AN: I do not own Naruto or any of it's characters.
And before I forget to mention it, in my story - all the Tailed Beasts will be of the same power. I know some people may have an issue with that, but I'm afraid I have the final say. I just can't wrap my head around the canon feat of half Kurama being equal to multiple Tailed Beasts, and here the number of tails a bijuu possesses has to do with the order in which they originated from the Ten Tails. They all have different abilities, which I will mention as we go along with the story.
My second alteration is Danzo and The Root. The Root are still going to be officially disbanded, and Hiruzen is still aware of their continued existence. What will change is Danzo's official role within the Leaf Village.
Another thing I have to address is how Naruto was treated by the village pre-series. Yes, they were quite shitty to him. But as far as we can tell there were never any attempts to sabotage his life by trying to kill, maim or hurt him in any way. It's a trope I see in a lot of fanfiction and whilst I do appreciate it is a writer's own choice, it is also quite cringe to read if the abuse is written just for the sake of it. Anyways, sorry for the mini-rant and here's chapter four.
Later that night
Burning houses.
Devastated cities.
Sobbing mothers.
Inconsolable children.
One after another, images of horrible and twisted scenarios flashed through his mind like a maelstrom tearing across the the ocean, attacking his sanity with each gruesome graphic.
He broke free from the cruelty and found himself awake and gasping clutching at his sweat-wettened sheets.
Naruto grasped his hair and rubbed his eyes, desperately trying to get rid of the images he'd just seen.
'What do you want?'
A deep, inhuman voice replied 'What makes you think you have anything I want.'
'Then why are you doing this? I thought we had an agreement.'
'You make it sound like we're equals. I decided on my own volition not to squander my time tormenting your pathetic existence.'
'Then what was this for?'
Naruto received no answer. He tore at his sheets, the sound of the threads being ripped apart doing little to sooth his aggravation.
He had no idea why the tailed beast would decide to do this, after all this time. As a boy, it had been exceedingly dangerous for him to sleep. The Fox would torment him with barbaric images of human suffering, most likely brought on by its own maliciousness. Naruto would be thrashing around in his sleep, begging and screaming at the beast for mercy, to get out of his mind and leave him alone. Those were the days he really bonded with Kakashi.
He suspected that he was thought of as a responsibility by the man prior to that incident - nothing more than an obligation to his sensei and teammates. Not be spoken with, only to be observed. He could remember the moment their relationship changed like the lines on the back of his hand.
Naruto had just gone through another nightmare dealt by the tanuki residing within him. His fragile mind could not bear the weight of the horrors he had just seen, and he clutched his head in his hands and began crying softly.
The next thing he knew, he felt an arm draped over his shoulder.
"Go away."
I n that moment, he wanted to be by himself. Or with his grandfather. And definitely not with this strange looking-man who would spy on him every now and then.
In response, the man enveloped him further within himself so that Naruto was in his arms, his head lying on the strange-looking man's chest. Naruto gave in, and cuddled closer, letting the man take care of him.
No words were spoken. No grand proclamations of being family or brothers were uttered. Yet, Naruto gained peace in that silence. (I hope that wasn't too corny) In those moment, a quiet intimate understanding was established between the two - an unspoken pact of brotherhood.
The next morning, Naruto woke to a strange sensation in his hand. He looked down and saw a cool shiny metal object enfolded within his palm, with a note accompanying it.
'Whenever you want to find me, just think of me and I'll be there.'
Some days later he met the man again, in his grandfather's office of all places. There, the two adults had a long chat with him about a lot of things - like why there was a giant fox in his head, why he was the only one not to have parents, or what his responsibilities were. And it wasn't much later that he was introduced to his godfather; who was his own bag of delights.
And Naruto did not regret it one bit. Even during the turbulent times, like when Kakashi or Jiraiya would be out of the village doing missions they could not tell him about, or especially when any of them acted like perverts. At the end of the day though, they were still a family. No matter how dysfunctional or unconventional, they were his family. And he would not have it another way.
He looked at his bedside table, where the first gift he ever received was, housed in a case. Of course, now he knew it was one of his father's specialised kunai for his Flying Thunder God technique and though of not use to him in the battlefield yet, he still preserved it as a reminder - of his loneliness, of the dark path he could have been on were it not for a geezer, a hermit and a copycat.
Getting out of bed, he changed his sheets and clothes. There was no way he could get sleep now, not after what his mind had just been exposed to. In his condition there was only one thing left to do - train. Not just physically, but mentally.
The self-satisfaction after pushing himself to his utmost limits was beyond comparison.
Except to the feeling of a belly well-fed and stuffed with Ichiraku Ramen.
Training Ground 7
For some reason, Naruto felt both safe and exposed in this part of the village at night. Being within the village borders, it was of course well-guarded. The danger was presented by the people doing the guarding.
In the aftermath of the Kyubi's disastrous attack, there was a vacuum of power. Not just by the obvious death of a sitting Kage, but by the loss of innumerable shinobi. Most of these were high-ranking officials, and many had important security jobs. Trying to replace these individuals with a depleted pool from which to choose would have been immensely difficult.
Until Shimura Danzo stepped in.
The old man had once explained to him the resourcefulness and importance of the man.
It had always struck him as being quite convenient. When the village was depleted of able shinobi, here steps in a wizened veteran to provide for his motherland's security and secure its future.
Sometimes, it struck him as too convenient. As if the cripple had waited for this to happen, and maybe even wanted it. But why? For a man so seemingly obsessed for the welfare of his village and people, why would he deliberately sabotage the village's defence.
In some mystifying manner, the elder brought in hundreds of new shinobi, all seemingly foreign citizens he had carefully and secretly honed over the years as a back-up reserve in the event of a calamity, like the one which had occurred.
To this date, the origin or names of any of these shinobi was still undisclosed, and Sarutobi's numerous attempts at an official enquiry into these mysterious forces never came to fruition. For better or worse, these strangers were here to stay.
These men and women were tasked with the night-time guardianship of Konoha, though Naruto suspected their actual work was far more diabolical.
In essence, these people had free reign over the village at night, free to do as they please. Which included spying on its citizens and reporting back to their liege, the only person in the village they owed any sort of debt or loyalty to.
Moving towards the centre of the field, he closed his eyes and concentrated.
All the background disturbances faded away. All that was perceptible was himself, and the presence of chakra around him. In the trees, in the leaves, even in the bees. But especially in the humans.
He zoned in on them, only to find a similar chakra signature on each of them. In fact, the resemblance was like-for-like. And that should not have been possible.
Even twins had some differences, hell even shadow clones did. After all, they were the result of a person's chakra being split into half, and no portion of a person's chakra was the same as another.
This was yet another conundrum about these people that he could not answer. And the thing was, why? Why go to all these lengths to hide these people? And from whom? From the very village they were protecting?
He sighed. People confused him.
Well, almost all of them. Some were quite easy to read. His teammates, for example.
Sasuke was nothing more than an avenger - a slave to his own lust for power; who would stop at absolutely nothing to obtain the power he so desperately needed to the man who slaughtered his clan. Talk about brotherly rivalry.
And Sakura. She, he tried not to look down upon so badly. After all, her misgivings weren't so severe. Sure, she was bewitched by their teammate to the point of mania, but Naruto had found that she was quite not so bad during their dinner last night, as long as her attention was not breached by her precious 'Sasuke-kun'.
Naruto looked around, sensing the lone person apart from him in this forest. He thought about approaching him, but decided against it. It was too risky - there were too many unknowns, and he had no back-up.
Even with his heightened senses courtesy of the Kyubi, he could neither see nor smell this person. It was almost as if they were not even there, almost.
Letting the person be, as there was no obvious proof of any ill-activity, he turned around and started warming-up, the hidden person going into the back of his mind.
The unknown person meanwhile, from their vantage point continued sketching a likeness of the boy...
The next morning
"If I see that wicked beast one more time, I swear I'm going to stick a shuriken up where it won't shine" Naruto grumbled.
Team 7 had just finished the Rescue Tora mission for the fifth consecutive time that day, and had dropped off the cat to its owners residence - who was the wife of the Fire Daimyo.
After having exhausted a boatload of chakra for shadow clones to capture the little rascal, Naruto was beginning to suspect the little monster was the descendant of a bakeneko (Translates into 'changed cat'. A bakeneko is an evil yokai - a supernatural creature).
"For once, I agree with you" Sasuke admitted.
Even Sakura was tired of the same mission over and over again, and she requested their sensei for a change.
"Is there not any other mission we can do?" she pleaded.
"Well, usually this particular mission takes up an entire day to complete, but since Naruto can pretty much spam the Kage Bunshin, I don't see why not. We can see what other mission postings are available."
They entered the Hokage Tower, and went to the Missions room. Inside, Iruka was sorting out completed mission reports from incomplete ones.
"Now I remember why I left active duty" he muttered to himself.
"Yo Iruka-sensei" Naruto greeted, striking the bell on his table, catching the man off guard and almost sending him falling back.
Iruka sorted himself out, and upon seeing Kakashi's team struggling to hold back laughter irked out.
"What are you here for?!" he snapped, the size of his head growing bigger and bigger.
Knowing what was about to come next, Sakura quickly handed over the mission report to him, hoping to avoid another one of his infamous 'Big Head' jutsus.
It worked almost instantaneously. Iruka's head shrunk down to normal size, and after a quick perusal of the document, he smiled.
"Congratulations, Team 7. That was the quickest 'Rescue Tora' mission in village history. Even the Sannin didn't accomplish this feat so quickly."
Sakura gushed with pride at this, and even Sasuke was satisfied to hear this. Only Naruto still remained ticked off.
"In fact" Iruka continued, rifling through papers, before procuring one. "Not too short after you returned Tora to the Daimyo's wife - her pet eagle flew in with a note."
"Let me guess, Tora escaped again" Sakura guessed.
"Indeed" Iruka nodded, pleased at his former student's deduction.
Kakashi intervened at this point, not liking the dangerous shade of red Naruto's face had become at the mention of the cat.
"I'm afraid we'll pass on that one Iruka. But, is there something else?" he asked.
"Well" Iruka stated, going through the pages for a mission request.
Kakashi saw the state of mess on Iruka's table and grabbed hold of a random paper, which turned out to a mission request.
Giving it a quick scan, he turned to Iruka. "How about this?" he said, holding the paper in front of him.
"That was already allocated to another genin team Kakashi" Iruka stated.
Taking a pen out of the pen-box, Kakashi shrugged, "I'm sure they'll appreciate the extra help", and signed his name next to the previous signatory.
"What's the mission sensei?" Sakura asked.
"There's been reports of robberies in the village market". Leading them out of the building, he expanded "Shop-owners closing their stores at night and returning the next morning to find the whole place looted. And our job is to investigate the crime scene for any clues and survey the area until nightfall."
"And afterwards" Sasuke pressed.
"We will be replaced by an experienced chunin squad, and then return and hand over our mission report". Seeing the disappointed look on the boys' faces, Kakashi gave them a stern look; "Strong as you both may be, you're still officially genin, not even a week into the job. D-ranks is all you'll be doing for the rest of the month."
Konoha Market
"This is troublesome" he muttered, to nobody in particular
If he had known that shinobi-life was going to be like this, he never would've gotten up from under the tree outside his house on the first day of school. Now that...wasn't quite so troublesome. Shikamaru could spend the rest of his days cloud-gazing. After all, it didn't require much effort, and it was pretty entertaining if he was honest. Lying on the soft grass, detaching himself from any worldly concerns and becoming one with Nature. The sound of the crickets, the humming of the birds and the assortment of clouds of unique shape and size telling their own stories.. It was quite intoxicating at times.
If only his mother didn't nag him so much.
Speaking of nagging, he could hear Ino in the back of his mind going off about not paying attention and whatnot, and he tuned her out as he rested his head back and analysed the shape of the clouds.
He quietly did just that until his other teammate interrupted him.
"Hey, who's that?" Choji asked with a mouthful of dango.
"That's Sasuke-kun and Forehead, who else?" Ino answered.
"Of course I recognise those two. I mean the people behind and next to them."
Choji pointed at them, "Look, the blonde and the grey-hair guy".
With great reluctance, he tore his eyes away from the skies to where his teammate was gesturing. Indeed, Sasuke and Sakura were there, and they appeared to be getting bigger. As were the two people along with them. Shikamaru's cloud-examinations had gifted him with a keen eyesight, and he narrowed in first at the person next to them.
"That's Naruto" he called aloud.
"Don't be ridiculous" Ino scoffed, "there's no way Naruto would ever quit that horrible orange miscarriage of fashion". There seemed to be a hint of animosity in her tone, and he wondered if she still felt some dislike from that last interaction at the academy.
Speaking of that, it seemed neither had Naruto. As they closed in, he could see a clear scowl etched on his face, making him look like eerily like a fox.
"No, that is Naruto" Choji corroborated, though judging by his face he too was confused.
"He seems quite different" their sensei spoke, pulling out another cigarette.
"Who's the tall man at the back Asuma-sensei?" Ino asked.
"That's Team 7's sensei. Hatake Kakashi".
They all took a close look at him, and he seemed more a lunatic than a shinobi, let alone a jounin.
Choji looked at him closely, and then turned back to his sensei "Is he stronger than you?"
"Yes" Asuma declared, no regret or doubt in his voice.
Now that piqued Shikamaru. The night after the formation of Team 8 his mother, under the threat of releasing his childhood photos, had forced him to ask his father about his new sensei - Sarutobi Asuma. His father too, had only complied under the same threat. But he had learned quite a lot, including how strong his sensei was. For someone to be stronger than him, well - let's just say they had to be pretty strong.
"Yo" the funny looking man greeted.
"Hello to you as well Kakashi" Asuma nodded. "How was the last mission?"
"Oh you know" the man answered cryptically.
Shikamaru saw the look shared between the two jounin, which he roughly translated as - 'let's talk about it later.'
Ino sized the man up "You don't look like a shinobi."
"Speak for yourself" Naruto interjected.
This earned him a dirty look from her, and he gave as good as he received, neither side willing to back down. The stalemate was broken by Kakashi, who guided his students away and presumably gave them instructions.
Shikamaru had a feeling his day was about to become even more vexing than it already was.
"How troublesome."
He was so going to get back at Kakashi for this later. Just last night, when Kakashi had come by with some Ichiraku takeaway - Naruto had told him all about that incident at the academy.
There was nothing unusual about this - what with Kakashi being a jounin and frequently out of the village, they would meet up at each other's places every now and then and catch up. It made for some good bonding, as well as some nice stories to tell Kakashi's kids; when and if he had any.
What he was cross about, was Kakashi was having a good laugh at his expense.
Naruto never forgot any insults, and the last person to insult him was Yamanaka Ino.
And his sensei, despite knowing this, still paired him up with her.
He approached her with no doubt as to how he thought of her, with a sour look on her face.
"We're heading to the Masamune (FYI: That's the name of a famous medieval Japanese blacksmith) Combat Utilities. That was the first place raided."
The two walked in an entirely uncomfortable silence, exacerbated by the physical distance between them; Ino because she didn't want someone to get the wrong impression seeing them walking with each other, and Naruto because of how slow she was walking.
"Keep up will you" he called behind him.
"Not all of us can walk as freakishly fast you" she bit back.
"Then again, not everyone has extremely small feet like you."
That did the trick. Ino walked forward in big strides, intent on stopping him in the middle of the road and giving him a piece of her mind.
Thankfully though, by the time she caught up they were right in front of their destination: Masamune Combat Utilities.
"Doesn't look all that much" Ino commented, taking in the small size and shanty appearance of the place.
"Wait till you get inside" Naruto advised her.
He led the way inside, the customary jingle of a bell indicating someone's arrival. He looked back at Ino, who seemed to be shocked at the setting around her.
From the inside, the place was thrice as big than it appeared from the out. And the set-up of the store was akin to a grocery supermarket, decked with isles of weapons, clothing and tools segregated by their type, such as long-distance combat, hand-to hand fighting, cold-weather gear, desert apparel and so on.
"Who's there" a voice called out from behind. A heavily-bearded, large-rotund man appeared with a pair of safety glasses around his neck.
Recognising the boy in front of him, he went to him and gave him a slap on the back.
"Naruto, it's been so long. It's nice to see you."
Naruto rubbed his back, remembering why it had been so long since he'd been here.
"Well you know, ninja life" he shrugged his shoulders, wincing at the pain it caused.
Ino broke out of her disbelief at their exchange, now looking at Naruto with surprise.
"You know him?"
"Well of course I do. He's the best weapons-maker in the whole Land of Fire. Any shinobi worth their trade knows him."
Ino caught onto the insinuation he was making, but decided to let it pass this time.
Masamune scratched his head, his cheeks flushed from the compliment. "Now now, Naruto-san no need for all that."
"Nonsense" Naruto affirmed, "you are the best. That's why all the Hokage himself cast this genjutsu upon your store."
"What genjutsu?" Ino asked.
Masamune's eyes twinkled in delight at her question.
"Nice of you to ask. See, as a weapons store we can't ever have enough security. Since most of the village gets their supplies from here, the Sandaime agreed to help out and he set an illusion. From the outside, the place pretty much looks like a dump".
"On the inside though, I don't even need to tell you how wicked this place is. Your reaction said everything by itself."
That much was true. The contrast between the exterior and interior of the place struck her like a bolt of lightning. But one question still remained to be answered.
"And how does the genjutsu stay active? I mean, even the Hokage can't have that much chakra, or any shinobi for a matter of fact."
Naruto turned around at this statement, trying to hide the smile on his face.
"I like you" Masamune beamed at her, "you're a clever kunoichi. As for how this set-up is maintained, simple - fuinjutsu."
"What do you mean?"
Naruto turned around at her question, always eager when the subject of fuinjutsu was mentioned, "Sealing jutsu. The ability to seal objects within another, most commonly inside a scroll."
She paid him a back-handed compliment; "For someone that spent so much time outside of class you seem to know a lot."
Naruto regarded her coolly, "And for someone that spent so much time inside the class you seem to know very little."
Masamune intervened, not wanting his store to be the host of an adolescent shouting match.
"Now now, play nicely kids. You're here on a mission, so do your job."
Both of them agreed and after a quick-look inside the store, went outside to look for a safe surveillance spot.
In the end, they arrived at the same place - a small eat-in not much bigger than Ichiraku's. Seeing as it was just past lunch-time and business was going slow, all but two of the seats had been taken away.
"Might as well eat something while we're here" Naruto commented, his stomach agreeing with him.
"We're supposed to be looking out for any suspicious activity."
"And if we stand here doing nothing we'll be seem suspicious."
Ino relented at his logic and stepped in, begrudgingly taking the only other place available - next to him.
A middle-aged woman in an apron and chef hat came to them. "Oh look" she gushed, "a young couple on their first date. Since it's your first time here, you each get your first dish free."
"We'll each take a miso ramen" Naruto requested, before Ino could interject and correct the lady.
She smiled and went into the kitchen. After the lady left, Naruto subtly looked around the area trying to find anything useful.
Ino, on the other hand looked murderous. "What the hell?!" she raged at him, "Why didn't you correct her?"
He answered without even looking at her; "Well for starters, it gives us a legitimate reason to be here."
"We already have a legitimate reason to be here - a mission" Ino hissed.
"That's only legitimate for us. I don't want the wrong sort of person finding that out."
"And what's the second reason?"
Naruto turned to look at her, a serious expression on his face, "We get free ramen."
Ino had to compose herself to stop falling to the ground in exasperation. She shook her head at him, "You're worse than Choji."
"Guilty as charged" he accepted and turned around, to face the lady with two bowls of miso ramen.
The lady placed their orders in front of them and clapped her hands together. "Happy eating, and I must say you two make for a very cute couple. I have to let Anata know that we're becoming a popular spot for couples!". (Anata is a term of affection for one's spouse, either husband or wife)
'If only Ami could see me like this' Ino shuddered, unconsciously edging away from him.
He noticed her movements and looked to her, "What are you thinking about?"
"It's none of your business!" she snapped, her cheeks pink from being caught red-handed.
"Suit yourself" he shrugged, and returned to his miso ramen, which he promptly began devouring.
Ino scrunched her face in disgust, "Can you not eat like a wild animal?"
"I'm sorry I offended your precious sensibilities, oh Princess." he monotoned with a dead expression on his face. "I'll make sure to bow to your every whim from now on."
"Hey!" Ino protested, "only daddy gets to call me-!"
She cut herself off at his incredulous expression, her cheeks turning pink at realising what she had just revealed to him.
He almost choked on his food from laughter.
"Your father actually calls you princess? And you still call him 'daddy'?". If they weren't on a mission, he would've collapsed on the floor from laughing so hard
"So what?!" Ino challenged, her cheeks flushed. "I'm his daughter, of course he'll say I'm his princess. Did your parents never-".
Ino stopped talking again, though for a different reason entirely.
Naruto's eyes hardened, and she fell silent, not wanting to worsen the situation. On his part, he completely ignored her, now slowly munching on his food, and occasionally looking around.
"Hey Naruto, what are you looking for?" she gently probed, trying to coax him out of his wall.
He had zoned her out, instead focusing on the little girl wearing a floral dress, making her way towards Masamune's. It seemed very strange, for a little girl to go unaided into a weapons shop, and on her own choice. He wasn't a misogynist, but he had only ever seen one other girl gravitate towards the ninja arts at that young age, and she certainly hadn't dressed so femininely.
Making up his choice, he placed a generous amount of bills on the counter and headed towards her. "Follow me" he instructed his fellow blonde, who eager in her efforts to make up for her gaffe did the same and went after him.
They slowly entered the store, kunai in hand and Ino immediately tensed up. There were sounds of a scuffle coming from the back, and her partner looked at her, whispering at her to stand by the door as he entered in. She nodded and went to her position. Clasping the door handle, she slowly unlocked and edged it open, and Naruto soundlessly slipped inside the room. Ino followed suit, and saw Naruto charging a masked figure atop Masamune's body. The person dodged the attack, and threw a smoke bomb onto the floor. Ino covered her eyes and ears, and by the time the smoke cleared the masked person was gone.
To her left, a window fluttered in the air, a record of their person's getaway.
Naruto gritted his teeth in anger, and that's when she noticed just how bad the store-owner had been hurt.
"Masamune-san!" she rushed to him, and her voice seemed to wake him up, and he groggily pointed around him, talking of an intruder.
She tried to get him to rest, "Please rest Masamune-san. The person ran away. But we have to get you to a hospital."
He agreed, and she somehow managed to get to him to the front of the store, and gingerly placed him on a chair. "Please wait here, I'll get Naruto and we'll take you to the hospital."
She went back to the room, where Naruto was staring at the wall as if trying to bore a hole into it.
"He needs to be seen by a doctor."
"All right, but something's not right here."
"I can see that, someone just attacked Masamune-san."
"For what reason? All the previous thievery was done at night, and there was zero collateral damage. This doesn't seem like an incident of petty shop-lifting to me."
"What do you mean?" Ino questioned.
She looked to the empty case of swords, "There, those missing swords - that's your proof of theft."
"There isn't much use to stealing those swords, they're mostly ceremonial and probably haven't been used in years."
Ino looked at him in confusion, "Then why did they steal those swords?"
"I think it was to trick us, to divert us from their real goal."
"Which was?"
"To kill Masamune-san".
She flinched at the indifference which he said that, and he struggled to roll his eyes in that moment.
"What now then?"
He looked at her hard, as if deliberating on whether or not to do something that he did not want to, and then he told her; "Take Masamune-san to the hospital. We can't let this person escape."
"And what will you do?". Seeing his determined expression, she protested, "You can't. We're just genin. That person could kill you."
As a response to her plea he turned his back to her, his eyes seemingly boring holes into the wall.
Ino shook her head in frustration and marched out the door, where Masamune-san was slowly recovering from his injuries. Gingerly helping him up, they moved out towards the local clinic...
If this plan failed, he was pretty sure he would be fried to death on the electrical chair, courtesy of one Yamanaka Inoichi, the foremost mind-walker and psychologist in the village. Inoichi disliked the term 'mind-reader', insisting that the mind was not a book to be read and ear-marked, but a journey to be experienced and travelled, from start to finish. All those fancy thoughts were nice and well, but if something happened to his daughter under Naruto's watch, and due to one of his crazy ideas, well...he didn't even want to think of the outcome.
That was why he crossed his fingers as she left the store, taking the injured to the hospital. Fortunately, she didn't make too much of a fuss, and when he heard the jingle of the door opening and them leaving, he let out a sigh of relief. Performing a tiger seal, he conjured a shadow clone and gave it the form of the little girl from earlier, the one that had come into the store and attacked the owner. He instructed it to follow them discreetly, and to immediately combust should any danger present itself.
With the clone following its targets, he closed his eyes and concentrated, focusing on the chakra around him for the second time that day.
It truly was remarkable, this ability of his. He had a theory regarding this talent of his: wherever there has been contact there must also be a trace. He could feel chakra of various people in this room, mostly likely prospective consumers. They were faint though, those sources. Some of the newer contacts, he could taste on his lips. And he searched for the most recent one, which too was fast eroding. He stumbled back in shock, the truth striking him like a thunderbolt.
The chakra was the same as the one from the forest.
What the fuck?
Someone was following them.
Hailing from a family of mind-walkers, and being the heir of said clan, Ino liked to think she possessed a certain clairvoyance. And that special ability told her that they were being followed.
She gripped the edge of her skirt unconsciously, feeling around for the weapon she had hidden there. It was one of the things drilled into her since she could remember: never leave the house unprotected.
She hoped that teaching would pay off, as she could sense the person coming closer.
"DUCK!" a voice yelled at them, and suddenly a force struck her, dragging her to the ground along with Masamune-san. She collapsed unceremoniously to the ground and caught a glimpse of Naruto moving towards the same masked figure from before.
It ended with the same outcome - the person used a smoke bomb; and by the time Ino had checked on Masamune-san the smoke had dissipated, only this time Naruto was nowhere to be seen as well.
She immediately feared the worst, though a moment later she heard Naruto jogging up to them from behind, looking at them with concern.
"Are you guys alright?"
She looked at him strangely, "Where did you go off to?"
He looked at the ground closely, as if processing something in his mind.
"I just tried to follow the attacker. Looks like they got the slip on me."
His explanation didn't make sense to her. Unfortunately, Masamune-san groaned just then, and they shifted their attention towards taking him to see medical attention.
Konoha Mail Depot #12
Sasuke was this close to tearing his hair follicles off. Hell, he was this close to burning his partner's stupid pineapple hairdo off. Seriously, who purposely made their hair like that?
Why he had been paired with lazy-ass Nara was beyond him. The pineapple-head had done nothing except lean against a window and stare at the sky all day long, with the same fucking blank expression all the time.
First Sakura, now this guy. It was as if the universe was making a mockery out of his life, hindering him with incompetent fools who did nothing but suck at his blood.
It was so, so tempting to burn off his stupid hair with a Katon jutsu, and so easy. And he was sure there would be very little in the way of ramifications. Sure, Shikamaru was a clan heir, but so was he, that too of the Uchiha. Although he didn't like using the privileges afforded to him, he'd definitely make an exception for the person currently grating on his nerves.
"You're being troublesome."
He tried not to make his feelings appear outwards, and he replied without looking at him, "We're here on a mission. Get up and do your job."
The boy snorted in response, "At least I'm not pretending to be working."
This time, Sasuke did look up at him, indignation burning in his eyes.
"What the hell are you talking about?"
Shikamaru shifted in his stance before responding, "You've been looking at the same journal entries for the past ten minutes."
"Well, perhaps I missed something the first time. And there could be mistakes in the entries."
"Highly unlikely. A job of this sophistication, they're unlikely to make such amateur mistakes."
"You sound like you've gotten to the bottom of these robberies."
"It's too troublesome to explain" Shikamaru grumbled.
"Not like you're doing anything."
"Well for starters, these guys don't seem to be common looters. They've targeted very specific locations - mail depots, weapons stores and food supplies. If I didn't know any better, I'd say these guys are here to stay."
Sasuke raised an eyebrow "You arrived at this conclusion based on such little information."
"It's not that difficult. I'd dare say they're shinobi, or at least ex-shinobi."
"How?"
"The first attack was on the food supplies - an indicator these guys were here to stay. Then, the weapons stores were targeted. And the final giveaway was the attack last night on the mail depots, particularly the fact that nothing had actually been taken from them."
It wasn't often that Sasuke found himself struggling to follow a conversation, and this was indeed one of those rare occasions. It wasn't so much as the rationale presented, but the presenter himself - a boy frequently in last during their academy days, now running rings around the Rookie of the Year with his logic.
Seeing the stumped expression on his face, Shikamaru begrudgingly expounded.
"What is the most important thing to a shinobi? Information. About their mission, their target, the environment, any small information so as to prepare themselves accordingly."
"Are you trying to tell me Konoha sends secret messages through the mail? Because that would be the very antithesis of 'secret'. Anyone can read that information."
"That's exactly what I'm trying to tell you. The messages are of course encoded, shrouded in innocuous phrases and sentences. Best to send them over post, where no one will suspect a thing rather than through a secret communication channel. Even if the messages were intercepted, how would they be deciphered? The risk of a secret channel being exposed would make it much more difficult to send messages to spies in the future."
Sasuke folded his arms, looking at the boy in front of him in a new light.
"And you know all this how?"
"The same way I know most things. My mother nagged me into asking my dad. Apparently the Jounin Commander must be aware of the workings of the village's spy networks. You wouldn't know though, from the way my father lazes around the whole day."
'Speak for yourself'
"So what are we looking for? All the entries match up, there's nothing suspicious."
"That we know of. The letters could have been switched around; or someone could have gotten the key to decoding a message sent through one of letters, read the letter, decoded the message and left, without anyone the wiser."
Sasuke wasn't pleased with the notion that he had been wasting his time and efforts all this long, "Which means that we were given this mission with the knowledge that we would achieve nothing of consequence."
"Not necessarily. I think the higher-ups wanted to see if we could find anything of substance."
"So this is a measure of our analysis and deduction skills?"
"Precisely", Shikamaru stretched his body, "and since you've confirmed that the quantity of letters is the same, we can get to working on what's within the letters themselves". He moved to a table, opening a letter and taking a pencil in his hand, and then looked at Sasuke expectantly.
"You do realise we're not supposed to snoop into people's private messages."
Shikamaru looked at him dead-straight, "I'm aware of that. Are you coming or not?"
After a moment's hesitation, Sasuke joined him and together they began inspecting letters for any notable words or phrases.
Shikamaru crossed a few words on the second line of a letter and looked at him, "This line doesn't make any sense. Here - 'We were delayed by a lot of puddles just outside Konoha'. It hasn't rained around here for the past few weeks, so how can there be any puddles?"
Sasuke nodded, "Indeed. Puddle could be a code-word for a mist ninja, or a Suiton user."
A few lines below, another term caught Shikamaru's attention.
He showed it to his partner, "Here - 'You have to try the Roasted Serviceberries they make here in Suna'. Serviceberries only grow in the forest, so how and why would anyone be selling them out in the desert of all places?"
They continued in this vein for quite some time, and before they knew it the Sun was slowly making its descent, and they were required at the Mission Office. They locked up the place and headed back to report to the Chunin-in-charge.
When they reached their destination, they were met by their respective teammates, who had apparently already given their verbal mission reports.
After a quick sit rep to their jounin senseis and the mission handlers (who very surprised and impressed by their work) they were promised their work would be analysed by the Intelligence Department, and were told to enjoy themselves at dinner and to put it on the Village tab.
Just before exiting though, they were advised by the Head mission handler - "Not to talk about your work today with anyone, even your own teammates."
Dinner was a segregated affair. Kakashi and Asuma were pretty much talking with each other, being the only two adults. Sakura and Ino sat next to each other courtesy of being the only two girls, happily exchanging juicy gossip stories.
An awkward silence soon fell upon the boys. While Shikamaru and Choji were thick as thieves, neither had ever actually spoken to their fellow clan heir, and as the years had gone by their interactions with the hyperactive blonde had dwindled down, courtesy of the boy spending most of his education outside of a classroom rather than inside.
For the two Team 7 members, the situation was even more uncomfortable. This was the first time they had ever met in a social setting, and both tried to avoid looking in the general direction of the other as much as possible.
Choji, being the wholesome person that he was, tried to break ice.
"Hey guys, how's it been going recently?"
He slumped in dejection at the stone dead silence his question was met with.
Shikamaru turned to his sensei in exasperation, "We're going to need alcohol. A lot of it."
This got everyone's attention. The girls stared at him slack-jawed, shocked that he would suggest something like this.
"Shikamaru!" Ino started.
"Don't start nagging Ino. It's alright for you two, but have you noticed how uncomfortable it's been on our side of the table."
Ino put her hand down on the table, moral fury blazing in her eyes, "And you think alcohol is the solution to that?!"
"He's not wrong you know" Naruto spoke up, "Alcohol lowers the inhibitions and causes the drinker to forget social barriers."
"Why don't you just admit you want to drink?"
He put his hands up in surrender, "Guilty as charged."
The two boys turned back towards the senseis, a hesitant determination in their eyes.
Kakashi gave them the one-eyed once over, before shrugging and calling for a waiter.
"Kakashi-sensei!" Sakura admonished.
"Don't fret Sakura-chan, a wise man once said that if you're old enough to kill, you're old enough to drink."
"Is this the same man who writes that garbage you read". The twinkle in her sensei's eyes gave her the answer.
Ino narrowed her eyes at Asuma "You shouldn't be so irresponsible. We're your students, and not even adults yet."
Asuma took a prolonged drag from his cigarette, "You're not my students."
Seeing her confused expression, he elaborated, "You're my soldiers, to do and kill as I tell you to."
That prevented any further dissent. The table grew silent, the genin taking in the implication of what they had been told, and nervously waiting for what was about to occur, and the jounin closely observing them.
Feeling their tension, Kakashi tried to test them. "Besides, by the time we were your age our kill-count was already in triple digits."
Everyone looked at him with varying reactions.
Ino, Sakura and Choji in trepidation of this revelation, while the other three boys looked at him carefully, searching for any trickery on his face.
"That's not a good thing, sensei" Sakura spoke up softly.
Asuma lit up another cigarette, looking at her at the same time; "Never said it was."
Thankfully, their alcohol arrived at that time, and a cup of sake was laid in front of everyone.
The jounin clinked glasses and gulped down their drinks in one go, looking to the waiter for refills.
Choji was surprisingly the first, slowly sipping the green liquid. He almost spat out the bitter taste out of his mouth, but somehow managed to hold on, and had a pleasant smile on his face after he finished the cup.
Emboldened by him, Naruto and Shikamaru clinked glasses like their senseis and drank in one go, coughing furiously as the alcohol went down their throats.
Not going to be upstaged by her teammates, or by Naruto, Ino did the same too, immediately regretting it as tears formed at her eyes from the sour tang of the sake. Following in her best friend's footsteps as she always did, Sakura too gulped down her drink, and soon the two girls were giggling and chatting amongst themselves once again.
Only Sasuke was left. He looked at the drink pensively, and with a hint of longing.
His mother had always preached to him to avoid the three shinobi vices - alcohol, women and money. But then again, she wasn't around to tell him that anymore. He looked around him, to the girls having a merry time, to the boys all hunched around a chess board, the previous awkwardness eroded by the influence of alcohol.
Being the loner that he was, he found it difficult to mingle with the others. Today was the first time he'd had a full-fledged conversation with a classmate apart from his blonde teammate, and even their exchanges were neutral at best.
But there was a part of his brain, the part that was looking at the joy and laughter around him with yearning, that kept saying:
'I want that'
Making up his mind, he lifted the porcelain cup and drained its content into his throat.
Ignoring the sting, he turned to the boys and laid a hand on Naruto's shoulder. "Hey guys, what are you doing?"
"We're playing chess. Asuma-sensei always has one with him. You want to play?" Choji invited him. (AN: I don't know the rules of shogi, so I went with chess)
"Of course". His anti-socialness blocked by the pleasant sensation of alcohol, he went further. "I used to play with my father all the time."
Naruto quickly spoke up, seeing the sombre look on Choji and Shikamaru's face.
"Let's play teams. Team 7 vs Team 10."
"Hai, Shikamaru accepted, and soon it was revealed to the male genin of Team 7 just how much of a genius the Nara heir was.
Thankfully, Choji was hopeless, and they were able to stay even. After a dozen or so games and a couple more cups of sake, the bill arrived.
They kept discussing amongst themselves the results of their games, analysing key positions and blunders.
It wasn't until Ino thumped Shikamaru atop his head that they realised the restaurant was about to close.
Looking appropriately ashamed, they quietly got out, red-faced and heads hung low.
"Maybe we should get Sasuke-kun drunk more often" Ino whispered conspiratorially into Sakura's ear, viewing the drunken stupor of the Uchiha with amusement.
Sakura's cheeked pinkened, her mind undoubtedly running through such a scenario.
Kakashi called for their attention. "Listen up now. Since the Mission Office was impressed by your stellar performance today, they've requested that we continue this assignment."
"That's great Kakashi-sensei" Sakura beamed.
"I'm not done yet" he said, and through the gleam in his eye his genin knew they were in for an unpleasant surprise.
"Tomorrow, we'll split up into the same duos as yesterday, and investigate new places. I expect you all to show up for your assignments at the mission office 6AM sharp."
It took their alcohol-imbibed brains a few seconds to appreciate the message, and when they did they all collectively groaned.
The other jounin spoke for the first time since they exited the restaurant. "I'm sure you guys can make your own way home right? There's something I have to do."
"Does that something happen to be the sensei of Team 8 Asuma-sensei?" Ino asked slyly.
"Of-of course not. Now quickly, go home and rest. It's a big day tomorrow."
Darting his eyes over Team 7 with the aim of damage control, he stopped at Naruto.
"Ino's home is on the way to yours right. I'd appreciate it if you could drop her off. I'd feel better."
Sensing the boy was about to revolt, he spoke over him; "In fact I insist."
And with that, he disappeared, only leaving behind a pile of leaves.
"Well, you heard the man. Choji and Shikamaru, your houses are close enough together, I'll trust you to get home safely. I'll drop Sakura home. Sasuke's house isn't too far away, and that leaves.."
"No way!" Naruto objected, folding his arms like a petulant child forced to do extra homework.
"Yes way. You were ordered by a superior officer of your village, and you will carry out the order. Besides, what kind of gentleman lets a lady walk home alone this time of the night?"
"I ain't seeing no lady here."
Before the two of them could get into it again, Kakashi grabbed Naruto's shoulder.
"What?" his genin looked up at him.
Searching for a reason, he spotted Ino's exposed arms.
"Aha. Give Ino your jacket."
"I'm not wearing a jacket" Naruto opposed, though he could see where the man was going with this.
The Hatake smiled at him, "The one you have sealed away."
Naruto stared at him with murderous intentions, before acquiescing and producing the jacket. He held it out for the girl, holding the jacket away from his body.
Ino slowly reached for the jacket, and donned it, fixing her long hair in the process.
"Well then, see you tomorrow", and with that Kakashi led Sakura to her home.
Choji and Shikamaru did the same, whilst Sasuke gave a silent smirk at the remaining pair and turning away.
She walked behind him closely, not wanting to upset him again.
' Kami knows I managed to do that this morning'
It was pretty clear he hadn't forgotten that, the way he so resolutely ignored her, walking straight ahead without looking back once.
It unsettled her.
"Hey Naruto."
Getting no response, she plucked up the courage to touch his wrist. That stopped him in his tracks. He turned back to look at her, and stared wordlessly.
"I'm sorry" she apologised, her eyes pleading him to accept.
He removed his hand from her hold.
"Apology accepted", and then continued walking ahead as if nothing had changed.
Sighing in frustration, she followed him.
Soon enough, they reached outside her home. He attempted to leave wordlessly, but of course that was not how things played out.
"Here, your jacket."
"It's alright, return it tomorrow."
And with that he started moving away.
Once again, she sought his arm. He turned around, with the intention of ridding himself of her, but then she went and looped her arms around his neck, hugging him.
He stiffened, not used to such close contact with the fairer sex, particularly someone as pretty as Ino.
"You saved my life."
His cheeks reddened, knowing that it was because of him her life was in danger in the first place. He tried to correct her, but then she looked up at him. The moonlight fell upon her, and her platinum hair turned a striking shade of silver. At such proximity, it was impossible to miss the fragrant aroma of roses that emanated from her. He looked her in her eyes, the moonlight dancing off her periwinkle eyes, inviting him to come closer. Perhaps it was the alcohol in his system that made him accept the invitation, and his arms unknowingly encircled Ino's waist and held her closer.
She gave out an almost inaudible gasp, enchanted by the way his blonde spikes was illuminated by the backdrop of the full moon. His cerulean eyes were arrestingly beautiful, and she found her leaning in closer and closer.
His breathing hitched, and she could feel his heart pounding against his chest. He closed his eyes, his instinct anticipating the contact.
Ino smiled at his reaction. '
Boys will be boys'
Her pride swelled at the fact that she was able to trigger such a response from him.
Her lips moved ever closer to his face, and she pressed her lips to his cheek, just to the side of his mouth.
Leaving his arms, she saw the look of longing and desire that haunted him, and turned around to enter her abode. She turned around to give him one last look, fleetingly looking at him before entering inside.
Naruto touched the spot her lips had been, mere centimetres from his own.
Now that she wasn't in his arms, and the fog of alcohol slowly cleared from his mind, he realised he had never told her the truth.
Looking up to see a light go on, he smiled to himself.
Some things were best left mysteries
AND that's a wrap for chapter 4. To this point, it's been the most difficult chapter to name, as well as the longest. How are my lovely readers finding the length of the chapters? Please let me know in the review section. If you like the story please review. It motivates me to write more and better content. I've been planning to add something else before the chunin exams, as I think 6 months is too short for team chemistry and individual growth.
I hope the direction of the story is beginning to be a bit more clear, as I slowly but surely put in hints about what's going to happen.
As always,
Stay Safe