Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ Forgotten Ties ❯ Homecoming II ( Chapter 9 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

Chapter 9: Homecoming II

Sasuke narrowed his suspicious eyes at his collaborator standing relatively still in front of the cenotaph. From the way her attention was concentrated on the monument, Sasuke couldn't tell whether she has already sensed him watching her on one of the trees for a full five minutes.

They were supposed to survey Konoha by themselves and meet here at the stipulated time to plan the next move. Together, as she pointed out, will easily attract attention from the seasoned, available jounins, and the last thing they would want is to have them hot on their heels.

Whatever.

He felt comfortable working alone anyway.

But by the looks of it, it seemed to him that she hasn't done her part of the job. The reason why he arrived earlier was because his luck was down - Jiraya.

He was near his areas of responsibility and Sasuke knew better than to try his luck with the Sannin. Not that he felt inferior, but it's stupid to drain your chakra on some needless battles when you know the big one is coming, right? Although Sasuke was confident of defeating the old geezer, at the back of his mind, he knew the old one could do some considerable damage to him as well. And yes, he would fight out with Itachi after this episode and he needs to conserve as much chakra as possible to feed his Sharingan needs.

Only a dobe like Naruto would do something impulsive like that.

Naruto.

Sasuke had to shake his head in vehement dislike over this stupidest shinobi ever in history. He focused on the Akatsuki kunoichi instead. She looked distant, like she is going through some reminiscing in her mind. But just how long is she going to stand there?

As the fallen leaves worked into a dance in the air, it suddenly dawned on him that here was the one place where he first started training with Naruto and Sakura as a full-pledged shinobi… as Team Seven.

-Flashback-

Sasuke remembered they waited forever for their sensei to show up at the stipulated time - 5 A.M.

It was not until the sun rose high and above the sky before their laid-back sensei finally decided to show up. After giving some lame excuse, in which Naruto and Sakura shouted his head off, did he started the survival training that the three of them was excited about.

“Alarm set at twelve pm.” Kakashi's nonchalant attitude irritated him back then. He wriggled two bells from his pockets and showed it to the three of them. “Today's mission is to get one of these bells from me. Whoever can't will have no lunch.”

“What!” Sakura squealed, seeming to be the most unbelievable out of the three.

“I'm going to tie you there, and eat lunch in front of you.” Kakashi continued, ignoring the disobliging looks on his three students as he pointed towards the shaded area under a tree.

Sasuke understood then, Kakashi's `advice' before this training. “So that's why he said…”

“Don't eat breakfast.” Sakura finished, catching on the ball as she slouched her shoulders in a disheartened manner. Suddenly, her eyes sparkled in question as she looked at Kakashi. “Wait a minute, why are there only two bells?”

“Since there's only two, at least one will be tied to the log.” Kakashi answered with a hint of amusement in his voice. “That person will fail since he failed to complete the mission, and will have to go back to the academy.”

He paused to observe each of their reactions. Each had their own kind of expressions on their face. But they were fretful alright. Kakashi snickered inwardly at the thought of that. They couldn't be any cuter.

“It might be just one or all three.” Kakashi said, rising the uptightness surrounding the team. “It is alright to can use shurikens against me.”

His unmasked right eye shifted from one student to another as he raised the bells in his hand to his eye level, “You won't be able to get this unless you have the will to kill me.”

“But that's too dangerous, Sensei!” Sakura blurted out, though she seemed to be the last to recover from what was just announced to them.

“Yeah! You can't even dodge the chalk eraser!” Naruto interjected with a forced smile, trying his best effort to dissipate the anxiety rising in his nerves.

Kakashi cocked an eyebrow. “In society, those who are weak tend to complain more. Just ignore the guy with the lowest score.”

Naruto's temper was pricked that instant. Kakashi was obviously quoting him. His agitated stance showed it all though Kakashi ignored it. “We're going to start after I give the signal!”

Right after their sensei said that, Naruto dashed towards Kakashi with a kunai in his hand, his intention obvious. But the jounin surprised them all by appearing right behind Naruto in a blink of an eye, one of his hands holding firmly on Naruto's head while the other simply grabbed his impulsive student's other hand with the kunai.

The sharpened weapon glistered threateningly right behind Naruto, barely inches away from his head. Sakura gasped while Sasuke's fists tightened, bothered by the fact that Kakashi turned out to be stronger than he thought he was.

“Don't get so hasty. I didn't say start yet.” Kakashi drawled, acting as though nothing out of the ordinary happened. The looks on his three students showed that they finally got the notion of this whole survival training and it pleased him to see that they were getting serious.

“But it looks like you have the will to kill me now.” Kakashi smirked. “I think I can finally start liking you three.”

The three immediately readied themselves when their sensei braced his feet apart.

“We're going to start… ready... Start!”

-End of Flashback-

“You should be more furtive when lurking in other people's village.”

The last words of Kakashi back then echoed in Sasuke's mind as a familiar voice reeled him back to his current situation. His gaze was immediately directed towards the source and he raised an eyebrow when he saw one of the characters that were on his mind a while ago standing a distance away from the Akatsuki kunoichi.

Hatake Kakashi.

Damn. Konoha really made him sick… and weak. He got too carried away in his own reminiscing to realize the gray-haired shinobi was there barely seconds before he spoke.

Or has he underestimated the famous copy nin? Perhaps he got… stronger? After all, he was reputed a genius of his own time.

Sasuke didn't like this assumption and his jaw muscles flexed instinctively at that. He watched the kunoichi bend her knees to rub her fingers over the cenotaph, behaving as though Kakashi wasn't even there.

Kakashi lifted the side of his forehead protector that masked his Sharingan eye, while his hostile stare never left the intruder of his village.

“It's rude of you to use that against me… It was I who implanted his eye in you after all.” The kunoichi stated, her slouched back still facing Kakashi. Sasuke thought he felt the kunoichi's satisfaction when Kakashi stood there, clearly dumbfounded by her words. Sasuke's curiosity was piqued that instant. Kakashi had never told the team how he got the eye that was never meant for him. But now, he would know.

“Team Six.” The kunoichi drawled, her hands still lingering on the cenotaph. “Hatake Kakashi. Uchiha Obito. Saito…”

“Rin.” Kakashi interjected, barely finding his voice. Is that her? Is that really her?

“This place certainly brings back memories, don't you agree, my friend?” She whirled around, her unmasked left eye piercing through Kakashi though her voice sounded cheerful. Kakashi was nowhere better. His scowl could fell a pine tree.

The two teammates finally met after the passing of two decades, though both looked unhappy about it. It didn't take long for Sasuke to figure out that something unfortunate must have happened between them and she left, and now here they are, crossing each other's paths once again. Wait a minute… seasoned, available jounins… did she know Kakashi was in Konoha beforehand? Did she lure Kakashi here to settle the old scores between them? Isn't she the one who wanted to stay out of trouble? Isn't she the one who keeps saying Sakura is their top priority? What the hell is she trying to pull? The pool of questions keeps running in Sasuke's mind and he decided to wait. Popping out of nowhere this moment only leads to nowhere. He wanted to know more.

“Why are you with the Akatsuki?” Kakashi asked straight to the point, clearly furious at the fact. Things shouldn't turn out this way. She should be kind. She should be dead. Hell, he wished she was dead instead of standing in front of him now as an enemy, as a traitor.

“Why was Obito dead?” Rin countered skeptically, taking a threatening step forward.

“That won't work on me. Answer me.”

“I already did.”

“He certainly won't want to see you in this state.”

“I'm in a perfectly well state.” Rin retorted. “You still couldn't say his name after all these years huh, Kakashi? How pathetic.”

“Nobody wanted it to happen. You were there, you should know.”

“Yeah, I know. I know I made the right decision when I left Konoha.”

“That was a stupid decision. I can't believe you actually hoodwinked-”

“Who are you to say?” Rin was shouting now, her fists clenched at her sides.

“If Obito was still alive, he'll agree with me.”

“Like hell he would! He's always at odds with you. And mind you, he liked me! Why, he might even follow me.”

“You just insulted him.” Kakashi stated, shaking his head over the mere possibility. “He will never bend towards people who will harm the people he cared about.”

“Why don't you confirm with him?” Rin surprised Kakashi and Sasuke by lifting her mask over her right eye. Sasuke, all the while eavesdropping attentively to their heated conversation, had to activate his Sharingan before he was sure of what he's seeing. Her right eye was red.

Her right eye was a Sharingan.

“Sharingan…” Kakashi mumbled with dilated eyes. How the hell did she get that!

Suddenly, Rin held back. And Sasuke thought it is about time that she comes to terms with their initial motive to Konoha - Sakura.

Though he was frustrated with the ambiguous conversation, he thought Sakura was far more important. From what he heard during his `stay' in the Sands, Sakura's time is drawing near and DAMN this kunoichi by the name of Rin! Isn't she the one that confirmed that disturbing fact with him? Isn't she the one who claimed to be the one and only hope to Sakura? Isn't she the one who kept avoiding clashes so as to save her chakra for Sakura? SO, what in thunder is she trying to do now? Get herself killed and drag Sakura along with her?

He wouldn't allow that. As such…

Now is the perfect time to intrude.

In agitation, Sasuke teleported away from the tree. Kakashi sensed a presence and immediately tripled his guard. He knew he should have expected company whenever an Akatsuki was spotted, for they never embarked on one-man operations. And today proved to be no exception. Despite that, he was still taken aback by the company beside Rin. He wanted to believe that it was Itachi glaring at him but the physique difference proved to be the determining factor.

Itachi was the shorter one and has the lighter shade of hair. And the forehead… the forehead of the Uchiha before him was bare…

No doubt about it.

It was Sasuke.

“You do what you have to do.” Sasuke suggested, his Sharingan eyes fixed on Kakashi while he sidestepped Rin, shielding Kakashi's view of her. “I'll take him.”

Rin hesitated for a moment, shifting furtive glances from one man to another before disappearing in a blink of the eyes. Kakashi tried to follow her, but was stopped by Sasuke's shurikens at his feet.

“Your opponent is me.” Sasuke stated.

Kakashi crunched his brows tighter.

He didn't expect to see Rin, and he certainly didn't expect to see Sasuke either.

He was almost sure that they were here to finish Sakura when he spotted Rin-in-disguise among the crowd in the streets. The ANBU were immediately notified before he followed Rin all the way here. Needless to say, the elites must be scouting every inch of Konoha now, not to mention the security surrounding Sakura must have already increased tenfold. The village was already guarded against them after Sakura's homecoming but Rin and Sasuke… they were totally out of the picture to begin with!

Kakashi shifted his feet, and in his usual indolent tone, he said, “Well, I guess that couldn't be helped. I'm curious as to how you've developed over the years as well.”

He wriggled a bell from his pocket and showed it to Sasuke. “The rules stay the same.”

Sasuke smirked.

“If you don't come at me with the intent to k-”

“Cut the crap.”