Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ Tutor et Ultor ❯ Chapter 5 ( Chapter 5 )

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

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto and its characters…except for my own created OCs.

To Kori Nibiki: Thanks for the review!!!! And for reading up to chap4!!!!!!

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To burningshadow: ItaIru. Sorry for the lateness of this chapter… my muse has left me with a writer's block.

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To ghostninja85: Thanks!!!!!

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To RuByMoOn17: Thanks for always reviewing my story!!!!!! ^^

Tutor et Ultor

Formerly known as 'Shards of My Secret Unkempt'

By Paranoia-shoujo & lain-trigger01

Team 7's first mission was to escort a certain man to wave country; a C-rank mission.

They had decided to take the most direct route to wave country for the man needed to get there within two days, unscratched. Kakashi alone could have gone to wave country and back in a day and a half but with the added burden of three genins who bickered non-stop and a simple businessman who had absolutely no knowledge of chakra and jutsus, their going was slow. They had been walking for a day and a few hours already and they were but two or three miles away from the first sentry gate of wave country.

Naruto was half-whining, half-chatting to Sakura while the pink-haired girl kept on answering back in a mean tone as she continued to dart glances towards her not-so-secret crush. Sasuke was stoic as ever, observing the trees in passing and trying his best to tamp down on his obvious annoyance at his team mates antics.

Kakashi's visible eye curved up into an inverted crescent-the only sign that he was grinning-as he watched the interaction of the three. He wondered of they noticed what he noticed…?

Splat!

Kakashi looked down to find that he had stepped into a puddle of clear liquid, looking around he noticed that similar puddles of the same liquid were scattered around the ground. Puddles of…water. Hmm? He crouched down on one knee and dipped two fingers in the cool liquid. He rubbed his fingers together and licked it. Puddles of…water, indeed.

"Kakashi-sensei?" Sasuke was watching him.

Naruto, Sakura and the man stopped walking and looked back at them at Sasuke's question. Sakura's eyes clearly showing her curiosity.

Kakashi stood up and started walking again. "It's nothing. I just noticed the sudden appearance of these puddles of water," he casually waved an arm around at the puddles of clear, cool water around.

Everyone with the exception of Naruto glanced at the puddles. Naruto walked to the edge of the trail and bent down to touch the grass, a weird smile on his face. Kakashi's eyes narrowed at the blonde's actions before filing this away for future reference.

"It's nothing. Let's move on, we need to get to wave country by nightfall," Kakashi said.

Three heads nodded at him, Naruto's voice rang out. "Well then, what are we waiting for? Let's go! Don't worry. I, Uzumaki Naruto, will protect you from harm!" He squinted his eyes at them and gave a cheeky grin that oddly enough reminded Sasuke of a fox grinning at his prey. Sasuke quickly shook the absurd thought off as they continued on with their interrupted journey.

"Dobe. You can't even protect yourself from my attacks."

"You asshole! I can, and you know it! I just let you beat me!" Naruto whirled around.

"Sasuke-san is right, Naruto."

"Sakura-chaaan!" Naruto whined in a high voice.

Kakashi glanced at their client and sighed at the sight of the man's curious eyes. "Naruto, stop whining and watch where you're going. We're on a mission, not training, and your duty is front guard. Messing up now would cost a person's life."

Kakashi watched the effect of his words on the group who fell silent for a while, contemplating. They walked on.

Shadows skimmed the surfaces of the puddles. It could have been a trick of what sunlight could pass through the thick canopy of trees above them. No one noticed anyway.

Out of the puddle Kakashi had knelt by slowly rose a disembodied arm bearing a dark chain.

Team 7 walked on, bickering among themselves.

Suddenly two shadows darted out of the aforementioned puddle bearing weird weapons that looked like dark chains with a heavy point at one end; the other end of the chain wrapped around one arm. They rushed over the ground in Kakashi's direction; their feet seem to never touch the hard-packed dirt.

In synchronized motion, the two mysterious nins threw the pointed ends of their weapons in Kakashi's direction.

The heavy ends shot out ahead of Kakashi and wrapped around his body, pinning his limbs and rendering him immobile.

"Attack!" Kakashi managed to get out before his breath shortened to a mere gasp.

Sasuke was the first to notice the two unknown presences. He immediately stopped walking and arranged his body in a half-crouch, scanning his surroundings, taking in his distance relative to a variety of points in his immediate vicinity, noting the ideal places for disappearing into, all the while giving himself a mental run through the various jutsus he could use in this fight.

Sakura, who had been idly chatting with their client, heard Kakashi's warning and spun around quickly, her green eyes widening at the sight. "Kakashi-sensei!"

Naruto, who had also turned when he heard Kakashi's voice stood stock-still, his face ashen blue eyes mere pinpricks on clear white.

The two mysterious nins yanked hard on the chains. The chains tightened around Kakashi's body and the sound of his cracking bones rang sickeningly in the balmy morning air. The chains wrapped around him tightened even more and cut into muscle and bone. Blood gushed out of Kakashi's body and painted the world red. The black chains slackened around the limp and broken body of their sensei and were quickly drawn back by their owner's.

Sakura wanted to scream but her ninja training absolutely forbid her to. Sasuke's lips were set in a thin grim line, eyes focused on his enemies. Their client choked and gagged as he and the other's were splattered with blood. Naruto still frozen was now trembling.

The air was rank with coppery scent. It was difficult to breathe without feeling the urge to retch.

All this occurred in the span of three seconds.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Kakashi was perched on a tree five meters to Sasuke's right. He had masked his charka and drawn up his hitai-ate forehead protector upwards to reveal one blood red sharingan eye.

He had noticed the puddles of water even before 'he' stepped on one. The pair of nins who were sent to attack them were very good at hiding their chakra and controlling their weapons. But the puddles of water on a bright sunny morning was a dead give away.

The Demon Brothers were about to attack.

Kakashi had heard of them during a conversation with fellow nins. Not really very powerful, unlike Uchiha Itachi and Orochimaru were, but dangerous in their own right. They were given the moniker 'Demon Brothers' by the survivors of a rural village they massacred in the middle of the night. According to reports they had come down on the village like a pair of rampaging demons out of puddles of water, killing and burning, the air rent with the sound of screams, the scent of blood and charred remains.

Since then puddles of water had become their trademark. And their folly. Kakashi thought. Their arrogance is their folly and death.

An old lesson rang clear in Kakashi's head.

The good fighters of old first put themselves beyond the possibility of defeat, and then waited for an opportunity of defeating the enemy.

To secure ourselves against defeat lies in our own hands, but the opportunity of defeating the enemy is provided by the enemy himself. Hence was the saying: One may know how to conquer without being able to do it.

What all the six humans on the forest trail below did not know was that they were actually in an illusion he had created. It had expended a lot of chakra on his part but it was essential to his plan.

Everything from the moment 'Kakashi' had stepped on that puddle of water was an illusion. His actions, his death, his blood were all an illusion.

Kakashi sweatdropped, remembering Sakura's cry of 'Kakashi-sensei', did they really think I could be defeated that easily?

He had actually given hints that something was amiss like the fact that HE did NOT notice the puddles of water until he had stepped on one. A ninja was always observant of his surroundings, especially when he himself was out in the open, a sitting duck for anyone to attack.

Then there was the act of tasting the water. As a ninja he knew better than to do that. Most harmless looking liquids actually were the deadliest poisons.

Then there was the part where he had said 'It's nothing' twice. Nins NEVER took anything for granted, especially the sudden 'appearance' of puddles of water when there were absolutely no nearby water sources and the grass and trees weren't damp.

And then there was that minor scolding that he had given Naruto. He wasn't one to comment unless the comment was absolutely nasty or needed. Besides, Iruka was very fond of Naruto….

Kakashi did not want to think of where that last thought had come from.

He had expended precious charka to create this illusion just so he could observe how his students would react to their first actual encounter with enemy ninjas. It also gave him an unfair advantage over the enemy.

He had been impressed that Sasuke was observant enough to notice the change in atmosphere when he had began this illusion. His question 'Kakashi-sensei' was inconspicuous enough, but he seemed to actually be asking: Kakashi-sensei, is that really you?

Naruto's actions baffled him though. It was completely unexpected of the blonde and hinted that he also knew that it was impossible for the water puddles to have appeared naturally. And the grin he had seen on Naruto's face reminded him so much of a similar grin he had seen on the face of Uchiha Itachi, during one fight to the death match Itachi participated in when he was still an adolescent, and that he had been able to watch.

Kakashi focused his attention on the events happening below. His sharingan eye observed the sudden flare in Sasuke's charka at his 'death'. The boy was crouched low in a defensive position that also allowed him to execute an attack if need be without wasting precious seconds.

The two ninjas seemed to disappear and re-appear behind Naruto. Naruto's trembling was now even more pronounced. But Kakashi suspected that this was not from fear. With the sharingan activated, he saw how Naruto's chakra surrounded him like red flames. The Kyuubi's charka. But Naruto's charka was …hazy, translucent. As if the charka was not really there but reaching somewhere else. What's going on with Naruto?

The Demon Brothers threw back their weighted chains in preparation of throwing these in Naruto's direction.

Kakashi took note of the way Sasuke's charka had disappeared for a split second and flared back to life in the next. A smirk graced his lips as he swung his gaze from Sasuke to Naruto and back again. Well, well, well…What do we have here?

Sasuke jumped high, grabbing a shuriken from his pouch and throws it, then grabs a kunai this time and throws it at the point where the two chains intersect, pinning both the chains and the Demon Brothers to the tree trunk behind them. The first shuriken had missed and disappeared in the woods beyond.

Sasuke landed on the two ninjas' backs and places twin strong kicks to their jaws.

&nb sp; Show-off. Kakashi muttered to himself mentally as the two ninjas smashed into the ground.

Sasuke threw a quick glance at Naruto and glared.

"Are you hurt?" He asked, watching as Naruto slowly came back to his senses. A smirk appeared on his face as his mouth formed the next words. "Scaredy-cat…" He watched disinterested as his teammate's eyes widened and his body stilled in place… like a statue.

The ninjas on the ground quickly got rid of their useless weapons and charged towards Team 7's client, katakanas in hand. In an attempt to protect Tazuna, Sakura placed herself between him and the attacking nins, crouching down into a defense position. Sasuke, seeing this, leapt and knocked his body slightly against Sakura to send her to the sides. Standing guard before Tazuna, he prepared to receive the oncoming attacks, a kunai in his hand.

Two katanas wielded by nins against a genin with a kunai. Time for me to join the fight again! Kakashi thought as he pulled his hitai-ate band back into place and jumped off the tree to join the fight below.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Sasuke felt the beads of his sweat roll down the sides of his face. But there wasn't time to wipe it off. He paid close attention to the body motions of the two mysterious nins who had attacked them, trying to guess their thoughts. Two katakanas against my kunai… Think, Sasuke, think!

The attacking ninjas came to a sudden halt.

Mystified, Sasuke craned his neck to gain a different perspective.

Behind them, Kakashi's visible eye was crinkled in what Sasuke guessed was laughter, holding the two nins by their necks.

Kakashi quickly sent a jolt of chakra through the brothers that rendered them unconscious.

"Oi!" he greeted his two students as both students gawked at him…well, at least Sasuke did so with a degree of his usual poise. Then the usual cool was back in place and he crouched down again in a defensive position.

"Kakashi-sensei…" Sakura trailed off. She rubbed her eyes and pinched herself. "Sasuke-san? Do you see what I see?"

"If you're talking about me, Sakura, then yes, I think you're not hallucinating and Sasuke also sees me and I am alive. And well." Kakashi's voice dripped with a mix of healthy sarcasm and laughter.

Sakura refused to rise to the taunt. Instead she turned her head around to see where she knew Kakashi's broken and bloody body rested.

The body was gone. The splatters of blood and puddles of water seemed to have never existed.

Sakura whirled back around. " Sasuke! Kakashi's b-"

Sasuke glared at her. "It could only be an illusion. Be ready to attack him. There's only one way to find out if this is really Kakashi-sensei."

And Team 7 spent the rest of the next 15 minutes sparring with Kakashi who halfway through the fight had pulled out his copy of Icha Icha Paradise, much to the amazement of their client. When Sasuke and Sakura finally lay beaten on the ground, Sasuke announced in disbelief: "You are Kakashi-sensei".

Kakashi gave him a noogie for that.

"Oi! What do you think you're doing fighting Kakashi-sensei without me? You'll never win that way! Come on, Sakura-chan, let's team up against Kakashi!"

The two other genins in the group sweatdropped.

"You froze up in the middle of an actual fight, idiot." Sasuke pointed out. "But what can we expect out of a dobe anyway?"

"Why you!" Naruto bickered with Sasuke for the rest of the trip to wave country.

But something was different with the blonde boy, Kakashi sensed. What happened to him during the fight?

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Naruto stared up at the dark, starry night, relishing the smell and feel of the cool night wind blowing past his face. He sighed. Who was that? And why won't Kyuubi tell me who he is? What does he want from me?

Naruto had long noticed the two presences that had been trailing them since they had cleared Konoha forest. He knew they were there; Kyuubi's senses told him. But he couldn't pinpoint their locations. They kept on shifting from place to place.

Then Kakashi had noticed the puddles. He suspected Kakashi knew about the two all along. The two unnamed nins were very good at trailing their targets and veiling their chakra. And with lots of life energies scattered in the forest, it would have been a waste of time to try to locate them using such means.

But as soon as they came across the clearing with random puddles of water strewn about, Naruto knew who they were dealing with. The Demon Brothers. He had heard of the Demon Brothers from his aniki and knew that puddles of water were their trademark. But to be sure, he had taken the time to kneel by a few grasses that grew at the edge of the trail, checking if the blades and the soil below it were wet. They were not. This was the work of the Demon Brothers.

These thoughts ran through Naruto's head, the memory of his grandfather's soothing voice and the words he kept on repeating to himself much like a calming mantra. He needed to pretend that nothing was different, that he knew nothing. The Naruto that Team 7 knew would not know these things. He needed to calm down. He needed to fight the blood rush.

Kyuubi was getting excited at the chance to duke it out with nins whom he could kill.

"…All warfare is based on deception. Hence, when able to attack, we must seem unable; when using our forces we must seem inactive; when we are near, we must make the enemy believe we are far away; when far away, we must make him believe we are near. Hold out baits to entice the enemy. Feign disorder, and crush him. If he is secure at all points, be prepared for him. If he is superior in strength, evade him. If your opponent is of choleric temper, seek to irritate him. Pretend to be weak, that he may grow arrogant. If he is taking ease, give him no rest. If his forces are united separate them. Attack him where he is unprepared, appear where you are not expected…"

And Naruto intended to do just that… the lesson that had been ingrained in him.

Naruto began to gather chakra to create an illusion jutsu to rival Kakashi-sensei's own, that he only now perceived.

But as he began to let out a small amount of his and Kyuubi's chakra a foreign force seemed to take control over him, and he was drawn away to a place in perpetual darkness, where he could not feel or see, and a disembodied voice began talking to him.

Naruto shook off his thoughts. But my team mates and Kakashi-sensei said they saw my body, and that I wasn't moving. What happened? What? All I remember is….

"Are you hurt? Scaredy-cat…"

What? Was that… Sasuke? But when did that happen... I don't remember…

"Dobe, quit muttering nonsense and go to sleep." A dark voice growled to his left.

"Asshole." He answered back, a hint of affection softening the harsh word.

AN (from Paranoia-shoujo): To those who know my writing style, you would probably notice that the first part of this chapter did NOT come from me… and you are RIGHT!!!!!!!!! The earlier scene is solely the work of lain-trigger01, the writer of Grow Old With You. =<^_^>=. For those who like sappy SasuNaru, I suggest you read it. Oh, and this is the proof-read version of the chapter.

AN (from lain-trigger): Sap! I shall stop! I shall stop! I have become a fountain of sap grr… hope you like it!!!!!!!

AN: BACK TO THE FIC!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

"I should've known!!!" Sakura muttered exasperated, as she watched Naruto stumble yet again, almost falling face-down if not for the fast reflexes of the Uchiha walking beside him. They were again traveling towards the wave country or rather the village wherein they would be staying. Their pace faster than before as Kakashi worried that another attack may cripple them.

"Let me go, asshole!!!" The blonde screamed at his raven-haired teammate, seemingly annoyed at his own clumsiness.

Sasuke blinked owlishly before replying. "Dobe." Immediately he let go as he saw Naruto gain back his sense of balance. Kakashi sighed, mentally counting to five as he waited for the grand explosion. 5…4…3…2…1!!!

"I'VE HAD IT!!!" Sakura screamed, stalking towards Naruto. "You're doing this on purpose, aren't you?!! Wasn't it enough that you stole Sasuke-kun's first kiss, you freak?!! You even had the gall to merely freeze in a fight and make Sasuke-kun fight for you!!!!!!!!! You…." She continued screaming, blissfully ignorant of the reddening of her aforementioned 'Sasuke-kun' and the raised eyebrow of their pervert sensei.

Naruto….?Sasuke's FIRST kiss? He thought, discreetly watching the Uchiha's cherry face return to its normal color. He stifled a snicker as the image of Sasuke in a wedding dress and Naruto in a tux invaded his mind. Or is it the other way round… He almost guffawed as the scene in his head changed to Naruto in a gown and Sasuke in a tux….

"Get your mind out of the gutter, sensei!!!" The pink-haired kunoichi yelled once she finally noticed the perverted smirk on Kakashi's face as he watched the two uncomfortable genins before him.

"…"

+++++++++++++++++++++++++

"Shikamaru!!!! Chouji!!!!!! We need to train!!!!!" Ino shouted as she stood before the barbeque house that her two teammates frequented to. As she continued ranting outside the shop, the owner of the restaurant sighed, sweatdropping at the typical scene. His eyes briefly scanned the room, trying with all his might to locate his two usual patrons. However to his great surprise, they were nowhere to be found. Before he could question his other customers of the location of the duo, he was thrown back by the frightening aura surrounding the enraged blonde. "Where are they?" She growled, her eyes turning to slits, it was obvious that she was not pleased.

"Ino? What are you doing here?" Asuma asked amused, he had originally been patrolling when he passed the barbeque house. Greatly amused by the scene his student caused, he did not interrupt her tirade till now. He was about to tell her that her two teammates were already at the training grounds when he remembered the conversation he had heard the night before. He smirked, Shikamaru and Chouji had told him of the plan after realizing that he had caught them, and in turn he had promised his cooperation.

"Asuma-sensei? I was looking for Chouji and Shikamaru. We were supposed to be training…" The girl supplied as she looked down to her hands, embarrassed. "I swear I'll kill them…" She muttered darkly.

Asuma raised an eyebrow after hearing the quiet statement. Shaking his head, he told her. "From what I remember, I saw them in the ramen house nearby the Academy… and by the way, training is already finished… we were wondering why you didn't come…"

"What?!!!"

"I told your father that you cut training today…"

"But!!!!!!!!!!!"

"Don't worry, he understands…"

"But I…."

"I have to go now… bye."

"But sensei…" Before she could continue however, he disappeared.

Hours later, a feminine voice could be heard screaming. "SHIKAMARU!!!!!!!!!!!"

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"Are you sure that it's alright to do that, Shika…?"

//"SHIKAMARU!!!!!!!!!!!"// Chouji's question was silenced the moment he heard their female teammate's angry shout. His chubby face paled considerably as his mind conjured a tearful scene of their death by Ino's hand.

"'s alright." The Nara child replied as he lay comfortably at the shadow of the Sakura tree.

"Sure?" Chouji asked, still worried.

"'course." They stayed there for awhile, watching the sky bleed red as the sun set herself on a journey to the west.

Shikamaru closed his eyes tiredly. In truth, he wasn't sure on the prank they pulled but in his mind, it was better to calm his friend than to tell him his worries. Actually, there was another reason to why he chose to go through with it today and it all started 12 hours ago…

"Shikamaru. Wake up before your mother storms here." His father prodded him as he lay sleepy on his futon. Without saying a word, he stood up, walking slowly towards the kitchen where he knew his mother was. But before he could enter the room fully, he pulled back… his eyes widening as he listened in on his mother and sister's conversation.

"From what I heard, he's on a mission with Hatake-san… along with Uchiha Sasuke and Haruno Sakura." Ameko, Shikamaru's older sister, whispered.

"Oh?"

"Hai."

"… That boy…such admirable strength… Losing a family not only once but still able to live day by day with a smile…"

"But mother…? Isn't his brother alive?"

"That we do not know… It has been six years since he was last seen. Everyone believes him to be dead…"

"Poor Uzumaki… he loved his aniki so much…"

"Just like you did, Ameko?"

"I do NOT like that idiot!!! I hate him… stupid Ryukien."

"As you say…"

<End Flashback>

"They were talking about Naruto…" Shikamaru whispered unknowingly

"Huh? You said something, Shika?"

"No."

"Ah, ok!" And they again fell back to the silence….

To be continued…..

Paranoia's notes: Looks like I really can't make a cliffhanger…. <pouts> Anyway, this fic is now being co-authored by lain-trigger01 who is also my beta-reader. Hope you like it. Review…. Criticize….. but do NOT flame!!!!!!! ^^;;