To all Mass effect fans: I'm writing a mass effect story, for details check out my profile (Yes I hated the ending and yes I'm part of Rme3 and HTL)
I decided to post this chapter unbeta'ed as well seeing that no one gave complaints…yet. The next chapter will be checked out though ;)
I hope you'll all like this chapter and if you have any suggestions regarding my grammar etc. let me know!
Anonymous reviewers (might be wise for the other readers to read it over as well!):
Narutoluver896: I have some big stuff planned for the Leaf and none of it is very pretty I'll tell you that. However! There will be moments in the story where people will think that I'm abandoning the theme of the story which is ultimately Ghost/Naruto struggle with his ghost's from the past. (Or you could say the theme is split up between the fight against Reavers and Ghost's past.) But rest assured I won't.
I don't have a pairing decided at the moment but I can't see Ghost/Naruto pairing up with anyone of the Leaf. Also Sakura's emotional moment when she heard about Ghost/Naruto is an important part for the story.
Why? That's because when I read stories about how Naruto leaves Konoha I often read how Konoha 11 reacts very surprisingly and happy that he's back, which I agree to a certain point.
Sakura (in my story) in that case is no different, because she may have hated his guts at that moment; she was still his friend before the whole incident, as was Sasuke (no matter how you look at it). They had their laughs a lot of times but also they had their moments of grievance when Sarutobi died. Those moments I think define their friendship and to completely write it off during a single moment blind anger from Sakura and Sasuke's part is stupid.
That said of course they're not off the hook, not by a long shot and what they said that day will come back to bite them in the ass *insert evil laughter* (neither is Kakashi)
Alrighty that was a long response! :P if you have any further questions I'll be happy to answer them as long as they don't spoil the story.
Trigun: Glad to hear you're not giving up on me ;) I plan to make the wait worthwhile!
Funny you mentioned Hinata, because I have something in store for the three of them ;)
When I started writing this story I hadn't planned on Sasuke staying in the village, but Sasuke has a small part to play in the plot. So I had to give him a role to play during the story as well and at that moment I decided to allow Sasuke back in the group.
I don't merely want to tell Ghost/Naruto's story but I also want to tell the story from someone else's point of view and of course what happened in the past seven years (Sasuke is a part of that).
This chapter is a flashback chapter mostly but it won't go deeply into the past of Sasuke and the rest of Konoha 11. That arc is planned somewhat later and it will explain everything that happened so have a little patience ;)
Almost everything I write in this story I write it for a reason!
That was a very long A/N! now without further ado I present to you chapter 11!
Disclaimer: If I owned the story I would've made Naruto a super badass! But unfortunately I don't own Naruto; I just borrow the Naruto universe for entertaining purposes ;)
I Will Become A Ghost chapter 11
~Chapter 11 Selfish Sasuke~
Kakashi walked through the door of his apartment and kicked it shut behind him in a lazy manner, not even bothering to look up from his small orange book.
He slumped down on his couch and sighed. Things had changed so much the past seven years, and it seemed like Naruto's betrayal had been the start of it. After Sasuke heard that his blonde teammate had left the village he distanced himself from the others even more then he normally would. Sakura started focusing on her training instead of trying to get Sasuke's attention.
But what the silver haired elite didn't expect above all else was the forgiveness the rookies had eventually shown towards Sasuke and Sakura. The Yamanaka he expected but not the others.
Three years had passed when they had begrudgingly accepted him back into the group, he remembered Sasuke stepped up to him, apologizing for what he had done, he had told them that the reason that he had abandoned them was for revenge and told them about his brother.
It took a while and for a long time he had thought that Sasuke had completely destroyed the strange friendship he had built with them.
Sasuke spent a lot of uncomfortable times with the rookies together and it seemed that Sasuke was trying his best to make up for the huge mistakes he had made, So when the Copycat found out he almost let his perverted book fall….Almost.
However Kakashi wasn't fooled easily and he could still see the hate in the Uchiha's eyes, the determination to kill the man he once called his big brother. His little talk he had with him hadn't helped before his betrayal and it didn't work the second time he spoke with Sasuke about it.
Then again, the silver haired Jounin would lie to himself if he would've stood in Sasuke's shoes and simply turned his back to it. Though leaving the village wasn't what he would've done.
Yet, when word had spread that the Akatsuki was spotted in one of the major villages in the land of Sound roughly two year after Naruto's disappearance. Fear had gripped at the heart of Tsunade and had formed multiple squads which consisted of some of the rookies who had made it to Chunin and multiple Anbu squads as well.
Sasuke was the first who volunteered.
Kakashi knew what it meant, Akatsuki was looking for Naruto, it was no secret that Naruto had left the village and it was no secret that he even laid low for a short while in the land of the waves.
If Konoha knew, you could bet your ass that sooner or later the Akatsuki would as well.
Flashback, three years after Naruto´s disappearance.
Kakashi walked to the cliff and eyed the village below which how humorous it may sound showed a peaceful aura despite it being under Orochimaru's rule.
Glancing to his left he saw a determined Sasuke with an equally determined Sakura. Behind him were the other Rookies, though he couldn't really call them that anymore.
Turning his head to the trees that surrounded the village he barely saw one of the ANBU squads positioned there.
"Alright, the village is completely surrounded, no one will leave this village without us knowing it," Kakashi told the former Rookies. "As you know we're here to find and eliminate the Akatsuki agents. However, the only reason you are all here is because of your ties to Naruto and if Naruto is here you are our best bet in convincing him to come back."
"You got your ord-"It was then that the sound of an explosion filled the air.
Kakashi and the others snapped their heads to the village; they could see that smoke filled the air from small building that was mostly destroyed.
"What the hell just happened!" Tenten shouted.
"Did one our Anbu squads attack?" Sakura asked as she turned to her former Sensei.
"Unlikely, if I have to make a guess I'd say that our enemy has found their target." Kakashi said, his one visible eye narrowed, no trace of his usual laziness visible.
"You mean they found…" Hinata started.
"Naruto…" Sasuke finished, his face revealing no emotion. Though Kakashi knew better, the youngster was a genius in masking his emotions.
Kakashi nodded. "Change of plans, Sasuke, your with me we'll meet up with Yamato at second building on the left behind the west gate. The rest form up in squads of three and four. Make a perimeter in a close radius around the destroyed building, but do not engage anyone unless they try to break through."
Initially surprised Sasuke nodded and followed Kakashi as he sped up towards the gate.
The remainders split up into three groups and disappeared.
XxX
"Did you really have to blow up the entire building? All Itachi said was to draw their attention while I sneak out! Not blow something up in the progress while I'm still here!" Naruto shouted at the man.
The man turned around, his dark robe flapped around him. "Brat, you may earned Itachi's trust but you haven't earned mine, so shut that small mouth of yours unless you want me to rip you to shreds with Samehada!"
Naruto mumbled something about blue fish and a sword wrapped in toilet paper.
The blue Akatsuki member took a step towards the kid and glared at the kid as his killing intention leaked towards him.
Naruto froze and put his hands up in defense. "Calm down calm down!"
Itachi stepped towards the blonde and handed him a scroll. "You need to go, they have just entered the village, and from what my crow relayed is that there are multiple Anbu squads outside the village as well. The East gate is the only guarded by two Anbu squads; all other exits are guarded by at least three squads. Kisame you'll go with Naruto and make sure he escapes, we can't have Konoha find out what we're planning, and we know they're very capable of extracting information out of their prisoners," Itachi gave a small smile when he noticed Naruto's sneer. "Besides I doubt that Naruto-kun here wants to go back."
"You got that right, oh and Itachi, what's in the scroll?" Naruto asked, almost having forgotten to ask what the scroll contained.
"The scroll there contains a crow, and another scroll with an address and a couple of Katon jutsu's, with what you told me you'll find some use for it later. If you summon the crow and give him the order to return to me I'll know if you require my assistance and we'll meet up on the address that's written on the other scroll."
Itachi turned his head towards west part of the city. "They entered the city, you have to go now."
Naruto nodded and turned around dashing towards eastern gate, closely followed by Kisame.
"Brat, look," Kisame warned as he pointed to the east gate.
Naruto's eyes widened in surprise as he saw more Leaf Shinobi incoming, he quickly performed a henge to change the colour of his hair into dark brown; he also changed his hair from spikey to long hair tied into a ponytail.
"We have to get into the alleys; you kinda stand out, big guy!" Naruto shouted as he took a sharp turn and ran into an alleyway with Kisame right behind him.
Naruto hugged the wall and slowly turned around a corner and saw another alleyway that branched into smaller ones. "Perfect"
Itachi sat down on a destroyed wall of the building Kisame had blown up earlier. He looked towards the rooftops in front of him and noticed that Oto nin were fighting the other Anbu squads that did enter the village. 'Wondered why no one was investigating the explosion, now I know …Still, I doubt that this small detachment of Oto nin is capable of Anbu black ops with chunin and Jounin shinobi on top of that. '
"I should've known that you'd be here." A voice said.
Itachi casually turned his gaze in front of him. "Sharingan Kakashi…and," He smiled. "Sasuke…"
Next to Kakashi stood Sasuke who trembled in rage; his Sharingan active.
"Have you come to kill me little brother? I'll tell you now that you won't succeed, not even with Kakashi or with the Chunin level shinobi who have me surrounded. You underestimate me, Kakashi."
"You overestimate yourself; Sasuke here has improved a great deal and is at least Jounin level."
Itachi sighed and leaned with his head on his hand. "Is that so Sasuke? Well, Kakashi, you're an Elite Jounin while you're at least Anbu level. And you didn't even land a scratch on me last time."
"Where is Naruto?" Kakashi asked with blazing eyes, his Hitai-ate pulled up revealing his Sharingan
"So you're looking for him, well, you just missed him."
"What?" Sasuke hissed, barely able to keep himself in check.
"Kisame is pursuing him as a matter of fact, we almost had him until he," pointed to the destroyed building behind him. "Blew up this building in an attempt to take Kisame down, you should've seen Kisame's face." Itachi chuckled which was very uncharacteristic of him.
"You're delaying us! I should've known, all this time talking gave Kisame more time!" Kakashi reached for his headset when another explosion occurred just outside the village. "Anbu squads report!"
"That was your first wrong move."
Itachi appeared in front of him and gave a bone shattering blow to the copy cat's face who slammed into the ground. Using the momentum to his advantage he quickly swept Sasuke's feet away from under him and kicked him in the stomach followed by a Katon Hōsenka no jutsu, which blasted Sasuke through a nearby wall right into a dinner room where a small family were huddled close together under the table.
Sasuke pulled himself to his feet and sneered and formed a couple of hand sings at a fast rate before placing his hand in front of his mouth. : Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu!
Itachi mimicked the move and sent an even bigger fireball.
The two attacks collided against each other and for a moment and for a moment it seemed like a stalemate, but Itachi merely applied more chakra and it soon overpowered Sasuke, forcing himself to grab the table the family were hiding underneath and flipping it over, using it as cover, applying chakra at the same time.
Once the flames died down Sasuke stood up ignoring the civilians that were thanking him and clutching his pants begging him not to leave. Freeing himself from their grasp he jumped outside and saw that Kakashi was engaging Itachi in a Taijutsu fight, backed up by Lee and Neji who, apparently had decided to help them out.
Sasuke performed three hand signs and aimed his hand at the ground as lightning erupted around his hands. "Chidori…" He whispered.
Itachi noticed the sudden surge of chakra and grabbed Neji by the throat and slammed him into the ground, creating a small crater. The Akatsuki member dodged Lee's kick and ran in a straight line towards his younger brother.
Sasuke noticed his charge and became even more determined he gave a battlecry and tried to ram his Chidori straight through Itachi's heart.
Itachi in return dodged the attack but gave a short grunt when two Kunai were thrown his way, one imbedded in his thigh and the other nicked his side.
Using Sasuke's surprise against him he grabbed his younger brother's outstretched arm and threw him against the next incoming attacker, the Taijutsu specialist Lee.
"Hakke Kūshō!"The Hyūga shouted as he thrust the palm of his hand forward, towards Itachi's exposed back.
Sensing the focused chakra, Itachi quickly used Kawarimi and replaced himself with a piece of brick from the ruined building.
Itachi grabbed a handful of shuriken and threw them at Lee, knowing that the Hyūga would simply deflect them with one of their clan jutsu should he throw it towards him.
The Konoha traitor quickly duplicated the shuriken with shuriken kage bunshin no jutsu, though keeping his hands at his side and not uttering a single word.
Lee initially prepared for the small amount of shuriken took a surprising step back, not in the least prepared for the even larger amount of shuriken.
Not having enough time to dodge he grabbed a kunai and instead would try to block everything he could.
Noticing moments before due to his Byakugan, Neji jumped in front of Lee. "Hakkeshō Kaiten!"
Neji rotated around at high speed, creating a defense purely made of chakra, blocking every shuriken Itachi had thrown.
"Thank you Neji-kun, you have saved my life!" Lee exclaimed.
Neji panted lightly before straightening himself and nodded in response to Lee.
Itachi ignored Neji's interverence and instead jumped on a roof, effectively dodging Kakashi's Shinjū Zanshu no Jutsu.
"This fight is over" Itachi stated and turned around, jumping from roof to roof.
"I don't think so!" Sasuke shouted as he stood across from his older brother. He formed a couple of handsigns.
Kakashi, who had turned towards Sasuke, noticed the seals he made. "Sasuke don't! There are too many civilians in the area!"
Sasuke in return ignored him and brought his hand once again towards his mouth. "Katon: Gōryūka no Jutsu!"
An enormous dragon made purely out of fire charged towards the Akatsuki member, destroying every building in its path.
Itachi narrowed his eyes, before activating his Mangekyo Sharingan. "Amaterasu" Black flames erupted and clashed with the dragon before burning straight through it. Then as quickly as it started the flames disappeared, with Itachi nowhere in sight.
Kakashi jumped on a roof and saw that the village which was divided in three districts had only two left; a whole district had been destroyed leaving only rubble and bodies behind. Kakashi's eyes drooped in sadness. 'We did all this, all those innocent civilians, they're dead and Itachi still lives and we're no step closer to Naruto then we were before. Kakashi sighed in defeat. "Scout the town for Itachi or his accomplice! If you find them don't engage, relay your position and fall back!"
He received acknowledgements through his headset and saw them jump from roof to roof or running through the street. He turned to Sasuke who landed next to him. Without uttering another word he grabbed Sasuke by the throat and pulled him close towards him. "If you ever and I mean EVER ignore my orders or kill innocent civilians so that you can have your revenge…I'll kill you!" Kakashi hissed barely able to keep his rage in check. "You never, involve civilians!" and with that he pushed Sasuke away who slipped over the edge of the roof and fell on the streets.
Sasuke laid there for a couple of seconds in anger before closing his eyes in defeat, he nodded once.
XxX
Naruto jumped from branch to branch, Kisame beside him. "You think we were followed?" he asked the blue colored shinobi.
"I don't think so, we killed them before they could relay their message; all we have to do now is wait for Itachi at Oruca town as planned, and then we go our separate ways." Kisame said.
Naruto sighed in relief and nodded. "This was too darn close, but why the hell would Itachi give me the scroll if we were meeting up anyways?"
Kisame shook his head at the blonde's idiocy. "Because, Brat, he wasn't quite sure that he would made it out alive…"
Naruto in return turned bright red at missing that small detail. He scratched the back of his head and grinned. "Guess I forgot that even Itachi can be killed."
"Idiot…" the Akatsuki member mumbled. "Let's speed things up, we don't want Konoha to pick up our tracks."
Kisame almost doubled his speed, followed by Naruto who had some trouble following him.
"Don't tell me you can't keep up?" Kisame barked with laughter.
"Just shut up already…" The blonde grumbled with anger in return.
"They're not here Kakashi-sensei; they must've escaped the village." Sakura said; eyes cast to the ground in defeat.
Kakashi turned his eyes to the forest. Reports had come in that apparently the squads that were guarding the east gate were killed without having the chance to report in. "Expand your search to the woods, and gather the remaining members of Konoha 11 and tell them to scour out the nearby villages. One squad per village, tell them they will coordinate accordingly."
Oto's military force had been decimated, never standing a chance against Konoha's elite. If you were to look from a positive perspective than at least they had lessened Orochimaru's forces.
Kakashi grabbed his Hitai-ate and pulled it back over his Sharingan. He sighed and clenched his hands into fists and gritted his teeth. 'Where are you Naruto…Give us a second chance, give me a chance to explain!'
Yamato walked up to him and put his hand on Kakashi's shoulder. "Let's go, we've not lost him yet."
Kakashi looked to his right and gave an acknowledging nod.
End flashback.
Kakashi sighed and closed his perverted book. He stood up and looked out the window; he glanced down the street and saw two Hunters conversing before hastening towards the gate. 'Hmm, that can't be good' He opened the window and jumped outside, leave the window wide open, knowing that no one had the balls to break in his home, or any shinobi home for that matter.
He landed in the middle of street and headed to the main gate as well. He was soon joined by Asuma and Kurenai who had also noticed the Hunters sudden haste.
"I wonder what's going on." Asuma said aloud as he stroked his beard.
"We'll find out soon enough" Kurenai answered and pointed to the group of hunters who were standing and conversing at the main gate.
As they closed the distance Kakashi could make out Ghost's voice.
"Wha?"
"He got killed during the evacuation of Iwagaku. However, not all was in vain; we managed to get their next plan of attack." He threw Ghost a scroll who caught it and opened it.
Kakashi walked up and stood next to him, reading it over. His eyes widened in surprise and fear. "They plan to attack the Land of Waves?"
Ghost gave the scroll to Kakashi and turned around pushing himself past the small crowd that had gathered. "Itachi!"
Itachi appeared on a roof near him. "What is it, Ghost?"
"Get Kisame, We're heading towards the Land of Waves." Ghost said, his voice completely detached of emotion.
"Ghost! This not the time to plan revenge, we must strategize and coordinate with Konoha." Rome said. He too had arrived at the main gate at the same time the others from Iwa had.
"I couldn't care less about strategizing and coordination, Itachi, we leave in ten."
Itachi nodded and disappeared in a swirl of leaves.
Ghost resumed his path down the main street, not noticing Jiraiya walking beside him until he looked up.
"Jiraiya-sama, what can I help you with?" Ghost asked with a small tinge of respect in his voice.
"Hey there, I heard you were planning a trip to the Land of Waves, I hope you don't mind if I tag along?" Jiraiya asked with a ridiculous grin.
"Not at all, meet us at the gate in ten."
Jiraiya gave a wave and headed back to the gate.
Kakashi noticed the Toad Sannin. "You're going as well?"
Jiraiya nodded. "And you?"
Kakashi shook his head. "I will brief Hokage-sama and ask for multiple squads to be stationed there, including me."
Jiraiya gave him the thumbs up, "Hurry up then, the sooner we leave the better our chances will be."
Kakashi answered by disappearing in a cloud of smoke.
xXx
Kakashi rapped with his knuckles on the door that led to Tsunade's office.
"Come in"
Kakashi entered with a serious look on his partial exposed face. "Hokage-sama, we have a serious problem. The Land of waves is about to be invaded." He then continued to explain how they got the information.
Tsunade's eyes widened in shock momentarily but managed to mask it quickly." They'll use it as a staging point to directly attack us"
Kakashi nodded and stared at her, waiting for orders.
"Our defenses at the border of the Land of Waves are nowhere near enough to repel an invasion force of any kind. Kakashi, take two platoons and head there immediately, set up a defensive position and hold the line until we have properly prepared! Also make sure that every noncombatant is evacuated. Take with you whoever you need, dismissed!"
Kakashi turned around and jumped out of the open window, ignoring Tsunade's curses about using the door he headed for the barracks, where the main shinobi force of Konoha resided.
He quickly jumped from roof to roof until he noticed that Sasuke was catching up to him.
"Kakashi! Where are you headed?" Sasuke asked as he matched Kakashi's speed.
"The barracks, the Land of wave is about to be invaded, I want you to head for Neji and tell him to assemble his squad for a mission that might take us a few week to a month We're going to make sure that the Land of waves doesn't fall" Kakashi ordered.
Sasuke nodded and headed towards Anbu headquarters.
Xx
Ghost put on his black boots and tightened the straps. He stood up from the chair and looked to the bed where his weapons were lying.
His katana which was a gift from Itachi, which he found quite amusing, he always thought the young man to be cold blooded. He still remembered the words that had convinced him to leave Tazuna,Inari and Tsunami behind.
'You won't gain the strength you seek here. Break your bonds with this village; it will only slow you down. You must think like one of them, act like one of them, become one of them. Become the monster they all feared you to be…'
Ghost put his beloved facemask back in place which he hadn't worn the last couple days on request of Mayu to earn the trust of Konoha.
He smiled behind his facemask as he remembered what he had said to Itachi. 'You know what you're asking of me? To give up my humanity!'
Ghost shook his head at his childish remark he made. How foolish he had been. In the end he had thrown away everything that made him Naruto Uzumaki.
Ghost strapped the Katana to his back as well as strapping a tanto to both his legs. The blonde walked over to the mirror in the bathroom.
He looked at his reflection and placed his fingertips of his left hand on the mirror, with his right hand he grabbed his sunglasses and put them on. He could still remember the words he had said to Hawke.
'Naruto Uzumaki is no more, Only Ghost remains.'
(No Jutsu list this time, I'm lazy)
I hope you enjoyed the chapter and don't forget to Review; because my inbox gets spammed with favorite alerts but not so much with reviews (still I love those who do send! I know who you are!)
Y U no review?
Also for those who think Sasuke and Sakura got off to easily, remember what I told you all at the A/N at the start of the chapter.
I also will explain more about Naruto's sudden ability for Katon jutsu later in the story.
Until the next time ;)