Meanwhile he took a quick glance at her face that still showed revenge and tears rushing down from her eyes.
I see! She's like me! I killed someone that she loved! Jun realised after relating to himself. No wonder her movements became sloppy.
"I'm sorry for what I did!" Jun stopped struggling as he looked downcast. "I know that you want vengeance, but so do I. The best course of action for you, is to die, since living with vengeance is a prison itself, and I won't let you kill me as well."
The ANBU's grip weakened. Out of grief? Or maybe out of lack of strength? Only her and Kami knew. She began sobbing as Jun brought his rod towards her heart.
"I'm really sorry, but I'm doing you a favour and correcting my mistake as well." Jun said only to realise that his body could not move. Crap! I forgot about the other three. I've been wrapped in ninja wire.
Looking over to the ANBU that he was yet to kill, he saw her completely immobilised with strange markings around her face spreading over to the rest of her body. He sensed no life out of her and for a moment he felt relieved.
So that's how Danzo kills those that he no longer needs, huh? Jun said to himself while shifting his attention to the other three ANBU. He saw the two ninja that he left his clone to fight and another who was a kid.
To think that this kid was this deadly. His espionage skills are greater than any ordinary ninja. The fugitive thought till he realised that he was in a pinch. Damn! I'm dead meat.
The kid brought out his scroll and brush, scribbled some drawings on it and performed some hand signs.
"Ninja Art: Super Beast Scroll!"
(And Cut!
Greetings!
Sorry for not posting in a while. Studies are tight!
I know that this one in particular has been long, but trust me that I even had to remove some things to make it a bit shorter.
Anyway, please enjoy!
Peace Comrades!)