Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ Mended Hearts ❯ Regret ( Chapter 7 )

[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]


 
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. I wish I did, but I don't.
 
Summary: AU Naruto hides many secrets from Konohagakure no Sato. As time continues, Naruto's precious people learn the hard way that many secrets are best left untouched, and that Naruto is not at all what they believed.
 
Warning: Innuendo galore.
 
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~Chapter 7: Regret~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
 
Kakashi smiled behind his mask as the door to the Hokage's office closed behind them, his sole visible eye curved in happiness. “Welcome home, Naruto.”
 
Naruto blinked. “Ah… Domo…”
 
“Meet me at training ground 7!” Kakashi said, vanishing in a puff of smoke.
 
Naruto blinked again and sweatdropped. He practically singsonged that sentence…. He thought incredulously.
 
“Maybe it's just me, but does Kakashi-sensei seem stranger than normal?” he said.
 
“Oh, it's not just you,” Sakura laughed. “He's just happy that you're back. Speaking of which,” Sakura's smile became a frown. “Why, if you were back in Konoha, did you never appear until now!?”
 
Naruto frowned. “That's classified.”
 
“Dobe,” Sasuke said, “just answer the question.”
 
“You are asking something that I cannot tell,” Naruto said firmly. “We are shinobe. There will be times when one of us will have to take up a mission and be unable to tell anyone about it. Between shinobe, the phrase, “That's classified,” is a signal to stop asking because speaking of whatever it is, is expressly forbidden.”
 
“But-“
 
“No buts,” Naruto said snappishly. “What is classified is classified. Don't ask anymore questions.” Before the other two could say another word, he formed several hand seals and vanished.
 
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
 
“Let's see how much you've grown, Naruto,” Kakashi said, his eye curving in a happy smile. He held up two bells.
 
“Let's see you three get these bells. Go!”
 
Naruto rolled his eyes and reached into his shinobe pouch as he vanished. Sasuke and Sakura exchanged a look and vanished as well.
 
The two genin and one Hunter/jounin met several kilometers into the forest.
 
“So what do we do?” Sakura asked.
 
Naruto sighed. “Sasuke and I will buy you time as you set up several traps,” the blonde said, handing Sakura his kunai holsters and shuriken holder as well as a coil of nin-wire and a packet of senbon and explosive tags. “At the signal, release the traps. Then I'll cut the bells from Kakashi's belt, and when there is an opening, Sakura, sweep down and pick up our prize.”
 
Sasuke smirked and handed Sakura his kunai holster and shuriken holder as well. “It seems you're finally good for something dobe.”
 
Naruto gave the Uchiha a blank look and said calmly, “I learned more than a few tricks during my absence. I'd have been a fool to not take the chances I had been given.”
 
“I look forward to learning more about your abilities, dobe.”
 
“You'll get your chance soon enough. We meet back here after our objective has been met,” Naruto said, flicking a senbon into the ground.
 
Sakura and Sasuke nodded and the three shinobe vanished.
 
Kakashi smiled as he stretched out his senses. Hmm… They're all well hidden… Even Naruto… A warm sensation flooded his veins at the thought of the blonde.
 
“Ninpo: Kurogane Kenpu no Jutsu!”
 
His eyes widened as a strip of cloth shot from the forest and wrapped around him, immobilizing his arms and legs. This is…!
 
Sasuke raced out of the trees, and flung several kunai at Kakashi who performed kawarimi. Naruto formed several bushin and vanished into the forest and began setting traps of his own.
 
Hidden inside the forest, Sakua dug and tied and cut and dug some more. There wasn't much time for her to waste. However strong Sasuke had gotten, Naruto would be the one who was the mystery in the team, but whatever he had learned during his yearlong absence from Konoha wouldn't be much of a mystery anymore if he had to pull several tricks from his sleeves. It would be inevitable that Kakashi would find a way to counter the blonde. She had to hurry…
 
Kakashi frowned as he was ambushed by a series of bushin while Sasuke periodically spit fire at him. Sakura was nowhere to be seen, and the only sign of Naruto had been the Kurogane Kenpu and the Bushin. There was something else going on in the shadows…
 
Naruto appeared behind Sakura and stepped lightly on a twig, snapping it. Sakura jumped and looked behind her, kunai raised. She relaxed when she saw who it was.
 
“Almost done?” Naruto asked.
 
“Un. I just finished.”
 
“Good. Count to 100 and let the trees admire you, if Sasuke hasn't given the signal by then, well, start up the traps.”
 
Sakura nodded, only faintly confused by her old teammate's words.
 
Kakashi smiled faintly as he studied Sasuke, buried neck deep in the dirt and giving his sensei his dirtiest glare. “Some things just never change,” he said amusedly.
 
Sasuke's glare became a smirk and the Uchiha loosed a high pitched whistle.
 
Kakashi was instantly on guard when Sasuke became a puff log with a puff of smoke. Instantly, all hell broke loose, and Kakashi turned his attention to evading the projectiles.
 
“Ninpo: Kurogane Kenpu Kansei no Jutsu,” Naruto murmured, tossing a roll of silk into the air.
 
The cloth shot out of the trees and caught the Copy-nin and dragged him into the path of several chakra enhanced kunai. Kakashi's eyes widened and seconds before the kunai made impact; he performed Kawarimi and reappeared in the trees. He sighed softly as Sakura and Sasuke appeared in the glade and looked around on the ground. Kakashi gently touched the cool metal of the bells around his waist. He stiffened when he noticed that one of the three was missing and turned to find himself face to face with the grinning blonde.
 
“Why, hello Kakashi-sensei,” Naruto purred, approaching the silver haired jounin, his eyes gleaming with mischief and anticipation.
 
Kakashi could feel his face heating up under his mask as his student glided toward him. “Hello Naruto,” Kakashi's eye curved in a smile, “Where did you learn that jutsu?” He felt rather proud of himself as his voice didn't show what he was feeling.
 
Naruto was practically on top of the silver haired jounin as he purred, “You mean Kurogane Kenpu? A little cat told me about it…”
 
Kakashi swallowed and took a step back. “Is that so?”
 
Oh my, he's turning red… Naruto thought mischievously. Who would have thought that Hatake Kakashi was that type of man?
 
“Hai…” Naruto's eyes were hooded as he studied his sensei.
 
A cool smirk crossed his lips and the blonde darted forward. His lips brushed lightly over Kakashi's lips under the mask while his fingertips grazed over the cool metal of the bells.
 
Kakashi leapt back, staring at the boy in shock. What was that? he thought, his single visible eye fixed on his student.
 
Naruto smiled and darted forward and blurred, disappearing into the shadows. Kakashi stiffened and looked around him, stretching out his senses to find his student. He stiffened as a pair of arms wrapped around his shoulders and a hand drifted lazily down his torso toward the bells. {{A/N: Kya~!!! So HAWT!!!! XD}}
 
“I'll be taking these,” Naruto murmured as his fingers closed around the bells, brushing his lips lightly against the Copy-nin's temple.
 
Kakashi shivered, feeling the blonde's breath on his face and his lips lightly brushing over his temple. There was a slight tug on his belt as the bells were pulled free and the weight vanished from his back. Kakashi suddenly felt cold when he realized that his student was gone.
 
Naruto slipped out of the forest and into the clearing and handed Sakura and Sasuke the bells. A few minutes later, Kakashi appeared in front of them, his eye curved in a happy smile.
 
“Congratulations, you all pass.”
 
“Let's all go out and celebrate!” Sakura said, “At Ichiraku's!”
 
Naruto smiled, “I don't know… I'm more in the mood for some sushi and sashimi myself.”
 
Shocked silence fell over training ground 7 as Kakashi, Sakura, and Sasuke stared at Naruto in shock.
 
“Alright,” Sasuke growled, pulling out a kunai. “Who are you and what have you done with Naruto?”
 
Naruto's vibrant eyes darkened and his relaxed stance became guarded. “It's called growing up,” he said curtly, and he vanished in a swirl of leaves.
 
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
 
One month passed quickly, and to the Rookie 9 and Team Gai's chagrin, Tsunade, Iruka, and Team 7 were the only people who saw Naruto on a regular basis. All too soon, the chunin exams had arrived. Naruto stood inside his restroom, studying his reflection pensively. Once Team 7 passed the exam, he would vanish out of their lives again, unless by some chance, they made it to ANBU or became Hunter-nin. He didn't doubt that Sasuke may become ANBU, though he highly doubted that anyone among the Rookie 9 would make it into the ranks of the Hunter-nin.
 
He sighed and pulled on the black formfitting tank top, and his loose black pants. Swiftly, he wound bandages around his thighs. He applied a genjutsu to cover his Hunter-nin mark on his bicep and tied his hitai-ate over it. He quickly wrapped his arms with bandages, evening it out before leaving the restroom. On the table were his kunai holsters and shuriken holders, as well as his packet of senbon and his shinobe pouch. He strapped on his kunai holsters and hung the senbon packet and the shuriken holder on his belt. He checked his shinobe pouch to make sure that he had powerbars, water canteen, bloodpills, soldier pills, bloodclotting pills, smoke bombs, flash grenades, explosive notes, a roll of silk, nin-wire, bandages, and his summoning scrolls containing his Hunter equipment, extra weapons, and a change of clothes. Once he was sure he had everything, he hung his pouch on his belt and pulled on a navy jacket and his shinobe sandals.
 
His hands flashed through a series of seals and he vanished in a puff of smoke. Naruto reappeared a block away from the academy and smiled as he made his way toward the familiar building.
 
He saw Team 7 at the door, and he smiled and waved. “Ohayo!” he called, running over.
 
“Ohayo!” Sakura said, smiling.
 
“Now that we're all here, let's go!” Sasuke said.
 
The other two nodded and the three made their way into the academy.
 
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
 
Naruto rolled his eyes as the first test commenced. Nothing ever changes does it? He wondered as the tension in the room rose.
 
He sighed and picked up his pencil and began to solve the problems on the paper. Occasionally, he paused, giving the impression of having trouble solving a portion of the problems. He didn't want Ibiki suspicious of him again after all….
 
Naruto could hardly believe how little the test had changed as Team 7 and the other genin followed Mitarashi Anko to Area 44, better known as the Forest of Death.
 
One hour later, Team 7 handed in their waivers and had gained an Earth scroll and were following a chunin proctor to Gate 12, through which they would be entering. The hour hand hit one, and Anko grinned in anticipation.
 
“Alright!” she yelled. “The second part of the chunin selection exam begins now! Hajime!”
 
A bell rang, and the gates opened. Team 7 darted into the forest and faded into the shadows. A kilometer in, Naruto paused and created 60 bushin, 40 of which henged to look like Sasuke and Sakura. The bushin teamed up into 20 teams of three and split off in different directions.
 
Night fell, and four teams of bushin arrived at team 7's camp and revealed that they had gotten three Heaven scrolls and an Earth scroll. Naruto dispelled the bushin, and they set off once more for the tower.
 
Once again there were no preliminaries, as only four teams had passed, and the genin were allowed to leave and spend the month before the actual test to train and prepare. During that month, Naruto vanished once more behind the mask of Zeiguwa. No one knew where Naruto was beside the Hokage and Iruka. One month passed, and the genin who were participating in the third exam gathered at the arena.
 
The third exam wasn't as much of a challenge as their first, Naruto mused as he watched Sakura and Sasuke clobber their opponents. Then, it was his turn, and Naruto vanished and reappeared in the arena in a swirl of leaves. His opponent, a genin from Iwa looked nervous.
 
Naruto studied him, and once the proctor gave the signal to begin, the Iwa-nin charged. Naruto watched the boy as he approached, and tucked his hands into his pockets and leapt into the air, flipping in the air at the peak of his jump. He lashed out with his leg as he descended, sending the Iwa-nin into the wall, leaving a crater. He landed and watched as the nin collapsed on the floor. The nin stood up and smirked before forming hand seals.
 
The blonde rolled his eyes and pulled out a roll of silk and channeled chakra into it as he threw it into the air. The silk unrolled itself and the white cloth took on a bluish tinge as Naruto's chakra soaked into the cloth. Before the nin could react, the cloth wrapped aroud his arms and legs and pulled him into the air spread eagle.
 
“Ninpo: Kurogane Kenpu no Jutsu,” Naruto intoned solemnly. He blurred and reappeared behind the nin, a kunai in hand. “Forfeit or I will cut your throat,” Naruto said, his voice and eyes cold.
 
The nin smirked. “You can't slit my throat if you can't get past my rock armor.”
 
Naruto pressed the kunai into the nin's throat, breaking skin, and to the nin's horror, he felt blood running down his neck. “My silk serves four purposes, to conceal, to attack, to restrain, and to protect. All jutsu, whether it is taijutsu, genjutsu, ninjutsu, or dojutsu, require chakra. Woven into the material of this silk are seals designed to disrupt the flow of chakra whether in a jutsu or in a person's chakra coils. Only my chakra can activate or nullify the effects of my silk.” Naruto pressed the kunai harder against the Iwa-nin's throat. “Your movements have been completely sealed. Forfeit.”
 
The nin trembled. “I forfeit,” he said softly.
 
Genma raised his hand into the air. “Shosha, Uzumaki Naruto.”
 
Naruto smiled and removed his kunai and the silk released the nin, dropping him unceremoniously on the floor. The silk rolled itself back up in the air and dropped into Naruto's outstretched hand. The blonde slipped the silk and kunai into his shinobe pouch as he returned to the balcony.
 
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
 
“Team 7's Uchiha Sasuke and Haruno Sakura have advanced to chunin level,” Naruto said, “Mission complete.”
 
“I heard that you did more than just get Team 7 through the chunin exams,” Tsunade's voice was amused.
 
“I completed my mission, no more, no less,” Naruto's voice was cool.
 
“And you got attached to Hatake Kakashi,” Ookami said.
 
“I did nothing of the sort,” Naruto snapped.
 
“Oh?” Ookami's voice was amused, “Well then, if you didn't get attached, then why are you turning red?”
 
“I am flushing from anger and embarrassment that you would ever suggest such a thing.”
 
“Come now, simply because it is inadvisable for Hunter to get attached doesn't mean it's forbidden,” Ookami responded. “Look at Washi. She's a Hunter, and she has a husband and a son.”
 
Naruto sighed. “Kakashi has lost everything dear to him. If I were to get close, and if he were to return my feelings, it would be all the harder for him to cope if I were to die.”
 
“I hope you do not regret your choice in the future,” Ookami said.
 
“I have never once regretted my choices or actions,” Naruto said firmly. “I never regretted my choice to become who I am now. I never regretted my choice to accept the S class mission that was Team 7, and I will not regret my current decision.”
 
“At the very least,” Tsunade said, “you still have time to change your mind in the future if you really do end up regretting today's decision. Ookami, Zeiguwa, dismissed.”
 
“Hai!” the two Hunters said and vanished.
 
A single masked shinobe stood on the roof of the Hokage no Dairi, the Hokage Palace, with his arms crossed over his chest in the early evening. The light of the setting sun reflected off the white porcelain mask and the silver armor and arm guards of the shinobe. A light breeze blew, ruffling short, spiky golden locks. Cerulean eyes watched as the sun set beyond the Hokage monument, and leapt off the roof, freefalling for a brief moment before vanishing in a puff of smoke. He reappeared on the roofs of Konoha, and nimbly, he leaped through the village, unnoticed by shinobe and civilian alike.
 
Do I truly feel no regret for my actions? He mused. His gloved hand fisted over his heart. If so, then why does my heart hurt?
 
He slipped through a conveniently open window and pulled off his mask, studying the picture on a shelf tucked away into the corner. Naruto clipped the mask to his belt and took down the picture and traced a finger over Kakashi's face.
 
“If I don't regret my decision, then why do I feel so empty inside?” he whispered.
 
“Most likely because you do.”
 
Naruto cursed mentally for getting distracted enough to not notice someone in his house and spun around. His eyes widened to see Kakashi standing near the door.
 
The jounin raised his one visible eyebrow. “I never thought that the Academy's “dead last” would actually turn out to be the Tensai Shinobe, Zeiguwa.”
 
Only two words ran through Naruto's mind.
 
Oh shit…
CSA Version 7 Mended Hearts What Are You Hiding?