Disclaimer:
Naruto and its wonderous world belong to Masashi Kishimoto. Only original characters belong to me.
"Dialogue"
'Thoughts'
"And why are you miserable at this hour?" Sakura asked.
"Did you ever hope you'd be able to change something but no matter what you did the result remained the same?" He sighed over his breakfast.
"Are you really eleven?" Tsunami asked with concern.
"Is there something you want to say Naruto?"
"I've met the enemy today. The ice release ninja." He replied in a sulking tone.
"How are you alive? She knew whonyou are after all." Sakura was curious.
"We only talked. And it seems I learned how many things we have in common. Even though we were villages apart." He played with a small tomato on the plate.
"You shouldn't fraternize with the enemy dobe." Sasuke remarked.
"Aha. I'd see you not try when she had the hot next door neighbor vibe. And yet I still asked that question." Naruto bumped his head on the table.
"Maybe you should stay out of this mission Naruto. We don't want any complications." Kakashi looked at the blond.
"I'll be alright. Still it's a shame. If only there was a way to make them abandon this mission." Naruto mused.
"Well since they are bounty hunters then if we get rid of the client then maybe they'll run off." Sakura said offhandedly.
"Hmm. That gives me an idea! Listen to this." Naruto stated his plan to his team.
"It may work. But why do all of this? Kakashi asked.
"If you were able to change something in the past would you take it sensei?" Naruto looked at Kakashi. The room fell into silence as Kakashi sighed and left.
"What's his problem?" Sasuke asked.
"The pain of loss duckbutt. Sometimes its pretentious to think that we're the only ones dealing with heartbreak." Naruto also left the room leaving the rest in thought.
"We're almost there." A man with a cigarette said.
"Finally I'll be able to see Sasuke." Ino's eyes shone brightly.
"Why the long face Shikamaru." Choji said while eating a bag of chips.
"Has anything Naruto related been easy? So troublesome." The boy sighed.
"And yet you wanted to come here." Asuma their sensei remarked.
"As if I had a choice. This blonde wouldn't stop blasting us with nonsense otherwise." Shikamaru avoided getting hit by Ino.
"You'll behave when talking about your betters." Ino huffed while Choji kept eating his chips as to not get in trouble with either of them.
Suddenly Kakashi appeared before them. "Yo." He greeted.
"It's good to see you still breathing Kakashi." Asuma said.
"There ia a slight change of plans and I need you and your team to prepare something." Kakashi said.
"Oh. This should be fun." Asuma released a puff of smoke.
"How troublesome." Shikamaru grimaced.
Naruto and the gang were resting in the kitchen after their morning training when a crowd of armed bandits surrounded Tazuna's house.
"Get out Tazuna. We have a hatchet to bury in your neck." Some snake eyed man said making the men laugh.
Naruto and his team quickly arrived before the entrance. "You have five seconds to say your prayers before I flay your soul out with a rusty spoon." Naruto said in a menacing tone making the group laugh.
"You and what army?" Someone from the crowd yelled.
"Stand aside brat. We have business with Tazuna and his daughter. But if that pink bitch wants to join then we can give her a time of her life." They had lust written all over their faces.
Naruto's eyes narrowed. "Zero." Multiple yellowish chains with kunai shot through the water and impaled the crowd.
"Naruto, what are you doing!" Sakura closed her eyes from the góry sight.
Sasuke also felt uncomfortable seeing the one sided massacre. "You should've left at least one for interrogation." He said.
Naruto turned to them. "Mobs like them don't have anything of value. Best nip the bud before they come back with more people." He said walking into the house without looking back at the mess he caused.
"I leave you for five minutes and already there are dead bodies left and right. You could've at least take care of them." Kakashi said without batting an eye.
"That's what you have to say? How about telling him to curb his murderous proclivities." Sakura berated her now reading sensei.
"That my dear students was the normal amount of people we usually kill during bandit related missions." He said not looking at them.
"And I wasn't asking what's the normal amount but sending your lazy ass to talk to your trigger happy student with anger issues." She threw a pot at Kakashi making him disappear in a puff of smoke.
"Hmph. At least he knew better than to sit like a cold jackass." She said and wandered to pester Sasuke with her love once again.
"Are you glad at what you've done." Kakashi had a drop of sweat on his face. Many Narutos were currently practicing fuinjutsu while what he expected to be the original was sitting on his bed and reading some kind of comic not about ninjas. 'The audacity of my student.'
"You mean getting rid of trash? I'm not as unstable as Pinky thinks I am." He looked at the deadpan expression on his sensei's face.
"They were still human Naruto."
"And what do you want me to say? That I won't kill again? That I should mourn the death of my innocence? Which by the way has been gone ever since the villagers treated me worse than trash." Naruto said while casually changing the page.
Kakashi leaned against the wall "And yet your eyes aren't as clear as what you're trying to sell me here."
"Because I'm still afraid that I won't be able to save people that I want so desperately to live." He sniffled.
"Does that girl really mean so much to you?"
"Haku? Well that's one piece of the puzzle for sure. But after beginning this mission I've finally realized how truly fragile we humans are. We can succumb to death too easily." He trembled.
Kakashi sat down next to Naruto and put his arm around him. Pulling him closer as Naruto gradually calmed down with tears adorning his face.
'Genius he may be but still a child.' Kakashi thought about his life. A child soldier at six. Reaping life as if it were cabbages. But that was the norm back then. Ninja were expendable and had to endure.
After a couple of minutes Naruto finally said. "Thanks. I'm sure it was hard for you to cheer me up." He smirked at the slightly embarrassed face of Kakashi.
Kakashi patted Naruto's spiky blond hair. "Hopefully it helped." He said with his eye smiling.
"So did you meet the team responsible for supporting us? Naruto asked.
"They agreed. They'll try to infiltrate the building while we'll be fighting off the enemy."
"Good. It seems after today's mob we don't have much time. Maybe they'll attack today." Naruto mused.
"What makes you think that?" Kakashi asked.
"Haku was gathering herbs for Zabuza. From what I can tell they're the pain relieving variety. So the man probably isn't as injured as we thought."
"And he fears we have sent for reinforcements." Kakashi added.
Naruto tapped his fingers on the table. "Exactly. He doesn't have time to ponder. He'll attack as soon as possible. Maybe we should bring the fight to them?"
Kakashi thought for a moment. "That's a possibility. Do you have a plan." Naruto's eyes flashed with mischief making the sensei sigh.