Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ Vengeful ❯ Chapter 6 ( Chapter 6 )

Kakashi examined the motionless body cautiously, as if expecting it to jump up and bite him at any moment. It seemed to be a normal teenage boy, not much younger than Sasuke. But the whisker scars and hair alone told him it was the demon, having heard the description from his old friends. He wondered how he had got into this - demon holders weren't his concern. No, the thing he was worrying about was a certain prince.

Despite his training, he had still got separated when they fell into the river. Ino and Sasuke, being younger and less able-bodied, were carried away quickly, and he could see little resistance from them. His first thought was to follow them, and let himself be taken by the current.

When he saw where the current was taking him, however, he decided quickly that he could … catch them up better from the land. Yes. Unable to help them either way from going down the waterfall, he had let loose his heavy pack, putting all of his effort into getting to the opposite bank, where the soldiers couldn't see him.

Now, for an elite bodyguard like himself, this should have been a rather basic task, but there were factors weighing him down. Firstly, he was already exhausted physically from the running that he had done. Secondly, he was weighed down with his armour pieces, and his thick clothes that had quickly absorbed a large amount of water - both of which were hard enough to get off without being in an about-to-go-down-a-waterfall situation.

Thirdly, he had to ensure that the two Icha Icha books he had recovered from his pack, that were slightly damp, did not get completely soaked, and thus ruined. This resulted in a one-armed, awkward and very strained swim to the riverbank.

He had made it, books intact, and after a short rest headed for the bottom of the waterfall, on a land route. When he arrived, there was no sign of them or their packs. This had depressed him immensely. There were more books that hadn't been recovered - what if they hadn't survived?

Despite the fatigue of his companions, he knew they'd be able to survive something like this - and would be severely disappointed in them if they didn't. For all he knew, they could have climbed out already and be searching for him.

So, rather than search aimlessly, he had headed in the route which they were originally headed. Sasuke and Ino would do the same, and they would be able to meet up on the journey, or if not at least at the destination, that being Konoha.

So, with confidence, he had made his way in the direction of the next village on the route. When he finally arrived, he found the nearest inn and slept for a whole day. Rather than be disappointed in his own laziness, as many might have, he had cheerfully stayed an extra night so that he could catch up on reading.

After all, he justified himself, since they had left the castle, he had had few opportunities in which to read, guarding the stubborn prince coming first.

As luck would have it, the next day he ran into a couple of old friends. To be more accurate, he caught sight of them, quickly hid, and proceeded to stalk them to discover what they were doing in the insignificant village. They were, however, being overly secretive, whispering and choosing non-public places in which to do such whispering.

Being none the wiser, he had finally given in and revealed his presence to his two stunned friends. After a few minutes of staring, he politely asked them whether they were devious traitors or not. This didn't bode well with Kurenai, a black-haired, red-eyed and very temperamental woman. Asuma had barely been able to restrain her from strangling the bemused Kakashi, even though he could have defended himself well enough.

Once such pleasantries had been exchanged, they found local bar, and talked of old times. Kakashi had cut this short, however - discussing `old times' made him feel, well, old. He wasn't ready to feel old. Hell, he was only 33!

So, over his book, he had asked what they were doing in the village. When they explained they were seeking information on Akatsuki, and had subordinates chasing a demon nearby, he had dropped the book in favour of a stronger drink and paid full attention to them.

He had then explained his own mission, and it was their turn to be shocked. He was guarding the famous/infamous Sasuke Uchiha, the `Prince of Thunder'. He didn't want to put in much more detail, telling them that he was going to meet up with him soon - conveniently missing out the part about losing him in a raging river and seeing him go over a waterfall.

Their mission however interested him greatly - especially the demon part. The demon, they explained, was sealed inside an 18-year-old boy. They had obtained information from spies that Akatsuki, who had previously been somewhat inactive, planned to use these demon vessels in order to do something that they had determined was very bad, and of great scale (as evil plots generally are).

Despite the vague information, they decided that rather than let the Nine-Tailed Fox Demon (or for short `Kyuubi)' fall into the hands of Akatsuki, they would need to kill it. Kakashi had been shocked by that conclusion, but they then explained that not only were they stopping Akatsuki getting such a powerful demon, they would be killing a possible threat to many innocent lives if the demon were to ever break free. They guessed that the demon would not willingly let itself be locked away or cooperate.

Kakashi, never having met a demon before, was immensely curious. Although he never voiced the curiosity, or indeed offered any help, he soon found himself being ordered to ensure that the subordinates were close to accomplishing their objective. Ordinarily, he would have refused - but Asuma and Kurenai had been drinking, were in a bad mood, and had not slept in 2 days - and he did not want to die just yet. After all, as he had previously reflected, he had so much of his life ahead of him.

The direction he was told to search in was, coincidentally, close to the route he was planning to travel himself. After a sad, and very hasty parting with his two old friends, he wasted no time in hurrying to the location.

It was not hard to find the two he was searching for - apparently they had stayed in a single location to attempt an ambush. So he was overjoyed when he didn't need to put more effort into finding them, and decided that sneaking up on them would be fun.

He had not seen Kiba or Shino for about 5 years, when he had last met with their guardians, and it seemed the perfect way to greet them.

What he hadn't expected was that Kiba was already completely white, and was standing, sword drawn, over a blond boy with whiskered cheeks. Being the genius he was, he realised the situation instantly, but chose to take this slowly. They were, unexpectedly, very rude to him. A hug or a warm greeting for an old friend wasn't too much to ask right?

But there was no such friendliness, and he had clearly interrupted something important - that something being the killing of an innocent person, one that happened to be a demon holder, who was lying unconscious before them. Well, that wouldn't do, he thought to himself, sighing inwardly. No matter what he had been informed of by his friends, killing without questioning was wrong.

“I suppose now you will take the demon to the border village and meet up with the rest?” However, they looked horrified at the suggestion. “What is it?”

“Didn't they tell you about how dangerous this demon is?” Shino asked, as if speaking to a child. Kakashi frowned.

“He's just a demon holder, and a teenage boy - how dangerous can he be?” Kiba looked at his feet, whilst Shino shook his head, replying dispassionately.

“That innocent demon holder killed 12 people in its home village.” Kakashi fought to maintain his calm appearance for a second. Twelve villagers? Maybe it really is justified to kill it, he thought somewhat sadly. However, his opinion was changed again, at another statement.

“It was in self defence, though.” Kiba defended quietly, earning a glare from his team-mate.” Kakashi nodded as he took this in. At least it wasn't in cold blood. The demon deserved a fair judgement, at the very least. But it was starting to get to him, the new demon problem - it wasn't his decision to make, and he had other things to worry about, such as the future of the country.

A distant shout echoed through the woods, and he was instantly alert.

“Naruto!” The voice was unfamiliar, a girl's voice, and he wondered what someone would be doing out in the wilderness so far from the main road.

“Naruto, where are you?” This shout was closer, and very familiar. He smiled to himself - meeting Sasuke here was good luck. But who was Naruto? He turned around to face the direction of the shouts, not noticing that Kiba and Shino had frozen beside him.

He watched thoughtfully as a pink-haired girl half-stumbled into view. Sasuke had a new travelling companion? This was confirmed as a hooded figure and a familiar blonde-haired girl came up behind the pink-haired girl in question. As his eyes flicked to the pink-haired girl, he noticed her own eyes were wide, and directed towards the body on the ground.

Then it clicked. This `Naruto' was the demon boy. How did Sasuke manage to end up with that sort of company? He realised quickly that this would put the prince in direct opposition with the boys next to him. Now this was an awkward situation. So, in a moment of brilliance, he reached into his pack to remove his secret weapon - Icha Icha Paradise.

The rather unusual act of pulling out a book did in fact have several advantages. Firstly (and least importantly) it annoyed everyone, and thus part of the frustration would be directed to him. Also, it allowed him to feign disinterest to the point of appearing not to be watching the situation, while he actually was watching like a hawk.

Most importantly, he could use the act so that he did not have to pick a side. Naturally, his loyalty lay with the prince he'd sworn to protect, but opposing Kiba and Shino wasn't an agreeable option either (an image of an angry Kurenai flashed in his mind).

So, he needed to keep them calm, and mostly angry towards him, so that he could defuse and solve the situation. How hard could it be?

“Now, everyone, I think this is a little misunderstanding …” He didn't have a chance to continue, however.

“What did you do to Naruto!?” The pink-haired girl demanded, eyes still on the blond boy. Kiba and Shino didn't answer, apparently having their own inner arguments. Suddenly she rushed forward, and Ino gasped, jumping forward to grab the screaming girl.

This snapped Kiba out of his thoughts, and in such a moment of confusion and indecision, there was one thing that was for certain - and that was his orders and his duty. Tightening his grip on the sword, he held it over the body. Kakashi dropped his book, deciding that that was enough assessment of the situation.

“Kiba! Wait, you can't do-“ Everyone froze as Kiba brought the sword down firmly - directly into Naruto's chest. It was one of those odd slow-motion moments, where time tries to drag out a bad occasion for the benefit of those watching. Kakashi watched the action in terror, unsure of what to do. This was not going to plan at all - how could one defuse this?

This worry was instantly heightened as his eyes rested on the previously quiet Uchiha. Kakashi had never seen much emotion on his face before, but now it was painfully clear. The expression went from shock, to sadness, and then to anger. He snarled, and the older man could only watch in horror, as the dark eyes now became a crimson red, with strange black dots.

Sharingan - a bloodline limit, the rare ability found only within the royal Uchiha line. Most notable for its clarity of perception, but rumoured to have other abilities, it was widely respected - and feared. Few had ever fought against the Sharingan and survived.

The red eyes landed on the offender - Kiba. Kakashi felt panic swell up in him. There was little he could do to stop Sasuke now, and that meant that the subject of the prince's fury was going to die, unpleasantly.

He could only observe as the next few moments of the disaster played out. Sakura, still screaming, ran towards Naruto, not stopped by Ino, Kiba or Shino. She collapsed beside him, sobbing and examining the wound despairingly. Meanwhile, Sasuke drew his sword, and ran towards Kiba.

The distance between the two was covered in seconds; Sasuke's form almost a blur. He swung his sword down towards his terrified opponent. Even though Kiba managed to block, the sheer force of the blow made him stumble back. He attempted a counterattack, not realising it was futile against Sharingan. With almost superhuman speed and skill, Sasuke parried the attack, immediately lunging at Kiba's weak point.

Kiba yelped in pain as the blade slashed his side, losing his balance. The loss of balance, however, was what managed to save him. As Sasuke attempted a stab at Kiba's head, the boy fell backwards, clutching his side. Shino made to go forward, but Kakashi stopped him, and drew his own sword as Sasuke loomed over his enemy.

The only way he could save Kiba and attempt to calm Sasuke down was letting the anger play out a little by fighting. So as Sasuke raised his sword again, Kakashi's sword flashed in a defensive movement over the boy. Sasuke attempted the attack anyway, and Kakashi gave a powerful kick to push him away. Sasuke however, managing to perceive the attack while not even concentrating on Kakashi, blocked with his arm, the rest of his body not even recoiling.

“Sasuke, you have to stop! Killing them won't help!” He doubted talking would solve it, but it was worth a try. As predicted, Sasuke met his eyes in challenge, not showing any sign of listening to the words. Sword locked with Kakashi's, he gave a simple spin-kick to his old teacher's torso, growling as Kiba began trying to crawl away.

Damnit, Kakashi thought as he lunged for Sasuke to distract him, how long will he be able to keep his Sharingan up?

Sasuke sidestepped easily, using the position to strike at the base of the sword - knocking it out of Kakashi's hands. He looked to Kiba, who had stopped crawling, and was gazing half-lidded, on the verge of unconsciousness.

Shino, seeing the situation his teammate was in, ignored Kakashi's orders and ran to help. However, Ino intercepted him, blocking the way. Knowing he was no match for her head on, he reluctantly halted, hoping Kakashi could stop Sasuke.

“Sasuke?”

Everyone turned in shock to Naruto, who had opened his eyes and was watching through heavy eyes. Sakura gasped, and looked down at the wound in his chest. Blood covered his shirt and the ground around him, but the wound didn't actually look that deep - or as deep as it was.

She watched with wide eyes as the wound glowed and the blood loss slowed gradually. Her first instinct was to jump back in horror, but her concern for her friend overtook that, and she leaned forward to cover the wound from sight.

“Naruto you're ok!” She said, embracing him carefully.

“Yeah,” he said weakly, coughing up some blood. “What happened anyway?” Naruto was oblivious to what had happened, and looked back to the now unconscious Kiba, and to Sasuke, who was looking at him with a blank expression. “What … Kiba …”

“He was the one who attacked you,” Sasuke murmured in reply, looking slightly lost. He looked over to see Naruto's reaction, but the blond had passed out from blood loss. Shino hurried over to Kiba to check his wounds, whilst Ino and Sasuke checked Naruto.

Kakashi rubbed his temples, feeling a headache coming on. At least they weren't trying to kill each other, though. He glanced over to Naruto frowningly. There was no way he could have taken such a deep wound in the chest and been able to survive - it had to have been healed by the demon. He smiled slightly - that was a lucky kid.

He heard the girl tell Sasuke and Ino that it had been a shallow wound, and had covered it with a cloth. Of course, he thought, if she travelled with him she'd know about the demon. Though, apparently, Sasuke and Ino were oblivious. She must not have thought too much about it - they would have to explain why Naruto was the target of an assassination either way.

“He should be ok,” Sakura informed them, sighing. “He needs a place to rest and recover.” Shino looked up from tending to his own companion.

“Kiba needs medical attention, but it's not fatal.” He said quietly to Kakashi. Sasuke, apparently having forgotten about them, now stood and drew his sword.

“No,” he said calmly to Shino, “he won't. Because I'll kill both of you.” Shino drew his own cautiously, looking to Kakashi for help. Ino and Sakura, however, seemed to understand the situation a little, and made to stop Sasuke.

“Now Sasuke,” Kakashi said in his usual lazy voice, “he was just doing his job. There's no reason to fight at the moment.”

“No reason?” Sasuke said disbelievingly, gesturing towards Naruto, “Naruto could have died!” Kakashi appeared to consider the statement.

“That's right.” He replied dully. Sasuke growled at him menacingly, and he sighed. “But maybe there's more to this than what's on the surface … did you consider why they tried to kill Naruto?” Sakura's head shot up, and she stared at Kakashi with wide eyes, as if begging him not to say anything, but he ignored her.

Sasuke frowned at the question. Why did they try to kill him? After all, he was just a teen travelling to visit relatives - the only reason someone would attack would be for money, or to get to Sasuke himself. Naruto was unconscious when he was stabbed, so they could have taken his money then. Apart from that, Kakashi was involved, so it was likely to be something to do with him.

“Obviously, it was to get to me - how could you accept that?” he replied harshly. Kakashi smiled from under his mask.

“Not everything revolves around you, Sasuke.” Sasuke stared at him in confusion. Well, he already knew Kakashi was crazy, why should this be surprising?

Seeing the confused look on the prince's face, he sighed in resignation.

“They were ordered to kill the one named Naruto. It was nothing to do with you.” Sasuke looked even more confused, looking back at Naruto and Sakura. Sakura looked away, focusing on the unconscious boy.

“What … why would they want to kill Naruto?” he asked more quietly.

“He is wanted by Akatsuki.” He replied, deliberately dragging out the explanation to help it sink in. Sasuke looked back at Naruto again in disbelief.

“What are you talking about?” he demanded, frustrated. Kakashi shrugged, scratching his head.

“Well, Naruto there is a Jinchuuriki,” he said, partly enjoying the perplexed look he was receiving. “A human who has had a demon sealed inside him at birth.” Sasuke stared at him.

“Oh.” Kakashi frowned. Just `oh'? He searched Sasuke's face for some sign of a real reaction, but he just looked contemplative.

“You … don't mind?” He asked hesitantly. Sasuke looked up and shook his head slightly, opening his mouth to reply. Before he could speak, Ino jumped forward, having heard Naruto's situation.

“That's terrible!” she exclaimed, and Kakashi looked at her questioningly. “All this time we've been travelling with him and he's … a demon!” she spat. She glared at Naruto as if he was awake, hatred in her eyes. Sakura immediately jumped up.

“You have no right to say that about Naruto!” she yelled. “You've got no idea what he's been through!” Ino snorted.

“I don't care what he's been through, he's still a demon!” she stood by Sasuke protectively, still glaring at Naruto. “It's my duty to protect the prince from - things like that.” Sakura looked ready to strangle the blonde-haired girl, but then Sasuke spoke up.

“I don't need protecting from Naruto.” He said quietly. “He's just a normal person.” Ino turned to him disbelievingly.

“How can you say that? He's a damn jin- … jinchi …”

“Jinchuuriki.” Kakashi supplied.

“Yes!” she said, “a demon thingy!” Sasuke now glared at her.

“Is that his fault?” Ino blinked, and then growled in annoyance.

“I have no idea - but whoever's fault it was, he's a demon, and demons they-“ she turned to Kakashi for support, “they kill people and stuff!”

“Humans kill people too.” Kakashi said, shrugging. “In fact humans kill a lot more people through petty wars and disagreements. At least demons aren't so unpredictable.” She scowled at him, and looked for someone to support her. Her eyes fell on Shino, who was watching coolly.

“You know how dangerous this thing is right? That's why you were told to kill it.” Shino adjusted his glasses, keeping his voice level.

“I was ordered to kill it because of how dangerous a weapon it might be in the hands of Akatsuki.” He gestured to Naruto, “From what I have seen, this is a normal boy, only dangerous to his enemies.” Ino sent him a glare, which he casually returned.

“It's not right, to judge someone so quickly like that.” He continued, “how would you feel if people hated you for something beyond you control - such as your hair or eye colour?” she made to shout back at him, but wasn't sure how to answer the question.

“Ino, would it be right if people judged me because of the danger of the Sharingan?” Sasuke said, watching Naruto. She shook her head quickly. “But, if used for evil, then it will be very dangerous too. But you trust me with it - and do you really see Naruto destroying villages?” she shook her head again, sighing in resignation. Kakashi grinned under his mask, putting a hand on her shoulder. He was impressed with Sasuke, though, he expected the prince to put his own interests first and see Naruto as a potential threat. He looked from Sasuke to Naruto thoughtfully.

Why was the boy so special to him?