Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ Three ❯ chapter 10 ( Chapter 10 )

A/N:  ah...gomen, gomen!!  I honestly didn't mean to leave you guys with cliffhanger and for so long too!  To be honest, I didn't even realize it was cliffhanger until I posted it.  I was going to write more after that part, but decided not to and I forgot that I left it like that.  ::bows:: onegai, please forgive me for that and for taking so long with this chapter.  I've been so busy with school and stuff, I found it hard to find time to work on this chapter.  Well...that and I had some writer's block.  ::sigh::  Anyways, I hope you all enjoy this chapter!  Read on!

Disclaimer: come on, we all know who owns Naruto, ne?

Translations:

naruhodo, sou ka: I see

ganbatte: good luck, do your best

minna: everyone

sugoi: amazing, wow, cool

kitsune: fox

Sanndaime: The Third (Hokage)

neko: cat

kuroneko: black cat

tanuki: raccoon-dog (I know Shukaku is a badger demon, but it's just easier to say tanuki.  besides...badger...tanuki...same difference, ne?)

Kami-sama: God

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Three

by: Lostlily

Chapter 10

-Konoha Village-

It was still early morning as Sakura carefully packed her bag for her mission.  Though her movements were quick and automatic, her mind was drifting at a much more slower pace.  She could barely think about anything else but the fact that she was being sent to the Thunder country while Sasuke was being sent to retrieve Naruto. 

Closing her pack, she turned to her desk to pick up her weapons pouch, but her hand stops midway as her gaze gets caught by the picture frame next to it.  Her team photo.  She studied the picture, noting the carefree look upon their faces.  Although Sasuke's face was blank as usual as he ignored the irritated look that Naruto sent his way, Sakura knew that they were still happy nonetheless.  She could understand it though.  That picture was taken shortly after their mission in the Wave country.  It was a time that taught them how important friendship was to being strong.  But things became very different once they entered the Chuunin Exam. 

She strapped on her pouch and slung on her backpack.  She took one last look at the photo, then walked out her room.  As she exited her house and began to head for the village gate, she became lost in thought again.  When was it that her team began to fall apart?  When Orochimaru gave Sasuke that cursed seal?  Somehow, deep in her heart, she knew her team had begun to drift before that incident.  She guessed that it started the day before they registered for the exam, when they first met the sand-nin. 

Sasuke met one person after another who had heard of his clan and they were all eager to fight against the surviving Uchiha.  It brought the battle-lust out of her dark-haired teammate.  It also seemed that all the attention he got just made the tension between him and Naruto grow worse than usual.  On top of all that, Sakura herself was facing her own insecurities in her shinobi abilities.  As time went on, they drifted further and further apart.  She thought that her team would be no more after the fight between Naruto and Sasuke on the hospital roof.  For two weeks, she lived in fear that they would be separated, but thankfully, the boys settled their differences.

Sakura stopped and stared at the ground.  Even though her team had resumed their shinobi work, taking on C and D rank missions, things felt different between them all.  Sasuke had started training much more harder than before, pushing himself to the limit.  Sakura improved at a much more slower pace and she usually caught herself thinking too much.  She also found that she had begun to view her blond teammate in a different light.  After all, he risked everything to save her and she couldn't help but acknowledge the strength in him.  Even Naruto had changed.  Though he was still Konoha's number one loudmouth ninja, there would be moments where the happy, loud, idiotic mask would fade for a moment and a glimpse of the Naruto inside would show.  But that Naruto would disappear so fast that it was almost believable that he was never even there...

"Sakura, you forehead girl, what are you doing just standing there?"

The pink-haired girl lifted her head to see Ino standing in front of her, also carrying a backpack.  She felt the familiar fire of rivalry stir up within as she frowned and retorted, "It's none of your business, Ino-pig!"  Then she continued on walking towards her destination, paying no mind to the other girl who began to walk along side of her. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------

Ino glanced at Sakura curiously as they walked.  She knew something was bothering the girl, but she didn't know what.  Seeing the other kunoichi so upset kinda worried her. 

Even though it was hard to see, both girls were still very good friends, despite their apparent rivalry over Sasuke.  Ino, especially, couldn't help but continue to watch over the girl just like she used to when they were younger.  She knew the other girl could take care of herself and that she learned how to fight on her own, but there was still something vulnerable about her. 

The blond kunoichi wanted to ask her friend what was bothering her, but she decided against it.  They were both about to embark on important missions and upsetting the girl any further might become too much of a distraction.  Being a distracted ninja during a mission wasn't a good thing to be.  So Ino kept her questions to herself as they both approached the gate where their teams stood waiting. ------------------------------------------------------------------ ----------------

Hinata watched as Sakura and Ino arrived.  She was standing next to Kiba and Shino by one of the large gate doors.  Akamaru was resting comfortably on Kiba's head.  Chouji, who was standing close by was munching away at a bag of pork rinds.  Also standing close by were Tenten and Lee, though once the other girls reached them, Lee immediately came to Sakura's side, greeting her excitedly.  Ino just rolled her eyes and walked over to Chouji.

After suffering though several of Lee's teeth-pinging smiles, Sakura glanced around and asked, "Where are the jounin?"

"They haven't arrived yet," Tenten with a slight shrug.

"Sou ka..."

"I wonder what kind of mission the others got," Lee said with a tiny tinge of jealousy.

"It's probably some mission about Naruto," Kiba comments.  All attention suddenly focuses on him. 

Hinata softly asks, "Ano...Why do you say that, Kiba-kun?"

"I overheard Iruka-sensei asking the Hokage about him."

Sakura shifted her gaze to the ground.  She thought back to the night before when they gathered in the Hokage's office.

-flashback-

The Legendary Senin had a grim look on his face as he said, "We have to get to those three before they find what they're looking for."

Sasuke scowled, "And what is it that they're looking for?"

"The Akatsuki."

"The Akatsuki?" Sakura repeated slowly, not knowing what it was.

"NANI?!" Sasuke roared angrily as his sharingan suddenly appeared with his outburst of emotion.

"Sasuke, now is not the time to lose control," Kakashi warned.

"Hai, remember what happened the last time?" Jiraiya asked. 

With a great amount of effort, the dark-haired boy forced himself to calm down, making his sharingan eyes disappear.  Sakura just gazed at him worriedly. 

Kakashi turned his attention to Tsunade, "Hokage-sama, what are we going to do about this situation?"

The legendary kunoichi was silent for a moment, then she quietly said, "After hearing your report today it was obvious that something was wrong, but now that Naruto is gone as well and with those two others...this has become dangerous.  We can't let the Akatsuki get to them.  If they do..." She trailed off, then she shook her head, trying to rid her mind of the disturbing images that bombarded her.  "I'll send a team after them.  The Kazekage and Raikage have to be notified as well."  She gazed at Sasuke and Sakura who were just standing there quietly listening.  "Go home and get some rest."

"I would like to be on the team that goes after Naruto," Sasuke says, not asking, but just stating.

Tsunade stares at the boy, then says, "I would like both of you to report here tomorrow an hour before dawn.  Teams will be assigned then."  Sakura nods respectfully, then looks towards Sasuke.  The young Uchiha was still for a moment, then nods as well.

-flashback-

Once again, Ino glanced at the pink-haired girl curiously.  'Did she know about this?'

"D-did something happen to N-Naruto-kun?" Hinata questioned; her voice, if possible, even more softer than before.  Before Kiba could answer, there was a poof of smoke and the two jounin sensei were standing there.

"Is everyone ready?" Kurenai asked.  The genin all nodded, but she sensed a slight tension in the air.  She sent a questioning glance towards Asuma who just shrugged as he lit the cigarette in his mouth.  Then the female jounin suddenly glanced towards the village as she spied three figures walking towards the gate.

The others followed her gaze, curious to see what caught her attention.  It was the last team, but there was no sign of their team leaders.

Sakura murmured, "Sasuke-kun..."

Ino commented, "Hmm...looks like Shikamaru and Neji-san are with him.  There's a strange expression on their faces, ne?"  The other genin glanced at the two girls curiously, surprised not to see them rushing towards the young Uchiha like they would normally do.  Then they looked back to the arriving boys.  Maybe it was understandable that the girls didn't run to Sasuke.  All three of them looked...unapproachable. 

"Where are your team leaders?" Kurenai asks.

"Right here," Jiraiya answers as he appears behind the boys with a poof of smoke.  Accompanying him were Kakashi, Gai and Tsunade.

The silver-haired jounin gives a simple, "Yo"

Lee, his bottom lip trembling slightly, cried out, "Gai-sensei!  Will you be going with them as well?"

Gai gave his beloved student a thumbs up sign and a teeth-pinging smile, "Iie, I shall stay here to help arrange a defense for the village." Then he turned his attention to his rival, "Ah, Kakashi, now we must pause in a our eternal rivalry for the sake of our noble duties for our beautiful village and for the sake of those in their springtime youth!"

Kakashi glanced lazily at Gai, "Hmm? Did you say something?"

Tears stream down the green-clad jounin's face as he pulls at his hair and cries out, "Iiiieee!! I have lost once again to your cool attitude!!"

Tenten slaps at her forehead, Lee cries on behalf of his mentor, and everyone else, but the three newly arrived boys, sweatdropped at the display.

Tsunade shook her head then addressed the team leaders, "I have some last minute instructions to go over with you."  Then the adults went off to the side to talk.  The other genin finally approached the three boys who had been silent since their arrival. 

"Ne, Shikamaru, what's your mission?" Ino asked bluntly.  The rookie chuunin just stared at her as if she were speaking another language.  Chouji paused in his eating to study his friend.  To his surprise, he found that the normally lazy boy was all tensed up.  What happened to make him that way?

After a long bout of silence, Neji finally said with a calm he didn't feel, "We're not at liberty to discuss the details of our mission."  That statement sounded very ominous to all of them. 

Sakura had been staring at Sasuke since he arrived and her heart had been clenched with worry the whole time.  He looked...disturbed.  Did something happen?  Was it about Naruto?  Not being able to handle the tension any longer, she began to say his name, "Sasu-"

"It's time to move out!" Asuma called out.  All the genin and the one chuunin quietly joined their team leaders. 

Tsunade let her gaze drift over their young faces before her eyes settled on the three boys she had spoken to earlier.  She knew they were still in shock over what she had told them.  She could only hope that she had not made a mistake in telling them.  She closed her eyes for moment, then she opened them said the only two words she had to offer to the three teams, "Ganbatte, minna."

After giving their Hokage nods of affirmation, the three teams were off.  Kurenai's team headed northeast towards the Thunder country, Asuma's team headed southwest towards the Wind country, and Jiraiya's team headed for the northwest towards the Earth country.

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-small country between the Earth and Fire countries-

"Those grass-nin didn't have a chance once I knocked them down with my super powered kick!" Naruto boasted loudly.

"Sugoi..." Yuri said with wide-eyed awe. 

Gaara resisted the overwhelming urge to roll his eyes as he listened to the blonde talk about his experiences during the Chuunin exam.  The red-haired boy watched as his companions continued to chat from their perch on the edge of a small cliff.  He, himself, was leaning on a spot against the rock wall close to them.  As the two chatted on, the sand-nin began to study them, as he found himself doing a lot lately. 

First he studied Naruto, who was gesturing wildly to emphasize certain parts of his story.  Gaara remembered the surprise he felt when he discovered that the blond boy was the vessel for the Kyuubi no Kitsune.  But looking at him now, the sand-nin could see certain kitsune-like qualities in the boy.  Like the way he grins so happily and from the stories that he's told them, it was apparent that he liked playing tricks as well.  There was more to the other boy than that.  There was also a warm light within him that seemed to attract and reach out to those who were lost in the cold darkness.  He watched as Naruto tried to act out a move from his story, but the blond ended up tripping on his own feet and falling on his ass.  The whiskered boy laughed with embarrassment, then continued on with his story.

Then Gaara turned his attention to Yuri, who was hanging on Naruto's every word.  He had learned quite a few thing about her from the time they spent traveling together.  Apparently, she had led a very sheltered life.  He could see it in the way that she takes in her surroundings with such awe and wonder.  There was also the childlike innocence she held in her eyes.  She reminded him of Naruto in that way.  Perhaps that was why those two got along so well.  After all, kitsunes and nekos were playful by nature, ne?

Suddenly the young sand-nin became aware of a new presence appearing a yard or two away from them.  Yuri noticed as well as she glanced in that direction.  Naruto, noticing the girl's distraction, curiously looked to see what caught her attention.  When his cerulean eyes landed on the cloak-clad figure standing there, he wasn't sure whether he should've reached for a kunai or not.  Both his companions weren't attacking the stranger, so he had to assume that this was the person they were waiting for.  But to be sure, he asked in a not so quiet voice, "Ne, ne, Yuri-chan, who is this guy?"

Yuri stood up and smiled pleasantly, "Naruto-kun, this is Akuma-aniki.  He's the one we've been waiting for."

The blond looked towards the young man who was staring at him with cold magenta eyes.  He fought back a slight shiver of apprehension as he murmured softly, "Naruhodo..."

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Five figures swiftly leapt from tree limb to tree limb with great urgency.  In the lead was a large, white-haired man, known as Jiraiya.  According to his sources, he knew where his unofficial student, Naruto was headed along with his new companions.  Closely following the legendary senin were Sasuke, Neji, and Shikamaru.  Kakashi took up the rear. 

From his watchful position behind everyone, Kakashi noted that although the three boys were alert to danger, their minds were most likely still occupied with the meeting they had that morning with the Hokage.  He knew they were disturbed by what Tsunade had revealed to them about their blond comrade.  He thought back to the conversation...

-flashback-

"Since this is such a dangerous mission, it's only fair that you know what you will be going up against.  It's time that you know the truth about Naruto..."

Kakashi and Gai's eyes widened with surprise while Iruka cried out with a horrified expression on his face, "Hokage-sama, iie!!  It's forbid-"

Tsunade held her hand up to silence the brown-haired chuunin, "These boys will be heading into a situation more dangerous than they have ever been in before.  It's only fair that they have the knowledge of what they'll be going up against if something goes wrong.  Will you deny them the right to prepare themselves properly?"

Iruka's hands clenched into fists as he closed his eyes for moment, then he slowly opened them and quietly said with a pained look, "Iie...I can't deny them the right to be prepared for what they might have to face...but, this is something that Naruto should be sharing with them.  That's his right, isn't it?"

"Hai, it is, but I have no choice now.  They must be told."  Tsunade turned her attention back to the three boys who had just stood there silently watching the adults converse amongst each other.  The tension in the air thickened as the legendary kunoichi addressed them again, "You boys may have noticed that Naruto isn't quite like other shinobi, ne?"  They nodded curtly. "I'm sure you all have heard the story of how the Yondaime defeated the youkai, Kyuubi no Kitsune, about fourteen years ago..."  More nods.  What did this have to do with Naruto?  "Well, that fateful night, Yondaime gave his life, not to destroy the youkai, but to seal it.  He sealed it within the body of a newborn baby.  That boy child was to be seen as a hero, yet many shinobi had lost their loved ones to the kitsune youkai and though it was sealed away, they still saw it in the boy, hating him.  Seeing this, Sandaime made it forbidden to ever speak of this secret that this boy held within him.  Not even the boy was to know this secret and he didn't know until he was twelve.  He learned to accept what was in him and he never let it stop him from pursuing his dream.  The boy I speak about, as I'm sure you know now, is Uzumaki Naruto.  It may not look like it, but he holds a tremendous power inside and that power is easily equaled by the two others he left here with.  Like Naruto, Gaara and Yuri have youkai within them as well.  Gaara is possessed by the tanuki youkai, Shukaku, and Yuri has the neko youkai, Kuroneko, within her.  The power within them is something the Akatsuki wants badly and if they get their hands on them...Kami-sama help us all."

All three boys held a look of shock on their faces.  Then the shock faded into something different for each of them.  Shikamaru was frowning puzzlement, Neji had a strange look of acceptance on his face, and Sasuke was shaking with fury. 

Tsunade sighed with weariness.  Iruka softly spoke up, "Hokage-sama, I would like to go with them to retrieve Naruto."

The kunoichi shook her head, "Iie, I need you here with the other seasoned chuunin to help prepare the village."

"Prepare?"

"Prepare in the event that the Akatsuki achieves their goal and decide to start attacking shinobi villages."

-end flashback-

It was decided that Gai stay behind with the other jounin and chuunin to help strengthen the village's defenses.  Kakashi could only hope that there would be no need for such a thing.  He went back to studying the young ninja boys before him.  When the time came for them to face Naruto again, what will happen? ------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------

As he moved from limb to limb, Shikamaru briefly glanced up at what he could see of the sky through the leaves and branches.  He never would have thought life would be this complicated when he first decided to be a ninja.  Thinking back to what the Hokage told them that day, he found it amazing that such a fearsome thing like the Kyuubi could be in a person like Naruto.  But now that he really thought of it, some things just started making sense to him.  He thought back to that day that he and Naruto faced Gaara in Lee's hospital room the day before the final Chuunin exam. 

"I have a real monster in me...I won't lose to the likes of him!" Naruto said as he steadily stared at the sand-nin before him.

"A monster eh...?  Then...it's the same for me," Gaara replied, returning the blond's stare, his face lacking any hint of emotion.

The words they exchanged confused him then, but now he understood.  But...Naruto isn't really a monster...is he? ----------------------------------------------------------------------- ----------- He just knew this day would turn out interesting.  Neji had to admit to himself that he was extremely surprised about what the Hokage told them about Naruto.  Such a burden that the blond shinobi must've endured day in and day out all of his life.  The young Hyuuga thought back to the day he faced Naruto in the Chuunin finals.   "You could never understand what it's like to be burdened with a symbol you could never rid yourself of!!!" Neji said with rage as he pointed at the younger boy. Naruto's eyes darkened for moment, before he gave a smirk towards the Hyuuga genius, his body trembling from having his chakra sealed off.  As blood trickled out the corners of his mouth, he said shakily yet a slight bit mockingly, "Yeah...I can...And...?  So what?"   At the time, Neji thought the other boy was taunting him with false bravado.  Yet there was a an understanding the blond's eyes that the older boy never comprehended.  Then when Naruto called forth chakra, a chakra unlike the kind he had before, Neji felt a strange mixture of shock and a tiny bit of fear.  Now he knew what it was that he saw in that red swirl of chakra that seemed to seep out from the blond shinobi's navel...that face he saw was the face of the Kyuubi. Now as he moved through the trees, he wondered  at what their destiny was to be.  Will they be destined to fail or will they succeed?  Then he gave a sudden smirk.  Their fate will be whatever they make it to be...Naruto taught him that. --------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------- There was fire of rage burning within Uchiha Sasuke.  A fire of rage and an icy coldness of betrayal.  Mixed together, these feelings left the sharingan user numb inside.  Kyuubi...Naruto had the Kyuubi sealed within him all this time and he never bothered to tell his teammates about it.  It was unreal to think that such evil power resided inside a person who brought so much goodness to others.  It was unreal, yet...real.  Sasuke should've known.  He should've suspected something when they first faced Orochimaru in the Forest of Death.   Sasuke, paralyzed with fear, stared as Naruto stood before him, stopping the giant snake's deadly attack with just his body and a kunai.  Naruto's low voice reached his ears, "Oi...You...Alright..." The blond slowly lifted his head and looked at his terrified teammate with eyes that were as red as blood and black slit pupils, "Scaredy-cat?"   He should have realized it then that there was more to Naruto than he knew about, but thoughts of That Man and his fight with Orochimaru took up his attention.  Yet the power he felt in his teammate that day was unlike anything he ever felt before, then he felt it again when Naruto fought against Gaara.  Why didn't he question him then?  Why hadn't the blond explained himself?  So many times...so many chances and yet...nothing.  He thought he had a friend in Naruto.  Someone he could fight side by side with, someone he thought he could trust, and someone he could measure himself against to show that he was strong and powerful.  But he was wrong.  Now he knew the truth and it was eating him up inside.  Sasuke gritted his teeth as he felt his angry emotions fill him, almost making his sharingan appear.  Such power within that baka...it just wasn't fair... ------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------- Jiraiya winced slightly as he sensed the conflicting emotions emitting from the boys behind him.  He didn't envy Tsunade the duty she took upon herself to tell these young ones the truth about Naruto.  He hoped that by the time they catch with the kozou, they'll have their emotions settled and be mentally prepared for battle.  'And there will be a battle,'  The senin thought grimly, no doubt about that.  For all their sakes, he hoped that Naruto hadn't already fallen into the hands of their enemies.

So onward the five shinobi went, knowing at the pace they were going, they were likely to catch up with the loudmouth blond within two days or less.  Kami-sama help them if they don't reach him and his companions in time....

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Naruto blinked with surprise as he stared at the sight before him.  Canyons, big and small, were spread out like a maze as far as the eye could see.  He never would have thought there would be such a thing on the other side of the mountain of which he stood at the top of.  Uneasily, he glanced towards Akuma, wondering if it was safe to trust him.  The guy creeped him out for some reason.  Naruto shifted his gaze to Gaara, who was standing next to him.  Apparently, the red-haired ninja seemed just was wary of the cloud-nin as he was. 

"Is something wrong, Naruto?" Yuri asked curiously as she looked at him from her position at Akuma's side. 

The blond gave a nervous giggle as he scratched the back of his head, "I-iie!  I was just wondering if we'll find what we're looking for here."

"Well, according to those ninja we...ano...'questioned' before, there's supposed to be a secret village somewhere in these canyons for bandits, mercenaries, and even missing-nin.  The scroll we're looking for should be somewhere hidden there,"  The dark-haired girl said as she turned to gaze at the landscape of dirt and rocks. 

Gaara's eyes narrowed slightly.  The information they beat out of the ninja they came across seemed accurate enough...maybe a little too accurate.  Something felt wrong about this whole situation.  It was a feeling he had from the start and it just grew steadily as thing progressed.  He didn't trust the cloud jounin that Yuri seemed to have so much faith in.  He knew Naruto felt the same way.  Gaara wasn't going to let his guard down for a single moment around this Akuma guy.  He didn't like the look in his eyes.

With his dark and low voice, Akuma said, "Let's go."

The players were set and finally put into motion.  Let the game begin.

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A/N:  @_@;  So many emotions flying everywhere...I hope it's not too confusing.  So hard to keep everyone in character.  I hope I did it right.  I tried to make this chapter long, but this is the best I can do at the moment.  Ano...so yeah, I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter and hopefully it satisfied your curiosity about how our genius boys reacted to the news about Naruto.  I might elaborate more on their feelings later.  Oh and hey, I finally got a deviant art account and put some pictures I drew up there. I have a picture of Yuri there so if any of you are curious to see how she looks, check it out.  The link is in my profile.  Well, I'm pretty tired now and I need to continue brainstorming for the next chapter.  Please review 'cause I love reading them, you people really make me smile.  Ja ne!