Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ Sin Eater ❯ Chapter 5

Demon Eyes Laharl Presents

 

Sin Eater

 

Dead Wake

 

 

 

“… This isn't possible…” Kakashi muttered as he watched Sin's body being laid to where he usually slept. Sasuke had found his dead body in the forest, took note of the surroundings, and brought back Sin to Tazuna's house.

 

“I think he was caught off guard…” Sasuke muttered. “Look at his neck… puncture wound.”

 

“… one fatal strike…” Kakashi muttered. “Sin probably didn't even feel a thing.”

 

Tazuna was frozen looking at the lifeless boy and Tazuna's daughter was now slowly forming tears in her eyes. They kept silent as the three other ninjas looked on their dead comrade.

 

“This settles it…” Kakashi suddenly said, and frowned, something clearly seen on his eye as his mouth covered his mouth.

 

“… This settles what, Kakashi-sensei?” Sakura asked timidly, visibly shaken by the death of her teammate… It wasn't that she knew Sin closely… after all, he was just a new addition to the team… but he gave her some words yesterday that she followed. Not exactly friendly, but always civil, she wondered if she would know the boy more. Maybe not, now that he's dead.

 

“Sin and I believed that Zabusa was still alive… and this confirms it.”

 

Tazuna and Sakura both gasped, while Sasuke remained stoic.

 

“W… what do you mean Kakashi?” Tazuna asked.

 

“Do you remember our last fight with Zabusa?” Kakashi asked.

 

“Yes… I remember it well…” Tazuna replied.

 

“Remember the end… how he was killed?” Kakashi asked.

 

“Needles in the nec…” Sakura stopped as Kakashi pointed out Sin's neck. “Oh my God…”

 

“Exactly… of course, we can say that any ninja might have just waltzed in and killed Sin using a Senbon… but considering the skill level of Sin, I don't think a common ninja would have caught him off guard,” Kakashi explained. “And I don't think its coincidence that the Hunter-nin appeared out of the blue as Zabusa was going to get killed… used needles as weapons… and left with Zabusa's body. And a few days later, Sin, one of the biggest threats to our enemies was killed by a senbon.”

 

“The murder of Zabusa was a rouse… theatrics,” Sasuke stated.

 

“Exactly…” Kakashi muttered. “And also explains that our enemy is getting stronger, which is why they have attacked one of us… Zabusa's recovering.”

 

Sasuke nodded and Sakura gave a small gasp.

 

“I know… this is sudden, but I will have to increase your training and add a few more duties like guarding, to replace Sin…” Kakashi looked at his two remaining teammates. “… I don't exactly want to make light of this… or sound like a complete cold-hearted bastard, but we're in a middle of a mission. We finish it, and we grieve for him afterwards. Let his death be an example to you… Never… and I do mean never let your guard down.”

 

The two nodded, and some fire began to burn inside them. Kakashi nodded at that and looked at Sin's lifeless body. He was going to bring him back to Konoha. The short time he had arrived at the team, he was never useless, and always seem to give an effect to his teammates. He only wished he met Sin sooner.

 

Inari had bad timing of today, as he suddenly appeared and stated in a loud voice, before Tazuna or her daughter could stop him, “HA! See?! This is what you get for messing with Gatou! You're all going to die!”

 

He expected some reaction from the girl… but not the sudden glare she gave him. That shut him up quickly, and made him wonder that maybe he shouldn't have said anything. The raven haired boy looked at him seriously, and spoke in a steady tone… “Better being dead than alive like you… a coward.”

 

Inari's eyes suddenly watered. “WHAT WOULD YOU KNOW?!”

 

“Yes, what would I know,” Sasuke muttered. “I am a ninja after all… I can die tomorrow… and Sin reminded me of that. But I'd rather live like this… than like you, cowering around. I would fight against all odds and die than to watch, shaking in fear, as someone threatens or kills my family.”

 

Kakashi looked at the Uchiha genius. It was rare that he ever talked about his family… or even mentions the word. After all, his remaining relative would be the man he would want to kill. Hell, if one read the statement underneath its underneath… did Sasuke just claim that his team was his family?

 

Inari lost the battle… this was concluded when he upped and ran away, crying hard. Tazuna and his daughter seemed to be lost now… Kakashi and his two students looked back at Sin.

 

Time to double up.

 

=+=+=+=+=+=+=

 

For three days straight, Sasuke and Sakura continued to do tree exercises, and sometimes, rarely, exchanged a few tips. Sakura's charka control was top notch of her team, and no one really argued against it, so she gave a lot of help to Sasuke who was slowly getting frustrated by his snail paced progress. In return, Sasuke given her a few tips on taijutsu, and occasionally sparred with her.

 

On the two odd days, Sakura had joined up with Kakashi to guard the construction of the bridge, whilst Sasuke guarded Tazuna's daughter every time she went out, after of course, both had 6 hours of early training, and later, after dinner, squeeze in 2 or so hours. The one even day they switched roles. Slowly, Kakashi smiled slightly as he saw the improvement of Sasuke's charka control, and Sakura's taijutsu improvement.

 

Sin's body was buried in the forest… and from time to time, Kakashi makes a point to visit the grave occasionally. Silent at times, reading his book or maybe speaking, he didn't know why he seemed to be attracted to the grave. Maybe it was the weird spark of charka appearing ever so often? For some odd reason, Kakashi expected for Sin to magically appear alive, but they checked his body… no charka movement, no pulse… he was definitely dead.

 

But then again, he knew the Order members don't easily die that easily… or maybe they do. Maybe they were just like ninjas… putting a strong face that they seem almost impossible to defeat. Maybe this was actually the truth… the Order can be killed, and are human as well. Or maybe this was an elaborate set-up…

 

Kakashi would wound up more confused than before, but those questions never really did bother him. His students were improving immensely… and he knew he had to thank Sin… his death was a shocker that seemed to put more drive in his students. He was confident… maybe more so than before… to say… “Bring it on, Zabusa… we're ready for you.”

 

=+=+=+=+=+=+=

 

On the fourth day, an unlikely visitor came to Sin's grave site… Haku, with his mask on his hands. He had been watching Kakashi the Copy Ninja for some time, keeping himself at a very long distance as to not let himself be detected.

 

Careful not to step on the place where his body was placed, he just stared at the small stone that signified that the place was indeed a grave. He gave himself a sigh.

 

“I don't know if you can hear me… but I have been thinking about what you told me,” Haku paused a bit. “Your words still echo in my head… and… I might not have answered you that time… and I have rather been rude not to answer it before I killed you… so I'm here to rectify that. I have finally have an answer for you.”

 

Haku took a deep breath. “I do realize what I have been doing is wrong. I understand the situation of the country. I know helping Gatou would further undermine this society, and maybe in the long run, wipe out this country from the face of the earth… but I cannot abandon Zabusa-sama. Not for morals, not for anything. My loyalty to him is to the end. He saved my life, and I owe him that. Some people may not understand it… but… I love him. He was the father that I wanted.” He gave another pause. “I know he is using me… and I am fine with that. He's my family… my precious person. I'll follow him to the ends of the earth.”

 

Putting on his mask, his demeanor changed. “Zabusa-sama recovered enough today… and Kakashi-san seems to have been expecting us. He took his whole team towards the bridge.”

 

With that… Haku jumped away to join up Zabusa.

 

=+=+=+=+=+=+=

 

Kakashi was hoping that maybe he was just getting old… he hoped that today wasn't the day that his gut was right. He had prayed that he was wrong by a week or so… but being a ninja, he didn't show much disappointment when the mist around the bridge suddenly thickened to the point that he knew nature had no hand in it.

 

Sasuke and Sakura tensed when they felt a spike of charka suddenly going nearer to them… Kakashi guessed that the charka spike meant that Zabusa wasn't trying to hide his presence anymore. Again, that thought was confirmed when two shadows suddenly came from the mists, and slowly revealed Zabusa and that masked Hunter-nin.

 

“Zabusa,” Kakashi greeted.

 

“Copy Ninja… how nice to see you again,” Zabusa seemingly smiled. “I'm sorry for the delay… your other student gave me quite a shock last time… caught an old man by surprise.”

 

“The surprise is seeing you call yourself an old man,” Kakashi gave a wry smile himself. “Of course, if you're meaning to distract us… it's not going to work. I already foreseen what you were going to do.”

 

“Oh?” Zabusa asked, raising an inquiring eyebrow.

 

“Sasuke… Sakura…” Kakashi muttered.

 

It didn't take a second when 8 clones fell from the sky, and surrounded Kakashi, his team, and Tazuna. It also didn't take long when Sakura and Sasuke suddenly moved, and in 2 seconds… destroyed all the clones. Once again, Zabusa raised his eyebrows. It seems Kakashi's students have improved a great deal. Even the weak pink haired one had managed to destroy 3 of his clones.

 

“Your students have improved, Copy Ninja…” Zabusa commented a bit, his voice hinting a bit of respect. “Especially the boy… he might even match speed with Haku, here…”

 

The hunter-nin stepped forward. Sasuke's eyes darted to him, and also took a step forward. Sakura was about to follow when he saw Sasuke give her a slight look. She nodded, and went back to her position.

 

“I'm guessing you are the one that killed Sin-san,” Sasuke said softly.

 

The hunter-nin just nodded.

 

Sasuke didn't even need to reply as he suddenly dashed towards Haku… who at the same time, also dashed towards Sasuke. Kunai met senbon as they parried each other's attacks, moving from left to right, going circles around each other. Sasuke frowned a bit as he found themselves evenly matched at speed… but he could go a wee bit faster, so concentrating a lot of chakra in his legs, he caught Haku off guard when he finally succeeded in parrying away the senbon, and gave a solid clean kick to his gut.

 

Haku lost that round, and he knew as he slid away. Sasuke smirked and charged once again.

 

=+=+=+=+=+=+=

 

The man took another slash at the tree as he and his companion were slowly going towards Tazuna's house.

 

“Can you stop doing that?” his companion asked. “You do know these katana's aren't cheap. Gatou's gonna have a fit if he's gonna have to replace your weapon!”

 

“Relax… these come from Mist Country, the best place to get swords,” the former replied. “You'd think with that kind of reputation, these swords aren't that easy to break.” He continued to keep slashing out on trees, and one time, on a poor wild pig who somehow survived.

 

“Every weapon dulls, no matter how good it was created,” his companion explained. “The best swords are those unused. They will never be as sharp as it was before it was used. This is why we have to visit the blacksmiths once a while to re-forge our swords. Of course, you can skip that if you continuously clean your sword after every use, which I should remind you that you never do?”

 

“Hey… a sword is a tool…”

 

“Wrong, a sword is an extension of you,” the latter was getting tired of this. Was he the only one who actually knew how to handle a katana?

 

“Alright, alright… lets just get on with it,” the former said, annoyed. Can't his companion have any fun? Sure, the man joined in his few scare-the-people-shitless routine, but when it came about the sword, he was there to lecture how to handle, what not to do, and why cutting down unarmed people isn't good. “We'll just kidnap Tazuna's daughter, and use her to scare him from stopping the construction of the bridge. Can we cut the little kid she has?”

 

“No… she'd prolly kill herself if we tried. We don't wanna go back to Gatou without a hostage… right?”

 

“Feh… you're now fun.”

 

=+=+=+=+=+=+=

 

“One handed seals?!” Kakashi's eyes widened as water stomped into the air turned to ice needles that tried to create a pin cushion out of Sasuke. Fortunately, training paid off for the young Uchiha as he put charka on his legs to escape almost unscathed. But trouble was not over as ice mirrors began to form around Sasuke, surrounding him.

 

“Sasuke!” Sakura almost dashed towards her crush if it wasn't for Kakashi's hand that suddenly held her down, stopping her immediately.

 

“Wait… Sakura!” Kakashi muttered. “I've never seen this kind of jutsu done before. Even the way he forms ice and elements are even more unknown.” Kakashi uncovered his sharingan eye to see the charka flow of the technique. “I knew it… bloodline ability.”

 

“Bloodline?” Sakura was surprised. Bloodline abilities, as taught in the Academy, were specific and special ninja abilities that were specific to a bloodline… mostly found on clans. The sharingan itself is a bloodline ability. All bloodline abilities can't be copied.

 

“That is correct,” Zabusa's voice rang… the mist was getting thicker. “But Haku isn't just another ninja with a special bloodline. He is also a quick thinker, and an astute observer. He found a weakness to your precious sharingan…”

 

“Oh?” Kakashi asked. The mist was now swirling around so thick that the battle between Sasuke and Haku vanished… the only thing that indicated that they were still at it were the battle sounds they were producing.

 

“Sharingan is still an eye… and you still need to see your opponent to use it.”

 

The voice vanished. Kakashi's eyes narrowed. If there was anything that was said about Zabusa in the bingo book was that Zabusa was the master of the silent kills, being able to move through the mist and cut down the opponent before they could even blink. This is why it earned him the name “Devil of the Mist”.

 

Meanwhile, Sasuke was busy trying to dodge needles that seemed to be coming at him from all directions. At first… he was blindly going on instinct on where to go, but as time passed on, he slowly began to see Haku's movements. Just barely though, but that `barely' has helped him avoid some rather nasty attacks; his neck would have had more holes.

 

Sakura watched rather helplessly as Sasuke was trapped inside an ice cage, while Kakashi is fighting Zabusa in the thick mist. Her hand was still on Tazuna, as the mist got thicker.

 

She was slowly losing hope.

 

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

 

Inari's face was stricken with tears. His feet seemingly cemented on the ground. Out of nowhere, two hired swordsmen carrying katanas came and grabbed his mother. And he could only watch.

 

`Don't hurt him…' his mom said. She threatened to kill herself if they ever harmed him. She was willing to go quietly only if they didn't hurt her little boy.

 

Inari could only think `Why' and `How stupid' in a hundred times in a span of 3 seconds. Why would mom do this? She can save her life… how stupid can you get making a deal like that? She's acting foolish protecting him… Just like that man. People who resist, die. Bravery is nothing but a dagger through your stomach.

 

“Are you going to stand there as they take your mom?”

 

A little voice… Inari always ignored it. What use was it being brave, it will just end your life. Its stupid.

 

“I would rather die then watch my family suffer…”

 

The voice was the pretty ninja boy's voice… Inari ignored it again. His mom was being taken away. He can't do anything. He's just a kid. He can't fight two armed men… they'll kill him. He didn't want to die yet. He didn't want to. He didn't want to. He didn't want to.

 

His mom is being taken.

 

… He took a step. That step… was all he needed.

 

“LET GO OF MY MOM!” Inari shouted as he ran towards the kidnappers. He was shaking… his knees were buckling. His hands were shaking and he couldn't hold the knife well. He didn't feel brave. He felt like a damn fool trying to kill a lion with a spoon. His eyes were still in tears… but his mind didn't notice. What he did notice was he didn't want to see his mom go.

 

“Well… if it isn't the little pipsqueak. You resisting eh? Let me show you what happens to little runts that don't know their place,” one of the kidnappers muttered, and grabbed his sword out.

 

Tsunami's eyes widened. “No! If you hurt him, I'll…”

 

She didn't get to finish her sentence. The man quickly hit her head with the hilt of his sword hard enough to knock her out. “Shut up, girly,” he muttered. “I'm gonna cut myself some fresh meat.”

 

“Dude, we got the girl, lets go!” his partner declared, catching Tsunami as she fell.

 

“I'm just gonna teach this runt a lesson.” The smile was evil as he approached the little kid who was pointing the kitchen knife at him. “Whatcha gonna do kid?”

 

“DON'T COME NEAR ME!” Inari shouted. “LEAVE MY MOM ALONE!”

 

“What if I don't want to?” he gave another dark chuckle. “I eat little kids like you for lunch. I guess tomorrow… you'll be my sashimi.”

 

Inari shouted as he charged towards him with the knife, opting to stab him before he could move. The older man just took his foot up and violently kicked him in the head that pushed him towards the ground, the knife flying away from Inari's hand.

 

“HAHAHA… kid's got a spark on him…” the older man picked up the semi unconscious Inari by the hand and lifted him.

 

“Dude, lets go,” his partner declared. The former ignored him.

 

“Hey kid… you awake? Good…” He took his sword and showed it to Inari. “I'll show you what happens to arms that take up pointy and sharp things at me…”

 

Grinning, the man prepared to take a swipe out of the boy's arm, intending to cut it cleanly between two. The pain of the slice would be almost none… until the body knows that something has gone wrong. Blood will spurt, but that's okay with him. It's the screaming he's after. And those fear in the eyes.

 

But when he did the swipe, something grabbed him and stopped his momentum completely. A black gloved hand grabbing his wrist… He looked sideways to see who dared get in his way when he froze looking at icy blue eyes staring at him.

 

“You do know it's rude, to wake up the dead,” and with a crack, the older man shouted in agony as his wrist seemed to have been crushed to powder.

 

“You… fucking BASTARD!” he tried to kick what seemed to be a shadow with blue eyes, only for his leg to be grabbed, and another crack vibrated through the air, and he screamed again as his knee was sunken.

 

The eyes went to the partner who was frozen on his place. “Care to join?” the shadow muttered.

 

“No sir…” and he ran away.

 

“Heh… smart,” the shadow's hand went towards the older man's neck. “Inari… close your eyes.”

 

The boy didn't need to be ordered… his eyes were tightly closed since the first crack sound. The shadow then lifted the man, squeezing his neck at the same time, and slamed him hard on the ground, and with a final crack, the neck was now… well… not in its natural position.

 

Inari was still conscious due to his will to save his mother, but the kick on the head was now taking its toll. He opened his eyes to see who rescued him. “… im… possible…” he muttered before the ringing on his head was too much for him, and slumped on the ground slowly.

 

The last thing he heard was his savior muttering “That damn Kakashi had to bury me with my clothes.”

 

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

 

Inari woke up on the couch of his home, and immediately sat up and looked around automatically. He breathed easier when he saw his mom just lying unconscious in another couch.

 

“You awake?”

 

Inari looked up… and pointed at the figure with shaky hands. “… you… you're supposed to be dead…!!”

 

Sin smirked a bit. “Was until your screaming woke me up. You should be glad to not be a ninja… or else you'd be a really low rank ninja. But I am surprised how you stood up to them. I guess you are braver than I thought.”

 

Inari bowed his head. “… I wasn't brave… couldn't stop shaking. I… I couldn't let them take my mom.”

 

“That is bravery,” Sin muttered, as he began to pace around. He seemed to be looking for something.

 

“No… I was being a fool… pretending to be brave.”

 

“Foolishness is to face anything without feeling scared. Bravery is still standing up even if you just want to fall,” Sin said philosophically. “You were shaking… scared stiff… yet you charged in to defend your mother. That is bravery…”

 

Inari took a moment to let that sink into him. He gave a small smile. He was about to thank him when he noticed that Sin was still pacing around. “What are you looking for?”

 

“My shades,” Sin replied.

 

“Its with that silver haired man,” Inari replied.

 

“Oh…? Then I gotta get it back from him then,” Sin muttered. He went towards the door, and opened it, and was about to leave when he looked back at the kid. “See ya around, Inari.”

 

Sin walked out of the house… time to get his shades back.

 

To Be Continued…

 

NEXT: Battle in the Bridge continues as Sin re-appears. The conclusion of Wave Country mission… next!